ay-hole

anything that ay-hole posts

June 22, 2016

2015 Round Up – 23 album review bonanza

Ay-hole Andy ay-hole, dialogue, General, junkhead, reviews, Round up 0 Comments

lyru2015layers

2015 Round Up – Six Months Late

	Without a year like 2015, it’s probable that Blahblahmusic.com wouldn’t exist. Years had passed since Ay-hole and I were really on the pulse of popular music, the reason being that everything simply sucked. It wasn’t just music: movies, television, all media seemed to have fallen into a rut. Nothing was creative, and nothing captivated us. Countless nights, we sat around drinking beer, listening to thirty year old music and swearing we were born too late. But then 2015 hit like a truck full of bricks. It wasn’t until very late in the year that Ay-hole and I realized just what was going on. It started by playing a single album playing through his Ouya and spiraled out of control into a maelstrom of music sharing and discussion. Not long after, Ay-hole was determined to chronicle his listening travails here, and I gleefully followed suit. Six months too late, we’re going to look back on that fateful year that helped bring us into existence and see what made it so damn good.
	I’d like to take a moment to revisit one of those beer drinking, remorseful times as a poem we wrote during those dark times: My brain feels like it’s bleedin through me head When I watch the modern movies There’s nothing juicy to dissect When I watch the modern movies Why did they make this?Hollywood gets my money When I watch the modern movies The media force feeds my brain When I watch the modern movies You can replace movies with radio and Hollywood with that company that has C C as its initials.
	The C+C Music Factory?
	You wish
	Jeff Bridges – Sleeping Tapes
	First release of 2015: Jeff Bridges – Sleeping Tapes
	This could have been Hollywood ennui or artistic genius, but thankfully it was the latter. Sleeping Tapes is everything I love about experimental music: dark, brooding, mysterious, and hilarious. I feel like way too many people miss that last part, but Jeff definitely understands how to use humor to grip the listener in his found sound landscapes.
	I lost myself in the Temescal Canyon. I actually could smell the pine.
	John Carpenter – Lost Themes
	Next is the aforementioned album that lifted our eyes. I had made a habit of listening to the old dudes who were still making music and John Carpenter’s solo album, Lost Themes caught my ears and my attention.
	Yeah, he has a massive body of great work already. Escape From New York and Halloween 2 are synth treasure troves and probably did just as much for electronic music as any Kraftwerk album.
	My ego was selfishly pleased when Junkhead nearly jumped off the couch when I put it on.
	Yeah, I couldn’t believe it. It was instantly the only thing I wanted to hear in the universe. I bought it almost immediately.
	Litmus Green – More than Animals
	Now for something more pop: Litmus Green – More than Animals Pop is really not the best word to describe it. I am questioning that it is even more pop than Sleeping Tapes.
	It’s definitely the poppiest thing we’ve talked about I think. There’s barely any modern hardcore music, and when there is it’s all emo-influenced. Litmus Green just picked it up like nothing changed after a twenty year hiatus, hating everything not crustie/anarcho/whatever with a passion I can understand.
	It should be called “Litmus test – is the listener a sheeple or at least a little open minded”
	Too many sheeple totally overlooked it. They were all too busy listening to new shitty LGBT-themed hardcore punk that Pitchfork’s championing.
	Pitchfork just made it into the 2015 review. That should be enough to tell you the state of affairs we live in.
	Eclipse – Armageddonize
	If you ever want to get Junkhead’s adrenaline going, especially after a long day of rescuing sheeple from other sheeple, just say one word: Eclipse Armageddonize was brought up in countless conversations and Junkhead played it every time I went over for months.
	I think I did that with everybody. Talk about the best band in the world. This album was an enormous leap in developing their unique sound: the over-the-top AOR/hard rock/metal in-your-face slam. No human being can resist banging their head when any of its tracks come on. A lot of the time I’ll be rolling into work, thinking about how much the drudgery of routine bogs me down, but then I’ll just think of songs like “Wide Open” or “Stand on Your Feet” and I’ll be in my happy place. It’s a unique combination of sheer electric bite and positive, life-affirming melodies that make it so intoxicating. I’m guessing Eclipse will never really break out because they have a virtually non-existent touring schedule, but at least they can make the best studio material in the universe.
	Europe – War of Kings
	Europe was actually one of the bands I was looking forward to in 2015. They played a cool rock festival in Sweden over a decade earlier so I was excited to listen to War of Kings
	The title track has to be the best metal song of 2015.
	I enjoyed it. My most shocking experience with War of Kings was how no one around me bothered to listen to it. This really began my effort to forcefully educate people that real music was happening and they were oblivious to it. I can’t believe Tempest can still sing!
	Yeah, he’s honestly better now, I think. It’s the material. It’s all metal now, and he’s clearly a metal singer at heart.
	Elder – Lore
	Dude, I messed up the order. ELDER – LORE It’s not the best elder. My favorite Elder story, however, is when M was listening to a youtube auto playlist and listened to the entire Lore album without shutting it off. So, it has to be good.
	Yeah, it has a cool furniture doom sound to it. Like it’s really heavy wallpaper.
	The album art is really cool, too.
	Bubble Bones – In the Land of Zimandias
	One more time warp, turns out I forgot to sync my list with Junkhead’s. The FIRST cool album that I know of that came out in 2015 is Bubble Bones incredible album, In the Land of Zimandias.
	Sure that’s not 2014? https://bubblebones.bandcamp.com/album/in-the-land-of-zimandias-2014
	Whoops, that was their indie release. I had NO idea. Their label release was in January 2015 on nooirax. If I go by the real rules, it’s okay because as long as something big happens in the year we are talking about it’s good. As official release vs. Promotional, or reissue vs original. So, this counts, because Ay-hole is my name.
	Sorry Ay-hole, I only talk 2015 and onward. Everything else is nothing to me.
	So Bubble Bones gets ex-spelled because Junkhead doesn’t want to have to go and double check all of the reissues of 2015
	Moonspell – Extinct
	I first listened to Moonspell’s Extinct on youtube and I saw what I’m assuming to be the original NSFW album cover. It is really upsetting and I was watching it on my crumby netbook because I was putting linux on it and it could only do one thing at a time, so I had to turn the screen around just to enjoy the music because I’m a naive little boy
	Dead boobs don’t bother me. I loved Moonspell back in high school and decided to check it out. It’s probably their best album, mixing pop, goth, and metal to reach new, more accessible heights. Moonspell’s gone down some pretty oddball paths over the past twenty years, but it’s nice to know they can turn out some great poppy crunch. My favorite’s either the surf-rocky “Medusalem” or the wholesale Sisters of Mercy rip-off “The Last of Us”
	Michael Schenker – Spirit on a Mission
	Junkhead has a lot of man-crushes. One of the more powerful ones is Michael Schenker. I think he sleeps under a poster of him.
	He’s got a lot of power, that’s for sure. He’s one of those mid-range guys who actually injects a ton of melody into every solo he drops. Schenker hasn’t really turned out a great rockin’ album since 1984, but Spirit on a Mission returns to that UFO and MSG sound: concise songs, tight riffs, and searing vocals.
	Candidate for lamest album cover of 2015.
	Yeah, books by their cover yadda-yadda. It’s 80 million times better than this year’s UFO album or most sexagenarian man crushes.
	Neuroticfish – A Sign of Life
	In 1999, Neuroticfish released No Instruments, a fantastic futurepop album. Then, they released it two more times, and again two more times with different songs. But in 2015, they released A Sign of Life. Still good, not as good as No Instruments.
	I like Gelb more.
	I would probably still buy A Sign of Life if it was available on vinyl.
	A Sign of Life doesn’t really have any great songs, but it has a phenomenal atmosphere. It’s more of futurepop’s last gasp than anything else, but it’s a good hearty one.
	Teenage Bottlerocket – Tales from Wyoming
	Teenage Bottlerocket does not sound like punk to me.
	I guess their drummer died last year after this came out? It’s sad, they’ve been making cool music and touring non-stop for a long time.
	That’s tragic. Accidents destroy bands. I mean, they destroy lives… Of course, now I’m referring to all death as an accident, when it’s actually inevitable.
	But yeah, I think the power pop guy in me like’s this one. It’s totally more of the same, but they’re so good at their little pop-punk niche.
	Power pop it is.
	Ghost Bath – Moonlover
	As we are about to talk about Ghost Bath – Moonlover, let me remind you that it is the summer solstice tonight and a full moon.
	Every mix CD I’ve made this year has the second track off this one on it. It takes up 9 minutes, but it’s so damn good.
	Also, I’ve tested this theory, and you can play Ghost Bath in the background during any other experience. It fits. The ultimate bar music. I can hear all of the kiddos talking about their finals, their hotty girlfriend, the new episode of Naruto, while this plays in the background.
	Yeah, they don’t let the math rock/post-hardcore noodling get in the way of their black metal intensity, but you barely notice. It’s great music for making out, eating, walking the dog.
	I read one review that said it was subliminally positive metal.
	Bosse-de-Nage – All Fours
	Another fantastic background album, only, a little more aggressive sounding. There are a lot of emotions flying around on this album.
	Bosse-de-Nage is everything I love about Slint and Shellac mashed up with everything great about Darkthrone. It’s definitely emotional, but it’s not foofy at all. This is supposed to be in the blackgaze category too, but you still feel like the band has a soul outside of atmospheric wankery.
	Peste Noire – La Chaise-Dyable
	Speaking of atmosphere, PESTE NOIRE – LA CHAISE-DYABLE I don’t know how to pronounce it but I listened to it a ton.
	Yeah, the title track onward is perfect. Searing electric ballads of a diseased rural French guy.
	The first half is good because one will be listening trying to figure out what is going on when more stuff happens and the listener still is trying to figure out what just happened. I could see myself in an experimental band that tries to do the same thing, just a lot less artistically. I guess I’m not French enough, though I could go for 30 hour work weeks.
	Yeah, there’s nothing quite like it. Keep in mind this guy’s been honing his experimental black metal folk junk for fifteen years on some farm somewhere. He’s probably just fucking nuts.
	I hope the album cover is his kitchen.
	It has to be. Album art of 2015? Michael Schenker loses to some crazy diseased French guy for sure.
	Definitely better than the generic skull art featured on many of the 2015 releases.
	Faith No More – Sol Invictus
	Faith No More released Sol Invictus in 2015. First thoughts, not as bad as I remembered Faith No More. They were made famous when they covered “Easy like Sunday morning,” and “Warpigs.”
	Faith No More was the junk back in the day along with most things Mike Patton. I skipped it last year because I don’t care about either anymore. What’s it sound like?
	Like more interesting agro butt rock. I think they’ve adapted new sounds pretty well. I was never really a fan of them in the 90’s, but I was listening to other boy bands.
	Fantomas was great until I realized they were a total Naked City rip-off. I liked Patton’s band Tomahawk, too. Their gimmick was that they were the Jesus Lizard with Mike Patton in it.
	Reno Bo – Lessons from a Shooting Star
	Reno Bo – Lessons from a Shooting Star Amusingly addicting Like sugary ice cream but with better flavors
	Shooting Star is the best power pop album in a long time. The sugary sweet stuff is the best. No one was expecting this to be so awesome. Too much power pop spends a lot of time looking back, but Reno Bo does a good job looking for new paths in a dead and buried style.
	Jono – Silence
	It’s totally Queen on steroids! “Wasting Time” is the song I want to play whenever I walk in the room.
	I usually hate this kind of sub-avant-garde emo pop. But this is good stuff. Nice mix, good writing, and very interesting melodies.
	I’d probably throw it in the melodic prog category, but that works too. They have a strong grasp of what makes melodic rock and progressive stuff, so well that it never feels like a “revival” album.
	Iskra – Ruins
	Iskra, the crust punk band that everyone considers black metal. I really enjoyed listening to Ruins. I am very excited about socio-political music that is not just media friendly bologna.
	Yeah, I don’t care how many crappy anarcho-quotes you throw in your liner notes, tremolo guitars/blast beats/shrieky chick vocals=black metal baby. Ay-Hole, my girlfriend and I are pretty good at reproducing the sound a capella.
	C: BAH BAH BAH BAH BAAAAAH A: (blast beat) What did you do again?
	I did the tremolo guitars playing some evil sounding riff.
	Daniel Romano – If I’ve Only One Time Askin’
	Pop country is a dirty word, but this recalls a time when the term had something akin to a soul.
	I’m just waiting to talk about
	Seal – 7
	I do not think anyone listened to this.
	I didn’t, although I had a Seal kick back in 2014. That’s totally why I missed it.
	I did. It was just as boring as expected.
	If only Haddaway had an album last year. Totally would have given that a chance. And that’s totally all I have to say about that.
	I have been actually waiting to talk about…
	Stryper – Fallen
	Who’s hotter, Micheal or Robert Sweet?
	Michael for sure. He’s in Boston now, so he’s automatically a sex machine. The three throwaway ballads aside, this is some awesome metal.
	Robert definitely knows how to sport the flairs and even with his open shirt I can rarely tell him apart from a woman. I regularly enjoy screaming “YAH-WEH!”
	Huge production, great song. “Yaweh” is a six minute epic that feels like the love of Jesus is going to crush the shit out of you. The title track rips too. The verse and chorus don’t really blend, but I think it’s the jarring screams of “FALLLLEN” that make the whole thing.
	Also, best Black Sabbath cover of 2015.
	Yeah, for real. I was listening to my vinyl copy of this last week and I realized the ending track, “King of Kings” is a virtual re-write of the Sabbath cover in terms of the first verses lyrical content. “Do you believe in Jesus?/He’s good/But your friends don’t like him/And you’re a sheeple dingus”
	Whoo. I’m getting hot. We should move on. And what better transition than to…
	Powers from Hell – Devil’s Whorehouse
	Powers from Hell – Devil’s Whorehouse, with album art featuring a naked and tattooed nun. EXCELLENT mixing. The sound that is.
	The grimy old school thrashy black metal sound is great, and Devil’s Whorehouse kicks it out hard. If I were a nun, this music probably would inspire me to get naked tattooed.
	It most likely happened like this: “Yea, we had an old Panasonic camcorder in the basement and set it up to practice. The cut came out so good we just sent the video to the producer and he made a CD out of it. We never got any studio time.”
	Studio time isn’t very black metal. Iskra is probably closer to Beyonce than Devil’s Whorehouse when you think about production values. Powers From Hell needs to make more more more.
	I’m telling you, man. The Call of the Winter Moon. But the real coup-de-grace of 2015, possibly the album that made us wet our pants for future releases:
	Baroness – Purple
	I cried when I first listened to it, probably.
	I dunno if I’m even capable of gushing over this album anymore. I did it back in my review of the live show.
	You did memorize all of the lyrics, then listened to the entire discography and learned most of those songs, too. If anyone has not heard the Purple album yet, and not Whitesnake’s 2015 release, listen to Baroness ASAP.
	I knew the Blue and Yellow and Green from before, but those kind of sucked. Purple’s so perfect, it’s like a totally new band.
	An example of fortitude. Now that a new day has dawned, we will listen, we will research lightly, we will consider with great prerogative to absorb and implement modern music back into our previously malnourished diet full of old punk and never popular rock and roll bands.
	Hell yeah. Keep it very light on the research. I didn’t even know Transilvanian was how they spelled it in Scandinavia. I thought it was like a punk rawk way to spell it.
	I still deny Transilvania is a real place.
	Transilvania is like my black metal/punk rawk happy place. Where dude’s chill in vans in the foresty mountains somewhere with naked tattooed nuns and churn out good music.
	Honerable unmentionables : Purity Ring Nightwish Godspeed You! Black Emperor Blur Whitesnake, only because they also released the Purple Album Lifehouse Third Eye Blind Public Enemy Ratatat Lamb of God (the hard rockin one) Six Feet Under Dear Hunter Wand Strange Wilds Buckethead (he releases like, thirty albums a minute and maybe 5% of those are good, so right on)

June 14, 2016

DOES MARA SIMPSON SIDE WITH GOOD?

Ay-hole Andy ay-hole, General, reviews 0 Comments

12717244_616421285171781_6808790752907190257_ns

Mara Simpson – Our Good Sides

I have a lot of female singer-songwriter Janis Ian and Joni Mitchell meet folk-pop albums. I do not own any albums by male singer-songwriters that sound like Mara Simpson. Our Good Sides provides light airy singing over sub-atmospheric non-electric instruments.

The first two songs are good examples of the 70’s-jazz-folk genre that I seem to enjoy based on the money I’ve spend on it, however…

“The Return” sheds some light on newer folk music singing. Thick vibrato, short, abruptly cut off vowels, Lou Reed style melody-less singing, pointless moaning and gasping over the same vowels as if the pressure was suddenly released from bottling them up; these things are okay in limited quantities, but are just the tip of the iceberg in hipster-folk. “Silent Women” contains a huge amount of these devices and almost no lyrical content.

Track five and six give another case of whiplash. Five is not bad, but six feels like the record keeps skipping. At least there is some cool reverb and distortion happening on the vocal track. The music on this track is very boring and contrived, right down to the representative piano pressed mysteriously on the up-beat. It represents a stereotypical attempt at creating high-energy music in a low-energy genre. Do not rely on good song writing, just add some rock and droll.

For a song titled “Whisky,” track 9 features a variety of unusual traits, like slow-complex melodies and heavy pronunciation. But the song is cool sounding and has pleasant lyrics. The final track is kind of boring, however. If it was called “Guitar at Midnight,” or “M1 at midnight,” it would be a lot better.

There are ten tracks, seven listenable, and four one might want to listen to again. Unfortunately for this female singer-songwriter, her newest album is not going to make it to my shelf.

2/5

https://marasimpson.bandcamp.com/releases

June 10, 2016

NO SURPRISE: THE WINSTONS PRODUCE PROGRESSIVE PSYCHEDELIC ROCK FROM ITALY

Ay-hole Andy ay-hole, General, reviews 0 Comments

0006584163_10

The Winstons – The Winstons

Psychedelic prog-rockers, the Winstons, play some cool 60’s throwback stuff. Tracks combine a variety of rock influences and instruments. Some tracks have some cool jazz stuff going on with saxophones. Every track is saturated with Rhodes style organ, spring and wide reverb, and key and tempo changes.

There are no bad tracks. Track two, combining a version of jazz and Japanese lyrics by the album cover designer, creates what one might call completely unmarketable in America. It is true that jazz was born here, flourished here, then left.

“… On a dark cloud” smashes everything together with a dark-brooding atmosphere at the start, a prog ballad in the middle, and a minimalist jazz outro. “Dancing in the Park with a Gun” is another unusual combination. The final track also features lyrics in Japanese and is reminiscent of slightly more marketable music in America, mostly because it more closely resembles many different songs combined into one six minute track.

Fans of psychedelic should enjoy this one. There are a couple tracks that are straight rock songs, but most of them change very often and should at least be entertaining to the musician’s ear. The real bonus might be the Winstons appear to be very talented players and writers. The skill they exhibit is a treat for anyone who would appreciate quality musicianship.

4/5

https://thewinstons.bandcamp.com/album/the-winstons

June 8, 2016

DIALOGUE: WYTCH HAZEL IS A PRELUDE TO WHAT?

Ay-hole Andy ay-hole, dialogue, General, junkhead, reviews 0 Comments

wytchhazelrecord
WYTCH HAZEL – A PRELUDE TO WHAT?

	I was listening to Wytch Hazel at lunch one day. I was really sick and I wrote something along the lines of “real decent guitar sound, okay music.” The next day I picked up where I left off and I had gotten a good rest in. I was absolutely blown away. Convinced of my mistake I listened to the first half again and after could not stop thinking about it. I immediately ordered the vinyl, which took almost a full month to get here because the “street date” or something bogus. Totally worth the wait. My excitement rubbed off on Junkhead and he encouraged me to play it to him over the phone when I got it. I am slightly upset I did not splurge on the white vinyl.
	Yeah, I was skeptical at first. Wytch Hazel sounds like a foofy folky name, but thankfully they’re only like that for two tracks on the album. Otherwise, it closely resembles the NWOBHM, which is my favorite genre of anything ever.
	You could not get over the name of the album. “Prelude to what?”
	It’s an awful name. There’s a track called “Prelude” on the album and everything, but that’s not even a prelude to anything. Every other song on the album has a better title. I complained about it for over fifteen minutes.
	I think we can assume it is a prelude to the next track.
	Why would I assume that? You’re going to name an album after a track that’s sole function is to segue into a good song? Not only that, “Prelude” is the worst song on the album.
	It is a really long prelude. The theme probably repeats ten times.
	A lot of metal bands make that mistake when they come up with some instrumental. Even if their normal songs are relatively complex, the vocal-less tracks wind up being super dumb.
	Also, it feels like it’s going to go into a killer doom metal song, but it stays mellow. I bet when the play it live they just shorten it to 2 minutes instead of 4:17
	They probably stretch it out to 41:70. Or 42:10, whatever.
	“We only have 46 minutes of material, and all of our songs bleed into each other, so we’re going to play prelude for 45 minutes to fit the bill.” On that note, I do like “Psalm.” The guitar work is really pleasing to me.
	Yeah, let’s get off the negative. While I’m not too fond of the two folky tracks, they definitely break up the rockers in a way that I can appreciate. It’s hard to make a great album that’s always cranked up and kickin’ ass, so it’s good Wytch Hazel slowed it down. “Dark Ages” is the other one and I really dig the chorus on that one. “We live in the Dark Ages” times ten is my kind of chorus.
	Would you say it’s something every metalhead can agree on?
	The chorus or the folky bits breaking up the action?
	The chorus. I can’t imagine many agreeing on the break up.
	I mean, there’s doom-and-gloom in most extreme music. Metal fans are more into that then singing about hugging your grandma or romance or something. Like, if you want to hear somebody complaining about chicks or something, listen to pop music.
	It is important to consider the premise of this band when discussing their music. NWOBHM from 600 years ago.
	NWOBHM lyrics did complain about chicks a lot, but it’s more because it’s a covertly poppy genre. There’s a lot of melody infused in it.
	The bands eponymous track title is the best track on the album. I think it is about trying to succeed on your own then turning back to a higher authority’s wisdom.
	I think it’s about having the tastiest melodies on the album. The guitars and vocals trade off perfectly, and the Thin Lizzy-ish guitar breakdown at the 2:30 mark is phenomenal.
	It is the catchiest melody.
	But yeah, there’s a heavy Christian vibe running through the album really. There’s also a lot of battles and a lot of pronouns. “I” and “He” are all over the place, so I can see the whole relationship with God thing spread all over.
	I feel like I Christian lyrics do not scare away as many listeners as we might think. Music listeners can be open minded and most people do not let lyrics deter them from an album, but these lyrics are really strong and visionary. I can not think of any corny lines, which I usually associate with Christian lyrics. Also, the lyrics tell an overarching epic. The music hints at this with the second track, “Fight,” and the last track, “We will be strong,” both start off with a snare drum march and lead into a power metal type ballad.
	I mean, it’s corny in a metal way. There’s still a lot of battles and stone towers laying about, but the Christian thing doesn’t come across as ham-fisted as on a Stryper album or something.
	“Oh no! The skies around are falling, Oh no! The seas begin to roll Oh no! Take me from the picture Oh no! Before it takes my soul”
	I don’t really consider either a power ballad, they just rock the fuck out. Most of the album does that. It rips starting from the opener which sets most of the tone: 600-year-old NWOBHM.
	Rock out is a better term. Not like it’s symphonic or anything. The instrumentation is as bare as my forehead.
	Yeah, I’m glad they don’t throw in fiddles or something. I figured they would eventually but they didn’t. They don’t lose sight of the slick tuneful hard rock sound.
	I wonder if that’s how the MC’s introduce them. “NWOBHM from 600 years ago without gimmicky folk instruments.” “If you like the Grateful Dead…” Did you just fall off the your chair laughing?
	“…and Diamond Head, you’ll love Wytch Hazel” I wonder if they’ll go further down the Jethro Tull route and start making album long songs and stuff. For some reason I think Wytch Hazel could pull it off.
	“Truth,” an earlier recording is pretty good, but the development is clear, Wytch Hazel has a crystallized concept.
	Yeah, they’re definitely the kind of band that’s not going to stick around and just repeat themselves over and over, which I think’s a good thing. “More Than Conquerors” and “Fight” and everything are all awesome, but I doubt they’d be good if the band re-wrote them over and over.
	“Fight” is an older song, one of two songs rerecorded for this album. I hope they don’t turn out like Shonen Knife playing Twist Barbie on every album; replace Twist Barbie with the track “Wytch Hazel.”
	Yeah, it’s interesting that Wytch Hazel leaves you thinking more about where they’re going than where they’re at now. Maybe it’s just a….PRELELUDDDEE of things to come?
	“Wytch Hazel’s earth shattering 2017 release, featuring a monumental cover, ‘Twist Barbie.'” I’d buy it.
	Even if this album had a cover of “Twist Barbie”, it’d still be in my current top five for the year.

Ayhole 5/5
Junkhead B+

https://badomenrecords.bandcamp.com/album/prelude

June 6, 2016

PINK POTION GUM. IT’S MAGIC!

Ay-hole Andy ay-hole, General, reviews 0 Comments

13043689_1997608133798280_6858167800463609701_n

ayholev1tmb Magic Potion – Pink Gum

After releasing the Melt EP in 2015, there has been some anticipation to the Swedish slacker rock band, Magic Potion. The new LP features two songs from Melt, “Deep Web,” a dreamy washed over pop ballad, “Booored,” a super boring and repetitive song, and some new stuff.

The first side seems to be the energetic and rocky songs. “Milk,” the first track, sets the stage for what you can expect for the rest of the album. Vacuous, light, vocals with garage style drums and guitar, and a bass that punctuates every eighth notes and wonders around the scale. The subject manner is for the whole band is sunny days, and “Cola Boys” takes the cake, being about running from a gang of turf kids or something. Already a music video and the obvious choice for a reissue single, is the best song on the album. Simple back beat driven down stroke heavy guitar rhythms fill the track. “Yummi 1” is the most high energy track, and “Golden Power” is about growing up in a heretical church.

The second side is a snoozer. Melodies all suffer, and the energy that was put into “Yummi 1” and the whining on track 5 is no where to be found. The band sounds like it is falling asleep as they play. “Cheddar lane” is the only semi-interesting track simply because it sounds like slacker rock and not like zoned-out-radio-pop. The singers voice also seems to get extra childish sounding on these tracks, almost as if he is trying to hard to sound like he’s not trying at all.

The first side does seem to be a good example of interesting music. Perhaps the essence of slacker rock is to sound empty and lazy. If that is true, then we have a well rounded album here. Cool cover art and if you act fast you could own a pink vinyl copy!!

3/5

http://magicpotionsweden.bandcamp.com/album/pink-gum-lp

June 3, 2016

REGGAE: THE MUSIC OF THE PEOPLE

Ay-hole Andy ay-hole, General, reviews 0 Comments

reggae

ayholev1tmb Ziggy Marley – Ziggy Marley

Ziggy Marley, the son of Bob Marley, released his self-titled album solo album. Like father like son, Ziggy Marley speaks his mind. I was not around 50 years ago, but I imagine Bob Marley’s anthems were not only monumental in terms of musicality but also in message. Ziggy Marley’s message seems to be more palatable and pop-centered. Still, the subject manner does not deviate too much from popular reggae; thoughts on injustice, unity, heaven, and marijuana.

Ziggy Marley the album is modern feeling reggae. Some of the tracks feature a faster more dancey rhythm and the melodies are very close to pop R&B. There are some soul horn parts and super cleaned up instrumentation.

“We Are More,” is the best song because there are lyrics, but the majority of the song is “we are more” over and over. It is a very simple song.

3/5

Ministry of Echology – Wanderer

Throwback to dub and dancehall, Wanderer is a superior reggae album. The name of the band is reason enough, but the music is excellent. Simplicity is key in much of music. Repetitive, run-on melodies, extended two chord structure, fat, heavy bass, and clean upstrokes on guitar build every track.

Subject manner is subjective and open. Beat is contagious.

4/5

https://ministryofechology.bandcamp.com/album/wanderer

Errol Blackwood – Cooling Down The Rage

Both Cooling Down the Rage and Wanderer came out early in the year. Errol Blackwood is significantly more interested in his message. Once again, simple beats and instrumentation make a good reggae album.

There is a significant amount of material on this album. The title track feels like the longest song probably because it is too repetitive feeling and title tracks belong on track six. The other fifteen tracks contrast repetition by offering different music and prose on struggle and common man woes.

Like Ziggy Marley, Cooling Down the Rage features throwback to 50’s R&B with light modern flair

4/5

Visit the libary. yes.
http://www.errolblackwood.com/music-libary/4588318399

June 2, 2016

DON’T HAVE FEVER DREAMS

Ay-hole Andy ay-hole, General, reviews 0 Comments

13094357_10154193098028478_8516092383364788134_n

DON’T – Fever Dreams

This album is more fast rock than punk. Bar scene rock is becoming more acceptable for outsiders who generally seem to favor more emotion driven performances reminiscent of early 90’s alternative. While Fever Dreams should appeal to this audience, the album maintains some “fever” and energy, though not quite as much youthful energy, aka vigor, as some of their earlier stuff. At the same time, DON’T was successful in giving this newest release a very live feel.

The first track is good to wet the ears of a curious new listener, but it really relies on hooks and pop sensitivity. Track two is cool, but “’89” is the best track on the album, a rerecording of an earlier single with notably more grunge and the title track has a very proto-punk feel.

Skipping ahead, the longest track on the album, “You Keep Cutting Through,” just clears the 3 minute mark. This track is very jumpy but has a super slowdown part in the middle that might bore listeners and dancers. The final track is an older sounding track and is a little bit of a throwback.

Considerably refined, one might say Fever Dreams is stylized vs stylistic. No doubt this will appeal to a broader audience but leave out some of their existing listeners.

You can hear almost everything they have ever recorded on their bandcamp and buy them all on vinyl by emailing Jenny Don’t. You have to attend a show to get the cool patches, though.

3/5

http://dontbandpdx.bandcamp.com/

May 27, 2016

LUSH: BETTER LATE THAN NEVER

Ay-hole Andy ay-hole, General, reviews 0 Comments

Sany7632

ayholev1tmb

Lush – Blind Spot EP

The band Lush released a new EP last month after a 17 year break-up. The album was available for pre-order from the mailing list for an expected delivery date of the first week in April. I thought about it, but decided I would just pick it up for list price on free record store day. Much to my surprise but not to anyone else, Blind Spot sold out everywhere immediately, because each record store probably ordered 2 copies. I did find a warehouse in the UK who did have it in stock and would ship it to me if I wanted. I decided to bide my time with a local shop and requested to be put on the wait list. I was then called back today, almost two months after I would have gotten it if I had spent an extra five dollars and pre-ordered it.

I had decided not to listen to it until I heard the physical recording. I had already heard track one, “Out of Control,” and was excited to hear the rest.

As expected, the previously released “Out of Control,” along with a music video, does represent the most this EP contains. Sure, there are some interesting attempts at new material, however, I feel as if Berenyi and Anderson might be out of practice. The EP sounds old, as if it could have come out 20 years ago and been a flop like some of their other singles.

Of the other three tracks, none of them sound bad, but feel like a wrestling with imagery. There is no clear direction of the music, no light. Each track features classic Lush guitar sounds and orchestration but nothing fresh or desirable. Track two, “Lost Boy” is very lost sounding, but that is not a compliment. The guitar starts out as the focus, but there is so much extra movement and sounds it becomes quickly difficult to enjoy. I imagine this one would make a good music video, since it is very atmospheric, but too much half way to rock to be entertaining or danceable.

“Burnham Beeches” at least features a great example of the poppy shoegaze rock that Lush was well known for on Lovelife, which, side-note, might be my new favorite Lush album, making me a traitor to Lush snobs everywhere. This track features a great trumpet in the background and does not sound as dated as the rest of the material.

“Rosebud,” the last track on the album, seems to be the biggest attempt at a reinvention, but also feels like almost giving up. Even the vocals feel light and void of lift.

I will still see the band in September. I am sure they will play “Out of Control,” however this EP sounds more like a reunion tour release and not a musical leap. Maybe that is what happens when you break up for a couple of decades.

3/5

May 25, 2016

THE FUTURE OF MUSIC: FIVE RELEASES FROM TOMORROW

Ay-hole Andy ay-hole, General, reviews 0 Comments

5bandcamptomorrow1

ayholev1tmb Releases from bandcamp with two tracks that get released tomorrow:

Adam J Jones – Misc for Oblongs

This two track release from the UK came out tomorrow. Yes, it is the future in the UK and they are listening to noisy folk pop. The first track starts out real good with some cool lo-fi guitar and bass action, but quickly tries to develop into something else, perhaps, something of sustenance. The second track abandons the unorganized feel of the first track and becomes a polished pop melody, albeit pop with heavy bass lead and giant warehouse style reverb. Most depressing looking cover art.

3/5

http://adamjjones.bandcamp.com/album/misc-for-oblongs

Reverser – Singles

Track one features a really cool intro and then the typical new school hardcore punk junk. The musicality is very present here and it is easy to understand all of the instruments separately, an unusual accomplishment for a present day hardcore band. The second track features a really boring intro and slides right into some highly sophisticated motivic development. The most interesting part of this release is how I turned it off immediately after listening to it, but then decided it was not that bad. Most traditional heavy metal looking cover art.

2/5

http://reverservt.bandcamp.com/album/singles

Model Warships – fmt

This is only one track, but is it the best cover of “Flow My Tears” that I have heard. The singer accompanies himself on the guitar with either a second vocal or an electronically modified vocal effect. You should buy it now for the low low price of 100 pounds. Most pointless cover art. (bonus points)

4/5

http://modelwarships.bandcamp.com/

Mangle – Echoes of Mother Earth

Background noise with background music. Track one, “Dawn in the Forest,” features absolutely nothing interesting except the standard prerecorded forest noises, over twelve minutes of meh. Track 2, “Night Under the Drizzle,” has some emotion and standard ambient synths. Both feature un-toned standard plugin noises and are exceedingly neutral. Most photogenic cover art.

2/5

http://mangle1.bandcamp.com/album/echoes-of-mother-earth

Octavia de Cádiz – Todavía

Pleasing and repetitive, track one features two chords and some light melodic improvisation. Track two adds one more chord and some apparent melodic structure. Very post-alternative. Most fitting cover art.

4/5

http://octaviadecadiz.bandcamp.com/album/todav-a-2

May 22, 2016

DYLAN, DIM, HAWKS AND ANGELS FALL

Ay-hole Andy ay-hole, General, reviews 0 Comments

Bob_Dylan_-_Hammer_Hawk

ayholev1tmb

Bob Dylan – Fallen Angels

This album is very relaxing. Nothing new, original, or outside the box. Just Bob Dylan singing some classic American tunes. Better song selection than Shadows in the Night, or maybe just better arrangements.

3/5

Hammer Hawk – Real Dim

Released on cassette by mail yesterday, each track on Real Dim features basement style recording impregnated with bits of planned and unplanned noise, synthetic and analog. The vocals are a very forced but are usually covered in bad reverb, which makes them more listenable. The music is very “indie” sounding and, at times, bouncy. The first five tracks are interesting, but the last four are super drawn out as boring as dull rock anthems.

The most interesting part of the album is the audio snippets from alien abductees at the end of each track. The second most interesting part is the title of track four with is “Barf Lie,” but I think “Barf Life” would be a cooler track title. I guess I’ll write “Barf Life” next.

3/5

https://hammerhawk.bandcamp.com/

< 1 2 3 4 5 >»