ChaosResolved
07-02-2006, 08:50 AM
Tracking the Trends
British Experimental Rock Part V
Tracking the Trends returns to the UK to explore the hot releases of the summer. No, I'm not talking about Muse here. Get your suntan ready and grab ahold of one of the following releases.
Capulet
Preston
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/trackingthetrends/capulet.jpg
Website: MotiveSounds (http://www.motivesounds.com)
Music: Myspace (http://www.myspace.com/capuletuk)
I'm going to be really honest right off the bat, Capulet doesn't really provide anything you haven't heard before. If you've managed to stumble across a band called Explosions in the Sky before, Capulet is going to be a very familiar listen. That said, I find the band's debut album, The World is a Tragic Place, But there is Grace All Around Us, So Attend to this Grace, to be a really enjoyable listen. In fact, there have been countless times where I've been listening to Capulet over the past few weeks and I'm 100% positive that I'm listening to Explosions in the Sky. No joke. Look at the introduction to "Champ"; how did Explosions in the Sky not write that? I'll leave the comparisons there, I only note upon it because although bands often get compared to EitS for following similar types of instrumental thought, I've never believed a band has actually come anywhere close to recreating the magic that's found in the works of the Texan quartet. But Capulet does. It's spooky. Anyway, back to the music. The tracks that will really grab the listener are "Champs," "No Time Spoke the Clocks," and "F#", although "Boys Vs Girls" is a nice change of pace from the rest of the album and deserves a mention for keeping the album's dynamic fresh. Through use of reverb and tantalizing repetition, these tracks lull the listener into a false sense of security before the band cripples him with a crushing melodic finale. However, in true post-rock fashion, the album closer, "Champs," takes the cake. While the guitars pluck away calmly, you can begin to feel the drums exert slightly more force over time. This is the cue to speed things up, and Capulet follows the lead. Sooner than you know it, the band has reached maximum capacity and the guitars are relentlessly flaring through the sonic landscape, taking no prisoners and shredding everything in its path into little pieces. Meanwhile, the drummer is replacing his drum kit, because there is really little left of it after the brutal climax, and you must know that the song isn't over. The waves of delay and reverb begin to echo indefinitely, but the interference is cut short as Capulet takes one last stab into the heart of the song, shaking loose the nuts and bolts and setting its foot down on a long thread of feedback that scraps the remaining bits of paint off the wall. Although variations are applied to this backbone, the rest of the album falls safely along these lines, albeit with a reduced intensity. It's a fun ride; you keep setting them up and Capulet is sure to knock them down.
The good people at MotiveSounds are releasing The World is a Tragic Place... on July 3rd, and those of you needing a dose of well crafted guitar-rock should seriously considering picking up a copy. Although Capulet doesn't show itself to be the most creative band on the MotiveSounds roster, this is by far the best recording on the label to date. Additionally, I can only imagine that the live show is just that much more epic than the recording.
A Lily
Canterbury
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/trackingthetrends/alily.jpg
Website: A Lily (http://www.alily.co.uk/)
Music: Myspace (http://www.myspace.com/alily)
Wake:Sleep is an album that mainly concerns itself in subtleties, minutia, and minor details. Those looking for the "bigger picture" are probably prone to discard it as a wasteful excursion, while those taking the times to involve themselves in James Vella's games will be satisfied several times over. The first six tracks take on a life of their own, developing frighteningly real personalities capable of interacting with the listener on several planes. Vella lets the music be his guide to setting up dense networks of moods and emotions. Every sound triggers another, and this reaction spreads and grows until the music is breathing on its own. Vocal samples trickle into the conscious mind, penetrating the outer shell and implanting a soul into the music. The layers upon layers of sounds tightly bound together to form bones, tissues, organs, and A Lily really comes to life in front of your very own eyes. Solo projects such as this often rely on gimmicks to keep the listeners attention, but Vella's work with Yndi Halda precedes him on [i]Wake:Sleep[/b]. We should be able to find some interesting guitar lines fed throughout the album, and indeed, if you dig down through all the beeps, clicks, and pops, you can here the soft strings of the guitar gently guiding the tracks along. Vella isn't a man content to stay focused on one idea, so the second half of the album wipes the bizarre organic creation away by initiating an cleansing drone process. "Arms Around Sleep" introduces the "sleep" part of the album and "Shipwreck" lays it to rest. As a listener I kind of would like to see Vella's mystical creation return for one last dance at the end of "Shipwreck," but in Wake:Sleep there is no waking from this deep slumber.
If you can say nothing else about the man, I find it impressive that at an age where he cannot even legally buy a drink in the United States James Vella has been a part of two entirely different yet phenomenal albums. I suppose this would begin to put him on a track to be admired by his peers, as he will undoubtedly only add to this impressive resume over the years. Surely he's staying in England for the drinks currently, but perhaps if we're lucky we'll be able to catch him stateside sometime in the future.
Day for Airstrikes
Manchester
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/trackingthetrends/dayforairstrikes.jpg
Website: Day for Airstrikes (http://www.dayforairstrikes.co.uk/)
Music: Myspace (http://www.myspace.com/dayforairstrikes)
Day for Airstrikes made a splash last year with their debut release Secret Whale, heralded by many British critics as a wonderful work of art. While Secret Whale had its fair share of interesting moments, there was still plenty to find fault with it, such as the formulaic song structures and poor production quality. But really, what is an independent band suppose to do? Widows is the band's second release, surfacing this June, and it does show a lot of progress from this sextet. First of all, compositions are much heartier and complicated, which demonstrates an increased level of maturity. While the production is better overall, there are still several places where the mixing is not ideal, and this does appear to be the band's greatest downfall once again. That aside, Widows is an album that attacks on all fronts, combining a pure rock ethic with sophisticated instrumentation to fill in the gaps. Day Without Airstrikes takes the listener on some epic post-rock ballads, passing through scenic soundscapes on way to blistering breakdowns. There's a good amount of psychedelic elements implanted in these breakdowns, and as I search for an artist to compare them to the one that most readily comes to mind is Incubus. You might be saying to yourself, "Incubus isn’t an instrumental band," but think again and you'll realize you are wrong. The highlight of the album is "The Craftiest Plan Known to Man," which runs very smoothly with a smart rhythm section and an appropriate amount of pedal effects. The longer tracks "It's Your Funeral and it's Fantastic," "Ask Ted Danson," and "Less Worrier, More Warrior" up the ante in terms of intensity, but as a result they must spend more time building up to these crushing moments. Day Without Airstrikes does a great job keeping the composition fluid and not giving in to stagnation. The major problem lies in the transitional pieces, which could be related to one of two things. Either it is not using enough different instruments, or the mixing is hiding these instruments in the background as the guitar and drum take over. Since the band claims to be utilizing a wide array on instruments on the album, I tend to think it's the latter, but try as I may I don't think I'm missing any key ingredients. As such, these longer songs sometimes have trouble piecing the parts together into a coherent song.
With more listens Widows becomes more and more of a treat. I find that playing it as loud as possible maximizes the enjoyment and gives it almost a live feel, which consequently also minimizes the mixing issues. Despite my criticisms, Day Without Airstrikes is coming into their own in the UK scene, and I suspect that on its next release it will fully be a functional force. The band has quite a lot to bring to the table in terms of creativity, but it just needs to work out a few kinks to solidify it's approach. In any case, fans of These Monsters and Upc Downc should invest some time looking into Day Without Airstrikes.
The Monroe Transfer
London
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/trackingthetrends/themonroetransfer.jpg
Website: The Monroe Transfer (http://www.themonroetransfer.co.uk/)
Music: Myspace (http://www.myspace.com/electricoldwirenoise)
While listening to Electric Old Wire Noise, I can't help but feel like The Monroe Transfer could do better. This five song EP shows a very sophisticated side of post-rock, walking a humble line between the works of Mono and A Silver Mount Zion while dabbling in electronics enough to give it a dirty appearance. Yet, the talent of the band shines through this release and Electric Old Wire Noise does not do them justice. The biggest drawback is the ordering of the songs. "End Music" starts off the experience but literally crawls along with a lifeless force until the last minute and a half or so where they pick up the momentum in standard quiet/loud fashion. The ending is a nice collaboration of instruments, but the journey getting there was very unmotivated and superfluous in my eyes. The second track is really where the EP should start. "A Long Fall and No One to Catch" introduces itself with a really nice electric sound -- kind of a dragging, static noise. A very simple guitar line is then fed into the machine and the track takes off. The bass guitar and violin are added in turn, building up a wonderful layer of sound. The instruments and sounds are subtlety changed throughout the song, but the electronic pulse remains constant until the very end of the song when it is cut completely off and just like that the band vanishes. "Songcircle" segues into the second half of the album, putting some experimental/ambient tones into the band's work, a fitting cap to the cliffhanger at the end of "A Long Fall." "That Was Then, This is Now" starts off very impressively. Authoritative riffs hail in The Monroe Transfer similar to Red Sparrows and for about three minutes or so things are going smoothly. Then it takes a turn for the worst as it quickly decays into a mess of experimental backwash. "Deconstruction" is probably a better phrase to use, but I'm not really one from semantics. "Hallelujah/Twinkle Twinle" does manage to rebound the downward spiral. An energetic blast of violin and guitar rock shoots through the air to set the band back on track. The drums get to what they do best -- pounding out a fierce beat -- and the track glides along effortlessly. After a short respite, "Twinkle Twinkle" provides a gentle encore to conclude this work.
In the end, Electric Old Wire Noise is a schizophrenic listen. Some parts are really brilliant and nicely executed, whereas other come off as sloppy and rushed. Oftentimes this dichotomy happens in the same track, which is just a confusing way to try to sort of mangled compositions. I have no doubt that there is a brilliant piece of work inside of this band, but as of now I'd much rather devote my time to someone like Blueneck who is in control of its music more so than The Monroe Transfer.
The Quiller Memorandum
Exeter
http://myspace-616.vo.llnwd.net/00369/61/63/369843616_l.jpg
Website: The Quiller Memorandum (http://www.myspace.com/thequillermemorandum)
Music: Myspace (http://www.myspace.com/thequillermemorandum)
The Quiller Memorandum is a band that is constantly changing. The band's 2006 self titled album captures them in a state of blissful metallic post-rock infused with an antiquated musical presence. Vocals make guest appearances on the work, ranging from guttural, brutal screams to airy, fragile cries. As you might expect, The Quiller Memorandum spend a good amount of time constructing delicate sonic foundations only to level them completely with a shot of aggression and a "down and dirty" metallic breakdown. "The Bastard Hawk" demonstrates this perfectly by sending out devastating sound waves and high octane drumming. Like most bands toting a metal influence, the drumming gets pretty intense -- almost to the point of insanity. The Quiller Memorandum also highlights the album with audio samples, adding a political edge to its work. All of these elements come into play during the album closer, "March Into the Sweater Apocalypse," where the buzzing of the guitars becomes so prominent it almost forces the ears to convulse in pain. With hints of psychedelic and stoner rock thrown in, the band navigates pretty smoothly throughout the album and draws up some pretty strong resemblances of bands like Pelican, Mogwai, Neurosis, and Angel Eyes, and although The Quiller Memorandum certainly doesn't leave anything to be desired, there's not much that sets them apart from the pack. However, given the present company they reside with, that's not necessarily a bad thing.
Although The Quiller Memorandum hasn't created its own sound with it's self-titled album, it has carved its niche in the genre and shows itself to be more than adequate at performing some of the more difficult tasks accomplished by the bands preceding them. For a band as restless as The Quiller Memorandum, I'd expect to see them shifting gears yet again on the next release. Through experience the band learns how to better itself, and in doing so it often forgets its past.
~Jordan Volz
~~~~~~~~~~
Tracking the Trends:
Delightful Danes:
(Part I) (http://www.decoymusic.com/vb/showthread.php?t=13239)
The Italian Embrace:
(Part I) (http://www.decoymusic.com/vb/showthread.php?t=12135).
Japan: After the J-Pop:
(Part I) (http://www.decoymusic.com/vb/showthread.php?t=11581) (Part II) (http://www.decoymusic.com/vb/showthread.php?t=13064).
US Instrumental Rock :
(Part 0) (http://www.decoymusic.com/vb/showthread.php?t=3348)(Part I) (http://www.decoymusic.com/vb/showthread.php?t=8023) (Part II) (http://www.decoymusic.com/vb/showthread.php?t=8355) (Part III) (http://www.decoymusic.com/vb/showthread.php?t=8953) (Part IV) (http://www.decoymusic.com/vb/showthread.php?t=10507).
Experimental British Rock:
(Part I) (http://www.decoymusic.com/vb/showthread.php?t=5080) (Part II) (http://www.decoymusic.com/vb/showthread.php?t=5512) (Part III) (http://www.decoymusic.com/vb/showthread.php?t=6377) (Part IV) (http://www.decoymusic.com/vb/showthread.php?t=10879).
Swedish Post Rock:
(Part I) (http://www.decoymusic.com/vb/showthread.php?t=4442).
Australian Underdogs:
(Part I) (http://www.decoymusic.com/vb/showthread.php?t=4257).
Top 50 Instrumental Albums of 2005:
(1-10) (http://www.decoymusic.com/vb/showthread.php?t=6772) (11-20) (http://www.decoymusic.com/vb/showthread.php?t=6773) (21-30) (http://www.decoymusic.com/vb/showthread.php?t=6774) (31-40) (http://www.decoymusic.com/vb/showthread.php?t=6775) (41-50) (http://www.decoymusic.com/vb/showthread.php?t=6776).
British Experimental Rock Part V
Tracking the Trends returns to the UK to explore the hot releases of the summer. No, I'm not talking about Muse here. Get your suntan ready and grab ahold of one of the following releases.
Capulet
Preston
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/trackingthetrends/capulet.jpg
Website: MotiveSounds (http://www.motivesounds.com)
Music: Myspace (http://www.myspace.com/capuletuk)
I'm going to be really honest right off the bat, Capulet doesn't really provide anything you haven't heard before. If you've managed to stumble across a band called Explosions in the Sky before, Capulet is going to be a very familiar listen. That said, I find the band's debut album, The World is a Tragic Place, But there is Grace All Around Us, So Attend to this Grace, to be a really enjoyable listen. In fact, there have been countless times where I've been listening to Capulet over the past few weeks and I'm 100% positive that I'm listening to Explosions in the Sky. No joke. Look at the introduction to "Champ"; how did Explosions in the Sky not write that? I'll leave the comparisons there, I only note upon it because although bands often get compared to EitS for following similar types of instrumental thought, I've never believed a band has actually come anywhere close to recreating the magic that's found in the works of the Texan quartet. But Capulet does. It's spooky. Anyway, back to the music. The tracks that will really grab the listener are "Champs," "No Time Spoke the Clocks," and "F#", although "Boys Vs Girls" is a nice change of pace from the rest of the album and deserves a mention for keeping the album's dynamic fresh. Through use of reverb and tantalizing repetition, these tracks lull the listener into a false sense of security before the band cripples him with a crushing melodic finale. However, in true post-rock fashion, the album closer, "Champs," takes the cake. While the guitars pluck away calmly, you can begin to feel the drums exert slightly more force over time. This is the cue to speed things up, and Capulet follows the lead. Sooner than you know it, the band has reached maximum capacity and the guitars are relentlessly flaring through the sonic landscape, taking no prisoners and shredding everything in its path into little pieces. Meanwhile, the drummer is replacing his drum kit, because there is really little left of it after the brutal climax, and you must know that the song isn't over. The waves of delay and reverb begin to echo indefinitely, but the interference is cut short as Capulet takes one last stab into the heart of the song, shaking loose the nuts and bolts and setting its foot down on a long thread of feedback that scraps the remaining bits of paint off the wall. Although variations are applied to this backbone, the rest of the album falls safely along these lines, albeit with a reduced intensity. It's a fun ride; you keep setting them up and Capulet is sure to knock them down.
The good people at MotiveSounds are releasing The World is a Tragic Place... on July 3rd, and those of you needing a dose of well crafted guitar-rock should seriously considering picking up a copy. Although Capulet doesn't show itself to be the most creative band on the MotiveSounds roster, this is by far the best recording on the label to date. Additionally, I can only imagine that the live show is just that much more epic than the recording.
A Lily
Canterbury
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/trackingthetrends/alily.jpg
Website: A Lily (http://www.alily.co.uk/)
Music: Myspace (http://www.myspace.com/alily)
Wake:Sleep is an album that mainly concerns itself in subtleties, minutia, and minor details. Those looking for the "bigger picture" are probably prone to discard it as a wasteful excursion, while those taking the times to involve themselves in James Vella's games will be satisfied several times over. The first six tracks take on a life of their own, developing frighteningly real personalities capable of interacting with the listener on several planes. Vella lets the music be his guide to setting up dense networks of moods and emotions. Every sound triggers another, and this reaction spreads and grows until the music is breathing on its own. Vocal samples trickle into the conscious mind, penetrating the outer shell and implanting a soul into the music. The layers upon layers of sounds tightly bound together to form bones, tissues, organs, and A Lily really comes to life in front of your very own eyes. Solo projects such as this often rely on gimmicks to keep the listeners attention, but Vella's work with Yndi Halda precedes him on [i]Wake:Sleep[/b]. We should be able to find some interesting guitar lines fed throughout the album, and indeed, if you dig down through all the beeps, clicks, and pops, you can here the soft strings of the guitar gently guiding the tracks along. Vella isn't a man content to stay focused on one idea, so the second half of the album wipes the bizarre organic creation away by initiating an cleansing drone process. "Arms Around Sleep" introduces the "sleep" part of the album and "Shipwreck" lays it to rest. As a listener I kind of would like to see Vella's mystical creation return for one last dance at the end of "Shipwreck," but in Wake:Sleep there is no waking from this deep slumber.
If you can say nothing else about the man, I find it impressive that at an age where he cannot even legally buy a drink in the United States James Vella has been a part of two entirely different yet phenomenal albums. I suppose this would begin to put him on a track to be admired by his peers, as he will undoubtedly only add to this impressive resume over the years. Surely he's staying in England for the drinks currently, but perhaps if we're lucky we'll be able to catch him stateside sometime in the future.
Day for Airstrikes
Manchester
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/trackingthetrends/dayforairstrikes.jpg
Website: Day for Airstrikes (http://www.dayforairstrikes.co.uk/)
Music: Myspace (http://www.myspace.com/dayforairstrikes)
Day for Airstrikes made a splash last year with their debut release Secret Whale, heralded by many British critics as a wonderful work of art. While Secret Whale had its fair share of interesting moments, there was still plenty to find fault with it, such as the formulaic song structures and poor production quality. But really, what is an independent band suppose to do? Widows is the band's second release, surfacing this June, and it does show a lot of progress from this sextet. First of all, compositions are much heartier and complicated, which demonstrates an increased level of maturity. While the production is better overall, there are still several places where the mixing is not ideal, and this does appear to be the band's greatest downfall once again. That aside, Widows is an album that attacks on all fronts, combining a pure rock ethic with sophisticated instrumentation to fill in the gaps. Day Without Airstrikes takes the listener on some epic post-rock ballads, passing through scenic soundscapes on way to blistering breakdowns. There's a good amount of psychedelic elements implanted in these breakdowns, and as I search for an artist to compare them to the one that most readily comes to mind is Incubus. You might be saying to yourself, "Incubus isn’t an instrumental band," but think again and you'll realize you are wrong. The highlight of the album is "The Craftiest Plan Known to Man," which runs very smoothly with a smart rhythm section and an appropriate amount of pedal effects. The longer tracks "It's Your Funeral and it's Fantastic," "Ask Ted Danson," and "Less Worrier, More Warrior" up the ante in terms of intensity, but as a result they must spend more time building up to these crushing moments. Day Without Airstrikes does a great job keeping the composition fluid and not giving in to stagnation. The major problem lies in the transitional pieces, which could be related to one of two things. Either it is not using enough different instruments, or the mixing is hiding these instruments in the background as the guitar and drum take over. Since the band claims to be utilizing a wide array on instruments on the album, I tend to think it's the latter, but try as I may I don't think I'm missing any key ingredients. As such, these longer songs sometimes have trouble piecing the parts together into a coherent song.
With more listens Widows becomes more and more of a treat. I find that playing it as loud as possible maximizes the enjoyment and gives it almost a live feel, which consequently also minimizes the mixing issues. Despite my criticisms, Day Without Airstrikes is coming into their own in the UK scene, and I suspect that on its next release it will fully be a functional force. The band has quite a lot to bring to the table in terms of creativity, but it just needs to work out a few kinks to solidify it's approach. In any case, fans of These Monsters and Upc Downc should invest some time looking into Day Without Airstrikes.
The Monroe Transfer
London
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/trackingthetrends/themonroetransfer.jpg
Website: The Monroe Transfer (http://www.themonroetransfer.co.uk/)
Music: Myspace (http://www.myspace.com/electricoldwirenoise)
While listening to Electric Old Wire Noise, I can't help but feel like The Monroe Transfer could do better. This five song EP shows a very sophisticated side of post-rock, walking a humble line between the works of Mono and A Silver Mount Zion while dabbling in electronics enough to give it a dirty appearance. Yet, the talent of the band shines through this release and Electric Old Wire Noise does not do them justice. The biggest drawback is the ordering of the songs. "End Music" starts off the experience but literally crawls along with a lifeless force until the last minute and a half or so where they pick up the momentum in standard quiet/loud fashion. The ending is a nice collaboration of instruments, but the journey getting there was very unmotivated and superfluous in my eyes. The second track is really where the EP should start. "A Long Fall and No One to Catch" introduces itself with a really nice electric sound -- kind of a dragging, static noise. A very simple guitar line is then fed into the machine and the track takes off. The bass guitar and violin are added in turn, building up a wonderful layer of sound. The instruments and sounds are subtlety changed throughout the song, but the electronic pulse remains constant until the very end of the song when it is cut completely off and just like that the band vanishes. "Songcircle" segues into the second half of the album, putting some experimental/ambient tones into the band's work, a fitting cap to the cliffhanger at the end of "A Long Fall." "That Was Then, This is Now" starts off very impressively. Authoritative riffs hail in The Monroe Transfer similar to Red Sparrows and for about three minutes or so things are going smoothly. Then it takes a turn for the worst as it quickly decays into a mess of experimental backwash. "Deconstruction" is probably a better phrase to use, but I'm not really one from semantics. "Hallelujah/Twinkle Twinle" does manage to rebound the downward spiral. An energetic blast of violin and guitar rock shoots through the air to set the band back on track. The drums get to what they do best -- pounding out a fierce beat -- and the track glides along effortlessly. After a short respite, "Twinkle Twinkle" provides a gentle encore to conclude this work.
In the end, Electric Old Wire Noise is a schizophrenic listen. Some parts are really brilliant and nicely executed, whereas other come off as sloppy and rushed. Oftentimes this dichotomy happens in the same track, which is just a confusing way to try to sort of mangled compositions. I have no doubt that there is a brilliant piece of work inside of this band, but as of now I'd much rather devote my time to someone like Blueneck who is in control of its music more so than The Monroe Transfer.
The Quiller Memorandum
Exeter
http://myspace-616.vo.llnwd.net/00369/61/63/369843616_l.jpg
Website: The Quiller Memorandum (http://www.myspace.com/thequillermemorandum)
Music: Myspace (http://www.myspace.com/thequillermemorandum)
The Quiller Memorandum is a band that is constantly changing. The band's 2006 self titled album captures them in a state of blissful metallic post-rock infused with an antiquated musical presence. Vocals make guest appearances on the work, ranging from guttural, brutal screams to airy, fragile cries. As you might expect, The Quiller Memorandum spend a good amount of time constructing delicate sonic foundations only to level them completely with a shot of aggression and a "down and dirty" metallic breakdown. "The Bastard Hawk" demonstrates this perfectly by sending out devastating sound waves and high octane drumming. Like most bands toting a metal influence, the drumming gets pretty intense -- almost to the point of insanity. The Quiller Memorandum also highlights the album with audio samples, adding a political edge to its work. All of these elements come into play during the album closer, "March Into the Sweater Apocalypse," where the buzzing of the guitars becomes so prominent it almost forces the ears to convulse in pain. With hints of psychedelic and stoner rock thrown in, the band navigates pretty smoothly throughout the album and draws up some pretty strong resemblances of bands like Pelican, Mogwai, Neurosis, and Angel Eyes, and although The Quiller Memorandum certainly doesn't leave anything to be desired, there's not much that sets them apart from the pack. However, given the present company they reside with, that's not necessarily a bad thing.
Although The Quiller Memorandum hasn't created its own sound with it's self-titled album, it has carved its niche in the genre and shows itself to be more than adequate at performing some of the more difficult tasks accomplished by the bands preceding them. For a band as restless as The Quiller Memorandum, I'd expect to see them shifting gears yet again on the next release. Through experience the band learns how to better itself, and in doing so it often forgets its past.
~Jordan Volz
~~~~~~~~~~
Tracking the Trends:
Delightful Danes:
(Part I) (http://www.decoymusic.com/vb/showthread.php?t=13239)
The Italian Embrace:
(Part I) (http://www.decoymusic.com/vb/showthread.php?t=12135).
Japan: After the J-Pop:
(Part I) (http://www.decoymusic.com/vb/showthread.php?t=11581) (Part II) (http://www.decoymusic.com/vb/showthread.php?t=13064).
US Instrumental Rock :
(Part 0) (http://www.decoymusic.com/vb/showthread.php?t=3348)(Part I) (http://www.decoymusic.com/vb/showthread.php?t=8023) (Part II) (http://www.decoymusic.com/vb/showthread.php?t=8355) (Part III) (http://www.decoymusic.com/vb/showthread.php?t=8953) (Part IV) (http://www.decoymusic.com/vb/showthread.php?t=10507).
Experimental British Rock:
(Part I) (http://www.decoymusic.com/vb/showthread.php?t=5080) (Part II) (http://www.decoymusic.com/vb/showthread.php?t=5512) (Part III) (http://www.decoymusic.com/vb/showthread.php?t=6377) (Part IV) (http://www.decoymusic.com/vb/showthread.php?t=10879).
Swedish Post Rock:
(Part I) (http://www.decoymusic.com/vb/showthread.php?t=4442).
Australian Underdogs:
(Part I) (http://www.decoymusic.com/vb/showthread.php?t=4257).
Top 50 Instrumental Albums of 2005:
(1-10) (http://www.decoymusic.com/vb/showthread.php?t=6772) (11-20) (http://www.decoymusic.com/vb/showthread.php?t=6773) (21-30) (http://www.decoymusic.com/vb/showthread.php?t=6774) (31-40) (http://www.decoymusic.com/vb/showthread.php?t=6775) (41-50) (http://www.decoymusic.com/vb/showthread.php?t=6776).