AWmusic

The article I’m responding to can be found here.

First and foremost, Pitchfork is a website with success that I cannot and will not degrade; they have earned every bit of their popularity. My reviews may never amount to anything close to what Pitchfork puts out on a daily basis, but the curious difference that let’s me sleep at night, is knowing I will never put out a review like the one in question. It’s almost sickening to see such blatant hate recycled, reused and distributed in a one page review. I still believe anyone who spends time writing articles about ‘bad’ music, as opposed to music they may actually enjoy, is certainly missing out in life (I know AWmusic.ca is guilty of this too). That said, I can full well understand criticism, take it, and learn from it, but the author who wrote the article on Owl City’s Fireflies, is simply a hater at best.

Beyond the two or three lines where the author does tackle some critical issues he has with the song itself, I find myself reading a fan’s guide to Ben Gibbard’s success more than anything else. Mind you, I was a fan of Death Cab and The Postal Service long before I heard of Owl City, and I will continue to be a fan of both. But what the author fails to do in this review is take Ben Gibbard’s crotch out of his oral cavity (as politely as I could state it). The whole Owl City sounds like The Postal Service argument is redundant and certainly about as productive as beating a dead horse. I find it ironic that the author says “But I doubt Ben Gibbard is losing sleep over Owl City’s Adam Young,” so why are you? While I don’t expect a response back, it’d probably be somewhere along the lines of ‘I’m not’ in which case that’s fine. I guess that article you wrote for a major music publication took you all of 10 minutes, right?

My other major gripe, besides the whole avoiding content and writing hate just so you can cash in on that very same artists popularity (get over it, Owl City is popular beyond belief), is the fact that he continues to imply Owl City completely ripped off The Postal Service. What strikes me odd is if Owl City can blatantly copy The Postal Service, and The Postal Service is amazing (which they are), then in theory Owl City’s music, all bias aside, should be at least half way decent. I cannot deny the obvious resemblance between the music, but their similarities are what make me fans of both bands.

Whether Owl City is a one time gimmick remains to be seen, or whether the author in question was on to something (I highly doubt he was). I just find it ridiculous that Pitchfork would publish such a demeaning article, and I’m SURE they didn’t know his chart-topping hit would give them hundreds of thousands of hits (sarcasm). Perhaps my response has more to do with ethics than with music altogether, but I don’t think its right to bash a guy, while looking for hits from his rather large fan base, if that was indeed their intention. I think music culture has gotten too much about being high and mighty, and less about enjoyment and fulfillment, even I find myself sitting here writing a negative response to a negative article.

In the end, Owl City is experiencing success few people will ever imagine, and perhaps writing this was a waste of my own time. Ironic isn’t it?

Check out his Myspace for more on Owl City.
And for my review of his album Ocean Eyes

Owl City – Fireflies

I am kicking myself for not bringing Minuit to the attention of all AWMusic readers sooner. How I let a review of their third album, Find Me Before I Die A Lonely Death Dot Com, slip by is beyond my comprehension, and no doubt electro-pop fanatics will question my judgement once they feast their ears on the band’s aural talents.

Minuit (pronounced Minwee, as helpfully pointed out on the album cover) are a New Zealand-made threesome consisting of the lovely Ruth Carr and fellow knob-twiddlers Paul Dodge and Ryan Beehre. The band’s success in places like London and the Czech Republic have placed them high on the list of New Zealand’s musical talent, and their energetic live acts are loved by midnight youths across the country.

Find Me… reflects Minuit’s ability to grow, shift and change – manic enthusiasm in songs like Yeah Yeah sit comfortably alongside darker songs like Queen Of The Flies and I Hate You; something unexplored on previous albums The 88 and The Guards Themselves. The diverse array of musical elements in Find Me…, from pub sing-along Vampires to the industrial Wayho, detract from the fact that Find Me… is an electro-pop album. What sets Minuit apart is how effortlessly contrasted their third offering is: it can be played on the dance floor or while lying on the couch and not sound out of place. Ruth Carr’s cutesy vocals work as well as ever on some of the nuttier lyrics Minuit are known for – Ruth has the unique gift to make singing about knee-capping your legs and chopping you in two sound like a fun night out as heard on 25 Bucks, the albums stand out tune.

Overall, the diversity of the band’s third offering is what sets them apart. Expect the unexpected from an album that is careful to not sound like an experimental jam – Minuit know how to please, and their ability to spread their musical talents across a field of different sounds can only encourage more people to jump on the Minuit bandwagon.

Minuit – 25 Bucks
Minuit – Run Run
Minuit – Yeah Yeah

And just in the spirit of the Twilight: New Moon release:

Minuit – Vampires

Since breaking onto the scene in 2000, The Starting Line has relentlessly touted and toured their infectious brand of pop punk around North America, until the announcement of their hiatus, slash, break-up, slash, need to spend some time apart, in 2008. As either a going away present to a very loyal fan base, or a hint that this is one of those, not permanent type break ups, TSL has offered up Sombody’s Gonna Miss Us, a live concert CD/DVD recorded at their very “last” show at the 2008 Bamboozle Fest.

Live albums can be hit or miss. If the crowd lacks any interest, or the band’s having an off night, or if the bands live show just doesn’t translate well to home listening. In the case of Somebody’s Gonna Miss Us, TSL has orchestrated a hit. The hometown crowd, who had backed the band for almost a decade, was into every song, and they were almost treated to every song in TSL’s catalog, even reaching back to 2001’s With Hopes Of Starting Over EP, for fan favorite Greg’s Last Day, and playing the always awesome Best Of Me and The Ride.

Somebody’s Gonna Miss Us lays out the road map of TSL’s career from their early days to the later, more experimental songs from the bands last proper studio release, 2007’s Direction. Throughout the set the reasons why the band chose to take a hiatus become as clear as the reasons the band are likely to be back together and go about doing what they do so well. Older songs, while still packing the emotional punch they always did, when sung by a younger Kenny Vasoli, who was only 16 years old when the band got started, take on a different sound on Sombody’s Gonna Miss Us when sung by a Vasoli who is eight years older and wiser. As the set delves into songs like Bedroom Talk from 2005’s Based On A True Story, as well as Direction and Something Left To Give from Direction, Vasoli’s voice finds the pitch that those songs were meant for, and it is easy to see why he felt the need to make a different brand of music with his new project Person L

As much as you can see the reasons for the hiatus, you can also see why it’s likely that The Starting Line are not done making music together. The songs are tight and sound incredible live, and the crowd is, as they are at many a TSL show, into it, singing every word. Vasoli hints at the likely rekindlement on the disc making mention of the fans only having to wait till 2011. It’s not the only mention of The Starting Line possibly reuniting as Vasoli joked when playing an acoustic set at the release party for Sombody’s Gonna Miss Us, saying, “If you are really good this year then Santa is going to bring you something.”

Here’s hoping that the future does hold some new music from one of the last decades best pop punk bands, but in the meantime, Sombody’s Gonna Miss Us, holds up as a great live album and a way to fill the void while the band figure out what the next step is and when they’re gonna take it.

The Starting Line – Gregs Last Day
The Starting Line – Best Of Me
The Starting Line – This Ride

I’m familiar with two of the bands, The Germans and Black Hat Brigade. The Germans opened for a Vampire Weekend show an without knowing any of their material, they showed off good stage presence. Black Hat Brigade, I know particularly well in large part thanks to Rob from Burgeoning Metropolis. Of the two bands that I haven’t had any experience with, Racoon Wedding (deliberate spelling mistake) is a Brantford, ON band that is solid and I’m actually digging their stuff. Schomberg Fair are also on the card.

Contest rules:
1. All you have to do is enter a comment, that easy.
2. Winner chosen by a draw and they get to see a great lineup of local talent.
3. Winner gets a +1 guestlist.
4. Contest ends November 25th

Zombies (Basement Sessions) by Black Hat Brigade
Tiger Vacuum Bottle by Germans
Basement Or The Attic by Racoon Wedding

Thanks to The Musebox for allowing us to the host the contest.

For the past decade, it’s been interesting to see the evolution of a band created from one man and his emotions and experiences. This evolution has come at the cost of the happiness of one Jon Crosby, the man behind the moniker “VAST”. In that time the music has taken on a tone of self-hate and self-destruction, possibly due to the difficulties of his personal life, or with regards to gaining the rights of his past musical works. Whatever the reason may be, since the release of his album “Turquoise & Crimson”, the music has been gradually losing the electronic/industrial edge that defined VAST. His latest release “Me And You” does rekindle some aspects of the sound but the majority is acoustically driven, melancholically deep, and stylistically singular.

Me And You as mentioned utilizes a more acoustic sound as seen in “April” (a previous release). This album does have its fair share of electric guitars but the improvement over April is best felt through the overall atmosphere and the noticeably keener attention to detail in production. The vocal work has vastly improved and Crosby does an excellent job in not only singing the emotion but establishing that connection to make you feel that emotion as well. The downside to this is that emotion is most often one of very few. The despair demonstrated in these tracks while passionate in their own right, feel very restrictive as the band has always had good range of emotion.

While VAST has changed dramatically over the years this different sound doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a bad one. Acoustically, Crosby has an excellent voice and the music feels layered enough to have you keep coming back. Unfortunately, the album feels unnecessary. All these songs have already been released under the solo venture “Generica” in a much more complete fashion. Standout tracks like “You Should Have Known I’d Leave”, “Hotel Song”, and “It’s Not You (It’s Me)” don’t carry the album enough to warrant dedication. Instead I would recommend you go through and peruse the Generica volume releases, you may find more of what you like and for a much better price.

MP3:

VAST – You Should Have Known Id Leave

VAST – She Found Out

Buy at:

Realvast.com Store / iTunes

More info:

Realvast.com / Myspace / Generica

Before I go into any specifics about the album, I have a quick disclaimer: If the only Weezer you will listen to is Pinkerton and The Blue Album, stay far, far away from Raditude. Case in point: Lil’ Wayne contributes a verse on one song. So, if Weezer’s lean toward the mainstream sickens you, steer clear, because they don’t even pretend to be anything less than a pop band on Raditude.

With the disclaimer out of the way, I can now safely say that Raditude isn’t a bad album at all. Granted, it’s nothing like the music Weezer used to make, but that doesn’t necessarily make it worse. If we mark Make Believe as the beginning of Weezer’s transformation, then Raditude is without a doubt the best album of the new era. It is a solid album of simple pop-rock tunes, and nobody’s pop sense is better in tune than Rivers Cuomo.

The album kicks off with the 8th grade relationship anthem, ‘(If You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To’. Over an infectious guitar hook, Cuomo tells believable stories about middle school sexual tension. Although it’s a bit of an odd topic for a 39-year-old songwriter, Cuomo hits the nail on the head describing middle school awkwardness. The album continues with ‘I’m Your Daddy’, and by the first chorus, it’s clear that Cuomo has no qualms about going balls deep into generic pop music. That would be bad, but Weezer the songs are crafted so well that even though the sound isn’t original, it’s still catchy as hell. Some other favorites on the album: ‘The Girl Got Hot’, featuring Cuomo musing about the newfound attractiveness of a girl who nobody used to look twice at; ‘Tripping Down The Freeway’, a clever tune about a dysfunctional relationship that Cuomo refuses to end; ‘The Prettiest Girl In the Whole Wide World’, a romantic tune with an almost AC/DC-esque intro.

I’ve purposely left off ‘Can’t Stop Partying’, because it isn’t really a Weezer song. It seems like they took lyrics from Jamie Foxx and Akon and told Cuomo to sing them. This song would be better off on one of R. Kelly’s albums, complete with Lil’ Wayne guest verse. Don’t get me wrong, Lil’ Wayne’s verse is as deft and clever as always, but it just doesn’t fit in with Weezer. It doesn’t sound like something Cuomo would, or should, write.

Other than an odd obsession with middle school and the aforementioned unfitting song, the album is generally a good effort from a great pop band. Once again, it’s not Pinkerton, but we’ve known for awhile that Pinkerton is never coming back. If you can accept Weezer’s new sound, it’s obvious that this album is leaps and bounds better than the last two. I hope that, no matter which path they take, Weezer doesn’t stop making catchy songs. In that regard, Raditude doesn’t disappoint.

Check out their myspace or website for more information about the band.

Weezer – The Girl Got Hot
Weezer – Tripping Down The Freeway
Weezer – The Prettiest Girl In The Whole Wide World

First let me start off by saying that there should be a word limit to album titles, sometimes they get out of hand. There also needs to be some kind of truth in advertising thing as well, I mean, The Hearts We Broke On The Way To The Show sounds a wee bit pretentious doesn’t it, never mind a bit wordy. But this is really apropos of nothing.

The second thing I want to address is that second or two of foreboding you sometimes get when you look at something and think to yourself that it is just going to go horribly wrong. When I downloaded this album for review I had that sense of foreboding and I wasn’t far off the mark. I have stated that I hate giving bad reviews and it’s true. Bands, generally, work hard and try to do their best to make a product that will appeal to, hopefully, a large segment of the population. Much and all as we like to think that bands are in it for the music, the reality is they would like to see a bit of the green as a reward for their work. So with that in mind, it is with a sad countenance that I greet you today and a heavy heart that I have to write this. Keep in mind that this is just my opinion and doesn’t count for much in the grand scheme of things and that somewhere there are legions of people who are just waiting for a throwback to the New Wave bands of the ’80s to come down the pipe. If there are, and I have to really believe that you are out there somewhere, this band is for you. For me, not so much.

It started out hopefully. Cosmic Dancer, a cover of a T-Rex song, starts with a nice Depeche Mode/Duran Duran vibe but it can’t overcome the lyrical paucity that was a hallmark of a T-Rex song. That being said, The Idle Hands aren’t great lyricists either so Cosmic Dancer fits right in. Loaded, the first single, contains such bon mots as: “All the unrequited emo boys get loaded” and “All the hopped up kids with their junkie friends get loaded.” In fact “…get loaded” seems to follow just about every line, although it is interesting to hear “backpack kids” sung quickly. I couldn’t decide if these songs were wry sardonic social commentary or if they just didn’t have that much to say but figured they should try for deep and insightful. They fail miserably on both counts. Don’t get me wrong, the arrangements are often quite good, with a mature post-punk/pop/New Wave sound that many retro-sounding bands lack but the lyrics definitely come from the shallow end of the pool.

It does get better after this but, for me, only marginally so. The Fall, the third song, is a danceable tune with a catchy refrain. It definitely has more in common with the Brit-pop movement of the late ’80s early ’90s than with anything going on right now. This sound kind of makes it fun but again the weak lyrics left me cold. Liver and Brains is definitely better, a heavier rock sound that supports the (and it pains me to say this because I love me some Jarvis and Cirian Daly just doesn’t have the pipes) Jarvis Cocker-style vocals. Daly, does have an interesting baritone but it is better suited to the songs that play into the lower part of his register, his voice tends to break unflatteringly when he tries to reach the higher notes within his range and a falsetto is just better left to those who can do it. Loaded showcases his voice very well and the talents of the rest of the band as well. This could be the strongest song on the whole album. Again, though, I found the lyrics questionable. Loaded, Married Life and Liver and Brains actually form a Strokes-like triad that I have to admit to finding likeable. By far, much better than the opening trio, Cosmic Dancer, Damage Control, and The Fall, and infinitely preferable to Queen of Air and Darkness (a nod to Berlin-era Bowie), Secretary (a song that could have been written by Snow Patrol), The Sleazer, or Space Thing.

What all this means to me is that, perhaps, a twelve-song album may have been a bit of an ambitious project for this band. They may have been better to just do a six-song EP rather than compiling everything they’ve ever written onto one CD. Certainly, they are talented musicians – the guitars are crunchy enough and the drums and bass are driving enough – and they have been getting a lot of favourable reviews from other blogs but I really had a hard time listening to this. I tried three or four times before I could get past the second song. This really, really isn’t my kind of music at all. They are catchy pop tunes, to be sure, (One reviewer who shall remain nameless compared them to the Jonas Brothers if the Jonas Brothers were an actual power trio. I find this a bit harsh, to say the least. I mean to compare them to the Jonas Brothers?!? That’s just cruel.), but I just didn’t like it.

The bands members are listed on their MySpace page as: Cirian and his brother, Criostoir (both Irish ex-pats) and Emma, Nick and Eileen (from Minneapolis). You can buy The Hearts We Broke On The Way To The Show on iTunes , Amazon and emusic. Anyway, give the following tracks a listen, they may be just your cuppa after all if the adage that somewhere out there the perfect partner is waiting for you is true then somewhere out there is an audience just waiting for this band.

The Idle Hands – Loaded
The Idle Hands – Sunshine on the Tenements
The Idle Hands – Liver and Brains

“I think that possibly maybe I’m falling for you.”

Earlier Landon Pigg was mentioned in a music commercial post. If “Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop,” was played a general consensus would state that the song is from a ring commercial on television, even though Pigg has released other singles from his second album LP. Many of the artists featured on television are known by their one song, and not for their real musical talents. Luckily, I’m here to clear that up.

Landon Pigg’s new album, Boy Who Never, is a warm and calming ride, fit for the cloudiest or brightest days. The album begins with “The Far,” a more up beat tempo song of a simple love story of a couple making it to where they are. However, it’s not the beats that compose the song, but Pigg’s voice carries the listener through the story, while maintaining a perfect level of emotion. The second song, and second single, however, has an instrumental beat that creates the song. A jazz-like melody in the beginning characterizes the song with a saxophone, a piano, and a consistent cymbal rhythm. This lovely instrumental moves the song along, accompanied well with Landon’s voice. The next song, “Blue Skies,” is my highlight of the album, about a love story gone wrong this time, turning blue skies to gray. Towards the end of the song, a familiar piano sequence appears, reminding me of the classic “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” by Starship.

“Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop” then passes, a classic love song that should not be passed up. “Take a Chance” is slightly catchy, then “The Boy Who Never” slows back down with a soft drum beat accompanied by a calm violin. Although peaceful, the song that labels the album is not greatly captivating, and feels incomplete. “Made for Glory” sings about a savior, and “Speak to the Keys” provides a little more pop to the album than heard up until that point. “Rooftops” is a gentle song, with an instrumental vibe close to Keane’s. Lastly, the album closes up with another slow song complete with a piano and Pigg’s continuously soothing voice.
In all, the album contains a smooth vibe that warms the soul with different emotions of love. However, each song individually does not hold enough creativity in itself to make specific songs pop out. That said, the album still does create an aura of peaceful happiness and love fit to purify the heart with its sound.

Landon Pigg – A Ghost
Landon Pigg – Blue Skies
Landon Pigg – This Far

I’m still debating how worthy Animal Collective’s Merriweather Post Pavilion is (e.g. it probably is top 10 worthy but I still need some more convincing/time with the album). It’s good and I’ve come back to it on occasional but not being that biggest Animal Collective fan to begin with, it’s hard to say how much I like it.

Anyway, here’s a neat music video that’s directed by Abby Portner (hmm don’t know the relationship to David Portner aka Avey Tare but there’s probably a connection). I dig the video much more then Summertime Clothes as it contains puppetry, lo-fi filming and other artistic qualities. It could be seen as merely a collage with no direction but it’s still cool either way.

A great video to accompany a great song, really check it out:

For you Ipod users, over at VisualNoiz has put up a downloadable .m4v video which you can find here.

In The Flowers by Animal Collective

We All Have Hooks For Hands is a band is a South Dakota band signed to Afternoon Records. I was actually interested after listening to a few things as much as it polarized me.

One thing I should point out immediately, Eli Show has one annoying voice. Not that it’s important or anything but reviewing the album in front of my girlfriend had her annoyed. I think some of the annoying things revolve around the wailing/high notes that are not really hit too well. It’s squeaky and screamy (emoish perhaps) and at times it does take away from the quality of the music.

Musically I think they’ve got something good going for them despite the vocal drawbacks. Depending on the person anyway, it will or won’t matter. It’s different for some people, I personally don’t mind that much and I just made it a personal goal to just try to enjoy it as much as I can. WAHHFH’s style is a mix of pop, folk and I hear a little bit of roots in them. Their songs generally create a lot of energy to go along with Eli Show’s style. Their songs are full of musical energy and it leads to most songs being more solid then not.

It leaves me in a bit quandary, musical I’d be pretty excited by the band but I’m ultimately left tempered. They are a decent/okay band but I’m not sure how much I can ultimately like them. It’s hard to choose favorites because musically it’s solid but I doubt I’d ever be impressed by the vocals. Maybe it’ll end up being an acquired taste but it’s like that with music sometimes. As good as a band is, sometimes you just can’t get into the singer. Off the top of my head I’d say Made Up of Tiny Lights and Sea That Holds You.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5
A band worth posting about yet at the same time a band that I don’t think I’ll ever be crazy about. Still, there’s nothing wrong with making decent music so let’s not bother concentrating on negatives. Especially if you dig their music.

Made Up Of Tiny Lights by We All Have Hooks For Hands
Sea That Holds You by We All Have Hooks For Hands