Soundtrack for 04/25 -- 04/29.

04/25 – 04/29:

Head Automatica, Decadence
The deut record from Glassjaw frontman Daryl Palumbo's side project with Dan the Automator couldn't have been more different than the band that made him... well, somewhat famous, I guess. But there's certainly nothing wrong with that, as it remains a vital serving of super-catchy dance rock music.

Head Automatica, "Beating Heart Baby"

Skyzoo, Live From the Tape Deck

Last year's outing from Skyzoo, his 3rd official album not counting a slew of mixtapes (Is that line even worth drawing anymore?) is still most welcome on my iPod.

Skyzoo, "Speakers On Blast"


Bob Dylan, Bringing It All Back Home
If I absolutely had to pick a favorite Dylan album... I guess it'd be Blonde on Blonde. If I had to pick a second favorite, though... it might be Desire, actually. But if I had to pick a third, yeah man, Bringing It All Back Home. I think this is the first one I ever got when I first began getting into Dylan, but I was accumulating his stuff so quickly it's hard to remember.

Bob Dylan, "Subterranean Homesick Blues"


Gang Starr, Step Into the Arena
The legendary second album, the one where they truly found their sound and style. Wall-to-wall classics.

Gang Starr, "Check The Technique"


TV On the Radio, Nine Types of Light
I was very sad to learn of the death of TVOTR bassist Gerard Smith. TV on the Radio is still a relatively young band, but they've never made an album I didn't love, and it's a shame that he won't be a part of their continued evolution. Nine Types of Light wasn't what I expected on first listen, but it only took two listens for me to fall completely in love with it.

TV On the Radio, "Will Do"


Gojira, The Way of All Flesh
The French metal band stretched in a few new directions on this one, all to great success as far as I'm concerned, perhaps most drastically on the song below. Their concern and outrage over environmental issues has never been delivered so bluntly.

Gojira, "Toxic Garbage Island"


Protest the Hero, Scurrilous
The third album by the Canadian prog-metal group leans heavier on the prog side than they have to date, which is odd since it's also their first with no trace of a concept. It also features the first set of lyrics penned by singer Rody Walker. Not my favorite of their albums, but still plenty to like. The first three tracks are the best.

Protest the Hero, "C'est La Vie"


Pharoahe Monch, W.A.R.
I talked about this one last week, and "Clap" still seems to be the only song from this great album on youtube, so here's the extended concept video for it.

Pharoahe Monch, "Clap"


Amon Amarth, Surtur Rising
Also touched on last week, but this is a chance to post their hilarious cover of System of A Down's "Aerials," included like a bizarre punchline at the end of the album.

Amon Amarth, "Aerials"


Yup.

--D

Sountrack for 4/18 - 4/22.

Pharoahe Monche, W.A.R. - We Are Renegades may just be Pharoahe Monch's finest album, a powerful collection of songs with engrossing lyrics, dynamic production and killer guest spots from the likes of Styles P, Phonte, Jean Grae, Royce da 5'9" and more. I believe this is my favorite hip hop record of the year so far.

Pharoahe Monche, "Clap"

Amon Amarth, Surtur Rising - Another fine offering of Norse myth-infused metal from the Norwegian heavyweights. This album is a natural progression from previous record Twilight Of the Thunder God in both style and subject matter. To my ear, they've been becoming more accessible recently, or as accessible as you can be in the mythological death metal biz, anyway, but unlike some people, I wouldn't call that a bad thing.

Amon Amarth, "War of the Gods"

Royal Bangs, Flux Outside - Royal Bangs offer up a 3rd helping of electrifying, hard-to-categorize music on "Flux Outside," their 3rd record. The band has really found their sound by now, and while I have trouble describing exactly what that is, I can't get enough of it. 

Royal Bands, "Fireball"

(I normally try to keep it to the recorded versions, but their performance on Letterman was so perfect, it's at least as good as the record.)

King, The Story EP - This EP came highly recommended by Erykah Badu on Twitter, and she didn't steer me wrong. Short but sweet, it's laid back, dreamy atmosphere and lush production are hypnotic.

King, "The Story"

Those Darlins, Screws Get Loose - Those Darlins, whose last record memorably featured a song about getting drunk and eating a whole chicken, are back with a sloppy, goofy, fuzzed out rock'n'roll record full of songs like this:

Those Darlins, "Be Your Bro"

The Kills, Blood Pressures - I wondered what The Kills would sound like when Allison Mossheart finally took a break from playing around with The Dead Weather. The answer is different, but not "like the Dead Weather" different. And often extremely catchy in a way neither band had really tried before. It's an interesting new direction.

The Kills, "Satellite"

Ballzack, Yeah Indeed - New Orleans rapper Ballzack combined his usual silliness with slick bounce production in his third album. Ballzack and his cohort, Odoms, do that rare thing not unlike the Electric Six or Das Racist, where no matter how weird or silly the lyrics are, they're serious about it, and the music is not a joke. The effort is his strongest yet.

 Ballzack, "A Rainbow In Marrero"

Odoms, Let Me Atom - Odoms' solo debut was more focused on a theme than the Ballzack records he previously featured on, and that theme is something obviously close to my heart: Goofy space-related stories.

Odoms, "Keeping Up With the Jetsons"

Doogie, Yeahbrahcadabrah - Doogie is a rapping puppet operated by Odoms, with music written by Odoms and Ballzack. Clearly, I was on a kick that night. 

Doogie, "Yeahbrahcadabrah"

Yup.

--D

Hi!

I decided to use this old blog I had lying around to write a little about the albums in each week's soundtrack list. Maybe I'll even have time to actually do this!