Category: Rock (Page 75 of 241)

Original Motion Picture Soundtrack: The Twilight Saga: New Moon

October 20, 2009 /


RIYL: Vampires, werewolves, everlasting love

Say this for soundtrack supervisor extraordinaire Alexandra Patsavas: with the soundtrack to “New Moon,” the second installment in Stephenie Meyer’s “Twilight” series, she leaves nothing in the bag, as it were. With a lineup chock full of megastars and indie darlings, New Moon is the most ambitious soundtrack to come down the pipe in a while. It’s also decidedly more grown-up than its predecessor, forsaking teen angst poster children Paramore and Linkin Park for the moody stylings of Bon Iver (teamed up with St. Vincent here), Sea Wolf, and Grizzly Bear. Muse is the only returning act – expect them to appear on the soundtrack for every “Twilight” movie, as Meyer is a devout fan – and it’s a doozy, as “I Belong to You,” from their latest album The Resistance, is punched up and, more imporantly, edited down (no piano break, woo hoo!). Thom Yorke delivers the wonderfully minimalist electro brooder “Hearing Damage,” and Patsavas scores a massive coup by securing the first new song by OK Go in four years, the endearingly oddball “Shooting the Moon.”

THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON

The biggest problem with the soundtrack is the sequencing. It will surely make sense in context with the movie, but as a straight-through listen sans visuals, it’s awfully up and down. All quibbling aside, New Moon is far better than anyone had a right to expect it to be, growing up along with its audience. Bravo, Alex. (Chop Shop/Atlantic 2009)

Twilight: New Moon MySpace page
Click to buy New Moon from Amazon

Alternative, Artists, CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Electronica, Folk, Gothic, Melodramatic, Pop, Rock

Rain Machine: Rain Machine

October 19, 2009 /


RIYL: TV on the Radio, Animal Collective, Akron/Family

Enter the mind of Kyp Malone with Rain Machine, the new solo project of the booming-voiced TV on the Radio guitarist and co-frontman. The album cover bursts with bright colors and naked girls, leading the listener to believe there is a Dionysian sort of feast within. And is there ever, with Malone cutting loose with claps, whistles and bells throughout the album’s seemingly massive length.

The god of ritual madness and ecstasy would surely appreciate the content, with Malone sparing no appropriateness to sing about being a “Desperate Bitch,” or having “the fattest cock or the sweetest pussy.” Indulgence abounds on Rain Machine, in ways good and bad – of the 10 tracks, six of them hover above the five-minute mark, meaning there are some eye-rolling, “Okay, this song could be over,” moments. Then there’s the joyousness of “Give Blood” and “Hold You Holy.” The second half of the album transitions from the cacophony of paeans to love and politics into quiet, lightly strummed desperation. That does just fine for “Driftwood Heart” and “Desperate Bitch” but after “Free Ride” and “Leave The Lights On,” you keep hoping he’ll get back to being rambunctious. The closing track, “Winter Songs,” gets there at times, but at 10 minutes long, it’s hard to get more than five minutes in.

Malone’s mind is an intense place, but worth the journey. As for how listenable it is, those inclined towards extravagance may find something to appreciate here, but those whose motto is “everything in moderation,” would do best to look elsewhere. (Anti, 2009)

Rain Machine MySpace page

Alternative, CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Psychedelic, Rock

Liam Finn & Eliza Jane: Champagne in Seashells

October 15, 2009 /


RIYL: Crowded House, The Beatles, Oasis

Liam Finn, son of Crowded House’s Neil Finn, is back with a five song EP that is somewhat of a follow-up to his critically acclaimed 2008 release, I’ll Be Lightning. And when Paste says that 2008 project “could be an Abbey Road outtake,” quite honestly, where do you go from there? So Finn did the smart thing and teamed up with band mate and fellow Aussie singer/songwriter Eliza Jane Barnes to create something of a diversion. The result is Champagne in Seashells, and it’s not totally what you might expect by pairing a male and female singer/songwriter together. In fact, “Long Way to Go” is more like bouncy hipster fare – you know, the kind of thing you might hear in a clothing store in New York City and think to yourself that you have to find out what that ear candy is you’re listening to. But there is also rainy day brooding as on “Won’t Change My Mind,” and Eliza proves she is every bit worthy of being in Finn’s company when she takes the lead on “On Your Side.”

Liam Finn Eliza Jane

Side project or not, this is a damn good EP and proof that the Finn genes are also, well, damn good. (Yep Roc 2009)

Finn/Jane Website

Alternative, CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Pop, Rock

The Prairie Cartel: Where Did All My People Go

October 15, 2009 /


RIYL: The Klaxons, Simian Mobile Disco, The Black Ghosts

If the name Prairie Cartel sounds familiar to you then you’ve most likely played a lot of “Grand Theft Auto.” Their catchy dance-rock ode to murder, “Homicide,” is featured prominently in GTAIV and there’s even a radio station named after the group on the Nintendo DS GTA game “Chinatown Wars.” Obviously someone at Rockstar is a fan. Another odd piece of trivia behind the group is that they are fronted by Scott Lucas, the lone remaining original member of grunge stalwarts Local H. A surprising fact considering they sound nothing like Local H, and not just because they put just as much focus on synthesizers and drum machines as they do guitars. The Prairie Cartel is a sleazy band. Murder isn’t their only vice, it seems; sex, drugs (and by extension rock and roll) seem to be favorites as well, if tracks like “Suitcase Pimp,” in which Lucas inquires, “Do you like it when I lick it,” are any indication. Most of Where Did All My People Go is heavy on the electronic and less on the rock, and it suffers for it. The beats are bland, and when the lyrics aren’t hedonistic odes to drugs and boning, they’re pretty forgettable. When they plug in their guitars things are more memorable, with dance-friendly rock tunes like “Jump Like Chemicals” and “Ten Feet of Snow” easy standouts on the album. It’s an uneven album that has its merits, but if you’re a DJ at a strip club, you should really buy this. (Long Nights, Impossible Odds 2009)

Prairie Cartel MySpace Page

Alternative, CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Dance, Electronica, Rock

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