Currently listening to:Week of July 23, 2012

I apologize for their not being a list for last week. Once again, I've been busy. I will make up for it with more entries soon. Now, on with this week's list!!


To really hear an artist's work, you must look past the hit singles. The entire album is worth hearing to truly get a glimpse of it all in one body of work. Here are some of the albums I am listening to this week.

Alkaline Trio - Crimson (2005)

This happens to be my favorite album from this Chicago-based band. This is the most mature record to date from this band and a far cry from 1998's Goddamit!. This is a very melodic, rich album. I love the songs Mercy Me and Sadie(about Susan Atkins) especially. Yes, they have become more "pop" but in a really good way. This isn't a sellout record, this is Alkaline Trio at their most real. Burn is a song I keep going back to.This album comes with a bonus CD full of acoustic versions of the songs from the album which is a really cool concept. If you are unfamiliar with their music, I would suggest getting this album or Maybe I'll Catch Fire. Here are some of my favorite tracks.
Burn:

Mercy Me:

Sadie:

Dead Can Dance - Into the Labyrinth (1993)

The sixth album from Dead Can Dance. What is interesting about this album is that it was their first record where Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry did all the instrumentation themselves. Brendan was living on an island in Ireland at the time and Lisa was living in Australia. They recorded their parts separately then brought them together. This record is a lot more spirutually uplifting than previous ones and remains one of my favorite ones. There is a strong ethnic influence, most likely from Lisa Gerrard. The album title refers to the Greek myth of Theseus going into the labyrinth to fight the Minotaur and is mentioned on several songs on this album. The songs The Carnival is Over and Tell Me About the Forest both borrow from Joy Division lyrics. This album is excellent and really shows this band focused, passionate and like nothing else out there. Words cannot fully describe the love I have for this band. Here's some songs I love:
The Ubiquitous Mr. Lovegrove:

The Carnival is Over:

Towards The Within:

The Adverts - Crossing The Red Sea with the Adverts (1978)

Crossing the Red Sea with the Adverts is the debut album from UK punk band The Adverts. It's a shame they only had two albums and that their second album is such a disappointment. This album is full of newwaveish riffs and catchy lyrics. TV Smith is a great frontmen and should have beeen as popular as Joe Strummer or Joey Ramone.He has that sort of charisma. Gary Gilmore's Eyes is based off the movie of the same name where a person gets an eye transplant and gets the eyes of a killer. Other great songs are Bored Teenagers and No Time to be 21. These songs are anthems and once again, classics from this very underrated band. Here are some great songs from this album.
Bored Teenagers:

No Time To Be 21:

Gary Gilmore's Eyes:

Morrissey - You Are The Quarry (2004)

This record was seen as a comeback due to being dropped by his previous record label because of the disappointing sales of 1997's Maladjusted. This album also got Morrissey his highest US debut at #11 and it debuted at #2 in the UK. The first single Irish Blood, English Heart also secured Morrissey's highest charting single at #3 in the UK. This album was produced by Jerry Finn who had worked with bands like Green Day, Jawbreaker, Blink 182, Bad Religion and Rancid. A bit of a change for Morrissey, and it paid off well. One of the main themes I noticed about this album is Morrissey talking about causes and injustice in the world. He has matured as an artist and lyricist. He doesn't only talk about himself as much. It shows his growth as an artist and during this time has strangely acquired a strong Latino following. Here are some highlights:
America Is Not The World:

First of the Gang To Die:

Irish Blood English Heart: