OT: New Music?

Spooky · Post by **Spooky** » Mon Jun 08, 2009 8:58 am

The new 'Grizzly Bear' album is my favorite of the year so far! Great stuff.

Haunting yet melodic.

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Mon Jun 08, 2009 10:31 am

pk500 wrote:I listened to "21st Century Breakdown" last night for the first time and am listening to it again this morning, and it's clear that Green Day is going to strip-mine its newfound "counter-culture political sirens" cred until the quarry is bare.

This record is "American Idiot 2," nothing more. I don't mind it, since it's the musical equivalent of junk food. There are some very tasty riffs and faux-punk anthems on this record. They're fun to digest, even though I know they're not good for my musical health.

Green Day's Foxboro Hot Tubs side project was a hell of a lot less pompous and cliched than this record, while having just as much muscular pop. It was a hell of a lot more fun record than this one or "American Idiot."

I'm already tired of the music media depicting Green Day as the new voice for a displaced generation. The latest issue of Rolling Stone is particularly nauseating, showing Green Day in a "Spirit of 76" pose.

Somewhere, Joe Strummer is rolling in his grave as he sees Billie Joe Armstrong being paraded as his generation's musical conscience.

Take care,
PK

Interestingly enough, John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten) said sometime in the 1990's that of all the bands who had the label 'punk' attached to them, Green Day were the one he felt the most disgusted by.

Slighly contentious from someone who hasn't really released an album worth the name for 20 years and spends his time orchestrating Sex Pistol tours of varying value or appearing on reality TV shows (and even more bizarrely on TV in the UK advertising butter), but I get the drift - they're a powerpop group who discovered a sense of dislike for the current political establishment late in the day after a decade of declining sales.

greggsand · Post by **greggsand** » Sun Jun 21, 2009 9:51 pm

Saw Wilco at The Hard Rock in Vegas Friday night. 2.5+ hours of good times. The Set List:

1. Wilco (The Song) 2. A Shot In The Arm 3. I Am Trying To Break Your Heart 4. At Least That's What You Said 5. Bull Black Nova 6. You Are My Face 7. One Wing 8. Handshake Drugs 9. Side With The Seeds 10. Box Full Of Letters 11. Jesus, Etc. 12. Impossible Germany 13. California Stars 14. Sonny Feeling 15. Misunderstood 16. Spiders (Kidsmoke) 17. Hummingbird // E1: 18. Heavy Metal Drummer 19. A Magazine Called Sunset 20. You Never Know 21. Hate It Here 22. Walken 23. I'm The Man Who Loves You 24. The Late Greats 25. Casino Queen 26. Hoodoo Voodoo

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Sun Jun 21, 2009 10:22 pm

greggsand wrote:Saw Wilco at The Hard Rock in Vegas Friday night. 2.5+ hours of good times. The Set List:

1. Wilco (The Song) 2. A Shot In The Arm 3. I Am Trying To Break Your Heart 4. At Least That's What You Said 5. Bull Black Nova 6. You Are My Face 7. One Wing 8. Handshake Drugs 9. Side With The Seeds 10. Box Full Of Letters 11. Jesus, Etc. 12. Impossible Germany 13. California Stars 14. Sonny Feeling 15. Misunderstood 16. Spiders (Kidsmoke) 17. Hummingbird // E1: 18. Heavy Metal Drummer 19. A Magazine Called Sunset 20. You Never Know 21. Hate It Here 22. Walken 23. I'm The Man Who Loves You 24. The Late Greats 25. Casino Queen 26. Hoodoo Voodoo

I'm jealous, and yes, I hate you.

Great set list. Not as many tunes off the new record as I expected. Glad "One Wing" is on there, as that's the best song off the new record, with ease.

Take care,
PK

Post by **ScoopBrady** » Sun Jun 21, 2009 11:40 pm

Are there any thoughts on the first effort for supergroup Chickenfoot? I haven't heard it yet but I must say I'm intrigued with a lineup of Sammy Hagar, Michael Anthony, Chad Smith, and Joe Satriani.

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Mon Jun 22, 2009 12:14 am

ScoopBrady wrote:Are there any thoughts on the first effort for supergroup Chickenfoot? I haven't heard it yet but I must say I'm intrigued with a lineup of Sammy Hagar, Michael Anthony, Chad Smith, and Joe Satriani.

On the band's 'myspace page' you can hear the last two songs of their new album, I always liked Sammy, but I don't know about them comparing to Zep.

http://www.myspace.com/thechickenfoot

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Mon Jun 22, 2009 12:34 am

ScoopBrady wrote:Are there any thoughts on the first effort for supergroup Chickenfoot? I haven't heard it yet but I must say I'm intrigued with a lineup of Sammy Hagar, Michael Anthony, Chad Smith, and Joe Satriani.

Dude, it's HORRIBLE. I had decent expectations for this band, too, but the album sucks for many reasons.

One, Sammy is really mailing it in with this record. There's nothing new from him -- this is OU812-era Van Halen. But the difference is that band, even though it never was as good as Diamond Dave VH, was TIGHT.

But this band is looser than a Bangkok whore.

Chad Smith and Michael Anthony have zero chemistry, and this record proved my fear about Satriani: The dude simply can't play in an organic band setting. He must be the star of the show, running up and down the fretboard with ideal precision at lightning speed and technique. His playing sounds so stilted, so unnatural in this band format where he must actually play chords for at least half the song.

I think the record is a mess. Your mileage may vary.

Take care,
PK

Spooky · Post by **Spooky** » Mon Jun 22, 2009 8:01 am

pk500 wrote:
ScoopBrady wrote:Are there any thoughts on the first effort for supergroup Chickenfoot? I haven't heard it yet but I must say I'm intrigued with a lineup of Sammy Hagar, Michael Anthony, Chad Smith, and Joe Satriani.
Dude, it's HORRIBLE. I had decent expectations for this band, too, but the album sucks for many reasons.

One, Sammy is really mailing it in with this record. There's nothing new from him -- this is OU812-era Van Halen. But the difference is that band, even though it never was as good as Diamond Dave VH, was TIGHT.

But this band is looser than a Bangkok whore.

Chad Smith and Michael Anthony have zero chemistry, and this record proved my fear about Satriani: The dude simply can't play in an organic band setting. He must be the star of the show, running up and down the fretboard with ideal precision at lightning speed and technique. His playing sounds so stilted, so unnatural in this band format where he must actually play chords for at least half the song.

I think the record is a mess. Your mileage may vary.

Take care,
PK

Previewed it....awful. I mean, come on! Paint by numbers rock tunes with even worse lyrics.

Brando70 · Post by **Brando70** » Thu Jun 25, 2009 9:48 am

Three very, very different recommendations:

Dinosaur Jr., Farm. I think they are better now then they were in their 80s-90s heyday. The last album was one of the better comeback albums I've heard, but this new one is stronger and more consistent. J Mascis's guitar playing is incredible without being showy.
http://www.myspace.com/dinosaurjr

Isis, Wavering Radiant. Calling this "metal" is way too narrow, even though it has plenty of distorted guitars and some Cookie Monster vocals. The music is complex without being wanky and full of some beautiful passages. The vocals threw me at first, but now I've gotten used to them, and the music is so good it doesn't matter.
http://www.myspace.com/isis

Passion Pit, Manners. The kids are all into ripping off 80s synth pop, and this at first sounds like what a lot of other indie bands are doing. But damn if these songs don't embed themselves in your head and stay there. Eleven songs on the album and not one that I skip.
http://www.myspace.com/passionpitjams

And man, is Chickenfoot bad. There's a film from a few years ago called Ghost World, with Steve Buscemi playing this eccentric guy who's really into the blues. He goes on a date with a woman who says there's a great "blues" band that's going to play: Blueshammer, who sound like a George Thorogood cover band after too many Miller Lites and not enough practice. That's what Chickenfoot sound like to me.

matthewk · Post by **matthewk** » Thu Jun 25, 2009 10:34 am

Rock band has been my new window into the world of discovering different music.

Back in the college days it was all about people exchanging CDs and being able to see different videos on MTV. For a while there was a big gap for me in how to find new music. The internet filled this void to a point, but it was still (unintentionally) restricted in that you had to search for tstuff, and your searches usually led you to bands similar to what you already knew about.

With Rock Band I can easily preview a wide variety of bands, some of which I doubt I would have given a chance in the past. I am still mainly a metalhead, but thatnks to Rock Band I love the song Sweetness by....um...whoever does it

I have newfound respect for Alien Ant Farm after playing Smooth Criminal. I never gave Sixx A.M. a second thought until I head Life Is Beautiful. This latest outlet for discovering new music is the best I had since MTV played music videos 24/7.

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Sat Jun 27, 2009 9:45 am

Good site for concerts. I see the Wilco on this blog.

http://mcomv2.blogspot.com/

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Sat Jun 27, 2009 10:19 am

fsquid wrote:Good site for concerts. I see the Wilco on this blog.

http://mcomv2.blogspot.com/

Good find. Thanks!

Take care,
PK

Badgun · Post by **Badgun** » Sat Jun 27, 2009 3:07 pm

Brando70 wrote:Three very, very different recommendations:

Dinosaur Jr., Farm. I think they are better now then they were in their 80s-90s heyday. The last album was one of the better comeback albums I've heard, but this new one is stronger and more consistent. J Mascis's guitar playing is incredible without being showy.
http://www.myspace.com/dinosaurjr

Isis, Wavering Radiant. Calling this "metal" is way too narrow, even though it has plenty of distorted guitars and some Cookie Monster vocals. The music is complex without being wanky and full of some beautiful passages. The vocals threw me at first, but now I've gotten used to them, and the music is so good it doesn't matter.
http://www.myspace.com/isis

Passion Pit, Manners. The kids are all into ripping off 80s synth pop, and this at first sounds like what a lot of other indie bands are doing. But damn if these songs don't embed themselves in your head and stay there. Eleven songs on the album and not one that I skip.
http://www.myspace.com/passionpitjams

And man, is Chickenfoot bad. There's a film from a few years ago called Ghost World, with Steve Buscemi playing this eccentric guy who's really into the blues. He goes on a date with a woman who says there's a great "blues" band that's going to play: Blueshammer, who sound like a George Thorogood cover band after too many Miller Lites and not enough practice. That's what Chickenfoot sound like to me.

I love the Chickenfoot album. It's practically all I have listened to since it came out. It's just good old rock and roll music that doesn't pretend to be anything else. At 61, Hagar shows why some of the best selling Van Halen records were made with him behind the mike. And Satriani is every bit as good as Eddie Van Halen, maybe better. It's easy to compare this to some of the Hagar era Van Halen records, but that's not a bad thing. In my opinion there's not one throwaway track on the cd and I actually expected it to be. If you take it for what it is, it is a fantastic arena rock album, something there is definitely a shortage of in today's music.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 1:15 pm

It's a pretty safe bet that Phoenix's "Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix" will end up on my top 10 list at the end of the year.

Definitely has that 80s synth pop-rock vibe while still sounding really fresh. Hooky and catchy as hell.

What a cool record, what a pleasant surprise. A perfect "carefree summer" album.

Take care,
PK

EZSnappin · Post by **EZSnappin** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 2:22 pm

A fitting counter to PK's "carefree summer" album; doom metal masters Yob have reformed and today is the release of their new album, The Great Cessation. Though I really liked their earlier work, this kicks it up a notch. Their record label is streaming the opening track if anyone cares to try it out:

Burning The Altar

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 2:32 pm

pk500 wrote:It's a pretty safe bet that Phoenix's "Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix" will end up on my top 10 list at the end of the year.

Definitely has that 80s synth pop-rock vibe while still sounding really fresh. Hooky and catchy as hell.

What a cool record, what a pleasant surprise. A perfect "carefree summer" album.

Take care,
PK

And to counter PK's mellow summer vibe nonsense, and to reflect the fact that the UK will probably not get much of a summer again, I've had an electronic/industrial tunes revival, and would like to recommend to you

Cabaret Voltaire - anything really, but 'The Covenant, The Sword and The Arm of the Lord' is perhaps the best introduction.

Throbbing Gristle - "20 Jazz-Funk Greats"

Fad Gadget - Start with "The Best of..."

Brando70 · Post by **Brando70** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 2:48 pm

pk500 wrote:It's a pretty safe bet that Phoenix's "Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix" will end up on my top 10 list at the end of the year.

Definitely has that 80s synth pop-rock vibe while still sounding really fresh. Hooky and catchy as hell.

What a cool record, what a pleasant surprise. A perfect "carefree summer" album.

Take care,
PK

I am digging that one, too, PK. There are these little tweaks in the songs that give them a nice twist and make them stand out. If you like that album, you should give that Passion Pit record a listen. Those have been my go-to fun summer albums.

I've also been digging Justin Townes Earle's Midnight at the Movies. It didn't grab me at first except for his great cover of "Can't Hardly Wait," but as I listened a little more it really grew on me. Really solid folk-country album.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 3:13 pm

Brando:

Thanks, man. Heard the review of Passion Pit's latest on Minnesota Public Radio's superb "Musicheads" podcast yesterday and put that record in my "get next" queue.

Also looking forward to hearing Drive-By Truckers' "Live from Austin, Texas" even though I already have a handful of DBT live bootlegs, and I'm eager to hear The Minus 5's "Killingsworth."

Listened to Levon Helm's "Electric Dirt" last night, but much like "Dirt Farmer," it's just a bit too agrarian and backwoods for my taste.

Take care,
PK

RobVarak · Post by **RobVarak** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 3:45 pm

Brando70 wrote: I've also been digging Justin Townes Earle's Midnight at the Movies. It didn't grab me at first except for his great cover of "Can't Hardly Wait," but as I listened a little more it really grew on me. Really solid folk-country album.

I liked his first album a lot. I'll have to grab this one.

greggsand · Post by **greggsand** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 6:02 pm

I dig the Phoenix record, too. 1901 is probably the single of the year hands-down. Only criticism is the 2nd half of the record gets a little 'same-y' & all the songs just kind of blend together, but that's a minor complaint.

Been listening to the new Fiery Furnaces "I'm Going Away". Not nearly as prog-y as usual. Dare I say most of the songs are actually traditional (well, for them anyway). Good stuff.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Thu Jul 09, 2009 10:35 am

Got my mitts on the new anthology from The Jayhawks, "Music from the North Country." Great collection. Reminds me how many killer tunes this band wrote.

And there were few harmonies sweeter than the voices of Gary Louris and Mark Olson.

Take care,
PK

F308GTB · Post by **F308GTB** » Thu Jul 09, 2009 9:42 pm

Not exactly new music, though to most of you it would be. Wife and I drove to Austin a few weeks back for a concert of The Reivers. They were a band out of Austin that had a few national releases but never made it mainstream. Hung around Texas for a few more years before disbanding. They've come back together in 2008 and have been performing as a new band (new name). But the concert in Austin was under their old Moniker and featured an awesome set list. You can find some of their songs at http://www.myspace.com/thereiversofficial

They've got the best version of "Linus and Lucy" I've ever heard. Sadly no recording of it

EZSnappin · Post by **EZSnappin** » Tue Jul 14, 2009 12:26 pm

Not new at all (40 years old in some cases!), but the first four Neil Young albums have been remastered and re-released today. Much of this music was released on the mongo Archives box set a few months back, but now you can just get the albums and skip all the filler. Should be about $10 a pop. Picked up Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere and After The Goldrush, and they've honestly never sounded half this good. If your a fan of those two, or his self-titled debut or Harvest, I can't recommend the remasters enough.

GTHobbes · Post by **GTHobbes** » Tue Jul 14, 2009 12:46 pm

Anyone give a listen to the Dead Weather album? I'm probably going to end up downloading it but am curious to hear what anyone thinks. Got a nice 4 star review from RS, although that doesn't really mean anything.

Spooky · Post by **Spooky** » Tue Jul 14, 2009 12:57 pm

GTHobbes wrote:Anyone give a listen to the Dead Weather album? I'm probably going to end up downloading it but am curious to hear what anyone thinks. Got a nice 4 star review from RS, although that doesn't really mean anything.

Didn't do much for me on my first two listens. Disappointing IMO. Overall bland and boring to me. Hopefully I can find a hidden gem in it.