The Digital Kill - Stare

Hello readers of this blog.

After we´ve been on extended hiatus i decided to revive this site again. There won´t be many reviews on it, but hopefully i can manage to bring you a nice amount of CDs you probably don´t know but should listen to.

The first review will be a CD by a chicago based band that plays some kind of post-rock in an very experimental style.


THE DIGITAL KILL - stare



Back to 2001, the holy days of mp3.com. I was having my own "station" there and got a recommendation from somebody. Happened often, and most of the time it was mediocre music. But the band here was different.
I heard "Frail" by THE DIGITAL KILL for the first time. I liked it and added it. I wrote them an e-mail and they kindly supllied me with demo-cds and a poster that still hangs on my wall right behind me - everything for free... from that time on they had a place in my heart ;)

In 2006 they finally released their first CD - "stare". And it hit me hard. Most of the songs were at least 5 years old when they recorded them and they really are refined and matured like good red wine.
The CD ranges from heavy and aggressive post-rock that builds up tension with whispered, mumbled melancholic vocals and explodes with the singer daniel keltner shouting until his lungs collapse ("sometimes") down to a hauntingly beautiful 10 minute repetitive ambient piece that mainly consists of a single piano track ("untitled") and gets crushed by the next song ("cancer"), that is somewhere between noise rock and post-hardcore.
The diversity of the 11 songs in 75 minutes is astonishing and let me point out another thing: the lyrics. In an age where other young bands just manage to write a "MMMBop"- chorus Daniel Keltners texts are very serious, intelligent and touching. But listen for yourself.


As you can see TDK developed their own style and you should love them for it. Go to their myspace site, take a listen at a few songs and buy their CD for only 9$. Great music doesn´t get that cheap usually. They are currently recording their 2nd and 3rd album.


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In short:
9 out of 10
If it is your style then you´ll love this CD
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myspace

BTW: Their drummer is also a filmmaker and recorded the following video for their song "stare":

Ira - The Body And The Soil

Well, we wanted to go to a concert of "the ocean". And well, it was nice, but what overwhelmed me was this: IRA

IRA is latin for "wrath" and you can hear exactly that. The make long, metalish, anger-filled tracks mixed with ambient parts and a voice that proves why this band is called "ira".
The best comparison is perhaps "ISIS", but "ira" have their own style. Just listen to the 15 minute centerpiece "Disappear". This is an unbelievable song. Shimmering to crunching guitars, powerfull drumming and a vioce that ranges from a lulling "Closer, Come Closer" to hateful shouting "Let Me Break Out".
Sometimes even spiced up with german spoken word parts, that sound good and are intelligent. haven´t heard that good german lyrics since "Blumfeld". Their singer is also a spoken word artist and released s book with poems, so he knows how to get you.
Well, now to the negative: it has just 5 real tracks (+ 4 ambiance tracks), though counting 47 minutes, it just seemes not enough. but on the other hand i can listen a thousand times to each song (esp. "disappear), so it´s not THAT negative, but they have me longing for more. i need more.... more.... more!

9.5/10

Will Make You Cry - "Young And Old"

just some small news:
get a beautiful new "gregor samsa"-song!
http://www.gregorsamsa.com/albumdownload/02_Young_And_Old.mp3

and if you´re intelligent and delete something you´ll be able to download some more.
But be aware: "Young And Old" is unbelievable!

Some News

Long time no hear, folks!

Well, perhaps it´s because we´ve been too blasted away from the LACK concert we´ve been to? Or the MONO? noo... though i have to say that we almost missed the lack-concert. we just noticed it because we accomodated the swedish band SEPTEMBER MALEVOLENCE and they played that night,too.
Let me tell you that they have been by far better than LACK (they haven´t played "Even the most honest..." and so we were pissed :) )... and very nice guys. And they gave me their CD as a thank you. It has the easy to remember name "tomorrow we'll wonder where this generation gets its priorities from" and it´s totally great. Go and get it... sometimes like explosions in the sky, sometimes mogwai. Go to their site and download "Late Night Episode", the best track of it. You´ll love it!
Another thing: I´ll change the style here a bit... i´ll post links to downloads you´ll probably love and tell you other bullshit. well, at first i want to present you:


ALCIAN BLUE











a shoegazey noise-pop-rock hybrid.
be sure to check out at www.alcianblue.com
and download some tunes for free at soundclick
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also i would like to tell you that there is a nice mp3/music/post-rock-blog.

be sure to come here more often for more updates

some new reviews

i can´t sleep, so let me do some reviews: (and yes, i even add now WHY i rate this cd with that number... i was too lazy before)

Mindrot - Soul

8/10

DoomMetal? Well, they have their better times when they´re slow, but manage to rock all the way in this album. great metal melodies, if you want something like that!


Dredg - Catch Without Arms

9/10

A CD that needs time... more poppy, but stil typical "Dredg"... even more effect-driven shoegazer-style guitars and catchier lyrics. give it time and it builds!


A Silver Mt. Zion... - Horses In The Sky

6.5/10

Godspeed´s spin off is well... not as good as godspeed... and why??? Because there´s singing! It´s not bad it isn´t done superb and is very up at the front of the songs. when the songs get louder and there´s the GYBE-dynamics, they are cool, optherwise mediocre.


Redjetson - New General Catalogue

9.5/10

I´m glad that i found that on a hope of the states board. great band, shoegazy post-rock-style. the more you listen the better the songs get, and in the end every one of it is a tune you can´t get out of your head. sometimes lulling, sometimes stirring, but great all over the album!

Radiohead - Hail To The Thief

8/10

What´s more to say to this record? You should decide yourself. i like theri new style and think it´s a really good album, because they went more to "rock"-side again. suits radiohead very well.

Lack - Blues Moderne...

8.5/10

You know "Refused"? Then you should check out "Lack"... if there´s a band that can be considered as good as refused, then it´s "Lack". Simple melodies, combined with nice song-structures and a voice that really reaches it´s limits. That´s what i want. no 1 singer, 1 shouter, i want one guy at the edge of his voice. and one song´s called "Kill Britney", so what do you want more, post-hardcore-heart? and i really love the shoegazer-roots they have woven into their music...

a new bunch of older cds reviewed

here are a few older releases i thought i have to tell you without many words, what i think:

A Northern Chorus - Spirit Flags:
style: dreampop, shoegazer

Ollo:9.5/10

Killing Joke - Killing Joke
style: indie-rock, metal

Ollo: 6.5/10

Hope Of The States - The Lost Riots
style: post-rock, indie-rock

Ollo: 10/10

Polar - A Future History Of The Frigid Polar Night
style: dreampop, shoegazer

Ollo: 7/10

Trespassers William - different stars
style: shoegazer, rock/pop

Ollo: 8/10

Elefant - Sunlight Makes Me Paranoid
style: indie

Ollo: 7/10

The Black Heart Procession - Amore Del Tropico
style: post-rock, indie, uhm... well....

Ollo: 8.5/10

Dreamend

because of the upcoming dreamend-concert: here is the review for their debut-full-lenght:


Dreamend - As If by Ghosts:
style: post-rock, like mogwai, GYBE, explosionsinthesky,etc.

Ollo: 10/10

Jérôme: 9/10

(concert on the 8th April in Karlsruhe/Germany at the AKK with THENO-TONEPROJECT)

Lowcloudcover/Manuok/Via Satellite

Lowcloudcover - ...I took a second too long :
shoegaze, psychedelia, post-rock

Ollo: 8/10

Manuok - s/t:
singer-songwriter,electro-indie-rock

Ollo: 7/10

Via Satellite - Cities Are Temples:
indie-rock/pop

Ollo: 8/10

thanks to greg, for sending me!