Albums in Review 2015 - Node by Northlane

As Long Range Hustle’s resident metal head, I hope to bring something a little different to this album review party. There were plenty of records this year that caught my attention and really sucked me in. The best example, and my top pick for 2015’s best album is Northlane’s “Node”.

This album marked a major shift for the band. Having lost original vocalist Adrien Fitipaldes due to personal health reasons, the band was left without a frontman. A global internet campaign was initiated to find their new vocalist. When asked about why this was the method chosen, guitarist Josh Smith explained it as a “no stone left unturned” mentality. After sifting through thousands of video submissions, Marcus Bridge was given the well-deserved phone call.

Bridge brings a melodic range that the group had not previously experienced. Both this and guitarist Jon Deiley’s natural progression in writing, are the major factors contributing to Northlane’s sound shift. With Fitipaldes’ departure, Smith took the handle on writing lyrics for the new record. Their previous albums had very strong lyrical tones of societal contempt, life purpose, and spiritual exploration and discovery. Past fans will be happy to know that these topic are still explored, but with a more hopeful, “everyone is in this together” manner.

Node marks the most atmospheric Northlane has ever been. Much more focus and care was taken during the creation of song transitions and interludes, allowing for massive builds, accentuated well by Bridge’s soaring melodies. “Rot” is a fantastic example of this. Expansive, flowing verses with a very tight rhythm section allows Smith and Deiley to layer delay saturated guitar tracks overtop. This builds to a very rhythm heavy chorus, with Bridge aggressively delivering the line “Sick of living underhanded, this is our life. We command it.”

“Leech” is another very notable track, calling the world to revaluate the global environmental situation. Smith accuses many of the world leader’s decisions, stating that “You fell asleep while your bed burned”. Ocean health is discussed here as well, which is perfectly coupled with an intro that gives the auditory illusion of being underwater.

Overall, this album has an incredible ebb and flow to its sound. I find myself listening to it several times through without even realizing. “Soma” and “Obelisk” are both high energy, atmospheric songs to open the album, leading into a much more melodic midsection. It rises once again at the end with “Ra” and “Animate”, tying perfecting back into “Soma”. There are no “bad” songs, and certainly none that I would actively skip when listening to this record. The whole album feels like a single entity.

Node was my favourite album of 2015 because of how well it combined the worlds of progressive metalcore, and post-hardcore. Bridge’s vocal style was the perfect addition, creating an incredibly interesting, but easy listening album, from front to back. 

-m

Albums in Review 2015 - Club Meds, Dan Mangan + Blacksmith

            “But unity in numbness is a façade…” It’s a sentiment read in the short essay included on the CD jacket, and explored throughout the album Club Meds by Dan Mangan + Blacksmith. Club Meds is a drastic departure in tone and execution relative to Mangan’s earlier work. The folk-inspired balladry of Nice, Nice, Very Nice has been replaced by visceral Burroughs-esque imagery. The uplifting orchestral arrangements of Oh Fortune have given way to brooding ambiance. On Club Meds, Dan discusses the escapist tendencies he feels are slowly enveloping our lives. While a dedicated reader might have noticed subtle undercurrents of cynicism in his previous writing, his 2015 album is a dedicated exploration of those thoughts.

            Club Meds begins with a warning. Offred, the opening track, takes its name from the titular character in Margaret Atwood’s 1985 dystopian novel A Handmaid’s Tale. Both the song and the source literature serve up a hypothetical future in which a once well-off people are now divided and oppressed, their state of apathy having been exploited by the oppressors. In the context of Club Meds, it is the ghost of Christmas Future come early. Mangan is providing the view from which to further contemplate the rest of the album.

            “The disengagement of the bubble is hypnotizing,” opens Mouthpiece. This is one of the more driving songs on an extraordinarily dark album. Mangan tells us that “sedation can be chemical, but not exclusively so.” Mouthpiece seems to deal with each of these camps.
            Albums occasionally possess a song that serves as an anchor - as a central axis around which the record revolves. On Club Meds, that honour is bestowed upon Kitsch. Every aspect of excellence that can be found through the record can be heard here. The layers of counter rhythms and relentlessly arpeggiating melodies combine in a uniquely captivating soundscape. The lyrical choices embody the style of the larger whole – focused less on narrative, more on image and aesthetic.
            While the reference to A Handmaid’s Tale is made abundantly clear in Offred, one can’t help but think Mangan was further inspired by Atwood while writing XVI. The song that comes closest to the lyrical and musical style seen on his previous records seems to harken back to The Year of the Flood (and perhaps the Maddaddam trilogy in general).

            Following XVI is a song that listeners will almost certainly forget after their first pass – but nevertheless remains an integral part of Club Meds. War Spoils is a short experiment with pure atmosphere. Jagged disjointed lyrics and a lack of anything resembling a melodic hook - it’s the type of song that would surely be cut by a pop-oriented producer. But it’s a key component of an album that aspires to be more than the sum of it’s parts. The placement of War Spoils perfectly transitions into what is arguably the most emotionally climactic point of the album – Forgetery.

            The album closes with a perfect tandem in Pretty Good Joke and New Skies. These songs are, in a way, film negatives of each other. Pretty Good Joke languidly flows on the current of the chipper bass and birdcall synthesizers, while the lyrics are nothing if not burnished black cynicism. In a way, the album concept ends here, at the penultimate track. New Skies, with its oddly hopeful poetry backed by slow-growing minor-key chaos, would appear to be an epilogue of sorts. “Eyes that once only dreamed, crippled by sleep, now opening, ready and willing, able to see.” But with the awakening comes a realization that we must now act. That living fully in our environment, our community, our society, means we must forgo our “Christmas all the time” mentality. As the closing notes of the final ascending guitar cut, a spastic white-noise synthesizer sends us home wondering, are we ready to leave the party?

            In an interview with Rolling Stone, Thom Yorke of Radiohead declared that the long-form album is a dead art. Club Meds is singlehandedly proving that the LP format is not only alive, but worth fighting for. It is proof that a well crafted record is more than a collection of well crafted songs. Club Meds is a unified whole, tackling some of the most important problems in our collective lives. It is not simply the best album of 2015, but one of the most emotionally compelling albums of the last decade.

            On a personal note – I listened to Club Meds more than any other record this year. In fact, after its release in January, it became the exclusive occupant of my car stereo for almost three months. While I’m not one to tire of albums in the first place, this one possesses a longevity that is matched by few others. I often talk to friends about the “season” of an album. Some records sing the spirit of summer, while others augur autumn. Club Meds is indisputably a winter album, and being released in January allowed it maximum play during its natural season.
            While I was at the peak of my Club Meds obsession, Long Range Hustle was engaged in the grueling task of mixing Saplings. We would get up at dawn to drive to the studio, spend 12 hours agonizing over every acoustic detail, to then drive home through the frigid winter night and repeat it again the next day. I will always associate the opening organ/synth of Offred with the morning rays of sunshine spearing through my clouded breath as we left the house. As conceptually dark as the album is, my strongest associative memories are ironically ones of adventure and opportunity. Now, when I listen to Club Meds, I’m shaken by a compulsion to make or do. To not sit idly, but capitulate to a feverish motivation. Though now that I think about it, maybe that’s precisely what Dan Mangan was hoping for when he wrote Club Meds.

Nolite te bastardes carborundorum, eh Dan?

-p

Albums in Review 2015 - Sun Leads Me On, Half Moon Run

     I sit here reflecting upon all the amazing albums that were released this past year across genres, from emerging artists around the world. I can’t imagine another album I’d want to highlight as my top pick for best album of 2015: Half Moon Run’s “Sun Leads Me On.”

     For those who follow us at Long Range Hustle, we’re a diverse band of musicians and people from interesting backgrounds. Until I joined LRH I never really listened to “indie” music. I grew up with a core of the Beatles, Billy Joel, Elton John, Elvis, The Guess Who and Queen. These are the artists who formed my understanding of music from a very young age. Since university I immersed myself in classical, jazz and world music. Then in my second year of university the boys, from the then drummer-less LRH, slowly introduced me to indie-rock.

    I resisted in the beginning, but over time how could I refuse. Indie-Rock is only the natural progression of musical fusion between genres. Indie-Rock contains all the elements of music that nurtured my artistic upbringing, and challenges the boundaries of genres between rock, folk, classical, jazz and world music. Somehow artists are able to draw on these elements producing captivating, and mesmerizing melodies that transform your understanding and expectations. Half Moon Run is one of these indie groups that, with their newest album, has transformed not only my understanding of “indie” music, but my expectations.

    I remember hearing their first album ”Dark Eyes” on a drive out to Waterloo. It was dark, dramatic, and rhythmically driven. The unique vocal harmonies in combination with the ominous instrumentals captured any listener. “Sun Leads Me On”, is very different from “Dark Eyes” in the best way possible. It includes the darkness and drama of “Dark Eyes” while introducing you to other sides of HMR.

    This 13-song album has so many obvious heavy hitter songs as well as hidden gems. One top track goes without saying: “Sun Leads Me On”. The title track is reminiscent of their premiere album; a smooth ballad with grand harmonies. Their single “Turn Your Love” grabs and shakes you till the very end. It’s gritty, it’s electric, it’s dark and heavy. As a drummer it’s exactly what makes me groove. Hidden gems like “Consider Yourself” sonically reference “Arcade Fire” and “Radiohead” and is another perfect example of HMR’s ability to drive. Overall I find the variety in this album very attractive. From the 60’s retro tunes, driving rock, and campfire folk found in “Devil May Care”, the album is a Jackson Pollock of variation and unrestricted cross genre creativity.

    Without commenting song to song, this album also sticks out because of this versatility and cross genre variety. HMR’s songs range in style and feel, creating an interesting album. Personally, I think albums that present a multitude of styles showcase the bands musicianship, versatility and engages the listener throughout the changes, while unifying the album using the band’s over-arching sound and songwriting.

 “Sun Leads Me On” was my top pick of 2015 because it completely shattered my expectations.

-AJ

Busier and Busier

It's been a while since I've had a chance to sit down and write up a post here. Things have been hectic at the LRH camp. We're in the middle of a string of fall shows that have been an absolute blast! 
Here's some of the highlights:

• Playing to a sold-out crowd at the Cameron House in Toronto. We were joined by our friends John Elliotson on trumpet and Chantal Grybas on cello - which made for an extra special concert!
• Returning to our old stomping ground - Chainsaw in Waterloo, On. The Laurier Homecoming celebrations combined with an all-rise set made for a rowdy good time.
• A set at the Royal Ontario Museum for their Friday Night Live series turned out to be one of the most unique experiences we've had in recent memory. We were hosted by our new friends from Listen Local Toronto. Check out this picture, snapped by AJ at the end of the show!

We've also been plugging away at the music video for Paddle Away. While the editing is still in the preliminary stages, the footage from the canoe trip looks fantastic, and has us all excited at the prospect of the final product.

We're also extremely excited to announce that we'll be playing at IndieWeek Toronto this year! Come to The Rivoli on Thursday, Oct. 15 and check out a bevy of fantastic independent music. 

All the best,
-p

The Storm

Hello there, it's been a while, how have you been? The last time we spoke candidly, it was two days after our album release party. Paul was feeling a bit cathartic while considering what we had just accomplished and revelling in the small pause before the storm of shows, promotion and various band activity that was upon us. 

Well. That storm has come.

As I am writing this, the storm has begun to taper slightly, which I guess is why I have some time to tell you about it. But wow. It's been about two and a half months since From Seedlings to Saplings... was released and we have been more busy than ever before.  We've been playing bars, clubs, festivals, house parties, we even played a wedding... you name it, we play it. 

It's been a relief and a thrill to finally spread this album around and properly rock the tunes out with an audience. We've had a chance to play all over Ontario, too. We played throughout Kingston, Ottawa, London, Toronto, Waterloo, Cambridge and Tweed (my hometown) with some incredible bands including: The Klemy Kovs, The Fusilli Jerries, Old Stereo, The Fathers of Modern Rocketry, Mountain of Wolves, Alyson McNamara, The Lifers, Ivory Hours, Marcellus Wallace, Kyle Boyne, Shushlang!, Randy Shenanigans and Riishi Von Rex. I have to send a huge thank you out to all of those bands, we had a blast sharing the stage with them. 

There are so many moments that stick out from this album release tour from packing the Cameron House in Toronto to playing a very heartfelt song with our good friends Travis and Kara at their wedding. Paul and I had our parents on stage to play Wagon Wheel and The Weight when we played at The Tweedsmuir, which felt very appropriate for a hometown show. And throughout the tour there were crowds of people singing our songs back to us and dancing along, making us blush. It has been a crazy two and a half months for us.

As I said though, the storm has only tapered slightly, we still have much to accomplish. We are currently booking dates in the Fall and in two weeks we will be shooting a music video for Paddle Away! Also we are back to writing some new material which has been sweet. We've been so focussed on From Seedlings to Saplings... that writing new stuff feels amazing. Like you just ripped all of your sweaty clothes off from a long day of work and jumped ass-naked into a lake: it's completely refreshing and everyone in the area can see your genitals. heh heh, I got jokes...

Disregard that last part about the genitals and let's end this mammoth blog post. Please keep a look out for our Paddle Away music video and our Fall shows, we'll be announcing a few of them soon. In the meantime, enjoy this beautiful summer. Go for a bike ride, jump in a lake, go camping, read a book, eat marshmallows, kiss a girl, kiss a boy, fall in love if only for a few months. Why not? Get crazy with it friends and we'll see you soon.  Love love!

-j