Soundgarden - "Live to Rise"

Nearly three months ago, I said, "I think I'm finally ready to start posting here again too."  It was a nice thought, but I guess it just wasn't meant to be.  Oh well - I still think of this blog quite often, but the combination of good free music and time to write about it has been rather elusive.  I have a good song for you tonight, though.

Over the last couple of years, Soundgarden have been slowly but surely putting together one of the best reunions I've ever witnessed, although it probably helps that I was a massive fan of them back in the 90s when they broke up.  From a few one-off shows, to a compilation album packed with hits, rarities, and a brand new song (albeit one that was written and partially recorded nearly two decades prior to its release), to their first-ever live album, to their first tour in fourteen years, to a new album that is due to be released sometime this year, they have once again become a musical force to be reckoned with.  Today marked yet another milestone in their return: the release of their first newly written single since they began their reunion.  "Live to Rise" will be featured on the soundtrack to The Avengers and, for a limited time, can be downloaded for free from iTunes.

I hear a bit of an Audioslave sound in most of the song, but in reality I guess it's more of a Chris Cornell sound, since he wrote the song.  The guitar solo is definitely all Soundgarden, though - I've really missed Kim Thayil all these years!  The best part is that this is just a taste of what is to come - I can't wait to hear the new album!

Happy listening!

URL:

http://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/live-to-rise-single/id516435279

Daniel Bautista - Symphony No. 1 in A minor, Op. 12

Hey, remember me?  It's been an awfully long time since I've posted here - more than a year, it seems, and even longer since I've posted regularly.  I think I just got overwhelmed with a lot of things in 2010, and blogging was something that had to go, despite a few attempts to get back into it.  However,  I had a wonderful time posting about Christmas music on my other blog last month, so I think I'm finally ready to start posting here again too.

The first album I want to share is Daniel Bautista's Symphony No. 1 in A minor, Op. 12.  If you're a longtime reader of this blog, you might recognize the name from a post I did about three years ago.  This new album has as its centerpiece an original symphony for guitars, drums, and bass.  It sounds like an extremely ambitious undertaking, but I think he pretty much nailed it.  Even though I was already familiar with his work, I still found myself pleasantly surprised by this album.  It's very heavy, complex, and melodic.  It's also very memorable - I have caught myself humming and whistling some of the themes from it on many occasions.  I really hope that the "No. 1" in the title is a sign of things to come - I would love to hear more symphonies from this amazingly talented musician.

After the four movements of the symphony have concluded, there are a few bonus tracks to round out the album, including a beautiful version of Satie's  "Gymnopedie No. 1" and a cool progressive metal track called "Free Guitars Forever".  All in all, I would highly recommend this album to any fans of classical or progressive metal music.

Happy listening!

URL:

http://www.jamendo.com/en/album/104855

Girl Talk - All Day

Girl Talk's All Day is a mindblowing mash up of 374 different songs (seriously - you can see the whole list of sampled songs right here), overlapping and segueing seamlessly throughout the course of the album's 71 minutes.  The site states that the album "is intended to be listened to as a whole," and I would highly recommend doing so.  I tried listening to bits and pieces of it just to get a feel for it, but nothing about it really clicked for me.  At first, I thought that maybe it was because I don't seem to be familiar with the majority of the sampled music.  However, when I finally got a chance to listen to the entire album in one sitting, I found myself enjoying it more and more the longer it played.  By the middle of the album, where U2's "With Or Without You" is used as a backdrop for a couple of songs, including Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance", I was already amazed by what I was hearing; when the "Layla" coda showed up a few minutes later, my mind was officially blown.

There are no breaks in the music at all, but it is structured in such a way that it builds and releases many times over the course of the album.  While I find that my favourite moments (such as the ones mentioned above) involve songs that I know and love, the sense of anticipation is also a hugely enjoyable part of this album.  Now that I've heard the whole thing a few times, I'm also having a lot of fun listening for bits and pieces of songs that I know are in there somewhere but still haven't managed to hear; the two Van Halen songs, in particular, are driving me nuts, as I still haven't recognized them anywhere on the album.

The album is available in both MP3 and FLAC formats, and as either separate tracks or one seamless file.  For the optimal experience, I would recommend grabbing one of the seamless files, especially if you don't have something that is capable if playing gapless audio; the nonstop flow of music really is one of the album's strong points.  One final thing to mention is this infographic detailing the start times of each of the samples; it's optimized for the separately tracked version of the album, but it's still a very cool resource (and if I don't hear those Van Halen songs in there soon, I'll definitely be taking a closer look at the infographic for some assistance!).  Happy listening!

URL:

http://illegal-art.net/allday/