The Strokes - Is This It (Review: Dan)

What do you get when you cross Franz Ferdinand with The Killers?
The Strokes.

I've listened to Is This It a few times now and I like it a lot. It's a really great indie record, and you can tell that it is a major influence on indie music of today. You can hear The Strokes in almost any indie track on the radio right now, so I suppose it comes as no surprise that Is This It was such a success.

In terms of the content of the album, it has some brilliant and catchy riffs, which I'm sure have been stolen by The Killers. I really like The Killers by the way.
Matt was right also by saying that I'd recognise a few of the tracks. Obviously Last Nite is the biggest indie song of all time. And rightly so, it's great. My other favourite tracks are Barely Legal and The Modern Age. Singer Julian Casablancas reminds me a lot of Franz Ferdinand singer Alex Kapranos. There doesn't seem to be too much to his singing, it just works I guess.

Looking at my notes for this album I have two bullet points:

• Good
• Sounds like Killers + Franz Ferdinand

This hasn't given me much to work with. At the end of the day, The Strokes have made a really good album which I'd say has been used as a mould for successful indie bands of today. However, I think it lacks lasting appeal, and there are some tracks that would be great at a party and everyone would love it, go home, listen to the album and then put it back on the shelf until the next time Last Nite comes on. 4/5

Sorry it's short.

Dan

Edit: I just logged into Last.fm and Franz Ferdinand are now on my recommended artists, similar to The Strokes and Editors.

Enter Shikari - Common Dreads (2009)

I have been asked by Ben to post his recommendation for The Chief this week as his not-so-lovable landlord has sold his house and therefore he has no internet.

Ben is recommending Enter Shikari's second album 'Common Dreads' for The Chief. The reason that he chose this album is that The Chief enjoyed their debut album 'Take to the Skies' and will be going to see them live in December. His personal highlights are Step Up, Solidarity and Step Up. I, too, will vouch that these are all good songs.

Enjoy, sorry for the delay.

Dan/Ben

Jeff Buckley - Grace (1994)

I don't think Ben has listened to this album, although I know Elliott loves it so he may well have done. If so Ben, then contact me on Facebook and I'll switch it to another one.
Anyway Grace is one of my favourite albums ever and I think its safe to say that Buckley is the greatest vocalist I've ever heard. This album shows his broad skill in many different styles of music from blues, to rock, to sombre piano pieces. This album also contains Hallelujah, originally by Leonard Cohen, which I'm sure you all know well from the pitiful x-factor cover. Buckley's version is the best I've heard as he puts such emotion in to the lyrics like the original and other covers such as John Cale's can't do.
The music on the album isn't really amazing but thats not the point, it could be the best music in the world and still be overshadowed by these vocals, Buckley is that good.

http://rapidshare.com/files/143449324/Jeff_Buckley_-_Grace.rar - disc 1
http://rapidshare.com/files/124156665/Jeff_Buckley_-_Grace__Legacy_Edition__CD2_Part2__320.rar - disc 2

The Strokes - Is This It (2001)

So, Mr Nevill, I see we are trading this week. After seeing what you've offered me, I decided that I too would go for something a bit different and unexpected. I know you want me to give you Immortal Technique, but just listen to it yourself. You shall be listening to an album that the NME recently described as the best of the decade, and is included in every sort of 'You must listen to these albums before you die!' list you will find. Despite reaching somewhere around 40 in its homeland's billboard, the album was huge in the UK and in particular 'Last Nite' is a song you should have heard before, because it's awesome.
For me this album is a precursor to the overwhelming rise in popularity of indie music in recent years, and what's more its a personal favourite. Enjoy.

GZA - Liquid Swords (Review: Matt)

I quite enjoyed the prospect of this album, until I read that it was going to be 'grimey'. After chuckling at the Wiley reference and wondering how the term 'grime' can mean two quite different things within the hip-hop genre, I started to worry. I don't have much experience with listening grimey sounding hip-hop, and this is for a very good reason. It's just not good. I'll admit, I'm a bit of a production whore on Hip-Hop, and often I find that albums with bad production stand out as unlistenable. The only artists I've ever really enjoyed with this sort of sound are Q-Unique and Ill Bill, but they have shit production because they are poor. Whats GZA's excuse?

After listening to the album once, I suspected my initial thoughts were correct. However its clear to me after a few more listens that the production isn't poorly done at all, and in fact sounds nothing like I expected to. While I see the similarities between the production on this and on other grimey albums, I think RZA has made it his goal here to provide mesmerising and hypnotic beats, and these beats allow the pure brilliance of GZA stand out. I don't know who gave him the name Genius, but it was certainly earned in this album. His lyrics are astounding and whilst I could pretty much pick lines from any song to show you and prove it, I'd rather leave it to you to listen for yourself. He writes magical metaphors and wonderful wordplay with astounding alliteration, and carries it off with fantastic flow.

GZA is clearly a very talented artist, yet I still find it strange it sold so unbelievably well, selling over a million in America and peaking at 9th in the Billboard 200. The album sounds, by todays standards, far too intelligent and underground to possibly have been a chart success. Perhaps in 10 years time people will say the same about Lil' Wayne, but I personally can't see it. Before this album I had listened to the solo efforts of ODB, Method Man, Raekwon and Ghostface, and with the exception of Raekwon's 'Only Built 4 Cuban Linx', they pale in comparison.

This has been an amazingly short review I now realise, but that is because I really can not pick out any stand out tracks to talk about in particular. Once the music takes you in, the delivery of GZA's wordplay and punchlines does the rest, and there is not a point in the album when his skills aren't evident. The many guest appearances also add a lot to the album, and in particular Inspectah Deck's verses on DOTIM and Cold War are fantastic.

However I have, as previously mentioned, always been partial to a decent bit of production to go along with a decent MC, and for that reason I can't rank this album along side my favourites from the genre. I will, however, grant it a very well deserved 90%.

Atreyu - Lead Sails Paper Anchor 2.0 (2008)

This album is for Matt this week. I actually picked this completely on a whim when I saw it on my iTunes. However, it's a shockingly good album and something I used to listen to a lot. I also know that Matt enjoyed Atreyu at Reading this year whilst The Prodigy were busy being shit. Atreyu aren't particularly popular but they have a few well known songs and a Greatest Hits album...They've recently released a new album and I have not heard anything about it.
I'm pretty sure Matt will be hooked from the very second opening track 'Doomsday' starts. They also have a singing drummer so that's a plus. Hope you like it, I'm listening to it now aswell. And it has a cover of Epic by Faith No More. What more could you want? Hopefully this was a pleasant surprise.

Track Listing:
[1]Doomsday
[2]Honor
[3]Falling Down
[4]Becoming the Bull
[5]When Two Are One
[6]Lose It
[7]No One Cares
[8]Can't Happen Here
[9]Slow Burn
[10]Blow
[11]Lead Sails (and a Paper Anchor)
[12]The Squeeze
[13]Epic
[14]Clean Sheets

and you can download it from here: http://rapidshare.com/files/117092520/PnL_Atreyu_-_LeadSailsPaAn.rar

Nov 23 - 30 Albums

Here is the cycle for next weeks album swaps.

This weeks cycle will be:

Dan recommends to Matt (Lead Sails Paper Anchor 2.0 by Atreyu)
The Chief recommends to Ben (Grace by Jeff Buckley)
Matt recommends to Dan (Is This It by The Strokes)
Ben recommends to The Chief (Common Dreads by Enter Shikari)

2 albums reviewed from last week, Matt's review on GZA/Genius will be up tomorrow. Haven't heard from Ben regarding Tonedeff today, but I'm sure it will get sorted out.

Enjoy

Dan

Coheed and Cambria - In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 (Review: The Chief)

I seem to have noticed that on every Prog Rock album I have listened to in the past, there has been a section where we hear a phone being dialled or ringing. Prog Rockers clearly find this an exciting sound...Sadly, I dont.

It was a cold and rainy summer evening at Sonisphere when I first experienced Coheed and Cambria without laughing at the high pitchedness of Claudio Sanchez's voice. The second they stepped onto the stage they had me entranced, I thought this couldn't be the same band that I brushed off simply because I thought the vocals were a bit funny? Anyway, I'm glad I didn't decide to see Heaven & Hell in the rain instead otherwise. After this I pretty much only listened to Welcome Home and Ten Speed so I'm really glad that Dan decided to put them up.

The album starts with a nice little instrumental that makes a kind of epic orchestral sound, this initial epicness is certainly something that is kept up throughout the album. I have found that sounding epic is a very integral part of Coheed's sound especially as all of their albums essentially is the epic of two people called Coheed and Cambria. But what I especially like about 'Heed is that the listener doesn't need to understand the story line to enjoy the album, to be honest I have no idea what's going on in terms of plot, and this is something that other concept album bands like Maiden can not seem to do. With many Maiden songs I can't really enjoy them if I don't like the concept Dickinson is whining about. I feel that Heebria manage to do this successfully because of a combination of two things: Claudio's voice (which I know thoroughly enjoy) and the brilliant musicianship of the band as a whole, not to mention the pretty tight production. All this allows the band to really show emotion in their songs that can get the audience really into the music (as I witnessed first hand at Sonisphere).

Another aspect of the album and the band as a whole that I enjoy is the combination of genres. Pinning down a band to a genre is always something I (quite sadly) enjoy doing and while its simple enough to call 'Bria a prog rock band it is clear that they are influenced by many other genres. As I've already implied there is a clear Iron Maiden influence (and honestly they do what Maiden do better than Maiden do) but also some punk-popish influences, even some mid-west nineties emo (which is a huge plus) and they manage this while still being able to be very catchy. Overall I just find this band fascinating, from the weirdness of their frontman to the interesting sound they make to the general concept of their albums.

What I've found with In Keeping Secrets is that it is generally much faster paced than Good Apollo which I like because on the latter I found a few of the tracks to be somewhat boring. This is something that Co-Cam have completely avoided on this album and frankly I like every single track it has to offer. I believe this album to be the second best release of the year 2003, second only to Radiohead's Hail to the Thief. 5/5

Muse - Absolution (Review: Dan)

Tricky one this.

This is the bit where I would probably lie and say 'I wanted to go into this album with an open mind' or maybe 'I really wanted to like this album' but the honest truth is that I really wanted to hate it. However, when Ben revealed that this was the album with tracks 'Hysteria' and 'Time is Running Out' I became very worried that I'd have to swallow my pride and accept that it was going to be good. Well, here it goes:

I've listened to the album a lot now, yet a part of me still doesn't really feel qualified to review the album. However, at the same time I feel that I'm in as good a position now than i ever will be. The first positive is that I've got a lot to write about this album, it's given me plenty to talk about. Unfortunately that could well be the end of the positives list.
The best place to start, I guess, is the start. The album opens with the originally titled 'Intro' not that I'm marking it down for that. However...It is about 20 seconds long, about 5 of which is silence and the rest is just a clock ticking, which builds into first song 'Apocalypse Please'. Now, I don't see the relevance for this intro at all. I don't understand why they could just make it part of Apocalypse please, as it is clearly meant to be listened beforehand.

Now, Matt Bellamy's vocals are obviously a talking point here. They are high and wail-ey, and very similar to those of Thom Yorke. Now don't get me wrong, I actually think Matt Bellamy is a very good singer. However, this album is begging for any vocalist but him. Where the album tries to be fast-paced and heavier rock, it's credibility is crushed by long, droning vocals from Bellamy. There are even songs which I think are good, so long as Bellamy remains shtum, such as 'Stockholm Syndrome'. I think the only two songs that seem like they have been written so that Bellamy's vocals will fit it (and very well I'll add) are 'Time is Running Out' and 'Hysteria'. These two songs are remarkable, although everyone has heard both of them already(or certainly TIRO).

Slower songs are outrageously boring, but they sound like they want to be beautiful. In fact I think that the album has a lot of 'want' and probably made a lot of promises in the writing or recording stages. I get the feeling that they have tried to make an album that can be known as epic, but they seem to have fallen short of the mark on almost every track. I'm also going to go out on a limb here and say that 'Sing for Absolution' is the worst song of all time. It's just the most awful, cheesy song of all time. And though it has been said before and been met with frustration from fans (and myself) Muse do often sound like they are trying to copy what Radiohead are doing. Their sound is much more suited to the fast, heavy rock songs which we can see that they can do. Some of the songs start off with so much potential only to lose all their momentum by the halfway point.

Another of my main gripes is the 'Interlude' in the middle. Now, when a lot of bands decide that they're going to put an interlude in their albums they will more often than not record a short instrumental that will fill the gap. What Muse have done is just outrageous. It is essentially just a bit of noise that lasts 30 seconds. By noise I literally mean just a static sound. It's more like a theatre interlude than anything, in that the audience just have to sit and wait for the show to resume. Pathetic. Get rid of it.

There are a lot of piano parts in the album, so I did my research to find out just how many people were involved in the album, as I found that in the song 'Butterflies and Hurricanes' there is an absolutely dire piano 'solo' if you will, and it just sounded like it had been ripped straight off of Classic FM and dumped on their track. This, by the way, is another strong sounding song until you reach the middle. But anyway, I found out that the band themselves played all of the instruments on the album so I guess that makes things a bit more acceptable. But then I saw that a certain Paul Reeve had contributed backing vocals to the album. This is his only input to the album. Paul Reeve was the producer of their debut album, but this is now their third. I do not understand where they thought his vocal input was truly necessary. I'm sure there was a large number of people who worked on the album, and I'm sure that at least one of them would have been able to record one line of song for them.

I think that Absolution is perhaps an album that I would sit down and eat dinner to. I guess what I'm saying is that it is tolerable so long as I have something to do in the meantime. I think actually having to sit an listen to this 14 track inconsistency is beyond a chore.

One last point I feel the need to make is that Ben said in his upload post that the album spawned about 5 singles and most of them are still played live, which demonstrates the strength of the album. So, I obviously did my research again and pulled up their setlist from their show at the O2 earlier this month. I'd like to say now, anyway, that it is not unusual for a band to play their singles live. At this gig they played 3 songs from this album. To be totally honest with you, I think in a 21 song set that is below standard. Especially when it is their middle album. They've only had two since so it isn't particularly irrelevant. 1/7th of their set was from this album. I don't think that shows any strength. I guess a positive is that at least they are the best three.

Although I wanted to hate the album, I do feel disappointed by this, because I expected more. I'm sure this isn't what Ben was hoping to read from me either so I feel that is has disappointed on two levels. I'll tell you what though, it isn't necessarily a bad album, but it is certainly not a good one. Normally I find scoring tough, in fear of being too generous or too harsh I struggle to come up with something fair. With this though, I am confident that 2/5 is a fair score for Absolution.

Highlights:
Time is Running Out
Hysteria
Stockholm Syndrome

Dan

Tonedeff - Archetype (2005)

Following the recent AS success of PackFM and the not so recent success of Cunninlynguists, I feel I should now usher you towards the man who, in my opinion, is the strongest artist on the QN5 label. Archetype is Tonedeff's debut singles album, and is the album that really turned my head towards underground hip-hop, as opposed to the mainstream tripe I was then infatuated with. Tonedeff obviously has a lot to live up to, with his fellow QN5 artists having a perfect average of 5/5 from Ben, and I fully expect him to do so.

Muse - Absolution (2003)

Muse's third studio album is undoubtedly one of the most heralded 'rock' albums of recent times and in my opinion is probably their best album. Spawning the singles 'Butterflies and Hurricanes, 'Hysteria', 'Stockholm Syndrome', 'Time is Running Out' and 'Sing for Absolution', it has so many highlights and the fact that most of these songs are still in their setlist some 6 years later says alot about the strength of this album. I never made a statement that "Muse are better than Slipknot" as Dan suggested as that is purely my opinion. I merely suggested that he may want to consider other bands in his choice of 20 songs in an ultimate seltist and include songs from more than one band. Enjoy.

GZA/Genius - Liquid Swords (1995)

Lyrically my favourtie hip-hop ablum ever? I think so. The GZA (pronounced Jizza) is easily recognised as the most intelligent member of the Wu-Tang Clan and remains one of the only members with a shred of talent left in his body. This is a violent, dark and bloody album and the beats and lyrics reflect this. It, as the album cover suggests, is like a graphic novel with over the top violence and the like. In nearly every line of the album you can find double, even triple, meanings. The main idea of the album is GZA rapping about the ninja wu-tang persona and how certain aspects of this relate to real life situations in New York. It's difficult to explain as I get a different idea of what the album's about everytime I listen to it.
The production is amazing from RZA, very raw and grimey in the original US way, rather than the Wiley sense of the word. If this album is lyrically enjoyed I recommend the Wu's first solo album for further listening, if it is enjoyed due to the beats then I recommend the first album of Mobb Deep.
I hope you enjoy it Matt.

Coheed and Cambria - In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 (2003)

Coheed and Cambria are a progressive rock band and this is their second full length release. It is also the second installment in frontman Claudio Sanchez's 'The Amory Wars' saga, and is accompanied by a graphic novel. However, we aren't reviewing this as a concept album. It wouldn't make any sense without hearing their debut album anyway.
I think this is one of a select few 5/5 albums for me and every single track is brilliant. 'The Camper Velourium' section of the album is a personal highlight for me.
This album is for The Chief this week, and I'm very hopeful that he will enjoy it.

Track Listing:
[1]The Ring in Return
[2]In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3
[3]Cuts Marked in the March of Men
[4]Three Evils (Embodied in Love and Shadow)
[5]The Crowing
[6]Blood Red Summer
[7]The Camper Velourium I: Faint of Hearts
[8]The Camper Velourium II: Backend of Forever
[9]The Camper Velourium III: Al the Killer
[10]A Favor House Atlantic
[11]The Light & the Glass
[12]21:13

note: '21:13' could be track 23 on the album, it depends really. If it is it will follow 11 tracks of silence called 'A Lot of Nothing I-XI'. My version of the album doesn't have this, which is good because that's very annoying.

Here's a download link: http://rapidshare.com/files/179472340/CAC.IKSEOSE.GARF.WBB.rar

Enjoy,

Dan

Great Change is Afoot

From now and onwards AlbumSwap will be working differently. Each week each of us will be assigned another member to recommend an album to. This way we can decide what we want the others to listen to and defeats the problem of 'X has heard this so I can't upload it'. This album can obviously, therefore, be the same for three consecutive weeks if you want each member to listen to it. There is of course nothing really stopping anyone from reviewing someone elses so long as they do theirs first, but I think it would be better if we could delve into the back-catalogue first as I'm sure there are some hidden gems in there. The rota will cycle every week to ensure that we don't get any repeats.

This weeks cycle will be:

Dan recommends to The Chief (In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 by Coheed and Cambria)
The Chief recommends to Matt (Liquid Swords by GZA/Genius)
Matt recommends to Ben (Archetype by Tonedeff)
Ben recommends to Dan (Absolution by Muse)

Make your choises wisely, gentlemen.

Thanks,

Dan

Really Dan? "choises"? I am disappoint
Chiefy

Really, Chief? "[You are] disappoint"?
Dan

I am disappoint is a meme, choises is a typo.
Chiefy

I don't give a fuck.
Dan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeQMB_SUtI8
Chiefy

Noah and the Whale - The First Days of Spring (Review: The Chief)

Well, I laughed in the face of Dan when he asked Alex, Ben and I to come with him to watch Noah and the Whale. While I'm not sad I missed it as I might never have discovered Frank Turner if I left the NME Tent went to the Main Stage, I do regret making fun of this group so much. I judged way too soon on one crappy song and couldn't even imagine they'd make such beautiful little pop-folk songs. Well when I say that it sounds as if I'm in love with the album, far from it, its pretty good background music but it doesn't really grip me like the artists I love do. Still I judged Noah and his pet Whale before giving them a proper listen and for that I can only apologise.

As I said Noah make a very pretty song, they know how to make the listener tap their foot or sway to the music but I didn't ever find myself being gripped by a song. I feel that this is down to the vocalist, in other folkish music that I listen to (such as Bob Dylan and Frank Turner) I find that their voices are what make me think 'hold on let's listen to what he's got to say'. The singer of Noah has a nice enough voice that goes along with the music very well, but in this case I believe that is a negative. Dylan is frankly a poor singer but its so brash it makes me listen to the lyrics. This just doesn't happen in The First Days of Spring.

I think that the instrumentals and the orchestra are a great addition to the album. They really pick it up and it sounds really exciting. This part of the album is so good because it took me completely by surprise and really shows the great musicianship of the band, not to mention their creativity. Another stand out track on the album is Stranger, even though I was a bit annoyed that the pace of the album slowed down again I found this song to be pretty compelling, something that I've found most of the other tracks lacked.

The First Days of Spring is a nice album. It's a good piece of easy listening for a day when I've got a bad hangover or something but its far from one of my favourite albums. 3/5

PackFM - WhutduzFMstand4? (Review: Dan)

It's no mystery that I'm not an expert on hip-hop. I like bits of Jay-Z and what I've heard from Tonedeff and Immortal Technique. And I like most of what I know of Eminem...but who doesn't?

I reviewed Cunninlynguists earlier in the year and didn't really like it. But I am determined to get more involved in hip-hop, so the more that is recommended to me then the happier I'll be.

This is the first I've heard of PackFM before. I know nothing about him or his history. A quick search on wikipedia to do some research provides me with nothing so I have to jump in with both feet.

The album opens with 'The Fuck'. It's quick, and PackFm is basically just telling me who he is. It's a good song actually.

One thing that I've grown to admire about hip-hop is that unlike any other genre is that it's all about the lyrics and their delivery. Tracks rely on samples taken from other songs, and you'll find that a hip-hop artist (or certainly PackFM) has the ability to put their own work over the top to create a great song. This is an admirable attribute to PackFM's album, because even the simplest musical tracks can make some of the better songs - 'Stomp' springs to mind.

I love PackFM's rapping, I think it's clever and it's hard-hitting at the same time. He conveys his lyrics with flow and rythm that I didn't notice with Cunninlynguists.
Although I find a lot of what he is saying cringey and embarrassing he seems to do his job with so much conviction that he comes across very cool. Especially in the song 'Click, Clack & Spray'. I think my problem is that I'm not a hip-hop fan, I don't circle with the same type of person and so it's just like a different language to me.

Nigga Pass is what I'd call a skit (although correct me if I'm wrong). Although I don't see it's value on the album. I've listened to the track twice now, and never want to listen to it again. Not because I didn't like it (though I didn't) but because it's just a bit useless. It's like an ad-break.

Overall 'WhutduzFMstand4?' is a really good album. It's changed my perspective on hip-hop and I want to listen to more of it until I can rap along when I'm listening. The album isn't perfect though, there are several tracks I think the lyrics are poor, or I just don't like the music samples or the way the words have been made to fit over it. Suzie and Ugly Woman are probably the two worst in this way. I think I'm going to re-listen to Cunninlynguists with my new appreciation, just to see if I need to take back some previous comments. One last point I want to make is that the production is nothing short of brilliant on the album, and it's something that seems consistent in hip-hop. I like what PackFM has done here, I look forward to hearing more hip-hop (hopefully a tonedeff or immortal technique album is on the way) and I'm going to carry on listening to my favourite tracks from this album. 4.5/5

Highlights:
I Can't Win
Lessons
Forevershine

Dan

One More Week

This week has been pretty slow in terms of reviews...I think we've all just been keeping busy, but Matt and I have decided to extend this weeks albums until next monday, just so we can all catch up.
Cheers :)

Dan

Kyuss - Blues for the Red Sun (Review: Dan)

I was downloading Kyuss when it was uploaded so I guess that was fortunate. I was downloading it because I was doing a bit of Josh Homme research, just because he's an interesting fella I suppose and he has done quite a lot.

I'm annoyed at the genre tag of 'stoner rock'. I didn't know what that means before I listened and I still don't really understand now. I don't know who the vocalist for Kyuss is or what he's doing now...I think nothing of any value to the music industry today, which is no real surprise. He isn't very good really, but I think it depends. I hate him on Thong Song, absolutely dire...

Matt (Stanley) said to me that after just the first two tracks you can tell it's a Homme record but...I don't know if I could. In fairness I'd never listened to a full one prior to this week, so I guess this felt like a bit of a treat. In terms of Homme's guitarwork, it's fantastic. He's a really good player, and he has really done well to get to where he is today. I don't know who the mainman of Kyuss is but they have also done a great job on this album. It's got a fantastic flow to it, and it all feels connected by its series of magnificent instrumentals.

Opening title 'Thumb' is a pretty decent song, it's one of the better vocal tracks and it's got a good bit of music behind it. The song 'Mondo Generator' is also a good one, and I am also aware that Nick Oliveri (bass) named one of his other bands after this song. I listened to a song of theirs, it wasn't very good though.

Standout track for me is 'Writhe'. I think this is the track which says everything about Kyuss. Well, certainly the way I see them. I think the vocal style is best this way, and it's got a decent riff and it makes a good listen.

Even though Kyuss exists no more, I think it was probably just a great stepping stone for Josh Homme to make himself one of the better known guitarists of today's music generation. I certainly prefer Blues for the Red Sun to what I've heard from Queens of the Stone Age's 'Songs for the Deaf'.
Overall I'd score the album a 4/5. A decent album, I'd recommend it to any one on this blog. Although I think the Chief just did that...

Dan

Highlights:
All of the Instrumentals
Writhe
Thumb

PackFM - WhatduzFMstand4? (Review: Ben)

It all sounds the same.

OK, so after two quite negative reviews last week, I was determined that this week would be different. If you happen to have seen my review of Cunninlynguists on AlbumSwap (Chief's favourite review ever, I might add) you'll already be aware that I don't really care for rap or hip-hop in general but that I found an exception with that album. Having said that, for some reason I still had the same assumption about this album, that it would not be to my tastes, especially after Matt said it had 'a more mainstream sound'. Somehow this preconception seems to be a recurring theme in my reaction to anything in the rap/hip-hop genre. Most of the time I hate being proved wrong, especially with music, but something about this album made me hope to be drastically wrong and love it.

As with Cunninlynguists, I'd heard snippets of this album coming from the brother's room but never really taken an interest. So, into the content of the album we go. 'The Fuck' is a fantastic opener. It has such a good beat to it and it's lively, something which I tend to find absent from mainstream acts in this genre. Instantly I remembered what it was that I loved so much about Cunninlynguists: the production. I absolutely love the notion of taking the best parts of other songs and sampling them into something totally different and it just always seems to fit so well in this album in particular. 'I Can't Win' is an equally addictive track and I started to find myself really enjoying the tracks on this album at this point. The chorus is brilliant and sums up everything that I love in this genre perfectly.

I found the spray can noises in 'Click Clack & Spray' a little bit annoying but that doesn't detract from what is also a very good song. I don't think this album is as thought provoking lyrically as Cunninlynguists but it still has some real meaning to it, again something I find missing from hip-hop as a whole. 'Lessons' is one of my favourite songs on the album as it has an incredibly good beat and I can actually feel myself nodding along to it. Lyrically it's also a very nice track and I just enjoy listening to it. Whilst not really enjoying casual racism in music (I think it's ridiculous and overused to the point where it doesn't mean anything anymore) I found 'N*gga Pass' really funny and for the first time found myself enjoying an interlude on an album so well played PackFM.

'Stomp' is for me the standout track on the album and sounds like it could be absolutely huge in the mainstream. The production on it is absolutely immense and it's just a brilliant song which I'll definitely be playing over and over again for a long time. Other highlights include 'Free-Esta' again due it's fantastic production and the amazing 'Token Love Song'. I felt that the album tailed off a little towards the end but that didn't really seem to matter when the strength of the rest of the album was such that I couldn't wait to listen again.

I can't really write too much more other than a track by track review as I just feel I'm reiterating points already made in my Cunninlynguists review but this album has once again proved me so badly wrong and apparently I'm actually really into underground rap and hip-hop. I can't really give this album anything other than 5/5 when it's made such an impact that I'm going to seek out more artists from this genre in the near future and I can't wait to hear more from PackFM.

PackFM - whutduzFMstand4? (2006)

PackFM is a Hip-Hop artist on the QN5 label, which brought us past Album Swap success in the shape of Cunninlynguists. PackFM has a much more mainstream sound than most other underground artists and this album is extremely well produced. I hope you treat it with an open mind, and I warn you in advanced that 'all the tracks sound the same' wont cut it here, because they don't. Enjoy, fellas.
Let me know if you need a link, I am currently uploading it as I can't find it anywhere but its taking ages.
Edit:

http://rapidshare.com/files/302380454/whatdoesfmstandfor.rar

Kyuss - Blues for the Red Sun (1992)

Don't judge the genre name, I didn't choose it.

I enjoy this album greatly, I have no idea how I came to hearing this album but at first I decided it was nothing special. Then I listened to it again while very bored and realised that it was a really good, kick-ass album. I think the strongest point of this album are the riffs which I find to be catchy and hard hitting. The songs are a bit long, but like Tool they manage to keep me interested regardless. Also, here's an interesting fact, this is the band that later became Queens of the Stoneage, though they sound nothing like their latest efforts and are really just a million times better.

Enjoy,

the link is still to come, I'm not on my laptop

EDIT: Here we go:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=DMVEC2L1

Biffy Clyro - Blackened Sky (Review: Dan)

It's better than I thought actually.

OK, Blackened Sky is a more raw Biffy, like Ben said (although at the time I didn't really understand what he meant by that. I guess you have to listen to it). Musically it's pretty good, songs like "Convex, Concave" and "Justboy" are really, really powerful tracks.

The thing is with this album, it isn't as good as Puzzle, but it's so similar. Blackened Sky feels like the planning for Puzzle. It's like, they know what they can achieve so they've set out to make the best album possible. But they haven't. Simply because they aren't good enough yet. Listening to this feels like stepping into a time machine, and then if you listen to Puzzle you can see what they were trying to do here. That's not to say this isn't good - it's great. If I listened to this in 2003 when I was meant to I'd love it, it's only due to the fact that I've heard the band that they became that this falls short of the mark. There are even songs where I think "Ooh this sounds like 'Get fucked stud' or whatever".

Simon Neil's voice is also pretty poor on the album, but then again it's never been marvellous. There isn't a lot I can say about the album that isn't just a comparison with this one and Puzzle, and that's starting to frustrate me, so I'll close with this:
Blackened Sky is a great album, and it shows the potential Biffy Clyro had. In 2003. It's got plenty of really good tracks, but doesn't seem particularly relevent now.
3/5

Highlights:
Joy. Discovery. Invention
Convex, Concave
Scary Mary

Dan

Little fun fact I noticed: In all of my reviews for this weeks albums, I complained about the vocals. The album I posted didn't have any vocals.

Rise Against - The Sufferer and the Witness (2006)

Rise Against are one of those bands that a lot of people have heard of but have often not taken the time to actually listen to despite them having 3 very good albums. The Sufferer and the Witness is in my opinion the best of their albums and once you get past the strong political messages it has some incredibly good songs, notably 'Injection', 'Prayer of the Refugee' and 'Drones'. Me and Dan are going to see them at the end of November and I know Jiffy loved them at Reading in the summer so hopefully the rest of you can enjoy this album too.

Ben

Download it: http://rapidshare.com/files/221603498/T-S-A-T-W.rar

Noah and the Whale - The First Days of Spring (2009)

Noah and the Whale are best known for their (s)hit single "5 years time" from their debut album. Knowing this song alone, I intended to go and watch and mock their performance at this year's Reading Festival. When I got there this was a totally different story. I was there alone, and it was amazing. They aren't the band I thought they were at all. They played a very mellow set, and completely excluded their poppy single(s).

When I got back from the festival I went out and purchased their brand new album (this one). I got home and listened to it, and it's an absolutely beatiful album. It's really mellow and fantastic to relax to. Elliott is the only other person who's listened to it and he loves it also. So consider this a double recommendation.

To this day I've still never heard the album that spawned "5 years Time" and I don't intend to. I'm perfectly content. Enjoy, I'm now going to review Biffy Clyro as no one else did last week :(

Download it: http://rapidshare.com/files/275291574/NhTWhl_TFrstDysOfSping.zip

Billy Talent - Live at Brixton Academy (Live Review: Dan)

Last night I saw Billy Talent for the 4th time, and this was the first time it was one of their headline shows.
After a few mess ups on my part regarding the train tickets we eventually arrived at Brixton Academy as the doors were opened. We got in and headed down towards the front, past the mental rail in the middle of the dreadful sloped floor. Pretty soon Canterbury took to the stage. Matt and I have seen this band before, playing somewhere with All Forgotten. I had forgotten how young they all are, I'd probably say they are all around 17 or 18 years old. I think for them to be playing infront of a crowd at Brixton is fantastic at their age, and I felt a little bit jealous. Canterbury actuall put on a really decent show. They weren't brilliant performers but they played their songs well. In any case, it was a nice start to the show.

We were then greeted by the most awful human being on earth. He was probably about 16, but he was pretty big. A lot taller than I am, and pretty chunky too. He was wearing an iron maiden jacket with no sleeves, on top of a black tank top. He already looked like a loser, but it wasn't before Cancer Bats came on stage that he sealed his position as worst person ever.
Speaking of Cancer Bats, they're pretty awful people too. The guitarist looked like a Viking, and the singer was just awful. He had a horrible speaking voice and an even worse "singing" voice. He also had a shit haircut. It's essentially just a mohawk...but not glued. His presence reminded me of Bert McCracken of the Used, in that he was very greasy and slimy.
In terms of their music, I hated it. But I reckon they were probably quite good. I bet their fans loved it, and their wanker of a frontman actually looked like he did his job quite well. The worst person ever, mentioned earlier, liked them though. In support of this he kept raising his fist in the air. That's when it hit us; the stench. Everytime he raised his arm he unleashed the worst B.O smell ever. I think I almost collapsed at one point. I also decided to watch him for a while when he ran like an excited child (which I suppose he sort of was) into a mosh pit. He was throwing his weight around and just bouncing off people. At a point, someone fell down. He looked really angry when people were helping the guy up, and his face said 'why are you helping him? the aim is to kill him'. But anyway, Cancer Bats got through their set and we moved away from him.

After a fairly drawn out moment while we waited for the main event, Billy Talent emerged from backstage. They eased into The Dead Can't Testify from the new album. I thought this was a poor choice for an opening song, simply because it's pretty new and it isn't a single, so there weren't a huge number of fans familiar with it. Then they went straight into Devil in a Midnight Mass, which should have been their opener. The crowd were loving it, and at this point the show really began. Their set is full of brilliant songs, and I forget every time I think about them just how many good songs they have. It was a set full of energy and frontman Ben loves the crowd. Highlight of the show is new single Devil on My Shoulder, which was one of the best live songs I've ever seen. After they end the show on popular single Red Flag, everyone slowly emerges from the venue, with a big grin.
Eventually we made it home. Then my car broke.
A solid 4/5 evening.

The Ghost of a Thousand - New Hopes, New Demonstrations (Review: Ben)

I have a huge problem with the post-hardcore genre as a whole. I'm yet to find anything original in the genre and find that a lot of bands seem to go with Alexisonfire's patented format of screaming over the top of a heavy riff and just making general noise. Exit Ten are probably the only post-hardcore band that I enjoy and the rest I tend to just clump together as repetitive and boring. However, I'd hoped that after Matt's recommendation, GOAT would offer me the creativity and inventiveness that I think does exist somewhere within post-hardcore music.

I've listened to the album 3 times through now, and I honestly couldn't remember a single song standing out and making me think much more than 'that was ok'. This is my frustration with post-hardcore music. I don't hate it at all - musically I think this album is quite good - but I almost can't seem to make myself care about the album. It all just seems to blend into one wall of noise and aggression. I'm all for screaming and aggressive vocals and music (Machine Head are one of my favourite bands) but this seems to be aggression without any real purpose or point to it.

I can imagine that live there would be a brilliant energy about GOAT. Their music is lively and hard-hitting enough to make people sit-up and take notice but it struggles to hold my attention for more than a few songs. In terms of the actual content of the album, my favourite track was probably 'Canyons of Static' as it had an ever-so slightly different sound to the rest of the album. Having said that, tracks 9-11 could be equally different but I'd lost a lot of interest by this point.

I can't really find too much more to say about this album other than that I didn't really enjoy it and found it quite hard to listen to. I think that perhaps I need to accept that post-hardcore bands will never be to my taste and am going to rate this album as 1.5/5.

Someone please review Biffy :)

Streetlight Manifesto - Somewhere in the Between (Review:Ben)

My previous experience of Ska music is non-existent and other than a quick 10 minute viewing at Reading '09, I'd never heard of Streetlight Manifesto. Their live performance was fun, for want of a better word but I didn't really feel compelled to go and listen to them on record. Anyway, this is what albumswap is all about and so lets see what Somewhere in the Between has to offer.

The first track grabbed me instantly with its' catchy chorus and almost addictive brass music. It was bouncy and enjoyable as a standalone track but whilst enjoying it, I was quietly hoping that the album would have a change of pace and direction somewhere in order to keep me listening.

Tracks 2 and 3 evoked similar feelings to the opener but by the end of 'Watch it Crash' I felt like I'd heard everything Streetlight Manifesto had to offer and was starting to become a bit bored by their sound. I actually though 'Watch it Crash' was the best track on the album and again was a very good song in its' own right, but in amongst a whole album of similar tracks it all just seems to blend into one. I think this is the main issue with Ska music and why it's never been as big as perhaps it should have been. There's simply no diversity in the music and it can all sound very 'samey'. It's a strange feeling as I like the fusion between brass instruments and rock music and even enjoy the music generally, I just don't think it has any longevity to it and I got bored with it extremely quickly.

My other problem with Streetlight Manifesto is the vocalist. It's been said in previous reviews and I can't help but re-iterate what an awful sound this man is making. As I said in my 65DOS review, I love a good frontman but this man's gravelly voice does nothing for me and I actuallly think it detracts from some very good songs.

As a whole, I'm going to give Streetlight Manifesto 2.5/5. I did find the album fun but the novelty wore off much too quickly and I thought it was highly evident as to why Streetlight Manifesto and Ska music as a whole will never be successful.

Streetlight Manifesto - Somewhere in the Between (Review: Dan)

Somewhere in the Between is a great album. It's fun, it's exciting, and it radiates genius.
I recognized Streetlight Manifesto's name on the Lock-Up stage line up for Reading 2009 but didn't care enough to go and see them. I was more content to watch the awful Funeral for a Friend. However, once we were hiding under a hog roast in the pissing rain and silence, we went to the lock-up tent, where a few of our friends already were. Anyway, I've just told a story that's already been told. Inside the lock up tent, you could literally see fun, excitement and genius. So, when Alex posted this album that's exactly what I expected, and it is exactly what was delivered. I first heard this album when Matt was listening to it, I walked into his room and it was on. I believe I said "This sounds fun."

I do agree with what the cheif said, about it being very similar but not getting bored of it. But that does make it hard to find a favourite track. The two that immediately jump out at me are possibly Watch it Crash or Down, Down, Down to Mephisto's Cafe.

Tomas Kalnoky has a very gravely and punk-sounding voice. It reminds me a lot of Anti-Flag's Justin Sane (obviously not his real name). I don't really like it, but it fits the music unusually well, and I love the quick delivery of his lyrics. I'm also lead to believe that Kalnoky writes all of the musical parts for each album and then the band just play their respective roles. That's impressive, and I have a lot of admiration for his dedication.

So overall, a good release from Streetlight Manifesto. I don't think that I would make an effort to listen to any of their older works though, simply because I feel that I already have plenty, and it is fairly samey.
I will look forward to '99 Songs of Revolution', though, as from what I've read I'm expecting it to have 99 tracks. Seeing as there are 8 discs I don't think that's too much to ask.

Great album, only slightly let down by the vocals, but overall a beatiful introduction. 4.564829/5

Joking... (4.5/5)

Dan

I suppose I'm going to have to review Biffy Clyro aswell now...

Streetlight Manifesto - Somewhere in the Between (Review: The Chief)

I was going to kick off my comeback review by doing The Fall of Math but it seems that that has been done enough and Ben has said a lot of what I was going to say and I wouldn't want to make you read the same thing twice. Therefore I have chosen to do Streetlight Manifesto as I missed them at Reading due to seeing A Place to Bury Strangers (who were fantastic and you should all check them out). I've come to see what all the hype is about.

As this album is actually still downloading I'll write about 65dos a bit. I agree completely with Ben in that the emotion in the songs is quite remarkable but I feel they pull this off much better in their later album The Destruction of Small Ideas. With the exception of Retreat! Retreat! I feel that every track on TDoSI is better than those on Fall of Math. They are executed and produced a lot more professionally and feel a lot deeper to me. One thing I would disagree with Ben and Matt on though is that I do not think that 65days need a vocalist, in fact I think its the last thing they need. What I love about this band is that I can put my own little thoughts as to what the song is about without being told by the lyrics, it makes me think more and my thoughts change everytime - in my opinion this band is perfect at what it does.

OK Streetlight Manifesto has finally finished downloading so we can now get down to business. Now the only 'ska' I've experienced is what the internet calls ska-punk and that makes me think of Less Than Jake, which makes me sad. Also there's Madness of course, I like Madness but they're a bit cheesy. I won't let these two bands cloud my judgement however. I'm actually very excited to be listening to this band.

The first thing that I have to say about this album is that its a lot of fun, bouncy and wholly original. I love the combination of horns and what we call your standard rock instruments, I'm really surprised by how well it works and all fits together. I feel that this is due to Streetlight just being fantastic musicians and I admire them for having the vision to make this kind of music. Another brilliant factor is that this sounds like a genuine genre rather than just a gimmick, which was my major problem with Skindred.

I've found the album to be very consistent, perhaps a bit too consistent as many of the songs sound incredibly similar. Despite this I can't say that its boring at all, which confuses me as I've always considered songs sounding the same a massive let down and gotten quickly bored and I'm sure most of you will agree with me. But SM managed to keep me interested throughout and I find them just a very enjoyable band.

One small thing that I'm not a fan of is the lead vocalist. While I don't mind him I think they could do with one who's somewhat less gravely. His voice seemed to grate on me after a while but luckily I still have the music to enjoy. While I didn't find the lyrics bad or below average I still didn't find them to be the most attention grabbing but I still found that they go well with the music.

Overall this is a very good album that deserved the hype my fellow authors gave it after Reading and now. I was really impressed by the band's originality and musicianship and while I wasn't a big fan of the vocalist the positive aspects outweigh the negative. 4/5

65daysofstatic - The Fall of Math (Review: Ben)

If pushed to say what I feel is the most integral part of any band or album, I'd have to think hard before probably answering vocals or lyrics. For me, vocals are the icing on the cake and make something which could be a bit dull come to life and have so much more meaning and feel to it. All of my favourite bands have frontmen who are incredibly important to the sound of the band and without these frontmen I'm not sure I'd bother listening to the band anymore. Take Alex Turner away from Arctic Monkeys, Dave McPherson from InMe or Simon Neil from Biffy Clyro and you're left with just a small part of what that band were. So, trying to dispell preconceptions about music not containing any vocals, I was extremely interested to hear what 65daysofstatic had to offer with 'The Fall of Math'.

I had imagined that this would be the sort of album that would pass me by without leaving any real impression. That the sound would simply wash over me and leave me with a sense of unfulfilment and a lack of desire to listen again. I couldn't have been more wrong. The first two tracks left me feeling ignorant about my assumption that this album would be empty and devoid of any emotion. I was stunned at how powerful music can be within this genre without vocals. It felt almost as if 65DOS didn't have the distraction of vocals and so could focus fully on writing the best music they can. So many times I've listened to bands who have had so much focus on the frontman that the actual music is boring and generic and could be anyone else in the world. 65DOS avoid this by creating their own sound which is encapsulating in itself and stand on its own without the need for a vocal. Sure, they're not the greatest musicians in the world and if Matt Bellamy, Dave Grohl etc got together and did a similar project the results would probably be much more enjoyable, but something about the raw sound of 65DOS makes them different and appealing in a way I've not found in a band before.

Moving on with the actual album, 'Retreat! Retreat!' and 'Swallowed Hard Like I Understood' are both absolutely outstanding tracks. They showcase the bands full potential fantastically well and sound as if the band are just enjoying making music which in the right context and arena could potentially be epic. Other highlights include 'The Fall of Math' and 'Hole' and I'd go as far to say that there isn't a single track I'd regard as a 'filler' track on the album. For me there is nothing worse than buying an album from a band and there being 4 outstanding tracks and 6 or 7 tracks where the band just amble through a song and you can tell it was nowhere near them at their best. 65DOS have produced an album which starts out brilliantly and raises the bar with every song.

However, despite how good I think this album is musically, I can't help but wonder what they could be with a vocalist. Our ideology of 'rock' music - for want of a better term - is that you have a drummer, a bassist, one or two lead guitarists and a vocalist. Without one of these integral pieces, it will always feel like there is a vital piece of the puzzle missing and I can't seem to shake that desire to hear what 65daysofstatic could produce with a vocalist added to their sound. For that reason I'm going to score this album as 8.5/10 but I will definitely continue to listen to their stuff and hope to seem them live in the not so distant future as well.

Ben

The Ghost of a Thousand - New Hopes, New Demonstrations (Review: Dan)

I've always moaned about Ghost of a Thousand because I said they sounded like Gallows. Upon listening I've since learned that's not really true.
I'm torn with GOAT. Musically it's pretty good, it's fast, it's agressive and it's a good listen all the way through. Vocally it's a different story though. Tom Lacey has an unusual vocal style. His screaming is like a slightly less gravel-y and a higher-pitched Frank Carter (Gallows). In fact I'd say he's like the exact midpoint between Carter and Joel O'Keefe (Airbourne). Ocassionally on the record there are vocal parts that are sung. I'm curious as to whether or not this is the same man, because it sounds a lot like Morrissey...

Moved By Mountains, Dreamt of by the Sea is a great album opener; it displays exactly what to expect from the album. The energy throughout the album is maintained pretty much all the way through, and they're one of those bands you can tell would put on a good live show. They didn't do what most hardcore/post-hardcore bands do these days, which is have a load of fast songs, and then throw in a few softer, slower ones. It's almost as if it's the rule to do this (see Alexisonfire). Speaking of Alexisonfire, the guitar-work is very similar in the two bands, but where AOF can't seem to stick to one rythm, constantly slowing songs down, chucking solos about and doing the same with the vocals, GOAT succeed. GOAT keep things simple and consistent and it's effective in it's execution.

My only problem is that I found myself bored on the third listen. I've never liked the vocal style that GOAT have gone with, which was always going to be a problem. One of the main reasons I've enjoyed post-hardcore bands is because there is always a Dallas Green to keep me hooked. GOAT don't really offer me that, it's just a full-on assault from start to finish. NH,ND is a good album...I just don't really like it. Also, I don't know whether it's the fault of Matt's provided link or the production of the album but it doesn't sound very good. The vocals are much quieter than the music, and a lot of the time is sounds quite muffled. Canyons of Static also annoys me, as I'm sure you can guess from the title, they seem to have thrown some annoying static sounds in there, which does nothing but ruin the music.

This is the second album I'm going to give 3/5 to this week, because it's pretty mixed, but more good than it is bad. And I don't really like it...An interesting listen though, I'd certainly recommend it to fans of the genre.

Standout Tracks:
Moved as Moutains, Dreamt of by the Sea
Running on Empty
Fed to the Ocean

Dan

65daysofstatic - The Fall of Math (Review: Matt)

Imagine, if you will, a football team without a striker. Sure, they might have the best midfielders in the world and create beautiful attacking moves, but they just won’t ever score. They are lacking that cutting edge, and no matter how nice the football they play may be, they won’t ever win. I’m sure you can see what I’m getting at with this.

A quick glance at the Top 40 Singles and you will notice that the bands that make an appearance right now are Cobra Starship, Foo Fighters, Lostprophets, Kings of Leon and The Editors. One thing all of these bands have in common is a stand-out front man. Radiohead, Coldplay and the Arctic Monkeys are probably the three most successful British bands around right now, and in each of their case only the diehard fans know of anyone but the lead singers.

A front man gives a voice and face to the music, and I’m finding it extremely difficult to listen to a band without one. The music lacks direction, and whilst 65daysofstatic’s members aren’t awful musicians, they aren’t particularly outstanding either. I was expecting an industrial sound, and have no idea why. During the first track it seemed like I was going to get one, but it soon moves on to become mediocre rock that could, depending on the style of an added vocalist, pretty much be categorised as anything. Add a Thom Yorke and you’d have to call them alternative rock, add a screamer and they’d be called post-hardcore. But as it stands they are, well, nothing.

After earlier reviewing a band with a vocalist that demanded attention, I can treat this album with nothing other than contempt. It sounds unfinished, and does nothing to capture my imagination. I don’t think I’ll be delving into the murky waters of ‘rock music without vocals’ again.

I’m giving this album a stupendous 15%, solely because the first minute of Default This is quite nice.