Aloan - Pretty Freaks

Aloan - Pretty Freaks

There aren't many artists these days that actually make me excited when I hear a new song or that there is a new album coming soon, maybe I'm too picky, maybe I'm jaded, I don't really know, but what I do know is this, one of the few bands that actually do make my excited, is the phenomenal Swedish fusion band Aloan. Many of you will remember back in the early days of Surreal Sounds, I bought you their album "Better In Springtime" which to this day I am still raving about, and having recently acquired the rest of their musical catalog, which i will share with all of you, I felt first I should share their most recent album, the not so long ago released "Pretty Freaks". Which as I'm sure you can guess is a magnum opus in the art of fusion. It stays true to Aloan's constant commitment to their many flavors, showcasing their soul, jazz, hip hop and trip hop sounds, and adding little elements of rock and metal in there just to average things out for the masses. Its an amazing trip through the worlds of sound and sight, and truly worth a listen too, and more so, its been truly worth the wait its taken for them to release this album, even if the wait seemed like more years then it was.

The album starts with "Liquid Girl", an upbeat and rather funky mix of pop and retro 1960s style pop, its abit different for Aloan, but I love when a group or artist takes themselves out of their comfort zone and tries something new, it shows care and dedication to their craft, you don't get that much these days its lovely to see, the song is pretty catchy too, which always helps. Next is "Swinger" the first single released off the album, it follows the same fast paced late 60s pop guitar with traditional trip hop beats over blues style vocals and rap, its a great big loud song thats just so incredible, the booming chorus is incredible and Granite's rap is just so damn onpoint is actually makes me wonder why he's not more respected among rappers, brilliant song. Next is the downtempo "Whitehair Child", which is a touching and beautiful soul style ballad about love and innocence lost, its alot deeper then most of the songs Aloan does, I was very pleased by this actually, I love when artists open up as they progress musically, its so amazing when it happens. Next is, "Invisible" a catchy beat driven funky blues style song that is just incredible, its a great hook, a great beat, vocals that are just flawless, its just so right and a great almost midway in the album point, most artists don't take care in stuff of that nature, the whole caring what point in each album a song is thing is normally the last thing on an artists mind, I love that its at the forfront here. Next is possibly the greatest song on the album, the incredible trip through sound called "Kabuki" continuing that thick retro guitar style, added with some soul and funk elements and enough catchy lyrics and backing beats to make this just the most perfect song I've ever heard from Aloan, Kabuki is a catchy fast passed song that I personally just love to play loud while I'm driving or just moving about the house, Granite's flow is again a clinic on how to use rap effectively outside of the genre, this is the track you'll be playing over and over, and singing along to the background hook on. Next is the surreal "Into A Werewolf" which is haunting, catchy and beautiful all at once, its a great blend of styles and metaphor, which has always been par for the course with Aloan, I've found over the years their imagery is just as impressive as their music and lyric content. After that is "Pain And Sky", another slow and eerily sexy ballad, thick booming guitar and bass drums, with just enough electronica style backing to make it unique and distinctly their own, its a beautiful song about how no one is truly pure and clean anymore, I seriously love when they do this style stuff. Following that is "Wanna Be A Rocker", takes them back again to the retro pop style that they've been trying to keep with on this disc, the music itself is amazing and the vocals and lyrics are catchy and just so perfect, I wished there was more of Granite in it though, we're almost done the disc and there hasn't been the feature track of his yet, normally there are one or two, also, I completely LOVE the reference to The Matrix in this song, its just so delightful, retro style with a modern reference, just awesome. Next is "I Slowly", which is a nice electronica mixed with rock and blues song, it at first felt slightly out of place, but once it gets going it fits right in with the rest of the disc, I completely love how Granite's using his laid back deep voiced flow on this song, it so fits the song perfectly, its just this booming, beautiful and sexy gritty track, its like a gangster movie in trip hop fusion form. Next up is "Beat Of The Black Heart" which starts out with this incredible bass beat that leads to a sublime soul and rap song, its almost like a battle song really, which I gotta admit I been fiending for sense the last album, its just a perfect blend, and its catchy as all hell, with also helps, the acapella in the middle, totally brilliant. This is followed up with "Dragons Are Frail", a rather sexy blues trip hop song that just makes me wanna listen to it over and over again, I love when they use imagery and metaphor for things, its so unique and brilliant when they do it, this is a love song hidden behind the metaphor of a dragon and the lady of the lake and other medieval imagery, its just so out there and yet so awesome at the same time. And finally the last new song on the album is "Try Not To Forget" which starts out alot different then most Aloan songs, it has a distinct and unlike anything else they've done sound to its start, in a sense the closest thing to a simple guitar and vocal song you'll find on an Aloan album, its a sad song about remembering one's self no matter what they go through in life, and the questioning of how far you have to go before you lose who you are and who you feel you are. The album ends with a reworking of Swinger, which I feel is a pretty good way to end the disc honestly.

Now the big question, is this album for everyone? Well, i like to think that as long as you aren't someone thats pigeonholed into one form of music and nothing else, that Aloan is a great band for everyone, but I guess that comes down to personal taste, I would like to think that there is something for everyone, some pop, some rap, some blues, some rock, some electronica, some jazz and rock too. I like to call Aloan one of those groups that takes you on a tour of the music spectrum in the course of their albums, and i'd like to think in the future more groups and artists would move in this direction, it keeps music from getting stagnent and overflowed with sound alikes and boardroom created and marketed bands. So if you want to try something different, and new, and unlike most of what I'm sure you've heard out there in the world, give this album and the band Aloan a try, Ill be posting their other albums soon to combine with this one and their earlier effort "Better In Springtime" soon.

And if you aren't convinced by my review, here is a look at the video for Swinger..




Artist: Aloan
Album: Pretty Freaks
Genre: trip hop, blues, funk, rock, jazz, hip hop
Homepage: Aloan.ch
Myspace: Aloan On Myspace
Download: Album download here

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BC

Above The Trees by Paul Duncan

Paul Duncan is billed as, and very well could actually be, the greatest musician you've never heard of. His style is a never interesting mix of folk and acoustic rock, with elements of electronica fused in where it fits, and where you wouldn't think of finding it. Personally I think thats Paul's charm, that he does things you wouldn't always think of, and as anyone will tell you, an artist that keeps you excited and guessing on what their next move is, and how their going to end a song, such a nice distraction from the modern standard flair precut stuff they pass off as "indie" alot of times these days.

Its hard to break up his new album "Above the Trees" into single tracks for a write up, seeing as it seems you were ment to listen to them all one after another as it sort of tells a story of things that happen with in a picturesque secluded valley somewhere away from the rest of the world and the cares of the big city. which is ironic given that he's from Brooklyn if i recall. But, whatever works works, thats the way i see things. Its interesting, listening to Above the trees as I write this, its very, captivating, it draws you in and kind of makes you want to listen to more, if for no other reason then to see how the album ends. I love when that happens, and I love when its done by well crafted and well made albums more so. I find myself respecting Paul more and more as an artist as I listen as well, and I find myself getting abit angry that there is so little of him available both in shops and on the net.

I will say that some of the better chapters in this story told in music are "country witch", "above the trees", and my peronal favorite "The Lake Pt 1", and that the downside is, most of the tracks on this album really only work or make sense when you play them all one after another, and that does hurt the songs, just a slight bit, but not enough for me to ever claim this is a bad album. Infact, stand alone factor aside, this is everything I would look for in an album of this kind. Its melodic, its exploitive, and its innovative too. I can't help but love it.

Do i think this is for everyone? Maybe, its definately for the explorers out there, and saddly thats why there is no way it would ever get noticed on on radio or something, but in a way, that also helps it, it makes it something rare, and something that really only those who are looking for something new will find and enjoy, so give it a shot, see how you feel.


Artist: Paul Duncan
Album: Above the Trees
Genre: downtempo,Folktronica,Melodic Electronica,Acoustic Rock

Above the Trees by Paul Duncan


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BC

Real Life by Joan as Police Woman

This lovely bit of audio and visual candy is a woman named Joan Wasser, she was born in Biddeford Maine and raised mostly in Norwalk, Connecticut, and believe it or not, she has one of the most impressive musical petigrees I've ever come acrossed. She started out playing piano at the age of 6, and spent her teens playing with various bands and working solo as well, this feat, more so the amazingly matured and defined that it gained her early admitance to the musical converatory at Boston University where she became the prize student of the world renowned Yuri Mazurkevich where she became part of the Boston University Symphony Orcastra and played many large venues through out her time with them. In this time she also formed Boston indie scene legends Hot Trix, The Damnbuilders and Black Beatle as side projects as well as did work with Those Bastard Souls and Mind Science of the Mind. Joan didn't go into classical music after college like most assumed she would, she went hardcore into the independant musical mecha that is the boston music scene and after awile formed Joan as Police Woman in New York City in 2002. Her credentials in the popular music scene are as equily as impressive as her classical, she was a former band member and lover of the late Jeff Buckley at the time of his death, and has worked with such well known artists as Lou Reed, Tanya Donelly, Sheryl Crow, Dave Gahan, Elton John, the Scissor Sisters, Antony and the Johnsons, Joseph Arthur and Rufus Wainwright, to name just afew.

With a history like that you would exspect her full length debut in this new band of hers to be nothing short of musical nirvana in mp3 form right? Well, if you assumed this you would be correct! This album is just complete bliss in audio form! Joan and her fellow musicans mix everything from blues to rock to pop to indie to late 1960s phycidelic infusions and soul to classical together in a way that leaves me speachless and wanting more. I love how they span the gammet from upbeat and fun to torch songs to straight up blues to rock and stop off all over the place along the way, Joan's vocals sound so much like Billie Holiday through most of this album that it scares me at times.

The title track "Real Life" is a great start off, its a very mellow smokey delivered piano driven love song, its as sexy as it is eerie. "Eternal Flame" is an odd mix of a love song and a grandus symphonic fused with uptempt 1970s style rock with a huge chorus singing along, its wonderfull. "I Defy" a great duet done in a 1970s Marvin Gaye "Whats Going On" era sort of style, I really wish they gave more more then just the first name of the man that sings it with her, I can't seem to find him in the band reguester or the credits and would like to here more from him, the way they blend horns, violins, pianos and strings together are just incredable as well. I could really go on and on about how great every track on this short disc is, only 10 tracks, though I would love a double disc special edition with all the B-Sides and out-takes and stuff, I just can't get enough of this band!

As for if I think most people will like this? Yes, I believe most would, there is enough of every style to keep even the most closed minded "one genre'er" happy. But people like me that are all over the musical spectrim will go wild over this and scream for more. Its just so beautifully crafted, there is so much detail given to even the smallest bit of music on this album, its almost bordering on artform in some spots. Its a definate must for anyone that claims to be "musically open minded" and isn't really just saying it to get cred. Give it a shot, seriously, won't be let down.


Artist: Joan As Police Woman
Album: Real Life
Genre: Indie, Indie Rock, Blues, Blues Rock, Fusion, Boston Indie

Real Life By Joan as Police Woman


By: BC