Here we have some really great tunes. The first two are really new and under most peoples radar. The last two are some classics that should be heart by everyone.
Folks, don't forget about Record Store Day comming up. It's only a month away!
Folks, don't forget about Record Store Day comming up. It's only a month away!
This is their first album. It was released just a few weeks
ago (March 13, 2012). I can’t remember how I found out about the group. It may
have been a post on facebook or twitter from a record company. I searched them
out and found that they had released a single, an EP and an LP. I found the LP
and single on amazon. I bought them for my Easter present. They both have
download codes so I used them before Easter when I get the physical copies.
This album has 10 tracks and all are really good. The album was put out on a
small record label called Tee Pee Records. The only other band that I knew from
this label was Brian Jones Town Massacre. I can’t say that I have ever heard
anything from them either. This group, Whirr, was originally called Whirl. They
changed their name to Whirr with the released of their first album and single.
The music that they are putting out is really great. They have a sound that is
similar to My Bloody Valentine with beautiful sounding female vocals and that
awesome wall of sound made with guitars that MBV is so well known for. They
found the right ingredience and have recreated the sound very well. On all of
the tracks the vocals are pushed back so they are even with the music. This
makes the vocals unintelligible for the most part. This isn’t a bad thing if
you like the music more than focusing on the lyrics. I have always liked the
music more than the lyrics so this fits my style perfectly. This is the case
even with the piano, acoustic guitar and vocals track called Formulas and
Frequencies. There is so much echo on the lead singers voice that you can
almost make out what she is saying but not quite. I could understand how this
would be frustrating for some listeners. I have felt it my self with this
track. But if you can let go and hear the music it becomes soothing in a way.
The track called Toss could have been the second single if they had wanted it
to. It has a very pop sounding drum track to it. It would have been a great
single with the stabbing guitar stop and the viby sounding guitar solos that
are sprinkled through the song. It really is a great track. Overall, the album
is a bit distorted in the highs on the MP3 version of the album. I am very
excited to hear what it sounds like on the record as most records are mixed
differently based on the format. It seems like CDs and download tracks are
mixed the same where as vinyl is mixed a little bit quieter. I am hoping that
the distortion will not be there on the record.
This is their first single released in support of their
first album. The song is called Junebouvier but the single is called June. I
was very excited to find that this single was pressed on that cool coke glass
green. This is the first record that I have in this color. This song is the
stand out track on the album next to Toss which comes in as second favorite for
me. This song has the bass guitar over the top of the guitar for the most part.
It gives the song a flowered effect in my head. The bass is the center of the
flower and the guitar and vocals are the petals of the flower. I always imagine
a daisy in my head. As the song progresses the pedals slowly fall off until the
end of the song. The B-side of this single is called Sundae. It is just as full
sounding as the A-side but slower. It would be a really great song to put on a
play list to fall asleep to. The song is slow, soaring and beautiful. There is
something special about the female vocals with this band. She makes me happy
even if she is singing music that sounds sad. I like that.
This is the second album from All The Saints. It was
released in 2012. This was a very under ground release as I could only get my
hands on it directly from the record label located in Germany. I
found out that they had come out of hiatus only from an advertisement from
InSound.com. I tried to order it from InSound but it was back ordered the
instant I placed my order. I was so disappointed with InSound that I wrote them
to cancel the order and to not advertise the sale of items that they don’t have
in stock. I then went on to search out what the record company was that has
pressed this record. I found the name of the company via All The Saints
facebook page. The company is called Souterrain Transmissions. They have put
out some other small bands that I recognized the names of but I do not own any
of their music. Some of those bands include Zola Jesus and Moon Duo. All The
Saints first album was a fusion of shoegaze and 60s hard rock. It has become an
album that I could not live with out. The new album leans more on the shoegaze
mixed with a bit of noise. The first track, Half Red, Half Way, starts off with their classic
sound from the first album. It is heavy and lives in the 60s hard rock still. As
the album moves on it starts to change. The second track, Poly Daughters,
starts off with a super echo sounding guitar track that works its way through
the whole track. This is the first hint that the group is leaning toward the
noise side of the shoegaze genre. The third track pushes even further into the
genre. This track reminds me of the Silversun Pickups. It has distorted fast
guitars with the slow vocals. It is a nice track to hear and this is also why I
like the Silversun Pickups. The lead vocals and guitar also use a viby pedal.
This makes them sound kind of like they are under water at times. I really like
the slowed down title track for the album. It is more straight forward than
most of the album and the vocals are easier to hear. The other track that I
really like is called Now Boy. It starts off with that heavy rock sound that I
like from the first album. The beat on this song is relatively fast and makes
me want to bob my head to the music. The rest of the album seems to level
off of shoegaze sound. It is really
something I will have to get use to. I will like the album I can tell that much
but It is not what I expected at all from them. I had a chance to listen to the
album on my stereo finally and found that this record is so much smoother than I
had originally thought. The bottom end is huge and makes this record perfect
but it is for sure an album that needs to be listened to on a stereo not on
headphones.
This is Alice In Chains second album. It was released in
1992. They have been classified as both alternative and grunge. I think that
they should just be classified as heavy metal personally. They became popular
more so with this album but because of the time it was released it became
labeled as alternative or grunge. I bought this album on cassette when it was
released. It was recently repressed on orange vinyl. I have heard that the
repressing sounds very good but costs a bit more than I want to pay to buy it
again. The album put out five singles. The first single from the album is the
last song on the album. It is called Would? This song first appeared on the
soundtrack for the movie Singles where the band made a cameo in the movie. The
song was later included on this album. The writer for the band said that he was
thinking about Andrew Wood (Mother Love Bone) who he had been friends with
before he had overdosed on heroin and how people judge others for things that
they do in life. The song was kind of an in your face to those people. This is
the song that got me interested in the band. For most people it is the song Man
In The Box from their first album. Although it is a good song it did not have
the same effect on me as Would? The second single released from this album is
called Them Bones. This song was written in an odd time signature in the verse
section. It is in 7/8 time. The chorus is in 4/4 making it easy to sing along
to. I think that it is interesting how even heavy metal bands will write
interesting music not in standard time. It shows that musicians are called
musicians for a good reason. The song is a great heavy track but too short for
me. The next single released is called Angry Chair. This is a track written by
the lead vocalist. It is different from some of the others because it is slowed
down with a cool lead guitar part having a wave wash pedal on it. It really
sounds cool. The vocals are awash in echoes as well. The next single is called
Rooster. The song is about the lead guitarists father who served in the army
during the Vietnam War under the code name Rooster. There are many other
references to Rooster in the song but this was the primary reason for the
title. The song talks specifically about the war. It is very heart felt for me
because my father also served in the Vietnam War. It is another view from
someone else. The last single from this album is called Down In A Hole. It is a
slower song for the album but works very well. The vocals are the key to the
song I think. The harmonies between the lead and backing vocals work so
perfectly for the group. This is an amazing album that everyone should hear
especially if you are looking for 90s metal.
This is the seventh release from Beck. It was released in
1999. I bought this album right away when it came out. I was hopping for more
great music from Beck similar to the album Odelay. It was close but not exactly
what I wanted. It is better than the previous album, Mutations, but not as good
as Odelay. There are references to Kraftwerk, Grand Master Flash and The
Furious Five, Velvet Underground, Prince, and David Bowie on various tracks on
the album. The singles were exceptional though. There were three singles released
from this album. The first is called Sexx Laws (yes that is spelled correctly).
It is an interesting blend of brass funk, bluegrass and steel guitar mixed with
elements of electronica in the song. The song itself is about bending the
unwritten laws of sex. I didn’t and still don’t care about the lyrics. I love
the music in this song. It is great beck music. The next single is called Mixed
Bizness. There is some great funk and R&B style music going on with this
song. It is another great track that shows how great Beck can really be. The
third and last single from this album is called Nicotine & Gravy. This was
a single released in the UK
only. This song is slowed down compared to the first two singles released from
this album. Just like most beck songs the lyrics are very strange. Because I
bought this album when it came out the album came with a separate disc with
three extra tracks. The extra CD was outside of the CD case but shrink-wrapped
in together with the original case. It featured two tracks not on the album and
a remix of Sexx Laws. It is something that is unique but not spectacular in any
way.
That is all for now...
No comments:
Post a Comment