Music Revolution

Artist: Black Iris

Track: The Tangled Web We Weave from the EP Black Iris

Written and Produced By: Black Iris

Black Iris are an exceptionally talented four piece melodic metal band from Guilford, Surrey; consisting of Jaxter on vocals and guitar, Johno Madgwick on Guitar, Ed Forbes on Bass and Alex Gregson on Drums. They’re currently exponentially increasing they diverse collection of songs and song writing with deeply meaningful lyrics and beautiful melodies. They’re gradually increasing their fan base through working extremely hard and consistently gigging up and down the country and so far they’ve been lucky to have supported bands such as Julien-K, The Blackout, The Defiled, Starseed and Shadows Chasing Ghosts. Black Iris’ extreme hard work and determination to make music and to develop a name for themselves is evident with their self-titled- 4 track EP; ‘The Tangled Web We Weave’ is the longest track on the EP, being almost 8 minutes long in duration. When I realised that track was of that length, I anticipated that alike to a lot of tracks this long it might be too long and needs to be shortened by a minute or so, as some artists who do this don’t succeed with the portrayal of the track and it actually becomes quite boring, unnecessarily long and at about the 6 minute mark monotony sets in, though not with Black Iris they produced ‘The Tangled Web We Weave’ in such a way that made the entirety of the song captivating and enjoyable to listen to from start to finish and every sole element is placed perfectly within the premise of the track.

‘The Tangled Web We Weave’ is the opening track on the Black Iris EP and is a wonderful introduction to the band, as they perform destructively magnificent music. With a unique sound and style and intensely awesome head banging hard rock. The introduction of the track is full of heavy guitar riffs and exciting bass lines, launching attack as a determined metal core band. Gradually Jaxtor’s soft low tone voice is introduced into the track within the multiple layers of the composition. The drum beat develops as the track continues with great chomp and tremendously punchy resonant tones of the bass drum constructing the track into a much warmer sound. They deliver each layer of the track with such depth and control, it sets them far apart from others in their genre and in a whole other league with their remarkable talent shining through every single note of the track, it displays that they’ve continued to correct and perfect their style through the years, to produce such a magnificent piece of melodic metal to showcase to the world. As the song continues, Black Iris produces such deep and expressively dark lyrics, which also build a darkness beneath the music with a hard-core edge. This is certainly the heaviest song on the record and at around the 3 minute mark, the heaviness intensifies with an extreme hard-core bridge with complex riff patterns and exceptional technique with each and every instrument, also with the heavy ride in the drums creating a great blend of various tones. Another treat is the tantalising guitar solo towards the latter part of the track.

Black Iris succeed with developing and creating a tremendous debut EP with fantastic production and beautiful hard-core music with destructive intent, melodic harmony and deep and heavy rhythmic breakdowns; that are combined in such a way that Black Iris effortlessly forms emotionally empathetic lyrics; combining inventive experimentation through incredible timing changes and catchy harmonies. If you’re a fan of either rock or metal or any sub-genres in between then Black Iris is definitely worth discovering.

8.5/10

Similar Artists: Killswitch Engage, 36 Crazyfists and Bullet For My Valentine.

Artist: Jjacob

Track: ‘Traveller I- The Journey’ from the album ‘LTP Learning To Play’

Written and produced by: Jjacob

Music label: Veiron Audio and Visual Producti

Jjacob is a talented new artist on the music scene, originally from Athens, Greece he’s gradually impacting greatly on the genre of electronica; however what sets him in another league to his other counterparts is his genre spanning appeal and the debut LTP Learning To Play, is certainly an impressive introduction into the world of Jjacob. Traveller I- The Journey’ is part of Jjacob’s 9 track debut album; LTP / Learning To Play’, based largely on the electronic genre, though also has mixes of multiple sub-genres intertwined within the album, all of which are purely instrumental; with the exception of one track- ‘Learning To Play’; the only track on the entire album with lyrics, which is performed by singer Lola Yannopoulou with an impressive result. He’s an exceptionally talented producer, director and writer, having an ever growing fan base via the social networking scene, slowly but surely building up hype from an already fantastic first release with a distinctive collection of ambient Electronic music.

Traveller 1 is the opening track on Jjacob’s debut album ‘Learning To Play’- an aptly named album title from an artist who’s beginnings were mainly as a music junkie, as a self-taught musician, he began to experiment with a home studio; working key by key pursuing his passion each night transforming them into track by track and continued to follow his dream via this art form and has evidently come very far from his initial stages into the creative world of making music. And this track presents that transition and experimentation perfectly, I wasn’t anticipating to be overly enthralled by Jjacob’s work to be perfectly honest, but I was pleasantly surprised and impressed by the composition and production of the track. The opening is truly atmospheric with the harrowing presence of the grand piano, which will literally send shivers down your spine that almost transports you to a magnificent cathedral with grandiose organs and chimes echoing from every corner of the room and leads to an overwhelmingly powerful feel. Jjacob continues with sounds full of mystery which flow so freely through the track, nothing feels out of place or forced, it all sits perfectly within the theme of ‘Traveller I’ with a terrifically eerie and echoing sensation. Personally I believe that the electronica begins quite subtly at first, which for listeners who aren’t overly ofay with the genre, it’s a gradual introduction into this world of music.

The track has many varied components with mixtures of classical instruments, orchestral elements and percussions, it makes for a tremendously diverse album, from listening to the full album, his music is so incredibly melodic and he succeeds with a multitude of layered sounds with a great dynamic balance. On Traveller I in particular elements of alternative rock dominate at the beginning mixing with the dominance of grand orchestral instruments and elements, with electro-rock and progressive instrumental rock gradually growing to the forefront of the track as the song continues. The atmosphere that is created by the melodic tone and  is truly tantalising and note by note the ambience intensifies, usually on tracks classed as ‘electronica’ I find the tone and sound too monotonous and after a minute or so, extremely tedious, though this artist has given me a whole different outlook of this genre of music, more importantly I think Jjacob has opened up a whole other world of music for a lot of listeners ,those  usually disparaged by this particular genre, will have a different view from here on, which is a talent, that musicians sparsely achieve, it’s evident he is a true music lover and his passion shines through each and every note through the entire of the track, as the tempo continues to build. Half way through ‘Traveller I’ the building theme of electronica heightens somewhat and though still atmospheric, it finishes in such a way that definitely does not do the song justice, in my opinion even taking away 20- 30 seconds of the track would make the whole composition and portrayal to the listener much tighter and overall more successful as a whole. Though nonetheless the reminiscent rhythmic beats surrounding the delicate echoes of synths and organs a line wonderfully with the hypnotic ambience, recreating memories of artists such as Enya in that sultry ambience of the 90s alternative scene. I would absolutely advise  to replay the track a few times to enjoy the fullness of the various elements and the spanning of genres, of course if you are a fan of any electronic music than this will be a delight to your ears with a real degree of dark tonality it certainly is a track that grows on you and after the full appreciation of Jjacob’s inspirational musings it’ll urge you to listen to the rest of LTP Learning To Play with his very own unique brand of instrumental orchestral and electronic music with elements of grand rock that’ll  fulfil a delightful audio experience with his soundtrack like experimental dark album.

7.5/10

Similar Artists: Vangelis, Jean Michele Jarre and Tangerine Dream

Artist: Last Approach

Album: From Me To You

Produced and Written By: Last Approach

Track: Thinking Of Tomorrow

Label: Recently signed to Adixtion Music

Last Approach are a four piece alternative rock band, consisting of; Steve Kingman and Bryn Wright on guitar and vocals, James Porter on Bass and Vocals and Tony Barton on Drums. They have quite an expansive repertoire of songs with a mixture of different musical textures. ‘Thinking Of Tomorrow’ is an excellently produced track and is part of their 6 track debut EP called From Me To You, both written and produced by Last Approach, these four lads from Bangor & Anglesey in North Wales prove to be one of the band’s to look out for in 2012, as I’m sure the recognition they truly deserve is soon to appear.

From the instant the song begins, there is a solid and distinctive sound which will be a recognisable element throughout the entire of their EP, with genre spanning appeal. It starts with alluring guitar riffs setting up the song with distinction from the onset. It leads into a heavy introductory with a melodic tune and a tone that sits perfectly amongst the building tempo and their own individual style. They balance a perfect mix of infectious melodies with poignant and meaningful lyrics, mastering the premise of a true rock band. This song is a journey from heavy riffs into melodic tunes, enhanced greatly by the harmonies within the vocal lines, as they add an extra dimension to the music in the form of a third vocal, which heightens their sound immensely and finish in an anthemic style of chorus.

Last Approach create an epic soundscape, blending destructively heavy rhythms and riffs to impressive timing changes and instantly catchy lyrics and melodies; singing of natural progression of love, that in time fades and the true emotion is effortlessly entangled within the lyrics and is portrayed brilliantly to the listener, as it acts as a creative form to tell the story of the great expectations you await in life, that fail to come to fruition, ending up with disappointment; a feeling that everyone encounters at some point, but then it’s the attempt to then escape the disappointment to  the loved ones around you that is the main enduring theme in this track, this story within the lyrics is successfully intertwined amongst the music and has an impressive effect on the listener, willing them to hear more and continue with anticipation with the rest of their debut EP- ‘From Me To You’- and have made ‘Thinking Of Tomorrow’ a thoroughly enjoyable listening experience.

8/10

Similar Artists: Hundred Reasons, Tool, U2, The Ataris

Artist: Dan Croll

Produced By: Joe Wills

Written By: Dan Croll

Track: ‘Closer’

Dan Croll is an unsigned artist who has recently appeared on the scene and has been getting a lot more hype as of late and has been lucky enough to gain an ‘essential download’ status from Q Magazine. The music scene is rapidly cottoning on to the wonders of this young Liverpool lads expansive talents as a singer-songwriter. With Q marking his song ‘Home’ as one of the essential tracks to download this year. And from listening to even a small number of his tracks, it is evident why.

The track ‘Closer’ is a marvellous introduction to Dan Croll’s music and veers an intriguing insight into his mind and the eagerly anticipated upcoming album he’s currently working on with the help of producer-Joe Wills. ‘Closer’ is a track that will be Dan’s debut EP and sits perfectly between the other confirmed songs on the EP- ‘Marion’ and ‘Home’. The track begins with such soft acoustics with the guitar that it’s almost delicate and creates a growing sense of stillness and smoothness. Dan succeeds with continuing to develop and build on an extreme closeness throughout the track, which produces an intriguing intimacy with the listener and wills us to hear more. ‘Closer’ is a joy to listen to and it’s instantly recognisable that Dan is an extremely eloquent songwriter, his voice is consistently smooth and honeyed; reminding me very much of Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon. A brief pause issues the second part of the song with the continuing, but effective repetition of the eerie lines- ‘Move closer so I can see you when you speak.  Move closer so I can watch whilst you sleep’. Then the song heightens and a mild climax emerges, the drums instantly perk up and his voice takes on more of a texture, an urgency if you will.  He works on building sensitive, light harmonies into insistent, eerily transcendent tracks. And I’m very eager for the release of Dan’s debut EP and hope to hear something even more expansive and dynamic than ‘Closer’. Definitely one of 2012’s one to watch.

9/10

Similar Artists: Bon Iver, Mumford and Sons.

Hiya guys, welcome to my new Tumblr blog- ‘The Best In New Music’- I hope you enjoy it! This is my very first post of today’s song of the day.

Artist: Adam Croft

Produced by: Josh Dunnet & Adam Croft
Written by: Adam Croft

Track: ‘True Love Fanatic’ from the album ‘New Weird England’

Adam Croft is an artist I literally discovered yesterday; a young unsigned singer-songwriter/ producer, certainly has an art in making music. ‘True Love Fanatic’ a new single released as part of his brand new album; ‘New Weird England’. ‘TLF’ begins with a chugging acoustic guitar and then Adam’s meloncholic whispery voice sings of love-lost lyrics. The song builds steadily from there: Adam’s strong yet fragile voice builds and resonates as the track slowly progresses.
He seems to have an art of intertwinning superb songwriting amongst the music in such a way that it’s a real delight to listen to.
It glides effortlessly along to end of the track, with a Radiohead esque feeling toward the latter part of the track, as a debut, it’s an incredibly impressive album with a distinctive resonance and sound, with a theme of alternative folk blended with elements of rock, the variable genres build the sound to produce an effective result for the listener.
A wonderful songwriter with raw emotion filling the song to the brim, and with the repetition of the lines: ‘I know you too well. and I love you too well.’;still echoing in my ears even after the song had finished.

8/10

You can listen to this track and other tracks from the album: ‘New Weird England’ on Adam Croft’s myspace page- http://www.myspace.com/adamcroftband

Similar Artists: Frank Turner, Bon Iver, Radiohead.