saltlakemusic
X96 Live and Local Vol. II · Nov 24, 02:32 PM
(searching for Live and Local 3? Click here)
I nabbed myself a copy of the new x96 Live and Local Vol II after a visit with Carey, Bill and Gina during a remote promotion at the Flying J on Foothill Drive last Monday. X96, a Salt Lake City alternative radio station has been extremely cooperative and gracious with local alternative bands for almost a decade, offering weekly studio interviews and airtime to help promote albums and shows. Live and Local is an x96 channel 96.3FM show which can be heard Sunday nights at 8pm, hosted by Portia among other DJs. I’ve been a longtime fan of X96 for three reasons: Live and Local Sundays, Radio from Hell in the mornings with Bill Allred, and new music in the evenings with Corey Obrien. I think its time I show my appreciation and support for these three communications giants and their PD, Todd Nuk’em (aka Todd C. Noker). This station has put their hand in almost every event (with the exception of Barbershop finals) we’ve covered since our original release date back in 2001(ish) including the Gallivan Plaza Come Alive Concert Series and dozens of CD release parties.
As if X96 hasn’t done enough, they’ve started bombing the valley with this free album: Live and Local II. That’s a point to consider: it’s free, and therefore complaining about it seems rather infantile. One would expect, since Live and Local the show is broadcast at the station’s coffee shop on 700 east and 515 south, that the music on the Live and Local album would be derived directly from those sessions. Instead the CD contains a continental blend of studio demo recordings and rather obvious lo-fi, live mic recordings.
The CD, as a local compilation, couldn’t have been more satisfying. All of us here (except for Elmo) like the Purrbats, and we bitch about them being underpromoted by Rest 30 Records, so naturally I was dumbfounded by their enlistment on the Live and Local CD. Way to go dudes. Live and Local II, as a promotional tool, still kindof sucks ass. I just like to have at least one page of information about the album when I listen, I want to know who produced it and where it was produced, this album comes with nothing. Ideally, I’d even like to kinda know the names of songwriters, not just band and song names. So I checked around online to find more information. You wanna know where to find it? So do I. Drop a comment if you do have more information about the minds behind this promotion because I couldn’t find jack shit from the station itself or from related blogs. There are no bands listed that didn’t belong on the album, they each seem rarely qualified to represent the alternative genre. As a whole I’m extremely pleased with it can’t stop listening.
(Joe stopped listening to Live and Local Volume Two about 10 minutes later)
Click the bandname for more information. Notify me of outdated links please.
Holloh – Dont You Dare
Aside from playing genre specific ho-hum riffs and beats in a way that reaches but never exceeds expectations, the vocals might impress you. Yes, the singer sounds like that dude from Incubus, but this observation probably rubs him like a blister from a cheap pair of Cons. Perhaps this is an overcritical but noteworthy matter: the song begins “Here I am, It’s 2am…” But unless the song is Thunder Road by Garth Brooks, I don’t want to ever hear what time it is, I could fill a blank disc with songs that start out in this way (actually I don’t want to hear anybody sing Thunder Road except myself on monday night Karaoke at Todd’s after 2 or 3 pitchers). Here, let me demonstrate how easy it is “It’s 5:23 Western time, and everyone is doing fine, except for me and my crooked spine, scared of losing my concubine” See? The lyrics in Don’t You Dare may or may not be a good example of Holloh’s songwriting mechanics, regardless of their ability to handle their instruments, but they definitely don’t convey anything special besides the formulaic, white teenage angst found in most every uptown garage. There’s nothing wrong with that, unless you like inspiring music.
The Wolfs - Outta Season
This track is fun. Why this band has so many members is beyond me. The gang chanting and incessant gibberish lyrics reminds me of all those classic punk songs like Blitzkreg Bop and Saturday Night. Make no mistake, these guys are pure indie, and a major force. They’ll be playing New Years Eve at the Urban Lounge this year (2005), I only wish I could see them sooner.
The Brobecks – Die Alone
I wanted to throw this band on the tail end of the Winter ‘05 compilation a few months back. They’ve got so many good jams, I can hardly see why this one was chosen for the Live and Local album, but okay: it’s awesome. The name “Die Alone” sounds like a downer, but like only the Brobecks can, by the end of this song the Grim Reaper is drunk and dancing in the tavern with the rest of us skeletons. The honkey tonk piano by Bryan Szymanski really does the job, he has a way of standing out while never quite going over the top. The whole band just seems to mesh so well, they seem so well rehearsed and organized that I’ve notified Bill Gephardt to find out if they really are local. Rest assured, Bill will uncover the truth of all this, and if I find out they traveled here by time machine I’ll be sending nasty emails to Mike Gross, their energetic singer and spokesman. I hope we can keep them here, after seeing their popularity taking off just in the last 24 months, I can’t expect they’ll be doing these live and local gigs much longer. But I sure hope they do.
Purr Bats – Salt Lake City
David Payneful, Scott Bentley, Amber Smokey, Jesse Winterwind, Eli Parsimmons, Anne James, Banty Rooster, and Thadeus Leona (if those are their real names) bring us more Purrbat insanity that we’ve become so shamefully addicted to here at Saltlakemusic.com. They’ve taken lyricism to a new and subjectively insane poetic level. This is more of a project than a song in my opinion, to test the Salt Lake population against beatnik ideals. The lyrics seems to be written around objects relating to Salt Lake: mountains, lakes, family values, urinals, soil and wanton. Even the haunting and overdriven electric baseline portrays the hopeless churning of talent which seems every time to backfire: the Salt Lake music scene to which there seems to be no real summit. These guys a wierd tendancy to over-overdub their samples and keyboard noise, which I enjoy to an extent. The only grey noise I can’t stand is high pitched and cyclic, which this song is abundant with. I absolutely love the chorus which reminds me of an old narrative Disney cartoon about Halloween.
Super So Far – Let it Go
This song is a real tearjerker, or something. If you’ve never heard this ultra-catchy track by Supersofar, it can be best described as listening to young people play their parent’s contemporary music with distortion pedals. I can’t really get down on them too much about their music, which is a little over-whiney instead of Tesla-esque (probably what they were going for). But I can say that if you have the name “Super” in your title, lull your audience to sleep with rock ballads like this one. When writing music, avoid using those classic tactics: bridging choruses with the same exact chorus, crossfading the drums out, and removing the upstrokes. Wait, that shit is totally eighties, ok rock on mullet style. Maybe they should just take that tactic and “let it go.” This song is just really slow and generic. But hey, they’ve got a cool logo, their website is up and running, and their name is super duper!
New Transit Direction – Houston
As the bandname indicates, this music is going in a new direction. One thing that really stands out is their classical approach to the newest problems with alternative. The song is built on a foundation that changes up spontaneously. The changes themselves are simple, chord patterns that go up, up and away away from the chorus and then a quick drop off back to the chorus itself, which is my least favorite segment of the song. The last thing the listener hears and remembers sucks since the change ups all lead back to the main part. John Asher sings with some passion, he takes major risks, and has a good range: he should get props, it’s not his fault this song kinda sucks. I guess the only real problem with Houston is that the change ups take us in new directions, and as soon as we start liking these new places, we go back to the chorus, which is just 4 chords that don’t jive well, it makes the song creepy and annoying. I didn’t like it much, but I’ll definitely remember these guys when I go CD shoppin next time.
Fifi Murmur – Message From the Grave
Fifi Murmur is the coolest example of Utah artists working together for mutual advantage. This strange project has produced not only a ton of good music in the last 5 years, some of it was crap although all of it was playable, but Message From the Grave isn’t crap, it totally kicks ass. The dragon keeps all “eating his tail” man! Whoa! Yeah. The question answers itself WHOA! Then theres some Akira-like rock organs, fucking trippy man. This is the “money” song off of Live and Local 2. Why is there not more information on these guys? I really dig ‘em.
Manic – The Odd’s
Here’s another guy I really dig. Unfortunately he picked the same name as like a billion other bands, DJs and MCs. I have no idea what his story is, but he’s pretty damn good with Garageband I must say. Don’t get me wrong, Manic is pro level, but let this song be a monument to the lesson we learned from God Lives Underwater, Trent Reznor, and perhaps someday Manic: little geetar, little sample, little drum macheen, alotta spensive microphones. I’d like to talk to him about where he got his loops, they’re tight as hell, it sounds like it might be right out of a tv commercial. Manic, if you need a new bandname, may I suggest McGuyver or DJ McGuyver, as you make it sound so easy to make something from nothing. I’d like to see this dude collaborate on some trip hop or something.
Nathan’s Chainsaw – The Year’s State
The artist know as “Nathan” has a chainsaw. I think it must’ve ran out of gas because all I heard was some dude making cute comments about feeling warm. Nathan can play some good folk guitar and I bet the girlies are knocking down his down wanting his sperm. I’m proud to be a redneck, I know what a real chainsaw sounds like. Cheers fucker!
Anesty – Don’t Go
What is it with the word “GO” and the concept of “Going” that makes rocker dudes like it so much? That’s how it’s been ever since Vanilla Ice’s “Ninja Rap” Back in the nineties. I personally think if a girl wants to “Go” you should let her “go” and not be all like “DONT GO” and ask for second chances and shit. Now that I think about it, I remember some bad experiences with the whole “Don’t Go” tactic. As I remember it, for the next two weeks I was saying “Don’t Go” every two hours until eventually I was saying “Please Go” and “Seriously, get the fuck out.” Women are then given a righteous opportunity to make a puppet out of you by reaching for the doorknob. Hey, Anesty’s pretty cool.
Under Radar – Ulcer
Yknow I could review all day. Under Radar is Foo Fighters on cough syrup. I don’t particularly like this lo fi recording because the drums are so dirty and the vocal effects just drown everything else out. It sounds as if they were using Pignoses or just plugging their instruments into the microphone slot on a stereo. The song just goes on and on and on with the same 3 words over and over and over and it’s just annoying towards the end of the song. I can take about 20 seconds of Ulcer before I have want to change it. The dudes can rock, but this recording sucks ass.
Might Be Tragic – Your Dream That Won’t Come True
Jesus Christ is this CD over yet? I’d like to see Might Be Tragic live, but I can’t say I’m a big fan of this track. The drummer, who again is drowned out by vocals and dentist drill guitars stands out more than any other drummer on the whole album. He got skills. Catch this band at a wedding near you.
AJ – Real Life
Andreas, from Ogden? If its the same Andreas from Germany who ended up working at the Skybox with Brenda, you’re cool. I’m just going to pretend this is the same Andreas anyway because I really liked that guy. I went wakeboarding with him and some friends a few years back. He ate flax seed bread and busted out his guitar around the campfire and started singing, and pretty good too. This particular song is about social classes it seems, and comments on the separation of values between those classes. He’s got alot of heart and can play. His style is a kind of Long Beach/Granola hybrid, matching the rock energy of Bradley with an Credence Clearwater kindof backstreat “zooba zobba” poetry. “Hey you on the other side of town, something something something better take a look around, people dyin’, people cryin’” thats pretty much all the lyrics for the song. God damn I’m getting fat. I wonder if I’m on the “other side” of town, or on Andreas’ side of town. It’s not about which side of town you’re from though, it’s about the two sides coming together.
Magstatic - Bitchin House
“It’s got a basement with an elevator, that goes all the way up through the roof.” Kind of like Willy Wonka’s Chocolate fatory. This song sounds like some raunchy love making Judas Priest type shit. It’s the kindof song you’d expect to hear in a Grenich Village bar at 3am, and it’s all about this really cool house, fully equipped with an office, garage, gas appliances with automatic cooking and of course it comes with the great glass elevator. That’s it. Houses are just cool, and sexy. Chicks love houses, they can’t keep their hands off of ‘em, that’s why this song is absolutely cool. Houses is not a metaphor, this song is really about what you can expect from Magstatic’s “Bitchin House” that comes with a front door, back door and band room. There’s no closets in the bedroom, I don’t understand why? It must be because there are no clothes allowed in the bedroom. Thats gotta be it. This house has a sauna, I want this house. It’s probably got a huge lawn though, and gas is only getting more spensive.
Paris Green – Kill?
The drummer for Paris Green, takes things apart in this amped up track called “Kill?” These synchronized guitar tricks are top notch too, a lot of hamering and doin triplets on the fretboard. It changes up plenty, I think there’s even some scratchy turn table action all up in the mix, dunno if I like it yet but it’s definitely “action-packed” and “sure to blow your socks off!” Jackie Chan jumps off of towers, Paris Green practices till their fingers are bloody stumps. Good lord, this song couldn’t really be much more technical. Pretty much progressive punk/emo, it’s really light on the microphone, the changeups are absolutely tight! The drummer double bangs on the bass drum like madness, the guitars are on the edge of speedmetal and classic rock. Something strange and fast, the vocals are really upset and filled with rambunxious energy.
John is a really, really talented singer and songwriter. This CD has dozens of really great songs.
Unspoken Truth – Never Knew
The drummer is really good, the song is positive and has my attention for the first couple of minutes. The chick singer kind of sucks and her range sucks too, the rhymes are catchy and smell like poo. The drummer is really good. The guitar not so great, or maybe it’s the recording, whatever it is the song is just “meh.” Nothing too wonderful, besides the drumming. I should mention that this song and a few others on Live and Local Two really suffer from a lowsy balance of vocals and drums that overwhelm key instruments at critical times. There’s really nothing the guitarist can do besides be even more awesome to try and shine in the brief moments where they shine through the mess of noise. At the time the recording is being made, they have no idea how crappy they are actually sounding.
Insatiable – The More I Drink
Insatiable is: Scott Terry, Chris Taylor, Jeff Evans, Lou Lodefink, Zach Craigle, Reed Chadwick and Shaun Thomas. They’ve always been super good about showing up at the Gallivan Center, and most everybody knows to associate them with ska at least. The critics know better than to try and touch insatiable, they are bigger and better than any other band, I think I even saw them on Carson Daly. This is an example of when splitting the check 7 ways still manages to pay off. How these small clubs can package the whole band on a little stage amazes me. But they are without a doubt the biggest and baddest in the business. This song is all about how power drinking is a perpetual process. The best way to become a fearless lover is to be a fearless drunk, but it comes at a price. You come really close to losing your self-respect and the respect of others each time you drink like this, until finally you catch yourself and laugh about it. It’s a good ol drinkin tune.
Dulce Sky – Cat’s Are Sleeping
Rrrrrright. This song is just silly. It involves alot of “meow meow meow meow meow” to a sort of accoustic version of “take my breath away” from Top Gun, with cats singing. I like it. I think this is a good time to mention that it’s up to us to give our cats Iams cat food so they don’t get urinary infections. I knew two good cats that died due to urinary infections, and these were both good lil kitties. One of them would only go potty outside and he just stopped comin around all of the sudden, then I get that phone call. That damn phone call. The singing cat people are Oliver and Daniel Valenzuela, Mitchell Razon on drums, and Leigh Hendrickson. They are good people, help us save our cats.
* * *