*sigh*

The last couple weeks have been very memorable due to various reasons, but also extremely busy. Due to this, I haven’t had a whole lot of time to work on anything related to music and Lifting Shadows hasn’t met in a while. Thankfully though, I have a 2 week break from school starting on March 6th. As long as I don’t totally burn out by then and go insane from school, I have plans to get a lot accomplished on this break.

For one, I plan to have a near-finished version of my first solo album done by the end of break. As I’ve said before, most of the songs are already at least in the demo stage but it will take quite a bit of work to put the finishing touches on them. Secondly, I plan to get the singer of Lifting Shadows up to speed with everything we have done as well as finish off another original song. If that gets done, we might be able to start playing some shows relatively soon.

Lastly (and this is only if I have time after the other two more important goals), I might consider starting a black metal band. This is just an idea, and one that is likely to fall through before anything gets started, but it’s definitely something I would be interested in doing.

Now I just need to try and survive the next week and a half…

Review: When the Keyboard Breaks: Live in Chicago (Liquid Trio Experiment 2)

Sometimes great things are born from disastrous circumstances, and “When the Keyboard Breaks” is a perfect example of this. In the middle of “Universal Mind” during a show on the 2008 Liquid Tension Experiment tour, Jordan Rudess’s keyboard broke. For those of you who don’t know, LTE is a four piece instrumental progressive metal group, and the keyboard is a vital part of the sound. Instead of calling it a night or half-assing the rest of the show, the remaining members of the band begin an impressive hour long jam that’s captured here on CD.

After Mike Portnoy (drums) explains the situation to the audience, the group starts off with some basic blues riffing that quickly morphs into instrumental craziness that only this group could create. The sound throughout the jam is quite varied, very often drifting from their progressive rock/metal sound. Jazz and blues influences can be easily found, as well as funk. These three virtuosos tear up their instruments for most of the CD, and the result is a fun and interesting experience.

Things get extra crazy in track 7. Once Rudess realizes that his keyboard is out for the night, he picks up a guitar and joins in with the trio. In “Liquid Anthrax”, everything switches up as Portnoy grabs the bass, Levin hops onto the chapman stick, Petrucci shreds on the guitar, and the drummer from the band Anthrax (where the hell did he come from?) takes up the drums. This unexpected switch-up ends the jam on a high note.

It would be false to say that the jam is completely engaging the entire time. Occasionally the trio will drift off into uninteresting noodling, but they impressively regain focus very quickly and these moments make up a very small part of the performance. Any musician will certainly agree that playing off the top of your head can be difficult, especially for an hour straight. This fact makes the few dull moments quite forgivable.

The production of the album isn’t perfect, or anywhere close, but this can be forgiven. The band had no plans of recording this concert, so the equipment this was captured with is less than ideal. That being said, the production never draws from the performance and it’s miles ahead of any bootleg you’ll come across.

Any Dream Theater or Liquid Tension Experiment fan has no excuse not to check out this impressive live album. It has its flaws, but it’s still a fun ride. This is a unique album quite unlike anything you’ve ever heard. If you want some good instrumental rock/metal, you owe yourself a listen to this.

Rating: 4/5

1. Universal Mind (When the Keyboard Broke)   [2:21]
2. The Chicago Blues & Noodle Factory   [7:02]
3. Fade Away or Keep Going?   [5:02]
4. The Haunted Keyboard   [9:33]
5. Close Encounters of the Liquid Kind   [15:13]
6. Ten Minute Warning   [5:54]
7. That ‘Ol Broken Down Keyboard Blues   [6:34]
8. Liquid Anthrax   [4:54]
9. That’s All Folks!   [2:12]

Crash

Today I completely crashed after being on a school related trip Thursday through Sunday on which sleep was not a high priority. However, I did get together with Patrick, and while we probably played more Rock Band than actually practicing, we did get some work done. We finished arranging the vocal melodies for another one of our songs, which means we’ll have more to work on in our first meeting with Jordan this weekend.

I normally write all of the guitar parts and the lyrics to a song before even presenting it to anyone else in the band, but today Patrick and I worked together on a song I just had some rough ideas for. It was different for me working with someone else while writing, but it was a good experience and hopefully we can get to the point where other band members can implement their own ideas into a song before hearing a near finished version.

“Indefinite hiatus” are the two worst words to hear from a band you love, and while they were never said exactly, Trent Reznor (of Nine Inch Nails) has posted that he wants to see “NIN disappear for a while” after a few last shows. Here’s to hoping that after a well deserved break, Trent will continue making amazing music. And if he doesn’t, thank you for making some of the most memorable music of the last couple decades.

Demo Plans

 I’ll be out of town tomorrow through Sunday, but on Monday the band is going to get together and we’re going to start recording a demo of one of our songs. We’re eager to complete some recordings so we can upload them to MySpace and other services to get a little attention before we start playing live within the next couple months.

Quite a few people have listened to the “Watching Leaves Fall – Single” that I uploaded very early Sunday morning, and I just want to thank anyone who has heard it for giving me a few minutes of their time! Don’t forget that my first solo album, “Watching Leaves Fall” will be released April 18th, 2009 under the Static Light name.

RELEASE: “Watching Leaves Fall – Single”

Okay as I said a few days ago, as soon as the the title track for my upcoming solo album was done I would release it for everyone to hear. So here is the first official Static Light release, the “Watching Leaves Fall – Single”! It contains two tracks, “Watching Leaves Fall” and a demo of a song “I Lost the Sky”. It is available (free) from Last.fm, what.CD, and MySpace. In addition to the standard MP3 release, it is also being released in FLAC lossless.

Enjoy, and leave feedback!

MP3:

• Last.fm
• what.CD
• MySpace

FLAC:

•  what.CD

Review: “Slaughterhouse on the Prairie” (Buckethead)

Buckethead releases so much material it can be hard to keep up. In late 2008, a trio of albums featuring him were released, and now in 2009 not one month has passed without another release. “Slaughterhouse on the Prairie” is a step away from the sound that Buckethead has used on his last few solo ventures.

The album starts off with a duo of songs dedicated to the basketball star LeBron James. Who would have guessed that Buckethead was a basketball fan? Anyways, both feature a good amount of riffing by Buckethead with some nice melodic leads on top, which opens up the album nicely. 

“Blood Bayou” sounds a tad more experimental, starting off with a very dissonant progression leading into some pretty weird sounding guitar work.  ”Iceman” is a fairly typical Bucket song, but “Don’t Use Roosts if You Use Broilers” is very different sounding, featuring a funky rhythm section and slower, moodier guitar parts. The song adds some welcome variation to the album.

“Robot Checkerboard” is very different from everything else so far. It starts off with some very dissonant, glitchy sounding guitar parts, eventually moving into some riffs, and ending with shredding. The rest of the album for the most part continues with this sound of dissonant riffing and shredding.

I commented on my review of Buckethead’s last solo album (“Albino Slug”) that his sound was becoming a tad bland and that I hoped he would start to mess around with his music a bit for his next album. Apparently he had the same thing in mind, and “Slaughterhouse on the Prairie” is heavier and more experimental than his last few releases. It may not have been the change I was hoping for, but it certainly kept the album interesting and it starts 2009 on the right foot for Buckethead. Hopefully he will continue to experiment with his sound for his next release, for variety is the spice of life.

Rating: 3/5

1. Lebron
2. Lebron’s Hammer
3. Blood Bayou
4. Iceman
5. Don’t Use Roosts If You Rase Broilers
6. Robot Checkerboard
7. Premonition
8. Crouching Stump Hidden Limb
9. Goat Host
10. The Stretching Room
11. Pumpkin PIke
12. Collecting Specimens
13. Rack Maintenance Part 2

Review: “Despair” (Omar Rodriguez-Lopez)

Omar Rodriguez-Lopez is best known as the guitarist and main songwriter of the progressive rock band The Mars Volta. However, he is also a prolific solo artist where he experiments with a wide range of sounds. “Despair”, is one of two albums that was released in late January.

The album starts off with a very noisy introduction almost devoid of melody, which ironically sets the tone for the album. This noise continues into the second track, which is almost indistinguishable from the first, comprising of only avant-garde noise. I’m not able to tell which instruments are used. There is certainly no rhythm and I highly doubt a guitar (or any traditional instrument) is being used. By the time the third track ended, almost all of my faith in the album was already lost. Once again, it sounds essentially the same as the first two, basically being comprised of odd noises.

At this point, analyzing the tracks further is pointless. The whole forty minute runtime of “Despair” consists of essentially noise that never sounds different than what you were hearing a minute before. I am a fan of both ambient and experimental music, but “Despair” offers no redeeming qualities. The Mars Volta is known for utilizing noisy sections in their songs to serve as interludes between different movements, and it’s possible to imagine this album as one of those interludes, except 40 minutes long and without variation.

I have to give credit to this guy, it take some guts to release an album practically completely devoid of rhythm and melody. That being said, there are literally no redeeming qualities to this album unless forty minutes of unchanging noise is your thing. Even if you’re a fan of Omar’s previous work (such as me), I strongly recommend avoiding this album, it’s 40 minutes of your life you won’t be able to take back.

Rating: 1/5

1. In einem Jahr mit 13 Minden   [2:19]
2. Liebe ist kälter als der Tod   [2:28]
3. Satansbraten   [3:20]
4. Angst essen Seele auf   [2:04]
5. Martha   [1:17]
6. Rio das Mortes   [6:14]
7. Warnung vor einer heilgen Nutte   [1:56]
8. Chinesisches Roulette   [14:38]
9. Lola   [1:33]
10. Angst vor der Angst   [3:07]

Album Update

I’m nearing the post-production phase of my first solo album, “Watching Leaves Fall”. Almost all of the 12 songs have reached the demo stage. For the next month and a half I will be going through the songs and improving upon them as much as possible to ensure that this album is something I will be proud of. The title track is closest to reaching completion, and I spent about an hour today fine-tuning the string accompaniment and re-recording the bass. After fixing some of the guitar parts, I think the song will be finished. Once the title track is finished, I will create a MySpace so anyone can listen to it. 

“Watching Leaves Fall” will be released on April 18th, 2009. The album will be 100% free and available from what.CD, Demonoid, The Pirate Bay, last.fm, and more.

Track Listing (ordering subject to change):

1. Watching Leaves Fall
2. I Lost the Sky (Pt. I)
3. I Lost the Sky (Pt. II)
4. Flash of Colors
5. Dusk
6. First Turn
7. Like Tears
8. Falling Apart
9. Hacienda Heights
10. Forgotten Pale Dreams
11. Bottom, Flat, Dead
12. Dawn (Pts. I-IV)

February Plans

Yesterday, Patrick and I worked out the bass parts for the new Lifting Shadows song “What You Leave Behind”, and thanks to his suggestions some changes were also made to the guitar part. Next Sunday I’ll work with Taylor to write the drum parts. Unfortunately I still haven’t been able to meet with our potential singer, and next weekend isn’t looking so good either, but definitely within the next few weeks I plan to start working with him.

Since the new Omar-Rodriguez Lopez CDs are being shipped from Austria, it will probably be another week or so before I receive them and am able to review them, despite being released January 26th. There seems to only be two February releases that have caught my eye, listed below. I plan to review both of them as soon as possible.

February releases I plan to buy/review:

• Time Waits for No Slave (Napalm Death – 2/10/09)
• Memoria Vetusta II – Dialogue With The Stars (Blut Aus Nord – 2/23/09)