Ege Özgün (PHYS/PhD)
ozgun@fen.bilkent.edu.tr
We “have” four aces this week. Although the title is also a reference to an album by D.R.I., none of the bands below belong to the crossover/thrash metal genre. The common characteristic shared by these bands is that all four of them push the limits in their own styles.
Waltari
Waltari is a Finnish band, blending a wide spectrum of genres: from progressive metal to industrial metal and avant-garde, to traces of hip-hop and funk. Kärtsy Hatakka’s vocals can be called the main component in Waltari’s music. His singing is pop-like, with catchy melodies. He mixes this pop-like singing style with an aggressive sound; sometimes he performs rap vocals. Waltari’s overall sound can best be described by the word “spacey,” because of the guitar sound, the use of synths and the wide range of effects in the vocals.
Song suggestions: Atmosfear, Jungle Rats, Rap Your Body Beat, So Fine!, Main Stream, Celtic Funk.
Aphex Twin
Aphex Twin is the most widely known pseudonym used by Richard David James. A British electronic musician, he is one of the creators of the IDM (Intelligent Dance Music) genre. Other genres he is associated with include acid techno, dnb (drum and bass), ambient and ambient techno. He is famous for his use of syncopated and very cleverly written drum machine parts. He has a huge influence on dnb subgenres such as jungle techno and liquid funk.
Song suggestions: Lisbon Acid, Monkey Drummer, Taking Control, Acid 04.
Eagle Twin
Eagle Twin is a two-piece band from the United States, with Tyler Smith as the drummer and Gentry Densley carrying the guitar and vocal duties. In their music, they fuse the stoner, sludge, drone and doom metal genres. They have a unique sound, which arises from the fact that they don’t use a bass guitar, but instead a regular guitar tuned down to an extreme degree, which can be heard as a heavily distorted bass in most of their tracks.
Song suggestions: Crow Hymn, Snake Hymn
Naked City
Naked City is a project by the saxophonist John Zorn. Zorn is a jazz musician involved in many different projects in a variety of musical styles, including avant-garde, free jazz, death metal, grindcore, experimental, noise and many more. Naked City’s lineup includes Bill Frisell, Wayne Horvitz, Joey Baron, Fred Frith and Yamatsuka Eye. Mike Patton of Faith No More and Fantômas has joined the band in some of their live shows. Naked City’s music is very chaotic. Most of the time it’s extremely high tempo, and there are genre(!) changes every couple of measures. Zorn’s crazy saxophone playing is in some 
instances hardly distinguishable from Eye’s screaming.
Song suggestions: Thrash Jazz Assassin, Shock Corridor, Speed Freaks, Bloodduster, Poison Head
I recommend all four bands to everyone, but to be more specific, Aphex Twin is recommended to every electronic music lover who has not yet encountered his work; Eagle Twin to stoner/sludge fans; and Waltari and Naked City to those who enjoy the fusion of genres. Stay connected to music.