2008/08/28
Today's wrap-up is going to be slightly different. I'm figuring this shit out as I go, so it could be a crap shoot. Yesterday I was listening to an album shuffle of random shit out of the 70GB of stuff that is on my iPod; None of which is still on there. Today was a much more deliberate listening experience. The only playlist I listened to today was titled "long overdue"; which is my playlist for albums that I love and haven't heard in a long time, or new music that I have not yet listened to. Sometimes I'll get the special editions of an album and throw the whole thing in there to see how it all sounds in context. I often find that bonus tracks don't quite jive with the rest of the album, and should probably have been b-sides on singles, or left for compilation tracks. There were two such albums on today's list. One of them felt tacked, on, the other felt fluid. Anyway, Without further Ado, the list:
She Wants Revenge - Save Your Soul (EP)
Save your soul is a four track EP released after This is Forever. All four tracks are previously unreleased, and none are remixed. That means four brand new She Wants Revenge songs for consumption. I was all over it. I really dig She Wants Revenge; They are a kind of vaguely electronic almost Gothic Rock band. They tend to have great, very associative lyrics, and interesting melodies. This release was no different; it contains two decent tracks, and two good songs. Unfortunately there is nothing truly great on here, but it is wholly listenable. I think of this band as my generation's reply to The Cure.
Reggie and the Full Effect - Last Stop: Crappy Town
Reggie and the Full Effect started out as a joke side project for James DeWees while he wasn't playing keyboards for Collide or The Get Up Kids. He had three fairly humorous albums: Greatest Hits 1984-1987, Promotional Copy, and Under the Tray (wherein the disc was literally under the tray, and under a glossy black card). Then all of a sudden He got serious. James had some personal issues problems and got a divorce spawning a much heavier album that relied less on the synthy sound fans had grown accustomed to. No more songs about "Megan 2Kwhatever". Then Mr. DeWees hooked up with My Chemical Romance to play keyboards on their The Black Parade tour. Somewhere along the line he meets Sean Beavan who is famous for producing albums by the likes of Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson, God Lives Underwater, and Slayer. In between his personal turmoil and his changing genre affiliations Jim acquired a drug habit. Rehab came and went, and out of all of the emotional baggage that causes addiction, and the struggle to free oneself from it came this album. This record is HEAVY. Both in content and in sonic structure. Reggie has eschewed a lot of the keyboard parts and replaced them with guitars, many of which are provided by Frank Lero of MCR. I like the different eras of Reggie for different reasons, but I think this is his best album to date.
Interpol - Our Love to Admire
Interpol are basically the reason I gave indie rock a chance. I kept reading articles in hip zines about this band from NYC who were the coolest of the cool, and had the chops to back up the fashion. Eventually I picked up a copy of Turn on the Bright Lights and I was hooked. A few years later Antics was released, and I didn't get around to buying it right away. I finally bought the special edition with the remix EP and I was slightly less impressed, but I really liked the remixes, and the record grew on me. There was not a bad song on either record, nor on any of the EPs they had released before the albums came out. I heard about Our Love to Admire and I waited with baited breath for it to be released. I had a few fears about this album though. Interpol had abandoned Matador records for Colombia, so they were no longer an indie rock band they were a Rock group. My fears that the band weren't unfounded; the band's sound had changed. The change, however, was a natural progression, it was a maturation of their sound, and experimentation with new techniques. The music had grown, and the band had grown, they needed that bigger stronger structure beneath them to support that growth. Our Love to Admire reminds me of a re-potted plant; the band in it's new pot is free to expand and flourish, while if left in that smaller space they would have become root bound and been suffocated by indie guilt. The reason that I listened to this album today is because I finally found a copy of the bonus track "Mind Over Time." The track fits right in with the tone and texture of the album, but it is not nearly as good as any of the other standard tracks. Interpol's first album as a full-fledged rock band is more inspiring than their second attempt as a group of indie rockers. I'm sure they'll continue to grow and improve in the future, but they have small margins in which to improve. This is about the fourth time I've written a review for this album, see how much I believe in this band.
The Faint - Fasciinatiion
Check it out, The Faint made an ascii joke. I dig the faint, but I wasn't sitting by the phone waiting for Todd Fink to call me up and let me know the street date for his new record. I did, however, have Wet from Birth in my minidisc player for the better part of a year and a half though. That shit was awesome. "Drop Kick the Punks" Dance-Punk doesn't get much better than that. Some girl I was dating turned me on to them around the time Dance Macabre was released, and it was right up my alley; it was great Electronic Rock music. For a while I didn't think the band had a guitarist, but I turned out to be wrong, they just use a lot of awesome effects. Everything sounded like Bass, Drums, and Keys to me. Of course Connor Oberst was an original member, but that might have been when they were still named Norman Bailer. Fasciinatiion isn't as good as either of the previous two albums. I'm not even sure if it is as good as Blank Wave Arcade (the band's first real foray into electronic rock), but it is decent. "Fulcrum and Leaver" was the only song that I really liked on this album, the rest of it was decent, but not the quality I expect from this band. Maybe the album will grow on me, but my first impression wasn't very impressed.
Black Light Burns - Cruel Melody
Cruel Melody did not make my best of 2007 list. It was the only album in my honorable mention category, because it was the only standout debut album that I heard last year. Since I made my end-of-year list I've had more chances to listen to this album and it keeps getting better and better. The basic reason that I listened to it today is that I got the bonus tracks for the album. There are two b-sides, a remix, and two instrumental tracks. None of the bonus tracks stack up with the rest of the album, but the remix is by Daniel Anderson of Idiot Pilot, who are a great electronic/hardcore duo from Washington. The music on Black Light Burns debut effort is intriguing and complexly structured. The band is like an all-star line-up of former nine inch nails members, and a member of Telefon Tel Aviv. Making them one of the most proficient, and intense groups of sonic artists in the country. Wes Borland, Founder, Frontman, Vocalist, Guitarist, Idea Man, was the only truly talented member of Limp Bizkit, and he couldn't stand being in that joke of a band anymore. After a thick fistful of failed projects with other artists he took creative control and made a group of his own. The band as it exists today is entirely different than it was in the studio two years ago while Cruel Melody was being recorded, but I have high hopes. The lyrics are approachable and entirely relatable. When Wes sings "You Can't, You Can't/You Can't Stop a Bullet/I'm giving you my trigger/But you better never pull it" I get it. When he sings "You're Living a Lie/Just Like Me!" I get it. No, the lyrics aren't dense, and I don't want or need them to be. The sonics are dense enough for everything. But the lyrics are heartfelt and soulful; they speak to anyone who has experienced broken trust, or lost love, and a whole range of emotion. Even after my subsequent listens I doubt this would make my best of list for 2007, but it's honorable mention is a bit more fawning. We might have to wait a little while for a followup to this album, as Wes Borland is currently playing guitar for Marilyn Manson's world tour.
Bloc Party - Mercury (single)
Bloc Party were the first, and only, band that I was introduced to via ringtone. I was browsing the Verizon ringtone site on my phone one day when I came across "Blue Light" and "Like Eating Glass" from Silent Alarm. The words "Like drinking poison/Like eating Glass" spoke to me (Check out the tautology). Dealing with everyday life was just that for me when I first heard Bloc Party. Then when A Weekend in the City was released I was at my local indie record shop day one to pick it up. Bloc Party are somewhat prolific. There are collections of b-sides for both of their full length albums that rival the albums proper in both length and quality. I imagine that the same will be true for Intimacy. They are also unafraid of pushing the boundaries of their genre. Yes, Bloc Party are ostensibly an indie rock band, but they love the remix, and they incorporate electronic elements into many of their songs. "Flux" was the first example of an original Bloc Party song with a strong keyboard presence. "Mercury" follows in the vein of "Flux" and expands the theme by incorporating a vocoder, and a host of remixes. The b-side to this single "Idea for a Story" continues this trend. I have yet to listen to Intimacy the album from which this is the first sings, but if "Mercury" is any indicator I will be pleased with the results of this slightly altered direction.
Eels - Useless Trinkets: B-Sides, Soundtracks, Rarities and Unreleased: 1996-2006 (disc 1)
Generally speaking I am not much of a lyrics guy. Yeah, I like words, I like prose, and literature, but I tend to put less emphasis on the lyrical meaning of a song than I place upon my emotional response that the sonic tone of a song. Mark Olive Everett is one of the few men who writes lyrics that I always want to listen to. I only listened to the first disc of this today because it is an hour and a quarter, and so is the second disc. Some of these songs are present on the album 1996-2006: B-Sides and Rarities, but I have no qualms with doubling up on the material because it is so good. There aren't a lot of artists who write truly inspiring and truly heartbreaking songs, but E is one of them. I think I'd heard all of the songs on this album before I picked it up, but some of the new versions are great. There isn't a single skippable track on this disc.
Sigur Rós - Hvarf-Heim (disc 2: Heim)
This is the second disc of material released in CD format as a soundtrack to the Sigur Rós documentary of the same name. Heim Consists of live acoustic, and orchestral versions of the tracks used in the film. Six tracks clocking in at around thirty-six minutes, the first disc is around the same length. I don't know, I like Sigur Rós, and I'm into the post-rock thing, and their exclusive use of Icelandic and whatever made up language it is that they use, but these versions weren't any better than the album versions. Truthfully I like the studio versions better in every case. I listened to the first disc at some point last week, and I had a similar reaction. It is okay, but nowhere near as great as () or Ágætis byrjun.
Datarock - Datarock Datarock
Datarock are fun Norwegian Dance-Punk. I'm into Norway, I'm into DP, so this piqued my interest. The only track that really stood out to me on this album was "The New Song". Everything else on the album was sort of meh. Yeah, it's fun, sure it is dancable, but in the end it is forgettable. I would probably throw a few tracks from this album on a playlist for a party because it's something that you can shake your ass to, but that's about all it is good for.
The Birthday Massacre - Looking Glass (EP)
I can't remember where I first came about The Birthday Massacre. It was probably on a Deadsy message board a few years ago. What I know is that I heard a few remixes that they did for Combichrist, and Mindless Self Indulgence and I wasn't knocked over by them, but they were interesting and better than average. So I picked up Walking with Strangers when it Came out, and I got copies of Violet, and Nothing & Nowhere. Yet again, they aren't great, but they are better than average. They are and electro-pop band with a female lead singer and they have a unique perspective. The Looking Glass EP is an expansion upon the Walking with Strangers era sound. The title track itself is a new song, and there are a few good remixes of "Red Stars" which was itself a standalone single. The high point of this release is a cover of Tommy James and the Shondells "I Think We're Alone Now", which was popularized by 80s teen idol Tiffany. The new version doesn't venture too far from the source material, but it puts a cool spin on the old idea, and everybody knows that retro kitsch is always in.
Roadrunner United - The All-Star Sessions
You would do well to click the first link to get a good idea of what this album is. I was actually pleasantly surprised upon listening to this record. I had been putting it off, and putting it off since it was released, and I finally bit the bullet today. I thought, I hate half of the team leaders on this, and I don't think they can do anything interesting songwriting-wise. And I was fucking right about half of them, but it was a different portion than I expected. I assumed that Matt Heafy could only write songs like Trivium. Because I knew that dude when I lived in Orlando, and motherfucker doesn't have a lot going on other than loving the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, and writing staid solos and riffs. But he came up with a couple of pretty interesting songs. One of his tracks is a straight-up hardcore punk tune, and another is a good strong rock song. Joey Jordison was the other stand-out, but I knew he would be. That dude wrote a ballad, and a rock song, and a brutal face crushing black metal song, and a synth addled tech-metal song, and a post-hardcore rumbler with Daryl Palumbo of Glassjaw and Head Automatica. Rob Flynn went for the metal and didn't look sideways, let alone back. Disappointingly Dino Cazares, whom I had assumed had some versatility in him just went for speed and thrash tunes. All in all this is a pretty good fucking album, but I hoped for a little bit more versatility from it. I knew there wouldn't be which is why I waited so long to listen to it, but what have we if not for dreams? If I had access to any Roadrunner artist ever I think I could come up with something more inspired.
HUM - Fillet Show
This is HUM's debut album on Twelve Inch Records. It shows none of the polish found on the later albums You'd Prefer an Astronaut or Downward is Heavenward (which are both space-rock masterpieces), and it doesn't have the heaviness of Electra 2000, but it does show the seeds of the "Pioria Sound." It is loud guitar rock by a band of midwestern kids who like space. Basically the only reason I even have this is that I am an obsessive completist, and I hadn't heard everything HUM had ever released. While it isn't a great album, it does show the promise of who HUM would eventually become.
Emilie Autumn - Opheliac
I only learned about Emilie Autumn about a week ago, and I was intrigued. I probably clicked on a link from some other gothic-industrial something or other, and came about this cute, pink haired, white faced, corset-clad, violin brandishing girl from Malibu, CA who relocated to Chicago, got a bad attitude, and started making interesting electronic music. I have a soft spot for strings, with the guitar being my favourite instrument, but Cello coming in a very close second, and the music of Antonio Vivaldi being my favourite classical music essentially because he wrote primarily for strings. Which is also the reason I really like chamber music, well that and the presence of Harpsichords. Emilie has dubbed her particular brand of sonic expression "victorian-industrial" and she is spot on. There are some guitars on the album, but it is largely synthesizer based and accented with her violin. The songs deal with suicide (obviously), broken relationships, and emotional hardship. The lyrics are interestingly expressed, and obviously heartfelt. There does seem to be a false moment on either disc of this album. The second disc is comprised of a couple of instrumental tracks (one of which is a Bach composition), a few b-sides, and three poems with distorted backing sounds. This is not Ms. Autumn's first, album, but it is good, and it makes me want to look into more of her material.
Now that I'm done with the wrap-up, yeah, I'm not going to do the full thing anymore. It is a long process to review every album I listen to in a day. I started writing this at around 01:30 and completed it a 04:50, so obviously a lot goes into it. I am going to have to be more selective. I do like that I have to think about what I've listened to. I think it gives me a greater appreciation of what I've experienced, and it gives me a more well formed, better informed opinion about what I am listening to. If I were a betting man, and I'm not, I would expect one or two reviews a day.
I also intend to get more into my personal music projects. I lost all of my multi-tracks and finished recordings when my PowerBook died on me, so now I'm starting from scratch. Go me for backing up everybody else's shit but nothing of my own creation. I have some better software now, and I'm always improving my playing technique, and my personal creative point of view. It is Post-Electro-Metal-Gaze-Core or something along those lines. Have a day.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
0 comments:
Post a Comment