I have hundreds of albums to listen and eventually write a review, but when a band are back from the dead almost literally after 16 years, and this band really rocks the socks off once upon a time, I leave everything aside and focus on their release. This is only a six track teaser, probably the guys want to know if there are still headbangers out there interested in real Rock and worth the effort to come back full force. 16 fucking years! It was like yesterday when half of the rockers love them, the other half hate them for their success in 1992 with the single “Everything About You”, which peaked at #3 in the UK Singles Chart and made it into the Billboard Top 10. Later in the year the song was used in the movie “Wayne’s World.” “As Ugly As They Wanna Be” went on to sell over 1,000,000 copies in the U.S. alone becoming the highest selling debut E.P. of all time. But this mixture of satirical humor and Heavy Metal really got me back then, and till they disbanded in 1997, Ugly Kid Joe actually proved they are quite a serious and heavy band, well, keeping a good sense of humor is songs such as “Sandwich” or “Bicycle Wheels”. “Stairway To… Hell”? Are you kidding, don’t you? đ
Their current line up is the last line up of the band crystallized in the mid 1994. Read more Ugly Kid Joe – Stairway To Hell, EP (2012)
Monthly Archives: May 2012
IAMEVE – Throw Me A Line – Only the Wicked [Remix]
When everything is gray and predictable, prophecies are pointless. When life becomes routine, we don’t need crystal balls anymore to see the future and Magic fades away and dies. When we’ve got social networks, we can forget about real life… “Throw Me A Line” – my first intercourse with IAMEVE – sounds like an exile on planet Earth. Tiff Randol is half way between Kate Bush and Tori Amos while her music was best described by The Huffington Post as âif Alice took Ziggy Stardustâs hand and followed him down the rabbit hole to a world guided by the twists and turns of Randolâs ethereal and colorful vocalsâ. Randol is hypnotizing, she have the Magic.
IAMEVEâs debut album, “The Everything Nothing” is a 12-song concept album which explores the journey of Eve Ami from self-destruction to self-love. She explains: “We live in a world encumbered by a desire for instant gratification. Patience is a virtue that has been discarded by many of us pursuing big ideas, dreams, and love, often skewing our perspective with sensory overload. We are addicted to the next ping, beep, vibration, fix, or passing fancy. And none of this is a bad thing. I think the Universe is in a constant state of balancing itself. And that must be whatâs happening now. Read more IAMEVE – Throw Me A Line – Only the Wicked [Remix]
Iggy Pop – Apres (2012)
I was afraid of this and eventually I’m right. On the other hand, this is almost like a trip back to my childhood and back to some of the songs my mom and dad danced on. So, the brand new link between Joe Dassin, Serge Gainsbourg, Harry Nilsson, Yoko Ono, Edith Piaf, Georges Brassens, Henri Salvador, Cole Porter, The Beatles and Frank Sinatra is Iggy Pop. Since January 6, 2009, when original Stooges guitarist, and Iggy’s self-described best friend Ron Asheton was found dead, Iggy acts…. different. Meantime – on March 15, 2010 – The Stooges were included into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and Iggy released “PrĂ©liminaires”, his less rock-oriented and deeply sad album, flirting with Blues and Jazz, inspired by a novel by French author Michel Houellebecq. And Iggy keep on hanging to this… French connection. “AprĂšs” (After) definitively would delight my parents and bring me back some memories, but honestly, I’m not a nostalgic at all and can’t really feel this. 10 sad songs are a little bit too depressing for me right now when the whole world seems to sinking… Read more Iggy Pop – Apres (2012)
The Hunting Accident – Trees And Parks (2012)
âEvery human being, even the youngest, is already old â that is, so close to death that he or she does not, in any case, have time to efface the accidental quality of the accidents of which his or her life is composed⊠We human beings are always more our accidents than our choice.â â Odo Marquard âIn Defense Of The Accidentalâ
The Hunting Accident are a band from Los Angeles and their music is an excellent mixture of the 70’s pulsing heaviness with good sens of punk edginess and some tasty psychedelia and the tight and pounding modern sound and approach of the nowadays Indie and Post Rock. It’s almost like sending David Bowie to 2069. This music is ageless and without frontiers, they have both roots to American and Brit bands, in one moment you definitively will hear some The Beatles influences while in the very next moment there is something which reminds you The Stooges. And all these dualities I think are the strength of The Hunting Accident.
And more, they release comes for FREE, you can grab it, share it, listen to it and if you enjoy it, make a donation, they definitively deserve it! Read more The Hunting Accident – Trees And Parks (2012)
Hakan Ludvigson – July, EP (2012)
Producer, songwriter, DJ and record label owner; at 27, HĂ„kan Ludvigson has already begun to make an imprint on the electronic music scene. In September 2011 he is taking the big leap as an original artist, releasing his debut artist album âSoulroomâ on CD on his own Substream label.
He is living and breathing electronic music. Up to 2011, his productions have been mostly house and techno, engineered for DJs and clubs, released on vinyl.
“July” is a beautiful, romantic dream of a deep house track taken from HĂ„kan’s debut studio album “Soulroom” , released last year.
Clubers and lovers will dig this seriously. Read more Hakan Ludvigson – July, EP (2012)
The Cult – Choice of Weapon (2012)
It’s definitively one of the most expected albums of the year. Ladies and gentlemen, The Cult are back! And they are back with some hard as a rock solid Rock. Kind of merging of two different eras of the band. One one hand we’ve got some real pounding classic Rock themes which lead us back to “Electric” (1987) and “Sonic Temple” (1989), on the other hand the album is filled with some dark, hypnotic tension which was characteristic for some of their more recent albums as “Beyond Good and Evil” (2001) and their previous “Born into This” (2007).
Bass player Chris Wyse describe it as a “Zep/Stooges mix of energy” – and the shadows of Iggy and Page are definitively hidden there. Read more The Cult – Choice of Weapon (2012)
The Constellations – Do It For Free (2012)
With a cover which reminds me of Sex Pistols and a sound which might result from the (imaginary) collision of the tour buses of Jefferson Airplane and House of Pain, The Constellations are back. Soul, 70’s Rock and 90’s Hip Hop is mixed up and pulsing around in their music.
Their debut album, “Southern Gothic”, released in 2010, is about what happens in Atlanta from 2 AM until noon, while the centerpiece, a delirious nine-minutes track, âStep Right Up” is a direct tribute to Tom Waits. âAtlanta is strange,â they said, âbecause weâre all basically pushed together. The hip-hop heads, punk rockers, and indie kids all rub shoulders and mix it up. “Southern Gothic” reflects that inclusive diversity in its far-reaching sound.”
Two years later, they are back with “Do It For Free” and the same flavor. Eventually less rapping, more soulful, kind of vintage spiced sound. Read more The Constellations – Do It For Free (2012)
Kehlvin – The Orchard of Forking Paths (2012)
I watched the video – Kehlvin new Blockbuster đ – only to see if the dude at the end smash off his guitars to the rocks. He didn’t and honestly I was quite disappointed. đ đ đ Fun, but talking seriously, not such a great way to promote a new band nowadays if you want to be taken seriously by fans and the industry.
Formed back in early 1999 by five friends in La Chaux-de- Fonds, Switzerland, Kehlvin is delivering a slow grinding and Doom inspired, contorted and gloomy Metalcore with blending of both post-Hardcore and post-Rock/Metal elements. After the release of their first acclaimed album, “The Mountain Daylight Time” on Division Records and some shows across Europe with the likes of Burst, Will Haven, Mono, Red Sparowes, Knut and Unsane, the members of Kehlvin have collaborated with their friends from Rorcal in order to record a split album called “Ascension.” Read more Kehlvin – The Orchard of Forking Paths (2012)
Usher – Climax [Jasm RMX feat Rich Prewett on Guitar]
Believe it or not, but better do, Usher is one of the best-selling artists in American music history, having sold over 23 million copies in the United States and over 65 million records worldwide which makes him one of the Best selling music artists of all time. He also has won numerous awards including seven Grammys. At the end of 2009, Usher was named the number one Hot 100 artist of the 2000s decade. Billboard named him the second most successful artist of the 2000s decade, with his 2004 album Confessions being ranked as the top solo album of the 2000s decade. Honestly – but hell yeah, I’m just so dumb! – listening to his music, I would never thought so. For my un-Billboarded ears, Usher sounds like a black, diluted (commercial) version of… Prince. And as a reiteration of Dali, the difference between Prince and Usher is that Prince is Prince… Think of what you want.
Somebody had the marvelous idea to promote Usher’s upcoming seventh studio album “Looking 4 Myself” which will be released on 12 June, 2012, on Indaba by putting to remix Usher’s “Climax”, his latest collaboration with Dildo, sorry for that! with Diplo, considered one of the most influential music tastemakers in the industry. If that’s true, now I actually understand how the mainstream is populated exclusively with shitty music! đ
BUT, the funniest thing is the grand price: a flyaway trip to meet Usher! đ đ đ Read more Usher – Climax [Jasm RMX feat Rich Prewett on Guitar]
Get The Blessing – OC DC (2012)
Winners of the BBC Jazz Award 2008 for their debut album âAll Is Yesâ (Cake/Candid), Get The Blessing is currently one of the UKâs most exciting live bands. Featuring bassist Jim Barr and drummer Clive Deamer from trip-hop legends Portishead, plus the twin horns & electronic devices of saxophonist Jake McMurchie and trumpeter Pete Judge, GTB has forged an unique signature sound that defies genres and merged into one Jazz and Post-Rock instant and infectiously.
Their second album, âBugs In Amberâ was described as “the post-jazz soundtrack to an imaginary low-budget James Bond movie remade by Tarkovsky and starring Buster Keaton” and has received widespread critical and popular acclaim. With influences ranging from Ornette Coleman and Tortoise, to Blondie and Samuel Beckett, GTB has been described as: “A scintillating live experience that will leave you amazed, questioning pre-conceived ideas of music genres, eye-opening and jaw-dropping, there is simply no other band in the world quite like Get The Blessing.”
I’m always skeptical when the media praise an artist, but when I saw the video for their new album “OC DC” it just ripped my head off. Read more Get The Blessing – OC DC (2012)
