Chamber music is, by definition, classical music played by a small group of instruments, where each member has its own independent partition to play. For example, string quartets and your usual metal band can, technically, be considered chamber music groups. Due to the minimalistic nature of the formula, it’s where we see the most experimentation happen. Indeed, it’s easier to gather a few people to play weird, boundary-breaking music than to convince a whole orchestra to do the same. Texan band Vmthanaachth is a quintet comprised of two guitars, a viola, and two saxophones. That is, according to some pictures … Read more
Araqsana – Araqsana
Once in a while, I get a personal email containing music that’s just above and beyond good. This time, that email came from Jackson Albert Mann, and the music is under the moniker Araqsana. Jackson is a post-graduate student at the Berklee College of Music, and his debut EP displays some very tasty jazz fusion. Jackson states he is influenced by hardcore punk, experimental electronic music, and jam bands. The latter I can feel in Araqsana, but the former two are much more subtle and it takes more than one listen to get a glimpse of them through … Read more
Dougmore – Outerboros
Dougmore‘s debut album is a foray into folkloric music through the lens of art rock. Indeed, Outerboros is lush and complex, deep and progressive, and, on top of that, inspiringly beautiful. Don’t be fooled by the apparent simplicity of the folk singer-songwriter foundation of the project – with Douglas and his banjo -, for there is here a plethora of invited artists – playing a wide range of instruments, from wine glasses to trumpets, from bouzouki to double bass, from dulcimer to harp, and a lot of other things in-between. This not only bring in a variety of timbres … Read more
Candy – Candy Meatworks
Candy is a one-man project from Czechia, and they’ve just released Candy Meatworks, which appears to be their third opus. The project is one of bass guitar-centric experimental rock. The Czech lyrics are sung in an eccentric fashion, not unlike many other avant-garde bands like Mr. Bungle, to name but one, and the rhythm beneath them is heavily driven by the bass guitar. That makes their sound very funky and almost dancey. As mentioned in their bandcamp description, there’s a special place for dissonance, which emphasize the unique character of the project. The programmed drums are, for the most … Read more
Some Happy Thoughts – Épiphanie
Born from Québec’s metropolis, Some Happy Thoughts is a metal band joining depressive suicidal black metal with doom. The lyrics, in French, talk about depression and the futility of everything, but elegantly so, with short poems fronting most tracks. There’s also a twist to it, an Épiphanie, hence the title. This vision of clarity brings a much appreciated silver lining to the suffocating black fog that the rest of the album represents. The full-length album is slow, heavy, and oppressively bleak, with a constant chirping tremolo guitar, a screaming but not shrieking vocalist, and decent production quality. Its nihilism … Read more