N°122 DA WEASEL - DIALECTOS DA TERNURA

I’ll make it easy for me and stay in Portugal as the link and I’ll also stick a bit with the genre. Da Weasel was formed by MC Pacman and MC Virgul in 1993. The band seized to exist only recently in 2010 without any explanation. Too bad you might say since Da Weasel had a very good live act with a complete band on stage.

It all started in 1993 when they released a first EP named ‘More than 30 Motherfuckers’. An Ep which set the tone for the rest of their career. Although releasing this EP in English, the first full album carried a Portuguese title and all tracks were also in Portuguese. If I say that they sought their inspiration with Cypress Hill and Public Enemy you can imagine the tone of the full album.

Only in 1997 Virgul joined Da Weasel to replace Yen Sung who went full time solo as a DJ. Virgul added ska and reggae to the band’s sound. This sound influenced the EP 3^° Capitulo in a certain way and Da Weasel changed styles a bit.

After recording their fourth studio album (which has a very difficult title to write down) they were asked to do the warm up for the Red Hot Chili Peppers on their Portuguese stop on their Californication tour. After this memorable moment for the band a few more left and joined Da Weasel only to leave MC Pacman and Virgul as a security. In 2004 they even changed producers and the following album was a great commercial success. Re-Definitions made platinum in Portugal and the band again decided to go on tour through Europe and Brazil in 2005.

They managed to release one more album and again it reached platinum within days. Amor, Escarnio e Maldizir would be their last album ever since they’d split up two years after. Maybe because Pacman and Virgul didn’t want to cooperate with each other no more, maybe because of other reasons. We’ll probably never know.

N°121 BURAKA SOM SISTEMA - HANGOVER

It was actually quite hard to link the Balthazar song or band so I types in Balthazar in google and came up with an American beer brand. And what does beer sometimes give you? A hangover off course so here we go with Hangover from Buraka Som Sistema.

BSS is a Portuguese dance project performing a style called progressive kuduro. Kuduro is actually an Angolan dance and music style, born out of mixing different traditional African carnival music. Since Angola used to be a Portuguese colony its logic the music also reach the European mainland.

The formation of Buraka Som Sistema was founded in 2006 by a few DJ’s and rappers. I’ll name their nicknames: Li’l John, Conductor and DJ Riot. The only one performing under his own name is Kalaf Angelo. Conductor is an African hip hop producer and met the others as the band Cool Train Crew while touring in Portugal. They were all looking to create a kuduro collective and this is how their collaboration started out.

Their first two singles led to a first full album in 2007 named From Buraka To The World. Buraca is actually a parish in the city of Amadora, north of Lissabon. That same year after touring BSS found help with a few excellent performers such as M.I.A. for the single ‘Sound Of Buraka’ and Pongolove for the single ‘Kalemba’. Both songs can be found on their second album Black Diamond.

Until 2010 they performed at different European festivals mostly situated in the class of world music festivals but in 2011 their break through with a bigger audience happens with the release of their third, yet most successful album Komba. Their hit single ‘Hangover’ reached high in the charts in most European countries.

I did choose the Hangover single since It’s their biggest hit in the whole of Europe. So grab some alcohol, bottom’s up, and get ready for a little party with this Portuguese sound system (som sistema)?

N°120 BALTHAZAR - FIFTEEN FLOORS

With an Ep, two early releases, one full album and a second on the way the Belgian rok band Balthazar has been quite busy the past few years. It all started in 2004.

When the band Lost And Found with Maarten Devoldere, Jinte Deprez and Patricia Vanneste wins the competition of Kunstbende (art gang) it was clear there was a lot of talent and chemistry available in the western part of Belgium. They renamed the band to Balthazar and in 2006 they are award with the audience price of that year’s Humo Rockrally. Time for them to create and release a first EP carrying the nme of the band. Early the following year they decide to switch drummer and bass and from that moment on the current formation of the band is complete. Apart from the earlier mentioned foudners there’s also Simon Casier and Christophe Claeys. New settings and they are invited to a few Belgian festivals where they give it their best. The first ever single ‘This Is A Flirt’ was already recorded and released with the complete band as it currently exists. In 2008 they’d release another single named Bathroom Lovin’ Situations’. More live invitations followed on the biggest Belgian festivals and Balthazar also made their way into the charts.

Yet they found the time right to record a first complete studio album. Awaiting the release of the album in 2010 Maarten and his gang decided to release the first track in December 2009. ‘Fifteen Floors’ got picked up on  the radio a bit and was a great way to promote the first album. Fifteen floors also knocked its way into my music link. When thinking about three doors down I immediately thought of an apartment building and a fifteen floor building seems big enough to fit the picture in my head.

Balthazar received a lot of applause from their fans at the early stage of the band and wanted to give back some by naming the first full album ‘Applause’. And more of that they got from critics all over the land. The album received well and scored the Album Of The Year award in the 2010 Belgian Music Industry Awards. Correct if you listen to songs as ‘The Boatman’ and ‘Hunger At The Door’. For this they were asked to do the warm up for dEus’ European tour.

Check the clip out I’d say and if you like it you just might buy their second album soon. Expectation date: October 15^th, 2012.

N°119 - 3 DOORS DOWN - KRYPTONITE

A few songs back I went to Mississippi and already I return there when talking about the American rock band 3 Doors Down. They’re a band best known for the single I’ve used in the link which is an obvious link while using having Superman mentioned the song before. Kryptonite is also their first single ever released by them in the year 2000. Many call them a one hit wonder but if so then these critics are countered by the fact that not many one hit wonders produce five full albums in twelve years.

Following the hit single, 3 Doors Down got signed by Republic Records and they were given the chance to produce their first album A Better Life. I’m not a critic or anything and this blog is not made to promote any artist, song or album but I must agree with those who say this is their most decent album. One can still discuss if the 2002 Away From The Sun album is also as good as the primus but everything after I just don’t like for myself. This second album by the way overshadowed the first when it comes to copies sold. 3 Doors Down were a successful rock band.

Formed by drummer and vocalist Brad Arnold, guitar bass player Todd Harrell and lead guitar by Matt Roberts they started as a rock cover band. Over time Brad Arnold stated to write his own songs and these were mainly used for the band’s first album. After a while guitar player Chris Henderson joined the band and the first song Kryptonite saw the light as mentioned above followed by the album ‘A Better Life’. On that same album you’ll also find the song ‘Loser’ which I personally think is also a pretty darn good song.

For the next album a drummer got hired while another one did the tour. While the basis of the band stayed together the drums were manned by different people on different occasions. When I think of two songs on the first album I can only find one single worth mentioning on the second: ‘When I’m Gone’. Yet it was a very successful album to them.

After touring the band hosted their own benefit concert. These benefits would be held on a yearly base from 2003 on. 

Their popularity kept growing and when releasing ‘Seventeen Days’, their third studio album and again they went on tour. This time side by side with the band Lynerd Skynerd both headlining fifty-fifty on a tour around the USA. Again there’s only one song that got stuck in my memory and that’s ‘Landing In London’, a soft ballad like song.

Once more they’d dive into the studios and came out to present us the self-titled album in 2008 with more of the same. Songs like ‘It’s Not My Name’ and ‘Train’ aren’t that bad at all but when listening to it they don’t always live up to my expectations. Sorry for the fans but that’s just my opinion. They managed to record a Christmas song by the end of 2009 and this is actually where I think they went wrong. A true rock band does not, never ever, make a song meant for Christmas. Never !!! Luckily it was released to the world digitally and to my knowledge it doesn’t appear on their latest album.

Time Of My Life was recorded in 2010 and released halfway 2011. The band chose ‘When You’re Young’ to be the first single and ‘Every Time You Go’ as the second. Soft titles and soft songs. That’s what happens when a rock band makes Christmas carols. As always they started touring again but right after the tour around the USA and the UK had finished it was clear that Matt Roberts would leave the band with health issues.

Nowadays it is rumoured they’re working on a greatest hits album for 2013. We’ll see what it’ll bring but I’m sure it will find its way to the true fans.

N°118 THE BIG PINK - HIT THE GROUND SUPERMAN

A British duo, Robbie Furze and Milo Cordell, bringing us music lovers a mixture of electronic music and rock. Not a very long existing band so far since they started out back in 2007 but since then, they managed to produce two albums called Brief History Of Love in 2009 and Future This, from early this year.

Both artists started of independently from each other on their own labels, respectively Hate Channel and Merok Records. In between 2007, when they decided to co-operate with each other and 2009 they were able to release a few singles on old school 12’’, all produced on a limited base. Neither of them wanted to take The Big Pink in on their label so these releases went on the 4AD label. All of these singles can be found on the first album A Brief History Of Love. A week before the release they promoted it by launching another single called ‘Dominos’ and following the release they toured Europe, the USA and Japan. This again led to being the supporting act for Muse on their UK Arena tour in 2010. For this The Big Pink thanked Muse with a nice remix of Muse’s song ‘Undisclosed Desires’

A second album was destined to follow rather quickly but release was only foreseen at the start of 2012. So far two singles were released from this album. The first was ‘Lose Your Mind’. A song which opens with a sample of the song ‘Happy House’ by Siouxsie and The Banshees. Personally I picked them up with the second single ‘Hit The Ground Superman’ which was a big hit in my home country.

Superman will by the way be the link into the next song. About the link with Feist I can be brief. Just check the line-up for Pukkelpop festival 2012. They were both on it on the opening day. Unfortunately two other bands (Apocalyptica and Isbells) I wanted to see were scheduled at the same time so I missed out on them. Maybe next time. Since Robbie and Milo do the mixes and electronics on stage they’re accompanied by a drummer (Akiko Matsuura) and a bass guitar player (Adam Prendergast or Leopold Ross) whenever performing a live set. Will Superman hit the ground or will he land smoothly? Up to you to decide.