Myself

ALEX REVIEWS MUSIC (ARM): TAPE – BODIES | 2015-12-23

Every Time I Die (ETID) and The Damned Things‘ frontman Keith Buckley seems to have been pretty busy lately in terms of artistic outputs. After last year’s From Parts Unknown successful and critically-acclaimed release with ETID and a relentless run of worldwide tour dates in support of it, earlier on this year the Buffalo NY-native also announced his literary debut with semi-autobiographical novel “Scale” and recently dropped a rather surprising synth-wave influenced 5-track EP under the alias TAPE. While some well-deserved time and words will probably be spent in the future on this website with regard to “Scale” – which, for instance, is in the process of being read by yours sincerely and very recently saw the addition of a limited edition audiobook on vinyl read by Keith himself and scored by Fall Out Boy’s Joe Trohman and Josh Newton of Shiner and The Damned Things – it’s TAPE’s “Bodies” EP that represents the one and only focus of this new ARM blogpost, back after a long-awaited inspirational break.

“Bodies” is essentially the result of Keith teaming up with friend-producer Joshua Hurley while exploring foreign electronic territories and musical landscapes substantially cast away from his usual comfort zone, which places itself within a hardcore-punk-metal spectrum, broadly speaking. The EP, as hinted before composed of 5 tracks that taken together nearly reach 20 minutes of length, was produced by longtime acquaintance and Glassjaw frontman Daryl Palumbo as well as TJ Penzone (ex-Men, Women & Children). “Bodies” was released digitally on 6th November and as far as I’m aware is retrievable pretty much everywhere among the usual suspect music stores and services, though an entangling mystery surrounds TAPE’s desert SoundCloud profile. In fact, the synth-driven side project doesn’t necessarily seem to be willing to disclose much about themselves and its background, as information on the Interweb really runs low on that frequencies…

Anyways, enough for the introduction, the editorial shift now spins towards the musical output as such, which to me could be summarised with a bucketful of adjectives sounding roughly among the lines of mesmerising, pounding, fleeting and gelatinous. I’ll try to elaborate a little these judgements, though given the fact that I don’t really consider myself someone worth spreading elegant commentary on electronic music in general I urge you to not take these words literally and especially to let them attract meaning from alternative standpoints. Alternative used here in the sense of not being generated from within the context, lexicon and specific terminology of such music genre. Yet what I can surely say instead is that I often find myself relating to Keith’s music and lyrics so intensely and in so many different ways that I’d definitely rate myself eligible to express some thoughts about this very release, too. So there you go.

The EP kicks off with what might also be one of the highlights of the release, the wavy and cyclic “Synthetic” (the clue is in the name, I guess…). The track features vocal samples from Keith (and someone else?) that looking back and after repetitive listens begin to take shape as integral part of the song’s structure and almost even end up being catchy (Anything for you and Shine a light / In your eyes above all). The opening tune is followed by “Entry Request / Exit Strategy”, which despite its cool title fails to truly emerge and take a life on its own sticking too much to gloomy and darky undertones driven by hammering kicks. Next on the tracklist is “Nein” (German for “no”), easily the most melodic and lyrics-heavy track of all. However, its static dynamic and the fact of having the vocals too much in the background tend to soften up something that could’ve probably been leveraged a little more. “Nein” also introduces the listener to the latter half of the 5-track EP, probably the better one exposing “Monitor” and its unexpected melodic twists accompanied by Oriental (?) influences as the best tune of the release, despite being the shortest of all. The collection of songs is then wrapped up by the grand finale of “Guest Appearance”, without doubt the synth-heaviest and most layered as well as elaborated effort off the EP. Particularly convincing are the the e-drums beat as well as, once again, the layering vocals that in this case, as opposed to “Nein”, really seem to make sense leaving more room and prominency to the driving instrumental wall of sound.

When Keith announced this side-project and the release of “Bodies” it all truly came as a surprise to me, quickly followed by feelings of confusion and suspicion. Yet, after having given this EP a chance and actually even liking it pretty much, I gotta say it would’ve been a shame had it not been released. The overall judgement is thus primarily a positive one and it also seems to resonate elsewhere. Again, this is not the music I normally listen to and I really don’t feel comfortable describing its components and technical features while at the same time pretending to be taken as an expert (actually, I never do, but in this case less than ever before). Nonetheless, I must say I felt the need to let out some thoughts surrounding this release, possibly considering this some kind of experiment for me, departing from the usual rock and roll conceptional contexts I normally feel more comfortable in. Exactly the same thing Keith Buckley did with “Bodies”, really.

I’d like to thank you sincerely for taking the time to read this and I hope to feel your interest again next time. And happy holidays this time around.

AV

TAPE

“BODIES”

2015, ELECTRIC DENIM

https://www.facebook.com/TapeAudio1

Tape_Bodies

WHERE THE EAGLES FLY | 2015-11-28

On Friday 13th November 2015 at around 1pm UK time I was about to board on a transatlantic flight from London’s Heathrow airport with destination San Francisco. I was going to embark on a week-long programme of trainings and formative sessions at my video technology company’s HQs in Silicon Valley’s Santa Clara, spending the preceding weekend in San Fran in a fully touristic modus with a bunch of other colleagues. Little I knew about what kind of news were expecting us that same day when landing and turning our devices on again at about 3pm West coast local time in California. The rest is an unfortunate, horrendous and senseless history.

This is without a doubt the earliest I would’ve been able to take some time and formulate some solid and connected thoughts about what happened across Paris that night. I’m saying this not only because of the overwhelming intensity of the brutality that manifested itself against humanity that evening, but also considering a very personal legacy to that city – not mentioning the many acquaintances I have who (still safely) reside there – and the fact that I was just there only three weeks ago. Precisely around the affected areas.

The only thing I feel I’m able and allowed to express in regard to this are some words about Eagles of Death Metal (EODM)’s involvement in what was the most intense and ruthless of all the attacks that night. Unfortunately, everyone must be sadly familiar with them at this point in time, as they were playing on stage at the Bataclan when gunmen entered the venue and opened fire on the crowd, leaving at least 90 dead. This past week the US rock band spoke publicly for the first time ever after the horrific event in a heart-wrecking interview with VICE.

I firmly believe that there is literally nothing to add to such an emotional, deep and almost unreal account of a life-changing evening. Yet, I feel that there’s an implicit angle to this whole constellation that it’s worth elaborating a little more. By this I mean the almost surreal, paradoxical combination of elements that, for that specific evening, foresaw that one of the most fun, humorous and freaky bands out there would be involved in such a tangible and dark tragedy. Yes, because ever since their beginning, Queens of The Stone Age’s Josh Homme’s side project founded in 1998 with frontman Jesse Hughes has always been leveraging hilarious music videos with cameos by among others Jack Black and Dave Grohl, releasing over-the-top album artworks (cf. below) and proactively joking about everything that takes itself too seriously in the rock and roll space, not least considering their band name. That is, because EODM, contrary to what 99% of scatterbrained and partly unprofessional mass media outlets still like to report, are by no means a metal band, let alone a death metal one. And never was. Wikipedia simply defines them as a rock band (dear journos around the globe: a quick double-check on damn Wikipedia would’ve been enough…). I would define them as a solid, catchy and straightforward rock and roll outfit, nothing more sophisticated than that. Now, bearing this sort of background and associations in mind, the bittersweet juxtaposition of watching Jesse and Josh, as well as the other members of the band, speak movingly with a broken voice about what they experienced that night just leaves me speechless. It’s like the quintessential representation of the absurdity and nonsense of what happened.

There’s one last thing that came out of the interview that EODM did with VICE which I’d like to mention and in some way endorse (they start mentioning this at 21:10 min into the video). As a wonderful action of solidarity and unity, Jesse and Josh pledged artists and musicians around the world to cover and record their song “I Love You All the Time” off their latest album “Zipper Down“. All publishing and royalties earnings from all those covers will then be fully donated by EODM (and hopefully also all major music distributors such as Apple, Amazon, Spotify, Tidal…) to everyone directly affected by the attacks on 13th November. Thus, I humbly pledge artists around the world to take part in this and spread the word as much as possible contributing to the reconstruction of a shared feeling of love and connection once more driven by that supernatural force that is music.

I’d like to thank you sincerely for taking the time to read this and I hope to feel your interest again next time.

AV

P.s.: Click here for more information on how to help the French Red Cross and the Sweet Stuff Foundation do the best they can following the attacks.

—- IMPORTANT UPDATE

EODM and the Sweet Stuff Foundation have set up an official website for their “Play it Forward” Campaign. The website enables musicians to upload their own cover of “I Love You All the Time”, hosts all covers recorder by other artists, and displays a heartfelt letter by the EODM members regarding the initiative and the reasons behind it. Visit the website here: http://playitforwardeodm.com

EODM_Zipper Down

ALEX REVIEWS MUSIC (ARM): JOHN NOLAN – SAD, STRANGE, BEAUTIFUL DREAM | 2015-07-25

A bunch of months ago I wrote a little something about Taking Back Sunday lead guitarist John Nolan‘s new solo album project in collaboration with PledgeMusic and about how the whole thing really got me excited and all. Well, as you all know time goes by really fast and we’ve eventually come to the point when John officially released his second full-length album entitled Sad, Strange, Beautiful Dream through a jointed partnership between the aforementioned crowdsourcing music platform and Collective Confusion Records, who’s primarily taking care of the physical copies of the release. Besides the amount of cool stuff worth a mention related to the chosen promotional strategy, such as the variety of pre-ordering packages or the fact that 10% of all the money collected through the album’s sale will be donated to a pediatric facility in Memphis, TN (St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital), I’ve now taken some time to give the full record, released digitally yesterday 24th July, a proper listen and I feel like I’ve got something to say about it. Also, it kinda makes sense to follow up on the matter on a more technical-musical note, doesn’t it?

John already unveiled a number of tracks over the course of the pre-release period, such as album opener and teenage era-teller “American Nightclub 1999”, the brilliantly titled – but possibly less convincing arrangement – “Drinking Your Way to Confidence” as well as existential-ballad “How Much”, although this latter one went through a substantive sound-polishing if compared to the early released version and arguably became the absolute best track on the record, mixing terrific melodic songwriting with a perfectly raw-edgy instrumentation delivering an immersive sappy feeling (How much can we control? / I don’t know / As much as we can). A little less than a month ago John then released the mastered version of the sparkling and lyrically-terrifying “Street Robbery Blues”, undoubtedly the most energetic and fast tune on the whole album entailing a very interesting uplifting-dark juxtaposition between the lyrics and the music itself. Yet, with the exception made of “How Much”, the best material on the album was not revealed until its full release.

“War is Peace” leads the list of never-heard-before songs on the album and immediately feels like it could have been born out of a raw idea for a Taking Back Sunday song, presenting a properly distorted rock band-modus instrumental base alongside a galloping tempo. The track is followed by the folky-acoustic “Next to You (In New Orleans)”, which probably depicts the lowest point of the record as it results incapable of really taking off in its own terms. The provisional down-status is suddenly mightily overcome with a consecutive couple of triumphant songs that really stand out on the whole. “I’ll Be Home Soon” is a piano-led ballad that truly gets under the listener’s skin and also delivers a quite catchy chorus, something that’s absolutely not to be taken for granted when it comes to slowed down ballads: well done John. It follows the album’s title track, which in some ways does sound a little out of context with its abundance of synth-fillings and indie-pop dyeing but which, after a few listens, already begins to make sense again, not least because it does really encompass traces of sadness, strangeness and beauty in a dreamy atmosphere. After a re-interpretation of 2012 track “C’est Le Fin Du Monde”, originally released on a split 7″ with indie rock band Mansions and the sonic perfection of the previously mentioned “How Much”, John Nolan’s second solo album comes to a close with the brilliant “I Will Be Released”, a sing-along choir anthem curiously and romantically written with his wife Camille.

In a way it’s truly funny and misleading to read on his artist’s description on PledgeMusic that he’s being labelled as folk-acoustic musician, because Sad, Strange, Beautiful Dream seems to confirm he’s actually not, and even at the times when he probably is, the record feels the most vulnerable (cf. “Next to You”). Given the quality of this last effort, he should feel no shame at all to confidently present himself as a modern alternative-rock act, not least given the mighty studio collaborations he took advantage of during the recording process. Yet, tags and label don’t really matter at all as soon as one realises where musical quality lies and that it shouldn’t be constrained by arbitrary boundaries at all. This is precisely what John Nolan has apparently come to realise with this record: with precious songwriting, instrumental rawness, lyrical honesty, and a little experimentation he’s delivered his best musical outcome to date.

I’d like to thank you sincerely for taking the time to read this and I hope to feel your interest again next time.

AV

JOHN NOLAN

“SAD, STRANGE, BEAUTIFUL DREAM”

2015, COLLECTIVE CONFUSION RECORDS

www.pledgemusic.com/projects/johnnolan

JOHN-NOLAN

(MY NEED FOR) TAKING BACK FRIDAY & SUNDAY | 2015-05-27

Don’t fear another straight and plain ARM blogpost. I think I’ve done enough of them in the past months. I mean, just look at the last blogposts (although I can’t guarantee I’ll be able to tackle my temptations to just do another one considering the vast amount of cool releases happening in this pre-summerish period). This one certainly still deals with the magic of music, the mother of all arts, yet in a slightly unconventional and unlabelled form. Essentially, it tries to narrate and report what it felt like to watch my all time favorite rock and roll outfit, named Taking Back Sunday, two times in less than three days over the past weekend. Yes, that is all true, and kind of a great big deal for me, to be honest. Friday 22nd May I got to see them at tiny and intimate Rhythm Factory around Whitechapel, London, while the following Sunday I caught them from front row at alternative-rock/punk Slam Dunk Festival South in Hatfield, about half an hour train ride from central London. Two very different yet somehow connected and complementing experiences, which reminded me once again why this is the band I couldn’t really live without.

Having had seen them three times before this shocking one-two combo in three days, I guess I was at least a little bit pre-warned of what it would feel like having them standing a few metres away from me playing those very tunes that mean so freaking much to myself. Still, every single time their show somehow takes a new form and it transforms itself in a sort of unprecedented experience, at least as far as I’m concerned. Their gig at the Rhythm Factory, supported by new UK emo sensation Moose Blood, was literally surreal, not only because of the venue’s 200–300 people capacity (which of course automatically turns the show’s tangibility of an usual arena-band into something unlike all others), but also because of the true collegial atmosphere and the feelings of complicity that one could breathe by just standing somewhere in front of the narrow-mini stage. Also, the temperature was almost (literally and figuratively) too hot to be true, even before Taking Back Sunday would take the stage everyone was already soaked, so imagine the intensity as soon as they kicked off with latest album Happiness Is’s opener “Flicker, Fade”. Litres, litres, and litres of sweat alongside soaring singing and screaming were released into the air that night, guaranteed. Come on, just take a quick look at the picture below I took on-the-go in between two songs (it was probably before a mighty rendition of “A Decade Under the Influence” and right after majestically wrapping up old timer “Timberwolves at New Jersey”), it’s as if it’s sweating itself, isn’t it? You can almost see drops of rock and roll sweat trickling out of the frame. I assume this explanation excuses me for the poor graphical quality.

I reported Taking Back Sunday’s setlist of their Friday show at Rhythm Factory further below, adding up tunes to a little more than an hour of spectacular entertainment. Personal highlights were with no doubt never-heard-live-before “How I Met Your Mother”, Happiness Is’s b-side and one of their hardest but still somehow most melodic songs, “Better Homes and Gardens”, an intense moment for everyone attending and arguably among the standout tracks off of their latest effort, alongside a live-welcome back of “Spin”, at least with regard to UK soil according to frontman Adam Lazzara. The setlist was more or less replicated at their Sunday show at Slam Dunk South, with the only exception of the omission of the latter mentioned song, probably for time reasons. The context and scenarios were quite different on that occasion, and despite the fact I was able to get up basically until the first row, the whole thing looked indeed much more like a bigger occasion, not least because they were playing the main stage at an outdoor festival. Taking Back Sunday got the set slot between Don Broco, who played just before them, and main headliners You Me At Six, and therefore, quite understandably, the crowd wasn’t there just for the NY emo veterans, as it was the case for me, for instance. Thus, I felt a little more isolated among teens waiting in the vicinity of the front row for You Me At Six for the whole day, yet that didn’t stop me from losing my mind once again. Bearing in mind the sound distortion one gets when at the first row at a big open air festival, the band sounded and looked amazing. Particular mention should be made, in this case, for dance number “Stood a Chance”, personal favorite “Error: Operator” and, obviously, closing gems “Cute Without the ‘E’ (Cut from the Team)” and “MakeDamnSure”, which got the major portion of the crowd go crazy, myself included.

All in all, this past one was certainly one of the most intense weekends I’ve ever had. I’m so glad I was able to make the most out of Taking Back Sunday’s most recent visit to the country I’m currently staying in. I’d do this again a million times, and probably will again in the future, would the possibility arise. These experiences enrich me enormously. And deliver me something priceless, which it’s not so much the fact that I got a guitar pick from Eddie Reyes or that I had close encounters with singer Adam Lazzara including a half-singing into his mic, but rather the confirmation that the connection and emotional intensity that this band is capable of catalysing in me is unlike anything else. I guess I can’t do nothing but thank them for what they do.

Taking Back Sunday’s setlist at Rhythm Factory, London (22.05.2015):

  1. Flicker, Fade
  2. What’s It Feel Like to Be a Ghost?
  3. Number Five with a Bullet
  4. How I Met Your Mother
  5. Liar (It Takes One to Know One)
  6. Stood a Chance
  7. Timberwolves at New Jersey
  8. A Decade Under the Influence
  9. Faith (When I Let You Down)
  10. You’re So Last Summer
  11. Better Homes and Gardens
  12. Error: Operator
  13. You Know How I Do
  14. Spin
  15. Cute Without the ‘E’ (Cut from the Team)
  16. MakeDamnSure

I’d like to thank you sincerely for taking the time to read this and I hope to feel your interest again next time.

AV

TBS_Rhythm Factory

ALEX REVIEWS MUSIC (ARM): ALABAMA SHAKES – SOUND & COLOR | 2015-05-08

Alright, alright. I know. I should be rattling on about what was long praised to be the most uncertain UK general election in a century to date. In fact, it’s been a quite controversial last night here in Britain. According to mass logic, at this point I should be writing up the always dangerous morning-after reflections on what, personally, has been an extreme and quite dramatic electoral delusion. Instead, against all odds, I’m opting for yet another feature piece for the critically acclaimed music review section ARM. Like it or not, I don’t really think this whole thing is meant to be hosting political reflections. At least not yet. Also, not only have I ruled out a socio-political essay on the current status quo, but I’m sure my musical choice will certainly leave some folks disappointed, bearing in mind the present release-intense period (with new music being revealed by Blur, Mumford & Sons, Brandon Flowers, among others)…

This time I’ve taken under close scrutiny newest Alabama Shakes‘ “Sound & Color”, released shortly ago on 21st April via Merge Records. It’s the US rock band’s second studio effort, following highly praised groundbreaking first LP “Boys & Girls” in 2012, which literally transformed the Alabama-native quintet into global mainstream talkabouts. That is to say, expectations were quite high for this second one, not least because of the considerable amount of time taken to work on it, considering present-day digital music industry rhythms and fast-food releases. Despite these external pressures, Alabama Shakes didn’t fail to meet such expectations.

The album as a whole is positively and overwhelmingly dominated by frontwoman, lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Brittany Howard’s vocal performances, who’s able to fully exploit her unlimited talent to deliver chills on fine tracks such as lead-single “Don’t Wanna Fight” and heartbreaking “Gimme All Your Love”. The 12-track LP immediately establishes itself smoothly with title-track opener, that leads the listener along a rising climax that gets abruptly stopped by the emergence of catchy “Don’t Wanna Fight” as second in song listing. After a softened laying back offered by “Dunes”, the album achieves poppy and most-likely radio-friendly “Future People” as fourth one on the list, before showing some of its artistic best with aforementioned “Gimme All Your Love”. After the first very intense 20 minutes, “Sound & Color” loses itself slightly in its central portion with some melodic and harmonical repetition in following songs “This Feeling” and “Guess Who”, before unveiling some real excitement and fun again with speedy track number 8 “The Greatest”.

The LP, which to me really sounds like a natural and unforced continuation of debut “Boys & Girls”, quiets down a bit for its final segment, where mellow and sappy “Miss You”, alongside mighty instrumental “Gemini”, see Howard at her vocal top once again. Captivating and gospel-reminiscent “Over My Head” brings the album to its conclusion leaving a deep feeling of satisfaction to the listener. Alabama Shakes seems to have not lost their success formula with the passing of time (and, some would say, with the danger of notoriety), delivering a solid, mature, and evolved second effort building upon their fabulous debut. Before finishing up, I’d like to make a special last mention of the sober album’s artwork (see attached below), which not only appears to follow a late trend of essentialism and minimalism within music industry’s visual dimension, but that also truly suggests that the best is to be found in the songs. Nothing has ever been more true, in this occasion.

I’d like to thank you sincerely for taking the time to read this and I hope to feel your interest again next time.

AV

ALABAMA SHAKES

“SOUND & COLOR”

2015, ROUGH TRADE

www.alabamashakes.com

alabama-shakes-sound-and-color

ALEX REVIEWS MUSIC (ARM): TOM DELONGE – TO THE STARS… DEMOS, ODDS & ENDS | 2015-04-22

Welcome back to another ARM blogpost. Again, the picking choice was hard on this one, having just witnessed the global celebration of Record Store Day and being forced to set aside other recent releases such as Alabama Shakes‘s Sound & Color or even waiting just for another bit before the highly anticipated The Desired Effect by Brandon Flowers and My Morning Jacket‘s The Waterfall would have been published. Yet, partly because of my past (and present) blink-182 and Angels & Airwaves (AVA) fandom and party because of the recent publicly aired band drama causing quite an uproar, I felt like I had to give Tom DeLonge’s first ever solo album To the Stars… Demos, Odds and Ends a try.

Freshly released in Europe’s mainland a day ago (21st April), the half-EP half-LP is allegedly containing blink-182 demos “along with a few extra tracks”, summing up to a total tracklist of 8 units (-1, considering instrumental filler “Landscapes” as a non-song). The album had already been sort of previewed by the anticipated release of singles (?) “New World” (to which a very angst-filled music video has been dedicated), acoustic ballad “The Invisible Parade” as well as skateboarders’ new anthem “Circle-Jerk-Pit” (which, not surprisingly, soundtracks a video made of skating pools, beers and pretty girls). With the exception made of the latter, which is almost too messy to be properly understood, the two songs Tom decided to release before the actual full-album publication are, sadly, in fact the only remarkable compositions present on the effort. Fluctuating between AVA nostalgia (“Suburban Kings” could’ve easily been born out of “Rite of Spring”‘s ribs) and quite embarrassing blink-182-success formulas (“Golden Showers in the Golden State”: “First Date” and “The Rock Show” anyone?), the album doesn’t appear to be able to take a shape on its own, even after repeated listens. I’m actually saying this with genuine disappointment, being a long-time DeLonge fan myself and having always appreciated his ability to reunite big melodies with compactness and effective lyrics.

To be fair, the record itself got in fact promoted as a kind of B-sides bucket of his, possibly intended as a concrete and material response to blink-182’s intentions to continue as a band even without him (Alkaline Trio’s Matt Skiba has so far replaced Tom on guitar and vocals in the line-up). Still, this isn’t probably the best self-esteeming reply Tom could have given to both his previous bandmates and the public/fans at large. Why not waiting a little bit more and instead releasing another solid AVA album like last The Dream Walker, maybe with a little help of his (new) friends (Ilan Rubin)? Directionless, at times dull and repetitive, “To the Stars” doesn’t really deserve to get associated with his songwriting abilities (maybe with the exceptions made for the aforementioned “New World” and “The Invisible Parade”), not least because even initially-promising “An Endless Summer” and “Animals” turn out, unfortunately, to be truly dislikable with time. Ok, “Suburban Kings” and “Golden Showers in the Golden State” aren’t bad songs at all, but they nonetheless sound desperately over-heard and too familiar to past successful attempts of his.

This one seems to be an extremely busy year for Tom, according to his own statements to the press (announcing the release of 4 albums and 15 co-written novels all this year, come on…), and while he’s always been someone who doesn’t necessarily like to take breaks between musical, cinematic, and entrepreneurial projects, his explicit plans appear to be too ambitious even for a persona like his. Probably, hadn’t he released this very album, he could’ve managed and allocated his resources more wisely into a more thoughtful product, ideally released later this year or even during the next one. Yet, sometimes the urge to respond to unclarity and defeats can be stronger than anything else, pushing its way through light and converting into forced pieces of art. The result in this case? Tom still De…longing for blink-182.

I’d like to thank you sincerely for taking the time to read this and I hope to feel your interest again next time.

AV

TOM DELONGE

“TO THE STARS… DEMOS, ODDS AND ENDS”

2015, TO THE STARS…

http://www.tomdelonge.me

TDL_TTS

VELO REC IS SPINNING ITS WHEEL | 2015-04-12

I’ve decided I’ll use this one as a small space for some shameless self-promotion. Actually, to be fair, I’d say it’s a healthy mix of well-deserved publicity, personal involvement, and genuine interest, not least because I’m talking about music, once more with love. Therefore, if you allow me, it’s not even the case that I’m diverging that much from the usual editorial strategy I’ve been adopting for this page, if there ever was such thing. Anyways, enough said for the introduction: this time I’m devoting this blogpost to the London-based house record label VELo REC (check out their logo attached below).

One of the reasons I’m writing about VELo REC, founded in early 2014 by two Swiss guys in Shoreditch, is that a couple of weeks ago I started helping them out a bit with their social media accounts, which, by the way, I highly encourage you go check out and support (they’re present on Facebook, Twitter, Ello, Instagram, and obviously, since they’re producing house music, on SoundCloud and MixCloud). So far it’s been real fun for me, I’m learning a lot from their insights from that wild beasty jungle called ‘music industry’ and I’m truly enjoying working with and around their music products. In this regard, VELo REC usually releases a one-artist-focused Single/EP each month, with their April’s release “Low House, Vol. 1” featuring Paris-based DJ and producer Parsifal about to come out on 13th April on Beatport, initially. Then, after a two-week exclusive availability on the online music store specialised in electronic music, the Single/EP normally hits (literally) all other digital stores around for the general sale.

But a classic musical release is not the only quality thing VELo REC puts out periodically. In fact, they’re also hosting two very cool monthly podcasts called “VELo Radio Show” and “VELo Session” (which are all listenable and downloadable on their SoundCloud page). The first one consists of a radio-format episode in which usually the monthly artist gets widely introduced and hosts a special mix with favourite/notable electronic gems surrounding their release. The VELo Session instead is a one-hour guest-mixed podcast which highlights and shares some of VELo REC’s favourite new tunes around. As mentioned earlier, the genre they’re producing is generally house-related, with a slightly heavier focus on the tech- and deep- sub dimensions (so far they’ve counted on collaborations with artists such as Stefano Ritteri, Megan Faye, Tom Alemanno and Divalvi), so expect all of their publications to revolve around that musical cluster.

On top of all that, VELo REC is currently planning various additional projects involving, amongst others, a huge 1st-year-of-label birthday party at the end of May, a brand new blog, and some very cool merchandising. On a more hurried note, in addition to all the released material and podcasts, you can definitely go check out a short snippet from Parsifal’s “Low House, Vol. 1” (out tomorrow) on their SoundCloud profile. If you happen to like it, too, nothing is stopping you from supporting them by buying the thing as well.

All in all, the label is absolutely worth a in-depth check out for anyone interested in house and electronic music in general, the guys are talented and creative: their artistic wheel is definitely spinning at higher rates!

I’d like to thank you sincerely for taking the time to read this and I hope to feel your interest again next time.

AV

VeloRec_Logo

HI HIS NAME IS MARK | 2015-03-18

I’m sure you’re all more or less familiar with the popular Californian pop-punk band blink-182. I’m less sure on whether you’re aware of the fact that its bass player is called Mark Hoppus, is aged 43, and besides making seats vibrate he’s also a singer – sometimes producer – as well as a quite successful entrepreneur. Yes, because a part of his musical activity Mark is also the founder and owner of – surprise, surprise! – Hi My Name Is Mark (HMNIM), a company established in 2012 and self-described as: “a group of like-minded friends who are equally passionate about making great clothes, awesome art, cool objects, and unique pieces. We set out to make great things together and work with people and brands who share our aesthetic and sense of humor”.

While the label HMNIM itself was already buzzing around even before 2012 – for instance, I remember a series of iTunes podcasts with that name revolving around the music industry and various scenes hosted by Mark himself around 2006-2007 – it wasn’t until the last couple of years that the brand really established itself and definitely took off. In fact, something that’s really cool about the company is that they do not limit themselves to the selling of fine clothing pieces (some of which I’ve already purchased, they’re rad), but they’re also always coming up with great collaborations offering, amongst others, watches, visual prints, playing cards and thermos bottles. To have an idea of what it is exactly I’m referring to, just take a look at this.

The brand’s official logo, which I kindly reported for you below, is a weirdly comfortable and darky octopus kinda looking scarily at you, and since everyone – myself included – has been wondering from the beginning what it should be representing, Mark took the time to explain it on the website:

“What’s up with the octopus?  I’ve been using the octopus logo over the past few years, and throughout, people have asked, ‘What’s up with the octopus?’ It’s an easy answer. Music. Friends. Art. Travel. Adventure. Quotes from your favorite movies. The ocean. Punk rock clubs. Video games. Websites that make you laugh. Literature. Photos of good memories. London, Los Angeles, New York, and everywhere in between”.

Well, I personally think that not only this is a pretty clear explanation, but also that Mark is doing something quite unique and I gotta say I like and endorse it a lot. To have such a great amount of different artistic sources of inspiration reunited onto a single website is certainly something I haven’t find so often on the Interweb. Clearly, Mark’s been able to exploit his halfway celebrity-status to count on a decent fanbase from the beginning, but nonetheless you can really tell he believes in what he’s putting forward and this, after all, remains the main positive factor driving this project.

Probably my favourite part of the brand is its blog, which includes regular visual updates, audio files, and a re-launched HMNIM podcasts series, that so far has hosted guest appearances who go by the names of Alex Gaskarth and Jack Barakat of All Time Low and Tom DeLonge’s new replacement in blink-182 Matt Skiba (by the way, I suggest you take a listen to that specific episode if you need some calm after the storm of their recent line-up controversy). It’s precisely the podcasts that make me really happy, mainly because I think Mark is extremely brilliant at hosting guests from the art world in general (incidentally, he also had his own TV talk show on Fuse called “Hoppus on Music” from 2010 to 2012, just to show people he’s also good at doing it in front of a camera, certainly not to be taken for granted for a punk-rock bassist), but also because the topics handled during them are really interesting. And he’s got an irresistible laugh: everytime he laughs I just go along, I can’t avoid doing it, and it’s pretty fun, you should check it out.

Yet, HMNIM is not only Mark Hoppus, there are a number of additional great personalities involved in the project, of whom you can all find out more directly on each artist’s personal bio on their website. So, don’t get fooled or somehow deceived by the company’s name: his name is certainly Mark, but he’s just one brick in a wall of inspiring artistic content made available to everyone thanks to great dedication, exciting collaborations, and fine production amongst a group of friends. What more could we allow ourselves asking for?

I’d like to thank you sincerely for taking the time to read this and I hope to feel your interest again next time.

AV

HMNIM

ALEX REVIEWS MUSIC (ARM): COLD WAR KIDS – HOLD MY HOME | 2015-03-14

It’s time for another ARM blogpost. I felt the need during the past few days, and although I wasn’t really sure what exactly I was gonna examine, I knew it’d have happened quite soon. Well, after some deep back and forth reflections taking into consideration various possibilities (including the new Angels & Airwaves‘s The Dream Walker and Marmozets‘s The Weird and Wonderful), my decision has fallen on the new record of the Californian indie-rock outfit Cold War Kids, called Hold My Home and released last 21st October 2014 under Downtown Records. Now, I realise that this must not sound like the newest of records that have come out recently, but to be fair there’s some kind of a back story to be told with regard to the release date, at least as far as the European mainland is concerned. In fact, before digging into the proper musical part of this ARM, there’s  something of a background anecdote that shouldn’t remain unnamed, hopefully so to shine some light onto what I consider a very badly coordinated publication promotion on the part of Cold War Kids’s management.

While the initial release date for Hold My Home was set to be the aforementioned 21st October 2014, outside of the USA and Australia the album hadn’t come out until the beginning of March 2015. So, except from lead single “All This Could Be Yours” – originally released on 15th July 2014 (!) – and following stand alone tracks “First” and “Hot Coals” (incidentally the first three songs in the album’s tracklist), the vast majority of good old folks in the world had to patiently wait until the first days of this month to enjoy Hold My Home in its full length. You may now ask yourselves “Ok, right, all good and interesting: but how did this come about?”. Well, believe me I’ve asked myself that question a million time and I haven’t managed to find a proper answer yet. I’m not kidding, as far as I’m concerned – and I indeed did some research on this over the course of the last months – there’s still no official explanation for this delay of almost five months between the release in the USA/Australia and the rest of the world, neither from the band itself (I’ve asked them various time on Twitter, no answer gotten), nor from the label or the management side. So, as you may deduce, Hold My Home wasn’t necessarily welcomed to the market with the best of the conditions a band could potentially wish for.

However, despite (or maybe precisely because of) this legal/promotional/marketing long-lasting burden that accompanied Cold War Kids’s latest effort, its definitive release triggered a big sense of relief, at least in me. The album, although not being their best one, presents some very fresh sounds that echo unlike anything else around at the moment. Drawn by the initial triple combo of singles, Hold My Home delivers a genuine representation of a honest, direct, and believable indie-pop-rock with loads of piano/keyboards and some retro-vintage ambient feelings. There are some immediate no-gos as well, though: tracks like “Nights & Weekends”, “Flower Drum Song”, and “Harold Bloom” can’t really take off even after repeated listens, and all this appears as something quite unfortunate. Those three tunes definitely not worth the presence in an album otherwise way above average compared to the material out currently, also bearing in mind Cold War Kids’s relatively notorious status in the mainstream music industry. By contrast, the aforementioned opening trio composed by “All This Could Be Yours”, a rather fast-driving crafter indie anthem of modern times, “First”, probably the most poppy and ear-wormy tune on the album (it’s actually quite irresistible), and “Hot Coals”, a more raw and uncomfortable but pleasant reminiscence of early 00’s indie sound-alike, truly give the record a notable twist. These three songs, in addition to the electro-synth dominated “Drive Desperate” and personal favourite (as well as upcoming single, judging by the recently released official video on YouTube) “Hotel Anywhere”, mark a pretty clear quality distinction in the album making the first half absolutely rad and letting the thread lose its way as tracks go on, with the exception made of closing treat “Hear My Baby Call”.

Thus, overall a very decent album that builds up (possibly too) great expectation after listening to its first half and that loses itself along the way from track 6 to 10 (even the title-track isn’t really able to impose itself after time…). Nonetheless, a much appreciable musical statement made by one of the pioneers of modern indie-rock that, as usual, don’t miss one opportunity to experiment and surprise its fans with the album’s artwork too, in my opinion once again amazing (cf. image below). Welcome back Cold War Kids, for this time we’re ready to forgive your delay, but if this is the musical direction you’re intended to undertake, remember not to play with fire for too long.

I’d like to thank you sincerely for taking the time to read this and I hope to feel your interest again next time.

AV

COLD WAR KIDS

“HOLD MY HOME”

2014/2015, DOWNTOWN RECORDS

http://www.coldwarkids.com

CWK_Hold My Home

ALEX REVIEWS MUSIC (ARM): RYAN ADAMS IN CONCERT AT HAMMERSMITH APOLLO | 2015-03-01

I haven’t stated anywhere that the ARM column would have been limited only to actually recorded music or album releases in general. Therefore, I’m now totally exploiting the opportunity to share some lasting emotions and perennial thoughts I’m currently experiencing derived from the show I attended last Friday night, namely Ryan Adams’s Londoner stop at a sold out Hammersmith Apollo supported by the lovely and extremely talented Natalie Prass. Not only was the venue itself fabulous and breath-taking, but also the overall experience provoked by the magic force of the US alt-country rocker was truly one of a kind. I won’t forget it anytime soon for sure.

I gotta say, this was the first time seeing him live for me. It’s also fair to say that it’s only recently, let’s say the past two or three years, that I’ve really gotten into him and his repertoire. Also, I’ve been literally obsessed with his last self-titled album having it on repeat since last December. It just encapsulates everything modern rock music should be about: from the widest range of transmitted emotions to a large variety of incredible and good-sounding melodies, harmonisation, and songwriting. With that said, I was obviously extremely delighted to notice how Ryan played a good six songs off of such newest effort, including amongst them Grammy-nominated rocky intro “Gimme Something Good”, personal favourite and emotionally intense “Stay With Me”, as well as the delicate and fragile ballad “My Wrecking Ball”, which all appear to me as very good examples of how stunning this last album really is. But there was a lot more to it than a wonderful set-listed focus on his most recent self-titled output, which I undoubtedly took as a personal gift arranged relying on the fact that I was in the audience. Jokes aside, with over two hours of live performance and an overall amount of 23 songs played (see setlist below), Ryan had the chance to navigate through his immense and highly-prolific catalogue spanning over more than 15 years and ranging from intimate tunes such as “Dear Chicago”, “My Winding Wheel”, and “Oh My Sweet Carolina” (performed as a wonderful duet with opening act Natalie Prass), going through more well-known tracks like “New York, New York” and “When the Stars Go Blue”, all the way until the more recent “Kim” (probably one of the greatest songs of 2014) and the Springsteenian “I Just Might”.

Another element that made Friday night unforgettable was the spectacular choreography that was set up as background to Ryan and his backing band The Shining (by the way, very convincing), showing a rather minimal design composed of many fragmented light bulbs attached across the whole surface that worked just perfectly. Moreover, yet another highlight of the evening occurred as the North Carolina-native successfully improvised a brand new song out of a random line shouted at him by a member of the audience (“I Ate Something Off The Street”), which not only received massive praise from the whole public and was in fact as pretty great as it was hilarious, but it also warmed up well Ryan and his guitar before jumping into the aforementioned “Kim”.

Yet, I must say the best moments for me were both the absolutely touching “This House Is Not For ‘Fucking’ Sale” (as introduced by Mr Adams himself), to which for a fair amount of reasons I can relate so much, and the last two songs of the evening, the forte-piano-driven “I See Monsters”, which took whole new forms and dimensions  performed live, and the classic folky tune as well as fans-favourite “Come Pick Me Up” (also accompanied by a lovely vocal dialogue with Prass). The closing track is probably his most famous recorded one, and for that matter it really didn’t disappoint live either, as much as the overall show in general. Moreover, acting as a sort of almost surreal glue keeping the gig together, there was a deep sensation of emotional involvement experiencing on the part of all of the audience members, without any kind of social compromising camouflage. That is, before last night I’d never had the sensation of being among a crowd of over 8000 people all keeping unbelievably quiet and standing literally still for Adams’s most delicate solo performances in order to enjoy them as intensively as possible. You really almost couldn’t hear any kind of noise coming from the audience, and still if you’d looked around, there’d have been an overwhelming wave of other companions coming from all directions simply looking at The Man and sipping from bottles of beer or cheap glasses of wine. In fact, it was something unique, rare, intimate, and shared among many fellow-attendees at the same time. It showcased a beautifully inspired Ryan, who didn’t step back when it was time to joke around with the mic and interacting with the audience, but who also took care of taming the stage with just his emotional voice and the help of six strings on an acoustic guitar. Everything worked out so perfectly well. Everything from the music, through the choreography, to the fans’ reaction. Unsurprisingly, after all, since it’s Ryan Adams.

This is the rad setlist he performed:

Gimme Something Good

Let It Ride

Stay With Me

Dear Chicago

This House Is Not For Sale

Everybody Knows

My Winding Wheel (acoustic solo)

Dirty Rain

Magnolia Mountain

New York, New York

I Ate Something Off The Street (improvisation)

Kim

Two

My Wrecking Ball

I Just Might

I Love You But I Don’t Know What To Say

Your Fool (Natalie Prass cover)

Oh My Sweet Carolina (w/ Natalie Prass)

La Cienega Just Smiled

Trouble

When the Stars Go Blue

I See Monsters

Come Pick Me Up (w/ Natalie Prass)

I’d like to thank you sincerely for taking the time to read this and I hope to feel your interest again next time.

AV

Source: Gigwise

Source: Gigwise