Cavalera Conspiracy, "Inflikted"

Few songs display the powers of band chemistry like Cavalera Conspiracy's "Inflikted."


After ruling the death metal landscape through the first half of the '90s, Max Cavalera left Sepultura (and his brother, drummer Igor) to form Soulfly. Neither Soulfly nor Max-less Sepultura ever released anything worth listening to more than once, but I attributed that to Max's inevitable artistic decline and the fact that Sepultura lost their main songwriter, respectively. Whatever the case, both bands went deeper into the Cavaleras' fascination with world music, but no amount of tribal percussion could disguise how far the songwriting had slipped.

But for 2008's Inflikted, the Cavaleras reunited to create their best music since the classic Sepultura days. It helped that they had Gojira's Joe Duplantier and guitar wizard Marc Rizzo on board, but the Cavaleras have always worked with great musicians. Inflikted really scores becauses Max and Igor bring out the best in each other--hearing them apart is like hearing Eddie without Alex, or Dimebag without Vinnie. Check out how little there is to the title song--outside of the chaotic breakdown, there's nothing that a beginner guitar student couldn't play, or no lyrics that any moron couldn't write. But Max's phrasing on both the guitar and vocal lines proves that he never needed any of Soulfly's bells and whistles, just his brother to kick his ass a little.

I am thrilled to see that James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem is producing an EP with Max and Igor Cavalera, described by Igor as "a metal version of the White Stripes." If the jump from Soulfly and recent Sepultura to "Inflikted" is any indication, we have a lot to look forward to.

Kate-mas 2013

Much of the best new non-metal music that I heard in the past year came from Ben-mas 2012, a birthday mix that Kate sent me from England. Artists that I had never heard of or bothered to check out because they had names like Tinie Tempah, Mystery Jets or LCD Soundsystem have been getting stuck in my head and making their way onto my playlists. My response isn't quite as chic, but I'm giving it a shot.



 Kate-mas 2013

1. Japandroids, "The Nights of Wine and Roses"
2. Andrew W.K., "It's Time to Party"
3. Dr. Octagon, "Earth People"
4. Janet Jackson, "Rhythm Nation"
5. Kavinsky feat. Lovefoxxx, "Nightcall"
6. The Zombies, "Care of Cell 44"
7. King's X, "It's Love"
8. The Roots, "The Seed (2.0)"
9. Fiona Apple, "Hot Knife"
10. Santo and Johnny, "Sleepwalk"
11. The Jackson 5, "The Love You Save"
12. Danny Brown, "Radio Song"
13. Lily Allen, "LDN"
14. David Bowie, "Sound and Vision"
15. The Knife, "Heartbeats"
16. Jimmy Cliff, "The Harder They Come"
17. Clipse feat. Slim Thug, "Wamp Wamp (What It Do)"
18. The Afghan Whigs, "Crazy"
19. Penguin Cafe Orchestra, "Telephone and Rubber Band"
20. The Giraffes, "Jr. at His Worst"

 A semi-stylish mix, as imagined by someone who prefers Anthrax to Animal Collective.

Some of my favorite recent songs are here, via Fiona Apple, Japandroids, Danny Brown and the Drive soundtrack, plus a few tracks from the the mid-2000s, around the time I worked at Kim's Mediapolis and was momentarily hipper than I ever will be again. Thus, I'm offering the new Grimes song (from when it was called "Heartbeats" by the Knife) and Lily Allen's "LDN," which plays like a Kate e-mail set to music.

Otherwise, I've included a balance of yesteryear classics that I can't imagine anyone not liking. Only a sadist could resist the best of the Jackson 5, Bowie or Jimmy Cliff, and I still don't believe anyone who can't get down to "Earth People." Finally, headbanging biases appear in the presence of celebration icon Andrew W.K., Brooklyn surf-metal heroes the Giraffes and King's X, whom have now spent a quarter of a century as the world's most underrated hard rock band. The guitar and vocal harmonies in the outro to "It's Love" should be playing from stadiums, or at least from the listening devices of thoughtful English expats.