Matthew Dear - Asa Breed - Raw Steel Album Review Mp3

Artist: Matthew Dear
Album: Asa Breed
Label: Ghostly International

Rating: A-

Spawning from a 'breed' of producers and DJ’s from Southern Michigan (Ann Arbor, Detroit), Matthew Dear isn’t as completely micro-house on this album as his biography suggests. A more accessible Matthew Dear smells of success.

Dear may be an accomplished booty-shaker maker, but his songs on his third album, Asa Breed, are composed as slower tempo-ed dance tracks sung (figuratively), not on a stage, but from the corner of a room. Dear holds attention despite his unique deep, guttural ‘air-voice’ (analogous with ‘air-guitar’). As exclaimed from the press release, Dear has decided to use more organic sounds on this album, and it shows. International sounds are prevalent, including the Caribbean track, Elementary Lover.

Lyrically, Dear lives in his own world... a world that is synonymous with everyday life but has a tinge of wisdom and 'tried and failed' experience with those who he’s close to. Dear doesn’t seem as if his life is a wreck as his lyric sheet may suggest though as this album is sung more on a bad day, than a bad year. The day when one stops and takes a look around to discover that nothing makes sense the way it should.

Dear seems to know more about life than he should which leaves him paralyzed to making music. Communicating with his audience, his lyrics are rather straightforward-- “There’s a big hole in my life”. Pretty straightforward. These types of lyrics can open up ears. We all can either relate, or just take enjoyment in hearing others break down.

Finding love is hard for Dear, but it sounds like his standards are quite high. He’s looking for the ever evasive girl with the right personality and not the girl who can be bought, as he sings, “I’ve got to figure out love, it’s such a tricky thing, can’t include diamond rings, will make you scream and shout, if there is no way out”.

M.D. brings a well rounded album and leaves room for a sequel. Refreshing for the mid-20 year old. The first 3 tracks provide a thesis statement for the rest of the album. His sounds and influences are too numerous to mention, as are many coming from a DJ background. Beyond track 3, Deserter (highlight of the album), Dear lets his hair down, as the album slowly gets less danceable and more personal.

-Raw Steel

Rawdio Show, Like a Raw Needle on a Steel Record

What a show! This one could be one of my best. It's got everything really. If you're just stumbling across my page. I highly recommend putting my show on and sittin' back. There really is no down time. The tracklisting can be found below, pretty self-explanatory how it works.

As always, I recommend every single song to the casual listener. My show airs on Saturdays 8-10 pm EDT wiux.org.

1
Calvin Harris - Girls
Feist - Sealion
Roisin Murphy - Overpowered
2
Ghostland Observatory - Sad Sad City
Parts & Labor - Fractured Skies
Spoon - Don't You Evah (*NEW*)
Matthew Dear - Pom Pom
3
Dr. Octagon - Earth People
Glass Candy - Rolling Down Them Hils
Handsome Furs - Dead + Rural
Cut Copy - Going Nowhere
4
Professor Murder - Free Stress Test
Totally Michal - Cheerleaders vs. Drill Team
Tiny Whales - Same Shoes
5
Of Montreal - Oslo in the Summertime
Architecture in Helsinki - Heart it Races (Dr. Dog version)
Mix Master Mike - Bangzilla
6
Vicarious Bliss - Limousine
Subtle - Middleclass Kill
Yoko Ono - Everyman Everywoman
I Am the World Trade Center - Love Tragedy
7
Calvin Harris - Acceptable in the 80's
Ghostland Observatory - Silver City
Dan Deacon - Pink Batman
Pootie Tang


Welcome to Swede Sunday! Swedish Looove

Last week I caught you up on what's going on in Sweden that probably already know about, and if you don't. Why don'tcha catch up?

This week, Swede Sunday is featured by The Tough Alliance. Their short bio says it all:

The Tough Alliance is a music duo from Gotenburg, Sweden, that plays electronic pop. The duo first came
together in 2003 and consists of the childhood friends Henning Fürst and Eric Berglund. They used to be on
Swedish record label Service but have now started their own, Sincerely Yours.

With two EP's out, Make It Happen and Holiday, and one full-length studio album, The New School, they have been given much critical acclaim and have established themselves on the Swedish indie-scene. Their live shows have also been given much attention in the Swedish media when they often swing baseball bats on stage and sing to recorded music. Their critics claim they glorify violence in general and hooliganism in particular, something The Tough Alliance denies. During a show in Stockholm, Sweden, the two band members were thrown off stage after swinging a baseball bat.

"Never Mind the BuzzCocks", a Wonderful Show Chalk Full of British Jibba Jabba

I was introduced to this show, Never Mind the Buzzcocks, recently and I love it! I don't know anyone on this show, but it appears they're famous across the pond. The guy on the far right is quite funny in his own comedic act, The Mighty Boosh.

Here's 5 videos. The top 3 are three parts of one episode of 'NMtBC', and the bottom 2 are from 'The Mighty BOOSH'. It's not all rubbish, mates.
p.s. I realize now why I'd never heard of 'Towers of London '(the band), the video reeks of British rock twatishness.






Don't forget about my show tomorrow night at 8 pm EDT wiux.org

Handsome Furs - Plague Park - Raw Steel Album Review

Artist: Handsome Furs
Album: Plague Park
Label: Polydor

Rating: B+

Handsome Furs consists of Dan Boeckner (Wolf Parade) and his fiancée, Alexei Perry. This is their first album, entitled Plague Park. Boeckner has honed in on his voice, instrumentation, lyrics and has added a few new electronic sounds. Handsome Furs achieve what many bands these days are attempting, maybe they do so well because Boeckner was apart of writing those rules with Wolf Parade.

Listening to Wolf Parades Apologies For The Queen Mary, it’s hard to differentiate between Spencer Krug and Boeckner. Here, it is now revealed as to who is responsible for what sounds. Boeckner reminds us of the unforgettable sporatic keyboards, the lengthy bass synths, and song structure in general.

There are times where their songs can cause a loss of attention, never to redeem themselves, although, power and intensity remain driving factors throughout the album and make for some spine tingling moments. Tell that to Sufjan Stevens.

Lyrically, ‘ghosts, homes and towns’ remain a staple. The lyrics when looked at by themselves create a sense of strong pessimism but only through eyes that have experienced, like those of Boekner.

Notes act as pigeons, and Boeckner shoots/sings each one to pieces with laser blue-blocker glasses equiped. The album dies down near the end, but with as strong an effort given, Handsome Furs deserve much praise.

-Raw Steel

Mix-Tape Wednesdays

Hey, Mix-Tape Wednesdays here. Todays mix concerns people -- pessimistic, cynical, humorous and sarcastic views on people. People have always been a topic in music, but here is a collection of straight up PEOPLE. These are the kind of songs for those who are fed up. Each artist could care less if they sell their music to exactly who they despise. So, these songs are for those of you saying, RawSteel:

I Hate People, But I Love Talkin' Bout 'em

It ends with some hope for man-kind.

The Maccabees Colour It In - Raw Steel Album Review

Artists: The Maccabees
Album: Colour It In
Label: Polydor

Rating: C-

The Maccabees hail from Brighton, England but a musical ear hears an American neo-yelp band trying to sound British. A few years back I made a forgotten wager with a girl that The Arcade Fire sound was going to be the new mainstream. After hearing Interpol, Bloc Party, The Futureheads, Franz Ferdinand, etc get so much attention, it didn’t take long until a band like The Decemberists burst on the scene (thanks to Stephen Colbert). The Maccabees are in the discipline of the former mentioned bands, placing them in limbo between trend-setting and mainstream acts.

Lyrical themes on their new album, Colour It In, suggest; teen angst, ‘new love insecurities’ and a feeling that even going to the supermarket is a struggle, as the song Lego suggests- “So look left and look right, cross the road and hold my hand”.

A band written off as ‘the same of the same’ is a hasty critique. The Maccabees won’t be your favorite band, but they will force you to either rethink some of your favorite bands of the genre or to simple turn them off and put your favorites in.

Orlando Weeks, ironically, can’t seem to get away from conformist lyrics as in the song Latchmere -- “Madames and Monsieurs please return to your cubicles”. He sure loves the ever-present anti-ignorant topic, ANTI-CHRISTIANity, which, must be said, is a beaten horse due to the Internets vast dissemination of atheist/agnostic values. In all, more of a conforming act is to dis on the almighty. Weeks makes one want to believe in God again to keep their statuscool, as he suggests in his own singing-- “Symetricool, hypocriticool, analyticool, so criticool”.

It’s not all bad for bands that come out with identical content to their predecessors. There’s always that person that stumbles upon a band like The Maccabees and gets introduced to a new sound --possible candidates: a tweener, a 52 year old man in a mid-life crisis, and that Geico caveman. The album does indeed sound solid (a positive) despite the review completed before it began.

-Raw Steel

Beastie Boys Remixes by Leo Nevoli

Heres a lil' mix for y'all to peep, it's called L-E-O Nevilo does it again.A few days back I posted some ill remix tracks from Leo Nevilo (myspace). You know, the man who's heralding in our NYC heroes' (Sirs, The Beastie Boys) new instrumental album, The Mix- Up <0-0-0-0-nice>

Swede "Sunday" (Swedish Love)

Welcome to Swede Sunday! Swedish Looove.

Sweden has come a long way invading our beaches with AWESOME music. Most notable acts include: The Knife, PB&J & Jens Lekman.
Other home country heroes include Jose Gonzalez, Hello Saferide & Hell on Wheels. This is not by any means where the list ends. It seems that Sweden has used the Internet in the past decade to unleash it's musical gems, and I'm here to reciprocate.

Andres Lokko is a Swedish music journalist who lives in London. He says that while the word “indie” is often associated in other countries with guitar-based music, in Sweden it has a broader meaning. “The Swedish definition of indie has much more in common with the original term: that it is independent music,” he says. “What would be labeled electronica or some other genre in the UK or the States is defined as indie in Sweden, whereas the music that is actually guitar-based – the post-Oasis pop songs – is considered to be pretty much mainstream.”

“You can tell that music is Swedish just from the melody,” says Lokko. “Because English is the language of pop music, there is always more emphasis in Sweden on melodies. And Sweden is cold, so maybe we need sweeter melodies.

“Perhaps there’s a higher level of musical integrity in Sweden. It seems that bands are less likely to follow the prevailing ‘scene’ than in the UK or USA. Having a government that makes some effort to be supportive of musicians must help too.”
– Huw Rees, boss of Stereo Test Kit Records, quoted on noisedfisk.com

Quotes from Sweden.se

I'm jumping head first into Swedish music so I'm using this post as a basis for further posts. Above is the "master playlist" for Swedish music (as we, Americans, know it). What I hope to discover, each Sunday, is that there are many more acts worthy of recognition.

Raw Steel - Rawdio Show

My first Rawdio show of the Summer was as well orchestrated as I wanted with a LOT of room to grow. I'm quite happy with this show and even got a few callers, specifically a dude at Subway who apprehensively requested The Mars Volta. I've got exactly what the doctor ordered next week. *Note* The Subway he called from was the same Subway that Jared completed his infamous weight loss walk/eat, all despite rumors that his apartment was less than 50 feet away.

These tunes have been backed up for about 2 months now, so they're extra fresh. These are mostly dance/disco from 2007. They are grouped by the name of the first song of each clip, but it is all one continuous show. For song listings; Click on that button on the top right ('open track in new window') while a clip is playing, then look around the middle of the page.

Tune in next Saturday 8-10pm EDT wiux.org (stream)

Kalle J - Unga Hjarten (exclusive b-side!)

The wonderful crew at Unga Hjarten (video) (a young label grounded in Sweden) have sent me, what I am dubbing, my first exclusive, and I couldn't be more excited!

This tune is just plain fun! A piano ballad turned disco. Imagine a slew of people running out to greet that young heart in the middle of the dance floor. If anyone can help me out on a translation on the lyrics, if at all, to this song, I would greatly appreciate it. I hear 'unga hjarten' in there, but maybe I'm just tricking myself because of the title.

If this is a b-side, well, the album is gonna rip some faces off!

Kalle J - Unga Hjarten (young hearts) buy

If you haven't heard what's causing the buzz around here, here's your chance to catch up. Song of the summer, ALREADY!

Kalle J - Vinglag buy

I was going to save this new track for my newest feature here on RawSteel, unveiled on Sunday, but I'll tell you anyways.

Sunday is Swede Sunday, soon to be called, simply, Swedish Love! I'm quite excited about new music coming out of Sweden, as well as the "love" pouring in from the country to my site. Check back soon.