Odds and Ends

Each week I use this space to post some mini-reviews, cool tracks, random thoughts, neat news, or whatever else I damn well please.

MiniReview
28 Days of Joy “Are We Ghosts” EP (2011) – A neat little EP of sweeping pop and light rock from Rob Bowden, who is 28 Days of Joy. The four songs gracing this EP constitute a “manifesto on the nature of love and being in the 21st Century. Key track here is “Broken Bones”, a wonderful piece that slowly builds to a rewarding climax. “Bruising” was co-written with Matt Hales for you fans of Aqualung. Check it out if you like Snow Patrol or Coldplay.

Free album download
L.A. indie band Lowlight have released their full-length album, “A Wonderful Lie” completely FREE for music fans. Its atmospheric pop with a bit of country twang scattered here and there. Their music is off the beaten path and not always palatable, but clearly original and inventive.
Free album download here.
Check out their award winning music video here.
Band website: ilovelowlight.com

Surprise of the week
John Lennon’s handwritten lyrics for The Beatles’ 1967 song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” have been sold at auction for more than $237,000 in Los Angeles, according to Spinner.com.

News
Queensryche mark their 30th anniversary with the release their 12th studio album, “Dedicated To Chaos,” on June 28. "It's kind of like an 'Empire' record set 25 years in the future,” singer Geoff Tate recently told Paul Anthony of U.K.’s Rock Radio. “It's a very listenable record, I think. (read full story here).

Listenable? That is the best adjective you can come up with to describe your new album?! I have my fingers crossed, Mr. Tate, because mostly everything since “Empire” has been pretty unlistenable (save some tracks off “Hear In The Now Frontier”.

By the way, did you ever wonder how Queensryche got their name? Read about it here.

Random iPOD song of the weekPoison “Until You Suffer Some (Fire and Ice)” off their under-appreciated “Native Tongue” album. Features lots of Bobby blowing smoke and some terrific harmonies.