Current Trend: Folk

Finally, a Current Trend that will be simple to explain, something that is dedicated to a genre and/or style of music. The past Current Trends have been so lacking in a direction, I think I was just writing them to have something to write. But no longer! This Current Trend, and perhaps this whole month, has a purpose, a goal, an endgame.

Tyr

What began with as a simple Weekly Dose of Prog has spawned into a movement that is dominating my time (much to my enjoyment). The Decemberists' classic, The Hazards of Love (see the WDoP here), has gotten me into a folk bender, first with just their discography, and then into folk as a whole.

While it did begin on the more docile side of things, with The Decemberists, Mumford & Sons and a little Iron & Wine (jury's still out on that one), it quickly jumped on the metal bandwagon. Bands like Turisas (I've been looking forward to their newest release for a while now), Týr have already popped up, and I'm going to try a foray into some Celtic/black folk - something that I've not had a lot of experience with - with Cruachan and Primordial (but that may only appear a little bit).

Current Trend: New Music

I know it's been a while sense I've written a Current Trend, but honestly now that I'm reviewing so much music (keep those submissions coming: TheKleptosGuide@gmail.com), it's hard to go on full-swing trends of what I want to listen to. I've got some prog on my future, and I've recently acquired quite a bit of doom, so those two beasts may be rearing their heads here soon, but I doubt it'll be enough for a full-blown trend. Listening to nothing but new music (to my ears) is what I've been doing, and seeing as it's the best I can do, it is my most recent Current Trend.

In January every single album I have heard has been 100% brand new to me. The genres are all over; stoner (mostly), doom, NWOBHM, alternative rock, progressive metal, folk, psychedelic, sludge, instrumental, post-metal, glam/hair metal, and even a bit of comedy music mixed in. There will most likely several more genres added before February, as the month is only a bit past half over, and the entire list will be up for your viewing pleasure at the end of this one.
I would like to say there is some underlying theme to it all, but it's just as eclectic as my tastes. Most of the albums are making it into a review of some kind (currently of the thirty-nine albums in the list (so far) over twenty are included), and already a few are probably going to be contenders for my end of the year 'Best of' lists.

Current Trend: Simplicity

...and by simplicity I don't mean simple. I mean the kind of music that is a stripped-down sound, with only a pairing of instruments and/or vocals. This comes in a variety of styles and genres so it's hard to accurately pin down with words, but if you've heard it, you'd know what I'm talking about.

Classic (traditional or epic) doom is an excellent example (think Candlemass); although there is a full band, it still sounds empty. For the most part it's the focus on the vocals and the droning guitars, with little emphasis on drums or bass (for the most part), leaving the songs sounding hollow, with an empty background - this is the kind of doom I love. Maybe it's because I've been listening to too much stoner of late (and the constant 'fuzz' or reverb), but I'm just getting the same satisfaction out of the new doom bands as I did the old ones. I just listened to Ice Dragons's debut, The Burl, The Earth, The Aether (free download from their Bandcamp page), and my favorite songs are the simple, droning melodies.

Current Trend: NWOBHM

So because I am trying to begin again with the Current Trends, I have been attempting to segment my listening styles into one or two set genres, with varying levels of success. And because of my lack of wanting to sit and write, this Trend is not so Current. But oh well, here we go.

This time my focus was on music from the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (or NWOBHM), the direct precursor to power metal, and indirect host of hair/glam metal and thereby (as an anti-theses) thrash. These bands were among the first to introduce the dueling guitar style, and often had early operatic-style vocals and fantasy stories with the songs. Many of these bands had large live shows as well, and were claimed to be the silver age of metal (the golden age being the founders of metal, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, etc, from the decades before). The majority of these bands took hold in the late 70's/early 80's and were lead by such greats as Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and Motorhead. These bands dominated the airways and charts for the better part of a decade, until the likes of glam became popular and more straight-forward rock acts like Guns 'N Roses and Van Halen began to flourish.

Current Trend: Celtic Folk

Beginning on St. Patrick's Day (complete coincidence) I began getting heavily into Celtic Punk/Rock. Something about the time of year, and the style of music, spoke to my heritage, and pulled at my heart-strings. Bands like The Pogues, Dropkick Murphys, and Flogging Molly all embody the (relativity) more mainstream of this genre, and all do it fairly well. But I was into more underground music, Jackdaw (which was pretty damn good), The Tossers, The Real McKenzies, Skids, Seven Nations, Young Dubliners, and Fiddler's Green (although they're... German?), put out more traditional sounds - less punk more folk - to much success.

Current Trend: May To March

A long time ago, I was putting out a monthly article about what style was making up the majority of what I was listening to. During my shitty summer, I fell off that wagon, and I think it's time to get back with it. This one will be a short re-hashing of the past nine months, to get us back to the current age. Nothing too in-depth or long, just an overview:

Ok, so the trends I have been going through have been back-and-forth between Funk and Stoner, with the occasional Progressive strewn in. I have really been sticking with these three genres for the majority of the past year. Parliament, Funkadelic and Sly and The Family Stone are some of the best music from the 70's I've had the pleasure to bear witness.

Current Trend: Stoner (Sort Of...)

Now I've been talking for the past few weeks about how I was getting into stoner rock/metal and was going to donate some time to this genre. but it just hasn't happened that way. I spent a few days listening to random stoner songs, a la Last.FM, and decided to acquire some albums for myself. I got the discographies of Dozer and The Atomic Bitchwax, and cued up some Monster Magnet, Orange Goblin and Electric Wizard, for future playing. I was excited!
I began with The Atomic Bitchwax, listening to most of their four albums (I'll probably finish off the last album, just to be thorough), it was pretty enjoyable, I liked the groove sections and the vocals were pretty blurred with the music, but nothing too bad. But it was a tad redundant, good for an occasional listen, but not something I'd really want to spend all day listening too. I then began listening to a little of the Electric Wizard I already had, but I got bored. It just wasn't thumpin enough for me. I needed something with rhythm and soul...something funky. And I found it.

For the past few months I've been wanting to get into classic funk music, you know, the stuff from the late 60's and 70's. Recently I found a new way to search and acquire music, and using this method, I was able to expand my collection greatly, and have begun working my way through it. This stuff I am enjoying greatly. This time I mean it - my next Current Trend will be all about the Renegades of Funk!

Current Trend: Old Bands With New Music

Moving away slightly from my last trend, I have been listening to alot of folk rock recently, but still mixing in the folk metal, and I have also been listening to new albums by old bands - bands that haven't released much in the past decade (or more), but have a new album out within the past few years.
The folk is just a continuation from last time, except a little softer. Most of them are celtic punk, but I found a couple of new ones that are reminiscent of Simon And Garfunkel, mixed in with indie rock (Sun Kil Moon and Great Lake Swimmers). Kind of nice, nothing I'll listen to much, but a nice sound to listen to if you're winding down for the night.
I have been pretty disappointed with the new music by old bands, most of it has been very ho-hum, nothing is too exciting. I don't know why I was expecting more, most of these bands are over 30 years old at this point, and have lost their edge. It's not bad, but I wouldn't call any of it 'metal' per se. Most of the bands are the grand-daddies of metal sub-genres, but now it falls mostly into hard rock.

Metallica - Death Magnetic

• The long-awaited album by thrash gods Metallica. I like to pretend that St. Anger never happened, and it seems so does the band. Death Magnetic is very different then their previous attempt at the new market, much better - not as good as The Black Album or previous, but way better then Load or Re-Load. I've already said something about this release, but now that I've heard it a few times (and that I don't remember what I put the last time) I'll weigh in again. You can tell that they listened (at least partially) to the numerous complaints from St. Anger, although the production quality is still in the gutter. Death Magnetic tried to mix the thrash days of old, with the hard rock times of now. Almost every song is over five minutes, and has several different segments and breakdowns, a throwback to their older days. Again, not a bad album, by far their best in almost twenty years, but not great. I'd like to see them work on this formula and perfet it for their next release.

Rush - Snakes And Arrows

• Snake And Arrows is one of the only albums this month that is both by an old band and that I haven't listened to before. I can't say anything negative about it, being a Rush fan I hear all the things I love about them, the intricate drum work (Neil Peart is God) and the flowing guitar and bass. But I also haven't really enjoyed a Rush album sense Moving Pictures, released way back in 1981. Every release after '81 has been...well I don't know really, its been kind of boring. My friend Sloth (check out his blog) would disagree, as Rush is his favorite band, he could go on for hours about how "this song means such-and-such" and why Geddy Lee should be the next president (if he weren't Canadian), but not me. Actualy this past statement isn't 100% true, I did like Rush's cover EP, Feedback, that came out in 2004. But as I said, if you are a Rushophile (Rush lover, get it?) then pick it up, but if you feel, as I do, that they haven't released anything amazing in 20+ years (aside from Feedback) then you might want to pass this one over.
  

Guns N' Roses - Chinese Democracy

• Ah, which brings me to The Axl Rose Project, oh wait no - it's Guns N' Roses (I can't take credit for that name, it was my friend Krotch). So I walked into this album, trying to keep an open mind, but it was difficult. The only song I enjoyed off of the album was their single, "Better," and that's probably only because I've heard it 50 times on the radio at work. The album would be alot better if you don't think of it as a GNR album, if you look at it as The Axl Rose Project, it seems to get better. Unfortunately, I can't get passed what a dick Axl has been. I loved classic GNR, I liked Velvet Revolver (which just shows that the rest of the guys still have it), but this album just falls flat. Rose tries to do too much with too little, the album cris-crosses genres randomly, it has too many "guest performers" to count (If you can even call them guest performers, it's just a list of people that were "members" of GNR over the past 20 years, who then Axl got angry at and fired).
  

Iron Maiden - A Matter of Life And Death

• Another of my favorite bands that's new album really doesn't match their heyday. As the same with Rush, I don't think that Maiden has released anything great sense Fear of The Dark, in 1992, and again I have a friend who would hit me if he heard me besmirching their good name. But oh well, you can't please them all. A Matter of Life And Death is, well a so-so album. I got the promo for "The Reincarnation Of Benjamin Breeg" months before the album came out, and as such it is the only song I enjoyed on my re-listen to the album. It's not a bad disc, it's just kind of boring, nothing really stands out in any way. The songs are all long in length, with only one under five minutes, but most don't need to be. They seem to just go on and on for no reason other then they can. Actually, going back and looking at my Rush paragraph, these albums are surprisingly similar, well in the aspects of my reviews at least. If you're a fan, buy it, it you're a weekend warrior (casual listener) it's easy enough to forget about.

So there you have it, the albums and bands that have been occupying my time of late. Of course there are more, lots more, but I haven't posted in a while and I didn't want to wait for me to finish these other albums to write about them, maybe I'll write a part two eventually.
Other bands and albums on my list:
AC/DC - Black Ice
Alice Cooper - Along Came A Spider
Judas Priest - Angel Of Retribution
Mötley Crüe - Saints of Los Angeles
Ozzy Osbourne - Black Rain

Current Trend: Folk Metal

For those who were worried about my previous trend, don't be; I'm back. I have once again turned a 180 and am back in the belly of the beast, and by that I of course mean METAL!! This time, however, it's a new venture (as far as you know), this month my focus has been on Folk Metal.
For those who don't know folk metal is a sub-genre of power metal, where it keeps the sangs about war and magic and whatnot, but adds elements of either folk instruments or folkish ideals. The instruments include the flute, accordion, banjo, mandolin, violin, as well as native folk instruments like Latavian kokle, the Estonian torupill, the Finnish kantele, the oud and the saz. There are many different sub-classes of folk metal, with alot of different genres integrating folk sounds into their music. Most keep to that same idea of musical topics, most choosing a particular avenue to head down and stick with it. Many sing a mix of traditional songs of their homeland (or the homeland they which to emulate) and songs that are originals, but still have that old-time sound to them, well most of them, I doubt there was alot of heavy metal pirates in the 17th century.
Although I have alot of folk metal, some of it is way out there, so far that I can't really get behind it (Empylver - Wood Woud Would. God that was so weird). But these are a few of the artists that I have been listening to over and over.

• Skyclad - The pioneer of folk metal, if it wasn't for these guys, folk metal wouldn't be what it is today, so much thanks for Skyclad for existing. Right from their first album, you knew that this was going to hang on. All of their songs are super folky, with several instruments and different chord progressions per song. I haven't heard too much of this group (I only have two albums, Wayward Sons of Mother Earth and A Burnt Offering For The Bone Idol), but what I have heard I have enjoyed thoroughly.
• Turisas - A Finnish folk metal band, named after the Finnish god of war, these guys' first album, titled Battle Metal, solidified their place in the folk metal halls. With songs of battle (as you may have guessed), chanting marching music, and hymn to the gods, Turisas is everything that is right with folk metal. They have both growled lyrics and melodic singing, often times with melodies that remind me of bards singing in castles of old. Their second release, The Varangian Way, continued their mauling of the airwaves. This release was more melodic then their last venture, which to me is a good thing. I can't wait for their next release, I hope it is soon.
• Tyr - Tyr is more laid back then most on this list. While they do perform folk metal, it is often times slower, long pieces, with several parts throughout. Their music is closer to what I envision the music of the medieval times to be. Lots of harmonies, both in vocals as well in instruments. I only have two of their albums, How Far To Asgaard (the title track is my favorite by them), and Ragnarok (as the title suggests, this album was more up-tempo then the previous). They have a new album out this year, scheduled for April, and had one come out last year (which I did not know about until this writing). I'm going to do my best to find these albums, because I like their music, and because I am seeing them and Alestorm (see below) live on March 1, in Orlando.
• Alestorm - A new band in the small sub-sub-genre of pirate metal. These guys keep up the flag that bands like Running Wild have hoisted. Their debut album, Captain Morgan's Revenge, was a (cannon)ball's to the wall joy ride of rum and treasure. Every song off that album is good. My favorites are the title track and "Nancy The Tavern Wench." I recently received their new EP, Leviathan, and was glad to see that it was along the same lines as their full-length. I can't wait to see them live, I'm sure they will be amazing.
• Falconer - Falconer was one of the first (if not the very first) folk metal band I'd ever heard. It was 3 years ago (almost exactly) and I had just discovered the marvels of Last.FM. I was blown away by this new genre I had found. It was a long time before I heard anymore of their stuff, only catching a song here or there on my web radio, but just this past December, I found their entire discography. So I am working my way through their albums, and I like what I am hearing. I will continue listening and enjoying the symphonic folk.

So there you have it, the big five in my folk metal music collection. As I said I have alot more bands, and am doing my best to work through them all, but there are so many bands that require my attention, it's hard to say with any definite assurance that it will ever get done.

Current Trend: Soft Rock/Piano Music

For some reason, as always unknown to me, I have been venturing away from heavy metal and into a softer rock-style of music. My recent playlists have been dominated by piano music like Elton John, Billy Joel and James Blunt, and softer rock like The Beatles, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan and Creedence Clearwater Revival. I still have some heavier stuff in there, like Henry Rollins, or Destroy Destroy Destroy, but not nearly as much as normal.
As I said I don't know why. It started with me listening to music late at night (2am) and not wanting anything too adrenaline-pounding that late. So it began with Billy Joel and Elton John, but then eventually it went into a tailspin of soft rock. It's just nice to ease out of a rough day with some loose, calming music.
I'm not sure how long this will continue, so maybe there will be a change or a continuation, only time will tell...

Current Trend: Continuation of Prog

So it's a little odd, normally when I fall into a trend I fall out of it just as quickly. But here we are, a solid 2 months in and my time is still being absorbed by Prog Metal/Rock. Not only am I still working through the music from last post, but I am hunting out new artists, and side bands of well known Prog bands. Here are a few:

• 3 - 3 is a band I accidentally discovered (as so many of the best bands are) one day. After listening to their album, "Wake Pig" (also it was the only album I could find by them for a long time), I described them as a Coheed & Cambria that I can stand. And by that I mean, that alot of their sound is reminiscent of C&C (even though they pre-date them) but with a little bit of balls still within the music. I am currently (at the time of this post) listening to their newest album, 2007's "The End Is Begun," and I am enjoying it just as much as "Wake Pig." They have that mix of heavy prog and the poppy music, normally not something I am a fan of, but they pull it off fairly well.
  
• Transatlantic - Transatlantic was a side project of to several people, all big names within prog; Neal Morse of Spock's Beard, Mike Portney of Dream Theater, and Pete Trewavas of Marillion. They only released 2 albums, and both are full of sprawling epics. Their first album "SMPT:e" (Which I have listened to), is a mix of hellish long songs and more accessible, faster paced shorter songs. There are 5 songs on the albums, 3 of which are over 15 minutes in length, with their opener being over 30 minutes. This albums was full of great music, but the long songs have large points of dull music within them. If they were split into several smaller songs I could easily get into them. But as it stands they are just too massive to listen to in the car or on the go. It will remain as a home album only. Their second (and last) album, "Bridge Across Forever," features only 4 songs, and 3 of them are over 15 minutes, with two songs almost thirty minutes in length. While I plan on listening to this album, I am hesitant, for it will be a feat.
  
• OSI - Another side band of several; Jim Matheos (Fates Warning), Kevin Moore (Chroma Key), Mike Portney (Dream Theater), and Gavin Harrison (Porcupine Tree). This supergroup released 2 albums ("Office of Strategic Influence" and "Free") and 1 EP ("Re:Free") in their short collaboration. The only one I can get my hands on is "Office of Strategic Influence" and I gave that a listen this past week. This albums I was less impressed than with Transatlantic (I know they are different bands, but they are in the same vein, and I got the albums at the same time). They have decent length tracks, with only two over ten minutes, but it was almost all instrumental, and although I like Instrumental tracks, not an entire album worth, my mind starts to wander. Now, not all the songs were lacking vocals, some of them had a full set and they were really good, but several of the songs had words but not vocals. Several had spoken tracks over the music, with a good portion of them recordings of speeches by famous people (one song had President Bush talking throughout the entire song). I really dislike music that takes sound bytes from other stuff, especially some speeches by people they are trying to satire.
  
• Spock's Beard - Just got three of their albums, I am now listening to their latest one, "Spock's Beard," and am so far fairly impressed. So far has longer songs that are mostly instrumental, and then they throw in lyrics at the end, but these don't get boring. They keep changing the rhythms and instrument parts so it stays fresh. Now I am listening to "Is This Love?" and it strikes me as an old jam-room rock song, with slight prog influences. Very different to the tracks before it, and from almost everything I have been listening to in the recent weeks. I intend to listen to more of these guys in the near future.
  
• Yes - See my previous post to get the info on Yes
  

Current Trend: Progressive Rock/Metal

I, as an avid music listener, go through phases of the genre/styles that I listen to, wether it be for only a day or for weeks on end. This is constanly changing, and normally my listening habbits are eclectic - where I will play two songs from very different artists back-to-back.
For the past few days, I have been listening to 90% Progressive Rock/Metal, and maybe 10% AC/DC (the new album Black Ice). Artists like Warrel Dane (solo album by the singer of Nevermore, another band I plan on listening to), Ayreon, Dream Theater, System of a Down (most don't consider SoaD a "Progressive" band, but every song of theirs is consideralby different then the one after it. That, in my mind, equals Progressive), Pink Floyd, The Ocean Collective (not a fan), Without Amusia (local band), Rush, and Rage (at least the first half of the "Speak of The Dead" album).
Prog is thought of as having very different sounds for each artist, over half of the aforementioned artists have a very similar sound. The only bands that truly stand out are System of a Down (being more Experimental Metal focused), Without Amusia (focused on a fusion of Latin and Funk), The Ocean Collective (Post-Metal), and Pink Floyd. Although all of these bands fall into the Prog catagoy in some way, it's the bands with a "true" Progressive sound (e.g. multiple time signatures with prolonged instrumental sections), that are considered truly Prog. Some of my favorties:

• Warrel Dane - The lead singer of the Power Progressive Metal band Nevermore, who's debut solo album, "Praises To The War Machine," is a nice mix of Prog and Power. While this album is more straight-forward than Nevermore albums, it still dives into the Progressive feel, with the song "Equilibrium" being my favorite. I don't know when to expect the next album by Dane, seeing as Nevermore is back in the studio recording a new album (said to be released next fall), but I hope that there will be another.
• Ayreon - The concept: one writer/composer, Arjen Anthony Lucassen, with dozens of guest musicians/singers, to create a concept album focusing on science fiction and fantasy. Lucassen writes all the music and lyrics (even though lacking the ability to read sheet music), and records a large percentage of the parts himself. He then has several guest musicians, and numerous vocalists (with as many at 17 on the album: "01011001"), add their abilities to the final project. All of the albums are concept albums, with several albums being intertwined to form an impressive story. Although I havn't heard all the albums yet, I have listened (and loved) to "Into The Electric Castle" and "01011001." "Into The Electric Castle" tells of eight heroes pulled from several places and times and are given a quest by a mysterious voice to discover the secrets of The Electric Castle. "01011001" follows two stories, one of beings living on "Planet Y" (01011001 is ASCII for the letter "Y"), with the second focusing on a pair of people living on Planet Earth. I intend to listen to all the other Ayreon albums, and most likely will write about this project again.
• Dream Theater - The recipie: four music college drop-outs and an ex-hair metal singer. Sounds like a horrible collaboration, but in fact Dream Theater has become the deffinition of Progressive Metal, in the same way that Rush is the deffinition of Progressive Rock. They play extended peices, with multiple movements and time signatures. The vocals (James LaBrie) are sung in the fashion of the rock bands of the 70s/80s (Styx, Iron Maiden) which can turn off people not used to the sound. But the instrumentalists, John Petrucci (Guitars), Mike Portnoy (Percussion), John Myung (Bass), and Jordan Rudess (Keyboards), meld together a story of epic perportions. My favorite albums are 1999's "Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory" and 2003's "Train of Thought." "Scenes From A Memory" tells the story of a man having horrible dreams about a woman and discovering that the woman was him in a past life. It's real trippy and moves from really heavy ("Strange Deja Vu" and "Fatal Tragedy") to very light and poetic, something one's girlfriend might enjoy ("Through My Words, "Through Her Eyes," and "Finally Free"). I enjoy Train of Thought" for very different reasons. I love this album because of it's much heavier connontations. It is an album filled with heavy riffs and darly lyrics, much more straight-forward metal, than any album before or after. It got mixed reviews from fans, with many claiming Dream Theater "selling out." Is anyone else sick of this insult/excuse? I view it as the band, known for experimentaion, tried to do something new.
  
• Pink Floyd - One word: awesome. Who doesn't know about Pink Floyd? If you are one of these people I want you to do something very important very quickly, I want you to take your hand, ball it into a fist and ram it into your temple as hard as you can. Keep going until you either know all about Pink Floyd, or you pass out, whichever comes first. What most people don't know (those that know about Pink Floyd) however, is that they did release albums before "Dark Side of The Moon." Actually they released several albums, and most of them were not of the sound that they would be famous for. Their other albums include:
  
• The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967)
• A Saucerful of Secrets (1968)
• Soundtrack from the Film More (1969)
• Ummagumma (1969)
• Atom Heart Mother (1970)
• Meddle (1971)
• Obscured by Clouds (1972)
  "Meddle" was the fisrt one to sound like "classic" Pink Floyd, along with "Obscured By Clouds." Actually, even during their "classic" days, they released several other albums besides those that are remembered. While "Dark Side of The Moon (1973)," "Wish You Were Here (1975)," "The Wall (1979)," and "A Momentary Lapse of Reason (1987)," were all known as Pink Floyd's, their lesser hits "Animals (1977)," "The Final Cut (1983)," and "The Division Bell (1994)" are only known by those that own the albums (such as yours-truly). While most of these albums are forgotten because they are not that good ("The Final Cut" is pretty bad), albums like "Meddle" are very good and should be given the chance they deserve. Although any album before "Meddle" should be approached with care, because they are of a very different sound than later albums, but that doesn't mean that they are bad by any means.

So there you have it, both my current trend, and my first forray into Prog. Several of these bands will be featured again (expecilly Dream Theater and Ayreon) and in more detail.

Currently at work and bored, wishing I was at home listening to something...