OUR WEEKLY COLLECTION OF SHORTER REVIEWS | |
Open Mike: A Tribute to the Songs of Mike Merz,
Volume One,
Phoenecia,
Ester Drang,
Hollywood Superstars,
Duf Davis and the Book Club,
Kittyhawk,
Tekulvi,
Joel Bachrach and Friends,
Hood,
99cent Dream,
Chante! 1985-2000, Ambiance magnétiques,
Volume 5,
Daedelus,
Paper Airplane Pilots,
The Beatings,
The Tighties,
Jill Brazil,
Perry Botkin,
The Album Leaf,
Rufus Maneuvers,
Violet Indiana,
Looking for the Perfect Glass: U.S. Pop Life
Vol. 11 California Post-Punk,
Chelsea's Corner,
Diesel Boy,
Glass Planet,
Loren MazzaCane Connors,
Organic Audio,
Micromars,
Jeff McLeod,
Isabelle's Gift,
The Posies
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Various Artists / Open Mike: A Tribute to the Songs of Mike Merz,
Volume One / Hear Diagonally
(CD)
While it may seem self-serving to construct a tribute disc to yourself,
Minnesotan songwriter Mike Merz has done exactly that (hey, at least the
proceeds go towards AIDS prevention). While I'm not familiar with Merz's
originals (under his own name and as Pimentos for Gus), the versions here can
be hit or miss. On the hit side are the more gentle acoustic tracks, such
as Zapruder Point's softly-sung "Protection" or the tabloid-pastiche of Eric Ziegenhagen's "Degredator". Some of the noisier and more abstract versions, however, seem to require knowledge of the originals for full appreciation. -- rd
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Phoenecia / Brownout / Schematic (CD)
When I first listened to Brownout, I thought my CD
player had somehow failed. The sound is so minimalistic that it's almost not there; two or three instruments are run through various processors and filters, muting their sound to a fraction of the original noise. Art is defined by the process, not the outcome, and by the same rationale, this is music. However, finding and quantifying the absence of sound, and then defining it as sound, has been done before (John Cage, etc.), and in this case is purely an academic exercise. Maybe my problem is my critical bias: deconstruction is less valid than other critical forms because it's easier to remove and dismantle ideas than it is to create original ones. To imagine the CD, think of the quietest Aphex Twin track you've heard, played at low volume, and re-recorded using hollow-metal-hull-underwater sound of a sub, which was deliberately added by Kay and Castillo. On the level of a listener recogizing the sounds and concepts that the artists meant to achieve, the album is a success. If the artists intended to create a listenable LP, the artistic exercise can be considered a failure. Phoenecia named the album Brownout to evoke the minimalistic, dimmed effect of a sputtering electric light during brownout. Better that they should change the bulb. -- js
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I have always had a very standoffish attitude
towards Christian music. While it may seem absurd to
some (Why should a band's religious undertones effect
the music?), I can never avoid feeling as if some
outside force is trying to influence me
through incomprehensible yet didactic
lyrics. Ester Drang is superficially a "Christian
band", in that their lyrics relate back to Jesus, but
I am certainly not struck with the same defensive
feeling I get when the new Starflyer 59 CD comes on. The
nine songs on Goldenwest are melodic
compositions with electronic leanings that hint at
influences as far ranging as My Bloody Valentine,
Marvin Gaye, Phillip Glass and Boards of Canada. They
are definitely trying to accomplish something
different. The eclectic instrumentation prevents the
album from ever falling into a rut and plausibly
avoids any hint of bloated self-indulgence, while the
song to song stylistic contrast prevents the band from
being easily pigeonholed. -- jw
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Hollywood Superstars / Girls + Boys Demo / Hollywood Superstars (CD)
I knew something smelled fishy when I first looked at the cover of this
CD-R. After some bizarre rambling on the first track, the
immediate mention of secret-agent-gone-wrong Captain T on the second
track immediately jacked me up straight in my seat. Looking like a
Halloween costume party gone wrong, the Superstars bombard you with brash
references and a heavily overdriven guitar that rocks first and asks
questions later. Everyone's favorite 80's city anthem, "I Love LA", takes
its memorable potshots at Chicago and NYC before settling on telling you
about what the real rockstar life is like. Adding a Doors medley and
balls-to-the-wall assault that kicks some serious ass, this cover will
leave you awestruck. Imagine a Vegas lounge singer decked out in
full glory, with a backing band of misfit metal types and a pugnacious punk
rock attitude, and you have the Superstars. -- am
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Duf Davis and The Book Club / Murdertainment / Orange Entropy
(CD)
Duf Davis is weird. But more importantly, Murdertainment
is weir,d and I honestly don’t know how to describe it. Sometimes it’s
brooding instrumentals, other times it’s sardonic singer/songwriter pop
tunes, and still other times it’s black-hearted piano bar music. There’s even a
passage at the beginning of "Silly Symphony" in which an eight year-old repeats
the lines "I don’t feel other people’s pain. You can hurt me, but I won’t
feel it." Not quite sure how appropriate that is...but it’s entertaining
nonetheless. -- az
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Kittyhawk / Kill Devil Hills / Curious (CD)
Has anyone seen that movie Friends 'Til the End, with Shannen Doherty, on VH-1? It's the one where she's the front chick for a band that plays easy-to-swallow, heard-it-before college rock with predictable, cliche-laden lyrics. Too bad for Kittyhawk; Kill Devil Hills could double for
that film's soundtrack. Every song's hook seems so desperately placed -- how
could they have a song without one? Though lead vocalist Jennifer Zablocki
can certainly sing, and her bandmates are no doubt talented musicians,
there's something missing here. I think it's originality. Even high points
like the bluesy, gospelesque "Touch" can't save this one for me. -- al
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Tekulvi / Who Knows Where We Are /Camel Clutch (CD)
The self-released Who Knows Where We Are maroons Tekulvi on the same
safe island as heaps of other indie rockers -- the world of unobtrusive,
predominately instrumental, hook-less, ambient, guitar-centered jazz. Thanks
to the jazz connection, such bands can be certain of obtaining some of the
good will afforded that genre (where lazy sets by drug-addicted dropouts are
routinely labelled brilliant), while warding off criticism by being so damn
low-key. Tekulvi's strengths seem to be drummer Greg Sharp, who
injects a little life into "Pop Culture" and "Chandelier", and the quietly
dueling guitars of Phil Naumann and Chris Almodovar. Whether by luck or
musical know-how, their songs open up at the right moments, keeping the
lines of communication open between the song and the listener.
Still, it's hard not to dismiss Who Knows Where We Are as unimportant
and overly modest. Here's hoping fears of failure or criticism won't
prevent Tekulvi from more openly expressing themselves in future recordings. -- td
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Joel Bachrach and Friends / Joel's Bar-B-Q / Self-released
(CD)
The spirit of Timbuk3 lives on. And it's frolicking with Paul Anka.
From New Jersey comes this humorous acoustic rock outfit that sings of
Lisa Loeb's chronic dissatisfaction with her sound systems and found
cats' love of Tender Vittles. Some lyrics come across as a bit trite,
but at times the band hits its mark, finding insight in the mundane.
Homespun, the instrumentation is bar band crowded around a bedroom
four-track. One can only assume Mr. Bachrach, if he really exists, is
the wizard behind the curtain, since he takes credit for writing all the
songs -- save for the cover of Paul Anka's "She's a Lady" -- yet he appears
to play or sing not a thing, according to the credits. Joel B, where
are you? -- rg
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Hood / Home Is Where It Hurts EP / Aesthetics (CD)
When you listen to Home Is Where It Hurts, you'll
immediately understand why Chicago-based Aesthetics decided
to license it for US release. Hell, I'd have done it if
they hadn't. It's really quite brilliant, in an understated
and very much of-the-moment fashion. All the current
indie-rock hot-buttons are pressed: densely-textured pop
("Cold fire woods of western lanes" and the title track),
Mogwai-style instrumental catharsis ("The Fact that You
Failed"), semi-electronic Kid A glitch-pop ("The
World Touches Too Hard") and jazzy moodiness ("It's Been a
Long Time Since I Was Last Here") are present and accounted for. Hood pulls all of this
off quite casually, without sounding derivative; my
comparisons are, I'll confess, a little forced, as Hood
never sound like they're trying to be another group.
There's a definite sheen of subtlety here -- the disc
doesn't demand attention, but it deserves it. Nothing here
disappoints. -- gz
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99cent Dream / The Hottest Demo of the Season -- Greatest Hits Vol.
10 / Best Kept Secret (CASS)
99cent Dream is Jamey Gray, New York painter and head
of the label A Bouncing Space. Wielding the sword and shield of the
lo-fi recorder -- guitar, bass, keyboards, drum machines -- Gray gives
us his thoughts in pretty, spare ballads like "Child of the '70s" and
"All the Guns and Roses Songs We Knew". Like the other Best Kept
Secret album I'm reviewing this week (Chelsea's Corner's Two Hundred Words in Snow), this
tape has all originals but one, a song by onetime Guided by Voices
second-in-command Tobin Sprout. Perhaps that's the label's secret:
producing Sprout-like bursts of fuzzy sonic beauty. Gray's 99cent Dream
makes the most of its limitations, with smart writing and engaging
playing. By the time you get to dance at the "Disco" on side two,
you'll be bopping right along. -- rt
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Various Artists / Chante! 1985-2000, Ambiance mangétiques,
Volume 5 / Ambiance mangétiques
(CD)
I can honestly say that Chante! is a thoroughly charming recording.
"Charming" isn't an adjective I often use in describing stuff from Ambiance
mangétiques. Esoteric? Yes! Provocative? Yes! Imaginative? Yes indeed!
Oddly enough, though, the result of compiling these individual tracks from
eighteen distinct AM releases is such that I can only describe it as "charming!"
The cast of characters is familiar to longtime Splendid readers: René
Lussier, Jean Derome, Joane Hétu, Pierre Tanguay and others. Each track
seems to have been touched by many of the same hands, yet each is quite
distinct. Some are jazzy, some are folksy, some are bluesy, some are
atmospheric, and all are clever and creative. But while a whole album of any
one of these styles might leave me feeling oversaturated, in this more limited
context I find myself both enjoying the current track as well as eagerly
anticipating what will come next. If I had to pick a favorite piece,
I'd go with Les Granules' excellent, tongue-in-cheek "La bombe." -- nw
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Daedelus / Her's Is > / Phthalo (CD)
Being able crank out an album full of weird noises, long drones and
disembodied samples doesn't mean you've made music. And unfortunately, I
believe Her’s Is > is lacking the level of craftsmanship it takes to
push something beyond sound collage into the realm of music. Every time I
tried to grab hold of an element in a song, whether it was the dance beat
(and there are some infectious ones scattered throughout), the melodic
theme or the fluctuations of a drone, it was wrenched away. I was never
hooked in, revved up or calmed down by anything because I wasn't allowed to
hear it for long enough to appreciate it. Unlike the crafted
experimentalism of someone like John Zorn, Daedelus' efforts come across as
haphazard and jumpy: as randomness for randomness' sake. Perhaps I'm too
lazy a listener to appreciate experimental electronic music, but this album
certainly didn't make me want to try. -- az
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Paper Airplane Pilots / Welcome to the Drunk
Tank / Debris (CD)
You might have heard three of the members of Paper Airplane
Pilots in their previous incarnation, Oval-Teen. Like
Oval-Teen, Paper Airplane Pilots play a whimsical
blend of straight-up, early-Beatles-inspired pop.
Their latest offering is six songs of home-recorded pop bliss. In
characterizing the band, the word heartfelt constantly
comes to mind. Filled with an abundant supply of keyboards, bike horns and slide
whistles, these songs are as playful as they are endearing. On the lyrical side, Welcome to the Drunk Tank suffers from an almost dizzying repetitiveness,
but it's really hard to complain when phrases like "I'm
throwing circus peanuts at her!" are driven into the
ground. -- jw
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The Beatings / The Ballad of Jimmy & Jenny... / With An X (7")
There's nothing like a good punk rock spanking to get you all hot, bothered and a bit sore. The enigmatic Beatings shoot out a barrage of snotty, retro-punk that reminds one of a glammy Dead Boys. "The Ballad of Jimmy & Jenny..." incorporates wildly sporadic guitar assaults with a female-led "Oh-Yeah!" backed chorus that has mass punk rock charm to it. The thundering, tribal drums on "Sex Beat" give just the right amount of rhythmic appeal, and the band's make-up-heavy vocalist lets out a few blood-curdling howls that will hump your leg as ferociously as the neighbors' sex-crazed canine. Raise your shattered beer bottle in triumph; overdriven guitar chords and gunned-up bass lines will ruthlessly carry you through both of these numbers, with satisfying results. -- am
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The Tighties / Load"*",8,1 /
Self-released
(CD)
Commodore64 references are always okay by me, as are tough-looking girls
on CD covers and song titles like "Girls in Cars". Unfortunately, these
four Ontario boys aren't quite as creative with their music as they are with
their packaging. This is very straightforward guitar/bass/drums pop-punk,
with "funny" lyrics that are pretty dumb. "Girls in Cars" is the only
tune on the CD that I can really get into; it's fast and silly and has a
fun chorus. Otherwise, this is pretty predictable, derivative stuff. -- ib
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Jill Brazil / The Songs of Jill Brazil / Pool or Pond (CD)
Sometimes fast and furious and at other moments subtle and melodious, The
Songs of Jill Brazil showcases a maddening fusion of jazz, rock and -- by
its most general definition -- punk. Peppered with sporadic vocals -- or more
specifically, outbursts -- it remains mainly an acoustic album, and one that
is beautifully recorded and performed. Jill Brazil's tightness is
awe-inspiring, considering how many chord changes these guys make in the
passing of only a few seconds. The Songs of Jill Brazil may seem
slightly ambitious, but amazingly, they pull it off...and the result is an
album with an undeniably original sound. -- al
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Perry Botkin / Combines 3: Memories, Dreams, & Other Abstractions / Self-released
(CD)
In the mood for a headache? Throw on this disc. This isn't to say
that the contents are poorly done, for they're actually well executed.
However, be warned that the music here defines the word "cacophonous".
Leaning heavily on synthesized sounds, Grammy-winner Botkin creates sonic
beasts worlds away from works like Nadia's Theme. In fact, it's
worlds away from almost anything you've ever heard. Clashing xylophones,
vocal samples, the occasional drum pattern, the making of a cup of tea: all
of these sounds combine into ever-shifting, ever-compounding textures. At
times, it becomes too much to take, as Botkin paints layers on top of layers,
achieving what can only be described as crazed energy. -- rd
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The Album Leaf / One Day I’ll be on Time / Tiger Style (CD)
It seems that it’s now okay for punk rock kids
to like post-rock. A genre that was formerly subject to ridicule and
scorn has now been wholeheartedly embraced by the community that had rejected it.
It's my belief that this attitude adjustment is due in no small part to bands like The Album Leaf.
In a man like Jimmy Lavalle, these kids see a former punk
shrugging off the brutality of his previous groups in favor of a more
gentle and mellifluous sound. Sophomore effort One Day I’ll be on Time follows closely in the
footsteps of last year’s stunning An Orchestrated Rise to Fall;
filled with beautifully serene aural landscapes, it's a post-rock
album for those who've sworn off the genre entirely. Mixing wispy
electronics, minimal guitar and tasteful percussion, songs like "The
Audio Pool" and "Asleep" flutter from your speakers as if they had
been handed wings and told to fly off into the sunset, while "The MP" is
so impossibly graceful that you might not believe that it was
written by a former member of The Locust and Swing Kids. Whether you
are into folk, electronic, jazz or hardcore, One Day I’ll be on Time is
an album that it’s certainly okay to like. -- jj
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Rufus Maneuvers / One Clear Moment / B-Group Music (CD)
One Clear Moment's sound is simple and somewhat jangly rock-n-roll with a country lilt. The lyrics are occasionally dim: "I want to be cool / I'm
just a nice man / so take me to school" ("Ice Man"). The lines in the chorus don't wrap very well, so the phrasing has to be dragged out or cut short, noticeably in
"Dead End Town" and "Ice Man". The writers might want to try caesuras -- or perhaps, for such uncomplicated music, they might want to work harder at making the
words fit. Heck, maybe it's just the phrasing. One of the vocalists sounds exactly like David Cassidy; those of us who can remember watching
The Partridge Family will get caught in a time warp. The instrumentation is much more kick-ass than the lyrics, but although the band plays well and works
hard, the catchiness is missing. I'd be ticked if I had to pay more than a buck for this disc. -- js
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There's something wrong here. I mean, this is a
collaboration between the Cocteau Twins' Robin Guthrie and
Mono's Siobhan de Maré, both of whom have been
responsible for some really great music...so why is
my first thought "Oooh, sounds like Portishead"? Listen to
"Air Kissing" and you'll hear the resemblance; some
interesting Nick Cave/Barry Adamson gospel stuff happens
during the chorus, but in general it's Portishead a
la Angelo Badalamenti. The rest of the disc moves away
from Portishead (and further toward Badalamenti), sounding
like a shoegazer-friendly approach to sultry downtempo torch
songs. The real showstoppers are saved 'til the end:
"Feline or Famine"'s hazy twang turns de Maré into a
Patsy Cline for the 4AD set, while "Killer Eyes" concludes
the disc with a marvelously grand, feedback-washed display
of lovelorn yearning. If I'd sequenced Roulette, I'd
have put these strong tracks at the beginning and stuck "Air
Kissing" in the middle somewhere; it's all very well to call
your record Roulette, but sometimes these things
can't be left to chance. -- gz
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Various Artists / Looking for the Perfect Glass: U.S. Pop Life
Vol. 11 California Post-Punk / Contact (CD)
I can’t even venture a guess as to where you’d be able to purchase this,
but let me assure you that it’s quite worth your time and effort to find
out. Volume 11 of the U.S. Pop Life series, released by
Japan’s Contact Records, focuses (as the title makes clear) on the wildly diverse Californian post-punk scene. Any style/type of music you could possibly think of is included on this most
eclectic of compilations. From the freak funk of !!! (the Sly & the Family
Stone-inspired "Intensify") to the bombastic white noise fury of Camera
Obscura ("Twenty Five Diamonds") and back to the galloping
post-rock of Trizteza ("Are We People"), no stylistic stone is left unturned.
Along the way you'll also find gems from The Locust (the storming
40-second blast of pure spazz-core, "Priest With the Sexually
Transmitted Disease Get Out of My Bed") and Tarentel (whose dreamy
space-rock opus "Superman is a Damn Fool" clocks in at a hefty eleven
minutes), as well as goodies from lesser-known acts like Aspect of Physics, who nearly
steal the show with the dense and moody electronic ruminations of
"Contact". As I said at the beginning of this review, I have no idea where to buy this disc -- but do yourself a favor and search far and wide. This baby’s a
keeper. -- jj
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Chelsea's Corner / Two Hundred Words in Snow / Best Kept
Secret (CASS)
Italy's greatest (only?) cassette-only label strikes again with the Swedish bedroom auteur Tommy Carlsson, whose home is someplace called Vasteras -- which is, apparently, not far from
Enkoping. And he sings in accentless English, using haiku-like lyrics
to depress the hell out of you (must be the long winters). Things get
a little more brisk eventually, with Carlsson handling guitars,
keyboards, drum machines and vocals. He's joined on only a couple of
songs, and all of them are his own except for one by Tobin Sprout,
interestingly enough -- how do they find albums by former GBVers all the
way over in Vasteras? The lyrics are pleasurably overwrought, with
Carlsson singing baldly imploring lines like, "How could you choose your
addiction?/Over a child that needed, worshipped and loved you?" A few
of the songs plod, but the mix sounds great. Two Hundred Words in
Snow will leave you craving long, cold winter nights all through the
summer. -- rt
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Diesel Boy / Rode Hard and Put Away Wet /
Honest
Don's (CD)
This one is half juvenile cock rock songs about fucking and half sappy
cock rock songs about girls who got away. The title Rode Hard and
Put Away Wet is a clear nod to cheezeball 1980s hair metal bands,
and the Diesel Boys keep the nods coming with plenty of metal licks and
even a couple of ballads. Pop-punk is the real theme here, though -- in
particular the kind with a snotty- sounding singer, fast, chunky guitars
and super square beats. It's all pretty tiring after a while, and even
though some of the lyrics are funny (in a giggling, sixteen year-old sort
of way), the band's delivery and subject matter are so predictable by now
that it's hard for me to get all the way through this disc. Strangely,
the CD's packaging is lovely; maybe the boys' aesthetic sense
is maturing more quickly than their music. --
ib
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Glass Planet / Total Eclipse / Anarchy (CD)
This type of power-ballad rock has never appealed to me. I imagine
that if you were ever into Extreme or Queensryche, you might really dig this.
Now look, I’m not saying Glass Planet is bad. They’re competent musicians;
they have some nice vocal harmonies; there are even some catchy songs, like
"White Trash". In 1989, these guys would have been on a major label. But
in the '00 years, Total Eclipse comes off as poor-man’s hair metal
with less glitz and less power. -- az
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Loren MazzaCane Connors / The Little Match Girl / Road Cone (CD)
Loren MazzaCane Connors is one of those constant forces in the world. We at
Splendid have reviewed at least a half-dozen of his CDs. If my memory
serves me correctly, I personally have reviewed three, so what I heard on
The Little Match Girl didn't surprise me at all. Based on my past
Connors experiences, it's precisely what I expected: quiet, subdued,
reverb-drenched, sort of post-blues solo guitar work. In fact, if
you expect this musician's sound to change radically any time soon, I suspect
you're in for a long wait. Connors is fond of using folklore to fuel his
introverted performances, and in this case his muse is the poor, hungry, frozen
little girl from the titular folktale -- but as far as this impacts what you
hear, she might as well be Little Red Riding Hood, or Dumbo for that matter!
Mr. Connors is quite consistent in his style and seems to use these stories
more for the formation of his own musical ideas than as plots that need their
emotional contours faithfully portrayed. If you've never experienced the
steadfastness that is Loren MazzaCane Connors, The Little Match Girl
is as good a place as any to begin. -- nw
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Last One Home, Andy Spence's latest offering in a long line of three-word-titled CDs, has a lot in common with another disc I reviewed this week, Respect to DJ Deep. Spence draws heavily on world music -- in particular, world music styles that boast strong, distinctive percussion -- to pump up urban drum-n-bass. NME's description of the group as "half Notting Hill Carnival, half Rio" is a quick but accurate sketch of the soundscape Organic Audio creates.
You'll hear sounds that draw on samba, reggae, batacuda, soca and stuff that sounds like traditional Hawaiian music. Supposedly influenced by Fela Kuti,
Masters at Work and Brasilian percussionist Airto Moreira, this really ordinary looking guy with rather long sideburns creates a sound that makes you want to haul
out a mask and a carnival costume. There are a few tracks that are somewhat repetitive -- "This Could Really Happen" being a case in point -- but even when certain
vocals are repeated ad nauseum, the overall mood is sheer delight. -- js
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Micromars / Metro / Shado
(CD)
I'm a longtime Micromars fan, but when I listen to
Metro I can't help feeling as if Christer Jensen has
painted himself into a corner, stylistically speaking. I'm
glad to see that he's moving away from the "low budget
Stereolab" sound of his previous recordings; the new
Micromars sound is fuller and more fleshed out, and Jensen
has made great strides in establishing a unique identity.
Unfortunately, while his particular combination of bossa-nova rhythms,
Casio keyboard drone and Brian Wilsonesque pop harmonies is
well executed, it plays itself out very quickly. It's
partly due to the fact that some of his sustained keyboard chords
are flat-out overwhelming ("Thermoluminescent"), and partly
that other songs sound suspiciously like Nintendo music --
listen to "Bright Lights" and then play Super Mario
Brothers for a while if you think I'm joking. There are
some nice little pop tunes here, but often it feels like
Jensen is trying too hard to get your attention, bludgeoning
your ears with his arsenal of musical toys. Indeed, when
Jensen asks the musical question "Why Didn't My Parents Buy
Me a Casio?", you'll wonder if perhaps Mr. and Mrs Jensen Senior lived in fear of their
own private Metro. -- gz
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Jeff McLeod / Ye Shall Be Cut Into Many Pieces /Subversive
Workshop (CD)
This album reflects the result of a project conceived (perhaps
drunkenly) by Jeff of Bert fame, in which he would record ten seconds a day for
a year, then splice every piece together into a hopefully interesting
concoction. I find it impossible to think he could have gone into the
project without fear for its ultimate listenability, but I'm happy to report
that the ...Many Pieces here are quite fun. Luckily for listeners,
there's a little of everything on display, with all conceivable genres given
at least ten seconds of props. Heavy metal guitar, Biz Markie-style beatbox and voice samples ("Other days you just ate poop") show up early on,
and you also get some humorously uninspired beauties (like when McLeod holds
down a single keyboard key for ten seconds) that keep you smiling through
blisteringly awful guitar intros (the bad idea experiment that opens
"Another Suspicious Package"), Enya-like moments and Dr Demento fragments.
If you like some of Frank Zappa's more difficult adventures, this is
definitely a project worth looking into. It's got some wild avant space jazz
moments and an ample amount of fine, silly humor. It also has a good,
healthy share of pure noise, which means that those with light wallets
might prefer to appreciate it from afar. -- td
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Isabelle's Gift / Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms / Jimmy Franks (CD)
How to make Isabelle's Gift's cocktails: Obtain three packages of the cheapest chewin' terbaccer that you can find and combine with three quarts Jagermeister. Simmer until a temperamental boiling point is reached. Scrape the paint off a good ol' fashioned Southern trailer home and sprinkle lightly. Mix once and add each of the following, one at a time: thundering bass, masterful guitar riffs, tattoos, several strands of long hair, raucous attitude and a tight rhythm section. Allow to harden. Dump in an entire can of brand-name melodic singing that borders on screaming, then dash some intelligent lyrical observations on top. Obtain one AK-47 rifle and use it to stir mixture thoroughly for three minutes. Repeat eleven times until album is complete. Serve in shot glasses and prepare for one hell of a ferocious backlash as it goes down. Repeat until your craving for underrated Southern Carolina-that-has-its-shit-together-metal is satiated. -- am
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The Posies / Nice Cheekbones and a P.H.D. / Houston Party
(CD)
The Posies' latest effort offers five power-pop gems that
match the best efforts of this veteran Seattle band.
Songwriters Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow have a knack for
taking the mundane aspects of everyday life and turning them
into melodic art. That ability doesn't take a back seat
here, as modest and
mellow songs about chain-smoking, movie matinees and
a woman's enticing eyes whirl themselves into
altogether poignant tunes. To say this EP is a step
in a new direction for the band would be a bit rash,
but the songs seem more mature, and with the
recently released box set and the group's upcoming
15-year anniversary, one can't help but wonder if the band
has settled into a more reflective state of mind. -- jw
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gz - george zahora | nw - noah wane | am - andrew magilow | ib - irving bellemead | jj - jason jackowiak | td - theodore defosse | rd - ron davies
js - jenn sikes | rg - rodney gibbs | rt - ryan tranquilla | al - amy leach | jw - john wolfe | az - alex zorn
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