British Sea Power are an English indie rock band whose sound has been compared to that of Joy Division, the Cure and the Pixies. The mix a lot of very melodic, sappy sounds with a little bit of dissonance. This song is from their latest album entitled ‘Do You Like Rock Music?’ Ironic title as this song is not very rockin’, but it’s a catchy song and the puppet-heavy video is cool to watch.
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Crystal Castles (Ethan Kath and Alice Glass) are an electronic indie band from Toronto that utilize a lot of retro sounds; this genre is often referred to as ‘chiptunes.’ Crimewave is from their 2008 self-titled album and is actually a remix of a song by HEALTH.
The group was actually formed as an accident, when Alice Glass recorded some vocals over an instrumental track by Ethan Kath as a test, which eventually ended up in the hands of record label executives who offered them a deal.
Recently there has been some controversy surrounding them, as apparently Ethan has been accused of lifting sounds from other electronic artists. It’s hard for me to really care about this though, because the entire genre of electronic music is founded on people stealing the sounds of others.
The Bronx is a pop-punk band from Southern California. Normally this kind of music isn’t my thing, but they have kind of an old rock and roll sound that made them grow on me. They have put out two self-titled albums and, oddly enough, will be putting out another one soon.
White Guilt is on their second self-titled album, this video reminds me of my high school Summers when my friends and I would go hang out at Venice beach, where this video was shot, and running away from bike cops.
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The Eagles of Death Metal are really only two guys: Palm Desert rocker Jesse Hughes and Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age and Kyuss fame. Despite the name, they are not a death metal band. They have a very tongue-in-cheek classic rock sound, they are more or less a parody of popular garage-influenced 70s rock like Canned Heat, Mountain, Iggy and the Stooges, etc.
Their first album, ‘Peace, Love, Death Metal’ was sort of a sleeper hit; they did not become a huge success but gained a cult following and the songs from this album are very often favored for movie soundtracks and commercials. The subsequent album, ‘Death By Sexy’ was still solid but not quite as good as the first, and they are working on a new album called ‘Heart on’.
[youtube 5BMOqbFOXVk]
Dredg are the modern masters of cathartic, atmospheric rock. Their debut concept album, ‘Leitmotif’ has grown on me over the years and I would consider it to be one of my top ten albums. ‘Same Ol’ Road’ is from their follow-up, ‘El Cielo’ which is another great release, although a little mellower than the first. I wouldn’t bother with their third studio album, ‘Catch Without Arms’ as they have gone in more of a pop direction and the music is far less interesting. They are from San Jose and thankfully they sometimes play shows around here where they feature their older catalog.
The music video matches the creativity of the music; I really like this stop-motion animation. I have to add that Dredg is a difficult band to consume in snippets, if you like this song I recommend listening to the album start-to-finish.
[youtube YxUBWyUQuDo] Although I have lived most of my life in the states, originally I am from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Bersuit Vergarabat, or just ‘Bersuit’ as they are more commonly known, are a very popular alternative rock band in Argentina. They are kind of like the Radiohead of Argentina.
They are very different from Radiohead though in that their music completely embodies counter-culture, identifying with the misfits and outcasts of society, their music and performances carry strong themes of madness and psychosis, in fact they often perform wearing clinical pajamas to show their solidarity with individuals who are marginalized by society’s view of ‘madness.’ Unlike a lot of more escapist pop music that comes out of South America, their songs also tackle the issues of poverty, corruption, and general social unrest that plague Argentina and much of South America.
This song, ‘En La Ribera’ (roughly translates to: ‘On the Riverbank’) from their ‘Testosterona’ album, is about the impoverished riverbank communities on the outskirts of Buenos Aires. Anyone who’s spent some time in Buenos Aires would know exactly what I am talking about, as these communities are numerous and many of them are visible from major highways. These are ‘tinsel towns’, houses built from aluminum siding, adobe, garbage, whatever people can get their hands on and provide very limited access to plumbing and electricity. The unemployment and economic problems that plague Argentina are vast and there are thousands in these communities.
This video really reminds me of home and I really like the way the video (much like the song) at first shows the riverbank as only a place of poverty and misery, but goes on to show that the people living in these communities live rich, fulfilling, very social lives that perhaps result in more happiness than the quiet isolation of those who work in offices all day.
I didn’t know that the Black Crowes were still around, but apparently, after some line-up changes, they have just put out their first studio album in seven years entitled ‘Warpaint’ and ‘Goodbye Daughters of the Revolution’ is the first single.
The Black Crowes have never been a very original band, their goal from inception was to sound like classic 70s Southern rock in the same vein as the Allman Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Grateful Dead, Molly Hatchet, etc. and they have built a large, cult-ish following by doing this remarkably well. For another band that was heavily influenced by 70s Southern rock, check out the video I posted by the band Sleep.
This song seems to blend in with the overall sound of the Crowes and it sounds like they are sticking to what they know. The video appears to be a photo montage of the band taken over the years; all the black and white photos along with their outfits make it look straight out of the 70s.
Visually I think this video is really amazing. Really amazing. I feel like I could get really stoned and spend a whole night watching this on repeat. I really like this style of visual effects, it’s sort of like a mix between modern CGI and 70s psychedelic visual effects. I like the song a lot as well, TV On the Radio seem to do a mix of Trip-Hop and Shoegaze, really mellow and bassy but still a bit catchy. This song came out on a record called ‘Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes’, I’ll have to check it out because I really like this song.
So I haven’t posted for about a month since I’ve been so busy, but I’m going to make sure to update this blog a lot more often from here on out.
Reel Big Fish is a band that I shouldn’t like; but I do. In general I hate 3rd and 4th wave ska, but with Reel Big Fish it’s a little bit different because it seems like they are in on the joke. They can have fun with it, and it makes them a fun band. I haven’t heard from them in a while, I still remember back in the 90s they had that ‘Sell Out’ music video that was quite a hit, and their first album, ‘Turn the Radio Off’ was pretty decent start to finish. ‘Party Down’ is from a new album called ‘Monkeys For Nothin’ and the Chimps For Free.’
But of course this doesn’t hold a candle to the classic 2nd wave ska of the Specials.
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As far as I know, this Isis song from their 2004 ‘Panopticon’ album is the only music video they have ever done. In Fiction does a good job of exemplifying the Isis sound; it’s basically like someone told these guys “I want you to recorded the heaviest fucking songs of all time . . . and I want to be able to put my kids to sleep with them.” Isis shows us that there can be extremely heavy music that can also be mellow and melodic as well. Interesting concept for a video; haven’t figured out if there is any narrative or just some interesting visuals here.
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