New Brick + Mortar Video

brick+mortar-20lb from dan feeny on Vimeo.

This is the new music video from local badasses Brick + Mortar. I have two words for you right now...Holy and Shit. Put them together and you have my reaction to this song/video.

Their new EP entitled '7 Years in the Mystic Room' is available now. Listen to it ASAP.

A full review will be posted in the coming days.

From the Vault...David Bowie - Heathen

From the Vault is a new feature where I review an older album that I'm really enjoying at the moment.
Released in 2002 and Bowie's umpteenth comeback, this amazing album was advertised as "Classic David Bowie Circa 2002." And the hype couldn't have been more on the money.

Heathen reunited Bowie with Tony Visconti, the producer of Bowie's Perfect Berlin Trilogy as well as his Scary Monsters album. This is certainly one of the creepier albums in Bowie's long career with topics like desolation, yearning and the apocalypse running throughout.


The opening track 'Sunday' starts the album off on a somber mood, with visions of a decimated world with him pondering his future. The line "Nothing has changed, everything has changed" has haunted me for years and remains one of my favorite lyrics.

Interestingly enough, Heathen was my first real introduction to this man's work as a whole. I couldn't have asked for a better gateway into his genius. His ear for sounds both appealing and jarring at the same time has always fascinated me.

The album also includes an incredible cover in the form of the Pixies' 'Cactus'. It will change the way you hear the original and to be honest I prefer Bowie's version.

Another highlight is 'Slip Away,' a tribute to television personality Uncle Floyd, where Bowie shows that he might have finally become the American he was once so afraid of.



All in all this is an amazing album of "Classic" sounding David Bowie that I can't recommend enough to anyone who's a fan, or just hearing him for the first time.

10/10
Best Tracks:
Sunday
Cactus
Slip Away
Slow Burn
5.15 The Angels Have Gone
A Better Future
Heathen (the Rays)

Review: Peter Gabriel - Scratch My Back

So Peter Gabriel is back after an 8 year absence of new material...and still doesn't have new material. Oh, and that's not a bad thing in this case, at all. He doesn't even have a band this time around, just piano and orchestra to reinterpret some pretty great songs.

Those hoping for Gabriel to run the indie gamut and cover some of the newest artists today will be disappointed, but he did choose some pretty stately songs on this, his first album since 2002's Up. Earlier last year he released a cover of Vampire Weekend's Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa and even though that song is not included on the album, it's still a top-notch effort on his part.

The album starts with a haunting rendition of David Bowie's 'Heroes' which has certainly changed the way I listen to the original classic. Gabriel goes on to cover Elbow's 'Mirrorball' which is pretty impressive when placed next to the original song. 'Mirrorball' flows nicely into a startling version of Bon Iver's 'Flume' which features some of PG's best vocals of his career.

A definite highlight of the album is his version of Talking Heads' 'Listening Wind' which although it doesn't improve on the fascinating original, it definitely adds a new layer to this tale of terrorism.

The album ends with an exceptional version of Radiohead's 'Street Spirit (Fade Out)' from The Bends. It's a bit of a downer to end the album on but for some reason it works.

This album certainly isn't for everybody...it might not even be for all of Peter Gabriel's fans, but it is a great album and a great example of what can happen when an artist challenges himself and takes his time making an album.

Now if he could only get around to recording I/O (his supposed album of new material)...

8/10

Best Tracks:
Listening Wind
Mirrorball
Flume
Heroes

I sincerely apologize for my lack of posts recently...I've been pretty busy/lazy lately. Don't worry though, the reviews shall soon be flowing in like the wine at a hipster party.