sir mix-a-lot
07-20-2006, 08:23 PM
You've stumbled upon the wonderful world of Decoy Music's weekly Listening Station. So plug in your iPods or whatever you use and get ready to fill it with items selected by staff, readers, and bands you know and love. You could also buy an album, even. I know, far-fetched.
Chris Conlan Believes In The Healing Powers Of Hard Liquor: Dave Attell - Skanks For The Memories
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/ListeningStation/daveattell.jpg
Website: (http://www.daveattell.com) :: Listen: (http://www.myspace.com/attell)
Skanks for the Memories is, hands down, the best comedy CD ever. I'm still able to laugh every single time I listen to it, even though I've probably listened to it at least 30 times. Attell's humor is unmatchable. The one thing I like the most about Dave is his over the top comedy. He cracks jokes about EVERYTHING. He'll talk about one-legged men, whores, shaving your pubes, and the list goes on. Also, his bit "The Unfuckables" is priceless.
If you haven't listened to his CD yet and you think Dane Cook's albums are funny, wait to you hear this fucker. It can't be beat.
Rick Is A Closet Ashton Kutcher Fan: The Butterfly Effect - Begins Here
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/ListeningStation/butterflyeffect.jpg
Website: (http://www.thebutterflyeffect.com.au) :: Listen: (http://www.myspace.com/thebutterflyeffectau)
One of my more anticipated releases for this year was the new disc from The Butterfly Effect, Imago. After finally getting to hear it, I must say it is a tad bit disappointing. It’s still solid, but The Butterfly Effect’s best album will still always be Begins Here, which I found myself listening to a few times over the course of the week to wash the disappointment out of my ears. Begins Here contains some killer modern emotional rock that puts to shame likeminded bands such as Chevelle, 10 Years, and Evan’s Blue.
Jordan Celebrates His First Other-Jordan-Free Week By Selecting Something Other-Jordan Would Have Picked: The Books - The Lemon Of Pink
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/ListeningStation/thebooks.jpg
Website: (http://www.thebooksmusic.com) :: Listen: (http://www.myspace.com/iamnotthebooks)
In my pursuit to suggest bands that are not considered the norm here at Decoy, I chose The Books's 2003 release, The Lemon of Pink. This is glitch-tronica at its finest, my friends. Blips, bleeps, bloops, pops, snaps, crazy loops, strange samples, and tons of glorious sounds that'll make you think happy thoughts. Sadly, they don't really have a MySpace (the one they do have is run by a fan), but their website is cool. In respect for brevity, I'm going to leave my review as such: If you've been following the bands I've been putting into the listening stations, then you must listen to The Books. And if you already know who they are, God bless and amen.
Scott Really Needs To Start Pulling Double-Duty Around Here: Koby Israelite - Orobos: The Book Of Angels, Volume 4
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/ListeningStation/kobyisraelite.jpg
Website: (http://www.koby.info) :: Listen: (http://www.myspace.com/kobyisraelite)
This album is difficult to describe. While it's clearly reminiscent of its many varied influences, as well as other bands which refuse to be pinned to a single genre, there's something very special about Koby Israelite. Koby, who was trained on a variety of instruments since the age of nine, is backed by a truly gifted group of British and Israeli musicians. On Orobas, they succeed in creating 8 lush instrumental tracks, each of which defies conventional musical boundaries while maintaining a healthy devotion to gypsy jazz and klezmer. Just go listen, and you'll understand why words fail to explain it adequately.
Jared Had Me At Hello And Lost Me On Goodbye: At The Gates - Slaughter Of The Soul
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/ListeningStation/atthegates.jpg
Website: (http://www.atthegates.se) :: Listen: (http://www.atthegates.se/downloads.htm)
Shoot me for not listening to this album earlier. The only reason I'd ever heard of At The Gates was because Break The Silence covered "Slaughter of the Soul" on their album. This past week, I tracked down a copy of the album and gave it a spin. It makes me want to hurt myself for ignoring the Swedish metal masters for so long. Slaughter of the Soul blew me away and what's even more impressive was the year of its release: 1995. This album could stand toe to toe with any metalcore album that has come out in the last 3 years.
Chris Pandolfo Talks Incessantly About This Band, Even Though He Knows I'd Never Give Them The Time Of Day (Because I'm A Dick): Misery Signals - Of Malice And The Magnum Heart
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/ListeningStation/miserysignals.jpg
Website: (http://www.miserysignals.net) :: Listen: (http://www.miserysignals.net)
I only recently got into Misery Signals and I regret that very much. I found out that Of Malice and the Magnum Heart is one of my favorite melodic hardcore albums I’ve ever heard. It ranks up there with The Satellite Years by Hopesfall. But I think I’ve made up for the lack of Misery Signals in my life, because I’ve listened to this album about four times a day for the last week and a half. Next month, when the new sophomore LP Mirrors comes out, I’ll probably be doing the same thing.
Reader Joshua Matthews Explores The Hidden World Of Amateur Amateur Journalism: Fucked Up - Hidden World
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/ListeningStation/fuckedup.jpg
Website: (http://www.jadetree.com/bands/artist/fucked_up) :: Listen: (http://www.jadetree.com/mp3/Fucked_Up-Baiting_the_Public.mp3)
The first thing I noticed when I got my hands on the new Fucked Up album Hidden World is how incredible long it is. I thought that there was no way a punk band could hold my attention for over an hour. If there was ever a punk album that fit the definition of the word “epic,” this is it. Not since The Clash’s Sandinista! has a punk album been so wide in scope and duration. Tight punk anthems stretch past the five-minute mark into uncharted territory and never get boring. If you’ve caught yourself feeling like no punk bands are taking chances and pushing their creative limits lately, you must pick up this record. Not only does this album have “punk album of the year” written all over it, but Fucked Up is also on some next level shit.
Steve Lastnamenotincluded Batters The Senses With A Hefty Inundation Of Comma Comma Comma Comma Chameleons (Presented Without Comma Removal For Your Enjoyment): Above This Fire - Perspective
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/ListeningStation/abovethisfire.jpg
Website: (http://www.abovethisfire.com) :: Listen: (http://www.myspace.com/abovethisfire)
OK, this is my favorite band, which is the reason for me doing this, but, I will do my best to give a brief and biased review nonetheless. ATF! on Life Sentence Records comes from Cleveland, Ohio, I don't know about you, but I don't know of any other bands from that area. These guys though, they are a bit different than most other bands in the genre. They have a very Comeback Kid sound to them, yet a little bit catchier, but the vocals, are unmatched. They may take a little bit getting used to, Andy Hoffman's yell is pretty high pitched, which is the part they may need to have grow on you, but his scream, is perfect, one of the best vocalists in hardcore in my book. This band has something for everyone to enjoy, catchy riffs, HEAVY breakdowns, and most importantly, a positive message. I literally get chills when listening to them. You haven’t heard hardcore until you've heard Above This Fire.
Jayme Predicts Their Next Album Will Be Titled Mr. Wendal: Lucero - Tennessee
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/ListeningStation/lucero.jpg
Website: (http://www.luceromusic.com) :: Listen: (http://www.myspace.com/lucero)
For the past few weeks, my love for Lucero has reached all new heights. With everything around me pretty much pissing me off or making me bummed out, I decided to be a sad bastard and listen to Lucero’s Tennessee as much as possible. There’s no better catharsis than listening to Ben Nichols's country drawl sing the words that you want to hear when your girlfriend just doesn’t understand that you’re always right, when your job doesn’t understand that you can’t work 24/7, and when you can’t seem to drink enough liquor to make yourself forget all of the above (except, I don’t drink… so not so much that last one). Tennessee is chock full of some of the best alt-country anthems and ballads that I’ve heard, ranging from the sullen, reminiscent, heart-on-the-pearl-snapped-sleeve “Slow Dancing” to the more whiskey-soaked, string-backed “I’ll Just Fall.” All in all, this isn’t a cry-along album for the pathetic Dashboard Confessional-loving emoheads (though they had better save some Kleenex for me!); however, if you’re a fan of genuine alt-country in the same vein as Ryan Adams and Uncle Tupelo that owes as much to booze-filled late nights as it does heartbreak, then Tennessee will undoubtedly feel like home. Perhaps Lucero said it best themselves when they claimed to have sixty songs about girls and two about Ben’s grandfather… hell, that’ll work for me.
Mike McHale Misses Music Magazine's Motive
Lately, I can't stop listening to Paulson's record, All At Once, and The Graduate's new EP, Horror Show. Other records I've been listening that are quite good are Umbrellas's Illuminaire, Cute Is What We Aim For's The Same Old Blood Rush With A New Touch, The Early November's The Mother, The Mechanic, and The Path, Meg & Dia - Something Real, and The Working Title - About-Face. All of those are real good solid records. Check them out.
Ryan "Philty" Philp Is Haunted By The Ghost Of UPS Deliveries Past: Shudder To Think - Pony Express Record
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/ListeningStation/shuddertothink.jpg
Website: (http://www.myspace.com/fansofshuddertothink) :: Listen: (http://www.myspace.com/fansofshuddertothink)
Shudder To Think is one of the most overlooked and underappreciated bands of the 90s. STT's sound exemplifies everything that was good about the music coming out of the D.C. post-hardcore scene at that time -- the marriage of dissonance, odd time signatures and beautiful, shimmery pop melodies.
Amongst their peers (e.g. Jawbox), STT challenged their listeners more than any other group, and Pony Express Record is perhaps the finest example of their signature sound (and arguably their masterpiece). Even if you can't get past the sheer oddness of their music on first listen, lead singer Craig Wedren's vocals are undoubtedly some of the best you'll ever hear -- he possesses a virtuoso set of pipes up there with Jeff Buckley.
Ben Is Haunted By The Ghost Of UPS Deliveries Present: Quitter - Sender.Receiver
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/ListeningStation/quitter.jpg
Website: (http://www.quitterarmy.com) :: Listen: (http://www.quitterarmy.com)
Try as I might, I can never find evidence in Sender.Receiver that it will age poorly. I never find myself thinking Scott Sault was right to walk away from music, considering he has a tremendous voice and writes some fairly great lyrics. The layering of guitars on this record is tremendous and may be the reason Robert Cheek does more than just write songs nowadays, as he's taken on plenty of engineering and production jobs since this band broke up. On the horizon for Mr. Cheek? Performing with the band Bridges and credits on the new Giant Squid and RX Bandits records. Of course, all of these pale in comparison to his collective work on Sender.Receiver.
As luck would have it, their entire works are up for your enjoyment on their site.
Chris Conlan Believes In The Healing Powers Of Hard Liquor: Dave Attell - Skanks For The Memories
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/ListeningStation/daveattell.jpg
Website: (http://www.daveattell.com) :: Listen: (http://www.myspace.com/attell)
Skanks for the Memories is, hands down, the best comedy CD ever. I'm still able to laugh every single time I listen to it, even though I've probably listened to it at least 30 times. Attell's humor is unmatchable. The one thing I like the most about Dave is his over the top comedy. He cracks jokes about EVERYTHING. He'll talk about one-legged men, whores, shaving your pubes, and the list goes on. Also, his bit "The Unfuckables" is priceless.
If you haven't listened to his CD yet and you think Dane Cook's albums are funny, wait to you hear this fucker. It can't be beat.
Rick Is A Closet Ashton Kutcher Fan: The Butterfly Effect - Begins Here
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/ListeningStation/butterflyeffect.jpg
Website: (http://www.thebutterflyeffect.com.au) :: Listen: (http://www.myspace.com/thebutterflyeffectau)
One of my more anticipated releases for this year was the new disc from The Butterfly Effect, Imago. After finally getting to hear it, I must say it is a tad bit disappointing. It’s still solid, but The Butterfly Effect’s best album will still always be Begins Here, which I found myself listening to a few times over the course of the week to wash the disappointment out of my ears. Begins Here contains some killer modern emotional rock that puts to shame likeminded bands such as Chevelle, 10 Years, and Evan’s Blue.
Jordan Celebrates His First Other-Jordan-Free Week By Selecting Something Other-Jordan Would Have Picked: The Books - The Lemon Of Pink
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/ListeningStation/thebooks.jpg
Website: (http://www.thebooksmusic.com) :: Listen: (http://www.myspace.com/iamnotthebooks)
In my pursuit to suggest bands that are not considered the norm here at Decoy, I chose The Books's 2003 release, The Lemon of Pink. This is glitch-tronica at its finest, my friends. Blips, bleeps, bloops, pops, snaps, crazy loops, strange samples, and tons of glorious sounds that'll make you think happy thoughts. Sadly, they don't really have a MySpace (the one they do have is run by a fan), but their website is cool. In respect for brevity, I'm going to leave my review as such: If you've been following the bands I've been putting into the listening stations, then you must listen to The Books. And if you already know who they are, God bless and amen.
Scott Really Needs To Start Pulling Double-Duty Around Here: Koby Israelite - Orobos: The Book Of Angels, Volume 4
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/ListeningStation/kobyisraelite.jpg
Website: (http://www.koby.info) :: Listen: (http://www.myspace.com/kobyisraelite)
This album is difficult to describe. While it's clearly reminiscent of its many varied influences, as well as other bands which refuse to be pinned to a single genre, there's something very special about Koby Israelite. Koby, who was trained on a variety of instruments since the age of nine, is backed by a truly gifted group of British and Israeli musicians. On Orobas, they succeed in creating 8 lush instrumental tracks, each of which defies conventional musical boundaries while maintaining a healthy devotion to gypsy jazz and klezmer. Just go listen, and you'll understand why words fail to explain it adequately.
Jared Had Me At Hello And Lost Me On Goodbye: At The Gates - Slaughter Of The Soul
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/ListeningStation/atthegates.jpg
Website: (http://www.atthegates.se) :: Listen: (http://www.atthegates.se/downloads.htm)
Shoot me for not listening to this album earlier. The only reason I'd ever heard of At The Gates was because Break The Silence covered "Slaughter of the Soul" on their album. This past week, I tracked down a copy of the album and gave it a spin. It makes me want to hurt myself for ignoring the Swedish metal masters for so long. Slaughter of the Soul blew me away and what's even more impressive was the year of its release: 1995. This album could stand toe to toe with any metalcore album that has come out in the last 3 years.
Chris Pandolfo Talks Incessantly About This Band, Even Though He Knows I'd Never Give Them The Time Of Day (Because I'm A Dick): Misery Signals - Of Malice And The Magnum Heart
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/ListeningStation/miserysignals.jpg
Website: (http://www.miserysignals.net) :: Listen: (http://www.miserysignals.net)
I only recently got into Misery Signals and I regret that very much. I found out that Of Malice and the Magnum Heart is one of my favorite melodic hardcore albums I’ve ever heard. It ranks up there with The Satellite Years by Hopesfall. But I think I’ve made up for the lack of Misery Signals in my life, because I’ve listened to this album about four times a day for the last week and a half. Next month, when the new sophomore LP Mirrors comes out, I’ll probably be doing the same thing.
Reader Joshua Matthews Explores The Hidden World Of Amateur Amateur Journalism: Fucked Up - Hidden World
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/ListeningStation/fuckedup.jpg
Website: (http://www.jadetree.com/bands/artist/fucked_up) :: Listen: (http://www.jadetree.com/mp3/Fucked_Up-Baiting_the_Public.mp3)
The first thing I noticed when I got my hands on the new Fucked Up album Hidden World is how incredible long it is. I thought that there was no way a punk band could hold my attention for over an hour. If there was ever a punk album that fit the definition of the word “epic,” this is it. Not since The Clash’s Sandinista! has a punk album been so wide in scope and duration. Tight punk anthems stretch past the five-minute mark into uncharted territory and never get boring. If you’ve caught yourself feeling like no punk bands are taking chances and pushing their creative limits lately, you must pick up this record. Not only does this album have “punk album of the year” written all over it, but Fucked Up is also on some next level shit.
Steve Lastnamenotincluded Batters The Senses With A Hefty Inundation Of Comma Comma Comma Comma Chameleons (Presented Without Comma Removal For Your Enjoyment): Above This Fire - Perspective
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/ListeningStation/abovethisfire.jpg
Website: (http://www.abovethisfire.com) :: Listen: (http://www.myspace.com/abovethisfire)
OK, this is my favorite band, which is the reason for me doing this, but, I will do my best to give a brief and biased review nonetheless. ATF! on Life Sentence Records comes from Cleveland, Ohio, I don't know about you, but I don't know of any other bands from that area. These guys though, they are a bit different than most other bands in the genre. They have a very Comeback Kid sound to them, yet a little bit catchier, but the vocals, are unmatched. They may take a little bit getting used to, Andy Hoffman's yell is pretty high pitched, which is the part they may need to have grow on you, but his scream, is perfect, one of the best vocalists in hardcore in my book. This band has something for everyone to enjoy, catchy riffs, HEAVY breakdowns, and most importantly, a positive message. I literally get chills when listening to them. You haven’t heard hardcore until you've heard Above This Fire.
Jayme Predicts Their Next Album Will Be Titled Mr. Wendal: Lucero - Tennessee
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/ListeningStation/lucero.jpg
Website: (http://www.luceromusic.com) :: Listen: (http://www.myspace.com/lucero)
For the past few weeks, my love for Lucero has reached all new heights. With everything around me pretty much pissing me off or making me bummed out, I decided to be a sad bastard and listen to Lucero’s Tennessee as much as possible. There’s no better catharsis than listening to Ben Nichols's country drawl sing the words that you want to hear when your girlfriend just doesn’t understand that you’re always right, when your job doesn’t understand that you can’t work 24/7, and when you can’t seem to drink enough liquor to make yourself forget all of the above (except, I don’t drink… so not so much that last one). Tennessee is chock full of some of the best alt-country anthems and ballads that I’ve heard, ranging from the sullen, reminiscent, heart-on-the-pearl-snapped-sleeve “Slow Dancing” to the more whiskey-soaked, string-backed “I’ll Just Fall.” All in all, this isn’t a cry-along album for the pathetic Dashboard Confessional-loving emoheads (though they had better save some Kleenex for me!); however, if you’re a fan of genuine alt-country in the same vein as Ryan Adams and Uncle Tupelo that owes as much to booze-filled late nights as it does heartbreak, then Tennessee will undoubtedly feel like home. Perhaps Lucero said it best themselves when they claimed to have sixty songs about girls and two about Ben’s grandfather… hell, that’ll work for me.
Mike McHale Misses Music Magazine's Motive
Lately, I can't stop listening to Paulson's record, All At Once, and The Graduate's new EP, Horror Show. Other records I've been listening that are quite good are Umbrellas's Illuminaire, Cute Is What We Aim For's The Same Old Blood Rush With A New Touch, The Early November's The Mother, The Mechanic, and The Path, Meg & Dia - Something Real, and The Working Title - About-Face. All of those are real good solid records. Check them out.
Ryan "Philty" Philp Is Haunted By The Ghost Of UPS Deliveries Past: Shudder To Think - Pony Express Record
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/ListeningStation/shuddertothink.jpg
Website: (http://www.myspace.com/fansofshuddertothink) :: Listen: (http://www.myspace.com/fansofshuddertothink)
Shudder To Think is one of the most overlooked and underappreciated bands of the 90s. STT's sound exemplifies everything that was good about the music coming out of the D.C. post-hardcore scene at that time -- the marriage of dissonance, odd time signatures and beautiful, shimmery pop melodies.
Amongst their peers (e.g. Jawbox), STT challenged their listeners more than any other group, and Pony Express Record is perhaps the finest example of their signature sound (and arguably their masterpiece). Even if you can't get past the sheer oddness of their music on first listen, lead singer Craig Wedren's vocals are undoubtedly some of the best you'll ever hear -- he possesses a virtuoso set of pipes up there with Jeff Buckley.
Ben Is Haunted By The Ghost Of UPS Deliveries Present: Quitter - Sender.Receiver
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/ListeningStation/quitter.jpg
Website: (http://www.quitterarmy.com) :: Listen: (http://www.quitterarmy.com)
Try as I might, I can never find evidence in Sender.Receiver that it will age poorly. I never find myself thinking Scott Sault was right to walk away from music, considering he has a tremendous voice and writes some fairly great lyrics. The layering of guitars on this record is tremendous and may be the reason Robert Cheek does more than just write songs nowadays, as he's taken on plenty of engineering and production jobs since this band broke up. On the horizon for Mr. Cheek? Performing with the band Bridges and credits on the new Giant Squid and RX Bandits records. Of course, all of these pale in comparison to his collective work on Sender.Receiver.
As luck would have it, their entire works are up for your enjoyment on their site.