sir mix-a-lot
02-15-2006, 08:19 PM
So you wanna know what each Decoy contributor is jamming this week? Take a long gander at this week's list and feel free to add what you guys are spinning too.
Chris? More Like Christie! Am I Right?: And Then There Were None - And Then There Were None
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/ListeningStation/andthentherewerenone.jpg
Website: ( http://www.attwn.net/) :: Listen: (http://www.myspace.com/andthentherewerenone)
Being good friends with my band, I’ve had the chance to see And Then There Were None a few times and they put on an incredible show filled with metalcore that will get stuck in your head 24 hours a day. Although their EP displays their more “core” side of the metal genre, we’ve been told that their new material is sounding like flat out metal, which only means that it’ll be heavier and more capable of destroying your home (which sounds bad but really isn’t). Look out for And Then There Were None in the near future. With their talent and hard work, they are making their way closer to getting signed. And when that time comes, you’ll all know it.
Aaron Knows This EP's Title Is Really Great Advice: NOFX - Never Trust A Hippy EP
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/ListeningStation/nofx.jpg
Website: ( http://www.nofxofficialwebsite.com) :: Listen: (http://www.fatwreck.com/media/ecard?id=29)
The prelude to the new NOFX full length album, Never Trust A Hippy is a great way to get everyone ready and to get some of those songs that would be left sitting around to get released. On the Fat Wreck Chords website, it says "NOFX is going to hell for this one," which very well may be true. I dont need to say it; just check out that album cover. NOFX has survived a hell of a long time and is continuing to rule the punk world year after year. This EP is no different, with track titles like "Seeing Double At The Triple Rock," "The Marxist Brothers," and "I'm Going To Hell For This One." The melodic guitars are blaring and the drumming is in super-speed; this is the NOFX I remember, and remember well… they never change. Grab this 13-minute 6-song EP on March 14th and prepare yourself for Wolves In Wolves' Clothing in April.
Johnny Tends To Daydream To: Further Seems Forever - How To Start A Fire
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/ListeningStation/furtherseemsforever.jpg
Website: (http://www.furtherseemsforever.com) :: Listen: (http://www.purevolume.com/furtherseemsforever)
This week, I'm going back in time a few years to early 2003 for my favorite album of all time: How To Start A Fire by Further Seems Forever. This was the peak of the band's popularity, creativity, and power and I remember every detail of my life when I purchased this record. I remember skipping my class the morning the album was released and driving in a snowstorm to get the disc. I listened to the entire CD before getting out of my car and the people passing me in the parking lot probably thought that I was going to go deaf because of the volume, but I wanted to soak in every detail about the album. There was just something about HTSAF that grabbed my soul and took a hold of it, so listening to this album again really brings me back in time.
Brent Is Too Short To Play: Bjork - Post
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/ListeningStation/bjork.jpg
Website: (http://www.bjork.com/) :: Listen: (http://www.bjork.com/videogallery/)
I go through phases where I shift between listening to Bjork for a few days straight, then not listening to her at all for weeks. To me, her music is like an old girlfriend or an old fling you revisit here and there for a night of pure decadence, a reminder of what attracted you to it ("it" being the music in this case) in the first place. I've owned this album for something like five years, and I've probably listened to it three or four hundred times, but it still evokes the same feelings it did the first time I heard it, blaring over a high-dollar sound system while my teenage tongue was jammed down the throat of a girl who looked exactly like Tori Amos.
Adam Swears You Don't Need To Be Married To Enjoy Being The: Whipping Boy - Heartworm
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/ListeningStation/whippingboy.jpg
Website: (http://www.whippingboy.net) :: Listen: (http://www.gamerseurope.com/whippingboy/downloads.htm)
This is one of the most criminally overlooked albums in history, ever. Whipping Boy hails from Ireland and formed in the late 1980s. They released several EP's and 7-inch records and, eventually, their debut indie album, Submarine. Developing a nice local following and having a sound akin to their Irish big brothers U2, major labels came sniffing. In 1995, to little or no US fanfare, Heartworm was released. They actually managed to squeeze a few songs out to some college radio stations and several daring alt-rock stations, but without the MTV push and little to no buzz Stateside, the brilliance was never fully realized. The album is equal parts U2, Radiohead, The Church, and Echo and the Bunnymen. Every single song just floored you with its brutal honesty and gutter trash roots. It's absolutely beautiful. Ten years later and this album is as amazing as ever and it seems they were definitely ahead of their time. Bands like Keane, Coldplay, and the like, while already massively successful, could take cues from the brash guts this band displayed. They recorded and released one more self-titled album in 2000 and broke up the next day. I've listened to this album once every week since then and it never gets old. Recently, the band, having felt there was unfinished business, has reunited to play some shows and possibly record again. Don't miss this band twice in your life; invest some time and it will stick with you forever.
Brandon Always Gets Enough Vitamins, But Can Never Get Enough: Mineral - End Serenading
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/ListeningStation/mineral.jpg
Website: (http://www.myspace.com/mineralmusic) :: Listen: (http://www.myspace.com/mineralmusic)
The 2nd album from these pioneering sensitive-rock heroes. Amazing melodies, insightful lyrics accompanied by melodic intracacies that are accented with the impeccable production of Mark Trombino. The keyword: slow.
Jordan Finds This Far Less Ominous Than Vultures: Let Airplanes Circle Overhead - Let Airplanes Circle Overhead
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/ListeningStation/letairplanescircleoverhead.jpg
Website: (http://www.motivesounds.com) :: Listen: (http://www.motivesounds.com)
I'm still not exactly sure what it is with the United Kingdom, but the independent instrumental scene is in full force, as is evident by MotiveSounds Recording (http://www.motivesounds.com)'s new release, the self-titled debut of Let Airplanes Circle Overhead. LACO is comprised of three members, each of whom are just a mere eighteen years old, putting them in that young and talented category of musicians similar to the brilliant work of Yndi Halda. The band more closely resembles the work of labelmates CntrlAltDelete, with smooth ethereal segues and brutal transgressions into aggressive, climatic passages that are marked by a bass presence that is impossible to deny. LACO makes it loud to the point where the listener's ears get that fuzzy, hearing-depravation feeling, and songs like "Pengatross," "Fury Against the Formless," and "Rwanda" encompass the vision and scope of the band's music. The highs are high, the lows are low, and all points in-between fall nicely into alignment on LACO's debut album. It's a joy to see young bands express such an interest and understanding of the instrumental genre and this is a clear indication that we are one step closer to making something big happen.
Jared May Have Found The Saviors Of The Underground In: No Trigger - Canyoneer
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/ListeningStation/notrigger.jpg
Website: (http://www.notrigger.org) :: Listen: (http://www.notrigger.org)
Over the last year or so, my taste in punk music has dwindled considerably. I can count on one hand the number of punk albums I enjoyed last year. Maybe it’s the punk scene or maybe I’ve fully succumbed to my love for metal and hardcore. Either way, there’s little that interests me in the punk genre these days.
That was, until I heard No Trigger. Though we’re not too far into 2006, I’ve yet to find a release this year that really got me excited. Canyoneer may just be it. Similar to labelmates A Wilhelm Scream, No Trigger plays a fast and aggressive punk style. With a 5-man approach, they’re able to layer guitar melodies and harmonies that you can’t do with one guitarist. Put simply, this isn’t your standard 4-chord pop-punk.
As I said, they’ve got a similar sound to AWS and also share a label. This could be a blessing or a curse. On one hand, Nitro knows how to handle punk bands. On the other, their similarities to other bands make them get lost in the shuffle. In the end, I would be entirely OK if pop-punk were replaced by this energetic and more aggressive cousin.
Rick Is A Sentimental Schmoe, Just Like Any Normal Human Being: The Juliana Theory - Live 10.31.2001
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/ListeningStation/thejulianatheory.jpg
Website: (http://www.thejulianatheory.com) :: Listen: (http://www.myspace.com/thejulianatheory)
It was sad, sad news for me that The Juliana Theory broke up this last week. I have a lot of memories attached to this band, especially seeing them live. The first concert I ever attended with my girlfriend was a Juliana Theory concert. That show was a galvanizing moment for me in that I knew I needed to be with someone who shared the same musical tastes as me. I’d dated people who listened to music that differed from me and tried to tolerate it, but it just didn’t work. So in recognition of The Juliana Theory hanging up their hats, I’ve been spinning their official live release, Live 10.13.2001 more times than I really should have been.
Kamran Can't Believe Someone Would Remarry After Her Husband Got Assassinated: Jackie O-Motherfucker - Flags Of The Sacred Harp
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/ListeningStation/jackieomotherfucker.jpg
Website: (http://www.atpfestival.com/atp_recordings/artist_biography.php?view=20) :: Listen: (http://www.atpfestival.com/atp_recordings/artist_biography.php?view=20)
It’s important to appreciate and support your local bands – primarily the good ones. Last week, I plugged a local band that made it beyond the Oregon borders, released a quality album in 2005 that didn’t receive enough recognition, and then quietly disbanded – YOB. Well, this week, another Oregon band is making my listening station; like YOB, it’s a band that released an underappreciated, but very impressive, album in 2005. This band – with a truly awesome name – is Jackie O-Motherfucker. Their 2005 release, Flags of the Sacred Harp, is, for lack of a better word, weird. But awesomely weird. Ben Rice weird. It’s a collection of soft folk songs with the addition of extended ambient noises and experimental post-rock. Flags is cerebral and mysterious, and another album that unfortunately went relatively unnoticed in 2005.
Ben Can Never Truly Love A Woman, But If He Could And Then Could Put Sound To It, It Might Sound Like: Richard Leo Johnson - The Legend of Virgil McAlister
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/ListeningStation/richardleojohnson.jpg
Website: (http://www.richardleojohson.com) :: Listen: (http://www.vernonmcalister.com/music.html)
The story behind my discovery of acoustic guitar legend Richard Leo Johnson goes as follows: A few months back, I bought all of Alamaailman Vasarat's albums from this tiny little mail order shop called Wayside Music. With my purchases, I received a sampler for Cuneiform Records. Like all samplers, I set it aside and never planned on listening to it. However, one day, it finally got unburied and I saw the words Fast 'N' Bulbous printed. Being a fairly big Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band fan, I immediately recognized the reference and put the disc on. Many, many wonderful bands were discovered via this disc, such as Yang and The Muffins. However, I was captivated by a track by Richard Leo Johnson called "More Than All the Stars in the Sky." It was beautiful, yet simple. I visited Cuneiform's site that day and found out that Johnson's latest album had just been released. It was entitled The Legend of Vernon McAlister. You may be asking yourself, "Who is Vernon McAlister?" The same question struck Johnson the day he bought a 1930 National Duolian steel-bodied guitar with that name engraved on it. Fascinated by both the instrument (which can give off various tones and sounds, creepy and uplifting, alike) and the man, Richard Leo Johnson decided to record an album using only the National Duolian and some very subtle electronics. The end result is one of the most striking albums I've ever heard, but I'm left to wonder how good it would be if one didn't know the story behind it. Now you know.
Chris? More Like Christie! Am I Right?: And Then There Were None - And Then There Were None
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/ListeningStation/andthentherewerenone.jpg
Website: ( http://www.attwn.net/) :: Listen: (http://www.myspace.com/andthentherewerenone)
Being good friends with my band, I’ve had the chance to see And Then There Were None a few times and they put on an incredible show filled with metalcore that will get stuck in your head 24 hours a day. Although their EP displays their more “core” side of the metal genre, we’ve been told that their new material is sounding like flat out metal, which only means that it’ll be heavier and more capable of destroying your home (which sounds bad but really isn’t). Look out for And Then There Were None in the near future. With their talent and hard work, they are making their way closer to getting signed. And when that time comes, you’ll all know it.
Aaron Knows This EP's Title Is Really Great Advice: NOFX - Never Trust A Hippy EP
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/ListeningStation/nofx.jpg
Website: ( http://www.nofxofficialwebsite.com) :: Listen: (http://www.fatwreck.com/media/ecard?id=29)
The prelude to the new NOFX full length album, Never Trust A Hippy is a great way to get everyone ready and to get some of those songs that would be left sitting around to get released. On the Fat Wreck Chords website, it says "NOFX is going to hell for this one," which very well may be true. I dont need to say it; just check out that album cover. NOFX has survived a hell of a long time and is continuing to rule the punk world year after year. This EP is no different, with track titles like "Seeing Double At The Triple Rock," "The Marxist Brothers," and "I'm Going To Hell For This One." The melodic guitars are blaring and the drumming is in super-speed; this is the NOFX I remember, and remember well… they never change. Grab this 13-minute 6-song EP on March 14th and prepare yourself for Wolves In Wolves' Clothing in April.
Johnny Tends To Daydream To: Further Seems Forever - How To Start A Fire
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/ListeningStation/furtherseemsforever.jpg
Website: (http://www.furtherseemsforever.com) :: Listen: (http://www.purevolume.com/furtherseemsforever)
This week, I'm going back in time a few years to early 2003 for my favorite album of all time: How To Start A Fire by Further Seems Forever. This was the peak of the band's popularity, creativity, and power and I remember every detail of my life when I purchased this record. I remember skipping my class the morning the album was released and driving in a snowstorm to get the disc. I listened to the entire CD before getting out of my car and the people passing me in the parking lot probably thought that I was going to go deaf because of the volume, but I wanted to soak in every detail about the album. There was just something about HTSAF that grabbed my soul and took a hold of it, so listening to this album again really brings me back in time.
Brent Is Too Short To Play: Bjork - Post
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/ListeningStation/bjork.jpg
Website: (http://www.bjork.com/) :: Listen: (http://www.bjork.com/videogallery/)
I go through phases where I shift between listening to Bjork for a few days straight, then not listening to her at all for weeks. To me, her music is like an old girlfriend or an old fling you revisit here and there for a night of pure decadence, a reminder of what attracted you to it ("it" being the music in this case) in the first place. I've owned this album for something like five years, and I've probably listened to it three or four hundred times, but it still evokes the same feelings it did the first time I heard it, blaring over a high-dollar sound system while my teenage tongue was jammed down the throat of a girl who looked exactly like Tori Amos.
Adam Swears You Don't Need To Be Married To Enjoy Being The: Whipping Boy - Heartworm
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/ListeningStation/whippingboy.jpg
Website: (http://www.whippingboy.net) :: Listen: (http://www.gamerseurope.com/whippingboy/downloads.htm)
This is one of the most criminally overlooked albums in history, ever. Whipping Boy hails from Ireland and formed in the late 1980s. They released several EP's and 7-inch records and, eventually, their debut indie album, Submarine. Developing a nice local following and having a sound akin to their Irish big brothers U2, major labels came sniffing. In 1995, to little or no US fanfare, Heartworm was released. They actually managed to squeeze a few songs out to some college radio stations and several daring alt-rock stations, but without the MTV push and little to no buzz Stateside, the brilliance was never fully realized. The album is equal parts U2, Radiohead, The Church, and Echo and the Bunnymen. Every single song just floored you with its brutal honesty and gutter trash roots. It's absolutely beautiful. Ten years later and this album is as amazing as ever and it seems they were definitely ahead of their time. Bands like Keane, Coldplay, and the like, while already massively successful, could take cues from the brash guts this band displayed. They recorded and released one more self-titled album in 2000 and broke up the next day. I've listened to this album once every week since then and it never gets old. Recently, the band, having felt there was unfinished business, has reunited to play some shows and possibly record again. Don't miss this band twice in your life; invest some time and it will stick with you forever.
Brandon Always Gets Enough Vitamins, But Can Never Get Enough: Mineral - End Serenading
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/ListeningStation/mineral.jpg
Website: (http://www.myspace.com/mineralmusic) :: Listen: (http://www.myspace.com/mineralmusic)
The 2nd album from these pioneering sensitive-rock heroes. Amazing melodies, insightful lyrics accompanied by melodic intracacies that are accented with the impeccable production of Mark Trombino. The keyword: slow.
Jordan Finds This Far Less Ominous Than Vultures: Let Airplanes Circle Overhead - Let Airplanes Circle Overhead
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/ListeningStation/letairplanescircleoverhead.jpg
Website: (http://www.motivesounds.com) :: Listen: (http://www.motivesounds.com)
I'm still not exactly sure what it is with the United Kingdom, but the independent instrumental scene is in full force, as is evident by MotiveSounds Recording (http://www.motivesounds.com)'s new release, the self-titled debut of Let Airplanes Circle Overhead. LACO is comprised of three members, each of whom are just a mere eighteen years old, putting them in that young and talented category of musicians similar to the brilliant work of Yndi Halda. The band more closely resembles the work of labelmates CntrlAltDelete, with smooth ethereal segues and brutal transgressions into aggressive, climatic passages that are marked by a bass presence that is impossible to deny. LACO makes it loud to the point where the listener's ears get that fuzzy, hearing-depravation feeling, and songs like "Pengatross," "Fury Against the Formless," and "Rwanda" encompass the vision and scope of the band's music. The highs are high, the lows are low, and all points in-between fall nicely into alignment on LACO's debut album. It's a joy to see young bands express such an interest and understanding of the instrumental genre and this is a clear indication that we are one step closer to making something big happen.
Jared May Have Found The Saviors Of The Underground In: No Trigger - Canyoneer
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/ListeningStation/notrigger.jpg
Website: (http://www.notrigger.org) :: Listen: (http://www.notrigger.org)
Over the last year or so, my taste in punk music has dwindled considerably. I can count on one hand the number of punk albums I enjoyed last year. Maybe it’s the punk scene or maybe I’ve fully succumbed to my love for metal and hardcore. Either way, there’s little that interests me in the punk genre these days.
That was, until I heard No Trigger. Though we’re not too far into 2006, I’ve yet to find a release this year that really got me excited. Canyoneer may just be it. Similar to labelmates A Wilhelm Scream, No Trigger plays a fast and aggressive punk style. With a 5-man approach, they’re able to layer guitar melodies and harmonies that you can’t do with one guitarist. Put simply, this isn’t your standard 4-chord pop-punk.
As I said, they’ve got a similar sound to AWS and also share a label. This could be a blessing or a curse. On one hand, Nitro knows how to handle punk bands. On the other, their similarities to other bands make them get lost in the shuffle. In the end, I would be entirely OK if pop-punk were replaced by this energetic and more aggressive cousin.
Rick Is A Sentimental Schmoe, Just Like Any Normal Human Being: The Juliana Theory - Live 10.31.2001
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/ListeningStation/thejulianatheory.jpg
Website: (http://www.thejulianatheory.com) :: Listen: (http://www.myspace.com/thejulianatheory)
It was sad, sad news for me that The Juliana Theory broke up this last week. I have a lot of memories attached to this band, especially seeing them live. The first concert I ever attended with my girlfriend was a Juliana Theory concert. That show was a galvanizing moment for me in that I knew I needed to be with someone who shared the same musical tastes as me. I’d dated people who listened to music that differed from me and tried to tolerate it, but it just didn’t work. So in recognition of The Juliana Theory hanging up their hats, I’ve been spinning their official live release, Live 10.13.2001 more times than I really should have been.
Kamran Can't Believe Someone Would Remarry After Her Husband Got Assassinated: Jackie O-Motherfucker - Flags Of The Sacred Harp
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/ListeningStation/jackieomotherfucker.jpg
Website: (http://www.atpfestival.com/atp_recordings/artist_biography.php?view=20) :: Listen: (http://www.atpfestival.com/atp_recordings/artist_biography.php?view=20)
It’s important to appreciate and support your local bands – primarily the good ones. Last week, I plugged a local band that made it beyond the Oregon borders, released a quality album in 2005 that didn’t receive enough recognition, and then quietly disbanded – YOB. Well, this week, another Oregon band is making my listening station; like YOB, it’s a band that released an underappreciated, but very impressive, album in 2005. This band – with a truly awesome name – is Jackie O-Motherfucker. Their 2005 release, Flags of the Sacred Harp, is, for lack of a better word, weird. But awesomely weird. Ben Rice weird. It’s a collection of soft folk songs with the addition of extended ambient noises and experimental post-rock. Flags is cerebral and mysterious, and another album that unfortunately went relatively unnoticed in 2005.
Ben Can Never Truly Love A Woman, But If He Could And Then Could Put Sound To It, It Might Sound Like: Richard Leo Johnson - The Legend of Virgil McAlister
http://www.decoymusic.com/images/ListeningStation/richardleojohnson.jpg
Website: (http://www.richardleojohson.com) :: Listen: (http://www.vernonmcalister.com/music.html)
The story behind my discovery of acoustic guitar legend Richard Leo Johnson goes as follows: A few months back, I bought all of Alamaailman Vasarat's albums from this tiny little mail order shop called Wayside Music. With my purchases, I received a sampler for Cuneiform Records. Like all samplers, I set it aside and never planned on listening to it. However, one day, it finally got unburied and I saw the words Fast 'N' Bulbous printed. Being a fairly big Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band fan, I immediately recognized the reference and put the disc on. Many, many wonderful bands were discovered via this disc, such as Yang and The Muffins. However, I was captivated by a track by Richard Leo Johnson called "More Than All the Stars in the Sky." It was beautiful, yet simple. I visited Cuneiform's site that day and found out that Johnson's latest album had just been released. It was entitled The Legend of Vernon McAlister. You may be asking yourself, "Who is Vernon McAlister?" The same question struck Johnson the day he bought a 1930 National Duolian steel-bodied guitar with that name engraved on it. Fascinated by both the instrument (which can give off various tones and sounds, creepy and uplifting, alike) and the man, Richard Leo Johnson decided to record an album using only the National Duolian and some very subtle electronics. The end result is one of the most striking albums I've ever heard, but I'm left to wonder how good it would be if one didn't know the story behind it. Now you know.