10. Atomship - Crash of ‘47
A new sound of rock. Has its slow moments, but in no place is it boring. The band broke up, but this CD is definitely worth a listen. A new band, Atomship Down, formed from some of the old members, and is currently recording a new album.
9. Anberlin - Never Take Friendship Personal
With the release of Never Take Friendship Personal, Anberlin has really explored themselves and made a quality album, top to bottom. Every song is great, no exceptions. In their last album I don’t feel like they had their own unique style but they definitely get it across on this one. Anberlin is getting seen more by the public eye, so I was a little hesitant to put it on this list, but I couldn’t resist. A pleasure to listen to. (Anberlin’s new album, Cities, comes out February 20th)
8. Alexisonfire - Crisis
If I had to classify their kind of music, I would say Hard Rock/Screamo, but they are far from your average band. They have two singers, both with COMPLETELY different styles: George fills the “screamo” parts and Dallas does the singing. Listen to This Could Be Anywhere In The World, and you’ll understand where Alexisonfire stands. A few weak songs on the album, but the good ones are more than worth it.
7. Sinch - Sinch
Literally a band you “have to see to believe”. One of their members plays a guitar (dubbed the Ocular Noise Machine) that doesn’t make sound, but rather displays visual effects/clips/words/animation on a big screen at the concert. 433 (Hypothetical Situation) and Bitmap are my two favorite songs off the album but every song on this cd is great.
6. Our Lady Peace - Naveed
You may know Our Lady Peace, but probably have not heard this cd. This is their first album, and it has some definite classics, including The Birdman and Starseed. If you like Our Lady Peace, you need to buy this cd.
5. Scary Kids Scaring Kids - The City Sleeps In Flames
One of my favorite upcoming artists, simply because they are a full package. With a punk rock/electronic feel, Scary Kids Scaring Kids really express themselves more than most bands these days, especially when it comes to the song meanings. They have a mainstream rock type of sound, but the electronic feel sets them apart.
4. Jamison Parker - Sleepwalker
Like Scary Kids, Jamison Parker also is able to evoke a lot of meaning through his songs. I like to think of Jamison Parker as the “enhanced” version of John Mayer. Same kind of feel, except Jamison Parker uses more electric guitar, harder drums, but still keeping softer vocals. Amazing album.
3. Edgewater - South Of Sideways
Reminds me a lot of Staind, because the vocals fit perfectly with everything going on. Edgewater seems to bring everything together and just creates quality sounding music. Period. Nothing extremely special, but overall just a really nice sound.
2. Armor For Sleep - What To Do When You Are Dead What To Do When You Are Dead is an album where individually, the songs are good, but when you bring all the songs together, and listen to them one after another in the order they are supposed to be listened in, they are great. Interpreting this music is a pleasure, and the album name envokes thought in itself. This is a must-have.
1. The Working Title - About-Face
Unique sound. Perfectly fitting vocals. Catchy melodies. Meaningful songs. The Working Title’s debut album About-Face has everything a great album does. The band is young, and full of potential. I’m really looking forward to what these guys will bring us next.
In 1999, a company named Alexander Global promotions distributed a Willie Mays Bobblehead as part of a San Francisco Giants promotion. In 2002, the company was making 1.2 million bobbleheads a day and their client list included the majority of professional baseball, basketball and football teams. It’s now 2007 and the bobblehead craze still isn’t slowing down. In fact, new groups outside of professional sports have continue to see their faces adorned on these wobbly creatures. Next up - Hip Hop Artists.
In coming months, you could be seeing the likes of Kanye West, Ludacris, 50 Cent, Eminem, Fat Joe and Little Wayne bobbleheads thanks to a joint effort by Grapevine Star Entertainment and Hip Hop Properties (TM). The two have formed a new brand, Hip Hop Bobbleheads (TM), which will work with rap and hip hop labels to release brand new bobbleheads of celebrity artists.
The hip hop genre has quickly grown into a cultural phenomenon and multi-billion dollar industry. The fusion with bobbleheads is a seemingly obvious merchandising effort that will likely set registers on fire.
But these new bobbleheads will have a new twist… they’ll shake at both the head and the waist, allowing them to replicate dance moves seen in clubs across America. Not only do they bobble… they bobble. The first round of characters will be the Original Hip Hop Bobbleheads, modeled after industry icons and legends such as Tupac Shakur, Jay-Z and Russell Simmons. They’ll be available in various sizes and colors and the limited availability is sure to make them a red hot commodity. They’ll also be taking custom orders.
Currently on their website (hiphopbobbleheads.com) they offer only a generic hip hop bobblehead, BBoy style. However, a headline does mention “custom designs available” and states that “music industry, celebrities and sports” are also offered. These will likely be offered through the various record companies working with Grapevine and although you can’t get them directly through the company, you should definitely keep your eyes out for the bobblin and wobblin Hip Hop Bobbleheads to be flooding the streets near you.
Nine Inch Nails have made available 2 new songs for listen, not download, on their MySpace page. ‘Survivalism’ and ‘My Violent Heart’ are two tracks that will be on their new album.
The new album entitled ‘Year Zero’ will be available on April 6th in the UK and April 17 in the US.
Smashing Pumpkins have scheduled the release of their new album ‘Zeitgeist’ for July 7, 2007. It is the band’s first album since 2000’s ‘Machina/The Machines Of God’.
So far, the only original members officially working on ‘Zeitgeist’ are vocalist Billy Corgan and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin. Neither James Iha ro D’arcy Wretzky have announced whether they will be a part of the new album.
The Pumpkins have also announced a tour, starting in June. Tour dates can be seen on the smashing pumpkins website.
Before reading further, you should know
1. Wolfmother is extremely young (everyone is around 19 years old).
2. The band only consists of 3 members.
While some bands can pull off great things with only three members, Wolfmother falls short of creating a solid, concrete album. The main problem is that it all sounds the same. They come through with a quality sound (catchy too) in each song, but there is just not enough variation, in every aspect of the songs.
My biggest complaint is that the rhyme scheme is almost identical throughout the entire cd - after a few songs, you feel like you have been listening to the same thing over and over. While listening, you can pick out several influences; everything from the Beatles to Led Zeppelin to Queens of the Stone Age. While resembling other bands, they definitely have their own unique sound - if you heard Wolfmother on the radio, you would know it instantly.
Unlike almost all other bands, their album art is representative in their music, and should be noted. A lot of their songs are story-like and give off a “mystic†sense.
I would not recommend buying this album, but just bits of it (I’ve never given this advice before..)
If you download these songs, you will probably be compelled to buy the entire CD but i warn you: you will probably be disappointed. Since there is so much repetition you couldn’t even believe, here are the songs you should buy individually (iTunes, here we come):
1. Joker and the Thief
Stands out by far. Great style, and creative: just a flat out awesome song.
2. Mind’s Eye
A slower song, but arguably the most musically creative/inventive.
3. Dimension
This is a good example of the sound that gets repeated. Good but not great.
4. Colossal
Quality old-fashion hard rock. Yeeeeaaahhh.
Chris Cornell announced publicly that he is releasing a new solo album May 1st (entitled Carry On), and therefore ending his career with Audioslave. “Due to irresolvable personality conflicts as well as musical differences, I am permanently leaving the band Audioslave,†Cornell said. “I wish the other three members nothing but the best in all of their future endeavors.â€
The only question now is what are their future endeavors? Since Chris Cornell was a crucial member of Audioslave, the ex-Rage trio needs to find a new singer. We now know Chris Cornell will probably go solo for a while, until he finds another band (he stated that a Soundgarden reunion was highly doubtful). As for the other three, who knows. Rage Against the Machine is playing at Coachella later this year, and maybe, oh maybe they’ll reunite(just thinking about it is satisfying.)
Tool, the White Stripes, and Widespread Panic will join the reunited Police at the 2007 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival to be held June 14-17 in Manchester, Tenn. Tickets go on sale Friday at noon through BonnarooTickets.com.
Past Bonnaroo festivals have been well received, featuring artists such as Dave Matthews Band and Cypress Hill. This year, it seems to be more unique than ever, with over 75 bands scheduled to play over four days. For six years, Bonnaroo has brought together some of the best performers in rock and roll, along with dozens of artists in complementary styles such as jazz, Americana, hip-hop, electronica, and just about any contemporary music you can think of. The multi-stage festival is held on a beautiful 700-acre farm in Coffee County, Tennesee, near Manchester.
Playing at Bonnaroo will be Wilco, the Nightwatchman (Tom Morello’s solo project), the Flaming Lips, Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals, Manu Chao, String Cheese Incident, Franz Ferdinand, the Roots, Kings Of Leon, the Black Keys, Wolfmother, Bob Weir & Ratdog, Ziggy Marley, the Decemberists, Spoon, the Hold Steady, Feist, Tortoise, Cold War Kids, the National, Annuals and Apollo Sunshine, DJ Shadow, Sasha & Digweed, Hot Chip, Girl Talk, Damien Rice, Dierks Bentley, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Regina Spektor, Gillian Welch, David Rawlings, Keller Williams, Fountains of Wayne, Hot Tuna, STS9, Galactic, North Mississippi Allstars, Ralph Stanley, Richard Thompson, Mavis Staples, T-Bone Burnett, Brazilian Girls, the Slip, and Rodrigo y Gabriela.
