MUSIC REVIEWS
Random MP3s - Thrice/ Celldweller/ Frou Frou
Matt Jameson
In my never ending search for musical greatness, I find myself wading through literally hundreds of MP3’s per week, trying to decide on a handful of musical acts to review for The Noyse. I happen to know that our viewers demand a little more out of their music than most other wussy magazine thumbers. I also know that our viewers are much more open-minded than say Entertainment magazine. These two wonderful reader traits make my task of reviewing much more enjoyable when I’m working for The Noyse.
But ever once in a while I find so many great groups to review in a single week, that I find myself at a complete loss on how to select just one to go with. Sometimes I do two reviews for this reason. Sometimes I buck up and just pick one I think you all will enjoy the most. This month I find myself unable to make this decision, and thus have chosen to do quick but descriptive reviews of three bands equally poised to earn your listener love. In the following reviews, I downloaded numerous MP3’s on various album releases from each artist hoping to get a complete feel for their unique talents.
Thrice
What a great discovery this group has turned out to be. Shortly after hearing of them I did a Limewire MP3 search in order to review a few tracks. What appeared to be hundreds of MP3 search results began pouring in, and after 30 minutes I had amassed what must be their entire collection of tracks. Simply amazing to me how good these guys are. If you’re an emo fan this group is everything you love and nothing you hate. All the great emo characteristics, without the lame screamcore offtune vocals.
In fact, Thrice takes it a step further into the music game by creating multi-layered music with great melodies and riffs. Add in some excellent writing and you have a match the likes of which we last found in Dashboard Confessional. The best part about this group, they have left the sappiness behind while keeping their great rock vibe in place. A glorious addition to your emo or alternative collection.
Celldweller
Are you a Nine Inch Nails fan? Even if the answer is no you still want to do yourself a favor and check this out. Celldweller is very up-and-coming. I was only able to find numerous MP3’s but not much album information. Celldweller sounds like a mellowed out fusion of Nine Inch Nails and Stabbing Westward.
Each track has this great ominous feel to the music, almost a built in suspense if you will. Again this music is multi-layered and melodic, yet it retains a delicious dark feel without going full-goth. Another great thing about Celldweller, is their choice of sweeping bass lines over conventional four-beat samples. This means that the music sounds much less electronically driven than most.
Any fan of industrial music will also get a kick out of these tracks. It’s as if the beat never left, but the hard edges have been filed down just enough to shine. Enigmatic, suspenseful, and damn talented Celldweller is all these and more.
Frou Frou
Ready for some weird tunes to add to your collection? It doesn’t get much weirder than Frou Frou. Imagine the music of The Postal Service, on a mushroom / Valium mix and you still aren’t even close. It’s simply hard to describe and that’s why part of me really digs this music.
I’m a huge fan of anything that requires talent, but differs from the usual spoon-fed industry driven music force-fed to us now days. It’s important because it does something that hasn’t been done in quite a while. It challenges other musicians to think outside of the box. Even more amusing are the whispy phantom-like vocals; aided by the latest that vocal processing technology has to offer. I recommend that anyone who is into the new electronica phase should seek out a few MP3’s. Frou Frou has also broken into filmscore with a couple tracks featured in the recently released “Garden State” with Zach Braff and Natalie Portman. It perfectly fit the somber and almost sedated vibe of the whole movie, and in my humble opinion is some of the greatest rainy-day music ever. Turn down the lights, relax, and enjoy some musical therapy with Frou Frou. If nothing else, at least you can say you tried to broaden your musical horizons for a change.
