[Review] The Aristocrats - Culture Clash

Supergroups come and go these days, often building a lot of hype before collapsing after a release or two; sometimes chemistry never happens between the members and it never really ends up being a group but just a few musicians with backgrounds too different to work together as a band. Once in a while though, magic happens and bands like The Aristocrats come around. 

Formed after a NAMM show in California that almost didn't happen, Bryan Beller, Guthrie Govan and Marco Minnemann certainly felt there was something special in the air when they first jammed together in 2011, and soon after that they released their self-titled debut album, which received good reviews all around, praising their individual talents as well as their collective sound.

Two years later the trio strikes back with their second LP titled "Culture Clash", pointing at the cultural diversity of their members. Each of them contributed three songs to the album, though if you ask me they must be in the same headspace because the album flows very well and feels very heterogeneous.

Culture Clash is more focused than their first album, there's only one song under the 5:00 mark but the songs rarely feel too long for their own good, the album is filled with groovy bass lines and drum fills as well as long, engaging guitar leads and solos.  Though the album could be defined as a fusion of rock, a little blues and jazz (even a little metal here and there) each song has it's own sound and personality, from opener Dance of The Aristocrats, which sounds like Primus without their usual weirdness, passing through bluesy, fast paced Louisville Stomp, the dry tones of Desert Tornado and the heavy hitter that is Living The Dream.

It's fairly evident for those that have seen this band live that they both don't take themselves too seriously (you can see a video of the band stopping mid song to jam with their smartphones) and that they love messing around both live and in studio, and this shows in the tone of their compositions, often adding a cheery element to it.

Culture Clash is an album for those that like shredding as much as carefully composed rock songs, balancing both sides evenly, never sounding like the band is going too far in either direction. A must for all musicians out there.

8.5/10

http://the-aristocrats-band.com

(8.5) Thinking Plague - Decline And Fall (2012)

If I were to judge this album based on it's cover and both the name of the band and the album it would be fair to say that it looks and sounds like "another generic hardcore/metal band", but it's not!. There's one simple way to describe what this album is like: syncopated, atonal jazz-fusion... is that enough? If not then let me get a little more specific, it's like a mix of King Crimson's most "recent" syncopated instrumentals and their jazz fusion era, plus a stripped down, less chaotic Kayo Dot... with female vocals. If you don't have a general idea of what this bands sounds like yet then you're probably reading the wrong blog...
That's pretty much how the album sounds like, but what makes it even more unique is it's vocals, to begin with, it's not everyday that you find a jazz fusion band with a female vocalist, and second, the vocals are as atonal as the sax or the guitar playing in the background, as if they improvised/wrote another instrumental track and used it as a vocal melody.

Now go give the album a listen!.

http://www.generalrubric.com/thinkingplague/main.html

(8/10) [FREE] Charts And Maps - Dead Horse (2011)

Artwork en alta resolución.

Charts and Maps es una banda de jazz instrumental de Los Angeles que incorpora elementos de varios géneros como math rock o post rock, e incluso algunos pasajes electrónicos. Mi poco conocimiento sobre la banda me indica que vienen tocando hace unos años y decidieron lanzar este disco como testamento de todo ese trabajo. El disco es interesante y variado, por momentos entra en el terreno del rock, hay cambios bruscos muy interesantes y momentos memorables que vienen de la nada. En fin, ustedes jusguen (es gratis!):

http://chartsandmaps.bandcamp.com/album/dead-horse

1. Take Me Back to Highland Park (04:37)
2. In the Town of Machine (11:39)
3. Gold Roomer (07:01)
4. Now I Must Hit You (07:55)
5. Pearl Divers of the Arabian Peninsula (07:32)
6. Hypnotiq American Firework (08:12)
7. Dead Horse (09:28)