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In Montreal by 256

admin — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 02:00:19 +0000

MeFi Music
Ever listened to the Friends theme song and thought: that needs to be sampled and used in a heavy metal ballad? I have. SMUT is primarily a two man band, of which I am the lyricist, vocalist and sometimes the bass player.

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New Music Report: Avett Brothers, Plus La Roux

BASOAdmin — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 21:01:24 +0000

Rolling Stone’s Kevin O’Donnell spotlights the Avett Brothers’ major-label debut, I and Love and You, in this week’s roundup of essential new releases. The North Carolina trio get an assist from Rick Rubin on the disc, which results in polished songs including upbeat jams and pretty piano ballads, like the title track, which shows off brothers Scott and Seth Avett’s Beatlesque harmonies.

Also out: the self-titled debut from La Roux, a next big thing from Britain who churn out Eighties-style pop made of cheap synths, skittering beats and cheap come-ons from sassy frontwoman Elly Jackson. The best track: “In for the Kill,” a tune that would rock as the theme for the next James Bond movie.

>>Watch every episode of our weekly New Music Report video podcast by subscribing via iTunes (when prompted, click “Launch application”). Every Tuesday, a new episode will be delivered to your iTunes. [If you don’t have iTunes, download it here.]

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New Reviews: Madonna, Paramore, Mariah Carey and More

BASOAdmin — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 21:35:02 +0000

A host of big-name artists are releasing albums this week, starting with Madonna’s double-disc collection dedicated to her entire tenure on Warner Music, Celebration. Packing 34 hits and two new songs onto two discs, Celebration is a dizzying, non-chronological journey through the Material Girl’s hits, from “Burning Up” to “Dress You Up” to “Hung Up.” “Her hitmaking genius is unmatched and — with the new Eurocheese blast ‘Celebration’ and the Lil Wayne duet ‘Revolver’ — undiminished,” Rob Sheffield writes in his four-star Rolling Stone review of the collection. “It’s almost enough to make you forget that they left off ‘Angel,’ which is just plain crazypants.” If by some chance you’re somehow unfamiliar with the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer’s oeuvre, or you’re a child of the Britney era, Celebration is a perfect entry point.

Paramore’s third album Brand New Eyes also lands today. On their Rob Cavallo-produced LP, fiery-haired frontwoman Hayley Williams and the rest of Paramore deviate from their mall punk Riot! for something deeper, lambasting TV preachers, questioning the future and trying their hand at an acoustic ballad. When they hit, they nail it, however as Jon Dolan writes in his three-star review, “some of the sweeping moments blunt the band’s fresh-faced immediacy — as if the cute kids from the sticks have had a hard time turning pro.”

And then, there’s Mariah. After a handful of delays, Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel finally arrives in a fiercely competitive sales week. Teaming with the all-star production duo of The-Dream and “Tricky” Stewart and revealing a humorous side usually hidden by the diva, “the result is Carey’s most sonically and tonally coherent release, a mix of love ballads (’Inseparable’) and sassy breakup anthems (’Standing O’) that might have been her best album had it been several songs shorter,” Jody Rosen writes in his three-and-a-half star review. Unfortunately, Memoirs’s second half isn’t quite the page-turner, thanks largely to her plodding cover of Foreigner’s “I Want to Know What Love Is.”

The influx of divas on the New Releases display not your thing? There’s also the Avett Brothers’ lush chamber folk major label debut I and Love and You, produced by Rick Rubin. For the dark and dramatic set, AFI’s Crash Love earned three stars from RS, while Alice in Chains’ Black Gives Way to Blue didn’t exactly have us excavating our flannel. For the rest of this week’s New Reviews, check below:

• La Roux – La Roux
• Miranda Lambert – Revolution
• Kris Kristofferson – Closer to the Bone
• Drummer – Feel Good Together

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New Music Report: Monsters of Folk, Plus The Big Pink

BASOAdmin — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 20:53:07 +0000

On new supergroup Monsters of Folk’s debut album, Jim James, M. Ward, Conor Oberst and Mike Mogis deliver 15 songs that touch on straight-up country and bluegrass, but they also veer into atmospheric ballads, like opener “Dear God.” The best part of the album: it doesn’t sound overworked. Instead, it comes off like a couple of buddies sitting around on the porch at a late-night jam session, especially on standout “Whole Lotta Losin’ .”

Also on the New Music Report radar this week: A Brief History of Love, the debut from duo the Big Pink, delivers druggy shoegaze crafted with synths and squealing guitars. The LP kicks off with four strong tracks, including “Dominos,” which mixes techno noise with a chant-ready chorus about girls being unable to resist the charms of frontman Robbie Furze.

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New Music Report: The Drums, Plus Yo La Tengo

BASOAdmin — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 21:03:30 +0000

In this week’s roundup of the best new releases, Kevin O’Donnell breaks down the debut EP from the Drums, one of indie-rock’s biggest buzz bands this fall. Summertime delivers spiky post-punk and super-catchy songs about surfing and going to the beach, kind of like an upbeat Cure. Plus, there’s Yo La Tengo’s Popular Songs, one of their best and most diverse albums yet. The Hoboken, New Jersey trio break out delicate ballads, ghostly pastorals and feedback-drenched jams on their latest LP. Listen to samples of the records’ best tracks and get the full report in the video, above.

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