Friday, December 28, 2007

Nurse with Wound "Drunk with the Old Man of the Mountains", Ulver "Blood Inside", Forever Einstein "Racket Science"

NURSE WITH WOUND - DRUNK WITH THE OLD MAN OF THE MOUNTAINS

Nurse with Wound - Drunk with the Old Man of the Mountains
Year: 2005


1.Mourning Smile [5:11]7.9 Mb
2.Swamp Rat [12:38]20.4 Mb
3.Sheela-Na-Gig [5:25]8.3 Mb
4.Astral Dustbin Dirge [12:19]18.3 Mb
5.Shattering Man Falling [9:23]14.9 Mb

Nurse with Wound "Drunk with the Old Man of the Mountains" Album Review

What a good name for a band.
I first discovered this band when I stumbled upon a clip of their live show online. I think maybe that is the way it is most meant to be experienced.

Sure, you can give this a listen in your bedroom at 3am while you wait for the demons to come out from under your bed and through the cracks in the door... but it might scare you too much. Lots of this stuff is pretty weird. For example in "Astral Dustbin Dirge" you'll be slowly carried along a lulling journey into space, soon turning into an amalgamation of demonic breathing, a heart monitor beeping, a woman gasping, channeling through the left and right speakers in no discernible pattern.

Overall a very dark body of work, but I also find it to be generally quite soothing and calming.






ULVER - BLOOD INSIDE

Ulver - Blood Inside
Year: 2005


1.Dressed in Black [7:06]11.4 Mb
2.For the Love of God [4:10]6.5 Mb
3.Christmas [6:14]8.9 Mb
4.Blinded by Blood [6:22]8.6 Mb
5.It is not Sound [4:37]7.1 Mb
6.The Truth [4:01]6.2 Mb
7.In the Red [3:30]5.1 Mb
8.Your Call [6:06]9 Mb
9.Operator [3:36]5.8 Mb

Ulver "Blood Inside" Album Review

Ulvertronic
Despite the fact that Ulver displayed a notable penchant for flagrant genre hopping right from the get go, with the wildly oscillating _Bergtatt_, the stripped back acoustic folk of _Kvelldsanger_ and, most jarringly, the ear melting opening of hells gates on _Nattens Madrigal_, this is most likely where the rule book went out of the window and their apotheosis as experimental music titans was complete. Distilling the sound used to such effect on _Perdition City_, _Blood Inside_ sees Ulver completely, spectacularly break free of metal roots and create something almost without peer in modern music.
The nine songs presented here are dense, lush and intricately composed, neatly shunning predictability but retaining accessibility thanks to the gorgeously, blessedly clean vocals and their lilting, modern delivery. The music has an electronic base but integrates elements of jazz (slightly), rock (blistering rhythms and one guitar solo), atmosphere and ambience, and prog (insane out of place cod-classical keyboard solo, numerous other touches). the attention to detail is stunning and the lack of conventional structure actually adds to the strength of the songs: despite the uniform sound and dense production, the tracks are actually quite disparate, and the lack of predictability makes hearing each one like unwrapping another present.
Specifically, 'Dressed in Black' is a low key, deceptively melodic opener, showing off the full production and warped beats, especially about 3/4 of the way through when it opens up into a chaotic percussive section. 'For the Love of God' is a gem, and unclassifiable slice of eerire keyboard, surprisingly upbeat tones and vocals, and an unexpected guitar solo. Something about it evokes movement (perhaps on a train?). 'Christmas' is basically astounding, mixing classical samples with driving beats, an aggressive, upbeat style and heart wilitng crescendos later on (those wordless vocal harmonies!). The song is practically danceable, for crying out loud! 'Blinded by Blood' is my favourite, an epic textural journey, ornate in delivery, featuring choral parts and weird backwashing effects, creepy melodies and an atmosphere that reminds me of quiet church or crypt. The melody and delivery of the male vocals reminds me of Mike Patton, but overall I've never heard anything so beautiful. You get the picture then, although I should briefly single out 'Operator' which is an utterly insane journey through a speedy, almost rocking proggish dance-athon (???).
Ok, as I've subtly hinted at above then, I really like this album. I do believe it has a lot going for it. The songwriting is uniformly strong, the production a crystalline, technical wonder. The vocals are good and really add a lot to the music. The best feature though is that, despite the admittedly ambitious reach and scope of the record, every arow finds its target. That is, each miniature experiment works out well, even with the occasional bizzare out of place interludes, which work well in the overall scheme thanks to their jarring quality. One shouldn't really expect a band to be able to branch out in so many different directions at once so succsessfully, so Ulvers achievement here should not be taken lightly. The vague overall concept, which seems to be about hospital fear or Christianity (or both...I mean, sanity is out of the window by this stage) helps as well, keeping everything together without really intruding on matters. I'll wrap up now then, but this album is an experimental, accessible, delicate and delicious marvel, and I hope this review outlines why, to some extent. One thing is for sure: I used a lot of parentheses, for some reason.

Video Ulver - Blinded by Blood (Illustrations by H.R. Giger)

Ulver's Blinded by blood (Blood Inside, 2005)






FOREVER EINSTEIN - RACKET SCIENCE

Forever Einstein - Racket Science
Year: 2005


1.How Come the Wrong People are Always in Charge [3:26]5 Mb
2.You're Living in A World of Make-Believe with Flowers� [3:55]5.8 Mb
3.It's A Good Thing I Don't Have Super Brain Powers� [3:17]4.7 Mb
4.Theyre Portable Theyre Annoying and They Cost� [2:52]4.3 Mb
5.I'm Trying to Contain an Outbreak Here� [4:26]6.6 Mb
6.It's Almost Impossible to Concentrate in this Cafe� [6:05]8.6 Mb
7.God Has A Plan for Me and it Involves Puppets [2:25]3.7 Mb
8.I Wish I Had Me Some of Them Miracle Smart Pills [4:26]6.5 Mb
9.I Got My Picture Taken I Got Forty Dollars� [7:04]10.4 Mb
10.Theres Some Milk in the Fridge Thats About to Go Bad [8:06]11.4 Mb
11.Every Word out of Your Mouth is Like A Turd Falling in My Drink [2:58]4.2 Mb
12.He Looks Interesting (an by Interesting I Mean Weird) [1:35]2.3 Mb

Forever Einstein "Racket Science" Album Review

Interesting, engaging, well rounded
Racket Science is a delight to the ears. The clever, bizarre song titles belie the depth of musical expression the trio conveys in them. O'Meara, Gerety and Roulat are cohesive, clear and flowing in each track. Listen and enjoy!