*Legion*'s 2009 "Golden Asterisks" Music Awards

For Post-Metal I'm all about Pelican - What We All Come to Need


Brainwashed review:

What We All Come To Need is full of driving rhythms and logical changes. It doesn't veer into noodly prog territory but it doesn't take a single chord and just make it louder for 12 minutes either. There's enough in each of these songs to pay attention to, enough moments for the players to shine and for the songwriting to take center stage. The songs don't wallow or whine—they are meaty and aggressive when they need to be, but the band isn't afraid to air things out either. In doing so, they create some magical moments where the tension of all of that grinding testosterone is released by wide open chords and beautiful beds of fuzzy guitar tones.
*Legion* wrote:

I think the Crimson double-trio is a lot to live up to.

I really enjoyed the percussion interplay when I listened with headphones. I couldn't hear it quite as clearly in the car. Of course, my truck's speakers suck and need to be replaced, so there's that.

Even the double trio could easily be described as Fripp/Levin/Bruford and Belew/the other guys.

What seamed like a good idea has turned into over $100 in music purchases, so I'm going to have to file this thread away until after December. But since Crimson came up, if you can get your hands on either of The Crimson Jazz Trio's albums, do so. It will give you a new appreciation from the quality and the quantity of KC's output.

Rexneron wrote:

For Post-Metal I'm all about Pelican - What We All Come to Need

Pelican is making the list... but not that release.

But since you've brought them up, they're the next entry...

Golden Asterisk for Achievement in Metal

Pelican - Ephemeral [EP] [Southern Lord]

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I like Pelican, but you'll note that 2007's City of Echoes was nowhere to be found on my first annual Golden Asterisks award rundown. That's because it was a little bit generic and not up to the level of quality that drew me to the group originally. This year, they released a new full-length album, What We All Come to Need. That album is better than City of Echoes and might have cracked this list. But the real Pelican winner this year is this EP, Ephemeral. It packs the power that 2005's breakout The Fire in Our Throats Will Beckon the Thaw exploded onto the scene with, and the title track is also the best track from the full-length album. Pelican are at their best when they're kicking ass; the more restrained instrumental (post-)metal is done better by other groups like Russian Circles (at least, in my opinion). It probably should be no surprise that Ephemeral is the better Pelican release, as many have cited the group's past EPs, Australasia and March into the Sea as being better than all of their full-lengths. For those of that mindset, Ephemeral continues the trend.

Pelican - Ephemeral:

Pelican - Embedding the Moss:

*Legion* wrote:
Rexneron wrote:

For Post-Metal I'm all about Pelican - What We All Come to Need

Pelican is making the list... but not that release.

But since you've brought them up, they're the next entry...

I was considering the EP but went with the full length, great release either way!

Rexneron wrote:
*Legion* wrote:
Rexneron wrote:

For Post-Metal I'm all about Pelican - What We All Come to Need

Pelican is making the list... but not that release.

But since you've brought them up, they're the next entry...

I was considering the EP but went with the full length, great release either way!

I have a bias towards EPs. More in line with my natural attention span.

I'm not sure what intangible thing it is... but I can't get into any of Pelican's stuff.

That Amorphis disc is a good time. Thanks for the rec, *L*.

Podunk wrote:

That Amorphis disc is a good time. Thanks for the rec, *L*. :D

The front side is a little weak, but the back end brings it home strong IMO.

Podunk wrote:

That Amorphis disc is a good time. Thanks for the rec, *L*. :D

You'll probably want to check out the other two albums with this lineup if you're liking this one. They're both good, and although I think Skyforger is the best of the group, the others, especially Silent Waters, are worth hearing.

Golden Asterisk for Achievement in Electronic Music

Boxcutter - Arecibo Message

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Producer Barry Lynn is not one of those musicians who slavishly follow a genre pattern. Under the pseudonym Boxcutter, Lynn incorporates dubstep rhythms with a cacophany of '90s Warp-era acid, IDM, and breakbeat trappings. Far from a nostalgic trip, though, Lynn establishes a very strong musical identity that runs throughout the album.

Fitting for the album name (a reference to the famous radio transmission into space), the vibe is a cosmic, spacey groove. Unlike the real Arecibo message, this album has been pumped out of my speakers time and time again.

Boxcutter - Spacebass:

Boxcutter - Sidetrak:

Boxcutter - Mya Rave v2

Boxcutter - A Familiar Sound:

I haven't had a chance to listen to the clips for some of the more recent winners, but I have now downloaded every winning album thanks to Zune Pass. So awesome!

Ahh. Was waiting to move on from the Achievements in Metal. Finally, Achievements in Electronic Music!
Can't wait to get home and check these out.

Golden Asterisk for Achievement in Progressive Rock / Fusion

Forgas Band Phenonema - L'Axe du Fou [Cuneiform]

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The second Cuneiform release from Patrick Forgas's 7-piece fusion group, L'Axe du Fou resembles the pleasant sounds of classic Canterbury a la National Health, but with stronger emphasis on horns and violin. The tone is fairly tame - upbeat, but not the kind of blistering energy from a group like Mahavishnu Orchestra. It's bright, cheery, "good time" music for those that like prog/fusion and improvisation.

The Polish violinist Karolina Mlodecka is really a star here, her violin mixed front-and-center, singing like a vocalist over many of the 8-12 minute pieces.

This definitely won't be the only Cuneiform Records album on this list when all is said and done.

Unfortunately, no YouTube videos to embed. So let's go with these:

Forgas Band Phenonena - Double-Sens (excerpt): Strimoo video

Forgas Band Phenomena - L'Axe du Fou (excerpt): Cuneiform Records website audio clip

Dysplastic wrote:

Ahh. Was waiting to move on from the Achievements in Metal. Finally, Achievements in Electronic Music!
Can't wait to get home and check these out.

I'm mixing it up, so that anyone interested in any of the stuff I post about won't have to wait forever to find stuff they'll be interested in. Still plenty of metal and plenty more electronic releases to come.

And I'm saving some of the stuff that hardly anyone here except me listens to for the end, instead of chasing people off now.

Yeah. There are plenty of individual good moments on Black Clouds but so much of it is just embarrassing, largely due to the moronic lyrics and Portnoy's continued insistence on opening his mouth and recording the results. They did release an instrumental version of the disc as part of one of their special edition packages. I'd imagine that would be much more enjoyable.

That said, I do kind of dig Count of Tuscany, in spite of some of the most horrendously juvenile lyric writing on the whole album. I guess I still have a soft spot for DT when they go back to worshipping Rush, instead of sounding like old dudes ripping off 80's Bay Area thrash.

Podunk wrote:

Yeah. There are plenty of individual good moments on Black Clouds but so much of it is just embarrassing, largely due to the moronic lyrics and Portnoy's continued insistence on opening his mouth and recording the results. They did release an instrumental version of the disc as part of one of their special edition packages. I'd imagine that would be much more enjoyable.

That said, I do kind of dig Count of Tuscany, in spite of some of the most horrendously juvenile lyric writing on the whole album. I guess I still have a soft spot for DT when they go back to worshipping Rush, instead of sounding like old dudes ripping off 80's Bay Area thrash.

They can play. They always could play. But the one guy who could write a song is long gone. They need Moore's ear for melody and check on the excess and silliness so badly. They're like a team of talented athletes without a coach - running around in circles and unable to put together a solid gameplan.

You are right on what you said in the other thread - Petrucci's guitar tone is gorgeous.

*Legion* wrote:

They can play. They always could play. But the one guy who could write a song is long gone. They need Moore's ear for melody and check on the excess and silliness so badly. They're like a team of talented athletes without a coach - running around in circles and unable to put together a solid gameplan.

Rudess really brings out the worst in Petrucci, and while the guy undeniably has the most impressive chops of any of DT's keyboard players, I find his musical choices to be really grating the vast majority of the time. I mean, the dude is Julliard-trained and has some of the sexiest synth gear on the planet in his live rig. Why the hell can't he sound good?

Speaking of Moore, I liked the new OSI. Is that one on your list this year?

Time for another "bad" award!

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Golden Certis for Low Achievement in Metal

Dream Theater - Black Clouds and Silver Linings

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I knew it was over when... 3:56 into the first track, there's a car crash sound effect.

Holy hell is this awful. I know I'm already on record for not liking recent Dream Theater albums, but I would leave them alone if they didn't get worse each time.

The pointless noodling which really serves no greater musical purpose is bad enough. That's passe to complain about at this point. But the lyrics, lord...

"Hopelessly drifting bathing in beautiful agony
I am endlessly falling lost in this wonderful misery"

Such are the lyrical stylings of Oxymoron Theater. It's a concept album (of sorts) where each song relates to a traumatic past experience in a band member's life. It works for me in a sense: my traumatic experience is hearing Mike Portnoy trying to f*ck up his kit, while throwing in the worst metal growl vocals I've ever heard on record. That's right - it's a Dream Theater album and the worst vocals do not belong to James LaBrie. That's boundary pushing right there.

Above, I mentioned a car crash sound effect. The first song is about losing someone in a car crash. Some bands would subtly (or even not-so-subtly) hint at the car crash musically, perhaps with a build-up of tension that explodes into a cacophony that's gone as quickly as it arrived. Dream Theater... inserts a car crash sound effect, the first of many sound effects to explicitly spell out exactly what's going on. They're that guy that actually says "{sexist slur}s" at the end of the "cunning stunts" joke, failing to understand that leaving it to the listener to infer the last word is what makes the joke funny*.

Please bring Kevin Moore back. You guys can play, but you write crap.

Dear reader, do yourself a solid and pick up the Amorphis album instead.

(*: Well, funny in 7th grade, at least.)

EDIT: Dream Theater fans, feel free to defend your boys. Discourse and dissent are always welcome in my music threads.

Dream Theater - A Nightmare to Remember:

Dream Theater - A Rite of Passage:

I saw DT in Asheville this year for only the second time in my life and it was a tough experience. I don't like the new album and haven't liked much for a while now, but their musical ability always kept me coming back. During this concert where they mainly showcased Black Clouds, Systematic Chaos, Octavarium, etc. then followed everything up at the end with Metropolis was a personal moment of revelation: I will never like this band as much as a once did. Ever. Their lyrics, songwriting, and predictable strong structure have grown extremely sour for me.

It was sad, but it also allowed me to move on a little. I thoroughly enjoyed Zappa plays Zappa, so that was good. I'm going to check out Amorphis...hope it's not "cheese prog" vocals...that's the one area where really good prog loses me. Stop fighting dragons, dammit.

Podunk wrote:

Speaking of Moore, I liked the new OSI. Is that one on your list this year? :D

It may be by the time the list is done. I'm embarrassed to say that I haven't heard it yet. And that is simply unacceptable given that I like both Moore and Jim Matheos.

I wasn't huge on the very last Fates Warning album but I adored the two before it - A Pleasant Shade of Gray and Disconnected. Yet I've managed to miss all OSI albums.

Now that you've brought it up, I can let that failing stand no longer.

EpicMK wrote:

Stop fighting dragons, dammit.

Do I temporarily suspend my self-aggrandizing to put this in my sig?

I do. I must.

*Legion* wrote:

It may be by the time the list is done. I'm embarrassed to say that I haven't heard it yet. And that is simply unacceptable given that I like both Moore and Jim Matheos.

I wasn't huge on the very last Fates Warning album but I adored the two before it - A Pleasant Shade of Gray and Disconnected. Yet I've managed to miss all OSI albums.

Now that you've brought it up, I can let that failing stand no longer.

Yeah, I think you'll dig 'em. Blood is actually my favorite OSI release, in no small part because of Gavin Harrison's fantastic drumming (it's Portnoy on the first two discs).

Podunk wrote:

(it's Portnoy on the first two discs).

Thanks for the warning.

I'll check the new album out ASAP.

Hey, this guy really knows about music, the Pelican disc is really good. Where's the rest of the awards?

Mex wrote:

Hey, this guy really knows about music, the Pelican disc is really good. Where's the rest of the awards?

They're coming! It's a busy week at work, as I'm getting some projects out the door before I go on sweet, well-deserved vacation.

Golden Certis for Best Boobs

Francine Boucher of Echoes of Eternity

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Not every Golden Certis award is bad. This one's quite nice, really. Echoes of Eternia's French-Canadian singer Francine Boucher attracts attention with her rack as much as her voice.

The voice is good, though. I'm a fan of female metal singers who don't resort to the now-trite operatic howls. I admit, I thought Nightwish was fun to listen to in the late '90s, but the fad's over now. Echoes of Eternity plays lush gothic-lite progressive metal without a 3rd rate orchestral accompaniment.

Their 2009 album, As Shadows Burn, isn't good enough to make the Golden Asterisks list. I'm a bit drawn to it because, well, I like lush gothic-lite progressive metal without bombastic opera vocals. Or perhaps I'm just drawn to singers with great racks. Either way, the songwriting is a bit plain and weak, well beneath the group's playing ability. But it's pleasant enough to put on, particularly as a change of pace from "challenging" music.

Echoes of Eternity - A Veiled Horizon:

Best female metal vocal group, Acid King.
But that vocalist looks like she would slip you mescaline.

Golden Asterisk for Achievement in Electronic Music

iTAL tEK - Massive Error [EP] [Planet Mu]

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iTAL tEK is probably the best thing happening on Planet Mu right now to my ears (although Boxcutter is quickly winning my heart). Hardwax calls this EP, "Spaced out & melodic IDM electronica/techno/electro hybridz". Classic Warp-era IDM, dub, deep house, and some melodic ambient bits make up this smooth, sweet sound.

iTAL tEK - Massive Error

iTAL tEK - Ghost Cloud

iTAL tEK - Strange Love

I'm surprised to not see Baroness on here. Blue Record is quite good!