BOMB TRACK THURSDAY! ( Part Order Of The Phoenix)

                                                 























 IT'S BACK FOOLS!!!!







This fun little feature that I use to do, that I'm really excited to start doing again. Technically as of this writing, there is still *checks clock* 10 more minutes of Thursday left. I'm going to work with that. But basically, new music is put out ever week. Like a stupid, crazy amount. I listen to this crazy stupid amount, and boil it down to the 10 or so interesting ones of the week. Check it! This week on Bomb Track Thursday's, Trump sucks but makes for great inspiration, Beyonce's sister has got her some pipes, Franz Ferdinand are still a thing, and David Bowie once penned a musical before he died. Yeah, 2016 sucked.





Thao Nguyen - "Before You Vote"
Experimental Folk

  In response to the sheer, terrifying possibility that  Donald Trump could wind up being the leader of the free world, (despite having zero political experience, and being a horrifying voting prospect to anyone who isn't a straight white guy who makes over $250,000 a year) , a pop up project of sorts called '30 Days and 30 Songs', cropped up. The idea? Get as many musicians as possible to pen their own decidedly anti-Trump songs.

   As of now 11 songs have been released. Currently there are no plans in place to cobble all the songs together upon the conclusion of the project into an album of sorts, but it's certainty a possibility. The most recent offering this week is a straight forward, freak-folk jam by Thao Nguyen of Thao Nguyen and the Get Down. It's the sort of tune that minces no words. But in case you weren't sure, the lyrics "He doesn't care about you/He doesn't care about me/He just want's his terrible reality show back on NBC', should erase all doubt. It's a minor departure form the sort of tinkling, "indie pop meets folk"  sound Nguyen normally dabbles in with The Get Down. Think much more minimalist and much more claustrophobic sounding, thanks to the eerie drone undercutting the emotionally charged lyrics.






Eminem - "Campaign Speech"
Rap/Slam Poetry

  Two thought are probably running through your head right now. 1) "Holy shit, I know right?" Eminem has done two thing this week; turn 44. And put out his first bit of new material in two years. And 2) "Slam Poetry?" well...yeah. Okay look there's really no way to mince words about this. This is a hook-less, drone with Eminem spitting rhymes over it for about 7 minutes too long. I couldn't think of anything to refer it to BUT slam poetry. Now how you feel about that will determine weather or not you'd like to kill about 7 minutes listening to Slim Shady wax vaguely about politics. But if you're like the rest of us, you're better off just pretending this didn't happen. There's gonna be more Eminem at some point. That's all you need to know.







Le Tigre - "I'm With Her"
Dance Rock/New Wave

  When it rains, it pours political opinions. And Le-Tigere have thrown their hat in the ring to make there opinions on the election  of 2016 very clear. (psst! In case the song title isn't enough of a give away, the want you to vote for Hillary Clinton very much). But in all the hubbub (and the amazing video featuring the band rocking the HELL out of some Hillary-esque power pants suits), the fact that this is the first Le Tigre song in about a decade, kinda gets lost on you. So I'll say it again. THIS IS THE FIRST NEW LE TIGRE SONG IN A DECADE. Holy shit you guys, tis be true. Le Tigre are getting back together and they have reunited through a mutual love  of Hillary Clinton (and probably a very equally as strong hatred of Donald Trump).

  As for the song itself, it's got the frenzied energy of a tight, hooky dance groove, paired with Le Tigre's trademark group song-songy, vocals. And the enjoyable (if a bit too on the nose) lyrics, beneath the catchy beats. aren't too shabby either. As an added bonus though, it can also accidentally remind you of this other, dancy pro-candidate song, and subsequently better times.


 




Solange fet. Common - "Cranes In The Sky - Remix"
Neo Soul

Observations: Beyonce has a sister! And she'd totally be happy if you knew her, you know? Observation 2). She has the pull to get Common to open up on the remix of her song "Cranes In The Sky". In another world, Solange Knowles is an incredible R&B singer and is loved by millions worldwide. But in this world she will always be Beyonce's sister. And the fact that her voice sounds uncannily like her more famous sibling's, is hard to un-hear. That being said "Crane In The Sky" was already a great song, and the addition of Common for the intro only makes it better. And if the remix draws just a little more attention to her tragically underrated album, A Seat At The Table (September 30, 2016), then it will all be worth it. Solange's arrangements really are lovely mixes of dreamy soul, meets her strong, crooning vocal performance.

The Men - "Crime"
Noise Rock/Punk

The first new tune by the Men since....well last month. But these sounds form what will be there first new album since 2014. The Men have fully embraced a return of sorts to their earlier, balls-to-the wall, approach to making music from their debut back in 2010; unapologetic, riffy, noise rock. A minor departure from their steadily growing "homage to classic rock on acid" sound they were working on. But "Crime" is a short jolt of adrenaline, and definitely a sign of things to come for the upcoming album.




Franz Ferdinand - "Demagogue"
Dance Rock/Post-Punk Revival

Well isn't this a happy accident? Apologize for the mislead there. Franz Ferdinand as it turns out, don't have plans for a new album short of saying, "we have plans for a new album?" Oh and guitarist Nick McCarthy (as far as I know, no relation) isn't in the band anymore. This has been your Franz Ferdinand minute. Keeping all seven of you die hards informed. "Demagogue" it turns out, was penned by the band to be part of that whole 30 Days, 30 Songs project, and I didn't actually catch it right away until I heard the lyrics. I mean it's entirely possible that the line  "Those pussy grabbing fingers won't let go of me now",  is a complete coincidence, but your guess is as good as mine.


 

Ted Leo - "Heroes" (David Bowie cover)
Indie Rock

 Ted Leo of Ted Leo and The Pharmacists has put out an enjoyable cover of David Bowie's "Heroes", through the record label, Spare The Rock And Spoil The Child, as part of a compilation album of kid friendly Bowie covers called Let All The Children Boogie: A Tribute To David Bowie.  When you're putting together a  covers project to introduce the little 'uns to the music of David Bowie, you could definitely do worse then tapping multi-instrumentalist/"damn that voice!" extraordinaire Ted Leo.  Let All The Children Boogie  is available online now for pre-order through the label's website. And as and added bonus, the proceeds go to It Gets Better, an organization dedicated to helping LGBTQIA youth.




https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2016/10/premiere-ted-leos-cover-of-bowies-heroes-from-fort.html




The Megaphonic Thrift - "Hendene
Noise/Shoegaze

A noise rock outfit from Bergan, Norway (who are also most certainly guilty of blanatly making their own Wikipedia page),The Megaphonic Thrift have popped into our lives again with this lovely new single from their upcoming album, Få meg til verden i tide (have I mentioned they're form Norway?) due out November 11th. It's dark, moody tune that somehow manages to still have this haunting beauty to it. In other words, just in time for winter. Which I just assume is, all the time in Norway.








Artifical Pleasure - "I'll Make It Worth Your While"
Dance Rock


New band alert! How new are we talking? Try "they haven't even formerly played their first live show yet" new. I have been aware of Artificial Pleasure for exactly 3 hours and I'm already convinced they will be the greatest band ever. Or they will releases just this one song, and then nothing else of any note. Either way, "I'll Make It Worth Your While" is totally worth the listen. especially if you've been holding off on that house cleaning and really really wanted to dance to "Fame" era David Bowie if it where fronted by Peter Gabriel.






Michael C. Hall (lyrics by David Bowie) - "Killing A Little Time" (original cast recording from Lazarus)


There's no joke here. 2016 took away one of the greatest musicians ever in David Bowie. And the fact that we don't have the Thin White Duke to kick around anymore is a goddamned shame. Bowie was an eclectic, evolving man. And the final project in his long studded career is no exception. While Blackstar is by all accounts, technically the last David Bowie album, he was busily penning a whole damn Off-Broadway Musical (because of course David Bowie could write a musical) Lazarus. This week, two other songs from that musical have been released as singles ("When I Met You" and "No Plan" eventually to be released on the 21st of October on the original-cast recording of Lazarus.

 

Schmoyoho (ft. Weird Al) - "Bad Hombres, Nasty Women"

Comedy Pop

Okay this on is a cheat. But god help me do I love this video. And anything featuring Weird Al on is worth adding to your day.

Drugdealer - The End Of Comedy

Drugdealer

The End Of Comedy

(Weird World)

September 9th, 2016

Grade: C+

Verdict:  A collection of  a best of 60’s lite rock, meets a best of 60’s psych pop, meets a west-coast underground music scene staffed version of Hee Haw, meets too much studio production.

If anything can be said of Michael Collins, it’s that he is the living personification of where that special place where the adage “write what you know”,  meets “if at first you don’t succeed..”The former referring to his compulsion to write songs exclusively about, on, or inspired by drugs. The later referring to the fact that the Baltimore-born musician has been in and out of several acts since 2009.

Collins first broke out onto the music scene with his psychedelia-inspired, chillwave project,  Run DMT; and even managed to eek two albums out of it before being served a cease-and-desist from a similarly named EDM group with presumably far better lawyers. He then went on to release The Brado Story under his new stage-name, Salvia Plath, in 2013; a project in which he learned how to actually play multiple instruments and record a pleasant, if basic, psychedelic folk album. He even had a stint where he simply requested that all his friends  send him their poems of varying quality to be transcribed into songs for a one-off album called One Hit Wonders, that he released under his own name in 2012. Point being,  Mr. Collins has shown an  uncanny ability to false-start his way through a music career, and shows now signs of stopping. Which is all fine and dandy as long as you don’t get to attached to his projects.

Drugdealer is Collins latest offering in his string of re-re-rebirths, and by far his most ambitious yet; displaying his growth from a quirky, perpetual stoned sample-dabbler, to a full blown musician. And on The End Of Comedy, Collins displays a  new willingness to harmonize his psychedelic influences with some of his more less than conventional influences. In this case, 60’s adult contemporary and 70’s AM Gold, with just a touch of plastic-soul tinged disco.  The result is a strange, though not entirely unpleasant sounding pop record.

For better or worse, Comedy, plays like a best of 60’s lite rock, meets a best of 60’s psych pop, meets a west-coast underground music scene staffed version of Hee Haw, meets a little too much studio production. The fact that a collection of so many contrasting styles with an even looser collection of musicians (Ariel Pink, Weyes Blood, Sheer Agony, and Danny James) sounds half as good as it does, is a testament to Collins masterfully done arrangements. As different as everything sounds from track to track, and nothing ever sounds like it clashes.

But damn, if some of his tendencies from his earlier work don’t find a way to creep in, exposing some of the weaknesses of the whole thing. Paradoxically,  The End Of Comedy ends up somehow sounding both overproduced and underdeveloped at the same time.Taken as a whole, it comes across as nice little throwback pop record, sprinkled in with some delightful idiosyncrasies and homages. At times almost more fitting as an easy listening score to a film, set simultaneously in the seediest and classiest club in LA. But broken down song by song, the cracks show some unfinished ideas paired with some questionable production choices.

All the vocal performance sound unnecessarily layered and buried in this annoying echoey, drowny fuzz. It’s a technique that works to try and smooth out the weaker singers on the album (see: everyone not named Weyes Blood). But on the track featuring her ( the seriously cool, Carole King-esque, jazzy croony, “The End Of Comedy”) her remarkable voice sounds half as strong as it could be; all but buried beneath the production.

Michael Collin’s gift for tasteful arrangements is the real star here though, in spite of his overly involved  studio tinkering.. “Suddenly”, again featuring Weyes Blood (the true MVP of the album), effortless morphs from a gentle piano tune with shades of Lit FM, to a blue-eyed soul late 60’s 4x4 disco thumper. “It’s Only Rainy Where You Stand”, starts as a paint-by-numbers Beatles-lit, guitar jingle. But then gradually morphs into a full blown orchestral string arrangement by the end, really elevating an otherwise simple song. “Theme For Alessandro” hints at what this album could have been with just a little more focus and commitment to just one particular direction that never really gets a chance to go anywhere. It’s a simple, hauntingly beautiful, jazzy instrumental with a whining sax and some ambient street noise in the background that brings it all together. In fact it, along with “Comedy Outro” and “Far Rockaway Theme”, are the only instrumentals on the album; and by far the only songs not affected by the weird production choices on an otherwise busy sounding album.

That’s not to say this mishmash of AM Gold top 40 hits, psych, and for at least one song (The Neil Young-inspired “Sea Of Nothing”), solid guitar soloing, can’t work.But with the majority of the songs sounding like simple, half-finished ideas, what's left is a perfectly enjoyable but perfectly forgettable collection of easy listening pop, devoid of substance. The lyrical content is nothing to write home about (unless you’re one of those poor souls who still enjoys choruses consisting of nothing but a never ending chain of “la la la’s”.  In which case you’ll enjoy the otherwise decent “My Life”), and the melodies are decent but nothing warranting a second listen through.

At its whole, The End Of Comedy, is certainly a step forward for Michael Collins, and a hint of things to come should he decide to stick it out with the Drugdealer moniker. But somehow it ends up tapping into the most damnable thing about the very easy listening music of the decade he was trying to pay homage too; it’s nice enough to not warrant touching that dial. But not anything you’re exactly going to remember either.