Allan\'s World Music Indie Music Blog that does reviews, looking at upcoming bands or reviewing some well known favorites. Statistics Unique Visitors: Total Unique Visitors: Outgoing: Total Outgoing: 0 0 6 852

Articles from Allan\'s World Music

Hot Chip - Made In The Dark 2008-02-10 17:45:13 Hot Chip’s Made In The Dark was an anticipated release for me after loving the dance-able track (even for me) “Ready For the Floor’. Hot Chip have gotten some major hype for the 3-4 months it seems while leading up to the February 5th release date. Hot Chip’s a electro band out of the UK. I personally find the electro genre easy to listen to. It’s like pop music that’s slightly more dance-able with the introduction of a drum machine/lap top to synthesize some sounds. Either way electro generally is easy on the ears. I had a rough time listening to “Made in the Dark” the first times through. It ultimately felt like tracks I’ve heard before and there really wasn’t much of a draw with its rather simplistic instrumental periods, times of boring repetitiveness and rather dull lyrics. I found myself ready to throw the albums to the wolves. I generally listen to the album while I write the review and sometimes mid-way I end up changi ...

Vampire Weekend - Review 2008-02-08 18:54:42 I’m finally getting around to reviewing Vampire Weekend’s first official release. If you’ve been reading this blog long enough (I doubt it) you would know I have been on the bandwagon quite early. I just didn’t feel obliged to write the review until the CD came in the mail this week. I bought the album just for the two tracks M79 and I Stand Corrected but I really look at it as supporting Vampire Weekend and not about the two tracks. I am a proud owner of their Blue CD-R and will ultimately remain one of the best “demos” I have ever heard in my life. Vampire Weekend is one the main reasons I got into music blogging. Having spoke to them by e-mail a few times and really just discovering a band (granted by the help of YANP with the track Walcott) that’s relatively unknown and that they are so good that you must share that to the world. I’ve probably been quite annoying to some of my friends making them check out VW. I digress about all the ...

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Baby 81 2008-02-07 14:00:16 I was introduced to Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (B.R.M.C) after they had released Howl (2005), their renowned folk rock album, back in 2006. Since I’m such an avid fan of folk rock, it was no surprise I’d enjoy Howl thoroughly. Then I listened to B.R.M.C. (2001) and Take Them On, On Your Own (2003) and was absolutely stunned as to how tasteful their music was. B.R.M.C are an alternative garage rock band from San Francisco, California who released their latest album Baby 81 in 2007. I was expecting this album to have more folksy acoustic stuff, but Baby 81 leaves the folk rock that is Howl and comes back to their original style; however, there is still a hint of blues and soul in their tunes. Compared to their first two albums, Baby 81 has a more solid guitar-driven rock composition that slips away from the garage rock revival sound and more into pop alternative rock. There is a more apparent established sound compared to what I would consider B.R.M.C. and Take Them On, On Your Own ...

Tunes I Like From Artists I Hate: Nickelback, Soulja Boy, Timbaland 2008-02-05 19:06:10 I hate Nickelback. I hate Nickelback with a passion. From the bad lyrics to the annoying voice to Chad Kroeger’s hair, Nickelback fills me with rage. Okay, maybe I exaggerated a little too much here, but I think Nickelback’s lyrics are some of the worst in the history of music. Don’t think so? Listen to “Feeling Way Too Damn Good”. A part of the songs goes something like “And it’s like, every time I turn around, I fall in love and find my heart face down and, Where it lands is where it should.” What does that even mean? The only good piece of music they ever played was “Sad But True”. And they didn’t even write it, it was a Metallica song. My second pet peeve in music is rappers with bad grammar. Timbaland is a great example here. “The Way I R” is a good song with a good tune but what the fuck is “I are?” I am sick of hearing “I are” and “you is” in rap songs. If there is anything that gives a bad rep to the educational system of the young Afr ...

Blitzen Trapper - Wild Mountain Nation Review 2008-02-03 17:26:06 Blitzen Trapper came to my attention with good reviews and I really don’t know what made me decide to check them out but alas I did. Blitzen Trapper is out of Portland, Oregon a popular place for other indie bands which I don’t have time to discuss. Blitzen Trapper is an experimental folk/country band which seems weird saying. Experimental folk/country? I found it hard one imagining what they would sound like or picturing myself liking them. Putting on Wild Mountain Nation was pretty good from the start. I easily found things I liked and they have a pretty hard style in contrast to some soft/country moments. Unlike Black Mountain’s In The Future, this album actually proved to be very good as an album. There aren’t any major tracks on high repeat but I can sit through this one from start to end and say that was both pretty good and diverse without taking much away from from the transitioning of the album. I wouldn’t say I’m quite high on this album bu ...

Black Mountain - In The Future Review 2008-02-02 16:30:51 Black Mountain is a band out of Vancouver, British Columbia and I heard album being called amazing by some fellow bloggers so I decided to check it out (they were Canadian too so it couldn’t hurt). They dub themselves as being part of the Psychedelic rock genre which doesn’t tell you a whole lot. I really come to despise this name as it feels like anything can be “psychadelic” given that you are under the influence of something. I would classify Black Mountain’s In The Future as an experimental band ranging from elements of progressive rock, math rock(?) or sometimes using straight simplicity and relying on vocals. Either way Black Mountain is as diverse as you can get when it comes to music and I definitely understand those that are calling this album amazing and comparing it to many classics. However, this album in wide range of sounds is more of a miss with me. The track to track transitioning just doesn’t work for me. A good example is listening ...

Playlist for the Superbowl and UFC 81 2008-02-01 15:00:41 This weekend marks an awesome weekend in sports, so I’m basically dropping my books and enjoying the fact that I’m a sports fan. Not that many people are talking about UFC 81 but I think it marks a pretty important as former Div I wrestling and WWE champion (who cares about this really) Brock Lesnar takes on former UFC heavyweight champ Frank Mir. I’m interested in this match because the amount of hype around this fight is large and has been promoted past two more established heavyweights Tim Sylvia (I hate him) vs Antonio Nogeuira. Who knows what we’ll get from Brock but if you’re rooting for or against him it should garner tons of interest. I don’t talk much about sports these days but the Superbowl is always fun to watch. I’m a Patriots hater so this season has been tough to stomach. The Patriots are going after the illustrious 18-0 season, already surpassing everyone’s expectation that they would’ve had one loss this year. They ...

Wilco - Sky Blue Sky 2008-01-31 20:45:34 Wilco are a band from Chicago who shifted from alternative country to alternative folk rock over the course of their career (and, of course, being reputable for the latter). However, you can still hear a hint of their country influences in their music today. Sky Blue Sky is their latest album, released May 2007. This album got a lot of different reviews; half bad, half good. It’s definitely very different from the likes of A Ghost is Born (2004), Wilco’s last album. Sky Blue Sky (2007) is more instrumentally simplistic (compared to A Ghost Was Born where there was a huge use of pedal effects), which were Tweedy’s intentions, anyway. It’s very mellow and has more of an adult contemporary feel compared to Wilco’s previous albums. Not that it’s a bad thing; certainly there are some notable tracks—“Either Way,” “Sky Blue Sky,” and “On and On and On” to name a couple. This album features more simplistic, melodious guitar parts with fewer backing instruments, an ...

Lightspeed Champion - Falling Off Lavender Bridge Review 2008-01-30 17:30:12 Lightspeed Champion is the stage name of Devonte Haynes formerly of the Test Icicles which were known as an art rock duo. With Lightspeed Champion, Haynes shows his soft side with a folk record. I found out about Lightspeed Champion when I was going through my Emmy The Great craze (I still love her) and with “Falling Off Lavender Bridge” as my and many other’s introduction to Lightspeed Champion. Haynes has backup vocals from Emmy the Great (huge points for this), and many other collaborations as he recorded this album in good ‘ol Omaha Nebraska (home of Saddle Creek and the Brights Eyes). Anyway this album, I’m really digging. It doesn’t have overly addicting tracks but it feels rather relaxing to listen to without really any weaknesses. I think the dullest points are in the middle of the album especially after the 10 minute song “Midnight Surprise” to wanes with tracks like “I Could Have Done This Myself” and “Salty W ...

Dillinger Escape Plan: Ire Works Review 2008-01-29 22:39:21 The Dillinger Escape Plan is a New Jersey mathcore band. Mathcore is a style of metal with fast tempo and a technical style according to Wikipedia. I have no idea what that means but after being exposed to the mathiness of Battles, I can tell you that “math” rock is too trippy for me. So I stumbled onto this album while flipping around an issue of Exclaim!. They gave these guys’ latest album, Ire Works, a pretty good review. I also saw this album on a lot of online best of 2007 metal albums, thus I decided to give these guys a listen. The album opens with the heavy death metal sounds of ‘Fix Your Face’ and ‘Lurch’. There was some crazy shredding in the beginning of ‘Lurch’. Then the mathy part kicked in immediately in ‘Black Bubblegum’. I didn’t like the vocals in this song very much but the song does have a catchy tune. The change in vocals from ‘Lurch’ to ‘Black Bubblegum’ was too much of a jump I think. ‘Sick On Sunday’ and ‘When Acting As A Pa ...

Dragged by Horses - Deep in The Woods 2008-01-26 17:45:42 Dragged by Horses was just described to me as “thunderous rock” when I was sent a snippet about them. “Thunderous Rock” leaves a lot left to the imagination and after heading over to their myspace, I must say I was disappointed in the actual effort in saying something about this band’s sound. Anyway, I digress but this band is pretty awesome. “Thunderous Rock” is a correct term but Dragged by Horses I would personally describe as hard progressive rock, could be metal but they have a real emphasis on the guitar riffs whether it be solos, for their intros. Overall the sound is hard yet clean. This is one of the type of bands that really steps outside of what I’ve liked musically so I do have a hard time coming up with both names and a real characterization. Their self-characterization of sounding like a “violent orchestra” is perfect and couldn’t be said any better because this music will rock your socks off. Vocally, I m ...

Cat Power - Jukebox Review 2008-01-25 17:46:24 Chan Marshall aka Cat Power is one of the most respected woman of indie rock. Her bluesy style is awesome and I can see why some artists have her as an influence as she’s released some great stuff. Jukebox released this week, is Cat Power’s second covers record. It includes two songs done by her and covering artists such as the late James Brown, James Brown, Joni Mitchell and more. The album takes on a very bluesy and soulful vibe. The problem is that this record is STILL just a covers record. Covers are still something that are offered for free on various music blogs and I would feel apprehensive about paying for this. I love Cat Power’s style personally but this album ultimately fails to grab me other then being kindof mediocre. The only song I found to stand out was “Lost Someone” (originally by James Brown). Not really a great record and probably forgettable. I don’t have much to say but I could shell the album more for making a record that is so ...

Red Sparowes 2008-01-24 20:42:18 You know, there’s something about post-rock bands that make me appreciate them a lot more: their nifty song titles. Red Sparowes are notorious for seriously extensive song titles like, “Mechanical Sounds Cascaded Through the City Walls and Everyone Reveled in Their Ignorance” (At the Soundless Dawn, 2005). It’s not just for show, though; the titles actually combine to form an interesting motif of mass extinction events caused by human destruction. In fact, mass extinction of animals seems to be the feature of Red Sparowes’ literary focus; Soundless Dawn conveys the sixth mass extinction event, and Every Red Heart Shines Towards the Red Sun (2006) conveys the Great Sparrow campaign. I must commend this creative facet of theirs; it builds social awareness, something not so commonly found in music today. Red Sparowes are considered the more “metal” type of post-rock. When I went to see them at El Mocambo, one of the band members told us they have a lot of metal influences. Y ...

Goot - Asleep At The Wheel 2008-01-21 15:00:42 Alex Goot, or simply Goot, is a one man brigade located just south of the border in Poughkeepsie, New York. Known for his frantic power-pop style, Goot has the talent to become a huge success, especially given his relative youth. Though a seemingly young artist at only 19 years of age, he has created a sound that can be compared to other power-pop sensations, such as The Rocket Summer and Jack’s Mannequin. Using his multiple musical talents, his passion, and his wits, Goot has produced a vibrant, energetic, uplifting, pop-influenced album in, Asleep At The Wheel. Asleep At The Wheel is Goots most recent album, and although only 7 tracks long, is a great listen from start to finish, and reason enough to check it out. The first song She’s Got Dementia, is a little more aggressive, attributed to the long guitar riffs on constant overdrive, and is a relatively simple pop-punk ballad. There isn’t much to the song that stands out, except for his soft welcoming voice, which really plays ...

Miwa Gemini - This Is How I Found You 2008-01-19 17:10:09 Miwa Gemini is another female singer/song writer to get my attention (I seem to be easily swayed). She represents New York but has been touring across Ontario and her album “This Is How I Found You” has been out here for some time. This album actually hits the US + Europe on March 18 so while there is some time there’s a chance to give some pre-release hype. Going with my occasional unknown type of artist, I was a bit mixed upon hearing Miwa Gemini’s stuff. Some folk based music doesn’t usually reel me in right away but given time it can win me over. With Miwa Gemini, I’m not quite sure how to explain how her voice sounds. She has a deep voice that feels rather soulful/blues influenced but I really don’t have any experience so I’ll spare the name-dropping. I really like her voice and instrumental wise you get instruments on the banjo, mandolin, acoustic and others. It’s very mellow so I would say it really depends on your mood. At t ...