“Parallax Girl* drops you into neon soundscapes from the depths of New Seoul and the synth waitresses serving you crap food. It's good a synthpop feel, but the frenzy of energy reaches complextro extremes. It's delicious and vocally resonant. This is one of my favourite tracks from Neurocult.

Check these sounds out and grab the lot! I heard an EP was in the pipeline, so watch this space!

Is Coming gets about as raw as you can get without having Drew the guitarist knocking your front teeth out using his guitar as a baseball bat. They have truly embraced what it means to be alternative, not only in the way they have put the album together, but also with the attitude and heart that have gone into it. Those combined have made Is Coming something different and unique out there.

Topically, the album is as wide ranging as the sound. Covering tracks like “Brando”, “Ghost of '57”, “Stoned Ape Theory” and more. Ten tracks take yoou on a wild ride in forty-eight minutes. My favourite track is “Empty the Sun”, with a harder sound, jamming with wailing and screeching guitars. You gotta love the fingernails-down-the-blackboard feeling. It is a track with real punch and emotive pull.

For real artists making a comment not only on life, but on the music industry itself, by just doing what they are doing, Assisted Living have produced a solid album in Is Coming. I have really enjoyed this one and it grows on me more and more with each listen.

The Tranquil Motion is far more than the self-described “retro future ambient space pop” the band has penned on their Ampwall page. This is ambience and delight all the way through. From the digital version of an A Side, the tracks are smoothness, gentle caressing and soul-satisfying to a degree that is mind-blowing. Majestic synths that almost hum and murmur to you overlay a deep undercurrent of soft energy. There is nothing grotesque or brutal about this section of the album. Some of the tracks introduce a feed of more energetic, decidedly un-drone-like sounds, but they never shatter the carefully crafted bubble of the tracks preceding them. This dreamy, gossamer vision building and it is addictive. My favourite track from the A Side is “A3 Gong & Electronics 2”, but only just. All of the tracks here are wonders of craftsmanship and skill. The B Side picks the rhythm up a little, moving away from the drone ambience, but only by a few steps. Even here, you are still deep in the ambience of AIR's ministrations. Guitars and bass feature a little more, but never like that annoying relative who just won't shut up. Each track is skilfully crafted, building on what passed on the A Side. The percussions also gain a more prominent role in building the soundscape AIR is inviting you to travel through. It is warm, complex and thoughtful. In the B Side, the variety of sound will keep you guessing. The guitars are only the beginning. Flutes enter the field, along with pianos. The B Side develops the overall groove, but it never violates the vision.

What All India Radio has done is create a unity through very different parts of the one album. And they have done it so well, the seams are all but invisible. Tranquil Motion is definitely not the album you want in your head when you're at the gym, unless you want to be slumped over the ab-machine. For anyone looking to escape the world for a couple of hours, AIR has got you. Tranquil Moon is the stuff of dreams and bewitching vistas of the mind.

For a first introduction to All India Radio, Tranquil Motion is a stunningly elegant album with a scope wide enough for even the most ambition-loving fans. From the cover to the sound, it really is the total, get-your-dream-on package. This is the passport to destinations unimagined.

To be up front, I am no philosopher and have not read much philosophy outside books that explain to me what major philosophers have said. I haven’t read Karl Marx himself, simply because I don’t understand what he’s getting at. However, I have read a number of other philosophers who have kindly taken it upon themselves to explain Marx and others to idiots like me. It is from that second-hand understanding of what Marx said I am writing. However, whatever errors persist in this article, they are mine and mine alone.

Karl Marx made a big deal about the “means of production”. Basically, the means of production is any process that creates an item from which people can profit. That could be anything from a pencil to a factory robotic system. Marx’s concern about means of production was the power control over said means gave people over others. In the time Marx was writing, workers in factories did not have control over the means of production, much as they still don’t in our time. This left them open to exploitation and victimisation by those privileged elites who maintained control over the means of production and so profited from the labours of others. As part of a class revolution, Marx held that the means of production should be put into the hands of the workers themselves. I am pretty sure Marx would have had a apoplectic fit if he saw what state communism committed in his name.

Using AI to create art is not only a lazy, banal shortcut to supposed ‘artistic skill’, as I have said in a previous article, but it also serves to undermine the freedom of expression which is a human right for all people, including artists. This is made even more concerning, because the health of society can be measured in part, by the freedoms its artists have in expressing subversive ideas. It can be argued those countries in which artists do not have the freedom to call authorities into account or question are less than fully expressing the human potential of the citizens they claim to care for so much. AI only serves to undermine freedom of speech and the ability of art to shock and be controversial as needed for any healthy society.

Let us say I, as an artist, wished to comment on the current situation in Gaza. If I wished to make a brutal, visceral and shocking statement against Israel’s continued murder of Gazans, perhaps one of the best ways to achieve this is to make a comparison between Israel’s military and murderous criminals, like the vile Nazi military. Such a comparison was made in the prompt above. By splattering blood all over a Palestinian flag, another layer of meaning is added. Nightcafe blocked the prompt. No reason was given, but the term “Nazi” was the offending word.

Nightcafe has taken upon itself to censor what can be expressed on its platform. As this is a private platform, Nightcafe is well within their rights to make such decisions, as is any other generative AI company. And therein lies the problem. If art devolves to merely AI, then a user’s freedom to say what they feel is needed can be and is severely curtailed. This is because a company controls the means of production. Nightcafe controls their pet algorithm and the user has no power to make certain statements through its output. Nightcafe, Midjourney and others are concerned about the bottom line on their balance sheets. Much like the disgusting parasites who were factory owners in the 19th century, the continued growth in profits is the main driving force behind generative AI companies. For an artist, the message itself is usually the most important aspect of their art.

Juan in the photo above (not his real name) posts his own art on a wall on a street. Juan uses paint, brushes, air brushes and more to create his images. Unlike myself with Nightcafe, Juan controls the means of production himself and, therefore, is unlimited in what he can express through his art. There is no limit to how many ideologues, politicians, oligarchs, or activists he can metaphorically punch in the guts through his pictures. If he wanted to draw Charles Manson as the idealised father figure, he could do just that and no one could stop him. Juan is the sole person in control of the productive process.

Andres Serrano is a real life example of an artist taking on tough topics and viscerally expressing his views in a shocking way that gets a knee-jerk response. Sometimes, society needs to be offended. Sometimes, artists need to shove a message in society’s face and rub salt (possible urine) into its eyes. Serrano did that with Immersion (Piss Christ) in 1987. Serrano put a small crucifix of Jesus Christ in a tank filled with his own urine and took a photo of it. Serrano was, at the time, a man of faith and a Catholic. In a mind blowing media, Serrano was questioning the church and some of the things that were going on in the church. Of course, the wider community of faith reacted in horror, rather than seek a better understanding of the message. However, Serrano’s control of the creative process ensured he was able to construct the art and put it out there. He controlled the means of production. For Serrano, the message was the only consideration. Not the money.

AI risks putting control of much of the artistic process into the hands of a small number of companies and corporations whose priorities are most likely going to differ from people like Andres Serrano, or people like you. By so doing, corporations and companies such as X, Meta, Nightcafe, Midjourney, Suno and more are able to control artistic expression according to their own dictates and worries. They will move to restrict art which might threaten the profits they hope to garner from users. Companies are less likely to break the law of a country which dangles the promise of new markets. I recall Google having to make some major concessions about Tiananmen Square when they had their brief little affair with China’s communist state.

As a society, we need artists who will call out and question things we may feel uncomfortable with. We need to hear from artists who uphold indigenous land rights, not matter how inconvenient it is for a company or government. We need artists who will speak out against a genocide in Gaza. We need artists to question those ideologies that society holds most dear. Without an artist’s control over their means of production, such powers do not rest in their hands, but in the hands of a select few elites, billionaires and their lap dogs in our governments. And these are the last people who should be making artistic decisions for us, no matter how competent they believe themselves to be. Hey, David?

Photo by Pawel Czerwinski on Unsplash

Righteous follows up by claiming that AI music “[democratises] the creation process”. The emphasis here seems to be on the ideal of treating all people equally, a meaning of the word that only the Merriam-Webster dictionary lists. That aside, Righteous is using a word that sounds good and appeals, but is completely missing the point of a skill-based market.

Not all skills should be “democratised”. Some skills are in the hands of a select, well-trained group for a very good reason. By way of example, please imagine with me that you have a chronic heart problem that requires surgery on your heart. You got to the hospital, meet the surgery team and they fill you in on what to expect. It is not a risky operation and you are feeling good. The staff are professionals and you are going to be fine. On the day, the nurses and doctors prep you for surgery and you are wheeled into the theatre. There, by the tray of tools, in the lead surgeons place, you find yourself looking at me. Conveniently, you notice I have ChatGPT open, and it has helpfully listed a step-by-step process for performing the operation you need. I have little doubt you would not be hanging about to see what happens. My point here is that if there are some skills that should never be democratised as Righteous would like to see done with arts, then democratising skills is not always a good thing. One might argue, in the case of the arts, democratising artistic skills through AI is desirable. However, contrary to some opinion, generative AI does nothing to support the arts, but rather cheapens it. The flood of AI images and, increasingly, music and videos, has pushed real artists onto different platforms. It has also, in some cases, pushed their customers to the same platforms. Also, with art now flooding the market, the laws of the market will dictate a drop in price for real art in order to compete. Recently, Tik Tok axed a few hundred jobs in Singapore because AI could do the same thing. To say AI has no effect is, at best, wilfully ignorant.

My interpretation of the argument we need to “democratise creation process” is simply an argument for people to avoid the years of hard work and graft it takes to hone real artistic skill. If someone wants to be treated equally in the music industry, then they should actually pick up an instrument, (I recommend a banjo), and actually spend the required time learning it, practising it and developing their skills with it. Using AI is merely a short cut that reduces the so-called “musician” to “user”. AI is pure, unadulterated laziness and nothing more. Unlike Mark Knoefler, I have not spent years with fingers bleeding to learn the guitar. That is why he is a guitarist and I am not. He is a musician and I am not. And AI will never change that fact.

Support this petition to ensure AI remains a tool for everyone, not just the elite.

The quote above is by Jack Righteous on PRLog, referring to the petition mentioned above. As a trained linguist, I find the language Righteous uses suggestive of his opinions and beliefs. Here, he is referring to musicians as “the elite”. While the word has a positive meaning in some cases, such as ““elite forces”, Righteous juxtaposes “elite” against “everyone”. The New York Times, as far back as 2008, noted the word “elite” is now a pejorative term and it is likely Righteous is using in that sense to refer to real musicians.

At the very best, Righteous’ arguments in favour of AI music fall flat. He also has a vested interest in keeping AI available, as he is actually trying to sell music on Bandcamp. Along with weak arguments and a vested interest in the issue, the whole petition and position of generative AI in music is looking even weaker.

Photo by Luke Jones on Unsplash.

Three Wyrms over on Ampwall is a release by the band Chalice of Wyrms. It is an instrumental piece harking back to middle age romances of the type of King Arthur and others. And it is done exceptionally well. Musically, this is going to transplant you right into the saga of a medieval questing knight out to give a wyvern a bit of a trim. The synths make a tonne of nods to the styles of the middle ages, from lyre-sounding notes, winds and more. Yet, amidst all the trees of middle ages sound peaks out a little modern synth playfulness. It is magical. It is fun and whimsical. Chaucer was never this much fun and Arthur would just shake his too-serious head. Chalice of Wyrms have made something special here.

The eight tracks are arranged into the three heads of the wyrm: fire, castanets, and dance. And it all comes together as a unified whole, telling the tale and reflecting on a wyrm's life. It is the life of the three heads as a community, and one that has the problems of many of our communities.

Chalice of Wyrms does what many on Ampwall are doing. They are writing and producing truly unique visions of what musical art is and doing it with a style that would stun Lancelot into the embarrassed silence of a naked hobo in the foyer of Buckingham Palace.

Get some energy into your life. Wyrms are full of wild whimsy.

The album itself keeps its psychedelic claws well into the fantasy and sci-fi realms with some wildly grooved up story telling. In the midst of the vocals, the narrator's voice lends the dark, chilling and frigid visage of something not human and not us. Feral Moon is a full on concept album with the sage continuing to future releases, it seems.

It's almost getting cliched for me to say, “I need to pay more attention to this and that music style”, but Spaceseer have dragged dungeon synth onto the radar screen for me. Check these guys out and get into some really trippy uniqueness.

Hats Off Gentlemen (short name, sorry) don't forget the instrumentalists out there with searing, wailing tracks of guitar wonder like “Ultraviolet Catastrophe”. The third track dips its toes into a jazz pond which works. And this is from a old fogey who ain't into jazz. “Cause and Effect (But Not Necessarily in that Order)” drives the instrumentals forward with an almost schizophrenic cat of a track, jazz-like piano and guitars powering through the notes, bolstered by the punch in the jaw of solid power chords. The change up and down of this one track is enough to cause convulsive fits for the unwary. And through in some 1970's style synth, and this is one seriously complex track that fits the theme of the album all the way through. I won't blow the whistle on the rest of “Cause and Effect (But Not Necessarily in that Order)”, because there is some delightful movement.

“The Uncertainty Principle”, the title track, is Hats Off Gentleman at a story-telling peak. With whimsical tunes and vocals simply telling you a yarn, the spell woven through the words and sound drags you into a weird world where you have to wonder what the guy is going to do with a pistol and cyanide. What I really like about this story is the human element Hats Off Gentlemen bring to the album – the human source of much uncertainty in our world.

“One Word That Means The World (Arkhipov)” shifts the whole vibe into the modern age. Melodic, smooth and harmonised, the guitars and vocals are perfect. This is my favourite track on the whole album. Goose-bumps.

In this rock album, the duo Malcolm Galloway and Mark Gatland truly show their erudition (my big word for the day). This album is insanely varied music with real brains behind the lyrics. I had no idea who the hell Heisenberg was until I read the album description. The fact that Gatland and Galloway have used rock to explore a scientific principle through a myriad of very concrete and human motifs simply blows my synapses into oblivion. They have done it so well and it works so wonderfully. This is an album to ruminate on. To let your mind play with and explore.

It is beautiful.

It is deep.

I will be paying more attention to Hats Off Gentlemen Its Adequate in the future.

A side not – you can follow Hats Off Gentlemen on Bluesky.

There is some that reminds me of Greece's Halocraft, with ASBOC bordering on the same whimsy and ethereal imagineering. A listen to “Beneath the Green Cascade” will show you what I mean. It is fun, light and smooth with points of interruption just to make sure you're following along.

“Threads of Time” is one of my favourite tracks of the album, starting low and resonant. Just the way I like it. With the lack of lyrics, humming makes a good substitute. The track is sombre, reflective and emotive all in the right ways, connecting in all of the right places. This is a Mona Lisa in sound, though I suspect Mona Lisa could not pull off the sounds of ASBOC as they do. “Threads of Time” is that one track sucking me into the world of lullabies and break ups, all with the philosophical mindset of Marcus Aurelius the Stoic.

A Sudden Burst of Colour do more than strum guitars on Galvanise. There are other instruments hidden away in the in-betweens of chords and bridges. Motifs hide away in the soundscape waiting for you to discover them and their complex gorgeousness. Galvanise is the “jam in my jellyroll”, to quote a certain security guard from Lethal Weapon 3.

For post rock fans, Galvanise is wonderful journey into the minds of the trio behind the sounds. And yes, you can get it on vinyl! Check these lads out and see what you think!

Voratore by Italian grinders Continuum of Xul (Xul from now on) are, without doubt, up there with the best. Just on thirty-nine minutes is enough for this trio to concuss you into a comatose stupor. In that time, you get through the standard ten tracks. There are no epic attempts to create mega-long tracks or other gimmicks. Xul keep it at the roots of death metal and they promise nothing they don't deliver. Musically, the rhythms are frenetic and don't let up after the first intro track, “Kadhoth”. The guitars of M. Gresele, who handles all of the strings and more, are sledgehammers complemented by the machine-gun blows of a ballpeen hammer to the kneecaps. Chords, howling solos and more make the sound exhilarating and a wild ride with the Headless Horseman. Gresele works the strings at an unrelenting speed and with a tonne of style. M. Bestia slams the drums in avalanche of beats and bass, smashing the faces of any getting too close. It is getting pummelled by thirty-seven combinations from Muhammed Ali. The instruments are a tight unit and they shred as good as the best.

Master T. brings the grind vocals and what can be said. They are low, bombastic, snarling and growling. Master T. brings it all and keeps up the barrage through the entire album in flawless grind.

Unlike a lot of the more polished productions, none of the dark energy is lost in Voratore. You are right there in the pit with the band, raw energy and snarling growls. You are in the Flavian Amphitheatre hoping the lions will go for the dude next you. Xul have not over-done the production and it sounds much better for it. This is a tightly crafted album that packs a kilotonne of fury.

For anyone looking for solid death metal from an indie band, Continuum of Xul are your guys.