Jack Johnson
Jack Johnson may be a former pro surfer, but he ain’t no Beach Boy. Where the songs of Brian Wilson (who never actually surfed, remember) celebrate the rush and exuberant triumph of catching a wave, Johnson draws on the sport’s solitary, Zen-like side — the gentle, rolling rhythms of his music match his simple, nature-inspired language. Over the course of three platinum albums, plus the bulk of the chart-topping 2006 soundtrack to Curious George, this laid-back worldview has been enough to make the affable Johnson an unlikely pop sensation.His new disc, Sleep Through the Static, was supposed to be the project on which Johnson shook up his formula. The album reunites him with Ben Harper’s producer, JP Plunier, who helmed Johnson’s 2001 debut, Brushfire Fairytales. Touring keyboard player Zach Gill has been added to Johnson’s usual guitar-bass-drums studio trio, allowing for a slightly wider range of sounds and textures.
But while Johnson has spoken about the darker themes informing the songs on Sleep, and even referenced his punk-rock past, the album isn’t exactly a radical departure. Certainly, some of the lyrics here represent a more mature sensibility than the Johnson of goofball favorites such as “Bubble Toes” and “Banana Pancakes.” (The Curious George assignment was an inspired idea, since the singer often comes across like a cool, lovable camp counselor.)
Johnson is now a thirty-two-year-old father of two, and his new songs express the contemporary fears and realities that hit home even in his idyllic Hawaiian paradise. The opening “All at Once” sets the tone when he sings that “as the darkness gets deeper/We’re sinking, so we reach for love.” The title track is a jumbled meditation on the Iraq War. It’s a bit too cheeky for its own good (“shock and awful thing” is dated and obvious), but somehow still effective, if only because of its surprising source.
Some of the more ambitious writing, though, just falls flat. “Archaism is a dusty road leading us back to nowhere,” from “They Do, They Don’t,” has to be one of the clunkier lines in recent memory, and building the lite-reggae number “Monsoon” around the phrase “mon-sooner or later” is unfortunate. Johnson also still has a weakness for Deep Stoner Thoughts such as “All of life is in one drop of the ocean.”
If the words sometimes suffer from trying too hard, the music on Sleep Through the Static would benefit from being a little braver. Drummer Adam Topol is kept on what must be the tightest leash in rock, and though Gill’s keyboards add a few nice, soulful splashes, you can almost feel Johnson and Plunier holding back. In song after song, solos and instrumental breaks arrive only after the singing is all done, extending the tranquility of the grooves rather than disrupting the motion of the ocean. Incorporating some of these unexpected elements — the weird little “woo-woo-woos” at the end of “If I Had Eyes,” the guitar buzz that concludes “What You Thought You Needed” — into the bodies of the songs would have gone a long way toward adding the variety and contrast that’s generally been lacking in Johnson’s work.
Or maybe, in the end, Johnson is best when he’s stripped down. The finest moments on Sleep Through the Static are the simplest, like the aching love song “Angel” or “Go On,” a sweetly swaying meditation on his growing children. These songs are barely more than sketches, but they’re completely realized, with a focus to the sound and a specificity to the lyrics that thelarger-themed numbers never quite attain.
Though Johnson has been keeping up with the headlines, it’s clear that his heart is still in the things closest to home: his family and his environment. Sleep Through the Static marks a tentative step forward for this improbable superstar. We’ll see if the album’s well-intentioned worldliness turns out to be an experiment or if he pushes himself further the next time. Either way, like any surfer will tell you, if you want to ride the big ones, you can’t be afraid of wiping out.
Review By The RollingStonaeReview
Artist: Jack. Johnson
Album: Sleeping Through The Static [2008]
Genre: Alternative / Soft Rock / Pop
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/jackjohnsonmusic
-Track List-
01 All At Once
02 Sleep Through The Static
03 Hope
04 Angel
05 Enemy
06 If I Had Eyes
07 Same Girl
08 What You Thought You Need
09 Adrift
10 Go On
11 They Do, They Don’t
12 While We Wait
13 Monsoon
14 Losing Keys
ALSO:
01 Hope (Nightmares On Wax Remix)
02 Losing Keys (Katalyst Remix)
03 Monsoon (Money Mark Remix)
04 Angel (Kid Koala Remix)
05 They Do, They Don’t (DJ Tropikal Remix)
06 Hope (Mario C. Remix)
Read MoreTry Album [Mediafire] | Jack Johnson – Sleeping Through The Static
Tiger Army
Tiger Army never dies!
Okay, now that that’s out of the way, let’s expand upon this idea. First and foremost, there’s the Fred Hell situation. In 2004, former drummer Fred Hell took four shots to the head and, though he did sustain injuries (which go without saying, he had a bullet lodged in his brain), he’s alive and kicking. He has since left the group, leaving himself wide open to the dangers of the world.
The slogan extends beyond physical injuries, and stretches all the way to the band’s existence as a whole. Tiger Army does not die, musically, so long as Nick 13 is still alive. Since forming, Tiger Army has gone through two bassists and three drummers. Most of these changes have occurred in the past 3 years. As it stands, Nick 13 is the only original member remaining, but thankfully it seems to have been his vision all along. And, in realizing that Nick is the only consistent member of the group, it’s safe to say this is his baby.
The group started off a relatively straight-forward act; you take a dab of punk and an equal dose of rockabilly, drive your hearse to the morgue and stir. That sound was fine, at least for their first two albums, but eventually Nick seemed to grow unsatisfied; whether that sparked a conflict of interest resulting in band members leaving and/or getting shot, well, that’s extra research you can easily do on your own time.
When “Ghost Tigers Rise” hit shelves in 2004, fans were treated to a more restrained Tiger Army, with the focus being put more on down-tempo tunes with tinges of country and post-punk. Sure, Nick 13 still sounded a fair bit like Davey Havok (who oddly enough appears on every album but “Ghost Tigers Rise”), luckily, he left the pleather pants and hair-coifs to AFI.
Upon the announcement that the band had started working on new material, Nick 13 was quoted in Alternative Press magazine as saying he had hopes of making Tiger Army the world’s first post-psychobilly band. Obviously, it was a goal he planned to execute with the forthcoming release of what would eventually be known as “Music from Regions Beyond”.
The album has arrived, and after many listens one can safely assess that Nick 13 has accomplished his goal with varying degrees of success.
Prelude: Signal Return starts things off sounding more like a Cure song, which is instantly dispelled upon the cry that started this very review. Signal Return leads into a fast pace, bass-slapping Psychobillyriffic time. Hotprowl continues things on a fast-paced track comprising of “whoa-ohs” and “heys”. Afterworld enters with an acoustic intro, leading into what could very easily pass as Incorporeal 2.0. So, where’s the post-psychobilly I so ineloquently spoke of? Conveniently enough, it makes its strongest first impression in the following track.
Forever Fades Away is much like the intro in that its primary structure seems based around something from the mid-80s rather than something from the mid-50s. Yet, still, beyond the new-touches, it still sounds like Tiger Army. Brief instances of stand-up slapping make an appearance between the otherwise pseudo-dance-y bassline. As I implied, Nick 13 has succeeded where he really shouldn’t have. And, based on the partial groove in the bass, he’s also got the pleather pants on layaway. Just in case…
The album isn’t all experimentation, which you’d hopefully have figured out on your own based on the previous two paragraphs. While the band almost jumps the shark with Hechizo De Amor, a Spanish love song that almost has no place on the album (yet somehow doesn’t seem out of place), tracks like Ghosts of Memory, Pain, and Afterworld (which features the mandatory Davey Havok appearance) are pure psychobilly goodness. Well, Pain leans more towards Rockabilly, but that’s just me nitpicking. There is, as I’ve hinted, less of a punk influence to be found that on the disc, especially when compared to the “Power of Moonlight”. But, the “Power of Moonlight” wasn’t their last album, “Ghost Tigers Rise” was, so you should probably have seen this coming. And, with Nick’s vocals being smoother, and therein less shout-y than before, the transition has continued. In fact, at times Nick 13 almost sounds like Elvis. Just, you know, with tattoos. Lots of them.
If you ignore the fact that As the Cold Rain Falls sounds like a darkwave B-Side to Blink 182s I Miss You, you’re still left with an album so lost in its goals that it’s hard to know what to think. This is a transition album, even more so than “Ghost Tigers Rise”. While each sound on the album succeeds on its own, when put together you’re left with a total rift. It doesn’t come together as well as it should. And, while it’s lovely to hear more of an emphasis on moods and such, I really do miss the energy of their first two albums. It’s sad to see them move in this direction, though in the same vein it’s nice to see them pull it off so well.
I guess a lot of the problems with this album are the same things I’m happy about. The bass is excellent, as always, but there isn’t nearly as much of it as I’d have liked. The post-psychobilly thing works quite well, but the emphasis seems to be more on the post than the psychobilly.
When it’s all said and done, there’s still very little to complain about on this album. Though the it downplays a lot of the group’s plusses, it succeeds in representing the more serious side of Psychobilly, a genre often dominated by ghouls, coffins and guys named Kim. And, in mentioning (at least in passing) Mr. Nekroman, I feel it must be said that this album is entirely necessary. There is a dichotomy in the Psychobilly genre represented by the preceding two acts (Tiger Army and the Nekromantix). While the Nekromantix have released arguably the better psychobilly album of 2007, it’s entirely different in sound, mood and execution. Tiger Army represents the more serious and experimental side of the genre, the side hellbent on artistry and Edgar Allen Poe. Tiger Army have, beyond all, shown that there is always room to experiment.
“Music From Regions Beyond” is a title I probably wouldn’t have chosen. No, I probably would have opted for something along the lines of “Music From Eras Beyond (the 1950s)”.
It really is great to see them doing something new in a genre so rooted in the past, even though their new influences are still roughly twenty years behind. It has its problems, which mostly have to do with the post-psychobilly thing often coming of as extemporaneous. It’s obvious they went into this with a goal in mind, and they did achieve it; post-psychobilly is found on this album. The main issue is, you have your post-psychobilly tracks and then your ‘traditional’ Tiger Army tracks. It’s not as seamless as I’d have liked.
I look forward to their next album, barring there’s actually a line-up there to record it. Let us hope their slogan reigns true once more.
Tiger Army never dies. They adapt.
Review By SputnikMusic
Artist: Tiger Army
Album: Music From Regions Beyond [2007]
Genre: Psycobilly / Rock / Punk
MySpace: http://myspace.com/tigerarmy
-Track List-
“Prelude: Signal Return” – 1:06
“Hotprowl” – 2:32
“Afterworld” – 3:15
“Forever Fades Away” – 4:51
“Ghosts of Memory” – 3:22
“LunaTone” – 3:02
“Pain” – 3:37
“As the Cold Rain Falls” – 4:08
“Hechizo de Amor” – 4:12
“Spring Forward” – 3:07
“Where the Moss Slowly Grows” – 3:36
Read MoreTry Album [Mediafire] | Tiger Army – Music From Regions Beyond
Asher Roth
Three decades after hip-hop first cracked the Top 40, white MCs remain, first and foremost, a joke: fodder for sketch-comedy routines, YouTube parodies and reality TV. Eminem is the exception that proves the rule, and he had to create an outsize tragicomic persona — the trailer-trash bane of Middle America — to justify his existence. In a culture saturated by hip-hop, shouldn’t anyone be able to spit rhymes without shame, apology or having to crack jokes about his Star Wars action-figure collection?
Enter Asher Roth, a gangly redhead from the Philadelphia suburbs. Roth’s tight, witty debut lives up to the Internet hype that has swirled around him for months. In the thudding “Lark on My Go-Kart,” Roth calls himself a “dork” and says he has “hair like a troll doll.” But he keeps the nerd-boy self-deprecation to a minimum and acts, you know, like a rapper: boasting nimbly (and often hilariously) about getting girls (“Lion’s Roar”) and getting high (“Blunt Cruisin’”) over chipper beats by newcomer Oren Yoel. Roth’s timbre and cadence will remind listeners of Eminem, a subject he addresses head-on in “As I Em.” But he is his own man — a blithe braggart, untroubled by the need to keep it real. And that white rapper’s albatross? He dismisses it with a couplet: “My friends said, ‘Homey, you know that you’re white, dude’/I said, ‘What, for real? It’s all good.’”
Review By The Rolling Stone Review
Artist: Asher Roth
Album: Asleep In The Bread Aisle
Genre: Hip Hop / Rap
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/asherrothmusic
-Tracklist-
1. Lark on My Go Cart (prod. by Oren Yoel and David Appleton)
2. Blunt Cruise (prod. by Oren Yoel)
3. I Love College (prod. By Mike Carren and Ben Allen)
4. La Di Da (prod. By Don Cannon)
5. Fallen (prod. by Novel)
6. Be By Myself Feat. Cee-Lo (prod. by Oren Yoel)
7. She Don’t Want A Man (prod. by Oren Yoel)
8. Sour Patch Kids (prod. by Oren Yoel)
9. As I Em (prod. by Oren Yoel and David Appleton)
10.Bad Day Feat. Jazze Pha (prod. by Oren Yoel and David Appleton)
11. Leo The Lion Feat. New Kingdom (prod. by Yoel)
12. His Dream Feat. Miguel (prod. by Yoel)
13. Nothing You Can’t Do (prod. by Nottz)
Read MoreTry Album [Mediafire] | Asher Roth – Asleep In The Bread Aisle
Nirvana
Nirvana had a giant impact on music in the ninties and beyond, despite only lasting for seven years. They were formed in the grunge hot-bed of Seattle in 1987 by Kurt Cobain (vocals, guitar) and Krist Novoselic (bass). They went through many drummers in their early years, but finally settled on punk percussionist Dave Grohl in 1991. With a permanent drummer in place, Nirvana recorded the classic rock album Nevermind. Nevermind unintentionally brought rock back into the mainstream, selling millions upon millions of copies. Nirvana reached a tragic end in April of 1994 when Cobain died in what is believed to be a suicide, although there was (and still is) some heavy speculation that Cobain was murdered. After Nirvana, Grohl experienced further musical success as frontman of the Foo Fighters.
Throughout Nirvana’s short careers, they ultimately changed the scene of alternative rock and inspired dozens of new bands. Starting with Bleach from 1989, it was released on a mere budget of $600. The band didn’t know what to expect in 1991 when Nevermind was released. It was a single machine at the time and sold millions. The band then released the b-sides collection Incesticide (which to this day is very underrated) in 1992. In Utero was released a year later and was less of a success, but Kurt and the band were satisfied as they could finally have artistic expression and not be held back by a record label. Though after Kurt’s death, the band still are pretty popular with teenagers around the world. The record label released a Greatest Hits record, simply self-titled Nirvana, and Kurt’s widow, Courtney Love, obtained the rights to a lot of Nirvana’s music. This resulted in a box set called With The Lights Out filed with old demos, videos and early recordings, which sold in the hundreds of thousands. There was also a single CD of some of the tracks released called Sliver: Best of The Box
Artist: Nirvana
Album: Discography
Genre: MySpace says, Grunge / Punk / Rock
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/nirvana
-Album List-
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Memphis May Fire
Memphis May Fire is a southern post hardcore band. Prior to “Sleepwalking” which is their first full length, they had released a self-titled EP. With a new album, and new musical direction, and a new singer, MMF is poised to prove that they don’t plan to blend in with every other band in the scene.
While promising, the self-titled was painfully by the numbers and left a lot to be desired. It did have a few things going for it, namely some decent instrumentation and a unique vocalist. It was hindered by it’s short length, predictable formula, and while often well done, the vocals could become grating, particularly in the clean passages. MMF also claimed that there was a southern edge to their music, though on the EP, this was hardly the case. With “Sleepwalking,” they take all of the promise from their self-titled, capitalized on it, and put out a surprisingly good release.
Although the vocalist is new, he certainly bears resemblance to the old one, with high pitched vocals that are well done and on key. The screams are vastly improved as well. This album also delivers on the promise of packing a southern edge. The guitars are distinct, varied, and stray far from the typical chugging of similar acts, and weave seamlessly around the other band elements with some excellent leads and melodies that are unmistakably southern rock tinged.
Opening with North Atlantic Vs. North Carolina, MMF wastes no time in showing off the fact that they know how to play their guitars. The opening riff carries the song into one of its poppiest moments, and the vocalist easily switches between singing and screaming, utilizing both at appropriate times with more than enough ability.
The album really hits its stride with You’re Lucky Its Not 1962, which showcases the band’s capability in playing harder rock right alongside the pop based songs. This is yet another song that has a hard southern rock feel to it. The song climaxes with a slow bridge that leads into an entertaining breakdown.
Quantity Is Their Quality is the seemingly mandatory “socially conscious” track that normally is the pitfall of an album, plagued with cheesy lyrics and preachy douche-baggery. The odd thing is, this isnt a pit fall… by any means. This is one of the best tracks. Starting out heavy and meandering out into clean vocals layered over tremolo picked guitar, which is carried to the end with a downtuned solo that stands out enough without overtaking the other instrument’s presence.
The Name With No Face is yet another highlight, boasting the most powerful and raw screaming on the album. When that’s paired with some nice guitar lines and an intricate solo, the song becomes built into possibly MMF’s best song to date. The clean singing meshes with the screaming in on-off fashion that somehow feels fresh and entertaining, despite its overuse in most other bands.
If Maylene and the Sons of Disaster’s new album was up your alley, then this surely will provide some entertainment. A huge improvement over the EP, and showcasing just how easily a mediocre band can turn into a force to be reckoned with in the scene, “Sleepwalking” is an essential buy for anyone remotely interested in this music genre.
Review By: Sputnik User
Artist: Memphis May Fire
Album: Sleepwalking [2009]
Genre: Hardcore / Rock / Post-Hardcore
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/memphismayfire
-Track List-
01.North Atlantic Vs North Carolina 03:43
02.A Giant in A Giants World 03:14
03.You’re Lucky It’s Not 1692 03:40
04.Ghost in the Mirror 03:54
05.Been There, Done that 03:29
06.Quantity is Their Quality 03:29
07.Sleepwalking 03:47
08.Destiny for the Willing 03:06
09.The Face with No Name 03:10
10.Speak Now, I’m Listening 03:41
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Demi Lovato
Though Demi Lovato does not fit in with much of the music Freshly Unique features, there is no way to deny the talent this girl has.
With her new album, Here We Go Again, Demi Lovato shows that, this time, her album was not sanctioned completely by Hollywood Records (DISNEY), and instead, she took over much more creative control this time.
Starting off with her first single, “Here We Go Again”, Demi’s new cd seems to be heading the same way last year’s Don’t Forget did. The vocals, production, and lyrics are pretty much the same style, with a bit more skill involved this time. After finishing the first track though, listeners will hear the difference this time around.
“As if you’re gunna get away with this/You’re not sorry/I can’t believe I fell for this” Solo, the second track on the album, is definitely much more of what Demi Lovato claims she is than her last album showed.
The songs on this album are much more mature than Don’t Forget’s track listing consisted of. Lovato even wrote a song about her estranged father, but it was unfortunately cut. If she can get out of this Disney era she is in, I’m 100% positive she can be a huge star in the future.
Other notable songs are “U Got Nothin On Me” and “Catch Me.”
Artist: Demi Lovato
Album: Here We Go Again
Genre: Pop
MySpace: http://myspace.com/demilovato
-Track List-
Here We Go Again
Solo
U Got Nothing On Me
Falling Over Me
Quiet
Catch Me
Everytime You Lie
Got Dynamite
Stop The World
World Of Chances
Remember December
Everything You’re Not
Gift Of A Friend
So Far, So Great
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All Time Low
Over the last year, All Time Low is a band name that has been on the tip of the tongue of just about every pop-punk fanatic. Between wearing the crown of Alternative Press’ band of the year, directly supporting genre titans Fall Out Boy on tour and selling out multiple headline tours of their own, the Maryland-based group stretched their popularity to new heights. Armed with a wicked sense of humor – on and off stage – the quartet also packs an arsenal of irritatingly irresistible, hook-filled pop-punk tunes that are turning these 21-year-olds into household names. On their second full-length record, Nothing Personal, the crab state natives make it clear they are not interested in being a short-lived trend.
Picking up where they left off, All Time Low rely on their gain-friendly guitar tones, groovy bass lines and smooth vocal melodies to craft a memorable, albeit generic record. This formula succeeds on singles “Weightless” and “Damned If I Do Ya (Damned If I Don’t).” The aforementioned features one of the finest choruses in the group’s discography while the latter finds frontman Alex Gaskarth showing his lyrical wit with the line “I’m drowning in a river of denial,” further escalating the record’s already high fun factor.
Their octave-chord based, up-tempo and light-hearted tunes dominate the majority of the record. “Keep The Change, You Filthy Animal” and “A Party Song (The Walk of Shame)” find All Time Low maintaining their initially established momentum deep into the album. Both find success off of their immense choruses and persistent youthful energy.
With the success endured over the last year, many have labeled the group with traditional name-calls, ‘sell-out’ being the most common. Not wasting an opportune moment to exercise their humor, All Time Low named one of their headline tours “The Compromising of Integrity, Morality & Principles in Exchange for Money Tour,” a phrase taken verbatim from Wikipedia’s definition of sell-out. On Nothing Personal, Gaskarth and crew take a more serious route in dealing with their fiercest critics. “Sick Little Games” is a surprisingly mature, mid-tempo song that showcases the band confidently stepping out of their comfort zone. Utilizing an acoustic timbre in the rhythm section, the opening verse finds Gaskarth confessing, “I’m turned on by the tabloids, you would never have guessed/that I’m a sucker for their gossip, man I take it too far.” The tune certainly stands out on the record, marking a newfound sense of songwriting ability and collective maturity.
While there is much to praise throughout its 12 track duration, Nothing Personal does not finish without faults. Along with the fact that there are minimal amounts of originality and progression, production becomes an issue. The far too sugary studio fabrication brings sections of the record down. “Stella” recalls shenanigan filled nights after enjoying one too many Belgian ales (last name Artois) and its excessively glossy production is cavity inducing. “Too Much” finds the pop-punk quartet forgetting the second half of their genre. The embarrassingly awful song features an overuse of sampled drums and auto-tune heavy vocals, making it reminiscent of a half-hearted attempt at covering a 90s boy band.
Even despite their faults and lack of originality, All Time Low does enough right on their sophomore full-length effort to warrant multiple spins from any fan of the genre. Nothing Personal rarely takes itself too seriously and infrequently asks listeners to. Its youthful feel makes it a fantastic summer record that is also worthy of listens throughout the other three seasons. Nothing Personal makes a clear point as to why the foursome are soaking up the spotlight as of late. The truth to their success is rather simple: All Time Low is playing generic pop punk; they are just doing it better than everyone else at the moment.
Review By SputnikMusic
Artist: All Time Low
Album: Discography
Genre: Pop Punk / Pop / Punk
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/alltimelow
-Album List-
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