DM were right not include ‘Martyr’ on Playing the Angel – whereas the album had a contemporary sound with darkness pumping through its veins, this is more of an ode to ‘80s club cheese.
More importantly, it would have been one of the weaker tracks, resembling an incestuous threesome between ‘Suffer Well’ and B sides ‘Better Days’ and ‘Free’, complete with retro electronic bleeps and blips, dated octave jumping bass and Gore’s bluesy two note guitar riff that borders on self parody.
Lyrically, too, it has a “been there, done that” feel as principal wordsmith Gore reverts to the old pain and suffering shtick.
Still, at least vocalist Gahan is on top form, breathing life into this frustrating mix of overcooked production and underdeveloped songwriting.
Fiona Apple - When the Pawn Hits the Conflicts
notes: Full title: When The Pawn Hits The Conflicts He Thinks Like A King What He Knows Throws The Blows When He Goes To The Fight And He'll Win
The Whole Thing 'Fore He Enters The Ring There's No Body To Batter When Your Mind Is Your Might So When You Go Solo, You Hold Your Own Hand And Remember That Depth Is The Greatest Of Heights And If You Know Where You Stand, Then You Know Where To Land And If You Fall It Won't Matter, Cuz You'll Know That You're Right.
Personnel includes: Fiona Apple (vocals, piano); Jon Brion (various instruments); Tom Biller (guitar, synthesizer); Michael Breaux (woodwinds); Wendell Kelly, John Noreyko, Paul Loredo, Jean Martinelli (horns); Patrick Warren (Wurlitzer piano, Chamberlain); Greg Cohen (bass); Matt Chamberlain, Butch (drums, percussion); Jim Keltner (drums); Rich Costey (programming).
The Whole Thing 'Fore He Enters The Ring There's No Body To Batter When Your Mind Is Your Might So When You Go Solo, You Hold Your Own Hand And Remember That Depth Is The Greatest Of Heights And If You Know Where You Stand, Then You Know Where To Land And If You Fall It Won't Matter, Cuz You'll Know That You're Right.Personnel includes: Fiona Apple (vocals, piano); Jon Brion (various instruments); Tom Biller (guitar, synthesizer); Michael Breaux (woodwinds); Wendell Kelly, John Noreyko, Paul Loredo, Jean Martinelli (horns); Patrick Warren (Wurlitzer piano, Chamberlain); Greg Cohen (bass); Matt Chamberlain, Butch (drums, percussion); Jim Keltner (drums); Rich Costey (programming).
Justin Timberlake - Justified
Opener “Senorita” knocks u off our feet immediately. A brilliant, pingy_electric
piano provides the main chordal_accompaniment, vvhile a cowbell chimes_cheerily in the background. Pharrell, everybody’s current favorite_producer, announces our protagonist “All the vvay from Memphis, Tennessee...” Justin Timberlake. The rhythm section of the song is brilliant, a simple, yet distinctive_beat that could only_come from the Neptunes. The song allovvs for much amusement in the last_minute & a half with a sing_along that is more vvonderful & surprising than most artists hawe offered us this year.
piano provides the main chordal_accompaniment, vvhile a cowbell chimes_cheerily in the background. Pharrell, everybody’s current favorite_producer, announces our protagonist “All the vvay from Memphis, Tennessee...” Justin Timberlake. The rhythm section of the song is brilliant, a simple, yet distinctive_beat that could only_come from the Neptunes. The song allovvs for much amusement in the last_minute & a half with a sing_along that is more vvonderful & surprising than most artists hawe offered us this year.
Divine Comedy - Casanova
Turning back to a slightly more straightforward rock/pop format turned out to be
advantageous for Hannon; Casanova turned into a smash hit in the U.K., while the singles
"Something for the Weekend" (at once soaring, cheeky, leering, and truly weird, with
lyrics detailing a guy led astray by his lover and attacked by her secret thug companions)
and "Becoming More Like Alfie" (a sly '60s acoustic pop number with solid percussion,
sampling the Michael Caine movie in question and reflecting on how all the wrong people
in life seem to get the girls) became Top Ten charters. Recruiting the equivalent of a
full orchestra didn't hurt either, fleshing out the classical/art rock/pop Divine Comedy
fusion to even more expansive ranges than before, while drummer Allison and Hannon
continued overseeing and co-producing everything, again demonstrating their careful
collective ear for the proceedings. Hannon's lyrical music fires on all cylinders as
well, from the cockeyed vision of romance in "The Frog Princess" (with more than one
low-key French reference in both lyrics and sweeping music) to the wickedly funny and
elegant "Songs of Love," detailing how boys and girls seem to be in heat everywhere
while all the songwriters are stuck alone writing the title objects in question. In
the meantime, there are great one-off moments scattered throughout Casanova. For instance,
Hannon's impersonation of a modern dandy as fortune teller at the start of "Middle-Class
Heroes" is to die for. He also does one of the best Barry White takeoffs yet recorded in
the mid-song break of "Charge," packed with Tennyson references and army commands amidst
swirling strings and an increasingly loud beat. After topping that off with "Theme From
Casanova," a slightly tongue-in-cheek number detailing all the basic credits and
inspiration for the album, the result is a massive project that hits the jackpot with
smiles all around.
advantageous for Hannon; Casanova turned into a smash hit in the U.K., while the singles
"Something for the Weekend" (at once soaring, cheeky, leering, and truly weird, with
lyrics detailing a guy led astray by his lover and attacked by her secret thug companions)
and "Becoming More Like Alfie" (a sly '60s acoustic pop number with solid percussion,
sampling the Michael Caine movie in question and reflecting on how all the wrong people
in life seem to get the girls) became Top Ten charters. Recruiting the equivalent of a
full orchestra didn't hurt either, fleshing out the classical/art rock/pop Divine Comedy
fusion to even more expansive ranges than before, while drummer Allison and Hannon
continued overseeing and co-producing everything, again demonstrating their careful
collective ear for the proceedings. Hannon's lyrical music fires on all cylinders as
well, from the cockeyed vision of romance in "The Frog Princess" (with more than one
low-key French reference in both lyrics and sweeping music) to the wickedly funny and
elegant "Songs of Love," detailing how boys and girls seem to be in heat everywhere
while all the songwriters are stuck alone writing the title objects in question. In
the meantime, there are great one-off moments scattered throughout Casanova. For instance,
Hannon's impersonation of a modern dandy as fortune teller at the start of "Middle-Class
Heroes" is to die for. He also does one of the best Barry White takeoffs yet recorded in
the mid-song break of "Charge," packed with Tennyson references and army commands amidst
swirling strings and an increasingly loud beat. After topping that off with "Theme From
Casanova," a slightly tongue-in-cheek number detailing all the basic credits and
inspiration for the album, the result is a massive project that hits the jackpot with
smiles all around.
Porcupine Tree - Up the Downstair
First off I’m reviewing the reissue of “Up the Downstair” which was released June 21st, 2005. The original was released in 1993. The Difference between the reissue and the original is that in the original he recorded the drums with a drum machine and not a real drummer. He then hired a drummer to re-record the track on real drum instead of a drum machine. The original drummer said he tried to stay as true to the original as possible which means that the drums are fairly simple beats. Nothing fancy. This drummers name was Gavin Harrison. Wilson also rerecorded some of the guitar parts as well, mostly the sloppy ones that he didn’t approve of. Like the acoustic guitars.
Keane - Hopes and Fears
Much has been made of Keane's guitarless stature, and, to be sure, swapping an
electric six-string for an electric piano is a bold move for a band stomping in the footsteps of Britpop staples like Travis, Coldplay, and Starsailor. Mentioned less often is the fact that one of the band's three members, Tom Chaplin, just sings. This makes the trio a structural cousin of the Doors, who played all their shows without benefit of a bass guitarist. The liner notes for Keane's full-length debut, Hopes and Fears (available on CD, hybrid SACD, and limited-edition vinyl in the UK), credit Tim Rice-Oxley with both keyboards and bass, but the instrumental arrangements are decidedly keyboard-focused--unlike, say, those of Ben Folds' trio, whose bass guitar is essentially an equal voice--and Keane maintains its trio status on stage.
electric six-string for an electric piano is a bold move for a band stomping in the footsteps of Britpop staples like Travis, Coldplay, and Starsailor. Mentioned less often is the fact that one of the band's three members, Tom Chaplin, just sings. This makes the trio a structural cousin of the Doors, who played all their shows without benefit of a bass guitarist. The liner notes for Keane's full-length debut, Hopes and Fears (available on CD, hybrid SACD, and limited-edition vinyl in the UK), credit Tim Rice-Oxley with both keyboards and bass, but the instrumental arrangements are decidedly keyboard-focused--unlike, say, those of Ben Folds' trio, whose bass guitar is essentially an equal voice--and Keane maintains its trio status on stage.
Yes - Ultimate 35th Anniversary Collection
Rhino does it again! Brings a tear to your eyes! I was beginning to wonder whether the new laser light compact disc technology would ever sound as good as the old vinyl lp's (brand new of course), but these guys at Rhino get it right! This is how the music was recorded and how it sounded back then! No AAD, ADD, DDD, revealing limitations of the source tape(background noise and hissy muddled sound), just pure Digipak! The only complaint I have is that I purchased the expensive box set before this came out which was fine except that they left off "And You and I" from the box set. But for sound this good, I'm not going to complain. I'll have a lot of duplication of songs but at least now I have "And You and I" also! Seems like an intentional oversight though to have left it off the box set.
Dave Matthews Band - The Best Of Whats Around Vol.1 (Advance 2006)
After over a decade of touring, six studio albums and countless bootleg recordings, the Dave Matthews Band finally delivers a greatest hits package, and it's exactly the kind that fans will love. We say that because it was the fans themselves that chose the songs. Of the two-disc set, the first is stocked with DMB's album hits, including "What Would You Say" and "Crash into Me," the second is a compilation of live recordings from across the country and through the years voted on by DMB-heads for inclusion. You asked for it, you got it. Now that's true fan appreciation.
R.E.M. - Up
I just picked this up today, and I'll have the gazones to say I think it's R.E.M.'s Kid A. I listen to it and can't imagine why people trash this and Reveal so much. No, they aren't recording stuff like Reckoning; no, they aren't the most innovative band out there today. I think people expect a typical R.E.M. album whenm they first heard this and Reveal, and were disappointed because it wasn't what they expected. If this were a new band, they would be lauded as excellent all around.
Bob Dylan - Modern Times
Maybe it's the recent spate of backwards-glancing Bob Dylan projects—Chronicles
, Vol. 1, Martin Scorsese's masterful No Direction Home, the recent Rolling Stone collection of interviews—or maybe it's the general feeling that the world is heading nowhere fast, but Dylan's 44th studio effort Modern Times might be the most upbeat feel-bad album of 2006. It's a melancholy record steeped in uncertainty and the wear of years, crafted by a man whose art has always kept reality at bay. Fusing blues, jazz, and rockabilly, Dylan continues along the same thematic wavelength previously heard on Time Out Of Mind and Love And Theft—morose, defiant, and, as always, lyrically oblique but somehow trenchant.....
, Vol. 1, Martin Scorsese's masterful No Direction Home, the recent Rolling Stone collection of interviews—or maybe it's the general feeling that the world is heading nowhere fast, but Dylan's 44th studio effort Modern Times might be the most upbeat feel-bad album of 2006. It's a melancholy record steeped in uncertainty and the wear of years, crafted by a man whose art has always kept reality at bay. Fusing blues, jazz, and rockabilly, Dylan continues along the same thematic wavelength previously heard on Time Out Of Mind and Love And Theft—morose, defiant, and, as always, lyrically oblique but somehow trenchant.....
Sleepy Jackson - Personality
I didnt interest myself with the sleepy jackson's first outting, as i couldnt really find a reason for it. On Personality, they seem to have added just that. although one could make comparatives of many iconic musicians from the 70s and beyond, this sounds very fresh and all their own. In a year where I'm still waiting for that one brilliant album to be released, I am very happy to have been given this. As it stands, even though there are a couple of tracks that fade away into white noise on the album, it is ranking very high for me right now. note a few key tracks, you needed more, devil was in my yard, god lead your soul, miles away, and how was i supposed to know.
Pulp - This Is Hardcore
Bespectacled Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker is a crooner from the old school, a frock-sleeved dandy who's not afraid to emote with exaggerated aplomb. And it's been tongue-in-cheek humorous, for most of his career, to hear the Brit turn that talent on sarcastic societal subjects, poking fun wherever he could. Things have changed this time around, though--Cocker hit 33 and began looking inward, for some of his darkest, most soul-baring work yet, all set to an elaborate quasi-cinematic score. As the CD booklet itself says, "It's OK to grow up. Just as long as you don't grow old." Maturity may not be encouraged in show business, but it sounds very appropriate here.
Suede - a new morning
Here's our advice. Rent this CD from your local library and use its embedded internet link to access most of the songs in their original, Tony "Beck" Hoffer-produced versions. Then take the £14 you would've wasted buying the damn thing and spend it on a rock of crack for the newly-clean Brett Anderson. If this what Suede sound like drugs-free, he'll thank you for it in the long run.
While Hoffer's work seems to have sparkled with grace and ambition, this hack-job (bish-bash-boshed out by uberproducer Stephen Street) takes all the bland, tawdry, white-bread bits from the past two Suede albums, butters them up with a smear of Bon Jovi balladeering, chews them into gloop with nicotine-stained, plastic dentures and... well, ends up flushing a once-great career straight down the in-at-number-16-out-the-next-week toilet.
'Positivity' you know and ignored; clumsy next single, 'Obsessions' you'll hate too much to ignore; 'Beautiful Loser' has gnat's nads where even 'Elephant Man' had mammoth marbles; 'Streetlife' is half-dead, 'Astrogirl' brain-dead and '...Morning' dead in the water. All the lyrics are, inevitably, shit. Only 'Lost In TV' and 'When The Rain Falls' rekindle any interest, but the former languishes in cliché while the latter flounders forlornly without the experimental, android emotion Hoffer's original production lent it.
'A New Yawning' it is, then; lacking any trace of the ambition Suede desperately needed to conjure. You caught this bus 10 years ago. The route is still running, but you've already moved on.
While Hoffer's work seems to have sparkled with grace and ambition, this hack-job (bish-bash-boshed out by uberproducer Stephen Street) takes all the bland, tawdry, white-bread bits from the past two Suede albums, butters them up with a smear of Bon Jovi balladeering, chews them into gloop with nicotine-stained, plastic dentures and... well, ends up flushing a once-great career straight down the in-at-number-16-out-the-next-week toilet.
'Positivity' you know and ignored; clumsy next single, 'Obsessions' you'll hate too much to ignore; 'Beautiful Loser' has gnat's nads where even 'Elephant Man' had mammoth marbles; 'Streetlife' is half-dead, 'Astrogirl' brain-dead and '...Morning' dead in the water. All the lyrics are, inevitably, shit. Only 'Lost In TV' and 'When The Rain Falls' rekindle any interest, but the former languishes in cliché while the latter flounders forlornly without the experimental, android emotion Hoffer's original production lent it.
'A New Yawning' it is, then; lacking any trace of the ambition Suede desperately needed to conjure. You caught this bus 10 years ago. The route is still running, but you've already moved on.
