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Month: January 2005

Tough.

Published January 1, 2005 by Stephen Carradini

Tough.

This year was a tough year for mainstream music- no one came out the clear-cut winner, except for Modest Mouse, because everyone wanted to celebrate the indie hero. Yay. For actual indie music, however, it was a banner year- the music came out of the woodwork to blow me away. Four of my top five releases were highly unexpected, unhyped, and unheard of when I received the packages- after hearing their contributions to the music world, I thoroughly believe that independent music will never die.

5. Actionslacks – “Full Upright Position” – Quite possibly the best straight-up pop album I’ve ever heard. It has depth to the lyrics, diversity in the song styles, clarity in the performances, and aesthetics to blow you away. There’s none better than Actionslacks in the world of pop/rock music.

4. Matt Shaw- Matt Shaw and Devices in Shift fought hard for this spot in my head. In the end, Matt Shaw won because I love the dual punch of “The Argument” and “The Fields” so much. Indie electronica doesn’t get better than this. The arrangements keep you guessing, the beats keep your head bobbing, the melodies keep you humming, and the overall product leaves you stunned. A vicious diatribe against technology is dramatically set against technologically created beats- the irony isn’t lost, and neither is the message. You can take this album simply musically (without views) or lyrics and all (with views), and either way you will love it.

3. The Felix Culpa – “Commitment” – Now this is a band that knows what it’s doing. I caught the Felix Culpa bug after simply one listen to this album- and who wouldn’t, after hearing an artistically minded indie/emo band that bends and breaks the rules of ‘emo’ to form something actually emotional? This is a whirlwind trip through the best ways to be passionate about something.

2. Novi Split/The Adrian Fortress Split CD “The Split Series, Volume Two: The Lost Volume”. Anything the Novi Split commits to tape is simply astonishing in the fact that it doesn’t feel like it’s on tape. Every time I hear a Novi Split song, it feels like lead man David J is sitting in my room with a guitar, peacefully singing himself and I to sleep. This man is a genius, and I will continue to laud him at every chance I get. This split is just a continuation of Novi Split’s saga- lovely, stark, haunting acoustic songs. The Adrian Fortress also puts up some deliciously messed up post-rock, only adding more goodness to this split.

1. Hotel Lights – S/t There’s something truly stunning in Hotel Lights: wisdom. That’s a lofty statement, but after thoroughly picking apart this album, I feel that it is justified. These pop/folk/mellow songs are all quite morose in their musings, but they’re also heavily weighted with a sense of ‘been there, done that’ remorse. The fact that the piano, guitar, and vocals work together to craft simply jaw-dropping landscapes helps the delivery of these lyrics, and voila- you’ve got the best album I’ve heard all year. Song of the year: “Stumblin’ Home Winter Blues”.

Honorable Mentions: Devices In Shift, “Velas Para La Enferma”, Relient K “Mmhmm”, Ghosting “October EP” (if they ever release a real album, I’ll rejoice), Page France “Come! I’m a Lion!”, Ember Days S/t EP

Top 5 of ‘04

Published January 1, 2005 by Stephen Carradini

Top 5 of ‘04

There has been a lot of talk, mainly by record labels and people who get paid by record labels, that 2004 was a great year for music. They point to releases such as “Good News for People Who Love Bad News” by Modest Mouse, Franz Ferdinand’s S/t and “Where You Want to Be” by Taking Back Sunday as examples of the wonderful year the industry had. I disagree with this. This year was horrible: Modest Mouse and Franz Ferdinand represent what is wrong with the music industry and Adam Lazzara blew it by screwing up his relationship with John Nolan. Lazzara can’t write-I could have told you that from “Tell All Your Friends”. So, TBS is running on the popularity Nolan built up, and they can’t go on that forever. Many people will also point to the reissue of all the Bad Religion albums as proof of the quality of music released in 2004. People, these albums were released between 10-20 years ago! They aren’t new music! Despite this lack of quality music released this year I did manage to find my five favorite albums, after almost an hour of going through my favorite CD’s to see if they were released in ’04. By the way, these aren’t in any order.

1. “Commitment -The Felix Culpa (Common Cloud Records)

If you read my review of this album you know why this is one of my top albums of ’04. This band is amazing, that’s all there is to it. I want these guys to sign with someone huge. Common Cloud is great but they don’t have the ability to get the music out yet. These guys can be a legend.

2. “The Waiting Room” – Armsbendback (Trustkill Records)

Technically this album was released in ’03 but it was released in the second to last week of the year. Nobody gave them consideration for the top album of ’03, but almost everyone forgot about them when they were considering the top albums of ’04. These guys are great hardcore much like Poison the Well but a little better, because they are out of Lancaster, PA, which is about 40 minutes from home for me. Armsbendback is just a great band that can’t and won’t be ignored.

3. “Pollyanna” – Northstar (Triple Crown Records)

This album is art. With the exception of the first song (which sounds a little too poppy for me) this is the best mainstream album of the year. Though “Pollyanna” is not as musically excellent as their debut album “Is This Thing Loaded”, “Pollyanna” does have the advantage of sounding like it was recorded above water. If this is Northstar’s “sophomore slump” I can’t wait for their third album.

4. “New Medicines” – Dead Poetic (Solid State Records)

Not great, but good. Hopefully this was a sophomore slump. If it was, “New Medicines” was a good slump. The lyrics and vocals are average but they do have some great bass stuff.

5. “Art Damage” – Fear Before the March of Flames

Spaz-core at it’s finest. Once again, it’s not great but it’s good. FBTMOF is the one thing that may save those metal-core people still hanging on to Metallica.

You probably don’t agree, tell me I suck at redbassist66@comcast.net

-Scott Landis

Andrea’s Top 5 Albums of 2004:

Published January 1, 2005 by Stephen Carradini

Andrea’s Top 5 Albums of 2004:

Garden State Soundtrack – While this movie was fabulous, and sadly, did not get the Golden Globe recognition it deserved, I must give Zach Braff credit for putting together a fantastic soundtrack. It combines both old (Simon & Garfunkel) and new (The Shins) music and is just a soothing CD to listen to over and over again. It evokes a calm, happy feeling. This one stayed in my CD player for a good long while.

The Descendents – Cool to be You LP & ‘Merican EP – These two get listed together since they both came out this year and they are both equally awesome. I love the Descendents to death and when I heard, way back in 2003, that they were releasing two new Cds, I waited with fevered anticipation. Then I preordered them, so I would be certain to have them in my hands they day that Cool to Be You was released. This is not a decision that I regret.

Taking Back Sunday – Where You Want to Be – People rip on Taking Back Sunday for becoming popular. I don’t care. I still love them to death, and this CD just proved them worthy of my admiration. It’s a slightly different sound than their first release, yet still won me over.

Fall of Transition – Retrace a Lost Design – I will admit, I was sent this CD in my first package of CDs to review for Independent Clauses, but it quickly became a staple in my record collection. I think I’ve listened to it once a week since I got it. They have a new CD coming out this year, and judging from the songs they have posted on Purevolume…it only gets better from here.

Concisebloc – All I Should Have Said: What a great release this was. It is gut wrenching, powerful, passionate, and I am completely addicted. From the intensity of the music and the honesty of the words – any fan of music in the “screamo” vein should pick up a copy…stat.

-Andrea Goodwin

Contests:

Published January 1, 2005 by Stephen Carradini

Contests:

Win a Ghost Tales album! A copy of Ghost Tales’ latest EP “An Island in a Shower” (read a review here) is up for grabs! To enter, just send your name and mailing address to IndependentClauses@hotmail.com. Don’t forget to put your mailing address, or you won’t be considered for the contest. Also don’t forget to put the words ‘Ghost Tales’ somewhere in the subject line. Free music by amazing artists- Independent Clauses works for you. So get mailing!

*Congratulations to The guy who’s not from ‘the mark’ in city, State, as the winner of the Ghost Tales album! There’s no contests right now, but soon one will be up!