We encountered Delerium the other day, and now we have another side project from the same folks. While their main act, Front Line Assembly, was squarely in the industrial dance category, Leeb and Fulber used different monikers to explore different kinds of electronic music. Intermix was more focused on a more techno oriented approach. Like Delerium, it’s not really my bag, so I just have the first album from them.
[Read More]Hoo boy.
Love that upright bass! We’ve had Steroid Maximus before, but this is one of J.G. Thirlwell’s (Foetus, Wiseblood, Manorexia, Clint Ruin, etc) many aliases. Steroid Maximus is all instrumental, tending towards jazz and cinematic stuff. It’s excellent, and this track gives a great sense for what you’d be in for.
From the excellent 2008 album Self Medication, this is as good a self-summary of the band as they’re likely to serve up. By the time they hit this album, it was clear that the Slackers were survivors. They started during the boom years of the third wave, and then endured the collapse of their first label, the implosion of the scene, and the derision of music fans. And through it all, they kept cranking out great tunes.
[Read More]By and large, I tend to prefer the early material from Marley, where there’s some more ska rhythms as opposed to reggae. Of course, that doesn’t mean that his later material isn’t brilliant. At any rate, Catch a Fire is pretty early, his first album for Island Records, and it’s the one that really put him on the map for most folks. It’s a tremendous record, and probably where I’d recommend folks start with to move beyond Legend.
[Read More]This is some straight-up They Might Be Giants shit right here.
Indie duo the Fiery Furnaces were a sister/brother act, dedicated to playing singular art rock. Employing a wide range of instrumentation, often within the same song, and rife with literate, obtuse storytelling, the Fiery Furnaces could be equal parts fascinating and exasperating. This comes from one of their more challenging albums, Rehearsing My Choir, which is their collaboration with their grandmother. Centered around her memories of growing up in Chicago, it’s a meandering look into one family that can be interesting if you’re paying attention but isn’t something that you can just kind of throw on in the background.
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