Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Discovering The Classics: Vol. 2

This is part two of a series in which I highlight some of the classic albums that I've finally gotten around to listening to. Check the previous entry for the first group.



The Stooges - Raw Power (1973)
The amazing thing about this album is how swiftly and effectively it rendered every other hard rock album in my collection utterly useless in comparison. Raw Power is so electric of an album it could probably heat my home for the winter. At any given moment there's this underlying energy -- this raw power, if you will -- that's so potent that it's all the band can do to keep it from spontaneously combusting into a cacophonous clusterfuck. They barely succeed in preventing it from doing exactly that. Which is all for the best because, really, have you ever tried getting pieces of raw power out of your hair? It's a bitch.

Score: 9.5/10







"Search And Destroy"


Boogie Down Productions - Criminal Minded (1987)
This album didn't impress me at first for some reason, probably because it was effectively overshadowed by Eric B. & Rakim (see below). But with time, it grew on me. I like how it mixes a good amount of the reggae sound, as it was Jamaican's (DJ Kool Herc in particular) who were largely responsible for the birth of hip hop in the first place. This comes together the best on "The Bridge Is Over", which is one of the best rap songs ever recorded, I've determined. Somehow I get the hint that KRS-One dislikes Queens.

Score: 7.5/10







"The Bridge Is Over"

Television - Marquee Moon (1977)
The first time I heard this I felt it was merely an above average art-rock album. But it's had some time to simmer in my mind, and in that time it has only grown on me more and more. Those guitar riffs are too sexy. I don't have enough of a technical knowledge to know exactly what's going on with them, but I know enough to know that it's probably too complicated an album to try to learn from. I imagine this inspired many people, though.

Score: 8.5/10







"Venus"

Eric B. & Rakim - Paid In Full (1987) and Follow The Leader (1988)
I've always wondered what the greatest rapper ever would sound like, and I found out once I picked up Paid In Full. The last track, "Extended Beat", sounds mildly like a rejected mix for Sonic the Hedgehog 2's Casino Night Zone. And that's about the only flaw this album has going for it. The rest of it is more than deserving of the classic status that it enjoys. The beats are minimal but deadly, seemingly made for b-boys. Songs like "My Melody" and "As The Rhyme Goes On" makes me want to finally make good on my years-old promise to learn how to break. And though Eric B. is certainly a skilled and innovative producer, it's hard not to focus most of my attention on the incredible rhyme skills of Rakim. Hearing him, it became immediately apparent where two-thirds of all worthwhile rappers in the last two decades got their style from.

As if he wasn't impressive enough on Paid In Full, he manages to one-up himself a year later on Follow The Leader. By that time, their debut had sent shockwaves through the underground, effectively changing the game. It seemed almost impossible to fathom that they, especially Rakim, would top themselves, yet the only aspect in which the album failed to live up was in terms of impact. The higher production values take away some of the rawness the debut enjoyed, but Eric B handles them well. Lyrically, Rakim is more furious than ever, especially on the first three tracks. With these two albums, Eric B. & Rakim have become my new favorite band.

Score: 9.5/10 and 9/10







"My Melody"








"Follow The Leader"


Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Discovering The Classics: Vol. 1

With this blog, I try to make habit of only posting about newer and/or obscure music. But as any self-professed music addict can relate to, I also spend a lot of time getting into the classics that may have inspired some of my favorite artists. This year has been an especially fruitful one, with tons of highly acclaimed albums blowing my mind the same way they've been blowing millions of other minds for decades now, making me wonder how I've managed to survive for so long without them. Though enough has been said about these albums in the past, I still feel the need to give these albums their, as Q-Tip would say, 'spect.



Marvin Gaye - What's Going On (1971)
I was going to say this album was like butter (if nothing else, it would keep the Q-Tip references going), but the more I think about it, it's smoother than butter. Gaye's voice is passionate; urgent. The arrangements, though repetitive at some parts, are well done, almost demanding to be heard from beginning to end every single time the album comes out of my speakers. Though, of course, it helps that it's bookended by two of best soul tracks ever recorded, in the title track and "Inner City Blues". I can't help but listen to this and feel a sense of disappointment over the lack of good protest albums as of late (though Nas provided the closest exception).

Score: 9.5/10







"Flying High (In The Friendly Sky)"


Charles Mingus - Blues & Roots (1960)
I got really into Mingus last year when I discovered the classic that is The Black Saint & The Sinner Lady. But as Blues & Roots proved (as well as Mingus Ah Um, Tijuana Moods and probably more that I've yet to hear), this guy had tons of good music in him. "Moanin'" should easily be considered one of the best jazz songs ever recorded, if it already isn't.

Score: 9/10







"Moanin'"

Ravi Shankar - Three Ragas (1956)
In the booklet to this albums digitally remastered CD release, it goes into detail on the intricacies of a raga as well as the new styles that Ravi Shankar introduced. It explains different parts in detail and what characterizes them. I'd be lying if I said I understood any of it. But even considering my total ignorance, I know that what I'm hearing on these tracks is most certainly amazing. And perhaps one day I'll be able to explain exactly why.

Score: 9/10







"Raga Jog" (excerpt)

Henryk Mikołaj Górecki - Symphony No 3 "Symphony of Sorrowful Songs" op. 36 [Dawn Upshaw (soprano); London Sinfonietta/David Zinman] (1992)
Yeah, so this is pretty much the Kind Of Blue of modern classical (translation: loved by newbies; somewhat respected by enthusiasts who realize that there's much better to be heard in the genre). Whatever. I don't really listen to enough classical to be a snob about it just yet, so to me this was nothing short of breathtaking. Since Godspeed You! Black Emperor are on "indefinite hiatus" and Sigur Rós cheered up, Sorrowful Songs fills the void in my life for monumentally epic sad music. It really is quite beautiful. Almost overwhelmingly so.

Score: 9/10







"Lento E Largo - Tranquillissimo"


Queen - A Night At The Opera (1974)
As cool as it would make me look to do so, I can't hate this. I just can't. It's too (and I rarely use this word to describe an album in a non-patronizing way) fun. Some elitists cite this album as the beginning of the end of rock and roll, but I can't think of many better albums they could listen to to subvert that pessimistic mood. The song arrangements are all over the place, ever-changing and creative. Say what you will about the more well-known singles, but dissing "The Prophet's Song" is liken to admitting you torture kittens for fun.

Score: 8.5/10







"The Prophet's Song"


Monday, November 24, 2008

Busy Busy



I'll admit it: the month of November has been tough on this blog. If anything I posted seemed rushed (perhaps not very well-rounded or with an occasional grammatical error), chances are it was; probably being written on little sleep and in between more pressing obligations that I actually felt I should've been tending to rather than managing my blog. It's been a long month, but I'm happy to say that things are starting to looking up now that I'm nearing the elimination of three major tasks that have effectively dominated my life.

The first of which are applications for the JET Program, a teaching exchange program that hires English speaking foreigners to assist in teaching the language in Japanese schools. The application process is extensive and nerve-wracking. But after weeks of preparation and planning that still lead to last minute panic, I mailed out the application in one piece this weekend, a mere three days before it's due date. From here it's a waiting game, but I'd much rather deal with the stress of waiting for a response than the stress of compiling everything to send out on time. I mean, damn.

The second task has actually been going on for some time. For the last year, I've held a part-time night job at a bookstore that I worked on top of a full-time day job. As you can imagine, the two jobs thing isn't the most awesome experience in the world, especially when that second job is in retail and it's nearing the peak of the holiday season. I've had to sacrifice sleep, time with my fiancèe, and possible nights out with friends. But I knew the hard work would be worth it if I could accelerate the process of eliminating my debt. I'm happy to say that I reached a major milestone in that regard on Friday, when I payed off my car. It's still sort of a surreal feeling and hasn't quite sunk in yet, but I'm sure it will next month when I realize that I have a couple hundred extra dollars sitting in my checking account. Because of this achievement, I should be able to phase out of the two job stage in the next couple of months and dedicate more time to this blog, my hobbies, and of course my fiancèe.

And speaking of my fiancèe, we've got this whole wedding thing coming up, and we gotta...you know...let people know about it and shit. We decided to go the creative route and make our own invitations. Given her job as a designer and mine as a printer, it just sort of made sense. And of course we came up with this elaborate ass idea, but unfortunately, with everything else going on in our lives, not to mention a bit of indecisiveness, we sort of slacked on it. But with less than 90 days until the big day, and with the confusing hustle of the holiday season coming up, we knew we had to get these babies out by December. Many headaches later, we're getting ready to print and package everything this week, and will hopefully be ready to mail them out by the weekend.

So what I'm basically saying is that things around here are set to improve now that I'll have more time on my hands. I'm glad, and even somewhat amazed, that I've kept it updated for a mere two months considering everything that's going on. I'm satisfied with some of what I've done so far, and I'm optimistic that with time, it'll only become more worth someone's time to read.

This'll be a short week because of the Thanksgiving holiday, but things will be back to normal starting in December. To celebrate the holiday, tomorrow and Wednesday I'm going to give thanks to some classic albums that I've discovered this year.

Stay classy, folks. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to enjoy a song of celebration.









"I'm In Love With My Car" by Queen


Friday, November 21, 2008

Summer Freeze


The common complaint about living in Phoenix is that there are no changes of weather. People joke that there are two seasons here: hot, and not as hot. But the city looks and feels the same either way. It's in the mid-eighties today, as it has been for most of the month of November, yet you still see people around wearing long sleeves and jackets, and perhaps even the occasional knitted cap or scarf. It's as if they're trying to will the change of season by dressing the part, because it feels so unnatural for it to be late November and to not need a jacket when you walk outside, or to have your air conditioner kick on at least a couple of times a day. But Phoenix is a very unnatural city like that. And the longer I live here the more anxious I feel because of it.

Year-round spring and summer temperatures might sound tempting to some people, but for me and people like me, it creates this frustrating state of limbo. Like any changes within are harder to feel because there's no change outside. Or like those changes within won't take effect unless nature does it's part, too. How can you really grow or move forward when you can't feel time passing?

Anyway, this song always reminds me of the winter. Gives me the feeling of coldness even while people are swimming in the pool outside my balcony. Stupid global warming.









"Summer Freeze" by Unwound


Thursday, November 20, 2008

One Be Lo - Project F.E.T.U.S. (2002)

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One Be Lo - Project F.E.T.U.S. (2002)

I didn't really expect much from Project F.E.T.U.S. (For Everybody That UnderStands) when I picked it up. Though I thought it'd be worth my time I figured that, having already been involved in two near-classic albums in S.O.N.O.G.R.A.M. (Sounds Of Nashid Originate Good Rhymes And Music) and Binary Star's Masters Of The Universe (M.O.T.U.?), One Be Lo couldn't possibly have sustained himself for three in a row. In hindsight, I realize how foolish this was, as Project For Everybody That UnderStands finds Lo in a transitional period, thus combining some of the best elements from both albums.

What immediately stands out is the beats. I've never payed much attention to One Be Lo or Decompoze's production on Lo's other albums, but here they command more attention. That's partly because of how varied they are, which could be seen as a flaw since the album has trouble establishing much in the way of harmony as far as production goes. But considering this was originally supposed to be a mixtape, it's easy to forgive. For what must have been a fairly low budget recording, overall they're well done. Fittingly, the re-released version of the album comes with a second disk of instrumental tracks.

Lyrically, Project For Everybody That UnderStands has more in common with M.O.T.U. than Sounds Of Nashid Originate Good Rhymes And Music, as Lo is still more of a battle rapper whereas on Sounds Of Nashid Originate Good Rhymes And Music he moves onto the more conscious rap route. There are several clever, "dope punchline[s]" on this album that I wish I had thought of myself, including, but not limited to:

"For every promise made I fulfill with the skill
No matter what the doctor prescribe I stay ill."

"Them cats know they ain't live

Like Bruce Willis in Sixth Sense."

"You're rhymes worth piss in a pot

If knowledge was the key you'd be picking the lock."

"I'd probably have to get a second job

And you know I got a felony so it's like 'Hi! Welcome to Burger King!'"

And my absolute favorite:

"You wanna battle me? What for?

I rock heads like Mount Rushmore: for (four) dead presidents."

Of course, One Be Lo is no stranger to occasional absurdity, as is displayed in the song "The Grinch That...", a cautionary tale warning about the evils of Santa Clause. It's such a silly song (aimed less at the listener and more at the listeners six year old nephew) that if I didn't know any better about him and his devotion to his faith that I might question if it was thrown on the album as a joke. Lo is usually prone to an out of place, ridiculous lyric or two from time to time, but here he just got a little too excited. He's never come off as preachy on other albums that I've heard, but he came closer than ever with this song. Thankfully, this is the albums' only misstep, which he makes up for almost immediately with the mostly spoken word "Candlestick", a type of song that I'd love to hear more of from him.

Overall, this album is almost as good as M.O.T.U. and Sounds Of Nashid Originate Good Rhymes And Music. You'd be hard pressed to find a more prolific artist in the first half of the decade than Lo.


Score: 8/10








"Anybody"








"Fast Food Remix (featuring Magestik Legend, DeCompoze, Illite)"


Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Binary Star - Masters Of The Universe (2000)

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Binary Star - Masters Of The Universe (2000)

Sincerity can be faked, so when I try to think of a word to describe what sets One Be Lo (aka One Man Army) apart from a lot of other rappers -- conscious rappers, more specifically -- I try to avoid slapping the "sincere" label on him. Even if the use of the word is fitting, it still doesn't seem to do justice to the man's talent, which is on display here as one half of the duo Binary Star.

The lyrics on Masters Of The Universe take the standard conscious rap route of comparing their skills to other rappers who are staples of mainstream hip hip. You will probably lose count of how many times the term "wack emcee's" is used. Coming from anyone else, this talk would become tiring, but this is where that whole aforementioned sincerity thing comes into play. The most scathing attack in this vein is found on the standout track "Honest Expression", during which Lo and his partner Senim Silla, in just five minutes, sum up every feeling that I've had about hip hop for the past decade. They vent their frustrations on the cheapening of the music as a whole, it's journey from an expression of the harsh realities of street life to digestible pop hits glorifying said street life, and the rappers who sell themselves out to get a piece of the mainstream success that rap is enjoying as of late. This is still sadly relevant even today. It's hard not to feel their pain on how rap has fallen (yet simultaneously risen), but like most artists that touch on this subject, they're only preaching to the choir.

Fortunately though, Binary Star offers up some variety in the form of story raps. "Wolf Man Jack" is especially well done. It tells the story of a half man, half wolf......named Jack....*cough*. Three neighborhood kids decide to play a joke on a man who claims to have seen Wolf Man Jack, which of course yields disastrous results. Another excellent song, "Glen Close", tells the story of a crazy ex-girlfriend who sabotages Lo's new relationship. These songs and others, if nothing else, take the subject matter off the state of rap music long enough for it to not get annoying and repetitive.

While I wouldn't go as far as calling Masters Of The Universe, as the sticker on the album claims, "a hip hop classic", it is a damn solid album with few, if any, faults, featuring one of the most consistent and (dare I say it) underrated talents the genre has to offer in One Be Lo.


Score: 8.5/10








"Reality Check"








"Wolf Man Jack"


Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Digital Good Time VII

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Saw the Bond movie, Quantum of Solace, this weekend. It was okay. It wasn't quite as good as the excellent Casino Royale, but I wasn't expecting it to be, especially considering the fact that I think Casino Royale is the best action movie of the decade after The Dark Knight. But Quantum of Solace wasn't a bad way to spend part of my Saturday night.

As is the tradition with James Bond movies, the title sequence was a major part of the experience. You can't assign the responsibility of naked dancing woman silhouettes and bodies falling through 3D space to just anybody, and the opening for Bond part twenty-two was put into the more than able hands and minds of MK12, a motion graphics design juggernaut based humbly out of Kansas City, Missouri. Every time you see some incredibly cool graphics on TV or in a movie, there's a ridiculously high chance that these guys were responsible for it, and I'm not even exaggerating when I say that. Here's what they did for Quantum, with Jack White and Alicia Keys handling the soundtrack:



Well, you've probably noticed by now how crap the video quality is. For some reason, MGM has yet to put an official version of the opening sequence online, so we're stuck with this pirated version (which serves them right I would say...if they were actually losing money from it). But hopefully the impressive work that MK12 has done is obvious.

Links:
MK12
Quantum of Solace


Monday, November 17, 2008

Nadja - Truth Becomes Death (2005)

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Nadja - Truth Becomes Death (2005)

Screw it. I'm just going to try stream-of-consciousness writing for this one. The truth is that I've had this for a while but have been unable to find the words necessary to review it. I guess the easy way to do it would be to just say what I think about it. Well, it's awesome, like one of the best albums I've heard this year kind of awesome. And I suppose that's all that really needs to be said. The point of any review is basically to express how you feel about the album and why the reader should care. I've already taken care of the first part.

The second part I've already screwed up by admitting that I can't find the words for it. I've just outright admitted that I'm not a person who capable of reviewing this album, so there's no reason for the reader to stick around. But assuming that one does, I'll keep going.

Truth Becomes Death is one of those albums that makes you understand the potential of a genre. Drone doom metal had been around in some form for years before this album came around. Earth and Sunn O))) aren't exactly small names in the metal world. Neither is Justin Broadrick, who has made the sound a little more accessible with his Jesu project. But when I was getting my feet wet with the genre, it was hard to find the album that made me care about it; that made me see it as more than white noise. Truth Becomes Death is that album, for me. Just like Lightning Bolt's Hypermagic Mountain helped me see what can be made from noise rock, Truth Becomes Death has helped me understand what drone doom metal, in all it's heavy, suffocating glory, is capable of.

So if there's one thing to take out of that paragraph, it's that anyone interested in exploring drone doom would be doing themselves a favor by making this one of the first albums they check out. It's pretty much a modern classic.


Score: 9.5/10








"Bug/Golem"


Friday, November 14, 2008

Scott Walker - The Drift (2006)

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Scott Walker - The Drift (2006)

I'm having a hard time coming up with the proper hyperbole for just how terrible this album is. It's quite possibly the worst album that I've bothered to listen to in it's entirety, and I say this having a fiancée who casually enjoys 80's pop music and a good friend who once adored Killswitch Engage. Yes, that is how bad The Drift is.

Though I hated this album from the outset, I still gave it chances because I found it so hard to believe that this was one of the most acclaimed albums of 2006. I figured I must be missing something. But I later came to realize that The Drift is just one pathetic failed experiment. When it tries to be brooding and atmospheric it ends up being boring. When it tries to be dramatic and scary it ends up being utterly laughable, like some prepubescent crackly-voiced teenager in a cheap mask that jumps out at you and growls during any number of shoddy "haunted house" productions that go up around town during Halloween, except I have no incentive to hold in my laughter so as not to make the kid feel bad. I mean, at least he tried. I'm not sure if I could even say that much for Walker.

Unless...unless my theory holds true. That being that this album is just one big joke that Scott Walker is playing on all of the overly pretentious art fucks out there, and that on his deathbed he'll just be like "Hey man, you know that Drift album I did? PSYCHE!! HAHAHAHA I purposely set out to make the worst album I could without it being completely obvious just to see if people would catch on, AND THEY TOTALLY DIDN'T! Just goes to show you that people wouldn't know the difference between good art and bad art if it punched them in the face."

I don't even have the energy to describe how this album sounds and I barely feel like wasting the server space to upload tracks, but for examples sake, I've given you the first one. I'll warn you, though, it just gets worse from there.



Score: 1/10








"Cossacks Are"




Thursday, November 13, 2008

Happy Birthday, Mom.

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Today is my Mom's birthday. Being 2000 miles away, and a little strapped for cash and free-time, I decided to celebrate the day the best way I knew how: by hiring someone from India to sing her a birthday jingle over the phone. Thank you, Taj Tunes, for providing a lazy yet hilarious way to acknowledge important dates and weird out family members. Now if only someone would make a melodic death metal greetings website.









(the song I sent to her)


Oh, India, is there anything you can't do?

Love you, Mom. I'll see you on Christmas.


Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Solomon Burke - Don't Give Up On Me (2002)

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Solomon Burke - Don't Give Up On Me (2002)

Wow, this album is so inoffensive! I can't remember the last time I've been so thoroughly unoffended while listening to an album. This is so devoid of anything the least bit controversial or out of the norm that even the most staunchly conservative spokesperson for all that is good, moral and decent would have a hard time finding anything wrong with it. First thing that popped in my head while listening to Don't Give Up On Me: I'd be shocked if this album was not nominated for a Grammy when it was released (just checked online and...yup; it won, too). Second thought: I didn't go into a Starbucks in 2002, but if I did I would not have been surprised to hear this album playing in store.

That's not to say that this is a bad album. Fundamentally, there's really nothing wrong with the music, which is incredibly solid throughout. Burke has been at it for a long time, and it shows with how skillfully interpreted these songs are; emulating the blues and eventual wisdom that can only come from someone with life experience, and the ability to turn that experience into a strong, soulful statement. There's not a bad track to be found here, and a few of them are exceptional. I guess I just mean to emphasize that this album fits the "Adult Contemporary" tag to a T. And in being so unoffensive and safe, it actually appeals to me less than would something more unconventional. Maybe if he threw a theramin in there somewhere or something man I don't know.

Good album, but this is totally what your granddad wishes you "whippersnappers" would listen to instead of "that awful racket".



Score: 7/10








"Flesh And Blood"








"The Judgement"


Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Love Songs We Like That Won't Freak Out Our Families

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This past weekend I spent my Saturday night like a lot of twenty-something youths in hip college towns would spend it. That's right: with booze working on wedding invitations. I got engaged in May of this year and the wedding is in February 2009, a mere three months away. So we should've gotten cracking on these things a while ago, but better late than never, right?

On top of an actual invitation, we're mailing out a "wedding album", a mix-CD of some of our favorite love songs. The idea was to avoid cheesy love ballads in favor of a diverse collection of music that rocks (or bangs) and that maybe shows a little of our personality. The major obstacle in the process was trying to pick songs that wouldn't be overly offensive or off-putting to older and/or God-fearing relatives, meaning absolutely no hard profanity, no screaming or blast-beats, and nothing too weird or avant-garde. This effectively eliminated at least two-thirds of our collections, including most rap and pretty much all metal. You have no idea how frustrating it can be to pick out a song you think will be good only to hear the vocalist spit a couple of "fucks" in an area of the song that's hard to edit out without mangling it.

Despite these limitations, however, it's been a fun project. So far we've mashed out a mostly finalized tracklist, and are now trying to determine the best order to put them in. Here's what we have right now:

"Love You So" by The King Khan & BBQ Show
"Love's A Real Thing" by Super Eagles
"Keep Me" by The Black Keys
"Gimme Danger" by The Stooges
"Ambulance" by TV On The Radio
"Some Unholy War" by Amy Winehouse
"Hands Of Our Love" by The Quantic Soul Orchestra feat. Alice Russell
"E.T." by One Be Lo
"Into The Sun" by Diplo feat. Martina Topley-Bird
"King Of Silence" by Cibo Matto
"Missile ++" by Blonde Redhead
"Eres Tú" by Aguaturbia
"Start Wearing Purple" by Gogol Bordello
"All Is Full Of Love" by Björk
...and a super-cheesy hidden track thrown in for good measure. ;-)


Once we get the packaging all designed and whatnot, I'll post the final tracklist and product. I'm not gonna lie though, it's probably going to be awesome.



Monday, November 10, 2008

Grails - Doomsdayer's Holiday (2008)

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Grails - Doomsdayer's Holiday (2008)

I have to admit that when I'm looking for new music to listen to, skimming through reviews and band descriptions, there are a few key words that almost always pique my interest: "psychedelic", "doom", "bluesy", "g-funk", comparisons to bands I already like, etc etc. Though these words ultimately matter little when I'm actually listening, they do play a not so small role in determining what I listen to first. For Doomsdayer's Holiday, the keywords were "eastern instruments", which suddenly took a band that I had a passing interest in and rocketed them near the top of my "Album's I Must Check Out" list. What can I say? I'm a sucker for a sitar.

The album begins with the doomy title track, followed by "Reincarnation Blues", which begins to make use of the aforementioned eastern instruments, though my knowledge isn't deep enough to place which one (I want to say a guzheng). Despite sounding different, the two songs are very similar in a way. How can I best describe this? ...You know that feeling of excitement you get when you start some sort of creative project and you're all gung-ho about it until midway through it's completion and then the frustrations begin mounting, at which point you muddle through the rest of the way, perhaps out of obligation or sheer stubbornness? The first two tracks are the auditory equivalent of that. Roaring out of the starting gate only to limp across the finish line like a poorly trained runner who got too excited and forgot to pace himself.

The last five tracks remedy this bad habit immediately. Grails abandon the heavy rock approach to slow things down to an almost meditative pace, starting with the "The Natural Man", an airy acoustic track that even throws in some flute action with fantastic results. More songs need flutes, "The Natural Man" led me to determine. After the brooding "Immediate Mate", "Predestination Blues" gives the band another opportunity to rock out, which again brings a middle eastern sound for a Lawrence of Arabia-esque hard rock cover band feel. By this time, the band has learned to pace the track better, as the song climaxes at the right time.

By the album's conclusion, I learn that there is no sitar, and a great wave of sadness sets over me. I give myself a moment to weep and sort through my thoughts, and ultimately decide that the album is still pretty good without it. The short overall playtime may be a deterrent for some, but Doomsdayer's Holiday packs enough good music to warrant repeated listens.



Score: 7.5/10








"The Natural Man"








"X-Contaminations"


Friday, November 7, 2008

Nine Inch Nails - The Slip (2008)

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Nine Inch Nails - The Slip (2008)

The Slip was released earlier this year for free via the Nine Inch Nails website, mere months after the free release of the four-disc/part Ghosts I-IV album. I was never really a NIN fan growing up, but if someone's going to give away their music for free on the internet, then why the hell not see what it's about, ya know? I was a bit underwhelmed by the dark ambient meandering of Ghosts, so I wasn't expecting much from The Slip. But I must say, I'm really surprised by how not terrible this album is. More than that, I'm surprised by how good it is.

Having laid off the drugs and no longer content with being the musician of choice for cutters and goth kids, Trent is much more upbeat these days. The Slip seems to be along the lines of the more recent NIN albums (and to some extent, similar to the Reznor produced album The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust! by Saul Williams), so there's electro-industrial pop aplenty. But the songs feel more confident this time out than what I've heard of him recently. The pacing of the album is effectively managed. Save for the largely pointless and barely audible opener "999,999", the album starts off fast and upbeat, then slowly brings the mood down to darker territory as the album progresses. So while "Letting You" and "Corona Radiata" have very little in common, the journey that takes you from the former to the latter is nearly flawless in it's fluidity.

It's nice to see that an artist who has embraced music's digital age as readily as Reznor (which usually includes embracing the A.D.D. listening habits associated with it) is still giving great care to the craft of an album. At 43-minutes, The Slip is less than half the length of Ghosts I-IV. If he continues to trim the fat this well and doesn't indulge too much into ambient territory, I'd happily pay for the next NIN album.


Score: 7/10








"1,000,000"








"Echoplex"


Thursday, November 6, 2008

Digital Good Time VI

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Digital Good Time VI
(Digital Good Time is a series in which xoxobra focuses on the visual side of music)

A few years ago I came upon a book in the bookstore called The Art of Modern Rock, a collection of gig posters created throughout the 80's and 90's for a ton of bands by a ton of illustrators. Priced at $75, it never left the bookstore, but it did leave an impression on me. For a while after that, I entertained the idea of concert poster illustration, which, like music video directing, I saw as another way in which music and the arts mixed. Of the artists I researched during that time, Arik "Moonhawk" Roper quickly became my favorite gig poster artist.

His signature style of dark, surrealistic, fantasy watercolors never failed to impress, whether they graced album artwork, gig posters, or other music related prints. One of his most recent projects, for Ancestors excellent debut album Neptune With Fire (which I reviewed here), inspired me to pay tribute to the man by featuring some of my favorite pieces of his.


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Illustration for Guitar World Magazine (2007)

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Illustration for Revolver Magazine (2006)

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T-shirt design (2006)

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Illustration for Arthur Magazine (2006)

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Another illustration for Arthur Magazine (2006)

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Earth - The Bees Made Honey In The Lion's Skull album cover (2008)



Tuesday, November 4, 2008

...We Ain't Are Ready To Have A Black President.

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As I type this, Barack Obama has been the projected president-elect of the United States of America for under an hour. I still can't believe it. This is an event that I've been dreaming of for the past year but was always skeptical of whether or not I'd ever see the day. I was skeptical of whether we could get past the race issue and accept him as a viable candidate. I was skeptical of whether the young voters who were so enthusiastic about him would actually show their enthusiasm by getting out and standing in the voting booth. We did, and we did so emphatically. People of all ages and all backgrounds. At this point I'm still trying to absorb the enormity of it all.

One major observation, though.

Watching McCain's (excellent) succession speech, I couldn't help but notice the overwhelming racial discrepancy. The disappointed looks on hundreds, perhaps thousands, of white faces, starkly contrasted against the fully diverse crowd gathered at Grant Park as I sit here in front of this keyboard. And I can't help but think, now that is America. America is not represented in the predominantly white small towns that Sarah Palin praises, calling "the real America". America is not represented in the near mythical image of a bald, white plumber from Ohio. Yes, they are a part of America, but so are the many blacks and Asians and Hispanics and other minority groups that will be the collective majority in 2042.

In 2042, America will finally represent what the world as a whole is already like. Looking at it that way, it's stunning that it has taken us this long to select a leader of the free world that is brown, though I'm glad that we've finally done so. I've been taught since grade school that this country is a melting pot of different backgrounds and ethnicities. That we are a diverse nation. I see that idea represented in Chicago. I did not see that in Arizona.

But enough cynicism for now. I'll save the more in depth analyzation about race and about the challenges we still face for a later date when I'm better rested. For now, I'll just enjoy this moment.

And enjoy some Nas.









"Black President"


And Though It Seems Heaven Sent...

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Today is Election Day in America. Like many people, I've followed this election more closely than any other, and as a result have a lot invested emotionally in it's outcome. I'll be spending the bulk of this day casting my vote, followed by a night of gluing myself to the television to watch the results pour in. I hope that you plan on doing the same (well, the voting part, at least) if you haven't already.

So no music post today, but I'll leave you with this election-related video I liked that has been making the rounds, which brings back the "wassup guys" who were made famous from the Budweiser ad campaign eight years ago.




Peace.


Monday, November 3, 2008

Ancestors - Neptune With Fire (2008)

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Ancestors - Neptune With Fire (2008)


October 24th, 2008
"Whoa....Om, you've just been pwned."


That was the sole note I left about Neptune With Fire after my first listen to it, meant to express my immediate appreciation for this album in comparison to my lukewarm opinion of Om, one of Ancestors' musical peers. Like Om, Ancestors specialize in epic, 15+ minute progressive/stoner/doom metal marathons. It's a risky format, as it only gives the band room for two to four songs per album, meaning the album becomes a real drag if any of those songs falter at any moment. And don't even think about trying to recover from one bad track. There's just no room for filler. Om, however, have become quite good at providing an awesome opening track that ends up desperately trying to carry the aimless, less interesting music that follows. Ancestors, thankfully, avoid such mistakes. Two tracks. Both fantastic.

The opening title track starts off with a heavy stoner rock section with vocals (sounding a tad like Electric Wizard's Jus Oborn) before lapsing into a psychedelic, effects-laden guitar solo, which then builds back into heavy rock territory for the climax. The pacing throughout is excellent, as even at 17-minutes long it still feels too short. The even more epic "Orcus' Avarice" begins with church organs before launching it's low-end, slow rolling guitar attack. Though instead of going again with the loud-quiet-loud structure, the track eventually introduces a ghostly, almost operatic female vocal part to close out the song's last third on an unexpected dramatic note. In simple terms: it rocks.

Neptune With Fire is a stunning debut by Ancestors. So powerful in execution that not even cheesy lyrical themes and my least favorite Arik Roper cover art in a while can hold it back from greatness.


Score: 9/10








"Orcus' Avarice" (excerpt)