Seriously, this is not an update.

Posted by brame

I must say, we haven’t updated in a while, and this isn’t really even an update. This post is really a quick rundown of the new music I’ve been listening to. I must say, some of these bands I would’ve hated as of a year ago. Weird, I know. I’m on a bit of a weird quasi-metal period, so most of these bands will be some sort of harder music, whether doom metal, screamo, or metalcore. If you’re not into that you may navigate away from the page or visit another post that may suit your interest. So here it goes:

Trivium – “The Crusade”
Chasing Victory – “I Call This Abandonment”
The Sword – “Age of Winters”
Fear Before the March of Flames – “The Always Open Mouth”
Mouth of the Architect – “The Ties That Blind”
Converge – “No Heroes”

I’ve also been playing a lot of Guitar Hero II. Quality.

Is BBoW Dead?

No, it’s just school/warcraft season. We know, we know, WoW is just a huge waste of time and money, you realized it after you were farming rep for that new gear with your second level 60. Well, we here at BBoW are casual players, and we’d love if you would join us sometimes when we’re on. We play mainly on the Boulderfist realm, Alliance side, even though we’ve started Horde. Wisper us sometime, we’d like to see if anyone still reads. Look for Kikkoman, Tarantist, Valafain, or Silenter.

Anyways, just because we’re busy with that kinda stuff doesn’t mean that we’re still not listening to new music or exploring the abbyss that is youtube, we just don’t feel a need to report it every minute now. So yeah.

Music. I guess I could make some new music suggestions, even though I have a huge queue waiting for Random Album Encounter. I suggest you listen to Starlight Mints and Asobi Seksu. Okay.

Videogames. I just spent a whole paragraph on videogames. I suggest some Clubhouse Games or WoW, of course.

Webcomics. Read Achewood. All the way through.

Youtube. I was going to post that clip of that Japanese dog who could balance 30-some biscuits on his head, but the broadcast corporation in Japan had it taken down, the stiffs. Instead, enjoy some of Razor Ramon’s “Harudo Gei” skits. In this one he reminds everyone how important it is to honor your fathers on Father’s Day. Screaming and running ganguros ensue.

You can view that here.

With that, I leave you for another very long undisclosed time.

Random Album Encounter Volume One: “28″

Posted by Brad.

Now that I’m an oh-so-hip college student, all of my local used record stores are less than a ten minute walk away! With this newfound ability I find myself stealing a lot less music, and finding a lot more new artists I never heard of, but like, or artists that I had heard of before, but had never given a listen, such as the glorious Archers of Loaf.

But this new segment, Random Album Encounter, isn’t about that. In fact, “random” doesn’t really belong in the name. The only way the name makes sense is if you’re familiar to Role Playing Games.Nerdiness aside, this segment goes like this. I’m in a record store. I’m doing the shuffle through the titles in stock. I come across something that looks pretty, or interesting, that I’ve never heard before. I admit I’ve spent much more money on worse things (Alien Hominid for Gamecube for example, good game, bad price). I then drop around nine or ten dollars on something which I have next to no idea what I’m going to get. And that in a nutshell is Random Album Encounter.

For our first installment I give you… The album “28″ by Aoki Takamasa + Tujiko Noriko. I was browsing through the various records, and here I find this tantalizing cover art sitting in the front of the row, looking rather lonely. If they think college students will buy this, it can’t be that bad, right? I thumb behind it. It’s the only copy of the only album there by this mystery-duo. So along with three other albums that I’ve been meaning to buy, I take this one up to the register.

I put the disc into my desktop computer. The tracklist starts with “Fly 2″. I’m greeted by an electric effect, followed by some Japanese mumblings that I think even brame could stand. Ambient, pretty, nice, soothing. A short song. Probably what could be considered an intro track. We move on to “Vinyl Words”. Reverse effects. Actual singing. Overall a kind of Sigur Ros kind of feel to it, except that it’s… more soothing. Makes some sense. I take a look at the insert. How nice, an actual English translation. Nice little lyrics. The Postal Service type effects. Buzzes, clicks, delicious synth stuff. I really like this sort of music. A search for the album art to put into iTunes gives me a yield, similar searches are and The Knife and Portishead. Wilson likes that second one. I seem to remember some talk of The Knife. Tujiko Noriko is the main artist, apparently. A visit to some related sites shows she’s released quite a few albums. Who knows if they’ve seen any sort of British or stateside release. Regardless, “When the Night Comes” is now playing, and I’m still getting that good vibe. Good stuff to listen to on a night with your sweetheart, or right before you’re about to go to bed. Kind of reminds me of the song “66db” by Yuki, perhaps a little bit less poppy. We move on through the tracks, and still more of the same awesome stuff, the next is a bit more upbeat, the next down. “26th Floor” is a most interesting take on a sort of talk track. That is, lots of beats for a talk track. Well thought out words. Very nice. We’re treated with two more awesome tracks after that.

If you didn’t notice, I really like this album. A lot. And I intend to seek out more from the artist, with high hopes that it will be as high quality as the music found in “28″. So, in conclusion, the album is awesome, and it is one of my favorite finds ever (that is, without the consultation of another, but even then it’s up there). If you like slower chill-out music, and don’t mind some Japanese (or in my case, enjoy it), then you wouldn’t go wrong to check out this album.

But don’t take my word for it! Visit your local library!

A video of gifs collected from 4 Channel. Amusing.

Frowning of a Lifetime

posted by Jamie

Hey Mercedes is one of the catchiest band’s I’ve ever heard. I got Loses Control 4 years ago from my cousin, who is a hardcore fan. Not only did I fall in love with the CD itself, but discovered that their other stuff is great too. Although they broke up in the summer of 05′ they are one of my most listened to bands at the moment. They came out with 2 LPs and 2 EPs.

HM gained a respectable amount of success over their few years of existence. The band basically came to be because of the breakup of a post-hardcore/emo band Braid in 99′. Which fueled HM with vocals guitar and drums from its predecessor, as well as a mini fan base. I wish the band would have stuck it out longer, but they put out good work for the short run that they had together. Check ‘em out.

Their music can be described as 90’s rock, but as most bands their vocals(performed by Robert Nanna) made them stand out. Hey Mercedes almost sounds like JEW at points with their repetitive riffs, but the songs really connect through their bridges and refrains. A few of their hits can be heard here.

You know we always listen to funk before we go to bed!

Posted by brame.

I play bass. I hope you know that. And if you didn’t then you do now. I’m a sucker for essentially anything that has some good bass licks in it (with a few exceptions). I might add that this cd has some wicked bass lines. It may seem that I’m behind on this band, but that’s because I had no idea what they sounded like until I bought the cd on a whim. The band I am speaking of is Jamiroquai. And the cd, “Travelling Without Moving” I’m more than a decade behind, I know. Perhaps this is good though. Perhaps their popularity is over and gone.

I have never heard funk quite like this. A sort of funk/acid jazz/rock melded together. At first a lot of the tracks sound the same but then you realize that they all have a specific flavor. Typically a band sticks to a single sound throughout a record (except genre-bending bands like Green Day and Nickelback). Jamiroquai tends to mix it up for lack of a better term. The sound varies from funk-rock to even reggae vibes in songs like “Drifting Along”. Some songs even pull from dance and trance beats, but these beats are certainly not predominant.

The above is sarcasm.

This brings me to my next point. The rhythm section (the drums and bass) is amazing. I guess you could consider turntables a rhythm instrument in this instance. They are used to power the dancey beats that compliment the drums and usual guitar wah. Back to how awesome the bass and drums are. They are so tight. Not tight as in cool or hip, but literally tight as in “together” as if they have been played by robots that have perfect rhythm and the instruments have been played perfectly. Stuart Zender is the brilliant mind behind the bass on this album. You may recognize his name from other artists such as Lauryn Hill or Gorillaz (another band with a sick rhythm section, but that’s for another day). His style reflects that of such bands as Weather Report meets a some punk nonsense. Still he blends so well with the jazzy rock that is Jamiroquai.

To add to the jazz flavor, Jamiroquai even incorporates such instruments as trumpet, flute and trombone, which rarely appear on their newer releases. The point is, that the band pushes the limits of its limitless genre.

The only downside to the album is the shallow lyrics. I have listened to much worse though. And by listened I mean heard. To say the least, they are all written by the lead singer, Jay Kay, and not by some phony who has produced that same pop nonsense ten times over and still writes about the same crap over and over, but somehow it sells whether it be Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys, N*Sync, or any other pop artist who knows nothing about writing music. (Exception: Kelly Clarkson)

“Travelling Without Moving”

With brame the newest entertainments

Posted by brame.

Topics to discuss:

1) “V for Vendetta” release
2) Showbread’s “Age of Reptiles”
3) Protest the Hero’s “Kezia”
4) My renewed love of ska (a preview of the next article)

First off, “V for Vendetta” is coming out on dvd August 1st. Can’t wait another 2 hours, it is seriously one of the greatest movies ever produced by mankind. Mainstream? Yes. But I can deal with that. It’s one of those movies that I see the preview for and think “that looks pretty good,” then I watch it and it is frickin’ awesome. Point is, behind “Darko,” greatest movie ever created. (Scatterbrained, I know.)

2) The new Showbread album, “Age of Reptiles,”is also being released the same day as “V.” I wanted to get a jump start, so thanks to Demonoid, I already have it. If I could do the review of my first impressions in one word it would be: disappointing. After the brilliant, melodic, harmonious screams of Josh and Ivory on “No, Sir,” you would think the band could only get better. Instead they revert to less screaming, nearly no screaming to be exact. Just listening to the album infuriates me. There are seriously only three tracks I enjoy. They are: “Oh! Emetophobia,” “Centipede Sisters,” and the title track “Age of Reptiles.”

 

Lazored. Since I’m a Photoshop guru, I threw together this picture of “No, Sir” lazoring “Age of Reptiles.” Signifying my extreme hatred for Showbread’s new album comparatively to the last one.

3rd – Go buy Protest the Hero’s latest album “Kezia.” Even though it is a year old, I just found them thanks to Matt. I don’t really like metal except for some of the more technical stuff. These guys throw down some tech metal. Next to BTBAM it is truly some of the best I’ve heard.

Finally, a preview: Back in the day I listened to a band known as Five Iron Frenzy. They are dead, RIP. They really got me into ska, but not until after they were gone did I look into other ska bands. Anyways, I’ve come to discover quite a few. Including some of what one might call “skacore” (ska with yelling). I’ve come to respect the genre and it makes some of the greatest live music. Point is, I’ll give you the full story next time, with some of my skaggestions (lolololololololololz).

Push it to the Limit

Indisputable, Undeniable

posted by Jamie

Hello. The newest collection to any Radiohead fan’s compilation “The Eraser” was released July 10th. This was Thom Yorke’s debut album and has done moderately well to say the least (#2 on the charts). The track listing can be viewed at Amazon. After listening to the album the first thing that struck me was how much it sounded like Kid A/Amnesiac (a few songs were actually written during this time), but after 3 weeks of play it has created a new “Era” of music, at least coming from Thom’s side of things.

Remnants of a guitar are hidden beneath the heavy electronic beats and synths. Musically the album contains portions of great detail but also areas of somewhat basic beats. Lyrically the album is one minded; Knowing a little about Thom’s view on global warming makes this album’s focus evident. Songs such as “The Clock”, “And it Rained all Night”, “The Eraser”, and “Atoms for Peace” “inform” us that things are not as nice and blue as they seem. The single “Black Swan” is the reason the CD has received a PA from the man. Yorke uncharacteristically states that things are “fucked up” a subtle 14 times, although it has already appeared as Exit Music (for a film) in A Scanner Darkly. I consider it poorly written, and I dislike its repetitive nature.

As a whole the album consists of hit or miss songs, but is convincingly sincere and heartfelt in its content. A few highlights are “Harrowdown Hill”, “Skip Divided”, and “And it Rained All Night.” Yorke claims that the album helped ease his mind and release untamed thoughts, and despite rumors of a breakup the album has had full support from the remaining members of Radiohead. The cover art done by Stanley Donwood is a telling tale of the ravaging seas, storms, and troubles being parted by one man. The point being is that action can be taken to ease the situation, but no eraser can clear ink, and the environment is what it is. More Information

An Album I Should Have Bought Years Ago

Posted by brame.

I recently stumbled upon a huge music sale that included old Tooth and Nail cd’s for as low as five bucks. Given the oppurtunity I thumbed through the mass of crap to find that some of it was actually worth my time and money. Apparently compact discs such as As Cities Burn, Joy Electric, Haste the Day, andmewithoutYou are worth no more than a few dollars profit. Anyways, I continued to flip through I’d say atleast five hundred cd’s to find about 20 T & N cd’s in a row.

Now, I bought the new mewithoutYou the day it came out (October 5, 2004). I thought it was the most genius thing I’d ever heard at the time. Since then I’ve listened to more artists similar to their “genre” (such as Tiger Bear Wolf). I contemplated buying the old one, “[A --> B] Life,” multiple times. But! when I would stumble upon it in Best Buy, it would cost $14.99 or whatever insane price the store decided to slap on it. Plus, I had only heard two songs off thecd (“Gentlemen” and “Bullet to Binary”) and the latter song I was not very thoroughly impressed with.

Enough with the not so recent past and let’s jump forward to July, 18 2006 or the day I found “[A --> B] Life” on sale for $6.99. I don’t know why but I immediately grabbed it thinking “They can’t be frickin’ serious. Six dollars and ninety nine cents.” Oh, but they were serious. Very serious. I preceded to buy a few others as well. Most impressive of course is this “antique” mewithoutYou record I was so oddly excited about. I brought it home and listened to it twice through without stopping and thought to myself, “Why didn’t I buy this two years ago”? I’ll tell you why: it cost as much as a bottled water in Venezuela. Venezuela aside, I like this album better than “Catch For Us the Foxes.” Why? Well, I’ll tell you.

One, it’s raw. It doesn’t sound overproduced and as studio quality as the second record. It sounds as if they’ve recorded the record in a garage or storage unit. Songs like “Silencer” hold the bass that I loved on “Leaf” from “Catch For Us the Foxes,” but add a grungey (?) guitar effect and catchy hum in the background vocals. Don’t get me wrong, the second album has it’s raw flavor but nothing like the crunchy tone of the instruments in “[A --> B] Life.”

Second, the album art is sweet. A matter of opinion, yes, but be it that I nearly never download music, an album with good artwork is a necessity. And to be brutally honest, I tire of these new-fangled, no artwork, cardboard, oversize pieces of crap. (Yeah, stop doing that Morrissey). Enough about Morrissey though (he sucks), I like the basic two-fold layout they use and the color scheme, it is enough to be satisfying and not overbearing. Still no album art will top either of the “O’ God the Aftermath” releases.Original and Deluxe

The final feature that I believe tops “Catch For Us the Foxes” is the flow of the songs and the energy in the music. “Foxes” tends to put me to sleep. This endeavor however obviously has been created by the same Aaron Weiss who guest-starred in “Memphis Will Be Laid to Waste.” Here’s to you, past Aaron Weiss, I commend you on your past album and hope everyone that reads this will go buy it as well as the new record “Brother, Sister” on September 26, 2006.