Music Review: SWRMXS - HIM (2010)

HIM is a much-maligned band. It's kind of like the kid who you knew in high school who wore suspenders and just tried way too hard to be cool, but you still kind of liked him anyway for trying. HIM is a joke within the metal community, their self-declared genre of "Love Metal," being neither loving nor metal. Most consider it more of an overindulgent alternative rock band with a great lead singer (Ville Valo has chops that even rival Chris Cornell).

It's easy to hate on HIM with this album saying "They're a metal band who did a techno remix album? Better call Macy's cause I smell a sellout" But if you look at SWRMXS as a companion album to the incredibly mediocre Screamworks: Love In Theory And In Practice (2010), things aren't so cut and dry.

Screamworks was plauged by shitty songwriting, and maybe that's why the remix album sounds nothing like it. This isn't the band's first foray into the remix world, though their 2007 attempt Uneasy Listening was a barely-remixed cash cow attempt. SWRMXS certainly has the band swimming in unfamiliar waters. Even though Valo has a great voice, most of the remixes are chopped n' screwed or feature heavily distorted samples of the original songs. It actually sounds like someone went into a boardroom and said "Hey we want you to make electronic songs that sound nothing like HIM and then slap our name on it." Only Morgan Page and Tiesto provide anything that conventionally sounds like a dance remix one could play on the radio (both standout tracks).

The rest of the album is pretty clever though. Tracks like “In The Arms Of Rain” (SALEM Remix) made by the extremely talented Drag/Witchhouse group Salem use heavily distorted and choppy samples to create an ethereal atmosphere in an almost trip-hop song with no vocals. The other type of remix would be typified by the “In Venere Veritas” (Huoratron Remix), extremely heavy electro that wouldn't sound out of place in the more underground electronic radio stations in the depths of the internet. But it's all done with HIM samples and conforming to the general song structure of the original, though I can't imagine anyone who isn't intimately familiar with electronic music would notice.

The album has really got to piss off HIM fans. As a remix album, it fails to capture the spirit and flavor of the original band, but I also wouldn't say Valo is giving the finger to his heartgram/chain-wearing fans either. It stands very much on it's own as a smart piece of electronic musicianship, featuring very talented remixers and producers.

My RANKING: It doesn't work as a remix album for a rock band, but it's worth a listen for fans of sample-based electronic music and really heavy electro. Give it a shot and let me know what you think.

Music Review: Of the Blue Colour of the Sky - OK Go (2010)

OK Go is one of those bands where the word “kitch” is associated to them more frequently than “great” to Tony the Tiger. It’s hard to take a band seriously who was essentially discovered by a low-budget Youtube viral. Oh No sold well enough to garner at least some respect for their novelty, and fans and critics both awaited their next album to be the baptism of fire for their legacy in rock music.

The new album Of the Blue Colour of the Sky, is kind OK Go’s Rubber Soul in the sense that they’re determined to establish themselves as not just a rock band writing sweeter-than-bubblegum pop songs, but also willing to experiment and take risks with new stylistic changes. And really, these aren’t just cosmetic changes… it’s almost like OK Go is a totally different band. Almost like a combination of the failed attempts of Under The Influence Of Giants and the lyrics-strong wailings of the Scissor Sisters. Changing treadmills and poppy chords for keyboards, complex melodies, and funky bass lines, OK Go has done a swan dive into the deep end without seeming like a swan song.

For the most part, the new style is funky, catchy, maybe not as marketable as their previous incarnation, but certainly entertaining.

“WTF?” is a catchy enough lead single with some, “guess you can’t play THIS on the radio” lyrics to shock old fans into submission. I’m guessing they’ll follow up with the electro-influenced “White Knuckles” as a second single, which is definitely the strongest song on the record. It’s nice though that introspective acoustic songs like “Last Leaf” can prove that OK Go shouldn’t be taken lightly. The raucous “Back From Kathmandu” is another album highlight.

It’ll be interesting to see how this “alternative” shift will affect the band’s popularity. Heck, it’s no secret that our American band spelled “colours” hoping to capture the attention of the more artsy/(pretentious?) anglophiles in the audience. Fans have already been a little up in arms about the change towards more “experimental” electronic music, but it’s not exactly like OK Go is selling out. If anything, the record is more focused as a whole than most other contemporary pop-rock albums yet this year, and certainly better than the overhyped OneRepublic album of 2009.

MY RATING: Amusing, catchy, experimentally electronic. Better maybe even for garnering new fans that for satisfying their old, but does enough of both to be replayed on your ipod for at least the next few months

Something cool, gothic, AND validating.

Guess what this weeks' Discovery Download on itunes is? That's right, kiddies who follow my blog! IAMX! IAMX, being Chris Corner's awesome gothic techno-rock band that I've been blogging about for quite some time.

Just a brief review: Chris Corner of Sneaker Pimps fame started IAMX as a side project that garnered a small following in the English goth/industrial cirlces. IAMX released it's second album, "The Alternative" in 2007 to moderate sucess and then re-released it with some re-recorded tracks in 2008 for American markets. Spurned by some fun marketing campaigns and a sucessful tour, IAMX received nice critical kudos and released their third album: "Kingdom of Welcome Addiction" in 2009.

Amercia's favorite indietronica diva, Imogen Heap, caught wind of IAMX and Chris Corner and recorded a track called "My Secret Friend" for the new album. And apparently, itunes "discovered" this track too. I say "discovered" here as they tend to advertise as if these bands never existed before itunes... In any case, I'll stop my whining. I'm ecstatic for IAMX! It's a terrific opportunity for their music to get out in the net fo free! Plus, the song is pretty well done.

Check it out, download "My Secret Friend" from itunes and check out IAMX's previous albums for a fantasy ride of The Cure-esque gothic rock mixed with a little bit of Sneaker Pimps....It's pretty excellent.

Music Review: The Head On The Door - The Cure (1985)

The Cure really started to come into it's own on this album. Robert Smith exchanged moody experimental goth-rock on "Pornography" and "The Top" (the latter of which was an abomination to rock music), for the more radio friendly, synth-drum sound that made The Cure one of the defining rock acts in the 80's and the fathers of modern Goth music.

Next to "Disintegration," "The Head on the Door" is easily their best work. Every song adds something new with old classic The Cure shtick, including catchy beats and riffs, creepy/introspective lyrics and Smith's haunting vocals. Some may say that The Cure turned "pop" from this record, but it's simply not true. The dark subject matter is still there, obviously, with songs like "The Blood" and "Baby Screams." And Smith's command of experimentation isn't completely lost either, as a lot of the guitar effects at the time were quite revolutionary, using synthesizers and some distortion to achieve a rockin' effect (note "Screw"'s driving guitar hook).

Each song is practically a masterpiece. Even the so-called "filler." They all flow excellently in the makeup of the album, but stand out well as singles. And the hits "In Between Days" and "Close To Me" exhibit wonderfully catchy 80's synthpop sensibilities that make the band accessible to non tight-pants-chains-wearing folk. It's classic.

MY RATING: Highly recommended as a pioneering goth-rock album and one of the best 80's rock albums ever. Extremely replayable and catchy.

Music Review: Love Is Dead - Kerli (2008)

Kerli made her initial impact early in 2007 in her native Estonia. Since being signed to Island Records, she's been proclaimed Goth child extraordinaire and the next Björk by the critics. What's the lowdown on her debut "Love is Dead," though?

Perhaps characteristically, the album is decent, but mostly constructed to show Kerli's potential to put out good singles. It's surprisingly pop-tailored with the catchy title song and "Walking On Air" being the first singles, both deliciously creepy and fun and radio-friendly. Perhaps the greatest weakness of Kerli's album is that it is too radio-friendly and the potential for Björk-like experimentation and avant-garde electro/pop is neutralized. This isn't really Kerli's niche though. She seems to do quite well in her chosen formula with other album tracks like "The Creationist" and "Butterfly Boy." However, the majority of the non-singles are trying too hard to tread a very odd line between gothy and poppy that just doesn't exactly work. Kerli's too kid-friendly to be adult and far too adult to be kid-friendly. It's an awkward, yet fascinating combination. On the plus side, she's got a very unique and and great voice that carries her style well and most of the songs are at least catchy.

MY RATING: If anything, "Love Is Dead" shows that Kerli has excellent potential for growth. Wait until the next album to see if she matures any or falls flat.

Music Review: LOtUSFLOW3R (3-Disc) - Prince (2009)

His Purple Badness is back with 3 discs of Minneapolis sound. Literally. I've got the lowdown on all three and then a cumulative total of the entire LOtUSFLOW3R package.

1. Elixer. As you open up the album package, the first thing you see is Bria Valente's new album "Elixer" which is essentially an attractive woman singing smooth R&B songs written by Prince. Bria has been mega hyped up in the internet world for being the next Sade, but I take a more realistic viewpoint of her: the only thing she's got going for her is a good voice and the fact that she's associated with Prince. And we all know how sucessful Prince's previous proteges are (*cough cough* Tamar=Failure). That being said, the fact that these are Prince songs with a pretty woman singing them IS a major strength of the album. Bria's got a pretty voice with a pretty unremarkable range and tone. The songs are mediocre, with the exception of "Another Boy" (which might have some star potential). It's not traditional Prince slow jams either. It's trying to be hip with modern structure and lyrics and instrumentation and just falls a little flat because it's not edgy or clever enough. It's not that "Elixer" is bad. It's just overpowered by the other 2 disks. Plus, we never really thought that Bria would make it in modern R&B next to Beyonce and Ciara, so she might as well play the Sade thing for as long as she can before people get tired of it.

2. LOtUSFLOW3R. Here's the gold of the album. Easily Prince's best recording since Emancipation (some might argue since Sign 'O' The Times). Prince channels a little bit of Jimmy Hendrix and goes back to his roots and the one thing that made him famous in 1984: his godlike guitar skills. The entire album is powerful, catchy, and ROCKIN'. Musically, it's similar to Sign 'O' The Times, but with slightly more of an "organic" feel. Plenty of synthesizers and funk/rock, but no drum machines here. Prince does everything from social criticism to gorgeous love ballads on this album, all with quality singles with rockin' guitar solos and riffs and clever synth hooks, hearkening back to the Prince we knew and loved in the 80's. In the light of Prince's epic failure with "Planet Earth" and his attempt to break into mainstream minimalistic R&B with "3121," it's nice to see Prince is still making complex arrangements and making "back to basics" cool again. Bets songs are "Crimson and Clover," "Colonized Mind," and "Dreamer". Listen to these and if you don't get hooked, you ain't got no soul.

3. MPL Sound. Here's where Prince starts to get a little...Creative. Whereas LOtUSFLOW3R sounds great in a modern context by drawing elements of Prince's classic rock material for the modern world, MPL Sound ties to do the same with Prince's classic R&B/Funk material and has mixed results. The album really does sound like you went back in time and made a sequel to Prince's "1999". The drum machines and old synthesizer patters just seem...out of place. And there's not much "new" here to make it modern. I mean, it's great to hear a sort of a vintage "lost" Prince album, but is it really relevant? Obviously not. That's not Prince's point, of course, but it is something that will prevent MPL Sound for being as accessible to the mainstream R&B community and Top 40 singles radio. Speaking of singles, there are sure some funky ones here. "Dance 4 Me" and "Valentina" are both get-on-the-floor funky. But where's the sexy? To some that say Prince has lost his sexy, I rather agree. Even "Chocolate Box" is more love-ly than sexy. Overall, the album is interesting and funky and great for fans of Prince's old Minneapolis Sound, but I can't imagine it'll crack into the Billboard Charts like LOtUSFLOW3R will.

MY RATING: The sheer godlike brilliance of LOtUSFLOW3R redeems Bria Valente and MPL Sound can hold it's own as a good "classic" Prince album. It's one of Prince's best and easily the greatest material he's put out in the 21st century.

Music Review: Youthanasia - Megadeth (1994)

What does a thrash band do after the massive success of "Countdown to Extinction" in 1990? Record Youthanasia. The answer isn't quite that simple, of course. But Megadeth's new direction on this album is a definite gold moment in the history of metal music.

So what's different, exactly? Well, there's no shortage of thrash. The killer solo on "Train of Consequences" echoes "Skin o' My Teeth" and proves that Megadeth can still rock harder than you can brush your teeth. The face-melting power of "Symphony of Destruction" is somewhat lost here, but Youthanasia easily makes up for it with increasingly melodic songs, taking advantage of interesting bass techniques and Mustaine's awesome voice. Megadeth is less focused on blasting your ears with socio-political criticism and stories of cyborgs-gone-wrong on this album and more about delivering a more head-nodding then head-banging sound.

Does that spell sell out? Definitely not. It spells experimentation. The metal sensibility of Youthanasia is stronger than ever with songs like "Elysian Fields" and "The Killing Road". The genius of Youthanasia is how it travels the road paved by Metallica and does wonderful things. Listen to "Black Curtains" to catch some "The Black Album" influence, for example.

Now, time to talk about "A Tout le Monde," easily a candidate for best melodic metal song of all time. A Tout le Monde is Megadeth's answer to Metallica's "One". Both are supremely epic sounding, alternating between heavy/light guitars with genius and melodic skill. The guitar solo is excellent, and Mustaine delivers the most powerful singing that definitely surpasses most metal singers (even surpassing Hetfield's growl on One). And gotta love the lyrics. Mustaine is the only person I can think of to make French sound metal.

MY RATING: Classic metal album. Melodic and radio-friendly for newbies to the genre and has excellent singles. Stands out in the genre as one of the best.

Music Essay: An ode to Nu Metal. It’s significance, rise and fall, and hopes for revival

I was walking through Target today (go figure) and saw a copy of Disturbed’s album “The Sickness.” Remember that? Catchy, frantic, angsty, METAL! Great music to rock out to. Disturbed, and all the other bands that were pegged in the late 90’s-early 2000’s as “Nu Metal,” essentially dominated the popular metal scene, establishing some of the biggest names in modern rock (Linkin Park, Korn, Slipknot, etc.) and producing some classic albums.

But almost as quickly as it caught on, the very same angsty, chains-wearing teenage boys listening to the stuff suddenly decided that Nu Metal wasn’t cool and started ditching Nu Metal bands like the plague (or the Sickness, if you will). Bands like Linkin Park, Staind, Papa Roach, and P.O.D. were forced to adapt or die. And in many instances, some bands didn’t get off the Titanic quickly enough and are now swimming in the oceans of obscurity. The question that I want to explore today is “why?” Why was Nu Metal so popular, important, and (in my opinion) awesome in the late 90’s-early 2000’s and suddenly completely culturally IRRelevant today?

To find the answer, it’s necessary to briefly examine the history of Nu Metal. Anthrax is widely accepted for creating the genre with their song “Bring the Noise,” both a remake and collaboration with Public Enemy in 1991. The distorted, syncopated guitar riffs combined with the rapping created a decidedly noisy rap-metal combination that worked brilliantly (check out the original song). Out of the spark of Anthrax came the fire of Korn. Korn’s 1994 eponymous debut album ranks as one of the most influential metal albums of all time, matching hip-hop drumming, funk baselines, and rapped/sung lyrics with moody, dark guitar riff and a LOT of screaming. This would become the hallmark Nu Metal sound. Korn’s success with “Korn” and “Follow The Leader” inspired other bands to do the same, notably Limp Bizkit, who became the posterchild for the genre as time went on with albums “Three Dolla Bill, Yall$” and “Significant Other”. In 1999, something extraordinary happened. “Significant Other” exploded and gave Nu Metal Top 40 mainstream success with songs like “Nookie” and “Break Stuff” (metal, catchy, and awesome). Along with this came a horde of Nu Metal bands within the next three years. Notably, Papa Roach (“Last Resort”), Slipknot (“Wait and Bleed”), Staind (“It’s Been A While”), P.O.D. (“Boom”, “Youth of a Nation”), and the most popular Nu Metal band of all time, Linkin Park.

Linkin Park is worth mentioning separately for a minute. At the time of Linkin Park’s wildly popular debut “Hyrbrid Theory” in 2000 (which later went diamond), Nu Metal was at its apex. Mike Shinoda’s rap-metal fusion had worked well, creating a classic album that really can’t be paralleled or exceeded. It was at this time that Nu Metal was doomed.

Nu metal’s ultimate demise comes from the fact that the genre is surprisingly inflexible. Nu metal is by definition unable to do much that isn’t metal or rap. The metal-inspired guitar riffs are generally too simple to yield experimentation and most band DJs were unable or unwilling to draw more samples from hip-hop or electronica to explore more of Nu Metal’s potential. Faced with these limitations, Nu Metal MCs/lead singers were unable to crank out catchy new songs that could beat Linkin Park’s grip on the genre, Nu Metal gradually became hackneyed and boring.

By 2002 Bands were forced with the not-too-difficult choice. Ditch Nu Metal or die. Bands who continued to try failed, such as Crazy Town’s pitiful second album “Dark Horse,” Korn’s “Untouchables,” and Papa Roach’s “Lovehatetragedy.” Limp Bizkit’s 2003 effort “Results May Vary” is considered by many to be one of the worst albums of all time. By Linkin Park’s less-successful “Meteora” in 2003, it was clear that Linkin Park was no longer able to carry the genre on it’s own. Nu metal was dead.

Established bands like Staind and Korn began to drift into the broader world of Alternative Rock, wielding more organic sounding guitar riffs, while some like Slipknot and Disturbed, abandoned the hip-hop element almost entirely and dove headfirst into Alternative Metal. Even Linkin Park changed its tune on “Minutes to Midnight” in 2006 to a much lighter, much less electronic rock.

Today, no successful Nu Metal band exists. The genre has become extinct. Is there hope for a revival? Chances are, not for a few years at least. The genre is still far too fresh in the minds of Top 40 kids and too painful for metalheads to remember (who now consider Nu Metal a blemish on the face of rock, due to their painful failures towards the end of the period). Rumor has it that Linkin Park will be returning to Nu Metal on their 2009 album, and thus, have a hope of reigniting the genre.

In my opinion, if any band wishes to learn from the rise and fall of Nu Metal, it’s that you can’t be inflexible. There’s constantly more room for experimentation. Not EVERYTHING has to be hyper-heavy, driven by hip-hop beats, and feature a catchy syncopated guitar riff/electronic hook. Let’s take Linkin Park’s “Given Up” off of “Minutes to Midnight,” which is brief restyling of their older work. It starts off with completely different instrumentation: organic clapping, and live-recorded drum beats. Still the syncopated guitar riffs, still the scratching and the dark baseline with screaming. But new song structure: a bridge with a build up to screaming and an synthesized guitar riff, then back to the main chorus. Inventive, no?

I’d like to see more of Nu Metal in the future. But until then, I’ve still got some “Issues” with Korn, and some “Chocolate Starfish” with Limp Bizkit to tide me over. If Nu Metal can “Break The Cycle” (Staind reference, for all you fans), maybe we’ll see a resurgence.