An animalistic week

Returning from two weeks of vacation, I haven't had much time to focus on music this week. But I did pick up a couple of new CDs a couple of days ago, and here is my initial reaction to each of them.

> Animal Alpha
The first CD is by one of the most touted bands in Norway this year, the Oslo based Animal Alpha.

The band is led by the charismatic singer Agneta Maria Forfang Kjølsrud, who reminds me of a mixture of Courtney Love and Katie Jane Garside (for those of you that remember Daisy Chainsaw). After doing well in NRK P3's "Rørt og urørt 2005" contest the band signed a record deal with the Norwegian record label Racing Junior which resulted in an EP in June. This summer the band played on the bigger stages at a number of national festivals, such as the Øya, Quart and Slottsfjellet.

On September 5 Animal Alpha's highly anticipated debut album, Pheromones, was released on Racing Junior. It was produced by Sylvia Massy Shivy, who has produced artists such as Red Hot Chili Peppers, Skunk Anansie and Seigmen earlier. Musically it follows up where the EP left, with hard but melodic rock.

Using her flexible voice to full effect Kjølsrud gives us a great treatment on this record, what a voice!! And tracks such as Catch me and Most wanted cowboy really do bring back the memories of Daisy Chainsaw at their best; excellent hard rock, with blazing guitars and an emotional femal voice! Not all the songs are equally exciting, but their first hit (if that word can be used in this context) - Bundy - is still a strong track, so is I.R.W.Y.T.D and my personal MP3-favorite from a couple of months ago - Billy Bob Jackson - which is my personal favorite on this album so far.

All in all a good debut, but I expect even more in the future!

> Gorillaz
I've been rather slow to pick up on Gorillaz, the experimental outfit led by former Blur frontman Damon Albarn. But when I eventually bought their debut album a year ago I did find it very pleasing, so when I found their new album - Demon days - on sale I decided to invest in that one too.

After a few repeats I've got a strong feeling that Demon Days is even better than their debut album, it's more varied - less "dancy" - with music ranging from choirs to simple rock-like tunes. And the melodies are pretty decent too.

I still have to give this album time to settle and grow, but I have a feeling that it will be constantly on in my discman for the next couple of weeks.

I'll return with a more detailed review later...