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Zug Izland: CRACKED TILES
REVIEW:ZUG IZLAND ALBUM: "CRACKED TILES" LABEL: PSYCHOPATHIC RECORDS IN STORES NOW! Call it demented, call it insane. We call it sheer poetic truth. "Zug Izland" and their new album "Cracked tiles" Brings forth the many dark truths that were once nestled in the very gastric bowels of our internal anger, and the often felt futility of dealing with relationships. Toxic love, in a pattern of Beauty Default hate and untimely death. The many facets of this album covers the entire gamet of those feelings, and the often catastrophic effects it has in our minds.. From the sheer revelry of Fire! And esoteric sounds of "Fly" and "Dreams" to the out right toxic shock of "Sunny Day" and "Suicide." And "Prison Song" the culmination of the WTF does it all mean? Anthology. Zugs mastery of the toxic emotional whirlpool shows in it's writing and talented artists on the album, with Syn on lead vocals, Mike P. on guitar, Little Pig on the drums, Guido Milligan on bass and Dan Miller on keyboards. If this album dosen't find a place in your mind you've been before... You need to get out more often and suffer like the rest of us! We place Zug Izland's "Cracked Tiles" On the top of the In case of "Fire!" CD's you've got to have! Visit them at: http://www.zugizland.com TFW38Promotions.comUser Reviews:
KUBiX - Trip
KUBiX, an up and coming industrial band, has recently released a new song entittled Trip. The song has been sitting at the #1 slot of the Soundclick.com industrial charts for over three weeks and with good reason. The music is fast, and reminisent of Skinny Puppy and Ministry in form and content. With a pounding beat, and dancey samples, this song could really be the opening this young band needs to bring it to the fore front of new industrial music.
SOUNDPROOF
Sound Proof: Self-Titled [self-released] Now here’s a real musician…someone who still sees his songwriting as a growing, evolving craft. Combining Latin, Jazz, Rock, Blues and improvised jams, Jason Hanley catches on a groove and shapes it. He has a very expressive style of playing, really losing himself in his music. Singing straight from the gut, he has a very strong, captivating voice used for more message-oriented stories. Sound Proof, as far as I can tell, is most often a trio of accomplished musicians led by Hanley, streaming ideas back and forth to each other in a jammy environment. The entire album moves forward as one extended piece, incredibly organic, and each track sounds more like a movement than a single. Within the extended improvised sections, there doesn’t seem to be too much structure; they’re more experimental and open to ideas and space. In most tracks, there is a good base laid down by a clear, brilliant acoustic guitar and accented by subtle percussion. A lead guitar shines overtop of that base creating beautiful, moving melodies. A harmonica dances in and out of most tracks, wavering and toying with the rhythm and even sounding strangely similar to a violin at times. Each track stays fresh with tempo changes and instrument changes, but it all stills fits together like a colorful puzzle. The production on the album is outstanding; the sound is very crisp and clear. There is a wonderful use of space and channel panning throughout the entire recording. “Screamin” is a great Indian-tinged track with floating chant vocals haunting the background, moving the lead guitar along. They employ an intriguing rhythmic scratching/rattling of acoustic guitar strings in this and a few other tracks. I always wonder how and why musicians choose certain distortions or tones for their leads; this album completely threw me off. Where did he get the idea to lay a buzzsaw-distorted, reverb drenched lead over an acoustic rhythm, and an epileptic harmonica over a soft percussive progression? I don’t know, but it sounds absolutely brilliant, and it all works together ridiculously (check out “Brothers”). “Blasted Back” is definitely a bit more funky; there’s a beautiful Latin-laced acoustic guitar and piano rhythmic duet happening that gets cut in half by a surging, wandering, distorted guitar line. In the following track, he drops back down to a softer, more emotional guitar and harmonica number, keeping the album moving. I dig his voice, but I absolutely love the instrumental sections, and there are plenty of them. I give it a…solid. -Chaz Martenstein 3/15/04