Kasabian - West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum (June 8, 2009)
Rest In Peace, Michael
http://www.latimes.com
After death of Kurt Cobain, personally for me this is the biggest loss in music. The greatest icon of pop music lost everything in last years of his life and couldn't make a comeback. Being stoned for numerous surgeries and strange behaviour he will remain one of the most misunderstood persons in the world. He was a King and he lived like a King.
Rest In Peace, Michael
Yours sadly
Gaya
New Album from Klaxons: not earlier than 2010
The guys are careful in this case and don't want to produce the album by themselves, maybe thinking it won't be perfect that way. "We'd really like to put out the first great record of the 2010s rather than the last great one of this decade. Now that's become an aspiration and a goal."
This had negative response from the fans of the band. Yes, we can imagine, the release of forthcoming album has been delayed.. again.. till 2010..
Yours truly Gaya
Klaxons - Myths Of The Near Future (January 29, 2007)
The Vines - Winning Days (March 29, 2004)
Yes, you can't just say, you need to SHOUT their name!
I personally cannot imagine The Vines vocalist Craig's mouth not being open up to ears and voice driving you into euphoria! His ability to give a birth to unbelievable sounds makes you think he is one of those who have an art of yelling!
The Vines have been numerously named as a Nirvana band and I think there is something really similar especially the drive and the vocal of Craig though The Vines' songs are much more positive, childishly naughty and careless! They guarantee you an incredible adrenaline rush and mass loss of sanity! Vines are absolutely out of their wits and sometimes you just can't believe they are able to perform ballads with the same success as their branded mad shouts. BUT THEY DO!!! Anything from heart melting solos to the loudest shouts ever can be found in the Winning Days. Though not accepted with applauds by most of the musical judges considering it as a weaker reproduction of Highly Evolved (the band's first album) this album has super melodies you never get tired of re-listening such as Sunchild, Rainfall!
Amnesia is penetrating soo deep into your soul and beats along with your heartbeats, a very great song that despite its simplicity is so infective and mystical probably due to the perfectly harmonized and synchronized voices.
The Winning Days has a very Beatles like vocal with a quite long for The Vines solo and a sudden turn into a more rhythmic end at the end.
Hard-listening Evil Town with lots of distorted guitar and voice is probably the darkest song with the darkest text:
She sells and I don't
Like it feels
Like shonen knife and kills
But they dont mind in an evil town...
My favorite song Autumn Shade II is limitlessly melancholic making you cry really feeling the autumn leaves falling symbolizing the end of something. It is named as "2" as there was already another Autumn Shade in the first album Highly Evolved but they are not related in anyhow. So i really don't get the meaning of naming this song the same way again. If anyone knows the purpose or has some guesses please feel free to instruct me on this! ;)
Songs like Animal Machine and Fuck the World as well as are specially designed to pour out all your anger with this world. For this you just need to turn it on the highestpossible volume and yell as high as you can along with The Vines!
Ride and She's Got Something are energetic and dancing songs for tearing-everything-around parties!:)))
It's also very interesting to view their live performances as well probably due to mostly Craig's charismatic acts; he seems very himself on the stage and doesn't need to be anything else to be loved.
Tracklist:
1. Ride 2:34
2. Animal Machine 3:27
3. TV Pro 3:46
4. Autumn Shade II 3:13
5. Evil Town 3:05
6. Winning Days 3:32
7. She's Got Something to Say 2:30
8. Rainfall 3:22
9. Amnesia 4:40
10. Sun Child 4:32
11. Fuck the World 3:41
Zemfira - Vendetta (March 1, 2005)
The first track Небомореоблака (Skyseaclouds) already impresses with its heavy riff sound which makes you concentrate on the music. The song by itself is a protest! Protest against commerce, globalization, prostitution and all the scum that filled 21-th century. By it’s stylistics that song is alone in the album. The next track Дыши (Breathe) sounds more British. By the way in the album brit and alternative (i mean more Radiohead-like sound (especially pay attention to the beginning of the track Повесица (Hang Oneself))) dominates which I think is great :)! Among these are Итоги (Resume) and Так И Оставим (Leave As It Is). There are more pure rock’n’roll songs in the album like Дай Мне Руку (Give Me A Hand) and Малыш (Baby). The last one IMHO is a masterpiece not only in this album but even for all Zemfira’s works.
Thus let’s switch to another emotional side of this album. The song Блюз (Blues) which became a single with it’s post-blues sound can be listened literally at one breath and if you close your eyes in the rhythm moment you’ll feel how your body rises up and tries to fly away. It’s incredible! So, lets fly on… Друг (Friend), Жужа (Juja), Красота (Beauty), Самолет (Airplane) tracks captivate with their depressing beautiful mood. Here where you can see Zemfira naked! Yes, exactly, naked! And realize how the girl has grown up. All this sincerity and frankness harmonize with nontraditional arrangements and great work of not only musicians, but the sound engineer as well!
The album ends with surrealistic and melancholic track Jim Beam with it’s original drums and guitar sequence.
At the end of all I’ll say that this album is very original, full of contrast, beauty, frankness and claims to the highest praises!
P.S.
Highly recommended to enjoy this album lying or riding in a car (advisable in the night)
Best wishes, Zepp London
Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown (May 15, 2009)
The album is composed of 3 acts ("Heroes and cons", "Charlatans and Saints" and "Horseshoes and handgrenades") and connected with the story of Gloria and Cristian, two young punks in love which announced isolation and desolation in our modern society.
Times now have really changed but things are still not ok. “My generation is zero/I never made it as a working-class hero” sings Billie Joe Armstrong in 21st century breakdown and “We are the cries of the class of 13 Born in the era of humility/ We are the desperate in the decline Raised by the bastards of 1969”.
In the last single Know your enemy, we can find a little bit of their fighting spirit at first; “Violence is an energy / Silence is the enemy / So gimme, gimme revolution”.
Good idea was to include violin and piano in the “teenage” ¡viva La Gloria!: You blast your name / In graffiti on the walls / Falling Through broken glass that's / slashing through your spirit / I can hear it like a jilted crowd.
The ballad Last Night on Earth is charming, even if excessively sloppy and pop (“My beating heart belongs to you / I walked for miles 'til I found you / I'm here to honor you”).
East Jesus Nowhere starts with a riff that hammers in your head as well as the controversial chorus: “A fire burns today / Of blasphemy and genocide / The sirens of decay / Will infiltrate the faith fanatics “
21 guns, the second single, is a slow classic rock hit that we will sing for a long time…”One, 21 guns / Lay down your arms / Give up the fight”.
But every single song of this album deserves to be mentioned.
It’s not by pure chance that 21st Century breakdown is produced by Butch Vig: tells you something about Nevermind?
Concerning the themes Green Day still follows the manistream of previous “American Idiot”, on the other hand (and that’s the good news!) they are back to origins in sense of sound: speed rythms, big energy, with a more variety and cheerful.
Because of its 69 minute length and the absence of hits (such as American Idiot or Wake Me Up When September Ends) 21st Century breakdown isn’t an easy listening record, but it’s the best and a very distinguished record made by Green Day in the last ten years.
Ciao belli!
Giorgio
RATING: ●●●●○ 4/5
TRACKLIST:
Act I - Heroes and cons
“Song of the century”
“21st century breakdown”
“Know Your Enemy”
“¡Viva la Gloria!”
“Before the lobotomy”
“Christian's Inferno”
“Last night on Earth”
Act II - Charlatans and Saints
“East Jesus nowhere”
“Peacemaker”
“Last of the American girls”
“Murder City”
“¿Viva la Gloria? (Little girl)”
“Restless heart syndrome”
Act III - Horseshoes and handgrenades
“Horseshoes and handgrenades”
“The static age”
“21 guns”
“American eulogy”
“I. Mass hysteria”
“II. Modern world”
“See the light”
NEXT TOUR DATES:
Jul. 03, 2009 Seattle, WA
Jul. 04, 2009 Vancouver, BC
Jul. 06, 2009 Edmonton, AB
Jul. 07, 2009 Saskatoon, SAS
Jul. 09, 2009 Winnipeg, MAN
Jul. 10, 2009 Fargo, ND
Jul. 11, 2009 Minneapolis, MN
Jul. 13, 2009 Chicago, IL
Jul. 14, 2009 Detriot, MI
Jul. 16, 2009 Hamilton, ONT
Jul. 17, 2009 Ottawa, ONT
Jul. 18, 2009 Montreal, QUE
Jul. 20, 2009 Boston, MA
Jul. 21, 2009 Philadelphia, PA
Jul. 22, 2009 Pittsburgh, PA
Jul. 24, 2009 Hartford, CT
Jul. 25, 2009 Albany, NY
Jul. 27, 2009 New York, NY
Jul. 28, 2009 New York, NY
Jul. 29, 2009 Washington, DC
Jul. 31, 2009 Nashville, TN
Jet - The Wild One Killed In Action
On April, 2009, Jet made K.I.A. available on their official website. And now it's clear that the band will release Shaka Rock, the 3rd studio album, on August 25, 2009. Jet performed some of the new songs live during the concerts in late 2008 and 2009. The first single is announced to be She's a Genius.
Meanwhile K.I.A. having a really crazy drive but not on the highest speed, sounds like a clockwork bomb ready to explode on August 25, 2009! It will be like.. you know.. Tick Tick BOOOOOM!!!
Be aware!
Yours truly
Gaya
Arctic Monkeys to release new album in August 2009
Arctic Monkeys have announced the title of their upcoming studio album, which is going to be released later this summer. After months of not having any working title at all, the band finally decided to entitle it “Humbug”. As announced earlier, the tracklist is going to be as follows:
01. My Propeller
02. Crying Lightning
03. Dangerous Animals
04. Secret Door
05. Potion Approaching
06. Fire & The Thud
07. Cornerstone
08. Dance Little Liar
09. Pretty Visitors
10. The Jeweller's Hands
“Humbug” will be available on CD, vinyl and via digital download (yay!) and will be released on August 21st in Ireland, Germany, Austria and Switzerland, on the August 24th in UK and 25th in USA and Canada. Only some 2 months to wait!
Kent - Tillbaka Till Samtiden (October 17, 2007)
They are never fond of appearing in public. Always quiet and even not having official website in English! Always hidden from mass media, they are still favourites not only in Sweden but also aboard.
Tillbaka Till Samtiden (Back To The Present) is the seventh studio album of Kent. This record is from my favourite subject of metamorphoses. Starting in 1990 in a little Swedish town Eskilstuna, this band has lived an evolution of sound, starting from rough guitars and inexperienced, unusual vocal for rock music in their first album Kent (1995), reaching to wise mixture of different music styles in their latest record. Partially reminding Depeche Mode now, Kent still haven’t lost their own style noticeable for Joakim Berg’s unforgettable vocal which will make you tremble in Sömnen (The Sleep), cold, typical Swedish tunes, depressive mood and something that is very hard to understand but which ties you to their music. It’s something below your conscience, not logical and indescribable.
All songs in the album are in Swedish: another fact that will make you wonder everytime you come back to their music… “I don’t understand a word from it!” - I said to myself thousands of times. Yes, folks, Kent is more the band of music than lyrics. Although I have found the translations of the song lyrics but I can never remember what they are about. Joakim Berg states that he uses the method of copy-pasting, that’s why sometimes the lyrics make no sense.
In the album you can find consisting-of-2-parts songs. This method of contrast Kent have been using since their first album (for example, När det blåser på månen) but it reaches its limits especially in the latest one. The brightest examples are Elefanter, Vid Din Sida, LSD, Någon?
Having elements of disco music from 80s, using different instruments apart from classic ones, female vocals (usual thing for Kent, lovely), so much reminding of Depeche Mode, in some kind of urban style, Tillbaka Till Samtiden is worthy to listen to and add in media library for sure!
1. "Elefanter" (Elephants) – 5:21
2. "Berlin" (Berlin) – 4:36
3. "Ingenting" (Nothing) – 4:17
4. "Vid din sida" (By your side) – 4:58
5. "Columbus" (Columbus) – 4:29
6. "Sömnen" (The Sleep) – 4:08
7. "Vy från ett luftslott" (View from a Castle in the Air) – 4:25
8. "Våga vara rädd" (Dare to be Afraid) – 4:00
9. "LSD, någon?" (LSD, anyone?) – 4:20
10. "Generation Ex" (Generation Ex) – 4:30
11. "Ensammast i Sverige" (Loneliest in Sweden) – 8:20
Yours truly
Gaya
We Smoke Fags decided to take a permanent hiatus
"Hello, Joey here...
I'm sorry to say that We Smoke Fags have decided to take a permanent hiatus- we never split up, but over the last 6 months we have all individually been working on other projects.
I'd like to say on behalf of all of us - the last three years have been amazing and thank you for your all your support.
We Smoke Fags never really had much exposure in the mainstream music press, yet somehow we managed to gain almost 3 million individual myspace plays, play all over the world (sorry if we didn't make it to your country), release a single and confuse some people along the way... Not bad work for a band that started for fun one 2006 afternoon in a Stockwell bedroom.
What now?
I have formed a new band called Verb Gang...
Lee is currently playing bass with New Young Pony Club.
Harry is forming a new band in the near future but can be found dj-ing his selection of 'Party Classics' in London under the We Smoke Fags banner...
We Smoke Fags
J"
Source: Official MySpace page of We Smoke Fags
We Smoke Fags band members were:
Joey - Vocals/Guitars/programming
Leeroi - Bass/Vocals
Harry - Guitars/Vocals
RIP We Smoke Fags, it was nice to discover you and good luck on new projects!
Yours truly
Gaya, the fan
The Notwist - The Devil, You+Me (May 2, 2008)
The song texts are generally minimalistic and concise without expressing a concrete meaning making you put any sense you feel like for any of the songs.
This album is a real chameleon suiting your mood perfectly: making you hope when you're positive and put you in a deeper depression if you are sad.
Hands on us is one of the songs that will feed your depression with it's monotone sighs and classical instruments playing on your inner nerves...
Boneless is a very light sounding, catchy song with it's infecting chorus you want to repeat all the time: "Booooone-less!" It is perfect to express the feelings of people in mess who want to run away from everything that surround them that is so fake!
Gone, Gone, Gone is a kind and lovely ballad you always have warm feelings while listening to. Consisting purely from guitar in the beginning it then stays minimalistic as well and can serve as a wonderful lullaby... It's the shortest and simplest but still a great song!
Good lies is one of the album best songs different from the rest if for no other reason than this deep philosophical note "let's just imitate the real until we find a better one..." sometimes it's better to live with good lies as it is a better reality that the one we have!..
Gloomy Planets is so cosmic with its space sounds singing of the cars on New York streets and the gloomy planets staying always, anyway no matter how locked up we are...
Aggressive drums and a suddenly huge electric guitar solo chokes you and after a while the percussion comes and all this in one song! Alphabet!...it's really a crazy song...!!!
Another song which could be a good lullaby also because of its name is Sleep, a very "atheistic" song... Oriental mood comes with listening to On planet off which is a mad song with unbelievable ups and downs and electronically full of different effects. The texts again seem to be senseless repetition of the authors mad thoughts like in a nightmare...
The Devil, you+me is a really magic song; so pure, magnificent and high! Songs like this make bands irreplaceable in people's minds. The perfect melody and background beats get stuck in your mind bringing you such an idyll...
Everybody still speaks of Neon Golden, the most popular album of The Notwist but this album is definitely fascinating and is worth filling another important part of the unique music diggers memory. All in all very kind due to the magnanimous and hypnotizing vocal of Markus Acher and such a beautiful way of feeling the music...
1 Good Lies 5:24
2 Where In This World 4:41
3 Gloomy Planets 4:50
4 Alphabet 3:03
5 The Devil, You + Me 3:39
6 Gravity 3:56
7 Sleep 3:46
8 On Planet Off 5:07
9 Boneless 2:57
10 Hands On Us 4:29
11 Gone Gone Gone 2:09