Heligoland - Massive Attack

Like many artists, electronic masterminds Massive Attack (known by their stage names as Daddy G and 3D) have been known to take multiple years in between releasing their albums. Sure, they manage to fit several soundtracks and compilations inside those gaps of time, but the true masterpieces we patiently await for are their studio albums. The last Massive Attack album given to us was back in 2003. Released as both a follow-up to the godly Mezzanine and also a solo effort by 3D (after some lineup struggles), Protection was considered shabby and disappointing by some. Now, 7 long years after Protection and over two decades since the duo first arrived on the scene, we are given Heligoland.

I’m a little young to have observed the growth of anticipation for this album, but I suppose that after 7 years there is much to be expected from this group. I think I’m also safe to assume that no one was actually expecting another Mezzanine. There are few artists who can repeatedly top their best work, let alone do it once. But does Heligoland even stand up to Massive Attack’s other albums? Driven by repetition and maintaining a fairly low-profile for the majority of its 52 minutes, Massive Attack’s latest has mainly been beaten to the ground with words like “unimpressive” and “disappointment” (but also received some occasional praise).

The album opens up on a somewhat weak note with “Pray for Rain”. This song mainly rides along its repeating piano-drum pattern (very bland compared to the lush electronic sound we typically associate with Massive Attack), but later rises into a haunting crescendo of ‘oooh’s and ‘ahhh’s. Though slow, the progression through the song eventually leads to this rewarding point. However, it’s completely ruined when the song decides to return to what it was doing at the beginning, allowing us to forget about everything that happened in between.

Disappointingly enough, “Pray for Rain” is sort of a set up for the entire album. Most of the tracks don’t stray from the boundaries they set up at the beginning, putting the listener at a distance instead of inviting them closer. And if they do manage to break new ground, they won't develop on it, but instead run back whimpering with their tail between their legs. “Girl I Love You” may be one of the few exceptions to this general direction of Heligoland. It sings, it doesn’t whisper (take this as literally as you want, the vocals on half the songs sound very laidback and uninterested). Built from thick bass tones, a chorusing brass ensemble, rickety percussion, and all topped with vocals from Massive Attack favourite, Horace Andy, the song draws back to a familiar Massive Attack sound, while also entering a new, exotic territory. The album’s first single, “Splitting the Atom”, a dark droning number, exhibits some of Heligoland’s love of repetition, but uses it to establish its eerie atmosphere. Even though it's not as outspoken as "Girl I Love You", it's still one of the greater highlights of the album. But I do have a feeling that it would lose its charm if it had been placed later in the tracklist and allowed to be overdriven with the monotony of the entire album.

Songs like “Flat of the Blade” and “Saturday Come Slow”, however, are just dull and struggle to contribute something of substance to the album. “Rush Minute” is a total callback to Protection-era sound, perhaps it’s the child of “Small Time Shot Away” and “Name Taken”. Though their child is not disappointing, it fails to try anything its parents haven’t already accomplished. It seems like Massive Attack has forgotten how to make their music as emotionally impacting as it was before. Nearly every song on Heligoland lacks the spark that their older music had.

“Paradise Circus” almost gets away with its restrained vocals and laid-back sound, had not the majority of the album already tried that. On “Paradise Circus”, these elements seem to add to the song’s direction and create a timid-yet-edgy mood. The song could work well as quieter moment on another album, but in this situation the impact of its soothing simplicity is less memorable since Heligoland provides it with nothing it can suppress.

Despite weaving through undeveloped and mediocre moments, Heligoland still manages to catch itself and deliver a strong closer. Like “Rush Minute”, “Atlas Air” is also reminiscent of an earlier Massive Attack; a cross between the moody ambience of Protection and Mezzanine’s dramatic compositions. Del Naja’s (3D) vocals form a slick, catchy melody against the electronic-laden track, and the whole song is rather comforting and pleasant to hear at the end of the album. It may not be as epic and moving as “Group Four”, but it’s a very well-rounded finish. (It’s a shame Heligoland featured so little vocal appearances by 3D and Daddy G though. This album became much more of a ‘guest-vocalist party’ than Massive Attack’s other albums).

With some reassurance from the last track, Heligoland proves to be less of a tragedy to live through than it has been credited to be. In fact, it’s in no way a disastrous album. It’s that lack of disaster, disagreeable or pleasant, (a pleasant disaster?! What’s that?) that makes it mediocre in the end. It’s neither a stain to Massive Attack’s reputation nor a new source for praise and admiration. I’ve found it to be most enjoyable when the songs are listened to individually instead of all at once, since none of them adhere to make the album strong as a whole anyway.

Rating: 6.5/10

(Way to post this a month after it's relevant, right?)

[currently listening to: Better Things - Massive Attack]

Suzanne Vega @ The Moore Theatre

Two days ago, my mum and I were lucky enough to be able to go see Suzanne Vega preform live at the Moore Theatre in Seattle.

Suzanne Vega is a well known singer-songwriter in folk-pop music. She was first recognized for her incredible songwriting talent (her songs are like poetry, no joke) in the late 80s and has released 8 studio albums over the years. Recently, however, she was dropped by her record label, who snatched up the rights to the original recordings of her songs and left her with nothing (like we didn't already know record labels were complete whores). And in response to this, Vega has started down a path that potentially could have looked like a half-assed way of saving her career, but instead came off as a rather bold move. On her own independent label, she's re-recording acoustic versions of her songs and releasing them on a series of themed albums, the first of which is called Love Songs. We got a signed copy of this album after the show!

I promised photos in my post yesterday and I'm done editing them, so here we go!

Unfortunately, I forgot to get a picture of the Moore from the outside, but here's the stage before the show:

This is probably the best photo from the whole show. Everyone was seated and there was almost no one else taking photos, so I was hesitant in taking out my camera (flashy light!) so I didn't get that many shots, but this one is nice.

Also, I was sitting in the very center which is a very fun angle to take photos from...

In addition to her guitarist and bassist, Suzanne was also accompanied by 4 string players Andrew, Alina, Danah and Seth from the Seattle Rock Orchestra for part of the set.

Signing albums after the show.

Go see more photos taken by the Seattle PI's photographer Kam Martin.

[currently listening to: A Rook House for Bobby - iLiKETRAiNS]

(Not a Creative Title)

Hello hello! Guess what? I am insanely happy right now. Why, you ask? Well, I just received my acceptance phone call from Nordic. Yes, that's right! Beginning next year I will be writing for Nordic News, Inglemoor's school paper! This blog might have played a role in getting me in, but mostly I should thank my wonderfully supportive and helpful brother, Artur, who has been on the staff for two years. 57 applicants, 15 accepted. The celebration commences with blasting Ágætis Byrjun (because celebrating with Sigur Rós is the only way to celebrate).

And to add to the excitement, yesterday my mum and I went to Seattle to see Suzanne Vega preform at the Moore Theatre. I'm not a big listener of Vega (I grew up listening to her, but never really had an obsession), but I enjoyed the show regardless. We even got to meet her afterward and get an album signed! So cool! I took some photos which I'll post here within a day (so please visit again if that's what you're looking for!). Here's one for now:

And random sidenote: The Fall of Troy just posted a goodbye on their website stating that they are breaking up and will not continue to make music together after this tour is over... :( and that it is not very cool at all. In fact, it's kind of sad. They're playing here in March and my friend wanted to go see them, so perhaps we will catch one of their final shows.

So yeah, expect a post tomorrow. It's the weekend... finally!

[currently listening to: Viðrar Vel Til Loftárása - Sigur Rós]

Sisters! Brothers! Small Boats Of Fire Are Falling From The Sky!

I haven't posted anything but album reviews for a while, which I'm trying to get in the habit of doing more often (I'll be posting my review of Massive Attack's Heligoland soon), but right now I feel like some sort of interlude is necessary.

I've been messing with the website a lot lately. "Experimenting", I guess. A few weekends ago, I managed to edit the post layout to make it more "blog-like" (note: more compressed posts), which is quite an accomplishment for me, since I know shit about html. Yeah. A "nice job, mang" would be appreciated.

I also learned how to upload music files, which is pretty cool, because I've been doing all sort of piano and guitar covers lately that I'd like to upload. Here is a piano cover of Sigur Rós' "Fljótavík" I recorded today using my mum's skype headset (classy, I know). I also recorded and mixed a cover of The xx's "VCR". The quality of the recording itself was not so hot so I won't post it, but it's the knowledge of the recording process that counts. So yeah, expect lots of Sigur Rós covers coming up in the future.

In other news, I'm stroked for the upcoming Portugal. the Man album, American Ghetto, which comes out on March 2nd. Also, Circa Survive finally released news on their forthcoming album, Blue Sky Noise. I'm not at all impressed by "Get Out", the first single... and the fact that they're touring with Coheed & Cambria is disappointing, but I still have very high expectations for the album. (But even if it does end up sucking, the artwork is still amazing).

Oh, and guess who I'm seeing April 10th? Jónsi (: I'm also seeing Suzanne Vega next week and A Sunny Day in Glasgow in early March. And if you by any chance know how it's possible to age 6 years in 2 months, please let me know, because I want to see Caspian this April too.

[currently listening to: Antennas to Heaven - Godspeed You! Black Emperor]

Sugar Crush - Useless Beauty

Sugar Crush
Useless Beauty
2010
- - -

So this post is going to be a little different than usual. I’m reviewing an EP by Useless Beauty, a local indie band from NYC consisting of pianist and producer, Nam Choi, and singer and percussionist, Katie Boone. Nam kindly emailed me asking me to review their newly released EP Sugar Crush. Never having received a request like this before, I’m excitedly taking on the opportunity.

Claiming to take influences from distinct female musicians such as Joni Mitchell, KT Tunstall, and Regina Spektor, Useless Beauty have created their own style of sweet, melodic pop music that sounds about as intoxicatingly sweet as the cover of their EP looks. Sugar Crush is primarily run by Katie’s soothing, sing-song-y vocals and supported by a melding of keyboard, guitar, and percussion. There is even an added element of saxophone that gently rises up in the background of the first track, “Shut Up and Let Me Love You” and “Broken Bones”, and solos during “Giggling Eyes”.

Useless Beauty’s carefully constructed pop music might seem cheesy at times. I mean, when you put cupcakes and gumballs on the cover of your album and name it “Sugar Crush” it might be hard to avoid the stereotype. But for two young musicians trying to create something fun and new in the modern music scene, this EP still comes off as a decent attempt despite hitting some cliché moments.

“Mer Song”, the second track and longest on the EP, would probably be the best example. It opens with a sugary sweet keyboard melody, reverb’d guitar, and some la la la’s from Katie. It’s your typical love ballad, but develops as it goes along and becomes a little more than the other tracks do. Nam’s gentle and somewhat shy voice makes an entrance halfway through the song, creating a delicate atmosphere Katie’s singing couldn’t quite establish at first. Katie’s voice seems to fit better in the pop-rock flavoured songs, but towards the end of “Mer Song” both vocalists sing a pleasant harmony together that works as a great ending to the song. It's moments like this when the vocals start to slip beneath the layer of instruments that Sugar Crush moves away from a forced, clean-cut pop sound to something more natural and enjoyable.

It may be that I had Citrus and Hush set on constant repeat during January, but I’m definitely hearing some Hush-era Asobi Seksu in “Broken Bones”. I’m guessing it’s not an immediate influence, but I can’t help but be reminded of Asobi’s “Sing Tomorrow’s Praise” or “Gliss” in “Broken Bones” 's vocal stylings (is that a word?) and dreamy mix of keyboard and guitar. Sadly, the song remains fairly laid-back for the most part, but its overall sound resonated with me and I consider it a highlight on Sugar Crush.

Naturally, my own music taste leads me to choose the beauty of “Mer Song” and “Broken Bones” over the pop-rock focused side of Sugar Crush. I enjoy “Shut Up and Let Me Love You” to a certain point, but “Giggling Eyes” is more iffy and “Get There” doesn’t catch my attention at all. “Eyes” almost gets away with its unoriginal sound just by being catchy, but the excessive guitar soloing ruins it. Even the sax starts to lose its magic. The problem with straightforward rock and pop-rock is simply that it’s boring. Useless Beauty should direct the effects of their sugar intake toward making cute pop music and stay away from mixing that with rock elements.

Download Sugar Crush

Check out the band’s myspace here.

EDIT: Looks like Soundcloud is currently down so no track downloading is available at the moment. Servers are expected to be up again soon. Servers are up!

[currently listening to: Kolniður - Jónsi]

Ashes Grammar - ASDiG

Ashes Grammar
A Sunny Day in Glasgow
2009
- - -

Remember me saying that I missed a lot of awesome albums last year? Yeah. I bought Ashes Grammar, the band's second album, two or three weekends ago, at the same time I got Hush, and have been listening to it endlessly since. I also just went through the band's very amusing tour diary and downloaded some live tracks, free mp3s, etc etc etc from their website. Not only are these guys one of the most overlooked shoegaze acts I can think of, but they also sound a very cool bunch of people. Probably my favourite band at the moment.

...But getting back to the actual album. To be completely straightforward, it's just mind-blowing and beautiful. Sure, there are little things wrong with it, most notably its having about 51894486 million songs, but that only pushes it a little past an hour. And let me tell you, that is one enjoyable hour.

ASDiG describe themselves as making "dreamy pop" music and I suppose this is a better way to label their style than "shoegaze". From the very beginning of the album, which opens with some shorter tracks before launching into the first actual (regular length? solid?) track, we can tell that this will be very dreamy indeed. Faint, echoing voices float above a background of droning something-or-other before a tambourine enters, stirring up the ambient atmosphere for the upcoming song "Failure".

"Failure" is one of the more eccentric songs on the album— Not to say that the others aren't as creative, but this one is... well... you listen to it. It's bouncy and weird and makes you want to jump up and start clapping and chanting. Annie and Jen sing "Fall forward / Feel failure". Sort of inspirational in a non inspirational way. How this band manages to write a song this weird and get it away with it is beyond me, but hell, it's a blast.

"Curse words", which is what I just said when my computer after my computer randomly decided to crash a second ago and I couldn't remember whether or not I saved a draft of this entry (I did), is some more whispery stuff. It acts as a beautiful interlude before "Close chorus", quite possibly the greatest song on this album. Here, you start wondering if what you're hearing is even real. If maybe all these unearthly sounds you're hearing are just fragments of thought passing through the mind of a dreamer. One who speaks in colour and sees in emotion. Who may not even remember his dream once he wakes up, but will faintly remember the rush of ecstasy and confusion he felt during it. "I don't understand why it's wrong to feel happy...". Ashes Grammar as a whole is very emotionally distilling, although you don't always know exactly what you are feeling.

It's hard not to say the same for the next few songs. "Shy" always gives me chills when I hear it. The layered vocals buried beneath the blurred instruments create such an airy effect that you almost think you'll disappear into it... But then that fiddle jumps out of nowhere and you're back on the surface. And if I honestly had to pick a favourite song on this album, I think it would be "Passionate introverts". It's absolutely flawless and loses me every time. I've been listening to it every morning before school while I'm half asleep and still dreaming...

You could say that "Failure" to "Passionate Introverts" is the greatest section of the album and possibly be right, but there is no excuse to saying that the rest is not worth listening to. Perhaps the largest climax has passed (and really, it's hard to beat that stuff back there), but the album continues its creative streak and churns out some more gems.

"The white witch" starts off sounding like some regular rockin' shoegaze, but is still subject to ASDiG's spell. It's simple and lovely. The band has this distinct sound they stick to all of their songs, but this mold is rather flexible and it gives their music virtually no limitations.

"Close chorus" had a nice little deconstruction and crescendo, but it really doesn't beat what's going on in "Nitetime Rainbows". This song is running all over the place dropping little uncertain hints of this and that, but it definitely knows where it's going (don't question it). By the end you'd think it had already run out of innovative juices, but at around 5:00 we hear the greatest crescendo known to man (don't question that either).

...But before you get a chance to even think on that, "Canalfish" jumps out from its canal and snaps its vicious jaws at you, reminding you that you're just a visitor here. Don't get so comfortable!

Toward the end of Ashes Grammar, the songs start to display some overused concepts repeated throughout the album. Extensive intros, predictable song structure... I can see why people would say it's somewhat monotonous at times. While these last songs don't add much to the album, there were rather high standards set at the beginning and I, personally, wasn't expecting them to be beat. Another (somewhat irrational) disappointment for me was that the title track wasn't anything special.

Ashes Grammar seemed to generate mixed reactions among its listeners. Many seem to find the album messy and sort of a disappointment, while others thinks it's rather brilliant. While I can agree that it seems to drag on at some moments, mainly due to lack of extreme variety amongst the tracks, it honestly takes a few listens for it to all sink in. On first listen, only several tracks seem to stand out and yes, those are the ones of regular length. The developed ones. You only ever really remember certain parts of a dream, don't you? But what about the stuff floating amongst that? To be honest, I think the majority of it is necessary to complete the album. Ashes Grammar is not so much about individual songs as it as the entire impact. Listening to it in one go and giving it your full attention is a must.

Rating: 8.9/10 (This would definitely have made my top 10 of 2009).

Whether or not the band can recreate the magical effect this album gives live is a different question. But from the looks of this and this, it seems rather promising. I'm seeing these guys on March 9th. I'm so stroked!

Sorry for the obnoxious length of this review! I'll be updating with other (shorter) interesting things soon.

[currently listening to: keep your splendid silent sun - sleepmakeswaves]

Hush - Asobi Seksu

Asobi Seksu
Hush
2009
- - -

So I've been going through a big "shoegaze phase" lately. A lot of what I've been listening to are recommendations given to me by others (A Sunny Day in Glasgow, Sweet Trip, The Depreciation Guild) and others are bands I heard a while ago, but for some reason didn't make a large move into until now. Asobi Seksu would be one of those bands. I heard "Thursday" again last month and remembered the pure magic of that song. Since then I've been hooked.

I don't remember Hush making it onto very many lists last year. In fact, I hadn't even heard about the album until the end of December (I could just be really oblivious though). I think people tend to overlook it, because Citrus was considered such a masterpiece. It's a shame though, since Hush is a fairly decent album. I won't spend too much time making comparisons between the two, but I think a few are necessary.

I haven't listened to Citrus as much as Hush, but I can tell that the latter took much more of a pop-ier direction. Citrus is straightforward rockin' shoegaze. Hush is borderline shoegaze, leaning more towards some creative sounding dream pop.

Hush doesn't really have a "Thursday" on it. That song is the obvious climax of Citrus, because it's simply captivating and addictive. It's like one of those fuzzy dreams where you're running and then leap into the sky and find that you can fly. And everyone loves those, right? There are little highlights on Hush; my personal favourites are "Familiar Light", "Sing Tomorrow's Praise", and "Glacially", but nothing that stands out that much. And this is just because the album as a whole is more laid back than Citrus.

Sometimes I feel like the track order wasn't thought out very well. It opens kind of confused with "Layers", and ends with one of the more upbeat and outspoken tracks, "Me & Mary", followed by the slow, but teasing "Blind Little Rain". It makes it kind of different from Citrus though. I feel like that album sort of runs itself down a bit.

The other songs are scattered in between, not completely nonsensically, but not in a particular order either. "Transparence" always catches me off guard. And "Risky and Pretty" following it? I mean it's a cool song, but I don't even know how it got there. I'm guessing it doesn't either.

Some individual songs on sound rather polished, like "Glacially" and "Sing Tomorrow's Praise", but the album as a whole doesn't seem absolutely complete. Yuki's vocals help to reach climaxes and despite her voice being so fragile and beautiful, the album hits some dull, undeveloped points that could have been better. The chorus of "Gliss" is a weird contrast from the eerie whisperings of its beginning. "Meh No Mae", one of the few times on Hush that we hear Yuki sing in Japanese, uses that same overused sound and adds nothing to the album. Each song takes on a similar structure, and a lot of them try to end the same way (bloop bloop bloop dee bloop bloop bloop... )

If you try not to read it too deeply, it doesn't really come off this way. I think I've been unnecessarily over-criticizing a bit, but that's the only way I've been able squeeze everything out of it. But maybe that's not how this album works. Maybe it's just shy. Maybe it doesn't want to tell me everything. Because really, a lot of the melodies on here are downright sweet, nice-sounding, and overall satisfying. And if you're listening for pleasure that's all that matters, right?

Rating: 7.2/10

Jónsi: radio debuts and live tracks

Last December, Jónsi of Sigur Ros released the song "Boy Lilikoi" off his upcoming solo album Go as a free download. This is old news to a lot of us, but if you happened to miss it, the song is still available for download on .

As if "Boy Lilikoi" wasn't teasing enough, "Go Do" made its radio debut a few days ago, and today, WYNC released a podcast featuring Jonsi playing a few songs from Go live in their soundcheck studio. I made individual copies of all four songs available for download below. Enjoy!

Go Do (acoustic)
Boy Lilikoi (acoustic)
Around Us (acoustic)
Go Do radio rip

"Around Us" is definitely my favourite song at the moment! I apologize for the abrupt endings though. I tried to keep as much of the song in while leaving out that guy's voice. He interrupted Jónsi too much.

Jónsi is releasing his solo album in March (not April... dunno what Mr. Schaefer is smoking :). He also revealed in an interview that he will be touring in the US this coming April and in Europe during May! It all seems so far away!

EDIT: lolsorry for accidentally deleting this entry for 10 minutes. How embarassing.

[currently listening to: Walking with his earphones - Frakkur]

Favourite Albums of 2009

Before I sat down to try and remember what my favourite albums of 2009 were, I realized that I really hadn't listened to that many albums released this year. I only really got very interested in music about two years ago and I've spent those two years listening to great things I had been missing. Most of what I listen to is either from the '90s or 2000s (whatever this decade is called), so I'm not too far out of it, but there's definitely things that have come out in the past year or two that I've missed simply by not focusing enough on the present. So I've decided to limit myself to ten favourites from this year (because I honestly didn't hear more than 15-20 albums from this year) and fifteen favourites I heard this year that were released prior to 2009.

Favourite Albums of 2009

10. Logos - Atlas Sound

This is a questionable album to put in a top ten list... I mean, it's good, but not extraordinary or anything. There's a few standout tracks like Walkabout, Criminals, etc, but overall it's just a nice album to put on when I'm in the mood for something chill. Lots of nice intertwining guitar melodies, but I think I prefer Deerhunter's material more.

Hipster Level: Very High

9. The Fame Monster - Lady GaGa
I don't usually have similar tastes in music with my friends — besides the occasional Cure or Sigur Rós listener — but I can always count on knowing plenty of people who love Lady GaGa. What can you say? "The Fame Monster" outdid "The Fame" and made Lady GaGa an even more successful pop star than she already was. So it may not be hxc enough for Bring Me the Horizon fans, but we all know they secretly listen to Bad Romance when no one's checking their "screamo" cred.

8. Tertia - Caspian
I've started listening to a lot of post-rock this year and this band has become one of my favourites in the genre (second only to GY!BE). Their music is interesting and actually goes somewhere, unlike so many Explosions in the Sky knockoff bands. "Tertia" is both an energetic and beautiful album, and really quite a good listen. I just love the way the first track quietly leads into the explosive second, and the whole thing picks up from there. Yet it still calms back down to gentler points like Concrescence, which is my favourite track.

7. Angel Falls ++ - This Is My Normal State
You might remember me praising this EP when it was released in November. Since then, I've only had more time to appreciate its beauty. It's basically a really dreamy post-rock meets shoegaze album. So beautiful and ethereal... not to mention flawless. This band really has their stuff together, and the vocalist has one of the most beautiful voices I've ever heard. I'm hoping to see another release from them in the near future (hopefully a full length studio album).

6. XX - The xx
The release of the xx's debut album, "XX", has created a big stir, not only drawing attention for lovers of "indie british stuff", but from a variety of listeners in general. Their gentle guitar riffs almost draw back to an older post-punk sound, but they're obviously not a pop-y Joy Division or anything. With their drum machine and careful sampling, the xx have created a very simple, but unique pop sound for themselves that sounds almost too perfect at times... "Crystalised", if you will.

5. Riceboy Sleeps - Jónsi & Alex
Typically when I say I could "fall asleep" listening to something, it's more of a downgrading comment than a positive one, but when I say I could fall asleep to this album, I mean it in the most flattering way possible. This is one of the most peaceful albums I have ever heard. It was made entirely with just acoustic (string) instruments and vocals; no electronic stuff. I haven't made a big move into ambient music yet, but this, along with Alex's other project, Parachutes, is really pushing me in that direction.

4. Fall Be Kind EP - Animal Collective
Now we really don't need to go over this whole thing again (not that I wouldn't like to)... BUT RLY ITS GUD.

WHAT WOULD I WANT? SKY!
WHAT WOULD I WANT? SKY!
WHAT WOULD I WANT? SKY!
WHAT WOULD I WANT? SKY!
WHAT WOULD I WANT? SKY!
WHAT WOULD I WANT? SKY!
WHAT WOULD I WANT? SKY!
WHAT WOULD I WANT? SKY!
WHAT WOULD I WANT? SKY!

3. No More Stories... - Mew
I think the cover alone scores points for this album. I'm really in love with it. My original review of the music itself wasn't very insightful, but now, having had more time to absorb and appreciate it, I can honestly say it's (almost) a masterpiece. Perhaps too different to try and compare with their previous albums, but alone it stands as a good representation of a band that knows how to make their sound. There are elements of so many genres in here... all these creative twists. It takes more than a few listens for all of it to sink in, but in the end it's truly a lovely "experimental pop" record. (And might I add, Mew is stunning live).

2. The Satanic Satanist - Portugal. The Man
It seems like every rock band these days is oh so influenced by "classic rock" (which btw, is one of the dumbest musical tags I can think of) and most of the time said bands are some of the more boring lumps of snoozefest I've ever heard. But Portugal. The Man? They've got the influence, no doubt, but how did they get so interesting? So creative? So... good? Everything just flows together like honey on this album. Sweet, sticky pop goodness. My best memories of last summer are reminiscent of this record.

1. Merriweather Post Pavilion - Animal Collective
Yeah, suck it up. I kind of bought this album out of desperation early this year when I failed to find "Strawberry Jam" in any record store I searched in (ironically enough, I see it all the time now). It's easily become one of my favourite albums since, and I suppose my favourite of the year. Besides the two or three "super catchy" songs, Merriweather is really an album album, meaning you have to listen to the whole thing to get it. And obviously some people don't. Sucks for them.

Favourite Albums Heard In, But Release Prior To, 2009

1. Frengers - Mew (2003)
2. Blonder Tongue Audio Baton - Swirlies (1993)
3. Relationship of Command - At The Drive-In (2000)
4. Yanqui U.X.O - Godspeed You! Black Emperor (2002)
5. Juturna - Circa Survive (2005)
6. On Letting Go - Circa Survive (2007)
7. Some Kind of Cadwallader - Algernon Cadwallader (2008)
8. Strawberry Jam - Animal Collective (2007)
9. Lover the Lord Has Left Us… - The Sound of Animals Fighting (2006)
10. The Destruction of Small Ideas - 65daysofstatic (2007)
11. Amnesiac - Radiohead (2001)
12. Loveless - My Bloody Valentine (1991)
13. Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? - of Montreal (2007)
14. Skeletal Lamping - of Montreal (2008)
15. Cell Scape - Melt-Banana (2003)

I probably should have posted this earlier this month instead of at the very end of the year. Oh well. I have a lot of music to listen to that I got for christmas. And in addition to that, I'll add a few albums released this year that I heard were good to the "listen to" list, such as "Post-Nothing" - Japandroids, "What Happened?" - Emeralds, "And So I Watch You From Afar" - And So I Watch You From Afar, "Love Comes Close" - Cold Cave, and maybe even that Grizzly Bear album. Yeah. Hope you enjoyed the list.

[currently listening to: Sounds of Sebring - Swirlies]

Fall Be Kind EP

Fall Be Kind EP
Animal Collective

I know this leaked last month, but I waited to listen to the whole thing until I had a bought a copy of it. So here we are.

This year has obviously been big for Animal Collective. "Merriweather Post Pavilion" has made "Top _____" lists everywhere and now after the release of this EP, they've gotten even more attention. It's said that they're at their "creative peak" right now, which may or may not be true, I mean... they've put out some pretty "creative" stuff before. A better word to describe it would just be "successful", seeing as how more and more people are recognizing their music to the point where the've become one of the most talked about bands of the decade. This, of course, has lead to them to also get a lot of shit from the "antihipsterantihipsterantihipster" crowd, but whaaaaatever. Maybe I'm just a hipster, but I believe their recognition is well-earned.

"Fall Be Kind" starts off where "Merriweather" ended. But it goes far beyond where that album could go; a promising sign that the next decade holds more pleasant surprises from this band.

It opens with "Graze", which is essentially a song with two parts. The first half is sung by Avey Tare. It's a rather atmospheric, almost ambient, introduction to the EP, I like to think. Let me begin. Almost unexpectedly, the song changes into a bouncier, happier tune and Noah/Panda Bear joins into the signing. And here comes the Animal Collective Express again! (see Brothersport) There's some weird stuff going on here that just seems out of place, but these guys seem to know how to pull it off (they almost always do). And just when you think things couldn't get better...

The next song, "What Would I Want? Sky", is the song that sets "Fall Be Kind apart from Merriweather. It's my favourite song. It's everyone's favourite song. It's Pitchfork's favourite song. It's probably your favourite song too. "Sky" is focused around the repeating line "What would I want? Sky" (no shit), which emerges out of nowhere after "a bunch of noise and some weird words muttered over and over". A whole catchy melody is built off this to, undeniably, create one of Animal Collective's greatest pop songs. Do you get up up up? / Clouds stop and move above me / Too bad they can't help me / What is the right way? Face it. "My Girls" was good, but nowhere this good.

These songs flow so well into each other. After some messing around with the track order, it seems that almost any order you put them in works great (but of course the original is best). "Sky" flows right into "Bleed", where we here some more weird muttering that reminds me of the voices meathead uses in his videos, but that's irrelevant. "Bleed" is on the dreamy side, kind of like the first half of "Graze". Panda Bear hits some high notes in the background while Avey Tare sings a slow, surreal melody. It's my least favourite track on the EP, but it's still very good.

Animal Collective's sound has obviously changed a lot in the past few years. They've given up the more raw/acoustic sounds of "Sung Tongs" and "Feels" and taken up a more electronic-based/"i'm not really sure what instrument that is" sound where we often hear looped noises and sounds combining to form a more complex melody that often isn't meant to be taken apart, but heard more as a single flow of sound (major run-on sentence, sorry). This was especially prevalent in "Merriweather", where basically every song was constructed in this way, though it's seen in parts of "Strawberry Jam" as well. This definitely applies to all the songs on "Fall Be Kind", but "On A Highway" is an especially good example. Not only is the main melody in the background repeating in a drone-like fashion, but the lyrical structure does the same thing, and the song doesn't ever fall into that point of monotony that songs on "Merriweather" are often accused of. It might be notable to mention that I didn't really listen to the lyrics very closely on the first time through, but I definitely couldn't avoid hearing On a highway / There are some workers pissing / It starts my bladder itching / Can I wait for the exit?

The EP hits its darkest point with "I Think I Can". This song is almost creepy at times. I'll try to remember to put it on my Halloween playlist next year. The layered, almost droning vocals combined with the resounding drum pattern and weird distorted piano (?) sound like some caveman ritual you might stumble across while walking aimlessly through the woods at night. O-kay— maybe not, but randomly finding Animal Collective in the forest would be pretty cool. I think I can I think can I think I—

"Fall Be Kind" is a really sound EP. It's both addicting and fun to listen to. Animal Collective is definitely building on their pop sound, and they're doing a great job. I hope the next album is this good. Also... What Would I Want? Sky single? Yes plz

Rating: 8.6/10

- - -

In other news, I'm on winter break right now, which is why I have time for writing novels like this. This is my first not-completely-stupid review, so thank you for reading/skimming/falling asleep at the keyboard. Next year I hope to write more of these, given I have an album to write about and the time to write. New Massive Attack and solo album by Jónsi in February.

Before the end of the year I'm also going to post my own "Best of 2009" list, so I'll get started on that soon...

Mew @ Neumo's, 12.10.09

Here be concert photos! Please read on! :)

I first heard Mew last summer when their new single "Introducing Palace Players" was released (you might remember me mentioning the music video with the cute snails). I quickly moved onto their "Frengers" album and instantly fell in love with that as well. When "No More Stories" was released in August, I excitedly bought it as soon as I could, as well as the EP preceding it. Their music is so beautiful and unique. It's had me absolutely obsessed for months (they're my top artist for the past six months on lastfm ;) I made no hesitation in buying tickets when I heard they were touring.

TL;DR: I love this band very much and got a chance to see them play live. And I will now happily share that wonderful experience with you.

So, they played at Neumo's last Thursday, as the title suggests. It was a school night, so I pulled an "FFFFFFF SKOOL!!!!" and had fun for once... so much fun that I only got 4 hours of sleep ;)

But anyways, it was my first time at Neumo's. I can't say whether I liked it better than El Corazon since the crowd size of the shows I saw was quite different, but it's a nice little venue. I love small shows, they're much more personal and fun.

Here's the setlist (thanks to some nice people on the Mew forums)

Intro
Introducing Palace Players
Special (long)
Zookeeper's Boy
Hawaii
Sometimes Life Isn't Easy
Am I Wry? No
156
Repeaterbeater
Silas the Magic Car
Apocalypso
Saviors of Jazz Ballet
Bear
Circuitry of the Wolf
Chinaberry Tree
Beach
Snow Brigade
Louise Louisa

Awesome? Yeah, I thought so. The only song I didn't recognize was "Bear", but the rest of the setlist is soooooooo good. During the encore (after "Beach" I think) they asked us what song we'd like to hear. I was dying for them to play "Swimmer's Chant" seeing as they hadn't really played anything quiet up till that point except for "Silas the Magic Car". Although I didn't get that wish granted, they did play "Snow Brigade" which is also another favourite of mine. I thought "Comforting Sounds" would be a great closer, but it turned out "Louise Louisa" was maybe even better. Mew can do no wrong.

Unfortunately, it took a really long time before even The Lonely Forest (opening band) starting playing, but it was worth the wait.

The Lonely Forest is a band from Anacortes, WA. They released a new album this year called "We Sing The Body Electric!". I regret not buying it there at the show, because I actually enjoyed the songs, but I'll probably end up getting it off amazon or something.

But anyways, I got a few shots of these guys. They were pretty funny. The mic was freakin' out the lead singer and shocking the fillings in his teeth (?!?), so he put his sock over it. It was lol. He asked if this would appear on some blogs. You bet it is ;)

Oh, and call me crazy, but I thought the singer looked like Noah Lennox / Panda Bear. Y/N?

-SQUEEEEEEL-

Bo! They opened with Introducing Palace Players, leading right into Special. It made me so happy, you don't even know.

Trippy lights?

I realized later that the mic stand was in the way of Jonas' head in just about EVERY picture D: But he still looks adorable, so it's o-kay.

These next few are too awesome, I can't pick just one

I love the lights !

Snazzy 8)

Again, such cool lighting. I especially love the red.

Gahh, I just love these guys. I didn't have a chance to meet them at this show, but maybe next time :) I still can't stop listening to Mew. I don't really go to shows that often, so that might be the reason for obsessing after seeing this show... but either way, an amazing show always leaves you ecstatic and longing for more. And this most certainly was an "amazing show". I hope I'll see these guys again someday :)

If you've noticed... no, I couldn't see Silas or the bassist very well. Or... not at all. I was standing off to the right and everyone was taller than me by at least a head. I didn't really know beforehand what kind of fanbase Mew attracted. I only knew that almost no one my age listens to them. That stayed true, seeing as most of the people there were young adults... not really anyone under 17 or 18. It was still very fun though. I absolutely fell in love with "Repeaterbeater" and "Sometimes Life Isn't Easy" after hearing them played live (I remember saying I wasn't impressed with the latter when writing my review of No More Stories... I take it back ;)

Oh, I got an awesome shirt!

On a really random sidenote... I got the new Animal Collective EP, "Fall Be Kind", yesterday. Good stuff. Once I listen to it a few times I'll try to write again. Winterbreak starts Saturday. I just have to live through tomorrow. O-kay, bye now.

[currently listening to: White Lips Kissed - Mew]

boy lilikoi

Old news, but in case you haven't already heard, Jónsi of Sigur Rós is releasing an new solo album in March and you can download one of the songs right here on his website :) It's one of the lovliest things I've heard all year.

I'm looking forward to hearing the whole album next spring, but for now I'm extremely excited to see Mew at Neumo's this Thursday... just two days away. First show I will have seen in six months.

[currently listening to: Boy Lilikoi - Jónsi] (of course!)

Angel Falls ++

In these last few hours of November I'd like to draw attention to a beautiful debut EP released last month by This Is My Normal State. I don't normally do this, mainly because I don't have enough time, but these three songs really impressed me. They're a beautiful combination of post-rock and dream pop accompanied by unmistakably some of the most stunning vocals I have ever heard. Honestly, this left me speechless on my first listen (and continues to amaze me), so I encourage you to download!

[currently listening to: Monster - Lady Gaga]

The Incident

The Incident
Porcupine Tree

O-kay, this album came out September 15 I think, but I needed time to first actually buy it, and take it in... slowly... which is why I'm writing this in November.

My first reaction to this album was similar to what the large majority of people have been saying about it: it's not that good. After listening to it more my opinion has changed, but let's first lay down some basics as to why people might get that first impression:

1. There aren't really any "pop songs" here to catch your attention the first time around, like in most of their previous albums. Proggg On!!!!!!!! \m/

2. More metal, less rock. For lovers of "In Absentia", it might be harder to get into.

3. It's looooooooo)))ng. One hour and 15 minutes. I don't mind long albums too much, but when that time is split up into lots of short tracks like here, it does kind of irritates me. I like how the tracklist FoaBP ran better.

It opens with a dramatic "dunn dunn duhhhnn" Funeral Diner-esque guitar riff in "Occam's Razor", that I later found is also repeated in "Degree Zero of Liberty" (sneaky!). I guess you could say that the first bit of the album is heavier than the rest. It does balance out a little bit with quiet songs and louder songs... kind of... There's some cultural references in this first part as well, since I guess PT is trying to pull a Tool and be deeeeeeeep or something, IDK.

O-kay, so I lied earlier. "Drawing the Line" is actually quite pop-y, or maybe just the catchiest song on the album. And coincidentally, it's one of my favourites (predictable listener is predictable!).

The title track— no... we're talking The Incident, not Ænema, has some weird whispering going on, but it progresses on to be a p. good song. There's lots of nice guitar solos; also in "Your Unpleasant Family".

"The Yellow Windows Of The Evening Train" is kind of out of place, but awesome. It sounds a lot like Parachutes, that cool Icelandic group that has nothing to do with the monotone, sleep-inducing mess that is a Coldplay album.

David Gilmour's guitar work in the next song, "Time Flies", is amazing— oh wait! ...Am I mixing up songs? Hmm... this sure sounds an awful lot like "Dogs"! I know Steven Wilson takes lots and lots and lots of influence from Pink Floyd, but this sounds just a little too familiar... ;)

"Octane Twisted" is when you start getting into the better section of the album (not to say that the stuff before wasn't good). They incorporate such a wide variety of sounds here, it's impossible to just call it "prog rock", let alone to describe it at all. All I can say is THE GUITAR WORK IS BEAUTIFUL. "I Drive The Hearse" might just be the loveliest song on the album, along with "Flicker" and "Remember Me Lover" (I can't decide, obv). It's so light and atmospheric.

The four "bonus" tracks are nearly better than the entire rest of the album. The instrumental work is simple and gorgeous and the vocals very distant and dream-like.

I'd like to say something cool like 2nd half > 1st half, but this album is sooooooo long it'll end up being 4th fourth > 1st, 2nd, and 3rd fourths or something. Long, but good. Rating...? 7.1/10

TL;DR: This album is good, so stop whining about it and listen.

[currently listening to: Black Dahlia - Porcupine Tree]

No More Stories...

No More Stories...
(EXACTLY HOW LONG IS THIS TITLE?!)
Mew

I know this was released over a month ago, screw that. I'm just getting around to talking about it now because right now I actually have time to waste writing terrible music reviews that nobody will actually read.

The first thing I'd like to call to attention about this album is not exactly music related, but the album art is flipping adorable. Really. Well, actually, I liked the cover for the EP that came out before this better, but it's basically the same thing so it doesn't matter. It's cute, yeah.

So... I first got into Mew because I heard they were touring with NIN (lol, if only you knew how many times I've said something like that). The first song I heard was Introducing Place Players, which is probably still one of my favourite songs of theirs. The first thing that stood out to me was the really interesting polyrhythmic intro which includes a cool-ass guitar and drum part. This slowly progresses and erupts into one of the most beautiful songs you'll ever hear. It's fairly upbeat and happy, like most of the album. The vocals also impressed me on my first time hearing this, mostly because I have a thing for guys who sing like girls, but also because Jonas is GOOD at what he does (: BTW, this song has an awesome music video filled with cute snails and levitating rocks and other things that make me squeel in joy.

The album opens up with New Terrain, a short-ish song which actually played backwards. Like the song that it leads into, Introducing Palace Players, it's upbeat and has an intriguing sound and somewhat noisy sound (it annoys my mum, lol).

Beach and Repeaterbeater continue the cheery mood before the album transitions into a softer section with its first Intermezzo and Silas the Magic Car. I'm not sure how exactly to describe the latter, you'll have to listen to it yourself, but it's definitely one of my favourite tracks on the album. I even named my new iPod touch, Silas, after it :D It's light and atmospheric, and the vocals are really unmatchable.

Cartoons and Macrame Wounds is also rather indescribable. It flows between different moods, from quiet and gentle to louder and more powerful, but overall is just a magical song. It progressively gets more and more "intense" (for lack of better word...) farther into its 7 minutes, 19 seconds, but still ends on a quiet note.

The next section of the album includes more brilliant songs that will make you appreciate the instrumental talents of this band as much as their vocals. Hawaii and Vaccine are outstanding, unmissable songs, but not exactly something you'd listen to when you're in the mood for Joy Division ;)

However, as amazing as the album is this far in, it doesn't impress me as much to the end. Tricks of the Trade is interesting, but Sometimes Life Isn't Easy and the rest of the album just doesn't move me. The ending is no where near as powerful as Comforting Sounds is. <-- Ignore this. "Sometimes Life Isn't Easy" is awesome, and "Reprise" might be a soft ending, but it's very lovely.

I'm not really one to "rate" albums, but I guess I'd give this one 156/10 (hahaha...). It's much different from Frengers, the first album of theirs I got, and the one most people are probably familiar with. Less rock, more pop maybe? Jonas said "I think that we combine pop music with something that’s much more experimental, in our own way. I don’t think I would even try and describe it. It’s difficult,". Experimental pop? Sounds good. I already have enough problems with genres, not to mention trying to pick one to describe this band.

Well, that's that. If I ever have time I'd like to write about Portugal. the Man's "The Satanic Satanist" and Modwheelmood's "Pearls to Pigs". I haven't heard Porcupine Tree's new album yet, and I'm looking forward to the one Radiohead is apparently going to record this winter! And oh, I'd review DREAM THEATER'S SHITTY NEW ALBUM, but I think all you need to know is that it sucks >:0

[currently listening to: Reprise - Mew]

Sinful Attraction

So... I've had an interesting summer so far. I went to the Oregon coast for a week (I probably already said that before) and then my friend Amber came and stayed here for a week so we showed her around Seattle and stuff (she's from CT). And afterwords I went to stay with her. I got to go to NYC other places which I will most likely write about in another badly written blog post sometime soon.

I definitely have said all that before

But due to lack of time and motivation (mostly lack of motivation) I'm just going to post pictures from the Tori Amos concert that Amber and I went to. Maybe when I have a moment I'll upload some others from the past few weeks... but for now, just these:

moar pictures this way--->

So

Tori was amazing. The setlist was amazing. The whole show was amazing. Just amazing. I have an amazing vocabulary too.

I guess I might as well mention that this was my third time seeing her live... but only the first time it actually meant anything to me. As a 10 year old, there was nothing for me to find in her music. She was just a pianist who's concerts I went to so I could stay up late on a school night. But now as a teenage girl who has a great appreciation for good music ;) and can relate to her songs, it was a completely different experience. An experience I hope I can have again in the future, because the concerts I went to in the past were definitely wasted on me.

Anyway...

She "wore green for the emerald city" and was in this interesting pose for most of the show (:

intense hair flip

I have no idea what picture corresponds to what song, but I know for a fact that this was Past The Mission (sadly, with no suprise guest appearance by TR ):

At some point during the show (somewhere near the end) she forgot the lyrics. "oh, fuck the lyrics". Only Tori (:

I did enjoy hearing the new songs live, but my favourites that she played were Precious Things, Bliss, and Icicle. She also made me fall in love with Sugar after playing it that night.

The merch was pretty cool too. I got a Maybe California shirt.

And now you get to hear my little rant: I took videos at the concert. I was really excited because this was the first show of the tour and everyone was dying to see what would happen. But since my shitty little camera is old and shitty the sound quality (well... the overall quality) turned out really shitty so the videos suck. Some d00d Robert Schrader took all the youtube glory by taping the entire show and providing the world with flawless footage. Haha... not trying to pick on you. Just jealous ;D Go watch his videos.

But if anyone is interested in my videos (hah, if only I had posted this a week or two earlier when people actually still CARED), well.. here's:

Past The Mission
Big Wheel
Welcome To England

And a video I put together from clips of most of the show.

I think that's all the babbling that needed to be done... Congratulations! Go home now!

[currently listening to: In Fear and Faith - Circa Survive]

Modwheelmood @ El Corazon, Seattle

Yup... I went to this show yesterday. I can't believe it came and went so fast. I guess part of the reason it arrived here so fast was because I wasn't obsessing over it as much as say, seeing NIN, but I have to say, it was a kickass little show.

Read on for epicness and win (and pictures of Ally ;D) --->

Okay, the venue they played in, El Corazon, was really small. I'm sure that if a band with a larger fanbase played there, it could get quite uncomfortable (which is probably the reason for most people's complaints about the place), but no more than 35 / 40 people showed up for Modwheelmood, so it was pretty sweet. However, the best part was definitely their relaxed camera policy. I wish all concerts were like that.

There were two bands that played before mwm. I didn't bother to take any pictures of the first act (which i can't remember the name of anyways). He just pretended to play his overly-distorted guitar as pre-recorded tracks played in the background and porn flashed on the screen. It kind of scared me.

Thankfully after he finished his [somewhat long] set we actually got to see a real band play: The Crying Spell. I have to admit, they did look rather emo/poser, but they were actually okay. I stole their setlist after the show.

Soundcheck

This guy was pretty BA

They were pretty cool, but everyone gladly welcomed Modwheelmood to the stage. They didn't start playing till 11 pm (we got there at 9, and I didn't even know there were 2 opening bands to sit through first).

[fangirlism]

Soundcheck

Pelle. I think I only got like... 3 pictures of him lol

They had a drummer with them (I can't remember his name though)

Ally

I love the colours in this one

:)

some guy kept telling Ally that he loved him, and Ally was like "....OKAY"

No buchla, but he had his little.... box :) (during Problem Me)

I also took several videos (sound quality isn't amazing, but they're still worth watching ;) ). So come watch them here:

Yesterday
Things Will Change
Problem Me
Scared of Everyone

I also stole their setlist, haha. I was so excited when I saw they were playing Scared of Everyone! Such a good song. And of course, after the concert, I got re-addicted to their music... and discovered how good Delay Lama and Crumble are!

...And I got a poster autographed :D (I got another picture with him, but I look extremely retarded, so I'm not posting it.)

See! Legit autograph..

Aghhhhh, I really want to see them if they ever come back. Even if it's on a school night again (I got 5 hours of sleep that night... and barely any the night before, so I've been dead all week). Next concert is... Tori Amos. July!

It took me like two days to write this, in between homework and stuff. I think I need to go finish my math now...

I LOVE YOU MWM

[currently listening to: Seven - Symphony X]

I Want To Eat Your Artichoke Heart

(Someone needs to guess the song references in the title....)

Hah, I just realized I completely forgot of writing something last month. It's kind of silly, but I like having an entry at least once a month so my archives have all the months... but instead it goes straight from March to May. Damn.

Anyways, things have been really nice lately. I honestly couldn't ask for more at the moment... But that's all I'm saying on that matter :)

I think I'm going to just randomly spurt out a bunch of thoughts, so here we go.

Depeche Mode's new album "Sounds of the Universe"

Screw Rolling Stone. This was an amazing album. From beginning to end. Maybe it doesn't beat "Violator", but no ones expects DM to ever create another album that does.
My favourite songs would probably be "In Chains", an awesome album opener, "Wrong", their first single from the album, "Fragile Tension", "In Sympathy", a revisit to their classic sound, "Miles Away / The Truth", and "Jezebel".
They definitely entered some new territory in this album, very evident in tracks like "Spacewalker", "Perfect", and "Jezebel". I've heard plenty of "blahblah they've totally lost their edge" / "a real bore" but I really don't see this the same way. Listen to the album again. It definitely grew on me after the second listen. If you haven't already, at least listen to "Wrong". It's a pretty dark tune, and has an equally creepy video.

And... moving along to Tori Amos. As repulsive as the cover art is (well... not as "repulsive" as American Doll Posse, but it's giving me some serious Beekeeper vibes...), I'm really looking forward to the new album. I loved the free download of "Maybe California". Quite simple and sweet, and even better than "Welcome to England" in my opinion. She's playing WaMu Theater, Seattle this July. Waiting for tickets to go on sale...!

And speaking of concerts, I'm seeing Porcupine Tree this September :D I'm so excited for all these concerts! (Despite not getting to see nin again......)

I just finished reading "Feed" today. It's a really interesting story... sad ending though... And I'm still "The Shining". It's really retarded how I can't finish it. It's just not keeping me captivated like his other books for some reason. It seriously took HALF THE BOOK for something to happen. I haven't seen the movie before, so I still have hope that the ending won't be disappointing. I'm also going to reread "Rosemary's Baby", The Foundation Series, and I'd like to start another one of Sherman Alexie's books (WHY?! I don't know. Thanks, Flahiff -_-)...

I'm learning some new stuff on guitar. Lots more bending (which I need to work on..) and other fun things in lead parts. Right now I'm working on "Another Brick in the Wall" (Floyd, duh), "Something" (the Beatles), and "Angie" (the Rolling Stones.. LOVE THAT SONG). I'd record something, but it would be lame cause I can't play very well. I'll definitely record me playing "Winter" by Tori Amos on the piano when I get the chance. It's so damn pretty. I'm trying to learn "Horses" too, but I never get enough time on the piano. I NEED MY OWN KEYBOARD...

Annnnnnd, the other week, my mum and I went to Skagit Valley. I took a bunch of photos (on her NICE Nikon D200), but those will be coming sometime next month next week soon.... ;)

It just rained, but all the flowers are blooming and the trees are all full of leaves, . So, I think I'm going to get off my ass, stop writing all this, and do something with my life. BAI.

[currently listening to: If It Is the Deep Sea, I Can See You There - Melt-Banana]

NIN/JA EP Download

Yay for more free music! I already downloaded the Live With Teeth Rehearsal tracks earlier today, but now I get a free EP featuring unreleased NIN, Jane's Addiction, and Sweet Sweeper (yeah, who are they...?) tracks! Wow! Okay, I'll admit when I first saw the words "FREE NIN/JA EP" I thought they had actually recorded something together, but I guess not haha... Don't get me wrong though, this shit's awesome! This studio version of "Non-Entity" (NIN) and "Whores" (JA) are great songs.

But enough of this talking, go download!

[currently listening to: Banshee Beat - Animal Collective]

A Little Mental Yoga

Okay, so I realize it's been a while. I actually can't even remember what I last wrote about (probably something uninteresting)... Oh, right... Sasquatch. Well, I have better news this time! I may not be going to see NIN/JA, of Montreal, and AC, but this June I will see Alessandro Cortini's band Modwheelmood (he's from NIN)!

That's my sexy guitar in the background ;D

He's also got another side project called blindoldfreak. The first album "1" was really nice, definitely worth checking out!

But moving on from music... This weekend, I did a sketch of Rob Sheridan's "Broken Robot Girl" photograph. He's just about my favourite artist and I love robots (so does he!!!) so I really couldn't resist. If I'm violating some copyright that prevents me from reproducing this in any way... Sorry, I'm just a big fan of your work ;D And I can't wait to see the next photos in the series. Anyways, here it is:

I know I don't have the face right at all, but it was really fun to draw.

Aside from that stuff... things have still been pretty chaotic... Some mixed up feelings about things which I will not go into detail about. Bleh... A teenage life ;)

[currently listening to: Purple People (Christmas in Space) - Tori Amos]

I Am Not Going ...

... To the Sasquatch Music Festival. Where NIN + Jane's Addiction will be playing their (last ever?) WA show on this last (EVER?) tour? Apparently it's too far. Hell, if I could drive ... I seriously hope they come to Seattle for another show after Sasquatch, or I will have a mental breakdown ... Okay! I need to stop.

Did I mention of Montreal and Animal Collective are playing too? Well, Animal Collective isn't on the same day, but they're still pretty awesome. Started listening to them ... around December? First Feels, (which is a really great first album by the way), and I just got Strawberry Jam the other day. "For Reverend Green" is just about my favourite song at the moment! Sorry, if you didn't care, but I needed to let that out there. I'd love to see them live too.

And Depeche Mode is going on tour too. Agh, I should just make a list of bands I need to see and eventually, (maybe), I'll complete it.

Yeah, that's basically all I think about, throughout my crazy days (they've been quite wild lately). Haha, I think this entire post was to get things off my mind ...

By the way, check out Rob's mad concert footage. That's one BA camera:

Burn

1,000,000

[currently listening to: Heysátan - Sigur Rós]
(Yeah, I'm so bored, I actually put in the time and effort to add the accents).

Some Music Reviews

Yay, first entry of '09. I really have nothing to write about. I haven't ridden since October, and my life has been the definition of boring, so I decided I'd write about a few albums that have recently caught my attention, since I really have nothing else to talk about. My comments toward music usually don't go further than "OMG THIS IS SO DAMN AWESOME I THINK I COULD CRY!!" so we'll see how this goes.

The Ocean and the Sun
by the Sound of Animals Fighting

If you've never heard of this band (which I assume most haven't) I highly suggest you should go check them out. They're a really cool experimental/rock-ish band, (though their music covers many genres, so don't let that description stop you). The band was formed by some of the members of Finch, Rx Bandits, Circa Survive and Chiodos. Each band member takes the name of an animals (The Lynx, The Nightingale, The Skunk, and The Walrus), and I must say, they are quite talented.

The Ocean and the Sun is their third album I think, and most people have credited it to be their best. I, personally, have only heard a few songs from their previous albums, so I can't really compare, but this album is definitely outstanding.

The thing that probably stands out to me the most is their excellent guitar work. This is especially evident in tracks such as "Cellophane" and the instrumental "Lude". Lots of complex rhythms. Layers and layers of awesome.

What I also find interesting is how some of their songs are just spoken poems, some are wild rock pieces, and others a combination of things you couldn't even name. So much variety makes this band endlessly interesting. There's bound to be at least one song you will find that satisfies your taste.

My favourite tracks from this album would probably "I, the Swan", which features some childrens' vocals, "Cellophane", which leads right into another favourite "The Heraldic Beak of the Manufacturer's Medallion". "Uzbekistan" is an echo-filled electronic track, which happened to be the first song I heard from TSOAF, and made me fall in love with them.

So basically, this album is just made of epic win. The songs are stunning, and the artwork is lovely. Definitely something you should check out. I'll try to add some links to songs later.

Annd..

Fear of a Blank Planet
by Porcupine Tree

I started listening to Porcupine Tree (yes, funny name) late last year. There's a greater chance you've probably heard of them. They're a fairly popular English prog rock band. They pretty much caught me from the start. "Trains" or "Blackest Eyes" were probably the first songs I heard, but "Anesthetize" remains my favourite song to this day. Their lead singer Steven Wilson has a lovelllly voice.

Fear of a Blank Planet was the first album I bought, and is still my favourite even after listening to In Absentia and Deadwing. Well, I just got Deadwing today, and I'm still letting it soak in, but I don't know if can compete with FOABP... In Absentia maybe, but not FOABP. In Absentia had a few genius songs, but I found the rest of the album to be slightly uninteresting. FOABP was consistently awesome. Anways...

...Compared to the others, FOABP is a much heavier, and darker album. I wouldn't go as far to call it metal, but you can clearly see the difference if you listen to "Trains" (In Absentia) and "Way Out of Here" (FOABP). There are only six songs, but each of them are pretty long. Though I have my favourites (the title track "Fear of a Blank Planet", "Anesthetize", and "Way Out of Here") there's not a single weak song on here. I highly suggest you give this a listen if you are a rock fan of any sort. A lot of their songs have a Pink Floyd-y vibe to them, so if that interests you.... ;o)

Thanks for bearing with me... if you read :D

[currently listening to: I, The Swan - The Sound of Animals Fighting]

"Curtain Call"

Taken from nin.com:

"File this one under lost opportunities.

I'm very proud of the show we've put together for this tour and have been working hard the last few months to find a way to capture it. I had an amazing situation lined up that would have allowed me to film the show in 3D with James Cameron's team for a theatrical release as well as DVD / BluRay, etc. We had an extra date added to the tour that we were going to give away all the tickets for and have a filming party / thank you show.
I made two critical mistakes. One was to approach a certain record company that owns some of the song rights about producing / funding. The second was to allow said company to fuck around as usual for months before saying um... no. We then achieved the impossible by finding alternate production / funding but the timetable is too rushed to get it filmed comfortably with the remaining time left on the tour. This tour and a lot of the personnel involved finish at the end of this leg, so we can't push filming into Jan / Feb.
Deep breath...
This was an amazing tour and production - certainly the best thing I've ever been involved with and likely the final tour for NIN on this scale. Thank you to those who came out to see it and forgive me for having a Kanye West moment, but this was FOR SURE the best show of the year and any bullshit end-of-the-year poll you may read in the next few weeks that says otherwise simply has it wrong. Those of you who saw it know I'm right.
The shows we have announced in 2009 and any more that may be announced will be a completely different approach with some different personnel and will likely be the last for the foreseeable future.
** UPDATE **
The venue for Friday night's performance in Victoria will have a very relaxed camera / camcorder policy... hmmn... "
EDIT** UPDATE SUNDAY Dec 7**
The relaxed camera / camcorder policy continues for Portland. Bring and shoot what you want and share what you get. Please understand local security has been made aware of this policy change but I cannot assure you every single one of them will be cool about it. Change can be hard for some.

I am now very concerned. Especially regarding the last paragraph...
Does this mean no more NIN? Or just no touring? Either way, I think I'm going to go cry in a corner...
DVD's a shame too.. I was looking forward to that =[

EDIT: I love how the concert he's talking about now is the other one I wanted to attend. Portland. Three hours away. @%$(@&#%*!!!!!!!!

EDIT AGAIN: And everyone's teaming up for creating this awesome fan video at the Vegas show this Friday. It's amazing how well organized it is.
And I'm still somewhat unsure about NIN releasing a video. It seemed like they already had a lot of filming done in the teaser. A little suspicious....
Anyways, I'm going to school. Yes, this is all I think about all day... :)

[currently listening to: Piggy - NIN]

Progress!

A few new piano videos, because there's nothing else to "blog about".

Vidar Vel Til Loftarasa - Sigur Ros. I'm still working on it... obviously ;o)

Hurt - NIN (piano cover). An octave high, but I think it sounds even prettier that way.

Gone, Still - NIN

Horribly Misguided Attempts at Playing Music

Well I'm obviously very talented ;D

The Frail - NIN:

Harry Potter:

Untitled 1 (Vaka) - Sigur Rós:

1 Ghosts I - NIN

And here are the long awaited videos from the NIN concert!

19 Ghosts III and Piggy: Features Trent on the tambourine ;D

25 Ghosts III:

1 Ghosts I: Sorry about all the noise at the beginning. The crowd quiets down. I promise.

Concert photos right here. Forgive me for not posting any other NIN videos. My camera really couldn't withstand the volume of anything more intense than Ghosts or Piggy.

Look forward to more intense videos right here, at this extremely popular website!

[currently listening to: mechanical animals - marilyn manson]

Lights in the Sky

For those not aware, NIИ is currently on their Lights in the Sky Over North America tour, and making their stops throughout the US and Canada. Tomorrow night marks the 5th performance of the tour. Just a few days ago [July 26th], the first "official" day of the tour, they stopped in Seattle, and I got to see the most amazing band ever preform live! :o)

Set-list:
999,999
1,000,000 [!]
Letting You
Discipline [!]
March Of The Pigs [!]
Head Down
The Frail
Closer [!]
Gave Up [!]
The Warning
The Great Destroyer
Ghosts 1 [!]
Ghosts 25
Ghosts 19
Piggy [!]
The Greater Good
Pinion
Wish [!]
Terrible Lie [!]
Survivalism [!]
The Big Come Down
Ghosts 31
Only [!]
The Hand That Feeds
Head Like A Hole [!]
Echoplex [!]
The Beginning of the End
The Good Soldier
Hurt [!!!!]
In This Twilight

We got there a bit late, so we missed most of Crystal Castles' performance. And frankly I'm not too upset about that... I do admit to liking two of their songs [Crimewave and Alice Practice], but they kind of scare me.

Anyways, NIN was AMAZING. They played lot of my favourite songs [and I have to say, Year Zero is now finally starting to grow on me] and the light show was spectacular. Apart from there being some idiots in the audience, it was an awesome night.

Since I'm very talented, I took my camera in with me and got some kickass pictures....

Robin, Josh, and that nine inch nails guy..... whatshisface... oh, right, Trent ;o)

Alessandro, Trent, half of Robin, and you can even sort of see Justin [far left].

Justin, Alessandro, Trent and Robin.

Straight from the crowd.

He lost an arm. Poor guy.

Why does Justin always stare up at the sky?

Nevermind.

Terrible Lie, I think...?

Trent showing off his awesome guitar skillz.

Survivalism, with a live 'music-video-like' visuals. We got to see a lady pee, people walking around, and creepy closeups of Trent screaming. Yay.

Love the lighting.

I guess they decided it's cool to hide from the audience behind a screen for half the show.

Pink.

Head Like A Hole, or The Hand That Feeds or something weird like that.

Pink again...?

Bow down before the one you serve....

Echoplex.

That ends my album of amazing pictures. Please contact me at amazingphotography@anna.sapek.com to purchase full size prints of any of the above shown images..

..[not]

Oh, by the way, I'm renaming the site as "Pretty Hate Machine". Stay tuned to watch me screw up my website again!

[currently listening to: Man That Your Fear - Marilyn Manson]

Lights in the Sky

For those not aware, NIИ is currently on their Lights in the Sky Over North America tour, and making their stops throughout the US and Canada. Tomorrow night marks the 5th performance of the tour. Just a few days ago [July 26th], the first "official" day of the tour, they stopped in Seattle, and I got to see the most amazing band ever preform live! :o)

Set-list:
999,999
1,000,000 [!]
Letting You
Discipline [!]
March Of The Pigs [!]
Head Down
The Frail
Closer [!]
Gave Up [!]
The Warning
The Great Destroyer
Ghosts 1 [!]
Ghosts 25
Ghosts 19
Piggy [!]
The Greater Good
Pinion
Wish [!]
Terrible Lie [!]
Survivalism [!]
The Big Come Down
Ghosts 31
Only [!]
The Hand That Feeds
Head Like A Hole [!]
Echoplex [!]
The Beginning of the End
The Good Soldier
Hurt [!!!!]
In This Twilight

We got there a bit late, so we missed most of Crystal Castles' performance. And frankly I'm not too upset about that... I do admit to liking two of their songs [Crimewave and Alice Practice], but they kind of scare me.

Anyways, NIN was AMAZING. They played lot of my favourite songs [and I have to say, Year Zero is now finally starting to grow on me] and the light show was spectacular. Apart from there being some idiots in the audience, it was an awesome night.

Since I'm very talented, I took my camera in with me and got some kickass pictures....

Robin, Josh, and that nine inch nails guy..... whatshisface... oh, right, Trent ;o)

Alessandro, Trent, half of Robin, and you can even sort of see Justin [far left].

Justin, Alessandro, Trent and Robin.

Straight from the crowd.

He lost an arm. Poor guy.

Why does Justin always stare up at the sky?

Nevermind.

Terrible Lie, I think...?

Trent showing off his awesome guitar skillz.

Survivalism, with a live 'music-video-like' visuals. We got to see a lady pee, people walking around, and creepy closeups of Trent screaming. Yay.

Love the lighting.

I guess they decided it's cool to hide from the audience behind a screen for half the show.

Pink.

Head Like A Hole, or The Hand That Feeds or something weird like that.

Pink again...?

Bow down before the one you serve....

Echoplex.

That ends my album of amazing pictures. Please contact me at amazingphotography@anna.sapek.com to purchase full size prints of any of the above shown images..

..[not]

Oh, by the way, I'm renaming the site as "Pretty Hate Machine". Stay tuned to watch me screw up my website again!

[currently listening to: Man That Your Fear - Marilyn Manson]

My Great NIN Obsession

If anyone actually knew something about me, they'd know I'm a complete NIN freak. (Nine Inch Nails, to the clueless people). After downloading The Slip and Ghosts (two albums which Trent Reznor generously gave to the world for free) last week, my NIN obsession has been completely taking over me.

I'm now sitting here waiting for 10 am to go buy tickets to a concert. That's how obsessed I am... Just thought I'd share.