Sound + Vision Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)The problem with this box set is that it is neither a greatest hits collection nor a rarities one. The first edition was released in 1989 as a sort of sampler for the upcoming Rykodisc reissues. Ryko probably chose not to include the best tracks to avoid hurting the sales of the individual albums, when they came out. Yet, at a time when the CD format was booming and the RCA albums had been long out of print, fans were hungry for Bowie's 70's material on CD. So this set was welcomed at the time even though it was a seemingly random selection of tracks with a few rarities thrown in for good measure. These rarities would not reappear as bonus tracks on the regular releases, so they were the very reason for buying and keeping this set.
Now that the original albums have been reissued to death, this box set is released again. It includes a fourth CD and adds a few more rarities to make it desirable even to those who had bought the original edition. But the "mixed bag" concept is still there and it is totally pointless, now. I'm not complaining about the rarities, but they should have gone for an entirely different approach instead of just releasing an expanded edition of the old box. So casual fans beware: this is by no means a "definitive" Bowie compilation. Apart from the rarities, tracks seem to have been chosen by luck of the draw.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Sound + Vision

Click here for more information about Sound + Vision

Not Without Sorcery Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Helios Creed, the acid-punk, space rock genius, has been recording albums/music constantly and consistently since he first joined up with Damon Edge to make CHROME what it was, back in 1977. And of course has since carried on the CHROME legacy and as well has gone on to record his own solo material with a bevy of absolutely incredible albums- many of which are, sadly, out of print.
These tracks on "Not Without Sorcery" are what Helios recorded, for lack of better words, during an "interim" period; meaning these are recordings that lie between the recordings of his last full length album "Deep Blue Love Vacuum", and his forthcoming albums (CHROME and Helios Creed solo), which will hopefully be released sooner than later.
For anyone who isn't already a Helios/Chrome fan- this may not be the best example of what Helios is all about, as it definitely isn't produced or configured the way most of his other albums are. Nonetheless, it's Helios all the way, and a great little EP that- for those who know, love and "get" Helios- is an absolute MUST have. All of the tracks are great, and definitely showcase his knack for coming up with super catchy, and trippy riffs- along with his dark goofiness, which comes shining through in "Win you over Again" where he's definitely not hiding the fact that he truly enjoys, and has a blast making music. The fun is pretty damn contagious! In my opinion, the highlight of this EP is the track "Lion's Gate" which is spacey, catchy, and outright beautiful with a captivating intensity but, as I stated before- ALL the tracks are great. And may or may not end up appearing on any future release(s) so my final recommendation- PICK THIS UP! While you still can. There were limited copies produced, and the price seems to spike up and down depending on demand but I have yet to see this go for less than $7-8. Definitely a collector's item and one to enjoy and play as well as hold on to. :-)

Click Here to see more reviews about: Not Without Sorcery

A limited 5-track EP to support his upcoming (Sept/Oct) 30-city "Dual Forces" tour. Contains two songs exclusive to this release and three songs from his forthcoming Transparency CD/2LP. Helios plays guitar, bass and synth as well as vocals; Paul Della Pella plays drums.

Click here for more information about Not Without Sorcery

Outside (Exp) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Not only do I consider OUTSIDE Bowie's best album since 1981's SCARY MONSTERS, OUTSIDE is my current favorite Bowie album. I recommended it without hesitation to industrial rock fans, Enophiles, and anyone who appreciates dark, adventurous sounds. However, if you already own the original pressing, there's no need to buy this album a second time. The remastering offers no improvement over the original edition's superb sonics. As other reviewers have noted, the reproduction of the digital booklet art and Bowie's cover painting are markedly inferior to the original digipak. The bonus track is a throwaway. I would have preferred to see OUTSIDE reissued in a deluxe edition with a disc of live material from the OUTSIDE tour, which included blistering versions of "Look Back in Anger" and "Diamond Dogs," as well as electronic arrangements of vintage songs such as "Andy Warhol" and "The Man Who Sold the World."

Click Here to see more reviews about: Outside (Exp)

CD > POPULAR MUSIC > ROCK

Click here for more information about Outside (Exp)

Level Five Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)...Is it worth it though? I would say yes. I loved Heavy ConstrucKtion, but the version of ConstrucKtion of Light on Level Five is superior for a few reasons, the most important of which is that Pat Mastelotto's drum kit sounds like more of an acoustic drum kit. Like I said, Heavy ConstrucKtion was great, but at times I tired slightly of what sounded like a purely electronic kit. This is a welcome change, and makes King Crimson sound infinitely heavier (more appropriate for the tour with Tool from which the tracks on this album are taken).
Dangerous Curves and Virtuous Circle (tracks 1 and 3) sound like improv to me, and King Crimson never disappoints with their improv. They seem to be creating a more ambient, melodic mood with these 2 tracks than other live improvs. Level Five (track 2) is the new structured composition, and is the most worthwhile track on the disc. Dark and brooding, heavy and lurching, it shows why King Crimson is Tool's daddy, and why father and son decided to tour together (I heard that Danny Carey even sat in on Red and Frame by Frame some time on tour, it would have been amazing to hear that on this disc). That being said, the track Level Five sounds (to some small extent) like a synthesis of some of the ideas explored in Larks' Tongues pt. IV and FracKtured. Still sounds good and surprisingly fresh though.
A great version of The Deception of the Thrush appears here as well (my favorite is on Disc 3 of Heavy ConstrucKtion though), which benefits endlessly once again from Pat's new drum kit. A nice bonus improv at the end as a pleasant surprise.
Ultimately, I would say that the best reasons to buy this album would be to hear Pat's better sounding kit, and Trey Gunn's Warr Guitar (which is FINALLY balanced nicely in the mix to the point where you don't have to strain a little bit to focus on it). Robert Fripp and Adrian Belew are in top form as well. The band seems to have moved to the Level (Five) of synthesis between songwriting and instrumental chops appropriate for King Crimson's fifth major incarnation.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Level Five

Japanese 2002 release featuring 5 tracks, 'DangerousCurves' (new song), 'Virtuous Circle' (new song), LevelFive (new song), 'The Deception Of Thrush' & 'TheConstruKction Of Light'.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Click here for more information about Level Five

David Byrne - Live at Union Chapel (2002) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)David Byrne is amazing and this DVD is every bit as nuanced and inventive and humourous and fun as STOP MAKING SENSE. It hasn't the manic over the top energy of the TH film, but it is just as brilliant a concert. Byrne is in spectacular form and after so many years of wandering about in wherever he was wandering about, this tour presents him with his vision fully formed and heading in exciting directions.
The instrumentation is more stripped down than in SMS, but old chestnuts from his previous life as well as new songs from his most recent disc are each delivered with passion and commitment. This must have been an extraordinary experience. Even on DVD, it is hard to resist the urge to dance hurky-jerky with the Pinnochio of Rock. His limbs are as limber as ever and his oddness has all the same endearing elements to it as he has ever had, and now with the years registered in his grey hair and his wisdom infused with time, his observations pack a poignancy you don't get from many another.
I really can't pick out a highlight. Maybe "Naive Melody", which carries all the same emotional honesty now as it ever has. In so many ways, he is "the same as he ever was," only with the grace of time deepening his shadow. Union Chapel looks terrific in the film. The setting is beyond perfect for Byrne. Production quality is of the highest calibre. You would expect nothing less from him. From "Nothing But Flowers" through to the encore, this is a categorcial triumph as a film, as music, as an emotional sojourn. Great stuff. Hope you pick this up and enjoy it.

Click Here to see more reviews about: David Byrne - Live at Union Chapel (2002)

Recorded live in Live at Union Chapel captures David Byrne at his most irreverent. Performing 18 songs spanning four decades, Byrne effortlessly weaves lyrically potent compositions and compelling arrangements to create an unforgettable evening. Among the performances are stunning versions of David's Work, as well as Talking Heads favorites. Backed by a full band and a string section, Byrne's stage presence is matched by his masterful delivery. Track Listing: (Nothing But) Flowers And She Was Once In A Lifetime God's Child The Great Intoxication Un Di Felice The Revolution Sax and Violins This must Be the Place What A Day That Was Like Humans Do U.B. Jesus Life During Wartime Lazy I Wanna Dance With Somebody Ausencia The Accident Road To Nowhere

Get 10% OFF

Click here for more information about David Byrne - Live at Union Chapel (2002)

Black Box Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Naked City's post-modernist music belongs to every genre and to none, a baneful musical poltergeist that reassembles its surrounding into an web of chaos. As for the Blackbox collection, these are both definitive Naked City albums. If you could only own three Naked City albums, it would have to be _Absinthe_ and these two.
_Torture Garde_ features 42 tracks, only a few of which last longer than a minute. In these skillful collages, Naked City tightly binds together multiple genres and hops between with reckless abandon, usually played at breakneck speed. "Speedfreaks", the most extreme example, lasts 50 seconds and changes styles and tempos every second or two. Often heavy and loud, with John Zorn's alto sax screeching over blaring hardcore meltdowns or noisy free jazz terrors. There is also Yamatsuka Eye. He's basically just insane. He gabbers and gibbers and screams and shrieks and roars and flies into rabid fits of seizures that seem unrelenting until Naked City hops into something else. Overall, this is some of the hottest playing you'll ever hear. The liner notes come with some grotesque images: stills from Japanese S&M films (nothing very graphic, mind you), a WHACK paintings by Japanese artist Maruo Suehiro.
Then there is _Leng Tch'e_...
"Leng Tch'e" (hundred pieces) was an old Chinese torture ritual where the victim was pumped with opium to prolong his life while he was slowly dismembered. Picture such a dungeon in the Ninth layer of Hell, now imagine its soundtrack. This is one of my favorite John Zorn compositions by far. Of all Naked City songs, this is the most violent and painful, but disturbingly pleasurable like some dark fantasy. A horrible antipodal rapture and agony, it is breathtakingly simple -- a continuous build-up starting on roaring guitar feedback and gradually adding drums, and Yamatsuka Eye's tormented vocals, and finally Zorn's screaming sax, climaxing at a place very different from their starting point and yet constant in its agony. Musically stunning, minimal and gripping, _Leng Tch'e_ is music that seems to play itself, inevitably pouring from a crack in the wall of reality. Eye and drummer Joey Baron are absolutely amazing here, adding so much to the intensity of the music.
Tzadik says:
"A specially-priced double-CD reissue, Black Box couples two of Zorn's most extreme and violent creations with the controversial music and artwork intact. Torture Garden (1991) presents Naked City's intense and groundbreaking music combining free jazz, bebop, r&b, country, funk, rockabilly, surf, metal hardcore and grindcore -- usually in the same song! This avant supergroup has influenced scores of bands including Mr. Bungle, Dim Sum Clip Job and the Boredoms (whose singer Yamantaka Eye is a featured guest on these two albums). The rare, seldom-heard, Leng Tch'e (1992), released only in Japan, and long out-of-print, features Naked City in an agonizingly slow, brutal 32-minute assault."
Your music collection can never be complete without a little Naked City.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Black Box

Click here for more information about Black Box

Friend Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Fuzz-rockers Grizzly Bear know how to keep people's attention until their next album -- in this case, putting out an album's worth of odds and ends.
And "Friend EP" is no more or less than that -- a jumble of covers (both theirs and other people's), alternate versions, and even a demo. It has one dud track, but the rest are pretty much mellow, arty little gems, sometimes rendered into something almost unrecognizable.
One of the biggest things here is the alternate versions of their songs -- it starts with the rippling, dreamlike, almost celestial version of "Alligator," as well as an electric-edged "Little Brother" and smoothly flowing "Shift." The final song is a lo-fi, home-recorded rendition of "Deep Blue Sea," which relies heavily on strummed acoustic guitar and faint whistling.
The only sour note is the Terrible vs. Nonhorse: Sounds Edit remix of "Plans," which is basically a big squiggle of psychotic flute, clatters, blown fuses, doorbells, and what sounds like a banjo dissolving.
Grizzly Bear also turn out a spooky, weirdly wistful cover of Carole King's "He Hit Me (And It Felt Like A Kiss)". Additionally they also toss out a little demo called "Granny Diner," an ambient cluster of fuzz, meandering guitar, with a few ripples of soft organ and mournful vocals near the end. Not a bad song, but you can hear why it didn't make the cut.
And finally, there's a trio of bands covering Grizzly Bear's songs -- Band of Horses, CSS, and Atlas Sound. CSS rework "Plans" into a tight electronic squiggly dancefest, while Band of Horses go in the opposite direction, turning the same song into a music-hall country tune. And Atlas Sound turns "Knife" into a beautiful, hypnotically ambient pop tune.
"Friend" is not an EP in the sense of being short, but in the sense of not really being an album -- Grizzly Bear crammed plenty of material on here, and while it doesn't give quite the satisfied feeling of "Yellow House" or "Horn of Plenty," it's made up of individual songs that are, mostly, brilliant reminders of why we love them.
Their songs have the usual components of their music -- ringing guitar, flickering organ, subtle drums, bass, some synth, often buried under a layer of shifting fuzz. Even the angular edges of "Little Brother" doesn't disrupt their signature sound, and the smooth vocals all four contribute adds to their mournful, slightly dreamlike ambience.
In fact, they only really have problems in the aforementioned "Plans" remix, and the long stretch of verrrrrrryyyy sloooowwwwww buildup in "Granny Diner" before getting to the brilliant final two minutes. And the other bands do a good job adding their distintive sounds to Grizzly Bear too -- folky banjo, rapid techno, and a darker dreamy pop sound.
"Friend" is basically a collection of odds and ends, cobbled from Grizzly Bear and their pals. And until they come out with another album, it'll have to tide me over.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Friend

Track Listing: 1. Alligator 2. He Hit Me 3. Little Brother 4. Shift 5. Plans 6. Granny Diner 7. Knife - C.S.S. 8. Plans - Band Of Horses 9. Knife - Atlas Sound 10. Deep Blue Sea 11. Untitled

Click here for more information about Friend

Earthling Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I am always constantly impressed with how David Bowie easily slips out of one form of music and into another. In a day and age when techo beats are popular but lame, and I spend hours cowering in my room stuck musically in the 70's, this album pops out and suddenly I am back in the 90's again. Bowie flirts heavily with a Trent Reznor-like sound, but with his amazing voice, this experimental album works very well. The best track is "I'm Afraid of Americans." It just starts off and builds to this LOUD chorus. This is a good album to get if you are like me, not really into the 90's sound, but still are able to appreciate genius when you hear it (although I will always love the 70's Bowie glam more).

Click Here to see more reviews about: Earthling

Click here for more information about Earthling

Sixty Six Steps Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)i haven't read the other 4 reviews which are up on amazon right now, but here's my stab at one. i've been waiting all summer for this cd to come out. i had high expectations for this album and it basically lives up to them. it's hard to find fault with it, especially if you are a mike gordon aficionado first and foremost, and a more recent kottke fan due, in part, to his association with gordon (like myself). if you like clone, their 1st release together, then you'll like sixty six steps. it's pretty much the same thing as last time, with the addition of a drummer. mike gordon's songwriting skills are perhaps more prominent this time, and he continues to flourish in a post phish world with some of his best songs to date. he seems to have had the midas touch with all of his solo projects. if you are primarily a kottke fan this album may not seem as cool to you as it does to phishheads, but hopefully you'll get over that and give in the to the sheer joy these musicians obviously express when playing together. like they said on e-town recently, kottke and gordon were friends first and partners later. is any new ground covered? is it groundbreaking? will trendy hipsters even notice or care about this laid back islandy piece of work? probably not. but will it become an "island" disc for those who find themselves "off the grid" as it were, most definitely a resounding "yes". especially if that island happens to be anywhere tropical like the bahamas or costa rica and you're on a two-week vacation.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Sixty Six Steps

Sixty Six Steps--the second collaboration between guitarist Leo Kottke and erstwhile Phish bassist Mike Gordon--is both an homage to and an experiment loosely involving island rhythms. "There are these syncopations within Leo's guitar playing that twist around in a way that remind me of calypso," explains Gordon. "So this album took form as an experiment in my mind to see whether Leo's unique style of playing could be mixed with this kind of music I discovered and really loved when I was younger. And it worked far beyond my expectations." "Mike was the first to notice that aspect in my playing, and I think I'd forgotten it was in there," says Kottke. "No one else had done that. He's very intuitive that way."The pair had already successfully tested the waters as collaborators with the album Clone, released in 2002. When they crossed paths in 2004 at a music festival, Gordon told Kottke that he really wanted to do an island experiment as his first project following the Phish era. Rehearsed in Costa Rica and recorded in the Bahamas, Sixty Six Steps is seasoned with the buoyant rhythms and freewheeling spirit of the tropics. It is not literally a calypso album but one that uses the calypso feel as a touchstone for a set of performances by two of the most imaginative and mold-breaking musicians on the planet.
Sixty Six Steps is a mixture of originals and interpretations performed in ways that are vaguely familiar yet largely without precedent. For instance, you'll find a cover of Aerosmith's "Sweet Emotion" sung in a deadpan monotone and performed on baglama (a Turkish banjo/mandolin-type instrument), guitar and bass. Then there's a pastoral Pete Seeger composition ("Living in the Country") given a spritz of equatorial light and air. A twisted Mike Gordon original ("Stolen Quiet") professes mock gratitude for a partner's exodus from their shared abode: "The sheer amount of surface space increased around here/With your diet soda gone, there's more room for my beer." An equally offbeat Leo Kottke original ("Balloon") features such lines as "When the raccoon steals the cheese behind Pandora's other box/Or the one you love is shopping for a helmet made of rocks/Balloon, balloon, balloon..."
Incidentally, the title Sixty Six Steps is taken from a sign at the base of a staircase leading to what is reputedly the highest point on the island. The steps curve around and go to the top of the hill, which is a great spot from which to view the sunset. In its own way, Sixty Six Steps winds and ascends to a point from which the listener can savor some truly unique musical vistas.

Click here for more information about Sixty Six Steps

The Best Band You Never Heard In Your Life Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This is the first FZ album I ever heard. My electric bass teacher lent it to me after I keenly asked him "Whose song is this?" at a concert where a band played "Let's Move To Cleveland." I loved the song immediately, and upon listening to it on disc I didn't only love it for its [to me, at the time] eccentric melody, but also for the guitar solo, which I was to find a typical example of Zappa's personal way of soloing.
At close to 130 minutes of music this may be the perfect (and a "light") Zappa introduction to no-know-persons. Although most of the material is taken from FZ's late 60's through mid 70's repertoire, or what some might call his hey day rock material, big variations (thanks to re-arrangements) are being made, and styles vary. There's also a bunch of classic rock covers, such as "Purple Haze," "Sunshine of Your Love," "Stairway to Heaven" among others - even the "Bonanza" theme is included. All cover songs are worth listening to - they're extremely extreme! After listening to any of them for the first time there is NO WAY the words "Just what I expected" will escape from your sincere mouth.
What differs the old FZ studio songs from these 15-to-20-years-later-live-versions are the arrangements and the lyrics. A lot of the lyrics are humorously replaced on the spot (the band seems to have a really good time) and close to all songs on this album feature a horn section armed with five men who handle 10 different horns.
From what I understand, the '88 tour band (the last of Zappa's rock bands) knew 196 songs - songs that Zappa could call off at concerts at any time, and it truly shows that this band have practiced A LOT! The musicianship is, as on many of Zappa's albums, EXTRAORDINARY.
As a musician I can deeply recommend it for inspiration to anyone involved in musical activities.
As an "innocent bystander" I recommend it to anyone with a sense of humor who wants to enjoy well performed quality music, but if you're looking for an album to cry to while enjoying a bowl-size glass of white wine and looking out the window at the pouring rain, questioning the meaning of life and death, then this is ABSOLUTELY NOT it.
To Zappa-fanatics who don't own this album I must ask "Fanatic, are you kidding?"

Click Here to see more reviews about: The Best Band You Never Heard In Your Life

This product is manufactured on demand using CD-R recordable media. Amazon.com's standard return policy will apply.

Click here for more information about The Best Band You Never Heard In Your Life

Ziggy Stardust: The Motion Picture (1973) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This 1973 concert film directed by D.A. Pennebaker (Monterey Pop, Jimi Plays Monterey, Depeche Mode 101, etc.) documenting the final show of Ziggy Stardust (David Bowie) & the Spiders from Mars (Mick Ronson, Trevor Bolder, & Mick "Woody" Woodmansey)provides a rare glimpse into Bowie's glam rock period. It is a loud & flashy assault on the senses that is experienced through both "sound" & "vision". Film footage mostly consists of the performance, but also included are back stage scenes of Bowie changing from one costume to another.
Songs performed:
1) Hang on to yourself
2) Ziggy Stardust
3) Watch that man
4) Medley: Wild eyed boy from Freecloud/All the young dudes/Oh you pretty things
5) Moonage Daydream
6) Changes
7) Space Oddity
8) My death
9) Crack'd Actor
10) Time
11) Width of a circle
12) Let's spend the night together
13) Suffragette City
14) White light/white heat
15) Rock & Roll Suicide
Leonard Maltin dismisses this film as "practically unwatchable and unlistenable" which would only be true for people who either dislike Bowie or the style of music. Yes, the music is sometimes loud, the focus is blurry here & there, and the strobe lights go crazy, but this is a David Bowie rock concert from the 1970s, isnt that appropriate? Anyone who is interested in either David Bowie or the glam rock era of the 1970s will find this film essential. For one, it is the only film document of David Bowie's Ziggy/glam phase and for another it is the "last concert" with "the Spiders" including Mick Ronson, who was a part of Bowie's band since the 1969 album "Space Oddity" up until '73's "Pin Ups". Bowie would, by 1974, have a new back up band, as well as a new look. This film deserves preservation on DVD as the historical document that it is.
*Look quickly for Ringo Starr talking with Bowie backstage

Click Here to see more reviews about: Ziggy Stardust: The Motion Picture (1973)

The digitally remastered glam-rock classic features David Bowie as his gender-bending alter-ego Ziggy Stardust, in his final performance given at London’s Hammersmith Odeon in 1973.

Get 23% OFF

Click here for more information about Ziggy Stardust: The Motion Picture (1973)

MUTEMATH Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Mute Math have been labelled the New Big Thing, which is a pretty hefty label to carry. Somebody's going to be disappointed, and most bands aren't strong enough to carry the title.
But this solid self-titled debut just might rise above the average, with its solid rockers and knack for good harmonies. This fledgling band expands up the solid guitar pop with extra flourishes and solid melodies -- it's not the most mind-blowing, but it's a solid sound all around.
It kicks off with "Chaos," an infectious little song that is simply crammed with instrumental goodness -- sharp drums, swirling guitars and airy electronica. It's perhaps their catchiest song on here, and good way to get you into their music -- it's a more complex tune than it appears to be at first glance.
It's followed up by a colourful array of different sounds -- this music is almost paradoxical in its complex simplicity and solid subtlety. They dabble in various styles, including epic guitar pop, brief instrumentals, haunting electronica-edged pop, and even some colourful funky-edged pop. They wind down with "Stall Out," a softer song that quietly wraps the album up with an electropop edge.
Mute Math started impressing people with their "Reset EP," and as they gained a following, they started handing out their debut on concerts. You gotta love these boys for that alone. But the cycling complexity of their pop music is an extra reason to enjoy what they turn out on their debut.
At first listen, it sounds a lot like Mute Math is a pretty typical indiepop band. Listen more closely, and hidden rhythms and shimmers of sound will start to emerge under the hooks. They have the swirling (and fuzzy) guitars, solid basslines and similarly solid drumming by Greg Hill, Roy Mitchell-Cárdenas and Darren King respectively. But the sound is upped a notch by vocalist Paul Meany's swirling keyboards, which add an extra dimension to their hidden melodies.
Meany sounds kind of like a harder, hoarser Sting, and he's at his most compelling in the sprawling rocker "Break the Same," where he howls, "The different stars tonight/Will somehow fade the same/And all the tears we cry/Tell us were made the same!" The lyrics need a bit of work, since they tend to be a bit lackluster verbally, even as they rhapsodize on loneliness, collapse and "broken hopes." They become more compelling when you actually hear them.
Mute Math makes a solid debut in their self-titled album, and prove that they are a new band that definitely is worth watching. Keep on rocking, boys.?

Click Here to see more reviews about: MUTEMATH

Every now and then a band explodes from the grassroots. Thanks to phenomenal Internet exposure that led to soldout shows across the country, Mute Math is just such a story. Playing this summer at Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza and on the Warped Tour has resulted in the group\'s major-label debut with a selftitled album. An inspired Alt-Rock band from New Orleans, Mute Math melds hip-hop–styled beats, moments of beauty and grandeur, big hooks, and vocals that pay homage to classic rock.

Click here for more information about MUTEMATH

Armistice Live (CD/DVD) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I've been in love with Mute Math since the day I first heard them, and this CD makes me love them even more. I pre-ordered it the day I had heard about it and I'm so glad I did. These four guys are such amazing musicians, energetic performers, and all around great guys. Their live performances are truly second to none, and this set allows you to experience it without going to a concert (though I recommend you do!!!) All of the bonus material is great to watch, and the Control video is so cool!!! This CD/DVD set is worth every penny I paid for it, and so much more.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Armistice Live (CD/DVD)

'Armistice Live,' the new DVD/live CD combo featuring New Orleans band MUTEMATH. Recorded and filmed at the famous Tabernacle in Atlanta, Georgia, during MUTEMATH's Fall 2009 Armistice Tour, the DVD includes 90 minutes of concert footage, along with the 'Making of Armistice' documentary, previously unreleased studio vlogs, and bonus copies of MUTEMATH's now-popular short-form music videos,including the never-released 'Control' video!

Click here for more information about Armistice Live (CD/DVD)

Lightning Bolt - The Power Of Salad (2002) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I skipped summer school to watch this movie my friend just got and I will never go to school again! I learned everything I need to know from the Power of Salad. It's crazy - wild shows, rad rad rad music, funny stuff. The whole movie is great - but I LOVED the last 20 minutes of mind melting apocalyptic triumphant ROCK! The editing built to be as wild as the drumming and I couldn't turn away. I saw the band live last summer and they are a total mystery living in providence, ri, and I've never seen them interviewed until now. The filmmakers Glantz and Noe I never heard of before but do an amazing job of giving a feel for the band and the touring life, while maintaining the sweet mystery that makes LB so cool. The drummer may be deaf soon, I heard, so hang onto this awesome DVD!
The cartoons are really good too. They are super weird but make me smile so I like 'em!

Click Here to see more reviews about: Lightning Bolt - The Power Of Salad (2002)

Click here for more information about Lightning Bolt - The Power Of Salad (2002)

Does Humor Belong in Music? Frank Zappa Live Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I'm happy that Zappa stuff is finally starting to get to DVD but disappointed by this one. Not only do they decide to put less than an hour of music from a "very long" show but then they cut into some of the songs and only have "snippets" of some of them. The cuts are done by going to two very short Zappa interview segments that would have been fabulous if presented in their entirety as bonus materials.
Don't the video masters of this show exist? Zappa was pretty good at saving things. Why not put the whole show on DVD or at least more than this sampling? My guess is that this video was meant, at the time, to be a "teaser" to get newer fans interested in Zappa's more accessible stuff and to promote the, very great, skills of his later live bands. Perhaps this is why that this is one of the first releases to DVD. If so, I was wrong to spend the money on it as I am a long LONG time fan of Zappa's who finds most of this material unchallenging and of limited interest.
It *is* great to see the band making the music and seeing Zappa being "into it" that night. I only got to attend one Zappa concert. It was the Zappa/Beefheart tour when it stopped in Cincinnati around 1976 (or about). He was just "phoning it in" that night and only played for 50 minutes.
The recording and video is well done for the time and the material is picked from songs that are MUCH better to see/hear performed live than to only listen to on CD. There is some good Zappa music on this however a main point that Zappa seems to want to get across is "musical chops are good" and he proves his point by having a number of tunes that have no real value other than the impressive skill that his band shows in performing them.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Does Humor Belong in Music Frank Zappa Live

Track Listing:Zoot Allures, Tinsel Town Rebellion, Trouble Every Day, Hot Plate Heaven At TheGreen Hotel, The Dangerous Kitchen, He’s So Gay, Bobby Brown, Keep It Greasy,Honey, Don’t You Want A Man Like Me?, Dinah-Moe Humm, Cosmik Debris, Be InMy Video, Dancin’ Fool, Whippin’ Post

Get 10% OFF

Click here for more information about Does Humor Belong in Music Frank Zappa Live

Voltaic (Limited Edition) (2CD/2DVD) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)The content for this release is unquestionably good. For those of us who didn't get to see Ms. Gudmundsdottir on the Volta tour the concert DVD included in this set is the next best thing. The addition of the remixed tracks, the "live" studio recordings and the disc of Volta videos is just icing on the cake that make the set well worth the money.
Where the set falls apart is in its "innovative" packaging. The outer case is cardboard that is held closed by a sticker (the colored teardrop you see in the pic is a sticker). Once this sticker is removed to access the discs, it cannot be replaced so the outer box cannot be closed again. In fact, removing the sticker removed some of the gloss coat on my package ruining the outer sleeve. Not what one expects at this price point. The interior of the package is cool but the discs themselves are held in flimsy paper sleeves (not cardboard or paperboard but plain paper) that will inevitably get torn with all but the most careful handling. While the artistic intention of the packaging is interesting it's pretty much worthless as a way to store this wonderful set. I'm planning on transplanting my discs to jewel boxes.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Voltaic (Limited Edition) (2CD/2DVD)

'This relentless restlessness liberates me,' Björk declares on 'Wanderlust' from her 2007 studio album, Volta, which is also the dramatic concluding track of her new Voltaïc live CD. 'I feel at home whenever the unknown surrounds me.' Volta had been designed, Björk has said, as a journey, with the sound of fog horns and clanging bells linking individual tracks and artists from around the world making guest appearances, including Congolese band Konono No. 1, Malian kora player Toumani Diabaté, pipa virtuoso Wu Man, beat-master Timbaland, Lightning Bolt drummer Brian Chippendale and sublime chanteur Antony Hegarty. The New York Times called it 'a 21st-century assemblage of the computerized and the handmade, the personal and the global.' Voltaïc, then, is a remarkable, multi-media document of what happened after the record was completed, a journey of a differentsort as the ever-evolving singer assembled her live band, made a collection of typically amazing videos and one-step-ahead remixes, and toured the world for two years, making headline appearances at diverse venues and large festivals, including Glastonbury, Coachella and even Harlem s Apollo Theatre. She recorded the Voltaïc live CD in one take at Olympic Studio in Londonwith her new band, prior to her 2007 Glastonbury appearance, presenting the set she would play on tour songs from Volta and new arrangements of such older material as 'Pagan Poetry,' 'All Is Full Of Love' and a thunderous version of 'Army Of Me.' It's a stunning performance, featuring cutting-edge computer technology, an old-school horn section and a female, flag-toting Icelandic choir -'bursting with raw life,' to paraphrase The Independent's description of Volta.The Voltaïc DVD contains highlights of Björk's visually dazzling Volta tour, full of on-your-feet moments, filmed in Paris and Reykjavik. Deluxe editions of Voltaïc also include a CD of remixes of Volta album tracks by such fellow travelers as Spank Rock,Simian Mobile Disco, Ratatat and Modeselektor, plus a DVD of Volta video clips, including Michel Gondry s take on 'Declare Independence,' set in a drab factory, that manages to reach a colorful, hopeful conclusion-a revolution meant to be televised.

Click here for more information about Voltaic (Limited Edition) (2CD/2DVD)

The Franco-Italian Tour Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Readers of my reviews know just how much I loved the now defunct Laddio Bolocko. And just how excited I was when half of Laddio Bolocko resurfaced in The Psychic Paramount, displaying a sound that somehow managed to be the perfect extension of what LB were doing when they called it quits along with a healthy dose of some all new sh-t that took all the things I loved about Laddio to impossible to imagine extremes.
Laddio Bolocko was like a super distorted, blown out, mathrock Krautrock band. Repetitive, propulsive, complex, heavy, but weird as f-ck! And actually I would probably use the same set of words to describe PP. But PP has a more looped quality, less jammy, more psychedelic, if that makes any sanse. The sound is close enough that EVERY SINGLE PERSON WHO BOUGHT THE LADDIO BOLOCKO SHOULD OWN BOTH THIS AND THE PSYCHIC PARAMOUNT FULL LENGTH.
Seriously. I got a chance to see Psychic Paramount a few months back, and I was transfixed, standing by the side of the stage, slack jawed and wide eyed. Loving it, but at the same time trying to figure out how the f-ck these guys make those sounds. It was really that amazing. They somehow managed to out heavy Khanate (who were also playing) while still managing to be dense and complex and weirdly catchy. They sound like a heavy metal This Heat!
The most amazing part was the band locked into an impossibly furious freak out, when the bass player just stopped playing and packed up his stuff and walked off stage. A few minutes later the drummer stopped, broke down his whole kit and then walked off stage. The whole while, the guitar player is at the front of the stage, in a manic, eyes-closed trance, unfurling massive super distorted loops and dense washes of sound that sounded like there was still a whole band up there. A few minutes later, the guitarist put his guitar down, and it continued to churn out this heavy sludgy psychedelic loop, the stage totally empty, but a massive crowd frozen in place, watching the guitar laying on the stage as if there was a full band up there. After about ten minutes a super cute anime looking girl, short skirt and pigtails walked up on stage and shut off the guitar and the crowd went apesh-t. That's what this cd sounds like. Exactly. And live! How the hell do they make these sounds LIVE?
Huge swaths of looped guitar, impossibly amazing drummer, maybe one of the best drummers I've seen/heard in ages, there's one track on here where the bass and guitar drop out completely and the drummer just GOES for a few minutees and he somehow stirs up a din that sounds as dense and full and freaked out as the whole band playing. Some tracks are just full on blasts of NOISE, wild and dense, thick swirls of psychedelic sound, freaked out and chaotic, but even at its most noisy it's still so musical. Loud, weird, repetitive, hypnotic, mesmerizing, so so so good!
Recorded live in 2002 in Europe. Packaged in a swank black digipak, it also includes a short film shot on tour that you can watch on your computer.

Click Here to see more reviews about: The Franco-Italian Tour

the psychic paramount features Drew St.Ivany (guitar) and Ben Armstrong (bass) who originally met with public awareness in laddio bolocko (NYC). The group formed just five days before a scheduled tour of France and Italy in Nov/Dec. 2002 with original drummer tatsuya nakatani, prominently a free music improviser from NYC who has collaborated with numerous musicians including peter brotzmann, peter kowald, and ken vandermark. The music and performances of the tour were often chaotic and unpredictable lent by a sense of urgency and chance elements. These shows were documented resulting in the "Live 2002 the Franco-Italian Tour" CD which captures the birth of the group in raw, immediate form. Previously available as a Cdr on the bands Bewilderment and Illumination imprint, the new edition of "Live 2002" is packaged in a beautiful digipak and is enhanced with an eight minute Super 8 film shot by Aran Tharp.

Click here for more information about The Franco-Italian Tour