Tag Archive for san-francisco at Candied Pop

Tag Archive for 'san-francisco'

Our Lady of the Highway - Beauty Won’t Save Us This Year

Published by David August 21st, 2006 in Free Tracks, Album, Review and 2005. 0 Comments

A prayer before I put in my earbuds: “Our Lady Of the Highway, may you be with me on this journey, which does not leave the confines of this room for fear of taking off my headphones as others my hear the desolation that tears apart my wretched heart. Amen.” Back when I was kid when musicians got all sad and mopey they wore black and started a band, covering nothing but Joy Division and wore makeup like Robert Smith, and we used to walk to school - up hill both ways. Today depression comes in all shapes and genres, and San Francisco’s Our Lady of the Highway heaves it out layered in alt country, mainstream pop, a little faux punk and some emo, all mixed together with oppressive lyrics. The lead singer, Dominic East writes all the songs in his bedroom and that fact is clearly apparent in this 2005 release.

Although East’s vocal stylings have a similar quirkiness to bands such as Modest Mouse, Built To Spill and the Mountain Goats, the lyrics are immensely personal, as most of the songs are about breakups and of course the inevitable broken heart. Musically they sound like a lot of current acts that are mainstream which surprises me they haven’t hit it yet. The band has the capacity to rock out but the high parts are too short: the intro to “End of the World” has a dub/funk/reggae jam which lasts only 23 seconds. Right now this album, Beauty Won’t Save Us This Year, is available for free on eMusic as well as the band’s website when you purchase their latest release Kill You With Numbers. From one free track, I Get The Sense it appears the band is beginning to branch out but they still need to reflect on other things than that girl that broke his heart years ago.

Free album: Beauty Won’t Save Us This Year

Michael Franti & Spearhead - Yell Fire

Published by David August 8th, 2006 in Free Tracks, Album, Review and 2006. 1 Comment

When popular mainstream artists such as Bruce, Dixie Chicks, Neil Young or even Charlie Daniels and Toby Keith bring political matters to the stage or God-forbid into their music, it usually creates an uproar amongst their fans. For some strange reason naysayers think that a musical artist’s political opinions should be separate from their art. Regardless, controversy is most likely created because it is unexpected by these artists who for the most part stray away from political material. Michael Franti is no stranger to letting his fans know his opinions, he has been creating music with an underlying political agenda since his first band the Beatnigs in late eighties then in the early nineties with The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy. The roots of protest music can be traced back to blues and folk music from the thirties through the seventies, then punk and reggae from seventies forward. With a sound that some classify as hip-hop, Michael Franti manages to incorporate all of these said genres into his sound.

Not an extremely prolific career, releasing only five albums with Spearhead since forming the band in 1994, fans wait at least three years between albums. Thankfully, but most likely also a contributing factor to the lapse in time, he is constantly on tour. His last album with the band was 2003’s Everyone Deserves Music the album in which he matured with an expressive sweet-sounding voice and this release continues in the same vein. Upon returning from a tour of war-torn countries in the Middle East, which is documented in the newly released film “I Know I’m Not Alone”, Franti began recording Yell Fire partially in Kingston, Jamaica and back home in San Francisco. With Sly & Robbie helping out on the Kingston tracks the album sounds more like a reggae album than any of his previous releases such as Home and Chocolate Supa Highway with the later containing a track with Bob Marley’s son Stephen on lead vocals.

Kicking the album off with a beat straight from the Joe Strummer handbook, “Time to Go Home”, calls for the return of our soldiers. The song “Yell Fire”, with obvious inspiration by Gil Scott Heron’s “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised”, not only addresses the war in Iraq it also hits on our addiction to gasoline, tobacco, prescribed medicine and excessive commercialism. Franti has made it clear that he wants to start a revolution against wars but with “Hey Now Now” he’s also ready to fight to party all night. “Hello Bonjour” is a worldwide cry for peace layered with sappy lyrics and a repetitive chorus that sounds like a European cell phone commercial but after a couple listens I am hooked. “One Step Closer to You” one of the softer songs is coated with Jamaican roots and features Pink on background vocals; it cries out to be an instant classic.

The title of the album comes from the phrase, “Don’t shout fire in a crowded theater” an action that is not protected by the First Amendment. Franti isn’t calling for a hectic riot, he’s outside of that theater warning us not to go inside. His message may be peace but it is not a soft, flowery sixties approach; when it comes to pacifism Franti is tough. Not that this CD or any other will change the world, if just a few of us take this peaceful advice the world may be a better place. Surprisingly for someone who has seen war firsthand, Franti sings about such poignant subject matter in such a joyous voice, spreading good vibrations, while criticizing government and influencing people to get up and dance. At the same time this can also be considered the album’s major flaw since the message he brings can also be dismissed as background jargon. Like most reggae music this works great on hot summer day regardless of your political views. It’s like a watching CNN while your on vacation in the Bahamas. So whether your looking to relax sipping a cool island drink, running on the tread mill or marching in front of the Whitehouse Yell Fire will motivate you to do those things.

Freebies Yell Fire

Kaskade - Here and Now

Published by James May 25th, 2006 in Album, Review and 2006. 0 Comments

While it might seem early to release a retrospective, especially given that Kaskade has only released two full length albums, however due to Ryan Raddon’s prolificness there is more than enough material to mine since he has been busy over the years pumping out remixes, singles, and compilations for Om Records. Here and Now is a two-disc collection that covers both of his albums as well as some remixes and assorted tracks from the Om catalog which is a boon and a bust at the same time.

If you are an Om junkie and completest like I am, furiously snapping up each and every release, than Here and Now will likely find its way into your collection. The bust is that most of the tracks are familiar, though this is not to say they aren’t often outstanding like the infectious soulful snap of “It’s You, It’s Me” with it soft pads and driving House back beat which is by far one of my favorite songs. Now if you have only heard a handful of Kaskade’s cuts than this set is a boon as it covers nicely his career up to date hitting all the high points and skipping the fluff.

Kaskade’s work is best described as big, rounded, summery House music. The beats and the grooves are clean and minimal with the focus on setting a mood, lulling the listener into a dreamy smile filled trance where one cannot help but tap one’s feet and sway one’s hips. The vocalists sing in hushed, breathy tones like they are whispering in your ear while the synths swell and swirl about your head like a breeze. “Everything (Big Room Mix)” is a superb example of Kaskade’s ability to build a song up from layers of simple beats and melodies while finding the right place for such delicate vocals to still pop out of a thick blanket of sound.

The four remixes are the highlights of the set as they give a good sense to how Kaskade works tracks to create club friendly tracks as well as how he’ll blend them to create transitions between each track. While most of the four are built up over beats “Soundtrack to the Soul (Extended Mix)” instead constructs the track using the vocals as the foundation using various sections in loops he creates a late night mix filled with energy but holding back just enough to leave the listener with the anticipation that bigger sounds are to come. Sleeping deeper into the evening is “I Like the Way (Troydon Mix)” which throws things back with a loping, retro-feeling 2-Step Garage number with a slippery synth loop, crisp drum programming, and a stuttering vocal loop that gives just enough for the listener to hang their ear on.

If you are a fan of House music than this set is a must for you, especially if you have a penchant for that warm summer sound that Om Records is known for releasing. While this is a repackage of his work with nothing new it is still a must for those new or familiar with his work as Kaskade is at the top of his game and this set proves it. You can pick it up at either eMusic or Amazon.