2 comments about The World Is Yours.

1. Y lo que tengo que decir es que "Este Maje es el mero Tieso" (Significa que es buenisimo) no se de donde le salen tantas buenas rolas, soy fanatico de el desde que saco unfinished monkey business , no muy seguidor de los Stone Roses pero tambien muy buenos, ojala y artistas como estos sonaran mas en nuestros paises y dejaran de pasar tanto reggaeton, increible todas las canciones de este album muy buenas, se tiro mas a los arreglos orquestales, pienso que solarized fue un album mas experimental probando sonidos orientales, en este Ian Brown ha alcanzado una madurez en sus composiciones, comprenlo o descarguenlo pero escuchenlo. Larga vida al rey Mono (Como lo llaman de cariño a Ian)



2. Confieso que nunca me convencieron del todo los Stone Roses. En aquellos ya lejanos noventas --además de los monstruos cardinales de la época: Bowie, Smiths, U2 y The Cure--, me traían loco otros grupos ingleses que combinaban lúdicamente la electrónica con el rock para hacernos bailar alucinando o alucinar bailando: bandas como Charlatans, Jesus Jones, Primal Scream, Happy Mondays o The Farm, entre otras neopsicodelias.
   En cambio, desde la primera vez que escuché a Ian Brown --diez años después--, la seducción fue inmediata:imposible resistir el contraste entre sus beats trip-hoperos y el barroco uso de trompetas y cornos, el balance entre las cuerdas y la guitarra, la elegancia de sus melodías combinada con la agudeza de su ingenio poético --y si no me la creen, chequen la letra de "F.E.A.R.", para que se den un leve apantalle.
   Con semejantes antecedentes, en cuanto supe de su nuevo disco, "The world is yours", corrí a buscarlo, anhelante y precavido. Por un lado, confiaba en que el ex-Stone Roses mantendría la consistencia que hasta ahora lo ha caracterizado, pero temía asimismo que comenzara a plagiar sus propios clichés. A la primera oída, en efecto, me decepcionó advertir una menor complejidad en los arreglos, aunada con una mayor crudeza en las letras... pero las cosas cambiaron cuando lo puse la segunda vez y me clavé en esa amarga joya titulada "Me and you forever", con sus fabulosos beats, sus conmovedoras cuerdas, esa guitarrita lacrimógena, y la suave voz de Brown declarando su amor y su amistad incondicional en medio del desastre: no hay mejor ocasión para decir "por siempre" que cuando el final se avecina.
   A partir de entonces, se me iluminó la propuesta integral del disco: incluso la provocativa y casi panfletaria letra de "Illegal attacks", cantada a dúo con Sinnéad O'Connor, me pareció hermosamente terrible, terriblemente hermosa: hay cosas en este mundo que no admiten rodeos, y ésas hay que cantarlas así, con fuerza, convicción... y una excelente banda por detrás. Mucho me temo que algunos críticos, a partir de esta canción, juzgarán a Brown por su incorrección política y no por su solidez poética... pero él asumió ese riesgo, y yo lo aplaudo por ello. Sobre todo cuando vuelvo a escuchar con el corazón su abrumador riff orquestal, tan duro y antibélico como "The Wall" de Pink Floyd.
   Como puede advertirse, mi fe en Ian Brown, The Fisherman King, continúa viva y vigente. Tanto, que prefiero apagar la computadora y la luz, ponerme mis audífonos y recetarme de nuevo el disco entero, con la seguridad que esta noche, mis sueños serán hermosos... o terribles, que a veces casi es lo mismo.

5 comments about In Place of Real Insight.

1. I've had this album forever and it, to me, is an expression of emo when it was: (a) as a term, a much more precise description; and (b) as a body of work, good because it coupled actual musicianship and intelligent lyrical talent to garner such a true expression of raw emotion that to listen was to live that emotion, in a phenomenological sense. To this day, "the new hangout condition" (from which comes the cd's title) and "today or tomorrow" are favorites of mine. While my predecessor reviewers are right that this album (and, truly, karate) will never be "amazing", they can best be described as "honest and true", which is also valuable.



2. this is a good cd. i really like the guitars in it and the voice is different than most other bands. id recommend it.



3. While some of the songs (new martini, the new hangout condition, on cutting) come up short in my ears of clear brilliance, the stark sonic landscapes and unexpected surprises of this album make up for what might be a transitional awkwardness. As always, this band succedes in impressing with their signature otherworldly sound, a combination of sorrowfull lyrics and intelligent arrangements excecuted with robot-like precision. Worth investigating further.



4. "in place of real insight" is one of the finest pieces of music you'll ever hear. from the tenderness of 'today or tomorrow' to the manic 'it's 98 stop'. get it now!



5. this is my favorite album by one of my favorite bands. karate is the only group i know that has taken the energy of hardcore/punk and channeled it to almost acoustic songs. sometimes it makes you think you are listening to hardcore despite the fact that there is no distortion, the songs are usually very slow-paced, and geoff farina has a great voice and doesn't growl or scream.

   also check out their first album and "the bed is in the ocean".

5 comments about Frame and Canvas.

1. For every strength on Braid's previous two albums, there was usually a more noticeable weakness: the awkwardness of two singers who couldn't stay in key; the lack of strong melodies; the tendency to get overly technical for no apparent reason. But on Frame and Canvas, the young Midwestern quartet reassessed themselves, brushed off the dirt and grasped the range of their own strengths, creating a seminal document of late-'90s emo in the process. Sure, the album's 12 tracks invite references to longtime Braid inspirations Jawbox, Rites of Spring and Fugazi -- bands who enhanced punk's intensity with counterpoint, melodic variation, romanticism and emotional depth. (Incidentally, Burning Airlines/ex-Jawbox guitarist J. Robbins produced the album.) And in tracks such as "The New Nathan Detroits," guitarists/singers Bob Nanna and Chris Broach could pass for a duo of J. Robbins and Fugazi's Guy Picciotto. But thanks to those great intangible qualities -- passion and sincerity -- Braid make even the most clearly influenced guitar riff or vocal affectation burn as if it were just being discovered. It takes a lot more than simple emulation to make something this familiar sound this powerful -- and all these years later, Frame and Canvas is still powerful enough to raise the neck hair of anyone who understands.



2. This album is phenomenal.. I saw Braid on their reunion tour in 2004 with Minus the Bear and Murder By Death, and It was easily the best show I've ever seen.
   
   buy this album. My favorites are 'the new nathan detroits' and 'a dozen roses'



3. i've always had a bit of a soft spot for Braid. even though i tend to despise alot of so called "emo" bands...jimmy eat world, mineral, etc. this band stands out for a great sense of rhythm and dynamic songwriting. their older stuff was certainly more raw and held a different kind of appeal to me. i never latched on too much to their "age of octeen" album...but this one grabbed me and hasn't let go. the album kicks off in fine style with "The New Nathan Detroits" and continues with non-stop great songs. i remember when this first came out and everyone could not stop talking about it. good times and good memories. the little band from urbana that caused a stir. the element that makes this album special is that they finally learn the right balance of sharp angular playing and a unique take on personal influence. it's kind of like the mathy cousin of jawbox. oh by the way, if you caught this band live at any time, you know how great they were. kind of makes you smile thinking back, doesn't it?



4. The boy who compared the vocals of Braid to Alkaline Trio is pathetically off. You can't compare the two, as they simply aren't alike. At any rate, Braid has been around much longer and done it better. This album is rhythmically fantastic and lyrically superior to everything. Anyone who favors Appleseed Cast and Alkaline to Braid has obviously never listened to more music like Braid, [think Cap'n Jazz, etc.] and therefore has no point of reference. Apples and oranges cannot be compared.
   
   If you're looking for music you can feel instead of trite lyrics by trite bands that every fourteen year old with shaggy hair and skate shoes is into, this is a good album for you.
   
   "I Keep a Diary" is by far the saddest song I've ever heard.



5. Frame and canvas is amazing. Instrumentally, (...)Atkinson is the drummer is wished I was, and the guitar melodies play against, and with each other, like nothing you millons of lame ass guitar players could ever think of. Frame and Canvas is their most accesible, because of the poppy structural overtones. Rhythmically, frame and canvas gets me every time. Buy and listen for yourself. One of my favorite album ever. Classic.

5 comments about Too Many Days Without Thinking.

1. This is one of my favourites. It is all just perfect pop stuff. Best songs are "What I always wanted" and "When you come over" but all the songs are good.



2. Like 10-ton truck, cutting through the muck- this cd plays the ambient theme tune from a dozen bees, humming away in your head...

   There's highs, there's lows. Sometimes they play fast. Sometimes they play slow. And to pick out different songs is when you miss the point. In the middle of the night, there's still no light ...well? if you've never had the heart to slack. If you're too well adjusted to snort crack. If you like your beats to be boiled and baked, and your tunes to invade your head for a few weeks... you've obviously spent too many days without thinking.

   This is minor in a major way.




3. Ever since my dad got too many days without thinking, I have been absessed with swell. They're awesome!!! I've got all the CD's now and am waiting for the realease of International rescue. Buy this CD, you'll enjoy it greatly!!



4. Dying to hear a great band? Check out Swell, especially with this album, and the release prior to this, 41. While not as consistently great as 41, Too Many Days Without Thinking does feature a handful of songs which prove satisfying and at times deeply profound. Swell has an instantly recognizable sound in much the same way that Sonic Youth does, so that even when they vary song structures and musical styles, you instantly know you are listening to a Swell song (a pun laying in ambush, evidently). This is evident from the very first second of the propulsive "Throw Back the Wine" which leads to the achingly beautiful "What I Always Wanted," in my mind the first of three truly great songs on this album. The album peaks again with "At Lennie's" and finishes off with the breathtaking coda, "Everyday, Sunshine." Through a brief set of lyrics poetically describing the moment of impact in a car crash and it's immediate aftermath, the song manages to convey the frail grip we have on our own mortalily before allowing it to drift away. This is a band that deserves your attention.



5. Swell - who hails from San Francisco, capture some fantastic mood and sound structure to their low key approach. From surfy songs like "Sunshine Everyday", to the hop-skip-jump sound of "F**k Even Flow" (my favorite), to the Church-like sound of "What I Always Wanted", Swell incorporates a low key diversity of sound that is slinks into your mind and soon you are grooving along to their growl. An excellent album.

5 comments about Big Blue Ball.

1. From tapes compiled during the early-1990s festivals for musicians at Peter Gabriel's Real World Studios, producers Stephen Hague, Karl Wallinger and Gabriel put together an outstanding retrospective from the events.
   
   The list of musicians put the "world" in "World Music," and include Papa Wemba, Billy Cobham, Wobble, Wallinger, Sinead O'Connor and Hukwe Zawose. Gabriel takes the lead vocal role on several tracks, but he is more like a super-glue that brought the artists together to share their styles in a considerably looser atmosphere than typically found in recording sessions.
   
   The U.S. release was facilitated through a venture-capital trust initiative, hence Gabriel (finally) had control over the production and content. This is straight from Gabriel's heart and is a celebration of the wonderful colors that music provides to the universal canvas of joy and peace.



2. "Big Blue Ball" is a compilation culled from Peter Gabriel's three Recording Weeks in the '90s (1991,1992,1995). Gabriel invited world music artists as diverse as Egypt's Natacha Atlas, Ireland's Sinead O'Connor, Madagascar's Rossy and Hungary's Marta Sebestyen to his home studio in Wiltshire for freeform music. Thousands of recordings were made... and these 11 made into the whole wide world.
   
   "Big Blue Ball" is an amazing collaborative work. "Whole Thing" is an inspirational opening song. Natacha Atlas and Hossam Ramzy provide the intoxicating,sensual "Habibe (Beloved)",evocative of an amorous night in the shadow of the pyramids. "Altus Silva" blends African and Celtic music. Sinead O'Connor powerfully sings with Chinese flautists in "Everything comes from you",a powerful plea for peace and against terrorism. When you consider it was sung in '95,it was eerily prophetic. "Forest" and "Rivers" are organic pieces weaving together many musical styles. The closing song, "Big Blue Ball" is an inspirational,powerful piece. In a way,it shares sentiments with John Lennon's "Imagine." It sums up the purpose of Gabriel's Recording Weeks-to unite people through music,since we live on one "big blue ball."
   
   "Big Blue Ball" is tantalizing as well. There are recordings still in the vault--or perhaps Gabriel should revive Recording Weeks at his Real World Studio. "Big Blue Ball" is a musical journey for the mind and the soul!



3. First of all, the listener should know that Peter Gabriel's Big Blue Ball isn't the Next Peter Gabriel Album his fans have been waiting for. The album is the result of a series of annual musicians' festivals that Gabriel's Real World Studios threw in the early 1990s. During these "Recording Weeks" (as they were named), he and a whole bunch his talented friends got together at his studio to have fun, party, play music, and record whatever came out. The result of this was a musical motherlode that Gabriel spent over ten years editing and producing, a bit at a time, until finally the results see the light of day in "Big Blue Ball." Because of this, the album is more of a sampler of the different kinds of music produced at Real World Studios, rather than a carefully-planned concept album. In addition to a trio of his own pieces ("Whole Thing", "Burn You Up Burn You Down," "Exit Through You"), we get to hear the Real World musicians putting their own musical works together, with Gabriel's production providing the glue that binds them all together. And fortunately for us all, what could have been a mish-mash of musical mush becomes instead a sampler of the best moments from Real World Studios. If you're looking for the Next Peter Gabriel Album, you're likely to be disappointed. But if you've enjoyed the Real World compilation albums such as "Plus From Us" or the Real World Sampler promo CD released back in 1999, then "Big Blue Ball" is a delightful hodge-podge of ambient world music fusion.
   
   When listening to music in a foreign language, I find the best way to enjoy it is to sit back and wait for a likeable beat...which is why I was hooked immediately on "Habibe," the second track; the traditional Middle Eastern instruments used here made me want to go and listen to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan again. On the other hand, there's "Forest," an ambient-techno track that would fit perfectly at home on any Afro Celt Sound System album (which I love, especially their first three discs), and in between are the Celt-influenced "altus silva" and "Everything Comes Through You." Something about Papa Wemba's vocals doesn't seem to appeal to me, and I tend to skip over "Shadow" and "Jijy" as a result; but your ear for music is probably different from mine, and you may disagree on this. That's your prerogative, and I'm pleased that there are many great moments on Big Blue Ball that I can listen to over and over.
   
   Even though Gabriel's' "Us" was fresh and new when these "Recording Weeks" took place, his own trip of songs here sound closer to "Up" than "Us"; but there's a freshness to them that is very enjoyable, a feeling that was often buried in the over-production of several tracks on "Up." I'm immediately hooked on "Exit Through You," and his (slight) remix of "Burn You Up Burn You Down" is an improvement over the first version of the song that popped up around the time of "Up." Even though he took nearly fifteen years to finish editing and producing "Big Blue Ball," Gabriel makes the album worth the wait. It's a burst of energy from Gabriel and his friends that makes me hope - once again - that the Next Peter Gabriel Album appears soon, and that it recalls the emotional and mysterious musical soundscapes of Peter Gabriel in his prime.



4. If I were to rate this as a pure PG album, it would not be on the top of the list, but as a Gabriel inspired and directed project I think it does quite well. The semi-consistant world drum groove in the background of most of the tunes helps provide a general consistency and vibe to the whole album. Burn You Up Burn You Down is a fun tune, as is the title "whole thing". This seems like more of an album you have on in the background than one you actively listen to (like 3, security or melt), but Gabriel fans won't be disappointed, and by the time you get to "Big Blue Ball" at the end, the album will already feel like an old favorite.



5. Having listened to the free samples, I can safely conclude that this figurative ball sack of songs is a mixed bag, as it were. The songs seem to be organized around the theme of being unable to satisfy one's deepest desire--hence, "Big Blue Ball"--and indeed, I walked away from the samples with a very real case of big blue balls (actually I merely rolled over). I wanted satisfaction but what I got only made me hurt more.
   
   However this veritable mid-life crisis of world music is notable for highlighting the barbaric chants and whoopings of primitive countries, which lends the album a certain poignancy. I cannot listen to certain tracks without being filled with great sadness that luxuries as simple as margarine or 80/20 polyester blends have yet to reach most of the developing world.
   
   In closing, I would advise Peter Gabriel to tackle a bigger subject next time--not to imply the size of Gabriel's own bullocks is somehow lacking, as I have no evidence despite years of unanswered fan letters in which this subject came up more than once.

No comments about Duck & Cover.

2 comments about Chronic Town.

1. This litle 5 song EP was the high-water mark for an college/alternative-rock band from Athens, Georgia. Murmur, the first LP, was nearly as good. But everything after that, when lead singer Michael Stipe actually started using coherent lyrics as a concession to "audience accessibility, constituted moves down the ladder in direct correspondence to chronological order. This is not to saw that REM didn't produce some good Southern Pop-Rock through the Out of Time LP, but rather that the quality steadily declined and washed out completely after that.
   
   Gardening at Night and 1,000,000 are simply infectious, and who cares about understanding the "lyrics." Indeed, I believe that Stipe is listed as "lead vocal instrument" on the cover. And this fairly characterizes what he was doing with his voice and the ocassional distinguishable word. In any event, if you want to know WHY the band called REM became so big, go back to Chronic Town and Murmur. If you don't like these, you'll probably realize that you don't really like REM nearly as much as you thought you did -- if at all.



2. R.E.M.'s first published alboum, Chronic Town, is one of their best creations ever published. Although it contains only 5 songs, the greatness of Carnival Os Sorts (Box Cars), and Gardening At Night, make up for it. If you liked Green and Life's Rich Pagent, then you will probably love this alboum, which is included on the Dead Letter Office CD as tracks 16-21 with an acoustic version of Gardening At Night. I hope you'll enjoy this alboum as much as I did.

5 comments about When I Grow Up.

1. When I Grow Up by Garbage is lovely and danceable import. The single is fantastic and the unreleased track, Tornado is pure techno. I love, love, love this band! I highly recommend it to hard-core Garbage fans.



2. I just wanna say that I absolutely LOVE Garbage, and I adore both of their albums.

   However, this single was just totally disappointing. When I Grow Up is a great song, but it's the only great song on the single. "Tornado" is seriously the worst Garbage song I have ever heard. I didn't think it was possible to write a bad Garbage song. The "Special" remix didn't do anything for me either, it bored me after a while.

   Only get this single if you collect Garbage stuff, because unless you are a MEGA fan, it's just not worth it, and you're better off buying the "Special" single so that you can hear a REAL Garbage B-Side.




3. Don't get me wrong, I love Garbage, I absolutely worship them.

   However, this single was pretty bad. When I Grow Up is a CLASSIC song, and I love it. "Can't Seem To Make You Mine" is so boring. I seriously can't even stand to listen to it, I almost go to sleep. The remix of "When I Grow Up" is bearable, but also nothing too great.

   At least this one is better than the other 'When I Grow Up' single. Seriously, only buy this single if you are a MEGA Garbage fan, other wise it's not really worth it. Buy "Special" instead, it's got a wicked B-Side.




4. This Song Is Really The Best Song Ever Written By Garbage. It Was Featured In The Movie Big Daddy And It Is Just A Totally Cool Song. It Is Like A Mix Of 80's And 90's Music Put Together To Be Just Awesome. Highly Recommended GREAT!



5. I bought this cd because I needed the Rickidy Raw remix of Special. I already have Special on Version 2.0 and Tornado on a B-Sides cd I've got. It's worth the money for that one song. It sounds so good when it's slow like that. And the way that they made it sound like there are two Shirley's singing is amazing. I know that some other people who reviewed this single said they didn't care for Tornado. I personally like it. It's very fast and fun. It may not be classic Garbage but it's still good. My advice would be to buy this single for the remix of Special, even if you're not a fan of Tornadoor When I Grow Up, which is also a wonderful song.

No comments about Apollo Revisited.

1 comments about Vol. 3-Bittersweet Series.

1. I love this CD , it was done by a amazing person, Matt White of Pickering,Ontario. Look out for his other CD's. I guarantee you will be begging for more.