Tunesday (Aug 31) Musical Confessions of the Week

[Whooptee]

This is how the past week shaped up for me. A mix of old and new with lots and lots of really great music. Just for kicks, I'm including a descriptive blurb from the first review that happened to come up in a Google search for some of the newer ones:

Audio Karate - Lady Melody

http://www.aversion.com/bands/reviews.cfm?f_id=1583
Taking pop punk and layering it with two very distinct guitar riffs, a flowing bass line, a vocal track full of emotion and a mighty backbeat to boot, Audio Karate delivers a style of music caught halfway between pop punk and emo. To put it more simply, Audio Karate picks up right where the late great Jawbreaker left off with their groundbreaking album 24 Hour Revenge Therapy (1993, Tupelo).

KVLR - Self-Titled

http://www.splendidezine.com/review....08850417330329
KVLR erupts with a rollicking melodic dissonance reminiscent of Mission Of Burma, Sonic Youth and Swervedriver, immediately betraying the band's '80s/'90s American indie-rock influences. Layered guitars screech and wail, and distorted basslines rumble, all anchored by Magnus Oberg's steadily upbeat drumming. It's not unusual to see Scandinavian artists reinventing the American rock canon, but it's rare to see their work extend beyond mere homage. Thus, even though KVLR's intentions are far from innovative, their Absolut-fueled melodic noise explosions are genuinely inspired.

The Ed Kemper Trio - How To Win A Sword Fight

http://www.adequacy.net/review.php?reviewid=1197
In sound and style, The Ed Kemper Trio have seemingly embraced the noisy post-punk canon of Chicago's Touch and Go label, particularly edgier acts like Tar and Shellac. Their writhing, winding riffs and manic energy also suggest an affinity with similarly minded outfits like Unwound and At the Drive-In. Kenny Johnson's loud buzz saw guitars are placed front and center as are his impassioned vocals that lurk somewhere between spoken word poetics and screamo fury. Bassist Vonda McLeod's thick, groove-oriented bass riffs are bouncy and buoyant, providing the perfect antithesis to Johnson's scathing pyrotechnics. Not to be outdone, drummer Glenn Grant assaults every beat and fill with terrific chops and a focused intensity. The musicianship here is strong and the songwriting is unique and inventive.

Red Animal War - Black Phantom Crusades

http://www.adequacy.net/review.php?reviewid=2883
Their music is aggressive and mathy, powerful and sometimes jarring. At those moments, you get the sense of how strongly this band can rock, with stellar guitars, forceful vocals, and powerful rhythm. But the band's best moments are when they pull back from that sound, allowing their music to flow a bit more, keeping it intense while not as all-out. It's then that their strongly written lyrics are more clear and the impeccable production of Ed Rose (Appleseed Cast, Get Up Kids, etc) shines through.

The rest of these probably don't need any description for most of you:

Rye Coalition - The Lipstick Game
Unwound - Repetition
Drive Like Jehu - Yank Crime
Rocket From the Crypt - Scream, Dracula, Scream! and RFTC
Jawbox - For Your Own Special Sweetheart
Shellac - At Action Park
Burning Airlines - Mission: Control!
Chavez - Ride the Fader
Hot Snakes - Suicide Invoice

John

[Mike]

Only a bit of new music for me including The Earlies, Ella Guru and Jesse Sykes.

But lots of live music in the shape of the 3 day Carling Festival. Me and the missus and a bunch of friends had an excellent time and saw some great bands. Basically it was a main stage and 2 smaller stages which were like huge circus tents and a case of a short walk to each. Simply far too many bands to mention but here are some:-
Morrissey – The old fart still has it
White Stripes – Intense stuff
Super Furry Animals – Absolutely bloody brilliant
Ash – Great
Razorlight – Outstanding
Franz Ferdinand - I’m not a huge fan but they were very good and had the crowd with them all the way
Modest Mouse – Sounded a bit shaky at first but soon warmed up
Graham Coxon (ex Blur) – might have to check his album out
The Stills – Exceptional
The Darkness – No doubt about it they are good live and a fantastic firework show too
New York Dolls – I was a little sceptical at first but they blew quite a few acts off the stage. They looked knackered but sounded great.

Also saw The Wildhearts, Libertines, 5678’s, The Ordinary Boys, The Roots, Reel Big Fish (ska still lives!) The Hives (barking mad) Soulwax,

All in all a pretty outstanding weekend,

Cheers
Mike

[audiobill]

Wow, Mike!! Sounds like quite the show. I can only dream that some day a show like yours will come to Toronto. At best 2 of these bands might be featured together on the same billing at a concert festival, here -- the rest, unfortunately would be filler.

Is this Carling Festival an annual thing??
Bill

But lots of live music in the shape of the 3 day Carling Festival. Me and the missus and a bunch of friends had an excellent time and saw some great bands. Basically it was a main stage and 2 smaller stages which were like huge circus tents and a case of a short walk to each. Simply far too many bands to mention but here are some:-
Morrissey – The old fart still has it
White Stripes – Intense stuff
Super Furry Animals – Absolutely bloody brilliant
Ash – Great
Razorlight – Outstanding
Franz Ferdinand - I’m not a huge fan but they were very good and had the crowd with them all the way
Modest Mouse – Sounded a bit shaky at first but soon warmed up
Graham Coxon (ex Blur) – might have to check his album out
The Stills – Exceptional
The Darkness – No doubt about it they are good live and a fantastic firework show too
New York Dolls – I was a little sceptical at first but they blew quite a few acts off the stage. They looked knackered but sounded great.

Also saw The Wildhearts, Libertines, 5678’s, The Ordinary Boys, The Roots, Reel Big Fish (ska still lives!) The Hives (barking mad) Soulwax,

All in all a pretty outstanding weekend,

Cheers
Mike[/QUOTE]

[Mike]

Is this Carling Festival an annual thing??

Yeah Bill it's an annual event over the bank holiday weekend in about its 4th year, it used to be held about 20 miles from where I live but they had a bit of trouble one year so now it's found a new venue even better about 12 miles from home.

It's a hassle free, friendly family type atmosphere from what I can tell, and being so close to home means I get a proper bed for the night.

Cheers
Mike

[audiobill]

Raingods With Zipposâ„¢ -- too cool a name -- absolutely love it (nt)

Is it any good, Peter?? What's it like?? audiobill

[Dusty Chalk]

Raingods With Zippos™ -- too cool a name -- absolutely love it (nt)

Is it any good, Peter?? What's it like?? audiobill

I like it. Fish used to be the lead singer with Marillion, a prog group from the 80's that sounded a certain amount like Genesis. He has since gone solo, and his solo work has drifted into crooner/AOR territory. His lyrics are always excellent -- very introspective -- although nothing of late matches his heavy drinking period (peaking at Clutching at Straws, I think). I see analogies to the careers of Peter Gabriel, Roger Waters, David Bowie, Ian Anderson -- not as cool as their heyday, but still cool (PG notwithstanding -- he just gets cooler).

Oh, and he manages to sing the title track with a straight face -- I have no idea if that means he takes himself too seriously, or if he's just very good at keeping a straight face (Ian Anderson comes to mind).

[KEXPMF]

hello from Seattle..

I've been hearing West Indian Girl on the radio here and liking it.
Also heard on the radio here in Seattle: Mountain Con "I Woke Up and the Morning was Grey" from an album called Dusty Zeros Dusty Ones. I think it's not out yet but WOW it's great.

Still loving Von Bondies "Cmon Cmon". I can't seem to get tired of that one.

I'll be seeing the Pixies and MUCH, MUCH more at the Bumbershoot Festival this weekend! This one ranks HIGH among the better music festivals!
www.bumbershoot.org