Four Songs to Listen to Forthwith - 07/18/10

Janelle Monae is a beautiful up-and-coming pop R&B artist. Her first full length studio album which came out in May has done extremely well. I love it, it’s absolutely packed with experimental artistic pieces. I am just really surprised by the variety on this album. The song Come Alive sat extremely well me. There’s a few killer things that I liked about this song. It’s got a catchy back beat/melody that’s carried through the bass, lead guitar and lyrics. It’s all woven together well. But she doesn’t just pick a winning melody and let it carry the song, there are breaks, strange solos, and impromptu screams. It’s full of the fun swing that made a furious come back in the late 90’s. I believe this song would make a killer addition to a wedding reception, (wink wink, nudge nudge)

Local Natives are an Indie Rock band from LA. Why do I mention LA so much? because it’s noticeable in their music. LA artists have an air of extra relaxation, smooth, easy-going, “Why does everyone look at me funny when I show up an hour late?” kind of feel to them. So the album came out last year but I’m just learning about it and this band. The song Airplanes is simple and really enjoyable to listen to. It’s recorded faux-live, something that I like when it’s done well. The song has harmonious vocals from… I don’t know… apparently everyone but the drummer does vocals. Either way, it’s a great song. The lyrics and simple and to the point “I keep those chopsticks you had from when you taught abroad in Japan; I love it all; so much I call; I want you back, back, back, you back;”

Time to take a trip back for the last couple songs of this foursome. Ted Leo and the Pharmacists have been around for a while and are still putting quality indie music. I’d like you check out this tracks, its fun, poignant and that string of lyrics in that are repeated just after the middle of the song… wow. “I asked Jerry, he told Terry, Terry sang a song just for me, Lynvall gave a message to me, Rhoda screamed and then she asked me, Where have all the rude boys gone?" That relentless string of he-said, she-said just grabs me. It’s a great band and I hope to see them some time in concert. From the video they just strike me as full of energy and enthusiasm for their music. I like songs without a beat, and I like songs with a beat. I just need to categorize things and this fits nicely into the “has a beat, you can dance to it, or don’t” drawer.

Why are you hear? Want to find new and interesting bands? Open your awareness of music? Well here’s what you want. Miyavi – Survive he’s from Tokyo. I’m drawing a blank about what else to say about this guy, I’m excited to show you this song, it kicks ass. The song is all Japanese. So I have no decent lyrics. Here, let me attempt them for you.

Hello World
Yeah! Whoo! Ha!
Cat a cigarette, all that ashes, let me see The Nile
Who the fuck is this, fugging monkey, flying a new dato
Mama, where my key move all the time, dammit find a hero
??... ??? ... ??? ?? ??? LOSER!!
Yeah, I’m sorry, I’m serving
Said sorry, yeah, I’m serving.
And you won’t! Why my Whizzo (x3)
Go! Whew! Yeah!
You need a mirror, look around, and now you get a Sega
Back when the show was new never, it’s a Nintendo
Here’s to looking new bright and anthem as an Adder
Now don’t give away an ostrich my life
Hey correct, I’m guy a screaming Alec where’s my soda?
Keith’s new dalec in a piece I love these pills in water
I so hip I show no coat my shows almost ending
I’m gonna brag all month do that LOSER!
Guido’s won’t! grab my wizard (x6)

Four Songs to Listen to Forthwith - 07/11/10

I’ve been a huge Ratatat fan for a long time. Their music is metallic and sweet. It’s like eating a brownie with flecks of iron tossed, you know, for flavor and texture. They released their forth album last month, LP4. It was made around the same time as their previous, LP3. LP3 was alright, as a diehard Ratatat fan I found it easy to like and appreciate, but I could also see the truth in many of the negative reviews. As far as Ratatat goes, it was non experimental and it seemed to lose some originality. Remember, I’m talking about Ratatat so I’m hoping you keep some perspective that this band is in my opinion, an absolute must-hear. LP4 has blown away that previous work and restored my faith in these two musical mad scientists. The entire album pulls the back of your head forward and then pushes it back with the greatest ease. You won’t know what you’re listening to, but you’ll like it. This isn’t musical that you hum to, this is music you absorb. I grabbed “Ratatat – Party with Children” because it’s a great song, simple video, and just had a party on Friday with, you guessed it, lots of kids running around.

Fol Chen are an Indie Pop band from LA. They recently released their second album. Not the stuff I normally listen to, but this song sits really well with me. Fol Chen – Cable TV. I’m not sure how to compartmentalize this song, it’s clearly trying to be pop, low synthetic base, catchy loops and generally simple lyrics. “Won’t you come away with me; The carpet’s filthy but the ice is free” This song excels at shaking off clichés. It’s like someone that hasn’t grown up in the USA is thrust into LA for a week, then this talented foreigner is asked to make their own pop song.

I dwell on contemporary bleeding edge stuff, but I grew up listening to the classic rock of my parents. Most of the arena rock was and is garbage, but along with that are strong genres about art and self expression. Psychedelic, folk, and progressive rock were doing some great things in the late 60s, early 70s. Emerson Lake and Palmer were an English supergroup, they did arena rock right, selling out ridiculously sized concerts and filling the time with beautiful, creative music that pushed rock to new places. Emerson, Lake, and Palmer – Lucky Man, it’s a sad song about a rich young man dying in war, a popular topic during 1972. The three sing the chorus with their distinct, eerie harmony. Twelve string acoustic guitars blend into rolling drums and one of the earliest songs with a moog synthesizer. One more quick fun fact, it was written by Greg Lake when he was 12 years old.

Let’s bring it down. Here’s some honest acoustic folk. I was afraid that I couldn’t find a decent link to the song Irving - Crumbling Mountain Tops. Irving has very modest popularity. I really have no idea where I first heard this song, maybe it was off a station on Launchcast or Pandora, maybe it was a Pitchfork review. I don’t know, but it’s simple and beautiful and exquisite. I love that I was the third person to see this video on youtube, not a video, just album art. There’s some artsy fan video, but I’d much rather stare at the cd jacket than whatever that other guy was doing. Where’s all the other uploads?

Rachel Rocks the Review - 7/6/10

So some music this week, how about we start off with some local guys...Standard of Living. I first heard of them a few years ago and have followed them since. Their music is upbeat and poppy and when you combine it together with some local hometown lyrics how can you go wrong. Plus since a bunch of the guys went to my high school and I know the family of one of the guys in the family...I have to plug them a little. Here's one of my favorites from them:

Next up is The Joy Formidable with The Greatest light is the Greatest Shade. I don't know much about this group other than this song. I heard it on a song of the day podcast and listened to it on repeat for most of a work day. It has a great beat and the beginning is fun and different. I look forward to seeing what else they have to offer, I feel like this is one of those groups that I really should have known for a while...in the mean time I'll leave you with this great song:

I decided a little late in the game that I was going to this years Warp Tour so I've been playing catch up on the bands that will be performing and came across You Me At Six through once again Paramore. I believe they toured a little with them in Australia for the Soundwave dates. I immediately got their most recent album, Hold Me Down, and got hooked on a bunch of the songs. They remind me a bunch of Paramore, but with a male lead. This is a great album to listen to for a quick pick me up or a running mix (as I also use it for). Some of my favorites are Hard to Swallow and Liquid Confidence but I'm going to leave you with my favorite song to listen to while running and just in general:

And finally this week I'm going to leave you with a Paramore song...why you ask...I say why not! Seeing that it's one of my favorite bands out there, it's amazing that it's taken me this long to include them into this blog. I know most people know them as that Twilight song band, if that's you then you really should take some time and look into their catalog more. Decode was a great song, don't get me wrong, but they have a lot more to offer. They've released 3 albums, their second album Riot! is certified Platinum in the US and Gold most everywhere else and their 3rd album Brand New Eyes is their highest charting album so far. As someone who's seen them live a few times (and got engaged at one of the shows) I recommend EVERYONE go see them. The spirit, sound and pure energy that they bring to the stage every night is amazing. I could go on and on about their shows and my favorite songs both live and album version but I don't want this blog entry to be 2 pages long. So I'll leave you with one of my favorite songs (both album and live) off the new album:

Rachel Rocks the Reviews - 6/29/10

This week I'm gonna start with You Say Party! (formally You Say Party! We Say Die!). In the past few months this group have faced a bunch of ups and downs. In late 2009 they released their most recent album XXXX and began touring Canada. Towards the end of the tour in their native Vancouver the drummer, Devon Clifford, collapsed on stage during the band's set and later passed away. They then took some time for themselves and with in the past two weeks announced that they will be back and will be touring. On June 22, 2010, the band announced that they are officially dropping "We Say Die" from their name, presumably out of respect for Clifford. It was also announced that Krista Loewen has left the band, while Robert Andow and Bobby Siadat of Vancouver band Gang Violence have joined, taking over keyboards and drums respectively. I'm glad that they're back, I've really enjoyed this album. One of my favorites is Cosmic Wanship Avengers but I'll leave you with this great video. Enjoy!

I recently got a mixed cd and this next song was one of the many on the cd. I immediately fell in love and needed to know who it was by. It turns out it was by Yeasayer and the song was called Tightrope. I really enjoy the lead singers singing style on this song and really enjoy to jam along to the guitar and drums. I'm excited to look more into this bands catalog.

Next up is Fences (Christopher Mansfield) with My Girl the Horse, this is a great folk/indie song. I came across this song while researching a bit on City and Colour and thought that they both were very similar and enjoyed their style of music. I've been listening to a bunch of folk music in the past few weeks and have been trying to soak up as much of it as possible. Some of my favorites have been City and Colour and Fences. I look forward to hearing a complete album from him not just he EP. Enjoy this live version of the song...

Last but not least this week is Mike Clark with Threes and Fours. I've searched high and low for a video of this on the Internet but haven't found one. This is a great folk song I came across a few months ago from a podcast that I don't normally listen to. This is one of those songs from the beginning you're immediately hooked. Even if he never sang, the guitar hook alone would be something that would draw you to this song but with the addition of the detailed and heart felt lyrics it makes you want to hit repeat and listen over and over again. Any chance I get I try to recommend this great song. I'm gonna try to set up a link so you can listen to it but I'm not sure really how to do it and since Joe is still without Internet (and the local computer genious) I'm gonna have to try to do this myself. Hopefully I don't break the blog...

http://radio3.cbc.ca/play/band/Mike-Clark/Threes-and-fours

Rachel Rocks the Reviews - 6/22/10

First up this week is Metric with one of my favorite songs, Twilight Galaxy, off their "new" album Fantasies. This song is a little slower and more mellow then most off the album or even in their catalog of songs but has a great beat to draw you in. One of my favorite things from this song is Emily Haines's voice and how hypnotizing it is. Also the background vocals and the lyrics are great. This song has been on repeat for the past month and a half and I still haven't gotten sick of it. Some of my favorites off this album are Gold Gun Girls, Help I'm Alive and the newest single Stadium Love. I recommend seeing them live, it's an amazing concert and the music is great. After all these years each one of their albums gets better then the rest. I look forward to what they have to offer next. Here's a fan made video:

Next up is fun, yep that's the name of the band. I recently came across these guys by doing some research on Steel Train. As it turns out Jack Antonoff who is in Steel Train is also in fun along with Nate Ruess, formerly of The Format and ex-Anathallo multi-instrumentalist Andrew Dost. My thought is if you're going to have a band named fun, it should really be fun and a good listen. These guys do not let down. Their debut album Aim and Ignite is a great cd to listen to from start to finish. The lead singing, Nate, has a very unique and distinctive sound. One of my favorite songs off the album is The Gambler. His lyrics through out the song are so descriptive and touching then when you add together with the piano and violin parts it turns into a very lovely heartfelt song. This is a great cd and I recommend you give it a shot and listen to it all. But if you don't have all that time I recommend All the Pretty Girls, Be Calm and At Least I'm Not As Sad (As I Used to Be). Here's a fan video:

Going along with slow sentimental songs I'm going to focus on a great song by Sick of Sarah called Paint Like That. I first heard of this group from a television show with a completely different type of song. But after going through their albums I came across this song and immediately fell in love with it. I'm a sucker for emotional heart felt songs that just focuses on the singer and a solo acoustic guitar. This is a great song and is totally different from anything else I've heard from them, but hope that the new album they're working on right now will contain a few songs like this. Going along with this song I'm going to offer up another one of their songs so you can see the difference. Can't wait to hear more from this band from Minneapolis.

Now a more upbeat rock song, here's a fan made video for Mr Incredible:

Last but not least for this week is the Yeah Yeah Yeahs with Skeletons. I had been listening to the radio and had come across a song by them and thought that I was either listening to Metric or maybe even The XX. But after listening to the whole song I realized that couldn't have been one of their songs because I had never heard it before. So I waited patiently until the song came to an end and found out that the song was Heads Will Roll. I still sometimes have an issue determining if it's them at first listen but not nearly as often as I did. I got their album and immediately loved the use of the piano, drums, guitar and not to mention Karen O's vocal style. It reminded me of everything that I love about Metric. This is what Joe had said about them when I first played it for him, "she's got such great urgency to her voice and is just like here! Listen to this! Their lyrics are great and they have a signature to them that's all YYY's. Such a seductive song." I couldn't agree more.