The White Stripes - White Blood Cells

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I’ve followed Jack White for some time now. I first saw their video for “Fell in love with a girl” when I was fifteen or sixteen. I was so impressed that I bought a ticket to see them at Chene Park right away. They were touring with The Strokes and I realized I needed someone to go with, so I asked every single one of my friends and they pretty much all said the same thing; “I don’t dig that retro shit”. I was the only one I knew who loved their music. Anyways, I found someone to go with me, my Uncle Bob. After watching that show, their music smelled like nostalgia and fall.

Concerning White Blood Cells, Id have to say way to go Jack, way to go. It felt like a hidden gem that you could buy at your local record store. Songs like Dead leaves and the dirty ground, Fell in love with a girl, and were going to be friends were great, although the album had much more than hit songs to offer. Expecting took a sledgehammer and a guitar and made me cringe with excitement. The Union Forever had to be an all time favorite forever. I heard a rumor that they were sued for using the song from Citizen Kane, and never knew if it actually happened. All in all, I don’t think there’s much to say about this album that hasn’t already been said. Their albums follow a formula, and it’s a good formula.

Rule #1

- Have the hit song as the first track

- Have a song that has the word “Little” in it.

- Dedicate the album to someone: Loretta Lynn, Blind Willie Mctell, The Sweetheart

- Have a slow song at the end of the album, usually a blues or completely natural sounding song. Ie:

I’m lonely but I aint that lonely yet
Effect and Cause
It’s true that we love one another
This Protector
Your Southern Can is mine

Robert Johnson – The Complete Recordings

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Lately I have been listening to Robert Johnson again. The delta blues has always had an impact on my life, and assuredly will always have one. This being said, Johnson has come into my life, left and returned. It’s hard to imagine popular music without him.  Some days I ask myself what would have happened to music today if the plantation where many blues musicians resided had never even existed. A couple of days ago my friend Jason and me had a discussion about this. The question was who had a bigger impact on music today, Blues or Buddy Holly? He said well that’s a stupid question. If the question was Johnson or Holly, of course Holly. At the time when Holly died there was an opening in music where The Beatles, Stones and many others took his place. I.e.: The Music had died. Then was reborn. I agreed but was hesitant to agree. Johnson still had a huge effect.

Back to the album and stepping away from influence.

The album has many different takes of the same songs, which can become overbearing at times, and makes you feel like you are doing research more so than listening and enjoying an album. Then again, who says research cant be a joyous experience. There are many little guitar tricks and things in the music that screams hardship, pain and struggle concerning life and death. There is so much mythology in this album, sprinkled with philosophy were I would put it in the same box as Socrates, Kierkegaard or any other philosopher I can come to think of.  There isn’t much to say about this album other than, anyone can listen to the blues and make it their own. So really there is no point in reviewing this piece of work. Regardless I give this album a rating above anything else. It is almost blasphemous to review anything Delta, Daniel Johnson, or Elliott Smith because they all surpass music and fall into spirituality. 

Girls - Record 3, Father, Son, Holy Ghost

As of late I have been listening the band “Girls”.  I heard of them through other reviews calling it one of the best albums of the year. Id say they were right. The album was virtually flawless. Songs like Laura, Hellhole Ratrace were quite true to my own experiences regarding love among other things. Laura was very true. Not anymore but it was. Things have become quite better and will continue to. Sad songs will mean something to people when they’re sad or feeling good. For they can look back at that time and say to themselves “I’ve overcome this experience”. As for their new record, it was quite good. Although, it feel short I feel at the end. I could be wrong though, I might have to listen to it more. In time I might feel there is more to the record and have it be my favorite records of Girls. Christopher Owens grew up in the “Children of God” cult, in the cult he was not allowed to listen to popular music. I feel this has made his music different to what’s being played today, similar to “Kings of Leon”. Kings of Leon has strayed away from independent music and walked into the popular. I truly hope this isn’t the case for Girls. If so, I will cherish what the band has made to date. This is my opinion, and that’s all it is. I look forward to watching their career and seeing them in concert this month in Toronto at the Mod Club.

The Birthday Party - Self Titled

First Record of Choice

This record has been a favorite of mine for about as long as I’ve listened to it. There once was a time when a lot of The Birthday Party’s catalogue was unavailable at most record stores and to pirate online. So I had to turn to EBay, where I bought the album on vinyl for $100. It was a small price to pay for such an intricate album of noise, passion and insanity. When one looks at the album cover they know they’re going to get something dark and different. Don’t get my wrong, The Birthday Party isn’t for everyone, and if you don’t like one song of theirs, you probably wont like the rest either. It’s a mix of noise pollution, sadness, anger and pain among other things. The first song kicks a fucking hole in your head and doesn’t let you go for the rest of the album. For me the lead singer of The Birthday Party, Nick Cave was a virus. When I first heard him I thought he wasn’t anything special. I started to listen again, and each time I found something else in his music that attracted me to him. If music were drugs, heroin would be anything with Nick Cave.

5/5

Intro

Hello, My name is Matthew Nicholls and this is "The New Music Collective". I have always been interested in music and what is has to offer. Recently I have made a Facebook website which lets people post videos of obscure or semi known bands which other people may not know of, therefor, the music collective. On this website I will do reviews of albums I have just listened to or albums I have listened to in the past which have made a deep impression on me. I have created these sites for it is hard to find new interesting music. I understand that the internet is a vast place for people to find all things considering music, but you need the right push. In these articles I will also review record stores in which I go to. Vinyl recordings will also be talked about in these blogs. Regardless of what’s going on here, I hope you enjoy what I have to say on the topic. If you have any thoughts or points, PLEASE visit the Facebook site.