Like a diminuitvely-sized steam-thing that could do... something... I think I can, I think I can, I think I can hit you with another late post on the path to calendrical responsibility. And, praise the Allfather, the deities responsible for new music have deigned to smile upon me and aid in my efforts. Decent.
Let's start with your Friday song, and a bit of a twist: Coheed and Cambria have a new single out ahead of a new album, and for the first time Claudio and Company are eschewing their usual concept record route in favour of something much more grounded in meatspace (my words). Will longtime fans like myself explode with disappointment?
If first single "You've Got Spirit, Kid" is any indication, probably not. It might be lyrically less obtuse and more direct than past Coheed stuff... or it might not. Since Claudio always built personal meaning into the Amory Wars story anyways, things don't sound worlds apart with that concept stripped away. And musically, well, Coheed pretty much just sounds like Coheed; this one's not as instantly in my brain as some of their stuff, but it's got plenty of potential. Bring on The Color Before the Sun in October.
Wednesday, 8 July 2015
Thursday: Econoline Crush - You Don't Know What It's Like
Time to kill as many pigs as I can with as few pigs as possible (2015 people, you'll get that one in a few years, when tradition idioms are finally updated for the modern age). To wit: this one's a Throwback Thursday number, an additional piece of Canadiana, and a prelude to an upcoming local show I'm going to try and catch. How's that for multitasking?
If you're a Canadian music fan of around my age, chances are pretty good that you're familiar with Vancouver alt-rockers Econoline Crush. Chances are also fair to pretty good that you're also familiar with some of the fan favourites from their catalogue, songs like "All That You Are", "Sparkle & Shine", and your belated Throwback Thursday song for last week.
If I had to pick one and only one Econoline Crush song to put on some kind of giant mixtape, it'd definitely have to "You Don't Know What It's Like". It's not really an especially heavy track by metal standards, but it's got plenty of rocking energy to its choruses, and plenty of singability to boot. Grab some Canadian circa-thirtysomethings, get some drinks in them, put this one on and watch the bunch of them rediscover the fact that they know all the words.
If you're a Canadian music fan of around my age, chances are pretty good that you're familiar with Vancouver alt-rockers Econoline Crush. Chances are also fair to pretty good that you're also familiar with some of the fan favourites from their catalogue, songs like "All That You Are", "Sparkle & Shine", and your belated Throwback Thursday song for last week.
If I had to pick one and only one Econoline Crush song to put on some kind of giant mixtape, it'd definitely have to "You Don't Know What It's Like". It's not really an especially heavy track by metal standards, but it's got plenty of rocking energy to its choruses, and plenty of singability to boot. Grab some Canadian circa-thirtysomethings, get some drinks in them, put this one on and watch the bunch of them rediscover the fact that they know all the words.
Tuesday, 7 July 2015
Wednesday: Rush - Closer to the Heart
OK, fair warning: even though it's actually Tuesday the 7th out here in meatspace, this post is supposed to make up for last Wednesday the 1st, which was Canada Day, and by now you should know what that means. If you answered anything other than "something Canadian for Canada Day, Alex", you need to head back to the dojo, Daniel-san, because you're not ready to face Cobra-Kai yet.
The aforementioned warning, however, pertains more to my choice of Canada Day tune than its country of origin. Yes, that's right fellow 'nucks, I'm once again showing my nation pride and wishing this greatest of countries a happy birthday in style with a classic cut from Canadian legends Rush. Sorry Geddy haters.
And what's more, I'm going full sentimental Rush-head and going with the 1977 classic "Closer to the Heart" from A Farewell to Kings for my Canada Day selection. Grab a loved one, grab a bevvy, and sing along with this one like it's last call at some Canadian-themed bar somewhere. Happy belated Canada Day everybody.
The aforementioned warning, however, pertains more to my choice of Canada Day tune than its country of origin. Yes, that's right fellow 'nucks, I'm once again showing my nation pride and wishing this greatest of countries a happy birthday in style with a classic cut from Canadian legends Rush. Sorry Geddy haters.
And what's more, I'm going full sentimental Rush-head and going with the 1977 classic "Closer to the Heart" from A Farewell to Kings for my Canada Day selection. Grab a loved one, grab a bevvy, and sing along with this one like it's last call at some Canadian-themed bar somewhere. Happy belated Canada Day everybody.
Tuesday: Fallujah - Levitation
My next catch-up song might not be quite tech enough to qualify for Tech Tuesday, but it is dense and heavy as fuck, and that can go a long way towards trumping sheer technicality. Oh, and did I mention that just because they're not shredding around 24/7 doesn't mean Fallujah can't play the absolute shit out of their instruments? So there's that too.
I've previously made no secret of just how much I dig Fallujah's 2014 masterpiece The Flesh Prevails, but there's more than enough rock solid material on said album to justify some more time for Fallujah in the Loud Noises spotlight. Take as your latest example "Levitation", a dense, ferocious, and majestic snapshot of where Fallujah is at right now (or was at in 2014 anyways). I know The Flesh Prevails isn't even a year old yet, but bring on the follow-up, guys!
I've previously made no secret of just how much I dig Fallujah's 2014 masterpiece The Flesh Prevails, but there's more than enough rock solid material on said album to justify some more time for Fallujah in the Loud Noises spotlight. Take as your latest example "Levitation", a dense, ferocious, and majestic snapshot of where Fallujah is at right now (or was at in 2014 anyways). I know The Flesh Prevails isn't even a year old yet, but bring on the follow-up, guys!
Monday, 6 July 2015
Monday: Radiohead - All I Need
So, a week behind and looking to catch up once and for all as soon as possible? Better get to it, shall we, starting with a way-late Monday song from Loud Noises Mellow Monday favourites Radiohead.
Checking my records, I see I've yet to feature one of my favourite moody pieces from 2007's personal-sleeper-hit In Rainbows, so my choice of Mellow Monday song today is pretty easy peasy. "All I Need" starts out somewhat sparsely, with a little bit of ambient background, a laid-back beat, and a bass line. But by the end, things are lush and densely beautiful, with piano, horns, strings, xylophone, and Thom's croon over top of everything. If your head wasn't nodding along at some point during the four minutes or so of "All I Need", make a chiropractic appointment because there could be something wrong with your neck.
Checking my records, I see I've yet to feature one of my favourite moody pieces from 2007's personal-sleeper-hit In Rainbows, so my choice of Mellow Monday song today is pretty easy peasy. "All I Need" starts out somewhat sparsely, with a little bit of ambient background, a laid-back beat, and a bass line. But by the end, things are lush and densely beautiful, with piano, horns, strings, xylophone, and Thom's croon over top of everything. If your head wasn't nodding along at some point during the four minutes or so of "All I Need", make a chiropractic appointment because there could be something wrong with your neck.
Saturday, 4 July 2015
Sunday: Refused - Dawkins Christ
OK class, show of hands: who's been jamming the new Refused record Freedom over the past week or so? And what does everybody think? Are you one of those people who's a bit butt-hurt because Freedom isn't exactly what they expected and/or hoped for? Or are you, like me, pleasantly surprised with this grower-not-a-shower of an album?
Fans expecting The Shape of Punk to Come 2.0 might be disappointed that the rest of Freedom doesn't hit as hard as "Elektra", but as usual, the open-minded listener is rewarded here with something interesting and different. Refused have come a ways in the last fifteen or twenty years, but if you don't go into Freedom with a particular set of expectations all built up and ready to be disappointed, I think you'll find that there's a lot of good stuff to be had.
Case in point: "Dawkins Christ", which oscillates between simmering menace and bursting punk energy. Like many of the tracks on Freedom, it's not especially heavy, or fast, or technical, but it is just enough of all of those things to hook a listener like me. Maybe it'll hook a listener like you, maybe not, but if you're at all into Refused, it deserves at least a look. The shape of punk that's come might not be what you thought it would be, but that doesn't mean it isn't cool.
Fans expecting The Shape of Punk to Come 2.0 might be disappointed that the rest of Freedom doesn't hit as hard as "Elektra", but as usual, the open-minded listener is rewarded here with something interesting and different. Refused have come a ways in the last fifteen or twenty years, but if you don't go into Freedom with a particular set of expectations all built up and ready to be disappointed, I think you'll find that there's a lot of good stuff to be had.
Case in point: "Dawkins Christ", which oscillates between simmering menace and bursting punk energy. Like many of the tracks on Freedom, it's not especially heavy, or fast, or technical, but it is just enough of all of those things to hook a listener like me. Maybe it'll hook a listener like you, maybe not, but if you're at all into Refused, it deserves at least a look. The shape of punk that's come might not be what you thought it would be, but that doesn't mean it isn't cool.
Thursday, 2 July 2015
Saturday: Skyharbor - Celestial
By now all you Skyharbor fans out there will likely have heard the news, but for those who haven't: singer Dan Tompkins is, alas, parting ways with Skyharbor and dedicating himself completely to his work with Tesseract (real blow for Tesseract fans, right?) and presumably his other solo/session stuff.
Skyharbor fans take heart, however, because the band has already introduced the world to Dan's replacement, American vocalist/producer Eric Emery, and even provided a little taste of what's in store for us as far as Eric's Skyharbor vocals will be concerned. Click right about here to sample Eric's take on Guiding Lights lead single "Evolution".
Facebook tells me tracking for a new Skyharbor single is about to begin, so maybe we'll hear Eric on some new material sooner than we think. In the meantime, however, we're going to go back to square one for your way-late Saturday Skyharbor song. Go back in time a bit and check out the epic "Celestial" from Skyharbor's superb debut Blinding White Noise: Illusion & Chaos and then join me in counting down the days until we get some Eric-led Skyharbor.
Skyharbor fans take heart, however, because the band has already introduced the world to Dan's replacement, American vocalist/producer Eric Emery, and even provided a little taste of what's in store for us as far as Eric's Skyharbor vocals will be concerned. Click right about here to sample Eric's take on Guiding Lights lead single "Evolution".
Facebook tells me tracking for a new Skyharbor single is about to begin, so maybe we'll hear Eric on some new material sooner than we think. In the meantime, however, we're going to go back to square one for your way-late Saturday Skyharbor song. Go back in time a bit and check out the epic "Celestial" from Skyharbor's superb debut Blinding White Noise: Illusion & Chaos and then join me in counting down the days until we get some Eric-led Skyharbor.
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