Song of the Day: Bloc Party - Positive Tension

Since the critically acclaimed debut album "Silent Alarm", all of Bloc Party's later work has always been compared to it and with good reason; it is album an amazing. With the recent release of "Four", their fourth (hence the name) and latest album after their hiatus, and once again music reviewers bitch and moan about how they wish they had another “Silent Alarm”. Though Bloc Party has never really been on my radar, after a discussion with Bryan, he suggested I give “Silent Alarm” another listen because he said, “it is the kind of band that I would make”. As much as I would want to bitch and moan about how he is wrong, he is absolutely right.


The way Kele Okereke writes and sings his songs are just so similar to everything that I ever wanted or done in Old Soybu. His lyrics are rife with this existential questioning  that I always have in my lyrics and the song 'Positive Tension' is exemplary of this. Not only does he sing and write similar to me but the overall sound of the songs are exactly the kind of stuff I wanted to make. The instrumentation on this track (and the album) is a smart and forward thinking interpretation of post-punk revival (a genre based purely on nostalgia). This song features a really nasty sounding synth an ethereal guitar and a really dance-y drum beat.

I haven't listened to their other albums, but I am ready to hear the progression of this amazing band.

Oh, and since that this is going to be a revival of the blog I plan to write a lot about the recent fiction I have been reading and might drop a few posts about some influential writers that I really enjoy.
Right now I am towards the end of The Pale King by David Foster Wallace (my first and definitely not my last Wallace)  so look out for some of my thoughts on the famous unfinished tome.

Thanks for reading guys (the few of you that actually care).

- Starlon H

Song of the day: R.E.M. - Catapult

It's an immense wonder why I haven't featured R.E.M. in any of the previous installments of 'Song of the Day'. The band is both an immense influential source for much of my music since the very early '08 days and is an absolute presence in my favorite bands of all time list.

With that said, R.E.M. is a band of various 'eras' due to their immense catalog, and with such comes the never ending 'best album/best song/best anything' debate among fans with themselves and others. It's all a fun slippery slope once you create your own definitive favorites from their fifteen (!) albums and whatever else you may find.

'Catapult', coming from their 1983 debut album Murmur (considered by many to be their best early period work), is an excellent testament to the unique formula of the band's early songwriting; melodic bassline, jangly guitars mixed with acoustic guitars, harmonizing backing vocals from Mike Mills, and Michael Stipe's mumbling nervous yet soaring vocals.

Perhaps to the newcomer it's not as impressive with the huge onset of bands that would pretty much copy and paste this style throughout the late 80's and much of the 90's. But when you listen to any material dating from their first EP to their two subsequent albums you discover the genuine excitement and timeless youthful energy of a band creating their own path, and you realize you just can't top the pioneers.

New Release: How Scandinavian - People's Perfume (Music Video)

The Pity Won EP has been pushed back to next week for release but in the mean time enjoy this music video for the song 'People's Perfume' from the very same EP. Directed by my good old friend Andrew Henry; I feel the video perfectly captures the essence of the song and even throws in a few twists and turns for the viewer. Enjoy!

Madrugada Eterna

My friend from Pittsburgh, Andrew Henry, released this 51-minute film earlier this year. It's a great study of that essence you get when you are with your friends. I highly recommend anyone with the time to chill out and watch this, the soundtrack is superb and the editing is inspiring. Give it a shot!

New Release/Announcement: How Scandinavian - Bryophyte (Music Video) / Pity Won EP

Chief Tizo Records is proud to announce that How Scandinavian will be releasing a brand new EP entitled Pity Won on May 12th! It will consist of five tracks (track list is below) and run about twenty minutes long.

This release serves as a bridge between the mourning sound of Dolorous and the future directions that will be found on the sophomore LP in the works. Below you can have a sneak preview of lead track 'Bryophyte' below in our very first homemade music video! I hope everyone enjoys what will hopefully be a tradition for every new major release that the label is able to put out!



Pity Won EP Track List:

1. Marconi
2. The Fox and the Grapes
3. Miscreants
4. Bryophyte
5. People's Perfume

Song of the Day: Chavez - Wakeman's Air

Chavez is one of those bands that you 'kind of' have to dig around about in the confines of the internet to really find out about. It's ironic that one can make such claims when it is already an immense step up to what might have been an impossible search in the past when they were still around.

The reason I bring this up is because the sound that Chavez have is particularly timeless, it's not obviously 90's post-hardcore and it's not really too modern sounding to be considered a recent release either. I always see this as a blessing because it allows much of the song's context to be focused on in a more specific manner; it allows for a unique listening experience because it literally 'sounds' unique.

But to cut the inane attempt at describing, I'm just going to say that Chavez knew how to really balance their sound between moods as they allow for a certain amount of tension to build up unknowingly to just throw you off a little when the song itself actually 'quietly' explodes.

'Wakeman's Air' is a great example of this skill and really lends itself to several moods (it opens with a heavy riff, goes into a rather bleak verse, has a noisy bridge and morphs into an uplifting chorus, goddamn!) that are only exemplified by that timeless feel and their almost post-hardcore/metal hybrid sound. A real treat of balance and attention to arrangement that makes for repeated listens.

Favorite 2012 Releases Thus Far

I have a few favorites that differ from Bryan's ,but mostly he got all of my favorites. Just to list the ones I share with Bryan first

Death Grips - The Money Store

Dark. Erie. Noisy. Catchy. Fun. So far it is my AOTY

Portico Quartet- s/t

This album is probably going to be the best jazz release of this year. The saxophone on some of these tracks is so warm in contrast to the somewhat cold electronics on the album, which is shown clearly on my favorite track on the album, Ruin.
This is THE album to chill out to everything just works.


Now for the albums that I liked, starting with another jazz album, BBNG2
BADBADNOTGOOD-BBNG2

BADBADNOTGOOD is a jazz band from Canada that takes hip-hop beats from Kanye West, Gucci Mane, Tyler, the Creator and even does a rendition of James Blake's Limit To Your Love .They take these simple beats and add their own flare, which is not only influenced by jazz , but a large amount of genres. They even have a cover of "You Made Me Realise" which is great.
They don't only re-do people's beats either they even have a few of their own songs, which are actually some of my favorites on the album. This album is a grower, with each listen it gets better and better.
The album is free on their website



Loma Prieta - I.V.

This is a Screamo band that is made up of members of Beau Navire (they made my list last year with their album Hours), Archeopteryx, Punch, Sailboats, and us, haunted bodies. Together the band makes some of the most abrasive hardcore music to ever come out this year. Starting with the opening track Fly By Night, which comes in hard and then later in the track the band turns more and more melodic, something I really loved from Beau Navire's Hours album.
My favorite tracks comes from the Trilogy (Trilogy 4 "Momentary", Trilogy 5 "Half Cross",Trilogy 6 "Forgetting") in which the noisy guitars seems to stack on and on with these crazy riffs. The sound is massive, fast and antagonistic.
Altogether this album delivers the most aggressive music I have heard this whole year.


Children of the Night - Queens... Revisited

Children of the Night delivers everything I like in a hip-hop group. They all have diverse styles they all have great rhymes and luckily they have some great beats. The way the group collectively rides a beat is very amusing especially on "Kids From Queens", which was the first song I heard from them.  The chemistry on the album with the producers and the rappers is strong and it is seen in the tracks.
The album is free on bandcamp