Niki N. Phaser

…suffice to say that Muse were never “the cool band to like right now”, they never made trendy music but managed in the decade since their first album’s (Showbiz) release to become an important name in modern rock history. Maybe it’s because, unlike, for example, the current army of new bands with the same haircut and the same music, Muse became a band because they had a musical vision they needed to express and not just to be cooler than the other kids from their high school. And, in the future, when they’ll close the books, The Resistance will be a chapter that holds its piece to Origin of Symmetry or Absolution.

(continue reading…)

No one can accuse The Black Eyed Peas of being trend-followers instead of trend-setters. They’ve always made their own way through the dangerous world of pop, the place where you need so much more than good music in order to survive. Their originality is obvious on all levels and their last album The E.N.D. (The Energy Never Dies) is no exception. There are things on it that sound like what’s pop in pop right now. The electro overdose is something quite in fashion these days, but overall this album is a world and a genre in itself, different even from other Black Eyed Peas offerings. And yet… this is not necessarily a good thing…

In their desire to do something crazy and extreme, The Black Eyed Peas got caught in that trap visited by many artists who were looking for a big change, even though this change was not a natural one. You can force change, but if it doesn’t come as a revelation, it might sound just like that: forced. And many of the tracks from The E.N.D. have this feature.

(continue reading…)

First of all, you should know that this is not your ordinary pop album, which has some upbeat songs, some ballads, opens with something up-tempo and ends with the longest song. This is not even your ordinary Moby album. There are no tracks here which will get played in Upper East Side hip clubs. No 1000 bpm. There are hardly any drums on it. This might as well be called Moby’s synth strings and pads album. There were signs of the coming of Wait for Me. Ambient instrumentals like the Intro from Hotel or My Weakness from Play would fit without any problems on this new collection. Wait for Me is also the kind of album which works really great if you listen to all of it. It’s a lot like a soundtrack, even the songs with voices.

(continue reading…)