Great Albums to Listen to While Studying

I’ve had to do more homework and studying this year than any other year so far (which I suppose is to be expected as one moves up in the education system). While schoolwork is never fun, over the year I have compiled a list of albums that makes the experience of studying almost an enjoyable one, by creating a pleasant atmosphere that makes working easier. The list is comprised of mostly ambient albums, but with a few surprises thrown in. So here is my list of great albums to listen to while studying in no particular order…

“Structures from Silence” by Steve Roach

The biggest challenge of any ambient album is to create a  soundscape that can both sink into the background to the  point of not being noticed and also be interesting to listen to  with your full attention. Structures from Silence succeeds at  accomplishing both of these tasks. When your full  concentration is needed for something, you won’t even  notice it’s on, but when you need some background noise, it will quickly come back to your attention. Because of this, it is the perfect album for any study session.

Brian Eno’s “Ambient” Series

Brian Eno was instrumental in the creation of ambient, and the release of Ambient 1: Music for Airports is probably the first album released to identify itself as part of the genre. The ambient series is great for creating melodies that can be very soothing and even interesting to listen to, but that never become distracting. The highlight of the series, in my opinion, is Ambient 2: the Plateaux of Mirror, which combines the engaging sound of Harold Budd’s piano and Brian Eno’s electronics. However, all four albums are essential listening to anyone interested in becoming acquainted with ambient, and are wonderful albums to do homework to.

Anything by Darkspace

Here’s the real surprise of this list, Darkspace. On the  surface, it would seem that the genres of ambient and black  metal have nothing to do with each other – one being an extreme sub-genre  of metal while the other is created to be intentionally  inoffensive. Yet beneath the surface, the two genres are  remarkably similar in their repetitive, atmospheric nature,  and many black metal artists incorporate ambient influences  into their music. Darkspace is an example of how effective this combination can be. Their music attempts to convey the emptiness and coldness of space and they do it in a remarkably effective fashion. Darkspace II is probably the best release from Darkspace for studying, being the most atmospheric of their three full length albums.

“Selected Ambient Works 85 – 92″ by Aphex Twin

With 13 tracks, this is the most mainstream friendly release of this list, so  those of you with ADD (if you managed to read this far), will  probably want to come here first. That being said, this album arguably has had as large of an impact as Brian Eno’s Ambient 1 had by essentially creating the genre of IDM. Selected Ambient Works combines the relaxing synthesizers of ambient with the danceable beat of electronic music to create a soothing, yet energetic, album.

Many people agree with me that having music on while studying is almost a necessity. However, if you play one of your favorite albums or something really exciting, you are almost certain to be distracted. Hopefully this list has given you some ideas on albums to listen to that won’t distract you but will still give you something great to listen to while studying. And with finals this week, I’m certain to have these releases on heavy rotation this week.

Review: “The High End of Low” (Marilyn Manson)

The High End of Low is a very important album for Marilyn Manson. The nineties were his golden age – Antichrist Superstar, Mechanical Animals, and Holy Wood were all great albums that offered a unique sound. Unfortunately he’s recently began to falter; The Golden Age of Grotesque was laughably bad and Eat Me, Drink Me was entertaining but ultimately nowhere near his former greatness. After a string of disappointing releases, this new release is Manson’s opportunity to prove to the world that he hasn’t lost his touch.

Right out of the gate, this album presents itself as much different than anything else he has ever released before. “Devour” opens up the album in a very melodic and pop-ish fashion. If it wasn’t for Manson’s unmistakable vocals, I wouldn’t have recognized what artist it was. Thankfully the album doesn’t stay this way for long and the interestingly titled “Pretty as a Swastika” is a few notches up on the heavy scale and is a surprisingly solid track with a much more traditional Marilyn Manson sound that ends too soon.

No matter how much you buy into Manson’s evil persona and image, the reason I’ve always enjoyed his music is because underneath the controversial lyrics and industrial noise there was always a great pop sensibility. No matter how heavy his music would get, it would be irresistibly catchy. He sometimes almost felt like a modern day David Bowie, especially on Mechanical Animals. The interesting thing about this new release is that he seems to be embracing this more melodic side of his sound. Even though he would often compare this album to Antichrist Superstar in interviews, in truth, it’s much closer to Mechanical Animals in style. The High End of Low continues with this melodic, poppy sound for much of its run time. To those who only loved him for his “dark god” persona and the controversy, there is no doubt that this album will deeply disappoint you. But for those of you, who like me, always loved his music because it was fun and catchy while still interesting, you’ll probably find this album to be worth a listen.

When I say this album is “poppy” I don’t mean it’s uninteresting. On the contrary, Manson tries out sounds that have rarely if ever entered his music before. “Four Rusted Horses” is a blues-influenced ballad, “Running to the Edge of the World” sounds like something Oasis would write and “I Want to Kill You Like They Do in the Movies” reaches over 9 minutes long. On the flip side, songs like “Arma-goddamn-motherfuckin-geddon” and “We’re from America” (probably the best of the album)  retain the more classic Marilyn Manson sound.

That’s not to say this album is without its flaws – believe me, it has plenty. While he is definitely trying out new things a lot of it doesn’t really work. The album is at times quite bland and repetitive. The lyrics never really jump out as anything special, the album should have been much heavier, and at over 70 minutes it can sometimes feel like a chore to get through, losing its steam about halfway through. All of that being said, if you’re a fan of his music it’s probably worth giving a listen, just to see how much his sound is changing. Ultimately the album is a mixed bag, but one that will surprise you and be worth giving a listen to.

Rating: 3/5

Track listing:

1. Devour   (3:46)
2. Pretty as a Swastika   (2:45)
3. Leave a Scar   (3:55)
4. Four Rusted Horses   (5:01)
5. Arma-goddamn-motherfuckin-geddon   (3:39)
6. Blank and White   (4:27)
7. Running to the Edge of the World   (6:26)
8. I Want to Kill You Like They Do in the Movies   (9:02)
9. WOW   (4:55)
10. Wight Spider   (5:33)
11. Unkillable Monster   (3:44)
12. We’re from America   (5:04)
13. I Have to Look Up Just to See Hell   (4:12)
14. Into the Fire   (5:15)
15. 15   (4:21)

Phish?

It looks like I might be getting tickets to a Phish show in Hartford this August. It’s going to cost a bit, but I’ve gotten into the band quite a bit over the last couple months and I’m sure it’ll be totally worth it.

Patrick and I are also splitting the cost of a small PA system so we can start practicing with vocals during band practice.

All of this means I’m not just broke, but in debt

EDIT: Definitely going! And not too much in debt either. I’ll be going to the August 14th show.

Review: Monoliths & Dimensions [Sunn O)))]

Sunn O))), as cliche as it is to say, is either a love ‘em or hate ‘em group. What’s not debatable, however, is the influence they have had in the genre of drone metal. While Dylan Carson and his group Earth laid the blueprint for what a great drone metal album could be with the release of Earth 2: Special Low Frequency Version, it was Sunn that would take that model and improve on it drastically. Today, they are by far the most prominent and notable group in the genre.

And while Sunn O))) has certainly defined the drone metal sound, they have also done quite a bit of experimentation as well. Their 2005 album Black One is an example of this, which fused the soundscape of black metal with Sunn’s signature sound to create one of the strongest releases of their career. This new release continues the trend of experimentation.

Monoliths & Dimensions starts off with “Aghhartha”. The song begins with solid droning by Sunn O))), similar to what they have done in the past. Harsh vocals come in at around 6 minutes, similar to the style of Black One. At around 9 minutes, the song becomes very memorable as Sunn experiments with a technique they haven’t used before – an orchestra. The orchestra is used in a very non-traditional way. They aren’t playing a melody but instead creating a sort of atmospheric timbre that adds to the already haunting sound of the track. The use of the orchestra in conjunction with the shrieks of vocalist Attila Csihar and the guitar drones creates an incredibly engrossing sound that starts off the album on a very high note. The seventeen and a half minute track lures the listener into a trance that causes the song to speed by.

“Big Church” surprises the listener with the use of a choir accompanying the signature Sunn O))) drone. The combination of these two elements, along with Attila’s shrieks, is simply amazing. Earth’s Dylan Carlson contributed some of the guitar drones on this track to great result. “Big Church” easily sets itself apart as being standout in the Sunn O))) catalogue. The third track, “Hunting & Gathering (Cydonia), continues to show how much Sunn O))) has evolved by once again utilizing orchestral sounds and a choir along with the more traditional Sunn O))) drones and shrieks to create amazingly effective results.

Despite the first three tracks being arguably among the best Sunn O))) has ever released, it all pales in comparison to the final track of the album. “Alice” is a dark, beautiful, and jaw-dropping track that is like nothing I’ve heard before. It drifts for a while, with some quiet droning and an airy guitar. Before long, the orchestra begins a long and gradual build up that is surely some of the most memorable music Sunn has ever released. Does the genre “progressive drone metal” even exist? If not, Sunn has surely created it with this track.

Despite the evolution of their sound, Sunn O))) have always stuck to one goal; to create the heaviest and darkest music possible. Monoliths & Dimensions is proof to the fact that even though their methods may change, this vision is still very much intact. The album is a natural progression of what they accomplished on Black One. It retains the signature Sunn sound and takes it to exciting new levels. Reading the credits in the album’s booklet, it’s clear that this is a project that took years to complete and has taken the masterminds of Sunn O))) (Greg Anderson and Stephen O’Malley) across the world. Up until this point, I had considered Black One to be the pinnacle of drone, but Sunn has proved me wrong with this release. The only question is, where do they go from here?

Rating: 5/5

1. Aghartha   [17:34]
2. Big Church [megszentségteleníthetetlenségeskedéseitekért]   [9:43]
3. Hunting & Gathering (Cydonia)   [10:02]
4. Alice   [16:21]

Progress (slow but steady)

Before  today, I had two Lifting Shadows songs written that no one else in the band had even heard yet. Today however, Patrick was able to come over and we started working on them together to get the bass parts finalized. We were fairly productive and finished the bass parts for one of the songs and started them for the other. There has definitely been an improvement in the quality of the songwriting since we first started Lifting Shadows. The bass parts in particular, which used to just play eighth-notes of the root chord are now quickly becoming as technical as the guitar parts. It certainly adds a new element to the songs.

It also looks like Lifting Shadows is now officially a three piece band. Jordan, our vocalist, decided to quit the band because he didn’t want it to interfere with his school work – a decision that I 100% respect, for being in a band definitely is a challenge to the already stressful life of of a high school student. To be honest though, it didn’t come as a big setback for us because we already were considering using Patrick as a vocalist. He has already started to devote a lot of time to working on his pipes and within a few weeks will hopefully begin practicing with the band as both a bassist and singer. There is also another upside to this, Patrick can growl fairly well, a technique that can now be incorporated into some of the heavier moments of our songs. Don’t be too turned off by this if you’re not into harsh vocals – our songs are usually at least half instrumental, and there are only a few verses that could be considered heavy enough to work with growling.

Right now my goal is to have Lifting Shadows play one 20-30 minute show before I go off to camp in July. It’ll be a lot of hard work to get to that point, but I definitely think it’s possible.

New Guitar

For over a year I’ve been planning the purchase of a new guitar. I love my Gibson SG, but as my musical taste started to expand I wanted something with a little more range and flexibility to accommodate any style I wished to play in the future. After a bit of research I stumbled upon the guitar brand Schecter and was quite impressed by their guitars. I started to save up little by little and finally, today, I got to reap the rewards of my patience.

Since a good percentage of what I play is metal I decided I would pursue a 7 string, to give me more options when performing and playing. My final decision was a Schecter Hellraiser C-7 FR; which has 7 strings, 24 frets, a Floyd Rose Original, and a great sense of style.

I had actually never played the guitar before, so today was my first experience with it. It took me a few minutes to get used to it since the frets feel quite different than the Gibson I had been using, and of course the 7th string took some getting used to. Before long though, I had gotten comfortable with it’s shape and was chugging on some heavy metal riffs. I have to say I’ve been quite impressed with it so far. I feel much faster when I play on it, some shred riffs that had been tripping me up a few days ago I played with much more ease, and alternate picking is an absolute joy. The tone is quite pleasing (despite some negative criticisms I had heard about EMG pickups), and the low end sounds of the 7th string are endlessly entertaining. What can I say? This guitar met my expectations and then some.

Here’s a picture I took (the lighting is perfect):

Hell Month

Essentially, May is a terrible month to be a student at my school. Term papers, AP exams, and studying for finals (along with sports and extracurriculars) basically put everything except school on hold for three/four weeks. I’ve officially put all Lifting Shadows related stuff on hold until summer starts, because there’s really not enough time to dedicate to a band. Thankfully, May is already close to half over, so the light at the end of the tunnel is drawing closer.

And there is a lot of things to be looking forward to right now. My new guitar (!!!!!!) that I ordered over the weekend will be delivered to my house Wednesday or Thursday, I’ll be seeing Nine Inch Nails just a couple days after I get out of school and there’s a lot of great music coming out that I will try to review. It’s certainly an exciting time, and I hope that the insane amount of schoolwork won’t detract from any of this awesomeness.

Pictures of my new guitar will be posted later this week

Review: “Cryptomnesia” (El Grupo Nuevo de Omar Rodriguez-Lopez)

EDIT: This album was much, much better on the second listen. Good enough for me to bump up my original rating of a 2.0 to a 3.5. The below review is my impression of the first listen through, but keep in my mind my opinion has changed since I wrote it. The last 15 minutes in particular are great.

I admire Omar Rodriguez-Lopez as a guitarist. His work in The Mars Volta has constantly impressed me and certainly has inspired me creatively. That being said, his solo work can be very hit or miss. Look no farther than his two 2009 solo offerings for an example, Megaritual was a very enjoyable album with a lot of great guitar work while Despair was a complete turd. Therefore I approached this album with a great deal of caution, as I had really no idea what to expect.

To be fair, this isn’t a complete solo outing (though I’m sure Omar was the creative force behind this album). Cedric Bixler-Zavala (vocals) and Juan Alderete (bass) are also in The Mars Volta, while Zach Hill contributes on drums and Jonathan Hischke on bass.

The first track wasn’t what I expecting to hear (then again due to Omar’s unpredictability that doesn’t come as a surprise). Honestly, the song is a bit hard to describe but is definitely within the realm of what Omar’s solo work has been like in the past. It’s a bit chaotic and hard to define. The second track thankfully is much more familiar sounding, utilizing The Mars Volta’s tantalizing combination of progressive and psychedelic  rock with a jazzy, latin feel. Unfortunately the song ends all too quickly and the title track quickly brings us back to the hectic sound of the opener.

For the most part, Cryptomnesia continues with this experimental sound for the rest of the album. While it can be interesting at times, it often comes across as self-indulgent and ultimately unpleasing to the ear. The only songs I genuinely can say I enjoyed were the aforementioned “Half Kleptos”  and “Paper Cunts”, the former being a great example of how the chaos and dissonance of Omar’s compositions can be channeled to into something very pleasing sounding. Given the talent involved, I’m a tad surprised this album didn’t turn out much better than it did.

Despite coming into the album with essentially no expectations, I came out of it with more than a small feeling of disappointment. I’m sure diehard fans of Omar (and anyone drugged out of their mind) will love and praise this release to no end, but the rest of us will end up feeling left out.

Initial Rating: 2/5

Edited Rating: 3.5/5

1. Tuberculoids   [4:18]
2. Half Kleptos   [3:10]
3. Cryptomnesia   [6:03]
4. They’re Coming to Get You, Barbara   [4:02]
5. Puny Humans   [2:31]
6. Shake is for 8th Graders   [2:13]
7. Noir   [3:45]
8. Paper Cunts   [2:51]
9. Elderly Pair Beaten with Hammer   [2:04]
10. Warren Dates   [4:55]
11. Fuck Your Mouth   [0:23]

Concert: Opeth (5/2)

Just a week after seeing an amazing Amon Amarth concert I found myself in a car on the 3 hour drive to Boston to see Opeth for my second time. I loved their show the first time I saw them, but my expectations weren’t as high as they could have been. I thought it would be near impossible to pass the great concert I had seen the week before and I had already seen Opeth on this tour, so I figured the show would be similar. I thought the show would be good, but not great.

Boy was I wrong.

There was only one opening act, the progressive black metal band Enslaved. Their show was enjoyable and sufficiently warmed up the crowd. Like all great black metal, it lures the listener into a trance like state. Really the only complaint I had was that Enslaved only played for 45 minutes. I don’t think anyone would have complained if they had played a couple more songs.

After a half hour of in-between time, Opeth took the stage and went through 2 hours of concert bliss. The setlist was much better than the last time I saw them. “Heir Apparent” once again worked as perfect show opener, “Ghost of Perdition” packs a lot of punch live and “Credence” is one of my favorite Opeth ballads. A very cool thing they did at this show which they did not do last time I saw them was an extended version of “Closure” from the album Damnation, in which they entered a jam-like state after playing the majority of the song.

The last three songs were undeniably the highlight of the show. “The Night and the Silent Water” is by far my favorite live Opeth song due to its exciting buildup, “The Lotus Eater” was a terrific way to end the set, and “Deliverance” was a perfect encore. During these three songs I completely lost myself in the pushing and shoving of the crowd and it almost felt like an out of body experience.

Åkerfeldt has not lost any of his sense of humor and succeeded in cracking up the crowd multiple times throughout the show. Thankfully, none of his jokes were recycled from earlier on the tour which leads me to believe that he actually improvs most of the stuff during the show. Once Opeth comes to an end, I honestly think he might have a career as a standup comedian.

The venue, the House of Blues in Boston, was quite impressive. The sound was actually a little quieter than what I was used to and I think it could have been better a tad louder. The lights on the other hand were better than any venue I had ever been to. Some well timed strobe lights added to the intensity of the show and the lights sometimes created an almost psychedelic feel while other times adding to the intensity.

The crowd was a bit rougher than I was used to, but it ended up adding and not detracting from the experience. Patrick and I were about 15 feet from the stage and right in the center. This meant that the mosh pits on both sides of us were knocking everyone around and the crowd was showing and pushing the entire time and it ended up feeling like random ebbs and flows of a wave. It took me a few songs to warm up to the crowd, but by the middle of the set I had adjusted and was enjoying myself. By the end of the concert, I completely lost any sense of my body and felt almost enlightened. A weird description I know, but very true.

Overall it was a great experience and much better than the first time I saw them. Once again, I highly recommend any metal fan to see Opeth on this tour.

I took one picture at the show during Credence, for it was the only song where I wasn’t getting knocked around. Here it is…

Setlist:

1. Heir Apparent
2. Ghost of Perdition
3. Godhead’s Lament
4. The Leper Affinity
5. Credence
6. Hessian Peel
7. Closure (w/ extended jam)
8. The Night and the Silent Water
9. The Lotus Eater

Encore:

1. Deliverance

Memory + Opeth

Has it already been close to a week since the Amon Amarth concert? I still feel tired from it. Hopefully I’ll regain some energy tomorrow since I will be seeing Opeth at the House of Blues in Boston with support from Enslaved! I’m really looking forward to it, as I was impressed by the show Opeth put on in September when I last saw them.

It’s been a fairly slow week in regards to new music releases, though there are a number of albums coming out in May that I am looking forward to including the new OSI, Sunn O))), Marilyn Manson and Devin Townsend releases. Especially the new Sunn O))).

I’ve been working on a new Lifting Shadows song titled “Memory”. I had written a first version of it last fall but it had a lot of problems and I quickly buried it in my pile of music ideas that didn’t work. Just this last week I’ve revisited it and given it a complete rewrite. The lyrics have stayed the same but the music has completely changed for the better. It rocks a lot harder and flows much smoother now. I’m about three minutes into it and I feel there’s a lot I can do with it. I’m thinking this one could reach past seven minutes, maybe even approach ten. Who knows? I don’t write songs to be a certain length, but end them when I’ve accomplished what I wanted achieve with them.

I’ll do a write-up on the Opeth concert Sunday. So until then, rock on!