Blips from the week of 7/5/09
You will beg for their lives and their souls
Muse – Take A Bow
Don’t! Make! It! Look! So! Pretty Burning!
The Used – Take It Away
If it gets you down well then I want it
Queens Of The Stone Age - If Only
‘Cause there’s a sad and lonely comfort // In the hollow of your eyes
Hurt – House Carpenter
I’m about to lay destruction on you
Eagles Of Death Metal – I Only Want You
:::…
Last.fm Top Artists
1 The National 36
1 Iced Earth 36
3 Queens of the Stone Age 31
4 Muse 24
5 Ryan Star 21
6 Weezer 19
7 Killswitch Engage 16
…:::
Reflection
It was a tale of two halves of my week this week, with The National keeping me calm at first, and Iced Earth giving me some classic metal when I needed it the most.
The National had been showing up on multiple Similar Artists stations the passed few weeks, and I finally decided to purchase their Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers album. Slipping Husband has such a resonating and unexpected explosion towards the end of the song, that it overpowered the experience of the rest of the album for me. Everything else seemed mellow, but gritty and real. It struck me as a more serious or deeper Something Corporate album. There’s something raw and damaged about the lyrics even if the sound that surrounds it is soothing.
I grabbed the new Killswitch Engage album when I needed a bit more aggression. The new self-titled album didn’t disappoint and made a much stronger first impression than their previous album. The Return was my therapeutic release multiple times this week, even if it is one of the slower tracks on the album. Jesse Leach is still one of the most amazing singers and his range is on full display on this song.
But Killswitch wasn’t what I really had in mind this week. I’ve been struggling with trying to scratch the right hard rock itch lately, as I’m tired of my primary selection. I was looking through Killswitch’s album covers and noticing a lot of similarities, which for some reason led me to thinking about all of Iced Earth’s album. I previewed a couple of songs since it had been over 5 years since I last listened to them, and I had to have more. The problem was, I couldn’t remember the name of the one album that I was really into in college and that’s what I really wanted to listen to. While looking through their album covers and titles, nothing was standing out, they were all so over the top that they were indistinguishable from one another. I ended up remembering 3 select songs from 3 different albums - Horror Show, Something Wicked This Way Comes, and The Dark Saga - which became a great mix for my afternoons later in the week. I mainly listen to them for the drums and thrasing speed metal guitars. By the very end of the week I remembered why I stopped listening to them, as their lyrics are so fantastical that they are hard to take seriously. It becomes grating and I’d prefer it to be all instrumental.
I was happy to rediscover Muse and their Absolution album again this week. I tend to go back to that album a few times a year and it never disappoints. Muse always stands out to me still as the loudest concert that I have been, too. Strangely, they also have a song on their Origin of Symmetry album, Microcuts, that reminds me of the soundtrack to the Ratchet and Clank video game series. I’d been talking about the game recently which made me dive back into their albums.
Lots of new music that I’m looking forward to checking out this week.
- On Tuesday, Jack White’s new supergroup, The Dead Weather, has their album drop. I’ve listened to a few sampler songs already and couldn’t be more excited for the full album.
- I grabbed a few new-to-me albums by Karnivool, VAST, and Lacuna Coil that I’ve been waiting on. We’ll see how many spins they get this week.
20090713 @ 1045
Blips from the week of 6/28/09
I can’t sleep until I devour you
Marilyn Manson – Devour
I’m told it’s everything a man could want // And I shouldn’t complain
The Raconteurs – Consoler of the Lonely
Will the flood behind me // Put out the fire inside me?
AFI – The Missing Frame
Should’ve been, could’ve been, would’ve been, would’ve been you
System Of A Down – Revenga
Like I said before Ill say it once more // Knew you would make me feel so good
311 - Do You Right
:::…
Last.fm Top Artists
1 Thrice 33
2 Ryan Star 27
3 Stereophonics 21
4 Radiohead 20
5 Death From Above 1979 19
5 Mos Def 19
7 Marilyn Manson 18
8 30 Seconds to Mars 15
9 The Raconteurs 14
10 Arcade Fire 13
11 Our Lady Peace 12
11 The Stone Roses 12
…:::
Reflection
Thrice is the most recent member of my top 5 favorite bands. The resurgence this week was due to the announcement of their first song coming to Rock Band. I believe I put on a mix Vheissu and The Illusion of Safety for a solid afternoon in anticipation. I thought I nailed the vocals during my solo performance in my living room, we’ll have to wait for a real review during my public debut to a forthcoming game night.
Ryan Star is still r.star to me. I’ve been waiting for him to breakout with a new album since his stint on Rockstar: Supernova (which changed his stage name), but it has been a lot slower going than anticipated. He released his Last Train Home EP and I was less than impressed. So I went back and listened to Songs From the Eye of an Elephant to regain my confidence in him. Sure enough, after I was in the mood I went back to the EP and “Right Now” started to stand out and rock my face quite a bit.
I had quite the trio going in my car this week as I’ve been messing around with the Genius playlists quite a bit on my iPhone (now that it scrobbles my tracks to last.fm). Most of my mixes started with an Arcade Fire song off of Funeral. Inevitably I ended up on a Stereophonics or Our Lady Peace song that made me take an extended listen to their albums. Stereophonics has always been Radiohead-lite to me, but their greatest hits album is pretty much flawless. Mr Writer is up there in my favorite songs for sure. Our Lady Peace only has one album in my mind, and I love to imitate Raine’s voice when I’m alone. I’d never put you through that publicly.
Other quick notes:
- 30 Seconds to Mars can’t release a new album fast enough
- Death From Above 1979 and The Stone Roses - I discovered both of you too late and hate you both for breaking up.
20090706 @ 1045
Blips from the week of 6/21/09
Living is, hard enough, without you fucking up!
Breaking Benjamin – Until the End
Hold on.
Nonpoint – In The Air Tonight
There’s one born every minute.
Peeping Tom (ft Norah Jones) – Sucker
We all were lost now we are found // No one can stop us or slow us down
Thrice – Image of the Invisible
:::…
Last.fm Top Artists
1 Mos Def 89
2 Incubus 58
3 Nonpoint 35
3 Blaqk Audio 35
5 AFI 20
6 Damiera 16
7 Breaking Benjamin 15
8 Radiohead 13
9 Street Sweeper Social Club 12
10 Brand New 11
…:::
Reflection
I never gave Mos Def a chance before this week. Sad to say I was more familiar with his acting than the reason why he got the chance to act in the first place. After picking up his new album - The Ecstatic - I was floored. I quickly downloaded Black on Both Sides and mixed the two albums for about two day straight. At one point I described his beats/flow combination as “like Kanye, except with talent and soul.” It was a lot catchier than I expected, but at the same time it was refreshing to appreciate his artistry. My Mos Def and Saul William’s playlist mix is pretty solid right now, but I could use a few more similar artists to throw in with them.
Incubus released what I thought was just a greatest hits album last week. That usually means there are one or two new half-assed songs put in there to entice a fan to actually spend money on it. Well, Disc 2 has 10! unreleased songs on it, and I would have paid full price for this disc alone. The Prince cover of Let’s Go Crazy stands out since it sounds completely different from most things Incubus these days. Punch Drunk was the favorite song that I hadn’t heard before, and it’s nice to have a studio version of Pantomime since I had previously only heard it live.
Nonpoint is a stand by for me anytime that I can’t find anything to hard to listen to. I had a strange obsession with their Phil Collin’s cover this week. It was featured in the Miami Vice soundtrack of all things.
My Sunday night discovery of the week came from starting up a last.fm station for similar artists to Shiny Toy Guns. The second song that came on was Stiff Kittens by Blaqk Audio. I was actually writing last week’s music post at the time and only half paying attention, but I heard a very familiar vocalist and became rather confused since it sounded like I was listening to AFI but I wasn’t. Well, somewhere I missed a press release because Davey and Jade of AFI’s side project was melting my face. Needless to say, I bought the Blaqk Audio album and mixed it in with Sing the Sorrow and Decemberunderground. I’m very ready for that new AFI album now.
20090629 @ 1115
Blips from the week of 6/14/09
Because we separate like // ripples on a blank shore
Radiohead – Reckoner
She knows it’s too late as she’s walking on by
Oasis – Don’t Look Back in Anger
But all my homies warned me, “Oh, no, those Gypsies probably got knives.”
WHY? – The Hollows
I’ve got a love for lust and a lusty thirst to kill
EndeverafteR – Road To Destruction
One day Johnny is gonna do somethin’ // Show ‘em he’s nobody’s fool
Eels – Souljacker Part I
:::…
Last.fm Top Artists
1 The White Stripes 25
2 Street Sweeper Social Club 24
3 Rise Against 22
4 Brand New 19
5 Endeverafter 16
6 Red 9
7 30 Seconds to Mars 9
8 Matchbook Romance 8
9 dredg 6
10 EchoBrain 5
…:::
Reflection
I added every album by The White Stripes back to my work music library. Blue Orchid and The Denial Twist are my current favorites. I’m at the point where I can put them all on shuffle together and I always like what I hear.
I still can’t believe that Street Sweeper Social Club’s new album was only $3.99 this past week. They are definitely Rage Against the Machine Lite, but Boots Riley and Tom Morello definitely bring the funk. The Oath, Promenade, and Clap for the Killers were the tracks I kept coming back to, especially while driving around town this week.
If my iPhone could scrobble my tracks, Brand New’s numbers would have easily been number one this week. I’ve been trying to get back into the writing habit recently and I put their collection on repeat while I waited for inspiration to strike.
EndeverafteR is a band that brings back my favorite type of pure rock. They also happen to the song I most like to sing on Rock Band that no one else knows - I Wanna Be Your Man. But this week it was their song, Road to Destruction that kept melting my face.
It was good to see EchoBrain pop back up in my early morning playlist. One of the best bands that never got a chance to figure out who they were. Check out Jellyneck from their 2nd album, Glean.
I continue to try to elevate my opinion of In Rainbows by Radiohead and The Reckoner is the one song that I’ve latched on to. We’ll see if it drags me into the rest of that “average” Radiohead album.
20090622 @ 1315
Blips from the week of 6/7/09
Where do they all belong?
The Beatles - Eleanor Rigby
In other words, grab the next motherfucker marmaduke
Incubus - You Will Be A Hot Dancer
Die young, and save yourself!
Brand New - Sic Transit Gloria… Glory Fades
What a good shot, man
Filter – Hey Man, Nice Shot
Reflection
- I revisted the older NIN library as I continued to relive the recent concert experience. Kind of sad to see that Trent is moving away from his social networking habits.
-
The new dredg album hooked into me this week, especially the opening song, Pariah. I’ll be coming back to this one for a while.
- Rammstein became the Friday music of choice with the added twist of @nsbingham trying to translate the lyrics mid-song. Lesson: some lyrics were never meant to be translated.
- The Beatles continue to be on my mind with their upcoming Rock Band release approaching this fall. Their Cirque du Soleil album - LOVE - has the perfect variety of songs from their diverse catalog.
- Filter was my rediscovery of the week, Short Bus is such a solid album, it’s a shame they peaked so quickly, even though Richard Patrick is still a bad ass.
-
New Releases - Street Sweeper Social Club finally gets released this Tuesday. I was really impressed with their live performance at NIN/JA, and let’s face it, this is as close to a new Rage album as we are going to get.
Last.fm Top Artists
1 Nine Inch Nails 57
2 dredg 41
3 Rammstein 27
4 The Beatles 24
5 Filter 14
6 Marilyn Manson 12
7 Brand New 10
8 Bang Camaro 4
20090615 @ 0936
Blips from the week of 5/31
I swore to God I would never turn into you
Nine Inch Nails – 10 Miles High
‘cause the spark is not within me
Arcade Fire – Crown of Love
it’s so fun to relate
Silversun Pickups – Lazy Eye
we are mistaken // we are the voices // inside your head
Matchbox Romance – Monsters
I take you where you want to go
Nine Inch Nails – Mr. Self Destruct
20090608 @ 1120
