Been listening to some discs over the last few days after making it manageable with last week’s column. Some of my discoveries have been interesting, others not so clever. This week’s task is for the music to distract me enough so I can ignore the nagging numbness of my torn calf muscle.
First though a wee bit of a vent at a novel, very German, and very foolish, form of copy protection. Instead of preventing one from burning the disc, as regrettably Fatal Smile’s new album does, Covenant has placed the following messages in the midst of all songs on the album. A German voice says: “You are listening to a promotional copy the new album from Covenant: Skyshaper” and variations of the theme. After the third song this becomes rather like those annoying GPS systems in some BMWs you can’t shut off. What I don’t understand is mentality: it was the band that sent me the flipping CD. Why are they trying to make my listening as annoying as possible? The implication is that you have stolen the CD and should not have a copy. Completely freaking ruins the pace and travel of the song.
CD Reviews
Covenant: Skyshaper
Forgetting the above a moment; it's time to get to the music. Is it worth sitting through some surly twit castigating every five minutes to hear the music? Well no, not exactly. This is bleep-filled electronica that reminds one of Kraftwerk and their ilk at their most dull indeed. Covenant is a South African band who doesn’t seem to realise that people have moved on from 80s-sounding Amiga-inspired electonica. This stuff is insipid and droll rubbish that really never gets going. Music for a computer game maybe, but not much else.
Truckfighters: Gravity X
This disc on the other hand is some rather fun stoner rock. The type of tunage that works perfectly when one is lying on their back, headphones clamped firmly on, in some other state of mind. Like on the track "Altered State," sludgy but approachable lovely slabs of stoner rock. Definitely the type of stuff that Queens Of The Stones Age and their ilk produce. But rather than just being a copy of the leaders of the genre, this lot does their bit to carve out their own bit of the genre. Its not just sub-Sabbath drudgery all the time, there is nuance. I mean with titles like "Geedo-Weedo" you kinda know what to expect. The vocals sound like they are being sung down the phone and it just works so well. Dude this is some good shit… you know what I mean?
Article comments
1 - Danny Haszard
I will buy the CD-
2 - Guppusmaximus
Covenant's security sounds similar to Eddie Murphy's stand-up about talking cars...lol.
"Someone stole your battrey..."
DeadHead sound pretty cool though the name reminds me of the stoners that like The Dead.
Maybe they all like Truckfighters now....
Good article...
3 - Andrew Ian Dodge
Thanks Deadhead is rather good fun to be honest; they have managed that rather difficult thing of being trad thrash without merely doing it by the numbers.