Album a Day: The Sounds - Living In America

If you're just getting into The Sounds now then there is a good chance you're missing out on their 2002 debut album Living In America, which to me is still their best album (this shouldn't take anything away from the subsequent album but Living In America is just such a great album). I'm not really positive how I discovered The Sounds as I sort of had two connections: the first was hearing the song Dance With Me (which is my favorite track on the album) during an MTV promo. Dance With Me is a great song for dancing along to, singing along to, and just makes you feel really good. The song itself was never credited nor was any footage of the band shown, but rather just the song playing in a sort of "You should watch MTV cause we sometimes still play videos" (in fact in might have even been for MTV2 which barely plays videos anymore) and the second connection was a buddy by the name of Matt Simon who would wear kickass yellow on blue Sounds t-shirt to a sound theory class of ours in college (and how fitting that is is not lost on me). Somehow the two connections got crossed at a certain point and the next time I was on a break from school I was in Massachusetts (one of the last times while still living there before my folks moved to Florida) and I visited a used CD shop I liked but rarely went to named Mystery Train in Amherst, MA. For anyone that is a connoisseur of Used CD you know that its basically a futile attempt to try and find a specific CD (unless you go to Amoeba Hollywood, but that's more the exception to the rule and even then its not a guarantee you'll find what you're looking for used) so I was quite surprised when I decided to look for The Sounds and actually found the CD. Needless to say I'm quite glad that I did because this has easily become one of my Top 10 favorite albums of all time (ya know the kind that you'd bring on a desert island under the assumption that you have a CD player that will somehow never run out of juice?). What I love about this CD is that its so incredibly fun and danceable and yet there are a lot of somber moments about difficulties with love, and not necessarily breakups or fights but the difficult choices between devotion to art versus a committed relationship (see the track Rock 'N Roll) or love that just isn't meant to last forever but is so strong in the moment. But this certainly isn't a purely love-themed album as you have songs like the punk rock tribute Riot, the Blondie/Siouxsie & The Banshees-esque Hit Me! or one of my favorites in the form Living In America which certainly can be left open to interpretation but hits me as a comfort to the youths of Sweden (especially the bands) that perhaps desire to be apart of the American scene but there's something sort of punk rock about having your own small scene (something that people in small towns in America can certainly appreciate as well). All of the tracks on the CD could be singles unto themselves and yet the album works together so well. There's a great mix of styles including synth-pop, punk, disco, and straight up rock with individual tracks that are reminiscent of the aforementioned Siouxsie & The Banshees and Blondie in addition to ABBA (hard to be a Swedish band and not get compared to ABBA). I love the simple artwork for the album with the band's logo on the back of a leather jacket worn most likely by vocalist Maja Ivarasson. Iverasson's vocals are so great that while the rest of the music is performed so well her vocals really make everything pop. The CD also includes Enhanced CD software that allows you to look at some photos and listen to an exclusive remix of Rock 'N Roll that is pretty much a throwaway remix (not a lot of good remixes of The Sounds out there) and watch videos for Hit Me!, Seven Days a Week, and Living In America which are essentially glorified videos of the band playing the songs but The Sounds are so charismatic (especially the facial expressions of Ivarasson who so incredibly beautiful) that it makes watching the videos at least somewhat worthwhile (especially Seven Days a Week which is a really fun video of the band playing in a small club for some die-hard fans). Favorite Tracks: Seven Days a Week, Dance With Me, Living In America, Hit Me!, Mine For Life, Rock 'N Roll, Fire, and Riot

Album a Day (Limited Edition Edition): The Damage Manual - Limited Edition

The Damage Manual started off as a really cool concept in sort of a super-group with men that have very impressive resumes including Martin Atkins (Pigface, PiL, Ministry, Nine Inch Nails, Murder Inc., and Killing Joke), Geordie Walker (Killing Joke, Murder Inc., and Pigface), Jah Wobble (Jah Wobble's Invaders of the Heart and PiL), and Chris Connelly (known for both his solo work and work in Finitribe, PTP, Acid Horse, Pigface, Ministry, Killing Joke, and Revolting Cocks). Kind of like a Damn Yankees of Industrial. The problem is that Damn Yankees sucked. Well the first set of Damage Manual material was good and certainly something I'll write about someday but the second incarnation was just so great with both Jah Wobble and Geordie Walker leaving the band and the addition of one of my favorite musicians Steven Seibold of Hate Dept. (both a talented musician and producer) for this sophomore follow-up Limited Edition. Actually limited to 4000 copies for this beautiful digipak with raised plastic the presentation starts the whole album off really awesome (although sometimes difficult to store). Though often referred to as an industrial rock album it actually tends to verge on what should be called Post-Industrial Rock. The album really pushes the limits of what industrial-rock is. The reason I say verging is that I'm not sure Industrial can have a post-quality as post-genres tend to be more experimental complex versions of the originals and when you do that in Industrial Rock you actually just get earlier industrial bands like Throbbing Gristle and Einstürzende Neubauten. However, this album certainly has elements of industrial, post-punk, and punk for an album that really kicks ass and has a lot of thought put into it. I love the lyrical content on songs like No Act of Grace (a great reflective song), South Pole Fighters, and Mad Dialect. You can also just feel all the chemistry that Atkins, Connelly, and Seibold have from years of working together on Pigface and so there is really an element of brotherhood in the album. I enjoy the album from start to finish, the album flows well, the production is tight, and each song maintains a sound true to the album while exploring different ideas at the same time. If you can find a copy then I suggest adding this to your library. Favorite Tracks: Revenge Fiction, No Act of Grace, Mad Dialect, South Pole Fighters, and Limited Edition

Album a Day: The Cure - Boys Don't Cry

Sometimes referred to as a compilation, Boys Don't Cry served as the American debut release from The Cure. Boy's Don't Cry is essentially the same as the band's official debut album Three Imaginary Boys minus several songs (Meathook, It's Not You, and a cover of Jimi Hendrix's Foxy Lady recorded during a soundcheck with bassist Michael Dempsey on vocals) and replacing them with several other songs including the title track Boy's Don't Cry, Plastic Passion, Jumping Someone's Else Train, Killing an Arab, and World War. Three of the tracks (Object, World War, and Foxy Lady) were choices made by producer Chris Parry despite being despised by Robert Smith and in years later found their way off of the CD release and adding in So What. If you didn't tell me this was a compilation of songs I would feel pretty confident it was just a really great album as the flow is fantastic. I love this early work by The Cure as there are a ton of punk and goth rock elements infused in that sound that would later become the staple of this West Sussex band. Smith and the rest of the band have often pointed to many of these songs as being lightweight and because of their relative inexperience they had little say during production, however there's a lot of great content with songs like Killing An Arab which Smith says his attempt at adapting moments of Albert Camus' seminal and heavy-handed philosophical novel The Stranger or the poetic imagery of Fire In Cairo. Smith has said that he originally envisioned The Cure as being a punk rock Beatles, and so its only fitting that like the Beatles he should think of this early material as somehow less than. I'll say it, I love The Beatles early pop music with songs like I Wanna Hold Your Hand and I can say the same about a song like Boys Don't Cry. Sure, this isn't the deepest material or most complex but that shouldn't lessen the aesthetic value and certainly doesn't make it less enjoyable. This 1979 release is a fun album and these songs (along with the remaining ones from Three Imaginary Boys) should be appreciated for their historical value as they would be the bulk of the material made before The Cure would embark on a tour which would see Smith pulling double duty for his band and as the guitarist for the headlining band Siouxsie & The Banshees which had recently seen the departure of John McKay. According to Smith, playing as a Banshee greatly changed the direction of The Cure. Favorite Tracks: Boys Don't Cry, 10.15 Saturday Night, Jumping Someone Else's Train, Killing An Arab, Fire In Cairo, and Three Imaginary Boys

Album a Day Note

From a suggestion by the lovely Kendra (seems like she's becoming my supervisor) and a good talk with Mike Okum and Gina I decided last night to create a way to allow readers of my Album a Day blog to listen to the music I'm discussing. With some aide from grooveshark there is now a Jay Kantor's Album a Day playlist that can be accessed by all, I've included the songs that I list in my Favorite Tracks of each post (with the exception of DVDs and the Gristleism Machine) so you can sample the albums. You can find everything at this link: http://listen.grooveshark.com/#/playlist/Jay+Kantor+s+Album+a+Day/31249159 and of course as always my blog can always be read at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jay-Kantors-Album-a-Day-Blog/119606201415505?ref=ts

Album a Day: Marilyn Manson - Eat Me, Drink Me

I remember when this album came out there were a lot of mixed feelings both in reviews and friends of mine that were fans of Marilyn Manson with the feelings generally either falling on the side that this was a really great album or that this had strayed too far from the original Manson sound (often being labeled by those of that opinion as "not hard enough"). I would say I definitely fall in the former. I think this 6th album is the most mature work we've seen. Of course I might be biased here as I've always been a big fan of Tim Skold's work. For those that don't know Tim Skold beyond his work with Manson, Skold has also been a major player in the industrial scene with his own 1996 solo album (and 2nd solo album rumored to be coming out sometime this year with three tracks already released on itunes) and his collaborations with Sascha Konietzko as a member of KMFDM, MDFMK and KMFDM vs. SKOLD. Skold has collaborated for years on great projects and Eat Me, Drink Me is really the pure collaboration of Manson and Skold and its so obvious all over the album. The guitar solos on many tracks can tend to get a little masturbatory are so well done and rare in a Manson album that you certainly have to appreciate it. The songs are all very well put together with a lot of love and vivid imagery. Its also easy to see how Manson's relationship with Evan Rachel Wood affected the album with her both being the inspiration for Heart-Shaped Glasses and appearing in the music video (a really solid video you should check out). At times the album really reads to me in a similar tone to Rob Zombie making The Devil's Rejects, which is to say that you can fully see Manson in the music but at the same there are other influences at work often reminiscent of that late 60's/early 70's rock feel circa Easy Rider with elements of stripped-down indie rock style guitars and even jazzy moments. Now this isn't to say there aren't some songs that are just downright classic Marilyn Manson. Putting Holes In Happiness has a lot of that great more somber/slightly reflective sound, Evidence is about as industrial-Manson as it gets and all of the lyrical content is straight Marilyn Manson. The collaboration between Manson and Skold is now done and hopefully we will see the two work on something together in the future, but if nothing else there is this great album to appreciate. Favorite Tracks: If I Was Your Vampire, Putting Holes In Happiness, Just A Car Crash Away, Heart-Shaped Glasses (When The Heart Guides The Hand), Mutilation Is The Most Sincere Form of Flattery, and Eat Me, Drink Me

Album a Day (Live/Remix Edition): De/Vision - Devolution Tour + I Regret 2003

Technically two releases but available as a two-disc special edition with both the tour Live CD and the remix single for I Regret 2003, this release (or releases) stand as a testament to the talent of De/Vision. The first disc is the live CD recorded over two shows in Berlin and Leipzig, Germany in late April of 2003. To me this has all the elements of what a live CD should sound like. A lot of live albums recorded now just sound to close to the recordings and I think you really miss out on what a live album is. Conversely, I think we've all heard how a bad recording really just feels like a waste of time. This CD sounds live with the full audience interaction but its also very well done. The main reason I feel like a live CD really needs to sound like this is because the only real purpose of these recordings are as a tribute to the band you love. You wouldn't buy a live album from some band you're just trying to get into, otherwise you'd probably get pretty annoyed. The 2nd element that really makes this such a great live disc is that it does a great job promoting the most recent as of its release but also has some of the more popular tracks spread out over several albums (of which De/Vision has a lot, releasing an album no more than two years apart since the first album World Without End in 1993). De/Vision also isn't content with putting on a live show of a singer with some synths, no their shows feature a full band. If you ever get the chance to see De/Vision live I can't emphasize how much you should go. I saw them play at Safari Sam's a few years ago before it closed down (one of my favorite LA Venues, though I'm not sure everyone shared that sentiment) and they were intoxicating. Lead singer Thomas Adam just has a certain way about him that is energetic when he needs to be and completely soulful otherwise, which really translates well to this release. The remix disc is equally great featuring several remixes of the title track I Regret (one of De/Vision's absolute best songs) by some really talented remixers in addition to remixes of Bleed Me White and Try To Forget, and live versions of I Regret (the same version on the first disc), and Blue Moon. I think that Colony 5 has the best remixed track on this release. Colony 5 is one of the better bands to remix which I think often goes unnoticed but checkout the remix here of I Regret and also their remixes of Bruderschaft - Forever (only available on the special edition 2nd disc) and Pigface - Bitch (essentially Colony 5 remixing Dope, which is beyond strange but works really well). The other remixes of I Regret are also good with the VNV Nation one perhaps being the 2nd strongest, the HMB (Daniel Myer of Haujobb, Dennis Ostermann of In Strict Confidence, and Victoria Lloyd of Claire Voyant) is probably the most interesting (I somewhat suspect the remixing duties here were handled mainly by Daniel Myer but its hard to say), and the J.A.B. (José Alvarez-Brill) remix is nothing special but also doesn't hurt the track). The DJ Ram remix of Try To Forget is definitely the 2nd best track on the CD though the Backlash remix of Bleed Me White is equally strong. I think the real treat on this CD though is the live version of Blue Moon which is not included on the main live disc though recorded from the same set of shows. This version features just Thomas Adam and the crowd singing along in a really tender moment that takes full advantage of what a live show/CD is. This double release by one of (if not the) greatest synthpop bands ever is great for both a die-hard fan and club-goer/DJ alike. Favorite Tracks: Try To Forget (Live), Digital Dream (Live), I Regret (Live), Your Hands On My Skin (Live), Drifting Sideways (Live), I Regret (Radio Remix by Colony 5), Bleed Me White (Deadlock Remix by Backlash), Try To Forget (Reminder Remix by DJ Ram), I Regret (VNV Nation Remix), and Blue Moon (Live)

Album a Day: HṚṢṬA - L'Éclat Du Ciel Était Insoutenable

Just amazing debut from Godspeed You! Black Emperor-founding-member Mike Moya's Montreal Post-Rock band Hrsta. A lot of the amazing elements that can be found in Moya's other projects are right on this disc in addition to his vocals being featured on several tracks. What I really love about this CD is that you get those great ambient tracks that are really easy to get lost in and yet there are also some slightly more conventional so it's a solid mix. This is the type of album that you could honestly just put on loop and listen to forever. You might fall asleep but you'd do so with a smile on your face. Hrsta is another band that just falls into the category of smart music. L'Éclat Du Ciel Était Insoutenable has great compositions, genuine emotions, ideas being put forward, and the packaging is just beautiful and looks like a lot of time and thought was put into it which shows a really appreciation to the fans and is the reason I still buy physical rather than digital. Favorite Tracks: Lime Klin, Don't Let The Angels Fall, I Can Transform Myself Into Anyone I Want, 21-87, and Lucy's Sad

Album a Day: HIM - Greatest Love Songs Vol. 666

I really enjoy this debut album from Finland's HIM. Love is a universal topic and so it is expressed in art all across the board on a regular basis. Some bands try to hide this by writing songs about break-ups, shitty relationships, or burying it in metaphor, but not HIM. No HIM takes love songs and takes them WAY over the top, which I personally love. Love isn't polite, it's WAY over the top. I've had a relationship end and felt like it was the rapture, so why not write about it? Ok, I admit that at times HIM (especially this album) is perhaps a bit cheesy, but the emotions are all right there. I think the thing about this disc (and perhaps this goes for HIM in general) is that not every song really hits you or is really doing much of anything. In fact there are some fairly useless songs on this album. However, when the band hits the mark then they are absolutely firing on all cylinders. I remember the first time I heard When Love and Death Embrace I was almost brought to tears and it became a staple of my college radio show. The covers of Chris Isaak's Wicked Game and Blue Oyster Cult's (Don't Fear) The Reaper are also just spot on with HIM really embracing the original spirit of the songs but rearranging them to sound like they were written by the Helsinki band themselves. Keeping in mind this is also the debut album for the band I think it's really strong effort. Favorite Tracks: Your Sweet Six Six Six, Wicked Game, When Love and Death Embrace, (Don't Fear) The Reaper, and For You

Album a Day: Timb - Enjoy

Not exactly an album or a compilation but rather a collection of acoustic version of songs off of various records by a South Florida staple in the form of singer/songwriter Timb. This is a great collection indeed and for anyone that has seen Timb play his solo acoustic shows (and if you've been through South Florida and not seen it then you're missing out, but chances are you'll see Timb playing in one of his variety of other projects) you'll know that Enjoy is perhaps much closer to those shows than his previously released albums. Now I love the other Timb albums but this particular release allows you to really hear Timb's raw musical skills (although the self-produced musician can't help but tweak the record often creating duets with himself). Even though this disc is all acoustic versions you still get to see the diversity in song writing that is indicative of Timb's self-described genre-hopping style, although I would say closer to genre-blending as Timb really combines all of his obvious influences and then laces them with his own quirky lyrics. One of my favorite aspects of this collection is that the songs are all personal with a lot funny moments. And I don't mean funny in the sense of a Weird Al but more of an absurdist humour. This CD (and Timb in general) reminds me a lot of John Hiatt, not necessarily in exact sound but more spirit, style, and just incredibly creative imagery created in the singers narrative. This record came out in 2006 and I'd definitely like to see at least one or two more releases like this but if this is the only one I can at least be thankful that I have it (and you should too). I also just love all of the artwork, especially the cover art. Favorite Tracks: Everything Girl, Interstate Love Song, Caffeine, Emo, Standing In An Open Parking Lot, Ballad of Bluebeard, Punk Rock, and Siamese Lullaby

Album a Day: Tying Tiffany - Brain For Breakfast

Sometimes you just hear bands and say, "Ok, nobody here knows yet...BUT THEY WILL." I've spoken to people that claim to have been Emilie Autumn fans for years before she took off in the states. It doesn't always pan out exactly. For years when I've DJed clubs I've been playing Colony 5 thinking they were the next big thing and while people know them now, many seem like they could care less (which is a shame because I love Colony 5 and it generally does well on the dancefloor). If I had to bet on another horse it would be Italy's Tying Tiffany. Three albums out and today I'm just hearing her sophomore album Brain For Breakfast for the first time and I would bet she'll be a star here (although it would appear overseas she already is having opened in Europe for Buzzcocks, Iggy Pop, The Eels, Tiga, and The Rapture amongst others. What just strikes me as so interesting about this album is the diversity of sound while retaining a cohesive sound overall. It seems like there are strong elements all over the album that remind me of Le Tigre, Robots in Disguise, Battery Cage, Bratmobile, Hanin Elias (perhaps aided by the appearance on the album by Atari Teenage Riot alum Nic Endo), The Knife, Silversun Pickups, Pzychobitch, and even Siouxsie & The Banshees. I love each and every song on the album for different reasons and really enjoy the guest appearances by the aforementioned Nic Endo, Wolfgang Schrödl (Liquido), Umberto Palazzo, and Pete Namlook (who produced the track State of Mind). The best thing personally is that I bought this today for 2 dollars and had I heard it before hand I easily would have paid 10 times the prices (minus 5 dollars). I love the album, it's well-produced, and I would love to hear more from Tying Tiffany. Its also worth mentioning that this album is full of great punk-edged lyrics (see Easy Life). Favorite Tracks: Not a Shame, I Can Do it, Download Me, Satellite, Pazza, Slow Motion, and State of Mind

Album a Day: Fockewolf - Die Toten Weg

Die Toten Weg is perhaps one of those great underrated albums that most people who could become fans may never hear by a band that few outside of Seattle have heard of in the first place. This is a shame because this 2000 release brought together three wonderful musicians with the bulk of the programming and vocals on certain tracks by Rob Wilhelm (Backandtotheleft), producing by Wade Alin (Christ Analogue), and the majority of the vocals by one of my favorite vocalists/people Severina Sol (Cylab, Diva Destruction). What I love about this album is the well-executed blending of electro-industrial and darkwave that balances out to something harsh but often beautiful. Often at times I would say the album feels very cold (in a good way) and yet Severina's haunting vocals have this ability to give that coldness a soul like encountering a ghost. The songs almost all have a great club appeal in addition to being something you can just listen to at home. The album is also full of macabre song titles with perhaps even more sadistic lyrics. If this album passed you by the first time then I highly recommend seeking it out. Favorite Tracks: Terror & Withdraw, Nihilistic Automaton, Murder God's Unrepentant Laughter, and Crematoria

Album a Day: The Mountain Goats - Heretic Pride

The Mountain Goats are one of those bands I got into during my undergrad days in college while dating an indie rock girl. She would play The Sunset Tree and all of our film friends would sing along (and clearly I had no idea what was going on) so when that happens it can be hard because you mostly associate the band with a particular time in your life (and let's face it, you're a little late discovering a band around the point of their 14th album) but as time went on I continued to enjoy The Mountain Goats and explore older material on my own. I let the release of Get Lonely sort of pass me by but then in 2008 was the release of Heretic Pride and I was right there. This is a heartfelt album full of geeky references to authors H.P. Lovecraft and Sax Rohmer (creator of Dr. Fu Manchu) and several mythical beasts including lake monsters, swamp creatures, and Halloween's Michael Myers. There's also a song in tribute to the moon. How can you not love that? I think this is a really fun album, that's well produced and I understand the desire for something much more low-fi, but that time has come and gone for this band and I think it's good that John Darnielle can stay true to his sound without feeling he must cling to a certain recording quality. The flow of this album is really solid and of course the album must be listened to over and over to really get the full experience of Darnielle's narrative. Its definitely a positive tribute to The Mountain Goats' well of creativity to still be able to put out interesting and solid work after 16 (now 17 with 2009's The Life of The World To Come, though that is a different album for a different day). Favorite Tracks: Sax Rohmer #1, San Bernardino, Heretic Pride, So Desperate, Tianchi Lake, and Michael Myers Resplendent

Album a Day (EP Edition): Neuroticfish - Bomb EP

Germany's now-defunct (as of 2008) Neuroticfish would certainly put a few years between releasing new material so you can imagine that there was a decent amount of anticipation for two years after 2002's Les Chansons Neurotiques when the first tease of new music came out with The Bomb EP (though between LCN and The Bomb, Neuroticfish, a.k.a. Sascha Mario Klein, did release a collection of remixes and rarities). This EP definitely plays largely to the DJ community with four versions of the title track including a single edit, an extended version, and two remixes but Klein also has a knack for appealing to the non-DJ/non-club portion of his base as well with three really strong b-sides. The main song The Bomb (based on a short story by a friend of Klein which is available on the European limited edition of Gelb) is a great club track with a compelling narrative. I prefer the Single Edit to the extended version but they aren't all that different, nor is the dub remix, but I did particularly enjoy the remix by O. Froning. What's also smart about the song is that Klein uses vocal samples but instead of using movies or television he uses computer dial-up sounds (not original but always appreciated) and his own vocals made-up like a sample giving the bands website EBMISDEAD.COM which for any club goer could attract them to the website if they've never been. I think what really makes this disc worth it (besides the single edit version of the main track) are the b-sides. The raw version of Suffocating Right (a new track from the then upcoming Gelb albumt that The Bomb was also taken from) is a heartfelt introspective song. You also have the previously unreleased No More Ghosts which is another fun track with just interesting sort of old-school sci-fi short story content and The Greek Symphony version of Care (another track that was previously unreleased before appearing on the first b-sides/rarities/remixes album Sushi) which is just absolutely beautiful. Klein always puts a lot of thought into releases so if it takes a few years then its certainly worth it (and I hope despite declaring the end of Neuroticfish in 2008 that since it has been a few years we see something new from this master musician). Favorite Tracks: The Bomb (Single Edit), The Bomb (Remix by O. Froning), Suffocating Right (Raw), No More Ghosts (Unreleased), and Care (Greek Symphony Version)

Album a Day: The Knife with Mt. Sims and PlanningToRock - Tomorrow, In A Year

Tomorrow, In A Year had to have been a huge undertaking (I mean listening to Tomorrow, In A Year felt like a huge undertaking, and I mean that in a good way): an opera based on Charles Darwin's "On the Origion of The Species" and related other works including Darwin's journals, two pieces by Richard Dawkins, and works by Randal Keynes, Mark Ridley, Emma Darwin, and Edna Healey. Originally commissioned by Danish performance group Hotel Pro Forma as a live opera, The Knife enlisted the help of Berlin-based American DJ/performance artist Mt. Sims and artist PlanningToRock to help in the evolution (get it? it's a pun) of this epic piece and then later recorded it in the studio with more help from mezzo-soprano Kristina Wahlin Momme, Danish actress Lærke Winther Andersen and Swedish pop artist Jonathan Johansson. All that being said, this album (performance? work?) is genius. Darwin was not only a brilliant mind but wrote beautifully and eloquently about what would become one of the most seminal works in science so for The Knife to take that and turn it into music is not only admirable but wonderfully executed. The Knife can be known to already be experimental but this work really pushes more towards something like Godspeed! You Black Emperor with elements of what The Knife is known for all over it. Each song is a world unto itself and something you can get lost in. This two disc set also comes in a beautifully understated digipak with a foldout booklet (more like a map in a way). I also just appreciate that each songs takes its time to develop. There isn't a need to exist between the conventional 3-5 minutes but rather a range of some songs just over a minute to upwards of twelve. The album works really well as one piece or individual separate pieces and is a must have if you're a fan of any of the artists involved, Charles Darwin, science, experimental music, electronic music, whatever. Favorite Tracks: Intro, Geology, Ebb Tide Explorer, Variation of Birds, Schoal Swarm Orchestra, Annie's Box, and Colouring of Pigeons

Album a Day: Suzanne Vega - 99.9 F°

You should at least once in your life have a job where you are either allowed or encouraged to play music because you will discover you like so many band and styles you were unaware of before. This was exactly the case in 2006/2007 when I worked at The Fetish Factory and we had a whole crew of people that were in to some pretty rad music (South Florida might have actually been one of my bigger growths in musical appreciation in general). Working at Fetish Factory is exactly where I discovered Suzanne Vega who was perhaps cool when I was a little too young to be aware of her but thanks to some excellent co-workers I was able to discover someone that may have otherwise passed me by. This 4th album from Santa Monica's Suzanne Vega is everything that was good about the early 90's. Vega took her signature sound and incorporated electronic elements (the much more 90's-industrial ones as opposed to the 80's-synth kind) and pushed beyond the ideas of conventional song-making while staying true to the folk-inspired sing/songwriter that made her popular in the first place. I love the mix of folk-style modern rock mixed with various tribal sounds. Sometimes the flow of the album is all over the place but you can at least appreciate the variety of styles she was trying to incorporate into the album. I also absolutely love the imagery and lyrical ideas on this album. Favorite Tracks: Rock In This Pocket (Song of David), Blood Makes Noise, 99.9 F°, (If You Were) In My Movie, and Bad Wisdom

Album a Day: Sahara Hotnights - Jennie Bomb

No doubt about it that Jennie Bomb (the 2nd release for Sweden's Sahara Hotnights and named for band member Jennie Asplund) is a badass album. Sahara Hotnights 2001 release (2002 in the US) absolutely came out with guns blazing for a disc that is both unforgiving and fun. And how can you not appreciate an all-girl Swedish rock band? The short album (just over 32 minutes) has somewhat of a punk rock attitude with an almost early 90's alternative sound led by vocals that seem more forward than retrospective, though perhaps inspired by previous acts such as Joan Jett and Blondie but setting the tone for other bands such as The Sounds and Le Tigre (both bands formed years later from Sahara Hotnights, though gaining prominence in the same early 2000's time span). I think its also important to note that within the discography of Sahara Hotnights this is perhaps some of the more raw sound we here from the ladies. Jennie Bomb is well-produced, fast-paced, and sexy as hell (if you're into chicks that kick-ass as much as me). Favorite Tracks: Alright Alright (Here's My Fist Where's The Fight?), Fire Alarm, No Big Deal, Only The Fakes Survive, Out of The System

Album a Day: Wumpscut - Schädling (Limited First Edition)

It can never be said that Rudy Ratzinger's :wumpscut: half-asses releases (especially after about a dozen releases, this falling in somewhere around number ten depending on what you or don't count in his massive discography as albums) as this Limited First Edition run of the album is content-wise no different than the regular release but the packaging is certainly something to behold with a beautiful parchment-style booklet and SACD (Super Audio Compact Disc) packaging (though the CD is not an SACD). The music itself on the album really shows the evolution of where the Wumpscut project has gone. The vocals are distorted and scratchy as usual but the music has really solidified to a yin-yang-sort-of style with the harsh vocals complimented mostly by playful lighter synths (although there are still plenty of heavy industrial beats to go along with it). What I like better about Wumpscut's harsh electro-industrial vocals better than most others is that they feel motivated. Ratzinger vocals project a persona that he has developed which IS Wumpscut. Wumpscut also isn't afraid to give the listener a healthy mix of dancier tracks (though nothing that panders to a dance-floor crowd) and slower painful songs that allow the listener to really live within Wumpscut's almost gothic-industrial motif. Favorite Tracks: Rusty Nails From Hell, Oh How It Feels, Foretold, Rifki, and Hard To Bear

Album a Day: Bile - Demonic Electronic (2002 Re-issue)

Sometimes I don't want make love or have sex...sometimes I just wanna fuck and that's how I feel about listening to Bile. I love the Bile is dirty (even for industrial), aggressive, and just like fucking. The 4th studio album, Demonic Electronic, was originally released in 2001 and then re-issued a year later still as part of Bile-Mastermind Krztoff's Bilestyle Records but distributed by Martin Atkin's Underground Inc. with a KMFDM Remix demo, a Martin Atkins remix, a radio edit, a cover, and an original track replacing the four KMFDM remixes from the original release. What I particularly like about Bile's motif is that despite being completely abusive to the psyche there's still something fun about a lot of the songs which can sometimes be traced back to the tongue in cheek lyrics (and they range from vulgar to witty) or possibly just a really fun music that is covered in layer after layer of distortion. The album itself has a really great mixture of sounds (like different powertools, all aggressive but each other serving a specific function) and the extras are all really cool as well, especially the previously released cover of Alice Cooper's Clones (We're All) and the KMFDM Demo Remix of Teknowhore. Favorite Tracks: The Devil's Bile, Legion, Celebrity, Bad Karma, Demons, Clones (We're All), Jerk (Atkins Diet Mix), and Teknowhore (KMFDM Demo '93)

Album a Day: The Birthday Massacre - Violet

Love The Birthday Massacre. In general TBM just has a great 80's sensibility that's updated with a strong industrial influence and though there's something so familiar about their sound (perhaps because of those elements) they are able to generate their own unique sound. I love this sophomore album from them which includes reworked versions of songs from their first album essentially making this a re-debut of sorts. Not a bad track on the CD and though there is a consistent sound from start to finish there are certainly tracks that throw in other elements such as the classic electro-industrial-style vocals on Blue. My only criticism is that sometimes the production sounds a little full and like a wall of music being played at you but the energy of the album is great and every song is fun. A great mix of playful and heavy and interesting lyrical content. Favorite Tracks: Lover's End, Happy Birthday, Horror Show, Violet, Video Kid, and Holiday

Album a Day: The Crüxshadows - Wishfire

This fourth album from Europe's favorite American goth/industrial band might be my favorite perhaps because I had just begun DJing when it came out but I think it may just have to do with the timing in the bands evolution as they held over a lot of the slower darkwave they started with and began moving towards the much more electronic sound the band has become accustomed to and so you have a great mix of sounds. This album is also one of only two with my favorite lineup from the band with Rogue, Rachel McDonnell, Stacey Campbell, and Chris Brantley. This album also adds in nice smaller touches such as minimal but well placed moments such as the video game sound from Return (Coming Home), the Rogue duet on Tears, and the tasteful Martin Luther King Jr. sample on Resist/R. Speaking of Resist/R this 2002 album also continued the band's trend towards pushing for tolerance that may seem like preaching to the choir in the scene they are in but I think any band that attempts to continually push acceptance should be applauded. Really nice production and beautiful cover art. As a band of the band I also always appreciate the beautiful fantasy imagery that is constructed while maintaining a foot in reality as to help with relatability. Favorite Tracks: Return (Coming Home), Binary, Spectators, Tears, Orphean Wing, Resist/R

Album a Day: Charles Manson - LIE: The Love and Terror Cult

Yes, THE Charles Manson recorded an album years prior to any convictions (though released at the beginning of his trial). LIE: The Love and Terror Cult is such a simple album with mostly just Manson, a guitar and very folksy songs with simple subjects and yet all the simplicity and of course Manson's non-musical actions make this such a complex album. In fact there's something very existential about the album, a reflection by one of histories most notorious figures. The production is rough and yet that to me is also one of the selling points of the album as there's just something so real and genuine about it. The album also has a nice back and forth between more bluesy songs like People Say I'm No Good to less traditional tracks like Don't Do Anything Illegal (and you have to appreciate a title like that). Favorite Tracks: Look At Your Game Girl, Mechanical Man, People Say I'm No Good, Home Is Where You're Happy, Garbage Dump, and Eyes of a Dreamer

Album a Day: Jason Webley - The Cost of Living

Jason Webley is charming and passionate and those are two themes that I think come across in his music and on this fifth album by one of the mosters of accordian. This is an up and down great album where Webley really shows off his talents. What I find particulary interesting about this album (and perhaps his music in general) is that he's able to touch on these slightly different stylistic modes while retaining his own general sound. Some of this can be attributed to the music being an amalgamation of styles including gypsy, folk, shanty, etc. that is in the same realm but often has different approaches (and instruments can vary as well). Webley's background in punk should also be taken in to account as giving a distinct feel to what he does (in addition to just Jason Webley being Jason Webley). The Cost of Living has beautiful artwork (both on the cover and inside of the digipak (and I love digipaks), great flow, quality production and overall is fantastic (and I recommend seeing Jason Webley in concert if you can). Favorite Tracks: Ways To Love, Almost Time To Go, Disappear, Raise Them Higher, and There's Not a Step We Can Take That Does Not Bring Us Closer

Album a Day (Digital/EP Edition): How To Destroy Angels - How To Destroy Angels EP

A month before its official release I was able to experience the debut EP from supergroup of Trent Reznor, his wife Mariqueen Maandig, and Atticus Ross, How To Destroy Angels (taken from the name of Coil's debut EP) free courtesy of th...eir website (although guaranteed I will be buying this on CD when it comes out). This is a really exciting debut, if you can say that band with this much talent and experience can really have a debut anymore. Reznor and Atticus are also certainly no strangers to supergroups or collaborations having both contributed to a number over the years. Five of the songs are just great sort of trip-hop/industrial that really reminds me of Collide, and the fifth (Fur Lined) is basically just a fun electro song (which actually breaks up things rather nicely). Of course the production is great as is to be expected and I love Maandig's vocals. If you can still download this free off the website then I recommend doing so but either way definitely pick it up in July when it drops as I'm sure it'll be full of some of other goodies by then as Reznor is now known to do. When this band tours I definitely plan on going (and how can you not love a band with such a great name). Favorite Tracks: A Drowning, The Believers, and Parasite

Album a Day (EP Edition): Aerodrone - Sceneboy EP

Gary Zon knows how to write music as has already been evidenced by his industrial project Dismantled. So what happens when a fairly young guy decides to put his industrial toys on the shelf for now and pursue other interests? Well you get something a little less dark, a little more fun, and certainly something interesting (I wish more people in bands would decide to have side projects that are so different). Of course it took several lineup changes, and two previous EPs that were at best ok but there's not a bad track on the four song EP and 15 minutes will leave you wanting more of its hipster-inspired electro-goodness. I've linked to the digital version on amazon but I have a physical copy and Aerodrone's website indicates you can get a mini-CD copy in a NES Cartridge Case (although the first time I got one of those was back in 2003 when sent me the Etherblister EP, but still cool none-the-less). Favorite Tracks: Sceneboy and Hold Me Like a Microphone

Album a Day: My Ruin - The Horror of Beauty

You have to respect My Ruin's Tairrie B who started as a rapper mostly notably under the study of one of the greatest in NWA's Eazy-E before she ultimately switched gears to focus on metal. This 2003 junior (not small but rather 3rd) album from My Ruin is just a great piece of metal and I always love when the ladies join in on the screaming. The Horror of Beauty is an aggressive album, that I think really helped cement the sound and image of the band who over the years has gone through many lineup changes with only Tairrie B and guitarist Mick Murphy being the consistent members (and now they're married, so there's that). I think its a badass album and I'd really like to see My Ruin and Hanzel und Gretyl tour together as I think they could share a similar fan-base if they don't already. The album also includes a not so great music video for Made To Measure so try to ignore that and just enjoy the rest of the album. Favorite Tracks: American Psycho, Radio Silence, Stinkface, Ten Minutes To Hollywood, and Get Pretty

Album a Day (Unconventional Edition) Throbbing Gristle - Gristleism (Red)

A China-based music duo came up some years ago with a device called the Buddha Machine which is basically a toy box that plays a number of droning loops on repeat to the effect of calming. Throbbing Gristle must have said "fuck that" when coming up with their own modified version called Gristleism featuring 13 loops and their own addition of a pitch-shifter. This device is absolutely fun and stimulating to listen to either actively or just in the background. A lot of the tracks really remind of certain films including David Cronenberg's Naked Lunch. Not only are all the tracks great as is but the pitch-shifter really allows you to find your own favorite ways to listen to each track (and some of them go from insane to frightening). The design is really cool as well coming in either red, black, or chrome (I have the red one) and comes in really excellent ornate packaging. What's really nice about this is that it just shows how Throbbing Gristle continues to innovate and push the boundaries of sound. I only got this a few days ago but I can already tell I will listen to it constantly for a long time to come and if nothing else it makes a great conversation piece and decoration. Favorite Tracks: Persuasion, Twenty Jazz Funk Greats, Maggot Death, Rabbit Snare, Sex String Theory, and Heathen Earth

Album a Day: Cex - Sketchi

Limited to 1000 copies (mine is number 580), 2007's Sketchi would represent the more ambient/experimental side of Ryjan Kidwell's Cex. I really enjoy this album as a nice chillout/thinking kind of album that also has complexities, rich soundscapes, and depth. The eight songs are all easy to get lost in and each one takes time time to develop and exist with the shortest track being 5:41 and the longest at 10:25. Kidwell's style is complimented nicely with appearances by wife Roby Newton and Cale Parks (Joan of Arc and Aloha). I also always appreciate Kidwell's sense of humour as shown on the cover which is a take on the poster for the the movie Twins. Favorite Tracks: Rattler Bin, Camber Sands, Oregon Ridge, and God Blessing

Album a Day: Amanda Palmer - Who Killed Amanda Palmer

What continues to impress me about Amanda Palmer is her ability to make music using very traditional methods while coming off as one step ahead of everyone else. I think this solo collection is great and as much as I love The Dresden Dolls its nice to see Palmer put songs out there that don't necessarily fit in to that sound (songs that certainly shouldn't be lost to the world). Amanda Palmer doesn't half-ass anything (as seen in her live shows) and you can really hear the fruits of her labour materialize. The sounds are beautiful, heartfelt, whimsical, and in your face. I also love the cover art and the nod to Twin Peaks. Also, despite the controversy and seemingly universal agreement that Oasis is not a good song (because of its upbeat nature in contrast to its taboo subject matter) I think its one of the best on the album and I applaud Palmer for not fulling any punches (as can also be witnessed in her battling with Roadrunner Records over her video for Leeds United that eventually led to her requesting a release from the label). This debut album is also aided by great appearances from Ben Folds, Zoë Keating (ex-Rasputina), Strindberg, East Bay Ray (Dead Kennedys), Annie Clark (St. Vincent), Paul Buckmaster providing string arrangements on several songs and even future hubbie Neil Gaiman providing the liner notes. I recommend picking up the physical copy but make sure to download the itunes/amazon exclusive tracks Guitar Hero (Alternate Version) and Leeds United (Lounge Version). Favorite tracks: Astronaut: A Short History of Nearly Nothing (ft. Zoë Keating and Ben Folds), Runs In The Family (ft. Ben Folds), Ampersand (strings arranged by Paul Buckmaster), Guitar Hero (ft. East Bay Ray and Ben Folds), What's the Use of Wond'rin? (ft. Annie Clark of St. Vincent; from Rodgers and Hammerstein's Carousel), Oasis (ft. Ben Folds and Jared Reynolds), and Leeds United (Lounge Version) (itunes/amazon MP3 exclusive)

Album a Day: Goldfrapp - Head First

This is maybe one of the best new albums I've heard in a long time. To me this was like listening to Echo Image's Compuphonic for the first time, not a track on this album I dislike and I'm really glad to see them return to something more fun with this fifth album after the more somber Seventh Tree (not that that isn't a quality album itself). I absolutely love the Xanadu influence that's so fitting with their previous visit to the work of Olivia Newton-John (see their track UK Girls (Physical) a rearranged version of her song Physical on the Utopia (Genetically Enriched) EP). The whole album has a great mix of 80's sounds (and imagery as indicated by the cover art) and I could see easily listening to it over and over. Favorite Tracks: Rocket, Alive, Dreaming, Head First, Hunt, and I Wanna Life

Album a Day: Depeche Mode - Sounds of The Universe

I'm not sure how Depeche Mode continues to stay relevant after 30 years (29 at the time time of the release) and twelve albums, but they do and in a very big way (although they certainly haven't been without friction). This is another solid effort by the boys from Essex and if you haven't seen the video for Wrong then you are missing out. This album brings back a little something darker that certainly pleases a large portion of the DM audience. Production and flow as always are tight and I'm glad that in this day an age of people largely listening to music digitally that Depeche Mode still treats us with a short and sweet secret track at the end of the album. Also, really nice cover art by Anton Corbijn. Favorite Tracks: Wrong, Fragile Tension, In Sympathy, Peace, and Jezebel

Album a Day: Client - City

Kate Holmes and Sarah Blackwood, the electropop band Client, might be the UK's best kept secret (well, except to the Germans). Easily as talented as Ladytron or Goldfrapp, this uniformed duo has gained some more ground in recent years with a 2006 release on Metropolis (although still no American distribution for 2009's Command) but one should not forget the amazing sophomore album, City. This was my personal introduction to the band and it might still be my favorite album of theirs with guest appearances by Martin L. Gore and The Libertines' Carl Barat and Pete Doherty. Producer Joe Wilson does a great job on production (and a guest vocal on It's Rock and Roll). The songs are fun but heartfelt, there's great reflective moments, and overall the album has a logical flow to it. I would love to see the duo team up with Robots In Disguise either for a tour or better yet some sort of collaboration (or at least a few remixes traded back and forth). Favorite Tracks: Radio, One Day At a Time, Pornography, The Chill of October, and Don't Call Me Baby

Album a Day: Zeromancer - The Death of Romance

Zeromancer was one of the first bands I was drawn towards when getting into industrial music. I've always found that in some ways they often just exemplify a sound (although always at least slightly different from album) without really pushing the boundaries of and yet I'm always intrigued and always pleased. This fifth album from Norway's Zeromancer is like vanilla yogurt. I know what vanilla yogurt tastes like, it's not blowing my mind and yet I am feeling satisfied. Its also interesting at this point to really follow the journey of the band from album to album: Clone Your Lover is very industrial influenced hard rock like Orgy or Coal Chamber Then they move on Eurotrash which encorporates more synths, gets club friendlier, more club industrial-style. Zzyzx was much lighter, perhaps a little more mainstream sounding and then Sinners International pulled back a little bit into the EBM/Electro-Industrial direction. I think this album The Death of Romance really engages with all of those sounds and mixes in a bit of goth as well. Really nice effort by a consistent band. Favorite Tracks: Industrypeople, The Death of Romance, Revengefuck, and The Plinth

Album a Day: Schwein - Schweinstein

Alright, so let me paint the picture for you. The year is 2001, KMFDM has been caput for about 2 years and given way for the former frontman Sascha Konietzko to temporarily form MDFMK in its stead (although KMFDM's resurgence at this point is on the horizon), its also been about 2 years since the last PIG release for Raymond Watts. PIG has a large following in Japan and Japanese legends Buck-Tick have just released their first album in about 4 years and are starting to gain notoriety overseas. Let's form a super group and call it Schwein! (seems like Raymond Watts idea). This is a hard to get CD because its a Japanese Import (I mean hard unless you happen to live in Japan) but just fuckin solid. If you like any of the players involved then this is definitely a disc to pick up as everyone puts their stamp on this album. Now, don't get your hopes up because its not necessarily better than the albums put out by the other bands and certainly not any kind of second coming, however, if you like industrial music and you either have time or money then this is one to get. It's heavy, fun, dirty, basically what you would expect. There aren't any real standouts tracks but the whole thing is a great listen. Even though its 9 years later I wish some one would decide to give this an American release, although you have to figure that given their is KMFDM Records perhaps their are legal issues that prevent such a thing from happening. Favorite Tracks: Crown, Lard Lips Liqour, Organzola, Schwein, Slip, and My Sanctuary

Album a Day (Boxset Edition): Various Artists - Black Box - Wax Trax! Records: The First 13 Years

The first thing that should be mentioned about this almost definitive tribute to one of the most influential record labels of all time is the amazing work that was put in to booklet of this release. You get a nice short version of the history of the record label with an emphasis on the bands themselves accompanied by great pictures and nice little additions like hate letters, all the things people have thought KMFDM stood for, and little yearbook style love notes from the people that were there (musicians, club managers, music journalists, label employees, everyone). As for the content you get a great three discs of some of the greatests songs to come off the label that tries to cover a few songs from some of the more influential bands, at least one song by the majority of the bands to be on the label, rarities, etc. Some one also put a lot of thought into placement of the songs and its much appreciated. The only thing sadly missing from this release are any Front 242 songs because of legal troubles with Epic Records who had at that point acquired the 242 catalogue. Something about reading the book and listening to the discs gave me a feeling of something as close to a documentary without being on film as possible (although I hope someone does make a proper documentary about Wax Trax! Records at some point). Favorite Tracks (and there are a lot of them): Disc 1: 1000 Homo DJs - Supernaut (Trent Reznor Vocal Version), Revolting Cocks - Beers Steers and Queers (12" Version), Sister Machine Gun - Addiction, Excessive Force - Violent Peace, Pailhead - I Will Refuse (12" Version), Front Line Assembly - Digital Tension Dementia, Greater Than One - Now Is The Time, PIG - Shit For Brains, Hope & Kirk - Cop Out Disc 2: Chris Connelly - Come Down Here, Coil - Love's Secret Domain, KMFDM - Virus (12" Version), KMFDM - Godlike (12" Version), Ministry - Everyday Is Halloween (12" Version), A Split Second - Rigor Mortis, Doubting Thomas - Father Don't Cry, Controlled Bleeding - Words (Of The Dying) Disc 3: Acid Horse - No Name, No Slogan (12" Version), The KLF - What Time Is Love? (12" Version), Psykosonik - Silicon Jesus (Duality Mix), My Life with The Thrill Kill Kult - Do You Fear (For Your Child), Psychic TV - I.C. Water, Divine - The Name Game (7" Version)

Album a Day: Atari Teenage Riot - Burn, Berlin, Burn!

Though not technically an album, Burn, Berlin, Burn! is considered to be a compilation of their first two albums (1995 now called Delete Yourself! and The Future of War), this was the introduction of American audiences to Atari Teenage Riot by The Beastie Boys' label Grand Royal. This album is punk as fuck and yet substitute the regular array of instruments you would see on a punk album and replace them with all things electronic. Sometimes its hard to have a dirty, gritty sound when using electronics and yet here it is. To me this album is the same thing you see when you watch a new film coming out from Brazil and you're like "Oh shit, this is all new wave just like when the French were doing in the 60s", which is to say that conditions breed similar circumstances in different areas. Punk was born in America and England at a similar time because of similar circumstances arising (which can usually be traced back to WWII), it just took Germany longer to get there (perhaps again because of WWII). But whatever the circumstances this is a fast-paced, well thought out, grouping of songs from a band of Berlin misfits. This is a great introduction to Atari Teenage Riot and you would be wise to pick it up (plus you have to like a band that has at least one song named after them). Favorite Tracks: Fuck All!, Sick To Death, Destroy 2000 Years of Culture, and Atari Teenage Riot

Album a Day (Compilation Edition): Various Artists - Saturation Bombing 2

This compilation of bands was released in honour of a noise/industrial festival that took place in Toronto, Ontatrio, Canada in 2004 and is just a really solid assemblage of bands. What I particularly like about this release is that you get a nice mixture of powernoise, tribal, ambient, and experimental bands with a variety of live tracks, remixes, or exclusives that you may not hear elsewhere. For me it was also a really great introduction in to some bands I had no idea existed. From a promotional stand point it certainly made me want to see these bands too (I've already seen Iszoloscope and C2 and they both put on very compelling shows). Favorite Tracks: This Morn'Omina - Uraeus [lcf] (Live @ CC Luchtbal), Pneumatic Detach - The Zodiac (October Rmx), Larvae - Fashion Victim (Remix by Censor), C2 - Crowd Control (Saturation Mix), Iszoloscope - Once The Inferno (Resaturation), Empusae - Ankou (Live at Maschinenfest 2001), and Liar's Rosebush & Scrap.Edx - Collect (Scraps)

Album a Day: Wolfsheim - No Happy View

Debut album from beloved german synthpop/EBM band Wolfsheim. Great album with fewer of the more well known Wolfsheim songs, however it also happens to feature one of my favorite songs: The Sparrows and The Nightingales. What I find particularly interesting about this album is that it was released in '92 and yet doesn't at all feel dated. I think you can really make a strong case that this album was one of the top sounds to help set the tone of synthpop (and what EBM would later become) for the next decade (also see De/Vision for that). Favorite Tracks: ...Can Manage... f/Marlon Shy, It's Not Too Late, and The Sparrows And The Nightingales

Album a Day: Nouvelle Vague - Nouvelle Vague

I am in love with Nouvelle Vague and this is the album that started it all. I mean how great a concept: take two great musician/musical arrangers in the form of France's Olivier Libaux and Marc Collin, add amazing female vocalists (including my favorite Melanie Pain), make cover songs of new wave, punk, post punk, goth, and new romantics songs, give it a bossa nova/lounge style twist and you get perfection. All the albums are great but there's something about this first one that has always just resonated with me perhaps because the same reason you just love Breathless or Hiroshima Mon Amour, on top of amazing they came first. What's great is that the album also maintains a wonderful balance of vivid energy, relaxing bliss, and just something clever. Favorite Tracks: Love Will Tear Us Apart, Just Can't Get Enough, In A Manner of Speaking, This Is Not A Lovesong, Too Drunk To Fuck, I Melt With You, Friday Night Saturday Morning

Album a Day: Vittorio Vandelli - A Day of Warm Rain In Heaven

Fucking Italians. Vittorio Vandelli of Ataraxi took S.T. Coleridge's The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner and said, "Ya know what? I'm gonna make this in to a goddamn Neo-classical album." and he did a beautiful job. It's important to listen to intelligent music because it makes you smarter and for that I say "fucking Italians". This is just a beautiful album by a great guitarist/composer taking more traditional music and throwing in synths for moments of something new with something old (and check out the great guitar solo on 'I Killed The Albatross'). Please pick up this 2004 album by a master at his craft and just lie back and think. Favorite tracks: Farewell Farewell Thou Wedding-Guest, The Ocean Green, A Sadder and A Wiser Man, The Curse In a Dead Man's Eye, A Day of Warm Rain In Heaven, and I Killed The Albatross

Album a Day: Mindless Self Indulgence - If (UK Edition)

With the release of each album I just think the music of MSI becomes more and mature (although I'm not sure that can be said about the subject of the lyrics but would you like them if they changed that?). Each song has catchy elements while mainting an attitude that's a fuck you with a smile and a tongue sticking out just a little. I do think though that MSI has sometimes become more subtle and perhaps a little more witty than in the past so I can certainly appreciate that. I think it's also interesting that even though they've left Metropolis after a short stay they continue to use a lot of industrial bands for remixing and certainly welcome. And MSI is certainly a band that knows how to milk their fans (or is it feed) with singles, remix EPs, clean versions with bonus tracks, and international versions with more bonus tracks but it's definitely worth spending the extra to get the UK version of If as it contains the better tracks from the Never Wanted To Dance EP plus two other bonus tracks and I just think the burgundy and gold makes a nicer looking cover than the black and white with red splatter. Favorite tracks: Never Wanted To Dance, Evening Wear, Lights Out, Prescription, Uncle, Never Wanted To Dance (The Birthday Massacre Remix w/guest vocals by Chibi), Never Wanted To Dance (Electro Hurtz Mix by Combichrist), and Never Wanted To Dance (Tommie Sunshine [TSMV] Remix)

Album a Day: Violent Entity - Mechanized Division

Not sure what ever happened to Damien Drullinger's Violent Entity but if nothing else he can say that this really solid old school EBM-style album was put in to the world. For the last decade at least there has been a slew of electro-industrial/terror EBM/whatever you want to call it and some of the bands are good and some are not but a lot of them just feel sterile and what I particularly like about Mechanized Division is that the album feels a little bit dirty and creates a real moodiness that got me in to that scene in the first place. The album includes two really nice remixes at the end by two of the other finer bands in electro-industrial: Battery Cage and Supreme Court. Favorite tracks: Cold As Ice, Mechanized Division, Select The Victim, In The Darkness, and Cryogen (Mix by Battery Cage)

Album a Day (EP Edition): Regina Spektor - Live At Bull Moose

At about 16 minutes you would think this small performance from anti-folk superstar Regina Spektor but I can tell you its a wonderful thing to listen to even if just for a moment. This EP was recorded at a small record shop in Maine where apparently they dragged in a grand piano between aisles and people gathered around and quietly sat on the floor. This is just a beautiful quick burst and absolutely worth picking up. It's also amazing how great live recordings have gotten because you get the live energy between songs but during the songs it could have been recorded live or in the studio (and this was recorded in 2005). The EP starts with Spektor singing sans piano on "Ain't No Cover" and just showing off what a lovely voice she has. I love Spektor's singing style because each inflection of her voice really conveys a strong idea. The next three tracks are all with piano and include one live version of a song from her album Soviet Kitsch (Carbon Monoxide), the next two seem to be songs that don't appear anywhere else: Pound Of Flesh (witty song about Ezra Pound) and The Noise. Finally the EP finishes out with a great medley. Favorite Tracks: Carbon Monoxide, Pound of Flesh, and My Man (Medley)

Album a Day (Soundtrack/Digital Download Editions): Sunshine: Music From The Motion Picture

What a strong soundtrack that almost didn't happen. Shortly after the film's release (favorite film by the way) there were legal problems and it seemed the soundtrack wouldn't be released. Eventually it was released as an itunes exclusive so if you want to have it then that's the only legal way but then again you get it digitally and it's only 10 bucks and completely worth it. Danny Boyle is the king of soundtracks and the score for this film is no exception with tracks mostly provided by eletronic legends Underworld and outstanding composer John Murphy, often with the two collaborating and then a single track by I Am Kloot that doesn't really fit the rest of the motif but is a great song and is featured in the credits so it's not like it disturbs the rest of the film. This soundtrack/score is highly emotional, completely fitting for the film without distracting, great to listen to on its own, just A+ all the way. Favorite tracks (there's a lot of them): John Murphy - Welcome To Icarus II, I Am Kloot - Avenue of Hope, Underworld - Capa's Last Transmission Home, John Murphy - Kanada's Death, Pt. 2 (Adagio in D Minor), John Murphy & Underworld - Pinbacker Slashes Capa, John Murphy - Capa Suits Up, John Murphy - Sunshine (Adagio in D Minor), Underworld - Capa Meets The Sun (To Heal), Underworld - Peggy Sussed

Album a Day: ThouShaltNot - The White Beyond

It's fairly difficult to label Pittsburgh's ThouShaltNot except pure poetry. Just great feeling this album and you can honestly hear a passion in Alex(x) Reed's voice without resorting to anything overly dramatized. The album has nice ups and downs and with amazing genre blending offers a few nice club tracks, some great sit down and reflect songs, and even a sense of humour and whimsy (how many bands can you really say are whimsical these days without going in to "ironic"?). Favorite tracks: Inside of You Inspite of You, Cardinal Directions, We Could Have Flown Like Pollen, The Ocean is Your Voice, and Trial By Fire

Album a Day: Dismantled - PostNuclear

This is a perfect example of what I love about Dismantled. It's easy to listen to a lot of electronic music that's tailored for the club and I'm not saying I don't adore some of those songs but often times it feels like they put in about five minutes of work and called it a day. When you listen to this album you can tell that is far from the truth. There's thought put in to ever beat, every word, there's movements within the song. On the aestethic side there's a great ebb and flow beat the really harsh very intense moments and the lighter side that gives a moment of breathing room and reflection. And as much detail is put in, I never feel like the album is overproduced. I would easily put this in my Top 10 industrial albums of all time. Favorite tracks: Backwards, The Swarm (favorite track on the album), Had a Life, Exit, and The Last Excuse

Album a Day: Robots in Disguise - We're In The Music Biz

Dee Plume and Sue Denim make up one of THE best electro bands period and if you didn't hear it with the the first two albums then they are shouting it as demonstrated by the album cover. Nearly 34 minutes is quite a short album but it absolutely smashes you in the face with energy. It's almost as if the ladies have made it their civc duty to punch you in the face with goodness with interesting musical content, danceable beats, and sex appeal for the man and nerd in me. It also has excellent production thanks to Chris Corner (IAMX, Sneaker Pimps) and is over way too fast (always want them leaving more. Favorite tracks: We're In The Music Biz, The Sex Has Made Me Stupid, I Don't Have A God, and Don't Copy Me

Album a Day (DVD Edition): Laibach - Volk Dead In Trbovlje

This is one of the best live DVDs I've watched. First of all, until I go back to Laibach I forget how much I really love them, but this is them at their finest. The focus of the DVD is a live show played in Trbovlje, Slovenia, the industrial town birthplace of Laibach. The majority of the show is a live rendition of their most recent album Volk (a concept album of rearrangements of various national anthems). Some would see this as a downside when a band plays one newer album but I think that album is genius and was quite happy to see it performed live. They do follow this up with several songs mostly from their 2003 album WAT (also a good album). The show is great and has a really nice intimate atmosphere as it's played in a small theatre with a seated audience and contains stunning visuals which as a bonus you can actually watch separately with the CD recordings of the tracks. The DVD also contains a nice 11 minute montage of tour footage. Favorite live tracks include: Germania, America, Anglia, Rossiya, España, Yisrā'el, Nippon, Tanz Mit Laibach, and Achtung!

Album a Day: Gravity Kills - Perversion

I feel like there a simplicity to 90's industrial rock that just feels missing today. I'm not saying there aren't plenty of great industrial bands now but most of the ones that kick ass now were kicking ass in the 90's. This is just an album that rocks and appeals to both the industrial and metal fans in me. This third album would mark the end for about 4 years until Superstarved (the previous albums were only about a year apart each). There seems to be a lot of pain in this album and some great singles. Favorite tracks: Falling, If, Crashing, Disintegrate, and Belief (To Rust)

Album a Day: Within Temptation - The Heart of Everything

Four albums seems like a long time to be together these days and yet I feel like Within Temptation is just starting to pick up steam in the US and not a moment too late (although I hope every goes back and listens to the three previous albums and slew of live CDs/DVDs and singles). I don't know that any band conveys deeper feelings than Within Temptation while maintaing such heavy guitars as displayed so well on this most recent album from The Netherlands own Within Temptation. This is a great album from start to finish with beautiful parts, haunting moments, a really good flow to the album, and a nice appearance by Life of Agony's Keith Caputo. And Sharon den Adel's voice is always just so intoxicating, like if Tori Amos was in a metal band (check out Adel's live cover of Crucify sometime). Favorite Tracks: The Howling, What Have You Done (featuring Keith Caputo), Frozen, All I Need, The Truth Beneath The Rose, and Forgiven

Album a Day: Colony 5 - Lifeline

When I received this album from Underground Inc. (Pigface, Bile, Nocturne, etc.) I had no idea what it was. Generally the albums I was receiving as a DJ at the time from UI were all industrial bands so I was quite surprised to hear an EBM band. I was also a fairly new DJ when I got it and I played the song Trust Me on my radio show from time to time but didn't put much thought in to the rest of the music until one day I gave it another shot and listened to it all the way through while at work for the first job where I actually needed a distraction from my mindless work. My CD player started repeating the title track without my knowledge and I noticed myself singing along (I was hooked). I love this debut album from just a great synthpop band. I've heard criticisms about the lyrics but I think all of the concepts the band looks to explore in this album are great with discussions of addiction, suicide, mid-life crisises, etc. (relatable issuses that aren't only about love, what a concept). I also love the sci-fi imagery of the title track. Favorite tracks: Colony 5, Trust You, The Bottle, Liquid Love, Crackhead, Stay Young, Before I'll Give In, Last Chance, and Colony 5 (Cosmonaut Mix)