Less
Praise of Alabama Shakes: 4th Grade lyrics, bland blues by an open jam band and too much hype for the heavy chick.
Sloppy Duos like Japandroids and Jeff the Brotherhood: Get a fucking bass player, sing in tune.
Critics who actually like Japandroids -spent way too much time in their basements without a bass player.
Rhianna-Take a yearlong break without a goddamn release, put on a shirt and visit a shelter for battered women.
"songs" from Bob Dylan masquerading as bad poetry night croakings presented by an asthmatic with blood in his throat, pushing verse through crusty polyps, from albums that make best of lists without fail.
comparing Gary Clark Jr. to a variety of famous Texas blues guitarists by using the word incediary or because he's from Texas. Not worthy of the comparison or the adjective.
Billy Corgan criticizing the bands who came up in the same era as his did, that allowed him to be famous enough to get press in the first place by criticizing them. This criticism of "playing oldies" doesn't hide the fact that Oceania was worse than any of the music that made him famous.
Beyonce at the Superbowl. Dancing those thick legs around while making millions of drunk white men angry as she's singing "Single Ladies" and "should have put a ring on it" Makes sense.
Less Rick Ross. He's bloated, cliche-ridden, his bling has crumbs and ketchup on it, oh, and he's talentless.
Much like the bulk of poular hip hop, his output contributes to the complete dumbing down of society.
eh, I could go on and on about what's wrong with music. I sound like a cliche.
Sunday, December 30, 2012
Tuesday, December 04, 2012
Top Ten Albums of 2012
Another commencing year leaves so much to be desired, so much yet to be consumed then forgotten and of course, so much to chuck to the proverbial curb. Here is Circle of Fits' best albums of the year list to sum it up from our perspective.
Top Ten Albums of 2012
1) Blunderbuss-Jack White- A piano and prophecy prominent collection of purely beautiful and sometimes savage song craft. What can't this boy do? Weary, lovelorn, protective, private, jubilant, boogified..its all here. The most played album in our cardboard cubicle this year. Choice cuts "Hypocritical Kiss", "Sixteen Saltines".
2) The Russian Wilds- Howlin Rain- Highly under radar and under rated Northern Cali band bust through with a Rick Rubin produced?( Yes) masterpiece somewhere on the fringes of a jam band/blues crammed fringe. Impeccable harmonies, grace and gruff included. Choice cuts include "Self Made Man" and "Cherokee Werewolf".
3) Blues Funeral-Mark Lanegan Band- One of our perennial favorites returns with his most diverse and emotionally stretched -out set of songs of his career. Quite simply, if his charred and seasoned voice and sullen bliss don't take you somewhere else(anywhere but here) you've got to be having a hard time finding a pulse. Choice Cuts include "St. Louis Elegy" and the darkest dance floor anthem of all time "Ode to Sad Disco".
4) Arrow-Heartless Bastards-Please, I beg of you, forget the Alabama Shakes. This is the real deal. We beat you over your hard heads with the importance of a standout vocalist often here at Circle of Fits and Erika Wennerstrom from Austin's Heartless Bastards fills that void. This is the strongest outing yet from the band with chock fucking full of soaring melodies and tight super singable song structure, with just enough moody Texas gritty groove for y'all. But the centerpiece is Erika and her one of a kind silky warble vocals, just smacking you into the stratosphere. Choice cuts " Simple Feeling", "Only For You".
5) King Animal-Soundgarden- A straight- up surprisingly brilliant return from the NW fearsome foursome. Four guys hovering around fifty show the kids how to plug in, rock hard or stay home. Chris Cornell, even having lost a step in his sonic sustain, still sweeps aside most vocalists with a mere exhale. Kim Thayil still weirds us out with his psychedelic rhino stomp style, Ben Shepherd shakes the bottom through with brutal force, but the real hero of this epically varied set, rolled out of the studio for the first time in 16 years is drummer Matt Cameron. Finally he's truly showcased as a monster of switching time structures and unheard of precision, his chops in check from years of riding the throne in Pearl Jam (albeit with much simpler beat structures) King Animal puts his prowess and style in the spotlight, and into the high echelon of skin men, he goes. Choice Cuts- the eerily elegant frailty of "Bones of Birds" (our most played song of the year), "Crooked Steps" and "Rowing".
6) Harmonicraft- Torche- A metal meets powerpop cauldron of curiosities from the Floridian band of bros. The myriad of tonal washes over gutty crunch(with a peppering of prog thrown in) should be enough for you to love this album. Or you could just stare at the cover while basement bound in the midst of a bath salt rush. Choice cuts "Kicking", "Reverse Inverted".
7) Lonerism- Tame Impala- The latest outing from the Aussie wunderkind kids was the last entry to this list. We were flabbergasted with the production and the sheer depth of beauty for these dreamy pop songs and while we don't like to attach "esque" to the end of an adjective comparing another band with these lads, yet a few talented Liverpudlians come to mind. Choice cuts " Apocalypse Dream", "Endors Toi".
8) Kill My Blues- Corin Tucker Band- Nobody is talking about this debut album from the recently birthed band from the former Sleater -Kinney frontwoman, and we wish we knew why. I know Wild Flag and Portlandia have put a certain Ms. Brownstein on a much broader map, but this set of tracks rocks socks. Don't put Corin in a corner. She'll bust out with her baby and knock you over with a bottle of husky punk and bruisey blues. Choice cuts " Summer Jams", "Kill My Blues".
9) A Different Kind Of Truth-Van Halen -Yeah, a lot of it is rehashed demos and Diamond Dave's lustre is a bit glassy but it makes the list for putting the I Can't Believe This Album Doesn't Suck Meter into the red over and over again. EVH is still pretty much untouchable, even while being sober and without Frankenguitar. And after pre- ragging on Wolfie not being able to do Michael Anthony's back up voxes a solid, we were sorta proven wrong. Shit, puberty must have contributed in some way. Anyhoo, we bought it. Choice Cuts- "She's The Woman" (holds up to the '77 demo] and "Big River"
10) Lovelessness-Bison- A brutal,slayful album about a dog dying. ("Is Don on the Phone??-very inside reference)
The cover has a pic of the tumor that guitarist/vocalist James Farwell's dog succumbed to, yeah, that brutal. This crushing,dynamic metal band from Vancouver has yet to get its due, and damn it people let's give it to 'em! Or at least give them a shower the morning after they sleep on your floor. Choice Cuts- "Clozapine Dream", "Anxiety Puke/Lovelessness"
H.Ms
Locked Down-Dr. John
Ugly-Screaming Females
I Bet On Sky-Dinosaur JR.
Open Your Heart-The Men
What'choo got?
Top Ten Albums of 2012
1) Blunderbuss-Jack White- A piano and prophecy prominent collection of purely beautiful and sometimes savage song craft. What can't this boy do? Weary, lovelorn, protective, private, jubilant, boogified..its all here. The most played album in our cardboard cubicle this year. Choice cuts "Hypocritical Kiss", "Sixteen Saltines".
2) The Russian Wilds- Howlin Rain- Highly under radar and under rated Northern Cali band bust through with a Rick Rubin produced?( Yes) masterpiece somewhere on the fringes of a jam band/blues crammed fringe. Impeccable harmonies, grace and gruff included. Choice cuts include "Self Made Man" and "Cherokee Werewolf".
3) Blues Funeral-Mark Lanegan Band- One of our perennial favorites returns with his most diverse and emotionally stretched -out set of songs of his career. Quite simply, if his charred and seasoned voice and sullen bliss don't take you somewhere else(anywhere but here) you've got to be having a hard time finding a pulse. Choice Cuts include "St. Louis Elegy" and the darkest dance floor anthem of all time "Ode to Sad Disco".
4) Arrow-Heartless Bastards-Please, I beg of you, forget the Alabama Shakes. This is the real deal. We beat you over your hard heads with the importance of a standout vocalist often here at Circle of Fits and Erika Wennerstrom from Austin's Heartless Bastards fills that void. This is the strongest outing yet from the band with chock fucking full of soaring melodies and tight super singable song structure, with just enough moody Texas gritty groove for y'all. But the centerpiece is Erika and her one of a kind silky warble vocals, just smacking you into the stratosphere. Choice cuts " Simple Feeling", "Only For You".
5) King Animal-Soundgarden- A straight- up surprisingly brilliant return from the NW fearsome foursome. Four guys hovering around fifty show the kids how to plug in, rock hard or stay home. Chris Cornell, even having lost a step in his sonic sustain, still sweeps aside most vocalists with a mere exhale. Kim Thayil still weirds us out with his psychedelic rhino stomp style, Ben Shepherd shakes the bottom through with brutal force, but the real hero of this epically varied set, rolled out of the studio for the first time in 16 years is drummer Matt Cameron. Finally he's truly showcased as a monster of switching time structures and unheard of precision, his chops in check from years of riding the throne in Pearl Jam (albeit with much simpler beat structures) King Animal puts his prowess and style in the spotlight, and into the high echelon of skin men, he goes. Choice Cuts- the eerily elegant frailty of "Bones of Birds" (our most played song of the year), "Crooked Steps" and "Rowing".
6) Harmonicraft- Torche- A metal meets powerpop cauldron of curiosities from the Floridian band of bros. The myriad of tonal washes over gutty crunch(with a peppering of prog thrown in) should be enough for you to love this album. Or you could just stare at the cover while basement bound in the midst of a bath salt rush. Choice cuts "Kicking", "Reverse Inverted".
7) Lonerism- Tame Impala- The latest outing from the Aussie wunderkind kids was the last entry to this list. We were flabbergasted with the production and the sheer depth of beauty for these dreamy pop songs and while we don't like to attach "esque" to the end of an adjective comparing another band with these lads, yet a few talented Liverpudlians come to mind. Choice cuts " Apocalypse Dream", "Endors Toi".
8) Kill My Blues- Corin Tucker Band- Nobody is talking about this debut album from the recently birthed band from the former Sleater -Kinney frontwoman, and we wish we knew why. I know Wild Flag and Portlandia have put a certain Ms. Brownstein on a much broader map, but this set of tracks rocks socks. Don't put Corin in a corner. She'll bust out with her baby and knock you over with a bottle of husky punk and bruisey blues. Choice cuts " Summer Jams", "Kill My Blues".
9) A Different Kind Of Truth-Van Halen -Yeah, a lot of it is rehashed demos and Diamond Dave's lustre is a bit glassy but it makes the list for putting the I Can't Believe This Album Doesn't Suck Meter into the red over and over again. EVH is still pretty much untouchable, even while being sober and without Frankenguitar. And after pre- ragging on Wolfie not being able to do Michael Anthony's back up voxes a solid, we were sorta proven wrong. Shit, puberty must have contributed in some way. Anyhoo, we bought it. Choice Cuts- "She's The Woman" (holds up to the '77 demo] and "Big River"
10) Lovelessness-Bison- A brutal,slayful album about a dog dying. ("Is Don on the Phone??-very inside reference)
The cover has a pic of the tumor that guitarist/vocalist James Farwell's dog succumbed to, yeah, that brutal. This crushing,dynamic metal band from Vancouver has yet to get its due, and damn it people let's give it to 'em! Or at least give them a shower the morning after they sleep on your floor. Choice Cuts- "Clozapine Dream", "Anxiety Puke/Lovelessness"
H.Ms
Locked Down-Dr. John
Ugly-Screaming Females
I Bet On Sky-Dinosaur JR.
Open Your Heart-The Men
What'choo got?
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Soundgarden Returns
This is what rock sounds like. Rock thrashed out by a quartet of late forty- somethings who took a decade and a half off to pursue Pearl Jams and be Audio slaves. Four men with something to prove to the vastly changed landscape chock full of processed schlock pop and skip hop,among the festering plague of ADD teens attached to their screens and lazy button pushers with wacked haircuts.
At first through tenth listen, the track is laced with a little more grit and gruff than the density of the Badmotorfinger stuff, but I'm not bored, I'm on board.
Friday, September 21, 2012
Icky Thump
I am an avid complainer. I have honed its qualities down to a sharp tip and have plunged them deep into the femoral vein of many targets, mostly of a musical nature.
Today's complaint may very well be deemed racist by those of you who embrace hip hop as anything but a background for blunt consumption and bleary head nodding, but no. No
It is an observance of a well researched and unwillingly tolerated activity that is so mind boggling and rude to me that I just have to comment...as well as question it's purpose.
Why do many hip hop afficionados, (many of whom just happen to be African American, but clearly not ALL... in the neighborhood where my research was conducted) have to expose every last person in a two block radius to the braggadocios- laden, bass heavy, soul- sucking hoodified thump of that blasphemous rap that most selfish of noise pollution known to man while driving.....anywhere, at any time...and at maximum volume?
What purpose is served by having all of the windows in the vehicle you own, rolled all of the way down while you enjoy your wretched, grammatical fail laden hip hop in the privacy of your vehicle, at the calm, relaxed expense of every human around you?
I cannot fathom that this activity is in any way connected to an aversion to air conditioning, nor is it strictly reserved for warmer weather and within the guidelines for the activity known as "cruising". I've seen it in a swirl of falling leaves on a crisp and quiet Sunday morning in October. I've seen it in quaint boring neighborhoods while people walk their dogs with expectations of peace and solace. Places where there is nothing to "cruise" and even less to do. Places where people people just want to live their lives without a slow rush and deafening roar of some half assed aggressive poetry expounding upon the merits of acquiring wealth and self congratulating.
Frankly, I don't get it. Is there a "fuck you" attached to the mindset of this extreme selfishness? Is there a certain disruptive plan of payback by blanketing the world around you with a good old rousing chorus containing a handful of "niggas" and "muthafuckas" while kids in strollers are within earshot?
I'm a man who needs reasons.
Please give me a reason that may help me understand you. It may prevent a potato from being mysteriously places in the tail pipe of your LeSabre. It may prevent your rims from being spray painted pink while you sleep.
Because from my vantage point, as a musician and a fanatical loud music lover, I'm just not as fucking stupid as you. I would gladly keep my truck windows all the way up if I wanted to crank the fuck out of something so loud that my steering wheel vibrates, yet in private as to not offend anyone around me just trying to enjoy their day.
Today's complaint may very well be deemed racist by those of you who embrace hip hop as anything but a background for blunt consumption and bleary head nodding, but no. No
It is an observance of a well researched and unwillingly tolerated activity that is so mind boggling and rude to me that I just have to comment...as well as question it's purpose.
Why do many hip hop afficionados, (many of whom just happen to be African American, but clearly not ALL... in the neighborhood where my research was conducted) have to expose every last person in a two block radius to the braggadocios- laden, bass heavy, soul- sucking hoodified thump of that blasphemous rap that most selfish of noise pollution known to man while driving.....anywhere, at any time...and at maximum volume?
What purpose is served by having all of the windows in the vehicle you own, rolled all of the way down while you enjoy your wretched, grammatical fail laden hip hop in the privacy of your vehicle, at the calm, relaxed expense of every human around you?
I cannot fathom that this activity is in any way connected to an aversion to air conditioning, nor is it strictly reserved for warmer weather and within the guidelines for the activity known as "cruising". I've seen it in a swirl of falling leaves on a crisp and quiet Sunday morning in October. I've seen it in quaint boring neighborhoods while people walk their dogs with expectations of peace and solace. Places where there is nothing to "cruise" and even less to do. Places where people people just want to live their lives without a slow rush and deafening roar of some half assed aggressive poetry expounding upon the merits of acquiring wealth and self congratulating.
Frankly, I don't get it. Is there a "fuck you" attached to the mindset of this extreme selfishness? Is there a certain disruptive plan of payback by blanketing the world around you with a good old rousing chorus containing a handful of "niggas" and "muthafuckas" while kids in strollers are within earshot?
I'm a man who needs reasons.
Please give me a reason that may help me understand you. It may prevent a potato from being mysteriously places in the tail pipe of your LeSabre. It may prevent your rims from being spray painted pink while you sleep.
Because from my vantage point, as a musician and a fanatical loud music lover, I'm just not as fucking stupid as you. I would gladly keep my truck windows all the way up if I wanted to crank the fuck out of something so loud that my steering wheel vibrates, yet in private as to not offend anyone around me just trying to enjoy their day.
Saturday, September 08, 2012
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