The Decemberists are back...

...and this time they're warning you about The Hazards of Love.

Released only 6 days ago, their fifth album breaks away from all past sounds; not quite the folksy feel of The Crane Wife or the melancholic feel of Her Majesty; not quite the bombast of Castaways & Cutouts -- but The Hazards of Love incorporates all and more. The album is, simply put, an epic. It tells the story of Margaret, her rape by a shape-shifting forest beast and the trials of her love -- the music flits from almost baroque folk (complete with mandolin et al!) on 'Annan Waters' to the sounds of Jethro Tull-esque prog-folk on tracks such as 'The Hazards of Love 3 (Revenge)'. Meloy & co. have worked in a variety of sounds, so that the album as a whole adheres to none and incorporates all; one could not possibly pin down this album and definitively pronounce on its genre. So I'm not going to try. Fans of The Decemberists who liked their whimsical sound on The Crane Wife will find fleeting remnants of the same in this album, but are going to be disappointed if they expect the same clarity and folk-melodic quality. This album is grander on every scale; thematically and conceptually -- some may scoff, but The Decemberists hold true to their characteristic musical diversity, and pull off yet another style comfortably. So don't hold out; give this album a listen... it'll be absolutely worth it!!

For your sampling pleasure:

* The Wanting Comes in Waves (Reprise)

* The Queen's Approach

Otis Redding

Before I forget, I've uploaded an album of Otis Redding's Greatests (he does a couple covers of The Stones as well).

Visit here and download it, (it's in 2 parts).

42nd Parallel

Hello girls and boys, finally back with a post after about 4 months which I feel terrible about. Lots of stuff going on and now back settled down. So what better way than to spread some ear and soul sex? (without the ear-STDs)

First off - Let's go back a little retro-ish, cast your mind back to 2000. The Y2k bug, threats of computer crashes, global catastrophes and one hell of a fireworks display. Also the release of  Underworld's live album 'Everything, Everything' - which is taken from a lyric from their song Cowgirl.

Now I've read that during live shows they usually mix Rez and Cowgirl up together, since they share the same general melodies and structure. It's a track I haven't been able to get off my music player for a couple of days now, simply because my heart won't stop pumping when I listen to this song. Great old-school dance beats, along with the sounds of the crowd cheering give the live track an amicable rave-y vibe.

The song does indeed start with Rez's twee, trippy melody. When the song breaks down about half way, and Cowgirl's infamous 'Everything-everything' bit kicks in, it's primitive compared to today's standards, but the sheer coolness of the sound of the voice and the perfect timing, kinda makes me wish I was there ;) 

Brilliant - 4.5/5 :)

P.S. Here's the link to the DVD off the album Everything, Everything. It's insane. [I would show it here, but Opera doesn't work well some sites]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10q96IPlm70&feature=related

If you liked the track, check out Born Slippy Nuxx, another classic dance track from them.

Alright now to turn the car 180 degrees about face and head off into the sunset, no I'm not going just yet, just changing genre's. Been getting into a little sentimental mood lately and been digging up some Beatles stuff (yeah I miss John... who doesn't?).

So in case you missed out buying the Beatles Anthology DVD, they released two songs from the studio with the 3 remaining [sadly now 2 remaining] Beatles - Free As A Bird, which was written by John Lennon; and Real Love.

Free As A Bird, was sent in by Yoko and featured John singing the tune and lyrics accompanied by his own piano playing on a cassette. The band had to work around this since it was pretty bad quality (and also in Mono, so they couldn't seperate the voice from the piano) but still endeavoured to produce this gem of a tune:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0D196-oXw2k

Beautiful tune, beautiful voice, beautiful harmonies, beautiful video. - 5/5

[Apparently Ringo really wanted to get his elephant in the video and George wanted his sitar so you get to see them both in the same scene.]

Real Love was abit different, since it was an already finished song by Lennon, so the band simply had to replay it but give it their own little flavour. Still a great track.. but not as good as Free As A Bird (in my honest, humble opinion).

Why don't you have a look and listen yourself: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5D3FMioSoc

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand finally, since I'm in a particularly Lennon-y (Lemony) mood today, here's another one of me favourites from him:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lLs2dC9NaE

*Wipes moist eyes with handkerchief*

ALRIGHT, it's time to get some sleep! 

Good night now boys and girls (and the transgenders in-between).

Love, Prayon Kid.

P.P.S. I'm gonna see Oasis live on April 1st.......... Will try and take photos. 

P.P.P.S. Hope you're jealous...