Forced Listening: R&M

[StreetlightRock]

Cool, thanks fellas, I've got bits and peices of some of the bands ya'll have mentioned but ill check the rest out as well, sweet.

[3rdplanet]

The Arcade Fire - Wake Up

There was quite a lot of commotion about this band not so long ago. I remember spending more time reading about their and their albums greatness in reviews and not going out there and listening to the record itself; so this is my attempt to make up for neglecting the CD.

The song opens with a simple little guitar riff and the drums come in and clank around with it. The band waste no time at all before getting some euphoria in there; after a little lick from a harp instrument thingy you get a vocal chant and strings added to the song, which does sound pretty good.

The song takes a downward turn on the happy-o-meter when a lone vocalist takes up the singing for the verse section. There are still the orchestral strings in there and it all sounds very cool. I like the vocalist’s voice but the lyrics seem a bit weak at this moment with rhymes such as “colder/older” feeling a little obvious.

These sections repeat themselves for us with a change in what the strings play at one point and a bit of shout-y which feed nicely back into the chant. He sings something along the lines “I’ll guess we’ll just have to ad-” and the chant takes on the “just” part of adjust which I think it pretty cool. 1up for the vocals there.

There’s another section where the back vocalist take a more lyrics based approach to singing rather than the chanting style of before. It’s all going rather nicely when the song makes a bit of stylistic change in style and goes into a ‘Grease’ section, with the bass guitar really propelling the song along. This change is handled nicely and I’ve just noticed an accordion I think in there which I like. Oh there is some clapping in there too. And then it all comes to a bit of a sudden stop…the song is five minutes and thirty five seconds long but that end section for me is crying to be filled out and is probably my main quibble with the song writing.

Well it’s a good song. I like the range of instruments and how they are used in the song and the change in style was pleasant; still, it felt to me that they could have done more with that end section. I’d rate it 8/10.

Forced Listening

Screaming Headless Torsos - Vinnie ~ Funk Rock

http://youtube.com/watch?v=1txStq9xwog&search=screaming%20headless%20torsos

Owls - What Whorse You Wrote Id On ~ Indie Rock

Oceansize - A Homage to a Shame - Metal

[3rdplanet]

bump

[munky_magik]

Song begins: Quite a dramatic opening, lots of discordant crashes for a few seconds before the bass and drums settle down to a steady Tool-esque groove. The guitar joins in with more Tool overtones. The guitar expands it’s part as the vocals join in. The vocalist has a good voice, but sounds a little bit strangled. A brief outburst of excitement occurs before we settle back down to the groove. Drumming is competent, but not overly inspired. Some overdubbed clean guitars usher us into the exciting bridge before passing us into a new section of the song. Very sort of, ethereal vocals. But the instruments are slightly too harsh and forefront and as a result end up spoiling the passage. Reminds me of a Chilli Peppers song, One Hot Minute era. Actually, it might just be a Dave Navarro song. Anyway, This leads on to the main riff of the song with some crazy guitar solo-thing layer over the top. Which in turn gives away to some more melodic guitar layered over the main riff.
Then my version of the song just cuts out at 5:47, which I don’t think it is meant to do.

A decent song, relies on atmosphere which it manages to carry up sufficiently.
6.5/10

Recommendations:

Millencolin - Black Eye (Pop Punk)
Pendulum - Hold Your Colour (Drum n Bass)
Wildhearts - Inglorious (Rock)
Christina Aguilera – Nasty Naughty Boy (Pop)
Arcturus – For To End Yet Again (Avant Garde Metal)

[Bartender]

Dibs.

[Bartender]

Millencolin - Black Eye - 3:13

Starts off well, one guitar playing a catchy little jumpy riff underneath what sounds like another guitar feedbacking it's way into the song. Doesn't take long for that second one to slip into song-mode and start playing roughly the same thing as the quieter one was, and it's a fairly fast paced catchy bit of pop punk. Good start. I like the drummer.

First vocals we get seems to be the lead vocalist starting, joined for the end of the initial chanted sentence ("can see it in your eyes" or something) by other voices, though it sounds like maybe it's his own voice, recorded previously and layered under it. Sounds good, anyway, slightly triumphant, which I always like. Music all settles down into a more basic, quieter rhythm for th vocalist to start properly. Is good that they manage to be more subdued than they were at the start (the chorus, maybe?), but still build up nicely in speed and such to the chorus, without taking attention away from their vocalist.

First proper chorus shows that the intro vocals are a hook repeated through the chorus, but the vocalist sings something entirely different (and alone) before it. They blast through the chorus - everyone seems to have a whole lot of energy - only to settle down into a verse pretty much the same as the one before, which, in its turn, leads to another chorus. A change of pace and injection of melody (including more of an attempt at singing) form a bridge after this second chorus, which does little more than change it up a bit and keep the song's momentum going until the band finish off with the last chorus. And everything fades out.

7.5/10 I liked it. It's pretty much what I like in pop-rock/punk, plenty of energy and catchy enough, without just being too whiny to enjoy. It's formulaic as far as song structure goes, but then I wasn't expecting anything groundbreaking in that area, and it works plenty well enough for what it is.

Songs;
Allen Toussaint & Elvis Costello - Who's Gonna Help Brother Get Further? (R&B/soul)
Amos Lee - take your pick: "Keep It Loose, Keep It Tight", "Seen It All Before", "Black River", "Love in the Lies" (soul/folk)
Herman's Hermits - No Milk Today (60s pop)
Capdown - Ska Wars (ska-punk)
Refused - Coup D'Etat (hardcore)
Darrell Bath - Still Learning (acoustic rock? don't think it's quite folk)
Hundred Reasons - I'll Find You (rock)

Maybe that'll do. Should be available on request if you can't find them anywhere yourself.

[Britney Diva]

Allen Toussaint & Elvis Costello - Who's Gonna Help Brother Get Further?

I have to confess, I heard this song once before on the same epi of Jools Holland as you, but I didn't realise until I'd heard the song and I was still unfamiliar enough to make this... you know what I mean.

Is there anything Elvis Costello hasn't attempted? Seriously. The tracks starts out with a smooth blues guitar melody with some light drumming before loud trumpets and an electric organ (Toussaint's, I assume) kick in. Elvis sings first, very smooth and very careful, then Toussaint comes in and they start trading verses.

The mix gradually builds, some music hall-type piano enters (maybe this is Allain), the drumming picks up pace and becomes more prominent and it gets a bit more intense. It's a nice development, predictable but it's a good place for the song to go. Then, the music cuts out and the blaring trumpet comes back for a bit.

I really like the harmonies between the two singers on the chorus and in the latter part of the song, they're hard to pick up sometimes but oh so effective. This is an excellent recording and a really good song. The only issue I have is with the drumming, sometimes the song is calling out for a little flourish but it remains straight. Tiny complaints though, great track- 9/10.

My picks:

Messiah J & The Expert featuring C-Rayz Walz - When The Bull Gores The Matador (Hip hop)
http://www.messiahjandtheexpert.com/m3us/when_the_bull_gores_the_matador.m3u (stream)

Klashnekoff - Blood (Hip hop/grime)

http://www.sputnikmusic.com/album.php?albumid=12324 (press the play button)

Duke Special - Last Night I Nearly Died (Alternative/Vaudeville/Pop)
http://www.myspace.com/dukespecial

Vain - Secrets (Hair metull)
http://www.davyvain.com/Audio/Secrets_HR.mp3

[Burger Bike]

Dibs

[Burger Bike]

Klashnekoff - Blood

Beginning: Very cool - people talking, sounds very big and black. Song started now - Sounds bigger and blacker. I really like the beat, and the piano (if thats what you want to call it) It kind of reminds me of Dizzee Rascall, because of the vocals. It is a little strange, forsure. Big black guy voice is back - now he's rapping - and it is cool as hell. All I can really make out is small nouns and the's and hallowed be thy name lyric wise. It seems like he is telling a story. Drum roll - back to the beat. There is this thing where the bass breaks down, it really reminds me of Burzum, no idea why. It's just that atmospheric noise. Chorus is back with the big big black guy, he's my favorite. ;) I really like the ending, with just the music - no vocals, it adds the atmosphere, and then there is this thunder like sound at the end. Seriously liked this song, and it is alot more original than most hip hop songs out there.
8/10 - I've been getting more into rap and its counterparts lately.


Songs -
Windir - Despot (folk-lore black metal)
This Bike is a Pipe Bomb - R.O.D.A.D. or Next Bus (folk punk)
Obituary - Slowly We Rot or Chopped in Half (US Death Metal, it chugs)

SN on AIM is WhenFattiesAttk if you can not find any of it.

[Stoic]

Dibs

[blueyxd]

good to see this up and running again

[Apocalyptic Raids]

yeah, I think I'll call dibs on something when I've got a spare half hour tomorrow.

[Stoic]

This Bike is a Pipe Bomb - R.O.D.A.D

A short song (1:43) by a band with a quite unusual name. It builts around a catchy, straight-in-your-face rhythmic pattern, which, at some of its variations, has slight country touches. This justifies the "folk" characterism, but only to an extent, since the band is clearly punk, with intense old school roots. In a few seconds, the vocals enter. They sound amateur-ish but still they have an inherent zest which creates a rather uplifting -almost in a poppy way- atmosphere. After a short and technically non demanding (=simplistic) interlude, follows a quite enjoyable vocal harmony to end the song. I overall, this song didn't strike me as something special and I bet there are many songs which bring out this kind of mood in a much more interesting way.
5/10

Songs for teh depressed:
Madrugada - Sirens (indie rock/alternative)
Black Heart Procession - We Always Knew (indie rock)
16 Horsepower - Scrawled in Sap (alternative country)

[Bartender]

I'd like to do one of these, but I'm failing terribly at finding them.

[Stoic]

Tell me which one you want and I will send it to you ;)

[Bartender]

The 16 Horsepower one would be good, as I think they're related to Woven Hand, who I just heard and liked a couple of days ago.

[Stoic]

Then I should check Woven Hand also :p

I sent it to you, check your junk e-mail if you can't find it.

[Britney Diva]

Yay!

[Bartender]

Sorry for the delay, phone call. Downloading it now, so, dibs.

Stoic: this is the Woven Hand I heard, if it helps. I think it's the same singer/guitarist.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAH9vAAyf6Y

[Bartender]

16 Horsepower - Scrawled in Sap - 2:47

Rather hoping I'll like this, given that Woven Hand song I just heard.

Starts off with fairly high-pitched acoustic bits and pieces and a steady beat, which I suspect will probably be the instrumental backing for the whole thing (barring minor changes), given that it's a fairly short song. Vocalist doesn't wait long before coming in. He's got an interesting voice; it's like his vibrato (I think; I'm not a trained musician, don't yell at me) is constantly wavering on the edge of his control, but he manages to hold it in check overall and I like it. In the very few examples of this guy I've heard so far, it makes whatever emotion he's currently trying to put into a song - a lot of them don't sound like happy emotions, but emotions nonetheless - believable. Or at least makes it believable that he might be writing from personal experience, rather than empathetic understanding.

Anyway, the song. It's going on all the while I'm writing this, relatively fast-paced but not upbeat. The pace is kept up by a second set of vocals (a second recording of Edwards put in at the appropriate time, I think, not a second vocalist coming in) to make what I assume is the verse-chorus transition seamless, despite some held notes, and a rapid tip-tapping drum beat accompanying the percussion already there, from the beginning of what feels like a second verse.

It's finished with you quite quickly and sharply, actually. You're not given much time (if any) to think in between lyrics, and the end comes soon after the end of the lyrics, so if you're trying to think about it instead of just listen to it, it's fairly exhausting. On a purely aesthetic approach, I like it, too; I like the slightly different rhythm the vocalist falls into after the first section ("to the moan in your voice/not a charm do you lack.." etc), the instrumentation is interesting and catchy enough, but not annoyingly so, or so that it detracts from the message. I'm convinced this song has a message; it feels like it does. I'm just not sure what it is.

I like it, though. Easily enough for me to want to listen to more.

7.5/10

Songs;
Allen Toussaint & Elvis Costello - Who's Gonna Help Brother Get Further? (R&B/soul)
Amos Lee - take your pick: "Keep It Loose, Keep It Tight", "Seen It All Before", "Black River", "Love in the Lies" (soul/folk)
Herman's Hermits - No Milk Today (60s pop)
Capdown - Ska Wars (ska-punk)
Refused - Coup D'Etat (hardcore)
Darrell Bath - Still Learning (acoustic rock?)
Hundred Reasons - I'll Find You (rock)

Maybe that'll do. Should be available on request if you can't find them anywhere yourself.

[Burger Bike]

Dibs on Coup.

[Burger Bike]

Refused - Coup d'etat (2:40)

coup d’État (pronounced /ku de'ta/), or simply coup, is the sudden overthrow of a government through unconstitutional means by a part of the state establishment — mostly replacing just the high-level figures. It is also an example of political engineering. It may or may not be violent in nature. It is different from a revolution, which is staged by a larger group and radically changes the political system.
I like the Refused alot and have not heard this song. Starts out with a high pitch frequency. Ow. The beginning so far is really nice, great guitar and melody. Got the usual Refused vocals coming in, and back to the melody. I get the feel that they are very angry in this song, and this goes hand in hand with the song title. I dont think this is the refused best - but then at 2:05 they jump into their groovy guitars and vocals, I prefer the last 40 minutes to this song. Ends abruptly after a small fade out. Still - not the best of the Refused.
7/10, one more because I like the basis of what the song means and the emotion put forth into it.

Songs:
Deicide - Scars of the Crucifix (DM)
Choking Victim - Infested (Hardcore w/ punk influence)
Leftover Crack - Atheist Anthem See Choking Victim
The Number Twelve Looks Like You - Texas Dolly (Crazy grindcorish hardcore nutzo)
Horse The Band - Cutsman (added in for flavor - nintendo hardcore?)
Oasis - The Importance of Being Idle (rock)
Stone Temple Pilots - Interstate Love Song (rock)

[Burger Bike]

:chug: chmooown!

[Stoic]

Dibs

[Stoic]

Horse The Band - Cutsman

A truly bizarre act since Horse the Band are the inspirers of a new genre, called Nintendo-core. Well, to be honest, it's not really a genre, since I doubt there is a scene of Nintendo-core bands but more or less this term could be used to describe Horse The Band's daring innovation: The keyboardist uses Korg MS2000 synthesizer which is programmed to sound like the 8-bit effects of old video games. What is more, the lyrics of three of their songs (including "Cutsman") refer to certain Nintendo characters.

Of course, I was a bit biased at first, thinking that they're a joke band but it seems that I was horribly mistaken. "Cutsman" (character from NES game Megaman) is a tight song where Erik Engstrom's synthesizer parts are incorporated into a hardcore (metalcore if I would dare) formula. There are quite a few changes, from hyper fast -in a punk way- sections, to heavy break downs and melodic passages. One special aspect are the rough and flexible vocals, which add a remotely dramatic touch, perfectly fitting the track. The surprising thing is that, the video game sounding synthesizer, not only doesn't sound ridiculous as my initial expectation was, but it actually creates a glorious, spacey -even in a progressive sense-, 80s electro atmosphere!

Smart concept and a pretty fun to listen to song, I will definitely check out the band futher!
9/10

My picks
Madrugada - Sirens (indie/alternative)
Aphrodite's Child - The Four Horsemen (available on progarchives.com)
Genesis - The Knife (available on progarchives.com)
Black Heart Procession - We Always knew or A Cry for Love (indie)
Nirvana - Even in His Youth or Blandest or Ain't it a Shame

[Stoic]

Bump

[munky_magik]

I'll dibble this now but I won't be back home until about 7 (UK time) so feel free to snatch it before then, or if I forget.

[munky_magik]

I knew I'd get around to this eventually.

Song begins with lots of tinkly bells and some high pitched vocals. Nice voice though, backed by singular synth notes with delay. Very soothing at the moment.
An aggressive drum fill announces the drums' intentions and the song settles down to a steady rock groove for a bit. The song returns to the soothing part for a while before another agressive drum fill, again, injects some pace into the song. After the chorus we are treated to a tasteful guitar solo, and some backing vocals that bring to mind some material by The Verve. In true prog rock style, the solo goes on for many minutes, not that that's a bad thing mind. The song then continues on in a similar vein until it fades out. Nice changes of pace and good atmosphere. A pretty sparse review, but I don't know what else to say :-/

7/10 Enjoyable listen, though nothing particularly memorable.


Recommendations:

Corrosion of Conformity - Drowning In A Daydream
Skunk Anansie - Skank Heads
The Wildhearts - OCD
Dälek - Speak Volumes
Pendulum - Girl In The Fire
Basement Jaxx - Hush Boy
The Distillers - Die On A Rope
Soulwax - Too Many DJ's
Prince - Computer Blue
The Pogues - Young Ned of The Hill
Canvas Solaris - Horizontal Radiant

[munky_magik]

Things that go bump in the night

<_<

[Jom]

I'll give it a go provided that somebody can send me one of those above songs.

Just pick one; I'll listen to whatever.

frozeninshadows;gmail, or just leave me a message on MSN

EDIT: first post in Forced Listening?!

EDIT again: wait, I did the one in The Pit often. Whooops.

EDIT again and again: I got a song. Cheers, SOP and Ali :thumb:

[munky_magik]

I've got this covered. Yay.

[Britney Diva]

Ha! I beat you.

[Jom]

Two people sent me stuff, so in the interest of fairness, here we go:

Skunk Anansie - Skank Heads

The song opens with a nice guitar riff, before rollicking snare enters and kickstarts the song into a heavier section. The vocals come in near the mid-:20 mark and I kind of cringe because they're quite unexpected after such a cool intro. Is this a manly woman on vocals, or a really feminine man? It sounds like a cross between Joan Jett and Twisted Sister's vocalist. They take some getting used to, but the falsetto-like note held at :55 on is well done, with a chorus of "Get off, get off me!" (from what it sounds) being repeated. The guitar riff stays the same throughout for the most part - it's a nifty riff, and the percussion really moves the song. I hear a couple bass slides in the pre-chorus, and we're back to a chorus. The bridge at 2:08 is effect-laden and sounds outerspace-y, which is pretty cool because 1) there's no vocals, 2) the running bass line is pretty cool, and 3) the guitars are nice. The vocals, though, prevented me from thoroughly enjoying the song in its entirety, although they didn't completely turn me off the song. The reprised outro is a nice conclusion.

6.5/10; I'll probably keep the song, but the vocals were a bit of a turn-off seeing as how the track started off so excellently.

The Wildhearts - OCD

This is going to be my first Wildhearts track, even though I've heard some of Ginger's solo efforts and was rather fond of them. Further, Bartender really likes these guys, so I'm pretty optimistic.

The song starts rockin' right away with some "Oh! Yeah! Oh! Yeah!" vocals and some terrific riffing. I really dig the intro, although I can't really comprehend the lyrics yet. The opening verse turns to palm-muted guitars, but a solid drum fill and "[Why don't you?] Check it out!" kicks back to the rockin' chorus. 1:20 might be the actual chorus, upon further listening, my mistake. There's a bit of a shift in the riffs and vocals, and the song seems to slow just a bit at the mid-1:40s, with a complete change in heavy palm-muted riffs and pounding toms. A blistering instrumental section follows, which makes me wonder if the song is called "OCD" for a reason, since I haven't heard it in the lyrics yet. The 2:30-ish section is a bit heavier, with liberal use of toms and cymbals. An undercurrent guitar riff then begins to play, along with a harmonized riff entering around the 3:00 mark. The song again seems to shift at the 3:20-ish mark with more rock-and-roll riffin' and pulsating toms. The track seems to build a crescendo and the rhythm is starting to make me bob my head a bit, and then the chorus returns at 4:14 with the "Oh! Yeah! Oh! Yeah!" chorus, which concludes the song.

8/10; an excellent introduction to the Wildhearts for me and I quite liked the different changes in riff patterns... hopefully I'll hear more later from somebody.

---

My tracks I'll post for convenience on LiveJournal:

http://tony_robbins.livejournal.com/1272.html

All the songs are rock in nature, unless noted.

32 Leaves - All Is Numb
Edgewater - Eyes Wired Shut
Epidemic - Walk Away
The Red Paintings - It Is As It Was
Revis - Caught in the Rain

[blueyxd]

Edgewater - Eyes Wide Shut

oh man I haven't done one of these in ages...

Edgewater.. I chose this because the name reminded me of Riverside and Everclear put together..

Powerful melodic rock intro, something of an older Foo Fighters sound. This is kind of what I was expecting from all of the bands listed (except for TRP which I already know). The melody is kind of sad. Man these drums and guitar are pretty heavy for melodic rock... this is reminding me of Fuel more than Foo Fighters now.

The verse is all chunky guitar notes, the drums are very prominent and the guy has a decent not-annoying voice.. 8 bars of verse, no more, no less. He has enough power to suit the powerful music. Not awake enough to try and hear the lyrics.

The chorus has very melodic singing harmonies, the guitar is playing deep chords that are sustaining.. soo melodic and catchy. I don't mind catchy, but this is too simple for my advanced brain... I mean for my liking :p

(verse,chorus) x 2
(you know what goes next)
The "middle section" is introduced by a flanged distorted guitar riff. The beat in here is a bit off time and more interesting... some singing in towards the second half

crappy transition back to the chorus.. which is done a few times before ending

This is the kind of thing SOP has recommended a lot, he would like this for sure. But I'm not him and I didn't find it at all fascinating. For me, the best bits of it is the power of the music.. it just seems incredibly heavy for catchy commercial rock. Apart from that... I was not impressed.
Far from bad
6.5/10

________________________
Katatonia - Evidence .. catchy depressing rock
Eluveitie - The Song Of Life .. celtic + metal
The Evpatoria Report - Optimal Region Selector .. post rock (9 mins)
The Album Leaf - Eastern Glow .. post rock/electronic
Clann Zú - Five Thousand More .. celtic/industrial
http://www.g7welcomingcommittee.net/mp3/5000more.mp3

[Cocaine]

I might do the Eluveitie. I have it and I've heard it, but I didnt give it a dedicated listen.

[Jom]

Bump, just in case.

If a couple days pass and there isn't a new one, I'll do it... but I'll need a couple of the songs sent to me (unless I pick that one you have already), haha.

[Britney Diva]

Clann Zú - Five Thousand More

I'm only vaguely aware of these guys, even though they're apparently based here. The track begins out reminiscent of that Red Paintings (The Streets Fell In My Window) with a vaguely eerie violin motif and very chilled singing that reminds me quite a bit of Serj Tankian when he does that low wail of his.

There's an accordion in there as accompaniment too, then the electronic drums fade in, ending in a bassy stomp. There's not an awful lot going on truth be told, but that's kind of why it works. Strings strain more on what I guess is the chorus, as does the singer, whose accent becomes far more apparent in the bridge which follows.

There's a cool electronic hip-hop vibe that you really couldn't predict based on the opening minute. There's some guitar samples with that shimmering effect going on too, still very sparse but damn this is good. This seems to be the climax, though I was expecting it to go somewhere else. Oh well, it could have been amazing if they'd kept going, this seems like it would be one of their more restrained mass-appeal songs, based on the artistry witnessed in the song.

Very good stuff, I'll have to hear more of theirs. 8/10.

Butch Walker - The Taste of Red (glam rock)
http://www.myspace.com/butchwalker

Brides of Destruction - Shut The **** Up (sleaze punk)
http://www.sanctuaryrecords.com/sound/Brides.mp3

Gilby Clarke - Cure Me... Or Kill Me (live - hard rock)
http://www.fileden.com/files/2006/11/14/378555/07%20-%20Cure%20Me...%20Or%20Kill%20Me...%20(Live).mp3

Candy - Whatever Happened To Fun? (power pop)
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=1JWUYY48

[Britney Diva]

wump

[blueyxd]

Brides Of Destruction - Shut The **** Up

natas natas natas, aka the intro is a reverse sample of drums and vocals

Then an evil sounding thick distorted bass note pounds out the beat while a quiet guitar plays some simple chords. It goes into double speed but with the same guitar chords. Shouty vocals come in and there are either 2 singers or a double track, but the harmonies sound good.. after a few short lines it goes to just one voice. It's fast paced and I'm liking it.

The chourus has some harmonized "wooah" and the same shouty vocals.. after 4 lines, I guess after the main chorus has been done, he says STFU.. really sounds out of place here, like they put it in just for the sake of doing it. Sure the lyrics are about some guy that's sick of someone, but I got the message without that line... maybe I'm just getting old.

Another verse but this time they do some arabic sounding harmonies which is cool. Followed by the same chorus, where STFU is repeated twice..

Then it gets into a guitar solo, it starts off sounding kind of dodgy but after a while gets pretty good, pretty fast. After this is the chorus once more, which is exteneded slightly. A really apparent STFU ends it.


I liked it. I don't know what it is that makes me like some songs, but not others that are similar.. This song was easy to listen to and the slight variations between sections were noticable and good. It's only 3 minutes long, but it was done right. Only that STFU bit sounded off.
8/10


_______________

Al Di Meola - Mercy Street .. jazzy/contemporary

The Album Leaf - Eastern Glow .. post rock/electronic

Eluveitie - The Song Of Life .. celtic + metal

Dead Letter Circus - Lines .. new wave of aussie melodic rock (NWAMR) http://www.triplejunearthed.com/GetFile/94664/dlc-lines-128.mp3

Cloud Vegas - Sleep Train .. ambient trip-rock /// First link on http://www.google.com.au/search?hl=en&q=cloud+vegas+sleep+train&btnG=Search&meta=

[blueyxd]

blimp

[blueyxd]

bzzp

[the2stranger]

Hey Bluey. :)
I think i'll dibs.

I haven't done any forced listening in ages, still hwen I did it, it was a good way to discover music, so here goes!

Cloud Vegas - Sleep Train

Starts of with soft accoustic guitar and a (young) girl singing over it.
At a certain part bass comes in, and kind of ruins the gentle atmosphere of the accoustics.
Some drums come in and go away after a few beats (:confused: )
The accoustic strumming and the girls voice are back. :-)
It reminds me a bit of Radiohead at times, just without Thom York.
It has a bit of a GY!BE vibe to it too.
Pretty relaxed music, but it doesn't really go anywhere from that.
Pretty nice and relaxed overall.

7/10

My Picks:
Bongzilla - Kash Under glass ( Stoner metal)
Nortt - Gudsforladt (blackened Funeral Doom)
Rosenberg Trio - Rhytme Futur (Gypsy guitar Jazz)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kp4K-DLv4oQ

[Britney Diva]

Rosenberg Trio - For Sephora

Ah, there's nothing quite like gypsy jam sessions with groups of creepy smiling men who look like they've come straight out of a mid-70s European skiing movie, is there?

I'm not quite sure how to approach this, so I'll just give it my best shot. The main player here is the soloist, the rhythm blokes don't really have an scope for action. The piece seems to be improvised, and the dude has a weirdly trimmed moustache that suggests he hangs around outside cinemas in his vest. His technique as a guitarist, however, is superb. His vibrato is unreal and his melding of the classical and jazz styles is seamless. He really knows his ****.

The quicker sections around the middle seem to be the most removed from the main theme and are basically just classical scale-runs without any of the jazzy chord-work, and to be honest it's boring as hell, but the main theme with the aforementioned chords is wonderful. I'm not a huge fan of instrumental guitar music, given that I spend enough time actually playing it, but I can definitely appreciate the artistry involved and it's something I aspire to.

Cool song, great guitarist, but those other dudes should get a chance to shake things up a bit too. 6/10

And now, back to pop music :cool:

Messiah J & The Expert - Something Outta Nothing (Indie hip hop)
http://www.myspace.com/messiahjandtheexpert

Butch Walker - The Taste of Red (glam rock)
http://www.myspace.com/butchwalker

Skid Row - Monkey Business (metal)
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=27RPPWZW

Candy - Whatever Happened To Fun? (power pop)
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=1JWUYY48

[Riva]

dibs

[Riva]

Well, I'm slowly being dragged into popdom by Davey anyway, so I figured I might as well check out "power pop".

My first impressions of the song overall is that Candy are a watered down version of The Wildhearts. This continued throughout, and although it might be unfair to compare the two, it did make me knock a few points off.

The song starts out with a very poppy (suprise suprise) tune, with the drums providing a strong bass beat, and then we're exposed to the singer, who is entirely forgettable. The lyrics are fairly mediocore too, but I'm enjoying the music so far.

The chorus is easily the weakest part of the song, since it actually manages to be insipid and weak instead of soft and catchy.

We have a short bridge which could be considered a solo if you sped it up, which isn't really all that bad either, then we go into the chorus again, before we have the outro. In both the chorus and outro, the vocalist is just awful, he seems like he's phoning in his vocals from home on a depressed day, rather than being passionate about his fun, or whatever the damn song is about.

So yeah, I was moderately unimpressed, considering if I'm in the mood for an artist like this, which I seem to be a lot more these days, I have Marvellous 3, The Wildhearts, Reel Big Fish or Andrew W.K. to sate me, rather than a decidedly second-rate outfit like Candy.

5/10.

My picks:

Pink Floyd - Careful With That Axe, Eugene (Psychadelic Rock)
The Radiators - Gimme Head (Aussie Rock)
Extreme - Get The Funk Out (Hair Metal)
Mithotyn - In The Sign Of The Ravens (Folk Metal)

[blueyxd]

Mithotyn - In The Sign Of The Ravens

I've seen thios band high on Jasons last.fm and I always wondered what they were like.

Some guitar chords and snare drum intro, it has that military drumming feel. It's kind of fast and has an unusual rhythm.. 5/8 time. It suddenly drops into 6/8 and a lead guitar starts tremolo picking a melodic riff over the top of the chords and the vocalist starts rhowling.. it reminds me lots of these Falchion songs I have. Not bad at all.

An instrumental section breaks it up, I'm really noticing the keys here, how very folkish of them. That's ok, I like it. I guess this is a chorus now? The beat halves and there's a guy doing deep clean vocals, doubling the words of the harsh vocals guy.

After this, the rhythm changes again and some male and female voices are harmonizing "ohh-ohhhh-ohh". This is followed by a bit of basic lead guitar. Read this paragraph twice because the same thing happens in the song.

At this point, it seems everything that's happened from the beginning of the song starts to happen again in nearly the same order. After the harmonizing choir, the lead guitar goes for lots longer and it finishes abruptly, but properly, on this.


Packed full of nice folk-metal riffings, the guitar and the variety of sounds made it interesting enough to last for the 6 minutes. It was within my heaviness tolerance and not too fast, so that's even better for me. While there was some good stuff happening, it didn't really get me that interested.. the "wow" factor didn't happen. I certainly wouldn't mind to hear more of their songs, but this song didn't make me want to go looking for them actively.
8/10

___________________________________

Dead Letter Circus - Lines .. new wave of aussie melodic rock (NWAMR)
http://www.triplejunearthed.com/GetFile/94664/dlc-lines-128.mp3

Íon - Learpholl .. ambient folk http://www.equilibriummusic.com/samples/%CDon_(Madre)_-_Learpholl.mp3

Falchion - Cursed To Live .. folk metal

Salmonella Dub - Problems .. dub

The Album Leaf - Eastern Glow .. post rock/electronic

[blueyxd]

bump : added another song

[blueyxd]

c'mon cunce

[Riva]

Dude I'm Bringin-in Soon

[Riva]

The song starts with a female vocalist singing a rather poignant verse, and after maybe a half minute, the instruments start. It's a rather subdued, almost background, accompaniment to the vocalist, just a bass, acoustic guitar and perhaps a drum, though I'm not quite sure.

For nearly a minute the vocalist is quiet, and we have the instruments playing the same 2 bars of notes whilst sampled waves are played.

Around 3:10, the vocalist comes back in, which is a relief, since her voice is the main drive to the song.

At 3:54 there's movement at the station! A swell of music and a vocal harmony between the vocalist and another female comes in, making a very nice, and much needed change to the monotony of the song previously.

This continues for much of the rest of the song, and at the very end, we have a fadeout and some actual change from the instruments.

Overall, I'm giving it a 6/10. It's something that I enjoyed, but not so much that I'm going to buy the album, or even listen to the song regularly. Just a bit too simplistic, I suppose.

My picks:

Pink Floyd - Careful With That Axe, Eugene (Psychadelic Rock)
The Radiators - Gimme Head (Aussie Rock)
Extreme - Get The Funk Out (Hair Metal)

[Britney Diva]

Extreme - Get The Funk Out (Hair Metal)
Love this song.

[Riva]

Yeah, it's an awesome song to get down and bump it.

[GenuineImitation]

I'll do THe Radiators if someone can send it to me over AIM or MSN. My university has blocked programs like limewire and Torrents.

AIM = rock15guitarist
MSN = rock15guitarist@hotmail.com

[Bartender]

Bump.

Can't download things at the moment, but if Riva feels like sending one to me, I'll get to it.

[blueyxd]

Extreme - Get The Funk Out

Big manly drums and a bass line start the song. It's fairly bouncy. A really greasy sounding guitar starts up doing this lead/rhythm thing. The guy has a big rock voice. One of my friends was joking about "Manpower with guitars" once... and I can't help but picture anything but that for the guys playing this song.

The chorus is rifftastic and anthemic, but it's a bit cheesy with that sax. It sounds a bit like Collective Soul but with balls. I gather the lyrics are pretty much saying if you don't like something, stay away from it. Despite this guys big voice, he gets in a few whiny Mike Patton moments, kind of like his voice is on a wah pedal. Oh yeah, there are also backing vocals (Man vocals, of course)

It pretty much follows a verse, chorus, verse, chorus thing, with a few additions to pad it. In the middle, it gets a bit subdued... the sax is still going strong though, surely Manpower couldn't play a song like this without a guitar solo? Of course not. This guy is pretty fast on the guitar, I really wasn't expecting guitar soloing at such a speed. Lots of tapping and stuff, this sounds really quite cool.

After the solo, they do the chorus once more for good measure, then it ends on a rather proggy, stop-start rhythm, power outro with a big reverb laden drum hit finale. A huge wave of testosterone washes over the stage and onto the crowd (just like Creed's milk wave [see the www.slowwave.com archives]).


Despite the slight cheese I detected, this was ok. The riffing was pretty good, it took a while to notice, but it is definitely clever, and that solo was on fire..
It's a good example of late 80s/early 90s hard rock. If I ever make another one of those "Man Music" compilation cds (already done it twice for jokes), this song is going on there for sure.

7/10

_______________________

Dead Letter Circus - Lines .. new wave of aussie melodic rock
http://www.triplejunearthed.com/GetFile/94664/dlc-lines-128.mp3

Peccatum - Black Star .. chillout electronica/black metal, 8 minutes

The Album Leaf - Eastern Glow .. post rock/electronic

The National - Secret Meeting .. indie

DVDA - Now You're A Man .. man rock/humor

[blueyxd]

bumptation

[Britney Diva]

That guitar solo is so good. I'm not usually a fan of shredding, but Nuno's such a dynamic guitarist.

[Riva]

I also love the beginning of He-Man Woman Hater with Dweezil Zappa's solo.

And dibs.

[Riva]

The songs starts with a soft guitar line that builds up with drums and bass added in after a short time. The music puts me very much in mind of Dredg. Ah, the vocalists starts, a rather pleasant, typical male voice, but I'm happy that the tone isn't terrible (Aussie singers generally have awful or "distinctive" voices").

The song continues in much the same way, it seems to follow standard structure so far. The chorus is very catchy, and still reminds me very much of Dredg and Coheed & Cambria to a lesser extent.

There is much else to it, a nice bridge seperates the two choruses, but then again, this is a standard element in rock songs. The vocalist also didn't change much from his usual tone, but I was enjoying it nonetheless.

I quite liked the song, and it gains an extra point for being from an Aussie band. However, I would have liked to have heard a solo or a bit more of an extended instrumental section, although I know that such things aren't typical of the genre.

I'm giving it a 8.5/10

My picks:

Pink Floyd - Careful With That Axe, Eugene (Psychadelic Rock)
The Radiators - Gimme Head (Aussie Rock)
Richard Wright - Night Of A Thousand Furry Toys (Ambient/New Age Rock)

[Bartender]

Richard Wright - Night of a Thousand Furry Toys 6:39

Starts with a simple, short synthy intro (might well be the end of the last track, really), before it starts properly with a menacing bassline very reminiscent of "Clubbed to Death" (only less menacing) and a really catchy little repeating motif. Said motif is joined a couple of bars in by some quiet acousticy strumming, and then a few bars further in by the new agey synths I was expecting from the start. I really like this so far, is all sounding good together.

Oh yes, that little (I assume) bass note played at the nadir of the synth riff (if something this slow and dreamy can be termed a riff) was just gorgeous. It happens again a couple of beats later, and again just as the vocals start. The vocals aren't really singing, just providing lyrics. I suppose the voice isn't annoying, however much of a compliment that is.

As the vocals get going, the the beat changes, to a different drum and bass pattern. Samples(?) of what sounds like a crowd of children bustling around are faint in the background. Really good, short liquid solo when the vocals take a break.

Pattern pretty much repeats over the next couple of minutes; vocals for a bit (different than before, though) and then another little solo, again different from before but again really good. Song ends a little earlier than I was expecting it to then, after a very brief return for the vocals, as everything fades out and into disjointed nursery rhyme-like sounds (glockenspiels and bells and whatever).

It was pretty good, overall. At the start it was really promising, with the catchiness and build of sounds, and the little solo bits throughout were great, but the other stuff wasn't so welcome. I think might have preferred it as an instrumental, for one. Not that the vocals were particularly bad, they just distracted from how good and relaxing the first minute or so of the song was.

7/10 Still pretty good, though.

Songs;
Cardiacs - "Dive" or "Dog Like Sparky" *
Seer's Tear - "Pressures" or "The 2nd Man on the Sun" (prog metal)
Halfway to Gone - Thee Song (A Slight Return) (rock instrumental)
Skyscraper - Never Again (rock)
Alabama 3 - "Up Above My Head" (faster) or "Keep Your Shades On" (slower)
H.E.R.R. - "Of Angels and Men" (neoclassical, long)

*Just rock, if slightly eccentric rock, if you're sensible; "pronk" if you're not.

Yeah, I'm indecisive. And feel free to ask me, as always.

[blueyxd]

Cardiacs - Dive

Hello
Punkish guitar intro, it instantly reminds me of Soundgarden's Ty Cobb but not as fast. The Young Ones also come to mind. Vocals confirm this Young Ones thought very quickly, they sound pretty thick british punky singng style, but it's not singing.

It's also keeping that punk feel, but it's not punk, and there's keyboard/organ going on the upbeats, a bit like ska, but not. I can even hear trumpets, some weird little fills break up the music. It's 70s punk meets Mr Bungle. I'm not a sensible person so "pronk" is a good description. Man, these weird fills are almost classically influenced. I can imagine parts of this as being a theme song to a long forgotten kid's tv show. They've even thrown in some electronic effects on the vocals.. I can't help but like it...

Then there is this key riff repeated many times throughout, it's like a silly rodent and I like it too. It's obviously rather eccentric, with a stable base of non-punk and non-rock. It's easier to say what it is not like that what it is like. maybe Polka?

It was kind of like bad music, except not bad. I could listen to more if I was in the right mood.
7/10

_________________________________________________

Season - Throw Me To The Sky .. post-post rock - see http://www.last.fm/music/Season to download or stream the song

Dead Letter Circus - Alien .. a rolling sphere of ethereal energy gathers no moss/like Deftones but less heavy and more trip and prog

Orphaned Land - Birth Of The Three (The Unification) .. prog\folk\death metal

The Album Leaf - Eastern Glow .. post rock/electronic

Azure Ray - If You Fall .. bouncy indie pop

[Riva]

Well, I know Sam's a good source of Aussie music, so I was expecting big things. A quick look at their last.fm showed me that this song was quite laid back, and that's what the first two minutes or so gave me.

The song opens with some background distortion, and eventually a few notes become discernible, as they loop in their rather slow beat, slowly getting louder. At about 1:50, the vocals come in, a soft female voice, almost whispering her lyrics, which I'm afraid were somewhat indiscernible, on the first listen at least.

The song continues in this fashion for a good few minutes more, but I'm not upset, as it's very enjoyable. At about 3:46, the mood changes slightly, the music seeming more mournful than peaceful, with a new variation of the original melody, and a second female voice appearing. The harmonies are very, very relaxing, and it's hard not to enjoy the song.

The intensity builds, the distortion and female vocals swelling around the instruments, somehow managing to make this slow beat feel urgent. At about 6:40, the vocals stop, quickly followed by the instruments, as even the distortion fades away to the sound of sampled wind blowing against a flag, perhaps? A rather fitting way to end the song, I suppose, though maybe more of a traditional resolution would have been better.

I'm giving it 9/10, since I really did enjoy it, but I did feel the too-quick ending marred it a bit.

------------------------
My picks:

Savatage - Anymore (Power Metal/Rock Opera)
The Wildhearts - Just In Lust (Hard Rock)
Polar Bear - Your Eyes The Sea (Jazz/Indie)
Marvelous 3 - Supernatural Blonde (Pop Rock)

[Britney Diva]

um ok dibs

[Riva]

No **** you and the glam rock horse you rode in on, colonial.

USER WAS BANNED FOR BEING A FAGGOT

[blueyxd]

haha, that reminds me of this line from Return of the Living Dead, which I saw last night.
A black guy wanted to drive a car to try and get help, but another guy said "no, I'll drive", then the black guy goes "HEY, FU CK YOU MAN"... a classic and unnecessary outburst

[DanD]

I'm glad someone bumped this, I was going to but I didn't think that it would catch on.

[Britney Diva]

Savatage - Anymore

(Apologies, I'm a bit rusty at this)

Starts out like Whitesnake covering a rare Pete Cetra demo or something, real sinister and Hill Street Blues-like, but it sounds more like 'Vienna' by Ultravox, which is just more proof that Jelle loves power metal, really.

The singer is the main focus here. He's got a good tone, though he seems on numerous occasions to start growling before realising he's actually singing a pop song. It's the oddest thing, but that actually reminds me of Billy Joel. There's not a whole lot to the instruments: the piano parts are simple and kind of schlocky and the guitar's input is limited to majestic metuhl-y sweeps and whatnot.

It just wouldn't be metuhl without a crescendo however, and this track has a Billy Joel of a crescendo, building up gradually through a mini-cover of Coldplay's 'Clocks' and a choral section that goes on about 60 bars too long. I can just imagine the fist-pumping this track must inspire in a live setting- literally, four fists in the air. Magical.

On reflection, this isn't really my thing. I know I like crap music, and there might be some mega-technical stuff going on behind the scenes that I'm not aware of, but it seems a little gay even for you bench-presser boy.

Meet me in the shower tomorrow afternoon as per usual?

Reccs:

Hardcore Superstar - We Don't Celebrate Sundays (sleaze metal)
http://www.badreputation.fr/mp3/HARDCORE-We%20Don't%20Celebrat.mp3

Everybody Else - Rich Girls, Poor Girls (power pop)
http://www.everybody-else.com/MP3s/Everybody%20Else%20%20Rich%20Girls,%20Poor%20Girls .mp3

Messiah J & The Expert feat. C-Rayz Walz - When The Bull Gores The Matador (indie hip hop)
http://www.messiahjandtheexpert.com/tunes/stream/123/when_the_bull_gores_the_matador.mp3

Maximo Park - Books From Boxes (post-punk)
http://www.maximopark.com/upload/audio/03%20Books%20From%20Boxes.mp3

[dave mustaine #2]

Maximo park: books from boxes

first off i've never heard this band before nor have i listened to the genre. i wasn't expecting much. the song starts off with a nice and typical acoustic intro that fit the song well. then the singer comes in and at first really disapoints me but throughout the sonbg he gets less and less annoying and by the end seems very listenable. i didn't like it enough to continue to listen to the band but if you're into this style of music it's pretty good for what it is. i would rate it a 7/10

my recomendation is

Angra - bleeding heart (power metal ballad)

[Bartender]

Don't suppose anyone can send me that so we can get this thing moving again?

[blueyxd]

Sorry Bartender,

Angra - Bleeding Heart

Nature intro, by that I mean it is soft, melodic, picnic by the stream in the woods type music on guitar and piano. The bird sounds are missing. It reminds me slightly of Dream Theater. A soft male voice starts, tenor, not whiny, that's good.

After the first soft minute it builds up into . . . . a slow ballad. I thought it would get heavy and fast, but the drums and guitar just power up slightly.. maybe only +1 or 2. Synth strings adorn this emotional, love-lost song. It feels really cheesy, which is usually the case for power love songs. It reminds me more of Bon Jovi now than any metal bands.

I can't listen to the lyrics too much, I know I'll be laughing on the floor. They aren't bad, but I just don't go for these kind of lyrics. Just think of those poses Creed did in their videos, down on one knee, looking to the sky with arms out... The keyboardist must be really crying and playing his chords with such emotional force, they sound pretty loud.

There's a bit of lead guitar in the second half, but it doesn't really break into major soloing. It follows basic song structures and is over in about 4 minutes.


Written well music... but too cheesy for me. It never even got heavy, which I thought it might. That could almost get on top 40 charts. Not the kind of thing I'd really listen to often.

6.5/10

_________________________________________________

The Album Leaf - Eastern Glow .. post rock/electronic

Dead Letter Circus - Alien .. new wave of aussie melodic rock/trippy (edit: lost the link, but check DU in the next few days)

Al Di Meola - Mercy Street .. jazzy/contemporary

Azure Ray - No Signs Of Pain .. hard ambient indie

HORSE The Band - Hyperborea .. technical hardcore

Orphaned Land - Birth Of The Three (The Unification) .. prog\folk\death metal

[JumpTheF**kUp]

Orphaned Land - Birth of the Three (The Unification)

The song begins with the voice of a girl (or woman) chanting something in a foreign language, something that wouldn't sound out of place on a street corner in a packed market in the Middle East. Some guitars/drums burst in, and the song takes off. The vocalist joins in with some growled vocals, but then reverts to clean vocals, and is soon followed by what sounds like a sitar (I'm probably wrong about this). The combination of the sitar, clean vocals, electric guitars and drums create a pretty epic mood as the chorus starts and ends, followed by another growled verse.

After another chorus, there's a nice little part with a tinkling piano, a combination of growled and clean vocals and some squealing guitars, which leads the way to a solo, a pretty slick affair. The 'bridge' consists of some great guitar riffs, and some more singing/growling with the drums constantly keeping the beat. Soon after a Sitar joins back in, along with some bells (I think) which again create an epic, powerful sort of atmosphere. The singer then starts a chant, which is followed by some nice acoustic picking and then an almost choir like section of women singing. Some more riffing and picking close out the song.

Powerful track, 9/10

--------------------------------
Reccs:

Blind Guardian - And Then There Was Silence (Power Metal)

Protest The Hero - Turn Soonest To The Sea (Metal/Punk)

Gamma Ray - Rebellion In Dreamland (Power Metal)

Arsis - The Face of My Innocence (Melodic Death Metal)

[Riva]

I would, but I've heard all those songs before except for the Arsis one, and since every Arsis song bar Diamond For Disease is the same, I've virtually heard it too. :p

[Meatplow]

dibs brothers

[Meatplow]

Protest The Hero - Turn Soonest To Sea - 6/10

First thing that strikes me is the bastardisation of several genres. An unusual rhythm section opens this song, it has a power metal quality to it with a bizarre timing i can't quite say works all that well. There are some Avenged Sevenfold style leads with the high register notes, then a very punk derived verse section which brings the power chords and breakneck drumming. There are a lot of unremarkable rhythm moments after this, the song full of a lot of different parts screaming as if the artists were trying to cram as much variety as possible into the song without actually experimenting outside of the boundaries of punk. The soft-palm muted breakdown at 3:42 is about as pop/punk emo you could get, after this we have a singalong section that fades out which you could be forgiven for singing along to as it is very catchy. All up this song sounds like it's going to be one of these odd timed power metal songs at the beginning but turns into a pop-punk song with a few strange fills for variety. It's a bizarre mix and i while i personally don't think it's anything interesting it is listenable enough.

Songs

Ween - It's Gonna Be A Long Night (Rock)
The Mentors - List of Thirty (Punk/Metal)
Tom Waits - I Hope I Don't Fall In Love With You (Folk)
Babes In Toyland - Bruise Violet (Rock/Punk)

[blueyxd]

Babes In Toyland - Bruise Violet

Hard intro with some dischordant guitar and tom drums.

It turns into a girl-Nirvana kind of simple-chord, hard, raw grungy-rock, the female vocals are harsh and spat out. It's hard to hear what she's saying, The chorus, as it is, is just the intro music with "liar" repeated a few times.. nothing special. Ok, you're angry, I don't see what am I meant to be getting out of this song.

Same again. Really, there's nothing to add to what I've already said. Then there is the middle, which has different guitar riffs, with sort of bluesy twang, but still dischordant as before. Then there's a chick scream with echo after the bridge, which actually sounds pretty cool, but that's probably the only 2 seconds in the song I will think that.


So some girls were angry and got some instruments and played out their anger through a simple song (actually probably an album's worth of songs). It wasn't special in any way, and actually bored me a bit, luckily it doesn't break 3 minutes.
4/10

________________________________________

Modest Mouse - Parting Of The Sensory .. indie
Dead Letter Circus - Alien .. melodic trippy rock (check the DU maybe tomorrow for this)
HORSE The Band - Hyperborea .. technical hardcore
The Album Leaf - Eastern Glow .. post rock/electronic
Al Di Meola - Mercy Street .. jazzy/contemporary
Azure Ray - No Signs Of Pain .. hard ambient indie

[Meatplow]

dibs

[Meatplow]

Azure Ray - No Signs Of Pain - 5/10

Right up after the rolling boat drums i get this folkish kind of vibe from some simple acoustic guitar chords. This sounds almost certainly like it's going to be a song that is more focused on songwriting then technicality, it's very heavy on basic rhythm with incessant toms steadily pounding with a simple bassline. The vocals are suitable, a forlorn sounding female voice in the mix works well with the blue feeling of the song in the first verse which is about as standard in terms of songwriting as you could get. It's pretty dull so far to be honest, we have a pre-chorus then a chord change with the chorus with some make-do lyrics that work well enough amongst some subtle ambient noise welling in the background. After this the vocals drop away, leaving the plodding rhythmic section with said ambient noise becoming more prominent as a kind of bridge. Then another verse/pre-chorus/chorus section, which is the same save for some subtle electronic sounds and keys in the background. There's another repeat of the ambient noise bridge, back to the chorus after it fades out with some dark bassy ambience. I found this song pleasant enough to listen to, but very dull and uninspiring.

Best - it's a calming song with nice ambient production
Worst - it jumps back and forth between a cliche structure and some unremarkable sections of music

Songs

Ween - It's Gonna Be A Long Night (Rock)
The Mentors - List of Thirty (Punk/Metal)
Tom Waits - I Hope I Don't Fall In Love With You (Folk/Rock)

[DanD]

The Mentors - List of Thirty

The song starts out with some noisy rhythm and barely sang vocals. It reminds me of some of Frank Zappa's stuff. The lyrics are clearly pertaining to sex. Dirty sex.

About one minute into it the pace picks up, for what I assume is the chorus, but manages to still keep the same feel. So after it returns back to the verse seemingly retaining some of the energy from the chorus. About two and a half minutes in there sounds like there is a guitar solo hidden deep inside of the mix. Soon after the song comes to a messy end.

I'm not so sure that downloaded the right song, didn't notice much punk or metal there. The thing that stood out to me most was the production quality. It sucked. The whole song was very vocal and drum heavy. The guitars where completely buried, and I'm not so sure that there was any bass there. I can say, though, that despite the song really not being that enjoyable for me, the ridiculous vocal line was somewhat catchy.

3/10


The Alter Boys - Auto-Erotica (Funk/Pop/Rock)
Buck 65 - Le 65isme (Alternative Rap)
Dog Fashion Disco - Adultery (Rock-ish)
Tub Ring - No One Wants to Play (Rock/Electronic)

let me know if you need help getting any of this stuff

[Meatplow]

It's about sloppy seconds, and thirds, and fourths and so on...

That'd be the right song.

EDIT - someone else can go.

[blueyxd]

Tub Ring - No One Wants To Play


It's a little retro sounding rock... a bit like a band I'm gong to see tomorrow night, but not as happy. The singer starts, and he sounds a little underpowered. Even though the music isn't really hard at all, his style is too weak. Not a great singer either, but he's not bad.

The music has this grim tone to it. Can't work out the lyrics since I'm not taking much notice, but it seems like someone becoming obsessed with work and following rules and power.

The verse to chorus transition is a bit shaky. But the chorus sounds good, more of a stop-start rhythm with a similar grim feel to it. There is a bit of a spanish feel in the second half of the chorus, and some underlying electronic whirring sound.

Similar verse and chorus to before, nothing remarkable except for some well placed electronic blips in the second verse.

After chorus2, the spanish sound continues as the main theme and turns into this mid section, which is quite subdued. It builds slowly with hand claps and maracas, some pseudo-flamenco guitar, some more singing, and then a slowish trumpet solo.

There's another chorus or two and it ends kind of suddenly.

Seems like the song was rushed a bit, the structure, transitions and the ending could have been better. Musically it was good, I think this was the best aspect, though nothing was really spectacular, it worked well. The vocals were weak, but not too bad. And the lyrics, I missed.
Could have been better, but far from bad. 7/10

______________________________

The Album Leaf - Eastern Glow .. post rock/electronic
Dead Letter Circus - Alien .. Deftones-y & Dredg-y trippy rock
in a recent Daily Upload, or ask me if you aren't on it and I'll link you.
Al Di Meola - Mercy Street .. jazzy/contemporary
HORSE The Band - Hyperborea .. technical hardcore
The Cops - Call Me Anytime .. retro-ish pop rock

[Meatplow]

dibs

[Meatplow]

The Album Leaf - Eastern Glow - 7/10

This song appears to be on the OC soundtrack, a tv show i know very little about and which really has no bearing over the song anyway. There's a recurring kick beat with reverb happening at the beginning, and progresses until what is either some chiming guitar arpeggios or a keyboard begins creating a slow, hypnotic rhythm.

The first part of this song is based around this rhythm, as other instruments are introduced into the mix over the progression of the song. The vocal mix is good, a nondescript male voice leads through a pleasant enough verse as we hear a subtle violin penetrating through the air. It's quite beautiful actually. The second part of the song comes after a short break in the drums, leaving some heavenly synths hanging in the air for just a second. Then back to the main rhythm, introducing some electronics and a drum pattern. The verse picks up here, and is almost the same as the first part except for a pleasing shift in the dynamics. After this the drums stop, and we have some atmospheric ambience fading out.

All up this is a pleasing enough song, it may be a little slow and plodding for some but i find the atmosphere it creates very nice.

Songs

Ween - It's Gonna Be A Long Night (Rock)
Tom Waits - I Hope I Don't Fall In Love With You (Folk/Rock)
The Pogues - A Pair of Brown Eyes (Punk/Folk)
Soundgarden - Gun (Grunge)

[Meatplow]

bump

[Bartender]

Dibs.

[Bartender]

Tom Waits - I Hope That I Don't Fall in Love With You (3:54)

Counts in to a nice slow, relaxed acoustic beginning. The recording seems to be unusually quiet, but when I turn it up enough it sounds good. It sounds close, like a good atmosphere for this kind of song.

Anyway, the vocals come in fairly soon, and sound like.. well, like Tom Waits. There's not much else to compare them to. It's all unhurried delivery, and just sounds really assured, which I would think is a good thing on a debut album.

To be honest, there's not all that much going on. It's a really good song, but there's little to actually say about it. The music is great - good tune, with lots of little thatched, cascading notes running through it - but it starts out the way it means to finish. I think a hint of synth or something creeps into the background at the second repetition of the title (and comes back occasionally after), but for the most part it's just the same throughout. Not that that's a bad thing, there's just not much I can say about it.

The vocals, at least on first listen, were doing things I liked, keeping me on my toes a little by skipping outside the melody (without just sounding out of place) throughout. Which is again a good thing.

A really good song, then, just not one about which I can write much, as it was all pretty much the same. I will be checking out more Tom Waits now, though.

8/10

Songs;

Burning Saviours - Dark Lady (heavy metal/early doom)
Tim Minchin - Rock'n'Roll Nerd (comedy/piano rock)
Tinariwen - "Matadjem Yinmixan" or "Tamatant Tilay" (rock/Tuareg traditional)

[JumpTheF**kUp]

By Tim Minchin, are you referring to the Australian comedian/songwriter? Because if you are, could you pls upload it for me?

Would be very greatful :thumb:

[Bartender]

The very same. Sent a link to the MSN address in your profile, don't know if it's active or not.

[JumpTheF**kUp]

Yeah it is, I'll download it tomorrow morning. I have to get up at 6 tomorrow and it's 11:17pm atm, so I'd best be off to bed. Night :wave:

[Bartender]

Well if anyone else wants a track to review in the meantime, feel free to ask.

[DanD]

Tim Minchin - Rock'n'Roll Nerd

At the beginning of the song its clearly stated that the song is going to be poking fun at metal. The song actually starts with some low key piano playing with some light jokes being half sung.

Soon the song picks up a bit for a chorus-e type section. Neither the piano playing or the singing are exceptional, but for some reason its working really well.

About halfway through it bust into a little funkier section, all while cracking jokes the whole time. Surprisingly some of the jokes are somewhat inclusive to metal heads, especially because this sounds like this guy is more of a comedy show than a performing musician.

After a little tribute to Stairway, the song comes to a close at about 5 and a half minutes. Not a whole lot to the song, it might have a been a little long winded, but it changed pace enough to keep it pretty interesting throughout. Some clever lyrics in there as well, but luckily even if some of the jokes weren't so good, the music was catchy enough to cover it up. All in all it was a good song, I may be tempted to check out more of this guy.

8/10

The Alter Boys - Auto-Erotica (Funk/Pop/Rock)
Buck 65 -Rough House Blues (Alternative Bluesy Rap)
Dog Fashion Disco - Adultery (Rock-ish)
Mushroomhead - Exploiting Your Weakness (Nu-metalish)

let me know if you need to send you something

[Britney Diva]

Tom Waits - I Hope That I Don't Fall in Love With You (3:54)

Counts in to a nice slow, relaxed acoustic beginning. The recording seems to be unusually quiet, but when I turn it up enough it sounds good. It sounds close, like a good atmosphere for this kind of song.

Anyway, the vocals come in fairly soon, and sound like.. well, like Tom Waits. There's not much else to compare them to. It's all unhurried delivery, and just sounds really assured, which I would think is a good thing on a debut album.

To be honest, there's not all that much going on. It's a really good song, but there's little to actually say about it. The music is great - good tune, with lots of little thatched, cascading notes running through it - but it starts out the way it means to finish. I think a hint of synth or something creeps into the background at the second repetition of the title (and comes back occasionally after), but for the most part it's just the same throughout. Not that that's a bad thing, there's just not much I can say about it.

The vocals, at least on first listen, were doing things I liked, keeping me on my toes a little by skipping outside the melody (without just sounding out of place) throughout. Which is again a good thing.

A really good song, then, just not one about which I can write much, as it was all pretty much the same. I will be checking out more Tom Waits now, though.

8/10

Songs;

Burning Saviours - Dark Lady (heavy metal/early doom)
Tim Minchin - Rock'n'Roll Nerd (comedy/piano rock)
Tinariwen - "Matadjem Yinmixan" or "Tamatant Tilay" (rock/Tuareg traditional)
Just get the whole album, you're almost guaranteed to love it.

[Meatplow]

Just get the whole album, you're almost guaranteed to love it.

Agreed.

Dibs.

[Meatplow]

Mushroomhead - Exploiting Your Weakness - 7/10

Mushroomhead has always been a bit of an anomaly to me as a band, i've never really explored them because nu-metal is not my genre however they seem to be one of those bands that should be more popular and well known then they actually are. I've had a casual listen to some of their music, and can't say i've enjoyed it much but it's listenable enough.

Exploiting Your Weakness sounds exactly as i thought it would. It's a vaguely industrial sounding nu-metal track, with lots of dropped down chugging and the kind of screaming rap that is typical of several nu-metal groups. From the pounding tom intro the song is set with another nu-metal staple, the repeated phrase. The repetition of "the mind is a sponge, absorbing your secrets, the body's at one, exploiting your weakness" brings to mind the "I am the push that makes you move.", "you can't kill me cause i'm already inside you" kind of motif favoured by Slipknot lyrically. It's got a pop hook to it, and does dig into your head. It builds up to another lyrical section accompanied by some palm-muted chugs, then after this explodes into a chorus kind of section which is just some unmuted metal guitar over the same rhythm.

After this comes something unusual, a kind of keyboard led bridge which was a little out of left field and i wasn't expecting. The toms keep on rolling, then we go into a section that reminds me of "25 years" by Pantera where the guitar just kind of stop on a dime, silence between each chug with some singing over the top. The keyboard returns, then some fills to vary the mix rhythmically. After this back to the chugs, and a short bridge with something of a keyboard solo. It then fades back into the same rhythm that opened the song, and explodes back into that chorus section i mentioned before. After this, another section. It features what sounds like yelping and a palm muted riff, after this everything stops and some sweeping digital distortion fades out.

It's not a bad song, nothing great though. Someone who is mad in the head for nu-metal might like it a lot more.

Songs

Ween - It's Gonna Be A Long Night (Rock)
Alcest - Tír na nÓg (?)
The Pogues - A Pair of Brown Eyes (Punk/Folk)
Soundgarden - Gun (Grunge)

[Britney Diva]

Tír na nÓg

[Meatplow]

so it is, never trust track tags

[Meatplow]

bump

[blueyxd]

The Pogues - A Pair Of Brown Eyes

I've seen this band mentioned so many times, and finally I get to listen to them.

It starts of pretty much how I expected it would, but slow and in 6/8. For those playing at home, I mean it has a melodic mixture of accordion, banjo, guitar, drums and a guy that can shout, can't sing, but has a go anyway. There's no British accent for some reason, are they Australian?

The music itself has the feeling-sorry-for-itself feel, sad and fixing it with alcohol. The guy is singing about how he got drunk and wants to meet a girl with brown eyes? I can't really follow it as I'm typing this as it plays. I think he says a bomb hit the place he was in and someone who rescued him had brown eyes... as these types of songs seem to be about.

Not much changes for a while. There's a chorusy thing which could be more chanted or have rowdy backing vocals, but it doesn't. How conservative.

Another verse about something totally different, I don't see how the brown eyes bit fits in here. Maybe it's a recurring theme through his life or something. The music is nice but doesn't change much at all. I couldn't take too much of this sound at once. One song is fine, but a whole album would get to me.


This type of music doesn't grab me too much, I see it more as a novelty than a serious thing, unless they have an awesome, engaging story, such as A Tale They Won't Believe. But when they try to be too serious, most of it just gets filtered out in my mind. If I knew the right songs, I would probably get into this kind of music. This song didn't do anything for me. It would probably bore me if I listened too much.
6.5/10

________________________

Dead Letter Circus - Alien .. Deftones-y & Dredg-y trippy rock
in a recent Daily Upload, or ask me if you aren't on it and I'll link you.
Al Di Meola - Mercy Street .. jazzy/contemporary
HORSE The Band - Hyperborea .. technical hardcore
Electric Light Orchestra - Yours Truly, 2095 .. 80's synth rock

[Meatplow]

There's no British accent for some reason, are they Australian?

Irish as they come.

This type of music doesn't grab me too much, I see it more as a novelty than a serious thing, unless they have an awesome, engaging story, such as A Tale They Won't Believe. But when they try to be too serious, most of it just gets filtered out in my mind. If I knew the right songs, I would probably get into this kind of music. This song didn't do anything for me. It would probably bore me if I listened too much

I really love that song atm, i find it nicely beautiful once you get used to Shane McGowan's voice. Makes me think of sitting around in the summer sun drinking beer. I can understand what you mean though, it perhaps works better in the context of it's album i'd have to say.

A couple of other songs by The Pogues i might suggest are The Sick Bed of Cuchulainn, The Old Main Drag, and The Band Played Waltzing Matilda if you're looking for a better introduction. They have an engaging story to them, and are heaps of fun to listen to as the band fuses a punk influence in their themes with traditional Irish folk music (The Band Played Waltzing Matilda is much more the latter though). A Pistol For Paddy Garcia is an excellent instrumental as well. Hell get the whole album, Rum, Sodomy & The Lash.

[Eliminator]

haha are they australian????

[blueyxd]

haha are eliminator australian????

I'll check out the other tracks because faster pace seems to suit that music better.

beeyouempee

[PeEpHoLe_10]

^^^

Dude,if you cange the Dead Letter Circus song ill do it....I honestly think Alien is the worst song on their ep.Not bad...but just not as fun as the rest.

[DanD]

No because the point of this whole thing is that you've never heard the song

[blueyxd]

^^^

Dude,if you cange the Dead Letter Circus song ill do it....I honestly think Alien is the worst song on their ep.Not bad...but just not as fun as the rest.
No way, it's my favourite, it has been since I first saw them live.

Dand is right, you already know their songs, so there is no point in you reviewing one. You are more than welcome to have a go of the others, as long as you haven't heard it before.

[Meatplow]

Could you email me mercy street blueyxd? I'm having trouble finding it (and the other songs for that matter)

haz567@gmail.com

[blueyxd]

I'll try something, but on dialup at home so uploading takes a while. It reckons it'll take 30 minutes to finish.

[Meatplow]

Okay thanks m8 i got it will have it done it a bit.

Al Di Meola - Mercy Street

After listening to Al Di Meola's Elegant Gypsy i was eager to hear this, and i'm not disappointed.

Once again it's an instrumental piece, there is not a lot of variation in sections here so it is difficult to describe it in such a manner. Right up i can say this is a beautiful song, very relaxing with a world music vibe to it. I don't know if there is only a single guitar track here, but there are some very nice choices of notes being played. A lot of the rhythm seems to be based on some quickly strummed arpeggios here and there that lead into some other instrumental part following up on it in in the same key, between the guitar and the piano track there are some truly beautiful moments. As far as i can tell there is no bass track or an indistinguishable one at least, the guitar provides all the bass the song needs. A simple drum pattern keeps the song together, and towards the end sections it becomes a little more prominent with some changes.

Once again it's a beautiful song and an excellent instrumental, but discussing it in detail is difficult because there is a simple rhythm structure to it with some guitar noodling and piano over the top. Putting it this way it sounds deceptively like there's not much to it but this is not true, the instruments being played are varied and pleasing to listen to. Good song.

9/10

Songs

Ween - It's Gonna Be A Long Night (Rock)
Alcest - Tír na nÓg (?)
Black Sabbath - After Forever (Classic Rock/Metal)
Soundgarden - Gun (Grunge)

[Eliminator]

all those songsz r gay

[Meatplow]

all those songsz r gay

nice review

[Meatplow]

bump

[blueyxd]

all those eliminatorz r gay

There's probably a couple of guitar tracks in that song, it's beautiful music.
dee-eye-bee-ess

[blueyxd]

Alcest - Tir Nan Og
I can't see any reference to it being titled in the way SOP said.
For something that was tagged black metal on last.fm, this is certainly not what I expected.

It starts with a very bouncy and melodic frenchy/celtic folk sound. I can hear butterflies, summer sunshine, rolling meadows of green grass and a stream. More-body-than-ethereal vocals float through the music, sounding a bit like Cocteau Twins. I don't know what they are saying, could be French, or just "aahhh" type non-word vocals. This continues for a while, the vocals getting more and more airy as it goes on. It's easy to get lost in and very relaxing... makes me wish it was summer here (even more than I already do, which is a lot).

2 minutes in, it changes slightly, different guitar and vocals, but still in the same bouncy feel.

At 3 minutes - about half way through, a single fingerpicked guitar, with lots of sustain starts playing a totally new theme. It sounds a bit like a middle section of a Dream Theater song, but doesn't fit in with the preceeding parts.

After a bit of this, it's back to the fields of rabbits and deers and peace. That middle section really doesn't fit as the song heads back to this part. It does break up the repetitiveness of the bookend sections, but it's just wrong.

I quite like the folk part, and I don't think it would be excessively repetitive without the intermission. However, it might need a bit of a buildup in that case.
Nice
7.5/10

__________________________________________
a mixed bag

Dead Letter Circus - Alien
Conjure One - Pilgrimage
HORSE The Band - Hyperborea
Spin Doctors - Refrigerator Car
Peccatum - Black Star
Modest Mouse - Little Motel
Salmonella Dub - Problems

[Meatplow]

dibs

[Meatplow]

HORSE the band - Hyperborea

After a brief moment of guitar feedback at the beginning this a straight up aural assault similar to DEP with the off timings. Most of the song is very metalcore, loud and heavy with some shouting over the top. The keyboard in this sounds a bit out of place in tone, a lot of breaks leave it hanging there in the air and it sounds weird with all the cutting guitars and screaming in between. It sort of works, it just sounds kind of like a weak industrial style electronic effect. There's lots of crazy drum fills, and really there's not much else you can say about this song about from that it's very loud and headache inducing. I didn't mind it.

6/10

Songs

Ween - It's Gonna Be A Long Night (Rock)
Faith No More - The Crab Song (Funk Metal)
Black Sabbath - After Forever (Classic Rock/Metal)
Soundgarden - Gun (Grunge)

[Meatplow]

bump

[Riva]

I've heard 'em all, unfortunately.

[Meatplow]

re-bump

[Riva]

Mate, if you pick a different band I'll have a go.

[Meatplow]

some you might not of heard -

Eden - The Darkness In Me (Goth Indie?)
Jeff Lang - Goin' Out West (Folk)
Guitar Wolf - Fujiyama Attack (Japanese Punk)

[MagicNinjaMatt]

Dibs on: Faith No More - The Crab Song (Funk Metal)

[MagicNinjaMatt]

Review For The Crab Song-Faith No More: The first half of this song starts out wtih some guy talking and a guitar(with imo crappy tone) playing the same chord arpeggiated slowly over and over. It's actually kinda funny, I'm not sure if it was serious or not. From what I gather its about a guy who got into an arguement with his girl but "He didnt mean it!". The first half is pretty suck...Then it picks up and sounds sounds like punkish I guess(best way I could describe it)and I actually enjoyed the second half other than the guys vocals, he just sounds like a fag whining in some parts.


I give it a 4/10. They should have made it two different 2.5 minute songs imo.


Songs:

Orange Goblin -The Man Who Invented Time

Candlemass-Cry From The Crypt

Cattle Decapitation-Stench From The Dumpster and Bludgeoned, Beaten, And Barbecued (Both like 30ish seconds so just do them both)

Saint Vitus-Look Behind You

All I can think of right now... <_<

[DanD]

hmmm

[Meatplow]

dibs on Candlemass

[Meatplow]

Candlemass - A Cry From The Crypt

Doom metal is known for doomlike, sludgy riffs and this song lives up to pretty much what i expected. The only other song i have heard by Candlemass was Bewitched, which is a great song with a hilariously bad film clip (look at my avatar if you need any proof). This song is not much different in style.

The opening section is suitably apocalyptic, with chugging guitars and a slow drum beat. It's harmonised with a lead part after this for a section, then a slight change in pace with a thrash/power metal riff reminiscent of Iron Maiden/Manowar that is the crux of the verses. The singer has a booming operatic voice to rival Bruce Dickinson, there's something enchanting about his delivery which i find very suitable for this kind of pretentiously dark ethereal music that gives it credibility (unfortunately once again i can't get the image out of my head about him being the silly fat cunt in the coffin from Bewitched). Never mind.

The song gets across the feeling of darkness, depression and evil coming through your speakers which is perhaps it's purpose. It holds this tone throughout the whole song, but there's enough variation between several musical sections to hold interest.

8/10

Songs

Ween - It's Gonna Be A Long Night (Rock)
Eden - The Darkness In Me (Goth Indie)
Impaler - Malignant Dreams (Death Metal)
Black Sabbath - After Forever (Classic Rock/Metal)
Soundgarden - Gun (Grunge)

[blueyxd]

Ween - It's Gonna Be A Long Night

PUNK... possibly. Pretty much, but not common punk - It got a bit of surf rock and blues influence. This is quite unlike the couple of other Ween songs I've heard. I wonder if I even have the right version, because this guy doesn't have "that" voice...

As I implied, it's fast and in your face. Quick intro with a bit of lead guitar.. the guy only starts singing now, not before. It's a hard southern voice, kind of like Down or Pantera, etc. He sings about how someone is new in town and he is going to beat the **** out of them, and how it's going to be a long night (hey title) for them. The music has a fight-y feel the whole way through, with lyrics to match.

In one part, "it's going to be a cat fight," they lose some of that "man factor" but meh, I'm only being picky about the lyrics. Cool bluesy lead guitar slides through the music every now and then, especially towards the end.

Well, that's it... a short song with well matched music and lyrics. It's the type of song I would listen to and not take much notice, but still enjoy in that moment.

7/10

____________________________

Dead Letter Circus - Alien
Peccatum - Black Star
Spin Doctors - Refrigerator Car
Salmonella Dub - Problems

[MagicNinjaMatt]

:naughty: ^Haha, nice review, it made me want to hear the song. Im listening to it now.

[Meatplow]

Yeah that song rocks, Ween is a very versatile band.

Dibs.

[Meatplow]

Salmonella Dub - Problems

I don't know how to define this song's genre, it's bassy electronica. Is this dub? I don't know the genre, judging by the name surely this artist is involved in the dub scene which i know nothing about. I have read about these guys before, in FHM of all places. I have never heard any of their music though. It's got a reggae-ish vibe in the way the lyrics are sung, the song centered around a bassy electronic rhythm. It is very smooth and sounds like something that wouldn't be out of place at a doof, (an Australian outback rave, lol) which is fairly appropriate given the background of these guys.

Well... to be honest the song is fairly repetitive. Repetition is not a bad thing in my eyes, sometimes it reinforces a good idea by playing it over and over and over, and this song isn't bad for that. The same bassline and rhythm permeates throughout, and it's good. There's some piano fills, and a lot of stuff that keeps a variation going with electronica samples as the lyrics intertwine. But besides that, there's not a lot to talk about with this song apart from that it is good to listen to. It has a smooth reggae vibe, set against an electronica background, and i quite like it.


7/10

Midnight Oil - Blue Sky Mine (Rock)
Eden - The Darkness In Me (Goth Indie)
Impaler - Malignant Dreams (Death Metal)
Black Sabbath - After Forever (Classic Rock/Metal)
Soundgarden - Gun (Grunge)

[blueyxd]

Is this dub?

Yep. Well it's dub as I think of it... which is reggae rhythms and sounds mixed really smooth electronica

[Kage]

Dub has a distinct sound but it's hard to explain what it is...to me there always seems to be a certain type of reverb on it.

[blueyxd]

yeah, and lots of delay as well

[Britney Diva]

And lots of students. White ones.

[Meatplow]

bunp -n +c -c +m

[DanD]

Midnight Oil - Blue Sky Mine

The song starts out with a bit reverberant guitar doing a light groove. Soon an organ picks up, accenting notes with the guitar, and then out of nowhere a blues harp. After a few bars the drums and bass come in and the song gets rolling. Some vocals come with a bit of a call and group response thing going on. The song is off to a great start and is sounding really good.

But then

A little before a minute in the song takes a wrong turn and busts into what sounds like the verse. All of the energy that the song was carrying was lost, and the vocal melody feel very uninspired. I'm not saying that its horrible, but definitely a bad step from the previous stuff.

It finally gets back to the goods which is apparently chorus, but is someone short lived as it makes another somewhat odd transition back to another verse. This time instead of going to strait into another chorus, it changes it up a bit with some sort of pre-chorus. The only thing that particularly stands out from the previous part is some cool wah guitar. Then to the chorus.

After a small guitar break there is a harmonica solo, which while not particularly special, the song really needed it.

Soon after the song finishes clocking in at what did not seem like a little after four minutes. This song has me a bit torn, definitely some great stuff in there, and a great chorus, but the verses just felt so lifeless to me, at least in comparison. But I did enjoy the slightly and not overwhelming bluesy quality that the song had.

7/10

My Picks
Ideamen - Straight Shooter (Bebop Rock)
Dog Fashion Disco - Moonlight City Drive (Bunglish rock/metal)
Look What I Did - Minuteman for the Moment (a quirky, less technical Dillinger... or something)
Blind Melon - Soak the Sin (Upbeat Bluesy Rock)
Zakk Wylde - What You're Look'n For (Zakk Wylde before BLS and suckage)

let me know if you need something

[Meatplow]

dibs

[Meatplow]

Dog Fashion Disco - Moonlight City Drive - 8/10

This song starts off with a generic power chord riff that gave me little expectations, then suddenly the song suddenly becomes the album California by Mr Bungle.

I don't mean sound like, it becomes. This song takes the evil surf rock/jazz/rockabilly fusion and snorting coke in the devil's whorehouse atmosphere of many of the songs off California and makes a carbon copy of it. The comparison to the album is unavoidable for me, if the music wasn't enough i'll eat my boot if this is not Mike Patton singing. If not this guy is the biggest died in the wool Patton copy i have ever heard, from his low range almost speaking voice to his high range vocal melodies to subtle screaming THIS IS PATTON.

Enough of the comparisons, the song itself is pretty rocking. It seems to describe some nightmarish drive around the big city with lyrics about sin and debauchery, painted to a rockabilly/jazz/surf rock mash of a soundtrack. It keeps a fast past most of the way throughout, with surf rock guitar, fast jazzy basslines, organ solos, trumpets held together by some energetic drumming. There are some moments of slight rest, with some vocal harmonies, twangy guitar and moody bass keeping with the uniform feel of to the song.

There are some nice arrangements, this song scream influence by California by Mr Bungle. Since it is one of my favourite albums that's not a bad thing IMO.

Songs

Black Sabbath - Supertzar (Symphonic Rock)
Babes In Toyland - Bluebell (Riot Grrl)
Stone Temple Pilots - Pretty Penny (Rock)
Soundgarden - Gun (Grunge)
Joy Division - New Dawn Fades (Post-Punk)

[Riva]

I'd dib it.

[DanD]

Joy Division - New Dawn Fades

This is one of those bands where I've seen the name hundreds of times but have never heard.

The song starts with a simple little bass riff and the drums kick in soon after. The song immediately shows some age with its production. This is already not quite what I was expecting. The song is relatively slow paced, but the drums are consistent and keep the song moving.

The vocals are a bit buried in the mix. Though they are not anything overly impressive or amazing, they fit the song well.

The guitar stays relatively simple, but sounds cool when it locks in with the groove of the drums. The guitars seem a little buried in the mix as well.

I guess I don't really know what to say about this song, not too many changes throughout it and it kept a consistent pace, but not really a whole lot to it either... not to say it was a bad song though. For some reason I get the feeling that the album as a whole is better than each individual song. Luckily, it looks like there is an abundance of seeders on Soulseek so I will check that out.

7/10



Ideamen - Straight Shooter (Bebop Rock)
Dog Fashion Disco - Vertigo Motel (Rock/Metal/Dance/Jazz)
Look What I Did - Minuteman for the Moment (a quirky, less technical Dillinger... or something)
Zakk Wylde - What You're Look'n For (Zakk Wylde before BLS and suckage)
Integrity - Micha, Those Who Fear Tomorrow (Metal/Hardcore)

[Gumble Bee]

bump

[Meatplow]

I would dib this but i seem to be doing every second dib, come on people!!!!!!!!!!!

[Gumble Bee]

yeah it is pretty lame if only two people are going to participate

[blueyxd]

I'd gladly do it, but I've been very busy/tired this week and I'm about to go out today.

In other words.. bump

[Meatplow]

Ideamen - Straight Shooter - 8/10

This seems to be a kind of progressive bluegrass/country track. From the start it's highly infectious, with pop melody hooks that work really well.

I quite like this so far, the lyrical topic seems to stick to a cliche country music theme about southern pride and what not. A fairly nonchalant drum beat rolls along with a simple walking bassline holding things together, some country guitar licks adding the spice and something that sounds like a kazoo. It's a groovin' mix, tongue in cheek for sure. Add in some catchy choruses, an electric guitar solo, some screaming and a chanting part as the song progresses and you've pretty much covered it.

I really liked this, there's not much to talk about as it's mainly rhythmic repetition but this song jams. You can tell this would be a fun band to go see.

Songs

Black Sabbath - Supertzar (Symphonic Rock)
Darkthrone - Cromlech (Black Metal)
Babes In Toyland - Bluebell (Riot Grrl)
Anthrax - Metal Thrashing Mad (Thrash)
Soundgarden - Gun (Grunge)

[blueyxd]

Darkthrone - Cromlech

I'm not a big fan of black metal, I just haven't found that much that I like. But I do give it a go every now and then.

This one starts with a few "choir ahh" midi patch notes, then busts into a guitar/drums thing with low notes. I can the instruments fairly clearly, which is good. It's kind of slow compared to what I know of black metal too... It reminds me of the castle of Count Duckula, having that castle feel.. obviously.

It goes through a few tempo changes and riffs before the vocals start. They are more death metal sounding to me. The music speeds up, it has such a cheesy dank castle feel. I'm thinking of Trap Door as well. I can't understand what he says, especially in the really gutsy vocal bit.

Half way through, it turns to 6/8 and another new riff. To be honest, it's not really that engaging. I've heard plenty of more interesting songs.

There's a short patch of keyboard where it goes a bit melodic, it adds a bit of flavour. A bit of lead guitar as well. The snare drum has random volumes, some hits are really loud, though I guess you expect that in black metal. After a little bit of riffing there is a crazy reverbed guitar solo, very short lived, but it helps.

Finally, there is yet another guitar part introduced, a slow one, which is the outro, and not a bad one I might add.


For me, that song didn't fill the checklist of things I don't like in black metal, so I'm saying it wasn't offputting. However, I didn't tick many boxes of things I like in music in general. If I was after some heavy music, I'd look elsewhere.

5/10

Conjure One - Pilgrimage .. instrumental trip hop/dance (7 mins)
Dead Letter Circus - Alien .. new wave of aus rock
Modest Mouse - Little Motel .. soft indie
Peccatum - Black Star .. chillout electronica/black metal, 8 minutes
Shpongle - Once Upon The Sea Of Blissful .. super chill out electronic
Spin Doctors - Refrigerator Car .. 90s rock

[Catchthe22]

Shpongle - Once Upon The Sea Of Blissful

That is a decent song of there's from their best album. Wish they would make more trance.

8/10



Säh - Safe is in the Case local post-rock band, 2 drummers, 1 guitar, http://www.myspace.com/sah the song is listed as 'LiveonWUML'.

[Cocaine]

Darkthrone - Cromlech

I'm not a big fan of black metal, I just haven't found that much that I like. But I do give it a go every now and then.

This one starts with a few "choir ahh" midi patch notes, then busts into a guitar/drums thing with low notes. I can the instruments fairly clearly, which is good. It's kind of slow compared to what I know of black metal too... It reminds me of the castle of Count Duckula, having that castle feel.. obviously.

It goes through a few tempo changes and riffs before the vocals start. They are more death metal sounding to me. The music speeds up, it has such a cheesy dank castle feel. I'm thinking of Trap Door as well. I can't understand what he says, especially in the really gutsy vocal bit.

Half way through, it turns to 6/8 and another new riff. To be honest, it's not really that engaging. I've heard plenty of more interesting songs.

There's a short patch of keyboard where it goes a bit melodic, it adds a bit of flavour. A bit of lead guitar as well. The snare drum has random volumes, some hits are really loud, though I guess you expect that in black metal. After a little bit of riffing there is a crazy reverbed guitar solo, very short lived, but it helps.

Finally, there is yet another guitar part introduced, a slow one, which is the outro, and not a bad one I might add.


For me, that song didn't fill the checklist of things I don't like in black metal, so I'm saying it wasn't offputting. However, I didn't tick many boxes of things I like in music in general. If I was after some heavy music, I'd look elsewhere.

5/10

Conjure One - Pilgrimage .. instrumental trip hop/dance (7 mins)
Dead Letter Circus - Alien .. new wave of aus rock
Modest Mouse - Little Motel .. soft indie
Peccatum - Black Star .. chillout electronica/black metal, 8 minutes
Shpongle - Once Upon The Sea Of Blissful .. super chill out electronic
Spin Doctors - Refrigerator Car .. 90s rock
Cromlech is from their death metal album though

[DanD]

Shpongle - Once Upon The Sea Of Blissful

That is a decent song of there's from their best album. Wish they would make more trance.

8/10



Säh - Safe is in the Case local post-rock band, 2 drummers, 1 guitar, http://www.myspace.com/sah the song is listed as 'LiveonWUML'.

no

read the first post and try again

[blueyxd]

Säh - Safe is in the Case

Didn't listen and/or already know it but it's probably good 7/10

Just to recap:

Conjure One - Pilgrimage .. instrumental trip hop/dance (7 mins)
Dead Letter Circus - Alien .. new wave of aus rock
Modest Mouse - Little Motel .. soft indie
Peccatum - Black Star .. chillout electronica/black metal, 8 minutes
Shpongle - Once Upon The Sea Of Blissful .. super chill out electronic
Spin Doctors - Refrigerator Car .. 90s rock

[Riva]

dibs

If you could come on MSN and send me the Conjure One or Modest Mouse track that'd be ace, Sam, those are the only two I haven't heard.

[Riva]

The song starts out with a slow build-up. First the keyboards play the main theme, then the guitar joins in. Next the vocals, bass and drums start the song in earnest, whilst the guitar and keyboards fade to the background. The lyrics are simple, but effective. I also like the voice, it is very much an archetypical Brit-pop voice.

At 1:43 the song takes on an edge, of sorts. The vocalist puts a bit of grit into his vocals, and the instruments get infinitesimally heavier. Around 2:30, however, the original, softer sound comes back. Even though this is basically the same melody repeated over and over, it isn't irritating or overwrought. Instead it seems to suit the song perfectly.

A crescendo at 3:20 or so takes the place of the solo that would appear in more conventional song writing. The vocalist is also a bit more passionate, and the guitar has an almost desperate sound to it. The song seems to be equal parts Dredg and The Verve, and I love it.

Overall, I'd give it a 9/10. A formulaic song done very well indeed. Could have been improved by perhaps a bit of variation during the bridge/instrumental section, but anything to drastic would ruin the mood.

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My picks:

Sabaton - Primo Victoria (Power Metal)
Decapitated - Blessed - (Death Metal)
Diablo Swing Orchestra - Balrog Boogie (Swing Jazz/Progressive Metal)
The Wildhearts - The Miles Away Girl (Hard Rock)

[DanD]

The Wildhearts - The Miles Away Girl

I hear about this band all of time, I also know that at some point Devin Townsend played a little guitar for them. I don't know why, but I guess I've just been to lazy to check them out.

The song immediately starts out with a rockin' guitar riff, and is then accompanied by the drum and bass. Eventually the drums pick up some speed, and theres a little guitar soloi