Month: September 2010

Posted on: September 22, 2010 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

Mephi – Music for Dead Blondes (CD)

Mephi – Music for Dead Blondes This is probably the last Israeli band I will have to review unless Useless ID sends me a disc in the near future. This disc has a really lo-fi sound to it,m and I am at a loss of words when I try to classify it as any specific genre. Rather, I would have to say that MEPHI really mixes indie, They Might Be…

Posted on: September 22, 2010 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

Mental Pain – Five Years of Pain 99’ – 04’ (CD)

The collection of tracks on this album really shows the hard-edge punk sound that Mental Pain has been trying to craft in the Southeastern corner of Ohio for the last five years. One cannot do any better but start off this album with “Together We Stand”, a track that puts Mental Pain alongside The Unseen and The Casualties for pure streetpunk. “Raw and Ruthless” may not have the pure catchiness…

Posted on: September 22, 2010 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

Men of Gentle Birth – Ye Of Little Faith (CD)

I had tried to ignore reviewing this EP for the longest possible time, because I had no clue how the Men of Gentle Birth (formerly Blacks) were going to be able to re-created their tremendous live act. However, they have been paired up with the best production and mastering, allowing for them to shine in all the right places without necessarily opening up the tracks too far and losing some…

Posted on: September 21, 2010 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

The Memory Band – Apron Strings (CD)

The guitar that opens up a song like “I Wish I Wish” is very traditional sounding, with the female vocals that are paired with the guitar giving the act a more complete approacvh. While the music was created in 2006, there is nothing saying that this type of music – and the band that created it, The Memory Band – could not be from an earlier period. The production is…

Posted on: September 21, 2010 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

The Melvins – Mangled Demos From 1983 (CD)

The Melvins, I thought, were a metal band. Two things really made me change my mind on that synopsis: first off, the album that Jello Biafra did with these guys, and secondly, this album. “Mangled Demos From 1983” might be from over twenty years ago, but the re-vamped sound of this album (long found as a bootleg) makes the intensity of The Melvins almost as if they were playing for…

Posted on: September 21, 2010 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

Mellowdrone – Box (CD)

Mellowdrone really link the sound of their band during tracks like “C’Mon Try A Little Bit” to their title; the mellow drone of the band in all facets of output (instrumentation or vocals). There is a little electronic/techno edge to “Oh My” which immediately draws a parallel to acts like Nine Inch Nails; the off-kilter sounds of the band that come soon after really distinguish them from the former act.…

Posted on: September 20, 2010 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

John Mellencamp – Freedom’s Road (CD)

There are a number of individuals that have been gone from the popular purview that have released albums in the first quarter of 2007. Kenny Wayne Shepherd and John Mellencamp are two of those individuals. As many know, John Mellencamp was the mastermind behind such rock standards as “Jack and Diane” and “Pink Houses”. Mellencamp would resurface again in 1993 with a cover of the Van Morrison track “Wild Night”,…

Posted on: September 20, 2010 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

Medications – Self/Titled EP (CD)

Rush and Dream Theatre immediately mix with Weezer to create a current yet aged sound. This “aged” factor, pretty much a reinventing of the shoegazer genre of the mid-nineties, is strengthened through the omnipresent bass by Chad Molter on tracks like “Safe and Sorry”. “Safe and Sorry” benefits from a highly technical guitar arrangement that also recalls the best of sixties rocks like The Kinks. Devin’s vocals, best described as…

Posted on: September 20, 2010 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

Ed Mecija – S/T (CD)

Hey, I had no idea that Ed would be doing rap no this EP. To be honest, there was little that told what type of music that the EP had on it on the front cover. The style of the EP’s first track, “Beautiful Friend”, is very Spartan. The only thing that is a constant during that track are the vocals of Mecija. The flow seems a little rushed at…

Posted on: September 19, 2010 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

DTV Transition

We have had some form of television service for the last few years at the apartment, but I feel that there have been some problems with our cable service. First off, the cost of cable service is absolutely astronomical, while the selection of channels simply is not good. There are also some problems with the amount of different shows that we can record, while one cannot even go and have…