#14: JK Flesh - 'Rise Above'
Listen to the colossal album opener "tunnel"! Not only is this the best JK Flesh album yet, it is also a classic album from Justin K Broadrick that matches up with the likes of fellow Englishman Mick Harris, aka Scorn, and other noisey proto-dubstep movements such as Meat Beat Manifesto and Muslimgauze. Broadrick has been so prolific and been around long enough that he goes through some ebb and flow in his career; he is back on a peak recently. As far as a mention of the word dubstep, I find this slower and more noisey proto version of dubstep much more enjoyable than the copycat genre we hear today. It is much more like dub reggae but fused with noise and industrial music. The layering that happens can be endless, but with 'Rise Above' Broadrick goes more minimal. This minimalist aesthetic that is perfectly executed production-wise drives the album. The distorted synth textures and crunchy basslines fuse together and create a gestalt effect, as the layers are in the production of each individual instrument themselves rather than creating layered orchestration. Since the production is layered upon itself it makes everything pop and each instrument is so dense and immense sounding that it is one of the heaviest electronic music albums I've ever heard. It is also slathered in analog warmth and goodness making it even more captivating since it sounds much less cold than your usual digital production. This is a nice session album when you just want to listen to something on headphones that will let you zone out and think. It is both relaxing and stimulating. 'Rise Above' lacks the vocals of the first JK Flesh album, but it takes what we've heard previously and refines them into something more densely and crushingly effecting. The unique and over the top sounding analog production heard on other JK Flesh releases has finally been honed into something that sounds entirely natural and organic while still sending buzzsaws of distorted noise at you in utmost clarity. That said, on this release I felt that it could benefit from some vocals even if mixed low or guest vocalists on half the tracks. Or, include even more obvious nods to industrial music with movie or tv samples, or some other transportational layer to coat the relentless beat and grinding bass noises, whatever would make sense. Since it is so minimalistic and repetitive, the album does drag towards the end when it slows down to a near halt on the last two tracks. That said, I think there is room for improvement and we are about to see some true next level captivating shit next time around, but this is a gigantic step in the right direction. There is not enough of this type of music out there, so it is a most welcome addition to the subgenre, whatever it is. Proto-dubstep? Grime? Industrial noise beats? Noise hop? Whatever it is, it is a fantastically distorted and heavy electronic excursion into an interesting pocket dimension that seems to emanate from England every few years.
0 Comments
Although there are some albums on this list that rock very hard, or for some, could be called Heavy (or even Metal), there were so many quality albums that were released in 2013 that I am making two year end lists to kick off the blog version of Questionable Taste (what once was a facebook page for my internet radio station called Through The Cracks, which morphed into some other manifestation of posting some music through the magic of youtube). "Like" the Facebook version of this blog on your Facebook please, if you are into that, so you can get any updates..
The purpose of this inaugural post is to get a list out there as quickly as possible, since this page is not really done yet, and 2014 is now well under way. I cannot even explain how excited I am about music right now, both as a listener and as a musician... it is truly a wonder to be into and follow the routes music is taking currently. Production keeps getting better, the musicians more imaginative and more connected to information than ever, and the cross referencing of ideas is phenomenal. Music is everywhere, and it has never been so easy to get the word out about it. Which is another problem unto itself, to get noticed or even recognition; but I digress. What makes this year different from my tumblr blog about 2012's music is that I am going to just list my favorite albums of 2013, and not worry about a cutoff (the blog format was a top 40). Since I know that I loved more than 40 albums from 2013, I am moving on from that format. Also, I will not do a countdown to #1 album style of blog, as I felt that was too arbitrary a way of doing things, and made me look at music rating too linearly, or whatever... maybe hierarchically is a better way to describe what I was doing. And tier-ing is lame and played out, isn't it? So I suppose I will still rate the albums, as I go through and review them all (albeit more succinctly than last year) alphabetically this time, according to 6 categories. Just like everyone, my taste is difficult to attribute to anything or to sum up, predict, etc. Music is just super subjective like that (which is part of what makes it so great). The things that I have been liking more and more over time are jazz and experimental music, and pop less and less. And I will always love heavy music, innovative and/or adventurous rock and roll, as well as electronic music of the progressive variety (well, prog probably applies to all those other genres too, but sometimes I can find prog to be exceedingly boring or cheesy). So all I can offer here is my expert, completely subjective as ever and convoluted opinion; and hope to turn people on to some music they would not have heard otherwise. Ok, so, the list, is what this is all about... the non-metal list:
And now, for the Honorable Mentions...
Well, that's that, and that was there. 2013 was an incredibly great year for music, and I encourage you to get every one of those albums I just listed, even the Honorable's. Next up, will be my picks for best Heavy Metal albums of 2013! |
AuthorG.M. Bowles Archives
February 2017
Categories
All
|