Sparkadia

G'day, Cook here. So I noticed that all our album reviews so far haven't exactly been topical (Metallica? Pretty sure they haven't been relevant since the Black album ,just sayin), and have gone for a newer choice. Unfortunately, I can't just rant nostalgically and pretend to be a critic, I have to listen to the album, so here goes.

Sparkadia are an Australian band formed in 2004 and have just this year released their second album, entitled "The Great Impression"; whether that has any relavance to the music I don't care and unless you're a Pitchfork staff member, neither should you. The album is quite a depature from their first, changing style from a frenetic hard rock band to a slower indie rock sound. They even bring in the strings and weird percussion instruments, as all good bands should. Both singles, "Talking Like I'm Fallin Down Stairs" and "China" are some of the best tracks on the album, Talking going for a sweeping song with guitar taking a back seat behind all the piano and violins, and China, one of the more lively songs, caused me to sing the line "She breaks line China" for the rest of the day, which is always a good sign. The other songs are all consistently good and also original, with props to the cheery sounding song "Hurt Me", thrown in there probably just to confuse emo people. However as with alot of albums the later the track, the worse they seem to get, which is a shame. Go for Talkin first; if it gels then give this album a shot.

I shouldn't make fun of Pitchfork and their staff, 'cause good reviews is hard. I'll try to stay current with my reviews from now on, but we'll see.

-Cook

Change of name

NOTICE- this blog has now changed its name. Deal with it

At first you might think "eewwwwwww Gorillaz not THAT trashy shit." But if you actually take the time to listen to their songs in full you come to appreciate just how much effort they put into their music. And they're British. That immediately makes them 50% more awesome (but minus 40% for adding a "z" onto the end of their name).

Now I'd like to talk about one of their older albums called Demon Days. I bought this album a few years back when it first came up and didn't really listen to it properly until quite recently. You can listen to this and pass over most of the album and not really be impressed but there are a few little awesome things in there if you listen far enough into the song. For example: in Kids with Guns, the opening vocals are so boring an elephant seal would be motivated to press skip so as to not be bored into submission. But when you get to about 40 seconds this fantastic groove starts up (much like at 1:05 as well). Eventually you WILL get addicted to this song. Well.. I did...

NEXT GOOD SONG: "O green World" Again this is a bit of a weird start and the whole thing is a bit eeeeehhhhh if you don't actually LISTEN to it. So at around 40 seconds (AGAIN... seriously whats up with that) the good stuff kicks in and you can get your shake on. As with Kids with Guns, this song has a very boring voice. I'm guessing it's a satirical tone? Kind of if the singer really really doesn't give an ass as to if he sounds good or not. I ADMIRE THIS.

So really I'm not going to push you to buy this. I would actually expect you to know this album already as it has Feel Good Inc on it (NO. I refuse to review that song. It's already awesome enough). Just listen to the album on youtube or some other stuff at the Gorillaz website which is riiiiight HERE. SHWWEEEEET

-Alex (not cook)

ALSO I posted a draft that I did a while ago so scroll on down and check it out. Or if you're that lazy it's HERE

Lifeline - Imogen Heap

I for one find it’s appropriate to speak of this incredibly driven songstress in the wake of her fast coming concert this month in Melbourne. So Imogen or Immi as she’s affectionately known has begun an inspired fourth solo album. What’s the fuss? After the crowd sourced footage for her Love the Earth orchestral film we were pretty impressed but see, she has taken interaction with her audience to a whole new dimension. For this album she will release a new song every 3 months over the time frame of about 3 years. #heapsong1 (later taking the title Lifeline) is a crowd inspired song completed on a deadline of 2 weeks. Here’s a brief overview of how it went:

Day 1 – Crowd samples uploaded, later selected and incorporated into the song

Day 2 – Wordcloud: trigger words are uploaded by the public and added to the lyrics (ie. teaspoon)

Day 3 – Images as inspiration submitted

Day 4 – Video submissions uploaded by public for the coming music video

Day 5 – Middle section revealed

Day 6 - The public encouraged to upload solos over the top of the middle section

Day 8 – Virtual evolving artwork online that will change over the course of the last week

Day 13 – Feedback session, a chat with viewers

Day 14 – Last bits of work done

Day 15 – Release of the single

The finished product, though perhaps a bit unpolished both instrumentally and lyrically is a true reflection of her intentions. Starting with the lighting of a match, it just morphs again and again with layer upon layer waiting to be discovered. Kinda leaves you going whoah, I can literally hear the passion. Add some sexy syncopation and the quintessential kooky instrumentals and it’s really getting there. What really hooked me was the beautiful, angst-ridden harmony that sweeps through the verses, driving the piece. A good pair of speakers makes nifty work of this. For two weeks work, Imogen has more than delivered and who knows; next time around YOU could get involved.

Wait. 10 points for whoever can tell me what the word is for where the music mirrors the lyrics cos there’s a hell-ova-lot of that in Lifeline.

Congrats or not for killer instincts on who I am (ie. not Cook or Alex)

Signing out for the first time,

-timeliner.

Imogen Heap bandpage