This page is probably going to be one of the most frequently updated pages on my site, since I plan on posting frequent reviews of CDs, MP3s and live shows here. You'll also be able to find the track listings for my latest "Love it or loathe it..." compilations, and links to other websites of a musical bent.
Why am I going to go to all this effort when there are other pages which would seem to deserve more attention on my site? Well, for one music means a hell of a lot to me. It's not something I take casually. And the other pages are more personal, but less dynamic. How I feel about the love of my life is a lot less likely to change over the course of a month than the CDs I've been listening to.
So that being said, let's get right to the good stuff...
A Strapping Young Lad concert review
Rammstein: Live Aus Berlin CD review
I've always been a fan of portable music. In high school I never went anywhere without my walkman and at least three tapes on my person. Convenient because it was relatively small, but the tape quality wasn't always the best, and the fact that I had to carry around a lot of media that was as big as the player didn't really endear its self to me. But it's what I had, and I was relatively happy with it. Then came the Discman. Bigger unit, but better sound quality. A step, if not in the right direction then at least a different one. It also introduced the issue of skiping, which I could normally solve by holding it at a certain angle or propping it on something, but that was usually not the easiest thing to do.
A few months back a friend of mine let me try out his mp3 CD player Now this was some real progress. The same size inconvenience as a regular discman, but it cut down on my media transport issues since it takes an mp3 CD which can hold hours and hours of music, though sometimes at a reduced quality. Still it was very convenient but for the fact that it was a very early model, and couldn't do much more than dump all the music on the CD into your ears. Now this is not always optimal, since I'm not always in the mood for various songs of the hundred and some that I put on a CD. So there were some downsides there too. Also, there's still the issue of skipping, though it was VERY uncommon. Still happened occasionally though.
That's where the Nomad comes in. It's about the size of a CD player, but rather than using CDs it has a hard drive in it. A 6 gigabyte laptop hard drive to be precise. That means that it can hold more than nine full capacity CDs worth of mp3s. It also means that this little tank is quite robust, and since it's not using an optical drive there's no chance of it skipping. Big plus there. It has some very advanced playlist features, allowing you to select music you want to hear by genre, by album, by artist or song by song. If I'm in the mood for some ambient, that's what I'll get instead of having to skip over the dozens of black metal songs I have. Also a big plus.
There are however some downsides to be spoken of at this point. First, the unit is not exactly a lightwight. It is the same size as a CD player but probably weighs twice as much since it's got some rather involved internals. Second, It takes 4 AA batteries, and fortunately comes with rechargable NiMH batteries. This is fortunate because it will get about an hour of life out of 4 Energizers. That's pretty hard battery usage. Third, untill you flash the firmware of the player itself, there are some issues with the battery charging on board, and overheating. That's easy to fix, but still not comforting. And finally, I bought the player at a pawn shop which means it came without the software that allows you to transfer music to the player. It's called Creative's Playcenter, and the software is a PIG to get working. That's always been a problem with Creative hardware. The hardware is great, but the software was written by spastic chimps with keyboards.
However, despite its problems I am VERY impressed with this little device. It's taken up residence in my jacket, and I suspect is going to live there for a very long time. And is that not the highest praise for a portable music device?
Nomadworld, Creative's official product site.
Nomadness, a much more informative site on the whole family of Nomads including the Jukebox, and where I eventually got my software and all my firmware upgrades from. A better resource than the real one.
This concert literally snuck up on me, and I count myself lucky that I was able to make it. I only found out that SYL would be playing about a day and a half before the show, but Edmonton being the market it is, I had no worries about getting tickets. Unfortunately, the demand for extreme music seems to be severely limited here, and so a lot of bands that I would love to see skip over Canada almost completely. But that's neither here nor there...
The day of the show I got there early enough to get to hear SYL's soundcheck, and they sounded tight. Gene (Hoglan, drummer) and Devy (Devin Townsend, guitarist and vocalist) were bang on. The amount that this band must practice to get that tight amazes me. Either that, or they've sold their souls to someone...
Then, after a silly amount of waiting around outside the doors, they finally let the sweaty mob assembled outside in to the place. The Garter is not a bad venue for a show such as this one, with enough space for a decent stage and room on the floor for a few hundred fans. And there were certainly a couple of hundred people there. It wasn't packed to the rafters, but it soon started to heat up.
Not due to the opening band, mind you. They were a Canadian rock band who, while fairly skilled, were not at all the type of band who should be opening for the musical punishment of SYL, and it showed. They managed to get very little reaction from the crowd except in their most rock-n-roll moments. There didn't seem to be too many sad faces when they finished their set. If the band somehow ends up reading this, sorry guys but whoever booked you on this tour should be spanked soundly.
Once their set was done, there was an interminable beer break while the crews scuttled about on stage setting up the amps, keys and drum kit for Strapping. Even them tuning up got a pop from the crowd, and that was just the roadies. Then this sort of manic looking mad scientist got up on stage and started playing around with a guitar while the rest of the band took their places. And then the show got kicked into overdrive as Strapping Young Lad tore into their set.
Devy was looking particularly twisted as he assaulted his guitar, tearing thick chords out of it. A few words of welcome, and he started to scream the lyrics to "All Hail the New Flesh," a favorite of mine. And of the rest of the corwd too apparently, because there was an instant pit and a small sea of bodies being pummeled as much by the relentless musical attack as those around them. Particularly when the band blasted through "Oh My F**king God, another brutal fan favorite.
Strapping Young Lad were everything they are on CD and more. Tight, brutal and loud. And melodic too, which to me is the biggest part of the band's appeal. They can grind your skull into a fine powder with one riff, and then without warning be elevating what's left of you with a soaring harmony. SYL is primarily about the heavier moments, but will still catch you off guard if you give them the chance.
The band worked their way through a set comprised almost entirely of songs from "Heavy as a Really Heavy Thing" and "City", never once misfiring. The only problem was in the mix. The band suffered from the "huge vocals, tiny guitar" syndrome which seems to plague bands in venues such as this. The keyboards and guitars were audible, but certainly not dominant as they should have been in the mix. Still, SYL managed to persevere and deliver a set that left the crowd breathless.
As an interesting twist, the band also delivered a track from Devin's latest project Physicist, unfortunately I don't remember which track it was. I believe it was "Death", but I'm not sure. It was however a very fitting way to wrap the show up, all that remained being a goodbye from Devin and mention of another show in the future featuring more than just his SYL material.
I await the next visit with bated breath...
HevyDevy Records, the official site for Devin's record label.
DevyWorld, the best unofficial Devin fan-site out there. A treasure trove of info.
Rammstein's "Live Aus Berlin" is a sparkling example of this. The sound quality of this disc is amazing. The instruments are well mixed, the vocals clear and even the crowd noise is mixed well. Of particular note is the mix between the keyboards, vocals and guitars which has been extremely hard to achieve in the past.
The live venue also seems to catch the attitude of Rammstein far more accurately than a lot of their recorded output. The guitars bruise, the keyboards at one moment provide ambient pads, then erupt in spastic little melodies. The drums are harder hitting, the bass more powerfully supportive. And Till (Lindemann, vocalist)'s vocals alternate between the demonic and the sublime. His chant-along chorus in "Weisses Fleisch" and the chorus of "Tier" are especially memorable.
All in all, this is an extremely well crafted live album. It's only shortcoming is that the amazing visual spectacle that is a Rammstein concert is missing. However, at the same time as the CD was released, VHS and DVD concert videos were also made available. Given the choice between the three, pick up the DVD or videotape. I don't wish to downplay the brilliance of the CD, but the full spectacle is just that extra bit of icing on the cake.
Rammstein: The official website. In English or German, this site is extremely media rich and has a lot of exclusive video and audio of the band.
Herzeleid.com, a fan site that actually has much more information on it that rammstein.com, as well as a good selection of pictures, video and audio that can not be found on the official site.