Anteater

https://legererecordings.bandcamp.co...west-end-coast

__________________
Anteater's 21 Fav Albums Of 2020

Anteater's Daily Tune Roulette

Trollheart

Title: Satellite
Artiste: Panic Room
Year 2010
Nationality: Welsh
Familiarity: 0%, though I have heard of them and also their parent band, Karnataka.And I know Anne-Marie from her work with Mostly Autumn, one of my favourite bands.
Genre: Progressive Rock
2

Expectations: Really not sure. I've heard good things but who knows? Still, it's female-fronted prog rock, so that can't be bad, can it? This is the first album that goes way back, to 2010 in fact, but as I explained in the OP, while this is mostly 2015 (and later, 2016) albums, it does refer to the fact that I am listening to them this/next year, so even if there are older albums, like this one, they still qualify.

1. Freedom to breathe: Actually reminds me of that goddamn Rembrandts song when it starts! And you know what that reminds me of...! Like the vocals of Anne-Marie Helder, very sultry but strong. This is a lot rockier than progressive rock tends to generally be, a little more in the vein of melodic rock really. Very guitar driven
2. Picking up knives: Very powerful vocal, great Fender Rhodes (which I believe is played by Anne-Marie) and lovely interplay with the organ (stop that!): I really love the seventies-meets-twenty-first-century feel about this. Cool. The little cheeky snippets from The Doors are fun.
3. I am a cat: This is a fun little song, from the real cat meow at the beginning to Anne-Marie's affected ones during the song. Like the whole beat as it goes along. Hey, at least it's not titled “I am a dog”! Mee-oww indeed.And a purr at the end!
4. The fall: Beautiful smoky little ballad. Kind of reminds me of something, but I'll just ignore that and enjoy the song. Lovely. Wonderful backing vocals and again superb Fender Rhodes.
5. Black noise: This has a real hard edge as you would expect. It's quite commendable how little these guys rely on keyboard within a prog rock band. The guitar is much more to the fore in most of the songs. Yes, Anne-Marie's piano is there, but even so, unlike most prog bands I know, Panic Room don't seem overly dependent on keys. Refreshing. Dreamy midsection here.
6. Yasuni: Oh this is so Vangelis it's not true! Slow beat, droning keyboard, some really nice guitar almost a la Steely Dan.
7. Sunshine: This is just beautiful, with an almost whispered vocal and a lovely ringing soft guitar line. Talk about dreamy!
8. Into the fire: Sort of midpaced with a great hook in the chorus; some really nice keyboard work from the Fender Rhodes and a sweet little guitar solo too.
9. Dark star: Incredible fugue to open this, then it takes off, keeping the drama high. Such power and passion in this.
10. Muse: Acapella vocal then superb solo piano performance by Anne-Marie in a lush ballad. Can't praise this enough, I really can't.
11. Satellite: There really hasn't been anything on this album I haven't loved, and I don't expect the final, and title track will change that. Starts off beautiful, with a low-key guitar and soft, almost breathy vocal from Anne-Marie then some lovely guitar with soft vocal harmonies. Another superb track. I don't think I've had so many Blues since I began this, even on “Love or Hate?” The whole thing comes close to being all-blue, seriously.

Final result: Absolutely amazing album. I am so much more impressed here than I even expected to be. This has everything, and I have got to check out both their other albums and the Karnataka stuff now. I'm five years behind, but damn, better late than never!

Rating: (Hold on to your hats!)

__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Trollheart

Title: Cass County
Artiste: Don Henley
Year 2015
Nationality: American
Familiarity: 100%. I own all his solo albums and am a big Eagles fan too.
Genre: Country/Contemporary Rock
5

Expectations: Laugh all you want about middle-aged oldsters still trying to rock, or about Nashville fading lights, but 2000's Inside Job was a powerful mix of songs about a man coming to terms with that middle-age, the responsibilities of parenthood and, within that, politics and ecology, as he tried to ensure there was something to pass on to his children, even if it was only his wisdom. This will have to go a long way to outdo that opus.

1. Bramble rose: Interestingly, given all his contacts over the years, this is the first time Henley has assembled a cast of guest stars to help him out on his album, and here he duets with Mick Jagger and Miranda Lambert. Steel guitar whines right out of the gates, so there's no doubt that this is a Country album, unlike Inside Job, which was more Adult Contemporary, and moved away from the Eagles Country/Rock based material. Some lovely mandolin contributes to a soft Country ballad, which is perhaps not quite how I would have wanted the album to open, but Lambert adds something to it, while Jagger sounds a little out of place to be honest.
2. The cost of living: Another slow very Country-flavoured track with again steel guitar in attendance. Nice piano, and this time he's joined by Merle Haggard, I suppose evidence if any were needed that Henley is respected in Country music circles. Song's a little maudlin if I'm honest. I'm hoping for better. I kind of hear elements of “Tequila Sunrise” here. Yeah, quite a lot of it actually.
3. Take a picture of this: This has somewhat more bite and a sense of bitterness about it. Its still kind of slow, and I'm hoping for a “Miss Ghost” or “Inside Job” here, but it's early days yet. Nice piano, and considering that the first two tracks featured guests, it's nice to see him taking this one on his own.
4. Waiting tables: Yeah, this is a nice little life song. Again there's a lot of ex-Eagles melody in there, but it's a good song.
5. No thank you: Rocking out a little now for once, though it sounds like a slowed-down version of “Get over it”. Sorry; I just say what I hear. At least it kicks up the mood a little. More rock than Country, finally. There's definitely a sense of preaching and worldly wisdom here when he sings “I've been there, done that!”
6.Praying for rain: Back to the slow Country ballads, and here comes the steel guitar with some really nice female backing vocals (can't find a credit for them). The song is similar to his “Goodbye to a river” from the previous album, where he rails against the damage done by Man to his planet.
7. Words can break your heart: There are certainly a lot of ballads on this, a lot more than on the previous album. This one features a duet with Trisha Yearwood. It's nice but a little kind of formulaic, like any Country star could have written this. It doesn't have Henley's own personal stamp on it the way songs like “Goodbye to a river”, “Damn it, Rose” and “Everything is different now” have. Is there even a “New York minute” in here? I begin to doubt it. I mean, I like all the songs, marking them Green, but so far this is a poor shadow of Inside Job.
8. That old flame: Trying to rock out again, nice build up but to be honest, this is the first time I've heard it and I could predict some of the lyric. Pretty standard stuff. Nice performance from Martina McBride, and at least it kicks things up. Oh Lord! He just used The Simpsons' Kirk Van Houten's “Can I borrow a feeling” in the lyric! Well, almost: “Can I borrow a cup of kindness?” Jesus wept.
9. When I stop dreaming: Hello Dolly, it's so nice to see you .... yeah. Well I'll never say anything bad against her, but how many more Country superstars are going to lend their weight to this album? I tell you, it's tipping precariously under all this extra talent, and if you removed Dolly, Merle and all the rest, I wonder what you'd be left with? She sings her heart out here for sure, but it may as well be one of her own songs, with Henley duetting with her, instead of the other way around. Oh, Nashville!
10. A younger man: Yet another maudlin ballad. Getting bored now, and quite tired of hearing that ****ing steel guitar! His hard-bitten, world-weary attitude is beginning to grate too.
11.Train in the distance: Now it's his attempt at an old folk style tune. Guitar picks it up nicely in the midsection as percussion cuts in with some female backing vocals a la Floyd, and it gets better, but it's still not the greatest.
12. Where I am now: Where I am is feeling very let down and underwhelmed. Inside Job will always be his Magnum opus for me, and he has a rather solid body of work behind him, but there's a lot of weak points there too. But this is the first album of his where I feel the weak songs outweigh the strong ones. A short rocker to end, where he declares “I like where I am now”. I'm sure you do, Don, I'm sure you do.

Final result: The funny thing is, the first three albums by Henley did not impress me as such: I liked some tracks but felt there were weak moments on I Can't Stand Still, Building the Perfect Beast and The End of the Innocence, and it was only when Inside Job came along that I reckoned a true Don Henley album had arrived, one with no bad tracks and a strong ethic. Now, fifteen years on, this is what we get as a followup? Weak at best, couldn't be bothered at worst. Big disappointment. I thought Feeling Mortal, Kris Kristofferson's “comeback” album after years was self-serving, maudlin and indulgent, but this is far worse. Time to hang up the steel guitar, Don my man.

Rating:

__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Trollheart

Title: The Judas Table
Artiste: Antimatter
Year 2015
Nationality: British
Familiarity: 60% Loved Planetary Confinement, was not so gone on Lights Out
Genre: Dark Ambient, Acoustic, Melancholic Rock
6

Expectations: Hard to know what to expect from Antimatter, album to album...

1. Black eyed man: Dark, Floydesque feel to this, sort of orchestral with a brooding mood to it. The vocal is oddly quavery with delayed echo, again very Floyd. Lovely violins, one of the hallmarks of Antimatter, with the return of Rachel Brewster after her absence from the last album. A great sort of ambient instrumental section culminating in a pants-wetting guitar solo and a beautiful vocal followed by yet another solo. Sweet. Antimatter are back!
2. Killer: Almost an industrial-meets-new-wave synth to open this, kind of staggered idea in the melody, more delayed-echo vocal. Piano reminds me of the best of Depeche Mode or New Order. Not that I know those bands that well, but this is the feeling I get. Powerful guitar punching through now, bassy synth laying down the lines.
3. Comrades: Looks like we may be temporarily returning to the soft but dark acoustic tone of Planetary Confinement, where I always felt Mick Moss was at his very strongest. It's true that Antimatter's music has changed since the departure of Duncan Patterson in 2005, with Lights Out something of a different animal, but this shows echoes of the kind of thing they could put out together, even if Moss is alone now. Just starkly beautiful, with delicate violin lines underscoring the passion and then a stunning slow guitar passage. Man I love this guy's work. I just get this overwhelming feeling of peace and bliss and contentment when I listen to him. May have to change my AOTY list.
4. Stillborn empire: Kind of a slightly trip-hop feel to this (yes, I finally know what it is, and I'm going to use it whenever it's appropriate) and it's driven on a lovely piano line with Moss's tortured vocals lording it over everything. Just amazing. And now he brings in guest female vocals, as has been Antimatter's forte for some time, adding real power punch and passion (yes yes, alliteration I know) to what is already a strong track.
5. Little piggy: Back to acoustic ballads with a bitter edge, another element that is directly in Moss's wheelhouse, and few do it as well as he, at least, few that I've heard. More soft violin from Rachel Brewster and yet another all but perfect song. Moss seldom puts a foot wrong, and this is very much back to the idea of Planetary Confinement. Beautiful violin solo takes us out.
6. Hole: The beautiful simplicity of the acoustic guitar and the voice. Yes I know I'm using the word beautiful a lot. Listen to the album and tell me you aren't compelled to do the same.
7. Can of worms: Lovely piano intro with dark guitar behind it, then my god the power in that voice. It just explodes in anger and frustration on the chorus. Takes you by the throat and does not let go.
8. Integrity: I'm jsut amazed at how every track seems to get better. Well, not really: I know I love Antimatter and need to check the albums I've missed out. This is a superb almost power ballad with strong synth lines and great percussion with what I think is an organ screaming through and a great guitar solo. Lush vocal chorus with a mechanised, distant vocal and a female vocal all make the ending of this almost unbearably gorgeous.
9. The Judas Table: The returning violin of Rachel Brewster add just the right touch of melancholy to the title track, with a wounded, harrowing vocal line which is complemented by another female guest voice, think it's Jenny O'Connor. A dark, sombre piano rides behind the sparse guitar riff, giving this a very fragile and yet very solid feel. Ah, just listen to it: you'll see what I mean.
10. Goodbye: A soft acoustic ending with almost heartbreaking emotion. Good god, what is this in my eye?

Final result: My AOTY list just got seriously crashed! This could take number one, honestly. I don't think it will, but it's going to be top three easily, and that's only because there are albums that are just that little bit better in front of it. Everyone should listen to this album. I mean it. It should be mandatory. This album is so good it physically hurts. In the best possible way.

Rating:

__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Trollheart

Title: Alone in the Universe
Artiste: Jeff Lynne's ELO
Year 2015
Nationality: British
Familiarity: 100% Are you kidding me? ELO were the first band I ever got into, and I have all their albums, even the really bad ones!
14

Expectations: As much as I wanted to hate Jeff Lynne for releasing Zoom in 2001, when he was the only member of the band still around and involved in the project, I had to admit it was a fantastic album. To be fair, ELO's output had begun to slip after Secret messages and their last proper album, 1986's Balance of Power was overall pretty disappointing, so maybe it was time for them to disband. Zoom however breathed new life into the band, even if it was technically a Jeff Lynne solo album (he was the driving force behind the band, after all) so I'm interested to see if he can maintain that high level of quality with this, the first album released under what is a more appropriate name, perhaps a concession to the fans who jeered at him over 2001's title.

1. When I was a boy: One thing that can't be denied is that Lynne knows how to write catchy songs, many based around the Beatles style, and this, opening on soft piano thanks to Richard Tandy, the only remaining original member other than Lynne, has a really, really Beatles sound merged with a basic melody that plunders Procol Harum's hit “A whiter shade of pale”, which is a little disappointing, as I would have rather heard something more original. However it has the very distinct ELO motif about it, and if you heard it on the radio, you'd know in an instant who it was. It's also quite reflective with its opening line “When I was a boy I had a dream”. Indeed.
2. Love and rain: And this one has echoes of “Evil woman” in it, as well as some others off Secret Messages I can't place at the moment. Nice female backing vocals from his daughter Laura. I miss Hugh McDowell's cellos though. There's something about this that makes it more Electric Light sans the Orchestra.
3. Dirty to the bone: Kind of get a feeling of the Traveling Wilburys here, which he was of course involved in. He's got a very distinctive voice certainly, but this just does not sound to me that much like an ELO song. It's good, but not ELO. Not for me.
4. When the night comes: Sort of a semi-reggae feeling mixed in with soulish motownish. Meh, it's okay.
5. The sun will shine on you: Okay well this one sounds much better, more like a classic ELO song. There's something totally self-indulgent though in having the backing vocals being, well, him as well. A nice ballad, one of the things Lynne does almost better than anyone else I know. Nice dreamy feel to this.
6. Ain't it a drag: Nice rock and roll bopper. One thing Lynne has learned over the years is not to outstay his welcome. Good or bad, these songs are all pretty short, with nothing over four minutes, and some in the two-and-a-half range. This one's okay, but nothing terribly special.
7. All my life: Another nice ballad based around again a very Beatles sound, and it comes across as very familiar indeed. Strings would go so well in here, but, what can you do?
8. I'm leaving you: A song that finally nods back to the likes of El Dorado and On the Third Day with echoes of Secret Messages too. Sort of balladish in form, with some nice rolling percussion and piano; sense of strings in the synth but it's just not the same as the real thing.
9. One step at a time: This kind of continues the link back to the “old” ELO, though I feel Lynne is aiming specifically to have a dancefloor hit here. Maybe he will. It's certainly uptempo and fun enough, with some almost Santanaesque guitar.
10. Alone in the universe:Hopefully there's a big finish, because generally speaking this has been pretty light forgettable fare. Well it rises on a marching beat which has a certain sense of finality about it, and once again I can hear the classic ELO in this, without as I say the cellos. It's a nice sort of dark ballad and ends the album better than I might have expected.

Final result: Given that I'm such an ELO fanboy, it's a measure of how weak this album is that it doesn't receive one single Blue, and not too many Greens either. After taking fourteen years to craft his follow up to Zoom (and let's be honest: that was his first real album as the “new” ELO, ie Jeff Lynne on his own), I feel the creator of the first band I was ever into has come back with a weak, limp excuse for an album. It has some good tracks, but few if any great ones, and it's a pale, pale shadow of 2001's effort. I also question the refusal to give Richard Tandy a credit even though he played on the album: it's shown as “all instruments and vocals by Jeff Lynne”. Ego much? After this, I have to sadly admit that the ELO I grew up with and loved is well and truly buried.

Rating:

__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Anteater

Lynne is just one of those guys that's long past any point of real creativity anymore. That being said, the Cats In Space debut that came out this year was a lot closer to what I would have wanted in a new ELO album (assuming a good one had come out after 2001).

__________________
Anteater's 21 Fav Albums Of 2020

Anteater's Daily Tune Roulette

Trollheart

Title: Immersion
Artiste: Dark Symphonica
Year 2015
Nationality: Australian
Familiarity: 0%
Genre: Symphonic Metal
1

Expectations: I like most symphonic metal, though some of it can go to the more overblown side of things, and operatic, dramatic vocals are fine, but when they're just there to distract from what is otherwise a pretty pedestrian, boring song, not so interested. The fact that these guys are Australian is an interesting wild card though, so we'll see. It's a debut too, so have to take that into account.

1. Chains of misfortune: Nice powerful neoclassical piano opening proceedings, always a good start. Takes off then on quite a power/progressive metal romp and the vocal from Sam Wolstenholme when they come in are not too operatic at all. In fact I feel she's struggling slightly to be heard. Gets stronger as the song goes on, but I still don't hear her putting her mark on the song like Sharon den Adel or Simone Simons. Song's all right, but is it anything different to a hundred prog/symphonic metal bands I've heard before? I'd have to say no, no it isn't.
2. Farewell: A slower, more gentle piano opening this, which I think and hope may be a ballad. It's quite long (over eight minutes) but given the title, I'd say that there's a pretty good chance. Now that she's just singing over piano, Wolstenholme can exercise her vocal chords and she does seem a strong enough singer with a nice tone. Okay, it's not a ballad: just kicked up into an epic dramatic rocker. Slightly disappointed at that, but we'll see where it goes. Some flute and what could be cello in about the fifth minute gives it a kind of medieval feel, also that of a film soundtrack, but then it pounds back into the same old groove. Bit bored now to be honest.
3. Envy: There's nothing wrong with the music, it's just there's nothing new here. It's not engaging my attention, and I'm finding it hard to write anything, either negative or positive, about it.
4. Apophis: Like, you could be listening to Within Temptation, Edenbridge, Nightwish, or any symphonic band. I just don't see anything different here.
5. Estrella: Another classical style piano, which is lovely, but about three songs have begun this way so far, and there are only seven on the album! Nice vocal choir adds something. Estrella means star in Latin, so I wonder (again) if this will actually be a ballad this time? I kind of don't really care, but I'd like to give them a chance to try to impress. But no, it explodes rather predictably again. Sigh. There are so many symphonic metal cliches on this album I could almost believe it was recorded ironically, though I doubt it. God! This is ten minutes long! And it's not even the longest track on the album. Okay, so some nice cello and ripping piano gives it an almost Danny Elfman feel in the third minute and the vocal choir is back. Maybe this could be the one to make me sit up and take notice. Nah, it didn't: reverted to the standard symphonic metal tropes. I'm beginning to see why some people hate this subgenre. It can be very predictable.
6. Set me free: I'm tempted to stop early, but I'm intrigued to see if there is anything worthwhile on this album at all. Again, there's nothing wrong with the music; it's not a bad album. Just not a very interesting one or one that stands out in any way. At least this opens with, for once, not piano, but acoustic guitar. Trouble is, every time I think we're heading into balladland (if there is a ballad on this album) they go in another direction. The vocal harmonies are nice on this. There's some powerful stuff going on near the end which I wish I could pay more attention to, but I'm just zoning out of this album now. I'll give it an Orange, just for a splash more colour.
7. Goliath (Tyranny Part 1): Oh Christ on toast! Fourteen ****ing minutes! Give me a book, someone! Wake me up when it's over. Honestly, this could be any symphonic metal band from any country. There's just no identity, and the idea of having a female singer is so old at this point that it makes no difference to my opinion. Come on, there's a nice instrumental and quite ethereal midsection, if only I cared enough to care, you know? This album is slowly draining my will to live.

Final result: All I can say is why? They used just about every cliche in the book, and produced an album that could be by any of the bigger symphonic metal bands. If they want to stand out, and survive, this is not the way to do it. Monumentally boring.

Rating:

__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

The Batlord

I forget, what does orange mean? Terrorist threat heightened?

__________________

Trollheart

Yeah.
Like, not Love.
You drunk.

__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

The Batlord

Not even drunk. Your system is just getting more and more convoluted.

__________________