Thankfully after my faithful wait, I have been rewarded with his new release: Sycamore Meadows. After giving this album a couple of listens, it has quickly become one of my favorites for all time. It’s both amazingly happy and startlingly deep, many times simultaneously.

Track Listing:

1. The Weight Of Her **
2. Going Back/Going Home **
3. Here Comes The…
4. Ponce De Leon Ave.
5. Ships In A Bottle **
6. Vessels
7. Passed Your Place, Saw Your Car, Thought Of You **
8. The 3 Kids In Brooklyn
9. Summer Scarves **
10. A Song For The Metalheads **
11. Closer To The Truth And Further From The Sky **
12. ATL **
13. Untitled (Hidden Track)

**Clear Favorites

Once again, I’ll try and avoid gushing like the ridiculous fan-boy that I am for Butch Walker. It’s just so hard when he’s so god-damned good.

Wait, that wasn’t biased was it? Nah.

So … Sycamore Meadows. How can I describe this? Well it’s an label-free release by Butch Walker, newest in the line up (as of this post in any case). It’s far more “home-grown” than his previous stuff, with a lot more country influence than anything else he’s put out. After much consideration, I’ve opted to class this as a fusion between blue-grass and alt-rock. I’m sure blue-grass and alt-rock fans will both probably hate on me for saying that. Yes, I just said “hate on me.” Live with it.

I’ve been listening to this album at least once a day since I got it ( which isn’t as much as you’d think, as it came out in November. Shipping was painfully slow) and I have finally managed to clearly define what songs that I cannot live without, and what songs I simply cannot stand. Others require a mood for me to enjoy them, otherwise they are very quickly skipped over. I have this nagging feeling that I won’t be alone. Much like his other albums, Butch seems to have a knack for being very hit or miss with his songs. He also has a knack for making sure that these songs hit and miss differently.

One thing that has been constant throughout all of his work though, is that every track has a personal touch. There have been many a time where I have sat there wondering “did this actually happen to him or what?” The fact that I have such trouble discerning between fact and fiction only helps to demonstrate that everything feels like it was pulled from his past, dusted off, and arranged around. ATL is by far the best example of this, and the video for Ships In A Bottle was filmed in the ruins of Butch’s former home. It’s the little things like this that really help make you more than just listen to the album; you feel it as well. This is probably what sets him apart as a fantastic musical artist in my mind.

I think the only complaint I can actually have with the album is literally that some of the tracks are almost entirely unlistenable (I am very sure I just made “unlistenable” up). Ponce De Leon Ave. ranks top on my list of “cannot stand whatsoever” with “Here comes the…” coming at a close second. Everything else that wasn’t starred simply requires me to be in the right mood.

Regardless of the hit and miss nature of the tracks, I implore any and everyone who likes alternative, country, blue grass, Alt Rock, Indie, and just plain ol’ good music to give Sycamore Meadows a listen or three.

9/10

Datarock is easily one of my new bouncy favorites. The only way I can describe them is disco acid pop. There’s probably a better way of explaining them, but that’ll work for lack of the creation of new words.

As an aside, I want to apologize for the title of this post. I’m using the normal format, but their first album is actually called “Datarock Datarock” so it makes for some crummy article titling.

Track Listing:

1. Bulldozer
2. I Used To Dance With My Daddy **
3. Computer Camp Love **
4. Fa-fa-fa **
5. Princess
6. Sex Me Up
7. Nightflight To Uranus **
8. Ugly Primadonna
9. Maybelline
10. Laurie
11. The Most Beautiful Girl **

**Clear Favorites

If ever there was music to be played at a club, remixed for clubs, and then have those remixes remixed 3 more times, then Datarocks debut album “Datarock Datarock” is exactly that music. Much of the album is bouncy almost to the point of fault. Much of it makes you want to get up and dance until you seizure. Even some of the more subdued tracks are prime candidates to have the crap mixed out of them.

This mixibility makes for an interesting listen. Everything is drum machines, 8-bit sounds, synths and guitars. I guess that’s understandable considering the band is officially comprised of two people (I’m aware the Wiki mentions a third person, but the official site does not, so I’m going with that). When you only have two people, you have to get creative with your tools. They do that alright; with some interesting beat combinations Datarock manages to bring a unique feel to many of their songs. There’s a personallity to each track, and I think that that takes a lot of talent.

Another major boon for this album is the lyrical application. When you can successfully write about ones computer camp love affair in a hip hop style, you are reaching a lyrical level that makes my heart glow. The only people I’ve seen do what Datarock does with their writing are bigger names like Jason Mraz or Cobra Starship. If you pay close enough attention to actually hear what the singer is saying, I can guarentee that you will be well-rewarded. The fact that ‘Maybelline’ actually has the “maybe she’s born with it” slogan within it is proof of this.

My biggest issue with the whole album is that it’s pretty much impossible to listen to the entire album in one sitting without wanting to take a hammer to either you or your musical device. I know that sounds harsh – probably because it is – but hear me out. The big issue with the album is that it all starts to sound like noise after a while; things blend and the magic is lost. You start to phase it out because that’s what your brain DOES with excess noise.

Great for single tracks, well-written and unique. I’m waiting for them to have some remix albums come out.

6/10

Recently, I found an all-classical FM station broadcasting out of Toronto that I can actually listen to in Brantford, Cambridge, and Kitchener-Waterloo. This may not sound like anything impressive – who even listens to FM radio anymore – but if you have ever tried to listen to Toronto-based radio in those areas, you would know what I’m talking about. There is something about this strip of land that just destroys radio signals.

Regardless, since I’ve found this station, I have yet to change it back to the others that I listen to. Classical 96.3FM does an amazing job of not only featuring brilliant classical music, past and present, but also features spots like “Sunday night at the Opera”, “The Greatest Music Of All Time…” and spoken poetry. How can you not love this?

Though I feel their website could use a little information architecture – It’s rather busy and cramped in some places- they offer a surprising amount of content for a radio station website. They have an online listening section as the Internet radio is all the rage now, and even the “What Was That Piece” list: a minute to minute feature of every song they’ve played throughout the day and the entire week previous.

I must also mention that though they play the typical classical music, they also feature some fantastic choice music, moving opera pieces, and even arrangements from movies (Lord of the Rings, Forest Gump, and Star Trek to name a few). I actually got home and sat in my car for an additional 6 minutes to listen to the end of Misere Me, Deus by Gregorio Allegri, a moving choir piece. The best part is that I have no idea who that is yet, but thanks to the station and their website, I can find out.

If you’re in the mood for some audible culture, Classical 96.3FM is a station to tune into. If you aren’t in the Toronto area, attach yourself to their Internet radio player.

P.S. be warned: All of the personallities they have working there can hypnotise you with their voice. Every damned one.

Track Listing:

1. Never Felt So Lucky **
2. Into Pieces **
3. Movin’ On **
4. Today (Perfect) **
5. Letters
6. Brighter Side
7. Broken Smile **
8. Song From The TV
9. All Of The Riches
10. Ask Myself **
11. Take It Slow **

**Clear Favorites

How can I describe this album? I guess it’s Indie, but not really. It really has a bluegrass/pop/alternative blend that really defies clear classification. Brian O’Neal (way to hard to find his real name, Jesus), who goes by Roark, does a fantastic job of delivering heart-felt song after heart-felt song. Each track sounds like he means every word, which is a rare treat in this day and age. Though he is technically a solo artist, Brian does have someone helping him in the studio for these songs. All the songs on the album tend to offer up some sort of combination of guitar, piano, and drums (with extras thrown in where needed) and it helps give a unified feel to the whole CD.

Most of Break Of Day offers up what I can only describe as a “hopeful vibe”. Listening to this CD makes me happy inside for reasons I cannot accurately articulate. The light sound and use of the guitar and piano really help deal some of the uplifting mood, but Brians voice itself seems to embody something that completes it all. The music and his voice mesh so well together that it’s nothing short of impressive. He knows how to write music to match him both on a mental and a physical level.

My clear favorite from this CD is easily ‘Broken Smile’ which is, admittedly, a rather depressing song. It talks about a girl whos obviously been hurt deeply. We don’t know the whats or whys. All that is given is the fact that people want to help, but she can’t bring herself to ask for help. It’s nearly 6 minutes long, and I love every second of it. The music itself isn’t complex, but it feels totally honest and you can’t help but feel for the girl. It’s an amazing track, and sealed the deal for me.

My only real complaint with the album is that most of the tracks sound very similar, so if you aren’t in love with the album, you’ll start getting annoyed after about 3 tracks. Other than that I can’t really find anything wrong with Break Of Day.

If you’re in the mood for something soothing and uplifting, Break Of Day is totally worth listening to.

7.5/10

Pros

• Fairly large library to choose from.
• Making playlists is easy.
• Music player is on every page, either featuring music, or displaying yours.
• Adding Songs to a play list is all inline, and doesn’t require any sort of popup or extended form. Search, Add, Select profile, OK. That’s all
• Built in profile, preferences, user base, messaging, other web 2.0 stuffs.
• Available in a snot-load of languages (with a few spelling hiccups)
• Player is somewhat robust, sporting repeat, shuffle, pause and preview options.
• Ability to upload your own MP3s, which are stored privately for you only. Part of this scares me, as cool as an idea that it is.

Cons

• Some of the worst UI decisions I’ve ever seen, some very unintuitive locations.
• Some rather funny spelling mistakes
• Everything is in flash.
• Some of the most annoying ads that actually break the page and stop it from loading until you close it. Go to hell milk ads.
• Community aspect sorta sucks, as there’s no real way to get people interacting. All users must be found via search, which makes it hard to get participation up.
• Weird lack of rather common songs.
• I’ve manged to totally bugger up their player by clicking to fast.

last.fm

Pros

• Clean, simple interface
• Downloadable program to stream music from program instead of browser. Program also relays what you play in programs such as iTunes, and saves your tastes.
• Wide and diverse musical library
• Great user interaction. Friend listening lists etc. Good community aspect.
• swappable theme (stupid, pointless, and sweet)
• Excluding the music player, everything is HTML (not Flash)
• The player will slowly introduce new music/bands/artists that are similar to your choices, allowing you to be exposed to more artists.

Cons

• Distinct lack of common songs
• The program doesn’t allow for the picking if individual songs, nor does the browser player
• Adding songs to your library feels like a chore, and has a few too many clicks.
• Creating playlists is way more buried than I would have expected.
• Their new layout feels a little TOO minimal to me, and I feel a little lost when trying to get around. The dropdown list beside your name is not what I would expect for navigation.
• Player doesn’t have a pause. What the hell.

Which would I choose?

It actually depends.

If I’m in the mood for a type of music, then last.fm wins hands down. If I want specific songs, then Deezer is actualy more of a playlist-oriented system. Last.fm has a much stronger community function-base, which is great if you’re looking to connect with other people over music. Deezer, though it features community fetaures, it’s not nearly as stong as last.fm. It’s playlist pick and choose style is fantastic if you want to simply listen to your favorites (if they’re there). Deezer allows you to store your MP3 onlines, making it’s playlist features that much stronger.

Moods, friends, factoids: last.fm

Songs, playlists, storage: Deezer

Track Listing:

1. Life in Technicolor
2. Cemeteries of London
3. Lost! **
4. 42
5. Lovers in Japan/Reign of Love **/**
6. Yes **
7. Viva la Vida **
8. Violet Hill
9. Strawberry Swing
10. Death and All His Friends **

**Clear Favorites

There are a slew of hidden/extra tracks depending on what version of Viva la Vida you have (buying from iTunes seems to be the best bet… assuming you pre-ordered it). My version actually has an extra track which is an acoustic version of Lost! entitled “Lost?” which I find fantastic. Track five (Lovers in Japan/Reign of Love) is actually two tracks in one, and there are also two hidden tracks contained within “Yes” [Chinese Sleep Chant] and “Death and All His Friends” [The Escapist], making this a much fuller album than what one would initially presume.

The best term I can use for this album is ‘solid.’ From start to finish, It’s actually quite an impressive listen. The music carries a certain vibe throughout the entire album, which really unifies it into one extended experience. Their title track, “Viva la Vida” sends shivers down my spine every time I hear it. Watching the video blew my mind as well.

The tracks tend to alternate between harder and softer, but they all seem to lead into one another with a musical polish that I’ve not heard from many albums. Obvious care was put into track ordering, blending, and final touches. The album still carries that soothing Coldplay feel that we’ve all come to know (if not actually love) making every track sound very “Coldplayish.”

Interesting usage of instruments can be found throughout the album, proving that they aren’t just a piano-driven alternative band.. at least not anymore. Viva la Vida shows a lot more in the ways of experimentation instrumentally, though not much changes vocally. I’m not going to say whether that’s a good thing or not, because it really depends on your perception. Personally I wish the vocals had been a bit more experimental so as to match the album, but I can’t complain about that.

What I can complain about (see what I did there?) is Violet Hill. This was the single debuted in my area (Toronto/London radio stations) and it was played to hell. As it turns out this is also my least favorite track on the entire album by a long shot. I can’t really place why I dislike it so much (read: overplaying) but if I had to take a stab at it, it would probably be the attempt at telling a story in a near-narrative format. I know they thought they were doing something cool, but the result just hurts my head. If I could pretend that wasn’t on the album It would make it that much better.

Considering my only real issue with the entire album is one track, I’d have to say that that give’s it a pretty solid score. It’s worth listening to, so long as you’re into the alternative scene, or you’re already a fan of Coldplay. If you’re as much a fan as I am/was it’s still worth listening to because I can assure you that you’ll have some new favorites to add your your song listing.

8.5/10

Track Listing:

1. Fell In Love Without You
2. This Is For Real
3. It Had To Be You **
4. Last Night **
5. Calling All Cops
6. Can’t Finish What You Started **
7. The Conversation
8. Broken Heart **
9. Hello Helicopter **
10. Where I Belong **
11. Point Of Extinction
12. Antonia **
13. Even If It Kills Me

**Clear Favorites

Their newest album doesn’t really introduce much new, other than a couple slower piano tracks and a slightly softer feel. MCS know what their sound is and they don’t really seem to want to step away from it too much at the moment. I’m not saying that that’s a bad thing, though I think that at this point you could start to find their music exhausting. My only complaint with MCS is that they sound pretty much the exact same every song. Sure you change up the words and the chords, but it’s all the same. This is also a great aspect though because you know what to expect and so a returning fan knows what they’re getting themselves into.

I also have to note that “Last Night” sounds eerily similar to The Starting Lines “Photography”.

My bitching aside, “Even If It Kills Me” is a solid album. I did notice that “Even If It Kills Me” seems to be a little slower, a little softer, and a little more toned down then its brethren, which I wasn’t fully expecting. I really liked the step into different territory by going with a couple piano-driven tracks, which bring about a totally different feel to what would be a purely typical album by them. The whole album seems a tad more reflective than the others, which is always a good thing in my mind.

I’m still not sure what they were trying to accomplish with this album. Did they mean to make it sound more reflective? Or was that just a side-effect of something else? Where did the piano-driven songs come from? Why the detachment from the norm? I have a feeling that the whole group just wanted to aim for something different, but didn’t want to step too far outside the comfort-zone that is their sound. I can’t blame them, but it does make what could have been an amazing (or disastrous) album, and settles it into the ‘pretty good’ category.

7/10

Another helpful tidbit: if you are tired enough, you can actually sleep on a cement floor! I proved this by passing out in our conference room for nearly two hours. I say passed out because it wasn’t sleep in any sense. I actually felt worse when I was roused. Ah well, such is my work-life.

Onto the random paragraphs that summarize my life in the past little while!

I’ve been obsessed with the newest season of Sam & Max by Telltale Games. This season (with the exception of one episode) blows the first season out of the water. I’m not saying that the first season is bad, far from in actuality, but this seasons writing and direction are much tighter than the last season, and I’m rather looking forward to the last installment. I pray that they continue making more seasons.

There’s a new Dentyne commercial out that I’m in love with, and thanks to a little investigation Theresa and I found the band that made the song. Ben’s Brother is the culprit, and after listening to their myspace page, I went and tracked down their 2007 album: “Beta Male Fairytales”. It turns out that though ‘Stuttering’ will be a super hit single, the rest of their music is pretty much top-end awesome. I’ve officially become a fanboy of them and pray that they visit Canada at some point in the future. I’ll make sure to do a review of the album this week. For those looking for a copy of the track (which cannot be downloaded from the bands MySpace page there is another MySpace page that features the download. How long it’ll be up I don’t know so I suggest getting it while it’s ‘hot’.

So a new Panic! At The Disco album came out. Considering how hyped up the first CD was, I’m a little shocked that this went so under the radar. I’ll admit I liked them when I first heard of them (I was visitor 63 on their MySpace way back in the day.. and I still have their original 3 track releases). Then they got huge and over-played. Then they disappeared. I was expecting them to burn hot and then fizzle out after the first album. Then I heard about “Pretty. Odd.” two days before the release date. I got my hands on a copy recently and I’ve gotta say that it’s a drastic departure from their last album. “A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out” was all about being bouncy and energetic and borderline insane. “Fairly Odd” is toned down and dare I say, a more matured sound than before. I don’t know whether I like it or not. I’ll try and review their newest album this week as well.

I was recently recommended an artist called Matt McIntosh on Last.Fm and I have to say that I’m at least a little impressed. Very haunting, toned down, with a weird-hollow voiced sound to it. I’ll try and review this one when I get the chance. Apparently he’s made a lot of music in the past.

Last thing to note, I’ve been getting more into Twitter, though I’m not entirely sure why.

Until next time folks.

So kiss me again
Cause only you can stop this stut-stut-stut-stuttering
Kiss me again
And ease my su-su su-su su-su s-su-s-suffering

Ben’s Brother – Stuttering

Corey signing off

Track Listing:

1. Go To Hell**
2. Decimate
3. I’m Alright Now**
4. Song For The Road**
5. Train
6. St. Peter**
7. Nobody Tells Me What To Do
8. Requiem
9. … And So You Fell**

**Clear Favorites

This man feels the music, the likes of which I haven’t seen in a good long while. His music was heart-felt and well composed. Even when he did his song “State of the Union” which was more of a spoken poem and performance art, he obviously felt his music.

As a result, Songs for the Road is a solid album, though I wouldn’t class it as Indie, despite what iTunes tells me. Easy listening is closer to the truth, but I can assure you that the tracks will swing between calm and relaxing to bouncy to depressing with little regard for your personal feelings at the time of listening. As a lot of the music is done by him alone life, the alum is similarly toned down. Many of the tracks have nothing more than a guitar and a piano, though few feature violins and if I’m not mistaken in at least one instance a cello. His voice is enjoyable to listen to and his accent actually penetrates which is rare for English singers. I don’t know why but many English artists tend to lose their accent when they sing.

The album takes a couple listens to really get into, though I picked my favorites fairly quickly. I can appreciate the other tracks – Decimate sounds like it should be at the start or end of a sitcom – more for their lyrics, even when I feel that the music doesn’t suit my personal tastes. All of the tracks have obvious thought put into their message which really elevates them amongst many of the mainstream “heart” songs that are out on the top 40.

The whole album is a little moody, though that falls right in character with David Ford himself. The result is that you will either like where he’s coming from, or think he’s trash. I love him.

7/10

Track Listing:

Disc One:

1. Intro
2. Uncomfortably Numb **
3. Alicia Amnesia
4. Summer Jam
5. Too Famous to Get Dressed
6. Maybe It’s Just Me **
7. Bethamphetamine **
8. Ladies and Gentlemen, The Let’s Go Out Tonights
9. Dont’ Move **
10. Indie Queen **
11. Far Away From Close

Disc Two:

1. Over Your Head
2. Race Cars & Goth Rock **
3. Mixtape **
4. Stateline **
5. Sober **
6. Joan **
7. Cigarette Lighter Love Song **
8. Best Thing You Never Had **
9. Hot Girls in Good Moods
10. Lights Out
11. Canyons

**Clear Favorites

Now there are certain artists that sound good on albums but come up short in live shows. There are other artists that rock live performances like they were born to it, but fail to translate this to their recordings (Live ones aside, obviously). Then there are artists that do both exceptionally well. This is where Butch Walker falls. I have had the undeniable privilege to be literally two feet away from the man as he performed a live show at the Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto a while back. Until then I had only heard his albums (Letters, This Is Me… Justified and Stripped, Left of Self-Centered) and was already a big fan.

Then he started singing in that little Tavern. The true test of an artist really comes down to how close their live and recorded performances match up. Butch Walker sounds the same, other than changing it up a little in the live shows just because he can. Leavin’ the Game on Luckie Street is the second live album that I’ve heard by Mr. Walker and I can happily say that I am still in love with his work.

The album is actually split up between two discs (two discs for free, dear Lord) and have drastically different feels. I’ve decided to talk about them separately because of this.

Disc one is jumpy. I don’t mean in a spazzy sort of way, but in the “get the fuck up and dance” sort of jumpy. You listen to that first disc and you just want to get up and dance the hell out of your shoes, socks, or even your bare feet. This CD has many tracks from the Butch/LGOT album, yet also features some tracks from Marvelous 3 (a band he was formally a part of). The only slow track on the first half is Don’t Move, so time will fly as you bounce around listening to it. It’s solid and fun, though to be honest I was never as big a fan of the Butch/LGOT album in comparison to his solo work.

Enter disc two.

Disc two is easily one my favorite cds of all time, regardless of the fact that it. It features a lot more of his solo work though it also features tracks from the Butch/LGOT and Marvelous 3 albums. This half of the album is way more toned down, and features a lot of Butch’s piano workings. As a result there is a string of songs Mixtape to Best Think You Never Had that all feature Butch at the piano singing. Even after that there are a couple more tracks that are slower, and if I have to be honest, a tad depressing. This man does depressing songs in a fantastic way that don’t make you feel sad, but seem to offer a sense of closure or reflection that I cannot get enough of. This will probably become one of my staple ‘chill’ cds, and those are rare on my play list. Only high rollers make it to that list. What can I say? I’m picky.

Both cds make up the album in a rather Ying/Yang sort of feel, which can be jarring for someone who is switching between the two of them without knowing it. They also seem to suffer from a bit of variable audio. What I mean by this is that in certain parts, the audio is fantastic but suffers in others, coming in quiet or the singing being drowned out by other instruments at times. There are also points where he is obviously swinging to and from the mic, which can get annoying if you’re trying to enjoy the song.

A great album and worth getting. Six dollars is a fantastic price to pay for any album, and this one exceeds even that. It’s worth listening to, and though not the best album to introduce yourself to his work (I suggest Letters), for those who already know about him, this is a fantastic addition to the library.

8.5/10