MY CD RACK

The Whitest Boy Alive - Rules [2009]

2009-11-12T00:38:00.000-08:00

Genre: Dream Pop, Shoegazing, Folk, Lounge, Electronica, Rock

My opinion & thought: Imagine Daft Punk's drums & bass on background, but more into band sound, and Dire Straits' Mark Knopfler on guitar & Kings of Convenience singing.

Stands out track(s): 1517, Intentions, Timebomb, Dead End

The Whitest Boy Alive is a musical group based in Berlin. The band comprises singer/guitarist Erlend Øye, who is also a member of the band Kings of Convenience, bassist Marcin Öz, drummer Sebastian Maschat, and Daniel Nentwig on Rhodes piano and Crumar.

The Whitest Boy Alive started as an electronic dance music project in 2003 in Jakarta, Indonesia, but have since slowly developed into a band with no programmed elements. Their German record label is Bubbles. Their debut album Dreams was released on June 21, 2006 in Germany. In July 2007, Modular Records signed them to their UK imprint and the band played their first UK performance with New Young Pony Club at the London Astoria in September 2007. The album was released in the UK with the single Burning in November 2007. The band released their second album Rules in March 2009. It was recorded in a newly built studio located on Punta Burros, Nayarit, Mexico.

The band started The Whitest Boy Alive + The New Wine tour in April, 2009, visiting Germany, Denmark, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Netherlands, Belgium, and Sweden.

Tracklisting:

"Keep a Secret" (4:08)
"Intentions" (3:39)
"Courage" (4:23)
"Timebomb" (3:44)
"Rollercoaster Ride" (2:40)
"High on the Heels" (3:20)
"1517" (3:41)
"Gravity" (3:49)
"Promise Less or Do More" (4:18)
"Dead End" (3:23)
"Island" (7:04)

Band Members:

Erlend Øye - guitar and vocals
Marcin Öz - bass
Sebastian Maschat - drums
Daniel Nentwig - Rhodes piano and Crumar synthesizer

Michael Jackson - HIStory: Past, Present & Future, Book I [1995]

2009-06-25T23:01:00.000-07:00

Genre: Pop, R&B, Rock, Soul

MySpace: michaeljackson

My opinion & thought: This is a Pop Culture icon's stories.

Stands out track(s): All tracks

Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American recording artist and entertainer. The seventh child of the Jackson family, he debuted on the professional music scene at the age of 11 as a member of The Jackson 5 and began a solo career in 1971 while still a member of the group. Referred to as the "King of Pop" in subsequent years, four of his solo studio albums are among the world's best-selling records: Off the Wall (1979), Bad (1987), Dangerous (1991) andHIStory (1995), while his 1982 Thriller is the world's best-selling record of all time.

In the early 1980s, he became a dominant figure in popular music and the first African-American entertainer to amass a strong crossover following on MTV. The popularity of his music videos airing on MTV, such as "Beat It", "Billie Jean" and Thriller—credited for transforming the music video into an art form and a promotional tool—helped bring the relatively new channel to fame. Videos such as "Black or White" and "Scream" made Jackson an enduring staple on MTV in the 1990s. With stage performances and music videos, Jackson popularized a number of physically complicated dance techniques, such as the robot and the moonwalk. His distinctive musical sound and vocal style influenced many hip hop, pop and contemporary R&B artists.

One of the few artists to have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice, his other achievements include multiple Guinness World Records—including one for "Most Successful Entertainer of All Time"—13 Grammy Awards, 13 number one singles in his solo career—more than any other male artist in the Hot 100 era. Jackson's highly publicized personal life, coupled with his successful career, made him a part of popular culture for almost four decades. Michael Jackson died ofcardiac arrest on June 25, 2009, aged 50.

HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I (often abbreviated to HIStory) is a double album by Michael Jackson, released on June 20, 1995, and is Jackson's ninth album. The first disc, named "HIStory Begins" consists of a selection of Jackson's greatest hits from the singer's past fifteen years, while the second, named "HIStory Continues" features new songs, with the exception of "Come Together", which was recorded in 1987. HIStory has been cited as the best-selling multiple disc album ever released, with worldwide sales of 20 million (40 million in terms of units). It is the top grossing album of Jackson's career behind Thriller. The album won one Grammy for Best Music Video - Short Form for Scream.

The first disc of greatest hits was reissued in 2001 as a single disc under the name Greatest Hits: HIStory, Vol. 1.

Recording started in September 1994 and would carry through the early spring of 1995. Jackson wrote the majority of the songs attacking the press for "scandalizing" him and gave messages to fans to not "feed into the tabloids". One of the songs included "Scream", a duet between Michael and sister Janet, who had agreed to do a duet with her brother after she felt that she "had made it to the top" and she didn't fear that she'd "had to ride Michael's coattails". Other songs that attacked the tabloids included "Tabloid Junkie" and "This Time Around". The Michael and Janet duet was the first of several tunes Jackson produced with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis ("2 Bad", "HIStory", "Tabloid Junkie") but not without additional help from the likes of Dallas Austin ("This Time Around"), R. Kelly (the lone ballad, "You Are Not Alone"), Charles Chaplin ("Smile") and Jackson himself ("They Don't Care About Us", "Earth Song", "Stranger in Moscow", "D.S.", "Money", "Little Susie" with Jackson-arranged variation of Maurice Duruflé's Requiem as prelude). Jackson, in fact, dominated the production of the album though not fully incorporating serious issues into his music including racism, the ecology and his own personal travails ("D.S.", in particular, was an attack on the district attorney of Jackson's case, Thomas Sneddon, in which he is heard singing in the chorus despite the lyrics reading "Dom Sheldon", possibly used to escape a lawsuit). Like on previous albums, Jackson wanted to feature guest stars. Other than his sister Janet, rapper The Notorious B.I.G. put down a rap verse in "This Time Around", soul group Boyz II Men sung background vocals on "HIStory" and basketball star and sometime rapper Shaquille O'Neal put down a verse on "2 Bad". While fourteen of the songs were new recordings, Jackson included an older recording of his cover of The Beatles' "Come Together", which he had recorded during the Bad era. The version included on the album is an early fade of the original version.

HIStory was originally to be called "Decade", which would include several previous Jackson hits and several new songs from the later part of his career. This was shelved and HIStory was eventually expanded into a two-disc set.

HIStory remains Jackson's most controversial album as seen by a number of events.

The music video for "You Are Not Alone" was controversial in that it featured an almost nude Jackson and his then-wife Lisa Marie Presley. Additionally, two Belgian songwriters, brothers Eddy and Danny Van Passel, claimed to have written the melody in 1993. In September of 2007 a Belgian judge ruled the song was plagiarized from the Van Passel brothers and the song was subsequently banned from airwaves in Belgium.
Controversy arose when a verse in "They Don't Care About Us" ("Jew me/sue me/everybody do me/kick me, kike me/don't you black or white me") raised suspicion that the singer was anti-Semitic, charges Jackson denied. To make up for it, he edited the verse on later issues of the album.
HIStory and Blood on the Dance Floor are the only albums by Jackson using vulgar lyrics in some parts of several songs, such as "Scream" and "This Time Around."Blood on the Dance Floor did not have as much swearing, but some songs were more sexually suggestive.
The original music video for "They Don't Care About Us" showed Jackson singing the song in a prison. MTV took the video off its playlist because it showed scenes of violence. Jackson and video directorSpike Lee released another version of the video set in Dona Marta, a shanty town in Brazil, which was actually shot before the "prison version". However, because of the filming location, one Brazilian politician accused Jackson of exploiting poverty to make money. The politician also alleged that Jackson needed and was given permission by drug traffickers to shoot the video.
At the BRIT Awards in 1996, Jackson was given a special "Artist of a Generation" award. At the ceremony he performed "Earth Song" with a grandiose stage show, with Jackson portrayed as a Christ-like figure surrounded by adoring children. Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker mounted the stage in protest at the act. Cocker ran across the stage, lifting his shirt and pointing his (clothed) bottom in Jackson's direction. Cocker was subsequently questioned by the police on suspicion of causing injury towards three of the children in Jackson's performance, although no criminal proceedings followed. The performance saw the song and album rise back up the charts.
The album received 5 Grammy Award nominations and won one, these were:
- "Album of the Year" - HIStory - Nomination
- "Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals" - "Scream" - Nomination
- "Best Male Pop Vocal Performance" - "You Are Not Alone" - Nomination
- "Best Music Video, Short Form" - "Earth Song" - Nomination
- "Best Music Video, Short Form" - "Scream" - Won
HIStory, arguably Jackson's most conflicting album, revealed a "furious" pop icon worn by years of superstardom, with Jon Pareles of the The New York Timeswriting that "It has been a long time since Michael Jackson was simply a performer. He's the main asset of his own corporation, which is a profitable subsidiary of Sony". Some reviewers commented on the unusual format of a new studio album being accompanied by a "greatest hits" collection, with Q magazine saying "from the new songs' point of view, it's like taking your dad with you into a fight."
In relation to "This Time Around", James Hunter of Rolling Stone described it as a "dynamite jam...done with Atlanta R&B hotshot Dallas Austin that's ripe for remixes". Jon Pareles of The New York Timesbelieved that Jackson "muttered" lyrics such as "They thought they really had control of me". Chris Willman of the Los Angeles Times said of "This Time Around", "a tough, rhythm-guitar-driven track co-written and co-produced by hit-maker Dallas Austin that sports one of the album's better grooves". Fred Shuster of the Daily News of Los Angeles described "This Time Around", "Money" and "D.S." as "superb slices of organic funk that will fuel many of the summer's busiest dance floors".
"HIStory" debuted at number-one on the Billboard 200 and Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts selling over 391,000 copies in its first week. The album was certified seven times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America on October 22, 1999 in recognition of 3.5 million shipments in the United States. Multi-disc albums are counted once for each disc within the album if it is over 100 minutes in length, in this case "HIStory" is 148:50 minutes long. It is counted twice meaning each album was certified platinum after 500,000 copies were shipped. The Canadian Recording Industry Association certified it 5× platinum after shipping in excess of 500,000 units.
In Europe, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry certified "HIStory" six times platinum, denoting six million shipments within the continent. Meanwhile, in the United Kingdom, the album debuted at number-one on the official albums chart and was certified four times platinum by the British Phonographic Industry for shipments of 1.2 million copies. In France, "HIStory" became Jackson's fourth diamond-seller album after Dangerous (1991), Bad (1987) and Thriller (1982), denoting sales of over one million units. In addition, Germany was the European country where the double-disc set sold the most, over 1.5 million copies, being certified three times platinum by the IFPI.
"HIStory" has sold over twenty million copies worldwide and, according to MSNBC, is the best-selling multiple-disc album of all-time.

Tracklisting:
CD 1:
1.Billie Jean (written by Michael Jackson)
2.The Way You Make Me Feel (written by Michael Jackson)
3.Black Or White (written by Michael Jackson)
4.Rock With You (written by Rod Temperton)
5.She's Out Of My Life (written by Tom Bahler)
6.Bad (written by Michael Jackson)
7.I Just Can't Stop Loving You (written by Michael Jackson)
8.Man In The Mirror (written by Siedah Garrett & Glen Ballard)
9.Thriller (written by Rod Temperton)
10.Beat It (written by Michael Jackson)11.The Girl Is Mine (written by Michael Jackson)
12.Remember The Time (written by Michael Jackson, Teddy Riley & Bernard Bell)
13.Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough (written by Michael Jackson)
14.Wanna Be Startin' Somthin' (written by Michael Jackson)
15.Heal The World (written by Michael Jackson)
CD 2:
1.Scream (Duet with Janet Jackson) (written by Michael and Janet Jackson, James Harris III & Terry Lewis)
2.They Don't Care About Us (written by Michael Jackson)
3.Stranger In Moscow (written by Michael Jackson)
4.This Time Around (written by Michael Jackson)
5.Earth Song (written by Michael Jackson)
6.D.S (written by Michael Jackson)
7.Money (written by Michael Jackson)
8.Come Together (written by John Lennon & Paul McCartney)
9.You Are Not Alone (written by R. Kelly)
10.Childhood (Theme from Free Willy 2) (written by Michael Jackson)
11.Tabloid Junkie (written by Michael Jackson, James Harris III & Terry Lewis)
12.2 Bad (written by Michael Jackson)
13.HIStory (written by Michael Jackson, James Harris III & Terry Lewis)
14.Little Susie (written by Michael Jackson)
15.Smile (written by John Turner & Geoffrey Parsons)

Michael Jackson - Thriller [1982]

2009-06-25T22:45:00.000-07:00

Genre: Pop, R&B, Rock, Soul

MySpace: michaeljackson

My opinion & thought: This is a Pop Culture classic.

Stands out track(s): Thriller, Beat It, Billie Jean, Rock With You

Thriller is the sixth studio album by American recording artist Michael Jackson and the best-selling album of all time. The album was released on November 30, 1982 byEpic Records as the follow-up to Jackson's critically and commercially successful 1979 album Off the Wall. Thriller explores similar genres to those of Off the Wall, including funk, disco, soul, soft rock, R&B and pop. However, Thriller's lyrics deal with generally darker themes, including paranoia and the supernatural.

With a production budget of $750,000, recording sessions took place between April and November 1982 at Westlake Recording Studios in Los Angeles, California. Assisted by producer Quincy Jones, Jackson wrote four of Thriller's nine tracks. Following the release of the album's first single "The Girl Is Mine", some observers assumed Thriller would only be a minor hit record. With the release of the second single "Billie Jean", the album topped the charts in many countries. At its peak, the album was selling a million copies a week worldwide. In just over a year, Thriller became—and currently remains—the best-selling album of all time. Sales are estimated to be between 47–109 million copies sold worldwide. Seven of the album's nine songs were released as singles, and all reached the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album won a record-breaking eight Grammy Awards at the 1984 Grammys. Despite numerous five-star reviews, Thriller was not universally praised.

Thriller cemented Jackson's status as one of the predominant pop stars of the late 20th century, and enabled him to break down racial barriers via his appearances onMTV and meetings with President Ronald Reagan at the White House. The album was one of the first to use music videos as successful promotional tools—the videos for Thriller, "Billie Jean" and "Beat It" all received regular rotation on MTV. In 2001, a special edition issue of the album was released, which contains additional audio interviews, a demo recording and the song "Someone In the Dark", which was a Grammy-winning track from the E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial storybook. In 2008, the album was reissued again as Thriller 25, containing re-mixes that feature contemporary artists, a previously unreleased song and a DVD.

Thriller ranked number 20 on Rolling Stone magazine's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list in 2003, and was listed by the National Association of Recording Merchandisers at number three in their Definitive 200 Albums of All Time. Thriller was preserved by the Library of Congress to the National Recording Registry, as it was deemed "culturally significant."

Thriller was released on November 30, 1982, and sold one million copies worldwide per week at its peak. Seven singles were released from the album, including "The Girl Is Mine"—which was seen as a poor choice for the lead release and led some to believe that the album would be a disappointment, and to suggestions that Jackson was bowing to a white audience. "The Girl Is Mine" was followed by the hit single "Billie Jean", which made Thriller a chart-topper. Success continued with the single "Beat It", which featured guitarists Eddie Van Halen and Steve Lukather. The title track "Thriller" was released as a single and also became a hit internationally.

Thriller was mostly well received by critics. A four-star Rolling Stone review by Christopher Connelly described it as "a zesty LP" with a "harrowing, dark message". Despite the positive response, the title track came under strong criticism. Rolling Stone expressed a negative sentiment, criticising its "degenerat[ion] into silly camp". The magazine expressed confusion at the use of Vincent Price over Count Floyd for the track's concluding rap. The New York Times gave a positive review of the album, and dedicated a large amount of its coverage to the song "Human Nature". They described it as the most "striking" song on the record, and wrote, "this is a haunting, brooding ballad by Steve Porcaro and John Bettis with an irresistible chorus and it should be an enormous hit". Concluding their review The New York Times added; "there are other hits here, too, lots of them. Best of all, with a pervasive confidence infusing the album as a whole, Thriller suggests that Mr. Jackson's evolution as an artist is far from finished".

Robert Christgau published a positive (A−) graded overview of the album a few days before its release. He acknowledged that there were "fillers" on the record but still labeled it "almost classic". He expressed the opinion that "Beat It" was the album's best track, calling it "the triumph and the thriller", but criticized "The Girl Is Mine" as "Michael's worst idea since 'Ben'". He was of the opinion that the collaboration did not work well, but still praised it for "getting interracial love on the radio". A year after the album's release, Time summed up the three main singles from the album, saying, "The pulse of America and much of the rest of the world moves irregularly, beating in time to the tough strut of "Billie Jean", the asphalt aria of "Beat It", the supremely cool chills of "Thriller". Conversely, in a Melody Maker review, Paolo Hewitt stated "[t]his is not a good LP"; in his opinion there were only "two songs worthy of mention". "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" was praised as an "exciting", "uptempo electro-funk song", as was "Billie Jean". Hewitt's stance was that as a whole, the album could only be described as "bland", particularly the closing tracks. He summed up: "Jackson seems to have lost his talent for turning gross into gold".

The album won Jackson a record-breaking seven Grammy Awards in 1984, including Album of the Year. The eighth Grammy went to Bruce Swedien. That same year, Jackson won eight American Music Awards, the Special Award of Merit and three MTV Video Music Awards. Thriller was recognized as the world's best-selling album on February 7, 1984, when it was inducted into the Guinness Book of World Records. It is one of only three albums to remain in the top ten of the Billboard 200 for a full year, and spent 37 weeks at number one out of the 80 consecutive weeks it was in the top ten. The album was also the first of three to have seven Billboard Hot 100 top ten singles, and was the only album to be the best-seller of two years (1983–1984) in the US. On March 6, 2009, Thriller was certified 28x Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, for shipments of at least 28 million copies in the US giving it Double Diamond Award status there. The album topped the charts in many countries, sold 3.7 million copies in the UK, and went 14x Platinum in Australia. Still popular today, Thriller sells an estimated 130,000 copies in the US per year; it reached number two in the US Catalog charts in February 2003 and number 39 in the UK in March 2007. The album is cited as having sold between 47 and 109 million copies worldwide; the Guinness Book of World Records lists Thriller as having sold 65 million copies as of 2007.

Thriller was reissued in 2001 in an expanded set titled Thriller: Special Edition. The original tracks were re-mastered, and the album included a new booklet and bonus material, including the songs "Someone In the Dark", "Carousel", and Jackson's original "Billie Jean" demo, as well as audio interviews with Jones and Temperton discussing the recording of the album.

In February 2008, Epic Records released Thriller 25; Jackson served as executive producer. Thriller 25 appeared on CD and vinyl with seven bonus tracks, a new song called "For All Time", Vincent Price's voice-over, and five re-mixes featuring American artists Fergie, will.i.am, Kanye West, and Akon. It also included a DVD featuring three music videos, the Motown 25 "Billie Jean" performance, and a booklet with a message from Jackson. The ballad "For All Time" supposedly dates from 1982, but is often credited as being from Dangerous sessions. Two singles were released from the reissue: "The Girl Is Mine 2008" and "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' 2008".

Thriller 25 was a commercial success and did particularly well as a reissue. It peaked at number one in eight countries and Europe. It peaked at number two in the US, number three in the UK and reached the top 10 in over 30 national charts. It was certified Gold in 11 countries including the UK, received a 2x Gold certification in France and received platinum certification in Poland. In the United States, Thriller 25 was the second best-selling album of its release week, selling one hundred and sixty six thousand copies, just fourteen thousand short of reaching the number one position. It was ineligible for the Billboard 200 chart as a re-release but entered the Pop Catalog Charts at number one (where it stayed for ten non-consecutive weeks), with the best sales on that chart since December, 1996. With the arrival of Halloween that November, Thriller 25 spent an eleventh non-consecutive week atop the US catalog chart. This brought US sales of the album to 688,000 copies, making it the best selling catalog album of 2008. This was Jackson's best launch since Invincible in 2001, selling three million copies worldwide in 12 weeks.

Tracklisting:

01 Wanna Be Startin Somethin
02 Baby Be Mine
03 The Girl Is Mine (with paul mccartney)
04 Thriller
05 Beat It
06 Billie Jean
07 Human Nature
08 PYT (pretty_young_thing)
09 The Lady In My Life

Nirvana - Bleach [1989]

2009-04-09T23:51:00.000-07:00

Genre: Indie, Grunge, Lo-Fi, Alternative, Garage Rock, Post-Punk

MySpace: nirvana

My opinion & thought: The real joy of "Bleach" is between the lo-fi raw 3-piece band sound & the anger of Kurt Cobain's lyrics.

Stands out track(s): Love Buzz, About A Girl, Blew

Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987. Nirvana went through a succession of drummers, the most notable being Dave Grohl, who joined the band in 1990.

With the lead single "Smells Like Teen Spirit" from the band's second album Nevermind (1991), Nirvana entered into the mainstream, bringing along with it a subgenre ofalternative rock called grunge. Other Seattle grunge bands such as Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden also gained popularity, and as a result, alternative rock became a dominant genre on radio and music television in the United States during the early-to-mid-1990s. As Nirvana's frontman, Kurt Cobain found himself referred to in the media as the "spokesman of a generation", with Nirvana the "flagship band" of Generation X. Cobain was uncomfortable with the attention and placed his focus on the band's music, believing the band's message and artistic vision to have been misinterpreted by the public, challenging the band's audience with its third studio album In Utero (1993).

Nirvana's brief run ended with Cobain's death in April 1994, but the band's popularity continued in the years that followed. In 2002, "You Know You're Right", an unfinished demo from the band's final recording session, topped radio playlists around the world. Since their debut, the band has sold over twenty-five million albums in the US alone, and over fifty million worldwide.

Bleach is the debut album by the American grunge band Nirvana. It was released on June 15, 1989 through the independent record label Sub Pop. Bleach originally sold a mere 30,000 copies, but following the enormous success of the band's second album, Nevermind (1991), fans discovered Nirvana's lesser known debut. It has since been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.

The main sessions for Bleach took place at Reciprocal Recording Studios in Seattle, Washington, with local producer Jack Endino manning the board. Nirvana began recording with a five hour session on December 24, 1988. The band recorded again on December 29-31, and on January 14 and 24. Ultimately Endino billed the group for 30 hours of recording time. Three of the album's songs–"Floyd the Barber", "Paper Cuts", and the CD-only track "Downer"–were recorded during a previous session at Reciprocal Studios in 1988, featuring Dale Crover on drums. Despite attempts to re-record them with new drummer Chad Channing, the band ultimately decided to remix the versions recorded with Crover for the final version of Bleach. "Big Long Now" was omitted from the album because vocalist/guitarist Kurt Cobain felt "there was already enough slow heavy stuff on Bleach, and he "didn't want that song to go out", according to Endino. The album was edited and sequenced, but Sub Pop headBruce Pavitt ordered that the album be completely resequenced. The record was further delayed for several months until Sub Pop was able to secure sufficient funds to issue it.

The recording sessions were completed with a cost of $606. Jason Everman, a guitarist who was impressed by the band's demo with Dale Crover, supplied the money. He eventually joined Nirvana as a second guitarist. Everman received a credit on the album sleeve, even though he did not perform on the record. Bassist Krist Novoselic explained, "We just wanted to make him feel at home in the band."

According to Cobain, the music on Bleach conformed with the grunge genre Sub Pop heavily endorsed. "There was this pressure from Sub Pop and the [grunge] scene to play 'rock music'," Cobain said. "Strip it down and make it sound like Aerosmith." Cobain felt he had to fit the expectations of the grunge sound in order to build a fanbase, and so he purposefully suppressed his arty and pop songwriting traits when crafting the record.

Cobain told Spin in 1993 that with Bleach "I didn't give a flying fuck what the lyrics were about," and claimed that eighty percent of the lyrics were written the night before recording. Cobain often was still working on them on the drive to the recording studio. He explained, "It was like I'm pissed off. Don't know what about. Let's just scream negative lyrics, and as long as they're not sexist and don't get too embarrassing it'll be okay. I don't hold any of those lyrics dear to me." Nirvana biographer Michael Azerrad noted that nevertheless many of the songs on the album were reflective of Cobain and various incidents in his life. "Mr. Moustache" was inspired by Cobain's dislike of macho behavior, while "School" was a critique of the Seattle music scene, particularly Sub Pop.

Sub Pop pressed the first 1,000 copies on white vinyl, the next 2,000 on black, and all subsequent pressings were on red and blue. The first 3,000 copies of the record came with a poster, featuring Jason Everman. The vinyl pressings omitted "Big Cheese" or "Downer". In the United Kingdom, the record was released on Tupelo Records in June 1989. The first 300 Tupelo copies were pressed on white vinyl; the next 2,000 copies were on dark green. The rest of the Tupelo copies were on black vinyl. The Tupelo copies did contain "Love Buzz", but "Big Cheese" was listed on the label and sleeve instead. They also did not contain "Downer". In Australia, Bleach was released on Waterfront Records and later re-issued on various colored covers and colored vinyl prior to 1992. Sub Pop released a remastered version of the album on CD andcassette in April 1992.

The album's working title was Too Many Humans. It was renamed Bleach after Cobain found an AIDS prevention poster while Nirvana was driving through San Francisco. The poster advised heroin addicts to bleach their needles before use, featuring the slogan "Bleach Your Works."

Tracklisting:

01. Blew
02. Floyd The Barber
03. About A Girl
04. School
05. Love Buzz
06. Paper Cuts
07. Negative Creep
08. Scoff
09. Swap Meet
10. Mr. Moustache
11. Sifting
12. Big Cheese
13. Downer

Personnel:

Kurt Cobain – vocals, guitar (credited as "Kurt Cobain")
Krist Novoselic – bass (credited as "Chris Novoselic")
Chad Channing – drums
Dale Crover – drums on "Floyd the Barber", "Paper Cuts", and "Downer"
Jason Everman – Credited as guitarist but doesn't actually play on album
Jack Endino – producer
Tracy Marander – photography
Charles Peterson – photography
Lisa Orth – design
Jane Higgins – execution

Kings Of Convenience - Quiet Is The New Loud [2001]

2009-04-06T04:21:00.000-07:00

Genre: Indie, Pop, Folk, Acoustic

MySpace: kingsofconvenience

My opinion & thought: Not the best from them but still sounds good. All you need to do is, press play, sit back, relax & enjoy.

Stands out track(s): I Don't Know What I Can Save You From, Winning A Battle, Losing The War, Toxic Girl

Kings of Convenience is an indie folk-pop duo from Bergen, Norway. Consisting of Erlend Øye and Eirik Glambek Bøe, the musical group is known for their delicate tunes, calming voices, and intricately subtle guitar melodies. Both Øye and Bøe sing in their tracks, and both of them compose.

Øye and Bøe were both born in 1975 (Øye on November 21 and Bøe on October 25), and have known each other since the age of 10. At sixteen, they played together in the band Skog ("forest") with two other friends, releasing one EP Tom Tids Tale, before breaking up and later forming the Kings duo.

The twosome were signed to the American label Kindercore after appearing in European festivals during the summer of 1999. After a spell living in London in 2001, they released their debut album Quiet Is the New Loud. The album was produced by Coldplay producer Ken Nelson. The album was very successful and even lent its name to a small movement of musicians in the pop underground (including acoustic contemporaries such as Turin Brakes) which took Belle & Sebastian and Simon and Garfunkel as their inspiration and focused on more subtle melodies and messages.

Versus, an album of remixes of tracks from Quiet Is the New Loud, came out shortly after. After this breakthrough year, not much was heard from the band. Øye spent the next few years living in Berlin and doing solo material, releasing music under the DJ Kicks series as well as a solo album titled Unrest. He also has a side project named The Whitest Boy Alive

It was not until 2004 that the Kings' follow-up Riot on an Empty Street was released. The video made for I'd Rather Dance With You, the second single from Riot on an Empty Street, topped MTV's European list as the best music video of 2004. The album also featured contributions by Leslie Feist.

The band had a period of inactivity, which led to speculations that they had stopped working together. But the duo recently played a one-off concert in Mexico City on March 7, 2007. There was also a concert scheduled for March 6, but it had to be cancelled, because Erlend had a problem with "Montezuma's Revenge" and was not feeling well. They played two concerts on March 7 and announced they were going to start work on their new album in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Most recently, in 2008 the band played concerts in the Northern Norwegian cities of Tromsø on January 21, Svolvær on January 25, Bodø on January 27 and Umeå,Sweden on January 29 along with a concert in August in Stockholm.

Tracklisting:

"Winning a Battle, Losing the War"
"Toxic Girl"
"Singing Softly to Me"
"I Don't Know What I Can Save You From"
"Failure"
"The Weight of My Words"
"The Girl From Back Then"
"Leaning Against the Wall"
"Little Kids"
"Summer on the Westhill"
"The Passenger"
"Parallel Lines"

Fitness Forever - Personal Train [2009]

2009-03-26T06:35:00.001-07:00

Genre: Twee Pop, Melodramatic Pop Song, Indie Pop, Psychedelic

MySpace: fitnesswithyou

My opinion & thought: Wow! Once listened to theirs songs, you feel like the world is fill with sunshine, hopes & goods. It's so wonderful, you don't even need to understand Italian. Read their biography below and you will laugh your arse off.

Stands out track(s): Probabilmente, L'Anarchica Pugliese, Bacharach, Se Come Te

Paster: lead vocals, choruses, yogi tea and eucalyptus honey.
"Big Tony" Fresa: piano, fender rhodes, organ, synthesizer, vocals and clapping
Scialdone: bass, lead guitar, 12 string guitar and vocals
Carlos Valderrama: drums, electric and acoustic guitar, keyboards, synthesizers, glockenspiel, percussion, lead choir vocals.

2006
Carlos Velderrama, the producer, composer, ex-underwear model, arranger and multi-instrumentalist (and one of the worst dancers and singers in the music industry), founds FITNESS FOREVER in Naples (Italy) soon after realizing that love is not forever. That's why, unfortunately, he couldn't call the band LOVE FOREVER.

Shortly after, in the waiting room of the "help center for unemployed ex-models", he met the rest of the people who would become his band mates:

"Big Tony" Fresa: orchestra director, who plays the keyboards and the piano in his free time (he is currently in shape)

Scialdone: bass player and guitar genius, still not in shape. Almost 20 years ago the famous power-pop group THE KNACK wrote a song about him, and it was a huge hit! It was called “My Scialdona".

Paster: gorgeous lady and singer, "we think that a modern pop band absolutely needs a pretty female singer who can later leave the group for a solo career like Gwen Stefani or Nina Persson did".

All the members of FITNESS FOREVER were involved, at the time, in other musical projects: Carlos was playing surf-rock with THE PREACHERS, sixties styled psychedelic indie pop with VALDERRAMA 5, hard-rock, hip hop and cruise music with THE GOONIES and shoegaze with SEA DWELLER. "Big Tony", electro-tango with KANTANGO, jazz with his FRESA TRIO, techno music and one of the most solicited session keyboard and Fender Rhodes musicians for concerts in Italy. "My Scialdone" is a progressive rock maniac from the 70's, so for years he has been playing in progressive bands like GARDENWALL and CONTROTEMPO. He's also a band member of Inigo (an incredible sunshine pop composer) and Marzouk (rai pop). Paster had never sung before. She works as a web designer and speaks Japanese very well.

2007
After recording the promo "Marmalade Gomelsky", they're signed by EMI. The quickly record the single "Mondo Fitness" (only available on iTunes, and downloaded twice by Carlos' aunt, Rosa) and they begin the recording of their ultra-ambitious first album (which is ultimately called "Personal Train"), which takes them almost a year, due to the quantity of arrangements and orchestrations it contains (but above all, "because Carlos doesn't play very well!"). The album is recorded by the very Luigi Scialdone and "Big Tony" Fresa.

2008
After their relationship with EMI didn't work out very well, Elefant Records signs them and will be who releases their debut album, "Personal Train", an album that will be a musical tribute to their beloved country... They have this to say on the subject:

“Nowadays, things aren't going very well, but there was a time when people went on vacation for a whole month in the summer, they made a ton of super fun B movies, and, ultimately, people were happier. Italy was also the home of marvelous pop music in the seventies and eighties.

This is an inheritance that can't be lost or erased... what we've done is take this music from the subconscious of our happy inner children, and record it following the examples of Italian and international pop geniuses like Bruno Martino,Brian Wilson, Piero Umiliani, Burt Bacharach, Scott Walker, Fred Bongusto, Kevin Shields, Ennio Morricone, David Axelrod, FREE DESIGN, Lucio Battisti, Syd Barrett, THE BEATLES, Joao Gilberto & A.C. Jobim, Barry White, STEREOLAB, LA CASA AZUL, THE DIVINE COMEDY, THE CLIENTELE, Sergio Endrigo, Armando Trovajoli, LILYS, Alan Sorrenti, CIRCULATORY SYSTEM, XTC, BEE GEES, RAMONES, SPIRITUALIZED, Billy Nicholls, BROADCAST, SUPER FURRY ANIMALS, TALKING HEADS, Serge Gainsbourg, THE BYRDS, THE HEAVY BLINKERS, CORNELIUS, STRAWBERRY ALARM CLOCK, BLOSSOM TOES, Peppino Di Capri, THE WHO, NON VOGLIO CHE CLARA, THE HIGH LLAMAS, JOY ZIPPER, NAZZ, NIRVANA (UK), OS MUTANTES, Esquivel, Sly Stone, EARTH WIND & FIRE, GLADYS KNIGHT, all the music from the 70s, SERENA MANEESH, OLIVIA TREMOR CONTROL, SUPERGRASS, Armando Trovajoli, BLUR, Piero Piccioni, POP SHOPPING, Gazebo, DUNGEN, Sabrina Salerno, PULP, MELT BANANA, ARIEL PINK, Astor Piazzolla, JUNIOR BOYS…

Our album will remind you that you deserve to be happy, and that you deserve to listen to pretty music. Our pop is made with love, so "Love Forever, for all of you.”

2009
In January their debut album, "Personal Train" is released, an album with such incredible songs as "Probablemente", "Se Come Te" or "Bacharach", which explore diverse parts of pop, passing through sunshine pop, orchestral pop, or small brushes of bubblegum. The album has a precious and fun photo of the group on the cover, taken by Anna Di Prospero, one of the photographers Elefant admires most (also responsible for, among other things, the recently released single cover photo of AU REVOIR SIMONE and all of the promo photos of FITNESS FOREVER.

Tracklisting:

01. Intro
02. Probabilmente
03. L'Anarchica Pugliese
04. Vacanze a Settembre
05. Albertone
06. Se come te
07. Je je jeox
08. Quando ho tempo
09. Monica
10. Bacharach
11. Outro
12. D'Estate

Massive Attack - Mezzanine [1998]

2009-03-20T04:23:00.000-07:00

Genre: Trip Hop, Electronica

MySpace: massiveattack

My opinion & thought: The greatest electronica album from the 90s. God's work!

Stands out track(s): Angel, Teardrop

Massive Attack are a British trip hop group, founded in 1988 by Robert Del Naja, Grantley Marshall, and Andrew Vowles in Bristol, England. The trio were together prior to the formation of this band, as part of The Wild Bunch. With the release of their debut album Blue Lines in 1991, Massive Attack were critically acclaimed for their fusion of jazz, hip hop, rock, and soul elements into a style that journalists in the mid-nineties dubbed trip hop. With the release of later albums such as Protection in 1994, Mezzanine in 1998, and 100th Window in 2003 the group integrated a greater degree of electronica into their sound. Over the years, Massive Attack have teamed up with the likes of Madonna, Mos Def and Sinéad O'Connor among many others.

Mezzanine is the third studio album by English trip hop group Massive Attack, released on April 27, 1998. It was produced by Neil Davidge along with the group. The album was produced on Virgin Records. Musically, Mezzanine is a major departure from the jazzy and laidback sound of the first two albums (Blue Lines and Protection), for it invokes the dark undercurrents which had always been present in the collective's music. It was released to near-universal acclaim worldwide, was a huge success in the UK and other parts of Europe, although it failed to share the same success in the United States, peaking at number 60 on the Billboard 200.

Mezzanine marked the departure of band member Andrew Vowles, due to creative conflicts. Similar to their previous albums, the majority of the songs consists of one or more samples, ranging from Isaac Hayes to Led Zeppelin. The album has sold over 300,000 copies in the UK alone since its release.

Critics lauded the album's textured and deep sound, although it was a heavy departure from the sound of their previous releases. The album relies heavily on abstract and ambient sounds, as demonstrated in the song Mezzanine among others. Horace Andy, a well-known reggae artist also performed several spots on the album.

The entire album was provided on their website for legal download many months before the physical release was announced. It was one of the first major uses of the MP3 format by a commercial organization.

In 1998 Manfred Mann sued Massive Attack for unauthorized use of a sample of the song "Tribute" from Manfred Mann's Earth Band's eponymous 1972 album, used in "Black Milk". The song has subsequently appeared as "Black Melt" on later releases and at live performances, with the notable absence of the sample.

The track "Man Next Door" also sampled "10.15 Saturday Night", B-Side of British band The Cure's first single release in 1979.

Mezzanine was well received by critics, who praised the collective's new sound. Rolling Stone's Barney Hoskyns however, although praising the album, pointed its flaws; "[Sometimes] rhythm and texture are explored at the expense of memorable tunes, and the absence of the bizarre Tricky (who appeared on Blue Lines and Protection) only highlights the flat, monotonous rapping of the group's 3-D.". John Bush of Allmusic also had positive light for the album's song "Inertia Creeps"; it "could well be the highlight, another feature for just the core threesome. With eerie atmospherics, fuzz-tone guitars, and a wealth of effects, the song could well be the best production from the best team of producers the electronic world had ever seen."

Years after the album was released, it was placed on many "Best Of" lists in England, and even in the United States. In 2000, Q magazine placed Mezzanine at number 15 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever. In 2003, the album was ranked number 412 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

The song "Angel" has been covered by Brazilian metal band Sepultura on their Revolusongs EP, released in 2003; by Charlotte Martin on her 2007 album, Reproductions; and by American mathcore band The Dillinger Escape Plan on their EP Plagiarism, released in the summer of 2006.

Another song, "Teardrop" has been covered by Newton Faulkner, Mika, José González, Incubus, and Elbow, although their versions differ significantly in format and instrumentation from the original.

Tracklisting:

"Angel" - 6:18 (Del Naja/Marshall/Vowles/Hinds)
"Risingson" - 4:58 (Del Naja/Marshall/Vowles/Reed/Seeger)
"Teardrop" - 5:29 (Del Naja/Marshall/Vowles/Fraser)
"Inertia Creeps" - 5:56 (Del Naja/Marshall/Vowles)
"Exchange" - 4:11 (Hilliard/Garson)
"Dissolved Girl" - 6:07 (Del Naja/Marshall/Vowles/Sara Jay/Matt Schwartz)
"Man Next Door" - 5:55 (Holt/Smith/Tolhurst/Dempsey)
"Black Milk" - 6:20 (Del Naja/Marshall/Vowles/Fraser)
"Mezzanine" - 5:54 (Del Naja/Marshall/Vowles)
"Group Four" - 8:13 (Del Naja/Marshall/Vowles/Fraser)
"(Exchange)" 4:08 (Hilliard/Garson)
"Superpredators" (Japanese bonus track) - 5:16 (Del Naja/Marshall/Vowles)

Experimental Dental School - Forest Field [2008]

2009-03-20T03:23:00.001-07:00

Genre: Indie Rock, Garage Rock, Experimental, Lo-Fi, Post Punk

MySpace: experid

My opinion & thought: Simple, experimental, lo-fi, psychedelic!

Stands out track(s): Basement Fever, Cheap Wine River, Earthquake, Dark Stars In Daylight

The guitar bends to the breaking point. Drums pump. Drums crack.

Synthesizer samples crisp & crackle. One voice howls, the other coos.

A sea of bass over a lake of pedals.

Here is some really nerdy dirty Jazz punk. hmm..or is it vintage garage pop?

psychedelic world music?,, synth fractured dance beats.

Pretty? yes. Ugly? yes.

Experimental Dental School is a duo living in Portland Oregon.

EDS is: Shoko Horikawa: drums, voice. Jesse Hall: guitar, voice.

Reviews:

"XDS took a set of drums and a guitar and electrified the anxious crowd."
-Jennifer Monteagudo, CMJ.com (Irving plaza CMJ 2008 show review)

"simply phenomenal"
-Andrew R Tonry, Portland Mercury

"surprisingly gnarly riffs"
-Nate Chinen, nyTimes.com

"Experimental Dental School is one of the most exciting and stunning bands I've heard in a while.", "There's a life and energy behind their work that's rare and jaw-dropping"
-Michael Mannheimer, bibabidi.com (Jane Doe Loves Me review)

"There's nothing not to love about these 12 off-kilter stabs of exuberantly creative freak rock."
-By Scott A. Gray, Exclaim Magazine (Jane Doe Loves Me review)

"In a Word: Bold", "Grade: A-"
-Aidan Castori, Aquarian magazine (Jane Doe Loves Me review)

"some of the strangest, yet musically impressive melodies concocted within the past three years."
-Jay Ziegler, consequenceofsound.net (Jane Doe Loves Me review)

"Experimental Dental School's second full-length album is as fun and clever as it is categorically indefinable." (2 1/2 Creatures review)
-Samuel Sharkey, Performer Magazine

"it's is easy to understand why the band's music sends their fans into hysterics at their live shows."
-Stephen Cramer, AllMusic.com

"This is the affirmation of the thesis that music can indeed be art. "
-yellowisthenewpink.com

"Experimental Dental School creates music filled with vision, wit, and vitality"
-Alex K. Fong, SF BAY GUARDIAN

"All in all this record kicks an unreasonable amount of ass"
-Ryan Powers, Slug Magazine

Best of The Bay 2004 .. "If you haven't checked out EDS's debut album, Hideous Dance Attack!!!, do so immediately!"
-SF BAY GUARDIAN

"the perfect soundtrack for cruising through the city on a beautiful day." "these are the dance traxx!!!! you will not be disappointed with this record!!!!" -- Noella Marie, KUSF review of 2 1/2 Creatures

"2 1/2 Creatures confirms that E.D.S. are more than capable of making themselves equally at home in indie post-rock and no wave basements, jazz joints and circus tents." "very coo!" -- aquariusrecords.org

"I was so amazed by their creativity" -- Brian Shevlin, Heckler Magazine Portland OR

"EDS kick up a furious racket over the 10 tracks of Hideous Dance Attack!!!. " -- Matt Fink, Skyscraper Magazine

"The band's full-length debut, Hideous Dance Attack!!! was recently released to excited, if not baffled critical acclaim." -- Dusted Magazine

Tracklisting:

1.) Basement Fever
2.) Earthquake
3.) Royal Fantasy Snow
4.) Tear Brush
5.) Square Wave Cave
6.) Cheap Wine River
7.) Vicious Cycle Of Life
8.) Argentine Pears
9.) Dark Stars In Daylight
10.) Now I Can Do Anything I want

My Disco - Cancer [2006]

2009-03-18T03:54:00.000-07:00

Genre: Minimalist, Post Hardcore, Math Rock

MySpace: mydiscomydisco

My opinion & thought: They kept it simply but they rock! With simply & repetive drum beats & guitar/bass lines, it still sounds cool.

Stands out track(s): Pale, Calling Cure, A Marker, Perfect Protection

My Disco is a musical collaboration between Liam Andrews (bass, vocals), Rohan Rebeiro (drums) and Ben Andrews (guitar) that formed in Australia in 2003. The band contains members of the former Clann Zú, Days of Iris and Heartfeltself, and the current Agents of Abhorrence and Hotel Wrecking City Traders.

In 2003, My Disco performed their first shows in small venues in and around Melbourne, including many 2 PM all-ages house shows. Late 2003 saw the release of their debut 7", and marked their first Australian tour. They soon became renowned for their arduous tour ethic, demonstrated in extensive tours to often unconventional destinations that included remote areas of Australia, Southeast Asia, and Mexico. In 2004, Liam Andrews was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease. The band continued with occasional shows and were on the road soon after Liam Andrews recovered. International tours to Southeast Asia, New Zealand, and an extensive two months across North America followed.

They released their debut album Cancer in late 2006. More international and national tours were undertaken, including additional tours to the United States, New Zealand and the UK, as well as live performances at the Meredith Music Festival in Victoria. In February 2008, the band released their second album entitled Paradise, recorded in 2007 at Electrical Audio with Steve Albini of Shellac, and are soon to tour major cities in Australia.

Their most notable influences come from Melbourne's local independent, DIY music scene and other international bands such as Shellac, Rodan and Big Black. The band's name is taken from the Big Black song of the same name. Their 2006 release Cancer marked a definitive minimalist turn for the band. Little is known about what has influenced their minimalist direction of the last few years.

Prior to 2006, My Disco were notable for their use of odd time signatures. Agitated and angular are two words often used to describe their guitar riffs, while the bass has often been described as somewhat funk-influenced, with a minimalist feel present within all instrumentation. Their sound was primarily influenced by the surrounding Melbourne live independent music scene.

The release of Cancer marked a new level of emphasis on minimalism. Everything was stripped back, and the band explained that their focus shifted towards the silence in between as much as the sound itself. The Andrews brothers' use of the aluminium-neck Travis Bean TB2000 bass and the EGC Series Two guitar, was also a notable change, the aluminium neck offering increased sustain and a distinctive clear, clean, biting tone.

Live performances prior to the release of Paradise showcased yet another refinement of their minimalist sound, with several songs consisting of only one note, repetitive single-sentence vocals and long-sustained guitar chords. Drumlines, although minimal, still offer dance-like, albeit disjointed, beats.

Genre-wise, My Disco have been classified as Minimalist, Math rock, Post-Hardcore, Punk and Indie-rock amongst others.

Cancer is an album by My Disco, released on November 7, 2006. The album marked a change in direction for the band, further into math rock, shifting towards minimalism, a theme further explored and refined in the following album Paradise. The album was recorded in mid 2006.

The album was released through Numerical Thief. It was also released on vinyl.

Tracklisting:

All songs written by My Disco.

"Perfect Protection"
"A Marker"
"Calling Cure"
"Always Measure Wait"
"Pale"
"Patterns Surgical
"St."
"Administer A Prosthetic Dream"