Rosetta - Wake/Lift

Wake/Lift

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1. Red In Tooth And Claw
2. Lift (Part 1 & 2a)*
3. Lift (Part 2b & 3)*
4. Wake
5. (Temet Nosce)
6. Monument


It's taken a whack of sludge post metal to kick me back into the blogging habit, I feel this needs to be shared. This album is everything you could want; it has wonderfully airy moments which make you feel like you could be floating in space, and has a suitable element of guitar sludge for the purists out there.

Red In Tooth And Claw crashes in with walls of guitars and drums. The screaming vocals are there, definetely, but barely audible. Right away you know this isn't going to be an easy listening album, this is thick stuff, drenched in sound. It's a tough album to talk about track by track, since each track lasts about 3 or 4 times as long as a normal song, so I won't.
It's no secret that I am a fan of post rock, however my dabbles into metal are normally in the shallow end of the pool. Here, Rosetta have thrown post rock towards metal and seen what happens. Apart from the vocals, Wake/Lift does tend to lean towards the latter, but still maintains a gritty edge to it. Best listened to for when you have absolutely no plans apart from kick back and relax, although it sounds wierd for a metal album, Wake/Lift's ambient moments truly are beautiful and while they may not be as soft and purdy as a band like Sigur Ros, they are something to be marvelled at (See- Temet Nosce).

There are certainly no shortage of bands out there trying to achieve this sound, and it's a shame that this band hasn't gained more of a reputation in post metal/rock circles. I would reccomend this over the new ISIS record anyday.
If Miley Cyrus is your cup of tea, best to leave it. Then again, if Miley Cyrus is your cup of tea, you......you need help.

An album that will most definetely wake, and lift.

8.4/10

Did you ever dance with the devil in the pale moonlight?

Born To Run, everyones favourite weekly feature......IS DEAD.
I have a load of albums I could have ranted on about....but frankly, forcing yourself to listen to something from within a certain year isn't what i'm about, ya'll. It certainly isn't within the spirit of this blog. I'll probably start some other weekly thing, just.....more enjoyable.


P.S. D'yu notice how, so far, I've basically gone against everything I said i'd do in my first post? I haven't talked about any sort of remix, no material whatsoever by Justice or Soulwax, I haven't mentionted that northern irish instrumental band, and I certainly haven't grumbled generally about lifes misgivings.

Oh well. Now's not the time to think about where you came from. It's Mother's day, after all.

Total Wipeout!!

I couldn't not blog this. Regrettably only getting into this tonight, this has to be the funniest thing i've seen on BBC1 in recent memory. (Sorry Comic Relief, I know it's a good cause n all)

A series in which contestants run, slide and bounce along impossible obstacles, featuring commentary from Richard Hammond, (No, it's actually pretty good) this is just outstanding. A shame I only realised it on the grand final. This had me in stitches, particularly the sucker punch wall. Here's a cheeky clip. Enjoy. Hahahaha.

Mastodon - Crack The Skye

Crack The Skye

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Stream it son! (For those not on waffles)

1. Oblivion
2. Divinations
3. Quintessence
4. The Czar / (I) Usurper / (II) Escape / (III) Martyr / (IV) Spiral
5. Ghost Of Karelia
6. Crack The Skye
7. The Last Baron

The new Mastodon album is going to cleave off your head. I mentioned confidently a while back that if the new album was as strong as the best single of the year so far, it would be unstoppable. It is.
I'm not going to make any highly intellectual comments (in general) about how Crack The Skye compares to the likes of Remission or Leviathan, because I haven't heard those two albums. This review (lol?) is from a newcomer's perspective, completely. A shameless bandwagon jumper...on-er.

What I am reasonably qualified to comment on, however, is the technical prowess displayed throughout by all musicians. Both guitar parts remain intricate and mind baffling at all times, the bass is played effortlessly, and the universally accepted demi-god of a drummer lives up to expectations. But no-one cares about that, so i'll move on.

The whole album, as mentioned, maintains an incomprehensible level of technicality throughout, but yet remains consistently morish and, dare I say it, easy on the ear. The Last Baron goes a bit wobbler in places, but is still thoroughly enjoyable. For me, this album has a high level of emotion, particularly with various choruses that sound like truly frantic, heart bursting stuff.

Oblivion is a slow burner with such a chorus, with frantic drums leading up to Brent Hinds' dark and melodic vocals. If Oblivion is a Friday night in watching Jonathan Ross, Divinations is getting absolutely splattered in Laverys and still being steaming the next day. Indeed even after several listens of this, i'm still reeling, and it will definetely be in my recently played for quite some time.

Quintessence is an airy finger tapping treat, kind've like that bit going up on a rollercoaster, you know you're about to be plunged into mayhem in a few seconds, but it wouldn't be as fun without the steady ascent. Some rough and ready guitar riffs lead us into main album track, The Czar.

Starting off pretty confidently and slyly, (like a usurper would, I guess) before building into a metal frenzy. It's Crack The Skye summarised in 10:54 minutes. Listen to the rest though....it's good....I promise. Ghost of Karelia is the only song on the album I could do without. It's not bad, it's just not great, and when you've only been given a seven song album, they should all be pretty special. Perhaps they set the standard too high at the start of the album, or perhaps it's because of what's to come next. Title track Crack The Skye is primal. A seriously rough howl over some distorted guitar chunk leads into the heart wrenching chorus. This is truely end of the world stuff, and suprisingly beautiful. Not a word i'd imagine using if you told me a few years ago i'd be listening to Mastodon. Then again, I also liked Keane a few years ago.
The bridge flickers back and forth at breakneck speed, before returning to that apocalyptic chorus. Fan fucking tastic.

The Atlanta shredders play us out with The Last Baron, a decidedly more calm affair. Things soon pick up though, even if by the laws of physics and musical ability, this song should not exist. A few more obvious prog rock moments before returning to the main theme, and going buck daft once more, and Crack The Skye comes to a close.

After several listens I feel I can now confidently say Crack The Skye will be one of the albums of the year. Although I don't listen to a lot of metal, (and after all, if you don't immerse yourself in a genre, you can't have an opinion on it, eh?) but you shouldn't be here if you don't want my opinion, and I genuinely believe this is great. Although for my gnat-like attention span, 10:54 and 13:01 are pushing it, both songs are great, and the album has several instantly gratifying songs to keep me happy after my large americano. (That sounded rude...maybe it's just me)

So yes, apparently great albums come around in groups, after a wee dry spell. I wasn't really expecting this to come out of no-where and for me to love it pretty much instantly. Such is life I guess.

LACK OF WITTY SIGN OFF.
...just listen.

9.3/10

New Modest Mouse- Satellite Skin

Dirty. The moose are back, minus Johnny Marr, (who seems permanently shacked up with a certain UK indie band-presumably trying to make them sound more radio friendly) and plus a whole load of pasty white guys. Satellite Skin comes from the band's forthcoming E.P. , No One's First And You're Next - comprising of b sides and leftovers from the band's last two albums. The new song is simple enough.....not that many MM songs aren't...but they usually bring it back with something wierd , or a horrible shout from Brocky Mc Brockerson. It's got an ok riff I guess....i'm sure it'll grow on me.
Another song to feature on the new E.P., King Rat, was directed by Heath Ledger and is to be released later on in the year.





Letterman chirps up at the end, "You passed the audition."
Hmmmm. We'll see.

Röyksopp - Junior

Junior

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1. Happy Up Here
2. The Girl and the Robot
3. Vision One
4. This Must Be It
5. Röyksopp Forever
6. Miss It So Much
7. Tricky Tricky
8. You Don't Have A Clue
9. Silver Cruiser
10. True to Life
11. It's What I Want
12. Were You Ever Wanted


They take their time, these fellas. The electronic chillout legends from Norway have been tentative when it comes to releasing full length albums, but when you release records as groundbreaking and goddamn awesome as Melody A.M. , we're willing to forgive. No pressure on Junior then, 4 years after 2005's upbeat offering The Understanding.

For the band's 3rd full length, they've pulled out all the stops in assembling an all-star ass kicking team of Nordic talent, consisting of Robyn, Lykke Li, and Karin Dreijer of the Knife. Also appearing is Anneli Drecker, who appeared on 2001's Melody A.M.
The album sets the bar high, slightly too high, with first single Happy Up Here. Encapsulating the classic Röyksopp sound, blips and blops, a waxy bassline, and a touch of campness, it ensures that Junior has your attention, and is simply magnificient. This is what juicy fruit flavoured gum sounds like. As someone I know once said, however, the danger with singles being released before albums is that after repeated listens, they then become that song. The song that's a reference point for the entire album, what following songs will be judged by. Röyksopp aren't really a singles, dancefloor slaying machine. They make swathes of driven, chillout bliss, and although the album is good, the strength of the first track almost detracts from the overall listen. I'm guessing the average listener will maybe make it five tracks in before they stick on Happy Up Here again.

Enough of that, back to the driven electronica I was talking about. The Girl and the Robot, with Robyn on vocals, demonstrates this perfectly. The tune doesn't go the way you think it should....like most Röyksopp songs. It pays off however, and is another example of a Röyksopp song being highly enjoyable but also having something indistinguishably sinister about it at the same time.
Junior takes its foot off the gas slightly, (but what do I want from a chillout duo, I guess) whilst remaining no less brilliant. The wonderfully distinctive voice of Karin Dreijer bursts through on This Must Be It, a stomping electro voodoo beast, a fitting precursor to a "Let's go all quiet" moment, Röyksopp Forever. Moments like this on the album prove that these guys still know how to take it down a notch better than most. Miss It So Much is an album highlight, featuring Swedish indie pop pixie Lykke Li. Unlike the other collaborations on the album, (which are still sweet) it seems as though more thought has gone into this one. The song matches her voice perfectly, and could really be one of her own songs played on keyboards with blippity blops, a contrast to what seems to be a slightly, recordsomeelectroandthrowabignameatit attitude. Also, that which cannot pass without comment is Tricky Tricky. I quite like it, but I have to say, "Six afraid of seven, cos seven ate nine" has to be one of the campest/unsettling things i've heard this year. It's a bit like anything presented by Dale Winton. Regardless, these guys still have the tunes to pull through.

Junior is good. I was however, really, really looking forward to this. Anything that promises a mix of Melody A.M. and The Understanding, frankly, should be friggin' awesome. It's not that it's not....it's just....I dunno. It's already grown on me after several listens, and hopefully it will continue to do so. It's still one of the best releases of 2009 so far, and the best electronic album of the year so far, but I was expecting instant classic material. And even after several listens, I don't think i'm going to get that. It suffers slightly from not knowing whether it's an upbeat electronic stomper of an album or a chilled out lounge party record, and while that is a mix of the two aformentioned albums, the contrast is done with little grace, with one track being a pulsing dance tune and the next being a wistful blippy bloppy marshmallow.

It isn't quite the musical apex that Melody A.M. was, but even still. I'm happy up here.

8.6/10

Eat. Sleep. Folk.

The man with the most rockstar-ish name in Northern Ireland plays for us here an acoustic set for local station, NvTv. Featuring a very different version of LaFaro crowd pleaser Tupenny Nudger, a Bob Dylan cover, plus an amazing version of James River Blues, Jonny Black shows us there's more to him than a confused look and a few chunky power chords.

Let me see it, pls.

Born To Run #3

Pixies - Bossanova

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1. Cecilia Ann

2. Rock Music

3. Velouria

4. Allison

5. Is She Weird

6. Ana

7. All Over the World

8. Dig for Fire

9. Down to the Well

10. Happening

11. Blown Away

12. Hang Wire

13. Stormy Weather

14. Havalina

I had a meaty handful of albums I could have done for everyone's favourite weekly music feature, (lol?) featuring several smart and dry witty things to say. Most of these were albums beyond my normal musical pallette, and I would have made reference to the joy to be had in avant-garde musical exploration, and how variety's the spice of life, and all that. But at the end of the day, particularly a Sunday spent doing a long drawn out Philosophy essay, some gloriously simple and instantly pleasing grunge pop with easily discernable tunes is all that you could want.

Bossanova followed on from Pixies' career defining Dolittle, the one which usually tops best of charts and has a few tunes that you'll have heard before. And, I mean, it's pretty good....its got the insta hit tunes.....but Bossanova is a far more consistent album. It's not garish or trying to grab your attention, and it has a natural flow. Bossanova starts off with psych rock freak out Cecilia Ann, (it's a lot more rock than it sounds) a surf rock anthem meets the four horsemen of the apocalypse. Rock Music....this track made me think I had been duped into downloading a metal album from a remote shed in Sweden. I was not expecting this. It's abrasive, but it isn't unpleasant. Which leads onto the anthemic Velouria, shimmering with an unsettling edge. The first half of this album really rattles along joyously, with Kim Deal providing some pulsing basslines. The pace slackens somewhat, however the songs are no less enjoyable or inventive.

This album wouldn't be a bad starting point for many bands starting out today. A listen or two to this album before young lads rush out to make indie topshop nonsense would, I imagine, see a higher standard of tuneage. Be confident, true to yourself, have a laugh, break up down the line, shameless reform, terrible comeback single, disband.

Live the dream.

Wavves - Wavvves

Wavvves

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1. Rainbow Everywhere
2. Beach Demon
3. To the Dregs
4. Sun Opens My Eyes
5. Gun in the Sun
6. So Bored
7 .Goth Girls
8. No Hope Kids
9. Weed Demon
10. California Goths
11. Summer Goth
12. Beach Goth
13. Killr Punx, Scary Demons
14. Surf Goth


For the uninitiated, a quick google or search on your music site of choice will bring up results such as, "Pop noise" or "Beach punk" for Californian artist, Wavves. However, boxing this album into such specific genres is difficult and frankly, needless. Wavvves is simply a big silly mess.

First of all, the "Pop" part. I doubt we'll be seeing an Annie Lennox collab any time soon. This is fuzzy guitar drenched treacle. The brief noisebites crash and burn wiith grizzly guitar melodies and flickers of delay. It does share a similarity with pop music however in that it is shamelessly fun. Much like the Cows album, it can be hard at times to remember why you're listening to this. Gratification is far from instant with this album, but it pays off in the end. Whilst noise feasts like Rainbow Everywhere and Killr Punx, Scary Demons are acceptable and neccessary to build up walls of fuzz and add an unsettling atmosphere, there's slightly too many tracks like this. Wavves is at his best when delivering snappy punk such as Beach Demon, To The Dregs, or album highlight So Bored.

And these tracks are the dogs balleex. It's the sort of music you ought to stick on really loud to piss off your mates when you're still drunk, and they're sober as a judge. Or when you're asked to pick a song for a family event and for some reason want to offend every single one of your relatives. On their own these tracks can flounder and you'll just look like a twat; you need to listen to this album in its entirety or in clumps of songs to fully appreciate. Listening to this record under altered states of mind would also help, (omgsubstanceabusez) leaving the noisey bits rendered less offensive and the squealy punk bites all the more glorious. Still, the reason the more tuneful numbers are so pleasing is that they contrast with the noisey 3 minute meat cleavers so well. And of course, one can't be intoxicated all the time, right?!?

Hmmm.

7.9/10

The Antlers- Hospice

Hospice

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1. Prologue
2. Kettering
3. Sylvia
4. Atrophy
5. Bear
6. Thirteen
7. Two
8. Shiva
9. Wake
10. Epilogue



Several listens of this album has left me quite speechless, but since that sort've snookers you if you're trying to write about an album, i'll have to manage.
Hospice is the work of singer songwriter Peter Silberman, who upon moving to NYC in 2006, disappeared into isolation for a year and a half. Hospice emerged out of this isolation, and as such is beautiful, introspective, and forlorn.
The theme of sadness prevails throughout this album, conveyed through slow, dreamy tunes and Silberman's wistful falsettos. His voice is brilliant, and couldn't suit this music better.

The album starts off with the eerie Prologue, and sets the scene that Hospice is going to be a heavy, less than cheery affair. By the second listen of this album I had forgotten how beautiful Kettering was. A minimalist piano piece with an Anthony Hegarty esque vocal makes for a chilling experience. "I should have quit but instead I took care of you/You made me sleep and uneven/And I didn't believe them when they told me there was no saving you." The soundtrack to the next Fast and Furious film, this is not. Some shoegaze elements and crashing drums culminate in a devastating triumph.

Sylvia starts as tentatively as previous tracks, before exploding in a wall of sound. Atrophy is a gentle and desperate tale, but the album keeps its head just above the water (The water here being, you wanting to kill yourself) with melodic piano lines and fuzzy electronics. Also tucked away at the end of Atrophy is a wonderous acoustic gem.
Singles Bear and Two aren't nearly as sorrowful as the other tracks on the album, yet still maintain the bands' characteristically introspective sound. The latter even manages to be a great pop song.

The album finishes with Epilogue (Lol prologue + epilogue I c wut they did der) . For a song with truly depressing lyrics, it still manages to be a perfectly contented pop-acoustic song. "But now it's not a cancer ward/we're sleeping in the morgue." Yes, quite. Silberman's vocals reach an emotional apex before he is cut off by fuzzy electronics. Honestly, this isn't as tragic as it sounds. It's not going to win you any friends as a happy go lucky kinda guy, and it won't be DJ Dez Dancelot's choice on a Saturday night, but on a grey cloudy day, I can think of nothing better to stick on and fall asleep to.

I haven't listened to an album this year yet and thought, aw jeah, album of the year material.


'Bout frikkin time.

9.2/10

Bullion - Young Heartache E.P.

Young Heartache E.P.

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1. Young Heartache
2. Are You The One?
3. Time For Us All To Love
4. Long Promised


This is really good. A fifteen minute long, warm summery hug from instrumental hip hop/electronic mofo, Bullion.
I'll get the obvious comparison and the one which hits you twenty seconds into Young Heartache out of the way; Bullion is very, very similiar to Flying Lotus. The same brand of soul infused, thick electronic beats prevails in both artists catalogues, yet Bullion manages to make his work just about distinguishable by freckling it with samples from Film and popular culture, and at times introducing dreamy soundscapes into his music.

First track Young Heartache is an apt all round introduction to Bullion, with eerie vocal samples and drum loops that sound as if they've had one too many drinks. Are You The One? takes things a bit more seriously with it's prominent bassline, before the dreamy Time For Us All To Love takes over, sounding as if it could be taken from The Avalanches back catalogue. This really is paradise music. Bullion plays us out with the jazzy dreaminess of Long Promised. At a brief 15 minutes, Young Heartache hits the balance of just about right and leaving you wanting more.

I don't want to generalise about an entire genre that I know next to little about, but (omgwtfhypocritz) Bullion has created some of the freshest sounding Hip Hop that I've heard, from anyone, ever. Maybe it's my inkling for music without prominent vocals, but this really is warming, summery stuff. While i'm not sure after describing a drum track as drunk that I can call this the most intelligent music i've heard in a while, it is a very confident E.P., and its sounds speak of being drunk on a beach at sunset, or chilling in the garden in the summer with your mates. Normally you listen to a piece of music and then associate it with memories; with Young Heartache, you've already mapped out what you'll be listening this to.

Bullion, along with Flying Lotus, will be hailed in ten years as one of the founders of modern hip hop. Get ahead of the curve.


8.6/10

Metric - Fantasies

Fantasies

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1. Help I'm Alive
2. Sick Muse
3. Satellite Mind
4. Twilight Galaxy
5. Gold Guns Girls
6. Gimme Sympathy
7. Collect Call
8. Front Row
9. Blindness
10. Stadium Love


Fantasies comes four years after Canadian girl + 3 guy group Metric's last album, Live It Out. It featured the track Monster Hospital, which did very well and got remixed tae fuck.
With vocalist Emily Haines' dreamy voice perfectly suited for indie rock music, and a band which obviously know how to write a catchy song, there wasn't much that could have gone wrong here. And, it hasn't.....but it hasn't really blown me away either.

Which would leave us floating in meh. Help I'm Alive, the first single off Fantasies, is great. It's catchy and regularly returns to the "Beating like a hammer" refrain, and Haines' vocals of, "They're gonna eat me alive/If I stumble" is quite touching. Next track Sick Muse, while making a good impression on first listen, fails to ascend much past middle of the road indieocrity. The album melds into garage rock guitars and floaty electronics until Gold Guns Girls, which despite some cringe worthy lyrics, is pretty decent.

This is an album which is trying to sound big. Despite the band releasing this independently in the states, there's an overall impression that they're aiming for Coldplay levels of radio play, which they aren't going to get. Ambition is fine, but it seems creativity has been sacrificed in it's place. Awk, it's not a bad album, and when listening to it you'll probably think, "This is fine", and it is, but after an entire listen of this album I would challenge you to walk away humming one of these songs. Fantasies fails to leave any sort of lasting impression, and instead of being a solid indie rock record from a band which have more things going for them than most in their position, it has ideas above its station and falls gruesomely between two posts.

You could do alot worse, and you could do alot better, but nothing is worse than indifference.


5.2/10

Born To Run #2

Cows- Effete and Impudent Snobs

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Let me have this horrible, horrible music.

1. Memorial

2. Dirty Leg

3. Big Mickey

4. Preyed on

5. Immigrant Song

6. Whitey in the Woodpile

7. Nancy Boy Cocaine Whore Blues

8. Cartoon Corral

9. Little Bit

10. Put Me Down

11. Sittin' Around

No, I haven't heard of them before either. I'm not really sure why, after one listen, i'm listening to this again. It's disgusting.
Screw MSTRKRFT, if a dirty bassline is what you're looking for, and I mean, dirty, then look no further.

Effete and Impudent Snobs is a 35 minute sonic rape of an album from Minneapolis noise-rock dudes, Cows. First track Memorial snarls in with a greasy bassline and welcomes you to the hellish musical pit you'll be dwelling in for the next half an hour or so, should you see this album out to the end. Which you probably won't.
The first half of this album squeals along with barely distinguishable guitar melody, yet there's still a sense of growing darkness. I've never heard something which I imagine to sound so much like hell itself, Glasvegas jokes aside. The tension eases up slightly on The Emigrant Song, and I mean lighten up comparitively. It still sounds like you've been given a two and a half minute long song to listen to while the entire world laughs at you behind your back. Whitey in the Woodpile, (presumably written about Kevin Brown) is a brief refrain of silliness, before the barrel of laughs of Nancy Boy Cocaine Whore Blues. This is horrible, brain frying stuff, and truely would be an apt punishment for a lifetime of sin.

Strangely, however, I like this album. I meant everything I said, it is horrible........but sometimes that hits the spot. I would reccomend giving the band a listen on last.fm before downloading this feral beast. I mentioned not seeing it through to the end, and whilst I did, it's doubtful that the average listener will. All too often the temptation to listen to something.....with some sort of discernable tune, kicks in. This is a filthy album though, reccomended for when you're not feeling quite yet human after the night before. Or for those with implosive tempers; this is our soundtrack to finally cracking.

Hardly essential, but enjoyable filth. Bit like Skins.

Anamanaguchi- The Dawn Metropolis

The Dawn
Metropolis

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1. Blackout City
2. Jetpack Blues
3.Dawn Metropolis
4. Danger Mountain
5. Overarrow
6. Tempest, Teamwork, Triumph (At Sea)
7. Mermaid



Anamanaguchi are a four piece NYC band from the "chiptune" scene. Whilst this may immediately bring Crystal Castles into your head, this album is different from a lot of other albums in the same genre.

First of all, that cover. God it's great. Even before listening to the music I feel like im playing the SNES. It also fits the tunes perfectly.
I mentioned this album being different from similiar styled bands. Whilst a band like Crystal Castles are pulling no punches in aiming for the scenester crowd, Amanaguchi on The Dawn Metropolis, don't care. Their tunes are here for you to listen to, regardless of your scepticism or raised eyebrows. If you're in a bad mood, stick on Unknown Pleasures. Come back when you're ready to smile again.
This album is a massive heap of fun, and even if you didn't play Super Mario all stars or Donkey Kong world as a nipper, it'll make you think you did. If you were a nerd as a child, this is for you. It will fill you with memories of nintendos, rainbows and innocence.

A hacked nintendo system is combined wonderfully with fuzzy power chords and a band with an ear for a tune. Whilst you'd be hard pressed to find something like this in the charts, many of these melodies would suit some of todays modern pop artists, just maybe not as frantic as on display here.
The first two tracks snap, crackle and pop along happily, and are a good idea of what this band's all about. The title track shows off that ear for a tune I was talking about, and on Danger Mountain, the electronics go absolutely alloy. The same theme continues along until album closer Mermaid, which despite not being a chiptune Flight of The Conchords cover builds up quickly and confidently, culminating in a mess of joyful electro nonsense.

This album is free leech for a bit on Waffles, and has helped give this band some deserved exposure. I also advise checking out the official website, which is very cool. At 7 tracks in 26 minutes, its pretty much exactly the length you'd want an album of this sort of music to be. The pace is maintained, and this is great, great fun throughout.

A little nostalgia goes a long way.

9.0/10

Greenday- Still alive, and with new material.

Bleh. The soundtrack to whenever you first started playing a cool instrument are back, with a "21st century breakdown." Oh gad.
Mainly about how his generation sucks, Billy Joel sings, ""My generation is zero / I never made it as a working class hero." He is entitled I suppose, to express his dissapointment at his depraved and lower class lifestyle.
I would for one, however, like to hear Greenday singing about money and porsches, and not in an ironic way.
And with Bush no longer in power, Billy Joel has only one thing left to rant about; how we've failed future generations. Awwwww. Before breaking into a Queen esque bridge and shouting, "the bastards of 1969!"
It certainly isn't something unpredictable.

Born To Run

The 1990's - They bestowed a plethora of gifts upon the world. From the Poll tax, to randy politicians, (maybe they had been steaming the night before or something) the 90's had it all.

1990 was also the year I was born, and in a tenuous linkage i've decided to chuck up an album every week from 1990, which I may or may not have come out of the womb listening to. Awesome.


Fugazi- Repeater + 3 Songs

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1. Turnover

2. Repeater

3. Brendan No 1

4. Merchandise

5. Blueprint

6. Sieve Fisted Find

7. Greed

8. Two Beats Off

9. Styrofoam

10. Reprovisional

11. Shut The Door

12. Song #1
13. Joe # 1
14. Break-in


Repeater is a suprisingly listenable punk rock record, and an incredibly solid one. The angry guitar squealing doesn't let up, and if it does, it's done to make way for some fancy bass fretwork. Despite being a punk album, Repeater has some serious indie rock sensibilities. Take opener Turnover, for example. Before ex-Minor Threat vocalist Ian MacKaye's angry taunts are introduced, you could be forgiven for thinking you were listening to a classic indie rock record. Shit, the bass part could even belong to a Joy Division song.

It is a punk album though, and even with 14 songs rattles along in just over 40 minutes. This urgency lends itself perfectly to the music and ensures you don't go sticking on another album before it's done. It isn't an effort, though, as previously mentioned it's an easy album to listen to. As one screaming riff ends, another palm-muted harbringer of chaos has begun.

It is, also, a hoot. While it does have enough tuneful moments to appeal to a large audience, sometimes it can be extremely fun to listen to someone else go absolutely buck daft, and Repeater has those moments in spades.

Well worth a listen.