Artist: Veil Veil Vanish

Album: Anthem For A Doomed Youth (Digital Download 1-5-10)

Genre: The Cure

Vocal Style: Male, Clean, Melodic

Label: Metropolis Records

Parental Advisory: No

Recommended if You Like: 80’s New Wave, The Cure, Southern Death Cult, 80′s New Romantic Bands, Remixes

As most people who know me can attest too, I’m a huge fan of The Cure.  In fact I was just lamenting the other day with my Netflix buddies that my top four musical influences are The Cure, Depeche Mode, Ministry and Skinny Puppy.  So what does this have to do with Veil Veil Vanish?  Well folks if anyone is carrying a torch for late 80′s or early 90′s Cure it would be Veil Veil Vanish.  Keven Tecon is a dead on version of Robert Smith during his Pornography era.  While some may think this could hinder this band I say neigh.  Upon hearing the first track “Anthem For A Doomed Youth” on this digital download I was hooked.  This is what I wish The Cure was doing today.

It’s rare that I hear something on the first listen and am really moved to listen to it over and over on repeat, and that is exactly what happened today.  This download will be released on January 5th through Metropolis Records.  It features two album tracks and three remixes of the title track.  The remixes are nifty, but really it’s the two album tracks that have me hooked and coming back for more.  Their full length album is slated for a February release date and I can’t wait to hear it.

So if you’ve been hungering for some great 80′s vibes along the lines of the early Cure and even a bit of the old Southern Death Cult then pick up this EP next Tuesday.  You won’t be disappointed.

Veil Veil Vanish – Anthem For A Doomed Youth EP courtesy of Metropolis Records.

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Well as most of you are probably figuring out by now.  I’m a music and movie nut.  I love Netflix.  It’s the greatest thing since the invention of the wheel.  Seriously.  I can watch tons of great movies for one low price per month.  I’m on the three at a time unlimited plan, and while some things about the service aren’t great, most of it is including their large amount of foreign films and hard to find films. 

I love Netflix.  I have been a member of Netflix since 2004 and at the time, there wasn’t even a peep about streaming.  YouTube still was getting off the ground.  No one was really doing a lot of video work on the web.  The files where too big and the amount of server space it required was ridiculous.  Jump ahead about two years and Netflix starts to offer streaming from their website that you could watch on your computer.  Hum, things are getting interesting.  Jump about another year forward and Netflix offers the first device to stream directly to your television, the Roku.  Ladies and gentleman I present to you the future of media.

My birthday is December 5th, don’t worry you didn’t have to get me anything, but my wife got me the Roku box for my birthday.  Not only did she get me just any Roku box but she got me the HD one with wireless interweb and HDMI outputs to my HD TV.  Have I told you lately that my wife knows me pretty well.  She does.  What she got me are the keys to the kingdom.  A virtual world of unlimited entertainment 24/7/365.  It’s always open, it’s always on and there is always something I want to see!

So you maybe asking yourself, “I’m not techy is this thing hard to use?”  Well it’s not hard to use, but it was hard to get set up for me at first.  The Rokubox my wife got me can either be used directly with your modem, just pop out your ethernet cable and pop it into the Roku and your ready to go, given that your ethernet cable is close you your TV or you have a REALLY long RCA video set up like I do.  It all seemed to be working but for some reason the Rokuwouldn’t connect to my local network.  After a quick google search of their forums I discovered that the modem provided to us by CFU is the only modem that doesn’t work with the Roku device.  Crap.  Crap is right.  Well I decided just then and there to make my house wireless!  See new technology is forcing me to forward my progress whether I’m ready or not!

So I do some research on the interweb.  Frantically email one of my tech buddies on Facebook looking for suggestions and then search the Roku site for acceptable wireless routers.  It took my facebook buddy pointing me in the right direction to actually find the routers that Roku recommends but no biggie.  So armed with a list of routers, the Roku manual and basic knowledge of routers and what the do I head to Best Buy.  I chat with a sales guy about routers and he assures me this is the one I want.  I purchase it and run home and try and set it up.

Failure.  The first thing I notice is that the router is for dial up modems.  DIAL UP MODEMS!  Of course cause that’s so 2010 right?  I put it back in the box and wait until my wife gets home from work and rush back out to Best Buy.  This time they get a geek squad member to answer my questions.  And presto I walk out the door with the right router and I even got money back!  Nice!

I get home and in a matter of minute the router is set up, passwords in place and we are off to the races.  It was seriously that easy.  In 20 minutes my house was wireless.  I’m kicking myself for not starting this sooner.  So then I take my Roku upstairs to the good TV and type in a couple of passwords.  Activate my device at the Netflix home site and PRESTO there is my entire instant queue available to watch any time I want!

And that’s what I’ve been doing folks. Watching movies and TV shows right and left in my free time.  It’s unbelievable how easy it was and it’s also been very very dependable with great picture quality.  There are a few drawbacks.  There are little to no new releases.  The studios still want you to buy DVDs so streaming them to you from Netflix isn’t at the top of their priority list right now, and the studios control the content.  Secondly there isn’t a ton of HD stuff available yet either.  I know that will change soon.  That has a lot to do with servers and bandwith and as that stuff gets bigger and more affordable I’m sure Netflix will increase those too.

All in all Netflix and the Roku box have changed my entertainment experience.  Think of the future, a world of entertainment just a click away and you’ll never have to own a physical piece of media again.  That seems scary to some, but to me that sounds like a Brave New World.

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Artist: Assemblage 23

Album: Compass

Genre: Industrial, EBM, Synth-Pop, Euro-Techno

Vocal Style: Male, Clean, Melodic, Distorted (Mild)

Label: Metropolis Records

Parental Advisory: No

Recommended if You Like: 80′s New Wave, Pet Shop Boys, Depeche Mode, Justin Timberlake (If you don’t believe me listen to the track “Collapse” and tell me it wouldn’t fit with JT’s “Sexy Back”)

 

I’ve been familiar with Assemblage 23 and Tom Shear through the years.  First hearing some of his cover versions on various 21st Circuitry Records releases like Newer Wave and Newer Wave 2.0, but I’ve never actually listened to a full album of Assemblage 23 material.  Well now that that has been rectified and can honestly say this is one of the best EBM, dance albums I’ve heard in YEARS.  Seriously folks, this is a good record.

First off like I mentioned above the song “Collapse” is an instant classic.  “Smoke” may be the first track on the album, and a good one at that, but Collapse is just unstoppable and really could easily beat up Justin Timberlake’s “Sexy Back” with it’s dirty rhythms and ultimate funkiness.  I adore this track and it quite easily could be my favorite song on the record but right now it’s tied with “How Can You Sleep?”.  “How Can You Sleep?” is a total nod to Depeche Mode circa I’d say Ultra or Songs of Faith and Devotion with perhaps just a dash of Violater for good measure.  But in no way is this track a rip off of Depeche Mode.  Nope, it stands alone as an Assemblage 23 song and is another great stand out on this record.

Compass has many things going for it, huge keyboard melodies with pop sensibilities.  GREAT big beats with HUGE kick drums that get your body beat moving (Combichrist pun not intended).  At times it has a real 80′s feel to it, I even wrote in my notes “Thompson Twins” at one point in time (take that with a grain of salt).  But Compass does have a couple of faults.  Tom’s vocals don’t have a ton of range and after awhile it starts getting a little same sounding.  The music is great but at times the beats start to run together which doesn’t help the same sounding vocals a lot.  The beginning also features the strongest songs and by the end the album starts to get a little melodramatic for my taste.

So do yourself a favor and run out and grab this record today.  I can’t stress enough how much fun this record is and how much I enjoyed listening to it.  Not to mention I am in LOVE with Shear’s production on the record.  So there ya have it folks, the perfect album for the kids in black to dance too.    **** out of ****** stars.

 

Assemblage 23 – Compassprovided courtesy of Metropolis Records.

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