“Plastic, hollow shells that focus only on the in-the-now grooves or keeping in line with trends.” This is how Martyn would describe some of today’s DJs. He isn’t necessarily finger-pointing particular individuals, the Internet can take care of that — just look at the polemic Skrillex. But his general view is that DJ superstar culture coupled with rock star marketing has created a host of vacuous producers for whom he has rubbed shoulders with during his own travels. For Martyn, they lack in any culture or history of the foundations in the music they promote and create, and easily jump on the nearest development with a brash ignorance. On Ghost People the Dutch producer would like to invoke not only nostalgic memories, but the rapport of Paradise Garage DJs and hedonistic club nights of the past.
It’s not the first time the once drum and bass DJ has taken a side look at the social and cultural aspects of his work. Great Lengths although not explicit in its delivery, had a very sombre and melancholic feeling. This release “has definitely a lot more drive, from being on the road, from being unhappy with a situation perhaps.” Martyn certainly seems to have an acute perception of the “scene” and the ebbs and flows of DJ life, and as one critic has commented on the landmark Fabric 50 mix: despite being a “temporary moment”, it nonetheless could not “taste fresher, […] unifying house, techno, dubstep and UK funky to such a glorious extent; the first to portend the possibilities for coexistence between disparate scenes and sounds.”
Ghost People essentially transcends “House music’s nomadic memory”, a deep influence that remains throughout a multitude of artists in recent years, springing up in the futuristic and dystopian techno of Gatekeeper, or to take a huge step back, an album complete of House music’s earliest influences in the shape of 2562′s Fever LP. Every sound on the latter had to originate from a 70s or 80s disco record.
This album doesn’t put such a self-imposed limit onto itself, but just as 2562 is keen to delve amongst the building blocks of house, Martyn is equally willing to explore the melodies and emotions; the fizzing 808s and the cold synth stabs, passing through Detroit and Chicago on ‘Masks’ and ‘Horror Vacui’. It is heavy on the 4/4 beats and somewhat more aggressive than Great Lengths. “It’s similar to how Erosie’s album artwork is intense, an overload of thoughts, instead of an easily digestible image” comments Martyn, who insisted on the elaborate installation piece for the secret album release launch in east London late last month.
Notably, this reaffirms Martyn’s break with the confounds of two-step, and as his mind wanders through the worldwide scene once more, just where will he go next.
That’s enough nay-sayers. I certainly didn’t expect to see Les Claypool resurrecting Primus from such a long hiatus, especially considering the time he has spent furthering his ambitiously sounding solo projects. The brief stint at getting Primus back in the swing of things earlier last decade hit a musical wall; they just weren’t the same energised band as they were in the 1990s and Claypool would be the first to admit it. “I have always said that I would only do Primus as long as it was fun. And it wasn’t fun anymore,” says Claypool. “In fact, it stopped being fun in 1996, when drummer Tim “Herb” Alexander left the band.” This awkward moment in the band led to what many fans argue is one of their better albums and ironically one that Claypool isn’t particularly fond of, 1997s The Brown Album, and after that the polarising Antipop, a record that embraced a more metallic side with a host of guest producers and musicians. Maybe the band looked at themselves and thought they shouldn’t be on the big metal tours of Ozzfest and Family Values.
Green Naughayde is Primus’ first studio album for 11 years and reunites drummer Jay Lane with the quirky bassist and long time collaborator and guitarist Larry Lalonde.
In typical self-deprecating humour, Claypool described the sound of the new album early on by saying:
“For those of you that enjoyed the new song, “Last Salmon Man”, that we played New Year’s, you’ll love the record because every song basically sounds exactly the same as that one. In fact, we just kept recording the same song over and over and I would just change a few of the lyrics around. I hear that’s the way Pink Floyd used to do it and those guys are no slouches.”
In a sense that isn’t too far off the mark. Green Naugahyde travels along in the various criss-cross directions of Lane-era Primus as well as the distinct but simple sounds and production of side-project Sausage. Tracks such as “Eyes Of The Squirrel” even have a Pink Floyd feel to them, with loops, atmospherics and ethereal textures. Above the plodding bass lines (reminiscent of The Brown Album‘s “Fisticuffs”, and Tales From a Punch Bowl‘s “Da Anza Jig”) are Lalonde’s upstrokes and volume-swelled layers. Yet for some of this album it is often engulfed by the dominant nature of Claypool’s wobbling and wet bass, coerced by an old Korg multi-fx unit that even he doesn’t recall – equipment somehow “ends up in his possession” rather than him being a FX fetishist.
Green Naugahyde is the reflection of past experiences coupled with a social critique of the present. As Claypool has said recently, “Jilly’s On Smack” couldn’t have been written earlier as they hadn’t lost a friend to heroin, whilst “Eternal Consumption Engine” focuses on the everlasting materialism within society – “Everything nowadays is made in China” sparks Claypool through his bullet mic’. All this of course is delivered with Primus‘ unique and bizarre demeanour and lyrical content. What I did notice from seeing them live at Brixton in July was that the newer material begged to be loosely extended, improvised and redefined, yet their “hits” of yesterday only truly worked in the context of an album. If anything, this album makes me what to see them again.
Ironically, when a generous sector of the alt-rock community reacted against the increasing marketed side of the industry during the “Grunge” era, the culture itself became a commodity largely based upon its gradual popularity and became a victim of its own success. Today Japanese Voyeurs seem intent on rekindling this anti-commercial spark that existed over 20 years ago. Their raison d’être is clearly displayed on their homepage:
In this world there are two kinds of bands: there are those who aim to be the biggest group in the world, who aim to make money and be famous, and who will do anything to achieve their aim. And then there are those whose mission statement is to explore the possibilities of modern music, of heavy music, and whose instinct is to create something that they themselves yearn to hear. Since forming in 2007 the London-based quintet Japanese Voyeurs have shown themselves to be the second of these kinds of bands.
It is quite a statement considering they are essentially a grunge revivalist band, cultivating the shoots of the stronger lineage within American alternative rock, namely the Seattle scene, and bringing back the “classic sounds” with what on first listen appears to be not so different to what was heard all that time ago. A cynic would suggest that there is nothing left to explore from the genre.
However, this album wonderfully captures the raw essence of that sound in a well thought out and progressive way. Melodies are back in, choruses are underpinned by the quiet-loud dynamic, and yet there are hints of experimentation from the female fronted band who themselves have fewer strong bands to look back on than their male fronted peers — Hole, L7, The Breeders, Daisy Chainsawetc. Yolk is a strong and forceful debut album which is constantly juxtaposed by the captivating voice of Romily Alice. She sounds similar to a sweeter sounding version of Queen Adreena’s KatieJane Garside, but on tracks such as ‘Smother Me’ that drift toward a desert rock sound, her reverb filled vocals are perfectly suited to glide over the top of the hypnotic riffs. This is where the band excel, not within the “verse-chorus” framework, but one that transcends into other areas that didn’t quite “make it” the first time round.
“As web companies strive to tailor their services (including news and search results) to our personal tastes, there’s a dangerous unintended consequence: We get trapped in a “filter bubble” and don’t get exposed to information that could challenge or broaden our worldview.” ”There is no standard Google anymore.”
16.2 megapixel DX-format CMOS image sensor: delivers lifelike images with vivid colors, reduced noise and smooth tonal gradations.
High ISO (100-6400) light sensitivity - manually extendable up to 25600 using the Hi2 setting. Enables faster shutter speeds for finely detailed images with minimal noise when you shoot fast-moving subjects or take pictures in low light. Features an Auto ISO setting.
EXPEED 2 image processing engine: optimizes the camera’s technologies for superior performance and maximum image quality.
7.5 cm (3-in.), 921k-dot vari-angle LCD monitor with wide viewing angle: lets you capture unique shots from any angle. Boasts a side opening mechanism that makes it easy to shoot self-portraits or use a tripod.
D-Movie – full HD (1080p) movie clips: a dedicated movie-record button right next to the shutter-release makes it easy to keep the camera steady when you switch between recording stills and movies. AF-F mode keeps everything in focus, and the camera’s vari-angle monitor and Special Effects mode enable unique shots. The camera supports use of an external microphone and offers 30p, 25p and 24p frame rates.
Live View with Scene Auto Selector: makes it easy to compose images using the vari-angle LCD monitor. Scene Auto Selector will select the best mode for the scene and subject you want to capture. Boasts easily selectable AF modes, including Face Priority AF that detects and tracks faces within the frame.
11-point AutoFocus system: offers fast and precise autofocus coverage across the frame. Four AF-area modes, including 3D-tracking AF, deliver sharp results, whether your subject is off-center, moving fast or completely unpredictable.
4 fps continuous shooting: enables you to capture fast-moving action at four frames per second.
Special Effects mode: lets you shoot distinctive still images and movies using a special effect. Offers a range of effects, including Color Sketch, Miniature effect (provides a tilt-shift effect), Night Vision (the equivalent of ISO 102400) and Selective Color that lets you emphasize up to three colors of your choice and turns the rest of the image to monochrome.
Scene Modes automatically adjust camera settings, including Picture Controls and active D-Lighting, to take the guesswork out of tricky photo situations and deliver optimal results. Simply turn the mode dial to SCENE to access the most commonly used modes. Sample photos appear on the display to help you select the right mode.
HDR (High Dynamic Range) imaging: delivers exquisitely detailed shots of high-contrast scenes. Takes two shots within a single shutter release to create an image with an extremely wide dynamic range, low noise and rich color gradation.
Extensive in-camera Retouch Menu: lets you edit and enhance photos and movies in the camera. Offers a range of effects and filters including Perspective Control, Soft Focus and Color Outline, which transforms your photo into a line drawing.
Dual Integrated dust reduction system: Image Sensor Cleaning and Airflow Control systems keep dust away from the camera’s image sensor for clear, spot-free images.
HDTV compatibility: camera features a built-in HDMI connector with HDMI-CEC support so you can view your photos and movies on any HDTV and control playback features using your TV’s remote control.
Infrared front and back receiver: helps prevent image blur when shooting close-ups and self-portraits.
Stereo sound: designed specifically for D-SLRs, Nikon’s optional Stereo Microphone ME-1 lets you record movie clips in high-quality stereo sound, with no AF noise. Comes with windscreen and soft case accessories.
Head over to Petapixel for a couple of photos demonstrating the “Minature” and “HDR” effects.
Someone has left the fire door open and it is bloody freezing inside the stage room at the labyrinth that is Scala. But this suits Wolves in The Throne Room down to the ground, as their stone cold surroundings is smothered by cool blue spotlights during their set, and I really wouldn’t be surprised if the band wanted it sub-zero for everyone to get that “authentic” black metal feel. The band spent a good deal of time setting up the stage with a back drop of forest and tree shapes, oil lamps, candles and a table set for two — or a pagan offering. The eco-warriors from Olympia, Washington aren’t your average Black Metal band — they look more like a bunch of old-school thrashers or crusties rather than being doused in corpse paint and covered in spikes — yet their set of furious and grandiose tremolo guitar lines and blastbeats is nothing but the dark metal which they belong to. They believe they are “purifying” black metal, by bring it back to the basics and it seems they have won over the crowd as at the beginning of their 45min set the band didn’t really have too much of an audience, but by the end it was packed.
If the signs scattered around the stage but also the actual venue say “NO FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY”, that means that the consequences if you do partake in trying to blind the band with white light is that you will get plastic cups thrown at you by the Shrinebuilder roadies. Apparently guitarist Scott Kelly gets exceptionally distracted so much by the strobing cameras that the crew will go to extreme lengths to make you stop. Anyway, natural disasters seem to follow this supergroup of musicians around as this gig was supposed to take place earlier in the year but the band were forced to cancel due to Eyjafjallajökull’s thick cloud of ash slowly making its way across Europe. And at the beginning of the week it seemed like the snow could slow the band down once again, but fortunately the band could play this gig and ATP at the weekend.
Wino doesn’t really like the tag “supergroup” to this band. He sees it simply as the best people he knows to create the music that they all enjoy. Their self-titled debut seems to have slipped under the radar when you compare it to the recognition other bands in the doom arena such as High On Fire have had recently, and even Wino’s own solo album ‘Adrift’ has been overlooked by many. To the crowd here today, stoners, doomers, fans of the Melvins and any number of bands that these four people have been involved it; this was the chance to really hear what that album can sound like live. And what a sound it is. I thought Boris held the title for the bass heavy live sound, but when touring sound engineers get hold of Al Cisneros’ tone they really make it low, heavy and extremely forceful. It is refreshing to see and hear the difference in playing styles that make this collective as interesting to watch as bands such as Mastodon. The band played all 5 tracks from their debut and a couple more with enormous precision and concentration. Guitarist Scott Kelly was the most engrossed (borderline comatose levels of concentration) whilst Cisneros slowly swayed and nodded around the tempos of Dale Crover’s huge drum sound and the formers hypnotic basslines. There is no part bigger than the sum, and instead you get to hear and to pick apart the different styles, textures that make this quartet tick. Fascinating.
