I reccomend the Beta Band song. :thumb:

It has a terribly long line in slsk:(

If I can't find one, I'll do Saetia.

I feel like doing a

DOUBLE REVIEW


[B]The Beta Band - The House Song[/B]

Some quiet hum-like singing to start the song. I can't understand what he's saying, but I don't really mind that much. At about :30, backup vox enter along with some synths(?). Shortly after, soft scratching sounds and a stomping bass drum jumps in. Some tribal percs are added in too. It's progressing very nicely.

Nearing 3 minutes the flow changes to a more hiphop oriented beat. The vocals starts rapping Latino-sounding lyrics with clapping sounds in the background. The drums join in the melee as well. Very cool indeed.

So that continues with some weird sounds and complementary turntable scratches until about 5 minutes. Hollow effects go hand in hand with a drum solo. It ends as the beat slowly dies down and some spacey noises floating around.

This song is very fun.

[B]8.5/10[/B]


[B]Saetia - The Sweetness and the Light[/B]

It's the first tune I'll be hearing from them.

Clean strumming for the intro with the singer wailing some words that again, I can't understand. This, I guess, is the premise of emo bands. Anyways, the chorus is heavily melodic and well, emotional due to the melancholy guitars.

A mellow break cuts in before the expected chaotic part. It somehow reminds me of 90's alt rock and Thursday's earlier work. Weird. Now the vocalist's screaming his throat out. That's more like it.

At the second half the quiet parts and screaming ones alternate, which makes for good headbanging action. It goes all out frantic in the final seconds, bringing some catharsis and a feeling of resolution to the listener. A very good song. I must check out a lot more stuff from them.

[B]8/10[/B]

Songs:

Apostle of Hustle - Sleepwalking Ballad(indie w/Jeff Buckley-ish vocals)

Arab Strap - Who Named the Days?("slo-core")

Denali - Gunner(indie with sexy female vocals)

iDIB

[b]Denali - Gunner[/b]

Raw sounding guitar minor chord strummings, female vocals straight away... nothing really sexy sounding, here anyway. Everything is hazy/reverby, and the drums come in soon after. The reverb goes after a little bit and things are much clearer.

One guitar is strumming, and it's way back in the mix, the bass is probably louder than this. There's also some higher guitar notes, which are louder. Simple sounding drums, pretty straight forward. This may be comparable to Coldplay, with a bit more speed and a female singer. She has a soft voice in the verse bits, and it's very powerful when she tries.

It goes through a verse-chorus x2, then the bridge is fairly quiet, no drums, some guitar picks, then it builds up again. Some lead guitar and some low guitar too, it has a bit more power than the parts with singing, which has now stopped. It goes on for a little bit and then finishes on a final chord and that fades out.


Well.. nothing too special about the song for me. I chose it for the sexy vocals (that and I already knew the Arab Strap song), they were nice, but I didn't really think they were all that sexy.

The music didn't catch my interest too much, nothing bad about it, it seems kind of stripped back... maybe that's just how indie is... it fits together well and has good flow though.
7/10 - yeah, it was alright.

__________________________________________
[url=http://members.ozemail.com.au/~caracarol/Curse%20Ov%20Dialect%20-%20Lost%20In%20The%20Real%20Sky%20-%2016%20-%20Uzbeki%20Westerns.mp3]Curse Ov Dialect - Uzbeki Westerns[/url]

[b]Portishead - Numb[/b] - Trip hop, with my idea sexy female vocals

dibs

Portishead - Numb
 

I've been meaning to check out Portishead for a while but I already heard a few songs before so I kinda knew what to expect...the whole song is typical trip hop, very mellow and groovy but also more accessible than stuff like Tricky...there's a repetitive drum beat and some interesting textures like DJ scratching and what sounds like either a keyboard or a guitar with lots of processed effects...the singing matches the music perfectly, its delicate but at the same time retains a playful, almost seductive sound...the entire song is dark but not in an overbearing way...while as far as trip hop goes, I found this not to be as interesting as the songs on Tricky's Maxinquaye, this was still a pretty cool listen

6.5/10
------------------

Ride - Seagull
Catherine Wheel - The Nude
the Verve - History

nvm, i cant find any of the songs on Ares. someone else can have it

bump

bump

I'll keep bumping this until someone replies

*replies*

[QUOTE=El Duderino]I've been meaning to check out Portishead for a while but I already heard a few songs before so I kinda knew what to expect...the whole song is typical trip hop, very mellow and groovy but also more accessible than stuff like Tricky...there's a repetitive drum beat and some interesting textures like DJ scratching and what sounds like either a keyboard or a guitar with lots of processed effects...the singing matches the music perfectly, its delicate but at the same time retains a playful, almost seductive sound...the entire song is dark but not in an overbearing way...while as far as trip hop goes, I found this not to be as interesting as the songs on Tricky's Maxinquaye, this was still a pretty cool listen

6.5/10
------------------

Ride - Seagull
Catherine Wheel - The Nude
the Verve - History[/QUOTE]

I'll take this, give me ten minutes.

Well, none of the files on kazaa work for The Verve - History, and I'm not interested in the other songs, sorry.

Ride - Seagull

I really like the intro and it flows nicly into the verse. Overall the song is kind of boring but still pretty good none the less
5/10

The Nude - Catherine Wheel

Just plain old bad
2/10
----------------------------------------
The Mars Volta - Concertina
Saves the Day - Cars and Calories
Nirvana - Oh, the Guilt

dibs

Sorry, the soulseek is down for me somehow, I'll bid on another one, later.

Ride - Seagull (because the previous reviewer did like a 5 word review)

The song opens with cymbals and a distorted guitar. Soon after a nice funky bass riff comes in and the distorted guitars get louder and build up. The bass riff repeats as the guitar goes into different variations, but it is so distorted you can't really make out particular notes, rather just a wave of sound.

British vocals come in and are chanted rather low. They fit rather nicely with the jingly distortorted guitar. The first couple verses have come and gone, and the highlight of the song is definately the music, not the vocals.

The third verse (maybe a chorus) comes in and it is a bit better. At the end of it the drums really get into it and the distorted guitar goes crazy for a long solo. This is the highlight of the song so far. The bass riff has been repeating the same thing the entire time and it begins to grate after a while.

Another verse comes in very similar to the first verse, again the vocals are chanted. At the end of the verse there is some actual "singing". Then there is another pretty nice, rather long, guitar solo. The guitar solo's are the best part of the song.

There are no more vocals, just the drums get faster and faster and faster and faster, and finally there is a sustained distorted guitar lick to take the song out.

[b]Rating: 8/10[/b]

[b]New Songs[/b]
Communique - "Perfect Weapon"
The Avalanches - "Since I Left You"
Phoenix - "Everything Is Everything"
Elvis Costello - "Watching the Detectives"

[b]Elvis Costello - Watching The Detectives[/b]


Ohh yes, I like reggae, this reggae is raw sounding and the production isn't great, and it doesn't matter one bit.

A quick James Bond guitar bit, then the singer starts, his voice is a little bit whiny, but it does sound good for this music.

The chorus is more major key style and with more echo. Organ and some loud (too loud) cymbals close the chorus. It goes back to the verse with a high note on the keyboard and a dropping of a beat.

The 2nd verse has some additional keyboard sounds to spice up the music, sounds good. Voice still sounds whiny, a bit like The Gathering singer from On A Wave. I'm not really listening to his vocals because the music is making me feel relaxed. Back to the chorus, same loud bits and keyboard stuff.

Another verse and chorus the same as that. After a bit he gets into repeating "Watching the detectives" over the verse chords, then the James Bond guitar returns for a short while but it fades out pretty soon after that.

Nice, that song just suited my mood right now, it was good. One criticism - while trying to relax, those loud cymbals in the chorus were not wanted. Song was fairly simple, including the structure, but who wants to be teched around by laid back music, it suited it. I would have liked some more of that James Bond guitar throughout the song

8.6/10


________________________________

[b][url=http://members.ozemail.com.au/~caracarol/Curse%20Ov%20Dialect%20-%20Lost%20In%20The%20Real%20Sky%20-%2016%20-%20Uzbeki%20Westerns.mp3]Curse Ov Dialect - Uzbeki Westerns[/url][/b] - dark experimental trip-hop

snatched from the waiting jaws of page 3

Dark experimental trip-hop? I'll take it!

[B]Curse Ov Dialect - Uzbecki Westerns
[/B]
A spoken word intro leads into some acoustic guitar, and a kinda gimmicky vocal. The music overall sounds like it's trying to be like a soundtrack to a 70s cowboy movie.

Later, some more obscure instruments gets thrown into the mix (it sounds like a bassoon is used, and possible a theremin). There's a recurring backing vocal, probably a sample from a b-movie. In any case, it's a laugh that's meant to be threatening. It's actually just annoying.

I don't actually hear any trip-hop in this song at all.

The song tends to stutter and change tact a lot. It doesn't really serve any purpose except to make the song seem intelligent, progressive, whatever. The lyrics also throw out long words that aren't lyrical at all.

[B]2/10.[/B] Not impressed at all.

I'll just go fetch my picks.

[B]Asian Dub Foundation feat. Sinead O' Conner - 1000 Mirrors[/B]
(A song about domestic violence in the Asian community, dedicated to Zoorah Shah. Variety of genres.)
[B]McFly - That Girl[/B]
(50s rock'n'roll welded to 00's British pop.)
[B]Spice Girls - Viva Forever[/B]
(Some beautiful flamenco guitar. Listen without prejudice.)
[B]Public Enemy - Fear Of A Black Planet[/B]
(Hip-hop. About the white community's fear of inter-gender relationships.)
[B]Genius/GZA - Duel Of The Iron Mic[/B]
(Early Wu-Tang hip-hop. Features the recently departed ODB, and Method Man.)
[B]Fleetwood Mac - Songbird[/B]
(Piano-led 70s pop-rock ballad.)
[B]Love - Alone Again Or[/B]
(60's proggy psychedelic folk.)
[B]The Twilight Singers - Strange Fruit[/B]
(Billie Holiday cover, done in a doomy, hard rock style.)
[B]The Twilight Singers - Fat City (Slight Return)[/B]
(Dark, twinkling, rocky soul, as done by the former Afghan Whigs frontman.)
[B]Tori Amos - 97 Bonnie & Clyde[/B]
(Eminem cover version, in typical Amos style.)

I actually thought that song was pretty cool, I just didn't have time to review it. :-/

I'll have it, seeing as you're on slsk.

The Twilight Singers - Fat City (Slight Return)

Starts off very interestingly, good beat. Singing kicks in promptly, easy to listen to and the lyrics sound interesting. More of a driving rhythm now, which I like.

Then some distorted guitar kicks in, which builds it up even more. I really like the structure of this song.

Goes back down to the more toned down part, which is really good I have to say. I can see this being a really good walking/driving song. I'm liking the vocals more and more, they've got feeling without being overbearing or anything.

Then a female or very high male voice comes in for a little bit of backing vocals, which is always good. The song is getting ever so slightly trance-like, it's the kind of thing you could really get into whilst you're listening to it, and I probably will next time when I'm not having to type about it.

It finishes suddenly, but not in a bad way.

Final Rating: 8.5/10, highly enjoyed that and will check out this band more.

My Picks:

Kasabian - Club Foot (electronica-influenced Britrock)
Graham Coxon - Spectacular (Britpop retrospective)
Mercury Rev - The Dark Is Rising (alt. rock with sweeping violins)
U2 - One Step Closer (rock)
Air - Alpha Beta Gaga (dance, I suppose)

[B]Mercury Rev - The Dark Is Rising [/B]

I like the intro, it's "enchanting".


The piano is simple yet nice.

The vocals are a bit, wimpy, but they're managable. At least they aren't the "emoish vocals".

I like the taste of the violin.

I like this chorus I guess you'd call it it. The thing played in the beginning.

I don't like this weird synth effect (synth vocals) it seems, though, that's playing with the main part on the third time, I think.

A wimpy ending.


Overall, I liked the subtle taste of different instruments, such as the violins, and flute, and guitar.

I'll say it's a 6.5/10


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

[B]Ataxia - The Sides[/B] (go to [url]www.johnfrusciante.com[/url] and click any link, then click the cloud on top, and it should be on there)

[B]Múm - K/half noise[/B] (a post-rockish type band. It's uses electrics though.)

[B]Michael Rother - Sonnenrad[/B] (cool new-age spacey like guitar and stuff)

[B]John Cale - Magritte[/B] (I can't really describe it. It's just good.)

[QUOTE=The Ashtray Girl]The Twilight Singers - Fat City (Slight Return)

Final Rating: 8.5/10, highly enjoyed that and will check out this band more. [/QUOTE]
You should check them out some more. It's the Afghan Whigs' Greg Dulli's new band. :lol:

Oh yeah, and dib.

[B]Ataxia - The Sides[/B]

Begins with very skippy percussion, and simple bass. John's vocals come in after a while, and he ain't exactly the best singer I've ever heard. His voice has a nice resonance at times, sounded fairly grungym but overall, it ain't hard to see why Anthony Keidis is still employed.

The guitars are kinda airy, and they don't take a prominent role for most of the song, which is surprising, seeing that Frusciante is seen as one of the best in the world at his craft.

The song is quite nice overall, and has a really good melody. The only problem is, it drags on for a little too long. The rhythm section remains constant for the whole song, which is annoying but understandable. John mixes up the guitar enough to keep things interesting - he mixes up his tone more than many guitarists would, which is quite a skill. His voice gets better as the song goes on, too.

[B]7/10[/B]. Not bad, but not quite good enough for me to make it a priority to seek out more.

My picks -
[B]Asian Dub Foundation feat. Sinead O' Conner - 1000 Mirrors[/B]
(A song about domestic violence in the Asian community, dedicated to Zoorah Shah. Variety of genres.)
[B]McFly - That Girl[/B]
(50s rock'n'roll welded to 00's British pop. Disposable, but hella fun.)
[B]Spice Girls - Viva Forever[/B]
(Some beautiful flamenco guitar. Listen without prejudice.)
[B]Public Enemy - Fear Of A Black Planet[/B]
(Hip-hop. About the white community's fear of inter-gender relationships. [I]Go check my review I just posted!!![/I])
[B]Genius/GZA - Duel Of The Iron Mic[/B]
(Early Wu-Tang hip-hop. Features the recently departed ODB, and Method Man.)
[B]Fleetwood Mac - Songbird[/B]
(Piano-led 70s pop-rock ballad.)
[B]Love - Alone Again Or[/B]
(60's proggy psychedelic folk.)
[B]The Twilight Singers - Strange Fruit[/B]
(Billie Holiday cover, done in a doomy, hard rock style.)
[B]Tori Amos - 97 Bonnie & Clyde[/B]
(Eminem cover version, in typical Amos style.)
[B]The Afghan Whigs - Blame Etc.[/B]
(Funky, Stevie Wonder-esque grunge by the best band ever to grace my user title.)