TOO MANY VOICES 'South of Sunrise' (2015)

I'm so out of the loop with New York punk and hardcore bands, but this album on Bandcamp is cool. Very nostalgic sound recalling not so much pop punk, but more melodic hardcore. And emo CORE when it originated on Dischord records. The guitar playing is what stands out for me, recalling Brian Baker in mid period Dag Nasty. And an almost John Stabb/Government Issue approach from their early days. Cohesive songs. I'l revisit this album too later on. 'Voices' is the standout track and the production is a treat since it doesn't sound so compressed as digital recording usually do.

PRONG 'Unleashed in the West. Official Bootleg' (2015)

I've been following Prong for decades and I'm still a HUGE fan. I'm not quite sure though what the purpose of this album is. Perhaps Tommy wanted to get some old classic songs re-recorded with his new band or maybe just reinterpret some of the more produced songs and cast them to a stripped down version. Either way, its a great live in the studio recording much much better than the '100% Live' album which did not sound that great. Being a Prong snob, I would have picked a few different songs to record live. but its a great workout album for me at the gym. Anxiously awaiting the new album. PRONG X: No Absolutes.

SIX FINGER SATELLITE 'Severe Exposure' (1995)

After listening to this album a few times, I realized that it would be too myopic to simply call this a noise album. Oh its plenty distorted and fucked up, but its also got a lot of well planned structure and even new wavey synths. Some flat out lo fi punk and hardcore tracks and some damaged electronica too. So, yes...the music is all over the map. Typical of what might have been on the Vermiform label, though this oddly enough wound up on Sub Pop. Not sure if I want to see what else they'd done besides this.

MYRKUR 'self titled' (2014)

Fairly original black metal from Danish 1 woman band ( Amalie Bruun ) with layered Gothic church vocals as the songs' main focus. The music in the backdrop is typical blasting, lo fi rumblings. The attraction seems to be the voice and not really the music which is fine. And I guess that's represented in the cover art. I've no idea how this will be translated live.

STEVIE RAY VAUGHN 'Greatest Hits' (1995)

Knowing essentially zero about this guy but seeing his name in Guitar Great lists, I'm somewhat  ashamed that since I play guitar I have never listened to any of his albums before this week. One doesn't have to be a rocket scientist to hear that this guy was a mind blowing player. Collision of technical skill and feeling. 'Little Wing' is the crux of the matter for that statement. And the action on his guitar must have been a dream. I knew he died, but didn't know at such a young age. Put this one in my reference list for unwinding times.

COCK SPARRER 'Shock Troops' (1982)

I never knew that the main sound of this band referenced glam rock more than angry punk pub rock. Spinning this album for the past 2 days now and 'Working' comes across as the song with the biggest memorable hook. I hear more of an Undertones influence than anything else. I know they'd morphed into a 'working class themed Oi band, but this is a terrific and catchy NY Dolls-esque album. I like this more than the Rose Tattoo album I'd heard earlier this month. I'd seen that last year that they'd played a few sold out shows in the U.S. and I think that's cool that old schooly stuff is still supported and relevant. Reminder to self to visit their later music later in the year.

TEARS FOR FEARS 'Everybody Loves a Happy Ending' (2004)

This album needs to be dissected and analyzed. Released in 2004 when I was obsessed with house music and had the 80's in a dormant folder, Tears for Fears who have some feel good hits under their belt came back with a modern sounding (comeback?) album. But without rehashing former glories of their own, the opening track goes deep into Beatlemania territory. After questioning whether I should begrudge a vocalist because he sounds like someone else, I'd determined that even the musical ambitions smack of Sgt. Peppers. So evident on and off..and on...and off.
A modern sounding record with zero nods to 'Shout' or any of their other hits. It was only when I got to the bonus material of house music remixes; 'Closest Thing to Heaven' by Brothers in Rhythm Group that reignited my interest. Capitalizing on a wonderful vocal melody I went back to the album version and realized why they picked this for the single.
Complicated album which probably took ages to assemble and mix, and I won't minimize their work on this by just giving it 1 day.

SAVAGE REPUBLIC '1938' (2007)

I remember this gritty, tribal - almost industrial sounding band from California when I used to play their music on my college radio show on WSIA, Staten Island in the mid 80's. Very unique sound. This album, their 5th got released by Neurosis' in house label Neurot Recordings. True to classic Savage Republic form, the album explores different textures and approaches, often minimalist in idea, Still bizarre.

ROTTEN SOUND 'Exit' (2005)

From the NASUM school of grindcore, we have Rotten Sound from Finland. If I didn't know better, I'd have thought these were outtakes from Nasum's 'Shift' album which is in my top 3 grindcore albums ever. They keep the ideas short and blasts once again at jackhammer speed. Cathartic album. Perfect for when the mood strikes me.

JAPANDROIDS 'Celebration Rock' (2012)

Canadian duo here made a very catchy album and its pretty terrific. Drums sound like they're programmed and that's OK. No one cares anymore. There's a great deal of melody and actually songs to elicit repeated plays. Will have it on rotation for the next few days. Only 1 clunker.

DESPERATE JOURNALIST 'self titled' (2014)

Very 'iffy' band name but great sound. Somewhere between shoe gaze and Brit pop. Songs so damn catchy and often downright haunting, I played this album 4 times in a row yesterday. Jo Beven's gorgeous vocals steal the show and she probably knows it by now. Two standout tracks that I tagged for return are 'Distance' which is completely heartfelt and 'Heartbeats' which is my pick hit from the album. Nice work,

TALK TALK 'The Colour of Spring (1986)

Anything that's on a playlist of any of the guys from Marillion automatically gets my attention. I actually heard a few tracks years ago but never got to listen to the entire album start to finish. British New wave/synth pop that went into more diverse and experimental song structures. I guess this was their 3rd album. I like it plenty. Relaxing, ambient and melancholy. Singer reminds me of Bob Geldoff a bit. Another album I will revisit. Fave track: 'I Don't Believe in You' which looks to be one of the singles.

PIL '2nd Edition' or 'Metal Box' (1979)

Ugh. Awful album. Borderline un-listenable. No idea what the appeal of this record is, but I'm not a fan of the Birthday Party either which this kind of sounds like. No thanks.

INTERPOL 'Elpintor' (2014)

HELL YES. Masterpiece here. Brilliant and beautiful (5th) album from this band. Love the haunting guitar work. I think it has potential to be equally as good as their first 2 albums. I know they're big time now and they deserve it. The opener 'All the Rage Back Home' must be the single.

THE PALE PACIFIC 'Gravity Gets Things Done' (2004)

I LOVES me some Pale Pacific. Seattle band of indie rock kids that can write a hell of a damn good song. I played their 'Urgency' album over and over.  Was pleased to see more of their output floating around. Equally good, sometimes sappy but not over dramatic. I don't know if they're still a band anymore, but they have a live album out too which I'll probably check out later in time. 'Space to Move' the opener on this album is classic Pale Pacific. Later on, they once again make great use of electric piano. They'll probably never play the East Coast, but I'd go in a heartbeat.

SLEATER-KINNEY 'No Cities to Love' (2015)

Another band that I ignored for 2 decades. Formed in early 1994 in Olympia, Washington. Newest album has been getting great reviews and I'll agree that its something that deserves more play. Vocals are strong and tuneful. It's a concise album and "doesn't feel the need to push the CD envelope to get to 70 minutes" as my friend TJ puts it.

ARCTIC MONKEYS 'AM' (2013)

Once again, thanks to that very good Spotify 'Garage' playlist, and someone making fun of me asking if I was going to see the Arctic Monkeys (I guess hipsters like these guys or something?) I was able to discover another good album which starts out terrific and remains sorta solid as it goes along. The first 4 songs are amazing and they seem to capitalize on that all too common Orange amplification distorto sound. Some soulful backing vocals and a lot of hard drum bashing. Catchy and fairly unique.  Pick hits: 'R U Alone' and 'One for the Road'.  After the 5th track, I think it loses some steam.

The KILLERS 'Hot Fuss' (2004)

Aside from what wound up being the hit on this album, that 'you got a boyfriend that looks like a girlfriend, or whatever he says, this turned out to be a really wonderful album that I finally got around to checking out start to finish. In fact, many repeated plays. I remember being in some bar in Manhattan when it came out and asking the bartender who was also controlling the music what band it was. And then I forgot to ever follow up. Now since the boat has long passed and I'd been reintroduced to them via the Spotify 'new garage' or whatever that playlist is. Lots of melancholy hooks on this album and the singer is great. Revisit: Definitely

SASHA 'Last Night on Earth' volume 9 (2016)

https://soundcloud.com/last-night-on-earth/sasha-presents-last-night-on-earth-009-january-2016

I go through days at a time a lot where I just listen to streams of DJ sets. I love Sasha's music and have for almost 20 years. This Soundcloud series is so ridiculously incredible. Mostly vocal free house- electronica. Rarely a track that I don't like. The tubal bell track around the 25 minute mark is flawless. Lots of dark and haunting music. Seamlessly mixed. Need to hear Sasha live one day.

HOODOO GURUS 'Mars Needs Guitars' (1985)

Another band I would have never liked around 85 since I was too deep into hardcore punk and metal. I appreciate these guys a lot more know and there are a few pick hits on this abum like 'Bittersweet' that stick out as memorable, but I don't know if I'll have the stamina to sit through the entire album again. Still, a few tracks will be screen scraped for a best of master comp.

BLITZ 'All Out Blitz: The Very Best of Blitz'

I remember the punk hits they had but was always spooked by a lot of Oi. My friend Scott suggested that I delve back into their music so I'm doing a Best Of. The stuff I know still sounds like fun raw rock and roll. What I was really shocked with, was the new wave album they released in 1983, a complete and I'm sure an unacceptable departure for the band back then. I like this sound a lot more now. Probably would have hated it in 1983. With the 3 or 4 chord punk rock and roll, there's some direct Still Little Fingers and Sex Pistols lifts.

COLDPLAY 'A Head Full of Dreams (2015)

Yeah, I like Coldplay and I don't give a shit who knows about it. I like their music and this guy's voice. They write good songs, melancholy, uplifting, and a lot of the time just beautiful. Good album upon my first listen, though it will be hard to top 'Ghost Stories'.

MEG BOWLES 'Blue Cosmos' (1996)

I'm always looking for ambient stuff and this is pretty floaty and nice. Some decent compositions.
I'll revisit this and mark off a few favorites as this is the stuff that sounds relaxing when I try to write computer programs, And sleep.

ROSE TATTOO 'Assault and Battery' (1981)

Good hard rock. Heard the name but somehow never really listened to the whole album. AC/DC meets Thin Lizzy. Catchy songs, but the guitar sound is straight off of the Bon Scott AC/DC era.

BOARDS OF CANADA 'Music Has the Right to Children'

There's nothing I don't like from this electronic outfit. Some dark, mysterious, and some downright creepy stuff on this album. The art for the cover is ace too. Reminds of Richard Barbieri's music (Porcupine Tree) . Smoothe samples. Haunting.

B.B. KING 'Anthology'

Having never actually sat down and listened to an album of his, I decided it was time to sample a selected best of start to finish. It's pretty clear in the music here, where a great deal of the riffs I'd learned to play on guitar and bass originated from. Or at least were made popular. It's easy to get these call and response lines caught in your head.

THE WHITE STRIPES 'White Blood Cells' (2001)

So Rolling Stone magazine places this in the top 500 greatest albums ever. Its got a few novelty songs that are good but I fail to understand why they'd deem it so great. 

Ok, after another day of listening, I recognize the 'Friend's song from Napoleon Dynamite. Great song.

SNEAKER PIMPS 'Becoming REMIXED (1998)

For as much as I loathe Hip Hop, I truly embrace TRIP Hop. I first heard a dance remix of Sneaker Pimps 'Spin Spin Sugar' in 1997 on a mixed house music tape and I liked the chorus. So almost 20 years later by a bizarre fluke, I found this album of remixes which was released in 1998.
Kelli Dayton sang on the original album 'Becoming X' but apparently was asked to leave. They made a video and stuck around until 2002. And now it looks like remaining member Liam Howe is gearing up to do another album after all these years.

SNOW PATROL 'A Hundred Million Suns' (2008)

Oh crap, this is not a good thing. I'd hit on an album that I hadn't discovered from Snow Patrol and its in the ballpark with 'Eye's Open' which is one of my top 10 albums of all time. This will with no doubt be consuming a ton of my time in the next week. I need to see this band live at least once. Bucket list and for sure.

KULA SHAKER "Kollected - The Best of Kula Shaker"

Heard their name floating around for some time now and I guess this best of album is the place I'm going to start. From the same school as The Verve and Oasis, this is really good 60s sounding psychedelic rock that makes me wish I had a Fender Strat. Once again, a subtle drummer that steals the show from tome to time.

Favorite cuts;Sound of Drums, Start All Over.
Revisit: Yes.

...AND YOU WILL KNOW US BY THE TRAIL OF DEAD 'Lost Songs' (2012)

Apparently their 8th album. I don't know too much of their material, but I liked the 'Madonna' album and thought I'd investigate this. Provides beautiful dissonance. An easy listen of an album. Noisy surges and clean indie guitars. And one amazing drummer. If this was more polished it would be prog rock and probably suck. I like the indie charm here. By the end of the year, I'll have quite a few favorites from this album. Definitely going to revisit.

QUEEN 'A Night at the Odeon' (Recorded live 1975)

Whoooah! Where did this come from??

Recorded live at the legendary Hammersmith Odeon in Dec 1975, a complete GEM of a new album released 40 years later. Only a few verses of Bohemian Rhapsody, and the rest is faster, darker, heavier Queen. Mammoth recording here. I love the band's 76 forward output, but the first 3 albums will always be my favorite as they were a big part of the creation of heavy metal, I believe.

For decades, I didn't think there were any professional recordings of music from 1972 through 1975. Glad to see this and the BBC tapes seeing the light of day.

Hearing this version of 'White Queen' brings a tear to my eye. Even BETTER than the studio version.

This will be in regular rotation for the rest of the year. The rhythm section that was Roger Taylor/John Deacon so strong as always.

BARONESS 'Purple' (2015)

Baroness 'Purple' (2015)

I liked all of their previous releases. Heavy rock, crushing bass with somewhat tuneful vocals. These seem more like 'songs' than the previous ones I'd heard. I've been spinning this album almost non stop for the past 3 days. The Brian May guitar influence is coming across big time at this point. They have the guitar sound of his solos mimicked. Placed in the right spots to create some more 'anthemic' sounding songs. 'Shock Me' is my pick hit of this album and I'm pretty sure they planned it that way. Mature sounding. Had they released this in Jan of 2016 instead of late 2015, I'm making a call that it would have been a contended for one of 2016's best.

DEAFHEAVEN 'New Bermuda' (2015)

In spite of a series of terrible album covers and a lot of hype with the hipsters, I'd decided to check this band out myself and surprise! I like them. Its gravelly and has a lot of the typical elements of black metal, but breaks down nicely in places with pretty indie guitar noodlings. I had a heavy metal radio shuffle on and their track 'Brought to the Water' stood out and made me take notice.. A few repeated listening and I'm sold that they're a unique band.