Audio-Bomb

Sunday Morning Blues - Leroy Carr & Scrapper Blackwell, Pee Wee Crayton, Bo Diddley

2012-01-29T11:24:00.002-07:00

Continuing on with The ABC Of The Blues boxset (this'll be a going on until June or so...) - I pause for a moment to expand on my first quibble with this series. Volume 5 (from last week) featured one song from guitarist Scrapper Blackwell, who is most famous for his collaboration with Leroy Carr (Volume 9, this week). The quibble is that Blackwell returned to music in the late 1950s and recorded for several more years before he was killed, and none of that later music is here (thought much of the recordigns from 58 to 62 were posthumous releases). The irony is that the song featured is apparently a cover of a song that was rewritten from a song her originally wrote anyway... I'm not sure they didn't credit this song incorrectly to be honest.

The next quibble will come up several more times over the next few months - an artist with a disc all to themselves. Considering the depth, and breadth, of the achievement of this box set, giving over a full 20 songs to a single artist seems like they didn't dig deep enough to find artists we might not have heard of.

Volume 7 & 8

Leroy Carr & Scrapper Blackwell
Scrapper's history can be found in last Sunday's post. He and Leroy had a seven year carreer together that ended in a fight in the middle of a recording session, Leroy died shortly after that. Leroy came out of Nashville, TN, a vocalist and pianist, adding some light blues piano to Blackwell's jazz-blues style of guitar, and paved the way for the deeper more cosmopolitain voices of later artists. The two collaborated from 1928 to 1935 befire Carr died and Blackwell left music for twenty years. This makes them some of the earlist recorded blues.

Several, or all I think, of these recordings are taken from old 78s, only on a few is the hiss audible, and there are not artifacts such as pops and clicks. Good clean recordings of some old music here. These are very early blues songs, most of them are just Carr's piano and Blackwell's guitar, with usually Carr singing. Very much before later influences, most of the songs are slow, but there are few with a faster ragtime tempo. Until now I'd never heard any of these songs before, which is just the kind of gem I like this box set for. As with a lot of Blues before WWII, a lot of it is really old folk tunes and note "the blues" per se.

Pee Wee Crayton
Ever listen to an artist and never know who it was? I've heard several of the selections here, new knew who Pee Wee (Connie Curtis) Crayton was. From Texas, he had moved to Los Angeles, and picked up the guitar by 1935. It's rumored he was the first blues guitarist to use a Fender Stratorcastor. His guitar sound is distinct, so much so it's almost a style unto itself, and has been copied by other artists through the decades. the guitar is agressive, forward, like some kind of ZZTop prototype at times. His vocals, on the other hand, are smooth, softer, not nearly as loud.

These recordings are clean and clear. Some of them are just Crayton and his guitar, some are with a full backing band, with horns up front, giving him a jazz ensemble sound. But his guitar is never just put aside, always front and center. The guitar is the main voice as often as the singer. This is original, or classic, rhythm and blues music. I love the guitar work here, really amazing work, if you're a fan of guitar go find some of his recordings.

Bo Diddley
Bo gets all 20 Tracks on Disc 8 to himself, my quibble with that is above. Bo is occasionally called The Originator, which is a reference to him being the truly visible bridge between Blues and Rock And Roll. He sped things up, let his guitar really drive forward, and merged the two nicely. Without him Rock music wouldn't have developed so early and so quickly, his influence on both sides of the fence is great. Bo was still a kid in the 30s, when the other artists this week were recording. While he was born in Mississippi as Ellas Otha Bate (and later Ellas McDaniel after he was adopted by a cousin of his mother's), his family moved to Chicago in 1934. In the early 50s when he was getting into music he took the stage name Bo Diddley. He recorded with Billy Boy Arnold and other famous blues musicians from Chicago in the 1950s.

A good solid collection of early stuff from Bo here, I don't think any track here is later than the mid 1960s giving a nice early look at the artist. Some amazing early rock-blues classics (including the oiriginal Who Do You Love?) make their way here. I'm glad this focused on the early blues career, as the later stuff is easy to come by and often shows more rock than blues. Some of the stand out songs are Pretty Thing and Hey Bo Diddley, both really showcase some early rock beats. While The Story Of Bo Diddley and I'm A Man are pretty classic blues riffs. If you have no idea who this is run out right now and buy a Bo Diddley album, any one works.

Next Week: Willie Dixon, Floyd Dixon (no relation to each other), Snooks Eaglin', Sleepy John Estes. Between the four we cover Texas, West Coast, Chicago, New Orleans, and Country blues.

Week Of 1/17 - J-pop/Trance, Brazilian Techno, Dubstep, Psychobilly

2012-01-25T08:30:00.000-07:00

This week is a bunch of various electronica styles, and some Psychobilly.

New Releases:
Buck Satan And The 666 Shooters - Bikers Welcome Ladies Drink Free
Label: 13th Planet / Soulfoud
Released: 1/20 2012
Genre: Psychobilly
Al Jourgensen takes a break from industrial-rock songs about drugs to release an album of psychobilly songs about drugs. I didn't see Hank III in the credits anywhere, but it sounds like he should be on here. It's fast country beats with punk rock noise on top of it. A pretty good album, nice and quick. None of the songs linger around for too long, like proper punk infused anything. The country is fast, and full of fiddle and the occasional banjo, plus plenty of guitar and screaming vocals. Hopefully we see some more from Buck Satan in the future, as it's pretty good stuff - especially if you like your psychobilly with lots of country and your coutnry way too fast.
Adding To The Collection:
Rusko - O.M.G.!
Label: Mad Decent
Released: 2010
Genre: Dubstep
Reaching back just a little bit, right before dubstep exploded, is this album. It's got all the standard beats, drops, and wubs. Coupled with a few singers and several MCs, gives the tracks some depth beyond just trying to be dance-club only cuts. The album isn't a grouping of singles, but it's not quite the same as some of the 90s DJ mixes with nearly perfect flow between tracks. It's good, it's bouncy. You can pick out the evolution from the earlier stuff in the early 00s to the sound that caught mainstream success in the last year or so. All the really good tracks feature a vocalist, all the really basic, but decent, tracks are instrumental. As a producer Rusko has a good ear, but he really shines with vocals in the mix.

The Rough Guide To Brazilian Electronica
Label: World Music Network
Released: 2003
Genre: various electronica
This one pulls from various electronic styles from the 90s in an almost haphazard way. You can tell that house music was really just starting to pick up in Brazil a little before this was compiled. There's Chicago, Big Beay, Ambient, and all kinds of ideas mixed in with the more traditional, and pop, music of Brazil. And some of it is amazing. All of this is pure experimentation, there's no concept of genre limitation involved. The only possible reason these artists didn't make it bigger in the US and Europe had to be because they came to the party a little too late. A lot of it is relaxed, not so frantic, lots of samba bossa nova in mixed in. This made itself one of my favorite Rough Guides so far, everything here wants to be danced to.

Song + Nation 2 Trance
Label: Avex
Released: 2002
Genre: J-Pop / Trance
This is the second volume of Song + Nation, a collection of J-Pop megastars. This volume remixes all of it with trance/rave style. The two genres mix extremely well, as they aren't musically too far apart. But it's also a little boring, there's no real creativity in any of this. Aside from the mega-stars vocal presence the music is very recycled, so much so I can pick out the over-used samples. Fun if you needed some more trance, especially with Japanese vocals on it, but otherwise, stick with the first volume only.

Next Week - several new releases caught my attention, so many I had to actually narrow down my choices before I broke my budget too badly. And some other older stuff pulled off the shelf. Listen Hard!

Sunday Morning Blues - Big Bill Broonzy, Scrapper Blackwell, Blind Blake, Champion Jack Dupree, Cousin Joe

2012-01-22T10:41:00.003-07:00

Continuing the epic ABC Of The Blues, this week we finish the B's and head into the C's. Disc 5 deviates from the 10 Songs/2 Artist model to give us one solo track from Scrapper Blackwell and only 9 songs from Blind Blake.

Big Bill Broonzy
William Lee Conley Broonzy was one of the more influential early blues artists, active from the late 20s to his death in 1958, at age 55. He played a number of styles of blues that eventually led the way for post-war Chicago Blues. He's also credited with copyrighting over 300 songs, though it's disputed if he wrote most of those or not, as many of them are recognized as folk songs handed down. He is one of the most prolific recorders of songs during his time as well.

The ten songs here are mostly folk-blues and country-blues songs. And are all clean recordings, I think most of these songs come from the early part of his career, pre-WWII, but am not entirely sure. It's hard to date a lot of early blues as "race music" wasn't tracked and charted until 1942, and most of Broonzy's recordings took place before that.

Scrapper Blackwell
Only one solo song from Francis Hillman "Scrapper" Blackwell appears here, though he did have a long enough solo career he could have filled out a 10-track selection. Mostly he is known for his work with pianist Lary Carr (we'll get to that next week). He is a guitarist with a distinct 'string-snapping' sound that was later duplicated by any number of blues musicians.

With only one song, it's hard to judge the body of work, but it's a good song. He covers Komoko Arnold's Kokomo Blues here, a good rendition of it.

Blind Blake
Arthur Blake is another very early blues artist, his finger picking style of playing guitar contributed to the rise of Easy Coast (or Piedmont) Blues. Blake died in 1934 with a small but significant recording history.

All his songs had to be taken off of surviving 78s, and do contain a lot of hiss. Though here they did a good job of cleaning out the other noise on the recordings. They all have a bit of a ragtime feel to them, recording in the mid 1920s.

Champion Jack Dupree
We know when William Thomas Dupree died (1992), but not when he was born (early 1900s, dates given are from 1908-1910). What he left was a New Orleans Blues, and Boogie Woogie legacy from the 1930s onwards. He gets the name Champion from his boxing career where he was a Golden Glove winner. He moved to Europe in 1960 and stayed there until his death. Even while he continued to record he also made a living as a cook serving Louisiana Cooking.

These are good quality recordings, though they're quiet. Most of it is good slow blues, Jack's piano with minimal accompaniment. The last track is Stack-O-Lee, one of my favorite classics, a story told almost differently every time it's sung. This one comes with a great sax solo.

Cousin Joe
Born in 1907, Pleasant Joe, is another important foundation stone in the legacy of Blues. I don't have a lot of information on this artist, and had not heard of him until now. So mostly I can only sit back and comment on the music a little bit. Another New Orleans artist, his music has a big band upswing to it that places it near jazz as much as it does traditional blues.

The songs are good, clear recordings, though some of them are old enough to have the tell-tale hiss of being taken from old records. While Joe never hit major mainstream success he played with just about everyone in the scene, and his influence can be heard in this selection if you listen closely. Most of them bounce nicely in a way that only blues from New Orleans really can.

Next Week - Leroy Carr & Scrapper Blackwell (together), Pee Wee Crayton, and Bo Diddley.

Week Of 1/10 - Modern Classical, Noise/Glitch

2012-01-20T08:15:00.002-07:00

[Notes: Sorry for being late, I participated in the Blackout on Wednesday, and then had trouble accessing my blog yesterday.]

This week I loaded almost all of what's on my Unwoman USB flash drive discography. Only a little bit is left on it I haven't heard. Which will get loaded a little later in the month (next week, maybe the week after). This weeks new release is a short EP from Venetian Snares, a little glitchy noise to break up the cello.

New Releases:
Venetian Snares - Affectionate
Label: Self Released via Bandcamp
Released: 1/11 2011
Genre: noise, glitch
Noise tends towards all harmonics, rhythms tend to feel accidental, and rarely last for long. The beat is nearly nonexistent most of the time. Here we have a short 4-track EP from Venetian Snares that has all the glitchy bits I like from his stuff, highly experimental, and rhythmically erratic. The harmonics go high and low, though not often together. This release almost sees actual rhythm last through a song, but it's quickly broken up. A well paced set, all four tracks flow nicely from one to the next. Before I know it the EP is over and I find I have to hit repeat or find something else to listen to. If only this could carry it's feeling on a little longer, a good problem to have.

Adding To The Collection:
Unwoman - Blossoms
Label: Self Released via Bandcamp
Released: 2007
Genre: Modern Classical
The marked difference here from earlier releases is the loss of industrial undertones, and for the better I think. The cello comes fully to the front with her voice, the song writing is smoother too. Serene is a good word for the feel of this album. Honestly, I only pay a little attention to the lyrics, I like the music (which includes the melody of her voice) on this release. A few songs do stand out from the rest, Witch-Wife and Three Songs Of Shattering, have both made me stop what I'm doing to just listen. A good change of pace from her previous work, and it carries forward to other albums.

Unwoman - The Keys
Label: Self-Released on Bandcamp
Released: 2009
Genre: Modern Classical
Ok, not every album actually makes an impression on me either way. Sometimes, I find an album I consider very... middle. This is one of those. It's not bad, I don't want to turn it off nor am I just waiting for it to finish. But I probably won't listen to this again for a while, it'll simply occupy space in my library. There are three covers here - Running Up That Hill, House Of The Rising Sun, and Hurt. The first could have used a little more punch, more anger to it. The last is just (to be blunt, but not trying to be mean) boring. The House Of The Rising Sun, Unwoman managed to capture the song very nicely, it's an excellent cover, the gem of the album.

Unwoman - The City Single
Label:
Released: 2010
Genre: Modern Classical, Pop
A four track EP with a little more pop element to it that her albums have. at least on the title track. The third song, A Valentine, is the Lewis Carroll poem set to music, a nice touch. Poems and Songs are close enough cousins to make this work well. Past that, it's a four track single, good for completing a collection if you're a fan.

Unwoman - Casualties
Label: Self-Released on Bandcamp
Released: 2010
Genre: Modern Classical
I like this album well enough, nothing really stands out as spectacularly good. But nothing falls behind either, I don't skip tracks. Though I also couldn't pick out a song from this album, it all blends together a little bit in a good kind of way.

Unwoman - Casualties Instrumentals
Label: Self-Released on Bandcamp
Released: 2010
Genre: Modern Classical
This version of the album absolutely awesome, I love it. It's a completely different tone, feels darker and the atmosphere is gorgeous. Listen to this album with headphones on, good ones. The soundscape here feels a little more ominous at times. And it has nothing to do with her voice being good or bad, but without it her music feels more haunting, larger. All of it feels like one big song, like the version with lyrics nothing is a stand out and nothing gets left behind. I honestly sat with this one on repeat for a few hours while reading, perfect background atmosphere.

Next Week - Al Jorgensen goes country, some older dubstep, a Jpop collection, and House/Club music from Brazil.

Sunday Morning Blues - Bobby "Blue" Bland, Charles Brown

2012-01-15T10:48:00.000-07:00

Continuing my adventures through the ABC Of The Blues box set, Volumes 3 and 4 provide this mornings soundtrack.

Bobby "Blue" Bland
We start this volume with Blues from Beale street in Memphis, Bobby is one of the many Soul Blues singers that mixed blues music with gospel lyrics. One of the early members of the Beale Streeters, as the ad hoc musicians playing along Beale in the 1950s were known. He played Soul and R&B through the 1960s. The late 60s saw him hit some hard times, and he quit drinking by 1971. After that he had moderate success on the R&B charts, but pop-chart success eluded him despite attempts to infuse his blues with more modern sounds. By 1980 he would return firmly to his roots, and touring with B. B. King extensively. Bland never gained mass popularity or great success, but he continues to put out music and tour. One of the many musicians that other musicians look to, and often pay tribute to.

Until this box set I'd never heard any of Bland's recordings, so I don't know exactly how well this represents his body of work. But it's a good mellow, sometimes jazzy, style of blues. Bland's voice is a smooth slow style most of the time. There's a very laid back quality to a lot of these tracks, but some of them pick up a nice swing beat reminiscent of a big-band style.

Charles Brown
A Texas blues pianist from the late 1940s onward. Charles was part of a post-war movement in blues that started to add ensembles, and occasional arrangements into blues music. His style is very close to jazz, with lighter piano accompaniment, and softer sounds. As Rock'n'roll advanced in the 1950s, and blues advanced with it, Charles found his popularity in keeping with the Traditional Blues Sound, which had as much to do with stripping out the rougher elements in blues music as it did with him being 'authentic' in his blues.

If there's an original lounge-sound, it's probably found in the clubs of 1940s Los Angeles where Charles settled, becoming a fixture there. His traditional folk-blues kept him popular for sometime. This collection is even more mellow than Bland's, his voice low and smooth, the piano light. The set evokes a low light setting, candles, a quiet club. Despite the eras increasing use of bands and arrangements, there are almost none here in this selection. It also throws in, at the end, the once very popular original recording of Merry Christmas, Baby.

Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown
Another Texas bluesman, Clarence didn't stick to just blues though. Starting in 1947, getting his break as a stand in at a T-Bone Walker concert. He's been influential in fiddle circles, and often diverges to cajun, swing, and boogie, and other styles as well. He won a grammy in 1981 for Best Traditional Blues album, but has often expressed his dislike at being pegged just as a blues artist.

Picking up the pace a little from the previous volumes slower selections, but isn't quite up to close to rock, this is still a traditional folk-blues style, though a few tracks upswing and aren't completely blues, some bluegrass is always at the edges.

Blue Lu Barker
Louise Barker started her career by running away with guitarist Danny Barker in 1930 and building a reputation in New Orleans. In 1938 her career started to take off, making her an early female blues and jazz singer. Billie Holliday considered Louise her biggest influence. Coming from a pre-WWII sound, her singing - and backing band - is as much jazz as it is blues, switching between the two freely. She was a staple in the New Orleans scene for both jazz and blues throughout her entire career.

The music here is upbeat, veering well from the folk-blues of the last few artists in this collection. There's a very big jazz influence here, especially in the faster boogie songs. But when she slows down she has the now classic smoky blues voice.

Next Sunday - Big Bill Broonzy, Scrapper Blackwell, Blind Blake, Champion Jack Dupree, and Cousin Joe.

Week Of 1/3 - Modern Classical, House, Downtempo, Traditional India

2012-01-11T20:24:00.004-07:00

Tried to mix it up a little this week. The New Release is a 7" Single from Ingrid Michaelson. The A-Side was released as a digital single last year, but the 7" Record is a new release with a B-Side Demo. Her new album comes out at the end of January. Adding to the collection I found two albums that "everyone owned" from the mid 1990s that somehow never made it into my own collection...

New Releases:
Ingrid Michaelson - Ghost
Label: Cabin 24 Records
Released: 1/3 2011
Genre: Modern Classical, Rock
It's hard to really judge an artist on a 2-track single. This one includes both the album-version and a demo of the song Ghost. It's a good song, has some pop-radio legs to it, and could easily earn itself some decent airplay if give the chance. The full album will be released later in January, and hopefully this song will be an indication of what to expect. If you want the demo version of the song you'll have to go track down the 7" record at your local indie-store. Otherwise the album-version of the track is available digitally. The song is primarly Ingrid and her piano, but strings and percussion accompany it lightly in the background to create a fuller sound. A bit light rock, modern classical style.

Adding To The Collection:
Tori Amos - Under The Pink
Label: Atlantic Records
Released: 1994
Genre: Modern Classical
I think this is one of those albums everyone is supposed to own, or claims to own. A few of the songs got some heavy radio play, contributing to her stardom. In all honesty, the first two thirds of this album are boring to listen to. They're not bad songs, just kind of bland. It's the last five tracks, starting with Cornflake Girl, where things pick up, a little color enters, some depth appears. The songs become more than displays of Tori's singing and piano. These last few tracks feel like full songs, where before they felt more like half-formed ideas. The albums she produced after this one improve greatly, you can tell this album is early in her career and her sound is still finding itself. A good album, but there are better from her.

Fatboy Slim - You've Come A Long Way Baby
Label: Astralwerks / Skint Records
Released: 1998
Genre: House
This is another album that everyone owned, or was supposed to own. It is classic mid/late-1990s house music, how it never ended up in my collection is anyone's guess. Probably because half of the tracks on it were so hard to avoid I never got around to buying it. The sound is firmyl big-beat, though the really big bass sound isn't quite in it. From the samples to the beats to the flow of the record the whole thing really does sound like the accumulated collective sound of popular house music from the early to mid 1990s. There's a lot of tracks that aged well, and bounce right along.

Ustad Sultan Khan - Rare Elements (Remixes)
Label: 5 Points Records
Released: 2004
Genre: Downtempo, Trip-Hop
I had never heard of this artist before this album ended up in my collection, but with remixes by Thievery Corporation and Radar One it was worth checking out (the wife is the one who found this gem one night of crate digging). It's all very downtempo style trip-hop and house. I don't know how to compare it to the original recordings, so I don't know if the remixes took great liberties or if they were very close to the originals. I do know this is a great mellow album without being too quiet. Ustad was a sarangi player, and a member of Tabla Beat Science (reviewed recently on 12/27), from India. From that I can imagine that his normal recordings are very traditional Indian with modern aesthetics mixed in. Making these remixes probably just a little more modern, but not a lot. I highly recommend seeking out this, or other, recordings of his if you're a fan of Indian music.

The Rough Guide To The Music Of India & Debshish Battacharya
Label: World Music Network
Released: 2010
Genre: Traditional, Indian
Sticking with an Indian theme, this rough guide pulls in from all over the musically diverse Indian continent. It's extremely diverse, with a lot of different styles and genres to pull from, it does a pretty good job of covering them all. Tabla, Sitar, Sarangi, water bowls, and vocals. This is definitely an introduction to styles and music of India, like many Rough Guides stands best either to find new artists in a particular styles, or in a larger mix of music from similar regions. With this album comes a live performance of Debshish Battacharya, on a custom designed slide guitar. It's a live recording, with only two other musicians to accompany him. As you listen you get the usual rhythms you associate with India, but towards the end of the performance the song slips into nearly a blues rhythm. So much so I almost wondered if he hadn't pulled out a bottle-neck to complete the concert, showing that many rhythms are nearly universal. For this second bonus album alone it has become one of my favorite Rough Guides to pull up and listen to.

Next week is an Unwoman marathon, I had a flash-drive of hers sitting around with a complete discography that I had yet to really crack into, so I loaded several of the albums from it all at once to listen to. The drive contains a lot of music, but I wanted to really get her main discography into my collection. Listen Hard!

Sunday Morning Blues - Kokomo Arnold, Billy Boy Arnold, Richard Berry, Barbecue Bob

2012-01-08T10:47:00.000-07:00

Over the holidays I was given a massive 52-Disc Box Set of Blues music, the ABC Of The Blues. Each disc is arranged with two artists, ten songs each, alphabetically. Given this is over 100 artists and 1000 songs to listen through I decided to focus on two discs a month for the first half of the year.

The box set is as comprehensive as you can really get without becoming unwieldy, varying far and wide in blues styles. Any style that relates to the blues is here, Delta, Chicago, Detroit, Jump, Boogie, Kansas City, Rhythm & Blues, etc... It goes pretty deep into the genre.

The downside to such a huge collection is that it doesn't have the space to really go into the history of each recording, and the musicians working with the primary listed artist. Blues artists are a tight nit group, especially from the 1930s to the 1950s where they primarily recorded "race records" and weren't considered appropriate musicians a lot of the time for the 'music buying public' (mostly white consumers.) Still, they were recognized and often covered after that. It does have a booklet with some very brief histories of each musician included. The box set is perfect for anyone looking to explore a wider range of blues and expand their collections. (as an added fun bonus, the box set also comes with an authentic Puck Harmonica.)

The first two discs promise that this will not only be an excellent listening experience, but a really fun trip through the history of American Music as seen through the Blues.

Volume One and Two;

Kokomo Arnold
Born in Georgia in 1901, James Arnold has a very brief Blues career. He started out playing on the side while bootlegging during Prohibition, under the name Gitfiddle Joe for Victor. After that ended he was 'forced' to make a living as a musician. Kansas Joe McCoy introduced him to Decca Records where he recorded from 1934 to 1938. After that he left the music industry altogether and never returned to music, though he was approached in 1962. While he was largely known in the Chicago Blues scene of the time, he also influenced Delta Blues artist Robert Johnson. Robert would turn his song Old Kokomo Blues into Sweet Home Chicago. (The song itself has possible roots going back even further, but the history is muddy waters to wade through.) His other very famous song is Milk Cow Blues, which has been covered by Elvis, George Strait, and Aerosmith, among others.

Neither of these two tracks appear here on his ten song selection, these cuts go a little deeper in. The recordings themselves are nice and clean as well. It's all Kokomo and his guitar, no band, and also no stomp box which wasn't uncommon among blues guitarists. They're a little soft, but whatever masters or records they lifted them from are clear.

Bill Boy Arnold
Another Chicago Blues artist, but jumping ahead to the 1950s. Billy Boy learned harmonica from his neighbor Sonny Boy Williamson, even then a legend in blues. His first recording was with another neighbor, Bo Diddley. In 1955 he played harmonica on the hit I'm A Man. Instead of signing on with Checker Records he ended up recording for Vee-Jay Records. His first recording there, I Wish You Would and I Ain't Got You were later made famous by the Yardbirds. Both of these recordings appear here on this collection. Billy Boy continues to record today, enjoying some moderate success with the 1990s revival in the Blues.

Like most artists in the 1950s, there's a full band here, including piano, drums, bass, but no brass. Billy Boy is both singer and harmonica player, so it's one or the other through this set. It does include his first two recordings for Vee-Jay. As well as some very early Rock'n'Roll style beats in the form of Rockinitis and No, No, No, No, No. Rock'n'Roll is just starting to come out about the time Billy Boy is starting his career and there's a lot of cross over into the faster blues around this time that Billy Boy plays a lot, now a classic Chicago Blues sound.

Richard Berry
Staying in the 1950s, but moving out west to Los Angeles. We get to R&B artist, and the some real beginnings of modern Rock'n'Roll, with Richard Berry. Richard was the original recorder and writer of Louie Louie, made famous by the Kingsmen in 1963, investigated by the FBI, and probably one of the most covered songs in the history of rock, also Richard had sold the rights in 1959 and didn't see any money from it until the 80s. The song has its own website: www.louielouie.net - in case you wanted to know more about this song. Beyond that, Richard's career didn't really take off until the 1960s, a lackluster recording career in the 50s is what prompted him to sell Louie Louie. He continued to play and record with various Doo Wop and R&B artists through the 1990s before his death in 1997.

His collection here starts with the original recording of Louie Louie, and moves onto a solid collection of early Rhythm & Blues songs, some with heavy rock leanings, such as Mess Around, with a faster rhythm and tangy guitar sound. His backing band, The Pharaohs, is on most of the songs (possibly all of them, but I don't have exact information on when all these recordings were made).

Barbecue Bob
Moving back to the 1920s and to Georgia, Robert Hicks was a cook and entertainer at Tidwell's Barbecue Place. He would occasionally record a side, but was not a full time musician. He played a 12-string guitar that is similar to the clawhammer banjo, as well as bottleneck blues. His style is Piedmont Blues (or East Coast), which has more ragtime in it that traditional Delta Blues. Robert died at age 29 in 1931, with only 68 sides recorded. One of which was Barbecue Blues, which was one of the highest selling records of the time. Eric Clapton has recorded his Motherless Child Blues for his From The Cradle album.

Unfortunately the some of the recordings here are taken from the original 78s, as such there is a lot of hiss behind the sound. Luckily, they did a good job of removing the pops, leaving only background needle hiss, and even that's not prominent on all the songs. These recordings are also hard to find, but not impossible. He's a solo artist on these songs, so it's mostly just him and his guitar, occasionally a harmonica joins him.

Next Sunday - Bobby "Blue" Bland, Charles Brown, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, and Blue Lu Barker.

Week Of 12/28 - Jazz, Modern Classical, Ambient, Scottish Folk, Modern Arabian

2012-01-04T21:47:00.000-07:00

The last week of December 2011 saw... well, absolutely nothing new worth getting. Not even digitally. I did find a hardcopy of Burial's 2011 release, so that was a bonus "new release" - a last hurrah of 2011. A few compilations this week as well.

New Releases:
Burial - Untrue
Label: Hyperdub Records / Cargo Records
Released: Spring 2011
Genre: Ambient
This piece of dark ambiance, with just the slightest hint of dubstep under it (Burial is usually known as a dubstep producer), is really interesting. It reminds me a lot of early to mid 90s era Future Sound Of London, not in a derivative way. But in that nostalgic kind of way that nearly makes you think you haven't quite left that time period yet. The albums rolls forward smoothly, the ambiance is not in light in nature. It's deep rolling bass, kind of like an impending twilight, not afraid to create dance style rhythms, without ever quite reaching that club-level sound. All mood and background. Easily one of the best albums of the year, and to my shame I didn't seek out a copy earlier. The cover is a grey-scale piece, which perfectly sets the mood for this - things are dim, but not bleak, deep without being heavy thumpers. Absolutely go find a copy (digitally or otherwise) and add it to your collection.

Adding To The Collection:
Pizzicato Five - Unzipped EP
Label: Matador Records / Atalantic
Released: 1995
Genre: Modern Jazz, Pop
Another EP off of Pizzicato Five's brief dalliance with American exposure. They didn't become huge, but they had enough clout to toss out several singles off their one major US record. This EP comes from their addition to a soundtrack for the movie 'Unzipped' - hence the EP title. It contains four tracks, Happy Sad (from the movie), and a remix of it, If I Were A Groupie, and a remix of CDJ. Overall, it's decent, light, happy sounding, and just a four track EP. Unless you run across it as a cheap album like I did, nothing particularly great is here. That said, nothing particularly bad is here either. Like I said, light and happy sounding, poppy jazz rhythms and beats.

Unwoman - Wildness & Artifice (2CD Edition)
Label: self-released
Released: 2005
Genre: Modern Classical, Dark Ambient
This is the second full release from Unwoman, it's full of dark ambient rhythms from sythns and drums, and her cello, piano and voice. Most of it is of a modern classical bent, with some overtures towards downtempo styles and beats. It's far from dark itself, at least in total. Unwoman's voice is smooth, halfway between rock and trip-hop a lot of the time. The 2CD Edition (technically I have the digital version) comes with a 7 track 'acoustic' disc. Honestly, I don't particularly like the acoustic versions. It's just her voice and one or two instruments for each version. They lack the depth and even clarity of the non-acoustic versions with the percussion and beats behind them. A good early album, you can hear Unwoman's sound shaping up, gaining confidence in being a solo artist here. Worth picking up if you're an Unwoman fan.

Rough Guide To Scottish Folk - 2CD Edition with Maggie MacInnes
Label: World Music Network
Released: 2010
Genre: Folk, Scottish Traditional
Rough Guides are, as I've pointed out, great ways to get into a particular genre or region. It's easy to get Irish and Celtic music, Scottish contributions aren't as readily available. This compilation is full of folk music from the upper portion of the British Isles. It really sounds lovely, not overwhelming with bagpipes (as that's what usually pops into mind when you here "Scottish Music" - I'd actually wager bagpipes feature in less than half these tracks. Plenty of fiddle, guitar, soaring vocals, and dance numbers. Though, it's very full of arias and ballads. Less jigs and reels than I would have liked, but not so few that they're missed. Also, like many Rough Guides, it's a little haphazard in composition. Good to put on with other music in the genre (or near it) and hitting random, not as cohesive if you just hit play and listen. And, many tracks are sung in Scottish accents (as expected), which makes them a wee bit hard to understand to this American. Not a bad thing, just makes it difficult to sing along if that's your thing.

The bonus album is the album Bhon Chridhe from Maggie MacInnes, definitely a good deal to get two albums in one. Her voice is soft, her music is light, cheerful. It's not loud, it's not all fiddle and reels. A good album, though nothing stands out as magnificent, still worth the price either by itself (also on World Music Network) or with the Rough Guide. Another stack of songs to put on a random rotation when you need something Scottish in the background.

Between the two, I actually recommend finding a disc of two of Irish Folk and liberally mixing the two up, the sounds are similar enough they compliment and different enough to keep it moving.

Arabian Travels
Label: Sex Degrees
Released: 2001
Genre: Modern Arabic
Six Degrees compilations are just as good as World Music for gathering together a very diverse group of artists from a region or style in one place. It makes the album as a whole a bit non-cohesive, but that's hardly a problem. It's less a genre-compilation and more a region-compilation where the more diversity the better. This one goes to the Arabian peninsula, and bleeds into Persia and India as well, to find some of the best modern artists from that region. This one covers the gambit from exactly what you think modernized traditional Arabic music should sound like to Banghra House beats. It's almost a little too all over the place. Also, it's really a lot of English DJs and Producers who are of various Indian and Arabic decent that bring traditional music heavily into the future. It could due with a little more artists from the region and a little less modern house elements. Still, definitely a good album to put on at a party you want to keep things upbeat without actually having a dance floor spontaneously form in your living room.

Onto 2012:
No bonuses or surprises this week. The future holds more of the same next week (Indian, House, more Modern Classical and some Rock). But Sundays will, starting this coming Sunday, focus on The Blues. I picked up a massive 52-CD blues compilation that spans literally the entire history of the genre and touches on every major aspect (from Delta to Chicago, R&B to Rock N Roll influences) and about a hundred different artists. I'll be going through it, two discs at a time, for the first half of this year. Vinyl Files will get snuck into weekly updates occasionally, and pick up again over the summer on Sundays unless I find any more giant box sets between then and now.

Listen Hard!

Week Of 12/20 - Industrial, Dubstep, Psychedelic Rock, House

2011-12-27T21:19:00.002-07:00

Late, blame the holidays.

New Releases:
Caustic - Justin Beaber's Never Say Never
Label: Self Released
Released: 12/20 2011
Genre: Industrial
Caustic gave away this free digital remix EP on his website. It's... a remix EP. Nothing massively interesting here, but it does include his awesome cover of Oxyacetalene. Beyond that, good for completionists.

Adding To The Collection:
The Black Angels - Phosphene Dream
Label: Blue Horizon
Released: 2010
Genre: Psychedelic Rock
More from the Black Angels this week. This second album isn't nearly the tribute to Vietnam that their debut album was. Still, they still have the late 60s down pat. The whole album reverbs around, sticking firmly to the rock and roll genre without wavering or faltering. An excellent piece of rock, but nothing really sticks out above the others. It's just a solid offering all around with no hidden gems, but no clunkers either. Overall, definitely the better of the two albums, a little more experience show through here.

Nero - Welcome Reality
Label: Cherry Tree / Interscope Records
Released: 2011
Genre: Dubstep
From early 2011 before Skrillex's manic style took over. This feels more like the electro combination of Daft Punk and any standard House beats. The female vocals reach back and pull up a lesson from 1990s Trip Hop as well, effortlessly mixing all the styles into a dubstep sound. For all that, it's good in a generic 'toss it in the mix' kind of way. Doomsday is a bit of a heavy bass track, after that though it all kind of mixes together into something good but not great. It will be interesting to see their second album in the future, hopefully they get more adventurous and expand on the sound while keeping the trip-hop style vocals present.

Tabla Beat Science - Live In San Fransisco At Stern Grove
Label: Axiom Records
Released: 2002
Genre: House, Indian Traditional
This one I love, the first half is almost nothing but traditional sounds, tabla and vocals take up most of it. Very little of the Indian House you expect from some of the players here is evident - Karsh Kale, DJ Disk and Midival Punditz leave it very light. Karsh plays all percussion here, none of his normal house stuff. The second half takes off with a lot of house, scratch, and more DJ influence, in a very nice mix. I don't even know where one track ends and another starts, and don't need to. It all blends so well as a live set that it might as well be a continuous mix album. This album is worth tracking down just for the performances on the tabla alone, really excellent live set.

Fabric Live 37 - Caspa & Rusko
Label: Fabric
Released: 2007
Genre: Dubstep, Electro
Speaking of Continuous mixes, this a joint effort from Dubstep DJs Rusko and Caspa, just shy of thirty tracks of dubstep-house-dub continuous mixing. They range all over the dubstep spectrum from the 2007 era - which is less frantic and more paced. You can definitely hear the dub underpinnings in the heavily altered beats. This is the genre in its most pure and raw form, while it's still very underground, pulling from as many influences as it can. One of the better DJ mixes I own honestly, in any style of electronica. If you're trying to get into Dubstep, or just want an above average dubstep mix, find this and add it to your collection.

Bonus EP
The Crüxshadows - Christmas songs
Label: Self Released
For Christmas Rogue released three songs for download, one track celebrating his recently born daughter, and two more holiday songs of a more traditional bent. All three are good darkwave/goth takes on the holiday, very good slightly down tempo holiday songs to mix up the constant high pitched bells everyone else uses. A nice little present for the season.

Next week - Scottish Folk, Ambient, Arabic, and some modern Jazz from Japan, plus a surprise or two...

Week Of 12/13 - Metal, Psychadelic Rock, Jazz, Dubstep

2011-12-21T20:02:00.001-07:00

Running a little late in the day... this week I take a look at the weird collaboration between Lou Reed and Metallica, a late 00s band that sounds like a late 60s band, some dubstep, and future jazz.

New Releases:
Knife Party - 100% No Modern Talking
Label: Earstorm
Released: 12/12 2011
Genre: dubstep; electro-house
A digital only released I picked up off Beatport, a nice little electro-house/dubstep 4-track EP. Internet Friends is very house, a little spastic, and for a dance tune like this also funny. Destroy Them With Lazers continues the mayhem of the first track, less heavy house-bass kick and more dubstep drop and lots of electro thrown in to keep it up in the air. Track 3 is kind of dull by comparison, sort of plods on with the electro. Fire Hive, the final track, though is nearly pure dubstep madness, not as frantic as some releases lately, but still very energetic.

Adding To The Collection:
Lou Reed + Metallica - Lulu
Label: Warner Bros.
Released: 11/1 2011
Genre: Metal; rock
This collaboration seems almost natural, like it should have happened years ago. Actually, it probably should have because this effort is a little weird. Not particularly musically challenging. Lou nearly speaks all the lines, like poetry instead of singing a song. Metallica, for their part, pretty much jams some banging tunes through out the whole thing. Some decent editing probably could have cut this monster down to one disc, instead of two. A seventy minute listen is all this needs, not a near ninety minute epic. It's just not That interesting. Though there are some really good songs on it. Pumping Blood and Little Dog are downright catchy, Mistress Dread is nice and dark. Overall though, you have to be a big fan of both artists to want this.

The Black Angels - Passover
Label: Light In The Attic
Released: 2006
Genre: Psychadelic Rock
The Black Angels have done something a lot of bands have tried to do since the 60s ended - recapture that rock sound it had so clearly created. Fuzzy guitars, blues rhythms, medium tempo, updeat and downbeat both, rock that sounded like it was trying to find itself. They also, in the process, created a very odd little Vietnam/Anti-War album that would also fit right into the late 1960s. They don't sound like a band trying to recreate the sound, they sound like a band playing the sound. All very dirty, bluesy, rock and roll. The one irony is the hidden track - a Jimmy Cliff cover of his song 'Vietnam' with new lyrics for the Iraq War, and it's just awful. It's a terrible modern rendition lacking all of Jimmy Cliff's timbre and style. It's also the only non-rock track, all acoustic. They should stick to the rock, because they're very good at it.

Dzihan And Kamien - Gran Riserva
Label: Six Degrees
Released: 2002
Genre: Future Jazz, House
Dzihan and Kamien are two artists that push electronic music really as far as they can by not being artists who create electronic music. This release is heavily jazz influenced, almost to the point of being a standard jazz record. But just enough other elements sneak in, other little bits and aspects from house and trip-hop, to keep it in a 'future jazz' style. Something different, something really good came out of the recording sessions for this. It's mellow, without being light, it's trip-hop without letting the beats take over. It's all amazing, but mostly background music, not dance music. Every time I find a D&K album I'm not quite sure what to expect, but every time I'm pleasantly surprised by it. Definitely worth tracking down if you have any interest in jazz that isn't quite jazz anymore.

Next week, more psychadelic rock, dubstep, house, and industrial. Until then, Listen Hard!

Sunday Morning Vinyl - Punk and Industrial

2011-12-18T12:07:00.001-07:00

This morning I finally finished out the 30th Anniversary Bad Religion Box Set and converted the last two albums to digital - News Maps Of Hell and The Dissent Of Man; and I found an old Front 242 single hanging out in my vinyl crate.

Bad Religion - New Maps Of Hell
Label: Epitaph
Released: 2008
Genre: Punk
New Maps Of Hell was one of those albums I saw come out, but I wasn't really paying attention to Bad Religion at the time, I still hadn't gotten back into them after Process Of Belief. Given the excellence of this album I should have. It's quick, tight, and fast. This is the kind of Bad Religion album I really enjoy, it isn't overly preachy in the message (which is still their standard issue commentary on society). The songs themselves are precise, but not over produced. No one song really sticks out above the others here, though. If I had to pick out a single I don't think I could. Everything is good, just above average in my ear, not an album I'd skip around on. Definitely worth picking up and adding to your punk rock collection. Also, it's catchy, I just bounce right along to the rhythms here.

Bad Religion - The Dissent Of Man
Label: Epitaph
Released: 2010
Genre: Punk
This came out at the same time as the 30th Anniversary Box Set, and is exactly when I decided to jump back into picking up Bad Religion albums off the strength of the track Wrong Way Kids. It's an excellent song, but is the best cut on the album. It's not quite the same over-produced mess as Process Of Belief (can you tell, I wasn't particularly thrilled with that album?), but it's also not quite the quick, masterful speed of New Maps Of Hell. They backed off the accelerator just a little, but still produced one good album. The B-Side wasn't nearly as good as the A-Side though, all the really good stuff is on the front half of the album. A good solid release, here's to hoping we get more like this in the future.

Front 242 - Headhunter
Label: Wax Trax!
Released: 1988
Genre: Industrial/EBM
Front 242 are the original EBM group (they even invented the term). And when Headhunter hit American clubs in the late 80s it dropped like a fucking bomb. Everyone, even people who really weren't into the Indutrial scene, loved it. And not some watered down DJ Mix, the original F242 mixes. This single contained the seminal song, plus the B-Side of "Welcome To Paradise" which contained clips from preacher Farrell Griswold, set to a moderately harsh percussion background. Not quite fully danceable as Headhunter, still, a popular track. This one is old school EBM and Industrial from before they introduced guitars into the scene. Both tracks are on Front By Front, as the single here is long out of print, form WaxTrax! before TVT had to step in and buy them up.

Next Sunday is Christmas, though I'll probably be here listening to some records from my collection and getting out a post before family takes over the day. Probably find a few short records to digitize.

Week Of 12/6 - Rock, Metal, Dubstep, Psychobilly

2011-12-14T05:20:00.001-07:00

This week a new Black Keys album lifts off with a solid rock sound to it, Korn mixes it up with a Metal-Dubstep collaboration album, I find an odd Dubstep compilation, and add some Psychobilly to the holiday music scene that is usually mind numblingly bad.

New Releases:
The Black Keys - El Camino
Label: Nonesuch
Released: 12/6 2011
Genre: Rock, Blues
Teaming up with producer Danger Mouse for this release, The Black Keys take their drum + guitar show and rock it out a little bit. With a sound that reminds me a little bit of the production quality on Danger Mouse's side project Broken Bells, but giving it a little more bluesy feel. The whole deal is very stripped down, understated, but with a big loud sound. There's a lot of rock and roll fun behind this album, very upbeat in a lot of parts. But the crowning gem on this one goes to Little Black Submarines, which starts off acoustic, before blaring on some heavy guitar and rhythm. I'm not sure I can actually explain the emotional connection I had with this song, but it's sad, longing, uplifting, and majestic all at once. The whole album is a good listen, enough variety in the songs to prevent them from sounding too similar, without gettign too far away from each other either.

Korn - The Path Of Totality
Label: Roadrunner Records
Released: 12/6 2011
Genre: Metal, Dubstep
For their latest effort Korn has decided to take a step a little further from traditional rock/metal albums by finding and working with a whole series of dubstep producers. It works amazingly well. The fuzzier heavy dubstep fits in nearly perfectly with heavy metal guitars and speed. Like most Korn albums I don't find all of it particularly good all the way through, bits and pieces at a time. There's always a few standout tracks though, Narcissistic Cannibal and Get Up! are two awesome songs. Overall the back half the album is much better than the front half. The Special Edition of the release has two bonus tracks and a DVD with the video Encounter, which is a live-shoot done in a crop circle, a sort of video best of. Dubstep producers that worked with then are Downlink, Kill The Noise, Skrillex, Noisia, Dastik, Excision, 12th Planet, and Feed Me.

Adding To The Collection:
Dubstep Madness
Label: Hypnotic Records
Released: 2011
Genre: Dubstep
Not sure where to really begin with this one. It's a two-disc set, almost all of it falling inbetween the older lighter stuff and the new heavier style. It also has a bunch of weird covers and remixes on it. About a third of it are original productions, all of which are excellent. The rest are some really good and some really odd choices to dubstep. By far the more interesting are Riders On The Storm (which is also the best cover of the song I've ever heard, replacing Jim with female vocals), Pass The Dutchie (which doesn't get all that far from its roots), Ice Ice Baby, Don't Stop The Rock, and Ghost Town. Thirty two tracks of decent dubstep, but nothing is particularly experimental, this whole thing is middle of the road filler for the most part.

Psychobilly Christmas
Label: Cleopatra Records
Released: 2008
Genre: Psychobilly
This one opens with a nice instrumental rendition of We Three Kings by The Reverend Horton Heat. After that, it goes off in a whole bunch of directions, all of which touch on holiday themes, but are decidedly not "traditional" holiday or christmas music. No one would play this in a mall, unfortunately. All of it great Pyschobilly in its own right, now with a Christmas theme. I Saw Mama Kissing Santa Claus goes from silly little ditty to excellent song with the addition of an upright bass. You're A Mean One Mr. Grinch gets a needed rock infusion. Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer likewise transforms from holiday cheese to an actual rocker. On more original somes I'm Getting Pissed For Christmas and Gunslingin' Santa are just the right touch to take the edge off family gatherings. There are nineteen tracks on here, all of which are a switft kick in the backend, unlike most "rock'n christmas" style songs or albums these really pour on the rock, hard.

Bonus Track:
The Razor Skyline - The Longest Night
I don't know when this was first released by the band, but it's been arounda few years. It feels like it might be a traditional christmas song, with a darkwave/goth rendition, but I'm pretty sure it isn't. A good little number to have in the holiday rotation to keep it all from being dull ballads and 'classics'. Released free to the public via Vampire Freaks.

Next Week:
I finally get to the Lou Reed and Metallica collaboration, some future jazz, some heavy blues-rock, and more dubstep, and maybe a little Moombahton thrown in the mix... maybe. Listen Hard!

Sunday Vinyl - Punk, Gothic Rock

2011-12-11T10:15:00.001-07:00

Sunday morning, let's get some of the vinyl in my collection into iTunes. This morning two more albums from the Bad Religion Box Set - we're into the period where I really go into them, so it skips over some releases as I go through this. And a Gothic Rock single I found crate digging one weekend. Punk and Gothic Rock share a history, so it's content appropriate.

Fields Of The Nephilim - For Her Light Two
Label: Beggars Banquet
Released: 1990
Genre: Gothic Rock
This is the second part of a 2-part single on 12", the CD had all four tracks. Fields is classic old school Gothic Rock. Lasting from the mid 80s to the early 90s, a short run but no uncommon in the goth-rock scene. High guitars, deeper vocals, rock rhythms. Fields incorporated some psychedelic rock elements as well, which was unusual. This little two track single is pretty standard. A Side is exactly what you expect. The B-Side is an instrumental, very dark, ambient almost. The bass guitar carries the tune through with some percussion, a few other elements behind it, and some spoken word under it. The B-Side is definitely the more interesting the two tracks, the A-Side is a classic though.

Bad Religion - No Substance
Label: Epitaph Records
Released: 1998
Genre: Punk
The follow up album to The Gray Race, one of their best albums I think. This album wasn't as well received, but they continued to play around with their formula here, not just hashing out the same basic idea over and over. This one moves away from anti-government sentiment more prevalent earlier, and more onto the social themes always there. For that, the only three tracks that stand out on Side A are the title track, The Hippy Killers (about the post-hippy generation having to inherit what's left), Raise Your Voice! which is as much a call to arms for free thinking as any anthem can be. Side B opens with a volley of anti-religious sentiment. But moves onto the general social commentary of needing to not settle for less, and thinking for yourself. It's a good album, and should have done better than it did. Unfortunately it didn't produce any real "radio hits" for people to latch onto.

After this album is New America, which is rough and angry, but also not a great hit for them. New America would be their last release on Atlantic and end their association with "big record companies" through the 90s. After that was The Process Of Belief, which did produce more radio hits, and is an ok album, but it's anger seems buried in over production and I lost interest in them for a while, until very recently with the release of The Dissent Of Man, so I'll pick up again on vinyl with their 2000s releases going forward.

Bad Religion - The Empire Strikes First
Label: Epitaph
Released: 2004
Genre: Punk
This album picks up a lot from the previous one, faster, leaner, cleaner. Less production and more raw music to it. Like a lot of punk from the early 80s, this one is anti- almost everything even near the military-industrial complex. Side A is short and sweet, everything is fast, the songs range around the two-minute mark, only the last three are particularly long reaching three minutes. This is exactly the kind of album that needed to come out after Process Of Belief to bring them back down to a much more raw sound. Side B is longer songs, some of them sound like they're trying for a certain level of radio-friendliness but don't quite make it. Still good, still the faster, angrier, Bad Religion that feels like the 80s might be happening again in Punk Rock. Much better than the previous album, getting back to that sweet spot of really good music, angry riffs, and solid lyrical delivery.

Next Week - finally finishing off the Bad Religion box set with their latest two releases, and maybe find another record in my collection to add in.

Week Of 11/29 - Reggae, Rock, Modern Classical, House, Electro, Industrial

2011-12-07T19:20:00.001-07:00

This week is light and heavy, not much rolling down the middle. Intros are boring, onto the music.

New Releases:
Jimmy Cliff - Sacred Fire EP
Label: Collective Sounds
Released: 11/29 2011
Genre: Reggae
Jimmy Cliff is a reggae legend, with about four decades of music behind him. This little EP is five tracks of mostly covers (the Black Friday Record Store 12" is 6 tracks on Vinyl). He covers The Clash with two versions of Guns Of Brixton, opening and closing the EP. The first one is a nearly straight up Reggae protest song, you'd almost never guess it was a Punk Rock song, but given Reggae's close association with early Punk music in the UK this is unsurprising. The second version has much more bassline to it, more drums, it's a little deeper, both versions are excellent. Jimmy has one original song on here, which is a nice little ballad. And he also covers a Bob Dylan song - I've always held that Dylan is not great as a performer but is one hell of a song writer, and I think this proves it, A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall is great as a reggae song. But my favorite track (the second track on the CD version of the EP) is Jimmy's cover of Ruby Soho (originally by Rancid). It turns a moderately sad broken-heart punk song into a full on classic, it's just beautiful (and again outlines just how close Punk and Reggae really are to each other). This is an awesome CD, even at only five tracks.

Dave Clarke - Fabric 60 DJ mix
Label: Fabric
Released: November 2011
Genre: House, Electro
Fabric is a nightclub in London, every month it puts out either a DJ Mix or a Live Mix. This month was a DJ Mix from Dave Clarke. It's heavy, bassy, with electro undercurrents, and absolutely not a standard House mix. Dave eschews standard dance-house rhythms and club-cuts in favor of a more driving style. The opening tracks lay down a deep, heavy, bass line than doesn't really let up until about a third of the way into the mix, where more electro, and even a few goth-rock elements take over and carry it through to the end. Overall, a good mix, better than most, and a different from just about anything else. If you want a less thumpy and more rhythmic house mix this is a good choice.

Adding To The Collection:
Chris Isaak - Baja Sessions
Label: Reprise
Released: 1996
Genre: Rock, Light Rock, Rockabilly
I am not a particularly big Chris Isaak fan, my wife is which is how this ended up in the collection. On the other hand I don't find him outright bad, he's very easy to listen to, has a good voice, and is generally good for a slow day. This album is very mellow, a little surf rock sneaks in, a lot of 1950s and 60s seems to sneak in too. This also has a cover of Only The Lonely - and I'm a huge Roy Orbison fan. For a moment when I first put this album on I almost thought Roy was singing the track, it took me a few seconds to realize that Chris has not only some good range, but can really do the song justice. I'd pick up this album for that cover song alone.

Sarah Brightman - Harem
Label: Angel
Released: 2003
Genre: Modern Classical, Rock
Sarah Brightman has a gorgeous voice, with amazing soaring ability to it (without getting into the ear splitting too high level). The music behind this album is fairly generic Arabian beats, nothing too clever was done on that front, the classical pieces behind it are likewise very good but also just background music. Sarah really is the primary instrument on this one, and I'm not actually sure I could pick out individual songs, but when I put it on to listen to the whole thing is just a delight. It's about an hour of audio enjoyment. The special edition version I have here has one bonus track and a DVD with some video footage - not actually adding a lot to the album honestly. It's near for collectors though.

Unwoman - Knowledge Scars
Label: self-released
Released: 2002
Genre: Industrial, Dark Ambient
This is Unwoman's first official full release from the early 2000s. It's very raw, not overly produced, and does not have a lot of clutter. The sound ranges from an industrial tone to what was a signature Goth/Darkwave sound from the late 1990s and early 2000s. The whole thing is structured nicely, and you can see that she has a lot of room to grow into. Her cello doesn't feature overly much on this one, it's just as much that as it is standard industrial/darkwave synths and drum machines. Overall, not a bad album to have on hand. The one track I'm on the fence about is Freedom From Religion - it's an early track to be sampling George Bush, but after nearly a decade of the industrial scene sampling his speeches and quotes it sounds dated, and a little tired. The song structures are light, not overly done, and feels a lot like a one-woman production from top to bottom.

Bonus Track:
Dire Disorder - Let's Get Naughty (Dire Disorder Remix)
Label: self-released (soundcloud)
Released: 2011
Genre: Moombahton
Dire Disorder takes Jessie And The Toy Boy's club track "Let's Get Naughty" and turns it into a full on slow heavy Moombahton track. This is all low bass, slow groove, kind of dancefloor hit. Pure fun, and extremely danceable. I love the low basslines and slower rhythms of Moombahton and this track delivers it excellently. Nice little cut from the clubs made even better.

Next Week - a Psychobilly Christmas Album, a 2-Disc Dubstep compilation with some really weird cover productions, and the new albums from Korn (mixing Dubstep and Metal) and The Black Keys (pure blues-rock awesomeness).

Listen Hard!

Sunday Vinyl - Punk & Dubstep

2011-12-04T11:35:00.001-07:00

Sunday morning, spent digitizing some records - another album out of the Bad Religion Box Set and a Dubstep 12" I picked up a while back.

Bad Religion - Stranger Than Fiction
Label: Epitaph Records
Released: 1994
Genre: Punk
Side A - This side is hit and miss, it feels very generic Bad Religion. But there are some tracks on here that get stuck in the head, the title track, and The Handshake both are excellent songs. Incomplete and Infected can both be left on the table, they just don't excite me much. Side B, now this side is much better I think, faster, a little more punch. Television opens the side up and reminds me immediately of the early 80s Hard Core scene. Marked and Slumber are both great tracks, and you can hear an evolution in the sound of Bad Religion here, they're moving away from the formula a little, expanding the riffs. And the last track 21st Century Digital Boy is awesome, really, could easily fit into a Bad Religion album another half a decade down the line without skipping a beat.

The album is a definite bridge between the 80s and 90s here, as punk rock takes back off in the 90s the next album from these guys is The Grey Race, one of my all time favorite albums out there. They're finally letting the guitars go further out from the basic riffs and rhythms they've been using for a decade or so. Late 90s Bad Religion is one of my preferred eras of listening to that.

Downlink - Biohazard / Vasik - Zombie Apocalypse
Label: Rottun Recordings
Released: 2011
Genre: Dubstep
This split 12" is a 2-track single. Biohazard is a fuzzy, dirty track. Good on the dancefloor, not quite a heavy pounder on the bassline, still it delivers with the drops and grinding bits. At over seven minutes, the opening is a little slow, it doesn't really get started until about a minute fifteen seconds in. Slow, methodical rhythms with synth breaks keep the song from becoming repetitive at least. It also exits slowly with synths repeating the outro until it just stops, not fades. The AA side is Zombie Apocalypse, which opens with the speech from Night Of The Living Dead, then some piano, then a slow dubstep fuzzy beat. This one plods along nicely, just like a zombie apocalypse, chasing you down until you just run out of energy and can't run anymore... scattered with zombie grunts and noises as well, which it could probably do without, but aren't completely out of place. These two are heavy bangers meant to keep a dancefloor at high energy, but they aren't so slow you lose energy, just enough in here to keep the floor going without wearing it out too quickly.

Next week I continue to go through the Bad Religion box set...

Week Of 11/22 - Punk, Rock, Industrial

2011-11-30T07:20:00.001-07:00

There's a lot of music out there, so much that it's actually really difficult to get even a small portion of it. In my pursuit of listening I mostly like moving forward with new music, and I occasionally forget to go back and pick up some classics and other things I "should" own. Like Iggy Pop. So, sometimes I go back and correct an oversight - like this week.

New Releases:
Caustic - White Knuckle Head Fuck
Label: Metropolis Records
Released: 11/23 2011
Genre: Industrial
The latest EP from Caustic, a digital only release, so you can find in on your favorite digital release store. Mostly remixes of the title track, some of which are good, some of which are, well - remixes. All told there are five remixes of WKHF, of those the Boole Mix is by far the most creative, making the track an throwback to 80s/90s EBM with pop-synths, almost a New Wave feel. If not for the lyrical content you could slot this right into a Wedding DJ list, actually... given the lytical content it probably should be. There's also a remix of Hiroshima Burn. But the real gem is the new track "Oontz Oontz Oontz Blarrrrrrrgh (Vomiting At 3AM Mix)" - quite the dancefloor bouncer (with some Douglas McCarthy influence), with lyrics that let us know just what it feels like to be around after the club shuts down but the floor still won't stand still.... If you're a Caustic fan this is pretty much a definite buy. If you're a Wedding DJ you'll want it for track 6, play it at the end of the night when everyone's too drunk to keep up with the beat changes.

Pop Will Eat Itself - Chaos & Mayhem
Label: Metropolis Records
Released: 11/23 2011
Genre: Industrial
The first single off the new album, a digital only 3-track release. The album version of the title track, and two remixes. This wasn't the most exciting song on the album, it's a pretty generic "rock and roll" kind of song, not bad, but not really A-Side material for a single in my opinion. The two remixes here are alright. A female vocalist, Snovonne, was brought in to rerecord the lyrics. It does improve the song a little, but the remix is low key, takes a lot of the rock-punch out of it, losing the guitars for synthesizers only was a mistake. The other remix isn't very exciting either, again losing the guitars in favor of more synth just takes all the rock out of the song. For a couple bucks it's not a bad buy, but it's not really that great either.

Adding To The Collection:
Iggy And The Stooges - Raw Power
Label: Columbia Records / Legacy Records
Released: 1973
Genre: Puck, Rock
Punk may have exploded with violent execution in 1976, but a little before that it was slowly forming itself, crawling up out of the speakers. The Stooges were one of those bands that may have come off as Rock And Roll, but were definitely foreshadowing Punk. Raw Power is just that, raw and powerful. The mix is loud, the songs are louder. The opening track Search And Destroy sets the tone, and the album just keeps accelerating. It's a short record too, buy you can practically feel Punk looming over the music scene just waiting to kick it in the teeth. Almost fittingly, this was the last Stooges album (and the first credited as "Iggy And The Stooges" at that.

Iggy Pop - The Idiot
Label: Virgin Records
Released: 1977
Genre: Punk, Rock
Iggy's first full solo album, less raw, more rock, but still very punk in feel. The first two tracks 'Sister Midnight' and 'Nightclubbing' are practically anthems of the night scene. And while the later re-recording of China Girl by David Bowie is famous, the original here feels more alive. Given the whole album is a Bowie-Pop collaboration, it also fits better in this album than Bowie's later retake without Iggy. It's not a very hard or heavy album, almost early gothic rock in feel. Defnitely one to put on after dark, throw in some old Bauhaus and Banshees albums with it for a good ambience.

Iggy Pop - American Caesar
Label: Virgin Records
Released: 1993
Genre: Punk, Rock
Deep into Iggy's career, right at the resurgance of punk-rock in the US music scene, riding high on the previous albums success. American Caesar is a little louder, little more musically controlled, and sadly dumped in the "alt rock" bin.Wild America is by far the most famous track here, and with good reason - it rocks out. Though I like Plastic And Concrete just as much. And ther are a couple of weird tracks here: Jealousy is kind of rambling. His cover of Louie Louie is both hilarious with politcal jabs, and not really a cover so much as a complete re-write. The long rambling speach at the end with Caesar is also kind of weird, kind of interesting. Of all the Iggy albums, I'm not sure this one counts as essential, but it's certainly a really good rock album.

Next Week:
Jimmy Cliff does some covers, including a really sweet take on Ruby Soho; Sarah Brightman, Chris Isaak, Unwoman, and a DJ Mix from Dave Clarke. Modern Classical, Reggae, Rockabilly, Industrial, Electro-House... I love diversity.

Listen Hard!

Sunday Vinyl - Punk Rock

2011-11-27T11:17:00.001-07:00

Going to try an experiment, I still buy vinyl, new and old. Sunday mornings is usually a good time to try and convert it to digital for my library, as I almost always have plenty of time to myself.

So - Issue 1: Bad Religion;
Some time ago I picked up the Limited Edition Vinyl Box Set containing all 15 Bad Religion studio albums through "The Dissent Of Man" on red vinyl. It's pretty epic. Slowly I've been taking the albums I don't own on CD and digitizing them. So for the next few Sundays I'll be converting those and taking a listen here - as the process of Vinyl -> Digital is done in real time.

Generator

Label: Epitaph
Released: 1992
Genre: Punk
Out about the time of the early 90s punk revival/explosion deal. Business as usual for Bad Religion though. Side One is a pretty standard mix of social and political commentary, nothing here really stands out as a Great Song, just good solid writing of an expected nature. Side Two is pretty much the same, with the exception of Atomic Garden which stands out a little from the crowd in style and execution. I won't call this a boring album, it's just another face in the masses of punk rock honestly. There are better Bad Religion albums both before and after this one.

What's really missing from this album is the anger, indignation, and sense of injustice. It's there in the lyrics, but not in the execution. It's like they couldn't quite muster up enough energy to really get across the message in the lyrics without sounding detached from it.

Recipe For Hate
Label: Epitaph (on vinyl - Atlantic for CD/Cassette)
Released: 1993
Genre: Punk
Right off the bat this album has more energy than their last. You can tell they haven't quite stopped from the previous effort, building up steam and volume. Side One contains the single track American Jesus, which really does seethe. It's not shouting-angry kind of rage. This is a under-the-skin kind of anger that seeps through. The first four tracks, in fact, are excellent and feel both frustrated, and angry. Side Two, the first track is the other single from this album, slower, still carrying that quiet anger with it. Modern Day Catastrophists is probably my favorite track on this one, faster and leaner.

Overall, good album, This is about the point where Bad Religion really started to get my attention again after some hit or miss releases. They never were shouting-at-the-mic angry in their songs, Greg just isn't that kind of singer, but they do create a feeling of animosity towards things if you stop and listen. Recipe For Hate is the start of the era of Bad Religion I that I really think sees them climb to the top.

Next Weeks Vinyl - more Bad Religion and a Dubstep single I picked up a few months back. Listen Hard.

Week Of 11/15 - Metal, Traditional (Scandanavia & Arabia/North Africa)

2011-11-24T07:39:00.001-07:00

Late post, holiday week madness. The new releases on 11/15 actually sucked, so I went back to the beginning of the month and picked up Megadeth's latest, and loaded a whole bunch of Rough Guides in.

New Releases:
Megadeth - Th1rt3en
Label: Roadrunner
Released: 11/1 2011
Genre: Metal
Titling your 13th studio album Th1rt3en is either clever or a sign that you just ran out of album names. Past that littel bit of absurdity though, this is a solid metal record. Not the pure speed of the early thrash stuff from the 80s, but also not the generally over worked stuff of the 90s. The band here is evolved, precise, still thrash and definitely awesome. There's nothing particularly suprising here, it's a Megadeth album and sounds like a Megadeth album through and through. Better than some of the stuff offered up in the first part of the 2000s though, this feels and sounds like a Megadeth from around the Rust In Peace era, just solid guitar word, Dave's snarl, and songs that linger about 30 seconds too long. If you're a long time fan, you'll probably like it, in fact I'm pretty sure you will - I certainly do. Not the best they've ever done, but certainly not the worst.

Adding To The Collection
Rough Guide To The Music Of Scandanavia
Label: World Music Network
Released: 2000
Genre: Traditional (various nordic countries)
The collection takes from six countries, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Iceland, and Greenland, a wide collection of artists and bodies of work. This is one of Rough Guide's earliest offerings, and isn't very tightly focused, which is also why I like it so much. Nordic folk music has a certain quality of sound that I really enjoy and this collection of 22 tracks goes all over the place with that. From very traditional music to modern takes on traditional sounds. Lots of songs to dance to (assuming you don't mind the occasional polska), the fiddle is everywhere, and strong voices accompany most tracks. Some tracks are slower, some are faster. If there's a downside to the compilation it doesn't really flow within its own context, good for putting on a random selection though.

Rough Guide To Arabic Lounge w/ Bonus Album: Introducing Akim El Sikameya
Label: World Music Network
Released: 2010
Genre: Loung, Traditional
Of all the Rough Guides, the 'Lounge' ones tend to be my least favorite. Partly because I'm not a huge fan of loung-style music, laid back and non-intrusive without being good background music. Partly because it tends to not showcase traditional works enough, they're kind of an 'almost modern' take on regional sounds. This one, not really an exception to that. Falls lock step into light sounding almost elevator music. Nothing jumps out, nothing sits in the background as good audio-tapestry. It's just there. It's not bad, there are some really nice tracks on here, and it's very light music. But, it also doesn't really flow very well. It's an average collection of music that seems to be missing a few spices. Individually, mant of the artists put out works with more punch to them, though, and each artist here is a slightly different sound, not surprising since this spans both Arabia and Northern Africa. Which is possibly it's problem - the geography is too wide, it's not quite focused enough. The bonus album is nice, light and airy, good to put on with other albums of this style if you need to sustain a relaxed mood for a few hours.

Hidden Track
Celldweller - Metallica + Black Sabbath Mashup "Disposable War Pigs"
Label: self released (found on Dubstep.net)
Released: November 2011
Genre: Dubstep, Metal
Celldweller took Metallica's 'Disposable Heroes' and Black Sabbath's 'War Pigs' and smashed them together (with snippets of For Whom The Bell Tolls and Iron Man for added punch). None of the metal was removed, a lot of dubstep drops were infused. The two songs fit amazingly well together and this track is a monster, pure and simple. A heavy dancefloor banger full of crunchy bits to get down with. This song really needs to be played at high volume. Nice little gem to stumble across for sure.

Next Week: new singles from Caustic and Pop Will Eat Itself (the first single off their new album), both are digital only available from Metropolis Records. And a bunch of Iggy Pop (with and without the Stooges) albums to smash into your ears.

Listen Hard

Week Of 11/8 Heavy Metal, Country, Punk, Industrial

2011-11-16T16:38:00.001-07:00

Late again, Tuesday's are just becoming far too busy for my own good. I think from now on I'll move the blog posts to the Day After New Release Day. That way I can even give a First Impression of the weeks new release... also, I got last weeks date wrong, go figure.

This week: I'm just all over the board - let's have some fun.

New Release:
Pop Will Eat Itself - New Noise Designed By A Sadist
Label: Metropolis Records
Released: 11/8 2011
Genre: Industrial
New PWEI album after about six years or so I think. PWEI has always been one those bands I'm a fan of, without actually bothering to get albums, oddly. So, new release and I fixed that - picking this one up digitally from the Metropolis online store (High Quality MP3s). It's an excellent album, an almost poppy-EBM Industrial album. Full of catchy hooks and extremely danceable rhythms. Top form, like they never went away, just kind of hid until they packed in some heavier beats to unleash on the masses. If you're a PWEI fan you'll want this, it feels old school without actually being tired or old. New dance/industrial/EBM fans will want it because it's just a good album over all.

Adding To The Collection:
Judas Priest - British Steel (30th Anniversary Remaster)
Label: Sony Music
Released: 2010
Genre: Heavy Metal
Judas Priest pretty much defined Heavy Metal in the early 1980s, and this is really the album that hailed in that era of pure metal. The two tracks everyone knows are Breaking The Law and Living After Midnight. However, and this partly why I waited so long to add the CD to my collection, I know pretty much every anthem on here by heart. I wore out my cassette sometime around 1992 and always said "I should get that again" - the 30th Anniversary comes with a cool bonus DVD of live footage. But it's the album, loud guitars and Rob Halferd standing out in front of this big metal sound giving us fist-in-the-air anthem after anthem. This remaster also comes with bonus tracks Red White & Blue and a live cut of Grinder. Just massive, don't wait as long as I did to put this back in your collection.

Neko Case & Her Boyfriends - Furnace Room Lullaby
Label: Bloodshot Records
Released: 2000
Genre: Country
Her second album, I found this little gem used in a tiny shop in Providence, Neko is an early look at country surviving the 1990s and become something decent again. Her voice is powerful, the music feels very raw. Slightly more polished than her first album, but still feeling like it should be listened to in a barn, or bar with straw on the floor. Sorrowful ballads and other offerings that don't feel like the same old same old radio country track. The only thing Country about Neko is her sound, everything else feels like punk rock.

Shonen Knife - Osaka Ramonse
Label: Good Charamel Records
Released: 11/1 2011
Genre: Punk
Shonen Knife formed in 1981, for their 30th anniversary they put together a full album of Ramones covers. Fitting since Naoko founded the band because of The Ramones, and they continued to be a heavy influence on SKs particular brand of pop-punk DIY throughout their career. There is no better fit for a Ramones cover album than Shonen Knife, there's no way this is a bad album. It's just pure delivery, no attempts to reinvent the songs. Shonen Knife picks and plays like you expect to hear a Ramones album: straight through, no filler, pure punk ethic. The songs, some of them, become even more absurd with a Japanese accent, and they all still rock. Absolutely everyone needs to own this album, punk fans doubly so.

Bonus Track
Kidneythieves - Lick U Clean (KMFDM Remix)
Label: none
Kidneythieves did an interview for Vampire Freaks online whatever, with it they released a free remix of Lick U Clean by KMFDM - along with the original - off the Trypt0fanatic album. The KMFDM remix is good, but not particularly mind bending, or overly interesting. KMFDM and/or Kidneythieves completists might want it, otherwise not all that worth hunting down (the full Trypt0fanatic album is however).

Next weeks new release actually goes back to the start of the month and I take a listen to the latest Megadeth album....

Week Of 11/2 - Rock, House, Psychobilly, Traditional (Mali)

2011-11-09T18:22:00.000-07:00

A little late this week, I got caught up in a bunch of stuff and had to make room for National Novel Writing Month. So, on with the show:

New Releases:
Florence + The Machine - Ceremonials
Label: Universal Republic
Released: 11/2 2011
Genre: Rock
Florence has one of those really big voices without sounding screechy or loud. It's just a volume of melody. And this album is full of drums and percussion, and this piano that sounds like it was crossed with church-bells. The whole thing is big, and spacious, and just amazing. The two songs I just kept coming back to are Shake It Out and No Light, No Light. But there isn't a bad track on here truth be told. The album is a contender for best release of the year I think.

Adding To The Collection:
Deadmau5 - Random Album Title
Label: Ultra Records
Released: 2008
Genre: House
A big, bouncy house album full of techno-bits and such. Actually... I found this album to be kind of boring. It's the kind of house I put on to sit firmly in the background and just provide the air with some rhythm to occupy my ears with. It's not bad, but, it's not great either. I'm not sure I could identify a single track off of this if it were played stand alone in a club. Except the repetitive first track, which comes off as annoying as I find "Around The World" by Daft Punk, which I also skip past.

HorrorPops - Kiss Kiss Kill Kill
Label: Hellcat Records
Released: 2008
Genre: Psychobilly
The HorrorPops have, in this short and sweet album, captured all that's fun about rock, punk, and rockabilly and mixed it liberally with oddly cheerful depictions of classic horror bits. The wonderfully upbeat Highway 55 about a girl buried off the side of the road, to the endearing Hitchcock Starlet. The top billing for rocking good time goes to Going To The Disco? and Missfit. But the title track steals the day, it's a perfect blend of all the elements. And Patricia's vocals are beautifully sung, never shouted.

The Rough Guide To The Music Of Mali
Label: World Music Network
Released: 2008
Genre: Traditional/Folk
This particular Rough Guide focuses on Mali and, while it's nice is, too low key. Either Mali produces a whole lot of slow, quiet music, or they just failed to find the upbeat stuff. It's not bad music, it's just very very mellow. The vocals stand out though, the singers found here all have amazing voices. Like any Rough Guide I recommend it as much for the cultural insight as for the musical interest.

Hidden Track:
Proper Villains - Bass Down Low
Label: none (find it on Dubstep.net)
Released: 2011
Genre: Dubstep
Proper Villains took The Cataracts little bumper "Bass Down Low' and made it very dirty. Indeed. The good: they ditched the autotuned crap, kept Dev's lyrics, and added some real bass and real drop to it. Much better ditty than the original.

Week Of 10/25 - Punk, Rock, Traditional

2011-11-01T16:29:00.000-06:00

This week is actually mostly compilations of traditional musics from around the globe, and some punk rock. Only the weeks new release is a regular album.

New Releases:
Tom Waits - Bad As Me
Label: Anti-
Released: 10/25 2011
Genre: Rock, Blues
Tom Waits constantly manages to both deliver exactly to expectations and something completely new. He veers recklessly between rock and blues for the most part, and this is no exception. Bad As Me is mostly a toned down rock/folk style album, with Tom's unique twist on it all. I picked up the deluxe Limited Edition version with comes in a tall form book, and a second disc of bonus material. The extra three tracks do not feel like tacked on b-sides either, but like a-sides that had to be left off for whatever reason. Good stuff all the way through, bouncing, and melancholy and all that in between. Tom hasn't missed a beat with this one, absolutely go find this and add it to your collection.

Adding To The Collection:
Give 'Em The Boot 5
Label: Hellcat Records
Released: 2006
Genre: Punk
The Give 'Em The Boot compilations are generally about twenty tracks of great punk-rock for five bucks. Mixing in all the flavors, from ska to psychobilly - and none of it slowing down and getting near emo. It's excellent stuff. This one is 18 tracks, with cuts from the Necromantix, Horrorpops, Dropkick Murphys, Aggrolites, Rancid, and a bunch of others. I love this compilations, partly because they're dirt cheap to pick up, and partly because sometimes you just don't know what to listen to and these always seem to fit the bill. Sadly, I think vol5 was the last in the series.

Think Global - Celebrate Africa!
Label: World Music Network
Released: 2009
Genre: Traditional
The Think Global series is put out by World Music Network as a way to raise funds for various charities, and is similar to their Rough Guide Series in that they focus on specific regions. Celebrate Africa! is from all over the continent and benfits Oxfam Activities. Fifteen tracks of some really gorgeous music whose only common link is that they all come from various parts of Africa. Unlike some of the Rough Guides that are more tightly focused, this one literally goes across the board in styles and traditional genres. A good way to get some variety of music, and a good way to help out a little bit.

The Rough Guide To The Best Music You've Never Heard
Label: World Music Network
Released: 2011
Genre: Traditional
This is the 2011 label compilation for WMN, and is the first year they've done a download only. I believe only subscribers actually got a printed case with a cardboard disc that has the download code, ordering directly from the website gets you only the files. Thirty tracks from mostly the Rough Guides they've put out in 2011, but a few tracks go back a little bit further if I remember right. If you're unsure of exactly which Rough Guide you want, the label compilations are an awesome way to get a little bit from each and then go from there. This music is from all over the world, and encompasses everything from ancient traditional musics to modern evolutions, and modern takes on older styles.

Bonus Tracks:
KMFDM - A Drug Against Wallstreet
Label: none
Released: October 2011
Genre: Industrial
This one is simply KMFDMs 'A Drug Against War' with new lyrics supporting the Occupy Wallstreet movement. It's a little inventive, kind of interesting, even more politically charged that KMFDM are normally. And it's free from their website.

KMFDM - Rebels In Kontrol (Occupy Wallstreet Mix)
Exactly the same as the previous track, a remix of Rebels In Kontrol for the Occupy Wallstreet movement. The lyrics are the same as the original song, but it's been remixed - slowed down a little. Otherwise, even for a free track, it's a little unspectacular and you can tell it was put together pretty quickly.

Next week! Pyschobilly, House, Rock, and music from Mali!

Week Of 10/18 - Industrial, Rock, Gypsy, Trip-Hop

2011-10-25T16:38:00.001-06:00

New Releases:

Kidneythieves - The Invisible Plan
Label: self released
Released: 10/18 2011
Genre: Industrial/Trip-Hop
The 5 Track EP is Kidneythieves in top form, always getting better. Pushing the trip-hop style from the 90s up a notch into something bigger and better. The first track, Never And Me, is on my I Can Put It On Repeat For Hours list of songs, it's just amazing, strikes a chord deep down. The kind of song that belongs on the Insomnia At 0300 playlist. The whole EP is good, it doesn't overburden itself with remixes, which is a nice change from the modern EP format. Instead it's five new tracks, all of them excellent material. If you pre-ordered then you also got the Acoustic version of Floating Angels. It's not quite industrial heavy, but feels like it could easily swing that way with the addition of some extra bassline.

Adding To The Collection

Army Of The Universe - Mother Ignorance
Label: Metropolis Records
Released: 2011
Genre: Industrial
Italian Industrial duo Army OT Universe come out with this debut album, and it really spins the genre around a little. A little more rock, and little less concerned with 'club hits' and definitely showing a lot of glam-rock through the heavy beats. With a better-than-the-original cover of Bjork's "Army Of Me" on it, the album never misses a beat, and keeps on rocking. These guys are going to do nothing but get better and better, their debut here kicks some serious ass.

16 Volt - Letdowncrush
Label: Re-Constriction Records/Cargo Music
Released: 1996
Genre: Industrial
Early 16 Volt seemed unencumbered, raw, and very guitar driven. Letdowncrush is a perfect example of 90s Industrial-Rock, and stands the test of time. It's a great piece of crunchy music, driving forward, and not getting caught on itself. It's not particularly hard, or heavy, very much teetering on the edge of Industrial and Gothic-Rock, either way it is a very cool album. With the exception of the final track that's noise behind the rantings of a radio caller, I really find it annoying when bands add five minutes of some strange person ranting on a radio talk-show/interview. Luckily it is last and easily skipped past.

Lemon Drop Kick - Lemon Drop Kick EP
Label: self-released
Released: 2011
Genre: Rock/J-Rock
LA Based Japanese/American rock band, this 4-track EP is their first offering up of a professional (or semi-professional) nature. I've seen them live and they put on one hell of a good show. On disc, though, they're simply pretty average rock, nothing bad, but nothing that really truly stands out above and beyond. Maybe I'll check back on their next release and see if they've acquired a sound that's less generic.

Rough Guide To Hungarian Gypsies
Label: World Music Network
Released: 2011
Genre: Gypsy/Folk
Another Rough Guide, another look at Gypsy music from Eastern Europe. The one thing I like about these Gypsy compilations is that it shows a massively varied selection of musical style in a relatively small area of the world, especially since they all tend to use the same or very similar instruments. I think this might be my favorite Gypsy compilation of all, it lets vocals shine a little more, feels a little more open, and whirling about. If you need a collection to start with for Gypsy musics, start here.

Bonus Tracks
Korn - Narcissistic Cannibal
Label: self-released
Released: October 2011
Genre: Dubstep
Korn offered up this free track from their upcoming album, and they have done nothing but gotten better over the past ten years. This little track they went way off their typical field and into the Dubstep arena, enlisting the help of Skrillex and Kill The Noise they produced a heavy, crunchy, guitar driven piece of dubstep madness. If this is a sign of their upcoming album I'm hooked.

Next week I cut back, and load up a small stack of compilations I've had lying around for a while now - world music, punk rock, and the new Tom Waits are all being loaded and listened to...

Week Of 10/11 - Industrial, Darkwave, Metal, Acoustic Rock

2011-10-18T16:29:00.000-06:00

So, this week is actually three weeks worth of New Releases from my vacation and the week after it. Plus an album I helped the Kickstarter project for that was technically out in August digitally.

New Releases:

Angelspit - Hello My Name Is
Label: Metropolis Records
Released: 10/11 2011
Genre: Industrial, Electro
The latest full album from Angelspit, and their first album as a four piece band (five if you count the visual artist guy). They added drums and guitar to the mix to try and get a bigger sound, or a different sound. They thankfully didn't leave the roots that made me a huge fan too far behind, and they did greatly expand their overall sound quite a bit. Just an all around great album from the band, and nice to get a full album that isn't full of remixes. On the down side? They don't let that guitar come out and play enough. It's there, all killer riffs and such, but not big enough, it's still a bit in the background behind all the wonderful glitchy bits. I love guitar, and can think of no better way to spice up almost any kind of music, but this album needed a little more of it. Beyond that? Definitely should be on the Buy List for industrial fans.

Collide - Counting To Zero
Label: Noise Plus Music (Self Released)
Released: 10/4 2011
Genre: Darkwave
Collide always funds their albums through donor contributions, and this is one I was able to get in on and help out with, consequently I get a shout out in the big list of Thank You Names for the funding. Pretty cool. And the result is amazing. Collide is one of those bands that constantly refines their sound without redefining it. And this is an amazing result of about ten plus years of evolution and experience. It's an amazingly ethereal album, full of lush wonderful sounds, not particularly heavy. Quiet and Dark as only they know how to make it. Even non-Collide fans should add this to their collection. Probably one of the best non-label releases I've picked up this year.

Wayne Static - Pighammer
Label: Dirthouse Records (Self Released)
Released: 9/27 2011
Genre: Metal
Wayne put Static-X on hold to work on some solo stuff, and this is the result. What he did was manage to put out a Static-X album that sounds almost completely flat. I was really looking forward to this one, as I'm a big fan of Wayne and Static-X. But this, it's a little over-produced and under-performed. It's got all the elements of his past work, all the crazy vocals, the cool drum lines, and bad-ass guitar riffs. But it completely missing that something that made Static-X stand up and out. Unfortunately, it's just Wayne and I think what's missing is the dynamic interaction of a full band. Here's to hoping he puts Static-X back together, because their last release was amazing.

Unwoman - Unconvered
Label: Self Released (available on Bandcamp)
Released: 8/31 2011
Genre: Acoustic Rock/Goth
Unwoman is a cellist, having played with Rasputina among other acts. She is an amazing cellist, and a good vocalist. And like Collide, funds all her releases through fan donations, this one on Kickstarter, which I also helped with. I had to wait for the CD to arrive though, so it's a little late and the last of the New Releases. It's a collection of cover tunes, as the name implies, from 1980-1995. She covers Wham!, Madonna, Tori Amos, Cyndi Lauper (a great rendition of She-Bop), Real Life (a decent cover of Send Me An Angel), Sisters Of Mercy, Michael Jackson (a weird cover of Billie Jean), Nine Inch Nails (should have picked any song other than Hurt), Nick Cave (the only bad cover on here of Do You Love Me), Front 242 (by far the most interesting choice, and I think the best cover of the lot), and a few others that are good. It's a good wide selection, done almost universally well, with little beyond her Cello and Voice, occasionally some other production elements get in there. It's good, it's different, which I like.

Adding To The Collection:
Gears Gone Wild
Label: Bitriot Records
Released: 2008
Genre: Industrial
OK, I admit I picked this up only because the cover is two Terminator Robots having sex doggy style. And it's Industrial. That's where the good stops. It's a decidedly mediocre collection of various forms of Industrial, from noise to rock. It's truly a twenty-track collection of filler. Only on a couple tracks could I be bothered to care and check who I was listening to. Skip it unless you really want a CD with Terminators having sex on it.

Next week, I'm cutting back on the number of albums, in an attempt to get more in depth into each one I choose from the stack.
Coming Up: Kidney Thieves, 16 Volt, Lemon Drop Kick, Army Of The Universe.

Weeks of 9/27 and 10/4 - country, sufi, punk, metal, industrial, blues-rock, dubstep

2011-10-11T19:26:00.000-06:00

Two weeks worth of music crammed in here due to vacation - also due to vacation is a lack of New Releases. I'm loading up three weeks worth of those for next review before getting back into the regular swing. This week though - 10 albums from all across the board.

Adding To The Collection:

Neko Case & Her Boyfriends - The Virginian
Label: Blood Shot Records
Released: 1999
Genre: Country
This is Neko Case's first full album, and it's not very typical country. Coming right at the start of the 00's alt-country explosion, it's laced with heavy doses of rockabilly and other throw-backs to 1950s country that got close to rock'n'roll and hadn't migrated too far from the blues. The sound isn't as completely polished as later albums, but for a first effort this little number is excellent.

ZZ Top - Recycler
Label: Warner Bros. Records
Released: 1990
Genre: Blues-Rock
Moving onto a similar genre, blues rock trio ZZ Top put this out in 1990 and is last part of the Eliminator-Afterburner-Recycler triology that summed up their 1980s sound. It was a move away from some of the more straight forward blues they built themselves up with in the 70s and by this album had refined itself into an almost straight alt-rock with blues mixed in sound. Nothing particularly fast, or slow. In fact, unless you're more than a casual ZZ Top fan there's not a lot here. It does contain the massive hit My Head's In Mississippi, but the production mix isn't as good as some later remasters, I don't think.

Skream - Skream!
Label: Tempa
Released: 2006
Genre: Dubstep
Not quite early dubstep, but definitely near the front of the pack, and it's not nearly as distortion heavy on the breaks. Low key, kind of down tempo, but still hits the dance floor nice and hard. It could do with a few more really heavy beats and breaks tossed in somewhere in the middle. Still, a nice shift in the dubstep from heavy to mellow.

Overkill - Bloodletting
Label: Metal-Is
Released: 2000
Genre: Thrash Metal
The last album from Overkill's less than stellar 1990s era. They managed to get stuck in a more slowed down metal sound, less thrash and more groove, and this is them stepping back up, but not completely, into a much heavier pure thrash metal sound. Hard to find these days, but still worth it for the die-hard fans that either want to fill in the holes after skipping many albums (like me), or for new fans looking for older material that isn't as pure speed as the stuff released since.

Army Of The Universe - Army Of The Universe
Label: self-released
Released: 2011
Genre: Industrial
Army Of The Universe (AoU) are an Italian industrial-rock act. As much glam as industrial, they put out this mostly remix mini-album on their own. It's a good showcase of how well they remix in talented hands. They sound like they're having a lot of fun, and it's a nice stripped down almost under-produced set of sequences. Can't wait to hear more from these guys going down the road a few years. The bonus is it comes with a video for Lovedead.

Nine Inch Nails - Head Like A Hole EP
Label: TVT Recrods
Released: 1990
Genre: Industrial
Head Like A Hole is one of their really big early on songs that started to get NIN mainstream attention. And just about everybody has had a crack at remixing it as well. And this... is a really generic set of remixes for the title track, Terrible Lie, and Down In It. I picked it up cheap and used and am glad for the fact, the remixes have seriously dated themselves at this point 20 years later, and the whole single comes off as what it is: one of the many (hundreds) of singles put out with too many remixes and not enough substance. Diehard NIN fans will want it, and probably already have it.

Human Factors Lab - Pap3r
Label: self-released
Released: 2008
Genre: Industrial
This is another remix album, and it's from a band that hadn't at the time put out a full album yet to really remix from. There's a lot of remixes on here from a lot of bands (some famous, some not so much). And it shows off that HFL can be remixed into something really good (or in some cases just danceable) the band itself doesn't quite impress me with this release. It needed a few more un-remixed band originals to really make it good. Otherwise, it's just run of the mill industrial dance stuff.

Dropkick Murphy's - The Meanest Of Times
Label: Born & Bred Records
Released: 2007
Genre: Punk
I'm a huge DKM fan, and they're a band that consistently puts out the same sound without putting out the same album. The overall tone of this one is pretty negative, there's a lot of the downside of life here, as opposed to some other releases that emphasize the upside or fighting back. Title appropriate, as it really does take the listener through the meanest of times and situations. And comes out sounding like a great punk-rock record. This is bare-knuckle punk here, and while they don't have as much bagpipes as normal, it doesn't need it. Great album to keep around.

Rough Guide To Sufi Music w/ bonus Sufi Fakirs Of Bengal
Label: World Music Network
Released: 2011
Genre: Sufi
There's something about religious music, done well, that both soothes the soul and energizes the mind and body. And the Sufi music represented here does just that. I don't understand the words, but I understand the ideas they represent, the sounds are familiar and at once, completely different. This is great music just to listen to even if you don't take away the messages being presented. And a double CD of it at that, which is why I really like the Rough Guides. They always deliver and sometimes they deliver above and beyond expectations.

And that's that - all the new additions I listened to over the past two weeks. With that I almost depleted my backlog of albums to load up - not to fear, I reloaded the stack (a good chunk of it with Iggy Pop, I may just do an all Iggy week). Next week I review all the new releases I didn't get to over my vacation. Listen Hard!

Week Of 9/20 - Classical, Gothic Rock, Guitar, Industrial, Rock

2011-09-27T09:17:00.000-06:00

This week I had a short week to listen as I'm leaving on vacation on Monday and will be on the road for three days, so this post is being written on Sunday. So I didn't quite get as many listens in to the new CDs as I'd like...

New Additions:
Tori Amos - Night Of Hunters
Label: Deutsch Grammaphon
Released: 9/20 2011
Genre: Classical
Tori is moderately predictable, most of her albums have a very similar vibe musically. Including this one, which isn't a bad thing, you know what you're in for - some amazing classical piano, though this one is much more classical than previous albums. Up to the point where many songs are reworkings of actual classical pieces. It's all very stripped down, no percussion at all, no guitars and bass, just some strings and wind instruments occasionally accent her piano playing. It's actually a very relaxing album, despite some of the lyrics being the opposite. The opening line is classic Tori "That's not my blood on the floor" .... which really gives the album its life. If you're a Tori Amos fan you'll definitely like this offering, if you're just getting into her this is a good starting point.

Adding To The Collection
16 Volt - American Porn Songs // Remixed
Label: Metropolis
Released: 2009
Genre: Industrial
OK, so I wasn't impressed with American Porn Songs, and sometimes the remix albums hold a lot more interesting things going on. Sadly, no. The complete lack-luster of APS carries right over into total boredom here. Somewhere in here is an acoustic cover of one track, but honestly I couldn't be bothered to even look up which one or who did it. I should probably have given this a more thorough listen through, but honestly it kind of bored me the first time through. Only get this if you're a die-hard 16 Volt fan.

The Mission (UK) - Carved In Sand
Label: Mercury
Released: 1990
Genre: Gothic Rock
Like most Gothic Rock coming out of the 80s, this is just as much punk rock and straight rock'n'roll as it is Gothic. Which is how I like it, really. And The Mission never fails to deliver a good album, so when I found this sitting in the used bin at a local record store I immediately picked it up. I don't remember ever getting to hear this one back in the day, but it sounds familiar, that kind of good familiar that brings you back to a good place, hanging out with friends, in a bar or all night diner, knowing there was nothing to do the next day so one am became three before finally shuffling off into the dawn for sleep. And that's what this does for me. It's a good album, I won't say from a better time, but a different time, when things felt simpler musically. Fans of The Mission will immediately love this album and probably already have it in their collection, as 1990 was the year of hanging on the precipice of musical oblivion before the 90s swallowed up so much of the previous three decades.

Rough Guide To African Guitar Legends (with Bonus Syran Mbenza & Ensemble)
Label: World Music Network
Released: 2011
Genre: Guitar, Rock
With a name like African Guitar Legends I'm afraid I set myself up for a little bit of disappointment. I love guitar driven music, especially some good serious blues, rock, country, and roots. And while every band here has an awesome guitar player in it, and are excellent bands, this is not guitar driven work. This is a collection of people who are known for their excellent guitar work, and are out of Africa, but it's not really Guitar Driven. They just happen to be really awesome guitar players, with a backing band. Nothing truly spectacular, just something really good. And thus my disappointment, which was completely a personal expectation I should probably have placed to the side. Because this is some good music, uptempo, and different from what I get in the US. The bonus CD is a tribute to a great guitar legend who passed away, and feels like a good tribute album, but again the guitar work is not stand out, it's seamlessly integrated into a band work. You can hear the solo work behind everything else, and it's very good. In the end it's two CDs of good music, just not guitar focused work.

Bonus CD
KMFDM - Live Boston 2011
Label: none
Released: Sept 2011
Genre: Industrial
KMFDM recorded as many shows as possible through their 2011 North American Tour, and released them as digital downloads on the world. Sadly, my city (Denver) was not recorded so while I was at the show I didn't get to take it home with me. Luckily their set was pretty much the same throughout the tour (or exactly the same really), and I randomly picked Boston to download to check out the recording quality. It was an awesome show this year, and the live recordings capture that well. 90 minutes of classic KMFDM, most of the WTF?! album and lots of 2000s era stuff, and a few bits from the 90s, and only Godlike from before that. While I love that they play the new albums nearly in their entirety, I wish they'd select from a wider range of albums, they have over 25 years of experience and I think in a live show only one song from a previous album is needed, especially since they took two from Blitz (one of their weakest albums ever) and two from Tovuvabohu, a track of Xtort, Money, WWIII, or earlier would be neat. Still - good recording, clean and clear, and the crowd noise made it through - which occasionally doesn't happen on soundboard recordings. If you saw the shows, this is an awesome souvenir, if you didn't this is a good way to get it second hand.

Next week, I'm on vacation, actually the next two weeks. So I won't be getting anything new - but I am pre-adding two weeks worth of music to listen to while on vacation. If I can post from the road I will, otherwise the next Audio-Bomb will have a lot of Additions to report, and the week after that will be all the New Stuff I missed out on listening to while away - because I have new CDs on order, I just won't be around to receive them.

Until then - Listen Hard!

Week Of 9/13 - Thrash Metal, Industrial, Latin, Hip-Hop

2011-09-20T16:49:00.000-06:00

After eight years the new Anthrax album hit the streets. I have to admit, the last half decade as an Anthrax fan has been frustrating. We've Com For You All seemed like the break they needed to push forward, and then apparently ditched to do a reunion tour with Joey and John on board. John left the band, and Joey left after the reunion bit. They got a new singer, that immediately upon recording music was gone again, and Joey came back and re-recorded everything. It's been a mess. While I'm a huge fan of the John Bush years, I have to say that Joey sounds awesome on this album. It's everything you want from Anthrax. The rest of my musical selections this week - while good - aren't quite top notch.

New Releases:
Anthrax - Worship Music
Label: Megaforce
Released: 9/13 2011
Genre: Thrash Metal
This is all the best of the early stuff with Joey and the heavy stuff with John rolled into one massive crushing work of pure thrash-metal awesome. Not quite as fast as some of the very early stuff, the group is still in top form and still crushes it out of the park. Joey lost some of the super-high pitched wailing from the 80s, but can still belt it out. This bit of work has launched itself into my top-album tier, nothing on here really misses the mark at all. Though the first couple tracks are a bit of a slow opener compared to the pure monsters on the back end. The Giant and Judas Priest make an awesome pair of songs, In The End I stuck on repeat for a little while, and the first single Fight 'Em 'Til You Can't is a pure thrash powerhouse. They definitely stand back up and demonstrate why Anthrax is one of the Big 4. I'm off to mosh some more.

Adding To the Collection:
16 Volt - American Porn Songs
Label: Metropolis
Released: 2009
Genre: Industrial (Industrial Rock)
I like 16 Volt, they make good music. Especially their early stuff. But this, honestly, is a giant album of filler material. It's not bad, but nothing stands out, another CD to put on the stack of Industrial just in case you need to play a whole bunch for a long time. The only piece that caught my attention was Somebody To Hate, probably because it parodies the classic Somebody To Love song. Other than that, they all sound pretty similar, guitar heavy industrial beats. If you're a 16 Volt fan, pick this up, if you're just a general Industrial fan there's other, better material out there.

MC 900 Ft Jesus (w/ DJ Zero) - Hell With The Lid Off
Label: Nettwerk / I.R.S. Records
Released: 1989
Genre: Hip-HopMC 900 Ft. Jesus generally puts out heavily jazz-influenced eletronica, here his team up with DJ Zero puts out something much more hip-hop ariented. More beats that hit a little harder, lyrics that flow more instead of his normal story-style. It's good work, and different from a lot of the offerings out there. It's good, it's fun, it's not entirely catchy. This album managed to sadly show its age, and not well. It's not particularly complex, nor clever. It just is.

The Rough Guide To Brazilian Cafe w/ Bonus Disc (Vicor Ramil & Marcos Suzano)
Label: World Music Network
Released: 2011
Genre: Latin
Ah, latin music. Fun stuff, this whole collection is light, and airy. It is, as the title implies, perfect for sitting around a cafe and drinking coffee (or tea) to, with friends. It just sits happily in the background keeping the good feelings flowing. I really enjoyed this one, more than I normally like the exploration of the Rough Guides series. The guitar work is excellent, the selection fits well together - more so than others in the series where the selection is more about breadth than a continuous listening experience. The bonus CD of Vitor & Marcos is also excellent. like most bonus discs it's a previously released or soon-to-be released album from the hi-lighted group, in this one the guitar of Vitor's playing stands out. It's just excellent. Of all the Rough Guides I've gotten and reviewed so far, this is one of my favorites.

That's the week in music. Coming up is Tori Amos' new album, some gothic-rock, more idustrial and African Guitar. After that I go on vacation so I may be taking a hiatus, or load up lots of new music and have an extra-large post early in October. Or write from the road... who knows! Listen Hard!

Week Of 9/6 - Synthpop, Country, Heavy Metal, CattleCore, House

2011-09-13T21:16:00.000-06:00

This week is three new ones from Hank Williams III, and all three in different genres. I have to throw in some very light and happy French Synthpop to overcome it all.

New Releases:
Hank III - Attention Deficit Domination
Label: Hank 3 Records
Released: 2011 9/6
Genre: Metal (Speed, Thrash, Hardcore)
First up is a straight forward thrash metal album from Hank III. Nine tracks of shredding licks, double bass-drum pounding, metal. It's also the most boring of the three albums. Not that it's a bad album - it's a pretty good one as far as this kind of metal goes. But, there are other people out there that do thrash-metal better, he isn't quite grinding enough to make death metal, and while it could easily fit, there's better in the hardcore punk scene too. I think, this album was put out too soon, it needed to simmer longer before being finalized so it could pop up from filler to something cool.

Hank III - Cattle Callin'
Label: Hank 3 Records
Released: 2011 9/6
Genre: CattleCore
This is a lot like the previous album - speed and thrash metal. Here though, Hank layered on Auctioneers, and from what I can tell calling out actual auctions too. It's kind of badass, it's a lot of strange. Different, weirdly lulling. It takes some getting used to, that's for sure. Good for throwing a few tracks into a mix just to stir things up, keeping 'em guessing. I can't say I like it the most, but it's absolutely the most interesting.

Hank III - Ghost To A Ghost / Guttertown
Label: Hank 3 Records
Released: 2011 9/6
Genre: Country
The last release from Hank this week is a more straight forward country album, but certainly not the kind of country his father or grandfather would put out. Or even more country musicians today. This one definitely has the marked Hank III sound to it. Heavy in spots, he never really lets go of the metal side of himself. But he adds in some twang, a few ballad sounding pieces. This two-disc release really comes out well, my favorite of the three by a good long lead. With two CDs it actually drags just a little bit, but if you need to kill some time and don't want to change out music, that's what the long albums are for. It's dark, moody, rowdy, and very good.

Adding To The Collection
Celluloide - Passion & Excitements (+ Body Pop Clubmixes)
Label: Boredomproduct
Released: 2009
Genre: Synthpop
Celluloide are a french synthpop band, very light and danceable. I picked up the two-disc limited edition version from a closeout by a stateside distributor clearing space in their warehouse. It comes with a Remix EP. The Remixes take things in a more house/club direction, giving them a heavier beat, or a little more thump. But I like the base album the most, good old fashioned, pretty harmless, but good sounding pop music. Definitely a series of songs to have on hand when you need to put together a playlist that never really slows down.

Alter Ego - Rocker
Label: Skint
Released: 2005
Genre: House
I picked this up as a free digital promotion, it's an 8-track remix EP. As an EP it is extraordinarily boring, to be honest. I've never been too big a fan of Remix EPs that are just the same track taken in a bunch of different directions that still sound a lot alike. Thankfully some of the mixes here really deconstruct the track, but most don't. It's a good wide selection of similar sounding house stuff though, so you can find a place for a track in a good long party mix where you need some bouncy filler.

That was almost a little too much music for one week, I added the Alter Ego album last minute as it was a promo give away I wouldn't otherwise have picked up. Next week is Anthrax (I've waiting so fucking long for this one), some Hip-Hop, Industrial and a Latin mix.

Week of 8/30 Industrial, Dubstep, Klezmer, Electroswing, Ambient

2011-09-06T11:20:00.008-06:00

Crawled all over the spectrum this week, good diverse set. A last minute addition of an Electroswing compilation, a Klezmer compilation, took a shot at Skrillex's EP, and a Combichrist album from a couple years back. But, again this week, nothing new at all. Really slow month for new stuff in August. September is going to more than make up for that....

Adding To The Collection:
Marc Broude - Medecine
Labek: No Zen Records
Released: 2011
Genre: Ambient
This gem, I picked up along the way when the artist contacted me. My last release from this artist was effectively death metal. This, not so much. Dark ambient, moody. Good headphone music here, as there's some complex things going on with it. But, honestly, nothing extra-ordinary. There isn't quite the depth I'm used to with this kind of headphone ambiance, it almost reaches the likes of Controlled Bleeding's ambient offerings. But falls just ever so slightly short. Less complexity is only part of it, there's a certain emptiness behind it, like you're only catching part of what it wants to be. All that aside, though, it's a good background album, something a little darker than your average ambient offerings, less tinkling bells and more dark atmosphere.

Combichrist - Today We Are All Demons
Label: Out Of Line
Released: 2009
Genre: Industrial/EBM
I don't make a great distinction between Industrial and EBM personally (I'm sure someone out there is annoyed with me...) - but then I don't make a lot of genre distinctions sometimes. This actuallly falls closer to the EBM side of things, but it's got enough heavy bits to be good Industrial. I picked up the bonus 2-CD version of the German release. The second disc is another 8 tracks of songs, some of which seem like incomplete tracks or demos. Honestly, the second disc turns a great club album into something less, not really adding much onto the package. The album itself, though, is excellent. The first six songs alone are beyond awesome, truly pounding anthems for any dance floor. After that things go hit or miss, the EBM roots showing through heavily. Pick up the single disc release of this one.

Skrillex - Scary Monsters And Nice Sprites
Label: Big Beat / Atlantic
Released: 2010
Genre: Dubstep
Like any good pure-dance music this is mostly breaks, beats and bass. Though for an EP is contains seven tracks and only three remixes, which is a good hefty bit of new music for a non-album. The first track is a really good song for a dance mix, has everything you need from the build up intro to a good outro (not faded thankfully). After that the album is a bit generic, nothing really stands out above what's out there. But it does move, and moves well. Good to have around to fill out the set, or night, just to keep things bouncing right along without pausing. It's priced like an EP, which makes it a definite grab.

Electroswing II
Label: Wagram
Released: 2009
Genre: Eletroswing
All the electroswing is still in Europe, and all the best stuff is still put out by French label Wagram. Which makes it a good buy to pick up these compilations if you're in the US. This goes a little more diverse than most compilations on the genre, pulling in some rock influence, some hip-hop influence, a little house appears, and the always present stand-by bands, Nekta, Caravan Palace and Lyre Le Temps. Everything here is good, everything is so completely listenable. Electroswing is all fun, all the time. It's a genre you need to a grab a partner to and just move on the dance floor. It's impossible not to, and this compilation delivers in spades.

Rough Guide To Klezmer
Label: World Music Network
Released: 2000
Genre: Klezmer
Klezmer is a uniquely Jewish style of music, most usually seen at weddings. This Rough Guide goes from the European origins to the US Revival of the genre. Grabbing traditional songs and new ones from recent groups. A lot of Klezmer, to me, would fi right in with a barn-dance set. It has the same kick-up-your-heels dance feel, and good time all around style to it. Other than that, unless you need a disc to keep on hand for a Jewish wedding, this is mostly a really interesting look at another culture. Not an album you put on to listen to just because.

Next week will be a Hank III fest as he releases three new albums all at once. I'll find something else to throw in the mix to balance all that out though....

Week Of 8/23 - Blues, Industrial, EBM, Dubstep

2011-08-30T11:30:00.004-06:00

No new physical releases, I did pick up a pretty wicked digital single though. Of the Dubstep variety. Last weeks new release came in, Ana Popovic is a wicked blues singer. A live album from KMFDM, and an Accesory CD+Single round out the listening.

New Releases:
Afghan Headspin - Stand Up
Label: Skint
Released: 8/23 2011
Genre: dubstep
Afghan is a breakbeat and dubstep DJ out of the UK. This four-track single is the track plus a remix, both with instrumental versions. It's a very bouncy, hard, dubstep single. This is a fast track, very good for the dance floor. Fuzzy guitar-like riffs with a great vocal behind it from Stapleton. Definitely one to pick up if you like your dance music a little darker, a lot heavy, and very bouncy.

Ana Popovic - Unconditional
Label: Eclecto Groove Records
Released: 8/16 2011
Genre: Blues
I'd only heard of Ana casually, but I figured it was time to check her out, especially since every other new release for the week was definitely on the Pass list. She's got a seriously good blues voice, not gravelly, a little deeper than most female vocalists, like you want your blues - low and mean. And her guitar playing is top notch, proving that the guitar really is far and beyond one of the best instruments out there. Twelve tracks from slow to fast of perfect modern electric blues come pouring out here, she deserves super-stardom.

Adding To The Collection:
Accessory - Forever & Beyond
Label: Out Of Line
Released: 2005
Genre: EBM
I picked up one of the last Limited Edition 2-disc releases of this, it comes with a 4-track EP that includes a bunch of video as well. The album is a perfect modernization of late 80s/early 90s EBM. This entire album reminds me of Bigod20, early Front 242, Nitzer Ebb, and the like. Nothing overly heavy, the bass doesn't take over, and no guitars to be found - the days before Industrial Rock got a hold of the dance floor. But it isn't stuck back there, it feels and sounds very 2000s despite the throw-back sound. Accessory have figured out the dance floor and unleash a barrage of awesome cuts here. Every DJ needs this in their mix.

KMFDM - WWIII Live 2003
Label: Sanctuary
Released: 2004
Genre: Industrial
This is a live recording from Chicago off the WWIII tour, their second album since reforming with Lucia after the 'breackup' in 1999. Sadly, this is why I don't normally buy Live Albums. I remember this tour, it was epic - with video behind the band and the typical crowd pleasing energy and non-stop music. KMFDM knows what to do at a concert: play, and play hard and never stop. No bullshit crowd interactions, no song introductions, just music - song after song. This though, doesn't translate that energy, fails to capture the experience. Also, Raymond was near the end of his line with KMFMD here and it shows - he's almost off time in some places, and sound terrible through most of it. Sascha sounds like he might have a cold, and Lucia hasn't quite left behind her screaming days from Drill (though that's 4-5 years back by this point). They do play and record almost all the songs off WWIII though - which is nice, and catch a few of the truly awesome classics, though nothing further back than Angst. A good one for the KMFDM collector or fanatic, skip it if you're simply a big fan or less.

Bonus Track:
Bassnectar - Divergent Spectrum Continuous Mix
Label: self-released
Released: August 2011
Genre: dubstep
As part of the pre-order bonus this was sent out, it's a continuous mix of the album. It's a pretty straight interpretation, smoother cross over between 'songs', and some very minor differences. It's pretty cool, but not anything spectacular or anything that those who didn't pre-order are going to miss. It comes as a single hour long track, as well, not split out.

Week Of 8/16 - Trip-Hop, Ambient, Bollywood, Industrial

2011-08-23T16:50:00.001-06:00

Nothing new this week, sadly. Because my local indie-store (a bunch of them actually) managed to concentrate on a bunch of crap for no reason. I have, finally, exhausted the supply of music given as an anniversary present. That means I can really start into the music I've gotten in the meantime... I had a few surprises in this weeks listening as well. What I thought was a house-mix was actually a really sweet trip-hop bit.

Added To The Collection:
Einstürzende Neubauten - End Neu Remixes
Label: Mute
Released: August 1997
Genre: Industrial
This little gem wasn't ever releases in the US to my knowledge, which is too bad. It, unlike most remix albums, is not the norm. It's complete deconstructions of tracks from End Neu. It thankfully doesn't take what are excellently crafted works and simply add thumps behind them. A sublimely minimal remix of NNNAAAMMM is fabulous, it's also the track with the most attention getting three of the ten remixes. A mix of Stella Maris takes it out of it's almost pop-radio original style and makes it much darker. It's all radically different, all off the path. If you liked End Neu, and want to hear some truly different takes on the tracks, this might be a gem worth tracking down.

Nitin Sawhney - London Undersound
Label: Cooking Vinyl (E1 Entertainment in the US)
Released: 2009
Genre: trip-hop, house
Nitin Sawhney is a London DJ, admittedly not just a plain house DJ, but that's what I was expecting from this album, club tracks. What I got was completely different, and amazing. It starts off nice and low key, with a vocal bit from Natty, about chaos in London. A little bit of irony that I listened to this in a week with actual riots in London. The whole album is full of strings, downtempo beats, and vocals that don't overwhelm. It maintains that balance between chill and energy, and doesn't hold to a single style, bringing in bits from India, the London club scene, trip-hop and other elements. This is a good album to just sit down and really listen to.

Buddha-Bar IX, Ravin
Label: George V Records
Released: 2007
Genre: Ambient, House
By this volume of Buddha-Bar they've opened a second bar in London, which is where this collection was recorded from. Again a 2-disc release, the first CD is a more mellow collection of tracks, the second CD picks up a bit. Even throwing in an electro-swing track, and some more club friendly pieces. But still, the whole thing is fairly downtempo, not that it's slow, still danceable. Just not a hard bouncing dance, club friendly for all ages.

The Rough Guide To Bollywood
Label: World Music Network
Released: 2002
Genre: Bollywood (musicals)
This is a collection of classic songs from classic Bollywood movies. While it's kind of interesting, it's exactly like taking a bunch of songs from different musicals and putting 'em all together. India show tunes. And you lose context, especially if you haven't seen the movie. It's nice music, good stuff, definitely vintage, but in the end, it's a random collection of musical pieces that belong in a bigger picture. Also, they were not remastered, you can tell some of the recordings are very old, and possibly recorded on sketchy equipment back in the day. Still, it's a pretty neat collection, nice to have on hand. I'd just throw it into a big old mix for a party night.

Bonus Track
Kim Boekbiner & Amanda Palmer - Such Great Heights & On The Other Side Of The World
Label: self-released
Released: 2011
Genre: Rock
These two tracks are actually free downloads from funding the upcoming vinyl release of them on Kickstarter. The digital versions will be available through Kim's bandcamp. They were recorded while both were on tour in Australia. Neat little acoustic rocks tracks from two pretty cool chicks on the DIY Rock scene.

And that's all - next week: This weeks new release (which had to be ordered online); some (more) Industrial, some dubstep, and some blues. All very exciting. Listen Hard!

Week Of 8/9 - Gothic Rock, House, Moombahton

2011-08-16T16:59:00.000-06:00

This weeks new selection is the latest EP from The Birthday Massacre, an older EP from Emilie Autumn, rounding out my gothic-rock selection nicely with both titles. A house compilation from London, and a compilation of a brand new subgenre of house - Moombahton.

Moombahton is, to shorten a lengthy story, what happens when Reggaeton got imported into Europe, spend up and created Dutch House, then exported back out to the US, who slowed it back down to its Reggaeton roots creating a kind of bastard house-dancehall style. Very bass, very danceable, very not what you'd expect from 100bpm.

New Releases:
The Birthday Massacre - Imaginary Monsters
Label: Metropolis Records
Released: 8/9 2011
Genre: Gothic-Rock
Birthday Massacre almost fall outside the calssic Gothic-Rock style, which is closer to punk rock than the industrial of a lot of modern Goth is. Female lead vocals are sharp and not overly shouty without also being overly breathy. Imaginary Monsters continues on with guitar driven, electronic influenced, gothic-rock. A quick 8-track EP with three tracks and 5 remixes. And not the same track over and over, only Shallow Grave appears twice with a Combichrist and Assemblage 23 mix. The first three tracks are a good showcase (I hope) of the upcoming release, because they're great songs. The EP also includes a bonus video of 'In The Dark', always a nice touch.

Adding To The Collection:
Emilie Autumn - Girls Just Wanna Have Fun / Bohemian Rhapsody Double Feature EP
Label: Trisol Music Group
Released: 2008
Genre: Gothic-Rock, Classical
Emilie mixes in liberal doses of non-modern styles with her Gothic-Rock. This little EP, a limited edition (I believe there's a non-limited version missing the bonus track and in standard packaging) number that was a European release only, is nine tracks. Mixing harpsichords, violins, violas, and some modern bits. Bohemian Rhapsody only gets a cover version here, and sadly it lacks a lot of the punch the original had. It sounds good but falls a little flat. Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, on the other hand, brings a little more oomph and some new life to an otherwise banal pop-song. The four remixes aren't too bad, mixing up the song a bit, one of them nicely guitar-heavy. There are two live tracks, 'Asleep' and 'Mad Girl' for Emilie fans to enjoy. And the hidden track (though the inserted booklet lists it) is 'Gentlemen Aren't Nice' and is a nice sassy little number. This EP is mostly for collectors/fans of Emilie Autumn, if you're just a casual fan there probably isn't anything here you'd be too excited over.

Blow Your Head Vol2 - Dave Nada Presents Moombahton
Label: Mad Decent
Released: 2011
Genre: Moombahton
As explained, this emerging sub-genre of house and dancehall is a slowed down House style that was originally sped up Reggaeton. Reggaeton was itself a modification of the dancehall that left Jamaica to the surrounding islands. As a result this compilation of songs is bass heavy, beat driven, mixed with latin styles (you can recognize some Cumbia in there), with a dancehall feel, and definitely still modern house music. A lot of tracks feature Spanish, several feature reggae MCs, and more than a couple are just instrumental dance tracks. The whole thing is club friendly, and the bigger the system you have the better it sounds. Should be interesting to see more of this genre emerge and morph in the next couple years. As it is, it's new, a little hard to find, and possibly may just get reabsorbed back into the house-mix.

Sub Club 20 Years Underground
Label: Soma Recordings
Released: 2008
Genre: House
This is a 2CD set, the first disc is DJ Subculture, and the second is Optimo. As the title suggests both DJs go way way back into the London underground and come forward through the years, a really wide range of house comes out. You can feel the evolution. Subculture's disc is a little more laid back, almost mellow, but definitely not shirking its duties as a club-cut set of tracks. It's a little more trance influenced than pure rave. Optimo ups the ante a little, and the beat, and comes across with a few more heavier sounds, but still manages to reach way back with a Front 242 cut 'Take One'. Good mix aside, this is an interesting look at the history of London House and Club culture over a 20 year span. Beyond that little bit of history, it's not actually coherent enough to be a great mix set.

Bonus Tracks:
Army Of The Universe - Resin (+ Remix)
Army Of The Universe is an Italian industrial-rock act, and as they ramped up for a North American tour opening with KMFDM they put out a few tracks to download on their Facebook page. Naturally I grabbed 'em and gave a listen. I like 'em. They've got some good styles, the guitar in it really helps bring it out of the all-electronic production of Industrial, just about anything can be improved with guitar. The remix is from Bobberman, and adds some extra punch to the track, but I like the original a little better. Check out the band, I think any modern Industrial fan will like them.

Next week is all compilations and remixes - sadly the new CD I wanted to check out wasn't available locally and I had to order it, so no New Releases next week.`

Week Of 8/2 - Dubstep, Raï, Industrial, Jazz, & Iran

2011-08-09T16:17:00.000-06:00

Short trip around the world this week. From Algeria by way of France I have Rachid Taha, adding some rock to the native Raï music of North Africa. Also from france, the jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt, SoCal delivers the dubstep monster of Bassnectar, and the Industrial beats of Imperative Reaction. And finally a compilation of musicians from Iran - both new and old.

New Release:
Bassnector - Divergent Spectrum
Label: Amorphous Music
Released: 8/2 2011
Genre: Dubstep
Normally Bassnector is good for solid back to back beats and bass, Divergent Spectrum fuzzes it up a little. The opening track is pretty classic, put it on a big system and it'll bounce the floor around. It's by track 3 that things shift, Immigraniada (Gogol Bordello) comes on almost completely unmolested, until the break hits, then you get a few seconds of deep bass. After that a few tracks really add some fuzz to the beat, sounding almost like guitars. And finally around track 8 (through the end) the floor is finally dropped out and all that wonderful heavy bass and drum and rhythm crushes the dancefloor. As the liner notes say: the bigger the system you play this on the better the impact.

Adding To The Collection:
Inperative Reaction - Surface
Label: Metropolis
Released: 2011
Genre: Industrial
This is just a short EP to precede their upcoming full release. They're pretty straight up industrial-rock, if you liked early Orgy, and the like, you'll be into this group. There's a 'club edit' of What Is Left To Say which is, well, clubby. After that you've got a whole wide variety of remixes of the title track. Six of them. Some better than others, some only work if you're in the right mood. Sebastian Komor kicks out the best mix of the group - heavy and hard. Not much else to say about an 8 track EP.

Django Reinhardt - The Best Of
Label: Blue Note
Released: 1996
Genre: Jazz, Jazz guitar
Django, born in a gypsy caravan, ended up redefining and inventing all new elements of jazz through his guitar. If you don't know him, and aren't a jazz fan... go become one and then buy this album. The compilation does a pretty good job covering his entire career, short as it was. The recordings are clean and clear as well. Eighteen tracks of some really good, mellow, jazz guitar.

Rachid Taha - Rock El Casbah
Label: Wrasse Records
Released: 2007
Genre: Rock, Raï
Before we get started - Raï is a style of pop music predominant in Algeria and other areas of North Africa. Rachid was born in Algeria, and is living in France where he added even more of a rock element to his native style. Another best of collection, this covers his career through most of the 90s and a bit of the 2000s. Including an Algerian cover of The Clash's "Rock The Casbah" - and it rocks. It's all definitely radio-friendly rock and club-friendly rhythms (though nothing with the big bass of House is here).

Rough Guide To The Music Of Iran
Label: World Music Network
Released: 2006
Genre: native Iran (rock, traditional folk, and pop)
Another Rough Guide, another comprehensive look at a country in the world. Everything here has a very traditional feel to it, even the very obviously modern songs with outside influence. This isn't "music by Persians" it's local music in both traditional and modern settings. Like any Rough Guide, it's a perfect entry into a region of the world to find some new artists.

Bonus Track:
M.I.A. - 27
Label: Strerogum
Released: 7/24 2011
Genre: Pop
M.I.A. put this out the day after Amy Winehouse passed away, hence the title. A little pop-track as only M.I.A. could put out (meaning, heavy doses of dancehall and house). A sad and almost angry song about losing talent too soon, it's obvious this is not specifically aimed at Winehouse, but at the loss in general. It's also short, and to the point, a couple verses and end. M.I.A. doesn't harp, almost like a musical PSA. Available free as well.

And that's the new tunes I've been listening to over the past week. This upcoming week includes bunches of House, and Gothic Rock, and some really really new stuff - as in totally new genre of music. Listen Hard.

Week Of 7/26 - Industrial, House, Pop

2011-08-02T20:39:00.000-06:00

Finally, after 12 years, the new Atari Teenage Riot album. You can definitely feel the loss of Carl Crack on it, but still definitely ATR. A couple house remix albums find their way, one from London the other Paris. The long awaited addition of Sinsect (there were some printing issues with the physical CD) made it in, and to top it all off some Grace Jones.

New Releases:
Atari Teenage Riot - Is This Hyperreal?
Label: Digital Hard Core / Dim Mak
Released: 7/26 2011
Genre: Industrial, Noize
ATR, way back in the late 1990s, kind of slapped the heavy music scene in the face as they managed to achieve some moderate measure of commercial success. Now, twelve years later Nic and Alec are back, minus Carl. And you can feel that loss here. Overall, they haven't grown up lyrically - it's still angry anti-pop, anti-establishment, anti-mainstream, anti-fucking Everything. All their in its shouted glory. Musically, they've moved beyond since hardcore and speedcore noise. Elements of chiptune, more Industrial sounding melodies, and slower rhythms. Nic even shows off her ability to sing instead of merely shout. Overall, it's what I'd expect out of an ATR album, and what I was generally hoping for from new material.

Added To The Collection:
Grace Jones - Island Life
Label: Island Records
Released: 1985
Genre: pop, dancehall, reggae
Grace never was, and still isn't, a force to be reckoned with. Aside from being physically imposing, she's got the musical talent to stand her own. This little collection of songs is, as the title implies, very Caribbean in feel. From either just the sound of the music, or the content of the songs. Some dancehall mixes in with the straight pop music. Good summer or party album to have on hand.

Sinsect - Bug Life
Label: Crunch Pod
Released: May 2011
Genre: Industrial
Technically, this is a digital-only release, but a few hardcopy CDs were printed up and made available to Kickstarter contributors. Which is why I waited a bit from release to now - the printing took longer than expected. On with the music: great thundering industrial hardcore noise here. Dancefloor friendly for those dance floors that aren't afraid to deviate from the same boring shit. This one got stuck on repeat for a couple days this week.

Snooze - The Man In The Shadow
Label: The Medicine Label / Tangerine
Released: 1998
Genre: House
Snooze is a London DJ, and this made it over the pond in the late 90s when pretty much anything related to Techno was bouncing back and forth. At this point not only is this CD out of print, but the label that brought it over is defunct. It's not a bad CD, it's actually mostly original music and not a straight CD mix, but it sounds like one, and plays like one. Didn't leave much of an impression either way, just a decent enough collection of songs to put on in the background.

Stephane Pompougnac - Costes: La Suite
Label: Pschent
Released: 1999
Genre: House
This one is a true DJ Mix from Paris DJ Stephane, the second in a series he's been doing for over ten years now. This one bounces around a bit, starting mellow, moving up to a good dancefloor rhythm, and shows off just how far ahead of the curve the French DJs really were, a very early Electroswing track. I like this one, especially the back half as it bounces right along at a good pace. Not something you put on for background music, definitely a mix for dancing to.

Bonus Track:
Bassnectar - Immigraniada (Bassnectar Mix - Radio Edit)
Label: Amorphous Music
Released: July 2011
Genre: Dubstep
This free little track found its way into my collection recently as I scraped up the cash to buy the new Bassnectar album (out today 8/2). It starts off as Immigraniada by Gogol Bordello, pretty straight forward, but somewhere in the middle goes all dubstep bassy on us. Nice litte ditty.

Hidden Track:
Bassnectar - Upside Down (6Blocc Mix)
Label: Amorphous Music
Released: 7/29 2011
Genre: Dubstep
And this little number was sent out to pre-orders of the new Bassnectar album - after I scraped the cash together. This one is straight through dubstep in all its wonderful bassy drumming glory. No tricks, just dance step all the way.

and that's all I got for this week. Next week pulls back from the past a bit more, goes overseas to Iran, and tosses in a bit more industrial-rock because I can't seem to get enough of that.

Week Of 7/19 - Trip-Hop, Ambient, House, Rockabilly

2011-07-27T08:01:00.001-06:00

Day Late - things got overly busy. Sneaking this in at work... This weeks new release is UK artist Imelda May, a kickin' Rockabilly artist. Also on deck is a who bunch of DJ mixes. Ancient Astronauts (not a mix) leads the way with a Trip-Hop album. A mix from the Frabric club in London, and one from the Buddha Bar in Paris.

New Releases:
Imelda May - Mayhem
Label: Decca
Release: 7/19 2011 (US)
Genre: Rockabilly.
I picked this up on a whim, and because it's only thing that came out last week that was even remotely interesting. A Rockabilly artist that didn't forget the country roots. She's got the rock part down solid, and well, her voice (and the band) can hold a swing beat solid for a good dance. She can also go much softer and bring out the country side of Rockabiliy just as easily, even sneaking in a waltz (a ballad of making love work). And she's got a set of lungs on her, whether belting out a rock tune or a singing a mellower tune. Easily put into my favorites category.

Adding To The Collection:
Ancient Astronauts - We Are To Answer
Label: ESL Music
Release: 2009
Genre: Trip-Hop
Like many acts, this is just a couple guys doing some DJ work, a little music production, and gathering in as many people as possible to add to the sound. Pharcyde, Raashan Ahmad, Tippa Irie, and a few other DJs. It doesn't stick to general trip-hop sound, and moves both up and down-tempo throughout, a little Hip-Hop mixed in for good measure. It's a pretty good album with some good production, the flow from track to track isn't perfect, but it's better than most.

Optimo (Espacio) - Fabric 52
Label: Fabric
Released: 2010
Genre: House
A quick intro - Fabric is a club in London, every month they put out with a DJ Mix or a Live Mix (alternating them). The Mixes come from DJs that have played, or regularly play, the club. Optimo (Espacio) is two of their regular DJs, and this Fabric is a good solid slice of House/Dance music from mid-2010. It actually reaches back a bit, and feels like it come from ten years earlier, without rehashing the same tracks from then. If you need to just put on some dance music and bounce away, Fabric mixes are good, and this one in particular is both excellent and fun.

Buddha-Bar I
Label: Wagram / Chall'OMusic
Released: 2003
Genre: Ambient, House
Buddha-Bar is another club, this one is actually a dinner club in Paris. The mixes come in two parts: Dinner and Party. The first disc is Dinner and is almost completely ambient music, slow beats (though not completely downtempo), non-invasive songs that fill the space behind you nicely. The music itself is not stuck in a particular era, but an atmosphere. Relaxing, nice, but not totally devoid of rhythm - you could dance to some of this if you wanted. The second disc takes off a bit, Party is just that, more dance, more energy, a little louder. Many of the songs on both sets take from middle eastern sounds and themes, as well as singers. Not your typical club music by any stretch of the mind, something a little different here.

Bonus Track:
Marc Broude - Psychological Warfare
Label: self released (via Soundcloud)
Released: 2006
Genre: Metal, Industrial
Picked this up at random - the artist emailed me a link. It's a 2-track single of noizey industrial metal. Complete with shouted lyrics and all. It's not that bad, lacks a little of the polish of modern Industrial-Metal sounds, but that kind of makes it better. If you're on Soundcloud, go check out his page and give a listen.

And that's it, only four albums (the Buddha-Bar mix is two and a half hours by itself). Next week is some more house mixes, Grace Jones, and a bunch of industrial music.

Week Of 7/12 - House, Electro, Blues, Industrial, Shamisen

2011-07-19T14:42:00.000-06:00

Finally starting to put a serious dent in the music the wife gifted me, still not quite halfway through it all though! This weeks new release is a Juno Reactor remix album; some more Yoshida Brothers and Said Mrad are added, an old Apoptygma Berzerk single, and a Delta Blues compilation. Good week for some upbeat stuff here, lots of high energy.

New Releases:
Juno Reactor - Inside The Reactor
Label: Metropolis Records
Released: 7/12 2011
Genre: House, Club, Electronica
Juno Reactor have always been pushing the electronica genre, they aren't quite house, but that's the closest I can really get to describing their music without a generic "it's all electronica..." The remix album here pulls from all over to remix various JR tracks, Midival Punditz and Bombay Dub Orchestra were the two I both immediately recognized and looked forward to hearing the most, two bing names in modern London dance club music, blending in their Indian roots. Everything here does justice to Juno Reactor, but they aren't just clubbier versions of their tracks, some really good stuff was done with this. They even snuck in a 'lost' mix from early on. It bounces, and booms, and it's a good addition for Juno Reactor fans.

Adding To The Collection:
Apoptygma Berzerk - Love To Blame
Label: Gun Records
Released: 2006
Genre: Gothic Rock
Apoptygma Berzerk don't sit still, but they do tend to hover around the Industrial and Goth music scenes. A lot of their early music was heavily influence by Depeche Mode and was the beginnings of Darkwave and Coldwave gothic music. This, in the mid-2000s, is not that. The single is really solid Gothic Rock, with guitar hooks, dark imagery that is neither downtempo nor overly hard. Like a lot of good gothic-rock there's a lot of punk-rock in it, no exception here. It's only a 4 track single, with a bonus video, but it's a solid little number.

Said Mrad - Electroriental
Label: Platinum Records
Released: 2009
Genre: House, Arabic
Said Mrad may just be the leader of Arabic-House, taking good old Chicago and London beats and mixing in liberal amounts of Arabic sounds. This album doesn't hold back, and belongs in a dance club from top to bottom. There's even some traditional songs mixed skillfully in. Not much to add on except that the US needs this guy over here to expand our idea of Dance Music.

Yoshida Brothers - III
Label: Domo Records
Released: 2006
Genre: Shamisen, Rock
More from Japan, the Shamisen is an awesome instrument. This album mixes in a lot more Rock rhythm than their other stuff. All of it's high energy, kickin' music. As I sat listening to this on random intermixed with the previous albums I realized just how much these guys would kick ass if they mixed in some bass with their sound. Even without it, though, they rock out nicely.

Rough Guide To The Delta Blues
Label: World Music Network
Released: 2002
Genre: Blues
I like the blues, I really can't get enough of it. And this is a whole collection of a lot of old gems, and some new stuff. The only complaint is that some of the source material was definitely taken from old 78s and 45s and there's a lot of sound artifacts, or off balance recordings here. They could have done a better job bringing the levels up and cleaning up the sound. On the other hand, with all that the old blues music sounds like you are moving back a century to when recordings were rare, and people had to gather together to listen to music. Truly remarkable works of art in here.

Bonus Track:
Ostfront - Fleisch
Label: Out Of Line
Released: 2011
Genre: Industrial
With my last order from the label they sent out a one-track promo sampler from new group Ostfront. Definitely part of the New Deutch-Hart movement of industrial-rock. EBM with heavy guitars. It's not a bad little track, and I think I'll be picking up the full album down the line to get more of them.

And that's the week in music. Next week, to down-shift from all this dance music, is mostly trip-hop and ambient. But it can't all be downtempo and some Rockabilly snuck past the guards.

Week Of 7/5 - Bluegrass, Electro, Industrial

2011-07-13T20:29:00.000-06:00

Late post - away on vacation over the weekend, I think I may move new posts to Tuesdays, same day I load new music I review the previous weeks selection. The new release this time around is actually old and new; Accessory "Underbeat" was released in Germany in June, but isn't due out in the US until August. Actual new releases for the week were slim and not interesting to me.

New Releases:
Accessory - Underbeat
Label: Out Of Line (Germany) / Metropolis (US)
Released: 2011
Genre: Industrial
The German release is a 2 Disc set, the second disc is some extra tracks and remixes. The Digital version of the US release contains the second disc. The album is solid EBM and dance industrial hits. Not nearly as heavy as many of the German artists in the Industrial scene that normally come over from Germany. The whole thing is club cut from start to finish, everything here is designed for the dance floor. The second disc is where things actually get interesting - there's a cover of Johnny Cash "Folsom Prison Blues" which proves that if you want to turn any song into a heavy dance track give it to the Germans. It is, to be honest, a great cover of the song.

Face The Beat Vol. 1
Label: Side-Line Magazine
Released: 7/3 2011
Genre: Industrial, Darkwave, Eurobeat, EBM
This 55 Track compilation was released for free on Facebook (hence the title). It contains 55 Tracks from signed, unsigned, standard and new acts. Across the board. There are a few real gems hidden in this compilation, and a few tracks that are well saturated in the scene. There's very little underlying theme here other than everyone on it is putting out music right now, this is not a compilation looking back at the scene, but looking forward at it. It's definitely worth picking up in my opinion - you could always use a bit more dance music in your life.

Adding To The Collection:
Said Mrad - Greatest Dance Hits
Label: EMI Music Arabia
Released: 2009
Genre: House, Arabic-House
Said Mrad is one of the leading DJs in the Arabic countries, fusing House with Arabic rhythms and sounds. This is a greatest hits compilation, making it a pretty good starting point for anyone wanting to add a bit of near-eastern flair to the dance floor. It is, under it all, straight house DJ music, though original tracks and not a DJ Mix set. The Arabian flair, and I'm not well versed enough in their traditional sounds to specify further, makes it a pretty cool set to toss in with your normal house mix.

Rough Guide To Bluegrass
Label: World Music Network
Released: 2001
Genre: Bluegrass
Bluegrass, the start of Americana, or Roots-Americana. A little country, a little folk, a little blues, some gospel. All mixed liberally in the Appalachian Mountains for a very unique American Music. This collection gathers some of the contemporaries of the genre and some of the traditional musicians and throws them into a single 21-track mix. Like all Rough Guides this is just a jumping off point to gather artists in the genre and pursue them individually. This compilation tends to have a lean towards the gospel end of the Bluegrass genre, though.

Bonus Track:
Caustic & Be My Enemy - Oxyacetylene
Label: none
Released: 7/1 2011
Genre: Industrial
Caustic and By My Enemy played a cover of this track live, and afterwards decided they needed to do a full production of this Cubanate classic. So they did, and released it into the world for free. It's a near straight cut cover track, nothing too extra added to it, though Caustic's vocals are much harsher and deeper than the originals.

Week Of 6/28 - Punk, Russian Gypsies, Shamisen, Pop-Techno

2011-07-03T10:20:00.001-06:00

Thievery Corporation's latest is yet another conglomeration of styles from all over the place, a little bit of hip-hop, some reggae, but mostly a downtempo trip-hop. A Yoshida Brothers album finds its way into the collection, the Deadly Sins are a punk rock outfit, and a compilation of Russian Gypsy music, most of which is guitar work. I love guitars.

New Additions:
Thievery Corporation - Culture Of Fear
Label: Eighteenth Street Lounge Music
Released: 6/28 2011
Genre: pop-techno (mixing in many styles)
The latest release from Thievery Corporation is as world-traveled as previous releases, pulling styles and genres from around the globe into a single cohesive whole of an album. The opening track is fairly downtempo, but the next track picks up with a solid hip-hop beat and rhyme from Mr. Lif. The trip-hop vibe carries the album in a kind of low key downtempo style through most of the rest of the album. A little bit of dub-reggae sneaks in towards the end. Despite continually coming back to a theme of modern world invasion of privacy it's not an album that feels like it has a political statement.

Adding To The Collection
Deadly Sins - Selling Our Weaknesses
Label: Durty Mick Records
Released: Sept 2008
Genre: Punk
There's actually nothing stand out or particularly spectacular about this album. Which makes it a really great punk rock record in my opinion. The whole thing is just a solid delivery, sans attempts at rock-anthems or even ballads. From front to start everything about the Deadly Sins first album is pure punk-rock trucking along without pausing. Female lead vocalist Stephanie Dougherty neither screams nor does she sound like a classically trained pop-singer dropped into a mix of guitars. She's solid, straight forward, and sounds like the vocalist of a punk rock act, sometimes rough, sometimes smooth, always listenable. Really, this a fucking great record.

Yoshida Brothers - II
Label: Domo Records
Released: 2004
Genre: Shamisen, Classical
The Yoshida Brothers are famous for making the traditional Japanese Shamisen a modern instrument, by fusing the old world with the new. The second album has a lot of classical instrumentation here, with a little modern jazz as well. They let their Shamisen's do most of the work, however, and never let the old world get buried under the new. It's almost acoustic rock'n'roll.

Rough Guide To Russian Gypsies (w/ Bonus Album 'Kolpakov Duo')
Label: World Music Network
Released: 2010
Genre: Gypsy Guitar
Russian Gypsy music is much more guitar focused than any other Gypsy music I've heard. Even when vocals are included they become just another instrument with which to backup the guitar work. And some of the guitar work is fantastic. All of it acoustic. Sometimes a violin or similar sneaks in a lead performance, but most songs concentrate around some amazing string work.

The bonus CD hilights this even more, as the Kupalov Duo are two guitarists, and the whole album is The Art Of Russian Guitar, so they use even less of the other instruments than the compilation does. All of it is good uptempo music to dance to as well, very little slow music is here, all of it feels like they're trying to throw a party around each song. One of the better World Music Rough Guides I own.

Bonus Track:
Anthrax - Fight 'Em 'Til You Can't
Label: Megaforce, Nuclear Blast
Released: 6/24 2011
Genre: Thrash Metal
Anthrax finally put out some new music, not since 2004's "We've Come For You All" have the fans been able to hear anything really New. And this single track they released for free with the new-old lineup with Joey on vocals again is killer. It's all the true aggression of the 90s John Bush era, plus the amazing vocals of Joey belting out a thrash metal track that's sure to become a standard. It's fucking awesome, and available as a free download from the band or their labels websites.

[Next Weeks Audio-Bomb will be late because I'll be out of town, hopefully it'll go up late Sunday night, otherwise early Monday morning.]

Week Of 6/21 - Psychobilly, Blues, Pop-Techno, Electroswing

2011-06-26T09:17:00.000-06:00

This week I loaded a 4-disc compilation, unintentionally ended up with two new releases instead of one, and threw down with some Hank 3rd. Pyschobilly is effectively the mash of Punk Rock with Country - and you can't go wrong with that, I've been sitting on Hank Williams III latest since it came out in May, only took me a month to load it up and really listen. I had intended to only buy one new release (based on some reviews no less) but while I was in the record store found myself browsing just so I could hear what they had playing in the overhead - bit of a sign that was. So I bought Dave Alvin's latest after sticking around for the first five tracks. Totally worth it. And then there's the 4-Disc box set, I didn't listen through it as many times as I'd have liked though, but it is 4 hours of music...

New Releases:
Dave Alvin - Eleven Eleven
Label: Yep Roc Records
Release: 6/21 2011
Genre: Blues, Americana
Dave Alvin is credited with helping to start up, Roots Americana. This album, though, is a pretty solid Blues album. In both music and feel. The slow opener 'Harlan County Line' is a basic lost-love song, and very catching. It speeds right up with 'Johnny Ace Is Dead', slows down for a few tracks, and rides through on a bit of a downtempo style to the end. Several tracks are of the more Americana style than straight Blues, the two that stick out the most are 'Gary, Indiana 1959' - a classic blue-collar hard luck story - and 'Two Lucky Bums' - a great upbeat tale of life being good despite some hard luck. As a bonus, there's an included download card for an extra bonus track that should have made the album itself. This is a great album, a worthy addition to modern Blues music.

The Japanese Popstars - Controlling Your Allegiance
Label: Astralwerks
Release: 6/21 2011
Genre: pop-techno, dance
I picked this up because several places pulled the nostalgia card and compared it to mid to late 90s records from Chemical Brothers, Juno Reactor, Crystal Method and their compatriots. Being a fan of that, I took a chance. Well - they lied. It misses in both feel and overall cohesiveness. One of the big things the really big names in Electronica did, and did well, were put together solidly cohesive albums. If you're going to compare something to Crytal Method's "Vegas" or (Gods help you) Juno Reactor's "Beyond The Infinite" it better step up. This, does not. It's not a bad album by any means - it's decent pop-techno you could toss onto the dance floor. But it's not great, and it's not cohesive. It's solid middle of the road listening here. A couple tracks really stand out though, the opener 'Let Go' is a really good kicker, and 'Destroy' really does capture the late 90s Electronica sound. 'Falcon Punch' almost makes it, but needed more solid surrounding tracks. Overall, it's good, and definitely listenable. But there's better out there.

Adding To The Collection:
Hank Williams III - Hillbilly Joker
Label: Sidewalk Records
Released: 5/17 2011
Genre: Psychobilly
I've always been a fan of Hank Williams, and Jr. And Now the III has caught my attention. I'd always held him out there, not disliking him, but not really interested enough to start collecting. But I caught a listen of part of this album and knew this was the place to start if you want so really cranked up country-rock. Psychobilly appeals to the punk rocker in me, in a big way. And this album feels like a great punk album, just a very country one. It just rips through things, short and sweet, and doesn't stop until the outro (which, could have been dropped - a minute of squealing pigs and that one line from Deliverance... bad choice). It's about 30 minutes of pure speed. I recommend it.

Electro Swing Fever
Label: Wagran Music
Released: 2010
Genre: Electroswing
This 4-Disc set is a massive collection, compromised of tracks from the labels "Electro Swing" series and a few other tracks. Each disc is 15 tracks, giving about 4 hours of nonstop swinging club bounce. You really could just throw it on for the night and not worry about the music for a while. Nothing in this genre slows down below Dancing. Some of the best stand outs are Nekta (you bet I'll be going to find their releases), two Rum & Coca Cola mixes made it on (I just like that song a lot), Funky DL adds a song "1947" which is heavily hip-hop influenced without losing the swing beat, and Rube & Dusty added "Big Band Jump" which is half electroswing half dubstep and all bounce. And there's more, lots of tracks in here, sixty of them! Yep, compilations are good for finding new bands, and this one is awesome.

Short this week, mostly due to that 4-disc monster, because I really try and give everything 2-4 listens through before forming opinions on it (though I only made it through the compilation twice.. but it made an impression). And that's the week in sound. On Tuesday Theivery Corporation releases a new album, and I can't wait for that.

Week of 6/14 - Gothic Rock, Jazz, Industrial, Rock

2011-06-19T11:37:00.001-06:00

This weeks new addition is Bella Morte's latest release 'Before The Flood' - a great Gothic Rock album, plus some Dengue Fever bringing back the sound of the 1950s quite handily, a spattering of Industrial musics, and a Rough Guide Compilation.

New Release:
Bella Morte - Before The Flood
Label: Metropolis Records
Released: 6/14 2011
Genre: Gothic Rock
Bella Morte has the ability to take all the best parts of 80s Gothic Rock and leaving behind all the worst parts (namely, having to have been around in the 80s). Great guitars, light on the synths and samples, and Andy's voice is just an amazing fit for the genre. If you are or were a big fan of Gothic Rock before the 1990s started to change the genre up then you really want this album, it fits right in without feeling dated. Definitely modern rock, definitely something new. Bella Morte managed to capture the feeling without sounding like a bad copy. Lights In The Sky is a massive stand out track, as is Falling Star. It's not all dark and moody, the rock here is above the norm, way better than your average radio play rock group.

Adding To The Collection:
Dengue Fever - Escape From Dragon House
Label: M80 Music
Released: 2005
Genre: Rock, Indie-Rock
Dengue Fever takes average indie-rock and kicks it up a notch by adding a Khmer (Cambodian) singer. Her vocals are excellent, and the album has a very old-rock/lounge feel to it. The whole sound (and even album art) feels like they're channeling the rock of the 1950s, a bit lounge, a bit jazz, a bit rock, all good. And the vocals in Khmer make you feel like you're listening to it in a bar in the jungle heat, I file this kind of thing under Summer Music, good music, hot air, long days, great feeling to it.

Turnbull A.C's - Let's Get Pissed
Label: Out Of Line
Released: 2008
Genre: Industrial, EBM
Turnbull A.C's, named after the gang from the movie Warriors, is a side project for Pontus Stålberg (of Spetsnaz), whose main goal is to create EBM as heard in the 80s. Less crunch, more reliance of the beat, and a little more repetition of chorus. Let's Get Pissed is a pretty good party-album, throw it on when the party needs something loud, catchy and danceable in the background that isn't very noisy or guitar-distorted. All the songs do suffer from sounding a little too alike, the lyrics really stand out as the shift in song. Man Made Modern Machines stands out as a club-style classic, and We Can Drink Without Having Fun is an awesome track - fun and loud.

Rough Guide To Brazilian Lounge (w/ Bonus Axial album)
Label: World Music Network
Released: 2009
Genre: Jazz, Bossa Nova, Lounge
I love these Rough Guides, really. This one, though, is interesting. The entire thing is really light, lounge jazz. It's an entire RG of what I end up putting on in the background to allow me to focus, not really listening so much as letting the music block other noise. It's not loud, it's not particularly catchy sing-a-long type music. But it is really good, the jazz here is fused solidly with Bossa Nova rhythms - or rather Brazilian sounds are given a slight jazz flair.

Axial - the bonus disc by this band - on the other hand, is even more down the downtempo road, even lighter. While still really good music, it's the kind of stuff you take it really easy to, afternoon nap or reading material. Non-intrusive music, Sandra's voice is hypnotizing, it does demand some attention, making you pause and Listen to the music.

A good compilation, but fairly downtempo, I wouldn't pull this out to dance to.

Bonus Album:
Caustic - Born This Way
Label: none
Released: May 2011
Genre: Industrial
This little four-track gem was given away on Caustic's Facebook page. It's a couple remixes of Hiroshima Burn, and one each of The Saint Of Fuck-Ups, and White Knuckle Head Fuck. I think these remixes were done but not chosen for any specific release, and Caustic is one of those 'it was made and must be heard' type guys. If you've 'Liked' his Facebook page you can go grab a copy of this. Very club-oriented remixes, but honestly nothing really awesome. Just a fun little four-track bit that is good to throw into a big mix.

Week Of 6/7 - Blues Rock, Punk, Electroswing, Industrial, Shamisen

2011-06-12T14:43:00.000-06:00

I have a huge pile of music to work through since The Wife gifted me a bunch for our anniversary. On top of the few I had already ordered. This months new selection is also a new band - Tedeschi Trucks Band. The musicians aren't new, but the ensemble is and their debut is some good slow Blues Rock. The first of the Electro Swing compilations as well, plus some other fun stuff.

New Releases:
Tedeschi Trucks Band - Revelator
Label: Masterworks
Release: 6/7 2011
Genre: Blues Rock
Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi have been around a while, in 2010 they got together, pulled in an 11 piece ensemble and set to work. The result is a very low-key, Blues Rock sound, with Susan's smooth voice in the lead. Her vocals don't get the usual guttural sound a long of female blues singers have, and they aren't the poppy-soaring vocals of most acts either. Just in the middle, good singing. The band itself, despite being a large ensemble, doesn't step all over itself, they manage to not sound like they're an overwhelming force. The horns are subtle, only coming out when they work best, and stepping back to the rhythm after that. Overall, it's a great first effort from the group, hopefully this isn't a short lived project.

Adding To The Collection:
Agatsuma - En
Label: Domo Records (Japan)
Released: 2007
Genre: Shamisen (traditional Japanese), Jazz
Agatsuma is another modern Tsugaru Shamisen player - a form of Shamisen from the northern most island of Japan - mixing traditional Japanese with modern styles. This album has a heavy jazz influence, a few tracks are outright jazz pieces with a Shamisen in them. All of it is excellent music, light without being lowkey or downtempo. Worth a listen if you're a jazz fan looking for something fresh injected into it.

Dropkick Murphys - The Singles 1996-1997
Label: Hellcat Records
Released: 2000
Genre: Punk
This collects all of the B-Sides, Live tracks, demos, and other assorted bits from the first two years of DKMs life, all with original singer Mike McCoglen. It was released in answer to a European release of similar nature since the early 7"s and Singles were way out of print by the time DKM gained following there, it omitted some bits, and added some other bits. The early demos and b-sides are nice, but really the gems are the live tracks, DKM always puts on a good show, and it's evident here they've done so right from the start. Good if you're a new DKM fan, or are missing some of the really early stuff if, like me, you just managed to never pick it up.

Iszoloscope - beyond within and so on
Label: Ant-Zen
Released: 9/7 2010
Genre: Industrial, Experimental, Noise
Iszoloscope is a very experimental industrial act, heavy and noisy sounds. Very unclub without being completely outside the dance zone. Some of the tracks on this release verge into ambient soundscapes that remind me a great deal of Controlled Bleeding, without being derivative of it. It's also a free release through either Amazon or Bandcamp - making it a cheap way to introduce yourself to modern electronic industrial. The album is nice and crunchy and grindy - and the best part is a short track 'unplugged' that is literally a recording of the artist hitting the buttons on the machines.

Electro Swing - compilation
Label: Wagram Records (France)
Released: 2009
Genre: Electroswing
The French took American Swing from the 20s to the 40s, plus London House/Big Beat and mashed 'em together in a wonderful up-swing sound of dance music. Seriously, this stuff is cool, upbeat, really kickin' on the dance floor. And this one-disc compilation is the perfect place to start. It has a smattering of all the little bits Electroswing has added in, scratch&wobble (turn tables scratched), hip hop MC over the swing, heavy bass lines, and even remixes and refits of old stuff - Fred Astaire gets a work over on his Puttin' On The Ritz classic. Twenty tracks of dancing goodness.

Next Week - since I have a lot of musics, I can plan ahead. Bella Morte's new release (already in hand, it's great Gothic Rock), more Shamisen, 1950s Cambodia gets an indie rock makeover, and some Industrial Rock plus a random surprise.

Week of 5/31 - Jazz, Industrial, Ambient, Gothic Rock

2011-06-05T10:40:00.000-06:00

A couple of this weeks selections are short, I probably should have added one more to make up for it. But I'm sticking to Five Per Week anyway. The new release, Eliane Elias is one of those artists I probably should have known about all along, being a moderately famous Jazz singer and pianist (famous in Jazz circles at least), from Brazil she's got a lovely voice, has been recording since 1984, and is completely new to me. Sometimes I wonder how I miss artists like this. Especially considering the number of jazz aficionados in my family.

New Releases:
Eliane Elias - Light My Fire
Label: Concord Music Group
Released: 5/31 2011
Genre: Jazz (Latin, Pop, Lounge)
Eliane Elias hails from Brazil, and her music is in both Portuguese and English, Light My Fire bounces around the arena from a very Latin Jazz sound (usually in her own writing), some lounge (or Nightclub, however you want to call it) jazz perfect in those after hours jazz clubs, and a pop-music sound. This album has a few covers on it, chiefly the title track is a cover of the The Doors (doing the song some actual justice and in my mind proof that Jim should have been writing for other people from the begimning - he can't touch the elegance of Eliane's rendition), and Stevie Wonder's "Ma Cherie Amour" which is a beautiful sounding cover. If you're not a fan of jazz with too many horns, I definitely suggest this, it's quiet, elegant and brings just enough bounce to keep you paying attention - maybe even dance.

Filling Out The Collection:
Combichrist - Throat Full Of Glass
Label: Out Of Line Records (German Release)
Released: 2011
Genre: Industrial
Combichrist are one of the work-horses of the Industrial world, they always seem to be either on tour or in the studio, and they've got the fanbase to show for it, and the catalogue to back it up. This particular single is the German release, because it includes the video - and the American release had to be censored (it shows breasts and violence, God help us all, they edited out the breasts....). The title track and four remixes are here. Each remix is a very different take on the track. There's a standard heavier dance beat, a sped up version, a dub version, and a slowed down version. The last track is a remix of Industrial Strength which is very club friendly. Pretty much exactly what you expect out of an Industrial genre single. The song itself - can't for get that - is catchy, the hook and chorus are infectious, it's almost radio friendly in that regards.

Bella Morte - Undertow
Label: Metropolis
Released: May 2011
Genre: Gothic Rock
Bella Morte is one of those modern Gothic Rock groups that would have easily fit right in with the 80s genre kings. A distinct vocal sound, and excellent composition. This two track digital single has one track from their upcoming album, and a cover of Celine Dione's "My Heart Will Go On" which they take out of pop-hell and give it new life, known for covering it live at shows, they finally recorded it. And with their darker sound, low guitars, and Andy's distinct vocals make it a much darker song that before. The new album is out June 14, 2011.

Panda Bear - Tomboy
Label: Paw Tracks
Released: April 2011
Genre: Ambient
Panda Bear is an ambient (and almost by nature of ambient electronica highly experimental) artist, his latest release Tomboy fully explores a low energy, and mellow, environment. It's very good for putting on in the background and just letting the room fill up, though it doesn't have some of the multiple layers that some ambient artists fill their sound with. It's very stripped, very simple, mostly bass and vocals throughout. His vocals are treated to sound somewhat distant, buried in the underlying beat. The album comes with a digital download of a live set played in 2010, unlike some artists in the genre the live set isn't as improvised, mostly straight renditions of album tracks. The album also comes on vinyl (which has a digital download of the full album + the live album), and it's white vinyl which I think makes it look more interesting than other colors bands choose.

16 Volt - Beating Dead Horses
Label: Metropolis
Released: May 2011
Genre: Indutrial
Long standing duo, 16 Volt, latest is an Industrial-Rock power house, dark and gritty. Exactly what you want from these guys, as the years have progressed their sound gets heavier, grittier, and more aggressive. Beating Dead Horses delivers 13 tracks of pure club-friendly industrial rock, with no slowing down. The standout tracks are the title track (which opens the album), Sick Sick Sick, and We Disintegrate. The rest is good, but nothing really extra-ordinary, to be honest. It fits right into a playlist or set list to keep things moving smoothly along to a heavy guitar laden beat. I definitely recommend it for fans of the genre.

New Musics - punk, dubstep, North African journey

2011-05-29T11:51:00.000-06:00

This week is several flavors of punk rock, another take on dubstep, and a compilation covering North Africa. Finally completed my Avril Lavigne discgraphy (the studio releases at least), and filling out some Dropkick Murphys.

New Releases:
Art Brut - Brilliant! Tragic!
Label: Cooking Vinyl Records
Released: 5/24/11
Genre: Punk
Art Brut sometimes gets lumped into the UK Indie Rock scene, over here in the US I consider them firmly in the Punk Rock genre, and this album especially. The whole thing reminds me of early clash - stripped down, good guitar riffs, and songs about life and people. The album actually feels like it might be from two sides of a single relationship, which puts half the songs from the girls perspective. An excellent example of punk rock that isn't all noise and bluster.

Filling Out The Collection:
Bassnectar - Underground Communication
Label: Om Records
Released: 2007
Genre: dubstep
Bassnectar is one of the 'big names' in the dubstep genre, spilling out across multiple genres actually. Here sees the inclusion of a lot of hip-hop elements, especially the MC, on top of the dubstep beats that drive the music. The lyrics come with a social message involving the increasing lack of media integrity. The beats, themselves, are top notch.

Dropkick Murphys - Blackout
Label: Hellcat Records
Released: 2003
Genre: punk
DKM has long been a favorite of mine, though I lost track of picking up releases in the early 2000s so I've got some back catalogue to fill. Blackout has a lot of now standards on it, and sounds as good as they ever have. Songs about life, drinking, working, fighting, and getting on with it. This is the album with 'Fields Of Anthenry' which is one of the best DKM versions of a Traditional out there. And the track 'The Dirty Glass' is awesome in that it's not just about a bar, but they got guest vocalist Stephanie Dougherty to sing from the point of view of the bar. Punk Rock Drinking Songs.

Avril Lavigne - Goodbye Lullaby
Label: RCA Records
Released: 2011
Genre: punk (pop punk)
The latest release from pop-punk queen Avril. It sounds more like Under My Skin, but more refined, cleaner. She's still focused on the good and bad of boys, which isn't a bad thing but one wonders how many more albums she can make on the topic. One thing missing with the more experienced sound is the grit of her first two albums, which was part of her charm. For pop-punk rock, though, this album is really good and one of the better pop- albums out there.

Rough Guide To North African Cafe
Label: World Music Network
Released: 2007
Genre: (many)
This regional compilation crosses over many genres, from blues to pop and rock. The languages also cover the entire region. Morocco, Egypt, Tunisian and Algerian artists dominate the fourteen tracks. Very little English is here, some French, but mostly native languages and instruments. Not all the artists here are from North African, or based there anymore, but all the sounds are influenced heavily by that region. Like all Rough Guides, it's a place to start to get interesting new artists.

Week Ending 5/21 - Rock, Dubstep, Gothic Rock, Japanese Trad.

2011-05-22T11:08:00.001-06:00

This week is largely a selection of work my wife picked up, which makes it a little less hard and a little more diverse. Also, the new selection has a story behind it; Danger Mouse and Daniele Luppi set out to record a soundtrack the way the Italian's did in the hey-day of the Spaghetti Westerns, right down to methods and technology and even finding some of the musicians who recorded music forty years ago. There's no movie, just a soundtrack. I've also throttled back a bit, adding only five albums a week to my collection, which is a good number for me to actually listen to them all at least twice through.

New Releases:
Danger Mouse & Daniele Luppi - Rome
Label: Capital Records
Released: 5/17 2011
Genre: rock
The album cover bills this as Starring Jack White and Norah Jones, both of whom lend their voices to this work. It does sound like a soundtrack to a movie, songs specifically recorded for specific scenes. It's not a narrative, it doesn't tell a story, just feels like it's part of one. The music itself is mellow, soaring at times, low key at others, very light. It's also very short, at thirty five minutes it feels both too short and just perfect. Any longer and they might have lost the magic, but you still want it to go on - just like a good story. This is definitely in the top ten of the year so far.

Filling Out The Collection:
Bauhaus - ...And Remains
Label: Beggars Banquet
Released: 2009
Genre: Gothic Rock
This little gem is actually a small set of leftovers from the Bauhaus Omnibus Editions of their re-releases. Three new studio mixes are included: a new mix of Bela Lugosi's Dead, another mix of Terror Couple Kill Colonel, and an early studio mix of Double Dare. Then there's three live tracks from a halloween show at the University of London Union in 1980. It's straight from the soundboard, and you can hear the mix is off a little - bit this is history. And lastly there's a Poem that Peter Murphy ended a show with early on. It's a short little EP of bits for die hard fans, a little bit of Gothic Rock history here.

Yoshida Brothers - The Best Of, Tsugaru Shamisen
Label: Domo Records
Released: 2008
Genre: Japanese Traditional, Rock
The Yoshida Brothers take a traditional Northern Japanese style and instrument, and fuse in a bit of western style with it. It's very much a traditional sound, but it feels like rock and roll when they play it. This collection puts together some of their best tracks over the previous ten years, a good place to start if you're interested in them. Both brothers play the Shamisen, there are very few other instruments on the album anywhere.

Blow Your Head: Diplo Presents Dubstep
Label: Mad Descent / Downtown Music
Released: 2010
Genre: Dubstep
This compilation covers the entire gamut of Dubstep, from the hard fast stuff to the low end stuff. Dubstep encompasses a whole suite of tricks, all of it manipulated music. One track is vocals with nothing but a clap and snare hit behind it, another is a lot like very standard trance music - though it's all basslines and drum hits. One track is even just called 26 Basslines - and it is just that and only that. All of it's danceable (which is the point), some of it more so than others. As I'm just getting into the genre this really feels like it was a great place to start.

Rough Guide To Paris Lounge (with Bonus Disc: Marianne Dissard "Paris One Takes")
Label: World Music Network
Released: 2011
Genre: Traditional, Pop, and many others
Paris Lounge doesn't focus on a style of music (as some Rough Guides do) but a region, in this case Parisian musicians, of all sorts. From pure pop music to electro-swing. Ballads, rockers, dance tracks and styles going back to Paris' lounges of the sixties. This is a good cross section of musicians recording and playing in France today.

Marianna Dissard is from Paris, but based in the US now, the bonus disc on this compilation was recorded in Paris during a one day break in her tour, it's a series of new takes from her debut album and a few cuts from her upcoming album. Her sound blends French Euro-Pop with Americana, it fits well in the Indie-Rock scene if you're looking to expand that horizon, but it's distinctly not that. Her voice melodic and soft, the songs are mostly of an upbeat bouncy nature.

Week Ending 5/14 - Jazz, Gabber, Industrial, Metal

2011-05-15T10:46:00.000-06:00

Slowing down on how many albums I look through in a week, gives me a nice long backlog of music sitting on my desk taunting me. This week I scored a Charlie Parker box set for 6$, the new Skindred finally arrived from the UK, some old GabberTrance, and brand new Industrial from the legendary Ogre.

New Releases:
OhGr - Undeveloped
Label: Metropolis Records
Released: 5/10/2011
Genre: Industrial
Ogre is one of the originals on the scene in the 1980s when it broke into the clubs, from Skinny-Puppy through KMFDM and Ministry. He's been everywhere, this is his third solo released under ohGr. It doesn't show off the more modern guitar and crunch laden Industrial, it feels old school, early 90s Industrial, though you can tell there's the experience of time behind it. Some of the songs feel a bit repetitive in the chorus, not everything is club-friendly. But there are a few really standout tracks (Crash being my favorite). It's a good album to put on to get things started, an opening salvo for the day.

Filling Out The Collection
Charlie Parker - The Yardbird Suite: The Ultimate Charlie Parker Collection
Label: Rhino Records
Released: 1997
Genre: Jazz
Charlie Parker is without a doubt one of the greats of Jazz through the 40s and 50s, and even beyond as his sound carried onto the next generation. Bird is a timeless classic. This 2-Disc set covers his entire career from his time with Dizzy Gillespie at the start to his various bands - quartet, quintet, and sextet, septet, all-stars, and orchestra. A little bit of everything is here. It comes with a booklet that hi-lights his career along the way, some of the ups and downs. In total the 38 tracks here going right up to the unfortunate end of his career in 1955 with his death. If you want a wide selection of The Bird's work to get started with, or even just a box-set that you can put on this is an excellent resource to track down.

Skindred - Union Black
Label: 7PM Management / BMG
Released: April 2011
Genre: Metal, Ragga-Punk
Skindred are part punk rock, part heavy metal, and part ragga. Born out of London, lead singer Benji carries the group to a new level with his vocals. Always loud, always rowdy, this is their fourth release, and it's the first release since their move back to the UK after several years trying to take off in the US. They're sound is bigger, bolder here. The first single Warning is just that, it attacks with ferocity, and delivers the opening salvo an an album that doesn't slow down. The whole thing comes off awesomely, a few tracks go above and beyond. The defiance of Own You and Game Over almost make them anthems, while Guntalk and Bad Man Ah Bad Man just rock along in a danceable beat rarely achieved in anything related to metal. Skindred consistently tops out as one of my favorite bands.

Ultimate Gabber Trance, The Beats From Hell
Label: Hypnotic Records
Released: 1996
Genre: Gabber, Trance, Techno
The early 90s saw a rise of trance music, and when it hit raves it got sped up a little. And sped up a little more. Eventually it reached 180+ Beats Per Minute, that was Terror Trance. At over 200BPM it shifted into Gabber Trance, a hard, fast, twitchy, all rhythm style of beats. It's hard to imagine just how fast this music goes, how much it throws you onto the dance floor. Hard to find on releases even back when it was just getting into the mainstream dance scene. This ten track compilation is full of choice high-BPM cuts. Not particularly good to listen to all at once, though it does blend nicely into the background if one is laser-focused on something. But taking a few tracks and dropping them into the middle of a playlist is sure to break things up, keep things moving, and make sure the listener is always paying attention. If you want really fast and hard techno go out and find some Gabber.

Week Ending 5/7 - Metal, Pop-Punk, Rock, Darkwave

2011-05-08T07:39:00.002-06:00

This week contains the last of the I:Scintilla discog, an unexpected find, and some other filler. On Tuesday I wandered down to my local indie-store and checked out their New Release end-cap. Half of it was releases from the previous week. I thought about the new Beastie Boys album, I thought about saying 'fuck it' and going home albumless. But I knew there was more out (there always is) and wondered why they showcased a whole 6 albums. Out of hundreds. Wandering back into the metal section I located the stores only copy of Leave's Eyes new album, even then it's not NEW - it's just New In The US. Inside, I'm a little sad.

New Releases:
Leaves' Eyes - Meredead
Label: Napalm Records
Released: 4/20 2011 (5/4 2011 US)
Genre: Metal (Symphonic Metal/Epic Metal)
Female lead vocals fronting angry Nordic men playing heavy metal. Sounds silly put that way, but this really good stuff. I don't like calling this genre "Symphonic" because it doesn't involve a Symphony - though one track has an orchestra and they add in a plethora of instruments. So Epic Metal - and they really do make the songs sound Epic - larger than the speakers. Liv sings in English, Old English, and Norwegian. They even toss in a cover of Mike Oldfield's 'To France'. Thankfully only one song felt the need to mix the excellent vocals with death-metal-grunts. I really am not a fan of that particular combo so often employed by the genre.

Filling Out The Collection:
Pizzicato Five - Quickie EP
Label: Matador Records
Released: 1995
Genre: Rock, Jazz
Pizzicato Five is one of the few acts to get out of Japan and into the US that isn't some form of Punk, Classical, or preceded by "J-". A jazz-rock duo, they easily slide between a solid jazz sound and a good rock swing, sometimes feeling a bit 1960s about the whole thing. I ran across this little single almost accidentally in the used section. A four track EP with some edited, and remixed, tracks off of the Made In The USA album. It's a nice little taste of the whole album, they even include a karaoke version of "Magic Carpet Ride" (along with a radio edit), which removes everything but the chorus. And they bring in an MC to put down a rap on a remix of I Wanna Be Like You.

Avril Lavigne - Let Go
Label: Arista Records
Released: 2002
Genre: Pop-Punk
Yes, I'm a fan of Avril Lavigne. She's a bit pop, a bit punk, and she keeps her clothes on for album covers. There's nothing particularly spectacular about her debut album - how it skyrocketed to such levels I'm not sure I can really say. It is pretty grounded, and Avril is an excellent singer. The songs are definitely teenage fodder, but not vapidly so, and she isn't G-Rated nor is she about sex appeal. Which, as I write it, is probably why it made it so hi up the charts. There's just no bullshit here, it's clean fun pop-punk rock. Enough attitude mixed in with enough actual life. A good opening album.

Avril Lavigne - The Best Damn Thing
Label: RCA Records
Released: 2007
Genre: pop-punk
Her third album, better than the first not as crunchy as the second. Something interesting I discovered - the normal release of this album is clean, there is no Explicit Release. The Deluxe Release (which I didn't get) has the Explicit words put back in (and there is no Clean Deluxe Release). Kind of annoying, because I don't need the DVD, but I really don't like edited music. It's only four tracks with the swears removed (Bitch, I'll note, is not edited out anywhere). This one is a little more rock, few more ballads on it too, not as dark as 'Under My Skin' was.

I:Scintilla - Dying & Falling (plus Remix album)
Label: Alfa-Matrix
Released: 2010
Genre: Darkwave
The last of the I:Scintilla discog (almost, see the end). Dying & Falling is their full sophmore release album. It's good, solid gothic-rock/darkwave type stuff. Not quite industrial, not quite stripped down enough to be Gothic-Rock; hence 'Darkwave' which it kind of is and isn't, genre labels... fuck 'em. The album though, is good. Nothing on it stands out quite like some of the tracks on Optics though, nothing really caught me. Though, just like on the single preceding it, Ammunition really is catchy.

Resuscitation The Remix Album
It's another remix album, basically this has turned into a Label Gimmick, they put out a 'Deluxe' release with a second disc of other bands remixing some album tracks. Sometimes you pull out some real gems, sometimes it's just some industrial/variants you can toss into a mix and let run all night. Thus is the case here, I put this through a few listens and may not ever really come back to it for that One Track.

Now, the 'complete discography' of I:scintilla is loaded. It came on a 2GB USB Flash drive with a neat I:Scintilla logo on it (tiny flash drive actually). Which is cool, and cost 30$ for all six releases (2 EPs, 2 Albums, 2 Remix Albums). Normally all that would cost around 80$, making it a great deal if you're missing most (or all) of their discog. BUT - it's not complete, it should have been called the "Alfa-Matrix Flash" because it is missing their first self-released 6-track EP. That would have, in all honesty, been awesome to include. It's out of print, never coming back in print I'd wager, and would make this little gem of a buy Perfect. As is, I filled out a bands discography sooner rather than later, without regrets. Now I just have to figure out how to file a two-inch Flash Drive in my CD shelves. . .

The Vinyl Files

2011-05-04T19:38:00.000-06:00

With a newly acquired USB Record Player I can now take my records and put them on iTunes. The first part of this endeavor is my Bad Religion discography, I was gifted their Box Set last fall, which contains all 15 Studio Albums on Vinyl, even the ones that have been (and remain) out of print in any other format.

Since ripping Vinyl is done in real time - you can't just him "Import" and walk away for two minutes, I'll only be importing 1-2 records a week from my collection.

Starting with Bad Religion, going from their opening salvo to their latest endeavor (skipping, naturally, the ones I do own on CD and have already added).

How Could Hell Be Any Worse?
Released: 1982
Short, sweet, to the point - right out of the gates Bad Religion joins the ranks of the established American Hardcore scene, and shoots to the top. SoCal punk rock was no holds barred music. Bad Religion came out with smart lyrics, Greg Graffin is also an outstanding vocalist. Everything here is good, and is still available on CD.

With that release, how could hell be any worse indeed?

Into The Unknown
Released: 1983
Well, for starters Bad Religion could immediately abandon hardcore and come out with what is the absolute worst punk rock record ever made. It's not even punk rock. It's an entire album of Flock Of Seagulls B-Sides and Rejected Tracks, that's what it is. Prog-Rock disaster.

Mercifully out of print for 25 years, only available either when you run across one of the original pressings (some 10,000 were made, some of those may even still exist) or through their 30 Years Vinyl Box Set - which is how I ended up with it. The lyrics are Bad Religion smart all the way, cutting and well sung. It's the synthesizer that kills me, really and truly. Just fucking awful.

Luckily, they put out an EP "Back To The Known" soon after going back to punk, and promptly broke up. Until a few more years had passed and they all got back together and put out the album "Suffer" in 1988 - which tore off the listeners face and shoved broken glass into the establishment's eye.

Week Ending 4/30 - Industrial, Darkwave, Bhangra/House, Noise

2011-05-01T11:03:00.000-06:00

Five new albums this week - three of them New Releases and the other two playing catchup from previous purchases. I actually have a good half dozen albums waiting for me to catch up, I try to only add a manageable amount - so I can actually listen to it all, sometimes that's easier than other times.

New Releases:
Karsh Kale - Cinema
Label: Six Degrees
Released: 4/24 2011
Genre: Bhangra, London-House
This doesn't quite fit under Bhangra completely, Kale is of the breed of Bhangra that the London DJs of Indian heritage have added London-House to. So it's very club-friendly and bouncy. But you can hear the underlying Indian music, this release is even more House than his previous works. The second track, Mallika Jam, shines as an outstanding example of Bhangra-House fusion, and the track Supernova is very bouncy, really fun, but purely a club track (very Juno Reactor, actually). When he does bring in vocals (which is often enough here), they are always Indian.

KMFDM - WTF?!
Label: Metropolis Records/KMFDM Records
Released: 4/24 2011
Genre: Industrial
This is the 17th studio album from KMFDM, and after nearly 3 decades they've still got some punch left. WTF?! brings back some of the glitch of the late 90s KMFDM, while still keeping the 2000s full band sound. There's a little more machine here than in the previous few albums. The opening Krank is a straight up KMFDM name-dropping anthem. Come On - Go Off, Rebels In Kontrol, Lynchmob, and Vive Le Mort, are classic KMFDM, mixing guitars and industrial for a 'classic KMFDM sound'. But the two tracks that really stand out are: Amnesia - which sounds like Sisters Of Mercy getting ahold of a tank and running through the industrial genre like it were paper. And 'Death & Burial Of C.R.' which takes a very old little rhyme and turns it into a very creepy piece. It's the perfect end track to the album - and really comes alive when listened to with headphones,.

OK*Ztein*Ok - Prolet*Kult
Label: KMFDM Records
Released: 4/24 2011
Genre: Noise
When KMFDM finished WTF?! Sascha locked himself in the studio alone and produce this weird little 6-track EP of noise. It's low key, glitchy, barely there beats and rhythms. Vocals are odd snippets of speech and spoken word. If you're into almost structureless adventures into soundscapes then you'll appreciate this. It's not quite the full on layered harmonics of other Experimental/Noise artists, but it's close. Definitely an album to immerse into with headphones.

Filling Out The Collection:
In the continued effort to load up the backlog of music orders, two more from I:Scintilla this week.

Optics Remix Disc
Genre: Darkwave (remixes are Industrial as well)
Released with Optics as a 2-Disc Limited Edition, it's nothing but Remixes of tracks from Optics itself. It's nice, and some interesting things are done with the tracks, but only mixes of The Bells actually stand out, mostly based on the fact that that's the strongest song taken from the Optics Album to work with. Nothing gets too overly-Club Friendly, nothing goes too far out into odd directions either. Overall, it feels like a record label gimmick to put out a Limited Edition release.

Prey On You
Label: Alfa-Matrix
Released: 2009
Genre: Darkwave
The lead single off the latest album "Dying & Falling" - the first two tracks are from that album, the third track is exclusive to the single, and the other 5 are remixes. Prey On You gets three remixes, all of which are pretty good. The Ammunition Remix actually manages to take some of the frantic punch out of the original (which does come out like a machine gun and is an awesome track by itself). The last track Hallowed (and one remix of), is OK, but you can see why it didn't make the final album.

Week Ending 4/23 - Hip-Hop, Darkwave, Rock

2011-04-24T12:05:00.000-06:00

I picked up two new releases this week, because I wandered into the local indie record store and saw 'Dengue Fever' and went, "I don't recall ever hearing of them, yet it is familiar" ... turns out they're on a compilation I have stashed around here. I also started to load in and listen to the I:Scintilla discography I picked up a couple weeks back. It may be a sign to slow down when I generate a backlog of music to load up and listen to . . . Nah.

New Releases:
Dengue Fever - Cannibal Cannibal Courtship
Label: Fantasy Records (Concord Music Group)
Released: 4/19 2011
Genre: Rock
Dengue Fever is a rock - psychedelic rock really - outfit, vocals are done in both English and Khmer (or Cambodian). While the lead vocals are female, this album has a pretty good split of male and female vocals. It's got a laid back rock feel to it, nothing heavy or fast about it. Very relaxing, bit fun, some songs have a bit of a smart ass vibe about them.

Del The Funky Homosapien - Golden Era
Label: The Council (Council Partners Entertainment)
Released: 4/19 2011
Genre: Hip-Hop
Del is an old school MC from the early 90s, and has for the last 15 years or so put out a steady stream of music in a lot of places. This release actually has two extra albums with it that were only released digitally in 2009. This album is alright, I like it well enough. The first two songs have some refrains that repeat a little too much, but after that it's just solid walls of rhyme and rhythm. With the rhythm properly behind the MC, at least properly for Del. Minimal production - there are no liner notes with any serious credits, he may very well have done the entire thing himself.

Automatik Statik
Originally Released: 2009 on Bandcamp.
Of the three albums that came in the digipak, this one is the best. There's a little more humor, the rhyming is more fluid, the whole thing just grooves.

Funk Man
Originally Released: 2009 on Del's website
This one didn't click with me, I may have to put it down for a bit and come back to it. It feels like it might have been a little rushed, or unfinished.

Filling Out The Collection:
Collide - The Eyes Before
Label: Noisepluse Music
Released: 2009
Genre: Darkwave
This is a cover album, and finishes out my Collide Discography. They're all over the spectrum of music, covering The Beatles, Depeche Mode, Chris Isaak, Pink Floyd, David Essex, Radiohead, Fleetwood Mac, The Moody Blues, and David Bowie. All the takes are good, not just flat covers replaying the songs. Each one gets the synth-goth maker over and takes it well - saying as much about how classic these songs are as it does about how good Collide is. The David Essex cover (Rock On) could have used some more punch to it. I'm also not the biggest fan of Pink Floyd and there's two covers (opening and closing the album) here, I think I'd have preferred to see them showcase another band. Their cover of Knights In White Satin, however, is amazing, it really brings out a melancholy in the song.

I:Scintilla - Havestar
Label: Alfa Matrix
Released: 2006
Genre: Darkwave
Female vocal lead I:Scintilla skirts the line between the Darkwave synth sound and Industrial Rock with heavy guitars. They bounce between the two freely. This is the initial release on Alfa-Matrix, a CD Single with a bunch of remixes on it. Six of the tracks are remixes from fellow label mates of studio releases, three of the remixes are the title track. The other three tracks are off the Optics album. From a first release (though they had a self released album previously) it's a great sign of things to come from the band. The remixes are remixes, some more club-friendly than others.

I:Scintilla - Optics
Label: Alfa Matrix
Released: 2007
Genre: Darkwave
The first full album released after being signed, it easily and fluidly swings between harder guitar driven songs and more rhythm based club songs, with a few slower ethereal tracks thrown in to keep the pacing just right. A couple songs really stand out; Toy Soldier could easily have been a single on its own, and Ultraviolet definitely belongs on the dance floor.

Week Ending 4/16 - Rock, Industrial, Goth, Blues, Indian

2011-04-17T11:47:00.000-06:00

Smattering of everything this week. The two New Releases I picked up were a single from Tim Skold and Caustic's full album. Both digitally, Metropolis Records nicely provide a PDF booklet of the liner notes, not just the cover art. Which I highly appreciate and may switch all my Metropolis purchases to digital format. If only more labels followed in their footsteps.

Caustic - The Golden Vagina Of Fame And Profit
Label: Metropolis Records
Released: 4/12 2011
Genre: Industrial
His first release on Metropolis, the album is a very old-school industrial release. No squealing guitars, just thumping beats and crunchy noise. A couple tracks are mostly instrumental and are, in the context of the album, a bit annoying. I'd throw them into a mix and let them get happily lost in the background of a long day. The stand outs are Hiroshima Burn (a massive beat and lyrics that make me want to throw down in a mosh pit), Orchid (Unwoman lends her vocals to a great anti-rock cut), Chum The Waters (not as pure awesome as the remix on the single off the album, but still awesome and full of drums), and White Knuckle Head Fuck (just beautifully angry). Good old Industrial club cuts.

SKOLD - Suck
Label: Metropolis Records
Released: 4/12 2011
Genre: Industrial
The single off the upcoming Skold album. Tim Skold has been in the business a long time, and after 15 years is finally putting out another solo album. The first five tracks are the Title and four remixes. It's a great industrial-rock song, an ode to wanting to be the Rock Star - very fight club. The last three tracks are all non-album tracks. It's nice to see a single contain several non-album tracks instead of just one. If they're any indication of the upcoming album (out 5/10) then it will be an excellent and dark album.

Double Down - Polarity
Label: self released (purchase through CD Baby)
Released: 2008
Genre: Rock
Double Down is a Denver local band, rock and blues-rock. Polarity was released during a time when they were switching out bassists almost as fast as Spinal Tap went through drummers. It's a good solid rock offering, good for nights when you just need something blue collar with some blues thrown in. Bar Rock, really.

The Victim's Ball - The Victim's Ball
Label: self released (purchase through CD Baby)
Released: 2010
Genre: Gothic-Rock
I call it Gothic Rock, but there's no guitars. Though if there were it'd fit perfectly into the early/mid-80s Goth Rock scene. It's traditional instruments from the late 18th- early 19th century. The album focuses around the French Revolution and the supposed Victim's Balls (parties held by surviving nobility) afterwards. It's a dark and melodic album, good for late nights.

Rough Guides
World Music has a service where you subscribe to receive two new Rough Guide compilations a month, given mail from the UK takes a random about of time I never really know when I'm going to get these. . . My wife picks which two compilations she wants to listen to every month.

RG to Desert Blues:
Blues coming out of the North African region. Traditional music mixed with modern guitars, and some other modern elements. It does feel very blues, not in the classic American Delta sense, but in a more overall 12-bar feeling of the genre. Some of it is a bit rock, some of it is hard to find the blues under it. All of it is really good. This one comes with an extra CD from the group Etran Finatawa, which is just excellent.

RG to Indian Lounge
Hard to categorize this, it's not quite techno, not quite lounge, little bit night club, lots of traditional, and all kinds of things mixed in. One track strikes me as "Dub Bhangra" - the only words I have for it. Some of it's slow, some of it bouncy and fast. The Rough Guides are really eclectic selections normally, and if this is even a sampling of how an Indian night club moves they listen to just about anything and incorporate it into everything.

Weel Ending 4/9 - Hip Hop & Rockabilly

2011-04-10T08:52:00.000-06:00

Day late, I was busy. . . This week is a surprise addition! I unexpectedly ended up at a Wanda Jackson concert Monday night, so I had to buy some CDs from the merch table. I also, due to this, had to delay the purchase of a couple albums, next week will be Industrial centric.

Blueprint - Adventures In Counter Culture
Label: Weightless
Release: 4/5/11
Genre: Hip-Hop

This weeks new album showcase, an in depth review was posted earlier in the week. I'll just state here that after several more days listen Its an awesome album.

Weightless Radio - A Collection Of Blueprint Instrumentals
Label: Weightless
Release: 4/5/11
Genre: instrumental, ambient

The Blueprint album came with a free download card to get a completely instrumental track from him. The format of the album is a lot like listening to a radio station, complete with blips of actual advertisements, and some interviews with Blueprint himself. The beats themselves are nice, but short. If they'd been expanded into a full track and given a little more cohesive transition it would stand up next to a Future Sound Of London album in terms of richness. As is, I like it well enough. One day this week was particularly overcast and it managed to fit the mood of a rainy afternoon nicely.

Wanda Jackson - The Party Ain't Over
Label: Nonesuch Records
Release: 2011
Genre: Rockabilly, Rock And Roll

Wanda has been in the Rock business since it literally began in the 50s. She's old-school rockabilly fun. This album is a collection of covers, recorded with, and at the urging of (she explained in person at the concert) Jack White (White Stripes). Only a cover of Bob Dylan's "Thunder On The Mountain" goes over the five minute mark, making this one of those short-n-sweet albums to spin, most of the tracks are three minutes.

Dusty 45s - Devil Takes His Turn EP
Label: self released
Released: 2004
Genre: Rockabilly

The Dusty 45s were the backup and opening band for Wanda's concert, so I grabbed some of their stuff. This EP was released some time ago when they appear to be a five-piece band. Its only a 4 track single, but a good one. Their added trumpet gives the band an extra kick.

Dusty 45s - Fortunate Man
Label: self released
Released: 2010
Genre: Rockabilly

Their latest album, with a theme of poverty, giving to your fellow man, and similar. The album rocks right along. This is a good solid album to put into rotation for nights when you need nothing but good old rock and roll. Stick it in with classics like Buddy Holly and Elvis. Nothing here stands up as above and beyond, which doesn't bother me much, as a package the whole thing works, and works well.

For purchasing information on the self released Dusty 45s albums; they can be found as downloads from iTunes, Amazon, CDBaby and probably ordered from any decent independent music store out there can figure out how to get a copy.

4/5 New Release: Blueprint "Adventures In Counter Culture"

2011-04-06T21:41:00.001-06:00

This week a couple releases came out I wanted to pick up. The new Hollywood Undead and Blueprint being the top two. Blueprint won easily on that front, I like HU, but I like intelligent Hip Hop more.

I found a video for Blueprint's "Radio Inactive" a while back, and was captivated by it. Four minutes of rhyme, no hook, no chorus, stripped down production. I waited for the album release, each single he dropped kept upping the ante on style, on sound, on everything. Bonus: his label is truly independent.

Blueprint - Adventures In Counter Culture
Label: Rhymesayers Entertainment
Release: April 06, 2011
Genre: Hip Hop

The album has ups and downs like your average record, songs I skip, songs I skip to, bounce and mellow, ballads and club cuts. Blueprint has some true range to his talent, from singing to a more traditional rap, fast and slow.

1. Five Years Ago - not a song, an intro track of some guy trying to interview Blueprint right after he walks off stage at one point. But of praise for Blueprint from some half-drunk sounding guy.

2. Go Hard Or Go Home (Printnificence) - Honestly, bit of a standard issue slow beat on how good he is at being an MC. It does show off his talent, solid wall of rhyming with no break and no repetition. Still, its a weak song compared to the rest of the album. Which does make it a good opener - album just goes up from here.

3. Automatic - Music is work, even when it looks easy. I like the synth bit behind this track.

4. Keep Bouncing - one of the singles released as a video. It's a fun little song about partying a wee bit too hard. Crunchy beat, good song to toss into a dance list, towards the end of the night as its a slow crawling beat. (just remember to cut off the tail which is a montage of television bits.)

5. Wanna Be Like You - If the first four tracks were the taxi and tack off, this is the album gaining altitude. Breaking from straight rhymes Blueprint shows he can carry a tune and not just a staccato rap. The song about celebrity worship, and bouncy.

6. My Culture - Disparaging the 'rap culture' that has pervaded for the last fifteen or more years, and how it really isn't worth fighting for. Blueprint aspires to rise above it and bring it back to the kind of culture one could be proud of.

7. Mind, Body, & Soul - Angelica Lee lends her voice to the chorus, unfortunately she sounds autotuned, which knocks the sound from great to good. Slow beat, talking on the importance of music. I can picture this one with a blues guitar behind it.

8. So Alive - Released as an actual single off the album, it is one of my favorite tracks. Two stories, two people, both of them end with the happiness of 'Feeling So Alive' ... funky upbeat sound, good message.

9. Stole Our Yesterday - I like this track, a lot. Nostalgia type thoughts, less about the 'good old days' and more about wondering if we really need to force people to change in every aspect, some people like what they have. "They sold us all tomorrow, then they stole our yesterdays."

10. Radio-Inactive - The track that caught my attention, it has an intensity, an anger behind it. The kind of anger that moves men to positive action, not just impotent rage. From the simple piano intro to the rising beat, all around intensity.

11. Welcome Home - A light guitar riff playing over sounds of a family outing, eventually a drum line joins in. Another singing track, a ballad melody on the good things that life will always come back to.

12. Fly Away - This beat reminds me of a Jan Hammer track, it's so extremely 80s you can't help but smile. Very blues attitude here, though its hard to tell if the guys leaving or got kicked out, either way a good move for him to move on.

13. The Clouds - Keep your head in the clouds, feet on the ground, and keep working for the dream you have. Another solid wall of rhyming, Blueprint has a knack for carrying a song without needing a hook or chorus.

14. The Rise & Fall - Bouncing club track, good to dance to, the rhyme even bounces along, rolls right over the beat. It does have a chorus, which brings a nice break in the song, then it keeps bouncing along.

15. The Other Side - This last track is a slow song, it also feels so personal I almost wonder if I shouldn't turn it down and let the man have a private moment. It's beautiful listen to though.

The range of tracks here moves from expected songs about the artists ability, to broken relationships, ups and downs of life, and lost and found opportunities. This is not the crap you're going to hear on the radio, this is real music.

Week4 - Metal & Rock

2011-04-02T15:50:00.000-06:00

Slow week, only a handful of albums. The majority of which are me filling in holes in the collection, finally getting two albums from way way back that I enjoyed so much as a punk teenager. But first, since I didn't post it earlier, an in depth look at this weeks New Release.

Broken Bells - Meyrin Fields
Label:
Released: 3/29
Genre: Rock, Pop

Broken Bells have put out a 4-track EP, and by all accounts it's pretty similar to their excellent debut album. They didn't stray too far from the formula, but they didn't lock step into it either. The first and last track really remind me of all the good points of the previous album, the middle two I find Mercer's voice goes a little too off. The only real unfortunate part to this is just as you're really getting into it the EP ends. At just under 20 minutes, and no song stands out as a 'single' it just isn't enough.

Metal Church - The Dark
Label:
Released: 1986
Genre: Heavy Metal

San Fransisco based Metal Church were early on the scene, comrades to Metallica and Megadeth on the west coast. Good classic Speed Metal type stuff here, with screaming vocals, declarations of power and independence and railing against The System and its War Like Ways. Ton Of Bricks and Start The Fire are two awesome anthems in the metal world, easily classics and happily the first two tracks on the album. The Dark title track is another awesome cut. The rest of it is, well, mid-80s speed metal. Good, but unless you're really into the scene (I am) forgettable.

Overkill - Feel The Fire
Label:
Released: 1984
Genre: Thrash Metal

Overkill are by far one of my favorite bands, I found out about them around 1989, The Years Of Decay had just come out I think. Either way I was stuck hard and fast and have been with them since. I wore out my original cassette of Feel the Fire and had to copy a friends. It's just a hammering album from first note to the last. The CD here has a bonus track that wasn't on my original release, and it kind of kills the outro of Overkill signature track - they shoulda put the bonus track earlier. Still, every bit of East Coast Thrash that I remember from my childhood and why the hell did I wait so long to go find this on CD?

The age old argument of Thrash vs Speed? Thrash all the way!

Week3 - Industrial; Noise; Blues

2011-03-26T22:28:00.000-06:00

Slow week, an unexpected surprise release to help the Japanse releief funds, an order from earlier in the month finally arrives, and I add a new artist to my roster.

Joe Bonamassa - Dust Bowl
I did a full review of his new album Dust Bowl on Wednesday. Blues guitar, mostly a Texas and Chicago feel to this album. This is an addition you won't regret putting in your collection.

Angelspit - Carbon Beauty
Label: Metropolis Records
Released: March 2011
Genre: Industrial; Electropunk

This is a Remix Album from last years studio release, with three new tracks. The remixes here are harder, and a little more glitchy than previous remixes of these tracks. The three new tracks: Glitchbomb; Like It? Lick It!; Toxicgirl, are all hopeful hints of upcoming releases. More glitchy noises, more drums, more guitar. All of it excellent as DestroyX and Zoog continue with their awesome double-vocals assault on music.

OK-ZTEIN-OK - TOHOKO 9.0 Japanese Relief Fund
Label: KMFDM Records
Released: March 23, 2011
Genre: Noise

http://www.kmfdmstore.com
Sascha Konietzko of KMFMD has an upcoming solo release, but in an effort to raise funds to send to Japan after the devastating earthquake and tsunami release previews of three tracks early with an exclusive new track that is made completely from samples of recordings of the earthquake and tsunami. All of it is noise that fits in with Squarepusher or Venetian Snares and their ilk (very little, if any, rhythm, but many layered harmonies). All of the money generated is being sent to Japan, and the digital single is only available through April 26th 2011 to collect the funds. It's a weird little song knowing the source, but the cause is good.

New Release - Midweek Special: Joe Bonamassa (Blues)

2011-03-23T21:37:00.000-06:00

To make sure I keep regularly posting, I'm going to try and occasionally make a detailed album review around Wednesday on a New Release. New music is released on Tuesdays (with rare exceptions), and I live near a handy independent record store to pilfer. . .

Joe Bonamassa - Dust Bowl
Label: J&R Adventures
Genre: Blues, blues guitar

Joe Bonamassa has been around about ten years, how I missed him until now I don't know, but he's an amazing blues guitarist. I found him last fall when I was hunting around for guitarists to add to my collection, and ran into him again this week while scanning the new release lists. So I went out and got the album.

There's a heavy Chicago Blues influence here, with some rock undertones behind the guitar. But it does capture a lot of blues styles over all, call it 2/3s Blues, 1/3 Rock.

1 - Slow Train; starts out with a drummer approximating a train starting up and taking off. It's a bit of a long rambling song too, at almost seven minutes, it does go on a bit like a long slow train. It's a solid riff though, one you can slow dance to.

2 - Dust Bowl; Slow rolling bassline, bit of a twang on the guitar. Drop this into a playlist of mellow tracks for a slow night.

3 - Tennessee Plates; John Hiatt lends his vocals here, alternating verses. A good bit of rockin' here, bit of heartbreak, bit of bad luck, and a Cadillac with Tennessee plates.

4 - The Meaning Of The Blues; Another slowed down blues riff. It's a ballad, but it's about a minute too long. It's good, but really if you can't figure out the meaning in four minutes or less. . .

5 - Black Lung Heartache; By far the best track here, starts with a bit of twangy guitar, comes on like a tornado two verses in. Finishes off half rock, half blues. A heavy kick on the drums sets the mood. The story of a coal miner. The guitar work on the front end is awesome, really. This one needs to be played at full volume.

6 - You Better Watch Yourself; Shortest track on the album, and if I have to be perfectly honest, Joe should've kept more tracks closer to this time frame (about three and a half minutes), but that may be my Punk "Short And Hard" leanings coming out. This one feels very Chicago Blues, with a killer guitar riff, another blaster.

7 - The Last Matador Of Bayonne; Another slow, quiet ballad, with horn and an almost-Spanish guitar riff to it. There's a nice long guitar solo near the middle (and even the non solo parts are all lead guitar), giving it a very Texas Blues kind of feel overall.

8 - Heartbreaker; I like this one but it can't quite decide if it wants to be a rock song or a ballad, heavy riffs, slow song. Glenn Hughes helps out on this track, his voice is has more range than Joe's.

9 - No Love On The Street; Another six and a half minute monster, but it's just a slow ballad. Good, but it also needs about a minute trimmed off.

10 - The Whale That Swallowed Jonah; mid-speed riff, lots of lead guitar and solo here. More rock than blues, gives it a middle-of-the-live-set feeling.

11 - Sweet Rowena; Simple song, nothing out standing about it, which makes it a pretty good track for this album, no long guitar solos, just rhythm and song.

12 - Prisoner; This feels like it should be a great classic track, but it's another that just rambles on way too long. Almost seven minutes and five minutes in I'm just waiting for the album to finally end. Not a great way to end it off, boring the listener. If you're in the right mood (I suggest when it's raining outside) the song and long guitar solo is a great slow track.

Overall, I really do love the album, but I'm not a particular fan of six and seven minute songs, especially in this genre, as a general rule. It makes the album feel a little loose, drawn out when it should be tightened up. It's got a bit of everything here, which means I can cherry pick songs for whatever mood I'm in, not really an album I'll listen to all the way through very often.

Week2 - Industrial, Blues, Metal

2011-03-19T13:33:00.000-06:00

This week: filling in some holes, picking up some new Industrial, helping out the Queensland flood... 2 EPs, 1 Album, 1 Soundtrack and a Compilation were acquired this week (used record stores are good for older releases).

Caustic - 666 On The Crucifix
Label: Metropolis Records
Released: 3/15 [New Release]
Genre: Industrial (the artist prefers Jizzcore...)

New single from Caustic in prep for next months full album. It's a bunch of remixes of the title track and a few other tracks thrown in; 8 total for a decent EP. This is also a Digital Only Release (buy direct from Metropolis Records for best price). Track 1, album title track - the song is catchy, and aside from the obviously overused satan references, this is definitely making some fun of how a Club Hit is made. There are 3 other remixes of the song on the EP, none of them particularly spectacular. The other 4 tracks are excellent; Chum The Waters is by far the best track here. Fun EP, good for some off center industrial club cuts.

Front Line Assembly - Angriff
Label: Metropolis Records
Released: October 2010
Genre: EBM/Industrial

Another digital only single, this is six remixes of the title track, all of them a little too similar for my tastes actually. The song is awesome however, and the whole thing is good to toss into a giant EBM playlist so they get mixed around a little. There's also an unreleased track on the EP that really sounds a lot like just another remix of Angriff if you aren't paying attention. Good for wanting to complete an FLA collection.

Anthrax - Spreading The Disease
Label: Island Records
Released: 1985
Genre: Metal/Thrash

Picked this one up as it's the last Anthrax album I didn't have on CD, how I waiting so long to get this classic into my collection is a mystery. It's great 80s thrash metal, this is the first full album to feature Joey Belladonna on vocals. Thus sets up the "classic" Anthrax line-up that lasted through Persistence Of Time. It's missing some of the goofier fun material in later albums, but steps away from the punk-thrash of Fistful Of Metal into something a little more mature.

Black Snake Moan (soundtrack)
Label: New West Records
Released: Jan 2007
Genre: Blues (primarily Delta Blues)

I managed to catch this movie finally and was amazed by it, and the soundtrack made it go above the grade. Samuel L Jackson even puts down some vocals on this one himself. The music carried the movie perfectly, so I had to get the soundtrack. This is some amazing blues here, some old standards re-imagined as well.

Surge And Subside (compilation)
Label: Aphotic Audio
Released: Feb 2011
Genre: Industrial/Electronica (and sub-genres....)

http://surgesubside.com -- Released in response to the major flooding in Queensland Australia in early 2011. All tracks were donated by over 40 bands to raise money for the flood victims. Buying direct from Aphotic gets a bonus Overflow of 9 tracks. Helping flood victims aside: the music itself is a pretty standard affair for a collection of wide ranging electronica, most of it falls in or close to the Industrial genre. It's a little too all over the place for a cohesive compilation, it's obvious the bands tossed in their hats to grab as wide an audience as possible to raise money. A good thing in all, and worth the purchase to help out a region still recovering from a natural disaster. The album comes both as physical and digital releases (I picked up the digital release), and gets you over 3 hours of music.

Reboot

2011-03-12T19:23:00.001-07:00

The blog fell into disuse; It was difficult to find the time to do the blog as I originally wanted on any kind of regular schedule. New tactic, a quick look at all the new music I acquired during that week. Some weeks get less than others.

Week 1; 7 Albums (3 with bonus content)

KMFDM - Krank
label: Metropolis / KMFDM Records
Release: 3/12/2011 (New Release)
Genre: Industrial; Industrial-Rock

Krank is the first actual single from KMFDM since Boots. By actual single I mean a single that precedes the album the tracks come from, with new music. Like all KMFDM singles (and most singles at all these days) it's multiple Remixes of one new song. Krank is that song - A Remix by Sascha, Kommor Kammondo, and Tim Skold. It also has two remixes of Day Of Light, a single released only as a limited edition vinyl single and a digital single. One by Bill Rieflin and one remaster. Krank is a typical KMFDM song, name checking, solid industrial-rock beat, nothing particularly outstanding about it. But it does remind me of the late 90s era more than recent albums, which I'll take as a good sign. Tim and Bill are KMFDM alumni, each producing a remix that is definitely showcasing their own styles. The last track Day Of Light (24/7 Mix) is really a remaster for the CD, if you have the vinyl or digital it doesn't sound very different.

Legion Within - Aeons and The Empty Men
label: KMFDM Records
Genre: gothic-rock

Legion Within are a Seattle based gothic-rock outfit, with some industrial rock leanings every now and then.

Aeons - released 2004
Actually, absolutely nothing about this album stands out as above the norm. It's a good album, and I've tossed it into a regular rotation in my goth-rock playlist. It fills things out nicely, fits right in with a lot of my collection from the early 80s before Goth started to infuse itself into the Darkwave/Coldwave movements.

The Empty Men - released 2006
This LP, on the other hand, has a little more oomph to it, they flex some industrial muscles in here a little more. Coming up with a punchier sound, an evolution and pick up from their previous releases. Another one I tossed into the Goth-Rock rotation to add some color there.

Rough Guide To ...
label: World Music
Genre: various

I like the Rough Guide compilations, they always bring an infusion of music that's otherwise hard to find and obtain in the US: stuff from outside the US. Each compilation focuses on a particular genre. Some of them come with a bonus disc that showcases a single artist only as a standard album. Like any good compilation, if you want to get into a musical genre these are awesome places to start getting artist names you'll like.

... Bhangra

This one focuses on Bhangra music out of India. More traditional than the big-beat infused Bhangra Dance that passes through clubs. I can see where dance cuts slide right into this genre, even without the big-beat behind it Bhangra bounces and moves, begging for the listener to dance (almost daring them not to...). The Bonus Album is from the group Achanak, with a 20 Year Retrospective Best Of album.

... Blues And Beyond

This takes most of its music from Africa, where the blues has traveled back over to and infused itself with the traditional music there. The result is nothing short of gorgeous. This comes with a bonus album from Nuru Kane, and while it's less Blues and more his Traditional African, it still has a heavy blues influence.

... Gypsy Music

I'm not sure I can place Gypsy music beyond 'Eastern European in feel but not completely' but this is another grouping of music that is easily danced to, though lacking the heavy drum beats of other styles. The bonus album is Bela Lakatos, which moves from bouncing dance tunes to dirge sounding ballads.

... Asian Underground

This is a lot of South and South East Asian music, mixed with modern dance and other styles. It's a good album, but not quite as fully bouncy as a straight dance-club cut album, and not quite as Traditional as a more focused grouping might be. This one, being much less focused on a small region or specific genre, has no bonus album to accompany it. It feels unfocused, so I tossed it in with a playlist that's set to random, mixing it into music to play in the background.

N.A.S.A. - The Spirit Of Apollo

2010-08-04T22:08:00.000-06:00

Released: Early 2009
Availability: stores, online, easily found.
Label: Spectrophonic Sound/Anti- (independent labels)

N.A.S.A. - North America South America - is two DJs (Squeak E. Clean ad DJ Zegon) and an idea. The idea was to collect as many different people as possible, and start recording music. Certainly not a new idea, I have a number of collaboration albums in my collection. This one is only slightly different - the collaboration in question wasn't primarily the DJs and Another Artist. It was Two Different Artists, that the DJs mixed together. The genre is primarily Hip Hop - as are the majority of the artists (Kanye West, KRS-One, Kool Keith, RZA, and others) but a few aren't (Tom Waits, George Clinton, Lykke Li). The albums swerves through Hip Hop, Funk, Samba, and Drum & Bass like a slalom course. For the most part it stays pretty on target with Hip Hop as the MC is the primary song style here - almost no traditional vocal singing is done, mostly rap.

But the genius is sometimes in the pairings, the way various parts of put together. And that a few new artists popped up onto my radar as they didn't stick exclusively with the Popular/Known Ones.

They didn't stop at the artists, they even commissioned five different artists for five (six if you count the booklet with lyrics) album covers. And thankfully did not commit the grievous sin of five different releases - all five pieces of art work are included on cards so you could switch the one you like best to the top of the jewel case (I scanned my favorite into iTunes and left them in order when putting it on the CDs shelves to look pretty). Each card - on the back - covers the artists who contributed to each song - which is the kind of thing I really look for in a booklet and why I avoid digital downloads if possible that don't include one.

Intro - This is not a song, it's not even really an introduction. It's a mission statement. I can imagine that they asked each artist to read the statement, and then hacked it apart and put it back together so it sounds like everyone said a word or two in sequence. Onto the music.

The People Tree - David Byrne (Talking Heads), Chali 2na (Jurassic Five, Ozomatli), Gift Of Gab (Blackalicious), DJ Z-Trip (Turntablist). The track is a mix between a smooth beat and a Top-40/Pop-Rock track. Chali and Gift Of Gab trade verses while David provides the chorus.

Money - David Byrne, Chuck D (Public Enemy), Ras Congo (I don't know - I need info!), Seu Jorge (Brazilian Samba artist), DJ Z-Trip. Combining David Byrne and Chuck D is an interesting mix here, especially when you pull in the Reggae (Ras Congo) and Samba (Seu Jorge) elements. It mixes well, the Reggae elements take over musically even as David brings a lighter elements and Chuck D a heavier one. The song it self is about the evils of money. . . I just like the beat.

N.A.S.A Music - Method Man (Wu-Tang Clan, among other acts), E-40 (rapper), DJ Swamp (turntablist). Pretty much straight up Hip Hop as Method Man and E-40 trade off while DJ Swamp provides a very danceable beat.

Way Down - RZA (Wu-Tang Clan, plus others), Barbie Hatch (unsigned singer), John Fruciante (Red Hot Chile Peppers). Now the collaborations are starting to flex some muscle. The ethereal lyrics of Barbie and RZA's rapping mix together with John's guitar bringing an extra layer to the backing electronica. The song is about a girl who falls in love with the devil. Musically it starts to show what the project is about - meshing wildly diverse elements.

Hip Hop - KRS-One (hip hop artist), Fatlip and Slim Kid Tre (The Pharcyde). Another purely hip-hop track, as the name says. KRS-One brings a lyrical smoothness rarely seen, but the song itself isn't very diverse. Almost a step backwards from the previous tracks raising of the bar.

Four Rooms, Earth View - Squeak E Clean & DJ Zegon, a short piece playing a recording from somewhere... nothing really interesting and I think maybe it could have been left out.

Strange Enough - Karen O (Yeah Yeah Yeahs), Ol' Dirty Bastard (Wu-Tang Clan; posthumously), Fatlip. Ol' Dirty Bastard makes an appearance from old recordings opposite Fatlip as they switch back, Karen O provides a switch as she changes the tempo with the chorus considerably, and the whole attitude of the track. Another flexing of mixing muscles here.

Spacious Thoughts - Kool Keith (rapper), Tom Waits (singer). If there is a musical equivalent of a nuclear weapon this is it right here. None of the lyrics make much sense as Keith and Tom move back and forth, but there's an inevitable landscape created, something dark, urban, bright, and loud. Keith's very smooth style with Tom's very rough singing does exactly everything this album set out to do in my opinion - bring widely opposite styles into synch. These two need to be unleashed to record an entire album together, the song is gorgeous. I had the chorus stuck in my head for days.

Gifted - Kanye West (rapper), Santogold (rapper), Lykke Li (singer). While Kanye and Santogold are both rappers, their styles are both opposing and complimentary. His lyrics are nearly as smooth compared to her almost sung verse. Lykke provides one hell of a chorus and its too bad she didn't contribute a third verse to pull this song further apart and knit it closer together. The song is beautifully listenable, warm and upbeat.

A Volta - Sizzla (reggae artist), Amanda Blank (singer/rapper), Lovefoxxx (singer of Brazlian group Cansei de Ser Sexy). Again, the album finds the right groove of mixing styles, a smooth Reggae beat swings along while the versus move at a much faster pace than the beat would lead on. Again, I think they missed just off the mark by not giving Lovefoxxx a third verse, only a chorus appearance. Still, this track belongs on a dance floor.

There's A Party - George Clinton (funk), Chali 2na. George Clinton (everyone in his band really) leads a classic funk track here, Chali brings in a hip hop element that crosses and bridges the genres cleanly. It's a slower track, just the slow side of a dance floor track. A light hearted element on the album, complete with group clap along section.

Wachadoin? - Spank Rock (rapper), M.I.A. (rapper), Santogold, Nick Zinner (Yeah Yeah Yeahs). This is a bit of foot-stomper track, M.I.A. leads with her typical staccato beat, while Spank Rock provides a more classic rap. Nick's minimal guitar in the background prevents the track from falling into only drums and beats.

O Pato - Kool Kojak (DJ, producer), DJ Babao (turntablist). A swinging little samba number, with a lot of samples. The whole thing sounds a bit silly, but it's a really smooth dance track behind it all. Even with the weird pornographic Donald Duck imitation on it. . .

Samba Soul - Del Tha Funkee Homosapien (MC), DJ QBert (turntablist). Two powerhouses in the hip hop world put together a pretty standard track here, not quite as samba as the previous track (despite the name), though Del by far has the most verbose style of rap on the record. Always a good listen, while not really opposing musical styles, it's good to put these two together and see what happens.

The Mayor - The Cool Kids (hip hop duo), Ghostface Killa (Wu-Tang Clan, among others), Scarface (rapper), DJ AM (DJ). The last mix on the album here is another pretty straight forward hip hop track, nothing spectacular here in all honestly. There's talent here for sure, it just isn't a mix of opposing styles like some of the songs preceding it.

N.A.S.A. Anthem - The album closes out with the same kind of mash up as the intro provided. Though instead of cutting up everyone's contributions the artists here (and it's not quite everyone) harmonize a single long verse on repeat. It's a very happy together type verse.

then there's a lot of minutes of silence where I curse the entire concept of hidden tracks where there's no real information provided and be thankful I live in the Internet Age where I can find this information out so I don't have to spend days wondering. . . .

Electric Flowers (hidden track!) - Nina Persson (The Cardigans), RZA. The only saving grace to this as a hidden track is that is saves the album from ending on the pap of the "NASA Anthem" thing (which, while nice, is a crap 'song'). It allows the album to go out with a mellow, upbeat, track that juxtaposes RZA's rapping against Nina's smoothly sung chorus.

All in all - the experiment of bringing together these artists (from mega-stars to nearly unheard-ofs) is a success. It doesn't come off as Artist + Guest like so many of these do, but a series of collaborations. Some of which would never have happened were it not for NASA. Overall - the album is more than worth adding to a collection.

KMFDM - Day Of Light

2010-07-23T08:31:00.000-06:00

Released: Spring 2010
Availability: online download from band
Label: KMFDM Enterprises (independant label)

Just a moment to pause and say a few words on releases, tracks, and limited edition.

Day Of Light is a two-track single from KMFDM originally released only on 7" vinyl, limited pressing (250 I believe). Which when I first found out infuriated me. There's just something utterly anti-music about Limited Edition tracks.

I don't mind a LE package with shirts and posters and sweatbands and the like. But LE Music tracks truly annoy me. I thought artists made music to be heard by as many people as possible, at least I like to think that. I like to think that all music should be perpetually and easily available.

After all in the modern day it seems to me for very little overhead a label could keep massive catalogues of music perpetually available for digital sales and downloads. Small, steady, streams of income can't be a bad thing. It just can't.

It was several months before KMFDM relreased the tracks digitally for download. The collectors (and while I'm a very hardcore fan, I'm not a hardcore collector of KMFDM) get their LE vinyl, I get my music.

Don't even get me started on Bonus Tracks only for specific stores - that's an even bigger scam.

Day Of Light - A pretty solid industrial-rock track, positive and upbeat. Good on the dance floor.

Beach - three and a half minutes of waves crashing on the beach. The B-side on the vinyl, it's not music, but it is relaxing. If I need to take a quick break at work due to stress I put this track on and take a quick walk outside.

It's the principal of the idea - music for an audience, why limit the audience artificially.

Kerli - Love Is Dead

2010-07-15T09:37:00.010-06:00

Released: Summer 2008
Availabilty: easily found in actual music stores
Label: Island Records (major label)

Kerli Koiv is from Estonia, moved to the US in 2005 and managed to get a contract to cut a few records. Her debut album is a mix of goth, darkwave and europop swirled into a mix of danceable tunes and off-beat ballads.

Love Is Dead - The album starts with some hard snare hits and a pretty cool guitar riff. I'm pretty sure this is a love song, even if it's not it's a cool track to listen to.

Walking On Air - This is a really cool goth-rock track. A bit creepy, a lot about living ones dreams. I love the lyrics whole bunches.

The Creationist - A very pretty little piano track, another song about the power of self belief. There's a spiritual message in here, how you take it is based on how you look at life. I'll leave it in your hands, no matter the song is pretty.

I Want Nothing - Picking up the pace with a guitar riff, it comes off as very old-school goth-rock to me, and fast like punk rock.. I like. Also, I think this song is about a girl telling a guy off.

Up Up Up - I love this song, it's happy and upbeat, and manages to keep a medium tempo. It reminds me of laying about on a sunny afternoon.

Bulletproof - A slow ballad type song with fuzzy guitars all over the place. Not much of a fan of this song actually. It's the guitars, too much fuzzy here.

Beautiful Day - Another slower song, but more percussion and less fuzzy guitars. And also, happier in tone. I like songs that are uplifting and positive.

Creepshow - This one belongs in a club scene, at high volume. One of those high energy dance-tempo songs. The lyrics are also a bit non-sensical, but fun. Kerli also sings in her native tongue for parts of the song, the only track on the album she does so. The song almost feels like an album opener instead of stuck on the back end like it is, but it's also a good break from the more subdued tracks around it.

Hurt Me - Not quite fast, not quite slow. The song seems self-destructive in nature. Not really a fan of this one either to be honest. It seems to be missing some much needed Punch to the tone.

Butterfly Cry - Not a light song, but soft and airy. Ultimately, it's a sweet ballad that belongs on a playlist for rainy days.

Strange Boy - Another track that would be at home in a club, a hard pulsing beat with a neat little riff. The chorus is also fun, almost something to chant along to. Very danceable song, just turn it up and let it carry.

Fragile - And we end the album with a slow track, about that we're all vulnerable despite ourselves, and that we can carry on regardless. There are strings that appear here, and I think the song could have been stronger if they backed the entire song instead of being mixed in as they are. Also, I would have removed the guitar in favor of violins.

The album as a whole has its ups and downs, it doesn't really keep a pace going across the whole length. Lots of good pieces to add to playlists of various moods though. And Kerli has a voice that's pleasant to listen to.

Melissa Auf Der Maur - Out of Our Minds

2010-06-21T20:21:00.002-06:00

Released: Spring 2010
Availabilty: still new - still available
Label: Phi Group Inc (independant label) and Road Runner Records (major label, outside North America distro only)

Melissa Aud Der Maur started her solo career in the early 2000s, formerly the bassist for Hole (and the farewell tour for the Smashing Pumpkins). Her first album in 2004 was a straight forward rock album, her second album Out Of Our Minds is both just as much a rock album as it is an experimental album. It comes accompanied with a short movie, a comic book, and other media aspects.

I own just the CD, measuring it on the merits of music alone, and it took me a while to sit down and just listen to the album. The album finds a great balance between hard rock and light meldies.

The Hunt - more an instrumental solo than a song, the introduction to the album comes in like a hearbeat, though it's almost too long. Maybe a full minute could have been cut off this track is it sounds more like an intro-track than it does a song.

Out Of Our Minds - The title track here sets up the album as one filled with lush sounds, enchanting vocals, and a solid sense of rock basics.

Isis Speaks - We continue with a song that feels mystic in nature, the bass literally hums through this song, it feels like electricity set to rhythm. The chorus is extra catchy in this one.

Lead Horse - A slow instrumental, not much more than a rather extended guitar solo. Mellow, though like the intro a little too long.

Follow The Map - Images of ships, piracy, lost treasure, and broken hearts. Or something like that. A nice melody and a good beat.

22 Below - My favorite track, I love the cadence of the lyrics. A single guitar carries most of the song, only erupting into a full ensemble as the song repeats the bridge phrase and finally ends.

Meet Me On The Dark Side - Nothing particularly special about this song, it doesn't feel like filler exactly, but it isn't remarkable either.

This Would Be Paradise - More a lullaby than a song, the only lyric is a repeated quote about man's achievements and shortcoming.

Father's Grave - A duet with Glen Danzig, his baritone is a perfect offset to Melissa's own voice. This may be a conversation with the grim reaper, or a more literal killer. Either way, the two create haunting imagery as they switch off lines. The imagery reminds me greatly of Nick Cave.

The Key - A very different take on finding one's true love. Catchy tune, ends before it carries on too long.

The One - Struggling to connect with those around us, both alone and with someone. Soft, slow song. This borders on a love song, but doesn't quite make it there. "Someone's gotta love him / Someone's gotta love him" sounds more like bleak acceptance than anything noble.

1000 Years - Another song where the cadence of Melissa's music carries the song, creating the rhythm as much as anything. The song feels constantly like it wants to pick up the pace, suddenly take off an gallop instead of the steady trot it goes at.

There's dead air and silence after the last track ends for about a minute before the album provides a piano outro.

A good album to put on and let play in the background, especially with a whole group of other mellow rock albums on a shuffle.

Broken Bells - Broken Bells

2010-05-21T07:08:00.004-06:00

Released: Spring 2010
Availabilty: still new - still available
Label: Colombia Records (major label)

Broken Bells is a collaboration of producer/musician Danger Mouse (Brian Burton) and Indie Rock musician James Mercer (of The Shins). The result on the debut album is a nicely mellow rock album with a very rich undertone and a subtlety that is nothing but elegance.

The High Road - The opening song comes in with a slow beat that almost leads you to believe it will break into something more of a dance beat. When Mercer's vocals come in it turns to a simple melody. An excellent song to lead the album with, setting the mood nicely.

Vaporize - A slow acoustic song with continuing a set low key mood, the album is shaping into something to listen to as the day winds down.

Your Head Is On Fire - Mercer's guitar takes a bit of a background to more complex instrumentation here, the pace picks up a little bit in this quick song.

The Ghost Inside - By this albums standards this is a bit of a hopping dance track, though not up to club-pulse speeds it's a catchy tune, one you can't help but tap your foot along to.

Sailing To Nowhere - Any other band would probably overlay far too many guitars here, as it has a kind of bluesy-rock feel to it that wouldn't be out of place on a Led Zeppelin album. It's not nearly so overproduced, using just enough to draw you into the soundscape.

Traps Doors - A complex rich song, still slow and understaded. Another track that speaks more with the strength of what it doesn't have (more instrumentation) than what it does.

Citizen - For some reason this song just reminds me of walking aimlessly down city streets and alleys looking for nothing in particular. Slow afternoons and cool air.

October - The opening piano is very cheery, an upbeat melody that sits in the background of the tune. A line in the song "don't run, don't rush" neatly expresses the way the song (and album) gently rolls along.

Mongreal Heart - A little bit of a brisk pace in this song, but not too fast for the album. Almost at the end it does slow down and a rich string section comes in to carry the tune out.

The Mall & Misery - A quiet slow start to the final song builds up slowly with mostly strings, when the beat comes in it feels like a continuation of the previous track a little bit. A nice guitar riff dances in and out.

The album ends as quietly as it started, fading out in a soft lull.

The whole album is like a slow afternoon, unhurried and patient; still full and rich with sounds. Danger Mouse shows that creating a soundspace is more than just creating sound, it's an atmosphere that carries through the entire album.

It finds itself along side the likes of Robin Guthrie (Cocteau Twins) and even subtle hints of Gorillaz - though less bounce and more melody.

KMFDM - Angst

2010-05-05T09:20:00.002-06:00

Released: Fall 1993 (rereleased Fall 2006)
Availability: usually in record shops, easily online, through KMFDM.COM
Label: KMFDM Enterprises (originally Wax Trax!/TVT Records)

KMFDM (Kein Mehrheit Für Die Mitleid - you get to translate the bad German grammar) started as an Art-Music installation group in 1984. It didn't take long to become a full-on musical group. Easily one of the founding groups of Industrial Rock.

Light - the opening begs you to find the loudest stereo you can, crank it all the way up and sit tight. Building up to a crescendo it hits you with a solid guitar riff and pounding beat.

A Drug Against War - Easily one of the hardest, and best, songs ever recorded.

Blood (Evil Mix) - The beat slows down, but the social commentary becomes more scathing with each verse.

Lust - Love through physical need, the song is in German so unless you translate or speak it there isn't much here. Even so, it's a soothing song that's low and quiet.

Glory - Speaking out against Corporate Capitalism and similar social commentary. The song starts out in a slow pulsing rhythm and quickly moves into a catchy dancable beat. Comes with a call to arms to unite against oppression. A KMFDM stock in trade.

Move On - Slow, pulsing, this one gets under my skin, into my blood. Inward reflection on past mistakes and moving beyond into the future.

No Peace - Another call to arms against oppression and bigotry, almost an anthem track but doesn't quite have the energy.

A Hole In The Wall - The most off-beat love song I've ever heard, instead of how they want to live with a lover, how they want to die, and oddly affectionate.

Sucks - The other KMFDM staple is self deprication, and this is the ultimate expression, KMFDM Sucks. The lyrics are definitely amusing.

The Problem - The album ends with a slow down tempo beat, and a fairly serious note on how many 'problems' are dealt with in society, removing the focal point instead of finding the cause.

Angst is easily my favorite KMFDM ablum, it keeps momentum throughout the entire thing, not a bad track in the bunch when taken as a whole. Consistently heavy, if not overly fast or dance laden.

Skindred - Shark Bites And Dog Fights

2010-04-13T06:59:00.002-06:00

Released: Fall 2009
Availability: readily both digitally and physically
Label: Bieler Bros. (independant label)

Skindred formed in the late 1990s out of a barely known band called Dub War. Originally signed with a major label, they thankfully wound up on Bieler Bros. A combo of rock, dub, reggae, metal and punk; they call it Ragga Metal, I'll go with that.

Over the course of the three albums they've released as Skindred they've refined the sound down to a well oiled machine, singer Benji Webbe brings a thankfully fresh new voice to the standard growling shout common in metal.

Stand For Something - A solid opening, Skindred's strong ties to Reggae places a lot of emphasis on social issues, and how we affect the world around us.

You Can't Stop It - Continuing on with the theme, more of a revolutionary rock anthem.

Electric Avenue - This is, beyond any doubt, the best cover of this track I have ever heard. The hard guitar edge adds a whole new dimension to this track, making it the punk song it always wanted to be.

Calling All Stations - Benji's voice goes from low rumble to melodic here. A sound that first attracted me to this group back when they were Dub War. The kind of track you want to hear let loose on the dance floor.

Corrupted - More reggae influenced than other tracks, still maintaining a dance floor stomping beat.

Who Are You? - Slowing down a bit, this track asks the ever important question; who are you to tell me I can't succeed? Interestingly the song fades out near the end and then comes right back in answering the question.

Days Like These - Picking back up again, this song occilates between slow and fast, without sounding forced.

Invicible - A solid ending to the album, another positive message song that also does well on the dance floor.

The album is short and sweet, coming in at just over 30 minutes with 8 tracks. Personally I find this a nice change compared to todays standards of packing sixteen plus mediocre tracks into an hour or dealing with solos dragging out the middle of a song.

It's good to see a group just get down the basics of delivering a solid album of hits.

Lou Reed - Metal Machine Music

2010-04-01T09:04:00.002-06:00

Released: Summer, 1975
Availability: available, usually easily found - almost always a special order (listed as a Limited Edition)
Label: Buddha Records (Sony Music imprint;) [originally on RCA Records; major label]

Lou Reed is without a doubt one of modern rocks influences. A member of the Velvet Underground, has worked with countless musicians throughout the ages. One of rocks giants.

Metal Machine Music is not music. Says so on the album cover. It comes complete with an utterly made up list of equipment.

Metal Machine Music is two guitars in feedback loops - if you put on a pair of headphones the stereo recording will put a different experience into each ear.

Part One - guitars in a feedback loop. No melody, no beat, no rhythm.

From where I listen, music is a completely visceral emotional response. You can sit people down and discuss for days composition, and execution, and quality, and everything else. But when the lights go out, all your left with is "Do I like it or not?"

From there the real discussion starts, what does it make you feel? The same song can evoke different emotions depending on the mood you started listening to it in, and sometimes the same song will always lock step you back to one single emotion. When we encounter new music is as important as what new music we encounter.

Part Two - guitars in a feedback loop, for another 16 minutes.

I could present thousands of words on the history, value, revelations, commentary and influence this album had on the music industry. The number of people who went "wow!" and the number of people are just utterly pissed off this even exists.

Here's some of the things I've done listening to this album:
Fall asleep listening to it; Clean my house; meditate; given me a migraine; soothed and relaxed my nerves; driven people out of the room leaving me in peace.

I usually put it on a very low volume and let it become background noise, overwhelming all other forms of background noise a city has to offer.

Part Thee - see part two.

Zeitkratzer managed to make a live version of this album. Translated to notes and played by orchestra. It is currently more easily found than the standard release album.

You could consider this album as a Koan. Or you could consider it as a bunch of noise. Maybe both.

There is no middle ground here, you can either listen to an hour of two guitars feeding back into amplifiers, or you have to immediately turn it off. Sometimes I can only listen to one part. Sometimes I sit on the edge throughout the entire toneless rhythmless mess of noise - captivated and fascinated by it all.

Part Four - the last several seconds actually picks up a repeating rhythm. On the original record release some of the LPs had a locked groove so this suddenly rhythmic portion would repeat until you physically stopped the record player. On the CD is lasts barely over two minutes before ending. (secretly I wish they took it all the way to the edge of the CDs recording limits.)

If you can find it (I don't believe it's that hard, but it's not that easy either) I suggested finding the "Inanition" by Controlled Bleeding, the song 'Hymn From The Shadows' is another piece that goes especially well with headphones and the quiet subtlety of that track provides an excellent counter point. If you can't find it, any quiet long piece of ambient music works as well, some suggestions:
Future Sound Of London - Lifeforms Paths 1-7 (single, possibly out of print as well)
Any recordings of Buddhst Monks (I have several, new age shops love to stock these)
Any of Chopin's Nocturnes

So what is this? Besides over an hour of two guitars stuck in a feedback loop?

Depends on when you ask me.

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - The Good Son

2010-03-24T19:37:00.002-06:00

Released: Spring, 1990
Availability: recently Remastered and Rereleased, with bonus DVD.
Label: Mute Records (former independent, currently under Major Label EMI)

Nick Cave is one of those artists that everyone should have heard of, and even if you haven't I can almost guarantee you've heard a song by him in some incarnation or another. He started with a group called The Birthday Party, his next group was The Bad Seeds. The Bad Seeds contain Blixa Bargeld - a legend in the Industrial scene, so you know the group was good. Take my word for it.

Most often placed in the Gothic Rock scene, Nick Cave has a firm grasp of good old Rock, Blues, and Jazz. Certainly not to be missed.

Foi Na Cruz - This song is entirely in Portuguese (I believe), the title means "It Happened Upon The Cross". Nick Cave always has a religious theme somewhere on his albums, sometimes cynically, and sometimes not. I haven't translated the lyrics.

The Good Son - The title track is light, with a dark undertone. The song builds to an intense crescendo through the verse and immediately relents on the chorus. It fades out with a slightly too long repetition.

Sorrow's Child - A somber piano carries this tune of loneliness and sadness. We can never completely escape sadness in life, at this reminder of that has a really nice tune.

The Weeping Song - I absolutely love this song; confession: I have put this on repeat for over an hour just listening to everything in it. I couldn't possibly describe the effects this song are on me, but it is profound.

The Ship Song - Another slow dirge-like track. This album is not a dance album, it's not a crank-it-eleven rock out album. It is slow, melodic, and even when it's essentially a love song it sounds low. Generally, a good moody album to have for rainy summer nights.

The Hammer Song - You can almost always hear a story in Nick Cave's songs, but rarely as straight forward as in this one. The Hammer Song feels like an old western to me, from the image of the hammer on a six-shooter to the slight twang in the guitars in the background in parts.

Lament - This song may actually be a dirge, and one of the most cheerful sounding songs on the album.

The Witness Song - This song picks up the pace significantly from the previous songs. A relatively quick paced song that just begs to be hummed along with, and definitely requires a foot tapping.

Lucy - This one is definitely a dirge, a slow piano and string song that ends out the album on a long, slow, but ultimately quiet note of devotion and love. The song fades out with a harmonica and the sound of rain falling. . . just to make the point.

If you're wondering why half the songs are The X Song, it's because they never changed them from the working titles as things were being written. Personally, I think that was a good choice. The whole album is a little sad, but not morose. As I said at the start Nick Cave is often placed with the Gothic Rock scene, and not without good reason.

Lady Gaga - The Fame

2010-03-17T11:37:00.002-06:00

Released: August, 2008
Available: anywhere you look! seriously.
Label: Interscope (UMG Label, major label)

If you think I'm going to stick to one genre with this blog -- I'm not.

I don't listen to the radio except rarely in the car, so 'pop' music has to get my attention the same way every other genre in existence does: by me going out and just finding stuff. Or word of mouth. I also don't own a television so the Lady Gaga PR Machine never even crossed my radar. I came to this party late, after the wife said "I want some Lady Gaga albums" when I asked for ideas for Christmas gifts.

Fair enough. I went out and picked up the album, having a pretty solid idea of the artist as the current Pop Star, and having heard some of it, I deemed it passable but not particularly spectacular. Upon getting the album I gave it a solid listen. I didn't expect to enjoy it like I do. (as a note: this is actually the 'revised' release put out after the initial release, it contains two more tracks than before.)

Just Dance - This album is not some genre-breaking testament to music, it's not some intense social statement. It's a pop record. And the opening track comes in with a catchy beat and a statement one should take to heart: Just Dance. This album is supposed to be fun and this is one of the more fun tracks. I think this is my favorite track because it reminds us that sometimes, the music is just a vessel to get us dancing.

Get out on the floor and enjoy the ride.

Love Game - "Disco Stick" has got to be one of the best phallic allusions in a song I've heard in a long time. Not since Motorhead belted out "Bacon Torpedo" have I loved a double entendre so much. Another catchy fun track to dance to, allusions aside it's a good song overall.

Paparazzi - Either this is a statement of undying love, or a song about a stalker. The beat here slows down a bit, it's not as dancable as the previous tracks. I still haven't decided if I like this one or not, I skip over it half the time.

Poker Face - Another solid club track, mostly harmless fun, slathering on sexual tension without being nearly as crude as other artists can be.

Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say) - Slowing down again, this one is a definite pop-ballad song. Though instead of a song about true love, it's about breaking up. As far as sappy pop songs go, I like this one, it manages to be upbeat about the whole thing.

Beautiful, Dirty, Rich - I love this song, it makes me immediately think of AC/DC and the like. This song would be just as good with a killer guitar riff as it is here with a pop-techno beat.

The Fame - Another hard rock inspired track, definitely a good track to just get out on the floor and dance to. Doin' It For The Fame, what else is there for pop musicians. Cant' knock honesty set to a catchy beat.

Money Honey - Another song I like a lot, and yet another song I can picture as a hard rock song instead of technopop. What can I say, I love me some rock and roll, and while this is definitely a pop-tune it's mostly Rock.

Starstruck - The added song for the 'revised' release of the album. Pure club track dance music here. Slow beat, good steady rhythm, a guest artists breaks into a drawn out rap-verse in the middle, but the beat doesn't really change up behind it so you can look past the flaw.

Boys Boys Boys - More Rock fun here. Remember Motley Crue's "Girls Girls Girls"? Becuase this is the woman artists answer to it. I like that Lady Gaga is able to sexually charge her music without coming across as the submissive side of the relationship.

Paper Gangsta - A piano opening marks this one as something different. Another slower track, it's passable as far as songs go. A song about not wanting superficial boys to date, I'm pretty sure. A mellow song to put on at the end of the evening when things have slowed down.

Brown Eyes - Another mellow slow track. It sounds like it should be played with the lights low, in a noir-feeling lounge or night club. After the upbeat pop of the first part of the album this one almost seems out of place, this would have been a better outro to the whole album instead of just near the end.

I Like It Rough - Picking the beat back up again, but not as fast as the bouncier tracks from the first half. It's not a bad song, but it's not particularly good either. This is another track that was added to the revised release (it started life as an iTunes bonus track).

Summerboy - This one actually contains a guitar riff sound on it, but doesn't quite pick up the pace that would elevate it above top-40 radio fair. A little more oomph could have put this one on the dance floor too.

The album starts out as really good pop-dance fair, but lost some steam at the end, though it never actually goes bad. Sure, it's mostly vapid simple pop culture dance music - but it's good. Lady Gaga can actually write a tune, unlike most pop-musicians out there trying to get you to buy an album.

I wouldn't place this among my collection of Must Have Calssic Albums by any means, but it's listenable and fun.

Motorhead -- Inferno

2010-03-15T08:26:00.000-06:00

Released: June, 2004
Availble: All Major Music Sources
Label: SPV (Independant Label)

Motorhead stands as an icon of Rock 'N' Roll, and it's my belief everyone should have at least one album in their collection. With over thirty years of history (2010 marks the 35th Anniversary) there are nearly twenty studio albums out there.

Let's look at Inferno. The album is one of my favorites, and the album cover is cool. If you don't know who Motorhead are, at the release of this album Motorhead is a trio of Lemmy, Mikkey Dee, and Phil Campbell.

Terminal Show - There is no fade in, intro, or even a count it. The album opens up with full guitar/bass/drums at volume and speed. A fast paced romp through the age old question of why we're here. Steve Vai provides a kickin' guitar solo in the middle.

Killers - Without slowing down track thunders on, Killers is a motorhead staple of songs about battle and war. Turn the volume up and play it loud, there's no deep philosophy to dwell on.

In The Name Of Tragedy - One of my favorite tracks on the album. A song about life's troubles and trials. The chorus is what caught me on this one. While he verses go on about losses and all the stupid things we do that mess up our lives the chorus tells us to stop whining and get it sorted out.

Suicide - Slowing things down just a little, without lowering the volume. Suicide is commentary on modern society, and the slow suicide of the human race through war, wasted resources, and greed.

Life's A Bitch - Speeding right back up the fifth track provides an important message. It's a fast and hard track, but the outro kinds of kills it, it's one of those extended drum roll things where the drummer feels the needs to hit every piece of the kit with the guitars wail on for half a dozen notes too many.

Down On Me - Still not slowing down, the album so far is a testament to the fact that you don't need to pause in the action. Another guitar solo from Steve Vai here, giving the song a bit of a kick.

In The Black - This one has a slower, crunchy guitar riff to it that's catchy. The guitar solo is punctuated by a change up in the drumming as well, extra tasty. I think you could remove the lyrics, toss in some more guitar solos and this would make a great instrumental.

Fight - "Put The Bass Up Will Ya." And the song takes off at a gallop. As close to a stadium anthem as this album will give you, the lyrics of the song are simple and shouted, mostly repeated words.

In The Year Of The Wolf - A steady, slower, track. Though by no means slow. A look back to the more primal thoughts, less domestic days. You can almost picture Viking long ships making their way to some hapless village. . .

Keys To The Kingdom - Still bringing it down in tempo just a little, without turning down the volume. The song could be about Lucifer after he was thrown out of Heaven and left to wander. Or a loss in faith. Either way it's a great track.

Smiling Like A Killer - Speeding right back up, this song always strikes me as a bit funny. Every horror movie trope creeps through the verses as the song speeds along. There's more humor than fright in this one.

Whorehouse Blues - The album ends with a down tempo track, drummer Mikkey Dee leaves the drum kit for a moment to give the track a double guitar sound. The song is a straight blues riff, something motorhead has used throughout their carreer in their songs. This time it's all acoustic calssic blues. Halfway through Lemmy plays the harmonica. The song is about Motorhead's career.

Motorhead has delivered solid fast paced album, good old Rock N Roll. Some of the songs have lyrics deeper than your average rock or metal album, some of them not very deep at all.

Everyone should own a Motorhead album, just so they know what good rock/metal really sounds like. It's Lemmy after all.

Mandatory Intro Track

2010-03-11T07:13:00.000-07:00

Who Am I: Just some guy who listens to a lot of music. Most people say they listen to everything, what they really mean is they listen to whatever the radio is playing, usually after flipping through stations to get past the commercials, or whatever random station they land on. I'd like to think I really do listen to a sampling of every major, and most minor, genres of music out there.

And there's a lot of music out there. So much so I'm constantly foiled in my attempts to get a smattering of everything.

Why This? Because every music blog I read devolves into one of a few things - 1) the blogger goes off on a series of non-music related tangets. 2) the blogger feels the need to form street cred by going over music you'll never get a hold of because it's some tiny local band who can barely produce 100 CD-Rs on their home computer. 3) the blogger goes off on what music means to them and just how clever they are by drawing parallels to... something.

Or some combination of all that.

What is This then? A review of an album at a time, fully and completely from start to finish. No clever anecdotes about how the lead singer was thinking of his dog when he thought of the verse. Or whatever. I take an album and listen to it track by track and put down my thoughts. The only criteria is that the album has to be easily available, either as a download, through a website, a major label, a minor label, a reliable distributor, or however more than just the 50 people who attened the last show in a coffee shop can get ahold of it.

There's a lot of cool blogs out there dedicated to small bands who aren't signed, and have no hope of being signed. And don't even need to be signed in today's world of internet distribution. I'm sure occasionally I'll even get a few of those here. there's a lot of blogs dedicated to mainstream reviews usually taking a couple paragraphs to describe the album from .... some angle.

Why read this? Existentialism.

I promise you this blog will only ever review albums, one album per post, with suggestions based on "if you liked this and this you might like this album too" type of thing. Track by Track.

In the end - it's just another opinion taking up bandwidth. But I will never tell you how awesome it was to see some underground band at somethingorother-fest to show my street cred.

You want to know my street cred? here's the only street cred I have: I've shared a smoke with Sascha K. of KMFDM while waiting for Lucia to get some paper for the credit card machine while at a concert. Sascha has talked to thousands of fans, because he's cool like that, which makes that encounter unspectacular. I'm sure somewhere that makes me officially cool. But I doubt it.

And since this intro is officially too long now... I'm out. First review in a day or two (I have to find a good album to lead this thing with). And in general - recommend music to me, I need to expand my horizons.