Tag: rock

My top 25 albums of 2016 – #’s 10-6

We’re into the top ten!

#10 

If you know me well, then you shouldn’t be surprised that a new record by Deap Vally made it into my top test list of any given year.  Femejism, besides having the greatest album title of the year, is solid beginning to end with the sizzling guitar, sexy / snarling vocals, and powerhouse drumming they do so well.

#9 

The debut LP from Goggs (or is it “G0ggs?”) is the loudest, wildest punk rock record I’ve heard all year.  Ty Segall, who plays guitar on the record, has quickly become one of the most prolific artists in music, and everything he puts out is worth hearing.

#8 

Of course a Radiohead record was going to be in the top 10.  A Moon Shaped Pool continues the band’s metamorphosis into this generation’s Pink Floyd.  It’s beautifully crafted, but a heavy listen.  It might be the saddest break-up (Thom Yorke from his long-time girlfriend) record of 2016.

#7 

“Holy crap” is the way I described my reaction upon first hearing A Tribe Called Quest‘s We Got It from Here…Thank You 4 Your Service to a friend.  This friend, Dee Tension, is a hip-hop producer, beat maker, and MC in Boston, and he claimed he’d been listening to it daily since its release.  You might, too, upon hearing it.  It’s not only a loving tribute to founding member Phife Dawg, but also a sharp critique on race, politics, gentrification, and much more.

#6 

Speaking of great returns, Underworld had another one we needed in 2016.  Barbara, Barbara, We Face a Shining Future is the most uplifting and optimistic record of the year.  Every song is about seeing good times ahead and remembering how every moment is divine.

We’re almost there.  Who makes the top 5?  Tune in tomorrow!

Keep your mind open.

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My top 25 live shows of 2016 – #’s 15-11

Who killed it live this year?  Keep reading!

#15 – Death from Above 1979 at the Chicago House of Blues October 13th

Yeah, the whole show was this crazy.  It was a rough pit, but worth a couple spins through it to feed off the energy DFA1979 were throwing at us.

#14 – Buzzcocks at the Vic Theatre in Chicago September 22nd

Speaking of rough mosh pits, I helped break up a fight in this one.  I’d been waiting a long time to see Buzzcocks, and it was well worth it.

#13 – Clutch at Pierre’s in Fort Wayne, Indiana June 10th

“Hottest show of the tour.  No question,” said Clutch lead singer Neal Fallon.  It was indeed damn hot in there, and Clutch seemed to use the heat like a furnace to create some sort of alchemical spell.

#12 – Golden Dawn Arkestra at Levitation Austin May 1st

My wife and I were front and center for the funkiest show we saw all year.  The crowd was bonkers by the end of their set.  “I almost left,” said one woman as we were leaving the show.  “I’m glad I stayed.”  Shame on you if you missed it.

#11 – Ceu at the City Winery in Chicago June 24th

This was a beautiful show in an intimate venue, and Brazilian bossa nova / eletro siren Ceu had the whole room in the palm of her hand by the end of it.  I couldn’t stop grinning through the whole performance.

 

Who’s in the top 10?  Come back tomorrow to see!

Keep your mind open.

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My top 25 albums of 2016 – #’s 15-11

We’re halfway to #1 on the countdown!

#15 

The Kills released a great album for their 15th anniversary.  Ash & Ice oozes with their sweaty, smoky, whiskey-tinged rock and is one of the best albums about love and sex from 2016.

#14 

I didn’t expect a full record of shoegaze from the Duke Spirit, but Kin is the best shoegaze record I’ve heard all year (and probably of the last two or three years).

#13

All Them Witches released a live album last year (which I still need to get), teased a new album for this year, and started 2016 with Dying Surfer Meets His Maker – a great blend of stoner metal and blues voodoo rock.

#12 

Comacozer contacted me through this website and asked if I’d like to hear their record.  I’m glad I said yes, because this stoner metal album, Astra Planeta, is amazing.

#11 

The KVB make excellent dark wave and shoegaze.  It’s a bit difficult to believe at first that just two people produce that much sound.  Of Desire was recorded on vintage synthesizers and sequencers, and the rich sound produced is excellent.

Who’s made it into my top 10 for 2016?  Come back tomorrow to find out!

Keep your mind open.

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My top 25 live shows of 2016 – #’s 20-16

Let’s keep rollin’ with this countdown of great live shows from 2016!

#20 – Seal at Four Winds Casino in New Buffalo, MI August 27th.

It was just him, a DJ / synth player, and a guitarist, and they knocked it out of the park.  He even dabbled in some dark wave versions of some of his songs and he knows how to work a crowd.

#19 – Wolfmother at the Double Door in Chicago, IL July 10th

The whole show was this crazy.  It was probably the sweatiest show I attended all year as well, and completely worth it.

#18 – Jeff the Brotherhood at Middle Waves Festival in Ft. Wayne, IN September 17th

That photo, taken by yours truly, pretty much says it all.  They hammered out a loud set in the post-rain sunlight that won over many new fans.  They played a lot of new material that was quite good.  I need to get their new album soon.

#17 – Bully at Middle Waves Festival in Ft. Wayne, IN September 16th

They closed one of the Middle Waves stages on the first night of the festival and had everyone roaring by the end of their set.  They were the best act that night.

#16 – Black Rebel Motorcycle Club at the Chicago House of Blues October 13th

BRMC always puts on a good show, and this one was no exception.  They played a shorter than normal set due to some equipment malfunction (I think it was a screwed-up monitor.), but they worked around it by playing songs they hadn’t planned on playing and altering some guitar parts.  It was a great example of a band on top of their game and able to improvise if things get weird.

Who’s in the top 15?  Check back tomorrow to see!

Keep your mind open.

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My top 25 albums of 2016 – #’s 20-16

The countdown continues!

#20 

This is the best funk / Afrobeat record I’ve heard in a long time.  Golden Dawn Arkestra will get you moving and possibly transport you to another dimension.

#19 I happened to catch Ron Gallo at a show in Fort Wayne and was glad I did because his RG3 EP is one of the best EP’s I’ve snagged all year.  I need to get his full album pronto.  He plays a neat style of garage blues-influenced rock.

#18 

Morphine is one of my favorite bands of all time, so it’s no surprise that I was going to love Vapors of Morphine, which includes two of the band’s original members and a new singer and bass player performing glorious low rock and blues.

#17 

There’s no way an album by Goat wasn’t going to be at least in the top 50% of albums I’d like, and Requiem is full of their usual weird voodoo rock.  It’s mellower than previous releases, but still trippy.

#16 

I discovered the new Cosmonauts record late in the year, and I’m glad I did because I think they’re going to be one of my new obsessions.  A-OK! is full of neat psych-rock and shoegaze.  I’m all in if you can combine those two genres.

Who cracks the top 15?  Come back tomorrow to see!

Keep your mind open.

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My top 25 live shows of 2016 – #’s 25-21.

I had a blast at live shows this year, seeing nearly 50 different bands.  I hope I can match or beat that in 2017.  I’m going to highlight the top 50% of the bunch, five at a time.

#25 – Imarhan at Levitation Austin April 29th.

Levitation Austin always brings in at least one Tuareg artist, and Imarhan played a packed house at the Empire in downtown Austin.  It was early in their first U.S. tour and they put on a fine show of uplifting music.

#24 – Gourisankar and Indrajit Banerjee at Levitation Austin May 1st.

These two maestros of their respective instruments (Gourisankar on tabla and Indrajit Banerjee on sitar) wowed the crowd at the Stoop Inn.  My wife and I were right in front and their energy had us and the whole crowd buzzing.

#23 – The Blind Owls at Levitation Austin April 28th.

They were the first band we saw at Levitation Austin in 2016, and they had to play an abbreviated set due to showing up a bit late (Thanks, Austin traffic.).  As a result, they played a wham-bam-thank you ma’am set of all their rockers.  They threw down the gauntlet early.

#22 – Bleached at the Grog Shop in Cleveland, Ohio October 21st.

They were a blast, the venue was great, and the crowd was appreciative.  They were even better live than I thought they would be and friendly to anyone who stopped by their merch table after their set.

#21 – Night Beats at Levitation Austin April 28th.

I saw Night Beats three times in 2016.  This was the second time, and the third time I saw them came in at #26 on my list of live shows and was only two days later at San Marcos’ MR Fest.  They closed the first night of Levitation Austin, after nearly everyone had learned the festival had been cancelled, and they made everyone forget their blues for a little while.  It was a raucous set, and we all needed it.

Which shows made my top 20 for 2016?  Come back tomorrow to find out.

Keep your mind open.

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My top 25 albums of 2016 – #’s 25-21.

Don’t let anyone tell you that there’s no good music anymore.  There is always good music.  You just have to find it.  I hope this list and this blog helped you discover some good stuff in 2016.

I reviewed close to 50 albums released in 2016 last year, so I’ve decided to highlight the top 25.   Here are numbers 25-21.
25.Slaves bring great British punk that skewers not only the elite rich, but also Millennial slackers and even the stupidity of drunk driving.

24.Dunsmuir is a metal supergroup featuring members of Clutch, Fu Manchu, The Company Band, and Black Sabbath.  Their debut is a concept record about a shipwrecked crew fighting monsters on a remote island.

23.

Canadian psych-rockers Elephant Stone have yet to put out a bad record, and this one added electro touches to their mix of 1960’s psychedelia and bhangra.

22. 

Birth is a fine piece of stoner rock from this three-piece Australian outfit.  I was on a big stoner rock kick in 2016 and ORB certainly fit the bill.

21. 

Klaus Johann Grobe were a delightful discovery this year, and their latest album, Spagat Der Liebe, is a fun electro / lounge record suitable for both late night parties and making out.

Who cracks the top 20?  Come back tomorrow to find out!

Keep your mind open.

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Rewind Review: The Sword – Age of Winters (2006)

Age of Winters, the debut album from The Sword (J.D. Cronise – guitar and vocals, Bryan Richie – bass, Kyle Shutt – guitar, Trivett Wingo – drums) is nothing short of a metal masterpiece. It was a bold statement in 2006 and is still just as powerful a decade later, putting many newer metal albums to shame.

What makes it different? For one, the instrumentation. The Sword can shred like a Ninja Turtles villain and jam harder than Schmucker’s equally well. Second, their lyrics are epic. “Barael’s Blade,” for example, is a song about a magic sword that starts with the lyric “Forged by the Crow-Mage from shards of darkness.” You can’t get much more metal than that.

“Freya,” about the queen of the Valkyries, hits as hard as “a sword of fire and an axe of gold.” The result of the bloody battle portrayed in the song is cursed by survivors in “Winter’s Wolves.” “The Horned Goddess,” who “sits astride mountains tall and wide,” is a heavy salute to (I think) Hela – the Norse goddess of the underworld. The song chugs along like the boots of a Viking army climbing a glacier. “Iron Swan” is a fast song about a dark boat that brings death to one’s enemies. The guitars shred like stampeding horses on it.

“Lament for the Aurochs” is the heaviest doom-metal track on the record. The bass rumbles, the cymbals crash, and the guitar solos are like battle cries. The first verse alone tells you how heavy this song is: “Laboring in the liquid light of Leviathan, spectres swarm around the sunken cities of the Saurians. Rising from the void through the blackness of eternal night, Colossus of the Deep crashing down with cosmic might.” Who else is crafting lyrics like this?

“March of the Lor” is a powerful “instrumental in eight movements” that puts about ten minutes of blistering rock into less than five minutes. “Ebethron” has a sweet drum solo in it (When was the last time you heard a drum solo in a song, metal or otherwise?) and is an epic tale of a warlord preparing for a world-shaking battle.

The whole album is world-shaking. You need this in your collection if you’re a metal fan.

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Cosmonauts – A-OK!

Cosmonauts make groovy California-vibe psychedelic rock with a bit of a dark edge. Imagine a California sunset while a storm is rolling in from the Pacific Ocean and you’ll get the idea. Their new album, A-OK!, stresses that everything will be okay, however. We can brave the storm. It’s a good thing to remember after the brutal year that was 2016.

The title track is about someone who seems to slip away from bad luck and tragedy like an all-star running back (and the guitar work on it is definitely all-star quality). I love the way the crisp bass on “Doom Generation” interacts with the cheese shredder-fuzz guitar and tripped-out vocals. It’s one of the best psych-rock tracks of the year. “Party at Sunday” is luscious dream-psych that floats like a lotus blossom on a pond. The guitar buzzes like a dragonfly past your ear as they sing about the dangers of falling in love.

“Be-Bop-A-Loser” could’ve been a goofy song with a title like that but is instead an excellent shoegaze track with more killer bass, Nick Cave-like vocals, and slick percussion and guitar work. A fast drum groove pushes “Short Wave Communication” along as echoing guitars nearly overwhelm the nice male-female duo vocals. The synthesizers that come in near the 2:00 mark will make you grin because they’re perfectly placed.

If the heavenly host of angels choir sounds anything like “Heavenspeak,” then I’ll be extra happy if I make it through the pearly gates. It’s another outstanding psych-rock track with some of the rhythm section’s best work on the album. The band’s Cure influence can’t be denied on “Good Lucky Blessing” (again, listen to that bass and guitar work). “Cruisin’” is perfect for such an activity. The fast beat, lyrics about “tearin’ up the 101,” and sunny guitars are ideal for a summer drive. “Discophilia” starts with sludge drums, but then bursts like a flare gun with bright, reverbed guitar. “Graffiti” is a sweet psych-cake iced with distortion and sprinkled with sweat lodge visions. It overlooks Drone Rock Valley, but never enters it. It’s a song about regret, but the music isn’t without optimism.

The album is titled A-OK! after all. Despite the many lyrics about rough relationships, overinflated egos of lovers past and present, and unfulfilled desires, the album’s ethereal dreamscapes show us that we’ll be all right if we ride the wave long enough to make it to shore. The album is more than A-OK. It’s A-Outstanding.

Keep your mind open.

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Death Valley Girls – Glow in the Dark

Death Valley Girls’ newest album, Glow in the Dark, is at times psychedelic, others shoegaze, and others power-pop. The title track opener is firmly in the shoegaze category, with desert sunrise guitars and powerful drums. “Disco” has great old school 1960’s organ running throughout it while they sing about having a grand night out. “Death Valley Boogie” has an appropriate title because the beat is made for hip shaking. The guitars are fuzzed so much that almost sound like they’re melting at one point. It’s fantastic. It ends with a furious guitar solo that’s over just as you want more of it.

“Seis Seis Seis” is fine doom-psych rock, with Karen O-like vocals as a funeral organ plays in the background and the guitars sweep over you like the Grim Reaper’s cloak. “Pink Radiation,” with its Ronettes styling and simple guitar chords, is a lovely track and a refreshing change after the doom of the one before it. The middle finger flipped by the ladies during “I’m a Man, Too” (“If you’re a man, I’m twice a man as you.”) is backed with not only a fist but also solid rock hooks. “Love Spell” doesn’t just knock you back into your seat; it knocks your seat back as well. The breakdown in the middle of it is pretty much a bear trap that snaps shut when the guitars roar back to life and flatten you back to the floor.

“Horror Movie” refers more to the state of the world we see on the nightly news more than the film genre (“A horror movie right there on my TV, shocking me right out of my head.”). The lyrics of “Summertime” may be simple, but the powerful guitar throughout it is not. It sizzles hot enough to fry an egg on it. The closer, “Wait for You,” squeaks and squeals with face-melting guitar while what sounds like a warped Hammond B3 organ warps your brain. I’m sure this song is insane live.

I don’t know why Death Valley Girls named the album Glow in the Dark, but my guess is that the energy on it provides enough luminescence to light up your living room. Let it shine forth on your stereo.

Keep your mind open.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7V4I0Mg9dVM

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