It Happened Here - 2011 - 001 E.P.

Pop Rock 

[FOR FREE]

http://ithappenedhere.bandcamp.com

• 4 songs to download
• For free
• Direct Download
• Listening recommendations: The Long Goodbye

English

You've just walked in the door, put your keys in your pocket and the door shuts behind you. It's been a long day of toiling through the dredges at work and you're in need of something to get yourself centered, get yourself right. You spot your mates already coalescing in the usual spot. You order a beer, and slide in next to your friends, settling in to the scene. You've noticed the music playing over the speakers. It's catchy, foot tappingly so, as you realize you're tapping along to the drum beat of 'Get Over Yourself'. It's got an upbeat rhythm to it, even if it sounds a bit a music rebuke to you feeling run down by your day. Your drink arrives and you take a long pull. The song has changed, it's upped the tempo now. A weird sense of urgency has crept into it, as if the band is trying to race into a future they won't ever see. The rolling thunder bass during the bridge really adds to the familiar mood of the place in a way that wasn't really susceptible any of the other times you'd come in here. Your friends don't seem to notice any of this. Maybe it's the drink. The rapid fire drumming on the final song and it's car chase tempo is the final straw, you're enjoying yourself, forget all that nonsense that happened earlier. This place, here and now, is causing nothing but good times. What more can you ask for from rock music?
What I'm trying to get across with all the prose; dear reader, is that It Happened Here's “001 E.P.” can be a cathartic listen (even 'Don't Lose Yourself to Fate') if you're alone, while still having enough oomph to it that it wouldn't be out of place at a bar with your friends as you talked over a few drinks. That it happens to sound like British pop rock the likes of which made names of Blur and Oasis in the late 90's doesn't cheapen the entire affair at all. It doesn't play up any sort of nostalgia angle to put you over, its too good to need such things. It music built for fun times, even if the lyrics are a slight more philosophical than the average alt-rock band. 001 E.P. Is worth a look see.

A very wasfuersohr Christmas

It is that time of year again. Yep, Christmas time, folks. And with that comes an onslaught of Christmas themed releases. Instead of doing reviews for these records I'm going to do something a little different. Thanks to the magic of the internet, you won't need to listen to your grandmothers old vinyl LP of 50's crooners belting out Christmas standards like you have year after year. No, this year, as a small gift from us here at Wasfuersohr to you our adoring fans and music lovers, we're going to provide you with some holiday musical alternatives. No reviews, just a smattering of holiday cheer from a variety of bands we think you might enjoy listening to with family and friends.

Sound Vat - If Jesus Had Been Born In Canada, He Would Have Needed More Than Swaddling Clothes (Compilation)

A bit of the indie rock in your stocking never hurt anyone. A compilation of smaller Canadian indie rock bands (which is a nice indulgence for me) bringing an energetic mix of holiday standards and originals to this compilation. Certainly a different take on Christmas music, but thoroughly enjoyable for listeners of all ages.

-Check out Honheehonhee - “You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch”; The Ruffled Feathers - “The Highest Mountain”; Those Gulls - “Come Alive”

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How To Throw A Christmas Party – II – Angels n' Sheep

The festive Dutch collective that becomes How To Throw A Christmas Party have released another five songs of folk-pop twinged Christmas music, that will add a certain “Je ne sais quoi” to any Christmas gathering. It's bouncy and expressive both musically and lyrically, almost like an original cast recording (it's also a touring show if you happen to be in the Netherlands for the Holidays). Five original works that will bring joy to any listener this holiday season. What's not to like?

-Check out “The Gospel According to a Sheep”; “Let Our Voices be Heard”

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Punchline – 2011 Holiday Sampler

Bringing a pop punk sensibility to Christmas music, Punchline have provided four faster, groovier original tracks than any of the two previous records. This was Saint Nick during his rebellious teenage years, Christmas music with a snarky edge. They might not be suited for the entire family (have Grandma and the kids leave the room), but you definitely don't have any other holiday themed music like this (“Forever REMIX” is completely out of place, and not xmas playlist material).

-Check out “All Hopped Up On Jingle Bells”

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Deer Child - Winter Deer Volume 1: Few Are Frozen (Compilation)

Another mix of classic and original Christmas/holiday-themed music, similar in tone to Sound Vats' release, with one foot planted firmly in folk music more than rock. The covers of classic Christmas music have a real soothing feel to them. It easily works as background music for family gatherings or music to listen to while watching that Yule log channel if that's more your thing.

-Check out The Archer Apple – “Blue Christmas”; Baby Ghosts - “All I Want For Christmas”; Gils - “The First Noel”; The Second Estate - “The Bells”

Shekinah - 2011 - The Wind Lost Its Breath Redux

Post-Rock

[FOR FREE] 

http://shekinah.bandcamp.com/

• 5 songs to download
• You name the price (min 0,-)
• You get the link if you register your email address
• Listening recommendations: The-writers-ink-redux

English

When people recommend albums to me, I can be a bit skeptical. I tend to have wildly varying tastes that are hard to nail down. Unless that person recommend me post-rock. Then we're on the same page. Such is the case with Shekinah's The Wind Lost its Breath Redux. An excellent record of reworked songs (according to the band's bandcamp site) that pushed all the right buttons for this reviewer. As long time readers will know, I enjoy this kind of music regardless of its grasps for originality. This record is lyric-less and mostly guitar driven as you might expect, with a pummeling rhythm section underneath it all. Pretty by the books in that regard, but really, if you're still reading this review you're obviously here because you're fine with that notion. And you should be Shekinah doesn't break the post-rock mold but it these tracks make for an excellent listen. I would actually describe the sound as rather uplifting, in so far as the guitar wanking is always aiming higher and higher (except on 'The Writer's Ink' – more on that later) and not going for a low, angry sound. If the song titles are anything to go by (and in post-rock you never know how much a band is taking the piss), these could be trying to tap into some kind of spiritual thing. WWJDFPR? If it sounds like this, let them praise whatever deity they like, the crescendos pay off in spades. I mentioned 'The Writer's Ink' as differing from the others because the riffs are not aiming for the heavens; instead the riffs repetitiously meander down among us mortals. Very wounded crying out for help in the night sort of mortals. It's a shift in song structure and it keeps you on your toes. If the music preceding it was an ascent to a higher plane, this is a contemplative walk through nature. It's post-rock. You're either in or you're out. I'm in, and will be listening to this EP for the foreseeable future. You should too, if you enjoy your rock music soaring and wordless.

Records of the Year 2011 - Editorial Picks

Alright, the blog is steadily growing and we cant ask every new reader to check every single entry here (even though it is advised of course), but just to round up the last year and to add our own "Record of the Year"-list to everyone elses, here are the respectively 3 highest regarded picks this year by Matthew and me. Click the album picture for the link to the review.

Matthew's Top 3:

My album picks of the year aren't in any real order, as they're all what I would deem excellent through and through and should be listened to by anyone with an interest in good music. So without further ado, here are my three picks of the year 2011.

Shadowboxer - Two Cities: Alternative Rock

This album caught me by total surprise. It was just another url in the bandcamp scrape that week, with a dramatic photo for cover art. Then I listened to it, and I had to clean my brain goop off the floor. It's alternative indie rock, with a hint of Imogen Heap creeping into the vocals. It may not exactly be the most upbeat (that flower on the cover is taking a beating), but not many other records took over my playlist like this one did. Easily one of the best of the year and I'll go toe to toe with anyone arguing differently. Listen to this, do it now!

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Ektoise - Kiyomizu: Ambient/ Alternative/ Electronica

This was actually the first album I reviewed for Wasfuersohr. It's also the longest review to date I believe, I gushed on and on about until Toma said I had to stop or I'd have to pay by the letter. Shadow Boxer scratched my emotionally charged rock itch; Ektoise sneaked in subtly and then bludgeoned me with their varied industrial attack. It's brutal and heavy, yet light and comforting by the next song. If you haven't already done so, check this album out and then give it your friends. This album deserves to be heard by more people. It's wordless, it's epic, it's Ektoise!

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Emily Henry - Demo: Folk/ Singer-Songwriter

It's not the most polished album I've come across (it is a demo after all), and it is sparse on instrumentation. But I chose Emily Henry's Demo because of those things not in spite of them. These demos show that Ms. Henry is quite a talented musician and singer, as both her voice and guitar playing abilities are front and centre the entire time for eleven tracks. Usually sing-songwriter folk isn't my cup of tea, but Emily Henry managed to create an album of just that, and I found it thoroughly enjoyable. With this as a base, I look forward to whatever music she creates in the future.

Marco's Top 3:

Magic Man easily impressed me the most, as you can probably tell from the review, but the whole year was packed with musical surprises and artists, whose albums I wouldn't want to miss anymore. The following are the ones that will be listened to until I lose or break my MP3 player (in which case I can still sing them, agonizing everyone else).

Magic Man - Real Life Color: Indie/ Pop/ Electronica

I was easily enough convinced that Magic Man would be a keeper, due to the Postal Service like style of music, but I wouldn't have thought that this album would grow on me so much that I'd call it my favorite album ever. Its unbelievably catchy, creative and could be the sole reason that I can call this year of searching music a definite success. Music that immediately reaches people and makes people want to root for them and tell everyone around the amazing artist they just found. Cant wait for the new singles next year.

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Swimming - EP: Indie/ Surfpop

Easily my favorite summer album. And I have no doubt that the next summer wont be missing Swimming#s EP either. Its pure, free and unhindered fun and one of the most recommendable records I found so far. I wish I had given the review a bit more attention as back then I was still writing review versions in English and German, which was hugely time consuming. Any follow up record will get the review length it deserves. Until then this is the "run through a field with your best friend on a warm summer day" - record of choice.

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Synthcake - Musicophilia: Synthpop

This was the most surprising album I heard all year. I still cant quite decide whether the "Haunted" music feeling subgenre is just critically underused or whether they just did a very, very convincing job at a highly difficult task. Making catchy pop songs out of basically music not unfitting at a Halloween party is quite a feat. Can't wait for all the bands we mentioned here to release their next records. Synthcake is original, haunting, catchy and the best cake I got all year.

Magic Man - 2010 - Real Life Color

Indie/Pop/Electronica 

[FOR FREE]

http://magicman.bandcamp.com/

• 10 songs to download
• You name the price (min 0,-)
• You get the link if you register your email address
• Listening recommendations: Monster, Like Sailors, Nest

Disclaimer/Short Recommendation: I have spent way more time with this record than any other record in the recent years. I regularly listen to the music we cover, plus the ~2000 bands I listen through each month to check for good stuff, but this one is special to me. One of the biggest joys we take from this blog project is the gratitude from the musicians we cover. Maybe because we managed to find them a few more listeners, or on the most basic level even just as a thank you for the time we took to listen through their songs, and even write a review on it!

The other reward for us, besides gratitude, is finding the music itself for personal use, and this album..

.. is probably my favorite album of all time.

 

English

Magic Man - Real Life Color is a release from 2010, but digital music doesn't really age, and considering the rather low popularity of this kind of bands (Magic Man - 1,939 Facebook Likes) compared to big commercial bands (Florence and the Machine - 2,051,090 FB Likes:), there are still plenty of people I can tell about them. And this is it. This is my personal music highlight of 2011. Music to dance, dream, shout, sing and getting swept away to. All rolled into 10 songs of the same artist. Indie/Pop/Electronica as a genre descriptor doesn't sound as special as I would like to make it sound. Almost all of the sounds on this record are electronically created and/or altered. So we got dominantly male vocals and electronic sounds. What is so special about them, making me wish I had the money to fly over to listen to these guys live?

First and foremost that these songs aren't perfectly "clean" and that these rough sounds have been very carefully interspersed, resulting in a surprisingly charming and down to earth experience that just seems to get closer, able to touch people because its similarly imperfect as we are. They often use distortions and rough drum sounds in contrast to very harmonic vocals and clean and "warm" synthesizer sounds to create their rather special sound. This is also one reasons why I haven't grown tired of this album yet, it is seemingly impossible to grow tired of all these different sound variations. Another reason would be the surprisingly varied song composition. Nest makes me want to dance, Darling gets me to daydream and Like Sailors makes me want to shout my heart out. Within 42 minutes, Magic Man gives me a powerful emotional variety I haven't personally experienced in a long, long time. The last, even musically comparable, experience like this was listening and loving myself through the Postal Service album. Who would have thought that a Lo-Fi record would be the most polished album I hear all year, or even top the aforementioned Postal Service album as my favorite album ever. Do not only take this as a high recommendation from a random blogger, please take this in as a present by a close friend, wanting to share one of the most lovingly created musical experiences he was able to discover so far.

pkthunder - 2011 - 5 Song ep

Indie Pop 

[FOR FREE]

http://pkthunder.bandcamp.com/album/5-song-ep

• 5 songs to download
• For free
• Direct Download
• Listening recommendations: Boat-night, Stallion

English

Music does not need to be perfect, it doesn't even need to be harmonic. Most songs that rely on dissonances are raw, powerful and ... well... disharmonic. Several genres, punk and noise to name a few, are remarkable in that area and loved by their admirers for offering an alternative, unpolished way of listening to music. pkthunder is a mix of very well thought out pop elements, instrumentation and smooth background sounds with an "alternative and unpolished" voice. Don't get me wrong, I think his voice make his songs rather special, but unfortunately also very alienating. Many musicians, like Conor Oberst, know how to use their voice in a different, disharmonic and even broken way and have people loving them all the more for it. pkthunder might have went a bit overboard with the amount of "drama" in his voice, but personally I dont necessarily see that as a bad thing. Sure, he wont ever find a huge fanbase with that exact kind of setup, but I am the living proof that there is at least one person who enjoys his songs.
As alienating as his voice might seem at first, he knows how to make a good argument for his ability to create appealing songs. However, there are even some technical issues with the record, "Stallion" for example has got a few "popping" sounds, which are quite bothering. Fortunately, the songs can still be enjoyed regardless. The upbeat "Boat-Night"and the melancholic "Stallion" are as far apart as songs can get quality wise, and both songs still manage to resonance with me on a very emotional level. Lots of passion to be had here. As mentioned in the beginning, music doesn't need to be perfect. It simply needs the means to reach those who treasure it for what it is, the ones who in this case may enjoy the rather well written lyrics, pleasing guitar sounds and even enjoy a remarkable voice that might take some getting used to.

Shadowboxer - 2011 - Two Cities

Alternative Rock

[FOR FREE]

http://shadowboxer.bandcamp.com/album/two-cities

• 4 songs to download
• You name the price (min 0,-)
• You get the link if you register your email address
• Listening recommendations: Dancer, Villianelle
  

English

This is the reason scouring bandcamp for new and interesting (and free, don't forget free) music has become so beneficial – Finding musicians you wouldn't have otherwise heard, that occasionally blow you away. Shadowboxer's EP Two Cities hits all the right buttons as far as I'm concerned. Hayley Martin has a beautiful, versatile voice capable of soaring heights and barely audible whispers, moving between the two extremes of her range with ease on each of the four tracks. I'll just say this now, Martin's voice sounds remarkably like Imogen Heap's, high praise as far as I'm concerned. Her voice may have its detractors, but they're missing out if they shy away from listening to Two Cities on that basis alone. The music has a pop rock aim; guitars and drums dominate the songs here, not samples and keyboards even if both are present (Imogen-lite it is not). Lyrically Two Cities is not warm and fuzzy, and is best summed up by it's cover art. There are songs about love, sure, but here it's broken and painful; the kind that requires time and distance to talk about. There is even a take on English poetic form ('Villianelle'). Aidan O' Brien's arrangements create aurally vibrant landscapes that ensure the lyrics really come to life and fit the mood of each song perfectly. 'Juniper' is anthem-sized with a really ominous low end. 'Dancer' slinks away in size, being colder sounding, relying on airy synths and a drawn out, but heavy bassline to create its broken nostalgia. Villanelle borders on what I feel is trip-hop, while Word of a Stranger is; by comparison, straight forward guitar-driven rock and a really strong way to end this EP. I might have been hooked by the Heap-esque vocals, but there's a lot more to Two Cities than just that, and I think wasfuersohr readers should dive into this EP to find out for themselves. Amazing.

well done, jackson pollock - 2011 - s/t

Instrumental Indie

[FOR FREE]

http://welldonejacksonpollock.bandcamp.com/

• 4 songs to download
• You name the price (min 0,-)
• You get the link if you register your email address
• Listening recommendations: Untitled 1, Untitled 2

English

I think this may be a first for this blog. Finally great music from Germany, which shows that I clearly have no idea whats going on in my near vicinity. s/t by well done, jackson pollock is a rather long EP at almost 27 minutes and worth every minute of your time. The initial impression of the EP is very melodic, calm even and they manage to amass such a variety of different and congenial soundscapes within those 4 songs, that I am still not tired of listening to them after 3 hours nonstop listening. The 4th song especially, spectacularly named "Untitled 2", sounds like a loveletter to the artistic possibilities and emotional power the medium music is able to unleash. The soothing beginning of the song and the way the band handled the shift to the rather upbeat,later parts in the song are nothing short of inspiring. The band seemingly consists of a rather large group of band members and this style of music immensely benefits from that, making it as diverse and inspirational as its name giving artist and comes highly recommended.