I have just got my greasy paws on the new 30 seconds to mars album and from what i have heard so far i am very impressed. 'This Is War' is much more of a coherent album than their first two releases, this is due partly to the variety of tracks on the album which in my opinion was absent on the first two albums. The collaboration with Kanye West on 'Hurricane' (i can only assume Mr West does the synth track in the background as there is no rapping involved) is genius and shows a different direction for the band away from 10 epic-emo tracks to a well produced and structured album. Despite the varied album I'm going to have to post one of the 'old-school' sounding tracks the album title sharing 'This Is War' due to its sheer epic nature but just to prove i wasn't fibbin' I've posted 'Hurricanes' too. Enjoy.
Dan Black is a rising star within Indie circles (and other indie shapes for that matter) and with good reason. His debut album "Un" is a perfect example of the direction in which electroindie should be'a headin'. The first tracks i listened to off the album were the two singles he has released from the album ("Symphonies" and "U + Me=") and at first i was worried that we had another "La Roux" scenario where all the tracks sound the same (a tad harsh to Dan Black, it was no where near as bad as La Roux). Despite this, as i listened to the rest of the album i realised that i couldnt have been more wrong (something i don't often admit to). The album has an impresive amount of diversity from "Yours" which sounds like an electronic version of kasabians epic "Take Aim" to "Alone" where Dan sounds more like MGMT and Vampire weekend's ilegitimate love child. (Disclaimer: I fully accept that MGMT and Vampire Weekend do not have an illegitimate love child). I have selected my two favourite songs from the album the single "Symphonies" and the last track on the album "Let Go". Enjoy.
I have been waiting for this album for two years and it is finally here! Ever since PTT released 'Lets Lightning' and 'Hurricanes' they have gained thousands of fans and appeared in NME's new music tour in 2007 however due to a dispute with their record label they have been unable to release their album for two whole years!!!! (maybe the reason for all the scrabble playing). Finally it has been released to the delight of all Pull Tiger Tail fans like myself. Every song on the album is worth posting but i feel my blog may become rather one dimensional, so i have not let my heart rule my head and managed to select two tracks to give you a flavour of the album.
This band is good full stop. Their album is quality all the way through and they have mastered the alternative rock genre that only American garage bands have dominated for so long. The band benefit greatly from the impressively powerful and unique voice of the lead singer Sam Mctrusty (brilliant name, sounds like a detective in a cop buddy movie). The band also succeeds in resisting the temptation to scream which so many promising bands give into and let their music shine through instead. The album is well structured but a bit short in my opinion at only 8 tracks its more of a long EP despite this all 8 tracks are single worthy. The album called 'Vivarium' is out in the UK on the 21st of September and is definitely worth a listen. Here is a track called 'What Is Light? Where Is Laughter?' to whet your appetite
The UK supergroup are back with their album 'The Resistance' which is released on the 14th of September, so i thought what better time than to give you some musings on muse. After listening to the new album i have picked out a couple of tracks which are truly museworthy. The second track on the album 'Resistance' is fast paced Muse at their best, with an epic opening that sets the heart racing more than the casualty opening credits and the belting chorus of Matt screaming out 'Love is our resistance' in a slight cliched but entirely heartfelt manner, this is definitely one of the better tracks on the album. Perhaps the most bizarre track has to be 'United States of Eurasia (+ Collateral Damage)' which starts off with a piano rendition similar to Muse's 'Butterflies and Hurricanes' the drums quickly kick in and suddenly Freddie Mercury and co. seemed to have creeped into the recording studio however this doesn't last long it now moves into an epic middle eastern sounding string, drum and piano score. After the craze of the first 2 minutes classic Muse is back with the song building up to a somewhat over the top chant of 'EURASIA'. This bizarrely beautiful song doesn't finish there though there is still time for Chopin's Nocturne In E-Flat Major, Op.9 No.2 to complete the outro which i am guessing counts as the (+Collateral Damage) part of the track. So far muse haven't produced a bad album and this is no exception, its no classic but it is very epic...scratch that extremely epic and could easily be a fan favourite, it will keep classic muse fans satisfied with guitar solos aplenty on tracks such as 'MK Ultra' and 'Unnatural Selection' but will also keep muse newbies enthralled. Listen to my two track selection below.