-I haven't yet given enough time to Manchester Orchestra's Mean Everything to Nothing, the follow-up to the brilliant I'm Like a Virgin Losing a Child, but both the Manchester albums are worth listening to. Manchester makes great tunes for those evolving out of the emo genres into a more folky-but-still-angry sound.
-I've been listening to Paper Route for about a year now and their new album, Absence, is getting some positive press. What I like about Paper Route is that every song is vastly different in nature. Absence is a dope genre-defying album on which you'll hear electronic drums and synths beneath folky guitars and gospel harmonies.
-Meiko's self-titled album is the kind of music I'd usually rock on the pod but not advertise my admiration for. It is what it is, catchy girl-indie-folk-pop, but "Boys With Girlfriends" makes a ridiculously catchy chorus out of the undeniably relatable (for both genders) sentiment "I know better not to be friends with boys with girlfriends."
-The Color of Violence is is a side-project from some of the members of From First to Last. Most readers of this blog probably won't appreciate this album (but maybe you can appreciate the legit album art?) The band's first album, Youthanize, is to-the-point, self-aware ridiculousness composed with incredible technical acuity.
-Just last week I downloaded the free release of Eminem's somewhat-hard-to-find first album Invincible, and today Em's long awaited Relapse hit record stores, so I turned to my good chum and resident unassuming hip-hop expert Baby-K for his take on the new disc. Check the review after the jump.
After a five year hiatus, Eminem drops “Relapse” today. This is the first of two albums by the artist to hit shelves this year. The second, titled “Relapse 2”, should drop in the fall or winter of this year. -Unlike his past CD's, “Relapse” is a more mature CD for Eminem. Sure the album is not without Eminem's classic shock value skits and lyrics, but overall it's a step forward for Marshall Mathers both lyrically, technically, and personally. -The album was originally scheduled to drop sometime before Christmas 2008. After going into the studio with Dr. Dre to work on some tracks together just before then, a task that was originally supposed to take a few days, Mathers And Dre ended up staying in the studio for six months, effectively delaying the release of “Relapse”. As a result of this extended studio stay, Eminem purportedly has now recorded around a hundred tracks with Dre. “Relapse” features fifteen tracks from these efforts and five skits. -Most of the lyrical content deals with his personal battle of overcoming his prescription pill addiction as well as the death of his close friend and rapper “Proof”. Tracks such as Hello, Underground/Ken Kaniff, and Deja Vu all deal specifically with his difficulty staying sober. On Hello he makes a reference to the track My Name Is off “The Slim Shady LP” (1999), reintroducing himself to the world yet again. Slim Shady is back on this track, and the next two songs, Tonya (Skit) and Same Song & Dance, feature his evil deeds. This is Eminem showing the world he's a different, more mature artist than when he first made it big, but that he hasn't changed too much (hence the reappearance of Slim).
-Technicality-wise, songs such as 3am and Stay Wide Awake make Lil' Wayne look like exactly what he is – not the best rapper alive. Eminem has adopted a somewhat quicker, more lyric infused flow style consisting of staccato-y (not a word), trance-like verses and hooks. He also returns to his roots on this album by having Dre produce all but one song (which was produced by Eminem himself), and lay down all the beats for the album. These changes and improvements have produced an album that is set apart from his previous ventures, one that speaks volumes while the other's spoke chapters. -If one were to base their opinion of the album on the released singles We Made You and Crack A Bottle (Ft. Dr. Dre & 50 Cent), both of which are an embarrassment to the album and completely out of place, were terrible choices for singles. These tracks are classic radio-jam-filled, catchy hook blaring, terribleness (another made up word). Lyrical contributions from Dre (amazing) and 50 (not as amazing) on Crack A Bottle barely make up for the annoyingly repetitive, catchy hook and the drab beat. If you want to hear a good Eminem + Dre song on this album, listen to Old Time's Sake ft. Dr. Dre instead. -The album itself is nothing like these two singles. It is essentially classic Eminem, with him rapping about some of the same things from previous albums and dissing on celebrities, but he also brings in new, more personal elements. It's refreshing to see (rather, hear) and artist taking responsibility for his actions and graphically displaying how difficult and life-ruining the consequences of those choices can be. -Best lyrical flows go to Stay Wide Awake, Beautiful, and Underground/Ken Kaniff. Best beats go to Bagpipes in Baghdad (think old-schoolish Dre G-funk with an Arabic flair), Hello (purely for the bass – get your 12's ready), Same Song & Dance, and Must Be The Ganja. Yes, I just listed half of all the songs on this album. That's because the majority of this CD is knockin'. It's Dre-beats + Eminem! The album is in stores now, so go grab it and listen for yourself. ⁃ Kurt Aagard
- The Secret Handshakehit us with a well-timed release, My Name up in Lights, today. The songs were made for summer weather and I kept the album on the pod while enjoying a beautiful day on campus. TSH's One Full Year is one of my most played albums, but the new album is a nice move toward a lighter sound. Lights mimics the TSH live show, which in its simple goal of getting people to jump, strips the intricate synth progressions down to basic dance beats and funky bass lines.
-The second-best track on the album, 'TGIF,' recounts the glory of 90s sitcoms, referencing Boy Meets World and Full House among others, which should bring pop-laden smirk to the face of anyone who grew up in the 90s. I was a little disappointed there wasn't at least one slower song, but every track on the album, especially 'Saturday,' has the potential of becoming the type of essential underground summer anthem that 'Summer of 98' was last year.
-The long awaited new Jadakiss record dropped yesterday and I kept it on the pod throughout my day. I'm still a little unsure how I feel, it has been so long since I've heard any new Kiss it's hard for me not to like the entire disc by default. I'm a little disappointed in the number of tracks with R&B hooks (my hip-hop pet peeve, I like my shit gritty,) especially since Kiss called out 50 for putting out a disc of radio hits and love songs ("Bunch of love songs, just somethin' to break up buds on.") But I can't fault the man for wanting to put out a disc that sells well, even if he has to turn to Ne-Yo and Weezy, considering all the label bullshit Kiss has dealt with in his career.
-Overall the beats are solid, the flow is solid as expected, and appearances by Ghostface, Styles P, Swizz, Raekwon, Pharrel and Jeezy among others add enough variety to keep me interested in the whole album. Kiss spits a little more like a veteran with an appreciation for the amount of work it takes to succeed in the business and he spends a little less time talking about slinging rock. And even though I knocked both these themes a few sentences ago, one of the best tracks is "Smoking Gun," a song with a pervasive female lead hook and some pretty heavy subject matter (killing your girl's abusive step-father.) On "Death Wish" Wayne drops one of the most solid, least-nutty verses we've heard from in awhile.
-This may be the first album review I write in which I don't complain about being disappointed by a follow-up/major label debut from a band I love. That being said, here is a bit of a history of my experience with Copeland. I first heard the band probably junior year (2005) and I found their music (what I heard was from the album In Motion) was an unsure attempt at riding the line between adolescent emo/poprock and the semibearable leg of modern indie rock. I dismissed the band for the better part of a year. -When Copeland released their 2006 offering Eat, Sleep, Repeat, a friend whose musical opinion I value told me I had to listen to it. To my surprise the album was a refreshing divergence from the band's previous work. The album gave the finger to the dominant narrative of present day indie rock. The album reportedly referenced one of the greatest albums of all time, Radiohead's Kid A. In the manner of Kid A, Eat,Sleep, Repeat turned a blind eye to the limitations of genre. In one album the band had matured in sound and content, creating what has become, in my view, one of the greatest albums of all time. In the time between that album and now the band kept us eager with the release last year of Dressed Up and In Line, a collection of rarities, b-sides, and remixes. -Now, all that being said, I've got a habit of being greatly disappointed after getting my hopes up for a release. Thankfully, Copeland's new album You Are My Sunshine delivers from the very first song. In fact, I have found fault with no single track on the album. Copeland does on this album what any band getting their first backing from a major (this album is backed by Columbia) should do. They've taken the elements that worked well on their last album: Experiments with structure, subtle uses of piano, vintage synth, horns and electronic inspired percussion, and refined them in a more commercially viable and pop-sensible manner. This album could/should resonate with a more mature and musically diverse audience. -Overall Grade: A.
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-I have to give credit to The Catbirdseat for this one. Firstly, I would like to insist that you all check out their October mix- yes I realize it's a repeat of last year's- but it is amazing. Secondly, after you do that, you should download/buy/somehow procure Nate Henricks' album We Make Lo-Art. The disc is full of simple melodies and interesting lyrics. The songs are all quite short, but are backed full of simple, happy, experimental music. This is one of the few albums I own that always cheers me up. The album is available on iTunes along with an EP titled Depressed, Depushed, Defaulted Punk!more
- I think it can be said without argument, that Okkervil River had made quite a name for themselves by the time Black Sheep Boy and The Stage Names had come out. However, with their newest release, the boys from Austin, Texas have me questioning their credibility. I loved BSB and TSN as much as anyone else, but the Stand Ins fails to break any new ground. It sounds like a shawdier version of The Stage Names, which midway though the CD resorts to typical pop hooks, and guitar riffs. While I wouldn't completely write it off, and I don't regret buying it, I would have expected more from Okkervil. All in all, 7/10.
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-There's a strange but interesting phenomenon lately of singers from post-hardcore bands releasing folk solo albums (Dustin Kensrue, Dallas Green, Anthony Green,) I'm going to do a broader post focusing on that theme later this week, but for now I'd like to to talk about Anthony Green's album Avalon, which came out on Tuesday. -Green is best known as the singer of Circa Survive, but has a dedicated following of enthusiast who favor his solo recordings. -I'm so-so about circa, but the unique screeching tone of Green's voice proves more pleasing to the ear within the folk-rock tapestry. The album is a masterwork of genre melding. The featured single "Dear Child, I've Been Trying to Reach You," sounds more like an acoustic circa song through the verses, but transitions into a bluesy chorus, only to be taken back into the verse by a singular, fast electric riff. -Still, if you've never been a fan of Circa Survive, the vocal styling of Anthony Green are an acquired taste, and the variation of sound from song to song isn't that drastic, but this album is a feat of defying expectations. One of my favorite moments is on the opening track, "She Loves Me So," when Green works within the low key acoustic/vocal companionship and adds a lyrical twist, "Make sure all these motherfucking boys know, she loves me so." -Overall B+
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-I saw The Dark Knight last night and was planning on doing a review today, but eh, I felt maybe I'd get barraged as the only person in the world who didn't think it was amazing? Maybe just because Batman Begins set the bar so high, not just for Batman, but for all superhero movies to come. -My friend Corbin Smith, who's movie opinions I hold in the highest esteem, is wrote the kind of TDK review I'd expected from most people. But Paul Constant (who we interviewed once) wrote a review in The Stranger expressing all the things I'd like to express in a review, but (probably) with much more eloquence than I've got the energy to muster. So read his. -Or if you're too lazy, here it is really quick: Yes, Heath was amazing, this performance makes his death all the more lamentable because it was a glimpse of the great things he could have accomplished in the future. Bale, though, gets lost. But there was a preview for the new Terminator movie that Bale's in, so yeah. Anyway. Echkhart wasn't as good as most people are saying, I like the comic's version of the Harvey Dent storyline better. Anyway. Maggie Gyllenhaal looks like a 60-year-old woman.
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-I''ve got music A.D.D. I'm always looking for new, genre bending tunes. I flip through reviews in Filter, check Pitchfork, MySpace Music, and Purevolume at least once a week looking for bands to cure my voracious musical appetites. I get bored quickly, and I don't listen to something unless I love it, I can't listen to music that I am indifferent about. -I usually don't throw up quick music recommendations on here, probably because I take the professionalism of this blog more seriously than I should, but today I stumbled upon a band I feel is worthy of dedicating a post to. They're called Paper Route. -Those of you who know me may be surprised, I don't usually like tunes that could possibly be described as "sleepy." Maybe it's just today, but Paper Route is really appealing to me. Their genre is listed as indie/ambient/electronica, which doesn't do justice to the depth of their sound. It's folky, but not the kind of folky I usually detest - college hippie folky. It's big, the production is full, but in an unpretentious, understated way. Not big in a Coldplay, overstated/overproduced because we can sort of way; Each element seems both wisely chosen and necessary. I imagine Paper Route's sound as what might have happened if Thom Yorke had grown up in the Midwest and signed with Saddle-Creek. But anyway, the band's latest E.P. Are We All Forgotten is available now on iTunes. photo by Tec Petajamore
-I'll probably get some shit for reviewing the new Cute Is What We Aim For album, but the shit will probably come probably from the same people who secretly rock out to Cute when no one is around. I've got nothing to hide, my music policy is simple; If it makes you feel like moving then it's all good. -The band's new disc, Rotation, is in obvious tension between holding on to the great niche the first album carved out, and trying to grow a bit and aim more for a mainstream audience. The album drops Tuesday on Fueled by Ramen Records. -What made the Cute's first album, The Same Old Blood Rush With a New Touch, great was that the songs bluntly told you what the guys were about - sex, girls, sex, and not giving a shit. The new album backs off a bit from the comical physical allusions of the first album, though the tracks Navigate and Time reminisce a bit. -Overall though, the production value and structuring of songs has improved a great deal. The depth of production is aided by strings and synth parts that were absent on 'blood rush'. The song that stands out to me the most from this release is called Safe Ride. This song sounds the least like classic Cute and is the most mature track they've ever put out. This song could help them grab those on-the-fence pop-punk fans because it mitigates the uber-whineyness effectively. -The single, "Practice Makes Perfect" is an microcosm of the whole album, same solid Cute poppy hooks, but with more attentive production and a broadening of themes. I think it has potential to blow up the TRL scene. -If this was the first I'd heard form Cute Is What We Aim For, I'd think it a great effort. But the fact that every single track on the band's first album had a habit of sticking in your head for days hurts their second effort a bit. Overall grade-B. -Sadly, the thing that may end up getting this album the most publicity is the fact that they seem to have ripped off some album art. Apparently, the band's management approached a firm called Alphabet Arm Design about doing the cover art, citing that they really liked the work Alphabet Arm had done for Counting Crows. According to the design firm, Cute's management eventually decided to get someone else to do the album art. And, well, you can see the result. Tsk Tsk. -A little note, Alphabet Arm did some shirts for a band that was one of my all-time favorites, Mae. I loved Mae until their super shitty major label release, Singularity. Mae is a perfect example of how changing the long-crafted unique traits that make a band great to conform to mainstream trends can completely fuck your shit up. -source: you thought we wouldn't notice via we don't buy your merchmore
-Tom Conrad, formerly of The Academy Is, has a new band called Empires. The band has released their full length album, Howl, as a free download on their Web site. -I was never an academy is fan but this 'disc' is a surprisingly subtly catchy mix that flows from heavy rocking - to satisfyingly sedated - seamlessly. -But the overall beauty of this release is not the music, it's the manner in which it was released. As a simple, free, download package, complete with an album art PDF and some bonus pictures (some are shown below.) This is the idealistic future of music; Where artists make music because they love making art, and they share it without greed. Bravo. more
Angelo and Tim write this blog. They are journalism and creative writing students from the Pacific Northwest. They have good style. Here, they share their bits of style advice, critiques and other tidbits of random but maybe-useful/entertaining information. Enjoy and return often.
