OUR WEEKLY COLLECTION OF SHORTER REVIEWS | |
Sleeping Off Stolen Dreams,
Critical Bandwidth,
Telefon Tel Aviv,
Mike!,
Cursive/Small Brown Bike,
Loscil,
Even as We Speak/In A Day,
Recover,
The Generators,
Slang,
Matthew Carlson,
Ruby,
Bound 4 Venus,
Take Everything Very Seriously,
Purple Gush Vol. 1: Compilation Printemps,
Crush Kill Destroy,
Coco B,
This Changes Everything: A Second Nature
Recordings Sampler,
Lift To Experience,
The Evaporators,
Dishwater Psychics,
RX Bandits,
John Vanderslice/Sunset Valley,
Across Woodward Volume 1,
The Soundtrack of Our Lives,
Michael Rhoades,
Roots Manuva,
The Dorks,
Hank Harris,
The American Public,
Plastic Mastery/King Sauce,
Rock City Crimewave,
Erase Errata,
Puddle
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Various Artists / Sleeping Off Stolen Dreams / Little Echoes (CD)
The audio experimenters who run the Berkeley, CA-based Little Echoes record label decided to celebrate their one year anniversary by gathering all their friends’ bands in their home/studio and recording a song for a soundtrack (there is no information at all on the actual film). The results, as they say, are mixed. Although I’m not familiar with this scene at all, I know what sounds good to me, no matter what the genre, and there are couple of songs here that are just plain amazing. A band new to me, and one that I will keep an eye on, is Built Like Alaska, whose "Ain’t no Bridegroom" is as haunting as it is catchy. The other catch is Grandaddy’s "Rode my Bike to my Stepsister’s Wedding", a beautiful ballad for solo voice and piano -- and not only is it a great song, but it’s wonderful to hear Grandaddy totally stripped down. There are some other nice tracks, like Everything Crunchy’s folky "Magnificent Few" and Egon and Epiphany’s electro jam-out "On the Cutting Veins". Unfortunately, the rest of the album varies from decent to absolutely skippable, though it works nicely as a whole, and is clearly suffused with excitement and love for this music. So if you’re just a Grandaddy fan, you may just want to tape their song -- but if you’re into one or two of these other bands, or simply feel daring, I’d highly recommend Sleeping Off Stolen Dreams. -- ea
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Various Artists / Critical Bandwidth / Nutone (CD)
It beats me what Critical Bandwidth's theme is meant to be; everything on
this compilation is supposed to be critical listening? That's a selling blurb,
not a theme; while a compilation doesn't require a unifying thesis to be enjoyable, some
unity in sound, texture, theme, beat or emotion would allow listeners
greater enjoyment. Imagine dancing in a club to DJ Dara, then Low,
Alabama, Moby, Field Mice... The changes would be exhausting. If this
variety of changes is your bag, you won't be unhappy. Nutone hypes the
album as "a compilation cover(ing) all bases... downtempo, sci-fi
jazz, phunk, break beat, techno, to deep house"; if a friend
gave it to me, I'd assume it was his virgin compilation attempt.
ArtiCoolAction's "Indian Vibe (Dub Flute Solo)" made me hungry for
bhangra, and Dr. K's "Pleasant Dreams" is a Stevie Wonder-style funk
fest not to be missed. Worth buying, but I'd skip over some tracks while
listening. -- js
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Telefon Tel Aviv / Fahrenheit Fair Enough / Hefty
(CD)
Joshua Eustis and Charles Cooper, the men behind Telefon Tel
Aviv, have definitely figured out how to make glitch-based
electronic music sound warm and welcoming. On some tracks,
like the title tune, they favor the cheerful, insular,
almost womblike keyboard tones used by the Aphex Twin circa
1997; this gives the music a fuzzy focus that, in no
particularly tangible way, is the listening equivalent of
stepping out of a howling winter storm into a warm house
full of softly-humming white appliances. When Eustis and Cooper add
"real" instruments, such as the acoustic guitar that shores
up "John Thomas On the Inside is Nothing But Foam" or the
bass guitar whose rhythms underpin many other tracks, the
organic sounds wrap around the electronic elements and give
them added depth. It's a shame, then, that Fahrenheit
Fair Enough's glacial post-rock pace occasionally steps
across the line into full-on new age meditation mode. At
times, you won't be sure whether to turn up the volume and
dance a bit, or turn it down and dig out a self-help book. -- gz
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The graphics are great, the name Mike! is great, and the idea -- a concept
album about Greenland -- is a long time coming, to say the least. Mike!'s intent
is not to educate listeners about Greenland's fish factories ("Godthab
Fish Factory") or the country's race relations ("Happy Kwanzaa to All: the
Eskimo Bludgeoning Song"), but to keep us entertained and laughing. On the
"funny" meter, the album's best moments -- "Did you bludgeon an eskimo
today?"; "Oh ho I can hear the Eskimos barfing" -- are as crude as Zappa
could be, and won't appeal to all. It's Mike!'s Beefheart-Over-Ice music
that'll more consistently win you over. The sound of whales (being hunted)
is almost chilling when plotted against Mike's squeaky voice, while his
warbling, squeegee guitar tunes attach to you like some wintry plague. As a
bizarre record, it's surely of the "intentional" variety, the way Attack of
the Killer Tomatoes was an intentionally bad movie. However, like that film, it's
quite memorable and fun, with an originality that's hard not to appreciate. -- td
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Cursive/Small Brown Bike / Makoto Split 7” Series / Makoto (7")
The first installment of Makoto Recordings’ bi-monthly split 7" series
recruits midwestern emocore favorites Small Brown Bike into the
fold to share wax space with Nebraska’s favorite sons and daughter, Cursive.
Small Brown Bike gets things rolling on the A-side with the brashly
tuneful "My Unanswered Whys". A not-too-surprisingly gruff call-to-arms, "My
Unanswered Whys" sounds like a head-on collision between fellow
Floridians Hot Water Music and Discount; gobs of gooey melody ooze
from beneath a foundation of grizzled guitars and an elastic rhythm.
On the flipside of this nifty slab o’ lime green wax -- did we mention it's lime
green? -- Cursive unleashes the short-but-sweet electronically enhanced rocker "Nostalgia".
Propelled by wooly guitars and skittering beats, "Nostalgia" is
certainly the most futuristic, not to mention outright fantastic
piece in the (admittedly small) Cursive canon. These songs are most
definitely exclusive, and part of a very limited run, so march your
butt over to your local record shop, plunk your four bucks down on the
counter and scream "Gimme my Makoto!" (But if they throw you out for causing a disturbance,
don't come crying back to us. -- Ed.). -- jj
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Loscil / Triple Point / Kranky (CD)
Been looking for an album "based on the concepts of thermodynamics: the exchange of energy and heat, the transformation of liquids into solids"? Vancouver soundtrack producer and electronic musician Scott Morgan, recording under the nom de electro Loscil, gives us just that with Triple Point. Exactly how these fluttering synths and gently popping beats relate to your high school physics class remains unclear, other than through track titles like "Ampere", "Conductivity", and "Enthalpy" ("the sum of the internal energy of a body and the product of its volume multiplied by the pressure", according to Webster's). Ironically, the music here generates little energy and no heat, its tedious template -- ambient synthesizers in the background, slight rhythms and slighter bits of melody up front -- tending toward the kind of inertial collapse hinted at in the title "Discrete Entropy". "Pressure" drifts along essentially unchanged through four minutes of barely fluctuating tones and occasional bass notes; any titular implication of mounting tension dissolves into a soporific ether. "Freezing Point" begins with more spring in its step, but goes on to betray not a hint of dynamism in a static six minutes. Lightweight ambient-dub for sleepyheads, Triple Point may know its physics, but must have napped through composition. -- rt
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Even As We Speak/In A Day / Split /
Gifted (7")
Australia's Gifted Records seems to be doing a
series of split single vinyl releases. This one has two tracks from each
band, both of which have a bit of a Belle and Sebastian thing going on,
with sweet-voiced girls singing over groovy retro-pop sounds. Even As We
Speak is the more aggressive of the two; "Makes No Sense" is
straight-ahead fuzzed out guitar pop, while "Let It Shine" goes the
high-energy chorus with zippy horns route. In A Day's tunes are a bit
more subdued and nuanced; "The Wrong Way" is a pretty but standard
guitar/bass/drums number, while "What More on Earth" throws in some horns and
piano for a slightly fuller and peppier, although still curiously
held-back sound. This is fun stuff, although I doubt I'll go through the
trouble of spinning this disc very often. I hope Gifted decides to put
out a singles CD once they've released enough material to make it worthwhile. --
ib
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Recover / Rodeo and Picasso / Fueled By Ramen (CD)
In the pursuit of contrast, human beings have paired angels and devils,
good cop and bad cop, and even Doug Martsch and Calvin Johnson. Recover gives us
screamo and emo. Between bouts of shouting, they'll toss in a more melodic pop
voice, making sure that you get neither too angry nor too comfortable. It
works for about half the album, then leaves them nowhere new to
turn, and they fall prey to their own formulaic writing. The
lyrics are also needlessly sloppy, with songs ending on lines like "Save yourself!" and "Kill
your friends!" Recover's more memorable songs, such as "Betting All I Have", "Elimination" and "Two Minutes Hate", favor the
catchy, poppy singing; they won't wear you out as quickly, and they'll appeal
to your shriveled, emo-laden heart. Between most of the tracks you'll find modest attempts at calm, melodic music, often recalling a quiet Modest Mouse. These snippets of beauty baffled me;
they show that Recover can make really good slow music. I
kept hoping that the album would eventually swim into a sea of slow
bliss. Instead, these interludes only serve to cleanse your palette
for the next round of screaming. -- jk
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The Generators / Tyranny / TKO (CD)
Tyranny is strong armed street punk, with an anthemic quality
to its roaring background choruses. Vocalist Dougie Dagger ushers
forth a retro-sounding punk rock explosion that's reminiscent of a
hard-edged, early day Clash or the barroom brawling of The Dropkick
Murphys. Shouldering these influences isn't easy, but The Generators are
able to keep their reckless music machine on track through such impressive
numbers as the swinging "Keep on Runnin'" and the browbeating "Us Against
Them". The only drawback is that some of the lyrics could use more depth; often an
interesting lyrical concept arises, but is not explored completely, as the band
instead heads for the chorus a bit
too quickly. It's plenty of fun to crank Tyranny up on the home stereo
and chant along with Dagger and company, but I bet the Generators' live
show packs the true power of the band's tunes. -- am
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Slang / The Bellwether Project / Terminus (CD)
Combining electronica tinkerings with a dose of back porch southern sounds,
The Bellwether Project is not quite like anything I've heard before.
Born out of a collaborative effort between Dave Schools (Widespread Panic)
and longtime friend Layng Martine III, Slang incorporates a montage of
sounds, effects and samples with traditional elements, producing a
sound that is both unique and straightforward, and offers an intriguing
interplay of natural and artificial sonic textures. Highlights include "Little
Bird", with gorgeous vocals by Lori Carson, and "Moonlight's Fair", which is
anchored by John Hyde's pedal steel. If you need an auditory
demonstration of how to successfully mesh modern and traditional music
styles, The Bellwether Project is a perfect place to start. -- al
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Matthew Carlson / Cosmic Americana / Phonophore
(CD)
The best way to describe Carlson's sound is to suggest that you imagine
what might happen if Morrissey collaborated with John Denver. Carlson's
vocal approach utilizes the same delicate sensitivity Morrissey employed on
"Sweet and Tender Hooligan" (minus the British haughtiness). However, the
dominance of his acoustic guitar and his simple, observational style has a
direct link to Mr. Denver. The open, soaring chorus of "Adirondack
Mountainside" recalls the same peace as Denver's "Rocky Mountain High",
which in my book is a compliment. While "The Disciple" utilizes a more
Western melody and "What to Do" has a fat beat, nothing here is out
of line with Denver's easy-going approach. This makes for a pleasing disc,
best played under open skies. -- rd
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Ruby / Altered and Proud (The Short-Staffed Remixes) / Thirsty Ear (CD)
This is a remix album, and as such, is difficult to review for those of us
who have not heard the original versions of these songs; after all, who gets
the credit, and who the blame? Is the mediocre track the result of the
uninspired remix of a top-notch song, or of a terrible track that has been
carefully resuscitated by the remixer? The question is germane here, as most
of the tracks on this album fall into the okay-to-pretty-good range. Ruby's
singer, Lesley Rankine, has a tremendously sexy accent (put to particularly good use
on "Queen of Denial"), and many of those assembled have used it
well. On the aforementioned track, for instance, Captain Audio lays down a
thick layer of hollow-sounding drums, horns, pianos and synths, creating a
framework over which the vocals sound like raw sugar. Another standout is
"Lillypad", as remixed by Kid 606, who takes the basic tracks and as many bleeps
and clicks as the law allows, throws them into a blender and comes out with
an acid-jazz version of Mouse on Mars. On the other hand, neither of the two versions
of "Waterside" included here is particularly notable, making me
suspect that the fault lies with the original song, and not the skill of
those who tinkered with it. Still, Altered and Proud is a pretty solid effort, with some nice
surprises, and will undoubtedly be picked apart for movie scores until none
of us ever wants to hear it again. -- bm
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Bound 4 Venus / Publicity Stunt / Twinke Spider (CD)
These guys seem to play genre music with no regard for
contemporary relevance. Its songs conscientiously steeped in early '70s glam-rock
nostalgia, the album has an overwhelming Bowie feel;
upbeat guitar melodies jaunt by with suggestive
vocals, bolstered by intermittent three-part
harmonies. Some songs, such as "Goodbye Varsity Angel",
take on a classic rock-epic quality, with garish
guitar solos persisting between whimsical lyrical
fantasies and solemn drumbeats. While those tracks are
competently assembled, Publicity Stunt works best with
faster-paced, more structured numbers like "Much
More the Actor" and "Life @ 24 Frames per second". Publicity Stunt
will find a happy home on the shelf next to the Velvet
Goldmine soundtrack; although the former lacks the creative verve of
the latter, they share the ability to rejuvenate
a long-dead genre with intelligent hooks and retrospective melodies. -- jw
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Various Artists / Take Everything Very Seriously /
Double Agent (CD)
Listen to this Double Agent sampler and you'll be serious
about checking out the Cambridge, MA-based label's roster in
greater detail. Label stalwarts like My Favorite, Class and
Unisex hold down the fort with the lion's share of the
tracks, but all the bands acquit themselves nicely --
there's not a dullard in the bunch. A couple of groups
stretch toward a post-Kid A, IDM-for-the-masses
ideal, while others happily dust off pop and new wave
concepts. Figurine's "S.O.S." will sit well with Beta Band
fans, as will The Solar Saturday's "I Want More" (albeit in
a very different way), and Kitch's compressed "Take A Rope"
will satisfy Faint fans, while My Favorite's "Detectives of
Suburbia" will inspire you to dig out your New Order records
(if you have any) and play "Hey, Where'd They Steal That Rhythm From?".
Being target-marketed has never been so much fun. -- gz
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Various Artists / Purple Gush Vol. 1: Compilation Printemps / Another (CD)
This is a remarkable ten song, ten band collection of French and American bands. One of several show stoppers is DKP's "No One Comes", which sounds like the New Pornographers doing Steve Earle. Darwin's "Pleasure of a Storm" resurrects The Vaselines in a way that has been sorely missed for a long, long time. Bellevue single-handedly prove that some Frogs have been listening to the right records with their moving "Vue Sur La Mer". Magnetic Fields fans, check out the ghostly ballad "Lonely Wolf" by All the Living and the Dead. See? There's a little something for everyone. If you like Danzig, Misfits or Black Flag, check out Norgle's "In a Cage." Moreover, Tino's synth-drenched "The Afghan Exile" sounds like modern day new-wave version of the Clash. I really can't shower enough superlatives on this compilation; impress your friends and buy this album. -- da
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Crush Kill Destroy / Self-Titled / Makoto Recordings
(CD)
With a name like Crush Kill Destroy, these guys should feature screaming vocals, excessively loud riffs and songs about death, destruction and the apocalypse...right? Wrong. The very first chords of this self-titled effort quickly dispel those expectations. This is quiet,
instrumental, guitar-based rock music, and should please fans of bands like
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and Pavo. While they're not exactly innovators, CCD pursue
their chosen genre quite well; the musicianship is tight, and the occasional spoken-word interjection prevents the music becoming monotonous. Unless you were hoping for hardcore death
metal -- which wouldn't have been an unreasonable assumption -- you're going to like this. -- mp
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Coco B / Basement Songs: Firehawks and Dirtybirds EP1 / K-Double (CD)
Tinlking toy piano keys, electronic atmospherics, a woman's voice: "Hi,
neighbor. Here is a medley of different instruments playing music..." The
opening fifteen seconds of Basement Songs raised my hopes for a new and
refreshing approach to home recording. No such luck. Instead, the two guys
who make up Coco B have written a short suite of pleasant-enough songs,
ranging from hummable acoustic guitar campfire sing-alongs to politely
rocking electric guitar outings. With the eight track CD clocking in at
just over thirteen minutes, there's not much room for error; unfortunately,
a third of Basement Songs is wasted time. As the packaging doesn't list song titles,
I will have to give highlights by number. Track #2 is the best of the lot,
combining a rich guitar sound with a crisp electric piano, to a lilting
chorus of "It's not too late for a second take". Track three is a
competently-executed rock song, though the lyrics leave a lot to be desired:
"I'm cynical over and under/Machine is cold as thunder." Ouch. Track #6
uses low-fi for a reason -- in this case, to achieve the effect of distance
and time -- and it therefore succeeds. Track #7 would not seem out of place
on a Kleenex Girl Wonder album. As for the rest, I am afraid that home
recording got the best of these boys. Track #4 sounds like any number of
screaming-and-distortion Guided By Voices songs, but without melody, lyrics
or purpose. The rest are just boring -- the kind of ideas that seem okay when
you play them with your friend into a four track, but aren't really meant
for other ears. -- bm
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Various Artists / This Changes Everything: A Second Nature
Recordings Sampler / Second Nature (CD)
This Changes Everything is Second Nature Recordings’ entry into the
cheapo sampler sweepstakes, and while it might not be the odds-on
favorite, one listen will prove that there is indeed
a dark horse in the running. Kicking off with Kid Kilowatt’s
ferocious "The Scope" (from their reportedly brilliant, yet still
unreleased, Guitar Method LP), This Changes Everything takes you on a tour
of the Second Nature stable -- which is, needless to say, packed with
studs-in-training. Sadly defunct workhorses Coalesce bring the pain on
the grinding "Measured in Gray", while (relatively) new kids on the block
Kill Creek contribute the blinding "Grandfather’s Left Side" and
perennial favorites Waxwing deliver the swarthy "Laboratory". Other
contributions include Reggie & the Full Effect’s "Thanx for Stayin’",
Isis’ "The Red Sea" and Anascara’s "Eugene Debs". Though they probably
aren’t the first label you'd expect to bum rush the finish line,
Second Nature have indeed come to race, and are gaining ground fast. This Changes Everything should improve their odds. -- jj
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Lift to Experience / The Texas-Jerusalem Crossroads / Bella Union (CD)
Imagine hearing Bono fronting Spiritualized as they play original
religious songs, and you'll have heard Lift to Experience in your
mind's ear. At certain odd times, Josh Pearson is a vocal dead ringer for the
U2 lead; he even admits that the first guitar chords he learned were to
"Sunday Bloody Sunday". The Spiritualized reference isn't lost on the
band, either -- the sleeve of the album reads, "Ladies and Gentlemen We are
Playing With One Guitar". If you've ever sat through Christian "young
adult" masses/services, you'll recognize that this music is the stuff
the priest should've been playing, rather than the schlock you did
have to hear. The Texas-Jerusalem Crossroads is more loaded
with religious convictions than Carrie Nation. Even if you're devoted
to secular music, however, you can enjoy the album's emotion --
full-throttle, on fire conviction of the end of the earth, delivered in a
pleasant manner, like drowning. For the sheer unique quality of the
emotions expressed in the music, this is not to be missed. Oh,
yeah, and the music's good, too. -- js
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At this point, about the only charm left in a 7" comes from its
packaging; playing the things is annoying as all get-out. Who wants to
get up every two and half minutes to change a damn record? Western
Canada's The Evaporators seem oblivious to these issues; no
glow-in-the-dark records or weirdo sleeves for them, just plain old
black vinyl and a square jacket. The four tunes on this disc are of the
goofy garage band variety, with wacky vocals, funny samples and fast,
jangly guitars. All of the tunes are pleasantly energetic and silly, but
"Touch Wood", with guest vocals by Megan Barnes, is the only one I can
actually imagine going through the trouble to listen to. It's a manic
raveup that would get the kids at the sock hop all hot and bothered (Maybe they still have sock hops up there in BC?). Also of note is a brief
telephone interview with Motley Crue's Tommy Lee, in which singer Nardwuar quizzes him
about the infamous "cock on the boat horn" incident from the Tommy and
Pamela Lee video. It's reasonably funny, but it's not really enough to
convince me to drag my tired arse across the room to reset the damn
needle more than once. --
ib
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Dishwater Psychics / Candlewax Horizon / Friendly Psychics (CD)
If my old third grade teacher had had anything to say about it, Candlewax Horizon would be titled Needs Improvement. It's not that it's all bad; it's just mostly bad. Let's face it, Lo-fi tends to lend misplaced credibility to musicians who have yet to get
their acts together. I realize that with Robert Pollard becoming more respectable,
someone else has to give us our microphone-in-beer bottle records. The caveat
here is that the Psychics aren't writing melodies worth
being recorded poorly. Candlewax Horizonis their third release, and only
occasionally does it display some maturity in song arrangement and variety.
With drumfills coming in left of left field and tepid, soulless lyrics dragging
the whole record along, you get the feeling that going analog wasn't a
financial decision (see "Homelessexual"). There are, of course, a couple of standouts;
"Balanced on Nothing" is a well-put-together song about a sour relationship, and
"Driving the Clutch", with its REM-like guitars swirling around the lyrics,
does much to redeem the other tracks. They try so hard, though. Someone should
throw some money at this band. Please. -- da
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RX Bandits / Progress / Drive-Thru (CD)
Pop-punk-ska band RX Bandits come back strong with their second album for Drive-Thru Records. While this not something I’d listen to by choice, I have to say that it's some of the best music I’ve heard in this particular genre, and I would recommend it for fans of progressive, contemporary ska. These guys have an edge on their competition - while providing the requisite amount of rage, their songs have a positive, smart, and socially conscious message throughout. On top of that, the music is well-written, dynamic and very catchy. They’ve applied choice amounts of studio trickery, drum machines, and even a string section on the album’s closer, "Infection", to really ice the fact that they’ve progressed. This music is just dying to get on the airwaves -- and given most of the absolute shit out there on "alternative" radio these days, I’d be ecstatic if my kids listened to the RX Bandits. I might even ask them to turn it up. -- ea
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John Vanderslice/Sunset Valley / Split / Sea
Level (7")
You say you're considering buying John Vanderslice's Time
Travel is Lonely and Sunset Valley's Icepond, but
you want to hear them first and your local record store
won't let you "try before you buy"? Perhaps this
hard-to-find 7", which offers a strong track from each
album, will solve your problems. John Croslin's remix of
Vanderslice's "My Old Flame", while definitely the less
accessible of the two songs here, is more likely to inspire
long-term listening; it's a deeper, more emotionally
involving tune, though it lacks a hummable hook. Sunset
Valley covers the hook requirement with a demo version of
"Parade on My Rain" -- you'll be singing the chorus for
hours (but you probably won't remember anything else about
the song). If you own one or both of the records from which
these tunes are culled, this single's appeal will be
limited...unless you're a rabid collector, in which case
you'd probably have bought it even if I told you it was
shite. -- gz
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Various Artists / Across Woodward Volume
1 / Datacarbon Recordings (CD)
Across Woodward Volume 1 features artists
culled from the Detroit underground. Most of the music
here falls into the fairly broad category of "crescendo builders
and experimental rock/jazz". The notable
exception to that rule is A Thousand Times Yes, whose
"Written with Hooves and a Soviet Compass" is an airy
pop song resting on lo-fi laurels; its muted vocals
and staccato strumming would earn the band shelter under a
number of indie-label roofs. Unfortunately, the rest
of the compilation falls into the sonic ghetto between -- and
unfortunately, well beneath -- The Red
Stars Theory and Godspeed You Black Emperor!, with few
songs holding much promise. -- jw
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The Soundtrack of Our Lives / Behind the Music / Hidden Agenda (CD)
Not to be confused with VH1’s maddeningly addictive series, Behind the
Music is the latest candy-coated pop confection from this Swedish
septet -- a joyous excursion through the last 30 years of
British and American pop music, filtered through a distinctly Swedish
world view. Which certainly isn’t to say that it all sounds like
ABBA; on the contrary, there is nary a trace of the Gold-plated ones to
be found here. Instead, you'll discover gooey
slices of shimmering, Carnaby Street-style psychedelia ("Broken
Imaginary Time"), lulling, Beatlesque piano ballads ("Tonight") and Alex
Chilton-inspired nuggets of truculent power-pop ("Infra Riot"). While
their influences might be familiar, The Soundtrack of Our Lives
injects each song with such off-kilter flair that for an hour or so,
you’ll forget that all those other groups ever existed. This isn't a flawless record -- it runs a bit long, and drags a bit towards the end -- but minor quibbles aside, Behind the Music
proves to be just as addictive as its broadcast counterpart, if not more
so. And as any American will certainly attest, that's high praise
indeed. -- jj
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Michael Rhoades / Influences of Luminosity / Perception Factory (CD)
Subtitled "Computer Music by Michael Rhoades", Influences of Luminosity stands as a paradox: both of its musical moment and a technological anachronism, the album consists of electroacoustic and computer music, much of it composed using the programming language Csound. With laptop composers more firmly entrenched in the musical consciousness than ever (even a major label star like Björk employed the San Francisco electro duo Matmos for her most recent album), the time seems ripe for a programming revolution. Influences, though, seems to come out of the past -- like a 1979 demonstration of the awesome power of the Atari 800. Tracks like "Three Whirling Dervishes" and "Adrift" aren't beat-driven exercises in Pro Tools manipulation, but soundtrack-like tone poems (the former sounding convincingly like a landing UFO). Many of the tracks resemble themes in a slightly cheesy haunted house: "John's Door", for instance, sports creaking hinges and moaning spirits. Ghostly voices also whisper through the following track, "Beckoning the Hunter", before a waterfall of cascading noises and rippling bass notes banish them, briefly, into the ether. While Influences of Luminosity won't get your head bobbing, it might come in handy at your next spooky theme party. -- rt
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Roots Manuva / Run Come Save Me / Big Dada
(CD)
Since modern hip-hop has become a mind-numbing wasteland, discs like
Run Come Save Me easily stand out from the crowd. Utilizing a swaggering dance hall approach, the British Manuva rolls out easy, catchy numbers which should set club floors on fire; their style touches on the sort of futuristic
noise-melding favored by Timbaland, which helps to create interesting backing tracks for the
rappers. The disc's only negative point is that there simply isn't enough variation in
tempo -- after a while, the bump becomes a bit of a grind,
dulling Manuva's sharp attack. However, in small to middling doses, Run Come Save Me is just
as engaging as the fantastic work of The Roots or Jurassic 5. -- rd
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The Dorks / Self-Titled / Man With A Gun (CD)
The Dorks are a punk-rock band -- the radio-friendly variety, like Blink-182 or A New Found Glory, rather than a more authentic act like the Sex Pistols or Black Flag. Given that they describe their motivation for music as "beer, chicks, parties, and well...chicks," they could hardly be expected to come up with songs that get beyond the most basic human emotions, or contain more than three chords. "Monday" sounds much like "Out of Time", which in turn bears a remarkable similarity to "Bad Situation". Are you following me yet? Let me spell it out for you: this is commercial punk-rock at its most accessible. However, to its credit, this self-titled effort is tremendously catchy, and a lot of fun to listen to -- something you can't always say about bands with loads more punk rock cred. -- mp
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Hank Harris / Here / Sunbunny (CD)
Hank Harris is among the more popular singers and live acts from South
Dakota, and it's richly deserved. He can zero in on a number of popular or
once-popular trends -- particularly Lenny Kravitz ("New Religion"), Sting in
torch singer mode ("Nothing At All"), the everyday rootsiness of a Hootie
and the Blowfish, and the cleaned-up Steely Dan copycats of late seventies
radio -- and add nice, if minor, variations to the formula. The best track
here is actually a lite-rock reggae tune that's weaned on Paul McCartney's
ventures with Wings. Called "Lies of Love", the song is
infectious and breezy and the writing is tight. It's easy to sit back
and drink to, or incite a heartfelt sing-along. Harris is talented, with a
great voice, and he's very accessible. He's also "modern" enough to orchestrate a
rap at the disc's end. Still, it'll be surprising if national radio befriends
his work. Not only does the artist's near-schizophrenic song variety work
against Here, commercially speaking, but none of his music covers turf that
isn't already well staked out in commercial radio-land. As radio programmers apparently permit only one
Sting, Hootie or Lenny Kravitz to receive radio exposure at any given time (Thank God. -- Ed.), solid talents like Hank must persevere through local shows, local awards and the
satisfaction of being as good as popular acts -- but not as lucky. -- td
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The American Public / Peachment / PopGun (CD)
The American Public has a clear goal: combining that singer/songwriter mainstay, the acoustic guitar, with the
synthesizer. This is a unique aspiration, because these two instruments are
rarely used side by side. Unfortunately, The American Public doesn't quite
pull off the combination. Sure, there are moments of pleasant guitar and moments of pleasant bass-happy synthesized beats, but the two fail to coexist; when thrown together in the same track, they mix like oil and water. The second cut, "Jail Song", starts as a typical singer-songwriter track,
but a little way in, The American Public breaks out into some electric
beats. And when this happens, little if any of the original song is retained; the only thing that tells you that you're still listening to the same composition is the fact that the track number hasn't changed. On the more delicate "The American Public", the band takes a slightly more accomplished stab
at peaceful instrumental coexistence. It helps that the tempo is slower, and they're trying to incorporate strings rather than beats. Yet even on this track, they almost bring
the song to a close before really tossing in the synthesized stuff. After
the keyboards are established, the acoustic guitars return, but unfortunately it sounds like two songs played simultaneously, and causes more confusion than enjoyment. -- jk
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King Sauce/Plastic Mastery / Split 7" / Earworm/Obtuse (7")
Two American bands team up on a 7" single; two British
labels team up to release it. At first, due to some odd
punctuation on the record sleeve, I thought that Jamesburg,
NJ's King Sauce had come up with the most inspired song
title of the year, "Why Can't You Stop Biting Adam, Wendy?"
It turns out that there are two songs; "Why Can't You Stop
Biting, Adam?" creates and populates the micro-genre of
Frustrated Parent Indie Rock -- its subject matter should be
fairly obvious -- while "Wendy" is a skewed little love song
done in exaggerated piano bar style. On the flip, Plastic
Mastery (Rich Chodes of Vince Mole and His Calcium
Orchestra) contributes a fervent, borderline incoherent pop
song called "The Three Way". Passionate and catchy, this
tune is delivered at breakneck speed and burns itself out in
a couple of minutes. This leaves room for a nameless second
tune, which sounds like a recording outtake that was
included to pad the 7" to an appropriate length -- either
that, or it's "The Three Way, Part 2". As a whole, there's
a likeable, low-rent They Might Be Giants vibe at work here,
which lends the music and lyrics an understated charm. -- gz
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Rock City Crimewave / Sounds From The Underworld / Catapult (CD)
Let's pretend for a moment that you're Rob Zombie (try not to be fearful,
this will only take a minute) and you're walking through a suburban
neighborhood and hear the frenzied sounds of a young, punkish band rocking out in
their parents' garage. You walk in, take a swig of liquor from one the
bottles lining the very large amps and join the band for the next eleven rollicking
songs. Now, imagine that before you got on stage, someone pressed "record" on a
nearby DAT deck. What
you've got, generally speaking, is Sounds From The Underworld. It's
loud, completely rude, and undoubtedly rocking. You want this. Tracks to
convince you are "I Wanna Crawl All Over You", with bizarre vocals resembling
a melding of Billy Idol and Ozzy Osborne, and the sinister "I Love Kristie
Keefe". And all just in time for Halloween. -- al
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Could there be, lurking among the trees, an all-female
version of dreaded no-wave terrorists The Locust? You bet your
bootstraps there is, and this parasite don’t answer to "sweetie" or
"babe", but to the altogether more foreboding and confusing Erase
Errata. Their debut full-length release fuses Le Tigre’s
tortured anima with the barnstorming squall of Melt Banana, forging a
decadently frantic and tempestuous sound. This Bay Area quartet gets
right to business as they unleash the blinding, blink-and-you’ll-miss-'em
blasts of vicious no-wave-meets-new-wave racket that are "Tongue Tied"
and "Billy Mommy". From there, Erase Errata are off to the races, sprinting
hell for leather through fifteen songs in just under half an hour. Whether
they're blasting along like The Go-Gos on a crank binge (see the
tectonically gleeful skronk of “Marathon”) or creating full-blown
noise-laden chaos (the Lake of Dracula-inspired "French Caradis"), these
ladies are nothing short of storming. When the dust finally settles,
Other Animals is nothing less than top-notch no-wave, to be enjoyed by riot grrrls
and hardcore punks alike. -- jj
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Puddle / Run to the Water /
Prone (CD)
Oh my, how those boys like their funk-rock. Puddle is a Baltimore-based
three piece that plays a tight, earnest and good-natured brand of the
stuff. They seem to have avoided the icky funk/metal/hip hop thing that
has been responsible for more than its share of cruddy music in the last
few years. Instead they've stuck to a more straight-ahead chucka-chucka
guitars + clean vocals style that puts them closer to the Chili Peppers
or even a ska band than anything else. They like to break into fast,
complex little riff-fests, and it's clear that almost a decade of
playing together has helped these chop-ups attain Primus-like precision.
Unfortunately, tight playing and good intentions don't necessarily lead
to compelling music; Run to the Water sounds like the work of a fun
and talented party band. They probably put on a good show, but on CD, none of their songs really get past my "generic funk-rock" filter. --
ib
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gz - george zahora | am - andrew magilow | ib - irving bellemead | jj - jason jackowiak | td - theodore defosse
rd - ron davies | js - jenn sikes | rt - ryan tranquilla | al - amy leach | jw - john wolfe | az - alex zorn
ea - ed anderson | jk - josh kazman | mp - matthew pollesel | bm - brett mccallon | da - daniel arizona
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