Tagged: newcdnewmusic

Only a real friend will send you Pussy in the mail. Thankfully I have such a friend in Racer. He could have been greedy and kept the Pussy all for himself, but no, he let me have it. A month or so ago, Racer said he was going to concentrate his Ripple ramblings on his beloved but neglected Proto-Metal report. His reviews of bands like Toad, Jerusalem, Iron Claw , etc was a big factor for me getting involved with these clowns a few years ago. Jerusalem's album is a real favorite of [...]

Deep breathe now, mates, prepare yourselves. My name is Gorgeous Nightmare, and I......am a One Directioner. I do not deny it, I love One Direction. I stayed up and watched all of the KCA's just to see One Direction's performance, even though I detested everyone else at that awards show. I bought three copies of their debut album, simply because one version had a poster, one had exclusive pictures of the band, and the third had a scrapbook instead of a normal booklet. But luckily, I am still a somewhat older teen girl, so I have something of an excuse [...]

PETA. Look, I’m all for humane treatment of animals, but, let’s get something straight. Humane treatment of animals is not necessarily the same thing as the ethical treatment of animals. Ethical treatment requires a social value judgment. It asks, “Should we?” Humane treatment refers to the actual treatment of the animals we use. It asks, “How should we?” Don’t mix the two up. There is a story by a fly fishing literature author, I believe it is John Gierach, where he recounts being pelted with rocks by PETA people from the top [...]

Amy Winehouse's "Body and Soul," even if it weren't arguably the most famous "jazz improv" tune (via Coleman Hawkins' 1939 recording of the standard, where, arguably for the first time, a soloist did not use the main melody of the tune and struck out on his own, ushering in modern improvised jazz as we know it today), just KILLS her version of this song-- I don't doubt for a second (speaking purely sonically, this without knowing her extensive substance-abuse history or recent death) that she absolutely meant what she sang: hers was a voice with genuine [...]

What happened to the Rock? Where did it all disappear to? The once thriving genre of the late ‘60’s and ‘70’s seems to have evaporated for the most part due to intentional corporate interference and genre-ocide. The self-proclaimed ivory tower bean counting experts who think they know what’s best for our tender earholes systematically thwarted and conditioned the collective thinking process and purposefully bottlenecked society’s mass market choice through relentless, pulverizing bullshit marketing. I’m talking about North America specifically of course over the last 20 years or so. Sure there’s still rock, hard rock and [...]

My friend and fellow music writer, Racer, forwarded an email from Nick Cooke who records under the name cuttooth . Nick had submitted his new album, Elements , for review by The Ripple Effect and Racer knows me well enough to sense that I’d click with this release and as usual he was right. I tend to like trippy, spacey music and ambient hip hop and Elements hits on all of these styles. Elements opens with "Intro", a spacey little appetizer reminiscent of Boards of Canada featuring a [...]

As the song suggests, “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” and I couldn’t be happier. Christmas is easily my favorite holiday of the year. Until recently I had been feeling pretty blue, but luckily the holidays have changed my attitude completely. Although it’s my favorite time of year, it can be my most frustrating and annoying time when it comes to music. It seems like anyone and everyone has released or plans on releasing a Christmas (or as the politically correct would like me to state “holiday”) album. Whether it’s the cast of Glee or Kenny [...]

Man, sometimes I really wish I could afford to pack up and move to the California desert. For almost 20 years, many of the bands who I love the most have come from that area, but I'll never have the chance to see any of them play a live show where I'm at now. Who the hell comes to Nebraska? A lot of my favorite groups won't, but sometimes their cd's will. Warts And All , the debut by Ogressa , is the latest prize possession I've greedily snatched out of my mailbox with my [...]

Entering the studio in the spring to record their highly anticipated follow up to last year’s Magic Isn’t Real. Explodi ng In Sound Records is beyond thrilled to announce that the first band signed to the freshly launched label is none other than Boston favorites PILE . The label will release the band’s next album on vinyl, CD, and digital formats in the summer of 2012. One of [...]

What have been your musical epiphany moments? Jake: I usually have musical epiphany’s randomly. Sometimes I’m at work, in the shower, and most appropriately during a practice or jam too. But I’ve accepted inspiration is everywhere. Not just black and white. Talk to us about the song-writing process for you. What comes first, the idea? A riff? The lyrics? How does it all fall into place? Jake: To be honest, most of the songs I write are usually based off of a riff first. However, every once in [...]

Waveriders, Penfold here. As you may or may not know I love me some experimental, genre-blending, wild music performed by experimental, genre-blending, wild bands. Love it! But there are times when this type of music just won’t do. Here’s a perfect example. I’m driving in my car on my way to work. What do I want to listen to? Do I want to listen to that stunning new black/death/thrash/etcetera hybrid band that takes all of my attention to enjoy to its fullest? No. I can’t listen with my full attention in [...]

When I find a band that I fall in love with it is usually their debut release and I have to wait another year or more before I get new tunes from them. So, imagine my delight when I am given The Uglysuit . Six friends making delightful music, been together since '06, their debut album came out in 08' another release this year... Then a bombshell drops... They are splitting up! I wanted to keep listening to their music, get excited about their next release, harass my neighbours with their tunes blaring loudly but [...]

Sometimes things are better if you do them yourself. That is exactly what Norway’s Tomas Dahl appears to believe with his one man power pop band release “Electric Hero.” Dahl calls his solo band endeavor “ Caddy .” It is an apt name. A caddy in golf is one who carries a player's bag and clubs and gives advice. On this release Dahl carries all the instruments and vocals. He is [...]

Ultra-low budget Black Cobra in D flat, as played by (mostly) woman. Quite cool: Seismically-heavy, quirkily-lurching sludge. This is fun stuff. I wrote the first draft of this review almost immediately after listening the whole album the first time. I wanted to capture my thoughts right away, and I rarely do that. I've listened to it five times now, in less than 24 hours. "High John the Conqueror" lurches to and fro, radically detuned, taking its time.... "Vesuvius" with its tribal drumming opener: dig that [...]

They’re angry. No doubt about that. They’re talented. No doubt about that either. It’s punk, sort of. This is a ragged hint of reggae, a little bit of blues, wave or two of surf music and a whole lot of venom. Vic Du Monte’s Persona Non Grata’s new release “Barons & Bankers” crosses musical boundaries. It shifts the focus of hard rock style and wraps it in punk fury. The gravelly slurry vocals sometimes reminiscent [...]

In the beginning there was Link Wray . The noise that he started has been used, abused and loved by many over the years since he started the Rumble heard round the world, but few have been willing to take it to maximum like Motorhead have. 36 years into it Motorhead deliver their 20th studio album and it’s much better than it has any right to be. Since 2004’s Inferno , Motorhead has been on a roll of putting out strong albums to support their always killer live show. Are [...]

There is magic in music. In what other endeavor can you subject people who don’t love you to poetic, emotional and personal thoughts and get them to listen? Without magic there is no music and without music there is no magic. The magic starts when a songwriter, singer, instrumentalist scratches out a few songs about life on the back of an envelope. The songs express an inner-vision from the writer’s experience that shaped the words written and the melody later employed. Or, the magic may come when a musician strums a progression, plays [...]

Ripple Music: 2011 Releases In light of the success that we’ve seen here at Ripple Music over the last year, we wanted to look into our crystal balls and take a stab at what we see for the coming year, and then pass these findings on to you . . . the ever vigilant fan of heavy music! 2010 saw the label release seven titles, and 2011 is promising an even greater growth. Since the first release in June, Ripple Music [...]

Staten Island’s finest instrumental Afrobeat band went into the studio for their new album with the intention, according to their bio, of making a psychedelic, doom-rock record but admit that it came out sounding like a Budos record. That’s not a bad thing at all considering that The Budos Band are one of the best musical units around regardless of category. The creatively titled III is their third album and picks up where the first two left off, but do contain some darker grooves. Album opener “Rite of the Ancients” is [...]

I'm not so spoiled and jaded by being a part of this music machine to have lost my basic inner fanboy nature, and let me tell you, as far as being a fanboy goes, UK-based Criminal Records know just how to feed me. First up, great news that The Kut are back in the studio preparing some new songs. For those who may not recall, their single (green vinyl 7") "Doesn't Matter Anyway b/w Closure" was one of my absolute favorites of 2009. The tightness of the riffing, the driving beat, the solid songwriting [...]