Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Why Nobody Cares, by a Nobody

I posted this picture because that’s the last time Blink 182 was relevant. ‘Take Off Your Pants and Jacket’ and ‘Blink – 182’ were the last albums anyone cared about. That’s right 12 years ago. Do you know what else was popular 12 years ago? Finding Nemo, Hilary Duff, and Limp Bizkit. That should tell you something. At least it does for me. Granted I’m not the biggest Blink fan, but they did have a time for me. That time was when I was in high school and their big album was ‘Enema of the State’. Remember the album? Of course you do Janine Lindenmulder was on the cover. They were huge (er the band I mean). However, that was then and this is now.

By now you’ve probably heard that Tom Delonge has quit Blink 182 and his former band mates Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker are none too happy about it. I don’t think I overly care but the media has it everywhere and I can’t help but get sucked into the Blink vortex. At first I was under the impression that it was a media whoops. After finding out it wasn't, I didn't think it was very cool of Tom to stiff his band mates as it appeared and that it must suck for Travis and Mark to be left hanging. We have now heard what Mark has to say via Alternative Press and what Tom has to say via his letter to the fans he posted on Facebook
last night. While I am sure the truth as it always does (see Motley Crue, the Eagles, and many others) lies somewhere in the middle, this is what I do know.

Regardless of whether Tom, quit, was fired, or the band breaks up we know Hoppus and Delonge almost split songwriting credits, it appears however, that Delonge by a narrow margin edges out Hoppus. Blink was supposed to go into the studio right away and do a new album. Now, as one of key songwriters how does one write an album when both sides have made it very apparent that they don’t get along? They haven’t spoken in months. I can see where this would be hard on the soul and tough to get motivated especially when you have so much else going on.

It would appear to me this strikes Tom as someone who would stop and think about this. While Mark and Travis have a hard time taking their “cash cow” to slaughter. Even if he is there ready to go to slaughter on his own. It’s probably best Tom move on and work on one of his many avenues he has a passion for such as Angels and Airwaves. Side note: how sick is it that Angels and Airwaves are more relevant than Blink. Maybe this way we can get some substance out of Tom. I don’t overly care about either band.

One thing remains to be seen. Is there a future for Blink 182? I don’t know. I do know it’s not Tom’s band specifically but If Steve Earle leaves Steve Earle and the Dukes, you got no fucking Dukes!
Travis has the Transplants and well Mark I don’t know he seems kind of boring. Maybe he can join the Madden brothers or something. No one cares about Blink’s jack off songs or how depressed Good Charlotte are. That music is gone. Long gone.

I am trying to stay neutral however it would appear that I not. I will say this. Tom should have quit a long time ago if he was unhappy and the other two, shame on them for not growing a pair and dealing with it at the last minute when they are forced to.


I hope you read all of this as if it were Jerry Springer’s final thought. Now can we all go back to important things like the Super Bowl and the Kardashians?

Cheers

Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Kent Rocks Dirty Top Thirty of 2013



Whoa! Has it been a year in music already? 

Who says music isn't what it used to be? I bought 50 albums this year and I might mention, most of it was pretty damned good. That said, every album wasn't good though and some of you may not agree with my opinions. That’s the beauty of year end lists though right? Sorry Lee, I just couldn't put Volbeat on the list. Volbeat uniting Metallica with Elvis because let’s be honest that’s what it is, should really grab me but I just don’t get it. It wasn't new and for ME it wasn't exciting either. That said, that’s as negative as I am going to get. Let’s focus on the years highlights. There might be a couple surprises in my list. I won’t say anything about Fall Out Boy’s credibility or authenticity, and they won’t change the world but all I am going to say is that world is a lot more fun with them in it. I didn't see/hear as much local talent this year, but that was only because my schedule didn't really permit it.However I am sure there was tons of really great stuff!

To start, here are my top 5 ep’s of the year:

05. Julian Jones - Rock Air Fire Wood
04. Butch Walker - Peachtree Battle
03. Lydia Loveless - Boy Crazy
02. Stone Temple Pilots feat. Chester - High Rise
01. Lucero - TX & TN

Without further ado here are my favourite albums of 2013:

30. Sound City - Real to Reel
29. Airbourne - Black Dog Barking
28. Said The Whale - hawaiii
27. Kris Kristofferson - Feeling Mortal
26. Joan Jett - Unvarnished
25. Pearl Jam - Lightning Bolt
24. Placebo - Loud Like Love
23. Matthew Good -  Arrows of Desire
22. Bad Religion - True North
21. Nicke Borg Homeland – Ruins Of A Riot
20. Travis Meadows - Old Ghosts & Unfinished Business
19. Blue Rodeo - In Our Nature
18. Joshua James - Well, Then, I'll Go To Hell
17. The Winery Dogs - The Winery Dogs 
16. Fall Out Boy - Save Rock N Roll
15. Todd Kerns - Borrowing Trouble
14. Songs For Slim - Rockin' Here Tonight
13. Steve Earle - The Low Highway
12. Emmylou/R Crowell - Old Yellow Moon
11. John Fogerty - Wrote a Song for Everyone

10. Frank Turner - Tape Deck Heart

 09. The Matinée - We Swore We'd See The Sunrise

08.  Billie Joe + Norah - Foreverly

07. Eddie Spaghetti - The Value Of Nothing

06. Tegan & Sara - Heartthrob

05. Arctic Monkeys - AM

04. The Bronx - IV

03. Northcote - Northcote

02. Sinking Ships - Late For Everything

01. Headstones - Love + Fury

That's all folks. Start thinking about 2014. I can tell you I am already excited for the new Supersuckers, and Against Me!. I am also really curious about new Bruce Sprinsteen record.

Cheers! 

Saturday, December 29, 2012

Kent Rock's Top 25 Albums of 2012


Well another year of record purchasing has come to an end. There were some surprises and some let downs but for the most part it, artists released the product I had anticipated. I'll keep this short as JJ pretty much covered the year. We definitely grew tired of writing the standard review. I like JJ, also purchased some 40 new albums this year. It's interesting to see where we agree, where JJ is wrong haha and how our duplicates appear in their pecking order.

Again I will keep this short and sweet as JJ pretty much nailed the how the year went.

The biggest surprise for me went to Serena Ryder for her work on 'Harmony'. Serena Ryder is an artist I always assumed I wouldn't dig. My bad there. She's great.

My favourite find of the year was Del Barber. Del was an artist I discovered at the Regina Folk Festival with two albums in his back catalogue and a new one 'Headwaters' all of which are impeccable.

My biggest disappointment should have been obvious. I liked their first album in the mid 90's but had written their following albums off as crap. When they came back with a new album after a ten year hiatus I had hoped Matchbox Twenty had grown up and put out an adult record that was going to be fresh. Turns out 'North' was everything I hoped it wasn't going to be. Worst album of the year. I do embarrassingly like the drums in their single 'She's So Mean' but that alone can't save the record let alone the album. I should have known, I admit.

Other albums that should have impressed but I felt just simply missed the mark was The Darkness' 'Hotcakes' and Soundgarden's 'King Animal'. Soundgarden's single 'Been Away Too Long' fires on all cylinders but the rest of it just kind of blends in like wallpaper to me. The Darkness has some ripping tracks musically but vocally it just never seems to match up and doesn't get me off.

Best ep's go to The Biters for 'Last of a Dying Breed' and the self titled Lifetakers record.

Best album that came out last year but just discovered this year is 'Killin' Uncle Buzzy' by Travis Meadows

So without further ado this is how I thought the year went down.

1. Lucero – Women & Work
2. The LustKillers – That Which Does Not Kill Us…
3. Gaslight Anthem – Handwritten
4. Del Barber – Headwaters
5. Serena Ryder – Harmony
6. Mumford & Sons – Babel
7. Pink - The Truth About Love
8. Hey! Hello!
9. The Cadillac Black
10. Soul Asylum – Delayed Reaction
11. Justin Townes Earle – Nothing Is Gonna Change The Way You Feel About Me Now
12. Billy Talent – Dead Silence
13. The Wooden Sky – Every Child A Daughter, Every Moon A Sun
14. Holly McNarland – Run Body Run
15. Redd Kross – Researching The Blues
16. Zac Brown Band – Uncaged
17. Danko Jones – Rock and Roll is Black and Blue
18. JD McPherson – Signs + Signifiers
19. The Lumineers
20. Matt Mays – Coyote
21. JJ Voss – Show Em Who’s Voss
22. Jack White – Blunderbuss
23. Bruce Springsteen – Wrecking Ball
24. Our Lady Peace – Curve
25. Corb Lund – Cabin Fever
 

Sunday, December 23, 2012

JJ's Top 25 Albums of 2012



Well, ladies and gents, 2012 is almost a wrap so it's time to look back at the year that was in music.  2012 definitely wasn't the most prolific year for myself and my fellow Spunster Kent.  It's been about half a year since our lost blog post so we sure won't be winning the "Hardest Working Bloggers in Show Biz" award any time soon.  I can't speak for Kent, but I kind of got bored with doing traditional music reviews so I gave up blogging for a bit.  I'm still a huge music geek, but after a while you can only use so many adjectives to describe a punk album or a folk album.  As well, we live in the world of Twitter where people only read tidbits of information in sound-bite form, so brevity is key these days.

That being said, it's always fun to reflect on the past year and compile my year-end list.  It gives me a chance to revisit some albums I forgot about and reaffirm how great albums are that I never got sick of.  As well, I feel I would be doing the world a serious disservice by not sharing my impeccable taste in music.  :-)

I didn't buy as many albums this year as I have in prior years so I'm sure I'm missing out on some incredible music.  I think I "only" bought 40 albums or so this year, which is pretty slack by my standards.  I'm sure if I gave the Japandroids, Fiona Apple, Hannah Georgas and Regina's own Bystanders a full spin or two that they'd be on this prestigious list.

2012 saw Bruce Springsteen release one of his best albums almost 40 years after his debut album.  Wrecking Ball easily stands next to Nebraska, The Rising, Darkness on the Edge of Town and Born to Run in Bruce's canon.  Leonard Cohen released an album that sounds like his last will and testament.  However, if this is indeed his last album, Cohen sounds triumphant and is at the top of his game, as anyone who saw him in Saskatoon will attest.  Metric released their best batch of tunes and their fellow Broken Social Scenesters Stars delivered another fine piece of work.  Green Day released three topnotch albums with tons of hooks and nary any filler.  Not too shabby for 37 songs.  After two rock operas, it's nice to see Green Day get back to basics and focus on short, fun bursts of power-pop-punk.

My biggest disappointment of 2012 was Jack White's Blunderbuss.  I was a huge White Stripes fan and was pretty stoked for this album but I just couldn't get into it.  It's far from horrible, but considering it's Jack White, I was left a little underwhelmed.  Maybe Jack will knock it out of the park with his next project.  As well, The Killers really dropped the ball with Battle Born.  I really wanted to like this album but Brandon Flowers and company forgot to bring actual songs to this huge sounding album.  Maybe next time.

My biggest pleasant surprise of 2012 was Van Halen's A Different Kind of Truth.  It may be partially due to nostalgia, but it was nice to see Diamond Dave and Eddie back together on record.  The fact that they didn't shit the bed with this album is a minor miracle.  At 15 songs, there is indeed a bit of filler, but songs like "She's The Woman" rock hard.  Now, it would've been nice to see Michael Anthony's bass and background vocals on the album to make it a full reunion but I guess you have to take what you can get.  That being said, Van Halen did the unthinkable and released a good album at this stage of the game and that made my inner 10 year old self a happy camper.

Anyhoo, without further ado, here is what tickled my musical fancy this past year.  Enjoy!

Best Reissues

R.E.M. - Document
Sugar - Copper Blue
Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream

JJ's Top 25 Albums of 2012

1. Bruce Springsteen - Wrecking Ball
2. Metric - Synthetica
3. Leonard Cohen - Old Ideas
4. Green Day - ¡Uno!
5. Whitehorse - The Fate of the World Depends On This Kiss
6. Serena Ryder - Harmony
7. Garbage - Not Your Kind of People
8. Stars - The North
9. Lindi Ortega - Cigarettes & Truckstops
10. The Gaslight Anthem - Handwritten
11. Corb Lund - Cabin Fever
12. Green Day - ¡Dos!
13. Rah Rah - The Poet's Dead
14. Billy Talent - Dead Silence
15. The Lumineers - The Lumineers
16. Our Lady Peace - Curve
17. Of Monsters And Men - My Head Is An Animal
18. Chad Kichula - A Fire
19. Foxy Shazam - The Church of Rock and Roll
20. Green Day - ¡Tré!
21. Imperial Teen - Feel the Sound
22. JJ Voss - Show 'Em Who's Voss
23. Mumford & Sons - Babel
24. P!nk - The Truth About Love
25. Van Halen - A Different Kind of Truth


Sunday, June 3, 2012

JJ Voss 'Show Em Who's Voss'


I recently got my hands JJ Voss' sophmore record 'Show Em Who's Voss'. In the dozen or so albums I have picked up so far this year it is quickly becoming a favourite of mine. I consider myself a rock n roll kind of guy that likes a lot of country. A more accurate statement would be that I like well written story songs. Just about anything that I can really feel and grabs me I can get behind. Where the magic really happens is when you believe the artist. This is definitely the case with Regina native JJ Voss. JJ writes workin' man music. He writes honest music.


I really dug the first record 'Hillbilly Storybook' from a couple years back but wondered if JJ could top his debut when I picked up my copy of 'Show Em Who's Voss'. I was delighted to find out out that the hardest working musician in Regina has really hit his stride with his most recent effort. In scene chalk full of the likes Taylor Swift's and Lady Antebellum's, JJ is the everything you like about classic country with a really fresh new edge which keeps him from sounding dated, I have no doubt this record will get a lot of spins in the months/years to come. 


'Show Em Who's Voss' really pops. Between working with some killer people in Nashville and another group of stellar people in Regina, JJ has his bases covered. The Nashville band includes on of the original Steve Earle Duke's Harry Stinson, Paul Martin of Exile/Marty Stuart and Kenny Vaughan who has worked with Lucinda Williams and Rodney Crowell when not playing with Marty Stewart also. There are several uber talented musicians that he worked with in Nashville. That being said his Regina band is really impressive also. Jayson Brinkworth, Ken Burton, Brett Schinbein and Laura Roddick really lay it down at home. Between the two bands it's hard to pick a favourite. 


One thing is for sure you won't be disappointed in picking up this title. It really is fantastic from start to finish. It never drags and always keeps moving ahead steady like a train, My personal favourites are 'It's a Pride Thing', a song about being blue collar and happy with it, 'Bare Bones' which deals with the reality of living beyond your means, 'Breakin' Things' a super fun song about simply getting out of hand and 'You Pull Away', a ditty about chasing a girl in a seesaw situation.  


JJ can be seen many Tuesday's at Bocado's lounge in Regina as the host of the weekly Tuesday Night Troubadour. You can pick up 'Show Em Who's Voss featuring "It's A Pride Thing" by ordering though his website here: http://jjvoss.com/store.html. It's also available at the Future Commincations outlet which is located at 508 Henderson Drive here in Regina.

Excellent

Friday, May 18, 2012

Holly McNarland 'Run Body Run'

The first time I saw Holly McNarland, I was sixteen years old and walking through the wood chips at the then cross Canada touring Edgefest. The year was 1998 and it was my first concert. It was hot and just trying to take in everything was almost impossible. I felt as though I was in another world. It would have been hard to soak up everything at any concert for me the first time but a festival of this talent level had me on sensory overload. I was there to see Econoline Crush, Foo Fighters and Green Day. I was there to see those bands that day at Sask Place but I became a fan of Bif Naked and Holly McNarland. I knew virtually nothing of Holly McNarland. So as I walk across the grass heard this powerful voice sing/yell “…but I f@#ked him anyway”. I looked at the stage and thought, “that didn’t come out of that artists mouth did it?” On that day when I stopped and listened I was blown away. Fourteen years later I am still blown away.

Holly seems less angry on each record however she still emotes and is still a hell of if not better songwriter. With her having a family now and growing as an artist her songwriting has got to be affected in one way or another. Her phrasing, lyrics and earnest are still in every song on her newest record ‘Run Body Run’. That will never change for her.

As I have grown over the years, so has Holly McNarland. Which really works; she’s where she should be. I think this keeps her from getting stale and keeps her relevant. On this record you have some pop songs and some folk songs but they are all HOLLY songs. The only one that reminds of someone else is ‘After I’m Gone’ which is reminiscent of the beautiful and talented Emmylou Harris. No one can say there is anything wrong with being on the same page as Emmylou. ‘Only Money’ is a sure hit single and the other tracks are perfect for a Holly McNarland record. My personal favorites are ‘Alone’s Just Fine’ and the song she wrote for her daughter, title track ‘Run Body Run’.

Holly McNarland is still a gem. At this stage in her career she could do coffee shops, festivals, and shows like Austin City Limits or anything else she desires. She does it not because she has to but because she wants to and that makes for a fantastic record. ‘Run Body Run’ leaves me with that same sincere captivating feeling that watching her live did all those years ago at Edgefest. I am already looking forward to the next record. This is how a classy independent artist does it. Take notes.

Excellent

As far as I know there aren't any official videos yet. That being said I did run across a cool bootleg from a while back of a track that made the record.

Cheers Rockers!

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Kent Rocks - Top 20 Favourite Country Songs of All Time

A couple weeks back a friend of mine (Chris) got me thinking about my top 3 favourite country songs of all time. I like singer/songwriter tunes, be it country, rock, folk etc. I am not going to get into why I like country however, you can read that article if you please here: http://tinyurl.com/6ospd6m.

It got me to thinking however. I listen to A LOT of country. It's probably still outweighed by rock'n'roll 65/35 but when you listen to as much music as I do, it's a lot of country and folk. I realize I have favourite songs from almost every recent decade 1950's to present day and they are all different kinds of country. The order varies from day to day but here is the most concise list I was able to present to you... today anyway.

Enjoy.

Cheers,

Kent Rocks

20. Kenny Rogers - The Gambler



19. Corb Lund - Time to Switch to Whiskey

18. Loretta Lynn/Jack White - Portland Oregon



17. Fred Eaglesmith - White Rose

16. The Ginn Sisters - Hey Doll

15. Shooter Jennings - 4th of July



14. Justin Townes Earle - Slippin' & Slidin'



13. Zac Brown Band - Sic Em on a Chicken

12. Reba McIntyre - Fancy



11. Dwight Yoakam - Fast as You

10. Nitty Gritty Dirt Band - Modern Day Romance

09. Guy Clark - The Cape

08. Dolly Parton - Jolene



07. Waylon Jennings - I've Always Been Crazy



06. Blue Rodeo - Hasn't Hit Me Yet



05. Dolly Parton - 9-5

04. Steve Earle - New York City



03. Merle Haggard - Mama Tried



02. Hal Ketchum - Past the Point of Rescue

01. Johnny Cash/June Carter - Jackson