Results tagged “cdreview”

We remember the first time we saw British Sea Power play on the eve of the release of their first album, “The Decline of British Sea Power,” in a small venue in Brooklyn where the band had decorated the stage with a tree and a giant stuffed bird. The band seemed to be from another world as the vocalist, Yan, sang of writers long dead and the mysteries of nature while his brother Hamilton played bass and marched around with a blanket cape as if he was a five year old allowed outside to explore the outside world for the first time. We got the feeling that these were home schooled kids too smart for their own good and slightly out of touch with the rest of the world. The eccentricity was tangible, heartfelt, and not the least bit contrived. The critics loved them, but the masses never quite got it. With the release of their second album, “Open Season,” the band will have another chance.

We can recall quite vividly a day in 1994 when boyish Beck took the stage at a giant summer festival to what was then probably the largest crowd he had ever played. The screaming fans of the slacker generation were dying with anticipation to see the new star “get crazy with the cheez whiz.” Instead stood a man who seemed uncomfortable with his newfound pop success who violently threw a harmonica into the masses whose unquestioning devotion seemed to make him cringe. This was a guy who would never pop out albums based on some previous formula of success but would continuously show a new side of himself, making sure the crowds knew just who they were really cheering for.

Spring is finally here, only it doesn't quite feel like it. We are in the purgatory of seasons. The cold winter is behind us, but the sun still refuses to show its face, fearing we're still mad at her for running away so many months ago. We will forgive her though for Spring is the season of rebirth and new love. But what of those winter loves? What of those nights spent with lovers under covers, watching movies in warmth as the snow tries to bury the singles outside? Do we abandon our winter loves to find a new piece of flesh glistening in the sun it hasn't seen in so long? Or do we throw another log of sentiment on the fire in an attempt to keep the embers of our winter love aflame?

Based on their 4-song EP and the incredible showmanship of a live show full of cock and bravado, The Bravery have been called the next big thing by the Village Voice and Rolling Stone. With only days remaining until the release of their self-titled debut, we will soon know whether this local band can live up to all the hype.

Bloc Party can't be from the UK. They just can't. This is the country that invented the pub crawl, a place where they wean you straight from breast milk to beer. No. I refuse to believe a band from the UK could make an album this premeditated. British people drink too much to be this well thought out. Bloc Party must be German. I'm convinced. Just look at the name Bloc Party. Germans are ruthlessly efficient. They never have anything superfluous. Have you seen how much they love the letter K? SauerKraut. Kraftwerk, Der Kommisar. Those K's have to be coming from somewhere.