Monday, August 27, 2012
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Stray Suns and The State of Blues Rock
Simply writing off any band past the 60s straight blues rock is an insult to the genre. Somehow this genre has been able to keep copycats and simplifiers in the background in ways other forms of rock have failed. Thanks to the big three duos (mentioned above) every two piece band thinks they’re a prime blues rock group and every classic rock band thinks they’re Jimi Hendrix. Keeping my rant at bay, I can successfully say Stray Suns is ready to meet the expectations of their predecessors. Every new blues rock bands needs to meet a set of requirements (most of these apply to other genres as well.
Stray Suns Report Card ([x]=check [_]=nope (you don’t have to read this)
1. Originality: there are many different styles to pull from but you need to know the difference between copying and influences [x]
2. Clear Influence Outside of Blues: (the White Stripes AC/DCd the hell out it) [x]
3. Actual Emotion: fake whininess is the reason why music gets simplified too much to handle [x]
4. Disrespect the Hell Out of Your Inspirations: Do you really think music would go anywhere if we stuck to any “rules”. [x]
4. Screw Rules: Blues is as much of a statement as it is a form of music but it’s creators didn't care if anyone liked what they did, they just expressed their feelings strait to record. [x]
This is that part you put in your press kit v
V
Stray Suns is a blues rock band and there is no question about it but they also managed to take the heart of grunge and crush in between their guitar strings. At times Jake’s vocals sound creepily similar to Eddie Vedder’s and every once in awhile you’ll hear a Stone Temple Pilots sounding riff sneak its way into the mix. Live they play out like you would expect jam bands like Blues Traveler would. Thanks to all the 90s influence is part of the reason that their version of Blues Rock is so hard to pin down and that’s what I’m looking for to start off the next decade of blues rock. I’m definitely a fan and that’s saying something because I’ve only heard them live and the three demos they’ve put on soundcloud. After seeing them live and knowing that they have more songs I have to ask... WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?
Monday, August 6, 2012
Garbage - Not Your Kind of People REVIEW
"The new animal collective has already leaked! Well who can you trust...
-Austin Lovelace"
With the famed producer Butch Vig, of Nirvana's "Nevermind" & "In Utero"/ Smashing Pumpkin's "Siamese Dream", and the late 90s sex symbol/Singer Shirley Manson it's easy to see why grunge would carry past the boundaries of a pop band. While no one in their right mind would dare call this band grunge I would be glad to carry the "G" in their name to the description of "pop-grunge". I have also had the miss fortune of hearing albums like "Let Your Dim Light Shine", by Soul Asylum, and "Secret Samadhi", by Live, tare some of the best Post-Grunge bands to their knees (voluntarily).
In a Recent Interview with SPIN Magazine Shirley makes it clear that fans will get what they want, "It's not our job to reinvent the wheel., That's the playground of the young.", but which old rickety wheel is she referring to..? because they left us on the 3rd wheel back in 2005. Rising to fame from the hype behind Butch Vig finally racking up the drums behind a full band, Garbage's accessible version of 90s rock unicycles across the top 40 finish line [Twice (on self titled, and 2.0)]. (get ready because the wheel references aren't over) While it's a feat to watch, uni-cycling isn't really a diverse or practical way to travel so, to keep their fans from getting bored, Garbage elected to try out a raw 90s pop album and added a second wheel. While the opener on "Beautiful Garbage", "Shut Your Mouth", hit hard the rest of the album features Butch Vig screwing with only production while everything else just danced around it. Tracks like "Androgyny" or "Chary Lips (Go Baby Go)" showed that they could pull it off but I'm not the only one who needed some more of a punch from them. Two wheels still arrant stable but all you have to do for more support is give it some gas (just in case no you never rode a bike), though Garbage wasn't looking for a quick fix. To prove "Beautiful" wasn't a sell out the band built one of those weird "Chinese 3 wheelers" and released "Bleed Like Me". Garbage wasn't going to fall back on the talent that made the famous. They where, how ever, going to "Run Baby Run" from their last album and ditch the electronics for, almost, a pure rock album. Fans don't leave after one flop but after getting a second album from a band that they didn't expect, return to form or not, a fan base will get unstable; so it's about time they relies maybe 3 wheels isn't a smart design... (DO YOU HEAR ME CHINA!)
Years later we go back to see them and, instead of trying to stabilize the car with 4 wheels, they're back at trying to master a sport they where great at almost a decade ago. It's clear that they've gotten better at it over the years and even become natural with it but now they're using the old parts as obstacles because no one would buy them. While they're old sound has left music almost all together they had no trouble taking it back but not without the affect of their past career. Just as their last two albums couldn't leave the support of their first two this new album wouldn't let it's former two fall behind (a quick break from wheel references).
The first single "Blood for Poppies" made it clear they where going back on the first wheel but it's not in the shape to make it over the obstacles. The heavy bass and guitar riffs on that track felt just like the Garbage I love but the chorus felt left over from "Beautiful" and the same can be said about the opener "Automatic Systematic Habit" and the whole of track 2, "Big Bright World". After the first three tracks pass I loose even more interest in the next 3 tracks, I am inferring that I liked "BFP" & "ASH". "Control" has some really nice vocal samples over the hook (and a really nice climax), and so does "Felt" but as whole songs they fall a little flat. Sadly "flat" is all I get out of the title track and it puts me back at the end of "Bleed Like Me" where tracks like "Why Don't You Come Over" and "Happy Home" leave me hanging. Thankfully, the next 4 tracks make me feel like I'm sitting in a room watching my favorite 90s pop/rock band wright at their best. "I Hate Love" and "Sugar" both start with the kind of production I loved on parts of "Beautiful" and then hit with the emotion of "2.0". "Battle In Me" and "Man On a Wire" don't mess around and hit you with Garbage grade aggression that is almost mosh worthy. "Beloved Freak", like "All Over but the Crying", "Milk" or "You Look So Fine", is a mood song and when you're in that mood it's on of the best on the album meaning Butches Production takes over (it may also be the first Garbage song to feature foreign a sample, correct me if I'm wrong).
My first impressions of the album where 30 second samples that the band uploaded on their youtube channel and if you heard them you would get my hype. They all featured the best of Butch Vig production on this album which is, as usual, top notch, but when you listen to everything else around them they can loose potency and aggressiveness. This album makes me ask "what happened to this part of Garbage I really like?". When they dismantled the car (yep the references are back) what happened to sex in the back seat? I always loved hearing Shirley talk about her sex life like any other male singer. Why can't she talk like a pervert like she did on "Queer", "You Look So Fine", "Cherry Lips" and "Bad Boy Friend", this is the first album without any of that; it's also clear that age took some of the seductiveness out of her voice. Where is the influence I heard from The Pixies and The Breeders on "Bleed Like Me" Shirley Manson is no less capable of writing like that (yes I'm saying she's still hot). Why are you backing off when you used to say "Sex Is Not The Enemy"?
"Lies more lies, I can tell there lies" ("ASH"), I wouldn't say Garbage has been the best at writing lyrics but there are very few spots on this album where I hear any sort of subtleties and there is redundancy all over this which isn't what I expect from a band like this. "What a joke, but do you hear me laughing" ("Battle In Me"), This is what I feel about a lot of the verses on this album. This is the first Garbage album I've had to groan through and this is without mentioning all of the "Shake It, Shake It, Shake It off"s on this thing.
Garbage has a choice to make from this album on; they can either ride the sound that there fans adore or they can decide to experiment and keep us from getting bored. I understand they aren't out to, "re-invent the wheel" anymore but I'm no more asking for that then I'm asking for another album. "Bleed Like Me" was nothing new to the system but it was defiantly Garbage in a new light and I see no reason for them to not try it again, or maybe even pull another influence out from under their belt. Any casual fan of post-grunge will like this album but Garbage risks loosing listeners like me by becoming another Everclear or Gin Blossoms; both of which are good bands but I haven't felt the need to care about them seance they fell into a rut and stopped evolving. Garbage is still a band I want to fallow because I know they won't disappoint but they run the risk of become "another one of those bands" so I ask them to please wright music more naturally instead of just trying to pleas your fans.
The Note Pad:
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Other post-grunge bands: Everclear, Gin Blossoms, pre "Secret Samadhi" Live, Foo Fighters, Weezer, Jimmy Eat World, pre "Let Your Dim Light Shine" Soul Asylum
Other bands you might like: No Doubt, Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Pearl Jam, Screaming Trees, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, maybe Paramore, Mother Love Bone
Monday, July 30, 2012
Foster - Emerald Lights, Fast Cars EP REVIEW
"Incredible B-Sides dude...
-Austin Lovelace"
Wherever you are reading this, it’s probably safe to say that you could use a quick refresher (fresher in this case?) on this project. The best place to start would be to look more into the influences they show. Explosions in the Sky, Mogwai, Russian Circles, Slint, Maybeshewill, and Talk Talk. This band steeps itself pretty deep in the style of Post Rock, a genre whose participants names read off like a Dr. Sues book and have the same effect as a child’s parents hoped reading to their kids would. Fans of this kind of music get lost in their own world when they put their headphones in but other listeners, sadly, just fall asleep. I don’t think I could explain it better then the title of an album by Swans, “Soundtracks for the Blind”.
I could list off bands I love from this genre all day, but to do so would waste your time and dilute any point that could be made about this band. Post Rock has separated itself as a genre from anything else but the influences they take from Rock couldn't be clearer; bands like The Moody Blues, Led Zeppelin, and Swans are big ones. This band, however, separates themselves further away from the genre’s past because the sound palette this band uses pulls directly from their predecessors (listed above). While continuing the tradition of bending guitar strings to get out every sound possible, they never crossed the path of one that I would associate with their genre’s Classic and Experimental past. Every sound they use is an extension of the sounds Post Rock essentially invented but what keeps them from completely detaching themselves from their Rock roots is their strong connection with Indie and Classic Rock song writing.
Most Post Rock bands let their music do the talking and their voices are either absent completely or so immaculate that they feel just like another cord in the string section. Foster chooses to keep pinned to lyrics and verses, which is what warrants the Slint comparison (and Talk Talk, I almost forgot Talk Talk). I have never really been that big of a fan of Slint, which is sacrilegious to most Post Rock fans; the point of mentioning this is that Foster corrects the problem I have with that band. Slint’s vocals have always felt emotionless and they just hung off the end of the songs, like a broken eraser, while Foster does the opposite. There isn't a moment on this album where Tanner VanBaal’s vocals don’t feel genuine in what he’s talking about. Their vocal delivery soounds somewhere between sole artists like Bobby Womack and ambient like Jónsi (of Sigur Rós), almost like the singer of Talk Talk (I can’t forget Talk Talk). The combination is a beautiful addition to the instrumentation but I can hardly understand a word. “Staying right by your side, I’m alive” is the indication that the sound is more important then the lyrics anyway and that’s what I get from them but they do leave me wondering whether it’s the production or the singer mumbling that confuses me.
The problems I have with this album start with the production. Another comparison to make with Slint is the production style which unfortunately is something I don’t think Foster was able to turn around. Almost all the bands in this style have immaculate production but this album just like Slint’s “Spiderland” has an Indie Rock, on the edge of "lo-fi", kind of recording. I never liked that kind of recording with Post Rock because I like to use my “peripheral hearing”. All of my favorite bands in this style force you to go deep into their songs to find sounds hidden in the mix, and that creates a sense of depth in their music. That is still possible because of the stacked instruments, that do sound dence, but they don’t make you work for it. It takes away from them because they use a sound pallet adapted from bands who do use the immaculate production style. I am a frequent listener of music like this though, so I do have to recognize that the production might be the reason new listeners might be able to grab on to this easier than where Foster started.
1. Mexican Radio
This track starts out with a short build into a heavy, Mogwai sounding, riff that goes in and out of a few Russian Circles inspired bass lines, before hitting a groove that reminds me a lot of the more melodic Mogwai tracks like “San Pedro” or “The Sun Smells too Loud”.
2. Voices
My least favorite track on the album starts with the kind of echoey riffs that I’ve only heard from Foster but the vocals are so awkward over the intro and the chorus that it makes it hard to keep moving through the track. When I heard the short solo work Shane Cahn lays down over the songs transition (which is catchy as hell) it kept me going through the track. It is nice to hear the female voice on this track though...
3. Hand-Picked Lemon
The riff that I couldn't stand on the previous track is used here in a very nice groove. This is one of the few tracks that is constantly changing and introducing new sounds; it gives me the feeling and depth I expect from an Explosions in the Sky track (and Talk Talk). Though the riffing on the bridge, intro, and solo/transitions still reminds me a lot of Mogwai they are still sounds I’ve only heard from this band (correct me if I’m wrong but it sounds like they are messing around with the necks of their guitars).
4. Chupacabra
By this track I can tell they love messing with the guitar sounds that either annoyed me or got me really involved but from here on out they do a great job of it. This is easily the catchiest song on the album with lyrics I can actually hear, they make me want to sing along, “I wonder where they’ve been”. They also lay down a vocal melody that is catchy as hell with guitars squealing behind it, before it breaks into a heavy bass line. The breakdowns all over this track sound a lot like Maybeshewill with their Post Metal style and it leads to some really fast riffing to end the track right! They sound pretty fun on this track which only a few bands like And So I Watch You From Afar or sleepmakeswaves (and Talk Talk)play around with.
5. Necklace
The instrumentation on this track hits all at once and and really builds a beautiful noise under the most emotional vocals on this album. This song lacks some individuality but it really makes up for it in a real sentimental feeling and a great almost Godspeed You, Black Emperor type of outro starting when the band yells “1, 2, 3, 4”.
6. Top 40
This track hits the same way as the last but it had a few nice transitions with the echoing sound coming from each instrument at the same time and ending with a really tight drum roll and loud guitars that again remind me of Mogwai at their most melodic.
- Austin Lovelace
The Note Pad:
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Other Post Rock bands: Slint, Talk Talk, Explosions in the Sky, And So I watch You From Afar, Maybeshewill, sleepmakeswaves, MONO, Russian Circles, Do Make Say Think, Godspeed You,Black Emperor
Other bands you might like: Pink Floyd, Swans, The Moody Blues, Rush, Radiohead, Led Zeppelin, Queen
in partnership with "The Brainless Horde/The RedHeaded Zombie Show": CLICK HERE
Buy It: HERE
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Sigur Rós - Valtari REVIEW
"We are officially 10 likes away from hitting 50! Thanks to Angela Delmedico for getting us to 40.
-Austin Lovelace"
This album acts like 2008 never happened and acts like their previous album was a progression that doesn't need to be experimented any further. This album takes me back to what are considered their classic albums, "Takk...", "( )", "Ágætis byrjun". Sigur Rós is back to slow, immaculately produced, beautiful movements. They really try to get everything they can out of each note; they just get every bit of emotion out of each string, key, pluck, slide, and pull. Sigur Rós is once again trying to make you break down into either crying or complete contentment.
Not to say Sigur Rós is trying to satisfy critics or get stuck in a rut to make fans happy. I mean, is going back two albums really that far? Besides this album is a progression on the style that made them so sought after any way. The new Sigur Rós is clearly trying to break into ambiance, the closest genre to their origin. Being one of the slowest bands in their genre this career shift makes complete seance but Sigur Rós faces a conflict going from an album that went as far into post-rock as ""Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust" to an album that leaves the genre all together. Fortunately we don't have to experience that because they are ready to hold our hand and convince us that this move will not only work but be for the better.
You are guaranteed, as a fan, to be pleased with how Sigur Rós wants to change. The song writing style on this record is the same writing that people loved on "Takk" but hesitant. When I said "get everything they can out of each note" I meant it. Once a piano key is hit you wont hear the next one until the reverb on the last has faded. You get the same affect with every instrument and effect on this album, guitars all the way to the strings in the back. Fortuity the instrumentation is stacked so there is always plenty of sounds to pull out of what your hearing. What is extremely impressive about how "Valtari" does this, is how unbelievably beautiful each track is. A great example is the first single to drop from this album, "Ekki Múkk", which starts with these immaculate strings and then Jónsi's vocals come in while the song just grows, climaxes in the middle before it fades out in the cloud of honest joy it created. The first track, "Ég anda", starts quiet and builds until the end where it's just a thick loud mesh. Jónsi's vocals remain just as much of an instrument as everything else, when he holds these high notes for amazing periods of time, without even knowing the language he's speaking he is incredible.
The first 4 tracks on this album just pull everything out of me and if I let them, they could hypnotize me into pure joy but at some point I have to dig into this album a little more. After numerous listens the effect, at least as drastically, ends after the first 4 tracks. I wont pretend tracks 5 & 6 are bad but not as incredible as 1-4; which is a bar so high I don't know how they matched it 5 times. The 5th time being track 7, the title track. Staying consistently high volume this track makes so many slight melody changes that it pulls me back into the trance I was in at the beginning. "Fjögur píanó", though beautifully written, feels to much like something off of "Takk..." to flow with the whole album, it feels like it should have ended one track earlier with 5 & 6.
My complaints with this album are minimal but no matter how much I praise Sigur Rós for what they've done here I have to ask the question... Is this album as good as the ones that came before it? Well, it's better than "Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust" but I can't say it's better then the works I and many others consider classics, but can we really expect that, really. I'm left with only one peace of advise for this band; fuck what everyone else thinks because when you want to delve into something new it is your responsibility to become the best at it even if you have to change, give your self to the genre you want to make. This is easily on par with "Von", their first album and as far as I'm concerned, that's all I really need.
-Austin Lovelace
Saturday, July 7, 2012
The Note Pad: The Music Is Sound Rating, Paying for Music, and Supporting Our Fans
"I'm fell off with green day a while back but I'm digging the hell out of this trailer!
-Austin Lovelace"
I'm going to start reviewing new albums so I'll be abandoning the weekly format to cover the albums on my "anticipated list". I also want to cover other albums that came out this year so recommend albums to me and I'll give them a listen.
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This is the system I'm going to use to rate the albums (already been used on the "Milo Takes Baths review". I'm hoping it's easy enough to understand, if not pleas let me know how I could fix it, but there are still some things I want to clear up. Rather than just using a number/star system or a symbol system we wanted to create a system that not only made it clear how we felt about it but could also be easily separated into 3 easey categories; simply put "buy it", "sample it", or "pirate it". We want to give the impression that we buy music that we like and for that matter, want you to buy and support. Even though our lowest rating is "pirate it" we don't support you doing it. We want this blog to have hummer so a rating of "pirate it" should be taken as a joke, though it does mean I'm not going to dish out any money for it. The ratings don't cross with each other, so you can't expect a rating including both "bad" and "buy it"; meaning that not dishing out any money means I didn't like it anyway and won't ever listen to it again. We do promote that you always pay for the music you like but our 2nd rating "sample it" can contradict that. Without trying to sound like I support pirating I do support "illegal downloads" to sample albums. I have used this method to listen and review albums before but I always had the intent on buying it if I wanted to hear it again, if I liked it, and I could rant on that but I will leave the issue at that. If there are any ways you can listen to a project for free and legally pleas sample that way; "Groove Shark", "Spotify", "Youtube", and more are all ways to legally listen to music. Our worst and final rating "rebecca black (why)" is not referring to the person it is referring to the meme and will only be used in the case of an album I actually find offensive and I can almost assure you our version of a 0 will hardly, if ever, be used. I don't like the song though.
(. )__(. )' ( .)__( .)'
We don't promote any particular way of buying your music as long as you pay for it but I will inform you that the older the medium is, the more money the artist gets. Record Companies not only have deals with stores and artists but also media developers as well; they move their attention to the newest media type; the artists get lower percentages of the money that goes into what is now cheaper mediums. In addition to also being more expensive and producing more money artists also get a larger percentage of the money spent on Vinyl rather than CDs, and more from CD's than MP3s. I myself always buy my music on CD but like I said before as long as you pay for your music than we don't care how.
Despite all opinions expressed we are not here to change minds or force ideas on anyone. We can only say what we think, and after that it's all up to you. You don't need to agree with a review I wright or a score I give so please tell us what you think. We'll even offer a download of our score template here so you can rate it for your self (here). You can use this system on your blog as well but please notify us. If you wright a review of the same album and send it to use We'll even feature it on the post, if we like it. We want to express our opinions but pleas take everything we've said with a grain of salt until you here the album for yourself, then tell us what you think. If anything, music deserves a collective opinion so join us and help us get there.
-Austin Lovelace
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(. )__(. )' ( .)__( .)'
We don't promote any particular way of buying your music as long as you pay for it but I will inform you that the older the medium is, the more money the artist gets. Record Companies not only have deals with stores and artists but also media developers as well; they move their attention to the newest media type; the artists get lower percentages of the money that goes into what is now cheaper mediums. In addition to also being more expensive and producing more money artists also get a larger percentage of the money spent on Vinyl rather than CDs, and more from CD's than MP3s. I myself always buy my music on CD but like I said before as long as you pay for your music than we don't care how.
Despite all opinions expressed we are not here to change minds or force ideas on anyone. We can only say what we think, and after that it's all up to you. You don't need to agree with a review I wright or a score I give so please tell us what you think. We'll even offer a download of our score template here so you can rate it for your self (here). You can use this system on your blog as well but please notify us. If you wright a review of the same album and send it to use We'll even feature it on the post, if we like it. We want to express our opinions but pleas take everything we've said with a grain of salt until you here the album for yourself, then tell us what you think. If anything, music deserves a collective opinion so join us and help us get there.
-Austin Lovelace
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Milo - Milo Takes Baths Review
"I'm gonna try something...
I wanted to try a kind of collaboration/promotion between blogs so the Review is actually written on their forum (here). Big fan of DeadEndHipHop so I thought I'd try this out.
Give Me feedback on what you think of this idea because I may choose to review Hip-Hop on their site.
Fav Tracks: "The confrontation at Khazad-dûm", "Lester Freamon toe-taps the blues", "Hall 2 with Will's singing untouched"
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