Emma Ruth Rundle is an absolute revelation. For quite some time now, I’ve been absolutely enthralled with her and the music. Her album, On Dark Horses is a true masterpiece without a doubt. So much so, even my daughter loves that album and knows the majority of the lyrics. And now, a new album is upon us. On November 5, 2021 (via Sargent House), Emma Ruth Rundle unleashes, Engine Of Hell. The first single “Return” is deeply haunting and reflective. The beauty of the song and how it’s so vulnerable really strikes a chord. Engine Of Hell is a new chapter for Emma and it truly shows.
I’ll never forget the first time I heard the song “Plowed” by Sponge. I was a kid maybe 10 or 11 and I was watching Empire Records and towards the end of the movie, when they are getting ready for “the get together” to save the store, this song was played. I loved it instantly. What a great use of the song in that scene. Interestingly, the song isn’t included on the soundtrack. That’s something that’s always bugged me. Plowed is also such a quintessential 90’s song that, it has to be included in this topic. The album that “Plowed” is on, Rotting Pinata is a terrific album from start to finish. If you’ve never heard it, you should!
Over the past couple months, I’ve been really digging what I’ve heard from KLAE. Music with a purpose is how I take it as. This new track “Repeat” has a really cool electronic beat to accompany the already pulsating drums. Speaking on the song “Repeat,” KLAE said “What happens when we repeat the same patterns? We can’t expect things to change if we stay the same. Each new day is a chance to begin again and do better for ourselves and those around us.” And now enjoy!
L.A. Woman, the final album by The Doors, turns 50 this year. In celebration of that, there is a new reissue of the album featuring all sorts of new goodies. This 50th Anniversary Deluxe Version is a 1LP/3-CD collection featuring the original album remastered by the bands longtime engineer Bruce Botnick, as well as two-hours of studio sessions and demos. This is the earliest known recording of “Riders on The Storm,” recorded at Sunset Sound Studios and it’s quite awesome!
The Doors- Riders On The Storm (Sunset Sound Demo):
The day is getting closer and closer to when the new Every Time I Die album, Radical arrives on October 22. Already a handful of tracks have been released and they are awesome. Now, they’ve dropped yet another banger of a song with “Planet Shit.” Enjoy this one!!!
Lots of new jams to share with you all this week! So many new songs/videos have been released that you need to check these out. New tunes from Mastodon, Black Map, Centershift, Jerry Cantrell, Angels and Airwaves, Twelve Foot Ninja, Kowloon Walled City, Thrice, Thoughtcrimes, Bad Wolves, Repentance,
The Jon Stewart Show back in the mid 90’s on MTV was one of the best late night shows. The humor on the show was hilarious and then the musical guests were ground breaking. The 90’s for music guests on TV had so many memorable performances. One of the ones I remember fondly was when Quicksand performed “Thorn In My Side” & “Brown Gargantuan”(though incomplete). The movie Empire Records turned me onto Quicksand and from that point I was hooked. This performance has so much energy permeating that you’ll probably find yourself bobbing your head or breaking out into a one person mosh pit!
Quicksand- Thorn In My Side & Brown Gargantuan Live On The Jon Stewart Show:
As far back as I can remember I’ve had a disdain for pop music. There way it’s all manufactured and put together really drives me nuts, especially in the last 20 years. The word artist gets used way too much in pop music when these people are glorified performers rather than true artists. Though, along the way, there are a few that have been able to carve their own paths and stray away from the generic norms of the pop world. A couple years back my friend played a song for me without telling me anything about it. After the song was over, I quite intrigued by it. The song was “Nightmare” by Halsey and it was great. There was something different about her and I had to know more. Fast forward to now and the release of her new album, If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power, and now I can’t get enough.
If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power is a tour de force of an album. Having Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross producing and at the helm, has escalated Halsey into a whole other realm. In a recent interview, Halsey had mentioned that working with Trent Reznor had been a dream of hers for years. Speaking on the direction of the album, Halsey said, “I wanted really cinematic sort of, not horror specifically, but kind of just really unsettling production.” Working with Trent and Atticus has brought in a real element of danger into the fold and genre bending to the pop world. When you listen to this album, you can hear Halsey in her natural element.
This album is unique in that there is not really any “hits” on it. There are catchy chorus’s and elements that are hooks but, it’s definitely not what you expect. There is an intensity and vulnerability throughout the album that radiates and burns ever so bright. Each song brings has it’s own identity. The deep exploratory personal lyrics permeate throughout. The conceptual elements of the album tie it all together in a way that most pop “artists” would shy away from but not Halsey. Instead, this is a head first dive into the psyche and realizations of someone who has finally found a sense of bliss and happiness through all the madness. The gothic undertones along with industrial tinges, atmospheric sounds, mixed with live instrumentation (something that is greatly missing from pop music) and soaring raw vocals, makes for one hell of a listening experience. There are so many songs on this album that I enjoy. At the moment, “Tradition,” “Easier Than Lying,” “You Asked For This,” “Honey,” “I’m Not A Woman. I’m A God,” and “The Lighthouse” are my favorite tracks. I would go in depth on them but, as I’ve said on other reviews, I don’t want to give or take anything away from your own listening experience.
If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power is one of the best albums of 2021. It offers something new in a genre that has grown stale, boring and predictable. By having Trent and Atticus come aboard and direct this album and bring out all these things to the pop world, will hopefully shift a change for the good. The production is similar in some spots to Trent and Atticus’s How To Destroy Angels project as well as incorporating elements they’ve learned from their film scoring career. The album also features some real heavy hitters like Dave Grohl from Foo Fighters (plays on Honey), Lindsay Buckingham from Fleetwood Mac (plays on Darling) Dave Sitek from TV On The Radio (plays on You Asked For This), and Pino Paladino (plays on Lilith). Halsey has made an album that not only can she be proud of but, can look back 20 years from now and it will be looked at as a game changer for pop music. If more pop artists were like Halsey and were willing to try new things outside the box and show this side of themselves, there could be a whole new revolution within pop music.
This one is definitely out of left field one for some of you but, this new album by Halsey is quite remarkable. Her new album, If I Can’t Have Love I Want Power is a tour de force of so many emotions. The album was produced by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross and features Halsey at her most vulnerable yet. This is the way pop artists should evolve. You can tell that this collaboration between Halsey, Trent and Atticus is a modern match made in heaven. One listen all the way through the album and you will instantly start it again because you want to go back to all the things you might have missed. This is one hell of an album and it should be noted as such. A full review will come next week but, until then, enjoy this album.
Fugazi’s third album, In On The Kill Taker is my favorite album of theirs. It’s got all the things you could possibly love about this band and then some. This album is more experimental in that there is a wider range of influences and inspiration found throughout these songs. I’ll never forget hearing this album for the first time and having the first song “Facet Squared” hit me like a ton of bricks. This track is beyond awesome. The sense of urgency in this song is astounding. It’s got so much packed into less than 3 minutes but, each little nuance and note is the right one at the right time. Fugazi are legends and rightfully so. In On The Kill Taker is one of their best albums and one of the best albums of the 90’s!
