album of the week: 5.5

Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra

Walkin'

(2012)

why you'll love it: best ska band in the world!

why you'll hate it: this band never changes - is enough ska to kill a man

There has been a void in 2012 that I just could not put my finger on. A glaring absence in the first few months of the year… It wasn't until only a few days ago, I finally realized what was missing - a new release by PROFESSIONAL DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME SKA outfit: Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra.

Walkin' slots right into TSPO's monstrous discography. This would be a knock, if the band wasn't so constantly damn good at what they do, all the time! This is just another great album - hu-hum. Aside from not having a glaring motif for me to assemble a write-up around, the worst thing about this album is that two of the best songs on it aren't new. They're plucked from the two EPs released after their last full length album, World Ska Symphony (2010). Either way, "水琴窟 (SUIKINKUTSU)" is still an epic song, with piano playing good enough to make goosebumps.

Some of the best *new* songs on here are the rousing rock numbers. I like "Hungry Beast", especially its well placed guitar solo. It's a song that could have easily been a part of their set back when they were releasing action-packed albums like Full Tension Beaters (2000). "Return of Supercharager" is fun. So is "Boogie Stop Shuffle". A couple ballads grind things to a halt; but overall, unless you absolutely hate the sound of horns, Walkin' will at least make you understand why I talk a big game about how tight this band is every year. TSPO - still the kings of ska. WIth, I guess, The Slackers in a distant second.

March, April, May mixtape

2012 Quarterly Report - Best of Q2 from roomrunner on 8tracks.

album of the week: 5.4

Slagsmålsklubben

The Garage

(2012)

why you'll love it: Unconventional arrangements doing catchy dance music.

why you'll hate it: Predicable and simple. Some may find it too cartoony.

I'm going to assume everyone reading this has heard stereotypical Scandinavian clubbing music before, if not, parodies of it. At first glance, Slagsmålsklubben seems to be at least one of the two. At second glance, probably the latter. If you can be bothered to give them a third opportunity, it sort of comes off as both.

Slagsmålsklubben first caught my attention with the 2007 album, Boss For Leader! It was a strange release to me at the time. I never even bothered reviewing it here, because I didn't know what to take away from it. It was an obvious Electro-pean formula, but wrung through a strange Willy Wonka / Charlie Caplin wringer. Their instrumentals are goofy and take away the pretentious or serious edge that comes with that kind of music, but without sounding like joke songs.

Slagsmålsklubben returns this year with The Garage: a less overt, but all the same twisted, take on predictable club music. There are not as many glossy hyperactive melodies here. This is more of a dirty, messy, percussion heavy style. As a result, some of this sounds like an honest effort to come off as cool and hip. SMK turns out some catchy stuff. "Come on Anybody", "Tuktuktack" (is that a vuvuzela?), and "Stora E" could probably be played at a party without confusing the hell out of people. Only the song "Sväng om du kan" sounds like something possibly cropped from the Boss For Leader! sessions.

Being a more subtle release can be taken as a good or bad thing. If you take this as fun background music, rather than go on my theory that Slagsmålsklubben is this secret ironic "anti club" dance band, it will probably impress you more. It's subtle enough for the background, but if you ever take a moment to really listen to what's going on, you'll instantly grab onto something catchy and fun.

Album of the week: 5.3

Screaming Females

Ugly

(2012)

why you'll love it: Amazing guitar solos, best American rock band today

why you'll hate it: Diminishing returns from the last album

I wasn't going to write this today, but I need to take the edge off while watching this Devils v Rangers game. Don't have to say much about this band. The trio plays loud and powerful straightforward garage rock and roll. The guitar playing has to be heard to believe; and the diminutive frame that is doing all the shredding and yelling has to be seen to believe.

If this is your first taste of the band, you're going to be floored. As someone who got into the band with Power Move (2009), Ugly seems to lack a little bit of the personality and "umph" their previous releases have. I don't know if it's the way it's mixed, or a subtle songwriting change, or maybe I'm too used to their formula by now. I like every song, but only some a bit more than the others. There isn't much there that separates one song from another. It's just like one big booming jam session.

Surprisingly, it's the radio friendly pop songs I enjoy more than the big evil rock numbers. "Rotten Apple" and "Help Me" are fine tuned and catchy without sacrificing much of the band's crusty delivery. Same for the strings in the closing song "It's Nice". The only production surprise here sounds great, and makes me think of the orchestra backed version of Rocket From The Crypt's Scream, Dracula, Scream that never happened.

If you want your big crushing rock, Screaming Felmales still packs it. "Tell Me No" feels like an old school track, complete with a trademark Paternoster scream. The single track, "Doom 84" delivers enough rock to power the entire album, if it needed to. A few cuts to this 54 minute album may have helped relieve some of the diminishing returns I felt, but my opinion remains unchanged: if you like guitar rock, it's a damn shame not to give this band a shot.

WHATEVER of LAST Week: 5.2

Rocky Horror

MBMBAM MXTP 2

(2012)

why you'll love it: Your favorite podcast remixed

why you'll hate it: Hate club music, or don't know the podcast

Here is another mixtape of the best My Brother, My Brother, And Me moments. This one isn't as good at the first, and isn't broken down into tracks. Although it does have two of my favorite MBMBAM bits ever - "WarriorCats" and "Lil' 54"

not quite dead

I pulled a ripcord on adulthood a couple weeks ago. Instead of dicking around on the internet, I bought a new car, applied for a new apartment, caught wind of a new job, grew a new beard, started drinking a new coffee, bought a new toaster oven, made a new sleep schedule, bought a new pair of sneakers.... New shit is looking to be the theme this summer, and new responsibilities that are taking up my daylight hours.

Well that, and Minecraft. Why did I buy Minecraft?

I don't plan on ditching "new music" though. I've got some stuff I want to talk about. I'm definitely picking up the new Squarepusher album and Animal Collective single this weekend. Next month is Hot Chip, and Liars! I want to talk about all that stuff, but this whole real life thing is taking precedence right now; and probably will continue to all summer.

This blog isn't dead, but may continue to be inconstant for the next couple months.

WHATEVER of the week: 5.1

Jasper Byrne

Lone Survivor & Original Soundtrack

(2012)

why you''l love it: old school survival horror game - actually scary! - exceptionally moody soundtrack

why you'll hate it: easy to get lost and frustrated - short game / short tracks

Something a bit different this week. Still a review, but not exactly just a music album, and without a bonus thrown on top. This weekend I played the indie retro survival horror computer game, Lone Survivor. Created by Jasper Byrne, whose previous titles were the browser-based puzzle platformer, Soul Brother, and a retro-remake of the first act of Silent Hill 2 (Soundless Mountain).

Lone Survivor feels like it used Soundless Mountain as a blueprint to create a full game. Two Parts Maniac Mansion, one part Twin Peaks, and 20 parts Silent Hill; "You" must escape from an apartment building, battling off monsters, drugs, hallucinations, and starvation along the way. If Silent Hill isn't going to do Silent Hill well enough, then someone else might as well. Amazingly, for a SNES style game, Lone Survivor nails the Silent Hill atmosphere, especially in the sound design.

Just like any great Silent Hill soundtrack, the Lone Survivor soundtrack has an eclectic emotional mix. Great use of actual instruments, grinding electronics, somber moments, groovy lounge numbers, and creepy ambience. Of course, these tracks are all the more effective and memorable if you play the game to associate certain melodies with certain moments. On their own, they are not as strong. You can clearly tell they are made to be looped in a room you aren't meant to spend more than two minutes in. The production is still above what you would expect from an indie game, especially one that looks like this.

The game is very much worth playing to experience all the strange WTF moments. If you love survival horror, it's all there. The good and the bad. It's tough, resource heavy, and you may get lost or confused often. Once you figure out how everything works, there are a few mechanics in place that allow you never to run out of flashlight batteries or ammunition (the bare necessities to complete the game, but not to get the best possible ending).

Try out Lone Survivor! Eight dollars is a bit much for a 5 hour game (although I plan on playing it again later this year); but like the shorter and pricer PSN title, Journey, it's an experience you should not pass up.