It looks like I am back on track with the posts for the year. I think that I will have it planned out to have a Thanks Giving close for the year.
I am very excited for the upcoming releases for the Man or Astro-Man? analog single series through Chunklet.com. I saw some previews as to what the next single colors will be. It looks like a green and silver metallic seal with a red window, don't know about vinyl colors yet though. I don't know what the track names are going to be quite yet either. I am still waiting for the pre-order for the Atoms For Peace single. There is also a new Pains of Being Pure At Heart single coming out next month along with a single and album release coming from Weekend off of Slumberland Records soon. My Chemical Romance have announced a 7" box set to be released over a period of 5 months too. I have also purchased the Live Current Vol. 8 box set. It is a limited compilation of live tracks taken from the year at 89.3 The Current. My wife and I have been members since the station started and have been collecting these compilations over the years. They have even put out three of these compilations, including this one, on vinyl. The box set will have a copy of the double vinyl, a copy of the CD and a limited edition poster. It should be here next month depending on how swiftly the vinyl gets pressed.
So, here we go...
This is the groups’ fourth album. It was released September
18, 2012. InSound has an exclusive gold vinyl release of the album. I was able
to get a copy of the colored vinyl. I was also able to listen to the album in
full on the NPR first listen special that they do usually a week before an
important release. I did not write about it then because I knew that the
following week the album would be on my door step. The album has been described by the members of Grizzly Bear as
their most collaborative album, with vocalist and guitarist Daniel Rossen
noting that their aim was to "write and make music that is as
collaborative as possible, so that we have a product that we all feel a sense
of authorship over as a collective."
There have not been any official singles released from this
album but there have been two songs that have been available to listen to
before the album was released. The first of those two songs is called SleepingUte. It is very different from the singles from the previous album. The vocals
are great but the music is different than what I was expecting. I like it
though. There are more electronic sounds I guess are what are really different.
I was expecting more acoustic sounds but this change in direction is actually
welcome.
The other song that has been put out for fans to hear early
is called Yet Again. The song is very pretty and moves along at a slower clip.
The drums push this song along and that is a good thing as the song would drag
if they didn’t.
I really like this group a lot. They have made some very
beautiful music through all four albums that they have put out. If I were to
recommend an album I think that this would be my first recommendation as it
combines the different sounds from all three past albums and adds to it.
Although my favorite is the third album, it is nothing like the previous two.
This is his fourth album. It was released in 2001. I found
out about this album from the facebook game app called Song Pop. I got the
electronic bundle and heard sample for the song Drop a few times during various
games. I really liked the sound clip that was played for the song and decided
that I had to have the album. I had already owned his fifth album and thought I
would give it a try. The album makes use of sounds in nature, including bird
sounds and water drops, which is unheard of in electronic music. Cornelius has
a very unique sound in his music. It is not only on this album but also on the
fifth album that he put out in 2006 called Sensuous. I like both albums because
of this. I will probably look into earlier albums too because I like both of
the albums that I have. Unfortunatly, he is no longer associated to Matador Records,
so, there may not be any more music from Cornelius. The future is unwritten
though.
There were two singles released from this album. The first
is called Drop. This song features lots of water sounds through out the song.
The sounds are not just random though. The sounds were sampled so that they
could be set to the beat of the song. It makes for a great sounding natural
song. This is the song that was introduced to me through the Song Pop app.
After hearing the whole song I was just as amazed and tickled as I was when I
heart the song Music from the follow up to this album. Any fan of electronic
music will love this album because of its use of analog nature sounds within
the beat of the music.
The second single released from this album is called Pointof View Point. I love the use of the acoustic guitar in electronic music. This
song showcases the acoustic guitar along with the layered vocals to give
harmony’s in the song. There is also sparing use of a synth bass sound. He does
such as great job of keeping the music so light. It reminds me of some of the
earlier work of Pizzacato 5.
This is a really amazing album and I would recommend it to
anyone who was skeptical of electronic music.
This is the third album from The Streets. It was released in
2006. This group is not considered by most to be a part of the grime genre but
is a way into the grime genre as the music is influenced by the genre
completely. Grime is a form of rap created in the UK. The streets style is more of
story telling than anything else. The story streams from one track to the next
making the album as important as the song.
The first single released from the album is called When YouWasn’t Famous. The song is about how the singer finds it easier to have
relationships with non-famous females as opposed to the famous ones now that he
is famous. It is still unclear as to if this song is about someone specific.
The song itself is incredibly simple with a big up-beat sound. The song comes
off as innocent but with adult content. He is talking about one night stands
after all.
The second single from the album is called Never Went ToChurch. This song is a tribute to Skinners’ father who passed away. It is an
emotional slow song. The song seems to follow the chord progression to The
Beatles song Let It Be. The song also gets inspiration from gospel and R&B
music. It is quite a good song but a bit depressing. This is to be expected I
guess as it is a remembrance of his late father.
The third single is called Prangin’ Out. This song brings
back the simplistic music that The Streets are known for. It is his usual style
of rap verse and vocal chorus. There is something refreshing about how he
writes his music. There is just the right abount of dead air space between the
notes to make the music interesting and his raps are mostly about the real
world. It is nothing like the gangster rappers in the US where it is
all about the money, girls or cars. This is what I love about The Streets. He
shows you the reality of his life not the fluff that I and most people just
don’t care about (cars, money or girls) This is why I stopped listening to US rap.
The last song that I am going to talk about is called War OfThe Sexes. This was my introduction to The Streets. It was not actually
released as a single that I am aware of. It was played on my local public music
station, 89.3 The Current. This song rang so true and hilariously at that. The
song uses some very clever and funny lines. The song is basically sung from the
male perspective and about trying to get a woman back to your flat. The last
line of the song is absolutely hilarious. He says at the end of the song,
“Remember not to get hammered, cause’ people who get hammered don’t get a nail!”
This was a limited release from Squarepusher. The album
consists of twelve tracks recorded from Squarepusher's September 2007 live
performance at Cité de la Musique in Paris,
France, as part
of the Jazz à la Villette 2007 festival. The release is limited to 850 copies
worldwide. The album sounds nothing like what Squarepusher is known for as it
is just what it says, solo electric bass. I really like his electronic work but
this really shows how good of an artist he is with the bass guitar. I would go
as far as to say he rivals Jaco Pastorius. The problem with this album is that
it all sort of blends together. There are no real songs in this collection. The
tracks are not even named uniquely. If you like Squarepusher for his electronic
music then this is not the album for you. If you just want to fill out your
collection or you have a good understanding of how the electric bass works this
may be for you. I am a bassist and think that this is a great inspiration but
it is not an album that I will be listening to very often. I would like to make
note that the cover art is similar to the graphics used by My Bloody
Valentines’ second album, Loveless. I am not sure if this was on purpose but it sure
looks cool.
That is all I have for now...
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