Blood Visions Review

The album i have decided to review is the 2006 release ''Blood Visions'' by underground punk artist
Jay Reatard. For the record, he spells his alias last name wrong intentionally for ironic means. Jay's previous work was usually reflecting the scratchy raw sound inspired by bands like The Casualties and abbotsfords own B-Lines. These previous releases from Jays early days were also released exclusively on 45rpm 7-inch vynils. Blood Visions however, was a significantly different piece of production. Any fan of his will agree that it is the best piece of work he has released to date for several reasons. For one thing, he uses a few recording tricks that venture nowear near an overproduced sound, but greatly compliment the catchy riffs and powerful echoes in the vocals. Every instrument played is beautifully equaled out, but still has the same grinding appeal that has been seen in the underproduced genuine punk chesnuts of his past. The song variety is definetly what sets this album apart from his others, or any other albums from similar bands of the underground punk scene. Pieces that reflect his early work are short fast catchy tracks like ''It's So Easy'' and ''Standing There'' which jump instantly into a fast catchy verse and never exceed 1:30. Where as long epic progressing pieces like ''My Shadow'' and ''Oh It's Such a Shame'' have the same basic structure as his signature sound, but have the power and amazing chord synchronization to appeal to a wide variety of listeners. These kinds of songs are why I am giving this album such a good review. They are the kinds of songs you show your friends or musically knowledgable peers to introduce them or 'get them hooked' if you will, on the album.
I give it an even 10/10.

Media Control Rant

Look at the two pictures here. You can't exactly tell visually, but take a wild guess as to which band is making more money, getting more exposure, and selling more albums. The average schmuck would probably assume the better band is the bigger band, and the small amount of exposure is due to a lack of skill and musical appeal. It's sad really.
The 3 piece below is The Doers. I've seen these guys live several times, and they are truly amazing. They have a stage presence unlike any others i've seen. The other band, i

think i need to explain.
The Jonas Brothers are a textbook example of the music industry and Disney taking some sweet singing cream puffs with no clue how to play the guitar, and turning them into a pop culture idol for foolish young consumers. This shows just how blind the media makes sure people stay. If everyone started judging musicians on the music they put hours a day into writing practicing and performing, people might start thinking for themselves instead of being hand fed bucketfuls of overproduced generic musical abominations. That just wont work for the industry now will it?. To make matters worse, there are channels dedicated to telling people what to listen to, what to wear, where to buy the same clothes and accessories as the puppets they see on TV, etc. I can really see now where it all came to be. Back in the 70s and 80s, pop was a well known joke. And some of the best music around remained true to the laws of authenticity. Things really took off in the 90s with the introduction of Indie and Grunge. Rather than kids buying musical style from Wal-Mart, they expressed themselves with no regard for what was ''cool'' or ''commercial''. People would go to underground shows by the hundreds, and the bands were recognized for talent and appeal. But for some reason, parents just didn't like it. Maybe it was the lack of school attendance for band practice, or the abuse of drugs and alchohol, or maybe it was just somthing they werent used to. Whatever it was, it was cruelly suckerpunched by a wave of Pop Culture around 97 or so. To this day, their is very little demand for this kind of genuine music. Parents could be out buying their kids pre-faded Led Zeppelin shirts from Bluenotes, and the kid wont even know what their wearing the shirt for, other than their instant reaction such as ''Rockers are hot''. We can thank MTV for that kind of mindset they drilled into the youth. I dont know where i can end this, but i think by this point you get my idea.
What we have today is a mess. The underground is too far below the surface to even hear anymore. Sure, theres still a good amount of support and recognition for good music, but it will never be the same as it was.

Muppets

The following is a testimony to my childhood around the muppets, i remember seeing this
several times on TV and thinking it was the greatest thing ever. It's drum legend Buddy Rich
having a drum off against Animal.

The Locust

Reviews to sum this band up in a few words always leave it at ''Crazy kids in bug suits playing insane music'' or something very closely along those lines. The Locust are a sarcastic hardcore band
that make some of the most offensive sounds ever to be produced with a double synthesizer, drum set, guitar, bass, and of course their mouths. The costumes they wear are supposed to resemble bug-like features, as seen in the large black mesh eyeholes. Anyone who has seen or played with them at an indoor live show says they are the most intimidating live act they have ever seen.
Below is them performing Teenage Mustache at Hellfest 07.

Foxy Shazam - Ghost Animals

The following is a video an impressive live band called Foxy Shazam.
The public tends to focus the buzz generally around the keyboarist Schuyler Vaughn White,
and lead singer Eric Sean Nally. Both members convey the most presence, and boast
the most talent towards what they do with their hands and mouth.
The song is Ghost Animals, and the Venue is Frankies in Toledo.

The WPP

To Kick off this blog around my musical
taste, I feel obligated to introduce a band. Some of the more devoted fans and people valley residents still to this day believe The WPP is the greatest band to ever come out of this area. To this day, a small handful of about 300 or so are still telling stories of the shows these 4 played in Abbotsford, and all across Canada, all through downtown Vancouver, and even within a couple thousand miles over the boarder, the shows are only a memory to thousands more who had the privelage of seeing them live. The WPP have 3 known releases. A very rare demo of their early material ''The greatest revolution that never was and never will be'' after that came the most popular LP relesed in the time the band was active, ''He has the technology'' I myself own one of the copies of the limited edition blue vynil copies of this record, lucky me. The final release from this band was right before they big deal. Reluctant Recordings had given this band the materials, and they were going to be huge. Right around this time, they released a little teaser Called ''Baam! Jaam!'', and soon after, bassist Steve Matheson left the band for 2 months. In this time, the fanbase assumed the worst, and the buzz began to die. From 2002 to 2005 the band rehearsed daily, played shows several times a week, and recorded only when they had dawned masterpieces. 2 monthes of hiatus was too much for them to handle. Rest in piece, The WPP.