Author: David Medsker (Page 68 of 96)

Wake up! Don’t you want to hear Serj Tankian’s album? System of a Down is on hiatus!

October 16, 2007 / David Medsker

If you say that right, it totally flows with the verses to “Chop Suey,” I swear.

Serj Tankian has a new solo album, Elect the Dead, coming out next week. Up to this point, Serj’s label, Warner Bros., was apprarently terrified of anyone hearing the album. We know this because the copy of the album that they sent us last month didn’t have his name on it. I understand fear of piracy, but this move caused the CD to collect dust in a bin on our publicist’s desk for weeks, since no one knew what it really was. Which is worse: some people hearing it early, or no one being aware of its existence? The answer is always, always the latter.

Either way, it appears that they have overcome their fear of people listening before they can buy, because the entire album is now available on The Leak. Enjoy.

To stream Serj Tankian’s solo album, click here.

Alternative, Artists, Rock, Songs

Ruby Tuesday: Rufus Wainwright, “Shadows”

October 15, 2007 / David Medsker

There were few straight men that pimped Rufus Wainwright quite like I once did. From the second I heard “April Fools,” the stunning first single from his Jon Brion-produced debut album, I was hooked. Yes, the voice is an acquired taste, but DAMN, man, listen to that climbing hook in the verse!

And while I quite liked Want One, his 2003 meditation on drugs, desperation, 9/11 and family, I have been non-plussed by everything he’s done since then. I haven’t hated any of it, mind you, or even disliked it: I just found it, well, deathly serious. Even the concert I saw him give in the summer of 2004, an acoustic tour with Ben Folds, was a drag. We left before he was finished. I never do that. Well, almost never.

It is with that thought that I’ve decided to go back and pay tribute to one of the songs that made me like him so much in the first place. “Shadows,” a song from his 2001 album Poses that was produced by onetime Propellerhead Alex Gifford, is unlike anything else in Wainwright’s catalog. Where Wainwright is normally about what will work on the theater stage, this song is all about the groove, and Gifford, as any owner of the sole Propellerheads album Decksanddrumsandrockandroll can attest, knows a thing or two about grooves. This isn’t even a fast groove; it’s just a supa smoove white boy groove.

Please, Rufus, I’m begging you: take off the lederhosen, put the opera records away, and make another pop album. If you could make a song like this once, you could easily do it twice, especially since you’ve had six years to do so.

Rufus Wainwright – Shadows

Pop, Ruby Tuesday, Songs

DMed’s Video of the Week: Kenna, “Say Goodbye to Love”

October 12, 2007 / David Medsker

Universal are big stinky monkeys for disabling the embed on this one, so I’ll just have to link to it like a sucker.

Kenna – Say Goodbye to Love

Fewer artists have been kicked around like Kenna has. It’s taken him seven years to release two albums. His first album, New Sacred Cow, hopped labels three times before it was finally released, and once it hit the public…that label completely buried it. Bastards. (That would be Sony, if you were curious) This is made all the more astounding when you take into consideration that Kenna went to high school with the freaking Neptunes, who produced both of his albums. How can you not sell that? Don’t know, but Sony found a way.

Now free from Sony and starting a new life on Interscope, Kenna’s new single doesn’t have a video as memorable as “Freetime,” but at this point, I’m just happy that he’s making music at all.

Alternative, Artists, Pop, Rock, Songs, Videos

Ruby Tuesday: The Boomtown Rats, “Me and Howard Hughes”

October 9, 2007 / David Medsker

Bob Geldof’s Boomtown Rats were originally pegged as Springsteen ripoff artists – and if you’ve ever heard “Rat Trap” or “Joey’s on the Street Again,” you know exactly where that rumor got started – but their US debut, A Tonic for the Troops, was much more than a series of “Rosalita” rewrites. And while the band came to prominence during the punk scene, let’s face it: the Rats were no more a punk band than the Clash were. They could rock, sure (“She’s So Modern,” “Blind Date,” “Mary of the 4th Form”), but at heart they were a pop band. A very strange, wonderful pop band.

Thus, “Me and Howard Hughes,” a harmony-drenched song about a guy who fancies himself a self-loathing eccentric. Lock yourself up in your room and enjoy this criminally overlooked band.

Boomtown Rats – Me and Howard Hughes

Alternative, External Music, Rock, Ruby Tuesday, Songs

Deep Cuts: Stone Temple Pilots

October 8, 2007 / David Medsker

Written by Bill Clark

Stone Temple Pilots are one of those bands for whom, in hindsight, it’s easy to wonder how they did as well as they did, given the music scene at the time. 1992’s Core landed right smack in the middle of the grunge era, but STP’s sound from the get-go veered more towards hard rock – and fairly catchy hard rock at that. The band always wore its influences on its sleeve; from the Beatles to the Doors to the blues. They were a multi-faceted band, and one that can be even more appreciated when you dig deeper than the 15 Top Ten singles they released during their career. They may not have always been the most original band, but they were immensely talented musicians and performers. The following list is in chronological order and covers all five studio albums.

“Dead & Bloated” – Core
If ever there was a song to start off and set the tone for a debut album, this is it. Beginning with vocalist Scott Weiland singing “I am smelling like a rose that somebody gave me / Cause I’m dead and bloated,” the tune shoots into a heavy verse and soaring chorus. It’s an excellent audio personification of STP’s early days.

“Sin” – Core
Trapped between radio hits “Wicked Garden” and “Creep” is “Sin,” one of the most underrated STP tunes out there. It has the kind of intro that leaves you baffled as to where it’s headed, but soon enough it dives into a signature STP verse and an excellent low-end chorus. The acoustic interlude and subsequent explosive guitar solo is a treat that would pave the way for STP’s musical growth.

“Piece of Pie” – Core
Now here’s one rockin’ tune. Guitarists (and brothers) Robert and Dean DeLeo drive this monster home with every palm-muted chord, and Weiland’s expansive vocals compliment it to perfection.

“Meat Plow” – Purple
Talk about another killer opening track. The monstrous opening riff eventually molds with the chorus’ slide guitar (a method STP would go on to use liberally) seamlessly. This is down-and-dirty STP.

To view the rest of the list, click here.

Alternative, Deep Cuts, Lists, Rock, Songs

Stone Temle Pilots deep cuts Stone Temple Pilots Stone Temple Pilots playlist STP STP deep cuts STP playlist