Blog: Heavier ~ Than ~ Air

It's been almost a year since I posted here, so it's doubtful that too many folks are still perusing these pages, but I wanted to put at least a placeholder here for anyone stumbling across this erstwhile outlet for my music ramblings. Though my burning passion to spread great music continues unabated, the spaces in which I choose to share it have morphed considerably. The following reasons, to my mind, would seem to feed into this: MP3 blogging largely passed out of usefulness with the advent of Spotify [...]

Of my top listened songs on Last.FM , amongst the usual suspects of indie rock ( The Hold Steady , The National ) and alt-metal ( Tool , deftones ), lies a single punk rock track. Standing out like a mohawk in a sea of lank, greasy metal hair, Propagandhi 's 'Die Jugend Marschiert' - alternatively titled 'America's Army' - proudly reps the part of my soul that wants all music to kick against the pricks. [...]

Finally, it dawned on me this week: The Shins are THE indie/power pop of my generation. They'll be the band that, like Big Star before them, future fans look back to and ask how this band wasn't universally adored. [...]

• The Shins - September

OFFICIAL SITE / YOUTUBE The Twilight Sad have, for me, always been a band whose sound well matches their monicker. Downbeat, introspective, and with layers of peculiar beauty, it's not hard to imagine aimless wanders along the Clyde at dusk, searching for something all too intangible. On new album ' No One Can Ever Know ', however, [...]

Track Tricks is a completely whimsical feature, appearing only when an individual song moves my mind to deep thought. If you don't see it for a while, the music I'm listening to isn't good enough, so do me a favour and pop me some recommendations: @HeavierThanAir . [...]

A brief nod today to those most vibrant of modern hardcore chaps, Winnipeg's Comeback Kid . The new video for 'Do Yourself a Favor' being the occasion. It's a fierce run through of one of the best songs on 2010's 'Symptoms & Cures' , one of my favourites of that year . In the classic tradition of hardcore videos, there's a ripping live performance of the song, replete with sweat, flailing limbs, and all manner of testosterone-fueled mayhem. [...]

Well, this is bizarre. Here I was about to post a simple video embed and brief song summary, then call it a night... ...but it turns out there's a little more going on with the new song from Brooklyn's Santigold , possibly involving (but not limited to) monsters, Ke$ha, surgical enhancement, fish, Lady GaGa, that fake lesbian one with the lips , and the vacuous world of pop music in general [...]

• Santigold - Big Mouth

Thanks to anyone that visited in the last 24 hours, only to find a bolshy notice from yours truly having a little pop at those behind the SOPA and PIPA legislation. We're back and firing on all cylinders again now. The fight against unjustifiable curtailment of our Internet usage isn't complete yet, however, so if you didn't find time to take some action yesterday, here's some Google info on what you can do to prevent old media dinosaurs from trampling all [...]

That particular business lingo acronym ( K.I.S.S. ) always struck me as unnecessarily abusive, given its intended goal of focusing attention on a core point. One need not linger long on the derogatory, however, when The Shins are back in building and spreading their gloriously buoyant indie pop into our lives once more. [...]

• The Shins - Simple Song

At The Drive-In reformed this week. At The Drive-In Website Intro from MONDIAL on Vimeo . So did Refused . "We never did " The shape of punk to come " justice when it came out, too [...]

Around the midpoint of last year, my obsessive consumption of brand new music came to an abrupt halt. The reason? Spotify 's US launch. And maybe a few weeks whiled away on Turntable.FM (still haven't gone back...oops). As I dug deeper into the seemingly infinite [...]

Happy New Year! Almost, if you're in the US. Past, if you're back home in Blighty or beyond the Prime Meridian. Wherever it is, chances are you've heard everything from the sublime to the supremely cheesy, in terms of the music that's ringing in 2012. So, in answer to the latter - as well as the Christmas and [...]

They say it's always better live. Perhaps I have no idea who 'they' are and when exactly they were quoted on this, but I'm willing to bet that, even if you don't worship at the altar of live music, you have plenty of mates that swear by it. Especially if it's pure, rollicking rock and roll. And [...]

Here's a bizarre one; a fairly recent album that I've simply been unable to locate, even as a legal download (or, hello 2011, a Spotify stream). Following a series of roundly positive reviews, quite a feat considering some of them referenced 80's soft rock balladeers Toto, Takota seemed to disappear from the face of the planet, along with any last copies of debut LP 'The Ivory Tower' . [...]

Yes yes, I still have days 2 to 5 to report on from the recently completed music marathon that was, is, and will be again, CMJ. Alas, unable to face the mammoth task of writing up another 20 odd bands worth of live music - and this was a light year - I thought I'd delve a little deeper into just one of those artists: WATERS . [...]

The 'road' to Williamsburg - CMJ 2011 It being a marathon and all, the well-prepared listener on first night CMJ duty will pace themself accordingly. Thus prepared, I venture out from central to north Brooklyn for 'taster Tuesday'; a brief early dip into the CMJ 2011 pool. Destined for Brooklyn Bowl and the Live4Ever opening night showcase, I am greeted by a band with chunky, pulsating riffs and a Union [...]

It's not unlike Christmas Eve, the Monday before CMJ Music Marathon kicks off... High anticipation of the veritable feast of stimuli to tickle one's senses in the days to come. Uncertainty as to the highlights of what we'll unwrap this year. Anxiety at the distinct possibility of falling [...]

Untraceable, Untranslatable, I can't explain all I ever wanted to do. Fugazi - Margin Walker Photo Credit: SMS Chauhan [...]

• Red Measure - Seven Inch

SPOTIFY LINK 'Super groups' come and go. Often, they come and go without fans or press having decided whether or not they did indeed qualify for such elevated status in the first place. What remains - and the only element that is of much importance anyhow - is the music by which we judge their impact. [...]

All too often, I have cause to remember an album I really enjoyed by a fledgling British band at the start of their career, only to find upon updating myself with their current whereabouts that they've split. Usually only a month or two prior to my resurgent interest. Step forward The Ghost Of A Thousand , whom I add to the list of Dub War , Pulkas , Aereogramme , earthtone9 (at least they returned), and so [...]