Category: Alternative (Page 32 of 155)

Me, Myself, and iPod 4/14/10: Amanda Palmer, the blowjob queen

April 14, 2010 /

esd ipod

Big, big, big selection of free downloads this week. Let’s get to it, before any more songs show up.

Teenage Fanclub – Baby Lee
If your first impulse when you saw the words ‘Teenage Fanclub’ was to say something snarky like “They’re still making records?” – or worse, “Who’s Teenage Fanclub?” – may we suggest keeping your fool mouth shut and giving this tune a listen. They’re not as in love with the feedback as they were in their Bandwagonesque days, but this golden slice of sunny guitar pop has medicinal powers that those Jamba Juice energy boosts can only dream of.

Amanda Palmer – Do You Swear to Tell the Truth the Whole Truth and Nothing but the Truth So Help Your Black Ass
“When I was seventeen, I was a blowjob queen, picking up tips from the masters / I was so busy perfecting my art, I was clueless to what they were after / Now I’m still a blowjob queen, far more selectively / I don’t make love now to make people love me / But I don’t mind sharing my gift with the planet / We’re all gonna die, and a blowjob’s fantastic.” Note to self: arrange a meeting with Amanda Palmer.

Olney Clark – Tea and Thunderstorms
The orchestral pop market has been positively flooded with sensitive minstrels…really, really sensitive minstrels, if you know what we mean. (Most of them are sissies, all right?) This track from Olney Clark, a duo comprised of a Scot and a Yank, gets the balance just right. And better yet, it’s available in Amazon’s download store, even though the album is still only available as an import. Better move fast, though: those imports tend to get delisted pretty quickly.

Kate Miller-Heidke – Politics in Space
Take the drum beat from Johnny Cash’s “God’s Gonna Cut You Down” and give it to KT Tunstall’s well-read older sister, and this is what it would sound like. Love those lower register background vocals, and the stinging indictment, “The ’60s were 50 years ago, you know.” True, dat.

Emanuel and the Fear – Dear Friends
ELO, kiddies. And unlike Cheap Trick, we mean the pun in that first sentence, because any Lynnephiles will instantly take to this nifty piece of baroque pop.

Charlie Faye – Whirlwind
We will readily admit to approaching modern-day country with a healthy dose of skepticism; that country-pop stuff feels like a wolf in sheep’s clothing to us, which is why we’re happy to see someone like Charlie Faye come along. Her voice is weathered (yes, Charlie is a girl) but not whiskey-soaked, and she’s mounting a rather ambitious tour where she’ll spend a month in each city, form a band, play a show, and then move on to the next stop. We still haven’t heard her debut album Wilson St., but if it’s anything like “Whirlwind,” we’re sure going to check it out.

Echo & the Bunnymen – Proxy
As much as we love when the band takes the occasional detour into mellow groove territory like 1999’s What Are You Going to Do with Your Life, they’re at their best when they reach for the rafters. This song, from their album The Fountain, doesn’t scale the frenzied heights of songs like “Do It Clean,” but good luck getting that piano riff out of your head.

Codeiene Velvet Club – Hollywood
This swinging side project of Fratellis frontman Jon Fratelli is still in power rotation. A boy/girl album of songs that recall ’60s-era Hollywood, this shows that the Fratellis’ last album may not have hit the mark, but don’t write them off yet. Indeed, Codeine Velvet Club might be Fratelli’s finest moment yet.

Ex Norwegian – Fresh Pit
This Miami trio casually sent us a friend request on MySpace last week, and proceeded to knock our guitar pop socks off. We asked if they would send us their last album (they’re currently working on a new one), they did, and we were amazed at the band’s versatility. This tune should pacify those jonesing for Band of Horses’ upcoming album.

Deer Tick – Twenty Miles
Is it just us, or did about a dozen Deer bands hit the scene at the exact same time? Whatever the timing, there will be no mistaking Deer Tick from the rest of the pack after hearing this track from their upcoming album The Black Dirt Sessions. Singer John McCauley sounds like David Gray crossed with James Hetfield, and the band’s blend of Southern Gothic will have Joseph Arthur pissing with envy. Good stuff, this.

'60s, Adult Contemporary, Alternative, Americana, Artists, CD Reviews, Country, Downloads, Gothic, Me Myself and iPod, Melodramatic, Pop, Power Pop, Rock, Steal This Song

MGMT: Congratulations

April 14, 2010 /


RIYL: The Beach Boys, The Beta Band, The Flaming Lips

With “Time to Pretend,” MGMT crafted a brilliant piece of pop that detailed exactly why they were destined for obscurity. Of course that song ended up being an underground hit of sorts and skyrocketed the band to an appeal that wasn’t exactly mainstream, but was definitely above their original low expectations. And while the band will never attain the stereotyped superstar status that will bring them heroin, models and international fame detailed in that song, they have managed to achieve one rock cliché with the release of Congratulations; the mediocre and needlessly complex second album.

The band has gone out of their way to describe this album in interviews as a cohesive work that should be listened in its entirety, and that it’s not a “singles” record. That’s a lie. This is the definition of a singles record, with the singles being the only worthwhile tracks on the album. Psychedelic freakouts “It’s Working” and “Flash Delirium” stand out so high above the sonic wallpaper they surround that they almost sound like they were recorded by a different band. This rings especially true with “Flash Delirium,” a piece of Beach Boys-inspired psychedelia that Brian Wilson might have written during one of his more manic phases. Another Brian supplies inspiration for the album’s third and final stand-out track; “Brian Eno,” a fast-paced romp of glammed power pop that should please fans of Eno-era Roxy Music.

mgmt band

The rest of the album is just so dull and forgettable that it’s not even worth complaining over, but I’ll try anyway. “Someone’s Missing” is an apt title for a track so incomplete, as it sounds like a half-finished idea that someone forgot to produce, while the bloated “Siberian Breaks” is a 12-minute journey into ambivalence, devoid of anything resembling a hook or memorable riff. The duo’s attempt at slowing things down, like on the tepid “I Found a Whistle” and the instrumental ‘Lada Dada’s Nightmare” are where things really fall apart into a sea of somber banality. Yikes, maybe there is some stuff here worth complaining over after all.

Download “Flash Delirium,” “It’s Working” and “Brian Eno,” because they are amazing tracks. But avoid everything else that Congratulations has to offer. Until then, here’s hoping that MGMT’s third album is the stereotypical “comeback” record that brings them back to form. (Sony/Columbia 2010)

MGMT MySpace Page

Alternative, CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Electronica, Psychedelic, Rock

Sweet Apple: Love & Desperation

April 14, 2010 /


RIYL: Dinosaur Jr., Journey, the year 1978

Sweet Apple can be counted as a super group only if your definition of a super group is extremely liberal. Their most notable member is J Mascis of Dinosaur Jr. But the legendary alt-rocker isn’t playing guitar or even singing; instead, he’s the drummer. Up front on guitar and vocals are both John Petkovic and Tim Parnin of the marginally-known Cobra Verde, and rocking it on bass is band namesake Dave Sweetapple, who is in J Mascis’ other side-project Witch. Separately Cobra Verde, Dinosaur Jr. and Witch run the gamut from pop-punk, proto-grunge and stoner metal,. So it makes complete sense that when you combine all three of them you get the most stereotypical of ’70s arena rock.

Wait, what? How’d that happen?

Who knows. Maybe they’re doing it as a gag, or maybe they all secretly want to be in Cheap Trick (who doesn’t?) butLove & Desperation is nothing but 12 tracks of straight-up classic rock. It sounds all right at first, but once the novelty fades it, sounds remarkably like what it is: four dudes who are desperately trying way too hard to sound like something they obviously are not. It occasionally works in spite of itself; “Hold Me, I’m Dying” has an irresistible hook to it, and the faux-metal of “Blindfold” is full of fist-pounding excellence. But for the most part it’s just average, and even a little boring.

Fans of the bands that make up Sweet Apple will probably be more interested in this than the rest of us. Although that Roxy Music-referencing cover should appeal to every heterosexual man with a pulse. (Tee Pee 2010)

Sweet Apple MySpace Page

Alternative, CD Reviews, Rock

Rogue Wave: Permalight

April 9, 2010 /


RIYL: Nada Surf, Death Cab For Cutie, The Shins

Fans of alternative pop/rock band Rogue Wave know that their music can be somewhat of an acquired taste, just like the Shins or Death Cab for Cutie. But therein lies a big reason for their success. The music won’t instantly grow on you nor make you instantly tired of it. Instead, Zach Rogue (who has a soft tenor a la Josh Rouse) and his band mates make the kind of music that should have staying power on your master play list. Rogue Wave’s latest, Permalight, is a departure from previous work, though it’s not exactly easy to pinpoint just why. Maybe it’s because Rogue suffered a couple of slipped discs in his neck in late 2008, which rendered him unable to move and scared him into believing he had a life-threatening illness. Eventually the swelling went down, and he regained enough feeling in his hand to be able to play the guitar. Many of the songs on Permalight are noticeably bouncier and happier than what one would expect from Rogue Wave, but the quality of songwriting is definitely still there.

Rogue_Wave_01

If you like upbeat alt-pop, you’ll find the jangly “Solitary Gun” or “Stars and Stripes” to your liking. But if you favor the darker side of what made you love Rogue Wave, “Sleepwalker” or the acoustic driven “Fear Itself” will suit you more. Then there is the total oddity of the title track or the robotic “We Will Make a Song Destroy,” which shows Rogue Wave becoming more experimental. One thing is for sure, though; many of us are glad that Rogue is okay and that Rogue Wave is still making music. (Brushfire/Universal 2010)

Rogue Wave MySpace page

Alternative, CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Pop, Rock

Coheed & Cambria: Year of the Black Rainbow

April 8, 2010 /


RIYL: Rush, Dream Theater, Queensrÿche

There have been plenty of concept albums, but Coheed And Cambria may be the world’s first concept band. All of the group’s releases to date have been installments in one epic story, a sci-fi space opera dubbed The Armory Wars. And if that wasn’t confusing enough, their debut album was actually the second part of the saga; the three albums that proceeded it told the third and fourth parts (the fourth part was in itself a two-parter). Now we finally get the first chapter with Year of the Black Rainbow.

Here’s a quick recap for the uninitiated: There’s a federation of planets called Heaven’s Fence, which are held together by an energy force called the Keywork. This system is ruled by the evil Wilhelm Ryan and the only person that can stop him is Claudio Kilgannon, the son of Coheed and Cambria Kilgannon (who also happens to share the name of the band’s lead singer Claudio Sanchez). His journey is one filled with violence, heartache and loss as he struggles to accept his fate as the messiah known as The Crowning. Oh, and at one point in the narrative focus shifts to “The Writer” who created all these characters. He’s tormented by an evil bicycle. (There is a comic book that makes all of this a little clearer…but not by much).

Coheed And Cambria

So in case your couldn’t already tell, this is prog rock. But it’s really good prog rock, and while Coheed’s lyrics aren’t exactly user-friendly, their music sure as hell is. Just like the band’s four other albums, Year of the Black Rainbow, effortlessly combines prog conventions (complex drumming, and the aforementioned lyrical insanity) with catchy pop hooks and heavy metal thunder ripped straight from ’80s power metal. And while it works well as a single work (or as one part of an even larger work), tracks like “The Broken,” “Far” and the excellent single “Here We Are Juggernaut” all stand strong as individual pieces, which is something that even a lot of the best prog rock albums can’t pull off.

It can be a little ridiculous and over the top at times, and Claudio’s distinctive Geddy Lee-esque voice will no doubt annoy some listeners to death. But if you like your rock as subtle as a punch in a face by a gorilla, then you’ll enjoy the bombastic insanity of Year of the Black Rainbow, and every other Coheed And Cambria album for that matter.

WARNING: Although all five parts of The Armory Wars records are great, listening to them back to back in narrative order will make you go insane. (Columbia 2010)


Coheed and Cambria MySpace Page

Alternative, CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Emo, Metal, Progressive, Rock

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