Thursday, April 5, 2012

Vol. 3 Episode 13


Very excited about the first record in this post. Still disappointed that they, Veronica Falls, haven't released an EP or something more than just a single. I know that there are at least four songs that they are currently playing live and who knows how many more hidden gems under the surface. I will settle for the non-album single for now but always want more from this group.

This is a new single from Veronica Falls. The song was released at the beginning of this month. The song was actually available to hear on the internet via Slumberland SoundCloud music site months ago now. I had actually recorded the song from the internet way back when it was released so I could have the song right away. I did not see this as a problem because I was and did buy the physical single when it was released. The A-side of the single is My Heart Beats. This song is very happy and up beat, like most of their songs are. To me it is about finding the right person to live your life with. It asks questions like, “If we could dream together?” They still have that great 40s guitar sound that drew me to them in the first place. The B-side adds a new dimension to their song craft. For this song they have added an organ or a Vox style keyboard to the mix. The b-side track is called Killing Time. It is a slowed down track that talks about having a friend stay with them for a while. It even goes so far as to say that if they would stay they could go out and spend some money together. It is a very beautiful song with the organ and guitar playing together with their signature simplified drumming. I would recommend this single to anyone. It is a non-album single though so if you are a collector get a copy as soon as you can. Also, collectors be warned it is a colored 7” record, black and white swirl, very cool.

This is the first album released from The Other Ones. There was a second album released but did not chart at all. It was released in 1986. I remember Hearing the first single on the radio with enough frequency. I had actually recorded the single onto cassette a few times. This is how I finally got around to finding out who they were. I went through a section of home recorded tapes and documented what bands were on them and what songs were played. When I did my search on the internet to find out more about the band I found that there was not much information to be had. I did find just a little bit though. The first single released from this album is called We Are What We Are. This song I had never heard before I got the album. It is a slower song compared to the second single from the album though. I guess I could say that I vaguely remember the chorus for the song but not much more. The lead vocal is a strong female vocal that could stand up to any of the majors out there today though. Her voice reminds me of Annie Lennox a little. The second single released from the album is called Holliday. This is the song that I remember hearing on the radio. It is the first song on the album. It has a great beat for a late new wave group. It is a very surprising release given that it was 1986 when this style of music was sort of fading away. I guess a great dance track will stick anywhere. The album as a whole is interesting but I don’t think that this is an essential album for most people.

This is the only album that has been released from the group Acceptance. It was released in 2005. I found out about this group when they were still together. I went to a Christian concert downtown with like five different bands. When we were going into the concert there were various street teams out there pushing other bands that were not on the bill that night. I took as many pieces of paper from those folks as I possibly could. The following day I went through my pockets to fink out what I had picked up. One of the groups was Acceptance. The graphic of the EP that they were pushing looked interesting so I looked them up. I liked what I heard and bought both of the EPs that they had put out. It wasn’t too long after that they put out this album. I was very excited because I liked the music that they had already put out. I wasn’t disappointed with this album either. This album released three singles. The first single is called Permanent. It was also released as a single from the previous EP called Black Lines To Battlefields. This song has a hard edge to it. The song is fast and fun. The lyrics are inspirational stating that “It’s permanent! Nothing is Permanent. We’ll be watching your back!” To me it means that God is permanent but physical objects are not. At least that is what I get from it. The second single from the album is called Different. This is a song that is a little slower. It uses piano guitar plucked and bowed violins and drums. The song talks about being different in many ways and normal in the general view of things. It is a great song musically too. It makes you think about the life you live and where you want it to go. It is an introspective song designed to make you think about life. The last single released from the album is called Take Cover. This is the first song on the album. It is a more up beat song than the previous track. The song is really about giving the warning. Making sure that the people you love know what is coming. It is a good song. It is just too bad that the group broke up after this album. The lead singer had decided that he wanted a normal life. The others in the band joined other groups or created other bands. Nothing has been done with those other bands though.

This is the third album from Muse and the first full album that I heard from them. It was released in 2006. I found out about them from the movie Twilight. Yes, I read the books and have seen all of the movies. I don’t consider myself a “Twi-hard” mainly because I am not a 12 year old girl and it is a stupid name. I am a big Radiohead fan and just by admitting this I am probably being frowned upon by other Radiohead fans. There has always been a conflict between Radiohead and Muse fans. This is mostly to do with the fact that Muse sounds so much like Radiohead on their first few albums that most Radiohead fans refuse to listen to them for that reason only. Anyway, I heard my first Muse track while watching the movie Twilight. The song is called Supermassive Black Hole and was used in the baseball sequence in the movie. This is also the first single released from the album. The song uses some really cool big beat with super dirty sounding guitars. The lead singer uses falsetto to contrast the dirty guitars making for a great sounding song. The next single released form the album is called Starlight. This is a smoother song than the previous release. The bass guitar is distorted but there is clarity in the piano part that floats above the bass. The guitars come in later and are also very clear, no distortion. The vocals are very clear and nice sounding male vocals. It is a nice song but not a dance song like Supermassive Black Hole is. The third single from this album is called Knights of Cydonia. This is the last track on the album. The song is named after the region of Mars named Cydonia. Most people know it as “The face of Mars.” This song has a galloping feel to it. It doesn’t impress me much though. There is something that is very bla about this track. It has great inspirations but that doesn’t make a great song. The next single released from the album is called Invincible. This is the first track from this album not to chart above the twentieth spot. Part of this reason is that it is a slower song. I have been noticing a trend with slower songs. They don’t seem to be very popular. They are well loved but not all that popular.  The song does swell but keeps the same tempo. The last single released from the album is called Map of The Problematique. The title is a reference to a science fiction book called The Limits To Growth. There are also more references to mars in the lyrics. Specifically the first lyric in the song, "fear and panic in the air" which may be a reference to Mars, in that the red planet's two moons are named Phobos and Deimos, who were the Greek gods of Fear and Panic. This is an interesting sci-fi album. Does everyone need to hear it? Not really.

This is the second album from Stone Temple Pilots (STP). The album was released in 1994. I first heard the first single from this album on the movie The Crow. I loved that movie. I remember buying a t-shirt in support of the movie. It said on the back, “Believe In Angels.” Every time I wore that shirt someone would ask me where I got it. I can only assume that this version of the shirt was hard to find. There was a second shirt that did not have words, just a graphic on it. The first single was called Big Empty. This is a good song and fit the movie surprisingly well. It is an acoustic song with soft lyrics. The scene in the movie they are driving a car so the first set of lyrics fit. The chorus has an electric guitar but the verse fades back to an acoustic. It is a great song with clear strange lyrics. It is easy to sing to though. The second single from the album is called Vasoline. This is my favorite song from the album. The opening of the song has a cool sounding vibrato on the bass guitar. This was accomplished by using a wah-wah pedal on the bass. This is another song that was super easy to sing along with. There is something about the way that the lyrics were written that made it very easy for me to memorize. This is mainly why I like the song so much. The song is supposed to be about we as people being scrutinized by some other source. Whether that is people watching people or some other concept is unclear. The next single released from the album is called Interstate Love Song. It is the groups biggest hit to date. It is a slower hard edged song that really sticks in your heart and head. The music has a country-western feel to it which probably adds to its popularity really. There were two promo singles released after this. They are Unglued and Pretty Penny. Unglued was reminiscent of their first album with the hard grunge feel. The song was played on Lettermen at the end of 1994. Pretty Penny is another acoustic song with bongos for the drum track and an acoustic guitar and bass with vocals. The song is easy to listen to but easily forgettable after the song finishes. This is an album that everyone should hear at least once. It is a super album that deserves as much or more respect than it has gotten.


I am very excited to say that I received the two EPs from Let Me Run today and they will be reviewed in the near future if not the next post.

That is all I have for now...


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