In Your Ear

It’s been a while, so I’ll just start and see where this goes.

Some of the member of Arcade Fire were in studio for theSound Opinions podcast.  Nothing earth shattering, just cool to hear their story and some of their tunes.  I am super behind on this pod and hope to catch up over the holidays.

Florence and the Machine opened up for U2 earlier this summer.  My brother-in-law didn’t know anything about U2 but was super stoked to see this group.  I checked out their debut album, Lungs.  I love the opening track, Dog Days Are Over, and can’t help but clap and smile during the chorus.  Drumming Song is a driving track that is pretty good.  The final track You’ve Got the Love is fantastic.  Love all the instrumentation and the tune is super catchy.

I don’t even know how I came across this song, So Cool by Bewitched Hands on the Top of Our Heads, but I love it.  Work is another track that is pretty good.

At a Halloween Party, the hosts had a party mix on Pandora and Beyonce’s Crazy In Love and I started jamming, which surprised everyone there.  Have to admit this is a guilty pleasure of mine.  Love that song. 

Moving on . . .

I admit I am late to the Kings of Leon phenomenon.  I was aware of their music somewhere out in the ether but never really sought them out, so I’ve decided to start at the beginning and give them a whirl.  Their first album, Youth and Young Manhood, is ok, nothing special in my opinion.  The first cut, Red Morning Light, is not too bad, and it is followed by Happy Alone, which was a popular song that I was familiar with.  California Waiting is decent, and Molly’s Chamber is another song that I had heard but didn’t really do it for me.  Holy Roller Novocaine might be a favorite track.  I have the next record on hold, so we’ll see how that one is.

Finally, I saw sloan for the umpteenth time at St. Andrew’s Friday night.  The band was touring in support of their 10^th album, The Double Cross, which I had listened to it a couple of times on their website but hadn’t thought much of it.  After hearing most the tracks live, I am really coming around.  I already thought Unkind was up there as one of their best tracks ever, and the live version kicked ASS!!  There are several more great cuts, including The Answer Was You, It’s Plain To See, Beverly Terrace and Traces.

The band keeps cranking out the tunes, and their live versions of Ill Placed Trust, Who Taught You to Live Like That? and Money City Maniacs were epic.  They also played Deeper Than Beauty during the encore, which was sweet because I hadn’t heard that live in years.  Chris mentioned that they want to do a tour just playing songs from Twice Removed.  Sign me up as it is my favorite album. 

In Your Ear-6.24.11

Black Angels, Phosphene Dream

I’ll be honest I don’t know how to classify this band—Wikipedia classifies them thusly: Psychedelic rock, Neo-psychedelia, Garage rock—I just know that I like their music. Stumbled upon the band somehow and have grabbed songs here and there over time. I listened to their album Phosphene Dream and was reasonably satisfied. Lots of guitar work through the album, which created some very interesting songs. Particularly liked the title track, Entrance Song, and Bad Vibrations. The cut Telephone is a catchy song that blends 60’s beach with heavy rock. In and out in two minutes. The album ends with The Sniper, which takes things down a notch before ramping up to rhythmic anthem for when that bender goes completely off the rails.

Sound Opinions Show #281

http://www.soundopinions.org/shownotes/2011/041511/shownotes.html

The guys replayed a Butch Vig interview from a couple years ago, in which he talks about how went from small time producer in Wisconsin to producing Nevermind and Siamese Dream to being in a band.

The interview was fascinating as Vig shared some stories about Cobain and Corgan, their moods, their genius, their interplay with other band members. These were some of the biggest bands and influences growing up so it was neat to hear a little behind the scenes. Vig also talked about his time with Garbage. Really enjoyed their first album; subsequent releases, not so much.

The hosts moved from the interview to a review of the new Foo Fighters album, which did not rate highly. They did have some good words about the Paul Simon’s new record, which should please Mr. Tony immensely.

iTunes Summer Sampler

Overall the sampler was ok. Found some really good tracks:

San Pedro - Mogwai

Driving garage rock instrumental track that I can get behind.

What About Us - Handsome Furs

Favorite track on the sampler from a group that I’ve found recently. Like what they are doing electronically in the background on this cut.

On the Corner - The Twilight Singers

Another favorite of mine. When I first heard this cut, I thought it would right off The Afghan Whigs Gentlemen CD. Turns out Greg Dulli is lead singer. Really could get into this band.

You Gotta Lose - Obits

Energetic cut with a punk vibe that hits you in the mouth and keeps on going. Dig it.

Here were a couple of losers:

Grown Ocean - Fleet Foxes

Haven’t really gotten on the FF bandwagon. This track didn’t help.

Mister Heavenly - Mister Heavenly

Uhhh . . . no. Couldn’t get into this track.

The Fox - Niki and the Dove

Didn’t really like this track. Too much going on plus I had mid 80’s flashbacks to Tiffany, Debbie Gibson and the like.

Comments on the rest of the tracks:

Lost in My Mind - The Head and the Heart

Slow build on this track with an enjoyable piano part.

Is It Done - J Mascis

Long time since I’ve heard anything out of Mascis or Dinosaur Jr. Not too bad, very understated track.

He Gets Me High - Dum Dum Girls

Hints of Elastica pepper this cut, which would be great for driving around.

Skull (Remastered) - Sebadoh

Had a little Pavement/Nada Surf flashback on this track, which was nice.

Do You Really Wanna Know - Papercuts

Ethereal track that has a 60’s vibe with some Decemberists and another band I can’t quite place.

Eyes Be Closed - Washed Out

Wish I could describe the track but I can’t. Imagine this is a take it or leave it track. I took it.

Can't You Tell - Vetiver

Dreamy song that reminds of early 90’s BritPop (blur, Charltans UK, etc.)

Swerve... the Reeping of All That Is Worthwhile (Noir Not Withstanding) - Shabazz Palaces

Track totally different that any of the others, with a rap vibe.

O My Soul - Daniel Martin Moore

The Band meets Blue Rodeo if that’s your sort of thing.

Especially Me - Low

Would have to be in right mood to enjoy this melancholy track. Could happen.

Endless Summer - Still Corners

Organ based track that easily would have fit into Twin Peaks soundtrack. Very haunting.

Sleep Patterns – Memoryhouse

If you like the sound of the Editors or Interpol with female vocals, you’ll probably like this track.

Sara - Chad VanGaalen

Voice sounds like several others I’ve heard. So so track, nothing to get excited over.

In Your Ear-Ripped Book Review

Finished Ripped, which is a fascinating recap of the move of music from CD’s to mp3’s, from corporate control to artist control, from commercial radio determining the songs heard and the frequency played to individuals creating their own playlists and playing whatever, whenever. Hard to believe that 15 years ago, everything was SoundScan charts and programmed radio and TRL and marketing campaigns. Now almost every artist has a myspace page; tracks are swapped from fan to fan; and some big artists are choosing to release everything on their website.

In high school and college I followed several bands and was exposed to new music via the radio—89X out of Windsor, 92.1 The Edge out of Lansing, and Impact 89 FM at Michigan State. I would hear a new song, fall in love with it and either tape it off the radio (so 20^th century) or search out the CD at local music stores. Inevitably, I would love the one song and hate the rest of the album. So my CD collection would grow and grow, but there would tons of dead space and wasted money.

Think of the last album that was great from start to finish. For me, Definitely Maybe from Oasis, The Bends from Radiohead and Baby 81 from Black Rebel Motorcycle Club spring to mind. There are no tracks that you skip. Every song is great and builds to create an amazing 45 to 60 minutes of music. Most albums are a waste, filled with throwaway tracks because the artist has to meet a commitment of x amount of albums in x amount of years. It takes years to build a best of album because, out of 5 records, there might only be 6 or 7 decent tracks. I love Oasis but Standing on the Shoulder of Giants, Heathen Chemistry, and Don’t Believe the Truth have a lot of filler. They could have made an album approaching Definitely Maybe and Morning Glory had they been patient and really selected the choice songs. Of course, people have to eat and some tracks considered core songs I wouldn’t give a second listen to.

Now I find music through podcasts, Pandora and personal recommendations. I still hear a new song, fall in love with it and but find it either on limewire or from CD’s I check out of the library. I have several playlists on my iTunes that are simply labeled singles. Do I know any other song from Phoenix besides Napoleon Says or from The Wrens other than This Boy is Exhausted? No. The only bands that I have been exposed to that I have chased down more than a single track are Deerhunter, Thievery Corporation, Arcade Fire, Brian Jonestown Massacre and Stereophonics.

My core bands are Sloan, U2, Oasis, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, the Tragically Hip, Moby, and the Dandy Warhols. Years ago I would search for news and concert info about the bands. These days I don’t even pay attention. Oasis breaking up. That’s too bad. Bono brining attention to some new cause. Fine. I don’t need to go to concerts. I would much rather buy the live DVD and watch that. Sloan has got a new album coming out but I’m not counting down the days. Does that mean I like them any less? Maybe. But I’ll always give these bands a chance before all others.

The book makes several arguments for and against downloading music illegally. Have to admit that I have done so. In fact, I think the last CD I bought with my own money was Sloan’s Parallel Play sometime in 2008. I have not resolved the issue about paying or illegally downloading or ripping CD’s. I want to support artists and their product but I don’t want to pay for it. I really should use iTunes, especially for all the single tracks from the myriad bands that I come across. But I don’t. I have gotten better about using the library instead of limewire, but that only solves part of the problem. The artist is not seeing one dime from me. And since I really don’t buy merch or go to shows, I’m not financially supporting them at all. The only real support I give them is word of mouth. If I find a band or song I like I will not stop talking about it. Seems like that only goes so far.

Read the book. It’s a quick read that provides a great trip down memory lane and does provoke some thoughts about the future of music.

In Your Ear-3.17.11

Sound Opinions Podcast 1/31/11

The guys at Sound Opinions took a look back at the year 1991. The podcast starts with Brian Adams, (Everything I Do) I Do It For You, which was played ad nauseam for what seemed like forever. The show quickly gets better as, twenty years on, they examine a year that set the stage for the next movements in music.

Here are some quick highlights from their show notes:

Nirvana and the birth of Grunge
My Bloody Valentine and the growth of Shoegaze
Lollapalooza and the rise of the Alternative Nation
N.W.A and the reign of Gangsta Rap
Massive Attack and the “tripping” of hip-hop

For full notes, visit: http://www.soundopinions.org/shownotes/2011/012811/shownotes.html

For me, it was grunge and the emergence of Alternative Rock. Nirvana burst on to the scene, there was Out of Time by REM (Losing My Religion), Gish by the Smashing Pumpkins, and Use Your Illusion I and II by Guns n Roses.

Other bands and albums:

13 Engines

EMF

Girlfiend by Matthew Sweet

Achtung Baby by U2

Road Apples by The Tragically Hip (although I didn’t know it at the time)

Pocket Full of Kryptonite by Spin Doctors (ugh)

Temple of the Dog

Anyone from GenX should listen to this podcast. Anyone from Gen whatever comes next, should check it out to get some context for what happened while you were in diapers. Another great show from this podcast.

Jet

Somehow Jet got on my music radar, so I took a listen. My previous experience had been Are You Gonna Be My Girl, which was used in the iTunes campaign a while ago. Their first album Get Born is tolerable. Some decent tracks (Cold Hard Bitch, Get Me Outta Here and Get What You Need) with catchy hooks, pop metal undertones and a punk vibe. The slow, girly songs are dreck. Overall, a decent debut effort.

The next album, Shine On, is utterly unremarkable. I played the CD in the background at work and not a single track stood out in any way. Just white noise. So that’s a pass.

What struck me after a while is that the band is a second or, dare I say, third rate Oasis. You can hear what they’re going for but never actualize. Maybe that’s a little harsh, but whatever.

Temper Trap

I checked out the album Conditions from the band Temper Trap. I knew Sweet Disposition from the 500 Days of Summer trailer and really loved the full track. The album gets off to a good start with the first three cuts. After that it meanders and doesn’t grab me until Resurrection, which I really liked. A hypnotic opening that slowly builds toward a kick ass conclusion.

Recent tracks on I’ve found on grooveshark.com:

• 1901 by Phoenix
• Desire by Deerhunter
• Budos Rising by Budos Band
• Still Alive by Three Mile Pilot

In Your Ear-1.26.11

Took a trip in the way back machine recently to 1987 and visited Aerosmith’s album, Permanent Vacation. I really enjoyed that album growing up with great songs like Rag Doll and Dude (Looks Like a Lady). The last track, The Movie, is one my favorites for the mood it creates. Surely this has been used in a movie. I picked up a copy of Pump in high school and that was pretty good, but it was pretty much down hill after that. And now Steven Tyler is on American Idol. Not sure about that.

Based on a recommendation from @soundopinions, I checked out Jaime Lidell's album, Jim. A couple tracks in I recognized a song, which I had already liked, so I was enjoying the album. I realized after a little while that the album alternates between upbeat, poppy tracks and more subdued soulful tracks, which I didn’t enjoy as much. So I liked half the album, especially the tracks Little Bit of Feel Good, Hurricane, and Where D'You Go?

Best Coast, Crazy For You. Again another suggestion from @soundopinions. Love some of the songs but getting through the album straight through was rough. Even I can only handle so much depression and longing wrapped up in pop songs. Sprinkle this band into your playlist, especially songs Boyfriend, The End and When the Sun Don’t Shine and you’ll be golden.

Foals, Antidotes. Somehow I came across the Foals. Maybe KEXP. Anyway, picked up the album at the library. They sound like somebody, I just can’t place it. It was ok.but didn’t find a song that grabbed me. Probably decent background music at a party.