Friday, September 14, 2012

Vol. 3 Episode 37



Fall and spring are my favorite times of year. This is because of all of the great music that comes out during these times. Fall especially because most artists want to get out their albums before Christmas so they can be given out as gifts. I am waiting for a good stack of stuff to come in the mail soon and I am very excited to write about them. The first of which is my first album in the list here.

This is the long awaited third album from Abandoned Pools. It was finally released on August 28th 2012. I just got it a few days ago. I purposefully did not listen to any of the singles on this album. I really wanted to be surprised and hear the whole album in one shot. I have always liked Tommys’ style of music writing and I have been pleasantly surprised by what he has created here. There are a few reasons that this album was delayed though. The biggest was that he switched record labels for this album. The group is now on Tooth and Nail Records. This is actually one of my favorite Christian record companies. They don’t do strictly Christian records but they seem to do a lot of them. I am happy that he is on this label and hope that they do Tommy right since he has been jacked around by the previous two record companies that he has been with.

There were quite a few singles released for this album, the first of which is called In Silence. This track is very sweet and smooth. It is in the classic Abandoned Pools sound. It is a welcome track and doesn’t alienate the original core fans. He talks of silence and having halos. I think it is sort of a reference to what may have happened to Romeo and Juliet after the end of the play. It May not be those specific characters but a similar ending.

The second single released from the album is called Marigolds. This song has a super cool sound that is used through the melody. It is a kind of ghostly vibrato sound that I kind of like. It is a very brash sound but unique enough to keep my interest. This song also has the classic Abandoned Pools sound.

The third song released from the album is called SublimeCurrency. This was originally released to be heard on the internet through Alternative Press web site. This has become a new thing recently, To have a song either downloadable as a promotional thing or to be able to listen to it for free through various music promotional sites. This song was released as a free download. It was later released officially as the third single. The song starts out with some classic synth sounds and drums. Actual drums kick in over the top with guitars. What I really like about this track is the 80s inspired arena rock harmonies on the chorus. It totally reminds me of Queen or Journey. I love it!

The second track released in this manor is called Unrehearsed. This song reminds me of a song that would have been released in the late 80s on the pop charts. I can’t really put my finger on it exactly but I am sure that I would have listened to it as it is the style of music that I was listening to at that time. I really like this song.

The last song that was released to the internet world is called Behemoth. This track starts out with piano and adds into it the drums that push the song along. The vocals are double tracked on this song giving it a fuller vocal sound. This is a new technique for Tommy and I like the idea a lot.

I would also like to mention the tracks 9 Billion and FromLong Sleep. The latter is a hard hitting track that uses some hard hitting distorted bass and squealing dizzying sounds that work really well together. The bass line is very hard and driving. It is a really great song. The former is a soft sweet duet with Paris Carney. I have no Idea what she has done in the past but she really makes something special happen on this track. 


This is the first album put out from Interpol. It was released in 2002. I found out about the album later than 2002 but for some reason though that it was released around 2004 when I heard about it and its singles through my local indie radio station, 89.3 The Current. I never even gave second thoughts to the fact that their second album cam out so soon after the first, obviously it didn’t since it was released in 2002. I bought the album on CD and loved it. When I went on my honey moon we went to a record store in Daytona FL and I picked up this album new on vinyl along with a few others, including the Velvet Underground & Nico album. This album has a special place in my heart because of that as to the other few albums that were bought on that trip.

The first single released from the album is called Obstacle1. The band had said that the song was written after they had watched a new clip about a model’s recent death. The song is not exactly a downer but is also not the happiest either. The way that I the song makes me feel is if this model died and video clips of her were still on TV or played on the internet. It is just sort of an uncomfortable feeling. I like the song though.

The next two songs were released as a double A side single. The first of the two is called Say Hello To The Angels. This track did not get as much air play as the second track. It is still a good song though. It is faster paced than the first single and has a bouncy feel to it. The bass on this track seems to stand out a bit more since it is played at eighth notes almost through the whole song. It keeps the song fun and energetic.

The AA side to this track is called NYC. This track is slower than the fun bouncy A side track. It is actually a depressing song, I think, for a rainy day. I really like the song but stay away from it because it is so depressing.

The last single from this album is called PDA. This was the song that introduced me to the group. I fell in love with the way that this song sounded. It is part of what started me on the indie music track that I am now on. It has a great drum beat that starts off the track and continues through the song. The bass line is so much fun. It is not bouncy but is very creative. The guitar parts are simple but fit perfectly over the bass and drums. It is a great rock song really.

This is a great album, better in my opinion than the much hailed Arcade Fire album called Funeral.
 
This is the first full album from the Pixies. It was released in 1988. This is a hugely influential album for many of the grunge/alternative artists of the early to mid 90s, including Billy Corgan and Kurt Cobain. I knew of the few singles that were released from this album from some friends in high school after the album was released. I also had a friend try to turn me on to the group but that is not where I was at the time. It was not until the album was repressed a third time in the late 00s that I got into the group. I really like the music on the album but the lyrics are quite questionable. On the other hand they are things that need to be brought to the attention of the general public and what better way than to ease it in than with music.

The first single released from the album is called Gigantic. This song has lead vocals sung by the bassist, Kim Deal. The bass line is played through the whole song and doesn’t deviate much at all. During the verse just the bass is played and for the chorus the guitar is added. I remember hearing this song on the radio. I thought that it was cool and it reminded me of the old Japanese cartoon Gigantor.

The song Where Is My Mind? Was never released as a single but I have heard it on the radio many times. It has become a fan favorite I guess you could say. The song could have very easily been a single from the album though. The song was inspired by a trip to the carabean that the lead singer of the band, Frank Black/Black Francis, took during is time at University of Massachusetts Amherst. He said this about the scuba trip, “this very small fish trying to chase me. I don't know why — I don't know too much about fish behavior." It is kind of a cute line.

An interesting not to be heard on the song Cactus. Between the second verse and chorus of "Cactus," the band and the studio members can be heard spelling out "Pixies." John Murphy, then-husband of bassist Kim Deal, later commented on the interlude: "You can hear them spelling 'Pixies' in the break, which T. Rex did in one of their songs, The Groover, 'T-R-E-X,' and they were copying it. I was against it, I was like, 'No way I'm not doing it,' because that's so trite. And I'm the only one that didn't do it. Steve Albini went along with it and liked it. So I'm the only one that never got on the records.

David Bowie recorded a version of Cactus song for his Heathen album in 2002. This version features D-A-V-I-D spelled in the break. Bowie performed the song live on his 2002 Heathen Tour concerts and the A Reality Tour. A 2003 live version is found on the A Reality Tour DVD.


This is the seventh 7” single released from Man or Astro-Man? It was released in 1994. There are four songs on this single. It was released in a set of four colors. The colors are translucent orange, a swirly silver and two colors of black. If you held the black ones up to the light you had one of two colors, either a dark orange/red or a dark grey tone. I think that I have the dark orange/red color. The cover graphic is based on a 1960s tin toy that was made by Ohio Art, the same company that created the Etch-A-Sketch.

The first track on the record is Philip K. Dick in the PetSection of a Wal-Mart. It is a funny title. I am not sure that Philip K. Dick was around to see a Wal-Mart but I like the silly idea. There are no lyrics to the song but the ideas that float around in my head simply because of the title of the track are more than enough.

The second track on the 7” Is called The Man From U.N.C.L.E. This is a cover of the theme song for the TV show. I did not know that I knew the song until the first time that I heard it played by the Astro-Men. I don’t remember anything about the TV show itself but the song is classic surf tunes.

The next song on the record is called Transmission FromVenus 94’. It is a re-recording of a song they recorded for a compilation for Roger Corman tribute compilation in 1993. It was such a good song that they decided to re-record it and re-released the song outside of the compilation. It was also included on both of the Australian compilations and Project infinity.

The last song on this single is called Time Bomb. This track has a very fast drum beat and is a very short song. It is reminiscent of some of Dick Dales famous surf songs in that respect.

This is a great view of their early work. If you are not sure about the group this would be a cheap way to check out what they sound like as it is a common 7” record that found pretty easily.

That is all I have for now...
 

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