Dum Dum Girls - Only In Dreams

This is the second release from Indie rock band Dum Dum Girls this year, the first being a 4 track EP titled He Gets Me High. That EP included a great cover of The Smiths track There Is A Light That Never Goes Out, a cover that actually got me back into listening to them. This is also the second full length album from the all female four piece from Los Angeles.

The first track Always looking is a really strong start to the album, its a really punchy indie track that shows some similarities to Crystal Stilts in the guitar sounds (not a Girls Names like copy though). The guitars on this track remind me of the song wipeout so an early surf rock influence is apparent on this album. To be honest this is just like some heavier more alternative sounding surf rock tunes, the formula is simple with the vocalist Dee Dee singing about her "guy" and how much she needs, wants and cares for.

The songs don't aways protray sadness and at times Dee Dee's vocals soar incredible to make the song even bigger sounding. I get the feeling like at times its dream pop just with heavier slightly distored guitars and a little faster, like a punk rock edge.This album is like a soft surf rock sound inside a really cool alt rock album, the drums are simple and the songs are really lead vocally. Its a shame that the distortion that was great on the EP from the track He Gets Me High doesn't really appear on this and if anything it means the tracks don't differ too much throughout.

The album is only 36 minutes but keeps your attention from start to finish Always Looking is certainly my favourite on the album and helps you getinto the album straight away. While a track later in the album Wasted Away is another of this mould an almost frantic sounding track.

Overall this is fairly simple album, it won't blow you away but at the songs on this are still really good and defintely end up in multiple listens. Dee Dee's vocals are strong and powerful on this album and the alt spin on songs that are essentially surf rock tracks makes it less cliche.

Overall Rating: 8/10

Album Review: Ganglians - Still Living

I started listening to this album on Monday morning when the sun was out in Wellington and it was the day after the first legitimate snow fall in forever. Since then we've had two days of snow so to say this album has been listened to in completely different conditions before this review are pretty spot on. This is Ganglians 2nd albums and the indie pop band from Sacramento have certainly bought out a big album in terms of content.

As said its a big album, 55 minutes long isn't what I'd call the average length of an indie album but thats because you don't have too many 4-6 minute tracks on the albums, while on this over half are at that mark. When listening to this the firsxt time in the sun it seemed quite appropriate it, the guitars glowed through and influence from surf rock were apparent almost immediately. Another aspect I noticed was the lo fi intro to the first track Call Me which helped to make their intentions clear early on.

The track Sleep pushes away from surf rock and into a more synth pop/electro pop idea with a punk edge, the chorus really shows some attitude while the keyboard gives it a sweet and fuzzy appeal. As the album goes on after this you gett he idea that this band has a lot of different ideas and sounds they want to incorporate. This might be why the album is just under an hour because we get a surf rock start, then fuzzy pop, electro pop, electronic pop, synth pop and punk even. This might be cool that all these are incorporated but I kind of find that all the ideas are just thrown on the page and apart from the surf indie rock stuff is refined as it begins the album and gets two or three tracks in a row.

The rest of this stuff is almost designed to be filler but its really the only stuff I really enjoy, the track already mentioned Sleep is definitely great while my personal favourite on this thing is The Toad which is just a really cool psychedelic song, probably the most well made track on the album. The vocals are powerful and in front of some cool while the crunching guitars give the song some attitude.

Overall theres probably a song for everyone on this, but I'm not so sure theres an album here at all if you like an album to explore different genres song by song this might be your thing. I don't mind a band having a bunch of different ideas from different styles but atleast try tie it together. Bunch of cool songs, just not a great album of songs.

Overall Rating: 6/10

Nothing Is Worse Than...

Party Rock Anthem, yes that terrible group that seems to be killing it on the airwaves and in the clubz, I'm not going into detail about this song because it at all points shows off parts of music I hate. Its like the Black Eyed Peas made a song and thought "yeah not even we would release this" and LMFAO thought "Yeah bro this is meeeeeaaaaaaannn" So now I shall merely take a dab hand at poetry (well sort of) here it goes;

Nothing Is Worse Than Party Rock Anthem

I'd rather feel like a plastic bag...than like Party Rock Anthem
I'd rather be bullied because I made the song Friday...than like Party Rock Anthem
Death...than like Party Rock Anthem

Being a juggalo...than like Party Rock Anthem
I shall not shuffle everyday...or like Party Rock Anthem
Spend a day with dubstep bros > Party Rock Anthem

Willing to enjoy the music of Drake...than like Party Rock Anthem
I won't rewind it back...or like Party Rock Anthem
Use the term LMFAO in normal conversation...than like Party Rock Anthem

My house shant be rocked...or like Party Rock Anthem
lose my hearing is ok...having to like Party Rock Anthem NO
Never be in Miami...than like Party Rock Anthem

Party Rock Anthem...please go away.

Seriously the amount of times I heard this song over the last month or so is the reason while I truly hate the song, I don't even care if you like it cause whatever. The idea for this has been around for a couple of weeks just this is the way I chose to express it, but at the end of the day this song is just the bane of my life.

I Do Not Care For The Winter Sun

Its snowing!!!!, now for some of you outside the hills of Kel Bizzle or Wellington in general this may not be that odd but its really the first time its legitimately snowed here since nam. So in turn as I haven't really listened to many new albums I thought a winter themed blog post was in order. Metal fans shall fill their facebook stati with updates about shit becoming black metal, which is right it has.

Now I'm just going to roll out some of my favourite winter songs/albums cause really it doesn't make sense to be listening to Best Coast's album during a snow ball fight or the Beach Boys for that matter. Nothing is greater than a winter sounding album when its cold, feeling like you're actually part of the frozen tundra (Lambeau reprazent) as you listen gives you a greater appreciation to the visuals through the use of sound the band is making.

Now the title of this blog post is taken from a song by a band I'm a big fan of, it was actually there kind of christmas song. (don't worry I ain't going to start posting christmas songs) The band that did this was Beach House.

Everytime when its freezing cold in the morning and the sun is out I always think of the title of this track, it makes even more sense today as it snowed. Obviously being a Beach House song you'll get beautiful as fuck vocals and a pleasant soun throughout.

Another track by Beach House to me is not only a summer but also a winter song, this is my favourite off the last album with it called Norway (grim and frostbitten), I guess it being called Norway is almost enough for me to declare it winter and I just feel like the music video would be them walking through thick snow.

Now theres an album that to me is the ultimate in portraying grim weather and that is Sunn 0))) - Black One, everytime I listen to it, the feel of the album is just cold snowy nights as if your actually in the forest listening to this. The visuals from the sound are so so great and the track Cursed Realms (Of The Winterdemons) has the most cold winter blizzard start to the track, so much atmosphere in it and the album as a whole.

Seriously, shit got black metal today

Album Review: Lee Noble - No Becoming

This albums been out for a while now, but theres been very little released that I couold find or bother researching so I thought I'd stick with this one. The first time I heard this I just thought "fuck reviewing this" as I didn't really know how I was to go about it all, but now I guess I have no choice so here it goes. Lee Noble is a drone artist and this album No Becoming is the first of three albums to be released this year and with a bunch of albums released last year he is obviously a prolific musician.

Now when I'm dealing with listening to drone music I gotta be patient which is hard as I have a short attention span, Lee Noble's tracks are certainly slow cookers when they come to the music he is making. Starting with the track Cop Show we just have a smooth as fuck tronic sound that combined with standard drone elements allow for it to be quite a cruisey track. The song also incorporates subtle pieces to give the song something extra without over doing it.

While the first track is very smooth, the second is far from it Paradise Life has a stronger drone sound with the occasional addition of acoustic guitar and some small wobbly electronic bits. The song is much more monotone sounding as well as being a far stronger wall of sound with distortion elements included. As the song gets further along when pretty much have a BAS piece underneath the drone sounds, the clashing of beautiful BAS and gritty sounds is pretty special.

The album then takes a far more electronic turn, with greater beats, less grit and a much more uplifting sound than ever seen in this album. If it wasn't obvious before then it is now that Lee Noble is an electronic artist and not a drone artist (yeah, I just looked it up). Track four Emotive cloak also the shortist on the album is definitely my favourite on the album, its atmnosphere, its uplifting sounds and the overall flow of the song combine to make this a killer track.

The rest of this album has its moments, it exchanges electronic beats and drone phases but without being too in your face. He also finds a way of including some soothing vocals which work so well, if anything its something I'd like to hear more of. The vocals on the track Born Mistake glide along the track and the minimal beat and some form of guitar? sounds add to this songs dour perspective.

Overall this is a solid album its definitely slow to get used to, it has atmospheric moments, some solid electronic pieces and some decent drone. It does come with downfalls such as being something that takes a lot to get interested in as its slow and feels long even at 35 minutes long.

Overall rating: 7.5/10

Song Battle, Songs Of The Same Name...PT 2

So I've already done one of these but thought as I haven't really prepared anything else for today that I'll do this again. Simple really two songs from different artists (no covers) pitted against each other to take song name supremacy. Of course if you disagree or have songs to put against each other feel free to comment and I might have them on this next time.


Song battle one: Baby

The Roots

Vs

Warpaint

Verdict: Baby is a great rap song  and The Roots unsurprisingly have built a great beat for the song, its definitely nothing special by these guys but still a great track. On the other hand we have a newer track by Warpaint from their debut album The Fool, this is actually my least favourite track as its pretty much too BAS on this album. Winner: The Roots

Song battle two: Far Away

Cut Copy

Vs

Washed Out

Verdict: This is kind of an close with both being so different, Cut Copy's track is such a fun dancey synth pop track which gets you moving. While Washed Outs track is much more subdued and slow but beautiful all the same. Winner: Cut Copy

Song battle three: Get Out

Birds Of Tokyo

Vs

Faith No More

Verdict: While the last might have been difficult this one is a lot easier, Birds Of Tokyo's track is one of my least favourite from the band its a pretty boring track all together. While Faith No More's is a great opener to a great album. Winner: Faith No More

Song battle four: Flower

The Charlatans

Vs

Soundgarden

Verdict: The first album by The Charlatans had many moments of brilliance on it, this song a much slower song to some of the upbeat ones before it work well to show what the band can do. While in Soundgarden's corner we have a track that's not one of the great tracks buts still a strong song Cornell obviously kills it vocally and the guitar sound is great. Winner: The Charlatans

Album Review: Jay Z & Kanye West - Watch The Throne

For something that had all the makings of a possible explosive and creative collaboration I feel like the hype on this album was next to nothing. I mean the only mention of this album being reasonably close to release was the article on them signing an exclusive deal with Best Buy and Itunes, which not only is embarrassing but showed this as almost exclusively a cash cow for them. So as the release date hit I kind of forgot this had been released, I grabbed it late in the day and gave it a first listen and the album just left a meh feeling.

My biggest problem with this album is that the album is sampled to fuck, I mean samples are cool but when they are drowning out Kanye and Jay (it might actually be a good thing) then it seems a little too over the top and really annoying. With Kanye involved it was always going to be way over the top as this is what hes become a larger than life figure...in his own mind especially. Tracks such as Otis which samples Otis Reading is a prime example of the sample being just too much, I mean parts of Jay's verses are underneath the sample vocals.

Its like they're trying waaay too hard to show how great they are in this, there's verses in this thing that would be a lot better if you could hear them properly. A couple of shining tracks on the album were both involving Odd Future member Frank Ocean tracks No Church In The Wild (the album opener) and Made In America. To me what I liked was they toned down sampling and allowed all three involved to actually do their thing and Frank Ocean has taken another big step in becoming a big name after this.

Now while I have been pretty critical in this so far, I still feel like this is at the very least a decent album, Kanye and Jay Z still show moments of class in tracks but unfortunately they rarely put it together for a whole song. Obviously the two Frank Ocean songs are two of them, to a lesser extent Welcome To The Jungle (seriously that sample tries to ruin it) and Murder to Excellence (another sampled to fuck).

Overall this is a dissapointing release by these two, even if you had low expectations on this (me) then you'll still find it a shame that they just ruined it with something like production mainly, something that Kanye is supposed to be good at. I quite like some of the verses and if this were to tone down the samples then I think I'd like it a lot more.

Overall Rating: 4/10