Thursday, February 14. 2008
If you're asking yourself why this review is a comparison between these two awesome bands, understand that this is not exactly the type of metal I listen to. But these solid releases have dominated my stereo for weeks, and I keep thinking these two together would be a hell of a show.
Their music tracks a very natural progression of classic metal becoming more extreme. Being a death/black/ thrash metal head, it took me a few listens to get used to these "real" vocalists who actually sing. Once I got past that, I have to admit these records are nothing short of astonishing. Incredible music, captured perfectly by the recording engineers.
This is going to be one long review so get yourself a frosty beverage, some popcorn or whatever, and read on. These bands absolutely deserve some attention.
Continue reading "CD Reviews: Annihilator – METAL VS. Gamma Ray – Land of the Free Part 2"
Monday, January 28. 2008
Finally..... It's finally here. After expected release dates in August 2007, and then September and November Fortress is set for release on Jan 29, 2008. I promise.
How exactly does one follow-up something as genre defining/defying as 2006's Kezia?
From the first dissonant bleats of "Bloodmeat" you know PTH has not strayed far from what made their debut album a masterpiece. Songs shoehorned together by an ADHD sufferer performed by idiot savants with mind numbing musical prowess. Over all the mayhem, potty mouthed Rody Walker manages to sing/howl/growl surprisingly smart lyrics.
What they have done is increase the production values, pen even smarter lyrics, and Rody's vocals have developed an admirable range. No longer limited to metal growls or nasal whine we get actual singing and layered harmonies (along with the metal growl and nasal whine).
The album is divided into two distinct parts. The first, entitled "On Conquest and Capture", is seven songs deep. The lead off track, "Bloodmeat", just owns from the seizure inducing into to the outro riff which grinds and chugs begging for raised fists and flying bodies. Then it's on to "The Dissentience" which raises the intensity level and teeters on the edge of some tricky time signatures. Only two songs in and I can't begin to count how many distinct riffs and time signatures have been thrown at the listener. This is Protest and they continue to weave an enthralling tapestry before crescendoing on "Spoils".
"Isosceles" is comprised of only three songs and has a much more flamboyant rock opera type vibe. I can't get into this as much as the septet that came before. It is a cool look at Protest The Hero exploring some new ideas and directions.
If you didn't like Kezia you probably won't like Fortress. If you didn't like Kezia you probably need to get a clue anyway.
What the boys in Protest have done is craft and album which is an evolution from Kezia not a reprise . What I love about Protest is that they mix jaw dropping musical prowess with intelligent lyrics, and just enough pop sensibility creeps in to afford them a wider appeal.
Tuesday, November 27. 2007
I'm no Scrooge. I love the holidays, love presents and shopping and holiday parties and trees and lights and wreaths.
I also love Christmas music, and if that means Bing Crosby singing "White Christmas," I'm there. My favorite Christmas recording ever is probably "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" by Harry Belafonte.
Not so much with top 40 pre-packaged holiday songs for me, though -- I prefer either straight-up traditional or a little bit alternative, something with an edge or a twist.
I'll post my iPod's "Holiday" playlist after the jump, but first, a new CD of holiday music by Mindy Smith was released last month, and it's got that slight edge mixed with tradition that I love best this time of year.
My Holiday isn't alt and edgy in the kind of way that means your parents will cry if you play it during Christmas dinner. It also isn't so sweet and bland that you'll go into a diabetic coma after the pumpkin pie, either. The fact that it treads that line is entirely due to its spare production and the warm beauty of Smith's voice. Smith is is generally considered a folk/country singer and the CD claims it's folk, but this holiday CD is more like alternative supper club music with hints of jazz, pop, and country weaving through.
There's both original material and classics, with a taste of her Nashville roots on the standout track "Follow the Shepherd Home" (amusingly typo'd on the CD's track listing as "Follow the Shepherd Dog"). Alison Krauss sings along on a delicate "Away in a Manger," the country-tinged "Silver Bells" actually manages to stand out from the other 45,679 versions of this song that have been recorded over the years, and her poppy (and I mean that in the pure 60s girl singer way) "I'll Be Home for Christmas" is probably my favorite cut.
So, what's on my iPod Holiday playlist? It's under the jump....
Continue reading "Holiday music that won't make your teeth hurt"
Saturday, November 10. 2007
I have struggled with this disc for the last 2 weeks, alternately running hot and cold, listening to it solid for a couple days then taking a break listening to my iPod instead, trying to "wash" my aural palette before picking it up again. Sometimes I like it, sometimes I find it annoying.
I am a big fan of Seether, owning their whole catalog. I had hoped for more with this latest release, but aside from a couple of tracks I was somewhat disappointed with Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces.
Maybe I had let my expectations become too great. Maybe it's like Les Claypool says "They can't all be zingers". It's tough to hit a home run all the time, and arguably, their first two studio releases were that.
Though the characteristic Seether sound is there, overall this disc didn't come close to the tightness of Karma and Effect or even Disclaimer. Probably the strongest tracks on this album are FMLYHM and No Jesus Christ, both of which have that classic Seether crunchiness and sound as well as somewhat controversial lyrics. The track Fallen sounds like it was written for the Foo Fighters. The disc isn't bad, it's not their best. Seether fans might be happy with this release but the best songs probably won't be getting much airplay on FM. If you like Seether, you'll probably like this disc, but if your on the fence, this is unlikely to push you in either direction.
Seether is currently touring in support of this release, unfortunately, despite our best efforts, we were unable to secure credentials to cover their show here locally. Maybe next time.
Track list under the jump.
Continue reading "CD Review: Seether - Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces"
Wednesday, October 31. 2007
I loved the FedEx man. I really did. I loved the FedEx man because he brought my preview copy of A7X's latest. I've listened to the self titled release a bunch of times and now I've begun to hate the FedEx man. Huh? Well, you see as far as mainstream commercially viable hard rock/metal albums go this one is the shizzle. As far as A7X albums go it leaves quite a bit to be desired.
Don't get me wrong. I am a fan. City of Evil was my go-to disc for long drives, short walks and just hanging around. I so wanted its successor to be at least as good as "Evil".
The album starts strong with the kidney punch that is "Critical Acclaim". With its soaring intro, chunky riffing, and sinister whispers one instantly sees why it was released several months ago as a teaser. "Critical Acclaim" is also blatantly political and flexes A7X's right-wing muscles.
After that there is no sign of the complex arrangements and dynamic shifts seen on previous releases. There are songs that tween chicks will dig. When my wife starts bopping to "Lost" I know the album isn't what I'd hoped it would be.
The people who began chanting "Sellout, Sellout!" when City Of Evil was released will undoubtedly begin their chant again. There's nothing incredibly new here. With every album A7X has moved toward the mainstream. That's a balancing act which I don't envy them. I guess they could have stayed underground with M. Shadows screaming his lungs out and selling a few thousand albums here and there, or they can take their incredible talent and pen some hits.
I struggle with how to end this review. I remember all too well my sense of loss upon hearing Metallica's Black Album. Gone were the 9 minute long epics with 16 different time signatures and nary a chorus to be found. Metallica had gone mainstream, and in the opinion of millions had never sounded better.
I, on the other hand, wept.
A7X - A7X marks a significant departure from a solid body of work. And I'm sure in the opinion of millions they too have never sounded better.
Thursday, October 11. 2007
Released on July 17, 2007, Rise to Your Knees is the Meat Puppets' eleventh full-length studio album, and the first to include both Curt and Cris Kirkwood since 1995's No Joke!. Since it had a one month advance release on the iTunes Music Store and eMusic, I didn't drag my butt out to Best Buy to get the CD until mid-August. The cute little teen girl behind the counter wanted to know if it was some sort of death metal CD.
Far from a death metal CD, this disc still isn't what most would consider "accessible" by the general public. But then, the Puppets have never really aimed for that main stream audience. It's rough, it's edgy, and it's definitely the Meat Puppets, and if you're a fan like I am you will enjoy it.
The opening track, "Fly Like The Wind," is a low, slow raw song with lots of fuzzy guitars. "Radio Moth" has a big sweeping sound and would be a great single release. The song "Tiny Kingdom" has an interesting layered sound with a plucky guit-jo and a chorus that sounds all the world like an XTC song. The song "Enemy Love" sounds like it was written for Elvis Costello. Other songs worth noting are "New Leaf" with it's brusque busyness, and "The Ship," another song with a big sweeping sound. Probably one of the disc's best tracks is "Island," with its memorable harmony. All in all, this disc is bound to inspire another new crop of young musicians not afraid to challenge the boundaries and make music because they like making music, not because they are trying to fit some record companies mold of what is "marketable."
Track list under the jump.
Continue reading "CD Review: The Meat Puppets - Rise To Your Knees"
Friday, October 5. 2007
I haven't had Annie Lennox's Songs of Mass Destruction long enough to really give it an in-depth review yet, but it's currently blowing my head off.
I wasn't quite as excited at the first single, "Dark Road," as other folks were, so I wasn't in a particular hurry to get the CD, and yet I picked it up Tuesday when it came out. It's been playing in my mind, I mean, excuse me, on my iPod, since then. "Dark Road" grew on me, but "Sing," "Womankind," and "Coloured Bedspread" are doing for me what the best of 80s Eurythmics and Diva-era Annie did, which is to say... some of my personal favorite music ever. Some of it's synth-y, some of it's just full-on diva-esque singing by one of the era's best voices, some of it's maybe just a bit too AOR for my taste, but still... it's snappy, it's smart, it's got tons of heart, and much of it's even got enough of an edge to make me realize why it was that Annie Lennox made me break my "I hate synthesizers" rule back in the 80s in the first place.
Lots and lots of beauty here. Give it a listen.
Wednesday, October 3. 2007
I love to pop a CD in without any knowledge of or preconceived ideas about a band. Foreign Born's latest On The Wing Now ( Dim Mak) was one of these. Out of the mailbox, into the CD player, let's have a listen.
Man, what gorgeous collection of songs. One immediately thinks of early U2, but also Arcade Fire, Tokyo Police Club, many of the current Brit imports and the like. The opener "Union Hall" immediately grabs you and takes you where Foreign Born wants you to go. Then there's a shot from left field. "Into Your Dream" is the closest they come to a rocker.
The musicianship is impressive. Guitarist Lewis Pesacov's composition is often touted, and with good reason. The arrangements are what separates these reverb-washed atmospheric compositions from the nap-inducing Coldplay school of composition. There are super emotive vocals that hearken back to the indie rock of the late 80s and early 90s. The guitar is spartan single note lines mixed with heavily effected riffing, ambient squawks, and noise, all richly and intelligently layered.
And those drums! The percussion is out of this world and is really what lifts this album to another level. Often it seems unrelated to the song playing over it and even the mix has the drums sounding far off and otherworldly. Somehow this works.
The album is like a journey with each piece inescapably linked to the last. This culminates with Never Wrong deliciously building to a crescendo that never quite comes.
Yeah, I dig this record. What a fresh slap in the face of indie rock. Foreign Born has raised the bar.
Sunday, September 23. 2007
It's about time I got something to review that is nothing short of pulverizing. The name of this band is pretty out there, but to hear the music for about 30 seconds was enough to get past it and give them a chance.
I'm finally hearing a band that understands how to be heavy as fuck without sounding like a pile of shit. Way back when, a now-legendary band named Carcass came onto the scene and set a new standard for heaviness. Many god-awful clones appeared, and not many of them ever went anywhere. But some bands took influence from Carcass and made killer records. One such band -- one of my favorite bands -- is Exhumed. Another one of my faves is Macabre, who have some of the sickest lyrics imagineable and have always been very fast. The thing that sets them apart from every other band is their ability to merge this zany humor and downright kooky childlike music into their brand of death metal, which must be heard to be fully understood and appreciated.
Macabre is absolutely incredible to behold live, and I highly recommend both Macabre and Exhumed, but here's the relevance: Birdflesh is like a perfect union of Exhumed and Macabre.
Birdflesh is not a technical band. The riffing is usually very straightforward and easy to follow. The arrangements of the riffs and drum work will keep your head banging and blood pressure rising. Just when you think you'rw about to smash something due to a surge of adrenaline, they make you laugh. And I mean that in a good way.
Continue reading "CD Review: Birdflesh - Mongo Musicale"
Tuesday, August 21. 2007
Talk about your pre-release copies...
Sorry guys I can't wait anymore, and certainly not until October 15th when The Zico Chain's Food releases! I have been sitting on my hands since Chris, Paul, and Ollie burned me a copy of their mix back at SXSW in the spring. Now that a final release date has been announced I feel pretty safe in telling you this disc "bleeping" rocks end to end. It's spent more time in my disc player than any other CD in the last 6 months.
Building on the metal meets grunge sound from their debut EP, this scaldingly hot disc on the Hassle Records label out of the U.K. may be tough to find on this side of the pond until the band lines up a north american label but if you can, get your hands on it. My favorite tracks are "Anemia", "Where Would You Rather Be" , "Pretty Pictures", hell the whole disc is great. Recorded in L.A. with producer Joe Baresi (Queens of the Stone Age, Tool), this is almost a perfect snapshot of the bands frenetic onstage energy and presence. Joe did a fantastic job of capturing the sound without beating the life out of it in the edits. This is probably my favorite CD release of all of 2007. It's pretty amazing these guys still aren't signed onto a major label and headlining in the states yet.
Wednesday, July 4. 2007
Okay, I'm flailing around here, totally madly in love with Bryan Ferry's Dylanesque.
The last CD of covers I was excited about was Patti Smith's Twelve, which was a huge disappointment to me. I hadn't even heard a rumor of the existence of this one (perhaps I need to get out more?), and when I saw it I was at first OMG I MUST BUY THIS AT ONCE, and then hesitant, based on that recent disappointment.
I've now listened to Dylanesque pretty much continuously all day and I can't give this CD enough love.
When Clint and I saw the Scott Walker: 30 Century Man documentary at SXSW last March, it opened with some vintage video of Roxy Music doing "Editions of You," with a glammed-out Brian Eno (who was featured in the film) on tambourine. I love that Bryan Ferry. And I think Roxy Music's live version of "Like a Hurricane" is probably my favorite cover song ever. And I have another album of Bryan Ferry covers, Foolish Pleasures (he sings "It's My Party and I'll Cry if I Want To" on that one, it's priceless). But this CD of Bob Dylan covers is as good as anything I've ever loved by Roxy Music or Ferry solo. It's stunning.
Like the cover of Neil Young's "Hurricane," these cuts are all live, although recorded in the studio over a one-week period. He turns rockers into pop songs, croons the most blistering of Dylan's lyrics, and there are strings... STRINGS... on his brilliant, beautiful rendition of "Positively Fourth Street." And there's not one cut on here that doesn't work, but standouts were "Fourth Street," "The Times They Are A-Changin'," "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues," "Simple Twist of Fate," "All I Really Want to Do," and "Baby, Let Me Follow You Down."
Videos of "Positively Fourth Street" and "The Times They are A-Changin'" under the jump, along with a track list. But don't waste time watching these vids, go buy the CD. Go now.
Continue reading "CD Review - Dylanesque by Bryan Ferry"
Saturday, June 30. 2007
Voices on the Air: The Peel Sessions
Siouxsie and the Banshees
When I was a little punk rocker girl, I loved me some Siouxsie Sioux. Earlier this month, Polydor released a CD with some of her work with the Banshees dating back to 1977, when they appeared on BBC's John Peel Sessions, live. They made another visit a few months later, and two more over the next several years. Cuts from each of these sessions are included on Voices on the Air: The Peel Sessions.
"Playground Twist" alone is worth buying this CD, but as a record not only of what the Banshees were, and their influence, there's nothing like this.
I don't think there are any previously unreleased tracks on this CD, but they've never been all in one place before. If you weren't around and want to know what all the fuss is about, and why we all still know who Siouxise is 30 years later, this is a great place to start. If you, like me, were there, this is a really good way to spend a weekend.
Track list under the jump.
Continue reading "What I'm doing this weekend"
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