sir mix-a-lot
12-06-2006, 09:27 PM
This week's Listening Station presentation has been altered to make up for last week's mysterious disappearance. Because of the new lease on life that I have taken out (cost: $27,000/month), I have decided to also give you added insight into what makes me tick, how I react to everyday situations, and just what comes to mind when I look at these damned things. So, for your enjoyment, I present this week's edition of Decoy's Listening Station, complete with thorough Editor's Notes. Enjoy!
Alex Davies Is Getting A Fresh Lease On Life By Listening To: Brand New - Your Favorite Weapon
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/ListeningStation/brandnew2.jpg
Website: (http://www.fightoffyourdemons.com) :: Listen: (http://www.myspace.com/brandnew)
With all the recent fuss and hysteria over Jesse Lacey and friends' new offering, I returned to their debut with a new vigour. Whilst regrettably they spelt FAVOURITE wrong, they got a lot of other things right; namely the music. Young, angry and eloquent beyond his years, Lacey was penning masterpieces when his peers were wanting you to know that they missed you, they missed you so. For all the brilliance their two later records produced, Your Favorite Weapon has tracks that stand just as tall and proud. Now go
listen to "Soco Lime Amaretto."
Editor's Note: British people's sense of self-importance is staggering. Look here, bloke, not everybody needs to use your popular "ou" combination crap. We don't say "favorite" favooooorite" so there's no need for that crap. We say "you" "yooooo" so it's okay there. Get off your high horse and stop demanding we spell everything the way you people do just because you were around first. Golly. At least Americans don't get all pissy when somebody can't speak English (I mean American). Knock it off, ya wee sops.
Rick Is Set To Standby: Lacuna Coil - Comalies
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/ListeningStation/lacunacoil.jpg
Website: (http://www.lacunacoil.it) :: Listen: (http://www.myspace.com/lacunacoil)
For many, the latest from Lacuna Coil, Karmacode, came off as a big disappointment. I was not as let down as many, but I still find myself routinely revisiting Comalies in favor of Karmacode or any of their older works. I think it is because they were at their sharpest on Comalies. The songs have a very somber and melancholic feel while the lyrics are equally as hopeless in nature (and that’s a compliment in case you didn’t think so). Their hit, “Heaven’s a Lie,” is just as powerful today as it was in 2003. The majority of this album also shows a very smart balance between the melodic female vocals and the grittier male vocals, whereas their newer material focuses more on the female melodies. All in all, this is Lacuna Coil’s best work and it’ll take a lot to knock it from that perch.
Editor's Note: Has anyone heard Luxt? They're a more electronics-based Lacuna Coil, based out of Sacramento. They're horrid. Even worse than Lacuna Coil. And they're complete pricks. Don't ever listen to them.
Scott Is The Physical Manifestation Of Matthew Modine's Career (And No, That's Not A Compliment): Hazmat Modine - Bahamut
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/ListeningStation/hazmatmodine.jpg
Website: (http://www.hazmatmodine.com) :: Listen: (http://www.myspace.com/hazmatmodine)
Hazmat Modine's Bahamut is an undeniably diverse and thickly layered listen. It takes me back to a time of blues and avant-garde jazz, of jug bands and rockabilly, of Middle Eastern folk and klezmer; or perhaps it would, if I had lived in the appropriate times and places of prominence for those styles. Throughout most of the album, the results of this musical amalgamation are absolutely thrilling, but occasionally Hazmat Modine seems either to lose its focus - stuck in jam-band purgatory like a Mars Voltian Prometheus - or merely not to bring anything new to this well-worn table. But for every semi-uninspired (since they're still extremely well-executed) moment, there are several truly outstanding ones; from the calypso beat driven title track, "Bahamut," to the experimental harmonica solo that makes up the entirety of "Lost Fox Train," Hazmat Modine's debut supplies a bounty of intensely interesting and engaging music.
Editor's Note: Remember when ABC thought Matthew Modine was a rising star and kept putting him in every damn special they could? It's almost on par with that one time MTV kept trying to shove subpar rappers down the throats of viewers, only there isn't a better Matthew Modine that's just going unnoticed. Oh, and ABC cut it out after a year or two.
Chris Conlan Conniption Compelling, Claims Canterbury Chronicle: Scenic Attraction - Short Cry For A Long Lie EP
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/ListeningStation/17402.gif
Website: (http://www.purevolume.com/scenicattraction) :: Listen: (http://www.myspace.com/scenicattraction)
These guys rock. End of story. Their new song on their MySpace page, "Turn Up the Heat Cause This Ain't No Action Movie," is a pop/punk wet dream. Listening to them reminds me of the first time I heard Blink 182. I'm so stoked to see what happens with these guys. They have so much potential. So, to all those labels out there, this is the band to sign. Quit signing bands with eye makeup, damnit.
Editor's Note: I listened to these guys for a few seconds. I'd rather look at the Great Plains while on NoDoz than listen to this again. And the plains? They're boring after five minutes.
Daniel Alcinii's Hand Comes Pre-Slashed, Just Waiting For The Next Best Good Friend To Come Along: The Blood Brothers - Young Machetes
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/ListeningStation/bloodbrothers.jpg
Website: (http://www.thebloodbrothers.com) :: Listen: (http://www.myspace.com/thebloodbrothersband)
There's no doubt in my mind that The Blood Brothers are quite possibly one of my favourite bands, as they are consistently constant on blowing my mind in every way possible, times three; the artwork (CD's/merch/etc.), the lyrical content ("There's a train tumbling down torn paper tracks while weeds blossom from heartbeats that lack."), and finally the way they push the envelope on every release.
Editor's Note: I used to make fun of people who liked The Blood Brothers. Then someone sent me a track off of Crimes and I went and bought the album that very same afternoon. Then I re-listened to the older albums I had on my computer and would look for them whenever I'd go CD shopping. This band is awesome. Even if you don't see it yet, one day, a BB song will hit you just right and you'll have the same revelation I did. Not many bands can do that.
Ben Doesn't Have Heat, But He Has: Kary - Light
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/ListeningStation/kary2.jpg
Website: (http://www.dependentmusic.com/a_kary.htm) :: Listen: (http://www.dependentmusic.com/a_kary_albums.htm)
I had to throw this on while I was moving. That or Fantomas's Suspended Animation. But I had people in the car, so Fantomas was out. Why did I have to play Light? It's got an oddly-shaped case that would be damaged if piled in with the rest of my albums. I’m a big baby when it comes to that stuff. In fact, in my new place, albums in DigiPaks or cardboard sleeves or anything like that will be removed from the more durable plastic-cased albums because they wear too quickly when they're together.
But about Kary: This Canadian band is no longer around, but everyone's still doing something musically on Dependent Music, the label that was built to push this very group (okay, it was built to push Brian Borcherdt's first band Burnt Black, but for the scope of this article, we'll pretend it was to push Kary to the masses, because Kary certainly caught on moreso than that Borcherdt fellow and they're pretty much superior in every possible way). Both full lengths by Kary are fantastic and have, by this very nature, been shoved at you in a Listening Station in the past three months. I still think their previous effort, The Sound of Beauty Breathing, is well beyond Light, but Light definitely isn't a weak album by any means. Seclusion, something you're inevitably going to suffer from near the banks of Nova Scotia, leads to two things: Insanity and creativity. Somehow, I think the men of Kary managed to harness the first to create the latter, as their music is some of the most original and intriguing on Planet Earth.
Editor's Note: While writing this, it occurred to me that I no longer buy everything that Dependent puts out. I need to get back on the wagon.
Armand Is Down With The Sickness That Is: Laura - Radio Swan Is Down
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/ListeningStation/laura.jpg
Website: (http://www.wearemappingyourdreams.com) :: Listen: (http://www.myspace.com/lauranoise)
When I’m looking for new music, I generally go to rateyourmusic.com before checking out an album to see what the general consensus thinks of it. While browsing through the site, I stumbled upon a list someone made of his favorite releases of the year and it was quite similar to mine. But high up on his list he had a band called Laura, with their album Radio Swan is Down. I knew nothing about Laura, but I trusted the list and decided to check them out and boy, was that a good decision.
Radio Swan is Down is a fantastic post-rock album that doesn’t really dwell on one certain style. At times they sound similar to bands like Gregor Samsa and at others they sound like band on the other side of the post-rock spectrum like Godspeed You! Black Emperor. You can’t really stuff Laura’s sound in any hole and it is really refreshing to hear a new, innovative band in a genre that many claim is full of Explosions in the Sky rip-offs.
Overall, listen to Laura’s Radio Swan is Down.
Editor's Note: I kinda miss other Jordan because no one else really covers this kind of stuff and that dude was pretty much a god amongst men in this genre's regard. Anyone else miss him?
Scott Looks Like Gonzo, Sounds Like Animal: Menomena - Friend And Foe
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/ListeningStation/menomena2.jpg
Website: (http://www.menomena.com) :: Listen: (http://www.myspace.com/menomena)
Emerging like some gloriously misshapen, half-birthed lovechild of Sufjan Stevens and A Whisper in the Noise, Menomena blends lilting vocals and a myriad of instruments with a tone of crazed diablerie. This three-piece Oregon-based experimental rock outfit's latest album, Friend and Foe, is a tremendous record brimming with stylistic and structural ambiguity, but thankfully never strays into the realm of the unfollowable. As "The Pelican's" maniacal chunks of distorted guitar give way to the gentle piano-laced backdrop of "Wet and Rusting," you'll hopefully see what I mean.
Editor's Note: Every time I see this band name, the opening scene from the first episode of the second season of The Office (the British version, not that crappy American remake) comes to mind and I laugh. A lot. That scene is awesome. The American Office could never duplicate a scene like that.
Matt Hebert's Taste In Music, In Relation To Yours, Is Just A Stone's Throw Away: Peanut Butter Wolf Presents: Chrome Children
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/ListeningStation/chromechildren.jpg
Website: (http://www.chromechildren.com) :: Listen: (http://www.stonesthrow.com/chromeschildren)
What can I say? Peanut Butter Wolf and crew present 19 boisterous tracks. This enjoyable compilation packs as wholesome a punch as some of Stones Throw's finest. What's better than picking up a CD that features those 19 wholesome tracks and receiving a DVD that demonstrates some of the featured artists live and in their element at the same time? With footage taken from this year's SXSW and brilliant tracks from Oh No, Madlib, J Dilla, Percee P and Quasimoto, Chrome Children is a great compilation to pick up, especially if you're just getting into the flow of this whole hip hop craze.
Editor's Note: I used to make fun of the idea of positive rap. My friend Brian Osowski (RIP?) and I read an article in one of those stupid school newsletters that was supposed to be all hip 'n shit so you wouldn't think you were learning, but actually came off as completely lame wrote an article about The Fugees and how they were taking rap in a positive direction and we laughed about it for over a week. The Big O was a cool dude. We used to kick it at his place, listening to Snoop Doggy Dogg, 2Pac, Master P, DMX, and whatever underground shit he had managed to get his hands on while playing Grand Theft Auto. That or we'd go shoot some hoops. He wasn't much of a scorer, really, but he was ferocious on the boards and got all his points on hustle plays. Dude was really funny, really easy-going. I kinda wish we hadn't taken our separate paths, because then I wouldn't have to wonder if he was dead. That sucks. Apparently, my sister's friend is friends with his parents. I should give them a call and see how he is. Last time I talked to him (this was years ago), I asked him what he'd been doing, and his answer was, "Working. Drugs. Mostly drugs." Very depressing. You're welcome.
Jordan's Picks Give Me A Migraine: Erik Mongrain - Fates
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/ListeningStation/erikmongrain.jpg
Website: (http://www.erikmongraine.com) :: Listen: (http://www.myspace.com/erikrain)
Much like Michael Hedges and Don Ross, Erik Mongrain is a true master of the guitar. Don't believe me? Watch this: http://youtube.com/watch?v=vM6HH6wdgSQ.
Still don't believe me? Then find his album and listen for yourself. And if you don't know who Michael Hedges and Don Ross are, you best do some research, because these guys play some seriously incredible folk guitar with some mind-blowing finger work. Don't say I never told you.
Editor's Note: Man, this guy still hasn’t officially released an album? Good Lord.
Alex Davies Often Makes Me Want To Inflict Pain Upon My Own Person: Young Love - Too Young To Fight It
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/ListeningStation/younglove.jpg
Website: (http://www6.islandrecords.com/site/artist_home.php?artist_id=623) :: Listen: (http://www.myspace.com/younglove)
I wish I were in love. As I most certainly am not, I will have to make do with a) cavorting on dancefloors with many unscrupulous women whom I damn sure won't remember the name of in the AM and b) making mix CDs for girls in the vain attempt to make them like me.
Young Love not only caters beautifully for both these options, but I'm pretty sure" Discotech" is going to be the song that sparks my first relationship of '07. Whether I'll be "keeping it on the dancefloor" or "meeting her at the backdoor" remains to be seen, but I've certainly been "waiting a looong time, a long tiiime."
Editor's Note: British white dudes rapping. British white dudes rapping. British. White dudes. Rapping. Rapping! Rapping? Rapping.
Joe Davis Makes Up For What's Above: The Roots - Home Grown! The Beginner's Guide To Understanding The Roots, Volume Two
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/ListeningStation/theroots.jpg
Website: (http://www.theroots.com) :: Listen: (http://www.myspace.com/theroots)
As this is my first submission to the weekly listening station, I thought I would serve up some hip-hop for you honkies so you can 'diversify yo bonds.' I know that The Roots have since released a new album (which is sick), but this album (and Volume One of this series) is a great collection of some of their better stuff. This volume has some live recordings from the Gilles Peterson show on BBC's Radio One (most notably "seed/melting pot/web"). If you're a fan of hip-hop or a fan of music in general, you need to check this out.
Editor's Note: I don't think I've heard a full Roots album. I'm pretty sure that makes me a horrible person. I just don't walk down the hip-hop/rap section of a music store like I used to.
Rosemarie Causes Severe Scalp Inflammation: Life In Your Way - Ignite And Rebuild
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/ListeningStation/lifeinyourway.jpg
Website: (http://www.lifeinyourway.com) :: Listen: (http://www.myspace.com/lifeinyourway)
I am a sucker for melodic hardcore. I love bands like Hopesfall, Taken, In Pieces, Misery Signals, and more...but Life In Your Way not only is my favorite melodic hardcore band, but is also my favorite hardcore band, period. I adore both of their albums and I feel that Waking Giants, their Solid State debut, is going to absolutely blow me away and, hopefully, more people will recognize how good this band is.
Check out Life In Your Way's MySpace to hear their new song, "Making Waves." It's absolutely beautiful, atmospheric, inspirational, and close to perfect. If this is any indication of how the rest of the album will sound and they truly did go in a more atmospheric and spacey direction, this may be the best melodic hardcore record I'll ever hear.
Editor's Note: I gave this "Making Waves" track a listen just to see if Solid State has regained its magic touch in regards to Christian metal over the last few years and, no, no, they haven't. Every band on their roster sounds the same. It's really aggravating. How can people keep buying the same record with a different name over and over again? There's not even slight variation. I used to look forward to new Solid State releases. Now I dread them. I hate when this kind of thing happens.
Ben Is The Re-Birth Of Nu-Metal: Five Pointe 0 - Untitled
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/ListeningStation/fivepointe0.jpg
Website: (http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/artists/FivePointeO/) :: Listen: (http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/music/listen.aspx?fileID=97)
This album is still so fucking awesome, even after all of the bands who paved the way for these guys have died and gone to a better, less public place. When Daniel Struble kicks in with his best Brandon Boyd impression to start out the album, my inner Incubus lover knew I'd love this record. But Five Pointe 0, despite their young age and the prevalent musical style of the time, never really fell into the same clichéd aspects of nu-metal that most bands did. In fact, most of the album sounds more like an excellent metalcore record than it does a nu-metal record. If I may be so bold, they perhaps progressed both genres much in the same way Earthtone9 dared to do. Granted, nobody took the blueprint anywhere and this band disbanded soon after the release of Untitled, so their sound has never been expanded upon. Hell, since I'm being a rogue already, what with that Earthtone9 comment, maybe I'll say this is nu-metal's The Shape of Punk to Come, even if White Pony might be better-suited to such a claim.
Look, my point is this: I haven't listened to this record in a while, but now that I've put it back on, I can't stop listening. These kids were smart, they knew their way around their instruments, and they could write songs that went beyond mere copycatting. Bands twice their age with six times the experience couldn't write this record. If anyone knows any Five Pointe 0 related bands besides The Renaissance, please let me know, because I really want to see how these kids have progressed, what they'll be doing in their thirties, because it's bound to be remarkable.
Editor's Note: Daniel Struble's vocal range is awesome. Someone should write a book about this band's short life because I want to know what caused these guys and gal to dissolve so quickly. Gotta love teenage angst, I guess. You'd think from the lyrics these kids had matured beyond that. Oh well.
Alex Davies Is Getting A Fresh Lease On Life By Listening To: Brand New - Your Favorite Weapon
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/ListeningStation/brandnew2.jpg
Website: (http://www.fightoffyourdemons.com) :: Listen: (http://www.myspace.com/brandnew)
With all the recent fuss and hysteria over Jesse Lacey and friends' new offering, I returned to their debut with a new vigour. Whilst regrettably they spelt FAVOURITE wrong, they got a lot of other things right; namely the music. Young, angry and eloquent beyond his years, Lacey was penning masterpieces when his peers were wanting you to know that they missed you, they missed you so. For all the brilliance their two later records produced, Your Favorite Weapon has tracks that stand just as tall and proud. Now go
listen to "Soco Lime Amaretto."
Editor's Note: British people's sense of self-importance is staggering. Look here, bloke, not everybody needs to use your popular "ou" combination crap. We don't say "favorite" favooooorite" so there's no need for that crap. We say "you" "yooooo" so it's okay there. Get off your high horse and stop demanding we spell everything the way you people do just because you were around first. Golly. At least Americans don't get all pissy when somebody can't speak English (I mean American). Knock it off, ya wee sops.
Rick Is Set To Standby: Lacuna Coil - Comalies
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/ListeningStation/lacunacoil.jpg
Website: (http://www.lacunacoil.it) :: Listen: (http://www.myspace.com/lacunacoil)
For many, the latest from Lacuna Coil, Karmacode, came off as a big disappointment. I was not as let down as many, but I still find myself routinely revisiting Comalies in favor of Karmacode or any of their older works. I think it is because they were at their sharpest on Comalies. The songs have a very somber and melancholic feel while the lyrics are equally as hopeless in nature (and that’s a compliment in case you didn’t think so). Their hit, “Heaven’s a Lie,” is just as powerful today as it was in 2003. The majority of this album also shows a very smart balance between the melodic female vocals and the grittier male vocals, whereas their newer material focuses more on the female melodies. All in all, this is Lacuna Coil’s best work and it’ll take a lot to knock it from that perch.
Editor's Note: Has anyone heard Luxt? They're a more electronics-based Lacuna Coil, based out of Sacramento. They're horrid. Even worse than Lacuna Coil. And they're complete pricks. Don't ever listen to them.
Scott Is The Physical Manifestation Of Matthew Modine's Career (And No, That's Not A Compliment): Hazmat Modine - Bahamut
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/ListeningStation/hazmatmodine.jpg
Website: (http://www.hazmatmodine.com) :: Listen: (http://www.myspace.com/hazmatmodine)
Hazmat Modine's Bahamut is an undeniably diverse and thickly layered listen. It takes me back to a time of blues and avant-garde jazz, of jug bands and rockabilly, of Middle Eastern folk and klezmer; or perhaps it would, if I had lived in the appropriate times and places of prominence for those styles. Throughout most of the album, the results of this musical amalgamation are absolutely thrilling, but occasionally Hazmat Modine seems either to lose its focus - stuck in jam-band purgatory like a Mars Voltian Prometheus - or merely not to bring anything new to this well-worn table. But for every semi-uninspired (since they're still extremely well-executed) moment, there are several truly outstanding ones; from the calypso beat driven title track, "Bahamut," to the experimental harmonica solo that makes up the entirety of "Lost Fox Train," Hazmat Modine's debut supplies a bounty of intensely interesting and engaging music.
Editor's Note: Remember when ABC thought Matthew Modine was a rising star and kept putting him in every damn special they could? It's almost on par with that one time MTV kept trying to shove subpar rappers down the throats of viewers, only there isn't a better Matthew Modine that's just going unnoticed. Oh, and ABC cut it out after a year or two.
Chris Conlan Conniption Compelling, Claims Canterbury Chronicle: Scenic Attraction - Short Cry For A Long Lie EP
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/ListeningStation/17402.gif
Website: (http://www.purevolume.com/scenicattraction) :: Listen: (http://www.myspace.com/scenicattraction)
These guys rock. End of story. Their new song on their MySpace page, "Turn Up the Heat Cause This Ain't No Action Movie," is a pop/punk wet dream. Listening to them reminds me of the first time I heard Blink 182. I'm so stoked to see what happens with these guys. They have so much potential. So, to all those labels out there, this is the band to sign. Quit signing bands with eye makeup, damnit.
Editor's Note: I listened to these guys for a few seconds. I'd rather look at the Great Plains while on NoDoz than listen to this again. And the plains? They're boring after five minutes.
Daniel Alcinii's Hand Comes Pre-Slashed, Just Waiting For The Next Best Good Friend To Come Along: The Blood Brothers - Young Machetes
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/ListeningStation/bloodbrothers.jpg
Website: (http://www.thebloodbrothers.com) :: Listen: (http://www.myspace.com/thebloodbrothersband)
There's no doubt in my mind that The Blood Brothers are quite possibly one of my favourite bands, as they are consistently constant on blowing my mind in every way possible, times three; the artwork (CD's/merch/etc.), the lyrical content ("There's a train tumbling down torn paper tracks while weeds blossom from heartbeats that lack."), and finally the way they push the envelope on every release.
Editor's Note: I used to make fun of people who liked The Blood Brothers. Then someone sent me a track off of Crimes and I went and bought the album that very same afternoon. Then I re-listened to the older albums I had on my computer and would look for them whenever I'd go CD shopping. This band is awesome. Even if you don't see it yet, one day, a BB song will hit you just right and you'll have the same revelation I did. Not many bands can do that.
Ben Doesn't Have Heat, But He Has: Kary - Light
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/ListeningStation/kary2.jpg
Website: (http://www.dependentmusic.com/a_kary.htm) :: Listen: (http://www.dependentmusic.com/a_kary_albums.htm)
I had to throw this on while I was moving. That or Fantomas's Suspended Animation. But I had people in the car, so Fantomas was out. Why did I have to play Light? It's got an oddly-shaped case that would be damaged if piled in with the rest of my albums. I’m a big baby when it comes to that stuff. In fact, in my new place, albums in DigiPaks or cardboard sleeves or anything like that will be removed from the more durable plastic-cased albums because they wear too quickly when they're together.
But about Kary: This Canadian band is no longer around, but everyone's still doing something musically on Dependent Music, the label that was built to push this very group (okay, it was built to push Brian Borcherdt's first band Burnt Black, but for the scope of this article, we'll pretend it was to push Kary to the masses, because Kary certainly caught on moreso than that Borcherdt fellow and they're pretty much superior in every possible way). Both full lengths by Kary are fantastic and have, by this very nature, been shoved at you in a Listening Station in the past three months. I still think their previous effort, The Sound of Beauty Breathing, is well beyond Light, but Light definitely isn't a weak album by any means. Seclusion, something you're inevitably going to suffer from near the banks of Nova Scotia, leads to two things: Insanity and creativity. Somehow, I think the men of Kary managed to harness the first to create the latter, as their music is some of the most original and intriguing on Planet Earth.
Editor's Note: While writing this, it occurred to me that I no longer buy everything that Dependent puts out. I need to get back on the wagon.
Armand Is Down With The Sickness That Is: Laura - Radio Swan Is Down
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/ListeningStation/laura.jpg
Website: (http://www.wearemappingyourdreams.com) :: Listen: (http://www.myspace.com/lauranoise)
When I’m looking for new music, I generally go to rateyourmusic.com before checking out an album to see what the general consensus thinks of it. While browsing through the site, I stumbled upon a list someone made of his favorite releases of the year and it was quite similar to mine. But high up on his list he had a band called Laura, with their album Radio Swan is Down. I knew nothing about Laura, but I trusted the list and decided to check them out and boy, was that a good decision.
Radio Swan is Down is a fantastic post-rock album that doesn’t really dwell on one certain style. At times they sound similar to bands like Gregor Samsa and at others they sound like band on the other side of the post-rock spectrum like Godspeed You! Black Emperor. You can’t really stuff Laura’s sound in any hole and it is really refreshing to hear a new, innovative band in a genre that many claim is full of Explosions in the Sky rip-offs.
Overall, listen to Laura’s Radio Swan is Down.
Editor's Note: I kinda miss other Jordan because no one else really covers this kind of stuff and that dude was pretty much a god amongst men in this genre's regard. Anyone else miss him?
Scott Looks Like Gonzo, Sounds Like Animal: Menomena - Friend And Foe
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/ListeningStation/menomena2.jpg
Website: (http://www.menomena.com) :: Listen: (http://www.myspace.com/menomena)
Emerging like some gloriously misshapen, half-birthed lovechild of Sufjan Stevens and A Whisper in the Noise, Menomena blends lilting vocals and a myriad of instruments with a tone of crazed diablerie. This three-piece Oregon-based experimental rock outfit's latest album, Friend and Foe, is a tremendous record brimming with stylistic and structural ambiguity, but thankfully never strays into the realm of the unfollowable. As "The Pelican's" maniacal chunks of distorted guitar give way to the gentle piano-laced backdrop of "Wet and Rusting," you'll hopefully see what I mean.
Editor's Note: Every time I see this band name, the opening scene from the first episode of the second season of The Office (the British version, not that crappy American remake) comes to mind and I laugh. A lot. That scene is awesome. The American Office could never duplicate a scene like that.
Matt Hebert's Taste In Music, In Relation To Yours, Is Just A Stone's Throw Away: Peanut Butter Wolf Presents: Chrome Children
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/ListeningStation/chromechildren.jpg
Website: (http://www.chromechildren.com) :: Listen: (http://www.stonesthrow.com/chromeschildren)
What can I say? Peanut Butter Wolf and crew present 19 boisterous tracks. This enjoyable compilation packs as wholesome a punch as some of Stones Throw's finest. What's better than picking up a CD that features those 19 wholesome tracks and receiving a DVD that demonstrates some of the featured artists live and in their element at the same time? With footage taken from this year's SXSW and brilliant tracks from Oh No, Madlib, J Dilla, Percee P and Quasimoto, Chrome Children is a great compilation to pick up, especially if you're just getting into the flow of this whole hip hop craze.
Editor's Note: I used to make fun of the idea of positive rap. My friend Brian Osowski (RIP?) and I read an article in one of those stupid school newsletters that was supposed to be all hip 'n shit so you wouldn't think you were learning, but actually came off as completely lame wrote an article about The Fugees and how they were taking rap in a positive direction and we laughed about it for over a week. The Big O was a cool dude. We used to kick it at his place, listening to Snoop Doggy Dogg, 2Pac, Master P, DMX, and whatever underground shit he had managed to get his hands on while playing Grand Theft Auto. That or we'd go shoot some hoops. He wasn't much of a scorer, really, but he was ferocious on the boards and got all his points on hustle plays. Dude was really funny, really easy-going. I kinda wish we hadn't taken our separate paths, because then I wouldn't have to wonder if he was dead. That sucks. Apparently, my sister's friend is friends with his parents. I should give them a call and see how he is. Last time I talked to him (this was years ago), I asked him what he'd been doing, and his answer was, "Working. Drugs. Mostly drugs." Very depressing. You're welcome.
Jordan's Picks Give Me A Migraine: Erik Mongrain - Fates
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Website: (http://www.erikmongraine.com) :: Listen: (http://www.myspace.com/erikrain)
Much like Michael Hedges and Don Ross, Erik Mongrain is a true master of the guitar. Don't believe me? Watch this: http://youtube.com/watch?v=vM6HH6wdgSQ.
Still don't believe me? Then find his album and listen for yourself. And if you don't know who Michael Hedges and Don Ross are, you best do some research, because these guys play some seriously incredible folk guitar with some mind-blowing finger work. Don't say I never told you.
Editor's Note: Man, this guy still hasn’t officially released an album? Good Lord.
Alex Davies Often Makes Me Want To Inflict Pain Upon My Own Person: Young Love - Too Young To Fight It
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Website: (http://www6.islandrecords.com/site/artist_home.php?artist_id=623) :: Listen: (http://www.myspace.com/younglove)
I wish I were in love. As I most certainly am not, I will have to make do with a) cavorting on dancefloors with many unscrupulous women whom I damn sure won't remember the name of in the AM and b) making mix CDs for girls in the vain attempt to make them like me.
Young Love not only caters beautifully for both these options, but I'm pretty sure" Discotech" is going to be the song that sparks my first relationship of '07. Whether I'll be "keeping it on the dancefloor" or "meeting her at the backdoor" remains to be seen, but I've certainly been "waiting a looong time, a long tiiime."
Editor's Note: British white dudes rapping. British white dudes rapping. British. White dudes. Rapping. Rapping! Rapping? Rapping.
Joe Davis Makes Up For What's Above: The Roots - Home Grown! The Beginner's Guide To Understanding The Roots, Volume Two
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Website: (http://www.theroots.com) :: Listen: (http://www.myspace.com/theroots)
As this is my first submission to the weekly listening station, I thought I would serve up some hip-hop for you honkies so you can 'diversify yo bonds.' I know that The Roots have since released a new album (which is sick), but this album (and Volume One of this series) is a great collection of some of their better stuff. This volume has some live recordings from the Gilles Peterson show on BBC's Radio One (most notably "seed/melting pot/web"). If you're a fan of hip-hop or a fan of music in general, you need to check this out.
Editor's Note: I don't think I've heard a full Roots album. I'm pretty sure that makes me a horrible person. I just don't walk down the hip-hop/rap section of a music store like I used to.
Rosemarie Causes Severe Scalp Inflammation: Life In Your Way - Ignite And Rebuild
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Website: (http://www.lifeinyourway.com) :: Listen: (http://www.myspace.com/lifeinyourway)
I am a sucker for melodic hardcore. I love bands like Hopesfall, Taken, In Pieces, Misery Signals, and more...but Life In Your Way not only is my favorite melodic hardcore band, but is also my favorite hardcore band, period. I adore both of their albums and I feel that Waking Giants, their Solid State debut, is going to absolutely blow me away and, hopefully, more people will recognize how good this band is.
Check out Life In Your Way's MySpace to hear their new song, "Making Waves." It's absolutely beautiful, atmospheric, inspirational, and close to perfect. If this is any indication of how the rest of the album will sound and they truly did go in a more atmospheric and spacey direction, this may be the best melodic hardcore record I'll ever hear.
Editor's Note: I gave this "Making Waves" track a listen just to see if Solid State has regained its magic touch in regards to Christian metal over the last few years and, no, no, they haven't. Every band on their roster sounds the same. It's really aggravating. How can people keep buying the same record with a different name over and over again? There's not even slight variation. I used to look forward to new Solid State releases. Now I dread them. I hate when this kind of thing happens.
Ben Is The Re-Birth Of Nu-Metal: Five Pointe 0 - Untitled
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Website: (http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/artists/FivePointeO/) :: Listen: (http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/music/listen.aspx?fileID=97)
This album is still so fucking awesome, even after all of the bands who paved the way for these guys have died and gone to a better, less public place. When Daniel Struble kicks in with his best Brandon Boyd impression to start out the album, my inner Incubus lover knew I'd love this record. But Five Pointe 0, despite their young age and the prevalent musical style of the time, never really fell into the same clichéd aspects of nu-metal that most bands did. In fact, most of the album sounds more like an excellent metalcore record than it does a nu-metal record. If I may be so bold, they perhaps progressed both genres much in the same way Earthtone9 dared to do. Granted, nobody took the blueprint anywhere and this band disbanded soon after the release of Untitled, so their sound has never been expanded upon. Hell, since I'm being a rogue already, what with that Earthtone9 comment, maybe I'll say this is nu-metal's The Shape of Punk to Come, even if White Pony might be better-suited to such a claim.
Look, my point is this: I haven't listened to this record in a while, but now that I've put it back on, I can't stop listening. These kids were smart, they knew their way around their instruments, and they could write songs that went beyond mere copycatting. Bands twice their age with six times the experience couldn't write this record. If anyone knows any Five Pointe 0 related bands besides The Renaissance, please let me know, because I really want to see how these kids have progressed, what they'll be doing in their thirties, because it's bound to be remarkable.
Editor's Note: Daniel Struble's vocal range is awesome. Someone should write a book about this band's short life because I want to know what caused these guys and gal to dissolve so quickly. Gotta love teenage angst, I guess. You'd think from the lyrics these kids had matured beyond that. Oh well.