Reviews by Time Bomb

To draw attention to the immense world of EDM (Electronic Dance Music) a mask is not enough: we must distinguish (rather arduous challenge Whereas the background looks like a mega-shake all the various sub-cultures of the dance of the last 30 -odd years) and earn some credibility - preferably internationally.

Honour then to Bob Rifo, because let's face it: from Bassano Del Grappa and find yourself a "feat. Paul McCartney "between the traces of their second disc is not the stuff out of nothing. The Bloody Beatles, who would have ever imagined? One of the most influential star in the history of music that lends his voice to an indie-punk-raver masked Italian. Besides the amalgam works; comes out a hybrid of classic-rock and dubstep that has its own reason. The hosted by Paul outshines other famous names, such as that of Youth (the bassist of Killing Joke), Tommy Lee (even if its presence is not a surprise, since he had already performed a duet with Sir Bob in the past) and historians Peter Frampton and Perry Rimbaud - the dense apocalyptic the Furious. The intervention of the American rapper Theophilus London gives life to the song more pop and less noisy album (The Girls). Instead, there is a hint of soul in Glow In The Dark (with Sam Sparro), and Please Baby pushes in the direction of electro-funk thanks to P-Thugg of Chromeo.

In the absence of featuring the pieces seem to dare a little 'less, but in their linearity pull down the walls leveraging a flawless production, and when Bob is backed by his friend Gigi Barocco sound power becomes unheard of. Hide is a noisy disk (after all how else to expect?), But Bob Rifo shows that it is possible to make healthy brothel without giving attention to melody and sound.

For the avoidance of doubt, I have never been a fan of Placebo , despite Molko is nice and I appreciate some of their most successful single . At the same time , I completely understand the success of the British trio , and the six published albums in his career confirm a talented pop pretty amazing. Never mind , think you, even with a little ' of reason, but it was necessary to move away from Placebo to address the review of their new album , a work that will bring them back to the top of the charts without much doubt , after the glories of Battle For The Sun

The ingredients , as always would say , there are and they are all in the right place , a sign that the trio ( and especially Brian Molko ) has a clear idea of how it is to play his band , committed to replicate with great skill a formula established for years of hard work. Nothing wrong with that, God forbid , the landscape is full of bands that play with a mastery of song formula crystallized without worrying too much about progress - a good example would be to Foo Fighters - But , just this sort of inaction narrows its field of action in a responsive manner. Loud Like Love , in the end, is the classic album that will make happy those who already appreciate the career of Placebo (and there are many ) , but is unlikely to win new admirers , although the strength of ten new pieces is undeniable. And if it is judged that a disk is sacrosanct and above all by virtue of the songs, Loud Like Love deserves full enough and something more .

To convince , in general, are Purify , Rob The Bank, the title track, Too Many Friends ( with text that reads " My computer thinks I'm gay ") and the closing Bosco , alternating guitar outbursts , with some veiled electronic insertion , in the most intimate moments and dominated by the distinctive voice than usual Molko . Fans of the group , do yourself below. For all others there is a whole world of music to explore ...

No group currently best embodies the ideal of Alter Bridge contemporary hard rock. What was initially "only" after the band's Creed, is now a reality that affects fourth disc with a (nother) album masterpiece, which has almost nothing to envy to the immense Blackbird 2007. It 's true, the predecessor of Fortress, AB III, was cute and nothing more, but Mark Tremonti and Myles Kennedy have found a way to wipe out any comparison, publishing a work that is indeed the sum of the previous installments, but also an imperious step forward.

Since dall'opener Cry Of Achilles compositions of Our take on un'epicità so far marginally explored, drawing liberally from heavy and progressive seventies, crafting one of the best songs of all time from their repertoire. Will history repeat itself at the end of CD with the title track, which also has an acceleration suggests that central to Black Sabbath felt about the recent 13. In the middle pieces pulled, hard but immediate as the first single Addicted To Pain and shocking Bleed It Dry and Calm The Fire, melody, and harshness influences seemingly so distant but ever so perfect in the sound of AB 2013 (the beginning the second passage in question looks like a piece of Muse!).

The riffs of Tremonti, often nervous and on the edge of heavy metal already abundantly honored only in the record All I Was last year, take a break in the fabulous Lover: back in the nineties, thanks to a stellar Kennedy, now in strong smell of Mayfield Four, a group that launched him towards the end of the nineties: a nearly 44 years played Myles is, without question, tHE hard rock singer of the moment. A few moments negligible (right Farther Than The Sun and the slow trademark of All Ends Well) internal to a release not to be missed.

‘Swings Both Ways’ – Tracklist:
‘Shine My Shoes’
‘Go Gentle’
‘I Wan’na Be Like You’ featuring Olly Murs
‘Swing Supreme’
‘Swings Both Ways’ featuring Rufus Wainwright
‘Dream A Little Dream’ featuring Lily Allen
‘Soda Pop’ featuring Michael Buble
‘Snowblind’
‘Puttin’ On The Ritz’
‘Little Green Apples’ featuring Kelly Clarkson
‘Minnie The Moocher’
‘If I Only Had A Brain’
‘No One Likes A Fat Pop Star’

There is a saying , which was very often in old fanzines and magazines area hardcore / metal / punk in the late eighties and early nineties. It was used in reviews and articles on various bands that were easily approachable to other existing groups , for sound , inspiration and genres ... they said "they wear Their influences on Their Sleeves " - literally "have their influences printed on the sleeves " that sounds more or less as " they immediately understand where they came from ."
Here it is: with " Hail to the king" Avenged Sevenfold do exactly that .
Almost totally abandoned by at least two suggestions metalcore album, the band with this new work in the studio seems to have completed its metamorphosis , becoming a heavy metal band to 100%. And with heavy metal means just that, without subtext or contamination of sub-genres , talk about heavy metal in its most natural and primal .
" Hail to the king" is , therefore , a sort of giant fighting for the holy faith dell'heavy , with plenty of riffs , solos and epic constructions of the songs that recall the tradition of the past four decades - at least since 1970 . It is undeniable : the inspiration of these passages is attributable to tutelary deities which are now in the DNA of anyone who hears the metal: a touch of Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath shades , but especially generous doses of Iron Maiden , Metallica and - why not - Guns n'Roses of the golden age . Often all these souls are made live ( rather bizarre affair , at least on paper, but effective in practice ) in the same song.




In more than one juncture seems to listen to the disc that Metallica could have / should have published after the " Black Album " , not to sink into the abyss of the nineties that we all know , which is, net of considerations on some riffs too much Hetfieldiani ("This means war" seems to be the demo of an early version of " Sad but true " ... I wonder what he thinks jealous Lars Ulrich) , is synonymous with a mature record and potentially explosive. And what about a song like " Doing Time" ? Three and a half minutes of the late eighties revival , which probably Axl Rose right now pay gold to have them included in the hypothetical result of "Chinese Democracy " .
Let's say " Hail to the King " is the final attack that pack a powerful Avenged Sevenfold to the contemporary metal scene , to win a seat among the big names , those destined to immortality - or nearly so. If we succeed only the future will tell , but meanwhile we have in hand a disc that can not leave us indifferent.
For once the recovery and philology do not know of old and recycled , but remember how we can still enhance - in spite of his years - for certain sounds .

TRACKLIST
" Shepherd of fire"
" Hail to the King "
"Doing time"
"This means war"
" Requiem "
" Crimson day"
" Heretic "
" Coming home "
" Planets "
"Acid rain"

Before we get started , without mince words , "The Electric Lady " is a record dated tremendously . It is a pity , for two reasons. First, because the black music is experiencing a happy moment of interesting innovations , and second, because Monáe is an excellent artist , author and performer ( look around the videos of his live performances ) .
"The Electric Lady" follows the highly praised by critics as " The ArchAndroid " in 2010 and it follows the style. Although this fact is a concept disc in sci-fi theme , with lots of female empowerment and lesbian subtext . The story behind the 19 tracks is that of Cindi Merriweather - the electric lady of the title, alter-ego avatar of the same Monáe - a humanoid enhanced descended on earth to establish a new matriarchy . Very interesting , no? Ah , as in the previous disc, the narrative counterpoints are labeled by a pair of suites overture flavor that mixes cinematic Morricone, lounge music and the score of a film noir , and a radio DJ called Crash Crash. Everything seen enough : Parliament and Funkadelic we have built a glorious career ( although perhaps Monáe looks more to David Bowie) .
But let's get to the songs.
Janelle Monáe is an eclectic type and does not miss any sub-genre of American music , especially the period '70-'80 , thanks to a number of prestigious collaborations. First of all, Prince, said mentor, who performs with his falsetto voice and electric guitar in good funk -rock opening " Givin ' em what they love " guitar solos , although not always played by Prince, are a determination of the 28-year old from Kansas City, so much so that we find scattered throughout the disc, some of them almost from air guitar , Baroque and rather useless. On the record there are some good things like love song sung in tandem with the lanciatissimo Miguel where to sample the items of " Where is My Mind ? " Pixies ( ?) ( " Primetime " ) , the perfect soul pop with Solange ( "Electric lady " ) or wonderiana " Ghetto Woman" . There is much method in the execution of the songs , it seems almost a format with a lot of copyright , as in the metric rap always the same at the end of " QUEEN " ( with Badu ) and the two songs mentioned above.





There are also - as a must in black music - tributes to great , but the talent of the rampant and brazen Monae there makes them feel more like plagiarism : the bass of " Dorothy Dandridge eyes" with the good Esmeralda Spalding too reminiscent of " I can not help it " by Michael Jackson, "Victory" does so much regret that crazy of Lauryn Hill, while the ballad " Can not live without your love " seems to say " Hey Beyonce , let me space ."
Behind the majesty of the project lacks a true center , as if he had sacrificed a sound vision in favor of the ancient concept of the narrative , as in a disk of Yes , turning everything into a project rather cold and unsympathetic .
We would love to see her without all these superstructures finally see a fragment of his soul.



TRACKLIST :
" Suite IV Electric Overture "
" Givin em what they love" (featuring Prince)
" QUEEN " (featuring Erykah Badu )
"Electric Lady " (featuring Solange )
" Good morning midnight"
" Primetime " (featuring Miguel)
"We were rock & roll"
"The chrome shoppe "
"Dance apocalyptic "
" Look into my eyes"
"Suite V Electric Overture "
"It's code"
" Ghetto woman"
"Our favorite fugitive "
"Victory"
"Can not live without your love "
" Sally Ride"
" Dorothy Dandridge eyes" (featuring Esperanza Spalding )
" What an experience "

I never understood why Travis are mistreated by many. Nobody ever talks about them, for their new album there was - from what I perceived - any kind of expectation , no hashtag dedicated to them that has made ​​the rounds of the Internet, no email , no press release ... ' noffink . To live in Italy even the shadow , perhaps because the few who did ( I remember one at Rolling Stone back in 2000 ) have never attracted many people . Too bad, because when we went to the Tunnel of Milan to see the leader of the Scottish band , Fran Healy , for the presentation of his solo album " Wreckorder " be ' , we have witnessed a show -boggling , authentic , funny, unforgettable ...
Now, the band has become famous with individual well-respected as " Why does it always rain on me? " And " Sing ," returns to five years after the previous one - and moving - " Ode to J Smith " and that there Believe it or not, ricomparsata in the spotlight is one of the best things that could happen in this 2013. Gone are the days of their first album " Good Feeling" which blended the best and the worst Blur Bright Eyes , as are distant from years of " The boy with no name" , the disc may be less influential in their career (remember the single " Closer" with the video with Ben Stiller ) . But back to the present, the reason why we are gathered here: The new Travis album is a beautiful drive , and perhaps did not expect it so beautiful. " Where you stand" is heterogeneous , composed of eleven different songs together for musical intention , eleven different episodes sound that could be of real individual , a separate one from the other. It ' a record that you can listen to from beginning to end continuing to surprise song in song , leaving surprised - once you get past the feeling that Fran more apparent ages more sings like Bono Vox - the maturity of vocal and instrumental passages which in their turn encompass the true essence of Travis : change while remaining true to their musical roots , change , yes, but without disturbing anyone , rejoice in having found a new dimension of style and share it through an album like this-
" Where you stand " appears , however, from the very first listen to a compact album , where the songs are poured into each other , accompanying the listener on a mystical journey . There is a lot of Travis but not limited to : "Mother " has a flavor Springsteen and the title track gives a nod to a repertoire eighties except for the delicacy and beauty of the chorus. "Moving ", chosen as a single , is choral and dilated , immediate and radio as the many individuals who have characterized the band's career . The enlightened " Warning sign " along the hypnotic " Reminder " is different for intro and arrangements, is suggestive and pressing without follow a definite pattern , and won the prize hands down "Song of the album" . "Another guy" (reminiscent of some productions of Thom Yorke , and this is supposed to be a compliment ) leads to a magnificent turning point : from here on it's all downhill inserts for electronics that go perfectly with the unmistakable stamp of Travis ( "A different room" at all) , trip-hop atmospheres (such as " New shoes" and the beautiful " Boxes ", another highlight of the disc) that give depth to the songs without weighing it down , little pretentious pop rock songs ( " Oh my Wall " , which would be good in any episode of Dawson 's Creek , but never mind ) and acoustic ballad and lonely (" The big screen " ) .
In conclusion , the disc of the album Travis is not that shocked the international music scene , but in this period of clones I just know that " Where you stand " is a hard reassuring able to spend forty minutes in the company of great music. Sapevatelo .

TRACKLIST :
" Mother"
"Moving"
" Reminder "
" Where You Stand"
"Warning Sign"
"Another Guy "
" A Different Room"
" New Shoes"
"On My Wall"
" Boxes "
"The Big Screen"

An album could be a clue, but two (consecutive to boot) become a test: of the MGMT Oracular Spectacular (debut in 2007) no longer exist. They evolved, and you are left behind everything that has to do with melodies that will stick mercilessly in the brain (there are those who still whistling Kids, one of those songs that never go out of fashion).

New Yorkers have decided to sit on their way to a happy and colorful island full of flowers, far away from the laws of pop radio. Too bad, someone will say, there is always room for an Electric Feel or Time To Pretend to break the discounted ladders pop radio. Okay, tell others, if Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser are willing to give their side less catchy are welcome. On the other hand, have proven to be up to the challenge with Congratulations, an album in which the word "single" is like two cups trump sticks. When this year on the occasion of Record Store Day have released the "single" Alien Days in cassette format (!) We knew we definitely played esserceli. Might not come back (where the "back" refers to the first stirrings of the band), but will continue to explore more obscure and experimental territories.

Here is the cover of Introspection (song recorded in the year of grace 1968 by unrecognized Faine Jade) fits like a glove. The psychedelia is everywhere: in the mysterious suspension of I Love You Too, Death (a sort of lullaby for adults with a crescendo enveloping), the menacing insistence Your Life Is A Lie, in triplets Plenty Of Girls In The Sea (practically the Beach Boys stoned) and the visionary An Orphan Of Fortune. And at the end of the disc becomes a valid alternative lysergic acid.

Third trial for Londoners White Lies, after the debut To Lose My Life ... in 2009 and the follow-Ritual had imposed the band as one of the most important among those orphaned by Joy Division, Editors and Interpol's younger sister. And if the former have changed again and the second skin you are a little 'lost in the path, the English trio decided to continue its road made of dark synth-rock with ambitions to large spaces and texts dark and deep as the voice of Harry McVeigh .

White Lies have always devoted much attention to the lyrics, and putting together the traces of Big TV you realize that it's not really a concept album, close enough. The story is about a girl who leaves her small town to move to the big European cities, in search of news of his father and to indulge his personal search for something better. The tracks then face the misery of resettlement where it has only "a room with a bed and a large flat" (title track), the first phone call to his father, who works at a late night talk show (First Time Caller), the struggle with the language mother (mother Tongue) and especially the difficult relationship with the guy who has remained in his hometown (There Goes Our Love Again, Getting Even), and the uncertainties that remain even after the two ricongiugono (Heaven Wait, Goldmine).

The formula already established will make the fans happy, but not aggiungee nothing substantial to what has been said in the previous albums, the thumping bass lines hold up to the heavy guitars wonder - perhaps even more than usual - and arabesques of keyboards, lead inevitably to in choruses in most inspired moments (the aforementioned First Time Caller, mother Tongue and Getting Even) show the whole attitude of the band to large audiences, size already widely regarded as established in the mother country.

Think about it: since the British tabloids have ceased to become stressed with the news on the abuses of personal life and (almost) private Pete Doherty, we also managed to reach a reconciliation with the former promising young British pop. This means being able to assess with much more objectivity a career that seemed to have stopped after a solo album, Grace / Wastelands, which had shown some interesting sides and unreleased Doherty composer.

It touches on a Sequel To The Prequel, graced by a great cover - a photo of the legendary Pennie Smith, one of London Calling to speak, transformed into object pop by Damien Hirst - show signs of maturity of the bad boy of the Libertines, in continuity with the recent past. Surprise (but not too much), the hard work all right and it promises often disregarded in the past. There are the classic moments to Babyshambles, which are derived directly from the saga Libertines, as Fireman or Maybelline, punk attacks of two minutes, but emerges often decisive influence of an author such as Ray Davies, see the bizarre Sequel To The Prequel, a almost vaudeville song, or Seven Shades of Nothing, one of the peaks of the disc and can be single. And by the way, the first to be taken from the album is Nothing Comes To Nothing, beautiful ballad, perfect for radio airplay and warm the hearts of those who felt orphaned Pete.

The best, for this writer, however, comes with the excellent Dr. No, a piece of white reggae as we have not felt since the days of The Clash, another influence of Our declared, and Farmer's Daughter, almost loureediana (Sweet Jane, perhaps ?), confirming that talent that, in flashes, Doherty showed off between bullshit and the other. Hopefully it's the right time ...