2013 Albums of the Year

Right, here we go - a completely subjective list of the best albums of 2013. The rest of the albums that make up my top 20 will be revealed early next year once the Echoes and Dust list comes out. Enjoy!

10. Touché Amoré – Is Survived By

2013 was a great year for Deathwish Inc., the record label co-run by Converge vocalist, Jacob Bannon. Touché Amoré’s Is Survived By is just one of the label’s many achievements this year, with heartfelt lyricism and emotive vocals providing the backbone for some impressive musicianship. Is Survived By is not just a great album but an advancement of Touché Amoré’s style and perhaps their most impressive effort yet.

9. Obliteration – Black Death Horizon

As someone who has not yet delved much into the realms of old school death metal, Obliteration’s Black Death Horizon is a somewhat surprising late addition to the list. Combining slower doom sections with death metal works to the group’s advantage, creating a terrifying atmosphere that is complimented by some awesome riffs and solos. Opening track “The Distant Sun” showcases all of these elements and is undoubtedly one of my favourite songs of the year. All of this on top of some of the most unique and oppressive vocals I’ve ever heard makes for one very well-done take on the early death metal sound.

8. Nails – Abandon All Life

Abandon All Life is absolutely one of 2013’s heaviest, fastest and most hateful albums. With that said, it’s also one of the year’s best. Nails take the finest elements of grindcore, death metal and powerviolence and throw them all into one powerful 17 minute concoction that is just about as crushing as music gets. This one’s definitely not for the faint-hearted, but if you can stomach the extreme pace and grimy atmosphere there’s no good reason not to love it.

7. Boards of Canada – Tomorrow’s Harvest

Boards of Canada is another group that I only started listening to this year and Tomorrow’s Harvest is a very welcome addition to their already impressive discography. Less focused on nostalgia and more on the ambient soundscapes the duo are able to create, Tomorrow’s Harvest feels like a journey through the city’s post-apocalyptic wasteland. “Reach for the Dead” and “White Cyclosa” seem to signal the end of humanity while personal favourite, “Nothing is Real” comes about like the blue skies and promising light featured on the album cover, signalling the dawning of a new era.

6. The National – Trouble Will Find Me

Regardless of my feelings about Trouble Will Find Me in comparison to The National’s past three efforts, I do owe it perhaps more than any other album by the band – mainly because it was the one that introduced me to them. If I had not read all the overwhelming praise for The National with the release of this album and been interested enough to give Boxer a listen, 2013 might have been a very different year for me. They were undoubtedly my favourite group this year and their consistency is a little scary at times. Trouble Will Find Me is, in my opinion, the weakest album The National has produced since 2002 but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t another highly impressive release. “I Should Live in Salt” is up there with the band’s best opening tracks and “Pink Rabbits” is not just the best on the album, but one of the best songs The National have ever done. The emotion in Matt Berninger’s voice in the line “you said it would be painless / it wasn’t that at all” never fails to cut me deep every single time and it’s the small moments like those that make Trouble Will Find Me an experience worth going through.

5. Big Big Train – English Electric (Part Two)

Progressive rock was perhaps the single most important genre for my musical development. When I first discovered early Genesis, my tastes immediately began to change and I started appreciating musical factors outside of catchy choruses and pop hooks. What does all of this have to do with Big Big Train? Well, the similarities between the current incarnation of Big Big Train and early Genesis are very hard to deny and it’s clear that homage is being paid to the Peter Gabriel era of the band. This is classic 70’s style prog done right, with subtle neo-progressive and post-rock elements accommodating for a modern audience. While not as good as the first album in the English Electric series, “East Coast Racer” does enough on its own to make up for it by being perhaps the single greatest song Big Big Train have ever done and still one of the best songs I have heard this year. There are no real weak moments in the other six tracks either and that makes English Electric (Part Two) one of the best albums of 2013.

4. Sigur Rós – Kveikur

There are very few bands that I love as much as Sigur Rós and they still have yet to disappoint me. Kveikur sees a slight change in direction for the band, with heavier percussion-lead numbers complimenting what are now basically straight-up dream pop tracks. Lead single “Brennisteinn” is among Sigur Rós’ best songs, with a spacey second-half that hints at the alien atmosphere that hasn’t really been present since (  ). “Ísjaki” is a truly beautiful piece too, a catchy, uplifting pop song the likes of which we haven’t heard since “Hoppípolla”. The darker tunes, “Hrafntinna” and the title track, are the other highlights and there is not much wrong with the more straightforward numbers that make up the rest of the album. Kveikur is not my favourite Sigur Rós release but it is yet another impressive addition to what is a near-flawless discography.

3. Kayo Dot – Hubardo

I was presented with a few opportunities to review Kayo Dot’s monolithic double album, Hubardo, this year and every single time I turned the opportunity down. Why? Well, to try and describe what the hell is going on in this record is like trying to teach quantum physics to three year olds – impossible. Hubardo takes many unexpected twists and turns throughout its near 100-minute duration: the crescendo at the end of “Crown-in-the-Muck”; the chaotic mid-section of “Zlida Caosgi (To Water the Earth)” that sees all of the instruments seemingly collapse in on themselves; and the driving percussion in “And He Built Him a Boat” and “Passing the River”. As a big fan of Kayo Dot’s previous incarnation, maudlin of the Well, Hubardo was a delightful return to certain aspects of that sound, while further progressing the things that have made Kayo Dot such a flag-bearer for modern avant-garde music. A brilliant, uncompromising work of art that will surely stand as a classic in the years to come.

2. Gorguts – Colored Sands

Now this is the kind of death metal I can really get behind: twisted, complex and necessarily technical, Colored Sands is Gorguts’ first album in 12 years and what a fantastic comeback it is. This was my introduction to the group and I never doubted that I would come to love them. As a big fan of progressive music, and progressive metal in particular, the Opeth and Porcupine Tree influences that Luc Lemay has said inspired the album certainly helped me to understand them better. The first four tracks are what really make the album brilliant before “The Battle of Chamdo” comes in to provide some much-needed respite. The second half is a little less memorable but only due to the ridiculous standards set by the opening half an hour. This is some of the best technical metal I have ever had the privilege of experiencing and I certainly hope that it doesn’t take Gorguts another 12 years before their next effort.

1. Deafheaven – Sunbather

For me there is only one category that really matters when it comes to deciding which albums are important to me and which ones aren’t – the emotional connection I have with them. This year, I have heard albums that are more consistent, more experimental and seemingly all-round better than Sunbather. And yet they languish behind in my best of 2013 list because they failed to resonate with me in the same way that Deafheaven did. And really, besides a couple of unnecessary interlude tracks, Sunbather is the perfect album. The way “Dream House” explodes into life at the start of the album, settles and then ends even more life-affirming than how it started might just be some of my favourite moments in music full stop. Then you have the title track which undergoes a quite brilliant change midway through when the tone changes from uplifting to unexpectedly dark and violent. This darker tone carries over into “Vertigo” before the final long piece, the epic “The Pecan Tree”, brings the album full circle, with melodies and a stunning conclusion that rival and perhaps even better those on the opening track. It’s an album that needs to be truly heard to be experienced and you’d be doing only yourself a great disservice by not giving it a chance. This is the most successful marriage of shoegaze, post-rock and black metal that you are ever likely to hear; Sunbather is not just the zenith of this popular movement but an emotional and affecting masterpiece that will be talked about for years to come.

Sigur Rós - Ný batterí

When I was young my mother would sing German lullabies to me; not all the time, mostly just when I was sick or upset, but those are memories that stay with you as you grow older. And while I never understood what she was singing (having been brought up in an English-speaking household) the words were strangely comforting. Their foreignness engrossed me more than anything else, that alien quality to language you are unfamiliar with captivating me to such an extent that my eyes would eventually just shut and I would drift off into a peaceful sleep.

Those moments of weakness, of frailty, are the moments when we need guidance and support most. As nothing but a helpless child, this came in the form of my mother’s singing. Twenty-odd years later, my attention turned to lullabies of a different kind. Sigur Rós’ dark, emotional rendition of traditional Icelandic lullaby “Bíum bíum bambaló” would mesmerize me in a way very few songs have before or since. Jónsi was the mother of my haunted soul, gently singing me to sleep as I struggled to come to terms with a period of change in my life. Lying there in the darkness night after night, staring at the ceiling and thinking too much, Sigur Rós changed my perception of what music could be and what it could do for someone. This humble EP meant more to me than a lot of other music at the time and it still holds a special place in my heart for its incomparable sincerity.

And while “Bíum bíum bambaló” was really at the crux of the Ný batterí EP, I couldn’t imagine hearing it without “Dánarfregnir og jarðarfarir” coming afterwards. The latter is Sigur Rós’ version of a song played on Icelandic radio as a theme for death and funeral announcements and it provided a fitting epilogue to my misery. And of course there’s the title track. One of the band’s most majestic pieces, and even more so when combined with the extended introduction of “Rafmagnið búið,” “Ný batterí” builds slowly towards its epic climax featuring the famous bent cymbal the band found on a street in Reykjavík. This is among the bleakest and most desperate Sigur Rós songs, although in a way that was very unique to the Ágætis byrjun album as a whole. It maintains the mystical aura that made that album such a classic, yet a simple translation of the lyrics reveals a much more human side than one might have thought possible of the group’s otherworldly music.

It’s not often that music speaks in the same way this relatively overlooked release does and perhaps it is entirely due to my own personal experience with it. For that, I am forced to admit that it is probably not perfect. But I can’t see it any other way and so all I can say is thank you Sigur Rós. Thank you for saving my life.  

Rating: 9/10

(Originally posted on Sputnikmusic.com: http://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/56589/Sigur-Ros-Ny-Batteri/)

Amia Venera Landscape - The Long Procession

For critics, placing music into genres is often seen as a necessary evil. Everything has to sound like something before it so that they can all fit neatly into the same labelled folder together. For the most part this system works and any kind of music can be fairly accurately described with just one genre tag. But every now and again a band or musician comes along and just messes with the whole system. Amia Venera Landscape is one of those bands.

While they may not be able to claim complete originality, Amia Venera Landscape draw from so many different influences that it’s nigh impossible to pin them down to just one style. Perhaps the most immediate sound that comes to mind is that of post-hardcore, and there are certainly enough Define the Great Line-era Underoath-sounding riffs and vocal stylings for them to be classified as such. But what about that speed and technicality in “Empire” that sounds like it could have been taken straight from a Dillinger Escape Plan record? Or the atmospheric post-metal sections akin to bands such as Isis and Rosetta? There is even a lengthy ambient passage that constitutes much of the album’s midsection.

Music as diverse as this always has the potential to sound over-the-top but Amia Venera Landscape generally avoid falling into this trap. The songs are lengthy and progressive but rarely does anything sound out of place. When the band delve head-first into ambience with “Ascending,” it comes at just the right time; the previous three tracks all revolve around the post-hardcore sound mentioned earlier and “Ascending” is the perfect breather. Elsewhere, “Marasm” is perhaps the best track on The Long Procession (tied with “Empire”). A sprawling, near 15-minute instrumental based around epic post-metal soundscapes, “Marasm” sees the band exploring a slightly longer route to kicking your face in and the result is simply stunning. The song is allowed to expand and build slowly and it reaps massive benefits from this. “Nicholas” is the final piece of the puzzle and it really should have been the closer. Instead, the album continues for another 10 minutes with a couple of somewhat less impressive tracks. While they may not be bad songs per say, they aren’t quite able to match up to the intensity of the previous eight compositions and the added length just drags the album a little too far over a comfortable running time. This is ultimately a minor complaint, however, for an otherwise brilliant record.

I really couldn’t tell you which genre Amia Venera Landscape falls under, but what I can tell you is that this is one hell of an album that, if approached with an open-mind, you certainly won’t regret listening to. 

Rating: 8/10

(Originally posted on Sputnikmusic.com: http://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/56414/Amia-Venera-Landscape-The-Long-Procession/)

Esoteric - Subconscious Dissolution into the Continuum

While this album proves they may not be perfect, there’s one thing Esoteric do undeniably better than anyone else and that’s describing their own music. Everything is so perfectly encapsulated in the one word that comprises their band name, there’s almost no need for a further explanation of their sound. And yet somehow they managed to do it, branding themselves as “hateful, drug-influenced tortured doom.”

With that said, this is music that you will either love or find utterly hilarious. Like all bands that operate within this excessively dark, depressing genre, there are only so many ways self-loathing can be expressed without sounding completely ridiculous. Therefore, it’s a prerequisite to be in touch with the darkest parts of your psyche when attempting to listen to this. These tunes are slow and heavy, and I mean really slow and really heavy. This is Esoteric’s most traditionally funeral doom metal release so expect nothing less than to be battered with the same riff again and again for close to 20 minutes in some songs. The ‘drug-influenced’ aspect of their sound may be far less prominent in this release, but still makes an appearance courtesy of some fairly impressive psychedelic guitar-work by frontman Greg Chandler and guitarists Gordon Bicknell and Steve Peters. The use of three guitars on top of the bass and drums creates a dense sound that envelops you in a nightmarish atmosphere.

As if all this wasn’t enough, Chandler’s hateful growls are beaten into your skull synchronously with the plodding riffs. While they’ve certainly changed a lot from their effect-laden ‘bad acid trip’ vibe on previous releases, the use of a more traditional death-doom growl works well within the context of the album.

So the question remains: what is it that makes Subconscious Dissolution... weaker than any of the group’s other releases? Well for starters there’s the aforementioned lack of psychedelic influences that made Esoteric so unique to begin with. Whereas The Pernicious Enigma utilised voice samples, effects, and straight-up bursts of death metal to keep the ride interesting, Subconscious Dissolution... sees the band happy to simply keep things moving at a snail’s pace. While some may view this as a positive aspect, Esoteric have always been at their best when they vary the tempo a bit and unfortunately on this album it just never comes. And so even though this is one of the shortest releases by the band, it gets boring very quickly. The only mildly interesting change comes in the form of the opening lead of “The Blood of the Eyes,” but even that quickly descends right back into a barrage of slow, monotonous riffs. The production is also a little too clear for my liking, detracting from the atmosphere that is such an integral part of their sound.

Regardless, if you’re a fan of bands such as Thergothon and Evoken and haven’t checked these guys out yet, this would probably be a good starting point because of its more digestible length and similarities to the traditional funeral doom sound. Overall, this is an unconvincing but not altogether bad release from a band capable of so much more.  

Rating: 6/10

(Originally posted on sputnikmusic.com: http://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/56263/Esoteric-Subconscious-Dissolution-into-the-Contin/)

The Angels of Light - New Mother

There is no light in this world of darkness. The cities, once a surplus of activity and motion, now lie still in the wake of the all-consuming emptiness. Here there is no god, there is no government, and there are no survivors. The wasteland is littered with the bloodied trophies of mankind’s arrogance; ashes of towering skyscrapers and twisted remnants of the most advanced vehicles are all that remain of man’s former glory. Desolation. There is silence... nothing moves.    

Years pass. Black waves wash over the wreckage; their steady rhythm is the only timekeeper. The cold has engulfed the landscape and Mother Nature is long dead. Life is a lost memory, a forgotten dream. Time stops. The earth becomes formless, a void in space... a black hole. Everything is sucked back into the cosmic abyss from whence it came...  

Then there is nothing.    

A new day has begun; today the soil gives back to its mother. The glare of a dying sun illuminates the earth and darkness is forced to lurk underground once more. The winter has ended. Vegetation sprouts up from the ground until foliage covers every square inch. Rivers tear through the terrain, feeding the soil around them. Everywhere there is life - the death of man.

And then She speaks. “I am your new mother,” she says, “beginning.”

The New Mother has awakened.        

 

Rating: 7/10

(Originally posted on sputnikmusic.com: http://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/56203/The-Angels-of-Light-New-Mother/)

        

Sigur Rós - Brennisteinn

Ever since Sigur Rós took their breathtakingly beautiful, otherworldly-sounding compositions to an international stage in 1999, they have been heading towards a sound governed less by their Icelandic roots and more by their innate ability to create songs that resonate on an emotional level. Whereas Ágætis Byrjun and (  ) made strong use of the band’s foreign sensibilities, subsequent albums began to rely less on this aspect, with the songwriting taking precedence. Yet Sigur Rós have not often dared to venture too far out of their comfort zone, with last year’s ambient-leaning Valtari honing in on the more minimalist elements of their signature sound.

If Brennisteinn is any indication, all that is about to change. With the upcoming release of their seventh studio album Kveikur later this year, Brennisteinn points towards an overall darker and sludgier sound that the band has not channelled since the second half of 2002’s untitled masterpiece. The title track, which is also due to appear as the opener on the new album, sees Sigur Rós experimenting with harsher, more abrasive electronic elements grating over the top of Jónsi’s trademark vocals. Conflicting aspects such as these have only been used sparingly in the past but here Jónsi’s falsetto shines through the haze like a ray of light and it works brilliantly. The same can be said of “Hryggjarsúla” which sounds more like the kind of droning nightmare Michael Gira would conjure up rather than anything from the band’s back catalogue. Finally, instrumental track “Ofbirta” hearkens back to the dark ambient style of Von, perhaps the most ominous Sigur Rós had sounded prior to this.

Although no two albums of theirs sound exactly alike, this is the first time we are really hearing something of a reinvention from the group. As just a small taste of what’s to come, Brennisteinn certainly achieves its goal of whetting the appetite and fans will have to wait another few months before getting to hear the final product.       

Rating: 7/10

(Originally posted on sputnikmusic.com: http://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/55952/Sigur-Ros-Brennisteinn/)

The Angels of Light - How I Loved You

Michael Gira is a man who revels in misery. After his uncompromisingly brutal work with Swans in the 1980s (which remains some of the heaviest music ever recorded), Gira turned to more subdued forms of anguish and depression in the following decade. Proving that he didn’t necessarily have to be loud to get his point across, Swans became rooted in dark, psychedelic folk rock for a few albums before exploring the worlds of drone, post-rock and ambient music on their 1996 opus Soundtracks for the Blind. That album would signal the end of Swans until their surprising reunion in 2010, and it was during this period that Michael Gira began a new project known as The Angels of Light.

The Angels of Light took a far more song-based approach than Swans, focusing on melody and harmony rather than cacophonous noise and jarring rhythms. Dabbling in folk and country music, their 1999 debut album New Mother only hinted at what was to come a couple of years later. Whereas New Mother featured a massive 17 songs, How I Loved You almost equals its colossal 70-odd minute runtime in only 10 tracks. The reason for this lies in the latter’s ability to allow the songs to grow and sprawl over Gira’s barren soundscapes. Opener “Evangeline” almost effortlessly combines country with post-rock, a weird combination to say the least, but it works perfectly. The song builds slowly, subtly going from a simple acoustic guitar riff into an emotional climax with the full band, and the line “I can feel it now” being repeated as the music dies down. It’s a wonderful start to the album and this continues into “Untitled Love Song,” replete with female vocals and beautiful melodies.

“My True Body,” however, bears more in common with Swans due to the dark subject matter and occasionally shouted vocals. “New City in the Future” is another sinister-sounding track that erupts towards the end of its 12 minutes with Gira screaming “You were mine” like a madman. This forms the centrepiece of the album and unfortunately sets in motion the few mediocre numbers that follow, with “New York Girls” being the chief culprit. It’s not a bad song by any means, but it doesn’t really go anywhere to justify its length. Thankfully the best is saved for last with “Two Women,” perhaps the most brilliant song in the whole Angels of Light discography. Like the opener, it’s a sprawling epic that builds towards a magnificent climax. This time around, though, the real beauty is contained within the final minute as the music begins to fade away and Gira mutters the words “I can’t live without you... goodbye Jane.” That moment alone makes the whole album worth getting through, even though there are some typically oppressive and even frightening moments to withstand.

How I Loved You marked the end of an era for The Angels of Light, as the next few releases slowly began to realise the sound that would lead to the eventual reformation of Swans. Nevertheless, this album remains the pinnacle of the band’s work and it would take Michael Gira another 11 years before his potential was this fully realised again.       

Rating: 8/10

(Originally posted on sputnikmusic.com: http://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/55927/The-Angels-of-Light-How-I-Loved-You/)

Dream Theater - Systematic Chaos

Remember the days when progressive music was actually progressive? When bands such as Genesis, Camel and Pink Floyd were genuinely breaking down barriers and setting new limits for the standard three and a half minute sing-along that reverberated from every five and dime record store? It was all about music as an art form, challenging the idea of the pop song and creating an atmosphere that was befitting of the concept.

While some bands entered the new millennium with this notion still in mind, others simply began watering down the genre with unnecessarily long compositions that relied solely on technical prowess. There are not many better examples of this than Dream Theater’s 2007 release Systematic Chaos. For a band that once released progressive metal classics such as Images and Words and Scenes from a Memory, this is really a poor effort. On the surface there may not appear to be a huge difference between this and the aforementioned classics but digging deeper reveals flaws that really detract from the listening experience.

For starters (and let’s just get this one out of the way) there’s the mind-numbing guitar noodling that constitutes a large portion of the album. Whereas on past Dream Theater albums this was at least somewhat impressive, here it is just tastelessly used. For a good example, just look to the pointless heavy section in the 15 minute “The Ministry of Lost Souls.” A symphonic ballad that, although rather corny, features some of the best moments on the album until it suddenly turns into a barrage of guitar solos. This continues into the second part of “In the Presence of Enemies,” where a good five minutes are taken up by a needless instrumental section. It is moments like these that ruin any momentum the album had going for it, especially in terms of any kind of emotion or atmosphere.

To be honest, though, it’s in the vocal-led sections that Systematic Chaos really struggles. James LaBrie’s vocals have been criticised at the best of times (no pun intended) but here they are really below-par. He sings without conviction and the many dark themes the album deals with are not at all suited to his vocal-style. Mike Portnoy’s laughable attempt at harsh vocals on “The Dark Eternal Night” is just the cherry on top. Dream Theater are at their best when they play to their strengths, which is in the lighter, more rock influenced side of progressive metal. Here, they go for a sound strongly influenced by Between the Buried and Me in an attempt to mix heavier, harsh-vocal-led sections with outlandish, off the wall progressive elements. Sadly, this doesn’t work at all and comes off sounding like the band trying to be something they’re not. The same can be said of “Prophets of War” which, despite the admittedly clever title, is nothing more than a bad Muse rip-off. This is probably the album’s lowest point and a low-point in the group’s discography in general.

If this all wasn’t bad enough, the lyrics are what really cap it off. Dream Theater have never been terrific lyricists but they’ve always sought to keep things interesting, such as the concept behind Scenes from a Memory or the religious theme of a song like “Lines in the Sand.” On Systematic Chaos, however, the lyrics are simply inane. Again, this can be attributed to the band’s change in style – they seem to have been inspired by the gothic, occult themes found on Opeth’s Ghost Reveries. But where that album succeeded by conveying its story through the haunting music accompanying it, Dream Theater fail through their self-indulgence and an awkward delivery of the lyrics from James LaBrie. No thought seems to have gone into how the music and lyrics interconnect and instead of complimenting each other they sound completely out-of-place. It’s hard not to laugh at a line like “Eager to explore / His most shocking mysteries” when it sounds as clumsy as it does.

In spite of everything, there is good in this record. Even though songs like “Constant Motion” and “The Dark Eternal Night” sound cheesy as hell most of the time, they contain some undeniably awesome riffs that are just too fun not to rock out to. Other songs such as “Forsaken” and the first half of “The Ministry of Lost Souls” are catchy and actually quite enjoyable in parts. But in every track there comes a point where the appeal is lost completely, halting momentum and ultimately ruining the song.

Systematic Chaos encompasses everything that is wrong with Dream Theater and modern progressive music. Unnecessary technical displays, emotionless vocals, and incompetent lyrics ensure that this will be regarded as a low point for a band capable of so much more. In their search for improvement, they should perhaps be looking less to their contemporaries and more to their own back catalogue for inspiration.         

Rating: 4/10

(Originally posted on sputnikmusic.com: http://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/55827/Dream-Theater-Systematic-Chaos/)

Ólafur Arnalds - For Now I Am Winter

For Now I Am Winter is a bold step forward for Ólafur, adding an impressive amount of variety into an otherwise well-established formula.

Over the course of the past 5 years, Ólafur Arnalds has established himself as one of the most promising musicians in the Icelandic music scene. His sorrowful neoclassical pieces evoked the stark minimalism of Sigur Rós, combined with the simple ambience explored by Brian Eno. Through these influences and others, Arnalds was able to create a simple, short-form take on modern classical music that had enough crossover appeal to be enjoyed by fans of post-rock, ambient, and even pop music genres.

For Now I Am Winter is Ólafur Arnald’s latest effort and major label debut. First track “Sudden Throw” gets things underway with a typical Ólafur sound, much like that heard on 2010’s successful ...And They Escaped the Weight of Darkness. However, this doesn’t last long before bouncy violins and a glitchy electronic beat join the fray in “Brim,” a song that sounds very different to anything else previously attempted by the Icelander. The song undergoes multiple mood and atmosphere changes, eventually settling down into the slow and mournful sound we’ve come to know and love from the man. But perhaps the most radical departure comes in the form of vocal embellishments from singer Arnor Dan in the title track. His tender voice is used sparingly, appearing in only four of the album’s twelve tracks, and it certainly isn’t the kind of jarring voice that detracts from the music. Nevertheless, it will certainly be one of the release’s biggest talking points and could be a potential turn-off for some fans.

Other highlights include “Reclaim,” which combines the newfound electronic influences with the addition of vocals, and the gorgeous post-rock inspired build-up in “Only the Winds.” The strongest vocal performance from Dan can be heard in what is perhaps the record’s most surprising song, “Old Skin.” His voice is stronger and more confident here, providing a much-needed lift from the more traditional-sounding mid-section of the album. Electronic instrumentation again comes to the fore and percussive beats provide the backbone for “This Place Was a Shelter,” before being rounded-off by the charming ambience of “Carry Me Anew.”    

For Now I Am Winter is a bold step forward for Ólafur, adding an impressive amount of variety into an otherwise well-established formula. The only question will be whether he manages to take this exciting momentum on to much greater heights in future. 

Rating: 8/10

(Originally posted on sputnikmusic.com: http://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/55351/Olafur-Arnalds-For-Now-I-am-Winter/)

Harold Budd and Brian Eno - Ambient 2: The Plateaux of Mirror

An album cover seldom sets the scene as well as this one does; this is the musical backdrop to pure pastoral ecstasy.  

You find yourself immersed in a rural terrain, the vast landscape stretching as far as your eyes can see. Looking around, you realise that the daybreak is upon you. You stand up and hear the faint tinkling of a piano as the sun rises over the hilltops. The first light reaches you and you embrace the warmth, keeping yourself safe from the cool morning breeze. You watch as the world grows brighter, characterised by the background humming of a synthesiser as the piano becomes more prominent. The sun is in full view; the breeze stops and life begins to emerge from its shell.

The sound of running water is heard as you walk through the trees and you find yourself at the edge of a lake. The water reflects a radiant glare, shining toward the skies like a mirror to the sun. Water-filtered ambience fills the air. You are unable to face the glow and turn away, but can hear the sounds of birds arriving to take their morning drink. You walk away back into the shade of the trees. Eventually you come to a clear, open area filled with nothing but soft grass. You sweep the ground with your hand and feel the spongy earth beneath you. Looking up, you see that the sky is a brilliant shade of blue, empty but for an arc of doves that is silhouetted on the horizon. The sun now sits at its peak, the heat emanating an enveloping warm tone and the birds singing a resonant chiming that drifts towards you through the heavens.

You close your eyes and consider the memory you are creating, not yet remembered. By the time you open them again, the sky is growing darker and your day is coming to an end. You head back through the trees, the chill air following you as clouds begin to appear overhead. The clearing on the other side reveals a path alongside a few open fields. The clouds are now dark and the sun is almost completely hidden from view. A light rain begins to fall and the water settles on the grass of the meadows beside you, from a distance looking like tiny crystals shining in the last rays of sunlight making their way through the clouds.

The path finally leads to a fence. A series of bells hang on the wires, ringing in the afternoon breeze. The clouds have now blown over, revealing a brilliant red and orange skyline. The wind is growing in intensity and the trees are swaying from side to side. You climb through the fence, cautious not to get hooked on any sharp knots of wire and walk over the hill on the other side. As your eyes grow accustomed to the dimness of the grey evening, you realise that you are back where you started, the open land stretching for miles in every direction. You see the trees you first went through that morning and become aware of the fact that you have gone full circle. But as the last light begins to fade away and the stars begin to show, you decide you wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. You sit down and listen to the piano play the final notes of your day as you close your eyes and drift off into a state of peaceful bliss.             

Rating: 7/10

(Originally posted on sputnikmusic.com: http://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/46083/Harold-Budd-and-Brian-Eno-Ambient-2---The-Plateaux-of-Mirror/ )

Japandroids - Celebration Rock

An album that has nonstop energy and a seemingly endless supply of party hats.

You’re drunk at the bar, alone, slowly passing out. You’ve suddenly grown an extra pair of hands and you have two empty beer bottles instead of one. The people on the dance floor seem to have doubled and the strobe lights are nauseating. All you want to do is put your head down and go to sleep right where you are...

Japandroids are the proverbial friend that slaps you across the face and buys you another drink. They are that person of excess, the one who drinks too much, smokes too much, and sleeps with his best friend’s girlfriend. Japandroids know how to party... and they party a lot. And that’s ultimately what Celebration Rock is – an album that has nonstop energy and a seemingly endless supply of party hats. “The Nights of Wine and Roses” begins proceedings promisingly and the lyrics immediately reflect the duo’s attitude to life: “Long lit up tonight and still drinking / Don’t we have anything to live for? / Well of course we do / But till they come true / We’re drinking.”

“Fire’s Highway” is the first real highlight, with one of the catchiest choruses on the album and those outrageous “oh-oh-oh’s” that simply demand that your fist be raised high in the air. But like that friend that everyone has, “Evil’s Sway” comes along and you realise that the party isn’t going to stop anytime soon. If there’s one criticism that has plagued Japandroids it is this; every song follows the same pattern and has just as much fun as the song before it. First single “Younger Us” would appear on most records as the upbeat opener (provided any other record could actually replicate the sheer liveliness shown here) but here it sits just before penultimate track “The House That Heaven Built”, which also happens to be the best song on the album. For the first time on Celebration Rock you get the impression that maybe there’s just a hint of sadness behind all the revelry. Not that the formula really changes much but for once the lyrics don’t seem quite as straightforward as they did before. “It’s a lifeless life / With no fixed address to give / But you’re not mine to die for anymore / So I must live.”

Closing track “Continuous Thunder” slows things down just enough for you to catch your breath at the end of an exhausting ride. The album is thankfully short and doesn’t overstay its welcome which works in its favour; any longer and it would lose a lot of its effectiveness. Even so, you may find that the repetitive nature of the songs gets tiring before then end. But then again, if you’re the friend buying more drinks this is the soundtrack to the perfect night.  

Rating: 7/10

(Originally posted on sputnikmusic.com: http://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/55048/Japandroids-Celebration-Rock/)

Wear Your Wounds/Revelator - Split

“What’s done is done. The mistakes you’ve made stand forever.”

For anyone interested in hearing just what Jacob Bannon sounds like when he’s not screaming his lungs out for legendary hardcore band Converge, this is essential listening. “Adrift in You” is Bannon’s second solo release (after 2008’s “The Blood of Thine Enemies”) and his first under the Wear Your Wounds moniker. Whereas “The Blood of Thine Enemies” was a slow, ambient/drone dirge, “Adrift in You” sounds altogether more uplifting and hopeful. There are none of Bannon’s trademark panther-vocals here as the track brings to mind post-punk legends The Cure and Killing Joke as well as the dreamlike atmosphere of My Bloody Valentine. There’s even the noisy Swans-like drums that leave Bannon’s vocals buried deep in the mix, a technique that suits the song perfectly. If “Adrift in You” is anything to go by the full-length should be worth the wait.

Ben Chisholm (of Chelsea Wolfe fame) makes up the other side of this split under the name Revelator. “Net of Gems” complements the Wear Your Wounds track perfectly as its bleaker, more sombre counterpart. There are strong ambient influences here and the song exudes a spacey atmosphere that is easy to get lost in. The drums are subtle but effective (think of the second-half of Sigur Rós’ Untitled Album) and suit the atmosphere created by the piano and electronics brilliantly. Although “Net of Gems” is built around its impressive use of minimalism and restraint, the song never feels like it’s dragging or moving along aimlessly. In fact, it builds up to a disorienting climax that doesn’t compromise any of the ethereal ambience that has gone before it.    

In conclusion, this is a highly impressive release that shows a lot of potential for both artists. Although the split is very short and it sounds as though the songs would work much better in an album context, this is well worth checking out if you’re a fan of the musicians involved or any kind of experimental rock in general.

Rating: 8/10

(Originally posted on sputnikmusic.com: http://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/54824/Wear-Your-Wounds-Revelator-Split/)