Song times!
Wednesday, May 19th, 2010
I was recently inspired to write and record another song.
Strictly demo quality. Enjoyment will depend on whether you enjoy lo-fi folk and/or general silliness.
Posts Tagged ‘Music’
I’m the John Cusack of web development
Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010
I have an idea. It might not go anywhere, but it’s an idea.
I’ve long been obsessive about music, rating my tracks and albums, working out the averages and putting together ‘Top 20′ lists and so on. There is obviously something incredibly nerdy about this, but it’s music related so it’s also cool. Isn’t it? Let’s just say there were certain parts of High Fidelity which were written about me.
Anyway, if you combine my website development ability with my album rating obsession and my occasional music review-writing, you might end up with some sort of nerdy music website. That’s about as far as I’ve gotten in the planning, and at this stage it will probably just serve as a place for me to keep my nerdy lists and rant about music.
As to whether anybody would be actually interested in reading the thing is another question. But at this stage the site would be more for personal enjoyment, which is a pretty good business plan I reckon.
Album Review: Ray LaMontagne - Gossip in the Grain
Friday, January 9th, 2009
It’s almost as though American singer-songwriter Ray LaMontagne hails from a long-forgotten era of great songwriting and truly great singers. Since his 2004 debut, Trouble, a finely crafted collection of folk tunes and Dylanesque tales, LaMontagne has almost single-handedly restored my faith in new music. In a world full of Ashlee Simpsons and Nickelbacks, it’s easy to forget that some people are just born to sing, some people are born to write great songs, and very, very occasionally, we’re lucky enough to find someone who’s born to do both.
Ray’s most recent effort, Gossip in the Grain, while not quite up to the impressive standard of Trouble and its 2006 follow-up, Till The Sun Turns Black, is still a thorougly enjoyable listen.
“You Are The Best Thing” kicks off the album with a surprisingly soulful brass hook, paving the way for a blues-soul number evoking the ghost of Otis Redding. Here is a man who understands that building on simplicity often makes a great song. Following up are “Sarah” and “Let It Be Me”, two perfect examples of LaMontagne’s talent as a storyteller and ability to weave gorgeous, intricate, yet accessible melodies.
Generally speaking, the album centres around acoustic country-folk, but this is his most diverse album yet. “I Still Care For You” is an ethereal, drifting, and slightly off-centre exploration. “Hey Me, Hey Mama” is a breezy country jazz sing-along, and “Henry Nearly Killed Me (It’s A Shame)” is a punchy raucous country blues romp which sounds like it’s been dug up in a dusty barn somewhere.
“Meg White”, the most unusual track on the album is, oddly enough, an ode to Meg White of The White Stripes. LaMontagne’s husky growling about Meg being “such a pretty thing” and how he’d like to ride a bike with her “down by the seaside” is somewhat confusing, but it’s a good song nonetheless.
There are gorgeous melancholic melodies here, but they are always tempered by uplifting moments, often in the same song. What truly elevates these songs above the average is the delivery - LaMontagne has a husky, powerful voice, perhaps similar in quality to Joe Cocker, but with a tempered, natural warmth.
After three albums of excellent material, I’m not surprised that Ray LaMontagne isn’t all that well known. After all, fame and fortune is reserved for the hacks and publicity machines these days. At least people like Ray can help soothe the pain.
Afe’s Score: 7/10
Album Review: Oasis - Dig Out Your Soul
Friday, December 12th, 2008
Ever since the excellent “(What’s the Story) Morning Glory?” way back in 1995, Oasis have made a very good living from mediocrity. A string of half decent albums, punctuated with the occasional good song has been the staple diet of Oasis fans for a good thirteen years. Each record has been hailed as a “return to form” and each record is just another puff of smoke.
Enter their latest recording, “Dig Out Your Soul”. Surprise, surprise, there’s nothing new here. Frustratingly, Oasis have yet again managed to create another saleable record without doing anything interesting.
One of the problems with Oasis is, they wax philosophical when they have no insight or wisdom. As Beatle fanboys, they feel they have some kind of obligation to sing about love, or souls, or somesuch. Listening to Liam Gallagher whine pseudo-spiritual rote is condescending to the point of frustration.
“I’m Outta Time” borrows a guitar part from The Beatle’s excellent “Dear Prudence”, some piano flourishes from “A Day In The Life”, similar vocal samples to “I Am The Walrus”, and adds some George Harrison style slide guitar. The result of all this plagiarism is a schmaltzy, boring meander which fakes emotion but fails dismally.
The Beatle aping doesn’t end there. After imparting their empty wisdom, Oasis will predictably throw a psychadelic number into the mix. Oh, how interesting. This happens on every album, so there are no surprises there. When the Beatles experimented with psychadelic, it was a revolutionary sound. They experimented for a couple of years and moved on. Oasis have been busy carbon copying the 1966-1967 sound for a good ten years now. It’s time to move on, boys.
I’m not saying the songs on “Dig Out Your Soul” are bad. In fact, some of them are an enjoyable listen. The trouble is, Oasis are far too busy thinking about making a good record to actually make a good record. This album will probably satisfy the old guard who keep buying the records, but this album is yet another boring chapter in the mediocre story of Oasis.
Afe’s Score: 5/10
Album Review: Guns N’ Roses - Chinese Democracy
Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008
Right, so I’m twelve years old, and Guns N’ Roses are the best thing EVER. I don’t really know the first thing about being dangerous, having sex, or taking drugs, so I’ll just go into my bedroom, put on “You Could Be Mine”, and hump the air.
I’m kind of happy it worked out this way. Rather than knocking around the scene for years (a la AC/DC), becoming stale and boring, endlessly carbon copying themselves and re-releasing old material, Guns N’ Roses did what every most dangerous band in the world must do - they imploded.
Yes, it took a long time to make this record. Yes, it cost a truck-load of money. Yes, Axl is a dickhead. But did you really miss him? Really? Deep down inside? If he hadn’t gone into hiding, Axl would just be another crusty old washed-up rocker joining forces with Audioslave or somebody, flogging the dead horse. I’ve always been a fan of the old adage, “Ifyou’ve got nothing good to say, don’t say anything at all”, so I’m personally glad we haven’t seen Axl’s corn-roll garnished, gargantuan egocentric head for a while.
So let’s put the record on. It’s been so long since I’ve heard this voice, that it’s kind of weird. It’s almost like a ghost from the past, or someone that should be dead. I’m having some serious teen flashbacks here. It doesn’t really sound like Guns N’ Roses, well, because it’s not Guns N’ Roses. While Axl provided the songwriting, Slash’s pioneering guitar playing was an equally important voice in that group. “Chinese Democracy” sounds more like a solo record, and for all intents and purposes, that’s what it is. Having said that, Axl’s go-to boys have done an excellent job imitating Slash here and laying down some killer guitar.
The first and title track rocks out nicely, and Axl’s poison tongue is as sharp as it was in 1991. It reminds me that half the reason Guns N Roses were so good was that Axl is a mean motherfucker. This new record touches on the nu-metal and industrial genres which came into prominence during Axl’s hibernation, but also remains somewhat true to the hard-rock serpentine spirit that was at the core of GN’R. Axl’s sampling is subtle enough to work nicely with the songs, and tighter drumming thankfully replaces the reverb-drenched stadium sound which so characterised the early 90’s period.
There’s nothing I’d like to do more than rip the shit out of Axl for the next 400 words or so for being such a colossal knob, but this album is actually not bad. It’s confusing, it’s dark, it’s odd, and it teeters on the edge of cringe-worthy. But then again, GN’R were always a little bit cringeworthy.
It’s produced with a fine-tooth comb, and you’d assume that over a decade of production would translate to over-production, but actually, not really. The band sounds tight. There’s very little of the symphonic epic style seen in 1991’s “November Rain” or “Estranged” - Axl has pared his sound and songwriting down to acrid, smouldering, driving rock, which pulls the album together nicely. The slower songs like “Sorry” and “Madagascar” aren’t lushly produced or flowery power-ballads, they’re sleek slow-burners with a driving purpose and focused energy.
The faster, nasty, guitar-driven songs on here, such as “Shackler’s Revenge” and “Scraped” usually hit the mark, with plenty of guitar shredding to keep the Slash era fans satisfied. There are certainly a couple of scrappy moments and low points, and the album is not a masterpiece. But it’s a coherent effort and, despite the hype and legend surrounding the record, it doesn’t feel like a cash-in. On the contrary, “Chinese Democracy” sounds suspiciously like artistic expression, and it may be the most consistent GN’R album yet.
Rumours abound that his may be the first in a trilogy of albums, and the twelve-year old in me is actually kind of excited. Now that Rose has purged himself, it might actually free him up to break new ground. Whether I’ll keep listening is another question - I just don’t take air guitar that seriously any more.
Afe’s Score - 5.8 / 10
Read more album reviews at Halo-17.net
Album Review: Ben Folds - Way to Normal
Monday, December 1st, 2008
Piano virtuoso and multi-instrumentalist Ben Folds has been around long enough to know what makes a good pop record, and his latest release, “Way to Normal”, captures his energy, humour, and pop instinct perfectly.
Folds has been successfully balancing his impressive piano skills with clever songwriting, discordant fist jabs, fuzzy bass, and loud exclamations of “fuck” for quite a while now. I was fortunate enough to catch an energetic Ben Folds Five live show in Brisbane’s Festival Hall back in ‘99. The crowd surfing was fun, but the highlight was watching someone throw a shoe at the drummer and nearly miss.
After parting ways with his faithful band and star vehicle, Folds went solo and recorded the solid “Rockin’ The Suburbs.” It seems suburban life and domestic bliss took their toll though, and the resulting lifeless adult contemporary pop of 2005’s “Songs for Silverman” demonstrated that marriage, kids, and Rock ‘n’ Roll don’t mix.
Following this disappointment, Folds returned to his oddball roots and compiled a series of EP’s into Supersunnyspeedgraphic. The LP returned to the tradition of great songwriting and cutting sense of humour. (Note his version of Dr. Dre’s “Bitches ‘Aint Shit” for possibly the most hilarious cover of all time). Now, after a couple of years break, Folds has returned with a punchy, focused record which brings his strengths together beautifully.
The first track, “Hiroshima (B B B Benny Hit His Head)” is a fun and up-tempo number, seemingly recorded live, which captures his grandiose, energetic live performances and describes Folds falling from the stage in Japan. I’ve always loved artists who don’t take themselves too seriously. Amusingly, the following track, “Dr. Yang”, describes a visit to the acupuncturist and chiropractor.
The third track and first single, “You Don’t Know Me”, is an impressive piece of work. Featuring fellow oddball Regina Spektor, the duet is (dare I say it) almost the perfect pop song. By which I mean that it’s beautifully produced, it sticks in my head for days, and I never get tired of listening to it.
If you’re a piano nerd who writes fast-tempo pop songs with a dash of humour, you’re most likely in grave danger of becoming a novelty act, so it’s a good thing that Folds can turn out a gorgeously sad ballad once in a while. Nicely placed in the middle of the record is the lovely Cologne, a relationship swan-song, in which the refrain “I’m letting you go” hits the emotional target dead-centre.
The second half of the record closes slightly weaker than the first, but the songs are still fun and engaging. ‘Errant Dog’, ‘Bitch Went Nuts’, and ‘Brainwascht’ are a trilogy of testaments to Folds’ dysfunctional relationships and failed marriages. “The bitch went nuts - she stabbed my basketball, and the speakers to my stereo” is an example of Folds unique acerbic lyrical humour and skewed take on relationships.
Apparently, there is an early leaked version of the album which contains specially recorded ‘fake’ tracks, which I’d love to hear, because I’m sure the tracks are hilarious. Fortunately, my own dull domestic bliss saves me from having my basketball and speakers stabbed, but I still enjoy a good laugh - and this album is a musical pleasure.
Afe’s score: 6.4 / 10
Read more album reviews at Halo-17.net
My new favourite song
Tuesday, May 27th, 2008
John Lemon
Saturday, March 29th, 2008
Continuing my series of dodgy artist profiles, this is a picture of John Lennon according to a frequently incorrect Russian music site I referred to recently.
I’m not sure if it’s the silky flowing hair that bothers me, or the disdainful “I’m going to break a pint-glass over your head” look.
Simon & Garmunkel
Friday, March 7th, 2008
According to a music site I visited recently, this is a picture of Simon & Garfunkel. Man, those guys have gone downhill since the 60’s.
Special note: THAT IS NOT SIMON AND THAT IS NOT GARFUNKEL
Sufjan and the magic hula hoops
Sunday, February 24th, 2008
On the 9th of January we went to a concert by Mr. Sufjan Stevens, American multi-instrumentalist and performer extraordinare.
He played piano!
He played guitar!
He played with hula hoops!
He also played a banjo and sang a lot. It was an excellent concert. I would recommend his amazing music and performance to anyone and everyone and all. Now I must go and drink some beer.
Hello, I'm Afe.
