America (Dan Deacon album)

America is a studio album by American electronic musician Dan Deacon, released August 27, 2012 on Domino Records. The album cover is a photo of Lake Placid.

Recording

Production

America was recorded using both electronic sounds and live recordings. An anechoic chamber was built in Baltimore to record the orchestral track "Rail." The reason Deacon decided to incorporate live instruments onto the album was that Deacon felt that electronic beats were limited by its lack of flaws and that he wanted the "slight imperfection in timing" human musicians have. Because he wanted the album to sound "more like a rock record" than an electronic one, Deacon enlisted King Crimson engineer Simon Heyworth to master the album.

Themes

In an interview with NPR, Deacon said that the album was inspired by the politics and geography of the United States, saying:

Deacon described the album as "political," saying that the lyrics were "[..] inspired by my frustration, fear and anger towards the country and world I live in and am a part of." However, Deacon also said that he did not want the political nature to be overt, arguing that people do not respond to overt political messages.

America (Razorlight song)

'America' is a song by English indie rock band Razorlight, and is the fourth track to their self-titled second studio album, Razorlight (2006). It was written by Johnny Borrell and Andy Burrows (credited to Borrell, Burrows, and Razorlight) and was also released as the second single from that album in October 2006.

The song garnered a negative reception from critics for its attempt at both political commentary and transatlantic crossover appeal. "America" became the band's first and only number-one single in the United Kingdom and was the country's 17th best selling single of that year. The song also peaked within the top 10 in Ireland, the Netherlands and New Zealand, and within the top 40 in Austria, Belgium, France, Switzerland and Germany.

Critical reception

"America" received generally negative reviews from music crtics who found its attempt at serious commentary laughable and pretentious. Adam Zacharias of Drowned in Sound panned the song for cribbing the same lyrics from the previous single "In the Morning" and for coming off as trite commentary for the mass public, calling it "a terrible piece of faux-sentiment." Liz Colville of Stylus Magazine criticized the song's attempt at being a blue-collar anthem in the vein of Bruce Springsteen but without his particular musicianship. Michael Lomas of PopMatters called the song "soft rock hell", saying that it checklists every cliché of that criteria that makes it come off as similar to Foreigner and Boston than U2 of The Joshua Tree.

America (aircraft)

The America was a Fokker C-2 trimotor monoplane that was flown in 1927 by Richard E. Byrd, Bernt Balchen, George Otto Noville, and Bert Acosta on their transatlantic flight.

History

For eight years after the first non-stop heavier than air Atlantic crossing by a British Vickers Vimy in 1919, there were no further such flights. Then, in 1927, three crossings were made by American flyers, the America's being the third after Lindbergh's first solo crossing in the Spirit of St. Louis flight and Clarence Chamberlin's Columbia flight from New York to Berlin. All three were aspiring to win the Orteig Prize. It was also the first aircraft to carry official airmail across the Atlantic.

The America was destroyed after it was ditched near the French village of Ver-sur-Mer after having flown to Paris but unable to land due to fog. Distance covered was about 3,800 miles not counting the time and distance spent at Paris waiting in vain for the fog to clear. After it was towed ashore, it was torn apart by souvenir hunters. Portions of the aircraft reside in several museums in Europe and in the United States.

Born to Die (Lana Del Rey album)

Born to Die is the second studio album and major-label debut by American singer and songwriter Lana Del Rey. It was released on January 27, 2012 by Interscope Records, Polydor Records, and Stranger Records. Del Rey collaborated with producers including Patrik Berger, Jeff Bhasker, Chris Braide, Emile Haynie, Justin Parker, Rick Nowels, Robopop, and Al Shux to achieve her desired sound. Their efforts resulted in a primarily baroque pop record, which sees additional influences from alternative hip hop, indie pop and trip hop music.

Contemporary music critics were divided in their opinions of Born to Die; some commended its distinctive production, while its repetitiveness and melodramatic tendencies were a recurring complaint. The record debuted at number two on the U.S. Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 77,000 copies; it was later certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) after moving one million units. Born to Die reached the peak position on eleven international record charts, and has sold 8.5 million copies worldwide as of May 2015.

Radio (Darius Rucker song)

"Radio" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music artist Darius Rucker. It was released on July 22, 2013 as the third single from his album True Believers. Rucker wrote the song with Luke Laird and Ashley Gorley.

Content

The song is a reflection on the narrator's teenage years: specifically, of borrowing his mother's car to take his girlfriend for a ride, and listening to songs on the radio while doing so.

Critical reception

The song generally received favorable reviews. Bobby Peacock of Roughstock gave the song four and a half stars out of five, saying that "it sounds like the kind of fun song you would want to hear on the radio at a memorable moment." Peacock praised Rucker's "all-smiles delivery" and the song's "incredibly catchy melody and tight production." He also compared its theme to "I Watched It All (On My Radio)" by Lionel Cartwright. Tammy Ragusa of Country Weekly gave the song an A grade, calling it "the perfect marriage of an artist’s effervescent personality with an upbeat song, this one about the love of music." Billy Dukes of Taste of Country gave the song two and a half stars out of five, writing that "the uptempo tribute to young love, open roads and, of course, the radio is familiar and easy to fall for, especially when powered by Rucker’s unequaled exuberance." However, Dukes also called the song "a little fluffy" and "not difficult to forget."

Not What You Expected

Not What You Expected is the sixth studio album from American pop punk band Mest, their first album in eight years with only vocalist Tony Lovato returning. Originally slated for released in April 2012, the album was continuously pushed back until September 24, 2013. A week before the release, the band announced via their official Facebook account and website that they would be giving the album away for free, one song per week, through their official website. However, internationally in Japan, the album was released in full.

Singles

The album's first single, "Almost," which had an accompanying music video, was released on February 14, 2012. The second single, "Radio (Something to Believe)," was released over a year later on June 4, 2013, which has also been made into a music video. Although not an official single, "One Life," was released for free during the summer of 2012 to hold fans over until the official release.

Track listing