Category: Blog

Categories
Playlists

cellar door’s recent obsession: 90s/00s hip hop

Here’s a playlist that you can play in a variety of settings. These songs are chill, lyrical, funky, jazzy, introspective and nostalgic. Rap deals with a lot of heavy subject matter and a lot of the songs below talks about serious stuff. While I love rap and I love to have fun while I listen to it, it’s important to recognize the black stories being told here. With that being said, I’ve provided a bunch of things to do while listening to each song for a maximized listening experience. 

Gangsta Bitches (ft. Da Brat & Trina) – Eve

  • Play this when you’re getting ready for a party or a date and you wanna feel badass.

Nas Is Like – Nas

  • Play this when you’re walking to and from class.

What They Do – The Roots

  • Play this while you look out of the window of a car riding passenger.

Blast – Reflection Eternal

  • Play this when your friends come over on Friday.

Verses from the Abstract – A Tribe Called Quest

  • Play this in the car at night and bob your head the whole way.

Mr. Me Too – Clipse

  • Play this while you’re cooking dinner it helps you concentrate.

Shook Ones, Pt. II – Mobb Deep

  • Play this when it’s raining out and you feel a little emo.

Tonz ‘O’ Gunz – Gang Starr

  • Play this to speed-walk to class.

Big Momma Thang – Lil’ Kim

  • Play this while you get ready with a bunch of your friends (no boys allowed sorry).

Superthug – N.O.R.E.

  • Another song to play in the car. Volume up.

When I B On Tha Mic – Rakim

  • Another amazing song to play on the walk to class. I also think it’s great in the shower.

Liquid Swords – GZA

  • Night driving song. Chill, but hardcore.

Beware – Big Pun

  • Angry? Play this.

Grindin’ – Clipse

  • If you wanna dance, this Neptunes beat will do it for you.

MHB’s – Quasimoto

  • If you wanna chill and laugh at a clever bar, listen to this.

Southern Hospitality – Ludacris

  • Another futuristic and funky Neptunes beat. Dance to this.

Hip 2 Da Game – Lord Finesse

  • This catchy chorus will have you hooked and bobbing your head.

Blow the Whistle – Too $hort

  • High speed chase with the police? Play this to get away with it.

Hate It Or Love It (ft. 50 Cent) – The Game

  • A catchy chorus and infectious beat. This is a summer song.

Song Cry – Jay Z

  • If you’re sad, Jay Z will rap you to sleep with this amazing sampled beat.

She’s A Bitch – Missy Elliot

  • Get you and your krump dance crew together for some new choreo with this one.

-cellar door xxx

Categories
New Album Review

ALBUM REVIEW: Wolf Parade – Thin Mind

ALBUM REVIEW: Wolf Parade – Thin Mind

BEST TRACKS: Wandering Son, The Static Age, Against the Day

FCC Violations: Julia Take Your Man Home

               Thin Minds, released earlier this month, is Wolf Parade’s sixth album. You might have heard of Wolf Parade in the context of their genre-shattering 2005 album Apologies to the Queen Mary, which paved the way for many more odd, jittery indie rock bands to come such as King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, and King Crimson. After taking slightly different paths with their later albums over the years, Wolf Parade again embraces their roots with Thin Mind, an album that evokes the same feelings and energy as their debut album Apologies to the Queen Mary. Original fans of Wolf Parade will be relieved to know that the band has returned to their early style. Wolf Parade took the sound of Apologies to the Queen Mary and refined and finely aged it to produce yet another stunning rock album.

               Songs on this album feature unique melodies slightly twinged with electronic style, but surely grounded in pure rock. The shining feature of this album is definitely its tendency for catchy, melodic riffs. Flourishing keyboard work by Spencer Krug keeps the energy surging from song to song as Dan Boeckner’s guitar work holds you captive with it’s immense grit. Some of the charm of this album is due to the subtle 80’s pop-synth influence and Krug’s frazzled vocal style.

               Even though it was released in the peak of winter, Thin Mind is a very summery-sounding album to me. It reminds me of swimming in the lake, climbing pine trees, and going camping, possibly because of the nostalgic, coming-of-age energy this music exudes. This album will make you want to set your inner child free, to leap and bound over the hills. Themes on this album are very inspirational. The very first track, Under Glass, is about freeing yourself by embracing uncertainty.

If you’re a fan of Arcade Fire circa 2004, then this punchy album is sure to win your heart.

-Safia Rizwan

Categories
Band/Artist Profile

Artist Spotlight – Yola

Yola, born Yolanda Quartey, is a 36 year old Bristol, UK native. She has worked in the music business since the early 2000s backing for artists such as Massive Attack, The Chemical Brothers, and Iggy Azalea. In 2010, she joined Bristol band, Phantom Limb, as lead vocalist. She left the band when her artistic work began being put down by the rest of the band. To pair with her vocals, Yola began learning guitar and writing her own songs. In 2016, she released her first EP, Orphan Offering, but it did not reach audiences enough to make much of a name for herself outside of the Bristol scene. 

After Orphan Offering, Yola continued to develop her sound. She teamed up with Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys and began crafting her debut album, Walk Through Fire. Named after a real-life experience of setting her kitchen on fire, Walk Through Fire serves as a metaphor for the artist leaving her old life behind and emerging as a transformed musician in the industry. The album is full of stories of heartbreak and turning the page on past relationships. Her style is colorful, integrating genres from singer-songer/American, to r&b, to pop, to the sounds of Muscle Shoals. The album is both heartwarmingly nostalgic and refreshingly modern. Through Walk Through Fire, Yola has made a name for herself in the music industry and left audiences excited for what she has to come.

– dj lizzo

Categories
Classic Album Review

Hidden Gems brought to you by The Eclection

Tasseomancy

ALBUM: Ghost Bees – “Tasseomancy” 2008

 BEST TRACKS: Sinai, Erl King

 LISTEN TO IF YOU LIKE: ethereal folk, pagan folklore 

 FCC 

Clean

If anyone reading this is a fan of Grouper, think about if Grouper was to make music similar to Agnes Obel or Joanna Newsome. Oh, and if Grouper obsessively wrote lyrics about pagan myths and sacrifice.

At any rate, the group now called Tasseomancy (based on the title of the album they released under the name, Ghost Bees), the sisters Sari Lightman and Romi Lightman produce some of the most lyrically intriguing modern folk. Their first album under Tasseomancy, Ulalume (2011) attained some significance in the underground music community as an experimental folk album dedicated to poems about death… but before that, they released “Tasseomancy” in 2008, and this is truly a hidden gem.

Some background on this Toronto based group: their great great grandmother was a Russian Jewish tea-leaf reader so the name “tasseomancy” and the album cover for this album are dedicated to her. In general though, their lyrics have an extreme pagan influence, with songs like Tear Tassle Ogre Heart with lyrics like “But god, I trace your guts and wear them as a beauty mark.” Tracks like Erl King refer to the legend of the “Erlkönig,” or king of the fairies (written by Goethe) about an anxious young boy who is lured by the fairy to be murdered. Some example lyrics from this track are “The gifts I could give to you, the wind and the wild river spring. Child, you’re beautiful, come quiet, come willing.” A truly disturbing, but remarkable track.

The vocals are just absolutely haunting on this album, both in terms of tone and lyrics. Certainly check out this album if you want to hear some folk music with dark under and overtones sung by two women who are great a capella performers as well as guitarists.

 -ArtZoyd (Host of The Eclection)

Categories
Weekly Charts

Chainsaw Charts 2/4

Artist Record Label
1 WORMHOLE The Weakest Among Us Lacerated Enemy
2 SEPULTURA Quadra [Advance Tracks] Nuclear Blast
3 CATTLE DECAPITATION Death Atlas Metal Blade
4 MAGNITUDE To Whatever Faithful End Triple B
5 BRAND OF SACRIFICE God Hand Unique Leader
6 SHADOW OF INTENT Melancholy Self-Released
7 SIGNS OF THE SWARM Vital Deprivation Unique Leader
8 UPON A BURNING BODY Southern Hostility Seek & Strike
9 AFTER THE BURIAL Evergreen Sumerian
10 DISENTOMB The Decaying Light Unique Leader

Categories
Weekly Charts

Daytime Charts 2/4

Artist Record Label
1 BLACK SURFER Black Surfer [EP] Self-Released
2 TRUTH CLUB Not An Exit Tiny Engines
3 BASEMENT REVOLVER Wax And Digital [EP] Sonic Unyon
4 JUNIOR ASTRONOMERS Body Language Self-Released
5 VACANT COMPANY Decolonize [EP] Deep Sea
6 DOTWAV MEDIA Rather Die Than 9-5 Dotwav Media
7 LALA LALA Sleepyhead (Reissue) Hardly Art
8 OH SEES Face Stabber Castle Face
9 GREEN BUZZARD Amidst The Clutter And Mess I Oh You
10 PAT JUNIOR I Thought I Knew Be Absxlute
11 CEREMONY In The Spirit World Now Relapse
12 METZ Covers [EP] Sub Pop
13 GEOWULF My Resignation PIAS
14 MILLY Our First Four Songs [EP] Dangerbird
15 OH ROSE While My Father Sleeps Park The Van
16 BLACK BELT EAGLE SCOUT At The Party With My Brown Friends Saddle Creek
17 BLACK MARBLE Bigger Than Life Sacred Bones
18 FLORAL PRINT Floral Print Tiny Engines
19 PEAER A Healthy Earth Tiny Engines
20 MANNEQUIN PUSSY Patience Epitaph
21 CHARM “Leo Rising” [Single] Self-Released
22 KING GINO Cold Blooded Callisto
23 CHASTITY BELT Chastity Belt Hardly Art
24 DESERT SESSIONS Vol. 11 & 12 Matador/Beggars
25 HOP ALONG How simple Saddle Creek
26 MACSEAL Super Enthusiast 6131
27 ALEXANDRA SAVIOR The Archer 30th Century
28 DARKSOFT Brain Self-Released
29 KATE TEAGUE Kate Teague [EP] Muscle Beach
30 BODYWASH Comforter Luminelle

TOP ADDS 

1 FRANCES QUINLAN Likewise Saddle Creek
2 REAL ESTATE “Paper Cup” [Single] Domino
3 COLD BEAT Mother DFA
4 BAD SOUNDS Escaping From A Violent Time, Vol. 1 [EP] Theory
5 DEEPER “This Heat” [Single] Fire Talk
6 FYOHNA Radio Sampler [EP] Self-Released
7 SLOTFACE Sorry For The Late Reply Nettwerk
8 PAPOOZ Night Sketches Half Awake
9 WOLF PARADE Thin Mind Sub Pop
10 DIET CIG “Night Terrors” [Single] Frenchkiss

Categories
Weekly Charts

Underground 2/4

Artist Record Label
1 LAVA LA RUE “Widdit” [Single] NiNE8 COLLECTIVE
2 LO VILLAGE “Jefe’s House” [Single] Rebel
3 ZACK COKAS “Bust Down” [Single] 808s and Beatbreaks
4 SKYXXX “Hotboy” [Single] Warner
5 EVIDENCE 10,000 Hours Rhymesayers Entertainment
6 J.I.D. Off Deez (ft. J. Cole) Dreamville/Interscope
7 FOGGIERAW “I Gotta Ball” [Single] Diff Sound
8 NESS HEADS “Pull Me Up” [Single] Ness Heads
9 HEALTH “HATE YOU (ft. JPEGMAFIA)” [Single] Loma Vista
10 LESTHEGENIUS “Raleighwood Hills (ft. Sonny Miles and Jaxson Free)” [Single] Self-Released

Categories
Band/Artist Profile

Artist of the Week: Neil Peart

On January 7, 2020 we lost one of the most prolific drummers of all time. Neil Peart, best known as the drummer and primary lyricist of RUSH, died from brain cancer (glioblastoma).

Peart was born in Hamilton, Ontario on September 12, 1952.  He first began in music with piano lessons, something he would later say had no impact on him. He was always drumming on various things around the house as a child, so at 13 his parents bought him drum sticks, promising that if he practiced for a year they would buy him a drum set. He began taking lessons on his new kit at 14. By his late teens Peart had played in several local bands

At 18, he moved to England hoping to further his career. It took about a year and a half before he became frustrated and returned to Canada. He joined a band named Hush, and they toured the Southern Ontario bar circuit. Soon, though, he heard that a rising band, RUSH, needed a new drummer to replace the band’s original, John Rutsey. Peart officially joined the band on July 29, 1974. Two weeks later Peart and RUSH were on tour, beginning in Pittsburgh, PA.

The band had one record out when Peart arrived, and in 1975 Fly by Night was their first offering with Peart. It was considered a successful record, though the next (Caress of Steel) was not. In 1976 RUSH released their breakthrough album, 2112, and the rest is history. The band has 19 studio albums, with ten exceeding one million copies sold in the US. They are ranked third for the “most consecutive gold or platinum albums by a rock band" – Billboard.

Peart’s drumming style is fascinating! Its foundation is the rock bands of the 60’s and 70’s (John Bonham, Led Zeplin ; Ginger Baker, Cream). Into this solid base he added Jazz and Big Band techniques and styles. He played while holding his sticks butt-end out, giving him bigger sound and greater rimshot. Sometimes he played with a traditional grip and others with matched grip. His drum kits were 360 degrees around him, rotating to reverse the layout of the drums, with as many as 40+ drums.

Neil Peart – “The Goat" as he was affectionately known; “your favorite drummer’s favorite drummer,” other musicians would say; Variety wrote, “Widely considered one of the most innovative drummers in Rock history.” USA Today considered him “one of the best Rock drummers of all time, alongside John Bonham, Ringo Star (The Beatles), Keith Moon (The Who), Ginger Baker, and Stewart Copeland (The Police).” Best known for his “technical proficiency,” he was the youngest inductee into the Modern Drummers Hall of Fame in 1983. Over 40 years with RUSH… You are missed, sir.

Categories
Classic Album Review

Album of the Week: KoRn – KoRn

You would have to try really hard to find a better record of the time than KoRn’s debute album, KoRn! Released on October 11, 1994, through Immortal/Epic Records, the record (and the band) rewrote how Metal was played and how it was supposed to sound. In fact, it was the beginning of a whole new genre – Nu Metal.

The iconic album cover depicts a small girl bringing her swing to a stop as she squints to see an ominous figure standing before her holding knives. A shadow of the figure and the knives is all that can be seen in the art. Speaking of shadows, the little girl’s shadow appears to depict her hanging from the KoRn brand. Intense!

Korn recorded almost the entire album with all members playing (and singing) simultaneously, rather than the normal routine of tracking one instrument at a time. They felt that playing as a band captured the distinctive sound and quality of the music, rather than the production. Jonathan Davis (vocals) recorded the bagpipes on “Shoots and Ladders" by walking around the parking lot, playing, while a microphone was set up at the back door.

“Blind" is THE song on this record! The awesome dueling riffs of James “Monkey" Shaffer and Brian “Head" Welch are matched only by the trademark line of Davis, “Are you ready?!?!?!?” “Ball Tongue" is an example of the incredible bass playing of Reginald “Fieldy" Arvvizu, with his patented clicking of his pick-ups. “Shoots and Ladders" calls into question nursery rhymes and their dark meanings of racism, plague, rape, and killing. The lyrics in quite a few of the songs concern experiences suffered by Davis – “Clown" is about a skinhead getting an attitude with Davis, and the road manager knocking the clown out. “Helmet in the Bush" is about Davis’ drug abuse. “F***“ is about when Davis was in high school where he was continuously bullied and called names. And “Daddy” is a very dark and disturbing track about Davis being abused by a close family friend. It is extremely graphic! “Need To,” “Divine,” “Predictable,” “Fake,” and “Lies” are the rest of the songs on the record, all dealing with Davis’ experiences. David Siveria plays drums and his quick, snapping hits really add a tribal feel to the album.

This record (and a major motivator for the band) is to be a voice for the voiceless; for those broken, beaten, and scarred. It helps to heal by realizing that you aren’t the only one going through this horrible thing. KoRn knows and understands.

As of 2013, KoRn has sold over 10 million copies worldwide.

Favorite songs: Blind and every other song on this record, but especially Blind!!

Rating: 10/10!!! One of my all-time favorites!

Stay Metal,

THE SAW

Categories
New Album Review

New Album Review: Pinegrove

ALBUM REVIEW: Pinegrove – Marigold

BEST TRACKS: Dotted Line, Moment

FCC Clean

Pinegrove is the best thing to come out of New Jersey since the invention of the lightbulb. They are seemingly always lovelorn, and exist so in a most vulnerable, straightforward, poetic way.

Strangely enough, this album reminds me of Ed Sheeran’s album Divide. There are similarities in the simple guitar and complementary percussion. The music sounds slightly bleak but mostly nostalgic and sweet. Marigold does not encapsulate the full range of lead singer Evan Hall’s astonishing range. I think it’s safe to say that I was blown to the ground the first time I heard Hall scream the word ‘underground’ in the song “Aphasia” from the album Cardinal. There barely a trickle of strain or intensity in Hall’s singing on this album. I am disappointed that we don’t see any raspy, twangy yawps or chilling screams and growls on this album.

On the surface, this album contains all the signature warmth and beauty of a Pinegrove album, but the lyrics this time are less hard-hitting and heart-wrenching. I feel less of a deep personal connection, as the lyrics are vague, and less vulnerable than Pinegrove’s last few albums.

I feel that Marigold is lacking the powerful, raw emotions, with touches regret and mortality that I have grown to expect from Pinegrove. Musically, this album is on par with the high standards I set for Pinegrove, but when I try to dive deeper into this album, I find that my skull cracks against the concrete at the bottom of the shallow pool that is Marigold. All in all, this album is good. The only reason that I was so harsh in this review is because I know that Pinegrove can do better. I haven’t given up on Pinegrove yet. I will be eagerly awaiting their next album and in the meantime, I will stick to listening to Pinegrove’s best album, Cardinal.

-Safia Rizwan