Thamud - Remnants of Time (2010 - 320Kbps)

Music can be as much an outlet for self-expression as it can be a tool to communicate with others. There is a pervasive theme with black metal bands, no matter the country, that accomplishes neither of the aforementioned goals. Most are too obsessed with the public persona of Satanism and the need to seem as evil as possible. It is rare to find bands that use the genre as a means of true personal expression. Luckily, I stumbled upon a band from the United Arab Emirates that does just that. Thamud, ironically a one-man band named after an ancient race of people in Arabia, is a project created purely as a means of self-expression. It was the manifestation of a man's desire to reach out to anyone that would listen.

The official genre label for Thamud is ambient black metal and the music stays along that path with the exception of the last track on the demo, Lost Within Mists Of Time. The last track borders on a classical composition, but stays in-tune with the general feel of the entire demo. It's hard to put into words, but what I sense from this project is eerie melancholy. “Lost Within Mists OF Time” is the star of this demo, it bleeds emotion in the rawest sense and transports me to a snow laden Lincoln Park (Jersey City, NJ – look it up, it's a dismal place on it's best day) sitting on a bench overlooking the polluted man-made lake. I used to go there to escape the chaos of family life and just reflected on things. That time of my life is what this track brings back to me. It is very rare when a song that I have no history with brings nostalgia of that kind.

The secondary focus of this project is the fourth track, Al Hajaj Ibn Yousif Al Thaqafey. What makes this so addictive, because that's what it is, is the absolutely amazing sound sample used to break up the song. It's a speech from an ancient religious figure, Al Hajjaj Ibn Yusuf, that was featured in an Arabic TV show. The man's exudes strength and confidence which combine to give way to a certain charisma that translates well in his voice. The speech is the backbone of this song and it's a little unfortunate for non-Arabic speakers that the language barrier exists. Though what he is saying really isn't of much importance as much as the authority that he gives off, the words do add an extra punch to the song. A rough translation of the last bit of the speech before the music cuts in:

I have two swords, the sword of mercy and the sword of torture and judgment. For the sword of mercy, it has fallen from me along the path so I left it. And the sword of torture and judgment, for this is it.. -sound of a sword being unsheathed can be heard-

Musically, the song has a groove to it that is refreshing despite the general absence of bass guitar in the entire demo.

The demo is sparse vocally with growls making an appearance in tracks 2 and 3 only. They add a more aggressive element beyond the music itself which gives a hard edge to the aforementioned theme of melancholy of each song.

This review was a little personal so it took some time to write, but I hope I was able to translate it into words well enough for you, the readers.

Year of Release: 2010
Genre: Ambient Black Metal.
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 320 kbps

Track List:
1. Remnants Of Time
2. From The Womb of Peace
3. Yadheeq Al Sadir
4. Al Hajaj Ibn Yousif Al Thaquafey
5. Lost Within Mists of Time

Download: Thamud Remnants of Time
Download Size: 31.23 mb

JoyRide - We Come in Peace (2008 - 320Kbps)

Zer0_ii thought that this month we ought to highlight some unsigned artists, give them a bit o’ the old web & ear time.

Unsigned artists...shit, from my years of doing EAT POOP! ‘zine I have so many demos, self-produced cds, or independent label materials I could do a whole blog on just it alone. But not many folks are looking for one-offs or obscure tuneage from long gone bands. I get sent all kinds of new musick over at NSS with review or post-up requests, but I’m sure hundreds of other blogs get the same stuff, so I only post it sporadically at best.

However, as a way for me to start off, I’m going to offer up some neo funk from a friend of mine. I was personally involved in this disc’s genesis & I believe its story is interesting, if tragic.

I used to work my wage-slave day job with Rick ‘G Funk’ Smith, guitarist extraordinaire. He was working with some other musickians who had all been in the business for many years, playing alongside the likes of Sly Stone, Larry Graham, & other great funkateers. He had an idea for an album & needed some help to make it happen. So I signed on as manager of the project & turned over my living room to weekly practices.

The disc We Come in Peace I am presenting now is the results. Shortly after the birth of this baby, Rick’s oldest son Alec ‘Young Ace’ Smith (who does the vocal intro & outro) was killed at a local Yuba City party. Thus sounded the funereal knell for this project that sadly I gladly share with you all now.

JoyRide is: Rick ‘G Funk’ Smith - guitar & vocals; Ken Miller - bass; Dwight Hogan - bass; Doug Smith - keyboards; Jarrett Aitkens - drums; & Kym Botts - vocals.

Year of Release: 2008
Label: Self released/JoyRide Music
Genre: Neo Funk, Urban Funk

Tracklist:
Here We Come
True Passion
I’m Alright Now
We Come in Peace
Knowledge
Just a Melody
Thighland
Honesty
Coffe with Mary
The Light
You Still Have Me

Download: JoyRide - We Come in Peace
Download Size: 117Mb

Hox Vox - Marcel Duchamp (2010)

I'm long overdue for a video post, so I thought I would share this unique tribute to Marcel Duchamp with you all. This video video was submitted to me by Hox Vox, a multimedia, avant-garde artist out of Italy. Hox has given me permission to share his music here, and I plan to share a real masterpiece of an album in my next post, along with a more detailed description of Hox and his music. The video above is for a track found on Hox's 2010 album, Dada (Cabaret Voltaire), which pays tribute to many early 20th century avant-garde artists. You can find a download link to a high-definition version of the video at the bottom of this post, as well as a link to the video on Digital Meltd0wn's fledgling Youtube channel.

Marcel Duchamp was an important figure in the early 20th century avant-garde art movement, particularly his contributions to Dada. His ideas were extremely controversial at the time, and he challenged many people to reconsider the very definition of art with his works. Duchamp was highly influenced by Post Impressionist artists at a young age. His early work primarily consisted of paintings and multimedia works in the avant-garde styles of cubism and fauvism. From the very beginning of his career there was controversy attached to Duchamp's name. His first major cubist painting, "Nude Descending a Starcase No. 2," caused quite a stir at a 1913 exhibit in New York. Americans, who were unfamiliar with Parisian avant-garde and futurist movements, were equally intrigued and dismayed. Many people claimed that it wasn't art, since they found it to be lacking elements of realism, nor did it appear to require a great degree of technical ability to produce.

Although Duchamp's paintings were scandalous for their time, outside of the Parisian Avant-Garde movement, the medium he was working with was still one people were intimately familiar with. Eventually Duchamp's artistic ideology evolved a great deal. He would go on to be a pioneering figure in a few avant-garde styles, and he began to produce works that were unlike anything many people had ever conceived as art. He achieved notoriety for his controversial submission, "The Fountain," to an art exhibit. The fountain was simply a urinal that Duchamp had inverted and signed R. Mutt. Duchamp's "found art," or readymades as he preferred to call them, consisted of inconspicuous everyday items, such as the urinal; yet despite their mundane nature, these pieces became more radical within an artistic context, and proved to be polarizing within many artistic circles. The majority of people dismissed Duchamp's readymade pieces outright, and determined that they had no redeeming qualities, and therefore were were void of artistic value. However, many others, including many prominent artists of the era, believed that he was attempting to replace the image and idea associated with the urinal, and frame it within a different perspective, thus creating a new and unique personal association with the item in question. You can read more about Duchamp and his life on this website.

There was a time in my life when I also dismissed such art as simply pranks, or art for pseudo-intellectual hipsters; however, as I grew older I began to acknowledge the possibility that it could be created for a different purpose. Even if it was submitted by Duchamp as simply a gag, or or to prove a point, I finally managed to find some redeeming value in such artistic "statements." As for "Fountain" in particular, some might call me a sucker, but I like to think of it as a blank, urinal-shaped canvas for the mind, allowing each individual to create a new "thought" associated with it upon viewing it. It can be anything your mind has a natural inclination to associate it with, and the same concept applies to many other pieces of "found art." If some of you wouldn't mind taking the time to share your opinion with me, I would like to read your interpretation of Duchamp's ideas also.

If you could, please provide Hox with some feedback on the video. I'm sure that Hox will view this post, and he would greatly appreciate any comments you have to offer.

Download: Hox Vox - Marcel Duchamp
Download Size: 101MB

Youtube URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcjdI10W0V8

VA - Ar-Ra'd (2010 - 320 kbps)

The purpose of thunder is sometimes an elusive one. It serves to warn us of the proximity of a storm and of the sometimes dangerous lightning when we fail to notice it ourselves. You could say that it is nature's reporter broadcasting the destruction that it has rought to all that are in hearing range. That is exactly the function of this compilation. It's name is Ar-Ra'd and it means "The Thunder" in Arabic. The compilation as described by the who made the project possible:

We extend this compilation to the world as a sign of solidarity and
admiration, moral support, but most importantly, spiritual support for
all suffering Middle Eastern peoples. Your cultural and spiritual
contributions to this Earth are a treasure to behold, and these songs
reflect the admiration for Middle Eastern art, culture, faith, and above
all, STRENGTH.
Peace be with you
-Rex The Ninth
November 2, 2010

Ar-Ra'd is a 2010 post-industrial, and a varying-in-genre compilation which was designed, written and independently released by Rex the Ninth. The content of the compilation is neither pro nor anti-political in agenda, but rather an offering of Rex the Ninth's patriotism to the middle-east and its people who are subjected to tyranny and oppression, in any shape or form. As far as I'm concerned, it was a pleasure to be musically-involved in contribution to the overall visual intent, along with the involvement of the following acts featured.
-Learza

A good deal of the tracks have a rather disturbing element to them that is hard to describe. The exceptions being Qafas', Thamud's and Satan's Scrotum's tracks. Qafas' track is a melancholic classic song that has a vintage feel to it. Thamud's track is an ambient black metal song. Satan's Scrotum's track is the only odd one to me, as much as I love the group's name, it doesn't seem to fit the overall feel of the compilation. It breaks through the pervasive emotional heaviness of all the other songs with an ironic sense of cheerfulness. Overall, it is hard to describe the disquiet and sadness that I felt while listening to this compilation for the first time last year. A word of warning for those that may not like noise: tracks 1, 2, 3, 7 and 13 will disturb you regardless of your personal preference. What makes those tracks is the combination of sound samples with utterly disquieting...music I suppose? No, more like amplified static and distortion that puts you on edge. I hope this projects touches you in some way. That you hear the thunder rumbling in the distance.

Year of Release: 2010
Genre: Mult-genre.
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 320 kbps

Track List:
1. Hohner Comet – No Name [From Koulouna Gaza]
2. Talib Aziiz – Mein Ma In Ga 6
3. Front Sonore – Marmara Turc
4. Rex The Ninith Ft. Talib Aziiz – A Faith That Knows No Bounds
5. Barbarossa Umtrunk Ft. Schattenspiel – Sayful Islam II
6. Zebulon Kosted – Breaking The Spell
7. El-Iksir - Az-Zurah
8. IGNIIS – Tema 42
9. Barbarossa Umtrunk – Dans Les Entrailles De Moloch
10. Qafas - A'Teni Al Nay [A Tribute to Fairuz]
11. Satan's Scrotum – Egyptian Halloween Hearse Curse
12. Thamud – The Last Streak Of Reality
13. Rex The Ninth – Let The Crescent Light The Way

Download: Ar-Ra'd Compilation
Download Size: 238 mb

Shinichirô Ikebe - Dreams | Rhapsody In August | Madadayo (1990, 1991, 1993)

I watched Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams for the first time a few months ago. I have seen several of his other works, but honestly Dreams really haunts me the most. I heartily recommend it, but I know that it is not for everybody. Considering the anxiety about the nuclear age expressed in this film, and the ongoing nuclear crisis in Japan, I thought it fitting to post this fantastic score by composer Shinichirô Ikebe.

Ikebe was born in Mito, Japan in 1943. He graduated from Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music with a master’s degree in 1971. He is probably best known for his work in classical music, but he has also worked in TV, film and radio. He is the recipient of a very long list of prestigious awards.

This release is mostly the score for Dreams, but tacks on about five bonus tracks from two other Kurosawa films. There is diverse range of moods explored here, expressed through classical, vocal, and traditional Japanese music. There are also some frightening and hypnotic sound effects on the Mount Fuji in Red tracks. Overall, I think the whole album is really good, but my favorite track is The Feast. It starts with some divine Japanese fue, and then brings in some interesting percussion, followed by some kind of plucked instrument. To me it imparts a peaceful fascination with the natural world, but I think it is used in the film in the sequence where a boy, paying no heed to his mother’s warning, is spying on a parade of foxes. My other favorite track is Funeral Procession, which doesn’t sound like any funeral music I’ve ever heard. It is composed of several sections characterized by percussion, wind instruments, possibly some brass, and chanting. I have no idea what the chanters are saying, but it doesn’t matter, because it is awesome.

I want to extend my deepest condolences to all the people who are dealing with the disaster wrought by the earthquake and tsunami.

Year of Release: 2002
Label: Toho Music
Catalog #: AK-0014
Genre: Soundtrack, Classical, Japanese Traditional
Media: CD
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 224 kbps

Track List:
1. Titles (1:50)
2. Sunshower (3:52)
3. Rainbow (1:11)
4. The Feast (4:20)
5. The Fields (1:00)
6. A Spirit In The Fields (1:36)
7. The Snow Woman (2:56)
8. From Behind The Clouds (2:11)
9. Requiem Trumpet (1:17)
10. Raindrops (M11, by Chopin) (2:09)
11. Raindrops (M12, by Chopin) (0:56)
12. Raindrops (M13, by Chopin) (2:13)
13. Mount Fuji In Red (M15 Temp Mix T-1) (1:59)
14. Mount Fuji In Red (M16 Working Sound Temp Mix T-1) (1:23)
15. Radiation (0:55)
16. The Town In The Castle Ruins (0:40)
17. The Crying Demon (1:21)
18. Funeral Procession (5:39)
19. Ending (Caucasian Sketches Op. 10 by Ippolitov - Ivanov) (5:59)
20. Her Grieving Heart (From "Stabat Mater" by Vivaldi) (1:45)
21. The Wild Rose (M6 From The Film) (0:41)
22. The Wild Rose (M7) (1:55)
23. A Weeping Mother Was Standing (From "Stabat Mater") (3:02)
24. Vivaldi Concerto From "Harmonic Inspiration" (Concerto No. 9, D Major, 2nd Movement) (4:23)

Download: Shinichirô Ikebe - Dreams | Rhapsody In August | Madadayo
Download Size: 95.9 MB