Alright, some new things have come up, I am doing a very
important second singles and EPs issue right on the heals of the first one for the year. Enjoy.
First up, the new Man or Astro-Man? single has been
released. It has been released as a download and as a vinyl 7” record. The
record comes in multiple colors, black, transparent orange and clear, the clear
version being the more limited color. I got the transparent orange version but
am on the lookout for the clear one. I was too slow on the draw to get the
clear one and am kicking my self for it. The record sleeve comes with a
metallic seal sticker on the top of the sleeve. I am refusing to open it. I
therefore also downloaded the tracks from iTunes. There is no CD version of
this single being sold.
There are three tracks on the single. The first two will be
on the new album to be released in early 2013. The third track will only be
found on this single. The physical version of this single is still available
from Chunklet.com in both black and orange.
The first song on this single is called Defcon 5. The song
starts out with an analog saw tooth wave and crashes into the song. It isn’t a
hard smack you in the face song. It is a steady surf track that pushes the
listener along on a smooth ride. The new member of the group, Avona Nova, adds
so much to this track with out even trying. There is a special flourish that
happens on the verse part that I love. Avonas’ playing is the only way that
this could have happened. There are no words on this track but I think I like
it even more than the other stuff they have put out. This could be because it
is just new music though.
The second song that is on this single is called Anti-Matter
Man. This is one of the few tracks with lyrics that the band has put out. This
track is faster than Defcon 5. There is something special about Starcrunchs’
vocals in general. I am sure that he doesn’t like to sing and that is why there
are so few tracks with vocals that the group has put out. Maybe this is why they
mean so much to me. The songs with vocals also seem to be simpler in
composition when they have lyrics but I actually like it that way. I also know
how difficult it is to play and sing at the same time. All I can say is Go
Starcrunch Go!
The last song on the single is called Dr. Space. This is the
first song from Man or Astro-Man? to feature an accordion. I am not a fan of
the accordion or the harmonica for that matter. There are exceptions though. I
think that this is one of them. The accordion fits well within the composition
of the song. It seems to embody the character of Dr. Space as the rest of the
song backs up the story. This is all in my head as there are no lyrics on this
track either. It makes me imagine what is actually taking place through the
song. I imagine that Dr. Space is on a space ship traveling to who knows where
but the way that he flies the ship is so crazy but it works. I love it!
Whirr and the group Anne have a split double 7” single
coming out in October. I preordered it and got a download for the tracks right
away. The single was put out on Run For Cover Records. There are a couple of
versions being put out for this single in black and white variants but I do not
have a copy yet so I am not sure what the records will look like. I do know
that there will be a artwork etching on the fourth side of the double 7”. I do
not know what it will look like yet but I am excited to see it. The first 7”
will have the tracks from Whirr and the second 7” will have the tracks from
Anne. I am assuming that the A side of the second 7” will have both of the
tracks from Anne because of the etching on the B side of the second record. I
did have a little trouble with getting the downloads to work right away. The
problem was fixed though and they sent me an email with how to download the
tracks.
The first track from whirr is called Twist. This track can
also be found on the Run For Cover Summer Sampler 2012. I actually ordered this
compilation from Run For Cover and got it with a crack in the outer edge. This
was because they shipped it in a thin manila shipping envelope. I don’t blame
the record company for this because 50% of the time when I got a CD in the mail
that was not packaged in cardboard it was cracked. The problem with this is
that most of the CD that I did get in the mail like this were freebies. I
actually spent three bucks for this compilation. I did send them an email about
this and they have since sent me a new copy of the CD. I haven’t gotten it yet
but here’s to being hopeful. Anyway, the track is a beautiful soft shoegaze
track that seems to have a hazy cloud feel to it. It is noisy but I could just
as easily fall asleep to it. It is slow and dreamscape like. it is also heavy
like a warm winter blanket. I like it a lot.
The second track is called Between Asleep and Awake. This
track is slower than Twist and has an even heavier sound to is. They are both
tracks that I would love to fall asleep to. Both tracks also have
unintelligible female vocals attributed to them. I guess in this respect they
would remind me of my mother reading to me as a child and falling asleep to her
reading the stories. Nice and soft and floaty just like when I fall asleep at
night.
The third track is from a group called Anne. I had never
heard of them until I got that Run For Cover compilation. Both bands had a
track on the comp. I did not listen to the track from the group yet on the comp
but I have listened to the tracks that come on this single. The third track on
this spilt from Anne is called Pet Names. They have a darker sound that is more
rock n’ roll than Whirr could ever be but the two groups sound good together.
They remind me of some of the later new wave groups of the 80s, almost like a
lower toned The Cure. I like this track a lot because of this. I am trying not
to hunt out new bands but when they just fall in my lap what am I supposed to
do?
The fourth track on this double 7” is called Occasional
Lovers. This track is similar in tone from the previous track. This one seems
to remind me of something that may have been on the soundtrack for the movie
Pretty In Pink or The Breakfast Club. It is supper cool with drums that stand
out in front of the music for the most part. There is also a clean sounding
guitar part that fades in and out that makes the song perfection. I like this a
lot!
Atoms For Peace - Default
The big news of the week is that the Thom Yorke fronted band
Atoms For Peace have/are putting out a single in support of the new forthcoming
album as yet untitled. iTunes has the track available for download four days
ahead of schedule. The song is called Default. It can be streamed at the moment
from various sources on the internet if you search for the band name and the
song title. You may be able to find a free download in MP3 format if you look
hard enough too. XL Records has the single set for release on 9/10/2012. it is
just one song that I am aware of but this may change on the actual release, who
knows but Thom.
The song is super glitchy sounding. As a matter of fact the
opening few notes are so dizzying your head will spin until the whole track
kicks in to straighten it out. The bass line sounds very similar to something
that Radiohead wrote but there is enough difference with the other parts of the
song that it is easily over looked. There are vocals on this track and they are
silky smooth Yorke vocals. I know that the group is supposed to consist of
other members but this song seems like it is all Thom like the album that He
put out as his solo effort, The Eraser. I like it but was also looking forward
to hearing some bass lines from Flea. I hope there will not be all electronica
in the forth coming album.
Edit: I just found out from DAS that there will be a 12" vinyl pressing to be released in October.
Edit: I just found out from DAS that there will be a 12" vinyl pressing to be released in October.
I have been sitting on this EP for quite a while. I guess I
sort of forgot about it. It was an afterthought purchase for me though too. It
is their first release ever. It was originally released in 2005 on CD but was
rereleased on vinyl in 2009. I got the vinyl version because A I couldn’t find
it on CD and B I love vinyl. All of the tracks from the CD are on the vinyl
release. The CD had 17 tracks with 45 seconds each of dead time. This was done
for the bonus track at the end. Obviously, the record doesn’t have any dead
time between the tracks. The album is named after a friend of the group that
died. It was his nick name. The EP name is actually pronounced “pie-kull”. Most
fans mispronounce the name as pickle.
There are seven tracks on this EP and two of them made
airplay on the radio. The first single that was released from the EP is called
Kissing Families. The song and the EP as a whole really has a slightly gritty
sound. The group has their song figured out but not completely polished on this
EP. It is their first release though so I can give them that. This song is not
quite as deep sounding as they will become but the song is very enjoyable to
listen to still.
The second single released from the EP is called ComebackKid. This song has a very good pushing rhythm that the group will be known for
on future albums. It is nice to see the foundation that an artist builds on
sometimes. This song is really good and every time I hear it I think about how
much better the group will become on their future albums. This isn’t a bad
thought because the song is really good.
This is of course something for the hard core fans of the
group but it really is a good EP from the group.
Sorry folks, I could not link some of these songs to an audio file on the net because they are so new there is nothing up yet.
That is all I have for now...
No comments:
Post a Comment