4 posts tagged “suburban noize”
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chairliftmusic.com ♥ myspace.com Wow, such a great pop song, that "Bruises" song. It's a perfect blend of catchy bass and Rilo Kiley-esque vocals from Caroline Polachek and trying to impress someone with handstand but only regretting getting nothing but black and blue bruises for your trouble. And just when you thought "yes, what a great song", the song turns into a duet! Then ends on a non-sense "doo doo doo", just for good measure. What I like about them, based on their album, Does You Inspire You, is that their lyrics aren't all about love and relationships: "Garbage" is about all the junk we produce ("we're making shit for you to throw away!") and "Planet Health" seems to be a community of health nut and something about putting out fires by stop, drop, and rolling. I won't read too much into their lyrics, because they seem cryptic enough. What I think the band is having trouble with is what musical direction they want to take. They're either really catchy pop song ("Bruises", "Garbage") or no-so-pop music ("Ceiling Wax", "Make Your Mind Up", "Le Flying Saucer Hat" - although the beeps are awesome on this song). I know this sound harsh, but I feel that most people who hear "Bruises" and expecting the band to sound like this for the other 12 tracks might be in for a disappointment. As evidence, I submit one Kate II, who recently saw Chairlift on tour with PB&J. I get the impression that was how the audience react to their show: kind of zombie like, until that "one song" came on. Still, that song is so good and you'll play the pants off that song and ignore what I've said about the rest of the album. The band's currently taking their hit song on the road:
06/11/09 Bonnaroo Manchester, TN 06/18/09 Echo Los Angeles, CA 06/21/09 Detroit Bar Costa Mesa, CA 06/22/09 Casbah San Diego, CA 07/18/09 Lovebox London 07/19/09 Latitude Festival Southwold 07/26/09 Secret Garden Party Cambridgeshire 08/01/09 All Points West Liberty State Park, NJ 08/08/09 Lollapalooza Chicago 08/13/09 Oya Festival Oslo 08/14/09 Way Out West Goteborg 08/16/09 Summer Sundae Leicester Get "Evident Utensil" free from killeropeners.net |
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yeahyeahyeahs.com ♥ myspace.com ♥ twitter Let me be clear: we are not a YYY website, I get questions about the banner all the time, showing one model/singer Marijne van der Vlugt. So, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are pretty well-established now, with their third studio album, It's Blitz!. If you've liked the old yyy with their experimental noises and guitars, you may not like their new album - even though I think it's the best and most easily accessible music from them. If you think that's a joke, well the yolk's on you. Because I'm serious, this is their best work... I would recommend It's Blitz!, not the over-hyped Show Your Bones album, to fans that are just getting into the yyys. The band seems to mostly a collaboration between singer/fashion-trendsetter Karen O and guitarist Nick Zinner. They seem to share most of the spotlight, and you almost feel bad for whatthedrummer's dude (Brian Chase). But I don't think he minds it much, based on his incredibly detailed blog. For the most part, the I really liked the electro-dance songs: "Zero", "Heads Will Roll", and "Dull Life" sounds anything but dull. There's also a few tuned down tracks, "Hysteric" and "Little Shadow", which are great as you can really take the time and hear Karen O singing. If you get the deluxe edition of the album, which I'll recommend, it comes with four bonus acoustic tracks. Maybe you can pick it up at one of their shows:
06/10/09 Club 101 El Paso, Texas 06/12/09 Bonnaroo Manchester, Tennessee 06/24/09 T-Mobile In Music Festival Zagreb 06/26/09 St. Gallen Festival St. Gallen 06/27/09 Le Rock Dans Tous Ses Etats Evreux 06/28/09 Glastonbury Festival Worthy Farm 06/30/09 Openair Arena Vienna 07/01/09 Roxy Prague 07/03/09 Eurockeenes Belfort 07/04/09 Werchter Festival Werchter 07/05/09 Roskilde Roskilde 07/07/09 Docks Hamburg 07/10/09 T In The Park Kinross, Scotland 07/11/09 Oxegen Festival Punchestown, Dublin 07/18/09 Quebec City Summer Festival Quebec City, Quebec 07/19/09 Ottawa Bluesfest Ottawa, Ontario 07/31/09 All Points West Jersey City, New Jersey 08/28/09 Rock en Seine Paris 08/29/09 Leeds Festival Leeds 08/30/09 Reading Festival Reading |
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antlersmusic.com ♥ myspace.com ♥ twitter I've mentioned before that I think a band is important/notable when they have a Wikipedia page... as usually I rely on the user-submitted website for a lot of research. Unfortunately, The Antler's Wiki page tells you nothing about this mysterious band... only to mention that their latest release, Hospice, was "critically acclaimed". Upon digging, NPR calls Hospice Best Record of 2009 So Far. The band seems to center around Peter Silberman, who's been having a lot of success. He recently signed with Frechkiss Records. Apparently the album, Hospice, was inpired by the idea of caring for a terminal patient, who's mentally abusive. It's a difficult situation because they're the one that's dying... This will all be suddenly clear when you hear "Epilogue", which tells the story in song. So, I'll have to say that listening to the album was a struggle for me. It is very atmospheric and you really need to listen with headphones to try and catch everything. The vocals are often drowned in a sea of noise and it feels like shoegazy/spacey for me. It's also too dense for me, and it seems like the sort of music that Pitchfork would love (and they do). I would suggest checking out "Sylvia" as a sample song, but it's a bit too harsh and loud. Instead, I'll direct you to check out "Two". There's a lot of interesting sound on this song, and the vocals sounds like it's being sung far, far away from the microphone. Oh yeah, tour dates:
06/10/09 BAR PINK San Diego, CA 06/11/09 EL REY* LOS ANGELES, CA 06/12/09 VELVET JONES* Santa Barbara, CA 06/13/09 BIMBOS* San Francisco, CA 06/14/09 DRUNKEN UNICORN+ (Peter Solo) Atlanta, GA 06/16/09 LOCAL 506+ Chapel Hill, NC 06/17/09 OUTBACK LODGE+ Charlottesville, VA 06/18/09 IOTA+ Arlington, VA 06/19/09 M ROOM+ Philadelphia, PA 06/21/09 MAGIC STICK# Detroit, MI 06/26/09 SOUNDFIX presents @ ROOFTOP FILMS New York 07/18/09 PITCHFORK FESTIVAL Chicago, IL 07/21/09 MAGIC STICK# Detroit, Michigan 07/22/09 HORSESHOE TAVERN# Toronto 07/23/09 PETIT CAMPUS# Montreal 07/24/09 JERKY’S# Providence, RI 07/25/09 IRON HORSE# Northampton, MA 08/21/09 MERCURY LOUNGE (record release!) New York 09/12/09 MONOLITH FESTIVAL Morrison, CO 09/13/09 MONOLITH FESTIVAL Morrison, CO * w/ Au Revoir Simone, + w/ Cotton Jones, # w/ Frightened Rabbit |
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hootsandhellmouth.com ♥ myspace ♥ twitter So, the first thing I think about when I hear Hoots and Hellmouth's sophomore album, The Holy Open Secret, is that they are good old country folks. You can't help but smile when you hear their music, that's for sure. It would seem that the band name comes from their two primary songwriters: Sean Hoots and Andrew "Hellmouth" Gray (the nickname comes from an ex-girlfriend). The band came together as part of the West Chester University music scene in Philadelphia in 2005. Obviously, as I previously mentioned, I was drawn to the happier songs (banjo-picking "You and All of Us", "Watch Your Mouth"), while the softer, more introspective songs ("Ne'er Do Well", "Family Band") fits well enough in the album, but I don't know how well-receive they will be performed live. To me, they seem like a high-energy live band. It's also worth noting when I saw "What Good Are Plowshares If We use Them Like Swords", this is the first time I've ever heard the word plowshare used in a song. It made me smile as I think of Magic the Gathering. Yes, they're on tour:
06/09/09 The Redstone Room Davenport, IA 06/10/09 7th Street Entry Minneapolis, MN 06/11/09 Shank Hall Milwaukee, WI 06/13/09 Intersection+ Grand Rapids, MI 06/14/09 Ribfest Chicago - North Stage Chicago, IL 06/18/09 joe’s pub New York, NY 06/19/09 Gullifty’s Camp Hill, PA 06/20/09 Southern Shore Music Festival Millville, NJ 07/03/09 Jewish Mother* Virginia Beach, VA 07/04/09 Jewish Mother* Virginia Beach, VA 07/09/09 Club Passim Cambridge, MA 07/10/09 Empire Dine & Dance Portland, ME 07/11/09 StageOne Fairfield, CT 07/16/09 The Basement Nashville, TN 07/17/09 JJ’s Bohemia# Chattanooga, TN 07/18/09 The Beacon Pub Swannanoa, NC 07/19/09 Unplugged in the Park @ Park Tavern Atlanta, GA 07/21/09 The Melting Point Athens, GA 07/22/09 The Evening Muse Charlotte, NC 07/23/09 The Camel Richmond, VA 08/05/09 Musikfest - Liederplatz Stage Bethlehem, PA 08/07/09 Infinity Hall Norfolk, CT 08/14/09 Summerfest Society Owen Sound, ON 09/11/09 The Ark Ann Arbor, MI + w/ Rev Horton Heat! * with The Hackensaw Boys # w/ Madeline and The Ginger Envelope |
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06/08/2009 01:25:28 ♥ vu (
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♥weheartmusic.com♥podcast.weheartmusic.com♥news.weheartmusic.com
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04/20/09 House of Blues w/ OPM & Sen Dog
3950 Las Vegas Blvd S, Las Vegas, Nevada 89119 -
Discography
04/20/09 House of Blues w/ OPM & Sen Dog 1055 5th Ave, San Diego, California 92101 - 04/20/09 The Grove - 4/20 Freedom Fest w/ OPM & The Pricks & Boombox Ninjas 2200 E Katella Ave, Anaheim, California 92806 - 04/29/09 Prince of Wales Hotel - Down Under 2009 w/ Sen Dog Bunbury, Western Australia 04/30/09 Metro City Perth - Down Under 2009 w/ Sen Dog Northbridge, Western Australia 05/01/09 HQ Complex - Down Under 2009 w/ Sen Dog Adelaide, South Australia 05/02/09 ANU Union Bar - Down Under 2009 w/ Sen Dog Acton, Australian Capital Territory 05/03/09 Hifi Bar Melbourne: Basement - Down Under 2009 w/ Sen Dog Melbourne, Victoria 05/06/09 Pier Live - Down Under 2009 w/ Sen Dog Frankston, Victoria 05/07/09 The Gaelic - Down Under 2009 w/ Sen Dog Surry Hills, New South Wales 05/08/09 The Bar on the Hill - Down Under 2009 w/ Sen Dog Callaghan, New South Wales 05/09/09 Towradgi Beach Hotel - Down Under 2009 w/ Sen Dog Towradgi, New South Wales 05/10/09 Mona Vale Hotel - Down Under 2009 w/ Sen Dog Mona Vale, New South Wales 05/14/09 The Coolangatta Hotel - Down Under 2009 w/ Sen Dog Coolangatta, Queensland 05/15/09 Hifi Bar Brisbane - Down Under 2009 w/ Sen Dog Brisbane, Queensland 05/16/09 Sands Tavern - Down Under 2009 w/ Sen Dog Maroochydore, Queensland
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In "celebration" is The Green Album by Kottonmouth Kings. Although you may think 'green' refers to the color money, looking at their cover artwork, it's clearly all about the other green buds. These guys are seriously crazy about the Cannabis stuff, apparently they have an even newer album to be called Hidden Stash IV (YES these guys named several of their albums Hidden Stash, plus other high-larious titles like Rollin' Stoned, Fire It Up and Cloud Nine).
So anyroad, the band's been around since the mid-90s and described themselves as "psychedelic hip-hop punk rock". And true to their description, there's a little of everything on this Green Album, from rock-ish ("Rock Like Us") to punk ("Socal Punk") to trippy hip hop ("Grass Is Greener") to rap ("We Don't Give A F***").
When you think of white guys doing hip hop or rap, it can go either way: 1. parodies/funny/ironic kind of band (see Blood Hound Gang), or 2. hardcore/serious (see House of Pain). It's hard to tell with Kottonmouth Kings, they seem hardcore, but with the pot elements, it just seems silly to me.
They first became famous with their "Suburban Life" on the soundtrack to Scream 2 (1997), and about 10 years later, they were enjoying the height of their popularity by going on a very successful Cannabis Cup tour, as well as "Band of the Year" by High Times Magazine.
When they are not singing about pot, they do have some interesting songs. "Blaze Of Glory" gives us a glimpse of BJ "the Pimp" Smith's back story and the lifestyle that they like to lead. He also raps on "What U In 4", which is possibly the hardest song on the album.
Other subject matters outside of buds is sex, and it's hard to ignore it on the song "Sex Toy". It's a bit raunchy, and features vocals by Tech N9ne.
The Green Album is available now at Suburban Noize Records, look for Hidden Stash IV to come out this year. If you're into the pot culture or like party bands, you probably will love this band. In fact, you probably own this CD already, you just forgot.
04/20/2009 11:42:16 ♥ vu ()
♥ kottonmouthkings.com ♥ myspace.com/kottonmouthkings
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10/25/08 Hollywood Park Los Angeles, CA
10/31/08 Icehouse Las Vegas, NV 11/29/08 Icehouse Phoenix, AZ |
What you'll find on the DVD is that it really captures the energy and showmanship of this band. Apparently, they played to a very packed Key Club in Hollywood, I would even guess it was a sold-out show.
They play everything fast (even on the 'slow' songs) and their fans seems to know all the lyrics (and would sing along).
The other thing I noticed is that they really comfortable being on stage, in front of thousands of fans. They must've constantly been on tour last year, and being involved in the Warped Tour, probably didn't hurt either.
I counted about four or five cameras (the worst camera is the stationary eagle view, which looks really blurry - but I suppose it's also filming from a good distance), capturing the band from various angles.
To me, releasing it as a DVD-only live album would've been just fine, but I'm glad that the producer decided to throw in the audio soundtrack to the DVD - you know if you're driving or something or don't feel like experiencing the show on TV speakers Unfortunately, due to the limitation of the CD, only 80 minutes of the show could fit in.... but the audio tracks are taken from soundboard, so it sounds fantastic. I guess, if anything, the bonus is the audio CD, the main feature is the video.
Things to take note about this show: the new drummer, Dylan Howard, who displace Wade Youman (who often took credit for starting Unwritten Law).
Here are a few non-indie rock album reviews for you. One of the nicest thing about W♥M is that we don't necessary serve a niche music genre, so we're often sent a huge variety of music genre. Below are some genre of music that I don't normally listen to - but all equally enjoyable: oldies, reggae, death metal, and Christian.
By the way, someone should do an article called "putting the pot in potpourri" and have a series of, er, grassy music.
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OPM
opmden.com ♥ myspace.com
California's OPM's Golden State of Mind was released in August, and features a diverse collaborations with Jim Perkins (acoustic folk), Pato Banton (reggae), Big B (rap/hip hop) and Jamie Allensworth (soul/funk). This album is mostly chill reggae, but with a small splash of rap - mostly through collaboration with Big B & Dirtball. This is also radio-reggae, so if you're looking for reggae dubs, you might want to look elsewhere - however fans of reggae should really enjoy the mix of rock, rap, reggae (and even punk!). This band first exploded on the reggae scene with their major label (Atlantic) debut 2000 album, Menace To Sobriety, mostly due to their popular skater song, "Heaven Is a Halfpipe". They left Atlantic and have been with Suburban Noize Records since 2004. The one clear song that I think is such a good song is "Family & Friends". There are two mixes on this album, the Saber mix seems to stress certain music riffs/beats, but the original mix I thought was just fine - if not better as is. I think mostly because you can hear the vocals more clearly on the original mix. It looks like they've been touring all summer long, and continuing:
15 Sep 2008 CROSSROADS Fresno, California 16 Sep 2008 FAT CAT Modesto, California 17 Sep 2008 FISHLIPS BAR AND GRILL Bakersfield, California 18 Sep 2008 JILLIANS Las Vegas, Nevada 20 Sep 2008 THE ROCK Tucson, Arizona 22 Sep 2008 HAILEY’S Denton, Texas 23 Sep 2008 EMO’S Austin, Texas 24 Sep 2008 THE ROCK BOTTOM San Antonio, Texas 26 Sep 2008 MERCY LOUNGE Nashville, Tennessee 27 Sep 2008 THE FIVE SPOT Atlanta, Georgia 28 Sep 2008 THE PARISH ROOM@ HOB New Orleans, Louisiana 29 Sep 2008 MARKET STREET PUB Gainesville, Florida 1 Oct 2008 JANNUS LANDING St. Petersburg, Florida 2 Oct 2008 CULTURE ROOM Ft. Lauderdale, Florida 3 Oct 2008 THE SOCIAL (TWO NIGHTS!) Orlando, Florida 4 Oct 2008 THE SOCIAL (TWO NIGHTS!) Orlando, Florida 5 Oct 2008 FREEBIRD’S Jacksonville, Florida 7 Oct 2008 THE MUSIC FARM Charleston, South Carolina 8 Oct 2008 THE NORVA Norfolk, Virginia 9 Oct 2008 RECHER THEATER Towson, Maryland 10 Oct 2008 JC DOBBS Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 11 Oct 2008 HARPER’S FERRY Allston, Massachusetts 12 Oct 2008 WEBSTER UNDERGROUND Hartford, Connecticut 13 Oct 2008 HIGHLINE BALLROOM New York City, New York 15 Oct 2008 MOD CLUB Toronto, Ontario 16 Oct 2008 THE SHELTER (downstairs St. Andrews) Detroit, Michigan 17 Oct 2008 THE BASEMENT Columbus, Ohio 18 Oct 2008 REGGIE’S ROCK CLUB Chicago, Illinois 19 Oct 2008 PEABODY’S Cleveland, Ohio 21 Oct 2008 THE ANNEX Madison, Wisconsin 23 Oct 2008 STATION 4 Saint Paul, Minnesota 24 Oct 2008 RECORD BAR Kansas City, Missouri 25 Oct 2008 GOTHIC THEATER Denver, Colorado 26 Oct 2008 THE BELLY UP Aspen, Colorado 27 Oct 2008 AVALON THEATER Salt Lake City, Utah 28 Oct 2008 THE BIG EASY Boise, Idaho 29 Oct 2008 HAWTHORNE THEATER Portland, Oregon 30 Oct 2008 MEDIA CLUB Vancouver, British Columbia 1 Nov 2008 EL CORAZON Seattle, Washington 5 Nov 2008 THE HOUSE OF BLUES West Hollywood, California 6 Nov 2008 THE HOUSE OF BLUES San Diego, California 7 Nov 2008 THE PHOENIX THEATER Petaluma, California 8 Nov 2008 SENATOR THEATER Chico, California 9 Nov 2008 SLO VETS HALL San Lius Obispo, California PS, I never found out what OPM stands for. Is it for "Other People's Money"? |
STEPHANIE
iamstephanie.net ♥ myspace.com
You probably
don't know this, but I often get interested potential writers with
interesting proposals for music angles. One of them included someone
who wanted to write about Christian music, so I requested some of this
genre of music from our PR people. When it came to actually producing
reviews, that person was never heard from again. I haven't gotten a Christian album in a while, but this one recently turned up: the self-titled album by the artist simply known as "Stephanie". Surely she must know that she's not the only musician called Stephanie? I had a heck of a hard time looking up her myspace/website. With the exception of the live recording of "Wake up Arise", all of these songs are studio-recorded and mixed. It sounds very clear and professional - including the live song. The closest "rock" song is the ironically named "Back to the Rock", featuring pianos and Céline Dion-style singing and wooing. I did enjoy her songs when it had more than a few instrument arrangement, like "The Rain", "Through Christ" (electric guitar!), and "Back to the Rock", as they seem to bring more of a full-music experience for me - at least for this album. I can understand the route to keep it simple (either with just pianos or acoustic guitar), because I felt they were trying to spotlight Stephanie's vocals. If you like vocals and minimal music, songs to check out are "Now I Know", "Bless Those Beside Me", and "Take Away". The overall feel of this album is that it's Christian pop music, at times inspirational. If you enjoy other Christian pop acts like Amy Grant, this should fit right in. After a few listen, you forget that it's even Christian, despite the obvious religious overtones. If you're in the Texas area and just generally like pop music, you should check her out:
14 Sep 2008 Word of Love Church Hurst, Texas |
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THE PONSONBY DC'S
myspace.com/ponsonbydcs
This band doesn't have anything to do with death, sans for their gloomy "Death Doom and Destruction". This song is actually pretty good, sampling some speech from George Bush. This band have been around since 1984 (WTF!) and currently based out of Canterbury, New Zealand, according to their myspace. By 1986, this band was in top form with their self-titled album featured in Spin Magazine and all over the college radio airwaves. Their third and latest album is called That's What All The Girls Say, released this year. Just look at their cover art, featuring what looks like a "serious" Cubism style - yet showing a pop-art style of a boat captain to the right. Maybe I'm over analyzing it, but this has a very serious and a not-so-serious tone to it. This also reflects in their songs, some songs have modern social commentaries to them, like the "Death" song mentioned above to "Pluto's Not A Planet Anymore". Other songs ("Son of a Street Fighting Man", "Girls!") are just fun. Other trends I notice from this band is that they have a late 50s "oldies but goodies" feel to them. Check out "Little Baby You're Mine" and "Ponsonby Waltz", both are well worth a look if you love classic oldies songs - done by a modern band. PS, Gavin Buxton's NZ accent definitely shows up on "Just Another Kick" and "Son of a Street Fighting Man". I love it! |
NETHERBIRD
netherbird.com ♥ myspace.com
Since we already mentioned the life-inspiration songs of Stephanie, I thought it would be fun to balance it with a little bit of the Dark Side. Usually I reserve this sort of music for Dr Soup, as this is a death (read: Satan) metal band from Sweden. I was actually pretty impressed with the production on The Bone Collector, it doesn't sound too "cookie monster" but it's clear that their inspiration lies in death metal. Even though I think some of their songs sounds like operatic metal (especially on "Carcess Symphony"). I thought "Forever Mournful" was the stand-out track on this album - and I'll tell you why. You have Nephente's demonic/agonizing vocals (I'm not even sure what he's saying!!) with a counterpoint of a sweet, angelic voice (no idea who's singing as the promo copy I have doesn't have any liner notes). The song lends itself to an epic feel as its theme seem to flow right into "Adrift Towards Eternity" (with its sweet violins and thunderstorm soundclip). Speaking of epic, check out "Boulevard Black" - the very first song that Netherbird recorded. This is a fourteen minute, utilizing lots of guitar, bird sounds (crows?), pianos, and includes a semi-cheesy voice over that seems to sound like an old 80s horror movie. Even the reprise song have a feel of Phantom of the Opera with The Texas Chainsaw Massacre! The most surprising thing I found out is that Target.com is carrying their CD. Wow, right? Apparently there is a standard release and a collector's edition - as usual, I always suggest getting the deluxe version if you can swing it. |
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