Radio-Free Living - Chaensaw's Music Page

Radio-FreeLiving

Last updated on 29 Oct 2000

Welcome to my ever-expanding and totally pointless music section. If you're curious as to what makes me tick, music is one of the very few pleasures I get out of life, as this page will prove. Here you'll find a list of my favourite bands, albums, songs, as well as opinions on current releases (Most Recent CDs) and news on future releases (Most Wanted CDs) by these bands. There'z also a ton of links, the vast majority of which are kept up to date, and, eventually (maybe), a catalogue of all the CDs I own (now over 600).
•

Contents:

Favourite Bands
Most Recent CDs
Most Wanted CDs
Favourite CDs/Songs
Concerts

Favourite Bands	Progressive	YES, Pink Floyd, Queen, Rush, Hawkwind, R.E.M., U2, XTC, Oingo Boingo, The Moody Blues
	Industrial/Techno	Skinny Puppy, KMFDM, Moby, Shiverhead, Laibach, TooL, The Tear Garden, Széki Kurva, Marilyn Manson, Die Warzau, Pitchshifter, Einstürzende Neubauten, Enigma, Front 242, Nine Inch Nails, Ministry, Revolting Cocks, Lords of Acid, Chem Lab, Nitzer Ebb, Electric Hellfire Club, Circle of Dust, Force Ten
	Alternative/Other	Jane's Addiction, Primus, Erasure, ABBA, Faith No More, They Might Be Giants, 10,000 Maniacs, Shriekback, Ned's Atomic Dustbin, Enya, Jesus Jones, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Meat Loaf, Midnight Oil, Young Fresh Fellows, Concrete Blonde, Pizzicato Five

Case against the existence of god #45846923042:
His Majesty the Queen, Freddie Mercury, is dead - and Michael Jackson is still alive and fucking little boys.

= Click these icons for a sound sample
.RA requires RealPlayer plugin and 28.8 connection

•

**Chaensaw's Most Recent CDs**
Artist	Title(s)	Chaensaw's Rating	Comments
XTC	Wasp Star (Apple Venus Vol. 2)		I was much more impressed with this album than the first volume of Apple Venus. As much as I like orchestrated music, the last album just didn't really sound all that good. With this one, though, they return to their regular electric rock style and though it doesn't come close to Nonsuch, their last electric rock album, it's got some gems.
MDFMK	s/t		After dumping the KMFDM moniker and all the expectations and baggage that came with its idiom, Sascha and Tim Skold were free to change their sound dramatically, and for the better in almost every regard. Sounding more powerful and less canned than the old KMFDM sound, their debut also benefits from the vocal talents of Lucia Cifarelli, who adds a smoothness to the still awesome but otherwise machine-gun roughness of the music.
A Perfect Circle	Mer de Noms		After listening to this album a few more times, I realized it's actually pretty damn good... I was expecting too much for it to sound like another Tool album.
Pitch Shifter	Deviant		Follow-ups usually suck, but following their tradition of bucking trends, Pitch Shifter cranks out another totally kickass album (and though not quite as good, I was expecting it to suck compared to www.pitchshifter.com). The multimedia stuff included on the disc also includes a really cool music video for the song Hidden Agenda. .MP3 Condescension
Chumbawamba	WYSIWYG		Even better than Tubthumper, this album has a lot of really good sounding tracks, though they're all a lot shorter than they probably should be. And there aren't any tracks I've identified so far as "annoying" (with the possible exception of I'm With Stupid), something that's plagued all other Chumbawamba albums I've heard.
Shriekback	Naked Apes and Pond Life		Released only in Australia so far, this album is little more than a collection of demo tracks remixed for release, and not necessarily a full release. Understanding that, this is a good album, with a mostly new sound, but still identifyable as Shriekback.
Széki Kurva	The Fearless Vampire Killers		A maddeningly addictive cross between techno-thrash-industrial and traditional Hungarian folk music, this album is definitely music to have around if you ever feel like dancing the polka in a mine field. Obscure and hard to find, The Fearless Vampire Killers is one of the most incredibly original and best albums I've ever heard, and I've heard a lot.

	= A disaster - terminally insipid (rare).		= Worse than expected
	= Dust bunny fodder.		= Better than expected.
	= Not great overall, some good songs.		= One or two extraordinary song(s) inside.
	= Chaensaw's Seal of Approval.		= Fresh original sound.
	= The Golden Chaensaw (top honor) °		= Bang-your-head music.

* DPC = Digital Postcard

**Chaensaw's Most Wanted CDs**
Artist	Title	Release	Comments
Tear Garden	Crystal Mass	24 Oct 00	After their overwhelmingly mediocre last album, To Be an Angel Blind, I'm not sure how excited I am about this one...
Skinny Puppy	Back and Forth vol. 5	Early 2001	Another release of stuff that originally wasn't good enough for release. I'll get it probably more out of Skinny Puppy fandom obligation than anything else.
R.E.M.	?	Spring 2001	After the almost uncomfortably mellow Up, I'm hoping for something a little more like the previous album, New Adventures in Hi-Fi.
U2	All That You Can't Leave Behind	31 Oct 00	I haven't heard anything from this except Beautiful Day and it sounds more like their Joshua Tree era than the more recent stuff...

•

**Chaensaw's Favourite CDs**
Top 15 Favourite Albums of All Time
15. The Tear Garden - The Last Man to Fly	14. Faith No More - Angel Dust
13. Jane's Addiction - Nothing's Shocking	12. Rush - Moving Pictures
11. TooL - Ænima	10. Enigma - MCMXC a.D.
9. Jon Anderson - Olias of Sunhillow	8. They Might Be Giants - Flood
7. Rush - Permanent Waves	6. R.E.M. - Out of Time
5. Skinny Puppy - Too Dark Park	4. YES - Relayer
3. Pink Floyd - Meddle	2. Jane's Addiction - Ritual de lo Habitual
1. YES - Tales from Topographic Oceans

The Golden Chaensaws°

YES - The Yes Album, Fragile, Close to the Edge, Tales From Topographic Oceans, Relayer, Going For the One, The Ladder; Jane's Addiction - Nothing's Shocking, Ritual de lo Habitual; Jon Anderson - Olias of Sunhillow, Angels Embrace; Pink Floyd - Atom Heart Mother, Meddle, Animals, The Wall; Hawkwind - The Hall of the Mountain Grill, Warrior at the Edge of Time; Rush - Moving Pictures, Permanent Waves, Power Windows; Chris Squire - Fish Out of Water; R.E.M. - Life's Rich Pageant, Green, Out of Time; U2 - Achtung Baby; Enya - Watermark; Moby - Everything is Wrong; Skinny Puppy - Too Dark Park, Last Rights; The Tear Garden - The Last Man to Fly; TooL - Ænima; KMFDM - Nihil, *&%@# , ADIOS; Pitchshifter - Desensitized, www.pitchshifter.com; Lords of Acid - Heaven is an Orgasm; Széki Kurva - The Fearless Vampire Killers; Enigma - MCMXC a.D.; Laibach - Let It Be, Kapital; Front 242 - 05:22:09:12 Off; Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine, Broken, Downward Spiral, The Fragile; Nitzer Ebb - That Total Age, Ebbhead; They Might Be Giants - Flood; Violent Femmes - Violent Femmes; Red Hot Chili Peppers - Bloodsugarsexmagik.

°These selections are compared to other releases by the band, not to each other.
~•~

Top 25 Favourite Songs

Current Bitchin' Songs
Beatles - I Am the Walrus; XTC - Boarded Up, The Wheel and the Maypole; Weird Al Yankovic - It's All About the Pentiums; 10,000 Maniacs - Peace Train; Chrono Cross - Main Theme.

Concerts
Artist Venue/Date Comments

Weird Al Yankovic

Tour 2000 Clark County Fair,
Clark Co., WA
Aug 4 2000 Weird Al was my favorite "band" through most of my childhood, and the last time I actually saw him in concert was sometime in the late 1980s. Amazingly, the current tour proves Al's lasting ability to not only make a great (and usually very amusing) song, but also make it a lot of fun to witness in person. Through constant costume changes and a video screen supplementing the concert with scenes from his videos and his short-lived TV show, AL TV, Al performed tirelessly and enthusiastically to the delight of the audience, a county fair-going crowd packed into a small stadium. Probably most of them were there just to see him, as was I. He played a long set consisting of a lot of favorites like Fat and Amish Paradise as well as a 40-minute medley of a whole bunch of shortened versions of his many food songs. He played for almost 2 hours, which included an encore with The Saga Begins and an extra long version of Yoda. Anyone who ever liked Weird Al should catch this tour, as it's continuing on through the rest of this year.

The Ladder
Tour 1999 Union Hall,
Phoenix, AZ
Oct 29 1999 The first, smaller part of their tour for their new album, The Ladder, returned to the same intimate venue in downtown Phoenix that they performed in December 1997, which was the best concert I'd ever seen. Though the usual pre-salesopportunity for online fans conveniently "skipped" the Phoenix show, I still managed to pull off 7th row seats despite the jammed phone lines. The show, of course, was fantastic. You could feel the energy from the band as well as the audience, and although vocalist Jon Anderson seemed a little distracted towards the beginning, things fell into place quickly and each song was met with a standing, roaring ovation. They started this show off with Yours is No Disgrace, then Jon sang a small solo part from Time and a Word, then they played the new track Homeworld, then Perpetual Change, Lightning Strikes, The Messenger, another Jon solo (a small piece of Ritual), And You And I, Close to the Edge, It Will Be a Good Day, Face to Face, Hearts, Awaken (my favourite song ever, which almost made me orgasm, especially since they played it so damn well), and I've Seen All Good People which I love in concert (but not anywhere else). For the encore, guitarist Billy Sherwood, bassist Chris Squire, drummer Alan White, and keyboardist Igor Khoroshev played the instrumental Cinema, and then Jon and lead guitarist Steve Howe joined them for Owner of a Lonely Heart and Roundabout with an extended ending. The only song I hoped they'd play that they didn't get around to was New Language, but you can't have 'em all. One of the best parts of the evening was when Jon mentioned that they would be recording one of their shows in a few days, and he wished it could be this show instead. The worst part of the evening was having to pay $42 for one damned t-shirt and a programme.

Desert Sky Pavilion,
Phoenix, AZ
July 26 1998 The second leg of their Open Your Eyes Tour became their 30th Anniversary Tour sometime along the way, and holy shit, they still got it. It's even more amazing sitting in the 4th row, staring right up into bassist Chris Squire's nose. The opening band, Alan Parsons Project, wasn't all that exciting, and cut into Yes's famously extensive playing time, but they still got in a lot of great tunes. Starting out with Siberian Khatru as usual, they quickly moved into a very powerful rendition of the rare and early Yes song Yours Is No Disgrace. Then Open Your Eyes from their latest CD, And You And I, some solo stuff with Steve Howe including Clap, and then I lost track of songs but remember them playing Heart of the Sunrise, Close to the Edge, a fantastically energetic Owner of a Lonely Heart, and their usual finale All Good People. They only did one encore, Roundabout, probably because it was already 11:20 pm. The show was fantastic, though I still think that the December show was better owing to its intimacy, extended playing time, and selection of more obscure songs. However, this time around, new keyboardist Igor Khorochev was actually quite audible and played like a maniac. Jon Anderson seemed a bit less energetic, but Chris Squire, the core member of Yes, looked like he was having the time of his life, playing his bass like a true master and running around all over the stage. Despite the fact that a good portion of the show was seen around the constantly standing body of the drunk moron in front of me, it was still the kind of experience you never forget.

Pitchshifter
1998 Tour Gibson's,
Tempe, AZ
July 9 1998 Pitchshifter gave possibly the best live performance I've ever seen by an "industrial" band. They weren't at all snotty about having to play a club full of trendy snotty frat types and gen-Xers who were there just to see the headliner Gravity Kills, and gave the goths and the punks plenty to bang their heads to (though most everyone was into it towards the end). Most of their songs were stuff from the new album, www.pitchshifter.com, including Microwaved, their opening song, Genius, W.Y.S.I.W.Y.G., Civilised, Subject to Status, What's In It For Me?, and Please Sir which they closed with, but they also did "oldies" like Triad and Cathode. I can't really say much about Gravity Kills, other than they also gave a heluva performance (I wasn't paying all that much attention).

Mesa Amphitheater,
Mesa, AZ
Dec 4 1997 Seeing Jane's in concert was a teenhood fantasy come true - they played all their classic tunes (Jane Says, Three Days, Ted Just Admit It, Then She Did, Stop!, Ocean Size, Whores, etc.) but they didn't touch on the new tracks from Kettle Whistle which was only slightly disappointing. No one noticed that Erik Avery wasn't there - Flea had more than enough energy and knew the songs better than Erik anyway. Dave and Stephen were also playing well, with Dave climbing around on the jungle-gym-like set where the topless dancing girls were slinking. Perry was the only one that didn't look like he was really into it, but his vocals sounded great and the audience ate it all up. Another bummer was that the opening act Goldie chewed up alot of the time and Jane's only played for 70 minutes, but overall it was a memorable, fantastic show.

OPEN YOUR EYES
Tour 1997 Union Hall,
Phoenix, AZ
Dec 5 1997 Sitting 8 rows back from center stage in any concert is a rare treat, but for Yes, "orgasmic" is way too understated. This was without a doubt the best concert I've ever seen by anyone. The venue was only some 2000 seats, making it extremely intimate for both audience and band. The entire audience responded to everything with cheers and standing ovations, and the band was full of energy, playing like gods, obviously having a ton of fun with the audience and the music. Bassist and torch-carrier Chris Squire was teasing the audience and playing like a madman at the edge of the stage, and guitarist Steve Howe, while stationery most of the time, was hitting everything dead on and working like a master on his many guitars. No opening act meant they had over 2 1/2 hours to play unusual classics like the 22-minute "Revealing Science of God" and "And You And I," as well as favourites like "Roundabout," "Owner of a Lonely Heart," "America," "Heart of the Sunrise," and "Siberian Khatru" just to name a few. In the middle of the set, about an hour into the show, they calmed down and played some solo stuff -- first Steve Howe played, then Jon Anderson came out and did "From the Balcony" for the first time on tour, then there was some solo tunes by the new guy Igor Khoroshev (who is equal to Rick Wakeman in my book and not nearly as stubborn), and then Jon, Steve, and Igor played "Leaves of Green (Along Without You)" from "The Ancient" which almost no one recognized (except me). After a second round of high-energy tunes, they finished with the overplayed "All Good People" and then the encore exploded into the overplayed "Roundabout" and the most incredible and energetic rendition of "Starship Trooper" I've ever heard. At the end I was nearly deaf but totally satisfied. The only problems I had with the entire show were that they didn't play "Awaken" or anything from Relayer, and that no one could hear Igor or Billy Sherwood, but I still pity any Yes fan that missed this show. (And they might be coming back in the spring...)

•
Return to Bio Page / Return to Main Page

Artist	Venue/Date	Comments
Weird Al Yankovic Tour 2000	Clark County Fair, Clark Co., WA Aug 4 2000	Weird Al was my favorite "band" through most of my childhood, and the last time I actually saw him in concert was sometime in the late 1980s. Amazingly, the current tour proves Al's lasting ability to not only make a great (and usually very amusing) song, but also make it a lot of fun to witness in person. Through constant costume changes and a video screen supplementing the concert with scenes from his videos and his short-lived TV show, AL TV, Al performed tirelessly and enthusiastically to the delight of the audience, a county fair-going crowd packed into a small stadium. Probably most of them were there just to see him, as was I. He played a long set consisting of a lot of favorites like Fat and Amish Paradise as well as a 40-minute medley of a whole bunch of shortened versions of his many food songs. He played for almost 2 hours, which included an encore with The Saga Begins and an extra long version of Yoda. Anyone who ever liked Weird Al should catch this tour, as it's continuing on through the rest of this year.
The Ladder Tour 1999	Union Hall, Phoenix, AZ Oct 29 1999	The first, smaller part of their tour for their new album, The Ladder, returned to the same intimate venue in downtown Phoenix that they performed in December 1997, which was the best concert I'd ever seen. Though the usual pre-salesopportunity for online fans conveniently "skipped" the Phoenix show, I still managed to pull off 7th row seats despite the jammed phone lines. The show, of course, was fantastic. You could feel the energy from the band as well as the audience, and although vocalist Jon Anderson seemed a little distracted towards the beginning, things fell into place quickly and each song was met with a standing, roaring ovation. They started this show off with Yours is No Disgrace, then Jon sang a small solo part from Time and a Word, then they played the new track Homeworld, then Perpetual Change, Lightning Strikes, The Messenger, another Jon solo (a small piece of Ritual), And You And I, Close to the Edge, It Will Be a Good Day, Face to Face, Hearts, Awaken (my favourite song ever, which almost made me orgasm, especially since they played it so damn well), and I've Seen All Good People which I love in concert (but not anywhere else). For the encore, guitarist Billy Sherwood, bassist Chris Squire, drummer Alan White, and keyboardist Igor Khoroshev played the instrumental Cinema, and then Jon and lead guitarist Steve Howe joined them for Owner of a Lonely Heart and Roundabout with an extended ending. The only song I hoped they'd play that they didn't get around to was New Language, but you can't have 'em all. One of the best parts of the evening was when Jon mentioned that they would be recording one of their shows in a few days, and he wished it could be this show instead. The worst part of the evening was having to pay $42 for one damned t-shirt and a programme.
	Desert Sky Pavilion, Phoenix, AZ July 26 1998	The second leg of their Open Your Eyes Tour became their 30th Anniversary Tour sometime along the way, and holy shit, they still got it. It's even more amazing sitting in the 4th row, staring right up into bassist Chris Squire's nose. The opening band, Alan Parsons Project, wasn't all that exciting, and cut into Yes's famously extensive playing time, but they still got in a lot of great tunes. Starting out with Siberian Khatru as usual, they quickly moved into a very powerful rendition of the rare and early Yes song Yours Is No Disgrace. Then Open Your Eyes from their latest CD, And You And I, some solo stuff with Steve Howe including Clap, and then I lost track of songs but remember them playing Heart of the Sunrise, Close to the Edge, a fantastically energetic Owner of a Lonely Heart, and their usual finale All Good People. They only did one encore, Roundabout, probably because it was already 11:20 pm. The show was fantastic, though I still think that the December show was better owing to its intimacy, extended playing time, and selection of more obscure songs. However, this time around, new keyboardist Igor Khorochev was actually quite audible and played like a maniac. Jon Anderson seemed a bit less energetic, but Chris Squire, the core member of Yes, looked like he was having the time of his life, playing his bass like a true master and running around all over the stage. Despite the fact that a good portion of the show was seen around the constantly standing body of the drunk moron in front of me, it was still the kind of experience you never forget.
*Pitchshifter* 1998 Tour	Gibson's, Tempe, AZ July 9 1998	Pitchshifter gave possibly the best live performance I've ever seen by an "industrial" band. They weren't at all snotty about having to play a club full of trendy snotty frat types and gen-Xers who were there just to see the headliner Gravity Kills, and gave the goths and the punks plenty to bang their heads to (though most everyone was into it towards the end). Most of their songs were stuff from the new album, www.pitchshifter.com, including Microwaved, their opening song, Genius, W.Y.S.I.W.Y.G., Civilised, Subject to Status, What's In It For Me?, and Please Sir which they closed with, but they also did "oldies" like Triad and Cathode. I can't really say much about Gravity Kills, other than they also gave a heluva performance (I wasn't paying all that much attention).
	Mesa Amphitheater, Mesa, AZ Dec 4 1997	Seeing Jane's in concert was a teenhood fantasy come true - they played all their classic tunes (Jane Says, Three Days, Ted Just Admit It, Then She Did, Stop!, Ocean Size, Whores, etc.) but they didn't touch on the new tracks from Kettle Whistle which was only slightly disappointing. No one noticed that Erik Avery wasn't there - Flea had more than enough energy and knew the songs better than Erik anyway. Dave and Stephen were also playing well, with Dave climbing around on the jungle-gym-like set where the topless dancing girls were slinking. Perry was the only one that didn't look like he was really into it, but his vocals sounded great and the audience ate it all up. Another bummer was that the opening act Goldie chewed up alot of the time and Jane's only played for 70 minutes, but overall it was a memorable, fantastic show.
OPEN YOUR EYES Tour 1997	Union Hall, Phoenix, AZ Dec 5 1997	Sitting 8 rows back from center stage in any concert is a rare treat, but for Yes, "orgasmic" is way too understated. This was without a doubt the best concert I've ever seen by anyone. The venue was only some 2000 seats, making it extremely intimate for both audience and band. The entire audience responded to everything with cheers and standing ovations, and the band was full of energy, playing like gods, obviously having a ton of fun with the audience and the music. Bassist and torch-carrier Chris Squire was teasing the audience and playing like a madman at the edge of the stage, and guitarist Steve Howe, while stationery most of the time, was hitting everything dead on and working like a master on his many guitars. No opening act meant they had over 2 1/2 hours to play unusual classics like the 22-minute "Revealing Science of God" and "And You And I," as well as favourites like "Roundabout," "Owner of a Lonely Heart," "America," "Heart of the Sunrise," and "Siberian Khatru" just to name a few. In the middle of the set, about an hour into the show, they calmed down and played some solo stuff -- first Steve Howe played, then Jon Anderson came out and did "From the Balcony" for the first time on tour, then there was some solo tunes by the new guy Igor Khoroshev (who is equal to Rick Wakeman in my book and not nearly as stubborn), and then Jon, Steve, and Igor played "Leaves of Green (Along Without You)" from "The Ancient" which almost no one recognized (except me). After a second round of high-energy tunes, they finished with the overplayed "All Good People" and then the encore exploded into the overplayed "Roundabout" and the most incredible and energetic rendition of "Starship Trooper" I've ever heard. At the end I was nearly deaf but totally satisfied. The only problems I had with the entire show were that they didn't play "Awaken" or anything from Relayer, and that no one could hear Igor or Billy Sherwood, but I still pity any Yes fan that missed this show. (And they might be coming back in the spring...)