Tag: Throw Down Bones

Top 30 Albums of 2018: #’s 10 – 6

Here we are at my top 10 albums of the year.  Read on to see who made the cut.

#10: Khruangbin – Con Todo El Mundo – I was a bit late to the Khruangbin party, but I’m glad I showed up.  This three-piece makes beautiful psychedelic jazz with few vocals.  The tones they produce are so clear they’re almost like Tibetan mediation singing bells.

#9: Janelle Monae – Dirty Computer – Ms. Monae is a genius.  She can blend hip-hop, R&B, electro, jazz, and rock with such ease that it sounds like she’s cloned herself at least five times and each of those clones studied a different genre to mastery.  Knowing her love of androids and science fiction, this wouldn’t surprise me at all if it were true.

#8 – Cookin’ Soul and MF DOOM – DOOM XMAS – I don’t remember how I stumbled upon this album after Christmas Day, but I’m glad I did.  It’s a wicked mix of lyrics by MF DOOM and Christmas-inspired beats by Cookin’ Soul.  Any DOOM is good DOOM, and this collaboration is among his best.

#7: Throw Down Bones – Two – I stumbled upon this excellent electro / industrial / rave album on Bandcamp and it turned out to be the best electronic music record I heard all year.  This will be booming in your favorite club soon if it isn’t already.

#6: Ron Gallo – Stardust Birthday Party – I’ve enjoyed Mr. Gallo’s garage punk music since I saw him open for Screaming Females in a dive bar a couple years ago.  Now he’s put out a Zen-punk record that blew my mind and included my top single of the year – “Always Elsewhere.”

The top five will be revealed tomorrow!

Keep your mind open.

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Review: Thrown Down Bones – Two

Italy’s Thrown Down Bones (Dave Gali and Francesco Vanni) fully embrace their love of breakbeat, house, rave, and dance music on their newest album – Two.  Mixing synths with effects pedals, electronic drums, and touches of industrial guitars, TDB gets you moving from the outset and don’t let up until the LP ends.

The thumping beats and chugging bass that open the album and “First Follower” bring to mind some of Depeche Mode‘s darker tracks, and the pulsing, laser gun-like synths take us into sci-fi anime realms.  The stunning “We Are Drugs” is your favorite industrial dance track of the year.  The heavy but sharp bass line alone is worth the album’s purchase price.

The guitars on “Slow Violence” sound like an orchestrated saw mill (in a good way) while the synths bring a well-balanced light to the track.  “NO-FI” is dark wave meets future noir dance music.  It’s so slick that it might cause you to slip if you’re walking while listening to it.

You will love “Golovkin” if you were ever part of the 1990’s rave culture.  It’s like stepping out of a strobe light-emblazoned time machine shaped like a pacifier.  TBD clearly isn’t screwing around by this point and are staking their claim as one of the premiere electro dance track artists of Europe (if not worldwide).  “Is This Us” keeps the amps at eleven by upping the distortion and the impact of the beats.

The backward-sounding bass on “Known Unknown” immediately intrigues you, and then the John Carpenter-like keyboard rhythms get you moving (or running from a Blade Runner, vampire, alien, or ninjas).  By the time we get to the closer, “Zero Day Exploit,” you are deep in the Matrix with images of computer code, flying cars, robot soldiers, and android pole dancers flashing through your head.

Two is one of the most exciting records I’ve heard all year.  It grabs you in the first few moments and holds on like a tandem skydiver until the end.

Keep your mind open.

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