Risen From the Ashes Comes Not Sacrifice, But: "Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix" (2009)

"Once upon a time, there was a woman named Jean Grey, a man named Scott Summers. They were young. They were in love. They were heroes. Today, they will prove it -- beyond all shadow of a doubt."

(the lead up to one of the most famous climaxes of the Bronze Age, as Jean Grey makes the ultimate sacrifice -- "The Fate of the Phoenix" The Uncanny X-Men, 1st series, #137, Chris Claremont)


(Image by Jonathan Jordan (c) 2009 - a totally bada** photo of Phoenix Rising or whatever - appreciate the beauty I say!)


So Phoenix (that French band I seem to talk about so much here on this site) has their new album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (2009) FINALLY being released here in the US on May 26th, 2009 a day after its release to the rest of the world on May 25th, 2009. I have been listening to it and it is good! I mean really good. That sample track "1901" I played for you all, is just a taste of that post punk-pop-funk-I dunno - FUN! The hell with trying to categorize it, it is just FUN!

Here is an un-Official Fan Video of 1901 that if I were Phoenix I would buy b/c it is pretty damn good and I'd like to see them do a better job.



Here is the rest of the album to fully "whet your appetite" (psych! lol...the entire album for download is available at high mp3 quality 160 bitrate below) that officially went for sale on at the US iTunes store and AmazonMP3.

The album starts off with fully Euro-techno beat background on it's first track "Girlfriend", which is fun, upbeat, almost like U2 without the over-dubbing that a lot of newer U2 falls pray to. Apparently in looking at other reviews and stuff about Phoenix, they lots of "industry connections", I don't know about all that or give that kind of comment much weight. Lots of musicians out there have these supposed "inside connections" like Jakob Dylan and a slew of others such as Pete Yorn on the Coldplay tour whose brother AND sister are like super agents tied into the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio, Marty Scorsese, Cameron Diaz and Benicio Del Toro.

Honestly for all their nice little tunes, they get more play off of one hit wonders or opening for bands accused of plagerisms. Yes Coldplay is being sued by Cat Stevens and Joe Satriani and maybe others, I haven't looked that much, but it is making new. I honestly don't think it is has much weight, these complaints, but that is me.

The old Irish (I believe, correct me if it's not Irish), saying goes something like this "When one person calls you a horse, you say 'meh' you're f'ing crazy...when 4-5 people call you a horse you still think they are crazy, but also start wondering "hmm"...when 10+ people call you a horse? Best time to get yourself a saddle lassie!" So really who knows and who cares, who Phoenix knows or who needs saddles or whatever, lol.

Now back to Phoenix (sorry the ADD got ahold of me there)...the album delivers. It has that sound that Actung Baby had only it's newer and fresher and less indulgent than U2 (sorry guys, but it's true, Bono you can be a big look at me baby, but we still love you). This album drips the new and the old, techo euro-trash dance or whatever you call it with catchy pop riffs and a really likable album.

I REALLY like "Armstice" and the keyboard, organ thing they use and the driving force of the song. It's a "get you" song like I talk about with Matthew Barber's album review of "Ghost Notes". The song "Lisztomania" is appearently, "coined by the German romantic literary figure Heinrich Heine to describe the massive public response to Franz Liszt's virtuosic piano performances. There were allegedly screaming women at these performances, and the audience was sometimes limited to standing room only." Who knows how they came up with that one, but it's another soon to be hit and these hits are building up. I mean this album is catchy, but not in a Britney (and this link of the 10 hottest all grownz up Mousekateers, which I am sorry, but it's a Friday night and I had to add) way and maybe that is why SNL sought them out, they saw that this is one good album.

Here is the OFFICIAL Phoenix - "Lisztomania" Video



Even "Fences" is a slower, equally hip with the mixer groove, but slower and again danceable. The entire album is made for the "disco" that is so beloved all over the rest of the world and something we Americans don't get. We either look for those club where rap is blasted too loud or music is played so you can do the whole rub on each other thing that, the Europeans don't do, they dance and they love it. And this album is made for them and we (being Americans) just happen to be lucky enough to get to be privy to it. Will it take off here, I do not know, I am not a top 200 Billboard kinda guy, but I do know I like, I think others will too and I think it's what people would term "HOT".



I think the song that really takes the album and shows off all of its traits in one track is "Love Like A Sunset" a slow building, techno beating song that is subtle in its luring you in, to where it slowly transitions from pure dance club tune to a guitar and vocal song that reminds me of My Bloody Valentine "Sometimes" or Smashing Pumpkins "Starla", two of my favorite songs that are worth pointing out when describing "Love Like A Sunset" part 1 and part 2, which I ripped together for a seamless sound. Trust me it works.

The album closes with "Countdown - Big Sun" with its organs and high pitch falsetto, whatever you call that kind of Billy Corgan, Mazzy Star, Brett Dennen vocal that is so smooth with a techno silk beat. I have loved the Smashing Pumpkins and their Siamese Dream (recorded Triclops Sound Studios in Atlanta, GA as they lived in Marietta, which explains all those Pumpkin shows growing up around here- a lil shoutout to my hometown)/Gish sound where they let D'Arcy's (the girl in the band/bassist) vocals runneth over, bleed the sound, something Phoenix does so well, while not having a girl, they are comprised of Thomas Mars, Deck D'Arcy, Christian Mazzalai and Laurent Brancowitz who are able to let their vocals drift from that punker tone to that dreamy tone. "Girlfriend" and "Armistice" songs that remind me more of Pavement's Slanted & Enchanted and one cannot forget that they did get to play SNL and that isn't something tossed around lightly. Being on SNL is rare and while I personally think they played it safe by playing "1901" and "Listzomania" I am not going to complain because it gave them exposure. I think had they gone out and rocked a "Love Like A Sunset" or "Fences" the critics might have been less harsh at least here in the States where bashing the French is almost as much fun as THIS, we can still enjoy "1901" the SNL version,


Overall I don't think Phoenix does anything NEW, like musically reinvent the wheel, but they do what THEY DO well and this is a great album especially if you like their other stuff. I'm a Phoenix fan, I was waiting for this album and not disappointed at all with what we got. Was it a perfect score no, but perfection is a myth just like perky boobs after kids sans the implants. "Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix" is a good album, worth the money or if you got Riddled Phantasms route as promised here is the download file share from my personal collection that I paid for and am allowing you share ...

ENJOY!

(I promise they are in order once you click on the dl link to 4Shared...this is brand new, no violations, nothing, I remade the bitrate at 330!!! That's as good as it gets folks, that is the uber crisp /\\/ ! ;p)

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works © 3.0 United States License – The Brass Hat Group

Pictures Might Be 1000 Words Strong, But Passions Remain Infinite Amongst The Garden of Sideways-Eights...

~ "White Lies For Dark Times" concert & album review~

White Lies for Dark Times - (c) 2009 - was released 05.05.2009 and I just have started listening to it a couple of weeks ago as I was fortunate enough to have a copy. In all earnest it is so new that there is no data yet on the Billboard 200 about it's release as of yet, but they say, "Other albums looking to start high on the Billboard 200 next week include Devil Wears Prada's "With Roots Above and Branches Below" (Ferret), Ben Harper's "White Lies For Dark Times" (Virgin/Capitol)."

I have a personal kinship with Ben both legitimately and via the songs themselves even though I did get the boot, post show, by some roadie who looked like he was 103 and hopped up on about 40 grams of 'meth' that started like I mention previously on the floor, freshman year of college hearing him live for the first time. If you are like me, like John Cusack and how he rants in Hi-Fidelity (Nick Hornby's first novel) that you can organize your life by music. Music isn't just an art form according to Hornby, "In a way Rob's job in High Fidelity is a trope, if you like...He listens to very raw stuff all day and it probably doesn't do you any good. I think over the last 10 to 20 years we've all had much more opportunity, more leisure time, and there's certainly more stuff around in terms of radio and TV, so I think we have a slightly distorted sense of what life is." And that's it, our lives might be distorted by what we feel a connection to, real or imagined, it is ours and it is personal and often times related to specific music. That is why you see so many blogs and sites out there like this, because we find company in our collective misery, joy, sadness, whatever emotion the music helps us feel, there is that collective kinship among the listeners, the fans, you and me. I personally can link several of Ben Harper's songs to moments of my life that come to me like a scene in some movie where your life flashes by quickly or via that slower montage that they teach you about in film school or books on how films are made, as a dramatic effect, because it's something that most music lovers, and lover in general can relate to, it's why you hear that guy say, "Oh sh*! this is my favorite song," and start bouncing, moving, hopping, dancing or whatever you might call it.

I personally don't have a name or a genre for that feeling of association, but it is often what I am trying to give readers who are kind enough to visit and read the words here at the Riddled Phantasms website of the Brass Hat Group. It is the tie that binds us here or at concerts or at anything artistic and entertainment filled. It is what I love and it is so genre-less that I want to be certain it never gets caught and caged like the sad lion or giant silverback gorilla at the zoo that has lost its will to be free. Music, especially the kind Ben Harper writes and sings and performs, both live or via album - this one being "White Lies For Dark Times", gives us back that internal freedom even if only for a brief instant, and allows us to have something that loves company that isn't just "misery".

Ben Harper's songs and my memory of the events around them work like that. From what I know personally of Ben is he is a helper, he cares about people, just ask Jack Johnson who literally just gave Ben his demo and the rest is history, i.e., Jack Johnson is huge with a large record contract and nominations yearly for songs and albums all the accolades that accompany fame and success, simply because Ben Harper cares. There was a point during the show where Ben, spoke to the audience expressing a hearfelt thank you and speaking in terms that everyone could clearly understand about how he does it for the love of music, the passion of music and the love of his fans whom without he would have no career or anything.

His new album goes back a little to the roots of rock and roll, post blues, with less of a focus on Ben Harper solo acoustic artist and more a push towards his Burn to Shine and Innocent Criminals days where he seethed with a hot-blooded vocal tonic that really drove the masses to Ben Harper and whomever he has backing him. The relentless 7 is made the band Ben formed in 2008, Relentless 7 with Texas-based musicians Jason Mozersky (guitar), Jesse Ingalls (bass) , and Jordan Richardson (drums). They receive their first musical credit with Ben on this new album release and accompaning tour (http://relentless7.benharper.com/#/tour).

If you want to read an excellent Q&A with Ben Harper I strongly suggest you take a look at the Ampersand's by Brad Frenette. This is one of the better artist/writer interviews that induldge the belief that music is more than just a hobby, but a passion that kindles with each spark and what makes it unique is that those sparks range the whole gamut as people have different parts, songs, albums, moments that tie them all together. The way Ben talks about music reminds me a lot of the way Bob Dylan talks about it in his book Chronicles, Volume 1. I hope you all enjoy the music and the video and everything The Brass Hat Group has to offer.

Cheers!

"Faithfully Remain" - White Lies For Dark Times (c) 2009 - Ben Harper

(The cover art: "Le Petite Mort" by Sanithna Phansavanh - more of his art will be covered shortly in another post, please contact me at ross@brasshatgroup.com if you have any questions or would like to download any full sized images -- Also this MP3 is available for download from my hosting site link and is covered by license I use on everything, but just as a reminded this is covered by the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License (c) 2009 - The Brass Hat Group)


"Thin Skin" - White Lies for Dark Times (c) 2009 - Ben Harper

(Photo Art: "21 Grams" by Sanithna Phansavanh (c) 2009)


"Faithfully Remain" - Live Video - 5.2.9 Variety Playhouse - Atlanta, GA

AND THEY'RE OFF...The Brass Hat Group's Homage to -THE 135H KENTUCKY DERBY!

In honor of today's Kentucky Derby (I must say this is pretty sweet website, if like horse racing as I do or not, it's def. worth a look), which was won by 50:1 long long longshot "Mine That Bird" and is why we are going to be sharing with you the audio (downloadable track "Jockey Full of Bourbon") and video from the Jim Jarmusch film Down by Law, which happens to star none other than Tom Waits! He is actually in this video, which I also must say is pretty cool. I hope you enjoy the music and if want more info on the race click on the New York Times link. Please enjoy it all and have a mint julep on me (figuratively of course, because we really don't want to mess with the mojo working scent that I got going on), as I am heading to see Ben Harper in like 30 minutes...w00t!

Tom Waits "Jockey Full of Bourbon" - Rain Dogs (c) 1985

(The Cover Art is from http://www.funpic.hu/ and from what I saw, "Mickey You're Next!")


Tom Waits "Jockey Full of Bourbon" ~ Down by Law (1986) - Jim Jarmusch

(I know I already went out on a limb and agreed Ginger looks like Nico as seen there, but she also has some pictures that kinda make her look A LOT LIKE this babe in the bed, you tell me? Either way Ginger is looking hotter and hotter these days and it pains me to say that, but it's so true, if you don't who or what I'm talking about and you like pretty girls or are just curious at to what a Nicoesqe looking Georgia Peach (that's an Allman Brother's reference you pervs so get your head out of the gutter numskulls)



Tom Waits is in the film Down by Law, in which this music video above is from. Here is a little backgroud about the film from AllMovie.com:

"Down by Law by Jim Jarmusch follows his groundbreaking Stranger Than Paradise with another rambling, character-driven film with a twisted sense of humor. Set in a seedy New Orleans summer, Down By Law details the meeting of three unlikely convicts and their just as unlikely escape. Zack (Tom Waits) is an out-of-work DJ who is accused of murder when a body is found in the trunk of a stolen car he was hired to drive across town. Jack (John Lurie) is a pimp set up for a fall by a competitor. These two sullen souls are locked in a cell with Roberto (Roberto Benigni), a cheerful Italian immigrant who happens to have killed a man. The chemistry between the members of this loosely bound "team" is fascinating: Zack and Jack are forever laughing at Roberto, yet they rely on his energy and good will to escape their dire situation. The three mismatched miscreants eventually bust out of jail and head into the Louisiana bayous. Tired and hungry, they separate to search for food: Waits goes one way, Lurie another, and the frightened Benigni decides to risk stepping into a ramshackle diner. Somehow or other, he winds up in the arms of gorgeous Italian girl Nicoletta Braschi -- and is even able to provide new clothes and escape routes for his astonished comrades! "