NEW BEAUTIFUL by Satellite Tragedy
SATELLITE TRAGEDY: New Beautiful
2008/ Popup Records
11 tracks / 39:17 minutes
I have had the pleasure of interviewing Ridd Sorensen of Satellite Tragedy for the MacJams Blog. Please see Ridd Sorensen: Drawing On The Moment. We discuss the album during the interview, along with a bunch of other personal and career stuff. Please check it out.
Satellite Tragedy is comprised of two members, Ridd Sorensen (vocals, guitars, synths) and Scott Davies (percussion, guitars, synths) of Vancouver, Canada. Davies produced the album himself. It is top notch, from the thought-through writing to the excellent performances to the detailed, immaculate production.
From the outset, this album has a conceptual feel. The opening track walks a tightrope between prologue and tone poem, setting a mood that comes out of an electronic fog, like a kind of birth from the jaws of the Twilight Zone. Some have called it ominous, but I had a distinctively optimistic, upbeat sense, even though I knew whatever that previous life had been (for, if this was birth, it came out of something already survived), it experienced wounding disappointment and uncertainty.
The prologue flows right into an alternative pop riff with post-melancholy vocals. But “In My Head Again” is no ordinary pop rock tune. It continues to grow, completing the birth into the alternative reality New Beautiful paints. Fabulous arranging.
When the third track begins, you know you are into the album with both feet. “Ethanol” starts with a mainstream punk pop feel, a repeated hook and simple guitar that drives harder and harder into the depths of explosive desires, true to its name. By the end, it transcends by burning itself in its own fire, as the guitar solo tears the entire track apart. Again, fabulous arranging.
As if landing on his knees aside a smoldering junk yard, Ridd begins “Inside Your Skin” (see below) sifting through rattled-effect laden rhythms with hushed vocals. But when he lifts his chin off his chest, throws his head back and begins to wail, his clear voice cuts through the distortion like lightning, illuminating a new clarity. Conscience trying desperately to be heard. By this time in the album, I’m beginning to think Ridd and Scott are the new genius rock duo come to save music.
Then the anthem-like “Gone” fills the room and I am further stunned. Ridd’s vocals in its upper register are so good, I think this is the perfect style for him. He has found his inner power. The saturated wall of sound that encircles him in the song’s loudest moments cannot drown him out. He soars.
As if to prove me wrong (about rock anthems being Ridd’s perfect style), “Out of my Mind” interrupts: a short, grungy, riotous interlude. It slaps me out of my certainties. I realize the character he is developing has deeper issues of obsession and despair then I had first imagined. The song proves to be the hinge moment; the album turns from expressionist brilliance to contemplation.
The screams turn into exhaustion. “Tonight” (written by Michael Marquesen) floats between a sense of giving up and a need to start over, even if it means a kind of internal suicide. It is a mood piece that flows magically out of the New Beautiful conceptual framework, and also gives the listener a chance to catch his/her breath. Neither this track nor the next 3 rises to the level of greatness that the first half of the album achieved, but only a crazy reviewer would expect such a thing. Lots of good things to say about the ebb and flow achieved in these four tracks; the album surges onward in competent energy, bringing several moments that pique and surprise, sooth and stroke. Then the final track appears.
After a fairly long intro, “Goodbye” returns to the mainstream anthem sound I loved so much in track 5. Through the balanced banter of layered rhythmic guitar, pulsating bass, and interwoven synth sounds, Ridd’s strong vocals pierces with a renewed strength. The twisting, spinning sense of distortion and electronica that has served to add spice to nearly every track (reminding us of internal pains and difficult memories), the residue of pain tries to force itself into a new focus, but cannot. Ridd’s vocals are too true. His character has learned enough to start again. The goodbye becomes a creed of self-belief. He has found a new compass, a new sonar. Again, fabulous arranging.
This is a great album. I highly recommend it.
For more information and samples of their music, check out the links below: Satellite Tragedy.
Tracks:
1. New Beautiful
2. In My Head Again
3. Ethanol
4. Inside Your Skin
5. Gone
6. Out Of My Head
7. Tonight
8. SP-117
9.This Unknown
10. Interference
11. Goodbye
LINKS:
• New Beautiful on iTunes
• Satellite Tragedy band website
• Blind Dog Sky band website
• New Beautiful - available at www.popuprecords.com
Inside Your Skin by Satellite Tragedy [5:03m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download Gone by Satellite Tragedy [3:18m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
March 3rd, 2009 at 7:54 pm
excellent review, i’d say you about summed it up. now hopefully some folks will google this and get themselves a copy. great record/cd/batch of mp3 files/whatever…. just get it.
March 3rd, 2009 at 11:40 pm
Great review Tobin. I got New Beautiful right when it came out and I would encourage everyone interested in Ridd’s work to buy a copy. It’s an excellent CD in its entirety.
March 4th, 2009 at 10:39 am
Very thorough and well written review… but the album in question deserves the attention. Ridd and Scott should be more than MJ’s best kept secret.
March 4th, 2009 at 7:27 pm
Got my copy earlier this week and multiple listens already. I am working on my own review… but just popped by to say that it is a really stellar effort with lots of quality songs. On top of that, I’ve have the great pleasure to work with Ridd on a couple of tracks and really admire his musicianship and character.
Thanks Tobin for your service to the macjams community - and for taking time to give exposure to such promising musicians.
Daniel (AKA Luna Trick)
March 6th, 2009 at 7:45 pm
Serious review, Tobin…I agree with so much of what you’ve said. I love the conceptual flavor of this cd. These guys are very, very talented…
May 3rd, 2009 at 10:14 pm
There is obviously a lot to know about this. I think you made some good points in Features also.
November 10th, 2009 at 9:11 am
Agreed, they should be heard and have great mojo going on.
November 15th, 2009 at 2:38 pm
nice one Tobin your articles was so good ..!
November 18th, 2009 at 9:04 pm
Satellite
Your topic MacJams Music Blog ” Blog Archive ” NEW BEAUTIFUL by … was interesting when I found it on Wednesday searching for Satellite, I will definitely check out this website again.
November 19th, 2009 at 4:56 pm
,..] blog.macjams.com is other interesting source of tips on this issue,..]
January 29th, 2010 at 7:35 am
For the family with more than one iPod, iPod 2 iPod - iPod to iPod transfer gives you the power to take control of your music and video collection.
February 2nd, 2010 at 2:37 pm
Hey there, neat blog, just wondering what spam program you use for filtering out junk websites since I have been hit by lots on my website.
March 4th, 2010 at 1:26 am
In my head, I hear you calling me………. i can never forget the lyrics… it was too gud..
Even GoodBye is also a great composition………
March 25th, 2010 at 10:17 am
Nice web site,have a pleasant day
April 22nd, 2010 at 9:05 pm
Great article. There’s a lot of good info here, though I did want to let you know a problem - I am running Redhat with the up-to-date beta of Firefox, and the look and feel of your blog is kind of bizarre for me. I can read the post, but the navigation does not function so great
-Jamey Manocchia
May 5th, 2010 at 1:40 pm
This is really the most wonderful of ways and I truly agree with this. I have beengoing through so many new things out here that enable me to bring to the forefront several things. Yours truly for all the help that you hve rendered via your blogs.
June 5th, 2010 at 11:27 am
The catchy website with the interesting posts. You give the very useful information that many people don’t know before. most of your contents are make me have more knowledge. it is very different. I was impressed with your blog. Never be bored to visit your website again. Have the nice your time.Keep enjoyed your blogging.
June 8th, 2010 at 2:33 am
My brother and I seriously need to thank you, this was good to read!
July 9th, 2010 at 10:26 am
very nice article hopefully i learned from it.
October 10th, 2010 at 10:10 pm
Фонд Во имя Родины - благотворительность
October 29th, 2010 at 10:52 pm
You you should change the blog subject title MacJams Music Blog » Blog Archive » NEW BEAUTIFUL by Satellite Tragedy to something more catching for your subject you make. I liked the the writing however.
November 16th, 2010 at 2:10 pm
Hey There. Firstly nice site. Thank you for making this public. I love telekinesis.
December 16th, 2010 at 2:40 pm
I thoroughly enjoyed reading your article and the comments on here even though it took quite some time. I love discussing this topic so your blog is somewhere I will probably spend a lot of time from now on.
December 16th, 2010 at 5:27 pm
thanks for the data. I will definitly revisit this website once more.
December 16th, 2010 at 6:40 pm
I can’t believe I “forgot” to read your blog since I found it 3 months earlier. Too busy with work I guess. Anyways I have it bookmarked now to be sure that I get notified as soon as you put some new content up.
December 17th, 2010 at 7:19 am
I would like to say “wow” what a inspiring publish. This is actually wonderful. Keep undertaking what you’re carrying out!!
December 20th, 2010 at 5:25 pm
I just stumbled across your website from a friend’s digg profile. Bless him. Websites like yours are really rare in a webspace full of crap and spam.
December 24th, 2010 at 3:24 pm
As always, another great article. Checking your blog daily for the latest posts has become a routine for me now. I am practically addicted to your blog.
January 10th, 2011 at 1:22 pm
Hey your rss feed doesn’t seem to work. Can you please have a appear at it and fix it. I like to read your posts as you place them up because I certainly get pleasure from your content material!
January 14th, 2011 at 3:01 pm
I want to thank the blogger very significantly not only for this post but also for his all earlier endeavours. I observed thesimpleyoga.com to be significantly interesting. I will be coming again to thesimpleyoga.com for much more info
February 20th, 2011 at 7:20 am
Great goods from you, man. I have understand your stuff previous to and you are just extremely great. I really like what you’ve acquired here, certainly like what you’re saying and the way in which you say it. Telewizja Przemyslowa You make it enjoyable and you still care for to keep it smart. I can not wait to read far more from you. This is actually a great website.
February 28th, 2011 at 10:24 pm
It took me a while to look around all of the comments, but I really enjoyed the subject that you chose. It seemed to be very helpful to me and I am bound to all of the different people who have looked at this blog, It’s constantly good when your not simply informed, but your also entertained! I’m positive you rejoiced scripting this article. I’m going to grab your rss feed so I don’t miss anything essential that you guys might as well come up with within the future, Thanks.
April 15th, 2011 at 1:30 pm
For many years I have been looking for such a site which could provide me with all the Justin Bieber songs.But,each time I was not able to find any.Good news for fans of Justin Bieber.I have found a site to collect or listen Justin Bieber songs.You may try now !
May 3rd, 2011 at 3:59 pm
Do you need a new set of Aviation Headsets? The you should check out the hottest headsets.
May 13th, 2011 at 4:21 am
Great artical, I unfortunately had some problems printing this artcle out, The print formating looks a little screwed over, something you might want to look into.
May 21st, 2011 at 3:37 pm
Youre so cool! I dont suppose Ive learn anything like this before. So nice to find any person with some original thoughts on this subject. realy thank you for starting this up. this web site is something that’s needed on the net, someone with a bit originality. helpful job for bringing something new to the web!
June 1st, 2011 at 5:14 pm
Unquestionably believe that which you stated. Your favorite justification seemed to be on the internet the easiest thing to be aware of. I say to you, I certainly get irked while people think about worries that they plainly don’t know about. You managed to hit the nail upon the top and defined out the whole thing without having side effect , people can take a signal. Will likely be back to get more. Thanks
June 3rd, 2011 at 9:47 am
Just watched Justin caught on security cam making love with that little girl from the concert. Crazy http://bit.ly/kCc9pO
June 5th, 2011 at 11:02 pm
I was bored on my lunch break and then I discovered your blog story. This was so attention grabbing that I was late in coming back to work. Can’t wait to email this with my colleagues!
June 7th, 2011 at 10:37 pm
good blog post, i surely enjoy this site, keep on it.
June 13th, 2011 at 6:59 am
A few things i have always told folks is that while looking for a good online electronics retail outlet, there are a few components that you have to factor in. First and foremost, you should really make sure to look for a reputable along with reliable store that has obtained great critiques and classification from other consumers and industry advisors. This will ensure that you are dealing with a well-known store to provide good assistance and aid to their patrons. Many thanks for sharing your opinions on this weblog.
June 24th, 2011 at 12:20 pm
I really hope to read more of your posts in the future, so I’ve bookmarked your blog.
June 26th, 2011 at 1:47 pm
Thanks a lot for any post, I even learned a lot from using it. Excellent content here. Always longing for new post!
June 26th, 2011 at 7:46 pm
I like this plan
June 27th, 2011 at 1:09 pm
This document are so good. I will try to come this site, because this is amazing. Thanks dude.
June 28th, 2011 at 1:50 am
I truly appreciate that which you web site in here, extremely informative and sensible.
July 3rd, 2011 at 2:13 pm
Wow! Your website is very interesting site.
July 12th, 2011 at 5:00 am
Amazing world-wide-web site , Relating to uncovered this amazing insightful new. A huge amount tips and hints of the usb ports. I’m certainly thinking about the information concerning unhealthy weight. Involved with taken a crack at bringing lipobind with eliminating weight ingestion? Or, achieve try it out. It is highly effective in my experience. I’ve created a connection to. Many thanks.
July 13th, 2011 at 7:15 pm
I just now wanted to thank you again for the amazing web site you have developed here. It is full of ideas for those who are genuinely interested in this specific subject, in particular this very post. Your all actually sweet along with thoughtful of others in addition to the fact that reading your website posts is an excellent delight in my experience. And such a generous present! Mary and I are going to have pleasure making use of your suggestions in what we have to do in the future. Our collection of ideas is a kilometer long and simply put tips are going to be put to very good use.
July 17th, 2011 at 2:32 am
Hi, intresting post I have just subscribed to your feed
July 21st, 2011 at 3:58 am
Interesting text and I’m waiting for another one.
July 29th, 2011 at 9:53 pm
The very heart of your writing whilst sounding agreeable originally, did not settle well with me personally after some time. Somewhere within the sentences you actually were able to make me a believer unfortunately only for a very short while. I however have got a problem with your jumps in logic and one would do nicely to help fill in those gaps. If you can accomplish that, I would surely be impressed.
August 5th, 2011 at 10:06 pm
Will you be centered on exchanging back links?
August 23rd, 2011 at 10:10 am
I work for an organization that provides information to members on various topics. If we send a link to copyrighted web content (such as a page on the IBM web site) are we infringing on that content’s copyright? I’m pretty certain we aren’t — if you can point me towards relevant legal precedents, etc. that would be great.. Keep in mind that I’m already pretty certain that we can freely use the URLs. What I really need is legal documentation of that fact, to make our corporate attorney happy. Thanks!.
August 25th, 2011 at 11:58 am
I love you site
August 27th, 2011 at 2:03 am
Howdy! I simply want to give an enormous thumbs up for the great data you’ve here on this post. I will probably be coming again to your weblog for more soon.
September 6th, 2011 at 5:11 am
Thanks a lot for providing individuals with an exceptionally nice chance to read articles and blog posts from this site.
October 1st, 2011 at 9:41 am
I precisely desired to thank you very much once again. I do not know the things I might have achieved without the entire tips and hints shared by you directly on such a theme. It had been the frightful dilemma in my view, however , taking note of a expert way you solved that took me to weep for happiness. I’m just grateful for the work and even believe you comprehend what an amazing job you have been getting into educating many people by way of your web blog. Most likely you’ve never got to know any of us.
October 29th, 2011 at 8:15 am
You will find a handful of intriguing points at some point in this posting but I don’t determine if I see these center to heart. There exists some validity but Let me take hold opinion until I take a appear at it further. Superb write-up , thanks and we want a good deal a lot more! Combined with FeedBurner too
October 30th, 2011 at 12:33 pm
Twitter API rate limit for this account has been exceeded. This will be rest in 3m 23s. Wth? That’s what my twitter is saying-.- wth?
November 4th, 2011 at 8:22 pm
justin bieber - the bieber fever information and facts
[…]MacJams Music Blog » Blog Archive » NEW BEAUTIFUL by Satellite Tragedy[…]
November 6th, 2011 at 8:02 am
building confidence
[…]MacJams Music Blog » Blog Archive » NEW BEAUTIFUL by Satellite Tragedy[…]
November 6th, 2011 at 8:38 am
self empowerment
[…]MacJams Music Blog » Blog Archive » NEW BEAUTIFUL by Satellite Tragedy[…]
November 13th, 2011 at 4:17 am
best Cataclysm guide
[…]MacJams Music Blog » Blog Archive » NEW BEAUTIFUL by Satellite Tragedy[…]
November 17th, 2011 at 10:50 am
Justin Bieber
[…]MacJams Music Blog » Blog Archive » NEW BEAUTIFUL by Satellite Tragedy[…]
November 21st, 2011 at 8:51 am
Thank for shared good info and i like your blog it clean and nice picture.
November 23rd, 2011 at 5:29 pm
there are two types of Bipolar Manic Depression
November 29th, 2011 at 12:01 am
websat
[…]MacJams Music Blog » Blog Archive » NEW BEAUTIFUL by Satellite Tragedy[…]
January 5th, 2012 at 2:35 am
I liked to many thanks for such terrific I surely favored any bit of doing it. I have you added the web-site to look over the new content you page.
March 27th, 2012 at 11:23 pm
Wow, amazing blog layout! How long have you been blogging for? you made blogging look easy. The overall look of your site is magnificent, let alone the content!. Thanks For Your article about MacJams Music Blog » Blog Archive » NEW BEAUTIFUL by Satellite Tragedy .
July 11th, 2012 at 9:44 pm
I really admire Justin Bieber as well as Carly Rae Jepsen because they are two naturally talented persons which have very humble beginnings. I wish them well on their careers and hope that they even get more popular. :`”“ Warm regards supplements webpage