Lemon Jelly – 64-95

Lemon Jelly said they never wanted to repeat themselves so they came up with an idea to base a new album all around samples from the years 64-95 Remember the chilled, laided back band. Just pop in the disc and their mission of sounding different works from the get go.
“Come Down On Me” starts off immediately with that sample of Masters of Reality. One might ask the question is this the same band that recorded “Nice Weather For Ducks”? The fat beats and those cosmic sounds make it a great start to the album. “Make Things Right” is a slower number that just feels like a summer anthem in the making. That warm and fuzzy female vocal is perfect for this track. This one is brilliant all around. “The Shouty Track” is well a bit shouty. The sample is from The Scars and its very loud and noisy affair. It’s a big monster and I love it. “The Slow Train” has one of the oddest and unique samples you may ever hear on a dance song. Its really quite genius and needs to be heard. “Go” closes off the album here. It’s a bit of a monster that takes different shapes. Who is that on the vocals you might ask? Yes, that is William Shattner. It’s a wild and crazy ride.
This is one hell of an album. They took an interesting concept and really made it work. The tunes rang from the dark and bold to the more chilled affairs. Lemon Jelly have stepped it up.

By John Siwicki

Longview – Coming Down / When You Sleep

Fresh off a new name(the just threw that dash in the middle) these guys return with a new double A-Side. “When You Sleep” is your average soft rock track the track is big sounding and has American radio writing all over it. Not to bad of a track but “Coming Down” is just so slow and bland it does almost nothing. “When You Sleep” saves this single from hell.

By John Siwicki

M83 – Before The Dawn Heals Us

M83s last album “Dead Cities, Red Seas , Lost Ghosts” just didn’t really grab me well. It had its moment but it just missed something for me. Anthony Gonzalez is going at alone for this affair and I decided to give it another shot and I was rewarded.
“Don’t Save Us From The Flames” is absolutely a stunner. Its wall of sythns and those atmospheric versus make this song perfect. Beeps, fuzzed out guitars, there’s so much going on here. What a way to get an album going. “Fields, Shorelines, and Hunters” features an intro with a spacey beat and a fierce drum beat that’s quite euphoric. A vocal kicks in and its barely audible and the song just keeps building and build and just creating this wall of beautiful and strange sounds. Its quite amazing. “Teen Angst” its hard to imagine they would call a song that but hey. A soft an gentle vocal kicks in over some 80s style syths. The hook soars with a female voice soars with the deep and layered e lectro sound. The lyrics are simple and effective “the more we learn the more we die” “Car Chase Terror” starts with an interesting sample of a woman in car and she’s being chased or something. Its quite an intresting and different track a bit spooky. “A Guitar And A Heart” does feature a more upfront guitar that gives it a more upbeat feel. Even without vocals it does feel catchy and deep.
M83 made an brilliant piece of work. Its deep, layered and there more ideas and sounds in one song than most bands have on an album. They have up the ante from their previous work. Its just leaking with brilliance.

By John Siwicki

M83 – Teen Angst

The second single lifted off the amazing “Before The Dawn Heals Us” LP. The album is rather an impressive and its hard to really pick off just one tune. “Teen Angst” gets the call and it’s rather cleverly titled. “Teen Angst” lays down a gorgeous synth heavy track. The cherubic like vocals that are so quiet in the background. It’s a haunting track that will evoke so much emotion in you.The lyrics are simple “how fast we burn! how fast we die!I hear the planet crying now” but in the context with the music it all fits. Just put it on and close your eyes and go.

By John Siwicki

Nine Black Alps – Unsatisfied

I may have been a little hard on the Nine Black Alps album. But I must say it grows on me more and more with each listen. “Unsatisfied” grabs you with the brilliant intro. The song is well polished and has a great hook, which will get the kids dancing and singing a long. It’s full of great riffs and Sams voice sounds just right, The appeal is huge and it really has potential to become quite a big hit. I’m surprised it wasn’t released sooner but it’s a really solid track, I keep singing it, I cant stop.

By John Siwicki

Others, The – Others, The

The Others hail from London which has a very booming scene at the moment. They are friends with Pete Doherty and they have been playing gigs in tube stations and in every other odd places you can think of. Now, I think its time for them to give us the goods.
“Lackey “kicks things off and its bit meatier here and It does help. The slow start really gets me excited. “Lackey” is a solid tune and its lyrics even inspired me a bit “your watching tv on a Friday night” “William” is almost like a nursery rhymes. But its Dominic tell us a lovely tale of his friend William. “How I Nearly Lost You” is one of the more tender moments on the album. A love song about losing a friend to drugs and oddly enough its one of the more poppier moments here. “Stan Bowels” is simply mega and great placement right in the middle of the album. “Psychovision” touches again on the issue of drugs which does come up a lot here but this song is a solid rocker. “Johan” is interestingly enough a song about Dominic’s transsexual lover Johan. “This Is For The Poor” is of course the one that got everyone looking. The track is there epic anthemic tune, which is a classic now.
The Others made a very good debut album. It will get people together and signing a lot because there are some ace tunes here.

By John Siwicki

LCD Soundsystem – LCD Soundsystem

James Murphy has release a handful of stunning singles. They were near perfect. Everything just sounded so right. Every since 2002’s debut ” Losing My Edge”/”Beat Connection” we have all been waiting for an album. After, all the praise for his singles could he live up to it with a full length. “Daft Punk Is Playing At My House” starts off an Murphy is already making a bold moving by name checking a peer in the first tune of his album. Yet, is a great starter to this record. “Never As Tired As When I’m Waking Up” is quite a change of pace. The track would fit well a Beatles record or perhaps even Pink Floyd. “Movement” is a stunning noise affair that just gets me entranced. It’s loud, catchy and downright fun. Murphy does sound a lot like The Fall’s Mark E. Smith. Its hard to imagine a song as such. “Tribulations” is a huge epic masterpiece that will rip up the dance floor all year long. “Disco Infiltrator” would be a marvelous single choice. The track is a funky and at times Murphy sounds like Prince. The cowbell is a lovely touch. It’s just a great song. “Great Release” is another one that is a bit unexpected. This track sounds like it could have been cooked up by none other than Jason Pierce. It is a grand and wonderful way to end things.
We were a bit skeptical about whether they could deliver and a strong album or have the just worn out. There were a few unexpected little numbers here “”Never As Tired As When I’m Waking Up” and “Great Release” are some very undancebale tunes and it shows the genius that they really have. They really are just scratching the surface on what they can come up with. What we really have here is a Movement.

By John Siwicki

And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead – Worlds Apart

Trail of Dead last left us with a true masterpiece of an album in Source Tags and Codes. They released an EP to follow that with some interesting songs that showed some possible directions that they would take with this LP. It’s been three years and what does a band do to follow up a masterpiece. Get more grandiose and huge sounding?
After an interesting intro that makes you feel like the world is going to end “Will You Smile Again” kicks in and the track reminds of almost a prog rock tune. It sounds absolutely insane A change for the band but the song works. “Words Apart” starts off with a Fuck You and some children laughing already you know this just isn’t going to be good. The song is about the future of rock and roll in a sense. “Look at these cunts on MTV with cars and cribs and shit/ Is that what being a celebrity means?” what has happened folks. “Summer of 91″ first off that is just a horrible tired. Conrad sounds really bad here the vocals are all wrong and the song feels like an early 90s pop rock track. Maybe that’s the point and what’s that women saying in the middle of the song.

Others, The – Lackey

We have all held rubbish jobs. This song is just what you would think it was a kick in the ass to the typical 9to5 work style. The topic is always a very tricky one. Will it be hard to take serious? These are your typical group of guys. They look the part and well the seemingly are talking it. After, two other solid singles The Others have been making a name for themselves. “Lackey” is a great “call to arms” track that can bring a few more faces over to their revolution.

By John Siwicki

Mellowdrone

For those unfamiliar with your music, can you tell us a little bit about yourselves? Give us a bit of background, so we can get a picture of who you are.

I started recording stuff on my pc for fun when I had been going to school in Boston. After recording a couple little ditties, I went to a bar and drank up some courage to give out burned cd’s to people on the street. By accident, some people heard it and invited me out to LA. What did I know, right? So I came out and played open mics & couch surfed. I then moved into a friend of a friends dining room. 400 a month. I recorded my first EP there. I started playing more shows, and through those shows met other musicians. My friend Tony De Matteo joined up with me and we formed an early version of the band and recorded another ep called go get em tiger. We toured for a year, playing every hole in the wall / doorstep we could find. It made us better. When we got home from touring that ep, our friend tony berg asked if we’d like to be on his new label through Columbia. I said cool. We then spent a couple of months going through 60+ songs to figure out what would go on the first LP. My roommate Brian is playing drums and my friend Cam (she and I went to school together) is playing a bunch of things cause shes good like that.

How do you write songs? Any special techniques?

I keep my eyes closed most of the time. It seems to help me see colors & patterns that I then translate to song. Stream of consciousness. No special techniques, just turn the “smooth” up and the “suck” down…

Tell us a bit about your new album?

Its called “box.” All the songs were written in drastically different points in my life. So I view it as a mix tape of different snapshots of mental state. That and the search for bliss and carnal knowledge.

“Orange Marmalade” is a personal favorite of mine. What is the story behind that?

Thank you. I don’t want a lover I can dominate. I want an equal playing field. Orange Marmalade is a song about someone you cannot lie, trick or be passive aggressive with. They’re as smart as you are, so candor is the only real currency. Sticky, just like marmalade.

What label is the record coming out on and how is the relationship been with the label?

Its coming out on 3E/Red/Columbia. They’ve been cool.

How was it supporting Johnny Marr on tour?

Fun. A lot of fun. He was kind enough to take us out for his entire tour around the world. I had never seen Europe before. There I was,in Spain somewhere, on his bus at like 4 in the morning trading mp3s and Smith’s stories with Johnny Marr. Whenever my gear would break, he’d let me use his shit. He’s an impeccable dresser. Good peoples.

Who are you guys listening to right now? Are you listening to new stuff as well as old stuff?

Mostly old stuff. Tony and I listen to a lot of Willie Nelson. Ive gotten more into listening to songs as opposed to artists. “Jenny Wren” off of Paul McCartneys new album is the sauce. Fear Factory, the Kinks, etc…

Any bands we should be on the look out for?

Ones that make you feel good and help you get through the day.

What can we expect to find you doing in 2006?

Keeping the mother-fucking dream alive.

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