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Seen Your Video: The Coral, “1000 Years”

June 17, 2010 /

I will be the first to admit that I don’t hear every album released each year because, frankly, it’s impossible. Over 30,000 albums are put out each year. Can’t hear ’em all, and goodness knows I try.

Having said that, I at least hear about albums coming out, even if I don’t hear them. But when I saw a recent press release talking about the upcoming Butterfly House being the Coral’s sixth album, I uttered the words that piss me off when I hear them from other people: “They’re still together?” The funny thing is, I had just been thinking of the band – loved their song “Dreaming of You,” from their 2002 debut – and wondered what had happened to them. After their 2003 sophomore effort Magic and Medicine, I literally had not heard a word of their existence until the other day. You’d think I would have accidentally heard something, but no.

And if the song “1000 Years” is any indication, I’m thinking I missed a few damn good records. James Skelly’s vocals are less Eric Burdon bluesy growl than ’90s Madchester shoegazer whisper, but the song is an absolute psych-pop gem, and the video is appropriately loaded with liquid camera shots and crude good/evil symbolism (man with wolf’s head, horses, water, an ankh). Butterfly House is currently scheduled to be import-only. Here’s hoping they change their minds.

'60s, Alternative, Artists, CD Reviews, Pop, Rock, Seen Your Video, Videos

The Chemical Brothers: Further

June 17, 2010 /


RIYL: Fatboy Slim, 808 State, Crystal Method

After briefly flirting with the mainstream in 2005 thanks to their Indian-riffing rump shaker “Galvanize,” one would forgive the Chemical Brothers if they liked the look of the spotlight and decided to spend some more time there. It’s to their immense credit, then, that their post-“Galvanize” efforts have been the most noncommercial work of their career, and their latest album, Further, is the most insular album they’ve made to date, not to mention their most fitting album title.

Chemical_Brothers_04

If they recorded for anyone other than Astralwerks, one of the last artist-friendly labels left standing, the A&R man would surely be telling them “I don’t hear a single,” because Further, well, doesn’t have one. In fact, the album has a lot of “silhouette” tracks, a trick that electronic acts use where they start with an existing song and keep adding bits to it while slowly removing everything from the original track until they have something brand new. The 12-minute “Escape Velocity” is a direct descendant of “It Began in Afrika” and “The Sunshine Underground” (but not as catchy as either), while “Another World” is a slower version of “Star Guitar” and “Horse Power” sounds as if it were built from the bones of “Break Shake Bounce” and “Hey Boy Hey Girl.” The closest the album comes to a pop song is the blissed-out psychedelia of “Dissolve.” Not coincidentally, this is also the album’s finest moment.

Further is both admirable and damned frustrating. Rowlands and Simons only make music for themselves, and that is how it should be (they refrained from using guest performers this time around, which is a nice change of pace), but we’re beginning to see the limits of their range as songwriters. They’re also trying just a bit too hard to avoid anything that could be classified as Big Beat, even though those records were some of the best things they’ve ever done. It’s good to be true to yourself, but there are times when it’s not such a bad thing to give the people what they want. (Astralwerks 2010)

Chemical Brothers MySpace page
Click to buy Further from Amazon

Alternative, Ambient, Artists, CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Dance, Electronica, Psychedelic

Me, Myself, and iPod 6/16/10: Rock chalk Jayhawk

June 16, 2010 /

esd ipod

Mark Olson – Little Bird of Freedom
As a longtime fan of the Jayhawks’ 1995 gem Tomorrow the Green Grass, I’ll do anything for Mark Olson, Gary Louris and Marc Perlman. The three are occasionally moonlighting as the Jayhawks – this after Louris personally told me when he was promoting his last solo album that the Jayhawks were done; thank goodness he was wrong – but this is from Olson’s upcoming solo album Many Colored Kite, due in late July.

The Silver Seas – Another Bad Night’s Sleep
Here’s the amazing thing about Chateau Revenge, the forthcoming sophomore effort from the Silver Seas: we’ve posted two great songs from the album for download (you can find the other one here), and we still haven’t touched my favorites from the album. Singer Daniel Tashian sounds a bit more like Rufus Wainwright on this one than his usual Jackson Browne baritone. It’s all good to me.

Hey Champ – Neverest
There are a lot of bands making valuable contributions to the new synth pop wave – the tricky part is finding them. For every band like Hey Champ, there are 20 shit bands who play vintage synthesizers and sneer a lot. That’s not synth pop; that’s just posing. These guys get it; their songs are based on songs, not attitude. And if you really want to get freaked out, check out the video for this song. Dolphin boobies!

Everything Everything – Schoolin’
Not to be confused with shit ’90s band Everything, who had that lame-ass song about seeing better days. This is a UK band that sounds like they’ve been spinning a lot of Neptunes productions. Funny that I keep comparing bands to other artists who haven’t sold any records, but the first person I thought of when I heard this was Kenna.

Crocodiles – Sleep Forever
I’m just going to assume that the band name came from the Echo & the Bunnymen song of the same name, because these guys have clearly heard a few Echo records. Big, jangly, quasi-psychedelic ’60s guitar rock song. Here’s hoping the full-length is just as good.

Olafur Arnalds – Tunglio (Moon)
Because even download columns need a come-down song. This string-kissed instrumental is heartbreakingly beautiful. Don’t be surprised if it winds up serving as the score to a “Grey’s Anatomy” montage in the fall.

'60s, Adult Contemporary, Alternative, Ambient, Americana, Artists, CD Reviews, Dance, Downloads, Instrumental, Me Myself and iPod, New Age, Pop, Psychedelic, Rock

The Gaslight Anthem: American Slang

June 16, 2010 /


RIYL: The Clash, Bruce Springsteen, Green Day

For a band that’s been recording for five years, the Gaslight Anthem sounds amazingly seasoned on their second full release, American Slang.  The beauty of this album is hearing a band in transition.  They’ve always been rooted in a kind of Clash-like punkish pop, and Brian Fallon’s love of Bruce Springsteen has been evident since their nascence.  If you like the game of “Name That Influence” you’ll certainly hear both the Clash and Springsteen in American Slang, but the band is more than that.  The first three songs on the album just blaze as wonderful anthems, but songs like “Diamond Church Street Choir” show the band stretching out with musical choices that alternate the tempo with a kind of soulful and breezy verse and a soaring chorus. It’s flourishes like that (and the intro to “Boxer”) that illustrate that this band is maturing leaps and bounds ahead of their peers.

American Slang is tight – clocking in at under 35 minutes – and the songs vary just enough that the album never sounds like the band are a bunch of Johnny One Notes.  Often with the pre-release hype of new albums from the “New hot thing” it’s more sizzle than steak, but with American Slang, the Gaslight Anthem has crafted a substantial collection of songs that will be among the best albums of 2010. (SideOneDummy 2010)

Gaslight Anthem MySpace Page
Click to buy American Slang from Amazon

Alternative, CD Reviews, Pop, Rock

Ozzy Osbourne: Scream

June 16, 2010 /


RIYL: Dio, Motorhead, Judas Priest

It’s sad that when Ozzy’s popularity in the public consciousness was probably at an all-time peak with the success of “The Osbournes” in the early ’00s his music was at a creative nadir. His 2001 effort, Down to Earth, was absolutely forgettable and his 2007 album Black Rain was a boring mess. Metal heads had to wonder, did life as a TV dad mellow out everyone’s favorite prince of darkness?

Not anymore. Ozzy is back with a vengeance on Scream, his first consistent, energetic and flat-out great release since No More Tears. With Gus G. from Firewind replacing the stalwart Zakk Wylde on guitars, Ozzy sounds more energized and ready to rock than he has in decades. Whether he’s calling for you to pound your fist and scream your brains out in the aptly titled “Let Me Hear You Scream” or proclaiming his own epic awesomeness in “Fearless” or “I Want It More,” Ozzy’s trademark howl and delivery sound as good (if a little lower in key) than ever. He’s even managed to bring back some of his sinister creepiness on tracks like “I Want It More” and “Crucify,” a shocking feat considering that most Americans’ iconic image of Ozzy is no longer him biting the head off a bat but instead having a hard time getting his TV’s remote control to properly work.

The fact that Scream is so damn metal is even more impressive when you stop and listen to the lyrics to some of the tracks. For every tailor-made for stadium moshing track like “Let Me Hear You Scream,” there seems to be another that takes the time to be a bit more introspective and insular. “Latimer’s Mercy” is another in a long line of Ozzy songs about the dangers of drug addiction, while others like “Time” and “Life Won’t Wait,” the sole ballad on the album, show that Ozzy’s beginning to ponder his own mortality, a topic sadly made all the more relevant with Ronnie James Dio’s passing earlier this year. It’s not a somber sobfest though, because even at the album’s most serious, Gus G. is still there shredding out one excellent riff after another. It’s like a spoonful of metal to help the medicine go down. It also doesn’t hurt that he gives a couple of excellent solos throughout the album as well.

There’s a brief one-minute coda on Scream entitled “I Love You All” where Ozzy thanks the listener for all their years of support. It sounds like the 61-year-old god of all things evil, epic and metal is about the hang up the devil horns for good soon. Hopefully he can crank out a few more albums like this before he goes, but it would be a hell of a way to go out. (Epic 2010)

Ozzy Osbourne’s MySpace Page

CD Reviews, Metal, Rock

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