Saturday, March 1, 2014

Vol. 5 Episode 6



Black Hearted Brother have a new EP coming out. It will have remixes and B sides on it. It will be a digital only EP and will be released on March 31. You can preorder it at any of your favorite MP3 companies.

I am very excited to say that The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart will be going on tour soon. They will be making a stop in my home town, Minneapolis MN at the Triple Rock Social Club. Tickets are not yet available to purchase but there is a special presale for tickets. There is also a new album coming out soon. Kip put up a short clip recently that is putting every one in a frenzy about the new album. Then, just this week, the first single was released, Simple and Sure, to stream on the internet. The album will be called Days Of Abandon and will be released April 22 on Yebo Music. I have never heard of this record company and am a little disappointed that it will not be on Slumberland Records. Pitchfork posted some information earlier this week.

That is the big new for the week. On with the show...




This is a best of 7” box set from Silversun Pickups. It was released this past Tuesday, February 25, 2014. I got my copy on the Saturday before the actual release date. To my knowledge the collection will be released as a download with eleven songs and as a 7” box set, although, Amazon is selling it as a CDr on demand as well. The box set is being sold as a standard box and as a deluxe set. Both sets come with a 7” adapter printed with the Silversun Pickups name and The Singles Collection on the inner part of the adaptor. On the other side of the adaptor, pressed in the plastic, is the company that made the adaptor, 45rpmrecordadaptor.com. Both versions also have the last 7” in grey. This grey 7” has the new song Cannibal on the A side and Devil’s Cup on the B side. The B side track can only be found on the grey record. It is not a part of the download. Both box sets come with a download card for the first eleven tracks. The deluxe edition also comes with a black T-shirt, buyer chooses the size, with a white graphic of the bridge on the cover of the box. It also comes with a limited edition poster and the band signed the inner box of the box set.

Since every song on this collection has already been released as a single except for the last two, the two on the grey record in the collection, I will only be talking about those two. The track that has been released as a new single is called Cannibal. Lyrically, the song makes me think more about man and the fact that we, as man, eat animals for sustenance. It also talks from the animals’ perspective saying that they want to gang up on man to stop him from eating animals as food. Musically, the song has a very cool guitar slide that is used through the song. The bass and the guitar are distorted and sound very cool on top of each other.

The B side to the previous track is called Devil’s Cup. This track was originally recorded with the Swoon sessions. It hasn’t been released until this box set was put out. The song starts off with a single fuzzy distorted guitar in the groups well known style. I was almost disappointed with the simplicity of the song but it has grown on me. The vocals are just as simple. There are no modifications to the vocals and it sounds very cool. There are points where you can hear the microphone; it is so unedited sounding. I like this a lot. I hope that you all get a chance to hear this track over Cannibal. I am very saddened that this track was not included in the download.


This is the first full length album from Temples. It was released this past Tuesday, February 25, 2014 on Fat Possum Records in the US. I had not heard anything from this band until I heard their first single, released in 2012, on my local radio station, in 2014. I think this is because this is their catchiest song and that the album was coming out this month. My local radio station, 89.3 The Current, doesn’t play most of the music that I like and listen to but they come close. So when they actually pick up on something that I haven’t heard that I do like I get excited. I had never heard anything from them but they do have a similar sound to The Ar-Kaics just a bit more polished. I like both bands but lean toward The Ar-Kaics because of the noise.

Surprisingly there are already four singles released from this album. The first single, Shelter Song, is the song that my local radio station has been playing. The first time I heard it I thought it was a Beatles song that I had never heard before. Luckily, the DJ came on after the song was played to let me know that it was this new group called Temples. After finding this out I went on line to find that the group had been releasing music since 2012. I was bummed to find this out because that means that I would have a very hard time finding the singles on line as they are now out of print.

The second single released is called Colours To Life. This song is a bit slower than Shelter Song but somehow this doesn’t bother me. It may be that it reminds me of that 60s psychedelic sound still so I am not bothered by the slow feel of the song. The back ground has a really cool wave wash type of sound that I can get along with quite well with a nice jangly sound on the guitars.

The third single is called Keep In The Dark. This is a track that reminds me of something from something from the T Rex album Electric Warrior. I am sure that they were aiming for that sound with this track. The song has a seemingly laid back sound but still stands right in your face. I really like the song and could see it released as a single. I don’t see it doing that well here in the US though. It will be another hidden gem in the US but common in the UK.

The last single released from the album is called Mesmerise. This track reminds me of The Beatles again. The melodies and the simple sounding drums are why I feel this way. The guitar solo on the other hand has a tone that is more current than that. It is still a good song.

This is a really good album and fans of the original psychedelic rock sound will love this.


This is the twelfth album from Beck. It was released this past Tuesday, February 25, 2014, on Capitol Records. It was released as a download, CD and on vinyl. The Vinyl came with a separate version of the download. This different version was recorded from a record so there is the needle drop on the beginning of each track from the A side and the B side and there is also some record noise on the tracks. The idea is that it gives the download a more real sound. This was also done with the previous album, Modern Guilt. The album is supposed to be a companion to Sea Change. To help get the sound that was on Sea Change Beck enlisted many of the same musicians who originally recorded that album to play on this new album. Although this album was created with the idea of capturing the same sound as Sea Change the album comes off a little bit lighter than Sea Change. I am happy that it is a bit lighter because Sea Change is so depressing. It is a really good album but it is hard for me to listen to because it is so heavy. Morning Phase is sad but so much easier to listen to.

Beck has already released three singles from the album. The first single is called Blue Moon. This song is really a moderate rocker. I don’t feel like it is a slow song because the beat is quick but the music comes of is thought provoking and slightly depressing. The focus on instrumentation with the track is mainly acoustic and it fits the song well. What I really like is the electric guitar solo that happens toward the end of the song. It plays while the vocals are playing and doesn’t get in the way of the vocals at all. This is a great song and a great lead single for this album.

Waking Light is the second single released from the new album. This track comes off as a bigger sound with strings and a larger percussion section. It brings back the 70s psychedelia sounds and reminds me of elements that Pink Floyd used back then. This song steps a bit deeper into the darkness than Blue Moon started us off with. I actually like this track better than Blue Moon, especially with the big movements in the strings. It just draws me in.

The third release from this album is called Waves. This track is soaked in orchestral movements and builds on what Waking Light had to offer. It is soft, elegant and deeply moving. This one actually reminds me of the music that was on Björk’s album called Homogenic in some ways. The way that the strings move in the song reminds me of something that I can’t quite put my finger on but It very moving to listen to. The song is sleepy, warm and heavy. I feel comfortable listening to the song, like it is an old friend that is nearly forgotten. It is absolutely beautiful and I really can’t get enough of this track.

Over all the album is brilliant and so much more easy to listen to then Sea Change. I recommend this album to anyone and everyone. It is that good.

That is all for now...
 

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