Clang & Clatter

Devin Townsend Project - “Synchronicity Freaks” (Ki (Bonus Tracks), 2009)
Devin is definitely a unique character. This bonus track track is an amalgamation of what I like about him—poppy hook with atmospheric background and balls-out screaming section.

Owl City - “The Saltwater Room” (Ocean Eyes, 2009)
For a short time my teenaged son (then a pre-teen) was infatuated with Adam Young’s one-man-band electronica project, and I promptly secured this album for him with some eMusic credits. Having since moved on to other styles of music, this no longer interests him in the least, yet it remains in my library for some reason despite the fact that I really don’t care much for it. That being said, it’s not terrible.

Caedmon’s Call - “Forget What You Know” (Just Don’t Want Coffee, 1995)
Here’s a track from an EP sandwiched between the Houston-based folk-ish CCM band’s self-produced indie debut and major-label eponymous release. As such, about half of the tracks appear on the latter in an updated form, while this one is a bit more polished than the rawer version on the former. Confused yet? Whatever the case, I like this version and often wondered why this never appeared on one of their major label efforts.

Tsar - “Something Bad Happened to Me” (The Dark Stuff EP, 2012)
Last year saw Tsar extend their album-every-5-years schedule by a couple of years. While it’s not a full album, The Dark Stuff was definitely worth the almost $5 I plonked down for it. Although not quite as polished or majestic as their 2000 self-titled debut and not as punky as their follow-up Band-Girls-Money, this EP comes in somewhere in-between with plenty of power pop goodness and stamped with founder Jeff Whalen’s quirky personality. There are a couple of really good songs, and a couple of better-than-just-OK-but-not-quite-great songs, with this album closer landing somewhere in the middle.

MAE - “Reflection” (Singularity, 2007)
Another album closer, this one being from MAE’s third album—their major label debut and last full album as a band. For the life of me I will never understand why some of my favorite bands never really made it big, especially MAE. They were poppy enough for radio airplay, emo/alternative enough to attract that crowd, serious enough to appeal to “real musician” fans, and accessible enough for just about anyone to like something they put out. Singularity was probably their biggest commercial “hit,” but it must not have been enough since they parted ways with Capital just two years later, embarking once again on the indie trail with a song-a-month experiment that resulted in a 3-EP set prior to the band calling it a day with a 2011 farewell show in their hometown Norfolk, VA.

Dick Sullivan of Dallas’ D Magazine sits down with King’s X drummer Jerry Gaskill for a look back at the trio’s 30-year career.

via D Magazine:

Kings X’s music is difficult to define. The band’s career has had its ups and downs. But their influence is acknowledged, if not by magazines, then by the musicians they inspired…

King’s X can depend on one thing: the respect of fellow musicians. Their innovation is acknowledged in the back-stages and recording rooms, if not on Magazine covers. Take, for instance, what came to be known as the “Seattle sound.” No one is quite sure if King’s X or Soundgarden invented drop D tuning first (Soundgarden’s Ultramega OK was released the same year as King’s X Out of the Silent Planet), but no less an authority than Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament was convinced enough to declare King’s X the inventor of grunge. “I think I’ve come to realize that musicians do seem to be drawn to us,” says Gaskill. “I’m honored by it, and I think it’ll keep us around, because there’s always going to be musicians…”

No one is quite sure how the public at large will regard King’s X when the book is finally closed on the band. In the category of power trios, only Rush and ZZ Top exceed them in longevity. They are important enough musically to become legends, but fringe enough to be forgotten completely. Jerry Gaskill has his own modest hopes for how that legacy will read. “I hope that it will read that we were just a band that were all our own, that we’re one of those bands that, if you take any of the members out, that band no longer exists.”

via Houston Press:

Photo by Nicholas Zalud

Longtime fans showed up at Scout Bar over the weekend to hear some beloved tunes, sure, but also to simply check in and see if the proto-grunge power trio was OK.

It’s a pleasure, then, to report that King’s X is alive and well. If the group is still living with the pain of the past two years’ trials, none of it showed on their smiling faces Saturday. Instead, they were buoyed from start to finish by the intense love of a diehard audience that managed to completely pack out the Clear Lake club.

Soundgarden - “4th of July” (Superunknown, 1994)
Uh-oh. Looks like we’re not off to a good start.

Iron Maiden - “The Talisman” (The Final Frontier, 2010)
I’m not sure why, but I really had a hard time getting into most of this album, including this 9-minute epic. The vocal pacing on the intro part seems a little odd to me, and I’m left wishing they had just started this one off at the 2:20 mark where the full band kicks in and things get rocking. That part of the song is a classic Maiden “gallop.”

Joe Satriani - “Woodstock Jam” (Time Machine, 1993)
I don’t know if I’ve ever had the patience to listen to the full 16 minutes of this jam. I know I didn’t today.

Led Zeppelin - “Gallows Pole” (Led Zeppelin III, 1970)
III might just be my favorite Zeppelin album, although I’ve heard this song way too many times for my liking at this point.

Megadeth - “Good Mourning/Black Friday (Andy Burns Mix)” (Peace Sells…But Who’s Buying? (2004 Reissue), 1986)
I love the Sabbath-y half-time groove just after the arpeggiated guitar intro, although I can’t tell much difference between this new mix and the original other that it sounding more dynamic and cleaned up with a bit more separation in the guitars. Speaking of, how many times has this album been re-mixed, re-mastered, re-issued, and re-released?!