MyNameIsJohnMichael: The People That Come and Go

MyNameIsJohnMichael is a band that I really enjoy going to see live. Most of the fans that show up to see them are loyal to the core, and the rest are there because they have heard great things about them. They are a 6 person band that takes advantage of a wide variety of sounds. The band itself has its beginnings in a side project (52 songs in 52 weeks) started by John Michael Rouchell, which I believe is why the band has its name. John Michael was previously in a respectable band known as Ellipsis.

John Michael's songwriting abilities are excellent, he can hold you in for the duration of his set on lyrical curiosity alone. His dark lyrics project stories about people that can keep anyone entertained for a show. Their rhythms and melodies match the lyrics with almost as much force on their album, but their instrumentation definitely takes over during the live shows. They control exciting rhythms that beat the heart of what makes me want to go see musicians perform.

MNIJM utilizes almost any object to make music. For instance, Cory Schultz uses a trash can to complement the drumming in "Down Near the Lost Found." The majority of the band makes great use of their vocal abilities as well. In almost half of the songs on their latest album they provide pleasing vocal melodies to sing along with, "Misery Runs," "Nothing But Memories," and "The Elders (althought it wasn't on the latest release)."

Glockenspiel, an excellent rhythm section, vocals to boot, and a growing percussion section. Could anyone ask for more out of a band? Well they have much more to please people with, and I think that John Michael's storytelling/songwriting is just awesome. The songs on their myspace are an excellent taste of what they can offer live, but go support these guys in the field. Their next show in South Louisiana is Jan 15th at One Eyed Jack's.

-Cory Vogel

Bunches and bunches of EP's. They're everywhere!

I have been listening to a lot of EP's, and I am just going to list two tonight.

First up, The Givers. I saw them live a couple weeks ago at Nitetown in Lafayette, LA; and they rocked my socks off. Their EP is not as good as hearing them live which is something everyone should do before they die in 2012. see them live. They give so much.

I really did enjoy this little preview of music though. This is a real feel-good band that is able to change my mood quickly. They literally use colorful looking instruments, and their percussion section comprised of Tiffany Lamson (random stuff) and Kirby Campbell (drums) is special. Special because of their ability to work together compiling extremely complex beats that I enjoy very much. They even use electric drum beats sometimes which is pretty cool. The vocals and guitar riffs are pretty basic, and their lyrics are exciting (listen to "meantime"). Another thing that sets this band apart from others is their keyboardist Will Henderson; he creates crazy sounds. His sounds fall in line with distortion patterns from Radiohead, and I happen to be in the mood for that kind of sound.

Next up is Bon Iver, with his EP Blood Bank. I think that Bon Iver literally plays music that contrasts very well with The Givers' style of play. He was a one-man show when he released For Emma, Forever Ago and now he has a little bit of help filling in "Engineering and a little guitar" from Mark Paulson.

Bon Iver is actually a pseudonym for Justin Vernon, and for this EP he has expanded to another instrument: piano. It does not add much to the overall sound of Bon Iver, but I feel that it does not take away from the band at all. I really like that he is moving into using other instruments and adding other members, but I am a little skeptical of the output. It is moving into a more instrumental zone, and I feel that Bon Iver is known for its lyrical qualities. Granted, For Emma, Forever Ago was written in a time of major transition for Justin, I believe he should not lose sight of what makes his music so awesome: lyricism and vocal quality. Blood Bank stylistically does not express the same kind of emotion that Forever Ago was able to portray, and sadly these two samples of music have to be placed side-by-side since they were both made by the same musician.

Enjoy these little holiday gifts, and check out Bon Iver on the Hype Machine.

Tracks for Blood Bank are "Blood Bank," "Beach Baby," "Babys," & "Woods."

Caddywhompus have a show in Lafayette Saturday night

Blake and I would like to post a list of shows we think will be interesting to go to, but as of now we have not figured out how. So, for now, I'm just going to have to tell y'all about them like this:

Caddywhompus is playing at Caffe Cottage in Lafayette, La, at 9pm. I have never been to this venue, but I definitely plan on going to see this show. Since I blogged about Caddywhompus a couple weeks ago, I thought it would be a good idea to tell y'all about their current nearby shows.

They will be playing with Wildfires & Jupiter Death Brigade. I don't know much about either of them, but what could be better than live music and coffee? The menu for Caffe Cottages looks delicious. Gonna try some of those Caffe Liquor's. It's at 1013 Pinhook Rd Lafayette, LA 70503.

If you need a ride, send me a facebook message.

-Cory Vogel

Calling all readers! Make a post, tell me about your favorite albums, and have a good week.

Hello everyone!

I was not able to listen to any new albums this week and I thought I would mix things up a little bit. So, I'm going to talk about one of my favorite albums. Please post something about your favorite album, even if it's just mentioning it. Or, if you can't decide on one, post about a new release that you think is really worth listening to.

An album I couldn't stop listening to in high school is Is this It by The Strokes. I really felt at the time that it was the "essence of originality." The artwork in the CD case is trippy and the music is, to say the least, cool. Not awesome, just cool.

Stemming out of New York, these guys put together a style of play that stood out like a sore thumb in 2001. Most people would think that The Strokes were able to ignore the common trends in music and set their own path, and I agree with that.

Their lyrics are insanely simple and they are pretty much just fun to sing along to. They really don't keep me up at night thinking about things, and I doubt they ever will. Julian Casablancas's voice is very rough, but I don't get the feeling that he wants to sing perfect notes. The rhythm guitar playing and drumming of this album are what stick out to me as the most important. The bassist and lead guitarist aren't really the reason I loved it so much. In songs like "Is This It," I really find myself enjoying these simple textures that the beats and careful melodies pump out. "Soma" has to be my favorite song on this album because its lyrics are a little more complex, and the drumming on this song is perfect.

The latter tracks of most of the album are not really that great, so don't get too sad if you are not satisfied with them. Also, I'm looking forward to listening to Julian Casablancas's solo work that came out last week. It is supposed to be electronica-related.

Other than that, all I have to say is:

I didn't take no short cuts

I spent the money that I saved up

Aw mama runnin' out of luck

Well like my sister don't give a fuck.

Check out The Strokes: Is This It soon. And comment.

Thao with the Get Down Stay Down: We Brave Bee Stings and All

This past week I was searching through some of the postings on Tiny Mix Tapes and I found this band, Thao with The Get Down Stay Down. Thao Nguyen and the rest of her band comprise a very interesting group of individuals. In fact, one of the stories I read on Wikipedia about Thao almost makes her character seem more interesting than her music.

So they just released a new album Know Better Learn Faster; but since I recently heard about them, I thought I would dive a little deeper into their album history. We Brave Bee Stings and All (2008) is a great place to start.

It was a fun & calm Listen. Their myspace page has a lot of their older tracks from We Brave Bee Stings and All, so check it out quickly. This album really isn't too complicated. I'd consider it an alternative folk album that dives into a diverse set of instruments which don't overshadow one another. What I mean by that is that nothing really stands out, and it all meshes very well. However, Thao's vocals take over the album in a way since it is indeed folk, but it's not the kind of folk I'm used to listening to. That's what really caught my attention and made me want to listen to more of this band.

From the opening track, "Beat (Health, Life, and Fire)," I find myself enticed with little lines of wisdom and advanced culture. Thao's song "Bag of Hammers" is a fun little pop record that can grab most of the attention for the album, but the latter tracks contain a lot of important content. There are lines in "Bag of Hammers" that keep me occupied with thought, like 'shake the frame of this house/distress the wood/ make it shout.' Makes me think it's possible to accomplish. Furthermore, the track "Swimming Pools" seems to be the representative track for the album since it has lingering lyrics from the title, and it strives to satisfy the ears.

Banjo tunes, acoustic guitar riffs, catchy beats and melodies. It all adds up to their simple explanation of the music on their myspace page: "tangles of guitar, knots of singing, threads of beat and thump make a rope fit for hauling the heavy machinery of your day." I'm sold.

-Cory Vogel

RIlo Kiley: More Adventurous

Upon the/my editor's request I have gone far back in time to rehash an album that I "should have listened to a long time ago."

In 2004, Rilo Kiley released the album More Adventurous which I did not get wind of until now. I'm actually a little sad that I'm only becoming aware of Rilo. Lyrically, this album hit a lot of strong chords that have resonated for a very long time in people's hearts. It is a treasure chest of one-liners which are timeless.

This "alternative, indie, rock band" does not strike me as an alternative, indie, rock band though. The album's strength is in its vocals and lyrics. Intense subjects and catchy melodies leave me with poetic thoughts and another perspective of the ever expanding genre of indie. The song "Portions for Foxes" really taps into societal subjects like hooking up vs relationships, and then a song like "Absence of God" or "Love and War (11/11/46)" truly break content barriers.

The album as a whole plays out through my headphones like a notebook of life-long lessons. After intently reading the lyrics and reading about the band members' lives, I'm convinced that the group wrote the album together because the content never confines itself to one concept or idea. It breaks through many different topics like a sledgehammer intent on destroying imaginary walls.

Even though the album's strong point is its lyrics, it is still very respectable from an instrumental stance. Right around the same time of this release, The Postal Service was touring the United States with their tunes from Give Up, an album that pushed the bar on electronica & lyrically based sounds. It is apparent that Rilo Kiley was picking up on these ideas in More Adventurous, and Jenny Lewis, the lead singer of Rilo, was a singer on many songs on Give Up. So there is inevitably some overlap in styles. On More Adventurous there are subtle timbre effects from their keyboards which demonstrate their slightly electronic style, but for the most part the album is pretty traditional rock music.

I believe this album would be fun for a road-trip. It makes for good thought provoking moments, and it does not disappoint or annoy with its sound. It also offers a very diverse taste of sounds throughout the album which demonstrate the band's talent and understanding of music very well. One aspect of the album I truly enjoyed were the simple melodies that never seemed to get old.

Listen to Rilo Kiley's new stuff on Myspace, and don't steal this album off the internet. That is just bad. A lot of random tracks can be found on the Hype Machine as well.

-Cory Vogel

Phoenix: Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

Phoenix is a band from Paris, France that is classified as alternative on Wikipedia, which is an extremely vague genre in my opinion. Also, they don't have any genres or influences listed on their Myspace page. This information made me think the band either does not want to be categorized or can't be.

Their latest album, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, was released this past May. The melodies, beats, and synthesized effects (listen to "1901") make for a very exciting collaboration of music. Most of the album is very fast-paced and the music made me want to dance. Tracks like "Listzomania" and "Girlfriend" could have this effect on almost anyone. Hearing them live would probably be pretty awesome, because I cannot imagine the audience successfully fighting the urge to move with the music.

This band is very much a product of the environment. Paris at the time of Phoenix's inception was producing bands like Daft Punk and Air, and it's easy to see some relation between their styles. However, their sound is very unique.

Overall, this album put me into an extremely good mood. When I first heard about Phoenix's French roots, I thought the album would have French lyrics, but they sing everything in English, which is nice. Listen to them on Myspace or the Hype Machine.

-Cory Vogel

Mojo Method: Everything, Ever (Up Until This Point)

Mojo Method, a band from New Orleans, lists themself on Myspace as a Psychadelic/Other/Rock band. I'm gonna say the "other" represents a lot. To me they sound like a Chilled/alternative/experimental/slightly-Jazz band that is capable of sounding like anything. I wanted to say that in this review because they lightly touch on a lot of different sounds in this EP. The EP itself is appropriately named Everything, Ever (Up Until This Point). I felt a sense of Tom Morello's hard and extremely rhythmic guitar riffs from Rage Against the Machine's prime, and I also felt some of their more jazzy beats midway through the EP. It offers a lot for just 3 songs, and I highly recommend downloading it.

I met Ross Farbe, the singer for this band, at a coffee shop about 4 months ago. Then I asked him 3 months later if he would mind if I reviewed his album. He said, "that'd be great, it's free on BandCamp." So reader, go get you some.

This EP really leaves me wanting more, and I truly believe it's a really good taste of things to come. I listened to it a lot this week and my first question was "what's next?" After trying to answer this question by looking at their myspace, I was pleased to see there is a lot of new promising material coming from them. So hopefully I will be reviewing a complete album soon.

Now, I have a question that will probably take some time to answer. A lot of Everything, Ever is pretty trippy at some points, and I would consider that to stem from a psychadelic sound. The band itself is based in New Orleans, and a couple of these guys have Jazz roots in music. I believe Jazz and Psychadelic to share a similar style, that being improvisation. So is there a relation between the sounds of Jazz and Psychadelic, or am I just being delusional? Both are improvisation to some degree, so is there a connection? Or are these just two sounds that happen to follow the same structural philosophy. Also, is psychadelic music that was not derived from psychadelic or drug related experiences considered psychadelic music? Let me know what you think.

Check out the band at http://www.myspace.com/mojomethod.

-Cory Vogel

Caddywhompus: EPs

This is a review that I've been waiting to write for about a month now. Caddywhompus lists itself as a "duo experimental/pop/psychadelic band" (drummer: Sean Hart, and Guitarist/Vocalist/crazy amp controller: Chris Rehm) residing in New Orleans, La. Their album EPs is a combination of their first two EP's they released, and listening to the sound they put together prior to hearing them live was actually very refreshing. They had so many abrasive but aesthetically pleasing elements to bring to light and their album never stopped impressing me. It was nice to break away for a little while.

Then....I heard them live!

I was not prepared to take in such a tremendous composition in only 45 minutes. Caddywhompus plays with raw energy, and I can say confidently that you need to see these guys live. If there are rules to playing music in a band, Caddywhompus doesn't have a clue what they are. They will throw any beat, riff, or distortion they can think of in your face just because they think it's cool. When they opened for Colour Revolt at the Spanish Moon, Rehm jokingly said, "our next song is called 'This Bitch was Golden.'" The titles for the songs on EPs are even funnier: 'Probably shouldn't have done all that acid'; 'Acadian Threeway'; and 'This is Where We Blaze the Nuggz.'

Let me also add that Rehm plays guitar with at least 6 pedals and some sort of vocal distortion. Watching the two move with their instruments ends up being half the performance because Rehm appears to be chasing the rapid & intense beats that Hart forces through his set. At the same time, he has to control several different layers of music that he is looping on top of each other. Furthermore, they often break away from this rapid style and slow their rhythms down tremendously, but they never stop performing.

While the band provides the drums and guitar parts with energy and tenacity, the vocals Rehm pumps out match them ten-fold. In the album EPs, the vocals commit to the music very effectively. And although the trippy sessions of drifty sound effects can take some getting used to, the full force of their album lies in the emotions communicated through their style of play and the innovative nature of the effects themselves. Songs such as 'Untitled #7408' express the true vitality behind this album.

I think the Caddywhompus (myspace) are definitely worth your time. A lot of the other tracks from the album can be found at The Hype Machine as well.

-Cory Vogel

The Antlers: Hospice

The Antlers have amassed a quiet following of fans for themselves. Quiet being the important word. Looking at their myspace page, I noticed they have shows lined up throughout the US & UK all the way into November. As a rule of thumb I try not to compare bands and albums to anyone, and it is very easy NOT to do that with these guys. Their second album, Hospice, is one of the most unique pieces of work I've heard. Ever. Their combination of delicate lyrics & the slow but intense movement of music is the source of this exclusive sound.

They make use of quite a wide array of instruments: voice, harmonica, harp, accordian, keys, drums, random percussion, trumpet, bowed banjo, bass guitar, and guitar. There are only 4 people in this band. I want to watch them live so I can time-them on how long it will take to unload just the instruments.

At first glance, you might look at the list of instruments and assume that they are some sort of blue-grass band. However, this album is far from that. From my understanding, Peter Silberman, the main singer and song writer, is the force behind this project. Isolation, death, unhappy relations: It all seems to add up to one depressing scream fest of content. Silberman doesn't do this though. He slowly guides us through an impressive story with accompaniments of trumpets, weird sounds, and strangely intense rhythms that strike like a cat and strike hard. Then this cat slowly leaves you alone for a while to let you think about what it has done to you.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this album. I listened to it alone in my car driving to and from New Orleans, and I'm glad I listened to it this way. It was an album that needed to be appreciated alone. It plays like a refined cult classic movie. The way the tempo only picked up on tracks 5 & 7 was amazing. Because the entire band is very talented, and being able to play their instruments slowly so well is amazing. Then when you least expect it they turn a corner and take the listener through a more climactic part of their album, such as in "Bear" and "Two."

The entire album was written & sung by Silberman. I don't know if he drew his lyrics from personal experience, but it doesn't matter. If it is a work of fiction, it's so well written you will believe it's true. I'd consider this work of art a concept album dedicated to dying. So if you do listen to it, realize there is a reason for every sound and beat that The Antlers throw at you.

-Cory Vogel

Fruit Bats, Album: The Ruminant Band

Ok, stumbling around looking for the next band to listen to, I was recommended this band... Fruit Bats. I've heard one of their songs before from I don't know where. "When U Love Somebody" from their 2003 album Mouthfuls. By the way, great song.

To cut to the chase, according to Wikipedia, this is a Folk Rock band from Chicago & now based in Seattle. Cool cities. Must mean cool music. Most of the music has been based around Eric Johnson's style for the past decade. BUT! Their album The Ruminant Band broke that trend, so my first impression of them is their whole band's ideal output. According to Eric, he really let the rest of the guys play this time.

I didn't like this album.

I have no idea what the rest of their albums sound like (this is their 4th to date), and I'm actually curious to see how different they are. From an interview, it seems that the whole band was really pleased with this album. I found some highlights to the music, and I really liked the first 2 songs. Not love, liked!....At some point on the third track it started getting unenjoyable. I want to call this album a Trippy, Folk Rock, Pseudo-psychadelic album with traces of old style piano and crazy background effects every couple of tracks. That best describes how I feel about it.

The crazy thing is that I like most of those kinds of sounds (except pseudo-psychadelic), but when meshed together like this, it just doesn't work out. I had to listen intently to every little detail in order to appreciate some of these songs. That kind of effort is daunting. The one aspect of this recording that drove me crazy was the fact that this album is obviously yearning to tell a story, and I couldn't understand a word Eric was saying. Folk Rock, right? Stories are important in this type of music.

I'll give the band props for some cool background singers on tracks 2 & 9. Random, and it worked well. Also, the trippy nature of their "folk" instruments really made me smile sometimes.

To say the least, these guys are interesting, check em out at http://www.myspace.com/thefruitbats

-Cory Vogel

Manchester Orchestra: Mean Everything to Nothing

I've been catching up on 2009 album releases and I stumbled upon a band I enjoyed a lot back in 2008 at Voodoo Fest. The lead singer & lead guitarist, Andy Hull, impressed me with his ability to merge genres and maintain a calm collective sound that worked well in a live performance. His stage presence wasn't the most audacious thing I've ever seen; in fact, it was very humble. A t-shirt and jeans complemented with a full beard projected a sense of pleasure for what he does, but the rest of the band seemed pretty irrelevant aside from him and Chris Freeman on the keyboard.

So anyways, Manchester Orchestra released 'Mean Everything to Nothing' back in April 2009 and it got a lot of great reviews, but I wanted to add a little more to what was said.

Andy Hull is the writer for all of the lyrics on this album, and he excites, frustrates, then makes me wonder all throughout the album. Lyrically, I was taken on a journey through his weird lifestyle, with witty and confusing stories about love & relationships at every turn. At some point I began to side with his own frustrated mentality and I felt empathetic towards his existence. Then all of a sudden he starts singing (or screaming, I don't know?) about how his girlfriend is pregnant and he felt love. As if love is something he has never felt before. Cry yourself to sleep, Andy, please.

Instrumentally, I felt the album was ambitious. Back at Voodoo, the whole band was exciting to watch. Especially Chris Freeman, the keyboardist. He would randomly spaz out in the middle of his set and then appears to inadvertently play his instrument. As much as I'd like to talk about their ability to rock out on stage, I want to stick to the music. The whole thing is complicated and controlled enough to enjoy and respect. The band's ability to bring the context of the lyrics into fruition by complementing them with appropriate crescendo's and chord progressions is very impressive. Their instruments aren't too diverse, but they make use of different textures (such as cool piano supplements) which makes me believe they've worked really hard on this album.

All in all, I'd recommend listening to this album once or twice if you're getting bored with most other bands. It's not too hardcore that it made me walk to class with a stone-cold look on my face, and it's different enough that it made me appreciate the bands that you love. The vocals and instruments come together in a solid mix of "what the fuck?" moments and aesthetically pleasing music, and the lyrics only add to this complex collaboration of organized sound. However, aside from Andy Hull's intense vocals and crafty lyricism, I'm left with nothing to think about or yearn for. The first couple of tracks set the stage for a classic album that fans would remember for all time. But we didn't get that album. It started out great and at some point took a left-turn into a dark forest where nothing was happening. I'll give the band respect for the song "Shake it Out" because I definitely set it on repeat and listened couple times before moving onto the latter tracks, but I was thoroughly disappointed with the rest of the album.

Listen to some of their main tracks at their myspace page.

-Cory Vogel