Systems/Layers By: Rachel's Year: 2003 Click here for the artists site My experience with the group Rachel's has been an interesting one. I heard of them for the first time as I was sitting in my buddy's basement, looking through a copy of his university's newspaper. I read a review for this album, and my interest was piqued by what the author had said – that this album was a combination of such odd things that it somehow worked. So we logged on to amazon.com and looked...
Visual Audio Sensory Theater By: VAST Year: 1998 Click here for the artists site This album is one that I've been meaning to review for ages. It will be good to write this much-needed review. I received this CD from my parents at the age of fifteen as a congratulations for performing well in a big, nasty piano recital. It was one of the first albums that I owned that wasn't by Rush, my all-time favorite band, and (to be brutally honest) my first album with a “nasty cuss...
i'M SITTING HERE AT MY DESK WITH MY MEDIA PLAYER ON RANDOM IN MY rUSH COLLECTION, PLAYING EVERY ALBUM THEY'VE EVER RELEASED AS WELL AS A COUPLE BOOTLEGS. Rush is the greatest band in the world. Because I said so.
Wrap your ever-lovin' heads around this here scenario. A cold night, October 2005. (Man, that feels like forever ago.) This was a much different San Chonino – I still wasn't sure exactly what I wanted to do with my life, hadn't discovered the beauty that is Spanish literature (a love that would eventually dictate my current plans for the rest of my life). It was my first semester back at school after a two-and-a-half year break. Two years to serve as a missionary for my church ( The ...
The Eraser By: Thom Yorke Year: 2006 Click here for the artists site As far as alternative rock bands go, Radiohead is one that has always been willing to push its limits. Listening to their first CD and comparing it to their latest is almost comical; they sound nothing alike – the only uniting factor is the odd voice of Thom Yorke. Those of us who are Radiohead fans are still waiting patiently for another album from this revolutionary group, but frontman Yorke has helpe...
Most of you probably don't know this, but I'm in a band. Our name is Ascension Aire. (Long story about how that name came to be, I don't have time to tell it now, but probably I'll relay it in the comments section later on today.) I've been working on putting together a webpage for a while, but I've found that stupid old MySpace is about the only place that a poor schmuck like me can get some music hosted. So here is my (albeit dinky) webpage, check it out if you want. Ah, here's the li...
In Rainbows By: Radiohead Year: 207 Click here for the artists site Radiohead caused ripples in the music world with the release of their new album, hoping for the good faith of their fans to ride the success monkey. The album was released online, at whatever price you feel compelled to pay. (See the article here for more info.) While that resulted in over ten million dollars in revenue, it was also downloaded from their website nearly 20 million times. (Ye...
All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone By: Explosions in the Sky Year: 2007 Click here for the artists site Rather than suffering the normal characteristics of post-rock (which were by-and-large invented and perfected by such greats as Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Mogwai), the constant ebb-and-flow of pulsating melodies, building to a climax and then abating, Explosions in the Sky's newest disc creates a new breed of post-music, focusing on the melody's strength, rathe...
Coward By: Made Out of Babies Year: 2006 Click here for the artists site It seems that most female rock vocalists fall into three categories. One is the whiny, petulant voice, featured in so many pop-rock or alternative rock bands, that sounds so much like every other voice on the radio, telling you about how hard her life is, or how hot she thinks you are, ad nauseum, forever and ever amen. The second is the power vocalist, star of just about every metal ban...
I don’t know why people don’t think of me as metal. But they really don’t. There are so many times that people meet me, even get to know me a little bit, and still think that I’m a “classical music all the time” kind of kid. I still remember working at a local taco joint five or six years ago, and one day it was my turn to pick the radio station as we opened up the store in the morning. I turned the radio to the closest thing I could get to metal in Utah. The manager’s jaw dropped....
The Galilean Satellites By: Rosetta Year: 2005 Click here for the artists site Few albums are as all-encompassing as Rosetta's latest release, The Galilean Satellites . Usually, an album by a band, even in the case of incredible releases, is just that – an album, a record to listen to at will. The Galilean Satellites isn't an album, or record – it's an event. One that you should seriously pencil time in your schedule for. On first inspection, and whi...
Blood Inside By: Ulver Year: 2005 Click here for the artists site Few bands have changed as much or as consistently as Ulver. Norway’s wierdnoid black-metal-cum-folk-metal-cum-ambient-cum-electronic group has never been content to duplicate a sound. This is a band that created one of the most raw, poorly-produced and vivid black metal albums, Nattens Madrigal , the group that produced one of the strangest spoken-word poetry ambient albums, Themes from William Blake’s Mar...
Alaska By: Between the Buried and Me Year: 2005 Click here for the artists site Between the Buried and Me . Sounds like it should be one of those emo bands that wears their pants too tight, their hair too black, and their pouts too . . . pouty. Certainly doesn't sound like the name of a blistering progressive metal band. Yet . . . that's exactly what Between the Buried and Me is. Blistering, progressive metal. And it's just awesome. Alaska has everything a goo...
I stumbled upon this website this morning, Love God's Way . Now, I'm not one to get mad at Christian fundamentalists who put up websites to promote their message, but this one specifically made me laugh. These people are super-anti-gay. I mean, super. Want proof? The "minister" of this "church" has a "band" (all of these hypothetical statements). Their best song is a little ditty they call "God Hates Fags". (You want to see the video of this atrocity? Check it out here .) What ...
So this took longer than I thought it would to get around to writing up, but I've got to get something posted before too much time passes and I forget how awesome it was. Because this show was exactly that - AWESOME. I arrived at the Urban Lounge early - the tickets said the show started at 9pm, so I rolled up about 8:30. Not a soul was there; the doors were locked up and the 'Open' sign was off. So I chilled in the car, listening to Polar Bear's eponymous album (because I ...