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Suka / Spitwinterspit / Tapeworm (CD)
Trancy, bleary guitars (and guitar ambience) are the order of the day on
spitwinterspit,
albeit bleary guitars with the standard (and seemingly inborn) New Zealander
knack for melodic hookage. There's more here than simple melodies for cough
syrup drinkers, though -- Suka display a penchant for willfully veering into
avant-noise territory. This is done competently and with an ear towards
aesthetic value -- there are no gratuituous We Needed Loud Punk Rock Noise
So We Made Some moments here, which keeps spitwinterspit from
descending into prog-wankage-land. The occasional, and largely tuneless,
vocals are a mixed bag, intruding as often as they enhance -- they're best on
tracks like "ZYWY", where they sit below the crest of the melody and avoid drawing too
much attention to themselves. -- gz
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Layaway Plan / Force Of Habit / Smallman (CD)
Canadian power punkers Layaway Plan may come from Moose Jaw, but they're
ready for the big time! The band's second CD, Force of Habit,
presents LP's pop hardcore credentials very nicely. At times I'm reminded
of a lighter Suicidal Tendencies. At other times, more recent California
punk outfits come to mind (Bad Religion, MXPX on speed), especially in the
way that the songs on Force combine melodic writing with convincing punk power.
Having two guitars in the line-up serves Layaway Plan well; on tracks like
"Wasted" the octave-doubled melody lines towards the end scream Metallica
and lend a sense of weight to the music. Other notables include "Come Back" and "Stereotype". -- nw
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Various Artists / BossaCucaNova / Six Degrees (CD)
Yes, it's a Bossa Nova remix disc. If you're not entirely clear what
that means, let's get something out of the way: we're not talking about
avant-loungecore bands that have adopted Bossa Nova rhythms, or about
Stereolab's occasional forays in that direction. What we have here is a group
of "authentic" Brazilian Bossa Nova jazz tracks -- some new, some old -- that has
been pumped up via the addition of hip-hop beats, scratching and the
odd bit of cut and paste technology. It's quite enjoyable stuff if your
tastes sway in a South American direction -- Claudia Telles' "Samba de Uma Nota So"
is particularly striking -- but it's not going to scare your parents one
bit, unless they're Deadheads. -- gz
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Angry Samoans / 90's Suck & So Do You / Triple X
(CD)
Claiming exactly ONE original member, this monstrous resurrection of the
Angry Samoans sounds more like a dulled Ramones cover outfit than the guys who penned such
classics as "Egyptomania" and "Gas Chamber." There's some snotty commentary still, and there's even a decent cover of The
Zeroes' "Beat Your Heart Out," but this version of the Samoans lacks the
flair and biting acidity of the original lineup. -- am
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The King / Gravelands / Ark 21 (CD)
Basically, what you've got here is a 31-year-old postman-turned-
Elvis-imitator belting out the hits of other well-known dead musicians.
The agenda calculatedly includes Nirvana's "Come As You Are", which seems
to be the "hook" for getting Gravelands and the King lots of press
attention. The rest of the songs -- "Sweet Home Alabama", "Voodoo Chile",
"Dock of the Bay", "I Heard it Through the Grapevine" and others -- are
rendered competently, but they're mostly lame songs to begin with. The
"dead people's material" gimmick may have broadened Gravelands'
appeal, but think how much longer the joke could have been sustained with
a stranger mix of material -- the Prodigy's "Firestarter", for instance, or
the Dead Kennedy's "Holiday In Cambodia". Still, this is probably riotously
funny if you're drunk. -- gz
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Saturated continues Mundok’s trend of ambient, keyboard-infused
compositions that mechanically tunnel their way into your memory. Mundok
combines brittle keyboard interjections with potent, pulsing bass lines,
producing tunes like "Chemical Flow," which has a pristine facade but an unchaste undercurrent that'll get you grinning excitedly. By doctoring up
several electronic styles, Mundok deftly avoids the monotonous mess of computerized dribble that makes up so many electronic releases today. -- am
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Various Artists / Pop Romantique / Emperor Norton (CD)
Ahh, the French...what they do with pop (and, for that matter, vanilla)...it's magical. Capture the magic with Pop Romantique, on which an unusually tolerable cross-section of Today's Most Popular Artists cover the works of Hardy, Gainsbourg, Lai et al -- or in a few cases (like The Apples In Stereo, who are special, and whom we're contractually obligated to mention whenever they have the slightest thing to do with an album we're reviewing) channel the French Pop Muse through original works. Don't come to the table expecting accordians or Gallic ambiance, though -- what you'll get here is bubbly sixties pop, all guitar jangle and organ chords. Pop Romantique is perfect for the weekend Francophile (or for anyone wishing to recreate the Limited Express Shopping Experience at home) -- but I can't shake the feeling that it should've been sillier, dammit. -- gz
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Hash Jar Tempo / Under Glass / Drunken Fish (CD)
This second collaboration between Bardo Pond and the
elusive Robert Montgomery should probably be filed under
Music For Introspective Mind Expansion. Over seven tracks,
guitars squeal, murmur, mutter, howl and chime, building a sonic
landscape of constrained chaos and sheets of exquisite feedback.
Despite the loud, thunderous tendencies of the music, Under
Glass is a gentle storm, with each track a carefully measured
portion in which every noise is held in place by an invisible cover (hence the title).
As a result, cuts like the exemplary "Hymenoptera in Amber
Crybaby" exist at a distance -- even when you sit next to the
speaker, you feel as if you're hearing music from the next room.
If you've ever wondered what My Bloody Valentine would
sound like if taken internally in capsule form, Under Glass
has your answer. -- gz
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