Archive for June, 2008
Station | Russian Circles
I know I just reviewed Russian Circles’s first album, and yes I posted it only a couple days after Station was released… but now I’ve had about a month for Station to grow on me. I was a little unsure about it the first few listens, but now I can say with confidence that Station is one of the best instrumental rock albums I own.
Let Instinctiv Choose The Next Song You Listen To
Let Instinctiv Choose The Next Song You Listen To
The company’s product, Instinctiv Shuffle, is an iPhone application (jailbroken iPhones only, for now), that watches your listening habits to make a smart guess about which song you’ll want to listen to next. It claims to guess your mood and know exactly what you’ll want to listen [...]
Hezekiah | I Predict A Riot
How can I not give props to a Delaware-raised former choirboy turned producer, emcee? It says in his bio that, “Once he came out of highschool, he linked up with arguably the only Hip Hop crew to ever exist in Delaware,” during that time. Who’s arguing? I still don’t see any Hip Hop crews here in Delaware!
Lacuna Coil
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again… there aren’t enough strong female voices in hard rock. Lacuna Coil is one of those few bands with a solid female singer, and they’re not known widely enough in the states. I have all four full length studio releases, and there’s no reason you shouldn’t either.
Finger Eleven
I’ve mentioned Finger Eleven on the site a couple times by now, and it’s about time they got their own post. I was pretty lucky to find these guys as I found them back in my gambling days of buying cheap rock CDs I hadn’t heard of. While I don’t agree with their creative choices for their most recent CD, they still had a few great albums before they turned to complete mainstream. The first album I purchased was The Greyest of Blue Skies (2000), but my favorite is their first release under Finger Eleven, Tip (1997).
A Pyramid For The Living | Del Rey
I have a semi-daily ritual of laying down on couch, popping in my headphones, and cranking some good music. Some people like come home from a long day of work and zone out to some TV or maybe grab a cold-one. I like to just lay down and relax to music. Del Rey, another great instrumental rock band from Chicago, is one of those bands that’s perfect for said scenario. It’s very chill, yet busy, instrumental rock.
Damian, Julian, and Stephen Marley
The Marley’s stand out far outside the realm of the norm. I consider them a distinct group of artists and brothers who inherited the wisdom and soul of Bob Marley, while still adapting to the new culture and politics of our generation. They stand firm as the roots of conscious reggae music.
Alexisonfire
For those of you haven’t heard of Alexisonfire, the name is pronounced “Alexis On Fire”… not “Alex Is On Fire”. Some how this band slipped under my radar for more than a few years. I first heard them being played at work back in 2006, but I never got around to buying any of their albums until about a month ago. Needless to say, I’ve purchased all three full length studio albums.
Resonance | Mad at Gravity
If there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s finding good bands after they’ve broken up. Maybe the majority of Americans don’t like good music, or maybe I’m just slow to catch on to things. Mad at Gravity’s story goes something like that described in my last post on Pulse Ultra. Good band, wrong exposure, no more band. But that doesn’t mean you have to miss out on them completely.
Head Space | Pulse Ultra
Heavy guitar, a solid and melodic singer, occasional odd-metered rhythms, intricate compositions… enticing? It certainly got my attention. If only their record label had their head on straight. Despite the metric oriented decisions made at record labels, Pulse Ultra’s only major release, Head Space (2002), is one of my favorite albums. In fact, this album has three tracks about 10 plays shy of hitting my 25 most played tracks in iTunes.
