Currently listening to: Week of November 26, 2012

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.

Rage Against the Machine - Rage Against the Machine (1992) reissue (2012)

Rage Against the Machine's debut album was recently reissued this week with an extra cd of demo versions of songs from this album and rare unheard songs. Also, on the first cd, there are 3 live tracks. There is also a DVD of live tracks and music videos from this era. This is very similar to the recent Smashing Pumpkins reissue with the extra cd and demos. This album only rivals Nevermind and Ten for influencial standpoints in 90s rock. This band melded politics, rap, rock, and a punk attitude, I really like the early demo versions of the album. Check it out!

Freedom (demo):

 Killing in The Name (demo):

Bombtrack (demo):

Against Me! - New Wave (2007)

Against Me is a band from Florida who have been around since the early 2000s. This is their major label debut, which was produced by the great Butch Vig, who has previously produced such seminal albums such as Nirvana's Nevermind and Smashing Pumpkins' Siamese Dream. Fans of Billy Bragg and The Clash would love them. They have a mixture of folk and punk, this album is more polished than their previous album but that's more due to Butch Vig's involvement. White People For Peace is a great song, agaggressive song which is one of their best known tracks and they continue to play to this day. Stop is another great crowd pleaser, though it sounds a bit like disco at times. This band is full of diversity and yes, they may not be a straight up punk band anymore but this is a band doing their own thing. Here are some track to look for:

White People For Peace:

Stop:  

New Wave:

Soundgarden - King Animal (2012)

Soundgarden's first album since 1996's Down On The Upside sees the band evolving forward. Since 1996, vocalist Chris Cornell has travelled many paths. He fronted the band Audioslave with the relics of Rage Against the Machine, he has released a few solo albums, including the questionable 2009, Timbaland-produced Scream, and now Soundgarden is finally band. This albums sees Soundgarden returning to a familiar hard rock sound, as seen on the songs Been Away Too Long and Blood on The Valley Floor. It's good to see these guys finally coming back and breathing new life into a rock scene which desperately needs it. Here are a few standout tracks:

Been Away Too Long:

Blood on The Valley Floor:

 A Thousand Days Before:

 

The Pogues' Fairytale of New York gets new reissue for 25th anniversary

The holiday season is upon us, which means many radio stations will be subjecting you to horrible Christmas music and you will hear endless renditions of Silver Bells, Jingle Bells and Santa Claus is Coming to Town. Despite all the terrible, Christmas music out there, there are a few gems. The Pogues' Fairytale of New York (featuring Kristy Maccoll) is one of them. It's hard to believe it, but the song came out 25 years ago, in 1987. There is a reissue coming out this year according to the Pogues facebook page. It will include the original version, instrumental and video coming out on November 26th. A white vinyl version will be released on December 3rd. Here is that amazing song, once again.

Video of the day: R.E.M. - Blue (featuring Patti Smith, directed by James Franco, starring James Franco and Lindsay Lohan)

R.E.M. may have broken up a year ago but it hasn't stopped them from making music videos. This latest clip came out a few weeks ago. It's a very trippy, hypnotic video with spoken lyrics by Michael Stipe and singing by Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Patti Smith. The video is directed by James Franco (of Freaks and Geeks fame) and features Lindsay Lohan and also has James Franco himself...in drag. Those living in Los Angeles will see some familiar sights in the video including the Roosevelt Hotel and the Roxy club. Enjoy!

Full length Siouxsie and the Banshees concerts!

Check out some old videos from Siouxsie and the Banshees, the first one is from the German tv show, Rockpalast. This was from around July, 1981 a few weeks after they released their fourth album Juju.

setlist:
1. “Israel”
2. “Halloween”
3. “Regal Zone”
4. “Spellbound”
5. “Arabian Knights”
6. “Switch”
7. “Pulled To Bits”
8. “Head Cut”
9. “Tenant”
10. “Night Shift”
11. “Sin In My Heart”
12. “But Not Them”
13. “Voodoo Dolly”
14. “Hong Kong Garden”
15. “Eve White Eve Black”
16. “Happy House”
17. “Skin”

The 2nd is from 1983, at London's Royal Albert Hall, with Robert Smith of The Cure on guitar. This was released as the live album, Nocturne.

1. Israel
2. Cascade
3. Melt
4. Pulled To Bits
5. Nightshift
6. Sin In My Heart
7. Painted Bird
8. Switch
9. Eve White/Eve Black
10. Voodoo Dolly
11. Spellbound
12. Helter Skelter

Red Hot Chili Peppers release 4th set of 7" singles, Hometown Gypsy and The Sunset Sleeps, 5 more singles left!

Last week, The Red Hot Chili Peppers have released "Hometown Gypsy" and "The Sunset Sleeps" the fourth pair of singles released in conjunction with the band's 18-track singles series announced in August. All these songs come from the sessions which produced last years Grammy-nominated I'm With You album. There are 5 more 7" singles left to go. The next pair of singles are Your Eyes Girl and Pink as Floyd, which is set to be released on January 4th. Hometown Gypsy is a bit of a departure for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, it has more of a country vibe to it, kinda like a Ghost Riders in the Sky vibe. The Sunset Sleeps is a midtempo song, very psychedelic, chill type of song. I like it. I'm liking how diverse these pairs of singles have been so far. Check them out!


Hometown Gypsy:

The Sunset Sleeps: