#heavy/influential it really is; especially in main verse

[warborn-tragedy]

Thinking about how funny it is that Pixie's got a twin sister that's a fairly successful punk/garage rock artist and like. Sure they're not identical (Olive's got brown hair, no heterochromia and stole Pixie's height in the womb /lh) but they look enough alike features-wise for Pixie to feel justified wearing a face covering but anyways.

(Like the rest of Pixie's familial relations) their dynamic is just strained enough for Pix to never mention it except in casual passing but just imagining her interacting w/ someone who's into that sort of music and seeing her with her scarf and goggles off and just making an idle comment like 'hey you look like the singer/bass player from this band I like' and her dying a little on the inside

[passionate-reply]

Great Albums is back! This week, we’ll take a look at one of the greatest electronic albums of all time, Kraftwerk’s The Man-Machine, and try to avoid getting sued by Ralf Huetter! Full transcript for the video can be found below the break. Enjoy!

Growing up, my main genre of choice was 80s synth-pop, and while the deep influence of Kraftwerk is as significant there as it is everywhere else in electronic music, I was one of those people who initially saw them as somewhat "intimidating." Today, moreso than ever, Kraftwerk are held up as one of those more high-brow or cerebral groups with a philosophy that transcends mere pop or dance music, which makes them seem respectable, a kind of “model minority” in the world of music outside rock. While I don’t buy into the judgmental quality of that sort of praise, which damns so many of Kraftwerk’s greatest fans and imitators, I did get the sense, as a child, that these hoity-toity Germans, working with primitive equipment way back in the 1970s, might not be what I was looking for in a new favourite band. That was before I heard The Man-Machine.

While it’s certainly true that Kraftwerk were a highly experimental band in their own time, they’re one of those acts whose ideas have deeply permeated contemporary music, to the point where their actual work is extremely approachable and listenable to today’s ears. Of all the fairly early electronic acts, who started making this kind of music before it began to become mainstream in the late 70s, Kraftwerk are almost certainly the ones people nowadays listen to for pleasure the most, and that’s no accident. While their earlier albums like Trans-Europe Express took more overt inspiration from classical music, The Man-Machine was their first great foray into the arena of pop, which I think is key to why it resonates with people. For evidence of that, look no further than the biggest mainstream hit of Kraftwerk’s career, “The Model.”

I think it’s easy to see why “The Model'' became a hit single. Sure, it may not have the most traditional pop song structure, let alone instrumentation, but unlike a lot of what Kraftwerk had done before, it’s got a lot of lyrics and a real sense of narrative. Plus, that narrative we get is about a person and not a machine--a good-looking person, in whom the narrator is sexually interested. It’s the perfect pop material. Of course, I would be remiss to mention that “The Model” didn’t achieve all of its success until the single was re-released in many markets in 1981, and in those few years, the idea of “synth-pop” advanced significantly in the charts and popular consciousness. By the time “The Model” was a hit, Kraftwerk admirers were already taking over: look no further than Gary Numan’s "Cars” or OMD’s "Enola Gay,” two synth-pop classics that, it must be said, are still about vehicles!

That aside, though, not everything on The Man-Machine sounds like “The Model”--in fact, it’s surrounded by tracks that have much more in common with Kraftwerk’s earlier LPs. Literally surrounded, in the track listing. I think that adds to this album’s appeal as an ideal entry point into their catalogue: it has some things that sound familiar, while also preparing you for what else you’ll encounter if you choose to probe deeper into the band. The Man-Machine has the least homogeneous profile of any Kraftwerk album. While most of their other classic albums are highly cohesive “song cycles” that almost blend into one long song when you listen to them in full, The Man-Machine doesn’t really have those repeated melodies and motifs that tie its tracks together. While many people, especially fans of psychedelic and progressive rock, really like those cohesive albums, I think this change is a welcome one. It gives the individual tracks a bit more room to breathe and express distinctive identities, and makes the album feel a bit more pop, even if the material itself isn’t always all that poppy. *The Man-Machine* actually only has six individual tracks; they range in length from the three-minute pop stylings of “The Model” to the urban sprawl of “Neon Lights,” which luxuriates in an almost nine-minute runtime.

Given that the average track length is around six minutes, I’m almost tempted to think of The Man-Machine as six tiny Kraftwerk albums, or at least, musical ideas that could have been expanded into full LPs in another universe. “Neon Lights” and “Spacelab” feel dreamy and easy-going, with floating melodies that draw from the “cosmic music” scene, one of the many emergent styles that began as something uniquely German and spread throughout the world--in this case, becoming an important forerunner to ambient electronic music through acts like Tangerine Dream. Meanwhile, the hard, tick-tocking rhythms of “Metropolis” and the title track point to the newfound focus on rhythm and the so-called motorik beat that made the music of Neu! so compelling.

The Man-Machine can serve not only as an introduction to Kraftwerk, but also as a sort of crash course in this entire period of electronic music, showcasing some of the most distinctive and influential features of the German scene, as well as the shape of synth-pop to come. It’s a complex and busy historical moment with huge ramifications for almost all of subsequent electronic music, and The Man-Machine really creates a microcosm of that whole environment. There’s also the fact that each side of the record has one track from each of my three broad groups, like an expertly-designed sushi platter or charcuterie board for us to sample from, and they both follow the same formula: a pop appetizer, a cosmic *entree,* and motorik for dessert.

*The Man-Machine* also has what is almost certainly the most iconic cover of any of Kraftwerk’s LPs. This is how lots of us still picture them in our minds, and it’s inspired tons of parodies and riffs over the years. I think all of that acclaim is deserved! Emil Schult’s graphic design for the album was heavily inspired by avant-garde Soviet artists of the 10s and 20s, chiefly El Lissitzky. These visual artists used their art to express their hope for a new world, defined by the promise of technology, and their literally revolutionary philosophy--so what could be a better match for Kraftwerk’s electronic revolution in music? Lissitzky used bright, primary colours, straight lines, and geometric shapes to convey the “built environment” of modern cities and man-made architecture, and you’ve got all the same sentiment on display here. The use of strong diagonals really draws the eye and lends this image a lot of continued visual interest. It’s also worth noting the extent to which Kraftwerk’s aesthetics inspired later electronic acts almost as powerfully as their sound. When you picture an electronic band, and get a mental image of stiff and stone-faced musicians behind synthesisers wearing shirts and ties, you can certainly thank Kraftwerk for that, as well.

I also love the title of The Man-Machine! The relationship between people and technology is one of, if not the, most central themes in Kraftwerk’s entire discography, which is full of references to anthropomorphic machines as well as mechanically-mediated humans. The particular choice of the phrase “man-machine,” as opposed to words like “android,” has a fun vintage flair to it, which matches the use of early 20th Century visual art quite nicely.

As might be expected from the album’s stylistic diversity, *The Man-Machine* would prove to be something of a transition point in Kraftwerk’s career. Their 1981 follow-up, Computer World, would return to the song cycle format, but with increasing emphasis on ideas from the pop sphere, championed by percussionist Karl Bartos. By the time of the last classic-lineup Kraftwerk LP, 1986’s Electric Cafe, they had not only amped up the pop, but also incorporated influence from the electronic dance music of the time. Ultimately, Bartos would leave the group, chiefly due to discontent with his treatment by founding members Ralf Huetter and Florian Schneider-Esleben, and their persistent lack of musical productivity.

On a somewhat lighter note, my personal favourite track on this album is its opener, “The Robots.” Per my typology from earlier, I classified this as a pop-oriented song, and it certainly is an approachable one that’s proven to be quite popular. But it’s got just enough more experimental touches to keep things quite interesting. From an ominous, dissonant intro, a slightly more pop form, hinting at a verse/chorus structure, soon emerges and contrasts. I love the groove of the rhythm and percussion here, as well as the very heavy vocoder, rich in texture and certainly a Kraftwerk staple.

While the lyrics can be read as sort of light and silly, I like to think that the robots in question might also be dangerous. The track “Metropolis” seems to reference the seminal 1927 silent film of the same name, which is famous for its portrayal of an evil, mechanical doppelganger. Likewise, the choice to translate the lyrics of the song’s interlude into Russian is likely inspired by another great work of art from this era: the stage play R.U.R.--Rossum’s Universal Robots. Written by Karel Čapek in 1922, it’s the progenitor of the “robot revolution” trope in science fiction, the source of the word “robot” for autonomous machines in almost every human language, and one of the first entries in the illustrious career of an author who helped make Czech a true literary language. While the titular robots take time to assure us that they’re programmed to do what we humans want, should we really trust them...?

[aelaer]

For the identity ask: 1, 5, 6, 10, 11, 13, 15, 19, 22, 24, 29, 30 It's a good whole bunch lol, but I am genuinely curious about you, aelaer. So... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Aww I'm touched, truly. 😊

1. if someone wanted to really understand you, what would they read, watch, and listen to?

Read/watch Lord of the Rings for sure. It's changed my life completely and I love the overall themes of the story, they really resonate with me. To understand my sense of humor, Mel Brooks films. He's a genius. The first two or three seasons of Community also really hit my sense of humor. There's a hundred other things I love but those cover some main parts.

5. do you think of yourself as a human being or a human doing? do you identify yourself by the things you do?

What an odd question. I'd say both. I'm an American and Californian, but I'm also an artist and web designer. It's all of it.

6. are you religious/spiritual?

Christian, non-denominational. I am very well versed in the history of Christianity and its 100s of sects (thanks AP Euro!) which helped lead to that choice. It's been an interesting journey balancing scientific fact with personal faith as well (I love science, especially human biology).

Religion is something I'm willing to talk about with others but never anything I force on someone, nor something I usually discuss online as people can be quite cruel about other's beliefs. My two best friends are agnostic and atheist so we've had some great philosophical conversations about religion and our personal beliefs over the years.

10. do you have a creed?

The Golden Rule: the principle of treating others as you want to be treated. It's something I attempt to live by every day, especially as I get older.

11. describe your ideal day.

Ahhh it varies on my mood, if I feel like doing something that day. But the best days of my life usually encountered someone or something I've not met or seen before and having an absolutely beautiful experience from it. Meeting my little sister, meeting Richard Taylor, going to Tolkien's grave, all of those were ideal days. So on an ideal day something extraordinary happens. They are rare and wonderful.

13. inside or outdoors?

I like both! But most of my daily activities are indoor ones. But yeah I'll take door #3.

15. five most influential books over your lifetime.

The books that helped shape who I am I all read before high school. Had to think for the last ones.

Lord of the Rings (duh)

The Harry Potter series

Joke books. No joke (hah), but I had a hard time understanding jokes as a kid, so my mom bought me dozens of joke books of various sorts to help me sort it out as I was a major bookworm. I think that helped in the long run.

Don't laugh, but an illustrated children's dictionary. I read the whole damn thing when I was 8 or 9 and I think that immensely helped my vocabulary and interest in writing, which I really started creatively when I was 10.

I think I'll say Chronicles of Narnia. That was my introduction to fantasy, which eventually led to HP, then LOTR.

19. which Harry Potter house would you be in? or are you a muggle?

Gryffindor. I am very heavy Ravenclaw to the point that quizzes that show a breakdown have it within a percentage or tied with Gryffindor. Hufflepuff is also very close, only a few points off. Slytherin is the only one that's nowhere near. So by that point it comes down to choice, and I believe my ideals lean more to Gryffindor. I'm basically Hermione xD (my best friends are both Slytherclaw so go figure).

22. list the top five things you spend the most time doing, in order.

Um, I'm going to assume basic bodily functions like eating and sleeping, and like talking or having a job shouldn't be included.

Reading. Whether it's work stuff or fun online stuff and the occasional physical book, reading is big.

Writing. Everything from blog posts or replies or fanfic or RP. So much writing.

Artsy stuff like drawing traditionally or digitally. Got big again this year after a long break.

Playing Pokemon Go xD

Hanging out with people for fun things.

24. have you ever felt like you had a “mind-meld” with someone?

Hahaha my two coworkers and I have this all the time when it comes to certain clients or situations.

29. three songs that you connect with right now.

Requiem for a Tower (the 6 minute version) - an orchestral piece that's absolutely gorgeous and amazing and I keep thinking I want to make a music video with this and Stephen.

The Light by Disturbed - this rock band is so versatile and I love the hopeful note of this particular song

Paradise by Evanescence - I just adore this artist/band and here's one of my favorites

30. pick one of your favorite quotes.

Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens. - Tolkien. Said by Gimli of all people in FOTR. But I love the message behind this quote and I really resonate with it.

[metalshea]

Guys and gals, let’s talk about nü metal.

Are you still reading?

Great! Because I’m about to take a very unpopular position: I think nü metal has some value as a genre and is surprisingly influential.

Are you STILL reading?

Nü metal is probably the most maligned sub genre in all of metal. So much so that I would hazard to say that more people dislike it than hair metal. There are still people walking around that appreciate bands like Poison, Ratt, or Mötley Crüe, after all. I don’t know of anyone that still says: “Limp Bizkit, that’s my jam”.

But there was a time when people did say that. Limp Bizkit are multi-platinum selling artists, after all. They were one of the top draws in all of music, headlined Woodstock ‘99, and even toured with Metallica. People loved Limp Bizkit.

I’ll let that sink in a moment.

It wasn’t just Durst et. al. that filled arenas around the world: Korn, Linkin Park, Mudvayne, POD, Godsmack, Static-X, System of a Down, Disturbed, all were, and in some cases still are, huge concert draws. Just look up some of the pictures of System of Down’s show in Yerevan, Armenia, back in 2015. Something, something, a joke about crowd sizes, amiright?! Does anyone have any doubt that if SOAD announced a tour tomorrow that it wouldn’t sell out? (Before we get too far away from Limp Bizkit, I should probably mention that Wes Borland is actually pretty popular in Indonesia)

I’d even go so far as to argue that most metalheads that lived through the nü metal years actually like at least one band from those times. Sound crazy? How do you feel about, say, Mudvayne (Dig)? Static-X (Push It, I’m With Stupid), Slipknot (Wait and Bleed), System of a Down (any song)? Maybe nü metal isn’t so bad.

Obligatory disclaimer: that all being said there’s a ton of Nü Metal that is just awful. Back to Limp Bizkit: Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water hasn’t aged well at all. POD. Papa Roach. Freaking Crazy Town.

There’s a lot of bad nü metal out there.

But we’ve gotten off topic. The whole point of this article is to talk about nü metal as still remaining valid and influential to modern metal, after all, so let’s explore that. Let’s start with definitions.

Quick: if I asked you “what is it that musically differentiates nü metal from other types of metal,” what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Probably rapping, right? But not all nü metal acts rap. Korn doesn’t. Orgy doesn’t. So what else?

I think there are 4 major descriptors—aside from rapping—that we can use to define the genre: heavily syncopated riffs, song structure/length borrowed from pop, angsty or self-reflective song lyrics, vocal centric while musically riff- and beat-driven.

Let’s break this down a bit starting with syncopation.

Syncopation is a musical term that refers to emphasizing the off beats in a piece of music. Most music emphasizes what are known as downbeats. When you hear a song and start tapping along, your usually counting out groups 4 taps and hitting a little bit harder on the first beat. That first beat is a downbeat. The groups of 4 tell us the song is written in 4/4 time. Sometimes in addition to the hard beat on the 1, you’ll also do a hard beat on the 3. This is still considered a “normal” or conventional beat.

In a syncopated song, the downbeats are played on the 2nd and 4th beats instead of the 1st and 3rd. This gives the song a bit of a bouncy feel. And syncopation is all over nü metal. Check out Linkin Park’s “Crawling” and Static-X’s “I Want to Break It” in the linked playlist to really hear this at work.

Let’s talk song structure: nü metal typically borrows a really basic song structure that comes straight out of pop that is known as AABABCBB. If you break a typical pop song down into different parts and assign those parts a letter, you get this formula. Essentially “A” are the verses, “B” the chorus, and “C” the bridge or breakdown. Many pop songs will set their songs up to have do an extra long first verse, a quick and catchy chorus, a shorter second verse, a quick and catchy chorus, a bridge, and then back to the chorus (sometime played twice) to close out the song. It’s an easy formula that makes songs pretty memorable. Especially if you have a catchy chorus.

Let’s take Korn’s “Freak on a Leash” as an example. We have the intro riff which rolls right into the first verse (8 lines). After a short prechorus (“sometimes...”), it rolls into the chorus (something takes a part of me), right into a short second verse (4 lines), prechorus, chorus, a two-part bridge with Jonathan Davis scatting, followed by a variation on a double long chorus to close out the song. Formulaically, the song goes: AAABCABCDECF, which is really, really close to the pop song formula.

Most other nü metal acts tend to follow the same basic song pattern with some variations. Mudvayne’s “Determined” front loads the chorus at the very beginning of the song. So does Slipknot’s “Wait and Bleed”. But they all tend to at least superficially follow the same pattern that artists from The Beatles to Ariana Grande have utilized for decades.

Next are the lyrics. Nü metal borrows it’s angst directly from grunge. Lyrically, the genre is very inwardly focused, often touching on depression, anxiety, post traumatic stress, and in the moment emotions. Now this is certainly not unique to nü metal compared to other genres of metal, but let’s be honest: nü metal takes it to a whole different level of superficiality. While there are countless songs about being angry, Linkin Park will often dive into the underlying emotions driving that anger. It’s an extremely self-reflective genre that was perfect for the postmodernist late-90’s.

Finally, nü metal is vocal centric and riff and beat driven. We already talked beats so let’s leave that aside. As for riffs, the songs are constructed usually around 1 distinctive riff. While a lot of metal will try to use multiple riffs in a song (ahem, Between the Buried and Me). Nü metal keeps it simple, using 1 riff and several variations to drive the music. We’ll use Sevendust’s “Praise” as the example here. We’re hit with the main riff right at the very beginning of the song. From there we hear constant variations pop up throughout the rest of the tune. It’s under the verses. It is the riff the makes up first prechorus. A third variation is under the second prechorus. Over and over: variations on a theme. I should say that Sevendust are really good at squeezing everything they can out of riff to pull off a catchy song. But it underscores the point, the songs are constructed around 1 catchy riff.

As for the vocals: they’re front and center. In Death metal, the vocals often compliment the instrumentation. The growled vocals mimic the distortion of the guitars. In nü metal, the vocals are brought up in the mix. You hear every word.

All these thing combine to make nü metal. Compared to other parts of metal one thing is really, really clear: nü metal borrows a TON from pop, grunge, and hip hop. In fact, it borrows the best parts of all 3. It is a genre that is distinctly ripe for commercialization. And woooo boy was it commercialized. Which, let’s be honest, is probably why most metalheads hate it: it pays lip service to “heaviness” while throwing in with pop sensibilities. It feels artificial and at times frankly juvenile. And sometimes, the bands themselves are just awful and untalented: looking at you again, Crazy Town.

But! Nü metal has a legacy, and it’s not all bad. There are still acts that are selling out arenas and inspiring the next generation of musicians. Slipknot is probably THE gateway band for heavy music today, and their music still sells. Their 2014 release, “.5: The Gray Chapter” was rock solid. System of a Down are in limbo pending the return of Serj Tankian, but let’s be honest, they are one of the most beloved and respected bands in heavy music in the world, even though they haven’t released a record in 13 years. Linkin Park we’re past their heyday when Chester Bennington sadly took his own life, but they were still actively writing new music and regularly touring (and say what you want about LP, they put on a great live show). Finally, most metalheads like to forget Machine Head’s foray into nü metal, but no one can argue their importance to metal today, especially following 2007’s “The Blackening”.

We like to think of all these bands as somehow being separated from the utter nonsense of other nü metal acts—a friend used the term nü metal-adjacent. But they built their fan bases from among the angsty kids of the late 90’s early 00’s. They drove record sales in the days before Napster and file sharing. They kept MTV musically-relevant for years longer than it probably otherwise would have been. And they introduced a new generation to heavy music. I’ll put it out here: I listened to Korn and Slipknot well before I listened to In Flames, let alone any black metal. I’ve covered System of Down songs in my own bands and I still jam out to Static-X.

Nü metal is a lot of things to a lot of different people. It’s divisive, juvenile, self-absorbed, and often superficial in its song writing and lyrics. It reeks of consumerism. But it also birthed some of the most influential artists in heavy music and left an important mark on the history of metal. Maybe we can redirect the hate that we would normally throw at the genre as a whole back to where it belongs: at Fred Durst.

[lewisewright1995-blog]

Enclosure – John Fruciante

 John Fruciante, A musician that is revered by many, for his contribution and role in the band, The Red Hot Chilli Peppers, But there is, as some say, A dark side to his music catalogue within his solo works, that lead him to supposedly “lose his mind amidst a series of heavy drug binges”, among other difficulties in his life, and put out some very "Un-Chillie” pepper like albums, starting with Niandre lades and usually just a t-Shirt. The Times described it as the first of his 'Psychotic episodes’, and while I personally do not like the album, this was his first attempt at experimental music, and is worth noting. Onto the second Psychotic episode, PBX, john writes on his own website, that Enclosure is the Final word in the Musical Statement that began with PBX, so having heard PBX would give one a good idea of the type of album they are about to listen to. PBX is a fast paced, “sloppily presented” shot in the dark, at the hardcore experimental electronic music aesthetic, and Enclosure could be considered his reattempt, at that specific aesthetic, while this is not every bodies cup of tea, and it isn’t, it does hold a certain quality.

 Shining Desert

Shining desert, The introduction to the album, is pounding electronic drum, with ambient noise to color, followed by heavily processed vocals weaving around an ambiguous tonal center, in other words, it would exactly go down well at a party. Enclosure does not disappoint the hardened fans of john previous album, PBX Funicular Intaglio Zone, his first attempt at this aesthetic, Characterized by the jarring electronic drum machine programming, who would of been following him closely and would of expected this kind of album, The listener instantly picks up that this is bound to be the underlying aesthetic to the whole album. While I will admit that this album features so, at times “questionable singing”, one must appreciate, if not a fan of PBX, that this album attempts to push the horizon of what he himself is capable of, although it does come across to me as more of a personnel journey for him to expand, rather then one that will revolutionize the world of electronic music in its entirety, this song is full of short moments that arouse the imagination, this album is full of short ideas that would be really nice if expanded on, but isn’t that the point of an experimental album anyways? To try it out for the sake of it, judge its potential, then immediate look for the next best thing? One reviewer says this album is like being “forced to pick through a basket of bruised fruit”, while I agree with that sentiment, one must consider the nature of an experimental Album, “At best it deftly threads melodies through inventive and energetic drum patterns; at worst it is an exercise in aimless and gratuitous experimentation”. After the sweet, dissonance of the single electronic kick drum has sounded long enough, comes the drum machines aesthetic of this album, you can not miss it. The drums sit around the grove with Johns odd guitar lines floating around in the distance, barely audible, the drum machine then goes ‘double time’, or get faster, for those musically illiterate, the Drum experimentation continues, with lots of interesting rhythmic variations in the form of the song, which keeps it fresh to the ear as it progresses, it becomes quickly apparent that this is going to be a theme for the rest of the album, and that the listener is in for a challenging, modern experimental album by a primarily rock guitarist, and it does show in his mixing that he is new to this, however that is for me what gives this album a truly original aesthetic, those of you who came for a chili peppers like guitar album should refrain from listening.

 Sleep

Sleep is a slightly more conventional track, Slightly, not in its own right, but when compared with the rest of the album, and it does hold true to some of John Fruciantes earlier work, carrying over glimpses of the song writing sensibilities displayed in previous albums considered less psychotic, such as curtains, and the will to death, but ultimately, as john puts it, “this album is the final word in the musical sentence that began with PBX, one of johns earlier albums, that mimics this kind of electronic/experimental aesthetic, thought I must admit, in this song it is much more understated, which in my opinion is a lot more affective then the previous track. The song continues after its softer intro, in typical fashion with many rhythmic variations in the drum machine parts, before building into a more interesting texture, only to drop back down the sweet soft world of the intro, this songs form is particularly interesting, exhibiting and complete stop in to a Hiphop style break, before shifting up a semi tone, Getting Higher in pitch, and then taking off yet again into a world of fairly simplistic sounding synth sounds characteristic of early craftwork. The synth sounds in this song a extremely basic and underdeveloped, which many people think is one of his weakness, but this is certainly one of the things that makes this song, and this album unique for me, as well as the extremely strange forms of the song, it does not go verse chorus verse, but more, verse, chorus, verse, random block of structure, into something else, finally back to verse, introducing new sections not heard before nine minutes into a song, the song finishes with some of Fruciantes painful screams down the microphone, that have been blended into the background for ambience.

 Run

Run was one of the more interesting songs on the album, the thing that stands out about this song is the massive rhythmic variations in this song that sometimes help to create really special moments throughout the album, a midst the chaos that is john Fruciantes creativity, this song is an absolute onslaught of distorted synth and guitar lines, sometime undistinguishable, but does feature a very interesting and well crafting ‘chorus’ were all the chaotic elements join together for a few seconds to create and exception descending line, the use of out of tune arpeggiated synth lines in this section only add to the almost creepy atmosphere of this song and album.

 Stage

Stage is yet another song following the albums over all aesthetic of intense drum machinery, experimentation and pulled back vocals leaving the tunes atmosphere ambient, and while some fans may feel “the genius guitar playing he’s known for is understated here, especially when compared to the influential work of his past”, in songs such as Wayne, Before The Beginning, and After The Ending, the last half of this song is completely “Kidnapped” by an absolutely astonishing outro of distorted guitars, layered over the intense drum machines screaming away in the background, the Guitars in this song are absolutely transcendent of the album and display some amazing artistry, “the entire last half of “Stage”—arrive not as mere tangents, but as the main event: Guitar is an oscillating vehicle that carries his music into new planes”, Further more, this song, and its fantastic Guitar lines, do seem to be a sort of landmark for this album, in terms of what he was aiming for, a point in which the album drifts slightly from the drum machine rhythmic variation theme, and moves slightly towards a nicer, more easily accepted aesthetic characterized by the lush guitar sound and lack of dissonance, The next song pushes this aesthetic even further.

 Fanfare

Arguably the most easily accepted song in terms of how ‘nice’ it sounds, after the dissonant intro has passed, and would probably be the typical music lovers favorite song on the album, after one listen that is, and reminds me of johns work on shadows collide with people, just a classic song, while more underdeveloped then shadows collide, it has its own thing going with the return of the underdeveloped synth sounds, and replaces the over developed, sometime forced sounding drum machinery for a more simple approach, just a beat with some fairly pleasant chord progressions, that comes as an extremely welcome break, but one must not understate the complexity of the harmonies being built up in this song, and the skilled layering of different textures, although like most of the album, the mixing on this song is below par.

 Cinch

At first, almost like some sort of electronic orchestra, exploring some interesting yet dark colors in the first minute or so of the song, the into shows off some very nicely layered levels of harmony building up some interesting textures, then we are treated to one of the most interesting guitar solos on the album, the guitar has johns signature sound that many people know him for, Stratocaster with low level fuzz and lots of Wah Wah, it floats around each chord change charismatically with an informed idea of the harmony that is passing by underneath it, before hitting us again with our old friend, the drum machinery, and rhythmic variation that dominated the first 4 tracks of the album, slowly descending and breaking down into slower more jagged rhythms as the guitar solo continues.

 Zone

Zone, the next song, moves backwards slightly, back to the previous synth pop aesthetic of the song fanfare. this song for me, is a fairly balanced song, with reference to the aforementioned aesthetic themes in the albums, this song merges, the rhythmic variation of the drum machines, with the odd song writing sensibilities of johns earlier works, but proceeds to experiment with a variety of colors between the vocal and synth lines that create some, at times, questionable harmony, but at other times, some absolutely magical moments that shouldn’t be beautiful, but are. This song also features song nice key changes towards the end, as well as some unusual chords changes and interesting forms, that trick you and play with your expectation of what you think may come next, or when things may change. The second half of the song is a short guitar ballad between multiple guitars with a much sweeter progression, reminiscing of earlier works of his featuring the same instruments and sound such as the song Murderers, and Pretty Little Ditty.

 Crowded

Crowded, is one of the more interesting songs on the album, the introduction of crowded is unlike any other on the album, it is a slow swing feel featuring very specifically crafted rhythms looping around the beats, before shooting off into a world of alt rock, but with the addition of the vocal lines, it slowly recedes back to familiar territory of Sleep, creating that kind of vibe, before bursting into a more conventional chorus, and of course, the Drum Machinery that I have grown to dislike somewhat after multiple listens, but multiple listens of this album is definitely rewarding, I digress, the vocals in the seconds chorus progress into arguably one of the heaviest or most intense moments in the album, perhaps the only heavy moment when using the word in the traditional sense, but his screams add a certain intensity to the chorus, before the song depends again into the drum machinery that defines the album as a whole, there are some very fast knots being fazed around each other ouch of time in the drum patters, and lots of out of tune, 'jazzier’ extensions going on in the guitar lines, such as the sharp nine, or flat five.

 Excuses the final track on the album, is a confusing ordeal at first, it’s a mishmash of old school metallic sounding moog presets, until the harmony of the ‘chorus’ moves in and creates an extremely sweet sounding chord progression and melody, this is one of those little moments on this albums, little parts that create amazing sounding little harmonies, in this case a melody between the string section and vocal part, before the song absolutely loses its mind, which is a common theme throughout this album, this song sounds like being at a fan fare where all the circus performers went insane and started butchering people left and right, but is quite a fun section ultimately. The songs Finale, is a half time, incredibly satisfying texture along with some thick and interesting layers, and about 3 or 4 false endings, were you think its all over, and then descend into yet another beautiful string progression.

 The Album Enclosure, by John Cruciate is, all in all, is a very interesting and challenging listen for any music lover, musician, or fan of johns work, this album will satisfy you and intrigue you for its entirety. The album is successful, in terms of what its aiming for, it attempts to be experimental, but does not do so much as to alienate the listener, is melodically pleasing enough to be somewhat pleasurable for people to enjoy, and this sense only increases as one becomes for acquainted with the album, and one must listen multiple times to truly understand this album, but this album is too fun of small bits like this, that I would love to hear expanded into most coherent ideas with more structure, it would be a welcome change from the relentless drum machine aesthetic, and the over the top 80s pop angle, It might be difficult to hear the songs as a cohesive statement across the entire album, but each individual gem is such an enjoyable capsule of creation and tinkering that it’s quite an adventurous and athletic listen.