The new 7” from Man Or Astro-Man? is available to preorder
at the Chunklet web site now. Go get it! It is going to be on purple vinyl this
time. If you order early enough you can get the super limited (200 pressed)
clear version.
Expect the full length album from Man Or Astro-Man? this
summer. Just in time for the tour! No word on color ways for this release on
vinyl or an official release date yet though.
Sigur Ros have announced that they have a new album this
year called Kveikur. You can preorder the standard release on CD, double vinyl
or Download from the Sigur Ros web page now. Or you can wait for the preorder of the
deluxe edition.
If you ordered it, the Death Cab For Cutie box sets from
Artists In Residence have started shipping. I should get mine early next week.
I also found out today that I was one of the first 50 to order the new deluxe version of the Bleached album, Ride Your Heart. This means that I also got a limited Polaroid photo that the group did for the release.
Here we go...
Sigur Ros – Brennisteinn EP
This is a download only three song EP from Sigur Ros. It was
available only to those who purchased tickets to see them on the US 2013 tour.
It was released late in March 2013. I got my tickets early for the concert and
had been adamantly waiting for the email months later to download this EP. The
release date came and went and I never got an email with my download in it. I
actually had to call Ticketmaster to get them to send me my email with the
codes in it. I had previously read that the cod may not work on the first try
as I was doing some research about the EP. I was happy to find out that,
because I bought three tickets I would get three codes to download with. I
finally got the email with the download codes in it. My first attempt to
download the EP was failed. I used Firefox on the first attempt. For some
reason Firefox seems to fail to download at times and this was apparently one
of them. I switched to Internet Explorer for my second attempt with the second
code and it went smoothly. The group has lost a member and are now a three
piece group. Based on what the EP sounds like, it has put a new sound on the
group. Not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing as the album has yet to
be released. I am going to the concert this week and there will be a review of
what is heard.
The first song on the EP, Brennisteinn, is the first song
released from their upcoming album, Kveikur. The track clocks in at a whopping
7 minutes and 56 seconds. This song has a different sound than what I am use to
hearing from them. The big interesting change is the electronic sounding
thunder of the bass in the first part of the track. I have slowly been getting
into Dub Step music and this bass sound is like something pulled from that
genre. About half way this sound dies off and becomes something a bit more rock
influenced. There is a lot of percussion through out the track that makes the
song so interesting. They are not cymbal hits but more like metallic noises,
similar to that of Jonsi’s Go album. The song then dives off into atmospheric
sounds until fade out. I think it is really cool to hear the group go through
its basic range in one grand song.
The second track on the EP is called Hryggjarsúla. It has a
interesting start off with what sounds like stringed instruments not playing
the same music. What stands out for me on this is the bass, again. This sounds
like a double bass being played with a bow and a distortion box on the
recording microphone. It sounds fuzzy and feathery at the same time. Then the
song changes direction and becomes a full on string section playing long drawn
out notes that sound beautiful together. Over the top of this is a guitar being
played with a bow and distortion and long echoes coming from the guitar. It is
so atmospheric.
The last track on the EP is called Ofbirta. It is the
shortest of the three tracks on the EP at just a hair over four minutes. This
track is even more atmospheric than the last track with reverse sounds and
loops. There are no vocals on the track at all. This one reminds me of
something that may have come from the Jonsi and Alex album really. It is
beautiful in its own rite but not my favorite of what Sigur ros has created
here on this EP.
This is a cool look at what the group has in store for us on
this future release.
This was obviously a split single that was a part of the Odd
Box Singles Club series of releases. This is a limited edition release, but if
you want one you can probably still get one from Odd Box. My copy was in the
high 300s though so if you are interested get it soon. Both groups contributed
two tracks for this single. This was the only thing that I was missing from
Gold-Bears. I talked to them at the end of last year. They said that they had a
few of these singles and would be happy to give me one as I had made some good
reviews of their last album and singles. I never got that single from them. I
can’t really hold it against them though as they were still pretty busy at the
time. I just decided to get an official copy from the record store instead.
The first side has the two tracks from Gold-Bears and the
second side has the two tracks from Bracelettes. The first track is called You
Don’t Want A Boyfriend. It is a great noise punk track from the group. The
vocals are sung in a lower gone than I am used to but it gives a new facet to
the groups sound. I like it too. The music behind the vocals is classic
Gold-Bears style though.
The second track, called Bedroom, is a super short track. It
gets its point across quickly and that is all it needs really. This track has
the higher pitched male vocals that I like from the band too. It is quick,
noisy and in your face with a melancholic appeal at the same time.
The first Bracelettes track is called Those Days. The song
starts off with something that reminds me of something that Gorillaz did but I
can’t place the track that I am thinking of. It is simple with a high pitched
stringed instrument being strummed, possibly a ukulele. The vocals on this
intro are high and soft. Then it kicks into a fun punk rock track. The chord
progression reminds me of The Ramones but the vocals are softer with female
backing vocals.
The second track from Bracelettes is called You Make Me
Laugh. This track is another soft speed punk track. The lead vocals are female
this time. This track reminds me more of J-pop than anything else. The fun high
pitched female vocals are what give me this idea about the track. It is just a
lot of fun, this track.
This release is hard enough to track down that the songs don't exist on YouTube yet.
This is the groups first full length album. It was released
in 2011. There were no singles released from this album but there are some
great songs on the album that could have been great singles. I am reviewing
this album as their second has bee just released. They cam on me in a fury so I
am trying to get familiar with their music before I get my copy in the mail from
Slumberland Records. I was on the fence about the group until I saw what the
vinyl release for the second album looked like. I really like the vocals from
Hether Fortune. They remind me of something between April March and Joan Jett,
maybe even a touch of the Bleached girls.
The first track on the album, Dead Like You, has a really
good hook. This track comes off as California
punk music. It is not as dark as some of their other stuff but it instead more
fun.
The second track, Hitman, is a tongue in cheek track about
how a hit man lives. The verse in this one reminds me of a Ventures styled surf
track. The verse on the other hand is totally 70s punk and rocks hard with it
too. This is another track with awesome hooks and sweet verses.
The fourth track on the album, called Gold Sneakers, is a
love song. The verse section is really just an average song with a cool riff
ending on each of the lines. What this song gets me with is the verse. There is
something special about the electric guitar in this section. The vocals are so
sweet as well. Hether sings, “I-I La-La-La- Love You.” through the chorus. The
way she does it works so well. I can’t get enough of this track on the album.
The last track from this album that I find very interesting
is called Uneasy. The track is very bass driven. The verse is dark and heavy.
The chorus has this supper awesome hook. The song reminds me of the music that
came from the mid 90s or late 70s punk. I was heavily influenced by the music
of both of these eras and that is probably why I like this track so much.
If you want to find out more about this group this is a good
start. They have only put out two other 7” singles so it is really not that
expensive to get caught up on their work before their second album.
This is a special Japanese compilation that encompasses the
Acid Reflex EP and the Higher Than The Stars remixes. The compilation contains
only remixes that have been released by the group. It was released in spring of
2012. It also contains one additional remix only found on this compilation.
Because it is a Japanese release it will cost about 30 bucks. If you don’t have
the three separate records it takes to get these tracks, it may be easier just
to get this release instead. On the other hand, you can get the three records
for 20 bucks but then you would be missing the extra track that can only be
found on the compilation CD here. I’m not going to lie, I already had all of
the records but I wanted the missing track. Although, I did wait about a year
before I broke down and got this compilation. It is nice to have all of the
tracks in one place though.
The extra track on the CD is called Strange (Totally Sincere
Remix). This remix reminds me of the late 80s electro pop. I was just coming
into music at that time and really like that style. The track even uses a
guitar that, I swear, comes directly from a slow electro ballad from that era
of music. The bass line is even a synth key bass that sounds like heaven to me.
I am so happy that I finally broke down and got this CD just for that song.
This unique track is also not on YouTube at this time.
If you want to read about the other releases that are
contained in this release you can read about them in the following episodes.
Coming up this week is the Sigur Ros concert review along with a bunch of new stuff that I am excited to share.
That is all I have for now...
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