May 31, 2007
This years music heats up in June…
This month sees the release of two eagerly anticipated albums (well, that I’ve been particularly excited about anyway). Queens of the Stone Age release ‘Era Vulgaris’, something that I’ve been waiting on for what seems like a very long time, and which I was lucky enough to receive a pre-release of last week. The other album is Dizzee Rascal’s third, entitled ‘Maths & English‘ - I’ve only heard two tracks from this but if they’re anything to go by the album won’t disappoint. Sirens and Pussyole(Old Skool) both see his lyrics super-tight, delivery styles switching up all over the place and some heavy production that gives more than a nod to Hip Hop from the 80s and 90s (apart from the blatant Rob Base / Lyn Collins sample I’m thinking that thematically Sirens is very similar to Ice T’s 6 in the morning and NWA’s 100 Miles and Running, only with an East-London lean).
Era Vulgaris is a welcome return for QOTSA and is fresh and exciting from the opening grimey percussion of Turning on the Screw through to the final strains of Run Pig Run. Familiar tracks from live performances make welcome appearances as studio recordings (Into the Hollow, Make it wit Chu) and they’ve taken their mix of blues, driving hard rock, technical ability and dark electronic sounds to a new level. I love it - can you tell?