Here’s a piece of independent work that not only sounds like it’s being meticulously crafted by a team of 10 top-notch sound engineers ,but the songwriting and the skills of the musicians might easily fool you into thinking this is one of those good realeases from back in the days issued by big record label giants. And I say this just because it seems clearer that the music from few years ago  when there still was a record industry was better . There is a global independent tendency now and the music suffers alot. Musicians don’t have the same budget to really put out some outstanding work. That’s not the case with this record. The really great songwriting is here , the beefy huge and beautiful productions is here, and oh my god …. the performers are just real musicians by all means. Guitars , lap steel , drums , bass - it all sounds really mature and the playing and arrangements here are just very refined.

         The best part of the whole record ,I guess , are the male and female vocals. They are powerful , big and manage to fit the songs and the message really well. You just dont get these kind of powerful vocalists in today’s pop music anymore. The crew on this album blows away all the limited musicians that seem to get a bunch of praise nowadays. The lyrics and the vocal timbres seem like they were made for each other even though the lyrics and composition are made by Terry Lewsader , the guitarist , and the star of the record. The message strikes so hard it makes you listen to the album on and on. The album is a huge monolith , you cant really break down some parts and describe it , it is a melancolic , sad , retrospective yet relaxing piece of music that’s a real delight for the listener’s years. If you got a bit of taste it will reveal infinite sonic treasures.

         I leave the genre and style of the album to be the last thing we talk about right now cause like I said before , I want everybody to really understand how good this album is and how organized the composition and the performance are. So it can take up comparisons with every rock or pop album that’s being released today. But guess what…this is actually a country record….and it’s so versatile and highly enjoyable that it really breaks away from it’s genre foundation and will smoke absolutely 90% of the records released this year. It has nuances from alternative country to rock and pop and covers a huge palette of human emotions… I call this a sunday album because it’s better to just lay down and listen to this carefully , without doing anything else . It will relax the hell out of you. Try it !

Score: 7/10

ALABAMA SHAKES - BOYS AND GIRLS 2012

Hold On is simply a superior single….and there really was no need to wrap an album around it and call it a day…i mean , why make 10 other lame bland songs? Get it for that particular song which is amazing. The band and the style is sweet , the vocals are gorgeus , but the album is uninspired and liniar and it comes nowhere near the lead single. That’s what you get for living in the 2010’s folks! Dying record industry here please understand ! 

Score: 4/10

CRADLE OF FILTH - MIDNIGHT IN THE LABYRINTH 2012

COF continues the useless releases that dont do anything else than ripping off the stupid brain dead retarded fans that would actually consider buying this. Yeah Cradle pulled of amazing instrumental pieces in the past but this album is nowhere near that level of quality. It’s just made to be made. Nothing great about it. It’s just some programmed symphonic orchestra  stuff  version of their old songs and they are really poorly done. They sound horrible. This album is an amazing idea but get a real orchestra like on Damnation And A Day and really think and rework the sounds. But you’re not really into making music anymore that much eh , Dani?

   2 discs - one with few narration on top of it and one without it. REALLY??? 

Score: 2/10

LANA DEL REY - BORN TO DIE 2012

Yes Lana , we also love you more than those other bitches before you ! 

I’m not sarcastic , come on … that SNL performance was just another move from her huge marketing campaign. You gotta be really retarded to sing like that. You can easily see that she can actually sing. She’s not really good but she’s no Rihanna either. So yeah …she sounds incredible on the album. So I’ll really praise the hell out of the record’s producer. The sound is totally fresh and it’s a really original mix of  antagonic styles. They really nailed some original noisy artefacts in there. But the album is too long and some song are just useless trying to sound just like the main 3 or 4 pieces here. They didnt even bother to change the actual sounds….( see that atmospheric high pitch buzz from born to die….it’s just all over the place in almost every single song…sweet noise but CUT IT OUT! DONT KILL MY MOOD !!! I AM AN ACTUAL WELL TRAINED LISTENER HERE!!! oh shit yeah it’s not your fault…you’re right… your target audience is 14 year old girls and stupid indie hipsters that listen to Interpol all day long). So yeah….this is one of those rare albums that helps you chill out and doesnt disturb from reading. Yeah all the shit today is jjust banging and trashing stuff in your head….i am sick and tired of loud stuff.

   Great album to listen to on a rainy day…it will chill the fuck out of you. 

Score: 8/10

GARBAGE - NOT YOUR KIND OF PEOPLE 2012

It’s obvious we can expect massive real quality stuff from a Butch Vig and the gang new album. So this year, Miss Manson also slaps all the pop bitches and crushes them with the coolest catchiest most intelligent electro-rock songs of the 2010s - Blood For Poppies and Automatic Systematic Habit. I guess they wanted to water down the pop allure of those 2 and that resulted in a somehow liniar album. They should drop more bling in it. Could have been at least as interesting as beautifulgarbage. Cool new songs , but something is missing . The production is just out of this world and meticulously done…it’s a work of art on it’s own and i wish it wasnt limited to just those two songs mentioned before. We really could use alot more variation and bling but overall it’s  a superior album. It just doesnt compare to the junk the indie scene puts out these days. These guys are real gifted artists so go buy this and stop linstening to Interpol or much worse that Grimes bullshit . Just eat cake from the garbage and stop drinking trash juice. Garbage owns trash :D

Score: 8/10

MARILYN MANSON - BORN VILLAIN 2012

Big step up from the High End Of Low funny mess , but you won’t get any new Manson songs here. No one expected Manson to fall into the cliche miserable phase of a typical pop/movie star. He’s clearly  just getting his shit back together and tries to crawl back from a big hole in his life. Gotta appreciate he’s not stubborn enough to not find his way back, but it’s just mesmerising seing someone way intelligent than his peers ending just like every one of them.

     Don’t throw it in the trash after hearing the first song. The stupid awful production is            

meant to be that way for whatever reason. You’ll reach songs that emulate all his past styles very well, and even great sounding songs made like nobody’s business . That is Overneath The Path Of Misery. The only real new original song here is Slo-Mo-Tion and it’s a Manson gem. 

      In the end it’s better hearing something from Manson than nothing. And I rather forget about his few last albums. This one is better but, really,  he doesnt seem to be into music anymore. I guess he should just stick to painting…there’s no need to flush his image to the shitter getting dead drunk onstage and barely growling. Liked him better filled with drugs  and being real .

Score: 6 / 10

Are you coming to the Sziget Festival this year?

It will take place between 6 - 13 August , in Budapest , Hungary on the Obudai Island. Sziget Festival was known for decades as the absolute best Eastern-European festival. But along these years they expanded and evolved to be one of the greatest festivals in the whole Europe. In case you never visited it , we strongly sugest you to do so from now on.  

In case you haven’t heard , the hungarian fest has won “The Best European Major Festival ” award this year, and with the 2012 edition, they’ll show us why they got their well-deserved title by bringing the most exciting musical acts of the moment on their stages. These include KoRn , Ministry , Placebo , The Stone Roses , The Horrors , The Killers , LMFAO and a very huge variety of other great bands.

Check out the official Szigest Festival website for the full lineup :

http://www.sziget.hu/festival_english#.T6GLnp9ccWU

Some of the biggest names confirmed so far are :

KORN - 9 AUGUST

Korn is probably the most important name that will headline the festival this year and one of the most coolest bands to experience a live encounter with. They return to Sziget for the second time after 7 years , in a new formula and with a new dubstep infused sound that shocked the whole rock scene this year.

Their last album , The Path To Totality included collaborations with the best dubstep DJs of the moment including Skrillex , 12th Planet , Excision, Datsik , Downlink , Feed Me etc. We have the chance to witness a very unique band that has created a total new sound and style for the second time in their existence. Their new live production and huge bass driven sound will sure be the highlight of the festival.

PLACEBO - 8 AUGUST

Placebo will be another favorite of the festival as it is probably the most loved European alternative rock bands. Everybody loves Molko and the guys and we all know how deeply emotional their live concerts are. 

MINISTRY - 8 AUGUST

The legendary industrial metal act will sure offer an insane show, as it is a part of their tour that promotes their latest brilliant album  ”Relapse” .

THE KILLERS - 12 AUGUST

The Killers will close this year’s edition with their highly anticipated performance on the Main Stage. We’re sure everybody’s dying to see them live.

Sziget is a paradise for music lovers as it hosts a huge variety of bands on it’s multiple stages. Besides the eclectic mix of pop , rock , metal and electronic music we strongly recommend to pay a visit to the World Music Stage , one of our favorites to witness a multinational haze of music folklore. 

So, this year Sziget’s World Music Stage is a unique chance for everyone to hear the best East-European bands that draw heavy inspiration from the Balkans folklore. If you like stuff like Gogol Bordello, you’ll have the chance to see the original bands and musicians that inspired them , and these are the mighty:

GORAN BREGOVIC WEDDING AND FUNERAL BAND and EMIR KUSTURICA AND THE NO SMOKING ORCHESTRA !

SEE YOU THERE !

For more information please visit the Sziget Festival Official Website:

http://www.sziget.hu/festival_english#.T6GLnp9ccWU

LOVE AND DEATH - CHEMICALS EP 2012

    After tons of months of fingerbiting and waiting , Love And Death’s EP finally dropped and fed the hungry crowd after the cruel teasing of their first single Paralyzed. No one anticipated the heaviness and power of Paralyzed. The main character of the band , Brian Head Welch had already released a surprising and interesting album in 2007 and the crowd was expecting something better but somehow in the vein of his debut. Who would have thought that Head would go further and tune his guitar down to G#? And that was the best move Head could posibly make. Jason Rouche , the producer of the songs was also probably involved in this decision and he definitely played a pivotal part in the process of bringing the heaviness back in Brian’s art. The riffs are striking like thunder , and the production is insane and better and heavier than on any Meshuggah record. Rouche is clearly on of the most talented metal producer of these times if not the best. The dynamics of the EP are just impressive, intelligent and pumping hard like no other metal record you’ll ever hear. 

    The first song , Paralyzed , is the one that started the whole comeback for Head. And not only his comeback, but it spawned a more condensed and focused sound that created Love And Death. This is not just a name change. On this EP , you can actually feel the power of a real band as opposed to the more intimate and personal feel of Head’s Save Me From Myself. Head also made a rather surprising decision to hire JR Bareis , an underage teenager as a guitarist. JR’s live performance is incredible and he certainly is the right one for the band . Not just every guitarist fits in a band with Head. That person needs to be full of energy to be able to play Head’s compositions. JR’s youth is not a coincidence. The sound is full of young energy and only a free crazy teen could play the Brian Welch signature riffs, as we know that Brian is the ultimate mastermind in writing the heaviest riffs ever recorded in music history along with his former bandmate in KoRn , James Shaffer. Brian, James and the guitar duo of Meshuggah are the pioneers and kings of detuned extreme riffing and it is rather interesting to hear Brian on this EP tuning his axe lower than he ever did. The heaviness matches the riffs from the 90s era Korn, but it’s quite different also. 

     The second song is an amazing cover to a Devo tune that is totally deconstructed and transfigured from new wave to metal. The riffage is just insane , clever , catchy as it is the chorus and the overall melody that turn alot darker than on the original. They managed to make the song their very own and their version of it is just better and more creative, no argument about it.

     The third song , Chemicals retains the amazing psycho-guitar sounding melodies of the late 90s alternative metal that you would hear in Orgy songs. Of course Orgy was only borrowing from Korn at the time and the mastermind of the technique was of course Brian Welch. The melody strikes so deep  that it makes the song an instant favorite. The best part of this EP are also the lyrics that dont deal with christianity anymore (at least in a direct way ) . Head managed to disguise the meaning which is a clever move after all , making the songs highly enjoyable while expressing some ideas in a more subtle and meaningful way.

   The remixes are the big let downs here because they are really not done by a professional. The mixing and the overall production is just a mess. The idea behind the remixes is good but the producer is clearly just a beginner who doesnt yet know what he is doing. They tend to flirt with dubstep and moody IDM but in the end they fail miserably. 

    This EP is a big step for Love And Death , a true mounthful of fresh air for Korn fans that want to recall the well known heaviness , and a wonderful sample of what the actual first Love And Death album will be. I have a feeling that it’s gonna strike like a hurricane.

Score: 8/10

THE DANDY WARHOLS - THIS MACHINE 2012

For the few last years , the Dandys dropped a series of albums without any big fuss or artificial hype surrounding them. They just released music without any aggressive marketing attempt. And the music is great. Some say they even got better with age. I can’t really disagree with this. This album also took us by surprise when it was announced…and it has even been put out for free- streaming  on the internet before the physical release. The Dandys had their money making glam days and they seem to have gotten past that era. They don’t seem to be constantly struggling to reach their spots on MTV till they die like some other miserable artists do. Hence they seem to not care about any advertising and promotion at all these days. What is even more shocking and striking is the fact that they actually released the physical version of This Machine on The End Records. The metalheads reading this sure know what this record label is all about. The End Records are a mainly extreme metal oriented label and this cooperation between them and the Dandys should give us a hint about the state of the music industry in general today. The sales are that low that even a band as big as the Dandys needs to get to a niche label to have some actual CDs released . Obviously the independent metal labels are still standing because they always had a dedicated fanbase that actually collects records from the more intimate niche extreme metal acts. They are the only ones buying records today and the minute in which independent alt. rock meets heavy metal has arrived  (interms of business at least).

     The Dandys are finally recording the music they want without any label bugging them, so it is easy to understand the fact that they dont care for marketing anymore. However this new album in particular is so good and healthy in the actual rock landscape that a proper marketing and promotion would be really needed. The post-punk revival trend and all these bands that sound like Franz Ferdinand need to water down. The young hipsters need to hear some new Dandys to have a taste of what real and creative alternative rock is all about. The scene is clearly oversaturated with rich ugly british kids that try to play like Joy Division. That’s why a little bit of exposure would have been great for This Machine. If Brian Jonestown Massacre are too wasted or short on funds, then The Dandys sure are the perfect ones to fund a little exposure of real organic music in the stale indie landscape of 2012.

     As far as the music goes , to sum this album up , the psychedelic drone Dandys meet the rocking Dandys to create the perfect balance between drone and beat. The sound is just between Odditorium and 13 Tales From Urban Bohemia, the best of the two worlds . They say it’s a guitar centered album. Well…yeah if you count crazy amp feedbacks as guitar playing. There is no Oasis guitar chord frenzy here….just tasteful guitar based atmospheric effects that evoke really sensual soundscapes. Some songs even have a light goth feel while keeping the irresistible cool-cat attitude.

   The laid back atmosphere of the songs makes for a relaxing rewarding listening. Everything has it’s room here , all the noises and the instruments are really where they should be . The CD version and the itunes version have different mixing and we’re talking about the CD version mix here. I havent yet got the time to listen to the itunes version but i’m certain that it is just bad and lifeless as the ipod listener’s demands . The cd mixing could not have been better and the production is at the height of the musicianship .

    The record is well balanced so we wouldnt be bored out of our minds with the psychedelic tunes or the pop choruses assault. Everything just blends perfectly in just under 45 minutes. Short album for a Dandys one but it seems better and more relaxing this way. Or maybe it’s just me liking short- under 45 minutes -records in general. Anyway this will easily  get in the race for the best Dandy Warhols record ever released.

“This Machine”  has to be experienced. It’s just a fresh cool pleasant sonic shower that you gotta hear if you like great music.

Rank: 10/10 

ST. VINCENT - KROKODIL / GROT 7’ VINYL 2012

Of all the Record Store Day releases , this was one of the most juicy and interesting. I guess everyone was wondering what can Annie deliver in terms of solely 2 tracks. Everybody was hungry to hear some left-overs from Strange Mercy. This vinyl clearly states that the experimental fun part in Annie’s music is the thing she wants to be contoured . She’s making room for the noise instead of killing her experimental abilities in favour to pop melodies as her success seems to grow. It seems she’s not looking to be the next Adele as Christgau seemed to anticipate.

Her fans might expect everything from a new St. Vincent song. I myself am confident and truly believe she won’t run out of ideas for this decade. Yet I guess we were all totally shocked to hear her play funeral doom metal riffs on the pop background of GROT . Everybody was aware that she’ll drop noise and grunge riffs on anything pretty…. but I certainly wasnt yet expecting this extreme metal nuance and power . And that makes for the most adventurous 7inch vinyl i’ve listened outside of the black metal genre. In the end this record fed us really well with few more top notch St. Vincent songs. It’s been a pure delight listening to this.

Rank: 9/10