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Post by Kapitan on Feb 10, 2023 12:45:02 GMT
Canadian singer-songwriter Andy Shauf's new album, Norm, was released today. I am pretty excited to give it a listen. His style of songwriting is a lot like storytelling, full of characters and dialogue, though it's often quite poppy. I loved his Neon Skyline about 4-5 years ago.
And Beck released a new, acoustic guitar-dominated single titled "Thinking About You" that I think is pretty.
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Post by Kapitan on Feb 14, 2023 12:33:22 GMT
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Post by The Cincinnati Kid on Feb 17, 2023 14:54:11 GMT
Skrillex released a new album today. I'd normally have next to zero interest, but some of you may remember Bruce Johnston was working with them back in 2020. At least one collaboration ended up on The Weeknd's Here We Go... Again. He was credited as a writer and producer on that one, but I don't see any credits like that on this album. I may give it a listen later to see if his vocals pop up anywhere. I won't mind if someone else does the work for me, though.
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Post by Kapitan on Feb 17, 2023 15:47:46 GMT
Sorry, TCK, but I'm not wading through Skrillex, Bruce Johnston or not. I never listened to his VDP collaborations, so I don't think a B-list Beach Boy is gonna inspire me, either! (I'd be modestly curious if somebody else found anything, though.)
This morning I saw that Ben Folds announced his first new album in eight years and released its first single. I'm not a big Folds fan ... but I'm not sure why not! He's got a lot of what I love about pop music: great melodies, clever songs and lyrics, some unexpected moments (like this single being in 7/4). And I love the quality/timbre of his voice, a clear tenor, sometimes with just a little whine. I had a couple of Ben Folds Five albums and I think maybe one solo tune, that's it. But I do like this new song. I need to check out the album when it's released in June.
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Post by kds on Mar 1, 2023 18:23:21 GMT
Extreme have announced a new album with a June 9 release ultimateclassicrock.com/extreme-six-album-2023/Here's the new single "Rise." I'm not really into the new track, outside of Nuno's solo. Take away that guitar solo, and I'd think it was just another generic 2020s radio rock song. Maybe the rest of the album will be better.
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Post by Kapitan on Mar 1, 2023 18:38:37 GMT
I'm surprised it's coming so soon: an interview I just watched with Nuno speculated Q1 '24, if I'm remembering correctly. I wonder whether he was just managing expectations, having a little fun, or what.
The song ... yeah. It's not terrible, but it's not great. I was glad when the first harmony vocals came in, because it was a little sludgy for me. I think they're at their best when they incorporate melodies and harmonies, and of course sometimes their classic funkiness, to hard rock. Nuno's solo is incredible: you definitely don't hear a lot of that nowadays.
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Post by kds on Mar 1, 2023 18:58:29 GMT
I'm surprised it's coming so soon: an interview I just watched with Nuno speculated Q1 '24, if I'm remembering correctly. I wonder whether he was just managing expectations, having a little fun, or what. The song ... yeah. It's not terrible, but it's not great. I was glad when the first harmony vocals came in, because it was a little sludgy for me. I think they're at their best when they incorporate melodies and harmonies, and of course sometimes their classic funkiness, to hard rock. Nuno's solo is incredible: you definitely don't hear a lot of that nowadays. Maybe they start their fiscal year April 1. I'm hoping there's more Extreme trademarks elsewhere on the album.
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Post by kds on Mar 8, 2023 13:50:25 GMT
Here it is, the first brand new Billy Squier song of the 21st Century
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Post by Kapitan on Mar 8, 2023 14:20:53 GMT
That sounds surprisingly low-budget, like homemade. Or maybe it's not surprising, in that Squier isn't exactly the star he was 40 years ago. It's a much smaller sound than the one he was known for all those years ago.
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Post by kds on Mar 8, 2023 16:07:02 GMT
That sounds surprisingly low-budget, like homemade. Or maybe it's not surprising, in that Squier isn't exactly the star he was 40 years ago. It's a much smaller sound than the one he was known for all those years ago. I thought the same thing. But, his voice has held up pretty well.
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Post by Kapitan on Mar 23, 2023 14:30:47 GMT
Wolfgang Van Halen's "band" Mammoth WVH released the first single/video from his/their upcoming album. While I can do without the short-film nature of the video, I liked the song more than the admittedly little I've heard of his previous stuff. (Those types of videos caught my attention a lot more in the '80s: David Lee Roth's comic intros; storylines from Bruce Springsteen, Madonna or Cyndi Lauper; and of course the epic Michael Jackson videos. But as time wore on, I just don't usually care enough and don't like the interruptions to the music itself.)
The tune blends what I'd call classic hard rock/metal, something between pop-punk and power pop, but with some elements of newer metal that I'm not as into. (In this case, "newer" just means anything from the late 90s onward, frankly. That's all "newer" to this old man...) Great playing, all by WVH, as usual. The actual song doesn't begin for about 2.5 minutes or so, though.
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Post by kds on Mar 23, 2023 15:19:19 GMT
As much as I hate to say this, I continue to find Mammoth WVH underwhelming. Their (his) first album, and this song, just sounds to me like the same type of bland American rock that's been on the radio the last 20-25 years. This reminds me of Foo Fighters, who I think are the poster band for radio friendly hooky rock in the 21st century. And, considering Wolfie is in his early 30s, it's perfectly reasonable that's the type of music he would release. But, it just isn't my cup of tea.
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Post by Kapitan on Mar 23, 2023 15:32:55 GMT
I don't disagree with you: it's definitely not something I'd listen to repeatedly, much less buy. I was just thinking it was an improvement over what I'd heard off his first album.
Edit - I do have to give him credit on his skill, though. To be able to play all the instruments at that level is pretty impressive. I wish he directed it more toward my taste, but ... that's a bit selfish of me!
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Post by Kapitan on Mar 31, 2023 11:50:59 GMT
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Post by kds on Apr 10, 2023 12:14:40 GMT
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