REVIEW: Viernes - Sinister Devices

9.25 out of 10

Find it here.

OK I know, you probably think EIC is the last blog on the net to jump on the Viernes wagon right? Truth is, I've been soaking in "Sinister Devices" for months now. I've been thinking to myself "are there words that can justify my feelings for this release?".. I just can't hold back anymore, even though my words may not (probably won't) justify the quality of sounds that are present on this album I just need you to know ..I approve (and then some). Viernes "Sinister Devices" is one of the best albums anyone will lay ears on this year. (guaranteed) So what's the "genre", what kind of music does Viernes create, well..

Viernes, which means "Friday" in Spanish, began as a project between friends Sean Moore and Alberto Hernandez. The duo would meet every Friday afternoon and attempt to write music that was currently influencing them. Here's the best part; they nailed it as well as added a bit of originality to the mix. And here's the list of influences; My Bloody Valentine, Liars, William Basinsky, & Van Dyke Parks. Now if you know these names, which for your sake I would hope you did, you now know how excited you need to get for this album. "Sinister Devices" delivers the best production values anyone could ask for, unique & raw/enriched layers of sound, stellar vocal harmonies, and just one of the best feelings you've come to expect from listening to a REALLY AMAZING ALBUM. I think one of the things I appreciate the most about this album is it's "throwback" sound towards "yesterdays" music scene. "Sinister Devices" mixes the best elements of Shoegaze, Psych Rock/Pop, Dream Pop, Post Punk, & Classical Instrumentation with pure genius and ferocity. This album was made for an audiophile. "Sinister Devices" will be an astonishing feat to surpass this year, so expect to see this one very high up on myOUR year end list.

If you don't get thisGET THIS NOW. (not an option). Hi, Lee Recuhm, End It.

Standout Tracks: ALL Sinister Love, Enhanced Pendulum Channel, Entire Empire, Glacial Change Of Pace (soooooo good), Honest Parade (this reminds me of Radiohead for some reason), Ancient Amazon/New Fashion (love the piano/horn on this), Liquid Tunnel, FAULTY INVESTMENTS (the time change on this track, the piano, the strings.. it's all just.. wow), Sinister Devices

EIC'S10Q'S w/Jonas Reinhardt

"..music pulsates from electronics that have more life in them than the man who programmed them. It was machine itself coming to existence and asking man for a reason. Man responds and says .."to create.".."


Jonas Reinhardt
Welcoming Specious Megacosm

Jonas Reinhardt Bio:
Jonas Reinhardt hails from San Francisco, CA. He has been writing, recording and performing music with analog synthesizers for more than a decade both as a solo artist and in groups. He was initially inspired to use synthesizers during a summer sabbatical in Houston's museum district and, in the late '90s, studied music synthesis at the Harvard Electronic Music Center.


Hello, how are you?
I'm good, never been better.

What are you currently listening to?
Lowill - Prune Slicker

Can you explain the band’s sound in 5 words or less?
Sure, the easiest way to describe....

Jonas Reinhardt started out as a one many operation and has since then grown, what was the deciding factor into this decision to become a full on band?
The hunger for fame and good company.

Your latest release is titled “Powers Of Audition”, what do you mean by that title?
Each of the songs is meant to engage the listener’s innate power of audition to fill in intentionally left blanks. These occur throughout the recording where there is either diminished narrative resolution or explicit sectional movement meant to provoke an auditory response. It comes from John Cage.

What is your favorite track off of “Powers..”?
They are all my children. Would you tell me which one of your children you like the best?

When it comes to “distortion” what is your favorite tool to use?
Hash

I would love to hear you guys do a movie score, which one would you choose (existing or non) if you had a choice?
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels or maybe Manufactured Landscapes

You can only keep/listen to ONE album for the rest of your life ..which album would it be?
J.D. Emmanuel - Solid Dawn

Are you living your dream?
Not sure, it's entirely possible...I suspect that depends on whether string theory, 10 flat space dimensions etc. is true or not.

Thanx Jesse & Brian!

Jonas Reinhardt is currently on tour make sure to buy lots of hash when go to see them...;p

REVIEW: Jonas Reinhardt - Powers Of Audition

7.5 out of 10
Find it here.

It's only been about a year or so since the last Jonas Reinhardt came out and since that time the band has "quadrupled" not only in size, but in sound and raw/synthetic emotion. The debut album was one man, Jonas of course, doing his version of Psychedelic/Progressive synthesizer modulations that bring to mind John Carpenter or the also current Pysch/Synth Rock band Emeralds. Mr. Reinhardt's music pulsates from electronics that have more life in them than the man who programmed them. It was machine itself coming to existence and asking man for a reason. Man responds and says .."to create." That was then and now is "Powers Of Audition", the latest in Mr. Reinhardt's personal genius.

With a full scale band now backing Jonas Reinhardt's already thick wall of sound the music speaks even more for itself than it did on the first album. The synthesizers sounds like they are breathing through some sort of underwater apparatus. The looming atmospheres are more effervescent than ever. And hearing other musicians latch onto the sound that I have fallen in-love with just makes my ears quiver with anticipation to see where the next lingering drone/note will take me/venture. The beginning of "Powers.." begins with a synthesizer building a deep sounding arpeggiation into an insanely lush keyboard/other synthesizer sound (a foreshadow for the middle of the album). After that the "Psych Rock" effect begins. Loud drums, bouncy bass lines, guitar wah sounds & air guitar sounds, and a few "funky" keyboard fx that is may make you wanna boogie. That's right "boo-gie". Then, the pace is slowed down, to take you on a journey through black holes made of delicate/intricate circuitry where you will be stuck for the next 30 minutes or so (enjoy it.). The upbeat "Psych Rock" sounds return towards the end of the album with the head bobber/title track "Powers Of Audition". Once it ends you are left with a satisfied felling of just having your ears "rocked off". I would only want this album to end one way, and that way is "Wastrel Eyelid". A beautiful oceanic cruise between the furthest cosmos to place no man could ever possibly dream of. Lucky for me, that exactly how it ends.

Basically, it's like watching an episode of Miami Vice only if it was in space (yeaaah "Space Vice") on acid. Who doesn't wanna experience that?

Standout Tracks: Atomic Bomb Living, Only You Can Achieve Nitrogen, Near A Mirrored Pit Viper (this one feels good on my headphones)

EIC'S10Q'S w/Serena-Maneesh

"..A true delight for fans of Psych Rock/Shoegaze music or even Smashing Pumpkins, had SP focused more on loud noise and a little less on pop.."

(Photo Credit: Kjetil Tangen)

Serena-Maneesh
Psychotomimetic Obstreperous Concept

Serena-Maneesh Bio:
The team of musicians who each contribute to the band's sound is organized around its main protagonist and songwriter Emil Nikolaisen. Emil has previously appeared as a guitarist and songwriter in the indie band Royal, played the drums in Norwegian punk rock band Silver as well as in the retro-pop orchestra The Loch Ness Mouse. He even has a past as guitarist in the metal band Extol.

Important sources of musical inspiration are The Velvet Underground, My Bloody Valentine, Amon Düül, The Stooges, Swans, Spacemen 3, Spiritualized, Stereolab, Royal Trux, Neu!, and Antonio Carlos Jobim. In late 2005, the band toured Europe in support of The Dandy Warhols. In early 2006, Serena-Maneesh landed the opening gig for British band Oasis during its UK tour. They supported Nine Inch Nails on the Australia/Japan leg of their 2007 world tour.

The highly acclaimed self-titled debut album was released on the Norwegian record-label HoneyMilk in the autumn of 2005. In December of the same year, the Norwegian vinyl label Hype City released an LP print featuring two exclusive tracks, and the Spanish indie distributor Touchme Records published the CD. In March 2006, the band announced its transfer to the Playlouder-branch of the Beggars Group established in Europe (UK, Germany and Italy), North America (United States and Canada) and Oceania (Australia). In June 2006, the band released an international edition of its self-titled album (both CD and LP) through the international label Playlouder.

The long-awaited second album Serena Maneesh 2: Abyss in B Minor was released in March 2010 on the renowned British independent label 4AD. According to Nikolaisen, it sounds like a "rock'n'roll chamber of magic."


Hello, how are you?
Great! floating far above the skies in an aeroplane through the waves of my dreams!

What are you currently listening to?
Jobim. Everywhere. All the time. His great relatives Brazilian duo Joyce, Gal Costa, Menescal.. Jimmy Webb... RTX.. Stooges..

Where does the name Serena Maneesh come from?
Somewhere in the native deserts of my West Coast Norwegian sour breeze of the mind

What’s the music scene like in your hometown?
Some good bands, lots of incredibly nice people, sometimes a little too nice, sometimes just good nice and great music comes out of it! But yes some good and quite diverse acts, some gifted people. People trying to contribute for a better music world.

It seems like it's been a while since you last released a new album, care to explain what you've been up to?
Restoration sleep, mind on other things, laboring time, recording and playing around with things for a couple of years

What is the theme behind your new album?
Underlying streams of melodic consciousness.. Heavy silk. Perfume from ancient times. Many ways to drape a melody. A whole story that needs to be listened to! Not just for the chosen few though. It should be for everyone! Give it time and it will embrace you.. heeeeee

Are you more proud of the music you make now or the music made back in the day?
Heading forwards, man! The future!! Grasping for everything that lies ahead.. New ideas to find, new stories to be told.. Right now this record has been with me so strongly for so long that I still sense the smoke in the air from it..

Is there a full US tour in the works?
Yes! Starting NOW* the 17th at SXSW in Texas, coming through the West Coast, up to Canada and some back and forth before starting heading down/aiming for New York as final destination. Really looking forward to sharing some music again!
*EDITORS NOTE: Interview done at the beginning of February.

You can only keep/listen to ONE album for the rest of your life ..which album would it be?
It' s not the news bomb and it could never be: VU' s "banana record".

Are you living your dream?
I' m alive and still dreaming! Does that count? The journey is, you know the good old roller coaster, of sorrow and joy.. but if you' re not holding your dreams high and act upon them.. what' s left in such a dark hole?

Thanx SM!

Serena-Maneesh just wrapped up their US tour and are currently bouncing around different European venues...

REVIEW: Serena Maneesh - No 2: Abyss In B Minor

8 out of 10
Find it here.

It's only been about 4 years since the last full length Serena Maneesh album came out but that's a few years too many if you ask me. When S-M's debut self-titled LP came out I was a little late on the ball (otherwise they would've been on my year-end list), but once I finally had the chance to wrap my headphones around them I found it nearly impossible to stop playing the album back to back (to back). Serena Maneesh, for all of you that haven't checked them out yet, are a true delight for fans of Psych Rock/Shoegaze music or even Smashing Pumpkins, had SP focused more on loud noise and a little less on pop. Since the first release S-M have toured all across the globe, released a "B-Sides" album -- which was more of a reissue of older material but still great for the type of buyer that doesn't like paying import prices (I did, but I'm a sucker for bands I become addicted to), and they have developed their sound enough to, in my opinion, make them one of the stronger Gaze bands of all time. For their second album (first for 4AD) Serena Maneesh decide to push the noise envelope even further and even add a few elements of Jazz into the mix. The end result being one of the loudest/most abrasive, yet somehow melancholy Shoegaze albums I've heard since My Bloody Valentine's "Loveless".

"No 2: Abyss In B Minor" is full of LOUD soaring guitar riffs, sustained keyboard notes, clamoring drum beats, dispassionate vocals, and PLENTY of filler noise. Chances are you won't be able to pick up/hear/focus on each individual sound within the albums monolithic walls til not the second listening or even the third, but many listens later. On top of strong production, terrific/abstract compositions, and just being a damn solid Rock experience you will also get a moment to chill out with hazed out fuzzy moments like "Melody For Janna". This album reminds me a lot of "Loveless" had it been composed by Coltrane. Every exquisite noise & note on this album will keep you coming back until you have the chance to really soak in all of it's majestic atmospheres. Maybe it's harsh you're looking for, maybe it's laid back, maybe a little left field rock? Given the right mind-set you will be able to appreciate this masterpiece for all of it's blaring vibrations. Again, this is another one of those albums where there just aren't enough kind words out there to describe how truly great it really is. If this album isn't looked at as one of "the shining moments" in the history of Shoegaze there is something seriously wrong with this world.

Fans of Serenea Maneesh will love this, "No 2: Abyss In B Minor" is in no way a let down, a little more abstract and noisy, but just as enjoyable as the self-titled release. Fans of Shoegaze/Psych Rock should also love this. Seriously, if you don't like this go back to your Kenny G (he's cool right?) and stop reading this blog, this is the kind of music I live for. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Standout Tracks: Oh god, I can't pick a favorite, I love 'em ALL

Check into White Fence..

White Fence -The Love Between

Great Psych Rock project off of the Woodsist label