An Exploration Of Indie: Part Two

Alright, so it's been quite a while since I've posted last. I've delayed the post mostly because I'm just really lazy, but I guess we can just say I've been 'analyzing' the music. Yeah that sounds better than 'I was too busy playing guitar and vegetating in front of the TV'. So now we embark once again on our exploration of the magnificent and extensive genre that we know simple as 'Indie'. Anyways, last time we stopped with Broken Social Scene, an amazing band, so without further ado we shall start with Circulatory System.

Circulatory System - Circulatory System

Circulatory System is interesting. They have a unique sound that is more low-fi and abstract than most other indie rock bands. The singer's voice is soft and soothing and provides wonderful companionship to the odd, fuzz-laced guitar tracks. In addition to the usual rock-band lineup of instruments (guitar, bass, vocals, drums), Circulatory System adds a wide variety of noises and instruments to create a busy, atmospheric background on which to lay their music. The tracks are full, but not quite lush, with sound and rather abrasive in some qualities, yet still enjoyable. This band would probably be a lot better on certain mind-altering substances, as most bands that aim for a very atmospheric sound tend to be.

Crystal Antlers - Tentacles

Crystal Antlers is a surprisingly noise-rock oriented band. Based on the bright, warm colors of the album cover I was expecting some mellow, acoustic-rock but the true sound of the band is a pleasant surprise. The vocalists unintelligible lyrics preside over a smooth layer of fuzz coming from the guitar and bass. The organ, a surprisingly prominent instrument in this band, seems to play much more of a lead role than the guitar in some songs, especially in the opening track, "Painless Sleep", in which the organ skips over itself in the same method that Ratatat often uses. Overall this is a good album, and once you get past first half of the album, the songs diverse from the format used in earlier tracks and you really get a sense of the music the band is capable of forging within their wailing vocals, organs, and guitars. My favorite song is the turning point of the album, "Andrew".

Tracklist
01 Painless Sleep
02 Dust
03 Time Erased
04 Andrew
05 Vapor Trail
06 Tentacles
07 Until the Sun Dies (Part One)
08 Memorized
09 Glacier
10 Foot of the Mountain
11 Your Spears
12 Swollen Sky
13 Several Tongues

DOWNLOAD
http://rapidshare.com/files/202223824/tentacles_linuxtrance.rar


The Decemberists - The Hazards of Love

The album originally meant to be a musical is great if you love bands with extraordinary amounts of vocals. However, I, never one to be able to follow vocals in my head, find this album quite boring. Despite my boredom with some tracks there are still a few gems, and listening to the album in it's entirety is quite powerful since all the tracks flow seamlessly into each other to create a vast tapestry of sound and story. For those people who listen to bands for the riffs (that's me for sure) and don't care too much if the vocals create a vast, interweaving story, or if they just create nice harmony, this is not the band for you. The Decemberists have created a capacious story and atmosphere with their lyrics, but like I said, I have trouble keeping track of lyrics so they effect is lost on me. This is a decent album nonetheless. My favorite track is "Won't Want For Love", the point in which the female character, Margaret, enters the story.

Tracklist
1. Prelude
2. The Hazards of Love 1 (The Prettiest Whistles Won't Wrestle the Thistles Undone)
3. A Bower Scene
4. Won't Want for Love (Margaret in the Taiga)
5. The Hazards of Love 2 (Wager All)
6. The Queen's Approach
7. Isn't It A Lovely Night?
8. The Wanting Comes in Waves / Repaid
9. An Interlude
10. The Rake's Song
11. The Abduction of Margaret
12. The Queen's Rebuke / The Crossing
13. Annan Water
14. Margaret in Captivity
15. The Hazards of Love 3 (Revenge!)
16. The Wanting Comes in Waves (Reprise)
17. The Hazards of Love 4 (The Drowned)

DOWNLOAD
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=6W6XBSBT


Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca

Creating lush effects with guitar and vocal melodies sets apart Dirty Projectors from the pack. They have a upbeat, cheery, unique sound, and the vocals are amazing. I especially like the phrase, "It hits the spot, like Gatorade". Out of my recent downloads, this is my second favorite band of the bunch. They do what they do, chill rock with well-executed lyrics and vocals, extremely well. Download this album! My favorite song probably has to be "Temecula", or "The Bride", or maybe just the whole album.

Tracklist
01 "Cannibal Resource"
02 "Temecula Sunrise"
03 "The Bride"
04 "Stillness Is The Move"
05 "Two Doves"
06 "Useful Chamber"
07 "No Intention"
08 "Remade Horizon"
09 "Fluorescent Half Dome"

DOWNLOAD
http://rapidshare.com/files/242871798/Dirty_Projectors-Bitte_Orca-2009-DV8_nled.rar


Well that's all for now folks, I hope you try to expand your horizons and listen to some new great music, I know I will.

-Dr.Reeves
http://www.last.fm/user/ryoga415

Alright, I can't help but talk about this. I recently bought an HP Mini Netbook and oh man do I love this thing. It's portability is astounding. It's smaller than a textbook and only an inch or so thick. Even though it is so small, it still has a 160gig hard drive, 1gb of memory, and an HD sound card. It is perfect for surfing the web and listening to music. Since that's really all I do anymore (besides the occasional fragfest of QuakeLive), it is perfect for me. I didn't have access to a computer of my own all summer and now that I have one it's just so liberating. Yeah this doesn't have much to do with music, but I felt like I had to plug this thing, since it's now the machine I will be doing all my (hopefully more frequent) blogs on.
http://www.hp.com/united-states/campaigns/mini1000/index.html#/Main/

Exploration of Indie; Part One

Having browsed several discussion boards, and thoroughly listened to my previous selections, I have downloaded some new music. I took the music I mentioned in my previous posting An Introduction to Indie and analyzed the features of the bands that I liked most out of the ones mentioned. I realized the aspects I most liked was the chill, relaxed feel of the bands coupled with well-thought out lyrics and atmosphere created by the instruments. Based on these features I gathered some new bands and decided to give them a listen since I had considerable free time on my flights to and from Boulder, Colorado. I was also given some help in my selections by my dorm roommate who turned out to have very similar musical taste. As I am often compelled to do when faced with a large number of new artists at once, I shall go through the new bands alphabetically.

The Antlers - Hospice


The dreamy lyrics and spacey guitar really creates a lush atmosphere throughout the whole album. Sometimes the lyrics are a little weird, specifically in "Kettering" where it feels like the singer is whispering into your ear. Apparently the lyrics tell a "epic storyline" of a man losing a loved one to cancer and having to watch her die, but I would never have been able to tell you that without Wikipedia. The lyrics tend to run together in this singer's whispery voice, but I've never really been one to really listen to lyrics either, so that probably didn't help. The majority of the songs are quite slow and ambient, but the tempo picks up in "Bear" and "Two". Overall this is a splendid album for just sitting and chilling as it is very relaxing and atmospheric, however I can't see myself listening to this very often. My favorite song from this album is "Bear".

Tracklist
01. Prologue ( 2:34)
02. Kettering ( 5:10)
03. Sylvia ( 5:27)
04. Atrophy ( 7:40)
05. Bear ( 3:53)
06. Thirteen ( 3:11)
07. Two ( 5:56)
08. Shiva ( 3:45)
09. Wake ( 8:43)
10. Epilogue ( 5:28).

DOWNLOAD
http://rapidshare.com/files/267704228/The_Antlers-Hospice-2009-FNT.rar


Bibio - Ambivalence Avenue


This is a very interesting album. The musicianship and composition is superb. The focus is not really on vocals, but on creating a unique layer of instruments and sound that is very different and never gets too "weird" like some other bands I can think of *coughofmontrealcough*. I really like this album and I think everyone should listen to it. My favorite song is probably the opening track, "Ambivalence Avenue" followed closely by "Haikuesque".

Tracklist
01. Ambivalence Avenue
02. Jealous Of Roses
03. All The Flowers
04. Fire Ant
05. Haikuesque (When She Laughs)
06. Sugarette
07. Lovers Carvings
08. Abrasion
09. S'Vive
10. The Palm Of Your Wave
11. Cry ! Baby !
12. Dwrcan

DOWNLOAD
http://rapidshare.com/files/247619063/BbAA.rar


Broken Social Scene - Broken Social Scene


I love this band. They are incredibly talented and the music is very fresh and lush. I first listened to Broken Social Scene after the urging of my roommate at the Boulder Running Camp, Forrest. I was on a bus headed out over the rolling plains of Colorado, with the mountains behind us and the sky beautifully azure. The song "Our Faces Split the Coast In Half" came on and I was stunned. It fit the scenery perfectly and then the rest of the album just fell into place exactly as it should. This is a stupendous album for traveling, as the quick tempo on some songs fits with the motion of a car or bus and the slower songs allow for contemplation of your surroundings. This is a wonderful band and I look forward to downloading some of their other albums. My favorite song is the opening track "Our Faces Split the Coast in Half".

Tracklist
1. Our faces split the coast in half
2. Ibi dreams of pavement (a better day)
3. 7/4 (shoreline)
4. Finish your collapse and stay for breakfast
5. Major label debut
6. Fire eye’d boy
7. Windsurfing nation
8. Swimmers [v
9. Hotel
10. Handjobs for the holidays
11. Superconnected
12. Bandwitch
13. Tremoloa debut
14. It’s all gonna break

DOWNLOAD
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=Y4D6HAS0


-Dr.Reeves
http://www.last.fm/user/ryoga415

Chickenfoot - Self Titled

Chickenfoot is a rock supergroup composed of:

Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers)

Joe Satriani

Micheal Anthony (Van Halen)

Sammy Hagar


All in all, Chickenfoot's debut album is disappointing

I was pretty excited for this band seeing as it feature my IDOL, Joe Satriani. However awesome Satch's playing may be in this band, it in no way makes up for the atrocities that Sammy Hagar commits upon my eardrums.

The band members gave Hagar way too much control over the sound in my opinion, far too many of the songs just sound like Van Halen minus the actual Van Halen. Some of the songs are pretty good though, and I now that I think about it, the music they make is really the only way that they could incorporate Hagar's vocals, if that makes sense.

This album will sell very well to Hagar nuts.

Satch fans beware when buying, this is not another compilation of complex guitar-wankery, it is more hard rock/rock/modern rock. Pretty bland overall. Luckily there are lots of blistering, octave-shattering whammy screams thrown in several of the songs. I think we can all agree that Satch has perfected that little technique, and I don't know about you but I love to pull one of those off after you've played a nice little riff.

I would be in heaven if the band took their music in a more blues-oriented direction for their next album(if they make one), as Satch and Chad could just join up and make masterful tunes, and if Hagar could tone it down a little to make it sound like hes NOT about to have a hernia with every syllable, it would be some bomb-ass music.

----
Avenida Revolution: The decision to start the album is pretty bold in my opinion. It really projects a hard-rocking image and the band firmly cements their musical style in your mind. Seeing as I have a major interest in anything involving Joe Satriani, I really love how the guitar takes a pretty major role in the song. Around 1:45 we get a good signature Satch whammy trick. The solo however, is pretty tame compared to pieces in Satriani's early career. I assume that Satch is holding back on his guitar work in order to attract focus off of the guitar and onto the other members and elements of the band. The guitar doesn't overwhelm the mix, and when listening to this album, I have to do it from the perspective of one who hasn't already been influenced by Satriani's earlier work to the extreme extent I have. As an impartial listener, it's very refreshing to be able to clearly hear each individual element of the band with minimal confusion.

Soap on a Rope: Pretty good song. One might think this song, with it's increased energy and ability to become a more popular song, would be placed first in the album track list. However, in several sections of the song, in which the vocals and guitar harmonize, with the vocalist increasing in pitch over an artificial harmonic being played by the guitar sound almost exactly like a Van Halen song. Even with that small flaw, this song more than makes up with Chad Smith's drumming, a loose, relaxed, and fun drum beat makes the song very lively and fun. Satriani also gives a much better solo in this song, very reminiscent of his solo work. Overall it's a good song, with an interesting composition, and it's fun to try and find all the moment's when you are vividly reminded of Van Halen. There's quite a few.

Sexy Little Thing: This song is a little weird, and is sounds even more like Van Halen than Soap. Probably one of my least favorite songs on the album. I enjoyed Satch's bluesy solo however short it may have been. Too many times I just find myself wishing they hadn't given Hagar so much creative control over the band. Like I stated on my other blog, Satch and Smith should just grab Flea or Geddy Lee or someone awesome like that and make an awesome instrumental funk/blues band.

Oh Yeah: The intro on this song guarantees to make your head bob, and you really realize why the song has the title that it does. The rhythm just makes you wanna say "oh yeah" as your head bobs. Pretty neat little rhythm, and Hagar screeches over in segments that are completely over the top with a chorus shouting "OH!" "YEAH!" Really cool little buildup and transition between sections of the song at 2:30 leads into a nice little solo, and sets you up to be assailed once more by the chorus and Hagar wailing into the microphone.

"Runnin' Out": This song is pretty funny because I actually enjoy Hagar's vocals in this song. It's just so funny to image him as a flamboyant black man dancing around, big lips flapping and belting out the lyrics, as that is the image that is strongly conveyed to me when I listen to him sing.

Get It Up: Satriani almost certainly had most, if not all, creative control on this song. The style and feel of the song just oozes of Satch's more experimental work, such as Strange Beautiful Music This song also has a great section where two guitars solo off Sf one another. This is an ideal song to play with a guest guitar player, seeing as Satch is the only official guitar player. This is very exciting for guitar aficionados, because a guest guitar player for a band with Satch in it has to have some skills for sure, and this gives other G3 members a chance feature in tours and plug their band, and for Chickenfoot to get a chance to play at guitar clinics and festivals such as NAMM, G3, etc. One of my favorite songs on the album.

Down the Drain: A sinister intro builds up into another upbeat, classic song invoking memories of Van Halen. However, this song takes the classic sound and really modernizes everything with Satch's unique phrasing and technique. The more modern guitar contrasted with Hagar's very classic vocals gives the song a very unique feel.

My Kinda Girl: I did not like this song. It just feels stale and very boring.

Learning to Fall: Obviously meant to be a ballad, this song falls far short once Hagar's voice starts grating irritably against your brain, which happens to be when he first begins singing. You might as well skip this track.

Turning Left: A much welcome reprieve after the abomination of Learning to Fall is Turning Left. The guitar drives a tight, fast rythm and keeps the song moving. Another one of my favorites.

Future is the Past: Funky song, pretty dang cool. This is another one of Hagar's good moments, and another song in which I visualize him as someone else. This song would be great live, it seems like it could really get a crowd pumped up. This is also another song that would be able to incorporate a guest guitarist. With a guest guitarist and Satch play solos off one another and if they did a little improvisation for a few minutes thrown in about halfway, this song would be extremely effective and popular in a live setting.

Bitten By the Wolf: Acoustic song. Fun to listen to and puts the spotlight on Hagar, who does a great job on this song.

Overall, I have to give this album a 6/10 because it does what it set out to do. That is, it takes the classic rock sound and kicks it into overdrive, really modernizing the sound into something quite unique.

-Dr.Reeves
http://www.last.fm/user/ryoga415

An Introduction to "Indie"

All you needed was a couple of instruments and a few chords and you could be on an indie label.
-David Byrne

This summer I have devoted a vast majority of my time to discovering new music. My tastes have evolved over this relatively short period of time from mostly metal such as Opeth and technical virtuosos such as Satriani, Gilbert and Vai to the vast and mysterious genre known as "Indie". This has been prompted by several things, mostly my preference for more chill, relaxing music to help fit the feel of summer, but also the online music community. These online communities are filled to the brim with the strange creature known as the "hipster".

You may have seen one of these majestic beasts in the wild, as they frequent such places as Starbucks and your local music venue. Generally this hipsters can be identified by their attire, consisting of faded slim cut jeans; solid color high thread count fitted shirt; vans slip-ons or even converse; a fashionable beanie or fedora; trendy square or oval glasses; and most distinctly, the cup of coffee clenched in one hand and the macbook gently dangling from the other. As the accoutrements of the 'hipster' and the 'scene kid' blend ever so closely together, you may find it harder to distinguish one paragon of distinct taste from another. Whilst the scene kid may find their calling in discovering the most horrendous cacophony of noise and breakdowns to force down the throats of society, the hipster devotes himself to finding the most obscure, indie-as-fuck bands and songwriters possible. God forbid you actually engage the hipster in a discussion on music (which, if you were foolish enough to talk to the hipster unprovoked, will be the only topic of discussion) for you will soon be bombarded by a twisting, convoluted listing of bands and genres that you have never heard of and will probably never hear of again. You may be regalled with tales of "That one amazing band that only put out 10 casettes and is considered to be the pinnacle of indie musicianship, but you probably wouldn't get it.", and mired by his undisguised hostility and sense of superiority.

If you should find yourself in a state of mind to continue this innane conversation, you may mention any of the following bands to earn the hipster's undying contempt and hopefully appall him to such an extent that he will consider himself unable to enlighten you to the perfection that is his musical taste. Any hardcore, classic rock(dad rock), or metal(and any variations) will cause the hipster to weep into his caramel macchiato.

However, a very curious thing occurs if you mention the band Neutral Milk Hotel. Either the hipster will recoil in incredulous hosility and disgust, or you will earn his begrudging approval. You may have better luck in earning the hipster's respect by smashing random words together and saying "Oh, well I'm not suprised you don't know who they are, they're pretty underground." This tactic may be dangerous because the hipster may challenge you to an obscure band shootout, which you may not even know you are participating in.

Anyways, back to the original point of this post. I have been enjoying what you would call "Entry-Level" indie lately, as the more underground and obscure bands are often too boring, whiny, or just plain indie-as-fuck for me to enjoy.
Beck, which is pretty mainstream actually, is very enjoyable and easy to get into.


DOWNLOAD
http://rapidshare.com/files/127062864/B-Mdrn_Gu1t-2008_320k.rar

Neutral Milk Hotel is also enjoyable in it's listenability and catchy songs. In the Airplane Over the Sea is the easiest to get into, while On Avery Island is more abstract and indie, but a better album in my opinion.


DOWNLOAD
http://rapidshare.com/files/71119568/hotel.island.rar
PASSWORD
russia

I love Built to Spill. I downloaded the album Perfect From Now On on a whim and it turned out to be one my favorites of the genre.


DOWNLOAD
http://rapidshare.com/files/217232344/PerfectFromNowOn.rar
PASSWORD
www.nattawat.org

Eels is decent, but I think it may be a little to indie for my tastes. Some of the songs are set up in such a way that it distorts the recording, and I did not find that enjoyable at all. The only album I've had the chance to listen to is Hombre Lobo, so perhaps some of his other albums are more enjoyable. The saving grace for Eels is the variety of the music, and that awesome beard.

DOWNLOAD
http://rapidshare.com/files/245150462/Eels_HombrL1_WBB.zip

Iron & Wine has to be my favorite band right now. The beauty of the songs and melodies are just astounding, and there really isn't a song that I don't enjoy on Shepherd's Dog. I recommend this to anyone who is interested in some cool, chill music.


DOWNLOAD
http://rapidshare.com/files/180524458/IaW.rar

Kasabian is a great band, I downloaded both Empire and West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum. WRPLA is a far superior album and very enjoyable. A few of the songs are quite reminiscent of Oasis in the musical and vocal style.


DOWNLOAD
http://rapidshare.com/files/262070043/k_wrpla.rar

Modest Mouse's Good News for People Who Love Bad News propelled them into the spotlight, but their older albums are much more experimental and interesting, worth a listen at least. The albums are riddled with some pretty bad filler tracks, but every now and then there is a jem.


DOWNLOAD (Good News)
http://rapidshare.com/files/83985765/Modest_Mouse_-_Good_News_for_People_Who_Love_Bad_News.rar
PASSWORD
p@ss_w0rd

Ever since I heard them in Barnes and Noble, I hesitate to say this, but I really enjoy The Silversun Pickups. They recently came out with their sophomore album Swoon, but I think their first album Carnavas is much better.




So there you have it, what I've been listening to lately in the genre of "Indie". I realize it is all quite 'entry-level', but what can I say, I'm just starting. All the bands are quite lax on the technical side for guitar, but I still get my Satch fix so don't worry.

-Dr.Reeves
http://www.last.fm/user/ryoga415