Love and a .38 Bassist Releases Own Line of Guitars

Posted on February 21, 2012 by Andrew

Last September, we interviewed the band Love and a .38 to discuss their face-melting classic rock.

The band’s bassist, Justin Emord, is releasing a signature line of bass guitars this Spring called The Blayzer. This is Emord’s third line of signature bass guitars from Mudd Guitars.

The Blayzer has EMG active electronics, a mahogany body, 24 frets on an ebody fret board, a Hipshot bridge and tuning keys, strings from Sfarzo Strings, as well as a TUSQ Nut from Graph Tech Guitar Labs. Emord endorses all of these companies.

“The Blayzer was designed with the player in mind and aims to fix common problems bass players may encounter with their instruments when playing, especially in a formal setting,” he said.

For more information on the guitar check out www.muddguitars.com or Justin Emord’s facebook page.

Sleep Makes Waves – ...and so we destroyed everything

Posted on February 20, 2012 by Andrew

Post-rock is my weak spot, and Sleep Makes Waves has broken my legs.

I listened to the album …and we destroyed everything five times before sitting down to tell the world the extent of my enjoyment.

In my opinion, I cannot enjoy something in this vein unless it tells an engaging story musically. Any sad sap can play this style of music. It’s not a hard formula to grasp: warm up, peak, the eventual break down, and the finale. Continue reading →

Ariel Pink’s Picks Vol. 1: R. Stevie Moore

Posted on February 18, 2012 by Andrew

Rock music without the shine, is a way you could describe both Ariel Pink and R. Stevie Moore.

R. Stevie Moore is famous for having his own record label, releasing over 400 cassette tapes.

He is also known for his own experimental lo-fi rock music. Continue reading →

Milo – I Wish My Brother Rob Was Here

Posted on February 16, 2012 by Andrew

Take a look at the cover for Milo’s album I Wish My Brother Rob Was Here. I had no idea what this was; it just seemed like some people having fun on a couch. You can’t really judge a book by its cover, because Milo turned out to be some of the best nerd rap I’ve heard this year.

I am not the world’s biggest fan of rap music, but nerd rap always seems to strike a chord.

There’s always something to be said about how seriously rap takes itself. There’s a line many nerd rappers cross that makes it “too goofy” for me to enjoy.

Listening to the album, there’s a few standard beats at first, and most of the tracks are very slow. Unlike most modern rap music, this album is not full of keys and drum machines. Continue reading →

Beats Antique

Posted on February 14, 2012 by Andrew

Blind Threshold, by Beats Antique, is one of those electronic albums that uses as many instruments as it can to create a vibrant atmosphere. Imagine something like Muslimgauze meets Bond, but slower and with far fewer strings.

In fact, Blind Threshold reminds me more of Muslimgauze than anything. The album is mostly Middle Eastern dance music, with the band trying a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Continue reading →

Marie-Pierre Arthur

Posted on February 13, 2012 by Andrew

I’m not the biggest fan of modern folk music, but there’s something catchy about Marie-Pierre Arthur.

Perhaps it’s the French?

Her latest album, Aux Alentours, is catchy enough to keep me listening, but down-to-earth enough to warrant being a folk album I’ll admit to liking. It is my opinion that many folk artists these days rely on cliches, instead of actually wanting to deliver that “salt of the earth” music that folk has always been.

Aux Alentours is earthy enough to feel real, and that is important when listening to folk. Continue reading →

Sandrider

Posted on February 13, 2012 by Andrew

Sandrider combines different kinds of metal and rock music into a unique sound. A sound that keeps me listening from beginning to end on the edge of my seat.

The Sandrider bio on bandcamp says they are stoner rock. This doesn’t mean what you think it means. At first you may think it’s just a bunch of potheads fiddling with their guitars and being lazy. I can’t say that’s never the case, but stoner rock is a combination of psychedelic rock, blues rock, traditional heavy metal and doom metal. Continue reading →

Lich King – Toxic Zombie Onslaught

Posted on February 3, 2012 by Andrew

I don’t review a lot of metal. Most metal I listen to is hard, fast, and difficult to understand. I mostly listen to doom metal, sludge, and black metal.

However, sometimes I find myself in a mood for thrash metal (think pre-Black Album Metallica).

I’m a huge fan of energy, and thrash metal has the riffs to put me in a good mood. Continue reading →

Boris – Heavy Rocks

Posted on February 2, 2012 by Andrew

In part three of my three part review of the May 2011 album releases by Boris, I talk about the album Heavy Rocks. In part one, I discussed New Album, and in part two, I discussed Attention Please. Be sure to check out those posts if you haven’t read them yet.

The aptly titled Boris album Heavy Rocks is exactly that. Unlike the other two Boris albums released in May 2011, this album features many more guitar and prog-rock elements.

While this album is heavier, it is also more somber. The other two albums—Attention Please and New Album—had a pop-rock format, but Heavy Rocks is less like that.

Instead, the album takes your ears on epic journeys. Continue reading →

Boris – Attention Please

Posted on February 1, 2012 by Andrew

For part two of three on Boris’s May 2011 three-album release, today’s focus is Attention Please.

Last week, I wrote about Boris’s New Album and how it was much more shoegaze than typical for Boris. Not to imply that Boris has a set sound, but they generally stay in rock territory, bordering on progressive with drone tendencies.

The first two tracks on Attention Please remind me of many other modern Japanese rock bands. The third track, Party Boy, brings the bass-heavy rock back that I’ve come to know and love from Boris. Continue reading →

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