Tag Archives: music

Point of View

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In anticipation of Brother‘s upcoming "best of" compilation, As You Were, I’ve decided to share the list of tracks on my personal 2-disc compilation, which I call Point of View.

    Disc 1

  1. Romp & Circumstance (Exit From Screechville)
  2. Thetimeisnow (This Way Up)
  3. River (Urban Cave)
  4. The Crow (Exit From Screechville)
  5. Didg Jam (Exit From Screechville)
  6. Shadowman (The Digging Bone)
  7. Rainmaker (The Digging Bone)
  8. Turn Me Upside Down (Demo)
  9. Hang On (Demo)
  10. Mr. Maintenance (Black Stone Tramp)
  11. He’den.bro (Black Stone Tramp)
  12. The Next Time (Exit From Screechville)
  13. In Your Name (Urban Cave)
  14. Wear ME Down (Urban Cave)
  15. The Serpent (Exit From Screechville)
  16. Give It Away (This Way Up)
  17. All I Know (Black Stone Tramp)
  18. Louie’s Return (Exit From Screechville)
  19. Stand Beside Me (Your Backyard)
  20. 2 Chairs and One Tree (Your Backyard)
  21. Crazy (i you you me)
  22. My Rhubarb (Pipe Dreams)
    Disc 2

  1. An Doarach Bheag (Exit From Screechville)
  2. Shoes (The Digging Bone)
  3. Lose Your Head (The Digging Bone)
  4. It’s All Good (i you you me)
  5. Blackest of Blue (This Way Up)
  6. Dirty Reeds (Black Stone Tramp)
  7. One Heart, One Soul (The Digging Bone)
  8. Matter of Time (Exit From Screechville)
  9. Falling (Black Stone Tramp)
  10. Circling My Heart (Exit From Screechville)
  11. Lonely (Your Backyard)
  12. Bitch (Inside of Me) (Demo)
  13. Sooner or Later (Your Backyard)
  14. You Are (The Digging Bone)
  15. Chains (Exit From Screechville)
  16. Got Inside (The Digging Bone)
  17. Face (The Digging Bone)
  18. Carry Me (Black Stone Tramp)
  19. Just Listen (Urban Cave)
  20. The Java Jive (Pipe Dreams)

Stop Sucking

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[stopsnitching.jpg]This must be one the stupidest, most asinine things I have ever encountered.

"PITTSBURGH — It was not the first time prosecutor Lisa Pellegrini had been enraged by the sight of the T-shirt with the traffic-sign message: STOP SNITCHING. But this guy was about to wear one into court, with matching baseball cap."

"Worse, he was a witness — her witness — and the intended victim in an attempted murder case that had brought him, her and the defendants to court that day last fall."

"This was Rayco 'War' Saunders — ex-con, pro boxer and walking billboard for a street movement that has sparked a coast-to-coast beef involving everyone from professors to rappers."

"Pellegrini, thinking 'witness intimidation,' told Saunders to lose the hat and reverse the shirt. Saunders, crying "First Amendment," refused. He left the courthouse, shirt in place. Case dismissed. 'In almost every one of my homicides, this happens: 'I don't know nothin' about nothin', ' the prosecutor says. 'There is that attitude, 'Don't be a snitch.' And it's condoned by the community.'"

"Omerta, the Mafia's blood oath of silence, has been broken by turncoat after turncoat. But the call to stop snitching — on other folks in the 'hood — is getting louder."

"Is it an attempt by drug dealers and gangsters to intimidate witnesses?"

"Is it a legitimate protest against law enforcers' over-reliance on self-serving criminal informers?"

"Or is it bigger than that?"

It's freakin' retarded is what it is. We're not talking about hiding innocent people from a police state. We're talking about covering up for street thugs and hoodlums – drug dealers, murderers, and the like.

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Music Review: “Pax Romana MMV” by Brother (2005)

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cd-prmmv-music.jpgAs promised, here’s my review of Brother’s Pax Romana MMV. The grading scheme is as follows.

  1. Really Bad
  2. Bad
  3. OK
  4. Good
  5. Excellent

1. Photograph

This band’s sound at the start of this track, particularly the guitars, is reminscent of their 1997 release Digging Bone. The up-beat bagpipe-drive bridge harkens back to Black Stone Tramp. The talking bits (something about a cocoon) are lame but not as bad as they are on Urban Cave, though they get close. This is a simple 4/4 rock tune with a singable chorus and a fun danceable bit in the middle. It anticlimactically trickles to an end, though. All in all it’s a rather forgetable song. Score: 3/5

Update 04/24/06: Brother’s MySpace page has a radio edit of this song that I’d give a 4/5 to.

2. Take Me Down

I like the penny whistle and the driving, urgent beat. It’s a pretty singable song with nice harmonies. I really did not care for the lyric "got to get my shit together". It’s mild profanity, but it’s just so out of place for a band that to my knowledge has never used any and never needed to. The speed up and fast talking/singing at the end is cool. The overall sound of this track strikes me as a blend of The Digging Bone and Your Backyard. Score: 4/5

3. Jericho

I really dug the middle eastern chants. Unfortunately, like some of the best songs on Urban Cave, this is a cool song that’s far too short. Why do they tease me like this? Score: 4/5 (lost a point for brevity)

4. Oh, What a Lovely War

This is a rather boring trippy hippy song. The first verse is nearly unintelligible. The second verse is spoken. Lame. The tune for the remainder isn’t particularly catchy. It’s essentially a decent poem ruined by mediocre music. Political music is fine, fellas, but at least make it entertaining. Score: 2/5

5. Still Wind

This track reminded me a little of the music from the orginal Prince of Persia video game (which I very much liked). The sound is very dark, brooding. The treatment of middle eastern sounds is much better here than on "Elbauta" (track 8). Ultimately, the song doesn’t go anywhere, which is disappointing considering how much potential it had. Score: 3/5

6. So Not Real

This ballad starts off sounding a bit like "Purple Haze" (Your Backyard) or "Believe Again" (i you you me). The choir of children is a nice touch, but bordering on cheesy (like "We are the World"). The song’s a bit repetitive, having little lyrical substance. Score: 3/5

7. Hang On

What the heck?!? When I saw this track on the listing, I got excited. "Hang On" is one of my favorite tunes from Brother’s post-Fergus repetoire. I was fooled, though. This a boringly arranged 1-minute snippet. Where’s the full song, guys? It’s never been on an album, which is truly a shame. Score: 0/5  Download the demo version here.

8. Elbauta

Ok, more middle eastern beat. I guess that’s the theme of the album. It’s too bad it’s so dull on this track. The spoken samples gave me awful flashbacks of the worse moments of Urban Cave. This track is repetitive, boring, and goes nowhere. Perhaps I’d like it better if I were a stoner. Score: 2/5

Album Score: 21/40 (52.5% F)

This is another disappointing album from one of my favorite bands. While none of the tracks are as jarringly bad as the worst of Urban Cave, at least that album had more enjoyable tracks. This album is easily summed up as "forgettable". I eagerly await their forthcoming greatest hits compilation. I’m sure it won’t be as good as my two disc compilation, but at least I’ll be reviewing something worth listening to.

Music Review: “Urban Cave” by Brother (2003)

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[largecd-urbancave.jpg]Brother is one of my favorite bands. The following is a slightly modified version of review of their 2003 release "Urban Cave". I’ll be posting a review of their latest album "Pax Romana MMV" soon. The grading scheme is as follows.

  1. Really Bad
  2. Bad
  3. OK
  4. Good
  5. Excellent

My initial reaction to this album was "Who the hell made this crap and where’s Brother?!?" After listening to it a few times, I got used to most of it, and quite liked some bits. My overall impression are that it’s too short, too electronic, too dark, and too slow. Here’s a track-by-track breakdown:

1. Funny

The instrumental intro is really cool, but the rhymed lyrics after it strike me as amateurish. After the first verse, the song is an interesting listen and kind of catchy. I’m not sure I like the rapped bridge, though. Some days it’s OK. Other days it really annoys me. Score: 3/5

2. Fragile

I haven’t reversed the back-tracked vocal opening yet, so I don’t know what’s said. I didn’t get to hear this song many times in concert, but I’m almost positive that is was "lighter". The musical feel was darker than the lyrics seemed to warrant. It’s not a bad song, but it just seems "off" somehow. Score: 3/5

3. Death of Me

I enjoyed this track and thought it would be a good radio single (and a hell of a lot better than a lot of the crap hogging the airwaves these days). All around, this was a good track. Score: 3.5/5

4. Wear Me Down

The I really enjoyed this track except for two things. I cannot fathom the significance of "This is not an exercise" and the klaxon at the end is grating and irritating. Score: 4/5

5. River

I love this song! It’s catchy, upbeat, and well-balanced (between effects and instruments). Did anyone else think the song had a U2 feel? There are two big problems, though. "Ah there is is" doesn’t really sit well with me; why in the world is the song so short?!? Score: 4.5/5

6. Fly Away

["Fly Away" made its debut on "Your Backyard" in 1999.]

Why did they feel the need to remake this song? It wasn’t a real winner to start with. Now the lyrics have been simplified and the beat sounds like bad disco. The chorus is pretty catchy, but it’s just too simple. I just keep wondering where I’m supposed to be flying and why. Furthermore, the effects and samples were irritating. The scratch that sounds almost like a camera shutter was like fingernails on a chalkboard to me. Score: 2.5/5

7. Inside of Me

["Inside of Me" is a remake of "Bitch", which originally appeared on "i you you me" in 2001.]

Ahhhhhh!!!! They’ve killed it! They’ve killed "Bitch"!  This song is absolutely awful. The effects drove me nuts (Noticing a trend, folks?). The song has lost all "rock". I miss the ass-kickin’ guitar riffs. I miss the "urgent" feel of the original. Lastly, what the !@#$ is up with the zoo sounds near the end of the song?!? Score: 1.5/5

8. Mad But Happy

This track had real potential to be groovin’, but it just stops dead after half a minute. What’s the point in teasing us? Then again, 30 seconds of this is better than 3 minutes of "Inside of Me". Score: 2.5/5 (points lost for length)

9. Lonely With You

["Lonely With You" is a retooling of "Lonely", which originally appeared on "Your Backyard" in 1999.]

Another remake – why?  This one isn’t too bad. It’s a tolerable listen and the end kinda rocks. Again, the music doesn’t seem to match the lyrics. The original seemed desperate without being psycho. I really identified with it since at the time I was in love with a girl who didn’t love me. Most of this version has a hippy acid-trip vibe to it. Score: 3.5/5

10. In Your Name

Compared to other "angry" Brother songs, it’s not their best. I prefer "Chains" (from the 1995 album "Exit From Screechville"). On its own, though, it’s a very good track. I really liked the cello. Score: 4/5

11. Crazy

["Crazy" is a remake of a song of the same title from 2001’s "i you you me".]

This wasn’t as butchered as "Bitch", but it’s still not as good as the original. It’s not as bouncy or fun as before. I also really miss "And I don’t want that hangin’ over me" and "And when you come to think again, you’ll wonder what it all meant. And when you think again, perhaps you’ll find you’re just as bent." Ultimately, what this version lacks is the "anthem" quality that the original had. Score: 3.5/5

12. Goodbye

This solid tune’s only real flaws are the weak and seemingly out of tune vocals at the beginning and the abrupt ending. Score: 3.5/5

13. How Do You Feel?

Anybody else think the opening sounds like music from a horror video game? At this point in the album I’m about to go postal. We’ve been waiting this freakin’ long (since ) for new Brother material and we get a bunch of pathetic remakes!?! I never loved the original, but it was certainly fun to sing along with at concerts. Score: 3/5

14. Just Listen

Again I feel cheated. This song is beautiful. Why are we teased with 1:30??? Score: 3.5/5 (Imagine the score if it was full length.)

In conclusion, I’d like to mostly praise the new tunes and lament the remakes. I find myself wondering why the album is an anemic 43 minutes. I know there’s more material to release. I really wanted "Hang On" and "Give It Away". In the end, though, Brother music is like pizza – even when it’s bad it’s good.

Album score: 45.5/70 (65% D)