Music Reviews:

So you’re probably puzzled as to why I’m reviewing such an old album. 1985 is not a typo and this album is 25 years old! However, I also believe that this particular album has stood the test of time quite well! Nope, this is not the video game called “Dead or Alive”. This is the band that rocked the 80’s with their unique synthesizer sounds, and provocative attitude/attires. Started in 1980 in Liverpool, England, their album “Youthquake” (released in 1985) is probably their most recognized album, as it also contains their most famous song, “You Spin Me Around”.

So why should you even continue reading this review, since it’s about an extremely archaic album? I think we can all agree that today’s music lacks uniqueness, and most of it, including the rhythms and beats, sound the same! So I offer you a chance to taste an “older wine” that you have perhaps never tasted before. Of course, most people have heard of “You Spin Me Around”, but have you heard of the other songs by Dead or Alive? You’re not alone if you haven’t, as most people in the USA, including myself before 2009, have no clue as to the other songs they’ve played. Most of all, it may surprise you that many of their other songs are actually better than “You Spin Me Around”. Therefore, I offer you a chance to delve into the past, and try something new, or should I say very old, but different!

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Take Mark thecobrasnake, flip him Brazilian and slip him a tab — and you’ve got Marcio Local, the latest surprise in a basket of world tunes straight from South America. With boss vocal stamina and endless variations on the Rio party soundtrack, Local’s a hot little number we can’t stand to miss.

Granted, it’s been a slow burn. His latest drop, Says Don Day Don Dree Don Don shipped stateside in May ’09. Single “Soul Do Samba” secured a spot on the FIFA 10 Soccer Soundtrack for the notoriously addictive video game — right next to station faves Metric, Passion Pit and Peter Bjorn and John. Since then, Local’s been edging into our staunchly ’merican-stream. (Mostly by way of poorly stocked world music sections in Borders and Barnes & Noble … but never mind that pet peeve.)

Despite his consummate peers — namely, the Bossa Nova sensuality of CéU and the still-banging sex of Don Omar — Local shimmies through. He plucks steamy soul and big band horns; he samples the sweat of carnivale, birds-of-paradise, micro-bikinis and heels. That deep bossa voice — that relentless samba beat. It steals us away, until all we can smell is the salt of that damn South Atlantic. Until all we want to do is plunge in, and dance.

Right from the start, “Samba Sem Nunhum Problema” slides so easy and sweet, you’ve barely registered the beach-beat and Local’s round O-voice before it’s over. A rat-a-tat rap starts “Prexta Luxo,” the city-boy’s gorgeously-voiced homage to Brazil. Its streetwalk-rhythm cues head-bopping, then pulls on horns like a second skin. Effortless layering skates through the album. In “Soul Do Samba,” the album’s namesake rocks ocean-like over ganza shell-shakers, deep surdo drums and Local’s slick rap-to-vocal transitions.

And with this last element, Local knocks us out and takes us home. His vocal delivery — a cool, senselessly chic twist on classically-trained pipes — is almost too easy. He fingers our buttons, flips our switches. Even if, sliding between sunlit samba soul and bustling big-city beats, Local’s tracks tend to sound somewhat similar…who cares?

At the end of the night, when the girls pin up their sex hair and the boys swipe away their guyliner — when the bottle-to-person ratio reaches 7:1 — when the sunrise slices its first pink rays across that beautiful frosted hungover sky — when you can almost smell the ocean — and Local’s winding down our bones with “Happy Endings”… something changes.

Because at the end of the night, Local’s suaveness sinks right down into your skin. And somehow, like him, we’ve suddenly got all the right moves.

–DJ Allie Cuerdo

World Trippin,’ 12-2 PM Fridays

Marcio Local

Says Don Day Don Dree Don Don

Luaka Bop

4.5 out of 5

Early last year I was desperately looking for new music to listen to. It seemed like all the music I had collected over the years had just been way too overplayed. I couldn’t stand and still can’t stand listening to “Stairway to Heaven” anymore. Just like anything else, too much of it makes you sick of it!

So anyway, I’ve always had a fascination since I was a kid to play the keyboard or synthesizer. The dream has still never came to fruition, due to time constrains and my mental laziness, but this also adds to the reason why I love 80’s music so much. I agree, a lot of the vocals in 80’s songs are not that great. However, I’m not listening to their voices, but the beats, rhythms, and tones they are using.

One day, I was searching the holy grail of music (YouTube!) and found some song made with synthesizer music. Needless to say, I liked it A LOT! The vocals were mediocre, but the sounds brought absolute jubilation to my ears. I looked at the song description and read that the genre for the song is called “Italo Disco”. At first, I think “huh”? A) This song is in English, not Italian. B) Why Disco?

(The song I was listening to is Phoebus – Frankenstein)

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Rock supergroups don’t usually emerge from impromptu jams in Cabo San Lucas clubs, and for that matter,aren’t usually successes by their own merits. However, in Chickenfoot’s eponymous debut, we have a fully independent blues-rock hit spawned in the well-partied depths of Sammy Hagar’s (ex-Van Halen singer) Cabo Wabo Nightclub.

Consisting of Sammy Hagar, Michael Anthony (ex-Van Halen), Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers) and Joe Satriani (solo artist), Chickenfoot dares combine some of the most well-known names in modern rock into one band. The four members played a series of jams at Hagar’s nightclub and made their live debut during one of Hagar’s solo shows. A short time later, the band was hard at work crafting “Chickenfoot.”

Conflicts of ego come between the members of many super-bands and the music usually suffers, but nothing of that sort is evident on the Chickenfoot album. Every track showcases the individual talents of each member inside the framework of heavy-hitting rock compositions. You can really feel the cohesion and chemistry between the musicians as their respective sounds combine to form an entirely new musical animal. That animal is an album full of fun, funky and emotive rock and roll that gets you rocking to the beat. All we need is to examine the component parts of the band, and then imagine the best possible combination of them.

Sammy Hagar was the charismatic frontman that helped Van Halen to its era of commercial success between ‘85 and ‘96 and he now lends his voice and fiery personality to the eleven songs on “Chickenfoot.” Ten of the songs were co-written by Hagar and Satriani, a power duo if there ever was one. Hagar’s voice and lyrics give so much life to the songs, one can’t help smiling at the energy. Hagar really shines on “Sexy Little Thing,” “Runnin’ Out” and “Down The Drain.”

And then there’s Joe Satriani. Since his 1987 hit album “Surfing With The Alien,” Satriani has been known as the preeminent guitar god, displaying prodigious talent on all of his 15 albums. Despite playing primarily instrumental music, Satriani jumps into the role of riff-master easily. His hooks areequally powerful and technically interesting; they are as fresh as they are heavy. Of course, Satriani has his fair share of solos on the album, each of which is perfect evidence of his technical virtuosity and impeccable taste. Satriani is killer on “Oh Yeah” and “Future In The Past.”

Behind it all is Chad Smith, known for his membership in the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Though the Chickenfoot record is a rock and roll effort, Smith still brings the funk, giving the tracks their own swing and flair. Like Satriani, he’s playing a different part then he’s used to, but really shines in the role. He is a truly solid rock drummer and drives the album with driving funk-inflected beats.

Not least is Michael Anthony, also of Van Halen, who completes the band’s rhythm section. His solid playing keeps every song grounded and fills out the sonic spectrum. Anthony also stands out with his signature backup vocals. His vocals behind Hagar’s were what made Van Halen sound like Van Halen, and that power is not lost on this album. The lyrics have a special texture when harmonized by Anthony.

These musicians are more than a supergroup, they’re an actual band, a single, cohesive unit that sounds comfortable and organic. Of course, the professionalism of the members does not go unnoticed, the album sounds crisp and well-rehearsed (partly due to producer Andy Johns [Led Zeppelin, Van Halen]); the track credited to all four members. “Down The Drain” was recorded in only one take. Basically, the album is a head-banging blues-rock monster that is carnally satisfying, regardless of the listener’ s genre preference. I rate the album a 4.7/5, the ballads “My Kinda Girl” and “LearningTo Fall” are weaker than the other tracks, but are halfway redeemed by the super-cool heat-sensitive ink used to print the CD sleeve (it changes color when you touch it).

My love of the Cold War Kids started almost three years ago when I stumbled upon them while browsing around Myspace Music. With their release of Robbers & Cowards in 2006 and their follow up album Loyalty to Loyalty in 2008 it is no surprise that they have managed to make a name for themselves in today’s music scene. Just last month the band released their new EP Behave Yourself. The new EP preceded the band’s four city tour in late January. Last Friday night the tour was kicked off in Los Angeles’ Wiltern Theater. After arriving late we found that the line went down the block and turned around the corner. Hundreds of fans were lined up in the cold to see the Cold War Kids. After a short wait and the threat of more rain we were let into the warm venue. On your first entrance into the Wiltern there is a sense of awe. The high ceilings and elegant feel of the venue are a great setting for a great concert.

The fans anxiously waited for the band to take the stage. When the lights went out Alec Ounsworth of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah took the stage and opened the show. The crowd wasn’t very interested in the opening band but the band did manage to get some people dancing. Alec Ounsworth recently released his solo debut Mo Beauty and has announced his first headlining tour beginning in February.

Finally after the techs finished setting up, Nathan Willett, Jonnie Russell, Matt Maust, and Matt Aveiro took the stage. After technical difficulties with Nathan’s guitar the band opened the show with “I’ve Seen Enough,” and everyone started singing along instantly. If you’ve seen the band live you know the antics they do while on stage. Nathan and Matt Maust would casually walk over to each other and give each other little kicks, hits, or pushes as they played. “Hang Me Up To Dry” had everyone dancing around and singing along. Before playing “Santa Ana Winds” from their new EP, Nathan took time to talk about Los Angeles and where the band began. After playing “Something Is Not Right With Me” the band left the stage for a break and the crowd kept screaming for the band to come back on for the second half of the set. Before ending the show with “We Used to Vacation” Nathan didn’t forget to remind us all of the tragedies in Haiti and the opportunities we all had to help.

The crowd sang along to every song that the band belted out, including the new songs from their recent EP. The hour and a half show left everyone happy and excited. If you have not seen this band live I suggest that you find a way to do it. Their set is always full of energy and they always have fun while on stage. They make you want to dance, sing, scream, and just go crazy.

After the show every person in the crowd was given a card that allowed them to download the whole set. I still can’t stop listening to it. I think I might go on a Cold War Kids music binge for a couple of days or until the next concert I go to. Until then I guess that ends this review.
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Glo-fi?  Chillwave?  Hypnagogic pop?  Music journalists have been desperate searching to categorize what they see as the emergence of a new wave of artists creating lo-fi bedroom recordings of electronic music.  Whether or not this warrants a new genre name is up to the masses, but these artists have carved out a certain niche in indie pop.  It is characterized by hazy electro-pop with a penchant for imposing a hallucinogenic effect on the listener and nostalgia for childhood.  One artist being lumped in with this movement is Neon Indian, who released his debut album; Psychic Chasms on October 27.  Neon Indian is composed of merely one member, Alan Palomo, who some of you may recognize from earlier this year under his VEGA moniker.  The hype surrounding Neon Indian has been steadily building since the summer when he released an EP of the same name, so does his full length debut live up the promise?  Although not an all out success, the album is for the most part stunning.

The album kicks off with brief interlude entitled “(AM)”, but really gets into the heart of things once recent summer jam, “Deadbeat Summer” enters the fray.  A laidback track marked by video game sound effects, rhythmic guitar work, hushed vocals and a (implosive) propulsion usually found in a more “serious” forms of electronic dance music.  One the album’s highlights come midway through, “6669 (I Don’t Know if You Know).”  A track that manages to effortlessly combines the elements found in “Deadbeat Summer” into something sleeker without coming off across as cheesy, which is one of my main criticisms of the album.  At times, all of the bizarre effects and synth noises scattered throughout songs are just too “cutesy,” which would tie in the album’s theme of childhood, but just sound ridiculous at times.  “Mind Jokes” displays a throbbing bassline that recalls the best of 80’s synth pop and Italo disco, transforming into one of the most euphoric songs of the year.  If there is one artist that Neon Indian clearly brings to mind, it is Cut Copy, who on last year’s In Ghost Colours, smoothly combined synth-pop, electro, French house, and indie rock into a fascinating collection of tracks.  Neon Indian draws from a similar template yet is not as concerned with crafting structured songs.  They instead opt to deliver pop bliss of a more deranged style that is amorphous in the best of ways, much like what Bradford Cox has done with his Atlas Sound project.  Palomo has proved on their debut that he is a promising young talent with an ear for catching shards of melody among the foggy haze of acid-drenched noise.

–Anish

Mos Def proves that music has no boundaries through the compilation of songs on his latest album “The Ecstatic.”

Unwilling to settle for the typical sounds of hip hop, Mos Def crosses genres, along with borders, to incorporate music from around the world. His incredible writing abilities allow him to lyrically adapt to any style of music, especially styles that wouldn’t necessarily be thought of as hip hop. Read the rest of this entry »

Because everyone has to have a slightly obsessive love for Dave Matthews like I do, I’m sure everyone has already listened to their first studio album in 4 years–Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King.  As a long time fan, I have mixed feelings about the effort.  There is a lot to be happy about.   I can’t wait to hear a lot of these songs live this summer, and I still can appreciate the craftsmanship and general rock edge while still being the Dave Matthews Band.  Tim Reynolds is front and center with his electric guitar and most all the songs have that edge.  The acoustic guitar normally promonent in all DMB songs takes a backseat; I don’t think I heard any of Dave’s typical acoustic stylings.  And really, they let Beauford loose.  That man drums his heart out and drums harder than I think I”ve heard from him on a studio album in quite some time.

But there is still an emotional emptiness that comes through the impact of losing a founding member.  You clearly can’t avoid the fact that these men are coping with the loss of their friend and brother, but it leaves you occasionally unsettled.  ”Time Bomb” really stands out as this haunting, tortured track that concludes with Dave Matthews abandoning his occassionally wispy vocals for a strong, nearly screaming “I want to believe in Jesus”.

On a related note, but only barely, try to google some of the album art.  The inside leaf is stunningly decorated with dream-like images of a lush New-Orleans parade, with an fantastical image of LeRoi as the center float.

In summary, excellent CD–not for those who don’t have some understanding of the kind of music and band that the Dave Matthews Band does

Give the CD a listen.  Come on, you know you want to.

–Just “K” or Lady Downstairs from The Backseat, Saturdays 4-6pm

Heartsrevolution – “Switchblade EP” (2008)

Genre: 8-bit

Sounds Like: Crystal Castles, Adventure, nails on a chalkboard

Listen To: 1 – Switchblade -  An oddball track full of a variety of synthesized sounds and rhythms but it be very fatiguing to listen to.

Innovation is cool.  Dance-techno is cool too.  When Polysics threw a recorder, a synthesizer, english gibberish, and poppin’/lockin’ into the tradition J-Rock band, they created a new breed of high energy pop that gave them the fanbase to tour with high profile bands like the Kaiser Chiefs.  When Hellogoodbye crafted a niche of their own with synthesized beats and cutesey lyrics, their first real album debuted at  #13  on the US charts.  When Heartsrevolution mixed harsh synthesized melodies with atonal yelping and a variety of distortion filters, they created noise… and not much more.

I might as well come out and say that I don’t like this EP and if you do, stop reading now because you will be offended.  This CD is actually physically painful to listen to if you’re listening to it on sound system capable of reproducing the piercing treble mixed into this album.  The title track, Switchblade isn’t too bad of a song except that each audio track is subjected to the gauntlet of oddball filters that create a harsh overall tone that actually makes it difficult to concentrate on anything (although music like this will probably be played in dance clubs where you really shouldn’t be thinking about anything but dancing anyways.)  The second track, “Wolves and Libertines” has “Lo” yelping atonally (or maybe just singing offkey) “run baby run baby run baby run” every other line for the length of the 2 minute track.  The third track is an experiment in vocal filters and sci-fi sound effects gone wrong with monotonous melodies, monotonous rhythms, and the nagging feeling that a 6 year old with a delay pedal is just mashing keys on his dad’s synthesizer.  The forth track is perhaps the most mellow and trance-like although my same gripes with the previous tracks apply to this one.  It’s monotonous with the same depressing phrases repeated over and over in a roboticized voice.  The fifth track… just read the previous paragraph over.

This CD was created by two people who spent too much time playing with audio filters and not enough time thinking about the headache it would cause its listeners.

Grade: D-   Reviewer: Andrew Huang

Mr. Webley has done it again. In case you haven’t caught on to the theme, this is his 5th out of 11 proposed collaborative albums being released on his label Eleven Records. Only 1,111 copies will ever be made. So order now folks because Jason says there are only about a 100 left. He’s also just released the music video for Days With You and made an announcement of his “Eleven Year Anniversary Extravaganza!” being held July 3rd at the Seattle Town Hall. Tickets, of course, are $11. If you can only make one Jason Webley concert, make this one. Most of the artists Jason has worked with over the last eleven years will be present, and I’m betting that even Amanda Palmer of the Dresden Dolls will be there. (If you didn’t know, the two of them have worked together under the name Evelyn Evelyn).

And don’t forget to check out the new album. “Gypsy guitar wizard” Sxip Shirey and the accordion-playing vagabond have come up with some surprisingly beautiful numbers, especially a new rendition of Webley’s Almost Time to Go.

Genre: Folk/Experimental
Released: March, 2009
Label: Eleven Records
Sounds like: a circus composer and an accordionist
Alice recommends**

1. Days With You **
2. Leave Me **
3. March Of The Hoohahs
4. Joe’s Phonograph
5. Cardboard Suitcase
6. Drift **
7. Crock
8. Elephant Piano
9. Resophonic Dream
10. Winter Comes
11. Regurgitated Lullaby
12. Almost Time To Go **
13. Reprise

—Alice Merrick

I promise I’m not being a douche bag, that’s how it’s officially written.  tUnE-yArDs is an amazing band made up of Merrill Garbus, and sometimes some of her friends popping in on a track or two, but mainly Ms. Garbus takes on vocals, ukulele, and found sounds filtered through a hand-held digital voice recorder all on her own. Her self-released album “Bird-Brains” came out in July of 2008 and includes a very ecclectic, for lack of a better word, collection of songs ranging from lo-fi folk, to sample-laden experimental.  Interstingly enough, “Bird-Brains” was not only recoreded, produced, and released by Garbus, but was done using completely free media (ie. free Audacity, digital voice recorded, etc.).  The album was available for download using the pay-what-you-wish model, but alas great things don’t last forever.  However, you can purchase the album, released this year through Marriage Records, on the tUnE-yArDs website.  I will admit, I’ve been sitting on this great find for a little while now, trying to find some more information about her; sadly I have come up dry.  Though I do come bearing gifts!

FIYA – Tune-Yards

Jumping Jack – Tune-Yards

Happy Listening!

–Aurora Fisher

Tribe Hyerclub had dubbed itself the “ Hollywood quote here”. Being a Hollywood native and having seen it all, I was weary about such claims yet still intrigued as to how Tinseltown would be interpreted in North America’s sin city.

I went to the club, and found to my surprise, a very well designed location that struck me as a hybrid of Avalon and Katsuya. With international superstar DJ Sander Kleinenberg spinning & a beautiful crowd, it reminded me of a Malibu sunset party.

Tribe has achieved what many venues strive for ; a great design club where celebrities and superstar DJs feel comfortable and have fun amongst beautiful people and a great vibe.

The small island known as Iceland has been generous with sharing its musical gems for quite some time.  We have longsince dubbed Bjork our “Icelandic, fairy princess of whimsicle and experimental music”;  and we have bestowed upon Sigur Ros the title “Icelandic prince of post-rock, mingled with minimalist elements”.  Now the little country has birthed another precious trinket that calls itself Amiina.  Comprised of four lovely ladies, the group began as a string quartet, but soon branched out to include a vast number of insturments – synth, piano, electric and baroque guitar, celtic harp, harmonium, melodica, celesta, glockenspiel, gideon harp, call bells, glass harp, kalimba and the mandoli among others.  Interestingly enough, no one member of the quartet has a specific assignment to an insturment and they are known to move from one instrument to another mid-song whilst performing.  Thus their first album Kurr, released in 2007, produced beautiful contemporary-classical/ambient tracks backed by electronic loops.  I recommend the songs “Rugla”, “Glámur”, and “Sexfaldur“, but the entire album is brilliant so go get it!

Also check out Múm. Love live Iceland!

-Aurora Fisher

Passenger–Wicked Man’s Rest

The pop album that doesn’t sound quite sound like a pop album

1. Wicked Man’s Rest

2. Night Vision Binoculars

3. Things You’ve Never Done

4. Girl I Once Knew

5. Do What You Like

6. Needle In the Dark

7. Four Horses

8. You’re On My Mind

9. For You

10. Walk In the Rain

11. Table for One

Passenger’s freshman release, Wicked Man’s Rest, blew me away.

I stumbled across the band on thesixtyone.com and immediately I hit my itunes and bought the album. Very very rarely do I enjoy every track an artist puts out but every song appealed to me on some level.

“Wicked Man’s Rest”, the title track, is the first introduction to Passenger’s sound. If I had to categorize them, I guess I would say pop/alternative but those words feel so limiting. They encompass both genres but are defined by neither. At first listen, the songs seem to be relatively straightforward. But the more I listened to the album, the more complex and layered their sound becomes. “Do What You Like” has a frantic, aggressively up-tempo acoustic guitar. “Night Vision Binoculars” is incredibly sunny and almost simplistically upbeat. You think, “Oh, I’ve heard songs like this before”. But then you hear the hilariously creepy lyrics about a man essentially stalking his coworker. Almost all their songs have some sort of unexpected twist: either between the lyrics and the sound or in the sound itself. It is mildly inconsistent but overall a pretty amazing and attractive first attempt for Passenger.

Give them a shot if you are in the mood for some interesting, thoughtful pop/alt music.

http://www.passengerofficial.com

–Just “K“

Artist: Dax Riggs Album: We Sing of Only Blood or Love (2007)
Genre: blues rock (or what I call “death blues”)
Sounds like: deadboy & The Elephantmen (his former band),  The Black Keyes (kind of not really)

Tracks: (recommended ***)
Demon Tied to a Chair in My Brain – 2:15
Didn’t Know Yet What I’d Know When I Was Bleedin’ – 2:41
Night Is The Notion – 2:40
Radiation Blues – 2:34
Terrors of Nightlife – 2:39
Truth in the Dark – 2:43
A Spinning Song – 2:19
Ourobouros – 1:42
Living Is Suicide – 1:57 ***
Forgot I Was Alive – 2:24
Ghost Movement – 2:54 ***
Dog-headed Whore – 2:09 ***
Wall Of Death – 2:34 ***
Dream Or Be Dead – 1:41
Scarlett of Heaven nor Hell – 1:43 ***
If All Death Is as Bright – 2:18

If Rufus Wainwright was possessed by the devil, his voice would sound something like Dax Riggs, former frontman of doom metal band Acid Bath and several others.  This album was suppose to be the last of deadboy & The Elephantmen, and actually features several band members, but he ended up releasing it under his own name.  It’s a slightly rearranged formulae of his folk-metal-blues-punk ode to death.

Grade: B/B+

I also recommend checking out his sexilicious Cohen cover.

–Alice