February 20, 2009

A Shoreline Dream Giveaway!

Denver-born psych-shoegaze crazies A Shoreline Dream are having their CD release show here in Colorado, and guess what, I've got a bit of a hook up for you guys.

If you're the first to answer this question, you get 1 signed CD and a pair of tickets to the CD release show at the Bluebird in good old Denver, CO:

A Shoreline Dream formed their own label. What is that label's name?


And that's it! just answer that question and you and a friend get to go to the gig for free on top of receiving a signed copy of the album. Answer by TUESDAY, 24th FEB, and it's all yours. Good luck!


p.s. I just realized my layout has gone completely bonkers and deleted all my links on the left hand side. that's a little frustrating to say the least. I'll get on that here in a day or so. grr

February 12, 2009

Black Gold - Rush

Black Gold - Rush
Verdict: Love (<) Black Gold's album has chill, sexy songs, almost in the vein of the new resurgence of lively disco (as opposed to the initial rise where there was about as much life in it as there is in a robot zombie), but more in the style of the new pop-centered cheerful radio punk that is going on. The only difference between Black Gold and that sound may be the fact that I actually enjoyed Rush.

At times the album comes off of a U2 mixed with Queen sound (Run), but other times it seems like they've invited Andy Butler into the studio to dictate how things were going to go (Detroit). That may seem like I'm saying the album doesn't have a cohesive feeling about it, but that's not my intention at all. The songs flow from one to another neigh-seamlessly, but without sounding just like the last track. The producer(s), I have a feeling, should be feeling just as proud of this record as Than Luu and Eric Ronick surely must. I mean, the album is an undeniable beast of a record.

That said, it's not revolutionary. Most of the songs follow regular song structure format, or, at least, they sound like they do, and, for me, that doesn't really strike my fancy. I mean, when you have a song in 3/4 and the drum beat is as boring as it is in most pop 3/4 songs (Canyon), I'm automatically going to be judging your song. No, maybe another drum beat wouldn't have fit the theme, then, for me, that means the theme is no good. I only have my own opinions on this one though, so who knows in the end. There are some very tried-and-true methods on this album, but sometimes those things can be the genius of an album. Like I said before, I really did enjoy this album. But every time I listen to it it gets a little more stale. That might be because of how often I've heard it over the past few days though. Certainly something to factor in.

It's an album you instantly want to sing along with. And that's something few artists can claim. Well done Black Gold.

Black Gold - Detroit

Black Gold - Run
Black Gold - After The Flood

February 3, 2009

okay, so here's an update: There have been a few CD's that have shown up in my mailbox, so I'll review those ones, and any others that might show up, but other than that, I just don't have the time. the first one will be up in like a week.