Local Music Update

Over the past few months I have really tried to jump into the local scene. It took me a while to realize how many GREAT bands are coming out of Chapel Hill and Durham these days. Next year, on B-Cuts, we are going to try to focus on bringing the local scene to WSOE. This year was great with Luego and Bombadil coming into the studio, two amazing bands that I just found out about this year. I'll start with those two, and reveal some other bands that you all might hear on B-Cuts next year.

Luego is an alt-country-ish band featuring acoustic guitar, cello, viola, drums and a vocals that fit seamlessly. Luego is made up of some very nice people who really just love making and playing music. You can find the interview and in-studio podcast on iTunes if you search for WSOE.

Bombadil is a hard band to describe. One of the members, Bryan, actually asked me at a show how I could best describe them and I couldn't. Now that I look back on it, if you combine Beulah with Bob Dylan fronting the Decemberists... that's Bombadil. Even that's a stretch. Bombadil is a fun band to see live because almost everyone plays almost everything. I've never seen some instruments played in a live show before and in certain ways. Daniel played his bass with a drum stick at one point, and it made some cool sounds. They keep it fun and switch it up and they are just one of North Carolina's greatest neo-folk bands.

Bands to look for on future B-Cuts (these will be shorter because we haven't interviewed them yet-sans Old Ceremony and Roman Candle because I saw them live):

Early Morning Swimm is what I can best describe as Joseph Arthur meets Iron & Wine. They are a dark and beautiful folk group. They will be in the studio in early Feb, so listen up!!

American Aquarium takes their name from a Wilco lyric. It fits. American Aquarium is more of a folk version of Wilco, and they do a good job of not being Wilco, which is key in this kind of situation. American Aquarium makes some beautiful music that will bring out your emotions.

Erie Choir is what you get when Elvis Costello makes a pop-indie band or if the Super Furry Animals played folk music. Either way, check them out because they'll grow on you... fast.

The Future Kings of Nowhere is a band that I fell in love with the first time I heard them. They are an anti-folk/acoustic-punk band and their sound is so catchy. Perhaps if you just gave Ted Leo an acoustic guitar and a bit of early Against Me! energy, you'd have Future Kings. The music is very upbeat and fun.

Red Collar or... The Clash of North Carolina. These guys are an interesting punk band in the classic punk sense. They make rock music, and it's great.

The Old Ceremony puts on one hell of a live show. My best way to describe them... is if the Who made Americana music and formed up with Fastball. Again, that's a stretch. If these guys made music in the 60's or 70's, they'd be freaking huge right now.

Roman Candle is what you get if you take Wilco's current "we're just a rock band" mentality and have them re-make A.M. or a more rockin Bob Dylan and the Band. Just like Old Ceremony, if these guys were making music in the 60's or 70's, they'd be huge. Roman Candle is proof that rock is in fact... still alive. For the sake of your life, check out the song "Why Modern Radio is AOK" because it's one of the best songs I've heard all year.


Keep on listening to the B-Cuts next semester to hear these great bands in the studio. Do yourself a favor, go out and support local music at your local venues and you might be surprised at the bands putting on some amazing shows.

Peace, Love and Keep Rock Alive

I'm Very Confused Right Now...

To see my latest rant of confusion about how good bands are finally being supported yet some things never change, go to Before the Culture Dies

Peace, Love and Keep Rock Alive

DJ KRA's Best of the Year

1. Radiohead - In Rainbows
This album flows beautifully and there isn't a bad song on it. The concept behind everything In Rainbows is brilliant, but it doesn't outshine the amazing sounds they make.

2. Soulsavers - It's now how far you fall, it's how you land
Very depressing, very very beautiful album that just makes you break down in emotion. I don't think I've ever felt this way because of an album before. It's so dark and beautiful. Lanegan's voice shines.

3. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
This record is just plain solid. The songs are clever and catchy and the delivery is perfect.

4. The National - Boxer
I'm new to The National. I had no idea who they were until this album. They blew me away. The vocals work perfectly with the lush instrumentation.

5. Porcupine Tree - Fear of a Blank Planet
It's Porcupine Tree, 'nuff said. The album is solid. I feel that it lacks in certain areas, but it's a great album as far as production, instrumentation and lyrically. Breathtaking album competing in a year full of great releases.

Honorable Mentions:

Andrew Bird
Dinosaur Jr.
Winterpills
Three
Autumn Defenses
Devin Townsend
Wilco
Blackfield


Peace, Love and Keep Rock Alive!!!

Wow it's been a while. Now to expose the RIAA!!

Hey all you wonderful people. I recently started a new blog called "Before The Culture Dies." It's dedicated to showing how apathy is growing and our rich American culture is slowly being destroyed.

Anyways, on my recent post I looked at the RIAA and their spinning ways of basically saying they just want to control what we listen to.

Check it out, it's long... but I think it's fairly eyeopening.

Before the Culture Dies

Wait... Radiohead?

So before we thought Radiohead would release their new album in November. Then they say that it won't be out until next year. Now we find out it's going to be released in TEN DAYS!!!!!!!


TEN


DAYS!!!!!

October Tenth!!!


It's called In Rainbows and you can pre-order this epic box set with the album, an extra cd, vinyl of the album w/ extra tracks and art & stuff as well as the download on the 10th (the package goes out December 3rd). Or you can just go for the download.


Ah Radiohead, I love when you surprise me.


Peace, Love and Keep Rock Alive

Mark Lanegan: Genius in the Shadows

Many of you are probably somewhat familiar with Lanegan's first project, The Screaming Trees. As grungies on Sub Pop, Lanegan released his signature voice to the public. The Trees were a part of the "main grunge group," meaning they worked with Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam and Mudhoney. Chris Cornell produced the Tree’s album, “Uncle Anesthesia”, and Lanegan was a member of the one time only super group of Mad Season with Layne Staley (Alice in Chains), Mike McCready (Temple of the Dog/Pearl Jam) and others.

What you MIGHT not know is that Lanegan has been making music since that grunge era. Since 1990, he has had 6 solo albums and even more collaborations. Some of his key partners have been Queens of the Stone Age, Hater (a project involving Soundgarden's Ben Shepard & Matt Cameron) and The Twilight Singers. Another very noteworthy collaboration is that of Lanegan and Belle & Sebastian's Isobel Campbell. With out question, "Ballad of the Broken Seas" was one of 2006's best albums.

I'm here to say that Mark Lanegan has done it again. I haven't encountered too much talk about The Soulsaver's new album: "It's not how Far You Fall, It's The Way You Land." The Soulsavers are an English remix/production duo that recruited Lanegan to sing on 8 of 10 songs for their new album. The result is an epic, dark electronica sound with Lanegan's depressingly beautiful lamenting to support it. Both elements make it one of the most depressing albums I have ever heard; yet at the same time it is simply gorgeous.

I'm going to go ahead and call "I.N.H.F.Y.F, I.T.W.Y.L." this year's best album, although... that could change if the Gutter Twin's album is released. The Gutter Twins just signed to Sub Pop and announced their album is finished. Who are the Gutter Twins and how is this relevant? Well, the previously mentioned Twilight Singers' lead singer, Greg Dulli is one of the twins. The other? This millennium’s Man in Black, Mark Lanegan. Dulli and Lanegan have been contributing to each other’s projects for several years, so they decided to record an album together as The Gutter Twins.

The moral of this story is: Mark Lanegan is one of the best, hidden gems of American musicians. I almost feel guilty, because while we talk about the sub-par albums this year, we don't talk about how Mark Lanegan keeps making incredible music that goes relatively unnoticed.

Here's to you Mark Lanegan... Here's to you carrying on the tradition of Johnny Cash and Tom Waits... Here's to the man who walked from the land of grunge into the land of dark blues and rough Americana. Here's to your amazing music...




Peace, Love and Keep Rock Alive!
-DJ KRA

A Great American Holiday

I had to go to classes on Labor Day this year for the second time in a row. I’m not one to despise college or anything like that, and I’m not saying that going to two classes on that Monday morning was the worst thing that I’ve ever had to endure. It wasn’t this year and it wasn’t last year. It did, however, get me to thinking about how the only reason any of us take the second-tier holidays seriously anymore is because we get the day off of work or school, because we walk out to the mailbox, open it up, and slap our foreheads for having forgotten that not even the postmen work on Federal holidays. Who actually spent a moment thinking about the struggles of laborers or appreciating those hard workers who make our product-laden society possible? Heck, I bet some folks think that Labor Day is some sort of sequel to Mother’s Day, a day spent in celebration of mothers giving birth or something like that.

So what’s the point of a holiday if no one really recognizes what the holiday is about? Arbor Day might have more cultural significance than Labor Day, despite the fact that Arbor Day is A: Lame and B: Not associated with days off or gifts. Labor Day isn’t of any importance because of what it’s supposed to be celebrating…it’s important because we get a day off, because for many it signifies that last day of summer before the dreaded school year begins. At least during Arbor Day, elementary school kids are dragged out of the classroom and forced to try and plant trees in the ground and are given a lecture on recycling that will eventually be forgotten when Jimmy Myers or some kid farts in class and the important ecological lesson is lost to the power of immaturity.

So what’s to stop this Sept. 25 from being a holiday? What’s the significance of Sept. 25? Well, any guy reading this will probably know, it’s a date that’s been etched into the 18-25 year old minds of America for about half a year now by relentless tie-ins and advertisements. Countless students, workers, and bums alike will be flocking to their closest retailer and circling around the electronics sections, zombie-like, reaching out and trying to grab the closest employee for a chance to seize that holy grail…a copy of Halo 3. Now, whether or not Halo is the end-all to video games (it’s not) and whether or not Halo 2 was the biggest nerd disappointment since Episode One (it wasn’t…but it was close) doesn’t matter. What matters is that the hype and buildup for Halo 3 is so immense, that millions of people will either be ridiculously preoccupied from their daily routine or just not bother to do anything at all but play Master Chief’s latest zany adventure.

More people will be religiously following Bill Gates’ favorite armor-clad hero than took Labor Day seriously, and Arbor Day doesn’t exactly spur the male youth of America into a buying spree. So why not just give us all the day off? Call it Master Chief Day, call it Halo Day, call it Microsoft’s Xbox Cash Cow Day, whatever the greeting card companies like the most. I’m not sure which is worse, the fact that the imaginary exploits of a space warrior against goofy-looking aliens means more to people than a Federally-supported holiday meant to give respect to our plentiful and deserving workers, or the fact that I’ll be one of those zombies playing Halo 3 as soon as class is over on the 25th.

Disappointment is Only Relevant to Your Perspective

Devin Townsend is a name some people recognize. Depending on who you talk to, some know him from his vocal work with Steve Vai, others know him strictly from his over the top metal band Strapping Young Lad and another group recognizes him as one of the great minds in the music world. Morgan, you may not have heard any albums that "wowed" you yet, so I don't think you've heard Ziltoid The Omniscient.

Ziltoid the Omniscient is by far one of THE BEST albums to be released this year. Why? First of all, Devin is AMAZING (he released a fantastic album, Synchestra, just last year). There is plenty of humor and satire in his music, but it contains a beautiful element of professionalism. He uses music to conjure up imagery and he uses guitar solos only when truly necessary. So, Devin himself aside, Ziltoid is brilliant because of its concept. Never in my life have I heard a concept album so... out there, so... ...AWESOME!

I'll try to explain the premise without giving too much away. There's this alien dude, Ziltoid, who is a ruthless evil being with a desire for the worlds greatest cup of coffee: Black. He thinks this great cup of coffee can be found on earth, so he sends his minions to fetch him a cup in five minutes (and yes, real time is kept with this part, making it again... brilliant). The coffee is complete crap so he decides that earth should be blown up. There is a space chase between the human Captain Spectacular, and Ziltoid. Ziltoid then goes on a quest for the meaning of life and his role in the universe. The ending is great, so I won't give it away.

That's all good and well you say. Hell you might go check it out (you should), but that's not the reason why you need to give this album a listen. This album is one of my favorites simply because of what I hear in it. Not the music, but Hevy Devy ENJOYING HIMSELF! It's easy to hear Devin having FUN with this (he did everything himself on the album). Just listening it gives me chills, because of how rare it is to actually hear the artist loving the story he is telling. Usually it sounds so sterile, but not with Townsend.

So all of you 'umans need to give this album a spin, or else mighty Ziltoid will release the planet smasher; and you don't want to deal with that crap.

I'll agree with Morgan that there have been quite a few "meh" albums (with several exceptions)... but damn... Ziltoid is by far the best of the year.

Also, there are a bunch of puppet transmitions on youtube. Here is the first one:

Where Did All The Music Go?

Alright, let me clarify here. Music hasn’t gone anywhere. If anything, there’s more music around today than ever before. Anyone can get an audience these days, whether you’re another bubblegum clone or some guy sitting at a computer idolizing Aphex Twin. A regular tsunami of tunes drenches me every time I pop open my laptop. I have over ten thousand songs without owning more than two hundred CDs. Every single step of the musical process has become so ridiculously easy…that is, every part of the commercial aspect. The production, selling, purchasing, and thievery of music are as simple as can be, thanks to those newfangled computers. You don’t need a label; just put your album on Myspace. You don’t need a record shop; just get a decent torrent site. And what’s the only thing that hasn’t gotten easier with this new wave of technology? The art of songwriting.

Had you talked to me last year, I would have said that in August, I would have listened to more excellent albums that I could have gotten my hands on. Sometimes it kills to be an optimist. But just looking at the lineup this year…Arcade Fire, the National, Wilco, Dinosaur Jr, the Shins, Modest Mouse, Interpol, Smashing Pumpkins, Bloc Party, Spoon, the New Pornographers, Queens of the Stoneage, White Stripes, Porcupine Tree, Stars, Arctic Monkeys, the list seems endless. And some of those albums were excellent (Arcade Fire, the National, Dinosaur Jr, Spoon) but the rest? They ranged from good to bland.

Criticisms aside, with so much music floating around these days and the ease with which such music can float from the creator to the listener, why is it that I can’t honestly say that there’s been one record this year that’s blown my mind? Where’s this year’s Return to Cookie Mountain, Boys and Girls in America, or Come On! Feel the Illinoise? For that matter, where’s this generation’s Nevermind, (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?, Zeppelin IV, Dark Side of the Moon, or Revolver, where is that brilliant album that nearly everyone can toss into their stereo and feel as if they’re experiencing not just music but something with a greater feel and scope than ears and speakers? The album that hits at the hearts and minds of not just the hardcore who lurk around music blogs waiting for the latest leaks, but the mainstream as well? It might be ridiculous to expect something remarkable to come out in the first eight months of the year, but did you see the lineup hat was in the previous paragraph? One would have been foolish not to expect a masterpiece.

Perhaps, because indie has become so big, with Modest Mouse and the Shins debuting at number one on the charts (despite the dying CD format, it’s still something) and with so many artists latching onto major labels nowadays maybe it’s just the hype machine that has led me to such disappointment this summer. When you’re going to stereogum every day, when you go to hype machine and can’t help but grabbing that leaked track off of so and so’s newest album, when the album itself has become a disjointed assortment of tracks rarely held together by a singular emotion or theme (just because the songs sound similar doesn’t mean they’re necessarily ‘together’), isn’t a bit of the magic lost?

Not to be an old sentimentalist, since I’m not particularly old or sentimental, but there’s still something to be said for going to an old music shop and sifting through dozens of CDs trying to find that long-forgotten EP that you just have to own, or that out-of-print classic that everyone has recommended to you. Sure, going on iTunes and buying an album certainly makes you a customer and a purchaser of music, but do you down the music? There’s nothing physical there, you can’t hold mp4s and admire the album art. Buying the actual album as opposed to downloading it brings a certain amount of risk to it. In fact, for many, it contains too much risk. Much of the appeal for me lies not in having the album spoiled, instead, it’s like a virgin tomb, the legacy of a forgotten Pharaoh, and you’re either rewarded with a ridiculous amount of gold, or some sort of curse. A friend of mine and I once made a habit of going to Borders (the only place nearby that sold music that wasn’t Wal-Mart) every Tuesday or so to actually purchase an album. One week, he bought Stadium Arcadium and I bought St. Elsewhere. Of course, we all know who got the better album (Chili Pepper fans can leave at this point) but we still laugh about it until this day. Listening to Stadium Arcadium during the car ride, not knowing a single track off of the album save for Dani California, it gave the mediocre, bloated, and often stupid misstep a sort of bizarre charm, a charm that wouldn’t have existed if I had just nabbed it off of some illegitimate website. When you buy an album, you invest in the album, and if it’s good, you appreciate it more…if it’s bad, you appreciate those good discs in your collection with all that much more intensity. Everyone remembers the first album they bought…no one remembers the first album they downloaded.

I guess it’s those albums you discover with little to no hype, which completely blindside you, which have the greatest effect nowadays, since there really isn’t a such thing as an ‘event’ album that gets huge media coverage anymore, and since many of the artists that were once at the cutting edge of creativity have lost some of their luster with few artists genius enough to step up and take their place (Jack White? Rock god? Please) it’s those albums that you go into with no pretenses that are the ones that please the most. When I first listened to the National, Hold Steady, and Sufjan Stevens, I knew next to nothing about any of them, just that there was some buzz attached to them and there was a vague memory of someone I knew speaking well about them.

But nothing like that has happened so far this year. The closest thing to that has been Blitzen Trapper’s latest. If anything, this year has been one filled with disappointments both in regards to a lack of quality and a deceptive illusion of quality. Zeitgeist? Mediocre, a commercial album with no soul. An album that was mostly panned. But Feist and Of Montreal? Two acts whose albums were nearly unanimously praised to high heaven? Neither were anything groundbreaking. Feist’s voice isn’t even all that good, whose best song is only great when mixed with Daft Punk, and Of Montreal is a band that tosses out two or three songs on each album that are brilliant, but the rest are just a mishmash of eccentric pretension that blogs and message board goons gobble up.

Maybe my standards are set too high. I am, after all, the guy who came out of The Bourne Ultimatum thinking, “Meh…it could have been better.” And I was honestly ridiculously excited about this year’s musical possibilities. I’m not quite sure whether or not it has to do with artistic difficulties, heightened expectations, a general weariness, the declining bee population, alterations to the arctic ice caps, I dunno what it is. All I know is that I can’t help but look at a 2007 playlist and think, in a monotone, “Oh…that’s nice.” Well, maybe not that bad. But when one expects perfection, anything less is a bummer.

-Morgan

Wolves and Horses and Mice (Oh, My!)

Hey folks, Clang here. Saturday marked the Download Festival in my hometown of Mansfield, Massachusetts. The all day concert featured sets from the aforementioned Wolf Parade, Band of Horses, and Modest Mouse, as well as the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Guster, Neko Case, Apollo Sunshine, Bang Camaro, and the Adam Ezra band. All day is a long time to be at any concert and by the end I was quite exhausted. In between sets, naps, and trying to find free food (which was nearly impossible - nearly), I organized a series of Download Festival awards that I will give out at this time.


Best Set:
Easily Modest Mouse, who closed out the festival and are all kinds of awesome. The perfect blend of old and new songs. Honorable mention goes to Neko Case, whos voice sounded amazing and could relax me on day of the week.


Biggest Disappointment:
Guster, who appeared to be sleepwalking through their set of new crappy songs and didn't play any of their older more awesome songs. Honorable mention: Wolf Parade, who despite sounding fantastic, had a set that consisted of songs off of their upcoming album that the public hasn't heard yet.


Biggest Surprise: (Tie)
1. When Bang Camaro's set began, I thought that I had magically been transported back to 1984, and they were the opening act for a Quiet Riot/Warrant double bill. Then the band's twenty (yes, twenty) or so 'lead singers' took the stage. By the time their last song came, which happened to be "Push, Push, Lady Lightning" from Guitar Hero II, I was hooked.
2. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Usually, I am not a fan. But Karen O. and company actually put on a very theatrical show that the crowd really got into. They closed out with a melodic (?!) acoustic rendtion of "Maps" that made me rethink my opinions about them.

Go Team? More Like...No Team?

Yeah, weak joke, I know.

You know that feeling when you go into something, expecting to enjoy it, and then you come out with a blank face and a brain furiously trying to pinpoint why you weren’t the least bit pleased? It’s like when I saw the Simpsons movie…the buzz was great, the previews were funny enough, but after watching most of the 6th and 7th seasons over the summer, the entire movie could be described as, “meh.”

So after having played Thunder, Lightning, Strike to death, and Junior Kickstart an embarrassing amount of times, I’ve been excitedly expecting anything new from the Go! Team. And when Grip Like a Vice and Wrath of Marcie came out, I nodded my head and thought, “This is pretty good, no complaints here.” And then when I heard the album had leaked (a few days late actually, Kohls has a knack for sucking out one’s sense of time and events) I immediately jumped onto my favorite completely legitimate downloading source, and of course, went about all of the most polite and proper ways to get a hold of the album. Immediately I jumped to the unknown songs, and that sinking feeling began to creep in. I’m not going to lie, my favorite aspect of Thunder, Lightning, Strike was the strange mix of 70’s retro, cheerleading, and the theme from Charlie Brown (c’mon, just listen to Feelgood By Numbers and you’ll know what I mean). So after listening to Fake ID, I wondered why my beloved Go! Team sounded like a boring Japanese chick-rock band. On Titanic Vandalism, I wondered what the point of rapping is if no one, and I mean no one, will ever be able to understand whatever it is you’re saying (and whether or not the vandalism is indeed titanic).

Every time I listen to the album, a voice in the back of my head is constantly wondering, “Why aren’t I enjoying this more? It’s the Go! Team, the creators of some of the catchiest tunes in the last ten years…there must be something I’m missing.” But in the end, I’ve come to terms with the fact that Proof of Youth is the very definition of a sophomore slump. The Go! Team tries to go into a few different directions, what with the heightened emphasis on rap and political themes, or at least I think so, given titles like Universal Speech, Fake ID, and Keys to the City. And they try to hold onto the old instrumental numbers that worked so well in the past, like on Patricia’s Moving Picture, but it sounds half-assed to be honest. It just doesn’t click. It’s not like the entire album is a disaster, as previously mentioned, Grip Like a Vice and The Wrath of Marcie work because they’re catchy, and because the production isn’t a disaster, like it is on most of the album. I can actually understand the lyrics and the music itself doesn’t devolve into a convoluted mess of notes and chords without any defining structure. Doing It Right has a great chorus and it retains the kooky kinda-70’s vibe that borders on the edge of parody but works so well in the end.

So in the end, because I still love the Go! Team, I’ll give the album a 60 out of 100. Think of it as a D…it’s still passing, but just barely.


Please, oh please listen to this instead.

"Looks Like September has Won Once Again"

So, I went to School Kids Records today to pick up a copy of John Vanderslice's recently released "Emerald City." While not as good as "Pixel Revolt," JV has yet again created a beautiful album. It's dark with political unrest in an apocalyptic atmosphere dwelling on post 911 life. The main focus of "Emerald City" is
Vanderslice's struggle to get a visa for his French girlfriend so she could come live with him. This political element stands out the most on the final song "Central Booking." "Pixel Revolt" contained a lot of post 9-11 references, especially in "Exodus Damage," yet the references seem so much darker and cynical. The line "looks like September has won once again" in "Central Booking" is just one of those harsh statements said in political mockery. Hell, even the album title is a 9-11 reference.

Throughout "Emerald City," it suggests apocalyptic themes in the lyrics, yet Vanderslice still makes beautiful music with sounds of hope. His voice echoes loss and pain, but it also contains the call to not give up. When he played "White Dove" live - a depressingly beautiful song - his face lit up as if it were an anthem of not giving up a fight. "White Dove" is one of the strongest songs on the album as it is so beautiful. However, the entire album fits well together and the musician ship is obviously well crafted. The style ranges from acoustic to distorted acoustic with hip-hop influenced beats and his usual bells and whistles.

"Emerald City" was recorded live in JV's Tiny Telephone studio, and there are some blog videos going around of some of these sessions. The video to one of these is the first song off of the album "Kookaburra," and it can be found at :Kookaburra

Or you can download White Dove

I highly recommend that you pick up "Emerald City" because it's on the fast track to being one of this year's best.

C'mon, support the kindest person in indie rock.




Peace, Love and Keep Rock Alie

I'd just like to let everyone know:

Porcupine Tree will be playing in Raleigh at the Lincoln Theater on Thursday October 11th.

If you're cool, you will be there and you will enjoy it :D.



Peace Love and Keep Rock Alive

As If We Didn't See It Coming

As many of you know, 2007 has been a year of hit or miss "reunion" albums. Dinosaur Jr.'s Beyond was superb and they met the high expectations demanded of them while the Smashing Pumpkins... well... you get the picture.

I'm going to go ahead and admit that Matchbox Twenty is one of my guilty pleasures. They just had something about them. Sure they had a bunch of cheesy love songs, but they also had something that made them more than just a stupid pop rock band. After hearing their new song (which can be found on the MB20 website - www.matchboxtwenty.com) I realize what it is that made them great because it's the same thing that this new song lacks. There was always some sort of background layering via horns, keyboards or strings that added a dark mystique to the band's music. Now they just sound plain. There is nothing to make them stand out against the rest of the pop music world. I'm sure that as un-stimulating as this song is, it will get massive press and radio play making the situation even worse. Then again maybe I'm just bias because I'll never forgive Rob Thomas for going solo and making really annoying music.




-Peace, Love and Keep Music Alive!

Finally, a Post!

The New Pornographers: Challengers
80

The New Pornographers are one of those bands that makes me irrefutably happy. I’m not sure if it’s Ms. Case’s voice, Dan Bejar’s eccentricities, or A.C Newman’s deft songwriting. All I know is that when together, this band makes incredible music. However, it’s always been somewhat in the same vein. Over the course of three albums, the New Pornographers only enjoyed minor changes. The transition from Mass Romantic to The Electric Version consisted mainly of better production and tightened songwriting. Twin Cinema was a more commercial and disjointed effort. However, with Challengers, everything has changed. Gone are the boisterous rockers like “All For Swinging You Around,” or “Use It.” In their place, we have slow-paced, atmospheric tunes like “Challengers,” and “Unguided,” songs that focus upon beauty to win your heart, as opposed to the toe-tapping infection that was the calling card of many prior Pornographer singles. Bejar’s contributions, including the immaculate “Myriad Harbor,” seem less like songs he wrote for the New Pornographers and more like Destroyer songs that Newman was incredibly fond of.

Challengers, nonetheless, is much more cohesive than previous releases, though this isn’t saying much considering the eclectic nature of the Pornographers. It’s main problem lies not in a lack of creativity, talent, or technical skill. Neko’s voice is still brilliant, Bejar’s lyrics are still vaguely intriguing, and Newman still writes pop songs with the best of them. It’s just that the album almost seems to lack charm. “All the Old Showstoppers,” tries to have a different country vibe, but just becomes lost between “My Rights Versus Yours,” and “Myriad Harbor.” “All the Things that go Make Heaven and Earth,” retains the old energy of past albums, but it just seems like it was tossed in to show Old Pornographers that the band hasn’t lost its spark. “Failsafe,” has a guitar intro that’s so reminiscent of “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” that it makes me hope that Newman knows as little about Green Day as he did about Phoenix University.

It’s the album that we knew to expect the unexpected from, Newman has been warning us about a new direction for quite some time. But the question remains, is it all a change for the better? My vote goes for no. Even though Challengers is a good album, it’s not a great album, and my admiration for the band and its individual members clouds my ability to judge this album upon its own merits. If anything, I should have seen it coming. Newman’s been carrying the band for years, and his solo album was spectacular. Neko’s last release was immaculate, but she’s never really contributed more than her voice to the New Pornographers. Bejar’s with the band in spirit, and he tosses his songs over, and they fit well, but only because the band has swung in his direction, not because he wrote the songs for the band. I was disappointed with Challengers, but it’s an album that stays true to its title. It’s a challenge for established fans to listen to. Honestly, Bejar offers the best lyrics and the best songs, and the album serves to bolster my opinion of him as a musical genius. As for Newman, it’s a job well done, with splendid production (strings and everything!) but the songs just lack that charm that every other New Pornographers release was overflowing with.

Spoon: Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
93

Let me start this by saying that there once was a time when Spoon made me quite irritated. They were the darlings of the indie rock world, after their one-two punch of Kill the Moonlight and Gimmie Fiction, even CNN was hailing them as the saviors of rock and roll. All the while, I was perplexed. Britt Daniel didn’t have an immaculate voice; the songs themselves weren’t mind-blowing, if anything they were just stripped-down samples of greater works.

But now I think I get it. I understand Spoon’s appeal now. After losing all of my music, I scoured the Internet for the latest leaks and releases, and Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga was on the top of my list, because I just had to figure it out. Spoon was a puzzle, an enigma. Just what made them so great? And as it turns out, after giving Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga a fair shake, it’s the simplicity that I once loathed that makes Spoon so great. Track seven, “The Underdog,” has become one of my favorite songs ever. It’s not a sweeping epic, it doesn’t do anything that’s never been done before, it’s just something that’s rarely made these days, a good old-fashioned rock song. Putting it on makes me think of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, bands who tossed off instantly accessible rock with enough wit and charm to win over even the most hardened critics. And it all seems too easy. Every song on the album has a sort of off-the-cuff feel to it, as if it was written in some basement and recorded in a few takes, effortlessly and without the slightest error.

There’s not much to say about this album, over analyzing it betrays the point. It’s an album that encourages sheer delight. I can’t imagine anyone listening to “You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb,” and not being even the least bit pleased. This is music your parents should love. Not because it’s adult contemporary shit, but because it’s timeless. It harkens back to an age where artists were encouraged to explore the musical landscape and were rewarded with both critical accolades and public superstardom. I understand what CNN was talking about so long ago. Spoon is an old-fashioned rock and roll band, a beast that’s become endangered in recent years.

Stars: In Our Bedroom After the War
80

This album’s been getting quite a bit of buzz lately, both for its interesting pre-release and for it’s supposed quality. After Set Yourself on Fire, an album that shocked me, that came out the blue and shouted, “There Canadian bands other than the New Pornographers!” It was a touching, well-crafted album focused around sacrifice and love, two topics that often can lead artists to fall flat on their faces when they approach them earnestly (the most successful of them doing so with one hand full of pure emotion and another filled with bitter humor, a balance that Morrissey pulled off skillfully in his glory days).

And boy do those Stars ever shine with heartbreak and sorrow, though the angst is a bit toned down this time. Songs like “Personal,” a nearly spoken-word conversation between Torquil Campbell and Amy Millan are filled with melodrama, yet they’re somehow effective, despite their heavy-handed nature. However, that isn’t to say that this is an album that doesn’t have ridiculous mis-steps. "The Ghost of Genova Heights," is one of those songs that raises alarms in my head, that makes me wonder just why it was included on the album. The disco-laden chorus just makes me cry, and not in the same artsy way that I know Stars wants me to. Somewhere, Prince is wondering why when he influences people, it never works out well. Also, "Barricade," is just an example of a vocalist trying to overextend his own talents, as Campbell does. However, there are gems on this album, and when it succeeds, it does so marvelously. "Take Me to the Riot," is a song that somehow mixes Interpol (I say Interpol instead of Joy Division because Joy Division is criminally overrated, despite their influence), the Kaiser Chiefs, and classic Stars and the result is a joyous sing-along that’s immediately followed by the poppy "My Favorite Book," a song with a chorus so undeniably sultry and catchy that it makes you wonder why no one had written it before.

So does the album live up to all of the hype? I’d say it does…the first impression isn’t nearly as strong as Light Yourself on Fire’s was, even though they both share the same “epic first track with creepy recorded voice,” theme. Over time, I think my opinion of this album will improve, but it still stands as a well-produced and emotionally charged piece of work from a band that should be on everybody’s radar.

Best Tour News...Ever?

So what do the National in their future, after releasing the year's best album and putting forth some amazing shows?

A world tour of course. And since we're Elon folks, this newly announced tour is of particular interest because they'll be showing up at Cat's Cradle on September 7th. Combine that with the news that the Clientele will be opening for Peter Bjorn & John on September 11th, and Stars will be making an appearance on October 26th, it makes me wonder if I should even bother going to school at all this year.


Boxer: Still better than everything else this year.

The National
Peter Bjorn and John
The Clientele
Stars

Wait...A Record Exec Who Isn't a Moron?

An interesting article in the Economist this week highlighted the record industry's pains in a new light, fueled by a quote from Edgar Bronfman, the chairman of Warner Music, that went as follows..."The music industry is growing. The record industry is not growing." And looking at the stats, it makes perfect sense. Concert revenues have increased from $1.7 billion in 2000 to $3.1 billion in 2006. The Economist uses the Police as an example as to how focusing on performances and merchandising can help the record labels recover a least a little bit...top seats for the Police's comeback tour can reach up to $900, while all of their records can be purchased for around $100.

As the CD finally dies (took long enough...geez) the money music fans would have been spending on albums can now be pushed into concerts and merchandise, creating a strange universe in which albums now promote tours, as opposed to tours being treated as massive ads for the album.


There's Mr. Brofman...he's looks surprisingly un-evil for a record exec.

When the Reason for Revolution is Pure

Some of you think I over-hype this band, but I maintain my stance that they have serious potential. Pure Reason Revolution, dropped by Sony because Sony didn't promote them at all therefore did not accumulate many record sales, is now on some European indie label going it on their own. While we wait for another release (that probably won't hit the US physically for a while), they have given us a free song,
Victorious Cupid.

(Don’t be intimidated by the zip file, it’s safe and straight from their myspace)

This song is proof that PRR can still keep up their epic vocal harmonies and kick-ass progressive sound.

While some might not agree, I think these guys have some hope of making a decent name for themselves. If you prefer to watch them perform this new song, check out the video (the sound quality is good up until the end of the song, but don't pay attention to the quality at the end... pay attention to the double drums:

Keep in mind this was the opening act for Blackfield. Steven Wilson apparently loves these guys and I can actually imagine PRR being a better LIVE act than Blackfield. I hope that somehow they get some good US publicity so that they'll do an actual tour and not just play NEARfest (the big US prog festival). After NEARfest and supporting Porcupine Tree in the UK, they are going into the studio to work on their sophomore effort... proving that 2008 has serious potential to kick the ass of 2007. '07 is already going to be a hard year to beat, but only time and my ears will be able to tell.


While talking about modern "progressive" rock and Steven Wilson, rumors have surfaced that this fall will bring a 4 song EP from the Fear of a Blank Planet sessions. Also, as rumored - and is looking like reality - PT will most likely embark on another US tour in the fall. Already they have been booked for VOODOO Fest in October (with the likes of, yes... you probably didn't guess...Wilco, Spoon, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and many more recognizable indie bands).

Anyways, there's the update and I hope you enjoy the new PRR song.

Peace, Love and Keep Music Alive!!!!

The Hives Tour Once Again!

However, they'll be opening for Maroon 5. Let's allow that to sink in for a little bit.

Yeah, it doesn't make any sense over here either. In one hand you have bland, shit pop. In the other, you have badass Swedes. This can only mean one thing...those with good taste will be leaving Maroon 5's shows as soon as the Hives pack up and ditch the stage.

Also, the tour starts in Michigan on September 29th. Michigan? Other than the White Stripes and that Sufjan album, what has Michigan contributed lately?


Presumably they're running away from confused and bewildered fans.

Half Full? Half Empty? The Only Thing That Matters Is That I'm Still Thirsty

Okay so usually I would do something like this at the end of the year, but since this year has been filled with so much musical gold... I'll signify this as the halfway point.

It seems like every band is coming out with an album this year. Most of them fairly good, but a handful of outstanding pieces.


Here’s how this works: I’m going to rave about the albums I love, rant about the ones that disappointed me, and just list the others that were released because I started this list earlier writing a paragraph for each album and I ended up with over 5 pages.

!!! – Myth Takes

Air – Pocket Symphony

Andrew Bird – Armchair Apocrypha

Apples in Stereo put out Magnetic Wonder - I had high expectations for this album and I ended up being highly disappointed. There were a few good songs on it, but I didn't think it had potential to stand up as an album.

Arcade Fire - Neon Bible

Arctic Monkeys - Favorite Worst Nightmare: Snore...

The Beastie Boys – The Mix Up

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club has Bruce Willis to talk about their new album Baby 81 – Unlike the critics, Bruce apparently likes B.R.M.C.’s new album. I like how this album combines their distorted sound that they had for their first 2 albums with the nice acoustic rock from “Howl.” I’m going to go ahead and pick this as one of my favorites of the first half.

Blackfield got more recognition with Blackfield II than I expected – The project of “David Bowie of Israel” Aviv Geffen and genius English producer Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree and about 1 million (an exaggeration…but only a slight one) other projects. Aviv wrote most of the dark, progressive pop songs because Steven has a self admitted problem of not being able to write many songs under 5 minutes. The album is beautiful, grim and catchy as hell. Much to my pleasure and surprise, they did well amongst the critics and the College Music Journal (CMJ) charts. Apparently a live DVD and Blackfield III are both in the works. Need I point out that this is an obvious favorite of mine this year?

Bright Eyes - Cassadaga

Chris Cornell disappointed me with Carry On – I mistakenly had high hopes for Cornell’s second solo album after his first – Euphoria Morning – was beyond superb. Let me just say this, there are a few good songs but damn does a majority of the album sound forced!!!!! It sounds like he’s bored as hell and thus making the album… you guessed it! Boring as hell! Chris, you were awesome once but you should just stick to your restaurant and your clothing line for the rest of your life.

The Comas surprised me with Spells – This album made me realize that they are one of the best catchy indie-pop bands out there. This album, while not all songs shine, has some brilliant songs that will get stuck in your head. Maybe not one of the best of the year, but certainly memorable enough for me to give it an honorable mention this year.

The Dear Hunter debuted with Act II: Something something really long name – Fantastic album. Most definitely one of my favorites of the year. Usually I’m not a fan of their vocal type, but after a few listens I really started to dig the sound. It’s almost like …Trail of Dead but much darker. There is some really cool instrumentation involved and it feels fairly progressive. Check it out.

Derek Webb - The Ringing Bell

Devin Townsend blew my mind with Ziltoid the Omniscient – Quite possibly one of the best albums that will be released in this era of music. Not only is it an original concept album about an alien who goes to destroy Earth because he was not satisfied with the cup of coffee that it produced, but also it is an album where you can actually hear the creator enjoying what he is doing. Yes, it is so rare to actually be able to tell that an artist is really having fun with a record. I mean lots of artists have fun writing and recording… but to actually HEAR it, that’s something to be said. This will be in my top 5 at the end of this year.

Dinosaur Jr - Beyond

Explosions in the Sky - All of the Sudden I Miss Everyone

Fields impressed me as a new band with Everything Last Winter – They’re from some European country, and they have a nice folksy rock sound. I haven’t listened to the album in a while, but it is memorable enough for me to say they’re one of the new artists that I’ll be keeping my eye on.

Golden Smog – Blood on the Slacks

John Doe – The dude from X – put out A Year In the Wilderness – I should know this because I stuffed his CDs into countless envelopes at Yep Roc. It’s a good alternative album with some cool guests like one of the Black Keys. A decent album and it’s worth giving a shout out to a punk veteran.

Kelly Jones (Stereophonics lead dude) – Only the Names Have Been Changed

Manic Street Preachers - Send Away The Tigers

Modest Mouse – We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank

The National kicked the “sophomore slump” in the bum with Boxer – I have a feeling the other writers on this blog will agree that “Boxer” is an outstanding album for this year, and the National is one of those bands that will be recognized as a great indie rock outfit in the coming years.

Nine Inch Nails - Year Zero: Another one of those albums that will end up on my top 5 at the end of the year. ½ of its awesomeness is because of the concept around the album promotion. There is this whole online “game” involved and a really complex setting for the album to take place. It’s basically 1984 with Trent Reznor. Oh yeah and the music’s sweet too because instead of whining about his problems, he whines about the country and its problems.

Porcupine Tree – Fear of a Blank Planet: As most of you know, Porcupine Tree is my favorite modern band in existence. This album did not disappoint. In fact, screw top 5 of the year, this baby’s going in the top 5 ever made.

Rufus Wainwright – Release The Stars

Rush – Snakes & Arrows

Ryan Adams – Easy Tiger

Sea and Cake – Everybody

Soulsavers – It’s not how far you fall, It’s how you land: Without question one of Mark Lanegan’s finest contributions to the music world. This album is in my top 5, without question (I guess I’m going to have to make a top 10 at the end of the year instead). It’s hard to explain the awesomeness of this record… it just is. Think Air meets Johnny Cash.

Spoon – Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga: Quite possibly their finest album to date. The first single “The Underdog” is a very catchy anthem that I will most likely play on repeat for a while.

The Stooges – The Weirdness

Ted Leo & The Pharmacists – Living with the Living

They Might Be Giants – The Else

White Stripes – Icky Thump

Wilco – Sky Blue Sky: A nice peaceful turn for Wilco. Reminiscent of their Being Their days with a new jazzy undertone. This album is a bore to those who only appreciate the complexity of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and A Ghost Is Born. For those that want a nice hammock album, Wilco made SBS just for you to listen to and relax.

Winterpills – The Light Divides: Marvelous album that contains catchy folk songs and beautiful vocal harmonies. Stunning album and it sounds fresh every time you listen to it.

I know I left out a lot because a) my iTunes recognizes some albums as 2006 for some reason and I’m too lazy to go pick them out and b) Can anyone keep track of every single release from the numerous mentionable artists releasing stuff this year?

We have a lot to look forward to with the next half of the year such as John Vanderslice, The New Pornographers, tons of other bands I don’t want to dig up a list of and hopefully a new Radiohead album.

The main question in my mind is… will 2008 be even better? Steven Wilson is rumored to have a solo album coming out, Opeth is going to release an album and I’m sure we’ll see a lot of the bands with 2006 releases trying to follow up (2006 had some great stuff… but 2007 stomped the hell out of it within the first 4 months). Oh hey… and did I mention that Weezer has a new album coming out in the beginning of 2008? Yeah, well they do (hopefully).


As usual I wrote this late at night/early in the morning and it is absurdly long and I’m sure full of countless grammatical errors and typos. Just ignore my unprofessionalism and go get some good 2007 music.


Peace, Love and Keep Music Alive!!!
-DJ KMA



P.S. Someone teach me how to do Expandable Post Summaries for the sake of us all.

The Newest Pornographers

New Pornographers.
New album.
New song.
Written by Dan Bejar.

I think this all speaks for itself. Combine this with "My Rights Versus Yours," and you've got yourself an album that everyone should be holding their breath for.

Actually, don't. You might die.

Myriad Harbour



Apparently A.C Newman wrote most of his songs while lumberjacking.

Alvin Goes Indie

So everyone knows the chipmunks right? You know, Alvin, Simon, Theodore, the whole gang. Well, it turns out that they've collaborated with Ashley Yao and John Chao of Misha to make a damn good song, despite the whole chipmunk voice thing going on. Stereogum recently put them on the almighty Artist to Watch list, meaning their listeners just jumped from 5 to 10, myself included.

Cruelist Heart, the one with the rodents
Summersend


Look at how cute they are!

When the Shacks are a Shakin'... Legends are Born

Everyone not living under a rock at the present moment is aware of the Decemberists. The instrumentation causes you to escape to a ship and sing a lonely sailor song.

Now... Imagine that the Decemberists (and no offense to the wonderful music of the superb Oregon band) grew balls, enjoyed several lines of cocaine and became 100% Hillbilly. Have the image in your head and the sound in your ears?

Welcome to the Legendary Shack Shakers. Specifically, I'm talking about the album Pandelirium - released last year. The world of J.D. Wilkes is a freakishly crazy and beautiful one.

Originally the band (from Tennessee) started out as a Rockabilly outfit... but then they found their way into originality. The album "Believe" is a tame start compared to its predecessor... Pandelirium. If you take the words pandemonium and delirium, you have this album. Now I listen to a lot of music and it is rare that I am THIS blown away by an album, but damn if this is not one of the best albums I have ever heard, I don't know what is!!!!!

The first song is what I would call "swamp metal" because of it's rough... but swamp like texture. The whole swamp feel carries on throughout the album and the use of harmonica and accordion is just plain sick.

Before I continue... CHECK OUT THIS ALBUM!!!!!!

Anyways, they Shack Shakers have a new album coming out in September. I have heard it. It is good, but severely underwhelming. In fact you should probably check it out before you check out the mind-blowing Pandelirium.

And while the new album might not have a sound of hillbilly's on crack, the live act is rumored to be one of the best shows you can ever see in your life. These people are crazy (search YouTube for "shack shakers dwarf" and you'll find a news report which includes JD riding a dwarf in the Netherlands or somewhere like that) and the energy is apparently through the roof.

If you can't already tell, I'm writing this little segment late at night. I am tired and I really don't know what the point I'm trying to make is... if I'm trying to make a point at all.

Long story short (ignoring my writing errors) The Shack Shakers frigging RULE! It's a sound that I cannot explain. You'll just have to check out "Pandelirium" for yourself.





Peace, Love and Keep Music Alive!
-DJ KMA (R. Sweeney)

Rilo Kiley Does Porn

Jenny Lewis and Co. have a new song and video up at www.themoneymake.com, appropriately titled "The Moneymaker." The video is prefaced by nine minutes of interviews with porn stars, some of which have awesome names like 'Tommy Gunn' and 'Faye Runaway.' Names like that make me wish I could do porn - sigh. The interviews set up the meh video, which would be a complete bore if it weren't for the absolutely gorgeous Lewis (who has never looked better.)

Despite the so-so video, "The Moneymaker" is quickly becoming one of my favorite current songs. The song has a new more dangerous sound that is definitely a departure for Rilo Kiley, one that may be met with screams of despair from hardcore fans. I for one think the new sound is a good thing. While I love "Portions for Foxes" just as much as the next guy, some of the band's other stuff bored me to tears. The bassline and guitar hook have me anticipating the new album more now than ever before.

Under The Blacklight is out on August 21st.

There is, apparently, a light that goes out

So the Morrissey show at the Bank of America Pavilion in Boston has been re-scheduled for this Saturday, the 7th. Of course, I can't make it up to Boston in time, leaving me with a ticket that's basically worthless. Bleh. At least it's a legit problem, since he's canceled a gajillion other shows. Now, after looking at his myspace right after he walked off stage and never returned, it's obvious that people have conflicting opinions on the whole rescheduling issue, with some fans being very worrysome and wishing the Moz the best, while others have turned their back to him.

Try and guess which group I've sided with.

Anyways, this would be a good place to put a link to one of Morrissey's new songs, or that fateful David Letterman performance where he apparently got so ill, but my moratorium on Morrissey is still ongoing.


Morrissey doing what he used to do best...singing.

A Bowie Less Strange

So Dan Bejar premiered some new material under the guise of his band Destroyer (but does anyone really think it's a band?) and by jove, the songs are splendid? Of course, coming off of an album as good as Destroyer's Rubies, what could you expect? They're both up on youtube if you're the visual sort, but I've always felt that Bejar's best when played in the background whilst reading a fine piece of literature, or a lyrics site in an attempt to understand what the hell he's singing about.


He even looks musical!

Foam Hands, the better of the two
Rivers, a song presumably about water?

The Best Band to Make 70's TV Show Theme Songs

The Go! Team, arguably the best band to wake up to, have tossed out another sampler from their new album, though it's on some German site. Luckily, the Go! Team isn't exactly a generic looking band, so if your Kraut is a bit rusty, you'll still be able to listen to "The Wrath of Marcie." Best of luck trying to figure out what it's about.

German Go! Team Goodness

Zeitgeist: The Early Review

There’s an inherent problem with band reunions, reformations, and renovations. Expectations can fly around everywhere, soaring and plummeting like vultures on crack. Chris Cornell and the majority of Rage Against the Machine put together? What could go wrong? Oh wait…there was that complete lack of creativity and passion, leading to Audioslave becoming one of those gateway bands you listen to in middle school and look back on years later, thinking, “This was what I adored?” Then there’s the likes of the New Pornographers, a band so random in its main elements (Neko Case’s gorgeous country vocals, A. C Newman’s love of old-school pop, and Bejar’s pseudo-Bowie insanity) that it’s a wonder that it’s become arguably the best supergroup on the market.

So when Billy Corgan placed that ad in that Chicago newspaper right after his shitty, shitty solo album debuted, Pumpkinheads around the world were all chattering amongst themselves. Will D’Arcy be back? Have Corgan and Iha buried the hatchet? Slowly everyone realized that only Jimmy Chamberlin would return, because he’s the only person who doesn’t have an intense hatred for Corgan, and that Random Bass-playing chick #3 would replace D’Arcy, and a John Cussack look-alike would replace Iha.

But enough of all of this introduction bull, what about the album? What about the album that the world has been fighting itself over, one half hoping for a return to the mid-90’s Pumpkins and the rest not caring? Finally, about a week prior to release, it has leaked, and despite the early promise of the lead single “Tarantula,” Zeitgeist does indeed disappoint. The problem is that the Pumpkins originally had this sort of underdog feel to them, this outsider vibe that Corgan based his strange views of love and lonliness upon. Yes, he was emo, but the way in which he expressed his angst, through a bizarre mix of brutal area-rock and soft, playful love songs, was fresh and in the end, uplifting. Headbangers could ignore numbers like “Tonight, Tonight” and “Thirty-Three” and still be pleased by the monstrous riffs of “Bodies” and “Zero.” The freaks and ghouls appreciated Corgan’s acceptance of his eccentric tastes, even when he put down the guitar and took up the goth pop of Adore that incredibly underrated album that signaled the end of the Pumpkins’ mainstream success.

So how is it that Corgan, who once made the gigantic 28 song Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness and the five EPs that followed, who wrote an incredibly song about his mentally troubled brother, and who could even make a song titled “Mayonnaise” into a fantastic rocker, make an album that makes the listener feel so little? It’s obvious that Corgan wants to be popular again, the predominance of the guitars and sing-along choruses on Zeitgeist make that obvious, but he’s trying to attain popular success only by retaining the superficial elements that made the Pumpkins popular. The guitars are just there; hitting the same notes on every song, seemingly a distant echo of solos and riffs long since delegated to the past. The lyrics are bland, with Corgan channeling Earth, Wind, and Fire by reassuring us that “We all are stars.”

Since the cover art of the statue of liberty drowning in a red sea debuted, I had been hoping that perhaps, Zeitgeist would be driven by the themes relevant to this era, isolation in an age of connectivity, fear of the future, paranoia about the present. Instead, he sings about loving someone because he’s alive on “That’s the Way (My Love Is)” and shouts “(Come On) Let’s Go!” Just so Mr. Corgan knows, parenthesis in song titles is nearly always retarded, no matter how many white robes and capes you may wear. I’ve been listening to a lot of Eels lately, and though E may have some cheesy lyrics, at least when he sings about the way he loves on “Ugly Love,” it seems earnest and heartfelt. Corgan, throughout the album, verges on near parody, seemingly reading the lyrics off of a teleprompter and yelping, whining, and growling at all the appropriate times without the actual soul that gave his voice such conviction years and years ago. Even MACHINA II, that never released sequel to the disaster that was MACHINA I had more soul and more energy in it than Zeitgiest does.

So for a quick rundown of the album…
1. Doomsday Clock- A rather simple rocker, but still likeable nonetheless.
2. 7 Shades of Black- A very good chorus highlighting Corgan’s big-headed, do-it-yourself attitude split up by up-tempo verses that get the job done.
3. Bleeding the Orchid- Other than Tarantula, this is easily my favorite track off of the album. It’s the only one that actually seems to contain any sort of buildup and emotional weight, with Corgan attacking those who bleed whatever the orchid is (I’d like the think it’s a political metaphor, but knowing Corgan, it’s probably about people being mean to him). Also, Corgan sings along with himself, leading me to question whether or not he’s been cloned.
4. That’s the Way (My Love Is)- Despite having stupid lyrics, it reminds me of the lighter songs off of MACHINA I like “Try, Try, Try,” and “This Time,” both of which I thought were great. Plus 10 points for sounding like a song I like.
5. Tarantula- Everyone’s heard it, it’s all over the radio, and it’s a great song.
6. Starz- I don’t want Billy Corgan to tell me I’m a star. I want him to tell me that emptiness is loneliness and loneliness is cleanliness, etc. However, the guitar is pretty good.
7. United States- A 10 minute deluge of boredom until the last third, when the pace picks up, Corgan stops saying “revolution” over and over again, and you know it’ll soon be time for a new song.
8. Neverlost- The opening riff for this is so stolen from a Red Hot Chili Peppers song. It has to be. I can’t place it right now, but it’s totally from a Peppers song. And, since Peppers aren’t Pumpkins, this song feels very out of place.
9. Bring The Light- Yeah, we get it Corgan. You’re happy. You’ve never felt so good. Honestly, I think this song is probably going to be the second single. It just feels right. It’s not the old Pumpkins, but it’s catchy enough to be respected. The riff feels like U2 though…
10. (Come On) Let’s Go!- What do you get if you mix Mellon Collie’s guitars with a poorly written song? This.
11. For God and Country- It’s good enough. Not much really to say about it.
12. Pomp and Circumstances- Dumb song, singing stolen from the Flaming Lips, but somehow it kinda works. Don’t ask me how.

FINAL VERDICT: 6/10, a bit above average simply because I loved the Pumpkins. At the end of the album, you’ll be hard-pressed to remember one moment when you went “WOW! That’s amazing!” or even, “Wow,” for that matter. And then you’ll queue up Siamese Dream and it’ll be all okay.