Tag Archives: album review

The Black Ghosts – When Animals Stare

  July 18, 2011 - 11:09 pm |
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The Black Ghosts are back with When Animals Stare

When I first downloaded the new Black Ghost album, “When Animals Stare”, I was very afraid of hearing the dreaded sophomore slump. The first album was so great there was no way that this duo could top it, could they? I am happy to report that Theo Keating (Fake Blood) and Simon William Lord (Simian) did not disappoint with the new LP. Electronic fans across the world on August 1st will absolutely love what The Black Ghost created with “When Animals Stare.” The sound is distinctly Black Ghost from the vocals but the production is very different on this one. When Animals Stare has a funk & edge that is completely addictive. Much like the first LP, the more I listened to it, the more I had to have more. I have gone from one listen every few days to multiple listens now in the same day.

The great thing about having two very talented musicians is that each can bring so much to the collaboration. It’s interesting to hear what both of these very talented club djs bring to the table with their newest project. If your expecting to hear club bangers, you came to the wrong place. If you interested in hearing a plethora of instruments, modulations, and smooth grooves you will love When Animals Stare. I really enjoy the change of pace and mood that The Black Ghost sprinkle throughout the new LP. This new wave of pop electronica will no doubt gain the same level of popularity that fellow genera artists like Miike Snow and Junior Boys have created. It’s only a matter of time before you hear them on your fm dial or on the next season of Grey’s Anatomy. Enjoy them to yourselves before they are property of the world…

SBTRKT

  June 27, 2011 - 10:16 pm |
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I feel really bad about keeping this band away from you guys. I have been selfish. I have literally been listening to SBTRKT’s newest album for almost a week now. I just wanted to keep it to myself for a little bit longer. Well the wait is over and the new album is out on Young Turks Records. Soon there will people experiencing their sound.

So what is so special about SBTRKT? Everything? Damn, that is such a shitty answer but it’s true. I have been listening to music religiously now for almost two decades. You hear a lot of copies of generas and sounds. Some are very good at their craft so sound like carbon-copies. But then there are bands that just drop a bomb on you. Your senses get overloaded from the foreignness. That makes a post like this so difficult. I am now rambling trying to find comparisons. How exactly do you describe a band that you yourself can’t compare.

I’ll just tell you what I like about SBTRKT. I love the R&B vocals between what sounds like one male and one female singer. I can’t tell you who is singing on the album since very little information about the production is released. All I know is the Sampha and Little Dragons perform on two of the songs featured here (above) SBTRKT’s has kept his alias anonymous. Seriously, I am not making this up. The guy performs with a mask when doing lives show and keeps his identity a secret. Even interviews are done completely blind.

If you pressured to categorize SBTRKT’s music I would say it’s Bass Music. Even that categorization does a dis justice to the music. There are elements of garage, dubstep, electro, and bass music but all of it is twisted into whimsical spaced out hybrid. What makes this album really exciting for me is the applications into popular music. Everyone of these songs you could slip into top 40 music and it would take off. The sound would be completely foreign to most listeners but the song writing is brilliant. It is genera, aged defying, race and culture bridging brilliance.

SBTRKT – ‘I Look At Stars’ ft Sampha from Charlie & Joe on Vimeo.