The Long Awaited Return

Wow I totally forgot I had this blog for a bit. I kept up with regular updates elsewhere, but slacked here. Nevermore. Okay maybe once in a while, but I'll be good for a while.

Today is apparently listen to Singles and Remixes day for me.

Metric - Help, I'm Alive
I got both the short radio edit version and the full album version while searching for the acoustic version. This is the first single from their to be released Fantasies, and if the whole thing sounds like this good. This song is a return to their sound from Static Anonymity EP, which is my favorite release of theirs. I love how the line "beating like a hammer" comes in with some reverb.

Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown
Yes, THAT Green Day. Granted this is only a demo version, but since I'm a lyrics guy mainly, I am cool with that. Sounds different than their past work, a sprinkling of American Idiot some older stuff, and as Greg from Bad Religion would say "oohs and aahs". Maybe the final edit will be better but it just sounds dated and trite as this point.

Metronomy - Gold Mine Gutted (Bright Eyes Remix)
I have to say that this is first Bright Eyes remix I have heard, which is kind of sad. That said, Digital Ash definitely lends itself to mixing and I would really enjoy a full album remix. After listening to this I had to compare it with the original, and I have to say the original wins, but just barely. Mogis knows what he is doing and the Metronomy version has the vocals a little too soft to really enjoy the song. The song tells a very powerful story and as such the vocals deserve to be loud. The Metronomy version does have the better beats, since it inspires more of the cartoon/Alice in Wonderland feel I that I sense in the song.

Conor Oberst and Gillian Welch - Lua
This one is from a compilation album benefiting AIDS, the type of stuff I am happy to part with my cash for. Besides this is worth it with exclusives from Conor Oberst, Bon Iver (two of 'em), Ben Gibbard, Decemberists, Iron and Wine, Sufjan Stevens, Spoon, Stuart Murdoch (Belle/Sebastian), Cat Power, Arcade Fire, and Andrew Bird...to name a few. Back to the song at hand, this is amazingly good. First of all it is one of my favorite Bright Eyes songs, second it has one of his best lines (second only to one from "Going for The Gold"): "I know you have a heavy heart, I can feel it when we kiss, so many men stronger than me, have thrown their backs out trying to lift" This line now in duet form is both haunting and epic.

Cursive - From The Hips
Classic Tim sound and lyricism. His cadence and rhyme here I would put against Robert Frost any day. In addition this is the most grandiose Cursive song I have heard thus far, brass abounds. Plus a genius opener: "I'm at my best when I'm at my worst/ I'm at my worst when it's not rehearsed" For the part about the cadence, listen to the second verse, which is the reverse of the opener....sort of.

Also I should note that I heard the new Black Eyed Peas single "Boom Boom Pow" and while the title was promising, the song it self is nothing special. Why does everything will.i.am works so hard towards have to be ruined by Fergie?