Los Campesinos! new tracks/album review

Los Campesinos! - We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed - 8/10

Welsh power-pop group Los Campesinos! are releasing a new album on October 13 called We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed. The album was recorded over an 11-day span in Seattle and inevitably picked up some American rock influence. The guitars add a bit more of American prog into the mix instead of the nearly straight up Young Scotland style of the previous release.

Don't get me wrong though. The album is through-and- through Brit-pop. The whole thing takes on a darker tone than Death to Los Campesinos! especially in tracks like "Miserabilia" and the heavy Muse-like instrumental "Between an Erupting Earth and Exploding Sky." But the same shouty vocals and spunk from the debut album are still there, albeit in smaller quantities.

In some ways though, the darker material makes the album more polished and even more musically upright than Death. The lyrics are better written and the vocals are more matured. It's a little less jangle and a bit more solid substance. It's a solid album overall with no great flaws. The charm of Death is still there, but the whole sound mellowed from unbridled juvenile energy to more controlled sounds with a more audible angst to them. It's not the ray of sarcastic sunshine that Death was. But it's still a top-shelf release all the same.

- Garrett Lyons

Los Campesinos! - "We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed"

Los Campesinos! - "Ways to Make It Through the Wall"

Clash at Shea Stadium

I got a hot tip from a buddy today that The Clash is releasing (or at least the label is, I can't get the story straight) the live show from Shea Stadium on October 13, 1982. The CD will be released on October 7. Yeah, I probably should have known this back in June if I had really done my research on the topic, but can't change that now.

What the label won't tell you is that this show saw The Clash as an opener for The Who and that it technically isn't the classic line-up since Topper was replaced by Terry Chimes on drums. It's the last night of a two-night stand. The first night (also available as a boot for those who care to look for it) had incessant buzzing in the tape.

Don't tell anyone I gave you this. It's the original bootleg from the show. Sound quality isn't as good as a CD, but it really isn't bad at all.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=WOD8HGUB

Track list (from billboard.com article for the CD, confirmed by me through careful listening). This is the same list as the official CD boot:

London Calling
"Police on My Back"
"Guns Of Brixton"
"Tommy Gun"
"The Magnificent Seven"
"Armagideon Time"
"The Magnificent Seven" (return)
"Rock the Casbah"
"Train in Vain"
"Career Opportunities"
"Spanish Bombs"
"Clampdown"
"English Civil War" - part of the first verse and intro are chopped short
"Should I Stay or Should I Go"
"I Fought the Law"

Now the bonus tracks (special credit to www.blackmarketclash.com for research help):

The Clash with Joe Ely - Fingernails - live on 5/22/83 at San Antonio, Texas, only time performed

The Clash with Pearl Harbor - Fujiyama Mama - Live at Sun Plaza, Tokyo on 2/1/82

Enjoy this stuff.

Garrett

MIA vs. The Clash

Okay everyone,

I've been working at a bar for the past few months and the DJ who works with us is obsessed with the M.I.A. track "Paper Planes." Nothing wrong with the track mind you. It's just that it samples one of my favorites. Here are both tracks.

MIA - Paper Planes

The Clash - Straight to Hell

Listen to the first 10 seconds of each track. "Paper Planes" simply loops the opening of "Straight to Hell" over and over and over and over again.

Enjoy and love The Clash.

Garrett

The Long Overdue Mix

Sorry everyone. It's finals week here at St. Bonaventure and we have been chasing papers and deadlines for what feels like forever. Anywhere here's a random Tuesday mix of fun stuff for you all to enjoy.

The Libertines - All at Sea (Demo) - This track came off an exclusive CD released with The Observer newspaper in the UK. This just goes to show how good Pete Doherty was while he was still on drugs.

Weezer - You Won't Get With Me Tonight - While you're waiting for the latest disaster of an album from the band that just can't get over not being popular in high school, here's a track off the unreleased Songs From the Black Hole collection of demos.

127 - Perfect Estafan Blues - Iranian rock band that sings in English and blends piano rock with jazz fusion and Iranian rhythms. It's amazing what kind of music repressive regimes can produce.

The Hives - King of Asskissing - This isn't your radio-friendly Hives by any stretch of the imagination.

Apostle of Hustle - Fast Pony for Victor Hara - I saw this band opening for Sloan at a Canada Day celebration in Central Park last summer. It's Andrew Whiteman from Broken Social Scene taking his immense talent and infusing classican Cuban guitar into his refined style. Hey, he's Canadian. They don't have an embargo on the Cubans.

Hadouken! - Get Smashed Gate Crash - Recommended in small doses. Basically take the same nearly indecipherable rapping of Dizzee Rascal and throw it over Klaxons-style beats on amps. Basically auditory caffeine.

Goldfrapp - A&E - Yes, this is a single. It's the only track off Seventh Tree to blend the overt sexuality of Supernature with the duo's newfound folk obsession. Besides, I have a schoolboy crush on Allison.

That's enough for now.

- Garrett Lyons

The Next Last Shadow Puppets Single

In a March interview with NME, The Last Shadow Puppets stated that "Standing Next to Me" would be the next single. So here's the track.

The Last Shadow Puppets - Standing Next to Me

"Standing Next to Me" is a more mellow track than lead single "The Age of the Understatement." Instead of the massive orchestral movements, "Standing" leans on slimmer construction with more of a rhythmic quality and string heavy arrangement. The whole track exudes a solid ballroom groove.

So go listen to it.

-Garrett Lyons

The Last Shadow Puppets - Age of the Understatement

Rating: 9/10
Best Track: "The Meeting Place"
Worst Track: "Calm Like You"
Label: Domino Records

It’s not often that rock albums get to be compared to Henry Mancini in a good way. Usually comparisons like that draw ire and make the group sound dated.

That isn’t at all what happens to The Last Shadow Puppets. Alex Turner of the Arctic Monkeys gets together perfectly with Miles Kane of The Rascals and The Little Flames to make an absolutely perfect bit gem of a record in The Age of the Understatement. This is how all side projects should sound.

The album opens with the bombastic title track that takes full advantage of the capabilities of the London Metropolitan Orchestra. Witty lyrics combine with film score-esque sounds to make a brilliant opener. The beat drives through the air at a maddening pace and the whole song feels like an epic dance track that no one can escape from. It’s lush and beautiful in many ways.

The rest of the album doesn’t keep the dynamism of the opener. Don’t take that as a bad thing. Turner and Kane trade the huge orchestral scores for more delicate but still pronounced brass and clarinet arrangements that give the whole vibe of 50’s movie sounds from guys like Henry Mancini combined with the British Invasion sound of The Zombies. Don’t read that as if only your grandparents will like it. The Last Shadow Puppets perfectly meld the old influences with cutting edge indie sounds. The production throughout is delightfully lo-fi and the vocals leave a lingering quality that is missing from most records today.

The Age of the Understatement never goes wrong. Turner and Kane masterfully pull off intricate string and wind arrangements and meld those intricate arrangements with ease into up-tempo British rock. “Standing Next to Me” takes on the feel of a ballroom dance track. “Separate and Ever Deadly” feels like a track culled from the Favourite Worst Nightmare recording sessions. No one has worked this well with an orchestra since Metallica put out S&M.

The real highlight is the refreshingly diminutive “The Meeting Place.” The rhythm is early ballroom swing with a slightly macabre feel to it. The vocals lilt and twist at perfect times. The string orchestra backing adds a hint of forlornness to the aching vocals. It’s perfect in every manner.

The Age of the Understatement pushes rock into a new direction by looking into the deep musical soul of the genre. It’s well-mannered yet still raucous. It’s well composed, yet still rough enough along the edges to please true rock fans. It’s a complex beauty that few bands, let alone side projects, have ever put together.

- Garrett Lyons

Last Shadow Puppets - The Meeting Place

Phantom Planet - Raise the Dead

Fueled By Ramen 2008

6.5/10

Best Track: "Raise the Dead"

Worst Track: "Demon Daughters"

Phantom Planet is better known as “the band that sang the ‘O.C.’ theme song” than a group with legitimate talent. And while the song “California” has earned them multiple spots on teenage girls’ ringtone lists, Phantom Planet’s catalogue of Hives-like, raucous pop-rock is nothing to sneeze at, either. Unfortunately, their newest effort Raise the Dead doesn’t quite live up to their past works.

From the first second of the samely-named first track, Raise the Dead is an evident attempt at a large-scale musical evolution. At first, Phantom Planet succeed, rolling out a more mature, fresher version of their sound. For the first four tracks, Phantom Planet maintain their carefree, surf-like feel but add a once-missing, and welcome, robustness.

The fifth song is another story. “Quarantine” marks the point in Raise the Dead where Phantom Planet’s sound enters a nonsensical experimentation period. It sounds like Thom Yorke dropped by to lend some support, with guitar lines and vocal stylings that will remind many of a Radiohead song. The dismal “Demon Daughters” follows a similar mimicry of the Mars Volta. The song starts out like a normal Phantom Planet track, but goes terribly berserk around the halfway point. It’s as if the band were attempting to imitate a train derailment.

The first portion of Raise the Dead, along with a select few songs toward the end, is a wonderful listen. Unfortunately, the experimentation takes a wrong turn, which drags Raise the Dead down a couple of notches. Memo to Phantom Planet: less is more.

- Amanda Renko

Phantom Planet - Raise the Dead

Wednesday Six Pack - Covers

We all have musical guilty pleasures. Mine happens to be cover songs.

Yes, there are some absolutely awful cover tracks out there. But, every once in a while there is a total gem.

So kick back and enjoy some time with your covers.

Billy Bragg - That's Entertainment (The Jam cover)

Rock Plaza Central - SexyBack (Justin Timberlake cover)

The Strokes - Mercy Mercy Me (Marvin Gaye cover)

The Arcade Fire - Maps (Yeah Yeah Yeahs cover)

The Robocop Kraus - Filler (Minor Threat cover)

The Shins - Breathe (Pink Floyd cover)

Enjoy.

- Garrett Lyons

Upcoming Artist - Marié Digby

With the recent rise of female singer-songwriters like Ingrid Michaelson and Sara Bareilles, it’s no wonder that more and more women are trying their luck at breaking out into the quickly saturating field. But don’t let that stop you from giving Marié Digby a second listen.

Marié (pronounced mar-ee-ay) Digby started writing songs at the age of 15 and dropped out of the University of California at Berkeley to pursue a music career. Despite winning the 2004 Pantene Pro-Voice Music Competition for songwriting and signing to Hollywood Records in 2005, Digby’s career remained stagnant.

Frustrated with a lack of promotion, Digby decided to do the dirty work herself. She posted a series of performance videos on YouTube, including an acoustic cover of Rihanna’s oft-redone hit “Umbrella.” That interpretation received over 2 million plays and earned Digby an entry on Los Angeles radio and even on the Billboard charts.

In a matter of months, Digby’s music has popped up on The Hills, Smallville, various made-for-TV movies and a Gap commercial. Now, after releasing an official single “Say It Again,” her acoustic pop debut Unfold was released on April 8. Unfold features eleven original songs, plus the cover that made Digby famous. Will it garner the same buzz as her soft rendition of “Umbrella?” Only time will tell, but the amount of success she’s received points to a warm reception.

- Amanda Renko

Marie Digby - Miss Invisible

Marie Digby - Umbrella

Anti-Flag - The Bright Lights Of America

RCA Records 2008

5.5/10

Best Track: "No Warning"

Worst Track: "Modern Rome is Burning"

The finest example of modern anarchist pop-punk is back making their standard anti-fascist noise. Once again, Anti-Flag lift the banner of left-wing ideology with their latest album The Bright Lights of America. Bright Lights is the group’s eighth full-length studio release and their second on RCA, with 2006’s For Blood and Empire marking their debut.

Musically, this album sounds like…well…it sounds like Anti-Flag. It’s the same fist-pumping and mosh-inspiring pop-punk that the group has been playing since 1988. That’s right, all you Warped Tour kiddies. This band has been around at least as long as you. Deal with it.

There is no true musical expansion on here. The music is the same as their past three releases. Not that there’s any incentive to change. The same three chords played over the same vocals always worked for them. Besides, punk rock fans have a hard time dealing with change. Sure, producer Tony Visconti tries to push the group into a mainstream direction, but it just isn’t there for them. Anti-Flag push the songs into the four-minute range, but the added length just dilutes the experience. The music loses its sense of urgency and sometimes falls flat.

Instead of devoting themselves to screaming about Bush and the Iraq War, Anti-Flag made a push to be lyrical visionaries again. Sure, there are still the standard doom-and-gloom tracks like “The Modern Rome is Burning.” But, generally speaking, Anti-Flag sets its lyrical sights on religious zealots and neo-conservatism in general. It’s refreshing. A band can only scream “Stop the War!” for so long before it becomes nothing more than a T-shirt slogan.

There is one musical variance on here from the typical Anti-Flag sound. It’s on the closing “Tar and Sagebrush,” which is sonically brutal, but is the funniest country parody song you’ll ever hear.

In life there are only three certainties: death, taxes and Anti-Flag singing about something wrong with the world with the same three chords. Bright Lights is a good piece of political punk, but Anti-Flag is sonically treading water.

- Garrett Lyons

Anti-Flag - No Warning

Here's a bonus track:

Anti-Flag with The Donots - Protest Song

Panic At the Disco - Pretty. Odd.

Warner Bros. Records 2008

7/10

Best Track: "That Green Gentleman"

Worst Track: "Folkin' Around"

Back in 2005, 1.7 million tweens went crazy for Panic! At The Disco’s freakshow-glam-emo debut, A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out. The band spent the next three years doing exactly what any breakout success shouldn’t do: hibernate, record a second concept album only to scrap it and completely re-invent their sound.

The result is Pretty. Odd., an unexpected throwback to less complicated times. Shockingly, it works not only as a solid connection to their former selves, but a promising glimpse at a fruitful future for the Vegas-based quartet.

Panic’s aesthetic changes are notable right off the bat. The silly, pointless exclamation point from their name has disappeared along with the dramatic costumes and eyeliner. Song titles like “London Beckoned Songs About Money Written By Machines” and “The Only Difference Between Martyrdom and Suicide is Press Coverage” have been reduced to “Pas de Cheval” and “Mad as Rabbits.”

The most refreshing part about Panic’s change of heart is the maturity they’ve developed over the past three years. On Pretty. Odd., showmanship has given way to simplicity and distracting “young emo band” antics have been cleared out in favor of – gasp! – legitimate musical talent. Each of the fifteen diverse tracks evokes an influence more like the Beatles and their retro-pop contemporaries than Queen and Fall Out Boy.

Of course, Panic At The Disco still have some silliness left in them, as demonstrated in the bizarrely country-like “Folkin’ Around” and the goofy intro “We’re So Starving.” These tracks are short and relatively harmless, albeit annoying to the casual listener.

Hidden behind the theatrics that saturated their debut, Panic At The Disco have always had musical talent, an inspired vision and songwriting skills. This time around, they shine while still maintaining their debut’s catchy hooks and aural beauty. All around, Pretty. Odd. is a pleasant evolution.

- Amanda Renko

Panic at the Disco - That Green Gentleman

Gnarls Barkley - The Odd Couple

Atlantic Records 2008

8/10

Best Track: "Run"

Worst Track: "Open Book"

One of the most eclectic groups in the industry returns as Gnarls Barkley enters the spotlight with their latest release The Odd Couple. For those of you unaware, Gnarls is comprised of former Goody Mob vocalist Cee-Lo and world-renowned mixologist DJ Danger Mouse and their crazy style physically and musically have set them apart since their first release St. Elsewhere.

This album is a much less hectic collection, but is still surprisingly solid despite what sounds like such a drastic departure. The Odd Couple kicks off with a modern soul twist “Blind Mary,” which is a relaxing listen that seems to characterize the entire CD for St. Elsewhere fans- we’ll make it good, but get ready for something different. In fact, the album has a lot of references to gospel music in its samples, beats and lyrical delivery.

There are few mainstream-friendly tracks on the album, but it seems as if there are very few songs that contain any weaknesses. Danger Mouse continues to blaze a bold new path in popular sampling and beat production and while Cee-Lo may not have the prettiest voice in the land but he definitely commands your attention.

Track by track, The Odd Couple holds its own against any release this year. The album peaks at the very end with the highlight of the album “Run,” which will be sure to hold its own against “Crazy,” “Gone Daddy Gone,” or any other single around. “Run” is frenetic and makes you want to move around. Literally, there’s a good chance you’ll at the very least be tapping your toes or drumming your fingers on your desk. That’s a personal guarantee.

While we’re making guarantees, here’s another one. If you go into The Odd Couple expecting to hear everything from St. Elsewhere, beware. But if you look for growth and interesting new sounds, then The Odd Couple is a must.

- Joe Kepler

Gnarls Barkley - Run