quote:

Originally posted by Limulus:

quote:

Originally posted by theminx:
Are they any good, Limulus? (Meshuggah) I don't know any of their stuff.

Don't ask me.

They more or less have the sonic range of a modern metal band (only lower-pitched).
As for the rest... they offer something new, not relying on melodies, getting rid of the song format (vocals are a percussion instrument), twisting rhythms without ever losing the pulse, using repetition to build then destroy. Swelling, collapsing, fragmenting, stretching. Never easy, never elitist. But what makes them so different from your typical metal band is that they do not project power, they're like a sphere absorbing so much energy it distorts time around it.

Meshuggah - In Death - Is Life/In Death - Is Death

They're not the most visually spectacular band. Let the track build up and reveal its gems.

Finally got a chance to listen.

I like the music fine (math metal? ), but the vocals take away for me, I think that's why in spite of my visceral enjoyment of loud, noisy, and/or speedy guitars, I will never be a real metal lover. I don't need melodies, necessarily, but some variations in tone or volume seem to help. Maybe it's different on record, too, though.

My taste is pretty varied, I think, and the boyfriend who loved Slayer and Megadeth exposed me to some pretty fun stuff back in the day (he took me to an Einstürzende Neubauten show, too, come to think of it, but I already liked them). But I guess the heaviest stuff I listen to on a regular basis now is Ministry/NIN/Skinny Puppy on the industrial side and L7/DK/X on the punk rock side, and I know that's the softer stuff. I definitely need to add to my punk rock collection. Where does RATM land? I don't know the categories. Frat metal? LOL

Anyway, I think I will not rush from dinner to make sure I see the whole Meshuggah set before Ministry, if that clip was typical of the vocal style. And I thank you for the clip.

Math metal is a joke.
All music is math - or none of it is.

The vocalist is as far from typical singing as the band is from pop music.


RATM was... crossover college radio pop ? Teenage revolution ?

There is a math metal category? LOL I only recently learned about mathrock from a friend whose band seems to be in that category. I have mixed feelings about all the "hey let's change time signatures four times every ten bars!" bands; while some music seems organically to grow that way, some music seems to be constructed in petrie dishes or something, "OK add a little of this add a little of that, modulate; OK. Next!"

I imagine that happens in every genre.

And of course it's all math.

quote:

Math metal is a joke.
All music is math - or none of it is.

maybe, but you're missing the point. math is prefixed in "math metal" due to it's focus in the songwriting. Meshuggah is well known for using multiple looping time signatures and not being riff dependent. here is a quote from wikipedia:

Among the band's most recognizable qualities are lead guitar player Fredrik Thordendal's abrasive, chaotic and discordant solos, singer Jens Kidman's vocals, which resemble manic screams and shouts, the churning, dissonant rhythm guitars and the polymetric drum beats. In a typical Meshuggah song, drummer Tomas Haake plays two separate rhythms: a standard 4/4 beat with his hands and a completely different metrical subdivision with his feet. The rhythm guitars follow the bass drums, creating an awkward but pulsating rhythmic pattern to work as the basis of the song.

For example, the main riff of the song "New Millennium Cyanide Christ," from their 1998 album Chaosphere, follows the aforementioned blueprint. Haake beats a rather slow 4/4 rhythm with his hands, while the bass drums and guitars play a repetitive 23/16 rhythm pattern on top of it. As the subdivided pattern is repeated, the pattern's accents shift to different beats on each repetition. After repeating the 23/16 pattern five times, a shorter 13/16 pattern is played once. These patterns sum up to 128 16th notes which equals exactly 8 measures in 4/4 meter.

Meshuggah has progressed to the point where they write in a clinical style, rather than a more organic approach than many other songwriters. hence the term.

quote:

Originally posted by Mr.Push:

Oh my.

Charmakarmacat, I'll post my answer in the Metal Choir Thread.

Just got back from seeing the Allan Holdsworth Trio at the Arts Centre in Swindon.

I've been a fan of his since hearing Bruford's album "One of a kind" in the late seventies. He's an awesome guitar player. Tonight it was him, Jimmy Johnson on bass and Chad Wackerman on drums. Absolutely brilliant. They did "Fred." They did several tracks off Road Games. They did Wackerman's piece "The Fifth" as well. They rocked.

They signed albums and stuff afterwards and I got to say hello and shake the man's hand. I won't be coming down for the rest of the week.

best,
Chris H

Adjagas
Stereo, Glasgow
24th November 2007

Stereo was previously up the west end of Glasgow, the sister to Mono in the city centre. Both vegan cafe/bars, stemming out of a history of bars/record shops in Glasgow. The previous Stereo closed, and has been refurbished as something else. The previous Stereo put on gigs, but was never ideal. In the meantime, a stage was set up in Mono, filling in the gap left by the absence of Stereo.

Radio Five Live has a show called Up All Night. On a Saturday morning between 1.30am and 2am they have a World Music slot. Here I have heard various world music bands for the first time. A couple of weeks ago I heard a curious Norwegian folk piece, missed the name but heard something about a music style called joik. A week ago I heard another piece of interesting music, by a band called Adjagas, who were playing the new Stereo on 24th of November. Which was the first time I had heard that a new Stereo had opened.

Following up on the name Adjagas I realised they were the same joikers I had heard previously. I watched a video on YouTube, listened to a couple tracks on MySpace, and decided I liked what I heard and it was worth giving them a go. According to the MySpace page doors opened at 7pm, which seemed a little unlikely for any gig. I got there after 8, to find that support Lay Low had cancelled due to illness - again I had looked her up on YouTube and heard something which seemed to be a "country" influenced Icelandic pop. As a result, doors won't open till 9. But it is ok; the new Stereo is a cafe upstairs and venue downstairs, so it is easy enough to hang around upstairs till its time.

Down two flights of stairs, the hall is a big space, cube chairs and tables scattered around the far end of the room, in front of the stage. The audience isn't large, 30 or so people scattered across the tables. The band goes on stage, led by the two singers, the Sámi joikers Sara Marielle Gaup and Lawra Somby. The rest of the band play drums, guitar, bass, keyboards and trumpet, providing a range of folk/rock sounds according to the mood of each particular joik.

The Sámi are the "reindeer people" or Lapplanders, the band explaining that there are only about 300 people who still speak their language, up in the northern tundra of Norway. The name Adjagas apparently a Sámi word describing the state between being fully asleep and fully awake. To start each song, the singers tell little stories, of the chaos of modern life, the pressures, contrasted by the forests, the endless night and the white tundra. The singing has a tribal sound, the tones and patterns, the integration of animal sounds. The male and female voices work off each other, though the two singers take turns doing solo, accapella joiks as well. At times the music is perhaps fairly regular, a folk/rock sound, though the electronic elements and trumpet add another level to the music. But it is the vocals, the harmonies and contrasts, which make Adjagas really interesting.

Vieux Farka Toure
Zeep
The Arches, Glasgow
25th November 2007

Zeep are introduced as being a Brazilian band, though it is also suggested that they are made up of musicians from London. Mike the keyboard player seems to be the core of the band, backed up by a bassist, guitarist, drummer and a girl singer in her colourful Brazilian dress. Their performance is well received, though really not to my taste at all. I am looking for something a bit different, and this strikes me as being cliched and nostalgic music. The kind of world music that makes world music seem a little cringe worthy and dull to an outsider like me. The highlight of their set is when they are joined by Vieux, but even then they don't do anything interesting.

Ali Farka Toure was probably the most well known African musician of his generation, his son Vieux follows in his footsteps, even if Ali did have initial reservations. I admit, I don't really know Ali or Vieux's music. But having seen and enjoyed Tinariwen earlier in the year, when I read that Vieux is from Mali as well, I thought that he might also be worth seeing.
On stage Vieux plays guitar, backed by a young bassist and drummer, backed by an old percussionist and guitarist. The sound is a kind of blues influenced rock, Vieux's guitar work dominating the pieces. The older guys get into the groove of the sound, eyes closed and caught in deep concentration, dancing around at times along with the music. As does much of the audience. At several points the band are joined by members of Zeep, who drag the sound down from that charged blues, to dated hippy rock again. In the end Vieux offers a different Mali from that conjured by Tinariwen, though he and I both wear their t-shirt this night. Not quite what I am looking for, but of much more interest than the support band.

quote:

Originally posted by theminx:
OK All shows seem to be on presale here.

I have four GA, non-VIP tickets coming for the Commodore show, pretty damn expensive, but whatever.

I would be delighted to meet any Wigbers who cared to attend, I have to say that the Commodore is my favourite venue on the planet, now that Le Spectrum de Montréal is no more. Last Ministry show I saw there was THE BOMB. According to some release or other that I saw quoted on Brooklyn Vegan, they are as usual expecting tons of special guests, last time Jello was there...anything is possible, I'd say.

Since the girls I normally attend Ministry shows with are going to be 7 and 8 months pregnant, respectively, I will happily sell two spare tickets at cost; I may have a third available also, but won't know till later.

YAHOO!!!!!

Regular HOB presale starts tomorrow. Info.

got my ticket yesterday!

[burning inside]

i thought the VIP ticket was a bit of a ripoff.

Yeah, I didn't go for that, not enough cash laying about.

quote:

Meshuggah - In Death - Is Life/In Death - Is Death

I just noticed the use of 8-string guitars. Damn.

boog, i think you should prolly come down for teh Ministry.

Up Bon Chat, it's up...And I agree.

W00t!

[steeples fingers]

eeeeexcellent.

If'n ah remember corectly, that's in March, yes?

Does chocolate cake go with a Ministry Meat?

ETA: March 28, Friday.

Chocolate cake goes with annything.