Category: Alternative (Page 78 of 155)

Steal This Song: Keane – “The Lovers Are Losing (CSS Remix Edit)”

October 28, 2008 /

As if Keane wasn’t wearing their I Love the ’80s influences on their sleeves for their newest album, Perfect Symmetry, remix troupe CSS plays that angle up even further on their remix to the album’s second single, “The Lovers Are Losing.” Man, check out that fat keyboard sound. Is that from a DeBarge track, or the song that Lambda Lambda Lambda performs during Greek Week in “Revenge of the Nerds”? Either way, it’s a side to Keane that we have not seen before. We were beginning to wonder how long the band could churn out those devastating ballads before the urge to dance set in.

Ah, but don’t just take our word for it; Keane has offered us this song for you, dear reader, to download for free. So take it out for a spin, and shake that bootay.

Keane – The Lovers Are Losing (CSS Remix Edit)

Alternative, Artists, Downloads, External Music, Pop, Steal This Song

Deerhoof: Offend Maggie

October 24, 2008 /

Think what you will of Deerhoof – if you think of them at all – but know that whether you call them cute, noisy, awesome or annoying, you have to admit that they’ve got originality and ambition to spare. The San Francisco noise-pop darlings of the Kill Rock Stars roster are no less intriguing than usual on their ninth full-length studio album, with vocalist Satomi Matsuzaki sweetly cooing her regular mix of minimalist Japanese and English lyrics about a random assortment of topics (in this case, stalker boyfriends, God, and basketball, among other things), while her bandmates alternately churn out delicate yet forceful melodic thumpers (“Chandelier Searchlight”), prog-like dirges anchored by guitar arpeggios and piano a la Radiohead (“Buck and Judy”), and even a couple of fun stabs at a vaguely classic rock sound, straight out of Free’s “All Right Now” riff book (“The Tears and Music of Love”). The experiments with meager lyrics and unconventional song structures don’t always work – “Basket Ball get Your Groove Back” comes off like little more than an undeveloped fragment – but when they do, like on the album’s high point, “Numina O,” the results are nothing short of sublime. (Kill Rock Stars 2008)


Deerhoof MySpace page

Alternative, CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews

Joseph Arthur & the Lonely Astronauts: Temporary People

October 24, 2008 /

Capping off a banner year for Joseph Arthur’s rabbit-like discography is this full-length collection of twelve songs, recorded with Arthur’s band, the Lonely Astronauts. What’s not surprising is that, unlike Arthur’s four EPs released this year, Temporary People maintains a consistency of sound from start to finish – warm, natural, like a live representation of a Lonely Astronauts performance. What is a bit of a puzzler, however, is the cover art – the red pen written across the band’s image looks tacky, to be nice about it. The black and white cover photo would have been just fine on its own. Get past that, though, and you get a solid collection of tunes employing choir-like vocal choruses (“Heart’s a Soldier”), eccentric and confident lead guitar sailing over solid rock rhythms, soulful organ (“Turn You On”) and even some frisky slide guitar and some Rolling Stones-like swagger and boogie on “Winter Blades.” The songs here are all (mostly) stronger than what appeared on the four preceding EPs, though the album as a whole never quite matches the artistic brilliance of Arthur’s third EP this year, Vagabond Skies, nor does it aim to. This is Arthur rocking out with his band, and everyone sounding happy to be doing so. It’s not quite the gold at the end of the EP rainbow, but then, expecting a grand swirling masterpiece was our problem, not Arthur’s. (Lonely Astronaut 2008)


Joseph Arthur & The Lonely Astronauts MySpace page

Alternative, CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews

Dressy Bessy: Holler and Stomp

October 17, 2008 /

This sassy little outfit from Denver has been slugging away at the rock n’ roll game since ’96, and Holler and Stomp is the sixth full-length album Dressy Bessy has pumped out since then. Everything about it screams kitsch – from the cover art donned with pink graffiti and busted trash cans and vintage 1970s stereo equipment, to lead singer/guitarist/songwriter Tammy Ealom’s sometimes off-pitch but always spunky vocals that mix equal parts Debbie Harry and Joan Jett, to the Ramones-like punk blast of the music that comes straight out of “My Boyfriend’s Back” territory. They’re like the harder-edged second coming of the late D.C. combo Tuscadero, and “Automatic” almost sounds like it could have been written with that even more obscure band in mind. This isn’t important music, or even “great” music. But it’s damn fun for the little while that a party-time helium-suck lasts, and deflates the pressure one’s brain may be under after listening to too many political commentators or prog records. Save it for when your favorite cool rock chicks come over to play your old childhood board games… with shots of tequila. (Transdreamer 2008)

Dressy Bessy MySpace page

Alternative, CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Punk

Random Acts of Listening: The Lotus Eaters, “Sara”

October 15, 2008 /

In celebration of the new look for Eat Sleep Drink Music – otherwise known as ESDMusic, of course – let’s roll out a new column, shall we? As you can see, it’s called “Random Acts of Listening,” and the idea is to hit “shuffle” on one’s iPod, listen to the first song that turns up, and write about it. The resulting piece might be personal, critical, or just straight up informational, but the ultimate goal is that it prove interesting, and I’d like to think that anyone who writes for the site can manage to pull off such a task.

First up: “Sara,” by The Lotus Eaters, from their 2001 album, silentspace.

Continue reading »

Alternative, Artists, External Music, Pop, Random Acts of Listening

« Older posts Newer posts »

© 2026 Eat Sleep Drink Music

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑