Thursday, May 31, 2012

Hear This...Stream Gothic Tropic's Awesome Problems EP


      
"They have the summer songs that blow 'Pumped Up Kicks' out of the California Pacific..." [Straight from their own bio page]  I'm not totally sure who or what designates a song to be a summer song, though it has always been the whistling in 'Pumped Up Kicks' that did it for me. 
      But this Cali trio goes way beyond whistling. Sure they don’t stand a chance overtaking Foster The People with the catchiest song ever written because frankly no one does, not even Lady Gaga
      Gothic Tropic took the handbook on “How to Make a Catchy Song Remain No. 1 on iTunes All Summer” and threw it out the window.  They take the atypical and often overused jangly guitar sound and add some zing to it. In their songs “Monkey Bars” and “Kill Lloyd Opus,” they throw in the occasional bongos, maracas, hand claps and distorted guitar riffs wherever they deem necessary. It’s an almost organic approach to music where a little Do-It-Yourself and impromptu touch ups are welcomed and encouraged. The end result actually sounds quite organized. Whether or not they blow out “Pumped Up Kicks” is debatable but no doubt, if I had the suitable conditions I would certainly add Gothic Tropic to my “Late Night Summer Barbecue on the Beach” playlist.


+ Gothic Tropic is offering a free download of the last song on the EP "Flesh Dance."  It will be added as a part of Free Music Fridays which I will post tomorrow.  [LINK]

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Useless Clatter...2012 Album Releases [June]


Here's a general list of the albums I am most excited to hear when they release in June.  Its a good mix of new bands with debuts (Friends, solo Glen Hansard) as well as some veteran rockers breaking a sleepy hiatus (Smashing Pumpkins, Neil Young + Crazy Horse).  I even threw DMX up on the list too for some good fun, despite the fact that his music is still angry as hell.  It's all fun and anyways even without DMX,  June looks to be a terrific month for music.



June 5
Crocodiles – Endless Flowers
Crocodiles - Endless Flowers


Friends – Manifest!



Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Hear This...Stream Foxygen's New EP "Take The Kids Off Broadway"

      From the same label that brought you the San Fran rock band Girls, Jagjaguwar Records moves across the country to grab a group of up and coming rockers hailing from the Empire State.  They call themselves Foxygen and these guys have generously decided to stream their second EP "Take The Kids Off Broadway" for free via their Bandcamp site.
      Describing Foxygen is no small task.  It took me a while.  Sure they're indie rock, but to pinpoint that sound is something else.  I hear something like a mix of MGMT psychedlia fused with the loose, jangly texture of The Strokes. A little Mick Jagger doesn't fail to show up either, especially on "Waitin' 4 You."


Here's the full track list-
1. Abandon My Toys  6:04
2. Make It Known  4:51
3. Take The Kids Off Broadway  3:14
4. Waitin' 4 You  4:07
5. Teenage Alien Blues  10:05
6. Why Did I Get Married  4:03 
7. Middle School Dance Song (For Richard Swift)  3:58

Monday, May 21, 2012

Five Songs From...The Black Keys

If Brothers was their breakout album in 2009, then the Black Key's seventh album El Camino, released last December and debuting at number 2 on the Billboard 200, was certainly their most widely heard, appreciated, Googled, etc.  It only took seven albums for everyone to realize how talented and widely appealing they could be.  Even in their earliest days as two college drop outs playing music in a small town in Ohio, their sound, performance style and energy all pointed towards something great.  Nonetheless, they sat patiently without a care for fame and produced a stellar array of rock n' roll worth revisiting.

Formed back in 2001 and consisting of singer/guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney, the Black Keys were formed at a time when rock 'n roll had slowly seceded its monopoly hold of American ears in favor of the fast emerging hip-hop and R & B scenes.  Rock still had its big hitters in Pearl Jam, The Foo Fighters and Green Day, but at the time, it seemed no one could outsell Eminem, 'N sync or The Backstreet Boys.  As a result, the Black Keys came along during a time where rock formed itself on "revival" acts.  Post-punk revival was headed by acts like The Strokes and Interpol, while garage revival came back with The White Stripes and The Black Keys.  The revival of the latter genre meant a return to the raw sound and sheer simplicity formed by early blues rock 'n roll.  Recorded in Carney's basement, their debut album The Big Come Up did just that.  Stripped down guitars, drums and that's basically it.  

Met with some small, initial success, Auerbach and Carney remained a relatively unknown and mainly an "underground" act until the release of 2010's Brothers which earned them three Grammys including Best Alternative Music Album.  With this and the release of their latest album El Camino, the Black Keys have established themselves as something far greater than just two guys "reviving" old tunes.  Selling out their first stadium concert late last year, it's obvious they've done just that.  

Friday, May 18, 2012

Free Music Fridays...#2

1. "To Be Young" Two Wounded Birds
Alternating male and females vocals alongside the coarse, almost spontaneous lo-fi guitar riffs give the songs a sturdy frame with a warm heart.
 DWNLD | http://www.1forthepeople.com/2012/05/new-music-two-wounded-birds-to-be-young.html#more |

2. "Waiting In The Wings" Big Wave Riders
By the name, Big Wave Riders where their surf mantra on their sleeve, but behind the fuzzy jangles is a hint of Brit Pop influence on lead singer Teppo's voice that blends ever so nicely.  Did I mention they are from Finland? DWNLD | http://www.1forthepeople.com/2012/05/new-track-big-wave-riders-waiting-in.html#more |

3. "BC" Glaciers
A drowsy little track, not as eager in tempo as the first two. Soft, outspoken vocals sit patiently between a chilling and tranquil lead guitar.
DWNLD | http://weareglaciers.bandcamp.com/album/demos | Download includes two bonus Glacier tracks

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Breakdown*...Girls- 'Album' [2009] || 'Father, Son, Holy Ghost' [2011]

I've decided to change the name of this new category from "Review" to Breakdown

Album [2011]
Growing up in the Children of God cult, Girls singer Christopher Owens said he never had anything that could be called a childhood.  He hardly knew his father, his older sister fled the cult never to return and he watched his brother die due to the cult's lack of medical practice or use of technology offered through their atypical lifestyle.  "Imagine being raised in the Taliban," he once said in an interview.  Through their debut album, cleverly titled Album, Owens opens up these past wounds and wrenching memories and spills out those feelings and troubled memories in song.  By this description, one could infer a more melancholic tone throughout the album. But this is hardly the case. What he sings about and what it sounds like come as polar opposites.  Yes, he offers a slower more melancholic song or two, but this seems to be standard practice on rock albums these days.

Owens opens up the album on “Lust for Life” with a simple request- longing for love and continues on  asking for things I never think twice about having like “pizza and a bottle of wine.”  Simple joys that most people take for granted.  But Owens is in no position to do so. As sad and sorry as these words come through, no such sadness emerges through the sound.  Fit with his erratically squeaky voice, “Lust for Life” is not complete until you add upbeat guitar riffs, snare taps, and maracas.  The culmination of these sounds work to overpower the seemingly despondent lyrics and creates a song nothing less than an upbeat, top-tapping delight.  The same trick is done on the next song “Laura” where you will find yourself grooving along with the bendy guitars riffs in approval as his pleas for love ring out in the background.

The songs on Album largely contain lyrics of considerable sadness, grief and loss; this comes as no surprise given Owens tumultuous back-story.  But he cleverly disguises them behind the more joyous and upbeat tempo of Beach Boys-esque guitars and other groovy, eccentric sounds.  A simple formula sure, but no two songs sound the same on Album.   You go from scratchy, washed out guitar chords on a two minute song called “Big Bag” right over to “Hellhole Ratface,” where the surfer-guitar mantra pulls back in favor of slow acoustic melodies.  The maracas are exchanged for sleigh bells and Owens’s craven voice takes center stage in a more tepid sounding melody.  But halfway into the seven minute song, Owens brings back the familiar, strengthening the sincere tone of this song with two more electric guitars, an organ and a choir of hands clapping the song through its end in a soothing crescendo.  Readers can relate to many of the song's lyrics.  On "Hellhole Ratface," Owens shows his longing to live life to the fullest as he sings "I don't want to die without shaking up a leg or two..."  You may not find yourself dancing to this song, but you won't skip it either.

He does this and then has a song like “God Dammed” which takes a similar simple approach carrying nothing more than an acoustic, a set of bongos and the perfect every once-in-a-while tap of a percussion rattle.  Almost the same on paper, but it sounds much different.  No two songs really sound the same at all.  Owens commonly likes to emit his past pains and sadness through the lyrics of Album, but it’s hardly a plea for sympathy as the words tend to be overpowered by the energetic tones of guitars, and stabilizing precussion sounds in every which possible way.  Even so, the slower sounding songs end up evoking more appreciation for their sounds than any sort of sadness or empathy.  With such a variance in style, Girls will keep you guessing on every track of Album, ensuring a great listen from start to finish.



Saturday, May 12, 2012

Hear This...Free Stream of New Craft Spells-Gallery EP

+Unfortunately, the free stream of their Gallery EP has ended, but Craft Spells is still offering up their new song "Leave My Shadow" for a free download!


Here's a full free stream of the new EP from indie-pop rockers Craft Spells. Enjoy!



Thursday, May 10, 2012

Hear This..."The Nightwatchman - Black Spartacus Heart Attack Machine" Tom Morello

      FM plays music, AM doesn't, it's a simple as that or at least it was.  Over the years though we have seen some a handful of FM music stations fall under into the hands of those boring folk who favor dry discussions of the national debt and the upcoming election in favor of music.  Pressing issues, no doubt, but in this age of technology are there really enough people out there whose primary source of news comes from the radio that they need to expand beyond the realm of AM and destroy our music?  Besides when it comes to talk radio, NPR is king.  No AM station even comes close.
      So, the Man is taking away radio and has left its listerners hopeless.  If I were a crazy activist and wanted to declare a protest I would do so here.  (Acutally, I would probably spending most of my days occupying my local Walmart, but that's neither here nor there.)  Its much better to leave that stuff to music.  Politically-charged songs like "God Save the Queen" (1977) and "Sunday Bloody Sunday" (1983) came through hard in their time and had a purpose that has since then not been forgotten.  But nowadays a song about overthrowing "a fascist British monarchy" doesn't readily apply anymore.  (Besides, it seems like everyone loves Will and Kate.)  Thankfully, we look to artists like Rage Against the Machine for keeping that leftist corporate hatred faith alive in such songs as "Killing in the Name" and "Testify."   Powerful stuff, in fact Rage Against the Machine is the only band to have every one of their songs placed on 2001 Clear Channel Memorandum and thus demmed "lyrically questionable."  
      And how ironic it would be if I were to say that I came across this song particular song on AM radio.  It is true.  Before tuning my old-school radio back to FM from yesterday's baseball game, I caught the very end of the discussion about a song "Black Spartacus Hard Attack Machine" by an artist called The Nightwatchman.  This guy happens to be the solo project of Rage's spectacularly multi-talented guitarist Tom Morello.  Harmonica and all, I would have never put two and two together, but its more linked with what he says than how it sounds.  Sure its filled with overt political criticism, but Morello manages to hide this well behind a pleasant harmonica and back choir that make this song so nice to hear.  Whether I agree with his words or not is besides the point because behind these lyrics, "Black Spartacus Hard Attack Machine" just sounds cool.  Now go rebel!