MP3: “La Belle Tocade” by ME & LP
Matthew Embree and Lisa Papineau, two musicians with quite the pedigree between them (Rx Bandits and Big Sir, plus contributions to Air and M83, respectively), have joined forces in the shape of ME & LP. An unexpected pairing with backgrounds that could have landed them anywhere on the map, the surprising result is all the more satisfying. ME & LP showcase the mark of a worthy match-up, pushing each other successfully into new terrain [via Sargent House]. The LP, Chez Raymond, is out August 9 on Sargent House. You can download the first single “La Belle Tocade” here or stream it below. You can also stream the entire album here.
RX Bandits/Dredg @ TLA
The crowd at the Theater of Living Arts in Philly waited anxiously for RX Bandits while the opening band, Zechs Marquise, played their psych-rock collection of songs. The siblings of famed Omar Rodriguez-Lopez (The Mars Volta), Marcel and Marfred, played intensely while slowly winning over the crowd. As they played “Chase Scene” off their latest LP, Our Delicate Stranded Nightmare, the crowd became enamored. New fans started pushing their way towards the stage, intrigued by these trance-rock melodies. Zechs Marquise soon ended their set and introduced Dredg.
Lead singer Gavin Hayes entered and Dredg fans cheered with approval to start the next set. Gavin approached his slide guitar and played the overwhelming introduction to “Bug Eyes.” As Hayes moved his hands up and down the slide guitar, the crowd began pushing forward and soon started yelling the words to the song, “Bring back those good ol’ days | Nothing feels right; nothing ever goes my way | I threw my future away; now I walk alone.” Later in the set, Dredg decided to chill things out by playing an impressive rendition of “Zebra Skin.” Before letting the crowd get too mellow, Dredg highlighted their set with “Ode to the Sun.” The song had everyone in the crowd moving. As Dredg ended their set, the crowd began buzzing for what was next to come, RX Bandits.
“RXB! RXB! RXB!” the crowd chanted as they waited impatiently for the band to take the stage. Christopher Tsagakis entered and approached his drum set as the crowd went insane. Fans pushed to get closer to the stage. RX Bandits didn’t disappoint, as they opened with a four-person drum intro. It was an amazing start to the show. The rest of the band joined, and they went right into “In Her Drawer.” The mellower “Apparition” provided a much needed break for whoever was being pummeled during the first few songs. The crowd caught its collective breath and prepared for the next wave of songs.
The band’s setlist was mostly taken from their latest record Mandala. The crowd showed their appreciation by sustaining their energy throughout the entire performance. When RX Bandits left the stage, the entire crowd started singing the lyrics to the band’s most popular song “Overcome,” “We’ve had enough of these politician’s wars; what we need right now is love | We’ve had enough of these military scoreboards; all we need right now is love.” The crowd continued for a solid three minutes until the band appeased their request for an encore. As expected, they began with “Overcome,” and the loudness of the crowd peaked. RX Bandits played a few more songs before ending with the four-man drum solo. The show was an overpowering experience for anyone lucky enough to be in attendance.
Album Review: The Pariah, The Parrot, The Delusion
Dredg explores some new ground with old formulas on their impressive new release, The Pariah, The Parrot, The Delusion. Their former record and my personal favorite, Catch Without Arms, disappointed some hardcore fans who were expecting another Leifmotif or El Cielo. The album took a complete 180 from previous work and explored more accessible and pop-driven areas of Dredg’s creative palette. This time around, the format is similar to El Cielo, as the record includes an epic 18-tracks. Just as El Cielo segued with instrumental interludes labeled as “Movements,” Dredg calls these interludes (there are vocals) “Stamps of Origin” this time. The segues on El Cielo were often very strong additions to that record and served well as the glue tying the concept and cohesiveness of the album as a digestible whole. That’s not the case as much with The Pariah. The band’s sound is not much different than the previous effort, Catch Without Arms. Although this record is not as instantly impressive as that release, there is much here to like.
Dredg has left major lable Interscope and releases their new album on indie outfit Ohlone Recordings. The album cover takes the form of a letter, including concept-related postage. Dredg has always been a bit “out there” with the themes of their records. El Cielo was inspired and based entirely on the painting “Sleep Paralysis” by Salvador Dali. The effort resulted in 16-tracks that used sleep paralysis as the central theme. This time around the inspiration is a Salmon Rushdie essay, entitled A Letter to the Sixth Billionth Citizen. The album was dedicated to Deftone’s bassist Chi Cheng, who was in a serious accident during the time Dredg was recording. As of today, Cheng is still in a coma.
The Pariah, The Parrot, The Delusion starts off strong with the melodic and guitar-driven track “Pariah.” The song begins with the sound of children singing a harmony over a repeating piano rhythm but quickly turns to heavy guitar riffs and off-beat drumming. The song finally progresses to Dredg’s signature anthemic vocal chorus. One of the album’s two instrumentals follows with “Drunk-Slide”. However, the second instrumental, “Long Days and Vague Clues” is an epic track and album highlight, deserving of Grammy consideration for best instrumental at year’s end. A track that Dredg has been playing for sometime now live, “Ireland,” follows. The ballad-like track brings Dredg back to their El Cielo era with majestic guitars and a sweeping chorus.
Additional album highlights include “The Information,” Dredg’s most accessible song to date. “Saviour,” the album’s first single exhibits a louder, guitar-heavy sound more reminiscent of Dredg’s earlier recordings. “I Don’t Know” is another pop-friendly track that features spiritual overtones and revisits Dredg’s El Cielo sound. “Mourning This Morning” is funk-inspired guilty pleasure similar to “Zebraskin” off of Catch Without Arms. The album’s most unique and impressive track takes the form of “Quotes.” The song clocks in at at epic six minutes and takes more musical tangents than a Girl Talk track. The lyrics of lead singer Gavin Hayes are a standout here:
Our sobriety will diminish
Discriminate we fade slow, fade slow
These drugs will expand us
United we will grow
The overall critical response to The Pariah, The Parrot, The Delusion has been mostly positive and deservedly so. One of the few problems with The Pariah is its length. El Cielo was a excellent but tedious listen, as is this album. The Stamp of Origin tracks do not tie everything together as neatly as they did with the former and seem more like intermissions than interludes. Although the album does contain some filler, the majority of the record does support the fact that Dredg is still an important and relevant band. The band has scored a co-headlining tour with Rx Bandits and supporting act Zech Marchis (featuring Marcel Lopez-Rodriguez from The Mars Volta). Dredg has released a video for their latest single, The Information. You can watch it below:
http://www.dredg.com
http://myspace.com/dredg