What music are you listening to?

[ROC]

Hank Williams III - Straight to Hell - 8/10

To sum it up, Disc 1 is about as smooth by the roots country as you'll see from anybody there. However, with Disc 2, the CD turns from a decent country album to a trip through old country stylings not seen since country's forgotten past and certainly not attempted to be replicated by anybody in the modern Nashville that Hank III often criticizes (for good reason) for going too far away for a generic pop sound that has no substance. His 42 minute hidden track mashup of covers including Hank I's "I Could Never Be Ashamed of You" could be the strangest, trippiest, and brilliant bit of country produced in at least the past decade and a half. I'm being perfectly serious with that statement. To sum it up, Straight to Hell sends you on a trip that certainly is interesting, to say the least.

[Liam]

I've been listening to 'Chronicles of a Bohemian Teenager' by Get Cape, Wear Cape, Fly! the last couple of days and I can't find a weak track on the album, try as I might. Stand-out tracks for me are An Oak Tree and I, Spy but they're all very good tracks and hopefully Duckworth won't suffer the same fate of some other singer/songwriters who appear, have one song then disappear again - I'm looking at you Daniel Powter!

Absolutely awesome album, my pick for 2006 so far. I Spy and War Of The Worlds are probably the best tracks IMO, but it is strong throughout.

The Abominable Iron Sloth "The Abominable Iron Sloth"

Just good sludge metal, nothing more, nothing less.

7.5/10

[Fitzy]

The New Pornographers - Twin Cinema

This was a pretty good CD. Nothing tops "The Bleeding Heart Show" for pure awesomeness, but the rest of the CD flows very well.

If I was to give it a grade, 8/10 would be about right.

[Guest The Bleeding Heart Show of Ringy]

Beatnik and I are turning our young Fizzy into an indiefag >_>

[Fitzy]

I know. First Arcade Fire and now this. >_>

[Guest The Bleeding Heart Show of Ringy]

And Gravenhurst. >_>

[Fitzy]

Oh right. Yeah them too. Oh and k-os too.

[Guest The Bleeding Heart Show of Ringy]

And Casiotone for the Painfully Alone

[Fitzy]

Oh but of course, because I sent a letter to Mom & Dad. Mom & Dad the money's running out. Got a letter from Mom & Dad. They didn't send me anything.

[Guest The Bleeding Heart Show of Ringy]

I swear to God, they don't get you at all.

Edited October 16, 2006 by The Bleeding Heart Show of Ringy

[Steeb]

Casiotone... suck. Good job on the others though (Y)

[Fitzy]

Casiotone... suck. Good job on the others though (Y)

[RPS]

Final Fantasy; "He Poos Clouds"

11/10

Everytime I get my friends to listen to this CD, they always don't get it. I kind of understand why - I mean, how much MORE pretenious can you get? Homosexual video game references, classical music performed on a violin mixed with indie rock, and a CD title with the word Poo in it? But for some reason - I can't stop listening. With each and every listen, it just gets better and better. And you may think well, eventually the CD will get old. No, it won't. I have been listening to this ALMOST nonstop since April - my LastFM profile has had him in my weekly top 10 since I downloaded the CD and he is the number one artist I listen to. I just can't stop. I think the beauty of this CD is that it is POP music that no one will like. It sounds so mainstream but it is still very much outside of the box and not accepted. Like, I totally understand why people wouldn't like this CD, but in the same breath I don't. It is so beautiful (which is a word I NEVER use when describing music) but in the same sense, it is so ugly. I'll stop now because I am pretty sure I am coming across as some sort of art-rock nerd.

[Skummy]

Final Fantasy > most, it's true.

[EddieRuckus]

Killswitch Engage - "As Daylight Dies"

One word: Amazing.

For those of you who are expecting something along the lines of "Alive or Just Breathing" or "The End of Heartache", you'll be dissapointed. For those of you looking for an album in which Killswitch finally breaks the mold of the New England metal sound and develops a unique one of their own, look no further. At first it took me a while to recognize the unique sound, but once I did I was glad I did and there is not one single track that dislike that I'll skip over it. "Eye of the Storm" is one of the songs I don't like too much, but the tempo changes in the song after the chorus makes it a worthwhile listen.

The album starts out with the title track, "As Daylight Dies", and is a good start to the album. The intro alone before the song actually starts is pretty damn intense, and the rest of the song is good enough to not let down. After that the songs are intense and brutal, even when they start off soft like "The Arms of Sorrow" and "My Curse". It just proves that the entire "ballad" song doesn't need to be soft and melodic to be a damn good song. 7 or 8 songs on here are ones I would put on mix CDs because they are definately worthwhile listening.

Check Out: "As Daylight Dies", "The Arms of Sorrow", "My Curse", "This is Absolution", "For You", "Break the Silence", "Desperate Times"

[Guest The Bleeding Heart Show of Ringy]

Casiotone... suck. Good job on the others though (Y)

It was a joke

That song is like the worst song I've ever heard. All you can really make out is the part where he whines about wanting money and his mom and dad not giving into him.

[Fitzy]

You are the one who put it on your iPOD, not me.

[Steeb]

I made that mistake. Found myself wanting to walk dangerously close to the front of a moving bus.

[VerbalPuke]

It took me awhile, but today it is time for The Cramps - Psychedelic Jungle/Gravest Hits.

I probably should have saved this review for Halloween, but fuck it. Anyway, as I usually do, I'll toss in a brief backstory. The Cramps were formed when Lux Interior and Poison Ivy Rorschach met in the early 70s. Both had shared a common appreciation for the first wave of rock and roll and garage rock of the 1960s. These two remained the only two constants in the band throughout the years, although it should be noted that the Cramps were joined by Kid Congo Powers, a prominent guitar player from the West Coast, and also the man that played guitar for the band in my sig, The Gun Club (and I urge you all to check them out).

The Cramps helped usher in an era of horror rock, although they were not the first. Screaming Jay Hawkins and Screamin' Lord Sutch were predecesors of this style, though they were seem more as a novelty as opposed to serious rock acts. Essentially, the Cramps helped bring this idea to the underground of rock and roll.

This is probably my favorite album by the group, which is nothing to sneeze at. They have recorded numerous albums, the majority of which are great pieces of work. This album in particular borrows liberally from Howlin' Wolf, which can be heard in such songs as "Primitive" and "Goo Goo Muck". The twangy guitar sound that became a Cramps staple helped give them a surf rock. Some songs almost seem as if they'd go well with a soundtrack of Zombie's surfing. The surf sound they bring is an obvious tie in with their prominent rockabilly roots, both genres being closely linked during the 50s were now brought together as one by the Cramps. The quicker tempo songs would lend themselves well to a 1950s sock-hop, while the slower songs resonate in your brain with their relaxed mood.

Unfortunately, I'm not as versed in the Cramps as I am other bands. They're a bit more complex, and not quite as easy to describe as other run of the mill rock acts. They bring a special element, that of horror mashed with rockabilly, the 1950s, and rock and roll pageantry.

I implore everybody to find a copy of "the Cramps: Live at the Napa Valley Mental Hospital". This is a brilliant show they perform at a mental institution for a bunch of folks that are committed. By the end of the show it's hard to decipher which of the two groups are the eccentric party, the Cramps or Mental Patients.

Notable Tracks: The way I walk, Domino, Jungle Hop

10/10

Next Review: Battalion of Saints a.d. - Cuts

Edited October 18, 2006 by VerbalPuke

[lari]

Gave a spin to Iced Earth's Alive in Athens. Discs two and three, to be exact. Had both of them with me on my way to, and back from, school.