Primal Scream - Beautiful Future Review

First thing this morning, I went down to my local music shop to get ‘Beautiful Future,’ Primal Screams new album.

It seems that after the critical success of XTRMNTR, critics are quick to pan the Screams albums - this is fair enough, though considering the worth of Evil Heat and Riot City Blues… I actually really enjoyed RCB… Maybe it was just me.

This album, however, is instantly great. To me, at least. On first listen there isn’t a weak track in the bunch; even if they did repeat a song twice, three times if you count just the lyrics.

Every track begs for a second listen right after it’s finished; surely a good sign.

In short; it’s great, really, really, really great.

Easily a 5/5.

Coming Up…

From this Monday, I will be posting a daily, or bi-daily, song workshop. These songs will be really simple. They will probably be ‘traditional’ - like Georgia On My Mind, or old blues songs; like St James Infirmary etc.

Also, this Saturday and every Saturday I’ll be posting little bits of ‘Signe’ by Eric Clapton.
Find the first part here.

Subscribe To Guitar Things!

You can now subscribe to Guitar Things through
Feedblitz . I’ll be sending out weekly-ish e-mails made up of the posts from right here on this blog. You can find the link for future reference in the side bar under the blue box.

Signe - Step By Step - Step One.

Starting this week, I’m going to be posting weekly lessons of ‘Signe‘ by Eric Clapton.
Here is the first little bit - hopefully accompanied by a video… once we get some more entries up.

Part One
e  |---------0------0---------0---0----0---------------|
B  |---2---0------2-----0---2---0----2-----0-----------|
G  |---2---1------2-----1---2---1----2-----1-----------|
D  |---------------------------------------------------|
A  |-0---0--------0---0-----0---0----0---0-------------|
E  |---------------------------------------------------|

…Earth to the Dandy Warhols…

Living in Australia, I had the chance to pick up ‘…Earth to the Dandy Warhols…’ yesterday. The cover features a photo taken in 1972 by Apollo 17 nicknamed; ‘The Blue Marble.’

This cover is quite fitting as the album, as a whole, feels like space… Don’t ask how, it just does. I assume it has something to do with the sonic buzzes and blips that feature throughout.

The album sounds quite condensed - like a whole lot of different sounds and elements have been squashed down in to a neat little package. So, it sounds different. But not bad, not bad at all.

The album really picks up and impresses at the second track; ‘Mission Control.’ Again, with the space theme, this reminds me of something you might hear in ‘Doctor Who.’ It’s nice and short and is just plain fun to listen to.

‘Welcome to the Third World,’ the third track, is fantastic. Probably, or nearly, my favorite on the album. Talking Heads springs to mind.

The fourth track, ‘Wasp In the Lotus,’ doesn’t do much for me - I think maybe one of the weakest on the album… Except for the last track… We’ll get to that later.

The next two tracks, ‘Dreamt of Yes’ and ‘Talk Radio’ go very well together. They both have a great ‘groove’ (I guess) to them.

I think ‘Love Song’ is a bit bland - not my favorite on the album.

Then, the album comes to a new strong point - this is three really consistently great tracks in a row. These are ‘Now You Love Me,’ ‘Mis Amigos’ and ‘…Outlaw Truckers…’ Really, really, really fantastic songs here.

However, I am not a fan of what comes after. ‘Beast of All Saints,’ ‘Valerie Yum’ and ‘Musee D’Nougat’ are really just plain boring. Especially the last track, running at nearly 15 minuets, I really struggle to sit through it. I don’t know, maybe these will be ‘growers.’

That being said, this is a really great album overall - a different sound, yes, but a very good one. I think its strong points heavily outweigh its few negative points.

9/10

Let’s put a smile on that face! (Briefly detouring away from guitar.)

So, I saw the new Batman movie the other night and, in short, it is fantastic. I’m no movie critic but I do know this movie blew away all my expectations…and more. Needless to say; Heath Ledger steals the show as The Joker. Because of this, the Batman character feels a little undeveloped (and that voice is quite annoying.) That being said, the movie is very consistently strong and does not outstay its welcome - an amazing feat, running for a little under 3 hours.

5/5.

“Love and Theft,” what an album. Part 1 (or) Introduction

Possibly my personal favorite album of all time; Bob Dylan’s “Love and Theft” is just amazing. A lot had been said about it since its release in 2001; everything that needs to be said or analyzed has been done. I just want to talk about what the album means to me.

The very first Bob Dylan album I bought was Modern Times; so you could say I’m something of a new fan. I immediately got into Modern Times and thought I would explore his later work further.

So, I bought Love and Theft and although the effect wasn’t immediate, it would turn out to be the most important album I’ve ever bought.

When I first listened to it, I remember thinking, “This is alright… But I like Modern Times better.” Then, when I listened for the second or third time, something clicked; I loved it. Now, listening to it for about the 150th time, its effect has not worn off.

(I’m pushed for time; so Part 2 will be the ‘review.’)

Love and Theft

New, new, new!

Well, I haven’t posted here in months and months…But, will hopefully be able to start all over again. I’ve got some exciting things lined up - including CD reviews and workshops. I will hopefully be able to get back on the YouTube ‘wagon’ soon - I cant wait!

Until next time,
Dan

Bobby Dylan!

Bob Dylan has so many fantastic albums and fantastic songs. To even think about condensing his work into 15 songs would be terrible…But I’m going to anyway! I think this would be a nice introduction if (god forbid) you’ve never heard Mr. Dylan before. Enjoy!

Here are my favorite Bob Dylan songs:

All along the watchtower:
A nice, simple song (melodically, that is) - only two and a half minutes. Some great harmonica here, too.

Blowin’ In the Wind:
No need for an explanation - perfect song.

Girl From the North Country:
My personal favorite Bob song. If you pick up the version off ‘Nashville Skyline’ (there are a couple of others,) you will notice Mr. Johnny Cash makes an appearance - what a nice song!

A Hard Rains A-Gonna Fall:
Nice guitar - even better lyrics.

Highway 61 Revisited:
A great, fun song. That siren-ish noise (what is that?) adds some nice silliness to it.

House Of the Rising Sun:
Maybe boring to some - it was boring to  me the first time I heard it but I am obsessed with it now…Does that make me a boring person?!

Hurricane:
Another classic - runs for a humble  8.5 minuets.

Joey:
“If I could take one song onto a desert island…” Another long one at 11.5 minuets but I love every second!

John Wesley Harding:
A great title track off a great album.

Lay, Lady, Lay:
Nashville Skyline at its best.

Like A Rolling Stone:
An essential in any iTunes playlist. That first strike of the drum sets the scene.

Maggie’s Farm:
I actually prefer the live version (off Hard Rain, I think.) A great studio recording nonetheless.

Mr. Tambourine Man:
I’ve always wondered what this song means - of course another classic recording by Bob Dylan.

Mississippi:
Love & Theft is an amazing album and this is my favorite track.

Floater:
Another off Love & Theft, my favorite Dylan album. Speaks for itself, really.

Spirit On The Water:
A track off Modern Times, released in 2006. Trust me - it grows on you.

And last but not least…

Workingman’s Blues #2:
My overall favorite song - by any artist. Listen to it. It’s a beautiful song in every respect, lyrically and musically.

9th Chords!

The 9th chord, the second in the chord series, is most commonly used in jazz. It has quite a different shape compared to normal chords (barre or open.) For this lesson, let’s take a C9 chord. There are many different ways to play a 9 chord - the root note (C in this case) can start on the top E string. This can be shown in a G9 chord. These two shapes are completely transferable up and down the neck - although be careful when going too low on the G9 shape, it can end up sounding muffled and murky.