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This was actually my first album by folk rockers, Vandaveer. This is a solid disc from the opening strums of the guitar to the final fade. I think this is my favorite Vandaveer album. It's just so good.
The disc open with the title track, 'Divide & Conquer'. This number has a softer tone, but it's also bubbly and packed with rhythm. It's infectious. 'Fistful Of Swoon' has one of the most elaborate and natural builds I've heard in music in a long time! It swells up and crescendos so magnificently you can't help but sing along at the top of your lungs!
I think that's what makes this record so fantastic. Mark Heidinger writes songs that are catchy and fun to sing. The lyrics can be challenging because he's not trapped by convention. He isn't interested in rhyming "Red" with "Head" or "Bed"... He looks for interesting ways to tell stories and his vocal gymnastics are a great way to hone your sing along, karaoke skills.
When I think of ways to describe this band, I'm always left thinking about the poet singer/songwriters of the 60's and 70's. There was a huge amount of fame invested in these talented individuals who would squeeze the poetry from their souls and offer them up for mass consumption in the form of music. Vandaveer recall this trend. It's the wounded tones in the voices of the singers...the strain they put on different lines and the haunting way they compliment each other. You get a mysterious blend of parts that come together to create this otherworldly sound.
My favorite song on the album is 'Before The Great War'. This is absolutely one of the most amazing songs ever written. I adore it. I'd write the lyrics for the entire song here if I could. There are so many perfect lines that come together in this masterpiece. I find the line, "you gave children all the love your daddy stole from you", both sad and satisfying. It makes more sense when you hear it in context with the rest of the song but on it's own... It shows a heart capable of outgrowing the damaging pain of the past and break a cycle of bad relationships. I find it extremely powerful.
The album ends with a soft and sincere tribute to author Beverly Cleary's character Ramona Quimby. Once again, there's a focus on the passing of time and how even a storybook can become lost in the years after a child outgrows it.
I think Vandaveer are an amazing band and with such strong records under their belt, you can only expect even more enjoyable music from them in the future. My final words: A MUSICAL TRIUMPH FOR A SINGULAR BAND!!!
VANDAVEER - DIVIDE & CONQUER
01. Divide & Conquer
02. Fistful Of Swoon
03. Resurrection Mary
04. A Mighty Leviathan Of Old
05. Woolgathering
06. Turpentine
07. Before The Great War
08. Long Lost Cause
09. The Sound & The Fury
10. Beverly Cleary's 115TH Dream
So what do I know about Troy Gregory? Absolutely nothing. However, I've known about this CD for a few years now and I finally decided to bite the bullet and buy it. My reason for buying this disc is because I keep finding it on Electric Six discographies. Apparently, E6 collaborated with Gregory on a track called 'Dealin' In Death N' Stealin' In The Name Of The Lord'. I was excited to hear the track. I found it on eBay for a decent price and so I picked it up.
I was disappointed when I got the disc and found out none of the members of Electric Six actually receive a writing credit for the song. They play all the instruments and Dick Valentine sings background. So far that's all I can ascertain. And just as a side note... E6 did this while they were still The Wildbunch.
Oddly enough, this disc is 13 tracks of Gregory working with a bunch of different bands, most of which I've never heard of before. I knew The Volebeats and I'd heard of Bantam Rooster, but everyone else on this record is completely unknown to me. With strange names like Outrageous Cherry, The Sights, Slumber Party and They Come In Threes.
Now, to be fair, I haven't lived with this disc for very long so I'm giving you my initial reaction to it. All of the songs range between two and four minutes with none of them actually breaking the four minute mark. They're short and remind me heavily of the Paisley Underground movement back in the 80's. Gregory's music blends the psychedelic rock of the 60's with punk and rock influences of the 80's. It's a trippy album.
So far, my favorite track on the album is actually 'Leave The Ghost At Home. There are other great songs on the record, but it's not surprising it didn't fare better. The disc lacks the pop hooks and melodies of a record with mass appeal. It lingers in psychedelic weirdness for much of its length. Songs like 'Down 2 The Last Santa Claus' and 'Freezing Rain Freezin'' sound experimental and disjointed; while tracks like 'We Werk The Lines In Yer Hand' sound more like advertising for a national chain of palm readers.
This is a rather strange piece of music, but there are moments of absolute brilliance and charm. I get a little frustrated with the broken record routine and Gregory falls victim to it on this album quite a bit. When I say "Broken Record Routine" I refer to a song where lines are repeated over and over. The Cranberries were notorious for it in the 90's. It almost drove me insane. Sometimes, I still can't listen to them for this reason. Gregory certainly has a vivid imagination and should've been capable of coming up with additional lyrics rather than setting the song on repeat. But he doesn't. And although I don't like it, I'm sure some people do.
It's not what I was expecting or hoping for. But it does have its appeal and charm. I'll need to live with it for a bit longer before I decide if I actually love it or hate it, but for now, I'm somewhere in the middle and that's fine. It hasn't convinced me to become a huge Gregory fan, so that's a strike. But you never know.
My final words: A STRANGE BIT OF MUSIC TO INVESTIGATE.
TROY GREGORY - SYBIL
01. Lice Cats N' Rabies Shots
02. Leave The Ghost At Home
03. Rat Squad
04. Regrets...I've Had A Few
05. Left My Mind Alone
06. Other Dimensions Will Reveal Themselves 2 B True 2 U
07. Dealin' In Death N' Stealin' In The Name Of The Lord
08. It Ain't Human
09. Down 2 The Last Santa Claus
10. Electric Fool
11. Born In A Haunted Barn
12. We Werk The Lines In Yer Hand
13. Freezing Rain Freezin'
Another Depeche Mode album I have two versions of. I have the original US CD and the Deluxe Edition. There are some slight differences but I'll discuss those when I actually get ready to type the track list.
This was Depeche Mode's third album and actually the second of theirs I actually bought. If you break down Depeche Mode's evolving musical sound over the years, "Construction Time Again" is the quintessential record for the early years. Unlike "Speak & Spell", (which is more of a Vince Clarke creation than a DM record), and "A Broken Frame", (on which Martin cut his writing chops for the first time), CTA shows a more mature and settled songwriting style and set the standard for the rest of the 80's. The band would choose unusual subject material and the songs would often be sensitive and insightful at the same time. This is also a record where they begin to embrace the industrial barrage of engineered sounds they would become so famous for. Part of this is because of Martin's exposure to the German industrial sounds of bands like Einstürzende Neubauten.
You can definitely hear a theme on this record and that is disappointment. Having taken over as lead song writer for the band and suddenly finding himself successful, Martin L. Gore looks at the world around him and realizes it's not what he expected or even wanted it to be. From the initial track, 'Love, In Itself' he discusses these small epiphanies. For Martin, The Beatles "All You Need Is Love" turned out to be a lie spoon fed to the masses to keep people hoping things would turn out better than they were. For him, Love... In itself, wasn't enough. He continues the theme in 'More Than A Party' by comparing the world to a party where greedy people send one message while doing the opposite.
"Keep telling us we're to have fun
Then take all the ice cream so we've got none"
Gore was also heavily inspired by a trip to Asia where he saw firsthand the devastation of extreme poverty. Morally, he wasn't able to reconcile his world with the suffering he witnessed and songs like 'Pipeline' and 'Everything Counts' continue the theme of financial inequality and his growing disillusionment. 'Shame' describes his embarrassment of his own success while 'Told You So' attempts to address the serious and often fruitless political efforts of business' and governments to pass the buck without taking responsibility for their actions. Especially those that harm others.
The final track, 'And Then....' is Gore's call to arms. Realizing the world wasn't nearly as big as it had once seemed, he sends out a plea asking people to start to care and make a change.
New band member, Alan Wilder also contributed songs to the album. Although not exactly in line with Gore's overall theme, his songs compliment Martin's quite nicely. 'Two Minute Warning' creates a sense of urgency and necessity while 'The Landscape Is Changing' shows an awareness of environmentalism even before it became a huge topic of discussion. Gore's material dealt primary with the human condition while Wilder reflects on the world as a whole. Between the two of them, they created an album of socially conscious and relevant material.
This is probably one of my favorite DM albums. I love it! I remember working late at night when I would have the closing shift and driving home listening to these songs. I found them so inspiring I can't even begin to put it into words. It definitely helped me form a world view and define my sense of right and wrong.
There's a hidden reprise of 'Everything Counts' at the end of the album just after 'And Then....'. The US Version also includes the 12" long version of 'Everything Counts' as a bonus track. The Deluxe Edition features the disc in its original form without the added mix, but it includes the second disc with all sorts of bonus material. I'll specify everything in the tracks lists below. For the record, since the cover is identical, I'll only post the one pic here.
My final words: AN INFLUENTIAL BRILLIANT PIECE OF MUSIC.
DEPECHE MODE - CONSTRUCTION TIME AGAIN
01. Love, In Itself
02. More Than A Party
03. Pipeline
04. Everything Counts
05. Two Minute Warning
06. Shame
07. The Landscape Is Changing
08. Told You So
09. And Then....
10. Everything Counts (Reprise)
11. Everything Counts (Long Version) (US Only)
DVD CONTENT
01. A Short Film: Depeche Mode - 1983
02. Love, In Itself
03. More Than A Party
04. Pipeline
05. Everything Counts
06. Two Minute Warning
07. Shame
08. The Landscape Is Changing
09. Told You So
10. And Then....
11. Everything Counts (Reprise)
12. Get The Balance Right!
13. The Great Outdoors!
14. Work Hard
15. Fools
16. Get The Balance Right! (Combination Mix)
17. Everything Counts (In Larger Amounts)
18. Love, In Itself (4)
Another awesome Kickstarter exclusive from E6 and frontman, Dick Valentine! This time, the band deliver a soundtrack to a mocumentary film they made called, "Roulette Stars Of Metro Detroit". The two disc set also includes a new Dick Valentine CD entitled "Raw". But more on that in a minute.
The E6 disc is actually quite amazing! It's made up of a selection of tracks. There's new original material, some covers and a remix. Together, it's a rather satisfying listen and one I'm currently enjoying on a regular basis. The covers are interesting choices. The first one, 'All Night Long' is from a band called Rainbow. They're made up from former members of Blue Oyster Cult. I think the track was originally released in 1979 but I'm not sure. I didn't know this one at all prior to it showing up here. I had to research it online. The first time I listened to it, I thought, "Holy smokes, they're turning into an 80's hair band!" but the song is so rocking and fun it's become one of my favorite on the disc. The second cover is 'Obsession' by 80's one hit wonder band, Animotion. I actually remember buying their cassette when the song first came out and hating the rest of the tracks. 'Obsession' was the only track worth owning and I never upgraded that cassette to CD. The third and final cover is Oingo Boingo's 'When The Lights Go Out'. Danny Elfman is an amazing songwriter and his quirky song writing style translates well into E'sixian. It's excellent!
The mix on the disc is the Dubai Bros. remix of 'Night Vision'. The first time I heard it, I thought it was weird and I wasn't sure if I liked it. However, on subsequent listens, it's become one of the tracks I love the most. In fact, I play it all the time in my truck while I'm driving. It's such an odd remix and yet it feels completely right! It's actually made me excited to listen to mixes again. I've sorta got to the point where I think they're not worth my time. As much as I like the original 'Night Vision', I like this one just as much if not more. It adds so much dimension to the song. Wow.
As for the new original material, holy smokes! I love 'An Omen Of Things To Come', 'I Upgraded To You' and 'Shrink The Bastards'. They're simply phenomenal and yet another reason I've become such a hardcore fan of this band.
The second disc, the Dick Valentine album, isn't a disc full of new songs like his other previous efforts, but rather an outtake disc of sorts. Don't get me wrong, you hear demos of songs that haven't been released, but the majority of the tracks are music demos for tracks that were released. He includes his rough musical ideas for tracks he wrote for both Electric Six and Evil Cowards. The majority of the tracks are instrumental or the musical blueprints of the songs, but what makes the disc so fascinating is you actually get an idea of how the songwriting process works for him. It's interesting to hear these rough versions compared to the produced and polished released tracks. I'm highly pleased with the amount of material included on these discs and I'm enjoying the discs equally!
This set was a kickstarter exclusive. If you didn't buy it through the original campaign, I'm not sure you'll get another chance to own it. It's certainly worth having and for those of you who didn't, you're missing out. My final words: ANOTHER VICTORY FOR THE ROULETTE STARS OF METRO DETROIT!!!! THEY WIN ALL THE MONIES!
ELECTRIC SIX/DICK VALENTINE - ROULETTE STARS OF METRO DETROIT/RAW
DISC ONE - Original Soundtrack
01. Compensation
02. All Night Long
03. An Omen Of Things To Come
04. Obsession
05. Night Vision (Dubai Bros. Remix)
06. I Upgraded To You
07. Shrink The Bastards
08. Lottery Reptiles (Tropicalia Mix)
09. When The Lights Goes Out
DISC TWO - Raw
01. Classon Av. Robots
02. Digital Jackass
03. Hello! I See You
04. I Belong In A Factory
05. I Can Translate
06. I'm Not Scared Of Flying Saucers
07. Laughing Gas
08. Making Progress
09. Miami
10. Rubbing Me The Wrong Way
11. Suitcases
12. Synth 2
13. Theme From Garage Band (Test 1)
14. Tonight Should Have Never Been Tonight (Test 3)
15. Waste Of Time And Money
16. Zora And Nora
Wow, so today is an interesting and rather unique CD I'm going to write about... This album isn't one you can purchase in stores and it's also not a promotional item as far as I know.
Way back in the 90's, Wendy And Lisa composed the score to the film, "Dangerous Minds". I've already reviewed the movie soundtrack. And I freely admit I bought it because of the Wendy And Lisa track. I loved the new version of 'The Life' re-titled 'This Is The Life' and I had to have it. If you watch the movie, you can hear a lot of the incidental music they wrote although my memory seems to play tricks on me. Much of what I remember hearing were variations of the song 'This Is The Life' and I'm not entirely mistaken.
This disc is apparently some outtakes of themes they recorded for scenes in the movie. Some of them are based on 'This Is The Life' but others aren't. In fact, track 13, 'M26 - Master' actually sounds like the musical blueprint for 'Niagra Falls'; a song released many years later.
Track 17, 'M3 - Master With Electric Guitar' appeared on their website many years back as a streaming file showcasing some of the scoring they'd done for different projects. I used to check the site every day hoping they'd upload new songs and outtakes.
This material is phenomenal. It's relaxing and wonderful to just sit down and groove along with. I wish everyone could hear this amazing bit of work. I'm astonished.
As a long time follower of Lisa & Wendy, I've grown to love the complexity and otherworldly quality I imbibe from the music they compose. It helps me hear more in the music I listen to from other artists. Maybe it's the way they put all the little notes together. It's so different. Even Prince noticed a difference in his music when they left. He lost a key ingredient to the sound he'd become famous for. They added complication and dimension to his music in ways even he couldn't recreate.
They are unique. And this incredible disc convinces me of this even more. It's breathtaking and lovely. I'd like to see them create a fan club and release material like this directly to their hardcore fans. I know I'd pay to get discs of music like this each month.
My final words: TOO UNIQUE AND INCREDIBLE TO DESCRIBE. PURE JOY AND HAPPINESS TO OWN AND LISTEN TO THIS WORK.
WENDY AND LISA - "DANGEROUS MINDS"
01. M12 - Old Master
02. M13 - Master
03. M13 - Alt. (No Bass, Drums Or Guitar)
04. M10b - Master
05. M15 - Master
06. M12 - New Master
07. M17 - Master With Stereo Drums
08. M17 - Master With Mono Drums
09. M30 - Master
10. M31 - (Death) Master
11. M29 - Master
12. M29 - Alt. (No Drums)
13. M26 - Master
14. M28a - Master
15. M21 - Master (Piano Segment)
16. M22 - Master
17. M3 - Master With Electric Guitar
18. M3 - Master With No Ele. Guitar And More Acoustic
19. M24 - Master
This is another interesting single from Rammstein because it's a song they didn't release on one of their albums. It's actually taken from a tribute to Depeche Mode CD called "For The Masses". It includes DM covers by other bands like The Smashing Pumpkins and The Cure.
Rammstein delivers one of the better covers on the disc and this single is packed with mixes and a surprise bonus multimedia track. Their cover is mixed by a number of people including Charlie Clouser who was working heavily with Nine Inch Nails at the time and was a member of the touring band. KMFDM also contribute a mix.
The first mix is from Goth-Metal band Tiamat. It's a dark and slow grind mix that really devolves the track into something seething. It's followed by two mixes from Clouser who famously takes metal tracks and turns them into club friendly rock outs. He delivers on both of his mixes. The first being more accessible than the second. He takes the vocals on the second mix and gives them the midi treatment. Still, the beat is there and the song is simply groovy!
The final mix by KMFDM is more industrial than the previous mixes. Not only does it sound more industrial, but it's also stripped of most instrumentation going for a minimalist approach. Finally, there's a live multimedia clip accessible through your computer. You can watch the band play 'Wollt Ihr Das Bett In Flammen Sehen' from their first album "Herzeleid". The track was recorded live in Berlin in 1996. It's an awesome performance and gives you an idea of what the band are actually like in a live setting.
This CD is packed with cool stuff and comes in a slim case. It is worth the price. I think it's loaded with value and you shouldn't feel even slightly guilty about adding it to your collection. My final words: A CD WORTH STRIPPING FOR.
RAMMSTEIN - STRIPPED
01. Stripped
02. Stripped (Psilonaut Mix)
03. Stripped (Heavy Mental Mix)
04. Stripped (Tribute To Dusseldorf Mix)
05. Stripped (FKK Mix)
06. Wollt Ihr Das Bett In Flammen Sehen (Live Arena, Berlin '96.5.01)
This is the second disc in the "Home And Dry" single release. This would be the one normally reserved for mixes and additional music. Oddly enough, there are only three tracks on this disc. The first is a mix of 'Home And Dry'. It's an ambient mix. Normally, I'd find this type of mix a little boring but I think it suits the song well. I alternate between this mix and the original version depending on my mood. But I like it enough to be happy it's on this release.
The next two tracks are versions of 'Break 4 Love'. This is a collaboration between the Pet Shop Boys and Peter Rauhofer. Rauhofer was a popular DJ and mixer. He famously mixed music for artists like Madonna, Kylie Minogue, Elton John, Justin Timberlake, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Cher and Alicia Keys. The song was originally recorded by techno pop dance band, Raze.
The first cut is an edit of the song while the second is an actual mix. The song is OK and they do an excellent job interpreting it. If I had one complaint, it would be the extreme start and stop of the beat throughout the track. It feels like they're dropping the bottom out and just leaving you hanging. The song doesn't have enough substance to maintain a flowing narrative one can listen to without a solid beat happening underneath. Neil does his best with the vocals, but they're just not strong enough to carry the track all the way through.
Sadly enough, they do the same thing on the mix. They keep dropping the beat out or strip out all rhythm tracks with the exception of the bass drum. That just creates a dull throb instead of momentum. Still, it's nice to have these tracks on the single as they don't appear on any of the Pet Shop Boys albums except as bonus tracks on deluxe editions.
Like its counterpart, CD1, this disc comes in a slim case. My final words: A NICE COMPANION PIECE TO CD1 WITH AN EXCELLENT MIX AND MORE B-SIDES!
PET SHOP BOYS - HOME AND DRY
01. Home And Dry (Ambient Mix)
02. Break 4 Love (UK Radio Edit)
03. Break 4 Love (Friburn & Urik Hi Pass Mix)
