Ilya K have released an EP called The Pink Blood (available for download and on their Myspace). Its an eclectic, adventurous piece of surreal work that starts with some glorious tribal drums and chants and then gently meanders through 5 and quarter minutes of Syd Barrett tinged weirdness and clutch burning tempo and style changes that System of a Down would be proud of. Its a unique and profoundly odd track but, the oddness is not random, its made that way and well crafted. A first listen may cause a bit of head-scratching but it really does have, albeit a carefully designed, car-crash quality that you can't help but looking at. The amount of 'left-field' ideas crammed into the song allows for repeated listening and that tribal start becomes very addictive after a 2nd listen. For novelty factor alone, The Pink Blood made me nose through Ilya K's back catalogue and what a diversity of sounds there are to explore! No two tracks are the same, sometimes even one track isn't the same... Before dismissing anything as 'a bit too weird' I would recommend several listens and checking out tracks like 'Glass Eye' and 'Empire is a cave' which are far more accessible than The Pink Blood and give you a much better overview of what Ilya K can do. But be prepared for a Dark Side Of The Moon style journey.
If you took a large box of musical styles and dropped it out of a 10th story window, Ilya K would be picking up what's left and make something pretty interesting with the bits. Listening to The Pink Blood - and their other tracks is a great if somewhat trippy experience but they have a great knack of assembling a farrago of ideas interlaced with some sneaky commercial hooks and into something really very listenable indeed. It would be wrong (if impossible) of me to try and draw any comparisons with other bands - which on its own, has to be a good thing.
Interstellar Burst from Derby describe themselves an a Art-Rock band - and y'know what? There's only an actual definition of Art-Rock (you learn something new every day...). So here it is;
"Art rock is a term used to describe a subgenre of rock music with "experimental or avant-garde influences" that emphasizes "novel sonic texture." Art rock is an "intrinsically album-based" form, which takes "advantage of the format's capacity for longer, more complex compositions and extended instrumental explorations. The Golden Age of Rock lectures define art rock as "a piece of music in the rock idiom that is appealing more intellectually or musically, that is, not formulated along pop lines for mass consumption. It's usually somewhat experimental. It often employs a long structure with several themes like classical music, though sometimes it's a suite of individual songs. One unifying feature is that Art Rock almost always features keyboards more than guitar." As well, art rock is "not so much for dancing as for listening and it often tells a story or has a philosophical theme to the lyric"
Frankly Interstellar Burst fit the definition almost to a tee. Their band are standard indie line-up but their music is deconstructed, a bit mad and thrashy at times and thoughful and musical in others, glued together with no apparent rhyme or reason. Songs like 'Chewing my Ass' (yes, really) shows all of those qualities with some very listenable musical segments interspersed with some flights of trashy madness. As the definition says "art rock is not so much for dancing as for listening..". Spot on. 'Look left and right' is quirky and angular with no regard to a plot, but its listenable with some perseverance and Fatal Errorhas outbreaks of a quality song surrounded by a jumble sale of indie rock ideas. I have seen a few Art-House band down South here and while they are a very acquired taste, I do enjoy the change of scenery once in a while, (if I can manage to leave my preconceptions at the door). If you fancy a jaunt down Unusual Lane and can be prepared for something different, and if you can accept music with no particular formula or pidgeon-hole, Interstellar Burst might be your thing. Oh and top marks for one of the best Myspace bios I've read in ages!
Idlehands from Limerick have a single out on February 8th called 'Stay Around'. It comes from a folky acoustic song layered up into anthemic choruses, sung superbly by Adam Hourigan and underpinned with some deft touches of strings while ably backed up by the band. It is very reminiscent of Snowpatrol (with strong echoes of 'Chasing Cars') or Athlete, and if thats your thing, this single can happily compete alongside them. It is genuinely well written and excellently recorded and will make a fantastic single if it gets some deserved exposure. A cracking little song.
As Idlehands drop down the slip road of unsigned to the motorway of of similar genre bands, I wish them all the best. They have a great, if well trodden sound and have obviously achieved some successes already, such as winning a Jack Daniels band competition. Its a good job I heard the song first though, because having read their rather, 'we're-going-to-be-great-we-are' writings online, might have left a rather saccharine aftertaste (leave it to others to provide the praise and promise of greatness, guys). But musically, top drawer. Check it out, I recommend you get it, its worth it.
Review by Drumhead
RANK:***** 5 out of 6
READY FOR MORE
Here is a band with trashing gutair riffs and some sweet melodies due for release in the summer of 07 this is a great listen with tracks like " Ready for more " with its upbeat rhythm and kick ass lyrics, "Tell it" a more suttle tune with some cool effects and a moody bass line, "Two hands to the world" this song has a more indie feeling coming from it a nice change on the album yet they still hold there cool rock feel, "Realise" this is a nice acoustic mellow song with catchy lyrics and a nice driving chorus,vocals sound really well on this song, "Fall to life" a cool intro in this song and held very well when the vocals kick in, good chorus and a great melodie coming from the gutair, this is a good upbeat tune. "Out of everything" good vocals and has a good commercial feel to it with some good gutair work too. "Mountains" here is another track with a indie element coming from it with the Idont care attitude from the lyrics very good. "Follow" this is a more upbeat song with smashing drums and catchy gutair playing... the feet are starting to tap,cool. "Save myself" more of a metal/grunge feel in this one with it rolling gutair riff and dynamic vocals. "Wait for the sun" another good tune with some cool gutair playing with a indie heavy rock feel but works very well with the vocals, good chorus. "Me and ivory" this is a cool addition to the album kind of round of a roller coaster ride, nice laid back acoustic song great lyrics and fantastic vioce.
