Dharmata 101 comes to us straight from the mind of JSun Bruner, a very talented and creative songwriter and musician.  His latest release, Protest Songs for the Content is nothing less of amazing, bringing the listener to world after world of unique colors and sounds.

 The first track, intro / awaken (swallowed) is one of my favorites from the album.  In the words of my best friend, this song has balls!  Edgy, distorted keyboards, drums and vocals take the lead in this track, and its tempo keeps you on your toes at all times.  Another one of my favorites from the disc is the vocoder driven radio quizotic.  This song has an edge to it, (driven by the vocals and drums,) which is nicely complimented by the quirky, amost jazzy, keyboard part.  It makes me think of what you might hear if you combined ohGr with Portishead… 

 While a lot of the disc is edgy and somewhat hard hitting, much of it is just the opposite.  Outline (of my shadow) stands out from the rest of disc the most in this regard.  There’s a lot of neat dynamic contrast throughout the song which to me is something that will set a good album apart from a great one.  While much of the song is in a minor key, the real surprise comes later on in the track when the chord structure moves into a lively sounding, almost uplifiting major key near the end.  It’s one of those great songwriting moments that you just don’t seem to hear as much these days, making it a definite must listen for the disc.

 Overall, Protest Songs for the Content is a must listen!  Dharmata 101 is a very unique artist, and this album definitely won’t let you down!

http://www.myspace.com/dharmata101
http://www.dharmata101.com
http://www.radio-active-music.com

Dharmata 101 has some cool songs… like that cool one a few tracks into the disc… with the sounds and all.

..and that’s not all! 

 This guy plays a lot of neat sounding keyboards.  Some of them sound cooler than others and all, but I think he saved the best ones for this album…  with the exception of his broken one.  I think he’s waiting to use that for another disc.

and on that note, the real review for Protest Songs for the Content is coming soon… 

It’s rare for me to get excited about live performances these days, especially when it comes to big name artists, but Nine Inch Nails and their Lights in the Sky tour is by far an exception.  I attended the show in Dallas this year and had a great seat for one of the best live performances I’ve been able to see.

Trent Reznor, the man behind Nine Inch Nails, has really outdone himself this time.  The tour not only showcases the fine music of Nine Inch Nails, but does so with some amazing musicians backing Reznor up.  Trent is accompanied by drummer Josh Freese, keyboardist Alessandro Cortini, guitarist Robin Finck and Justin Meldal-Johnsen on bass.  Not only do each one of these members have some great credentials; they back them up with some extrordinary talent.

 The band started off the night with a few songs from their new album, The Slip as well as a handful of songs from previous ones.  The light show during the earlier part of the set was reminiscent of past NIN shows with heavy fog and a lot of bright, flashing patterns.  They cut from the past quickly and eventually started playing behind and in between several mesh type LCD screens which could literally make the band disappear from the crowd’s sight at any given moment, and gave them a very stimulating stage set to play with. 

Then there were the different intermission like sets that the band played in the middle of the show.  The first smaller set was a four piece setup at the edge of the stage that you might see a more traditional electonic / industrial band use.  Each member had access to a number of instruments, control surfaces and keyboards to create all the music including the drums.  In a top notch performance, the band manipulated their electronic toys with ease, creating a unique performance of which will probably be never heard again in the way it was presented:  One of kind and amazing!  After several songs presented in this manner, the band once again left the stage.

 The next set of the show was put together in what would be best described as a pseudo-acoustic type setup.  Reznor performed on a marimba for several of the songs, Meldal-Johnsen played upright bass, and the stage was arranged in a smaller, more intimate kind of way.  Material from the instrumental album, Ghosts was heard, as well as one of the coolest arrangements of Piggy, which included phenomenal drum breaks from Josh Freese.

 As the night progressed, the band returned back to their larger style stage setup, played several big hits including Wish, March of the Pigs and Head Like a Hole.  At the shows end, a very kind Trent Reznor and crew, left the stage one by one, each waving to the crowd until only Trent remained, who finished playing, waved and left.  A very classy ending to an amazing show.

 All in all, this would have to rank in the very top as being one of the best, (if not the best,) live performance I’ve ever attended.  With the quality of some amazing musicianship and great songs to go with it, this show was almost like experiencing Nine Inch Nails for the first time.  Much attention was obviously paid to details from the lights, to the arrangements to even the quality of sound in the venue, and it made for a show that will be hard to top.

Otto’s Daughter’s A New Kind of Heroine is one mean sounding disc!  The female fronted band has a hard hitting metal sound, dark vocals, and just the right amount of electronic elements to keep you heavily stimulated from beginning to end.

I first listened to the album in my car while driving to work, and I got there a lot faster than normal.  It’s got a great beat and a lot of drving songs like the first track, Kiss My Ass…  you just can’t beat the hard hitting sound of this band.  The vocals are a little bit different from a lot of other female fronted bands, but that’s part of the allure of this band.  The dark nature of Jacqueline Van Bierk’s voice is really what gives this band its edge… it’s over the top!

While A New Kind of Heroine an amazingly well produced disc, I strongly feel that Otto’s Daughter probably shines most on stage. The energy is there just waiting to hit you twice as hard live, and I can imagine that it makes for an amazing live show!

If you haven’t had a chance to hear this band yet, I strongly suggest that you do so, but do it with caution… if you’re listening to them in the car, you might find yourself driving just a little bit too fast!

Check out Otto’s Daughter on Myspace at: http://www.myspace.com/ottosdaughter.

It’s finally here!  You can get your hands on the complete track set here:

http://www.alternativeexplosion.com/gravityeuphonic/DanceorDieRemix.zip

It’s a pretty big file, but once you get it, extract the tracks and read the readme file for all the details.  The song is 142 BPM and I’ve set it up in a bunch of 16 bit stereo wav files for your convienence. 

Once you’re done with the remix, send it to us at gravityeuphonic@gmail.com and we’ll check it out.  We’re going to be setting up a myspace page for the remixes that we like, so be sure to look for it in the next few days and add yourself to our friends. 

 We’re looking forward to hearing what you guys do with the song.  I’ll be sending some of the copies to clubs in Dallas for play and if you guys have any local places that want to spin your work, let us know so we can keep track of where we’re being played!

 Happy Remixing!!!

I’ve come to a conclusion about something while sitting here in a daze at work.  It’s a really simple concept I think. 

I’ll start giving a crap once you start paying me more.

That’s it.  The job I currently have is a very silly one.  I’m supposed to entertain a bunch of teenage kids, but since I don’t give a damn, I find that I don’t even try anymore…  and the beauty of it is that the people I work under don’t even notice. 

The company has another establishment like this one elsewhere in the country, and it’s apparently very successful.  I’ve seen videos and pictures of the place…  I guess it’s cool, but I don’t really care.  I show up to work, do my job and leave…  and you know what?  My paycheck sucks!  Strangely enough, I’m paid better than anyone else here.  Weird shit. 

So yeah.  I’m sticking with the statement I made above.  You know…  the one about caring about this stupid job.  Whatever.

and…  I could kick these customers in the teeth right about now.  FUCK YOU!  I’M BLOGGING!