I'm lazy so don't expect weekly updates, hell i'll probably won't update this very often. Maybe once a month but thats it.
So yeah, I liek mudkips and such.
Friday, December 7, 2007
Monday, October 29, 2007
Battles - Mirrored Review
Summary: Battles release one of the most varied and unique musical releases of the year.
Odds are if you listen to the radio, you listen to horrible music. I'm not saying that in a bad way, i'm saying it in hopes to open your mind to more unique and generally better music. Any band would do (well any band that is actually good) although today we are not talking about a group of artists, we are talking about Battles.
Battles is a four-manned American math rock band from New York City which consists of John Stanier (Helmet), Tyondi Braxon (son of jazz musician Anthony Braxon), Dave Konopka (Lynx), and Ian Williams (Don Caballero). While Battles is a math rock band, they really don't fit that aestetic as there sound ranges from hip-hop to indie and beyond. Tyondi's voice manipulation is truely bizzare as it makes him sound like he has swallowed a helium balloned and is auditioning to be on Alvin and the Chipmunks, it may be annoying at first but it will grow on you. Stanier's drumming is also worth noting. While it's not extremely complex, it hits you hard and keeps you interested in the music.
"Mirrored" is the title of their debut album after releasing EP's B and C which showed the bands diverse and unique sound. While those EP's started it, it's "Mirrored" that cements them as one of the best new bands of the past 5 years as this album is among one of the best the year has offered and as the year draws to a close, this very well may be the best album of the year.
The album opens with "Race In" which does an admirable job of opening the album and giving you a taste of what's to come with driving percussion and various toned synths. The next track and one of my favorites (as well as the lead off single and probably Battles most popular song) is "Atlas" and its easy to see why its one of there most popular songs. It is one of the few songs that exceeds 5 minutes in length that can actually hold your interest. I don't really know what there is to say about this song, you just have to hear it for yourself.
The remaining songs don't get to the level of "Atlas" but they sure get close. "Ddiamondd" is probably the most vocally clear song on the album although you still have no idea what Tyondi is saying at the speed of the vocals, Stanier also impresses with a brief drum solo in the middle of the song that isn't so much complex as it is fast and just fun. "Tonto" is another of the 5 minutes+ tracks and like "Atlas", it isn't boring. At times it may feel like it will drag but the band will throw in something that will keep your interest. "Leyendecker" is another favorite of mine even though it alienates many of the people who listen to it. It's driven by a somewhat hip-hop drumming beat and some heavier synth then usual and then the bizzare, dare I say it "***ed up" vocals come in which sounds like the chipmunks on meth and yes all of my comparisions compare something to some sort of drug.
The remaining songs to be honest are somewhat forgettable and while far from bad, Its difficult to remember how they all go. "Snare Hanger" and "Prismism" are the shortests tracks on the album and are just complex and interesting enough to be not considered filler although at times they get dangerously close. "Rainbow" is another intriguing song as it reminds me of the days of the SNES (Super Nintendo) and the games of yore like Super Mario World and Contra (funny fact: I own Shaq Fu).
"Mirrored" while not the masterpiece that some claim it is, is still an excellent album by a band that holds nothing but promise. With a diverse sound that simply can not be described by someone with a limited vocabulary such as mine, "Mirrored" is simply an excellent album and I highly recommend it to someone who is wanting to know what the future of music is and it's "Mirrored".4.2/5
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Previously Didded Revays
Since this a collection of all my review's, I figured since i'm far too lazy to actually write a review I might as well just post some of my older one's here. Don't worry, after this.....NOTHING BUT NEW CONTENT YEEEEEEE!!!!!
Fantomas - Suspended Animation
Summary: Fantomas continue to not so much push the boundaries of music, but screw with everyone's perspective on it.
Fantomas is probably the most experimental of Mike Patton's various projects. Fantomas consists of Patton (Faith No More, Mr. Bungle) on "vocals", King Buzzo (Melvins, Venomous Concept) on guitar, Trevor Dunn (Mr. Bungle) on bass and Dave Lombardo (Slayer on drums. That line-up alone should have metalheads intrigued as all of these musicians are master of their craft. This is Fantoma's 4th album and continues their trend of releasing albums based on bizzare themes. Their first untitled album released in 1999 had a track for every page of an issue of the comic "Diabolik". Their second effort "The Director's Cut" had various covers of classic movie themes, some were very faithful to the original compositions (Night of the Hunter) while others completely re-imagined them (The Godfather). Then came their most inaccessible release to date "Delirium Cordia" with was one 74 minute song that took listener's through the various stages of surgery without anestetic. The latest effort of Fantomas "Suspended Animation" will be the basis of this review.
The first track sets us up with what the rest of the album will be bringing shortly, zany cartoon effect and heavy guitar riffs. As the sound effects intensify, everything suddenly stops before going into the 2nd track which uses the least ammount of zany cartoon effects like the rest of the album still manages to kick baby testicles. The 3rd day begins with the sound of children laughing before more fantomas insanity which is also apparent in the 4th day. The 5th day is basically some heavy breathing and carefully plucked guitar strings before the sound effects come back in briefly before you hear a bizzare voice yell "Quiet!", it sounds like Mike Patton as an elderly woman.
The 6th track begins with with some subtle vocals and more bizarre sound effects that sound like they were taken out of a Looney Tunes cartoon before going into probably my favorite riff of the album, it then goes into a soothing piano melody with some haunting vocals by Patton. The next few days are more of the same although in the 10th day during the intro it sounds like Fantomas was spelled wrong "F....A....N....T....A...M...A....S" which I believe is some sort of energy drink from Sweden. The remainder of the tracks are also unique treats to the ears, "04/11/05" starts off with weird gurgling noise before going into what we know from Fantomas, pointless noises. "RAHRAHRAH RURRURRUR, BOING DIKDIKDIKDIKDIKDIK DIGEROO". Not the most accurate assessment but an assessment nonetheless.
One of my favorite intros is the intro to "04/14/05" which starts with an opera singer doing what opera singer's do best: antagonize the living hell out of you but luckly we hear a gunshot and the opera singer shuts up.....for good. I could go on describing the tracks but then I wouldn't get into the unique album artwork (that is if you bought the special edition). It's basically a 30 page booklet (one page for each day of the April) with bizarre, comedic and somewhat disturbing illustrations on each page. The first day of the month has a boy being hung on a cross that is surrounded by fire while a stream of urine protudes from his penial area......yeah..... "Suspended Animation" may just be the weirdest record to come out since Naked City were shaking up the avant-garde fans. With bizzare sound effects at every turn and more incomprehensable gibberish then a japanese school girl on cocaine, this is one of the most unique albums released this past decade and probably Fantoma's best record since The Director's Cut.
4.5/5
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Melvins - The Bootlicker
Summary: The 2nd installment in this album trilogy while sometimes entertaining is for the most part, sub-par and should only be looked at if your a die-hard Melvins fan.
The Melvins have been a large part of the underground grunge scene since the late 80's and while over the years they have been signed to a major label, the Melvins have yet to break through to the mainstream. Although this is probably for the best seeing as a large part of mainstream music is described best in one word "crap", not the best of words but that's what it is and if you turned on the radio or MTV, you'll most likely see why. The Melvins are known for their quirky and unique experimental sound they bring to grunge (or sludge, if that's what you call it. I call it either/or) for a long time now with mixed results. Some have been great (Houdini, Stoner Witch) Good (Senile Animal, Ozma) and even Bad (Honky, Prick). But a few select Melvins records lie in the Sub-par category mostly their ambitious but ultimately flawed trilogy of albums "The Maggot", "The Bootlicker", and finally, "The Crybaby" Today we will be looking at the 2nd installment in this ultimately disapointing trilogy "The Bootlicker"
The Bootlicker starts of well enough with "Toy" a brief, but enjoyable song followed by "Let It All Be" Probably my favorite song off the record, if you can't tell by now (and you might not be able to due to the fact we are only on track 2) that this record has a much more mellow sound then previous Melvins records which has either consisting of a full on Metal assault or weird experimentation. This works both for and against this record. While It makes a new refreshing sound for the band, it also makes the overall music more boring. "Black Santa" is an example of this, while it starts of fairly promising about half way in I felt the urge to skip to the next song which is something I tend not to do. The next few tracks also have this vibe to it as they are sometimes interesting and sometimes uninteresting. "Up the Dumper" fares better then the previous song with more interesting vocals even though they are standard Melvins fare. It's one of the few tracks where the down toned sound works for it.
After that track we are over the halfway point of this record where I tend to lose interest, "Mary Lady Bobby Kins" is yet another farely dull track, while not bad it doesn't really bring any interest to the album as well. "Jew Boy Flower Head" is another downer, as the Melvins aren't able to keep interest with their longer songs which should be more refined then the shorter ones which for the most part are more entertaining (with the exception of "Let It All Be". The song isn't a complete loss as it starts off well but it literally seems like it's stuck on repeat as it preety much doesn't change rhythm for the entire song. "Lone Rose Holding Now" fares slightly better with a more compelling bassline then previous songs as well as just being more easy to listen to without succumbing to boredom.
The album ends with "Prig" which starts off with some farely odd sounds that sounds like Dan Deacon mixed with kittens on Cocaine. While it is odd, it is also one of the more compelling intros to a Melvins song and is one of the better tracks on the record. After a while like most of the tracks, it tends to wear thin but just as this happens it stops and some drums and acoustic guitar break in which would seem to bring an end to the album but as the track fades away you can hear a brief sample of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" which is the first track off the final installment of this trilogy "The Crybaby".
So how is this album as a whole? Well while it isn't great, and at times not even good it is still a decent record to put on if you want your mind to wander. While not the best of compliments, that's all I really can say about this record. Following records have disappointed as well although the last record "(A) Senile Animal" is one of their best bet due in part to having the member's of "Big Business" (another favorite band of mine) join them. While I highly recommend you give that record a listen (that is if you enjoy Metal or the Melvins) I can't really say the same about this. Give it a listen if you like the Melvins but you may not be happy with the result.
3/5
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So there you have it, reviews, lots of them, lots of old reviews. I am happy to get these out of the way (Not happy about posting the former review twice in under a week.). Nothing but clear skies and dead babies for now! Clap and your hands and say yeah!
and stop buying their albums please.
Fantomas - Suspended Animation
Summary: Fantomas continue to not so much push the boundaries of music, but screw with everyone's perspective on it.
Fantomas is probably the most experimental of Mike Patton's various projects. Fantomas consists of Patton (Faith No More, Mr. Bungle) on "vocals", King Buzzo (Melvins, Venomous Concept) on guitar, Trevor Dunn (Mr. Bungle) on bass and Dave Lombardo (Slayer on drums. That line-up alone should have metalheads intrigued as all of these musicians are master of their craft. This is Fantoma's 4th album and continues their trend of releasing albums based on bizzare themes. Their first untitled album released in 1999 had a track for every page of an issue of the comic "Diabolik". Their second effort "The Director's Cut" had various covers of classic movie themes, some were very faithful to the original compositions (Night of the Hunter) while others completely re-imagined them (The Godfather). Then came their most inaccessible release to date "Delirium Cordia" with was one 74 minute song that took listener's through the various stages of surgery without anestetic. The latest effort of Fantomas "Suspended Animation" will be the basis of this review.
The first track sets us up with what the rest of the album will be bringing shortly, zany cartoon effect and heavy guitar riffs. As the sound effects intensify, everything suddenly stops before going into the 2nd track which uses the least ammount of zany cartoon effects like the rest of the album still manages to kick baby testicles. The 3rd day begins with the sound of children laughing before more fantomas insanity which is also apparent in the 4th day. The 5th day is basically some heavy breathing and carefully plucked guitar strings before the sound effects come back in briefly before you hear a bizzare voice yell "Quiet!", it sounds like Mike Patton as an elderly woman.
The 6th track begins with with some subtle vocals and more bizarre sound effects that sound like they were taken out of a Looney Tunes cartoon before going into probably my favorite riff of the album, it then goes into a soothing piano melody with some haunting vocals by Patton. The next few days are more of the same although in the 10th day during the intro it sounds like Fantomas was spelled wrong "F....A....N....T....A...M...A....S" which I believe is some sort of energy drink from Sweden. The remainder of the tracks are also unique treats to the ears, "04/11/05" starts off with weird gurgling noise before going into what we know from Fantomas, pointless noises. "RAHRAHRAH RURRURRUR, BOING DIKDIKDIKDIKDIKDIK DIGEROO". Not the most accurate assessment but an assessment nonetheless.
One of my favorite intros is the intro to "04/14/05" which starts with an opera singer doing what opera singer's do best: antagonize the living hell out of you but luckly we hear a gunshot and the opera singer shuts up.....for good. I could go on describing the tracks but then I wouldn't get into the unique album artwork (that is if you bought the special edition). It's basically a 30 page booklet (one page for each day of the April) with bizarre, comedic and somewhat disturbing illustrations on each page. The first day of the month has a boy being hung on a cross that is surrounded by fire while a stream of urine protudes from his penial area......yeah..... "Suspended Animation" may just be the weirdest record to come out since Naked City were shaking up the avant-garde fans. With bizzare sound effects at every turn and more incomprehensable gibberish then a japanese school girl on cocaine, this is one of the most unique albums released this past decade and probably Fantoma's best record since The Director's Cut.
4.5/5
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Melvins - The Bootlicker
The Melvins have been a large part of the underground grunge scene since the late 80's and while over the years they have been signed to a major label, the Melvins have yet to break through to the mainstream. Although this is probably for the best seeing as a large part of mainstream music is described best in one word "crap", not the best of words but that's what it is and if you turned on the radio or MTV, you'll most likely see why. The Melvins are known for their quirky and unique experimental sound they bring to grunge (or sludge, if that's what you call it. I call it either/or) for a long time now with mixed results. Some have been great (Houdini, Stoner Witch) Good (Senile Animal, Ozma) and even Bad (Honky, Prick). But a few select Melvins records lie in the Sub-par category mostly their ambitious but ultimately flawed trilogy of albums "The Maggot", "The Bootlicker", and finally, "The Crybaby" Today we will be looking at the 2nd installment in this ultimately disapointing trilogy "The Bootlicker"
The Bootlicker starts of well enough with "Toy" a brief, but enjoyable song followed by "Let It All Be" Probably my favorite song off the record, if you can't tell by now (and you might not be able to due to the fact we are only on track 2) that this record has a much more mellow sound then previous Melvins records which has either consisting of a full on Metal assault or weird experimentation. This works both for and against this record. While It makes a new refreshing sound for the band, it also makes the overall music more boring. "Black Santa" is an example of this, while it starts of fairly promising about half way in I felt the urge to skip to the next song which is something I tend not to do. The next few tracks also have this vibe to it as they are sometimes interesting and sometimes uninteresting. "Up the Dumper" fares better then the previous song with more interesting vocals even though they are standard Melvins fare. It's one of the few tracks where the down toned sound works for it.
After that track we are over the halfway point of this record where I tend to lose interest, "Mary Lady Bobby Kins" is yet another farely dull track, while not bad it doesn't really bring any interest to the album as well. "Jew Boy Flower Head" is another downer, as the Melvins aren't able to keep interest with their longer songs which should be more refined then the shorter ones which for the most part are more entertaining (with the exception of "Let It All Be". The song isn't a complete loss as it starts off well but it literally seems like it's stuck on repeat as it preety much doesn't change rhythm for the entire song. "Lone Rose Holding Now" fares slightly better with a more compelling bassline then previous songs as well as just being more easy to listen to without succumbing to boredom.
The album ends with "Prig" which starts off with some farely odd sounds that sounds like Dan Deacon mixed with kittens on Cocaine. While it is odd, it is also one of the more compelling intros to a Melvins song and is one of the better tracks on the record. After a while like most of the tracks, it tends to wear thin but just as this happens it stops and some drums and acoustic guitar break in which would seem to bring an end to the album but as the track fades away you can hear a brief sample of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" which is the first track off the final installment of this trilogy "The Crybaby".
So how is this album as a whole? Well while it isn't great, and at times not even good it is still a decent record to put on if you want your mind to wander. While not the best of compliments, that's all I really can say about this record. Following records have disappointed as well although the last record "(A) Senile Animal" is one of their best bet due in part to having the member's of "Big Business" (another favorite band of mine) join them. While I highly recommend you give that record a listen (that is if you enjoy Metal or the Melvins) I can't really say the same about this. Give it a listen if you like the Melvins but you may not be happy with the result.
3/5
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So there you have it, reviews, lots of them, lots of old reviews. I am happy to get these out of the way (Not happy about posting the former review twice in under a week.). Nothing but clear skies and dead babies for now! Clap and your hands and say yeah!
and stop buying their albums please.
Welcomeings
I will try to have a new review up every week so I hope you all look forward to it just as much as I look forward to having more unnecessary work to do ;)
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
