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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