Ryan Adams’ No Shadow EP – Album Review

The world sits still for no one and nobody seems to know that better than Ryan Adams.

Less than two weeks into 2015, Adams released his newest EP, No Shadow, the latest installment in his Pax-Am series. And this newest record, only comes four months after his critically acclaimed self-titled album.

This three-track release is nothing to overlook and features no other than Johnny Depp on guitar and vocals – a friend and admirer of Adams. It’s no gimmick having Depp play guitar on No Shadow, he’s known for his musical skills. Depp previously appeared on albums of Oasis and Marilyn Manson.

Discussing the inception of these tracks on the label’s website Adams, said “Johnny came rumbling into Pax-Am [Adams’  Studios] one night with this riff and idea of what it was about – a few hours later and one take on a 2 inch 24 track tape machine later we had ‘No Shadow’.”

All three tracks demonstrate the spectrum of Adam’s musical career. The title track, “No Shadow,” reflects his brooding song-writing abilities similar to Ashes & Fire, while “It’s in My Head” is a punkier track which reels in the listener with a heavy bass line, throbbing drums, then a surf-rock-esq riff brings it all together.

The final one-minute song on the album, “Stoned Alone,” comes a bit out of left-field compared to the other two tracks, but nothing too bizarre for the ever-changing Ryan Adams. Its title explains the song in a nutshell – Adams is stoned all alone in a 7-11 parking lot. Also hence, the artwork on the album.

When album dropped, Adams tweeted at 7-11, as Stereogum reported,  “YO @7eleven how high are you cats cause can you glue skittles to those donut glasses with some sugar glue.” In which, they responded by sending him a do-it-yourself kit to construct his request.

Not bad press for a 3-track EP. Give it a listen. Even 7-11 is fan.

Musikal Makinations – Rick Rack’s First Mini Album Review

Happy New Year greetings, denizens of The Fan! Hope all of you had fun and safe holiday celebrations!

In thinking about some resolutions for the upcoming year, one, in particular, struck my mind. Musikal Makinations needs to cover some more indie bands!

So, in the spirit of keeping up with this resolution, and the fact that it’s been quite some time since an indie band album was reviewed, let’s start out the new year right! Several months ago, in my never ending search for guitar and bass covers, I stumbled upon this video from October 31, 2011:

A YouTuber named tyrashanon performed a wonderful guitar cover of the Radwimps song, Osha Kasha Ma. In the description she says she’s 13 years old, is a junior high school student, and has been playing the guitar for 2 years. So at this point, she’s played guitar for as long as I’ve currently been playing the bass. Call me intrigued and interested about what else she’s worked on!

Trusty YouTube search to the rescue!

I can’t say I’m a fan of Orianthi, but this cover of Addicted to Love by tyrashanon (real name is Serina) was simply amazing. Serina was channeling some Stevie Ray Vaughn with the outfit she’s wearing as well as the smooth guitar play. To top it off, she uploaded this video on February 7, 2012, as a memory for her 14th birthday! 14. I wonder what the heck I was doing at 14. Certainly not this and certainly not with nearly any talent like this! I was even more intrigued!

And, thanks to the wonders of YouTube suggestions, I was able to look up even more!

Among her many other guitar covers, this gem she uploaded on June 14, 2013 struck me the most as she is singing. Yes, singing! What an awesome voice to complement her great guitar play!!!

I had to find out more about Serina, and, once again, YouTube did not fail to deliver. I noticed a few videos for Rick Rack in the suggestions list.

(video credit: kazuo yy)

“Wait, Serina is in a band?” I thought. Indeed she is, along with two other members that make up Rick Rack!!

And thus, my curiosity completely activated, I decided to track down all the information I could, including their 1st mini album, for this months review!

Rick Rack – Left to Right: You – Ba/Vo, Serina – Gt/Vo, Natsuki – Drums

As is the case with most indie bands, information on Rick Rack was difficult to find beyond their website, which thankfully did have quite a bit of information to offer (including a link to the distributor of their mini album, which I’ll get to later).

Serina – Rick Rack Live at OSAKA MUSE 9/10/14

Rick Rack is a three-piece band from Nara-shi, Japan, that formed in August 2013. It features Serina on guitar and lead vocals; You on bass and vocals; and Natsuki (who would officially join the band in October 2013) on drums.

You – Rick Rack Live at OSAKA MUSE 9/10/14

The girls’ average age is 17 (according to their website profile). I’m pretty sure Serina is 16, but will turn 17 in February judging from the date of her 14th birthday video upload in 2012 on her Youtube page.

Natsuki – Rick Rack Live at OSAKA MUSE 9/10/14

According to their website profile, they are active mainly in Osaka and Nara, which makes sense since they are still students. It would be interesting to find out how they juggle the time for their studies and music. I’m sure it’s a challenge all young up and coming bands deal with.

Rick Rack Live at OSAKA MUSE 11/5/14

Tidbits about Rick Rack:

• August 15, 2013 Rick Rack won the Music Revolution Grand Prix at their district tournament.
• March 27, 2014 “Teen White Paper” Grand Prix win at Kansai’s largest teen contest.
• October 31, 2014 “Flash Riot 2014″ finals contestants.
• Serina is multi-talented beyond her guitar and singing. She also plays drums, bass, keyboard, and shamisen.
• Serina wrote the lyrics and music, and also created the album art for their 1st mini album!

I think that’s a good enough introduction to Rick Rack. Let’s get to the review shall we?

Rick Rack 1st mini album released 3/26/14

1. Ikusen no Deai to Hitotsu no Kiseki

From the moment the Serina’s opening guitar riff begins, I felt something great was about to happen. It jumps to the next level with a wonderful unison of Serina’s guitar, You’s bass and Natsuki’s drums, which give way to Serina’s spectacular voice. They do an excellent job of mixing the bass, drums, and guitar to accompany Serina’s vocals. The levels are great. You really get a chance to listen to Serina sing, yet still can’t help but rock along to the pace and sound that the instruments maintain. The song cycles nicely between Serina’s vocals and the chorus where You sings along with her. Their style reminds me a bit of Stereopony and Scandal mixed together. Stereopony’s musical simplicity, yet the vocal power that Scandal’s Haruna does so well. You’s mini bass solo was pretty cool. Nothing too complicated, but very well placed. Just as I thought I couldn’t smile more, Serina jumps into her guitar solo. Oh my goodness, so simple, yet so perfect! It was really well played. The diminuendo into just Serina’s vocals and Natsuki’s drums was a nice touch of “quietness” after the “storm.” The mixing of this song was done really well. If I had one complaint, it would be that the song almost had too much bass. Yes, a bass player complaining about too much bass… madness! I didn’t mind it, but some may find they need to turn down their volume to keep from shaking things off their shelves! At first I thought this was just the video, but after importing their CD, the high bass carries through, so this was intentional on their part. Not enough to knock the overall rating of the song too much, but enough to take it down from a perfect score. It’s something to keep in mind if you are sensitive to loud bass. Overall, it’s a driving, rocking, wonderful song. (9/10)

2. Yumeoi Baku

Once again, from the moment Serina starts the opening guitar riff, I felt something great was going to happen again. I had NO idea that a bass solo would soon follow. HEAVEN! So rare to find this in modern music, much less Japanese Rock/Pop. You’s bass playing techniques were highly featured in this song. The second bass “solo” is even better than the first, though it accompanies Serina’s vocals, it’s a challenging part and really adds to that portion of the song. Serina’s vocals shine, in a slightly softer manner. The song has a more toned back approach, which allows You’s rich bass tones to be appreciated. Even Serina’s guitar solo is subdued to allow all three instruments to harmonize wonderfully. In fact, this is one thing I noticed particularly about this song; How well Serina, You, and Natsuki’s instruments harmonized. I felt a much richer sound from Yumeoi Baku. Though the video does not include the entire song (in fact, I think the actual studio song is dubbed over the live video), the entire song maintains the quality shown in the video. The mixing in this song is done well. The louder bass levels still are there, which I am now thinking might be their style. Again, something to think about as you listen to the song. Overall, the song showcases the range of the girls. More pop than rock, but it’s good to have diversity in such a competitive music market. I can find no flaws in this song, so I am more than happy to give it a (10/10)

3. Umi Tenshi

Umi Tenshi is a gem. It completely moves away from the rock and faster paced music heard in the first two tracks. Upon hearing the first notes of You’s bass and Serina’s guitar, I was transported to some visual novel or high school setting with a sunset in some random anime. It really felt like this song should be playing in the background of a scene where a character was telling his or her life story, or perhaps a collaboration of efforts being performed by a group of students towards some goal. Yeah, I’m crazy, but that’s the feelings that this song evoked. Simple; Somber; Spiritual. Those are some words that came to mind. But let’s not get carried away with my emotional impressions of this song! There is one thing that listeners must take note with this song. Though I almost always listen to albums I review on my trusty Sennheiser HD 280 Pro headset, Umi Tenshi is best listened to on a regular stereo… preferably on a surround sound system. The audio mixers did something very, very interesting with You’s bass on this song. There is a pronounced reverb that is a mix of two bass tones. It might even be a pedal effect; I’m not completely sure. The first time I listened to this song on my headset I thought this was a mistake during recording… a REALLY bad mistake! However, after switching over to my surround sound speakers, it blended perfectly as the room acoustics harmonized the two tones properly. Unless you have a very good headset, you might be aggravated by the murmur reverb on the bass (even my Sennheisers were unable to properly harmonize the reverb). I have to commend Rick Rack on doing this. The song itself stands wonderfully on its own. But this reverb made it feel like they wanted us to blast this loudly on our speakers to get the true intent of the song and music. For that alone, I would give high marks on Umi Tenshi. But Serina’s guitar solos pushed the song over the top for me. The entire song was so wonderfully woven together. Definitely my favorite track on the album. (10/10)

Overall, I give Rick Rack’s debut mini album a Musikal Makinations first 10/10!! I can’t think of any band I’ve reviewed, much less a newer indie band, that has such a profound set of songs in a single release… their FIRST release at that! And no other has been so deserving. These three girls have so much going for them. They are young and talented. All they need is a boost to the next level. I’ve been following them on Twitter for the last few months. After several performances at venues like Osaka Muse, you can see they are gaining popularity and confidence. I can only hope that their successes continue and that we see more from them in the coming months and years amid the competitive indie band market in Japan. This reviewer will certainly be rooting for them. You should too!

Once again, if you made it this far, I thank you for reading and leave you with one of my favorite pictures that I found from the variety of photos from live performances on Rick Rack’s website!

REVIEW: The Smashing Pumpkins – Monuments to an Elegy

Billy Corgan is one of those ‘damned if you do, damned if you don’t’ musicians. The legacy forged by those 90s The Smashing Pumpkins albums is an imposing presence, and Corgan’s lifelong challenge is to make new music in the knowledge that a large number of folks who made the band successful back in the day no longer seek out new music. They’re happy listening to the hits and catching that nostalgia wave.

But Corgan isn’t riding that wave. Just as 90s-era Smashing Pumpkins albums all sounded different to each other, the albums of this second epoch are also each drastically different to each other. And that’s how it should be. It would be a crime for an artist to spend one decade redefining themselves with each album and then spending the rest of their career rehashing that same sound. And so Monuments to an Elegy stands on its own merits. It’s also incredibly unique: the songs seem concise and yet augmented by psychedelic shimmers and technicolour flourishes. And although the whole thing is over in 33 minutes, there’s enough detail and depth packed in here to make it feel like an enjoyable 60.

The choice of Tommy Lee on drums (aside from a few instances of programmed drums where song-appropriate) is a genius move. Tommy is a monster of a rock drummer with a great sense of groove and a powerful attack that sometimes gets buried in Motley Crue’s production, but Monuments feels like it puts equal weight on Lee’s drums and Corgan’s vocals. Lee’s drums keep the synths of the pseudo-goth-dance of “Anaise!” from making the song feel synthetic. And between Corgan and co-guitarist Jeff Schroeder there’s plenty for guitar fans to digest; shifting, snaky riffs like the verses in “Monuments,” the wall of sound that kicks off “One And All,” the direct and dirty headphone-friendly tones of “Drum + Fife,” the Megadeth-like intro riff of “Anti-Hero.”

Overall there’s a flow and a dimensionality to this album that aligns it with the whole of Corgan’s career rather than any one particular moment, and yet it does so without inviting anyone to play “What album would this song fit on?”

And that’s the big dichotomy of Smashing Pumpkins. The band created what it did in the 90s by following its artistic muse, and it caught on. Now Corgan wants to continue to create and push the boundaries, and will probably never be at peace with the notion of nostalgia. Nor should he be. It’s that same drive that made the music popular in the first place. In an alternate universe there’s probably a Smashing Pumpkins who alternate between artistically-fulfilling smaller tours in smaller venues where they explore experimentation and extrapolation, and arena tours playing the hits with old members to satisfy those who want that, and to maybe swell the coffers a little to pour into the next new, creative project. That’d probably make things easier on the nostaliga fans who only want to hear the songs they can tie to a teenage memory, and for those who don’t want to hear recreations of 20-years-ago angst too. But this particular universe that we’re in, this is the Smashing Pumpkins we have, and it’s the one we need.