Category: CD Reviews (Page 149 of 399)

Filter: The Very Best Things (1995 – 2008)

September 4, 2009 /

In the 13-year span covered on this collection, Filter (or should we really say Richard Patrick, because he is Filter) draws from four studio records and some excellent soundtrack work to create one heck of a greatest hits package. Their releases have been strong, but they also are quite the singles band. The Very Best Things certainly hammers that home with industrial dance hooks and an occasional straight up pop song like the immeasurably subconscious penetrating “Take a Picture” or the hauntingly and mostly mellow “I’m Not the Only One.” The Filter spin on the Harry Nilsson-penned “One,” from the soundtrack to “The X-Files,” is interesting but not great and really the only misstep on the record. “Thanks Bro,” the last track on the disc culled from Music in the Key of X: Music from and inspired by the X-Files features Patrick’s vocals and an acoustic guitar. This is a nice contrast to the other material because it never really rips it out full throttle like the rest of the material does. It serves as a key reminder that Filter can do a little more with a little less and can change things up but still remain true to their sound. The last record, 2008’s solid Anthems for the Damned is only represented by “Soldiers of Misfortune.” Patrick appears to be in a productive mode because Anthems, a remix record of Anthems and this greatest hits package have all been released in the last two years. If he remains this committed and invested in Filter as opposed to the other projects he has been involved in (Army of Anyone, Damning Well) the next best-of will have more than four releases from which to choose. (Reprise 2009)

Filter MySpace page

Alternative, CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Rock

Watch Moby videos, win Moby tickets

September 3, 2009 /

Everyone’s favorite bald, bespectacled techno god is launching a US tour in support of his album Wait for Me, and as a means of getting the word out, Moby and LP33.tv have devised a plan where they will give away a pair of tickets to one lucky person in each city on the tour.

But here’s the thing: this is no ‘enter your name and sit back’ contest, no sir. Contestants must log on to Moby’s Facebook page and rate the videos on his player. They will rack up one entry for each video they rate, with the opportunity to rack up more entries for every embeddable video they host on a web page. (No word on whether all videos must be rated favorably, but since this is aimed at his most dedicated fans, odds are that will not be an issue.)

To see the contest rules, click here. Good luck, y’all, bodyrock y’all.

Alternative, Ambient, Artists, Concerts, Dance, Electronica, External Music, giveaway, Pop, Videos

Seen Your Video: Panic! at the Disco, “New Perspective”

September 2, 2009 /

Bands must love making videos for songs on soundtracks. They only have to do a tenth as much work.

Of course, the majority of the video for “New Perspective,” the lead single by Panic! at the Disco from the soundtrack to the Diablo Cody-penned horror flick “Jennifer’s Body” (which is not being screened for the press, by the way), consists of singer Brendon Urie and drummer Spencer Smith, along with what we’re guessing are body doubles, walking in slo-mo through a high school. A couple cat fights break out, as the action cuts from the high school to the clips from the film, where Megan Fox and Amanda Seyfried are either fighting or making out. When Megan isn’t eating boys alive, anyway.

Truth be told, the video is not of major significance to us. What is of major significance is the fact that Panic! is literally half the band they were the last time we heard from them. Guitarist Ryan Ross and bassist Jon Welker left the band in July, citing the age-old musical differences. Urie and Smith will continue as Panic, while Ross and Welker have formed a group called the Young Veins, which will be more ’60s oriented in sound. After a quick spin of the Young Veins song “Change” on their MySpace page, the sound of “New Perspective” makes much more sense. It’s more in line with the band’s debut album, A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out, in that it’s wordy and contemporary. Does that mean Ross and Welker were the brains behind Pretty. Odd, the band’s Beatleriffic sophomore album? And was their departure due to insistence by Urie and Smith that they ditch the retro stuff because it didn’t sell as well?

Personally, we can’t help but think the answer to that last question is ‘yes,’ because the first thing Urie and Smith did after Ross and Welker left the band was put that goddamn exclamation point back into their name. Sigh.

Alternative, Artists, Emo, Rock, Seen Your Video, Songs, Videos

Kate Earl: Kate Earl

August 28, 2009 /

Earl’s 2005 debut, Fate Is the Hunter, came and went with barely a whisper, which might be why her sophomore effort takes no chances: With Earl’s name (and thoroughly enjoyable face) plastered across its garishly bright artwork, Kate Earl would leap off store shelves if there still were any. Musically speaking, these 11 songs cover plenty of bases too, from the moody, vaguely Dido-ish “Nobody” to the charmingly retro “Only in Dreams,” which sounds like Olivia Newton-John recording a Phil Spector tribute with Imogen Heap behind the boards. (In other words, awesome.) After drawing the listener in with a stack of unapologetically (and, it must be said, pleasantly) commercial pop tunes, Earl wisely spends the back half of the album getting deep. Tracks like “Golden Street” lack the bright melodic sparkle of Earl’s earlier cuts, but they also prove she has something more to say than “a love like this is everlasting” (from “Everlasting,” natch). An Alaska native, Earl may have picked the wrong year for her breakout – the poor girl will have to answer as many questions about Sarah Palin as she will about her own music – but she’s still primed for her major-label breakout. Whatever that means in 2009, anyway. For pop fans who can’t stomach Colbie Caillat levels of saccharine sweetness, Kate Earl is one of this year’s better bets. (Universal Republic 2009)

Kate Earl MySpace page

CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Pop

Our Lady Peace: Burn Burn

August 28, 2009 /

Canadian rock band Our Lady Peace has been around for a while – seven studio albums now, to be exact, and their latest, Burn Burn, hit streets last month. And while the members of OLP claim to feel great about having more creative control at this point in their career, they have not used that control to do anything earth-shattering here. In fact, the band has regressed a bit, and has begun to gravitate toward the adult contemporary end of the radio dial. Bands like Creed, Nickelback, and the Goo Goo Dolls have lived in radio suburbia for years, and now OLP has entered the neighborhood, as this batch of songs on Burn Burn are at times catchy, but mostly dull and lifeless. Many bands like this that used to be cool and alternative have softened greatly, having succumbed to years of record execs telling them to write “hits.” The first single off of Burn Burn, “All You Did Was Save My Life,” is a prime example, a formulaic track that you will tire of before the song has even played through. “Dreamland” and “The End Is Where We Began” also lean toward sugary pop, though it’s worth pointing out that singer Raine Maida can still bring it. One of the bright spots here is “Never Get Over You,” which may remind you of the Spiritual Machines days, but mostly, as on “Signs of Life,” there just aren’t many on this album. (LABEL: Warner Music Group)

Our Lady Peace MySpace Page

Alternative, CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Rock

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