Nest - Woodsmoke.

This is a band I discovered by accident, whilst putting my entire music collection onto my new laptop.

Ages ago I had downloaded a few Agalloch CDs. Agalloch and Nest had recorded a split together at some stage, which I wasn't aware of then. In my downloading, I apparently acquired this Nest album without realising it. I'd never checked the folder until now, and I'm glad that I did, yet wish I had done so earlier.

Nest are a two piece Finnish outfit who create beautiful ambient/folk music, mostly featuring the kantele, a traditional Finnish instrument. The songs are truly beautiful, with sounds of nature and a spaced out feel. The musicianship is brilliant and simple, creating a relaxing, mellowed out musical style that is very easily comparable to Agalloch.

Woodsmoke is their first full length, full of themes and imagery of the wilderness. The Silvershade Lynx is a gentle start to the album, with flutes playing throughout, creating a soft haunting feel to the music. Each song seems to have a distinctive sound; The Call Of The Wild has a soft earthy drone that runs throughout the song, changing pitch on the odd occasion and By The Healing Waters living up to the name by including the calming sound of running streams.

Each song seems to fit its title perfectly. Summer Storm is about as erratic as this CD gets, as if it is reflecting an actual storm. Calmly Passing Monument features music that could easily be mistaken as a lost Enya track, with the exception of the male vocals that overlap. Courting is an airy, romantic track. Dainty little tunes from each instrument included in the song give the illusion that perhaps you are courting, or being courted, and engaging in a lovely dinner via candlelight on a balcony just after sundown.

It is not surprising if in listening to this CD, you feel like you are currently situated in the forest, perhaps roaming the woodland or foraging for food; setting up camp or merely exploring. This is one of the most beautiful albums I've ever heard; the Finnish can do no wrong as far as I'm concerned. I highly recommend this CD if you're looking for something different, or just wanting to relax and wind down.

DOWNLOAD:
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Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz! [2009]

I am going to sum this cd up with one word. One impolite, 'vulgar' word: Fuck.

This cd is so goddamn good that I wish to fornicate with it. I'm going to keep this really simple today.

While the last album release from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs (Show Your Bones) showed a relatively soft, laid back, simplistic indie feel, It's Blitz! has come along, which may as well read a sticker urging you to forget the past releases, and be prepared to be smacked with a cat that barks. If the cat can have a new sound, so can the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

It starts with the first single Zero, which has a noticable electro vibe running throughout it, which would make it feel quite at home in a dingly club full of indie hipsters who are standing around tall tables, sipping their fancy drinks and daring to not move a muscle to the beat of the music around them for fear of ruining their image. Hardly pretentious, even if the people in said fictional club are.

Don't be put off, in the offchance that you are, because it only gets better from there. Continuing with the sexy new electro feel, Heads Will Roll, which is so ridiculously catchy that there must be something wrong with your brain if it doesn't build a nest in the confines of your cranium and refuse to fuck the hell off. It's about then when you should be asking yourself, 'can this cd get any better?'

And the answer is a big fat yes. It really can. Track after track is juicy Yeah Yeah Yeahs goodness, with a delicious sprinkling of synths scattered throughout. Karen O remains as vocally distinctive as ever. No matter how big or little the change in their music, there is no doubting a Yeah Yeah Yeahs song. Ever.

Seriously, listen to this cd if given the opportunity. You won't regret it, and if you do, then it's your loss!

Lacuna Coil - Shallow Life [2009]

The only people who will listen to this and thoroughly enjoy it are people who worship Cristina and would happily eat her shit, have only heard/know about Karmacode and think it's the gospel, or those who will probably one day hear them on mainstream radio and walk around thinking they're gods because they have such genius lyrics like 'I like it, like it'.

Perhaps I'm just a bitter fan who's shitty that they're straying far from the sounds of Unleashed Memories and Comalies and the EPs, I freely admit that, but I know I'm not the only person in the world who thinks these things.

I have no hope for this band anymore. None whatsoever.