I am going to see Veronica Falls tonight at the 7th street entry tonight. I will put up a review of this concert as soon as I can. I am very excited to go and see them play live. They have put up a couple new tracks recently that have not been given a physical release. I am hoping for some self released goodies at this concert.
This is the fourth album from blur. It was released in 1995.
For me this album was a rehash of the previous album, Park Life. The music is
good but depressing and boring if you are not in the right mind set. I haven’t
been in the right mind set to listen to this album for a very long time. I am
in the minority though regarding this album since it is one of their better
selling albums. There were four singles released from this album. The first
single from this album is called Country House. The song is about one of the groups’
managers who left their record label, Food Records, to go live in a country
house to get away from the pressures of the big city. It was with this release
that the start of the battle of brit pop was started. This “battle” was between
Blur and Oasis. They tried to incorporate Radiohead into this battle as well
but they did not want any part of it. Blur won this battle as Country House
attained the number one spot in the charts. The next single released from the
album is called The Universal. This is a science fiction themed track with
ideas taken from a couple Stanley Kubrick movies. The music video is a tribute
to A Clockwork Orange. The cover of the single is a tribute to 2001: A Space
Odyssey. The song itself is lacking in lyrical substance but it works with the
song. It is not heavy in futuristic ideas but the sentiment is there. This is
why they put up such graphics for the song, to better convey what they wanted
to say with the song. The third single from this album is called Stereotypes.
This was meant to be the first single released from the album but the band
changed their mind for what ever reason. The song is very upbeat and I could
see why they may have chosen it as a first single. I don’t really know why they
changed their minds. The song seems to be about a woman who runs a B&B who
went through a divorce and is looking to satisfy her carnal needs with other
men who spend time at her B&B. It is an interesting concept. The last
single released from this album is called Charmless
Man. The title of the song could
be, but is not confirmed, a play on the song called This Charming Man from the
band The Smiths. Lead singer had stated that this was the end of brit pop for
the group. The follow up album took the group in a completely different
direction musically for the group. If you have in interest in brit pop of the
90s then this is a great album but otherwise don’t worry about this album.
This is the second album from Cream. It was released in
1967. This album finally got the group into the American consumers view. There
were only to single released from the album. Although, I remember hearing more
than the two released singles from this album being played on the radio. I
personally couldn’t wait any longer to find this record used and bought a
repressed copy a while back from the Back To Black record company. There have
been a few people on the music/audio boards that don’t like this company but I
have purchased at least a hand full of their albums and have had no problems
with their sound quality. The first single from this album is Strange Brew.
This song was originally going to be a blues track called Lawdy Mama. The
producer, Felix Pappalardi, took the tapes and, with the help of his wife,
rewrote the song to be Strange Brew. It is said that the rewrite created a pop
song without losing the groove of the original song. The second single released
from the album is called Sunshine of Your Love. The music for the song was
written after Clapton and Bruce attended a Jimi Hendrix concert. The lyrics
were written with the help of Pete Brown, a poet and collaborator with the
band. Clapton wrote the bridge that includes the title of the song. Clapton
used a 64 Gibson SG through a wah-wah pedal and out through a Marshal
Amplifier. This sound has been sought after for a long time. The most recent
attempt at the sound that I can recall is Radiohead on the track Bodysnatchers
from the album In Rainbows. Thom Yorke comes close but the tone is too dark to
be all that close if he was attempting to recreate it at all. I remember
hearing the track Tales of Brave Ulysses on the radio. At least the track
sounds like something that I have heard in the past. The song was pressed on
vinyl as a 45 RPM single but not world wide. I take this to mean that it was a
single available to the radio stations but only available as an import for
purchase. So, I probably did hear it on the radio. The other song that I
remember hearing is called SWLABR. The
songs title is an acronym meaning She Walks Like A Bearded Rainbow. The song
talks about a woman who is in and out of the narrators’ life. To him she is
perfect but with imperfections. It is kind of an oxymoron but such is life. The
music is what I really love about this track. Clapton is using that 64 Gibson
setup making the song sweet like candy. I think that everyone should hear this
album if not the tracks that I have highlighted in this writing at least once. It
is such a classic band with the roots of psychedelia at its heart.
This is the first solo album from Frankie Rose. It has been
released in the end of winter 2012. This album is a different direction from
the previous album that has been put out from her called Frankie Rose and The
Outs. Frankie Rose has been a part of Crystal Stilts, Dum Dum Girls and Vivian
Girls. Her solo album is released on Slumberland Records. This album has a very
80s sound layered in reverb harking back to The Smiths and The Cure early work
and the late 80s shoegazer sounds. The first single came with a 7” vinyl release.
This first single, Know Me, has a great start off drum beat with the guitar
kicking in right after. The guitar has a
wonderful reverb drenched sound that is poppy enough to dance to. This song is
so much fun and a great choice for the first single. The 7” has a remix of this
track for the B-side. I have talked about this already though. The next single
that has not been given a physical single release yet (lets work on this SLR)
is called Night Swim. This track has clear sharp layered vocals that swim in
echo and reverb. The guitars are piercing but floating guitars that cut through
to your heart. There is also a beautiful sound bending violin that floats in
the back ground adding to the delicately beautiful track. The next,
nonphysical, release from this album is called Gospel/Grace. This track has
been given the video treatment by Hanna Lew. The video has a very DIY spacey
Sci-Fi video-scape that fits with the track perfectly. The song itself is very
futuristically clean, otherworldly in sound. The latest track that has been
released, also with out a physical accompaniment, is the title track to the
album, Interstellar. This track has a sound that is ambient in nature. It
reminds me of tracks from the David Bowie album Low but brought into the 21st
century. It is very slow in tempo but makes up for it in beautiful
sound-scapes. The primary coral vocals are unforgettable and simple on this
track. I think that there should be a fifth single released from this album
too. That song is called Had We Had It. It is track six on the album. This song
has a stand out bass line with muted guitars in the verse. The guitar gets the
lead part after each verse is sung. The bass line always sticks out through the
whole song. I love that by the way. The chorus of the song bursts forth with
beautiful synth sounds that remind me of the pictures that I have seen of the
Milky Way stars. It is just wonderful with a slow synth wind down at the end of
the track. This is a great album that every one should listen to. I think you
still can at Spin.com too.
This is the seventh album from Incubus. The album was
released in 2011. This album was released after the longest hiatus that the
band has had. The band felt that they needed more experiences in life before
they could continue to write more music. There were two singles released from
the album. The first single is called Adolescents. This track was chosen as the
first single because it got the best response from fans. The track was a last
minute track added to the album because the band wanted eleven tracks. This
track was one of a hand full that were in the unsure list. It is a nice
sounding track with the classic Incubus sound. It does have that nice warm
blanket sound though. The second single released from the album is called
Promises, Promises. This track was a promo single only. I think that there may
have been a 7” copy pressed but there was no CD single that I have been able to
find. This track is even slower than Adolescents. I am not saying that this is
a bad thing but most fans of this band are looking for the hard rock single.
This may have been the down fall of this album. Then again this may have been a
step in a different direction on purpose. If it was on purpose there may have
been a lot of lost fans. The critics were not fans of this album that is for
sure. Most gave the album a three to four stars out of five. I pre-ordered the
album and got a free bonus track called Surface To Air. I like free tracks and was happy to get this
extra bonus. The track plays just as the rest of the album does though. I can’t
say that the album drags but if you like this band for their hard rock sound,
don’t bother listening to this album.
This was Nikka Costas’ first release in the US on Virgin
Records. She has released a few albums throughout the 80s and the 90s
internationally. This album was released in 2001. There were three singles
released from this album, two of which were promo only releases. The first
single is called Like A Feather. This is the song that I first heard from this album
and from Nikka ever. I fell in love with the beet right away. The whole album has
mega soul, more so than anything that Joss Stone has ever put together. The
music is very funk and soul oriented. Put together so well that when the album
is started it is very hard to press stop. The second track that was released as
a single from this album is called Push and Pull. This track is slowed down a
little bit but the bass line pushes the music along weather it wants to go or
not. Her voice is fragile but strong at the same time on this track. I wonder
how she does this with her voice. It is this way through the whole album. I
could listen to her music for days because she can do such gorgeous things with
the sounds of her voice. From the strong gravely sounds to high pitched wails
and strong punchy female lead vocals. There is really something special about
her vocals. Anyway, the last single from this album is called Everybody Got
Their Something. It is the title track of the album. This track as that same funk
soul sound that Like A Feather has but on a different side. Her vocals are not
so gravely on this track but nice and fluffy. The album as a whole is a great
eclectic ride from the 60s to the 90s. I can recommend this album to everyone
and everyone should hear it at least once in their life time. Buy it used if
you have to but hear it as soon as you can! You can buy it used off Amazon for
a penny + shipping right now!
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