Week 24 Review (End of Summer Blow Up 3)

As I cross over the midpoint of EoSBU, I’m reviewing an album from perhaps the greatest musician of my generation, James Dewees. More specifically, his Kickstarter album, No Country for Old Musicians.

Artist: Reggie and the Full Effect {James Dewees aka Floppy Disk-0 aka Fluxuation aka Klaus of Common Denominator}
Album: No Country for Old Musicians
Year: 2013
Genre: Too Many to Count
Rating: (Infinity + 1)/5

Worth Your Time? I consider it a “Listen to Before You Die” album.

Twitter Review: J. Dewees transforms the elegant chaos of entropy into music with NCFOM. An extended range of emotions and genres make for a unique experience.

Top 3 Tracks:

Things to Look For:

The Perfect Song. I know that’s a bold statement but I think I could listen to this song on repeat for an entire day and not get the least bit tired of it. I could possibly even go all week and do the first ever (and last) Project Lt. Morning review on a single track. I was madly in love with this song from the second it started with a man expressing his undying love for the 1992 Royal Rumble in Albany, New York where Nature Boy Ric Flair takes down…someone. Sadly, our wrestling fanatic is rudely interrupted before he could finish. But his enthusiasm isn’t the least bit dampened as the song which is more infectious than any STD known to mankind, Who Needs Another Drink?, begins. Floppy Disk-0 aka James is on the top of his game with this song. The lyrics are simple but insanely memorable. I loved singing the chorus in a nasally voice as loud as I could in my car during my daily commute. His other two interludes involving a discussion of smoking PCP and what I can only infer is Last Call at a Kindergarten classroom only add to appeal of the song. I know I am not alone in my love for this song as my friend informed me that the crowd went ballistic when this song started at the concert he attended. Like getting up on stage and dancing ballistic. Just imagining that makes me smile.
Ending on a High Note. One thing I noticed on the album that several of the songs have a short comedic bit at the end. In Guerrera, the song is about a brave Aztec warrior and his pet hawk who are traded by the Aztec empire to a group of aliens in exchange for the aliens not blowing up the empire. The aliens need his hero skills to fight other aliens. Pretty fair deal, no? Actually, this song has the fantastic line of “Stronger than one thousand spears that’s pretty strong if you ask me” which is extra hilarious because up to that point the song has a very serious tone. But as the drum beats start to wind down, the ending tops that when James shouts “Anybody see my bird?” which is then followed quickly by a majestic hawk vocalization and a very short “Oh.” This brief moment of joy occurs again at the end of DMV where he is singing as Klaus, frontman of Finnish metal band Common Denominator. Driving, Me, Victory at DMV also contains one of my favorite verse from the album “What are you looking at lady behind glass? My social security is I can kick your ass, For the last time so I can make it clear, A record of my birth is I’m standing right here.” The Department of Motor Vehicles has never sounded so metal.
Emotions. James is absolutely incredible at conveying a wide variety of emotions with pinpoint precision with his voice. The lighthearted silliness of 37 and We Make a Breakfast is such a stark contrast to his voice in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Ralph’s which is very melancholy. Take it even further on the sadness spectrum and you end up with Disregard where you can’t help but be reminded of your own feelings of despair as a relationship collapses right underneath your feet. I haven’t even touched on the songs where he is doing characters, which just further illustrates his versatility.
Best Break Ever. In Sundae, Booty Sundae, where James plays the part of electropop sensation Fluxuation, there is quite possibly the greatest keyboard break in a song ever recorded. It’s so freaking incredibly catchy. I think I bobbed my head every single time it came on. And I always did it in this figure 8 motion. Not sure why but it felt right. Dewees is the King of Keyboard, the Sultan of Synthesizers, the Colonel of Composition, the Emperor of Electronic Musical Devices, the… you get the point. The man can write a melody like no other.

Low Points: This isn’t a low point for me really because I consider it genius more than anything but I think at first listen the album is probably confusing to the newcomer. The album does contain a song in which James says the word “chicken” over and over and over…and over. But if you saw the video for the Kickstarter page that was used to fund this album, it makes complete sense. Even the title is kind of weird. But once you know that he composed the album while living in an apartment in N. Hollywood and felt like he couldn’t relate to the 20-somethings in his building as a 36 year old, it also makes perfect sense. The song, To the Fruit Wizards of Donnington, is about James getting hit by apples thrown by wizards. Well, it’s actually based on a real situation in which he playing at a music festival and a group of metal fans with some long beards started throwing stuff on the stage. Unfortunate but not so weird anymore, right? The song, Gimme Back My Leg, which might seem strange to write a song about your dog humping your leg is actually a touching tribute to his bulldog, talullah, who died while James was working on the album. Finally, anybody that doesn’t know that James includes a variety of alter egos in his albums is also going to be confused but I couldn’t imagine the albums without them. They do so much to make a Reggie album what it is.

Anything Else: James has been described as your artist’s favorite artist. And I have no doubt that this is true. The eclectic collection of compositions on this album just blow my mind as a music nerd and I probably left out at least a dozen other lyrics I’m dying to tell you about. But proof that other artists recognize his mad skills is Dewees was touring keyboardist for My Chemical Romance. So if you’ve ever seen them live, there’s a good chance you’ve heard Dewees and didn’t even know it. And a whole ton of musicians have served as part of his touring band. I imagine it’s because it’s so freaking fun to play James’ material and because he is such an awesome guy.

I’d like to close with probably the biggest mistake of my life. Out of all the Kickstarter projects I regret most , it is not the many that have failed after 12+ months of waiting but the one that I didn’t back that was an absolute success in every sense of the word. I’m sorry, James Dewees, for not backing this album. If you want to make another album though Kickstarter, I will gladly back it. Maybe even enough to get a sweet hoodie or something this time.

Additional Links:

Week 23 Review (End of Summer Blow Up 2)

This week I’m reviewing Mike Pinto’s Little District which came out in 2005 for End of Summer Blow Up. Though I was only recently introduced to his music, he is absolutely deserving of a bigger following.

Artist: Mike Pinto
Album: Little District
Year: 2005
Genre: Reggae, Ska
Rating: 4.5/5

Worth Your Time? Absolutely. This album is jam packed with memorable lyrics and melodies and has a nice blend of several genres and instruments to keep things fresh.

Twitter Review: Mike Pinto writes incredibly heartfelt and insightful lyrics. And he has both the singing voice and guitar skills to be a complete package.

Top 3 Tracks:

Things to Look For:

Epic First Track. The album starts out with the story of Bill, worshiper of the almighty dollar, who is a bank robber. The production of Bill’s Song had me smiling every time the album started over. Not only do you have Mike’s clever writing but the little touches on this song really put it over the top for me. If you really want to appreciate this song I’m begging you to listen with headphones. Why? Because half of the stereo mix is used for letting you listen in on the bank robbery in progress. It sounds fantastic on headphones. My favorite part is when the upbeat trumpet solo starts and the music goes into high gear with the sirens blaring as the cops head toward the bank. It creates a momentary sense of urgency that I’m sure Bill was also feeling. I also love the line “Put your hands up! Put your fucking hands up!” because it works equally well with a bank robbery and at a concert. Finally, the ending was unexpected for me. Very different from say the classic Children’s Story by Slick Rick.
Point/Counterpoint. Mike has two songs on here that cover the topic of adultery. The first song Dear Señoritas which blames a husband’s cheating squarely on the woman for not providing loving “three times a day” which apparently is the bare minimum for any guy. I really don’t think Mike believes this but rather he is just telling a story. Possibly based on someone he’s met in his life either in Philadelphia or San Diego. Where this gets interesting for me is three tracks later he starts telling another story of adultery in Chilean Lover. This song tells the story of a husband and father who constantly cheats on his wife but ends up with a bullet inside his brain from a scorned ex-lover. And as Mike put it: “You’re gonna get what you deserve.” So both sides of the coin I think are well presented here.
Genre Blending. While Mike lives mostly in reggae and ska, he transitions into an almost industrial sounding song with When I Die. The song is quite a brilliant take on the topic of the existence of an afterlife. It starts out with a very minimalistic acoustic opening of just Mike and his guitar. Eventually this turns into this driving industrial beat that relentlessly comes at the listener. Perhaps the transition is a metaphor for how the question becomes more important in life as we follow our own slow but inevitable march towards an ultimate demise? Or maybe not. I just know I loved the song.
That One Night. Despite One More Time (radio edit) making me think back fondly to my college days with fabulous heartfelt lyrics, the over-processed vocals on the song’s chorus make me think of the infamous That One Night song from the Dinner Party episode from The Office with Jan’s incredibly awkward dancing. Rest of the song is actually quite beautiful and really captures the magic that is friendship.

Low Points: This is a fantastic album with gorgeous lyrics, stunning guitar work and a brass section that just won’t quit all the while covering some impressively deep topics. There’s nothing bad to say about it, right? Well, not quite. How about we skip to the hidden track found about two minutes after One More Time (full version) is finished? It actually resumes the really funky beat found in Dub Interlude. It even finishes the lyrics that Dub Interlude unexpectedly stops at. That’s a pretty cool idea. So how does the rest of the song go? “Shove my lyrics down your throat like my dick, like my dick” Woah. Back it up. Back it up. Beep. Beep . Beep. What the hell did I just listen to? Um, that was unexpected. I’m not sure what Mike was going for with the hidden track but I’m not totally digging it besides the incredibly groovy beat. To me, it just doesn’t fit. Or maybe I’m just pissed because that hidden track meant two minutes of silence before I could finish the album and start it over.

Anything Else: I don’t really have anything else to say. Mike seems like a cool guy. Apparently, he’s big in Japan. So that’s kind of interesting and unexpected. Not dick down your throat unexpected but still unexpected. From what I understand, he is freaking amazing live so catching one of his concerts would be highly suggested if you get the chance. And like one of my friends, he grew up in the midwest (Mike grew up in Philadelphia, PA) and moved to beautiful San Diego, CA where he did some amazing things with his life with more to come I’m sure. So maybe that’s not interesting to you, but the parallelism was interesting to me.

Additional Links:

LMGTFY
No Wikipedia Entry for Artist
No Wikipedia Entry for Album
AmazonMP3 Page

Week 22 Review (End of Summer Blow Up 1)

Rhymesayers hip hop artist, Grieves, is the reason End of Summer Blow Up was started. To start it off, I’m reviewing his latest album, Winter & the Wolves. Grieves has been releasing albums since 2007.

Artist: Grieves { Benjamin Laub aka Grieves, Brad Lewis aka B. Lewis}
Album: Winter & the Wolves [Deluxe Version]
Year: 2014
Genre: Hip-hop
Rating: 4.5/5

Worth Your Time? Absolutely. Don’t you want to say you listened to him before he got big? Feed your little inner-hipster and listen to this indie rapper.

Twitter Review: Grieves’ razor sharp wordplay will slice you wide open as B. Lewis backs him up with intricate but highly accessible beats.

Note: I am using Grooveshark for everything except where Grieves has an official video on YouTube.

Top 3 Tracks:

Things to Look For:

Fantastic Opening Line. After the chorus opens Woah is Me, Grieves starts out with “My dog died.” and a voice answers back “When you were six!” Grieves replies “Really? I guess I never gotten over it.” After listening to a couple songs, in recent memory, where the musician composes beautiful songs about their pet, Grieves approach comes off as the antistasis of that. It made me smile every time I heard it.
Poet First, Emcee Second. Okay, so he probably didn’t start out writing poetry. Or maybe he did. I don’t know. But I do know from listening to this album that Grieves is working on a higher level than your typical rapper. His word choices are potent. He can take the word ‘shit’ and make it sound so harsh and crass because of the words he surrounds around it. In How’s It Gonna Go, after opening with a beautiful and heartfelt chorus, Grieves lays “Until the woman of my dreams took a shit inside my soul” on us and it comes across as shocking because of the vulgarity. I was actually taken back the first time I heard it. In the same song, he delivers another one of my favorite lines “This ain’t love, this is two people fucking…each other over.” Here he creates a multi-layered lyric that captures both the concept of making love vs. having sex and the notion of negative relationship doomed for failure. And it’s all done with a simple pause. In Kidding Me, he says “Cinderella got drunk started spreading her thighs” which takes this pure and innocent idea in your head and absolutely obliterates it. It’s beautiful. His poetic skillset combined with his compelling storytelling, make for an awesome combination that rarely fails to deliver.
Repetition. Grieves skillfully makes use of repetition throughout the album. He does this both in the words he chooses and the cadence of his delivery. In Serpents, the first and second verse are identical in structure and delivery despite being a completely different set of words. Supposedly, this song is about Grieves dealing with his sister’s drug addiction. The topic of drug addiction has been covered countless times in music but I don’t know if anybody has done it so masterfully as Grieves has done here. I had my own little Keanu moment when I realized what was going on.
Pop Friendly. Grieves’ previous albums were done with long time friend, Budo. Budo’s beats were definitely unique and created this wonderful smoke-filled blues bar atmosphere that I loved, but I think they were too laid back for your average listener. By teaming up with B. Lewis, the album becomes infinitely more accessible due to Lewis’ new, more poppier style. In fact, all three of the top songs made the list because the beat put them ahead of the other tracks. I usually get annoyed when an artist goes pop, but I’m incredibly excited about whatever Grieves and Lewis end up doing next.
Anti-Bruno Mars. Recluse is quite similar to the popular The Lazy Song in terms of high level concept but Grieves’ takes it to a far darker and grittier place. He is letting you inside of his head as he tries desperately to shut out his world regardless of the path of destruction it ends up leaving. After listening to Recluse, The Lazy Song seems incredibly shallow in comparison. It’s still a fun song though. You know you secretly sing it in the shower. Or was that me?

Low Points: I’ve probably already hammered the point home that I love that this album because it is more accessible than his past ones. But think it would gain an even wider audience if it was a bit shorter. While listening to it, I noticed some common themes between songs and I think I would rather have had him cut out the the similar songs and went with a less is more kind of approach. Perhaps this feeling could have been avoided, if I didn’t listen to the deluxe version which had two bonus songs on it. It remains a fantastic album regardless. I left out a ton of songs I wanted to talk about.

Anything Else: Grieve’s previous album, Together/Apart, is actually the great grand-daddy of all Project Lt. Morning albums. I spent the majority of my weekends one summer pulling out weeds from the yard by hand. While pulling weeds, I listened to that album on repeat for 3-4 hours at a stretch. The music combined with the repetitious work created an almost meditative state for me. It was probably the only time in my life I looked forward to yard work.

Additional Links:

LMGTFY
Grieves Wikipedia Entry
No Wikipedia Entry for Album
AmazonMP3 Page

Week 21 Review

This week I’m reviewing Acme 143 by Houston skate punk band, 30footFALL. The album was released in 1997 and finally put the band on the pop punk map following a set of well received records.

Artist: 30footFALL {James “Butch” Klotz – vocals; Chris “Delron” LaForge – guitar, backing vocals; Rubio Cisneros – bass, backing vocals; Damon Delapaz – drums}
Album: Acme 143
Year: 1997
Genre: Skate Punk
Rating: 4/5

Worth Your Time? For those who want to know more about pop punk than just Blink-182’s MTV years. (Not knocking Blink-182.)

Twitter Review: While not unique, 30footFALL accurately demonstrates all the qualities that made me fall in love with punk in the first place on Acme 143.

Note: I did not use YouTube this time for links because I had a hard time finding every track I wanted to mention. Instead, I decided to use Grooveshark for everything.

Top 3 Tracks:

Things to Look For:

Snarky Punk Attitude. Butch does a great job with the lyrics (and vocals) as he balances social commentary with bathroom humor. He isn’t afraid to point out issues within the punk community with songs like Entertainment vs. Enlightenment, Punk Rocks in Your Head and Bad Hair Day Punks to challenge the audience as they bounce around in the mosh pit. But he keeps them bouncing with songs like Cheese and Constipation. The punk genre is interesting because it highly encourages thinking for yourself instead of adopting values of given group or society at large. This is plainly illustrated in the song, People Are Stupid. But even 30footFALL would be incredibly disappointed if you blindly adopted their world view. Analysis and introspection are critical components of being a good punk.
Best Insult Ever. Halfway through Cheese, Butch starts delivering a monologue about a girl who insulted his music while he was at work. He hurls back ~~devastating~~ weird insults towards her like “Your momma got gold nipples” but then he goes in for the kill and drops the atomic bomb with “You got a rip in your couch” which is followed a menacing deep growl as the song temporarily switches to nu metal territory. Ripping on her couch is without a doubt my favorite moment on the album. It makes me smile every time I hear it.
Movie Quotes. The album opens up with a quote from Girls Just To Have Fun on Urine Nation, does two quotes from Friday on Constipation and has a quote from Saturday Night Fever on Bad Hair Day Punks. Interestingly (or maybe not), all three movies feature actors that would see serious success later on in their careers. This group of actors include Sarah Jessica Parker, Chris Tucker and John Travolta.
Weirdest Chorus Ever Sung in My Car. Feel Like Morrissey is a very catchy tune on the album. It even has the obligatory hand claps. While driving, I couldn’t help but sing along to the chorus every time it was playing which was “Band-aids on my nipples cause I feel like Morrissey.” Besides a unique chorus, it oddly also features a flute solo. 30footFALL really does do what they want.

Low Points: I really did enjoy listening to this album all week. I was worried that now that I’m in my 30s that I would start to lose that connection I had with punk in college. I’m happy to report it is as fun and inspiring as ever. However, it doesn’t mean this album was perfection. About 3/4th the way through songs start blending together. I think this is a combination of two aspects of the album. The first being the lack of variety in tempo. Pretty much every track is of one of three speeds: fast, medium fast and fast medium. The second would be a limited selection of song topics. A lot of them fall in the same general area. So I think it takes someone familiar with the genre to appreciate the subtle differences between songs. For someone who spends most of their time with other kinds of music, these problems will only be magnified. But I would hope that you take the time to give it a listen. You might end up being as captivated as I was and start a lifelong punk love affair.

Anything Else: The last song I would like to discuss is the hidden track Like the Band Survivor That Wrote the Song Eye of the Tiger. At roughly 2 minutes and 40 seconds, they start beatboxing a techno beat as a group making all sorts of goofy noises. What really stuck out for me was how eerily similar this was to the hilarious flash video, Strong Bad’s Email: Techno, which is legendary among my group of friends. If you have no idea who Strong Bad is, seriously consider checking out Homestar Runner’s website. It will make you better person. Probably not but it is freaking hilarious.

Additional Links:

LMGTFY
30footFALL Wikipedia Entry
No Wikipedia Entry for Album
AmazonMP3 Page

Week 20 Review

This week I’m reviewing the 2nd album of the mythical Santana trilogy which is made up of the first 3 albums of their discography. It was released in 1970 and rose to number #1 on the US charts.

Artist: Santana {Charles Santana – lead guitar, backing vocals; Gregg Rolie – keyboards, lead vocals; David Brown – bass; Michael Shrieve – drums; José “Chepito” Areas – percussion, conga, timbales; Mike Carabello – percussion, conga}
Album: Abraxas
Year: 1970
Genre: Latin Rock
Rating: 5/5

Worth Your Time? Mr. Santana and his band deserve your time and attention.

Twitter Review: Santana’s Abraxas has incredible complexity layered on top of a keen rock sensibility and topped off with some wicked guitar solos.

Top 3 Tracks:

Things to Look For:

Guitar God. I’ve never really given Santana a good listen prior to this album. I’ve heard their song, Smooth, featuring Rob Thomas like a billion times given that song was unavoidable in 1999. But that was about it. I knew he was quite the guitarist given his reputation. But I really had no idea just how good he was. Listening to Abraxas has been very enlightening in that regard. I thoroughly enjoyed his solos on the album. He absolutely deserves all of the praise he gets.
And Everyone Else. Santana’s guitar wouldn’t sound quite as amazing on this album if the rest of the band wasn’t also incredibly talented. It’s impressive how well they all complement each other. While Carlos is laying down a serious solo, you can be guaranteed his percussionists will be playing the perfect rhythm in the background while he is doing it. The concentration of musical talent in this band is jaw dropping. I loved the percussion and keyboard work on this album as much the guitar playing.
Opening Track. I love the opening track, Singing Winds, Crying Beasts, because of how it slowly builds up in sound with just a couple instruments coming in and out of existence as the song progresses. It’s not very melodic but it’s interesting enough to more than compensate for the lack of melody. The song is almost 5 minutes long and it passes in time very quickly because my ears are so busy being entertained. Before I know it, the album has transitioned to Black Magic Woman / Gypsy Queen.

Low Points: It’s not a bad track by any means but Samba Pa’ Ti was not nearly as entertaining as the rest of the album. It’s just a little too laid back so I tended to lose interest and let my mind wander when it got to this part of the album which resulted in me missing out on some amazing guitar playing half of the time. It was probably a good call to have on the album since it comes between Mother’s Daughter and Hope You’re Feeling Better which are both pretty intense. It also gives Santana some time to experiment with some more jazzy concepts which is definitely part of the appeal of Abraxas but I favored the more traditional rock tracks that they spiced up as I listened to it all week.

Anything Else: I think the main reason why I like this album is because Santana was able to take rock music and elevate to a higher plane of existence with the incredible talent of the band and their willingness to take a road less traveled. I’m sure they could have been a great rock band without infusing all these different latin and jazz elements, but I doubt people would still care about this album over 40 years later like they do now. If rock was a cupcake, Santana added some really tasty chocolate sprinkles for everyone to enjoy.

Special Guest Review
by renowned Santana expert, Adolf T. Cat

Santana’s Abraxas is easily one of the greatest latin rock albums of all…wait a second. Is that an exposed female nipple on the cover of the album? How dare they unleash this trash onto the world. I can’t believe they sell this disgusting pornography on Amazon and iTunes where any young child could have their innocence ripped away from them forever and leave them with no choice but to grow up to become a sexual predator. I absolutely refuse to support such vulgar trash. Do not listen to this album. Do not buy it. In fact, blacklist any links included on this page. You have been warned. (0/5 stars)

Additional Links:

Week 19 Review

In 1969 the Beatles released Abbey Road onto the world. It was the last time that all four were together in the studio and the final album released under their longtime collaborator George Martin.

Artist: The Beatles {John Lennon – vocals, rhythm guitar; Paul McCartney – vocals, bass guitar; George Harrison – lead guitar, vocals; Ringo Starr – drums, vocals}
Album: Abbey Road
Year: 1969
Genre: Rock
Rating: 5/5

Worth Your Time? Since it includes some of the greatest moments in modern music history, it is a must listen for everyone.

Twitter Review: Despite relationships between the fab four being strained at this point, the Beatles put out a classic album filled with many surprises.

Top 3 Tracks:

Things to Look For:

George’s Peak. Harrison’s songwriting tends to have a hard time shining on a Beatles album since he is always competing with Lennon and McCartney. But on Abbey Road, Harrison is absolutely at the top of his game with Something and Here Comes the Sun. Something is such a beautiful love song. In particular, I appreciate the lyrics: You’re asking me will my love grow, I don’t know, I don’t know, You stick around now it may show, I don’t know, I don’t know. Those lines beautifully capture the uncertainty of relationships that we all face. Here Comes the Sun is also expertly crafted as you can easily feel the snow melting and picture the animals coming out of slumber to enjoy the budding spring weather while the song plays.
The Medley. A significant portion of the second half of the album is dedicated to a medley made up of eight songs. It is includes You Never Give Me Your Money, Sun King, Mean Mr. Mustard, Polythene Pam, She Came in Through the Bathroom Window, Golden Slumbers, Carry That Weight and The End. It doesn’t flow perfectly at all transitions because there were some changes afterwards in ordering. And even though Lennon has referred to some of the songs he wrote for the medley as “a bit of crap,” I consider The Medley the high point of the album. The combination of the eight pieces far exceeds anything a single part could accomplish. Basically, John wrote the front half and Paul wrote the back half for those interested.
Ringo’s Drumming. Starr is not a fan of drum solos. So on The End, they turned Ringo’s playing into a drum solo by dialing back the other instruments that were being played at the time. It’s very fitting for him to have a solo on this track as Paul, George and John take turns playing 2 bar guitar solos for much of the song. I know it’s not a particularly complicated solo but I think it’s absolutely perfect. And he is, of course, rock solid on the rest of the album.
Hidden Track. Her Majesty, which was cut from The Medley originally, is one of the earliest examples of hidden tracks on a rock album. It’s incredibly short at 23 seconds but I love the innocence and simplicity of it. Referring to drinking alcohol to get up the nerve to talk to a woman as a “I gotta get a bellyful of wine” combines an adult activity with a childlike innocence to create an authentic portrait of the hopeless romantic.

Low Points: While I thoroughly enjoy Lennon’s contributions to The Medley and love the uniqueness of Because, I don’t think I Want You (She’s So Heavy) was an ideal execution. Nobody should be surprised here when I say the song is a love song about Yoko Ono. It is the Beatles second longest song in their discography at nearly eight minutes. It’s a fairly basic song in its structure but is dragged out through massive repetition and additional ever increasing white noise at the end. I understand how highly influential and important this song is with such a dark sounding riff being featured. But I would rather have them carried it out in a more straight forward manner such as they did in Oh! Darling where they did a flawless execution of a traditional sounding song. If you love the song, that’s great. I don’t.

Anything Else: Abbey Road created an incredibly unique experience for me during the week that no other album has done to date. Every morning on the way to work I would listen to the album and be in complete awe of how amazing it was. And during every commute back home I would loathe the album wondering if I could stand it another day. I know that makes no sense. Maybe the Beatles don’t lend themselves well to being listening to on repeat? Maybe I’ve listened to them too much in my lifetime as Come Together being played on a 7″ record by my mom as she showed me her collection is my earliest musical memory I have? Maybe it was all the stress from being extremely busy at work? I honestly don’t know. It will be interesting to see if this happens on another one of their albums.

Special Guest Review
by renowned Beatles expert, Adolf T. Cat

The Beatles are an overrated boy band without a single musical bone in their collective bodies. Unless you’re a 12 year old girl stuck in 1963, you have no business liking this crap. Lennon is and should always be remembered as a pretentious twat. God, do I hate him. His other three cohorts Denim Dan, Shoeless Joe and Dufus have no business ever being in a band. All of their “songs” were secretly about sex or drugs. They corrupted an entire generation back then and continues to corrupt today’s youth. My current theory for the Beatles longevity is that incredibly bad taste in music must be a dominant gene. Abbey Road, like all of their other albums, sucks. Get over it and go find a real band. (0/5 stars)

Additional Links:

Week 17 and 18 Review (Anime Expo 1)

On Januray 7^th 2011, Puella Magi Madoka Magica aired in Japan. The story of a young girl, Madoka Kaname, who was completely average in every way changed the world of anime forever for me after I watched it with my editor over the course of a week. With this series I went from a casual appreciation to being in absolute awe of what the art form was capable of and became a true fan of anime. I’ve begged and pleaded for many of you to watch the series, but for now I would like to focus on one part of the series: the music. Specifically, I’m reviewing the Puella Magi Madoka Magica Music Collection this week.

Artist: Yuki Kajiura {Opening Theme – ClariS, Ending Theme #1 – hanawaya, Ending Theme #2 – wowaka, Ending Theme #3 – Kalafina}
Album: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Music Collection
Year: 2013
Genre: Soundtrack, J-Pop
Rating: 5/5 if you have seen the series, 4/5 if you have not

Worth Your Time? Absolutely. In the 45 tracks, there’s a surprising amount of variation that creates a very balanced 2 disc collection.

Twitter Review: PMMM MC is a wonderful collection of classical music with gorgeous solos and duets spiced up with some modern twists and fantastic pop songs.

If you have not seen the series, DO NOT READ COMMENTS ON YOUTUBE as they are filled with numerous SPOILERS! Actually, close your eyes so you don’t see the artwork either. The less you know, the better your experience will be when you watch it. You will watch it, yes?

Top 3 Score Tracks:

Top 3 J-Pop Tracks:

Things to Look For:

Musical Motifs. The six main characters in the story each have their own music that is associated with them. Madoka’s theme Sagitta luminis isn’t heard until the end of the series but is one of the most powerful pieces throughout the whole 12 episodes. The gorgeous string composition moves many to tears. Mami’s theme Credens justitiam is also very powerful but I think in a more positive manner. I love the vocals for that track which I believe are from a made up language created by Kajiura; though they sound very close to Latin. Next, there is Sayaka’s themes Conturbatio and Decretum. They are both very somber songs using the same melody with Decretum being more aggressive as it appears later in the series. Homura’s theme appears 8 times in the series. Her theme Puella in somnio is a mysterious and melancholy melody simply repeated over and over with slight variations. It’s short but effective. The remaining girl, Kyoko, has a theme entitled Anima mala which is the most modern of all of them with a heavy hostile bass line accompanying the cello melody. Finally, there is Kyubey’s theme Sis puella magica which relies heavily on vocals and contains a beautiful flute solo. I especially love the rhythmic groupings of the vocals in this song.
Solos and Duets. Throughout the album are numerous tracks of solos and duets that I think do a great job keeping the music fresh for the two hour runtime. Right in the beginning, Scaena felix starts things off with a nice acoustic guitar/piano duet. Desiderium is a piano solo that is playful with an underlying sense of worry like a small child playing in the park by themselves. Inevitabilis is another piano solo that creates a sense of uneasiness with sparse notes making up most of the track. Kajiura brings in some duet heavy hitters to the soundtrack with Rachmaninoff’s Volcalise Op. 34 no. 14, Bach’s Ave Maria and Debussy’s La Fille aux Cheveux de Lin due to the character Kyousuke being a violin prodigy. And, of course, I enjoyed all three of them every time I heard them. Serena ira is another somber solo track featuring a haunting and lonely cello.
High Energy Tracks. While I enjoy the solo/duet tracks immensely, that is not all the soundtrack has to offer. As the series becomes more intense, the music ramps up right along with it creating some very memorable tracks. It starts with Terror adhaerens slowly building up to a powerful melody delivered by the strings section. This continues with Symposium magarum. This song actually made me feel like I wanted to be an orchestra conductor as I motioned my pen like a baton while taking notes. It’s such a great song. The album then switches to rock guitar infused classical piece with Numquam vincar. The progression between them works very well considering that all three tracks follow one after another on the album. After taking a short break with Quamobrem?, it goes right back into waging a full-scale war with the militant drums beats, bellicose vocals and the forceful string sections of Surgam identidem and Nux walpurgis. Both songs also have parts that lower the intensity considerably which creates a significant amount of tension in the songs as you wonder if the war has been lost despite best efforts put forth. The last energy-infused song is the last song on the album which is a live version of Numquam vincar which opens with an elegant piano solo followed by a more intense rendition of the original song featuring more expressive guitars accompanying the string melody.
Themes. There is one opening theme used throughout the series by ClariS who formed while in high school. They were still in high school actually when Connect went Gold in Japan. It’s extremely well done j-pop with the perfect amount of emotional intensity in the vocals as the song unfolds. This theme song is actually repeated in an arcade scene in the form of a DDR remix which I thought was clever. The original closing theme is Mata Ashita which is translated to See You Tomorrow and is sung by the voice actress for Madoka, Aoi Yuki and is written by hanawaya. The second ending, And I’m Home, is used once for the end of a single episode. It was composed by wowaka, a notable figure in the Vocaloid community. Like See You Tomorrow, it was also sung by voice actresses from the series being Sayaka’s voice, Eri Kitamrua and Kyoko’s voice, Ai Nonaka. The main closing theme is by Kalafina and is called Magia. I really like the vocal processing in this song and the mixing of classical and rock instruments.

Low Points: The low point of the album is the tracks that contain little to no melody and is mostly used to create atmosphere. But even they are a valuable asset to the 2 hour play time because it breaks up the rest of the tracks giving your ears some time to rest. Umbra nigra is a perfect example of this. It’s a track I would never listen to by itself but it works with in the context of the entire experience. There are quite a few more like this but I think this review already has enough links.

Anything Else: I teared up multiple times while writing this review. The music is so deeply intertwined with the emotional impact of the series. It’s difficult for me to sit down and really listen to these songs without becoming emotionally overwhelmed. If the fact that I couldn’t write this review without any tears doesn’t convince you that you need to watch the series, I really don’t know what else to say.

I am also very surprised how much staying power this album has had with me. Because of the variation of songs and length, I’m still not even close to be being tired of hearing it. I could easily do another week.

I honestly could write at least another 1,000 words on the music but I’m restraining myself as much as humanly possible from creating any spoilers. The way they tie the music back to the plot is simply astounding and I will leave it at that.

Additional Links:

Next Review Update and Anime Expo!

First, I spent last week at Anime Expo 2014 with my editor. We had so much fun but it also cut into my listening time dramatically. Most of my quality listening time was on the plane although I was heavily reading mangas at the time so maybe it wasn’t as quality as I think.

AX was amazing! Over ~~60,000~~ 80,000 people attended. I got to sit in on a panel featuring none other than Keiji Inafune! He received a standing ovation when he entered the room and rightfully so. He helped define my childhood and probably the childhood of many of my readers. It was so awesome to be in the same room as him. On the music side of things, I attended a concert by Eir Aoi. The energy she brought to the stage and kept throughout the whole concert was unbelievable. So many times I thought she was going to quit but she would take a quick drink of water and just keep going. It was unreal. I figured since this was my third time going that it would start to get old but this year has left me with more positive energy than ever. The people there truly are amazing in so many ways.

Here are some of the pictures I took of the cosplayers:

(Top Left to Right: Squid Girl, Mr. and Mrs. Mario with Little Toad, Chrono and Megaman, Dr. Headcrab Zombie, Hoka Inumuta, Sinon, Uzu Sanageyama and Nonon Jakuzure
Bottom Left to Right: My Neighbor New California Republic (my editor!), Black and White Mage, Mami Tomoe with Kyubey, Madoka Kaname)

My original plan was to write the review on Monday but we had airplane issues on the way home which set us back an entire day. Rather than trying to rush through a review so I can start on another album, I decided to wait until this weekend so I can write a proper one. And this album definitely deserves 100% of my attention.

The album I’m working on is a two disc set. It’s two hours long so even a work day is just 4 listens. It’s a really complicated album too so I’m hoping the extra time of another week will be worth it. I chose this album specifically in honor of our trip to Anime Expo. For those of you wishing I would review classical music on here, this is probably is as classical as it’s going to get.

Thanks for reading!

Week 16 Review

Blackalicious released A2G EP in 1999. This Bay Area hip hop duo are part of the positive hip hop sub-genre which focuses on uplifting and spiritual messages rather than violence or materialism.

Artist: Blackalicious {Timothy Parker aka Gift of Gab; Xavier Mosley aka Chief Xcel}
Album: A2G EP
Year: 1999
Genre: Hip hop
Rating: 4.75/5

Worth Your Time? Even if you’re not into hip hop, A2G is going to surprise and delight you.

Twitter Review: MC Gift of Gab and DJ Chief Xcel made an EP with A2G that is sonically, emotionally and intellectually stimulating at every turn.

Top 3 Tracks:

Things to Look For:

Gift of Gab. On the song Clockwork Gift of Gab’s flow on the verses reminds me more of a saxaphone jazz soloist than I think any delivery by any MC I have ever heard. The way he varies the rhythms, pitch accents and intonation of his words throughout the song feels like a saxophonist carefully selecting the next improvised note of the current chord as their fingers are flying along the instrument’s keys. For example, the lyrics “My house ain’t made of ginger, but it’s made of an array of pages that’ll slay ya like a ninja” is good in its own right. But to hear GoG actually deliver that line elevates it to a new level completely beyond anything you could ever get just by reading the lyrics.
Samples. It’s extremely clear that Chief Excel has paid his dues and has an extremely large knowledge of hip hop records, both past and present. Why? The wide variety of sampling happening on the EP is evidence enough. Particularly in A to G where he samples various artists saying “gift of gab” to finish up the letter G and in Rock the Spot which is packed wall to wall with samples shows his commitment to the craft.
Dr. Suess. While it doesn’t have the playfulness and splendid imagination of Dr. Suess, Gift of Gab does an beyond impressive job in A to G and in Alphabet Aerobics as he does a verse featuring words starting with a particular letter for every letter of the alphabet. Have you ever heard anyone doing that before outside of some writing exercise? Probably not. But he not only attempted it but actually pulled it off brilliantly. In the hands of a lesser skilled artist, it could have easily turned into a disaster as the amount of multi-syllable words strung together on these tracks are jaw dropping. Also, the ending of Alphabet Aerobics is one of the best trolls ever on an album as the female narrator asks “Good. Can you say it faster?” as GoG finishes with the letter Z.
Think Positive. In the vein of Slick Rick, GoG delivers a parable in Deception to any future artists about the pitfalls of success in the world of hip hop. In particular, I liked the processing of GoG’s voice as he becomes the narrator for this track. The other particularly positive track is Making Progress which is an inspiring track aimed at the black community to elevate themselves with the required effort despite the struggles they will have to face. Though the target of the song is narrow, I think it contains many universal truths of improving yourself that applies to any person thus valuable to everyone.

Low Points: The weakest track on the album is Back to the Essence which by no means a bad track. It just doesn’t do much for me as the other tracks on the album. It also contains the only swear word is used on this album which is done by guest MC Lateef. Gift of Gab is known for not cussing on his albums. He’s even been referred to as the anti-Eminem in an article I ready some years ago. So to have Lateef break that up left me a little disappointed. It’s quite possible GoG swears on this album and I’m just missing it. I have two friends who can testify of my ability to miss swear words in a song. Luckily, the college radio didn’t get hit with a fine and nobody got in trouble.

Anything Else: So I think I proved the internet wrong while writing this review. And I would love to hear from you if you think I’m wrong after reading this. On the song Clockwork there is a fantastic chorus. One part of the chorus contains what I believe to be the lyrics “Master of scratch, if the needle was to slip, then the needle he’ll catch” It is absolutely my favorite part of the chorus. I don’t know why but I loved hearing it every time it came up this week. So I looked up the lyrics online to make sure I am hearing it correctly and all of the sites say a different set of lyrics “Master of scratching yes is he the one slippin or is he the real captain?” I listened to this part over and over again on my speakers and even my headphones trying to figure out how I could hear something so incredibly different than what’s on every single lyric site I visited.

Eventually, I noticed that another song was popping up when I searched the lyrics that I thought I heard. This song is Marley Marl feat. MC Shan – Marley Marl Scratch which is a classic hip hop song released in 1985. At 44 seconds Marley Marl begins to spell out his name in the song which is a common trope used by many MCs over the years. He raps “The M is for Master of Scratch And if the needle was to slip it’s the needle he’ll catch” which is incredibly close to the lyrics I think I hear. My version is obviously not a common phrase as I could find no other songs besides these two with those lines. And we already know that Chief Xcel has an incredibly wide breadth of music knowledge based on sampling on this album. Doesn’t it seem more likely that Xcel was paying tribute to Marley Marl by using that phrase in the chorus rather than using the phrase listed on the internet that sounds nothing like what I’m hearing? Feel free to listen to the song and give me your opinion. But I think somebody wrote the lyrics wrong in the beginning and that change has been propagated to all of the lyric sites without anybody ever verifying if they were correct. Therefore, the internet is wrong. And I am right. I rest my case.

Additional Links:

Announcing End of Summer Blow Up

After a suggestion from a very wise friend, and talking it over with my editor, I’ve decided to create a new theme for Project Lt. Morning. End of Summer Blow Up is going to be done during the month of August every year and last the entire month.

During this month, I’m going to choose and review recently released albums by unknown artists that I think deserve to have a much wider audience. This gives me a chance to review albums while they are fresh regardless of where the title falls alphabetically. Reviewing an album 10 years after it came out really isn’t going to be help any artist blow up. And yes I know that the actual impact of my blog is…limited. But just as you should dance like no one is watching, you should blog like everyone is reading.

Originally, Project Lt. Morning was this incredibly restrictive plan to listen to all of the music on my mp3 player. After doing it for 4 months, I’m realizing that I need to branch out if I’m going to keep this up long term. So I expect more ideas like this to pop up throughout the year.

If anybody feels that I need to stick to my original plan and the thought of all these new ideas sounds like chaos, please let me know. I’d love to hear why you think that.

(Top Left to Right: Squid Girl, Mr. and Mrs. Mario with Little Toad, Chrono and Megaman, Dr. Headcrab Zombie, Hoka Inumuta, Sinon, Uzu Sanageyama and Nonon Jakuzure Bottom Left to Right: My Neighbor New California Republic (my editor!), Black and White Mage, Mami Tomoe with Kyubey, Madoka Kaname)

(Top Left to Right: Squid Girl, Mr. and Mrs. Mario with Little Toad, Chrono and Megaman, Dr. Headcrab Zombie, Hoka Inumuta, Sinon, Uzu Sanageyama and Nonon Jakuzure
Bottom Left to Right: My Neighbor New California Republic (my editor!), Black and White Mage, Mami Tomoe with Kyubey, Madoka Kaname)