Grails - Doomsdayer's Holiday CD

Doomsdayer's Holiday buy CD music If modern day indie music appears to consist of an endless queue of groups that are either bland emo retreads or glitzy disco punkers, it is then that much more refreshing to encounter a band like Battles. With a lineage that consists of some of indie rock's most accomplished musicians, Battles is a veritable neo-prog supergroup, though one that embraces the possibilities of technology used in tandem with instrumental virtuosity. MIRRORED, the band's debut full-length makes its intent clear from the onset--to ingest 50 years of rock history and regurgitate it as fractilized micro-symphonies. Rhythms bounce whimsically from motorik krautrock beats to glammed up T. Rex shuffles; such stop-on-a-dime surprises seem to be offered ...

Doomsdayer's Holiday album for sale Back in the mid 1990s, when post-rock dominated the indie landscape, instrumental bands offered a sonic vision beyond what they saw to be the tired rock clichés of 4/4 time and G-C-D riffs, but very often negated the simple energy that makes rock so vital in the process. On their second full-length ALL OF A SUDDEN I MISS EVERYONE, Explosions in the Sky do not make such mistakes. The Austin quartet (yes, there are only four of them generating all this sound) take cues from the post-rock era but apply an energetic, improvisational rock approach full of relentless tension and bursts of beauty. The sound of a chamber orchestra afire, ALL OF A SUDDEN I MISS EVERYONE packs a wallop. Recording ...

Doomsdayer's Holiday songs On their first full-length release, Chicago's Russian Circles simultaneously give new life to the "power trio" concept and prove that instrumental rock didn't die in the early 2000s along with post-rock. The band's secret weapon is its sense of dynamics; one moment they can lay down an evocative, atmospheric landscape, and the next all hell can break loose in a storm of fret-burning fury. You can hear echoes of everything from Mogwai to RED-era King Crimson here, but ENTER is the sound of a young band finding its own sound. Unknown Contributor Roles: Colin DeKuiper; Mike Sullivan; Dave Turncrantz. Personnel: Rob Lowe (piano, Mellotron). Recording information: Electrical Audio, Chicago, IL (12/30/2005-01/08/2006); Studio Greg Studios II, Chicago, IL (12/30/2005-01/08/2006).

Doomsdayer's Holiday CD music Om is the rhythm section of stoner rock wig-out band Sleep -- bassist Al Cisneros and drummer Chris Haikus. There are two long cuts on this slab totaling a little over 33 minutes. While it's true that having two instruments play repetitive droning grooves over and again leaves room for little true variation, it hardly matters. Conference of the Birds has the ability to get underneath the skin of the listener and keep burrowing. There are small rests in each composition, with cosmic, acid-drenched lyrics: "traverse the Cheopian field/Rides out from the red sun high above...." Yeah, but so what. These guys have Syd Barrett's sense of efficacy -- slow, slower, slowest -- clear Sisyphean trudges toward some unholy and ...

Doomsdayer's Holiday songs  

Doomsdayer's Holiday album for sale Grails began as a post-rock unit that delivered moments of absolute beauty inside blown out; heavy rock power plays. On 2008's Doomsdayer's Holiday, the quartet began to reply more on post-production -- ambient textures, lush overdubs, understated samples, and washed-out backdrops -- to expand their reach. On Deep Politics, it's an inseparable element in their sound. While their music always held cinematic elements, here Grails reflect the influences of Ennio Morricone, Hugo Montenegro, Piero Piccioni, Alan Hawkshaw, Basil Kirchen, and others in creating 21st century library music. Moogs, mellotrons, strings, and chorales are indelibly woven with their meld of big guitars and percussion; yet Grails sound even heavier. Their sonic density is maximal. A low-tuned guitar riff in "Future Primitive" is layered with numerous forceful strings (played and arranged by composer Tim Harris), droning backing vocals, and well-placed percussion, to open the set darkly and powerfully. "All the Colors of the Dark," with its dissonant contrapuntal piano, echo-laden slide guitars, snares, and kick drums, are multiplied exponentially by strings and an enormous choir that signals a dramatic moment, but then quickly drops out as a nylon-string guitar plays a moody melody backed by harmonic piano chords; they're subsumed by sitar and reverb in the conclusion. The swirling string textures on "Daughters of Bilitis" suggest Francis Lai and Montenegro; they create a love theme drenched in dread. "Almost Grew My Hair" engages both electric and acoustic 12-strings in gorgeous interplay before stretching to the breaking point of ...