WATCH OUT!

Let me say just a few words about this album, which happens to be one of my favourites of all time. Actually, if you like good music, this album should rate pretty high with you too, so you can just listen to me laud Alexisonfire. And let me tell all you non-awesome-music-loving people who stumble across this blog that 1) Alexisonfire are awe-inspiring, and 2) their name is pronounced Alexis-on-fire. There may be an Alex on fire somewhere, but here no one cares. Even though Alexisonfire released an album prior to Watch Out!, I think most people will agree that Watch Out! is generally the better album. I bought it in August of 2005, around the time I bought my car, and when I got my license it was the only album I played while driving around. ‘It was fear of myself that made me odd’ was one of the few songs I could fit on my MP3 player at the time I went on a cruise holiday with my best mate, and let me tell you, sitting above the vast black Pacific ocean looking out into the night puts your life into perspective.
The first track sets up the tone for the album, ‘Accidents’ presents disassociation from the perpetually ineffectual circle of perceived need in culture. The song calls for the need to redefine what we constitute as important in our lives. One of the best aspects of the lyrics from Alexisonfire, is the fact that they avoid being openly insulting about features of society that the band find problematic. Without literally saying “this is shit”, the music projects into existence multiple alternatives to what is commonly accepted.
‘No Transitory’ is another song that immediately caught my attention; the protracted wail that there’s “no tomorrow” really makes you think about the life we create for ourselves today. Similarly, ‘Happiness by the Kilowatt’ also had a major impact on my life. So much so that I’m still considering having the title tattooed on my back. The haunting lyrics “wake up” stick in your mind when you think about all the stupid moves pulled in the past, and instead fills you with thoughts of your own future; you feel unstoppable because this one song lets you see that if you pull your head out, maybe you can achieve something worthwhile. What the band display is a phenomenal talent for getting across is the fact that life doesn’t get any better while sitting around thinking about how things haven’t turned out your way, the music has the capacity for getting into your head and inspiring you to do something better.
But most of all, this amazing band Alexisonfire really bring home the fact that living your life with and through music, as many of us do, is not about the scene that mindless followers have created for themselves; “this shit is not about pants, and this shit's not about shirts, and this shit is definitely not about hair,”. This shit, this life, is about “having a good fucking time.” Maybe if we all listened to bands that are trying to put out a message that can really motivate instead of just what is marketed as popular, we’d all think more about what we’re doing. Alexisonfire proved, to me at least, that “maybe music isn't dead” after all.

Review: Mastodon - Crack the Skye

Back again, my boredom prompts three posts this week. Yay. So i thought i would review my favourite album of the year so far. Mastodon's 4th album Crack the Skye.

Mastodon have been peddling their unique brand of thrashy extreme sludge metal since the late 90's, however, have always shown a healthy amount of growth with each release. Their debut Remission was as manic as it was heavy, if a little unfocused. Leviathan saw them break through to a larger audience with much improved songwriting and

an interesting nautical theme. Their 3rd, Blood Mountain, saw them soften the vocals abit and improve their production, but for me didnt show enough growth to be equal to the first two, despite that, its still a great listen. Plus they have great facial hair.

All this could not have prepared me for the epicness of their latest concept album Crack the Skye. With a story based around a Steven Hawking style character who for some cosmic reason goes back in time and gets trapped in the body of Rasputin, one could easily thing this quite a silly premise for an album. All this fades away however once you hear the first 2 minutes of Oblivion, an absolute killer of a track full of dynamite riffing, heavy bass, Mastodons trademark insane drumming and some quite beautiful melodic lines. On this album Mastodon have opted to pretty much phase out their harsher vocals, a ballsy move from a band who has built up a loyal and very particular heavy metal following. However, it just works and allows them to inject more melody into their music while remaining heavy. The vocals sound fresh all the way through, in no small part thanks to their being 3 different vocalists in the band, a variety which gives the album the feel of some kind of epic sludge opera, which is way cool if you love sludge metal as much as i do.

The track that really hit me though was "The Czar", i think the best track they have ever written, this track shows how far they have come. Masterfully crafted, the starts out with a beautifully melodic dirge. Then the guitars kick into a riff that will rip your face off while remaining catchy as hell. Then the song falls into this psychedelic atmosphere with a massive face melter of a solo and it ends where it began, with the dirge that fades away into nothing. Of course i can hardly do it justice. The best part is that every other track on the album is up near this one in quality from the catchy kick in the face that is "Divinations" to the extended progressive psychedelic noodlings of "The Last Baron", this album maintains its energy from start to finish, it is truly the first oustanding record of 2009 and itll be a hard one to beat.

Downloads:

Divinations

The Last Baron

5 tracks on my itunes, explaining myself (my fave Nu Metal tracks!)

Yep, thats right. I've decided the first thing i want to do is start a segment on the blog where i fritter away all of the music cred i should have, in favour of making myself the brunt of the joke. Ahh, self-loathing, my dearest friend. Anyways, this week is the much maligned Nu metal genre, and maligned for a good reason. Nu Metal sucks harder than Paris Hilton browsing in Godfreys. But within every lump of coal/shit it is possible to find a diamond/peanut, or at least 5 decent tracks.

1. Sevendust - Waffle - Sevendust i am legitimately unashamed to have in my expansive itunes library, they kind of rock. And this track from the 1999 release Home was my favourite song for about a year. A legitimately rocking track, creepy intro is there, funky rythym section and great vocals from Lajon Witherspoon make this a song i listen to this day.

2. Korn - Blind - Yeah i put a Korn song in, Fuck You! This is off the first Korn album, when they were a little less produced, sounds grimey and dirty, which is how they should sound. And of course theres the weird kick drum sounds and the bass strings barely tuned high enough to stay on the guitar. Classic.

3. Deftones - Change (In the House of Flies) - Personally, i dont think of the Deftones as part of the Nu Metal scene, i group them with Alternative Metal greats like Tool and SOAD. But it seems like people are determined to call them Nu Metal, and if thats so they have to be the best Nu Metal band there ever was. Creepiest song ever. Chino's vocals seem like their dripping out of the speakers and those great droning Deftones guitars are there in full force. Sam will appreciate this.

4. Spineshank - Consumed (Obsessive Compulsive) - Spineshank ruled. They just did. They were harder than most and had the whole industrial thing going without making it a gimmick (im looking at you Static X). This track feels hard, growling is involved which is welcome, great drumming and Santos's vocals are impressive. Check out his metalcore outfit Silent Civilian, they're pretty good.

5. Mudvayne - World So Cold - Probably the gayest song on the list. Mudvayne are a mixed bag, their albums generally contain alot of filler. This little gem however is the closest nu metal ever got to epic. Its pretty much their attempt at a bohemian rhapsody or a November Rain. I believe he even raps at one point. Whats that about? But its still awesome. Great live band with an impressive rythym section.

I feel so dirty. Im gonna go and have a chemical shower, ill see you guys later.

The Final Getaway

For those who don't know the The Getaway Plan, you are missing out. I have followed these guys around since their first shows, and felt a connection to nearly every song they've ever produced. Next month their farewell tour will be heading back to Victoria, so we can say goodbye to the band.
It's going to be a sad goodbye. These guys have had quite an impact on the local scene, and have developed their sound from raw vocals and ripping music, to more mellow tunes and rocking lyrics. Hopefully The Getaway Plan will put on a few of their older songs at these gigs; it would be good to hear 'The New Year' live one last time.

Tour Dates

June 4th
Hallam Hotel, Hallam,
June 5th
Ferntree Gully Hotel, Ferntree Gully
June 6th
Pier Live, Frankston
June 7th
Croxton Park, Croxton

Tickets through http://www.ticketek.com/
See you all June 5th

Review: Maudlin of the Well - Part the Second

Maudlin of the Well, a band whose name to this day inspires wetness in the nethers of many a pretentious Avant-garde music appreciator. And so, being a pretentious douche-bag scenester posuer from way back, i fucking love Motw. Their main songwriter Toby Driver disbanded them in 2003 for unknown reasons, subsequently starting up the group Kayo Dot who continued on with some Motw members and pretty much the same musical vision. But it was the first 3 albums (My Fruit Psychobells... A Seed Combustible, Bath and Leaving Your Body Map) he made with Motw that have become true Avant metal cult classics recieving international praise. They were thought to be gone for good though until on Motw's myspace page it was revealed that several fans had donated enough money to record a 4th Motw album and it was released for free download on multiple formats a couple of weeks ago.

And it is freaking impressive. Ive listened through its 5 tracks about 7-8 times since i downloaded it last week and im still finding things that i hadnt heard even on the 7th listen. It is very dense, more of a composition like most Motw albums. However, it lacks the metal noodlings of their past albums and opts to take a more chilled out symphonic shoegaze tack. Some Motw fans see this as a watering down of old Motw, but they are wrong. They are wrong in the fact that Motw without the metal was in fact what i always wondered about and hoped for one day. They are also wrong because they are obviously insane in the membrane. One listen to this record and you will realise what i am waffling about. So for your convenience i have placed a lovely download link so you can download this incredible piece of music and not feel bad coz its free. Free i tell you. Free like cafe sugar packets, irresponsibly unattended push bikes and Nelson Mandela. Enjoy!

Download: http://www.maudlinofthewell.net

I Wish I Was You So That I Could Read Myself

What a treat for you, the reader, to have me, Michael Reynolds recommend music to you. You lucky devils. Anyways the deal is I’m bored and I know a lot about music. When I say a lot, I mean infinitely more than I have any right knowing. Why do I know so much? Because I’m sad and I don’t go outside (mainly because I heard there are bears out there, actual bears). So I write on the internet instead to try and forget about my likely death due to a severe vitamin D deficiency. So enjoy, I know you will coz all the things I recommend are what I love, and if you don’t like that then I hope you get cancer AIDS leukaemia of the knee cap.

Ladies And Gentlemen...

As the Editor let me introduce myself- my name is Sammy Christie, and though we probably haven’t met, the chances are you’ve seen me at a gig sometime in the past five years. I’m a 21-year-old Monash Arts student delaying graduation so I can continue to write reviews in my spare time. Just for you. Some of my fundamentally defining moments have been experienced with the music I consider to be a major part of my life, so I’ll be doing my bit to raise awareness about bands and music that I really love. I’ll be the Punk and Indie contributor to this semi-pro site created for our devotion to auditory staples of our existence, keeping you updated on news from bands, gigs, releases, other assorted events and clarifying any speculation that may be mystifying other bloggers. Because while other bloggers out there might be writing about music because they’re bored and have nothing else to do, I have a feeling that if I should wish to add a journalism minor to my degree, this spectacular blog will promote my chances of immediate employment.