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Mock Orange / Nines and Sixes / Boiled Music (CD)
"Emo" rock still seems to be a solid selling point these days. Mock
Orange’s own offshoot includes the manifest, sharp, zigzagging guitar
along with quick rhythmic stops and wailing vocals that has become
associated with the genre. The first two tracks are a bit tedious, but
the crunchy "Does It Show" makes up for any confusion with intelligent
and well-phrased lyrics. The remainder of Nines and Sixes proves
to be a well constructed and an enjoyable listen, with some excellent
guitar melodies and smart vocal harmonies. Here’s a quick jaunt through
the mind of emocore, and a pleasantly guided one at that. -- am
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Mono Puff / It's Fun to Steal / Bar None (CD)
A lot of people who aren't really up on things tend to look at Mono Puff as
They Might Be Giants' boring cousin, but I've got to say au contraire, mon
frere to that supposition. Heavy on funkiness and pretty light on self-indulgent
whimsy,
It's Fun To Steal is rather like a really good party with a lot of
intelligent
and entertaining people, with only the rare chunky-glasses-wearing artsy type
sulking in a corner to put a damper on your buzz. Any super-group/hipster
collective
that can crank out tunes like "Poison Flowers", "Dashiki Lover" and the
ultra-cool
"Extra Crispy" is alright in my book, damn it. -- gz
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Mike Scott, for those of you not in the know, is the former lead
vocalist/songwriter of The Waterboys. This is the most obvious reference
point to give for Still Burning. While it may not be musically
identical to Scott's earlier musical ventures, one unmistakable feature
remains -- his voice! It's that same soulful Gaelic warble that belted
out "A Girl called Johnny" and "The Whole of the Moon". I'd call the stuff
on Burning more R & B and less folk if I had to distinguish it from
the aforementioned tunes. -- nw
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Spiritualized / Royal Albert Hall October 10 1997 Live / Arista/Dedicated (CD)
Okay, I'm pretty much a straightedge type, but I suspect that listening to
this without some sort of chemical enhancement is kind of like trying to
play Unreal without
a 3Dfx card -- possible, in other words, but lacking much of what makes it impressive. So while I'm all doped up on cold medicine and feeling pretty
drifty, I've
got both discs of ...live in the player on repeat. Wow. I'm drifting in and out of consciousness and I don't know whether to
pass out or float around
the room. Cool. Good stuff. Will someone tell these blue things to leave
me alone? -- gz
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Pete Gifford / Collect / PGRS (CD)
This low, low frequency excursion, performed entirely on bass guitar,
peeps into the mind of experimental Middlesbrough, U.K. composer Pete
Gifford. This single 68 minute piece of peace aims to relax as it
broods and explores the soothing essence of rhythm. Through repetitive
sonic structures with slight deviations, Collect certifies its
command through subtle nuances of sound, space and musical
conjecture. -- am
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Weeping in Fits and Starts / Blue Funnel World / Rhubarb (CD)
There's plenty of that tuneful guitar jangle stuff here, and ear candy
lovers will
find a healthy assortment of melodies for their fevered consumption. And
that's
really all I can think of to say about Blue Funnel World -- which
isn't meant
to be a criticism, per se. It's an eminently listenable disc, with clever
post-grunge-pop-song composition oozing from every metaphorical pore, and I definitely
enjoyed listening to it, but if someone played it for me six months hence I doubt
if I'd be able to name the artist. -- gz
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Rodrigo Sigal is a composer of chamber music who adds another dimension to
his work by including electronics. On Manifiesto you'll hear
pianos, clarinets, flutes, cellos, guitars and violas all playing
contemporary art music while sensuous electronic textures and strange sound
bytes float around behind them. The idea of mixing acoustic and electronic
sounds is hardly new, but I find Sigal's approach to be worth some
attention. There is a passion as well as an unorthodoxy in this music.
Take "Lagarto" as an example (and listen to the soundclip above) -- hear how its new Romanticism is perfectly
accentuated with delicate ambient nature sounds. -- nw
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Q-Burns Abstract Message / He's A Skull / Astralwerks (12")
Surprise!! On this 12", you get three remixes of one of the best tracks on the new Q-Burns
album. The Q-Burns Extended Mix is, as you might expect, the most
faithful to the original cut, while the Robbie Hardkiss remix goes a bit
further down the hardcore techno road. The Usual Suspects remix adds a
steady 130-bpm-ish beat but removes most of the cut's distinctive orchestra
hits. The nominal b-side, "Get Up (I Feel Like Being A) Sex Machine",
is a bit slower, a lot funkier and nowhere near as interesting, but
that's why it's a b-side. -- gz
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