What YOU lookin at?
29-feb-2oo8
Some good news indeed - it would seem that the briliant Glassjaw are back together - albeit with another new line-up - and are busy working toward completing their next album...
I actually owe quite a bit of gratitude to Glassjaw’s first effort Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Silence, as this album, along with Radiohead’s mesmerizing Kid A which happened to have been released the same year, taught me that there will almost always be a whole raft of albums that I have/will prematurely write off as un-listen-to-able, simply because they are incomprehensible to my current musical sensibilities. I dare say the vast majority of the million plus people who listened to Kid A for the first time upon its release had absolutely no idea what the hell was going on, but with a bit of trust in Mr Yorke and co. and a bit of persistence, we went on a journey uncovering the album’s many layers and secrets, falling in love with new elements upon each listen... This basically re-wrote the way I listened to new artists/albums for the first time: if it sounds like a whole bunch of incoherent noise, I now ask myself “is it cos it's shit? Or is it cos it's awesome and I'm going to have to expand my musical parameters over time to understand it?” And it’s the latter that I spend my time looking for now…
But back to my first experience of Glassjaw… There really is nothing like hearing something new for the first time, and having been given a burnt copy of E.Y.E.W.T.K.A.S by a friend, and feeling the anticipation of hearing from the latest band to have been produced by the legendary Ross Robinson, I had high hopes indeed. I played it through maybe twice, but I just couldn’t get into it. I couldn’t reconcile the music with Daryl’s unpredictable and unusual voice, and promptly put the cd on my rack with little intention of ever pulling it out again (these were pre ripping to iTunes days of course…). Then, maybe 4 or 5 months later I woke at about 4am with what - in that moment - felt like the most amazing chorus I had ever heard in my head and just had to know what it was – so up I got and began searching through my cds trying to work out who it could possibly be via a process of elimination – and eventually I narrowed it down to a song, namely Ry Ry’s Song on this cd that I had pretty much forgotten about… So, I figured that if a song I had only heard twice in passing could burrow into my subconscious, there could be something special going on, so I gave the album a second chance the next day and listened until it made sense. Needless to say, it soon shot up into my all-time fav’s list, and turned me into a huge fan of anything they’ve done since – be it as Glassjaw, or any of their various side-projects...
Glassjaw - Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Silence (2ooo)
Glassjaw - Worship and Tribute (2oo2)
Siberian Kiss by Glassjaw
Cosmopolitan Blood Loss by Glassjaw
Check out Glassjaw here: www.myspace.com/glassjaw (though there's nothing much to see/hear at the moment...)
Daz
22-feb-2oo8
Well, having purchased my copy of Fortress, the second album from the aforementioned Protest the Hero, and given it a number of spins, I think I can safely say that I’ve found my album of the year, or at least my best band discovery for 2oo8. Sure it’s only February, but I really can’t imagine how anyone’s going to top this effort. And having done a bit of looking around on the net and at various mag reviews, it would seem that a lot of other people share this sentiment – even the comments under their videos on Youtube are consistently full of praise, and have miraculously managed to remain free of the usual handful of awesome comments to the effect of ‘this band is so gay. rofl. ASF ftw!’
Protest the Hero - Fortress (2oo8)
So, 2oo8 is off to a great start, but what about 2oo7? As appears to be the case this year, last year had a clear winner for my best band discovery: Burst. I can’t remember what prompted me to pick up Origo, which turned out to be their second release, I think I may have seen an add for it in some mag and just taken a punt, but I’m glad I did. It took me a little while to get used to what they were doing, but once the tracks had sunk in, I was drawn back to it time and time again all year...
Burst - Origo (2oo6)
Below is the opening track Where the Wave Broke – the clip's a bit shitty, but the music and intensity speak for themselves. Play it through twice, and you’ll be singing “that bloated bastard SUN RISE!” to yourself for days to come…
Where the Wave Broke by Burst
Check out Burst here: www.myspace.com/burstrelapse
Daz
13-feb-2oo8
It was the discovery of two incredibly disparate pieces of information within the space of a few hours that formed the impetus for the creation this blog...
Firstly, learning that the atrocious insult to music that is Umbrella, as ‘performed’ by Rihanna, was not only accidentally mistaken for a song, but was actually nominated for ‘Song of the Year’ at this years Grammy awards… As is often the case, the opinion of the writers at The Simpson’s brang a smile to my face, "Hey, don't throw your trash down here!"
What is perhaps even more perplexing is the fact that it took four hacks to write it, namely Shawn Carter, Kuk Harrell, Terius "Dream" Nash, and Christopher Stewart. Yes, mister Nash went out of his way to insist that his nickname “Dream” was included in his credit, and I can only assume the 'dream' Terius is bragging about is one the he must have had in which he was able to write a good song.
The second thing I learned about was the existence of this jaw-dropping song:
Blood Meat by Protest the Hero
It was obviously meant to be, as it came on the radio just as I got in the car, and finished as I pulled into my driveway, totally in awe and just hoping that the bands’ name hadn’t been announced before the song, leaving me with the impossible task of ever figuring out who they were - but luckily, it was promptly announced, along with the somewhat impossible fact that their new album had recently managed to top the Canadian album charts! I was also relieved to discover that they had made a point of featuring the phenomenally intricate guitar work in the clip (above). And apparently they’re only in their 20’s!
Anyhow, I can sleep easy with the knowledge that Rihanna didn't win the 'Song of the Year' Grammy (though she did win in some other category), and a band with real talent is actually selling records! And this at the same time the perfect Juno is still packing out cinemas! Fantastic!
Check out Protest the Hero here: www.myspace.com/protestthehero
Daz
