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Tuesday, September 19, 2006

A Little Turnaround

After "The Alexisonfire Incident", I think I've come to a little turnaround. Nailed some great CD's. :D Lets lay them out.

First, I'd been meaning to pick up Dave Melillo's debut EP, "Talk Is Cheap" for a while. So I did. And I found that Track 5, 'Morris County Blues' is an incredible song. Dave's got skill, the end.

Also, I had ordered Goodbye Tomorrow's 3 song EP a while ago, but it was out of stock. Well, it's back in stock and in my hands. INCREDIBLE EP. It's ambient, technical, and the singing is spine tingling. I still can't get over how powerful the phrase "You're not alone" is in 'Tragedienne'. I love the singing, and the music is breathtaking. Sounds like... Muse / As Tall As Lions / Mute Math / Copeland all had a baby and it knows karate. Awesome. Also, 'Carouseling' is an amazingly catchy song and equally as gorgeous. Also, I love the lyrics of this band. :D I could go on... ;D

For those that know me, you'll know that I ADORE The Militia Group. I'll pretty much grab anything that comes from their direction. As many of you know, Watashi Wa broke up. Their singer, Seth Roberts, went on to form Lakes. And I bet he never turned back. Their debut CD, Photographs EP, is stunning. It's so romantic and thoughtful, catchy and bold. The album conjures images of holding your lovers hand and the time you fell in love. In a word, it's heartwarming. Read my full review of Photographs EP here.

And finally, I picked up The Working Title's 2006 release, "About-Face". It's an experience. These guys are so incredibly talented, they bounce from genre to genre effortlessly. The album starts out with a raw, danceable tone. Then they move into a more of an indie soft-rock sound, and it's beautiful. Track 5 through 7 are my favorites. Track 6, 'The Crash', displays their singers unique "sigh" singing. It's incredible. ^_^ALSO - wait for it - Track 7 is a very pretty song. The CD slows down a bit, not neccesarily in tempo, and ends with an incredible 10 minute song. Highly recommended CD. The Working Title have so many influences it seems. Weezer, John Mayer, The Postal Service, Copeland, Nickleback, Brandtson, The Killers, and Muse.

New Found Glory's new CD, "Coming Home" came out today. Oh, and so did Fear Before The March Of Flames new CD. And so did the re-release of Valencia's incredible "This Could Be A Possibility". Reminder to self to pick all those up.

Listen To: Lakes

Thursday, September 14, 2006

Alexisonfire (minus the is, minus the on, minus the alex, and minus the fire. then add predictable)

So, I had kinda a rough day today, so I decided to go buy an album. I was looking for something... Harder. So, I checked for Norma Jean's newest release and it wasn't there. Thought about Underoaths new CD, but decided against it. I finally decided on "Crisis" from Alexisonfire. I had read some negative reviews about it, but decided to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Now, I'll make this quick and you can be guaranteed that it's honest. Alexisonfire tried to replicate Emery's "The Question", from what I can tell and failed miserably. Their screamer doesn't represent and their drummer is pretty stale. It's all so predictable. I have a feeling this will go down as probably the worst release I've heard all year and probably my worst CD purchase ever. Just my thoughts. Alexisonfire, you let me down.

Listen To: Limbeck

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

We're Up To Lots Of Good?

Yesterday was Tuesday, which means a whole batch of new music is out. I go to Best Buy with a TOTALLY blank mind. I don't even remember how I GOT to the place, but the point is that I made it. When I started browsing the music section, I remembered I wanted the new Rory CD. Well, they didn't have a Rory paper-sleeve-bookmarker-tag-whatever thing. I finally found it behind one of the Rolling Stones paper-sleeve-bookmarker-tag-whatever things, and snatched it. I already have the This Providence CD pre-ordered, yet it was delivered to my University dorm address, which is no longer where I live. But, there was something else coming out that day... But I couldn't think of what it was. So, I left. [/end amazing story]


Oh, and turns out I wanted to see if the new Plain White T's was on sale. Ooops. :P


Anyways, "We're Up To No Good, We're Up To No Good" is a pretty stellar album. The two reviews I had read praised it unceasingly, and I liked what I heard on PureVOLUME, and I love 111 Records, so I gave it a go.

The two tracks blew me away. Incredible! It had this Blink-182 charm to it(not surprising seeing as it's co-produced by Mark Hoppus) and tons of energy and extremely catchy. Some of the songs are kind of hit and miss, but perhaps it'll warm up to me like so many albums have. I absolutely ADORE the intro to 'Tonight I Just Don't Care, I'm Having A Candy Dinner.', and the rest of the song dissapoint. Track 9 brings back the Track 1 charm, and I just formed an amazing sentence. Wouldn't be surprised if that sentence makes it to the history books. But seriously, one thing about me is that I'm a SUCKER for ridiculously long songs and Rory presents an incredible one to close their debut album. I love it. :D

I've got a really good feeling about this album. Expect an update on how much I will grow to love it soon. ;D

Listen To: Inkwell

Sunday, September 10, 2006

Pop-Punk x2 And Progressive Ambient Post Hardcore?

All time low is no longer just a New Found Glory lyric(clever, huh?). I recently picked up All Time Low's newest release "Put Up Or Shut Up". First thoughts: Holy Fall Out Boy. The slight vibrato in the singer's voice reminds me of Patrick sooo much. But, FOB references aside this album holds well on it's own. Incredible Pop-Punk. 'Coffee Shop Soundtrack' is a great song, and every song is as catchy as the next. Highly recommended CD.

Stephanie let me borrow her Better Luck Next Time CD, "Third Time's A Charm"! She really nailed it when she said that it sounds like a mix of "New Found Glory(self titled) and Don't Look Down". Really catchy, energetic, and fast. I love it. It goes back to Pop-Punk's roots. There's even a little bit of Blink-182, and there's never anything wrong with that. :D Give 'Carry On' a listen. Great song, great CD.

Progressive Ambient Post Hardcore? That's how I would describe Evaline's newest EP, "Postpartum Modesty. A Portrait Of Skin". The atmosphere of the CD is incredible. There's an amazing energy in the CD, and I adore it. I really like the singer, he really helps the CD come across as a work of art. 'Calm Touching' is an amazing song. It will probably take me a little bit longer to really get into the CD, and when I do I'm sure you'll hear an update. It's 20 minutes of absolutely gorgeous music. Give it a listen. :D

Listen To: Brand New

Thursday, September 07, 2006

A Few Thoughts; Plus MORE?~=

The past few years I have done what I call "rooting yourself in music". Music has really helped me few a lot of times in my life, and I thought I'd just say a few things. One thing that I love about music is that it doesn't care who you are. It's gonna sound the same if you are beautiful or ugly, it'll sound the same if you're 15 or 51. It doesn't care how much money you make or how many faults you have.

Just my $0.02 .


Also, some thoughts on some albums!

I picked up Search The City's new EP "Ghosts". It's really really amazing. The guitar work is "secretly technical" as I like to call it. It's not HOLY CRAP DID YOU HEAR THAT? It's just amazing allthroughout. The drummer is pretty creative and the singer is fantastic. What I found really interesting was the last song, with pretty melancholy lyrics, was still upbeat. I think it is very effective and really shows how the singer is feeling. Highly recommended CD.

At the same time I also got And Then I Turned Seven's 2005 release "The Jamestown Story". Yeah, yeah, it took me a while, but it was well worth it. It's a gorgeous CD. The singer sounds a LOT like the singer from Blink 182, which is a bit unappealing at first, but it blends beautifully. Really good CD.

Reminder to self to pick up the new Rory CD.

Listen To: Better Luck Next Time