Archive for May, 2008
No Age – Nouns
Author: Meghan Palagyi
Nouns is the best album of 2008 so far by any standards. The duo No Age bring their sound with refreshing consideration to punk-attuned audiences with no qualms. Hailing from Los Angeles, their guitar and drums combination with insightful lyrics layered on top provides the recipe for a great half hour of listening. In particular, Nouns emphasizes No Age’s lo-fi melodies that provide a for cushion for lyrics that hold meaning and mentality. Read the rest of this entry »
read comments (0)Appetite for Instruction part 1
Author: Rob White
Well, anyone remember what they did on September 17, 1991? I sure as hell don’t, but you know who does? Axl Rose. Probably because that was the last time his band Guns and Roses put out a full length album of original material. Since that time he has been busy kicking people out of the band, and replacing them with other people who play exactly like the people he had just kicked out of the band, all the while signing them to contracts to guarantee them a royalty free future from the forth coming album. Welcome to the jungle baby! Read the rest of this entry »
Los Campesinos! Live at the Music Hall of Williamsburg
Author: Steven
Going to NYC for a show always seems like such a wonderful idea at first…but then in retrospect [after riding the 1:41am NE corrider branch NJT back to Princeton Junction only to find yourself standing in the rain trying to hassle with cab drivers to drive you back to the campus] one has to reaaally think about whether or not that money and time was worth it. In most cases, the response is pretty quick to come: “Yeah, that was an amazing show…[insert band name] were so great. Totally worth it. I’m going to go blog about how wonderful they were.” But, every so often, you have to brace yourself for the ugly truth (i.e.-you got suckered); unfortunately, that seemed to be the case last night. Read the rest of this entry »
What is it about screamo??
Author: Julia Sahin
So when people ask me what kind of music I listen to…they are usually very surprised as to my answer. Other than listening to mainstream bands, and songs and artists on the radio, I’m very much into the “Screamo” scene (as much as I hate to label music, which is in its own a separate topic). I mean, obviously, I’m a girl…and I guess there’s this underlying thought that girls don’t listen to that type of music. Well then, I guess I’m not your average girl. Read the rest of this entry »
Exit 7A on the New Jersey turnpike, and Judas Priest
Author: Keith
At this moment, I still can’t bear to listen to ‘Hell Bent for Leather’ without a tear coming to my eye. I was at the gym yesterday and ‘Breaking the Law’ came on my iPod and I couldn’t bear to listen… well okay, I’m being melodramatic. But that’s more fun than saying “I’m mildly disappointed”, right? Here we are, five days later and I’m still pissed, I still blame the New Jersey Turnpike, and my copy of ‘Screaming for Vengeance’ sits in my living room unsigned. How did I get here? Read the rest of this entry »
Ladies, please!
Author: Dee
So, let’s see…I love Sally, Carly, Daniela, Ella, Joni, Nina, Linda, Dusty, Dolly, Shelby, Bonnie, Amy, Kirsty and, of course, Emmylou! Read the rest of this entry »
Album Review: Schoolyard Heroes, ‘Abominations’
Author: Leigh Silbernagel
May 13, 2008—I was driving in my car in January when I first heard Killswitch Engage’s pathetic cover of Dio’s “Holy Diver.” I have never been so enraged and offended at a band– ever. The first song I heard by Schoolyard Heroes was “Children of the Night” and I thought, thank God the spirit of Dio lives on. Doing a background check on Schoolyard Heroes revealed that purevolume.com removed their song “Dude Where’s my skin” after a day—despite the fact that it was the fastest downloaded song in the history of purevolume.com. The fact that KsE disgraced Dio’s ‘Holy Diver’ is more offensive than the horror-punk sounds of Schoolyard Heroes. But because they are “disturbing” and “morbid” they get taken off purevolume? I think 1988 called and they want their Reagan era religious-right’s control of free expression back. Their most recent album is ‘Abominations–’ and it combines skilled guitar riffing with melodic lyrics and a haunting message. Read the rest of this entry »
Philadelphia – Trocadero – May 04, 2008
Author: Carl Homrighausen
Falling in Love with Jazz
Author: Anthony Medici
Still somewhat smitten by my exposure to Sonny Rollins (see my post from last Sunday), I’m borrowing the title from one of his lesser known (and lesser) efforts, “Falling in Love with Jazz,” to sound the theme of this week’s blog. Do you remember your first love? Do you remember your first jazz love? Do you remember how it was, or why it was, or, more likely, who it was, that first opened your ears to jazz? Read the rest of this entry »
The Thomas Function-Celebration
Author: Steven
Do you remember that favorite local band in high school who you’d go see every other weekend with you girlfriend/boyfriend at the dingy warehouse/art space/basement? Done? Awesome. Now…imagine how you would feel if that band were to suddenly, and quite dramatically, dis-band (haha…oh man) and try to start a new gimmick with more synthesizers and less punk rawk. Done? Not so great, right? Especially not at an impressionable age when all you wanted to listen to was “Alabama Jihad,” a band that sounded as abrasive as their name suggested. So, imagine my disdain when my small-town-wonder-band regrouped under the moniker “The Thomas Function” and stopped wearing uniforms at their shows. An unhappy camper, I was. But, 6 years and some awkward realizations later, I have to say that these boys from Bama clean up their sound quite nice. Read the rest of this entry »
Trent Gives Interscope “The Slip”
Author: Jeff Boule
TO: Jeff Boule
FROM: Trent Reznor
RE: something new
Hey Jeff, I figured I would let you know the new disc is almost ready to go out, but here are some new tracks I came up with that you might get a chuckle out of.
Hoping for good things, try not to pan it too bad! Trent
Honoring the Life of a Music Collector
Author: Brett
His goal was to have one copy of every album released, and he came closer to it than most of us could ever dream of. Today, we would like to honor the life of a man who’s commitment to music is itself undying, and whose generosity in recycling his used CDs and Records at Princeton Record Exchange will not be forgotten. Read the rest of this entry »
“It’s Spring Fund Drive Time!”
Author: Dee
Well, so, it’s spring, and we have to agree that it’s time for our favorite public radio stations to raise money. I believe it’s all bit earlier than it usually is because of the, umm…coincidence between of our tax refunds as well as the rebates, you know. Read the rest of this entry »
The Last Shadow Puppets – The Age Of The Understatement
Author: John Linden
Most of the reviews you’ll read for this album will barely acknowledge the lesser known of the two members of The Last Shadow Puppets, The Rascals’ Miles Kane. Nearly every word is devoted to Arctic Monkeys’ Alex Turner. And Turner certainly does shine on this album. His lyrics are as sharp as ever, his vowels as blunt. Oh, yeah, Kane’s good too. Read the rest of this entry »
Spaces for Morning
Author: Leigh Silbernagel
A New Day in Indie Rock-experimental: ‘Spaces for Morning’
May 6, 2008 – Classified as Indie-Rock-Experimental, Spaces for Morning— Philadelphia PA —has a new album coming out. Members are John, Deven, Eric, Pete, and Mike. They started two years ago, and one year ago they changed the name from The Hummingbirds for stylistic reasons and because of the arrival of new members. They have not been signed and their album will be out mid-to-late June. They need bookings for D.C. Richmond, Charleston , Cleveland , Pittsburgh , New York , Atlantic City , and Connecticut for the month of July. Read the rest of this entry »
Portishead – Third
Author: Carl Homrighausen
In the time since Portishead released their last album, over nine hundred million people have been born. Wars have been fought (some with more purpose than others), lives have ended, a new millennium dawned, and a myriad of flavors for soft drinks and corn chips have been created and forgotten. A few things stand such a test of time over a period of 11 years. New York subway cars still smell like that. The Moon is still hanging out up there. Portishead still mystifies. I shall go into detail on the latter. Read the rest of this entry »
The Sound of Sonny
Author: Anthony Medici
On Friday, April 18, 2008, I had the supreme pleasure of hearing Sonny Rollins in concert at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. I’m almost ashamed to say that this was the first time I’ve seen Sonny in concert. It has been the case that when Sonny performed, I was not able to attend; when I was able to attend, Sonny wasn’t performing. The closest I had come to Sonny in concert was through his famed Blue Note recording, “Live at the Village Vanguard.” I was intent on correcting that deficiency. Almost as soon as tickets were made available, I was on the phone with the nice folks at the KC Box Office (they really are nice). It’s a good thing they are nice folks. It wasn’t their fault after all that, while I was traveling for my job, my wife shredded the newly-arrived ticket when she deemed the envelope contained only junk mail. Read the rest of this entry »
Get Awkward! No Really.
Author: Meghan Palagyi
The newest album from Be Your Own PET does not disappoint. “Get Awkward” is more of the spazzy, fun, fast party rock fans have grown to expect from female lead singer Jemina Pearl. While the songs are not the stuff of genius, they are quite enjoyable nonetheless. This album in particular is more coherent then previously released material from the band, which has consisted of a string of e-p’s and singles. Their self-titled album did not impress me, but their sophomore effort does. Read the rest of this entry »
Monotonix/HEALTH live at TFC
Author: Steven
On April 26, 2008, the Terrace Eating Club of Princeton was graced with not one, but two of the most exciting/noisy bands in music today. One might ask…”Who, Steven? Who are these rock-and-roll animals you speak of? And what the hell did you do to deserve a viewing of these alleged wonders of noise rock in the same night?” And I would respond, in so many words: “Oh…you know…this band called Health…and some guys from Tel Aviv who call themselves Monotonix… [For the record, the ellipses would stand in conversation and could easily be confused for pauses of pretentiousness, but in fact I just have a hard time organizing my thoughts before having words leave my mouth in a jumbled mess. And for that, I apologize.] YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN THERE! blah blah” Or something to that effect.
Within Temptation’s “The Silent Force” Without Attention
Author: Jeff Boule
Sometimes a reviewer just has to go above and beyond the normal call of duty. Sometimes it is a reviewer’s job to save lives. Or at least save some time in people’s lives.
Let’s face it; we live in fast-paced times. If I can spare you good PREX readers 40 minutes +/-, that you will never get back again, I feel it is my duty to do so. With that in mind, I say to you all, run! RUN FROM WITHIN TEMPTATION AND NEVER LOOK BACK!!
Read the rest of this entry »