Derek Piotr - Raj (2013)

After sending out the previously mentioned work-in-progress interviews, I found myself in somewhat of a slump as to what to write about next. Musically, I’m all over the place right now in my free time and I’m also currently working on another writing project which I’ll share sometimes soon, for those interested. So in the end, the good ol’ submission basket saved the day once again.

Derek Piotr - Raj (bandcamp)

Based in New England, US, this Polish-born composer/producer dropped into my view out of nowhere. Back in 2013, I wasn’t too deep into electronic music and noise, so in all honesty I was completely oblivious to his past work even though his repertoire up to that point contained a number of previously released albums. The main focus of his work is centered on samples of the human voice which are then used in various incarnations of electronics, ranging from noise, glitch, industrial and even something that would be considered dream poppy.

Immediately after the first tone of “Raj” kicked in, it grasped me fully. “Spine” manages to create a certain kind of mood within seconds, setting the tone for the rest of the record in a very direct and simplistic way. It easily gears you up for what is coming up ahead and, let me tell you, you should come prepared.

Compared to other electronic noise projects that I’ve listened to, “Raj” is not as dirty and harsh. Sure, even the opening track hosts a considerable amount of static waves and crackling walls of distortion, but it is all executed in a delicate way. In the midst of the noise, you get introduced to small oases of serenity. There’s a weird elegant swinging going on between the violence and the peacefulness, an almost naturally calculated ebb and flow. 

It feels like this edged precision is the main characteristic of the vocal section of “Raj”. One of the interesting things about Derek’s work in general is his previously mentioned focus on using and manipulating vocal samples. On this record specifically, those samples create a thin line which is continually pushing the aforementioned ebb and flow. You would assume that the vocals would bring a certain dose of calm into a noise project, but even though they are peaceful they are also quite eerie in a way, droning and almost mentally violent somehow. The way they are sampled, cut, used and looped, gives a nigh maddening feeling and it ends up seeming like the whole record has a ritualistic theme to it. These samples build such an image in your mind’s eye that they can go towards both ends of the spectrum, soothing and aggressive, but never quite tip over fully. The cacophony of it all is methodical, almost technically precise and even cerebral in many instances. It's an endless dance of contrasts and steep divergences.

Another flavor to all this, despite having this ritualistic and naturally flowing trait, the record seems cold and alien. There’s just something strangely robotic about the entire thing, as if “Raj” was a recorded diary of some rusted and malfunctioned android from an age long forgotten. And it demands that you listen to it.

When I listened to “Raj” a couple of times for this review I then decided to check out some other material from Derek.  There is a whole swarm of recorded material up on his bandcamp profile, so I seriously need some catching up to do. It sincerely warms my heart when I see artists so passionate and active after so many years of working on a project. All the best of luck to Derek in all his future endeavors and I hope all of you decide to give him a chance and check out his work. Thanks for reading!

Wolf Shaped Clouds - Demo (2011)

It’s been a while since I managed to get a submission review on my writing schedule, mostly since I was so focused on working on the “Ghone” showcase and trying to hunt down some names for future interviews. The latter bit is going relatively slow at the moment, but some of the planned interviewees I’ll be extremely proud to host on here. Just have to stay patient and time will tell!

Wolf Shaped Clouds (bandcamp page)

Wolf Shaped Clouds was a 4-piece screamo band from Budapest, Hungary, active from early 2011. up until 2013. These years might not be the most accurate, since bandcamp states 2011. as the year of their conception, while their discography tape lists 2009. as their beginning. In any case, they had a fruitful run in those few years, chugging out a nice selection of works including this demo and a rehearsal room recording, two splits (one with “Black Hourglass” and another with “Oaken”, respectively) and they were also featured on the “Swollen Lungs” 7’’ compilation, which is a selection of artists featuring songs less than 30 seconds. Short, but sweet.

This release was not a blog submission per se, but instead an actual gift from Tomi, the band’s vocalist. Back in 2011 I was staying at a friend’s apartment in Budapest (hi Botond, hope you’re still out there!), a place where Tomi was also living at the time. We didn’t really hang out all that much, but after some music talk the name of his band popped up, which I thought sounded super cool. Turns out it was screamo which made it a complete hit with me, obviously. Long story short, I walked away from that conversation with a neatly packed CD pictured above and I was extremely excited to take a listen.

Apparently, only 50 physical copies of this demo were made, judging by the handwritten number at the back of the case. Aside of the wonderful little black and white booklet with lyrics, the audio contents of this CD are everything you would ever want to hear from a screamo band's demo, a raw, passionate, perfectly imperfect collection of debut songs that just hit hard and ask questions later. Its five songs are fused in such a way that they simply call out to be listened in one sitting, with one breath. It’s a whirlwind sweeping you off your feet with the very first song and carrying you all the way to the end, relentlessly. And it is only when the final song ends that you get a chance to catch your breath and contemplate on what you just heard. I think that is why my favorite song on the demo would probably be the first track, “Rotting Sea”, simply because it sucks you in and sets the tone so well. 

The overall sound of the band is a strongly compressed amalgam of aggressive “Loma Prieta” outbursts, melodic “Raein” strings and at times the pounding beats of chaotic German influences from bands like “Danse Macabre”. Add to the whole mix some very bleak, almost crust-like lyrics performed with an exceptionally haunting wailing scream and you got yourself a package which you shouldn’t avoid.

What I always associated with this band was that pure passionate energy which always seemed to radiate from their releases. You could listen to them regardless of your mood and they would always manage to get your blood flowing. In all honesty, this is something that I severely miss with some of the bands today and that’s why I guess that bands like “Wolf Shaped Clouds” need to be cherished. They popped out of nowhere and brought something great to the table. It saddens me that they didn’t have a longer run at this project, it would have been an absolute pleasure to watch them grow and evolve. 

At the end of the day, this is a great little release and a definitive invitation to listen to the rest of the band’s discography. You can find them in their entirety on the above linked bandcamp page. Hope you give them a listen, they deserve it!

2019 blog retrospective

During the heyday of the blog, I enjoyed doing the traditional retrospective at the end/start of a year. It was always interesting to look back and revisit the releases/experiences which marked the passing year and which made it so great. 

Let’s start with my favorite recorded material of the past year. Since I didn’t have a chance to cover any of these on the blog, I’ll just sum up my thoughts with a few lines on each of these. So, without further ado...

Top releases of 2019 (in no particular order):

- "Potence - Le Culte Des Bourreaux" - Members of “Daïtro”, “Géraniüm”, and the insanely underrated “I Was A Cosmonaut Hero”, need I say more? Rushing between being melodic and extremely aggressive, they mix and match the best violent pieces of neo/crust and the somber tones of screamo/post-hardcore. Aurelien’s voice gets me every time.

- "Tool - Fear Inoculum" - I’ve been an avid fan ever since I first saw their music videos on a local TV station back in early 2000’s when “Lateralus” got released. The 13-year-wait since their previous recorded material and the patience needed paid off. In my mind this album is a well morphed mix of “Ænima” and “Lateralus”, yet at the same time it shines light on a completely new incarnation of the band. Marvelous and mesmerizing in all aspects.

- "Senza - Even a Worm Will Turn" - I don’t even know where to begin with this one other than saying that it is simply an amazing record and probably some of the most important and outstanding screamo material written in the last 5 or so years. Chaotic, brooding, atmospheric and explosively violent when needed, they take the best parts of bands such as “Jeromes Dream”, “Sailboats” and even some elements of “The Spirit of Versailles”, all the while adding a strong touch of their own magic. Just outstanding across the board and an absolute must. 

- "Mgła - Age of Excuse" - This band has already been covered twice on this blog in the form of concert reviews and if you read those articles then you should have a pretty solid idea about my thoughts on this project. “Mgła” continues to be a remorseless beast, as this album is a perfect descendant of “Exercises In Futility” while bringing so much innovation to the table, completely removing the option of being boring or repetitive. You could zone out and focus on only one instrument at a time and be shocked with the displayed creativity. Listening to this made me feel like I re-discovered the band all over again and is one of the rare albums that I was eagerly anticipating and was genuinely excited for it to finally drop.

- "Jeromes Dream - LP" - The screamo legends are back, what more do you need to know? A perfect amalgam of the “Seeing Means More Than Safety” and “Presents” eras, while also showing signs of musical maturity and evolution. An excellent stroll down memory lane performed by some of the most influential screamo storytellers of all time, adorned with a new incarnation of sound.

Honorable mention: 

- "Alcest - Spiritual Instinct" - I feel like this band is not capable of creating something less than absolutely wonderful and simply by being material with the “Alcest” tag is enough for me to feature it on this top list.

Top performances of 2019 (in no particular order):

- Jeromes Dream (Vienna/AT)

- Cult of Luna (Gothenburg/SE)

- Tool (Firenze Rocks Festival, Florence/IT)

- Ólafur Arnalds (Belgrade/RS)

- Mgła (Belgrade/RS)

The only concert from the list above which I didn’t review was “Tool”, which kinda makes me sad since it has been such a mind blowing experience. This was the second time I got to see them play live, first time being in Serbia in 2007, and I can say that the concert in Italy can easily drop into my top 10 concerts of all time. Now that “Fear Inoculum” is still fresh and a new European tour might be looming on the horizon, I’m absolutely certain that I will make an effort to catch a show wherever it may be and share my thoughts with you afterwards.

Looking back, 2019 was an excellent year for music and at moments it felt quite surreal, especially when it comes to concerts. Some of those show reviews have been the longest I have ever written and it is while writing those that I fully realized how much some of those performances moved me. Thinking about them now, especially JD and CoL, I’m tempted to write a few words about those experiences now, but the reviews have been so extensive (and exhausting) that there really is no need to say anything else. Just scroll down the page and delve into the wall of text, in case you are interested in the specifics. 

The last time I did one of these retrospective posts was 2013 and it is unbelievable to me when I realize that I’m writing this one in 2020, seven years later! Back then there were more “categories” for the top whatever and I remember that it was quite difficult to make the choices, simply because the blog was way richer with content. It is my sincere hope and goal to keep writing and bring back the blog to the post count per year that it once had. To start that journey, after this post I’m planning to cover one old submission release while also currently working on the next interview. Stay tuned!

In the end, I’d just like to thank you all for still visiting and reading. It warmed my heart to see people mentioning and visiting my blog even when it was defunct and now that it is getting back on track with content, the slow and steady increase of visitors has often put a smile on my face. Thanks for sticking with me for all these years and I hope that 2020 will bring an abundance of great music, strength, inspiration, joy and wonderful experiences for all of us.

P.S. If you would like to share your top picks of 2019, feel free to leave a comment, I’d love to read about your thoughts!