http://blogcritics.org/ A sinister cabal of superior bloggers on music, books, film, popular culture, politics, and technology - updated continuously. en Copyright 2005-2007 by the authors Fri, 16 Jul 2004 11:16:53 EDT http://backend.userland.com/rss Blogcritics.org custom software http://blogcritics.org/ Phillip WinnSunday, August 26, 2007, marks the switch of all Blogcritics.org article feeds from full-content to short-content. This is the result of several converging factors, and is unfortunately a permanent decision (as permanent as any decision can be on the web, that is). We are aware of all of the reasons that this is a Bad Idea, and we are aware that some of you will be quite upset about having to click on something to read the free content, and we're sorry. Unfortunately, despite great effort, full-content feeds are not currently economically viable. Two other factors are involved: full-content feeds have resulted in an unprecedented level of content theft, with BC content appearing on many websites, usually spam sites, without attribution or permission. This duplicate content causes a cascading set of problems, not the least of which is that search engines generally aren't favorable to duplicate content, and don't always guess correctly. Finally, our RSS advertising partner is strongly in favor of short-content feeds. We hope that you'll continue to subscribe to BC via RSS, and when an article grabs your eye, it's only a click away, still free on the BC website. Thank you for your understanding. Administration0@blogcritics.org Sun, 26 Aug 2007 12:00:00 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/07/16/111653.php Patrick ColeffFew local bands can claim the same longevity as State of Being. Moving from 'Pretty Hate Machine'-esque electronics in the early 90's to today's hard-rocking' outfit has been quite a progression for them. Their new album, 'Haywire' is the epitome of that progression. A perfect mix of dark electronics, snarling guitars and Peter Murphy-esque vocals, it takes you in on the very first song and doesn't let go until the last track has faded out. "Haywire" has also produced their catchiest songs to date: 'Levity' and the title song, 'Haywire', which, along with the bombastic 'Overload', kicks the disc off in full gear with choruses you'll be singing for days. The amps don't stay on eleven the whole time though. The disc twists and turns directions with songs like the dance floor friendly 'Take me Away' and the melancholy 'This Thing', before arriving back on the full-on epic rocker 'End of the World'."Haywire' sounds like a sound realized. It's perfectly balanced and ready to break through on the alternative airwaves.www.stateofbeing.com Music17508@blogcritics.org Fri, 16 Jul 2004 11:16:53 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/05/13/090614.php Patrick ColeffBelow is a recent interview with Tara, from the band Lycia. After over a decade of recording and performing, they recently released their last album "Empty Space" on Silber Records. 1. I am sure many people have asked about the departure from Projekt. Since I'm sure I won't get an answer to that question, instead, I will ask if there will be any future releases (Lycia, solo or otherwise) through Projekt or will all new albums be issued through Silber Records?tara: There will never be another release on Projekt unless something very bizarre happens. Mike has a solo record in the works that will come out on Silber. We're quite happy with the way Brian runs things. He's a great friend and a great businesman. I'm sure our story wouldn't be much different from any other disgruntled bands you hear yapping... 2. I'd read that "Tripping Back into Broken Days" was actually recorded after "Empty Space". Did you know that "Empty Space" would be delayed when recording "Tripping Back.."? Was there any overlap in the creation of the albums?tara: We stopped working on Empty Space because we were having problems. It's another one of those things I'm going to refrane from fully discussing. Let's just say it lead to Mike deciding to say "fuck this" to Lycia. Tripping... IS an Estraya album. It should have been released under the Estraya name. We were misguided in the decision to call it a Lycia album. It was a mistake on our part. We recorded Tripping... completely content to walk away from Lycia (and had been done with Lycia for a few years at that point) but were pursuaded to use the Lycia name at the last minute so to speak. It was our final decision, but it wasn't the right decision. Empty Space was supposed to sit on a shelf and collect dust and never see the light of day, but we decided to release it because it truly was the end of the line for Lycia and a couple people wanted to hear the album. 3. As a lifelong Clevelander, I've always found the naming of your album "Cold", created after moving to Ohio from Arizona, kind of amusing. Any real correlation?tara: Absolutely! I lived in Ohio my entire life and Mike grew up in Michigan, so we're both extremely familiar with Winter in the Midwest. When we recorded that album it was the snowiest Winter we'd had in Ohio in a long time. Our house overlooked a snowy field/woods and every day we stared out at that scene while we recorded. Lycia has always been about reflecting the environment around it - physically and emotionally - so it made perfect sense to name the album Cold. 4. Standard interview question: What Lycia song is *your* favorite?tara: Oh geez! I'm not sure I can pick just one! For emotional reasons I'll go with "Granada", for my own feelings of contentedness with what I created, I'll go with "Asleep in the River". 5. I once heard a story about how Mike was walking with a gothier companion and a fan came up and, assuming, because he looked like goth, that the companion was in Lycia and proceeded to tell him how much he/she loved Lycia and gushed on, not knowing Mike was actually the one she was looking for. Regardless of if the story is true, do you view your music as "goth" and what do you think of people who might expect you to look/act a certain way, based on your music?tara: That story is absolutely true! Funny huh? The funny thing is that person had brought Mike a gift. So when he wrote the "Biggest Fan" back thanking them for the gift the person never responded. We used to show up at goth clubs where we were scheduled to play (because the booking agent booked us in those places, we could have cared less what kind of clubs we played in) and people would look at us like "who the hell are you and why are you here?". Mike looked like someone from Skynard on the Cold tour and I never fit in either because I'm no sickly thin waif with black lipstick. So it was always interesting. Some people didn't care at all what we looked like. It was obvious other people were let down because we weren't "cool" though.Obviously a good portion of our fan base is Goth, and that's totally cool as far as I'm concerned. The problem I have is when they want you to be like them. They want you to live by their dogmas and by their "code of ethics". We are who we are and we don't care who listens or doesn't listen to our music. We've never tried to be anything specific. We felt like we let a lot of people down at times for being ourselves and that's fucked up. Well, I'll speak for myself in regards to that because Mike might say something different. 6. You've worked with other bands, such as Numina and Falling You. Was collaborating with those other artists an adjustment, after your other work being with someone you are so close to? Do you plan to do future collaborations?tara: It wasn't an adjustment for me in regards to working with Numina. I just made vocal tapes and sent them to Jesse to manipulate. When I worked with Falling You I did what he asked me to do, which doesn't happen in Lycia, so that may have been a little weird for me. Mike has always wanted his collaboraters to do what comes naturally to them and doesn't really give direction. I will probably do more collaborations in the future. I'm hoping to do something with Timothy Renner of Stone Breath. 7. Lycia has been around for over 15 years. Now that the project is at a close, is there a certain degree of nostalgia for it or do you feel that it had run it's course and are glad to have it finished?tara: Both. There's always going to be this sadness knowing that it's over. We had a lot of fun, saw a lot of places and met a lot of really cool people. But there was also a lot of frustration associated with Lycia that we're glad to be rid of. I love Lycia. I love it or I wouldn't have bothered tracking Mike down all those years ago. So for me knowing it's over is very sad. But yes, I think Lycia ran it's course. But you know what? I change my mind on a daily basis. 8. With Mike's solo project on the horizon and your album "This Womb like Liquid Honey" released about four years ago, you've both completed separate works since collaborating on Lycia. How much work or influence crossed the borders (Mike's into yours, yours into Mike's)?tara: Mike had a very big impact on my album because he helped me with some of the programming, recording etc. He helped me get through the process and encouraged me when I might have just given up thinking I wasn't good enough. I have no influence on his work other than an extra ear to listen and to encourage him to continue. 9. Lycia's lyrics have always seemed very personal, in particular on "Tripping Back..". Does it make you uncomfortable to know that you're offering these feelings up for everyone or can you distance yourself from the songs, once they've been created?tara: Yes and no. I mean, I have always been an open book and will pretty much talk about anything, so it doesn't bother me particularly that people know the reality behind the lyrics. But it did used to really bother me when we'd be on stage pouring out very personal emotions and looking out and seeing people completely disinterested or only there to "make the scene". It also really bothers me when people make light of some of the subject matter. Mike almost died, this stuff isn't about feeling sorry for yourself, it's about dealing with someone wasting away. I can handle someone not liking our music, that's fine, but when someone reduces it to "the catacombs in france goth goth goth blah blah blah" that pisses me off because it shows a total lack of comprehension on the part of the listener. 10. At one point, you toured quite extensively, but have not done so for some time. Was this a decision made because you don't enjoy performing live or did it simply become not viable to do and fit into your everyday life?tara: It had nothing to do with us not enjoying touring and everything to do with Mike getting ill and us not being able to afford to take a proper show out on the road. One of our major regrets is that we were forced to tour so sparsely. We would have liked to have been able to hire extra musicians and take a sound man and a lighting man out with us, but we were given no tour support and had to pay for everything out of our own pockets. That's just a reality. There's no way once Mike got really sick that we could continue going out there and damaging his body any further. Plus having to have fulltime jobs in order to pay bills and have health insurance is not condusive to touring. 11. You have a great and powerful voice. What was your musical background before joining Lycia?tara: Thanks for the compliment. I appreciate it. I have no real musical background. I was in a band that made a couple of demos and that's it. 12. Lastly, anything you'd like to plug? Upcoming releases, side projects, other bands.... great TV shows to fill the loss of 'Angel' (yes, I did my homework ;)?tara: Wow! Look at you! The only thing "business wise" I'd like to plug is Mike's upcoming release Beyond the Horizon Line which should be out some time in September of this year. I've been writing a book that I hope to have done some time this century and am beginning work on a solo record. As far as the death of Angel goes....I'm still pretty pissed off! hahaha!!! Nothing will replace that show! ;) For more information about Lycia, check out www.lyciummusic.com. Music15647@blogcritics.org Thu, 13 May 2004 09:06:14 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/01/30/145247.php Patrick ColeffI'll be the first to admit that Lycia is not everyone's cup of tea. They have a definite song and production style and they stick pretty steadily to it. Those familiar with the work of Jesus & Mary Chain will know what I'm talking about here. Even when I first heard them, I was less than impressed. Awash in reverb and often-indecipherable whispered vocals, their songs seemed to simply melt into a homogenous sound with one track indistinguishable from the next.It wasn't until I listened further that I realized that, despite their ambient and ethereal feel, these were not songs you could just simply gloss over. That their attraction lay in the intricate details of the song. Like a fine wine, where you need to appreciate not just the grapes, but the undertones brought about by the soil and the climate in which they were grown, and the barrels in which they were stored. This was mature, rich music, not for the cheap drunks.In an odd turn, it's the sparing use of these subtleties that makes "Empty Space" such a great album, especially for those just getting into the band. Though only recently released, "Empty Space" was actually recorded back in 1999, shortly before the band broke up and, because of such, it lay incomplete until Silber Records picked it up, dusted it off, and released it in late 2003. Since the album is, in fact, unfinished, it has a certain raw power that I was pleasantly suprised by.It's also far more pop-oriented than their previous works. The melodies and hooks are pushed to the front, portending a direction I would have really enjoyed seeing the band explore further. But, it's also feels very unfinished at times with occasionally meager production values making it come across as a dark 80's garage band, lacking the glimmering sheen of previous works. In many ways, I think this gives the album a certain endearing charm, but others might be less sympathetic.When it comes down to it, I'm ecstatic that this album was given a chance to see the light of day. Fans of Lycia will love the chance to savor one more album from them and it's also an excellent entrance point for newcomers to discover what they were missing out on. Thank you Silber Records!www.silbermedia.com www.lyciummusic.com Music12192@blogcritics.org Fri, 30 Jan 2004 14:52:47 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/01/26/131851.php Patrick ColeffIn cleaning out my studio recently, I had a chance to rediscover a whole box of tapes and cd's I'd completely forgotten about. These were demo's and live/rarities bootlegs from the early 90's, when I used to work as a music reviewer for a small local rag. As I popp'ed a few of them in, I was shocked to find that most were actually really good! So, instead of devoting my this review to a new cd, I thought I'd take my first stab at what I might make a series: Forgotten Demos.First up, we have the band Ashengrace with their debut album, "Drawing Down the Moon", self-released in 1997. I'm actually a bit amazed to discover that these guys are still around and still making music. Big praises, right off the bat, for that! Ashengrace really brings back a great time in dark guitar music. Heavily influenced by the shoegazer movement, goth acts were picking up on the lush wall of guitar sound and bands like Lycia and Lovespiralsdownwards started coming out with amazing albums which combined this sound into something completely their own, now called "ethereal goth". Though not central to this whole movement, Ashengrace definitely deserve a place in it's story. Drenched in reverbed-out guitars and whispered vocals, they have a sound that typifies the genre. Even if it's not completely original, I can hear a lot of the Slowdive album "Just for a Day" as well as the Lycia record "Ionia" in "Drawing..", it's well-produced and showcases some excellent musicianship, along with a good deal more bite and aggression than your average ethereal album. I would definitely suggest this album for fans of Projekt Records, ethereal goth or someone looking to find out more about it. More info available at: http://personal.riverusers.com/~ashengrace/ Music12053@blogcritics.org Mon, 26 Jan 2004 13:18:51 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/01/19/135328.php Patrick ColeffIf you were to ask someone to name the hometown of a sleek, trip-hop duo (really, any sleek trip-hop duo), chances are you'd get answers like: London, Birmingham and New York. Most likely, you would not get "Cincinnati", but that's exactly where Hungry Lucy hails from and their national success proves that the Midwest exports more than corn and grain. 'Glo', their most recent album was released in early 2003 as two-cd set. The first cd contains twelve expertly-crafted pop tracks. Each song constructed around Christa Belle's haunting and achingly tender voice. Between the tales of October nights and lonely rooms emerge smoky Rhodes riffs, reverb-laden synths, and trip-hop beats. The second disc twists things in a new direction. Geared mainly for the dancefloor, this disc features remixes of material from disc one. The mixes comes from such darkwave and ebm luminaries as: Claire Voyant, Aiboforcen, bloodWIRE, ThouShaltNot, trigger10d, Chandeen and Neikka RPM .Though this might seem a bit excessive, I assure you, these remixes take the songs down such paths that it doesn't come across as repetitive at all. This album has definitely found a permanent place in my cd player and is worth checking out for fans of trip-hop, pop, darkwave or just-plain-good music. Music11862@blogcritics.org Mon, 19 Jan 2004 13:53:28 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/01/19/134927.php Patrick Coleffwww.disinterested.netMy only qualm with the cd 'The Past is Never Far' by disinterested (a.k.a. Matthew Emerson Brown) is that, while the title aptly prepares you for the material inside, the band's name reflect an blase attitude not apparent in the emotional feel of the album itself. But, hey, it's a great thing when that is the only problem.Melancholy and tender, 'The Past is Never Far' reminds me of early Projekt Record's releases, with more concentration on guitar-instrumentation than lush synth textures. The tracks vary between spatial ambient work and songs whose wall-of-guitar sound borders on shoegazer. They are, for the most part, instrumental, laying the groundwork for more of a environment than a set of catchy tunes. That's not to say vocals do not pop up here and there, but their effects are much more subtle and, instead, contribute more to the texture of the song, rather than for the words themselves. An excellent soundtrack to a rainy day, or gray Cleveland winter, as the case may be. Music11861@blogcritics.org Mon, 19 Jan 2004 13:49:27 EST