Blog archives for November, 2009

Mastodon is a band that’s from Atlanta and said to be a heavy metal or progressive metal band. They are now an outstanding band in the past few years, and since starting back in 1999, they have acheived a lot – touring around the world, releasing 4 albums, and increase and expanding their fan base.

Guitar strummer Bill Kelliher and Brann Dailor, a drummer, moved to Atlanta and they met up with Brent Hinds, a frontman and guitar strummer, and Troy Sanders, vocalist and bass player. They met at a show, High aflame. The realize they had plenty in common – an appreciation and love for sludge metal bands, and shortly they might come together to form the band Mastodon. By 2001, the band was in a position to get a record deal with the label Relapse Records. Their first EP was released in 2001 – Lifesblood, and later in 2002 they’d release their debut full album, Remission.

The singles from this album include “Crusher / Destroyer” and “March of the Fire Ants.” In 2004 Mastodon would release their 2nd album, known as Leviathan, and it received a large amount of imperative commend. Kerrang and Terrorizer gave it the award of Album of the Year, and Metal Hammer named it the second best album of the year. Another excellence this album received was the third best album during the last twenty years, given to them by metal Hammer. Blood Mountain was their 3rd album, which came out in 2006, right before the band toured with Tool across Europe.

The 1st single from this album was “Capillarian Crest,” which reaced number twenty-six in the leading 100 songs of 2006 by Rolling Stone. The album did outstandingly well, noted by Peculiar, Revolver magazine, Pop Matters, and Metal Hammer. Just latterly in March of 2009 Mastodon released a 4th album – Crack the Skye. They’ve an ordinary version, as well as a deluxe version of the album. Inside merely a week of this release, it reached number eleven on the Poster advertisement 2 hundred. A couple of the tracks included on their latest release include “Divinations,” “Oblivion,” “Ghost of Karelia,” and “The Last Baron.” Mastodon has definitely become a top “voice” in the new wave of metal music that has just become so preferred. With a tough and loud sound, they definitely bring back metal music in a fresh way. Engaging words and hard-hitting songs have made the band favored, and they continue to draw supporters to their band.

They have toured around the planet with top bands, and continue to tour, working to bring around a “new wave” of metal.

The New York indie scene is well, laying down a vibe that is causing a stir everywhere. Bands like The Virgins, MGMT and Vampire Weekend among others, have been living up to the awareness that they received last year. These Cool New Bands, were tipped by all of the majors of the released press and made giant outpourings online and blogosphere. Spin, Rolling Stone and NME all saw the potential in these young bands. Now virtually a year later the bands have released their debut albums and have been going from strength to strength. This new wave of Yank talent has been lapping at our shores. The Virgins have been to Europe many times, particularly playing Paris Fashion Week a bit back and lately returning to the city of love.

MGMT, (officially The Management) and Vampire Weekend have both been hitting the EU holiday circuit including here in the United Kingdom and in Iceland.

NY has traditionally been a beacon in the musical world, nurturing talent which has gone on to typhoon the globe. This latest iteration of Manhattan cool is being controlled by bands like The Virgins, MGMT and Vampire Weekend. They reflect the diversity in the US, with Vampire Weekend obviously being influenced by West and Central African music as well as Western Classical music. The Virgins on the other hand play straight indie rock and have been selling out shows in NY, and lately in Europe, at the majority of their gigs. Representing a certain piece of Manhattan cool, it does not hurt to have 2 previous models in the band and a large number of A-list celebrity mates with which to party with.

Pals with designers Agnes B and Henry Holland, and UK model Agyness Deyn, the group are one of the coolest groups to come out from NY lately. MGMT have taken a marginally different trail to celebrity. Their up to date release of their dbut album, Oracular Spectacular, has been commended by the press since it hit the shelves. Taking their kind of psychedelic electronic pop, the band has managed to form a sound that’s both different yet also reassuring familiar.

The album features the title track from their earlier released EP, Time to Pretend. The bands are also open in their praise for their producer, David Friedman, of the Flaming Lips, who worked on the new album.

I know this is a frightening task and I completely and prepared to have folks disagree with me. I attempted to take any bias out of this, so without any more wasting of time, here it is.

1. The Beatles – Really about the sole number most should be in a position to agree on. They electrified numerous bands in the future and were pioneers when they became gigantic. After they split up, all of them went on the have solid solo careers

2. The Rolling Stones – This band has stayed together forever, and have also put out a bluesy taste of rock ‘n’ roll. The past few years have been a little dodgy, but they’re sill solid. Songs like “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction” have lived on as a classic.

3. The Who – Part of being a great band is display, and nobody did it better at the time than the Who. Also, their nine / eleven appearance simply robbed the show and gave folk the idea the Who still had it.

4. Led Zeppelin – Announced the post-Beatles time by dominating announcements with a great collection of songs.

They played a lot of complicated songs in that time, and even took themed music to a higher level.

5. U2 – Personally, I am not a big fan of the band. That shouldn’t keep them from being this high on the list though. The group personified the 1980s, led by Bono. They heralded the post-punk age.