Not many song-a-day threads (Wrap-up post up) (All done!)

**Amanwithapencil** · Joined: 30 Dec 2007 Posts: 476 Location: Tennessee

Ah, this thread was more fun when I was getting more responses. I like dialog.
_________________

Check out Totally Unauthorized, the most awesome music review blog ever!

**this1neguy** · Joined: 19 Aug 2007 Posts: 5444 Location: Flint, MI

Sorry man, I haven't heard of the band the last song was performed by. I'll respond to the reviews of the jazz songs for sure.
_________________

Silly wrote:

yksi-kaksi-kolme wrote:

I hope the April Fool's joke is expertwin becoming a mod

Reports coming in that over five hundred thousand players of the Guitar Hero and Rock Band games have simultaneously committed seppuku

**Amanwithapencil** · Joined: 30 Dec 2007 Posts: 476 Location: Tennessee

Taking the night off. Sorry, but I want to make sure I do this next review right. When it's done I'll edit this post and put it here.
_________________

Check out Totally Unauthorized, the most awesome music review blog ever!

**Amanwithapencil** · Joined: 30 Dec 2007 Posts: 476 Location: Tennessee

John Coltrane - A Moment's Notice

So I took a few days off from this thread. I know many of you would have liked to see me finish on time, as I myself would have, but after 29 days of basically not missing a review I was getting burnt out. Truthfully, I started to feel like the last several reviews I did were phoned in, more or less. And I didn't want to go out like that. I wanted to make sure I did these right.

But now I'm back and ready to finish what I started. And I'm doing it in style.

So today we've got the quintessential jazz saxophonist John Coltrane. Who hasn't heard of him? Coltrane was a giant in jazz's bebop/hard bop period in the 1950s through the early 1960s, and was closely associated with Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk, two other major figures from the period. Coltrane was a true musical genius who recorded some of the most technically challenging and engaging pieces of all time. I mean, there are special types of chord changes named specifically after him. Just take a look at that page and you'll quickly see just how technical a lot of his stuff is.

But anyway, Moment's Notice comes off of Coltrane's acclaimed Blue Train album. This song is, like many of his songs, basically a collection of several long solos. You've got saxophone solos, trumpet solos, piano solos, even what I think is a solo by the double bass player. This song has a very classy, elegant feel to it. It's the type of sound that can make you respect jazz even if you aren't a fan of the genre. Possibly some of Coltrane's stuff may wander a bit or just be a little much at times, and this song is no exception to that. But whether you're looking for a jumping off point in jazz or if you're a veteran to the genre, you'd be hard pressed to do much better than Coltrane.

Score: 4.4 out of 5
_________________

Check out Totally Unauthorized, the most awesome music review blog ever!

**this1neguy** · Joined: 19 Aug 2007 Posts: 5444 Location: Flint, MI

Nice review. Definitely a really good song and I think you analyzed it well, and the backstory is very intriguing too. Fun fact: First time I heard this was a cover by the San Francisco Jazz Collective (I actually went looking for their version, not realizing it was a cover, initially) which was done incredibly well, but the original just has something to it that makes it that much more special. Can't wait to see further jazz reviews and comparisons.
_________________

Silly wrote:

yksi-kaksi-kolme wrote:

I hope the April Fool's joke is expertwin becoming a mod

Reports coming in that over five hundred thousand players of the Guitar Hero and Rock Band games have simultaneously committed seppuku

**Amanwithapencil** · Joined: 30 Dec 2007 Posts: 476 Location: Tennessee

**Amanwithapencil** · Joined: 30 Dec 2007 Posts: 476 Location: Tennessee

Jelly Roll Morton - Dead Man Blues

And today the jazz train rolls on.

This time we've got a slightly different era and style of jazz being represented. Jelly Roll Morton is from back - waaay back - all the way back the the first half of the 20th century. A major practitioner of Dixieland cajun ragtime jazz, Morton helped light up the American music landscape during jazz's age of infancy. An extremely arrogant showman, he once claimed that he was the sole inventor of jazz music. But one listen to Dead Man Blues shows that perhaps some arrogance was justified.

When the track opens there are a couple of guys talking about someone being passed out dead drunk on a Sunday morning, which seems to be the type of vibe the song is trying to capture. The actual piece is a very droopy assortment of trumpets, horns, trombones, and assorted brass instruments. It's a very lazy sounding piece, with a touch of acerbic wit added in ever so slightly. And there is also a slight touch of New Orleans flavor to the piece as well.

I picture this as being the type of music you would hear in a Laurel and Hardy film; I can see a fat man sitting down at a barstool in some cafe taking a big slobbery bite of a sandwich while this song plays. Something else I like about this song is that it's short and to the point. At just over 3 minutes, it avoids being overly long or obtuse, something that some of the bebop masters were sometimes guilty of. So for anyone who's daydreaming about spending a day sprawled under a layer of blankets or hiding away in a cozy corner, rejoice! You've now found the perfect song to be lazy to.

Score: 4.5 out of 6
_________________

Check out Totally Unauthorized, the most awesome music review blog ever!

**Amanwithapencil** · Joined: 30 Dec 2007 Posts: 476 Location: Tennessee

Kenny Rogers - The Gambler

Ah, good old school country. Its' a period of time where many songs had a very organic feel. It sounds as though they were actually written, as opposed to being manufactured like a lot of today's country.

It's tough to not appreciate a song like The Gambler. When this song and album was released it created a mini cultural explosion, and for a while it must have seemed like The Gambler was everywhere. It even launched Rogers's own TV movie series.

The great sense of storytelling and lyrical imagery is what really makes the song. The Gambler tells of a man taking a late night train ride with, who else? A gambler. Eventually they get bored and the gambler begins to recount his experiences and give advice, which of course can be interpreted on two levels: as basic advice on how to excel in games of cards, or as how to excel in the game of life. Songwriter Don Schlitz showed great ingenuity in fusing double meanings into his writing. The Gambler has a fantastic, memorable melody and is backed by a crisp country guitar and Rogers's easy mellow vocal.

Score: 4.25 out of 5
_________________

Check out Totally Unauthorized, the most awesome music review blog ever!

**11yearoldkid** · Joined: 01 Aug 2007 Posts: 1068 Location: Austin, TX

I'd be really interested to see what you think of this. You're really good at writing reviews btw!
_________________

JCirri wrote:

Matt wrote:

No, its only 10000. I am going to ban the next person who types THOUSANNNNNNND

TEN THOUSANNNNNNND!

My life.

**Amanwithapencil** · Joined: 30 Dec 2007 Posts: 476 Location: Tennessee

Behold... The Arctopus - You Will Be Reincarnated As An Imperial Space Attack Turtle

So I'm guessing this is mathcore? Or proto-progressive metal? Behold.. The Arctopus hails from Brooklyn and produces song and album titles that are so out there they make Sufjan Stevens look normal. The music is every bit as weird as their titles indicate. The all-instrumental trio is comprised of guitarists Colin Marston and Mike Lerner along with drummer Weasel Walter. The best way to describe their sound is lots of intense guitar noodling along with some really clangy riffs. The production isn't really the greatest, which leads to a lot of the drumming and guitar work sound abrasive and clunky.

There's a lot of talent in the playing but I think it suffers from lack of focus. Every now and then there will be an interesting solo but it quickly degenerates into a hodgepodge of random riffing with no real semblance of a sense of direction. It's like a jam session, and I can appreciate that type of thing but it's usually not something I can really get into. Another thing I notice is the guitar hijinks tend to block out the sound of the drums, which sounded really good in the beginning.

Style-wise it reminds me of bands like An Endless Sporadic, Dillinger Escape Plan, or the Fall of Troy. You Will Be Reincarnated as an Imperial Space Attack Turtle can definitely be a blast if I'm in the right mood but even most instrumental bands exhibit a little more focus than Behold... The Arctopus shows here.

Score: 3.25 out of 5

**11yearoldkid** · Joined: 01 Aug 2007 Posts: 1068 Location: Austin, TX

**blingdomepiece** · Joined: 03 Aug 2007 Posts: 4358 Location: Ottawa ON Canada

**Amanwithapencil** · Joined: 30 Dec 2007 Posts: 476 Location: Tennessee

The Mars Volta - Son et Lumiere + Intertiatic ESP

Getting down toward the end. Only one more review to go.

So here is a great tune by The Mars Volta, progressive rockers from El Paso, Texas. In truth, it's actually two songs although they work together as one. Son et Lumiere is a short introduction, which features background static, an ominous guitar riff, and the brooding vocals of Cedric Bixler-Zavala. This explodes into the next track, Intertiatic ESP, which serves as the de facto opener on the De-loused in the Comatorium album.

So this song proves that Bixler-Zavala is a great vocalist. Unlike a lot of prog-rock, there's not much in the way of extended instrumental sections, so Cedric pretty much carries the song. And he does a great job; his voice adds a slight Latin influence into the song while making sure that it stays true to the Mars Volta general sound. The guitar sound is also great; it's energetic and crunchy but doesn't distract from what Bixler-Zavala is trying to do. There's also pretty good variety in terms of the guitar and drum work. Lots of complex patterns on the drums, while the guitar features some fast strumming riffs along with great rock riffing in general. The lyrics on both songs are a little weird but I get the feeling that's pretty typical of this band.

So, I found this song had a very unique flavor and I was a big fan of the vocals. And with that, it's time to finish this thread up...

Score: 4.25 out of 5
_________________

Check out Totally Unauthorized, the most awesome music review blog ever!

**thecaptainof** · Joined: 04 May 2007 Posts: 7571 Location: ¯\(°_o)/¯

Yup, weird lyrics is pretty much what you get with The Mars Volta. It might make a bit more sense if you take it in context (it's a concept album) although perhaps not, a lot of their stuff is so oblique that you can only really take their word that it has any meaning at all...

Anyway, even though it wasn't my suggestion, I'm glad you enjoyed it... I love The Mars Volta and all of Omar's random pretentious side-projects.
_________________

yksi-kaksi-kolme wrote:

Wow Mr. Mad, who fucked your buffalo?

**Amanwithapencil** · Joined: 30 Dec 2007 Posts: 476 Location: Tennessee

Trombone Shorty - Hurricane Season

Alright, show of hands. How many people thought I would ever get this far?

After over a month and a half of going on this musical odyssey with all of you, this thread finally reaches a conclusion today with Trombone Shorty. I know a lot of people start these threads and never make it to the end. So when I started mine I always meant to take it seriously. If nothing else, I guess that's an accomplishment in itself.

So anyway, Trombone Shorty. The New Orleans Jazz scene has produced countless legends in American music history. Trombone Shorty comes from their pedigree, but he isn't quite like what you may expect. Trombone Shorty, aka Troy Andrews, is a trombone player with one hell of funky vibe. Hurricane Season is pretty straightforward and even a little repetitive, but it's hard not to appreciate the funkiness of it. The whole song itself is a trumpet riff with a lot of funkiness to go around, with a chorus of singers shouting "HEY!" in the background. It's got a little bit of an urban vibe to it too; I can definitely picture people breakdancing in the streets while this song plays. So it's like jazz, but with a twist. And we all need a little twist sometimes.

Score: 4 out of 5

So there you have it. But fear not, I'm not quite done yet. I'm going to do a wrap up post where I'll review the entire thread. Stay tuned.
_________________

Check out Totally Unauthorized, the most awesome music review blog ever!