20 Days

This is how long it took me to appreciate the new Tool album. I had already heard Vicarious previously and had a slight love hate relationship with it - but it wasn’t until the day after my birthday that I sat (curled, lay, lounged) on my bed and gave 10,000 Days a good listen. At the time though I was mostly disappointed. My heart did pound through songs like Jambi and The Pot, I can’t help it, I’m a sucker for palm-muted heavy guitars, but overall the experience was a huge lump of “eh”.

18 Days later and yes, I think I’m starting to open up to the sucker. Notably The Pot. It feels like the album was released so long ago but it’s still so young. I try and listen to it outside of the context of Lateralus, which mostly is okay, but it’s still one of the most dominating thoughts that floats into my mind when listening to the album.

I’m sure it’s just the drummer in me, but I have to admit that one of the reasons I’m starting to enjoy the album is largely due to me slowly starting to understand (barely) the rhythms and time signatures through out the album. When I can start to tap the drums out with my hands I start to feel, I don’t know, a connection. Something to do with when my brain stops having to think about the song and the rhythm and can start to just enjoy it.

Posted by Christian Posted in: Music No Comments » 19 May 2006

Cog - The New Normal

Read about my thoughts on Cog’s The New Normal

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by Christian Posted in: Music No Comments » 28 July 2005

QOTSA - Lullabies to Paralyze

Read about my thoughts on Queens Of The Stone Age - Lullabies to Paralyze

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Posted by Christian Posted in: Music 1 Comment » 11 June 2005

Magical iPod

For a while now I’ve been concerned about the ability of my iPod to magically play music. Not the fact that it can actually do what it does ie. “play music” - but that it always appears to be playing music even though I’m quite sure I didn’t want it to.

For example, I’d open up the little temporary case I have it in and notice that it’s playing. Or I’d check on it after a coffee break and see that it started playing again. I’ve double-checked the hold button, but that always appears to be okay. So I quickly turn it off - constantly worried about the battery in the poor little bugger.

A couple of times it got so bad after a day of work I noticed that the battery was down to the red - even though I had charged it the night before.

Then this morning the clouds parted and I discovered why my iPod was acting so magical. The very first day I got it I tried out the alarm clock. Low and behold, I had never gotten around to turning the function back off and so every morning around 8:55 he was powering up and playing my most recently played tracks. Now there’s something they don’t mention in the manual!

At least now I’ve had the opportunity to read the apple iPod battery page from front to back and vice-versa a number of times and understand the following:

• That I should never leave said iPod out in the sun
• I should always use the hold button
• I should minimise my skipping
• I should avoid using the EQ

All of this in the quest to get as many music-hours out of my iPod as possible!

Posted by Christian Posted in: Computers, General, Music 3 Comments » 21 May 2005

Musical Baton

.. Because Jina told me to.

Total volume of music on my computer
Currently 3010 songs Approx 10 days and 6 hours, 16.53GB

The last CD I bought
Queens of the Stone Age - Lullabies to Paralyze

Song playing right now
Skin on Skin - from the same album

Five songs I listen to a lot, or that mean a lot to me
In no particular order:

• Queens of the Stone Age - Tangled up in Plaid
• Tool - H.
• The Mars Volta - Cygnus… Vismund Cygnus
• Interpol - Stella was a Diver and she was always Down
• Death Cab for Cutie - The New Year (or Title and Registration)

I, on the other hand, don’t really have anyone I can pass it on to. So feel free anyone - come take this baton off me. I’m a jogger without a pal.

Posted by Christian Posted in: General, Music 1 Comment » 18 May 2005

Gyroscope - Sound Shattering Sound

Gyroscope - Sound Shattering Sound

URL: http://www.gyroscope.com.au/

Tracks:
1. Confidence in Confidentiality
2. Safe Forever
3. Take This For Granted
4. Hollow Like Cheyenne
5. Doctor Doctor
6. Misery
7. Get Down
8. Midnight Express
9. Are You Getting Any Better?
10. My Hands Are Tied
11. Driving For The Storm
12. You Try Waiting This Long

Why:
Well when i saw these guys play a while back while at a grandcentral show i was totally blown away. I think after this i started to recognise some of their tracks on triple j - but it wasn’t until i saw a video-clip on some weekend morning pop-vid-clip show (haha.. how embarrassing!) that i knew i had to get my hands on this disc. So while i was looking for a birthday present for my boss i saw this disc and purchased it.

And yes, i still haven’t gotten my boss a present, but that’s orite.

Thoughts:
What is happening to my taste? In high-school all i used to listen to was heavy shit (or over-emotional stuff) - and now i’m slowly turning more pop/emo - it’s all quite unexplainable, but that’s okay.

This album is great - to me it falls into that same sort of driving genre as the Hot Hot Heat album, in that i can drive around with the album turned up real loud screaming (singing :P) as loud as i can and COMPLETELY turn off to everything else. The singles on this album are great, Doctor Doctor, Safe Forever, Midnight Express etc. - i’m sure there are more.

I just realised something else, this is my first local album to have a lil write-up of. It won’t be the last, as in the last sort of couple of weeks i’ve gotten my hands on a couple of great local act albums.. Anyway.. buy it.

Posted by Christian Posted in: Music No Comments » 22 August 2004

Hot Hot Heat - Make Up The Breakdown

Hot Hot Heat - Make Up The Breakdown

URL : http://www.hothotheat.com

Tracks:
1. Naked In The City Again
2. No, Not Now
3. Get in or Get out
4. Bandages
5. Oh, Godamnit
6. Aveda
7. This Town
8. Talk to me, Dance with me
9. Save us S.O.S.
10. In Cairo

Why:
Well, quite a while back “talk to me dance with me” was quite a popular lil vid on the weekend morning video clips show. Everytime i saw the clip i was just astounded with how cool it was and i must admit i don’t really recall ever hearing any of these tracks on the radio .. but knew i had to get my hands on the album. Talk to me Dance with me (more on the vid than the track - i think) reminded me a lot of At The Drive-In, the guys voice was just phenomenal - add to that the damn sexy groove - and catchy main-riff.

Thoughts:
Well, this album has had many surprises. It is the first album in a long time that’s really had my singing and bopping along - and i mean in a loooong time. I can’t remember ever hearing music that just made me want to sing along, it’s addictive as crack. Unfortunately, for as good as it is catchy it does have a few downfalls.

Firstly it’s short, for a 10 album LP, the record only goes 32ish mins. I mean, this isn’t too bad and in many cases it’s actually quite good (ie: in heavy traffic, i can hear the entire album whilst driving to work) - but never the less, slightly disappointing.

Secondly, most of the tracks sound identical. I do admit this might be from only having the CD for 1 to 2 days - but so far each track sounds fairly similar. It could just be the drummer(tist?) in me picking apart the fact that most of the rhythmical grooves are quite similar (4/4 beat with snare on every 2 & 4 - with the bassdrum on almost every beat) - and being a slow melodical person i haven’t yet attached myself to the actual tunes themselves too much (cept bandages + talk to me).

But don’t be fooled into believing this album is lifeless - ohhh no - for those 2 downfalls, the energy and different-ness (not if u compare him to robert smith) of the singer, Steve Bays, makes up for it with benefits. Every time he opens his mouth a shotgun of power bursts out and lathers me in this (semi) un-controllable urge to sing. This urge is so strong it counters my previously mentioned fear of singing in the car enough to allow me moments of singing loudly to myself, WHILST staring at people giving me weird looks. It’s just that good!

My favourite tracks so far are the 2 singles which i sort of recognised, bandages and talk to me dance with me, but i have a feeling this will change in time as i become acclimitised to the album.

Posted by Christian Posted in: Music No Comments » 13 June 2004

A Perfect Circle - The Thirteenth Step

A Perfect Circle - The Thirteenth Step

URL : www.aperfectcircle.com

Tracks:
1. The Package
2. Weak and Powerless
3. The Noose
4. Blue
5. Vanishing
6. A Stranger
7. The Outsider
8. Crimes
9. The Nurse who Loved Me
10. Pet
11. Lullaby
12. Gravity

Why: .. i love apc .. i remember when i first heard Judith a couple of years back, and knew instinctively before the radio dj said that what i had just heard was the one and only maynard james keenan from Tool singing.. as soon as their first album (Mer De Noms) came out i got my hands on it.. and this CD is no exception.. even though initially i was a bit let-down by the single (Weak and Powerless) i wasn’t going to crucify the album til i’d heard it all.. and that’s what i did.

Thoughts: I’ve come to the conclusion that all the cd’s i write about here i love.. so it’s no surprise that my thoughts on this cd are any different. Firstly .. this cd is much more pop-ey than the 1st album. Comparatively speaking… it’s much less dark but just as moody. .. the band seems to have gotten a bit more sub-dued as well, like relaxing a bit more in the energy they put in the songs, possibly as a by-product of already having released their first album they don’t see the point in “hammering” in their style to anyone anymore.
Talking about their style it must also be noted that there are definite changes in the orchestration of many of their songs.. i suppose this is only natural considering they lost Paz, their bass player, to Billy Corgan’s “Zwan” .. who was replaced by Joerdie White from Marilyn Manson’s band .. APC also happened (during this time) to score James Iha (Ex-Guitarist from The Smashing Pumpkins (yup.. Billy Corgan again) ) on Guitar.. so with this new lineup the construction of their peices has gone through quite a mind-fuck process .. scoring a previous electro-synth-shock-rock bassist and an old-schoolish rock-guitarist .. no wonder they get called a Super Group ..

So how do i think that this new lineup has affected their music ? I’m not sure. Like their first album, i’ve found that this album has a couple of tracks that just don’t work for me, and considering the epic-history of all the members (possibly minus Billy himself and the drummer) .. it would seem natural that the tracks that this band would spit out would be longer than they are.. but they aren’t. On average the track length comes in at around 4mins .. which slots it perfectly into “Radio-length” songs which isn’t in itself a bad thing.. just a personal dis-taste i have (so arty farty and crap aren’t i *blech*)..

Another thing which occured to me whilst writing about the new lineup is the fact that the band now has 2 lead-guitarists .. (correct me if I’m wrong) .. but wasn’t Iha the lead guitarist in the pumpkins.. and Howerdel certainly *was* the lead-guitarist earlier (in mer de noms).. so what has this done to them? Increased the melodic intricacies ? Increased the amount of fiddly-guitar-squeals they have? Increased ambient noise levels ?.. or all of the above .. I suppose it leaves one or the other free to act as a lead, almost-vocal, line during one of the few instrumental based songs (most of which didn’t impress me) these being track 5 “Vanishing”, Track 8 “Crimes”, Track 11 “Lullaby” ..

Highlight tracks for me were definately Track 1 “The Package”, Track 4 “Blue”, Track 7 “The Outsider”.. All the rest were okay. I felt the CD ended on a really weak note .. especially the finishing track which i thought lacked any sort of energy or interest at all ..

But trust me.. those highlight tracks definately make up for it.. The Package and The Outsider are a pair of hard-hitting rockin’ songs that i’ll be able to listen to over and over for a while.

okay okay .. i’m finishing.. but it’s funny.. to think that initially i wasn’t going to say anything bad about this CD.. ah well.

Posted by Christian Posted in: Music 2 Comments » 18 December 2003

Mars Volta Comatorium

The Mars Volta - De-Loused in the Comatorium

URL: www.themarsvolta.com

Tracks:
1. Son et Lumiere
2. Inertiatic ESP
3. Roulette Dares (The Haunt Of)
4. Tira Me a las Aranas
5. Drunkship of Lanterns
6. Eriatarka
7. Cicatriz ESP
8. This Apparatus Must Be Unearthed
9. Televators
10. Take the Veil Cerpin Taxt

Why: After listening to At the Drive-in’s Relationship of Command for a solid couple of months (still on and off today).. and checking out Sparta at the Big Day Out I went into a sort of “hanging-up” of this music, returned back to other stuff i used to listen to lots, like Dave Matthews Band and Tool.. where upon i was hanging out with Jake and he mentioned that i should check out Glassjaw. Mentioning that they were a sort of hybrid at the drive in .. with more aggressive messed-up time-riffs like tool. Naturally i was interested. So i checked out the Glassjaw album “Worship and Tribute”.. then upon mentioning this to someone else they said i should check out “The Mars Volta”.. i was like “Who?”.. and they go, the members of at the drive in who DIDN’T go to Sparta.. and i was like.. get the fuck out. He then brought to my attention that he believe that the mars volta were the best out of sparta, at the drive-in, glassjaw etc… So i got my grimey hands on the comatorium.

Thoughts: Holy.. Shit!.. The above mentioned “someone else” was so correct, this album, this band, are fucking incredible. This album has been on my playlist for a good couple of weeks now, and it still manages to impress me to no end. I haven’t even gotten the handle of the crazy ass titles, and still manage to just re-fall-in-love with every track on this album. The introduction is just amazing. Those eerie organ chords, the swirl of.. undercurrent. It’s like it’s preparing you for when the drums kick in at 1min 15 secs.. and then they just increase the tension until it kicks into the 2nd track..”Inertiatic ESP”.. at first i didn’t think these were different tracks, but they are, and boy are they a warm-up!! One complain from the at the drive in was that a lot of people found the singing quite whiney, this album he seems to just.. sing. And fuck me sing he can !! (And still letting out his trademarked wail!). I’m not going to get started on the drumming on the track, especially before track3. This is when this guy kicks it into over-drive. (Not that he was lazying around before anyway).. Each of the tracks just seems to shred itself so much, with incredible bridges and just very funky broken-down sections, and when they kick it back into the lead-riffs(bits) it just.. it fits SO well. It works!.. I have this funny feeling these guys aren’t going to make it down to aus very soon.. but my GOD..
Initially track 3 (roulette dares) was my favourite track. Great introduction, the rhythm in this track just boots and it’s brimming with energy and just.. kicking. It comes into it’s own when they break it down momentarily @ about 40secs, and then follow through to the verse. The dynamics are just splendiferous! Then mid-song the drumming frenzy begins. .. ahhh and what a drum-solo, you REALLY have to check out this track@!.. it’s like a mish-mash of all the things i could find wonderful in a song. The kind of music I’d like to play, but know we just don’t have that sort of talent.

Favourite track after digestion? Track 6. Eriatarka. Great guitar riff, smooth rolling verses, great singing. Guitar *twangs* that remind me of radiohead, it’s all here. At a min and a half, when the chorus comes in and the drumming just goes insane (yes.. yet again) this song is just.. so amazingly full of energy.. but it’s not just that i spose, they have the means and the methods to harness this .. energy of sort and kind of let is squeese out gradually (which they do with a break-down guitar-solo at 2mins 15.. ).. building back up for another chorus!.. AAAAH.. *orgasm*

Posted by Christian Posted in: Music 5 Comments » 22 July 2003

George - Polyserena

URL: www.george.net.au

Tracks:
1. Release
2. Breaking it slowly
3. Special Ones
4. Rain
5. Truth
6. Bastard Son
7. Strange Days
8. Chemical Dreams
9. Sellout
10. Run
11. Breathe in Now
12. That’s when you come to me
13. Spawn

Why: Was fixing my sisters computer at her place, and the cd was there.. we got chatting about it.. she told me she bought it as a “spoil-oneself” gift.. but only really liked one song (Breathe In Now i think).. she said i could borrow it.. and so i did.

Thoughts: Wow!.. Obviously a handful of trained musicians.. everything about this album is just so tight and professional. I’m such a dick for not going to their show (last time they played here in perth i think they played with the local symphony orchestra).. The brother/sister (both sing seperately on tracks) really works for me. They both are blessed with amazing voices (can anyone say Jeff Buckley?) .. And because they’re both the primary song-writers, it brings in a lot of mixture to the album. I found this cd like a nice hybrid of jeff buckley/radiohead .. really touched my soft spot ;P .. favourite tracks you ask? I think i’d have to say track 9.. “Sellout” Wow.. when the drummer starts on this track.. it’s like .. a groovy portishead feel that is just thick and juicy!.. ahh.. great album!

Posted by Christian Posted in: Music 1 Comment » 11 April 2003

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