AIDS Wolf - March to the Sea

This is an exciting day for me, as well as many other fans of noise rock, AIDS Wolf has just released their new album "March to the Sea" and I just got ahold of it about an hour ago. I've been awaiting a good noise rock release, as the only exceptional one I can recall recently was Lightning Bolt's latest album "Earthly Delights", which blew my face off.

The first thing I noticed was that AIDS Wolf really stepped up the production quality on this album, everything from vocals to the drums, and the distorted, jagged, cacophonic guitars. They kept things aggressive on this album too, something which hooked me into their previous album "Cities of Glass". In terms of structure, there is an underlying one and despite what amateur ears might believe, nothing is played arbitrarily, it's just very, very, very chaotic (in a good way, of course).

The improved clarity of the vocals did make them far more abrasive, which was intended and suits the album. Few people are going to listen to this for it's melodic qualities, as it has none. It's meant to be discomforting, and it really helped AIDS Wolf achieve that.

The only disappointment in this album was it's how few tracks the album featured: 7. Although this is good because the music isn't sticking around longer than it should, and there's nothing thrown ino the album strictly as filler, this seems more qualified to be an EP than an LP. Nevertheless the tracks which were included were still awesome, and the album ended with a 10 minute noise punk extravaganza "Very Friendly".

NOTE: If you aren't into noise music or noise rock you will hate this, so don't bother unless you're willing to try it if you're not familiar with the genre or the band, or if you're already a current fan of noise rock and/or AIDS Wolf.

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Girls - Broken Dreams Club EP

Hey it's me again,

I've been awaiting more music from Girls, after the release of their incredible debut album cleverly titled "Album". If you're expecting this EP to follow up on what made the album so good, then you're in for a treat, as not only does it do exactly that, but it also expands upon it with more instrumentation from different instruments not heard in "Album". It features a lot of horns, which reminded me of Beirut, synthesizers, and even female backing vocals in the track "Substance", something that we haven't seen before. However, Girls did a good job of not letting this new amalgamation of instruments allow the previous aspects of their music to take the back seat, it's still got that surf sound in there.

I feel like the horns, especially in "Thee Oh So Protective One" kind of adds a new Latin sound to the mix. But that's okay. Their sound is expanding and growing, and there's nothing wrong with that at all. This EP sort of to catch of glimpse of what to expect in the future from them, it's a 6 track prediction of what's next.

Of course, Owens kept to his mopey, heartbroken themes in the lyrics. After all, he did choose to name the EP "Broken Dreams Club", and one of the tracks is titled "Heartbreaker", and through careful listening to the lyrics it is clear to see that he's got girl troubles. You'd think putting out a highly acclaimed debut album and touring extensively would cheer him up; apparently not. He's still suffering from severe heartache.

My only issue with this album is that he became less aggressive, and his songs are beginning to slow down. What ever happened to the intensity, fun and passion that I so loved in the amazing track "Lust For Life"? That track played a significant role what made their debut album so awesome. There were no tracks that really pumped me up as that track did, I was really, really pulling for another one of those kind of songs, and they didn't deliver there. Hopefully in their next album they'l include some faster songs.

Also, I don't know why the hell Girls insists on releasing summer sounding albums so close to winter, this EP would've accumulated a lot more fame if released around May-July, that was some pretty poor timing on their part. They did the same thing with their first album if you recall, which was also released in the Autumn. But I guess at the same time, putting this album out in November gives me a taste of summer fun in a time when it seems to be long gone.

8/10

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GIRL TALK - ALL DAY

Today is a very, very special monday, as Girl Talk has just put out his newest album 'All Day' for FREE via Illegal Art. Everyone should check this album out, regardless of what your favourite artists or styles of music are, as it's a blend of pretty much everything into one fantastic party mash-up album. Girl Talk's style needs no explanation, as it has been well defined by his incredible past releases, and he is one of few people can actually make a mash-up that isn't corny or that is painful to listen to. Fun doesn't even begin to describe "All Day", and the best part about this album is that everyone can enjoy it, regardless of musical background, everyone from music nerds to people who only listen to top-40 can listen to it and have a good time. It blends everything from pop and hip-hop, to punk and heavy metal, and everything in between.

I know what I'll be partying to this winter. I really recommend this album. Plus it's free, so what do you have to lose for giving it a whirl.

9/10

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Weekend - Sports

Hey it's me,

So it seems like in the past 4 weeks or so good music releases have been few and far between, since Gold Panda's album was released I haven't seen one album come out which I actually enjoyed, consequently I've had to go back in time to find new music to listen to. Luckily I stumbled across/really enjoyed Jay Reatard's (RIP) really early Lo-Fi albums under "The Reatards" like "Teenage Hate", which was teriffic and if you like Punk music you should really check that out. But this blog is dedicated to new music, meaning music that has been released recently.

Well it's November and my Autumn 2011 playlist has been looking really, really bleak, with little new music to put into it, and a lot of recycled music from last fall. Thankfully, Weekend's new album "Sports" was really good. I really dug the heavy use of reverb on the vocals, and when I mean heavy, I mean heavy. The lyrics are barely decipherable under it, and it just sounds like a stream of lucid, swirly sound, in a good way of course. The guitars and drums are very reminiscent of Sonic Youth's albums Daydream Nation and Goo, sounding rather similar with distorted, somewhat simple guitar which is catchy but not overly melodic, and basic but effective drumming.

But that's also sort of what I disliked about this album, aside from the vocals nothing really struck me as original, however it's still a tried and true sound and I'm A-okay with that.

Finally, something good for my (our) fall playlist(s)!

My favourite tracks: End Times, Coma Summer, Monogah

7.5/10

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