Die Antwoord "$O$"

                                                                                                                                                                       Let's just say the first time I listened to this record I was like what the fLIP?!! These guys love to joke around and play with differrent vocal effects. The beat of "In Your Face" is great, but the vocals and the lyrics are what make this song; the vocal interplay of Ninja and the creepy delivery of Yo-Landi Vi$$er make this song work. "Enter The Ninja" was the song that helped them gain some exposure; that starts with Vi$$er's distinct vocals singing "Ay Yi Yi, I am your butterfly/ I need your protection.." and then we hear Ninja's take on rap delivery which sounds almost like talking and kind of clumsy in this one, He says it with conviction and then inr the middle of the song addresses his haters, and those who had said that he could not make a living by making music. This song is good, I cannot lie. "Wat Kyk Jy" has a nice beat and the vocal interplay of vi$$er and Ninja, which again make the song, with a trance or rave instrumentals. The lyrics, and video (which is graphic and kinda f'd up) of "Evil Boy" makes many references to the act of sex and all of the female and male sex organs, nuf said, but he does make a nod to Biggie. "Rich B****" has Vi$$er spitting rhymes of how she came from rags to being a rich B----, which is constantly repeated in the chorus;  she says rich b---- 28 times with an additional word or two in some of the lines, but the chorus is the title of the song at its core. "Fish Paste" goes back to the interplay between the two vocalists, which works well, and has a nice addictive beat. "$Copie" basically talks about sex and that Vi$$er has what you want, but you are never gonna get it, with this addictive house-clap beat and low bass in the back. "Beat Boy" is the longest song at 8:20 which starts with a human oonce(or human beatbox)..that looks wierd in type, and then has a low bass beat. Their lyrics mention a lot of things that have to do with sex in their music. Here is one of the most explicit in this song "With the meanest penis you have ever seen/ you on your period with no tampon...you kneel down and get with the vibe/ your period blood has crystalized." With no sense of humor it can be unnerving, but we know that humans are sexual beings, and some are thinking it, but not ready to write about it. Understandable, because most don't want to offend anybody,and that's ok, but these guys don't care who they offend. They just write it, and let it out. "She Makes me a Killer" has this nice double step off kilter beat and unveils a story of how this woman had driven Ninja to the end, and ripped his heart out ready to kill. It has great background music when he sings "she makes me a killer." Most of their songs have a beat and minimal instrumental inclusions besides the beat, but this one has string-like sounds when he sings the chorus and a nice beat..it sounds epic! The song is 7:29, but does not feel that long, and has several changes throughout. "Doos Dronk" is another song which has more then just a beat and vocals, the vocals are great, and the beat is addictive. This is a drinking or hangover song, which is great to listen to, as they talk about partying, and there is some voiceover work by Ninja and Vi$$er just talking or yelling at each other, kind of. "$o$" has some nice syth and keys to start it off with a nice driving beat, nice instrumentals as there are no vocals,except one line at the end..I think saying "me happy." There were several versions of this record released, but one song that I had heard prior, but was not included that should have been was a song called "I Don't Need You" which has Ninja singing w/ autotune, it's kind of depressing, but is a nice song and break from the usual delivery; which is not boring by any means, but it's nice to hear some singing too.                                                                                   Best Songs: In Your Face, Enter the Ninja, Evil Boy(?), Fish Paste, Beat Boy, She Makes Me A Killer, Doos Dronk, and $O$. Check Out: I Don't Need You

Tribute to Angie V



Shout out to one of my blogging buds, Angie Varona, for inspiring me to write my own blogs, even if they aren't as great as hers or her friend Devilish's. I plan to draw Devilish next.

Thermals "Personal Life"

                                                                                                                                                              With a song called "I'm Gonna Change Your Life" one may have great expectations. It starts with a slightly distorted bassline and Hutch Harris' distinct vocals that continue throughout. It starts out well, but "I Don't Believe You." The song which has a slightly quicker pace, and a woah oah oah oah can have one singing to it within several listens. Maybe it's better if you just "Never Listen To Me," and just listen to that nice beat and bassline and make your own opinions, what are mine but thin layers of nothing. This song has nice solo in the middle and at the end, and the drums come closer to the forefront with the guitar, around 2:30, and then we just follow the sound, follow him down follow him down. He will tell us everything, but should we listen? Hey, everyone should have their voice heard, it just depends on who will listen. It doesn't feel good to be ignored, it's "Not Like Any Other Feeling." The lyrics hit hard especially this one, they hit home with me. They are pretty depressing, introspective, and  kinda existentialistic  "At the top you relax/you only wait, patient the past/ you are only filling up space/ you only exist to be replaced." OW! It does have a nice solo at the end though. "Power Lies," and feeds on the soul who has it without using a moral/humility holster. "Only For You" will I continue,which is really only me, because no one reads this $#!-. His vocals can take a little bit to get used to, but once you do they can be quite engaging, and the instrumentals on this one are nice."Alone, A Fool," but together I'm with stupid. Basically iti is about how he cannot get someone out of his head, and that maybe he broke it off and he is a fool because of it? "Your Love Is Strong" has this quick beat that makes one want to dance and an o-ay-o-o-o chorus. His vocals were delivered with emotion in most of the songs, especially one such as "Not Like Any Otrher Feeling," but this one seems to have a lot of emotion packaged in his delivery. "A Reflection" is always nice to have after one has been doing something, and curious to continue it, or just to make sure one looks okay before they leave the house. The lyrics are kinda depressing again, but this record, from listening to it has been a personal journey for the band as well as the writer of these lyrics; lets just say that a reflection of love and death is all we have left. A form of therapy, most pursuits such as these are. The song ends with some distortion, as it should! well it seems that maybe "You Changed My Life," thinking it was only a one way street, but both have changed each others lives. The lyrics are both positive, and negative, a nice balance that goes back and forth. Best Songs: I Will Change Your Life, Never Listen To Me, Not Like Any Other Feeling, Power Lies, Alone A Fool, Your Love Is Strong, A Reflection.

Chimaira "The Infection"

                                                                                                                                                                "The Venom Inside" is a great track to star off this record with this great guitar intro, start of an epic... then we hear the growl of the vocalist, Mark Hunter, and the drums at the 1:05 mark. It has this slow groove and beat, that is kind of addictive; not a bad start. "Frozen In Time" follows with a slow beat that picks up after a minute, and do I hear light strings? Then it has a little breakdown,and the drums working, but muted. The song ends with some nice guitar. Who is the one that called himself a writer? Not me. "Coming Alive" is better than coming undone, which has his raspy growl more in the line of Corey Taylor's to some extent. Slow beats and nice guitar solo in the song, and as they get to the chorus at the end the dual vocals work well. "Secrets of the Dead" has great instrumentals, and the delivery of vocals works well with this song, "The Dissappearing Sun," has a good intro, and the slow beats work well, though you can still hear the double bass here and there. Around the two minute mark the tempo picks up and we hear some of his screams as he gets his chicken little on "I won't, I won't turn to dust (2x)/ The sky is falling/the end is near/the final warning the sun dissappears;" and the last minute or so ends with brooding guitar.The next song has these muted vocals that then jump to the vile raspy scream of Hunter around the fifty second mark, and interchange several times; the singing you can finally hear around 3:25 mark. This is probably one of my favorites, it has this nice breakdown, nice groove and instrumentals, but the lyrics are dark and depressing. As it should be from a song called "Impending Doom." The chorus goes " these problems don't have solutions/we are rotting inside this cell/our bodies are like a prison cell/only death will save us from this h#ll." "Broken Glass" doesn't seem so bad to walk on when one has survived impending doom, does it? It has this nasty kind of groove and beat changing at 2:15, with some angry pounding and some shredding; double bass drums; and his vocal delivery with ferocity. "Destroy and Dominate" is a good song too, but doesn't hit it's stride until the last minute and a half. Here is where I say it, his vocals work for some of the songs, but when the vocal delivery is the same through every song it starts to get tedious. "Try To Survive" has this great solo at the end,with that slow brooding groove, and some of the lyrics go along the introspective, but redemptive path "I know I haven't been reliable in the past/ you have had a hard time figuring me out/ but I can promise you one thing, one thing/ I can promise you one thing/ never will I/ surrender my fears, surrender my dreams." The final song, "The Heart of It All" is easily the longest, clocking in at 14:52, and has some great instrumentals.  It is also good, because there is a break from the vocals, which aren't bad, but after several songs of growling and no singing, it gets tedious.It starts on a great note and ends on one too!                                                                                                                                                                    Best Songs: The Venom Inside, Secrets of the Dead, The Dissappearing Sun, Impending Doom, Try to Survive, and The Heart of it All

Cults "Cults"

                                                                                                                                                                              Lets start off with a record from this year with a nice beat and some light guitar strumming bass,yeahhh. Love the vocals and the short interplay between two vocalists, but would rather not be "Abducted" by the cults. Pace changes about the 1:55 mark for a half-minute which is a nice change, and then goes back to the quicker speed. Toy Piano starts off leading to a catchy chorus, great guitar line and beat. Makes you want to "Go Outside," no? The next track,"You Know What I Mean," seems like it is a lovechild of "Unchained Melody" in deliveryand percussion/handclaps and the other instrumentals that border those of "Sugar Pie Honey Bunch." It has this cool punk blast that comes at 0:48 and then goes back to the slower part, but then she finishes it off with that blast, longer, and delivers the vocals in a more exuberant way as she did with the first blast. It sounds like it would not work, but is a real cool song. "Most Wanted" has a nice instrumentals that kind of remind me of and older song, don't know the title but it goes"...if that's alright,alright girl," and at the end it says some sore words,we'll leave it at that. "Walk at Nite" has this nice beat, nice bass, and extra added percussion, that makes one want to dance, in a "Bille Jean" style. It then kicks it up a little at the 2:30 mark with nice spacey keys to end it.  "Never Heal Myself" has a dance-y/samba style beat,with some nice keys and guitar, it causes one to want to dance the samba. "Oh My G()D" has a hip-hop beat with nice,catchy driving bass in the back and the same key sound played over and over; I believe it starts with a little distortion, too. Have you ever waited for a song to get to a point? Well,  I "Never Saw The Point" trying to look for one here except for the introspective clash between the need to try and the confidence in ability, and a beat which picks up at the end with slight ferocity after having you dance, maybe? Hey! No one's watching; It's ok. "Bad Things" has piano on the lower keys and a nice steady metronome beat in the background with some toy piano(?), or xylophone which sounds a little too high to be normal piano. Vocal interplay between two vocalists can help a song, and this time it really helps between the male and female vocals, as the bass comes in light behind the vocals and percussion but is audible and keeps it going,while th melody keeps you singing "la da da da daaaa" on "Bumper." A Nice Beat, off kilter instrumentals at times (audible, but not in the forefront), distortion, and vocals of which you cannot hear neccesarily except for the call to "Rave On" with gang vocals and echo effect. Sooo, this record was pretty cool wanna know what the Best Songs are? I would have to say: Abducted, Go Outside, You Know What I Mean, Walk At Nite, Never Heal Myself, Bad Things, Bumper. Seriously, though all the songs were good, but I think these are the ones that I like best.

Dead By Sunrise "Out of Ashes"

                                                                                                                                                                                A side project from LP vocalist Chester Bennington, however he views it as its own seperate entity, asnd not a "side-project," and to prove so his other band put together a kickasz album. He brings the "Fire" on this one; a song with a steady beat and nice guitar,with a U2 kinda vibe. He has a nice voice, but his vocals sound gruff on this one, and the growl towards the end helps the context of fire. After listening to the first song, would you want to "Crawl Back In"? which is a song about being yourself and not changing because others do not accept you, or at least that is what I got from it.He sings with conviction, and you can really feel the power of his determination to resist the peer pressure. The instrumentals are great in this one, with great lead by Shuck and a nice drum beat held by Andra. One of my favorite songs would be the next song. Is it "Too Late" to give the title? The song starts with a nice guitar by Shuck, and this is a song that you can hear his singing voice more clearly, a slow pace, but a song like this should keep its pace. I think I like "Inside of Me" even better with its awesome punk vibe, and guitar solo played by Shuck. Bennington screams a little in this one, as he describes his head as a loaded gun, and asking what is wrong with him,which soon fires towards the end. A short but killer song! We go back to a slower, lighter song, "Let Down," with a nice bed of drum machine beat and drops of keys until the drum kicks in the the one minute mark, followed by a lil' acoustic guitar strumming at a minute and a half; ok I'm bored let's get to the next song. "Give Me Your Name" has a slow pace and the guitar sounds like it has caught country fever, with a pedal steel guitar sound (almost). It is always good to have different paced songs on one album, and these two songs segued well from one to another. Bennington can showcase his voice again, which is not perfect but is effective. He can definately reveal emotion in his voice, we know that already, so now he is proving he can sing. Now, one's idea of suffering and "My Suffering" might be similiar, but not the same. With this song there is no suffering, just a lot of emotion, and screaming, put in the background,with a mean, forceful beat and deep bass. This would be a good song to listen to if one is ticked off. So suffering is not enough? we have to be "Condemned" too? Slower pace than the previous song, but quicker than some of the earlier ones. We have some screaming, a nice guitar solo, dark lyrics,and more screaming to end the song and let you know he is not happy. "Into You" is another great song with nice vocals (this is one of the songs where his singing sounds best), a slow but addictive beat that speeds up around the chorus and hits its stride the at the last appearnce before the song is over,  and great guitar(especially during the chorus). There is something about this song that sounds familiar, but I cannot but my finger on it, it seems as if I have heard this song before, but by another artist. "End of the World" is not without its frustration, or sincerity, but with all the negative energy the song is revealing it would be hard for him not to sound ticked, in fact it would lose its voice without that frustration.The song has this great beat and bassline, kinda funky, and the instrumentals arre driving, just really spot on! "Walking in Circles" can be kind of depressing as he asks "why is everyone sleeping through life?" among other lyrics commenting how most people don't have the oppurtunity to live their life, but just follow their routine on autiopilot. The solo in this one is great, slow but works follows the vibe revealed throughout. The final song ends on a darker note; a slow pace opening with a hip-hop  handclap beat and strumming that works well together, until fifty second mark where the drums kick in, the handclap is still in the background, and the lyrics are depressing, the beat is addictive and the accompanying instrumentals with the slight echo effect give the feeling of swimming in the dark, trying to reach the surface. But with no light to guide us, there is no sense of direction nor hope; it sounds as if he is trying to escape this rapture, but he cannot, he is too intertwined in this relationship as he says "I will surrender my soul/and give you control/ make me a martyr for love/to the heavens above." All of this makes for an interesting and depressing, but addictive song.                                                                                                                                                              Best Songs: Crawl Back In, Too Late, Inside of Me, Give Me Your Name, My Suffering, Into You, End of the World, In The Darkness.

Josh Ritter "So Runs The World Away"

                                                                                                                                                                         So, it starts with "Curtains," a great short instrumental to start the album with. "Change of Time" is next, with soft guitar in the background which is audible, but is not the focus until about a minute and forty-five seconds where the guitar comes out in the forefront. The beat is low, but steady, and keeps the song going.  Repetitive Chorus, as it is basically "time, love (x3) it's only a change of...," but when isn't a chorus repetitive. However the last minute repeats nothing but the chorus ,so that's kind of annoying, but I like the song. The next song  "The Curse" has piano playing in a vaudeville style and light strings,no percussion in this one, but a nice song it is. We have some light horns that show up around three, then get bored,but they return right before the song is over to send us off into "Southern Pacifica." There is a nice strumming style which causes visions of travelling by canoe, a great beat, and some harp(ischord) or is that a synthesizer? Another good song it is. "Rattling Locks" can be a pain, but these locks have a nice beat, and a great guitar part, a good flow. This song oozes sincerity and seems to deal with a relationship gone sour, and he refers to the subject as a black hole asking " are your eyes as empty as they look?."  The distortion, and the refrain of black hole in the song strengthen it as well. Can it work out? We know that if he would rather spend a day in h(#)ll than to rattle her locks we can figure out that it is over. The next song is more positive, at least the instrumentals make it feel so, despite the title "Folk Bloodbath." A nice beat, light strings and/ or sythesizer, with a short but sweet inflection of horns or trumpet at the 3 and a half minute mark.Is that a glock around four forty? "Lock" has nice guitar, and a positive vibe, again I feel I am on a boat..sailing this time! A great song to listen to while sailing; contemplative, hey-ey-ey-ey? I agree yes, this song is light yes, you can be assured yes, that it does not s(t)ink. Banjos begin "Lantern" and serve as the oil to keep this light aflame, piano and organ helps to back up the repeating strumming pattern of the banjo. However, around two and a half minutes the banjo fades and drums take over with guitar comin' in and the piano coming a little bit louder. The synergy is great, so great that organs want to join too, and do so with ease. Now with a song called "The Remnant," you have to guess the song is reaaal serious, the instrumentals play as somewhere in between , but the collective power of the guitar and the beat , repetitive but effective cause the focus to be on lyrics; one of my favorite lines would be "the pillars of creation where they make the planets /The billion tiny teeth that tear the charge from your atoms." The delivery with the slight vocalics-reverb works well. Speaking of creation, we get to "See How A Man Is Made" in the next song, with sincere melancholy vocals and minimal instrumentation, its power follows the less is more mentality, and anything else added to the song would only ruin it, and weaken the power of the vocal delivery. This is the longest song off the record: "Another New World" starts off with a great intro, and follows the same mentality of less is more, with a contemplative delivery, and his search for the Annabelle Lee. Around 5:48 the percussion and piano starts to pick up and almost has the listener sailing on the keys of the piano instead of the waves of the water,and i 'm not sure but is that tenor sax and glockenspiel at the end?great ending to a great song. "Orbital" has a nice beat to this song (kinda punky) with arpegiating piano? no, but the repetition of the piano keys and the guitar make for a change in delivery.Light-hearted, and a joy to listen too, almost makes one think of "Ring Around The Rosie." Strum those "Long Shadows" away, and go steadfast! the pace is quicker than some of the other songs, add percussion about a minute before the song ends and you got for a short ,sweet song with a positive tone and message. It is the shortest song clocking in at 2:20, but is a nice way to end the record.                                                                                                                                                            Best Songs: Curtains, Change of Time,Southern Pacifica, Rattling Locks, Folk Bloodbath, Lock, Lantern,The Remnant, Another New World,Orbital.