Unkle War Stories CD Review
New Album Fusions Rock and Electronica with the Help of Guests
With the help of some big name and newcomer guests, Unkle releases War Stories, which erases the line between rock and electronica.
What happens when rock and electronica blend together? The answer is one of this year’s best albums: War Stories. A set of intense rock songs softened and polished with electronic beats, masterfully arranged by trip-hop artists: Unkle. With the collaboration of high profile musicians as guests in almost every song, the chemistry throughout the album is pretty clear and the results are just incredible.
Rock and Electronica Fusion
Combining these two genres is nothing new, many artists and bands have done it before, and some pretty cool results have come out. Important artists like Moby, Björk, Massive Attack and the Chemical Brothers have used this fusion to create their own sound. Even so, it is very common to distinguish a thin line which separates one style from another. The greatest quality about War Stories is that these guys erased that line. The subtlety they used when combining lyrics, drums, electric guitars and electronic beats was almost flawless, resulting in a very detached homogeneous sound.
Although sometimes the songs tend to lean a bit towards a progressive rock sound, there is always something else going on in the background, containing the music from spreading to straight out rock. The fact that this time producer Chris Gross (Queens of the Stone Age, Masters of Reality) co-produced the album is very noticeable, but not to worry, here is where Unkle´s Lavelle and File use their skills to polish the sharp edges using every possible resource. Hold My Hand (which is Lavelle´s outstanding singing debut) and Burn My Shadow are the clearer examples of this process, in which each song is constantly being redirected to the refined style Unkle is creating. Beginning with aggressive beats which are softened very gradually, yet never loosing their climatic moments.
From Big Names to Interesting Newcomers
War Stories was recorded in the Joshua Tree Desert, outside Los Angeles, California. This is home to The Dessert Sessions recordings, Josh Homme´s (QOTSA) second home. Many very important groups have recorded and played in the desert rock and roll heaven like ranch. This time Unkle reunited some very big names (Josh Homme, Chris Gross, Massive Attack’s 3D, Ian Astbury) and some very interesting newcomers (Autolux, Gavin Clark, The Duke Spirit) resulting in 13 very diverse and independent tracks. Apparently they had a great time making the record because the chemistry and the fluidity each song has is very refreshing, and makes it a very easy listening album. Twilight featuring Massive Attack’s 3D might just be their best example.
File and Lavelle where very careful approaching each guest in the album, brainstorming with each one of them, contributing and listening in the most democratic way possible and not leaving anything unsaid. Mixture of ideas and styles is the soul of the album combining indie rock, hard rock, alternative rock, electronica and trip-hop giving War Stories an intense bittersweet sound. Its intensity flows thanks to the talent and parallel thinking of everyone involved in the making of this album.
Be Your Own Critic
Critics didn’t like War Stories that much. It had some positive reviews, but mainly they where on the negative side. Having this in mind, remember the following: 1) use critics reviews as guides, read the review completely and do not only jump directly to see the posted grade (1-100, stars, letter grades, and so on), 2) reviews (including this one of course) are very subjective, and depend on personal interpretations.
If you are interested in any album or group and their reviews aren’t all that good, take a chance and make your own opinion (many of the favorite albums this writer listens to aren’t the best reviewed). Take some time and listen to War Stories, forget the reviews (yes, also this one) and subjectively make your own.
