Weekend Picks - 02/11/11

I seem to go through phases when I'm listening to music. One day I'll be listening to Brit-pop from the 90's, and the next day I'll be blaring European metal bands. I like the variety...I like revisiting records I haven't heard in a while, only to be quickly reminded as to why I enjoyed them so much in the first place. This week included a lot of that "revisiting"...and my music week was an International cocktail of OC Punk, British Space, Americana, and Icelandic "out-of-this-world-ness". Enjoy...

Weekend Picks - 02/11/11

-Jonsi: "Go"
-Social Distortion: "Somewhere Between Heaven And Hell"
-The Verve: "A Storm In Heaven"
-The 77's: "Sticks And Stones"
-Rheanna Downey: "Tour De Felicite EP"
-Kathleen Edwards: "Back To Me"

Buy these records...thank me later.

Note: If you don't know who the picture above features...you're beyond saving. Mike Ness (Social Distortion) and The Boss (The Boss)...two rock "peas in a pod"...live at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, NJ. They did a great rendition of "Bad Luck" with the E Street Band a few years ago. Ness came out to sing it with Springsteen at his L.A. date...and the crowd went nuts.

Sigur Ros - "Hoppipola" - Heima (Live)

Here's a little mid-week palate cleanser from Sigur Ros. Not only does it showcase the grandiose beauty that is Sigur Ros, but it also give us a little taste as to how beautiful Iceland really is. This is one of my favorite songs by them...and it's refreshing to see a band pull of their sound in a live setting...even if it takes half of a marching band to do it. Enjoy...

Gates - "The Sun Will Rise And Lead Me Home"

As I have said before, there aren't too many "new" bands that really get me excited. Maybe I'm just a creature with refined tastes...or maybe I have turned into some sort of jaded, 34 year old arm-chair critic/hack who hates everything? What fun! I admit that my tastes might not be everyone's "cup-o-tea"...but they are mine, and I am content enjoying my record collection...even if it is, for the most part, stuck in the 90's. Despite me being out of touch with most new music, I still love that giddy feeling I get when I hear something that rocks. I recently came across Gates (Thanks to a short write-up on the WashedUpEmo blog), and when something pleases my ears as much as their new EP, I can't stop myself from gushing about it. I'll cut through all the nonsense and just come out and say it: This band is amazing...easily my favorite new band of the year and we're barely into February.

"The Sun Will Rise And Lead Me Home," is a six song slice of brilliance. This EP is perfect...and I would be hard pressed to give very many examples of "perfect" records (granted it is only six songs...but I won't disparage it due to brevity). While it loosely reminds me of other bands (The Appleseed Cast, for one), it is NOT a nostalgia trip through the Deep Elm discography. The songs swell, with delayed guitar parts weaving in between each other. The drums breathe...striking a balance between pushing the tempos a long, and pausing just long enough to allow a guitar, or vocal melody, to rise above the mix. The vocals are crisp and powerful, and the sense of good melody really shines above the beauty of the instruments. There have always been bands that were able to build amazing sound-scapes (Explosions In The Sky, Tristeza), but many of those bands lacked the pop sensibilities that people could grasp. Gates does an excellent job melding those two worlds together...beautiful mini-epics married to a strong display of vocal melody. Real "songs" that are an ideal place to get lost in during your 30 minute lunch break.

Buy this record...thank me later.

Top 7 Rock Albums From San Diego

San Diego...the place that I've rested my head for much of my life...has been the home of a myriad of great bands. The music scene here has always been somewhat eclectic, from the low-fi goodness of Truman's Water, to the rock-n-roll spectacle of Rocket From The Crypt. Once labeled "the next Seattle" by some moronic journalist, San Diego has continually been a hotbed of musical talent, some of which have slogged it out locally, and some who have been catapulted into teen-aged stardom. When I was in high school I was able to see bands like Blink 182, and P.O.D., in their infancy...years before Mtv and the rest of the world began to notice. I also had the opportunity to witness, first hand, the musical brilliance of Drive Like Jehu, Three Mile Pilot, and No Knife, destroying stages and leaving audiences (and myself) with the feeling that they had just witnessed something truly special. So here is my list...my nominations for the top 7 rock records to come out of San Diego. Maybe it won't be definitive...and maybe some San Diegan's will find it mediocre at best...but these are my picks and I'm sticking to them. Enjoy...

-Rocket From The Crypt - "Scream, Dracula, Scream!": This is rock-n-roll in it's purest form...it's primal...manic...and it's huge amounts of fun. If The Stooges had been a "Motown" band I think they would have sounded a lot like RFTC. If this album was any more "fun" it would be illegal.

-Pinback - "Blue Screen Life": For me, this record defines what good "indie" rock should sound like. Catchy songs, intricate percussion/beats, and smart lyrics. Very few bands do an adequate job of mastering the art of subtlety, and Pinback trumps them all.

-No Knife - "Riot For Romance": This record is angular, full of big guitars, and never delves to far into the realm of math-rock inaccessibility. Never derivative, No Knife truly hit their stride with this record...a post-punk classic that could easily rival anything on Dischord.

-Drive Like Jehu - "Yank Crime": This is what punk rock should sound like...It's loud, aggressive and dissonant. This record spawned a thousand bands trying their best to recreate this album, and all of them failed miserably.

-P.O.D. - "Satellite": P.O.D. had been doing the rock/rap thing since the early 1990's...so when they finally broke into the mainstream their sound was no surprise to me (or the legions of SD fans they already had). This album was a mix of everything I liked about them (heavy music/epic choruses/faith) without any of the nu-metal stupidity that went a long with most of the bands they were compared to.

-Three Mile Pilot - "The Chief Assassin To The Sinister": Epic in stature...it's an experimental trek...an emotional ride that will totally blow your mind and leave your jaw permanently stuck to the floor. It's heavy, it's quiet...it is "progressive" minus the overwhelming sense of "suck" that is associated with anything "prog".

-Delta Spirit - "History From Below": A great record that teases the listener with country, bluegrass, and rock...propelled by "Bushwick Blues"...a delicious slice of songwriting brilliance from these San Diego natives.

Buy these records...thank me later.

Note: This list was difficult because with each album I posted, I thought of another record I wanted to include. "Lists" are tough...so here are some San Diego bands that also deserve a mention: Lucy's Fur Coat, Rust, Convoy, Superunloader, Dryve, Loam, Buck-O-Nine, Hot Snakes, Reeve Oliver, Fluf, Tristeza/The Album Leaf, and The Rugburns.

Weekend Picks - 02/04/11

Here is the second installment of my "weekend picks"...the definitive list of music that is sure to make your weekend a glorious one, regardless of how cold it might be outside. I see it as my way to warm the hearts and minds of those readers who don't have the luxury of living in San Diego during the winter. For the record, it's 74 degrees with nary a cloud in the sky...

Weekend Picks - 02/04/11

-Gates: "The Sun Will Rise And Lead Me Home"
-Matt Pond Pa: "Emblems"
-Fugazi: "In On The Kill Taker"
-Jawbox: "Self Titled"
-The Killers: "Live From The Royal Albert Hall"
-This Will Destroy You: "Young Mountain"

Buy these records...thank me later.

Note: The picture posted above is a live shot of Fugazi...one of the greatest bands of all time...and one of the best live bands you'll ever see.

A Hope For Home - "The Everlasting Man"

A few years ago I attended a "hardcore" show here in San Diego to catch up with some old friends. Since it was a show full of heavy bands I thought I would do my part and choose an outfit that would help me blend in, or at least help me feel a little younger. No, I didn't wear a Bane t-shirt, camo shorts, and New Balance sneakers (my days of being a "pit-boss" never really came to fruition), but I did opt for an old Snapcase shirt...which surprisingly garnered more attention than I had hoped for. I had 3 people, who were easily under the age of 18, ask me if "Snapcase" was a new clothing company. It was a reminder to me that a) I am an old man, and 2) my frame of reference for hardcore sits comfortably in the decade of the 90's. That's not a bad thing seeing as though some of the greatest records of the genre were released during that time: Records by Snapcase, Earth Crisis, Strife, Shai Hulud, Strongarm, and Refused to name a few. I'm pretty far removed from being "up" on what's happening in the scene, and it's rare that new hardcore bands actually catch my attention. Most of it sounds contrived...it's style over substance...fashion over passion. Maybe I'm making a gross generalization, but in my opinion I think most of the "hardcore" coming out these days is laughable at best. Very few hardcore bands get me excited (read: I'm underwhelmed), and I end up just comparing the listening experience to the excitement I felt hearing Shai Hulud for the first time (1997). "The Everlasting Man," by A Hope For Home, rekindled that excitement for me.

I think it's quite a task to not only make interesting music, but to also write an entire record based on the work of G.K. Chesteron. What this album has is both lyrical depth, and musical muscle. You won't find tough-guy posturing, and you won't be bored to death by the rehashing of every riff off the "Fire Storm" EP. "The Everlasting Man" reminds me of the intricate song structures of Strongarm, mixed with the atmospherics of Isis, and the passion of Overcome. All great bands...but that is my reference point for their over-all sound. The music switches from massive guitars and gut wrenching screams, to melodic guitar leads and passionate singing. Sure, the scream/sing thing has been beaten to death but AHFH really have a fresh take on the idea. Songs like "Absolution: Of Flight and Failure", and "Masada: The Spiral Staircase" move seamlessly between massive chunks of distortion and melody, with the juxtaposition of singing and screaming actually feeling like it wasn't an afterthought. The songs move through different tempos while still managing to sound like actual "songs" instead of disjointed parts thrown together to increase their "prog-metal" cred. While the music puts a fresh spin on what "hardcore" can be, the lyrics, based on "The Everlasting Man" by Chesterton, showcase the constant struggle of humankind to make sense of the world around them. Countless bands have tried, and failed, to thematically tie in lyrics with a story or novel, but AHFH actually do it, and sound sincere. Channeling the ideas of someone else and making them your own, with real emotions behind them, can be a difficult journey, but it's one that is perfectly navigated on this record. "The Everlasting Man" is a reminder that great "hardcore" not only pummels the listener with huge riffs, but strikes an emotional chord as well. A Hope for Home has achieved both of these things while putting their own signature on a genre sadly in need of resuscitation.

Buy this record...thank me later.

Top 7 Break-Up Albums

I will never forget the line in "High Fidelity" that asked the question, "am I miserable because I listen to pop music, or do I listen to pop music because I am miserable?" Rock history is a virtual pot-luck of songs about break-up's, failed relationships, significant others killed in various automobile accidents, and other morbid love stories. It's either the greatest form of emotional catharsis, or it's a modern form of torturing yourself...pining over that person you spent hours making mix tapes for ( I am dating myself because I said "mix-tape")...and drowning out the sadness with music. From my experience, those feelings have usually been summed up best by someone else; a poet, a band, or morrissey. So here it is...for all you miserable sacks out there who need something awesome to listen to during this winter of your discontent...

I give you my top 7 break-up albums:

1. Cursive - "Domestica": Apparently penned during the lead singers divorce, it's a scathing critique of the "ex"...and if you can't feel the pain through your speakers, you might want to check if you have a pulse.

2. Jawbreaker - "Dear You": Another punk rock gem that will soothe your aching heart. A blistering journey through the depths of human depression...with many-a-jab at the one who wreaked havoc on the heart.

3. Joy Division - "Closer": While not a classic "she broke my heart" record...this album is a blizzard of darkness. If a slab of concrete in a morgue could make sounds...it would sound like this record.

4. Marvin Gaye - "Here, My Dear": Not only did Mr. Gaye have an albums worth of lyrical dissing to give his ex-wife (Who also happened to be the daughter of Motown Records head Barry Gordy), he also was legally bound to record another record per their divorce. He recorded an entire record of songs describing, in detail, how their relationship crumbled. Here, my dear, enjoy the record I made for you...forever.

5. Morrissey - "Viva Hate": A nice trip down depression ave. with the amazing lyrics of the Moz. With songs like "Suedehead" and "I Don't Mind If You Forget Me" you can easily spend an enjoyable hour drowning your sorrows with one of the best vocalists, ever.

6. Park - "It Won't Snow Where You're Going": This album is not only a gem musically, but the lyrics are sure to remind you that somewhere, someone else has had it much worse than you could ever have it. Someone apparently dated the devil incarnate...

7. Ryan Adams - "Love Is Hell 1 & 2": An amazing snapshot of the life, and death, of a relationship. Drown your tears with this record...from start to finish. It isn't the darkest record...and it isn't the most depressing...but it is a perfect record for a rainy day.

Buy these records...thank me later.