This is a blog made by David Savage, Tyler Flynn, and Max Sagan in order for us to write reviews for music, write about any shows we go to, and basically write about anything pertaining to music that interests us. We are always looking to expand our music libraries and listen to anything that we can!
On December 9th, 2014 The Smashing Pumpkins released their 9th studio album entitled Monuments to an Elegy. This album still embodies SPs signature sound but incorporates modern alternative elements too. In classic Pumpkins style, Billy recruited some new musicians for this record. Their drummer Mike Bryne left, and they picked up Motley Crue's Tommy Lee. Their bassist Nicole Fiorentino didn't record on this one, so Billy filled in for her. In addition to these two, their long time guitarist Jeff Schroder plays rhythm . Lets dive right in!
Monuments to an Elegy is a continuation of the ongoing Teagarden by Kaleidoscope album cycle. Basically, Billy decided that his next three full length releases will be albums within Teargarden. Off first glance, Monuments looks more like a glorified EP with 9 tracks and a length of 32 minutes. I'll admit I was skeptical when I saw this. After my first listen, I had negative reaction. I said out loud three or four times "What...Are you kidding me?" This was NOTHING like the Pumpkins had ever done! But just as always, I remembered that one doesn't fall in love with their albums right away. It take three or four listens until you really begin to settle in to the sound and overall concept. So I played it again. And took notes this time on what I did and did not like about it. I found the positives out weighed the negatives.
The album begins with a quiet single handed piano notes, then explodes into a full ensemble of layered guitars and hard hitting drums. By my standards, the first song "Tiberius" is the best on the album. It sounded like it came right off their 2008 release Zeitgiest. It embodies their classic sound all around which is impressive considering only one of the original four members is still in the band. It even has a heavy instrumental guitar break that I absolutely loved.
I thought another good track was "Being Beige". This track had such an uplifting and inspiration feel to it. Pairing this with an addictively catchy chorus, makes it a hit. I wasn't surprised when I found out that they released this one as a single.
It's worth mentioning that with the edition of Tommy Lee, the drums have a regained sense of dominance. I used to think that they had such a dynamic presence in the mix. But since the departure of Jimmy Chamberlin in 2009, they lost their luster. Tommy Lee does a nice job of bringing this back with his unique and powerful style.
There were two songs that I could not get into. "Anise!" sounds forced and is over saturated with psychedelic synth lines. The chorus is weak and thin compared to others on the album. It almost sounds unfinished to me. "Anti-Hero" is one of the most generic sounding rock songs I've ever heard. It's like they took GarageBand loops for the guitar and drum tracks. The reason I like the Pumpkins is because they are not afraid to stray away from mainstream rock. But, this song was a let down because it sounded like the typical 4 chord rock you hear everyday on the radio.
Overall Monuments to an Elegy is a quick, powerful listen that will requires a couple plays to enjoy. There's no denying the new, synth-fueled sound you will hear in their newest release. The question is...are you ready to embrace it?
Lollapalooza. A time for friends to get together before school starts back up and enjoy 3 days of no worries and good music. Lolla has been my favorite summer event for the last 5 years. The closer I get to graduation, the more I think, "Maybe I won't have time for this when I'm older." Because of that, this year I unknowingly made Lolla my best one to date.
We started the weekend off in Tinley Park, and took the Metra downtown as we always do. But this time, I decided we should change it up. Instead of taking the train to and from the city everyday (and losing 6 hours due to travel) why not stay downtown? I asked my step sister who lives in Lincoln Park if we could stay with her. She was all for it. Nice. We had plans to see the up and coming band Into it. Over it. as the first act on Friday, but we didn't get there in time so we settled in at Bombay Bicycle Club.
I want to take a quick timeout to say that I walked into Lollapalooza with a different mindset this year. I alway try really hard to not be a music snob, or to be judgmental of other peoples taste in music. Sometimes it's hard for me because it is a subject I am so passionate about, I genuinely care about what others listen too. I love turning people on to new music, it is one of my favorite things to do. When someone discovers a new band because of me, I get a special feeling. Music should be perceived as an experience, and if it is a good one, I want that person to associate it with me! (I will include links to all artists and songs mentioned in case you would like to listen).
So this year, I was unfamiliar with the majority of the lineup. I made the conscience decision to just go with the flow. Normally, I would spend all of July listening to all the bands I didn't know. I thought this was the only way to enjoy a concert; if you could sing along. I learned firsthand that this is not true. We sat down far in the back to listen to Bombay Bicycle Club. I didn't know one song by them and thoroughly enjoyed it. They were a cool English indie rock band that reminded me of a more relaxed Two Door Cinema Club. After this we had an hour to kill before Iggy Azalea. This is a perfect example of how I behaved differently this year. I was pretty sick of her hit song “Fancy”. My girlfriend was dying to see her so why not try it out. We walked over to Perry's and camped out just in front of the sound tent. It was fun. No shame in saying it. Plus, I think I fell in love that day. Iggy came out in very flattering tight jump suit with her clique of about 5 dancing girls. This caught my attention. And let me tell you, this girl can rap. I was totally expecting pop songs similar to "Work" and "Fancy" but what I heard was a badass white girl rapping to some upbeat EDM infused beats being played by DJ Wizz Kidd. I was very impressed by her flow and was loving the choreographed dancing by her crew. This definitely made for an entertaining good show to watch. After this, we had plans to hop into a time machine and travel back to middle school for AFI. We ended up getting a bite to eat instead. It was about 6:30 when we headed over to the Bud Light stage to check out Lorde. We were near the back sitting down and I was enjoying her unique sound. She was sporadicly shaking her entire body on stage which was different and interesting to watch. My ears perked up for her hits like "Team" and “Royals” which sounded impressively similar to the recordings. After this we began the long trek from the Bud Light stage over to the Samsung Galaxy to get a spot for the one and only Slim Shady. I was pretty torn between the two headliners that day, Arctic Monkeys or Eminem. I saw Arctic monkeys a few years back but loved their newest release AM PM. I decided on Eminem because I believe he will be remembered as one of the best rappers to ever pick up the mic. We settled in right to the left of the immense sound tent. He opened his set with a long and unusual documentary film clip surrounding the details of his popular song “Stan”. It lasted about three minutes long and I was anxious for him to make his appearance on stage. Finally he came out, and launched into the last verse of “Bad Guy”. I remember making a mental note that the sound quality was fantastic. Very well balanced, and had deep bass pumping out of the woofers and straight into your chest. The first half of the set he was playing very old and new material. I was always the kid who loved The Eminem Show and Encore so I did not recognize most of it. About half way through the set I began second guessing my decision and turned to my girlfriend and asked “Do you want to go check out Arctic Monkeys?”Just as I said that the stage went black and out from the depths of the stage, Rihanna emerged from a platform beneath them. The crowd went absolutely nuts and I saw about 100 girls pop up on their boyfriends shoulders to get a glimpse of the stunning pop singer. For me, it was one of those eye opening moments. I realized that I was in the presence of a powerful music entity. Rihanna has a shining passion that is expressed through her presence. Her and Em seemed to have a natural chemistry and really nailed the few songs they performed. Needless to say, I am glad that we stayed. After this there was a new energy in the crowd and to me the set list stepped in up a notch. The last ten songs included some of my favorites and then ended with his most popular “Lose Yourself”. I have to mention that he was one of the most energetic performers I’ve ever seen. He was running around the stage and constantly encouraging the crowd to “Wake the F*** up!” Overall, a very great and memorable show.
I had a fantastic time at Lollapalooza this year. I would really encourage people to approach festivals with the mindset I had this year. It was a first time experience doing this for me and I am glad that I did. I would even say that doing this has helped me be more open minded in life situations as well.
Thanks for reading.
Notable Performances on Friday: Eminem
Notable Performances on Saturday: Desert Noises, Vic Mensa
Notable Performances on Sunday: Space Capone*, Cage the Elephant, Rebelution
Last
September I was at The Metro to see Volcano Choir, the project of Bon Iver
frontman, Justin Vernon and who do you expect to open for Volcano Choir? Maybe
an unknown indie band or a dude with an acoustic guitar? Wrong. Sylvan Esso
opened for Volcano Choir that day. I will admit, I was quite shocked and not
sure how to take their performance, but I knew it was special.
Sylvan
Esso is comprised of Amelia Meath of the band Mountain Man, and Nick Sanborn of
Megafaun. It’s not the duo themselves
that are unlikely, but the style of music they create is what makes their collaboration
interesting. Amelia comes from a trio of folk rockers while Nick comes from a
folk band as well, yet here there are creating this bright synth-pop. Their songs have these beautiful melodies
coming from Amelia, and they are paired with bold beats and bass drops. This
style that Sylvan Esso has created together is incredibly unique. I’m not
entirely fond of dubstep, but Sylvan Esso seems to have taken small elements of
dubstep and dance pop, and combined them with gorgeous lyricism and delightful
harmonies.
Their
self-titled debut was released on May 13th and Sylvan Esso could end up making its way on my list of favorites for
this year. I love this record. After listening to it the first time, it was all
I listened to for about a week. The opening track “Hey Mami” starts off with
Amelia’s voice and then the harmonies begin looping, handclaps kick in, and
before you know it the bass drops and Sylvan Esso is in full force. There a
nice balance between the fast paced tracks and slow head bob tracks. Songs like
“Dreamy Bruises” feature the quick beats of Nick Sanborn, and even vocal harmonies
with both Nick and Amelia, while songs like “Could I Be” is the slow head bob
type.
Every track on this album is
brilliant so it’s hard to determine favorites, but “Wolf” is definitely in the
running. The bass swells dictate the direction of the song, but the vocals
carry over throughout the track with a subtle acoustic guitar hiding during the
chorus. The heartfelt lyrics are just another wonderful aspect of a record like
this, with lines like “All I want from you is a letter/ and to be your distant
lover/ That is all that I can offer at this time”.
Sylvan Esso is full of heartfelt tracks, as well as fun party
tracks like “Play It Right” and “Hey Mami”. This unlikely musical creation is
bold, inventive, and memorable. Sylvan Esso has formed big shoes on their first
record and I’m glad I saw them open for Volcano Choir, otherwise I may have
never heard this record.
“Sometimes
when you’re making up lyrics on the spot, God will drop one on you that you
didn't intend” says Andy Hull, via Manchester Orchestra’s Facebook page.
Manchester Orchestra frontman, Andy Hull, is referring to the line “And I hope
if there’s one thing I let go, it is the way that we cope”, off the title track
to their latest release, COPE.
Manchester
Orchestra didn’t exactly have a label, and questioned the potential existence
of the band, so they decided to take matters into their own hands and build
their own studio in a house in Atlanta, Georgia, where they would sculpt what
is now COPE, their fourth studio
album. This album is exactly what the music industry needs, and that is rock music. I still managed to be
continually impressed with music today (not in the commercial sense), but rock
music is lacking these days. There’s something different about being able to
actually rock out to an album, start to finish, and that is exactly what COPE is; it is exactly what I needed.
The
second the album starts; I knew this is what I was missing. This may be a bold
statement, but I think the opening track, “Top Notch”, will be one of my
favorite tracks this year. It blows up in your face with that first crunchy
chord, and just escalades to a fantastic rock song. The chorus screeches out “All
that I know, it’s no way to fix it”, which could be further extending the theme
of “coping”.
I was
obsessed with their last album, Simple
Math, for its diversity, experimentation and impeccable lyricism, but like
I said, I think an album that rocks from beginning to end is really what I
needed, and so did this band. Songs like “Every Stone” have the more alt-rock
feel to it, which works well for them, and then they come in with heavy hitters
like the title track, “Cope”. This album carries Andy Hull’s lyrical talent
with Hull singing out “Cause all the progress you made/ won’t end up meaning
anything. / I won’t leave indentions of me/ I won’t leave intentionally” from
the slower (but not too slow) song “Indentions”.
I was
luckily enough to see Manchester Orchestra recently at the House of Blues, and they
put on quite a show. Their set list was diverse ranging from all of their
albums, and a visit from Kevin Devine, where he and Andy play the Bad Books
song, “42”. Cope was a heavy
guitar-driven record that I think music needs right now. Every record that
Manchester Orchestra puts out seems to continually impress me and always keeps
me rockin’.
Favorite Tracks: “Top Notch”, “Every Stone”, and “Indentions”
This
album came out early in the year, but I still think worth writing now. There
were two days in a row when I was driving home from work, listening to 93.1WXRT, and the songs that played were perfect.
Like the rest of this winter, it was quiet and blustery, and the snow was
stacking higher and higher on the streets. I used the Shazam application to
find out what these songs were and on the first night, it was a song called
“Heard About You Last Night” by Mogwai. The next night, another song by the
same band, this time the track was “Remurdered”. I had no prior knowledge of
this band before, but I knew I had to get acquainted.
It
turns out they had just released a record, titled Rave Tapes, on January 20th. Like I said, I had never even heard of them before so I did some
research. I found out they were a post-rock band from Scotland, and have been
around since the early-to-mid 90’s. I guess I did things a little differently
since Rave Tapes was the first record
of theirs that I listened to. I fell in love with record, upon first listen.
Instrumental acts aren’t too prominent in everyday airplay, so it was cool that
my first experience with them came from the radio.
The
song that had me hooked was “Heard About You Last Night”. The first cut off Rave Tapes starts off very slow and
ambient, and as the song continues it blossoms with steady bass notes and then
the drums and guitar kick in. The first track is the most ambient and simple
(in a good way) track off the record. The further in you get the heavier songs
you discover, like “Hexon Bogon”. This is a band using synth in a more
conservative way than most others. Mogwai lets the instruments shine
throughout, but will occasionally give little hints of synth fills in the mix
of the post-rock instrumentals.
Rave Tapes is the type of record you let
fill the background of a late night drive, or an outside look at the stars. The
light vocal track, “Blues Hour”, features vocals that have a hint of Elliott
Smith tied to them with a lasting crescendo to top it off. I dig Rave Tapes. I think it shows a good
balance between rock, synth, and ambient instrumentals that is a breath of
fresh air. I’m glad I turned on the radio to catch Mogwai.
Favorite Tracks: “Heard About You Last Night”, “Blues
Hour”, and “Hexon Bogon”
I’ve noticed artists will release
“teaser trailers” for their albums which is what brought me to this record, RetroHash. For whatever reason, I looked
on Asher Roth’s FaceBook page and noticed there was a link to a video “Pot of Gold”, so I checked it out. Turns out it was somewhat of a trailer for Asher
Roth’s sophomore release, titled RetroHash.
The video consisted of Asher riding a Sea-Doo followed by two topless women. In
the background, the hook for the song “Pot of Gold” was playing. It was a
mysterious one-minute video, but it caught my interest, and not just because of
the topless women. The song playing in the background sounded nothing like the
“I Love College” rapper I was familiar with.
I was a fan of Asleep in the Bread Aisle and heard some of his various singles
that were released, so needless to say, I enjoy Asher Roth. There was something
about this “Pot of Gold” video that intrigued me, because the sound was more
developed and had a mellow, almost indie vibe to it. The first single,
“Tangerine Girl”, was released and that was when I became extremely excited for
RetroHash. The song spends the first
half with just a chill vibe and falsetto singing Asher repeating the hook. Not
exactly common for hip-hop to spend the first half of a track with
predominantly instrumentals, but it worked. His vocal work was pretty
impressive and unexpected.
On April 22nd, RetroHash was finally released and it
was worth the wait. One word comes to my mind when I listen to this record, and
that word is maturity. It’s easy to
notice that this record is ahead of anything he has ever released; everything
from instrumentation to lyrical themes is taken to the next level on RetroHash. “Fast Life” was one of those
songs that took the record to a new maturity level for Asher. The video was a
big reason for my love of this song, so go see for yourself why this song/video
is an impressive level for this rapper.
Don’t get me wrong, there is still
a slight taste of the rapper we know and fell for back when “I Love College”
dropped. Songs like “Pull It” and “Last of the Flohicans” have that hint of
childishness and laughability, but even “Dude” has some humorous wordplay that we
like to hear from Asher Roth, with lines like “Good weed got me talking ‘bout
deities/ Aphrodites, sucker for good lighting/ and neat handwriting, sorta like
calligraphy/ trick or treat at thirty, dress up as Jackie Tree”. “Dude” also
comes off sounding like a song by A Tribe Called Quest with that slick bass
line throughout the track.
Overall this album takes Asher Roth’s
reputation to a new level. Adding more real
instrumentation and mature rhymes makes RetroHash
an exquisite record for someone who used to be known as merely “The guy who
sang ‘I Love College’”. The song “Pot of Gold” that was feature in the album
trailer wasn’t released in its entirety until the record dropped, and that is
another track of this album that is pure smooth, mellow, and mature hip-hop
music. Asher Roth truly stepped his game on this record, and so when people say
to me “He sings ‘I Love College’ right?” I tell them he is detrimentally more
than that. Asher Roth holds an incredible amount of talent and maturity and it
is great to see some of that spill out into his sophomore album, RetroHash.
Favorite Tracks: “Tangerine Girl”, “Parties at the Disco”,
and “Pot of Gold”
Have you ever wondered what would happen if Tool and Queens of the Stone Age conceived and had a baby? Probably not.... BUT IF YOU DID! Chevelle's 'La Gárgola' would be there 13.4 pound bastard child. Punchy, tight drums compliment the distant guitar sounds all throughout Chevelle's latest 'La Gárgola'.
I'll have to admit, I was oblivious to this band until my roommate demanded that I check them out. He likes working out to them, and I can see why. 'La Gárgola' is a very intense listen that sounds like it could be an action movie soundtrack. Right off the bat you can hear the massive Tool influence on "Ouija Board". This lead singer has got pipes that you will want to write home about. He has a pretty nice screaming voice too. Track two "An Island" has a unique underproduced, fuzzy guitar sound to it. At first I thought it was bad production on this particular track. But I realized this is the only song with these qualities so I think it was a artistic choice. They have a tasteful use of the popular metal bass drop right around the mark 3:35 that makes for a nice impact moment. If you are too busy to listen to the entire album, make sure to check this one out.
"Stay there don't move I think its got fangs. Watch if they turn Become the villains."
Track 3 "Take Out the Gunman" started to make me recognize how much these guys really sound like mid 90s Tool. The vocal melody in "Take Out the Gunman" sounds like it straight out of Tool's 'Ænima'. Skipping to track 6, they try to pull of the emotional ballad. This one did not work for me. I don't know why these heavier bands insist on trying to do these. Don't get me wrong sometimes they work, but "One Ocean" just feels forced. It ended up sounding like a Muse song. I like Muse, but its confusing when in the last song they were screaming in my face. It really kind of killed my mood too. The rest of the album gets boring for me. Luckily, there was one more diamond in the rough. "Choking Game" is another high octane jam that sounds like it belongs in the first half of the album instead of where it is located in the 7 slot. The second half of this album was a let down for me. If 'La Gárgola' kept up its pace it would have been much better in my opinion.
All in all 'La Gárgola' had a promising beginning but just couldn't hold on to the intensity throughout. I am happy I finally got around to listening to this band, and would definitely recommend select tracks especially to people engaged in physical activities because they will get you going.
