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New Moon Soundtrack Review
by Diana Ciuca
The album begins with the quintessential Death Cab for Cutie song, with the electric piano and occasional wavering in and out of loud and soft harmony. The symbol of the equinox in the song displays some astrological influence upon the entire album. So far, I’m hoping that this is a themed album; fingers crossed.
Luckily, or not, the next few songs tend to stick to a similar principle. Truly, the only theme to this album can be summed up in three words: soft, indie, dreamy. After some ups and downs in tempos, beats, and instrumentation (guitars, drums, and piano), the only conclusion that can be drawn is that this is a genre piece.
The album advocates the beauty of the indie (sub/counter) culture that has motivated hipsters to invade American Apparel and also the local Salvation Army/Goodwill in search of “hot buys.” They are the picture-hoarding, iPod wearing, Twilight-reading youngsters who are fluent in the language of music and, thankfully, that of texting. By putting all these songs together, I feel like their (the individual song’s and the hip, excitable, teen’s) originality is forsaken; Nevertheless, each song, on their own, is truly a work of art – as are most indie pieces. As Andy Warhol said, “Art is what you can get away with.” Certainly, we have gotten away with much avante-gardness in the past, and this album, as fresh or unique as you want it to be, is no different. Most critics see this as a medley of wonderful musicians.
Still, I can’t help but question what is so great about these musical sensations? Usually it is the voice, or the smooth guitar, or the sound effects. This album has so much of those techniques that it almost becomes overwhelming. In conclusion, the New Moon soundtrack is like food. Sure, I love peperoni pizza, chocolate ice cream, steak, salsa, and salad. But, if you were to throw them all on one plate, I might not enjoy it as much.
The album ends with the quintessential Classical music piece, with the alternating piano and occasion speeding up and down of the tempo. The symbol of the new moon in the title displays some astrological influence upon the entire album – given that it is the title.
Sounds like you’ve heard that sentence before? It sounds like I’ve heard all these songs before, too.
The 88 Interview
by Diana Ciuca
The 88 is “new, fresh, modern” band as described by the keyboard player, Adam Merrin. My interview with him provided descriptive information about where the band has been and where it’s heading. With outstanding appeal along with a strong Californian foundation, The 88 keeps rising to success.
From the Los Angeles region, Adam Merrin described the band’s hometown as being an “upper-middle” area which influenced the band’s music, since most environments tend to have an impact on the overall tone of a band. The two founding members, Keith and Adam both met in high school due to their common affinity for music. Adam remembers the “day that changed [his] life.” He recalled the idea of starting a band as a haphazardly recommendation friend. Nevertheless, Keith and Adam later tried to record a song that they wrote at a party, as that’s when the band finally took off as less of a concept and more of a possibility.The feeling of their first session of playing together – Keith’s great voice and Adam’s guitar talents – really had them saying “this is it,” as if being in a band was what they were meant to be doing. Although the band (formerly titled The Freeloaders) had no real direction or “financial motives,” their mutual passion for music and spirit of hard work helped lead to future success.
As every band knows, the members will suffer a few struggles, especially with the passage of time. Adam recalls how two of the foremost band members left and were succeeded. “Carlos was on the band for 13 years,” Adam mentioned, so it was tough when he left. Carlos was the former bass player who left because touring was taking a toll on the amount time he spent with the members of his other family – his wife and kids. As Adam illustrates it, the band members had always had a real family feel or closeness; He describes by mentioning that “it was difficult even leaving for a weekend” without being heartbroken. Brandon was also a former member of the band but moved on to a more Hollywood career and is featured in the HBO hit Weeds. The 88 actually has a hit on the soundtrack of Weeds along with many other hit TV shows like Grey’s Anatomy and The OC.
Being in LA is definitely a “great starting place,” as Adam puts it. It really aided in getting the band spots on radio stations and even live performances like on The Late Show and Jimmy Kimmel Live. This helped “spread their music” and commercial success. Bands like The Beatles and The Band are huge influences on The 88. They’ve also toured with big names like the Smashing Pumpkins and one of Adam’s personal favorites, The B-52’s on the east coast and Matt Costa on a Canadian tour. Adam mentioned these last two as being some highlights of his musical career. Nevertheless, the band, known for their energetic shows, put effort into every show. Adam expresses the 88’s shows as if every time they go on, they “try and make it the best show ever.” “We show fun when we’re doing it, we’re not too serious (not on stage at least),” he comments, “but we are very serious about the music we make.” When asked if Adam considers the band “indie,” he replies, “oh yeah, because we do everything ourselves; it’s how we survive as a band.” Their dedication and hard work is clearly evident, especially in their varied music that merits to fit under a broad genre.
With possible plans of a tour to Europe and elsewhere, this band, 19 years in the making, sees no plans for retiring. “I cannot see myself doing anything not music related,” Adam remarks. This is the general ideology of all the band members. Music is foremost. “Writing, practicing and preforming” is what The 88 does best. “We work hard and keep doing what we’re doing, ” Adam summarizes and adds, “we’re lucky and blessed.” A truly appreciative band that deserves the appreciate of fans everywhere, the 88 is a band who continues to thrive since they “open to doing something different because there’s always something new.”
To find out more, check out their website: www.the88.net; their myspace: www.myspace.com/the88, and even their twitter: twitter.com/the88
Converge-Music Review Axe to Fall
by Diana Ciuca
Thrash Metal: Converge’s Axe to Fall
Analyzing Hardcore Heavy Metal is almost as difficult as moshing in a pit to it. The sheer intensity of the song isn’t meant to be broken down and picked at, it’s supposed to be felt. Converge’s new album (coming out October 20th) keeps throwing rapid punches of guitar and drums at you throughout their album “Axe to Fall.”
THE first song on the album, Dark Horse, initially comes as a surprise yet finally slows down midway through the song. Then tension is built up through the gradual increasing magnitude of the guitar and drums which culminates with ‘metal-core’ screaming. The next song, Reap What you Sow (2), consisted of even less audible screaming, with more musical force than before complemented by a ridiculously fast tempo. However, the issue with music like this is that if you’re not a fan, you can hardly appreciate the subtleties in each song (such as the difference between chords and variety of screams). I’ve been to local screamo shows, and they don’t have the energy that Converge exhibits, especially in the first few songs.
Their album is absolutely mind-blowing, in a scream-guitar-scream-drums kind of way. Nevertheless, the band proves their malleability throughout the rest of the album. At times I feel that Converge should stop ‘attacking me with music,’ but I would be mistaken to contend that the band would want to do anything less than roll with the punches (or high tempo guitar chords, in this case). The album sometimes progresses like a machine gun of noise, yet eventually slows down towards the end of the album and of several songs like Axe to Fall (3). That slow tempo is idyllic (relative to the rest of the songs). Furthermore, the high pitched guitar sounds unexpectedly add another facet to the band’s overall sound in the song Effigy (4) .
But then again, the addition of yet another pitch is like spreading mustard on a hot dog of music which is already saturated with ketchup, relish, mayonnaise, soy sauce, onions, and raspberries. In song Worms to Feed (5), the lead finally slows down with an almost angry Led Zeppelin-like guitar. Finally, this song exposes a more experimental side of the band with a spectacular ending. Worms to Feed, my personal favorite, it more variety to the typical rip chords and machine gun drums, but maintains generally the same feeling of heavy metal. The song Damages (7) probably doesn’t do as much damage to your hearing aids as you might expect; it seems almost refreshingly different. The feedback juxtaposes you in the “cliffhanger” stage of the whole album where you’re wondering if the band will soften up their style or keep pounding the guitar. To my joy, they eventually let go of the incessant noise saturated chords but only after songs 8-12 of more repetitive rip chords. They definitely are stimulating, yet it leaves you expecting something more.
Since I’m such a sissy when it comes to music that makes my speakers tremble constantly, Cruel Bloom (12) strikes me as a relieving break from the rest of the album. The muted voice (a legitimate voice, not screaming!) with the dreamy guitar sounds like the original Heavy Metal of Ozzy Osbourne. With a pendulum rhythm, the intro to Wretched World, the last song (13), represents the beginning of the end. With a slight resemblance to Smashing Pumpkins, the album eerily finishes with extended chords instead of the pounding ones we were introduced to at the beginning of the album. The energetic, electric discord which fades into a soft harmony parallels the overall structure of the album. Whether this was the band’s intention or not, “Axe to Converge” was a connected journey through heavy metal- beginning with extreme noise distortion and leading through various ups and downs of guitar tempos and pitches, and finally culminating with a slow, mellow denouement.