(Reflections based on my first few listens to black metal as a total newbie; in particular, written shortly after listening for the first time to Tristesse Hivernale)

The radically lo-fi production of black metal records make for a quite unique listening experience, one marked by a curious sense of distancement. It is like the listener, instead of feeling lost amidst one of those oft-evoked snowy wastelands, finds him/herself watching from the top of a mountain some helpless wanderer. Or, while in hiding, catching a glimpse of a brutal scene through a peephole… the screamed vocals projecting unintelligible lyrics only…

Sun 17 Oct – Cidadão Instigado

Sendo um neófito no que se refere a essa banda cearense (fui sem conhecer nenhuma música, e saí querendo encontrar os CDs), não vou fazer uma crítica detalhada. Apenas digo que o rock psicodelico-nordestino deles funciona muito bem, com licks e texturas legais e variações interessantes de dinâmica, resultando em música bem construída e divertida. E não pensem que se trata de psicodelismo de flores e nuvenzinhas: they rock - hard!

Cidadão Instigado

Fri 8 Oct – Rush - Time Machine Tour

In order to avoid running out of superlatives too soon I will not write this as a regular review, but merely point out some observations in short notes:

* Organization was generally quite good; and, from just behind the fence dividing the "premium" floor and the regular floor, audio and visuals were excellent as well.

* On the fans' T-shirts: beyond the expected symbols (fisrt album logo, owls, starman, current tour shirts, etc.) there was a really diverse blend of references to nearly every era of the band. I only missed…

The motivation for this essay came from the reaction to a video of a live performance of Changes, by Yes, that I posted in another social network. A friend left a commentary on the clip, saying it was the "evil side of the 80's". After I and another guy replied trying to cast Yes under a more positive light, that friend replied with:

"I only hear soulless, quasi-mystical pomp."

The Resistance is, from the perspective of Muse's established fanbase, a divisive album. While it has contributed to attract a broad new audience to the band, a large share of old-time fans felt alienated by it, and some even came to write off the band altogether. The new album led to hasty, precipitate judgement on Muse and the direction they are taking. In order to dispel any possible misconceptions, it is essential to understand the evolution of the band towards The Resistance. For that reason, this argument will begin with brief reviews of their four previous "main" studio albums.…

The playlist I propose below is my personal take on showing what makes Led Zeppelin such a great band. While picking the tracks, I tried to avoid very obvious, overplayed songs and to display how they were able to pull off very engaging and very diverse songs. Thus, I hope it can portray them from a somewhat different perspective than usual. I constrained the compilation to a set of two LPs (or two sides of a 90' mixtape if you prefer), each of them having to make for a consistent listen in terms of flow and moods. Therefore, I had…

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/00/Rush_Presto.jpg

As part of my ambition to eventually get hold of all of the studio albums by Rush, I just couldn't pass the chance of buying a copy of Presto randomly found at a local shop. Presto marks a clean break from the synth-dominated style typical of 80's Rush. Here, keyboards fill in a mostly auxiliary role, as the songs are driven by either guitar or bass lines. This change of approach does not mean the overall sound became particularly heavier, though, as it would later on in Counterparts (likely my next acquisition, BTW), giving a somewhat transitional character…

As I was looking for a relevant theme to write a journal entry, the Second Round of the Singles Cup held by The British Rock Artists League provided a good opportunity. The League, and the Cup in particular, provide a nice opportunity to motivate one to explore bands previously unknown, and in fact I regreted having missed the First Round (had no time to listen to all 32 songs). Being a classic/prog rocker at heart, but one honestly willing to find new stuff, I was not familiar with most involved bands, particularly the so-called "indie rock" ones (I find the…