Author Archives: A Servant

The Joy Formidable’s second studio album, Wolf’s Law, demands a careful ear. Although the album is approachable in a pop rock sense, it has none of the trappings of pop music: The album is creative, versatile and gives winks and nods to genres of music that grouchy music nerds like yours truly can appreciate! The listener will have a pleasant pop experience but will also enjoy some shoegaze, punk and yes, even some metal moments in this album.

The album opens with “This Ladder is Ours”, which begins some gentle strings before launching into a poppy celebration of a song that could easily be an anthem for the kiddos out there. “Bats”, on the other hand, opens a little darker : A crunchy, distorted guitar riff accents some vocals that aren’t afraid to drip a little venom in the ear. Also check out the heavy metal nod at 2:19 in this song. Is that double bass drums? Yeah. I think it is. And it’s gorgeous. More of this PLEASE indie-pop artists! “The Leopard and the Lung,” opens with some clever piano trills that give way to a triumphant, shoegaze style wall of sound guitar work that made this Mogwai fan smile. The piano hangs on in the song, cutting nicely through the distortion to give the tune balance.

The Joy Formidable is a band with a bright future. Their ability to produce accessible music will give them mainstream access (supporting Muse on their tours won’t hurt either), and their ability to hold on to their alt-rock roots will give them street cred with the indie crowd.

Good stuff here. Have a listen.

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Editors Note: This an excerpt from an amazing article written by long time Music Ninja writer “A Servant”. You can read the entire piece on his website .

For the past year, I’ve had the great fortune and privilege to write album and song reviews for the internet site The Music Ninja (www.themusicninja.com). This has been advantageous for me as an independent novelist because it gives me exposure and a chance to reach new markets. I am also a passionate music lover. I grew up playing blues and jazz songs on my grandmother’s baby grand piano, fell in love with rockers like Led Zeppelin in my adolescent years and grew to have a fondness for any musician with heart, intellect and creativity as an adult. Writing for The Music Ninja was a perfect fit for me.

However, I’ve noticed some areas where the industry of independent internet music review can grow stronger. I’ve noticed a lack of commonly agreed upon ethics when it comes to reviewing emerging artists. I’ve also noticed a lack of cooperative work between music sites. Finally, I’ve noticed an imperfect promotion of the art of writing among review sites. I submit to the reader that the industry of independent music reviews needs a unified mission. A duty. Above all else, we indie bloggers should devote ourselves to exposing emerging artists of all fashions (including us as writers) to markets that might best enjoy them, and in doing so, bring good art to the masses.

Is this too lofty of a goal? I don’t think so. Nor do I think it will take away from any financial profits we may make from reviewing artists. Although the mission statement above may seem Bohemian, I am first and foremost a Capitalist, and believe that the beauty of the art we expose our consumers to will, in and of itself, produce the profits we need to live off. Moreover, I don’t think it requires any special Descartian intelligence or Franciscan devotion to agree upon this common goal. For the most part we already do so! The average reviewer can certainly follow the guidelines listed below without learning any new skills. And indeed, this list is hardly exhaustive. Like all intellectual pursuits, the publication of these ideas may inspire others expanding on the positions stated here. Perhaps some will even disagree with these positions. I welcome these arguments in support or in opposition of my own. With that said, I make my case:

The indie/upstart music reviewer should not give any negative reviews .I’ve had several friends approach me about the lack of negative reviews I give: “Dude, you love everything. How can we take you seriously as a reviewer when you don’t tell us what to avoid?”

There is a strand of thought—furthered by the intellectual vanity of the world of art criticism—that states that an intellectual must tear down a work of art in order to be an effective critic. This phenomenon is well satirized in The Simpson’s episode “Guess Who’s Coming to Criticize Dinner?” My response to the question of why I don’t give negative reviews is always this: “In actuality, I do give negative reviews. I am constantly giving negative reviewers in the form of ignoring the music that does not move me.”

Continue reading…

When Master Music Ninja Clayton Warwick texted me last week and asked me if I wanted to go to El Ten Eleven’s show at The Hi Dive in Denver, I jumped at the opportunity. Being a Master Ninja, Clayton knows good music, and I love getting out to shows. I checked out El Ten Eleven on Spotify during the week before the show to get acquainted with the band, and found myself nodding along to the feel good melodies while I hacked away at my office job. The music was great; really solid stuff that made tedious paperwork flow a little quicker. I highly recommend any of their albums.

But as good as the albums are do not miss an opportunity to see these guys live. Live is the way to see this band! Yes that was italics. Yes I mean it.

El Ten Eleven does so much in a live show it’s hard to catalog it all. They provide heavy shredding guitar riffs that make you want to bang your head. They blend complicated time signatures and looped melodies together seamlessly, creating songs within songs within songs. They branch out stylistically (guitarist/bassist Kristian Dunn was actually playing his guitar with what I believe was a cello bow at one point). They move the crowd emotionally with slow build ups and dramatic releases reminiscent of any good DJ. They provide a dazzling light show that impacts the performance as much as any big label band.

And yes, they even covered a Joy Division song.

So in the center of a very crowded dive bar off Broadway, surrounded by dudes with flowing beards and skin tight jeans that were at least 8 years younger than me, I stood slack jawed and bobbing next to my girlfriend and partook in some serious audio joy.

That’s really the best descriptor I can come up with for the music Kristian Dunn and Tim Fogerty create. Audio joy. Tunes that just make you happy, regardless of if you’re a music nerd or just someone that knows good tunes when you hear it. And apparently, tunes that make reviewers write in sentence fragments!

Check these guys out live and see what I’m talking about. You’ll be stammering too!