Arcade Fire has announced the release date of their next
album. It will be released on
October 29th.
New album from John Mayer coming out August 20th called Paradise Valley.
The second installment of 20/20 Experience from Justin Timberlake will be
released on September 30th.
Slumberland Records will be putting out the first full
length for Joanna Gruesome. A very cool punk group!
The two Falling Up albums are up to be purchased as physical CDs now.
Here we go...
This is their second full length album. It was released
through Slumberland Records again. The official release date is late in July of
2013. I got my copy last week. The limited vinyl versions are on translucent
light blue with solid blue splatter (at this point this version is sold out).
The standard vinyl versions are on translucent light yellow with solid yellow
splatter. Both vinyl versions are cut at 45 RPMs on two records. The record
sleeves have lyrics on one side and a graphic on the other. There is also a two
sided 12 X 24 inch poster and a download card. The download that the album
comes with gets you a bonus track called Siobhan. The record company also sent
a tour poster and two three inch by three inch cards with graphics from the
album on one side. There was also a set of nine pins that were pressed but I
did not get any of those. It is also available on CD and DL. If you order the
CD from the record company I believe you will get the pins.
There are officially two singles released from the album so
far. The songs on the album are so long that there are no plans to release any
7” or otherwise physical singles. I was saddened to learn this but it also
means that I don’t need to spend any extra money for this band at this time.
The first single from the album is called Mirror. This is also the opening
track for the album. It starts off with a synth ease in and then a noise echo
over the top. The bass comes in and the drums not too far after the bass. The
guitar eases in place of the synth. The song then changes into something more
clear with a clean echo on the guitar. The bass and drums stay pretty much the
same. The vocals are totally mid 80s male and airy sounding. The band
has been classified as shoegaze in the past but with the new clarity in the
music I would lean more towards post-punk/new wave with this release this song
specifically. This is kind of odd but I think this is like a cross between
Flock Of Seagulls and Joy Division. It is really cool sounding.
The second single is called It’s Alright. This song is primarily
driven by the bass line. The bass sounds like it is slightly distorted. It
sounds like what I strive for in my bass playing. the drums are there to mainly
keep the beat but they have a nice rounded sound that fits well with the sound
of the song. The guitar is noisy but is played sparingly. The vocals have a
cool heavy echo on them. The song is very different musically from Mirror but
fits will as a part of the album, a piece of the pie that would be incomplete
with out it.
The group put a lot of time into this album. It shows with
each track. It is a very good loud album. This will probably be one of my top records for the year!
This is the second single released this year (2013) from
Beck. The first was Defriended. It was released in mid July of 2013. Both of
these two singles are non-album singles. Although they are non-album singles we
do have an album to look forward to next year, possibly two. Like I said in an
earlier post (Defriended), I was not a fan of the song reader thing that he did
last year and am happy to hear him recording music again. Like Defriended, IWon’t Be Long was released as a 12” single and as a download. Also, like
Defriended, this single was released as a standard version and an extended
version.
The standard version, the A side of the record is more of a
standard alternative rock song. Although there are some electronic sounds in
the song they are more background sounds than anything else. At the head of the
music are drums, bass and electric guitars. There is, of course, Beck’s vocals
too. I don’t think that the song is as interesting as Defriended but it is
still a good song. I do like the grunge guitar that is stuck in the end of the
song though. It is a nice twist.
The B side is the extended version of the song. The opening
to this song is very cool with an arpegiated synth sound that echoes for about
two minutes before the song actually starts. It does go through changes to keep
the listeners interest. The bass leads the song in after the synth echo is
over. There are more electronic sounds in this version but for the most part it
is the same but stretched out. I especially liked the grunge guitar in this
version because it gets more of a showcase as it is a longer part in this
extended version of the song.
If you like what beck has done in the past then you may be
interested in these two singles. If you liked Modern Guilt you would like both
of these singles for sure.
This is the second full album from the group. There was a
mini album that most fans consider as an EP or something less than a full
album. This new album was released in March of 2013. With the addition of a
fourth member the band had basically started over from scratch. They took the
band in a completely new direction. Their producer said this about the “new”
band, “The expansion to a four piece means the garage-clatter of the spritely
pop songs of their debut have been replaced by a deeper, shadowy exercise
in catharsis, driven by repetition, psychedelia and Dionysian
crisis.” It is an interesting way to think about the group.
There have been two singles released from the album. The
first single is called The New Life. I recently had this to say about the song
(From Vol. 4 Episode 27), “It is a very long song clocking in at 7:36. The song
does seem to go on for ever but if you’re not paying attention it becomes kind
of comforting. It reminds me of some of the stuff that Pink Floyd has done in
the past but not quite as long. The bass guitar stands out with a cool beat.
The lead guitar floats over all the other instruments with the rhythm guitar
hovering between the bass and lead guitar. It is a very cool stereo image when
you pay attention to the song.”
The second single released from the album is called HypnoticRegression. This single was a download only single. The song starts off with
the staccato guitar part which as an echo pedal in the signal path. The high
hat in the drums is being passed through a phaser pedal and sounds so cool. In
the verse the guitar notes are longer so you get a sense of the echo that is on
that guitar. I like the vocalists singing style too. It is that of the 80s new
wave airy male vocals. It is an easy song to bob your head to.
This is the first and only album put out by New Radicals. It
was released in October of 1998. The New Radicals lead singer, Gregg Alexander,
supposedly received an advance of 600,000 bucks to sign with MCA Records and
create the album. Since he had a solo career before signing and being that he
was the only regular member of the group most fans and critics alike considered
the album just an extension of his solo albums. Although the two singles from
the album have additional writing credits. The music is upbeat pop-rock with influences
including funk and soul. Although those are the good points it seems to fall
short somehow.
There were two singles released from the album. The first
was the big hit, You Get What You Give. The song is a classic pop track with
controversial lyrics and name dropping. This was done as an experiment
Alexander said at one point to see if the media would focus on the
controversial content or the name dropping. Of course the media focused on the
name dropping which meant nothing to Alexander. He was disappointed that the
controversial lyrics weren’t hit on at all. With all that being said, the song
is a great pop song.
The second single is called Someday We’ll Know. This single
did not fair as well as the first mainly because Alexander stated that the New
Radicals "will no longer be a recording, promoting, or performing
entity" and that he would focus on producing and writing material for
other artists. This announcement came just as the music video was being
produced for the song and the statement that "the fatigue of traveling and
getting three hours' sleep in a different hotel every night to do boring
'hanging and schmoozing' with radio and retail people is definitely not for
me" effectively stopped all promotion of the song. Although the lyrics were
clever the song was also slower and not as fun to listen to. This did not help
the song in my opinion.
This is not an album that needs to be purchased. I found it
for a buck at one of my pawn shop runs. The first single is superb though and
everyone should hear it if not own it.
That is all I have for now...
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