Mark Hoppus of +44 has re-launched his podcast.
Tom Delonge Interview
A new interview with Tom Delong (Angels & Airwaves, ex. Blink 182) can be read here.
Angels & Airwaves – I-Empire
Artist: Angels & Airwaves
Album: I-Empire
Label: Geffen Records
Purchase: Smart Punk
Release Date: November 6, 2007
Overall: 7.5
Music: 8.5
Lyrics: 6
Production: 8
In 2005, when Blink-182 went on an indefinite hiatus and Angels & Airwaves was introduced, Tom DeLonge began advocating his new band by surrounding it with unprecedented hype. Everyone sat around and waited for what he alleged to be the “greatest rock band ever”. Needless to say, the debut was substandard and it did not live up to its claims. Similar to this 2006 effort We Don’t Need To Whisper, the sophomore release I-Empire uses prodigious and enchanting sounds, layered with an inclusive conceptual message. While the debut Whisper focused more on leaving one’s realm to find another, I-Empire concentrates on finding one’s self in its own royal domain. Although I-Empire does not completely miss the mark, its swagger consists of top heavy glimmering synth and an overabundance of DeLonge’s melancholy vocals.
I-Empire commences with an illuminating ditty called “Call To Arms”. Its industrial sounds and chiming chorus effectively sets the tone of the the album. “Everything’s Magic,” the first single, is undoubtedly the paramount song off the record. It contains ingrediants that suggest something special although, like each song on the album, it never fully peaks. However, slower numbers like “Breathe” and “Secret Crowds” deliver more characterization to DeLonge’s ‘person finding self’ concept, rather than most of his upbeat catalog. Other standout tracks include: “True Love” and “Heaven”.
I-Empire’s composition is sharp and its tone is invocative, but it never completely flourishes into its own. Although Angels & Airwaves don’t fail to impress, they fall short of further progressing. If you found anything on Whisper to be alluring, I would say that it’s worth a listen, but I am definitely selling this one.
Tracklisting
1. Call To Arms
2. Everything’s Magic
3. Breathe
4. Love Like Rockets
5. Sirens
6. Secret Crowds
7. Star of Bethlehem
8. True Love
9. Lifeline
10. Jumping Rooftops
11. Rite of Spring
12. Heaven
Plus 44 Playing Blink 182 Songs On The Road
Plus 44 recently played “What’s My Age Again,” an old Blink 182 song, at a show and have decided to play more Blink 182 songs instead of keeping them dormant. A message from the band can be read below.
for the past year and a half we have been saying how +44 will never play blink-182 songs. in interviews, when people ask about it, we say it won’t happen, we think it’s lame, etc. last week we changed our minds. and tonight during our set we played what’s my age again. you see, travis and i LOVE our history with blink-182, and it seems a shame to let those songs sit dormant forever because of what happened two years ago. and that song is SO much fun to play. so why not? it was awesome to play that song live again. we’re having the time of our lives out here. see you at the shows.Â
Staff Recommendations November 12th 2006
Trevor Bivens
So a month or two ago, Bryce tells me about this band called Kenotia . Well, due to my obscenely slow internet connection, I had yet to check them out. While lurking at The Masquerade in Atlanta last night, I happened to catch the last four songs by this Marietta, Georgia five piece(it was their new drummer’s second show, I believe.) I was blown away by how good they were. The first thing that automatically caught my ears was their singer Carly’s stellar voice. She sounds better live than a certain Fueled By Ramen band’s front-lady and everyone should know this is extremely rare and high praise coming from me. A double dose of Ryans brought on intricate guitar parts and their rhythm section rounded things out nicely. They have various demos up on their myspace and purevolume pages, so I’m now anxiously awaiting a proper release.
Julie Watanabe
November marks the dawning before the dead season of December drought. What this means is that the notable releases will be few and far between throughout the month until December rears its head and NOTHING will be worth spending your Christmas money on. There will be attempts to cling to the paltry threads of November releases for recommendations, I suspect +44 (11/14), Brand New (11/21), and Incubus (11/28) for the die-hards, but don’t expect to hear so from me unless The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me tears a black hole in time and space. Since I don’t see that happening soon let me introduce California’s Ultraviolet. Fronted by the one-woman riot Sarah Hudson, Ultravoilet is Sarah and three of the hottest eletronic-centric musicians to hit the avant garde dance scene in 2006. The band’s latest EP Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control is four songs of heavy-hitting synth jams and grungy electro that remind me of the four-track days. Sarah’s voice is naturally high, which normally would annoy me, but in this case fits quite flawlessly with the dark, twisting milisecond pulses and artifical sound of the music. The lyrics are timely in a “in-your-face-punk” kind of manner and will surely hit a sweet spot with people who like songs written about the enamour of music. If you enjoy the plastic dancebeats of bands like Shiny Toy Guns and A Kiss Could Be Deadly catch yourself some Ultraviolet.
MySpace
Bryce Jacobson
The band I’m going to recommend is one that you probably already know you’re going to listen to or you just might pass. If you were a fan of Blink 182 then you’re going to want to at least take a listen to Mark & Travis’s new band Plus 44. I have to say that I didn’t anticipate this album as much as Angels & Airwaves but for the most part When Your Heart Stops Beating delivers in more ways then one. The album has a closer sound to Blink 182 then Angels & Airwaves but I wouldn’t be happy with this album if it was a new Blink 182 album. Mark’s vocals are the best they have ever been and the guitar and bass ring of Blink on every other note, so whats not to like right? Well let us know who your favorite of the two bands are in our new poll, and if you don’t like either of them, let us know that as well.
Reema Desai
Chances are that if you read this site then you allready listen to and love Brand New, but my recommendation for this week is to pull out Deja Entendu again and revisit them for a while. I got to see them play twice yesterday, once acoustically and once full band and I was truly blown away. Aside from loving their sets I was reminded that there is a force behind this band that draws people in like almost no other musician today. I couldn’t tell you why they reach people the way they do; I couldn’t even tell you why they are my favorite band but it is certain that whatever that untouchable force is, they still have it.
Tyler Hayes
Everybody seems to have written a novel for the recommendations this week, well I will keep it short and sweet. If you like even the slightest hip hop feel on songs then please check out Mat Kearney. He has a hip hop, almost rap feel to some songs while others are mellow rock.ԚÂ I don’t typically enjoy any rap, mostly because the content makes you a little bit dumber, but Mat Kearney is different in that way because it’s full of content. Listen to one song and you’ll be hooked. (this is longer than I thought it would be.)
The Barkers’ Travis, Shanna Split
In a recent article on People, its stated that Travis Barker (Blink 182, Transplants, +44) has filed for divorce from his wife and Meet the Barkers costar Shanna Moakler. You can read some of the article below.
“I can confirm that Travis filed this morning,” Barker’s rep, Dvora Vener, tells PEOPLE.
Through her publicist, Moakler tells PEOPLE, “My only concern right now is for the welfare and best interests of my children.”
Barker, 30, plays drums for the band the Transplants as well as for blink-182, which is on indefinite hiatus. Moakler, 31, is a former Miss USA who has appeared in films including Big Momma’s House 2 and Pauly Shore is Dead.
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 6
- 7
- 8