So to start with, I guess I should get to a band that quickly became a personal favorite of mine after they submitted music to me a few years ago: The Passive Aggressives. Not only are they an incredibly talented group with a unique sound, but I feel like I owe a debt to them. When they sent me a second album to review, I found the standard promotional material slipped inside the CD case, but wasn’t I surprised when my previous post about the band was quoted alongside reviews from magazines and other more traditional media outlets.

With flattery like that, I feel guilty for getting to their album Conflict Resolution practically two years after it was released. At least I can hope that that any hype, no matter when it comes out, is always beneficial. And, like I said, I owe the band for thinking enough of my post to quote it in their promo material.

So here we go…

The Passive Aggressives: Jose Santiago (Vocals, Guitars, and Percussion), Keren Gaiser (Lead Vocals, Percussion, and Keyboards), Damian Lynch (Vocals, Bass, Ukulele, and Percussion), and Tim Dayner (Vocals, Drums, and Percussion)

First of all, let me say that The Passive Aggressives seem to have come a long way in such a short amount of time between their self-titled EP and Conflict Resolution. They, of course, still have that heavy-hitting, crunchy, and bass-laden sound they established in their EP, which is evident in songs like “Soundtrack to the Voices in My Head.” I’m actually listening to Conflict Resolution on my PS3 as I write this post (my PC isn’t putting out good sound write now, so my PS3 is my best bet for good sound output), and when I looked back to the TV as that track started, the visualizer was of a hilly landscape rushing towards the screen. It was a strangely appropriate image what with the fast pace of the song, the deep, pounding drums, the motor-like buzz of the guitars, and the frantic, sometimes snarling, vocals. It’s not hard to imagine yourself jetting down a long stretch of highway, watching the scenery fly by with “Soundtrack to the Voices in My Head” blasting out of speakers.

But The Passive Aggressives have also shown with Conflict Resolution that they are capable of producing soft, emotional songs that rock just as hard, such as “Slice It Away.” This is one of those songs where it’s hard to tell exactly what message or story the lyrics are supposed to convey, which is a good thing. The lyrics are clever, emotionally evocative, and they leave the listener thinking and coming up with their own interpretation. The beginning line, “I open up my eyes to find pills at my fingertips,” along with lines like, “This present situation is mostly self-inflicted,” and, “Head that’s been aching for days, so much that I can’t see straight,” would make one think that this is just a song about struggling with drug addiction. Then there are lines about “flashing headlights,” “traffic copters circling,” and “floating through a spiderweb of shattering glass,” which is a really clever image, by the way. So did the person in this song just get into a car crash and fly through their windshield as a result of drugs and alcohol? I’m guessing so. But no matter what your interpretation is, it’s a great song that you will want to listen to several times over.

Then there’s weirder songs like “Lulla-Bye Nation,” which kinda sounds like… well, a lullabye. I don’t know who of you will recognize this other song, but it reminded me of “Darlin’ Ukulele” by Jolie Holland since they’re both catchy, simple little tunes with minimal instrumentation (i.e. a ukulele and a xylophone). “Lulla-Bye Nation” sort of digresses from the sound and style of the rest of the album, but The Passive Aggressives are by no means a traditional rock band, so it’s a strange fit with the inherent weirdness of The Passive Aggressives (not that weirdness is a bad thing, mind you).

Speaking of weirdness, The Passive Aggressives even do a cover of “Happy Together” by The Turtles. I’ll admit that when I first heard this song, or when I first hear most covers for that matter, I was immediately dismissive. “What the hell have they done to this classic pop song?” That’s what I thought to myself. But eventually I had to realize that there’s nothing wrong with a unique interpretation of a song, no matter how thoroughly it’s ingrained into our cultural unconsciousness. What’s especially unique about this cover are the odd vocal harmonies. Keren Gaiser takes the lead with her sultry singing and one of the other members (I honestly don’t know which one) harmonizes in a deep, breathy voice. The contrast between the two vocals is so great that it puts you off at first, but they end up working really well together once you get into the song. Add onto that strange vocal mix some grinding guitars, a thumpy, funky bass, and a trippy guitar solo and you get a cover of “Happy Together” unlike any other you’ve heard before.

So to summarize Conflict Resolution and The Passive Aggressives as a whole: funky, crunchy, thumpin’, bumpin’, sometimes mellow, always rockin’, and definitely weird, but weird in the best way possible.

Well, that’s about it for this post. Hopefully, I can keep up with a decent pace with the posts in the future. Keep reading and providing feedback.

Buy Conflict Resolution at CD Baby,
Amazon, or iTunes.

The Passive Aggressives – Soundtrack to the Voices in My Head
The Passive Aggressives – Happy Together
The Passive Aggressives – Slice It Away
The Passive Aggressives – Lulla-Bye Nation

Also make sure to check out The Passive Aggressives on YouTube and MySpace.

Either way, I am inspired to get back into the groove of things and I have several albums to talk about that have been sitting around in my “to hype” pile for a while. Much apologies to you patient musicians out there.

Just so I don’t leave any anxious music seekers hanging, I have four really great music sources for you to check out. One is a podcast called WFMU’s Anti Static with Mike Lupica. It’s a really quick and casual podcast where host Mike Lupica plays three tracks a week off of three different 45’s by independent rock bands from the 90’s. It’s filled with nostalgic goodness and has that authentic lo-fi alternative rock I rarely got a chance to hear in my teen years but always loved.

There’s also this really interesting website I just discovered called Noise Trade. It allows users to download albums for free if they spread the word to five other people or to buy the album for whatever price they want at a minimum price of $1. I doubt you would have heard any of the artists on the site, but after a small sampling there seems to be some really interesting tunes up there. It’s a unique, innovative concept and definitely worth checking out.

I also have two other podcasts I wanted to mention, but these are just basically outlets for me to hear music that I really enjoy but never really actually sit down and listen to very often. One is the WGBH Classical Performance Podcast, which is an excellent way to listen to all the necessities from the world of classical music without actually having to throw down any cash. The other podcast is the Drum & Bass Arena Podcast, which brings you a weekly drum & bass mix. Each mix lasts approximately an hour or more. Great for parties or just bobbing your head to if you’re like me and aggressive beats are a guilty pleasure of yours.

After an extended hiatus, I bring you some fun pop music from Athens, Greece courtesy of Kalliopi. When I started playing her mini-album Around the World in iTunes, my first thought was, “This stuff is really catchy, but the sound quality is horrible.” Turns out my equalizer settings had been switched to something really strange, so I mixed things up, started fresh, and everything sounded perfectly fine.

All in all, Kalliopi’s music follows a pretty standard pop-rock formula, but as I’ve said before, anything that follows a formula is fine so long as the right formula is followed. Kalliopi’s music sounds like something that you might hear on a top 40 station, so it has that contemporary pop feel to it, but it isn’t simplistic or stupid. This isn’t “Sk8terboi” (did I spell that incorrectly enough?). So it’s got the entertainment value of a typical radio song, but it doesn’t kill your brain cells when you listen to it. I think the dead brain cells mostly come from the fact that mainstream radio force feeds you the same stuff over an over again.

Although, the three tunes you find in Around the World do have a semi-addictive quality to them. These are the kinds of songs you will find yourself randomly humming bits and pieces of throughout your day. You’ll be riding on the subway or the bus, then you’ll start lightly tapping your foot and gently singing the chorus of “Naked” to yourself until you realize that people are looking at your mostly self-contained concert. If you’re at all like me, you just kick it up notch and go into full musical number mode at that point and really project your voice like Pavarotti with your chest puffed out and your arms extended behind you.

I guess the only other thing I have to say about Kalliopi is that even though she is from Greece, her lyrics are in English, so don’t worry about any language barriers. Also, make sure you check out < "http://www.myspace.com/kalliopimusic">her MySpace page, because there are alternate versions of her songs there than what you might find on her album. There is certainly a very different take on “Naked” there.

Purchase Around the World by Kalliopi at CD Baby, Amazon, or iTunes

Kalliopi – Naked

Also make sure to check out Kalliopi’s Facebook page. Oh, and after all of that stuff I said about the radio, you can actually find her on some stations. Look at her site to figure out where.

Edit: If you want to get in touch with me while you’re there, best way is going to be via twitter

Do you ever struggle to find something to listen to late at night when the day is winding down and you just need something really slow and dreamy to parallel your state of mind? That’s where a space rock band like Pacific UV comes in handy. Their new album Longplay 2 is a very solemn collection of tracks that sedate your soul like a breeze blowing through a field of wheat as you watch the setting sun. It’s a very beautiful album in it’s sheer atmospheric tranquility, which is interrupted only briefly by moments of distorted noise that act as a break from the constant, somberness.

One of the most striking aspects of the album is how Pacific UV manages to keep it from becoming too repetitive. Styles of ambient music such as this typically rely heavily on electronic instrumentation and there is a great temptation to let catchy beats and melodies loop several times over within a song while occasionally switching patterns up here and there. This adds a severe amount of redundancy and length to a lot of electronica songs. Just think of the stereotypical techno song and how ridiculously repetitive it is. However, Pacific UV uses typical electronic techniques infrequently on Longplay 2 and relies more on clever composition to evoke a sense of ethereality while providing sonic variation as well.

The first track, “Alarmist,” is a perfect example of Pacific UV’s style. It uses repetition as an element of the song, but is not a tiring kind of repetition that makes you become bored with the song. It is a repetition that at first builds up to create a melodic theme and then uses variations on that theme later in the song. As I said previously, it shows the use of creative composition reminiscent of classical music rather than simply pounding away the same looped samples over and over again.

However, the best song on the album by far is the final track “Ljiv,” which is the most likely song to be appreciated by those who aren’t fans of the space rock genre. It makes use of repetition in order to build up to a sonic theme as I mentioned before, but does so to a more effective end. The song consists of an ever-growing number of classical strings and gentle piano strokes that eventually weave into each other to form a melodious gossamer of sound so overwhelming that it sends shivers through your body. It’s almost so gentle as to be sad. It may cause tears to start to well up in your eyes if you are one who is easily affected by the evocative power of music.

I highly recommend Longplay 2 for those of you who need an album that is more calming than what you may already have in your collection. Even if you don’t want to get the whole thing, then I suggest that you get your hands on “Ljiv” via iTunes or some other source once we take it down from the site. It will be well worth your time.

Purchase Longplay 2 by Pacific UV at iTunes and Amazon.

Pacific UV – Alarmist
Pacific UV – Ljiv

For more information about Pacific UV, visit their MySpace page and Warm Records.