It’s happened again.  I’ve gotten back into the downloading groove and I’m downloading more music that I can listen.  Or even want to listen to.  I see a band mentioned somewhere on the news, by a friend, etc. and I must have it!  But I don’t download the album mentioned, I download all of their albums.  Then if I find someone with good download speeds, I browse their files and look for bands that just have interesting names.  All this piles up in my download directory until I feel that things are so messy that I need to organize.  So I do my OCD overhawl of the mp3s then move them into my organized music directory.  And then I forget about them.  Oh I have the stuff, I am a collector, but I don’t know what any of it sounds like.  Then I get all whiny about this state of affairs and write self-pitying posts.

I’m a bit obsessive-compulsive about music, just in case you have managed to been reading my posts for a long time and haven’t figured that out yet (actually since this is a blog and I don’t know anyone who reads this thing regularly, I doubt much about me is obvious at this point).  Nevertheless, when I like a band, I tend to collect their entire catalog of music and sample a cross-section.  But rarely do I really analyze the band’s changes from one album to the next (of course, ignoring that I just did that in the last post; I suck tonight).  Let me skip to my point: I listened to Hanzel und Gretyl’s newest album and had some thoughts.

Hanzel und Gretyl – 2012: Zwanzig Zwolf
I saw this band in Detroit.  I’ve known them for a while, through a few album releases.  How can you be on the goth scene and not know them?  Still, I was listening to this and i thought that it was actually an improvement on their sound and style.  It would seem my opinions happen upon “more of the same = bad” or “more of the same = good” so I’m going with the latter this time.  Yet there was growth, the songs sounded more structured.  Maybe I’m just talking out of my ass.  But one thing I noted, the girl wasn’t growling on this one.  I remember that was one of the distinctive things about this band, that both a male and female singer growling along the industrial metal riffs made for a distinctive sound.  But it seems like she’s missing from this album.  Or maybe she’s been singing like this for so long that it’s just dropped a few registers.

The Knife – Silent Shout
This is what music sharing is all about!  My friend comes into work and before he’s even sitting all the way down, he says, “ok new band of the day – The Knife,” and shares their album.  And it’s SO GOOD.  I believe I am hooked because it’s electronic stuff but just on the side of goth/industrial.  I may no longer paint my nails and wear black lipstick but I still dig the stuff.  It’s a duo from Sveden and the vocals are haunted and distorted but the beat is there.  I swear I’ve heard some of these songs before but I’m not sure where.  I then proceeded to their website to check tour dates (since, you know, I’ve had luck with that recently).  Wouldn’t you know it, they were here in 2006.  By “here” I mean in the US since they didn’t seem to want to go anywhere away from the ocean (New York, San Francisco, LA… I don’t think there are any other cities in this nation anymore).  Still, should some miricle occur and they come back, I may have to think about trying to see them.

iHave an iPod, therefore iUse iTunes.  I read about this “visualizer” addon called iConcertCal that scans your music library and checks for any activity with the bands you have.  It took me a bit to realize that it meant music library and not “on your iPod” because I’m trying to fill up a 160gb iPod from a 80gb hard drive, so I keep my music library pretty empty and control the transfer of songs tightly.  My point being, I load up this iConcertCal and check out the calendar to see what’s going on in the world of Music That Derek Likes.  Turns out jack shit! But no wait, maybe I did something wrong, so I fiddle with the settings, set the radius really large so it picks up Chicago and Detroit instead of middle of nowhere Grand Rapids.  Then I realize the bit about the library and load it up.  POW holy crap there’s a lot going on with the bands I enjoy.  But all of it is going on in Chicago.  Lame…  It makes me sort of wonder what it would be like to live somewhere where the music comes to you instead of me having to go to the music.

So here’s a lesson in deductive reasoning.  I started to foam at the mouth for downloading again, so I check the Pirate Bay’s top 100 music torrents.  “Gimme stuff and right quick,” I demanded.  But the choices were lame; Coldplay was at the top of the list by a ton but I’m not really interested in them.  But hey, there’s something for a band named Paramore, an album called “Riot”.  That’s the kind of title you’d give an album if you were edgy but hip and cool, right?  A little hop over to AllMusic again tells me they’re “neo-punk” or something.  Whatever, gimme.

Paramore – Riot
You’d think this would be a little obvious but you’ll have to forgive me as I catch up.  I’m looking at the top 100 downloads, meaning stuff lots of people have, and I give it a shot.  I listen to it.  I decide it’s kind of pop-y and something to appeal to the masses.  Wait for it, I’ll get there…  Top of the download list, liked by the masses…  Yeah so I dig the band and album because girls’ singing just melts my cold, lonely heart but still, sounds kind of generic.

CSS – Donkey
I’d say I love this band but the truth is I love the song that Apple used for their iTouch commercials last year.  The lead singer girl is hot and has a cute voice (girl singing, I tell you I’m pathetic).  However I never really listened to their first album very attentively.  But they release another one and I’m like, “hey I wonder if she still sings like a girl.”  Guess what, she does!  Too bad the songs are kind of lame this time around.  Pitchfork got it right, the magic of the first album isn’t really here this time.  Oh well, lead singer girl still wears skin-tight onesies on-stage I think.

Timo Maas – I forget the name of the album
Another recommendation from a friend.  A techno mix, DJ set.  Good stuff albiet generic (or maybe I was just really into debugging code and it washed over me).

Taproot – Blue Sky Research
Ladies and gentlemen, please buckle your seatbelts while we ride the Wayback Machine.  Ann Arbor, turn of the century, Limp Bizkit was hot shit and Fred Durst owned the world (yes he did.  no you shut up.)  This band from Ann Arbor (omg I went to school there!  squeee!) is talking on the phone with Fred!  I saw them at a ratty bar that has some extra space in the back where occasionally bands play (Blind Pig).  I was in on the ground floor, baby!  Those were good times.  Then Fred became not cool or maybe he still is and I don’t care anymore.  Anyway, Taproot still sounds just like that and while it may be nostalgic for me, that’s about all it has going for it.  Maybe if I dig up the mp3s of their pre-Fred-tainted work, it’ll remind me of the Old Ways.

System of a Down – Hypnotize
The companion work to Mezmorize.  Remember how I panned One Day as a Furry by that guy Zack because it was focused on lyrics and political messages instead of on music?  I get that feeling about System of a Down, they seem to be really charged with opinions and their music seems to be overflowing with that stuff.  For some reason I totally dig Toxicity since it seemed to be goofy short songs between good longer songs.  Now everything past that seems to be more of the same but without the oomph that keeps “Chop Suey” on my playlist and everything after it not on my playlist.  Man I’m negative and nostalgic tonight.  I remember going into the girls’ dorm to visit a friend and she had Toxicity on her dresser.  You see what I mean about making an impact?  How am I going to recall Hypnotize?  “Oh man, this is the part where I totally found that missing table lock that was causing the code to violate database constraints!  Rock on!”  \m/  No sir, nothing yet about this album reaches out and grabs me by the balls like she did.

Here’s an interesting article: Two guys took it upon themselves to tour around the US national parks.  But their goal was not to take in the splendor of our country but rather to correct grammatical errors in park signs.  I find this creates a lot of conflict with me; on the one hand I enjoy proofreading and prettifying things so that the best possible presentation is made to others but on the other hand, preservation of the past combined with a loathing for graffitti makes me hate these guys.  Of course the article goes for the most sensationalist example: a 60yr old sign for a structure in the Grand Canyon.  I would agree, don’t attack the original sign because that’s a part of history.  But then again, it’s still wrong!  This is why I don’t read news sites, they make my head hurt…

Daedelus – Denies the Days Demise
Daedelus – Love To Make Music To
I actually came across this band (guy) from two angles.  First of all, a friend and coworker recommended several electronic bands and this was one of them.  I admit to being so anal retentive that his mp3s did not meet my standards, so I kept the files but avoided listening to them until recently.  Then I got a second recommendation that was enough to push me over the edge.  As I said in an earlier post, Jordan recommended MGMT.  I looked them up on allmusic.com just because I like that page as a reference.  I see allmusic described MGMT as “indie electronic,” so I click on that genre and see what they have to say.  Wouldn’t you know it, Daedelus comes up!  Maybe it is time I give him some more serious attention.  And wouldn’t you know, it’s not so bad.  Definitely a little more experimental and “indie” but good.  A couple of songs have samples that sound really awkward or repeat too often for my taste but besides that, I’d recommend the stuff.

Basic Channel – Basic Channel
Just like with BCD-2 (or actually vice versa, that album is like this one) it’s very atmospheric and experimental and good, but not really stuff to get you booty shaking.  I think it’s just mastered at a lower volume since it’s so quiet.

Polar Bears – The Future King
This is the pitfall of filesharing; you see bands that have interesting names and you give them a shot.  I downloaded this only because Eriko calls me a bear.  This band is so indie, you can’t actually buy this album except at their shows.  But the sound is not something I enjoy, it’s very much indie rock bordering on emo/punk.  Lots of screaming and thrashing, not really my style.

Deerhunter – Microcastle
Indie rock, pretty meh.

VHS or Beta – Bring On the Comets
Just like I said with Ratatat, these guys have a sound that I find distinctive.  I like them, they’re on the edge between rock and techno;  their songs are light and dancy.  I find myself moved by them to invent words like “dancy.”

Slipknot – Iowa
Their second release; I continue my semi-retroactive education of Slipknot.  Not all that spectacular.  Still Slipknot, that’s for sure, but they seem to favor the “whimpering scream” more in this album, which sounds too melodramatic.

Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend
Indie rock, light and bouncy.  Not my usual but nice.  The name seems pretty random, which bothers me because I feel that a band’s name should have some hint about their style.  Being a former goth (goth in recession?  closet goth?), the word “vampire” hints at different themes than this band is going for.  Just an observation though, nothing to be up in arms about.

Junkie XL – Booming Back at You
Bumpin’ dance music.  Not the best but still packed with the unz-unz, which is a welcome diversion between the indie rock and the screamcore.

Deerhunter – Cryptograms
A little more electronic than the other album.  Pretty experimental compared to the album I mentioned earlier, so it was a fun time.

Ratatat – LP3
Remember how I said Ratatat was that band that had a distinctive sound all to their own?  Well this album seemed to be devoid of that sound.  Very interesting but still a good album.

The problem is that I broke the seal of posting-at-work.  Today I started drafting this post while at work, just so I got my impressions out while they were fresh in my mind.  But that’s a dangerously slippery slope, if I start to work on this page and review music instead of actual tech support.  Maybe I’ll have to cut back here a bit, stop downloading all this crazy random stuff and stick to a few favorite standbys.

New round of stuff.

Codec & Flexor – Killermachine
Gosh I love this band.  The singer guy (I don’t know if it’s Codec or Flexor singing) has a distinctive voice that, when used properly, is awesome.  The sad part is some of the songs on this album have lyrics that just get in the way.  But thankfully in between those parts are awesome songs.  I decided I need to become a DJ just so I can take one of the tracks and cut out the beginning and end, saving the wonderous middle part.  Though I full admit my lust for this band may be bourne of an elitist glee that no one else seems to know them.  Or maybe it’s because Ladytron included them on their mix CD “Softcore Jukebox” (and we all know that CD is awesome because of its cover).

Slipknot – All Hope is Gone
What a name for a Slipknot album, gosh… I never would have guessed.  There was an internet rumor that their next album was called, “Sunshine and Cookies” but I guess you can’t believe everything you read on the internet, right?  All joking aside, this album is like Slipknot only more so.  I think they enjoy the light ballads these days, harmonizing in between the screams.  But still fits the bill of “aggressive music” that siphons off my need to reach through the phone and kill customers.

Funny story about this album though.  It’s not actually released yet (next week is the magic week).  I hopped on bittorrent and got it right quick.  Then I swapped over to Soulseek to get some other stuff and DAMN, that’s a popular album over there.  I guess the Soulseek community doesn’t crossbreed with the bittorrent community very often.  My upload queue is 99% filled with this album and everything else is scattered in and around it.

Ratatat – Classics
Instrumental.  Seems to straddle the line between rock and electronic music.  Also they have a distinctive sound that I can’t really describe since I’m new to this whole music-review thing.

Basic Channel
Their first release… too quiet!  Need to get another copy I think.

And the stream doesn’t stop there: Still have Beck, Ratatat – LP3, some more Slipknot stuff, Deerhunter (more Jordan recommendations), new Junkie XL, Vampire Weekend (just sounds nifty).

New (to me) music:

Atlas Sound – Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel
Jordan recommendation.  Good stuff but not the kind of music to keep you from falling asleep at work.

M83 – Saturdays = Youth
Jordan, you’re great but these suggestions make me sleepy.
(Pitchfork review)

Basic Channel – BCD-2
Juicy, juicy techno.  Not really Underworld-quality dance stuff, more beepity-boopity stuff that makes a nice backdrop when doing tech support.  Pitchfork gave it a 9.1 rating, which kind of shocked and intrigued me since they seem to hate everything that’s not indie rock.  But they were right, it’s good stuff!  The review is packed full of review-type language; I myself would not think to describe music with tactile words like “liquidy”.  Also it’s packed of references to other techno bands I’ve never heard of, referring to them as classic and fundamental to the whole techno scene.  So much stuff to listen to!  Though to sum it up, I’d say this album reminds me of Aphex Twin or Autechre, with just stripped-down beats looping for the whole song.
(Pitchfork review)

Lemon Jelly – Lost Horizons
Light and atmospheric.  Good stuff.

Slipknot – Vol.3: The Subliminal Verses
I got this album a long time ago just because it was Slipknot and what self-respecting metal fan doesn’t like Slipknot?  No that’s not the story, the truth is once upon a time Trent Reznor answered a fan question, “what are you listening to right now?”  He listed out several albums and one of them was this one.  If Trent likes it, I must like it too. So I got it but never really gave it an honest listen.  Though now that I’ve actually mulled it over, I tell you it’s awesome for taking the edge off at work.  Of course, when I started screaming along my coworkers started looking at me funny.  I feel a renewed zest for immersing myself in screamcore now.

MGMT – Oracular Spectacular
Another Jordan recommendation, only not bedtime music!  Good disco-sounding dance stuff.  I like it.

Iggy Pop – Nude & Rude: The Best Of
Who doesn’t know Iggy Pop?  I watched “Trainspotting” so many times that “Lust for Life” is one of the most emotionally-charged songs I know.  Now I know more songs by the guy.  Good stuff indeed, a nice break from my normal tastes; it’s good to listen to music made without the aid of electronic equipment.

What next?  Basic Channel’s album is called “BCD-2”, meaning it is the second release so I am looking for the first.  Codec & Flexor have long had a follow-up to “Tubed” called “Killermachine” that was tough to find.  Now I have it and am very excited to give it a listen.  Beck’s “Modern Guilt” – a friend today described himself as a Nine Inch Nails fan “in theory but not in practice,” I feel that way about Beck.  I liked his early stuff but haven’t been keeping up with later releases.  So now I have it and should probably try to form an opinion.  Ratatat – I got their self-titled album from a friend and it’s pretty good.  Now I need to get into more of their stuff.

Dear Justin and Jordan – OMG POST SOMETHING…

Junk mail is the bane of the internet age.  I’m not talking about the spam, I’m talking about the “newsletters” and “important notices” that get sent out every time you register for a site or express interest in a store.  Nevertheless, I try to tolerate what comes my way; maybe a cursory glance will reveal something interesting or noteworthy.  Can you guess what motivated this post?

I get a notice from Amazon pointing out a band.  They say that people who bought this particular Nine Inch Nails album also bought this other album that I’ve never heard of.  It’s a self-titled release by a band called “One Day as a Lion”.  Heck, I like NIN and have not heard of this other band so why not give it a shot?  Turns out, ODAAL is Zack de la Rocha’s new release.  Since I don’t follow music news very closely for bands I’m not insane about, I have no idea what Rage Against the Machine does in their spare time.  I remember hearing they were done and that Zack was on to a solo project.  I suppose this is it.  The press also seems to be making a big deal that the drummer from Mars Volta is paired up with Zack for this album.  I liked RATM so I thought I’d give this album a try.

First off, it’s not a furry tribute album as the title may suggest.  Indeed, that’d be a rather large leap for Zack, to go from politics to deviant sex.  Second off, the “album” is only five tracks long.  It’s decent rock but it seems to be focusing more on Zack’s lyrics and Mr. Mars Volta’s (whose name I don’t know and am too lazy to look up) drumming.  I have never focused on lyrics when listening to music.  The syncopation of the words is more enticing to me than the message.  If I make it to the point of listening to the song repeatedly, the lyrics work themselves into my brain and I sing along.  But rarely do I really sit down and digest the message of the song, which propably undermines around 90% of the effort musicians make.  I’ll make excuses: Skinny Puppy’s lyrics are nearly stream-of-consciousness and you’d go insane trying to pick up on their messages, electronic music doesn’t have lyrics, ummm… yeah whatever.

Anyway, the point I am trying to make is that ODAAL didn’t blow me away since the focus of the stuff was on lyrics.  Maybe if I give it another listen while looking up some lyrics and/or reviews, that will add some substance.  Nevertheless, it is something I have not listened to before so that’s progress.

(Bonus points if you can identify the movie where the subject line came from.)

Though I don’t have any readers out there that I’m aware of, I’d nonetheless like to introduce two new authors to this… thing.  Justin and Jordan, hailing from opposite ends of the Earth, will be contributing posts here.  I hope that we will build something nice, something musical and something fun.

And I guess technically I’m new here too since I decided to change the username from “dcamp” to “derek”.  Lowercase is still hip though, all you pro-capitalization zealots can just eat me, aight?  Interestingly enough, I seem to do this to myself a lot.  Here is an excerpt from a previous… thing:

World of Warcraft has consumed my spare time, as I imagined it would. I started a new character, this time with a more creative name (albiet unoriginal) and the knowledge on how to slam through the early ranks like a pro. My original character’s name was Dcamp, which made sense since my handle has always been dcampitate, so why not simplify it to something more like a name? Well, because Dcamp is a stupid name for a role-playing character, that’s why! Dcampitate isn’t all that much better either, not if you want the immersive environment of a MMORPG. My new guy is much better, but I’m not going to tell you his name because then you’ll think I’ve gotten so nerdy, I’ve actually gone insane (and you’d be right). But the interesting thing is how much more removed I feel from this character, now that no part of his name resembles mine. People used to type, “hey dcamp, you’re an idiot” and I’d know they were talking to me. I have a few other variations on nicknames that I would respond to, but those names are all taken or not allowed, so instead I’ll have to respond to this new one. That I’m still not going to tell you.

But that’s ancient history, I don’t play that new character anymore (who was named after a Babylon 5 character) nor do I play Warcraft at all (abandoning my main character who was named after someone in Star Trek, see how awesome I am with the naming of things?).