Nik Gomez

Coachella 2007: Manu Chao

So the Coachella lineup says that “Manu Chao and the Bomba Radio Sound System” will be playing. Why do I love this? Because the live DVD of Manu Chao is with the Bomba Radio Sound System (they’re his backing band), and that DVD is amazing. It takes the energy of his music from a 6 to an 11. A quick side-note, I will not pretend to know anything about Latin music, so take what I say with a grain of salt.Manu Chao plays a fusion of reggae, ska, and Latin music. I find it to be nothing like anything else I’ve ever listened to; it’s really fresh. Of course, once you take a second to translate the either English, Spanish, or French lyrics he’s singing, you will relize that he is singing about sex, drugs, and running from the police. But please, do not let this make you wary of listening to what he has to say. Like much of Latin music, there is a strong political message through his songs.Live, there are about 15 people up on stage, each playing some sort of instrument or providing back up yells and vocals. I will definitely be in the crowd dancing to this awesome mix of sounds (right before Rage Against the Machine, of course.)

Nine Inch Nails – Year Zero

the album cover of Year Zero by Nine Inch Nails

First statement: Trent Renzor has redeemed himself. While I didn’t think that With Teeth was a horrible as the rest of the musical community, this album surpasses it with ease. The statement that Trent has erased the ideas of pop music seems to be on target here.

Year Zero is nothing like With Teeth, so if you were hoping for a repeat, you’re out of luck. As far as comparisons go, I have read that this is NIN’s most minimal album to date; this is a claim that I have to disagree with. Pretty Hate Machine still holds that title. While Year Zero does have its fair share of simple songs, nearly every one develops to a point that is hardly minimalistic in nature. If any song was to be described in this manner, it would have to be “My Violent Heart” which eventually disintegrates in the chorus to a mash of distorted vocals and glitch electro beats (love it.)

What really pleased me about this record is the amount of depth that is has in terms of variations throughout the progression of songs in the album. No two songs are very alike (unlike With Teeth.) That being said, this record is not very commercially appealing. The songs are very dirty and noisy; it is a return to where NIN started. So far, “Survivalism” is the only single that has been released. Probably one of the most pop-friendly tracks, it still features dirty guitars and drum machine beats torn to shreds under Renzor’s moaned verse vocals and strong chorus lines.

Putting the music off to the side, if you haven’t heard of the amazing marketing campaign that has been executed by Renzor, I’m not sure where you have been. Whether the secret “lost” USB drives carrying new tracks, hidden websites revealing album information, or phone numbers playing new tracks from Year Zero, the RIAA has had a field day determining whether they should prosecute people with the “leaked” tracks or not (as usual, they did.)

This album is up there with Pretty Hate Machine and And All that Could Have Been [Live] for me. It offers so much more than radio friendly songs.

Gorillaz are no more

Everyone’s favorite virtual cartoon band will release no more studio albums. NME reported that lead singer Damon Albarn has confirmed that a film score will be all that is left of Gorillaz. Why do the good bands have to go so soon? Two studio albums and two remix albums are not enough. All of the four Gorillaz albums have a sound of their own; eclectic to the end. Continue reading…

Coachella 2007: Justice

Anyone up for a French house DJ duo? No, I’m not talking about Daft Punk; I’m talking about Justice. Of the entire artist lineup being pushed by Ed Banger Records right now, Justice is getting the best and most press attention (guess I’m feeding the flame.) Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay are the current heroes of French house music, and let me explain why.The biggest thing going for them right now is the fact that they sound nothing like any other music out right now. Unfortunately, their sound is probably fairly easy to replicate, but as long as they can innovate and keep evolving their music, they have a solid chance at reigning as house kings pretty soon. So what is this sound that they are pioneering? In my opinion, it is a blending of heavily distorted samples, sick chopped beats, and an amazing balance between repetition and progression through a song. Another comparison to Daft Punk: they are geniuses when it comes to choosing the right samples to sample.Many of you might have recently read/heard of the samples that Daft Punk has used to make their songs. While Daft Punk does credit the artists taken from, after listening to each song and the sample taken from the song, it is fairly disappointing how heavily Daft Punk does rely on these samples. I do not believe that Justice will fall victim to this type of backlash due to the fact that their songs have so much more to them than repetitive samples. Smart.An interesting fact: Justice hasn’t released an LP yet! So far, we only have compilation albums put out by Ed Banger and a single EP from Justice. Their debut album is set to be released in June 2007.At Coachella, it is unfortunate that they will not be playing at night (just rumors right now, no set-list yet.) From what I have seen on YouTube, they have amazingly energetic shows with great lighting. I love it.update: Justice will be playing at 8:30pm, which conflicts with many other bands I want to see…

Coachella 2007: Circa Survive

Let me point out firstly how odd I find it that Circa Survive is even playing at Coachella (a post-hardcore band amongst the indie/electro-nation?) That said, I really do live Circa Survive and don’t have a problem with them playing.The Circa Survive arises some odd feelings in me, so I will first go over the history that I know of. The band started after the lead singer, Anthony Green, left a little band named Saosin (where he was also the lead singer.) He left on very odd terms. At an airport, while he was waiting for his next flight to go meet the guys of Saosin, he called to let them know that he had a change of heart decided that he didn’t belong anymore. Saosin has since moved on to singer Cove Reber.Leaving the drama behind, Anthony Green is what made/makes both bands what they were/are (but Cove was a good replacement.) His voice is very powerful and ethereal simutaneously; it really is amazing to listen to. He can hit notes that other punk singers only dream of being able to hit without tearing apart their vocal chords. His singing style is fairly agressive, meaning that he does scream… but only once in a while. He is not a scream singer in any way shape or form. To put is simply, I love Green’s voice.Circa Survive has released only one studio album to date, but a new LP is due very soon. Their sound is very open and ambient. The guitar ruffs aren’t choppy; they fade off into the distance being overlapped by the oncoming riffs. The vocals do the same. Their song construction is anything but conventional. While most songs do have the verse/chord progression, the many variant Circa takes on this makes for a nice change of pace. It will be very interesting to see where the new LP takes Circa. It might launch them to where Saosin is now, above Saosin, or it could mark the end of a fairly new group.Sorry for the constant Saosin comparisons, but Saosin is one of my favorite bands right now…