Independent Label Market will be returning to London for a third time on Saturday 19th May, 2012, to Old Spitalfields Market. Since launching on Berwick Street in May 2011, Independent Label Market has brought together the founders of some the World’s greatest Independent Record Labels on both sides of the Atlantic to sell their fresh vinyl produce directly to the public at that traditional goods exchange – a market stall.

As the music industry embraces mp3s and a more digital strategy, Independent Label Market is proving to be an valuable reminder of how music retail can be a social affair; people hanging out together as a community and buying records.

“This turned out to be the surprise most fun and satisfying event of the year so far. With the atmosphere of the best festival and a real sense of heart and purpose this simple but effective idea seemed to hit the nail on the head when it came to ideas about how the music industry might actually be able to start re-igniting the imaginations of the British buying public again.” Stephen Bass, Moshi Moshi

“The sight of Laurence Bell in his “Domino” boilersuit, there at 8:30am, also hammering bits of metal together to create the stall, was re-assuring, and the day just got better and better. Love was all around. Special moments were in abundance. People love to buy music when they can see it and touch it like that. No question it should be a regular event.” Simon Raymonde, Bella Union

Watch a preview of the day:

‘Independent Label Market : London’ will welcome back a host of labels from the Berwick Street debut, including Angular, R&S, Moshi Moshi, Chess Club, Heavenly, Tri Angle and Bella Union. Returning from the Christmas market at Spitalfields will be Domino, Fabric, One Little Indian, and Fat Cat. We are also delighted to announce newcomers Warp, Because, Phantasy Sound and Transgressive.

The heads of these labels will be manning the booths, selling their own products—new, catalog, rarities—at this unique and intimate new format for record-buying.

There will be a host of exclusive releases, artist appearances and much more from the following labels, who are confirmed for the market: (List courtesy of http://independentlabelmarket.tumblr.com/)

*Angular
*Because
*Bella Union
*Borstal Beat
*Brownswood Recordings
*Buzzin’ Fly
*Chess Club
*Critical
*Domino
*Double Denim
*Fabric
*Fat Cat
*Fire Records
*Fortuna Pop!
*Full Time Hobby
*Heavenly
*House Anxiety Records
*How Soon Is Now?
*Lanark
*Lex Records
*Lucky Number
*Mais Um Discos
*Moshi Moshi
*New Music Club
*Ninja Tune
*O.Genesis
*One Little Indian
*Phantasy Sound
*Proville
*R&S
*Rocket Girl
*Roundtable
*Something In Construction
*Sonic Cathedral
*Soul Jazz
*Soundway
*Stolen Recordings
*Sunday Best
*Tangled Talk
*Tellin’ Stories
*The Sounds Of Sweet Nothing
*Transgressive
*Tri Angle
*Warp
*Wichita
*XL

VIA: http://www.oldspitalfieldsmarket.com/

Monkeytown Records was set up by Modeselektor alongside sister label 50 Weapons in 2009. Their mission was to recruit a legion of monkeys to help them spread their already contagious party vibes, armed with the kind of dancefloor weaponry that the two master apes have accustomed us to. The tone was set then and now there is no stopping the monkey invasion. iCrates takes a look at the latest offering, Memory by Lazer Sword.

In San Francisco at around the same time, two beat-mongers got together. In one corner Antaeus Roy aka Lando Kal and on the other corner Bryant Rutledge aka Low Limit. Their debut 12″ for Innovative Leisure, “Gucci Sweatshirt”, featured the kind of fat, glitchy hip hop beats and pitched vocals that despite their connection to Miami ghetto bass, was really not that far removed from the block party beats that Modeselektor were delivering. Their first self-titled album for the same label expanded significantly on the promise of the first single; lazer ear piercing synths and a myriad of references, pumped up by crunchy beats and a handful of guest vocals. Accordingly, Modeselektor wasted no time in snatching this duo over to their camp. In 2011 Lando Kal moved to Berlin releasing solo work through Hotflush Recordings, while Low Limit relocated to the beats paradise of Los Angeles.

“Gucci Sweatshirt”

What stands out about this second album Memory, is that it’s a much more tame but focused and dare we say, sane piece of work. If you were quick enough to grab one of the 500 pink vinyl 10″ at the end of last year, you would have been greeted with the futuristic electro-funk first single “Sounds Sane”. Their earlier character and attitude is kept intact, even if it is slightly less euphoric.

Lazer Sword – “Sounds Sane”

“Toldyall” reveals a new influence for the duo approaching the UK bass music stratosphere, filtered through juke rhythms. It’s this approach that helps give this album its deserved top marks. Fortunately Lazer Sword don’t sit comfortably with ubiquitous US/UK cross pollination and still come up with a few surprises. “Missed A Spot” keeps the future electro pulse throughout, with the first hints of techno coming to the surface courtesy of classic filtered synth stabs. Stepping up the gear slightly “Point Of Return” has crunchier classic electro beats, a fierce growing synth and the mandatory chopped up vocal, that evolve into serious breakdance territory. “Point of Return” is a highlight on the record and a perfect example of a track that would work on headphones while also defying anyone not to throw their best shapes on the dancefloor.

Berlin-based American Jimmy Edgar collaborates on the clearest techno influenced track. A slow hypnotic rhythm, a cheeky chopped-up and vocoded vocal, topped off with Jimmy Edgar’s urgent lyrics demanding you to get down and work it. “Pleasure Zone” touches once again on classic electro sounds with sophisticated results and approaching the end of the album we come to the second collaboration, this time with fellow New Yorker Machinedrum. “CHSEN” is perhaps one of the most complex tracks on the record, with elements coming in and out of focus and a relentless beat driving the machine forward. “People” certainly closes the album on a high note. The pounding, slow but distorted 4×4 beat and a Zomby-esque synth arpeggio helps set the melancholic mood to soothe the listener out, leaving you with a sense of lightness. This is not vintage Lazer Sword but it works wonders here.

Even if the hysteria of the first album is missing somewhat, this slight turn in direction definitely works in their favor and demonstrates a duo that has grown both in quality and confidence. It’s also no mean feat that this album sounds so tight and coherent considering it was produced over two continents. Modeselektor have hit the spot in signing this duo to their ranks and surely Lazer Sword feel right at home. The Monkeytown has two new inhabitants and they’ve come to stay.

Memory is out on Monkeytown records and is now available on double LP.

Though he died at the young age of 33, classical pianist Dinu Lipatti left a recorded legacy of such ethereal quality that he’s considered a sorcerer in a class of his own.

When I was twelve I had a particular yearning to play the piano whilst on holiday in India. Pianos are a rarity in the state I live in and the few that are there were mostly abandoned curiosities in old stately homes or the belongings of Christian families. Nonetheless, my grandmother made inquiries as to where I could find a piano to practice on, leading me to an elderly piano teacher in the city by the name of Lancelot Thomas.

Lancelot was not an easy man to make conversation with. I sat in on his first lesson of the evening to watch an 8-year-old labouring with a Bach Invention. After 2 minutes of plodding the wrong keys and generally exhibiting his lack of practice Lancelot smacked him, hard, across the nape. The boy’s head recoiled to its original position almost immediately. Next, Lancelot asked me to play what I knew. I had been learning a prelude by Rachmaninov and had only completed the first page. After I had finished playing, Lancelot told me in a very grave and quiet voice that it was terrible and that I shouldn’t consider playing this piece for another 15 years. I considered the comment more welcome than the smack the kid before me got. He then asked me to sit in a very dark corner of his enormous lounge and read a chapter from a dust-worn journal. The chapter was on the Romanian pianist Dinu Lipatti. With the scathing criticism still ringing in my ears, the only thing I recall from the chapter was a sentence where it described Lipatti’s fingers as spaghetti; which formed the recurrent rhyme ‘Dinu Lipatti, fingers like spaghetti’ in my head.

What I failed to appreciate at the time was just how important this profile of a virtuoso was to Lancelot. Being the age before discogs or even the internet, the man had never come across any of Lipatti’s rare recordings but still spoke of the pianist’s talent in religious terms. And years later, this feverish conviction in Lipatti’s ability became obvious when I first came upon his recordings.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Virtuosity for a pianist comes with its own burdens. In Thomas Mann’s Buddenbrooks, Gerda Buddenbrook advises a piano teacher that her talented child Hanno must be developed as an accompanist rather than a soloist as “there is always the danger of yielding to more or less complete virtuosity.” But in saying that, Gerda Buddenbrook is only referring to one specific type of pianist.

In the world of virtuosity a helpful distinction arises between pianists that are magicians and those that are juggernauts. Magicians are, on the one hand, the masters of tone, phrasing and timbre. Juggernauts on the other hand are renowned for their power, theatricality and stamina. Loosely speaking, the school of juggernauts descend along a line leading from Franz Liszt (along with his scales-obsessed teacher Czerny). The line of magicians is an even more ancient one. A potential list of juggernauts could include Liszt, Rachmaninov, Richter, Gilels and Bolet in comparison to the list of magicians Brendel, Schnabel, Horowitz, Cortot, Arrau and Michelangeli. Dinu Lipatti belongs to the very top of this more ancient category of pianists for the ethereal quality of his recordings.

Lipatti was born in Romania and studied under Cortot with such luminaries as Claire Haskill in the tradition known as the French school of pianism. If there is such a class of pianists called magicians, then the French school made the strong case to be renamed Hogwarts. The magicians at the Ecole Normale de Musique in Paris were characterised by their distance, even aloofness to the piano where their hands glided effortlessly on the keyboard as if they were magnets on opposing poles. Unlike juggernauts, magicians like Lipatti never yielded to their instrument or their virtuosity.

Dinu Lipatti: Fingers like Spaghetti

At first glance it may seem as if a distinction between magicians and juggernauts would merely reflect the chosen repertoire of a pianist. The reasoning here would be that pianists that focused on Bach or the Viennese Fantastisches Vier (Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn and Schubert) naturally inclined for magician’s hands with their deft touch. Brendel and Schnabel support this thesis most strongly. On the other hand, the Romantic composers from Liszt, Chopin and Scriabin et al would be the sole preserve of juggernauts; Richter and Gilels for example. But while there might be a general pattern there are easy counter-examples to be found among recordings. Lipatti was one such pianist having range that extended to works by Brahms, Ravel and Bartok. He also went on to record concertos by Chopin, Schumann and Grieg as well as having prepared for Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto and Tchaikovsky’s famous first concerto before illness prevented him from performing them.

Glenn Gould was another counter-example who performed works outside of his class as–despite being Bach’s greatest cheerleader in the 20th Century—the Canadian eccentric was a juggernaut. Gould’s Goldberg Variations remains an important touchstone in popular culture having appeared as recently as in Steve McQueen’s Shame, a brilliant film about sex-addiction, where the lead character’s only non-pornographic entertainment comes from Gould’s compelling Bach interpretations.

And while Gould’s achievement may be unsurpassable in its popularity, Lipatti’s rare vinyl recordings of Bach’s Partitas and chorales offer the magic touch and are restrained on the rigorous punctuation that Gould uses.

Recordings of Mozart also present the most sublime evidence of Lipatti’s art and it’s truly sad that his early death from Hodgkinson’s at the age of 33 deprived the world of more of his interpretations. Mozart’s collection of sonatas and rondos are all little children. Lipatti’s rendition of Mozart’s A minor Sonata has no equal and magicians—obviously being great with kids –– have the upper hand on juggernauts. Which is why among all of his recordings, a French pressing of Lipatti’s Columbia LP, with works by Bach and Mozart, stands out as his finest.

The last time I saw Lancelot he made me a mixed tape. He idolised the man. That was Lipatti’s spell – to form a myth beyond one’s performances to allow an old Indian man miles away to be spellbound.

Monophonics – not to be confused with The Monophonics (heavy rock band) – were formed in 2005; originally an instrumental ensemble consisting of guitarist Ian McDonald, bass-player Myles O’Mahony, saxophonist Alex Baky, trumpeter Ryan Scott, and drummer Austin Bohlman, the band has recently added the compelling vocal stylings of keyboard-player Kelly Finnigan. The result is horn-driven psychedelic funk interspersed with sultry classic soul in the true Stax records tradition.

Tipping their hat to Sly and the Family Stone, George Clinton and Curtis Mayfield to name but a few, Monophonics latest release is a trip through sweat-soaked backrooms and smoke-filled basements. But while the bands influences are clear, they have managed to transform them into something fresh and vital. Acoustically rich and warm, Monophonics recorded In Your Brain on an 8 track quarter-inch tape machine, using vintage microphones and spring reverbs and delays, allowing them to recreate wholly the true vintage sound of that era.

As well as having a coherent sound as an album, the individual songs on In Your Brain are diverse in nature, ranging from the cinematic swoon of “Mirage” to the rootsy street funk of “All Together”, from the mellifluous “Say You Love Me”, to the anthemic “Foolish Love”. And their cover of Sonny Bono’s “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)” sounds almost more authentic than the original.

While this is Monophonics third full length release, it is their first release on the Ubiquity label and it seems only right that Monophonics should have joined these ranks. Here’s why. Once upon a time there was a small shop in the Bay Area of San Francisco that had built a reputation the world over as a place to find rare vinyl; a harbor for collectors, DJs, and producers alike looking for soul, funk or jazz obscurities. With only one thousand dollars capital and little knowledge of the record business, the owner of this little shop, Michael McFadin, decided to branch out and the Luv N’ Haight record label was born. In 1993 the company incorporated as Ubiquity Recordings, releasing hip-hop, jazz, funk and electronic music. Ubiquity now boasts such artists as Greyboy, James Taylor Quartet, The Platinum Pied Pipers, Ohmega Watts and Sa-Ra Creative Collective.

Hailing from the same area and formed amidst the abundant musical culture of the Bay Area, Monophonics are proudly carrying on the tradition of the styles native to their hometown which bloomed during the ‘Summer of Love’; those famous few months in 1967 in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district, when new styles of music and art changed the world. This was the birth of psychedelia; a current that runs throughout the In Your Brain album.

Recently dubbed “the hottest funk band in the Bay Area” Monophonics definitely seem to be a band on the rise. If classic-era funk from the 1960s and 70s is your thing, this album is a must.

In Your Brain was released on 15th May on Ubiquity Records.

Pangaea is the last recording of Miles’ electric 70s period. It is comprised of two consecutive concerts in Osaka on February 1, 1975, with the Matinée show released as Agharta in 1976. After that night, Miles went on a five year hiatus, mentally and physically at the end of his tether, with a broken hip and too many problems to be listed on this page. In his autobiography he confessed to going on a sex and drugs binge. However, as important as it is to know the circumstantial facts that surround this album, it is the music itself which most accurately describes Davis at this stage of his life.

The album kicks in with a frantic, aggressive and heavy drumbeat, followed by a wall of sound of wah wah triggered guitars handled by Reggie Lucas and the unique and remarkable Pete Cosey. The percussionists enter the fray and they’re all over the place; Miles and his band are running the electric voodoo down and it smells like hellfire. The trumpet wails like an injured animal about to see red and explode. This septet pumps breathlessly through the beat, riffing their asses off with no end in sight.

Just when you’re about to realize what the expression “all hell breaking loose” might sound like, the whole thing dissolves and liquifies into hot lava when Miles hits all the keys of the organ hard at the end of a manic and tortuous guitar solo. Thus begins a journey to the center of the earth, the mind, the pit, the nucleus or whatever appropriate synonym is needed to describe this descent into a man’s soul, fighting with the demons of noises and notes to put his existence into perspective. And soul it becomes, again and again, over and over. Dissonance layered over conga grooves and hypnotic wah wah licks. The horns have become intertwined in an unlikely marriage with Hendrix’s ghost over a funky and distorted bass line and they’re about to rocket into space. This is the music of the next fifty years in the making.

Miles Davis – “Zimbabwe” (Live, part 1)

That was “Zimbabwe”, the track that fills the first record of this double album and clocks at 41:48. The second record consists of a track named “Gondwana”. The title refers to one of the two supercontinents, the other one being “Pangaea”, that crashed into each other six million years ago to shape earth the way it looks now. The music on this part of the album is a much quieter and of a whole different matter. Nonetheless it is as adventurous as “Zimbabwe”, with its ever shifting atmospheres and moods. We are walking on the surface, foreign in a foreign land, confronted with the beauty and dangers of nature. To visualize it is to think of a Henri Rousseau painting with vitriol thrown on it, with its acid-rock inspired solos, bathed in evocative flute whistles, gentle percussions and sweet organ melodies, sometimes disrupted by threatening electrified walking-basslines. The trumpet is sparse, like on all electric miles albums of that period. This is a subtle, “well” tempered and artful study of themes and subjects, a moving picture with a groove.

This track has been likened to some of Sun Ra’s work, but it is perhaps best to compare them as two sides of the same coin. Ra channeled the same kind of “no-holds-barred” approach and fearless energy, but in the opposite direction. If Miles was more about a burning hell in the centre of the earth Ra was disintegrating into the sun.

After this mind-altering listening experience one comes to the conclusion that every post-Bitches Brew recording was just building up to the climax crystalized in Pangaea and that Japan was probably the best place to make this happen. A country in a constant state of ebullition where the earth’s magma moves tectonic plates and fires up volcanoes to let off steam and shake its very foundation on a regular basis. Combined with the historical events of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the nuclear coming of age in the distant future that culminated in Fukushima, it is no wonder it became a “safe” haven for noise music to develop into sophistication.

Pangaea is the work of a great heretic going up in flames on a bonfire of sound in order to achieve sainthood. Amen!

Otis Jackson, Renaissance Man. Although never reported to have constructed a helicopter, Madlib’s skill-set can be said to exceed even his vast array of pseudonyms. While a comprehensive list of The Beat Konducta’s accomplishments would take on Sisyphean proportions, rest assured that the Oxnard-native is currently the only DJ with a legendary high-pitch alter ego to have produced albums with J Dilla and MF DOOM while also being a one-man jazz quintet and having had his loop-digging hands in the crates of close to every imaginable part of the world. His latest project, a monster of ambition in 13 parts, shows that Madlib is as much Midas as he is Leonardo – and a true postmodern virtuoso.

Originally intended as a year-long 12-part-series with monthly releases, Madlib’s Medicine Show kicked off in February 2010 with the releases of #1: Before the Verdict and #2: Flight to Brazil. The first installment served as an appetizer for Madlib’s forthcoming collaboration as OJ Simpson with rough and rugged Motor City-MC Guilty Simpson, while the follow-up was an 80-minute DJ mix of psychedelic Brazilian jazz-funk.

This also introduced the concept of releases with uneven numbers consisting of Madlib’s own productions, while theme-based DJ mixes accounted for the even-numbered issues.
Madlib & Guilty Simpson – Robbery (OJ Simpson Remix) (Medicine Show #1)

For fans of obscure, left-field tunes buried in the crates, the Loop Digga’s mixes proved to be as infuriating as they were mind-blowing. Madlib consistently supplied his listeners with brilliant selections, but the track lists were never more than jokes or puns on the theme. The song titles on the reggae/dub-centric #4: 420 Chalice All-Stars (AKA Son of Super Ape) for example include “What Are the Medical Benefits of Smoking Marijuana?” and “So What Does the Law Say About These Dispensaries and Their Various Pot Products?”.

The remaining three mixes of the series were #6: The Brain Wreck Show, which featured psychedelic prog and funk from the late 60’s and early 70’s, the dazzling 80-minute jazz mix #8: Advanced Jazz and perhaps Madlib’s crowning mix-achievement, the intoxicatingly lively #10: Black Soul, mixing obscure gems of disco, soul and funk.

The high standard set by the even numbered mixtapes was met by the beat tapes, which have always been a strong point in Madlib’s game. #3: Beat Konducta in Africa obviously mined sources from the Motherland, while #5: History of the Loop Digga, 1990-2000 presented a particular delicacy for many Madlib fans, as it compiled unreleased beat sketches from his early days.
Madlib – Static Invazion (Medicine Show #5)

#7: High Jazz was billed as yet another release by Yesterdays New Quintet, a fictional jazz group with each of the members in fact being a Madlib alter ego.

Medicine Show #9: Channel 85 Presents Nittyville was the point where things got a bit off schedule, as the joint album with Detroit rapper and longtime Dilla-affiliate Frank Nitt took longer than expected to be completed, seeing the light of day in May 2011 (and after #10 and #11) instead of September 2010. Incorporating an entire studio album with 14 original songs into his already high velocity release schedule turned out to be a bit of a stretch, even for a man of Madlib’s zeal.

#11: Low Budget High Fi Music then presented a rather straightforward compilation of rap tunes from different collaborators over Beat Konducta instrumentation, before OJ went all out one (presumably) last time with #12: Raw Medicine (Madlib Remixes), combining elements from DJing and beat producing, mixing up different underground rap classics.
Inspectah Deck/Raekwon – Speaking Real Words/Fire Water (Madlib Remix) (Medicine Show #12)

In early 2012, the rumors about a 13th addition to the project were officially confirmed by Stones Throw but the content of the tape was kept secret until the very end – except for the fact that it would be restricted to consumers over 18. As it turns out, the reason for this is not a musical one, but rather the controversial “mutant porn” artwork. #13: The Black Tape itself is in principal very similar to the twelfth outing in that it combines Madlib beats and classic rap verses into a likable mix, sprinkling even some Beatles-snippets in between parts by Nas and 50 Cent.

As a whole, Madlib’s Medicine Show demonstrates just how well-rounded and multi-talented of a musician Otis Jackson Jr. really is. His mixing skills and his digger spirit are perplexing, his beat making skills still innovative and intriguing, his feel for music in all its different shapes and forms hardly matched. You don’t come across this kind of talent very often, even though there is so much of it you can listen to.
Madlib – Unknown 5 (Medicine Show #13)

Illustration by Data Rusty

The constellation made this little 45 a definitive one to check out – and i was not disappointed: it’s on the famed Jammy riddim “Boops” and is loaded with the beautiful “Dancehall-Bandolero” chatting of one Delroy Thompson a.k.a. Pinchers.Originally released in 1991 and also featured on the “Bandolero” Lp released in the same year under the title “Si Mi Ya”.

Btw a direct translation from someone “in the know” concerning the title would be much appreciated as i am left puzzling.

Hell Yea…
Last month iCrates.tv hit Roadburn Festival and brought back a truckload of charred asphalt, 7 toasted hitchhikers and a whole tyre-yard of fantastic video material. After weeks of tyreless (oh yes!) editing and we’re ready to climb back into the driving seat, put the peddle to the METAL and present part 1 of the Roadburn Diaries. We discuss what separates the Roadburn Festival 2012 from the rest of the crop and catch up on Burning World Records and the release of Conan’s second album, “Monnos”. You might also wanna have a look at our “Internal Void record giveaway“, happening right now. CANYONERO!

Whether you like it or not, the word ‘virtuoso’ conjures up images of single musicians playing with blistering technicality and little or no soul. Demonstrations of technicality are not without merit in the musical world, but when you’re faced with an ego summit like the G3 concerts hosted by Joe Satriani, it’s hard not to turn off in the face of such bland musical supremacy. And yet the word ‘virtuoso’ has become corrupted by overuse in one particular context. The definition of ‘virtuoso’ is quite simply a consummate artist, many of the finest of whom can be found buried away in that most perennially ignored genre of music, metal.

It would be impossible to name all of those artists in the field of metal deserving of the title virtuoso, so I’ll demonstrate the point with three bands who exemplify different sub-genres of metal and whose musicians have reached a level of technical proficiency that not only outstrips much of what is available in the mainstream but which has been most perfidiously ignored by fans and critics alike.

Death Metal

Our first band is the mighty Arch Enemy. It would be foolish indeed to attempt any discussion of musical virtuosity and ignore one of melodic death metal’s leading lights. Any single one of their albums would be enough to convince of the ludicrous abilities that this band can bring to bear. However we would like to offer as evidence not just the shredding skills of Michael and Christopher Amott, but also the remarkable drumming of Daniel Erlandsson whose drum solo on the ‘Tyrants of the rising sun’ DVD (2008 – Century Media) is a mini work of art that would leave many drummers gasping in its wake. Moreover, it is not only a drum solo that captures a musician in full flight, but it was done in a way that proved to be both jaw dropping and exquisitely entertaining.

And yet for the most part individual ego comes in second because in metal it is the song that takes precedence. The extreme technicality frequently demonstrated across the gamut of Arch Enemy’s extensive catalogue is only ever to serve the purpose the song at hand rather than as a sop to the ego of an individual musician.

To return then to the guitarists of the band, Christopher and Michael Amott are both remarkable lead guitarists whose lightening fret-board work is as complex and technical as you’ll find at any music master-class. The first is ‘Pilgrim’, a re-recording of which is featured on ‘The Root of All Evil’ (2009 – Century media), exhibiting perfect examples of Christopher’s fluid soloing. ‘Doomsday Machine’ (2005 – Century Media), meanwhile, throws up ‘Nemesis’ which captures both guitarists duelling as if their lives depend upon it. The blistering fret-work would dash the hopes of any hoping to follow in the band’s footsteps and ‘Nemesis’ demonstrates without a shadow of a doubt that you can be both heavy and technical, sacrificing neither passion nor virtuosity in the process.

Progressive Metal

With Arch Enemy existing at the extreme end of metal, it is time to turn our attention in a more mainstream direction. Dream Theater are, without doubt, the virtuoso band of choice within the field of progressive metal. Featuring a rare array of artists whose dedication to their craft has won them legions of fans, it is the god-like guitar playing of John Petrucci and the tub-thumping skills of both departed drummer Mike Portnoy and current drum-stool resident Mike Mangini that electrify audiences across the globe. It doesn’t really matter which songs you choose as evidence, as pretty much everything the band have ever laid down will demonstrate an ability that is far from common place, but as a starting point for the uninitiated how about the mind-boggling Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence (2002 – Elektra Records) – a forty-two minute epic that has yet to be topped and which highlights a band whose ambition is clearly matched by their admirable skills. Elements of jazz, folk and classical music all appear throughout the song’s complex, and yet never overwhelming, structure and John Petrucci, as he so often does, shines with his remarkable guitar playing proving frequently to be the focal point of the music.

For those wishing to experience the might of new-boy Mike Mangini, however, then a track from the latest album A Dramatic Turn of Events (2011 – Roadrunner) is needed, and few could be more indicative of virtuosity than the mind-blowing ‘Bridges in the Sky’, an eleven minute exercise in atmospheric musicianship and adrenalin-charged metal that takes a near ambient intro, throws in some neo-classical strains and then mutates into a full-on metal track that gives Mike plenty of room to flex his muscles whilst also demonstrating his ability to change time signatures on a knife edge. An hour spent watching the DVD that comes with the album should be enough to convince you that Mike is actually part octopus, so impressive are his skills (he even blows the band away).

Dave Mustaine, Megadeth and Thrash Metal

Last, but by no means least, there is one man whose ego possibly does match that of conventional virtuosos, but whose contribution to the world of metal is indisputable. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Dave Mustaine, former member of Metallica and founder of the mighty Megadeth, an act arguably far better than Dave’s former outfit, without scaling Metallica’s dizzying commercial heights. Indeed, at least three of Megadeth’s early albums are bona-fide classics of the thrash genre (1986’s Peace Sells… But Who’s Buying?; 1988’s So Far, So Good… So What? and 1990’s Rust in Peace (all on Capitol)), with two more coming damn close (Countdown to Extinction (1992 – Capitol) and Youthanasia (1994 – Capitol)). Better still, despite a fallow patch with 1999’s Risk (Capitol), Megadeth have been on the rise once more with recent albums Endgame (2009 – Roadrunner) and Thirteen (2011 – Roadrunner) both proving to be up there with Dave’s best work both in terms of song writing and musicianship.

What is inescapable, however, is that whatever you may think of the music, or even Dave Mustaine himself his ability on the guitar is a thing of mind-blowing, devilish, proportions. The gargantuan riffs that feed Megadeth’s albums are high-octane, nitrous fuelled beasts. One listen to Endgame’s opening pair of ‘Dialectic Chaos’ and ‘This Day We Fight’ should be more than enough to convince you of the man’s blazing skills, while Dave’s finest six minutes is surely ‘Holy Wars… The Punishment Due’, an epic musical masterpiece that puts all the praise heaped on to ‘Master of Puppets’ in context. Indeed, so large is Dave’s contribution to thrash metal that it is hard to imagine the genre being quite so aggressively inventive in his absence, the flame-headed one’s personality being so ingrained in the genre’s formation. Like the aforementioned Amott brothers and John Petrucci, his abilities are such that should he choose to go off on a G3-style tour of the world with only his talent for company he would come off just as well as his nearest more traditionally-styled competitors.

These three acts serve only as a demonstration, but it is a timely one. At a time when we are able to access and enjoy more music, more quickly than ever before, metal is still inexcusably looked down upon as the poor relation of classic rock or the blues. Yet metal musicians play with a passion, skill and dedication that is second to none, and, if anything, the speed and extremity of metal means that as a testing ground for musicians it is more challenging than any other arena.

As a music fan reading this piece you may or may not have already dismissed metal as unlistenable noise or casually tossed of the opinion that metal is without technical merit. If this article has a purpose it is to encourage you to spend a moment looking at the artists mentioned above objectively and to recognise the huge wealth of talent that exists within the metal field. For sure this article focuses on some of the biggest names, but it could just as well reference Behemoth, Evile, Opeth, Emperor, Satyricon, Queensryche and many, many more as examples of world-class musicians playing the music they love with a fire and technicality that is all-too-often overlooked. Metal is a genre that contains a surfeit of musicians who have developed their skills to a fine point and whose contribution more than deserves to be recognised.

Check out more musings from the world of Sonic Abuse HERE.

Illustration by Harmony Pillon.

Released by Strut Records and New York’s Knitting Factory, Fela Kuti – Live in Detroit 1986 is the first “official” formerly unreleased Fela Kuti album since Underground System in 1992. Twenty years on and it may well have been worth the wait. An official release for the previously bootlegged recording from Fela’s debut US tour with the Egypt 80 band, Live in Detroit clocks in just under two and a half hours and drips in Fela’s consummate musicality, stage presence and social consciousness.

Even his opening words are impregnated with his special brand of sarcasm, humor and political satire: “In my country, you know, things happen… Just like that! You’re going your own way, mind your own business, you doesn’t do shit, doesn’t matter… next thing you know, you’re in prison. Just like that!” The opening song, “Just Like That”, begins slowly but surely, a poly-rhythmic preamble to the wave of a whole continent about to sweep into the motor city. The master magician leads us into a ritual feast and is about to give us more than two hours of exquisite afro-beat. “Just Like That” is great fun and the audience seems ecstatic. The backing vocals frantically repeat the song’s title, Fela croons, preaches, pumps the organ, blows his horn and his great band go with the flow, jazzing out and underlining each emotion, from cheerful laughter to the brink of crying, making you wish you were there.

The next track, “Confusion Break Bones”, is heavily percussive from the start, almost ritualistic, developing into moody melancholia with a beautiful horn section alternating with the chords that Fela layers on his Farfisa. In a constant musical dialogue, you’re reminded of the cultural extension of the transatlantic slave trade, connecting Caribbean off -beat, Cuban and Latin American rhythms to North American jazz all the way back to Africa. “Confusion Break Bones” brings it all back home and it is a long, sad and exhausting journey about the loss and rediscovery of identity. Where his previous band Africa 70 was rebellious and upfront, Egypt 80 seems more self-reflective and tormented. Yes, indeed! Confusion breaks bones and it hurts.

“Teacher don’t teach me nonsense!” the third track of this release is a safari in the proper sense of the word, taking you on a ride. The horns are predominant on this one and it shows how expressive brass instruments can be, be it through solos or powerful sections played in unison. Fela makes the singers repeat his sax phrases exemplifying the influence of Coltrane on Fela’s playing, by using his instrument as a voice. He goes into narrative vocals, the backing singers always on his heels. The man’s function as the conductor of this band is of guidance and he is their guiding light.

The closing track is called “Beast of no nation”. The studio album with the same name was released late in his career (1988) and is a fine example of his late period and the self-reflectiveness mentioned earlier is even more prominent. The backing vocals sound almost childlike and are just heartbreaking. Fela sings about the outside walls of the outside prison, about the worries of the excluded and the gentleness of the music just makes it so much worse. It is music that makes us aware of the suffering of the millions of Africans who pay the price for us to live the “good” life in “Babylon”. This last song, after two hours of magic and wonder, is where Fela’s music transcends into something much more powerful than good entertainment. This is where it becomes a weapon for consciousness and realization. That night, 26 years ago, the motor city was burning.

Fela Kuti – Live in Detroit 1986 was released on 8th May 2012 and is available to buy in magnificent 4LP form from Strut records HERE.