From: "4Minutes Left" (Album) Released: April 2011, South Korea Rating: 2.28
2011 for 4Minute pales in comparison to 2010, in my humble opinion, because "HuH" will forever be the best 4Minute single ever. Unless of course they shape up and Cube decides to invest on some better songs for them. But "Mirror Mirror" was okay.
The song's very 4Minute, slightly cheap and whiny, but Jiyoon's bridge changes everything. If I could, I'd just put her bridge on the list and scrap the rest of the song, because the hook, albeit a bit melodic (A BIT), is annoying and too repetitive.
But enough of the bad points, this is, after all, the 48th best song of the year. One thing that's good about "Mirror Mirror" is that, although the song's still extremely packed with so many things happening at the same time, it still has some semblance of dynamics, with the verse going to that stunning bridge and straight into the far too repetitive hook, and back to "earth" with the second verse. It sounds like a fair compromise.
But really, 4Minute should sing more. Cube already knows what songs fit 4Minute, the problem is that it's like they always have this urge to slip in some of the most annoyingly horrid hooks. The verses and THE BRIDGE are perfectly fine, well-produced and well-done even, but all hell breaks loose when the chorus comes in.
Give me better material in 2012, 4Minute. That's an order.
November 5th, 2011, Port Orchard, Washington stoner rock legends, Mos Generator, clawed their way to back from the underground to celebrate the release of their ten years of hard rockin’ history! Performing a one-off CD release event at Coog’s Record Store in Port Angeles, WA, Mos Generator scorched through a high energy set jam packed with songs culled from their back catalog, as well a few previews from their upcoming, as-of-yet untitled album set for release in summer of 2012. The highlight of the set, however, was the band’s performance of the recently re-issued debut album in its entirety!
The 10th Anniversary Edition of Mos Generator’s debut album is the first time the album has been pressed on vinyl, and the gatefold package includes a CD with the entire album, a previously unreleased bonus track, and the entire Live at the Manette recordings from 2002. As if that wasn’t enough hard rock for everyone, this deluxe package also includes a download card with exclusive digital material, in all, almost 2 ½ hours of music for a low, low price!
Never one to rest between accomplished goals, Mos Generator mastermind and mad scientist Tony Reed, is hard at work getting the aforementioned new album recorded in just that perfect way. When asked how this new album compares to past Mos Generator records, Tony stated, “On the surface this new album is lean and straight forward but it is woven with complex lyrical themes and musical emotions. My goal is to retain the Mos sound that we have built over the last ten years with a focus on melody. My lyrics have taken on a more personal outlook as well. Many of them are based themes that most people can relate to.”
For the time being, the 10th Anniversary Edition of the debut will be available in all record stores throughout the UK and Europe on Nov. 21st, and is available now at the Ripple Music Store.
Here’s what the press has to say:
“Listening back to this album I am struck at how fresh this stuff still sounds. The trade mark sound of Grand Funk and Blue Cheer influenced old school hard rock fused with the Seattle grunge sound of the 1990's makes for a very ear friendly vibe. All in all this is great stuff and this reissue belongs in everyone's collection if you have the original versions or not. 4/5" - The BCFM Sunday Rockshow
"The songs from the original album are amazing enough on their own. Yes, I could just say these tracks are high caliber groove-laden, 70's inspired stoner rock and all that would be true. However that only scrapes the surface for how good this band really is/was even at this early stage of their career. Mos Generator live are perhaps even more spot on with hitting everything in fine fashion and just channeling their natural smoothness in this performance.” -- Heavy Metal Time Machine
When recently concert-going, I saw so many Rwake shirts, both on the bands and in the crowd, I was forced to reconsider my perhaps-hasty dismissal of them up to this point. They seemed boring. (And I love Sunn O))).)
Seriously though, every other damn shirt at this show was some version of a Rwake (pronounced "wake") shirt. Yeah, I know that just because so many people like one thing in particular it's not usually a good sign, but we're not talking about everyone, we're talking about all the people who also came to see a band that I like enough in the first place to see live. Did that make sense? ANYhoo....
I wanted to reeeeeaaaallly give Rest a try and make sure I either still didn't like it, or if I'd missed something.
"Souls of the Sky," the opening intro, is acoustic guitars and a female chant, which segues into:
"It was beautiful, but now it's sour"-- backwards vocals sound like chants in a dead language, like you stumbled onto an Aztec or Etruscan human sacrifice... the vocals, overall, are more "padded-room-type rants" than they are singing.
The lyrics, too, are haunting and yet subtle:
Oblivion is welcoming Everything and nothing is wrong
It disturbs me, but I can't say why.
...That's good horror.
"An Invisible Thread" is a plodding, funereal riff, very like USX...
"The Culling," is an over-16-minute epic that begins with, again, an strange and intimidating line. Over tolling bells comes:
It... is...later...than...you...think.
Now, it's just a soundbyte from an old radio show, but it's unnerving as hell and sets the stage for the remaining 16 minutes: uncomfortable and eerie, constantly building tension.
It reiterated what I've been coming to suspect about Rwake: they are, essentially, Mournful Congregation if they were an Appalachian folk band whose singer spoke in tongues.
No no wait-- the singer sounds like a backwoods, Flannery O'Connor-type street preacher who's having a psychotic episode on the sidewalk while standing beside a donations bowl.
You know the type I mean-- he's in any downtown urban area, he's telling you all about Jesus, but like you yourself murdered him in a voice normally reserved for fathers screaming at their sons screwing up at t-ball--and so you cross the street to avoid him.
And, well: it's pretty much as cool as it sounds. Apparently I was being impatient with Rwake.
"Ti Progetto" (project will in Italian) blew my mind hole (just listen and really consider what it says, preferably chemically-aided, gnome sayin?), and album closer "Was only a dream" rocks an intensely-demonic-sounding vocal that does a call-and-response with the singer, like the Bizarro version of Amy Winehouse and Tony Bennett dueting.
Interestingly enough, the most haunting, lasting part of Wake is the lyrics, which would work nearly equally well as a book of poems. How many bands can you say that about? I can't think of one.
Though the shouting sometimes gets old and the drums sometimes go beyond laid back and into clunky, there's some Rucking Rool music here, Shaggy.
I think it's no secret to any of us that the people who read PRN, and who comment on my reviews, are very outspoken, and have a lot to say about music. That often leads of debates and heated discussions on the blog, which I generally welcome. Well, I'm taking advantage of that this year, because I'm asking YOU guys to choose YOUR favorite songs of 2011.One of my "missions" on PRN is to encourage other music fans to think critically about the music they listen to, regardless of genre or style - I'm not the only one who does the thinking here, you guys should too. And so, while I'm coming up with a list of my 50 favorite songs from the year, I think you guys should too. Well, not fifty songs, but close!So here's what to do. Choose your favorite Korean (language, nationality, etc.) release of the year, adhering to majority of the rules of my top 50 countdown (apart from the rules about multiple releases). In 3-5 sentences explain why it's your favorite song of the year, but make it as packed and as complete as possible. Why do you like it? What do you like? What DON'T you like? Please keep in mind that you have to justify your opinion in a musical manner -- melody, arrangement, style, etc. You may also discuss it from the standpoints of why it became a hit (if it was) or why it flopped (if it did), as long as you can justify your opinion.Once you have your 3-5 sentences, either comment on this post with your review, or send it in to popreviewsnow@gmail.com with the subject "My Favorite Song of 2011". Please include your name (no anonymous comments please!) and a way I can contact you, preferably an e-mail address or a Twitter username. You have until Christmas day, December 25, to send in your entries! I'll choose the top five entries and post them up on December 31, after revealing my favorite song of the year. Go go go! ^_^
From: "Xenos" (Mini Album) Released: April 2011, South Korea Rating: 2.20
I've made it very clear from the beginning that in terms of talent, I choose X-5 over B1A4, and I think I proved my point when B1A4's second single came out. From the makers of the brilliance that is DGNA/The Boss, X-5 are being pushed as the young(er), more performance-heavy boyband. So basically if you put The Boss and X-5 together you have something like DB5K.
But that's beside the point. Anyway.
"쇼 하지마" is a strong enough song to debut with - it has a slightly dark, heavy sound with very packed vocals and probably the strongest production their agency can afford, but over-all it's a strong effort. Catchy yet melodic hook, actual, pretty good, singing, and a very clear direction. They know what they are, I just hope they know what they want to be.
Another thing I really appreciate with this song is that you see they're really trying. Hard. From the performances earlier this year, and even just the song, they're doing things that are probably beyond them (not just financially), and they're coming out pretty okay.
It's a song that makes you *want* to look to the future. It's not TOO good that you worry about how their next release might not live up to it, but it's not a complete disaster that makes you want to completely erase them from the industry.
From: "Figaro" (Digital Single) Released: July 2011, South Korea Rating: 2.00
The product of a sudden surge in "retro"-inspired releases this year courtesy of Secret's "Shy Boy", "Figaro" was surprisingly one of the better songs to come out of the fad.
Considering that 2010's "No Playboy" was a complete and utter disaster and that the girls gave of the impression of being completely talentless with the single, "Figaro" provided the group with a much-needed resurrection. It's not the best, no, but it does have qualities that make it the right fit for them, and in general, your run-of-the-mill "talentless" girl group.
Yes, it's got singability. Despite some of the bits being a bit higher than usual, the melody is in a very comfortable range for majority of female "singers", and doesn't demand very strenuous use of vocals - the high notes are done with a slight falsetto instead of being on the more powerful side, so to say.
You could call it cheating, and for a while I did too, but listen to the song. Just listen to it. Does anything sound really wrong? Or off? Nope. If anything, the melody fits the instrumental really well, and although it's nothing new or fresh, or extremely strong, it's a song that was put together well and sounds good, even when it's sung by sub-par vocalists.
And face it, it's catchy. There's little anyone can do about that.
Another week, another review of a double live album. I could have sworn I wrote this one up a year or so ago for Ripple but was amazed that I did not. Good thing, too. I've been looking for a cheap copy of the LP to replace the one that went missing over 25 years ago and finally tracked one down last week. 5 bucks for this muther at a used place on Long Island in a bin full of crappy metal like Americade and Kane Roberts. I've had the remastered CD for many years, and it sounds great, but when it comes to double live albums you just gotta have the gatefold sleeve. For fans of 70's heavy rock, Tokyo Tapes is an essential companion piece to Unleashed In The East, Strangers In The Night, Made In Japan and Live & Dangerous. Next time you're having a party put all those albums next to the turntable, rotate playing sides from them and watch the chicks magically disappear. Works every time!
Tokyo Tapes captures the Scorpions at a key point in their career. Guitar wizard Uli Jon Roth had already made up his mind to leave the band (check out his song "I've Got To Be Free" from his last studio album Taken By Force) but honored their touring commitments in Japan. Recorded live in 1978, this captures the end of Uli's Hendrix inspired version of the band before they evolved into a more conventional and commercial hard rock/metal band in the 1980's. Most fans of the popular era are either unaware or flat out don't like this version of the Scorpions. The truth is that most Scorps records until the mid-80's are pretty solid and they remain a kick ass live band to this very day. The Scorpions have announced that they will be retiring so if you've never seen them, you better do so soon. The next best thing would be to check out the great live DVD of their show at the Wacken Festival from 2006 with special guests Uli Roth and Michael Schenker.
Getting back to Tokyo Tapes, opening song "All Night Long" is one of their best. It was never on any of their studio albums and is one of the few (maybe the only one) written by Uli and vocalist Klause Meine. It's everything an opening song should be - fast, loud and with a killer groove. Uli's solos are incredible but so is Rudolf Schenker's kick ass rhythm guitar. Rudy really pushes the band hard and he's a very underrated player. The rhythm section of Francis Buchholz (bass) and Herman Rarebell (drums) are pummeling. "Pictured Life" and "Backstage Queen" get massive reactions from the Japanese crowd and the band delivers tight renditions. As always Uli's lead guitar work blazes.
Uli really lets loose on the slower and more Hendrix influenced songs like "In Trance," "In Search Of The Peace Of Mind," and, especially, "We'll Burn The Sky," co-written by Monika Dannemann, the woman who Hendrix was involved with when he died. The Scorpions met her when they played the Marquee Club in London and she became Uli's companion until her death in 1996. "We'll Burn The Sky" is credited to being written by Rudy Schenker and Monika but Uli owns this song. His guitar playing is out of this world. Next to Robin Trower, Uli is one of the few to have been able to incorporate Hendrix's playing into a unique style. As great as Uli's playing is, sometimes his singing isn't so great. Especially on "Polar Nights." It was actually dropped from the CD version of Tokyo Tapes to keep it a single disc but is a bonus track on the CD of Taken By Force. Still, it contains a great solo and is not worth getting up off your bean bag chair to move the needle when playing the LP. His vocals on "Dark Lady" are much better mainly because he lets Klaus handle the high notes on the chorus.
Another fun aspect of Tokyo Tapes is the between song banter. Klaus addresses the Japanese audience in English with his thick German accent. Who knows if anyone understood each other but one of my all time favorite stage announcements is when he says "I hope we get a good feeling together" and then yells out a few words in Japanese. The crowd really goes wild when they do a version of the Japanese song "Kojo No Tsuki." That must have earned the band a huge amount of respect. Another classic Klaus moment is when he shrieks at the crowd "do you like rock n roll" before they launch into a high energy meddley of "Hound Dog" and "Long Tall Sally." They were probably inspired to dust these off as a reaction to Deep Purple's usual encore of "Lucille."
The front cover is a classic with Rudy bending waaaaay in front of the bass player. Sure it looks a little gay, but can you do that in giant, white platform boots? There are great photos in the inner sleeve and almost everyone in the band has ridiculously big platforms. Probably the main reason why if you see photos of them today they're wearing sensible shoes. Back in the 70's everyone wore those giant shoes, kimonos and had massive fog machines on stage and the world was a better place.
