Billy Corgan for NoiseCreep

I went to visit my parents recently and dusted off my Smashing Pumpkins box set, 'The Aeroplane Flies High.' Was it Christmas 2006 when I got this? The band's cover of the Cars' "You're All I've Got Tonight" has been stuck in my head for days. This had nothing to do with all of the bullshit that went on between Corgan and Courtney last week, which happened around her big show at Terminal 5 in NYC. I didn't go, but I heard the 45-minute set was pure garbage. Either way, this is not about Love, but rather that Billy Corgan still identifies his favorite heavy metal albums and offers up a Top 10 for Music Radar.

You can read the news piece, posted here: Billy Corgan Names the 10 Greatest Heavy Metal Records

Simon Firth - Unknown Zone EP for Resident Advisor

This is actually the first not-so-positive review I've written for Resident Advisor. I was seeking out a release of an artist that I'd had no prior knowledge of, and this one immediately grabbed me. Over the course of the holidays, I let it digest and play alongside the other tracks that littered my iPod. Over time, I grew bored with it, and wasn't sure if I was disappointed more in the tracks' staminas to impress me or my faulty initial judgment. Is it a waste of time to review a record that isn't good? There's so much on the Internet that you may notice a large amount of blogs and online magazines (RA excluded) focusing solely on what they do like. I can't say that Basstown has ever written about anything it didn't favor.

I have to admit it was a challenge. If a record review is answering the question "Why?" (Why do is this record good/bad? Why do you like it? Why should anyone else like it?), then to do so for tracks that hardly reach out and grab you leaves you feeling stumped (Why are you stumped?). I think I'd embrace another record if it turned out to leave this bland taste in my mouth over time, but I can safely say that doesn't seem to happen all too often - phew!

You can read the review, posted here: Simon Firth - Unknown Zone

Noisecreep Archive Still Going Strong

For the past several months, Noisecreep has been a busy blur of metal, hardcore and punk write-ups. Ronnie Dio got stomach cancer, Rammstein went mega-pr0n, Mayhem destroyed a hotel room and studies show that soldiers in Iraq utilize metal on their iPods to pump them up for war. The news never stops coming in, and while I used to post each published Noisecreep piece up here, it's best to do so in bulk because the resulting adjective for both you and I would be: tedious. Rather, while we now have little blogger bios (see below), I'll work on getting the accompanying photo link fixed. Enjoy...

You can read the archive, posted here: Noisecreep / Vicki Siolos

Area Bio for Wave Music

Another recent biography contributed towards the Wave Music roster is for Area, better known under his m50 DJ alias. He has a new EP coming out which features a favorite new track, titled "Missing A Few." The fluttery, ambient vibe draws from the highlights of Autechre's softer moments, similar to the effect in "VI Scose Poise," the first track off of 'Confield.' Area has an empire to build with his productions, but the new EP proves to be a solid part of its foundation.

You can read the bio, posted here: Area

XDB Bio for Wave Music

Writing band biographies was something I grew to love as a publicist. After a long period of dormancy in that field, I recently rewrote Lo-Fi-Fnk's bio and realized how much I'd missed the task. Now on the team at Forward Management, I've also been working with my company to rewrite a few bios for Wave Music artists. So far, it's been an absolute blast, and the only reason why I haven't been doing it more and more is the general lack of its presence in my routine. It's something I'd very much like to change in the near future.

You can read the bio, posted here: XDB

Modeselektor - Body Language Vol. 8 for Resident Advisor

Modeselektor are a significant part of my musical dialect, and I've been a fan for many years. It was no surprise, then, that this would be a challenging review for me. The pressure was on before I wrote the first sentence, and I discovered that not being a DJ might prove to be a challenge when writing about mixes.

While my wheels are in constant motion with AOLmusic, the in-depth reviews on electronic music have been more infrequent because I've been focusing on writing bios for producers. That can be tricky - making sure your reviews don't sound like press releases and vice-versa. I won't deny that it has been on my mind in the writing process, but I think the outcome has been successful.

You can read the review, posted here: Modeselektor - Body Language Vol. 8

The Afterlife Of My Memories

I started writing a simple post for my blog, Onward Charles, and the plan was a brief run-down of Maura's birthday wishes to CD player on Idolator. My personal and assigned writing has been short, with everything from journal entries to record reviews being 250 words or under.

But today it was different. It was much more personal, and as I reached the end of my final sentence, I decided it was more fitting to post here - in a place where my published opinion and career as a member of the music industry are followed.

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27 years ago today, the CD player was born. I vaguely remember them being a considerable amount of money, but my memory tells me that my family didn't get one until about 1992.

Can that be right? I remember tapes and tapes and even 8-tracks (my parents were never that big on vinyl, though there's an interesting but modest collection in their den), but did CDs fit into my 80s experience? I honestly cannot remember. That also begs the question: do people still have dens? My parents' house has a den and a living room. Are those the same now?

In any case, my first CD was Green Day's Dookie (with the banned Ernie puppet on the back cover). Shortly after that, Garbage's self-titled debut, Smashing Pumpkin's Mellon Collie & The Infinite Sadness, Nirvana's Nevermind and Michael Jackson's HIStory came as birthday and Christmas gifts. I remember how special I felt, after inheriting my sister's first compact stereo system. I used that machine for years. Nine Inch Nail's Downward Spiral would go on to be both one of my all-time favorite albums as well as one that I wouldn't buy, in CD form, until I'd graduated college. I spent my high school years constantly re-playing the dubbed cassette I'd made from my bio lab partner's CD, and the same holds true for Marilyn Manson's Anti-Christ Superstar.

I fell in love with Led Zeppelin through a cassette tape that a boy made me when I was 14. I listened to it the morning he moved away for college and cried in my bed. I had made him a Tori Amos "best of" in return. During college, a guy communicated a break-up through cassette tape. There were hundreds of miles between us and I sneer at the thought of him still. My ego was cracked harder than my heart, but I still remember the songs on the tape, which only took up about 15 minutes of plastic, polyester film.

And Tori Amos...she was my hero in high school. If I remember correctly, I own about 80 of her CDs: albums, singles and bootlegs. Back then the UK import singles came in two parts, and I would dilligently buy both from Tower Records in Huntington, NY (now out of business) whenever I laid eyes on them. For months I found the same goddamn issue of Caught A Lite Sneeze, and was thrilled when I got my hands on the UK version. It had a different cover - taken from the Boys For Pele photo shoot - and B-sides I'd never known about. Still, I wanted it all. I wanted the German version, and would gladly pay over $9.99 to get it. The funny thing is that it was the same artwork as the US version. It also contained two of four B-sides already on the domestic...but there was a third. It was called "Hungarian Wedding Song," and clocked in at exactly 60 seconds. It was childish and nonsensical but when I walked into Tower Records on one of my Saturday visits...there it was.

And it was all mine.

There were no waffles.fm or what.cd accounts. I don't even think Napster existed at the time, and I wouldn't get the internet until sometime in 1997. It was my moment...my music, my format and my money. I can still hear the click of the magnet in the top corner of my stereo cabinet. Push in...click...release. A wall of glass glided towards me and the modest facade of my CD/cassette/radio system with detached speakers was before me like the monolith in 2001. It was beautiful.

With all that said, the New York Times published a much talked about story about Downtown 161 records this week, and the point I took from it was this: people cling to vinyl and continue to cultivate an unavoidable digital music library. That's all. Cassettes receive affectionate attempts of ressurrection because of the endearing nostalgia of "the mix tape," but CDs and 8-tracks dont's have that. For the commercial consumer, the latter was never possible and the prior is just too cold, plastic and lifeless. Example: a music fiend can look at a vinyl record - just look at it - and remember key moments in their longtime affair with music. I truly don't believe that catharsis can come to life with a CD until after the play button has been triggered.

I'm not old enough to start prefacing my anecdotes with "When I was your age" to anyone, but college graduation is a distant memory and the woes of car insurance, 401k's and mutual funds are as staple as morning coffee. I'm part of the last generation that saw ghettoblasters as a top-selling model, and not kitsch factor. I remember when the mp3 came out. Reading about the birth of the CD during its death or journalists referring to the domino-like shutdown of brick & mortar record stores like a pandemonium of the past finds me sitting here thinking about the music collector. If we don't have a tangible format, will those private, bedroom moments still exist for future generations? While you can still stick the title tape that you carefully removed from the top spine of your new CD on the dashboard of your car in the record store's parking lot, it's just not the same. I cherish my relationship with music as equally material as I do metaphysical, but as I find more and more of my library existing in my iTunes...what will be lost?

The Actual Update

I had promised a substantial update after vanishing for the second half of the summer. It should come as no surprise that I've been too busy to update this site, but that's also unfair as lowering the level of urgency to update this "portfolio in progress" goes against its purpose.

The spring was difficult. I held together a worthwhile amount of freelance writing jobs, but the constant struggle to find steady work was taking its toll on me. I was eventually offered a job in fine dining food service on Fire Island, and I couldn't find a reason to say no. The idea of surrounding myself in a routine of manual labor seemed like an incredible break for my spirit and mental health, which were being constantly dragged down by the respective rise and fall of desirable interviews and reluctant rejections. I think everyone hated saying no because it was such a hard time for all of us - the economy, in my opinion, was at its absolute worst and while most of America remained or grew in its unemployment, the relationship between the music industry and the concept of job security was in shambles.

While the experience may not have been exact for everyone, this certainly describes the scenario for myself and many other hardworking artists that I have a personal connection to: editors, DJ/producers, label owners, publicists and [definitely, definitely] writers. By the time my birthday came around in mid-July, I went on official hiatus (if I could even call it that), and ceased to write for about two months.

Terrified of what the freelance world was going to be like when I returned, I am beyond grateful and thrilled to hold two great positions. One is a more involved writing position with NoiseCreep - AOL's metal blog that has been growing like a teenager on steroids - which requires me to be increasingly attached to the happenings in the metal world. Additionally, a very good friend connected me with Forward Management - a booking and management firm that was started by François K and his Wave Music business partner, Aurelie Brambilla. I'm now working part-time alongside Aurelie to book the artists on Forward's roster, which I'm also excited about. Electronic music - like most large and thriving genres - is full of a copious amount of crap, and it's an honor to have the opportunity to work with a particular company that has history, taste and integrity. The few people I've met who are a part of the project are truly genuine, and as far as gut feelings go the green light has been brighter than ever.

There are a few other projects, hopes and ideas on the horizon. I am still writing for Resident Advisor and already have my eye on outlets that I have been waiting for the right time to approach. The time is now!

(P.S. To fellow friends: I discovered the beauty that is Texas Hold 'em this summer, and if you feel like losing some money then bring it on.)

Jeff Mills for Resident Advisor & Fuck The Facts for NoiseCreep

One of my highest priorities is to post my writings right about the time they're published, but from time to time it's difficult to stay on point. I'm still living on a fantasy summer island, but have been keeping myself plugged into my two favorite genres: metal and techno. Before I left for Fire Island, I spent my final, epic weekend with a string of memorable nights. On Wednesday, my friend Mattis and I drove up to Boston for a RBMA Thomas Oberheim workshop and Le Loup at Midweek Techno. Thursday was Raster-Noton at Make It New, and Friday - the day the up button broke on my car stereo's volume - we drove back to Brooklyn with a full car for Bunker, which featured R-N and Insideout (I think Grant is my new hero) and an epic 6hour tagteam between Jan Krueger and Derek Plaslaiko. The following night was Jeff Mills at the Sullivan Room, topped with a Cadenza party on the Bar 13 rooftop the following afternoon. Easily one of the best (and longest) weekends of my life. My review of Mills was a feat - making sense of one night amongst all of that can be difficult when you consider how much one event will blend into another. It was truly a weekend of loving life, and Mills' set (especially when he played "The Bells") was the opposite of a heartbreak.

True love?

Secondly, I'm on the verge of digging into new metal, and I have big plans with NoiseCreep that hit on a very personal level in the near future. Still, we wanted to know what Fuck The Facts couldn't leave home without - aside from, of course, instruments and merch - because they are just an awesome band. Please go see them if they're coming to your town.

You can read the reviews, posted here:
Jeff Mills @ Sullivan Room for Resident Advisor
Fuck the Facts Hit the Road With Five Essential Items

Audion - "Look At The Moon" for Resident Advisor

Audion reviews are sparse on the Internet, and in my world he is a rather big deal. I'm happy to have reviewed the latest single, "Look At The Moon," which I've been hearing often and loving every second. I'm hoping to hear It's Full Of Blinding Light soon - the limited 12" that ran at a mere 50 copies and was only available via the Ghostly store and a small shop in Berlin. I know a lot of people, but I imagine I'll have to do a decent amount of digging just to lay eyes on the vinyl. Nevertheless, I'm always looking forward to more from Audion. "I Am The Car" and "Look At The Moon" are two pieces of what looks like a much larger puzzle, and I think this will be Dear's strongest alias yet.

You can read the review, posted here: Audion - Look At The Moon

Mumakil & Linkin Park for NoiseCreep

Mumakil + Linkin Park = probably two of the most unexpected pairings of bands you'd think to see in a blog title, but in this case it's catch up for me and my recently postings. I really feel that Mumakil - the Swiss "blastcore" band that named themselves after the large elephant-like creatures in The Two Towers (so cool, I'm such a nerd) - lives up to its brutal declarations, and their live footage from Le Romandie further the point. As for Linkin Park, I'm going to bare all: I saw the second Transformers movie with a motley crew yesterday, and between writing about the video and then seeing the film - in which Jablonsky definitely borrows heavily from the LP single to compose the score during explosive peaks - the song has officially grown on me. It's definitely better than some of their singles from the past, despite how big it grew their nu-metal empire.

You can read the reviews, posted here:
Mumakil -- Video Footage From Le Romandie
Linkin Park 'New Divide' -- Video

Spinal Tap for NoiseCreep

Holy christ am I busy! While there are countless grammatical errors in that statement, it is wildly appropriate. The added stress of getting flu symptoms on Day 1 of my new full-time dayjob - one which is completely unrelated to music journalism and for the next three months - certainly didn't help, but to be posting about a piece that went up well over 2 days ago just seems so...late. Nevertheless, I'm happy to be writing more and more about the forthcoming Spinal Tap relaunch. The band is at it again and in such a meta-world it's nice to see some of the pioneers of entertaining, tongue-in-cheek genius give it another go.

You can read the review, posted here: Spinal Tap 'Back From The Dead' -- Full Album Stream

GAS @ Miller Theater for Resident Advisor

I've always appreciated ambient music, but my love always rested with IDM. In the earliest part of this decade, Autechre, Squarepusher, Jega and sometimes Funkstorung were in heavy rotation, and Chris Clark's Clarence Park is one of my all-time favorite albums. Ambient music is definitely a cerebral kind, with its most base use being to simply "chill out." Much like other genres, though, there are so many offerings to choose from...many of which suck. On the opposite end of the spectrum sits Wolfgang Voigt, who dominates the ambient realm with his GAS project from the turn of the last decade. I'm still so impressed by his performance at the Miller Theater, which was the closest I was able to get to Mutek this year.

You can read the review, posted here: GAS @ Miller Theater for Resident Advisor

Movement 2009 In Review for Resident Advisor

I've already mentioned several times here how Detroit was an incredibly enriching experience for me. In fact, I called it before I even went, but it was a bit of a give-in. Myself and a handful of other Resident Advisor contributors covered most of the festival, and I was lucky enough to be assigned all of my favorite highlights. I'm most thrilled that Monty Luke was pleased with the Mothership review, as he and everyone else from the San Francisco-based community conscious label had a blast that night. The other major point for me was Cassy, a female DJ who's come blasting through the doors and taken a seat at the table of my favorite DJs. I'd seen her before, but her set at House 'n Home at Oslo is the first thing I've been mentioning when people ask me what I liked the most. I can only hope that dubbing her "the Sophia Loren of DJs" goes viral and she gets properly appointed. Damian Lazarus wins Breakthrough Artist in my own personal awards ceremony, and I still watch YouTube videos of Adam Beyer's set on a regular basis. Viva la Beatport stage!

You can read the review, posted here: Movement 2009 in review

Incubus for NoiseCreep

"Pardon Me" is a great song. There's so much music from the late 90s that I'd rather forget, but this one stays afloat. You might not hear me cranking this from my car stereo at all times (lately, it's been the Cassy Resident Advisor podcast from way back), but it's a definitive piece that captures the mainstream progress of nu-metal moving away from aggro/anti-parent whining and towards a much wider audience. Brandon Boyd also impresses me very much - he can be a good lyricist and is a strong singer, visual/fine artist and author. It's difficult enough to be good in any of those fields, let alone three. I'm also looking forward to checking out this yet-to-be titled documentary because the clip of "Pardon Me's" history is told really well. Overall, I think this greatest hits collection has very good timing.

You can read the review, posted here: Incubus Set to Release 'Monuments and Melodies' and Documentary

Vanna & PsyOpus for NoiseCreep

During my wonderful time spent in Detroit for Movement, there was plenty of action still going on at NoiseCreep. Vanna, who hail from my former city of Boston, and PsyOpus had videos posted. The latter can really put on one hell of a show, and is one of my MetalBlade favorites. They're on tour, of course, and will be in New York on July 12th. Can you wait until then? There's a new song up on their MySpace page.

You can read the reviews, posted here:
Vanna 'Safe To Say' -- Video
PsyOpus 'The Burning Halo' -- Video

Voodeux - "The Paranormal" for Resident Advisor

This was an exceptionally challenging review for me. While I've been writing about music for a long time, I can't say that writing about techno is one of my older trades. Facing any genre is difficult, but while I've spent many years as a lover of electronic music I've only been personally invested - and fairly dedicated - to techno for about two years. There's so much more at risk, much like a romantic relationship you truly stand behind because you believe in it.

Mothership is one of my favorite record labels. Resident Advisor is one of my favorite sources of music journalism. Tanner Ross, who comprises one half of Voodeux, is a producer and DJ from the Boston scene, and I've had the pleasure to watch this particular project cook slowly. The end result is the forthcoming release of The Paranormal and Voo's debut live performance, which just kicked off my DEMF experience at the C-Pop Gallery in Detroit. You can imagine there was a lot riding on this - it only helped that after several sit-down meals of ingesting the entirety of the album I found a copious amount of positive reflections to put in order.

I'd only be repeating myself to say more, but I'm particularly proud of this, so I hope you enjoy it. Purchasing the Voodeux album is highly recommended, and they have a pretty sweet deal going on.

You can read the review, posted here: Voodeux - The Paranormal

Headbanger Favorites for NoiseCreep

After coming across the "Headbanging while making a fire" video on YouTube, I showed it to my editor and we were inspired to create a 10 Favorite WTF Headbanger Video list. I scrounged up some serious gems...be sure to check out grandma loving Toxic Bonkers and the Opeth bang-a-long.

You can see the glory here: Our 10 Favorite WTF Headbanger Videos

Blue October for NoiseCreep

I'm genuinely pleased with this video and song. When I worked as a publicist at Planetary, the radio department did a great deal of work with Blue October. There, I was first exposed to them, but something didn't exactly click. Two things this song reminded me of were slam poetry and Placebo, and yet this band isn't directly associated with either. Something about these two bits, which are near and dear to my heart, were prevalent throughout the whole video, which goes just under four minutes. While Rolling Stone gave their album two stars, I have to say this particular single is really goddamn good.

You can read the review, posted here: Blue October 'Say It' -- Video

Saving Abel for NoiseCreep

I really mean it about NASCAR becoming a big part of alternative culture. At first it was ironic when my most hipster of Williamsburg-residing friends got into it for the sheer "redneck chic" factor. It was also a great reason to have a BBQ! The fanaticism has magnetized a small handful of them, and it's safe to say that I officially have friends that are into NASCAR. It's bold enough that I love the Red Sox and might watch a Celtics or Knicks game or two, but there are some sports that I haven't had much exposure to. Or at all. I couldn't even begin to fathom if I would make a good NASCAR fan. First off, I'm vegan - how would I fair with the concession stand?

You can read the review, posted here: Saving Abel 'Drowning (Face Down)' -- Video