Another month, somehow, still more amazing music. I don’t know if it was the last two years of sitting at home, or it’s just a wave of creativity we’re surfing at the moment, but I am having such a fantastic year as a music fan. Not much to say this month except that I’m trying to make these reviews a bit shorter. It didn’t really work but the ep section is mercifully brief.
Now, let’s open this with one of my favorite bands.
Dawnwalker
House of Sand
(Blackened prog metal)
Dawnwalker are one of the few bands going where every album they’ve released sounds different to the one before. They’re not a band interested in repeating themselves.
House of Sand is their fifth album and Ages’ (their last album) epic tales of wizards and dying planets have been banished. Here we find the band lurking in the English countryside, like some sort of prog metal, modern day Hammer horror, regaling us with tales of grey days, petty squabbles, Egyptology and a bit of sacrificial murder.
With most bands, that would be a very hard sell but Dawnwalker made the change by going smaller, quieter. The first thing that hit me was how much less attack this album has, the blast beats are gone, the huge guitar assaults are mostly gone. The two singles R.I.P and Coming Forth by Day still hit hard, just in different ways. Coming Forth, for instance, is the most Doom thing the band has ever recorded. This is still a metal album but it’s much less aggressive that it’s predecessor.
The strangest thing on the album has to be the title track, House of Sand. It’s an Elvis cover, but the arrangement is warped, like something that slipped out of a parallel universe where music just isn’t quite like it is here. It feels familiar yet off, something that the album is trying to convey about rural life. (Possibly)
It’s another incredibly ambitious Dawnwalker album, prog in scope and concept rather than long songs and jarring time signatures. There still are some very harsh vocals which will put some people off, but if you’re willing or able to deal with that, I can’t recommend this album enough. It will take some time for you to get to grips with it, but don’t all the best records?
Dawnwalker’s albums aren’t on Spotify so please enjoy this youtube link.
They do have a selected works album on Spotify that works as a good introduction. The first 2 songs are skippable though.
Alex Banks
Projection
(Electronica)
You can tell that a lot of thought has been put into the track sequencing and the overall sound of this album. Projection flows perfectly as one piece of music, as well as being able to stand alone as individual tracks. It has a perfect mix of sound design, atmosphere and club bangers.
The album opens with three tracks that build mood. Dark synths and driving bass carefully build; slowly and purposefully gaining momentum. By track three, A Way Out, the bass comes more to the fore and starts testing your soundsystem. It may not be aimed at the dancefloor but it will rattle your windows.
The album transitions from moody atmosphere tracks to a more club footing somewhat ironically on a song called Introspection. A track which without warning, switches gear and morphs into hardcore techno. The later track, What We Have, is going to drive dance floors insane, it’s just begging for dry ice and strobe lights.
The closing track, Stratosphere, has a tense feel, its huge dubby bass line pushing the track along. It’s a great song but a strange one to end the album on, as there isn’t any closure or release. You’re just left slightly startled, as if the house lights just came on in the club while you were pleasantly zoning out.
Still, it doesn’t hurt the album at all, it’s a fantastic piece of electronica.
Hot Chip
Freakout/Release
(Dance)
Hot Chip are an odd band for me. They blew me away when I saw them supporting Goldfrapp a lifetime ago, and every time I’ve seen them since, but I’ve never cared for any of their albums. It was only getting to see them play a show for this album launch that even put this on my radar but I’m glad it did.
Eight albums in and Hot Chip make dance music seem effortless, but at the same time the strain of 22 years of being a band are starting to take its toll, There’s a reflective mood, a feeling of sadness here that seeps through the music but Hop Chip were always the kings of the sad banger.
But no matter how much melancholy might be running through the lyrics, that’s not why Hot Chip are here. As they said a long time ago, they’re ready for the floor and that hasn’t changed here.
The title track has an almost metal riff running through it (and surprisingly Black Sabbath sounding live). Broken has a chorus that will make you move, whether you want to or not. Eleanor has Igor Cavalera, ex Sepultura and all round legend, drumming on it, which is not a crossover I was expecting. On a less metal note, The Evil That Men Do isn’t an Iron Maiden cover, but it does feature Cadence Weapon on the mic, and shows how versatile Hot Chip are. This is just banger after banger after banger.
And even though the album trails off towards the end for me, it’s going to keep me dancing all through the autumn.
Rachika Nayar
Heaven Come Crashing
(Electronica / Shoegaze)
Rachika Nayar’s second album is a record that blurs the line between shoegaze and electronica, that’s almost danceable in places.
The opener, Our Wretched Fantasy is a low key but beautiful introduction, the musical equivalent of slipping into a warm bath. The song just envelopes you. The album stays like this for several tracks, blending chilled beats with gentle guitar and lush synths, hitting that sweet spot that reminds me of acts like Ulrich Schnauss and The American Dollar.
The breakbeats arrive with the title track Heaven Come Crashing, which lifts the music to new levels. You can’t dance to it but you could very easily start running towards a sunset with your arms thrown wide. It’s utterly euphoric and has a rushing, wide eyed wonder that just puts the biggest smile on my face.
The rest of the album continues to mix the guitar, synths and breaks to fantastic effect, a song called Our Wretched Fate should never be this wondrous.
I hadn’t heard of Rachika before this week and already this is on my album of the year list. This is a beautiful record.
Kessler
Endless
(DnB / IDM / Post Dubstep)
Kessler’s recent run of EPs has been amazing and this one keeps that run going. He makes a fantastic mix of post dubstep, IDM and DnB that just hits that perfect sweet spot of being chilled but also having enough energy so that it never drifts off into background music.
Queensyze
Smells Like Aciid
(Techno)
Not much to be said here. This is acid techno, but importantly, it’s acid done well. 3 tracks that may not change your life but will move your ass.
The ways of exile 