AWmusic

I didn’t understand what the blogosphere’s craze was with the Pork and Beans and I still don’t. I hated the song the second I heard it. It doesn’t resemble anything that they’ve done and it makes Beverly Hills sounds like a #1 hit (oh wait…). First lets dissect the music, it’s start off with a one note guitar line and the chorus is just distortion of another note. I basically can play this song if I want. Musically I don’t think people are looking for much from Weezer to begin with but lyrically is where you can argue that it was their bread and butter in the older days. I must say I’m more accustomed to older Weezer by fluke because like 5 years ago “El Scrocho” was the first track I liked and I’ll argue that it’s still their best. Lyrically, Pork and Beans also blows.

Apparently the song is supposed to be a song about them being angry for not being cool enough. Either way they use references like it’s a an advert and there is no actual flow or artistry in this song. Their rhyming ability is comparable to my high school poem abilities. It’s just downright shameful this song.

What do you get when you eat Pork and Beans? Flatulence and something resembling this song. Take a note from Weezer, eating candy with pork and beans is a terrible idea it may affect your creativity and your overall coolness.

Now onto the video:

The video has received almost 5 million views and while I can understand why…it’s almost a cheap way to get attention. Basically they gathered people who had their 15 minutes of internet fame and gave them another 3 minutes to annoy the shit out of us. From the numa numa guy, Chris Cocker, the chocolate rain guy and Kevin Federline.
KFed I HAD a lot of respect for, his appearance in WWE was actually pretty good and he was able to laugh it off with a superbowl commercial making fun of himself. Otherwise the video took an easy path to become an internet hit.

Like a major label artist knows…it doesn’t take a good track to lure people into watching your video.

The music still sucks and the video is shitty but I can understand why people are watching it.

Pork and Beans by Weezer

My parents came over to Canada in 1984 after staying in a Thailand refugee camp for 3-4 years. The birth of my oldest sister occurred during my parent’s “stay”. Anyway years before the Khmer Rouge led by Pol Pot decimated the country the country by slaying people with educational backgrounds and the beheading of millions. Even though I do take it for granted…I’m glad to be Canadian.

I would consider myself a “bad” Cambodian…I barely speak the language other then the customary curse words which my parents use a few too many times and whatever random words I remember from my childhood.

Dengue Fever a band out of California interested me because they mixed Cambodian pop with “psychedelic rock”. In addition, I wanted to increase this blog’s exposure to word music…ironic because we don’t cover world music at all and now is a better time to start because there’s a massive amount of world music that probably rocks and needs to be discovered.

My experience with Cambodian music is mainly through karaoke. My parents and their friends love their karaoke, which mainly consists of pop songs though well sung nonetheless. I don’t know much about the Khmer language but I know it’s difficult to read and some simple words for us are made much harder with extra syllables that don’t seem to go well with each other.

Dengue Fever’s Venus On Earth has pretty simple Khmer…I mean I think I can understand what Chhom Nimol is saying for the most part anyway. The novelty just isn’t there for me and while she’s an “alright” singer by Cambodian standards I’ve seen a much bigger range in strength and vocals from those just digging the karaoke. I think I’m one of the few that kind of dislikes listening to music in another language because sometimes I feel like I could be listening to crap and I would be too ignorant to know any better. I remember people digging that song “Gasolina” and a friend who speaks Spanish calling that song the most retarded thing ever.

To add to the hate, Chhom decides to switch interchangeably between Khmer and English trying to effortless combine the two but what fails is that Chhom does change her tone anywhere. She doesn’t show off the range expected and keeps her English in a tone where you expect someone singing in Khmer to (which is done because the words are ridiculous). This novelty wore off quickly and I think I’d rather listen to my parent’s songs then this.

Lastly, musically it’s more annoying then cool. Psychedelic rock is nothing cool in my opinion just a name for some bands who minimally use pop rock – in this case. I mean if you call Panda Bear or Of Montreal psychedelic you know you are getting your moneys worth. Musically it’s simplistic and on its own I wouldn’t like it.

Rating: 1.5 out of 5
Took me a long time to review this for good reason. Buy this album somewhere else!

Thanks to Thomas from AM 180 for sending me this album, a looong time ago.

Woman in The Shoes by Dengue Fever

Tiger Phone Card by Dengue Fever

Anyway No Age is a noise/experiment/punk rock band out of Los Angeles, California that got absolutely amazing reviews for their album Nouns not just from Pitchfork but from Tiny Mix Tapes known for being harsher (or snobbier).

I’d go straight into a review of the album but I’ll first have to talk about noise rock arguably one of my least favorite genres. Noise rock to me is personified with off-key notes, tons of distortion but intentional either to deliberately annoy or to make something beautiful with something that in all sense of music…pretty ugly. The problem for me is that when the goal is to annoy…I usually end up annoyed and having sift through the “noise” makes the music harder to listen to and my brain tends to feel exhausted after a few listens. At least my dislike for Noise is at least explainable.

Even though I do hate Noise, I don’t really hate this album. It is noise but with punk elements and good enough vocals that I can just take it all in at once and not have to worry about missing smaller details or forcing myself to ignore the noise.

I think you can tell if something is great in this fashion…I should in all sense of purposes hate No Age and their album Nouns but the way everything is layered and with all it’s randomness and weirdness it’s a pretty good experience just sitting back and listening to it. Maybe noise is the wrong word here? I’d have to say it feels hard like grunge, metal and post-punk but I guess they’ve really mastered the use of putting in dissonance all over their record without me caring that it’s there.

I still don’t think this is the perfect album…it’s a strange odyssey that I do wish to go back to and revisit all the elements over again but there are a few misses for me. The song “Things I Did While I Was Dead” feels so empty…and it actually had my head aching because there were very little elements or creativity compared to all the other tracks. It does have that annoying thriller type sound that I imagine would be for Poe’s tell-tale heart but otherwise it doesn’t have anything to offer. I would have to say the same about “Keechie” a good ambient track that I wouldn’t mind finding on a post-rock album but it just feels out of place here.

Overall: 4.3 out of 5.

Eraser by No Age

Cappo by No Age

Here Should Be My Home By No Age

Buy this album at: Insound, CD Universe and Amazon

Her album “The Wedding Singer and The Undertaker” (see picture) was released on May 20th and I’ve attempted to listen to her album quite a number of times.

While the rest of the album isn’t bad…I couldn’t get myself to either A) Like it B) Listen to it enough to compile a worthwhile review.

So I’ll just concentrate on the first single which is an awesome song. I’m not one for transcribing lyrics -it’s tedious without a media kit but there is a vast amount of instruments playing in this song that make this track such a catchy tune. Almost like a one hit wonder for my computer but it’s an excellent track that can win you over and it’s expectations were quite lofty after hearing this song. Different instruments almost make this like a pop song or Arcade Fire-esque. It’s really the highlight of the album and I’d reconsider the placement as the 1st track…

Check it out.

Sad Story Over by Christa Couture

Kayo Dot seriously does bridge genres; I think one could argue they can fit the post-rock schematics, but I don’t really want to give them that label, mainly because of how different they are from your regular cup o’ post-rock. They really are, at best, described as progressive psychedelic experimental. You can hear all sorts of influences—from classical, to metal, to jazz. If you really dig progressive rock, especially the more experimental bands (Gentle Giant, for example), you’ll dig Kayo Dot for sure. In fact, I actually do like progressive rock, so there was no real reason for me to outcast Kayo Dot in the first place.

Like I mentioned earlier, I used to think their music too chaotic. The instrumentation is very, very complex; it has a way of even sounding too out of tune at times. The chord progression is very disorienting; often times you expect a smooth transition, and instead get something totally dissonant. All of the tracks on Blue Lambency Downward are jam-packed with different instruments, weaving together to form some crazy ass shit. I read this study before, about how dissonant chords enhance a listener’s response in music compared to regular major/minor chords, which is absolutely appropriate in this case. Because of their eclectic sense of instrumentation, you really can’t help but pay attention. Toby Driver’s vocals are equally eclectic and he sings in a disconnecting melody, if a melody at all (in “Clelia Walking,” Driver sings, “I don’t want to be a melody/I prefer the choking sound”…word, man. Word.) One thing I like about Kayo Dot’s music is the implementation of the violin, played by Mia Matsumiya. It’s one of the band’s prime instruments, and it’s played as freaky as the rest of the instruments. On its own, it’s like music fit for a film noir.

Overall, this album is pretty good, but you may need to acquire taste for it. Again, pretty reminiscent of some of the more experimental classic progressive bands I’ve heard, lots of jazz influences…pretty good in my books. The band actually has this album streaming online for free. Click here to have a listen, or listen to some here:

Kayo Dot – Symmetrical Arizona

Kayo Dot – Right Hand is the One I Want

Buy on:
Amazon
CD Universe
Insound

Dethklok is a virtual death metal band on the Adult Swim show Metalocalypse. The show basically follows the part-American/part-Scandinavian band around as they go on tours, endorse products, perform charitable acts to avoid paying taxes and other related businesses in the music industry.

Their ability to command worldwide attention and effortlessly persuade masses of people usually lead to disasters, severe weather phenomena, paranormal anomalies, and injuries and fatalities to pretty much the whole crowd. Despite this, die hard fans are willing to sign “pain waivers” at the entrance, releasing the band from legal liability in case they are killed or crippled.

Dethklok had their first and only album, The Dethalbum, out late last year. It debuted at #21 on the Billboard 200 chart making it the highest chart positioned death metal album to date, according to StylusMagazine.com. The vocals on a lot of these tracks are all growls, some more clear than others. Some lyrics are well written while others are just the song name repeated over and over again. Overall they’re pretty funny and I don’t think they’re meant to be taken seriously. The guitar work, however, is simply amazing and I think that’s what made Dethklok a real band rather than just being a part of a cartoon show. If you’re a Guitar Hero fan or played Guitar Hero II, you have probably heard “Thunderhorse” before.

Dethklok will be touring with Chimaira and Soilent Green. I have heard of neither of these bands but here’s the tour schedule:

6/2/08 Roseland Theatre Portland, OR
6/3/08 Showbox SODO Seattle, WA
6/5/08 The Fillmore San Francisco, CA
6/6/08 Wiltern Theatre Los Angeles, CA
6/7/08 House of Blues – Las Vegas Las Vegas, NV
6/8/08 House of Blues – San Diego San Diego, CA
6/10/08 Marquee Theatre Tempe, AZ
6/11/08 Sunshine Theater Albuquerque, NM
6/12/08 Gothic Theatre Englewood, CO
6/14/08 First Avenue Minneapolis, MN
6/15/08 Liberty Hall Lawrence, KS
6/16/08 House of Blues – Chicago Chicago, IL
6/17/08 Clutch Cargos Pontiac, MI
6/19/08 House of Blues – Cleveland Cleveland, OH
6/20/08 Kool Haus Toronto, ONT
6/21/08 MTL Festival Montreal, QC
6/22/08 Town Ballroom Buffalo, NY
6/24/08 The Palladium Worcester, MA
6/25/08 Nokia Theater Times Square New York, NY
6/26/08 Ram’s Head Live Baltimore, MD
6/27/08 Theater of Living Arts Philadelphia, PA
6/29/08 House of Blues – South Carolina N. Myrtle Beach, SC
6/30/08 Hard Rock Live Orlando, FL
7/1/08 Jannus Landing St. Petersburg, FL
7/2/08 Tabernacle Atlanta, GA
7/4/08 Meridian Houston, TX
7/5/08 House of Blues – Texas Dallas, TX
7/6/08 La Zona Rosa Austin, TX

If you’re wondering how they will be performing on stage, Dethklok will be set up Gorillaz-style with the actual musicians, Brendon Small (creator) and his ensemble, playing at the side, according to UltimateGuitar.com

Deththeme

Duncan Hills Coffee Jingle

Thunderhorse

Get the CD at: Amazon, Insound, cdUniverse

Genre isn’t important but they do take elements of folk and add their own spin with complex arrangements while keeping the music generally relaxed. Their songs range from 1-2 minute pieces to 6 minute epic songs. There’s 4 tracks that are greater than 6 minutes. I think they have one mistake on this album and it comes with the track “The Season” being a 6 minute song hurts it as well. I think that the track doesn’t bring quite enough compared to the extra instrumentation and the use of vocals like the on the rest of the album, The Season comes off bland and really just takes way too long to build upon. The end is great but waiting 5 minutes into a 6 minute song…usually makes me want to press “skip”.

The rest of the album is top notch though. I definitely would say “Jodi” is my favorite for the amazing intro and with a frantic quality to. The next would be “God?” which comes off as a great ending to an album. I absolutely love the vocals…perfect vocals the relaxing type but with enough range to keep from being bored during the soft moments. There are a vast amount of instruments and a lot of random bits.

Musically it’s unique and if probably challenging if I attempted to try to play one of their songs but the way it’s done they’ve made challenging to make music easy to listen to and I love that shit.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.
Excellent album, with some downright amazing arrangements.

Jodi by The Dodos

God? by The Dodos

Buy this album at: CD Universe/Insound/Amazon

Anyway I am rehashing old news that nobody cares about, I think stealing music is much more sacred and a bigger news story. Apparently it’s been out there for about a little more then a month but has picked up ZERO media steam aside from Exclaim. Stealing music is like a pro-athlete taking steroids in my world…they are done for the same reasons. Anyway the big controversy was a song called “IntersectionInsecticon” they listed as one of their own songs but then switched it to a remix AFTER hearing complaints. The original song was done by Lo-Bat who had an open Creative Commons license meaning it was free to use without commercial use provided you gave credit where credit is due.

I think the problem I have with a lot of the media outlets is that they are making it a Creative Commons issue…while I think that is one path to take…a boring one though why not bash the perpetrators like they deserve to be? Apparently there has been a lot more theft of songs and after listening to the evidence, it’s pretty damn arguable that Crystal Castles isn’t as original or cool as they are leading on. The songs are similar that you can say that some tracks are at least sampled.

I will say that I believe theft in the music industry feels like it is going to get more common as the “indie” scene becomes even more massive then it already is. We have millions of bands across the world with tons of different styles and all that much more obscure bands…who probably can’t afford litigation and they just have to cause a “fuss”.

Crystals Castles stole, they changed their tune (switching the credits is not cool) and they are trying to brush it off as it’s okay. But it’s not. Their integrity is now compromised and even if you hear something new how would you know it’s not stolen? Other tracks are believed to be rip-offs as well but the least of what they did was steal one track.

Artists should have their ass handed to them if they are caught stealing, because athletes are ripped apart for doping but they only hurt themselves more then anything while artists who steal music from others hurts the fans even more (sport fans pay to watch the sport more then the individual athlete) and the artist(s) they steal from.

Thanks for Flight Test for bringing this up…totally missed it and I think ALL OF YOU music fans should be outraged. Fans or not. I think anyone accused of theft in the music world needs to be acted much more harshly upon as this can’t be tolerated!

I don’t know how I am going to approach the Crystal Castles anymore. It leaves a bitter taste in my mouth and it may affect my reviewing abilities of them but that’s their fault. They still have their millions of myspace fans so what do they care.

MP3:
Untrust Us by Crystal Castles

First and foremost, I’m a huge fan of Plans, songs like Marching Bands of Manhattan, Soul Meets Body, and I Will Follow You into the Dark, filled me with an unexplainable joy offered in a very surreal, sadist kind of way. These songs were memorable, and really epitomized the quality of music coming from Death Cab at the time. I can’t say that any song from Narrow Stairs remotely matches any of the three mentioned from Plans. Given that Death Cab seemingly chose a darker more musical route than the upbeat inspirational stuff I heard from previous albums, I felt Narrow Stairs was a tad of a letdown in that respect. That’s the problem with follow up albums, bands change, and fans are often left wanting more of the previous, but in this case I didn’t get my fill.

With that out of the way, the album was good, and if this was any other band besides Death Cab, it could have been very good. Bixby Canyon Bridge, the first track off Narrow Stairs was entertaining, but again, not memorable. I didn’t really feel a direction in terms of the mood, but musically everything was on par to classic Death Cab material. It’s a very grungy, laid back tune, with the inspiring vocals of Ben Gibbard, that’s enough to make a decent song, but I didn’t feel awe-inspired or any of that jazz.

Second on the track list, is a song that has been featured and praised across the interweb, I Will Possess Your Heart. I will get a lot of flack for this, but I wasn’t impressed, I found it excessively long. Some people have fallen in love with this track, but it wasn’t as if it was 8 minutes of constantly changing instrumentals. It was the same guitar riff over a span of 5-6 minutes, and a little too tedious for my taste. But then again, for me, the less Ben Gibbard I hear, the less I want to hear the song, let that be a testament of the appreciation I have for Ben.

After the first two tracks, I get to material that I begin to get a feel for. No Sunlight the third song and my favourite track is pleasantly upbeat, yet remaining true to the laid back nature of Death Cab. There’s a little more action as compared to the first 14 minutes of the album (that’s only two tracks!), and some may say it gets a little more mainstream from then on, but I like it. No Sunlight is followed up by Cath… and again, it’s the same faster paced, but only slightly inspiring material. Yet amidst all the pretty good songs on this album, I still wonder, where’s the next Soul Meets Body?

This album had a wealth of decent songs, it was a good listen, and an ok effort. But I may be one of the few out there who just loves the pop side of Death Cab. Plans wasn’t particularly fast paced or more action packed, but it provided that memorable optimistic track that steals my mind for the 3-4 minutes it’s on. I don’t think Death Cab needed to go the dark route, or the more mainstream route, they didn’t need the grungy guitars, or the overly depressed vocals. Translantacism was also an unbelievable album in my eyes, and it’s the soft pop that I crave not the indie melancholy they went for. If you’re a Death Cab fan, check for yourself, you may find a new side that you’ve always wanted, or if you’re like me, you may find an ok album from an unbelievable band.

No Sunlight by Death Cab For Cutie

Talking Bird by Death Cab For Cutie

Buy Narrow Stairs at: Insound, CDUniverse, Amazon and everywhere as this was the #1 CD on Billboard.

Here’s a random playlist that I hope seems somehow related: ( I gotta go out)
1. The Kids Don’t Stand A Chance by Vampire Weekend
2. Flyin by Regina Spektor
3. Harder Better Faster Stronger by Daft Punk
4. Ballad of A Comeback Kid by The New Pornographers
5. Inaction by We Are Scientists
6. Attack of the 60 ft Lesbian Octopus by Does It Offend You Yeah?
7. In Search of the Youth Crew by Cadence Weapon
8. Passing the Hat by Cold War Kids
9. Heart and Soul by Joy Division
10. Lucky Ones by Kevin Drew

Filler so I can adjust the below alignment!!!