Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Vol. 5 Episode 10




It has just been announced that The Black Keys will be releasing a new album called Turn Blue on May 13 of 2014. They have also just released the first digital single called Fever. The cover is a very dizzying blue and purple swirl. You can preorder it at The Black Keys web page with or without a T-shirt. It is produced by Danger Mouse and The Black Keys so it should be a very good album. 

Sea Wolf is still working on an acoustic tour. He will be in my home town on April 27th but Tickets are not yet on sale and it is on the Sunday night after my vacation. I may not be able to go because of this. I also don't know how much the tickets will be yet either.

Here we go...




This is a single released in support of Carnavas in 2006. It is a picture disc. I am not a fan of picture discs usually because this style of record manufacturing has inherent noise. This is because the picture is paper and the vinyl is pressed over that. The vinyl that is on top of the paper is very thin and has the potential to have the grooves go down to the paper. The only reason to do a picture disc, it’s pretty. This single is limited edition of, possibly, 1000 pieces. It was released in the UK only. It comes in a clear plastic sleeve with a sticker. The white bar on the sticker has the number of the order that the record was pressed in. There are four digits, leading people to believe that there may be a total of 1000 pressed.

The A-side is Future Foe Scenarios. The song has a lot of guitar noise. Underneath all the noise is a great melody. I think that this is what attracted me the most to the group. I like noise and I like a good melody. The vocals are also very interesting. it has been said that they are big fans of The Smashing Pumpkins and try to emulate them as much as possible. I think this is the case with the vocals as they are on the higher side of the male vocal range. This is the same with all of their songs. I don’t have a problem with this either.

The B-side is called Table Scraps. The song is a slower song than the A-side of the single and doesn’t have the same noise either. The only thing that is noisy on this track is the bass guitar; it has a distortion pedal on it. Every other instrument is clean sounding. I cant say that it is a pretty song but it is interesting still.

This is a promo single released with the last album, Neck of The Woods. It was given away at retailers selling the album or with an online purchase at the Silversun Pickups web store. Some retailers had overstock on the single. The copy that I got has some bad record noise. I did my best to clear it up on the computer when I recorded it but I can still hear it. I don’t know if this is the case with all copies of the record though. The copy that I got was also housed in a clear plastic sleeve. I was very discapointed that it was also packing tape sealed. When I opened it, it left a sticky residue that I had to get off, very annoying.

The A-side is the single as it appears on the album. I had this to say about the song in Vol. 3 Episode 18, “The song starts out with a simple two chord flow that turns into a four chord run. It is really cool but doesn’t sound like the group until the chorus hits. I like when a group tries new things just not so new that the group alienates its fans. This single is perfect and will make fans very happy. At least it makes me very happy any way.”

The B-side is a remix of Bloody Mary (Nerve Endings) remixedby Math Bishop. This version has electronic drums giving the song a more danceable feel. The bass guitar has been replace by a synth bass sound that is more bouncy. There has also been added a high pitched plinking sound that seems to fit the song well. There is also a background soaring synth that has become common in pop music but still fits well in the music.

This is not a necessary single unless you’re a collector. I do recommend hearing the remix if you can find it though. It is very good.


This is a CD promo single for Substitution. It was released in 2009 in the UK. The copy that I have has a sticker on the front with promo information about the album and the single. This is the only version of this song put out as a single. This is a very good song so it is a little bit disappointing that it didn’t get a regular release.

The A-side track is the album version of the song. It has a nice flow and a good riff. The vocals blend so well with the music. The song just gives me that warm feeling. The music is very simple but complex at the same time. This is one of their best songs from that album and that is why I got the single.

The B-side track is the instrumental version of the song. There are no vocals at all. Listening to this version just shows how perfect the music for the song is. I could listen to this on repeat over and over.


This is a compilation CD EP that was released in Japan. It was released in late 2013 and compiles the B-side tracks from the four main singles from the new album Sun Structures. By getting this EP I have probably saved myself a few hundred dollars trying to track down the vinyl singles.

The title track, Shelter Song, is the first song that they released way back in 2012. This is the song that introduced me to the group. It is very beatlesesque sounding. I really like the pairing of the distorted guitar with the clean jangle sound of the second guitar. I really like the music that this group has put out and am glad that there was a B-sides collection available, even if it was only released in Japan.

The second track, Prisms, was originally the B-side for the title track. It is a pretty song that makes use of the flute in the song. The song overall is very fluffy and uses vocal harmonies making the song so easy to listen to. Not my favorite song on the EP but still very pretty.

The third song is called Colors To Life. This is a track that is already on the new album. I think this track was included because it was going to be a single or just to introduce people to their music. It is still good music so it doesn’t really matter to me.

The fourth track is called Ankh. It is the B-side to Colors To Life. This track has a fun almost electronic bouncy drum track. The song also has an over the top synth sound that actually reminds me of something that Faith No More would have used in a song. It is almost like a circus sound but not quite.

The last track is called Jewel of Mine Eye. This track is the B-side to Keep In The Dark. The song isn’t as fun as the other couple of B-sides. It is just kind of bla. It has a good marching beat but that is really all that I like about it.

If you are into the group this is the cheapest way to get the B-sides from the singles that have been released.


Simple and Sure is the first single for the new album. The music for the song is happier than the music that has been released from the group in the past. It is for sure more pop and I think that is what Kip is aiming for. The specific parts are more bright and different as his backing band line up has changed since the last two albums. I look forward to hearing the rest of the album and seeing them in concert.







Coming up is some new music from Slumberland Records and a good shoegaze group recommended by the band Whirr. That is all for now...

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