WHITE REAPER - WHITE REAPER

White Reaper is a band I saw live when they opened up for Electric Six.  I usually enjoy the bands that E6 chooses to tour with, so I picked up their EP at the merch booth and I've given it a listen over the past couple of months.

White Reaper look like a metal band and although their music rocks like a metal band, they sound more like a lot of that great alternative rock coming out of the 90's.  I hear bands like Mudhoney, Fantomas and The Melvins in them.  And that's not bad company to be in.

If I had one complaint it would be the vocal levels.  The lead singer's voice gets drowned out by the barrage of instruments.  The engineering on this disc isn't balanced well and at times you just get washed in sound.  I'm guessing the music was recorded as the band played it live in the studio rather than multi tracked.

The disc starts off with 'Cool', featuring a cool guitar effect and a great drum beat.  The lead singer comes in and you instantly think about the Paisley Underground movement in the 80's.  It's almost something I'd expect to hear from The Beatles with The Go-Go's playing the music.  I quite like the song.  It's groovy and rockin' at the same time and quite frankly, that's something people who get into Electric Six look forward to hearing.  'Funn' is the second track and this one is a bit more straight forward rock and roll number.  I like the punctuated half shouts of "No!" on the chorus.

'Half Bad' reminds me of The Bangles circa "All Over The Place" back in 1984.  It's got an amazing breakdown about three quarters of the way into the song.  It's a risky move but it works and the church organ sound playing in the background is absolutely brilliant.  This is probably my favorite track on the disc.  I really like it.  'She Wants To' almost makes me think of Adam And The Ants, while 'Conspirator' has strange timing.  There's a hesitancy in the progression that's interesting and quite different.  They have a knack for taking unorthodox musical chances and making them work.  

'Ohh (Yeah)' is the final cut on the EP and it starts off with an almost reggae vibe then transitions into some excellent head shakin' rock.  I like the music I'm hearing on this disc and I'm excited to hear more from this group.  My only complaint is the vocal tracks.  The lead singer has an animated voice and he's actually pretty good.  But again, it gets drowned out in the music.  I want the vocals to be more pronounced.  Louder in the mix.  That's my opinion.  I'm super glad I picked up this awesome disc!  My final words:  ROCKIN' INTRODUCTION TO A NEW AND EXCITING BAND!  GET IT IF YOU CAN!!!

WHITE REAPER - WHITE REAPER
01. Cool
02. Funn
03. Half Bad
04. She Wants To
05. Conspirator
06. Ohh (Yeah)

NASH - BLACK SUIT, WHITE SUIT EP

Nash is probably best known for his work with Electric Six.  For those of you who don't know Johnny Na$hinal... he's also known as the White Wolf.  He's lead guitarist and this is his solo project.  It's a self release and you won't find it in stores.  You can, however, order it through bandcamp or pick it up at a show he's playing.

Let me first say, I sometimes have a hard time being objective when it comes to Electric Six and some of the side projects band members are involved in.  I love the music they release and because of that, I tend to lump the side project material in with their main body of work.

That being said, I like most of what I hear on this disc.  But I do find a couple of things distracting.  The tempo can be a bit slow.  I want it to speed up.  Especially on 'The Sound Of Ghosts'.  My other complaint is the echo on the vocals.  In my experience, overuse of the echo effect is because the vocalist doesn't feel confident.  That may be the reason for it here.  Too often, Nash's voice is completely lost in the mix.  He sounds so far away, it's hard to connect to the music. 

'Children Of Doom' is an interesting tune.  It starts off with a deep bass guitar motif that reminds me of 'Dance-A-Thon 2005'.  It's also interesting to note the inclusion of lyrics such as "Saturday" and "Knife Fight" which have all recently also appeared on music released by E6 bandmate, Christopher Tait on his side project, Belle Ghoul.  He sings the song with a breathy vocal and the echo effect is there.  With the deeper tones, a faster speed would give the song some energy.  However, those deeper tones also make you instinctively slow things down.  Minor chords and sounds often do.  

'Phone It In' is next and this track is pure bliss.  It starts off sounding like some Spanish guitar playing and it transitions into a conglomerate of sound mixing live and programmed drum sounds together along with some excellent mixing of guitar sound.  'The Sound Of Ghosts' is both lyrically and musically a great idea from start to finish.  The vocal arrangement and timing is similar to the lyrics of E6's 'Waste Of Time And Money'.  

'Mindy Kisses Stars' has a great beat, nice music...  It's followed by 'Black Suit, White Suit'.  Once again, you get some Spanish guitar up front.  Very acoustic and reminiscent of something you'd hear from early Adam And The Ants.  I actually like this number quite a bit.  It's got a lot of character and feel.  Next up is 'Good Times' and this is by far the best song on the disc.  This is one I'll be including on playlists for awhile from now on.  It's got a marvelous blend of synth sounds, guitars and drum tracks.  I can't praise this one enough.

The final track is 'Love Design'.  It starts off sounding like an early 80's new wave number.  I hear The Cars...  And finally, we hear Nash's voice without too much echo effect.  The vocal arrangement leaves a lot of room for animated punctuation, but Nash pulls his punches.  He seems almost embarrassed to animate his vocals.  He's hesitant, but that's not unusual.  It's not always easy to transition from singing backup to being the front man.  I really like this EP and I like what Nash is doing.  All of the reasons he's one of the main songwriters for Electric Six are here.  He's got great ideas, excellent timing musically and he comes up with some amazing melodies.  The tunes are fun and enjoyable to listen to.  I actually listen to this disc a lot while I'm driving.  

I want to hear more!  It would be interesting to see if Nash decides to put a full length project together.  The material is there...  The songwriting is there...  The musicianship is there...  Do it!

My final words:  A SOMETIMES WHISPY, BUT MOSTLY STRONG MUSICAL FORAY LEAVING ONE HUNGRY FOR MORE!  PLEASE, NASH, CAN WE HAVE SOME MORE???

NASH - BLACK SUIT, WHITE SUIT EP
01. Children Of Doom
02. Phone It In
03. The Sound Of Ghosts
04. Mindy Kisses Stars
05. Black Suit, White Suit
06. Good Times
07. Love Design

MARILYN MANSON - LEST WE FORGET THE BEST OF

The one thing I've always loved about Marilyn Manson is what I call the great "galloping" drum beats they sometimes use. Adam and the Ants championed the loping drum sound back in the 80's and Marilyn picked up the banner for the 90's and 2000's. But that's not the only reason. I've also been drawn to the theatricality of this group. So much outrage over something so simple minded.

Marilyn Manson is one of those people who woke up one morning, looked out the window on his suburban neighborhood and said, "I'm gonna write and perform music based on everything a mother would hate." The band and songs were conceptually created to upset parents. In that sense alone, Marilyn Manson is a social experiment in modern parent/child relationships.

As a "Best Of" compilation, 'Lest We Forget...' fails to achieve a true "Best Of" title. I've always thought if you really wanted to create a "Best Of" record you'd let the hardcore fan base choose the tracklist. These are the people who would really have a say in what the best songs by the group actually are. In the grand tradition of record company formula releases, the "Best Of" is actually a single disc collection of released singles and oddities. But hardly represents the band's best work.

For the most part, I genuinely like the majority of the songs on this release. Marilyn Manson falls into a category of music I like to call "Go-Go Metal". Bands who use industrial beats and sounds, combined with new wave synthesizers, power chord guitar work and a theatrical approach to live performance. I've enjoyed bands in this genre for a long time. They have so many elements of entertainment I find exciting.

Considering I have all of Manson's albums, going through this disc song by song will be kinda pointless. Better by far to focus attention on the tracks that are safely assigned strictly to this release. The cover tunes are the most obvious. Depeche Mode's 'Personal Jesus' makes an appearance and the arrangement is fairly faithful to the original version. Of course the very subject matter and lyrics make it perfect for Manson's character to perform. In fact, after listening to his version, Martin Gore would have done better donating the tune to Manson first time around. It easily fits his image more than it ever fit theirs. And that's from a die-hard Mode fan.

Although Soft Cell's version is also a cover of the 1964 Gloria Jones classic 'Tainted Love', it's the first version of the song to gain any notoriety. Based on it's success, other bands have recorded the track or sampled Soft Cell's arrangement. From my understanding, Manson recorded this song for a movie soundtrack that used popular artists of the time covering 80s classics. Another track worth drawing some attention to is the cover of the Eurythmics classic 'Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)'. Although it appears on a regular album, it's interesting to see it among a compilation containing to many cover tunes.

I think I'd be interested in seeing Manson release an all cover tune record. He's done some brilliant covers. Like the cover of Danny Elfman's 'This Is Halloween' from Tim Burton's "The Nightmare Before Christmas" or David Bowie's 'Golden Years'. He's also performed live cover versions by other artists such as Madonna's 'Like A Virgin'. That would be an interesting CD.
My final word: TWO THUMBS UP. I quite like what's happening here. Great disc with some awesome tunes. Would be better if was titled 'Lest We Forget The Singles Of', but that's being nit picky (even if it is accurate).

MARILYN MANSON - LEST WE FORGET THE BEST OF
01. The Love Song
02. Personal Jesus
03. Mobscene
04. The Fight Song
05. Tainted Love
06. The Dope Show
07. This Is The New Shit
08. Disposable Teens
09. Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)
10. Lunchbox
11. Tourniquet
12. Rock Is Dead
13. Get Your Gunn
14. The Nobodies
15. Long Hard Road Out Of Hell
16. The Beautiful People
17. The Reflecting God

ADAM ANT - STRIP

It's a retro day with this flashback! Adam Ant was previously known as Adam And The Ants before this solo effort. I remember seeing the videos to this album on MTV as well as hearing the songs on the radio. I didn't really know much about Adam Ant before hearing 'Puss'n Boots' but I latched on easily enough. I was totally into New Wave bands, sounds and looks. Adam fit right in with what I thought was cool at the time. Even years later, this fluff pop effort continues to have amazing musical value.

'Strip' is the typical libertine dandy type song the cover photo and subsequent media portrayed Ant as being. The spoiled aristocrat tumbling in the hay with the milk maid. For all it's pretentious sophistication and Victorian era sexuality, 'Strip' typified the overindulgence of the 80s in a very sincere way. Loose morality and social values echoed the excess of previous time periods and Adam pursued them all over the course of the disc.

The Euro trash nature of the album was also appealing. He was a cavalier gambler throwing money at beautiful women in 'Montreal', a charging matador seducing an innocent girl in 'Spanish Games', a cartoon character in 'Puss'n Boots' but most importantly; this disc fires the imagination. Sure the themes are tawdry and often layered in outrageous proclamation, yet Ant lived up to the theatrics of the music and deftly portrayed his "Little Lord" character to the hilt in public appearance.

The strength of the music doesn't lie in the lyrical content, rather it's true longevity comes from the diverse and unusual sounds, styles and tones. It sounds fresh and vital even today. Unlike other New Wave bands, the sound doesn't date itself on the majority of the songs. Worth a listen. Even if you're not a fan of the Ant. My final word: CHEEKY.

ADAM ANT - STRIP
01. Strip
02. Baby, Let Me Scream At You
03. Libertine
04. Spanish Games
05. Vanity
06. Puss'n Boots
07. Playboy
08. Montreal
09. Navel To Neck
10. Amazon