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JASON EADY — AM COUNTRY HEAVEN

May 242012

All over the internets you can find those that are unhappy with the Country music you hear coming out of the radio. Although there is some debate how large the group is, there is no doubt they are vocal. Just hang around SavingCountryMusic.com for any length of time if you don’t believe me. If you fall into this group, AM Country Heaven is a must have for your collection.

Instead of straddling the fence, as many country artists do, and putting out an album with a classic country “feel”, Jason has gone head first into recreating classic country. There is no updating the sound here. From the start you are transported back to the 70s.

The CD opens with the title track, which can only be described as the ultimate song for the country disenfranchised. Inspired by a line from a guy after a show in Luckenbach, TX, who said, “Welcome to Hill Country, home of AM country heaven and FM country hell,” it laments the death of traditional country and condemns the rise of pop country.

After venting his frustration, Jason moves on for the rest of the album to more typical traditional country topics: hard times, hard drinkin’, and hard love. “Old Guitar” sounds like it could have come from any Waylon album. “Longer Walk in the Rain” could easily fit into Keith Whitley’s catalog. And on “Paid My Dues”, when Jason sings, “Maybe it’s the cocaine, maybe it’s the pills, maybe it’s the habits, maybe it’s the bills,” it doesn’t take a large leap to imagine Hank Sr. singing that same line. One of the highlights of the CD is an outstanding duet with Patty Loveless, “Man on a Mountain”. Jason’s breathy twang flows easily with Patty’s iconic vocals, which are as strong as ever.

It’s clear from listening to this CD Jason’s love for old country runs deep. To be able write songs so uniquely true to the history of country music, Jason must know that history inside and out. And for those who deeply love that history, it is a relief to know that there are young musicians who love that history as well. There is hope that it won’t fade away.

Jason Eady – AM Country Heaven
Jason Eady – Man On A Mountain
Jason Eady – Paid My Dues

Jason Eady’s Official Site, Jason Eady on Facebook, Jason Eady on Spotify, Buy AM Country Heaven

WORLD GOTH DAY: SISTERS OF MERCY

May 222012

As I mentioned earlier, it’s World Goth Day. I’m not sure why May 22nd is World Goth Day nor do I really care. Having come up in the goth/industrial clubs as an industrial kid I always thought everything about the goth subculture was stupid except for the corsets with the plunging necklines but I’m not gonna let that get in the way of a good story. So let’s all do a little research and be goth for a day.

You can’t say “goth music” without thinking Sisters Of Mercy. Andrew Eldritch (singer) would argue that they’re a “rock” band not a “goth” band but let’s be honest; pasty kids with hair dye budgets and a penchant for clove cigarettes have paid his bills these past 30 something years and there is nothing MORE goth than saying you’re not goth.

Now, despite my comeuppance as a “rivethead” the Sisters and I have had a pretty fantastic history together. My first “scene” tshirt? A Sisters shirt. My first “scene” sticker on my car? A Sisters sticker. The first “scene” band I denounced as too mainstream for my palate? Yup, The Sisters of Mercy. We may have only tolerated one another on our best days but the goth and industrial kids always agreed that the more obscure and imported your music (and shirts) was, the more fuckable you were.

Incidentally, the first time I ever danced at a club it was to “This Corrosion” by our buddies, The Sisters Of Mercy. This Corrosion. All 10 minutes and 18 seconds of it. Every. single. repetitious. beat. of those 618 seconds. I was up in Tallahassee, I was underage drunk, I was with a girl and I was undefeatable. For about 2 minutes anyway. Then, I realized I had repeated my moves, had no more and there were still 8 more minutes of that monotonous fucking drum beat left. I spent those next 8 minutes getting more and more self-conscious with my two dance moves.

That night I learned a few things. One, no one really pays attention to the dance floor. Two, dancing, even if it’s bad greatly increases your fuckability (this only works up to a certain level of bad though) and if you’re dancing in some super-obscure German band whose shirt you bought and had imported the skys will rain corset pushed up cleavage down upon you like the goth god you imagine you are. And finally; never dance to Sisters Of Mercy songs.

Any how, Happy (why the fuck is it on May 22) World Goth Day. Smoke a clove, drink some absinthe and watch an Ann Rice movie tonight.

Sisters Of Mercy – This Corrosion
Sisters Of Mercy – More
Sisters Of Mercy – Gimmie Shelter

HAPPY WORLD GOTH DAY: 140 CHARACTER REVIEWS: MARILYN MANSON — BORN VILLAIN

May 222012

Today is World Goth Day and we shall post accordingly…

140 Character Reviews is an occasional reoccurring post where we take a highly anticipated album and record our impressions of it track-by-track as we hear it for the first time. We withhold the right to change our minds a few listens later.

I’ve been a Marilyn Manson fan since Antichrist Superstar. I’ve seen him in concert three times, most recently playing a double-bill with Slayer where he held his own. I consider The Golden Age of Grotesque to be an incredible album, the highwater point where Manson found a way to fuse his spooky carnival barker and his anarchistic weirdo without trying to be everything to everybody goth. That said, his last two albums, Eat Me, Drink Me and The High End of Low, have not been the commercial successes he likely wanted, even if they did produce a handful of really strong songs. Born Villain is his eighth studio album.

  • Hey, Cruel World: This blasts off with urgency, although the track, as a whole, is a little uneven. It’s not nearly as good as “This is the New Shit,” or “If I was Your Vampire,” as far as opening songs, and ranks somewhere behind “Devour.”
  • No Reflection: Very strong track. The kind of song that would play great live. I particularly like the “Ra-oh-ha-ha-ohhhh” refrain.
  • Pistol Whipped: Best song so far. Classic, controversial MM song about a twisted couple who co-mingle sex with bloody violence.
  • Overneath the Path of Misery: Distorted spoken word intro that kicks into a nice NIN-inspired blast of dark electronica. There’s a lot going on here. It’s like a slice of crazy between two pieces of moldy bread, but it kind of works.
  • Slo-Mo-Tion: Sounds like a lost track from Mechanical Animals. MM rails against reality TV, I think, while experimenting with different chord breaks. Too weird to be a single, for sure, but not awful.
  • The Gardener: Bizarre spoken word song about not fitting in. Very experimental. Not great.
  • The Flowers of Evil: Halfway mark. This is definitely an album for headphones. Nearly every song has spoken murmurs or noodling in the background.  Best chorus of any song so far, but not the best song by far.
  • Children of Cain: Part of me wants to dismiss this as Glenn Danzig trying to pen a Led Zepplin-esque epic. Part of me likes the phrasing that Manson has crafted. Final feeling – indifference.
  • Disengaged: More talking, followed by screaming. Awful chorus. First song I skipped through. Nine songs in, and so far I only like two of them.
  • Lay Down Your Goddamn Arms: I wanted to love this song. It hooked me immediately through the first chorus, then lost me, then hooked me again, then lost me. Totally frustrated when it’s over.
  • Murderers Are Getting Prettier Every Day: First knock-down, hard rocking song on the disc, but by the halfway mark, I was still on the fence. Not a good sign. Am I getting too old to appreciate MM?
  • Born Villain: Another missed opportunity. A title track called “Born Villain” should be a Grand Slam for Manson. It’s a bunt single. At best.
  • Breaking the Same Old Ground: Prophetic summation for this album? It’s starting to look that way. This ballad pales compared to “The Nobodies” or “Long Hard Road Out of Hell.” Manson needs a new shtick, and I’m saying that as a fan.
  • You’re So Vain: Third good song on the album, and it’s a cover. Manson has a way with interpreting other artists. This ranks right up there with his version of “Tainted Love.” I see this getting lots of airplay, which is deserved.
  • No Reflection (Radio Edit): Clocks in 1:25 shorter than the unedited version. I prefer the longer version, but the radio edit is strong.

Final thoughts: Manson should have ended the album with “You’re So Vain,” so he went out on a high note. Out of 14 new songs, I only liked three. The good news is those three songs are really good. The bad news: Most of the album left me completely indifferent. To call this a major disappointment would be an understatement.

Marilyn Manson – Sweet Dreams (AIV thinks this was the best song MM ever recorded and would even say that it’s better than the original)

IS THIS THE FIRST DUBSTEP SONG EVER?

May 172012

All credit goes to my sister-in-law for finding this/sending it my way. Could she have found the first dubstep song ever? Should we start dropping Skrillex/Beatles comparisons?

Check it out around 0:56 and lemme know your thoughts.

New London Fire – The Dirt The Blood The Faith

May 152012

New London Fire of Asbury Park, NJ experiments with sound, creating an exciting, and often surprising, aural landscape that propels the superb first half of their third album, The Dirt The Blood The Faith.

Kicking off with “Other Side of Town,” the band careens like an old wooden roller coaster car whizzing dangerously fast along a rickety track. “Rise,” another standout, becomes an ominous, atmospheric anthem that perfectly segues into “Until the Light Goes Out on Me,” a short campfire hymn presented as a sing-along. “I Don’t See You Anymore” has the breezy vibe of vintage Gram Parsons, and would be a perfect pick for a Golden Smog-inspired playlist. “Arizona” is one of two bloody murder ballads, along with “The Dirt The Blood The Faith,” and both rank among the best cuts off an album rich with choice tracks. “The Dirt The Blood The Faith,” with its dark overtones and arena-ready chorus, reminded me instantly of Pink Floyd’s 1987 classic, A Momentary Lapse of Reason, where David Gilmour took the reigns and created a sonic masterpiece.

If there’s a complaint to be made, it’s simply that the second half of the album loses focus and becomes too repetitive. That isn’t to suggest that the final four songs, “The Jungle,” “Ain’t Wagin War,” “Brothers” and “October,” are bad or qualify as filler. They aren’t, and they don’t. They just fail to leap up and grab you like the earlier songs. And, since they are the final four songs, the album sadly limps off instead of saving one last ass-kicking tune for the very end.

Still, an album with six stellar tracks out of 10 total is an album deserving to be heard. And New London Fire is absolutely a band to watch.

New London Fire – Other Side of Town
New London Fire – Rise
New London Fire – The Dirt The Blood The Faith

New London Fire’s Official Site – http://www.newlondonfire.com/, New London Fire on Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/newlondonfireband, New London Fire on Spotify, Buy The Dirt The Blood The Faith

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