Hidden Places – Weather Station Early Works album review

When I received the latest Hidden Places CD, called “Weather Station Early Works” I couldn’t place myself in the mood to listen to it. Haven’t listened to such type of music for quite some time now, so I needed some time to let it sink in. Though, as lucky as I am, exactly when I got this album, I had to travel to Italy. There was no better timing to travel to italy, to listen to Hidden Places latest music in their own soil. Hidden Places is an Italian band (I pity you if you haven’t figured that out yet) which was formed back 2004.

I was placed in a hotel in Firenze’s industrial area, even better! Welcome to the industrial age, to the modern era of electronics, run down industrial areas, closed down factories. The part of Firenze’s industrial area, in Campi Bisenzio, although still in action can be quite cold, especially on a rainy Sunday. Some of the factories are closed down and left to rot down. Broken glasses, rotting iron, squatters, challenging graffiti, homeless dogs and empty streets. Even the train station, well can you call it a train station? It used to be, but now the building of the train station has been violently raped with political driven graffiti and there is just a platform, which you can access by climbing up a gate. It’s funny because this platform is still in action, yet the rusty sick gate that leads to it is never open. Well where am I trying to take you?

Hidden Places latest album is a mixture of cold electronic music, infused with new wave, electronica and with a touch, or better more than a touch of ambience and industrial. This album is definitely a good mix of strong ambient elements, good catchy electro beats, which transmit heavy emotions and melancholy. Hidden Places’ latest release; Weather Station Early Works, is not their latest work of art, but as the title suggests, it is a collection of their early work, or better precious art items. Even though they have a lot of resemblance with their fellow countrymen Frozen Autumn, they still have a touch of their own. Hidden Places music presented to you in this album can be colder than that of Frozen Autumn. It is almost like a cross over between the electro Italian romantics Frozen Autumn, and the cold and industrialized German Wumpscut. What more can you ask for when you have to walk through a rundown industrial area in the cold rainy nights?

As I’ve said before, this could have not been a better fit, since even the production of this album matches the whole run down industrial area atmosphere. It is as raw as it can get. Don’t get me wrong! I’ve been listening to music for a good number of years now, and I always and will always say, that I prefer the production of those old school days cd’s, when the music sounded raw and realistic, not like today. Even the fact that this album is a recap of Hidden Place’s early days, including demo songs. Can you listen to a demo which got a million dollar production? No, else it won’t be a good garage band. Apart from music itself, one has to appreciate and feel the whole thing behind the record. The band playing in some kind of underground garage, where humidity and nasty smell lead the scene, where the sound is not perfect but the touch and feel of the music, reflect perfectly what the artist wants to convey to his public.

Lately I was also reading some interesting facts about global warming and all the eco thingies, and I’ve read that the sun spots are decreasing and there is a chance that we might have a minor ice age in the near future. So prepare yourself for this ice age, and embrace it with passion by checking out Weather Station Early Works cd. You definitely can’t go through an ice age, locked down at home without giving Hidden Places some air time on your frozen speakers.