The Moaning Dead - 2012 - Dead End

Garage Rock

[FOR FREE]

http://themoaningdead.bandcamp.com

• 6 songs to download
• You name the price (min 0,-)
• You get the link if you register your email address
• Listening recommendations: Sympathy, Romero Juliette

Impressions

If only the recently deceased sounded like this, tombs and crypts would be much more happenin' joints. Any, and I stress this without reserve, any album that contains sound bites from George Romero's Dead trilogy automatically gets elevated to a whole other level in my eyes (Left 4 Dead is pretty wicked source material as well – Mike Patton if you want to be specific). I think this may be the first concept album I've ever heard designed around the zombie apocalypse and it's a damn fine garage rock/post-punk album to boot. These Dead bring a hell of a swagger to the proceedings, one doesn't have to go far to hear fuzzed out sludge - “Sympathy” is too damn cool for its damn self. “Run MotherFucker” continues the swagger step garage-punk but speeds the tempo up just enough to create tension, appropriate given the title I think. Every song has rather short clock time, so even if “Ed Wood” soundbites aren't your cup of undead tea (“Beware!” indeed), you'll quickly be ushered into the next track before it can cause you disquiet. In this regard, “Zombie Lesson” could go either way

Things are kept pretty stripped down instrumentally, bass, guitar, drums are what Moaning Dead are working with. Now either I'm hearing things I want to hear and the guitar is tuned really low and the bass is doing a lot of rhythm lines, or the bass is actually doing most of the heavy lifting and the guitar is left in the background. I feel it's the prior over the latter, given the punk nature of the music, almost to the detriment of the songs, but I obviously still really enjoyed the music regardless of the how buried the bass may or may not be. It will certainly make for good Halloween tunes, so shake what your mortician gave ya and grab The Moaning Dead's 'Dead End'. When there's no more room in Hell, The Moaning Dead will rock the Earth!

El Tano y los Mancuso - 2012 - Una patada en las bolas al establishment

Argentinian Pop/Rock

[FOR FREE]

http://eltanoylosmancuso.bandcamp.com/

• 10 songs to download
• For free
• Direct Download
• Listening recommendations: Barrio Vip, Rayito De Sol, Las Heras

Impressions

This is an incredibly talented group of musicians that apparently couldnt really recide for whom they want to make their music. They seem to jump between classic instrumental guitar/piano background for easy listening to full rock instrumentation in the next song and then jump to songs that seem to be highly influenced by rather pushy vibes that I'd categorize as Electronica and back to a song that wouldnt be out of place on a Balkan Pop party. Versatility can be a great asset, and these guys really need to be careful about how to structure their records, so as not to make them feel almost completely random. However, the individual parts, the songs taken on their own merits, are quite astoundingly fun to listen to and I think its hard to argue against the quite obvious catchyness these songs emit. Regarding, the variety on here: I have a personal preference, but I wouldnt necessarily say that they are particularly bad in any of the genres they tap into here, it simply feels... unusual, and I'd go as far as to say that I'd love them to explore what all of these genres have to offer individually. This record definitely feels rather random at times, but El Tano y los Mancuso still manage to reward the listener with an unusual, yet equally worthwhile and playful trip through various genres. Pick the ones you like, shorten it to an EP and enjoy the sounds from a few guys experimenting with something they quite obviously love.

Les Guenilles - 2009 - Les Guenilles

Punk Rock

[FOR FREE]

http://lesguenilles.bandcamp.com/album/les-guenilles-ep

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

Impressions

It's time to throw down, here and now! Les Guenilles (The Rags, for English speakers speakers) have brought the rock, and from the sounds of it, possibly a chair, baseball bats, and chains. This self-titled EP feels raw, dirty, and hopped up on enough cough medicine to take on the whole bar, just give 'em the wrong look and it's on! This one is for fans of that raw, dirty, decaying rock that will force you to take a shower in order to get the sludge off when you're done listening. The only thing that can be described as having a clean sound are the cymbal crashes, even that would be a stretch. “Perspective” widens the spectrum of sonic influences that Les Guenilles bring to the table from more than simply noisy punk and stoner rock that “Combination Perdante” starts the whole affair off with and “Icitte ca sent l'mort” ends things with. Yes, “Perspective”, and to a degree “Interzone” have just the right amount of rock-a-billy bleeding into the guitar interplay that you're never quite sure what to expect. Will come next... well aside from the vitriol of course. I mean, that tipsy feeling you hear in rockabilly doesn't usually go hand in hand with such angry punk rock, but it fits these songs like a glove, and these Rags score points for that alone. Les Guenilles don't really reinvent the thrash rock wheel of course, but they play uniformly well (and dirty), so while it may not stick out to aficionados of harder rock so much, if you're missing a Quebecois entry in your collection, this group of guys are certainly worth earmarking for that. I know I'll be using this EP as a spring board to their other works.

Plaisance - 2012 - Regatta

Synthpop

[FOR FREE]

http://plaisance.bandcamp.com

• 10 songs to download
• For free
• Direct Download
• Listening recommendations: Tailwind, Spindrifts Of Victory

Impressions

Hey remember when I reviewed Kali Ma and mentioned modern synth music being in love with 80's new wave and electronic music in general with the implication that was a bad thing? Yeah, that was like a week ago, because up pops Plaisance with their LP 'Regatta' with a sound that couldn't be more 80's synthpop if Michael Mann used it as a soundtrack to one of his films. It's also spectacularly excellent, did I forget to open with that? In what appears to be a concept album about yatch racing, 'Regatta' is filled with an electricity right from the get go, with the alarm clock on “Wake up it's race day!” providing you with the much needed jolt to get moving. You might get terribly silly mental images of a time when you or older sibling had huge hair, and/or leg warmers weren't just a thing, they were a way of life, and you know what, go with it! Plaisance don't mind. This is a synthpop album that knowingly wades into the waters of nostalgia to bring the world of yacht racing to life, no pretensions about it. None of these tracks overstay their welcome, always coming under in five minutes, so the keyboards and drum pads never grate the nerves. Of course it's not all keyboards and drumming, “Tailwinds” and “Sprintdrifts of victory” let the lead out with some well placed guitar riffs that will get lighters waving and bodies moving. “Mer d'huile”, as its name would suggest, brings things home with a smooth, light jazz flavour and (as acoustic as you're going to get here) guitar plucking. “Sunset”, like it's early morning counterpart is a nice ambient/field recording to wrap the whole thing up. I've never been yachting, but I will sail with Plaisance any time they want, anywhere they want. On this cold, grey September afternoon, the sun is shining and the water is fine, and we have Plaisance's 'Regatta' to thank for that.

JINBO - 2012 - KRNB

Electrosoul/Pop Remix

   [FOR FREE]

http://jinbothesuperfreak.bandcamp.com/

• 12 songs to download
• You name the price (min 0,-)
• You get the link if you register your email address
• Listening recommendations: Damn, I'm Happy When I'm With You, Best Friend

English

As a Korean, sometimes I wonder what it is about our pop music that has recently captured so many people’s attention worldwide. My more cynical comrades paint a picture of immature fanboys fawning over the admittedly gorgeous legs of Girls Generation’s goddesses to justify their antipathy towards shallow drivel like “Gee”. But as Korean R&B artist Jinbo shows, there must be something about the music too: his moody, trippy interpretations of Korean pop classics reveal surprisingly vulnerable characters that come off as immediately relatable despite their transfer to another medium.
The first track, a remix of Kim Gun-mo’s “Red Umbrella”, almost sounds like music for a wedding in 2028: soaring synths twirl and soar across a beat that wouldn’t be out of place on the playgrounds of jumproping elementary schoolgirls, a rhythm that makes JINBO’s puppy-dog pleas for romance even more winning. JINBO proves an adept vocalist throughout, a chameleon who can adapt his voice to fit any mode, be it wide-eyed awe or hazy seduction. He’s assisted throughout by an entire storehouse’s worth of instruments, from the lounge piano and faux orchestra that ground the soulful “I Knew” to the futuristic, chopped beat machine that drives the pounding, Daft Punk-esque “Best Friend”.
For those uninitiated to the backlog of Korean pop, the album is a legitimately thrilling affair, and those wary of the quality of the source material need not be worried; even when JINBO adapts populist hits like Girls Generation’s “Gee” and BoA’s “Love Game”, he fills in the personal details of these pop stars, those wounded heroes and heroines we all secretly look up to. That KRNB is a novel approach to old material rather than a novelty is the highest compliment I can pay it—and the pained, honest voice that brought it to life.

Chase Castor - 2012 - The Dawn EP

Folk surf

   [FOR FREE]

http://chasecastor.bandcamp.com/

• 4 songs to download
• For free
• Direct Download
• Listening recommendations: Dawn, Dull

English

We all have people or things we never realize how much we love until they disappear. The thing is, sometimes we just move forward too fast to be able to look around and see where we are. Nobody has an answer for that problem that’s going to apply 100% to everybody, but folk artist Chase Castor at least seems to be on the same page as me. “Wake up my heart / You’ve been sleeping too long,” he croons as he opens “Dawn”, the epynomous opener of this EP, and it truly feel likes an awakening. While this low-key effort doesn’t have much flourish, it is brimming with pathos, empathy, and heart, all ingredients that make it a valuable listen for all. Where Castor always delivers is with his lyrics: within the space of this work, he expertly navigates feelings of apathy, fear, and loneliness. The backdrop that brings his words to life is simple but surprisingly grand: Castor makes expert use of just the basics, as evidenced by the swelling climax the drums bring on “Dawn”, the vulnerability of the simple vocal harmonies on the moving ballad “Dull”, and the charming percussion of closer “Terrible Fear” (I should leave this as a surprise, really).
What Chase Castor explores in this work may just be personal to him, but how he voices it makes it universal. Above all, it’s a humbling reminder of the value of looking back: reflecting on the shadows of your past as they light the path towards your future.