The Rock Blogger

October Falls is the project of Finland’s Mikko Lehto, who creates haunting acoustic folk songs reminiscent of Ulver’s black metal trilogy. While the guitar melodies, accompanied by delicate piano and martial drumming, are stunningly beautiful, they also convey a dark woodland atmosphere, as this video reveals. Despite looking like something I would have made in my second year of Film School, this clip really captures the mood of October Falls’ excellent album Marras (2005). It’s easily one of the most impressive neo-folk albums I’ve come across.

One of the early animation projects of Trey Parker and Matt Stone, long before South Park.
It’s a rather inspiring little short centered on how one’s life should be played as a free flowing song instead of being driven towards a final, climatic note. Surprisingly powerful stuff.

Agalloch recorded this beautiful cover of Sol Invictus‘ “Kneel to the Cross” on their Of Stone, Wind and Pillor EP (2001). Does anybody know which album the original appears on?

“Modern World” from Apologies to the Queen Mary. 2005

Wolf Parade’s long awaited follow up to 2005’s acclaimed Apologies to the Queen Mary , will be arriving June 17 courtesy of Sub Pop records. There is no definite title for the new album yet, but early rumors suggested it would be named Kissing the Beehive . Maybe the band got cold feet after Pitchfork made fun of that title, I’m not sure, but we’ll know soon enough.

The tracklist:
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Kayo Dot ’s upcoming Blue Lambency Downward is one of the most anticipated records of the year, continuing on with the band’s fusion of jazz rock with intense metal and avant-garde compositions.

Truly one of the more inspired and original post-metal acts around, Kayo Dot is sure to have another masterpiece on their hands come May 6 (close to my birthday too, hint hint). To tide you over until then, here are two of the new tracks, performed live last month. Thanks to ArchivesKey, whoever you are, for posting these on YouTube.

Note: because Kayo Dot’s songs are so long, one of these videos gets cut off prematurely. There is still a lot there though, so its worthwhile.

Blue Lambency Downward

Right Hand is the One I Want

As regular readers of this blog already know, I have been infatuated with an album called Deathconsciousness from Connecticut’s mysterious Have a Nice Life. Despite having no mainstream press coverage, no Wikipedia page or any mention on Pitchfork, this duo has generated a sizable cult following their debut double disc album which is receiving accolades all across the Internet.

For those of us wanting to know a little more about this band and their strange blend of post punk and shoegaze styles, Scene Point Blank recently interviewed the guys to learn a little more about their ambitions, their writing process and their future.

The most striking parts of the interview for me was the duo’s personal and insular approach to crafting their sound, as they wrote the record for themselves, with little attention payed to how others would receive their work.

Scene Point Blank: Was it a conscious decision to release the album yourself? If so, why?

Dan: We always knew we would release the record ourselves. Outside of those closest to us, hardly anyone was even aware that we were writing music. It’s just something we do, and have done consistently since we met. There is never a point when we aren’t writing or recording music…releasing the record was, and always has been, secondary to the act of writing it in the first place. To be honest, I’m surprised anyone likes it but us.

…

Scene Point Blank: What do you hope people take away from the whole Deathconsciousness release?

Dan: We would’ve written the exact same record if we were the last two people on Earth. It was recorded assuming that no one would ever hear it. If anyone does and they enjoy it, that’s great. I hope that happens. But that’s about as far as it goes.

I found this approach and attitude rather inspiring, as it lends to a creative process that is honest and uncompromising. Leaving the pressures of industry expectations and recognition aside allowed Have a Nice Life to truly explore their own thoughts and feelings without inhibition, leading to work of great conceptual sophistication. Its refreshing to see more bands taking up the DIY ethos, taking up self release strategies to maintain their artistic independence. Hopefully I can take some of these ideals with me when I go back to recording my own demos.

Anyways, in case you haven’t heard anything from these guys yet, I found one of their songs on YouTube.

Enjoy:

Have a Nice Life. The Future.

The Sword’s second full length album The Gods of the Earth came out yesterday and this video is for its first single. I’m hoping to pick the disc up today so I can write a full review soon. In the meantime, check out their post-apocalyptic video. It has a very trippy look to it, with a colorization scheme reminiscent of the sci-fi film A Scanner Darkly. Check it out.

I’m heading to Buffalo to see Matthew Good perform the last show in his acoustic tour of the U.S. I think this will be the 11th MG show I’ve seen since I started listening to Underdogs at the beginning of the decade. In celebration of today’s show, here are my Top 5 Matthew Good videos:

5. Strange Days. Beautiful Midnight 1999.

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The classic documentary from the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) that explores Noam Chomsky’s ideas about propaganda and the media. While the film is quite long, stretching over 160 minutes, it is one of the most comprehensive and provocative studies of corporate power and democratic deficit ever made.

The film also sheds light on some of the more heated controversies surrounding Chomsky and shows some intense opposition to his criticisms. Whatever your political views, this is essential viewing.

A strange and innovative video for “It is Not Sound” from The Blood Inside (2005). Featuring bizarre human animation, the video follows the plight of the band members through a twisting sea of limbs. Crazy stuff.