Things of the Day
Elle Osbourne, Marnie Stern, brutal metal and knitting
January 19th 2011
Today a bagload of things: some knitting, some beguiling folk music,
some brutally angry metal, some Marnie Stern demo tracks, a Sub Swara
download, and last but not least, some Acoustic Front Frostiness
Yes, we know, one thing a day, but hey, here’s a handful to
explore - think of it a bag of pick 'n mix to rummage in
First some beautifully quiet folk music...
SINGLE:
ELLE OSBOURNE – Good Grief
(Folk Police) – A radiantly quiet piece of acoustic folk beauty that’s
voiced in such a glowing way, four fine fine songs. Elle Osbourne has a
very traditional English folk way of singing, of phrasing, her tales
are almost from another time and place, a place of song and solace, of
crowning, of glory held on to with both hands.
Elle is a fiddle player and singer from the Lincolnshire
coast, brought up in a family of folk singers and players and seemingly
untainted by any notions of pop or rock or electricity or any other
notion of throwaway modernity. Her folk is very, very traditional, very
quiet, timeless. Her songs stand tall in the storm and don’t falter -
beautifully beguiling, simple, uncluttered, perfectly textured rich
folk songs that slowly slowly reveal themselves. Soft-speaking, simple,
unhurried, uncluttered, perfectly produced, warmly-voiced delicately
strong English folk songs, dangling their toes in the water and flowing
in their own sweet time and space. Just a rich voice and rich strings,
four fine songs and everything just quietly right.
Good Grief
is released on January 24th
www.elleo.com
www.folkpolicerecordings.com
Elle Osbourne plays the Shhh
festival in London this coming weekend, more details here
- organart.com/organthing044
Next, some brutal heavy metal…
SINGLE:
ANGER MANAGEMENT
– Beyond The Threshold
Of Pain (Three Piece) – Damn, thought I read
that as Thrashold – Thrashold Of Pain would have been a great title for
some brutal thrashing beyond the threshold... This is brutal: now let
us be honest, we got lots and lots (and lots) of these brutal releases
from brutal modern metal bands making their first brutal moves – most
of them are dealing out little more than competent clichéd copies of
their record collections, so most of them don’t get coverage around
here. Far too many brutal metalcore bands just churning out the same
old brutal same old.
We got millions of identical killswitch engaging, crazyfist silly beard
metal-pose bands clogging up our time and space (and none of them as
good as Pulkas were). Anger Management are worth your time, though:
Anger Management have something a little more going on. Now we’re not
saying they’re radically
different to the millions of brutal modern metal bands but there is
something in here that makes them worthy of a little more time and
attention. No idea who they are, deliberately avoiding the press
releases as I battle my way through this pile of metal, just throw the
CDs on and let the music do the talking. Hang on, let’s have a look,
who are they? Where are they from? This is brutally good, serious
guitar thrashing, but it could be from anywhere in the world… Ah right,
they’re from England, seems they’re a band put together a couple of
years ago by yer big (big) drummer man Jammer, he of the mighty Medulla
Nocte (and later Murder One).
Thought this sounded like a band who are little more than
just another bunch of metal kids trying to sound like their heroes!
You can hear it straight away, these people know what they’re
doing, they’ve done their time in other bands and transit vans, you can
hear their craft and their experience, why have that little something
extra in these five brutally violent slices of very very heavy
metal. Anger Management are dishing out the metallic here on
this debut five track EP. It isn’t that Anger Management are hugely
unique, more that they’re just brutally better than most of the
thousands of intense modern metalcore bands out there fighting for your
attention.
Intensely good debut, relentless storm of growling riffing metal noise
that never ever lets up for silly things like the need to breathe…
ramming speed to the end. Damn fine debut, you would expect anything
less from an outfit with Jammer occupying the back seat.
Beyond The Threshold Of Pain is out on February 28th, live dates are to
be announced any second - www.myspace.com/angermanagementmusic
Now for some knitting.
THE KNITORIOUS
M.E.G.
celebrated her birthday yesterday with some healthy yarnbombing; here’s
what she said about it….
“Today is my birthday and despite how much I love gifts, I thought it’d be better to give one instead. So I went out just before dawn to one of my favorite run down blocks on Hull Street to spread a bit of birthday cheer. Usually I’ll pick an inactive post to install onto, but I thought this corner was just in too great of a need of a pick me-up. The shops behind it have been closed down for a verrrrry long time”.
Wonton Power is the website for The Knitorious M.E.G, wearer
of many
hats in Richmond, Virginia. - www.wontonpower.com
There’s an interview with The Knitorious M.E.G here:
yarnbombing.com
Right then, you’ve had some beguiling folk beauty, you’ve had some
brutally violent hardcore metal, you’ve had some gloriously colourful
graffiti knitting and now for a little bit of Marnie Stern…
Dog Daze Tapes
are about to release a cassette of MARNIE STERN’s demo
recordings, a chance to explore her smart and complex work in progress.
These are 2006 home recordings, sketchbook pieces of work in
development,
(some) songs that eventually ended up on her2007 debut album In Advance
Of A Broken Arm. You can hear the twelve tracks, or indeed
buy the tape
via the Dog Daze website HERE
You
can fine more Marnie news, her current dates and indeed a couple of
free downloads of album tracks on the Kill
Rock Stars website
...or you can explore Marnie’s MySpace /www.myspace.com/marniestern1
Hang on, we’re not finished with Things Of The Day yet…
Here’s a free download for you, a track from Brooklyn-based
cross-pollinating dub flavoured punked-up hip-hop duo SUB SWARA
featuring Dead Prez:
rcrdlbl.com/artists/Sub_Swara/
Explore Sub Swara here - subswara.com/
And finally before we close this episode of breaking of the rules and too many Things Of The Day here’s ACOUSTIC FRONT with their version of Celtic Frost’s Dethroned Emperor: www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOGkan1i_Xs
