evade the noise™

If you absolutely, positively, without a doubt HAVE to buy digital music instead CD’s, then stop using iTunes! We here at evadethenoise would like to help you, listeners of fine music, make the transition away from iTunes, and we’ll give you a few good reasons why your next digital music purchase shouldn’t be from Apple.

The truth is, you shouldn’t be purchasing digital music in the first place. The actual CD is always the safer bet. Not only will you get the excellent printed album art (which isn’t always excellent, but you get the point), but you’ll get a nice fresh copy of the album in your hands. Take your CD, import it into your computer, sync your music player and be on your way. Furthermore, your CD will become the official “backup copy” of your music in case your computer decides to commit digital suicide—also known as crashing. But I digress.

Although every writer for evadethenoise uses and love Apple products, we’ll always love cheap music more. And when it comes to digital music, Amazon.com is where it’s at! We’ve been doing a little testing of the new digital music store at Amazon, and we’re impressed to say the least. Not only do they have a large and growing music library, but every song comes in MP3 format, so you know you can take it anywhere you want and on as many devices as you need. Ever tried to transfer your music from one computer to another only to find out your songs have been “locked”? With amazon.com you can move your music freely without restriction because well—you paid for it!

Speaking of paying for it, did we mention it’s cheaper? Many songs on Amazon are a base price of .89 cents, 10 cents cheaper than your friends are paying through iTunes. So let’s do some elementary math: 10 songs on iTunes for .99 cents = $9.90 and 10 songs for .89 cents on Amazon = $8.90 which means you can go grab yourself another song and still afford 2 pieces of Bazooka bubble gum. Wow, music and bubble gum—excellent. Not to mention the fact that whole albums are generally a buck or two cheaper. For instance, we told you about this 32 track album from The Pinker Tones. iTunes is offering it for their usual, pricey $9.99, but on Amazon it’s only $7.99! Now you can grab yourself a Slurpee and enjoy your music in the car on the way there.

Listen, it’s simple. You get your cheap digital music, eat junk food, and you can tell your mom your learning how to save money in this crazy American economy—let’s be honest, moms love sales.

The Pinker Tones combine an eclectic blend of electronic, melodic, dance, trance, rock, and too many other genres to count to create an experimental sound that is fun and distinctly euro. You can preview and buy More Colours! The Million Colour Revolution Revisited on Amazon.com. You can also listen to the entire album on Last.fm.

The latest from Erykah Badu - New Amerykah is out now. This being her latest full length release since Worldwide Underground in 2003 Erykah comes back with her distinctive neo-soul hypnotic vibe. You can preview and buy New Amerykah on Amazon.com.

The Militia Group
2007
Copeland drops a b-sides album that recreates the beautiful noise they make. Ever since I received the original Militia Group sampler back in college, I’ve had a crush on Copeland. The music they make is unlike many other bands. Their sound has personality and soul. In many ways, they don’t sound rushed. They take their time releasing albums, and each album takes time to understand. Someone asked me what album was my favorite and it took me a few minutes to answer. Honestly, that’s a hard question to fully answer. With each record comes new singles and a different sound, but all within the framework that is Copeland.

Though it’s a b-sides mixtape, Dressed Up & In Line remixes old songs and touches on some new songs. The acoustic version of “Brightest” has been long awaited. Sure, there are live bootlegs of that song running all around the web, but to have a finished studio version is a beautiful thing. The demo version of the new song “Chin Up” is another perfectly executed track. The rawness of the recording brings a realness to the sometimes highly produced sounds of other Copeland albums. Other notable tracks are the acoustic version of “No One Really Wins” with it’s piano highlights, and “Second Star To The Left, Go Til’ Dawn” which has the sounds of Noise Ratchet written all over it.

The great thing about b-side albums is they give you an insight to a band that you would not otherwise see. In this case, we see that Copeland enjoys remixing and reworking songs until they are absolutely perfect. But the almost “live” recording sounds of the new tracks reveals a band that just enjoys playing good old fashion rock music. Dressed Up & In Line really is meant for die hard Copeland fans, but I would say that any newcomer could appreciate the songs they write. If you haven’t been able to enjoy to writing of Copeland as of yet, I suggest working from the beginning with “Beneath Medicine Tree”. After a few good listens of that you can then move forward with your Copeland enthusiasm.

One track from Dressed Up & In Line has been added to Evade Radio, along with 2 older songs. As always, you can hear more at Last.FM and the artist’s website.

Purchase Copeland’s Dressed Up & In Line from Amazon.com or from your favorite record shop. I must note though that this album was hard to find at the time of this writing. The Militia Group has been back ordered and I believe this is a limited release record.

I just posted the title track Nothing from Nothing by Billy Preston from Be Kind Rewind to our last.fm player. The movie comes out this Friday although we can’t find any listings in the LA area. Fun song, fun movie, should be fun times - whenever we get to see it.

The latest from LA producer Dert titled “The Short List” (you’ve got to love the “Last Kiss” inspired album cover) is out now and available through sphereofhiphop.com. You can sample some of the tracks on MySpace.

Lost Highway
2007
As a fan of both Sufjan and Ben Kweller, Fionn Regan blends those two worlds into one of the best folk albums I’ve ever heard. The End of History has to be the most relaxing albums I have in my playlist right now, not to mention most original. Coming all the way from Scotland, it apparently took a while for his music to make it all the way to the States. This album was originally released in August of 2006, but it was picked up by an American label and released the summer of 2007.

Fionn Regan has an almost timeless feel about him. His songs are well composed with a very “road like” feel which evokes the feeling of traveling or hitting the road and just driving. He himself claims Bob Dylan and Neil Young as influences, and these influences are easily heard in songs like “Hey Rabbit” and “Put A Penny In The Slot.” The majority of the songs are acoustic driven with a simple melody. A highlight for me is “Be Good or Be Gone”, the first track on the album. After listening to the album at least four times now, that song just sticks out. The chorus is really catchy and isn’t overpowering, just relaxing.

The End of History is just another prime example of the great music that has been coming out of the UK for the past few years. Though I appreciate the folk artists we have here in America, I don’t know if there is another album that I would enjoy as much as this record. Sufjan is fantastic and all, but I even consider him more of a composer than Fionn Regan. Fionn is the kind of guy you’ll find hidden in a soundtrack of an indie film. His songs have depth and personality, which is definitely due to the fact that he produced the entire album himself—no one but his creative mind telling him what to write and record.

If you’re looking for album to work on homework to, I recommend Fionn. If you just need some writing music, I also recommend Fionn. Even now as I type, I’m listening to the song “Bunker or Basement” which adds a little piano flare for a great ending to the album. The song even finishes with an instrumental piece that brings closer to the whole album without leaving you hanging.

Be sure and listen to the provided tracks in Evade Radio to upper right of this page. You can also hear more tracks at Fionn Regan’s MySpace. As well, you can purchase Fionn Regan at Amazon or iTunes. At the time of this writing iTunes is selling the album for only $7.99, so make sure you check out that incredible deal.

This is the topic of Flyleaf’s latest blog. I think that this was noteworthy to post because constantly we are bombarded with new “Christian music” but really how do we know that they are doing it for the glory of God? I think Flyleaf has a great perspective on this. Check it out here.

Fueled By Ramen
2005
When a band’s second album rises so quickly to the surface, it’s always a good to take a look back at their history. That’s what I had to do at least. I mentioned in my review of Riot! that I purchased both Paramore’s albums at the same time. It made sense to me that if I liked their new stuff, I would at least partially enjoy their older sound. And that’s basically how I feel about.

All We Know Is Falling is simply a good record, not necessarily a great record. The songs are catchy, just like Riot!, but they just don’t hit the same. Don’t misunderstand me, I don’t want to just compare the two albums and leave it at that. For being their first release, this album has a lot going for it. For instance, the song “Emergency” is fabulous. I almost wish the band would’ve re-recorded this song their newest record, but man if I could review the album based on that song alone, it would be getting 5 stars. Unfortunately, I find that I just want to listen to that song and then skip right on ahead to Riot!. The vocals on the album are still great. The melodies are catchy and the overall feel is good. “Let This Go” has a lot going for it as well. The chorus has a breakdown that made me bob my head, which not all artists can do. I guess at the end of the day, I just don’t dig the guitar tones too much. They are bit too crunchy for Paramore. They need the more melodic and smooth guitars to match up with Hayley’s vocals. I might sound picky, but it’s how I feel.

One definite bonus about this album is the artwork. I love the photography and the simple use of type. Unlike Riot!, which makes them look like a ska band from the early nineties, this artwork has a really enticing feel to it. If they were both on the shelves and I was only looking to buy one (completely based on looks), my pick would be All We Know Is Falling. I understand this has nothing to do with sound, but sometimes these things must be said.

I hope haven’t spun this album in a bad light. It’s a very good album, but just not on great status in my mind. I’m glad to have seen the band grow and harness their sound. Their song writing and talent can still be seen in this album, but two years of touring and more song writing have paid off for them big time.

Buy All We Know Is Falling on Amazon or iTunes.

You can hear the song “Emergency” on Evade Radio located on on the upper right of this page.

Fueled By Ramen
2007
Call me old-fashioned, but Paramore rocks. I actually first saw Paramore on a Conan O’ Brien playing their single “Misery Business”. Not knowing anything about them, I honestly thought “oh, here we go again, another rock band with a chick singer… maybe another Evanescence.” But they surprised me. Their sound was just simply rocking and their lead singer Hayley Williams knew how to control the stage. It’s my understanding she stole her moves from Zach of Dizmas, but needless to say they caught my eye and ears that late night.

So I decided to pick up both Riot! and All We Know Is Falling. All those Christmas gift cards have to go somewhere, so my choice was Paramore. The latest album Riot! surpised me even more. I guess I was expecting something really really poppy, riddled with production. But what I got was an album actually written by a band, and not a thousands corporate writers. Not every song on the album hits hard like “Misery Business.” Songs like “When It Rains” could easily be missed if you’re not ready for it, but it has become one of my favorites of the album. I feel Paramore has done a great job utilizing the power of the girl vocal.

One of the great things about this album is the catchy changes in the songs. I haven’t heard a band for a while that organizes their sound quite like Paramore. The Song “Miracle” has a line that says, “I’m not leaving” that hits hard for about a second and goes back to the normal chorus. It’s unusual, but it’s great. These little gems are hidden throughout the entire album. I would attribute that to both creativity and raw talent. Some bands might not spend the time thinking through those transitions, but Paramore definitely has the market on it right now. A few other notable tracks are We Are Broken with it’s slow, ballad vibe, and Hallelujah simply for the falsetto chorus.

At the end of the day I’m a fan of Paramore. They are bringing the rock and you simply can’t deny that. Be sure and listen to the tracks we have provided for you in the Evade Radio!

As always, you can learn more about Paramore at the following:
Listen to the full album on Last.fm
Paramore Official Site
Paramore on MySpace
Buy Riot! on Amazon or iTunes

I am sad to announce that The Format has officially broken up. Unfortunately this will not allow them to make a final record that they have been planning but is ending it here. The Format has been an amazing rock/pop band with fantastic albums like Interventions & Lullabies and their most recent Dog Problems. If you have not heard of them, go out and pick up one of these two albums and you will definitely be pleased.