This is some good stuff. Richard Patrick and some of the guys from STP made a super group a couple of years ago and this is what came out of it!
This song really embodies the STP sound.
Patrick's vocal style really works with these songs.
Heres one of the slower tracks on the album. Love the simple yet pronounced bass line.
Friday, October 8, 2010
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Gearbox
This is a sneak peek at the video game company "Gearbox" who are the makers of games such as Borderlands.... and Border.... you get the idea. They recently announced that they are releasing the long awaited titled "Duke Nukem Forever". This segment is to air on G4 tv tonight on Xplay.
Stupid Twilight Fans!!!
OK this is getting out of freakin hand. People are actually biting each other to draw blood and suck it.... because they saw it in the twilight movies. People are freakin stupid man. This was taken from the website NME.
Teenagers embarking on a vampire biting trend sparked by the success of the Twilight movies have received a warning from health officials. Some US teens are reportedly biting their partners to draw blood, before sucking it.
This has worried medical experts, who claim the practice carries with it a risk of contracting hepatitis and HIV.
Dr Thomas Abshire, a paediatric blood and cancer specialist and spokesperson for the American Academy of Paediatrics, said, "If you break the skin, your mouth is pretty dirty. The human mouth flora is dirtier than a dog or cat's."
Medical advisor to Consumer Reports magazine Dr Orley Avitzuradded: "These are kids who think they are real vampires."
Avitzur has spent months studying the trend online, and is in no doubt that the craze is due to the huge success of the Twilight movies.
He continued: "If you think about it, there is such glamorisation in those teen vampire movies, they make it seem so sexy and appealing and intriguing. It's all mixed up with passion."
Belle & Sebastian
This is a pretty long video. It does include some performance footage of the band. Also some commentary and the band just talking about tour life and recording. Its a pretty cool video to watch if you have time.
I'll have a review of the new album "Write About Love" later on today or tomorrow.
I'll have a review of the new album "Write About Love" later on today or tomorrow.
Wilder - "Sky Full of Rainbows"
So I'm lost...
The "Gorillaz" put out an album this past year called "Plastic Beach". Its got a couple decent songs on it but most of it is made up for horrible songs with shitty rappers. Which is a super disappointment for me personally because I love the Gorillaz self titled debut and most of the sophomore album. Well I just listened to the new single that is going to be released soon and come to find out, its not even on "Plastic Beach"????! WTF? Is that an admission that PB isn't very good??? Oh well. Here is the new single...
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Some new songs to check out.
I thought I would post some songs of bands that I have found to be decent.
The first is a band called "The Rest" who's album "Seesaw" should be released sometime this year. Very good sound.
The Rest - "John Huston" by indiemusicfilter
This is a song by a band called "Amiina" who apparently tour a great deal with "Sigur Ros".
Amiina - 02 Over And Again by Freeman PR
The next is a video by "Radical Face". The song is called "Doorways" and it has a very happy airy sound.
The first is a band called "The Rest" who's album "Seesaw" should be released sometime this year. Very good sound.
The Rest - "John Huston" by indiemusicfilter
This is a song by a band called "Amiina" who apparently tour a great deal with "Sigur Ros".
Amiina - 02 Over And Again by Freeman PR
The next is a video by "Radical Face". The song is called "Doorways" and it has a very happy airy sound.
Know how I know your gay????
"Hold On"
All That Remains | MySpace Music Videos
I almost feel bad for All that Remains. They are pretty terrible and have been progressively getting more terrible as time has gone on. Here is their new video that was released in support of an new album being released next week.
Firefighters allow a house to burn....
"Well this is pretty sick. Residents in Obion County, Tennessee have to pay an annual fee of $75 for fire department service. The Cranick family didn't pay, so firefighters stood around and watched their house burn to the ground." - From Gizmodo
This is pretty crazy.
New Filter Video
Whats with Richard Patrick and pictures? This video is super silly, but I still dig the new filter album and will happily try and get the masses to check it out.
Video game bosses go to work for the henchmen.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
The Damned Things
Metal Insider has posted a new track by the super group "The Damned Things". The group consists of members of Every Time I Die, Anthrax, and Fall Out Boy.... yes Fall Out Boy. Seems like they are gonna put out some pretty good material. Can't help but notice how much it sounds like ETID but that's not a bad thing. The bands debut album will be released December 14th 2010.
Chiodos - Illuminaudio
Chiodos is a band that I really couldn't get into for one reason... pop punk. One of my most reviled music genre's. Pop punk is the definition with whats wrong with the music industry. Lately its taken a back burner to a more pop form of metal. Bands like A Day to Remember and Attack Attack are shitting all over what we who listen to music find great. Something about Chiodos though made me think that they could one day but out an amazing record. Is this that record?
Yes, yes it is. Illuminaudio has an amazingly stupid name but a great sound. They dropped the my chemical romance sound for a more mature rock sound that works very well. The record is solid offering a wide variety of tracks with some flirting with that metal line. The thing that impresses me most of all is how much this album makes me think that this is what rock bands from the 90's and early 2000's should sound like now. Songs like "Scaremonger" have a great chaos to them that have a hint of Converge but still remain accessible to the common listener. "Hey Zeus! The Dungeon" have an epic feel to them, with a sound that's much bigger than the song leads on. My complaints as always with Chiodos are the vocals can be downright terrible. I mean just bad. While a good bit of the time the vocals stay on an accessible plain, sometimes they can be way too high pitched. The final track "Closed Eyes Still Look Forward" is by far the worst track on the album which is very disappointing.
Chiodos has finally impressed me with Illuminaudio. Nice rock tracks that have the head bob effect. At times the vocals are a bit harsh but the music more than makes up for this flaw.
I give Illuminaudio 3.5 stupid album names out of 5
Sufjan Stevens - The Age Of Adz
I want to point out first and foremost. Sufjan Stevens might be one of the most overrated artists I've ever heard. So if you don't agree with that statement you won't agree with this review and that's fair enough. I've been listening to Stevens extensive body of work over the past couple weeks and I can safely say that he is a talented man. He does solid work and he has made some great albums.. Is he one of the greatest song writers of all time?? Well, no, but he could be eventually. Well that was what I thought until I heard "The Age of Adz".
Can I just say right now that if you are known for doing great indie pop rock that doing an electronic album is a stupid move? First of all you sound like an idiot who listened to too much Moby one day and thought it would be a great idea to try it for yourself. So from what I've heard Stevens did every instrument on this album and I believe it. Its so crudely recorded with so many sounds together is more like a muddy mess. The vocals are all over the place ranging from very good to down right horrible.There are times where I almost get what he was thinking with the musical direction, but then something comes out of left field to change my mind. The use of sampling on some of the songs is so horrible that I found myself cringing while listening to some of the tracks. The songs that are the worst culprit are all of them but I'll do my best at giving fair examples. The title track for me is particularly horrible and if you listen careful you can hear the spin sound that Sonic the Hedgehog uses as one of the sounds. Again I use the word muddy, this album is a muddy mess. Too much in the musical world is a bad thing. If you saturated your music with too many sounds you do the opposite of what you should be intending to do, which is making enjoyable music to listen to. Not music for people to guess to.
If you really want a good album that implements the electronic sound well see "Rings Around the World" by Super furry Animals or Miracle Fortress's "Five Rose's"
I give The Age Of Adz 0 bleeding ears out of 5
Guster - Easy Wonderful
I. like the three of you who will read this, have only experienced Gusters "Goldfly". The song "Airport Song" is still one of my favorites to this day. Apparently they have released three albums since "Goldfly". Which is impressive in its own right. I wish I could have experienced the evolution of the band as they grew and changed their sound. So lets dive into their newest outing Easy Wonderful.
Well the first thing I notice is the almost "Beatles" sound that the band as acquired. This album is very happy, very positive. With lyrics like "every thing's alright. this could all be yours someday". Its very easy to pick up and listen to. The first song starts with an almost electronic sound moving into a pop rock song and ending up in a acoustic song and that's just the first three songs. As the album progresses, it has deeper sounding tracks. Some throw back to older country songs, to rock hits of today. This albums so diverse that its hard to stop listening to it. This is my second play through and I really only wanted to do the one, so that I could move onto other stuff but I just can't stop listening to it. It has a charm that is rare in the music world. The music isn't amazingly amazing. Other bands have done songs like these before. That doesn't take anything away from how well these guys do these songs.
Easy Wonderful will take you by surprise. If it doesn't its because you read my review or have listened to them in these past twelve years and if that's the case I say good for you! You could do so much worse than this newest outing by Guster.
I give Easy Wonderful 4.5 album covers done by a four year old out of 5
Brandon Flowers - Flamingo
Flamingo has got to be one of the hardest albums I've ever listened to. Because its bad.... really really bad. I don't understand what happened to Brandon Flowers. When the Killers released Hot Fuss I was impressed with its sound. The songs were catchy and people seemed to like them. Then Sam's Town came out and I was confused. Who actually listens to the Killers now? Sam's Town was one of the worst albums I've ever heard. Not because it didn't share characteristics of Hot Fuss, but because its just bad music. The lyrics a pretentious, the song structures are all over the place. Its like they tried to be artistic when they should have stayed musically inclined. I'm not even sure that makes any sense, but it does in my head.
So what do the Killers have to do with Brandon Flowers original material. Well you could just call Flamingo "Sam's Town Two" and it would work just as well. Flowers style isn't represent well on these tracks. A lot of times he actually sounds off key. The songs are over produced and all over the place as far as style, which for a record like this, doesn't really work. There is a duet with Flowers and Jenny Lewis that is just down right painful.
Not sure who though that Flowers was musically talented enough to record his album but they were very wrong.
Flamingo gets 1 overrated band out of 5
What shows deserve praise....
So a new batch of shows premiered for their fall seasons. I'm going to obviously only talk about the shows that I've seen. I will give my opinions based upon the first episode of the season. I'm gonna leave the office out since I refuse to watch it.
30 Rock. Had the continuation of the carol story from the end of last season. Carol (played by Matt Damon) is considered about the seriousness of his relationship with Liz. We also get to see what Kennith has been doing since he quit at the end of last season. 30 Rock's season opener was really funny and it set the stage for what I feel will be a great season. Just a side note episode 2 was really really funny. Season opener 4 out of 5Community was kind of a let down. With the cliffhanger at the end of last season, I had high hopes for the premiere but it seemed flat and uninspired. Jeff and Brita do this lame "date each other to make each other miserable" thing. Highlights of the show were Betty White as a teacher and Pierce. Still a very funny show, I just wished they did more with the end of last season rather than just let it die early. Season opener 3.5 out of 5
Big Bang Theory saw the crew playing with a robotic arm that gets Howard into a pretty funny situation when he notices that the arm gives a good massage. Also Penny finds out that Sheldon met a girl at the end of last season and helps him take her on their and his first date. I was impressed by the way Big Bang finished the story line of last season. The episode was really funny. Season opener 4 out of 5
Outsourced set up the show by having the main character (Todd) find out his job he was training for was moved to India (haha) This show was wildly unfunny and poorly acted and shot. I wouldn't expect this to last very much longer. I guess we still have Parks and Recreation though. Series opener .5 out of 5
Bones saw the reformation of the team at the Jeffersonian. The story to get the team back together was hollow and the overall plot wasn't anything great... or memorable apparently. Something about a kid who was murdered who ended up not being a kid at all. Booth met a girl where he was stationed and Brennan was obviously jealous of the relationship to give us our tension. It was a decent season opener for a show that's been on for six seasons. Season opener 3 out of 5
Dexter was and continues to be the most disappointing of the group. It opens where we left off and it seems like it could have easily been the end of last season. I don't want to give off too much information but an important character was killed and the entire first episode was leading up to the funeral. It was very slow and didn't have that Dexter pop that the seasons normally open with. Plus the child actors on the show are terrible.
Season opener 2 out of 5
Castle opens with Castle getting into trouble with Beckett and the police force when he shows up to a murder scene before they have a chance to arrive. Leading them to believe that he had something to do with her murder. Also the detectives are pissed at Castle for some love crap that happened last season. It was a strong opener that helped along the love story between Beckett and Castle. Season opener 3.5 out of 5
How I Met Your Mother saw Ted thinking about hitting on a girl while Robin was still recovering from the break up with Don from last season. Also Lilly and Marshall were going to have a baby until Lilly found out Marshall had been talking to his dad about it. Also at the end of the episode we find out where Ted meets his future wife. Good solid episode. Season opener 4 out of 5That's all for now. I'll put up more as I see them.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Brandon Boyd - The Wild Trapeze
Brandon Boyd is most known for being the lead singer of the rock act Incubus. I enjoy Boyd's voice because for me it was one of the more unique voices of the late 90's early 2000's int he rock music scene. Incubus has released six studio albums, one greatest hits album, and are currently recording a new album to be released in early 2011. In 2008 Incubus went on a hiatus as most band do after touring and recording for 10 years straight. Boyd took the chance to record an album by his lonesome. Are the results just an Incubus clone or does he make a name for himself with new and original music?
The Wild Trapeze starts out with the very strong title track which has a very distinct Days of the New heavy acoustic sound. Much to my surprise, and delight most of the songs would carry the same acoustic element. The first three tracks really put you in a place for the rest of the record. The forth track "A Night Without Cars" starts with a very noticeable "Incubus" sound but soon evolves into a very atmospheric and unique sounding song that I can't help but bob my head to. The rest of the album continues the very good trend of strong acoustic songs with Boyd's great vocal work. I would say my favorite track on the album is "Courage and Control". Its got a great coffee house feel to it. Like Boyd is actually sitting in the room with you performing the song.
Brandon Boyd's "The Wild Trapeze" is a great album. Because its an acoustic album I think this would be more of a "when your in the mood album". I would recommend checking it out for those times where you just need something to chill with.
I give The Wild Trapeze 4.5 Incubus's out of 5
KT Tunstall - Tiger Suit
KT Tunstall is an odd artist to me. I can't really figure out if she wants to do musically. When I first heard her "Eye to the Telescope" back in 2004 I was surprised with how much I enjoyed her sound. It was a weird blend of Pop, Rock, and almost country. I never did listen to her last record "Drastic Fantastic" so I'm not sure exactly how her sound changed from the first album to the second. So it maybe unfair for me to judge this new album based solely on knowing only her first album. I'll give it a fair shot.
The first thing that strikes me off the bat when I heard the first track off of Tiger Suit "Uummannaq" is how electronic it sounds. It seems like she's opening up her musical horizons and it really works for her. I found that I enjoyed most of the tracks even with my extreme distaste for pop music. These songs are infectious and she has enough charm to keep me listening. She does a great job keeping the listener interested in the music. I do have to say I enjoy the songs that don't have the "electronic" pop feel more. Songs like "Fade Like a Shadow" and "Difficulty" pop more then tracks like "Glamour Puss". The last five tracks of Tiger Suit are when the album comes into its full stride and they are wonderfully executed.
On this new album KT Tunstall took some risks and for the most part they work well with her sound. Tiger Suit is a strong album full of fun addicting tracks.
I give it 4 baggy shirts out of 5
Stone Sour - Audio Secrecy
Stone Sour is a band I've felt conflicted with. The lead singer (Corey Taylor) is in a band called slipknot which is a metal band. You might recognize Slipknot from their use of masks while on stage. The reason I've felt conflicted with Stone Sour is I've kinda always expected them to be a metal band. When I first heard them back in 2002 the song that they started out with was "Get Inside" which is a pretty heavy stinking song. Coming from Slipknot it was safe to assume that they would be super heavy. Well that didn't happen, in fact the opposite of that happened. We got an album of mellow tracks that were good, but just not what I or I think anyone was expecting. So secretly since then I think the metal community and really anyone who knows Slipknot just expected them to get heavier with their next release. That didn't happen. "Come What(ever) May" was dropped in 2006 and it was full of disappointing pop tracks. So I didn't have high expectations for "Audio Secrecy".
I think something changed in the 4 years since Come What(ever) was released. When I heard the single "Say You'll Haunt Me" I was pleasantly surprised with the direction the band went in. I didn't expect heavy and I didn't get heavy and for the first time, I was OK with it. With this new found understanding of Taylors vision, would it help me to like the new material? Well in a word, "No".
My opinion of this album has actually changed from listening to it more and more. Some of these songs are downright awful. Corey Taylors voice is wasted on this material. The funny thing about it all is the songs that aren't very good are the heavier songs. They seem silly and cheap, like they were all trying way too hard to make something brutal. It just fails to really give you that power you get out of good heavy music. Unfortunately Audio Secrecy is primarily made up of these sub par "heavy" songs.
On the other hand the slower paced songs such as "Say You'll Haunt Me" and "Hesitate" really accent the album really well. Also the bluesy "Miracles" stands out in this sea of mediocrity. I think had it not been for the lyrical content of the song "Pieces" it would be a great example of the kinda stuff that Stone Sour should stick too.
What it boils down to is this album isn't very good. There are good tracks, but not enough to keep you coming back. If you enjoy stuff like Godsmack or Staind you could most likely find some security in these songs. If you actually enjoy music at all, you'll stay away.
I give Audio Secrecy 1.5 scary masks out of 5
Kings of Leon - Come Around Sundown.
I want to start out by saying that I'm probably the worst person to review this album. I didn't like the last album "Only by the night", I didn't feel that album deserved the hype people gave it. I did like "Youth and Young Manhood" which was their first release back in 2003. So I don't feel too guilty.
Kings of Leon for me are one of the classic "you like them, or you don't" type bands. They generally write lower key songs that are a kin to the strokes or Interpol. I think the biggest hurtle while listing to Kings are the vocals. I'm not sure who to compare the vocals too but they don't feel fresh for the most part. Actually that might be the best way to describe Kings of Leon to this point.... not so fresh. Now for the review.
The album starts out well enough with the song "The End". Its a strong opening song with a catchy tune and nice sound. It blends well with the next track and their first single "Radioactive". This track has guitars taken almost straight out of a "Strokes" album and while normally that would bother me, it doesn't here. There's not much to say about the album until "Beach Side" which in my opinion might be the best song I've heard from this band. It reminds me of a track that you could listen to while just driving in your car with the windows down. There are a couple more mentions on the record. The song "Pony Up" has an interesting bass line that makes it feel fresh compared to the rest of the album. "Mi Amigo" is another highlight, having an almost retro feel to it and nice guitars.
So how do I feel of the effort as a whole? Well Its decent, not great. Josh Parks was telling me last night that when he sees reviews of albums people use words like "IMPORTANT" to describe how good an album is... and this isn't that. It seems almost like a safe album for those who loved "Only by the Night". So if you enjoyed "Sex on Fire" you will like 90% of this album easily.
I give Come Around Sundown 3 Fire resistant condoms out of 5.
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