Tag: Music

Kanye West’s Daft Punk-aided Stronger video

Posted on by mygoodgomez

I am no fan of Kanye West. Let it be known before you dive headfirst into this intriguing column of mine. He is cocky and irreverent of any other musical artist on the scene. Remember when he ran onstage to ruin Justice and Simian’s award for “We Are Your Friends”? No? Well that was my last straw, and the video is after the jump.

So, this new video for Kanye West’s song “Stronger” has been talked about for a long time. It has a Daft Punk sample! It’s an expensive video! It’s off his new album! Directed by Hype Williams! Too bad the video amounts to some eye candy and a plot just as confusing as Justin Timerlake’s “SexyBack”… Putting Daft Punk in BOTH your song and video is quite a feat, but it won’t get you video of the year.

The video features some futuristic looking animation with Kanye being reborn by some kind of a Matrix-type machine. It looks cool, but it’s a bit literal of a translation of the song title. Like I said, Daft Punk is sweet anywhere they are placed. Kudos for that one. The sun(?)glasses are equally awsome; I wish I had some. Here is the part that frustrates me: the lack of continuity. There are some great scenes, but they don’t amount to anything. The video for “Jesus Walks” was amazing because it told a story (all three versions were powerful). I don’t feel that there is anything holding “Stronger” together.

The Horrors make me blend in

Posted on by mygoodgomez

The Horrors

Fuckin hipsters. It’s their fault that I’m one who blends into the crowd. Too bad I listen to their music.

Just look at that picture for another second. Where do you get the idea to dress/do your hair/put on makeup/etc… like that?! It’s a damn good thing that The Horrors play amazing music, or else they’d slip under my hipster radar like so many others do. Maybe it’s something in the British blood. If that’s the case, I’m nothing but screwed.

So, back to the music. The Horrors play a mixture of lofi indie garage punk. The sound quality is equivalent to The White Stripes, but their style is closer to the punk bands of about 20+ years ago. Need something more recent as a comparison? Think Klaxons sans electro plus scenester clothing.

What makes the Horrors different from any other band in the British punk wave going on right now? For me, it’s the electric organs. Nothing is too complicated with the Horrors, and nothing about them pretends to be (other than their hair). Their chord progressions are repetitive, as are the organ riffs, drums, and vocals. They are simple, original, and … they have really tight jeans.

Success is coming to the Horrors as of now. Their latest (and first) LP Strange House has received very good reviews that basically agree with everything that I’ve said thus far. Check them out.

Bonde Do Role parties with their baile funk music

Posted on by mygoodgomez

Bonde Do RoleLadies and gentlemen, we have another entrant into the indie/foreign/dance punk/electro musical niche. Bonde Do Role is a Brazilian baile funk band whose music complements other musicians such as M.I.A. and CSS, and their oversexed attitudes seem to mirror Peaches. Their sound, while not completely unique right now, is definitely uplifting and danceable (seeing as their genre means dance funk).

The band currently consists of MCs Pedro D’Eyrot and Marina Vello, and DJ/MC Rodrigo Gorky. All three bring massive amounts of energy to the already insane beats laid down by Gorky. They have released one EP and one LP so far, both of which clearly state what style of music they are aiming for. Their LP With Lazers is right alongside of CSS’s Cansei de Ser Sexy in terms of music made with fun in mind. Mild singing, loud yells, and lyrics in a language I don’t understand are all pluses for me. While other dance punk acts are coming to the point of breaking into the mainstream market, Bonde Do Role is sure to stand out and make it past the “Pitchfork hype” which seems to come and go with the tides…

Yottamusic rescues Rhapsody (for me)

Posted on by mygoodgomez

Yottamusic LogoAs I am a new convert to the amazing OS X via my Macbook Pro, I have been going through the process of discovering which apps that I love do/don’t work on the OS. Many do work, contrary to popular thought, but one such app that does not work is Rhapsody.

After realizing that there is no way that I could ever afford to buy all of the music that I wanted from Apple’s iTunes Music Store, I stepped into the world of subscription music services. After trying out just about every product on the market, I have come to the conclusion that Rhapsody is the best by far. Now imagine my dismay after learning that Rhapsody is a Windows only app! I was so disappointed that my favorite music discovery application was gone forever. Luckily for me, a few Google searches after getting over my sadness, I discovered Yottamusic.

Yottamusic seems (at first) to be just another subscription services sans a desktop application. It was the little note that says that Rhapsody users need not register that excited me. Yotta turned out to be an amazing service that uses the Rhapsody music library as a back-end and some great AJAX in the front-end to create a very sleek user experience. The best way to describe it would be to say that it is the Web 2.0 makeover of a service trying so hard to get out of the 1.0 stage.

Yottamusic works with many different browsers, and if you happen to be using one that they don’t officially support, they let you know immediately (but that doesn’t mean that your browser will be shut out). I understand that Rhapsody’s web service works with Firefox on OS X, but it’s interface and design is very sluggish and unintuitive. Yotta is its younger, edgier sibling that has all of the unnecessary bells and whistles left in the dust. If you do nothing else, check out the Intro Comic that they have to describe their product.

Update: Yottamusic has been shut down by Rhapsody. Replacement? Mog.

Justice – †

Posted on by mygoodgomez

Justice - † This might be completely ridiculous on my part, but I still haven’t decided (for myself) whether Justice really is Christan or if they are just playing the part. Now as to this new LP coming out in about a month titled “†”, I think I might have found a bootleg floating around somewhere, and I might have a review right here for you! A song by song review can be found about 1 centimeter below:

  1. Genesis (7/10): A nice opening track. The intro to the song was what they opened Coachella with (I believe). The beat is strong throughout, it could have done with a bit more variation or development of the samples used. Good track, not their best.
  2. Let There Be Light (8/10): Once again, good track. I’m glad that they put one of the tracks that develops with an industrial edge right up front on the record. This track was released on the Waters of Nazareth EP.
  3. D.A.N.C.E. (9/10): The current single floating around right now. Probably the most catchy song to be found by Justice. I don’t know where they found this sample, but it is genius. The way that they can mix a catchy beat perfectly with a chopped vocal sample is amazing. Hints of disco or funk tidbits begin to show themselves here.
  4. New Jack (6/10): This song just doesn’t do too much for me. The samples seem too mix/matched; there isn’t any continuity among them. It has all of the driving forces that Justice is known for, but their choice of samples here falls short. The warble comes in at an inappropriate time, and it stays too long. Not a fav.
  5. Phantom Pt. 1 (10/10): Following New Jack with Phantom Pt. 1 brought my spirits up. Phantom Pt. 1 was released on the D.A.N.C.E. EP, and it is by far my favorite track on †. Just turn it up in your best pair of headphones, and you will see why I say this. Talk about a rockin’ electro track. The sample used here has been identified as being from Goblin’s Tenebre. After comparing the original track to Phantom Pt. 1, it is safe to say that this is in no way a rip off of another artist’s work. The sample has been chopped to pieces and put together in a truly Justice-esque manner.
  6. Phantom Pt. 2 (9/10): The first time listening to this track, you will probably be confused. It seems overly random. The good news? Once you actually get the tune, this song rocks. It carries over the industrial overtones of Pt. 1 and adds some disco flavor into the mix. Great track.
  7. Valentine (7/10): “Valentine”, to me, seems like a very long intro to “The Party”. It is a good track, but doesn’t seem to serve much of a purpose. It’s stuck in here. Not needed. Also, is it just me or does it sound like they sampled Britney Spears’ “Me Against the Music”? I speak of the airy noise at the beginning. I know it could come from anywhere, it just that it reminds me of that song.
  8. The Party (7/10): A song with actual lyrics that don’t sound like they are sampled (because they aren’t). I’m not sure who sings, but the lyrics are meant for a party song (hence the title). The problem is that there isn’t too much music to go along with the fun lyrics. The music seems like a continuation of “Valentine”. It could use a bit more of a kick. Sounds like Three 6 Mafia is sampled here.
  9. DVNO (6/10): While so many people are praising the vocals of this track, I can’t stand them. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t reject vocals off the bat if they are falsettos. I reject them if they don’t sound good. Compiling this problem is the fact that they drop the music out in the middle of the track; now I have nothing to distract me from the horrible vocals. The music itself isn’t half bad. It’s a mixture of their signature distorted beats and disco stabs. Least favorite track on the record.
  10. Stress (8/10): The title of this song is really evident is the music. The tension of the song is heightened by the high pitched strings that can be heard throughout the track. I really do like this song though. The last strands of disco are evident here. They are minor, but they contribute all the same.
  11. Waters of Nazareth (10/10): Second favorite track on the record. This was the first song by Justice that I ever heard. After hearing it, I had Justice categorized as an industrial group. Definitely wrong. This song rocks from start to finish. The distorted samples kill your ears without relenting for a second. If you can’t stand the first 10 seconds, get out, the song just compiles on top of itself from there on. Pure electro joy.
  12. One Minute To Midnight (9/10): A great closing track; “One Minute to Midnight” closes much better than “Genesis” opened. A slight downer track with a sweet baseline that makes you rock back and forth. It lets you calm down after the massive electro explosion that happened during the previous track. Continuous and true to Justice, it is a nice way to end this musical journey.

† is set to be released on June 11, 2007 on Ed Banger Records.

Linkin Park – Minutes To Midnight

Posted on by mygoodgomez

Linkin Park - Minutes To Midnight CoverYou ask for my guilty pleasure, and I will respond Linkin Park. I have loved them since Hybrid Theory; although I admit that I didn’t get “Crawling” the first time I heard it. This “nu-metal” sound wasn’t something that I was hooked on. Korn and Limp Bizkit were nowhere to be found in my music collection. Looking back at a time when pop music was *NSYNC or Britney Spears, Linkin Park offered me my first taste of what breakbeat or turntablism or metal or anything in between might be. In no way am I saying that they are the epitome of any of these styles, but with tiny bits thrown in here and there, teen angst and a tad of electronica struck a chord in my musical soul.

Now to this album, or how it compares to LP’s previous two. Let it be known that I had high expectations for Minutes to Midnight. I loved the complexity of Meteora when compared to Hybrid Theory, but Hybrid Theory‘s raw edges drew me in too. Alongside the many critics and fans of LP, I believed that the rapping needed to find a different place after Meteora was done. Here, it has done just that. It is only featured in two or three tracks (but only one of those benefit from it).

Let’s start with my favorite tracks: “Given Up”, “Bleed It Out”, “No More Sorrow”, and “Shadow of the Day”. If you have listened to the album, you will know that all but “Shadow of the Day” are fairly heavy, fast paced songs. “Bleed It Out” is the above-all winner on this CD. It does feature Mike’s rapping (with profanities, see the PA sticker?); it is a showcase of what LP is. It has a very long buildup, but the slow addition of instruments as the song builds makes the climax even better. “Shadow of the Day” is the track that I feel shows the maturity of LP the most. It is slower, and its calculated nature is impressive to say the least.

The pacing of the album seems to have some rhyme or rhythm until the pattern of fast song/slow song goes on one too many times (around track 7: “Hands Held High”). Then we hit “Valentines Day”, and any hope of another fast-paced hard rock song is lost forever; this track sucks. The biggest disappointments are “Hands Held High” and “The Little Things Give You Away”. Why would anyone pick this song to close their “mature” album? It’s slow, cliche, and boring.

As to the criticism that LP has diluted their material with ambient electronic landscapes, I have no idea where those ideas are coming from. Meteora was the electronic album. Minutes to Midnight is the rock album. Minutes to Midnight is a good album, but I don’t feel that it is the best album that LP could have put out right now. It’s a tad disappointing, I really wanted my next guilty pleasure album…

Björk – Volta

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Björk - VoltaBjörk’s new CD… For me, Volta has been the most anticipated album by Björk. Hyped press and intriguing interviews combined with her show stopping performance at Coachella really put me on end for Volta to be released. The first few leaked songs gave me hope that it would have the feeling of Homogenic with the pop sound of Debut, something that I feel Björk needs to reinvent. So in a nutshell, how does Volta make me feel? Half-fulfilled.

I was so ready for a more accessible album by Björk; something that I could show my friends and not get the “I don’t get it” looks Björk instills in so many people. From what I heard at Coachella, Volta would be exactly that. Her old greatest hits with “Earth Intruders”, “Innocence”, “Wanderlust”, and “Declare Independence” thrown into the mix gave the impression that Volta would be a more “up” album than the murky Medulla. Even Björk’s interview with Pitchfork has her saying that it would be a “fun” and even “poppy” record; this is not the case.

The album does feature a heavy dosage of brass; I’m not too sure that it’s beneficial. Because so many of the tracks do rely on the horns for their warm ambient tones, it limits the sound that I have come to know as Björk. One plus side of the brass is that they make their tracks seem fairly immediate. In one of her video interviews, Björk describes Volta as being fairly spontaneous; the brass section contributes quite a bit to this end.

Here’s a paragraph dedicated to my favorite song on the album: Innocence. But first I must admit my guilt at enjoying the two Timbaland collaborations the most. Now that that’s out, Innocence packs a major punch. In case you don’t believe me, just listen to the track; one of the samples used sounds like a guy getting punched in the gut. The beat here is insane. It is very repetitive, but that is something that I like about the track. In addition to the sweet but short beat, the main synth is sweet, if not sweeter than the beats. It is a very wobbly tone to it and its high pitched distortion give it a unique sound that I have never heard before. To me, its what an Asian synth would be if someone took it and applied every kind of degrading effect on it (and if there were synths for difference places of the world). The lyrics are very nice as well, but the music is what I love about it.

As you can probably tell, I have very mixed feelings about Volta. The slower tracks don’t grab you like “Hidden Place” or “Unravel” do, but the more upbeat tracks are unforgettable. I give Volta a slight-medium thumbs up (that is a technical term in case you aren’t familiar with the nikgomez.com rating system…)

The Coachella 2007 Experience

Posted on by mygoodgomez

Zach De La Rocha @ Coachella

Here is the short version of my Coachella Experience. I’ve tried to organize this in chronological order from Friday to Sunday.Bands

  • Friday Favorites: the Noisettes, Silversun Pickups, Arctic Monkeys, Björk
    • the Noisettes were spectacular, very unique… same goes for Silversun Pickups (sweet drummer)
    • Tokyo Police Club=huge letdown, dissappointing
    • Arctic Monkeys need to move around a bit (physically), but great music
    • Interpol needs to never play music again
    • Björk needed to play forever, I was starstruck
  • Saturday Favorites: Hot Chip, Kings of Leon, the Arcade Fire, the Red Hot Chili Peppers
    • the Cribs needs a wardrobe change, good music
    • Hot Chip wins the “Funnest Show” award
    • MSTRKRFT (and most DJs) need to move around a bit, I know that your Macbook is sweet, but there’s a crowd to entertain
    • Kings of Leon brought the hard rock
    • the Arcade Fire needs a new sound guy (maybe that was Coachella’s fault)
    • Red Hot Chili Peppers needed more BloodSugarSexMagik, amazing light show though
  • Sunday Favorites: Lupe Fiasco, the Roots, Rage Against the Machine
    • Mika should be the lead singer of an 80s hair metal band
    • Lupe Fisaco wins the Grammy (or he should have at least)
    • Against Me! brought some pure punk to Coachella
    • The Roots almost made me cry, up there for best all weekend
    • Willie Nelson should sing more about pot, that one song was hilarious
    • Crowded House should have left the stage after the water bottle incident
    • Manu Chao was overly repetitive, extremely high energy
    • Rage Against the Machine never left, they play as if it’s still the 90s. Amazing. Amazing…

It really is hard to believe that it is over. This event that I have obsessed over for three months has come and gone. It was so worth it, and I will be there next year rain or shine.

Coachella 2007: Manu Chao

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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

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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.