Once upon a time there was a king, his name was Dr. Strong.
Dr. Strong lived in a great leather garden.

His queen has a little bird.
They ate cha-cha-cha’s whenever disco tasted ’shh’
And little crowes.
The king’s special project was called Zombax, a new pet species.
He spent most of his time communicating with his little animal friends, always nice and generous.

Oh boy
Oh boy

Um, sometimes metal guards like to take Zombax to special parks where little pets can entertain like fun biscuits, and adjust

their own images over and over.
Over and over.
That was cool.

Each pet had their own eagle hairspray, solid chewed soda and fear necklace.

Oh boy
Oh boy, Oh boy
Oh boy

Suddenly on the first day in the middle of spring, Dr. Strong had an argument with little bird.

The Zombax, the Zombax didn’t performed as well as good old days
Rabitt habits had brought Doctor to terminal boredom.

“You just don’t get… rrrid of everything you see,” said the little bird.

“Enough you!” called the doctor behind his elegant sunglasses, and ran through the yellow staircase to grand control room.

Grand control room dominated to beat ocean had a very special global weapon that smelled like lemon-honey lobsters.

“Red alert!”
“Accelerated catastrophe!”
“Program loaded!”
“Oooh!” Big tears came and blurred his glasses while he frantically hit knobs and screens.

Large greasy-colored stars exploded from supermarket City to Fairy Island and blew Dr. Strong’s lifetime project and thick ring of smoke was the raincloud from the rocket window.

(lyrics by Jackson Fourgeaud, aka Jackson and his Computer Band)
(From the song Oh Boy on the album Smash, Warp Records Catalog# WARP137, Released September 19th 2005.)

Album for sale on Amazon and iTunes

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Begin by logging into Gmail and clicking Settings:Accounts and Import. Click the 3rd link from the top: Other Google Account settings https://www.google.com/accounts/b/0/ManageAccount?hl=en&service=mail. Under Personal Settings and next to Multiple sign-in, click the Edit button https://www.google.com/accounts/b/0/MultipleSessions
Highlight the On bubble and click agree on the four checkboxes and then click SAVE.

Sign out and repeat this process for each Gmail address you want to combine.

Next click the dropdown menu link that has your email address in the upper right hand corner of your Gmail account page and scroll down to the link Sign in to another account…
https://www.google.com/accounts/AddSession?continue=https://www.google.com/accounts/b/0/MultipleSessions

Note you will be logged into one Gmail account already at this point and will be logging into a different Gmail account at this point to merge your two gmail accounts together. If you would like to merge more that two Gmail accounts together, simply repeat this step.

As stated on Google, the multiple sign-in is currently fully supported in the following Gmail apps:
Calender
Code
Docs (Google Apps Accounts)
Finance
Gmail
Reader
Sites
Voice

Other issues:
-You can only use Gmail multiple sign-in with 3 Google accounts at one time
-This multiple sign-in feature will not work with every Google product
-Your offline mail and your offline calendar mail will be disabled and you may lose any unsent mail.
-The Google apps that aren’t listed above will by default login to the first account that you signed in to with the web browser you are currently using.
-Having multiple accounts signed in at once may be difficult to remember so be sure to look at the email listed in the upper right and the bottom of mobile browsers to see which account you have currently in use.

-Johnny Darko

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When any band says that their new release will be released on 10” vinyl, you get the sense that its not developed enough to be on a full sized 12” or that its going to be weird. Radiohead’s 2011 nearly EP length album ‘The King of Limbs’ is a little of both. Awkward sound clashes open your ears in the opening track “Bloom” are meant to be off-putting with several time signatures going at once, furthering the notion that all 10” records are experimental to say the least.

As for the sound of the album, its rhythmically driven with the bass and percussion taking on some of the largest rolls every for a Radiohead album. The guitar stays in line with the rhythm section, which is powered by loops and sample sounding bits.

The most familiar sounding track by far is “Little By Little” which brings back some memorably warm guitar tones. Thom is such a tease with his melody leading the song anywhere he chooses for it to go. The guitars follow and the head nodding backing beat sounds like a lo-fi recording of a crack pot inventors’ mechanical toy of the day.

I won’t say this is a dance album, but I did almost feel like I could dance to a couple tracks, which is something I’ve never felt while listening to any Radiohead track before. The beats could even be mistaken for a drum line drum-off. “Feral” highlights the beat driven work with minimalist keyboard bass and blip/glitch laid over it.

I don’t know how many Radiohead songs have hand claps, but “Lotus Flower” is the first track I’ve ever heard actual hand claps on. They sit panned left in your headset, but aren’t very produced. At times sound if they were recorded in a hotel room with unexpected echo and thrown in the mix to keep the weird 10” inch vibe going as the tracks become more like recognizable. The odd off-beat hand claps stand as a firm negation of Radiohead being even remotely near mainstream dance music.

No ballads on this album. However, the beat does slow, the slowest track being “Codex” is highlighted with Thom’s vocals and a familiar piano accompaniment. The simple track quickly fades into sounds of insects and nature that beckon the intro of an acoustic guitar for track 7 “Give Up the Ghost”. Vocal parts are split into 3 with a repeated chorus in the left speaker, and a fuzzed out version of the lead in the right with the main voice sitting in the center channel. The most layered track vocally, Give up the Ghost was one of the most emotional cuts painting for me a picture of springtime, surrounded by tall swaying fields.

On the first listen through, “Separator” was instinctively the most memorable. I wasn’t sure if it was because the middle of the album was nearly seamless, or that the experimental form from the beginning had not had time to be soaked up. I really get into the track about halfway through when the dry guitar enters with its loopy section that is much more reminiscent of a math rock band lick that something from former near rock guitar gods once proclaiming that you won’t be a nothing anymore if you just play guitar. A good ending to a good album. I really feel sad as it ends. It is too short my mind tells me. I feel like its really starting to take off and go somewhere, and then its just over. Oh well. Music can’t really transport me out of a cubicle anyways. So if OK Computer was the eye awakening the world needed, then The King of Limbs is escape that we all attempt to make, but can never successfully manage.

-johnny darko

The Newspaper Edition of the album can still be pre-ordered from their site.

If you’re poor, stream it below:

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The album opens up with the first two tracks “Yamasong” and “Hisashi,” keeping it nice and slow with droney chants and traditional-sounding flute. I was fooled into thinking that the rest of the CD would be the same, but I was treated to breakbeat paired with chopped-up samples in track 4 “Hiroya vs. Miniboss,” electro blips and beeps in track 7 “Silverback,” and downtempo instrumental goodness in track 9 “Yamasong (Remix).”

Rhythm transcends stylistic differences and is present in almost all forms of music; therefore, it’s nice to see On Ensemble proving this point with the ability to skip through different types of genres (and varying complexity in the rhythms). For example, track 7 “Silverback” sounds like material by WARP’s Plaid (if they had access to some really cool drums, of course) with the ensemble’s appreciation for IDM, and track 3 “Waiting” included plenty of sunny vocals and bright chords. Track 8 “Bounce Back” is something for drum corps members to appreciate. Combined with a splash of flute, the percussion shows off how On Ensemble plays as one with the precision that all percussionists strive for.

Ume In The Middle is slated to be release May 5, 2009, so keep your eyes open!

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Listen closely to his single on the album, track #13 “Nowhere To Run” and you may notice similarities to Ladytron’s “Seventeen”, but scarier still is its connection to Crystal Castles and their track “Crimewave“. While the self-titled Crystal Castles album was released one month earlier than The Dino Soars, the single “Nowhere to Run” had been out 2 years earlier as a single. Whether or not they took any influence from the track is inconsequential in the end because the two bands are obviously contemporaries with roots following back to Ladytron, Miss Kitten, and likely Kraftwerk. When asked of the similarities between the tracks however, Steg Rex comments, “I didn’t know who Crystal Castles was 2 years ago when they friended me on Myspace, after I had released the Nowhere To Run Single.” So it is possible that Stegosaurus Rex inspires bands like Crystal Castles. Either way, each band shoots off into different directions as Rex moves into the French inspired disco house realm with amazing cuts like “Fleeting Disco Do” and “Polar”. One of my personal favorites is “Mike Myers”, inspired by Michael Myers Halloween series, its IDM leanings have me respecting Steg Rex’s wide array of musical taste. Check out the video for Nowhere to Run on Youtube.

-johnny darko

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Some standouts include track 4 “Late Night Television” which rivals songs by The Ramones in power and melodic content. Track 6 “Appreciations” includes a vocal presentation that reminds me of Mick Jagger (although with a much better touch of dynamics). The next track “Desert Hymn” slows the release down for a bit of introspective musing on Jesus. Track 10 “Honey Moon Pie” cleverly marries together power-pop with disco, bringing the music close to the realm of avant-pop. Last but not least, track 2 “In The Kitchen” is an exposition of charming lyrics and beautiful rock arrangements.

This release is for fans of The Owls, Silversun Pickups, Call And Response, as well as Ghostly International. Just like a grenade, such a small package brings so much power.

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A formidable release of American shoegaze/avant-pop, this CD will feel at home with fans of shoegaze in general.

The Scarecrow Frequency - Ivory Skeletons Of Dark Horses

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Track 1 “Let’s Pretend” opens with claves and guitar, with percussion and other sounds slowly layering over, working up to a simple love song. Track 2 “Like Being Home” has slightly more in terms of Lucrecia’s electronic music background, with some synths layered in. Track 3 “Counting Backwards” is arguably the best track on the release, quietly driving forward with its beautiful, subtle piano and drum combo, with Lucrecia’s sweet vocals repeating the catchy little chorus. Track 4 “Changing The Weather” changes the direction of the release, toning down the energy with intricate, mellow drums playing triplets. Finally, track 5 “Millones” is a quiet, slow lullaby that closes out the EP with memory of the aural sugar of the last 20 minutes.

While Like Being Home is quite short, it is quite possibly one of the best electronic-acoustic pop releases from Colombia (it will definitely be hard to top by anyone), and is definitely worth a listen. The fact that it is a free download from Series Media means that there will be no excuses for missing this one.

Lucrecia - Counting Backwards

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FYI: Acid Mothers Temple & the Cosmic Inferno differs from the Melting Paraiso U.F.O. not only in line-up but also in style of music. The Cosmic Inferno generally plays much heavier, hard-rock inspired psychedelia, and experiments more with effects pedals. (wikipedia)

-johnny darko

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Moving on to the music, the CD begins with dissonant, droney guitars layered over each other, signaling the album’s mood, austere and introspective, and set over sludgy, spacey rhythms. Distant and melodic, Cadoo’s music slowly explores harmonies and textures without making the music too experimental and unforgiving. Reminiscent of rock/metal-based shoegaze projects such as Jesu, Cadoo favors instrumentals over vocals, and makes sure that guitars don’t overpower the sound, using them only as a way to layer smooth, complex polyphonies over each other. The tracks also incorporate Cadoo’s previously honed skills and know-how of breakbeat rhythms and glitchy production. While most of the tracks are Warp-worthy, the real gems are (surprisingly) the tracks that sound a lot more rock than electronic. Warm and optimistic, they are listenable and easy to follow. For example, track 3 “No Bridge No Water” is a five-minute exposition of brightly melodic synths and strong alternative rock guitar riffs. More pop-structured than the other tracks, the song unabashedly skirts the line between accessibility and sophistication. Track 10 “When Swallowing Becomes Difficult” sounds like something off Ghostly International, being cute yet introspective, with a touch of bittersweet euphoria. These two tracks stand out from the others and bring to the album a bit of avant-pop energy from within a much more downtempo sound.

Bitcrush - When Swallowing Becomes Difficult (30s clip)

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Digitalism - Pogo (YouTube Video)

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Two experimentalist groups from New Jersey collaborate in “Hear Less/ No Good Trying:” Dälek, an alternative hip hop duo comprised of MC Dälek as vocals and Oktopus in production, and Ifwhen, ex-All Natural Lemon & Lime Flavors with Merc (guitar, production, vocals), Kentaro (bass), Mary MacDowell (keyboards, viola), and Yuko Sueto (optical controller).

“Hear Less (Seymour)” opens with a twang of a guitar, grinding bass, a jarring organ, and drumbeats, set in minor key. This track exudes a dark atmosphere, reminding you of original hip hop meets Phantom of the Opera. Both groups are influenced by shoegazer band My Blood Valentine and it shows in this opening track with the distortion and droning riffs during the bridge, emulating The Beatle’s psychedelic rock song “Revolution 9.” In the end, the jarring organ and bass are emphasized in a repetitive, dissonant melody that eventually dissolves with the guitar ‘twang’ heard in the beginning.

The second track “No Good Trying” opens with a heavy bass like the first track, a drum machine and acoustic guitar which emphasizes the percussionist techniques, similar to Kaki King’s “Ritual Dance” as heard in August Rush. The melting styles of Dälek and Ifwhen produce yet another song that brings about a feeling of inertia or reverse momentum. When they introduce an electric organ, it gives the song a Celtic feel. The bridge shifts from a slower tempo hip hop to a faster vibrating organ blending with keyboard and guitar, bringing in a jazzy ambience seemingly set in 3/4 time. Beginning with guitar riffs and ending with cymbals, this is another experimental track fusing sampling and shoegazing.

The third track is a Deadverse Remix of “No Good Trying.” Opening with celestial keyboard, drums and intensifying echoing vocals, the song eventually distorts the vocals to the point of incomprehensible language and dissolves completely. In the last track, the Deadverse Remix of “Hear Less” opens with lyrics sung in echoing acapella. The drums enter, as the song alternates snippets of an electric organ and a pan flute set in different beats, creating yet another psychedelic ambience.

Overall, the collaboration of these amazing experimentalist and alternative hip hop groups produce unique industrial hip-hop, effectively using their sampling and shoegazing to exude a dark atmosphere of dissonant and amorphous sounds. Yet, it only makes you want more of this fusion of alternative hip-hop and psychedelic rock.

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Gustavo Aguilar - Dirac’s Theory (Clip)

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KFJC is committed to bringing our listeners an unique experience in radio, netcast and video streaming. For many years the Japanese underground music scene has been active and innovative in creating compelling sounds. Unfortunately many of these music projects will rarely perform outside of Japan. KFJC is traveling to Japan to shed some light on a few of these more unknown projects, to provide an opportunity for them to share their creativity in a live setting with listeners all over the world

Band Line Up:

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Any album with a song named “Poo Yourself Jason” must be approached with a degree of levity, but don’t be fooled into thinking that Venetian’s not going to deliver some epic cuts. Namely the culminating “Bebikukorica Nigiri,” which I’m certain would be the song playing if MegaMan and Link were ever fighting to the death on top of a New York highrise. “Nigiri” differs from other tracks because it has a motive which comes back more ornamented and inspired each time around. Yet, the contrapuntal textures Venetian massages into songs like “Sajtban” and “Circle Pit” demonstrate his versatility and are equally engaging.

Detrimentalist’s longest and most sporadic track is “Flashforward,” a 400 second tour de force reminiscent of the earlier, rawer Chemical Brothers. “Flashforward” is in effect a microcosm of the entire album; Atonality coaxed into confluence by an artist who is often eccentric, but never dull.

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The show in San Francisco was Sa DingDing’s first in the US.

The review of her album Alive is available here.

Here is a transcription of the interview: (More after the jump, audio clips included!)

Sa DingDing Interview

No Eyed Bird

Hi, this is Max Chen for No Eyed Bird with Sa Ding Ding here at the Cow Palace in San Francisco. How are you doing?

Sa DingDing

Hi, I’m Sa DingDing.

NEB

You said that this is your first time coming here to the United States to perform. How is that for you? How has it been?

SDD

This performance is without my band and without my dancing group, but only me, I can do it.

NEB

Are you nervous at all?

SDD

No. For me, my music is my habit in my life, so it’s very happy for me.

NEB

That’s good. I just wanted to ask, having listened to your CD, when did you start singing, when did you start becoming interested in music?

SDD

I was born to an inner Mongolian mother and Chinese father (Han Chinese) so in my childhood I lived with my grandma in the inner Mongolian grassland. At that time, I heard the people sing songs everyday freely. It was very beautiful, and in my childhood, I can remember it. I think it’s special for me, my life is special because my mother and my father are two cultures mixed together.

NEB

Tell us more about the traditional music of inner Mongolia that you grew up with.

SDD

For as long as I can remember, I can sing a song and I can dance. In inner Mongolia, I think there are many traditional musics there, but I think the traditional is failing, so in my music I use modern music to reveal the traditional forms and to give Asian culture a new life, so I try my best.

NEB

There were a lot of things in what you just talked about. For example many people they may not know that there are 55 ethnicities in China that are officially recognized by the government. I think that the culture of China is actually much more diverse than what people think, and I think that’s exactly like what you say, you say you have two different cultures. Tell us about how you learned Tibetan and all the other languages you used in your CD.

SDD (Audio Clip 1)

I think I’m very interested in the different languages because the different languages have different culture. And different cultures have different countries, different people. In my eyes, many different languages don’t limit the music, so the music is international, I think. So in my music, I want to express, maybe the other emotions. You know, today, most pop music express the same emotion. I think maybe I can try using some different languages to fit in with music to make it more interesting, surprising. So I try my best to create the music. I find that the different languages have different melodies in the languages’ pronunciation. I think the music has an original function, and music has life itself. I think the lyrics are simple for me, and for the others, when you look at the lyrics and listen to the lyrics and you can understand at once. But only if you put your heart and touch the music itself. I think it’s the chemistry happening.

NEB

I do agree with that, because listening to the two different versions of alive that you have. You have one in Sanskrit and one was in Chinese, you can tell that with the different languages, they sound different even though it’s the same song, and I felt that it was interesting that you included different versions of the same songs on your CD. I also wanted to talk to you more about popular music. In recent years in China, like the pop music has been very, I think, westernized. It’s very mainstream music, but your music definitely goes back to the traditional roots and that’s actually very refreshing. Can you talk more about why you decided to include traditional forms of music into your own work? Do you regard your music as pop music, traditional music, or do you think it’s somewhere in between, or something even different from that?

SDD (Audio Clip 2)

I think my music is full of my sincere imagination. Music comes from the imagination and I think my style is Sa DingDing’s trademark. Maybe a little electronic music, maybe the traditional music, maybe the pop music, but in my band and several musicians, they told me your music is Sa DingDing’s music.

NEB

That’s really good for a musician to make music their own. That’s really amazing when you can actually pull it in and own it, and I think from what you told me that’s exactly what you’re doing. You say that the heart has to touch the music and I agree with that.

There’s one last thing I wanted to ask. In the CD, you had those lyrics printed out on the sheet and it said that you made up a language right? In Lagu Lagu? Can you talk more about that language that you invented? Is there some way for other people to learn it, speak it, converse with it?

SDD

I think the self created language, I’m proud of it very much. I think that everyone expresses the self created language, period, when we’re babies. And we come to speak language. At that time I think we can express our emotions to our parents’ souls. I think that the self created language is something everyone can understand although everyone don’t understand what it means. But emotion is the same. All the world, people see emotion, so I wanted to try to have people understand me. With this album I want to communicate with the different peoples.

NEB

That’s pretty cool. I really also liked the other song you had, Flickering With Blossoms. You said that someone actually posted the lyrics on your blog. Is that normal for you? Do you get ideas from other people a lot?

SDD (Audio Clip 3)

I think the music thing is an important thing to share with others, to communicate with others. Its very important for the artist. I think maybe I can put lots of music on my blog to communicate with other people. I like this way very much. This song I like very much because it’s a very human song. When I put the melody in my blog, a woman emailed me and put in these lyrics. When I look at these lyrics, I’m very surprised. Oh they’re good lyrics, because it’s full of abstract things. These lyrics talk about the choice in everyone’s lives, they’re important and they depend on your heart, everything.

NEB

I just have one last question. You were talking about how your music is about communication about expression about expressing feelings, and I wanted to end, asking you if you had any other thoughts or anything you wanted to communicate with your fans in the US, if you had any last thing you wanted to tell them.

SDD (Audio Clip 4)

I think my music is full of the imagination, so I want my music to be able to enlighten your imagination. When you listen to my music, you can open your imagination’s door. I want you to be able to communicate with me, to share your feelings through my music. I’m excited about that. You can see my blog, you can send emails to me, and I want to communicate to the US fans. I think the people’s ability to communicate is a very important thing.

My performance is a very important thing in my world. If you listen to my music and look at my performance, you can understand me. I want more people to look at me and I think you can find surprising things in your life when you look at my performance at the first time.

http://www.myspace.com/dingdingsa

http://www.sadingding.co.uk/

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The opening track “Batbox” emits a feeling of mod culture with its new wave elements, and simple yet attractive spacey music. But wait, this is just the opening track! “Kitten is High” opens with a fast beat introduction, with vocals similar to Katy Rose’s “Watching the Rain.” Her singing style is reminiscent of a poetic feel. Enhanced with melodies and beats of party dance techno, it gives you a feel of the nonconformist individual at the party scene who dances to her own beat. The lyrics are simple, short, and succinct, a repeating style Miss Kitten uses as she tells of a fun goth epic.

In the third track “Solidasarockstar,” using synthesizers, drums, and industrial music produced by whirring electric sounds, it seems to tell of a story of identifying and abusing a rockstar. Combined with the industrial melodies, it gives you an image of Edward Scissorhands turned into a rockstar. The next track “Grace” opens with drums and cymbals, followed by clapping that signals the next overlaying instrumental–a low bass. With the reoccurring snippets of a grinding steel background, an organ, and a rumbling low bass, this haunting echo of a three-layered melody is reminiscent of Run Lola Run. “Grace” tells of meeting grace by losing herself in bass.

The fifth track “Barefoot Tonight” opens with grinding bass met with a mix of clapping, ethereal male and female vocals. She sings of her interest in guitars and lyrics, and her rise as a kick-ass barefoot vocalist. Towards the end she brings in the clapping once more, while shouting “Shout!” This gives me an image of Nana meets Wir Sind Helden. The style reminds me of “Guten Tag” by Wir Sind Helden. This song interweaves goth, metal, and pop.

The next track “Wash ‘n’ Dry” opens with slow ethereal vocals and just as haunting echoing beat met with repetitive industrial interludes. In this song, Miss Kitten’s vocals emulates the style of ska, especially Gwen Stefani in No Doubt. She brings in synthesizers, an electric keyboard, and slows the music down a notch. The bridge is reminiscent of her favorite use of bass produced with low, gutteral sounds. Overall this song is spacey with organ elements in the background, especially near the end. This depressing song juxtaposed with “Pollution of the Mind,” the seventh track, has resounding differences. In “Pollution of the Mind,” it opens with a fast beat and vocals similar to “Kitten is High.” Met with a lower fast drum tempo and a third layer with an organ, the organ is let go when the chorus is sung full out. Keeping the first two melodies the vocals begin again, bringing cymbals, and organs whilst singing of motivation “You, lost in sadness and pain/ Sun can shine again…” As the end approaches, she loses each melody layer by layer until only the first beat is left.

“Machine Joy” opens with record scratching and blatant hip hop influence with a bass of extremely low beatbox. Singing about DJ-ing, and introducing drums, this song is similar to the 80’s hip hop, particularly Michael Jackson. The melodies only contribute to the picture and feeling of the resounding chorus “Joy is in the rhythm of the machine.” She ends the song with a fast sixteen-beat drum and beatbox.

“Metalhead” opens with three melodies, two drum beats and an overlaying short spurts of an organ. The beats are yet again reminiscent of hip hop dance music. The bridge introduces metal industrial music, and surprises you giving an eerie feeling as she whispers, “Let’s take a record play it loud and fool around.” The finale ends with metal industrial melodies turned techno. This song is a great juxtaposition of metal and techno.

The eleventh track “Sunset Strip” opens with drums and rap. Met by a techno interlude, the low drum bass is mixed while the chorus is sung ethereally. Again, this is another fine example of the juggling and brewing talents of Miss Kitten with opposing styles of techno and pop.

The last track “Playmate of the Century” opens with a fast 16 beat and sings about the truth of the music industry. Mixing a drum producing similar music as a bongo drum, and an organ, the song ends with much energy and the style is reminiscent of 80’s music met with spacey undertones.

Overall, Miss Kitten’s “Bat Box” screams “diversity!” She mixes electroclash and New Wave (mainly ska) very well, and brings some pop and definite goth culture influence. However predictable the melodies are, they are fun to listen to, with surprising tones of industrial and metal music.

Check her website for lyrics and more! If you want to buy her album, go here!

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Death in June

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The quote itself is the perfect beginning to the pounding, and unrelenting furor of the first track, blurting “went to hell…everybody ends up dead, it’s just a matter of when.” Yet the song itself seems to be about prevailing through this hell, and thus it seems about the futility of such an action, which is curious considering the power incited by “Prevail.” Its inconsistency is perhaps saved by the lyric “I will be discouraged and turn it into rage…” Perhaps another lyric of theirs that can sum up part of their approach on this album was “there’s no time to contemplate/settle this hate to devastate.” Which is characteristically consistent with their brand of death metal, but it occasionally seems immature for a band known to release multi-themed, multi-faceted songs such as those from 2006’s “Temple of Knowledge” These lyrics are interesting indicators of the rest of the album: a good effort marred by some inconsistencies in theme and the execution therein, but altogether redeemed by certain qualities.

The album is solid, and an indicator that Kataklysm hasn’t lost its edge on this eleventh album. What follows is a very good, if perhaps uneven and just-above-standard death metal album, featuring tangible Iron Maiden influences, which is usually a sign of quality for any Death Metal band, and Kataklysm is no different.

Guitar solos appear to be somewhat sparse on this album, which is unfortunate, because Jean-Francois Dagenais ‘s lead guitar work is at times, excellent, evocative of Katakylsm’s roots. The solo from “Blood and Heaven” seems the spawn of “The Thing That Should Not Be” and any Dimebag Darrell solo from “Far Beyond Driven” on…and an astonishing outro that shows that Kataklysm have not forgotten their other obvious influences: Maiden, and Death. So many bands claim to garner inspiration from such bands, but Kataklysm’s “Prevail”, like many other new albums by artists on Nuclear Blast, actually has song construction similar to their forefathers. Listen to the brilliant instrumental track on the end of the album, “The Last Effort,” which recalls Maiden’s “Rime of the Ancient Mariner.” Furthermore, sweep arpeggios on “The Vultures Are Watching” are in league with some of the best, proving that death metal bands can still hold their own against power metal’s ridiculous instrumental prowess.

That being said, what is most refreshing about this album is their frequent bursts of melodicism in many of the songs on their album, especially on “Tear Down the Kingdom,’ and “Blood in Heaven.”

Maurizio Lacano, vocalist since 1998’s “Victims of the Fallen World,” continues to pound home his death metal growl that never comes close to the idiotic “cookie monster”: sounds that other bands use simply in order to call themselves death metal. But Lacano is definitely the real deal… and some of his growls and high screams harken back to those of Chuck Schuldiner, incorporating backing vocals that work far better than one would expect.

Mark Duhamel’s blast beats make an appearance but for the most part are underemphasized, and he shows remarkable restraint at many points, slowing down tempos to give off strangely simple yet effective 4/4 rhythms.

The lyrics, unfortunately, do not match up to the musicianship, and they can be as uneven and awkward as some of Dave Mustaine’s weaker offerings, or those of fellow Nuclear Blast Records devotee Alexi Laiho. But the musicianship of “Prevail” is almost enough to overshadow this, like most albums of the aforementioned artists, whose songwriting qualities almost always have, well, “prevailed” over their dubious lyricism. And So does Kataklysm.

Still, the songs are not perfect, “The Throne of Sorrow,” for example, contains an intro riff that seems to belong to a nu-metal band, and the following unrelenting pre-chorus tremolo riffs seem to simply exist for the sake of repenting for this mortal sin. Fortunately, this and other songs come out swinging for all their flaws, versatile, never quite similar. “The Throne of Sorrow” shifts into a melodic mode for a semi-clean riff leading into a melodic distorted riff and then a great guitar solo, so these flaws are somewhat negligible.

But only somewhat.

3.5 of 5 devil horns

For more on Kataklysm, check out www.kataklysmrocks.com

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Wait. That’s not it.

The year is 1993. This “hip-hop” thing is emerging from a street undercurrent to a prominent social and political voice. Groups like De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest are pushing hip hop forward as a true art form and a forum to combat the negativity and violence prevalent in American street culture, with language steeped in both fire and love, and a gave both forward and backward to the funk forebears to whom they derived philosophical lineage. In the midst of this changing musical landscape, Breakestra emerges, melding the best of funk optimism with a very 1993 hip-hop sense of beat dynamics.

That’s not it either.

The true story:

Breakestra was formed in 1996 as a jam session by leader Miles Tackett, and released their first full-length, The Live Mix Part 1, in 1999. The child of a shared love of aforementioned early 1990s hip-hop and 1960s-1970s funk, their second album, 2001’s The Live Mix Part 2 captures both sounds completely and effortlessly. So-named for its hybrid production featuring live intrumentals performed by the band, sampled and mixed and then retranslated for live playing to capture both the breakbeat, sampled concepts of their hip-hop heroes along with the soul inherent to live funk. The album starts off with a 9-track break mix sampling the varied talents of Herbie Hancock and Jimmy Smith among others. The mix takes on a life of its own, and if I may indulge in a blasphemous moment of hyperbole here, manages to exceed the sum of its prestigious parts (no small feat). The rest of the album plays largely as a best-of set of funk covers, reinterpreted here for a post hip-hop generation, but maintaining the raw soul of the original compositions. While this could have easily resulted in the kind of underwhelming triteness seemingly inherent to a “covers” album, the tracks take on a life of their own in this context, momentarily making you forget that these aren’t original works through the earnestness of the performance. Truly great funk of this magnitude hasn’t come around in a very long time, and The Live Mix Part 2 will make you believe in 1970. Or 1996. Or 2001. Whatever.

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San Diego genre-benders Delta Spirit are poised to bust out of obscurity with their first full-length album, Ode To Sunshine. The band has brought their A-game on the new disc, setting themselves apart from the pack with an enigmatic and exciting debut.

Working with a decidedly rustic sound, Ode To Sunshine blends elements of jazz, folk, funk, surf, Brill Building pop and so much more, bubbling over with crisp, clean harmonies and delicious hooks. The album is a calculated mess; and singer Matt Vasquez howls with cathartic conviction over buzzing strings and distant drums.

There is one thing that Sunshine makes clear: these boys know their way around a hook. The verse-chorus-verse construction of “People C’mon” is irritatingly catchy, but the simplicity of its structure is refreshing and alluring. The raucous “Trashcan” inspires a spontaneous joy with its scream-along chorus.

Delta Spirit can also create moods like no other band out there these days. An out-of-tune piano over the clatter of barware charms the listener in “House Built For Two”, and the endless-summer feel of “Strange Vine” conjures up images of the band’s San Diego heritage.

The album’s centerpiece is no doubt “Bleeding Bells”, a departure from the rousing battle-cry of the songs that surround it on the album. “Bells” is a slow, shaky dirge punctuated by serene horns and Vasquez’ solitary whisper. The usally brazen frontman trades in his noisy audacity for a shy and vulnerable murmur, making it the standout track on what is already a near-perfect album.

San Diego has long been a sunny utopia for artists of all types, but its knack for fostering creativity is often lost in nearby Los Angeles’ neon glow. Skeptics may pass them off as another ‘indie/folk’ act from some granola town in California, but all the proof you need to negate that idea is in Ode To Sunshine. From start to finish, every song is eye-opening; maybe even life-changing.

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Fans will be accustomed to Darnielle’s confessional style of writing, but to unfamiliar ears, his nostalgia can become overbearing at times. While much of the tracks sparkle with Darnielle’s and bassist Peter Hughes’ distinctive chemistry, songs like “San Bernardino” and “Marduk T-Shirt Men’s Room Incident” are constantly walking the line between poetic and sappy. Both songs about long-lost lovers and relationships gone wrong, the choruses hop back and forth from cute to clingy to creepy, and just when you’re ready to skip to the next track, back to cute again.

Though the Mountain Goats perform in their usual acoustic style on Heretic Pride, they are masters of mixing it up. Their sound shifts greatly from track to track, showcasing the skills they’ve honed from a decade and a half as songwriters and performers, and proving that a simple six-string can be one of the most liberating and flexible instruments around. The Goats still sound as fresh as ever, and establish on Heretic Pride that they remain a force to be a reckoned with, and a benchmark for every kid who quits their day job in pursuit of a musical career.

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