Sam's Christian Metal Corner: August Burns Red

I recently got started listening to the metalcore genre of music. This genre is defined as "a mix between hardcore punk and extreme metal". Some examples of metalcore bands include Killswitch Engage, All That Remains, and Bullet for My Valentine. There are several Christian bands in this genre as well: As I Lay Dying, Underoath, The Devil Wears Prada, and August Burns Red are some of the most popular. This week, I picked up an album titled "Rescue & Restore" by August Burns Red (hereafter referred to as ABR). Here's one of my favorite songs from the album, "Fault Line":



 I like how the lyrics start with the line "We all hurt. We all need. We all cry. We all bleed." I have gone through some rough stuff in my life, and this confirms that I'm not the only one out there who hurts.

ABR also does some interesting instrumentation on this album. Here's "Creative Captivity", which utilizes several unexpected instruments, including a guzheng (a Chinese zither), a trumpet, violin, and cello:



 ABR did an instrumental Christmas album last year, entitled "Sleddin' Hill". They put a metal twist to holiday favorites such as "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen", "Carol of the Bells", and "We Wish You A Merry Christmas". They did a punk version of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer", and a few original compositions, my favorite of which is "Flurries":



They have also been featured in the popular "Punk Goes..." album series. Here they are brutally murdering Britney Spears' "...Baby One More Time":



I'm not going to post a whole bunch of videos, but if you like what you hear, check them out! Most, if not all, of their songs can be found on YouTube.

Biffy Clyro Got Lucky

I'm going to see this bunch in a couple of days and my excitement is slowly escalating. Nevertheless, I was just made aware of their recent cover of Daft Punk's Get Lucky and I think it's pretty interesting.

Ed Sheeran sees fire

The second Hobbit movie will arive in a month and a few days and the trailers look very promising so far. The big news today is, the title song has just been uveiled. The reactions vary, but personally, I like it. Your thoughts?

Afterlife

Arcade Fire's fourth studio album Reflektor is due out next week and today, the band released a brand new lyric video for the song called Afterlife, featuring footage from a 1959 French film, Black Orpheus. I'm digging it more and more, but I bet it will work even better in the context of the whole record.

So is this gonna be the biggest album of the year or what?

Thursday night edit: Following today's leak, the band is streaming the whole album on YouTube. That was quick.

Turin Brakes

Turin Brakes is one of those bands that Sparkle introduced me to back in the day, and although I could never call myself a huge fan of theirs, I've given their albums a fair couple of spins during the years. Namely the songs like Fishing For a Dream or Last Chance stuck in my mind.

The English duo has recently released a sixth studio album called We Were Here. What's it like? Well, it's pretty much like all their other albums. But that's not necessarily a bad thing. If you're craving some acoustic indie/folk rock and all your Augustana CDs feel highly overplayed, chances it will suit your mood.

On a sidenote, this is the 300th post on this blog, we're three years in and still counting. Back in March 2010 I honestly didn't think it would last this long. Thank You for all the support. Here's to hoping we make it to post #1000 one day. :)

Paul McCartney: New

I am a huge Beatles' fan, and I've always been. But I have to admit that, unlike with George or John, I've never really got into Paul's post-Beatles stuff. Nothing that he released either as a solo artist or with Wings did excite me very much, that is, with the notable exception of the 1973 album Band On the Run. Well, to be perfectly honest, it's not like I've listened to everything he's ever released. Not even remotely. Fortunately, though, the release of New has been generating a lot of buzz and I for once fell victim to it.

I am listening to the album for the first time as I am writing this post, because much to my surprise, I have been enjoying it a lot right from the very start. When approaching a record from a music bard like Paul, you do it with a certain idea of what the artist will sound like, and more often than not, he falls right into that box. Not this time around, though, because New sounds amazingly fresh and contemporary from the opening riff of Save Us to the last note of Road. (And then some more...) Yet, this is the same Paul he was when Please, Please Me came out. He's effortlessly a churning out tunes with such an ease in the way only he can, and you will hear hints and echoes of many Beatles' songs, from Love Me Do to A Day In the Life. It's an absolute joy to listen to. The album is a clear statement that the now 71-year-old McCartney has many tricks left up his sleeve and still a lot of things to say.

Best tracks: Alligator, On My Way To Work, Early Days, New

Rewind the Film

Come their eleventh album, most bands would have already started to fade away, went through countless line-up changes or dissoluted altogether. When a band has been together for this long, it usually struggles to come up with something fresh, game-changing, or otherwise significant. More often than not, it sticks to repeating the same old formulas that paid off in the past. Not the Manics, though. Having been together since 1986, they've become quite good at reinventing their sound, and it doesn't seem they're gonna stop anytime soon.

To anyone, who followed this Welsh trio at least vaguely in the last few years, it may come as a surprise that Rewind the Film consists mostly of slower, mellow ballads, and that it even features very little of Nicky Wire's typical electric guitar. Send Away the Tigers and Postcards From a Young Man were both big, stadium rock records, while Journal for Plague Lovers, which was composed entirely of lyrics left behind by the presumably deceased guitarist and lyricist Richey Edwards, saw the band return to its raw, punk rock roots. On the contrary, Rewind the Film reminds mostly of This Is My Truth, Tell Me Yours, an 1998 album which included their most popular single to date If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next. It's an acoustic based and melancholic album, full of gentle melodies and featuring some powerful guest vocals. But don't let this fool you, the Manics are as angry and biting as they've ever been.

This is the sound of a band clearly in its prime. The fact is all the more fascinating considering they've released an album like this almost thirty years into their career. Manic Street Preachers are an interesting phenomenon indeed and still a force to be reckoned with.

Rewind the Film's follow up, Futurology, is due out early next year. And it's gonna be a lot more spiky, heavy and guitar driven. Both albums were recorded simultaneously.

Best tracks: This Sullen Welsh Heart, Show Me the Wonder, Rewind the Film

Do you know how to read morse code?

'Cause I do. :D

Five Star Songs: Side

To celebrate the release of a new Travis album, let's look back at one of their most famous songs to date, Side, from their 2001 album The Invisible Band. The very first time I heard (about) Travis was actually when I saw the music video for Closer. But it was only when I listened to Side, that I fell in love with them, and, well, the rest is history. Travis became one of my all time favourite bands, and since then, I awaited all their albums eagerly. It's a shame they haven't released that many of them over the recent years. On the other hand, if they are all as good as the last one, then I'm okay with it.

Few songs ever havve been so unbelievably catchy and so immediately likeable, and Side is one of those I could never get tired of.

Reflektor

Featuring David Bowie, produced by James Murphy. I'm listening to it for the first time as I'm writing this post, so I have no actual opinion yet. So far, so good. I expect nothing less than an album of the year. Your thoughts?

Five Star Songs: Ballad of Easy Rider

It was only a matter of time before one of The Byrds' songs appeared here. I just didn't know which. Many of the band's songs hold the five star rating in my library, and it's too difficult to pick only one. Well, at least it was before I stumbled across the wiki page of the song Ballad of Easy Rider, featured prominently in the film Easy Rider, and set my eyes on the following paragraph.

The star and script writer of Easy Rider, Peter Fonda, had initially intended to use Bob Dylan's song "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" in the film but after failing to license the track, Fonda asked Roger McGuinn of The Byrds to record a cover version of the song instead. Fonda also wanted Dylan to write the film's theme song but Dylan declined, quickly scribbling the lines - "The river flows, it flows to the sea/Wherever that river goes, that's where I want to be/Flow, river, flow" - on to a napkin, before telling Fonda to "give this to McGuinn. He'll know what to do with it." The lyric fragment was dutifully passed on to McGuinn, who took the lines and expanded upon them with his own lyrical and musical contributions to produce the finished song.

I think it's an interesting fact from making one of the quintessential films of the New Hollywood era, and it gives an idea about the relationship between Dylan and The Byrds.

I've been listening to the band all day. All twelve studio albums arranged chronologically, played front to back. It makes up for over seven hours of incredible listening experience. Right now, I think I like The Byrds a little bit more then every other band, including the Fab four.

Joe South

Among all the famous songwriters from the 1960s, this one name is very easy to overlook. Unrightfully so. Joe South was a musician of great scope and incredible talent.

Born Joseph Alfred Souter in 1940, South started writing hits already in his late teens. Today, he is best remembered for songs like Hush, which he wrote for his former roommate Billie Joe Royal and which later became a huge hit and first top ten single for Deep Purple, or Lynn Anderson's version of (I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden, which went on to become one of the biggest hits of the 1970s, and for which Anderson won a Grammy and South received two nominations.

Joe South won two Grammys on his own, too, with the 1968 protest song Games People Play, which has been covered many times by the likes of Tom Jones, Tina Turner or Inner Circle. He was also a prominent sideman, having played on Aretha Franklin's Chain of Fools or Dylan's Blonde On Blonde album, among others. 

However, the monstrous success of Rose Garden in 1971 was overshadowed by a personal tragedy when South's beloved brother and frequent collaborator took his own life. Following his brother's death, South retired from the music bussiness and it seemed like he almost dropped off the face of the earth, living on royalties and making only seldom appearances. He died of heart failure in 2012.

I discovered Joe South about two weeks ago, while working on my own Best of the '60s compilation, which I'm about to share with everyone really soon. I was once again doing my research and his was the most interesting name to come out that I hadn't known before. One can only wonder how many great songs he could've written if it hadn't been for the unfortunate death of his brother.

Oddly enough, just as I was writing this post, Lynn Anderson's take on Rose Garden was playing on the radio...

Your Life Is a Lie

What the f!#k? :D

The weirdest video since The Avalanches' Frontier Psychiatrist. But I must say I quite dig it. That guy with the banana is priceless. MGMT's new album comes out September 17. Your thoughts?

There Goes Our Love

I used to love White Lies by the time their debut came out. I spinned the album heavily, along with music from Editors and Interpol. Those were my post-punk days... Unfortunately, their sophomore effort failed to excite me and I cared very little for them ever since.

However, this summer, White Lies are back with their third record, and judging from the two new songs that I've heard so far, it should be pretty good. Perhaps a bit in a Sam's-Town-era Killers way. Fingers crossed. The album comes out August 12. Thoughts?

I Hope You Suffer

AFI will release their ninth studio album, which is titles Burials, on October 22. Considering Sing the Sorrow is still one of the best pop punk albums ever released and that I've spent substantial amount of time with each of their subsequent efforts, I'm quite looking forward to this, even though the new song is far from their best. Watch the lyric video below. It's hard to imagine now, seven years later, that a record like Decemberunderground would top the Billboard album chart...

"Right thoughts, right words, right action."

It's been a long, long time since Franz Ferdinand released something new. Four years after their latest album, the wait is finally over. Was it worth it? Well, I'm not quite sold yet, but their comeback is a welcome news nonetheless. Your thoughts?

Great White Pirate Wonder

Today at work, while browsing the music news on Pitchfork, I stumbled across an article from last September about Bob Dylan's famous 1969 album, Great White Wonder. I say famous, but the truth is I've never heard of it before, and it might've as well stayed hidden for anyone who isn't a die-hard Dylan enthusiast or who's knowlege of the folk singer's discography starts and ends with his biggest classics. (I may be just guessing.)

The reason why Great White Wonder is famous and significant, beside being a Dylan album, is that, at the peak of the vinyl era, it represented the beginning of the piracy phenomenon in the music bussiness. In today's words, it was one of the first leaks ever.

"While history records Great White Wonder as rock's first widely circulated bootleg, underground releases of its ilk are like the cool uncle of the digital leak."

The article starts with the emergence and history of the bootleg, which then waited six more years to be released in the usual manner, and at the end turns into a contemplation about piracy, its origin and present state. If you're interested, I highly recommend reading the whole thing, it won't take you more than half an hour. It is really an engaging piece of journalism.

...

In related news, the amount of piracy in Norway has fallen significantly. Perhaps there is a way after all. If only Amazon, Spotify and others would remove their country restrictions for Czech Republic. Something like Netflix would come in handy too. Whining and filing nonsensical lawsuits isn't the answer.

Rewind the Film

Manic Street Preachers will be back this fall with Rewind The Film, their eleventh studio album, and the first since 2010′s Postcards From A Young Man. About a week ago, they’ve unveiled a video for the title track. I must say, the song itself is nothing short of brilliant. This is the sound of a band, that's been together since 1986. Unbelievable.

Well, the Manics actually recorded two albums simultaneously. The first one to come out will be more acoustic and gentle, while the other one will be way heavier with lots of electric guitars on it. I can't wait. Rewind the Film comes out September 16th.

Jimmy Eat World at Lucerna Music Bar

On Saturday, June 22nd, I finally had the chance to see my all time favourite band in person. Jimmy Eat World returned to Czech Republic almost two years after their last appearance on Rock for People festival, and as far as I know, this makes it their third concert here in total.

The band kicked off the show almost precisely at 8 p.m. in a no-time-to-lose manner, and continued the furious pace throughout the evening, playing 21 songs in about 85 minutes. Personally, I could hardly imagine a better setlist. If you're interested, check it out here. From what I've heard from friends and read on social networks, reactions were unanimously enthusiastic. Needless to say, I loved it and was left almost speechless (and deaf) at the end. You can take a look at the photos here and here. And that guy that you don't see in the second row? That's me. :)

Best of 2013 so far

The first half of 2013 is coming to an end, so I think it's time for a little recap. I've never kept exact statistics of how many records I heard each year, but I'm pretty confident when I say, that this year would surpass all of them. I don't really know where this eagerness to check out new music suddenly came from, but the fact is, I've already listened to 50+ new albums in the past six months, and that's almost as much as in the entire last year.

There have been much anticipated releases from Biffy Clyro, Tegan and Sara, She & Him, The National and, of course, Jimmy Eat World, which I've covered a lot on the blog, and I've also praised the new albums from Christopher Owens and especially Daft Punk, but there are literally dozens of other great records which I haven't had the time to write about yet. So here's at least a brief summary.

Britpop came back with Suede's first album in eleven years. Although it was pretty much my first encounter with the band, I loved it instantly. The same story happened with Frank Turner's sweeping personal epic Tape Deck Heart, Kurt Vile's fifth solo album, the Swedish psych rockers Junip and the new indie rock sensation Foxygen.

Foals released released their third studio album, and it was the first time I truly got into them. Holy Fire received lots of praise from critics and fans alike, and I couldn't help but to agree. In a similar vein, last week saw another career peek of the Icelandic post-rock now trio Sigur Rós. Their newest effort Kveikur is perhaps the most straightforward and mainstream they'll ever get, but the fact doesn't hurt it one bit. If you ever doubted whether you could become a fan of their enigmatic ambient soundscapes, now is the perfect time to finally find out.

Unfortunately, apart from a few songs, Fall Out Boy's highly anticipated comeback fell a little flat with me. David Bowie's, on the other hand, surprised positively almost everyone, including myself, and so did Comedown Machine by The Strokes. I am not quite sure yet what to think about the new QotSA album, but one thing is certain, ...Like Clockwork is definitely the most accessible album of their entire career.

 

On a heavier note, Bring Me the Horizon released another critically acclaimed and largely enjoyable album. Who would've guessed after Suicide Season? Funeral for a Friend continued the journey to their hardcore roots, but unfortunately, Conduit, while not bad by any means, didn't end up being as memorable as their previous efforts. Frank Carter, formerly of Gallows, went exactly the opposite way, releasing a surprisingly poppy album under the moniker Pure Love. Another notable albums were released by the indie acts Cold War Kids, Dawes, Mikal Cronin and Camera Obscura, and let's not forget the last ever album of My Chemical Romance, released over the span of five months from November to March.

Overall, this has been an amazing year in music, and there's still lots of releases to look forward to. Placebo, Travis, MGMT, Arctic Monkeys, Arcade Fire and many more will be releasing new records later this year. Which albums have rocked your world in 2013 and which ones that are yet to come out are you most excited about?

Where You Stand

Just what I needed to hear to make my day better. Travis will realease a new album soon, and I didn't even know they were recording. Where You Stand comes out August 20th, and I am beyond stoked. Stream the title song below.

Five Star Songs: Parallel Worlds

I realized I haven't written much in the past few weeks due to being constantly busy with school and perfecting my procrastination skills, and I thought that the Five Star Song section needed an update. So yesterday, I was going through my music library searching for something to write about, perhaps a band I haven't heard in years, some hidden gem of a song, or maybe an undying classic, and then I set my eyes on Elliot Minor.

It must've been a very long time since I listened to them for the last time, because I completely forgot they existed. And boy, was I missing a lot. Five years since its release, Elliot Minor's eponymous debut hasn't aged a day, and the melodies are just as infectious as they've always been. It's no wonder that that kind of magic only happened once and the band's following effort didn't live up to its promise.

Parallel World was the lead single from their first album, and still serves as a perfect example of the band's refined sound and instrumental skills, but is often overshadowed by their most notorious song, Jessica. They both hold five star rating in my library, alhough I've always kind of prefered the former. That being said, Elliot Minor's self-titled includes several other fantastic songs and it wouldn't be fair not to mention them. Time After Time, Lucky Star, Still Figuring Out... And once you start listening to the album, it's hard to let go.

Unfortunately, as I mentioned above, after the release of Elliot Minor in 2008, the band quickly started to lose momentum and eventually went on a hiatus three years later. Since then, most of the members started their own projects, so there probably isn't any future for the band. Thankfully, they left us with at least one great album.

Are we too damaged now to possibly connect?

11 days left. To the official release date, of course...

Monday night edit: Jimmy Eat World are now streaming the album in full on their official facebook page. Enjoy. :)

Editors

I just found out that Editors are releasing a new album in July. I have no idea how this news could be escaping me for so long. Anyway, here's the first teaser of their fourth full-length record, a song called A Ton of Love. Had I not known it was from Editors, I honestly wouldn't recognise them. It sounds so much different from anything they have released so far and completely contradicts the direction they had taken with In This Light and on This Evening.

I wasn't impressed with the song at first, but after a while, it grows on you. In Tom Smith's own words, the band was going towards a more straightforward sound of bands like R.E.M. or Arcade Fire, and the album was mostly recorded live. Nothing wrong with that. The Weight of Love comes out July 1st. Thoughts?

Random Access Memories

Well, well, well. What have we got here?

I am really swamped these days, so I don't have much time to update the blog. Nonetheless, the release of Random Access Memories is a such a big event, that I've decided to be up-to-date at least this one time. Here's my post from under the AP.net review. It doesn't quite embrace the essence of the album, but for now, it's all I can do.

First of all, I don't like electronic/dance music at all. I don't even like Discovery. These things just aren't for me. However, I loved Tron: Legacy soundtrack (I do listen to a lot of film music) and I still spin it fairly often. I even enjoyed the electronic freak-outs such as Derezzed...

...and I have to say, Random Access Memories is a fantastic and groundbreaking record. It's jazzy sometimes, on other occasions it sounds like Dark Side of the Moon, the clean production reminds of Rumours and other great records from the seventies, but at the same it's very contemporary, even futuristic, and yet personal. Though it may seem distant at first, it certainly doesn't lack heart. And if there was one single word to describe the whole album, it would be "timeless".

For me, it's this year's Hurry Up We're Dreaming or The Suburbs, highly accomplished piece of work made with great ambition and incredible (inhuman?) precision. Nevertheless, it took me several  listens getting into, but it was definitely worth it. Favourite songs? I really can't pick a few. Although there is one that stands above them all. Giorgio by Moroder is probably the defining and most quintessential track on the album. 

My copy of Random Access Memories is already on its way from Amazon. That's how much I like it. Honestly, I didn't see this coming, like, at all. Do yourself a favour, don't hesitate a moment and dive right in.

Trouble Will Find Me

I doubt I'll have time to write some kind of a proper review for The National's new album, so this must suffice. In short, it is brilliant. The band have once again outdone themseleves. Go check it out.

Alien Days

Up In the Air

Can't believe it's been almost four years since This Is War. Although I might have doubted the lasting value of the album, I still like it, and I do listen to Kings and Queens fairly often.

Yesterday, the band premiered a music video for their newest single. The song itself is kind of meh, but the video takes it to another level. Their new album, Love, Lust, Faith and Dreams, comes out May 17th, and I'm slowly starting to look forward to it. Knowing, that the band took on the help of a prominent producer Steve Lillywhite (U2, The Killers), has only increased my expectations.

Dear Miss Lonelyhearts

I have to admit, Dear Miss Lonelyhearts is my first encounter with Cold War Kids, and I am enjoying the album quite a bit. Songs Miracle Mile and Jailbirds are the definite highlights for me. The record is hell of a surprise, so thank you, st. tropez.

Five Star Songs: Big Casino

To further honour the release of a brand new Jimmy Eat World track, let's look back at one of their best songs to date. In my opinion at least. The band has put out quite a few gems in the span of their twenty-year-long career, and many of them retain five star rating in my library. This is just the first one in a long line, and more are sure to come...

For me, out of the whole Jimmy Eat World's catalogue, Big Casino has always been the song of choice. It's instant accessibility, huge chorus, everything I love about the band embodied in one of their rockiest moments.

Chase This Light tends to be unjustly overlooked in the band's discography. The cleaner production, radio-friendly sound and uplifting lyrics -- especially in contrast to the gloomy mood of Futures -- aren't usually the type of things that get much love from more serious listeners. However, the tunes are just as good as they've always been. And Big Casino is just as good an opener as Futures or Bleed American were. Flat out one of their top songs.

Jimmy Eat World Will Steal You Back

Hell yes! I cannot contain my excitement. Almost three years after Invented, Jimmy Eat World are back with a new album, Damage, which hits stores on June 11th. Just about an hour ago, they released this little teaser of a song, and, well, it's *beep* brilliant. It's been playing on a constant loop for a while now, as I am writing this post, and I just can't seem to get enough of it. It has a big Futures vibe to it, and since I consider that album to be Jimmy Eat World's best, I couldn't be more stoked for Damage. I'm not really feeling the artwork yet, but I have literally no doubts the music will be as good as we've come to expect from this band. Thoughts?

Here's an interesing quote from the band's drummer, Zach Lind, who stopped by in a thread over on AbsolutePunk.net.

"Engineered/Produced by Alain Johannes

Mixed by James Brown (also mixed the Sound City Movie soundtrack)

The thing about this album in general is that's pretty natural. Zero digital editing beyond comping. No auto tune, no beat detective, no samples. What you hear is what we played. If it ends up sounding muddier or more raw than what folks might be used to, we can live with that. Production wise, this is easily my favorite record, especially for me on the drums. BTW, we love Gil. Would be open to working with him in the future. The sound of Futures had a lot more to do with engineering and mixing. Gil is really great with arrangements and overall vibe. He's a fucking slave driver but a great dude. He does have an arrangement style that really fills the songs up hooks. That's not necessarily a bad thing but lately we've been wanting to keep the arrangements more simplified. Not sure of that makes sense but there you go."

Demons

The National belong to the rare kind of bands that get better with every album, and their last release is the kind of a record that gets better with every listen. That said, High Violet is one of the best albums of the last few years. The only reason I don't listen to it more often is because I'm afraid it would knock The Suburbs off the top spot. I have no reason to believe their newest effort isn't gonna continue the trend. Here is the first single, Demons. The album Trouble Will Find Me comes out May 20. Thoughts?

Edit, Friday 12th:
And here's another one. Enjoy.

Monomania

Let's talk about something new for a while. For me, Deerhunter's last album, the super-successful Halcyon Digest, is one of those records, which you know are good--because everyone tells you so--and which you enjoy for the brief time the melodies drift through your headphones, but in the end, they just fail to leave a significant mark on their own.

However, the band has just released the title song from their upcoming album, Monomania, and judging from this little appetizer, it's hardly gonna be the same story this time around. I love the distorted guitars. Color me stoked.

Revisited: Louder Now

This morning, like on most weekdays, I got up from bed at ungodly 6:20 a.m., I rolled up the window shade, looked at the street covered in freshly fallen snow (seriously, at easter? at these latitudes?), and started humming Twenty-Twenty Surgery by Taking Back Sunday. It actually took me a while to figure out what song it was because I haven't listened to this band in quite some time.

A few minutes later, even though the process of waking up still wasn't fully underway, it finally struck me why I was humming this particular song. The brain sometimes works in mysterious ways and the associations do not always make much sense. People who understand this, work in advertising. However, in hindsight, this one was kinda obvious...

Justin Timberlake is everywhere right now. His newest record sold almost one milion copies in the first week in the US alone, and the universal praise makes it impossible to avoid. Needless to say, 20/20 Experience already peacefully dwells on my hard drive, and as hard as it may be to admit, it has me curious. It must wait, though, because now, after all these years, it's time to give Louder Now a spin or two.

I used to be a lot into TBS. And by "a lot", I mean A LOT. Along with Green Day, Linkin Park or My Chemical Romance, they used to shape my music taste in the formative years. Louder Now was the record that got me into them and by far my most favourite. There wasn't one weak track, and every anthem, from Liar to Error: Operator hit me just as hard. The album delivered exactly what the title promised, and I would play it at maximum volume more often than it would've been healthy. However, what I didn't know back then, the band's career curve had already started going downhill...

But that's a whole another story. Louder Now is great for what it is, uncompromising and accomplished straightforward rock album. Right now, I'm enjoying it just as much as I used to.

Some new music videos

First up, we have "There Will Come A Time" by Noah and the Whale.  Their fourth studio album, Heart of Nowhere, will be released May 6.

Frank Turner will be releasing his fifth studio album, Tape Deck Heart, on April 23.  Below is the video for, "Recovery."  I am very excited for this album.

A couple of weeks ago, The Vaccines released the video for, "Bad Mood," and it's entertaining.  Can't say it's one of my favorite songs from the album, but decent.

Kid Cudi's "official" video for "Immortal" has yet to be released.  However, the single has been released and am quite enjoying it.  His album, Indicud, will be released on April 23.

Stornoway released their second studio album, Tales from Terra Firma, earlier this month. "Knock Me On the Head" is the first single from the album and I hope you enjoy it.  My favorite track from the album is "The Bigger Picture." 

Conventional break-up

It's always sad to see a band go, but it's all the more saddening when it happens to one of your all time favourite acts. My Chemical Romance were never really the "cool" band to listen to, but I did nonetheless, because besides their emo tag and the Kerrang-band stigma, which never did them justice, there was a huge amount of talent and passion to back up the crazy outfits and layers of make-up. My Chem were always the take-it-or-leave-it type of band, and I'm glad I stumbled upon them at the perfect time, after the release of The Black Parade, which then went on to become one of the most influential albums in my life.

I wasn't that much into them the whole time, though. During the long gap that preceded the release of Danger Days, there was a period of time when I thought I had outgrown that kind of music. Thankfully, their Fabulous Killjoys persona and the post-apocalyptic concept completely reinvigorated my enthusiasm. Two years later, My Chem released what had been supposed to fill that gap, and everything fell into place. Most importantly, fans finally had their Conventional Weapons. But what they didn't know at the time, the "new" album was to become a swan song for the band...

According to one of the interviews I vaguely recall from the pre-Danger Days era, Gerard Way & Co. wanted to become a proper rock band. Their uncompromising take on Dylan's classic, Desolation Row, from The Watchmen soundtrack offered a good glimpse at what they had in mind. And really, the first two electrifying tracks of Weapons were very much in the vein of the aforementioned cover. Because above all, the album is pure rock'n'roll. Intense, raging anthems, powerful ballads and black leather jackets. This would have been a fantastic record.

Nevertheless, when compared to Danger Days, it becomes obvious this wasn't the band's true self. They always had to go all Freddie Mercury on everything. The hyperbole and theatrics were an essential part of their catalogue, but never a cheap gimmick. Within the scene and beyond, only they had the guts to go all the way, and enough drive and vision not to stumble in the middle. When all is said and done, this is reason why they'll be missed.

During their twelve-year-long career, they didn't make a bad record. Sure, Bullets was a bit rushed and immature, but still managed to become a landmark album for the genre and a personal favourite of numerous people. That said, My Chemical Romance were only getting better and more interesting with everything they released ever since.

The break-up came out of nowhere. Sessions for the next album were reportedly going great and it was supposed to see the light of day later this year. However, when you read Gerard Way's perspective, it all actually makes perfect sense. One can only admire a band able to step out of the bussiness while they're still at the top. For me, the only possible news worse than this would be if Jimmy Eat World called it quits. Sure, there's always hope. Perhaps, it is all just one big elaborate hoax with the sole purpose of getting out of a label contract, but honestly, I think it sounds too good to be true. I only know one thing. I'll be spinning their albums all week and then maybe some more. And because I could never write something that good myself, I'll leave you with this one last article.

The Airborne Toxic Event "Timeless"

There are only a handful of albums that I am really looking forward to this year.  The Airborne Toxic Event's third studio album is at the top of that list.  With each album they release, whether it's new material or live music, they are continuously exceeding themselves.  A couple weeks ago, they released "The Secret EP" and if that gave any clue to their upcoming album, they are keeping us on our toes.  Below is the music video for their first single, "Timeless", which is taken off their upcoming album, "Such Hot Blood".

"Such Hot Blood" is their third album and it will be released later this spring.

If you're unfamiliar with them, here are a couple of favorites to check out:

"Changing"

"Gasoline"

Biffy Clyro: Opposites

Biffy Clyro first came into my attention with their fourth studio album, Puzzle, which turned out to be a huge critical and commercial success and deprived the band of its indie status. At that time, though, it was no more than a random okay rock record for me. I didn't really got into Biffy until I listened to their subsequent effort, even more successfull, Mercury Prize nominated, Only Revolutions. That was the moment when they finally won me over. I spinned Revolutions to death and it eventually came in second in my AOTY list of 2009 and also made me appreciate their back catalague, especially Puzzle.

However, things were never that simple for the Scottish trio. Step by step, over the course of the past three albums, Biffy Clyro were slowly turning into a more and more mainstream act. Whether this was a natural growth in musical terms or they were in it just for the money, only they know. I'm inclined to believe the first, since the same thing has been happening to almost every other band, ever. Nevertheless, it didn't stop their former diehard fans from uncompromisingly branding the band sell-outs and triggerring a major shitstorm all over the interwebs in such a way, that was unparalleled to any other artist. It's a shame, really, because their albums aren't nowhere near as bad by any measures.

Fortunately though, the general public doesn't seem to care, and the critics are generally much more welcoming too. With the release of Opposites, we finally saw the Biff topping the UK albums chart and the continuous rise of popularity will culminate later this year when the band will be headlining Reading and Leeds festivals. But despite being huge on their native ground, Biffy have yet to reach a similar level of stardom outside the UK borders. And that's something the new album should do. So far, it seems like all odds are in its favour.

First off, Opposites is, of course, a double album. But it's shorter than most of its kind. With only twenty songs (twenty two, if you count the instrumental bonus tracks) and running time just under 80 minutes, it could actually fit onto one CD. It also isn't a concept record per se, as the early reports made it look like, although each disc is loosely thematic.

"One's about putting things in the worst possible way and thinking you're getting yourself into a hole. The other looks at things more positively" (Simon Neil)

Experimentation was another important topic during interviews prior to the release; and both the band and the double album format promised no small things. While the first disc, titled The Land at the End of Our Toes, takes a rather traditional approach to songwriting, the second one, The Sand at the Core of Our Bones, is where most of the fresh and invigorating stuff takes place. Still, it wouldn't be accurate to label Opposites as an experimental record, rather, it is something of a missed opportunity. Despite introducing many unusual elements, bagpipes, organ, or even a mariachi band, the band never really strays away from its comfort zone, which is, frankly, one of the biggest drawbacks of the new album. Considering this fact, I can see why some people might find it a bit disappointing. Nevertheless, it deserves your attention.

Opposites is the sort of an album that is best fit for big stadiums and major festivals. The songs are built around huge choruses that are meant to be played in front of as many people as possible and that no small club could contain. Never before have Biffy Clyro sounded so big. The ballads, which the band always does so well, play a minor role this time around, although songs such as The Fog or The Thaw definitely count among the highlights of the album.

My personal favourites, though, come at the end of the second disc. Accident Without Emergency, Woo Woo and Picture a Knife Fight form the monumental and satisfying pinnacle of the album, ending the whole of Opposites on a definite high note.

It takes big cojones to make a double album, "the dreaded D", two discs of worthy material, and few bands did ever really pull it off. In all honesty, I think Biffy Clyro are now among them. They are fearlessly going down the road paved by the likes of Muse and Foo Fighters to become one of the biggest live bands in the world. It's yet unclear whether they'll ever succeed, but Opposites has the potential to get them at least much closer to their destination.

Best tracks, disc 1: The Joke's On Us, Biblical, The Fog

Best tracks, disc 2: Spanish Radio, Modern Magic Formula, Accident Without Emergency

Five Star Songs: Carrie Anne

Well, the start of my obsession with The Hollies dates back to the last summer. Since then, they have never left my playlist for more than several days, and many of their tracks make up a significant portion of my soundtrack of the sixties. Whenever I feel like listening to them, my song of choice is usually Carrie Anne. It was written by Allan Clarke, Graham Nash and Tony Hicks, recorded  by The Hollies on 1 May 1967 and released as a single in the same month. It became a hit in 1967, reaching #3 on the UK Singles Chart. It was also a hit in the US, peaking at #9 on the pop charts. (citation)

I just came across this amazing video. Needless to say, this live version is sligthly different from the studio recording, but is equally flawless and powerful. Every single time I listen to it, I have persistent urging to sing along to the chorus. At least in my mind, when there's people around.

Christopher Owens: Lysandre

First of all, I have to confess that I didn't know Christopher Owens nor was I familiar with his band Girls before the release of his debut solo album. I had little to no idea what to expect and the only thing that made me listen to it was the reviews on pretty much every musical website I follow. It appeared to me that the man must be quite an important and interesting figure to the indie scene.

Well, I soon learned that Girls had released two well-regarded full-lengths and one extended play which gained them considerable fan following. Thus, it was obvious that it would be rather difficult for Owens to step out of his former band's shadow. I'll leave up the question, whether he did or not, to more eligible people, but I certainly won't try to hide my enthusiasm for this particular record...

With its running time of meagre 29 minutes, Lysandre might be the shortest concept album I've ever encountered. And it's a fun ride from start to finish. Consisting of eleven tracks, it is rather fast-paced, deeply emotional, uplifting, quite refreshing and also heavy on flute. It is, surprisingly, about a girl, and, as Owens himself put it, "a coming of age story, a road trip story, a love story", which pretty much says it all.

The record is tied together by the beautiful Lysandre's theme, which appears in various arrangements in most of the songs, and gets me every single time. With his newly acquired freedom, Owens is keen to experiment with all kinds of instruments, although he never really wanders outside the indie pop/folk territory. And it's also immediately clear, that, like with Girls, Owens stays true to the aesthetics of the 1950s, 60s and 70s.

Lysandre is, without a doubt, one of the pleasant highlights of the beginning of the year and it shouldn't go unnoticed by any avid indie pop listener.

Best tracks: Here We Go, Love is in the Ear of the Listener, Part of Me

A bunch of new music videos...

First, let's kick off with the French indie pop band Phoenix, who reached international fame with their latest record, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. The band will continue its quest for world domination with their next album, Bankrupt, that comes out on April 22nd.

Then, we have The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. Yeah, I completely forgot they were still a band too. But I recall quite well how much I enjoyed their song Face Down back in the day when I used to be into post-hardcore. Well, it's actually not heavy at all, but it's still pretty good. They will be releasing a new EP that will be produced by David Bendeth (producer of Don't You Fake It) which is due out March 15th.

And finally, some new She and Him. Volume 3 comes out on May 7th.

StarWaves

Joe Kosinski's first feature film Tron: Legacy was released in 2010. I went to see it in theatre immediately and it blew me away. Even till this day, I immensely enjoy the stunning visuals blended with perfectly fitting score by the French electronic duo Daft Punk, which has gone gold since then, and practically redefined movie music.

While Tron wasn't a huge hit at the box office, it still made enough money to allow Kosinski to direct his dream project and another big budget sci-fi movie, Oblivion, that will star Tom Cruise, Morgan Freeman and Olga Kurylenko, among others. The film hits theatres on April 19 and the trailers look rather fantastic so far, once again promising lectures on design and architecture. I am stoked.

More interestingly, though, Kosinski recruited yet another high profile and well-respected act for work on the film's soundtrack. Just like Daft Punk, M83, fronted by Anthony Gonzales, seems like a logical choice, and an excellent one, too. M83's last album was a huge critical and commercial success, almost topping my AOTY list of 2011 and spawning the hit single Midnight City. I honestly have no doubts this will turn out great.

Anthony Gonzales (left) and Joe Kosinski

Just yesterday, Rolling Stone premiered a new song from the soundtrack, called StarWaves, and you can stream it on their website. Seriously, studios and directors need to hire more people like Gonzales to show the way for others and stir the still waters of blockbuster music, largely dominated by Hans Zimmer and his crew of sound-alikes. (I still sort of can't get over the fact, that Jack White backed off from Verbinski's The Lone Ranger and was replaced by, shockingly, Zimmer. With White on board, it might have been my most anticipated movie of the summer.)

Anyway, I expect no small things from the soundtrack. Your thoughts?

Surrogate: Post-Heroic

Another indie band I almost forgot I ever knew, what a shame... Surrogate just released a brand new song via absolutepunk.net and you can download it for free directly from this link. It's rather brilliant. Their new album, Post-Heroic, hits the shelves on April 5th. I hope I'm not the only one who's looking forward to it.

Sound City

Well, I just saw Sound City and must say it's rather brilliant. If you have at least a vague interest in rock music of the past forty years, go watch it now. Besides Dave Grohl expressing his love of analog recording, there's also a whole lot of valuable history lessons about making some of the best rock albums in history from the likes of Rick Rubin, Butch Vig, Stevie Nicks, Tom Petty, Krist Novoselic and fuc*ing Rick Springfield. Even Paul McCartney shows up near the end. You can check out the incredible list of albums that were made there on wikipedia.

Five Star Songs: Awakening

Well, this was just an idea... Since I am into the whole star ratings business, I thought why not throw in my some of my favourite five star songs every once in a while and express my love for them. So from this moment onwards, expect notorious singles, timeless classics and songs that tend to be kinda overlooked and underappreciated or even unknown.

Let's kick off the new column with Switchfoot's Awakening from their sixth album, Oh! Gravity. This is not the first song that pops into people's heads when they think about the band, nor it is the second, nor the third... But it is by far my favourite of them all. It is the reason why I even listen to the band in the first place. The chorus is just huge and irresistible, and it's an instant reminder of how good Switchfoot have always been. Ladies and gentlemen, behold...

B3

Placebo did release their latest extended play last september, but I didn't pay it much attention up until now. I was actually quite surprised to find it pretty good. In contrast to Placebo's last full-length, Battle for the Sun, it sounds quite fresh and got me stoked for the band's new album, which should be out either in March, or later in the summer... Thoughts?

A Tattered Line of String

The Postal Service's brand new song.

Losers

Damn, this is awesome... I don't usually listen to Robbie Williams, but when I do, it's thanks to videos like this.

Pure Love: Anthems

The english hardcore band Gallows have never been exactly my cup of tea, so when their frontman Frank Carter left the band and formed a new outfit called Pure Love, I didn't pay much attention. Until now. Pure Love's new album, which is currently slated for a February release, is being streamed in its entirety over here. And it's rather awesome and completely different from what I expected. Be sure to check it out.

Weird Shapes

2010's Astro Coast was an astonishing debut album full of infectious tunes. Surfer Blood will release their new album, Pythons, in the summer, and here's a first glimpse at what it may sound like. The lo-fi approach of their first record is gone, but the band obviously hasn't lost its personality. Color me stoked.

Sound City

Sound City is a documentary film directed by Dave Grohl about the history of Los Angeles recording studio Sound City Studios, where he recorded Nevermind back in the day. It will premiere at the Sundance Festival in February.

And now comes the interesting part. The soundtrack will feature eleven new songs from Grohl and an amazing list of collaborators. Check for yourself...

Track listing:

1. "Heaven and All" – Robert Levon Been, Dave Grohl, and Peter Hayes
2. "Time Slowing Down" – Tim Commerford, Chris Goss, Grohl, and Brad Wilk
3. "You Can't Fix This" – Grohl, Taylor Hawkins, Rami Jaffee, and Stevie Nicks
4. "The Man That Never Was" – Grohl, Hawkins, Nate Mendel, Pat Smear, and Rick Springfield
5. "Your Wife Is Calling" – Grohl, Hawkins, Alain Johannes, Smear, and Lee Ving
6. "From Can to Can't" – Grohl, Rick Nielsen, Scott Reeder, and Corey Taylor
7. "Centipede" – Goss, Grohl, Johannes, and Joshua Homme
8. "A Trick with No Sleeve" – Grohl, Homme, and Johannes
9. "Cut Me Some Slack" – Grohl, Paul McCartney, Novoselic, and Smear
10. "Once Upon a Time...The End" – Jessy Greene, Grohl, Jaffee, and Jim Keltner
11. "Mantra" – Grohl, Homme, and Trent Reznor

This can't be bad. Thoughts?

Where Are We Now

Let's kick off the year with the best possible news...

So I've been listening to a lot of David Bowie lately. Partly thanks to the movie The Perks of Being a Wallflower, in which his song Heroes plays an important role.

Coincidentally, few days ago, David Bowie released a new single and announced his first album in ten years. According to Bowie's producer Tony Visconti, the new album, The Next Day, will have "rock" sound, and that makes me beyond stoked. The video is weird, to say the least, but it's still pretty good. The music, on the other hand, is simply brilliant. Bowie hasn't aged a day. And if this melancholic and retrospective track is of any indication, we have much to look forward to.

Thoughts?