There have been a rash of new EPs and albums that are only
available as downloads.
She & Him have released a live four track EP called TheCapitol Studios Session.
The Oh Hellos have released a four track Christmas EP called
The Oh Hellos' Family Christmas Album. It is a pay what you want price.
Falling Up has released a Christmas album called Silver City.
On with the show...
This is the latest version of the album The Next Day. This
is a special box set that includes the standard album, The Next Day, along with
a DVD and an extra CD filled with ten more songs. It covers the deluxe edition
bonus tracks, the Japanese exclusive track, two remixes and four new songs. I
didn’t review the original album because I wasn’t sure I wanted to continue
collecting Bowie
material. After hearing this album I am still not sure that I want to fill in
the gaps in my collection. The albums that I am missing are from the mid 80s
through to this album. It isn’t that many albums that I feel that I need but I
am just not sure that I need them at all. I think that the album has some great
points but what album wouldn’t with this much music on it. It isn’t a miss but
it isn’t a hit either.
There have been five singles released from the standard
album. The first of those singles is called Where Are We Now? The single was
released on Bowie’s
66th birthday with no fanfare on iTunes for people to stumble upon.
The song is very slow and reminiscent of the 60s style slow song. It is a song
about reminiscing about time spent and time wasted. There are a lot of repeated
phrases in the song. But it works well.
The second single from the album is called The Stars (AreOut Tonight). The song is fast and up beat compared to the first single. The
song is kind of a pun in that the stars have a double meaning. Not only is it
referring to the stars in the sky but also to the stars as in musicians and
movie stars that have been and are currently living. The song also talks about
the things that they get caught doing by the paparazzi. I think I would have
liked this song if I hadn’t heard the lyrics though.
The next single from the album is called The Next Day. This
is the first song on the album and is a great rocker to start it off. There was
some controversy over the video that accompanied the song in Christian realms.
From Wikipedia, “…The leader of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil
Rights, heavily criticized [the video] and David Bowie, calling the video
"a mess" and referring to Bowie as
"a switch-hitting, bisexual, senior citizen from London".” In my opinion, the video may
not be that great but I was always taught that Christians should be the ones to
rise above not to sink to “their” level. To resort to name calling is
completely sinking to their level or lower considering what Bowie was called even if there is some truth
in it.
The Next day was the reason that I became interested in the
album. I had heard it a few times in my local radio station. I really liked the
hard hitting chorus and that the song seems to be all on all the time. It
reminded me of the new wave music that he was putting out in the late 70s and
early 80s. That was some of my favorite music from Bowie.
The fourth song from the album is called Valentine’s Day.
This song has a slower beat but seems to have a good rock feel to keep it
moving. The song is about gun violence and delivers a veiled anti-gun message.
It is a good song but once you realize what it is about the magic fades a bit.
The fifth and last single from the album is called Love IsLost. This song is very new wave. The version that was released for the song is
the version that comes on the second CD from The Next Day Extra box set. The
remix is called Hello Steve Reich Mix by James Murphy for the DFA. It was
released to promote the latest version of the album. The single comes with an
edited version (4:10) and the standard version (10:26). The longer version is on
the box set. I actually like both the standard album version and the remix
version just the same. The remix version smacks of the LCD Soundsystem style of
writing and is very cool to hear after listening to the standard version. The
standard version has that original sounding Bowie 80s sound that I like so much. Both
versions, although completely different, are supper fantastic.
If you are like me and waited to get this album you will
benefit from having waited with this box set. For those of you who are missing
tracks and have already bought the album, I am sorry you will need to spend
more money to get these amazing extra tracks.
This four song EP was released in may of 2013. It was
released as a 7” record in two different colors. The standard version was
released on Oxblood and the limited version was released on clear with yellow,
orange and red splatter. I was not able to get a copy when it was first
released but just recently bought it used in the limited coloring. It is a very
pretty record and I am very happy to have gotten a copy. The group is a four
piece from Galway Ireland.
Their music is summed up as indie pop or garage pop.
The first track is called Seen You Lately. The opening to
the song burns as a slow rocker but then stops and changes in to a quicker
paced track that is very twee in nature. I could see this group becoming very
popular in Japan as with the
likes of Veronica
Falls and The Pains Of
Being Pure At Heart.
The second track, Let’s Do It, is based on the poem called
Hush And Fall Asleep To Fantasy by Elaine Cosgrove. I can only assume that is
the guitarists sister but have not read that anywhere. It is a cute song about
falling in love.
The third track, Leave Tonight, is a slower track that
reminds me of the music from some of the cartoons that I use to watch as a kid
in the late 70s. It has a sweet and fun beat that I guess if I had to put my
finger on it would remind me of Scooby-doo or Josie and The Pussy Cats. The
song is a lot of fun and makes me feel like a kid again. This is going to be
one of my favorites for sure.
The last track from the EP is called Cherry Blossom. This
track reminds me of some of the female fronted bands of the 90s. I think that
this song may be something like Seether from Veruca Salt. Although the song
Seether is a lot of grunge the vocals are a good match for this song from Dott.
The music that Dott has with the pretty vocals is more twee than grunge by a
long shot.
This is a very good lead in to the album Swoon.
This is the first full length from Dott. It was released
early in December of 2013. This is another indie pop genius album from a little
known group from the UK. The album was released through Graveface Records as a
download, CD or vinyl. The vinyl was pressed in a translucent clear (not clear
enough to be called clear) or limited white with oxblood splatter. The latter
requires being a part of the record club at Graveface Records. The band overall
has a great 60s/70s rock/pop sound that I really like.
Two of the songs from the preceding EP are found on this
album, Leave Tonight and Cherry Blossom. Both are great songs but were not the
single released from the album. The lead single from the album is the song DayThat I Found You. This song is obviously about the first time that someone
meats somebody that they find they really like. It takes a strange turn though
with the lyrics saying that they would do any thing to keep them in their
lives. It is still a good song though with that Scooby-doo style of song
writing that works so well.
The second song released to support the album with Leave
Tonight was the song Start All Over. This is not one of my favorite songs from
the album but it does show a different side of the group. It is a good song; it
is just not catchy enough to be a single on its own. I think there are better
songs on the album than this one.
They are defiantly not a Veronica Falls but still make some
great music. Graveface has a gem that they can continue to polish and make more
brilliant with time in this group. I am very excited to see what else they have
to offer in the future.
This is a promo 7” record that was given away with purchase
of their first album Is It … Man or Astro-Man? in 1993. There are questions
about how many of these records were pressed. Estrus Records says that there
were 200 given away with the debut album and 200 given to the band for
distribution putting the total at 400. The sell sheet reads completely
different. It says that there were 400 for retail sales and a total pressing of
800. This predates the actual release date though and Estrus could have pressed
less or more. On top of this the old MOAM web site said that there were 1000
pressed of this record. So the total could range from 400 to 1000 of this
record pressed. We may never know the true answer. The sleeve was only printed
on one side in black and white. I saw this record up for sale at one point for
$660 bucks at one point. I was lucky to get a copy for a fraction of that
amount.
There were three songs and a special radio promo that are on
this record. The first song from the record is called Out Of Limits. I really
like the song Out of Limits. The title is a pun on the title of the TV show
called The Outer Limits. The opening to the song is the Close Encounters of The
Third Kind sound done with a guitar played by Starcrunch. It sounds real cool
being played on a guitar that is set up for the surf tone.
The first song in the B side is called MST 3000 Love Theme.
This is the first time this cover song was released. This version was also used
in the Destroy All Astromen compilation album that contained most of the B
sides that they released on all of those 7” records that they put out in the
90s. The song is the theme song for the TV show Mystery Science Theater 3000
(MST3K). This was a great show that poked fun at the sci-fi B movies from the
30s, 40s, and 50s. This was exactly what the group is about and covering their
theme song fit perfectly.
The third song from the promo was Reverb 1000 (Live). I
don’t think that this track can be found anywhere else live. I believe that
this version of this song is unique to this 7” record. There is a little intro
to the song and a bit of clapping at the end. It is a great song and that it
being a live recording makes this record super unique.
The radio promo that is on the A side is kind of silly.
There is a guy talking about the new full length album in a strange voice about
how you should go out and buy the album for this that and the other reasons.
There is music from the full length album playing under the guy talking. I
think that there are snippets from three or four different songs on the album
as the guy is talking. This was the reason that I had to have this record. I wanted
so badly to hear this track purely out of curiosity. I can’t say it was a let
down but it certainly wasn’t what I was expecting. I really thought that it was
a song that could only be found on this 7”. It is still interesting though.
This is a new single released from the band. The two track
single was supposed to be released on vinyl on the 9th of December in 2013.
Because of problems at the pressing plant the record will not be released until
January of 2014. The band was kind enough to inform those that preordered the
record and provided them with a download code to get the tracks on time. The
information was sent in an email, so if you ordered the single check your email
for how to get the two tracks digitally.
The A side, Nobody There, is a fun bouncy song about talking
to yourself or that weird point when someone that you thought was there and
suddenly they are gone. Then you’re thinking to your self where did they go?
This is taken a bit farther because they are screaming and not realizing that
there isn’t any body there.
The B side, Need You Around, is the complete opposite of the
A side in terms of lyrics. It is a smoother song and talks about being
dependant on someone for their company. I kind of like what this song sounds
like a bit more than Nobody There. But then I like the smoother sounds over a
danceable beat.
They are both great songs and, if you are a fan, you should
at least download these two tracks.
This is a four track 10” EP. This EPs was released in 2012. The
record was limited to 500 pressings. The copy that I got may have been a
repressing as the fourth track is listed on discogs as Oldsmobile Car but on my
copy it is Heart Heart. I will be getting a copy of You’re Not Alone EP though
and this song is on that EP. The style of music that the band is putting out is
in that new folk movement that has been happening for the past few years. I
like the sound of this new folk movement but at the same time I don’t want to
get into it to heavy. I think it started for me with the first Mumford &
Sons album. This is the first super indie artist that I have dug into. This is
because Slumberland Records will be putting out their second album early 2014.
The title track, Inbetweens, is a slow track that is played
in the simplest way possible. The song has an acoustic guitar, a Rhodes keyboard lead and backing vocals. It is as sweet
and simple as I think I could possibly handle and still like the song.
The second track, Walls, is a slow song about putting up
walls to the people around you and those people breaking through those walls to
help you out. The song is inspirational for me as I have a tendency to put up
those types of walls. I like the fact that they use the banjo in this song too.
The instrument is not used much in my music collection and it is refreshing to
hear it some times.
The fourth song on the EP is called Wonderful Lie. It is a
slow song as well. It is a more intimate song breaking down barriers and
talking about literally being intimate with a girl other while her parents are
in the other room. This is a place that I have been my self. It is exciting and
dangerous but builds a bond that is very special indeed. The song is not sappy
but makes me feel. I feel joy and love from this song. It is probably one of
the best songs I have heard all year really.
This is a great EP and I am excited to get a copy of the new
album and of the first album in the future.
This is a four track EP on a 7” record. I got this EP for
the track Heart Heart. It is a great crowd chanter if the crowd is smart enough
to catch when to yell the words as it is done musically by every other word not
by full phrase. The song is a lot of fun. The other three songs on the EP are
completely different. Actually the fourth song is a remix of Heart Heart called
Heart Rave Heart. This is a very interesting remix as the original is in the
folk genre and you wouldn’t expect an electronic remix of a folk song. It is
very cool that someone did remix it though. The second track has an ear
catching bounce to it. It is called My Struggle. The song is like Stray Cats
meets Dylan. It is very cool. The third track is a slow track called Gethsemane. It is sweet and sappy but good for a
girlfriend mix tape. This is a good EP that shows some of the groups range in
style.
This is a reissue out for Record Store Day Black Friday on
Sundazed Music. It was released on transparent red vinyl 7” at 45 RPMs. It was
limited to 3000 copies but if you’re interested you could probably still get
your hands on one. The music was originally released back in 1963. I remember
playing this song as a part of the pep band at school sporting events. This
song is one of the best teaching tools for snare drummers. It helps them
understand how to put in accent notes in appropriate spots. This is why it is
used in so many schools pep bands and such. This is actually noted on the back
of the sleeve of the single.
From Wikipedia, “Ron Wilson's energetic drum solo made Wipe
Out one of the best-remembered instrumental songs of the period. Wipe Out is
also remembered particularly for its introduction. Before the music starts, Bob
Berryhill's dad broke a board (imitating a breaking surf board) near the mic,
followed by a maniacal laugh and the words "Wipe Out" spoken by band
manager Dale Smallin. Wipe Out was written in the studio by the four original
members (Berryhill, Connolly, Fuller & Wilson) and was originally going to
be titled Switchblade. It sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold
disc.”
Wipe Out is one of my favorite surf songs from the era. This
is mainly due to the fact that I played the song so much as a part of the pep
band but also because I like surf music. There are a lot of songs that have
been released from many surf bands that I really like but they were released
way before my time and it is becoming harder to find them let alone hear them
and recognize the band name and the name of the song.
The B side to this single is called Surfer Joe. The song is
about a great surfer who ends up going into the ARMY. He still loves surfing
though so sometimes he will skip out on the ARMY to go surfing. Because of this
he tends to find himself stuck doing KP frequently.
Both tracks are a lot of fun and I am happy to have this single.
That is all I have until the best of the year next week...
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