Airiel - The Battle of Sealand

Some of you out there might remember when I wrote a bit about the band Airiel on the blog sometime back in November. In that post I mentioned they had a new album on the way and when they did finally get close to releasing it I would be back to write about it. Well, it’s that time and Airiel are now prepped to release their first full-length album titled The Battle of Sealand on August 21st through Highwheel Records. It’s been a long time coming and has probably been one of the most anticipated albums for me in the past year or so. Regardless, it’s finally arriving and I couldn’t be happier with the results.

To recap, Airiel has been around since 1997 in some form or another. It was originally the solo project of member Jeremy Wrenn, however eventually grew into a full band. Since their formation they have released a handful of EP’s, four of which were collected into one box set titled Wink and Kisses. If you can track down the EP’s contained within this series (Frosted, Dizzy, Melted, and Crackled), I would highly recommend it as it’s some of the most beautiful, well done, and original shoegaze out there. They also released a self-titled EP in ’05, which was one of my favorite releases from that year, so check that out as well.

As for the new album, The Battle of Sealand sees the band moving into more rock oriented territory with their swirling and sparkling sound. At times it reminds me of Swervedriver during the Raise era of the band. It’s a side of the band we’ve really only seen tiny glimpses of in the past, however they’ve made it one of the propelling factors for their sound on their debut. I must say it sounds really good too. For those that might be a bit weary of that, have no fear, there is plenty of Airiel’s trademark shimmering beauty contained within as well. Songs like “Peoria”, “Thinktank”, and “Red Friends” all sound like songs that would have fit nicely nestled within some of their previous work, however think that but with a larger and much fuller sound. While I am completely all about Airiel’s updated sound, I am glad they decided to mix it up a bit. It’s a very well balanced album that captures the band experimenting with their sound a bit, but in no way abandoning and/or compromising what makes them so captivating. The Battle of Sealand gets the highest recommendation from me. Do be sure and buy it whenever it comes out in late August.

The Battle of Sealand:
Airiel – Thinktank [MP3]

Also, I decided to upload some of the songs I featured in my last Airiel post again. So be sure to check out the tunes below as well.

Winks and Kisses:
Airiel – Kiss Me Slowly [MP3]

Airiel:
Airiel – 500 Deep [MP3]

Shirley Temple Tidal Wave/Stationary Lights 7’’:
Airiel – Stationary Lights [MP3]

Keep an eye out for The Battle of Sealand. In the meantime continue to check out the bands MySpace and their label Highwheel Records for some more music and news on the album.

16...

I’ve been meaning to do a post on these guys for quite a long time now. 16 was formed sometime in 1991 in Santa Ana, CA and despite a few lineup changes here and there they managed to release roughly 6 full-length albums, two 10 inches, and plethora of 7 inches. There are probably a ton of odds and ends in there, but that’s just a quick summation of their extensive discography.

For starters, 16 rocked hard…maybe one of the riff heaviest bands that I’ve ever had the pleasure of exposing my ears to. Their music was a great mixture of hardcore, stoner rock, and punk. The end result of that was some straight out balls to the wall rock. 16 are quite possibly one of my favorite bands to listen to in the car for that very reason, probably creating an unsafe environment for whoever is driving around me. I apologize to anyone out there that may have been cut off, flipped off, honked at, etc due to my listening of this band while behind the wheel. Unfortunately I never got to see these guys live, but judging by things I’ve heard and read it seems it would have been a treat to see. On record 16 is a crushingly heavy riff machine. I honestly have a hard time understanding as to how anyone could not be sucked in by the infectiousness of their music. Out of their albums, I am a pretty big fan of their 1996 release Drop Out on Theologian/Pessimiser, mostly for all of the above mentioned and the production on it. But really you can’t go wrong with a 16 album, I dare you to try.

16 also hold the title for creating one of my favorite music videos. I imagine anyone that is a fan of the band has probably already seen this a hundred times or more, but for those that haven’t it is a must see. The video is for their song “Damone” from their final album Zoloft Smile, which was released in 2003 on At a Loss, and the video is nothing more than the song synched up to clips from Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Simply brilliant and at the same time hilarious. Thanks to YouTube everyone can view this masterpiece.



Curves That Kick:
16 – Chum [MP3]
16 – Mr. Mouse [MP3]

Drop Out:
16 – Trigger Happy [MP3]
16 – Butterfly Labes [MP3]

Blaze of Incompetence:
16 – Asian Heat [MP3]
16 – Glowing Bowl [MP3]

Zoloft Smile:
16 – Damone [MP3]
16 – Hearing Voices [MP3]

I think most of the bands material is sadly out print these days, however you can still find copies of a few of their albums floating around on Amazon. I imagine a Google search would turn up some results too. I strongly recommend tracking down any of their albums that you can.

Enemymine...

Ah, feels good to be getting back into the swing of things after an almost two week absence. I am still trying to get some stuff back in order on here, so this is going to be a slightly shorter update than usual. Before all the site trouble began I had planned on doing a post on Enemymine, which was Mike Kunka’s band post-Godheadsilo. Not unlike Godheadsilo, Kunka stuck with the “bass only” approach, however brought on board a second bassist to expand things a bit. For their first Self-Titled EP in 1999 on K Records, the bassist was Low member Zak Salley. Filling out the lineup was drummer Danny Sasaki. However, Salley would eventually leave the band and be replaced for the recording of their only album The Ice in Me released in 2000 on Up. There is also a split floating around out there that they did with Vaz that is worth picking up.

Enemymine wasn’t entirely too different from Godheadsilo, however if you didn’t know it you probably wouldn’t be able to immediately tell that it’s two bassists. Kunka was able to make his bass sound more like a guitar more so than any other strictly bass outfit I’ve heard. Judging by the span of work in Enemymine, it definitely resulted in some experimentation with the already heavy assault of bass. It’s really quite neat to hear as the sound is very deep but ultimately sounds more like down tuned guitars than anything else.

While their debut EP sort of went back and forth with minor indie rock flourishes, possibly due to the inclusion of Salley, their album The Ice in Me definitely resembles the crushing power of Kunka’s past work in Godheadsilo, however listeners will notice that there is still a bit of a lighter side to the music. It’s definitely worth checking out for those that may have stopped following after the break up of Godheadsilo. After Enemymine called it quits, Kunka went on to be in Dead Low Tide for a very brief period of time and then moved on to Smoke and Smoke, both of which featured ex-Murder City Devils member Spencer Moody.

Enemymine:
Enemymine – The Were All Friends Club [MP3]

The Ice in Me:
Enemymine – Nightmare Air [MP3]
Enemymine – Setting the Traps [MP3]

Both the EP and full-length can be picked up over at Amazon if the tunes above are of interest.

Crawlpappy...

Crawlpappy were a severely underrated band that came out of NYC in the late 80’s/early 90’s. Their existence, like way too many great bands, was entirely too short. However they did manage to release a fair amount of material that has sadly gone out of print over the years. Despite that though some of it can still be found if you do a little bit of searching, most notably their one and only full-length Deluxe that came out in 1992 on Rotz Records. They also released a self-titled 12” on Blackout! Records and a couple other singles before breaking up.

Crawlpappy really had a good formula working for them. While they did have the chunky guitar thing absolutely mastered, they mixed it in with an alcohol tinged balls out sound that resonated with the rawness of their hardcore roots. It is fantastic sounding. For those that haven’t ever really listened to the band do yourself a favor and listen to a few of the tracks below.

Self-Titled 12”:
Crawlpappy – No Use [MP3]
Crawlpappy – Fine Line [MP3]

Deluxe:
Crawlpappy – Off Balance [MP3]
Crawlpappy – Neighborhood [MP3]

Like I mentioned earlier, their full-length Deluxe can be found fairly easily. Amazon has quite a few used copies left for pretty much nothing. Do pick that up if you get a chance.

Ulrich Schnauss - Goodbye

What a weekend. I hope everyone had a good weekend as well. Sorry about the scattershot updates through the past week and the start of this one as well. I am shooting for normal updates for the rest of this week. I’ve been in sort of a funk to where I didn’t want to really write about anything and nothing was really making feel compelled enough to write about it on here anyway. I guess I could say it’s some sort of dry spell, who knows.

Anyway, for the belated start of this week is the latest album from German ambient/electronic artist Ulrich Schnauss entitled Goodbye. I wasn’t really familiar with Schnauss’ work until his 2003 release A Strangely Isolated Place, which ended up being one of my favorite albums to come out that year along with it being possibly one of the best albums ever to just cruise home with the windows down on a warm summer night. It’s absolutely the perfect music for that in my opinion. Schnauss isn’t some newcomer to the ambient/chill/electronic genre; he has been releasing material since 1995 under various different names. It wasn’t until his 2001 debut Far Away Trains Passing By that he began to release music under his own name. Over that span he has become a fairly popular figure amongst fans of the genre.

On Goodbye Schnauss continues in the direction of the lush sounding layering of keys and synth that made his last album such an amazing listen. It’s pretty evident that he has a large amount of respect and love for shoegaze, as the blissful and melodic qualities of it are often very visible within his work. Schnauss’ work is often compared to MBV; however Schnauss himself has developed a Kevin Shields like obsession with manipulating and adding countless numbers of layers to create the serene melodies that are commonly found throughout Goodbye. And to no real surprise, Schnauss’ production work has taken a nice leap forward on this album as well. Everything is incredibly crisp and the album soars along effortlessly because of it. It’s really a wonderful sounding album.

Goodbye was easily one of my most anticipated albums for this year, although there are still a number of albums that are yet to come out that I am eagerly waiting on. I’d feel very fortunate if they all delivered in the way Goodbye has. Schnauss has matched his last album and quite possibly surpassed it. If you’re already a fan, then Goodbye will definitely not disappoint.

Ulrich Schnauss – Never Be The Same [MP3]
Ulrich Schnauss – Stars [MP3]

The album will be out here in the states on Domino come July 10th. For the time being it came be pre-ordered over at Amazon. If you’re a fan of ambient/chill with a very blissful/shoegazy feel to it then I can’t recommend Goodbye or any of Schnauss’ work enough. Do pick this up when it comes out.