caesura

Big Scary Monsters Records (BSM) definitely has a knack for finding the best new bands and their latest discovery, Caesura, is no exception. The four guys formed in 2005 in Winchester merge together influences of Explosions in the Sky and Death Cab for Cutie to spin a sound which keeps the listener tentatively waiting for the quiet melodic guitar riffs, coupled with gentle singing, to explode into what can only be explained as an orgasm of sound. The music is a far cry from the mediocre pop crap that claims so much of the airwaves today, like a lot of bands each song embarks on a mission to engage a connection with the listener and lead them on an emotive journey, where a lot fail outright leaving me wondering “WTF was that BS!?” (Yes. I do think in instant messenger talk) Caesura left me thinking “OMG that pwned.”

In April BSM released a tasty compilation entitled Six Machine featuring the delights of Blakfish, Colour, Minotaur Explode, My First Tooth, The Defeat and none other than our young chaps Caesura. This was definitely a big step with the record being distributed online and in Banquet Records, Kingston – BSM was backing this band, and soon enough so were many others. Soon after the band released their first album, Dear Light Outside on Lockjaw Records, it’s a six song album where the undertones give a tip of the hat in the direction of Explosions… with their own lyrical genius woven on top. The vocals and guitar go together like a northerner’s dream of chips and gravy, the drums are inconspicuously technical yet irrefutably effective and the ambient guitar riffs are hard to ignore as they carry the song from start to finish with soothing reverb effects that leave guitarists yearning to find out the set up.

These guys aren’t fucking around with fans favourite Weight and Carriage racking up nearly 15,000 plays on the ol’ lamespace. With a mini tour in September 08 supporting fellow BSM’ers Colour and Secondsmile they got a taste of the road and despite a few hiccups (as described in their MySpace blog) they seemed to like it. On the down side they appear to have taken a break with no news of any gigs in the future… absolutely gutted.

The main captivation point with Caesura is the fact that you’re left wondering why the hell you haven’t heard this ingenious musical experience sooner, the 15,000 plays should be ten fold as the tunes are so undeniably accessible that I feel selfish that not everyone’s having a slice of this pie.

Check them out on:

MySpace – www.myspace.com/caesuraband
Last.fm – www.last.fm/music/Caesura

Music Moment - The Beatles at Shea Stadium '65

Think the height of Beatlemania cocktailed with a stadium full of 56,000 Beatle thirsty Americans. The 15th of August 1965 wasn’t just a concert… it was a full scale music revolution.

After a scurry between helicopter, limousine and armoured truck, John, George, Paul and Ringo arrived at a stadium anthropomorphised by the sound of screaming fans. A miniature army consisting of 2,000 security personnel (including the NYPD) lay in wait ensuring the band weren’t eaten alive by thousands of pubescent American girls (despite numerous attempts).

John Lennon described the noise as “louder than God” dubbing the original idea of playing with specially altered (much louder) Vox amps obsolete. It came to be that the Stadiums own p.a. system was hijacked in a futile attempt to allow the band to be heard at all.

It was the first date on the American tour and through immense planning and promotion the highest earner for a concert in history at the time. The Beatles effectively tapped in to a new medium through which music could be enjoyed… and money could be made.

Floodgates were now open for future bands to fuel there fans with the new aura that surrounded stadium rock (not to forget the added fuelling of a bands’ ego). Improvements in sound systems coupled with quieter fans ensured the foundations were set for stadium rocker’s to come.

It’s difficult to pick out a seminal event in a bands’ career and even more so with a band like The Beatles. Amongst the plethora of pioneering musical advances that seemed to spawn from the most famous four musicians in the world, what happened at the Shea Stadium, and how it changed the way popular music is consumed, is mind bogglingly incredible.

Acoustic Roots One - City and Colour - Bring Me Your Love

Dallas Green, aka City and Colour (get it!?), has released his second album “Bring Me Your Love”. Much anticipated since his debut album “Sometimes”, Dallas’ second instalment has showed us another, much more folk orientated side to the Alexisonfire front man.

Green’s foundations for “Sometimes” were with piano and guitar but now he’s thrown in harmonica, banjo, organ and more drums to produce an album that gives a noticeable tip of the hat in the direction of artists like Dylan.

A few tracks are a throw back to his debut with songs like “Sensible Heart” showing his sad simple tone, however, this album shows a side to Green which isn’t afraid to reveal his roots aside from his obvious hardcore / emo interests.

Green got together with fellow Canadian Gordon Downie (The Tragically Hip) to sing on the track “Sleeping Sickness” and both, despite their differing styles, convey the song beautifully. My personal favourite from the album is the last track “As Much As I Ever Could” which begins slowly and gracefully with harmonised vocals and carries the lyrics “Bring Me Your Love” in the chorus.

It was because of Green that I found Alexisonfire accessible as his truly amazing voice has the ability to go from a quiet reserved sound to a massive booming noise with a huge range of notes being struck perfectly. His ability on the guitar cannot be doubted as he proves that men can multi-task with some quite technical fretting.

Dallas Green is undoubtedly one of the best singers in the metal scene and “Bring Me Your Love” is an album which is thought provoking and (for want of a better word) emotional, not in the emo sense, but more in the sense that despite the lyrics being quite simple it still manages to tug at the ol’ heart strings.

You can find some of the tracks on Myspace Transmissions.

Enter Shikari... Really?

Everyone has heard of the ol' Enter Shikari so there's no point in delving into who they are. However there is a point to be made with their most recent single - We Can Breathe In Space.

The very start is reminiscent of the synth used in take to the skies but when the rhythm and vocals kick in it quickly classifies the song as mediocre pop.

There was a certain raw feel to this band on the Sorry Your Not... EP but now, and even with Take to the Skies, it seems to be heading for a sound more quaint with selling as many singles as possible.

It sounds overproduced with vocals that have been incredibly tweaked, as opposed to the earlier material which had forceful screaming and made more use of guitar melodies. It seems that Shikari seem to be branching off into something that will alienate fans who were with them from the early underground days. Whether this is a shame is for you to decide, however, I was looking forward to something with a bit more balls like the early releases of O.K. Time For Plan B.

Overall, poor attempt. I say we send them in to space and see if they can actually breathe?