Oh No Ono "Yes" is a fun, full-on 1980s throwback. The songs are so fucking catchy and I'm ready to invent a few dances after one listen. And the lyrics are appropriately awesome. Like in the... wow, almost Gary Numan meets ELO meets Supertramp "Ba Ba Baba Ba Ba Well Anyway."
DEPECHE MODE live at Rock am Ring 2006
A very disappointing performance, I felt. Dave Gahan must be back on the smack because he's just annoying onstage, slipping into an apparent impression of the cockney nutjob character from The Mighty Boosh every so often. Um, crossed with Ozzy circa the early 1980s. My man needs to go into rehab, get with a vocal coach and get with someone about developing a stage presence. I tried to look away but it didn't work, I could still hear him. He was way off pitch for most of the show. Martin Gore fared only slightly better, but he would pretty much have to in comparison. The stage itself was neato enough but the fake UFO wraparound things on the keyboard risers pretty much hid away any other elements of human musical activity. And I'm actually a proponent of electronic music. I personally have no problem with bands that use live sequences onstage. The drummer was, um, wow. Really good but I don't think ideally suited for that type of music. Or, what I assume the type of music is. Electronic? And what does Andrew Fletcher do exactly? The song selection was boring. And the new arrangements of some of the old stuff were, um, god, like nu-metal. Distorted power chord guitar.... even if it is Martin Gore playing it, it still ruins the effect. Ah yes, except for "I Feel You," which of course has been covered by many euro death metal bands. Their one chance to rock the fuck out and what did they do? They did nothing. The chorus was the same volume & intensity as the verse, bleh. And the filming, I have a beef and a half with the gimmicky, clever filming. I just want to see the band and the stage. Two things I never want to see are super slow motion closeups of sections of the lighting rig and more than a couple of audience shots. This fucker was almost 50/50 audience and band in spots. So, fuck that. This video is good for what it is. Unfortunately, just like Motley Crue's set at Rock am Ring last summer, it just highlights the many flaws.
Thursday, August 31, 2006
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Well Thought Out Twinkles
ICE-T
Rhino Hi-Five
Um. Five Ice-T classics, no really, classics, together at last on one modern EP. Serving what purpose I have no idea. Surely an Ice-T greatest hits compilation would be longer than five tracks. "Rhyme Pays" sounds more LL Cool J than I remember. It still sounds raw. "Soul on Ice" is a great little narrative thing...."I'm Your Pusher," obviously. "Shut Up, Be Happy" is a strange pick since it's just a mashup of Black Sabbath and Jello Biafra. "O.G. Original Gangster" in 1991 should've been the beginning of a string of great rap albums. Unfortunately it was pretty much the end. Body Count happened the following year and of course he hasn't done anything musically worth a shit since.
IRON MAIDEN
A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH
Do I dare? I skipped the last Maiden album but I really enjoyed Brave New World. "Different World" is a nice headbanging take on the idea of, um, having an open mind about other peoples' points of view. I'd love to see an audience singing about how much they respect other cultures, for example. "These Colours Don't Run" is apparently about american military types with flags tattooed on their asses. "It's the same in every country". God, I love this album already. "Brighter Than a Thousand Suns" is about Bruce Dickinson growing up with the threat of nuclear war looming. Musically it has nice dynamics. And on and on. It's a political Iron Maiden record. Fortunately for me I happen to agree with their stances. Metal titans and politics don't usually go together. But I like this so far.
IRVING
Death in the Garden, Blood on the Flowers
Lengthy titles are usually a predictor of bad things musically. Not always. "The Gentle Preservation of Chidlrens' Minds" is modern alternative rockery. "She's Not Shy" too. Two guitars, keyboards, bass, drums. Three note singer dude. It reminds me of Interpol but without the ghoulish bombast. For better or worse.
KOOP
Koop Islands
"Koop Island Blues" reminds me of Lovage. ie electronic swing with h0tt female vox. "Come to Me" is more of the same, cheesy swingy music with syrupy singing. Not bad for what it is, whatever that means.
SILVERSUN PICKUPS
Carnavas
"Well Thought Out Twinkles" is cool & melodic modern rock with kind of a 70s throwback guitar melody. Engagingly uptempo but not necessarily happy alt rock guitar trax. It must be good if I can't think of anything else.
TOKYO POLICE CLUB
A Lesson in Crime EP
What I love about "Cheer it On" is that it just sounds like the stupidest fucking thing in the world until the chorus hits. By which time, forget about it. It rules. They remind me of the Strokes and everyone else, sure. But still. Who cares. Originality is overrated & outmoded.
THE VEILS
Nux Vomica
Moody, screamy rock. Wiv acoustick guitars an that. Extra large. The lyrics have Morrisseyish aspirations, I reckon. "Advice for Young Mothers To Be." What else could it be.
NICKY WIRE
I Killed the Zeitgeist
Um, moody screamy rock wiv electrick guitars an' that. Rubbish on purpose, only is it. On purpose, I mean. Obviously it's rubbish. Just listen to his singing voice.
Rhino Hi-Five
Um. Five Ice-T classics, no really, classics, together at last on one modern EP. Serving what purpose I have no idea. Surely an Ice-T greatest hits compilation would be longer than five tracks. "Rhyme Pays" sounds more LL Cool J than I remember. It still sounds raw. "Soul on Ice" is a great little narrative thing...."I'm Your Pusher," obviously. "Shut Up, Be Happy" is a strange pick since it's just a mashup of Black Sabbath and Jello Biafra. "O.G. Original Gangster" in 1991 should've been the beginning of a string of great rap albums. Unfortunately it was pretty much the end. Body Count happened the following year and of course he hasn't done anything musically worth a shit since.
IRON MAIDEN
A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH
Do I dare? I skipped the last Maiden album but I really enjoyed Brave New World. "Different World" is a nice headbanging take on the idea of, um, having an open mind about other peoples' points of view. I'd love to see an audience singing about how much they respect other cultures, for example. "These Colours Don't Run" is apparently about american military types with flags tattooed on their asses. "It's the same in every country". God, I love this album already. "Brighter Than a Thousand Suns" is about Bruce Dickinson growing up with the threat of nuclear war looming. Musically it has nice dynamics. And on and on. It's a political Iron Maiden record. Fortunately for me I happen to agree with their stances. Metal titans and politics don't usually go together. But I like this so far.
IRVING
Death in the Garden, Blood on the Flowers
Lengthy titles are usually a predictor of bad things musically. Not always. "The Gentle Preservation of Chidlrens' Minds" is modern alternative rockery. "She's Not Shy" too. Two guitars, keyboards, bass, drums. Three note singer dude. It reminds me of Interpol but without the ghoulish bombast. For better or worse.
KOOP
Koop Islands
"Koop Island Blues" reminds me of Lovage. ie electronic swing with h0tt female vox. "Come to Me" is more of the same, cheesy swingy music with syrupy singing. Not bad for what it is, whatever that means.
SILVERSUN PICKUPS
Carnavas
"Well Thought Out Twinkles" is cool & melodic modern rock with kind of a 70s throwback guitar melody. Engagingly uptempo but not necessarily happy alt rock guitar trax. It must be good if I can't think of anything else.
TOKYO POLICE CLUB
A Lesson in Crime EP
What I love about "Cheer it On" is that it just sounds like the stupidest fucking thing in the world until the chorus hits. By which time, forget about it. It rules. They remind me of the Strokes and everyone else, sure. But still. Who cares. Originality is overrated & outmoded.
THE VEILS
Nux Vomica
Moody, screamy rock. Wiv acoustick guitars an that. Extra large. The lyrics have Morrisseyish aspirations, I reckon. "Advice for Young Mothers To Be." What else could it be.
NICKY WIRE
I Killed the Zeitgeist
Um, moody screamy rock wiv electrick guitars an' that. Rubbish on purpose, only is it. On purpose, I mean. Obviously it's rubbish. Just listen to his singing voice.
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Monday, August 21, 2006
You, Me, No We Won't Back Down
Useless first impressions of the new Paul Stanley album Live to Win.
Most of the songs sound like new Bon Jovi.
Guitar drones on most songs.
Every lead sounds like Bruce Kulick.
In previous decades, this just would've been a new KISS album. I still don't see why it's his solo deal. Whatever.
I don't hate it. Maybe I haven't listened closely enough. Ha.
Noise and anger in controlled doses.
No, seriously, why isn't this just a KISS album.
It'll be out around Halloween, apparently.
& yes, I know he looks like Cher.
Sunday, August 20, 2006
you stutter when you sleep
Holy shit, this SoulWhirlingSomewhere album is the greatest thing I've ever heard. It's exactly - no, really, exactly - what I've wanted to do musically for my whole life. It has beats, dark moods, jazzy chords, slow tempi, great vocals & melodies. I'm in love..
It's called Please Sennd Help, it was released on Projekt in 2001. Certainly evocative of late-period Idaho. Gorgeous, sensitive, evocative. Headphones & moping suggested. You provide the wind & rain.
Sigh.
SoulWhirlingSomewhere - The Wedding
SoulWhirlingSomewhere - Aileron
SoulWhirlingSomewhere - I Give Up. Goodbye.
It's called Please Sennd Help, it was released on Projekt in 2001. Certainly evocative of late-period Idaho. Gorgeous, sensitive, evocative. Headphones & moping suggested. You provide the wind & rain.
Sigh.
SoulWhirlingSomewhere - The Wedding
SoulWhirlingSomewhere - Aileron
SoulWhirlingSomewhere - I Give Up. Goodbye.
Thursday, August 17, 2006
hold you like a dog
Why were all CDs from the 1980s mastered so quietly? Pump up the gottdamn volume already. Howard Jones & Dale Bozzio albums most recently sent me diving for the volume control.
Whereas the latest two Cure reissues sound AWESOME. If you add all the b-sides from Join the Dots, you get the, like, total package. I love all that shit so much, it's like religion to me. In 1987 I stopped liking KISS & started liking XTC, the Cure & the Damned. It gives me a soul-boner to revisit the oldies on occasion. The live version of "Fight" lets you hear the fine detail of Boris's drumming. What a great song, why don't they play shit like this now.
There was also a 2-CD retrospective of the Damned's two prolific years on the Stiff Records label. Which, the first two albums are my personal least favorites. A lot of people only like the first two. Ha.
New Lamb of God, sure. It's pretty smoothed out from what I remember of their early stuff. Some of it sounds like black metal.
Downloading now: Tom Waits's set at House of Blues in Cleveland, the same night we saw him in Akron. Everyone is still freaking out about the House of Blues set he played, apparently it was the best of the tour & maybe his best ever. I wouldn't know. To this day I still couldn't name a Tom Waits song if my life depended on it. I like him & his music quite a lot, I just don't know anything about it. Until now, anyway. My Tom Waits phase starts now. And since 300+ people have already downloaded the show from dimeadozen, my download speeds are impressively hovering around 500 kB/s. I'm pretty sure that the Cleveland taper was the guy who sat in the row behind us in Akron. Although it's possible someone else made the 8-hour drive from New Jersey, I suppose.
Uploading now: R@TT! I got this 1997 DVD in a trade last year. I loved the first three Ratt albums, so it's fun to check this shit out, from long after the glory days. The site I'm uploading to is mostly, um, Van Halen, Dokken, hard rocky type 80s metal. Which is cool is measured doses. Also what I like about this Ratt show is you can see Warren DeMartini playing all the guitar parts by himself. His playing is awesome, the chords & fills & riffs he came up with are almost like Voivod. & it's no wonder I could never figure out shit like "You're in Love". I'd have a hard time with it even now. Warren's solos are so melodic. I don't take it for granted now.
Whereas the latest two Cure reissues sound AWESOME. If you add all the b-sides from Join the Dots, you get the, like, total package. I love all that shit so much, it's like religion to me. In 1987 I stopped liking KISS & started liking XTC, the Cure & the Damned. It gives me a soul-boner to revisit the oldies on occasion. The live version of "Fight" lets you hear the fine detail of Boris's drumming. What a great song, why don't they play shit like this now.
There was also a 2-CD retrospective of the Damned's two prolific years on the Stiff Records label. Which, the first two albums are my personal least favorites. A lot of people only like the first two. Ha.
New Lamb of God, sure. It's pretty smoothed out from what I remember of their early stuff. Some of it sounds like black metal.
Downloading now: Tom Waits's set at House of Blues in Cleveland, the same night we saw him in Akron. Everyone is still freaking out about the House of Blues set he played, apparently it was the best of the tour & maybe his best ever. I wouldn't know. To this day I still couldn't name a Tom Waits song if my life depended on it. I like him & his music quite a lot, I just don't know anything about it. Until now, anyway. My Tom Waits phase starts now. And since 300+ people have already downloaded the show from dimeadozen, my download speeds are impressively hovering around 500 kB/s. I'm pretty sure that the Cleveland taper was the guy who sat in the row behind us in Akron. Although it's possible someone else made the 8-hour drive from New Jersey, I suppose.
Uploading now: R@TT! I got this 1997 DVD in a trade last year. I loved the first three Ratt albums, so it's fun to check this shit out, from long after the glory days. The site I'm uploading to is mostly, um, Van Halen, Dokken, hard rocky type 80s metal. Which is cool is measured doses. Also what I like about this Ratt show is you can see Warren DeMartini playing all the guitar parts by himself. His playing is awesome, the chords & fills & riffs he came up with are almost like Voivod. & it's no wonder I could never figure out shit like "You're in Love". I'd have a hard time with it even now. Warren's solos are so melodic. I don't take it for granted now.
Monday, August 14, 2006
gettin' there
We went to Akron last night to see Tom Waits. The show sold out in something like 10 minutes, amid several TicketMaster fuckups. (It was probably TicketMaster's fault, let's assume they just fucked up again) When Michael ordered the tickets, the first pair he pulled were flagged for international will call only & it wouldn't let him type a US address. So he had to release the tix & pull two more, which of course were much farther back. But at least they were, like, in there at all. Fortunately we weren't in the majority of people who had to pick up their tix at the will call.
No opening act. The place was packed, obviously. Jim Jarmusch was there, maybe he was trying to slip in through the side door, undetected, but it didn't work. Everyone spotted him. He's easy to notice!
The show started late since most of the audients were still picking up their tickets at the 8pm showtime. Eventually the band took the stage around 8:30.
Everything about the show was powerful and simple. Kind of deceptively simple. The dramatic white curtain at the back of the stage, the simple but awesome lighting. The songs! The playing! The musicians! It was great. I could literally find no fault.
Waits is a super cool motherfucker. A super macho gruff-voiced cartoon character. And funny too. He said he was surprised to hear that the show sold out in ten minutes. He wondered why it took so long. And he mentioned going to the Goodyear museum since every time something good happened to him, he saw a Goodyear blimp. First time he held up a gas station, he looked up & saw a blimp. I guess you had to be there.
The guy in the row behind us was talking about dimeadozen.org. See, I'm not the only one who fucking loves that site. The tapers have been out in force for most of this tour so I'll be shocked & disappointed if my wispy greying afro doesn't wind up blocking someone's shot.
That's the funny thing about Dimeadozen... I think that people are actually starting to expect that every concert they've ever attended will now magically appear there.
No opening act. The place was packed, obviously. Jim Jarmusch was there, maybe he was trying to slip in through the side door, undetected, but it didn't work. Everyone spotted him. He's easy to notice!
The show started late since most of the audients were still picking up their tickets at the 8pm showtime. Eventually the band took the stage around 8:30.
Everything about the show was powerful and simple. Kind of deceptively simple. The dramatic white curtain at the back of the stage, the simple but awesome lighting. The songs! The playing! The musicians! It was great. I could literally find no fault.
Waits is a super cool motherfucker. A super macho gruff-voiced cartoon character. And funny too. He said he was surprised to hear that the show sold out in ten minutes. He wondered why it took so long. And he mentioned going to the Goodyear museum since every time something good happened to him, he saw a Goodyear blimp. First time he held up a gas station, he looked up & saw a blimp. I guess you had to be there.
The guy in the row behind us was talking about dimeadozen.org. See, I'm not the only one who fucking loves that site. The tapers have been out in force for most of this tour so I'll be shocked & disappointed if my wispy greying afro doesn't wind up blocking someone's shot.
That's the funny thing about Dimeadozen... I think that people are actually starting to expect that every concert they've ever attended will now magically appear there.
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