The Tunes lives. The problem with life is that it gets in the way of the things that matter. Like discovering and sharing new and important songs. It's easy to let homework, work work, and other things crowd out one's priorities. But as I said before...The Tunes lives, and I'll make no other apologies, onto music. There are 2 bands I want to mention today. Both are awesome. Have you ever felt the need to be "pumped up"? I know you're thinking, "Rage Against the Machine, Duh." and I really can't disagree with that, but let's broaden our horizons. In fact, let's get out of our country all together and fly across the Atlantic to the UK. We Were Promised Jetpacks and Archie Bronson Outfit are 2 bands that have never failed to kick me into shape when I needed it. Lifting weights? I prescribe Quiet Little Voices (WWPJ) or Blood Heat (ABO). Fighting something? Thunder and Lightning (WWPJ) or The Wheels Roll On (ABO). The singer of each band yells atonally in a manner that just fits for any kind of stressful situation. Jetpacks hail from Scotland and Archie is very obviously very british. And while the former does maintain a rhythmic and clean sound with interludes of calm and even hints of vocal melody in many songs. Bronson does not. Every song on the album Fur is pounding, distorted, and grindingly great. If you're asking "Cale, I only have one set of ears and time is money which should I listen to?" then I'll respond with a stare of disbelief, then I'd humor you and say this..."Ok Gordon Gekko, WWJP had come a long way since their battle of the bands roots in 2003 where they first got their start. Symphonic intros and outros and soothing breaks in their pounding sound do wonders at making the aggressive riffs more aggressive by comparison. You won't feel angry when you listen to them, you'll feel inspired and powerful. Meanwhile, if you need to dredge through a task you need the Outfit. Their sound isn't pretty and they have stayed true to the underproduced garage sound they have been known for since the beginning. Neither is better or worse in my opinion, so make time for both" Wall Street can wait.

A couple posts ago I blogged about the song Skinny Love, and that song in particular has opened a new door to a the sub-sub-genre of Surfer Indy Rock. Although that sounds overly niche-y, who doesn't want to imagine themselves laying on a beach with some chill tunes riding on the salty breeze overhead? Everyone. I mean No one. Everyone has a beach, breeze, tunes, fantasy. Now the bands I've listened to aren't all necessarily of the Jack Johnson soothing-melody type. For example, Sufer Blood, a Florida band whose songs are about as calm as it's album cover: A huge shark leaping out of the water with tooth-ed mouth agape. Titles like Swim and Fast Jabroni evoke tropical images of tearing up waves rather than seaside coconut drinks. S.I. Rock runs the gamut of intensity from lazy to pounding, but the song Lost Coastline from Okkervil River runs the entire course within it's 5:31 second lifespan. Ahhh...I love this song. Actually, I'm going to stop blogging to listen to it right now.

A musically inclined friend once told me that when an album tells a story, it's called a concept album. Songs relate to each other and characters are mentioned multiple times. Even the music is intended to show passing of time and emotions. It's not something bands do, or should for that matter, on their debut albums but this is Arcade Fire's 3rd and It feels right at home. Now a couple personal notes that affect my review, consider this a disclaimer. I rarely listen to entire albums. I usually find myself craving variety about 3 songs in. And 2nd, I have a longstanding aversion to the suburbs. TS by AF may have changed my mind on the first note, and reinforced my 2nd. The album itself is very varied (avoid that word combo in the future). The album opens with a light-hearted intro, the title track, that seems to paint suburb life very well. It introduces us to 2 characters. The narrator and his friend. I'm reminded of Heroin Bob and Steve-O from SLC Punk in a few respects (anarchy not being one of them). They are obviously kids grown up with privilege hoping to run counter to it. The friend being the leader and the singer following. The tone shifts dramatically with Ready To Start, track 2, and the tension of someone trying to be different is palpable. It's stark contrasts like the dissonance between tracks 1 & 2 that made this album exciting to listen to from beginning to end. The body of the album details the youthful rebellion of the characters and the tunes chronicling it are solid. A gear shift happens again at Suburban War. The friend seems to abandon his counter-culture clash and conform. The narrator sings of searching for him, with literally or for the old attitude I'm not sure but this is my 2nd favorite track. It's the one that made me buy the album. Now, my favorite song is not about the 2 familiar characters. In fact after Suburban War the album seems to take a less concept approach. My favorite song, the one I can put on repeat and listen to all day is The Sprawl pt. 2. With female vocals it's a haunting tribute to the battle against the clock-punching repetitive existence. The singer's voice reminds of some of the powerful female rockers of days gone by like Heart and Blondie. If you like neither make your own comparison. But love or hate the suburbs there's something for you in the album of the same name by Arcade Fire.

Stop the presses. Whatever bands were mentioned in my previous post are going to have to enjoy simmering on the back burner for the moment because The Suburbs from Arcade Fire just happened. I read a little quip on how haunting the song "Suburban War" was and on a whim, bought it. Sure enough, as the song wound to a close I found myself almost a-trembling. After sampling one more song, "Ready to Start", I was sold. I bought the whole album. This is the first time I've ever bought a whole album on iTunes. I can tell you this now. Songs sound a little better when you have to drop actual hard earned dollars on them. Anyway, Arcade Fire, The Suburbs, and Cale H Newhouse will be taking a Sunday drive together today. I'm already looking forward to it. Check back later for a full review.

It's been a minute since I've written but don't think for a minute I've stopped my quest of tunes exploration. On the contrary, I clocked 39 hours listening to Pandora Internet Radio last week. 39 hours! That's a full time job! How do I do this? How do I put so much time into listening? By listening to it non-stop at my full time job of course. I'm a manager-trainee at Citi and don't think I slack at my job while listening. However contrary it may sound banking rivals my love for music. To the point. I have discovered new songs and rediscovered bands I once loved. 2 in particular stand out. I want to revisit The Black Keys, and then...rap. That's right. Mr. Lif. A political rapper that I've been digging lately. Reviews of one or the other to follow...see if you can beat 39 hours.

I haven't written for a while but in my defense I was homeless. Not as a social experiment this time, I couldn't find a house in St. George, but now I live in a sweet apartment and I get back to what's important... finding new tunes.

And find I did. Bon Iver friends. I know nothing about the band/man itself as of yet, but I will.

I went through a period in college where I devoted an entire 150 song MP3 CD to "The Chillest Mix of All Times". It included the most chill relaxing songs I knew of at the time. Had I known about Bon Iver he'd have been included.

When I was driving around LA a couple weeks ago I heard a couple amazing song by a then nameless artist including my favorite SKINNY LOVE. I had to do serious investigation to discover the artist (read: Shazaam on my iPhone.) and I've been periodically downloading and loving songs from them/him ever since. I even did my Sunday drive to Bon Iver and I say it was a raging success. More info on this artist to come. But until then sample Skinny Love right here on The Tunes and enjoy...

Bon Iver

I was supposed to go to a Mates Of State concert in LA, but I left my iPhone home to avoid BMD and proved to myself that I'm useless without it. Got lost for 2 hours. Anyway now I'm in my home town in Bonners Ferry, and it's funny, my not-so-extreme style of dress and footwear puts me way out of place. The cool kids here are wearing some flat billed DC hats or something and a lot of sports jerseys, but this isn't a fashion blog it's a music one and I'm sure my tastes wouldn't be well received in many circles here. Beyond that...my little sister is a Beatles Rock Band champion. 5 stars on like every expert level. It's crazy. But the thought I had is...I've heard that if you listen hard enough you can hear The Beatles in just about every song written since 1970. And I was contemplating a Beatles-Only music diet for a week. I'm sure it wouldn't hurt.

Guitar!

I have pretty much eschewed guitar learning in my life. Probably because I've seen way too many guys who've learned a jack Johnson song or two and then use (read: attempt to use) their newfound skills to impress (read: attempt to impress) girls. It seems so fake to me. BUT! I was driving around on my vacation in California yesterday listening to a mix of acoustic music collaborated by my friend Olivia and I was thinking that I really wanted to learn. There IS one girl that I want to impress with a little guitar prowess. Especially since I think she'll love it even if I suck. I woke up this morning and still wanted to. That's how I know it's not a passing fancy. I think it will be a great compliment to my quest in music discovery and God knows the world needs one more amateur guitar player. More music discoveries to come after my vacation!

Blogging ain't too bad

I'm well aware that I'm probably the only one who reads this blog. But I have to admit. I'm enjoying this. I feel like I have a responsibility to do something I enjoy. I'm moving this week to St. George Utah one of my biggest reservations is that I'm pretty sure there won't be any venues like the one I attended last week. I'm missing the Twilight Festival (Nothing to do with Vampires). It saddens me. I know Vegas is only 90 miles away, and I'm praying to the gods of music that the bands I love will stop there from time to time.

CONCERT REVIEW!

This feels a little delayed but in my defense. I'm trying to getting
everything ready for my move this week. Luckily, I remember it like it
was last night. My first impression as I stood outside in line was not
a good one. I was surrounded by underweight hispty looking guys and
slutty looking teenage girls. I couldn't help but wonder..."Is this
really who I share my musical taste with? I could eat half these
kids." When the be-bearded be-tattooed bouncer let us in I found the
venue to be what I hoped for, an industrial, open space where no
matter where you are, you'll get a great show. Around 7:30 the opening
band got on stage and put on a good show. Who was it? What were they
singing about?I don't know. 2nd band. Same thing. Both good. But I was
here for PTM and I had to wait 3.5 hours for them. I'll admit, I'm new
to the concert scene so I don't know if this is par. BUT as soon as
Portugal. The Man took the stage I was so glad I came. This band
exploded into life from first song to last. I read somewhere that the
band's abnormal namesake is derived from an attempt to create a larger
than life persona. Portugal. The Man himself. Someone bigger than
the collective members of the band itself. Well Portugal was present
and rocking that night. On their tightly produced albums they sound
great, and I've even mentioned this on my previous review, but I said
they are great background music. Now, I feel bad for having written
such words. The band shucked whatever calmness that gave me such
opinion and rocked. I mean rock and roll. I mean forget your problems,
your job, your money and dance! Maybe this is how all concerts work
but the music seemed so all engrossing and important right then.
During 1989 we (the crowd) yelled and swayed and some cried. During
People Say we jumped and fist pumped and yelled. During Dead Dog we
almost drowned out the music. As I'm sitting here writing this I wish
they were playing again tonight. I'd go right now. All in all let me
sum this up. When you listen to Portugal. The Man. LISTEN TO THEM! Let
them carry you away with their unique blend of music. And try to
imagine the embodiment of the superhuman they try to create. And if
they ever show up in your town. GO! and get as close to the stage as
you can. Rock and roll everyone. Til' next time.

Portugal. The Man tonight! I'm in line. There are tons of hipsters. They can't catch one just bobbled a redbull thrown at him and looked amazed that someone would toss it to him. But I'm excited despite.

Quick note. Sometimes a video makes a song 10x better. I don't watch a lot of music videos since 8th grade but I stumbled on "I Say Fever" by Ramona Falls. A song I love, and a video that freaks me out, but in a way that gives the song depth. Watch it. 

Portugal the Man

First off...Have you seen this cover art? I love it! A big green sea
monster hefting baby in front of a barn. Moving on to the tunes. There
a couple bands that make excellent life soundtracks, and I believe
that Portugal The Man is one of those bands. Their music isn't all
engrossing, attention dominating, or body controlling. I've heard
people say that catchy tunes make them want to get up and dance. Not
the case here. PTM won't make you want to dance. But doing just about
anything will make you want to listen to PTM. I listened to them while
cooking, driving, eating, working, painting, and every experience was
enhanced by the rhythmic, complex beats of songs like Dead Dog and All
My People. There are two specific things this band does that I love.
First is the mixture of electronica and distorted, tangible
Instruments. The healthy dose of the latter separates them from
similar psych rock bands like MGMT. 2nd is the sometimes near-
falsetto, always awesome singing voice of frontman John Gourley. I've
always thought it takes a unique aspect like that to separate a band
from the masses.

SO! In short...PORTUGAL THE MAN. Hard to dance to, A little hard to
sing to, but amazing to chill to. Try mixing them in with your daily
routine and witness as your routine suddenly becomes twice as cool.
Concert going down the 23rd. I'm stoked and you'll hear about it later.

Girls don't listen to music like boys do. One of my favorite songs of the last couple years is Electric Feel by MGMT. I have no idea what it's about. But I feel like it changes my life everytime I hear it. Girls, on the other hand are lyrics focused. They like songs (generally) because the artist is singing to them and they connect to what he/she is saying. The point is...Portugal The Man is coming to The Venue on the 23rd. I love those guys and listen to them often, but don't know any of the words to their songs. That's going to have to change because I plan on attending and I don't want to be the only guy there not feeling the familiarity of hearing the songs you've sung so many times in private being performed right in front of you. Reviews of PTM to follow... 

THE BLACK KEYS

It's raining here in Orem. I'm alone. I'm miserable. My face hurts. My
heart hurts. This has been the longest week of my entire life. Things
are never going to be the same. Who in this entire world could
empathize? Wait? What's that Black Keys? You know my pain? You'll
console me while I sit alone on my porch at 1 in the morning?
Why...thank you.

I'm listnening to the album Brothers by the Black Keys. Their claim to
fame is Rubber Factory released in 2004 . But there's nothing wrong
with going backwards. Star Wars did it.

The tunes are sick. They are messy, distorted, painful and I love
every one on the album. These 2 white guys have as much angst pouring
through their music as any blues artist walking the streets in still
damp French Quarter. They wail of love lost and love betrayed and in
doing so maybe capture love's essence better than most. The Black
Keys...band of the moment for Cale, because life sometimes life hits
those little black keys.

Email test

Ok, phone works, now if I can email to the blog we are set.

Testing 1..2..3...Live from my iPhone. I'm testing to see if I can post to my blog this way.

Catching up with my generation

I decided I'm going to have to hook this up to my neglected Facebook account, and maybe even get a Twitter. I've never been a huge fan of either, but these things kind of define my generation. Am I going to be the guy who in 20 years draws a blank when his kids ask him if he was part of this movement? F that. I'd rather tweet.

Welcome to The Tunes.

We are in the golden age of music. Never before has a person been able to connect with and listen to so many different bands of every genre of music conceivable. You want punk rock with a latin twist featuring electronica beats? There's a guy in a basement in Seattle working hard to bring it to you. How about a bluegrass roots band with a political agenda that lays raps over a banjo? It's out there somewhere. The magic of facebook, youtube, myspace, slacker, pandora, blogs like this one, and countless other mediums are making it happen.

I've recently discovered how much I can love finding new music and I'm anything but a pro. But I will be. This blog is an experiment, one dedicated the never ending journey of finding people passionate about creating new, independent, and amazing tunes.