Just in...Pendulum: Immersion

    Since Pendulum just released their new album, Immersion, May 24th, I decided to start out with a new series called "Just in...", which I'll hopefully continue as bands release new material (like Tokyo Police Club June 6th...hint hint).
    Pendulum is another band I heard first on WBER, 90.5 Rochester "The only station that matters", the song I heard and liked being "Propane Nightmares" from their 2008 album, In Silico. Pendulum is from Perth, Australia, now residing in UK as one of the top drum and bass groups. If you don't know what drum and bass is, just listen and you'll quickly understand, it is pulsing and driven fully by the almost overpowering after listening to the whole album straight through electro enhanced drum beat. More specifically, though, drum and bass became popular in the 90's as an offshoot of the rave scene in England and is called so because of breaks in the music consisting of samplings (little sections cut from other music) of beats and in this case has faster repeated "break beat" sections in terms of beats per minute. Interestingly enough, most sub-genres of house music are determined by how fast your break beats are. But, if you're confused, so am I. One further clarification, however, is that electronic music is very hard to categorize, and should not necessarily be merely called electronica or techno. Electronica is a huge umbrella term that catches tons of different artists from Björk to The Chemical Brothers, while calling it techno is truly a mistake. Techno is a more specific sub-genre of electronica itself, a form of which originated out of Detroit and brought a lot of different subgenres together, such as funk, Chicago house, electro and electric jazz under one roof to create a new style in the late 1980's. So just call Pendulum what it mostly is, drum and bass, and you're all set.
    What makes Pendulum different from most electronic music is it's incorporation of dubstep, heavy metal and electro house. The only way to really explain what these different terms are is by allowing you to listen to them yourself, so I've added tracks to the MixPod that incorporate these elements. First, for dubstep and electro house, listen to The Island, Part II (Dusk). I'm not entirely sure which is which upon listening, but I believe the dubstep would be the "overwhelming bass lines and reverberant drum patterns, clipped samples" while the electro house would be the overall underlying beat and dancelike rhythms--at the end especially. Heavy metal influence is much easier to hear, I'm sure, so for that listen to "Comprachicos". Actually, I should really have just put up "Self vs Self" which would fool most people into thinking it is just heavy metal to begin with, if it wasn't for the relentless house beat, but that's too easy to hear the metal influence so I have challenged you to hear the distinction. "Comprachicos" heavy metal influence should really be characterized more as industrial metal, with the distorted vocals and how Rob Swire tries to imitate the sound and lyrical content of Trent Reznor from Nine Inch Nails, a group that helped popularize industrial metal. For more listening, some from Immersion some from In Silico, go to: http://www.myspace.com/pendulum.
    As in most electronic music, artists are always brought in to collaborate, see The Crystal Method's latest album Divided By Night. Three such are part of this album: on "Immunize" is Liam Howlett from The Prodigy, a pioneer group in big beat electronic music; on "Self vs Self" is the Group In Flames, a Swedish melodic death metal group; and on "The Fountain" is Steve Wilson of Porcupine Tree and No-Man.

Phoenix: It's Never Been Like That

    Phoenix has easily become one of my favorite bands since I started listening to them only this year! I first heard Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (2009) and fell in love with it instantly, especially since the name is just plain catchy and clever. Why am I not, at this point, advertising that album which is newer, more polished and most distinctly Phoenix (most bands do progress more into their own sound ya know)? Well, short answer, because that is the album I'm currently listening to. Long answer, because with all great bands that have been around a while that you suddenly discover, there is a back wealth of quality listening that it is almost as fun exhuming as it is discovering them in the first place. In Phoenix's case, as you go further back than It's Never Been Like That (2006) to Alphabetical (2004), you hear they have obviously been influence by a lighter R&B style, almost akin to hip hop with its rhythmic style and heavier disco like beats. Go even further, to United (2000), and there is even more of an elevator music feel good sing-a-long vibe that is sometimes even reminiscent of Steely Dan. So, somewhere in between this and their more recent alternative with a bit of electro pop lies It's Never Been Like That.

    Here's the track listing:

1. Napoleon Says

2. Consolation Prizes

3. Rally

4. Long Distance Call

5. One Time Too Many

6. Lost and Found

7. Courtesy Laughs

8. North

9. Sometimes In the Fall

10. Second to None

    This group likes to start things off with a bang and gets your attention right off the bat with the start of "Napoleon Says". Then, Consolation Prizes contains one of two awesome drum riffs that start songs, the other being to "Sometimes In the Fall". In fact, most every song starts with a click or a beat or two of drums, but those two have awesome riffs definitely worth checking out. They remind me of how cool the guitar riff to "Tessellate" by Tokyo Police Club. Another part of Phoenix I love is that one song on this album, "North", and one on Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, "Countdown (Sick For the Big Sun)", is mostly instrumental (North actually being completely instrumental) and builds to a nice climax by the end. Phoenix also has a way with repeating lyrics that is unique and works really well. One great example is in "Sometimes In the Fall" when Thomas Mars on vocals sings "long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long gone", which totally adds more meaning to the sense of length of time. This is just an exaggerated example of the lyrical repetition, however, listen and you'll hear multiple instances of it's great use. Perhaps the title track, but by far not my favorite as it reverts slightly to the more older album R&B heavy beat style, should be "Long Distance Call", because it uses the lyrics "It's Never Been Like That" repeatedly in the chorus.

    Finally, worth mentioning is that Phoenix is from Versaille, France, but they are known worldwide. So, I would like to know what is going on in France that perhaps I am missing. Are there other great bands like this coming out of Paris (or the nearby in Phoenix's case) that I don't know about, or is it just that this group actually performs in English so they can have a following outside of France? Is Phoenix the Radiohead of France? Hopefully along this binging blogging expedition, I will find the answer to that question out.

    Check out their neon light website here: http://www.wearephoenix.com/. They have an interesting mostly pictorial blog and other stuff. Also, there are a few videos from this album on their MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/wearephoenix. Finally, check out a full stream on their Myspace, here. Enjoy!

Graham Wright: The Lakes of Alberta

    Graham Wright is from Ontario, Canada, and is the keyboard player for Tokyo Police Club. This is his first solo EP, The Lakes of Alberta, released in November of 2008.  This is a "pay what you want"/free to download if you're cheap and can be found here: http://grahamwright.bandcamp.com/album/the-lakes-of-alberta.  The folk and indie pop music is kind of a combination of an edit polished Irish ballade and a rawer more upbeat acoustic sound with clapping and tambourine.  Interestingly, the track listing has the song, "The Lakes of Alberta Pt. II" before Pt. I; both of which are dominated by simplified broken chordal harmonies on the guitar.

    Since then, he has written a single track album called Crooked Moon, which came out in October of 2009--also a free download at: http://grahamwright.bandcamp.com/album/crooked-moon.  Up and coming sometime soon (hopefully) in 2010 is his Shirts and Skins EP. 

    Other stuff Graham has been involved in is a January 2009 album called Novels, in which him and a bunch of friends got together to write, produce and record an album in 24 hours. A limited number of CDs were made, but not sold in stores or online, instead they were wrapped up and left around in various places and given to random people for anyone to enjoy. They now have a downloadable copy on their website: http://www.okaynovels.com/download.html. They encourage people to burn it and do the same, leave it around and give it to people. The site also includes a sharing blog, on which people who have given out copies can take pictures, submit them and have them put on the blog telling the story of where and to who Novels was given.

    Finally, Graham is going to be touring this year with his group, The Good Times Band.

To begin...

    To give an idea of what kinds of music I will likely blog about, let me provide 5 favorite bands/albums and 5 recently discovered bands/albums that I really dig. I may or may not blog more about these items later.

Favorites:

1) The Mars Volta -- De-loused in the Crematorium is an album I've known for 7-8 years now, before Francis the Mute was even out. First listen, I wasn't convinced, but upon later review I was hooked, and The Mars Volta has easily been my most followed band and favorite since. I've been fortunate to enjoy 4 more albums by them: Francis the Mute, Amputechture, The Bedlam in Goliath and Octahedron, the latter of which is an incredible listening experience from start to finish and will for sure receive more attention later.

2) Radiohead -- I was introduced to Radiohead at college, well into their prestigious career. Hail to the Thief and In Rainbows were their only albums that I saw fresh releases of, not counting their numerous collectors edition re-releases of Amnesiac, Kid A, OK Computer, Hail to the Thief with b-sides. Well, gotta say, aside from pretty much The Bends and before (except for a few songs here and there), Radiohead is so incredibly creative and no one can really follow their act when it comes to accessible mainstream, but still experimental and genius enough to be...awesome.

3) MUTEMATH -- I knew MUTEMATH as the former Christian band, Earthsuit, which I also loved, but alas they are no more... Yet, what has come out of that loss is more than sufficient to fill the void. This is actually a group I've known since before the release of their Reset EP, followed by self-titled MuteMath, Spotlight EP and Armistice, which is definitely one of my all-time favorite albums.

4) Omar Rodriguez-Lopez -- This guy is a force to be reckoned with, he produces, is involved with The Mars Volta of course (and then formerly of At the Drive-In), directs and stars in independent films. On top of that, last year he put out six! full length albums and one with The Mars Volta. One thing that impresses me about Omar, is how he collaborates with numerous musicians and styles, including Grammy Award and Latin Grammy nominated Mexican singer/actress Ximena Sarinana. Just recently he released a duo album with John Frusciante (formerly of Red Hot Chili Peppers).

5) Sufjan Stevens -- I only was introduced to Sufjan this past year, and was so grateful for it! The Come On Feel the Illinois! and Greetings From Michigan: The Great Lake State albums are genius and I have grown to love baroque pop through this and other bands like Vampire Weekend and Phoenix. Not only is he a phenomenal song writer, so creative, but his style varies so much too, from the minimal folk sound of Seven Swans to the instrumental masterpiece that is The BQE.

Recent finds:

1) Freelance Whales -- I'm listening to them right now as I type! They are an indie folk band with some baroque pop and electronic sounds thrown in, a combination I love. Thanks to my bro for throwing this one my way, and happy birthday too : )

2) Massive Attack -- Heard this Electronic Trip Hop duo on the best radio station, hailing from Rochester, NY, WBER ("the only station that matters"). There's some really interesting stuff here, with the different voice styles the two main members contribute and I would hesitate to venture, based on my limited knowledge, based on their different musical/life backgrounds. I just hear different styles song to song sometimes. Two albums I've checked out are 100th Window and Heligoland.

3) Rogue Wave -- A friend of mine mentioned this group, so I had to check them out. The're not going to be my next favorite, for sure, but they are worth a listen, an indie folk lo-fi band with some cool use of electronic sounds, which in my opinion makes certain songs shine, while others are dull. Two albums I have listened to are: Asleep at Heaven's Gate and Permalight, which I like a lot more than the former.

4) Jónsi -- If you've heard of Sigur Rós, then you'll immediately know Jónsi's style, because he is part of Sigur Rós. This delightful album was just released this year and is playful and beautiful, while taking time to dwell on more morose emotions as well. I love his first solo album, Go.

5) Grizzly Bear -- Apparently, this is some of the member's of Radiohead's favorite band and they recently toured with them. I don't really see much connection between their styles, but I do see the experimental disconnect from most of the mainstream music that continues to fill the airwaves, and I at least appreciate that. This band has been around for a while, but I only within the past 1/2 year listened to their stuff for the first time. I have heard their album Veckatimest.

    So, that's a short tour, hope you see where I might be coming from, but don't have any expectations that if I didn't include a certain style/genre of music, that you won't see it come up in the future. I do like a lot of Electronic music, even though it might not appear so, like Pendulum and The Crystal Method, so look out for some of that too, along with lighter or maybe more accessible pop/rock music like Blonde Redhead, Owl City, fun. and Coldplay. You will come to hear a bunch of new stuff in this blog hopefully. Enjoy!

What is a Music Binge?

    I used to scour all the other blogs and go from link to link on Wikipedia, trying every band one to the next, finding few that inspire me to listen further. Those late night downloading spree expeditions were what I titled...Music Binges and are what has brought me to start writing my own blog today.

    I'm a connoisseur of high quality music, from rock to jazz to classical. I love to discover new music that is original, unique and extraordinary. Now, let's face it, jazz and classical is not necessarily cutting edge in today's society in terms of accessible music. It's mostly academic or unimaginative. Most musical progress, consequently, is dominated by indie groups and is relatively unknown; therefore, I hope to make it known to those around me that also love music but run in different circles, listen to different radio stations or don't binge obsessively like me.

    My goals are as follows: share, with whoever is interested, the music I've already found and enjoy enough to keep on my iTunes; keeping binge-ing for new music I've not yet discovered; and update with a post (or what I'll call a "binge") at least once a week.