Randos 003

Indescribably weird/beautiful progressive rock with remarkable guitar and programming!!

CHECK OUT THEIR NEW SINGLE "DANCING THE TAO" HERE!!!

Retro Review 009 :: Alanis Morisette - Jagged Little Pill

I swear I've actually never heard this entire record in my life. I bet I'm in for a treat here based on the fact that a third of the albums 12 tracks are hit singles I find myself very agreeable to! A big part of my fascination with Alanis is her appearance in "Radio Free Albermuth," a film adaption of the 2nd part of a final, unfinished Philip K. Dick trilogy of books.

"All I Really Want," the first track is a SUPERB opener with lots of weird Alanis Morisette melodies that sound surprisingly fresh. The production is buoyant and I'm guessing is reliant on electronic drums over drum loops. Alanis really wails in her performances with a voice ranging from crackly grumbles to sparkling highs!!

"You Oughta Know" is still really upsetting lyrically, a little bit..maybe? The song still sort of hits me when the big drum and guitar really kick in at the bridge and the whole melody to this song is superb and of course there is the badass part where she does the hiccup YOU!!.. I'm not sure who this song is about (Mr. Duplicity..I imagine..?) but its got quite a few barbs..I REALLY love the bass playing on this song (with which a little research revealed that it's the Red Hot Chill Pepper's Flea..). It's super funky and doesn't step on the rockiness of Jane's Addiction's guitarist Dave Navarro's shredding or the brightness of the vocals.

"One Hand in My Pocket" is my favorite song on this record. I love the drum production and vocal performance and synth bass and heroic sounding guitar. The lyrics are still very curious and I always sort of thought of this song as similar to "Where It's At" by Beck. "I've got one hand in my pocket, and the other's:
- giving a high five,
-flicking a cigarette,
-giving a peace sign
-playing a piano
-hailing a taxi cab

There are the three other singles (Ironic, Head Over Feet, You Learn) and some other tracks that are all pretty great, narrowly standing the test of time with still some pretty surprisingly fresh Alanis-brand melodies and chord changes. The lyrics to Ironic are still pretty poignantly silly. Isn't THAT ironic?



AVAILABLE WHERE MUSIC IS FOUND!!

Retro Review 008 :: Services - Your Desire is My Business

From some of the guys that brought you unbelievably endearing industrial group Flux Information Sciences (the "something to write home about" voice of singer Trtzn is definitely the voice on the record but it is difficult researching the band due to every search engine bringing up a million other things with "services" in the name when queried..) comes a song with the lyrics:

YOU! ME! WE!! KILLER BEES!! TAKE ME BACK TO THE CEMETERY, WHERE I'M BURIED, AT ONCE!!

This is pretty much heavy break beat pop with a splendid singer and lots of booty bass and heavy metal guitar samples, bridging the whole thing on industrial and thrash. The lyrics are concise and clever. Loveeeeeeeeeeee it!

LISTEN TO IT HERE ON YOUTUBE!!!! KILLER BEES!!

Quarantine Watching 005 :: Genesis - Three Sides Live

Phil Collins gettin' proggy!!

Music Review 010 :: Fiona Apple - Fetch the Bolt Cutters

There's never a bad time for a new Fiona Apple record and this album was apparently good enough to have it's release mentioned in the major news headlines. Three tracks in, I'm already enamored. I will finish writing this tomorrow! 

Jamband Jzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

The next day..
This is so good. Soooooooooo good. Great songs with fantastic drum and bass with interesting counterpointed rhythm to Apple's magnetic voice, keyboard playing, and lyrics. I still need a few more listens to process this but this just totally "ruined my shit". The two songs that stood out to me for repeated listens is "For Her" and "Shameika" !! I give this album a twenty piece nugget and fries!!! 

LISTEN TO IT HERE!! NOW!!!!

VIRTUAL FUN 002

You can win

Satisfaction is within your reach

10 minutes of your time

Prepare to become a believer

MUISC REVIEW 009: "bangplay"

From the city of Denver,

I present the now defunkt, BANGPLAY

Science Fiction Fantasy Jazz Prog

Complex and Refreshing

Straight to the Point

To the edge and Back

Not without a promise of a weirder tomorrow

Music for flashbacks

I discovered this on Bandcamp's Dashboard

I'm impressed by a website

A website, making the internet a better place

Sometimes I fall asleep to negative thoughts about the internet

Here's a splash of much needed positive contrast

Its a great website

Called Bandcamp

Quarantine Watching 004.2 :: "More Things That Happened" : Inland Empire Deleted Scenes

Another 75 minutes to go with the 3 hours of Inland Empire!

Quarantine Watching 004 :: Inland Empire

David Lynch's modern classic about a "Woman in Trouble" is a 3 hour long surrealist romp through a movie about within a movie and more.

MUSIC REVIEW 009 :: MonoNeon - Toxic Wasteland 2 The Hills

The prolific bassist/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist/producer Dwayne "MonoNeon" Thomas first came to notice as being a Prince protege and the last bassist the purple maestro ever hired. Since then, he has not only released quite a few records combining Prince/80s electro Parliament Funkadelic elements with the Residents and other avante-garde pop permutations but has managed to join and play with several popular jambands and release some very interesting youtube videos.

The thing that always stands out in his songs are his fantastic yet bizarre melodies and unreal bass playing. I mean, he is not just good at bass, he is markedly tasteful. He's got a remarkably fun singing voice; evoking Sly Stone or George Clinton but unique in its own way.

"Do You Remember the Days in New York?" is a delightfully groovy head bobber with smooth synth and guitar interpolation with also delightful bass synth and a bridge that will knock your socks off!

"Wish Our Party Would've Last" is almost like a fantastic Prince rock ballad but with an overall strangeness that fit with these strange modern times.

"Live, Learn, Bye, and Fly" shows off his tasteful yet technically gifted guitar playing with feverish Isley Brothers style funk riffs alongside his gnarly bass playing and fascinating drum programming. There is a really stirring synthesizer conclusion with some lovely counterpoint.

"The Sunken Place Instrumental" is almost like a Drexciya track but with fiery live bass alongside synth bass and a magnetic sounding drum groove.

"Going Cold Turkey From Your Touch" is a proggy, bluesy pop-rock song with another world class bassline and some really funky guitar and bass drum work.

"The Price I Have To Pay For Not Loving You" is a straight up Isley Brother's style jam in the vein of "Voyage to Atlantis" with just about everything that could go right in a song!!




CHECK OUT THE ALBUM HERE!!

RETRO REVIEW 007:: Steve Winwood - Arc of a Diver

This album really sets a lot of musical standards for excellence. First of all, every instrument on Arc of a Diver is played by Steve Winwood (oftentimes known exclusively for his truly gnarly keyboard playing). Second of all, it is anchored by leading track and mega-hit "If You Take A Chance" with exceptional lyrics, melodies, rhythms, synthesizer & organ tones, and just about every quality associated with musicality; not to mention his classic raspy yet tonally clear voice. Third of all, this album serves as a predecessor to much of 80s sophistipop (including Winwood's own "Higher Love"). This album evokes Traffic but with a LOT of synthesizers.

Its really remarkable to think one guy did all this in a pre-digital sequencing age, considering these songs have lots of parts with a number of changes. Sometimes its even confusing to sit up and notice its all one guy who is that good at guitar, drums, synthesizer, bass, and programming; not to mention singing (with excellent harmonies and dual leads). A lot of his weirdness from the 60s and 70s music is combined here with smooth grooves, get ready for a lot of different synth patches.

My other favorite song on this album is "Spanish Dancer," a funky synth jam with impeccable synth bass and twinkling counterpoint, all anchored by an "Empty Pages" type vocal line. All and all, if you're looking for something mellow and synthy to crunch down on with hyper musical qualities and smooth drum & bass, check out Arc of a Diver by Steve Winwood!



WHILE YOU SEE A CHANCE: TAKE IT AND LISTEN TO THIS FANTASTIC ALBUM!!
Link to playlist below::::

RANDOS 002

Subtle Bob Dylan Christian House

RETRO REVIEW 006:: Jimi Hendrix - At Last the Beginning : The Making of Electric Ladyland : The Early Takes Sampler

At Last the Beginning : The Making of Electric Ladyland : The Early Takes Sampler is a less common Hendrix compilation that I recently noticed was available on Spotify! If this wasn't licensed to Experience Hendrix L.L.C. I might have a hard time imagining this is real.

It opens with a majestic demo of 1983...(A Mermaid I Should Turn to Be) played softly by Hendrix on guitar, painting a post-apocalyptic picture similar to the orchestrated version but with more of an R&B flair to its psychedelic strum.

There is an excellent acoustic rendition of the rare but truly classic song "My Friend" (the finished orchestrated version is on the posthumous "Cry of Love")
"Sometimes its not so easy especially when your only friend walks, feels, and talks like you and you do the same just like him".

Included on this is also a different instrumental, seemingly funkier instrumental take of "Long Hot Summer Night" with much more piano and a different version of the sonic instrumental "At Last the Beginning".

All and all this might just be one for the hardcore Hendrix fans but the version of My Friend and 1983 are worth checking out and any insight into how Hendrix wrote his songs has always interested me!!

Thanks Spotify! Listen here!!

p.s. There is an unreleased Hendrix demos collection, "Black Gold"! Here is the only song available from it ::::

RETRO REVIEW 005:: Radio Zumbido - Last days of AM

Back in middle school this album carved out a much needed space beyond NOFX and Radiohead.

The armchair sonic fantasies of exotica, delivered in an internet age collage of rhythm, field recordings and electronica genres, I loved the sunny and supersmart mood of this album. 

I remember being happy and being smart seemingly existing in opposition to eachother, my goth friends really driving this point to an extreme. This album kinda made me not care about Modest Mouse or Radiohead - which I'm really grateful for! I never related to that angst and depression, I still don't. 

I love the utopian holographic summer radiating from this album, like Mouse on Mars, it combines samples and synthesizers in a mesh of improvisation and delicate editing to create what to me is a new listening experience with every return listen.

I spent alot of time on Fruity Loops trying to recreate the sounds on this record but could never pull it off the spacious sense of swing and interwoven jazzlike entrances and exits.

Hope u enjoy!

<3 Joey B

QUARANTINE WATCHING #003 The Prisoner

Rarely a show comes along that embeds itself into my lifestyle and habits, however when it does its usually one of those super original one season shows, like Cowboy Bebop or in this case - The Prisoner!

Available for free streaming here: http://www.shoutfactorytv.com/series/the-prisoner

This show captures the banal luxury of the modern panopticon, an inescapable Russian doll set of conspiracies and duplicity between allegiance to any nation. A global shadow organization jails countless citizens of every nation on a resort island made inescapable by giant balloons that chase you and scores of double agents.

Visually impeccable and full of bright colors and mid 1960's science fiction interiors and props, this show is surprisingly relevant and insightful about psychology, government and the role technology and aesthetics play in normalizing society and its absurdities.

The pacing is slow by today's standards, but like Twin Peaks, it carries a blanket of ambience that I look forward to being immersed in time and again. Maybe thats a weird metaphor.

I tried watching it on my VR headset a few nights ago, I felt kind of like Alex in Clockwork Orange with his eyes taped open being forced to watch a brainwashing feed. Fans of that movie will enjoy this too, similar ideas and aesthetics but much less punk and violent.

Okay tune in yer tellies and enjoy!
- Joey B

QUARANTINE WATCHING #002 - THIS TIME WITH ALAN PARTRIDGE

This 2019 series follows EVERYONE'S (and I mean literally everyone's) favorite bumbling, mediocre broadcaster (as portrayed by Steve Coogan) in his incidental return to the BBC television screen (both in real life and in the story of the show)). Enjoy!!

QUARANTINE WATCHING #001:: TV ONE'S UNSUNG

As all you readers know, Unsung is TV One's long running answer to VH1's Behind the Music. 
Here are some interesting episodes I've found of the 153  brutally honest episodes that have aired to date!!

MUSIC REVIEW 008 - Alice Cohen & The Channel 14 Weather Team - Artificial Fairytales

If I kept a list, this might have been my #1 album of last year. I completely destroyed a CD copy some one gave me of it in my car through overuse. Just about every song on this record struck a chord with me through its introverted lyrics, their exceptionally genuine vocal delivery, and the overall complexity of Alice Cohen's Artificial Fairytales. This album sounds like Whitney Houston or Mariah Carey! I would go as far as saying this album evokes certain elements of Stevie Wonder's songwriting. Their is a subtle familiarity but obvious abstractness to her melodies and chord changes; as catchy and clever as they are dense from a compositional standpoint!

The album was constructed with help from Adrian Knight and Dave Lackner (of Galtta Media) and they bring along Knight's signature technical accomplishments on various instruments and Lackner's distinct brand of melodic saxophone solos and flute work with them. The keyboard work and synthesizer programming on this album is really what brings the whole thing home.

"Thank You" was definitely my favorite song on the album.
"I don't need a knight in shining army/I need more than an imaginary friend/I don't need an artificial fairy tale/I don't need an artificial fairy tale" she sings, conclusively to the hum of flutes.

"Broken Bubbles" is an enchanting, floating interlude between "Thank You" and "Hourglass" (a wonderfully catchy tune in the mind of a progressive Natalie Merchant meets the Cocteau Twins). "Hidden Staircase" is a fascinating Italo-disco styled dance tune with elements of Genesis (see:: Duke...) and heavy syrup synths.

"Faces in the Rain" is as if Tangerine Dream performed a pop ballad in the style of "Love on a Real Train". "Ravers at Dawn" is an electro-exotica instrumental and a worthy interlude to the finale, "Bubblegum Heart," another tender sophistipop ballad.

I really enjoy this album and think its a really fun listen!!



Out now on vinyl and compact disc from NNA Tapes!!