Skip to main content

XO Stocking Stuffer: The Weeknd - Echoes of Silence ("The Balloon Trilogy")



Intentional or not, Abel Tesfaye managed to make quite the [late night] ruckus by boldly opening Echoes of Silence with a spot-on Michael Jackson cover: "Dirty Diana" (Bad). Tesfaye initially burst onto the scene in March 2011 under the musical guise "The Weeknd," along with fellow Canadian producers Illangelo & Doc McKinney. Their critically acclaimed inaugural mixtape, House of Balloons was released soon thereafter and Part 2 of "The Balloon Trilogy," Thursday was released that following August. The Weeknd's unique brand of sample-based R&B draws heavily from a number of Indie Rock sources: Beach House, Siouxsie & The Banshees, Cocteau Twins, Thieves Like Us, and Marina Topley-Bird. Mild production work has since been outsourced to fellow up-and-comers, Clams Casino and DropxLife (XO).


Echoes of Silence was released @ roughly 12 midnight, Dec. 21-22; That is, during Fall 2011 (albeit the final minutes) as originally promised. The Weeknd remains unsigned, rarely play public shows, and Abel Tesfaye is largely absent from the public eye - with little to no mass media interaction. Early reports speculate that Echoes of Silence's underlying plotline details it's titular character's journey as he discovers that... his countless "girlfriends" are actually playing him, instead of vice versa, as he was lead to believe. The third volume of "Balloon Trilogy" features an odd 9 tracks, just like it's predecessors. House of Balloons' staple track, "High for This" appeared on the Entourage (Season 8) soundtrack... and Abel Tesfaye recently co-wrote and appeared on 3-4 tracks from Drake's sophomore album, Take Care. In his spare time, Illangelo has crafted remixes for the likes of Lady GaGa and Florence + The Machine.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

"Let Me Shine for You:" Lindsay Lohan for Playboy (Winter 2011-12 Leak)

Lindsay Lohan essentially embodies exactly "What NOT to Do In Hollywood :" Fame, fortune, success... sex, drugs & Rock "N" Roll . Within a fairly short period of time, Lohan somehow managed to obtain a plentiful helping of POWER @ a very young age. This gradual rise-downfall was captured on film; Between 1998-2010, she portrayed a wide array of roles across the silver screen in movies including: Mean Girls, Bobby , Herbie Fully Loaded , Georgia Rule, Machete , and Freaky Friday . Between rapid-paced film shoots, Lindsay Lohan also found time to record 2 Pop Rock albums for Casablanca , Speak (2004) and A Litter More Personal-Raw (2005). Needless to say, Lindsay Lohan has gotten roped up in a lot of troubles and woes with the law over the last 3-5 years... a vicious cycle of drugs, arrest, court, rehab, "daddy issues," jail time [Repeat]. That's the pure basics of it - But Google that shit for additional info, if necessary. Towards the end of...

Mickey Avalon - "Jane Fonda," Compliments of 2006.

Liberty Bell Cracked In 1/2: Ween - "Freedom of '76" (Gene Ween's Final Send-Off)

Chocolate & Cheese (1994) was one of the first albums I bought with my own money. I was in some sort of BMG Music Club , where you'd buy 5 CD's and then get 10 for "FREE." It was all sent through mail order and you picked the titles from some special booklet. I'm almost positive that Chocolate & Cheese's side boob-baring album cover was what initially drew me in... mind you, I was 12-15 and the zany Ween logo/middle finger CD graphic really didn't hurt either. Honestly, I forget how I really felt about it @ the time, but a few years later, my older cousin Josh told me that Ween were this BIG college "jam band." CKY did some sort pf 93.3 radio takeover to promote their new album and played "Freedom of '76" late that night on air. Needless to say, I re-visited Chocolate & Cheese @ about 20-something this go 'round and I fucking loved it! Ween were really weird, yet talented... almost too talented. I can vaguel...