The Rab Townsend Explodo-Pantsuit Video Experience!
June 1, 2009
So, I was unemployed for three months.
I decided to make some magical videos of this blog, because I couldn’t be bothered to write anything, because I’m a tool. I promise to write something soon… but don’t hold me to it, because I’m a useless bitch.
Anywho, these videos are basically a radio show. I filmed myself talking about stupid things, and then I’d play a song, and then return to the stupid topics, and so forth. Following each video, I’ll post a song list.
So… EMBEDTH!
The Rab Townsend Explodo-Pantsuit: Episode One from Rab Townsend on Vimeo.
In Which Rab Townsend fails to be eloquent while discussing his stupid hair, Kanye West, Anarchy, the 90s, Cherry Pepsi and the follies of intarweb videomagic.
Song list:
1. Freezepop – Less Talk More Rokk (4:59)
2. ON – C’Mon Collapse (3:11)
3. One Ton – Supersexworld (4:04)
4. They Might Be Giants – Birdhouse In your Soul (3:19)
5. Chumbawamba – Amnesia (3:23)
6. Johnny Hollow – Superhero (3:11)
7. Her Space Holiday – My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend (4:31)
8. Republica – Drop Dead Gorgeous (4:31)
9. L7 – Pretend that We’re Dead (3:54)
The Rab Townsend Explodo-Pantsuit: Episode Two from Rab Townsend on Vimeo.
The guitar/panty-mess connection!
In which Rab fails to keep his show within an hour long format by twenty minutes because the guitar solos therein were too epic to condense.
Other topics of conversation include unemployment beards, DDR failure, and the last Canadian God of Rock.
Song List:
1. Jakalope – Feel It (3:53)
2. Radiohead – Just (3:53)
3. Steve Vai – Answers (2:41)
4. Tool – Lateralus (9:24)
5. Frank Zappa – Drowning Witch (12:13)
6. Rush – Freewill (5:24)
7. Primus – Bob’s Party Time Lounge (4:44)
8. Nine Inch Nails – Deep (3:36)
9. Moby – Face It (10:01)
The Rab Townsend Explodo-Pantsuit: Episode Three from Rab Townsend on Vimeo.
Concept Albums are for the good time have!
In which Rab fails to fail in every respect, especially when it comes to failing to say “so that was” after every song. Additionally featuring the waxing on and off poetic with respect to what makes a good concept album, who has made a good concept album, and why you suck for not having seen “the last unicorn.”
Song List:
1. Electric Light Orchestra – Prologue/Twilight (4:57)
2. Marilyn Manson – Kinderfeld (4:51)
3. Pink Floyd – Hey you (4:42)
4. The Moody Blues – Watching and Waiting (4:16)
5. The Alan Parsons Project – The Cask of Amantillado (4:29)
6. Frank Zappa – Outside Now (5:50)
7. Midlake – Bandits (4:04)
8. Nine Inch Nails – In This Twilight (3:33)
So, enjoy those, if you’re reading this.
That’s nearly 3 hours of entertainment.
If you’re as unemployed as I was, that should take a chunk out of the monotony.
Billy Howerdel began as a guitar tech for tool, which led to his association with Maynard James Keenan, and the formation of A Perfect Circle, a supergroup with music composed by Howerdel, and lyrics and vocals by Keenan. Together, they produced two albums, and one (somewhat mediocre) cover-album of anti-war songs, released to coincide with the 2004 election. With the immanent release of tool’s “10,000 Days” MJK had to return to his original band, leaving Billy with the time to write new music for his own solo project called ‘Ashes Divide.”
Fans of A Perfect Circle will find more common ground between Ashes Divide’s “Keep telling myself it’s alright” and APC’s first album “Mer de Noms” than with their later material. For those who like their alt-metal harder than it is progressive, this will be a positive attribute.
“KTMIA” (as I shall now refer to it) is strong first solo effort, which is to be expected from the composer behind such classics as “Judith” and “Weak and Powerless,” (APC tunes). It is clear that Howerdel’s composition and arrangement will be the backbone of all of his musical efforts.
That said, having grown accustomed to MJK’s powerful voice, it is somewhat jarring to be confronted with Howerdel’s slightly more mainstream style of singing. His dynamics are less apparent, and he leans toward the more awkward tones of pop-punk-rock, on perhaps a few too many occasions. This is not a problem for newcomers, or for those who are willing to take an extra listen or two to grow into Howerdel’s new musical outlet.
Standout Tracks: Defamed, Enemies, The Stone
The album’s opener “Stripped Away” drags a little. It’s pace is slow, but powerful. In that sense, it does not immediately grab attention. It isn’t until the bridge that the energy of the song is truly conveyed to the extent that it ought to be. The heavy guitars drop out, and Howerdel’s voice wavers with the strength of his vocal performance, recalling Freddie Mercury, in a faint sort of way. Unfortunately, this demonstration of ability is only a brief interlude in a somewhat drab song.
“Denial Waits” begins in a plaintive lyrical moan by Howerdel, over a quick beat by Josh Freese. Before long, the emotional rawness and the powerful blast of music that should have been present in the first track comes out, somewhat abruptly, but welcome nevertheless.
“Too Late” is another heavy slow-mover, but its melancholy verses don’t feel draggy like in “Stripped Away.” The music seems like an appropriate mish-mash of the two prevailing styles on the first two albums by APC. However, in this song, we see a first example of where Howerdel’s music exceeds his vocals to a detrimental effect. After a typical Howerdel guitar solo, a great musical bridge emerges, but is dragged down by some poor lyricism and poor singing by Howerdel. The bridge segues back into the chorus, and drifts out.
“Forever Can Be” is another melancholy slow-mover (there appear to be a lot of these). Its chorus is given some grounding by a piano melody that matches the melancholy tone. As if to make up for the icky bridge in “Too Late” the lyrics of the chorus are more interesting: “Forever can be something to believe in. This was one of those times.” It suggests disappointment, and failure, despite optimism. Interspersed throughout is an intriguing little guitar melody which has east-asian hints, as well as medieval elements, which adds some flavour to the first real stand-out track on the album.
“Defamed” almost sounds like a rock cover of The Postal Service. The chord progression is light and minor, but hopeful. The lyrics are a little silly considering the weight of the previous songs’ content. Despite this, the song is cohesive, and catchy. Its upbeat tempo and strong drum-work by Freese (who also drummed for APC, I might add) make it danceable and contribute to an overall good song.
When the allmusicguide refers to “Enemies” as overeager, one might get that impression from its introductory guitar riffs. However, heavy punk drums and the return of that Freddie Mercury style of emotion-laden power-vocals (which we saw in “Stripped Away”) mean that “Enemies” is going to be a fast-paced ass-kicker of a song. The key-change in the latter half of the song is particularly engaging.
“A Wish” seems noodly at first, with a simple piano melody and sporadic drums, which build into a cohesive roll. Billy’s close-mic’d vocals are low and whispy (ssssssss). The lyrics are simple, and personal, without collapsing into purple prose (too much). The groove maintained by the drums, and the piano melody hold the song together for its short duration.
“Ritual” takes a similar approach, vocally, to “A Wish.” A mysterious set of counter-melodies gives this one a little more to listen to. Without much difference between this and the previous song, musically, it’s maintains a melancholy mood with and some good music.
At last, the single “The Stone” follows, with a somewhat predictable intro that bursts into yet more predictable, but faster riffs (cool dissonance excepted). Freese’s driving beat helps build anticipation of the chorus, which is a dramatic burst of music and swelling guitars that borrows (probably subconsciously) from film scores. Unfortunately, after hearing the chorus, the following verses make one impatient, having to wait through it for the chorus to return. Fortunately, the chorus carries the song by it’s sheer might. Yes, might.
“The Prey” feels a little more electronic than any other track on the album, borrowing its melodic style from more mainstream areas. An interesting feature of the track is a slightly detuned, high-pitched guitar line, which plays neat (yes, neat) little melodic riffs over top of the rhythm tracks and vocals. It works as a strong counter-point to Billy’s vocals. The mood of the song tends more toward one of joy than any of the other tracks.
The final track “Sword” has a dissonant piano melody as its intro, with a subtle cello (which becomes less subtle) just underneath. The Cello switches to the top of the mix, sounding vaguely offkey over the piano’s “wrong-notes on purpose” tones. The intro gives way to a driving, throbbing bassline which recalls the Tapeworm tossaway “Passive” that was released on APC’s cover-album “eMotive”. The entire song takes this approach, and hits hard, throbbing and driving until it all drops away about five minutes in, to a gentle vocal line over top of the same introductory piano melody, which sounds much more beautiful the second time around. There are several seconds of silence following the end of the track. Lord knows why.
Bottom line: This album will require some uncomfortable adjustments for fans of A Perfect Circle, but if given a chance, it will show itself to be the same great song-writing that we have come to expect from Billy Howerdel, despite the lack of MJK’s strong lyrics and vocals. It’s a solid album, with the last eight of its eleven tracks being quite strong (having three mediocre tracks open the album seems to be a tactical error).
Here’s the first of (probably many) reviews I plan on writing, based on my extensive CD collection. I wanted to pick something I wasn’t especially attached to, but something I liked. Architecture in Helsinki’s “Fingers Crossed” is just that. It’s an enjoyable listen with a few stand out tracks, but nothing to write home to mom over.
I remember I first heard of this band through Amazon’s “You might also like…” pages. I downloaded 3 tracks, just to see what they were like. The songs were, “Imaginary Ordinary,” “Like a Call,” and “Do the Whirlwind.” Two of those songs are on “Fingers Crossed.” I immediately liked them. They had a childlike playfulness hidden behind their instrumentation and their vocals that was very compelling.
The first song on the album is an instrumental called “One Heavy February” and as soon as it begins, you can tell you’re going to be in for some short, carefree pieces of music with a sweetness that you can’t help but love.
With the entrance of the female vocals on the following track “Souvenirs” coming in with some childlike “lalala” action before segueing into some poetic lyrics that speak nostalgia.
The knuckle-drag of “Scissor Paper Rock” and “To and Fro” are a bit of a let down, after such an upbeat beginning.
The fun returns with the prophetic “Spring 2008″ which works as a good preparation for the bubble-pop of the album’s stand-out track “Owls Go,” a fast-paced, but innocent song, whose verses are peppered with alternating shouts and whispers of “Owls Go!” And a charmingly deceptive chorus sung by the female vocalist “Finding a replacement with a heart sedated, I’ll forget you/Attic in the basement with a knife serrated, I’ll protect you.” Who knows what it means? It’s oddly sweet.
“Kindling” is another up-beat, building tune, whose tendency for the epic is surprising, considering it’s less than two minutes long.
Following “Kindling,” the album seems to wind down, with the slower paced “It’s almost a trap” and “Like a Call,” leading into the beautiful and simple duet “Where you’ve been hiding.”
“City Calm Down” seems like a lullabye, works as a counterpoint to “Owls Go,” reprising some its musical motifs, and asking us to calm down, before it gains momentum and takes on a symphonic quality, building to a climax that drops off at the end.
The final track “Vanishing” is a favourite of mine, with the simple lyric “Is this a fling? It’s [been] seven days and you’re already vanishing.” It begins in a similar fashion to the album Opener, with a bouncy, somewhat optimistic sounding instrumental theme before easing out into a slow, contemplative movement. The question asked in the lyrics forebodes a broken heart, but the music is laced with hope and optimism, as though the question were asked with fingers crossed. harr harr
It’s a lion!
May 1, 2008
Well, I have a blog. That would be exciting, if I knew anyone would read it.
So, imagine, if you will (you must!), the kind of blog that talks about things that don’t necessarily interest you, but in a terribly interesting way. Now, while you’re imagining that, you can read this blog, with the knowledge that your fantasies will never come true and that your life has been a waste until now. Yes, until now. Until this magical moment, when you discovered that some reasonably good-looking moron from Canada was writing about uninteresting things in a way that doesn’t interest you, but you read it anyway. That’s the key to living your life. You may be working in a cubicle right now, searching blogs, seeking information for the online component of the most widely circulated dog-magazine in the nation. You may be a thirteen-year-old girl who managed to stumble across this because you happen to like some crappy band that I like, and I wrote a review of your least favourite album of theirs (17 stars!). In any event, the key is to just trudge through your cruddy life hand-in-hand with me. Do it. I command you. My commandment is worth about as much as yours, and you do what you say, don’t you? Congratulations.
