Reviews
Interpol & Twin Tigers Concert
Thursday, August 5th, 2010 by WLOY Staff
I was first introduced to Interpol in 2004 when I heard their album, Antics. I became fond of the band after listening to the album, but I admit I lost faith in them after Our Love to Admire (2007) received less praise than Antics. However, I think I need to revisit the album, now that I found a new appreciation for Interpol. I had always heard great things about Interpol’s live show, but it was difficult to ignore all the hype and avoid preconceived notions. I expected a great show and that is exactly what I got. Their sound filled the venue, reinforced by a brilliant light show. What impressed me was the balance between the vocals and instrument sound levels. The lyrics were clearly distinguishable over the rest of the band, not to mention that Paul Bank’s voice was perfect.
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This All Starr Band Goes to Eleven
Tuesday, July 13th, 2010 by The Professor
Ringo Starr celebrates turning Seventy years young on tour
Radio RockonTour host Timothy Tilghman
The first All Starr Band Tour launched in 1989. Ringo Starr began employing a successful formula building his touring entourage comprised of noteworthy musicians who recorded their own popular releases. Ringo has claimed an enduring career of getting by with a little help from his friends to conduct his All Starr Band tours. Showcasing rotating musicians solidified a winning combination for his loyal audiences.
The Eleventh All Starr Band features Spinal Tap drummer Gregg Bissonette, guitarist Rick Derringer, Mr. Mister bassist Richard Page, Romantics guitarist Wally Palmer, keyboardist Edgar Winter, and keyboardist Gary Wright. Derringer, Page and Palmer are the newest members joining the 2010 touring team.
The All Starr Band played before a packed house in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on Saturday, July 3, 2010. The diverse backgrounds of the individual musicians jamming together presents a wealth of chart topping material for classic rock fans to enjoy live on stage.
Each individual All Starr Band musician (excluding Bissonette) took a turn at the microphone to sing a memorable moment that scored high on the American hit parade. Winter led the crowd on a raucous “Free Ride”. Page sang the soaring single “Kyrie”. Palmer belted out the kinetic “What I Like About You”.
Derringer doubled as a pied piper lifting audience spirits with “Rock And Roll, Hoochie Koo”. Wright was alright on his melodic “My Love Is Alive”. Among the many songs sung by Ringo, he performed “The Other Side Of Liverpool” and “Peace Dream” both from his latest album Y NOT. The surprise of the evening came at the end of the concert when Ringo segued into John Lennon’s 1969 anthem “Give Peace A Chance”.
The only glitch in Ringo’s infrequent touring schedule is that after 21 years of hitting the road during the summertime season, he is still only singing the same handful of songs from his tenure as a Fab. With the exception of “What Goes On” and “Oh My My” introduced on recent tours but neither of which appeared in the 2010 setlist, the only new tunes are those from the current album he is promoting on tour.
Ringo Starr has proven he is a capable composer after undertaking a solo career in 1971. Either Ringo does not have the fortitude to take chances with his audience and perform more of his own original numbers or he is slavishly repeating Beatles oldies to placate a baby-boomer demography incapable of tolerating Ringo to venture beyond his musical past as a former Fab into uncharted musical territory.
The All Starr band cast is a functioning musical family. Performers introduce each other providing harmonious backing vocals as a welcome bonus. The staging was visually exquisite and the sound was audibly perfect. Singers share stories about how their songs originated onto record. Plus, the in-between song banter reveals how the musicians interact among one another.
Who can deny the guilty pleasure of attending an All Starr Band concert? After cleaning up his act in the latter 1980s, Ringo Starr has been touring on an irregular basis during the last two decades. It’s a blessing that veteran British Invasion artists are still willing to mount extensive tours to entertain their committed fans.
Richard Starkey, M.B.E., is just about to turn Seventy years old on July 7, 2010. Ritchie has a birthday concert pegged for a party in NYC and rumors are circulating that Sir James Paul McCartney is going to join his fellow former Beatle on stage. Paul & Ringo previously hooked up on stage together in NYC on April 4, 2009.
Ringo Starr & All Starr Band, Atlantic City, New Jersey, July 3, 2010 setlist: It Don’t Come Easy * Honey Don’t * Choose Love * Hang On Sloopy – Rick Derringer * Free Ride – Edgar Winter * Talking In Your Sleep – Wally Palmer * I Wanna Be Your Man * Dream Weaver – Gary Wright * Kyrie – Richard Page * The Other Side Of Liverpool * Yellow Submarine * Frankenstein – Edgar Winter * Peace Dream * Back Off Boogaloo * What I Like About You – Wally Palmer * Rock And Roll, Hoochie Koo – Rick Derringer * Boys * My Love Is Alive – Gary Wright * Broken Wings – Richard Page * Photograph * Act Naturally * With A Little Help From My Friends > Give Peace a Chance
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Built to Spill – There’s Nothing Wrong with Love
Thursday, May 13th, 2010 by WLOY Staff
Built to Spill, the indie-rock band hailing from Boise, Idaho, has one of the deepest and most accomplished discographies you can find in the genre. Yes, I said it.
The name Doug Martsch may not conjure the same thoughts that a mention of Elliott Smith does, and someone bringing up a song from Keep it Like a Secret may be less common than someone mentioning a song from In the Aeroplane Over the Sea. That being said, this band is definitely a classic in their genre. The successive albums Keep it Like a Secret, which contains a laid-back summer twang, and Perfect From Now On, Martsch ventures a few tiny steps into progressive territory, are absolute masterpieces. But I digress… I’m here to explain the beauty of the prelude to these, There’s Nothing Wrong With Love. (more…)
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Castevet – Summer Fences
Thursday, May 13th, 2010 by WLOY Staff
Open your ears and let that beautiful, simplistic melody flood your brain with ideas of happiness and contentment. As the song progresses, you can feel the emotion begin to well up as the instrumentation becomes more and more complex. You can’t remember the last time you felt this relaxed as you tilt your head back and feel your eyelids shut – but only halfway. And just as the vocals come in, so smoothly and fluidly, from the most mellifluous vo- WAIT! (more…)
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Chuck Ragan – Gold Country
Tuesday, May 11th, 2010 by WLOY Staff
Summary: Chuck Ragan made me think twice about my hatred towards country music…incredibly consistent and well-structured, Gold Country is not one to miss this year.
Punk and country music don’t have a whole lot in common, right? Chuck Ragan sets to prove that wrong with Gold Country and does a pretty damn good job of it. Former frontman of punk band Hot Water Music, Ragan didn’t have a whole lot to prove. He was already pretty acclaimed in the punk scene. So, when he decided to swap Hot Water Music for a solo country-Western album, I was a little surprised. His first solo album, Feast or Famine, was a bare-bones album that managed to showcase Ragan”s versatility. His follow-up incorporates that same simplicity, but Ragan manages to add a little extra here and there. (more…)
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End Transmission – Devour
Sunday, May 9th, 2010 by WLOY Staff
Just because your little sister likes it doesn’t mean it’s bad, right? I mean c’mon, Fall Out Boy may not have the same reputation as Circle Takes the Square, but who isn’t up for some upbeat power-pop every now and then, excluding metal heads, that is. Some people call the pop-punk and power-pop genres worthless and without merit. I strongly disagree. True, Bad Astronaut and Say Anything don’t have the same, deep musical compositions or technical prowess of say, progressive music or post-rock. That’s not the goal of these shallow, simplistic bands. They provide immediately gratifying, pleasurable music. This is where power-pop band End Transmission comes into play. Devour is by no means a musical masterpiece. End Transmission’s debut album is not entirely original, and I would call it a bit shallow or superficial. Now that that’s out of the way, I really liked this album. It serves the purpose nicely. Devour is chock- full with 11 enjoyable songs. (more…)
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Headlights – Wildlife
Friday, May 7th, 2010 by WLOY Staff
Contrast and contradiction plague Wildlife, in a good way. Recorded in their home, located in Champaign, Illinois, the angst and confusion shows through on their latest record. Created in a short period of time and marked by band break-ups during the process, Wildlife combines beautiful, lush indie-pop with a welcome sense of variety that is so often lacking in similar sounding music. Indie-pop often falls victim to monotony and flatness, but Headlights keep things fresh. (more…)
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Joel Plaskett – Three
Wednesday, May 5th, 2010 by WLOY Staff
Joel Plaskett, at 33.3 years old, entitled 3 songs on his new release with 3 repeating words, “Rolling, Rolling, Rolling,” “Rewind, Rewind, Rewind,” and “Gone, Gone, Gone.” At this point, he couldn’t stop the trend. He decided to record a triple CD release, entitled Three, with 9 songs apiece, all with their own independent styles and concepts. He may have gone a bit too far, far, far, as the last mentioned song suggests, but it’s an interesting concept, at least, even if it is borderline gimmicky. Relaxing folk ballads blended with some soft rock are at the crux of Three, but ultimately it’s Plaskett’s ability to hide “3’s” all over this record that overshadow the actual music. (more…)
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Massive Attack – Splitting the Atom EP
Monday, May 3rd, 2010 by WLOY Staff
Trip-hop pioneers Massive Attack are back with a not so massive attack, a 4 song EP titled Splitting the Atom. Short and pithy, Splitting the Atom is a nice snack, just enough to remind the music community that Massive Attack are still in the kitchen and brewing something, delicious or possibly disastrous. It’s definitely not a full meal, but Splitting the Atom will have trip-hop fans and non-fans alike tongues dripping with anticipation due to the illustrious line-up of Martina Topley-Bird, Guy Garvey (Elbow), and Tunde Adebimpe (TV on the Radio). Unfortunately, Splitting the Atom doesn’t turn out to be nearly as appetizing as it appears. (more…)
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Maths – Descent
Saturday, May 1st, 2010 by WLOY Staff
You haven’t heard this before. You may have heard sprawling soundscapes carefully executed. You may have even had the pleasure of hearing a wave, no, a tsunami of furious guitar envelope songs until all that’s left is furious riffs of gargantuan noise. Calculated and technical screamo has been done before. Maths isn’t the first band to provide listeners with caustic riffs and shrill screams that will make your hair stand on end until the next breath of fresh air, in relaxing instrumental form, grants you relaxation. Nor is this probably the first time you’ve heard hardcore that you find yourself hopelessly lost in, with enough dips and dives to leave you disoriented and dizzy. But let’s get one thing straight here: none of those other bands were Maths. Following a split with fellow English screamo outfit, Throats, Maths gathered enough praise to garner a “who’s who” of bands on the rise by a feature in NME. The natural stage of progression would be for Maths to start touring more regularly, reap more publicity, and basically move up in the business, right? Wrong. Maths drop their label in favor of honing their sound and recording a DIY record it themselves. The result is an enticing, and quite stunning output, Descent. (more…)
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