Monday, December 19, 2005

joy electric: montgolfier and the romantic balloons

last week i received an early christmas present. granted, i bought it for myself, but it still counts. in the mail came the latest release from joy electric (which, by the way, is the greatest band of all time.) and it is great!
joy electric is a very prolific band (20 releases in 11 years and counting...) lately the pattern for joy electric has been to release a full length album every year as well as a companion album that is shorter and more experimental. often the companions will have very unique songs as well as a few remixes from the full length. also, lately there has been at least one 'extra' release each year as well. last year it was a christmas album, this year it was the 'workmanship' vinyl.
the last full length album was called 'the ministry of archers', and it was really good. ever since the misstep of the tick tock treasury joy electric has been growing steadily stronger, including all the inbetween albums. 'ministry of archers' was his best since 'the white songbook' and this newest inbetween album continues the rising quality. the new songs are really good and surpringingly memorable, and the remixes are spot-on (which hasnt always been the case...) all in all, an excellent addition to the ever-expanding library from joy electric.

Monday, December 12, 2005

collective soul

dang. i forgot how much these guys rock! over the weekend directv was showing a free concert of collective soul. i guess it was just highlights from an upcoming live dvd. it was totally rocking good though. the coolest part was that they were being backed by the atlanta youth orchestra. which meant the four guys ripping it up with their guitars, and about 150 teenagers playing orchestral instruments behind them. it was totally awesome! some of the different renditions of their songs were mindblowing!
ive really enjoyed collective soul for many years now. i first gained an interest around the time of 'precious declaration', but i wasnt totally sold until the first time 'dosage' hit my ears. every thing since i have loved. they are actually one of the rare examples of a band that i actually enjoy their back catalog.
one of my favorite songs of theirs has always been 'crown' from dosage. and it just so happens that they best part of the concert is during this song (go figure...) during this song ed (the lead singer) dedicates it to his father who just died last year. he proceeds to sing the entire song without any guitars (which is shocking for collective soul) and only the music of the strings in the orchestra. wow. a truly moving moment. and they end with a rock your socks off finale with 'feels like' from 'youth.'