Sunday, December 23, 2012

Best New Music of 2012

No doubt, 2012 was a great year for music (unsurprisingly) and a year that was oddly not as dominated by the popular market as much as in years past ("Gangnam Style" aside) So now that the year is just about wrapped up, I thought share some thoughts on 10 albums and 25 songs that I feel were the best 2012 had to offer.

Friday, October 19, 2012

REVIEW: "Postales" - Gaby Moreno

Gaby Moreno's newest album, "Postales" was a lucky discovery I made a few days ago via Spotify recommendations. A soulful Guatemalan singer, Moreno channels the late Amy Winehouse with some of the most powerful vocals I've heard this year.

Monday, October 15, 2012

REVIEW: "Allelujah! Don't Bend, Ascend" - Godspeed You! Black Emperor

Every now and then an album makes its way into my consciousness that affects me on a much deeper level than should be possible, and this year it's the new album "Allelujah! Don't Bend, Ascend!" by Canadian musical collective Godspeed You! Black Emperor. These masters and forefathers of the post-rock genre are back after around a decade's hiatus, and I never realized how much I missed them until I started listening to "Mladic", the 20-minute opening blast of furious noise that tells you right out of the gate that this is more than just awesome music.

Saturday, October 6, 2012

The 2nd Review of The 2nd Law (by Muse)

A few days ago, I wrote a review of the new album by Muse, entitled "The 2nd Law" and cited it as a wholly original and fantastic piece of work, going on to rate it as a 9.0/10.0. Let me just come right out and say it: that score was much too high. This is why:

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

A Slight Change

I have decided to change my review scoring system from an X Out of 5 scale to an X.x out of 10.0 scale simply because the latter provides me with more room to elaborate on my decisions. To update past reviews to this scale:

Clockwork Angels - Rush: 8.5

The 2nd Law - Muse: 9.0

Uno! - Green Day: 4.4

Coexist - The xx: 8.7

Now you're all caught up! Congrats! More reviews to come soon.



Monday, October 1, 2012

REVIEW: "Coexist" by The xx

The xx avoid the sophomore slump with their second album, "Coexist", a beautiful and spacious indie album that's sure to be on dozens of Best of 2012 Lists come year's end.

Saturday, September 29, 2012

REVIEW: "Uno!" by Green Day

I must admit that I was predisposed to hate this album. When I first heard that Green Day were abandoning the depth and themeatic complexity that they embraced on 2003's brilliant "American Idiot" and (to a lesser extent) 2009's "21st Century Breakdown", I kind of already knew where my opinion would probably be headed. I type all of this to say that if you are a fan of derivative, bland pop-punk, then pay no attention to what I have to say from this point on.

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

REVIEW: "The 2nd Law" - Muse

I've been hesitant to write a review for this album since it's so dense, but I've finally decided, after 5 digital spins, that I have enough of an opinion formed to really give this one a fair take.

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Music I Shouldn't Have Forgotten About

So! Naturally I listen to quite a bit of music; in fact, I listen to so much that I can't really keep track of all of it. So, in this post, I'm going to spit out the names of a few great albums that I loved listening to but have (almost) completely blanked out of my memory. (And these are in no particular order)

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Review: "Clockwork Angels" by Rush

What?! 3 posts in 3 days?! Jake, you're burning us out!

Yeah I know, I know. But I wanted to write my review for this album while it was still fresh on my mind. Bear with me!

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

2012 So Far

Since I've started this music blog in the middle of the year, I figured I would catch things up with a post about some of my favorite music that's been released so far this year, but before I go on, let me make a quick suggestion that you, the reader, (Yes, you) download the free and perfectly legal program Spotify which will let you listen to most of the music I post about absolutely free on your PC and/or mobile device (Phone).

So!  First, here's a look at some of my favorite albums I've seen so far this year.

Monday, June 25, 2012

Introducing...

Hey there! Hello there! Welcome one and all to Jake's Minorly (Majorly) Obsessive Music Blog as written by me, Jake Smith, for your enjoyment (or sheer boredom. Whichever the case may be) So here's basically what's gonna happen here: I will blog about music. What? You gathered that? Oh, sorry. To elaborate, I'll post reviews of new albums, compile lists of important (important as defined by me, that is) musical info, rave about past masterpieces, bash past pieces o' crap, talk about the beauty of music in general, and maybe even post links!!!!!! SO! Thank you, reader, for coming to this blog. I sincerely hope you enjoy your time here. (Even if for a moment) And here's a list that will be a good reference for anyone who doesn't know much about my musical tastes to kick things off.
My Favorite Bands/Musicians (In no particular order):
The Beatles
U2
The Decemberists
The White Stripes
Pearl Jam
Explosions In the Sky
David Crowder Band
Led Zeppelin
Miles Davis
Smashing Pumpkins
Jimi Hendrix
Radiohead
Wilco
Neutral Milk Hotel
The Arctic Monkeys
Foo Fighters
Megadeth
The Who
Queen
The Dead Weather
Norah Jones
The Black Keys
Arcade Fire
Vampire Weekend
TV On the Radio
Switchfoot
Needtobreathe
Iron Maiden
The Strokes
Bob Dylan
Queens of the Stone Age
Elton John
Gillian Welch
Hans Zimmer
John Coltrane
Josh Garrels
The Kills
The Mars Volta
Killswitch Engage
Dream Theater
The Eagles
Michael Giachinno
Muse
Nirvana
Phil Keaggy
Pavement
The Pixies
Primus
Soundgarden
Rage Against the Machine
Alice in Chains
Relient K
Robert Johnson
The Rolling Stones
Stevie Ray Vaughan
System of a Down
Toad the Wet Sprocket
The Flaming Lips
The Wombats
30 Seconds to Mars
Band of Horses
Brian Eno

Just to name a few! I realize that many of these names will be turn-offs to some readers; however, I implore you to focus on the names here that you DO enjoy listening to. My tastes are broad and include MANY more artists than just these. Odds are, something I like you will approve of! Thanks for reading!