All That Music & Video

Marina & The Diamonds “The Family Jewels”

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Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers-”Mojo”
It was once said that “the longer you live, the better you get.” In recording Mojo, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers took to the studio in a way they hadn’t done before (at least to such an extent); not only did the group go into recording the album with an entirely blank canvas—the decision was made to go into Mojo without any demos in hand—but much of the album was essentially recorded live: no headphones, each member facing each other while they played out their ideas. Speaking to Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune, Petty shed some light on the process, “This is a record we couldn’t have made in the ’70s and ’80s because we weren’t really good enough as musicians.” He continued, “We’re using our age as a plus in this sense, in that we’ve become better musicians.” It would seem that Petty would agree with the statement of aging gracefully, if only in terms of he and his band’s musical evolution. And if Mojo is the evidence that we have to either confirm or deny whether Petty and the Heartbreakers have gotten better or worse with age, it would seem wholeheartedly irrational to argue the latter.

In 2006 Tom Petty released his third solo album, and first in over a decade, Highway Companion. That same year a number of other veteran acts (Young, Springsteen, the Who, Frampton, John, Meat Loaf, etc.) joined Petty in releasing new material, though the majority of the releases proved the initial quote to have plenty of exceptions. It’s fitting that those aforementioned words were muttered by Bob Dylan as he also released an album in 2006 (Modern Times); one that serves up even more evidence supporting the quote. While Highway Companion was expectedly strong, the album eventually claimed spots on a myriad of year end lists, it doesn’t resonate in the same way as Mojo; which might, once again, relate to Bob Dylan. Further along in his interview with Kot, Petty revealed the prime influence on Mojo, “For the last 10, 11 years, I’ve been immersed in blues. That’s what I listen to all the time and we got caught up in that vibe on this record.” It might be a bit of a stretch, but Dylan’s last two albums (or at least the last two albums that weren’t nut-bar crazy) also cracked at the seams with the blues. Putting the similarities to Dylan and the focus on the blues aside for a moment however, the album actually does have its fair share of tracks that sound like the Heartbreakers of old; even if Mojo‘s opening song is titled “Jefferson Jericho Blues.”

Tom Petty & The Heartbreaker’s new album “Mojo” is available at All That Music & Video
for only $16.99!

Popularity: 2% [?]

The Roots-”How I Got Over”

The Roots new album “How I Got Over” is now available at All That Music & Video for only $13.99!

Popularity: 2% [?]

The greatest tropical artist of the past quarter-century, Juan Luis Guerra adds another dazzling album to his catalog with A Son de Guerra, a rhythmically wide-ranging effort that may not run long but is packed with highlights. Since the mid-’90s Guerra has released albums at a leisurely pace, taking four years to release Ni Es Lo Mismo Ni Es Igual (1998), six years for Para Ti (2004), three years for La Llave de Mi Corazón (2007), and another three years for A Son de Guerra. Though the wait between albums is often agonizing for fans, in particular the six-year wait for Para Ti, each album has proved excellent and different from its predecessor. A Son de Guerra is different from its predecessor in that it doesn’t aim for crossover success in the way that the Latin Grammy-sweeping La Llave de Mi Corazón did with its bilingual title track and its Black Eyed Peas remix. In some ways rather modest in its aims, this self-produced album is brief at 11 tracks in 37 minutes and flows with such ease from one song to the next that it feels almost effortless. While it’s true that there’s nothing extravagant here, not even the Juanes collaboration, “La Calle,” which is more of a musical showcase than a ready-made hit single, every song is interesting from one standpoint or another. The lead single, “Bachata en Fukuoka,” is a lovely bachata whose lyrics are set in Japan of all places and give the otherwise simple song an air of exoticism. A Son de Guerra also includes another similarly styled bachata, “Mi Bendición,” and a couple merengues typical of Guerra‘s past work, “No Aparecen” and “Apaga y Vámonos.” Guerra‘s bread and butter, these bachatas and merengues are spread out a bit on the first half of A Son de Guerra. The remainder of the album, the second half in particular, is remarkably eclectic. Highlights include “La Guagua,” a witty guaracha with a political message; “Son al Rey,” a Christian song with an infectious Cuban son rhythm; “Arregla los Papeles,” an intricate salsa; and “Caribbean Blues,” an English-language Latin-style blues sequenced last as a bonus track. Like the aforementioned Juanes collaboration, the remaining songs, “Cayo Arena” and “Lola’s Mambo,” the latter featuring trumpeter Chris Botti, are essentially musical showcases for Guerra and his red-hot 4.40 band.

Juan Luis Guerra’s new album “Asondeguerra” is now available at All That Music & Video
for only $14.99!

Popularity: 4% [?]

Periphery-Self Titled debut album
One of the most anticipated releases in the progressive metal genre has finally been unleashed upon the world.

After much hype and online buzz , progressive-metal-djent masters, Periphery finally unveiled their crushing debut album via Sumerian Records earlier this year and have unveiled their new video for “Icarus Lives” .

As a genre, metal has always been firmly rooted in pushing music to new extremes, taking the sounds we’ve come to know and love from other styles and pushing them well past their limits until they become something new. Always looking to pushing things into increasingly lower directions is Periphery, the new project from expanded-range guitarist Misha “Bulb” Mansoor. Utilizing a combination of extreme tunings and studio magic on the eponymous album, Periphery presents us with a combination of blistering fretwork, extreme tunings, and studio magic to create a maelstrom of prog guitar worship reminiscent of Meshuggah and the Dillinger Escape Plan. While lightning-fast playing and odd chord structures and time signatures are certainly a part of Periphery’s charm, the production on the album helps to give it a razor-sharp edge over some of the competition. The band uses the studio here almost as an instrument in and of itself, controlling not just what you hear, but how you hear it. Guitars are gated and compressed into tones that are almost mechanical, replacing anything resembling bluesy warmth with a sound that is stark and metallic, at times sounding more like a piece of industrial equipment than a stringed instrument. What’s most impressive about the whole thing is that they manage to pull the whole thing off without sounding over-produced. By pushing the production to such limits, the album manages to blast through the typical production clichés to create a sonic assault that should quickly change your reaction from “Why did they do that?” to “How did they do that?,” making Periphery an album that’ll give lovers of prog metal something to sink their teeth into.

Periphery’s Self titled debut album is available at All That Music & Video for only $13.99!

Popularity: 3% [?]

Overstock On Hundreds of Classic Spanish Titles ONLY $7.99!
Genres ranging from action, drama, comedies, sexy-comedies and more.

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Although recorded in late 2008, Gorilla Manor wasn’t released until 14 months later, allowing Local Natives the chance to build a strong blog buzz before their debut hit American shores. The delay wasn’t entirely beneficial, however, as Gorilla Manor sounds quite similar to a number of albums that flourished in the interim. Local Natives’ sunny harmonies call to mind Fleet Foxes’ debut and Grizzly Bear’s Veckatimest, while the band’s polyphonic hand percussion — which, at its most frenzied, is almost tribal-sounding — evokes memories of Yeasayer’s All Hour Cymbals. For all its familiarity, though, Local Natives’ first album is still an enjoyable piece of work, filled with enough pop melodies and multicultural quirks to make the yearlong holdup fairly worthwhile. The band pitches itself somewhere between the post-punk camp and Afro-beat village, with the musicians often yelping their verses in multi-part harmony before barreling into Technicolor choruses. Matt Frazier’s percussion is sharp, crisp, and always in the foreground, often assuming as much importance as the vocals themselves, while the album’s production — courtesy of the bandmates themselves, along with fellow Silver Lake resident Raymond Richards — stretches a layer of pan-ethnic atmosphere over all 12 tracks, a move that bridges any gaps in the young group’s songwriting. Local Natives may have arrived several months late for their own party, but Gorilla Manor is a refreshing example of good quality trumping bad timing.
Here’s a live version of their song “Wide Eyes”

Popularity: 3% [?]

Here’s a new artist that I recently came across that I felt would be worth sharing.

About Tinashe, in his own words.

I was originally shipped over from Zimbabwe so I could eventually grow to become a doctor/lawyer and wire money back home via Western Union, that didn’t go so well… I blame/thank MJ.

I smiled & nodded to avoid bullying over my African accent at school until the Eastenders elocution lessons started to pay off… I can now slip in between both rather seamlessly… I grew up in Hackney. I will always be a Hackney boy but I’m enjoying being in a state of flux. Life is bigger than London.

I’m currently more in love with my guitar than I have ever been. I make guitar music. I am not ashamed to say l love pop music. That’s what its all about for me. Good music fuelled by the world around me.

Popularity: 4% [?]

YEASAYER “ODD BLOOD”

Don’t judge a book by its cover…or an album by its first track. Odd Blood gets off to an odd start with “The Children” — a robotic, plodding song that prizes mood over melody — before settling into a more balanced groove, mixing the multicultural sounds of Yeasayer‘s debut with a new emphasis on electronica, global trip-hop, and digital production. Like All Hour Cymbals, this is a thinking man’s album, one that requires its listeners to put on their thinking caps as well as their dancing shoes. It’s more urban than its predecessor, though, with most songs ditching the tribal harmonies and lo-fi analog ambience of the band’s earlier work in favor of an electric, textured sound. “Love Me Girl,” with its mix of Balearic beat keyboards and sampled female vocals, could have come from an Ibiza nightclub, while “Madder Red” strikes an unlikely balance between synth pop, Middle Eastern folk, and ‘80s dance music. Anand Wilder often abandons his guitar entirely, focusing instead on the keyboards that serve as Odd Blood’s bedrock, and he sings the latter song in a voice that’s clear, pleasant, and devoid of the yelping that characterized some of All Hour Cymbals’ tracks. Chris Keating has similarly improved, so much so that he delivers a rather stunning ballad — the Air-influenced “I Remember” — with warmth and understated confidence. Odd Blood’s emphasis on genre-mashing can overwhelm the weaker tunes, whose melodies are sometimes less interesting than the arrangements themselves, but the album has enough highlights to outweigh any filler on side B. All in all, this is a rare sophomore album that widens the band’s sound without narrowing its appeal.

An enticing blend of twee indie pop hooks and crisp electronic beats in the style first perfected by Saint Etienne‘s Foxbase Alpha, Little Dragon are a showcase for Swedish-Japanese singer Yukimi Nagano, a mainstay of the European downtempo and lounge scenes. Based in Gothenburg, Sweden, Nagano first broke through in 2000 and 2001 as the singer on several singles by Swell Session, the project fronted by Swedish DJ and producer Andreas Saag. She later sang lead on the club hits “Summer Sun” and “Bright Nights” for the Swedish electronica duo Koop, as well as Hird‘s house singles “Keep You Kimi” and “I Love You My Hope,” along with several contributions to the acid jazz collective Stateless‘ 2003 album Art of No State and the stylistically similar Sleepwalker‘s 2006 album The Voyage. Little Dragon, by way of contrast, are Nagano‘s own band, featuring keyboardist Hakan Wirenstrand, bassist Fredrik Kallgren Wallin, and drummer Erik Bodin. Bodin is also the percussionist for Swedish alt-folkie José González; in fact, Nagano sings harmony vocals on González‘s second album, In Our Nature. Little Dragon debuted in 2006 with the “Test” single, on the Scandinavian label Off the Wall. The following year, Little Dragon signed with the larger British indie Peacefrog Records (Nouvelle Vague, etc.) for their self-titled debut album. Machine Dreams, showing flashes of new wave inspiration, followed in 2009.

Popularity: 4% [?]