ΑΛΓ - Schizophrenic Blues (self-released)

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(this review was originally published on the Underketing blog on Mar 8, 2012)



Are you in a hurry ? Reading this review is not necessary. You can, instead of that, go to the release page on Dogmazic.net where you can stream and/or download this album, legally and for free.



This release is open-licensed. You can make copies for your friends.



ΑΛΓ (alpha lambda gamma) is a one man band, located in France, almost always singing in English, who mixes blues, rock and pop influence for a very interesting result. You may know, I like lo-fi releases. This one is not of this kind. It is really professionally recorded, produced and mastered. A thing that I can appreciate too, especially when the usual I-will-sound-louder-than-you tricks are not used ; and this is the case of this album. The production is subtle and very pleasant.



But this wouldn't be enough to have it featured here, because, as you may know. I use to review releases that struck me, releases that I like more than a lot, that I love beyond words. And, yes, this is this kind of release. Here's the few reasons that make me think that this album is exceptional. Yours may differ, but I am pretty sure you can enjoy this release too, whatever your reasons are.



First thing, the song-writing is really, really good. I will not try to explain how the magic operated, but it is here, for sure.



Second thing, the arrangements are over the top. Especially, ΑΛΓ is not afraid of using from time to time slightly out-of-sync riffs, and this is the kind of thing that deserves my respect. But outside this, we got here someone that is truly mastering the writing of arrangements that rocks. Just give the release a listen and you will understand what I mean.



Third thing, the performing is outstanding. Especially, vocals and guitar. When I say 'outstanding', I mean, just, plain 'outstanding'.



A last thing, I suppose that, when listening in a focused manner, you can detect a very light and very subtle subtle alternative/noisy rock touch in these songs. Well, the alt-rock thing is not that hard to notice, actually. The noisy thing is a bit more discreet. But the two things add a lot of value to the album.



I discovered the release a few hours back, with the song 'Christian Mess'. This song immediately triggered in my brain, at an unconscious level, the process of considering the idea of reviewing the release here. And a few hours later, the decision emerged clearly, I had to write a bit about this great album.



Some tracks on this release are made available to the audience through the (net ?)label 'guenille all stars', some other are self-released. This, said, to end this text on a purely factual note. So then, you know what you've got to do now. Scroll up to the top of this message, click on the link, and enjoy !