not exactly clogging up the roads, as yet, but you know, we people (you know eeerrr,,, humans) always innovate in our own way... as fuel runs out and becomes outrageously expensive (not of course because we are running out on the planet, but because Oil companies and energy suppliers are getting greedier and greedier and they are allowed to do it).. so put on another jumper (so says the boss of Centrica) "thanks gitto" - do you think he'll be wearing 2 jumpers ??! we'll all be out in the forests, stealing wood, trying to make ends meet till you die (thanks The Verve),, horses & carts will be back, it just about has to be the most environmentally friendly way to get around, they eat grass, and let you run around on them... and they're a good deal faster than the 20 mph Golf Cart buggies that they are taxing and allowing on the Roads in the USA, where some people are having a go at beating the fuel problem... has anyone head of horses there ?? even the Police are using them, although I don't think they'll be any fast 'getaways' in them, and they might have to think about the safety of an open-cart buggy on the roads... the picture tickled me though... seems like you could walk faster, or even cycle (you know its one of those recent new fangled inventions, 2 wheels - unbelievable what they can do these days) and it would keep you fitter, unless you're incapacitated, then you would be in a wheelchair anyway,, can they go on roads ?? not sure... here's the pici and the story.. I liked it anyway
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jul/18/usa.energyefficiency?gusrc=rss&feed=worldnews
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07/23/08 Ramkota Exhibit Hall Souix Falls, South Dakota
07/24/08 Grandmas Sports Garden Duluth, Minnesota 07/25/08 Riverside Ballroom Green Bay, Wisconsin 07/26/08 Streeters Traverse City, Michigan 07/29/08 Vans Warped Tour: Pittsburgh, PA 07/30/08 Vans Warped Tour: Riverbend Music Center OH 07/31/08 Vans Warped Tour: Verizon Wireless Music, IN 08/01/08 Vans Warped Tour: Marcus Amphitheater WI 08/02/08 Vans Warped Tour: First Midwest Bank IL 08/03/08 Vans Warped Tour: Canterbury Park ,MN 08/05/08 Vans Warped Tour: Credit Union Centre SK 08/06/08 Vans Warped Tour: Race City Speedway AB 08/08/08 Vans Warped Tour: Idaho Center Amp, ID 08/09/08 Vans Warped Tour: Gorge Amphitheatre WA 08/10/08 Vans Warped Tour: Columbia Meadows OR 08/13/08 Vans Warped Tour: Save Mart Center CA 08/14/08 Vans Warped Tour: Coors Amphitheater CA 08/15/08 Vans Warped Tour: Shoreline Ampitheatre CA 08/16/08 Vans Warped Tour: Sleep Train Ampitheatre CA 08/17/08 Vans Warped Tour: The Home Depot Center CA 09/04/08 MSU Auditorium East Lansing, Michigan 09/06/08 Crocodile Rock Cafe Allentown, Pennsylvania 09/07/08 House of Blues Atlantic City, New Jersey 09/08/08 Recher Theatre Towson, Maryland 09/10/08 The Orange Peel Asheville, North Carolina 09/11/08 The Music Farm Charleston, South Carolina 09/12/08 40 Watt Club Athens, Georgia 09/13/08 Real Big Deal Festival Gainesville, Florida 09/15/08 House of Blues New Orleans, Louisiana 09/17/08 Canopy Club Urbana, Illinois 09/18/08 The Blue Note Columbia, Missouri 09/19/08 Liberty Hall Lawrence, Kansas 09/22/08 Club Oasis Louisville, Kentucky 09/23/08 Newport Music Hall Columbus, Ohio 09/25/08 Magic City Music Hall Johnson City, New York 09/26/08 Northern Lights Clifton Park, New York 09/27/08 Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel Providence, RI 09/28/08 Toad’s Place New Haven, Connecticut 09/30/08 The National Richmond, Virginia 10/01/08 Lincoln Theatre Raleigh, North Carolina 10/02/08 Rocketown Nashville, Tennessee |
I'm always excited about acoustic releases. I generally prefer them since they strip away the flashiness and give you the raw talent of the band. Motion City Soundtrack's Acoustic EP is no different. The EP features five tracks from their 2007 album "Even If It Kills Me". For those who don't know Motion City Soundtrack is an increasingly popular indie rock/alternative rock/pop group formed in Minneapolis. The band has released three albums under Epitaph Records.
As with most acoustic releases, the songs all sound much more earnest and heartfelt. The versions of "Fell In Love Without You" and "It Had To Be You" should go down in love-song history for their incredible emotion-evoking sound. Unlike some acoustic albums, Motion City Soundtrack delivers complete studio quality throughout the entire EP. There are not only acoustic guitars, but chimes, drums, piano, bass-- the whole nine yards.
This wasn't just a sit-down in the basement; it was crafted with much precision. The vocals may not have been as smooth as in "Even If It Kills Me" but they are strong and hit all their marks (which is no small feat with all of Motion City Soundtrack's high octaves). Even if you've already purchased "Even If It Kills Me" I highly recommend you pick this EP up. The quality and effort put into the Acoustic EP is easy to recognize, and it's a whole new take on all of the songs.
Links:
motioncitysoundtrack.com
myspace.com/motioncitysoundtrack
epitaph.com
Ok...I'll give this whole thing a shot....maybe it'll improve my mood...
Things I Loathe:
- Rain b/w 4 and 5pm on a weekday...Hello! I have to walk my dogs....and having flipped in a VW Beetle when I was a freshman in college DURING the rain doesn't make for a calm drive home
- Gas prices
- Doing things I don't want to do because I'm too polite and nice (shocking to those that know me IRL)
- Eastenders and/or Corrie not being available for download yet
Things I Don't Loathe:
- Facebook Status Updates....addicted.
- Facebook, in general....catching up with so many peeps!
- The animals
- Taco Bell Baja Beef Gorditas
Ok...that's enough for a first timer....baby steps, yo.
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OK, show of hands: how many of y'all reading this have dropped acid? Strangely enough, considering my interests in neurology and altered states of consciousness, I never have. Nope. Not once. A friend of mine once said that I acted as though I were on acid all the time, just by default. Therefore, I've always been afraid that eating a tab or two might, paradoxically, make me normal. Can't have that now, can we?
Well, thanks to London, Ontario's Golden Death Music, you do not need to resort to illegal pharmaceuticals to experience seriously altered states--I'm talking the kind that can potentially mutate you into a Homo erectus or a telekinetic, maggotlike far-future form, so be careful when listening. Also, if you're forced to take a piss test at your job, do not be surprised if traces of Golden Death Music's stunningly beautiful first album, Ephemera Blues, turn up in your urine. This is the kind of bizarre, edgy, yet still tranquil music that will permeate your entire being after a few listens, lighting up your chakra, opening your Third Nostril, and perhaps transforming your pineal gland.
Golden Death Music is singer/songwriter Michael Ramey, but the album sounds as though it's been composed by a whole studio full of musicians. Nope. It's all Michael Ramey, who has written and recorded every song himself--a sizable achievement, since Ephemera Blues has a very large sound. Mixing elements of Pink Floyd, Donovan, 13th Floor Elevators, Legendary Pink Dots, Radiohead, and Jethro Tull into a swirling, multicolored and multitextured album, Ramey has created a record that literally defines the word "psychedelic." Though most songs are primarily driven by acoustic guitar and vocals, drifting in and out and through these primary elements like noctilucent clouds are eerie synths, glitchy electronic touches, flutes, cellos, electric guitars, horns, and heavily-reverbed backing vocals. Though the sounds all blend together nicely to create a languid, sleepy texture, all instruments are still distinct and nicely arranged in space, which makes this album a wonderfully immersive headphones experience. Coloured waves of sound will fill your mind with disembodied bliss...and best of all, there's no nasty come-down or flashbacks to worry about!
Much like Pink Floyd, Golden Death Music acknowledges that melody is the keystone of any piece, and Ephemera Blues is built on a solid foundation of melody and songwriting. Ramey's lyrics are often rather dark, as on the album closer "Into the Ocean"--"Throw yourself into the water / Feel the changed and tainted ocean / Let the damaged waves caress you / Feel the change"--but not morbid. In fact, there is an airy lightness to this album that gives it the feeling of a peaceful near-death experience and greatly justifies the name Golden Death Music. "Waking Nightmare" may be constructed from a tense, unnerving electro-glitch base, but the melody itself and the vocals are quiet and pretty, as though Ramey is observing the waking nightmare of life from the stance of someone who's left it all behind. Even "Lost in Violence," my favorite track on the album, manages to depict our earthly hell with a relaxed peacefulness.
Speaking of Pink Floyd, Ramey is one hell of a good guitar-player, and his acoustic guitar work will no doubt remind you a lot of David Gilmour. There are no guitar solos in his songs, however: they are trim, economical tracks that usually measure about four to six minutes in length--just long enough to let you lose yourself in them without becoming overlong or tedious.
In many ways, Golden Death Music's Ephemera Blues is musical theosophy. Much like the literary work of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, Golden Death Music gathers together elements from many, many sources and attempts to synthesize them into a mystical, transcendent, syncretic unity. However, unlike theosophy, Michael Ramey actually succeeds. Whereas Blavatsky's Isis Unveiled was a hefty tome of absolutely insane religio-babble, Ephemera Blues is a tight, complex, but manageable assemblage of musical concepts and ideas that really will make you feel as though you've tapped into the Pistis Sophia, the gnostic truth, the one-ness, behind the confusion of reality. And it will bring you the peace of musical enlightenment.
Electrospective Manchester District Music Archive has teamed up with electrofunkroots to bring a marathon celebration of Manchester's 1980s Electro-Funk and B-Boy scene to Islington Mill on Saturday 30 August 2008 from 4pm to 3am.
The event, led by pioneering DJ and producer Greg Wilson, will explore the impact of this seminal underground movement through films, talks and music.
Greg will be hosting Q&As with key figures from the era, including Hewan Clarke, Colin Curtis, Chad Jackson and Mike Shaft, followed by the first ever public screening of Tim 'Bones' Forde's life-affirming film, 'The Birth of the British B-Boy', a 40-minute documentary about Manchester's legendary breakdance troupe Broken Glass Street Crew.
The event will climax with a club night from 10pm-3am, featuring some of the scene's most important DJs and dancers.
Daytime: Free admission from 4pm
Club night: Ticket only after 10pm
Tickets are on sale now from:
www.quaytickets.com (0870 428 0785), Vinyl Exchange, Piccadilly Records and Fat City.
its a strange thing the Mercury Music Prize, because, where does the Mercury bit come in, is it something to do with the periodical table, or the Mercurial delights of the nominees,,, well , what can you say about the nominees, you wonder where these people choosing this stuff get off... Robert Plant ??!! an album so dismal and lacking in any musical merit, its unlistenable dirge washes over you as you imagine the old rocker in some room with Alison Krauss, yuckeroo,,, and Radiohead, its hardly their best work, Adele ??!! c'mon , your having a laugh aren't you ?? the thing about it is that they obviously keep on picking bands who almost immediately fade into obscurity,, so they have had to pick a few recognisable ones this year to give the thing some credibility, as its already a laughing stock... but the albums have to be a bit 'lefty' of field, otherwise why not have done with it and choose Sugarbabes and Take That.. we'll see how long we have to put up with Adele for, another album packed full of nostalgia for those kiddies who have never heard any soul music before.. cripes... if it was any good or any use to anyone apart from the huge major labels pushing the 'same-old-same-old' you would have a large number of unknowns, Blues bands, Indie Acts, R&B artists, (Estelle is good live but its a very boring album),, , country, rappers, where are all the successful Asian UK Asian acts ???!!! c'mon, Robert Plant??, the album is ******' tripe.
)
It's another big CD-Tuesday for us, we've managed to cover most all of them:
- Sunfold - Toy Tugboats
- Mouth of the Architect - Quietly
- Lackthereof - Your Anchor
- Samantha Crain - The Confiscation EP
- The Avett Brothers - The Second Gleam
Man, I'm so glad that it will be a light release date for July 29th, but looking ahead, it looks like another big day for us for August 5th: The May Fire - The List, Peter Bradley Adams - Leavetaking, /Passenger. - Wicked Man's Rest, Trapt - Only Through The Pain, and Telepathique - Last Time on Earth... so looking forward to tackling those, since I am also assuming we will get more, the closer we get to that date. So below are last minute submissions for July 22nd:
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07/22/08 DC 9 DC, Washington DC
07/23/08 M Room Philadelphia, PA 07/25/08 Union Hall Brooklyn, NY 07/26/08 Mercury Lounge New York 07/27/08 Middle East (upstairs) Boston, MA 07/29/08 Local 506 Chapel Hill, NC |
SUNFOLD
myspace.com/sunfold
With the release of Toy Tugboats, released today, July 22th, this North Carolina band, Sunfold, is kicking off a mini tour on the East coast.
Even though some of you might not know the name Sedona (the original name for the band) or Sunfold, you might know them through Annuals. What's interesting to note is that Sunfold includes all the members of Annuals, just under a different name.
Their biography lists that basically Annuals is headed by music singer/singer Adam Baker, while Sunfold is under songwriter Kenny Florence's direction.... and under his direction, it looks like Sunfold are gearing to a refreshing wide range of instruments (hammered dulcimer, lap guitar, cello), in addition to the standard guitar/bass/drums rock and roll fare.
I do like what Sunfold is doing here, trying out different genre of music. Take a listen to "Gnosis" and you'll think this must've been inspired by popular jazz and 70s progressive rock. The banjo and lyrics on "Shapeshiftin'" sounds very old-time music, while "To Wake the Eye" is pretty much jazz. "Sailed off to Sea" is their most country-sounding song, and "Gorgée de Rubis" is experimenting with artificial sound as well as a hint of Hindi music. As you can see, all songs are all over the place.
This might be a good thing if you consider that they are still growing and trying to find where they fit in. It should be interesting to see how the two bands exists parallel to each other as time goes by.
Toy Tugboats is out today on Terpsikhore Records. Look for their mini tour and/or see Annuals.
LACKTHEREOF
lackthereof.com ♥ myspace.com
Speaking of side projects, Lackthereof began life in 1997, before Danny Seim started another band in 2000 called Menomena, which took over as the main project. Seim have decided to return back to Lackthereof with this latest release called Your Anchor, released today, July 22nd on one of our favorite record label, Barsuk Records.
The promotional song Barsuk want us to us is "Last November", which makes my choice a lot easier, but if you ask me, I would've prefer to use "Ask Permission" as I felt that song edge out November slightly.
Since the songs on this album were probably closely watched and mixed by Seim, himself, he controls all you hear - so the songs seems to fall on the more experimental side. There's odd melodies and unconventional music shifts, making it not very pop radio friendly.
The most radio-friendly song is his cover of The National's "Fake Empire", one of his favorite bands. To be honest, I haven't had a chance to check out the National, due partly to all the hype for the band last year. After hearing Lackthereof's version of "Fake Empire", I might check out what all the fuss is about..... Although, I would hazard a guess that it sounds very unlike the original.
PS, the most interesting thing, if you ever get a chance to see photographs of Seim and his pug. Apparently, Ms Geddy Lee, the dog, is the manager of Menomena.
She and her band The Midnight Shivers are currently on tour promoting The Confiscation EP.
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Tour Dates
07/28/08 Jackpot Music Hall Lawrence, KS
07/29/08 Dulcineas Denver, CO
07/30/08 The Palladium Salt Lake City, UT
08/01/08 Pickathon Roots Music Festival Portland, OR
08/02/08 Pickathon Roots Music Festival Portland, OR
08/04/08 Triple Door Mayfield! Seattle, WA
08/06/08 Sam Bond’s Garage Eugene, OR
08/07/08 Axe and Fiddle Pub and Music Club Cottage Grove, OR
08/08/08 Sophia’s Davis, CA
08/12/08 Hotel Cafe Los Angeles, CA
08/14/08 Santa Monica Pier Santa Monica, CA
09/06/08 Old Town School of Folk Music Chicago, IL
09/07/08 Old Town School of Folk Music Chicago, IL
09/27/08 International Festival Lawton, OK
10/09/08 Taste Orlando, FL
10/10/08 The Globe Saint Petersburg, FL
10/11/08 New World Brewery Tampa, FL
Links: Official Website | MySpace | Virb
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26 Jul 2008 DAYTON DIRT COLLECTIVE DAYTON, Ohio
01 Aug 2008 Ravari Room Columbus, Ohio 02 Aug 2008 Zanies Too Indianapolis, Indiana 03 Aug 2008 Howler’s Coyote Cafe Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 04 Aug 2008 Xtreme Wheels Buffalo, New York 05 Aug 2008 The Downtown Quarterback Endicott, New York 06 Aug 2008 The Middle East Cambridge, Massachusetts 07 Aug 2008 The Living Room Providence, Rhode Island 08 Aug 2008 Knitting Factory Tap Bar New York, New York 09 Aug 2008 Broad Street Minstries Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 10 Aug 2008 DC9 Washington, DC, Washington DC 11 Aug 2008 Nara Sushi Richmond, Virginia 12 Aug 2008 The Milestone Charlotte, North Carolina 13 Aug 2008 Drunken Unicorn Atlanta, Georgia 14 Aug 2008 The Haven Winter Park, orlando?, Florida 15 Aug 2008 Brass Mug Tampa, FL 16 Aug 2008 Atlantic Gainesville, FL 17 Aug 2008 High Ground Venue Metarie, Louisiana 18 Aug 2008 Hi Tone Cafe Memphis,TN 19 Aug 2008 OPO Downstairs @ The Urban Table Fayetteville, Arkansas 20 Aug 2008 Downtown Music Little Rock, Arkansas 21 Aug 2008 Club Dada Dallas, TX 22 Aug 2008 Red 7 Austin, Texas 23 Aug 2008 Conservatory Ok City 25 Aug 2008 Gator’s Farmington,NM 26 Aug 2008 Clubhouse Tempe, AZ 27 Aug 2008 Knitting Factory Hollywood, California 28 Aug 2008 Chaser’s (fka Scolari’s) San Diego, California 29 Aug 2008 Thee Parkside San Francisco, California 30 Aug 2008 Rotture Portland, Oregon 31 Aug 2008 Riversdale Grange Roseburg, Oregon 01 Sep 2008 Studio Seven Seattle, Washington 03 Sep 2008 Marquis Theater Denver, Colorado 04 Sep 2008 Replay Lounge Lawrence, Kansas 05 Sep 2008 2 Cents Plain St Louis, Missouri 06 Sep 2008 Vaudeville Mews Des Moines, Iowa 07 Sep 2008 Reggie’s Rock Club Chicago, Illinois |
One of my best friends has been telling me to check out Dayton, Ohio's Mouth of the Architect for about a year. He'd played some songs for me, and I'd dug them, and I don't really know why, but I never really got around to checking them out. And now, here I am, reviewing their new album, Quietly, and wishing I had.
Mouth of the Architect do the “post-metal” thing like few other bands. Rather than leaning heavily in one direction or the other, the more Explosions in the Sky style is mixed seamlessly with something more along the lines of Isis, creating something that's almost entirely their own.
Album opener “Quietly” opens... uh... quietly, with something that sounds like one of Mogwai's more contemplative moments with some added distortion and builds up over the course of ten minutes into a sludge epic. The returning original vocalist, Alex Vernon gives a really awesome, powerful performance here, and every time you think the track couldn't possibly get any heavier, it does, and yet, it never sacrifices the post-rock and psychedelic undertones that differentiate them from every other heavy band out there.
Most of the tracks on the album follow this general template of layers of noise stacked on top of each other, with some lengthy psych-sludge jam parts, but thankfully, it never feels like a template. The first part of “Guilt and the Like” is defined by cool, delirious sounding guitar riffs that would probably sound really hackneyed in the hands of a less competent band, but sound awesome here. “Generation of Ghosts,” on the other hand, starts with a trem-picked guitar riff reminiscent of the classic Godspeed You! Black Emperor crescendo, stretched out into an oddly ambient lead-in to something that would sound like a classic metal intro if it weren't for the softly sung vocals underlying it. The crescendo has a keyboard riff that adds an uplifting feel to the skull-crushing riffs. The intro to “Rocking Chairs and Shotguns” is reminiscent of Tool's more contemplative moments, with more time to contemplate, and none of the polish, with a fading guitar noodle that sounds like maybe someone wrote it hanging out in their rocking chair with their shotgun. The track returns to the theme set forth on the intro numerous times throughout in subtle ways. The last track, “A Beautiful Corpse,” on the other hand, just busts down the door and goes straight for the jugular. This is about as sludgy as this band gets, and they don't let up until the ending's shouted vocals without any instrumental accompaniment.
Overall if you like post-metal, you'll
probably dig this album. I found myself wishing I'd checked this band
out earlier, and I'm glad I have now. The album is out today, and the
band is about to head out on a huge US tour. More information and tour dates (because there are way too many of them to post them here. Vu can, though, if he wants to apply some of that fancy formatting I have no idea how to do) can be found at the band's official MySpace page. They're hitting about three quarters of the lower 48, so most of our American readers can probably catch them in the next couple months!
-Soup
Gimme a V! Gimme an O! Gimme an X! What's that spell? VOX!
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