Foxes has a new single out in early November. The song is
called echo, and you can see the video up on youtube right now.
The new Pains of Being Pure At Heart single should be up for
preorder pretty soon.
I also recently bought the first Lorelei album on CD because
it has two extra tracks that are not on the record. I haven’t listened to the
two tracks yet but I am happy to have all of the songs released for this album.
I am now just missing a 7” record called The Bitter Air.
I don’t think that I have brought this up yet but My
Chemical Romance (MCR) are releasing an unusual collection of songs. They had
recorded a full album after The Black Parade and scrapped it. Instead they
released Danger Days. They have decided to release this scrapped album. You can get them at the MCR web page to pre-order now. It is called Conventional Weapons. They
are going to released it as a 7” box set or as downloads. I have purchased a
copy of the box set but will not see a physical product until February when the
last of the 7” records will be released. I will get access to the downloads as
each 7” is released though. The first 7” will be released at the end of
October and there will be a total of 5 records in the box set. I am very excited about this project and will keep you all up to date
as they come out. I do know that the first record will be pressed on orange
vinyl. It will remain to be seen if all if the records in my version will also
be colored.
On with the show...
This is the third album from Sea Wolf. It was released in
the fall of 2012. This album goes back to the smoothness that was on the first
album. I really like the vocals on this album. They are not quite as good as
with Leaves In The River but are so much better than with White Water, White
Bloom. The drums are a little bit mechanical at some points but over all are
very well done. The instrumentation, especially the acoustic guitar, sounds
amazing.
I ordered this album from a website called
ShopRadioCast.com. I preordered the album about a month in advance. They took
my money in advance as well. I like that they take my money when I have it
instead of when the album is released in the future when I am not sure that I
will have the money at that time. The problem is that if I decide that I don’t
want the album I can only get store credit back. The problem came when the
album did not ship on the release date. I tried to call them but it goes
straight to voice mail. I was really pissed about this because the web page
states that you can call them to make orders. I find this impossible since they
never called back either. If I leave a message with my phone number I expect a
call back. I did however get prompt apologetic emails back though. Apparently
they got a delayed shipment of the album by two to three weeks. This seems odd
to me. The phone problem was never resolved and never approached in the couple
emails that I received. I have ordered from this company only one other time
and that was with the second Sigur Ros 10” single from the last album Valtari.
I did not even pay attention to that single so I am not sure if it was late or
on time. I would not recommend buying anything from this company because they
can’t seem to guarantee anything and if they can’t get their hands on the
product as promised you are stuck with store credit instead of a refund. I
don’t know about you but I want my money back!
There has been only one single, Old Friend, released from
the album that I am aware of so far. It does not have a physical release but it
is up on the Sea Wolf site to preview. This song is a great lead off song for
the album. It has a great beat. It is sort of funny because most Sea Wolf songs
are slow and this one has a quick beat that is unexpected. It is almost
danceable. I love the acoustic guitar and electric guitar back and forth that
happens in this song too. It is a pretty song that floats but still has pop
sensibility with the exceptional drums on the track.
The album is a great album that should not be over looked. I
think that is the biggest problem with Sea Wolf. They seem to be over looked
quite a bit. If you are a fan of Bon Iver or the Avett Brothers you may like
this album too.
This is the second album from The Soft Pack. It was released
in August of 2012. I bought this album from Amazon on vinyl. When I got it I
found out that the record was part of the “Flamingo Edition”. Apparently there
were 2000 of this version pressed and 300 pressed with a limited cover pressed.
I don’t know if there was a price difference between the two though. I was
delighted to get the Flamingo Edition anyway. I was not expecting it at all. I
like to get a limited version if I can. The inner sleeve is covered with
Flamingos in various positions with black bowties and black healed shoes on.
The funny thing was that the inside of the outer sleeve was covered in the same
graphic. It was cute.
The album as a whole is not that great. I expected more from
the group and they did not deliver. I was very disappointed. There are a couple
of good songs though. They are the singles mainly though. The first single is
called Saratoga.
It starts off right quick with a fun bass line. The vocals are a little slow
though. What could have been a great fast song is slowed down by the vocals
some what. It is still a great song though.
The second single, Tallboy, is an interesting song that
makes use of an organ. This was released as a promo single only. The organ
sound reminds me of the old Vox red body organ that was used in the 60s and 70s
a lot. This song is slower than the first single. It is a good song but it
doesn’t make me want to come back to the song or the album for that matter to
listen again and again.
There is one song that I totally like a lot. That is the
song called Bobby Brown. This song is officially the third single from the album. There is a keyboard part that makes this song so good.
The guitar is simple and the drums make the parts work together but the
keyboard part is what makes this song. It reminds me of something that would
have come from the 80s pop scene. It is perfect. To make it even more 80s they
added a saxophone solo in the middle of the song. I like that just as much as
the keyboards. I hope that they release this as a single.
You can see the flamingos in the videos that I have linked to the second and third songs.
This is the fifth album from James. It was released in 1993.
Brian Eno produced all tracks on the album except one, One Of The Three. This
track was recorded on a day that Eno took off. At the time this was a somewhat
underground album. I think that I ran across it through the Bevis and Butt-head
show that aired on MTV with the videos between the stories. The first single is
what made me originally buy the album. It is a great album that flows expertly.
At some point I sold the CD, probably to one of my local record stores. It was
only recently that I purchased it again. This was on my trip to the pawn shop a
couple months ago. I bought it for a dollar along with about ten or so others.
I have made mention of this trip with some of the other albums that I have
talked about already.
There were three singles that I can find that were released
from this album. The first single is called Laid. I pulled this from Wikipedia,
“Emotionally evocative and featuring the risqué lyrics "This bed is on
fire with passionate love, the neighbours complain about the noises above, but
she only comes when she's on top", it quickly gained popularity on American
college radio and remains the group's best known song in that country. Because
of the lyrics, the music video of the song replaced the infamous line with
"she only sings when she's on top" (although Tim Booth clearly
lip-syncs the original line, and is accompanied by a subtitle reading
"hums"”. The song has a great acoustic guitar and organ part. It is
really the lyrics that are the star on this song. The lysics push the ideas of
romance and sex. It is a beautiful song about about just that, love, romance and
relationships that work for a strange reason.
The second single released from the album is called
Sometimes (Lester Piggot). It is another pretty song. The lyrics for the most
part are spoken instead of sung. The chorus is sung though. The singer is singing
about things that I don’t understand because they are from England. But
the chorus is plain as day. He sings, “Sometimes, when I look into your eyes I
swear I can see your soul.” For me it just means that you have a relationship
so deep that you know the person physically, mentally and spiritually. That is
a special relationship. I don’t think that I can ever have that kind of a
relationship. I, personally, have too many walls that are in the way.
The last single released from this album is called SaySomething. This song as a very cool sounding 80s guitar that Eno is famous for.
Along with a mind numbing mono tone that beeps through all of the verse parts.
It floats just under the surface but if you listen for it you will hear it. The
song is another beautiful track about an argument between a couple. It is a one
sided argument as the other side has given in to the silent treatment. This is
something that I am guilty of consistently.
This is one of those forgotten gems of the early mid 90s. It
is a wonderful album that actually has great dynamic range. Eno did a great job
with this album. The group is still around but they have not made a hit in the USA since this
album.
The June Brides – A January Moon & Between The Moon And
The Clouds
This is a single from The June Brides. The single came out
in June 2012, go figure. It is the first release from the group since 1985. It is a Slumberland Records release. The
single came with a CD. The CD has not only the two tracks from the 7” but also
a bunch of stuff from the lead singers, Phil Wilson, solo efforts, B-sides and
demo tracks. Not only that, but Phil covered a couple of tracks from The June
Brides too. The last track is a stripped down version of Cloud that sounds so
beautiful.
Both of the tracks from the 7” are very intimate. The first
single,A January Moon, is a song that reminds me of a hot cloudy summer day. It is very
pretty and kind of pulls on a feeling that I have about summer cloudy days. The
B-side, Cloud, is a kind of quirky song that I have mixed feelings about. I like it but
it is sort of weird like a Jens Lekman song. I want to understand it better but
I am not sure that I should try.
The rest of the CD is very good even if all of the tracks
are not a part of the June Brides cannon. It does still come from a major
contributor and I guess that counts for something. Hearing this music has made
me want to check out their first album from back in 1985 though and I will be
searching that out as soon as I can.
That is all I have for now...
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