Album name: The Parallels Amongst Ourselves Artist name: Sugar Army Genre: Rock Released: July 2009 Label: Shock ZME Rating: 5/10 Website: sugararmy.com/au In The Style Of… Mock The Week! SCENE: A RATHER BARE STUDIO. A CENTRAL DESK IS FLANKED BY TWO LARGE CURVED ONES. A LARGE VIDEO SCREEN IS EMBEDDED IN A SIDE WALL. DRAMATIS PERSONAE BRIAN O’HARA – Good-natured Irish host HANK E. FOIL – Caustic Glaswegian ne’er-do-well MUSCLED COWARD – Cheeky chappy Q….
Or, as they’re perhaps more commonly known, Soundgarden. Y’know: Soundgarden. The most interesting band of the big Seattle four, who recently played a reunion show at the famous Showbox Theatre. That Soundgarden. And now there is a pro-shot video of their performance of Beyond The Wheel from that gig, which – quite honestly – defies all logical expectations, and both illogical ones. It’s gooooooooooood. That’s after the jump.
In an unanticipated one-off ZME Special, I am now going to present an important instruction for anyone considering attending a concert within the next fourteen decades. Consider this both vital, and extra vital.
Album name: Ocean, Meet The Valley Artist name: The Literary Greats Genre: Country Rock Released: October 2009 Label: ERROR ERROR ERROR ZME Rating: 7/10 Website: theliterarygreats.com An intro: My inbox appears to have become some sort of primitive, text-based time machine. No less than two – TWO – separate e-mails have arrived recently, directing my bespectacled eyes towards albums that were released in the latter half of last year. Naturally, my hip-to-the-jive neophile tendencies led…
Album name: Memories Are Hunting Horns Artist name: Saredren Wells Genre: Folk-indie Released: 11 May 2010 Label: Rinehart Records ZME Rating: 6/10 Website: Myspace SCENE: A post-post-apocalyptic Earth – burgeoning cities arise next to arid wastelands, the human race who had for centuries abandoned this place having returned mere decades ago. As rugged off-road vehicles race along the desert trails, a passenger-carrying space cruiser glides past the screen, a child waving to camera from behind…
Album name: The Big To-Do Artist name: Drive-By Truckers Genre: Rock Released: 16 March 2010 Label: ATO ZME Rating: 8/10 Website: drivebytruckers.com It’s all about “Birthday Boy” this time. On every Drive-By Truckers album, there’s one song that, quite helpfully, doubles as a litmus test as to whether you’ll like happily gorge yourself silly on what they’re dishing out. On Gangstabilly, their rough-and-ready debut album, it was “The Living Bubba”, probably the quintessential DBT song…
So, if you’re of the age where standing up requires a manly grunt and a sturdy handhold, you may remember a time when the Smashing Pumpkins were an exciting, viable rock band, rather than a withering, sputtering self-parody, and when Jane’s Addiction were quirky artisty-types rather than the embarrassing uncles of the alternative scene. It’s fair to say that Apteka – promising upstarts from Chicago – probably have some fond memories of that time, because…
How have we not posted about this already? The Hold Steady’s new album, Heaven is Whenever, is all set for release in May (the 4th in America, 3rd in Europe), and to set tongues a-waggin’, they’ve been drip-feeding songs from the album around the internet like delicious little morsels of heroin – seemingly innocuous, but so very more-ish. So, to start with, our pretentious chums over at Pitchfork have been kindly streaming “Hurricane J”. Go…
Album name: Life Artist name: Uniform Motion Genre: Folk-pop-cartoons Released: 9 February 2010 Label: Aahhh Records ZME Rating: 5/10 Website: uniformmotion.net I’m something of a deliberate philistine when it comes to fine art. Despite spending six years or so studying the subject in one form or another, I never really saw the appeal. I mean, sure I can appreciate it up to a point; I’ll give you your Da Vincis, your Rembrandts, your Dalis -…
Album name: Good Mystery Artist name: Amber Rubarth Genre: Sweetness Released: 12 January 2010 Label: Unsigned, which is criminal ZME Rating: 8/10 Website: amberrubarth.com Much of this world passes me by with alarming speed and frequency. Trends, fads, fashions and vehicles alike all skim dangerously close to my face, while I remain the proverbial Captain Oblivious, wrapped up in a cocoon of cheerful obsolescence that fits me like an old, worn-out glove. This means I…
Al Byrne