Red Meat Reviews » Music

Nothing In Common

The Caped Tirader — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 18:32:09 +0000

Hip-hop is a genre that, since the close of the 90’s, has become nothing more than a piece of soft, artificial, flavorless, and valueless bubble gum that has been chewed on, popped by, and passed along by a bunch of tarts with no understanding of what once made it great. BUT it’s not these little tarts fault completely. This ABC gum was created to target them specifically by unidimensional MC’s in $1000 dollar an-hour labs paid for by tobacco-style execs. Hey- everyone’s gotta eat, right? So they market this garbage bubble gum like it was a meal and the kids…well, the kids just eat it up and shit it out faster than Violet turned into a blueberry (showing my age?).

The problem is, the artists are missing the point. Hip-hop is about truth. It is about telling a story from one’s perspective based on personal experiences or imaginations. It is also about and at its best when it discusses the state of the world; societal issues.

This inundation of auto-tuned, fake-diamond encrusted nursery rhymes makes the hunt for meaningful hip-hop both frustrating and extremely rewarding. With that I bring to you one of the my favorite groups that has nothing in common with what’s commonly on your radio:

Common Market! Common Market is a Seattle based group (Seattle has many great artists) consisting of one MC (Ra Scion) and a DJ (Sabzi). The group’s mission-To express through their art that the world is in a terrible state and that a change is necessary. Attacking everything from local to global politics to the sorry state of hip-hop, Ra Scion’s lyricism is on par with conscious greats of the genre such as KRS, Mos Def, Nas (circa ‘Illmatic’), Atmosphere, and Common.

Simply put (minus a few less than great beats), Common Market is hip-hop done right. Don’t take my word for it. Here is a quick list of songs you should buy off of amazon right now:

G’Dang Diggy

Escaping Arkham

Winter Takes All

Slow Down Moses

Tobacco Road

Love One

Poison

soothsayer – (video link)

As artists I give Common Market:

PRIMUS SUCKS at the Santa Barbara Bowl 8/15/10

Shogun00 — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 20:27:57 +0000

Another beautiful Sunday night in Santa Barbara and what better way to spend it than with PRIMUS. Before I get into that Wolfmother opened and they did a solid job performing a good mix of new and old and some covers to a unenthusiastic audience. They were saving their energy for the main act that came onto the stage nice and early around the 8pm mark, and since curfew is 10pm this should make for a solid 2 hour Primus show, WRONG.

OK fist off look at this STRONG setlist.

1. Pudding Time
2. Those Damned Blue Collar Tweekers
3. Duchess and the Proverbial Mind Spread
4. American Life
5. Golden Boy
6. Big in Japan (Tom Waits cover)
7. Over The Falls
8. The Toys Go Winding Down
9. Drum and Whamola Jam
10. Groundhog’s Day
11. Mrs. Blaileen
12. Jerry Was A Race Car Driver
13. In The Flesh (Pink Floyd cover)
14. Harold of the Rocks

Encore:
15. Southbound Pachyderm
16. Too Many Puppies

Awesome right? Southbound Pachyderm is a personal favorite. Les Claypool did his thing making complex bass moves look simple. The highlight is when he broke out the Whamola, totally awesome. The crowd was real into the show and if this was your first time seeing Primus then you were STOKED. Now on to people who have seen Primus. WTF is up with ending the show before curfew. Primus, who have not been to the Santa Barbara Bowl in years could have played a 2 hour kick ass set, instead they choose to only play a 1 hour and 25 minute kick ass set. Normally I would not complain, but we are talking about PRIMUS! These cats are supposed to jam out not call it in early. That left a bad taste in the collective mouths of seasoned fans, I especially feel bad for people who drove from LA to see Primus at this venue, its something else. The only thing I could think of was that they didnt sell out the Santa Barbara Bowl, that might be why they wanted to call it quits, or maybe they are getting old. One long time Primus fan and downtown venue/club owner that I will leave nameless stated he was “fistfucked in the face” along with a whole lotta of other super hallrouis shit that I could not retrain in my brain.

The verdict, despite calling it a night at 9:26pm it was a solid set. Weird visuals, on stage blow up astronauts and amazing musicianship made this a great Sunday night. HE COVERED TOM WAITS!!!! In the end they played 16 songs, and anytime you see a Whamola is a good time.

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New Music Review Bites – Autolux, Bear in Heaven, M.I.A., Best Coast

Shogun00 — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 21:25:30 +0000

Autolux – Transit Transit

6 YEARS!!!!!!! Thats how long it took Autolux’s sophomore album to come out. Who do these cats think they are the, Wu Tang Clan? Despite the incredible gap between albums Autolux has continued playing kickass live shows and are essentially a live band. Both Autolux albums translates an idea of what they sound like rather than an actual blueprint of their music. Transit Transit reflects this feel of freedom. I will be honest, the first time I listened to Transit Transit I did not like it at all. They are only a couple of overpowering in your face jams and the rest just seemed like noise trash filler, but then I gave the album another listen, then another, and now I cant stop listening to it at all. Subtle sonic tunes like Highchair, Spots and The Bouncing Wall are complimented by aggressive Autolux tracks like Supertoys, Audience #2, Kissproof and Census. You quickly realize after a couple of listens cover to cover there is a LOT of stuff going on you just don’t pick up on it on the first run, like using xylophones, I LOVE xylophone’s. The real fun is seeing these 3 live and it will be interesting to see how they work this new material with their old all the time incorporating their signature live sound. This new album gets 4 meats, and Autolux please don’t make us wait another 6 years for a 3^rd album ridiculous

Bear In Heaven – Beast Rest Forth Mouth

Where did this band come from? How did they acquire such a rad name? None of this really matters cause this album is pretty dope. This is their second album but my first experience with this Brooklyn based band, and it’s a good one. The music is fun and will put a smile on your face if you are into experimental rock with harmonious jams and catchy baselines. Don’t let the hipsters turn you away for this band or this album, both are cooler than any hipster’s opinion, you know who you are.

4 ½ Meats

MIA – / \ / \ / \ Y / \

Do I need to do this review? I waited until the hype faded and to be honest with you I thought there would be more. Diplo who contributed to this album is talk shit and long time pitchfork supporters gave this album a 4.4. I guarantee in like 10 years they are gonna re score this gem of an album. I have a huge bias to great music and this is great music. Total revamp of sound and style from her previous work / \ / \ / \ Y / \ is a blast of everyday sounds and crunchy noise all married with M.I.A. distinct style and creativity. Get on your grind and pick up this 4 meaty approved album.

Best Coast – Crazy For You

If you are from Southern California or California you should pick up this album. Crazy For You sounds, well like California. It has a great lo-fi garage rock sound and hints of surf rock from the 50’s and 60’s but not corny at all. The longest song is 3 minutes, which is great for kids with short attention spans and weed smokers. Front woman Bethany Cosentino uses cliché subject matters like relationships, summer, love, hate and partying to create catchy tunes great for your next summer BBQ. Bethany’s cat is also talked about in her music as well on the cover and actual CD, lucky feline. 4 meats for this Katy Perry hater.(I support the hate)

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Pack Your Heart You Might Need It – Deftones at the Ventura Majestic Theater 8/6/2010

Shogun00 — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 19:55:50 +0000

Another night in Southern California and another kickass show, this time by the Deftones.

These dudes always manage to come through to Ventura Majestic Theater and blast the doors right off. Yes this was a sell out show and looking at the set list you can see why.

1.Needles and Pins
2.Dai the Flu
3.Risk
4.Beauty School
5.Knife Prty
6.Digital Bath
7.Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away)
8.Lotion
9.Hole in the Earth
10.Diamond Eyes
11.Rocket Skates
12.Prince
13.You’ve Seen The Butcher
14.My Own Summer (Shove It)
15.Elite
16.Sextape
17.Lifter
18.Change (In the House of Flies)
19.Bored

Encore:
20.Caress (Drive Like Jehu cover)
21.7 Words

I TOLD YOU. Deftones have a large enough library of awesomeness that they could have played anything I would have been happy. As you can see the set list was super aggressive and they were on stage for quite a bit. The jams were tight and the acoustics were surprisingly crisp. Ventura Majestic Theater is an awesome venue, but it can be tricky on sound but lucky for me and the rest of the sold out crowd that was not an issue.

Chino was having way to much fun, smiling, screaming, running around and talking shit. Smack in the front center they constructed a raised level so Chino can be elevated so everyone could see him as he would rock the fuck out. The lights were pretty cool as well, they had these spot lights that looked all fragmented like in a comic book or something, you had to see it for yourself.

The only thing I didn’t like was the merch dude who wouldn’t sell me a limited edition poster print, he said it was for people that bought VIP tickets, damn that dude for doing his job!!!!!

4 Meaty Meats

Oh this is me talking with Chino outside the show. Funny story I met him at my first radio promotion for 89.5 WSOU Seton Halls Pirate Radio, we were doing the midnight release of White Pony at a Menlo Park Mall and I was lucky enough to me Chino and the rest of the Deftones and they were super nice. Thats what I told Chino outside, and although he doesn’t remember our 30 second encounter 12 years ago he does remember the midnight release and was still super nice. Big ups to Jen and her ninja camera skills for taking this candid shot.

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Right Ear Permanently Damaged – Boris at Casbah in San Diego 7/24/2010

Shogun00 — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 17:53:35 +0000

For reals, my right ear has not been the same since. I should have worn ear plugs to the show, especially because of all the brutality I have but my poor eardrums through this past week, (Rage, Dead Weather and Tool) luckily the ringing has stopped. Oh the show? Out of all the shows I saw this past week this one took the feedback cake.

First off the drive to the venue and back was totally worth it, the Casbah (that is how they spell the name of the club) barely held 250 (rough estimate) plus it was Comic Con so there was a healthy presence of people from all over the world, I met 9 kids from Australia. There was 1 chick wearing a penguin costume, she was sweating and bouncing around like she was on “e” and smelled pretty bad. Oh the show….

HOLY CRAP BORIS IS AWSOME LIVE. 2 years ago I had to fly all the way to Ohio to see these 3 open for Nine Inch Nails in Ohio, and they killed it then, so when I heard about this being their 1st show on their North American tour I had to check it out. I got up right in front, my knees were touching the stage dead center.

As soon as that fist cord got pulled my ears and body got blown the fuck out!!! This show was LOUD, and loud is good in my book. They might have only played 13 songs, but the set actually clocked right around the 1 hour 45 minute mark. The set list was AMAZING, covering most of their recent work and throwing it back. Tracks like 16:47:52 were 8 were really nice low fi breaks where as the rest of the set was just exploding with blaring experimental rock audio. Since I was so close I was able to see their tricks/talents up close and personal. Atsuo is a MAD MAN on drums. He was one of the greatest drummers I have EVER seen, and his rock face was super duper awesome. In fact he was the most animated on stage, he was mic’ed upped for vocals and throughout the show as he was drumming he would belt out some shouts in the middle of songs just cause, AWESOME. Wata was the only one on stage not to break a sweat, she seemed like a statue, almost like a delicate piece of porcelain with that signature Japanese beauty, but then I noticed her fingers, wtf!!! She is an AMAZING guitar player, she was picking, soloing, feedbacking, plucking and just plain killing it, but all with that modest persona that the Japanese are known for. Takeshi played with his double neck the entire time, he was much like Wata on stage, but every once in a while he could not contain himself at times and rocked out. They were joined by a 4^th band mate on stage, I didn’t know who he was, but he loved the feedback and pulled some serious metal solo’s as well. There was no bullshit encore, just one awesome set. During their last song Atsuo jumped on his kit and threw up both his hands up the metal way \m/ \m/ and stood their looking over the crowd for what seemed to be a good 3-5minutes, then walked into the middle of the crowd to retire, there was another 5-10 minutes of just droned out feedback until the rest of the band exited into the middle of the crowd, fuck yeah….Here is the Set List

Set list
1. Farewell
2. Rainbow
3. 8
4. Lungs
5. Floor Shaker
6. Statement
7. A bao a qu
8. 16:47:52
9. Akirame Flower
10. PINK
11. korosu
12. 1970
13. untitled

Like I was stating before, the set was incredible, it was like a hurricane, started subtle then all of a sudden it was chaos, sounds bleeding in and out of your brain, chords clashing with non stop drum progression, then a clam cool slowdown, is it over? Oh no no, your just in the eye of the storm, and then before you know it your in that same world wind ride then spit out the other side, forever changed by this experience known as BORIS.

5 Metal Meats

Also…

The Merch was pretty awesome, no poster prints, but a shit ton of imported vinyl

Also this was the only picture i could take, in fact this was the last picture my Mytouch camera took, the camera no longer works, fucking technology.

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Anger is a Gift Time to Rally Rage Against the Machine at Hollywood Palladium 7/23/10

Shogun00 — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 22:12:27 +0000

Before I start, milestone in Red Meat Reviews history, this is my 100th Post!!!! To commemorate this monumental moment I have picked a show to review that is near and dear to my heart. In true meat fashion lets get into it.

RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE played the Hollywood Palladium last Friday, I can stop right there, but you know I wont.

Needless to say this show RULED. The set list was more like a greatest hits album, plus they covered the Clash’s “White Riot” and during the cover song Rage turned on the house lights, the spectacle was like traveling back in time to when people moshed around and no one in the place was standing still. It is very very VERY rare that LA get down, it felt like an east coast show, it was awesome to come out of the show bruised, aching and soar, but unlike my youth it took my 30year old body days to recover rather than a good night’s rest.

The show itself was amazing. the band did a great job of mixing up their set list and playing a raw, uncut, super metal show for its home town in Los Angeles. The sell out show consisting of 4,000 people got a treat of seeing a stadium band playing one of their smallest venues since their break up. I havent seen them play a show like this thins 97 at the electric factory in Philly. Conor Oberst opened, but I missed his entire set which is a bummer.

There was some serious police presence at the show as well. Lots of cops, undercover and even some officers in riot gear just waiting for something to happen. I will get into that in a little bit.

Here is Rage’s set list, it speaks volumes over anything else I would say about this show.

1. Testify
2. Bombtrack
3. People Of The Sun
4. Know Your Enemy
5. Bulls On Parade
6. Township Rebellion
7. White Riot (The Clash cover)
8. Bullet In The Head
9. Calm Like A Bomb
10. Guerrilla Radio
11. Sleep Now In The Fire
12. Wake Up

Encore:
13. Freedom
14. Killing In The Name

There was a reason Rage was there. It wasn’t cause they wanted money, it wasn’t cause they were doing some reunion hoopla, they were there to raise money and awareness about the purely racist law that Arizona is about to pass and the Racist FEDERAL Law that Arizona’s law is based on. It is rare that a band can combine both art and awareness and pull it off. Rage excels at this, having seen them 11 times now this show was one for the books. The only thing that sucks is the fact that they had to throw a show in order to rally people, especially the kids, to raise awareness and to boycott the shit out of Arizona.

Boycott ARIZON. Don’t visit there, don’t see sports that involve Arizona, don’t perform in Arizona, if something is made in AZ don’t buy it. If you live in Arizona, move now. Basically Fuck Arizona.
On a personal note I cant believe that I live in a time where this is even a topic of discussion. Anyone who agrees with what Arizona is doing should take a good long look at themselves and the history of the United States of America. Remember what is inscribed into our Lady Liberty’s book, and I quote “”Give me your tired, your poor/Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free”

The show gets a good ol fashion 5 meaty rating

Your Anger is a GIFT

Shout out to Christian aka the Asian Opera for snapping this rugged ass pick on his iphone while getting thrashed around with yours truly. Big ups yo.

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Got Hung at Dead Weather at Hollywood Palladium 7/21/10

Shogun00 — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 21:04:30 +0000

Wednesday night, Hollywood Palladium, sold out show, blue motifs, whiskey smells and a whole lotta cigarettes describe this ultra rock show that Dead Weather put on. Allison came out looking like she was lost in 80′s rocking a Axel Rose hair cut looking super sexy while smoking and flicking madd cigs. Jack White was talking crazy amounts off shit having fun and even handing out some beer to some of the sweat soaked crowd press up in front. Dean was also doing his thing, at some points he was so into his performance he was literally rocking his keyboard back and forth, I thought he was going to toss it into the crowd. I wasn’t on Ben’s side, but he was playing like a mad man.

So yeah I thoroughly enjoyed this particular show. Dead Weather played a solid 2 hour set, all of which was good old fashion American rock n roll. check out the set.

60 Feet Tall
Hang You From The Heavens
You Just Can’t Win
…So Far From Your Weapon
I Cut Like A Buffalo
No Horse
A Child of a Few Hours Is Burning To Death
Die by the Drop
The Difference Between Us
I’m Mad
Hustle and Cuss
New Pony
Will There Be Enough Water?
Blue Blood Blues
Gasoline
I Can’t Hear You
Treat Me Like Your Mother

My rating, come on this was their best performance to date. Plus the poster art was SUPER DOPE

Madd props and and shout outs got to Kelly for taking these awesome pictures.

And this was too good to be true, and i got it on FILM!!!!

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New Music Review Bites- Ariels Pink Haunted Graffiti, Fools Gold, British India

Shogun00 — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 19:43:00 +0000

Ariels Pink Haunted Graffiti- Before Today

If you are into Lo Fi abstract genre questioning music than this is your dude. I don’t even know if I like what I hear, but I cant stop listening to it. WARNING this is not for everyone. The subtleties and details may be missed by the casual butt rocker, but the indie kids will love it. Go out and buy this album, file it under weird shit that’s cool.

Fools Gold

This self titled album is pretty good. It has super long songs and a world sound to it. Vocal harmonies paired with fun upbeat music all around makes this a great record for long drives and sight seeing. This could be the album for your summer montage of 2010!

British India- Avalanche

WTF! This album started out fantastic. Killer riffs, aggressive attitude and pretty good lyrics. But midway though I think someone just said fuck it I am done cause the album just loses all of its flair. If this was an EP I would rate this real high, but its not, so British India you must suffer the raw consequences.

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New Music Review Bites – Ratatat, Hot Hot Heat, Jamie Lidell, Tokyo Police Club

Shogun00 — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 16:14:42 +0000

Ratatat-LP4

The 2 baddest white dudes from NYC are back on their aptly titled 4^th album Lp4. Fans of smooth guitar work, frantic bhangra and conga’s, dope ass audio sound bites, and all things funky will dig this latest piece of work that Ratatat has laid out. Is it much different than the last album? Not really, it more of the same, the same awesomness that is. I use the word awesomeness a lot. Pick this album up and be the coolest kid on your block this summer. Fort reals college kids love this shit.

Hot Hot Heat- Future Breeds

I was real skeptical about this album. I don’t even listen to these dudes anymore, I skip their songs anytime they come up while I am shuffling. I was going into this album waiting to hear the same type of music. It was a nice surprise that they switched up their style. Much more aggressive, yet still super fun. If there is one track to listen to it has to be JFK on LSD, and the track after that, Jedidiah, has this ending that is totally bugged out, it just a bunch of nonsense audio cuts put one after the other, AWESOME!!!

Jamie Lidell – Compass

I let this album collect dust for a bit. To be totally honest I didnt hear it until set my iPOD to shuffle, and then though the magic of randomness I heard this soulful, gospel choir Chris Cornell like voice taking me to church, and like it or not that is where I was heading.

All joking aside this is a sleeper hit. The music is all over the place, using a conglomerate of instruments and God knows what else to create a sound that complements Jamie Lidell’s awesome voice. Normally I am not a fan of this type of music, but this is a solid piece of musical expression.

Tokyo Police Club- Champ

I had HIGH hopes for this one. I love me some TPC, but this album not so much. By the 5th or 6th track the album takes a nose dive. Maybe I need to listen to it more, this album sounds like more of the same. I would recommend it if you are into this band, if your not then listen at your own risk.

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LCD Soundsystem @ the Fox Theater in Pomona 6/5/2010

Shogun00 — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 00:02:19 +0000

This was a bitter sweet show for yours truly. I love me some LCD Soundsytem but have only experienced them in festival format. Finally I get to see them do their own thing, and guess what, this is their last tour.

The show was kick ass, they played all their hits, and there was a lot of shit talking going on. Their on stage presence was real strong, playing on a tiered staged, a whole lotta lights and some serious fog action assisted in the street fighter uppercut that LCD delivered to the crowd. The set list was sick. Drunk Girls, YR City is a Sucker, and Daft Punk is Playing at My House were all crowd favorites. Pow Pow had this Lord of the Rings(when Sauron dies in the first one and there is a shockwave of bass) meets the Deathstar firing bass sound that travel through the floor up into your feet and out your third eye that made you say WOW during Pow Pow. But the jam of the night was “Yeah”. First off the song went well past the 10 minute mark. They turned on the fog machine to high and slowly but progressively had this warm green light that eventually took up the entire stage, now your cant see anyone, only silhouettes during this serious jam. Then out of nowhere, LAZERS!!!!! Shooting out all over the place, it was a sight to behold. They came out did a 3 song encore, and which included and ended with New York, I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down.

Hopefully James Murphy will consider sticking around and continue to make kick ass music as LCD Soundsystem, if not is was a fucking awesome ride while it lasted. Thanks LCD Soundsystem, pow pow.

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