Reviewing the glory of The Royal Scam

Good Wednesday everyone and welcome to another review.

Album Review

Steely Dan














The Royal Scam

This album is the quintessential album by the quintessential jazz-rock group Steely Dan, one of the most polarizing bands of all time. End to end filled with some of the greatest songs of the bands repertoire, and written so well that it can be listened to again and again.

The album leads in with "Kid Charlemagne" is a great tune about a San Francisco LSD chemist. It leads in with bass, crash cymbal, what sounds like rhodes piano. It acts as a precursor to the albums shady nature; this being by far the darkest album in Fagen and Becker's collection. Coming in second on the album is "The Caves Of Altamira" probably my favorite Steely tune of all time. When I went to see them live in my hometown of Manchester, NH they played this as one of the first tunes out. It leads in with a great horn intro. This song marks the tradition I see in Steely Dan albums; that the first song on the album is good, but the second is always better. I think that it helps to draw the person into the album, by thinking, " If these songs keep going in the direction they're going, then this album will be legendary." Sometimes, this is not so (Everything Must Go, Two Against Nature [I prefer vintage Steely]), but nonetheless, it makes an interesting thing to observe. Third up is "Don't take Me Alive" which rips in with a great arpeggiation of a G7#9 chord. This song continues the trend of the dark ideas surrounding this album. Throughout this album there is only one real song which could be considered upbeat, "Sign In Stranger." It leads in with a great piano lick, followed by a sick drum beat. This piano drum into is repeated in the next two songs, my sister's favorites in this album I believe; "The Fez" and "Green Earrings" though green earrings has a real good guitar and piano intro which is a little different. Even though I know that these songs are great songs, I don't find them as interesting as the other tunes in this album. Mainly because I listened to them since I was a little kid, and I didn't discover the other tunes until i was older. Next up is the great song "Haitian Divorce" with a great rhythmic intro accompanying the talk box guitar solo which gives the song it's unique character in the album. "Everything You Did", my favorite song on the album besides Caves leads in with this great guitar riff which grabs you into the song, then everything drops out except some drums, light guitar with some lap steel, bass, and piano. The important thing to listen to is the intensity of the lines in the verse. It makes for a great song. Finally, ending with "The Royal Scam" the epic title track which gives the album its name. It leads in with the creepiest intro yet on the album; vibes playing chords, clave, dense piano voicings. Then the drums kick in and synths trickle in. Then comes the guitar riff, and the low bass notes on the piano. Then vocals kick in. This song has something overly mysterious about it. It leaves the album with this chilling feeling, which makes one feel like they should check if the windows are locked in their house, especially in the mid fall.

Each song in this album has its unique feel to it; Kid Charlemagne" has the great bass line that is so present in it. "The Caves Of Altamira" has those amazing horn lines which give it that great character. "Don't Take Me Alive" has this fire about it transgressed into a distorted guitar line which makes it so good. "Sign In Stranger" has one of the best, cleanest drum beats I've ever heard in my life. "The Fez" has this epic coolness in its soul which the rhodes piano really transfers over with the great funky guitar comping. "Green Earrings" has this collection of unison lines between the bass and guitar. "Haitian Divorce" has that talk box with the 8th rest chk-chk rhythm which grooves so well. "Everything You Did" has the great intro into the sly and sneaky drumbeat. And finally, "The Royal Scam" has that undefinable creepiness and flair, which leaves you feeling chilled. This truly is an album to be reckoned with.

10/10

Until next we meet.

Drums, Bass...Done! (it's really all that anyone needs)

Happy Tuesday people! I hope you enjoyed the monolith post yesterday which took me several eons to complete. It's hard to cover such a monster album with any less words than that. Now, let's get down to business:

Album Review

Death From Above 1979















You're A Woman, I'm A Machine

This album is one which I can listen to over and over again and still find its songs as addicting as crack. This band is consistent of Jason Keeler, the bassist and backup vocalist, and Sebastian Grainger, who provides the drum beats and lead vocals. First off, drummers that sing are amazing to begin with; but to have a group like this which provides such raw power in a small duo is incredible. Not to mention that their dance-punk distorted bass groove sound just makes you want to strut. And the lyrics are so overtly sexual that you can't help but chuckle at them sometimes.

The album leads in with a bang; "Turn It Out" ripping out with an uptempo drum beat and blistering lyrics. This song sets up the tone of the album by this Canadian duo. Next, into "Romantic Rights" with pick scraping and 16th notes on the hi-hat makes the listener excited and anticipating the bass line which makes the head bob, and make the feet want to get up and dance. "Going Steady" and "Go Home, Get Down" are great tunes which bring the album to the four songs which are the pinnacle of the album. Starting this lineup is "Blood On Our Hands" a high-charged thunderstorm of intensity. This transitions into my personal favorite song on the album "Black History Month" which turns the fire down a bit, and makes me want to strut to the chinese food place by my house in the fall, the thing I did the most when I first got into this band. "Black History Month" leads us into the next tune, "Little Girl" this song tricks you; it starts out with a very slow bass groove, which pulls into a much more uptempo bass riff, which grabs you and makes you listen to the lyrics, which are almost cryptic sounding "My brother has a lady/ oh and one day she will have a baby/ my brother has a baby/ oh and one day, and one day she'll save me/ ohhh, ohhh, I need to talk to you girl.." very very interesting lyrics in that tune. Next up is "Cold War" a throbbing, distorted, almost metal ridiculosity which makes half the people yell to turn it off (not to be confused with "Turn It Out"), or to dance in a way that if somebody got too close, they might get hurt. Next we finally get to the title track; "You're A Woman, I'm A Machine" is another great power-charged dance punk metal tune in 4/4...UNTIL it turns into a 3/4 waltz explosion. Into the second to last tune on the album "Pull Out" which is so sexual it almost hurts to listen to it. Finishing up with the slow groove tune "Sexy Results" which is a great song like "Black History Month" a great song to strut to and a great closer to a great album.

Keeler and Grainger show us all that in the world of huge ensembles and bands, that you only need two to rock out; and the most important thing that these guys teach us is that a guitar is not a requirement for a rock band.

8.5/10

Everybody's Got Something To Hide, Except For Me and My Beatles.

Hello and welcome to a lovely Mixtape Monday. I have a review of a very popular album by a band called The Beatles, maybe you've heard of them. Also I have a mixtape for these the hot, humid, August summer days. It's perfect for this day.

Album Review














White Album

This album is a behemoth; thirty tracks, two LPs and/or CDs, and over an hour and a half of solid music. This album is my personal favorite of The Beatles discography. It starts out on a driving note "Back in the USSR" is a great opener to a great album. This transitions over to the ethereal "Dear Prudence" which begins with a greatguitar intro done by Mr. John Lennon. This is the type of song which I like to call a "builder." A song which starts out light and gets more intense as it goes on; continuing on to the next tune on the album, "Glass Onion" which is one of my favorite tunes on this disc. The bass groove on this album behind Lennon's cryptic lyrics, speaking of the songs in the Beatles catologue. This song goes into a ridiculous pair of tunes by McCartney, "Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da" which incidentally is the only Beatles tune which my grandfather knew the chorus to, and "Wild Honey Pie" a freaked-out precursor to the actual song that comes later. In this album there is the most distinct differences in the songs written by each Beatle; John, George, Paul, and Ringo all have songs on this album, and each have a very different and distinct flavor. The next 6 songs in the album are sone of the best series of songs on the album, which blend so well. "The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill" is a great story song, "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" is an amazing George Harrison tune, followed by "Happiness Is A Warm Gun." This song has the strong raw flavor of Lennon, in three sections. The first part of the song carries not a story-like style, but almost a description of a picture. This goes into the descriptor speaking directly to you talking about the fox they need, into the ridiculous chorus section of the song. Finally, after that amazing song comes my favorite song on this disc of the album "Martha My Dear," an amazing McCartney tune. With its jaunty piano intro to the section wherePaul sings, "Take a good look about you. Take a good look, you're bound to see; that you and me, were meant to be for each other, silly girl." Probably the best 15 bars yet in the album. Following this is a great John tune, "I'm So Tired" which my mom used to sing to me when I was a baby and wouldn't go to sleep. Now one of my favorite tunes, which follows a very odd progression, A G#7 D E A f#m D E A G#Aug f#m dm, or I VII7 IV V I vi IV V I VII+ vi iv numerically. This is followed by another, extremely popular tune by Paul, "Blackbird" which folds in with a great solo guitar accompanyment. This is mirrored by Lennon's tune which is the last track of this disc, "Julia" in my opinion, the better of the two. The rest of the first disc has some good tunes, but nothing worth the discussion, save "Rocky Raccoon" which is a great story song.

Next disc; starting off with a joint effort of John and Paul, "Birthday" once again showing the uptempo start of the disc which is now the fashion in this album by this repetition. Into one of the most intense John tunes with the Beatles, "Yer Blues" which John belts his lyrics out with a growling scream which gives me chills every time I hear it. Into "Mother Nature's Son" a nice Paul ramblin' tune. Into the fun and uptempo Lennon tune "Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except For Me And My Monkey" followed by one of the sadder tunes "Sexy Sadie" which John uses to tell people about the maharishi. Finally, we get to the oddest/most amazing tune on this disc, a Paul tune which shows off the Beatles ability to rock out real heavy for a 60's pop band; I am talking of course, about "Helter Skelter." This song rips through its progression and has Paul screaming through the lyrics like he's trying to rip his vocal chords apart. This emotional explosion it offset by the almost chilling song, "Long, Long, Long." This starts out with a triplet oriented guitar line and ends with glasses on a Leslie speaker cabinet and moaning. Next we venture into the 3 main Beatles songwriters 3 different styles in succession. "Revolution 1" is John Lennon's pollitical rebellion tune. "Honey Pie" is Paul's sweet, throwback-pop standard tune. "Savoy Truffle" my personal favorite on this whole album; a great tune about something simple. These 3 songs highlight the 3 different tastes and songwriting styles in this supergroup. "Cry Baby Cry" is a great picturesque song by Lennon, followed by the monstrosity of a track, "Revolution 9" which I abhor. FInishing up the album is "Good Night" a sub-par Ringo tune.

In looking at this album, what is to be considered is that the good tunes are ridiculously good; and the bad tunes, are still good by the present standards. This album only has two misses for me. "Revolution 9" and "Good Night" are the black sheep for me. So if you want to enjoy this album to its fullest, stop after "Cry Baby Cry"

9.5/10

Mixtape For A Hot August Day:

1. Pachuca Sunrise - Minus The Bear (Menos El Oso)
2. Two Weeks - Grizzly Bear (Veckatimest)
3. 100 Degrees - Shout Out Louds (Howl Howl Gaff Gaff)
4. Don't You Evah - Spoon (Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga)
5. Shoulda Known - Atmosphere (When Lofe Gives You Lemons, you Paint That Shit Gold)
6. No Phone - Cake (Pressure Chief)
7. U.R.A. Fever - The Kills (Midnight Boom)
8. Earthquake Weather - Beck (Guero)
9.60 Feet Tall - The Dead Weather (Horehound)
10. Volcano - Beck (Modern Guilt)
11. The Moon - The Microphones (The Glow Part 2)
12. Cold Wind - The Arcade Fire (Six Feet Under OST)

The idea of this mix is that you want to get things done in the beginning of the day/mixtape before the haze starts to set in, which doesn't subside until the middle of the night after sunset. I hope you enjoy it.

Until next time.

Sunday Single: Temecula Sunrise, Temecula Sunset

I've decided that one day on the weekend I will have an in-depth analysis of one single song so that it makes for a lighter workload on one of the days of the week.

Single Review

Dirty Projectors
















Temecula Sunrise (from the album Bitte Orca)

This song is an amazing track on a very odd album. This song starts out with an amazing acoustic guitar interlude which shows me that this band means business because the guitarist plays such clean open octaves so quickly that I can't wrap my fingers over that section of the song. This song has been consuming my guitar playing for the last 18 or so hours. Its complicated sequence leads into Dave Longstreth's vocals, which glide over the semi-angular guitar riffs which flow through 6/8 and 2/4 respectively in such a way which makes it seem like there is an arrhythmia every 8 or so bars. Then the bridge chords come upon the ear, which ring out like salty ocean waves. Then the chorus comes in and it is over. The song has already won you over with its eccentricities.

It works for me.

10/10

Until we meet again.

Gimme Fiction or Give Me Death!

Salutations to people of the interblag, I bring news of a great band. A band which I would say is one of the best bands around presently, Spoon. Spoon are a band out of Austin, TX who have a sound which grooves so hard that it is hard to stand. They are one of the tightest bands around and never lose a beat. Led by Britt Daniel and Jim Eno, this band is an unstoppable force in the modern day rock and roll scene.

Album Review

Spoon












Gimme Fiction


This album is the turning point in the solid groove stage in Spoon's history. To hear what spoon used to sound like (raw and more angry) check out Telophono, and A Series of Sneaks. This album however starts the real solid groove out with "The Beast and Dragon Adored" which is my personal favorite song on this album. With the clean-as-can-be drumbeat and the low low bass notes in the piano with light guitar comping, this makes a perfect set up to have Daniel's punching vocals on top. This song makes a great starter to this album because it references several songs in the lyrics; "The Two Sides of Monsieur Valentine" "I Summon You" "They Never Got You" are all referenced in the song. This song shows us all that all you need is rock and roll in your soul to feel alive.

To continue on this amazing album, it has some of Spoon's most popular hits, inculding the catchy "I Turn My Camera On" and the hemiola-mind-melt groove of "My Mathematical Mind," both of which make an appearance on the Stranger Than Fiction Soundtrack (great movie). The closest thing to a love song on this album is the catchy tune "I Summon You." The album wraps up on an upbeat note with "Merchants of Soul" which seems simple, but in the layering makes the song great.

As far as continuity goes, this album blends together so well you could remove the track seperators and just go from song to song and love every minute of it.

Until next time, folks.

9/10

You and Me and Maps & Atlases

Well, I certainly hope that somebody enjoyed the last review. I figured that I would Describe the format of this blog a little more in depth.

Reviews every day:
I plan on reviewing an album of my choice daily. Why, you ask? In order to give my two cents on bands and music in general to hopefully influence people to have a listen to some good music.

Mixtape Mondays:
I will create a mixtape for the week, in addition to that days review.

Now, on to today's entertainment:

Album Review
Maps & Atlases


















You And Me And The Mountain

Chicago-based band Maps & Atlases have a sound which is very interesting. The incredibly intricate double-handed tapping technique sounds like something to be wary of, solely because of all the god-awful metal tapping. This band does not sound anything like that though; their sound is that of the most melodic and euphoric sounds I have ever come across. It makes me want more than what they have released (2 EPs and a full-length on the way).

The 5 song EP You And Me And The Mountain is a short journey into the immense, intensely happy journey which sounds like pure happiness to me. This EP shows significant growth from their first EP Trees, Swallows, Houses, and always leaves me in a state of pure happiness. The best track from a technicality point of view is "Ted Zancha" a jaunty tune in 12/8, showing off their ability to groove so well together, as well as showcasing Dave Davison's ability to not scream lyrics at the top of his lungs constantly. "Witch" carries with it some lovely additional percussion, and "Daily News" continues and elaborates on that idea. My personal favorite on this album has to be "Artichokes" Not only an interesting vegetable, but also probably one of the most addicting songs i have ever heard in my life; incidentally, when I saw M&A in March of this year, the finished up the night with this song, which left me in such a state that I didn't even mind that I had to walk home in the cold snow.

To conclude, You And Me And The Mountain is a showcase of this band's growth as a unit, and Dave Davison's ability to sing with a much cleaner tone. The only complaint I could have about this EP is that it's too short. It leaves one with a want to hear more and more. If you are a music junkie, this album will most definitely leave you with a necessity for more Maps & Atlases.

9/10

Starting with a question: Why the hell am I writing this?

Good question. Welcome, to those who decided to come across this, mistakenly or otherwise. The reason I decided to write this blog (what an annoying term), is to share my opinions of music by performing reviews on albums, songs, and bands. Hell, I might even throw in some reviews of classical music! I figured I would start this blog today, as I am alone at my house with nothing to do. But I am in a spiral of digression, so back to this:

Album Review














Tiddlywinks by NRBQ

I have been listening to this band my whole life. I grew up listening to at Yankee Stadium, and some of the compilations like Uncommon Denominators. When I finally got to listening to this album I was 17 and listening to it on the extra record player that I found in my basement. I hooked it up and discovered some songs which I now love and listen to always. "The Music Goes Round and Round" is a classic 1930's tune which was brought back to life in this album and makes me smile every time I hear it. Of course there are always the songs which are less poppy. "Roll Call" is the kind of tune that if it was released by some 80's hair metal band, would have become an instant hit. Though my favorite song on this album would have to be "Hobbies" This song has almost a minimalist-blues idea, where there are no words, just "Ahhhs" which follow a groove-like progression which eventually degenerates into a stupor.

Overall, this album has a bunch of great tunes, but in continuity, it seems like a collection of b-sides as opposed to a full-length album. This continuity problem is my only qualm in this LP. As an afterthought, if you would like a laugh, look for the commercial of pro-wrestler "Captain Lou" Albano (NRBQ's band manager at the time, as well as the guy who played Mario in the live action Super Mario tv show) advertising the album. Bonus points for anyone who can identify the classical tune playing in it.

Rating 8.5/10

Until next time.