It's a good time to be a fan of The Ocean, not only is there a new album coming out, the track releases leading up to it have been beyond delightful. On Friday, September 11th, 2020, The Ocean dropped a new track titled "Pleistocene" from their forthcoming album Phanerozoic II: Mesozoic | Cenozoic which is due to release on September 25th. We've featured two of their previous track releases from this album here at Mainly Tuning Out, and if you like what you're hearing today you should check out "Oligocene" and "Jurassic | Cretaceous".
"Pleistocene" begins with a different vibe from the previous tracks. It's a little jarring at first but it doesn't take long to wrap you up in the moment. It begins with a single pulsing synth note that feels like an alarm going off. A few second later bass, synths, and what sounds like a piano join in and reinforce that note while the drums play in the space between. Shortly vocals join, backboned by strings; the pair adding a slight middle eastern vibe to the mix. The singer is singing with clean vocals, and the recipe works as he sings the opening line: "we all can only take so much, some more than others. And our individual tolerance for stress, for loneliness, is so subjected. But there's no tolerance at all for hopelessness." As this passage progresses the strings start joining the drums and interplay among the vocals, creating a truly gripping moment.
After the first lyric the music begins to swell into a more traditional sound for The Ocean, with growling vocals, and that crushing guitar tone. It's a great moment. At ~2:07 the music returns to the verse, but it's a more intense version. There are weird guttural, whispered, and menacing vocals just under the singer's vocals, and it feels like the volume on the instruments are dialed up a few notches. Then it's back to the chorus at ~3:02. The strings are louder and like the second chorus, this moment just feels more intense than the previous one.
The music transitions to a new moment at ~3:34 to a slower chord change before transitioning again to a stripped-down version of the music featuring just guitars, bass, drums, and growling vocals singing, "And no one could tell the moment when you disassembled, when your restless heart froze, and you sank below the ice eyes wide open." Crushing vocals backed by a crushing moment. This moment continues on before it switches to one of my favorite moments in the current set of releases at ~4:56 where it speeds up to a killer Black Metal moment complete with that wailing gasping black metal vocal style. It truly creates a climactic moment, and this moment is sucked away into a breakdown-like moment at ~5:50 that the band rides on until the song ends. The riffing is so heavy here, and you'll catch yourself headbanging right along with each beat.
"Pleistocene" is a heavy-hitting track that transitions in and out of each section effortlessly, creating a sonic landscape that you can experience several times and still discover something new. It holds its own with the other releases and only gets me more excited to take in this album once it drops. If you haven't heard this track yet, you should get on that, you're missing out.
If this is your jam can pre-order Phanerozoic II: Mesozoic | Cenozoic here.
If you're into Folk Metal, Finntroll should not be a foreign group to you. If you haven't dabbled into Folk Metal, it's a wildly good time. The origin of the band/name come from, to quote their Facebook:
"It is a troubled tale that has been told many times before… Anno 1997: during a night of alcoholic carnage in Finland Teemu "Somnium" Raimoranta (guitar) and Jan "Katla" Jämsen (vocals) conceived of a band that fused the darkness and grandeur of black metal with the traditional Finnish hoedown-music. The resultant sound was FINNTROLL. The namesake came from an old Finnish legend where Swedish priests coming to Finland had an encounter with a wild-looking man who killed most of their party. The survivors came back bearing the tale of the FINNTROLL. Anno 1998: A year later Skrymer, Tundra, Trollhorn and the mighty Beast Dominator joined the band that soon became the biggest name in the rising Folk/Pagan Metal scene – even if they never aimed for sitting at the head of that table."
They also frequently are made up to look like trolls, which is pretty awesome too.
On September 4th, 2020, they dropped a new track titled "Mask" from their forthcoming album Vredesvävd, which is due to be released September 18th, 2020 via Century Media Records. It is some classic Finntroll! It begins with an epic opening backed by synths before descending into a ripping riff over their singer's growls. The music video is quite enjoyable as it is a shaky-cam tromp through the woods following the band as they appear to track down a druid resurrecting the dead. The chorus is equally delightful as the string synths rejoin the mix to give the speedy guitars a traditional folk flair. The track may only be a tad over three minutes, but it's definitely worth checking it out. It's speedy, epic, and everything there is to love about folk metal.
To further my understanding of Jazz, I'm listening through Jazzwise Magazine's "The 100 Jazz Albums That Shook The World". Each album is presented with my stream-of-consciousness thoughts for each track, my general thoughts of the album as a whole, and any relevant information I can capture about the album. Also included is my drink of choice while taking the album in. Thank you for joining me on my journey to [partial] Jazz enlightenment.
Album 89 Jackie McLean - Let Freedom Ring Drinking: Yorkshire Gold Tea
"Melody For Melonae": The track begins with an ominous piano intro, with excellent descending melodies with the piano and saxophone. McLean's tone is clear and cutting, and creates an excellent listening experience. I'm seeing rainy days and the feeling of not wanting to go to work. It also stirs feelings of being aware of the daily grind. This combo is incredible! The fill in the spaces around each other very well. This track has a certain heart to it that feels very pleasing to listen to. As the song progresses I get more of a feeling of the wonder and imagination of a child, at every turn, there is something new and exciting. The high register screams are like a crazy tea kettle of boiling jazz that can really wail. We go back to a little bit more of that walking-to-work-in-the-rain vibe as the piano goes into its solo. The bass is walking underneath this section while maintaining this balance of being present without overtaking the stage. What a hard balance it must be to hit. I'm not in love with the later parts of the piano solo, though those big open chords it switches to in the last few minutes are beautiful. I wish there were more of those throughout the track. The licks at the end are just as sharp as the beginning of the song. Truly, an excellent piece of music.
"I'll Keep Loving You": This song is a cover of Bud Powell's work. It opens with a classic piano sound, timeless. Additionally, the bass tone is amazing. This music is like seeing your wife in a beautiful dress and falling in love all over again. I love the stirred snare sound in this song. this track holds the balance between technical skill and delicate melodies so well. I'm not sure I would have chosen to put those wailing saxophone squeals in, as it felt quite jarring, but something must have inspired him to perform them. At the start of the last two minutes, there seems to be this tension building. Perhaps another lover has appeared? During the last minute, the tension passes as Jackie starts performing some licks to close out the track.
" Rene": Once the band gets going, this track has some sizzle to it which I thoroughly enjoyed. Part of this enjoyment comes from the use of space created by the non-rhythm based portions of the band. Nothing is jumping out in my imagination for this song, but it's certainly great music. I'd put this on while cooking for sure.
"Omega": This song starts with some tasty interplay riffs from the band that works as a foundation for some even tastier soloing from McLean. It's excellent stuff. This might be my favorite track on the album. It's almost like Progressive Rock/Meal in nature. It keeps bouncing from this cool mellow part to these great standard jazz phrases. It's a non-traditional song structure and I'm loving it. To me, this sounds like a sound-wave, and as it descends into the valley we get a cool melodic experiment, and as it rises to the peak we get this high voltage combo riffing together. It keeps rising and falling between these two points and it is truly captivating. This could go on forever and I would listen to it gladly.
Overall Thoughts: This album feels like the perfect combination of a lot of different styles, especially the popular ones in play during this era. The way the band plays and explores each avenue feels very authentic, and very skillfully. Truthfully, it left me feeling quite speechless.
Info: This album was released in May of 1963 via Blue Note records. It was produced by Alfred Lion at Van Gelder Studios in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. It features Jackie McLean on alto saxophone, Walter Davis, Jr. on piano, Herbie Lewis on bass, and Billy Higgins on drums. Fun fact, allegedly "Rene" is named after his son, and "Melody for Melonae" is named after his daughter.
You can listen to the album here, and you can purchase the album here.
The Devil's Trade dropped their new album The Call Of The Iron Peak as of August 28th, 2020. They've been featured here on Mainly Tuning Out as various track releases have been dropped, and we're big fans of what we've been hearing. As such, we're going to be looking at the whole album! With a run time of ~46 minutes across 11 tracks, it looks like a solid lineup of music.
The Devil's Trade is a Doom Folk solo outfit hailing from Budapest, Hungary, and helmed by Dávid Makó. The music swings from cold winds blasting through empty mountain tops, to soul-crushing wails calling into the night. Featuring guitars, banjos, and some excellent vocal harmonies, this release oozes with bleak emotions.
Track one is titled "The Iron Peak", and it begins with these string-like notes that hang in the air for a brief moment before giving way to a somber and slow electric guitar. With a slight hint of delay on the guitars, the tone is set for this journey and further solidified as Makó's voice starts singing. At ~1:52 the music takes a dissonant turn as Makó sings a dark harmony and then returns to the guitars in the beginning. It's truly amazing how successfully Makó's performance paints an image of a cold mountain, standing against a dark sky, cold, and uncaring.
Track two is titled "Dead Sister" and was featured here on a previous post. The added context of the intro carries on the idea that "Dead Sister" is a catalyst moment in the character's journey, a horrible life event that sparks a descent into darkness. It's still hauntingly beautiful.
The third track is titled "III" and has a runtime of ~0:44. It's an odd little track, featuring some guitar work in the background. If feels like a memory trying to take root in one's brain. It segues right into the next track, "No Arrival"
"No Arrival" has one of my favorite riffs on the album layered with muddy bass notes and a great clean guitar lick. It's sinister and cold, and I love it. Makó starts singing at ~0:33, and the music cuts back to just the clean guitar behind an excellent vocal performance. Honestly, Makó's vocals shine on this track, with a brilliant little moment over skilled guitar work at ~2:18 - 2:48, where it segues into that gripping chorus. This track is a heavy hitter and is definitely worth a listen.
Next up is "Expelling Of The Crafty Ape", which is an odd name compared to the rest of the track line up. The vibe created in the first minute is one of mysticism. It's not quite sad, it's not quite evil or dark, it just feels very introspective. What stands out is the power behind Makó's vocals as he belts out the chorus, or highlights portions of the verses. His grasp on dynamic performance is clear on this track, and it's used powerfully. This is not my favorite track on the album, but I doubt I would skip it on a drive while listening to this album.
Track six is titled "IIIIIIIIIIII" and appears to be another transitional track, running ~0:35 in length. Coming off the tension of "Expelling Of The Crafty Ape", this feels like waking up from an awful dream, or to a horrible hangover.
The next track is "Három Árva" which also has been featured here previously. Három Árva feels more sinister and forlorn within the contest of the full album. Coming off "Expelling Of The Crafty Ape" makes me feel like this story of a man who's lost everything, walking up to the Iron Peak to reckon with his maker, and his memories are haunting him every step of the way.
Track eight is titled "Eyes In The Fire". It starts with a fade-in that has a nice change in flavor from the bleak and dire palate of this album, and the verse flirts with this major toned moment now and again which changes up the feeling of this release. It's hard to describe the tone of this track, but it's surprisingly enjoyable. It's echoing and washed in reverb, with an 80's rock vibe, like Tears For Fears meets Simple Minds, but with no synths and a much bleaker tone. "Eyes In The Fire" is a captivating track and paints a really interesting sonic picture especially in the last minute and a half it crescendos into this amazing moment at ~4:26 that's dripping with anger and frustration as Makó yells into the air "eyes in the fire," over and over again. Perhaps these are the eyes of the character's demons facing him as sits on the Iron Peak.
There's another transitional track titled "IIIIII" that's more ethereal than it's companions, with some really interesting harmonic choices made. I really like it. This track runs ~1:03 in length. Sonically it's very different than the previous tracks on the album.
Track ten is titled "Dreams From The Rot", and it begins quite slowly. It's grim, somber, but in a different way from the previous album. It's hard to pull the exact emotion out. Makó's vocals are different, almost self-reflective, or talking something out even though there's no one there. Suddenly the music jumps up in intensity at ~2:47, and the vocals take on an equally dire intensity before returning to the dreamy stillness of the beginning at ~3:30. We ride this reflective stillness through to the next bout of dire intensity at ~5:40. The music cuts out at ~6:22, and there is silence. Music comes back at ~6:29, but it's quieter, more in the background of the sonic landscape. This was a big narrative moment, the climax of the story, though Makó has done an excellent job of keeping the story just obscure enough to be quite open-ended. This is the longest song on the album with a runtime of 7:41.
The album ends on track 11, which is the title track of the album, "The Call Of The Iron Peak." This song begins with a bleak banjo melody paired with dark bass notes, and Makó's vocals hanging over them. The banjo work is incredible, painting this grey landscape along which Makó's melodies can bluster against, like the wind trailing around the Iron Peak. This moment is cold and forlorn. Drums join the mix at ~3:25, and Makó's wails slowly fade away into the back of the mix, creating quite a cinematic closing to this album in a truly magical way.
This album is a great example of when the whole is greater than the sum of each part. The tracks we looked at earlier in the year were great on their own, but together, "The Call Of The Iron Peak" paints a rich landscape of woe and sorrow that is truly enjoyable. If you're looking for a unique album to take in, I cannot recommend this one enough, and you can check it out here or at The Devil's Trade's Bandcamp which you can find here.
To further my understanding of Jazz, I'm listening through Jazzwise Magazine's "The 100 Jazz Albums That Shook The World". Each album is presented with my stream-of-consciousness thoughts for each track, my general thoughts of the album as a whole, and any relevant information I can capture about the album. Also included is my drink of choice while taking the album in. Thank you for joining me on my journey to [partial] Jazz enlightenment.
Album 90 Charlie Haden - Liberation Music Orchestra Drinking: Equal Exchange Love Buzz Coffee
"The Introduction": A sweet, full sounding, melancholy introduction to the album. It creates a feeling similar to the beginning of an old school motion picture. I wish I had more to say about this track, but the above thoughts capture it pretty well.
"Song Of The United Front": I acknowledge that this is usually treated as a single track combined with "The Introduction", but the streaming platform I use treats it as a separate track, so I will be doing so as well. This track captures the sound and feel of old propaganda movies from the '40s and '50s. It sets the tone of the story this album is trying to tell which Jazzwise Magazine describes as "one of the most explicit endorsements of leftist sentiments to found in the entire jazz world."
"El Quinto Regimento (The Fifth Regiment)/Los Cuatro Generales (The Four Generals)/Viva La Quince Brigada (Long Live The Fifteenth Brigade)": The three acts to this track is made up of traditional Spanish Civil War tracks that were arranged by Carla Bley, the piano player on the album. The acoustic guitar evokes the feeling of the calm before a battle, the quiet before the storm, while also honoring the Spanish origins of the music. The full band joins in and transports the listener into the deserts of the west. Musically it transforms into this wild and cacophonous battle between instruments. The brass is the screaming victims of war, and the percussion beat out the back and forth of gunfire. While these moments aren't necessarily pleasant, it captures the moment beautifully. Eventually, the battle subsides and the somber acoustic guitar returns. In my mind, I'm seeing each side search the field for survivors, while others are mourning the dead. The music starts to pick up as a muted trumpet starts creating a heated tension. The brass solo feels like a lamenting general looking out over the field. Perhaps the battle didn't turn out the way they planed, or perhaps there's a momentary pause in the battle and he's planning for the next round. Honestly, it's a great brass solo, very emotive. Soon after the solo the music transitions into this wild, swinging party. Whoever was the victor in this conflict is having a wild party to celebrate and the music suggests it's starting to get out of control. Out of the chaos, a lone saxophone pierces the crazy wildness, and tension begins to ramp up as the saxophone starts wildly screaming. Perhaps a scout has brought a troubling warning back to the camp, or something else is not going well. A group of men chats in the background as this track winds down to a close. As the song finishes you can almost see the curtain closing as this motion picture draws to a close.
"The Ending To The First Side": I find it curious that a track would announce that it's the last track on an LP, however, it does a great job creating a recap of everything that has happened on the first half of this record. It is surprising to me how cinematic this album feels in its presentation.
"Song for Ché": Right out of the gate there is a Mingus vibe to this song. The sound is a mix of nostalgia and a cinematic documentary about a political figure's childhood. Haden achieves a melodic sound on the double bass, which I thoroughly appreciate. It's almost lyrical, even before voices join the mix. Flutes also join in after the singers fade away, and a wild saxophone solo joins after the flutes. It feels wild and manic-like previous tracks too. At times a television or radio journalist vibe comes to mind when the saxophone plays.
"War Orphans": This is a cover of an Ornette Coleman song. The intro is so delicate in its performance. It's a dark sounding track, which matches the vision the title evokes. The bass joins in with a sinister sound, creating the feeling of something prowling around the darkness when compared to the fragility of the piano. Nothing jumps to mind in my imagination for this track, but it fills me with this strange peaceful tension, which feels weird to say and even weirder to experience. This band loves to end their tracks with a large swell of tension, which I find oddly interesting.
"The Interlude (Drinking Music)": This track feels like a classic jazz piece, definitely the most traditional piece on the album this far. I get this picture of a swanky politician drinking and schmoozing over war updates, not showing any care for those in danger or slain in battle. The tempo increases and decreases in this weird tilting way, probably to create the feeling of being drunk.
"Circus '68 '69": This song starts with a cool bass solo, Haden plays with clear intent and meaning. It feels cold and matter of fact. Soon the room fills with all sorts of wild calls from the brass section, it feels like the bass is the voice of reason because it just keeps plodding away under all of this wild sound. The general feeling I'm getting is people are getting too caught up in their own small personal needs and not seeing the large impacts of what's going on. Soon police whistles are screaming as this church organ starts swelling up from the back of the mix, almost like a holy man trying to calm the people. Or, perhaps it's the powers-that-be looking down in disappointment. This song sounds like an argument, and it captures that feeling perfectly. The song closes out with the same bass melody it started on, but with the band accompanying. It all goes quiet and the bass cuts the silence and continues plodding on. This was an amazing track.
"We Shall Overcome": This song was harmonious. The band plays with a wonderful harmony, and it feels like a goodbye telling you it's all going to be okay. A great ending to an album.
Overall Thoughts: Lester Bangs, of Rolling Stone magazine, captured my feelings exactly "an extremely tight, moving, substantial record" (Rolling Stone, February 21, 1970), with a huge nod to substantial. There's a lot of material here to chew on and this record is worth several listens because of it.
Info: This album was released in January 1970 through the Impulse! label. It was produced by Charlie Haden and recorded in Judson Hall, New York City. It features Perry Robinson on clarinet, Gato Barbieri on tenor saxophone and clarinet, Dewey Redman on alto saxophone and tenor saxophone, Don Cherry on cornet, flute, Indian wood and bamboo flutes, Michael Mantler on trumpet, Roswell Rudd on trombone, Bob Northern on french horn, hand-wood blocks, crow calls, bells, and military whistle, Howard Johnson on tuba, Sam Brown on guitar, Tanganyikan guitar, thumb piano, Clara Bley on piano and tambourine, Charlie Haden on bass, Paul Motian on drums and percussions, and Andrew Cyrille on drums and percussion.
Listen to the album here, and you can purchase the album here.
The Ocean has dropped another track from their forthcoming album Phanerozoic II: Mesozoic | Cenozoic which is set to release September 25th, 2020. Mainly Tuning Out dug into the previous track earlier this year, and what a track it was! The album is still available for pre-order through Metal Blade records here.
"Oligocene" is an instrumental track with a run time of four minutes, likely acting as an interlude or transitional track on the larger album. This is potentially confirmed by a comment left in the YouTube comments"The instrumental track was written by drummer Paul Seidel, but recorded with synth player Peter Voigtmann on drums. It serves as a transitional track from the busy and heavy first half of the record (Mesozoic) into the more relaxed, spacious and cold ambient vibes prevailing on the second half of the record (Cenozoic)." Oligocene is a geological epoch, and the Berkeley University of California describes it as, "right smack in the middle of the Tertiary Period (and end of the Paleogene), lasted from about 33.9 to 23 million years ago ... These changes include the appearance of the first elephants with trunks, early horses, and the appearance of many grasses — plants that would produce extensive grasslands in the following epoch, the Miocene."
Musically this track is elegant, to say the least. It begins with some somber instrumentals over some percussion which honestly feels like an 80's track reworked into a modern sound. It works well and is captivating. The volume slowly crescendos over the whole piece as more and more layers filter into the mix. My favorite part is the synths that are layered throughout this track and provide an ethereal flavor to the music that thoroughly grips my attention.
Do yourself a favor and check this track out ASAP. Running counter to the crushing flavors of the previous release "Jurassic | Cretaceous" it further demonstrates the wide musical skill this collective brings to the table. If it jives with your musical palate check out the pre-order!
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