#and it lead me to listen to his debut solo album which was also BOMB | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

paradox-media · 4 years

Text

BTS - Map of the Soul:7 Album Review

The internet, and the entire world, have come to know the name BTS over the last year or so. The group keep growing exponentially with every single release and are slowly but surely taking over mainstream media too. After the release of their last studio album Map of the Soul: Persona on April 12th 2019, the lead track featuring American singer-songwriter Halsey, BTS exploded into the mainstream scene all over the world. That lead track, “Boy With Luv” went on to win 11 different awards including song of the year, best music video, best dance performance (male group) and best K-pop at the MTV Video Music Awards. So you could say that the hype for the next instalment in the series was admirable.

MOTS:7 includes 5 tracks from Persona that prelude the rest of the album: Intro:Persona, Boy With Luv, Make It Right, Jamais Vu and Dionysus. The rest of the new album then follows on after these tracks: Interlude:Shadow, Black Swan, Filter, My Time, Louder Than Bombs, ON, UGH!, 00:00 (Zero O’Clock), Inner Child, Friends, Moon, Respect, We Are Bulletproof: The Eternal, Outro:Ego and ON (Feat. SIA). There are 20 tracks overall on the album, making it a total listening time of 76 minutes, much longer than most usual albums would be by almost 30 minutes.

It isn’t unusual for K-pop albums to be longer than a normal Western album would usually run for as they’re seen as big events that take a lot of time and effort. Not only is the album produced, it’s then promoted on shows like MNET Countdown where idols will usually perform the title track alongside a select few others from the new material and will consist of full choreography and set design. These albums are also produced to a much higher standard – rather than just having what’s known as a jewel case, the small plastic album that most Western artists produce, they’re much bigger and include an artistic photobook of varying concepts, a lyric book, photocards and posters. These albums are meant for collecting, and MOTS:7 is no exception. The album itself is huge, A4 sized, in a hard case and comes with all of the extras which makes it very collectible.

Song-wise this album is very polarising to anything else that BTS have released in their careers, each and every song is different in its own way, be it genre, tempo or stylistically. ‘Interlude: Shadow’, performed by SUGA (Min Yoongi) still follows his rap style, but the beat begins very slowly and the lyrics are very personal – on this track SUGA speaks about running away from his fears, realising that his shadows are chasing him and is afraid to be at the top because he’s scared of falling.

The end of the track changes to a heavier trap beat and he talks about not being able to escape no matter what, whether you’re at the top or not. He allows his audience and his fans to see a darker side of the fame that he has, and it makes the song feel more personal.

‘Black Swan’ is one of the singles from the album and was released a month or so before the rest of the tracks. This song set the tone for the feel and flow of the album and it actually caused a split reaction between fans; some of them loved it, and others hated it. It sounds very different to anything else the group has released in the past and people were unsure how to feel about it, myself included. Despite that, the more I listened to it, the more I began to like it. Different doesn’t always mean bad anyways. The choreography that accompanies this track is also extremely beautiful and shows off the skills that the members have, what they have trained to have over the years. ‘Black Swan’ proves that BTS can change up their style and not have it be a bad thing – something that many artists struggle with during their careers.

The next track is another solo song, performed by Jimin (Park Jimin).

‘Filter’ musically sounds very much like something that would chart in the Western world from a Western artist and almost has a Camila Cabello/ Shaun Mendes vibe.

The beat is simple and is chased by a single guitar which gives the track a very one-dimensional feel but is then brought up by the use of multi-layered harmonies and semi-muted backing vocals. ‘Filter’ was very much liked by the fans when the album dropped, and continues to be a feel-good track to this day.

Another solo song follows, ‘My Time’ performed by maknae Jungkook (Jeon Jeongguk). After the release of his other extremely successful solo song ‘Euphoria’ in 2018, fans were highly anticipating this track. Despite being the youngest member, Jungkook’s vocal ability and range is comparable of seasoned veterans, and his performance in this song is no exception. The track features high vocal notes, lovely harmonies and meaningful lyrics that took fans by surprise and brought them closer to the idols once more. ‘My Time’ is another track that fans hold in high regard from this album and it will definitely be one that people listen to for a long time.

‘Louder Than Bombs’ comes next, and the whole feel of the album shifts slightly. This track is a lot slower than the previous ones, the lyrics adding to the base set by ‘Interlude: Shadow’ about unfamiliar shadows amidst cheers. The members are speaking directly to their audience the duration of this song, “You and I, we feel it together, sadness and pain.” This once more gives the audience an insight into the members lives, and makes them feel more connected as humans; we all suffer but we all fight together. This track is in my top 3 for this album, the mixture of rap vocal and singing vocal balancing perfectly and the message conveyed through the lyrics is really important.

The title track then follows, ‘ON’, and elevates the tempo of the album once more. This song also utilises the mixture of rap and lyrical vocal, and these lyrics almost combat those from previous tracks: “Can’t hold me down ‘cause you know I’m a fighter.” The bridge of this song is what caught my attention on my first listen: maknae Jungkook takes over the bridge and belts some high notes over the heavy beat and proves once again why he deserves to be where he is. The whole song is very loud and has a lot of layers, you need to listen to it a few times to really notice all the small details but in my opinion that’s the best part about music, being able to listen to a song over and over and find something new each time.

Now it’s time for my personal favourite track from the entire album. ‘UGH!’ is performed by the groups rap-line, consisting of RM, SUGA and J-Hope (Kim Namjoon, Min Yoongi and Jung Hoseok). I’m a sucker for a good trap beat and some gunshot sound effects and ‘UGH!’ provides just that. The lyrics match the intensity of the beat and each of the members goes hard, criticising their opposition and those who stand in their way or put them down. ‘UGH!’ also reminds me a lot of older BTS tracks, tracks that introduced me to the group in the first place back in 2015, so maybe that’s why I’m biased. This is one of the tracks that’s been noticed outside of the K-pop community too, especially on Twitter, where people who have no idea who BTS are or have never heard their music before are in awe over how hard the beat goes and how good their rap is.

The album then slows down again, the next track ’00:00 (Zero O’Clock) once again slowing down some in tempo. This track is also much more melodical, performed by the vocal-line, consisting of the remaining members of BTS: Jin, V, Jimin and Jungkook (Kim Seokjin, Kim Taehyung, Park Jimin and Jeon Jeongguk). The lyrics to this song also talk about much heavier topics like being sad for no reason , trying your hardest and not succeeding and wanting to just breathe and be happy.

A lot of people turn to music to be their escape from reality, and this song almost acts like a comfort blanket to assure the listener that you’ll have bad days, but you’ll come through the other side and be happy once again.

‘Inner Child’, performed by V (Kim Taehyung), is similar in style to Jimin’s solo song ‘Filter’, with a single guitar beat accompanied with a base drum beat before building up into the chorus, a bright and airy track that you’d expect to hear in the middle of a Disney coming-of-age movie.

The next track is ‘Friends’, performed by Taehyung and Jimin, and it’s another feel-good song, the melody and lyrics more upbeat and in-line with other tracks like ‘Inner Child’. It offers a more summer vibe, a song that you’d blast in the car with your friends on a sunny day road-trip. The melody and beat are something you’d expect from a Western pop song, but with a different twist and it gives the song a very personal and new feel. The use of harmonies and even a gospel choir insert behind the main vocal also adds depth to this already joyous track.

‘Moon’ is a solo track, performed by oldest member Jin (Kim Seojkin) and much like some of the other tracks on MOTS:7 it has a more summer-pop vibe, with minimal instrumental during the verses that jumps up in the chorus. ‘Moon’ is another up-beat track, following on from others in the album, and helps to keep the tempo up and interesting.

The next track is another sub-unit, this time formed of RM and SUGA (Kim Namjoon and Min Yoongi) and is called ‘Respect’. Older fans of BTS will feel connected to this track as it almost throws back to some of the groups’ first songs way back when they debuted in 2013. This track is a sort of conversation between the two, “What is “respect”?” “What, hyung?” “I don’t know, that’s why I’m asking, you rascal.” It’s a fun track but still conveys a message through its lyrics, and this is something that BTS tend to do fairly often – hide a message in-between song melodies or tracks that are fun and upbeat.

After ‘Respect’, the tone of the album is brought way back down and once again becomes emotional and slow with ‘We Are Bulletproof: The Eternal’. BTS in Hangul is 방탄소년단 andtranslates to “Bulletproof Boyscouts”, and this track refers to one of their earliest songs ‘We Are Bulletproof, Pt 2” from their 2013 album ‘2 Cool 4 School’.

The lyrics of this track are deeply emotional for fans: “We were only seven, but we have you all now, after seven winters and springs, at the tips of our entwined fingers, yeah we got to Heaven.” These lyrics speak about their relationship with their fans, and how before them they were just seven (the amount of members that the group holds). It hasn’t always been easy for BTS, when they first debuted they were shunned by different companies, had performances cut last minute and weren’t given a chance. But now that they have been successful Worldwide, thanks to their fans, this song is a tribute to those who allowed them to get to where they are now.

The last song, bar the SIA feature, on the album is ‘Outro:Ego’ performed by J-Hope (Jung Hoseok), and is my second favourite song from this album. It brings the momentum of the album back up before its final crescendo and if the others were summer tracks, this one takes the top spot. This track samples an introduction from their old albums, once again throwing nostalgia at their long-time fans, before heading into a beat-heavy feel-good track. This song also feels reminiscent of Hoseok’s long-awaited solo album ‘Hope World’ that was released back in 2016. It’s one you could put on in the car with your friends and blast as loud as you can and has just an overall great vibe.

The real last song on the album is ‘ON’ featuring American singer-songwriter SIA, and in my personal opinion, it just doesn’t sound right. SIA by herself is an incredible vocalist, but this track does not suit her voice right because it’s out of her genre, and this track probably could have been cut from the final album. It’s a fantastic feat to work with such an esteemed Western artist, but this wasn’t it.

Overall, this album pushed the boundaries even higher for BTS as a group. They’ve performed it all over the globe (before the pandemic hit) and sold more copies and pre-sale copies than any other K-pop group has before. BTS are a force to be reckoned with, not just in Korea, but the rest of the World, and they should be watching out for whatever comes next.

4 notes · View notes

vskpop · 5 years

Text

My 30 favourite songs of 2018

YouTube playlist ⋅ Spotify playlist

30. Heroine – Sunmi

I hesitate to call Sunmi feminist – does she consider herself one? Can k-pop really be feminist? – but her matter-of-factly, eyes-wide-open songs that touch on the position of women in relationships and in society are the closest thing to genuine female empowerment I’ve seen in k-pop. It doesn’t hurt that every single one of her songs is amazing.

youtube

29. Bboom Bboom – Momoland

Considering I usually hate “viral” songs – I’ve been brainwashed to like Gangnam Style just recently – I’m still shocked at how much I love Momoland’s Bboom Bboom. I’m also proud to say that I was an early adopter of the song, and watching their success skyrocket made my Q1. I’m still not tired of the sax line and of the “GREAT!” shouted during performances. This song (and Momoland, really) is just irresistible.

youtube

28. Retro Future – Triple H

The last ever song by Triple H (anger abounds) is just a taste of the genre-bending, sound-mixing, absurd-lyric-writing that we could have gotten for many years. Their retro-future has nothing to do with the Jetsons, and much more with insane 80’s synths and, well, that sexy vibe.

youtube

27. Love Shot – EXO

Well, EXO, that was last minute. My ambivalence towards EXO is represented by this song, which I both find ridiculous and adore at the same time. This song’s luscious synths and layered vocals make it elegant, then the performance makes it kitsch. I don’t know if I’ve been brainwashed, but it’s so great.

Other songs of note: Electric Kiss – Tempo – Gravity

youtube

26. Not That Type – Gugudan

A thousand times yes for Gugudan doing edgier concepts. Not That Type is the spiritual successor to A Girl Like Me, and it’s almost as good. This song, however, is even tougher and more explosive. The new 8-member Gugudan is off to a great start.

Other songs of note: The Boots – Shotgun

youtube

25. Beautiful Feeling – Day6

Yet again, it’s my special skill to ignore all the popular songs that a group has, and in this case the rock vibe that defines it, and pick the sweetest, mellowest song they’ve put out. Day6 make some amazing power ballads, and Beautiful Feeling gives me warm and fuzzy feelings every time I listen to it.

Other songs of note: Days Gone By – Headache – Shoot Me – Somehow

youtube

24. Dinner – Suho ft. Jane Jang

I don’t know how the powers that be decided that this duet should happen, but the result is everything. Jane Jang’s one-of-a-kind voice layers beautifully over Suho’s, who ended up being often overlooked as an EXO vocalist for all these years.

youtube

23. Remember Me – Oh My Girl

Every single Oh My Girl put out is juicy in its on way. They may always go back to their foundational dreamy pop, but they never fail to throw in a twist. Remember Me’s EDM flavour and heavy rap are a total change from Secret Garden, but the song still blossoms into a romantic, airy chorus, and all of the members find something to sink their teeth into.

Other songs of note: Secret Garden – Magic – Love O’Clock

youtube

22. La Vie en Rose – IZ*ONE

My resolve to ignore the existence of IZ*ONE (and survival show groups in general) faded at the first two octaves of La Vie En Rose. This song does so much with so little: the atmosphere it creates, and the contrast between the powerful pre-chorus and the understated chorus are what makes the song for me. In the meantime I’ve started to learn their names, so I’m doomed.

youtube

21. I Want You – SHINee

SHINee’s constant stream of releases this year is at the same time a new beginning and the beginning of the end. It’s hard to imagine that a whole year has passed since Jonghyun, and it’s hard to think that the group has survived even though these songs are concrete proof. I really struggled to make it through the more melancholy songs, so I picked I Want You out of a series of basically perfect tracks.

Other songs of note: Good Evening – Chemistry – Electric – Who Waits For Love – Countless – Our Page

youtube

20. LATATA – (G)I-DLE

I would be surprised if there was a single Boombayah lover who didn’t love this song. It has the same (pseudo-Indian?) influences, the same rhythms, the same anthemic quality. Latata is catchy, hypnotic, fun, and showcases all the members equally (ok, maybe Soyeon a bit more than everyone else). This is a textbook debut for 2018.

Other songs of note: Maze

youtube

19. 1, 2, 3! – Seungri

Here’s someone who usually did club music and for once didn’t, and I loved it anyway! 1,2,3! is retro, guitar-led and much more lighthearted than anything Seungri has ever done. It’s lovely to see a less sultry (and a biiiiit slimy?) side of him. Also Anda.

Other songs of note: Hotline – Where Are You From

youtube

18. 22 Century Girl – fromis_9

I feel that my obsession with fromis_9 is still at its earliest stage, and that by the end of 2019 I will have gone totally mad for them. I am in love with their singles – To Heart, Love Bomb, what instant classics! – but the whirlwind of sounds of fever dream 22 Century Girl have stolen my heart.

Other songs of note: To Heart – Love Bomb

youtube

17. Blue Moon – Gyeong Ree

Another one for the theme of this list: house! Give me all of it in your pop songs! Here’s hoping that Gyeong Ree (wasn’t it easier when she spelled it Kyungri? Anyway) continues her solo career with such intriguing, sophisticated but super-fun songs.

youtube

16. Stay Here – Sojung

I don’t know exactly, but I cry my eyes out more often than not when I hear this song. Ladies’ Code’s Sojung’s voce is as light as a feather, until it explodes in the soaring chorus. Everybody knows that I love any power ballad, but the complex emotional balance of this one is just on another level.

youtube

15. Now or Never – SF9

I can’t say I’ve been following SF9 as idols, but I have been listening to all their releases and they have given me nothing but quality. I know I complain about songs with drops, but the deep house (yep, again) and that sensual “jealous” have been killing me ever since they came into my life. It might be my favourite hook of 2018.

youtube

14. I Love You – EXID

I was a bit taken aback by EXID’s Lady earlier in the year, but it was love at first listen with I Love You. The distorted hook opens and holds together a song that has all the best of EXID, including Solji, who has returned stronger than ever with flawless vocals and zero shame.

Other songs of note: Lady

youtube

13. Dejavu – NU'EST W

You guessed it – house. Nothing has given me as much joy as the rise of NU’EST W, and I’ve been even happier because they did it with superb, incredibly on-trend songs while retaining the dark charm of their pre-success material. They really leaned into the “sexy bandit” thing, and I’m all for it.

Other songs of note: YlenoL – Shadow – Feels – Help Me

youtube

12. Oh! My mistake – APRIL

This song is fluffy and super-poppy and at the same time side-eye in music, if that was ever possible. The super-innocent and cute concept that APRIL have been doing since forever is now tinged with tongue-in-cheek sarcasm, and a little creepy synth that perfectly matches the theme of the track. It’s so addictive and so delicious.

Other songs of note: Oh-e-Oh – BEEP

youtube

11. Snapshot – IN2IT

I love when smaller groups do really, really great and out of the box stuff instead of copying their more successful peers. I’ve watched countless performances, entranced by the bass that opens the song, holding my breath for that “heartbeat go fast, heartbeat go slow”. This is one sexy song, and IN2IT are one good rookie group that I will keep my eye on.

youtube

10. Timeless – NCT U

Leave it to me to find the most niche release a super-popular group has had, and fall in love with it so deeply that the rest (most of which I hated, not sorry) doesn’t count. NCT are too big of a group with some really, really good singers hiding in the back line while the rappers swagger about. I loved that some of them got their chance to show off and I adore this poetic, heartbreaking song.

Other songs of note: Boss – Baby Don’t Stop – Replay (PM 01:27)

youtube

9. Shine – Pentagon

I have to wonder if this song would have been higher in my charts if it wasn’t for the bloodbath that was of Pentagon and their career after this song came out. It’s such a pity that such a feelgood song has become, well, not so feelgood. This song’s wonky piano riff and anthemic chorus are still a delight, and their personality really shines (LOL) through. OT10 forever.

Other songs of note: Off-road

youtube

8. The Grand Dreams – Minseo

Where did Minseo even come from? Why hasn’t she been here our entire lives? Her dreamy vocals have been giving me life this year, and her refined musical sense (or of her producers, really) is a breath of fresh air when everything gets a bit to same-y in k-pop.

Other songs of note: Is Who

youtube

7. One of Those Nights – Key ft. Crush

Key came in last minute and slapped us all in the face with a perfect album that is reminiscing of SHINee’s work from earlier in the year, but also shows his personality as an artist. The lead single One of Those Nights moves fast and interweaves the melancholy of the lyrics in the music. Both Key and Crush are shockingly good vocalists, but together they just make each other shine even more.

youtube

6. Allegro Cantabile – Nature

Random music terms / Italian? I had to check it out. Nature put out something that’s a musical number, j-pop anime opening and k-pop bubblegum all in one. Their vocals are amazing and they are adorable. I’m excited to follow them into 2019.

youtube

5. DDU-DU DDU-DU – BLACKPINK

Is this Blackpink’s best offering? No. But what does it say when your not-best is still miles ahead of the competition? Blackpink have been doing k-pop bangers better than anyone else, and DDU-DU DDU-DU, from Jennie’s spitfire rap to Rosé’s melodies, hits all the right spots (like a ddu-du ddu-du).

Other songs of note: See U Later

youtube

4. Puzzle Moon – GWSN

This song is so good. These girls are so good. As I put together this list, I realised how much all I wanted in 2018 was a good deep house sample, and GWSN delivered. The bass contrasts elegantly with the tiny voices, and the obscure chorus – “make it moon” – emphasizes the magical atmosphere of this song.

youtube

3. Air – Winner

I miss old Winner. New Winner’s YOLO swag annoys me at best, so I dig through their b-sides in search for what we lost when Taehyun left. Air’s appropriately breathy chorus and gentle, romantic atmosphere did it for me and managed to put Winner on my podium yet again. Good job, Winner. Now stop it with the tropical house.

Other songs of note: We Were – Movie Star – Raining – Have A Good Day

youtube

2. KILLING ME – iKON

The year started well for me (and everyone else) and iKON with Love Scenario, but I had no idea of where it would bring us. Killing Me’s bitter, moody atmosphere made for the dance song of my dreams. The decisive beat and array of distortions somehow create an eerie, understated atmosphere. It’s a dance song, but make it sad and a little creepy.

Other songs of note: Love Scenario – Rubber Band – Beautiful – Perfect – Freedom – Don't Let Me Know

youtube

1. Oh My – Monsta X

I know. I am annoying myself by picking a b-side as my favourite song of the year, but here we are. Monsta X have become one of my very favourite groups and, while their album songs have always been amazing, to me Oh My summarizes everything I love and everything I want from them. In a year of minimalism, it’s loud, larger than life, unafraid of bleeps and bloops, rich in both vocals (Kihyun!) and proper rap sections. It’s the powerhouse that I expect from them and I hope to hear again and again.

Other songs of note: Jealousy – Destroyer – Fallin' – Spotlight

9 notes · View notes

patternsintraffic · 3 years

Text

My 100 Favorite Albums of the 2000s: #100-#91

Hi all. As you can tell from the title of this blog post, I am about to take you off on quite a tangent. Music is in the works (both the completion of Lights & Reflections and the first full-length Harsh Lights album), but currently I find myself sitting up into the early morning hours with a newborn while my wife tries to get some uninterrupted sleep. So I am taking the opportunity to finally post this ridiculously long-winded writing project that I embarked on last year. The actual list-making and blurb-penning has been done for many months now, but I never took the time to format and post it. So here I am with some free time, getting around to finishing this undertaking!

As you may have seen, I decided to join in the fun at the turn of the decade and make a list of my favorite albums from 2010-2019. I wrote about my top 20 albums of the decade, and had a blast revisiting those records and sharing a little bit about why they are special to me. However, the most surprising part of the process for me was that choosing 20 albums to represent that ten-year period was...pretty easy? I started my career in late 2009, so the entire past decade I've been working full-time, pursuing my own music in my spare time, and more or less adulting. I've definitely listened to a ton of great albums, but it's hard to find music that truly excites you as an adult the way that it did in your formative years. The whole time I was crafting my list, I was thinking about how much more difficult (and rewarding) a task it would have been to compile a list for the previous decade, spanning 2000-2009.

So of course, not long after posting my 2010-2019 list I got to work compiling my favorite albums of the aughts. That 10-year period starts when I was 12 years old and wraps up as I was starting my post-college career. Pretty much my entire journey of musical discovery and growth occurred during those years. I had little in the way of responsibilities, and for most of the decade I ravenously consumed an absolutely enormous amount of music. Multiple hours worth on an average day. I was still buying physical CDs all throughout those years, so I really focused on each album I purchased, giving them many repeat listens and learning them intimately. And so much of what I heard was new and fresh to my ears. At 12 years old, there were so many sounds and styles of music that I had yet to encounter, and all of those first experiences and coming of age moments left lasting impressions.

Suffice to say, putting together a top 20 list of albums to represent that 10-year period was nearly impossible. I knew I would have to make a larger list to feel like I was doing justice to even a fraction of the albums that impacted me in that decade. What I eventually arrived upon after making an initial list of albums and then cutting it down quite a bit...was 100. Yes, I'm going to write about my favorite 100 albums from 2000-2009. And I'm going to have a damn good time doing it. Most of my favorite albums ever will be contained in this list, and most of them are wildly underappreciated, in my opinion. For the sake of keeping each post to a manageable length, I will be posting 10 albums at a time, starting with numbers 100-91 below. Walk with me down memory lane in countdown form, and I hope you can enjoy me waxing poetic about 100 albums that were staples of my young life. Let's get nostalgic.

100. Paris Texas - Like You Like an Arsonist (2004)

There are hundreds of albums that I could have picked to round out my list here in the final spot, but I wanted to shine a light on this poppy punk rock record from 2004. It doesn't do anything particularly groundbreaking, but it's a really fun take on the genre and it didn't get the recognition that it deserved. "Bombs Away" and the title track are absolute barnburners. What a shame that the band broke up shortly after this album was released. I remember reading a review of Like You Like an Arsonist around the time of its release that criticized it for sounding like a collection of songs that could blend seamlessly into the soundtrack of a blockbuster action movie. Looking back, I agree with the reviewer's assessment, but I see it as high praise.

99. Greenwheel - Soma Holiday (2002)

In 2002, you could throw a shoe and hit a band that sounded much like Greenwheel, a radio-ready alternative rock outfit with some heavy riffs and a throaty lead singer. But these guys stood above many of their contemporaries on Soma Holiday, their only major label release. (Their independent EP Bridges for Burning and never-released second full-length Electric Blanket both hinted at a sustainable career that didn't come to fruition.) This album had enough muscle for the rock kids ("Shelter" and "Strong") and enough sweetness for the emo kids ("Dim Halo" and "Breathe," which was later recorded and popularized by Melissa Etheridge). What could have been.

98. Sleeping at Last - Ghosts (2003)

It's been almost 10 years since Sleeping at Last became a solo project for Ryan O'Neal, releasing themed singles that make up overarching concept albums and EPs. Though the output from the current incarnation of the band is beautiful and soothing, the minimalist and orchestral style is a far cry from Ghosts, Sleeping at Last's one major label album. At the time they were a three-piece featuring guitars, bass, and drums alongside O'Neal's piano and distinct vocals. Ghosts features an uncommon blend of cinematic, ethereal, and earnest indie rock that just seemed to go deeper than its peers in 2003.

97. Taking Back Sunday - Where You Want to Be (2004)

I've never been a huge fan of Taking Back Sunday, though of course I rocked the singles from Tell All Your Friends like any self-respecting high-schooler in 2002. It was the follow-up, 2004's Where You Want to Be, that really got its claws in me after I picked it up on release week. With a killer opening trio of "Set Phasers to Stun," "Bonus Mosh Pt. II," and "A Decade Under the Influence" giving way to ballads like "New American Classic" and "...Slowdance on the Inside," this is just a great rock record.

96. Sherwood - A Different Light (2007)

A Different Light is a bright, summery, buoyant pop album full of smooth vocal harmonies, glistening guitars, and shimmering synths. Sure, the lyrical content isn't all rainbows and butterflies, but if you could capture the sound of pure positivity and optimism, it would sound a lot like this record. Between the singalong melodies, handclaps, and "whoa-oh"s, if you don't have a good time listening to A Different Light then music might not be the right medium for you.

95. Young Love - Too Young to Fight It (2007)

I'm fairly certain that Young Love, the dance-rock side project of beloved post-hardcore band Recover's frontman Dan Keyes, was not at all well-received. But for someone with no preconceived notions or attachments to Keyes' previous work, I thought this album was a hell of a lot of fun. In a world where Young Love made a mainstream impact, alternate-universe Kyle can be seen storming the dancefloor to the title track or "Discotech." Too Young to Fight It also gives us the smooth R&B of "Tell Me," the indie rock of "Take It or Leave It," and the experimental and apocalyptic "Tragedy." This is so much more than a dance album, and if it hadn't been released by a musician with strong ties to the hardcore scene it would have had a fighting chance of being recognized as such.

94. Vendetta Red - Sisters of the Red Death (2005)

Vendetta Red frontman Zach Davidson has one of the most dynamic hard rock voices I've ever heard, and Sisters of the Red Death is one of the catchiest rock records I've ever heard. Despite those facts, I have a complicated relationship with this album because of its often-horrifying lyrical content, which details acts of sexual violence and gore. That's usually a dealbreaker for me, but I won't completely write off this record since it is a concept album set in a post-apocalyptic fantasy world. Apparently female empowerment is at the core of the message, so it's not like Vendetta Red are condoning the acts that they're singing about. It's still a bit unnerving when you get the urge to sing along to one of the plethora of earworm melodies throughout this album and then realize exactly what you're singing. While I may not have the stomach for Sisters of the Red Death in 2021, I can still wholeheartedly recommend "Silhouette Serenade," which contains all of the awesomeness with none of the gross-out lyrics.

93. Ours - Distorted Lullabies (2001)

Now 20 years into his career, Ours frontman Jimmy Gnecco is surely tired of being compared to Jeff Buckley. But damn, he really does sound like Jeff Buckley. And when you're being compared to one of the all-time great voices in rock music, that's not such a bad thing. Distorted Lullabies is the first proper Ours album, and it's filled with melodic rock songs that highlight Gnecco's incredible range. As the saying goes, I could listen to Gnecco sing the phonebook (those were still around in 2001!), but put his powerful and emotive voice on dynamic rock songs like "Sometimes" and "Meet Me in the Tower"? Yes, please.

92. Armor for Sleep - What to Do When You Are Dead (2005)

This here is an emo concept album about a boy who commits suicide and his experience in the afterlife. Despite the overwrought subject matter, the songs on What to Do When You Are Dead are carefully crafted and interesting. "Car Underwater" is a scene classic, and my favorite track might be the keyboard-centric interlude "A Quick Little Flight." Armor for Sleep seemed a bit more thoughtful in their songwriting and arrangements than many of their contemporaries.

91. Cauterize - Paper Wings (2005)

The single "Something Beautiful" led me to Cauterize's 2003 major label debut So Far from Real, but upon purchasing the album I found that the rest of the tracks didn't live up to that song's high bar. Not so with the independently-released follow-up Paper Wings, which was just full of emo rock songs that I absolutely devoured in 2005. This was actually the first album that I had to order online because it wasn't sold in stores. I remember the surreal feeling of the CD showing up in the mailbox, and that first experience attached some additional meaning to Paper Wings. It doesn't hurt that it features propulsive songs like "Wake to the Sun," "Closer," and "Tremble." Cauterize later signed to another label and re-recorded most of these songs for Disguises, which rejiggered the tracklist and added a few new tunes. Even though the production might be a little better on Disguises, I always preferred the Paper Wings versions and the flow of the original tracklist. There's nothing like the first time.

#albums of the decade #best of the 2000s #top100 #countdown #nostalgia trip

0 notes

daggerzine · 6 years

Text

Coming up for air….Phil Sutton of the Pale Lights opens up.

A few years ago I began hearing the name Pale Lights in NYC indie pop circles. Then, leader Phil Sutton was nice enough to send me a package that included the band’s terrific debut LP, 2014’as Before There Were Pictures, plus a single and a cd by his other band, Soft City (see below). Well, I had been playing that Pale Lights record constantly until earlier this year when Sutton and Co released their as good/maybe better sophomore effort, The Stars Seemed Brighter released at the tail end of 2017. Listening to the records it seemed like Sutton wasn’t just some newcomer on the scene and as it turns out he’s not. He cut his teeth (into fangs) in DAGGER favorites Comet Gain back in the early 90’s and then with some other bands in between. In his music you’ll hear the classic songwriting style of The Smiths, Felt, Orange Juice, Go-Betweens, etc. A breezy pop sound that Sutton and Co. make seem effortless. Honestly, The Stars Seemed Brighter might by my most listened to record this year so far. These days the lineup of Pale Lights seems pretty solid with bassist Maria Pace, drummer Lisa Goldstein, guitarist Andy Adler and keyboardist/vocalist Suzanne Nienaber (who also plays in the Great Lakes) and Sutton singing and playing guitar as well. Phil took some time while healing up after an illness and was more than happy to elaborate on my questions. Take ‘er away, Phil! (**also, if you happen to be in Brooklyn, NY on 8/4/18 try and catch their show with The Essex Green and Adeline Hotel at the Knitting Factory- link at the bottom of the interview).

Pale Lights gettin’ some sun (L-R- Andy, Suzanne, Phil, Maria and Lisa)

Where did you born/where did you grow up?

I was born in Germany, an army brat for the first ten years of my life. When my Dad left the army we settled in a village in Oxfordshire. I ended up in London as soon as I could manage it, via a shortish stays in Banbury and Oxford. The village, which I for the most part hated, was inspiration for the Pale Lights song, Coming Up For Air, which gets it’s title from the George Orwell novel, which is about someone returning to their childhood home, a village in Oxfordshire.

Whar was the first instument you picked up?

Drums, playing for Comet Gain, in 1992. Well, I say drums, I didn’t own a kit until 1995. I was always borrowing one. I didn’t pick up a guitar until I was in my 30s. I think it shows!

What was your first ever gig?

The first live music I ever heard was Ultravox, at the Oxford Playhouse. I went with a schoolfriend. We had gotten the tickets about 8 months before. The BMX Bandits were playing the same night, but I had committed to Midge and the boys. It was pretty terrible. The set ended with the band all standing in line playing bodrums. Not very synthesizer-y. The woman next to me spat in my ear as she screamed “Go Billy!” when the Billy Currie caught a violin shown to him by a roadie to play the solo in Vienna. It was pretty swish, but seemed…not cool. My next show was, I think, The Soup Dragons with The Thanes, a great Scots 60s inspired garage band. Then it was, I think, Felt with the TVPs and many, many indie pop types after.

What was your initial entry into the world of indie/punk music?

Comet Gain was my first band. David, the groups founder, was my flatmate. He asked me to drum, even though I couldn’t, and I said yes, because I think it was me or no one. I didn’t really learn to play drums until after I’d left! We made a series of terrible DIY tapes in his bedroom which were sold in the Rough Trade shop. Comet Gain completists go nuts for that stuff.

I’d heard you were in Comet Gain. What year was that? How long did your tenure last?

I was in Comet Gain from 1992 to 1997. I played on the first 2 LPs, and a bunch singles, compilation songs, and a couple of BBC sessions, one for John Peel, and one for the Evening Session. I left when the original lineup split and played drums for Velocette. I did a couple of singles and a Peel session with them, before I left to form my own group. Even though I quit the group, Comet Gain were super important to me, and together with the whole riot girl movement shaped how I think about music, if not directly (I’m really not very punk) then at least in spirit, that isn’t sexist, cliched, macho. The idea of being independent, DIY, creating art that tries to be about something. I always try and play in mixed gender groups, for instance. For me music is more interesting when it’s not a boys club. I’m still a big fan of Comet Gain’s music. It was sad that the first lineup was too dysfunctional to stay together (mostly because we were two groups), but Comet Gain improved by leaps and bounds when the focus shifted solely to David’s song writing. I think their last LP was their best.

The Soft City (that’s Phil far right)

In between Comet Gain and The Soft City (I know , a looooong gap) what bands were you in?

I formed Kicker with Jill Price (then Jill Drew), Andy Jones, and Laura Bridge (Harper Lee) in 1998. We were joined later by Jax Coombes (Comet Gain, Velocette), Beatrice Hatherly, Cat Cormack, and Ben Phillipson (18th Day of May, Comet Gain, Bonnie Dobson’s band). Kicker was the first band where I wrote and sang (sometimes). Jill was the main singer. I’d been fired by Velocette, and decided to start my own band so I couldn’t be fired. But I had to write some songs! So I did. I couldn’t play an instrument, so I sang the songs to the others, who worked out the chords, etc. We did OK, got played by Peel and the other BBC evening types, recorded a couple of albums for the London label Track and Field, and played a lot of shows. We were label mates with people like Essex Green, The Projects (for whom I played drums for one LP), Ladybug Transistor, Great Lakes, Tom Paulin, The Loves, Saloon. Lots of great bands. Kicker split in 2007 when I met my wife and immigrated to the US. I was strumming a Kicker song called Blue the other day, which I’m thinking of playing out at some point. David (Comet Gain) told someone (not me) that it was a proper song. Which I think it is.

Tell me about the Soft City? Were you mostly the drummer? Is the band still together?

When I arrived in New York City I didn't know many people. Kevin Pedersen, who runs What’s Your Rupture? was a good friend I’d met through his love of Comet Gain, and was a real good host, introduced me to some lovely people, including Andy Adler, and I got to know Gary Olson. I wanted to start a new group, so pretty much put together Kicker USA, The Soft City. I put an ad in Craigslist, and it was answered by Jason Corace, who made records as A Boy Named Thor, and Dora Lubin. I say Kicker USA because it was mostly me writing the songs (Jason wrote some too, which I think may have been superior songs! Plane In The Sky from out 7” EP is lovely), and I played drums too, although I was writing on the guitar by this point. I decided not to sing though, to give the audience someone to focus on. We played our debut show at the Cake Shop, at the NYC Popfest 2008. It was great! We had already recorded our album, I think. Or had nearly finished it, maybe. Kyle Forester, who we met through Gary Olson, played bass and keys on the first record. Incidentally Knight School played that show, and Lisa was their drummer I decided that if I stopped playing drums, she would be The Soft City’s drummer. It was kismet! Or something… The Soft City made an LP for Plastilina Records, and an EP for my own label, Calico Cat. The Lp bombed, but the EP sold out. C’est la vie! Turner Stough joined us for the EP as bass player. Jason then got tenure in Baltimore, and Andy Adler and Lisa joined.

When did you move to the states? Was it right to NYC or did you live anywhere else?

2007. I’ve always lived in New York City, in Manhattan, then Brooklyn, and now Queens.

Pale Lights debut from 2014

When did the Pale Lights come together? How did the current lineup come about?

Dora left NYC in 2011, so The Soft City stopped. I decided I wanted to sing again. The first The Soft City release was recorded in the UK just before I left, as a sort of demo, a 3 track affair. It got released by Roque Ruiz’s Cloudberry Records. So I started Pale Lights, initially with Lisa and her friend Maria Pace, and very soon after Andy Adler joined. We recorded our first EP pretty soon after that, with a librarian friend, Brooke Watkins on keyboards. One of our earliest shows was the NYC Popfest, in 2012. Comet Gain played that year, so we got to hang out I had a ball!

Tell me about the recording of the latest record, The Stars Seemed Brighter. How did the recording differ from your debut?

Perhaps not that much? I think it’s a stronger set of songs, maybe. We recorded with Gary Olson at Marlborough Farms, and Kyle Forester did the keyboards. The main difference is that Suzanne Nienaber joined us and now sings on all of the songs. Maria’s bass playing has come more to the fore too.

What about your recent tour of Germany, did you get sick? Were you able to play any of the shows?

Yeah, I got sick right at the last minute. I delayed my flight, but it was no good. very sad about that, as we had been planning it for months. The group was already there, so, with a little persuasion from our label boss, Ronny at Kleine Untergrund Schallplatten (KUS), Suzanne was persuaded to sing lead vocals. She did a great job. The group was joined onstage in Augsburg by Kenji Kitahama, who’s currently in Clay Hips, Friedrich Sunlight, and The Golden Eaves, and Shaun Charman, who plays in Jetstream Pony, our label mates. (Shaun was in the Wedding Present and The Popguns). They’re from the UK. Beth Arzy is their singer. They’re very good. They have a new EP out on KUS soon. Beth is in Luxembourg Signal too. Who are also our European label mates! Anyway, they all took care of my group, coaxed everyone along, and were generally lovely hosts. So though I wasn’t there, and didn’t get to meet everyone, I know that everyone at the label and on the label is lovely. I tour managed from my sickbed, wrote some new songs, did social media.

Pale Lights- cleaning up the streets of NYC.

Tell us about your day job, are you a librarian?

Yes. So is Lisa. Have been since 2010, at The New York Public Library, in Genealogy and Local History division. It’s not very indie pop, but I do love it. I mostly do reference and instruction. Actually, it probably is pretty indie pop. Lots of cardigans and spectacles. It’s not twee though. I hate that word.

What are some current bands that you love that we might not know about?

I’m terrible at new bands. Lake Ruth I love. Great Lakes aren’t new, but their new LP is really great. Jetstream Pony, I mentioned. Jeanines is a very new band I like. We played with them at our LP launch in the Spring. Very catchy, jangly, old school indiepop, but not twee. Jed from My Teenage Stride drums, and Alicia is the singer. Alicia writes short, neat pop songs that are very catchy. I had one song in my head for about two weeks. I started going a bit mad, actually. I’ve mostly been listening to Francoise Hardy and Microdisney lately. I really need to listen to some new music. I spend all my money on buying 60s-80s records though, to be honest. I have been listening to The Dentists a lot too. A group I missed first time out. I’m going to buy the new Clay Hips LP. That’s Kenji’s new band. Kenji sings like an angel. He got us signed to KUS. But I’m not biased. My wife thinks I listen to a lot of old man music, but her ears pricked up when she heard me playing the Golden Eaves, one of his other bands. She was “Who’s this?!” She’s from the same small town near Los Angeles as Kenji. Small world.

What’s next for the Pale Lights? More shows? More recordings?

We open for Essex Green at the Knitting Factory in Brooklyn, August 4th, which I am excited about seeing as we are old label mates. Their new LP sounds very good. KUS is releasing a split 7’ featuring ourselves and Lake Ruth doing each other’s songs, that should be out in the Fall, and we have a song on a KUS compilation coming out later in the year. We’re working on new songs for a 7” for Slumberland Record’s 30th anniversary singles club, and a 12 EP/mini LP too.

Final words? Closing comments? Anything you want to add that I didn’t ask?

If you don’t have a library card, people, get one. Use it or lose it. Also Pale Lights are available for shows. Book us!

https://palelights.bandcamp.com/

***ALL PHOTOS BY LEIGH FOX

***Upcoming gig in Brooklyn with the Essex Green. See info here:

http://nyc-shows.brooklynvegan.com/events/2018/8/4/the-essex-green

Album #2

youtube

1 note · View note

deadcactuswalking · 3 years

Text

REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 27/02/2021 (Ariana Grande, Digga D, Ella Henderson & Tom Grennan)

I like how on the UK Singles Chart, even if it’s kind of a slow week, we still have nine new arrivals to get through. Joy, let’s just start with the rundown. Welcome back to REVIEWING THE CHARTS.

Rundown

As you’d expect, a lot of the debuts from last week were pretty flimsy on the UK Top 75, the range I cover on the singles chart, and hence a lot of it’s gone, including all of the slowthai songs, even “CANCELLED” with Skepta which reached the top 40. Another big top 40 debut that’s disappeared is, again as you’d expect, “UK Hun?” by the United Kingdolls. We do have three pretty big drop-outs though: “No Time for Tears” by Nathan Dawe and Little Mix, ”Really Love” by KSI featuring Craig David and the Digital Farm Animals and finally, “See Nobody” by Wes Nelson and Hardy Caprio. It seems that finally we’re making some room for the Spring hits to come tunnelling in by next month. That also shows in our notable fallers, as we have “Levitating” by Dua Lipa and remixed by DaBaby at #37, “Whoopty” by CJ at #39, Taylor Swift’s re-recorded “Love Story” plummeting off of the debut to #41, Fredo’s album bomb continuing to linger as “Ready” with Summer Walker and “Burner on Deck” with the late Pop Smoke and Young Adz are down to #44 and #64 respectively, “you broke me first” by Tate McRae at #47, “Someone You Loved” by Lewis Capaldi at #50, “Siberia” by Headie One featuring Burna Boy off of the debut to #58, “willow” by Taylor Swift at #59 (Not a good week for Taylor), “Perfect” by Ed Sheeran at #69 (The bigger question should be why it’s here at all), “Shallow” by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper at #71 and “Apricots” by Bicep at #73. For our gains, well, it’s pretty weird trying to find our replacements for all of this, as we have “Mr. Brightside” by the Killers back to #68 as it takes advantage of a slower week, “Roses” by SAINt JHN and remixed by Imanbek having a weird second wind at #60 – and the same goes with “Watermelon Sugar” by Harry Styles gaining big for some reason up to #46. Otherwise, we do have some genuine rising hits in the top half of the chart, like “Mixed Emotions” by Abra Cadabra at #45 off of the debut, “Regardless” by RAYE and Rudimental at #43, “Astronaut in the Ocean” by Masked Wolf at #35 (Because I guess since Logic’s retired, people are looking to Australia for a half-baked replacement), “Believe Me” by Navos at #33, “Little Bit of Love” by Tom Grennan at #32... Okay, if we’re going to give rising artists their first top 40 hit, why is it these guys and not Kali Uchis? Though I have a feeling we’ll talk about her next week. Anyway, our other notable gains are “Love Not War (The Tampa Beat)” by Jason Derulo and Nuka at #31, “Arcade” by Duncan Laurence and FLETCHER at #29, “My Head & My Heart” by Ava Max at #25, funnily right next to Joel Corry’s “Head & Heart”, “Commitment Issues” by Central Cee at #18, “Up” by Cardi B at #17, “Your Love (9PM)” by ATB, Topic and A7S at #15 and “Latest Trends” by A1 x J1 at #12, with no real movement in the top 10. With all that out of the way, let’s stay cautiously optimistic for our new arrivals.

NEW ARRIVALS

#75 – “All You Ever Wanted” – Rag’n’Bone Man

Produced by Mike Elizondo and Ben Jackson-Cook

You probably know Rag’n’Bone Man for “Human”, one of the biggest hits in the UK of the 2010s that never really crossed over stateside. I was never a fan of the guy’s music in its over-produced blues-pop crawl, so I didn’t really expect his next album to do anything for me... but I feel like it does matter to a lot of people. His first album was big – and not just moderately – with several hit singles, and he would later hop on Calvin Harris’ “Giant” to more success. With that said, I don’t know why this lead single from his upcoming sophomore effort Life by Misadventure took a month to get to the lower reaches of the chart, even with a video. Has his hype fizzled out? Is there something more behind this or do people genuinely not care enough to check out the guy’s music past his debut record that had a bigger push? I don’t know but I do know that I actually quite like this... I mean, a lot. Finally, Rag’n’Bone Man found some faster-paced production that works very well with his signature baritone voice, as this almost post-punk-esque groove may be stiff but it chugs along nicely, especially with the layered guitar loops and those inspired distorted synth bloops, with some real dynamic mixing. What I feel is missing from this is stakes, at least in the content – it seems more observatory than telling any real narrative or drama that warrants such a rocketing song, especially that screeching guitar solo. I don’t think that really matters, though, as the subject matter is interesting enough in how he discusses places he’d spent his childhood in like Brighton and London and how they’ve changed since, with a pretty understandable level of both nostalgia and anger levelled at whoever made those changes... knowing he supports Corbyn, there could be some political undertones here, but I digress. The song caught me by surprise, I hope it sticks around further than a couple weeks.

#70 – “Lifestyle” – Jason Derulo featuring Adam Levine

Produced by Rice N’ Peas

So, Jason Derulo struck gold with the TikTok fame and his return to the #1 spot as he stole some Pacific Islander’s beat on “Savage Love (Laxed – Siren Beat)” with Jawsh 685, and in 2020, everything seemed to go right for Derulo at a good time, even netting a BTS remix in the process. Now ever since then he’s been alternating between original tracks and more “borrowed” Pacific Islander beats, and this is one of those original tracks, which sounds nothing like the siren or Tampa beats so I’m pretty sure we know what the aim really is for those tracks. Whilst he’s had some success in the European markets, he hasn’t had much in the US so a catchy pop single with Adam Levine, detached of the Maroon 5 brand as that continues to fade away post-“Memories”, seems like an apt but desperate attempt at latching onto said market. God damn it, I’m embarrassed to say that it worked because this should not be a good song. It’s got a pretty funky synth riff and bassline that makes this otherwise pretty embarrassing track a lot more listenable, as Derulo’s delivery is pretty insufferable (but still pretty sonically appealing; the guy sounds great with a lot of Auto-Tune). There’s a lot of nonsense lyrics, both literally in the post-chorus and more ridiculously in the first verse, full of lyrics about how an unnamed woman is “shining bright just like Rihanna-na”, one lyric out of the whole song that is generally pretty weak lyrically, as you’d expect. The chorus is really damn catchy though, and propelled by horn lines and pianos that sound pretty triumphant, even if the clipping falsettos sound like garbage, and Derulo’s ad-libs in Levine’s verse are just hilarious. Honestly, Levine sounds better with this hook than Derulo does, mostly because Levine is aptly and actively not trying, which is much more fitting for a messy dance-pop track. With just two verse-chorus structures, as well as two post-choruses, this is basic and practically unfinished; there isn’t a bridge. With that said, I can’t hate this at all, for whatever reason. Maybe it’s the fact that Levine’s reverb-drowned “Lifestyle!” backing vocals are cut off in the mix during the chorus... that did genuinely get a laugh out of me, don’t ask why.

#65 – “HEAT” – Paul Woodford and Amber Mark

Produced by Paul Woodford

From just a glimpse of her work, Amber Mark seems a lot more unique and soulful than most of the replaceable dance-pop singers, but for the purposes of this song and hence this show, that’s all she is, and Paul Woodford is just the boring DJ. This is a dance-pop song with 90s MIDI-sounding pianos, odd vocal processing, generic string patches, a house groove accentuated by a lot of fake hand-claps and a weak, barely-there drop. The time house-pop does something interesting for the first time in years in the mainstream beyond this garbage that’s been living in German night clubs in the 90s for decades after the fact, is the day I am a much happier woman. Skip this.

#61 – “Didn’t Know” – Tom Zanetti

Produced by Sjay

If you want proof of how slow a week this is, there aren’t even lyrics for this on Genius. Anyway, I don’t know or care who Tom Zanetti or Sjay are because guess what this is? Another house-pop track. To be fair, this one has more of a bass-heavy deep house groove and bassline, and a pretty cringeworthy rap verse from who I assume is Tom Zanetti, going for what seems like a Chicago house vibe but missing any of the soul or big diva samples, relying instead on a checked-out delivery from someone no-one knows the name of. Really, what do you expect me to say about this? It’s a sex jam, but it’s so basic and minimal that those keys in the chorus end up sounding as eerie as they do seductive, and overall, there’s genuinely nothing to grab from this other than that Tom Zanetti shouldn’t be rapping... whoever that even is. I did look up the guy and it makes perfect sense that this guy was making bassline music decades after that was big, because this screams “failed attempt” to me, and hopefully if the British public have any sense, it’ll be a failed attempt on the charts. We’ll have to wait and see on that front, I guess.

#57 – “Time” – JLS

Produced by Oswald Hamilton (or Biggz the Engineer)

So, legendary(?) boy band JLS are probably one of the bigger names from the craze of R&B and pop bands and vocalists that got big from The X Factor but JLS had actual staying power for at least a little while, mostly because, well, there was always a place for them in the late 2000s and early 2010s, where it wasn’t uncommon to see these dance-pop tracks flooding the chart. They weren’t that great, obviously, but they didn’t need to be as what mattered to the audience and label was that the four boys kept their charm and style by the time they released a new record every November and that a couple singles off of it went to the top 10. That comment about longevity must not have lasted, however, as whilst most members were able to find some kind of success solo, usually in broadcasting like Marvin Humes, people weren’t really demanding a comeback, I suppose, as whilst this is their first charting song since their 2013 farewell “Billion Lights”, this new reunion track hasn’t made much noise at all and is probably here off of sales. I mean, the lyrics aren’t even on Genius yet... oh, wait, it’s some other guy that happens to be called JLS. Huh. Well, that makes sense, but, like, you’d want to change your name if it was that closely related to a big name, especially if you weren’t a family-friendly boy band and were instead a pretty awful rapper relying on a weak UK drill beat with absolutely no energy at all. Okay, so this sounds like several rappers here, so I assume it’s a rap group or collective. Either way, not many of these people have much charisma to talk about, like at all, and this beat can’t carry them on that lone piano melody alone, even if it is kind of menacing. The song feels twice its length, and something screams industry-made to me. I don’t know, maybe it’s because it’s a debut single, but they’re not signed to any major label so that’s just speculation. With some research, I found that it’s by two guys called Switch and J9 and a lot of fans were confused why it was uploaded under JLS, when the original song, on YouTube, isn’t even called “Time”. It’s called “Look”. I can only see this as kind of a scummy marketing ploy by a label, as I don’t think an independent distributor would be willing to change the name, artwork and artist name to believably look like JLS. I don’t know about any of this but really the song isn’t bad or really worth caring about, just a game of finding the impostor. To be honest, I’d love for JLS’ actual comeback single to be a drill banger in response, but again, we’ll have to wait and see. For now... who even gets the royalties for this?

#56 – “CLOUDS” – NF

Produced by Tommee Profitt and NF

You know what’s decidedly less fun than UK drill rappers masquerading as late 2000s boy bands? Christian rap. To be fair to NF, he’s less outwardly Christian as he is just family-friendly pop-rap with a lot of technical skill and that’s fine, although it does mean his fanbase consists pretty much exclusively white kids who think they listen to “real rap with a message” and dismiss anyone with a darker skin tone as mumble-rap. Though I don’t think NF purposefully lets into that demographic, at least from the little I’ve heard, I don’t doubt that he knows that’s his base as he continues on this lead single from his upcoming mixtape CLOUDS to criticise rappers who “go Hollywood” whilst also acknowledging how violent some of his lyrics may seem, which kind of seems like an odd thing to say in this context. I mean, NF here is only being clean rather than Christian, but not in a Lecrae way where he’s genuinely a versatile and soulful rapper outside of the religious stuff that tends to work its way into a lot of his work. Instead, NF just kind of meanders over a condescendingly bad piano-based trap beat, with pretty pathetic flows that really undermine how much technical skill this guy supposedly has. I mean, if he’s going to imitate Eminem with even more filler bars and unfunny mid-verse skits. To be fair, I can’t complain about the dude’s energy, and the beat does get better as it gathers a lot more energy in its choral grandiosity, but I feel like this one starting verse just lasts for days because of how little is actually said in three minutes, and that second verse is shorter but says even little. That’s before getting into some of these lyrics as it really is just nonsense half of the time. He claims to be “not artistic” – I don’t know why Nate meant by that but it just comes off as how it is on paper: hilarious – and also flooding the first verse with a series of ridiculous metaphors you’d be hard-pressed to wrap your head around, including questionable name-drops for... Bill Gates, of all people. I do find it ironic how despite his fanbase wanting to make you think you’re not smart enough to get NF’s really “clever” bars, the Genius annotations for one of the few kind of cool lines here show that it completely goes over their heads. NF says, “Got something in my cup, ain’t codeine”, which you can stretch – pretty reasonably – to be a Biblical reference. The song’s about fame and success, so referencing “my cup runneth over” makes a lot of sense. The annotations says that it’s unclear what’s in NF’s cup, and a comment corrects him, saying that it shows in the music video that Nate’s cup has water in it. Nice one, guys. At least Eminem murders women and Hopsin’s a racist piece of trash, what does this guy have?

#38 – “test drive” – Ariana Grande

Produced by Foster, Mr. Franks, TBHits and Murda Beatz

Ariana Grande released the few bonus deluxe tracks from her Positions album last week, and of course, at least one charted – not many others could as you can’t have more than three hits at a time on the UK Singles Chart. I know, it’s silly. Honestly, I think the deluxe tracks were in most cases better than the standard edition, and I think if we cut out the annoyingly large amount of filler in that total package, we could have a pretty damn great record from Ari, but as is, it’s really just fine and suffering from all of the issues her past few years of music have. With that said, “test drive” might be my favourite ever song of hers, with its gorgeous 90s R&B keys that lead us in to a bouncy house beat from Murda Beatz of all people (in a similar vein to “motive” from the standard edition but with actual sound design). There isn’t that much of a bass in the groove here, but it makes up for that with its twinkling synths and Ari’s delivery which sounds convincing and infectious through the whole track, which may be short at just barely more than two minutes but does not waste that time with its incredible chorus and whilst I would have preferred some more complexity or meat to this production, particularly the percussion, this dreamy blend of 90s pop styles is really fun as is, especially in that final chorus with those subtle strings and bleep-bloops coming in, to the point where you don’t really care how abruptly it ends... which actually might be a pretty fitting end for a track about a youthful, very sexually active relationship. Yeah, this is pretty great – check it out.

#36 – “Toxic” – Digga D

Produced by Trinz

Speaking of bonus tracks, here’s a bonus track from Digga D’s most recent mixtape, Made in the Pyrex, and any goodwill I had for this guy is gone because this song is deplorable. You can say it’s satirical all you want – and to an extent it probably is – but I really can’t sit here and listen to a rich guy talk about how awfully he treats women for three minutes. Basically, the song is about influencers that want to “suck his bone”, and honestly that would be fine if he kept it about the sex, rather than how much he seemingly hates these women, calling them good for nothing sex objects with the subtlety of a dusty red brick. Misogyny is common in rap music and popular music as a whole, and it’s forgivable because, really, objectification is so commonplace that there’s no point in fighting it off, and really there’s nothing wrong in a rapper saying “my girlfriend is attractive” because... well, yeah, she probably is. There’s also nothing wrong with a rapper describing or depicting sex, because sex happens, and there’s also nothing wrong with rappers describing their conflicts with women because, again, they happen, and music is never supposed to represent a perfect life or perfect human. You can express your flaws and irrational emotions, even if they are “toxic”, in your music because it’s a form of human expression that knows few bounds, and as long as there’s some kind of tact or thematic approach, I really do not mind and will often try and justify it. However, when you’ve got a guy with no charisma or personality describing how he uses his fame on Twitter to his advantage for cheap sex, what really is the point in listening to this guy? Do you enjoy hearing about how he constantly condescends and insults the women providing him with cheap sexual desires? Sure, they never sent you letters while you were in jail, but they were never supposed to. These are Instagram models and social media influencers you use to get your rocks off by sliding in DMs, not long-time relationships, and you know that, so why are you complaining when your emotional desires are not met beyond intercourse... especially when you clearly don’t care about hers? I guess Digga D is being “toxic” on purpose as the title and chorus ensues, but this is too overly-specific and based in what seem to be real-life situations for me to stick with this and justify any of it, especially him referencing the models’ substance abuse, how he refuses to drink fancy wine she bought her instead of his cheap Magnum tonic wine – a sexual stimulant from Jamaica. All that would be fine if it weren’t for how he takes this back to real life by mentioning his ex-girlfriend, breaking all illusions of satire and fantasy. In the second verse, he continues to slut-shame and condemn women for... travelling abroad? Profiting from OnlyFans? Wearing Rolexes? If you want to talk about how many designer accessories you wear, how many places you’ve been, how many women you’ve had sex with and how many women you use for your own benefit and no one else’s, as you do in all of your songs, then where’s your excuse for criticising women for doing the same thing? Oh, right, there is none! I heard a few weeks ago and talked about on this show how the government has to see Digga D’s lyrics and censor them in the case that they’re too violent. It’s pretty telling how this misogynist piece of shit slipped through those cracks, huh?

#28 – “Let’s Go Home Together” – Ella Henderson and Tom Grennan

Produced by TMS

Okay, so this is our highest debut this week, and it’s from singer Ella Henderson, who you probably know from “Ghost”. She was another X Factor singer and this song actually dates back to 2016, where it was leaked online as a duet with James Arthur. More than four years later, it sees an official release with the slightly-less-trendy Arthur replaced with Tom Grennan, similarly non-present pop singer. I’m surprised the label’s even letting her release this pretty generic pop ballad with an acoustic pick-up and lyrics about going home together while drunk, as well as trap-esque percussion because of course. I mean, her second album has been shelved for half a decade, and Tom Grennan himself has kind of been in limbo until recently, and it’s not like he’s doing anything interesting or different here with his insufferable mumbling delivery. There’s an unfunny bait-and-switch in his verse at some point that I think even James Arthur would have pulled off better, and Grennan’s last line in the bridge is genuinely just one of the worst moments in music this year, Jesus Christ – you’ve just got to listen to that part, I guess. The song’s really not worth speaking more about and I want to wrap this up.

Conclusion

A slower, less chaotic week yet still a mixed bag and mostly bad. I’ll give Best of the Week for Rag’n’Bone Man for “All You Ever Wanted”, with a really close Honourable Mention for Ariana Grande’s “test drive”. Worst of the Week should be pretty damn obvious given that Digga D’s “Toxic” even exists, but Dishonourable Mention really is a toss-up. I guess Tom Zanetti’s “Didn’t Know” might be the most embarrassing song here... apart from “Lifestyle” of course but that song really is just okay. For next week... who cares? Here’s this week’s top 10:

Follow me on Twitter @cactusinthebank if you’re interested – really, I just talk about Weezer more often than I should – and I’ll see you next week.

0 notes

tweefunk · 6 years

Text

2017 Local & EP Roundup

Title says it all. Here are my favorite local MN area releases and various other EPs of 2017. List is in alphabetical order. Sorry I can’t write an essay about everything, but all y’all’s stuff is sicc.

Blacc.KLagoon x w e s t k o r e a: Baby Boy EP This collab EP showcases one of the more interesting new projects to come from the MN DIY scene. This EP owes its influence rrespectively to the jazz-rap of the early 90′s, the vibed-out party jams of early Outkast, and the staunchly political lyricism of Kendrick Lamar. I’m very interested to see where this duo goes from here, especially as they continue to hone their sound and become true innovators upon the precedent of those who came before them. This is one to watch.

Boy Pablo: Roy Pablo EP This sub-20-minute indie pop masterpiece is one of the most slept-on of the year. Boy Pablo is an 18-year old from Norway with sense of melody and composition that would the envy of people half his age. Roy Pablo finds the sweet spot between Mac DeMarco and The War on Drugs, losing the affected apathy of the former, and the inescapable pretension of the latter. Don’t sleep.

Double Grave: New Year’s Daydream Formerly known as Ego Death, Double Grave put out an excellent mini-album this year which seamlessly meshes the amplifier worship of Starflyer 59 with the prettier moments of post-punk, resulting in a noisy, but nonetheless beautiful project.

Since learning of this band, Jeremy Warden has become one of my favorite guitarists in the scene, and his melodic lines steal the show here. In many cases, his warped, glide-stummed leads provide the real hooks. It’s easy to lose yourself in the sonic wormhole, but it’s a trip well-worth taking. Shoegaze meets immediacy.

Hippo Campus: Warm Glow EP Minnesota’s favorite exports followed up this year’s full-length Landmark with a far more progressive digital-only release. Their boyish pop charm remains intact, but this time they put their considerable instrumental chops to use and create something really special. If a twinkle band went pop, this is what you might get, and I’m all about it.

Inconsistent: Acting Cool EP This one has had a permanent place in my CD changer (shut up, I’m old) since its release. I probably jam it at least once a week in the morning when I’m getting dressed for work.

Isaac Luedtke gives a lyrical masterclass in radical honesty in his graphic tales of depression and anxiety. As I said before, I’m old, but not so old that I don’t remember vividly what felt like to be 17 and have no idea where you belong or what you’re going to do with your life. It’s a specific type of suburban angst, but one that never really leaves. The causes of existential consternation may change, but the effects always linger. Acting Cool is frankly the most concentrated dose of whup-ass I’ve seen from a local band in a while. If this were a full-length effort, it would likely have made my AOTY list.

Look for these cats to blow up in 2018.

Less Than Jake: Sound The Alarm EP Ska rules and I’ll fight you on that. LTJ has always had strong EP releases and this one is no exception. You might not expect a third-wave ska band in its 25th year of existence to have any particularly profound thoughts on aging, but here we are.

“Welcome to my Life” seems like a direct response to their 2003 hit “The Science of Selling Yourself Short,” right down to its white-boy reggae lilt. Roger Lima’s decade-older narrator finds himself in far more apologetic mood. Years of binging, worrying too much about the future, and taking the people who love you for granted can leave you with a lifetime of missed memories, failed relationships, and self-inflicted loneliness. Instead of defiance and an acceptance of mediocrity, we’re trying to save whatever’s left.

Another song that seems unfortunately timely is “Bomb Drop.” While the band likely meant it as an allegory for the inevitability of age and irrelevance, in Trump’s America it seems all too literal. We’re just watching the clock, waiting for the bomb to drop.

Naive Sense: [Self-Titled] EP RIP. They were too good for this world. Hands down the best hardcore band I’ve ever seen in my life. Their shows will be the stuff of legend. I shit-talk hardcore as a genre quite a bit, but Naive Sense proved that the medium can still be powerfully sublime when combined with a timely, vital message and musicians with a desire to push sonic boundaries.

I have no words. Listen for yourself and weep if you never got to witness it. They were more than a band, they were the pure voice of light and hope in human form.

Oftener: Lavender EP The solo project of Nate Gurrola, vocalist of the now-defunct Ridgewood, Lavender marks a return after nearly two years of silence. What we have here is a collection acoustic ballads that feature some of his strongest vocal work and arrangements that refuse to be pigeonholed. Describing Lavender as acoustic shoegaze seems like a cop-out, and labeling it emo seems like an insult. There’s a lot more going on here than sad-boy whining.

Oftener has recently expanded to a full band, and will be releasing another EP as such next month. Having seen this configuration live, I’m confident that this will bring another layer to the sound and make them a band to watch moving forward.

Township: Impact Bliss Another band leaving us too soon, Township announced their impending breakup this spring, so make sure you catch a show if they make it to your area one more time.

Impact Bliss is a beautiful, textured homage to shoegaze. While Double Grave resides in the poppier, more accessible end of the spectrum, Township aren’t afraid to take their audience down long swirling rabbit holes with massive dynamic shifts to throw the listener off-balance.

This record is best enjoyed in a dark room, slightly high at 2am, and loud. Township have shot for the ethereal majesty of Souvlaki and Loveless, and come damn close to their mark. It’s that good.

VIN: S/T EP Debut release by a new band with former member of Infinite Me and Familiar Theme features some of the most deceptively straight forward rock you’ll find in the local DIY scene. But make no mistake, this is prog all the way.

Bassist Nicholas Culliton and drummer Jacob Scully are particular standouts here. Culliton creates arpeggiated, harmonized lines where a lesser musician would just be happy to drone a root note, or just mirror the bass drum. By playing like a third guitarist, he gives the band a far thicker sound without overpowering the primary melodic elements. Scully on the other hand is a rudimental monster with the musical sense to use his chops as a complement to the music, rather than an excuse to show off.

Weathered: Misnomer EP These guys have made massive improvements to both their production and compositions since their last time out. Arrangements are fussed over and far more intricate than the emo genre is usually blessed with. In particular, the rhythm section of Christian Rassmussen and Alec Panchyshyn are a two-man wrecking crew from the moment “Better For Me” kicks into second gear, and the latter subtle touch with the sticks and some lovely color to the proceedings.

The production is also a big star here in that it imbues the music with enough clarity to be a pleasant listen, but leaves the edges just rough enough to leave some nervous intensity around the band. This newfound clarity and crispness suits Weathered well.

With another album on the way in 2018, Weathered is poised to be the Minnesota DIY scene’s next big export. Misnomer isn’t just good for a local band, it’s good for anybody.

Wretch: BANGERZ It’s kinda like if DFA1979 weren’t edgelords and ripped way harder. This is another great local that we lost in their prime. RIP.

If you couldn’t infer from the quip above, Wretch is (was?) a drum and bass combo but with a wicked front-person whose lyrics manage to speak incisive truth to the scourge of modern beauty standards (among other subjects) while still being darkly hilarious. It doesn’t read like a sermon, but rather a brilliantly dance-able stand-up routine that would George Carlin proud.

No, none of that is intended as a backhanded compliment. Comedy is one of the most powerful tools we have for expression. BANGERZ is one the most fun releases of the year, and also one of the most thought-provoking.

2 notes · View notes

lahayna · 7 years

Text

Lahayna: Behind the Songs

The Lahayna song writing process was often an emotive affair, but we thrived on collaboration with each other. Ideas were brought to a rehearsal room or studio in varying degrees of readiness and each band member would then work on creating the perfect part to fit in with the whole arrangement. We sought each other’s opinions and listened to our Producer, Luke Buttery. The process brought the best out of each of us as musicians and writers. In the early days songs were sometimes road tested at a gig the same day they were written!

Here Matt and Chris share some of the stories and production ideas behind the songs on Lahayna’s debut album ‘Lahayna’.

‘Save My Soul’: This was an idea that started when I was messing around at home with playing slide on open D tuning. I had been listening to a load of delta blues records so there was a nod to the “girl gone done me wrong” in the lyrics but I wanted the music to have a more modern feel percussion wise, so we experimented with lots of layering of percussion in the studio and then added a synth in too. I love the backing vocals that Nikki adds on these. [Matt]

I really love Rory’s drum part on this one - he was always messing around with tribal style rhythms in rehearsals and those ideas found the perfect home on this track. [Chris] ‘Losing Battle’: This song had been around for a while and the lyrics were about that typical relationship we find ourselves in at times where we feel stuck in a loop repeating arguments and the point where you just want out. Musically, the idea was to counter this with a summery 70s funk pop vibe, nodding to the Isley Brothers and the Jackson 5, really layering things up. I think J’s voice is great on this and for me the stand out is the cool outro solo on the Rhodes which our producer Luke Buttery added. [Matt] ‘Butterfly Bomb’: This track started out as a title, which had stayed with me from the stories my grandparents told me about growing up in London during the Blitz. Butterfly bombs were designed to attract people to pick them up and then explode. Matt and I worked on the lyrics as a fictional story and sent them back and forth for each of us to add more lines. This was a process that really worked for us. Once we had the lyrics, Matt then worked on the chord structure and I added the bass line before we took it to the other guys to add their parts. Our inspiration for the production was the energy and sound of Rolling Stones tracks such as ‘Brown Sugar�� and Jumping Jack Flash’. It was great fun to play. [Chris]

‘Made Out Of Stone’: The idea for lyrics for this was kind of a “split personality conversation” and the philosophical questions I often found myself battling with whilst living in London: the part of me that felt compelled by my environment to live fast and pursue a certain level of financial recognition as a musician. And then what I call my true nature, which valued none of those things and really thought the true value in life came from the nourishment of the soul, striving to create what was real and pursuing the good. From a music perspective, I like the cool Motown style production this has going on and the tremelo. [Matt] ‘House of Cards’: There have been 3 events which I look at as “before and after” moments in my life: when I emmigrated to Spain at the age of 30, the birth of my daughter at 22 years old and, the first was my first real experience of death, when a close friend committed suicide. He had just turned 18 and over the year leading up to this, was trying to come to terms with the death of his mother (who had also committed suicide). Shortly after, his sister was to take her own life. I personally spent many years trying not only to come to terms with the death of a close friend, but understand what had happened and how any one of us can get into the situation where this seems like the only option. I spent a lot of time with his father after, seeing a broken man who had lost his whole family: and I spent many years questioning the meaning of life through this context. [Matt] ‘When the Lights Are Low’: Another song that had been in vaults for a while and went through many incarnations…I think I wrote this when I was 18 or 19. Musically it was another one which leant heavily on us listening to Curtis Mayfield and the like at the time and we wanted the big production, the heavy reverb, the dramatic strings, brass the whole works. And I really love Churchy’s baseline, groovy and melodic. [Matt]

‘Set It Off’: I remember secretly using the studio where I was working as dubbing mixer to record this years back. I wanted the slow burning intro with the acoustic guitars and then the big kick in. Again, it was another split personality conversation, when you’ve been wronged in a relationship and are trying to make up your mind whether to stay or go. It was a lot of fun to record this one and get the Les Paul out for the solo. [Matt]

‘Passenger’: To give you an idea, this track was once introduced at a gig by Mems as a cry “for the revolution”…Similar to Made out of stone, the lyrics were dealing with my frustrations with living in London and, in general, trying to make sense of the inequality in the world whilst recognising my hypocrisy at times and attempting to understanding the part that I played and how things could change etc. From a music point of view, we left the extended outro for the album and I really love the anthemic quality of this one: along with House of Cards it’s probably my favourite track on the album. [Matt] ‘Love Is Dead’: I’d been listening to a load of rockabilly at the time and this was one of the tracks that I wrote after we had already entered the studio. This song was the start really of the writing for the band that would go on to be Burning Condors. The idea was to have a fun throwaway party song, with the lyrics about how we can sometimes throw ourselves into frivolity and indulgence in an attempt to get over the end of an important relationship. [Matt]

‘In the City’: The inspiration for this song came to me whilst I was driving to our old rehearsal studio, Pulse, in Walthamstow. It was a mid-summer evening and as I drove over the crest of a hill near home on my usual route, I was dazzled by the sun setting in perfect rays over that part of East London. It was a beautiful sight, albeit probably not great driving conditions! By the time I reached Pulse I had the chorus and a verse. J then wrote the other verses in a Cafe in Blackhorse Road; adding his own thoughts on living in London at the time, and the situation and surroundings he was in.

Matt wrote the main melody on guitar and we worked on the song’s structure in the rehearsal room together. The melody came one day at our manager Paul’s house. Matt played the riff to J and it just popped into his head. To start with he sang some made up nonsense like “she came out of the window. I didn’t even know her name”! It was a relatively quick process and it produced an obvious first single for us.

We wanted the production to be big and punchy whilst retaining the sound of the individual elements – vocals, guitar, bass and drums. There are very few embellishments on the final recording, other than some timpani to accent the drums on the breakdown, which sounds massive! [Chris]

The album ‘Lahayna’ is released via Snakehand Records on all major digital formats 20/11/2017.

#blues #funk #garage rock #indie #the way studio #recording #Debut album #hackney #Lahayna #rolling stones #lorenzo scavone #london #gretsch #neve desk

5 notes · View notes

fallenloverecords · 6 years

Text

Interview: Gentle Brontosaurus

Hi lovers! Here at Fallen Love headquarters we periodically interview people that we adore in order to shine a spotlight on our wonderful pop planet. We post all those interviews right here for your education and enjoyment.

Gentle Brontosaurus are an indiepop band from Madison, Wisconsin, USA. They are Huan-Hua Chye (ukulele & keyboard), Nick Davies (keyboard & trumpet), Cal Lamore (guitar), Paul Marcou (drums), and Anneliese Valdes (bass). Fallen Love head Harley interviewed the band through a computer. Fallen Love Records: How did Gentle Brontosaurus begin? Huan-Hua: Get ready for some band lineage in excruciating detail:

Nick and I used to be in a band called TL;DR that broke up after a couple of band members moved away, so we decided to start a new band.

We knew Paul and Jon from having played with their old band, Baristacide, and we recruited Michael to play bass for us through Craigslist.

Eventually Jon decided it was time to part ways with us and we asked Cal to play guitar. Nick and I had met Cal through a songwriting website called FAWM, February Album Writing Month.

Last year Michael moved to Milwaukee and decided to leave the band so we recruited Anneliese, whom I had met via a community ukulele club called MAUI and who had filled in on bass for us a while back for a Buffy The Vampire Slayer Musical Episode cover show we did with our friends Croaker.

And here is a curated selection of a few of our other related current or recent projects you might want to check out - we are busy individuals: Square Bombs (Paul & Jon) The Werewolverine (Anneliese) The Ferns or C. H. Lamore solo (Cal) Vowl Sounds, Red Tape Diaries (Huan-Hua) Spiral Island (Nick)

FLR: All five of you sing. Was that something planned on from the early stages or did it just discover itself? HH: We used to only have three vocalists (max one lead and one backing at any given time) but decided that seven instruments and three vocals between five people wasn't making the sound guys' lives hard enough (not to mention ours) so we added some more. It has definitely been a voyage of self-discovery. I think we'll try to streamline a bit more in the future, though, since venues almost never have enough mics. FLR: Based on your social media some people might expect you to be a comedy or novelty band. Are new listeners ever caught off-guard? Nick: Is this regarding the Facebook account where we share dinosaur memes or the Twitter account where we post things like Baha Men trivia? Early on I had our genre listed as "brony rock" on Facebook just as a joke and it’s come back up occasionally. Like the time Jimmy K, a local radio personality, had both us and The Ferns (Cal's previous band) on an episode of his show and he got his intro cards mixed up and called The Ferns "brawny rock." HH: Also we got invited to put a song on an actual brony rock compilation, which was unfortunately vetoed by other band members. Anyway I aim to keep expectations at rock bottom so that new listeners can only be pleasantly surprised when we turn out to be (hopefully) honest and charming and good. I don't usually aim for funny when I'm writing songs (although sometimes it ends up there) but I usually aim to be entertaining on social media. (I usually man the Facebook account and Nick the Twitter account). I feel it's the least I can do. FLR: Who writes the lyrics? Each song carries a real depth, like a full short story condensed into four minutes. HH: Nick and I are about 50/50 on songwriting. On the first album our old guitarist wrote one and our old bassist wrote one but I think on the new album it's more or less evenly divided between me and Nick as far as lyrics go. I think the two of us share a love for possibly ill-advised wordiness and allusions so sometimes people have been surprised to find out who wrote which songs. I wrote poetry for years before ever turning to lyrics and a few songs, like "Rabbit Test", are remnants of poems or stories or concepts I could never quite make work on the written page. N: I don't intend to give every song a narrative but in addition to FAWM in February I participate in NaNoWriMo in November. Maybe some of that bleeds over into songwriting. Storytelling does provide a way to address topics without being tied to your own perspective. I'd be kind of uncomfortable writing songs all about Nick and how Nick feels right now, especially if we might decide to have someone else in the band sing it. HH: I, on the other hand, love writing songs all about HH and how HH feels right now. Maybe this is why we have so many songs about food.

FLR: Your debut album, Names Of Things And What They Do, came out in November 2015. What was the process to get there and how has the path shifted since then? HH: That album was very DIY like our new one will be. We recorded it over a period of months in our old practice space and our old guitarist Jon mixed it. Similar approach this time around, all home recordings. It's going to be an interesting mix as some of these songs, like "Kevin Bacon", we've played for years (it almost made it onto the first album) and others, like "A Shot" or "For Emma, Forever Ago", we'd only been playing for a few weeks and had never played live before starting to record. So for those newer songs we're kind of figuring out arrangements and parts as part of the recording process. We recorded all the drums and scratch tracks live, the way we're used to playing, and are now going along and re-recording individual parts to replace the scratch versions. One of the things that's pretty interesting about our piecemeal recording process is that we often can't hear/process the cool things everyone else is doing since we are distracted at the time with our own performances. Sound balance is also difficult to get right live with five people,so there have been a lot of moments where, once you're listening to a clear recording, you go "Oh, I had no idea you had this awesome part happening here." It makes you appreciate everyone and their contributions and musicianship just that much more. FLR: Do you think dinosaurs had feathers or scales? Anneliese: Yes, and some had neither. FLR: Why hasn't Netflix rebooted popular '90s sitcom Dinosaurs yet? A: This might be a question for the Jim Henson Workshop. Fun fact: Kevin Clash, who's the voice of Elmo, was also the voice of Baby Sinclair. And Jessica Walter (of Arrested Development) was the voice of the mother. HH: I'm sure it's on the horizon since we are apparently officially in the midst of a serious worldwide franchise shortage. I will officially volunteer us to provide the soundtrack for the inevitable gritty, sexy reboot. (I mean have you seen Riverdale, the gritty, sexy Archie reboot? Anything is possible.) The theme song will be called "Nobody's Baby" and will be in the style of Julee Cruise and everyone will wear black leather jackets and white undershirts in a very sexy James Dean kind of way. Also, if you don't have a physical copy of our album, Baby Sinclair fans should check out the art on the inner sleeve. FLR: Do you ever get tired of answering dinosaur questions? Will your choice of band name haunt you for the rest of time? HH: No and no. Since we are from the Land Before Time I'm not totally sure yet what this "time" thing is but I'm sure I'll figure it out one of these days. (Sorry to the random person on Tumblr I stole that joke from.)

FLR: What's your earliest musical memory? N: The first songs I wrote were entirely MIDI, written in a sheet music editor. Sadly they were lost forever in the mp3.com buyout of 2001. I thought I had a cassette copy but I went back to my parents' house in D.C. this past summer and the cassette is gone too. After that era I started recording angsty stuff with a beat-up acoustic guitar and some ill-conceived "rapping." Unfortunately there are surviving copies of that. A: Dancing around the living room to my dad's old boogie-woogie records when I was three or four. HH: They gave us recorders in grade school because the only thing better than one five year-old playing the recorder is fifteen of them all at once so I clearly recall making some really avant-garde noise rock as part of my early musical education. Also one of our music teachers was a grad student at the UC Berkeley School of Music and wrote an opera called The Nightingale that he made us learn, like a troupe of performing opera monkeys. FLR: What song have you listened to the most this year? HH: I went to look at my Spotify stats and some of my top tracks in recent months have been: Frankie Cosmos- "Fool", Big Thief - "Masterpiece", X - "The World's A Mess, It's In My Kiss", Eux Autres - "Other Girls", and Jens Lekman - "To Know Your Mission." N: I'm also enjoying the new Jens Lekman album! Crying's Beyond The Fleeting Gales has been the album that has hardly left my car stereo this year. FLR: What's one question you've never been asked in an interview that you would love to be asked someday? HH: You are standing in front of two doors. Behind one lies immeasurable riches, behind the other lies certain death. There are two guards guarding the doors, one sworn to always lie and one sworn to always tell the truth, but you don't know which is which. What is the best song ever written, and why is it "Africa" by Toto? N: If we're ever interviewed by Nardwuar [The Human Serviette] I hope he knows that I dressed as him for Halloween once. HH: Also I think Paul and Anneliese were hoping to do a Jerry Springer-style interview someday with paternity tests and chair fights in front of a studio audience. FLR: What does 2018 look like for Gentle Brontosaurus? I know you're working on your sophomore album. N: We've started recording out at Cal's parents' barn in Cambridge, WI. You must have seen the big chart on Facebook. Once we get that released I think we're hoping to go out on tour again. Maybe reconnect with some of the folks we met on the road in 2016 or maybe play some shows around the upper midwest where we actually haven't been yet. FLR: The first album came on CD with a piece of toast. Will the new album come as a download code in a jar of jam? N: If someone bought our toast in 2015 and is still hanging onto it in 2018, I don't think jam is going to make it edible. HH: I'm not really into jam bands. Gentle Brontosaurus on Bandcamp Gentle Brontosaurus on Facebook

#interviews #Gentle Brontosaurus #scouting report #indiepop #Madison #Wisconsin

1 note · View note

recommendedlisten · 5 years

Text

You could easily pick up varying techniques in channeling your energy with this week’s talking points. The peaceful transcendence of time within Jessica Pratt’s Quiet Signs made it the latest recommended listen. Sophomore efforts abound were announced as Charly Bliss learned how not to stretch themselves to capacity through a synth-pop makeover, Jamila Woods rocked the soul past any judgement from the outside, and the effortless cool of Ex Hex gave us a tough pep. Depending on if which side of the relationship dime you sit, the arrival of Ariana’s highly anticipated new album thank u, next put at least one person at ease with breaking up with their girlfriend. At least rising UK post-punks black midi put any remaining tension onto the fastline of release? If none of those work out for you, try something below.

Here’s the best of the rest from the week of February 3rd, 2019…

Fontaines D.C. - “Big” [Partisan Records]

Alongside the aforementioned black midi, plan on hearing more about their Dublin-based post-punk peers in Fontaines D.C. in the early stages of 2019. They, too, have attracted a curious interest based around a string of strong early singles, and as with all things buzz, we’ll see how it works out in the end leading into a brief U.S. tour surrounding this year’s SXSW before the release of their debut albumDogrel on April 12th. For an introductory statement, its lead single and opener “Big” steps onto the stage with intention. The listen finds lead singer Grian Chatten giving listeners a birds-eye view of his story by pulling in drab anecdotes of life coming up in their hometown and an audacious plight to become more than it can hold. “Dublin in the rain is mine / A pregnant city with a Catholic mind / Starch those sheets for the birdhouse jail / All mescalined when the past is stale, pale,” his words catch up in the frenzy of jolting guitars and rhythm carried up in a chronic momentum. Mary Keane directed the instantaneous charisma posturing that is its music video.

youtube

Laura Stevenson - “Living Room, NY” [Don Giovanni Records]

The name Laura Stevenson has long been a household name among punk lifers, having initially played an integral part as the keyboardist in Jeff Rosenstock’s Bomb The Music Industry! before setting out on her own solo career. Each of her efforts up until now have been songwriting strongholds built around a foundation of rowdy punk rawk and considered indie-folk that never goes out of fashion, but something feels very different about her presentation on “Living Room, NY”, the first single from her forthcoming fifth studio effort The Big Freeze, due out on March 29th. Here, Stevenson sits with emotions of longing and distance from a loved one with more stillness, and lets their heaviness weigh down on her until she’s no choice but to use her once-unseen superpowers to lift the uneasiness up in a way that reveals a strength in vulnerability. “I want to feel you restless / I want to wake up from it / I want to see you stare at ceilings until you fall back to sleep,” she sings over a swell of guitars as her voice reverberates against the walls of the bedroom. That the album was recorded in her childhood home brings past lives out to the foreground, filling Stevenson with reminders of comfort, intangible until time passes.

youtube

Mary Lattimore & Mac McCaughan - “III” [Three Lobed Recordings]

On paper, a creative collaboration between experimental harpist Mary Lattimore and indie rock legend Mac McCaughan doesn’t initially add up to be the most obvious of universes to collide, but when he’s not slinging guitars with Superchunk, McCaughan has been known to get weird with noise while Lattimore’s exploratory work with other artists is well noted at this stage. The two also share one thing in common (as they do with most of us these days...) in that we’ve still yet to cleanse the bad taste from our mouths that is 2016′s dark political cloud still hanging over us today. Their upcoming album New Rain Duets, out on March 22nd, is their way of doing their best to wash it away through four compositions of meditative celestial instrumentals that at least allow the mind to drift to a place imagined by our own hands. “Improvising with Mary is easy because you know that she makes anything sound beautiful, and beauty was something i think we were both after in the wake of a terrible 2016. Not that everything beautiful has to be immaculate or easy, or that dissonance doesn’t play a role, but the idea of playing music with no words, which is improvised and therefore new, was very appealing in the Spring of 2017,” MCaughan told Stereogum. First listen “III” leaves imaginative expression open-ended, for sure.

New Rain Duets by Mary Lattimore & Mac McCaughan

Nivhek - After its own death / Walking in a spiral towards the house [Yellow Electric]

Mary Lattimore and Mac McCaughan aren’t the only ones searching for an existential released through means beyond their ordinary limbs. Liz Harris, the enigmatic force behind ambient folk project Grouper, has surprise-released her latest album under an entirely different moniker she has dubbed Nivhek. It’s entitled After its own death / Walking in a spiral towards the house, and includes four long-form listens of extended experimentation created using an “opaque assemblages of Mellotron, guitar, field recordings, tapes, and broken FX pedals” that take some of the more familiar ethereal characteristics of her Grouper work, and elongate them through faint echoes and an intangible mist into dimensions perceivable only to the auditory senses alone. As Harris poetically phrases it, “a requiem, a ritual, to unlock and release feelings … a toxic concentrated reduction of something much darker bubbling beneath,” with her new age mysticism discovering new mediums in sound to heal.

After its own death / Walking in a spiral towards the house by Nivhek

Show Me the Body - “Camp Orchestre” [Loma Vista]

Show Me the Body have been sabotaging hardcore into their own version of it for a few years now by drawing noise rock, hip-hop, and industrial electronic influences into the frame. Punk ethos mean a lot to them, so it will be interesting to hear how they’ve remained in tact now that they’ve signed with major indie Loma Vista -- home to HEALTH, St. Vincent and Marilyn Manson -- for the release of their forthcoming sophomore effort Dog Whistle, due out on March 29th. Alongside former drummer and in-house producer Gabriel Millman, the effort had a helping hand from Chris Coady, whose recording techniques have put bands like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, TV On the Radio and Beach House onto much bigger stages thanks to his understanding of atmospheric dynamics, which again proves to be the case on Dog Whistle’s first single “Camp Orchestra”. It was inspired by a visit to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum in Poland, a place that -- like its song title -- remembers the Jewish orchestras who formed and played in concentration camps during the Holocaust. You even hear some of that musical influence tip-toe into the opening moments of the listen before going full burnout with rash distortion and frontman Julian Cashwan Pratt doing his damage in a more visible melodic intensity this time around. Its accompanying video, directed by rubberband and the band, sees the shadows of their sonic carnage spill into the streets of New York City.

youtube

#the best of the rest #fontaines d.c.#laura stevenson #mary lattimore #mac mccaughan #liz harris #nivhek #grouper #show me the body #Songs #new music & videos

0 notes

auskultu · 7 years

Text

First Pop Music Festival Great Hit At Monterey

John Morthland, San Bernadino Sun-Telegram, 25 June 1967

Something is happening here, and you don't know what it is, do you Mr. Jones?

Mr. Jones wasn't at the biggest happening of them all last weekend, but most of the biggest names in the pop music industry were at the First Annual Monterey International Pop Music Festival. Recording artists from all over the world donated their time and services for the three-day, five-concert affair.

And what a weekend it was! It would be unfair to the performers to single out any one act in the festival, but it is very safe to say that there was not a bad one.

From the time The Association opened the weekend with "Enter The Young" Friday night to The Mamas and The Papas' rousing "Dancin' in the Streets" Sunday evening, the Monterey County Fairgrounds were alive with the sound of music, people and fun.

Friday evening belonged to Lou Rawls, Eric Burdon and the Animals, and Simon and Garfunkel, but the other three acts that night were certainly not a disappointment.

Although his act is primarily for the night club, Rawls nonetheless brought it off well on the big open stage. The young blues, (he calls it "rock 'n soul") singer from Chicago had the longest set of the evening, and the sell-out crowd loved it. Rawls' voice is one of the best on the current scene, and his backing was good. High points of his set were "Tobacco Road," the song that started it all for him, and, of course, "Dead-End Street."

Burdon and the Animals were a surprise addition and gave the Friday night show another bluesy boost. Considered by many the finest singer in England today, Burdon sang none of the Animals' big hits, but sounded especially well on a highly-original version of Mick Jagger's "Paint It, Black," Burdon's being a 15-minute version featuring the electric violin.

Simon and Garfunkel closed the opening show, and the crowd was slightly disappointed that time was so late and the New York duo couldn't sing longer. The pair sounded particularly good on "59th Street Bridge Song," an ecstatically happy tune; "For Emily, Wherever I May Find Her," and the de*lightful new "Punky's Dilemma". They also sang several "Homeward Bound," "At the Zoo," and "Sounds of Silence."

The Association sang their music (especially "Cherish") well, but their stage routine was geared to a less sophisticated audience. Also on the bill were Johnny Rivers, who did all his big hits; the Paupers, an up-and-coming foursome from Canada who possess an exceptional bassist; and folk-singer, Beverly, protege of S. & G.

Saturday afternoon put an accent on blues, with the Canned Heat Blues Band, Al Kooper, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Steve Miller Blues Band, and the Electric Flag sharing the spotlight with Big Brother and the Holding Company, Country Joe and the Fish, and the Quicksilver Messenger Service.

The Electric Flag, the band, led by Mike Bloomfield, made its debut a great one as it brought another sell-out crowd to its feet collectively shouting for more. Bloomfield left the Butterfield Band several months ago to form his own group, and he came up with a winner due primarily to his own guitar talent.

Big Brother and the Holding Company, a group managed by Chet Helms, who also runs the Family Dog and Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco, was so good that it had another set Sunday night. Their first single, "Down On Me," is not captured on the record nearly as well as when performed live by Janis Joplin, and "Love Is Like a Ball and Chain" also showcases her voice nicely. The group lacks polish on the stage, but will be a big name soon. Butterfield, who started it all less than two years ago, has what is probably the best blues band in the nation, even without Bloomfield, and his afternoon performance earned his group a second set later that night.

It is always fun to watch Country Joe and the Fish perform, because the group is obviously having so much fun itself. The stage personality of lead guitarist Barry Melton is one that cannot be denied. The group is ready to go national now since it emerged from the Berkeley underground last month with a hit single, "Not So Sweet Martha Lorraine." The Fish sang about hydrogen bombs ("Please don't drop that H-bomb on me; you can drop it on yourself"), Masked Marauders, Porpoise Mouths, and Vietnam ("Be the first one on your block to have your son brought home in a box."), in addition to "Lorraine."

Canned Heat, which will have an album out on Liberty soon, was interesting, but still not in a class with Butterfield or Bloomfield. Al Kooper, who recently left the Blues Project to make it alone, had a short, but good, set. The Quicksilver Messenger Service (another of Helms' groups) and The Steve Miller Blues Band both have a chance to make it big, as both continue to improve while playing primarily in the Bay area.

Moby Grape, a soon-to-be-big band which released its first album this month on Columbia, opened the Saturday night show. The Grape, still another San Francisco group, is led by guitarist Skip Spence, the former drummer with Jefferson Airplane. Best songs were "Mr. Blue" and "Omaha," both cuts off the album.

Airplane was a slight disappointment. The Airplane, pioneer of the San Francisco Renaissance, is the hottest band in the nation presently, but the speaker system was faulty and neither Grace Slick nor Marty Balin were up to par on the vocals, which included four from Surrealistic Pillow, the seventh best-selling album in the nation.

South African Hugh Masekela is a better-than-average trumpet player, an average singer, and the high points in his set were the solos by Big Black on the conga drums.

The Byrds, although not singing any of their big national hits ("The times, they are a-changin'," said David Crosby) sounded very good. Groups relying on harmony, as closely as, do the Byrds, are usually not as good live as on their recordings, but this was an exception.

Butterfield turned in another exciting performance, as did 19-year-old Laura Nyro, who composes and arranges her own material.

In another example of perfect programming, Otis Redding was saved until the end of the show and backed by Booker T and the MGs. Redding's act relies strongly on audience participation, and he had the crowd standing on its chairs on "Shake" and "Satisfaction."

It would be hard to describe the Sunday afternoon show, which was handled completely by Ravi Shankar. Shankar is the world's finest sitar player, and the sitar is undoubtedly the most difficult instrument to learn.

He is also one of the most totally peaceful men alive today, and his performance reflected this. For three hours, in a light drizzle, he held the crowd spellbound with his Indian folk and religious ragas, and received a standing ovation at the conclusion of every number. The final ovation lasted better than five minutes, and brought Shankar and his tabla player back onstage three times. Any frustrations or feelings of aggression were erased and those who cheered loudest and longest were the other artists. Sunday night's show was the most exciting of the five with the Grateful Dead, The Who, and The Jimi Hendrix Experience, all literally tearing the crowd apart.

The show opened with the Blues Project and "Our Gem," which featured a beautiful elec*tric flute solo. Big Brother returned for another set, and then a foursome, which has yet to pick a name, appeared.

Buffalo Springfield sounded especially good on their new sinigle "Listen to My Bluebird" (but "For What It's Worth" didn't come off well at all. Introduced as a "group that will destroy you," The Who from England then proceeded to do just that—literally. It's one of the best new bands to come out of England, and their first hit, "Happy Jack," was only a beginning. Complete with a drummer (Keith Moon) who throws his drumsticks high into the air, then catches them and continues playing without missing a beat, The Who gained roars of approval for their new 'single "Pictures of Lily" and "A Quick One," which lasted, about 10 minutes.

At the end of the last song "(My Generation") lead guitarist Pete Townsend hurled his guitar to the ground, smashed it into pieces, then threw it out into the audience. This has become the traditional way for many English groups to end a concert, and, having seen it done by Jeff Beck of The Yardbirds, I can assure you Townsend does it better than most.

Not content merely to destroy his guitar, Townsend also set off several smoke bombs, destroyed an amplifier or two, and knocked over every microphone on the stage before taking apart Moon's drum set.

After the stage was put back together, The Grateful Dead took over and kept the excitement at a peak. The Dead is in the tradition of the great jazz groups, doing long (20-30) minute) songs and relying heavily on improvisation.

They are also one of the loudest bands in the industry. Lead guitarist Jerry Garcia is the best in the business, bar none, and when he and organist Pigpen "talk" to each other with their instruments, there's no telling how the conversation will go. Organized in San Francisco by novelist Ken Kesey, The Dead have failed to produce a hit record for only one reason: no recording engineer in the country could catch on wax the uninhibited excitement they generate, especially Garcia ("Capt. Trips") Pigpen, and bassist Phil Lesh. In a live performance, The Dead is electronic thunder and lightning.

The Dead was followed by The Jimi Hendrix Experience. Hendrix, who might best be described as a psychedelic James Brown, sings (Dylan's "Like A Rolling Stone" was his best), 'but also plays the guitar—behind his back, over his head, and with his TEETH. At the end of his set, he went Townsend one better by dousing his guitar with lighter fluid, then putting a match to it before repeating the smashing scene.

The festival was brought to a close by (who would he more appropriate?) The Mamas and The Papas. Cass was her usual bundle of joy, Michelle is the best-looking singer in the world. John was in exceptional form, and Denny was right on the mark on every song except possibly 'Monday, Monday." They relied exclusively on songs from their first two albums, including the prophetic "California Dreamin'."

Scott McKenzie, who used to sing with John in a folk group, came out and sang "San Francisco" "Flowers in Your Hair"), then Cass introduced the finale with, "Here's the Song, and the Rest Is Up to You."

In order to make the festival truly a festival, the Board of Governors arranged to allow those without tickets onto the fairgrounds, and they milled around outside the arena where they could listen and visit the, many free attractions on the grounds—light shows in exhibit buildings, booths featuring jewelry, buttons, and posters . . . even Egyptian body painting.

In addition, many of the artists, after playing the concert for free, went down to the Monterey JC football field, which was being used for camping, and performed again. Burdon and the Animals played for two hours to those who couldn't get tickets to the regular concerts. What made this truly a festival was the fact that the artists obviously were having as much fun as the spectators.

There were also many recording artists in the crowd who did not perform. Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones introduced Hendrix Sunday. Monkee Peter Tork announced several acts between making himself conspicuous in the audience. Tommy Smothers was emcee for most of the weekend. Joan Baez sat in the audience Sunday.

At least two Beatles, John and Paul, were present most of the weekend, but both did a good job of keeping themselves disguised. Both wandered around the fairgrounds unrecognized, but could be spotted in the wings of the stage by members of the press. [As Peter Tork announced during the Dead’s set, this was just a rumor. — auskultu]

Despite the expected harassment an event of this nature usually brings about (one Sunday newspaper even reported evidence that a "great deal of LSD was being smoked!"), Monterey Police Chief Frank Marinello had this to say about the crowd: "When I first heard of this, event being planned, I was very skeptical. I rounded up every law enforcement officer from every city in the area to work this in addition to my own boys in blue.

"I am very proud to say that there has not been one complaint lodged against the boys in blue, and this is equally, so for the so-called hippies, a group of people I have come to like very much this weekend. There has been not one single incident (the crowd was about four times that of the annual Jazz Festival held on the fairgrounds), and in all my years of law enforcement I have never encountered such peace-loving people."

The chief sent 40 officers home Sunday morning and 40 more Sunday night because the crowd was so cooperative. (A crowd estimate was virtually impossible, but festival publicity director Derek Taylor set official estimate at "a lot of people.")

Enough can not be said for Lou Adler and John Phillips, producer and leader of The Mamas and The Papas, who, as co-directors of the festival, put the non-profit affair (all proceeds go to charity, at the artists' request) together in 10 weeks after taking over from a record executive who planned it as a money-making festival.

The same holds for Taylor, who headed the promotions team, and the rest of the Board of Governors: Donovan, Mick Jagger, Paul McCartney, Jim McGuinn, Terry Melcher, Andrew Loog Oldham, Alan Pariser, Johnny Rivers, Smokey Robinson, Paul Simon, Abraham Somer, and Brian Wilson.

#monterey pop festival #concert #live #california #counterculture #summer of love #hippies #1967 #1960s #sixties #60s

1 note · View note

aili · 7 years

Text

Music Newsletter 11 / Happy Valentine’s Day 2017

Welcome to the 11th Music Newsletter!

Short intro for the newbies - I love music. I love sharing music with other people. In college I started a "music newsletter" email with some playlists (aka mixtapes) I've made and some song/band recommendations. Why Valentine's Day? Because I think this day should be about love in many ways - including for music!

That brings us to today - the first Valentine's Day mixtape I put together was actually a physical mix CD that I mailed to my home friends while I was away at college. That was in 2008. A lot has changed since then, but my love of music has not. While I feel sometimes too busy or too old or too out of touch to know what I'm even talking about, I hope you'll get some enjoyment out of this - as much as I've been enjoying listening to these songs and picking them for you!

I also have an email listserv with a special music bonus for anyone interested, please DM me to get on the list.

Click here to play Valentine's Day 2017 on Spotify!

1.) "Best to You" - Blood Orange

Starting off this year's mixtape with an incredible artist and song featuring singer Empress Of. Blood Orange is the project of Dev Hynes, who was a member of the British band Test Icicles. He's a songwriter and producer with a pretty epic list of artists on his resume, including Solange, Florence Welch, and Kylie Minogue. His album released last year, Freetown Sound, was a frequent flyer on the best of year lists and is mainly an R&B project featuring songs speaking out on prominent social justice issues.

2.) "Alaska" - Maggie Rogers

Thanks to my sister in law Anna for introducing me to Maggie Rogers, an indie singer-songwriter who's chart-climbing songs have crossed over into pop music's to-watch list. After presenting this track to Pharrell in her senior master class at NYU, their interaction went viral as he praised her work as something unheard before. Check out the video here.

3.) "I Need a Forest Fire" - James Blake feat. Bon Iver

While I enjoyed both Bon Iver and James Blake's latest albums released last year, it was their duo that seemed to encapsulate the sound growth I was looking for by both artists. This is, in my opinion, the best song either of them released last year. Together, the two artists were able to create something that apart was somehow a bit lacking. The combination of their voices is something not to miss.

4.) "Mothers" - Daughter

A beautiful and haunting song from the perspective of a mother on the drain, physically and emotionally, of having a child. The push/pull of loss and love is strong over the entire album, Not To Disappear, and lead singer/songwriter Elena Tonra has discussed the brutal and harsh themes that frequent her album and how she learned to uncensor herself from those sad places.

5.) "Strangers" - Psychic Twin

The title of this song along with the synths would make this a perfect addition to the Stranger Things TV soundtrack, don't you think? After Erin Fein's divorce, her debut album appropriately named Strange Diary, focuses her energy and emotions into a cohesive dark pop album.

6.) "Your Best American Girl" - Mitski

Mitski's fourth album, Puberty 2, is the one that sprang her to critical acclaim and popular success, with her punk-rock music discussing culture, race, identity, and belonging. This song in particular is poignant in a scene that doesn't hold much diversity in its popular spaces. Consistently selling out live shows and having a witty online presence, Mitski is not one to miss.

7.) "Foulbrood" - Two Inch Astronaut

Hailing from my hometown of Silver Spring, Maryland (with one member attending my high school), this band seriously caught my attention this year. There's something to be said about a specific D.C. area rock that is reminiscent of this kind of post-punk sound. One of the greatest influences of this sound was Ian MacKaye, co-founder Dischord, the label Two Inch Astronaut is on and the frontman of bands like Fugazi and Minor Threat. A lot of the local bands growing up had this kind of influence, but Two Inch Astronaut seems to get it right in a way that is all at once nostalgic of Maryland high school basement parties and paving the way for an innovative kind of genre-bending sound all together. Buy their latest album, Personal Life, here.

8.) "(I'd Rather Be) Anywhere But Here" - Honeyblood

Discovering Honeyblood last year was one of those moments where I instantly connected to their music and they catapulted to become one of my favorite bands. Honeyblood is a Scottish duo that could be described as a darker version of early Best Coast. I was lucky enough to see them live and the drummer, Cat Myers, is incredible. Their latest album, titled Babes Never Die, was released last year.

9.) "It Hurts Until It Doesn't" - Mothers

I debated putting Mothers' song "Daughter" on this playlist just to confuse everyone (see #4), but this song is just too good to ignore. The song comes to a slow down and instrumental build up about 3 minutes in that completely changes the tone but somehow manages to tell a consistent story. Mothers latest album When You Walk A Long Distance You Are Tired was released last year.

10.) "Never Meant" - American Football

I was too young to know the types of bands like American Football - the bands that a lot of people 5-10 years older than me consider real emo. Before heavy eyeliner and whining vocals and power chords came bands like American Football with their twinkly guitars and emotive lyrics. American Football and other 90's emo pioneers made punk risky by talking more openly about their feelings and they ended up creating incredible music because of it. This album is considered a classic among the 90's emo genre, and to fans surprise, the band released a new album last year, also self-titled, which can be found here. This song evokes a nostalgia for me because suddenly a lot of emo bands I liked in high school make sense because I can see how they were influenced to make the music the way they did.

11.) "Clay" - HANA

Hana is one of Grimes (Claire Boucher's) best friends and toured with her assisting on instruments and vocals this past year. Along with having a captivating and beautifully clear soprano voice, Hana brings out a lovelier, sweet side of nostalgic pop reminiscent of Carly Rae Jepsen.

12.) "Coconut Crab" - TTNG

This math rock song caught my attention because it evokes lo-fi indie surf rock style with some emo influences. TTNG has been around since 2004 and are from the U.K. Their latest full-length, Disappointment Island, was released last year.

13.) "Shut Up Kiss Me" - Angel Olsen

Angel Olsen's latest album, My Woman, topped charts and made many best of 2016's lists. The album was a turn from her previously labeled country-folk music into something she feels fits her personality and voice more.

14.) "Life Crisis" - River Whyless

A indie-folk pop group from Asheville, North Carolina that toured with Blind Pilot. Live in concert, lead singer Halli Anderson discussed how this song was written in part based on a bad break-up after a boyfriend went to visit his ex in NYC while she paced back in forth back home in Asheville. Check out a live performance of the song through NPR's Tiny Desk Concert, including creative choices such as using a typewriter for percussion here.

15.) "Jellyfish" - Laura Stevenson

I was able to see Laura Stevenson open for the Hold Steady in December which was so fun. Laura grew up on Long Island and did keys and vocals for Bomb the Music Industry. Jellyfish was released on the 2015 album, Cocksure.

16.) "Evening / Morning" - Bombay Bicycle Club

Throwback Tuesday can be dedicated to this song by Bombay Bicycle Club. An English indie rock band together since 2005, they consistently release rock bangers. This particular song was actually the first single they ever released. Currently, the band has essentially broken up, with the members saying they want to work on solo projects. Bassist Ed Nash released his solo album The Pace of the Passing earlier this year.

17.) "Black Leaf" - John Paul White

I have a deep love for the Civil Wars, a folk/country/americana duo consisting of John Paul White and Joy Williams. Like most of their fans, I was devastated to learn of their messy, drawn-out break-up official in 2014. They were two excellent artists who met through a musician's workshop and just seemed to click, winning four Grammys in their short time together. Their chemistry was electric, as can be viewed in their live videos like this one or this one. The thing was, they were both married. To other people. Joy's husband was their band manager. John's wife was at home in Alabama with their children. We may never know if a traditional affair happened, but it appeared that in one way or another, at least an emotional rift had opened. After their break-up, Joy Williams was fairly vocal with her feelings, explaining in interviews that "irreconcilable differences" were much more complicated than appeared on the surface. John Paul White was silent. He returned last year with an incredible solo album, Beulah, and rocketed back into success. While he remained silent in interviews about his former Civil Wars partner, almost like a divorced couple with the giant pink elephant in the room, he may have written about it. The lyrics on his album seem to me to easily be interpreted as the complicated emotions he felt while simultaneously losing Joy as a musical partner and friend, and potentially losing his wife for his lack of attention and focus on his family. It's important to note that John Paul White has said himself that his lyrics are meant for fans to interpret more into their own lives, than his. Privacy is important to him, and while we don't know what really happened between Joy and John Paul, maybe we can hope that just like in their song, 20 years from now we could see some sort of reconciliation.

18.) "No Way Out" - Warpaint

Warpaint are from Los Angeles and released their latest album, Heads Up, last year. Their sound is dreamy and especially this song features harmonic reverb as a major theme.

19.) "Left Handed Kisses" - Andrew Bird feat. Fiona Apple

Andrew Bird's feature with Fiona Apple is pretty much perfect. He is one of the most talented contemporary musicians and with his 2016 album, Are You Serious, he gets a little more personal, including writing a love song for his wife (swoon!). In an interview with NPR, he discussed major life changes - including marriage, a child, and his wife's battle with cancer.

20.) "Old Friends" - Pinegrove

Emo is making a comeback. While I've been spending time attending emo/pop punk live band karaoke events, Emo Night BK and Emo Nite LA have been touring the country with sold out events. I've been trying to reflect on this re-popularization of the genre of early to mid-00s bands that were made fun of and dismissed. My teenage years thrived on emo. The darkest lyrics spoke to me in a time when depression wasn't really talked about in the mainstream. Now, it does feel a bit silly to scream along to the same intense lyrics that I once cried over, but at the same time there is a sense of nostalgia. As a very drunk Adam Lazarra of Taking Back Sunday told the crowd at the 2015 Taste of Chaos tour, "I was there when you smoked your first cigarette."

But there's more to emo than 40-something majority white dudes screaming about their broken hearts. There are bands that hold a sense of authenticity and talent coming from 90s punk and post-punk influences.

Pinegrove is a band bringing it back to the start. A cross between the new, indie sound and the older, 90s/early 00s emo authenticity. Pinegrove is an incredibly unique band that not only hits indie and emo, but crosses over into folk and americana as well. This blending of genres is what is making artists really begin to stand out to me, as we cross over into the second half of this decade. Check out their 2016 album, Cardinal, here.

21.) "Radio" - Sylvan Esso

I always put a lot of thought into the order of songs on my playlist. What I love about this year's playlist is that Sylvan Esso's "Radio" can perfectly transition back into the first song on the playlist. So make sure your repeat all buttons are on, and I hope you've enjoyed this year's Valentine's Day newsletter!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

SPOTIFY

Don't forget to subscribe to my playlists on Spotify! And if you don't have Spotify yet, get on that shit, it's awesome. Here is the link to listen to this year's mixtape on Spotify

I try to add new songs at least once a week to this playlist. What I'm currently listening to a lot (updated frequently): currently lovin' (updated freq)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Want More?

I try to update with latest music news, favorites, covers, and live videos and photos from concerts. Follow me for more!

@AiliAmanda - Twitter

@Aili - Tumblr

@Aili - Instagram

I hope you guys enjoy the new music and feel free to send me recommendations of anything you like!

<3 aili

Previous Mixtapes:

Autumn Love Spotify

Copenhagen Spotify

Philadephia Spotify

New Crime Spotify

The City Spotify

Drive Spotify

VDay 2012 Spotify

King's Myth Spotify

Hold On Spotify

Vday 2013 Spotify

Vday 2014 Spotify

Vday 2015 Spotify

Vday 2016 Spotify

15 notes · View notes

benthemusicalbeard · 4 years

Text

18 Jun 2020

Evening reader. Or greetings for whichever time of your day you find yourself reading this.....I always have trouble starting these posts! Anyway, three more songs this week to let into your lives. Please give them a little listen and if you’re keen on a particular song then enjoy what other material the artists have to offer.

First up this week and a side project for the band Vulfpeck (featured in previous posts) who have called themselves the Fearless Flyers. Vulfpeck themselves are a funk band from Michigan who have released four studio albums preceded by four EP’s since their formation in 2011. Their sound is just about the funkiest thing going, favourite songs of mine being ‘Back Pocket’ as well as instrumental efforts ‘Fugue State’ and ‘Dean Town’. In 2018 Vulfpeck’s record label released an EP by the ‘Fearless Flyers Quartet’ consisting of Vulfpeck bass player Joe Dart, Vulfpeck touring guitarist Cory Wong as well as drummer Nate Smith, and Snarky Puppy guitarist Mark Lattieri. The EP’s opening track ‘Ace of Aces’ sets the stall out early that this is a platform for each contributor to show off their individual skill sets. Catchy and funky in equal measures the EP continues with what should probably be their flagship song ‘Introducing the Fearless Flyers’ which sets off at a frantic pace with drummer, guitarist and bass player alike jamming their way through a brilliant funk concept track. The EP also features creative funk versions of ‘Under The Sea’ and ‘Signed Sealed Delivered’ which are very in keeping with the almost improvisational nature of the EP. The follow up EP in 2019 entitled ‘Fearless Flyers II’ is more of the same from the group with similar assistance from contributors. Last week the group released their third EP entitled ‘Tailwinds...’ and things have been turned up to eleven! The first two tracks are slightly tweaked versions of songs from the first EP with opening tracks ‘Nate Smith Is The Ace of Aces’ and ‘Introducing Delta Force’ having something a little extra on the originals. The track I’m sharing is the final track from the five song EP, another updated version but this time of a Vulfpeck EP track. I’m hopeful at some stage they find enough studio time to create an album as for fans of Vulfpeck, Fearless Flyers are just that bit funkier, sharper and captivating to listen to.

Fearless Flyers - The Birdwatcher - https://youtu.be/gBpawgFnTjo

Second this week and new music from Travis. Not everyone's cup of tea I appreciate but their brand of soft indie rock now enters it’s fourth (FOURTH!!) decade since their debut album ‘Good Feeling’ landed in 1997. I was always a fan of Travis as I found their songs catchy and loaded with feel-good factor at a time when they were competing for airwaves with Coldplay who were just coming to prominence around the turn of the century. Travis’ second album ‘The Man Who’ from 1999 was a huge success, singles ‘Why Does It Always Rain On Me’ and ‘Turn’, so much of a success in fact that at the 2010 Brit Awards it was runner up as Best Album Of The Last 30 Years to Oasis - (What’s The Story) Morning Glory?, and that’s quite an album! The 2003 album ‘12 Memories’, which is a very underrated album in my opinion, was a change of direction for the band with songs covering the light topics of domestic violence and the invasion of Iraq, all in the aftermath of drummer Neil Primrose suffering serious spinal injuries in 2002. More recently, singles taken from the two latest Travis albums have been a little lacking in something. The sound hasn’t developed much since The Man Who so the band relies heavily on the catchiness of it’s tunes and the sing-a-bility of it’s lyrics. I’m happy to report that their new single ‘A Ghost’ is both those things. Annoyingly catchy and with a brilliant video with artwork from lead singer Fran Healy. As a band who graced my teenage years I’m glad to see them back. Like an old friend I haven’t spoken to for a long time, I’ll happily sit and listen to what they’ve to say, or in this case, sing to me.

Travis - A Ghost - https://youtu.be/9gArvGIQHdU

Finally this week and another band from my teenage years, more specifically the lead singer of that group that I saw live many years ago and have always been a fan of. The band are Supergrass and their lead singer is the king of the sideburn, Gaz Coombes. Supergrass songs were always enjoyable to listen to and the more upbeat the song then the more popular it seemed to be, adequately proven by their top songs on Spotify which contain amongst others the classic hits ‘Alright’, ‘Moving’, ‘Pumping On Your Stereo’ and ‘Sun Hits The Sky’ which are full of energy, brilliant toe tapping Britpop which endeared them to millions. Gaz Coombes decided to release solo material as Supergrass went into hiatus (a musical furlough scheme if you will) in 2010. He has released three albums to date and this week I have been enjoying the second and third of those albums having purchased the first, 2012′s ‘Here Come The Bombs’. At this stage I’m unsure as to why follow up albums ‘Matador’ and ‘World’s Strongest Man’ passed me by but I’ve given them a listen this week and have enjoyed them enormously. ‘Matador’ was a more mellow and slower paced follow up to his debut album than many were expecting but songs like ‘The Girl Who Fell To Earth’ provide enough of Coombes’ magnetism to make them enjoyable nevertheless. With ‘World’s Strongest Man’ Coombes has developed further his style with more focus on the production and musical details instead of a verse followed by a big bold Britpop chorus. Standout track for me ‘Walk The Walk’ shows Coombes at his creative best which leads us back to Supergrass who came out of hiatus in 2019. Some of my favourite bands of recent years have had to develop their sounds to evolve as a band but when I listen to Coombes and the way he has progressed musically there is always that bit of me itching to dance around like a chump to Supergrass. We will see what direction they decide upon for any new music they have in store for us.

Gaz Coombes - Walk The Walk - https://youtu.be/KGBpBZu4hfk

Posting completed. For those keen observers I appreciate this post is a day late but there were power issues on my laptop last night, in that I didn’t have any as with the rain I came home to a power cut which was bad news for an already depleted laptop battery......anyway! Until next time, stay safe. x

#fearless flyers #vulfpeck #travis #gaz coombes #new music #new songs #playlist #music #Songs #Spotify

0 notes

somethinggoodmusic · 5 years

Text

I could write volumes about how 2018 fucking sucked, but at least the soundtrack was great.

Before moving on to my top 25 albums of the year, bear in mind that I consume albums in an archaic fashion: I pay for them (often beautiful vinyl versions); listen to them all the way through, in sequence, over and over and over again; and completely fall in love with them. These are the records that had my back during a dreadful year.

#25

Love in the Time of E-Mail by Antarctigo Vespucci Polyvinyl Records

#24

Freedom’s Goblin by Ty Segall Drag City

#23

Hope Downs by Rolling Blackouts Coastal FeverSub Pop

#22

Somewhat Literate by Retirement PartyCounter Intuitive Records

#21

Feelin’ Freaky by Falcon Jane Darling Recordings

#20

Plays With Fire by Cloud Audio Antihero

#19

Uncle, Duke & The Chief by Born Ruffians Paper Bag Records

#18

The Diet by Cullen OmoriSub Pop

#17

ocala wick by gobbinjrTopshelf Records

#16

Kill the Lights by Tony Molina Slumberland Records

#15

Francis Trouble by Albert Hammond, Jr. Red Bull Records

#14

Numbskull by The Band Ice Cream Urban Scandal Records

#13

Forth Wanderers by Forth Wanderers Sub Pop

#12

POWER by Des Millions Independently-released

#11

Twin Fantasy by Car Seat Headrest Matador Records

#10

boygenius by Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus Matador Records

I have no hesitation putting this EP ahead of so many great full-length albums released in 2018. Look past its six-song tracklist and you’ll see this debut offering from indie super-group boygenius — comprising Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus — has more creative energy than almost anything else on this list.

And how could it not? Baker, Bridgers and Dacus are all indie superstars in their early-20s, all entering the height of their powers after releasing career-making solo records in 2017 and 2018. And those six songs? They’re not just throwaway tracks — they’re some of the best songs any of them have ever written. But more impressively to me, they’re not simply Baker, Bridgers or Dacus solo tracks with three-part harmonies jammed in — the trio put tremendous care in crafting something completely original and beautiful.

For more on boygenius, read my post (and listen to the playlist) from a few weeks back.

Clean by Soccer Mommy Fat Possum Records

Nashville-based songstress Sophie Allison delivered an indie rock classic on her new LP Clean, defying critics of her preceding record Collection. In fact, this might have been a motivating factor: at a recent Soccer Mommy show at D.C.’s Black Cat, Allison noted her (somewhat feigned) surprise when a reference to Collection drew a healthy cheer from the sold-out crowd.

For context, Collection marks Soccer Mommy’s transition from DIY bedroom pop project to full-fledged indie rock band, and set the mold for an amazing follow-up. On Clean, Allison’s singing and songwriting are bolder, the sound is more robust, her full band is on-point — and — now the future looks very bright.

Where We Were Together by Say Sue Me Damnably

I play Korean guitar pop band Say Sue Me’s debut LP a lot. It’s meticulously crafted, expertly performed and infectiously-fun — until the final track, when everything the quartet built comes tumbling down in a brilliant and emotional album-closer, “Coming to the End,” which is punctuated by a jaw-dropping extended guitar solo.

Like, I can’t hype up this solo enough — it emotes in the same way as the saxophone in “Jungleland” and or the slide guitar in “Layla’s” coda. It’s simultaneously thrilling and gut-wrenching as you hinge on the solo’s every twist and turn, set against pounding drums and crashing cymbals. It’s my favorite musical moment of 2018.

Lush by Snail Mail Matador Records

Before hearing Snail Mail AKA Lindsey Jordan’s debut LP Lush, I scoffed somewhat at Pitchfork Senior Editor Ryan Dombal’s assertion that the record “encompasses the once and future sound of indie rock.” Not that I wasn’t already impressed with Snail Mail’s preceding, self-recorded EPs — made before the Maryland native turned 18 — but that’s a BIG statement for anyone.

After hearing the album, though, I was like “Yep! Good call!”

“Pristine” is one of the record’s best tracks, but it’s also a fine description for Lush itself — every sound is polished and precise, but never manufactured; while Jordan’s songwriting already rivals the best in the game. And I’m not going to do that “for her age” bullshit — Jordan is a tremendous talent that’s touring her ass off, headlining shows around the world. We’re past that.

Fall Into the Sun by Swearin’ Merge Records

One of the most pleasant surprises of 2018 was the reformation of Swearin’ — which disintegrated in 2015 after the break-up of the band’s two creative forces, Allison Crutchfield and Kyle Gilbride. The Philly-based outfit initially pledged to forge on following the split, but that obviously proved difficult in the short term.

Fast-forward a few things and seemingly things are okay, both on- and off-stage. Musically, Swearin’ has never sounded better: Fall Into the Sun recalls the frantic guitar rock of the band’s 2012 and 2013 LPs, but there’s a new maturity in the sound, as well as an optimal balance between Crutchfield and Gilbride’s contributions.

Tell Me How You Really Feel by Courtney Barnett Milk! Records

Courtney Barnett had a tough act to follow preparing the sequel to her magnificent, Obama playlist-residing, superstar-making first LP: 2015’s Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit. And she succeeded — however the intense pressure to meet astronomical expectations, which Barnett refers to on the record, seemingly took its toll.

Tell Me How You Really Feel is dark. It’s the album where Barnett stops being whimsical and starts getting real. No more missed connections at the YMCA pool — on the first three singles alone we find our hero battling misogynist shitheads online and in real life (“Nameless, Faceless”), calling for an emotional break (“Need A Little Time,”) and trying to cope with isolation/loneliness (“City Looks Pretty”).

Historian by Lucy Dacus Matador Records

Remember Lucy Dacus from #10 on this list? Well, she released an even better album on her own earlier in 2018. Historian, the (fellow) Virginia native’s second record, is a star-making solo effort on which Dacus called all the shots.

Between this and boygenius, Dacus used 2018 to cement her status as one of the indie rock’s greatest talents. An artist wise beyond her years, Dacus is the only singer-songwriter I’ve ever felt comfortable comparing to Joni Mitchell — which is among the highest praise I can think of for any artist.

POST- by Jeff Rosenstock Polyvinyl Records

Jeff Rosenstock set the bar high and early, releasing his stellar solo debut on New Year’s Day and never looking back. That I’m still listening to the former Bomb the Music Industry! frontman’s album in mid-December is a feat in and of itself, but POST- earns #3 on this list due to Rosenstock’s unbridled exuberance, anthemic scream-alongs and dinosauric riffs. Fuck, even the song’s ballad (SOTY candidate “9/10”) has energy coursing through its wall of sound.

Slow Buzz by Remember Sports Father/Daughter Records

If it weren’t a complete cop-out, the debut LP from Philly pop-punk band Remember Sports would be #1B on this list. I can’t really find a flaw across its 12 perfectly-sequenced tracks — each and every one of which has a place and purpose (as well as killer riffs and rapturous drumming). Guitarist and singer Carmen Perry’s brutal and brilliant lyricism is Slow Buzz’s secret weapon as she brilliantly lays bare the emotional toll of falling in and out of love.

LONER by Caroline Rose New West Records

Not everyone struggles on their second album. Some, like the wildly-creative Caroline Rose, use it as an opportunity to completely reinvent themselves artistically. Rose released her folksy, roots rock-inspired debut I Will Not Be Afraid in 2014 but ultimately wasn’t satisfied with it — any anything. She described the situation (and more) to Pitch Perfect PR:

“I was 24, lonely, and realizing life might actually be as hard as people said it was. Gandalf had yet to raise his staff and part the seas for me,” she says with a straight face. “I felt a bit disillusioned with my music; it didn’t sound like my personality. I hadn’t dated in years, I was going to lose health care. I felt detached from the modern world.”

So what did she do about it? “I joined Tinder. I turned 25 and rented my first real apartment and painted it bright colors. I started socializing more and little by little, weeded out all my clothes that weren’t red. I embraced my queerdom. I had a girlfriend, we traveled the country, we broke up. I discussed politics, capitalism and Rihanna. For better or worse, I became a member of the modern world. Turns out the modern world is terrifying.”

Rose got more personal and aggressive in her musical approach and tried to be more sonically diverse with her new work. She also injected humor into the mix — leading directly to essential LONER tracks like “Bikini” and “Money,” but also giving her music a lighthearted, fun spirit as she creates vivid scenes and characters. Folksy, roots rock turned into decadent indie pop heavy on guitars, keys and synths. So yeah, she found her sound. And it’s unlike anything we’ve ever heard before — that’s why she gave it a name: “schizo drift.”

LONER is my favorite album of 2018. Rose recently posted on social that she’s beginning work on the follow-up — let’s hope it’s [adjusts tie] more of the same.

Hate reading? Follow the “Songs of SOMETHINGGOOD” playlist on Spotify and you never have to come back — but I’d appreciate it if you did.

https://open.spotify.com/user/somethinggoodmusic/playlist/1XgOCb4C0QVky14Qdj9mxL?si=UIsabN7NRD20Vdsi3lYEew

SOMETHINGGOOD's Albums of the Year 2018 -- feat. records from @newwestrecords @father_daughter @Polyvinyl @matadorrecords @milk_records @mergerecords @FatPossum @subpop @DarlingRecords @audioantihero @CIRecs @topshelfrecords & more! I could write volumes about how 2018 fucking sucked, but at least the soundtrack was great.

0 notes

deadcactuswalking · 4 years

Text

REVIEWING THE CHARTS 2020: 31/01

So, this is the first UK Top 40 after Brexit—we left the European Union the day of this chart’s release... and we’re clearly being punished for it already.

Top 10

Lewis Capaldi, Lewis, Lewis Capaldi. Somehow, due to a new music video, this bloody creature has got his second #1 with “Before You Go”, up four spaces to the top. This is France’s revenge, isn’t it? Sacrebleu.

Up two spaces however is “Blinding Lights” by the Weeknd, to the runner-up spot, which is never a bad thing.

At number-three, we have the slight one-spot drop for “The Box” by Roddy Ricch.

At number-four, unfortunately, there isn’t that big of a drop for “Godzilla” by Eminem featuring the late Juice WRLD, down three spaces from its #1 position last week. I guess sales are doing well enough to keep this at the top.

Down two spots is “Own It” by Stormzy featuring Ed Sheeran and Burna Boy at number-five.

At number-six, we have a slight one-space increase for “Don’t Start Now” by Dua Lipa.

“Life is Good” by Drake, then Future is down one position to number-seven.

Due to the Grammy’s performance, because, yes, they do affect the UK charts as well, probably because of 4Music’s pathetic coverage, as well as a long overdue video, “everything i wanted” by Billie Eilish is up three spaces back into the top 10 at number-eight.

“Someone You Loved” by Lewis Capaldi is up a spot to number-nine because of course it freaking is.

Finally, to round off the top 10, we’re seeing the end of the top 10 run for deteriorating TikTok meme “ROXANNE” by Arizona Zervas, down two to #10... just as it was starting to grow on me.

Climbers

Our singular climber this week is “bad guy” by Billie Eilish up six spots to #22. I’m as confused as you are.

Fallers

On the other hand, we have a handful of these due to a bigger story this week, probably the one that’ll occupy the most time of the three big chart stories here. So, outside of the top 10, “Ei8ht Mile” by DigDat featuring Aitch is down eight spaces to #17 off of the debut, “Ride It” by Regard featuring Jay Sean is also down eight to #29, “Circles” by Post Malone is down six to #31, and that’s not a lot, right? Well, no, but there are also the fallers from last week’s group of Eminem debuts, which unlike what happens with album bombs in the US, did not cause absolute chart chaos once dissipated, and instead just peacefully and rather slowly decreasing in chart points against the flood of the other album bomb. I’m of course talking about “Those Kinda Nights” featuring Ed Sheeran down 15 spaces to #27 and lead single “Darkness” crumbling down 20 spaces to #37.

Dropouts & Returning Entries

We have a couple dropouts here as well, but no returning entries. These are the songs that dropped off the face of the chart this week: “South of the Border” by Ed Sheeran featuring Camila Cabello and Cardi B out from #30, “Beautiful People” by Ed Sheeran featuring Khalid out from #32 (Not Sheeran’s greatest week), “Me & You Together Song” by the 1975 sadly out from #35 off of the debut – I thought this song would last, unlike “STILL DISAPPOINTED” by Stormzy out from #36, or even long-running hits like “HIGHEST IN THE ROOM” by Travis Scott and remixed by ROSALIA and Lil Baby out from #37, and finally, “Senorita” by Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello. Now, I figured I should mention some songs in the top 75 but not in the top 40 that we could see enter the chart in the coming weeks—I haven’t got a single one of these right yet (Well...), but regardless, here are the songs I picked. Not all of them are good, not all of them are bad. There is “Better Off Without You” by Becky Hill and Shift K3y at #42, “Suicidal” by YNW Melly at #44, “Say So” by Doja Cat at #45, “Power Over Me” by Dom Kennedy at #48, “Lonely” by Joel Corry at #61, “SUGAR” by BROCKHAMPTON at #62, “High Fashion” and “Ballin’”, both by Roddy Ricch and Mustard, at #63 and #64, “One Night” by MK at #66, and even the two new songs from M Huncho’s album that missed the Top 40: “Indulge” at #50 featuring D-Block Europe, and “Head Huncho” at #60 featuring Headie One... now for a bit of a different story that starts in the Summer of 1785.

BREXIT RUBBISH

German poet Friedrich Schiller published an ode in 1786 that he wrote the year prior. It was later interpolated by the legendary Ludwig van Beethoven in his 1984 Ninth Symphony. In 1972, quite ironically for a song composed by two Germans when Germany was still split into two (Although admittedly they were both born in western regions of Germany), Beethoven’s composition was adopted as the anthem for Europe as a whole, and the European Union. Does that sound familiar? In 2016, the most famous pig-adulterer in Britain commenced the Brexit vote, resulting in a slight majority to leave the EU. I don’t like getting too political on this show, so I won’t get into this in-depth, but all you need to know is that the Scottish party protested in Parliament in 2017 by singing this song, and that led to this two-party war: The Anti-Brexit and pro-EU song, “Ode to Joy”, the European anthem as performed by Dutchman André Rieu, and the pro-Brexit song, if you excuse my language, “17 Million Frick Offs”, a song by some right-wing comedian (Dominic Frisby) directed towards the 17 million people who proudly told the European Union, to, well, “frick off”, and praising them for doing so. Thankfully, the nation has spoken.

#30 – “Ode to Joy” – André Rieu and Johann Strauss Orchestra

Produced by André Rieu

Frisby’s song peaked at #43, meaning we only have to talk about the Dutch man here, and his first UK Top 40 hit, probably his only one. I would have preferred “Anarchy in the UK” personally, but I’ll accept this. I see how this works as a protest song too, as it’s a pretty triumphant composition, but really, I mean, what do you expect me to say about the European national (Continential?) anthem? Yeah, I think the Johann Strauss Orchestra guest verse kind of ruined the vibe for me on this one, but the beat slaps hard. I don’t like boring, patriotic squabble like this, and it’s not like Rieu does anything with it as this is rather trite, with some really gross mixing of the horns. In fact, the whole song is mixed pretty painfully. I appreciate the sentiment, though, guys, but this is pretty bad. Call me a Eurosceptic for not appreciating some Dutch dude’s rendition of a European historical motif, but really I’d say the same about “God Save the Queen” – and not the Sex Pistols song; that one’s awesome.

ALBUM BOMB: Big Conspiracy – J Hus

I haven’t listened to this album yet, simply because I haven’t had the time, but J Hus is a British rapper who released his first album since his release from prison, Big Conspiracy, on 24th January 2020, to immense critical acclaim and commercial success, debuting at #1 on the UK Albums Chart. These are the three biggest songs from it, and my thoughts on all of them.

#21 – “Repeat” – J Hus featuring Koffee

Produced by Jae5

Interestingly, all of these songs have features. Anyways, let’s get through these as quickly as possible, shall we? I mean, they will probably all sound the same. This was released the day before the album, and is J Hus’ tenth UK Top 10 hit, and Koffee’s first. Who is Koffee, you ask? She’s a Jamaican reggae artist who became the first woman to win the Best Reggae Album award at the most recent Grammy’s. I can see some of the reggae influence here as well, but it’s not actually that clear as it’s mostly a typical Afroswing song that J Hus would have made, with inorganic and pretty stiff drum patterns, and a non-existent atmosphere. Koffee puts way too much effort in, at least in comparison to Hus’ dire performance here, where he just literally mumbles somewhat off-beat for a couple bars and calls it a day, while Koffee is singing her heart out. It’s a really imbalanced ratio is what I’m saying. The strings towards the end are pretty cool but the final chorus is abrupt and overall, this song feels like a pointless meander for the sake of either filler or just landing Koffee a place on the album. I can’t hate it, because Koffee’s performance is great and the instrumental is tolerable, but for Hus, this is oddly flavourless.

#19 – “Big Conspiracy” – J Hus featuring iceé tgm

Produced by TSB

“Big Conspiracy” is the title track and the opening track on the album as well as J Hus’ 11th UK Top 40 hit, and Iceé tgm’s first – hell, she doesn’t even have a Wikipedia page and it’s seeming pretty likely that she debuted on J Hus’ album and she is in fact his sister. It’s pretty cool getting your family involved in the business. You know what else is pretty cool? This song; I like the guitar pick-up and the complimenting bassline, with some sweet vocal melodies and loops from iceé tgm, that seem to be scattered around the entire beat, which is an interesting idea. J Hus is still a tad lazier than usual here, with very little multi-tracking (Seems to be only one-take) or energy, but the chorus has some gorgeous harmonies, his rap verses are casual albeit memorable. I enjoy his (hopefully) sarcastic endorsement of Ronald Reagan in the first verse, and his point about underdogs rising in the second verse, which is a nice message. The bridge is pretty good, as it gives iceé tgm a bit of solo time, and she sounds decent but admittedly non-descript, and then there’s a smooth sax solo for seemingly no reason. Eh, I’m all for it. This is sweet, and it’s nice that an out-of-the-blue conscious rap song debuted in the top 20, but again, lacking a lot of the character I saw from the lead single.

#11 – “Play Play” – J Hus featuring Burna Boy

Produced by Jae5, Nana Rogues and Scribz Riley

Finally, also a pre-release single by about a day, is “Play Play”, J Hus’ 12th UK top 40 hit and Burna Boy’s fourth. We all know who Burna Boy is by now, although coincidentally Koffee happened to have covered Burna’s breakout hit “Ye” on the BBC Radio Live Lounge. I suppose that’s of note. I figured maybe the highest debuting single from the album would have that lively energy and bright comedy that I saw in “Must Be”, but no, there isn’t, which is exciting as that’s what I expected from this record, and the second single did try to confirm my suspicions. Much like “Repeat”, however, I feel this would easily be better if it were just a Burna Boy single, with his charming hook and cute steel-pans-based instrumental, but no, J Hus is here, and... did he forget how to rap? He sounds pretty awful here, with a dry flow that flubs rhymes and fits too many words into the meter, an uninteresting cadence and even awful mixing that makes him feel so distant from a song that should be warm and intimate. The reason I can’t dislike the song, however, is the concept, which both artists talk about in detail, especially Hus’ hilariously... bipolar verses, if that’s the best way to describe them. It seems to be about comparing women to guns, but also that women like him for his guns, and that he treats his gun like a woman? I don’t know, it’s a dumb concept that is messy in execution, but at least it’s unique. Pretty disappointed in these tracks, to be honest; maybe the deep cuts will be more to my fancy.

NEW ARRIVALS

#40 – “Roses” – Saint Jhn

Produced by F a l l e n and remixed by Imanbek

Hey, a song I actually predicted would reach the UK Top 40, just last week! I’m pretty impressed with myself, but admittedly I guess if you throw 70 stones at a bird, at least one will kill it, just as the old proverb says. Anyways, this is Saint Jhn’s first ever UK Top 40 hit and was mostly propelled by the Imanbek EDM remix, which I’ll be listening to as well. The original song “Roses” was released on the Guyanese-American rapper’s SoundCloud in July 2016 and was included in his 2018 compilation album. He had written for other artists like Jidenna before but his solo work went mostly unnoticed until a producer called Imanbek released an unauthorised house remix. Imanbek is a Kazakh producer, and his remix was released through a Russian record label, so there is a surprising amount of cultures involved in making this one song; it’s kind of interesting. Also, we never see anyone on the UK Top 40 chart from freaking Kazakhstan! That’s insane! By the way, Kazakhstan’s flag is my personal favourite flag of the world. I love the colour combination. The original song is one I’m generally not pleased with, personally, with a dull trap beat and hi-hats that somehow rattle too much, and a murmuring, unintelligible Auto-Tune drawl from Saint Jhn that’s just unpleasant, and for a song called “Roses”, is kind of eerie, and overall, the song is just kind of boring and underwhelming, although I’ll admit the vocal melodies and ideas are there, and I especially like the synths in the later parts of the chorus. What this needed to push it over the edge was a 19-year-old guy from Kazakhstan and I’m not joking; I love this house version. The pitch-shifted, almost chipmunk, rendition of the vocals could be obnoxious to some people but to me it adds so much energy and quirk to an otherwise dry performance from Jhn, and the beat in this version has such an infectious synth bass, despite otherwise being a pretty standard house beat, with some vague horn inflections, traditional pop-house drum beat, and pretty cliché vocal samples, but the melodies I liked are still here, in fact the trap beat is partially kept in during the chorus, and touches like that are pretty nice. The slog of the verses have a lot more groove to them sped-up too. Yeah, I enjoy this, and it’s a massive improvement over the original. Big up Kazakhstan.

#32 – “Pee Pee” – M Huncho

Produced by ADP

Honestly, if the form of protest against Brexit is only demonstrated into making songs chart, I’d like to think that the children all around Britain have all decided to make it clear that Brexit is pee pee, and I couldn’t be more proud. This is M Huncho’s third UK Top 40 hit and from his album Huncholini the 1st... this guy is a joke, right? He even wears a mask to be anonymous, but it’s not for personal or even gang-related reasons. It’s just a cartoon mask that he says is supposed to accentuate the message of the music. What’s the message of this song then, Mr. Huncholini?

When I bust my nut, I go and take a pee pee

Inspiring. I’m tempted to just leave it at that, actually – can I? Yeah? Are you sure? Okay, well, that’s all, then.

Conclusion

Honestly, “Pee Pee” isn’t even that bad, and it’s not getting the Dishonourable Mention. That’s going to “Play Play” by J Hus featuring Burna Boy, with Worst of the Week going to that crap rendition of “Ode to Joy”. I don’t have much to praise here, but I might as well give Best of the Week to “Roses” by Saint Jhn, purely for the Imanbek remix, as if it were the original only, it could easily get the Dishonourable Mention. Honourable Mention goes to “Big Conspiracy” by J Hus featuring iceé tgm, just barely. Follow me on Twitter @cactusinthebank, I’ll see you next week!

REVIEWING THE CHARTS 2020

0 notes

rikirachtman · 6 years

Photo

Whiplash - Power and Pain (1986) review

Great music is often hidden behind horrendous cover art. Nowhere is that more apparent than in “Power and Pain”, the first album by New Jersey thrash metal trio Whiplash, and the second album (that I’m aware of) to feature a screaming pink-skinned bald man on the cover, after "In The Court of the Crimson King”. In the early-to-mid 80′s, thrash metal saw a flood of groundbreaking debut releases, and despite its 1986 release date, Whiplash’s first offering sounds closer to the NWOBHM-laden proto-thrash of three or four years’ prior, combined with the punchy sound and rabid aggression of the more extreme branches of thrash that began to form later in the decade, similar to bands like Canada’s own Razor, and it’s this unique blend that makes it one of my favourite thrash albums of all time.

The three Tonys that comprise Whiplash’s lineup are equally important to this carefully balanced sound. Note that I said “Three Tonys”, by the way; In what is likely a mathematical anomaly that goes against all known laws of probability, every single band member here shares the same first name. Frontman Tony Portaro lays down some VERY impressive and varied guitar work, combining blistering Slayer-esque chugging and tremolo riffing with soaring, often double-tracked half-Maiden-half-Priest leads and melodies. His vocals are a lot more divisive for me, sort of a pukey, throaty bark that sounds like Mille Petrozza swallowed Tom Araya, and Araya is desperately trying to escape from Mille’s stomach because Paul Baloff is down there too and he’s pissed. This vocal style is an acquired taste that I’ve grown to like more upon repeated listens, and is the clearest sign of this album’s year of release, showing a then-recently developed vocal style alongside more traditional instrumental work of the past five-odd years.

Bassist Tony Bono is a little more understated, laying down some decidedly Steve Harris basslines that support Portaro’s guitars well. He occasionally gets lost in the fury of the chaotic riffing, shouting, and drumming going on around his smoother, cleaner bass, but he makes himself known with a few inventive fills when Portaro is taking the occasional break from lighting his guitar on fire with the sheer speed of his playing. Drummer Tony Scaglione is a very entertaining listen, utilizing a high-energy, fill-happy style that unequivocally reminds me of Dave Lombardo (which makes perfect sense, as Scaglione did fill in for Lombardo on Slayer’s “Reign in Blood” tour). Scaglione’s main difference from Lombardo is that his double bass work is a lot weaker, but this is hardly an issue when he supports it with “Seasons in the Abyss”-ish tom breaks and “Show No Mercy” inspired ride beats.

Songwriting is straightforward, but surprisingly diverse for a thrash album. You won’t find any acoustic breaks here, of course, but you will find most styles of metal that existed up to 1986 within this record. This album contains pretty much no filler or wasted tracks; as far as highlights go, “Red Bomb” opens with mid-paced chugging before turning into a speeding monster and launching into a blatantly Priest-inspired solo, “Last Man Alive” is a foot-stomping number with a fantastic crunchy groove to it, and “Power Thrashing Death” is the record’s obligatory “we think that thrash metal is cool” number that speeds by at a million miles per hour. Closer “Nailed to the Cross” strikes me as an odd choice to close the album over something like “Red Bomb” or “Last Man Alive”, but it contains a really catchy chorus where Portaro strains to reach higher up in his limited range and still makes it sound great, as well as an admittedly hilarious trashcan ending with copious nonsensical shouting (”AUGH! AUGH! AUGH! AUGH AUGH AUGH AUGHAUGHAUGHAUANANANANA UUUUUOOOOOOORGH!” etc). Lyrically, it’s...well, it’s mid-80′s thrash metal, so basically just a lot of violence, war, and speeches about metal being the best. The lyrics are also littered with bizarre nonsensical word-salad that makes zero sense grammatically, instead only offering vague ideas of what they’re talking about, which I’d understand from a foreign band but it’s pretty bizarre coming from three New Jersians. The album is strong enough musically for lyrics not to matter too terribly much, and even if it wasn’t, Portaro’s voice is too incomprehensible, so this could be on the same level lyrically as some early Ramones songs and it still wouldn’t negate the quality of the music.

I can’t complain much, for once, on the production front. Perhaps there’s a tad too little focus on the bass at times, but for the most part the dry, crunch-filled tone of this record works perfectly for the type of rampaging speed metal played here. This gives “Power and Pain” a surging, red-hot atmosphere, basically the polar opposite of the cold, grim production found in something like black metal or...well, just black metal, honestly. Portaro and Scaglione both sound monstrous on their respective instruments, and although Bono doesn’t quite measure up in terms of raw power, he doesn’t need to, as his smooth bass work fits the album far better than a meaty Venom/Motörhead bulldozer bass tone would.

Whiplash are not the most popular, most innovative, or most impressive thrash group to hit the scene in the 80′s, but they are damn good at what they do, which is 100% all-natural speed metal with no added preservatives or artificial flavours, barring whatever food colouring they put on the bald guy’s skin to make him turn pink. This is strongly recommended for anyone into thrash metal in general, from Anthrax to Exodus to Dark Angel, as anyone with any interest in the sub-genre likely to find at least three or four tracks here that appeal to their tastes. Pick up “Power and Pain”, allow the Tony triplets to assault your ears, and keep the record hidden in a drawer somewhere out of shame over owning something with that cover art

“I am the master with the iron fist, I am the master no one knows exists”

#whiplash #tony portaro #tony bono #tony scaglione #thrash metal #review

0 notes