Album Reviews

Album Review: sleepmakeswaves – Made Of Breath Only

sleepmakeswaves - made of breath only album cover
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I was already a fan of sleepmakeswaves before they released their last album, Love of Cartography, in 2014. And I thought that album was great. But it wasn’t until I saw their fantastic performance opening for This Will Destroy You in Wellington the following year that I realised just how great a band they are.

So when they asked for support to crowdfund their new album Made Of Breath Only via pozible I was right in there. sleepmakeswaves, you are welcome to my money if it means more incredible music. (You are welcome to even more of it if you decide to come and play in Wellington again as well!)

So I pledged my money to the worthy cause, shared the link a few (OK, more than a few) times to garner further support, and waited for the album to be recorded.

Stylistically, I’d say sleepmakeswaves are similar to both maybeshewill and 65daysofstatic in many respects. Of course you can draw the parallels that all the bands have runonnamesthatlackspaces, but they also all play remarkably energetic post-rock with electronic elements.

Made Of Breath Only commences with a short intro track that builds anticipation, before segueing seamlessly into the explosive opening of “World’s Away”. The track dies down quickly, but remains interesting, with computer glitch sounds adding texture to the jazz rock guitar noodling. Not that this lasts long, because sleepmakeswaves are HIGH ENERGY! Goshdarnit I love these people! Overdriven guitars, thunderous bass, twinkling keys and incredible drumming marry to form aural bliss. So dynamic! The track comes in waves, from rocking wildly, to quieter, more musical passages. And every moment is infectious with joy.

I’m finding it hard to describe my excitement using words alone. Please picture me wildly air drumming and grinning ear to ear as you read my sentences for the full immersive experience.

OK, so we’re only about ten minutes into this album and I’m already calling it as one of the best albums of the year. Sorry, but if you want an objective, unbiased opinion you’ll have to search elsewhere.

“Tundra” was the lead single from the album and I tend to agree that it is the best pick. The lead guitar cuts through with plenty of treble, atop a rolling beast of monstrous rock. And again, it’s that energy that makes it so compelling to listen to. The slower dynamic moments show off the band’s talents as well-rounded musicians, but it’s the explosive sections that inspire. It’s more than the usual crescendocore post-rock here, with some of the amazing music from the Australian prog-rock scene clearly rubbing off on the sleepmakeswaves crew.

I’m overstating the energy to a degree. There are some incredible moments in the quieter sections of the album, like the tender piano parts of the title track.

In the past I have sometimes written about how I prefer “real” instruments over computers. I prefer rappers who have bands over ones with DJs. If I attend a concert I want to see musicians playing live, not acting along to backing tracks. And when I listen to an album I’d prefer to think that the music was actually played and recorded, and not just programmed into a machine. Well I’ll eat my words in whatever way you see fit here because the computerised aspects really enhance the music. The glitches add an extra dimension to already great songs.

If I haven’t made it clear already: this album is incredible! Listening to it makes me feel elated. And the talent is immense. Daniel Oreskovic from fellow Sydney post-rock act Meniscus has replaced founding member Kid on guitar, and although I by no means want to slight Kid’s part in the band, I think an injection of fresh ideas from a new member may have helped to rev the band up a bit.

Made Of Breath Only is going to do wonders for sleepmakeswave. They haven’t even released it yet and they’re already touring China, and scoring support slots on tours opening for big international acts like Underoath and Devin Townsend. And, even better, they are on the verge of breaking out from their niche genre into mainstream awareness thanks to radio play from Australian youth station Triple J.

Listen to this album. If you like post-rock, then you’ll recognise how good it is. If post-rock isn’t your thing, then this could prove to be your gateway album. It’s a beast of an album and deserves your attention.

Made Of Breath Only comes out on Pelagic Records on March 24, 2017

sleepmakeswaves links:

Official: http://www.sleepmakeswaves.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/sleepmakeswaves
Bandcamp: https://sleepmakeswaves.bandcamp.com
Label: http://pelagic-records.com

North American, UK and European fans, you can order the new album at cheaper shipping rates right here: www.sleepmakeswaves.com?p=1916

EP Review: Flicker Rate – Reframe EP

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There’s no shortage of talent when you scroll through the artists that submit their work for review here at Will Not Fade, and Spencer Bassett is no exception. At just 17, Bassett has already released 2 solo post-rock EPs under the name Flicker Rate – a project that encompasses instrumental styles like post-rock, prog and math rock.

One doesn’t need to look far to see where Bassett got his talent from. His father is John Bassett, known for his music released under the guise of Arcade Messiah, KingBathmat and his own name. Bassett Sr. played a part in this album too, co-producing with his son, and take on the roles of mixer and masterer.

But it wouldn’t be fair to judge Spencer’s work under his father’s shadow, so I’ll discuss the Reframe EP on its own merits.

Spencer Bassett Flicker RateTo begin with, Reframe is a step up from the eponymous first EP. Although this first EP was a strong début, I disliked the dissonant tones and overt glitches used in the track “Evident”. By comparison, Reframe sounds crisp and clean.

Title track “Reframe” featured strong confident drumming, with guitar lines layering over the top progressively. The clean guitar picking is a nice change from the crescendocore wash that gets overused in post-rock.

Following track “Summit” isn’t so much clean, per say, with its heavy distortion and washing cymbals. But the guitar lines still stand out. The clarity helps Spencer to show off his technical abilities, choosing to place his talents at the forefront, and not hidden behind effect pedals and muddy distortion.

My highlight on the EP is “Spectrum”. It takes me into a happy place, like most of the upbeat math rock I’ve recently fallen in love with. I need more music like this in my life, and I’m happy to take recommendations of any music that captures the sound of joy as well as this song.

If Spencer Bassett is able to write and release two quality EPs of this calibre as a teenager, then imagine the potential recordings he will release in the future! Reframe is brilliantly written, recorded and mixed. The crisp recordings and avoidance of post-rock clichés has made this a refreshing EP worth checking out.

Flicker Rate Links

Bandcamp: https://flickerrate.bandcamp.com/album/reframe-ep

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/flickerrate/

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/flickerrate/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flickerrate/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnKvPbjUogHvNR6MHBkZAnA

 

Joseph James

Album Review: George Will – Dawn

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George Will almost quit music after his band Audrey Fall released their album Mitau in 2014. He sold off most of his gear and the guitars gathered dust for almost two years. But in recent times the film scores he was listening to inspired him to revisit the piano. One thing led to another, and he start playing again. Thank goodness he did.

Fittingly, the titular opening track from Will’s new solo album, Dawn, reflects that story. It begins with Will playing softly on the piano, and evolving into something bigger by encompassing more instruments as Will regains his confidence.

 

Will sought out to create music that sounded different to his post-rock work of the past. Initially he used minimalist piano and cello, and his repertoire expanded as he experimented.

The very Lights & Motion sounding “Mist” takes us into cinematic territory with violins and hopeful guitars. “Rhea” also sounds suitably cinematic, with delicate piano setting the mood for a solemn affair that turns triumphant.

By comparison, tracks like “Rust” and “Iris” venture into more metal territory, even bordering on djent. Because as great as it is to try new things, there’s nothing as fun as letting loose and rocking out.

In all seriousness though, the tasteful symphonic album closer “Arda” is a testament to Will’s talent. The song is expertly crafted, growing gently and gaining momentum until it takes on a life of its own.

My highlight of the album is the last section of “Veil”. This is interesting considering that Will told me that he regarded as “Veil” one of his least favourite songs on the album. I cannot agree with him, because the second half of that song is so stand out to me.There is something irresistible about how the drum and guitar accents compound in such an epic way. Give it a listen when the album drops and please feel free to weigh in on that discussion.

 George Will Dawn Promo pic

Some albums are perfect for driving. Many are great for blasting at parties. Others are earthy and warm and suit being played on a turntable. Dawn is an album for headphones. Plugging it into my stereo or playing it through my speaker just doesn’t compare to listening to the album through headphones so that the all the elements jump out at me.

Will shared with me that he was undecided about whether he prefers being part of a band or going solo. Playing on your own can offer creative freedom, but is perhaps too open-ended without having others to critique your work as you write.

I’m pleased that George Will did decide to try his hand at some solo writing because Dawn is an inspired work. It is a wonderful album ranging from lush cinematic piano compositions to post-metal, stopping off at various instrumental sub-genres on the way through.

George Will Links:

Album Review: We Deserve This – Smile

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Jan Platek is a busy man.

I subscribed to his We Deserve This Bandcamp page last year, which gave me access to hundreds of recordings and releases – a veritable treasure trove of post-rock music waiting to be listened to. But Platek decided that these offerings were not enough. The people need more! So he created another project, going by his own name. And as if the two solo projects on Bandcamp weren’t adequate, he also releases an album through Fluttery Records from time to time.

I have over 14 hours worth of his material on my computer. Just let that sink in… He has recorded and released over 14 hours worth of material over a four-year period. And that isn’t counting side projects.

Like I said: Jan Platek is a busy man.

Smile is his latest release, out via Fluttery Records on February 24.

So how does Smile weigh up compared to the rest of his output?

Well, it’s good. It’s very recognisably a We Deserve This release. You know – brilliant post-rock that treads a balance so well between being heavy and ambient. You can rock out to it by blasting it loudly from your stereo, but could just as easily use it as relaxing background music. The album description blurb lists influences from both 90’s rock music and post-rock and post-metal genres.

It is evident that Smile had a lot of time invested into it. There are many layers and textures and melodies all linked in so masterfully. This doesn’t sound exceptional, but bear in mind that this isn’t something that just came out of the woodwork at band practice. Platek recorded this all himself, so would have spent countless hours working on each song until he felt it was perfect.

I have to award bonus marks for talent. I love how modern technology has enabled so many musicians to become the new Mike Oldfield by releasing music that they have single-handedly recorded all the instruments on. [For other examples see: Cloudkicker, Lights & Motion, Oscillate, Barouche, 10 Waves of You, Gregory Tan]. Platek’s grandfather was a music teacher, which gave Platek a good grounding with a variety of instruments. This formative education, combined with a love of music and a drive to constantly push his creative tendencies has helped Platek to refine his craft. And did I mention that he’s prolific? When you have this much practice then your music better be damn good!

To be honest, I don’t think I can rank this against other We Deserve This releases. This is not a criticism of Smile, but more of a reflection of how well I know the We Deserve This catalogue. I think you’ll forgive me for confessing that it’s hard to get to know 14 hours worth of material.  I guess the risk with being so prolific is that each release struggles to stand out from within the pool of other material.

Platek loves to release singles and EP’s, so this release is uncommon for him, ringing in at 27 minutes over six tracks. So that’s one thing that Smile boasts to stand out from the rest of the collection: it’s a cohesive album that lasts long enough to sink your teeth into.

If you’re unfamiliar with We Deserve This, then you may as well use Smile as a start point. And once you’ve digested that, than you’re ready to spend a very long time discovering a lot more where that came from.

You can buy Smile from Fluttery Records here: https://we-deserve-this.bandcamp.com/releases

We Deserve This links:

Bandcamp: https://wedeservethis.bandcamp.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wedeservethisband/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/wdtband

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/we-deserve-this

Tumblr: http://wedeservethis.tumblr.com/

Jan-Dirk Platek Bandcamp (side-project): https://jan-dirkplatek.bandcamp.com/releases

 

Joseph James

Album Review: Floating In Space – The Edge Of The Light

Floating In Space The Edge Of Light
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There is little wonder that Ruben Caballero approached niche record label Deep Elm when he was looking for someone to release his début album, The Edge of Light. Deep Elm have switched their core focus from emo to cinematic post-rock in recent years, and Caballero’s project, Floating In Space, fits within this new vision beautifully.

Deep Elm have always been staunchly independent. In recent years they have adopted a brave strategy and made the move to Bandcamp, offering their entire catalogue up for pay-what-you-want. Obviously this does not make great business sense to offer your product up for potentially no return. The label still managed to make money however, by licensing their music for film soundtracks and advertisements.

Similar to other Deep Elm poster boys like Lights & Motion/Christoffer Franzen, Moonlit Sailor and Dorena, Floating In Space offers an inviting musical soundscape to whisk you away into places far away. The songs stand alone as strong releases, but also offer the potential to soundtrack a big screen blockbuster.

Caballero explores dichotomies with his music, stating “Through my songs, I try to show my vision of a world where light and shadows, calm and fears, solitude and togetherness meet in the vastness of space.” Hence the chosen title for this musical outlet: Floating In Space.

He also comments on the cinematic nature of the music: “There are two things that never cease to inspire me when I look through my window: the sea and the sky. I see all vital experiences, dreams and fears more clearly when taking a night walk along the coastline. Those walks inspire me to describe my feelings through music. So I’ve created an album that I would want to listen to, as if my experiences and feelings were sequences of a movie with my music as the soundtrack””

Floating In Space Ruben.jpg

One setback is that The Edge of Light sounds more like a collection of cinematic snippets than a cohesive album. Unlike most post-rock/ambient projects, the tracks found here never extend far past standard single duration, with longest song ‘Redshift’ clocking in at just shy of four minutes long. This is not to say that brevity is a bad thing, but more a suggestion that some of the tracks could have been pushed further and extended upon.

Sure enough, The Edge of Light spans the emotional spectrum, visiting moods and feelings with lush instrumentation. It really is a ride, ranging from intimate delicacy to intense urgency. One can hear the time and passion Caballero has invested into this project when we unfold the layers and notice each subtle component.

If cinematic music takes your fancy, then let Floating In Space take you on an expansive journey through time, space and emotion.

Floating In Space Links

Bandcamp: http://deepelmdigital.com/album/the-edge-of-the-light

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/floatinginspacemusic/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/floating_music

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/floatinginspace_official/

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/floatinginspacemusic

 

Joseph James