OUR WEEKLY COLLECTION OF SHORTER REVIEWS | |
Couch,
Tarpigh,
Orbital,
Pleasure Forever,
Structure Factor 8,
Lumen,
Mount Florida,
Bee and Flower,
Greg Foster and Joel Futterman,
Norfolk & Rider,
Born With a Tail,
Syrup & Gasoline, Vol. I,
Mike Skinner,
Uptown Sinclair,
Raya Wrath of Fancan,
The Larch,
Black Dice,
Songs: Ohia,
The Icarus Line,
The Still,
Alpha,
Nymb,
Redefine the Rockstar, Vol. 4,
PC Phobia,
Fancy Hair Dragon,
The Mobius Band,
Metropolitan/Calibos,
Lorraine Ferro
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Couch / Profane / Matador (CD)
Most instrumental rock music just leaves me thinking "Gee, this could
be kind of okay if someone were singing something interesting over the
top." The tunes on Profane need no such embellishment; they get
everything they need from the sleepy grooves and dreamy, repetitive
melodies laid down by the band's traditional rock lineup. I can't really
listen to this disc actively; it's the kind of thing that works best
when its allowed to enter the scene subtly, like when you're having a
great conversation in a bar somewhere and you suddenly realize that
you're really enjoying the music that's playing but that you have no
idea what you've been listening to for the last hour. You won't go home
humming this stuff, but you will remember what a good time you had
listening to it. -- ib
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Tarpigh / Monsieur Monsoon / North East Indie (CD)
According to the liner notes, Monsieur Monsoon "was recorded in Tim's shed". It
is in the so-called "homb recording" tradition -- an inside reference to Tarpigh's past work with
Cerberus Shoal, presumably -- but don't call it garage rock. It's not rock at all. Perhaps it's jazz or some sort of globally
informed, DIY folk music, but it wouldn't be right to call it rock. The
opening track, "Chance", sounds like some sort of garage version of Enigma.
It has the reverb-drenched ethnic flutes, the gently pulsing beating of
ethnic drums and it is underpinned by the deep bass chanting of Tibetan monks
(probably a recording!). The next track, "Wayra", retains the folksy
ethnic fluting and the drumming, but adds a charango, which sounds something like a banjo. Monsieur Monsoon's first five tracks work along these lines, and they're quite charming, in a dreamy, trance-inducing kind of way. Track six, "This That...", moves the disc in a more jazzy
direction. By track nine, "...The Other Thing", I'm think I've stumbled
across an undiscovered Ornette Coleman recording. Tracks 11-13 ("D5", "C2"
and "13") are cut from similar cloth. A bit quirky (á la Residents) and a
bit kitschy (á la Perrey & Kingsley) but heavy on the bedroom charm,
they form a sort of "silly suite." I'll admit that I'm intrigued by Tarpigh
and Monsieur Monsoon. It's proof that while some people should refrain from
inflicting their boudoir musical moments on the world, others definitely
should not! -- nw
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Orbital / The Altogether / London (CD)
While it has a few rough patches, the Hartnoll brothers'
latest effort proves that they're still at the top of the
electronic music heap. They're still able to come up with
intriguing sonic textures, as evidenced by "Tootled"'s
intriguing integration of processed guitar. They're also a
dab hand with samples; "Oi", for instance, draws much of its
fun from cut and pasted bits of the weird, chuffling
saxophone interlude from Ian Dury's "Hit Me With Your Rhythm
Stick" (and, just to show my age, I didn't have to look at
the liner notes to recognize it). Techno purists will
delight in the traditionalism of "Last Thing", and a lot of
people will be delighted to finally have a permanent copy of
"Doctor?", the brothers' extremely faithful take on the
Doctor Who theme. I'd question the inclusion of
"Illuminate", a mostly non-electronic pop song with vocals by David Gray, but it
certainly startled me when I heard it. If the song was
intended to shock listeners, it succeeded in my case, which is laudable in
spirit if not particularly stunning in execution. -- gz
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Pleasure Forever / Self-Titled / Sub Pop (CD)
This band of wannabe libertines have changed their name -- they used to be
the Slaves. Their lyrics and press materials are chock full of
Georges Battaille references and talk of orgies. Fortunately, their music
is slightly less pretentious. Pleasure Forever is a
pretty good listen: muted, poetic, with interesting piano lines that place
you in French cabarets. The album is almost all rhythm, executed by a three
piece (piano, bass and drums) except when the piano switches roles.
Ultimately, I think a little less post-modernist theory and a little more
passion (of which they’re obviously capable, as in "Meet Me In Eternity")
would have transformed this album from an intellectualized seduction into
the darkly erotic menage the band was so clearly trying for. -- az
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Structure Factor 8 / A Conveniently Placed Close-Minded Fellow / Ionik
(CD)
These memorable from-the-bedroom indie pop tunes are spearheaded by
digital surf guitar, moody acoustic chords, space-age electronics and
androgynous vocals with a warm feel and concrete substance.
Structure Factor 8 places one foot in whirlwind '80s pop, another in '60s
British rock and its mutated third appendage in the future of post-rock as
we know it. Try dancing to that! Quick sonic odes home in on melody, giving
your ears an abrupt burst of pop-tinged beauty that's freaky enough to catch
your attention, yet durable enough to retain it. Hip-swaggerin' magnetism
and obtuse, body-shakin' arrangements keep you on your toes throughout this
six-song EP. By the last track, you've been dumped into an air-gapped
vacuum, enabling you to drift happily off into airless space, realizing
that the music world is indeed a better place now that you've experienced
Structure Factor 8 in its full form. -- am
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I was under the impression that, much like Warp Records, The Temporary
Residence Limited could do no wrong. After hearing The Man
Felt an Iron Hand..., that impression has, unfortunately, been smashed to
bits. I guess I naturally expected big things from a group that
boasts members of the amazingly talented A Minor Forest and the
vastly underrated Tarentel. On their debut album, Lumen slog
through eight relatively low-key -- and, frankly, vacuous -- songs.
Even after several airings, nothing here elevates itself
beyond the level of background music, as (the creatively titled) "I"
and "IV"'s repetitive structure and total lack of dynamics will
certainly attest. Diehard fans of AMF or Tarentel might want to inquire
further, but the rest of you would be well advised to steer clear. -- jj
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Mount Florida/ Arrived Phoenix / Matador (CD)
It seems as if nobody can stick to a single genre any more; these days, bands leap between
styles and methodologies without a moment's thought. Some bands can pull it off effectively,
while others leave a sea of confused listeners in their wake. Mount
Florida avoids falling into the second unfortunate category only by linking
their genre-hopping stylings with the ambient, techno sound for which
their fans know them so well. While some listeners may be apt to dismiss Arrived
Phoenix as unfocused or possibly even pompous in its attempt to incorporate
varied musical styles, the album is held together by consistent songwriting and
quality performance. And really, why can't there be
driving, rocking out guitars on one track ("Postal") and an eerie,
orchestral string section on another ("Out There")? Hmmm? That's what I
thought. -- al
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Bee and Flower / 5 Song Demo / Self-Released (CD)
Bee and Flower is the new project from singer-songwriter Dana Schechter.
She has surrounded herself with a remarkable band, most notably including violinist/viola
maestro Jon Petrow and keyboardist Rod Miller. The sound of these
fellows' instruments is most memorable, helping to swing the group's material more toward the territory inhabited by Cranes and Telegraph Melts. The music by itself is pleasant and distinct, but it is nonetheless at odds with Schecter's songwriting abilities. Schecter clearly has her heart in this material, but her lyrics are strictly
pop; when singing "Save me something good" in a slow, drawn-out manner to
match the instrumentation, you damn near think she has nerve to ask for more
than leftover chub. I am sure her voice, along the lines of a Throwing Muse
or Pretender's pipes, could add pep to a power pop setting, but it isn't yet
adept at making her words fit these less traditional settings. -- td
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Greg Foster and Joel Futterman / Alabama / Drimala
(CD)
If you've ever felt left out because you didn't exist during the Beat
era, by all means check out this disc, on which Foster's poetry is accompanied by Futterman's
free jazz piano and sax work. With their liberal twisting of
rhyme and meter, the pair gets pretty far out on pieces like the twenty
minute "Alabama Exequy". Unfortunately, they have difficulty sustaining
the intensity that I find appealing in this style. This may be due to
Foster eschewing political diatribe in favor of personal introspection, or
to Futterman's occasionally overly chaotic runs. Despite this, the album
is a curious listen -- just not one I'd play repeatedly. -- rd
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Norfolk & Rider / The 13th Century b/w Hegira / Dutch
Courage (7")
Norfolk & Rider is something of a musical admiration
society, teaming members of Portland's Norfolk & Western
with Brooklynites Shoes & Rider. See how that works? The
result of a cross-country tape exchange, these two dreamy
tunes divide the bands' forces, with Mark Wyman taking vocal
duties on the ornamental "13th Century" -- a slow and complex whirr
of optigan, mandolin, piano, xylophone, guitar and other
instruments -- while Adam Selzer brings his own lyrics to
life on the shimmering, cello-spiked "Hegira". As if this
wasn't groovy enough, the record is pressed on
Hostess-Cupcake-Orange vinyl. Doesn't that make you want it even more? -- gz
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Born With a Tail / Self-Titled / Bargain Basement (CD)
Justin and Jared Brown have a guitar, a drum and a basement. What else do you need to record your own DIY manifesto? This collection of surf and rock instrumentals would be
evocative of Some Velvet Sidewalk if Al Larsen was proficient on the guitar. Employing a fun array of instruments, from bunchy guitars to slinky keyboards, the Virginia brothers craft
catchy soundtracks to kickball games and clay-mation films yet to be made, such as "Ray Harryhausen", an ass-kicking ode to the master of stop-motion animation. This is the kind of music that Frank Black vacuums the house to. Get the picture? -- rg
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Various Artists / Syrup & Gasoline Vol. 1 / Grenadine (CD)
This debut anthology from Montréal-based Grenadine spotlights twenty bands from the Canadian rock underground. The two former college-radio DJs who founded the label
have admirably discerning taste within the bounds of alternative rock and
pop music, and Syrup & Gasoline benefits more than most compilations
from such focus. The sound of '60s garage bands finds heavy favor among
these acts, with Steaming Toolie, The Girlbombs, Les Macchabees and others
incorporating organ and surf guitars into their engaging tracks. A number
of the disc's high points bypass mid-'60s sounds, instead taking their inpsiration from late-'70s punk, with The Spitfires' "Piece of Me" standing out as perhaps
the comp's best song. None of the tracks are instant classics, and some
veer too close to generic alternative rock, but there are no absolute stinkers,
either. For a twenty track sampler that covers this wide a range of bands, that's
saying something. The second volume, heralding nineteen new Canadian
rockers, should be out soon. -- rt
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Mike Skinner / Staring Into Spaces / Self-Released (CD)
Staring Into Spaces opens with a fast but steady, heavy beat, like the sound made by an internal combustion engine. The drum sounds like it's being
struck by bare hands or heavily muffled sticks -- it's probably not a drum machine, as all the instruments are supposed to have been played by Skinner, with the exception
of a few used as accompaniment. A listener could be excused for expecting an odd variety of drum-n-bass or a percussion version of Sonic Youth, but what you'll find is voice-overs, rain sticks, bells, finger cymbals and a lot of the percussion associated with Middle Eastern and
South American styles of music. Percussion is the dominating force here, and Skinner is a master of it. He combines a variety of influences to make a cohesive whole; it's definitely his ideas at work rather than a hodge-podge melange along the lines of the world-music-electronic-pop groups that were really popular on the radio a few years ago. The nameless sixth track, in particular, is laden with emotion and power. Skinner finds the spaces between the drumbeats and transforms them,
allowing the listener to pour his thoughts into them, creating music that's intellectual but in no way soulless. -- js
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Uptown Sinclair / Self-Titled / Self Released (CD)
Uptown Sinclair is a straight-up pop-rock band in the "this band sounds
like the part in the Third Eye Blind song where the
guy starts singing really fast" way. Add a touch of
Cheap Trick and you have their self-titled album. Like most
well done but not quite groundbreaking pop albums,
this is pretty hard to dislike; no matter how many
times you hear something like "Face Down" or "Whatever
U Want", the melody persists in kindling some interest.
I could see most of these songs fitting nicely into
mainstream rock radio in an edgier Matchbox 20
mold. The band is talented enough to draw interest and
perhaps mass appeal, but they might fall short on the indie
rock acceptance front. -- jw
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Raya Wrath of Fancan / Self-Titled / Dark Piglet (CD)
With erratic and wild orchestrations, Raya Wrath of Fancan comes off like a
party-band gone utterly deranged. This masked Austinite does a
superb job of producing a healthy, lo-fi DIY release with the
familiarity of an early Pavement/GBV release and the spazzed out,
unpredictable quality of a very far removed underground artist who loves
what he does. Favorites include the distorted recording of "Tar Patterns",
which has a guitar hook that just won't quit, and "Gonzalo Talk", with its
rumbling drums and spontaneous musical buildups that keep your ears alert
for the next persuasive blitz. Screw conventionality -- Raya Wrath of Fancan
throws out any sort of predictability and sends you on a journey into
another world, where guitars, bass and wild drums make do with their lo-fi
surroundings, producing experimental-pop gems that will blister
your ears. Hooray for home recordings! -- am
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The Larch / Monday Down / Self-Released (CD)
The members of The Larch live in the world of clever and witty song-writing (Which is apparently
right down the road from the world of Take Your Band Name From Monty Python -- Ed.).
Often, this kind of wordplay leaves me more nauseated than satisfied, but
in the case of Monday Down the phrase twisting stays securely on the
side of intelligence and away from the land of cuteness. In other words, you can feel free to take The Larch seriously. Among the five songs (one of which is a remix), "Sicker Than I Thought"
stands out, both lyrically and musically. The harmonies here are lovely, and
the addition of a cello makes an excellent textural counterpoint. I'd definitely be
interested in hearing what these guys could come up with on a full-length release. -- al
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Have you ever noticed that like 99.9% of musicians in noise bands are boys?
Why is that? Digressions aside, I listened to this as many times as I could
stand to. I tried, I mean I really tried, to understand it.
Cacophonous in the extreme, screamy and dissonant, Black Dice just sounds
like noise to me. "Birthstone", the fourth track on the EP, is a blatant Merzbow rip-off -- not that I understand his stuff either. -- az
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Jason Molina's contribution to Absalom Recordings'
intriguing 3" series -- a batch of limited edition 3" CDs (obviously)
featuring exclusive tracks from hand-picked artists -- is a
single thirteen-minute song, "Howler". It's neither a
hurried nor a detailed affair. You'll be well accustomed to
the music, a sparse line plucked on reverbed guitar and a
stabbing, single-note keyboard accent, by the time
Molina's strained vocals come in. While it's as mournful as
anything Songs: Ohia has ever done, "Howler"'s pace renders
it a little more interesting...at first. Ultimately, only
fans are likely to endure the full thirteen minutes more
than once. Luckily, the 3" format makes Howler cool
and collectible, pretty much regardless of its actual content. -- gz
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The Icarus Line / Mono / Crank (CD)
Here, you get twelve songs that clock in at a loud fifty minutes, with song
titles written in English and printed on the promo cover-sleeve in an easy-to-read font.
This makes the titles one of the few readily decipherable things about Mono. The guitar playing is at once rudimentary and wayward. The band likes simple hard metal riffs, but only for twenty seconds at a time; like the White Octave, the most typical Icarus Line songs bear an
uneasy musical blend of Celtic Frost, GBH and the angular DC guitar rock
sound, which ends up creating a lot of tension while at the same time providing
very little in the way of cathartic release. It is, in short, music to get
angrier to. For a cat lover like me, their sense of humor finds a far-from-ideal
audience in "Feed a Cat to Your Cobra" (or in its companion video), but it
is here at the halfway point that the CD begins to come to life.
It's not that the songs change considerably -- they remain deafening -- but your mind has become sufficiently attuned
enough to the band's style to listen more acutely, and to realize how much the
band themselves enjoy the ruckus they're making. It's amazing how that's all
you need to get from music to begin liking a band. -- td
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The Still / Self-Titled / Darla (CD)
Three Ropers alumni have congregated to form The Still. Their late-'70s Big Star style
of power pop is ear-friendly enough to warrant a listen. "Sunshine" is
a bright, splashy ode to happier times, with bubbly basslines, tambourines and
sparse-but-strategic string falls helping to set the mood. "Today" is not as
flashy as the opener, but is no less exuberant, reminding me a bit of The
Orange Peels in its tenor and mood. A brisk tempo and generally jangly
approach to music does the song credit. "Nectar" is more riff-driven than
its predecessors, and benefits from the addition of an organ to the
instrumental mixture. Lines like "Oh Goddess, liberate me!" serve to
enforce a general sort of hippy feel to this whole affair. The next eight songs
don't stray too much from the formula; clocking in at less than three
minutes apiece, they are short but carefully crafted pop-rock ditties. Production wise, the disc sounds a bit distant and lacks sparkle, but otherwise The Still is a
credible debut release from a promising new band. -- nw
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Alpha / The Impossible Thrill / Astralwerks
(CD)
Across the land, owners of smoky cafés are rejoicing: Alpha has
returned with another mellifluous slab of percolating beats and swelling
strings, the perfect accompaniment to late-night coffee and existential
pondering. Three years after their first album, Come From
Heaven, secured Andy Jenks and Corin Dingley a (second-tier) spot in
the company of fellow-Bristolites Massive Attack and Portishead, The
Impossible Thrill strives vainly to live up to its over-achieving
title. Thrills in the normal sense of the word are few, as Alpha dole
out their few surprises with miserly reluctance; live instrumentation
has mainly replaced sampling, but the sound is polished and exact to a
fault. The low points are easier to spot than the highs, which tend to
peak at a low elevation. "Clear Sky" proves especially somnolent, while
the presence of Massive Attack's Daddy G doesn't add much of a spark to
"Wishes". The music throughout remains moody, evocative, expertly
produced and largely unremarkable. -- rt
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Nymb / So, This Is How It Is / Suburban Sprawl (CD)
Over the last four years or so, Chicago has seen the bulk of its talented
young bands disintegrate for one stupid reason or another. Casualties
include, but certainly are not limited to, The Smoking Popes, Triple Fast
Action, Fig Dish and The Pulsars. But as we mourn our fallen heroes, a
new crop of Chicago bands has emerged to bring the rock back to the
Windy City. Foremost amongst this new batch of rockers are Nymb, an
extremely talented quartet that, upon first listen, conjures up images of
Louise Post fronting Hum. So, This Is How It Is begins with the urgent
crush of "Breathing Out Vapors", then turns on its afterburners and never
looks back. "If Only Rock and Roll Would Date Me" worms its way into
your temporal lobes with a fuzzed out wall of guitars and
thick-as-molasses melodies, while the strafing guitar lines and terse
militaristic drumming of "20 Mobiles for Gazing" take the more direct
route, boring their way directly through your skull. Should another
signing frenzy hit Chicago, expect Nymb to be one of the first bands
picked up by (insert major label here). But in the meantime, consider
yourself one of the fortunate few who know about this talented troupe. --
jj
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Various Artists / Redefine the Rockstar, Vol. 4 / 3:16
(CD)
This collection presents an odd assortment of bands whose main link seems
to be that they make use of guitars. Ranging from the Cookie Monster-on-meth growl
of Scrape to the histrionics of Todd Shea to the hardcore punch of
Restricted ID, this schizophrenic sound never congeals into a whole. To
make matters worse, several of the tracks here do not even make the
acceptable mark. Providing the Sickness's track sounds like it was
recorded from a mile away through several layers of fabric, and the cut
by the Strap-Ons is far more flaccid than their name suggests. The combination
of these factors results in an hour of so-so rock, with any promising material brutally beaten
down by the status quo. -- rd
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Good stuff here. Lodged between the angular aggro of
post-punk and the gloomy early goth that evolved from it, PC
Phobia achieve a surprisingly big sound on what I assume was
a fairly modest budget. The vocals, tellingly accented (the
band is from Sweden), mix Ozzy-style theatricality with the
yearning earnestness of Clan of Xymox. The sound,
meanwhile, is a little rougher; if there are keyboards here,
they aren't obvious. The songs are driven by trebly,
feedback-laden riffs, achieving the sort of charged, airy
drone that begat the whole shoegazer era. Lyrically...well,
the less said, the better. Lines like "Colours you see
isn't what you like" and "My mysterious ways scares (sic)
you, don't be afraid" give the band a handy excuse: blame
everything on the language barrier. The music, however, is
spiffy. -- gz
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Fancy Hair Dragon / On Golden Sand /
Scary (CD)
No one will ever replace Joey Ramone, but that won't stop countless
garage musicians from strapping on a guitar, learning their three chords
and cranking out goofy songs about girls, drugs and aliens. Fancy Hair
Dragon's Dave Miller makes music with a particularly good-natured form
of that equation; this is The Ramones channeled through a sweet 1950s
rock band. While this disc is a fun listen, there's not much here that
sticks with me after it's over. As rock records go, it's pleasantly poppy, but not
terribly distinctive. -- ib
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The Mobius Band / One / Self-Released (CD)
The Mobius Band's peculiar blend of funk, circus sounds, pop and drum 'n' bass is a difficult experience to describe. It's a little
Stereolabby and a little Super Furry Animalesque, with a veil of d-n-b and some Maceo Parker thrown in for spice. My editor will kill me for that melange-sentence (No, I'll just fix it so it reads better - Ed.), but melange is
what you hear; nothing blends. All the influences are distinct, and the super-muscular drumming is the best thing the band has going. The percussionist finds one beat and one tempo and then explores them to the last note. The vocals sound like the singers have been snorting whiskey: they're nasal but scratchy and strangely attractive. The country twang of the guitars in "3 or 4 seasons" seems out of place, but the rest of the album's elements match better. Ultimately, One is nice to listen to at night; you'll never get bored, but you have to be lying down to take it all in -- you'll miss references if you're doing something more involved. -- js
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Metropolitan/Calibos / Incidental/Apache Shift / Crank Automotive (7")
Ah, the infamous split 7" single -- your chance to discover two bands without
fully investing your hard-earned cash in just one. Rhythmic deconstructionists
Metropolitan thrust a swaggering bit of overdriven glory onto the vinyl
as the vocals are cranked over the instruments, relegating each to a specific
role. The overall mood is chic, but the mix would be more tolerable if
guitar, drums and bass were evened out instead of battling Masters' overpowering
vocals. Nonetheless, the band sets forth a slightly different feel than
its typical noisy outings. Side B shows us that slightly out-of-key notes can sometimes
ring the truest. Calibos drives
its calculated rhythms with discordant guitar lines as vocalist Andy Fogle
sings about Austin and motherfuckers. That's my kinda man. It's a catchy, Sebadoh-inspired
tune that beefs up the ante with an attitude that makes Lou Barlow look
like a big pussy. -- am
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Lorraine Ferro / Languishing in Turbulence / EMI/Mushmuzak/Firethorn
(CD)
Lorraine Ferro sure belts out a good tune! She has an impressive rock voice,
reminiscent of Sheryl Crow -- or in her best moments, Janis Joplin. She's
not a bad songwriter either, though not ground breaking. Ferro's songs are of
the deeply personal, utterly genuine variety; they show an artist with a great
deal of both pain and joy from which to draw. Languishing in Turbulence is
best represented by its title track, a mid-tempo rock ballad that
relies heavily on Ferro's expressive instrument as well as the gentle poetry
of the lyrics. It's all about romantic complication and was clearly written
by someone with an experienced view toward relationships. "Crave" is the most intense track here. It shrewdly pairs Ferro's voice with Jonathan
Spottiswoode's rich, expressive baritone, and their occasional chanting, quasi-tonal vocal delivery is quite effective. I wish Ms. Ferro and her associates well.
They have created a competent, mature record. All they need now is a video
for VH1. -- nw
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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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