Sleepingdog - Polar Life

first review of 2009 is up and it's advised you give this a listen ;)

Sleepingdog is the outcome of Chantal Acda's need to have an musical outlet when she was working on the Iceland-inspired album Tonar under the moniker Chadca. Without the intention to release anything, she headed for the basement where she recorded and channelled her emotions in the minimalistic music she experimented with at the time. Afterwards she impulsively decided to release the material on Naked In A Clean Bed which is, in comparison with the sound-exploring album Tonar, an artist's fragile foray into her capacity for evoking emotions. Polar Life continues in that fashion with a sound that is still a bit rough on the edges, but more beautiful than before. Basement static is traded in for a warm tape-brown analog filter. The music is layered with vocals that are treated just like any other instrument and have been handsomely tweaked accordingly. Imagine the town of Twin Peaks hosting an "Island Airwaves" day, where you find yourself sitting on a table in the Black Lodge and you'll have the perfect setting to be touched by the album's soothing properties.


website
myspace
Zeal records


read the full review @ The Silent Ballet

Opeth @ Ancienne Belgique, Brussels, BE November 26th 2008

a little introduction for those who haven't had the pleasure: "Opeth is a progressive death metal band from Sweden that is influenced by many diverse musical styles ranging from jazz, 70s progressive rock, death metal, and blues. Their recent releases have deviated from their traditional death metal influenced style, with more emphasis on progressive elements. Vocalist Mikael Åkerfeldt is also noted for utilizing both clean singing and death growls, often in the same track. Due to their unique blend of melodic and progressive elements, Opeth are often classified separately from more typical death metal acts. The name Opeth was taken from Wilbur Smith’s novel Sunbird and derived from Opet, a city of the moon named in the novel." -Last.fm



For me this band has been a stepping stone into genres and music scenes I've never even dreamed of existing. 'Canterbury' & 'progg' were things I didn't know off and not even taking in consideration that this also resulted in rediscovering my love for vinyl records. Anyways, during their European Tour 2008 Opeth played in my favourite venue, Amon Tobin recently called it "arguably the best sound system in Europe", the Ancienne Belgique in Brussels, BE. Below, the video's of their set (almost complete).


Line-up:

DJ Mental (FM Brussel)
The Ocean
Cynic
Opeth


only footage of Opeth, italic titles are captured:

Heir Apparent
The Grand Conjuration
Godhead's Lament
The Lotus Eater
Hope Leaves
Deliverance
Demon Of The Fall (partial)

Encore: The Drapery Falls





youtube playlist



Down here is a clip I found, a little prog-rock-quiz, Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree, Bass Communion, etc) vs Mikael Åkerfeldt... it's a massacre...





Opeth website
Opeth MySpace
Roadrunner Records

Cynic website
Cynic MySpace


The Ocean MySpace
The Ocean website

Bohren und der Club of Gore @ ABclub

On October 15th 2008, the majestic Ipecac funeral doom jazz act Bohren und der Club of Gore played their second show on their European tour at the Ancienne Belgique Club. Opener for the night was Alexander Tucker, until a few weeks ago a complete stranger for me. He displayed some novice use of stringed instruments and even more fx & loop pedals but scheduling him before Bohren wasn't the best move in the history of opening act planning.

Anyways, gloomy Wednesday night in Brussels, a small club and some doomy deep resonating funeral jazz... an ideal gig to be sitting on the frontline bass speakers with a fresh Duvel beer while the camera struggles to keep focus with all that bass.





go to the youtube playlist
Bohren und der Club of Gore website
Bohren und der Club of Gore myspace
Alexander Tucker myspace