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BRIEF: Biffy Clryo’s new singles explode on the charts

Jared Montgomery

In November of 2009, the aggressive Scottish three-piece rock group Biffy Clyro, release their most successful album to date: Only Revolutions. The album went gold within a matter of days from the release, and the singles from the new release have been seeing higher chart numbers than ever. All of the singles from the new album have hit the UK charts hard, peaking within the top 10 of the rock charts and top 20 of all singles. Currently, there are 4 singles from the new album: “Mountains,” “That Golden Rule,” “The Captain,” and “Many of Horror.”

All of the singles from the new album are both brilliant songs and visually striking. The highest ranking single to date, “The Captain,” is set on a pirate ship and details an uprising against the Royal Navy. It culminates with Ben and James Johnston, who play drums and bass, breaking lead singer and guitarist Simon Neil from his cage. All in all, The new singles from Biffy Clyro are stunning, both musically and visually, to say the least.

February 13, 2010 Tags: , ,
Posted in Artist Spotlight, Video No Comments »

PLAYLIST: Top 10 songs for the open road

Jared Montgomery

 

Matthew Montgomery, 2009

Back in September 2009, I had the opportunity to spend a lot of time in my car while traveling across the western half of the United States. During this time I discovered that when speeding down a side road in Iowa, not all songs were created equal. Here is a list, in no particular order, of the 10 best songs for driving to.

1. The All New Adventures of Us – “Firetruck”

This song is wonderful to say the least. It meets all the requirements to be a good driving song: sonic guitars, blasting horns, enough changes to keep you interested and of course, a beat you can tap your gas pedal too. The song speaks of never missing another adventure, and that really embodies what this article is about: adventures.

2. The Beatles – “Two of Us”
“Two of Us” is one of those jangly guitar songs you just can’t do without on a good drive. It’s stood the test of time and after nearly 40 years it is just as valid as it was on its release. The song itself induces images of driving on a winding backroad with the windows down and the sun shining.

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February 10, 2010 Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Playlists No Comments »

Wine and Alchemy: World comes to Flag

Jared Montgomery

wine-and-alchemyToday I walked into Bookmans (a local used book store and internet cafe) today, which is a pretty regular occurrence, and I was greeted by something a little irregular. A world band called Wine and Alchemy had invaded dressed as Gypsies. As the acoustic guitar and accordion harmonized, their vocalist and belly dancer flitted around the cafe. They played a variety of  Greek, Armenian, “Gypsy”, Flamenco, and Middle Eastern styles while here, and they did it really quite well. They hail from San Antonio, and brought some delightful gypsy fun to the mountains of Flagstaff.  You can find some tracks to listen to at wineandalchemy.com. I would highly recommend them to anyone that appreciates world folk music.

August 24, 2008 Tags: , ,
Posted in Artist Spotlight, Flagstaff, Arizona, Live Reviews No Comments »

Spotlight: Mokshya

Jared Montgomery

mokshya_promoMökshya (Pronounced Moke-she-ah) is, simply put, a metal band. Hailing from Flagstaff, Arizona, they combine a message of acceptance and love with anger and disdain toward the core of this countries beliefs and systems. When I put their promo cd into my computer to listen to for the first time, I had no idea what I was in for. After hearing the first 10 seconds, I was forced crank my stereo up. I was absolutely delighted with what I got. Mökshya is not one of your run of the mill garage metal bands. These guys show real promise and real talent. They write intelligently, it’s not all guitar solos, and it’s not all thrashy, thrown together chords. All in all, I couldn’t be more pleased with Mökshya. I can only hope that I hear more music from here in Flag that shows as much promise as these talented musicians do. You can find more tracks by Mökshya on iTunes, where they have released their debut album, “?We the People!” They punch you in the face with their tunes and leave you begging for more.

Mökshya – “Blacklight”
[audio:http://www.musicgeek.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/01-blacklight.mp3]

August 14, 2008 Tags:
Posted in Artist Spotlight, Flagstaff, Arizona No Comments »

Flagstaff Local Music

Jared Montgomery

Jared Montgomery is MusicGeek.org’s Flagstaff, Arizona correspondent and the head of the new MusicGeek.org regional project for the area.

Here at MusicGeek.org, we are dedicated to bringing you independent music reviews, interviews news and downloads. Well, I’ve recently found myself relocated to the beautiful town of Flagstaff, Arizona, and I realized how much local talent this city has to offer. This has prompted me to start this regional chapter of MusicGeek.org. From now on, you will see posts about your local Flagstaff music scene about as fast as we can get them up. In the next few weeks, you should be seeing more and more local coverage. Hope to see all you Flagstaff locals here, checking out what’s happening in your local scene!

August 13, 2008 Tags:
Posted in Flagstaff, Arizona, News No Comments »

Spotlight: Plastic Operator

Jared Montgomery

Plastic Operator / Courtesy of Fine Day RecordsPlastic Operator are an electronic indie pop duo out of the U.K. made up of Mathieu Gendreau and Pieter Van Dessel. Their music is a refreshing change from the typical guitar-drums-bass combination that has dominated the music scene for so long. The beats are thumping and the vocal melodies entrancing throughout their entire debut album, Different Places, which was released on May 14th, 2007 in Europe. They focus mainly on upbeat and catchy songs with an ’80s synth feel, but show their diversity in the song Another Sound, which features a riff ridden guitar solo. In the end, Plastic Operator is one of those bands that’s just fun and enjoyable to listen to. You can check out more of their music and a new video for the song, “Home 0207,” at their myspace page, http://www.myspace.com/plasticoperator.

Plastic Operator — “Peppermint” | download
[audio:http://www.musicgeek.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/02-peppermint.mp3]

Plastic Operator — “Another Sound” | download
[audio:http://www.musicgeek.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/08-another-sound.mp3]

February 13, 2008 Tags: , ,
Posted in Artist Spotlight, Downloads No Comments »

Spotlight: Jenny Hallam

Jared Montgomery

Jenny Hallam / Courtesy of Jenny HallamJenny Hallam is an independent, relatively unknown, artist from Worcester in the UK. Her music ranges from piano driven pop to quick paced, crunchy guitar ridden rock. She is yet to be signed or have a self released album, but does has a few demos up for listen on her MySpace page. The song Avoiding the Spotlight starts with quick drums, and dance influenced keyboard sounds, but quickly gives way to guitar solos that harken to the days of Jimi Hendrix and Jefferson Airplane. All things considered, this girl has some great talent and shows real potential.

Jenny Hallam – “Avoiding the Spotlight” | download
[audio:http://www.musicgeek.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/03-avoiding-the-spotlight.mp3]

January 23, 2008 Tags: ,
Posted in Artist Spotlight, Downloads No Comments »

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