It’s getting colder in New York City.

Biffy Clyro podría ser el nombre de casi cualquier cosa. Desde un pastel inglés hasta un antiguo plebeyo rebelde.

En éste caso se trata del nombre uncool de una de las mejores bandas de rock escocesas del mercado actual, sino la mejor. Acaban de publicar su 5º álbum llamado Only Revolutions, con el que por fin se hace justicia y se deja que asome la cabeza fuera de las islas una gran banda que lleva años esperando pacientemente su turno. Rock alternativo, hasta hace 2 años encontrada bajo la sección de discos de heavy a secas. Una banda que cuece un rock progresivo y vertiginoso como nadie. Curioso cuanto menos que grandes bandas necesiten 10 años y a otros les baste con algún minuto de gloria en el prime time de cualquier telebasura.

Biffy Clyro se formaron en la región escocesa de Ayrshire allá por 1995 cuando Simon Neil, voz cantante y guitarra contaba sólo con 15 años. Los gemelos James y Ben Johnston (bajo y batería) completan la formación, si bien ambos colaboran con sus voces en cada álbum. Después de patearse Glasgow y ganarse un público y unos oídos privilegiados como los de famosos Dj’s de radios escocesas, es en el año 2000 cuando tocan en el T In The Park, justo un año ántes  de que salgan a la luz sus primeros singles oficiales.

Pero hablando de lo más reciente, nos tenemos que quedar con Only Revolutions, un álbum donde siguen trabajando con Garth Richardson (Red Hot, Skunk Anansie, Rage Against The Machine…), que ya fué su productor en el célebre Puzzle de 2007.

Puzzle ya supuso su consagración a gran escala en el Reino Unido, un coqueteo con sonidos menos heavies que en sus anteriores trabajos pero no menos efectivos. Con aquél disco dieron vueltas al mundo telonenado a Muse, Red Hot, The Who o los Stones. En éste 2009 han sacado a la luz el maravilloso Only Revolutions, donde dan una vuelta de tuerca más al concepto de Puzzle, mosqueando obviamente a sus fans más heavies pero entrando directamente al olimpo de los oídos más abiertos del universo musical. Es en éste álbum donde veremos connotaciones como siempre han tenido de Foo Fighters o Nirvana, pasando por Jimmy Eat World o Rush. Para calma de sus fans más veteranos, intentan mantener el equilibrio para que la transición de sonido quede lo más limpia posible. Así en The Captain, donde suenan trompetas triunfantes, podemos también identificar sus riffs marca de la casa entre los “woo oo ooo” más típicos ya de otros merenderos. Todo ésto lo hacen sin perder, creemos,  un ápice de respeto de sus heavies más groupies. Al fin y al cabo The Captain es uno de los tesoros que guarda éste baúl.

En el single presentación, como ha sido That Golden Rule, tiene un cierto toque operístico que nos recuerda a otras bandas ochenteras aunque sin llegar al alarmismo retrobajero. Bubbles, ya en el tercer cajón del podio, nos deja una gran sensación, con un gran riff obra del gran Josh Homme que colabora con los chicos en éste tema.

Mountains es también un gran tema con una letra que quizás puede que parezca que lleva poco peso, pero que plasmada en el contexto y con la fuerza y fidelidad con la que cantan los de Ayrshire, hace de Mountains un tema irresistible.

Born On a Horse deja caer su lado más funky y moderno, con una letra un tanto bobalicona que no damos por vencida. Tienen también tiempo para sus baladas rasgadas como God & Satan, que tiene su mejor virtud precisamente en su aparente sencillez. Lo mismo sucede con Many of Horrors, con una voz que no queremos que nos recuerde nada parecido a nada EMO. Ejem.

Dejan su lado más Biffy para temas rotundos como Cloud of Stink, precisamente aquí aparece uno de esos pesos que hacen fuerza para equilibrar el álbum como comentábamos lineas más arriba. Know your Quarry, en cambio, es otro bello tema de una textura especial, que harían los mismísimos Aerosmith si hubieran nacido unos años más tarde y en las espectaculares tierras escocesas.

En definitiva, un gran álbum de unos tipos que realmente son muy buenos, y a los que el tiempo intenta colocar en su sitio.

Como pronto, el próximo Sábado 28 podremos verles taloneando a Muse. Y algo más tarde en solitario, cuando se confirme la nueva fecha de sus conciertos en España.

Salud!

D.

Thanks to everybody who commented on my last blog post! I really appreciate you sharing your playlists with everyone and introducing us to some great new music!

As I was responding to your comments, something hit me. You guys have shown us an incredible ammount of support over the last few years. You’ve called your local DJs to request our music. You’ve come to our shows and purchased our CDs. And your votes have caused us to win more contests and get onto more playlists than I could count. Each of you has helped make what we do possible.

Last week was really cool because we had twenty people contribute to our post! But, our anlaytics show that hundreds of people read it. Why is that? I’m not sure. But I feel that it is – at least in some part – due to the fact that so often the creation and delivery of art is a one way street. I want to change that; so I’d like to invite you to take a moment to do three things:

1. Visit atris.wordpress.com (This will be more fun if everyone goes to the same page.)
2. Scroll down to the comment box and introduce yourself. Write a few words about anything you’d like. How did you first hear our music? What city are you from? What are your favorite movies? Pretend we just met at a coffee shop. If you’d like share your blog address, Twitter ID or someplace where we and other people can learn more about you that would be great too!
3. Check the box that says Notify me of follow-up comments via email.

Please don’t do this for us, do this for yourself and for everyone. It takes a certain amount of bravery to put yourself out there; but it’s worth it. We love to get to know people with similar interests, ideas, and opinions. And it’s really cool when group discussions are started. If you have something in common with someone who posts, let him or her know! It makes me feel great to see people responding to my comments, and I love to chime back in to share my thoughts.

Looking forward to meeting you!

-Mason

Swedish alt-rock singer/songwriter Lykke Li is offering a free download of her new cover of the Shirelles’ “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow” on her website. You can listen to the song below along with a video of her recording it by candlelight. Visit her website here to download it.

Lykke Li – Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow

I’m pretty excited about my new music blog, so let’s keep the ball rolling. Post número tres!

The Mars Volta’s Omar Rodriguez-López released his first Spanish-only solo album, Xenophanes, earlier this month. I think it’s cool enough for a late shout out.

The entire album can be found on YouTube. Here’s the first single.

Omar Rodriguez-López – Mundo De Ciegos

Wenn Josh Homme, Dave Grohl und John Paul Jones beschließen, eine Supergroup zu gründen, muss man sich das Resultat natürlich anhören. Schließlich arbeiteten die ersten beiden schon beim Queens of the Stone Age-Epos “Songs for the Deaf” zusammen. Nach dem ersten Durchlauf der selbstbetitelten Platte lässt sich sagen, dass dies nicht das Meisterwerk ist, das man sich erhofft hat. Dafür ist das Ganze einfach zu verschroben, zu unkommerziell. Das was die drei Größen über eine Stunde lang veranstalten, ist musikalisch wirklich beeindruckend und in der heutigen Zeit vorallem einmalig – doch es lässt sich nur schwer am Stück durchhören. Zumindest nicht unter voller Aufmerksamkeit. Wo ein “Songs for the Deaf”, trotz Härte und Progression, immer greifbar und eingängig war, da mutet “Them Crooked Vultures” oft wie eine Jam-Session an. Es strapaziert, nervt oder langweilt an einigen Stellen, reißt einen an anderen Stellen aber wieder vollkommen mit. Wobei man das neue Homme-Projekt nicht wirklich mit den Queens of the Stone Age vergleichen sollte. Zu sehr suhlt sich das Album dafür in funkige, bluesige, beizeiten sogar psychedelische Gefilde – und zu wenig wird hier herkömmlichen Songstrukturen gefolgt. Selbst die Stücke, die einen eingängigen Refrain haben, besitzen angeschrägte, schwer greifbare Strophen oder Zwischenparts. Und auch Homme’s Stimme übernimmt bei Them Crooked Vultures eine andere Rolle als bei seiner Hauptband. Sicherlich bewusst, wurde der Gesang nämlich relativ hintergründig in den Sound gemischt. Was aber nix daran ändert, dass Homme stetig präsent ist. Größtenteils übernimmt er auch die Führung. Selbst wenn Grohl und Jones ihr Können beweisen, hatte Homme wohl den größten Einfluss auf das Songwriting. Einige Teile erinnern dann nämlich doch sehr stark an das letze, etwas polarisierende, Queens-Werk “Era Vulgaris”. Was kann man zu den Songs sagen? Ganz simpel: Licht und Schatten. Lupenreine Hits finden sich aber kaum auf der Platte. Am ehesten ist dies noch “New Fang”, mit seinem eingängigen Refrain – wenn dieser auch stark an den von Wolfmother’s “Joker and the Thieve” erinnert. Die restlichen Songs bieten zwar immer wieder interessante, mitreißende Parts, allerdings gelingt es Them Crooked Vultures zu selten auf den Punkt zu kommen. “Bandoliers” ist dafür ein gutes Beispiel. Dieses beginnt mit einem coolen Gitarrenlead, welches im Laufe des Songs immer wieder stilvoll untergebracht wird – doch es ist zum Ende hin einfach zu ausladend und planlos. Ähnlich verläuft das mit dem 8-minütigem “Warsaw”, das aus zig unterschiedlichen Parts besteht, aber sich zum Schluss in einem psychedelischem Stakkato verliert. Ebenfalls etwas fragwürdig ist das kaputte “Interlude with Ludes”, in dem Homme mit übertrieben hoher Stimme rumquakt. Nicht falsch verstehen! Das Debütalbum von Them Crooked Vultures ist, trotz vieler Macken, doch ein nettes Stück Musik geworden. Ich hör mir das Ganze wirklich gerne an, wenn ich nebenbei noch etwas anderes mache. Aber um sich der Platte voll und ganz zu widmen, ist die Angelegenheit als Gesamtwerk einfach zu schwach geraten. Es wird seinem Hype weder gerecht, noch fühlt es sich wirklich an wie das Album einer “Supergroup”. Trotzdessen muss man den alten Säcken ein Kompliment dafür aussprechen, dass sie es zusammengebracht haben Elemente aus 70s-Rock mit moderner, progressiver Rockmusik zu verschmelzen. 6/10

Last night–believe it or not–was my first time ever witnessing the sheer power and beauty of Neko Case in concert and she was fucking amazing!

I was up in the balcony so yes, the pics look far.

Show opener Calexico (a mainly two-man band, were joined at times by members of Neko’s band) was very, very good. Vocalists Joey Burns has a very clear, very expressive and quite powerful voice, and thanks to the excellent sound system inside the Beacon Theatre, he projected that voice up the three floors of the theater til it hit the roof and came back down.  At times he sounded a bit like Rufus Wainwright but I gotta say, he was a pretty convincing male version of Neko’s voice.  Calexico’s brand of Americana, alt-rock and a bit of Tex-mex is most definitely something I would recommend anyone to check out.  I didn’t know of them ’til last night but I’m officially a fan.

After a roughly 30 minutes break, Neko and her band took the stage.  She looked gorgeous on a bright red dress that she joked about several times.  Someone yelled: “I love you more!” and she asked if she’d been called a “whore.”  Of the dress, she said she founded at Cougars-R-Us before saying it had been a shopping mall in Boston.  She also said she felt like talking to her daughter about maxi-pads when she got dressed before hitting the stage, and that though she wasn’t a cougar (promise) she prefered “puma.”

The set was awesome: she played songs from every single one of her albums and each song was accompanied by a group of images or cartoons visuals projected onto a screen behind her.

She also joked about the wattage of the amplifier and her microphone–alluding to her getting shocked by it at her New Jersey show the previous night.

But we come back to her voice.  She truly is one of the best singers out there today.  She makes singing seems so effortless and simple but the clarity, power, and purity of her voice is worthy of awe.  She blew off the roof of Beacon Theatre and all I could say at times was simple: Wow.

the inside of the Beacon Theatre after the show was over.

On Press Selection this week we covered the German experimental electronic label Raster Noton, looked at the user-driven mp3 site Starfrosch, picked 3 tracks from the US indie-rock label Dead Oceans, and finally finished it up with some glitch-hop and beats. Tracklisting and links below:

Raster Noton

1) Grischa Lichtenberger – 0406_01_ rs
2) SND – 04:29:59
3) Aoki Takamasa – RN2-09-PT1+PT2

Starfrosch

4) Mithra – Tu es le Bateau et Je Suis la Rame (WeirdandWired)
5) Bassrk – Mephisto #Dub Version# (T-FREE)
6) Wheeler – Breeze Blow (Jahtari)
7) Sushi Dread – Bandama ft Sgt Mangodrum (Al Dente)

Dead Oceans

These Are Powers – Life of Birds
9) Nurses – Caterpillar Playground
10) White Hinterland - Chant de Grillion

Glitch-Hop and Beats

11) Pantyraid – Upset (Marine Parade)
12) Ben Samples - Motorthroat
13) Metaphor and Timonkey – Truffle Shuffle (Addictech Recordings)

By Marilyn Roxie

WHEN: 1982 – 1991

CULPRITS: Jason Pierce/J. Spaceman (guitar, vocals), Peter Kember/Sonic Boom (vocals, guitar), Pete Bain/Bassman (bass, 1982-88), Nicholas Brooker/Natty (drums, 1984-87), Stewart Roswell/Rosco (drums, 1987-88), William Carruthers (bass, 1988-91), Jon Mattock (drums, 1989-90), Steve Evans (guitar, 1990), Mark Refoy (guitar, 1990)

ALBUMS: Sound of Confusion (1986); The Perfect Prescription (1987); Performance (1988); Playing With Fire (1989); Recurring (1990); Taking Drugs to Make Music to Take Drugs To (1990); The Singles (1995)

HOW: I was recommended Spacemen 3’s Playing With Fire by Jakob Battick (a quite talented musician and artist who is part of the Tea and Oranges collective) sometime in 2008 because he’d noticed I had been listening to Suicide (70s electronic pioneers) a lot and thought I might like them as well. I noticed it was in Robert Dimery’s 1,001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, which I’ve been soldiering on to finish for some time, so I thought I might as well … and I was blown back entirely!!! I wondered why I hadn’t heard of them before, why didn’t everyone know about them (only just now approaching 100,000 listeners on Last.fm, at the time I’m writing this). The Suicide association made sense, because of the drone-riff repetition throughout, and of course an 11-minute jam called “Suicide” as an homage to that band. Some months later, I obtained The Perfect Prescription, which is now one of a very few albums I’d give 5/5 stars. I hesitated a bit before getting Sound of Confusion, since people seemed not to think highly of it, but I absolutely loved it, despite the fact that much of it is covers (13th Floor Elevators’ “Rollercoaster”, Juicy Lucy’s “Mary Anne”, and The Stooges’ “Little Doll” — “O.D. Catastrophe” might as well be a cover since it’s a lift from The Stooges’ “T.V. Eye”), as well as their last album, Recurring, which is curious to listen to because of it being split between a Sonic Boom/Peter Kember side and a J. Spaceman/Jason Pierce side. I had previously heard Spiritualized’s (J. Spacemen’s band, post-Spacemen 3) Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space and Lazer Guided Melodies a couple years prior; Spiritualized is certainly more well-known than Spacemen 3, and both are further still more listened-to than Spectrum (Sonic Boom’s post-Spacemen 3 band), which is a shame, because I love them all!

WHY: Spacemen 3 have quickly become one of my most-listened to bands and part of an elite club of music that actually makes me somehow more relaxed and even help me to fall asleep (The Kinks and Natural Snow Buildings also often do the trick). As much as the band were linked with and lyrically/thematically revolved around drugs, there is also a more profound spiritual element and unabashed sensuality in the music and words that one would be hard-pressed to ignore. To me, Spacemen 3 are nothing short of musical magic.

SONGS: The song selection here comes from highlights on their studio albums (chosen with assistance from polling people on Tumblr), as well as an alternate version of “Hey Man” (“Amen” from Taking Drugs to Make Music to Take Drugs To), a Perfect Prescription demo (“Walking With Jesus“), the single version of “Transparent Radiation” (Red Krayola cover), and a live track (“Things’ll Never Be the Same“). It was tough to narrow down the essentials, but I think this better than any singles/greatest collection around previously — it’s the best compilation of Spacemen 3 you’re apt to find anywhere!

LINK: Click the list below to hear our 80MFL SPACEMEN 3 iMix.

__________________________

Marilyn Roxie is a 19-year old music blogger at A Future in Noise and an electronic, instrumental composer. She’s just released her first single “Zug der Krautrock” (a tribute to the genre that Can and Kraftwerk both share) and is getting ready to launch her own record label, Electronic Angel.

Think one part tenderized Blink 182, a half measure of a pre-mixed synth and punk melange, a sprinkling of some finely grated techno, a pinch of mainstream alternative, and some distortion to taste. Now, marinate in two parts of Boney M. “What is this Franken-sauerkraut-parfait ?”, you might ask, but strangely, it’s not as bad as you think. Although, I don’t think it’s healthy. And that’s ‘The Bravery’.

With an album titled ‘The Sun and The Moon’, you’d expect something grand and spectacular, but all you’ll find, is an attempt that just about reaches escape velocity. However, that isn’t the only consideration that is entertained when you hear about ‘The Sun and The Moon’. The title of the album has a two-fold meaning. Firstly, it is derived from the lyrics of not one, but two of the tracks (‘Angelina’ and ‘The Ocean’) on the album. And second, (Here’s the clincher !) because there’s a second disc/side to the album where all the tracks from the first have been recreated by ‘The Bravery’ with an techno-synth feel to it, but  with the exact same lyrics, or rather, almost the same vocal tracks ! A brilliant concept applied to … not so brilliant music. Reviewing both versions together, would be doing injustice to both. So it’s the ‘Sunny’ side that’s getting the most of my attention here.

The first track is the ‘Intro’ and that effectively sets the tone and the mood recommended for the rest of the ‘Sun’ tracks. However, any hints as to the style must be disregarded. The next track is ‘Believe’ and is an obvious offspring of the ‘Intro’. This is one of the better songs in the album that builds a quick and radical treble overlaid on the stable but chewy bass line from the ‘Intro’. The lyrics are recombinant clichés, half of which are the titles of the tracks. Then again, the lyrics aren’t that bad in their chimerical form. This is a generalisation that holds true for almost the entire album. What keeps it all together is the way in which Sam Endicott and every other member of the band (Yes. Every member of the band is a backing vocalist.) bring out the vocals.

‘This is not the end’ sounds familiar, like something you’d have heard a long time ago. It’s all because of a very common and predictable bass line, except for the little frill at the end. What makes this song remain in your head for a while is perhaps the feel with which it is sung and the vaguely Coldplay-ish vocals-piano-violin blends. (After a while, it’s really difficult to ignore the violins, when they’re there,). Try to avoid the imagery of the title of the next track. It never fails to make one cringe, just like the song. The high fat content of the cheese, (which you would refer to as the lyrics) is the sort that’ll clog up your arteries, or ear canals in this case. I must point out that the ‘Moon’ version of ‘Every word is a knife in my ear’ is the absolute opposite. It is darker and sounds much better. It sounds great. Perhaps the reason for having a ‘Moon’ disc was so that it might eclipse and correct some of the unpleasantness that crops up in the original ‘Sun’ tracks. (The bonus tracks ‘Rat in the walls’ and ‘Faces’ (not faeces) are in there, for free, and it’s like most of what you get for free. The ‘Moon’ disc can’t and doesn’t try to correct those two.)

‘Above and below’ is nothing out of the ordinary but is worth a mention, especially the ‘Moon’ version, which is reminiscent of some ancient DOS games, Jazz Jackrabbit in particular. (No one forgets a green macho rabbit or a sexy one with a name like Eva Earlong. Ever.) Talking of sexy, ‘Angelina’ is a brisk song laden with emotion and some interesting combinations, with the ‘Moon’ version seeming like a toned down ‘Sun’ track. ‘Split me wide open’ is no different, minus the sexy. ‘Bad Sun’ is where you feel Boney M, smack, in your face. Then you just turn the other cheek and take a ‘Fistful of sand’. After a point you begin to accept this debauchery as something that you might actually engage in, just as people might pay from their own pockets to watch a horror-movie and crap the shit out of themselves. Strange place, this world, but very real, and real things happen.

The songs that really make you feel that this album is one that is worth it are ‘The Ocean’, ‘Time won’t let me go’ and ‘Tragedy bound’. ‘The Ocean’ and ‘Tragedy bound’ are soft guitar based songs with accompaniment that comes in later. The ‘Moon’ versions are synth based and stronger sounding but retain the feel of the original through the electronicity. ‘Time won’t let me go’ similarly, is gentle and powerful.

Any discernable solos in the album are only there perhaps for conformity in form. Nothing stands out above the mediocrity. The vocals are at the other end of the spectrum. It’s plain overdone. Much can be done with the human voice, but here, it’s just too much. Anyone would be reminded of Boney M. Not that all of Boney M is bad.

On the whole, you’ve got yourself an album that’s really not that bad. Some will love it, but no doubt, some won’t. There are people who like sauerkraut, limburger, durians, etc. And there are people who like ‘The Bravery’. There are dog people, there are cat people. There are ‘Sun’ people, there are ‘Moon’ people. If you do like ‘The Bravery’, don’t worry, you’re not alone, but you’re probably part of a minority. Their music has come up in movies, games, television series, etc., and even that is testament to the goodness there. That, you can’t deny. Here’s to an album that sounds right, but ‘The Bravery’ just needs some time to grow up.

- Braggadocio Al

2009 – DGC/Interscope

Gênero: Hard Rock/Grunge/Alt. Rock

Avaliação: Ótimo

O termo ’superbanda’ não é novidade no mercado musical. Na verdade é bem antigo. Apareceu nos anos 60, quando Eric Clapton se juntou à Jack Bruce e Ginger Baker para formar o Cream. À partir daí, inúmeras superbandas apareceram, na maioria das vezes ficando aquém do esperado, e tendo vida curta.

Algumas das mais recentes como The Good, The Bad & The Queen, e The Raconteurs até fizeram certo sucesso e apresentaram um bom material, mas mesmo assim, não alcançaram a qualidade das bandas originais dos integrantes.

Apesar desse primeiro disco do Them Crooked Vultures ser muito bom, parece que falta alguma coisa, talvez por se tratar de uma banda que conta com nomes de peso. De muito peso: Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Foo Fighters), Josh Homme (Queens Of The Stone Age e outras) e John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin).

O começo do disco é bem empolgante. A primeira faixa, “No One Loves Me & Neither Do I” é um ótimo hard rock com guitarras distorcidadas e pausadas. “Mind Eraser, No Chaser” segue a mesma linha porém com mais descontração, tanto no som quanto no título da música, que remete à “Straight, No Chaser” de Thelonious Monk.

Grande parte do disco é isso. Típico hard rock. Exatamente o que se espera da fusão de Foo Fighters com o QOTSA. Não que seja ruim. Pelo contrário. Mas num próximo álbum, acho que alguma experimentação iria bem.

Uma faixa que foge um pouco da receita é a ótima “Scumbag Blues”, que com certeza teve muito do tempero de John Paul Jones. Soa bem retrô, principalmente nos vocais.

As duas últimas faixas são interessantes. Possuem um ar sombrio, principalmente “Gunman”.

Apesar da formação chamar bastante atenção, o que eu achei mais legal dos Vultures é o retorno de Dave Grohl à batera. Na minha opinião, é sentado lá no fundo que o ex-Nirvana arrebenta e faz mais diferença.

Eis um grande disco, com ótimos arranjos, excelentes guitarras, Dave Grohl na batera, mas que parece faltar um quê inovativo. Talvez esse seja o problema das superbandas: espera-se muito delas.

Faixas:
1. No One Loves Me & Neither Do I
2. Mind Eraser, No Chaser
3. New Fang
4. Dead End Friends
5. Elephants
6. Scumbag Blues
7. Bandoliers
8. Reptiles
9. Interlude With Ludes
10. Warsaw Or The First Breath You Take After You Give Up
11. Caligulove
12. Gunman
13. Spinning In Daffodils

Ouça o álbum Them Crooked Vultures.

Scandinavian Skweee, Alt-Rock, Alt-Indie, Math-core, Techno, Experimental electronic sounds…. and the rest, in this latest mix..enjoy enjoy!! Tracklistings and links below:

Dodpop – Dodpop Vol.1
1) Daniel Savio – Smokeless Fire
2) Sprutbass – Matt Huffley
3) Melkeveien – Yo!
4) Fulgeance – Hardi
Sargent House
5) Native – Ride the Tide
6) Tera Melos - Tame
7) Bygones – Nu Cringe
Techno Mix:
Sergey Soukas - Sweep my Synth Away (Foundation)
9) Ascion – Kick On (Drumcode)
10) Vitor Munhoz - Ushu (Der Hut)
20jazzfunkgreats.co.uk
11) Cold Pumas - Jela
12) Universal Studios Florida – Unshackled (USF Remix)
13) Blondes – Moondance

DOWNLOAD: (right click and save) JK NOVEMBER MIX 1

Одноименная песня с нового альбома 30 Seconds to Mars «This is War» послужит саундтреком к игре Dragon Age: Origins.
Трейлер с довольно длинным фрагментом песни смотрим далее..

И несмотря на то, что я не шибко то играю в игрушки, не могу не согласиться с тем что  трейлер очень симпатичный.

UPD: стянутая из игры полная версия песни: http://stream.ifolder.ru/14848451

UPD2: первый сингл с новой пластинки, получивший название Kings & Queens  можно скачать тут:

http://torrents.ru/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2302946

или тут:

http://stream.ifolder.ru/14360822

Стоит добавить, что я уже очень давно и сильно жду эту пластинку.)

I’m aware that this is intentionally cheesey (or so I hope), but it’s still a blip on my radar.  Her voice sounds so annoying.  Nyaa!

Just some random bands, take it or leave it…

Bump of Chicken

The members first met in kindergarten and were classmates throughout their primary and secondary education. Bump of Chicken’s first performance was in 1994, during their ninth grade cultural festival,  playing a cover of The Beatles’ version of Twist and Shout.   In 1996, their song, Danny, won an award on 96TFM.

In 1999, Bump of Chicken released their first album, Flame Vein, on High Line Records. Later that year, they released their first single, “Lamp”. In 2000, they released The Living Dead, their final release on High Line.  They also held their first live tour, “Tsuaa Pokiiru (ツアーポキール^?)”, during March and April.

Later in 2000, the group switched to Toy’s Factory, releasing their first single on the label, “Diamond”, in September.   Bump of Chicken’s first big success occurred when their single, “Tentai Kansoku”, appeared on the Oricon Weekly Charts in 2001.   They held two live tours, “Star Porking Tours (スターポーキングツアーズ Sutaa Pookingu Tsuaazu^?) 2001″ beginning in March and “Surf Porkin’” beginning in July.   In October, they released “Harujion”. 

They released their first album on Toy’s Factory, Jupiter, in February 2002 and was their first number one on the Oricon Weekly Charts. In the summer of 2002, their music was featured on the Japanese TV drama, “Tentai Kansoku”, giving them more exposure. At the end of 2002, the group released the single “Snow Smile”. 2003 saw the release of the double A-side single “Lost Man/sailing day”.   ”Sailing Day” was used as the ending theme to the animated movie, One Piece: Dead End Adventure”. 

The beginning of 2004 saw a slew of re-releases. “Arue”, from their album Flame Vein, was released as a single in March. They re-released their first two albums in April. Flame Vein received an extra song and was re-released as Flame Vein +1. The Living Dead received no modifications. In July, the group released “Only Lonely Glory”,  which became their first single to chart at number one on the Oricon Weekly Charts.   A month later, they released their fourth album, Yggdrasil, which was their second album to reach number one on the Oricon Weekly Charts.   Shortly after, they released “Sharin no Uta”, from Yggdrasil, as a single.

In 2005, Bump of Chicken released two singles, “Planetarium” and “Supernova/Karma”. Karma was used as the theme song for Namco’s “Tales of the Abyss. The band’s next single, “Namida no Furusato” was used in a commercial for Lotte Airs.   It became the group’s second number one single. In 2007, they released the singles “Hana no Na” and “Mayday” on the same day. The two singles reached number one and two respectively on the Oricon Weekly Charts.   Bump of Chicken released their second latest album, Orbital Period, on December 19, 2007. Their latest album is “present from you”, released on June 18, 2008. This album is a compilation of b-sides and other non-album tracks.

They will release double A-side single “R.I.P./Merry Christmas” on November 25, 2009, becoming their first single in two years.

Motoo Fujiwara （藤原基央）

Motoo Fujiwara is the composer, lyricist, guitar, and main vocalist of the group, also acting as the leader of the band. He has written most of the music, and has also drawn the artwork for their albums ‘The Living Dead’ and ‘Yggdrasil’. He was born April 12, 1979 with blood type O. He enjoys doing laundry, cannot eat spicy foods, has poor eyesight, likes to eat chicken, and enjoys playing the harmonica. In March 2006, he released a solo album titled “Song for Tales of the Abyss,” which included “Karma” and instrumental versions of songs from the game Tales of the Abyss. Uses Gibson 1960 Les Paul Special Single Cutaway, Sonic fender, Gibson J-45.

 Hiroaki Masukawa （増川弘明）

Hiroaki Masukawa is the guitarist of the group, and also writes most of the hidden joke tracks for albums. He was born December 20, 1979 with blood type A, and is left-handed. He is referred to as the shy member of the group, and calls himself pessimistic. His hobbies are largely anime and games. His nicknames within the band are “Hiro,” “Hose,” (meaning “very thin”), and “Nikke”. Uses Gibson Les Paul Standard, Fender Stratocaster.

 Yoshifumi Naoi （直井由文）

Yoshifumi Naoi is the bassist of the group, and is referred to as the “crowd pleaser”. He was born October 9, 1979 with blood type A, and jokes that he “falls ill exactly four times a year.” He also calls himself an anime and game otaku, and a “rare genius”. His hobbies are photography and drawing; he has released an artbook containing his works, and helped with some of the album artwork. His nickname within the band is “Chama,” a play on the Japanese phrase “Obotchama” referring to a rich family’s son. Uses Sonic Bass, Fender Jazz Bass 65.

 Hideo Masu （升秀夫）

Hideo Masu is the drummer for the band. He was born August 10, 1979 with blood type A, and describes himself as an introvert. He also mentions that he has good eyesight, cannot write kanji well, likes to go outdoors, and often gets headaches. Uses Canopus Maple Shell.

Shocking Lemon

Shocking Lemon first formed in 1996. In 1999, they released their maxi-single Pastel Room and went on a tour named after the single later that year. The next year, Shocking Lemon switched to Alinosrecords and released their second mini-album. Since then, the band has continued to release more music and is now working with One-Coin Records. They also got the chance to do the opening for the anime Hajime no Ippo.

Ass Baboons of Venus

The Ass Baboons of Venus are a duo that combines the innocent cuteness of Japanese pop with the ridiculous toilet humor of Los Angeles trash rock. Comprised of comedian Naoko Nozawa and punk rocker Bob Limp, they tend to cross the boundaries between new wave and twee pop with their humorous sound. After releasing several singles, the Phucket a la Bum Bum compilation was released in the summer of 2002. ~ Bradley Torreano, All Music Guide

Green Milk form the Planet Oarnge

Green Milk From the Planet Orange formed in Tokyo, Japan, in July 2001. Combining prog rock, psychedelia, jazz, and indie rock, the band was formed after the breakup of No Rest for the Dead. The bandmembers are known by the monikers of Benjian (bass), A (drums and vocals), and Dead K (guitar and vocals). The band lists Miles Davis, Sonic Youth, Soft Machine, My Bloody Valentine, and Tortoise as influences. ~ Stephen Cramer, All Music Guide

//

//

On Mondays show we covered the Scandinavian Skweee label Dodpop playing 4 tracks from their first compilation – Dodpop Vol.1. We looked at label and management company Sargent House playing 3 artists on their roster. This weeks mix featured recent techno releases, and finally we looked at music found on UK-based mp3 zine and blog 20jazzfunkgreats.co.uk. Tracklistings and links below:

Dodpop – Dodpop Vol.1

1) Daniel Savio – Smokeless Fire
2) Sprutbass – Matt Huffley
3) Melkeveien – Yo!
4) Fulgeance – Hardi

Sargent House

5) Native – Ride the Tide
6) Tera Melos - Tame
7) Bygones – Nu Cringe

Techno Mix:

Sergey Soukas - Sweep my Synth Away (Foundation)
9) Ascion – Kick On (Drumcode)
10) Vitor Munhoz - Ushu (Der Hut)

20jazzfunkgreats.co.uk

11) Cold Pumas - Jela
12) Universal Studios Florida – Unshackled (USF Remix)
13) Blondes – Moondance

Esce domani il disco dei The almost. Bella bellissima band rivelazione Rock. Mi hanno subito impressionato tra le miriadi di nuove band del genere Alt rock. Spero siano altrettanto di vostro gusto.

THE ALMOST Sono…

Aaron Gillespie vocalist/lyrics/guitar/drums
Jay Vilardi guitars
Dusty Redmon guitars
Alex Aponte bass
Joe Musten drums

I’ve waited a long time for this.  New Pearl Jam!!  MMMMMM….Good!  But, should I just continue to gush here about how much I love it or should I at least attempt to be objective and unbiased? Yeah, I’m gonna gush about it….

Seriously, Pearl Jam may be single handedly saving rock music from the eternal abyss.  Think about it–how many other rock bands out there are not only writing their own music, but have been doing so consistently for 18 years now all the while evolving their sound over and over again and owning it every time? A lot of bands fail to create their own sound from the first album on…and many can never seem to repeat that sound in a convincing way.

OK, so maybe I’m propping Eddie and the boys up on a high pedestal, I’ll admit.  But, this is their 9th studio album and it is nothing like any of the albums before it…just like Pearl Jam was before it and Riot Act was before it and Binaural and so on (though I know that I don’t have to tell you because you already have them all……right?).  The album clocks in at 36.5 minutes which makes it the tightest Pearl Jam album ever.  No 5 minute guitar solos on this record.  But that doesn’t take away from any of the songs.  In fact, this album sounds like the guys from Pearl Jam have found a new place in life where they are at peace.  Take the first single The Fixer (video embedded below).  They lyrics of the song are about the want to fix things that appear broken…but the music isn’t angry punk influenced rock, rather it’s more poppy punk influenced rock.  No need to adjust your eyes–you read that right.  It’s poppy.  It’s amazing and unlike anything else they’ve ever done.  In fact, I’d say that the entire album is more poppy than their past works.  And Eddie penned a very pretty song called Just Breathe that stays with the acoustic sound he used on the Into The Wild soundtrack. Some reviews have already remarked about the song being wedding worthy.  No joke.

Then there’s the business side of this record that is really interesting.  Since fulfilling their record contract with the major label (and J records with the last album) they are selling and promoting this album on their own.  They negotiated contracts for distribution to independent record stores across the nation, its on iTunes, and they have an exclusive agreement with Target. Yes, that Target…the same place you buy your toothpaste.  Now, I know it seems odd that the same guys who tried to sue Ticketmaster back in the day are selling their album through a big box store, but in a way it’s the ultimate way to stick it to the man.  They not only got Target to agree to let them also sell it in independent record stores and on iTunes, but Target agreed to buy a million copies right off the bat.  That’s more than the last record sold to this day.  And they are doing it themselves–they are not paying a fee to a record company or any other middle man.  It’s a sweet deal to be sure, but a lot of other bands wouldn’t be able to get a deal like this–a lot of them are just not big enough draws.

So, if you haven’t picked this up yet, what are you waiting for?!

Standout Tracks: The Fixer, Got Some, Supersonic, Just Breathe