The Fashion - Self Titled

Denmark's The Fashion have released their self titled sophomore album, and it’s the most ridiculously pop-y and danceable record of the year so far. Their music is danceable, yet I wouldn’t necessarily call them a "dance" band. To be honest, I’ve had a hard time trying to pin point where to catalogue these Danes. They kind of ride the line between rock and new wave the way bands like Franz Ferdinand could only dream of. Some standout tracks on the record include Solo Impala with it’s, dare I say, Smooth Criminal vibe and the cool retro 80’s feel of Dead Boys. Throughout the rest of the record, The Fashion's not-so-despairing death references of hospital visits, funerals, ambulance rides and vampires include lulling piano spotlights, tambourines and echo voice layering with wonderful harmonies. If there is any problem with this record is the lack of substance in their songs. I feel if The Fashion had pushed themselves a little harder they’d be a lot more interesting. But as the record stands, it’s pure pop and quite infectious. Cheers!

RATING: * * * 1/2

Coldplay...What esh dish!?

Been a few minutes since my last blog entry, so here we go, diving back into action, batman style!


New Coldplay record came out...uh, wait, did it? Not sure, but I have it anyway and have been playing the hell out of it. A 60 year old doctor who listens to The Beastie Boys and Korn and Manson and the like and has a strange thing for old barbershop quartets from the 50's, said that Coldplay was a little too mellow for him.

I have to agree to a point. On several occasions I have thrown the three studio records Coldplay has released onto a playlist and sat back and did work or whatever and found myself a few times getting bored. The music itself was good, the harmony, melody, time, and combination of sound and soul stirring, however after a while, yep! It's Coldplay!

The new thang...Viva La Vida or Death And His Friends... I like the freshness of it. I may have just spun the previous records too much and got those older tunes in my head to where I didn't care anymore, but the new one is worth the listen. Violet Hill - my favorite single of the record.

3 Stars out of 3

This is The Moose and I have spoken. Yeah, K-mart sucks! Yeah, I'm an excellent driver!

Chris and Thomas - Land of Sea

This week’s standout record has to be Land of Sea by folk combo Chris and Thomas. Their debut album has a soulful playfulness reminiscent of Simon & Garfunkel. It’s the kind of album that coffeehouses everywhere will play endlessly, but don’t let that turn you off. This acoustic album features the duo’s simple harmonizing. It blends cellos with steel guitars and upright bass with mandolins and banjos. The two never break into solos so each voice plays off the other beautifully. Unfortunately my biggest complaints about this record are that no songs really stand out. That’s not to say that the songs are boring or not well written, it’s just that the album kind of bounces along in its own groove, one song effortlessly flowing into the next. Overall Land of Sea is a very solid and highly enjoyable album devoid of pretentiousness. It’s some of the best folk music released this year. Cheers!

RATING: * * *

My IPOD Problem

Alrighty, the following is a true story.

It started off busy, from the get-go. I clocked in and, BOOM! The work load hits me and I begin working. Thing is, I get through about twenty minutes and I realize something. No music. I begin to rummage through my pockets, and my bag I bring with me to work for my Ipod and after 15 seconds, I come to the realization, “Shit, I left it in the dock back home”. Well… what’s a guy to do? The only thing I could do. I logged onto Yahoo from the work station close by, and accessed the Yahoo radio guide.

Now, I’ll admit, that I thought it was cool. You rate bands, albums, songs, and the better rating, the more you’ll hear those high rated items, and items that Yahoo thinks sounds like what you like. So, okay, have music now. Can work properly now. Right?

It’s typically not a good thing to hear the words, “Oh, the humanity” being screamed from the bowels of a hospital, but it happened. Apparently, every now and then, while you are streaming music, Yahoo likes to throw in an advertisement. But, you see, I was in a groove and didn’t register the advertisement. I reached for my remote to forward the bad song to the next song, and there was no remote. There was no IPOD! I didn’t have control over my music. I couldn’t assemble a playlist! Panic. The sudden urge to go running down the hall as if being chased by OJ came upon me.

I know this feeling. We’ve met before. Years ago after pops got the VCR, I began collecting movies. During that really slow part in Gremlins, I could fast forward. During that smoochie bullshit in a good action film, I could fast forward through it. I began watching more on the VCR than TV. The good stuff wasn’t on till late anyway and I could tape it and play it back. Commercials… yep! Fast forward! Then one day, in the middle of a Nightmare on Elm Street marathon on WDZL, a commercial came on with Barbra Streisand, and that was it. I grabbed the remote and pushed the fast forward button and nothing happened! I was watching TV and didn’t have control. A slave to my VCR. I remember that feeling. It was the same.

I understand now, that I must have become a slave to my Ipod. But, when did this happen. Perhaps somewhere between the main course and dessert. It’s like trying to nail Jell-O to a wall, confusion and then madness. KHAN!

12 steps, my ass!

My take on Portishead - Third

I just listened to the new Portishead record, Third, and I figured I’d give my 2 cents on it. I think it’s F*CKING amazing. Unfortunately I don’t know if that’s a good thing. Let me explain. I’ve been waiting for this record for close to 10 years now and I don’t know if it’s a “nostalgia” factor mixed with trip-hop comfort food or if it, very simply, is a phenomenal record. I’d like to think it’s the latter. So I’m going to go with that. Third, comes off as both equally dark and cold while still being sweet and heartfelt. Which means it’s business as usual for Portishead. Anyone who has enjoyed Portishead in the past will find something they'll dig here. Beth Gibbons’ voice is just as haunting as ever, and the band is still tight. Some fave tracks include “Plastic”, which sounds like it could have been a single off of their 1997 album, and “We Carry On”, with it’s synth repetition and killer vocal wailing, is just intense. I would recommend putting this album on repeat and set the way back machine to 1997. Cheers!

RATING: * * * *

These New Puritans - Beat Pyramid

Beat Pyramid, the first full-length debut by England’s These New Puritans, is an amazing piece of post punk that will attack you from every angle. It’s clearly obvious on first listen that they are influenced by The Fall, but while this album is certainly eclectic and contains similar themes, it lacks the humor and charisma of their heroes. Beat Pyramid is a heavily drum driven and experimental work of brooding pop and danceable grooves that will fit right next to The Fall’s Dragnet or even Gang of Four’s Entertainment and Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasures. Some favorite, yet challenging tracks are “Numerology” with its uneasy and shaky sound. Jack Barnett, lead vocal, sings “What's your favorite number, what does it mean?" before quickly spitting out "numerology is all shit". And the drum and base thumping repetitiveness of “Elvis”, sits very comfortably on a dance floor with its pulsating groove. It’s clear that Beat Pyramid is the best album never recorded in 1979.


RATING * * * *

New albums I'm diggin' on!!!

This is just a list records rockin' my '08 right now. If you have the means, I recommend checking them out. I'll post reviews and samples soon. Cheers!!

1- Grand Archives - Grand Archives
2- The Kills - Midnight Boom
3- Paul Steel - Moon Rock
4- Fleet Foxes - Sun Giant EP
5- These New Puritans - Beat Pyramid
6- Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - Dig, Lazarus Dig!!
7- Neon Neon - Stainless Style
8- Portishead - Third
9- Nick Lowe - Jesus of Cool (Reissue)
10- The Ruby Suns - Sea Lion

Playlist of the week (IT IS NOT WEAK)

What had happened was...
I was getting ready for a shoulder surgery. The patient was under anesthesia and the surgeon was prowling the OR lounge area, hunting for the coffee cups, only minutes away from scrubbing in and starting what would turn out to be a 2 and 1/2 hour operation. I would have to act quickly. Knowing this surgeon, we would all be listening to John Denver for the next few hours (That would be bad). I quickly loaded my IPOD into the dock we have in OR #5 and made an On-The-Go playlist containing the three following albums.

1) Fleet Foxes (3 of 3 stars)

2) Mystery Jets - Twenty One (3  of 3 stars)

3) Radiohead - OK Computer (3 of 3 stars)

  

For more on my rating system, check out my blog on the new Portishead.

The three records are all the way, through and through, phenomenal.

Everywhere I read reviews about them, the reviewers made comments like, "The Fleet Foxes are the Beach Boys reborn", Uh.. yeah. You just need to hear the harmonies for yourself. If an album invokes some kind of emotional response, then I think the artist has succeeded in creating something. It did, and I am not referring to gas. My recommended track from the album to wet your whistle to... Your Protector

The Mystery Jets were amazing. Again in terms of emotional response, I felt all warm and fuzzy listening to the songs of this record which, seeing how I have listened to both of the other two records enough times to recognize The Mystery Jet's songs, when I heard a new track I knew instantly who it was and I was happy. Check out the track Flakes and see how it rubs you.

Last but not least, Radiohead... Well, I know, In Rainbows is the latest studio album. I must have listened to it 12 times in a row when I first got it. I love it. I needed some Radiohead and wasn't going back to In Rainbows yet. I wanted to shake it up a little but not put everyone in the room into the fetal position by the end of surgery. Ok Computer is an aweome record. Is it the best Radiohead album? YES. IT IS. I AM SURE OF IT. Karma Police, Climbing Up The Walls, Lucky I would put the entire track listing here but you'd only download them and you need to own the hard copy.

Regardless of your opinion on that topic, let me say this, the combination of the three albums onto one playlist, randomized, was a beautiful thing. I had that wonderful question asked to me, "Who's This?" and, "This is pretty good", to which I can only reply, "Yeah, I know." This is my Playlist of the week. I will import it as a permanent playlist on my Ipod and Itunes.

This is Randall_, Last Survivor of the Nostromo, signing off.

Sasquatch 2008!!

Saturday, May 24th
R.E.M. / Modest Mouse / M.I.A. / The New Pornographers / The National / Ozomatli / Beirut / Dengue Fever / Fleet Foxes / The Breeders / Okkervil River / Crudo (featuring Mike Patton & Dan The Automator) / Destroyer / Kathleen Edwards / The Whigs / Dead Confederate / Grand Archives / David Bazan / Joshua Morrison / Vince Mira with the Roy Kay Trio / Throw Me The Statue / The Shaky Hands / Grand Hallway
Sunday, May 25th
The Cure / Death Cab For Cutie / Michael Franti & Spearhead / Blue Scholars / Cold War Kids / Tegan & Sara / Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks / The Kooks / Mates of State / Rogue Wave / White Rabbits / The Heavenly States / 65daysofstatic / Sera Cahoone / The Blakes / The Cops / J. Tillman / "Awesome"
Monday, May 26th
The Flaming Lips U.F.O. Show / The Mars Volta / Flight Of The Conchords / Rodrigo Y Gabriela / Built To Spill / The Hives / Matt Costa / Ghostland Observatory / Jamie Lidell / Battles / The Cave Singers / The Little Ones / Pela / Thao Nguyen with the Get Down Stay Down / Kinski / Dyme Def / Say Hi / Siberian

Upcoming @ Showbox

Hey kids, just a quick note on some upcoming shows at the Showbox here in Seattle. Check it out!

3/14 – Les Claypool (SoDo)

3/17 – Paperboys

3/24 – Myspace Music Tour featuring Justice (SoDo)

3/27 & 3/28 – Nada Surf

4/4 – Ghostland Observatory

4/5 – The Black Keys (SoDo)

4/9 – Morcheeba

4/11 – Eels

4/11 – Cat Power (SoDo)

http://www.showboxonline.com/

Most Spun of '07

Hi all. I figure I would take the time to tell you what 2007 was all about for me. And I assure you it's not the Pomegranates (that's '08, for those in the "know"). Cheers!

1. Radiohead – In Rainbows: This has quickly become my favorite album by them so far. It’s the perfect combination of new and old Radiohead. Thom Yorke’s voice just keeps getting better.

2. The Band – The Band: There is nothing new I can add or say about how wonderful this record is. It represents everything I love about music in general. It’s bliss to listen to.

3. Kevin Max – The Imposter: K-Max continues to grow has a songwriter and performer. This record is more stripped down and raw compared to Stereotype Be's more slick production. Overall it’s rockin’ good time by one of my fave vocal talents.

4. Cobra Starship – While the City Sleeps, We Rule the Streets: What can I say, this is definitely the guilty pleasure on the list. But it’s just so damn catchy and fun. It’s really just a piece of pure pop deliciousness.

5. Johnny Cash – The Legend of Johnny Cash: Um.…it’s CASH! ‘nuff said.

The Ruby Suns - Sea Lion

The New Zealand-based band, The Ruby Suns, with their psychedelic indie-pop sound that incorporates world music and island harmonies create a very interesting take on indie music. Released back in January, Sea Lion is The Ruby Suns' second full-length album and perhaps one of the first great "summer" albums of the year. The one band that The Ruby Suns will be compared to is Animal Collective or more importantly Noah Lennox’s side project Panda Bear. Both bands have a penchant for epic vocal harmonies a la the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds. Ryan McPhun, the mastermind behind all of this, focuses on pop/psychedelic mixed with Polynesian and African instrumentation to result in a style that is middle of the road between pop and world music. Fave tracks include “Morning Sun”, with it’ Depeche Mode vibe and “Oh, Mojave,” which I dare you not to think is your favorite new jangly pop song of the year. With all of their influences, The Ruby Suns are a fantastic band that bounce to the beat of their own drum or in this case harmonize in the Polynesian dialect of Maori. Cheers!

RATING: * * * *

Uh... New Portishead!?

This Is My First Blog!
I will be explaining a few key notes about how I blog, as I blog, so bare with the first blog's length. Blog.

For those playing along at home, Randall does appreciate Rock music, A lot. That being said, every now and then I enjoy diving into ambient, background noise records or music that plays around with sounds and harmonies and various drum toys that still obey those sacred laws that maintain a state of music and not noise. In this genre of jungle and hip-hop beats, with melodies and voices and the use of voice as an instrument to be cross-faded with other musical instruments comes the genre known as trip-hop. I have a trip-hop playlist for some of those moments I NEED this kind of music pulsing through my speakers and Portishead is a staple on that playlist.

The new record, "Third" is exactly that, their third studio record. They had two studio albums, and released a live show. This third studio album is simply this... A fantastic, bordering on spectacular Portishead record.

This is a record you could kill Laura Palmer to. I mean it. If David Lynch had this record playing during the show, "Twin Peaks" people would still be wondering why we don't have a third season. In other words, I loved it and Laura Palmer would still have died.

One of my favorite tracks on the record was Machine Gun. And WHY NOT!? A band the likes of Portishead with very trip-hop, cool, melodic, and vocal sounds having an INTENSE song... it's almost unreal, but it doesn't break those sacred laws of making this kind of music and manages to work. There are however a few tracks I can't speak to greatly on, but all in all...

Okay, the rating... Unlike some superheroes, I don't use five stars. I think that three stars should do it. So let me explain. 3 out of 3 means that this album needs to be owned. Once a week, you burn a copy of Kenny G's Christmas album over an open fire as an offering. It is wonderful. 2 of 3 means that the album may have lacked a few key ingredients but pulled off the mission and the album is worthy of a listen and probably a purchase. 1 of 3 is pretty bad. The album didn't keep my attention. It was boring. This is also a rating I will use to rate my guilty pleasures. You know, those records no one can get me to admit I love. Now if I rate it ZERO out of 3, this means it is bad. For the proper definition of bad, please watch the movie, "Ghostbusters". If you tell me you happen to own a zero of 3 star rated album... I will throw up some gang signs ( Wolfpack, The sign for the Diamond Cutter), then I will probably make use of the most electrifying move in professional sports entertainment, The People's Elbow! It's not a very good thing. Here is a freebie, Kenny G's Christmas is an example of a zero of three star rating. Don't let me know you own it.

I grant Portishead - Third

2 out of 3 stars

Fleet Foxes - Sun Giant EP

This Seattle-based quintet has been the talk of the blog scene for the past month or so. Sun Giant EP has been getting rave reviews all over. Move over Vampire Weekend, Fleet Foxes will be your new favorite band of the year. With beautiful harmonies, intricately woven guitar lines, and a heavy dose of reverb, this new “buzz” band has arrived, and they have arrived in style. Fave tracks include “Mykonos”, with its Pet Sounds like harmonies and "Drops in the River", with it's dramatic guitar build up. It is oh so tasty. Check it out. Cheers!





RATING: * * * *

Intro

Hi all! So this is my first ever blog. With this I will be getting on my soap box and ranting about my fave new records and anything going on here in the Seattle music scene. Along with Randall, my trusty sidekick and comic relief (God, he's going to hate that) we will be talking all things music. So stay tuned and buckle in.