The production on the new self-titled Conservative Man EP is really quite good, if you're into that sparkly, soulless electro-pop thing that these guys do. And is it really "these guys", or this guy? There are 3 members listed: Justin Sokol - Drums Darren Hyest - Keys, Synth Ian McCarthy - Vox, Bass, Guitars, Spite, Synth, Drum Programming, Bad Production, Non-Conversationalist, Songwriting, etc, etc. Wow. I don't have any inside information here, but I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that Ian is the one that wrote those descriptions. He didn't feel that just one "etc" would be sufficient, so he went...
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It's the Holiday Season and all, so I'm going to try and be as gentle as I can here. After giving the six songs that make up the new 'Reflect' EP several listens, I can safely say that Elder have a really cool album cover. The illustration by UArts alumni Mike Wohlberg is what drew my attention to the band in the first place, and after spending some time with the music, it's still my favorite part. As much as I generally hate the limitations of genres, Elder could easily be pigeonholed as "screamo", and that is their downfall. The music,...
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There are countless tools available to bands nowadays, especially when it comes to delivering your music on the internet. The focus of this post will be Bandcamp.com, which is by far the most impressive service I have ever seen for musicians. The short version of what Bandcamp does is simple; they host your music files and allow fans to play it and download it in a variety of ways. Big deal, right? There's a million ways to do all that. Bandcamp has gone far beyond what bands can expect from any other services. I'll try to break it down is a...
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Every once in a very long while a band comes out of left field and seems to instantly reinvent what we know about Rock music. You can probably count on both hands the complete list of truly groundbreaking artists that have accomplished such an amazing feat. Big Terrible are not one of them. And luckily for us, they don't even bother to try. When any group of people are as naturally gifted at crafting memorable Rock n Roll anthems as these guys are, they shouldn't concern themselves with reinventing the wheel. They know what they're good at, and that's exactly...
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For the rabid "fans" with short attention spans, here is the short version: I LIKE THE ALBUM, AND PURCHASED A COPY. Have a nice day. After dealing with all the comments from the other day, I did all I could to get this album as fast as possible. I also reached out to the band and its label for interviews. The band declined, but Deathwish co-founder Jacob Bannon agreed. I never bothered to ask for a copy of the album, because I figured it would be declined. But I knew I could trust the loyal fans of the band to post the...
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The fact that Facebook and Twitter have turned Myspace into a relative ghost town isn't news. But it is still surprising to see how the once dominant social network continues to shoot itself in the foot. The one specific area where Myspace still has an advantage over all the others is music. It has a robust music player, and profiles designed specifically for bands and musicians. Over the last few years, it's become an absolute necessity for bands big and small to have a presence on Myspace. Among the best features of the site for exploring new music, was the local...
Read More View Comments![BLACKLISTED join the [mentally handicapped] vinyl trend.](http://phillyrockblog.com/wp-content/themes/bigfeature/library/timthumb/timthumb.php?src=/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/blacklisted.jpg&w=528&zc=1)
Kickass Philly Hardcore heroes Blacklisted have joined the ranks of bands to make bad decisions that unintentionally hurt their fans. And they've done it all for the sake of what could be a trendy marketing ploy. "No One Deserves To Be Here More Than Me" is their new album, which was released yesterday with virtually no prior notice or details. But unlike the fan-friendly way that Nine Inch Nails does it, this album is only available for sale as a 12" phonograph record. That's right kids, you need to go buy yourself a fucking record player if your Grandma doesn't still...
Read MoreThe moment you see an album cover or a photo of Dawn of Correction, you know exactly what their music sounds like. On one hand that might sound like successful marketing to a very specific demographic, but on the other, more realistic hand, it seems lazy. It's symptomatic of a trend that dominates the genre of Heavy Metal, just like it does with most Hip Hop. It's almost as though any sense of originality is frowned upon. I'm a huge fan of heavy music when it's done well, but it saddens me to see it become so generic and predictable. Why...
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GANG are a Saturday morning cartoon gone mad. Their less-than-imaginatively titled 'The Electronic EP' is a collection of 3 fairly rad original songs and the most horrendous cover song I have ever heard in my entire life. "Why Can't You Just Be" is the first, and best track that Gang has to offer. It's catchy as hell with very smart production, courtesy of the big kids, which is really what makes the track tick. It's danceable and rocking, and the attention to detail pays off despite the sometimes clumsy lyrics. Actually, if these girls were half as interested in lyrical content...
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Serpent Throne can be summed up very easily. It's old Black Sabbath without the vocals. Heck, they even have the Gibson SG to go with it. Well, actually it isn't a real SG, it's a copy made by Guild. The ongoing theme with Serpent Throne seems to be, sorta like the real thing, but not really. The all too familiar retro-styled album cover and the myspace genre listing of "Rock / Classic Rock" seems to be false advertising for a group of young dudes playing instrumental music. Despite the fact that they get zero points for originality, the music is quite...
Read More View CommentsThe credits at the end of the "Saturday (Feelin' Blue)" video include the line "Featuring Lauren Martin". We're going to assume that's the name of the model/actress that made it possible for me to even get through this video. Without her, you'd be left with three average looking dudes sitting in an average looking basement or garage, playing an average sounding alterna-rock song. Let's not skip over that last part too quickly. I said they were sitting in a garage. I shit you not, these guys are fucking sitting down playing an electric rock song. Seriously, who does that? It's not...
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In 2006 Fabrizio Siciliano "& Company" made an album as The Writing Birds. The result was a beautiful, moody collection of twelve songs called 'Camillia'. According to the limited information available, the band performed live several times between 2005 and 2007, at which point it just kind of... stopped. There's no blogs or articles to be found mentioning who else was in the band or why it ended. And considering the fact that the group doesn't exist anymore, it's only relevance to today's scene would be as a source of inspiration. But a great one, since it's way better than most...
Read More View CommentsI can't lie, when this song started I gave it the old "oh what the fuck?". But thank goodness I hung in there. The March Hare are clearly batshit crazy in the best, most creative way. They're talented musicians for sure, but that's the least impressive part. It's their unabashed creativity, and willingness to throw themselves into full-blown wackiness that makes this work. I can't wait to listen to the whole album. Check them out: www.themarchharemusic.com Mister Nimbus on Amazon
