Rhythm & Booze An online music webzine created by music lovers for music lovers.

17 July, 2012

Pet Slimmers Of The Year-EP/…..And The Fell Sky

Filed under: instrumental,metal,post rock,Recorded Reviews — Tags: ...And the sky fell, EP, pet slimmers of the year — willmunn @ 20:25

Pet Slimmers Of The Year are an oddly named three-piece hailing from the heart of Cambridgeshire, who compose epic instrumental suites of post rock and and bone crunching sheet metal to dazzling effect.

To date the band have released two EP’s, that they’ve released through bandcamp as free downloads and I have to say if you like you’re music full of drama, rise and fall, light and shade then both …..And The Sky Fell and EP are absolutely essential releases.

Starting with the band’s debut, the aptly named EP, the band unleash three tracks, that throb, pulsate and menace in equal measure. Take the opening track, Letter To His Father for instance, it opens with a dark brooding bassline sheets of chiming guitars join the mix, drums then enter the fray propelling the track forward, gigantic metallic riffs rise and fall, infectious melodies weave in and out of the mix, as the band take you on an expansive and thrilling journey through their many shades of industrial strength post rock, over the course of an epic nine and half minutes.

The opener leaves you drained yet eager to discover more of the Pet Slimmers sound and the subsequent tracks continue in the same rich and varied vein. World Without Stars begins with a contagious, repetitive, groove laden melody before literally exploding into a flurry of riffs, subtle twists and sharp turns whilst the marching drums remain throughout. The EP concludes with One Down, yet another slow, moody, nine minutes slice of epic post rock bliss complete with shimmering cymbals, spiralling guitars and a powerful, cruchy metal outburst that brings things to a tasty conclusion.

The band’s second EP…..And The Sky Fell, sees the band add further layers to their already dense and impressive sound, opener, Morvaka adds haunting dream like vocals to proceedings as the band create a dazzling and visionary soundscape that glides effortlessly from the melodic to the monstrous. Pet Slimmers Of The Year continue to create hypnotic grooves throughout …And The Sky Fell, tracks like Faith Of Our Hate (Heavans Gate Pt 1.) combine mesmeric glacial riffs and beautiful, intoxicating melodies that ebb, flow wonderously, yet the threatening metallic underccurent still remains and occasionally makes it’s pressence felt as the band crank up the pownstruer from time to time.

The band offer up both their shortest (the title track) and lengthiest composition (I Am The Ocean) on …And The Sky Fell, the former is a short and blunt slab of instrumental doom metal, whilst the latter is a sprawling and quite stunning finale featuring inventive rhythms, chugging riffs and occasional wordless vocals.

Pet Slimmers Of The Year are a evocative and dynamic act that really bring something new to the genre of post rock, there’s a lot more going on than just your standard quiet loud quiet mantra, the band’s pieces are majestic, powerful and always invigorating, if you like your music to challenge and thought provoking or dense soundtrack like instrumentals are your thing you’ll find a great deal to get excited about with Pet Slimmers Of The Year. Download both EP’s for nothing now and show your support to one of the best kept secrets in the instrumental rock scene now!!!!

Rhythm & Booze Rating 9 (for EP) 10 (for …And The Sky Fell)

 

http://petslimmersoftheyear.bandcamp.com

 

 

9 April, 2012

The Red Inspectors-Are We The Red Inspectors? Are We?

Filed under: funk,instrumental,jazz,lounge,pop,Recorded Reviews — Tags: are we the red inspectors? are we?, the red inspectors — willmunn @ 10:16

Back in the 90’s hot label Acid Jazz delivered a stream of brilliant funk ridden albums from the likes of Corduroy, Mother Earth, The Brand New Heavies and Jamiroquai, electric albums that urged you to put on those dancing shoes and throw out a few shapes, around the same time Pete Twyman, Miles Chapman and Andy Lewis were treading the boards as Brit-pop darlings Pimlico. Since then the trio have been seen spinning the decks for Blur, backing Paul Weller and performing with the likes of Mohair and The Bluetones whilst continuing to make music together.

Now the trio along with Alex Richards have signed to Acid Jazz to create an album as The Red Inspectors, that pays tribute to the glory days of the label by creating a combination of deep funk, bossa nova, jazz and electro-pop.

The mainly instrumental twelve track affair is a brilliantly fun, floor filler for anyone who love’s a bit of elastic bass, hard grooves, infectious instrumentation and pumping hammond organ.

Right from the opening number, Spectrum Boy we’re taken into the heady world of TV detective theme music, exotic porn and funked up cocktail parties. The musicianship is simply stunning with hammond organ trading licks with funky riffs whilst the rhythm section supply more bounce than a pogo stick on a trampoline.

Elsewhere we get added vocals on the undeniable funk rock of He’s a Menace, flutes, wah wah guitars and a seductive female countdown on future porn classic, Red Mercury. Elsewhere we’re dealt a hand of Swirling psychedelic funk on Monochrome Sunrise a middle eastern influence on the fantastically twangy Clutching At Straws.

Are We The Red Inspectors? Are We? may and nod back to the many past glories of the Acid Jazz label, but this is no mere pastiche, the band weld so many influences into their sound, The Red Inspectors still manage to sound fresh and invigorating. If you want an album that’s full of imaginative musicianship and manages to be  both retro-tastic and a modern day floor filler you could do a lot worse than splashing your cash on this hot little nugget.

Rhythm & Booze Rating 8

www.acidjazz.co.uk

8 March, 2012

Maybeshewill-Red Paper Lanterns

Filed under: instrumental,math rock,post rock,Recorded Reviews — Tags: maybeshewill, red paper lanterns — willmunn @ 15:25

Here at Rhythm & Booze, we like nothing better than  to start the afternoon with a bit of instrumental post-rock (or math rock if you prefer) and in our opinion there are few better purveyours of such sonic bliss than East Midlands based five-piece Maybeshewill.

Red Paper Lanterns is the latest single to be lifted from the band’s latest and highly acclaimed I Was Here For A Moment Then I Was Gone opus, an album that has received plaudits from the likes of NME, Artrocker and Rocksound among others. The track opens with a slice of shimmering guitar before the band add layers of guitar, drums and even xylophone to create a stunning turn of power. Unlike a number of bands of this ilk, Maybeshewill always manage to weave intricate yet infectious melodies into their expressive instrumentals and Red Paper Lanterns is no exception. The four minute plus track is a stunning example of the band’s almost cinematic post-rock vision.

The single is backed by the equally impressive yet some what more restrained, Rain, a track that opens with delicate piano before the build and explore those sonic soundscapes once more.

If you like inventive, atmospheric and at times explosive instrumentals you’ll love the sound of Red Paper Lanterns and Maybeshewill.

Rhythm & Booze Rating 10

www.maybeshewill.net

21 February, 2012

We Used To Have Horses-The World Above Us

Filed under: instrumental,math rock,post rock,Recorded Reviews,soundtrack — Tags: we used to have horses — willmunn @ 20:18

Right now if I was asked to recommend one band or artist from my local area, I’d be hard pressed to look beyond the stunning soundscapes of one man project We Used To Have Horses. Niall Jones (also of Rhythm & Booze favourites Inca Hoots) creates stunning, inventive suites of music combining strings, innoative, chiming, blissful cresendoing guitars and subtle rhythms, weaving an intoxicating spell over the listener, who’s drawn into a near trance like state.

Niall seems to be constantly working on a new EP, releasing four to date (in just five months!!), with the latest, The World Above Us being perhaps the most ambitious to date. The latest release is a two part, thirty minute track, slow building epic that opens with soft, subtle instrumentation before gradually building with intricate guitars, lush strings and delicate melodies slowly making way around the eleven minute mark for a stunning bombardment of hard hitting beats and fuzzy stabbing riffs. The second part of The World Above Us is equally as thrilling as Niall lays down layers of intricate guitars and shuffling beats, before pausing to add some expessive yet sparse almost ghostly piano to the mix. As the soundtrack like suite continues guitars, strings and beats soar and dip forming glorius, mesmerising peaks, taking the listener on a stunning flights of discovery.

The We Used To Have Horses project has been described as ambiet math-rock or post rock and sure there are elements of both in the sound that Niall creates but there’s more than that, his visionary music has a more widescreen cinematic feel than that, I could imagine his incredible instrumentals gracing soundtracks, in fact there’s an almost Clint Mansell (soundtrack to Requim For A Dream, etc) feel to parts of Niall’s soundscapes. The music really takes hold and grabs at the attention until you find yourself fully submerged in the bewitching sounds of We Used To Have Horses.

Each of the We Used To Have Horses are available for free download via bandcamp and if you’re a fan of instrumental music, post rock or you want a powerful, emotional thought provoking soundtrack I urge you to download each of these incredible, rewarding releases.

Rhythm & Booze Rating 10

http://weusedtohavehorses.bandcamp.com/

 

 

 

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