Songs for all times

Tower Records finished going out of business this past week. Thank God.

I'm not happy they are not going to be around anymore. I am happy because they had this whopping going out of business sale. My collection received some welcome new additions. Allow me to share...

Starflyer 59 - the Silver and Gold albums. This band is the creation of one particular man named Jason Martin who has been crafting meticulous albums for his entire career as a musician. Both Jason and his brother Ronnie (the man behind Joy Electric, which I will address briefly later) approach each of their individual albums as singular creations. They are quite clear about making cohesive albums. A lot of artists claim to make cohesive products. These guys delight in it. If anything, that is there downfall. But, when you get hooked, it sticks. Silver is a fuzzy wall of buzz and melow meloncholy music with glimmers of joy that feels like the way a cloudy day feels. I've never encountered anything like it. His music reminds me of other moody music while never seeming derivative. If his emulating someone, I am fooled. If they are copying him, I'm not surprised. The music is not what I would recommend to most people. It took me a couple listens to understand what the songs meant to me. Now that I've tasted it, though, I love it.

The Appleseed Cast - Peregrine
It's airy, emo, open, dense, inviting, and electronic. I haven't had enough time to really absorb it, yet. But, so far it has grabbed me by being unpredictable in a good way. It's very accessible, in an interesting sort of way. They sound like a band that maybe used to want to be like Jimmy Eat World, but then decided they wanted to experiment a bit more. The production style on this album reminds me of some of the weird things The Beatles did to push buttons. What makes it effective for me is it sounds and feels live. Since I sort of stumbled onto this after hearing vague remarks that it was "good", it makes me happy Tower gave offered it for such a good bargain.

Family Force Five - Business up front
Ridiculously catchy, goofy, party, dance, hip-hop, hard rock, silly, bubble gum, decent music by five brothers. When I first heard their name and their music, I thought their age was probably 16 - 21. Tis' not the case. These guys are all in their twenties. A couple look like they are in their late twenties. Total guilty pleasure types of songs, with lyrics like "Ugly people, put your hands down!!" (implying that the crowd should all raise their hands), "Shake it like an erfquake!!!"(telling people to dance), and "Hold up, Wait a minute, Put a little LOVE in it!!" Ahhh, these guys are entertaining. An easy band to market. The major labels tried hard to get them. They are now in a split record deal between a Christian hip-hop/r&b/dance label and a major label.

a Solid State and Tooth & Nail dvd. Two dvds with music videos and commentary from bands I either like or marginally care about. The three highlights are the Norma Jean video, whenever one bands makes commentary on another band's video, and the Joy Electric video for "Song For All Time". This last video is silly. The concept follows an ancient Atari styled video or computer game. Cheap graphics. Simple concepts. Musically, Joy Electric can sound like a video soundtrack from time to time. The video makes me laugh. And I've had "Song For All Time" stuck in my head all week.