SchnAAk - Wake Up Colossus

SchnAAk - Wake Up Colossus (Discorporate Records)
This time I am reviewing a CD by a band from Berlin called SchnAAk - It was sent to me in a package of CD's to review by Ed who runs Dense Promotions; a music promotions company also based in Berlin, it was very nice getting the CD's in the post and I am liking listening to them very much.
         SchnAAk are Mathias Jähnig and Johannes Döpping from Berlin; Mathias plays guitar, keyboards, fx and sings and Johannes plays drums, percussion, xylophone, toys and also sings - Wake Up Colossus is their first LP and is very nice indeed.
           The first song is called Birds and Grains and starts of with fast guitars and drums and singing like a girl, there aren't any girls in the band so it must one of the men pretending to be a girl. The singing on this like on all the songs is in English even though they are a German band but I can't make out what they are singing about. The next song is called Whoop Whoop and reminds me a bit of T-Rex who I like very much - I've got all their hits on a CD at home. The drumming is very good on this song, in the letter I was sent about this record it says that as well a drum-kit the drummer uses plastic buckets and pieces of metal to drum on and this makes it very interesting to listen to. The singer is singing like a girl again on this song and there is lots of noisy electric guitars and other noises like whistling and the sound of a gaming machine - I sometimes go on the fruit machines and I once won a fiver in an Arcade in Waldorf Street, Soho but most of the time I lose.

SchnAAK in Times Square, New York.

         The next song on the CD is called Tiki and reminds me a bit of Cars by Gary Numan, the singing sounds a bit more like a man singing. I think it reminds me of Cars because there are lots of keyboard sounds on it, It is a very good song. After Tiki is Knuus which I think is a made up word and not German, this song sounds a bit like the music improvisation group we have here at The Gate because we use xylophones and drums here too like on this track. At music improvisation people sing whatever they want and other people play on keyboards and drums and guitars and other stuff - we all like music improvisation very much.
         This is Life Bubbly Hog is the next song and it has even louder guitars than the other songs so far but the same girly voice, they sing and play on this one like they are alcoholics who have had too much to drink - I only drink Coke with ice when I go out, I've never really drunk much but I wouldn't mind getting into drinking some day.

         My Robot Garden is next and starts off very loud with more singing like a girl but it slows down in parts and the vocals get like a man's voice might sound if you slowed it down which is a very interesting way of singing, it sounds a bit like when you play a record at the wrong speed. Next song is called Herero and begins very softly with clapping noises and xylophone or keyboard played quietly and quiet singing, then the electric guitars come in sounding very noisy like an ambulance siren and the song becomes very fast and noisy.

          The next song is called Ping Pong Miracle and has very strange singing on it that sounds like an old record I used to know that I forget the name of, it is an even noisier track than the last one and I liked it a lot because I like noisy music and at home I like to have my CD's turned up very loud - sometimes my support workers tell me to turn it down and I do but I turn it up again when they're not there.

          The second to last song is a mostly quiet one and is sung mainly in the high, girly voice again but there are also bits where the also a voice which is more normal and like a man's. There are lots of interesting noises and sounds in this song, sometimes they reminded me of the noise water makes and sometime of cars and sometimes of a cat stuck in some bushes - I liked listening to all these noises and working out what they reminded me of.  The last song starts of with violin and then gets very noisy indeed and it reminded me of T-rex again but then started sounding like a radio breaking down which is an interesting way to end the song and also the record. 

         Overall I thought this was a good noisy record,  I liked it very much and will listen to it a lot when I take it home and if the guys from the band ever come to London I'd like to meet them; I would take them on the open-top guided bus tour to see the sites and then take them to Soho to my favourite coffee shop Aventi's for something to eat and maybe we could go to a peep show, we would have a nice time. I would give this record 10 out of 10.      

          

Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath

Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath (Sanctuary)
This time I am doing Black Sabbath which I bought from Westfield's HMV in Shepherds Bush with the Sex Pistols CD that I reviewed last time. Black Sabbath were from Birmingham and were one of the first heavy metal bands along with Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple - I remember my sister played me a Deep Purple record in the seventies when we used to live together in North London but I forget which one it was, I liked it a lot though.
           Black Sabbath was released in 1970 and was the first LP by Black Sabbath so it is a very important record. The first song on the record is also called Black Sabbath and it starts off with the sounds you get when it's pouring down with rain and is thundering and with the noise of a church bell, it sounds very frightening. Then the guitars and drums start off and are very loud and slow and then Ozzy Osborne, the singer, starts singing about a figure in black and Satan. Satan is another name for the Devil, the Devil curses people and throws them in the fire and laughs at them, he is not a very nice person. I think he is singing about the Devil because he is a Devil worshipper and doesn't believe in Jesus - I think people who believe in the Devil are not very nice but I still like the music.
           Next song is called The Wizard and has lots of harmonica on it with the electric guitars, it is a fast, very good song about a wizard who makes people happy by casting good spells, If I could do magic like a wizard I would help people out especially people who believe in the Devil because they need help, I would probably cast a spell to make them happier.
           After The Wizard is the third song which is called Behind the Wall of Sleep and is about sleeping, I think, and after this is a song called N.I.B. This song starts off with some bass and then the singing and electric guitars and drums start, it is a very good rocking song and Ozzy sings about being Lucifer which is another name for the Devil, he also sings about being in love so it is a song about the Devil being in love; I don't think it would be nice to be in love with the Devil because he is wicked and does bad things to people. Next song is Evil Woman and in it Ozzy sings "Evil woman, don't you play your games with me" so it is a song about a not nice lady who is probably messing him around maybe by taking his money or shouting at him. I've never had a girlfriend in my life but if I was with a woman who messed me around like that I think i would leave her and find another woman who was nicer to me.

            The next song starts out softly with an acoustic guitar and Ozzy singing about red skies and soft breezes in the trees, you can also hear a jews harp which is a metal instrument you put in your mouth and play with your fingers like in this video:

After this quiet bit the electric guitars come in but there is no more singing this leads into the last song with is called Warning. This is another song about bad relationships, Ozzy is singing about a woman who is going to leave him and how sad sad this makes him. I think it must be terrible to have a girlfriend leave you because you would miss them being around and have no-one to talk to. This song then has a very long guitar solo in it played by Tony Iommi who is a very good guitar player, then Ozzy starts singing again for a bit about his relationship, this is a very good way to end the record.

           Overall I think this is a very good record that I think would be best played at night-time at a party - I would give it 10 out of 10.

The Sex Pistols - Never Mind the Bollocks

The Sex Pistols - Never Mind the Bollocks (Virgin)
This time I am reviewing Never Mind the Bollocks Here's the Sex Pistols. Never Mind the Bollocks is a well known punk-rock record that I had never heard before so I decided to go to Shepherds Bush library to get it out and play it at home so I could review it but I couldn't get it there so had to go to HMV at the Westfield centre where I got it in a 2 for £10 deal with a Black Sabbath album.
              Punk-rock music is a type of music which came out in the mid seventies (the Sex Pistols played their first gig in 1975 when I was 31) and is loud guitar music with shouted vocals and a bit of swearing in the lyrics. The Sex Pistols are a very good punk-rock group who became popular because of songs on this record like God Save the Queen and Anarchy in the UK.
              The first song on this CD is Holiday in the Sun and starts off with the sound of soldiers marching before the music starts with loud guitars and Johnny Rotten, the singer, singing about not wanting to go on holiday in the sun and about the Berlin Wall which was a wall in Germany around communist East Germany. Unlike Johnny, I like sunny holidays very much and am going to the Algarve in Portugal this saturday coming and it will be very hot there. I'm looking forward to it very much and am going to sit on the beach and walk around and go to some restaurants, I might try and find a Portuguese record to review while i'm out there.
              Next up is a song called Bodies and is about a woman from Birmingham who has an abortion - I don't know much much about abortions so i'll just leave that. This is a loud song with a lot of shouting and swearing in it, i don't mind the swearing in it because it's just music. Some people don't like swearing because they think it's bad language, I've never sworn in my life except for in Video Drama but that's okay because it was just acting. After Bodies is No Feelings which is about not caring about other people - There are some people who are like that and I think this is terrible because they have no consideration and hurt people, I think people should be good to each other because it's better to be friendly with people and to care about each others feelings. I've never really had anyone be nasty to me and I think it's because I get on with other people and always have, all my life - I like people very much and don't have a grudge against anybody. Track four is called Liar and is about people telling lies. I don't like people who tell lies and I don't tell lies because it causes trouble. If people tell lies I ignore them and don't take any notice.
               Next on the record is God Save the Queen, this is a famous song because it's about not liking the Queen and so it was quite controversial when it was released as a single. I think some people don't like the Queen because she has too much money and doesn't do anything for herself because servants do everything for her but I think she's probably a very nice person so I don't mind her. After this we have a song called Problems where Johnny Rotten is singing about having problems - I think everybody has problems and that makes life hard, some people have trouble with their wives and youngsters have problems and this isn't good. When I have any problems I speak to my care workers and they sort it out for me but I don't have too many problems really. After this is Seventeen which has a chorus which goes "I'm a lazy sod" that made me laugh.
              Anarchy in the U.K is the next song and is another famous Sex Pistols single. Anarchy is when you don't have any government which would be alright I suppose except I wouldn't get any pension and I might starve then. Submission is next and has some good bits in it where Johnny Rotten isn't singing and is just laughing and making noises like a cockatoo, I liked this one a lot.
             Pretty Vacant is next, this is a very good song with great music and a shouty chorus, it sounds like Johnny Rotten is swearing in it but he's not really.  After this is New York which I think is about not liking Americans and last on the album Is EMI which is about not liking the record company EMI because all EMI cares about is money and the Sex Pistols didn't like that at all which is fair enough.
              Overall I thought this was a nice record and I will listen to it a lot in the future. I would give it 10 out of 10.