Old News Is Old

From New York Magazine:

On the basis of ubiquity alone, Dave Sitek continues to win this TV on the Radio hiatus. Following his own solo album and a single from Aziz Ansari's alter ego comes the news that Sitek will be playing bass and writing music for the new, as-yet-untitled Jane's Addiction album. On-and-off original bassist Eric Avery was most recently replaced by former Guns N' Roses low-end man Duff McKagan, but he's split, too, leaving the spot wide open for ... yes, Dave Sitek. Unless Tunde Adebimpe joins the Foo Fighters, this will be hard to top. [Spinner]

WHAT.THE.MOTHER.FUCK.

Why am I ALWAYS the last person to find out about these things? God DAMN!

And All that Could Have Been

Hi all. I'm taking a break from my usual everyday brooding to bring you the first official review I submitted to a magazine. Of course, it sucks so bad they didn't write back to let me know if they liked it or not, but I think it's pretty much one of the coolest reviews I've written. That says a lot about my judgment and standards, doesn't it? The album sucks a truck load of donkey dick, but I did my best to enjoy it and, much to my embarrassment, I kind of did.

Dying to Say This to You, by The Sounds

Dying to Say This to You is the sophomore album by Swedish power-pop band The Sounds. In an effort to cross over from indie to mainstream, the band delivered an album that is cohesive and spunky, with plenty of catchy elements to make it a favorite among party-fiending teenagers all across the world.

Dying to Say This to You has energy. This energy is represented in the band’s use of synths, the playfulness of the lyrics and their delivery, which found a vigorous and strong ambassador in lead singer Maja Ivarsson, and more than anything, its sass. This is, indeed, a happy record, full of colorful moments to make it memorable. Producer Jeff Saltzman did a good job in providing the band with plenty of synth-rock influence to render a truly commercial pop album. His previous work in The Killers’ Hot Fuss, and the massive success of this album should have been enough of a starting point for the Swedish new wavers to get in the right mindset.

While not a particularly huge fan of pop rock, I can’t help but noticing the strengths of this album. It is undoubtedly enjoyable, fun and cheerful. It features plenty of 80’s-evoking keyboard lines to appeal to my new wave-loving self, and at times, one can find comfort in harsh, garage-rock-style guitars and edgy vocals. Much of the band’s shortcomings are seen in their songwriting – which proves juvenile and simplistic at times – and slightly annoying overproduction.  This is not a mean record, full of anger or raw power, but it will surely put your ears at ease and take you to a sweet place – a place where you will dance non-stop and enjoy being young.

This album spawned a slew of good tracks, most represented by “Painted by Numbers”. This is, absolutely, one of the strongest tracks of the album, in which one can clearly see the band at its finest: vivacious synths, feisty delivery of vocals – reminiscent of Debbie Harry or PJ Harvey – and heavy guitar riffing.  Other standout tracks include the single “Song with a Mission,” the earnest ballad “Night After Night” and “Queen of Apology.”

Creative, spontaneous and packed full of pop sensibilities and teenage energy, Dying to Say This to You has carved out its own place in mainstream pop and my synth-loving heart.

I guess I'm not good at anything I actually feel motivated to do. Heh, that's life.

UPDATE:

Turns out, the delay was due to the fact that everyone in the magazine read my review and were discussing it and deliberating about it. And guess what? They loved it. Today, I got an email from them telling me I was hired. So there you have it, I am officially a music journalist. Er, or whatever.

Go here for more info on the magazine I will be writing for.

If I Could Bring Them Back to Life, I'd...

Lately I've been thinking about the importance for bands to be touring periodically. Other than mere finance matters, bands need to tour to feed their fans with the appropriate fix of live music every once in a while to keep themselves vital and fresh in the music world. Some bands are able to keep the tour thing going for a while, even long after they've broken up and parted ways, because of course, money doesn't grow on trees. Some others play the "reunion" thing and stage a completely bullshit-filled "reformation" only so they can sell lots of tickets. For extra impact, some bands do the "farewell tour" thing, or something to that effect. And some other bands, usually the really awesome ones, never really tour, and if they do or ever did, it is/was impossible for me to attend their shows.

There are a few bands I wish I could bring back from band demise heaven, or hope their asses go broke so they can stage a fucking reunion tour and let me see them live. (PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!!!)

Joy Division: Given. I just had to say it. Poor Ian killed himself way too early in the game. I'm pretty sure, had he stayed alive, he would have stopped touring a long time ago. From what I've heard, their live shows weren't exactly awesome, but the band was just too fucking legendary to miss.

Video bonus: Transmission and She's Lost Control ('79)

Dead Can Dance: My sources tell me there might be a reunion tour in '11, as well as a new album. Definitely a must. Can't bring myself to say anything bad about Lisa Gerrard or Brendan Perry, even though she's a Bible nut and he's a drunk. Oops.

Video bonus: Cantara ('94)

Morphine: Great band whose promising career came to an abrupt end after the lead singer's death onstage in '97. Wish I'd been at their very last show. That would make a great story to tell my grandchildren.

Video bonus: Buena ('90)

The Beatles: BAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Video bonus: [insert widely overrated Beatles song here]

Concrete Blonde: Currently on tour in Australia. Played some shows in the US before that to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Bloodletting, and of course, I was not there while this was happening. With my luck, the band will get into a nasty, Bernard-Sumner-versus-Peter-Hook kind of fight and will hate each other so much they won't ever, ever, ever play together again, not even in hell.

Video bonus: Heal It Up ('10)

Bauhaus: Reformed for like a minute in '08 but didn't tour cause Peter Murphy is such a little drama queen. I'm not sure how good the show would be now that they're all old and balding but I like the music enough to give them a shot.

Video bonus: Bela Lugosi's Dead ('82)

Xmal Deutschland: A huge fan of pretty much all their work, including their poppy last album, I wish I'd been old enough to see them back in the 80's when they were touring. Instead, I got to grow up in the '90s and endure endless plays of Smells Like Teen Spirit on the radio and Oasis shows in every city on the planet. Life sucks.

Video bonus: Polarlicht ('85)

A Perfect Circle: There's like a gazillion rumors of a possible reunion tour/album, but nothing concrete to keep the spark of hope alive. Until I see Maynard James Keenan and Billy Howerdel off their lazy half naked asses onstage playing Passive, I will consider them as dead and long gone. As a bonus, I saw a tweet by Danny Lohner today where he mentioned that APC were rehearsing. One can only hope.

Video bonus: Sleeping Beauty ('00)

Every other post punk/goth/new wave/synthpop/industrial band that was playing shows in the late '70s-early '80s and no longer is: I'm sure Cabaret Voltaire, The Birthday Party, Coil and Fad Gadget were all such a trip live. I was born in the wrong era, sadly, and these bands are no longer playing. God hates me. He doesn't exist and he still hates me. That's how much he hates me.

Video bonus: Cabarer Voltaire - Kino ('86)

Siouxsie and the Banshees: I know they are already included in the above, but I had to write a separate entry for them because they are not just a post punk/goth/new wave/synthpop/industrial band in my eyes, but one of the most inspirational and uncompromised acts in the post punk era. I still can't get over how SUPERB Nocturne is. Makes me wonder how utterly fantastic they were live.

Video bonus: Sin in My Heart ('81) and Israel with Robert Smith ('83)

Cocteau Twins: Are they included in the post punk/goth/new wave/synthpop/industrial band category? Yes? No? Fuck. I miss them dearly. Liz Fraser is... ahem, interesting.

Video bonus: Musette and Drums ('83)

Angels of Light: Their future is uncertain. With Gira reforming Swans and touring with them for a new album, the Angels of Light have been placed in the very flattering backburner until Gira decides that Swans are Dead (again) and goes back to his more acoustic and melancholic venture. Their catalog has a lot of powerful, deeply disturbing songs that I wish I could see performed in a live setting and find out if that way they'd still make me cry.

Video bonus: Nations ('01)

Lard: Jello Biafra needs to stop touring with the Dead Kennedys, get Al Jourgensen out of his coffin and reform Lard. No offense to DK, but Lard has its moments. And I'm pretty sure the Biafra-Jourgensen combo is a machine onstage.

Video bonus: Forkboy ('04)

Option 30: The dance. Oh my god, the dance. I wouldn't even care if they played Justin Bieber backwards over a crazy Tibetan chant, as long as I got to see Trent do the little dance and wear the little outfits. Then again, I don't think that look would be too becoming on present-day Trent Reznor. I liked him better when he was just a little punk doing his little dance and playing bad Police-influenced new wave.

Video bonus: Gotta Look Sharp (circa '85)

Any Krautrock band (even Faust, which is a little ew sometimes): I bet they were the shit back in the day when there was nothing really interesting going on other than mainstream Pink Floyd (meh) and underground bands like Silver Apples (less meh). I really admire the work of some of these bands, and if I could go back in time for a day or two, I'd go to '72 and buy a hipster vinyl of the freshly released Ege Bamyasi.

Video bonus: Can - Vitamin C ('72)

Brainiac: Another band that didn't get to fade away into mediocrity like every other band because of the death of its lead singer. I was really hooked on this band a few years ago. It was actually one of the first electropunk bands I actually liked. Maybe I liked them cause they sounded too punk rock to be electronic. I can only imagine the kind of crazy AWESOME shows they played... *sigh*

Video bonus: To the Baby Counter ('94)

Sometimes I really don't like being young.

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Now playing: Have A Nice Life - Bloodhail
via FoxyTunes

Boring and Expected Swans Show Review

Hello dear friends. I am back from a joyful and very relaxing 2 week quasi-vacation in NYC and life is good. My lovely bf and I had a wonderful time in the city (though I probably had a better time than he did, cause I shopped a lot), and one of the highlights of our stay in NY was that we were able to see Swans live.

For those of you unfamiliar with the band, Swans are one of the most important and influential bands to come out of the famous No Wave era in New York. This was back in 1982. They remained together and released many albums -- though with a different musical direction -- throughout the '80s and most of the '90s, until they disbanded in 1997. Band leader Michael Gira then took on several other projects as a solo artist, producer and member of other bands, until he announced in 2010 that the band would reunite for a new album and tour.

My boyfriend and I are both avid Swans fans, and this announcement was very pleasant for us to learn. We had been talking about spending some time in New York City before finding out about the tour, but nothing had been formally planned. One day, my boyfriend surprised me with two tickets to the Swans' show at NYC's Bowery Ballroom on Oct. 9, 2010, and immediately, our plans were made.


Most people who know Swans and/or have heard any of their live albums are aware of the incredibly loud performances they put on. I was aware of this, but given the extent and diversity of the Swans' catalog, my fears of a sound-induced coma were dispelled. Of course, I was expecting a warm, rather mellow show that encompassed every aspect of Swans, from their harsh beginnings to their softer, more melodic and rather romantic works. And of course, I was punched in the face when everything I expected was soon shattered into a million tiny pieces. I am not saying, under any circumstances, that this was a bad show, or that I am unhappy with the setlist. I will explain in detail later, but first things first: the opening act.

Opening acts are usually hit or miss with the crowd. For any band, picking an opening act that personifies the future of music in a good way and also carries on the values of the headliner is a rather difficult task. Truth is, the audience is there to see the headliner, and the opener is just an added bonus that the audience could do well without, in most cases. There might be cases where the opening act is just as relevant to the audience as a headliner, but that would usually happen on a person-to-person basis rather than as a whole. I know I haven't attended a show where I was more interested in seeing the openers than the headliners, although I do recall a situation where that could be applied, and I talked about that briefly here. In my case, and my boyfriend's case as well, we were not very enthused about seeing Baby Dee open for Swans.


We were both surprisingly content with Baby Dee's set. The music was simple -- just a violin and a cello accompanying Dee's voice and harp playing -- and the lyrics were crazy, with a sense of depth and good humor at times. Both musicians in her band were very skilled, and played gracefully to her half-sung-half-recited lyrics.


Her set was not very long, but it was a nice one. If anything, it gave me some expectations for the show. If a lo-fi, acoustic act opened for Swans, then Swans would play their more recent, less brutally noisy stuff... Wrong.

They kicked off the set with like 10 minutes of really loud feedback. I mean really loud. It was so loud, even some of the diehard Swans fans started to put on earplugs. Then Thor Harris, of Shearwater (and carpentry) fame, came out to play the chimes in the back over the deep layers of feedback.


The rest of the band, including Michael Gira and two extra brass players came out to join in on the noise, playing their instruments as hard as humanly possible. At this point, I am pretty sure blood came out from inside my ears. I was in pain, but it was a good kind of pain.


Remember what I mentioned earlier about my expectations for this show? The band played deconstructed and prolonged versions of early songs and songs from their new album, My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky.


Getting to the venue early allowed us to secure a spot on the first row. We were standing on the left, so we were right in front of Christoph Hahn and Thor, who was in the back. Gira kept most of the show facing away from the audience, and turning to the right, so most of the pictures I have of him are of his ass, like the one above. I didn't have the best view of the rest of the band who were on my right, so I have very few pictures of Norman Westberg, Phil Puleo (whose picture I couldn't take at all), or bassist Chris Pravdica. At least Hahn posed for a few of my pictures, as shown below.

This was before he (and the rest of the band) took off their shirts. Ahem, moving on...

Highlights of the show were a long and loud instrumental solo mid setlist, and the incredible Beautiful Child, from one of my favorite Swans albums, Children of God. After Eden Prison, a song from their latest album, the band thanked the audience and retreated. A minute later they came back for the encore -- a sweet spoken-word kind of number called Little Mouth, which Gira affectionately dedicated to his wife and Angels of Light bandmate, Siobhan Duffy.

The band thanked the audience one last time, sent guitar picks and drumsticks out to the crowd as souvenirs and posed for pictures as they left. I was able to snap a pretty awesome picture of Thor as he posed for the audience. Gira also makes a nice appearance on the right.


I also got some little souvenirs of my own.


The show was incredible, and we both enjoyed it a lot. The noise cruelly raped my ears with the fury of a depraved maniac, but at least I was able to recover my hearing within the next couple of days.

Every Swans fan should get the chance to see this show. Really, it was too good for words. The whole band showed an incredible amount of skill on the set, and it was very amusing to see them give it their all onstage, despite the fact that they are well into their fifties now. As a suggestion, I would tell them to keep their shirts on for the next shows, but a few saggy tummies were easy to bear with when they gave us such great music. I should post a pic of me wearing the Swans t-shirt I got at the show. Here's the full setlist, in case you were wondering.

Edit this setlist | More Swans setlists

In the following days, my boyfriend found a slew of pictures and videos where, unfortunately, we are featured. Here's a screencap from someone's video, where I elegantly highlighted my face and my boyfriend's head, for extra convenience.



You can watch a some videos from the show if you click on this dandy playlist assembled by my bf.

Just to make this review extra professional and journalistic, here's a pic of me and my bf on the train. <3


It actually hurt to try to write a serious review. I will continue with my usual blathering and cursing from now on. Sorry for this momentary lapse of politeness.

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Now playing: Joy Division - The Kill
via FoxyTunes

Electronica Is Not Even a Genre

Electronic playlist for today, Sunday, September 26th, 2010:


The KLF - Last Train to Trancentral
Chu Ishikawa - Megatron
Ladytron - True Mathematics
The Knife - You Make Me Like Charity
Telephoned - Rockin that Thang
Brazilian Girls - Don't Stop
ADULT. - Glue Your Eyelids Together
Röyksopp - Röyksopp Forever
Aphex Twin - Vordhosbn
Cobra Killer - Mund auf - Augen zu (Stecker raus, ich dreh' durch)
Terranova - Plastic Stress
Tracey Thorn - A-Z
Crystal Castles - Fainting Spells
Gonjasufi - Ancestors
Heartsrevolution - Dance Till Dawn
Hey Champ - Cold Dust Girl
M.I.A. - Jimmy
Telefon Tel Aviv - My Week Beats Your Year
Tobacco - Sweatmother

Listen and love. You are welcome.



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Now playing: Everything But The Girl - Missing
via FoxyTunes

Too Much Hatorade

Okay, so here’s the deal. I am SICK of people asking me why I don’t like such and such band and having to justify myself every time. EVERY FUCKING TIME. Because I like rock music, people tend to associate rock with certain bands that I have never got/enjoyed/bothered to check out. So, instead of having to explain, I will refer all those wondering idiots to this post right here.

Bands I dislike that everyone else likes:

The Beatles

I don’t know, maybe I don’t like them because they’re everybody’s favorite? I don’t know. I get why some people cream their pants to the mere mention of their name – to some extent – but I don’t share their sentiments. They have an extensive catalog, most of which I am not familiar with (shame on me, I have an uneducated opinion on the Beatles, boo-hoo), but as such, this catalog has spawned a crapload of singles and popular songs that have become part of our every day lives in this depraved society. Therefore, my learning of their entire catalog (which would possibly take me a good 30 years of my life) seems to be completely unnecessary. For most of the Beatles’ songs I’ve heard have not impressed me. That is why.

Muse

Or MUSE, as per their logo. You know what? I gotta admit, I jumped on the Muse bandwagon back in ‘07 when I had personality issues and also had a brief dark episode when I saw myself attracted to AFI’s first three albums. So this time I am familiar with their music. If you get past the pompousness and pretentious attitude, you’ll find that Muse has brought very little as far as originality to the big sphere of things. They’re sort of a less depressing Radiohead. I think that’s their ultimate goal: becoming the next Radiohead. That kind of thing is a no-no in my book. NEXT!

Nirvana

Ok, here we go. The nineties are my least favorite music era. This band is about fifty percent of the reason. Not only because their music has been present in our lives to this date, seeping into tiny little aspects of one’s existence until it becomes evil manipulative brainwash, but also because thanks to Kurt Cobain, being dirty and not washing your hair became cool. I am the kind of person who likes to shower and wear clean clothes. I also like to speak things that make sense and I choose not to hang out with ugly coked-up skanks, so I see why Cobain and I have different views as to what good music is. Here’s the deal, Cobain was neither a skilled musician, nor a poet. His lyrics never made any sense, to his own admission. People just think waay too much. I guess there’s probably some good things about Nirvana, but I will never find out what they are, cause I hate them. And I guess I hate them because…

Pearl Jam

Holy shit! I can’t even potentially try to be professional and polite about these dudes. I don’t get it. See, the way I see Pearl Jam, they’re one of those high school garage bands that gets together to play instead of doing homework. That’s cool, but only as a pastime until it’s time for college. These dudes’ time for college was back in 1994. That god awful song Black makes my blood boil, seriously.

Ya know what, I’m gonna make a statement right here: Grunge in general makes me go apeshit. I do not like grunge. End of story.

Roxy Music

Poppier than T-Rex, less flamboyant than Bowie, they kind of fell short against the tough competition in the 70’s glam rock arena. They’re kind of huge yawn machine to me.

Vampire Weekend

Music made by preppy frat boys for preppy hipster assholes. I am not either of those things so I find this shit dull, unoriginal and… brown (I have synesthesia, lol). Vampire Weekend is as interesting to me as reading the ingredients on a cereal box. NOT interesting.

Björk

I think her personality might be more interesting than her music. I know she brought some “new” things to the table, and at the time she was a little original, but it’s been a while now, and a little thing called trip hop came around about at the same time as she did, which is a billion times cooler than anything she’s ever done. I like her outfits though. I wouldn’t wear them, but I’d certainly talk about them with my friends behind her back.

The Doors

My boyfriend’s words: Overhyped, protohipster bullshit (ok, the bullshit part was all mine). Something about that keyboard makes me want to scream and then jump off a balcony and then kill myself. And then come back from the dead and kill whoever played The Doors near me. That is it. Hate for hate’s sake.

Linkin Park

Oh god, do I really need to explain? Jesus H, these emo bastards have made a career out of selling angst to angsty Hot Topic goths looking for “meaning” in their lives. I’ve had enough of that shit already, no one buys your suffering when you live in Beverly Hills, have a trophy wife and drive a Lamborghini. (like we say in Spanish, al que le caiga el guante, que se lo chante!)

Another thing: I HATE HATE HATE NUMETAL! HATE!!!

Guns n’ Roses

Axl is an asshole. Even if they had the potential to be cool, he had to ruin it by changing the band’s lineup like it was his underwear. In fact, I think he changed the lineup more than he changed his underwear. Besides, one gets pretty sick of hearing Sweet Child O’Mine everywhere. Get over it, dude.

The Killers

They were never indie, NEVER. Whoever says they listen to indie and then lists this band as one of their favorites, they need to go here ASAP. Just like The Bravery and the Scissor Sisters, this is one of many electro pop bands trying to feed on the indie hype of bands like Interpol and The Strokes, which are not electro at all.

The Postal Service, Death Cab for Cutie, Arctic Monkeys, Franz Ferdinand, The Subways, Bloc Party [insert former-indie-now-mainstream-band name]

Some of these bands might have started off on a good note, and then too much money, fame and Pitchfork kissassery got to their heads and they began to suck. Some of these bands were famous because they ripped off great bands like Gang of Four and The Fall, who are cool and, by association, made them cool. Some of these bands are just really gay and emo. I don’t know, I’m really picky, what can I say?

Queen

Yes, I said it. No, I don’t like Queen. They were just good at being a rock band. They had the whole image thing down. As far as music, there were other bands pushing the limits and coming up with interesting stuff at the same time as these dudes were writing songs like Radio GaGa, and no one cared to give them the attention they deserved. Freddie Mercury was really emo, btw.

There’s a lot more, but I think this pretty much sums it up. This post and my Last.fm account should give you a pretty good idea of what I like and what I don’t. Don’t ask. Thank you.

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Now playing: LCD Soundsystem - All I Want
via FoxyTunes

You Heard It Here First!

Well, maybe not. Remember what I said about not keeping up with new releases here? That's about to change from now on.

Here is a brand new song by one of my all-time faves, Blonde Redhead.

Blonde Redhead - Here Sometimes

Aren't you psyched to hear from these guys after three years?  Song's fantastic, btw. You can hear a lot of Brooklyn and some exotic flare in that small piece of music. Can't wait for the full length to be available soon. At this point, pretty much everyone I wished would release new music last year has successfully done so. Only wish Autolux would release their stupid second album before I die.

I should have a review of the new M.I.A. soon, if I happen to find a free 2 hours or so in my busy schedule. That's all.

Oh Dear God, It's Out!

How to Destroy Angels, the new musical project by former NIN megalomaniac Trent Reznor, and his bitches Mariqueen Maandig (Maandig-Reznor, in case we all forget she’s the dude’s wife) and Atticus Ross, released its debut EP for free on June 1^st. Being the obsessive HTDA fangirl that I am, I actually waited up until 12 am on the first day of June to get my copy of the first installment of the “unstoppable force of greatness”, aka Trent Reznor’s new non NIN-related, NIN-sounding project. You know me, I just can’t resist a piece of outstanding new music. Naturally, like I’ve done for the last couple of years since I started this stupid blog, my first instinct upon finding such poignant piece of artistry was writing books worth of praise about it. Because that’s the least it deserves.

However, due to the unfortunate fact that I am a terrible, highly inappropriate person, I will not do so. Instead, I will proceed to be a horrible bitch and give the album the internet equivalent to a million wedgies. Not because I want to, or because it deserves it, but because I suck.

(From Wikipedia)

No.	Title	Length
1.	"The Space in Between"	3:35
2.	"Parasite"	5:05
3.	"Fur Lined"	4:00
4.	"BBB"	3:31
5.	"The Believers"	5:36
6.	"A Drowning"	7:04

First off, I think I should thank Trent Reznor for giving us all the chance to listen to his unstoppable new EP for free, because he is so generous and thinks about his poor, unfortunate fans who could not afford his new music (even though we all know it’s priceless). Thanks to Trent’s giving personality, I was able to download the HTDA EP in high quality and with pretty color artwork and didn’t pay a cent for it. He definitely saved me the hassle of looking it up on Filestube, so thank you again, Mr. Reznor, for saving me 30 seconds of my precious time.

Ok, let’s get a little serious here. Remember what I said about the HTDA EP on this blog post? Well, I am so happy to announce that no retractions will ever be written, because, as always, I was right; which is excellent because I don’t like being wrong. The EP turned out EXACTLY like I thought it would. Ahem, I hate to say this but IT SUCKS!!! IT SUCKS AS MUCH DICK AS KIM KARDASHIAN AND PARIS HILTON TOGETHER! *does victory dance*

Okay, okay, we’re being serious, remember? While I admit HTDA is about as bad as summer school, I guess I’m not surprised it sucked. Maybe because my expectations were pretty low already before the EP came out. There are worse things than summer school, like watching your parents having sex. Maybe it’s not that the EP necessarily sucks, but that I’m used to different, more creative stuff from Trent Reznor. Not saying that the dude hasn’t made a faux pas in his 21 year-long career, ever; but rather that even his worst was at least decent. For comparison, give With Teeth a spin, and then listen to HTDA. You’ll find that even Getting Smaller has more substance than the whole EP together.

I’m not going to make up some flowery Pitchfork-esque review, because I’m not a pretentious asshole and don’t have enough time to devote to Trent Reznor anymore, so I’ll just be honest and as blunt as ever. This sounds like NIN scraps with tedious autotuned vocals and butthurt lyrics. Whoever says that’s not true can suck it. I know I already talked about the NIN comparisons, but it’s hard not to think about them when every single song sounds like a remix of a previously released NIN song. Being a NIN fan, I should be happy about that, but I think fans deserve a little more respect than that if they’re going to be introduced to music they’ll potentially buy. Especially since THIS IS NOT NIN!

I don’t want to be mean, though. That is so not my purpose in life (lol, it actually is). There are few elements in the EP that I’ve grown to enjoy, not because they display talent or range, but simply because they've “grown on me”. Last night, while giving HTDA a good thorough listen in order to review it, I mentioned to my boyfriend that I was starting to like the opening bars to “The Space in Between”, much to his dismay. He thinks that beat almost as annoying as the vocals, but surprisingly, I sort of like it, for the first 10 seconds. I suppose that is because it reminds me of one my favorite songs, nearLY’s “All Is Lost”. Just then I realized this song really tries to emulate the mood evoked by the aforementioned song, but fails, miserably. Furthermore, if we note the fact that the vocals for "All Is Lost" are performed by Claude Sarne, wife of HTDA "member" Atticus Ross, and that Mariqueen's voice tries really hard to imitate Sarne's in this song, the comparisons become a little more apparent. Ripoff number one. I also almost enjoyed the song “Parasite”, because the intro drumming sounded pretty cool. Then I realized it sounds a lot like “The Beginning of the End” from Year Zero, which in turn, ahem, borrows heavily from The Knack’s 1979’s hit song “My Sharona”. Ripoff number two. I could keep at this forever.

Three songs in, and I’m starting to get bored and, quite honestly, a little pissed off. I haven’t really mentioned Mariqueen Reznor’s involvement in this EP yet because I didn’t want to come off as a jealous, hateful bitch, but I am morally bound to now, because I just cannot let another abomination like “Fur Lined” be produced ever again. Whoever thinks this woman can sing is probably in dire need of a CAT scan. My dog’s barks sound better than her voice. This song, in particular, displays just how fucking annoying her voice can be. At least she was trying a little in the two previous tracks. This song takes elements from “Only” from With Teeth, “Echoplex” and “Discipline” from The Slip, and that’s about the most interesting thing you can say about it. Lyrically, all three songs sound like a 13 year old Brokencyde fan riding the shortbus wrote them. Then, I would have no reason to bitch because we all know being a Brokencyde fan fucks up your brain to the point of total and complete destruction, but I’m sure neither Trent nor Mariqueen (I’m going to assume “Fur Lined” was written by Mariqueen, since that’s what Trent wants us all to believe, and this song isn’t as emo as “A Drowning” or “The Space in Between”) are into crunkcore. Though maybe they are, in which case, I should offer them my sincerest apologies.

Fourth song: “BBB”. Another gem I’m sure was written by Mariqueen. Who else but a shoe-aholic would write so eloquently about boots? Big Black Boots, to be precise. I really dislike this song. I imagine this is some crappy Year Zero outtake that Trent left behind because he knew better back then, that he pulled out of the crappy YZ outtakes folder on his Mac, and then (Mariqueen) added that line about the boots for extra impact. Well, someone should tell them that Year Zero is so '07 now and that Art is Resistance bullshit is so passé. If they thought this song would be the new “Hyperpower!”, they should have noticed “Hyperpower!”had no dumb lyrics, and that’s what made it so good.

“The Believers”, or “The Kiddie Marimba Song”, like I call it, is the third “single” from the EP, and it was the first song to really make me want to flog someone with a broomstick. Of all the six songs, this is the most unoriginal one, which really sucks cause it boasts a reputation for being innovative and original and funky. Braaaaahhhhhhhhh! Ghosts references all over it, a raped and taken apart “The Greater Good” most clearly on display under layers of Nintendo sounds and breathy, uninteresting vocals is what this song has to offer as far as innovation. News flash, Reznor: You already did that whole Nintendo thing in “The Great Destroyer”, and the only reason it worked there is because the music was worth more than five cents, and your voice doesn’t suck.

I’m not even gonna comment on the last song, because I already gave my opinion about it and it hasn’t changed one bit. If anything, I now have way harsher things to say about it, but I won’t because I am nice. Instead, I’m going to leave you with the first video ever by HTDA, “The Space in Between”.

See how Trent is, like, rubbing his awesome wife in our faces? Because apparently, it doesn’t matter how awesome HE thinks she is (which we all know he does), if the world doesn’t buy it, he won’t be happy. Such a mature point of view.

I think, instead of trying to convince the world that his wife is talented by writing lyrics and giving her credit for them, making her play the unbelievably easy synth parts in all the songs and putting her in the foreground in every promo shot, Trent Reznor should just give up and take a break or go back to Nine Inch Nails. I bet we’d have been a little more forgiving about this entire clusterfuck if it’d been released as NIN, with no agenda, no pretentiousness or fanfare. Just give up, Trent. We all know she’s just as bad as we all thought she was at the beginning, no need to start a new band just to showcase her (non-existent) musical ability.

Fuck this shit, I’m gonna listen to some Joy Division to see if I can undo the damage I've inflicted upon my ears. Or maybe I should listen to some Brokencyde. Hmmm…

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Now playing: Terranova - No Peace
via FoxyTunes

I Think Attention Needs to Be Drawn to This

I'm so not keeping up with new indie releases -- I know I should have blogged about this song last year. I intended to, but I'm lazy and had other less important things to deal with at the time.

Memory Tapes - Bicycle

This is a great song. I love this band and how their style keeps going back and forth within the scope of bloghouse indie. Maybe it's just me, but every single one of their songs sounds different from the other. That's quite nice, given that we're surrounded by mass-produced, entry-level indie bands making forgettable, disposable music with pre-programmed beats on their Casios (see MGMT); and when playing some stupid kiddie xylophone on top that same Casio shit magically turns that piece of mediocre musicianship into a genius, groundbreaking work of art (see Vampire Weekend). What kind of world are we living in?!

Wish there were more bands like Atlas Sound (definitely recommend them) and Memory Tapes. Not that I'm a huge fan of either, but they're probably two of the better choices in today's indie.

Oh, BTW... do I hear New Order in this song?

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Now playing: The Faint - Southern Belles in London Sing
via FoxyTunes

I Swore I Wouldn’t Write About This, I Really Did

As anyone who’s been following my stupid blog lately knows, I established an embargo on all things Trent Reznor, following his spectacular display of utter douchiness and lack of respect for his fanbase, especially women, last year. This embargo forbade me to write about Sir Douche-A-Lot in any other way that was not strictly professional, e.g.: his work with Nine Inch Nails – which despite his many personal faults and letdowns remains more or less sort of like my favorite band – his musical collaborations with any other artists which I were to find amusing/worth my time, his solo work – if, of course, it follows the rules mentioned in the previous point – and in general, anything music related that does NOT include any sort of praise to his physical attributes/(rotten) personality/private life. With a few exceptions, I have managed to abide by the rules and respect the embargo, because I’m cool. I’m not sure if what I’m about to write meets the conditions for embargo-worthy, or is an allowed topic, but I am willing to take my chances, because I am sick of stumbling upon wave after wave of hypocrisy and false kiss-assery all over any of my usual internet spots. So, if it’s of anyone’s concern, here are my two cents on:

HOW TO DESTROY ANGELS

Fuck them. Fuck them in the ass with a broomstick and then kill them with fire and throw the remains in the Atlantic. Yes, I might have anger issues, but this is what happens when I get sick of something and I let it get this bad. Reznor-aid drinkers all over the internet are digging this shit and wetting their panties over it, afraid to admit it sucks for fear of questioning their god; and it’s gotten a little (ok, a lot) annoying. Fuck Trent Reznor and his ego, because I’m pretty sure it was his ego that made him depart from NIN and start a new project that sounds exactly like NIN. You know, to stay relevant and have his friend-foe/lover-hater Pitchfork talking about him again. I mean, everyone who’s been following this little man’s career for the last few years knows that, as much as he loves to talk shit about Pitchfork, he loves to be on it. The same way he loves to talk shit about the Grammys, and we all know he’s dying to get another one. We can see right through you, Trent.

But I digress. Sorry, I have ADD. I might be bitter, because I really miss the old NIN days, when there was good music, excellent tours and Meathead, and Trent was an aloof genius you couldn’t help admiring from a distance. And maybe I am biased – ok, I am pretty sure I am biased – and was prompt to judge him based on my personal opinion of what he’s turned into in the last year. What I cannot deny is that whatever he’s up to now, How to Destroy Angels (seriously, what the hell is wrong with him? I know Nine Inch Nails isn’t a great band name, but at least it was good enough and ORIGINAL, and wasn’t the name of a Coil release, hello?! I mean, dude, how hard is it to come up with a band name?!) or whatever, really pales in comparison to his previous NIN work, which is weird cause it sounds just like it. Or maybe it sucks because of it.

I’m sorry, Trent, sycophantic NIN fanatics, Pitchfork, friends and enemies, but anyone with taste and knowledge of NIN history knows this is just a bad hybrid of Fragile-esque lyrics and post-drugs NIN instrumentation. I used to think his writing of self destruction and personal battles was brave and poignant and smart, but after 20 years (seriously, how mopey can a middle aged dude with a mansion in the hills of Beverly and his own personal blow up doll be?) it sounds washed out, unoriginal and, well, fake. I would normally accept it, because I know more than anyone how hard it is to control one’s inner demons, but after hearing how “happy” and “in love” he was (and supposedly still is), I am, quite reasonably, a little dubious when his first single from his new project is a song about drowning and needing saving. Oh, ok, of course, he didn’t write it. His “wife” wrote it. Suuuure Trent, sure. Your wife is your soulmate, we know. In fact, you guys are so much alike she writes with your own words and about the SAME GODDAMNED FUCKING SHIT you’ve been writing since the beginning. Now I see why you married her. Heh. And seriously dude, how unhappy and sad can a woman be if she’s married to your holy almighty ass?! Quoting her, she feels good she’s finally writing “from the heart”. Well, you better start buying her some more shoes, cause IMO, she’s not happy. But I guess neither are you, and a couple that does the whole emo thing together, stays together. Right?

Brah.

Music wise, this wimpy piano extravaganza (seriously, 7 minutes? Why the fuck, dude? If I wanted to hear an introspective downtempo piano song with much better lyrics, I’d play Non Entity! No one needs 7 minutes of depressing lyrics, flat vocals and familiar melody when we can get the same shit in pretty much every NIN album. ) is… here it comes, wait for it… MEH. I’m sorry, Reznor, but with all this experience and expertise, you should be able to put out something better, not just grab old shit, slap nice samples on it with super glue and call it a brand new, original song. Literally, I’ve heard that same piano all over Ghosts, The Fragile, and yes, it sounds just like Non fucking Entity, stripped down version. And Non Entity isn’t even a strong NIN song! If HTDA is about reworking and gay-ifying old NIN songs, then I want a full reworking of good songs like Happiness in Slavery and Somewhat Damaged. Now THAT would be a challenge. Worst of all, now that Mr. Reznor has blown the minds of his poor naïve NINphomaniacs with “NEW STUFF FROM TRENT OMGWTFBBQ!”, and fans all over the world have had a taste of his bomb-diggity music, if they want it they’ll have to buy it. Seriously. Seriously. I mean, if any of you guys out there have ever purchased a NIN album, you shouldn’t even pay for this shit. I know I have. I have dished out lots of money for this dude in the past, and now he expects me to pay for a fucking song that I’ve already paid for?! LOL.

Ah, finally. I feel like I just had a colonic (ew). I’ve finally gotten it out of my system and I’m happy and peaceful and in love with the world again. I know it’s is too soon to judge, as this is only one song out of a six-track EP by How to Destroy Angels due out this summer, but this is how I feel about it at the moment, and if the EP is good, I will apologize, though I seriously doubt it. Now that all’s been said and done, I can go back to writing about my boyfriend and music that does and doesn’t suck. BTW, thank you Reznor, for pulling me out of my blogger’s block and making my lazy ass write again. :D

Ok, you guys can start hating me now.

EDIT:

I'm sorry, I'm stupid and forgot to put a link to the track I just killed:

How to Destroy Angels - A Drowning

According to NINWiki.com

• Music: Trent Reznor
• Lyrics: Mariqueen Maandig Reznor

• Mixed by Alan Moulder
• Label: The Null Corporation

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Now playing: UNKLE - End Titles
via FoxyTunes

I Love New Order like Lindsay Lohan Loves Coke

And even though, because of my mood, there's one New Order song I absolutely love and have been heavily obsessing on for the last couple of weeks...

New Order - True Faith

There's only one song I want to dedicate a couple minutes of my time here (Substance version for extra kickassery):

New Order - Bizarre Love Triangle

Because I'm like, in love and stuff, and it kind of makes sense. Heh, sorry.

*cheesy moment over*



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Now playing: New Order - Thieves Like Us
via FoxyTunes

Procrastination 101

So The Knife got back together and released a (as-of-yet-unreleased) new album (which was conveniently leaked this week), cause I asked them to and they love me so much they just did it.


THIS:

Listening...

Listening...

I am bored.

I am not liking this.

I am underwhelmed.

Sorry, my uneducated musically-disabled ears are allergic to ambient. This sounds a lot like ambient, though I really think they wanted to have people scratching their heads at this and created the totally groundbreaking WTF genre, cause it tries hard to sound experimental/drone/glitch/ambient, but it ends up sounding just weird (for the most part). Sorry, Dreijers. :(

My bet is, Karin let Olof off the leash and near the computer. Bad, bad idea, Karin.

(If only it was this easy for me to write about shit that matters... then I should have no need to procrastinate. I feel out of breath and trapped when I'm working on something that's difficult and words escape me. Then I procrastinate, like I am right now).

By the way, I reserve my right to write a retraction to the opinions hereby expressed.

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Now playing: The Knife - Variation of Birds (OH MY GOD, this track literally made my comp freeze. What the FUUUUU???)
via FoxyTunes

I CALLED IT!!!

Here.

Quoting my own post regarding the possibility of an Atari Teenage Riot reunion:

Atari Teenage Riot: Yes, I know they're no more. But wouldn't it be nice?

Now take a look at this:

YAYYYY!!! I'm awesome, I know. They are pretty cool as well. :)



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Now playing: Alec Empire - Death Favours the Enemy (Live)
via FoxyTunes

I Noticed

This:

Cold Cave - Love Comes Close


Bears a striking resemblance to this:

New Order - Temptation


Someone say I'm right, please.


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Now playing: Lisa Germano - Lullaby For Liquid Pig
via FoxyTunes

A Year's Worth of Obsession, Pt. 2

Here's part 2, as promised.

Brazilian Girls - Homme
As I said once, if I ever get married, this will be my wedding song.

Charlotte Gainsbourg - Elastique
The bass is sweet and so is her voice. Song's freaky, though. That whole album is kind of weird, actually. Suffers from Lolita syndrome.

Killing Joke - Pssyche
Underrated Wardance (which IMO isn't that good a song) single B-side. This song should have been a single, or at least part of a fucking album, not just some rarity in the vast KJ catalog. Probably one of the gothest songs by these dudes.

Atari Teenage Riot - Speed
Rawrrrr!!! Makes you wanna find THE MAN and punch his fucking lights out. Nice to work out to as well.

Puscifer - Rev 22:20
Sexy. Fuck, fuck, fuck, sexy, hell yeah. Seems like Jimmy was seriously lusting after some chick who apparently has a nice rack and gives good head. Think this chick should withhold sex more often, so long as it gets him to make such wonderful songs.

Uh Huh Her - Not a Love Song
Yes, I'm a sucker for tween indie pop. Sue me, I'm weak and infantile. At least this isn't some Animal Collective crap. This is more like the electro/indie '00s version of Alanis Morissette, but with less bitter lyrics and a drum machine. BTW, I hate Alanis Morissette.

Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse feat. Julian Casablancas - Little Girl
From one of my favorite albums of '09. Sounds terribly elitist and a little bit dark. I hate to admit it but I love Casablancas' voice. A little too Strokes-y (guitar solo esp.) but fuck, it sure is yummy.

The Twilight Sad - I Became a Prostitute
Boom! This makes me sad, very sad! Lyrics are powerful, perfectly complimented by the lush guitar work. Together they are able to produce the strange phenomenon of giving me goosebumps. At the right (or wrong) moment, this song could make me cry rivers. So play with caution, please.

Nine Inch Nails - Somewhat Damaged
Ok, here we go again with the NIN crap. I can't help it, I tried not loving NIN for a while and it didn't work. This song has been stuck in my head since I saw it live in June. So a long fucking time. Also, this song played an important part in my bout of depression last year. It didn't make it any better, but for some reason it filled me with enough anger to want to kill lots of people, which did help. Heh TMI.

The Submarines - 1940
Ahem, remember what I just said about tween indie pop? Um, here. This song has a surprisingly pleasant trip-hop vibe, which I enjoy. Like a less cheerful Bitter:Sweet song. Oh, I also love that the vocalist chick's voice doesn't sound like Emily Haines' in this song. Not so much anyway.

Siouxsie and the Banshees - Sin in My Heart
Hah, I think I've been obsessed with all the songs from Juju at some point in my life. It was this one's turn last year. OMG, what a buildup! And the drums! And the voice! God, this woman is FIERCE!!!

Joe Bonamassa - If Heartaches Were Nickels
Oh god, all I can think about is how sexy and delicious that guitar solo is. Whoa. Takes me back to my teenage years when I was obsessed with face-melting solos. This song makes me wanna do things I have no words to describe. Oh fuck...

Black Kids - Listen to Your Body Tonight
Yup, still not over these people. Every time I listen to this all I see is colors. Everywhere. Song has some nice keyboard parts, and overall it's a fun, cute pop tune to shake yer booty to. If you have one.

Jane's Addiction - Three Days
Epicness. Holy crap, this song is The Iliad of songs. Kind of like the nineties' Bohemian Rhapsody but of course minus all the drama and the opera. This is why I loved Jane's Addiction when I was 14-ish and why Dave Navarro will always be my ultimate guilty pleasure. (see face-melting solos comment above)

Shearwater - Leviathan, Bound
There's something quite gloomy and beautiful about these guys' music. I've heard lots of music in my rather short 21 years of existence, and at this point, very little of it moves me. Maybe cause I'm cold or because I have emotional issues. Whatever. It's still nice to find a band whose trademark style I find truly moving. Kinda binds me to be their fan for life. That's these dudes.

Loquat - In My Sleep
Speaking of moving music. This is pretty girly, but emotional nonetheless. Sadly, the Shearwater formula doesn't apply to these guys - their first album didn't do much for me, but their second... fuck. Maybe cause they're not as good as Shearwater. Still, dark lyrics + pseudo electro indie = WIN!

Lisa Hannigan - Sea Song
Never thought I'd ever say this, but the lyrics make sense to me and I like them. Yes, I used to hate men with a passion. Needless to say, something must have happened to me to change that if I all of a sudden think this song is perfect. Equally nice: the orchestral elements and her breathy voice, which is reminiscent, in a way, of Hope Sandoval's.

New Model Army - Stupid Questions
Love. If you ever wonder what my taste is like, you should listen to this song.

Xmal Deutschland - Begrab Mein Herz
Did I mention I'm goth? Heh, I totally am. :O

Grizzly Bear - Two Weeks
Thank you Trent fucking Reznor for turning me onto the catchiest fucking song of the year. Heard this between the SSSC/NIN sets back in June and remembered I had that album and that song was kinda sweet. If this doesn't make you happy, you have issues and should seek help.

Blonde Redhead - 23
This used to be way cool back in '07. I love it simply cause Alan Moulder was involved in this album and I love Alan Moulder. Song's kinda great too, in an urban/NY-shoegaze/pitchy-voice kind of way.

The Duke Spirit - Love is an Unfamiliar Name
Word. Speaking of...

The Duke Spirit - Into the Fold
Daaaamnnn! Dirty garage rock is fucking sexy! Liela Moss truly does resemble a young Marianne Faithfull, and that is definitely a compliment. In fact, I think I just found a new role model.

MGMT - Kids
I'm hopeless. Gossip Girl strikes back. Well, at least now I can appreciate MGMT a little better. I used to think they were rubbish.

The KLF - Last Train to Trancentral
I always thought this was a cool-ish ambient band. Then I found their trance work. Whoa. Now I wanna go to a rave party and take ecstasy like all the cool kids do. Hard to believe this was made in the early '90s. :O

Bonus!
Morphine - The Saddest Song
Jazzy. Mmm, sexy but not in a 'in your face' kind of way, but rather in a dark, smokey, mysterious-type of sexy. I told someone this song made me want to dance and now they won't leave me alone about it. Heh, think I told you this, dude: I DON'T DANCE!!! I might make an exception for you sometime though, cause I'm cool like that.


You know the drill. Ta-ta.



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Now playing: WHY? - January Twenty Something
via FoxyTunes

A Year's Worth of Obsession, Pt. 1

I like music. I like it a lot. I obsess with it. Heh, I pretty much obsess with everything, but I save a special place in my obsessions vault for music that is good, touching and worth getting obsessed with. Some crap makes its way in there every once in a while but I am also a crap collector so this should come as no surprise.

Everyone here knows I have a history obsessing with bands, Nine Inch Nails in particular, lest we forget. That's what happens when something hits me so hard it makes me question the very foundation of my taste... and my life, for that matter. I have come a long way from my pre-NIN, U2/Metallica-loving days, thank goodness, yet I'm just as, if not twice as, obsessive as I was back then. I was originally gonna put a couple songs here that I spent the whole of last year listening to on repeat until my ears bled (from too much awesomeness of course), but since I obsessed with a whole fucking lot of songs last year, I'm gonna have to make two installments of this blog. And I'm gonna try and be a good person and go multimedia on you people, for your convenience. I'm gonna try.

In no particular order, here are 25 tracks that evidence how I would just implode without music.

Elbow- The Bones of You
Elbow were fairly ok in my book. Then I caught this song on TV once and it was good enough. No, it was better than that. TV tells me what I should and shouldn't like, because I'm such an easy target for their consumerist bullshit. Maybe my next post will be how Lady GaGa's The Fame is the most inspired album anyone's ever made. Stay tuned to find out.

Does It Offend You, Yeah? - With a Heavy Heart (I Regret to Inform You)
Two words: Gossip Girl. Shame on me.

New Order - Sunrise.
I have had my fair share of New Order obsession. All of Substance has been a staple in my obsessions list for years now. This track, from Low-Life, has always been a favorite. I can't explain what happened to make me love it so, but it probably has something to do with my stargazing while listening to it. Trippy shit.

Pleasure Forever - Wicked Shivering Columbine
Thank you Epitonic for turning me onto this disgustingly catchy band. Also, fuck you Epitonic for being down.

The Cure - The Kiss
This song feels like a slap across the face, but instead of a bruise, it leaves fire in my heart. I'm so goth, I know...

Kings of Leon - Closer
Mentioned this one before, won't say anything this time. Ok, maybe I will: The Kings of Leon are the biggest turdsters in old-school indie, but in all their turditude, they managed to come up with something slightly resembling a good song. Must be the drugs.

Nine Inch Nails - All the Love in the World
Go here. Ahhh Reznor, I remember when you were cool...

Portishead - Machine Gun
I remember when this album came out. I remember how I didn't want to jump on the Third bandwagon. I put up one hell of a fight, dammit. It still won. I gave in, happily. I blame this song.

Shriekback - Everything that Rises Must Converge
As new wave as new wave can get, happy as happy gets. Just thinking about this song makes me giggle. :)

Bat for Lashes - Daniel
I love you.

Santogold - L.E.S. Artistes
Haha, this song is cool and so very true. Still, the L.E.S. is awesome, posers and all.

Concrete Blonde - Caroline
Always a Concrete Blonde fan, never saw this song as cool as I did last year. Happens to the best of us, we miss the best things in life even when they are right before our eyes/ears.

Depeche Mode - In Your Room
It was all because of a blip. It was all thanks to a blip. You know who you are, awesome person in my life. Thank you.

Fleet Foxes - Your Protector
This album would easily make my all-time-favorites list, or at least the favorite-albums-of-the-decade list, so this is kind of a given. This song is probably one of the strongest in an album filled with strong tracks. This one is a winner.

Arcade Fire - Wake Up
Can't believe I hated this song, even after I got obsessed with Arcade Fire. Someone please remind me why I hated this and who performed the miraculous brain surgery that got rid of my shit taste.

Desert Sessions - Powdered Wig Machine
I hate you, Josh Homme. I am totally blaming this on PJ Harvey, cause she's awesome and you're not.

Julian Plenti - Games for Days
Proof that I'm a raving Interpol fangirl, even though I hate admitting it. And fuck you haters, I love ALL of Interpol's albums, and this one too. Magnetic Morning too.

PJ Harvey - This Mess We're In
Hard to describe how this song makes me feel. That guitar work is gorgeous. Thom Yorke isn't so bad either. I mean, his falsetto is annoying, yes, but this song is so beautiful I don't give a shit. Ultimately, I have an undying love for anything PJ Harvey, so even if she'd got Jon Bon Jovi instead of whiny Thom Yorke, I would have liked it anyway.

Leonard Cohen - Suzanne
I love Leonard Cohen and everyone knows I'd pick him over fucking Dylan any day. He's the man. Plus, he always makes me cry like a little bitch. Well, not with his '70s/'80s showtune-y stuff, but pretty much all his early work is so emotional and lyrically brutal it just knocks me to the ground and makes me curl up in a ball and cry, cry, cry.

Interpol - Take You on a Cruise
See Julian Plenti - Games for Days above.

M.I.A. - Bird Flu
I hate the fact that this album made a household name out of M.I.A. and got her working with... ugh, only thinking about that name makes me cringe... Timbaland. This is cool though, makes me dance and that hardly ever happens. That drum thing throughout the song is fucking sexy.

Radiohead - Spirit Street (Fade Out)
Brings back memories of my teenage years when The Bends was my favorite Radiohead album and there was no In Rainbows in sight. Depressing Radiohead is a different kind of depressing. It can seriously make a happy person slit their wrists. That's the kind of idea this song gives me.

The Horrors - New Ice Age
Reminds me of Strange House-era The Horrors, which can be good sometimes. It is good here.

Saul Williams - Black History Month
This is what NIN would sound like if anyone'd encouraged Trent Reznor to keep rapping after Down in It, only this is less whiny and loads more original. You can tell Saul's influence is stronger than Trent's in this track though, and considering Reznor's megalomania, that's a huge accomplishment.

TV on the Radio - DLZ
A remnant from '08's best-of-the-year albums list, this track enchanted me all year long, and will probably do so this year as well. This song feels warm and humid, like rain in the African jungle, but it comes with its own umbrella made in Brooklyn to keep the listener protected.

Bonus
A Perfect Circle - The Package
Here's one to offset the longing for new APC!!! Never thought I'd miss them so much. :(

Ok, this is my rant of the day. Should be back tomorrow, or next year, with part two of this long ass bitch of a post. Links should work fine, except for that Saul Williams track, which is on Youtube. You should see a little play button thingee before the name of the songs.

Heh, that's all.


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Now playing: New Age Steppers - Fade Away
via FoxyTunes

It's that time of the year again...

Yep, the end of the year is coming and it's that time again when you hear me rant about the best (and perhaps also the worst) albums of the year. So brace yourselves cause here I go.

Personally, I think this year brought along a lot of good music but also a lot of shit. I mean a lot. Bands you wouldn't believe came up with crappy albums. Like, I thought the Decemberists' The Hazards of Love was a little too much. Well, not that they were mind-blowing before, but they just seemed to be going too far with the whole 'progressive folk' thing. As if that'd make them as good as Tool or something. Or that AnCo album... hell, wait up, I'll talk about that later.

So, here are my picks for best albums of '09 (in no particular order cause I suck at ranking shit):

Soulsavers - Broken
Um, this album featured Mark Lanegan (duh), Mike Patton, Will Oldham, Gibby Haynes and Jason Pierce. Need I say more? Don't think so.
Recommended track: Unbalanced Pieces

The Cinematics - Love and Terror
And here I was, thinking British indie had been rendered outdated. Well, technically it has. We still gotta give it to them Brits -- no one does post punk revival like them. Well, maybe Interpol does.
Recommended track: Love and Terror

Hope Sandoval and the Warm Inventions - Through the Devil Softly
This woman's voice is like a soft caress kissing every part of your body and sending chills up and down your spine. Ever see those toilet paper ads talking about how soft and fluffy the product is? Well, that's how I feel about Hope Sandoval's voice. Don't think that was a very good example, though. Very ethereal and minimalistic, relying mainly on Sandoval's TP-esque vocals. Heh.
Recommended track: Blanchard

Florence + the Machine - Lungs
Another female vocalist's ethereal-ish album, only this voice isn't ethereal and frail but strong and Black-gospel-singer-like (with a British accent, lol). Love how she mixes just the right amount of blues, pop sensibility and melodrama, and can still make me smile.
Recommended track: Cosmic Love

Ramona Falls - Intuit
I don't really know why I liked this. It's not even that good. This sounds very much like Menomena, RF frontman and sole official member Brent Knopf's day job, and I'm not a Menomena fan. So why do I like it? Because for indie rock, it sounds a little bit exotic, and that's enough for me. I'm so easy to make happy.
Recommended track: Melectric

Bat for Lashes - Two Suns
Indie at its best, this represents all that is right about music. Dark and melancholic, electronic and simple... I love Natasha Khan. You should love her too.
Recommended track: Daniel (heh, commercial, I know, but I have my reasons...)

A Place to Bury Strangers - Exploding Head
Well, this one was a given. I honestly could give two shits whether this album is any good or not, cause they're still APTBS and they're fucking face-meltingly AWESOMEEE!!! Helps that the album really is good. Best Jesus and Mary Chain ripoff band that will ever exist, period.
Recommended track: I Lived My Life to Stand in the Shadow of Your Heart

Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
There's nothing I can say that hasn't been said already about this album. Yep, Edward Droste is a genius, he's Jesus, he's gonna cure cancer. Yep. So I'll just shut up. The album's worth a shot anyway.
Recommended track: While You Wait for the Others

HEALTH - Get Color
They did get color. Seriously. Their brutal, insane, minimal, drumbeat-driven trademark sound seems to still be there, but layered with colors, melodies, less noise and sugar. Nice.
Recommended track: Nice Girls

Fever Ray - Fever Ray
It's Karin Dreijer Andersson, of course it's fucking brilliant! Eerie, bleak and somewhat mysterious, but sensibilized by Dreijer's quirky voice and cryptic lyrics. Damn, I miss The Knife.
Recommended track: Keep the Street Empty for Me

The Horrors - Primary Colors
I am somewhat glad these dudes shed their horror punk outfit and put on something more approachable but still interesting enough to keep my attention. Instead of the exhausted, run-of-the-mill British post punk revival, they made something really gripping: garage rock with a little more depth but not too deep.
Recommended track: Primary Colours

Telefon Tel Aviv - Immolate Yourself
Ah, when did electro get so goth? This is so dark it scares me! Love these guys, always have, and I'm really happy their ambient shit got so cool.
Recommended track: M

Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse - Dark Night of the Soul
Not exactly what I'd expect from Sparklehorse, but since he teamed up with batshit crazy guy Danger Mouse (from New York, suckasss), this is a completely different, way more pleasant sonic experience than anything I'd heard from him. I'm not even gonna type the list of guest artists that contributed to this album, cause I really wanna go to bed, but all I'm gonna say is David fucking Lynch. Yessss.
Recommended track: Jaykub (featuring Jason Lytle from Grandaddy)

The Twilight Sad - Forget the Night Ahead
I know I said I wouldn't rank the albums, but I gotta say, this is my favorite album of '09. More mature than their debut, wall-of-sound-laden, lyrically despairing and terribly depressing, this album is nothing short of moving and amazing. Yanks a tear out of me every now and then.
Recommended track: (All of them, especially...) Made to Disappear


Of course, like last year, I am also going to include some honorable mentions that didn't quite make the very-best-of-the-year list, but are worth mentioning:

Julian Plenti - Julian Plenti Is... Skyscraper
Heh, I so had no faith in this album whatsoever. Somehow I thought it'd be as big a FAIL as Julian Casablancas' solo album. Guess this just goes out to prove me wrong, yet again, and to reassure me that Interpol are fucking great. Two thumbs up to you, Paul Banks.
Recommended track: (Won't mention Games for Days, won't mention Games for Days, won't mention...) Only if You Run

The Big Pink - A Brief History of Love
Remember how I said APTBS will always be the best JaMC ripoff band to ever exist? I wasn't kidding. These dudes try, they sure do, but good JaMC ripping off can only be done properly in Brooklyn. I still like them.
Recommended track: Velvet

A.A. Bondy - When the Devil's Loose
Fleet Foxes meets Devendra Banhart, plus a much bigger country feel. Result: Much more pleasant than it might seem.
Recommended track: A Slow Parade

Clint Mansell - Moon (Soundtrack from the Motion Picture)
Yes, Clint Mansell did it again, with his glitchy genius soundscapes. Who would have thought that funky guy from PWEI could be so... er, deep?
Recommended track: Sacrifice

PJ Harvey and John Parish - A Woman a Man Walked By
Three words: PJ fucking Harvey. Twelve more words: Talent and elegance converging in a creative and powerful cannonball of poetry. Cause it's PJ Harvey.

Mew - No More Stories / Are Told Today / I'm Sorry / They Washed Away // No More Stories / The World Is Grey / I'm Tired / Let's Wash Away
Less dark than most Mew albums, it still has an element of nostalgia that grabs me and keeps me lulled for hours on end. Heh, love how their song structure and composition are rather special and unusual. Also, the title kinda kicks ass.
Recommended track: Repeaterbeater

Puscifer - "C" Is for (Please Insert Sophomoric Genitalia Reference HERE)
Puscifer is growing on me and I don't know if it's a good or bad thing. Probably good. Though miles away from the old, experimental, brilliant days of Tool, Maynard James Keenan has come up with a project that's both amusing and actually interesting so as to keep us distracted and make us forget about the fact that he promised new A Perfect Circle material for this year. Puscifer is hella funny, so I understand why he'd rather work on it than APC, since the latter is so dark and serious and Maynard is a happy fellow. Artwork is retarded but at least the music's good.
Recommended track: The Mission (feat. Milla Jovovich)

Warpaint - Warpaint
All-girl experimental/psychedelic band from Los Angeles whose debut EP was produced by John Frusciante, THE John Frusciante. What's not to like about them?
Recommended track: Elephants

Antony and the Johnsons - The Crying Light
Heart-breakingly exquisite.
Recommended track: Another World


There's more I'd like to put in the list but to keep it short and nice I won't. I'm just gonna cut to the shit, er... the underwhelming albums of '09:

Street Sweeper Social Club - Street Sweeper Social Club
They're much better live. I bet, had they included their cover of M.I.A.'s Paper Planes on the album, it would have been much better. Then again that would have been way too Rage Against the Machine, and that is so not what these guys are all about. Nope...

Them Crooked Vultures - Them Crooked Vultures
One of those albums I really wanted to like. Hell, when it comes to '09 supergroups, I even liked The Dead Weather's Horehound quite a bit, cause I was motivated enough to enjoy their music it just grew on me. Other than a couple tracks that caught my attention for a minute or two, the whole album bored me. Oh ya, probably cause I hate Josh Homme.

Depeche Mode - Sounds of the Universe
I admit, Wrong is catchy as hell. Sexy as hell too. What happened to the rest of the album? I'm sure, had they just filled the disc with remixes of Wrong, it would have been exponentially better than it was with all the other, "less commercial" tracks. Whatever.

Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca
Hipster shit for dirty hipsters. This album, along with a certain other I'll mention later (I'll give you a hint, it sucks and it's called Merriweather Post Pavilion, heh) suffers from chronic Vampire Weekend syndrome.

Massive Attack - Splitting the Atom EP
Hell, this was probably the biggest disappointment of the year, and it was only four tracks long. Granted, it's not horrible. It could certainly be worse. I'm just so used to Massive Attack blowing my mind, after such a long time waiting for new material from them I was expecting fireworks and eargasms all the way and instead I just got a smile and a pat on the head. At least they got Martina Topley-Bird.

Tegan & Sara - Sainthood
This is the kind of crap they feed tweens nowadays and then people wonder why they're turning out so stupid. Uh, duh! Definitely aimed for poser emo teenagers, I really don't get how these women could get so famous and earn themselves a reputation for being deep and mature when they make music like this. Ugh.

Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
Ahhh, I'm not even gonna talk about this. Why this album keeps popping up on every year-end list just boggles my mind. Why people keep falling for this kind of ridiculous shit just proves we humans are stupid.


All and all, this was a good year for music. Er, except for the fact that that this was the year that saw shemale mutant demon Lady GaGa ubiquitously infect the world with her poisonous, viral, gonorrhea-laden beats and tranny-on-crack-inspired outfits. She makes me wish the Mayans were right about the end of the world coming in 2012. Or even sooner, if possible. For those saying she is the new Manson, well here's the deal: at least Manson surrounded himself with the right people to make his music at least tolerable. Plus, believe it or not, he used to be a smart person. So take that, GagGag -- unlike you, he's not really a moron... it's just the drugs.

Oh... and let's not forget this little winner. Sorry in advance.

	Vampire Weekend - Horchata .mp3
	Found at bee mp3 search engine

Ordinarily, this would be the end of my post. But not so fast! This year also saw the birth of my now-shamefully forgotten podcast, so what better chance to revive it than this! Hereeeeeehereee you'll find some of the tracks I've recommended above. If you check the older posts, you'll also find some nice tracks by some of the artists I've mentioned here. So give it a shot if you want. :)

So that's it. Your friend from the gutter is wishing you a happy new year full of love, smiles, puppies and rock & roll. Sayonara and we'll meet again in 2010. Here's hoping Lady GaGa will overdose on pig's blood before the year's over. One can only dream...


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Now playing: The Zombies - Time of the Season
via FoxyTunes