Weekly Clippings
I made some changes to The Square recently and I’ve already seen that some of you have noticed. I added a subscription page that you can find in the top navigation bar. Besides your basic feed catchers, you can also subscribe via Email!
We will be putting up a review of Hot Chip’s new album, Made in the Dark, either today or tomorrow in light of the upcoming U.S. shows in New York City and Los Angeles. If you’re going to the NYC gig, we’ll see you there.
And finally, Cracked.com recently produced one of the best post themes I’ve seen in awhile. The theme, “Six Musicians with Pasts They Hope You’ll Forget”. Those six musicians are, Tori Amos, Alice in Chains, Alanis Morissette, Evanescence, Pantera and Dr. Dre. The two latter artists are the best but for me, Pantera’s past takes the cake. In my awkward junior high days, I was into a good amount of metal groups like Pantera, Sepultura, who I just learned maybe coming out with a new album in 2008 despite the fact that no Cavelera family member is in the band. Chaos A.D. still holds as the best ever Sepultura album in my book. And of course, Metallica. To top off the awkwardness, I was also into Bob Marley. What a confused young boy I was.
As you will read, Pantera’s past includes a lot of hair, a lot of leopard shirts (so far, it’s probably not all that shocking) but wait, then there was this:
“I wanna feel you in my arms
I wanna love you til the emptiness is gone
Take my hand
Tonite could be the nite
Understand my heart is cryin’
Oooooooooh, forever tonite”
And this…
Priceless.
And now for one of my all time favorite Pantera tracks, the song that helped put the movie Tales from the Crypt: Demon Night into my classics category, and one of the greatest heavy metal ballads of all time, “Cemetery Gates” -
Celebrating band name themes
Every year there seems to be a new theme that appears in band names (i.e. wolf, diamonds or just adding a ! to your name). This post involves a classic theme that has been with us since the early days of rock n’ roll, “Black”.
New kids on the block with Black in their title are the Black Kids. These guys come from an unlikely corner of our country - Jacksonville, Florida. They’ve been getting some comparisons to bands like Arcade Fire.
“Hit the Heartbreaks”
- Check them out on Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/blackkid
- Download “Hit the Heartbreaks” and the rest of the FREE EP over at Electrorash(you can also download the EP at their official website, http://www.blackkidsmusic.com/)
- Their debut album is currently in the works and will be released on Vice Records
Black Mountain, just released their latest album yesterday, which has been garnering a lot of critical acclaim (Pitchfork). The album is titled In The Future and includes some really awesome psych/folk/rock moments that bring back some of those late 60’s and early 70’s rock sounds. But of coarse, they’re from British Columbia so they add a little stoner flare to their tracks. One song is 16 minutes long! The new “batch” must have just came in during the recording of that tune.
I just picked it up yesterday so it’s still too early for a decent review but if you dig that rock revival sound that bands like Kings of Leon have been preaching then you’ll be into these guys.
“Angels”
- Official Website:http://www.blackmountainarmy
- Download “Angels” over at Minnepolis Fucking Rocks
- See them live @ Middle East Upstairs Sunday, Feb. 24th
The final band is a favorite of mine and they were recently resurrected from my external hard drive (cause I still haven’t gotten an 80 gb ipod) when my friend asked one of my favorite questions, “have you heard of this band?”. The Black Keys have been rocking the duo blues rock scene since their debut album in 2002, The Big Come Up. The album I highly recommend getting is their third release, Rubber Factory.
But like any good blues rock band, it’s really their live performance that must be experienced to fully appreciate their sound. I caught them back in 2003 when they opened for Beck. My buddy and I were blown away and I’ve been a fan ever since.
While their last album, Magic Potion, didn’t floor me like Rubber Factory, it doesn’t mean they’ve dropped in quality. Many folks compare The Black Keys to The White Stripes. While both bands may have only two members, The Black Keys are way more bluesy and jam oriented.
“Grown so Ugly”
- They play here in Boston on May 17th at The Orpheum Theatre.
- Check them out on Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/theblack
- Download “Grown So Ugly” from the The Culture of Me
