Owel - Paris (2018-2019)

Classic Case of I've been checking out, but still have yet to hear an entire album (or heard it to form a semi-accurate opinion).

However, I've listened to about 2/3 of this album once, and some of the 1st couple of tracks a few times to know I am pretty much won over.

Credit goes to a super Mew/The Dear Hunter and PCR fan like myself named Heather whose maybe known best for her work on the MewX podcast.

Edits will likely have to happen, but this album dropped last Friday March 29th and Heather along with others comparisons to MEW along with some others (Oceansize and Kindo) had me curious.

Lorenzo from altprogcore also posted about them on twitter and his blog I assume.

Lots of great strings, namely Violin.

I hear Jazzkamikaze, Paper Route, Team Me, Ours, The Receiving End of Sirens, Aereogramme, Miracles of Modern Science, Revere and a lot of others.

The vocals are probably the biggest challenge, but technically their singer is pretty good. And the vocal lines are well-written. He just has a bit of an "Emo" or Youthful side (but not really like Anthony Green thankfully for me).

That and I suppose partially due to originality. They do remind me of a lot of other artists, however I think their songwriting is good enough it may not matter.

And this is their 3rd album, so I may have to go back to their previous two LPs eventually.

but for now, another album and ARTIST to come out of nowhere on my radar, that is doing progressive college rock with strings and dreamy dynamic parts that I totally go for.

And they're from New Jersey, so maybe I'll have a chance to see them live at some point.

Also they covered "The Crowing" from Coheed and Cambria, which I will have to check out soon.

Vennart - Copeland [EP] (2017-2018)

So this is the Companion EP that I picked up as part of my Deluxe/Bundle preorder of To Cure A Blizzard Upon A Plastic Sea which both are being released 1-week from tomorrow on Friday September 14th.

I am happy that it is purely digital, making the physical version more rare at this point.

The 2nd track "Castlefordian Girls" is streaming. Haven't heard it yet of course, but will later.





1. Terrors
2. Castlefordian Girls 04:26
3. Mines
4. Ambi
5. I'm Janick Gers

Vennart - To Cure A Blizzard Upon A Plastic Sea (2017-2018)

6/21/18

Digital Preorder (physical preorders coming soon)

Preorder for physical items coming SOON. #redtape #fuckwits #ballaches #diy

— Mike Vennart 🔺🔺🔻 (@Vennart) June 21, 2018

1. Binary
2. Donkey Kong 05:25
3. Immortal Soldiers 04:51
4. Into The Wave
5. Friends Don't Owe
6. Spider Bones
7. Sentientia
8. That's Not Entertainment
9. Diamond Ballgag
10. Robots In Disguise

6/11/18

"Immortal Soldiers" new song. The section at 3:06 I enjoy most.

Album comes out September 14th. Preorders coming soon.


https://twitter.com/Vennart/status/1006104566109233154

'To Cure A Blizzard Upon A Plastic Sea' will be released on September 14th. Pre-order soon. Stay tuned. x

6/7/18
New album from Vennart titled "To Cure A Blizzard Upon A Plastic Sea" coming soon.
2nd song single coming on June 10th on Radio One "Immortal Soldiers"
More of the details coming soon of course.
Oceansize fans are going to need to hear this of course.


From Vennart's email list:

RADIO ONE ROCK SHOW PREMIERE! 

It’s coming, i swear…

 A BRAND NEW TRACK WILL BE PLAYED ON THE RADIO ONE ROCK SHOW ON JUNE 10TH! DON'T MISS IT!

Rock Show with Daniel P Carter

Here’s the annoyingly brief teaser…

Immortal Soliders
We cannot wait for you to hear this record. It’s called ‘To Cure A Blizzard Upon A Plastic Sea’ and you're gonna be so good together.

 With love,

Mike Vennart


1st single "Donkey Kong"

VENNART - Donkey Kong [1B] (2018)

http://www.vennart.com/

Vennart (aka Mike Vennart's band) has an upcoming record, his/their 2nd album, the follow-up to The Demon Joke from 2015, an album I love a ton.

So if you go to Vennart's site and sign/re-sign up to the email list, you get a free download of "Donkey Kong" the 1st single.

Just listening now, uh, I really like a lot of this, but good lord this song is ALL OVER THE PLACE, schizophrenic, but not contrived really.

I suppose it's not all that unusual for Mike, but I at the same time I'm not sure he's written a song that with as many changes?

At any case, I certainly will post a brand new entry about the album, details, etc. But for now, I can certainly endorse this to anyone who enjoys The Demon Joke or Oceansize of course.

oh and it may take a little while to get an email (someone mentioned a couple of hours), but it's well worth the wait.

November 2017 Videos: CDs, Vinyl, Collectibles

So I decided to upload and share these videos from November 2017 that I made in the Storage space (and of course not edited. I know YouTube does have an editing function that maybe I'll have to try and play around with soon).

I guess these and some of the others are kind of obvious why making videos isn't too easy for me (the space/situation and of course TIME among other reasons).

And my head does get cutoff frequently, but so be it, maybe I'm and even others don't mind or are used to it.

The 2nd video the LIGHTS GO OFF (turns black) per the hallway lights at the Storage space are on a timer and I think it's like 15 or 20 minutes, which I need to remind myself whenever I may be making videos there in the future.

Had that not happened, there likely would have only been 3 videos.

The 4th video is up so close, dunno why I didn't realize that, but again, so be it.

Also in reviewing these, I have a few more items still to show, namely Extreme and a Rush 7" I think from Black Friday Record Store Day. Maybe soon, perhaps when some of the other Vinyl I'm expecting come in (Subterranean Masquerade, Typhoon among others).



CDs
Team Me - To the Treetops
Mew - Visuals
Faith No More - Angel Dust [Deluxe]
Bend Sinister - The Other Way [EP]
Snarky Puppy - Culcha Vulcha
L.E.O. - Alpacas Orgling

VINYL
Nektar - A Tab in the Ocean
sElf - Porno, Mint & Crime
sElf - Ornament & Crime
Mutemath - Play Dead



VINYL
Oceansize - Effloresce
Major Parkinson - Blackbox




VINYL:
Major Parkinson - Blackbox
Team Me - Blind as Night
Pat Metheny Group - Pat Metheny Group
The Dukes of Stratosphear - 25 O'Clock [EP]
East of the Wall - Farmer's Almanac
Scott Matthews - Elusive [7"]
Galactic Cowboys - Long Way Back to the Moon



Joey Secchiaroli (of The Reign of Kindo) - Answers to Questions You Never Asked (Book/Booklet)
The Crimson Cube (King Crimson Rubiks Cube)

Mew @ The Turf Club 8/13/17

Okay, so Mew returned to Minnesota for the 2nd time in nearly 2 years (Here's my review from the October 5, 2015 show in Minneapolis at The Triple Rock Social Club).

And for the 2nd time, I can say they blew me away. I think part of it is hearing many of the songs, namely the Frengers/Kites/No More Stories tunes, live, has this amazing ability to bring me NOSTALGIA.

And like the show in 2015, I couldn't help but blubber a bit, succumbing to tears. The videos (*Visuals*) add a lot. So dreamy, dark, twisted, and surreal. They get to escape into the music actually.

And I'm just going to add right here in the review:

A Feature Entry(s) and Video is long overdue about Mew. And certainly I doubt I'll be able to avoid among the anecdotes, the memories/images of a couple tunes. "Zookeeper's Boy" and how I always think of the Michel Gondry/Gael Garcia-Bernal film The Science of Sleep, which oddly, when I started writing in this blog in December of 2006, I recall writing a review or referencing it. Granted, I saw that movie at Lagoon Theater in September or October of 2006, so it was a few months before then. But the Summer/Fall of 2006 also was my Mew discovery period.

Also "Louise Louisa" I think it is off Kites, in recent years has hit me like a ton of bricks for some reason associating it with the experience of 1st meeting my wife at KFAI.

But hopefully those long-winded tales will be found at a near-future form.

back to this review. The new songs so work pretty well live. "Twist Quest"  and "Nothingness and No Regrets / Season" along with "Water Slides" from Plus Minus.

They just create such great atmosphere, I can't help but be swept up in what they present.

And for the 2nd time in 2 years, the band were gracious enough to hang around and chat with the fans here. Jonas, Johan Wohlert, Mads, Dr. (Nick) Watts, and Silas who I only got to speak to briefly as I was leaving. It was absolutely STORMING out though; per thankfully I didn't have a long trek to make from St.Paul. The band and some of the fans there, I feel for, like friends from Facebook Jared and his brother Matt (although Matt told me he now resides in Golden Valley, but Jared is from Austin, MN. Both of them I guess seeing their 1st Mew concert).

But the band were very down-to-earth, engaging like a couple of years ago. I spoke with Jonas about Prince even, and I just skimmed that review from 2 years ago, we chatted about Prince back then as well, lol. But also Kimbra. Per her guesting on Plus Minus, and Jonas guesting on The Golden Echo, I wonder if they could do a tour at some point together. If it happens, I would not be surprised. Kimbra I guess is in Japan right now, but she has a new album in the works, so who knows.

Anyway, I can't really say enough good things about last night, save for I am grateful they are still a band, making music and touring. I mentioned Oceansize, Pure Reason Revolution and Vennart to some of the fans and guys in Mew.  I can't find it right now, but there was an article around 2006 (or maybe 2007 or 2005) that mentioned Mew, PRR and I want to say Klaxons. Oceansize may have also been mentioned, but they were buzzed about on the forums with those 2. Klaxons?..never got into them.

but when I met Mike Vennart last April with Biffy Clyro, I mention both PRR and Mew to him and I thought he said 'Size did a gig or even a tour with Mew at 1 point.  But I look at the progressive band from Europe/UK from the last decade, and with PRR and Oceansize not around now, I am still grateful Mew is. I guess they ultimately had the most crossover appeal among those 3, for whatever reason.

More on this hopefully soon i.e. talking about my history and Mew's albums, etc. Since it is long overdue in a lot of ways.










(photos per Jared on the Mew fan group on FB)

In a Better Place
Special
The Zookeeper's Boy
Candy Pieces All Smeared Out
Satellites
Introducing Palace Players
Snow Brigade
Start
Twist Quest
Water Slides
Apocalypso
Saviours of Jazz Ballet
The Zookeeper's Boy
Carry Me to Safety

Encore
Nothingness And No Regrets / Seasons
Am I Wry? No
156
Comforting Sounds

Extreme Metal Bands and Breakups (As of early August 2017)

Not sure how long this will be, but with the breakup of Spawn of Possession yesterday, it adds again to the list of extreme Metal bands I love who have broken up.

Spawn of Possession
Textures
Agalloch
Cynic

and the other name that comes to mind is Vektor who are not technically broken up, but if I recall 4 of the 5 members left, so in many ways, they feel like they are also done, or may reinvent themself, i dunno.

The hope comes to  mind when these bands break up, is at least to be curious what some of the members end up doing next. Solo stuff, or new bands. The members of Agalloch have done that anyway.

I guess I'm curious to find out what the guys in SoP will do now, especially since it sounded like they had been working on a new album. Maybe some of that material will come out in 1 or more forms or another.

I guess not Metal, but I look at the breakup of Oceansize in 2011, and what Mike Vennart has done since, to fill that void. In other words, I do hope the members of these bands do create new music and bring in work that I loved at least I enjoy if not love that is like the music they made with those bands.

The tough part often is though, it often isn't as good. But every situation is different, so I guess only time will tell.

I just hope that list above doesn't continue to grow anytime soon, but if it does, it does bring up the belief about music and obscure/cult-level artists just can't be expected to last for decades (or even 1 decade I suppose).

Or the other thought I often have is when one of these bands breaks up, I'd love to see a band from the past like Necrophagist, return (they haven't ever "officially" broken up, but their last album was in 2004. Their lack of recordings even beats Tool in that way).

The Year 2005 Albums Chronology + Top 30+

Shit, I don't have time to write a proper review yet, but I've spent enough time with this 1, that I want publish it finally.

Maybe/likely an Edit, especially considering how amazing and deep this year was/has become and was sort of the 1st memory of making an EOY list for albums, but my list back in 2005 was maybe 10 or 15 albums?

With all intentions, I'll add more to this summary, but initially, just look at the list and Calendar. So many 4-star albums. This might be my favorite Calendar year for music over the last 25 years.


3/10/17:
So what I really want to add beyond the above is, this was a very special year. You look at the list below, and many of the albums are from favorite artists of mine and in some cases my favorite or a top 2-3 album in their catalog. While the TREOS and Coheed albums I adore and are the only what I consider definitive 5-star masterpieces, I could easily see bumping up 4, 5, 7, 10 or more of them to 5-stars down the road.

Maybe among some other years, this would be 1 year I would LOVE to go back in time and live through again hearing all of these albums as the year went by.

I guess now thinking about this, as I go through the years in history, I will have to try and post a separate entry, with just links to the entries and top 10-30+ lists and kind of think about favorite years, etc.

Also one observation with the Calendar, the stretch from mid to late August through early October was amazing. Neverending White Lights through Broken Social Scene, there's a ton of all-time favorites in there, and they all were released in that 6-7 week window of time, lol. For Modern times, that's pretty significant.



1. The Receiving End of Sirens - Between the Heart and the Synapse
2. Coheed and Cambria - Good Apollo 1: I'm Burning Star IV: From Fear through the Eyes of Madness
3. dredg - Catch Without Arms
4. Oceansize - Everyone Into Position
5. The Mars Volta - Frances the Mute
6. Imogen Heap - Speak For Yourself
7. Mew - And the Glass Handed Kites
8. Subterranean Masquerade - Suspended Animation Dreams
9. Porcupine Tree - Deadwing
10. Opeth - Ghost Reveries
11. Bend Sinister - Through the Broken City
12. Between the Buried and Me - Alaska
13. Time of Orchids - Sarcast While
14. Klimt 1918 - Dopoguerra
15. Neverending White Lights - Act I: Goodbye Friends of the Heavenly Bodies
16. Gospel - The Moon is a Dead World
17. Karnivool - Themata
18. Kaddisfly - Buy Our Intention: We'll Buy You a Unicorn
19. The Decemberists - Picaresque
20. Margot and the Nuclear So and So's - Dust of Retreat
21. Josh Rouse - Nashville
22. The New Pornographers - Twin Cinema
23. Sufjan Stevens - Illinois
24. Bloc Party - Silent Alarm
25. Burst - Origo
26. Shadow Gallery - Room V
27. Gojira - From Mars to Sirius
28. God is an Astronaut - All is Violent, All is Bright
29. Avenged Sevenfold - City of Evil
30. The Ebb and Flow - Time to Echolocate
31. Pat Metheny - The Way Up
32. King's X - Ogre Tones
33. Shaman - Reason







Dark Tranquillity - Character
rel January 24, 2005


Pat Metheny - The Way Up
rel January 25, 2005


Bend Sinister - Through the Broken City
rel February 1, 2005



Bloc Party - Silent Alarm
rel February 2, 2005


God is an Astronaut - All is Violent, All is Bright
rel February 4, 2005 



Karnivool - Themata
rel February 7, 2005




Josh Rouse - Nashville
rel February 22, 2005



The Mars Volta - Frances the Mute
rel March 1, 2005 (US)


Porcupine Tree - Deadwing
rel March 28, 2005



Nicole Atkins - Party's Over
rel March 2005




Matisyahu - Live at Stubb's
rel April 19, 2005



Klimt 1918 - Dopoguerra
rel April 25, 2005


The Receiving End of Sirens - Between the Heart and the Synapse
rel April 26, 2005


Time of Orchids - Sarcast While
rel April 26, 2005


sElf - Porno, Mint and Grime
rel April 2005


Gospel - The Moon is a Dead World
rel May 10, 2005


System of a Down - Mezmerize
rel May 17, 2005


Shaman - Reason
rel May 23, 2005


Margot and the Nuclear So and So's - Dust of Retreat
rel May 31, 2005


Ulver - Blood Inside
rel June 6, 2005


Avenged Sevenfold - City of Evil
rel June 7, 2005


Dream Theater - Octavarium
rel June 7, 2005


Francesca Gagnon - Hybride
rel June 7, 2005


Presto Ballet - Peace Among the Ruins
rel June 7, 2005


Shadow Gallery - Room V
rel June 7, 2005



dredg - Catch Without Arms
rel June 21, 2005


Subterranean Masquerade - Suspended Animation Dreams
rel June 21, 2005


The Chap - Ham
rel June 27, 2005


Cloud Cult - Advise from the Happy Hippopotamus
rel June 2005


Sufjan Stevens - Illinois
rel July 4, 2005


The Ebb and Flow - Time to Echolocate
rel July 12, 2005


The Most Serene Republic - Underwater Cinematographer
rel July 12, 2005




Wolf Parade - Wolf Parade
rel July 12, 2005


Imogen Heap - Speak For Yourself
rel July 18, 2005


Lights on the Highway - Lights on the Highway
rel July 18, 2005


Clor - Clor
rel July 12, 2005


Veda - The Weight of an Empty Room
rel July 26, 2005


Gogol Bordello - Gypsy Punks: Underdog World Strike
rel August 9, 2005


Minus the Bear - Menos el Oso
rel August 23, 2005


Neverending White Lights - Act I: Goodbye Friends of the Heavenly Bodies
rel August 23, 2005


The New Pornographers - Twin Cinema
rel August 23, 2005


Facing New York - Facing New York
rel August 30, 2005


Opeth - Ghost Reveries
rel August 30, 2005


The Age of Rockets - The Drive Home
rel September 1, 2005


Between the Buried and Me - Alaska
rel September 6, 2005


Sigur Rós - Takk...
rel September 12, 2005


Strap the Button - What Kind of Rat Bastard Psychotic Would Play That Song Right Now at This Moment?
rel September 14, 2005


Oceansize - Everyone Into Position
rel September 19, 2005


Coheed and Cambria - Good Apollo I'm Burning Star IV: Volume One: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness
rel September 20, 2005


Zero Hour - A Fragile Mind
rel September 20, 2005


Mew - And the Glass Handed Kites
rel September 26, 2005


Abandoned Pools - Armed to the Teeth
rel September 27, 2005


Gojira - From Mars to Sirius
rel September 27, 2005


King's X - Ogre Tones
rel September 27, 2005


Wolf Parade - Apologies to the Queen Mary
rel September 27, 2005


Broken Social Scene - Broken Social Scene
rel October 4, 2005


Pure Reason Revolution - Cautionary Tales for the Brave [Mini Album]
rel November 29, 2005


Kiss Kiss - Kiss Kiss [EP]
rel October 11, 2005


Burst - Origo
rel October 17, 2005 (Europe)


Wolfmother - Wolfmother
rel October 31, 2005 (Australia)


Paulson - All at Once
rel November 22, 2005


System of a Down - Hypnotize
rel November 22, 2005




Dikta - Hunting for Happiness
rel November 2005


Lehto and Wright - The Thrashing Machine and Other Stories
rel December 5, 2005



The Stiletto Formal - Masochism in the Place of Romance [EP]
rel 2005


This Will Destroy You - Young Mountain
rel 2005