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Post by Kapitan on Jun 2, 2023 20:08:37 GMT
Extreme's fourth pre-release single, the semi-ballad "Other Side of the Rainbow," which had a sample up for a few weeks on iTunes. The video is pure '90s rock star, from the dramatic romantic film to the band playing in a scenic outdoor location. Oh, and surprise, surprise, Nuno's solo is killer.
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sambfc
Denny's Drums
Posts: 14
Likes: 11
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Post by sambfc on Jun 9, 2023 23:31:41 GMT
Album out today. Cool reference to California Girls in Beautiful Girls. Quite like so far, except for #Rebel which is a little grating to me. Gary's voice continues to hold up very well. Nuno's guitar work as always is technically ridiculous, but has never been my main source of interest in their work...although I certainly "came" to them originally for that reason as a young guitar learner, I certainly "stayed" for everything else they have to offer.
I also checked out the new Paul Simon offering. Definitely needs dedicated listening before a fair assessment.
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Post by Kapitan on Jun 9, 2023 23:57:33 GMT
I also checked out the new Paul Simon offering. Definitely needs dedicated listening before a fair assessment. I think it's going to be one of those albums that takes a LOT of listening. Years, maybe.
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 17, 2023 12:58:45 GMT
This morning, a Pitchfork review introduced me to the band Being Dead. This Austin, Texas-based group is a bizarre blend of surf rock, harmony voices, psychedelia (familiar so far?), and quite a lot of absurdity and chaos. I'm interested enough to give their album a listen.
Edit - A few songs under my belt, I'm reminded of the Zappa/Mothers of Invention, the Velvet Underground, Animal Collective, early Pink Floyd, the early Elephant 6 Collective groups, Half-Handed Cloud, Os Mutantes, and even some early fusion. Quite a ride.
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Post by kds on Jul 17, 2023 13:48:59 GMT
A name that has surprisingly showed up a bit in recent rock news lately is Demi Lovato. First, she took Nita Strauss on tour with her to play guitar. Now, it seems she's doing some rocked up versions of some of her previous hits. One of which will feature Slash. ultimateclassicrock.com/slash-demi-lovato-sorry-not-sorry/Slash is no stranger to working with female pop stars, working in the past with Fergie and Nicole Scherzinger (sp?). Although, those were original songs. In my humble opinion, this rocked up version of a pop song that I already found rather irritating doesn't really do anything for me.
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 18, 2023 17:36:52 GMT
This morning I learned of a new rock artist--a classic-rock sounding artist I've also seen described as alt-country, which doesn't sound quite right to me--through a positive Pitchfork review, of all things. He's Cory Hanson, with the somewhat lewdly titled album Western Cum. The sounds that jump out at me are like a post-Zeppelin kind of guitar music, bluesy but broader than just blues, with a more delicate vocal almost like an Emitt Rhodes. Here is the video for the first song on the album, "Housefly."
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 19, 2023 19:26:16 GMT
It had been a dry spell for me with new music, but I've got a couple more new ones today to share. Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real, Sticks and StonesThis is Willie's son, and in addition to sometimes (but not always) sounding like his old man, he has a habit of straying musically away from the country music he's supposedly known for. I'd never heard an album, but I saw Allmusic gave it a 4.5 (out of 5) stars and so gave it a listen. And bought it. They write in part "They're acting like a country band, but they're not playing straight country; they're singing loose, clever tunes about stumbling into the wrong house and climbing up the ladder of love at the speed of a locomotive -- good-time numbers that find their counter with cheerful barroom songs like "More Than Friends" and "If I Didn't Love You." There isn't an overriding theme on Sticks and Stones, nor is it nearly as ambitious as previous POTR records, yet that's its considerable charm: it's lean, loose, and funny, the kind of record that provides a soundtrack for any kind of good time." The Mountain Goats, Jenny from ThebesThis one isn't actually out yet, but was announced today in conjunction with the release of the first single, "Clean Slate." John Darnielle's Mountain Goats has gone far since its initial iteration of a guy recording himself singing along with an acoustic guitar into a boombox cassette deck. "Clean Slate," like many of their recent albums, has high production values, and this one in particular kicks off with a nice piano figure quickly joined by strings (and later horns, both well arranged). And as always, his lyrics are worth paying attention to. The album isn't due until October, but I've preordered it.
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Post by kds on Jul 26, 2023 14:44:49 GMT
I've listened to the new Extreme album a few times.
For the most part, I really like it, it feels like an Extreme album. I might drop Beautiful Girls, which sounds a bit like a late 90s boy band song (it reminded me a bit of LFO, and that's surely not a good thing).
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Post by Kapitan on Aug 1, 2023 13:29:24 GMT
Veteran indie rock band Wilco announced a new album, Cousin!, due out on September 29. Produced by Cate Le Bon, it will be the band's first album produced by someone outside the band since 2004.
First single, "Evicted," is a pretty cool little tune.
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Post by Kapitan on Aug 14, 2023 14:18:42 GMT
Sufjan Stevens announced a new album, Javelin, to be released October 6. It is the former indie darling's first new album since 2020 and his first singer-songwriter album since 2015's Carrie & Lowell.
The first song, "So You Are Tired," is out now. It's very pretty, though I don't like the piano sound. It reminds me of the Wilson solo piano album's tone. The arrangement is really nice, though, with good use of a variety of instruments and voices. This feels more substantial to me than anything Stevens has done in a long time. I look forward to hearing the rest of it.
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Post by Kapitan on Aug 18, 2023 10:52:51 GMT
(Debatably) The first new Guns 'n' Roses song by the Axl-Slash-Duff core in decades was released overnight, "Perhaps." I say debatably because while they say it was recorded this year, the first new song written and recorded by that group in 30+ years, the tune has apparently been demoed in the past. I'm not sure how far back its origins lie. So while it might not be as much of a last-minute touch-up as their previous two "new" singles, the song itself doesn't seem to be entirely new. Sounds ... a lot like Illusions-era GnR. Edit - According to Ultimate Classic Rock, the song dates back to the Chinese Democracy era sessions. (An era that spans a long enough time so as not to be all that specific!)
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Post by kds on Aug 21, 2023 13:19:23 GMT
I listened to Perhaps over the weekend. You're right, I definitely hear allusions to the Illusions era of the band. The song is surprisingly brief, but pretty decent.
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Post by Kapitan on Aug 21, 2023 13:31:10 GMT
I like it better than I thought I would. It's not a classic or anything, but it's cool enough. It's set to be released in a physical copy this fall with another "new" (20-year-old) tune as a B-side, "The General."
Hopefully there is a new--and I mean actually new--album coming on the tail end of these older "new" one-offs they've been releasing. If they're just cleaning out the closet and warming up their studio chops in preparation for new music, that's great. But if this kind of thing is all that's forthcoming, that would be a shame.
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Post by kds on Aug 21, 2023 14:01:25 GMT
I like it better than I thought I would. It's not a classic or anything, but it's cool enough. It's set to be released in a physical copy this fall with another "new" (20-year-old) tune as a B-side, "The General." Hopefully there is a new--and I mean actually new--album coming on the tail end of these older "new" one-offs they've been releasing. If they're just cleaning out the closet and warming up their studio chops in preparation for new music, that's great. But if this kind of thing is all that's forthcoming, that would be a shame. I agree, releasing random singles here and there just to be able to put a new song in the setlist is pretty underwhelming overall. Although, of the "new" GNR songs that have been released, I think this one's far and away the best.
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Post by Kapitan on Aug 21, 2023 14:11:09 GMT
I agree that this one is the best of the three latter-day releases.
You've hit the nail on the head, I think, with respect to why they're releasing songs now. They have been touring for what, five or six years now?, on a really small catalog. You've got Appetite, Lies, Illusions I&II, and that's basically it. Yes, they do bits of their "wildnerness years" material, whether something from Chinese Democracy or Velvet Revolver. Yes, they do a few covers.
But this band isn't McCartney, it isn't the Stones, it isn't the Beach Boys. The catalog just isn't that large, so there isn't much to draw from. At some point, the luster of a reunion itself dulls, and you can't just play the same two dozen songs over and over.
However, it would be great if they added 10 or 12 new songs--a new album!--not just onesie-twosies. (Then again, you'd need that album to stand up to the quality of their canonical material. That's not easy.)
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