Was "Paper Planes" an album track?
Maybe this is what I get for downloading albums, but it definitely isn't on the version of Kala that I picked up online a few months ago. I'm still not as into her as pretty much the rest of the internet, but this song is pretty damn killer. Floating along on a dreamy Clash sample, it's pretty damn peppy for a song about holding people up.
Here's the video - I'm not even going to bother talking about the MTV controversy as it's been done to death all over the internet already.
Not bad, though the Beastie Boys cameo is a little out of nowhere and not totally necessary. I will say this - as superficial as it is, she looks damn good in that Metallica tshirt.
As good as the track is - and it is good - Diplo did us all a favor by upping this remix, featuring Bun B and Rich Boy. B and Rich Boy absolutely kill it, riding that beat for all it's worth. The original almost sounds a little naked afterwards.
Get into it.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Chris Colohan Is A Fucking Genius
Chris Colohan is a fucking genius.
I don't really think there are many people who have been into hardcore in the last ten years or so who would dispute that statement, and there's good reason for it - everything the man touches is total gold. Looking Colohan's musical history is like looking at a list of some of the best bands of the last decade - The Swarm, Left for Dead, Ruination, Cursed, and Fucked Up just to name a few. I feel like Haymaker and Chokehold were also Colohan bands, but I could be wrong.
Left for Dead is absolutely one of my favorite bands ever - their Eat Shit LP is one of the most berserk live recordings I've ever heard. The very first song - "Who D'You Know?," is just a total encapsulation of everything that's great about hardcore - an insane, grinding buzzsaw guitar riff, with a breakdown that is absolutely perfect - heavy as hell, but not falling into the "meathead" category. And let's not forget the lyrics...
It sounds like this show was an insane experience - there are fireworks being set off during the opener, as well as a few other songs. One of my favorite moments on a live album ever also takes place during "Who D'You Know?," as well; during the repetition of the line "I don't care who you know," someone manages to get up to this mic. He is right up in the mix for the first half of the line, but as he hangs on to the "know" in the lyric, it literally sounds like he's falling into a pit. He fades away - I'm sure he just moved away from the microphone but is still getting picked up, but it seriously comes off sounding like "KNOWWWwwwwwwwwwwwww" like the the dude is falling into some chasm or something.
Basically, the record is punishing, heavy, and insane from start to finish.
Left for Dead's brother, sonically speaking, is definitely The Swarm. Parasitic Skies basically sounds like a Left for Dead record - punishingly fast, chaotic, but still retaining the heaviness that slower moments like "God's Little Acre" display. The album also has my favorite straightedge songs ever, "On Our Knees," which is twenty-five seconds of the words "I don't want it" and "I don't need it" being screamed at desperation volumes over a blistering riff. The album has some metal moments, too - "Upside Your Head" is reminiscent of bands such as Entombed. "Monopolized Reality For The Maintenance Of Order" is a genuinely disturbing spoken-word detail of a subway suicide.
Ruination finds Colohan in a slightly more punk-rock influenced mode; it's easy to see where the inspiration to join Fucked Up came in when you listen to this band. The songs are more rock-ish, and that might be why I've never been able to get into the band that much.
Cursed is the Chris Colohan vehicle with the most mileage attached to it, and with good reason. Dark, brooding, and raw, Cursed is definitely one of the best bands of the last few years. Metalcore without the makeup and "mosh parts," Cursed combines the best parts of the two genres to create something that is equal parts Black Flag and Entombed. Most purists would pick One as their favorite record, but when I was in England I absolutely fell in love with Two. For me, it's Colohan's masterpiece - the songwriting is most polished, and the mood is even darker, as if that were even possible. The production is also a little more fleshed out on Two, still dirty and stripped down, but a little more professional than on its predecessor. Lyrically, Two is possibly the darkest and most honestly disturbing hardcore record I've ever heard. Cursed is almost set to release their third LP, titled (ready for it?) Three, and there's a couple tracks up to check out on the Goodfellow Records myspace. That, along with Blacklisted's new full-length, are the two records that I'm most looking forward to in 2008.
Chris Colohan is a genius. A fucking genius.
I don't really think there are many people who have been into hardcore in the last ten years or so who would dispute that statement, and there's good reason for it - everything the man touches is total gold. Looking Colohan's musical history is like looking at a list of some of the best bands of the last decade - The Swarm, Left for Dead, Ruination, Cursed, and Fucked Up just to name a few. I feel like Haymaker and Chokehold were also Colohan bands, but I could be wrong.
Left for Dead is absolutely one of my favorite bands ever - their Eat Shit LP is one of the most berserk live recordings I've ever heard. The very first song - "Who D'You Know?," is just a total encapsulation of everything that's great about hardcore - an insane, grinding buzzsaw guitar riff, with a breakdown that is absolutely perfect - heavy as hell, but not falling into the "meathead" category. And let's not forget the lyrics...
"Sick of your attitude
Sick of you
Your social clubs
Your flavour of the month
I don't care you know
You don't know shit
Fuck your popularity contest
I wanna see a murder contest
Why are you even here?
Who do you know
And who fucking cares?"
Basically, the record is punishing, heavy, and insane from start to finish.
Left for Dead's brother, sonically speaking, is definitely The Swarm. Parasitic Skies basically sounds like a Left for Dead record - punishingly fast, chaotic, but still retaining the heaviness that slower moments like "God's Little Acre" display. The album also has my favorite straightedge songs ever, "On Our Knees," which is twenty-five seconds of the words "I don't want it" and "I don't need it" being screamed at desperation volumes over a blistering riff. The album has some metal moments, too - "Upside Your Head" is reminiscent of bands such as Entombed. "Monopolized Reality For The Maintenance Of Order" is a genuinely disturbing spoken-word detail of a subway suicide.
Ruination finds Colohan in a slightly more punk-rock influenced mode; it's easy to see where the inspiration to join Fucked Up came in when you listen to this band. The songs are more rock-ish, and that might be why I've never been able to get into the band that much.
Cursed is the Chris Colohan vehicle with the most mileage attached to it, and with good reason. Dark, brooding, and raw, Cursed is definitely one of the best bands of the last few years. Metalcore without the makeup and "mosh parts," Cursed combines the best parts of the two genres to create something that is equal parts Black Flag and Entombed. Most purists would pick One as their favorite record, but when I was in England I absolutely fell in love with Two. For me, it's Colohan's masterpiece - the songwriting is most polished, and the mood is even darker, as if that were even possible. The production is also a little more fleshed out on Two, still dirty and stripped down, but a little more professional than on its predecessor. Lyrically, Two is possibly the darkest and most honestly disturbing hardcore record I've ever heard. Cursed is almost set to release their third LP, titled (ready for it?) Three, and there's a couple tracks up to check out on the Goodfellow Records myspace. That, along with Blacklisted's new full-length, are the two records that I'm most looking forward to in 2008.
Chris Colohan is a genius. A fucking genius.
Monday, December 17, 2007
2007 Year In Review
I'm back. I know it's been a long time, but I'm back. I apologize to all six of my readers for the long break, but real life gets in the way sometimes. Between school and some other circumstances, writing just wasn't happening. I did do some work - and still am doing some work - for the Peoria Hardcore zine Failure To Communicate. You want one? Get at me. It's good stuff.
I'm gonna try to keep this blog almost exclusively hardcore and metal related from now on. Not totally exclusively, but mostly. It's easier for me to write about and at least sound like I know what I'm talking about.
My Top Ten list from 2007 turned into a Top 20...but that's just as fun.
My Top 20 Albums of 2007
20. The Horrors - Strange House
I saw this band on Subterranean on MTV2 looking like a bunch of tools who were trying way too hard to be brooding and dark. That may still be right, but this is still a pretty great rock record. The horror-film thing is something that's been done to death it seems, but this takes a slightly different way of going about it - campy instead of gore-obsessed. Pretty great Link Wray cover on there as well.
19. Maserati - Inventions For The New Season
It's pretty hard for me to give a fuck about "post rock" or whatever you want to call it anymore. On the whole, it's a genre that's pretty stagnant and repetitive for me (coming from a hardcore fan I know that loses some punch), and I'd say the scene is getting pretty damn saturated. This record was still able to blow me away, and that says a lot.
18. Obituary - Xecutioner's Return
Obituary...still fucking killer.
17. World Collapse - Deustchland, Deustchland! Into the Night
Can a six-song EP be on a "best of" list? Who cares. This record is awesome. Hardcore/Pop/Electro blend that is just gorgeous, and was basically the soundtrack to my entire summer. Check out this band.
16. Pulling Teeth - Martyr Immortal
"What are you so afraid of?" Brutal, heavy, blistering hardcore. I wasn't sure it'd be able to top last year's "Vicious Skin" but it did just fine. Hate-filled and hard as fuck, and this record also reminds everyone that solos still have a place in hardcore. One of the few bands who get hyped to death and totally deserve it.
15. Silversun Pickups
Though I'm starting to tire of them thanks to the excessive pimping being done by MTV (do I want to know if the dude in this band has been tested? Honestly?), I still love this record. Glistening pop magic that, as corny as it sounds, makes me want to lie on a beach or something. And I hate beaches. This band has always reminded me a bit of Portastatic, and that's a good thing. I'd say it's the vocals more than the instrumentation, but who cares?
14. Turbonegro - Retox
Turn up the glam. Front to back, this record rules.
13. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Baby 81
This one just came out so I haven't gotten a real good feel for it yet, but it's pretty goddamned good. This record really goes back to a more straight-up rock sound than "Howl," which is both just fine (the dudes are great at it), and a shame (I loved the country/gospel vibe that "Howl" had). I obviously like it already, and I'm sure I'll like it even more once I really sink my teeth into it.
12. Mayhem - Ordo ad Chao
Raw and dark as fuck. Hellhammer is still absolutely inhuman behind a drumset, and whoever produced this record really knew their shit - it maintains a traditional lo-fi black metal sound without sacrificing any sort of intensity or weight. More guttural growling than nasal screaming vocals-wise, which is also a change and a plus.
11. Every Time I Die - The Big Dirty
This band just keeps getting better and better, and is one of the more "commercial" hardcore (or hardcore-influenced, or whatever) acts that I can still get behind. I wasn't very happy with "Gutter Phenomenon" but this record just kicks its ass. Still vaguely hardcore-ish, but at the same time able to kick into almost Molly Hatchet-style grooves. Keith Buckley is still the perfect lyricist for this band, as well - I've never heard anyone make absolutely no sense so poignantly.
10. The Weakerthans - Reunion Tour
I'm convinced that it is impossible for this band to make a bad record.
9. Kanye West - Graduation
Was it awesome? Yes. Was it as good as many people claim? Maybe not. Every time I listen to it, though, I notice new details that I'd missed the previous time. Fact is, I can't think of a truly "bad" song on this record, which is a total rarity in hip-hop today. I'm not sure I'll ever forgive the Chris Matin-ization of "Homecoming," though.
8. Lil Wayne - Da Drought 3
It frightens me sometimes the vast capability for creative output that Lil Wayne has. How is it possible to put up so many guest spots, so many mixtapes, and STILL put out a double (double!) tape that is so fucking good? The dude has his haters, and I am absolutely not one of them. The second disc might taper off, but this is still exceptional.
7. Modern Life Is War - Midnight In America
Just see my older post. Gets better every time I listen to it, and I'm interested to experience this band live again.
6. Interpol - Our Love To Admire
It's interesting that this band has basically put out the same record three times, and I could not possibly care less. "Our Love..." is a little bit slower and darker than their previous releases, with a more brooding atmosphere. Basically, this was the record I listened to when I wanted to be bummed out at work. Good stuff.
5. The White Stripes - Icky Thump
I'm not sure what to say about this one specifically, other than the fact that it's the White Stripes "returning to their roots," which is great despite the fact that I fucking love "Get Behind Me Satan."
4. Alcest - Souvenirs d'un Autre Monde
See my older post. Exactly what "post rock" needs...someone to inject something new and shake things up a bit. Gorgeous.
3. Ghostface Killa - Big Doe Rehab
The antithesis of "8 Diagrams," but just as crazy. Ghost is intense as fuck the entire record, rapping in that screaming, almost out of breath style, and the beats are of the stark screaming-soul-sample variety. There are a couple misses, but the hits make up for it, big time.
2. Wu-Tang Clan - 8 Diagrams
Good God. Two Wu-Affiliated albums in the top three, and I didn't even do that on purpose. For me, this record has confirmed the fact that RZA has gone totally batshit insane, and it makes for one hell of a record. Production-wise, this is easily one of the darkest and most atmospheric hip hop albums I've ever heard, and it's Wu so even the weak verses are pretty good by most standards.
1. Weekend Nachos - Punish and Destroy
That's right. Weekend (fucking) Nachos, "Punish and Destroy" is the greatest record of the year. Am I just sticking up for a local band, for my friends? Absolutely not. I have never in my life seen a record with a more appropriate title. Every track (all clocking in at under 1:30) is absolute punishment, lyrically and musically abrasive. Powerviolence seems to be the "hot" thing in hardcore this year, and this is the only record that really deserves the label - or hype - in my opinion. The production is flawless, the lyrics cutting, and come fucking on, even the 8-minute outro is awesome.
Disappointments of 07 In a Sentence or Less
1. Type O Negative - Dead Again
Just not very good.
2. Ministry - The Last Sucker
I think I'm the only person alive who hated this record
3. Marilyn Manson - Eat Me, Drink Me
You fucking pussy.
4. A Life Once Lost - Iron Gag
"Hey guys, remember those good songs we put out? Let's not do that this time."
5. Dillinger Escape Plan - Ire Works
Who am I kidding? I knew this would suck.
6. Blacklisted - Peace On Earth, War On Stage
People suck these dudes dicks so hard, I love them, but this just wasn't up to their standard.
7. Klashnekoff - Lionheart - Tussle With the Beast
I'm just gonna keep listening to "Focus Mode" and pretend this never happened.
Surprises of 2007 In a Sentence or Less
1. 108 - A New Beat From A Dead Heart
Though it would suck...it rips.
2. Gallows - Orchestra of Wolves
Where the hell did this band come from?
3. Anaal Nathrakh - Hell Is Empty, And All The Devils Are Here
Crushing death metal with some great melodic elements.
4. Swizz Beats - It's Me, Bitches
Yeah, just one song...but it's a total mindfuck of a song.
5. Smoking Popes - The Party's Over
Maybe I was hasty in assuming it would be hard to write another "Destination Failure."
6. Throwdown - Venom and Tears
Pantera > Straightedge
Things I Ignored in 2007
1. Radiohead - In Rainbows
Because I don't like Radiohead, go figure.
2. M.I.A. -Kala
So...it's a hot Sri Lankan girl who plays dance music? So?
3. Justice/Daft Punk/etc
When I DJed as a hobby in high school I played French House. Antoine Clamaran, all that shit. That was five goddamned years ago. This is not a "new hip thing." Fucking hipsters ruin everything.
I'm gonna try to keep this blog almost exclusively hardcore and metal related from now on. Not totally exclusively, but mostly. It's easier for me to write about and at least sound like I know what I'm talking about.
My Top Ten list from 2007 turned into a Top 20...but that's just as fun.
My Top 20 Albums of 2007
20. The Horrors - Strange House
I saw this band on Subterranean on MTV2 looking like a bunch of tools who were trying way too hard to be brooding and dark. That may still be right, but this is still a pretty great rock record. The horror-film thing is something that's been done to death it seems, but this takes a slightly different way of going about it - campy instead of gore-obsessed. Pretty great Link Wray cover on there as well.
19. Maserati - Inventions For The New Season
It's pretty hard for me to give a fuck about "post rock" or whatever you want to call it anymore. On the whole, it's a genre that's pretty stagnant and repetitive for me (coming from a hardcore fan I know that loses some punch), and I'd say the scene is getting pretty damn saturated. This record was still able to blow me away, and that says a lot.
18. Obituary - Xecutioner's Return
Obituary...still fucking killer.
17. World Collapse - Deustchland, Deustchland! Into the Night
Can a six-song EP be on a "best of" list? Who cares. This record is awesome. Hardcore/Pop/Electro blend that is just gorgeous, and was basically the soundtrack to my entire summer. Check out this band.
16. Pulling Teeth - Martyr Immortal
"What are you so afraid of?" Brutal, heavy, blistering hardcore. I wasn't sure it'd be able to top last year's "Vicious Skin" but it did just fine. Hate-filled and hard as fuck, and this record also reminds everyone that solos still have a place in hardcore. One of the few bands who get hyped to death and totally deserve it.
15. Silversun Pickups
Though I'm starting to tire of them thanks to the excessive pimping being done by MTV (do I want to know if the dude in this band has been tested? Honestly?), I still love this record. Glistening pop magic that, as corny as it sounds, makes me want to lie on a beach or something. And I hate beaches. This band has always reminded me a bit of Portastatic, and that's a good thing. I'd say it's the vocals more than the instrumentation, but who cares?
14. Turbonegro - Retox
Turn up the glam. Front to back, this record rules.
13. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Baby 81
This one just came out so I haven't gotten a real good feel for it yet, but it's pretty goddamned good. This record really goes back to a more straight-up rock sound than "Howl," which is both just fine (the dudes are great at it), and a shame (I loved the country/gospel vibe that "Howl" had). I obviously like it already, and I'm sure I'll like it even more once I really sink my teeth into it.
12. Mayhem - Ordo ad Chao
Raw and dark as fuck. Hellhammer is still absolutely inhuman behind a drumset, and whoever produced this record really knew their shit - it maintains a traditional lo-fi black metal sound without sacrificing any sort of intensity or weight. More guttural growling than nasal screaming vocals-wise, which is also a change and a plus.
11. Every Time I Die - The Big Dirty
This band just keeps getting better and better, and is one of the more "commercial" hardcore (or hardcore-influenced, or whatever) acts that I can still get behind. I wasn't very happy with "Gutter Phenomenon" but this record just kicks its ass. Still vaguely hardcore-ish, but at the same time able to kick into almost Molly Hatchet-style grooves. Keith Buckley is still the perfect lyricist for this band, as well - I've never heard anyone make absolutely no sense so poignantly.
10. The Weakerthans - Reunion Tour
I'm convinced that it is impossible for this band to make a bad record.
9. Kanye West - Graduation
Was it awesome? Yes. Was it as good as many people claim? Maybe not. Every time I listen to it, though, I notice new details that I'd missed the previous time. Fact is, I can't think of a truly "bad" song on this record, which is a total rarity in hip-hop today. I'm not sure I'll ever forgive the Chris Matin-ization of "Homecoming," though.
8. Lil Wayne - Da Drought 3
It frightens me sometimes the vast capability for creative output that Lil Wayne has. How is it possible to put up so many guest spots, so many mixtapes, and STILL put out a double (double!) tape that is so fucking good? The dude has his haters, and I am absolutely not one of them. The second disc might taper off, but this is still exceptional.
7. Modern Life Is War - Midnight In America
Just see my older post. Gets better every time I listen to it, and I'm interested to experience this band live again.
6. Interpol - Our Love To Admire
It's interesting that this band has basically put out the same record three times, and I could not possibly care less. "Our Love..." is a little bit slower and darker than their previous releases, with a more brooding atmosphere. Basically, this was the record I listened to when I wanted to be bummed out at work. Good stuff.
5. The White Stripes - Icky Thump
I'm not sure what to say about this one specifically, other than the fact that it's the White Stripes "returning to their roots," which is great despite the fact that I fucking love "Get Behind Me Satan."
4. Alcest - Souvenirs d'un Autre Monde
See my older post. Exactly what "post rock" needs...someone to inject something new and shake things up a bit. Gorgeous.
3. Ghostface Killa - Big Doe Rehab
The antithesis of "8 Diagrams," but just as crazy. Ghost is intense as fuck the entire record, rapping in that screaming, almost out of breath style, and the beats are of the stark screaming-soul-sample variety. There are a couple misses, but the hits make up for it, big time.
2. Wu-Tang Clan - 8 Diagrams
Good God. Two Wu-Affiliated albums in the top three, and I didn't even do that on purpose. For me, this record has confirmed the fact that RZA has gone totally batshit insane, and it makes for one hell of a record. Production-wise, this is easily one of the darkest and most atmospheric hip hop albums I've ever heard, and it's Wu so even the weak verses are pretty good by most standards.
1. Weekend Nachos - Punish and Destroy
That's right. Weekend (fucking) Nachos, "Punish and Destroy" is the greatest record of the year. Am I just sticking up for a local band, for my friends? Absolutely not. I have never in my life seen a record with a more appropriate title. Every track (all clocking in at under 1:30) is absolute punishment, lyrically and musically abrasive. Powerviolence seems to be the "hot" thing in hardcore this year, and this is the only record that really deserves the label - or hype - in my opinion. The production is flawless, the lyrics cutting, and come fucking on, even the 8-minute outro is awesome.
Disappointments of 07 In a Sentence or Less
1. Type O Negative - Dead Again
Just not very good.
2. Ministry - The Last Sucker
I think I'm the only person alive who hated this record
3. Marilyn Manson - Eat Me, Drink Me
You fucking pussy.
4. A Life Once Lost - Iron Gag
"Hey guys, remember those good songs we put out? Let's not do that this time."
5. Dillinger Escape Plan - Ire Works
Who am I kidding? I knew this would suck.
6. Blacklisted - Peace On Earth, War On Stage
People suck these dudes dicks so hard, I love them, but this just wasn't up to their standard.
7. Klashnekoff - Lionheart - Tussle With the Beast
I'm just gonna keep listening to "Focus Mode" and pretend this never happened.
Surprises of 2007 In a Sentence or Less
1. 108 - A New Beat From A Dead Heart
Though it would suck...it rips.
2. Gallows - Orchestra of Wolves
Where the hell did this band come from?
3. Anaal Nathrakh - Hell Is Empty, And All The Devils Are Here
Crushing death metal with some great melodic elements.
4. Swizz Beats - It's Me, Bitches
Yeah, just one song...but it's a total mindfuck of a song.
5. Smoking Popes - The Party's Over
Maybe I was hasty in assuming it would be hard to write another "Destination Failure."
6. Throwdown - Venom and Tears
Pantera > Straightedge
Things I Ignored in 2007
1. Radiohead - In Rainbows
Because I don't like Radiohead, go figure.
2. M.I.A. -Kala
So...it's a hot Sri Lankan girl who plays dance music? So?
3. Justice/Daft Punk/etc
When I DJed as a hobby in high school I played French House. Antoine Clamaran, all that shit. That was five goddamned years ago. This is not a "new hip thing." Fucking hipsters ruin everything.
Monday, October 29, 2007
An Interview With Blacklisted
This weekend I had a marathon trip to Philadelphia and back for the Floorpunch reunion/Redcheeks benefit show, and while I was there I had the opportunity to speak with Shawn, the drummer from Philly's own Blacklisted. They played the best I'd ever seen them that night, and confirmed their status as one of the biggest, if not the biggest band in hardcore right now.
Shawn was a great guy, and despite both of us saying we didn't have a ton of time, the interview went pretty long...not that I'm complaining. Here it is.
First of all, I just want to apologize...you guys played Peoria over the summer and we gave you shitty mics, or the PA was bad, or something.
That's alright man, it happens sometimes, you just...sometimes you gotta roll with it, you know?
Everybody was just as disappointed and frustrated with it as you guys were, trust me. And secondly, I'm working on 20 minutes of sleep in 36 hours so if this interview goes like shit...my bad. So uh, first of all...good fucking show.
Cool, man. Yeah.
I've seen you guys around six times and this was the best I've ever seen. I'm sure playing a big show like this in front of a hometown crowd was great.
Yeah, it was cool, you know, it was a change. We hadn't really played a show in like...a month, we've just been spending our time writing and recording and stuff, so to play a show again, especially in Philly, was pretty dope. It was a good cause, and some awesome bands, so it worked out.
Definitely. Speaking of recording, how's it going?
It's going great, man. We...everything's done, we just gotta go back...everything's done minus vocals, so there's vocals and then mixing, and uh...after that just mastering and artwork, and that kind of stuff.
Any title yet?
Title? Heavier Than Heaven, Lonelier Than God...it's out there on the internet, in case you couldn't catch that.
Oh wow. Shit.
[laughter] Nah, it's cool. But uh, yeah, so...it should be out in early March. That's what we're looking at right now, so...
What about the sound? More like the last seven inch, more of the melodic type stuff? Something in-between?
It's like...elements of both. There's definitely melody in there but it's still hard music. It's like the big brother of the EP, of Peace on Earth. So, if you're into Peace on Earth, there's no reason that you couldn't be into the LP that's forthcoming.
More just standard rookie-interview questions, I guess...favorite place to play.
Hoooo...
...besides home.
Philadelphia, that's an easy answer, yeah. Besides Philly...uh, I'm gonna have to go international and probably say, like...Belgium.
Yeah?
Yeah, and we just played Iceland, too, so that was...uh...(at this point someone really loudly half-interrupts the proceedings) really cool...she with you?
Um...no.
Oh, I was gonna be like "come on, we're doing something here!" But overseas places kind of take you by surprise sometimes. Belgium was really cool, Iceland was dope, especially since like you don't go to Iceland that much. California has really been steppin up, like California's been really, really fucking cool for us, um...Chicago's always been dope...
That's right.
Illinois just in general, dude. It's pretty cool. The Midwest is pretty good, Florida has some good spots...I don't know. If I had to like, single out places I'd probably say like...I'd probably say like, Anaheim, Chicago, Montreal used to be really good for us but we haven't gone there in a really long time, long story. I can't really think of anything else off the top of my head.
That's cool, that's a bunch of places man. So...whose idea was the blog?
Me and George had been just kinda wanting to do something like that for a while, and we saw Fucked Up had one, and like...no one else had one. It's kind of different, because we don't have like a proper website, because the one we had ran out and none of us are gifted at like, websites and shit so we just said alright, let's do the next best thing. The blog was just gonna be like, updates from the road and stuff like that, good shows, videos, pictures. But it kind of...the introduction was kind of like, let's just give people the background history of the band, where it started, where we are now and everything in between. George kind of wanted to catapult the blog and we kind of agreed that it would be a good idea.
What is it that got you into hardcore? Bands, shows, feelings?
Oh, man. I think the intensity of the whole vibe, the music and stuff. I'm a pretty hyperactive person anyway, so I think it's more natural for me to, uh, be into something that's harder and more aggressive. Not that I'm an aggressive person, just more of a hyperactive person, so it fits my like, my style more. As like a person, and more importantly as a drummer, I couldn't play slow music. Like, I couldn't play jazz - I can play jazz, I just don't want to play jazz, you know? It's just the faster, harder stuff and like just all the elements together just kind of sum up together what I am now and what my best interest is.
Plus it was something different. The shows were smaller, it wasn't like you go to see a rock show, and you'll never be able to say to the bands onstage like "oh hey, your music is great," or whatever. Hardcore was like, if I saw a band and was really into their music, I could tell them "that was an awesome set," or "those lyrics on that record are amazing," or like "that part's hard as hell." It's kind of more accessible to me, and it kind of just fit me as a person.
What is it about Philly? It seems like this town has one of the strongest scenes in the country, has a lot of great bands.
I don't know if it like, churns out bands, because like...I mean...I don't know, I guess to an outsider, I guess it does seem like there's a ton of bands from around here, but at the same time there's not that many bands so it seem like when bands come around that are going off, or doing their thing or making a name for themselves it kind of brings more attention to the city...whereas like if it didn't happen, no one would really know that there was a strong scene here. There is though, and I think Philly is just like an easy place to identify with as far as like "oh it's hardcore, it's Philly," kind of has a certain ring to it. And like, a lot of out-of-state kids, like South Jersey kids call it their scene - even though they have a scene...but I don't know. Philly is just like...you love it and hate it all at the same time. There's things I hate about it, but some of the things I hate I end up embracing and in turn you end up loving. It's where I'm from, it's where we're from, I was born and raised here, so it just feels different. When I'm at a show here compared to somewhere else, it doesn't have the same vibe. I'm home man, it just feels that way, it's just totally different. I like it, I like that you don't get that feeling from other shows.
I know you guys are on Deathwish, which is probably in terms of like, hardcore or "underground" labels or whatever you want to call it is about as "major" as you can get...not in terms of attitude but in terms of like, size and selling power.
Yeah.
It definitely gets shit out there a lot more. Do you think that exposure and easy mainstream accessibility is good or bad for hardcore?
Yeah, definitely. It's a great label, I mean they've been there for us every step of the way. They've supported everything this band has ever wanted to do, and you don't really find many labels like that in hardcore. I've heard horror stories from other bands on other labels, and I'm not going to namedrop any labels or bands, but you know, I've been around, I've heard stories. If Deathwish did some shit like that, dude...so fast I'd just be totally turned off on hardcore and being in a band after being on one of those labels. But those bands, they stick it out because they have to, because they sign these contracts with these crazy labels and they sign their lives away in the process. But yeah, Deathwish is awesome. They're willing to work with us on every level.
I feel like I should clarify my question a little bit. The fact that you can get Deathwish stuff on iTunes, or buy the new Cold World DVD at Hot Topic, do you think that kind of accessibility kind of...dilutes things a little bit? Does that make sense?
Yeah, I know what you're saying. Yo, you know what? It's 2007. Maybe like, eight years ago or shit like that, that'd probably be weird. Like back then it'd be like "oh man, this punk or hardcore band, it's so weird, you can see their shit at like, Hot Topic or Best Buy" or something like that. It'd probably have been weird....(at this point the interview gets interrupted again) thanks for being in the interview.
But it's 2007 now. It's the internet age. Most kids get records on iTunes because they don't have to leave their house. So it's like, I think it's just like one of those things that people kind of accept now. I don't think it necessarily takes away from what hardcore is, or what a label is, and stuff. It's kind of weird to explain and somewhat hard to understand to people who might not really like know...I think that's the age we live in now, it's kind of natural. As long as all the labels and all the bands do it the right way and it's not like, cheesy or exposed or whatever...you've got to get your music out there to people, that's the only way people are going to hear it.
Well, hey. It was a great show. Thanks for the time. Come back to Peoria anytime.
Yeah man, no problem. We'll be back there.
http://imwithblacklisted.blogspot.com/
http://www.myspace.com/blacklisted
http://www.deathwishinc.com
Shawn was a great guy, and despite both of us saying we didn't have a ton of time, the interview went pretty long...not that I'm complaining. Here it is.
First of all, I just want to apologize...you guys played Peoria over the summer and we gave you shitty mics, or the PA was bad, or something.
That's alright man, it happens sometimes, you just...sometimes you gotta roll with it, you know?
Everybody was just as disappointed and frustrated with it as you guys were, trust me. And secondly, I'm working on 20 minutes of sleep in 36 hours so if this interview goes like shit...my bad. So uh, first of all...good fucking show.
Cool, man. Yeah.
I've seen you guys around six times and this was the best I've ever seen. I'm sure playing a big show like this in front of a hometown crowd was great.
Yeah, it was cool, you know, it was a change. We hadn't really played a show in like...a month, we've just been spending our time writing and recording and stuff, so to play a show again, especially in Philly, was pretty dope. It was a good cause, and some awesome bands, so it worked out.
Definitely. Speaking of recording, how's it going?
It's going great, man. We...everything's done, we just gotta go back...everything's done minus vocals, so there's vocals and then mixing, and uh...after that just mastering and artwork, and that kind of stuff.
Any title yet?
Title? Heavier Than Heaven, Lonelier Than God...it's out there on the internet, in case you couldn't catch that.
Oh wow. Shit.
[laughter] Nah, it's cool. But uh, yeah, so...it should be out in early March. That's what we're looking at right now, so...
What about the sound? More like the last seven inch, more of the melodic type stuff? Something in-between?
It's like...elements of both. There's definitely melody in there but it's still hard music. It's like the big brother of the EP, of Peace on Earth. So, if you're into Peace on Earth, there's no reason that you couldn't be into the LP that's forthcoming.
More just standard rookie-interview questions, I guess...favorite place to play.
Hoooo...
...besides home.
Philadelphia, that's an easy answer, yeah. Besides Philly...uh, I'm gonna have to go international and probably say, like...Belgium.
Yeah?
Yeah, and we just played Iceland, too, so that was...uh...(at this point someone really loudly half-interrupts the proceedings) really cool...she with you?
Um...no.
Oh, I was gonna be like "come on, we're doing something here!" But overseas places kind of take you by surprise sometimes. Belgium was really cool, Iceland was dope, especially since like you don't go to Iceland that much. California has really been steppin up, like California's been really, really fucking cool for us, um...Chicago's always been dope...
That's right.
Illinois just in general, dude. It's pretty cool. The Midwest is pretty good, Florida has some good spots...I don't know. If I had to like, single out places I'd probably say like...I'd probably say like, Anaheim, Chicago, Montreal used to be really good for us but we haven't gone there in a really long time, long story. I can't really think of anything else off the top of my head.
That's cool, that's a bunch of places man. So...whose idea was the blog?
Me and George had been just kinda wanting to do something like that for a while, and we saw Fucked Up had one, and like...no one else had one. It's kind of different, because we don't have like a proper website, because the one we had ran out and none of us are gifted at like, websites and shit so we just said alright, let's do the next best thing. The blog was just gonna be like, updates from the road and stuff like that, good shows, videos, pictures. But it kind of...the introduction was kind of like, let's just give people the background history of the band, where it started, where we are now and everything in between. George kind of wanted to catapult the blog and we kind of agreed that it would be a good idea.
What is it that got you into hardcore? Bands, shows, feelings?
Oh, man. I think the intensity of the whole vibe, the music and stuff. I'm a pretty hyperactive person anyway, so I think it's more natural for me to, uh, be into something that's harder and more aggressive. Not that I'm an aggressive person, just more of a hyperactive person, so it fits my like, my style more. As like a person, and more importantly as a drummer, I couldn't play slow music. Like, I couldn't play jazz - I can play jazz, I just don't want to play jazz, you know? It's just the faster, harder stuff and like just all the elements together just kind of sum up together what I am now and what my best interest is.
Plus it was something different. The shows were smaller, it wasn't like you go to see a rock show, and you'll never be able to say to the bands onstage like "oh hey, your music is great," or whatever. Hardcore was like, if I saw a band and was really into their music, I could tell them "that was an awesome set," or "those lyrics on that record are amazing," or like "that part's hard as hell." It's kind of more accessible to me, and it kind of just fit me as a person.
What is it about Philly? It seems like this town has one of the strongest scenes in the country, has a lot of great bands.
I don't know if it like, churns out bands, because like...I mean...I don't know, I guess to an outsider, I guess it does seem like there's a ton of bands from around here, but at the same time there's not that many bands so it seem like when bands come around that are going off, or doing their thing or making a name for themselves it kind of brings more attention to the city...whereas like if it didn't happen, no one would really know that there was a strong scene here. There is though, and I think Philly is just like an easy place to identify with as far as like "oh it's hardcore, it's Philly," kind of has a certain ring to it. And like, a lot of out-of-state kids, like South Jersey kids call it their scene - even though they have a scene...but I don't know. Philly is just like...you love it and hate it all at the same time. There's things I hate about it, but some of the things I hate I end up embracing and in turn you end up loving. It's where I'm from, it's where we're from, I was born and raised here, so it just feels different. When I'm at a show here compared to somewhere else, it doesn't have the same vibe. I'm home man, it just feels that way, it's just totally different. I like it, I like that you don't get that feeling from other shows.
I know you guys are on Deathwish, which is probably in terms of like, hardcore or "underground" labels or whatever you want to call it is about as "major" as you can get...not in terms of attitude but in terms of like, size and selling power.
Yeah.
It definitely gets shit out there a lot more. Do you think that exposure and easy mainstream accessibility is good or bad for hardcore?
Yeah, definitely. It's a great label, I mean they've been there for us every step of the way. They've supported everything this band has ever wanted to do, and you don't really find many labels like that in hardcore. I've heard horror stories from other bands on other labels, and I'm not going to namedrop any labels or bands, but you know, I've been around, I've heard stories. If Deathwish did some shit like that, dude...so fast I'd just be totally turned off on hardcore and being in a band after being on one of those labels. But those bands, they stick it out because they have to, because they sign these contracts with these crazy labels and they sign their lives away in the process. But yeah, Deathwish is awesome. They're willing to work with us on every level.
I feel like I should clarify my question a little bit. The fact that you can get Deathwish stuff on iTunes, or buy the new Cold World DVD at Hot Topic, do you think that kind of accessibility kind of...dilutes things a little bit? Does that make sense?
Yeah, I know what you're saying. Yo, you know what? It's 2007. Maybe like, eight years ago or shit like that, that'd probably be weird. Like back then it'd be like "oh man, this punk or hardcore band, it's so weird, you can see their shit at like, Hot Topic or Best Buy" or something like that. It'd probably have been weird....(at this point the interview gets interrupted again) thanks for being in the interview.
But it's 2007 now. It's the internet age. Most kids get records on iTunes because they don't have to leave their house. So it's like, I think it's just like one of those things that people kind of accept now. I don't think it necessarily takes away from what hardcore is, or what a label is, and stuff. It's kind of weird to explain and somewhat hard to understand to people who might not really like know...I think that's the age we live in now, it's kind of natural. As long as all the labels and all the bands do it the right way and it's not like, cheesy or exposed or whatever...you've got to get your music out there to people, that's the only way people are going to hear it.
Well, hey. It was a great show. Thanks for the time. Come back to Peoria anytime.
Yeah man, no problem. We'll be back there.
http://imwithblacklisted.blogspot.com/
http://www.myspace.com/blacklisted
http://www.deathwishinc.com
Saturday, October 27, 2007
OiNK Is Dead...And I Couldn't Care Less
Once again, school has gotten in the way of keeping this thing updated as much as I would like, and for that I will voluntarily catch a huge late pass on finally writing about the demise of the invite-only BitTorrent music site known as OiNK.
I got an OiNK invite around July, and it was, at the time, one of the happiest musical days of my life. I remember referring to OiNK as the "Music Downloading Valhalla," and other such nonsense. I worked my way up to the original 10GB pre-ratio download limit relatively fast. Once I slowed down the downloading to preserve my ratio, though, I started to miss OiNK less and less, and started relying on other websites for my lawbreaking needs (Albumbase, Sordo, Deek, ANR blog, etc...).
I think part of my beef with OiNK was the fact that it was geared so heavily towards such a geeky audiophile crowd. Yes, 128kbps obviously sounds worse than 320, or V0, or whatever...but is it really such an awful thing to allow? I've never been one to complain about bitrates. Mp3s are such a lossy format as it, why complain if you shit is only slightly less lossy than something else?
And all those FLAC nerds...don't even get me started. There is no way all those people have the stereo equipment necessary to really tell the difference...and I'm wondering just how big their hard drives are in order to store such a massive file format.
Really, it was just the general holier-than-thou attitude that purveyed the entire operation that got on my nerves. Some people would say that this just guarantees that there aren't things like "shitty rips" or whatever clogging up the servers, but I would argue that it just prevents people (like myself, on occasion) from sharing something they know will be enjoyed because of a fear of missing one of the requisite hoops that needed to be jumped through. It took me a while to start posting my owns rips on OiNK, mostly because of the absolutely insanely complex "How To Rip" tutorial that was presented on the site - which involved downloading a third-party ripper, encoding with LAME, and other such nonsense. In the end, I finally just said "Fuck this" and ripped around 10 CDs with iTunes and posted them...with no complaints.
Yes, the content was great. But did I find everything I was looking for? Fuck no. The only thing I ever used OiNK for was mainstream leaks, and relatively obscure (in the mainstream sense) hardcore or late 90s screamo. Was it nice to find the Chairshot Politics EP on there? Yes. But where was Powerbomb Anthems? I'll enjoy the Neil Perry and Jerome's dream discographies and all the other things that I obtained, but it just really wasn't all that much better than, say, Albumbase in my opinion.
The fallout in the internet community from this bust has been insane. So many of these people are truly, deeply convinced that they are doing absolutely nothing wrong that it just blows my mind. Let's face it: OiNK was an illegal site, taking users donations to help upkeep servers on which they exchanged copyrighted material, illegally. To continue using the site, you had to keep your share ratio up - in other words, enable others to steal as well. It's an incredibly brazenly illegal thing to do. I download music...a lot of music. If something is especially good, I go out and buy it once I can afford it (recent purchases: Stierkampf - (He's A) Grunge Whore + 4 and Gogogo Airheart - Real Live Kill...Ripe From the Vine). I realize what I'm doing is illegal, I just don't really care.
What is truly amazing to me about this whole thing is how committed some of these former OiNK users are to the idea that the recording industry/the concept of copyright/the concept of intellectual property is just completely totally fucked up and wrong. Guess what people? You are not changing the recording industry. No matter how morally or philosophically right what you think you're doing is...it isn't. It's stealing, and I don't feel any damn sympathy for myself or anyone else who has been locked out of downloading that new Deerhoof record because OiNK is down.
Go buy some music. It's what I'm doing this weekend.
I got an OiNK invite around July, and it was, at the time, one of the happiest musical days of my life. I remember referring to OiNK as the "Music Downloading Valhalla," and other such nonsense. I worked my way up to the original 10GB pre-ratio download limit relatively fast. Once I slowed down the downloading to preserve my ratio, though, I started to miss OiNK less and less, and started relying on other websites for my lawbreaking needs (Albumbase, Sordo, Deek, ANR blog, etc...).
I think part of my beef with OiNK was the fact that it was geared so heavily towards such a geeky audiophile crowd. Yes, 128kbps obviously sounds worse than 320, or V0, or whatever...but is it really such an awful thing to allow? I've never been one to complain about bitrates. Mp3s are such a lossy format as it, why complain if you shit is only slightly less lossy than something else?
And all those FLAC nerds...don't even get me started. There is no way all those people have the stereo equipment necessary to really tell the difference...and I'm wondering just how big their hard drives are in order to store such a massive file format.
Really, it was just the general holier-than-thou attitude that purveyed the entire operation that got on my nerves. Some people would say that this just guarantees that there aren't things like "shitty rips" or whatever clogging up the servers, but I would argue that it just prevents people (like myself, on occasion) from sharing something they know will be enjoyed because of a fear of missing one of the requisite hoops that needed to be jumped through. It took me a while to start posting my owns rips on OiNK, mostly because of the absolutely insanely complex "How To Rip" tutorial that was presented on the site - which involved downloading a third-party ripper, encoding with LAME, and other such nonsense. In the end, I finally just said "Fuck this" and ripped around 10 CDs with iTunes and posted them...with no complaints.
Yes, the content was great. But did I find everything I was looking for? Fuck no. The only thing I ever used OiNK for was mainstream leaks, and relatively obscure (in the mainstream sense) hardcore or late 90s screamo. Was it nice to find the Chairshot Politics EP on there? Yes. But where was Powerbomb Anthems? I'll enjoy the Neil Perry and Jerome's dream discographies and all the other things that I obtained, but it just really wasn't all that much better than, say, Albumbase in my opinion.
The fallout in the internet community from this bust has been insane. So many of these people are truly, deeply convinced that they are doing absolutely nothing wrong that it just blows my mind. Let's face it: OiNK was an illegal site, taking users donations to help upkeep servers on which they exchanged copyrighted material, illegally. To continue using the site, you had to keep your share ratio up - in other words, enable others to steal as well. It's an incredibly brazenly illegal thing to do. I download music...a lot of music. If something is especially good, I go out and buy it once I can afford it (recent purchases: Stierkampf - (He's A) Grunge Whore + 4 and Gogogo Airheart - Real Live Kill...Ripe From the Vine). I realize what I'm doing is illegal, I just don't really care.
What is truly amazing to me about this whole thing is how committed some of these former OiNK users are to the idea that the recording industry/the concept of copyright/the concept of intellectual property is just completely totally fucked up and wrong. Guess what people? You are not changing the recording industry. No matter how morally or philosophically right what you think you're doing is...it isn't. It's stealing, and I don't feel any damn sympathy for myself or anyone else who has been locked out of downloading that new Deerhoof record because OiNK is down.
Go buy some music. It's what I'm doing this weekend.
Saturday, October 6, 2007
Alcest "Souvenirs d'un Autre Monde": Gorgeous
Originally, I was going to write this entry about not only this band, but another French metal project called Blut Aus Nord. Since the two are barely connectible, I decided to let the other one wait for another day - they're equally worthy of my praise, just not right now.
With the absolutely inane amount of post-rock bands clogging the music universe right now, it takes a lot for a band with that general sound to jump out and really make something not only incredibly beautiful, but also innovative. There's a lot of crap out there that follows one of the two standard post-rock formulas of "long crescendo" or "pretty then heavy," and even the genre's visual aesthetic seems to be getting a bit worn...lots of dudes with beards.
What Alcest has done is bring something new to the table in combining two genres that, at first glance, seem relatively incompatible, but upon further inspection, seem to work together in a way that is pretty close to perfect. Alcest is based in Avignon, France, and was originally formed as a rather straightforward black metal band. Vocalist Neige eventually tired of the rather narrow realm of possibilities traditional black metal offered, and Alcest became what it is now: a one-man black metal/shoegaze hybrid.
"Souvenirs d'un Autre Monde" sounds like a meeting between Slowdive and Burzum, essentially, and even that description doesn't quite do the sound perfect justice. The songwriting certainly errs more on the side of shoegaze or post rock, with dreamy vocals that sound more than a little reminiscent of Neil Halstead and airy instrumentation. There are several moments, however, when the band's black metal roots shine through - the occasional double-bass fills (which are never overstated), the treble-filled guitar tone, the foreboding and plodding intro to "Sur l'autre rive je t'attendrai," the borderline baroque sounding "Tir Nan Og." Black metal has always had the ability to be a beautiful genre musically, and there are many acts who have been able to take it into that realm - Burzum, Emperor and Shining spring to mind - but this record takes the gentler aspects of black metal and brings them together with a genre that seems almost tailor-fit for them, and makes a great, great fucking record.
This isn't really a black metal record, obviously, but I'd definitely put it in a branch incredibly close to it on the family tree. This is an absolutely beautiful record, and I'd recommend it to any metal fan looking for something a little more ambient...or someone who really, really misses Slowdive. Check it out for yourself at http://www.myspace.com/alcestmusic .
Overall....9/10
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Live: Elephant Gun @ Das Fun Haus
Every once in a while, ISU feels like a "legitimate" college town. Every time I've been to any larger university, it seems like there are constant live music performances that stray away from standard bar-band territory. Most Big Ten school campuses seem to have a real DIY sort of atmosphere among an at least measurable part of the student population, and ISU just does not have that at all. There's a tangible atmosphere of complete and total apathy surrounding campus here, and it goes way beyond the sports teams. It just seems that people can't really give a fuck about anything - Kanye West couldn't even sell out Redbird Arena (though ticket prices were somewhat to blame), and the Smashing Pumpkins show at Braden Auditorium has generated barely any buzz around town despite selling out.
Live music - at least the kind that I'm interested in experiencing - is a definite rarity here in Normal. Thankfully, some very close friends of mine as Das Fun Haus (myspace.com/dasfunhaus) are working very hard to change that. This past Friday was the second show that they've had in their basement, and from what I've heard both times have been a rousing success.
Friday night was dubbed "Alt-Country" night at the Fun Haus, which I guess is a fair enough name for what went on display. Admittedly, I wasn't too blown away by the show until Elephant Gun came on, but for the sake of fairness I will mention the other two bands as well. Bridges Burning (myspace.com/bridgesburningnow) were two local kids with acoustic guitars with the general shout-along Against Me!-ish sound that I just really can't get into at all. Some girl who was shouting along also really got on my nerves, which admittedly has nothing to do with the band themselves. Mayhew the Traitor (myspace.com/mayhewthetraitor) are a three-piece who play some dreamy, jangly folk-rock that erred on the side of jam-band one or two times. I was into it.
There was a decent-sized crowd at the house, but not many people were in the basement until Elephant Gun set up, at which point it became pretty packed. The crowd itself was a rather interesting mix - your usual art major hipster types, hardcore/metal dudes, and "normal" looking college kids - but every single person in the room was very into it. The show flier described Elephant Gun (myspace.com/elephantgunchicago) as "think Uncle Tupelo, and if that means nothing to you then think about what happens when kids that have an appreciation for Hank Williams have an equal appreciation for The Replacements," which I don't entirely agree with, but still gives a pretty good idea of the general sound. The band incorporates a rather normal 3-acoustic guitar, bass, organ, multiple singer setup - occasionally featuring trumpet, tambourine and harmonica. The whole set was an absolute blast - from what I've heard online it seems the live set has much more energy (not to say the recorded material was bad at all) . I'd describe it as indie but with a very distinct country-flavored, folk sound - foot-stomping music.
The night was great - a bunch of people crowded into a hot basement dancing and having fun to some absolutely stellar music. This shit seems pretty heartfelt and genuine, it's obvious everyone who played Friday was there because they loved what they did. I left with a smile on my face.
Live music - at least the kind that I'm interested in experiencing - is a definite rarity here in Normal. Thankfully, some very close friends of mine as Das Fun Haus (myspace.com/dasfunhaus) are working very hard to change that. This past Friday was the second show that they've had in their basement, and from what I've heard both times have been a rousing success.
Friday night was dubbed "Alt-Country" night at the Fun Haus, which I guess is a fair enough name for what went on display. Admittedly, I wasn't too blown away by the show until Elephant Gun came on, but for the sake of fairness I will mention the other two bands as well. Bridges Burning (myspace.com/bridgesburningnow) were two local kids with acoustic guitars with the general shout-along Against Me!-ish sound that I just really can't get into at all. Some girl who was shouting along also really got on my nerves, which admittedly has nothing to do with the band themselves. Mayhew the Traitor (myspace.com/mayhewthetraitor) are a three-piece who play some dreamy, jangly folk-rock that erred on the side of jam-band one or two times. I was into it.
There was a decent-sized crowd at the house, but not many people were in the basement until Elephant Gun set up, at which point it became pretty packed. The crowd itself was a rather interesting mix - your usual art major hipster types, hardcore/metal dudes, and "normal" looking college kids - but every single person in the room was very into it. The show flier described Elephant Gun (myspace.com/elephantgunchicago) as "think Uncle Tupelo, and if that means nothing to you then think about what happens when kids that have an appreciation for Hank Williams have an equal appreciation for The Replacements," which I don't entirely agree with, but still gives a pretty good idea of the general sound. The band incorporates a rather normal 3-acoustic guitar, bass, organ, multiple singer setup - occasionally featuring trumpet, tambourine and harmonica. The whole set was an absolute blast - from what I've heard online it seems the live set has much more energy (not to say the recorded material was bad at all) . I'd describe it as indie but with a very distinct country-flavored, folk sound - foot-stomping music.
The night was great - a bunch of people crowded into a hot basement dancing and having fun to some absolutely stellar music. This shit seems pretty heartfelt and genuine, it's obvious everyone who played Friday was there because they loved what they did. I left with a smile on my face.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Turbonegro Live: Rock Ain't Dead
Just about a week ago, I made the two-hour trip back home to Chicago to see Turbonegro play at the House Of Blues.
After a desperate search for parking (fucking Cubs game), and a meet-up with some dear friends at the Gingerman ($2.50 MGD...yes please) myself and my entourage made our way next door, unfortunately missing the opening band - a Queens of the Stone Age side project that I'm a little bummed not to have seen.
I'll admit freely that I slept on Turbonegro. I tend to shy away from bands that are pimped by Bam Margera as the dude seems to have some of the most questionable taste in music on the planet...anyone that claims that H.I.M. is the "best band ever" makes me very, very suspicious. Not getting into this band, however, was one of the biggest mistakes I've ever made.
For those not in the know (and discussing the show with some people, I found out this is actually a lot of people), picture if you will a band that is able to combine KISS or Alice Cooper-style riffage with the speed and attitude of pop-punk heavyweights such as the Ramones. Now make that band Norwegian, and have almost all of their songs be novelty songs in terms of lyrical content that somehow don't wear thin. Ladies and gentlemen, you now have Turbonegro.
Rock and roll, in its purest form, is pretty well-known to still be thriving in bands like Deadmoon, The Supersuckers, The Immortal Lee County Killers and the countless acts that garner massive amounts of praise from publications like Razorcake (sidenote - does that zine still exist?). But there are few bands that are able to take that sound and that attitude and turn it into what is at least reasonable mainstream success. Turbonegro have certainly done that in Europe, and do just fine for themselves in the US - though it took a little while, the crowd at the Metro was close to capacity.
Since it's been a week my memory of the track list is hazy, though I do remember a handful - the opener was the storming "Age of Pamparius," they closed with "I Got Erection," (the only song I was familiar with when I got to the show), and some other tracks they played included "We're Gonna Drop the Atom Bomb," "Hell Toupee," and "Everybody Love a Chubby Dude." My only major gripe was that the set was a little short at just under an hour and a half - for a rock band like this I guess you can't expect a marathon, but Turbonegro have a healthy enough back catalog to support a much longer set.
The best part about the show was the fact that it was just out-and-out fun. The dudes seemed to be genuinely enjoying themselves, put on a great show with plenty of swagger, and the crowd was into it from the first note. I had an absolute blast and this past week have been jamming little beyond the Turbonegro I've acquired since the show.
I know I need to catch a huge late pass on this band, but all in all it was a great night. I'd catch this band again anytime.
After a desperate search for parking (fucking Cubs game), and a meet-up with some dear friends at the Gingerman ($2.50 MGD...yes please) myself and my entourage made our way next door, unfortunately missing the opening band - a Queens of the Stone Age side project that I'm a little bummed not to have seen.
I'll admit freely that I slept on Turbonegro. I tend to shy away from bands that are pimped by Bam Margera as the dude seems to have some of the most questionable taste in music on the planet...anyone that claims that H.I.M. is the "best band ever" makes me very, very suspicious. Not getting into this band, however, was one of the biggest mistakes I've ever made.
For those not in the know (and discussing the show with some people, I found out this is actually a lot of people), picture if you will a band that is able to combine KISS or Alice Cooper-style riffage with the speed and attitude of pop-punk heavyweights such as the Ramones. Now make that band Norwegian, and have almost all of their songs be novelty songs in terms of lyrical content that somehow don't wear thin. Ladies and gentlemen, you now have Turbonegro.
Rock and roll, in its purest form, is pretty well-known to still be thriving in bands like Deadmoon, The Supersuckers, The Immortal Lee County Killers and the countless acts that garner massive amounts of praise from publications like Razorcake (sidenote - does that zine still exist?). But there are few bands that are able to take that sound and that attitude and turn it into what is at least reasonable mainstream success. Turbonegro have certainly done that in Europe, and do just fine for themselves in the US - though it took a little while, the crowd at the Metro was close to capacity.
Since it's been a week my memory of the track list is hazy, though I do remember a handful - the opener was the storming "Age of Pamparius," they closed with "I Got Erection," (the only song I was familiar with when I got to the show), and some other tracks they played included "We're Gonna Drop the Atom Bomb," "Hell Toupee," and "Everybody Love a Chubby Dude." My only major gripe was that the set was a little short at just under an hour and a half - for a rock band like this I guess you can't expect a marathon, but Turbonegro have a healthy enough back catalog to support a much longer set.
The best part about the show was the fact that it was just out-and-out fun. The dudes seemed to be genuinely enjoying themselves, put on a great show with plenty of swagger, and the crowd was into it from the first note. I had an absolute blast and this past week have been jamming little beyond the Turbonegro I've acquired since the show.
I know I need to catch a huge late pass on this band, but all in all it was a great night. I'd catch this band again anytime.
Back From the Dead, In a Sense
It may have been two weeks but I promise that I haven't forgotten about this thing.
I'm sure all three of my readers were incredibly worried there for a bit.
I have plenty of things I still plan on writing about, but school has been getting unreal lately.
Expect a show writeup or two this weekend, as well as some other things once life slows down a bit after this Thursday.
Love,
Mac
I'm sure all three of my readers were incredibly worried there for a bit.
I have plenty of things I still plan on writing about, but school has been getting unreal lately.
Expect a show writeup or two this weekend, as well as some other things once life slows down a bit after this Thursday.
Love,
Mac
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Fall Out Boy Suddenly Do Something Worthwile
Before I start, I still love "Take This To Your Grave."
There. I said it.
Anyway, just came home from class and saw this on Idolator and thought it was worth mentioning here as well.
Here's what they had to say:
"The video follows a young love story in the Gulu Township of Norther Uganda interrupted by warfare and forced child soldiering. It's incredibly sad--like, make-you-renew-your-Amnesty-International-membership-sad--but almost surprisingly tasteful. The tone is a cut above "Aw, look at the poor Africans" Oprah territory, and far less self-righteous than a Bono outing. It's a little strange to associate the--let's be honest--frivolity of Fall Out Boy with such a weighty issue, but they stay in the background for the most part, and are seemingly pretty sincere about using their celebrity to raise awareness. Plus the song itself is damn decent."
First of all, holy shit they're right...that song is actually damn decent. Just dreamy pop without all the crossover nonsense that FOB have been immersing themselves in as of late. When the band started out, they were good at what they did - bubblegum pop-"punk," but had started to drift away from that. This is an incredible pop song and frankly I'd be into it even without the video. Might even download the record just for it.
Now onto the video. I've never really been one for "be aware" videos as they usually seem to come off either preachy or just downright shitty - see "Wake Me Up When September Ends," or "Have You Forgotten?" (as an aside, I don't even know if there's a video for that song but you'd think there has to be). This one seems to be a bit different, which is weird as when I heard that FOB were making a "socially conscious" video I got more than a little nervous.
What makes this work so well is that it's a video that just happens to be set to a FOB song. They're pretty peripheral in the whole thing, which is always a plus. Plus the song - the chorus and hook at least - play really well with the overall tone of the video, both lyrically and instrumentally. It's a lonely song, lyrically, and for most of the video a very lonely image. The airy guitars and vocal sound (probably processed, I'm sure) lend a sort of upbeat feel to it yet, and even if the video didn't end so nicey-nicey there would still be a lingering feeling of hope.
What I think inspires me the most about this whole thing, makes me feel good about it, is that Fall Out Boy are the absolute last band on Earth I'd ever really expect to make a video like this. Somehow they were able to pop out of their little candy-pop "Dear Diary" world and make this incredibly powerful video that not only shows a timely message, but (unlike "When September Ends," as mentioned before) actually gives the viewer something to do about it if they choose.
That's the clincher. It's all fine and good for you to say something about our society, or what's fucked up in the world. It's all fine and good for you to use your celebrity to shine a light on things you think need to be seen. But when it all comes down to it, you need to give the people a way that they can help.
Does this really mean a bunch of 13-year-old girls from Omaha or Salem are going to start rushing out to peace rallies? Of course not. But it makes them aware. Step one.
There. I said it.
Anyway, just came home from class and saw this on Idolator and thought it was worth mentioning here as well.
Here's what they had to say:
"The video follows a young love story in the Gulu Township of Norther Uganda interrupted by warfare and forced child soldiering. It's incredibly sad--like, make-you-renew-your-Amnesty-International-membership-sad--but almost surprisingly tasteful. The tone is a cut above "Aw, look at the poor Africans" Oprah territory, and far less self-righteous than a Bono outing. It's a little strange to associate the--let's be honest--frivolity of Fall Out Boy with such a weighty issue, but they stay in the background for the most part, and are seemingly pretty sincere about using their celebrity to raise awareness. Plus the song itself is damn decent."
First of all, holy shit they're right...that song is actually damn decent. Just dreamy pop without all the crossover nonsense that FOB have been immersing themselves in as of late. When the band started out, they were good at what they did - bubblegum pop-"punk," but had started to drift away from that. This is an incredible pop song and frankly I'd be into it even without the video. Might even download the record just for it.
Now onto the video. I've never really been one for "be aware" videos as they usually seem to come off either preachy or just downright shitty - see "Wake Me Up When September Ends," or "Have You Forgotten?" (as an aside, I don't even know if there's a video for that song but you'd think there has to be). This one seems to be a bit different, which is weird as when I heard that FOB were making a "socially conscious" video I got more than a little nervous.
What makes this work so well is that it's a video that just happens to be set to a FOB song. They're pretty peripheral in the whole thing, which is always a plus. Plus the song - the chorus and hook at least - play really well with the overall tone of the video, both lyrically and instrumentally. It's a lonely song, lyrically, and for most of the video a very lonely image. The airy guitars and vocal sound (probably processed, I'm sure) lend a sort of upbeat feel to it yet, and even if the video didn't end so nicey-nicey there would still be a lingering feeling of hope.
What I think inspires me the most about this whole thing, makes me feel good about it, is that Fall Out Boy are the absolute last band on Earth I'd ever really expect to make a video like this. Somehow they were able to pop out of their little candy-pop "Dear Diary" world and make this incredibly powerful video that not only shows a timely message, but (unlike "When September Ends," as mentioned before) actually gives the viewer something to do about it if they choose.
That's the clincher. It's all fine and good for you to say something about our society, or what's fucked up in the world. It's all fine and good for you to use your celebrity to shine a light on things you think need to be seen. But when it all comes down to it, you need to give the people a way that they can help.
Does this really mean a bunch of 13-year-old girls from Omaha or Salem are going to start rushing out to peace rallies? Of course not. But it makes them aware. Step one.
Friday, September 7, 2007
Review: Ministry "That Last Sucker"...What The Fuck, Al?
No cover art for this one as it's a leak.
Wow.
Wow, Ministry...just what have you done? I've listened to this record several times since I downloaded it so very excitedly the other night, and I can honestly say I haven't been this disappointed by a release in a long time.
I've been a fan of Ministry since my early childhood, having been raised on metal from an early age by my dad. I went on a dry spell from them for a while, but in the last couple years had realized just how absolutely fucking heavy and powerful they were and had gotten back into them again. I stuck mostly with Psalm 69 and The Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Taste, though Filth Pig wasn't half bad either. Last summer, I went and saw them on tour with the Revolting Cocks and it was hands down one of the greatest live shows I've ever seen. Ministry shows are a total mindfuck, both visually and aurally. My ears were ringing for three days.
The album they were on tour to support, Rio Grande Blood was not only one of the most incredible, but most surprising releases of that year. On Rio, Ministry ditched the industrial, instead going for a pure speed-metal record that absolutely killed. The album doesn't let up from start to finish, it's probably one of the best metal releases of the last year or two for me.
So...what the hell happened here then? I mean, to be blunt...this record sucks. It almost seems like they tried to go back and do an in-between speed metal and industrial record and just ended up with this bland nu-metal flavored crap instead. The riffs are weaker, the production sounds a lot less full than it did on Rio..., and the lyrics are much weaker as well. I'm hoping the bad sound can be explained by the fact that I downloaded a leak, but I really don't see it changing that much in the next two weeks.
There is one song that actually jumped out at me as any good on the whole record, and that is "The Dick Song," a tirade against our fair Vice President, that was not only a welcome piece of musical power, but a return the the clever and biting sampling and lyrical style of Rio....
I'm not as good at writing bad reviews as I am at good ones, but I can say this: this is a weak record. Weak all around. Songwriting, production, everything. It would've been better to end it with the last record, as all this does is weaken the legacy of an incredible metal band. All I can do, really, is try to forget this album and hope they stick to playing older material on their farewell tour.
Final verdict: 3/10
Wow.
Wow, Ministry...just what have you done? I've listened to this record several times since I downloaded it so very excitedly the other night, and I can honestly say I haven't been this disappointed by a release in a long time.
I've been a fan of Ministry since my early childhood, having been raised on metal from an early age by my dad. I went on a dry spell from them for a while, but in the last couple years had realized just how absolutely fucking heavy and powerful they were and had gotten back into them again. I stuck mostly with Psalm 69 and The Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Taste, though Filth Pig wasn't half bad either. Last summer, I went and saw them on tour with the Revolting Cocks and it was hands down one of the greatest live shows I've ever seen. Ministry shows are a total mindfuck, both visually and aurally. My ears were ringing for three days.
The album they were on tour to support, Rio Grande Blood was not only one of the most incredible, but most surprising releases of that year. On Rio, Ministry ditched the industrial, instead going for a pure speed-metal record that absolutely killed. The album doesn't let up from start to finish, it's probably one of the best metal releases of the last year or two for me.
So...what the hell happened here then? I mean, to be blunt...this record sucks. It almost seems like they tried to go back and do an in-between speed metal and industrial record and just ended up with this bland nu-metal flavored crap instead. The riffs are weaker, the production sounds a lot less full than it did on Rio..., and the lyrics are much weaker as well. I'm hoping the bad sound can be explained by the fact that I downloaded a leak, but I really don't see it changing that much in the next two weeks.
There is one song that actually jumped out at me as any good on the whole record, and that is "The Dick Song," a tirade against our fair Vice President, that was not only a welcome piece of musical power, but a return the the clever and biting sampling and lyrical style of Rio....
I'm not as good at writing bad reviews as I am at good ones, but I can say this: this is a weak record. Weak all around. Songwriting, production, everything. It would've been better to end it with the last record, as all this does is weaken the legacy of an incredible metal band. All I can do, really, is try to forget this album and hope they stick to playing older material on their farewell tour.
Final verdict: 3/10
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Review: Modern Life Is War "Midnight In America"
It almost seems redundant or cliche at this point to describe a band as one that is "life-changing" or one that "saved a life," but I can honestly say that Marshalltown, Iowa's Modern Life Is War fits into both of those categories for me.
Around two years ago, the by now seemingly endless cycle of personal mental demons were just starting their assault on me, and I was completely unsure of how to cope with them. In MLIW, I found a band that not only had the sense of musical urgency and desperation that I felt every day, but lyrically expressed the same hopeless feelings and anger that are born from growing up in a small Midwestern town - let alone just going to school there, as is my experience.
Some of my best hardcore memories revolve around this band: seeing them (and the absolutely mental crowd reaction) for the first time at Posi Numbers 05 in Wilkes-Barre, "The Outsiders" exploding like a bomb at a show in a packed classroom at DePaul in Chicago, and crust punks and hardcore kids alike going absolutely mental the whole set at the Tragedy show in Milwaukee. But the one that stands head and shoulders above the others is the night that this band played a one-off show at a friend's apartment in Macomb, Illinois. Even playing on a weeknight to less than 50 people (all going apeshit, natch), this band still played with an intensity and passion I have only seen a small handful of times before.
MLIW has become known for breeding their own seemingly completely unique sound - a driving, melodic, almost formless breed of hardcore that seems to sonically reproduce the physical surroundings of a small industrial Iowa town. Their first two full-lengths, My Love. My Way. and Witness, were lauded among hardcore and non-hardcore fans alike as the shot in the arm a largely stagnant genre desperately needed. So, needless to say, Midnight In America was hyped up just a bit.
So how does it deliver? Well, it's certainly not their best work (that, in my mind, is still Witness), but that isn't saying it's a bad record at all. What is the most noticeable flaw in the record, in my opinion, comes quite literally at the very beginning. My Love... and Witness both opened with some of the most driving, epic songs I've ever heard in my life in "Breaking the Cycle" and "The Outsiders," respectively. By comparison, "Useless Generation" just doesn't have the same slap-in-the-face appeal to it, though I love the track once it gets past the awkward drum roll intro and into a heavier interlude and the punchy instrumentation that follows for the remainder of the song.
The production on this record is much more high-cost than the previous two releases as well, but it seems as though hardcore bands have learned how to have fantastic production while still retaining an edge and straying away from flash (Converge's No Heroes being a prime example). Though the production is hardly Nickelback quality, I still feel a little let down by the fact that while there is more weight to the music, much of the rawness of the MLIW sound seems to be gone.
Perhaps it speaks to the overall strength of the band as songwriters that the good songs on this record really explode out of the speakers, whereas the bad songs aren't even bad so much as forgettable (minus the atrocious "Fuck the Sex Pistols"). There are no punishing epiphany-inducing tracks like on the previous albums ("By the Sea," "D.E.A.D.R.A.M.O.N.E.S.") but the quality is certainly still there. I was incredibly impressed with the atmospheric, swaggering version of the classic "Stagger Lee" folk tale, while "These Mad Dogs of Glory" and "The Motorcycle Boy Reigns" would feel at home on any of their other releases - though there is an interesting almost traditional breakdown within the latter. Jeff's lyrics are the only thing that have stayed flat line consistent over the band's history - both the quality and the delivery are just as phenomenal as ever.
The album's closer and title track brings me to my last point about this album, and really about this band as a whole. MLIW has been able to craft a sound that, as I said earlier, seems to be incredibly evocative of the surroundings from which they came. The - dare I say - epic and persistent instrumentation evokes mental images of wide open spaces, cornfields and desperate solitude. Jeff is an incredible lyricist, with brooding and brutally introspective lyrics born from growing up an outsider in a small Midwestern town. There is certainly a reason why I listen to this band almost exclusively at school: Modern Life Is War is a soundtrack for living in isolation, surrounded by the heartland that has the ability to both feed the American Dream and stagnate the minds and hopes of those living in the towns within.
Is it fair to judge this record based on the band's already plaudit-winning previous work? Perhaps not, but I think it's also fair to say that if Witness or My Love... did not exist, if this was MLIW's first record, I would not be as inclined to love them as I do today.
Overall...6.5/10...7/10 if I'm in a particular mood.
Friday, August 31, 2007
Graduation....It's Here Already
You all know it already. Graduation is here a little early, and though leaks can often prove deceiving, I'm going to delight in my interlude-less copy (Oink is a godsend) and do a little track-by-track liveblog of my thoughts on it so far. For what it's worth, I'm production-obsessed. It takes a lot of work to listen to lyrics, aside from those that jump out at me. So we'll see how this ends up. If it sucks...I won't do it again.
I also downloaded Curtis, but plan not on listening to it. Just wanted to steal from 50. We'll see if I decide if Graduation is worth a purchase very soon...
1.) "Good Morning" (Intro)
Starts out with a real sparse beat, building from bass and bongo-sounding snare to the usual Kanye-style soulful flair. The almost Frankie Valley-style vocal sample is nice and fits the song title nicely. Kanye launches into a nice school-related tirade real fast ("this is my dissertation, homie...welcome to Graduation"). Drops some nice lines - "I'm like the fly Malcolm X/Buy any jeans necessary" even though they stray into Pharrell-style "combining black icons with excess" territory. I'm into this song. The beat is great, and would do just as well for an outro as it would for the intro. Lyrically it's what we've expected from Kanye lately, that weird "look how far we've come, see all this money I've got but what does it mean?" style.
2.) "Champion"
Whoa...so funky. Straight up disco soul in the intro and hook. The beat itself is funky as hell and real bouncy. Great jazz organ sound. I'm into this already. The same grandiose shit Kanye is used to dropping lyrically on this one as well...."I used to fell invisible/Now they know they invisible" (if I fuck up lyrics just know I don't have a lyrics sheet in front of me, which kills me. Tough to focus on production and lyrics simultaneously). Not bad at all.
3.) "Stronger"
I hate this song, though it has grown on me a little bit. Lyrically, I honestly haven't paid attention to it much, it lost me the very first time I heard it after the "black Kate Moss" line which comes pretty much immediately. I was so scared about this record when I heard this as the single. I knew Kanye had been getting into French house a lot lately (great news to me, I've been into the shit for years), and I definitely felt like that could incorporate itself into an album pretty nicely...but this is not the way to do it. Just awful. Lyrically this song is boring "I'm the greatest" Kanye bullshit. But that's half the fun with him, isn't it? In reality, even single sorority girl I know still loves this song to death, which proves my theory that Kanye is every white girl's favorite rapper. Obviously didn't hurt his album possibilities outside of the internet world.
4.) "I Wonder"
Here we go...Kanye soul samples. Let's see where this goes. Syncopated beat, with smooth synths, with that vocal sample just fading away into the background of the beat. Real dreamy and smooth, despite the jumpy nature of the beat. So far, we're sticking with the same introspective life-evaluating tone that the entire album has had lyrically. "A psychic told me that in my lifetime/My name would light up the Chicago skyline." Not the weakest track on the album, but only because "Stronger" came up before it. Not bad, but not great.
5.) "Good Life (ft. T-Pain)"
I'm skeptical of this T-Pain thing, but just because I hate the guy. Thankfully, he's subdued here, and the vocoder shit actually fits in with the French-house styled synth line, which is just real warm and this laid over a pretty normal beat and a usual Kanye chipmunk sample in the background. I'm into this song, it's got a real chill summery vibe to it. Upbeat shit, just lyrically talking about how nice it is to be rich, though towards the end Kanye seems to question if it's really as good as it seems...but it's short lived.
6.) "Can't Tell Me Nothin"
I was already super-into this song, it saved my opinion of the record before it came out and post-"Stronger." The vocal sample is haunting over the crawling synth line, which is still laid on thick and the slow beat. I'm still a bit confused about the Jeezy in the chorus, he's not credited on the song...did he seriously just sample the "Yeahs," "Ha has," and all that other shit? Wouldn't put it past him. I still love the "You can live with anything if Magic made it" line. Lyrically, nothing different than the usual...I think the title says it all. Love it.
7.) "Barry Bonds (ft. Lil Wayne)"
This song has the internet goin' nuts a few days ago, but this is my first listen. Beat is hot as hell, funky and disjointed with a jazz organ and bass line...hook and chorus with orchestral stabs. Lyrically this is best song I've heard yet on this record, but I don't want to keep pausing the record to jot down my favorites. Kanye is full of himself, he loves it embraces. Wayne's verse is killer, though at this point everything he does just sounds like he's treating it as a throwaway. Yeah, I'm one of those white kids who loves Lil Wayne....oh well. Favorite track so far.
8.) "Drunk and Hot Girls (ft. Mos Def)"
Ugh. Just not into this one at all. Maybe it's the beat (though the little whistles after every line is creepy and awesome), but I'd bet it's definitely the weird sing-songy delivery is what's doing it. Mos Def starts out piano riff...and that's it. The "rah rah rah that's how the fuck you sound" line had me laughing pretty hard, but really this isn't all that good over all. Mos Def also backs up the choruses. I might have to listen to this a few times...it might grow on me.
9.) "Flashing Lights (ft. Dwele)"
This is more of a normal Kanye beat. Symphonies mixed with more house-styled thick synths, this is absolutely gorgeous. "Come home Mona Lisa/You know you can't roll without Caesar"...huh? Song isn't bad, but nothing about it really jumped out at me or grabbed my attention.
10.) "Everything I Am"
Nice little soulful number on this one. "Common passed on this beat so I turned it to a jam." Bit of a clunker with "Remember him from Blackstreet?/He was black as the street was," but he saves it with "I'll never be as laid back as this beat was." Claims he reps Chicago hard, which I have a bit of a problem with since I feel like he could do more than that. This beat is smooth as fuck though, think a smoother "My Block." Real introspective trip on this track lyrically, attacking people who don't like his rhyme style. I like that. Talks a lot about Chicago's murder rate and how it's terrible unless it's people rapping about violence, which is an interesting thing as Kanye isn't a totally socially-conscious dude most of the time. I guess rapping about clothes isn't so bad in comparison. I dig this one a lot, might be my favorite so far.
11.) "The Glory"
Starts with a piano and the usual chipmunk soul sample, then the beat kicks and it's just the usual bouncy Kanye shit. Nice symphonic sample. "After each and every show a couple dykes in the van"...huh? Love this sample. Takes a couple shots at Jeezy, Wayne, and Jay? On second thought, nah I think it's more an attack on rap culture in general. Maybe I'm wrong. More Chicago talk on this one, I dig it. Tons of clothes talk as is the norm for this record, which I'm fine with. Were those shots at BIG, Big L, etc? "Get money, stay glorious/I'm gonna stop killin these niggas right when the chorus hits" sounds like another pot shot at rap violence. I dig this one to.
12.) "Homecoming (ft. Chris Martin"
Here were go, the Chris Martin song. Stevie Wonder-esque piano sample. This hook really could've been anyone besides Chris Martin. For what it's worth, I loved "Beach Chair." So rolling and epic.
OK, I'm only going to half-ignore this song for the sake of bitching. On the pre-release version of College Dropout there was a bonus track called "Home," which is still my favorite Kanye beat ever. The lyrics are exactly the same as on this track, and it just not work half as well at all. If you haven't heard "Home" yet, check it out. The beat is one of the most uplifting things I've ever heard, and the lyrics ride it way better than this one.
Chris Martin, dropping Chicago love..."Baby do you remember when/Fireworks on Lake Michigan." I'm so bummed on this song because it's not "Home." Shit.
13.)Big Brother
The closer. "Stadium status" is said right off the bat. We'll see how huge this is when the beat kicks for real, but the synth line has potential. Huge sweeping lead on this. Great closer feel so far. Beat has kicked...I'm not sure about "stadium status" but this one is pretty big. I'm a little let down by that proclamation, but this is a great closer track. More introspection, looking at the past and how he got to where he is. You get the feeling that even though he's kind of an egotistical douche sometimes, Ye does it because he feels like he has the right to be because of where he came from and how hard he's worked to get there. Who was his mentor, Jay? "Have you ever walked in the shadow of a giant" with "Hola ho-vi-to" shortly after it. Looking back back at some tracks that he's been on, I'll admit that if I was more astute...nope, there it is. Song is about Jay. I'm into it. Great closer. Real uplifting. Shit, if Ye never releases another album again this is a great close-out on his career.
All in all...8/10. Real solid front-to-back, and if quality is anything to go by, I know he's going to outsell 50 in a heartbeat, sales ploy or not. I had my doubts about this record, but it's stellar.
Less hip-hop next time, should be updating pretty consistently this week. I need to get better at this liveblog shit.
I also downloaded Curtis, but plan not on listening to it. Just wanted to steal from 50. We'll see if I decide if Graduation is worth a purchase very soon...
1.) "Good Morning" (Intro)
Starts out with a real sparse beat, building from bass and bongo-sounding snare to the usual Kanye-style soulful flair. The almost Frankie Valley-style vocal sample is nice and fits the song title nicely. Kanye launches into a nice school-related tirade real fast ("this is my dissertation, homie...welcome to Graduation"). Drops some nice lines - "I'm like the fly Malcolm X/Buy any jeans necessary" even though they stray into Pharrell-style "combining black icons with excess" territory. I'm into this song. The beat is great, and would do just as well for an outro as it would for the intro. Lyrically it's what we've expected from Kanye lately, that weird "look how far we've come, see all this money I've got but what does it mean?" style.
2.) "Champion"
Whoa...so funky. Straight up disco soul in the intro and hook. The beat itself is funky as hell and real bouncy. Great jazz organ sound. I'm into this already. The same grandiose shit Kanye is used to dropping lyrically on this one as well...."I used to fell invisible/Now they know they invisible" (if I fuck up lyrics just know I don't have a lyrics sheet in front of me, which kills me. Tough to focus on production and lyrics simultaneously). Not bad at all.
3.) "Stronger"
I hate this song, though it has grown on me a little bit. Lyrically, I honestly haven't paid attention to it much, it lost me the very first time I heard it after the "black Kate Moss" line which comes pretty much immediately. I was so scared about this record when I heard this as the single. I knew Kanye had been getting into French house a lot lately (great news to me, I've been into the shit for years), and I definitely felt like that could incorporate itself into an album pretty nicely...but this is not the way to do it. Just awful. Lyrically this song is boring "I'm the greatest" Kanye bullshit. But that's half the fun with him, isn't it? In reality, even single sorority girl I know still loves this song to death, which proves my theory that Kanye is every white girl's favorite rapper. Obviously didn't hurt his album possibilities outside of the internet world.
4.) "I Wonder"
Here we go...Kanye soul samples. Let's see where this goes. Syncopated beat, with smooth synths, with that vocal sample just fading away into the background of the beat. Real dreamy and smooth, despite the jumpy nature of the beat. So far, we're sticking with the same introspective life-evaluating tone that the entire album has had lyrically. "A psychic told me that in my lifetime/My name would light up the Chicago skyline." Not the weakest track on the album, but only because "Stronger" came up before it. Not bad, but not great.
5.) "Good Life (ft. T-Pain)"
I'm skeptical of this T-Pain thing, but just because I hate the guy. Thankfully, he's subdued here, and the vocoder shit actually fits in with the French-house styled synth line, which is just real warm and this laid over a pretty normal beat and a usual Kanye chipmunk sample in the background. I'm into this song, it's got a real chill summery vibe to it. Upbeat shit, just lyrically talking about how nice it is to be rich, though towards the end Kanye seems to question if it's really as good as it seems...but it's short lived.
6.) "Can't Tell Me Nothin"
I was already super-into this song, it saved my opinion of the record before it came out and post-"Stronger." The vocal sample is haunting over the crawling synth line, which is still laid on thick and the slow beat. I'm still a bit confused about the Jeezy in the chorus, he's not credited on the song...did he seriously just sample the "Yeahs," "Ha has," and all that other shit? Wouldn't put it past him. I still love the "You can live with anything if Magic made it" line. Lyrically, nothing different than the usual...I think the title says it all. Love it.
7.) "Barry Bonds (ft. Lil Wayne)"
This song has the internet goin' nuts a few days ago, but this is my first listen. Beat is hot as hell, funky and disjointed with a jazz organ and bass line...hook and chorus with orchestral stabs. Lyrically this is best song I've heard yet on this record, but I don't want to keep pausing the record to jot down my favorites. Kanye is full of himself, he loves it embraces. Wayne's verse is killer, though at this point everything he does just sounds like he's treating it as a throwaway. Yeah, I'm one of those white kids who loves Lil Wayne....oh well. Favorite track so far.
8.) "Drunk and Hot Girls (ft. Mos Def)"
Ugh. Just not into this one at all. Maybe it's the beat (though the little whistles after every line is creepy and awesome), but I'd bet it's definitely the weird sing-songy delivery is what's doing it. Mos Def starts out piano riff...and that's it. The "rah rah rah that's how the fuck you sound" line had me laughing pretty hard, but really this isn't all that good over all. Mos Def also backs up the choruses. I might have to listen to this a few times...it might grow on me.
9.) "Flashing Lights (ft. Dwele)"
This is more of a normal Kanye beat. Symphonies mixed with more house-styled thick synths, this is absolutely gorgeous. "Come home Mona Lisa/You know you can't roll without Caesar"...huh? Song isn't bad, but nothing about it really jumped out at me or grabbed my attention.
10.) "Everything I Am"
Nice little soulful number on this one. "Common passed on this beat so I turned it to a jam." Bit of a clunker with "Remember him from Blackstreet?/He was black as the street was," but he saves it with "I'll never be as laid back as this beat was." Claims he reps Chicago hard, which I have a bit of a problem with since I feel like he could do more than that. This beat is smooth as fuck though, think a smoother "My Block." Real introspective trip on this track lyrically, attacking people who don't like his rhyme style. I like that. Talks a lot about Chicago's murder rate and how it's terrible unless it's people rapping about violence, which is an interesting thing as Kanye isn't a totally socially-conscious dude most of the time. I guess rapping about clothes isn't so bad in comparison. I dig this one a lot, might be my favorite so far.
11.) "The Glory"
Starts with a piano and the usual chipmunk soul sample, then the beat kicks and it's just the usual bouncy Kanye shit. Nice symphonic sample. "After each and every show a couple dykes in the van"...huh? Love this sample. Takes a couple shots at Jeezy, Wayne, and Jay? On second thought, nah I think it's more an attack on rap culture in general. Maybe I'm wrong. More Chicago talk on this one, I dig it. Tons of clothes talk as is the norm for this record, which I'm fine with. Were those shots at BIG, Big L, etc? "Get money, stay glorious/I'm gonna stop killin these niggas right when the chorus hits" sounds like another pot shot at rap violence. I dig this one to.
12.) "Homecoming (ft. Chris Martin"
Here were go, the Chris Martin song. Stevie Wonder-esque piano sample. This hook really could've been anyone besides Chris Martin. For what it's worth, I loved "Beach Chair." So rolling and epic.
OK, I'm only going to half-ignore this song for the sake of bitching. On the pre-release version of College Dropout there was a bonus track called "Home," which is still my favorite Kanye beat ever. The lyrics are exactly the same as on this track, and it just not work half as well at all. If you haven't heard "Home" yet, check it out. The beat is one of the most uplifting things I've ever heard, and the lyrics ride it way better than this one.
Chris Martin, dropping Chicago love..."Baby do you remember when/Fireworks on Lake Michigan." I'm so bummed on this song because it's not "Home." Shit.
13.)Big Brother
The closer. "Stadium status" is said right off the bat. We'll see how huge this is when the beat kicks for real, but the synth line has potential. Huge sweeping lead on this. Great closer feel so far. Beat has kicked...I'm not sure about "stadium status" but this one is pretty big. I'm a little let down by that proclamation, but this is a great closer track. More introspection, looking at the past and how he got to where he is. You get the feeling that even though he's kind of an egotistical douche sometimes, Ye does it because he feels like he has the right to be because of where he came from and how hard he's worked to get there. Who was his mentor, Jay? "Have you ever walked in the shadow of a giant" with "Hola ho-vi-to" shortly after it. Looking back back at some tracks that he's been on, I'll admit that if I was more astute...nope, there it is. Song is about Jay. I'm into it. Great closer. Real uplifting. Shit, if Ye never releases another album again this is a great close-out on his career.
All in all...8/10. Real solid front-to-back, and if quality is anything to go by, I know he's going to outsell 50 in a heartbeat, sales ploy or not. I had my doubts about this record, but it's stellar.
Less hip-hop next time, should be updating pretty consistently this week. I need to get better at this liveblog shit.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Chicago Hip-Hop...From A Distance
Anyone who knows me knows I read Tom Breihan's Status Ain't Hood blog for the Village Voice, and they also know that I do it in a somewhat masochistic sense, as most of the time I think the guy is kind of an archetypal horrible Pitchfork-type writer. Most of the time I skim his shit, but a couple days ago he put up a podcast post that really said some good things and got me thinking.
Tom mentions the Dude N Nem song "Watch My Feet" which, if you live in Chicago and have turned on any "urban" radio station (more so Power 92 than WGCI) over the last few months, you're definitely very familiar with already. Myself, I think the track is possibly my favorite hip-hop tune to come out all summer, which I can see catching some flak for but really couldn't possibly care less. Check it for yourself.
The song itself is absolutely great, a fun party song that's an interesting mix of modern hip-hop and the Chicago phenomena of Juke, which is in itself a mix of hip-hop, old school house, and a distinctly booty-bass type sound. "Watch My Feet" puts the two genres together perfectly - a slow, bouncy funk beat for the verses and the high-tempo madness for the hook and chorus. Really, it's an absolute shame that the song has started to catch when it did as it's undeniably a perfect summer song, with a great summer video as well (plus a pimp in an ice cream truck). Everything about this song just screams fun, and every rhythmically challenged white dudes like myself can groove to the bass line and at least jump up and down during the chorus. The video is a blast as well, just summer fun, a nice shout to Chicago, and some great comic-book style graphics (that "U Diiiiggggg" thing is fucking priceless).
Tom made a good point when he talked about the appeal of this song: it is, pure and simple, still following the trend of hip-hop chart hits lately being for the most part dance songs...you know, think "Lean Wit It Rock Wit It" (and then try your best to forget about it). What's nice about the dance songs lately is that it's no longer that lean-and-snap bullshit, but things that are actually aesthetically pleasing and difficult to do. Between the footwork in this song, and the dance from "Crank Dat Soulja Boy" (which is another one of my favorites, I don't care how mindless that shit is) it seems that a new trend is starting to pop up...and I'm into it.
It's interesting that Chicago seems to be one of the only cities in the nation without an easily identifiable hip-hop scene or sound, but this song might change things. Think about it: New York is distinct. Nine times out of ten you can pick out a New York artist. The West Coast had G-Funk. Miami had Miami Bass, and now Reggaeton (if you want to lump that in with hip-hop, which I will) and now artists like Pitbull who straddle the line. The south in itself has several sub-regional sounds: Atlanta, Houston and Memphis are all pretty famous on their own. Shit, even St. Louis has managed to put itself on the map somewhat definitively. Thanks to Timbaland, Missy and the Clipse, Virginia has been on the up in the last few years as well.
So where does that leave Chicago? This may be partly because I have lived out of the area for so long, but it really doesn't seem like Chicago has any sort of distinct sound to call its own, at least not nationwide. The only famous artists from Chicago nationally are Twista, Common, and Kanye West. Twista has always been a bit of a gimmick, Common is legendary but on the wane (though "The Corner" is still a fucking stormer), and Kanye produces for so many people you could hardly call his sound "local." Ideally, juke will be what fixes that. I know that the one thing I miss the most about home musically is Power 92's juke or old school house mixes, which have been a part of my late-night driving routine for about two years. As I've said before, the genre is just so undeniably FUN...hyper, bass-heavy, and all about partying. Hearing juke mixes of huge hip-hop tracks always brings a smile to my face. The slow acceptance nationwide of "Watch My Feet" and juke in general (it's been mentioned on 106&Park a couple times from what I understand) might finally be what gets Chicago hip-hop an identity.
But is that really the ideal? I don't really see this kind of stuff getting played on mainstream radio - at least not pure juke tracks. Perhaps tracks like "Watch My Feet" which can create a blend are the best. I still fucking love this song and would love to see that happen. Time will tell.
Check some juke for yourself...
The youtube comments mention it "really" starting in NYC, but those sort of debates are pointless and never lead anywhere.
Tom mentions the Dude N Nem song "Watch My Feet" which, if you live in Chicago and have turned on any "urban" radio station (more so Power 92 than WGCI) over the last few months, you're definitely very familiar with already. Myself, I think the track is possibly my favorite hip-hop tune to come out all summer, which I can see catching some flak for but really couldn't possibly care less. Check it for yourself.
The song itself is absolutely great, a fun party song that's an interesting mix of modern hip-hop and the Chicago phenomena of Juke, which is in itself a mix of hip-hop, old school house, and a distinctly booty-bass type sound. "Watch My Feet" puts the two genres together perfectly - a slow, bouncy funk beat for the verses and the high-tempo madness for the hook and chorus. Really, it's an absolute shame that the song has started to catch when it did as it's undeniably a perfect summer song, with a great summer video as well (plus a pimp in an ice cream truck). Everything about this song just screams fun, and every rhythmically challenged white dudes like myself can groove to the bass line and at least jump up and down during the chorus. The video is a blast as well, just summer fun, a nice shout to Chicago, and some great comic-book style graphics (that "U Diiiiggggg" thing is fucking priceless).
Tom made a good point when he talked about the appeal of this song: it is, pure and simple, still following the trend of hip-hop chart hits lately being for the most part dance songs...you know, think "Lean Wit It Rock Wit It" (and then try your best to forget about it). What's nice about the dance songs lately is that it's no longer that lean-and-snap bullshit, but things that are actually aesthetically pleasing and difficult to do. Between the footwork in this song, and the dance from "Crank Dat Soulja Boy" (which is another one of my favorites, I don't care how mindless that shit is) it seems that a new trend is starting to pop up...and I'm into it.
It's interesting that Chicago seems to be one of the only cities in the nation without an easily identifiable hip-hop scene or sound, but this song might change things. Think about it: New York is distinct. Nine times out of ten you can pick out a New York artist. The West Coast had G-Funk. Miami had Miami Bass, and now Reggaeton (if you want to lump that in with hip-hop, which I will) and now artists like Pitbull who straddle the line. The south in itself has several sub-regional sounds: Atlanta, Houston and Memphis are all pretty famous on their own. Shit, even St. Louis has managed to put itself on the map somewhat definitively. Thanks to Timbaland, Missy and the Clipse, Virginia has been on the up in the last few years as well.
So where does that leave Chicago? This may be partly because I have lived out of the area for so long, but it really doesn't seem like Chicago has any sort of distinct sound to call its own, at least not nationwide. The only famous artists from Chicago nationally are Twista, Common, and Kanye West. Twista has always been a bit of a gimmick, Common is legendary but on the wane (though "The Corner" is still a fucking stormer), and Kanye produces for so many people you could hardly call his sound "local." Ideally, juke will be what fixes that. I know that the one thing I miss the most about home musically is Power 92's juke or old school house mixes, which have been a part of my late-night driving routine for about two years. As I've said before, the genre is just so undeniably FUN...hyper, bass-heavy, and all about partying. Hearing juke mixes of huge hip-hop tracks always brings a smile to my face. The slow acceptance nationwide of "Watch My Feet" and juke in general (it's been mentioned on 106&Park a couple times from what I understand) might finally be what gets Chicago hip-hop an identity.
But is that really the ideal? I don't really see this kind of stuff getting played on mainstream radio - at least not pure juke tracks. Perhaps tracks like "Watch My Feet" which can create a blend are the best. I still fucking love this song and would love to see that happen. Time will tell.
Check some juke for yourself...
The youtube comments mention it "really" starting in NYC, but those sort of debates are pointless and never lead anywhere.
Monday, August 27, 2007
An Introduction
Hi there.
Like it says in the description, I'm new at this whole thing as far as publishing what I think about music on the internet. It takes a lot for me to think that my opinions matter enough that I need to publish them, or push them on people I don't know, or whatever. Ideally in that sense, I guess, it's my hope that this blog goes only as far as friends or acquaintances...it's way easier to argue or take criticism from those people than it is from total strangers.
Or this thing could blow up eventually. That'd be nice too.
So where am I going with this thing? To be honest, I have no idea. I'm modest enough to admit that I already get most of my news about music from other blogs - Idolator, Nah Right, Status Ain't Hood (begrudgingly) and a few others. Hopefully I can still set myself apart from the pack a little bit. At the very least, I'll just talk about things I like, things I hate, and review the dozens of music DVDs I get thanks to my Netflix subscription. And I promise to never, ever, call anything I write a "rant." I fucking hate that, to me it screams "Mountain Dew-swilling theater kids making broad generalizations about the government."
I figured a nice way to start would be with a post that shows what's up with my tastes, and decided that a nice little recap of who I would consider my "favorite" artists would be a good call. Anyone who's had a conversation about "favorite" bands or artists with people, or even just tried to figure it out for their own sake, knows that the concept of a "favorite" is one that is pretty much completely inconsistent. When I was 13, I was almost positive that not only was 311 the greatest band in the history of recorded music, but that they were always going to hold that spot at the top of my personal lists. How things change.
So, to make it easy, I'm going to just post a handful of acts that I'm really incredibly into at the moment, and try to sway it at least marginally towards stuff I've been into for longer than a year or so.
Mobb Deep
Starting with hip-hop, this group in particular is the easiest for me because I've talked at length about them - specifically Hell On Earth - literally dozens of times. And to be totally blunt, aside from a few choice tracks off the Free Agents mixtape, and a couple listens through the relative abortion that is Amerikaz Most Wanted, Hell On Earth is the only Mobb record I've ever picked up (which I know is a crime, poser status for not hearing The Infamous, whatever).
Basically, in my opinion, Hell On Earth is the consummate hip-hop record. The production is lean, cold, and stark, using pretty much exclusively the jazz-flavored instrumentation and samples that drove NY artists in the 90s. This alone gives the record an intense vibe from start to finish. It doesn't hurt that the rhymes are absolutely sick, either. Forgive me for getting all Pitchfork here, but Hell On Earth has always seemed to have this weird sense of reality to it - it's not a guns, bling, bitches album alone. Lines like "crime pays but for how long/til you reach your downfall," and "my first priority's to reach 21 breathin" really kind of lend the album this tinge of vulnerability. Yeah, these guys are living the stereotypical "rap life," but it seems like it isn't because they want to - it's because they have to. It's also worth mentioning that "Shook Ones pt. 1" is easily my favorite hip-hop song ever by a mile.
I've done much better jobs explaining this before, but you can blame getting up for a snack and losing my train of thought for that.
Mobb Deep - Hell On Earth
Sepultura
I toyed with not posting about this band in this entry, and instead making a separate one about them at a later date, but they really belong on this list. This band changed the face of metal and hardcore - whether or not they did it for the better is largely up to personal taste, but to listen to either Chaos A.D. or Roots and not hear the seeds of modern metalcore is absolutely impossible.
It's always been incredible to me that an already mind-blowing thrash metal band from South America could so seamlessly evolve into this beast that straddled the line between NYC metal/hardcore heavyweights like Machine Head and what would eventually become nu-metal (Soulfly, anyone?).
I'm not sure what else to say about this band. Obviously, the thrash records are stellar but that genre already has such a dearth of excellent bands that to me the harder, more hardcore-inspired albums are the two that really stand out. A lot of the bands that call themselves "metalcore" today could do themselves a massive favor by putting on tracks like "Propaganda" or "Territory."
Sepultura - Refuse/Resist
Joy Division
Especially with the 80s revival that has been going on for the past few years, it might seem like this is some obvious hipster-type choice, but until I had actually visited Manchester I was never really into JD, New Order, The Smiths, or anything else from that era. It might speak to my own bad habits of self-loathing, flirting with suicide and a general love for the morose that drew me in so close to this band and The Smiths initially, but I still remember listening to "Atmosphere" (still my favorite JD track) as I gazed out the window of a train heading from Manchester to Bolton. Though the money has clearly been pumped into the city to turn it into a cosmopolitan metropolis rather than the factory town that it was previously, almost every city in England still has that lingering sense of bleakness, of a layer of dirt and dust that will just never come off (and I mean that in the most endearing way possible).
Just as much as Oi! or punk was the sound of the decade previous, the 80s brought about newer, more damaging realizations and lifestyle changes. Punk had changed nothing, and growing suburbanization led to a whole new kind of disenchantment in England.
Nothing I'm saying here hasn't been said before, but I can say this - Joy Division has changed my entire outlook on music, and I can count on one hand the amount of musical epiphany moments I've had that were as beautiful as listening to this band cruising through the industrial northwest.
Joy Division - Atmosphere
Naked Raygun
My musical tastes are more than a little varied, and that led to a lot of headaches trying to decide what bands to include in this initial entry (I'm already sort of regretting installing Sepultura instead of one of a few others, but the fact that I've been listening to them for almost 10 years got them a spot). This band was one I was sure I was going to include, however, and I knew from the get-go I'd save them, the best, for last.
I was 14 years old and had just started to get into punk the traditional modern way, through occasionally buying a Punk Planet and picking up every $5 label sampler that I could scrounge up. It wasn't for a few months after my initial exposure to the genre that my aunt gave me one of the most valuable music-related gifts I've ever received: a cassette tape with Never Mind the Bollocks on one side and Naked Raygun's Throb Throb on the other. Obviously, having heard of the Sex Pistols before, I wore out the A-side pretty fast, but it was when I flipped the tape and heard the raw, tinny guitar riff of "Rat Patrol" (my copy is missing "Libido," which is probably for the best) that I was truly blown away. This, to me, is what punk was supposed to be: fast, political (but actually saying something), still true to some sort of rock roots, and fucking snotty.
The guys have dropped some absolute stinkers ("Hips Swingin" springs to mind) but, largely, they manage to play some of the most genuine punk rock I've ever heard. Shout-along choruses ("Metastasis"), straight-ahead rock, ("I Don't Know"), drinking anthems ("Wonder Beer"), and the surprisingly genuine heartbreakers ("Entrapment," "Treason")...this band truly covered all the bases, all the while setting up what would eventually become the Chicago punk rock sound.
There isn't a single band ever to come out of Chicago that has ever inspired so much local pride in me as Naked Raygun, and seeing them at Riot Fest last November was absolute gold.
Naked Raygun - Vanilla Blue
...that's it for my hello, from now on I'm going to try to keep thing more relevant to what's going on currently with the occasional nostalgia trip, show review, and DVD commentary.
Come back tomorrow for a look at what's up with Chicago hip-hop from an outsider's perspective, and every day after that for whatever I feel like. Tell your friends.
Like it says in the description, I'm new at this whole thing as far as publishing what I think about music on the internet. It takes a lot for me to think that my opinions matter enough that I need to publish them, or push them on people I don't know, or whatever. Ideally in that sense, I guess, it's my hope that this blog goes only as far as friends or acquaintances...it's way easier to argue or take criticism from those people than it is from total strangers.
Or this thing could blow up eventually. That'd be nice too.
So where am I going with this thing? To be honest, I have no idea. I'm modest enough to admit that I already get most of my news about music from other blogs - Idolator, Nah Right, Status Ain't Hood (begrudgingly) and a few others. Hopefully I can still set myself apart from the pack a little bit. At the very least, I'll just talk about things I like, things I hate, and review the dozens of music DVDs I get thanks to my Netflix subscription. And I promise to never, ever, call anything I write a "rant." I fucking hate that, to me it screams "Mountain Dew-swilling theater kids making broad generalizations about the government."
I figured a nice way to start would be with a post that shows what's up with my tastes, and decided that a nice little recap of who I would consider my "favorite" artists would be a good call. Anyone who's had a conversation about "favorite" bands or artists with people, or even just tried to figure it out for their own sake, knows that the concept of a "favorite" is one that is pretty much completely inconsistent. When I was 13, I was almost positive that not only was 311 the greatest band in the history of recorded music, but that they were always going to hold that spot at the top of my personal lists. How things change.
So, to make it easy, I'm going to just post a handful of acts that I'm really incredibly into at the moment, and try to sway it at least marginally towards stuff I've been into for longer than a year or so.
Mobb Deep
Starting with hip-hop, this group in particular is the easiest for me because I've talked at length about them - specifically Hell On Earth - literally dozens of times. And to be totally blunt, aside from a few choice tracks off the Free Agents mixtape, and a couple listens through the relative abortion that is Amerikaz Most Wanted, Hell On Earth is the only Mobb record I've ever picked up (which I know is a crime, poser status for not hearing The Infamous, whatever).
Basically, in my opinion, Hell On Earth is the consummate hip-hop record. The production is lean, cold, and stark, using pretty much exclusively the jazz-flavored instrumentation and samples that drove NY artists in the 90s. This alone gives the record an intense vibe from start to finish. It doesn't hurt that the rhymes are absolutely sick, either. Forgive me for getting all Pitchfork here, but Hell On Earth has always seemed to have this weird sense of reality to it - it's not a guns, bling, bitches album alone. Lines like "crime pays but for how long/til you reach your downfall," and "my first priority's to reach 21 breathin" really kind of lend the album this tinge of vulnerability. Yeah, these guys are living the stereotypical "rap life," but it seems like it isn't because they want to - it's because they have to. It's also worth mentioning that "Shook Ones pt. 1" is easily my favorite hip-hop song ever by a mile.
I've done much better jobs explaining this before, but you can blame getting up for a snack and losing my train of thought for that.
Mobb Deep - Hell On Earth
Sepultura
I toyed with not posting about this band in this entry, and instead making a separate one about them at a later date, but they really belong on this list. This band changed the face of metal and hardcore - whether or not they did it for the better is largely up to personal taste, but to listen to either Chaos A.D. or Roots and not hear the seeds of modern metalcore is absolutely impossible.
It's always been incredible to me that an already mind-blowing thrash metal band from South America could so seamlessly evolve into this beast that straddled the line between NYC metal/hardcore heavyweights like Machine Head and what would eventually become nu-metal (Soulfly, anyone?).
I'm not sure what else to say about this band. Obviously, the thrash records are stellar but that genre already has such a dearth of excellent bands that to me the harder, more hardcore-inspired albums are the two that really stand out. A lot of the bands that call themselves "metalcore" today could do themselves a massive favor by putting on tracks like "Propaganda" or "Territory."
Sepultura - Refuse/Resist
Joy Division
Especially with the 80s revival that has been going on for the past few years, it might seem like this is some obvious hipster-type choice, but until I had actually visited Manchester I was never really into JD, New Order, The Smiths, or anything else from that era. It might speak to my own bad habits of self-loathing, flirting with suicide and a general love for the morose that drew me in so close to this band and The Smiths initially, but I still remember listening to "Atmosphere" (still my favorite JD track) as I gazed out the window of a train heading from Manchester to Bolton. Though the money has clearly been pumped into the city to turn it into a cosmopolitan metropolis rather than the factory town that it was previously, almost every city in England still has that lingering sense of bleakness, of a layer of dirt and dust that will just never come off (and I mean that in the most endearing way possible).
Just as much as Oi! or punk was the sound of the decade previous, the 80s brought about newer, more damaging realizations and lifestyle changes. Punk had changed nothing, and growing suburbanization led to a whole new kind of disenchantment in England.
Nothing I'm saying here hasn't been said before, but I can say this - Joy Division has changed my entire outlook on music, and I can count on one hand the amount of musical epiphany moments I've had that were as beautiful as listening to this band cruising through the industrial northwest.
Joy Division - Atmosphere
Naked Raygun
My musical tastes are more than a little varied, and that led to a lot of headaches trying to decide what bands to include in this initial entry (I'm already sort of regretting installing Sepultura instead of one of a few others, but the fact that I've been listening to them for almost 10 years got them a spot). This band was one I was sure I was going to include, however, and I knew from the get-go I'd save them, the best, for last.
I was 14 years old and had just started to get into punk the traditional modern way, through occasionally buying a Punk Planet and picking up every $5 label sampler that I could scrounge up. It wasn't for a few months after my initial exposure to the genre that my aunt gave me one of the most valuable music-related gifts I've ever received: a cassette tape with Never Mind the Bollocks on one side and Naked Raygun's Throb Throb on the other. Obviously, having heard of the Sex Pistols before, I wore out the A-side pretty fast, but it was when I flipped the tape and heard the raw, tinny guitar riff of "Rat Patrol" (my copy is missing "Libido," which is probably for the best) that I was truly blown away. This, to me, is what punk was supposed to be: fast, political (but actually saying something), still true to some sort of rock roots, and fucking snotty.
The guys have dropped some absolute stinkers ("Hips Swingin" springs to mind) but, largely, they manage to play some of the most genuine punk rock I've ever heard. Shout-along choruses ("Metastasis"), straight-ahead rock, ("I Don't Know"), drinking anthems ("Wonder Beer"), and the surprisingly genuine heartbreakers ("Entrapment," "Treason")...this band truly covered all the bases, all the while setting up what would eventually become the Chicago punk rock sound.
There isn't a single band ever to come out of Chicago that has ever inspired so much local pride in me as Naked Raygun, and seeing them at Riot Fest last November was absolute gold.
Naked Raygun - Vanilla Blue
...that's it for my hello, from now on I'm going to try to keep thing more relevant to what's going on currently with the occasional nostalgia trip, show review, and DVD commentary.
Come back tomorrow for a look at what's up with Chicago hip-hop from an outsider's perspective, and every day after that for whatever I feel like. Tell your friends.
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