Chinese Democracy

So,

have you heard Chinese Democracy yet, the new the new Guns and Roses single from the album of the same name? Perhaps you’ve listened it several times online but can’t even remember doing so. Well, you’re forgiven. Lamentably the new single is forgettable and middle of the road material, inducing instant amnesia and a palpable sense of nostalgia for GNR’s earlier work.

The single has a generic mid to late 80’s heavy rock feel, without any of the character and personality that have made a band like Gun and Roses so great the first time ‘round. It doesn’t grab you, hell, the song barely even checks you out before heading off to someplace else, leaving you feeling dirty and cheap.

It’s inevitable. Call it, Phantom Menace syndrome. After 17 years of waiting with baited breath for the coming GNR album, fans old enough to remember the LAST album can’t help but build the whole thing up a little more than it needs to be.

But it’s early days yet. It’d be far to premature to judge the entire album on the back of one mediocre single. I prefer to think of this album as Axl clearing his throat, getting rid of all the grotty phlegm and other crap in his system before inhaling a deep, clean breath and jumping back into the creative pool.

(An aside that robs me of a little hope. S and I went to a GNR concert a couple years ago. Axl was still rocking the Chinese Democracy stage decoration. It was a great concert but it was quite obvious that the weakest songs in his set were the ones from the 'new' album)

Dear Amanda Palmer

I wish I could see you play at your latest concert.

I like your music an awful lot and unfortunately I missed you on your last tour through town.

But I'm getting married and that means I'll be very busy that night.

I know you'll understand, because you seem pretty cool like that. But I just wanted you to know anyway.

But I'll see you next time you play.

That's a promise

Muzak: Weezer (Red)

What makes Rivers Cuomo a good songwriter? Well in my eyes it’s his ability to take simple song concepts, that have been subject to every hoary cliché since caveman first started banging sticks together, and elevate them to something greater. He’s just as likely to talk about a missed romantic opportunity as a baseball allegory or, I don’t know, a treatise on land rights claims by Native Americans.

The point is you don’t have to listen to a bunch of whiny, crying ‘why doesn’t she love me, I love her’ b.s.

Which is a GOOD thing.

It’s been three years since I’ve had the good fortune to be graced with another Weezer studio album. 2005’s Make Believe was one of the band’s strongest releases to date with a sound reminiscent of a more polished version of their debut album.

So does their sixth album, Red, stand up?

Well after putting the album on repeat on my iPod for almost a week, I’d have to say…pretty well. After all these years the band still retains their core sound. It’s pure Weezer all the way and even a passing fan will enjoy the music. Songs like Pork and Beans and Everybody Get Dangerous seem almost familiar, built around Weezer’s traditional growling guitars, driving drumbeats and Cuomo’s tongue in cheek lyrical stylings.

And while I don’t find they’ve gone out of their way on this album to push creative boundaries they’ve still gone a bit further than the average bear would. I recommend The Greatest Man That Ever Lived and Heartsongs. It took me a little while to get into both of these songs but once I did I found they retained a cultish appeal that some of the album’s more format friendly tunage lacks.

So where does this album stand in a completely subjective ranking with their other work?

…Something like this.

1. Pinkerton
2. Make Believe
3. Blue
4. Green
5. Red
6. Maladroit

So yah. It’s not their greatest album. But that doesn’t mean it’s a bad album by any stretch of the imagination (Maladroit I’m looking at you). But after a couple days I found myself skipping over some songs and that’s a sure sign that you’re never going to get into Chris’ personal musical hall of fame.

So in the end, a solid album, even a good album, but not a great album. I’d recommend it to hardcore and casual fans alike, but I suspect that aside from one or two singles that this album isn’t going to be big with general population.

Muzak: Nine Inch Nails - Ghosts I - IV

I loves me some Nine Inch Nails. When Cobain passed on and grunge was dying a public and painful death from overexposure, NIN was the band that I turned to. My anger, rage and roiling emotions were nicely duplicated in Trent’s muzak. It was a much needed outlet for pent up teenage life.

As I matured, and Trent mellowed, I found that NIN was one of the few bands who’s new albums continued to be just as relevant and groundbreaking as their older material. They resisted the urge to milk the nostalgia of their older fans and persisted in exploring the breadth and depth of their unique sound.

So it’s almost inevitable that NIN would get around to creating an album like Ghosts I – IV. This album, which is completely instrumental, also happens to be their first studio album recorded outside of a major record label deal. Where Radiohead hath trail blazed, NIN shalt follow.

What else can I say about this album? Well, the majority of it is like listening to the acoustic version of wallpaper actually. That sounds overly critical and I don’t mean it to be. It was actually meant as a compliment. I’m crap at just putting something on in the background and letting it function as white noise. If the radio or television is on I have to actively focus on what is being played. I am biologically incapable of tuning anything out.

Ghosts is the rare exception to this. Alternating between light piano interludes and the more familiar grinding guitars Ghosts seems to be made up entirely of the instrumental segues that are peppered throughout so many of his other albums. At times I felt like I was listening to a lost track from ‘The Downward Spiral’ or an extended version of something off of ‘With Teeth’.

But with this album I was able to listen to the whole thing and drift in and out of it at will, enjoying a snatch of guitar here or a particularly noteworthy solo there. Although it’s all solo when you get down to it. The songs on Ghosts don’t employ a typical verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus structure. They are all essentially rambling train-of-thought pieces, which only helps add to the albums background music feel. There is no stress on the listener whatsoever to actively participate in the experience of enjoying these tunes.

So on the whole, I approve. I probably wouldn’t normally have given an album like this the time of day, instrumental\experimental muzak isn’t really for me. Having the NIN name on the disc made all the difference regarding my choice to purchase it. But now that I have bought it, I’m glad I did. It’s a welcome break from what I normally listen to and I think it broadened my horizons enough for me to consider giving something similar a try.

Well played Trent Reznor. Well played.

Muzak: The Trews - concert review

So,

Saturday turned into a bit of a free-for-all when it came to figuring out what to do for the day. We were supposed to hit up three birthday celebrations, involving three very different groups of friends, and go to the Trews’ concert at the Kool Haus as well.

S managed to fit one friend’s mid-afternoon birthday luncheon in and, of course, we definitely made the concert, but overall our meticulously crafted plan was an absolute bust.

But according to the title of this post I’m supposed to be reviewing the Trews’ concert.

Um, it was good.

Seriously, it’s East Coast rock, what’s not to like? Although if you’re looking for fiddles and harps you’re going to find yourself sorely disappointed.

The Trews’ live show is a high energy event. The live interpretations of their songs aren’t wildly different from their studio stuff, except for rocking out to a cover song during the bridge every now and then. The one new aspect of their style I wasn’t sold on was the addition of keyboardist. It gave the Trews music a little bit of a White Cowbell feel, which shouldn’t have bothered me at all, because I love Der Cowbell, but it was a new element that didn’t quite work for me, especially on their older songs.

Oh and for the their new tune ‘Gun Control’ they substituted GTA for U.S.A., you know, so they could personalize it for us Torontonians. With some of the hype that’s been generated in these parts, due to gun violence, I wasn’t overwhelmed by that choice.

Other than that two hours of solid rock, expensive beer and an evening well spent.

And even though it’s been happening for awhile now, I still get a kick out of how cellphones have become the new lighters when it comes to demonstrating appreciation to the band.

Muzak: The Raconteurs - Consolers of the Lonely

So,

I’m really digging the new Raconteurs album. Personally, I suck at doing music reviews, as my University elective will show. I find it really hard to articulate what it is I like about a particular, song or album beyond…

“You see how s/he rhymed those two words there? Watch and splotch? That’s good writing”

I’m impressed that after something like seven or eight albums Jack White is still able to consistently turn out something like this. Considering, in this musical age, some bands never can’t make it beyond their sophomore release the fact that White is still going, and going strong, is definitely worthy of note.

He’s like the marathon man of the music scene.

My musical tastes tend to lean towards darker and grittier singer\songwriter stuff. (I’ve got the new Dresden Dolls on pre-order and I can’t wait to get my hands on that) It’s not that you can’t be a great musician by performing someone else’s songs. I don’t believe that for a second. But, as someone who’s dabbled creatively from time to time, I like the idea of taking a song from concept to finished product and have the quality of the end result rest entirely with you. I find that few things in life are as satisfying as pulling something like that off successfully.

Anyway, according to my iPod, the two songs I’ve starred as being worthy of note are “Carolina Drama” and “Rich Kid Blues”.

Enjoy.