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

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.

Grails - Doomsdayer's Holiday (2008)

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"

Nine Inch Nails - The Slip (2008)

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"

Digital Good Time VI

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.

Illustration for Guitar World Magazine (2007)

Illustration for Revolver Magazine (2006)

T-shirt design (2006)

Illustration for Arthur Magazine (2006)

Another illustration for Arthur Magazine (2006)

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

Links:
Arik Roper

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

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...

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.

Ancestors - Neptune With Fire (2008)

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)