Beck has a new single being released on 12” vinyl. The song
is called Defriended. You can get it now from his shop.
Coming up next week will be the new remix album from Family
Force 5 called Reanimated. I am very excited about this one!
On with the show...
In support of the latest album the third single was released
in mid June 2013. It was released on Slumberland Records in the US. The song is
the title track for the latest album, their second album to date. It is a no
frills release, black vinyl 7” with two tracks.
Here’s what I wrote in Vol. 4 Episode 6 ,”Waiting
For Something To Happen is the title track for the album and has a great beat
to it. I am not sure if it is single worthy but it is a great danceable song.
It seems to be about being not sure about what to do in a given situation. The
chorus sings, “ Everybody’s crazy, what’s your excuse baby, standing in the
middle, waiting for something to happen.” It reminds me of middle school dances
when they use to have video screens up. I remember everyone dancing and I would
just stand there watching some of the videos play. All of my friends would try
to get me to dance but I couldn’t really dance anyway.”
Apparently, as we see with this single release, Waiting For Something To Happen is
single worthy and I am happy to see the song released as such. It keeps pushing
the band more into the public eye. I am very excited for the band and any
release that they are able to put out.
The B side track, Perpetual Motion, is a foray into a new
realm for the group. It is a very psychedelic track that reminds me of
something that The Beatles may have attempted back in the day. The track was
recorded in New York during the last US tour. The
song doesn’t have any drums in it. One of the two guitar parts that are on the
track was reversed to give it that psychedelic sound. The lead vocals are
double tracked and in the chorus the male vocals give the only bass sounds in
the song. It is a really simple but cool track.
This CD sampler came with my veronica falls single. It
features seventeen tracks from the past and near future releases. Upon looking
at the releases I found that I had nine of the tracks on the sampler already. I
was excited to hear those other eight tracks though. Internet streaming on the
computer is totally inferior to listening to the music on the stereo.
I wanted to hear the new English Singles track called
Ordinary Girls. I wasn’t too keen on the vocals for the group but the song is
very pop. I just don’t think that I can get over the vocalists singing style.
I wanted to hear the new single from Kids On A Crime Spree
track called Creep The Creeps. I was pleasantly surprised with this track and
will probably pick up some more from the group. The simple guitar riff is
killer. I like this track a lot.
The next track that I wanted to hear from the sampler was
from a band called Girls Names. The track is called Hypnotic Regression. The
high hat in the drums is being passed through a phaser and sounds so cool. I
also like the staccato notes played through the guitar that has the echo pedal
on it. That is super cool as well. I like the vocalists singing style too. I
will probably be getting some music from them as well.
The next two tracks were from The Spectrals and The Mantles.
The tracks were called Milky Way and Brown Balloon respectively. The Spectrals
were trying to hit something from the 80s but it didn’t sit right with me. The
Mantles were in the groove of Golden Grrrls but in a different fuller sound. It
is not that I don’t like them but there is only so much of that style that I
can handle and Golden Grrrls is where I stop.
The next two tracks were from Alo Darlin’ and Evans The
Death. The tracks were called Northern Lights and Catch Your Cold respectively.
The Alo Darlin’ track is a sweet late 90s styled track that I think I could
really get into. The Evans The Death track was more in your face. I just didn’t
really like the tone of the vocalist. I couldn’t get into it.
The last track that I wanted to hear was from Black
Tambourine. The song is called What’s Your Game. It is a slower track with
droning guitar and soft female vocals. I could get into it just for the guitar
work. I have heard other tracks from the group but was not satisfied with them.
Maybe I will have to revisit them to see if I have changed my mind.
Here is the full track listing for the compilation:
Veronica
Falls - Teenage
English Singles - Ordinary Girls
Kids On A Crime Spree -
Creep The Creeps
Weekend - Mirror
Wax Idols - When It Happens
Girls Names - Hypnotic Regression
Spectrals - Milky Way
The Mantles - Brown Balloon
Golden Grrrls - Take Your Time
Veronica
Falls - Waiting For
Something To Happen
Allo Darlin' - Northern Lights
Evans The Death - Catch Your Cold
Lorelei - Sorry For The Patience
Frankie Rose - Night Swim
VIOLENS - When To Let Go
Echo
Lake - Another Day
Black Tambourine - What's Your Game
You can listen to all the tracks at the Slumberland RecordsSoundcloud site.
This is a new EP from Whirr. It is scheduled for release on
July 9, 2013. I got my copy a week and a half early. This was put out in
multiple formats (LP, DL, CD and cassette). The LP was put out in different
colors. The record club version is black center with clear outer edge. The more
common color is clear with black splatter. The rarer version is 180 gram black.
I like colors so I ordered the clear with black splatter. I am not a member of
the Graveface record club so I did not get that version either. If you follow
my twitter you probably already caught the vine that I put up of the inner and
outer sleeve with the record spinning on the turntable. The outer sleeve is
actually a die cut of the groups’ swirly logo. It is very cool but easily
damaged. I have no idea what the inner sleeve graphic is but it looks interesting.
This is the graphic that I have posted.
The EP is only four songs but is just as beautiful as their
previous releases. The first track is called Drain. It starts off with an
unaltered electric guitar with just a hint of echo on it. It is a long lead in
to the song. It is very pretty though. When the song kicks in it is very slow
and powerfully hard hitting on the beat. The vocals are still floating in with
the music as has been their style from day one. The lead guitar soars high over
all of the music. It is a noisy song but very beautiful at the same time.
The second song on the EP is called Swoon. Right from the
get go with this one it is hard hitting noise. It backs off and becomes
something better with the band getting quiet and the lead guitar showing us
where the song will be going. The rest of the band comes back in with the
cotton candy female vocals floating in the middle of the music, not
understandable but not needing to be either.
The third track is called Keep. This one had a very pretty
fade in with the guitar and drums standing in front. It is a slower track like
the first song. The drums sound like they are in the back of a long cave giving
them a cool echo sound. There is a lot of guitar noise in this track, feed back
every now and again. This one musically is loud soft loud for the most part. In
the quiet parts the vocals stand out a bit more. In the loud parts the drums
and guitar stand out a bit more. It is a different take than the band has done
in the past.
The last track is the title track, Around. This one also
uses some guitar feedback type of noises. It is not done excessively loud though.
The drums have that echo on them again. I really like that echo sound on the
drums. It is a different facet to the drums that is not used much. Joy Division
used a lot of cool effects on the drums like this though. The vocals stand up
in front of the group a little more than the first three tracks have. The
vocalist has a very pretty voice. The layering of the guitars helps to showcase
her voice too.
This is a very good EP from a band that has a lot of little
releases under their belt. I am very excited to see what else they come up
with. Hopefully another full length in the future.
This is the first release from Culture Club. It was released
in late 1982. There are many versions of this album. The initial release had a
purple boarder around the picture. It was later changed to black. The rerelease
was put back to purple in 2003. I found an original copy with the purple
boarder. The initial pressings did not have the track Time (Clock Of The
Heart). It was added to the US
version. Other versions have Do You Really Want to Hurt Me as the first track,
as the first track on the second side or as the last track on the second side.
I think that the original first pressing for the US has the track as the first
on the A side with Time (Clock Of The Heart) as the first track on the B side
but it is not listed on the outer sleeve at all. This is the version that I have.
I was very confused because this version is not mentioned on most sites.
There were five singles released from the album, although
only three of them were top ten hits. The first two singles from the album were
White Boy and I’m Afraid Of Me. Both are fair songs but did not fair well with
the public. White Boy barely cracked the charts and I’m Afraid Of Me peaked at
100 in the UK
charts.
The third single was Do You Really Want To Hurt Me. This was
what the public wanted to hear. It was a global sensation and became a number
one hit in the UK and number
two in the US.
The song is instantly recognizable with the opening chords and Boy Georges
lyrics. The song was used by the cover band in the movie The Wedding Singer
making it more recognizable to those that grew up in the 80s. It is a great
song that is easy to groove to. The group also focused on the sounds from
Central American calypso and reggae sounds.
The fourth single released from this album was Time (ClockOf The Heart). This song was more of a new wave track than either calypso or
reggae sounding. The strings and clean synth bass sounds make the song one of
my favorites from the album. The strings take from the disco era but the bass
was what kept this track current. The saxophone solo also helped to keep it
current as this was the cool thing to add to your songs at the time.
The last single from the album was called I’ll Tumble 4 Ya.
This one went back to the calypso sound with a set of horns and the steel drum.
Both of these instrument sets set this song apart as unique. The lyrics and the
beat certainly helped too. It was an easy song to find a groove to dance to.
This is my second favorite song from the album.
This really is one of the great albums from the early 80s
for that new wave feel.
That is all I have for now...
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