Music Geek: The Arcade Fire’s “Rebellion”
See, I can look classy every now and again.
Whilst listening to the latest episode of All Songs Considered from NPR — it’s on the decade defined — The Arcade Fire’s “Rebellion,” from the group’s seminal 2004 full-length debut Funeral, imparted upon me a certain unusual zeal; it is a sort of zeal, I find, that is only imparted by the occasional realization of a song’s power and the inner workings behind such power. Radiohead’s “A Wolf at the Door,” most recently, hit me the same way; for weeks, I diagrammed the structural intricacies in an attempt to understand why, exactly, the song just… worked. (more…)
By Matthew Montgomery 
Nov 11, 2009 
"Music Geek" by Matthew Montgomery, Track Reviews 
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Track Review: Joel Plaskett Emergency – “Fashionable People”
Joel Plaskett Emergency
Ashtray Rock
“Fashionable People”
Joel Plaskett Emergency – “Fashionable People” | download
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“Fashionable People,” named for the falsetto-inflected chorus line from this song, a track from 2007’s Ashtray Rock, is an entertaining romp in power pop that experiments with a variety of instrumentation styles to reach its easily listenable destination. Top it off with an entertaining video (embedded after the jump,) and you’ve got a song that sounds almost Weezerish (if I can coin a term, like all good music journalists) in its methods; however, there’s an unrestrained feel here that would place it above most recent efforts from the band Joel Plaskett undoubtedly drew some influence from.
Tags: indie rock, power pop
By Matthew Montgomery Aug 14, 2008 Track Reviews, Video Comments (0)
Track Review: Chris Cotton – “Going Home”
Chris Cotton
The Big Sea
“Going Home”
Chris Cotton – “Going Home” | download
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“Going Home” is shocking in its immediacy: a track from Chris Cotton’s latest, due out September 2nd on Little Fish Large Pond Publishing. This vintage-style piece, recalling some of the earliest recorded American folk music, is a refreshing blast from distorted guitars and whining vocals. There’s something strangely enthralling about anachronistic music, isn’t there?
Tags: folk
By Matthew Montgomery Aug 12, 2008 Downloads, Track Reviews Comments (0)
Track Review: The Ritz – “It’s The…” from The Night of Day
The Ritz
The Night of Day
“It’s The…”
Content warning: Lyrics involve use of the ever-ominous “f” word. I don’t mind.
The Ritz – “It’s The” | download
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My first thought, after hearing this track from the debut album from The Ritz? I was impressed, honest. The combination of bass-heavy beats with string samples and a nice use of stereo rapping (Elliott Smith influence, maybe? Likely not.) is fairly evocative and engaging. My only real complaint? The bass is mixed a bit too heavily, as it ends up slightly excessive and punchy on my well-balanced headphones (Sennheiser HD 485s, nothing too expensive,) distracting from the rest of the track, a well-mixed hip-hop introduction track.There’s nothing too adventurous about this track, but its efficient execution bodes well for the full release, due out August 19th.
Tags: hip-hop
By Matthew Montgomery Aug 12, 2008 Downloads, Released this Week, Track Reviews Comments (2)
