In my review of Mono’s Walking Cloud and Deep Red Sky, Flag Fluttered and The Sun Shined, I wrote that the best Japanese bands “possess an uncanny ability to synthesize the best ideas of a genre’s key artists into a composite whole that transcends mere ‘Recommended If You Like’ mimicry.” Tokyo trio My Way My Love is an exception that proves the rule. Having once played with Mono guitarist Taakira Goto in a previous band called the Cimons, you’d think that MYML front man Yukio Murata would know a thing or two about stylistic synthesis. Unfortunately, a prestigious pedigree isn’t a guarantee of quality. On their domestic debut Hypnotic Suggestion: 01, MYML takes its cues from the best of early ‘90s noise-rock (Sonic Youth, Boredoms, Unwound), but their pastiche is often too incoherent and uninspired to recommend.
With a little bit more melody, the album’s first proper song “Super Fresh!” could have been an outtake from Thurston Moore’s Psychic Hearts album. Murata delivers sarcastic spoken rants about food while putting his guitar through serious whammy-bar abuse. On “Ovo,” he imitates the hyper-speed guitar strumming of Daydream Nation. Both of these songs benefit from their energy and brevity, as they rock hard and end in 90 seconds or less. “Captain” runs the White Stripes’ brand of amateurish garage-rock through the wringer. Its out-of-tune bass line and atonal guitar soloing is made even more abrasive by the air-raid sirens weaved into the mix, and that’s even before you get to Murata’s strangled whining on the chorus. “Sound of Gold” is the closest that MYML comes to a ballad. There’s a melody, but it’s moaned more than sung; there’s an acoustic guitar, but it has to fight against an undercurrent of wailing feedback. By the way, these are the songs on the record that I actually LIKE.
More often than not, though, the band’s fetish for noise trips them up. On “Sports” and “’Was Not’ ~ Rock a Cradle,” the band uses radical shifts in recording fidelity to differentiate one idea from another. When “Sports” shifts into double-time, the song stops sounding like it was recorded on an eight-track and starts sounding like it was recorded on a Dictaphone. It’s as if someone was playing a trick on you by turning the equalizer knobs on your stereo all the way down. “Rock a Cradle” starts off sounding like an old four-track recording and progressively drowns itself in tape hiss. Anyone who’s familiar with my reviews knows that I do not consider high fidelity or technical virtuosity prerequisites for making good music; after all, my favorite band IS Guided by Voices (RIP). However, I also think that if a band has access to a recording studio (which MYML does), they should use it, and if they know how to play their instruments (which MYML also does), they should act like it. Intentionally poor musicianship and recording went out of style a long time ago, and somebody needs to give MYML a memo.
Last but not least, Hypnotic Suggestion: 01 has an awful lot of filler for a 30-minute album. Five of the tracks are brief, aimless sound collages, most of which are sequenced long after the band has exhausted all of its good ideas in the “proper” songs. This might be a moot point, though; even if this were a seven-track EP instead of a 13-track album, I still wouldn’t recommend it highly.
--Sean Padilla
Artist Website: http://www.mywaymylove.com
Label Website: http://www.file-13.com
February 26, 2005
February 25, 2005
AK-Momo "Return to NY"
The music found on AK Momo's debut record, Return to NY, can only be described as unclassifiable. On first listen, there's an easy connection to be made; the music itself is cold, emotionally emotionless ambient music, not unlike Portishead's darker moments walking hand in hand with Broadcast's poppier tendencies. That description doesn't properly describe AK Momo, though. The most striking feature of this band is the vocal styling of AK von Malmborg. It's original, to say the least; she sings with a soulful, childlike style that some might compare to Joanna Newsom or possibly Kate Bush. Of course, such comparisons are not too far-fetched, but what I hear is more of a melding that would read as: Cranes meets Portishead meets The Cardigans meets Broadcast meets Pram meets something totally original.
In spite of such a tenuous description, Return to NY is a fascinating, cold-blooded listen. To say that the music is chilly is an understatement; this Norwegian duo have captured the frigidness of the tundra in song and each successive listen will prove even more shiver-inducing. Not that you should mind, though. Despite its freezing atmosphere, there's also an erotic undertone; Return to NY is very sensual, and it's a musical equivalent of a late-night rendevous or a trist on a cold winter's snow day. For AK Momo, this is a good thing, because it makes you overlook the album's biggest flaw. The formula for their songs doesn't vary, and you'd be hard-pressed to really tell which song is which; after about four repeated listens, no one song stands out; instead, Return to NY feels like one continual suite, with many variations of the same sonic theme. While "Only The Stars" is a beautiful number, it's really difficult to distinguish it from the song that preceeds it, "Time for the Muse" or the song that follows it, "Cold War Of The Hearts,"
That's okay, though; I think that's what AK Momo intended. Despite that major flaw, Return to NY is a gorgeous listen, one that will make you feel something--anything--after you listen to it. A flawed, but still gorgeous, little record. Besides, if you're using this as a soundtrack for a lovely evening, shouldn't you be more concerned about your snuggle?
--Joseph Kyle
Label Website: http://www.parasol.com
In spite of such a tenuous description, Return to NY is a fascinating, cold-blooded listen. To say that the music is chilly is an understatement; this Norwegian duo have captured the frigidness of the tundra in song and each successive listen will prove even more shiver-inducing. Not that you should mind, though. Despite its freezing atmosphere, there's also an erotic undertone; Return to NY is very sensual, and it's a musical equivalent of a late-night rendevous or a trist on a cold winter's snow day. For AK Momo, this is a good thing, because it makes you overlook the album's biggest flaw. The formula for their songs doesn't vary, and you'd be hard-pressed to really tell which song is which; after about four repeated listens, no one song stands out; instead, Return to NY feels like one continual suite, with many variations of the same sonic theme. While "Only The Stars" is a beautiful number, it's really difficult to distinguish it from the song that preceeds it, "Time for the Muse" or the song that follows it, "Cold War Of The Hearts,"
That's okay, though; I think that's what AK Momo intended. Despite that major flaw, Return to NY is a gorgeous listen, one that will make you feel something--anything--after you listen to it. A flawed, but still gorgeous, little record. Besides, if you're using this as a soundtrack for a lovely evening, shouldn't you be more concerned about your snuggle?
--Joseph Kyle
Label Website: http://www.parasol.com
Iron & Wine "Woman King"
Sam Beam sings with a voice so warm, so fulfilling and so intoxicating, you might wonder if he's any kin to the whiskey baron. His rye-soaked songs--a mixture of folk, rock and country--are quite impressive, and they defy easy comparison, and it's not all him, either; he's always worked well with others, and he's got the ability to make his solo performances sound like he's backed by a full band. He's also quite a prolific writer, having released four excellent records over the past two and a half years, and his latest EP, Woman King is no exception.
Following the same dusty path as his last album, Our Endless Numbered Days, Beam and company have crafted six gentle yet emotionally charged songs that sound both hauntingly familiar and otherworldly. His voice is a fine, wispy thing; at times, such as on the title track and "Gray Stables," his singing is almost lost to the excellent accompaniment. It's not folk and it's not rock and it's certainly not folk-rock, either; his backing band has a sharp sense of atmospherics and delicate intricacies. When his band tread the depths of more traditional sounds, such as on the jaunty, upbeat "Freedom Hangs Like Heaven" and "Evening On The Ground (Lillith's Song)," Iron & Wine sound like something quite extraordinary. You'd be tempted to say that it sounds like Neil Young, but not quite. Adding his wife Sarah as a backing vocalist adds a dimension that's quite beautiful and angelic.
In a way, Iron & Wine's music is much like the thimbles on the cover: beautiful, tiny works of art that are delicate and can easily break, but at the same time they're tough and protective and cannot be pierced. Sam Beam is an artist who's clearly coming into his own. If you're looking for an introduction to the man's work, Woman King is as excellent a place to start as any. Heck, if it's any consolation, this was my first experience with the man's work as well, and after hearing this little EP, I definitely wanted to hear more--and, if the all-too-brief Woman King is any indication as to where he's going next, then the future is definitely looking good for Iron & Wine.
--Joseph Kyle
Artist Website: http://www.ironandwine.com
Label Website: http://www.subpop.com
Following the same dusty path as his last album, Our Endless Numbered Days, Beam and company have crafted six gentle yet emotionally charged songs that sound both hauntingly familiar and otherworldly. His voice is a fine, wispy thing; at times, such as on the title track and "Gray Stables," his singing is almost lost to the excellent accompaniment. It's not folk and it's not rock and it's certainly not folk-rock, either; his backing band has a sharp sense of atmospherics and delicate intricacies. When his band tread the depths of more traditional sounds, such as on the jaunty, upbeat "Freedom Hangs Like Heaven" and "Evening On The Ground (Lillith's Song)," Iron & Wine sound like something quite extraordinary. You'd be tempted to say that it sounds like Neil Young, but not quite. Adding his wife Sarah as a backing vocalist adds a dimension that's quite beautiful and angelic.
In a way, Iron & Wine's music is much like the thimbles on the cover: beautiful, tiny works of art that are delicate and can easily break, but at the same time they're tough and protective and cannot be pierced. Sam Beam is an artist who's clearly coming into his own. If you're looking for an introduction to the man's work, Woman King is as excellent a place to start as any. Heck, if it's any consolation, this was my first experience with the man's work as well, and after hearing this little EP, I definitely wanted to hear more--and, if the all-too-brief Woman King is any indication as to where he's going next, then the future is definitely looking good for Iron & Wine.
--Joseph Kyle
Artist Website: http://www.ironandwine.com
Label Website: http://www.subpop.com
Channing Cope "Sugar In Our Blood"
Sitting in my bed, listening to Channing Cope's debut Sugar In Our Blood, I can only think of one word to describe it, and it's an unusual choice, but it's true: almost. Here, let me highlight my reasoning for you. When I first heard the record, I almost fell asleep from boredom. I almost chose not to review it, because it didn't move me. I almost didn't give them another chance. Recently when I was rounding up promos to send to one of my writers, I almost sent it away. I almost had room in the package for it, too. The reason I didn't like it was because it seemed almost like every other math-rock band I've heard.
I almost thought I made a mistake when I left it out.
I almost didn't listen to it again, but when I did, I almost flipped. This six-song CD is almost an album; at six songs in less than thirty minutes, it's almost an EP, but as they're calling it an album. . True, the band almost sounds like a generic indie-rock band, but just almost. True, "Support the Mountain" is almost boring, but "Blackbody Curves" and "Parallax" almost make me want to get up out of my sick bed. I almost fell asleep while listening to it again, but that was because of the cold medicine, and not the wonderful music I heard. They almost sound like American Analog Set, and when they do, they almost sound a lot better, because Channing Cope's groove is almost as narcotic as theirs but it's almost poppier, too. "Next Year" is almost a blend of American Analog Set's groove and !!!'s wild funk, and I'm almost convinced that Channing Cope can do no wrong. Sure, there are times they are almost a little generic, but the moments of blissed-out rock are almost enough to make me not mention it. I'm almost willing to overlook those flaws. In fact, I almost wish I hadn't mentioned it now.
I can't believe I almost rejected these guys. I almost made a mistake. I'm almost happy I've had this really nasty cold, as I'm almost certain I wouldn't have bothered to listen to Sugar In Our Blood. This is almost an A+ record, and I'm almost certain they've got a totally brilliant record in them. I'm glad I took that chance again, and I'm almost sorry I held back on these guys. I almost hope you take the time to go to their website and check them out, because if you don't, I'll almost feel sorry for you.
--Joseph Kyle
Artist Website: http://www.channingcope.com
Label Website: http://www.fiftyfourfortyorfight.com
I almost thought I made a mistake when I left it out.
I almost didn't listen to it again, but when I did, I almost flipped. This six-song CD is almost an album; at six songs in less than thirty minutes, it's almost an EP, but as they're calling it an album. . True, the band almost sounds like a generic indie-rock band, but just almost. True, "Support the Mountain" is almost boring, but "Blackbody Curves" and "Parallax" almost make me want to get up out of my sick bed. I almost fell asleep while listening to it again, but that was because of the cold medicine, and not the wonderful music I heard. They almost sound like American Analog Set, and when they do, they almost sound a lot better, because Channing Cope's groove is almost as narcotic as theirs but it's almost poppier, too. "Next Year" is almost a blend of American Analog Set's groove and !!!'s wild funk, and I'm almost convinced that Channing Cope can do no wrong. Sure, there are times they are almost a little generic, but the moments of blissed-out rock are almost enough to make me not mention it. I'm almost willing to overlook those flaws. In fact, I almost wish I hadn't mentioned it now.
I can't believe I almost rejected these guys. I almost made a mistake. I'm almost happy I've had this really nasty cold, as I'm almost certain I wouldn't have bothered to listen to Sugar In Our Blood. This is almost an A+ record, and I'm almost certain they've got a totally brilliant record in them. I'm glad I took that chance again, and I'm almost sorry I held back on these guys. I almost hope you take the time to go to their website and check them out, because if you don't, I'll almost feel sorry for you.
--Joseph Kyle
Artist Website: http://www.channingcope.com
Label Website: http://www.fiftyfourfortyorfight.com
February 24, 2005
Giant Drag "Lemona"
Here are the hooks to all five songs on Giant Drag’s debut EP Lemona, in the order that they appear:
“Love? This isn’t it. You wouldn’t know if it hit you.”
“When you’ve had enough, you’ll give me up.”
“Your dream is my nightmare.”
“You’re just like my father.”
“What’ll you do? Nobody loves you no more.”
This Californian duo knows a thing or two about truth in advertising. Singer/guitarist Annie Hardy’s outlook on relationships is terminally pessimistic, and the flat and dispossessed manner in which she sings about them can make listening to her songs…well, a giant drag! Fortunately, her songs are good enough to compensate for the bad vibes. Overall, Lemona sounds like a 14-minute summary of the highlights of 1990s female-fronted alternative rock. “This Isn’t It” and “Tired Yet” are the kind of breathy, angular ditties I haven’t heard since Jennifer Trynin’s first album. The bent guitar playing on “Cordial Invitation” is straight out of the My Bloody Valentine handbook, and the sinister synthesizer groove of “YFLMD” pure Garbage. The final track, “Jonah Ray Is A-Okay (But That’s All Hearsay),” has a verse/chorus transition that sounds like two different songs stitched together, but Micah Calabrese’s steady, sprightly drumming makes it work. Each song on this EP improves on its predecessor, which bodes well for Giant Drag’s upcoming full-length. They’re a bit too derivative for me to praise them to the skies, but they’ve definitely got talent and potential. I look forward to hearing more!
---Sean Padilla
Artist Website: http://www.giantdrag.com
Label Website: http://www.wichita-recordings.com
“Love? This isn’t it. You wouldn’t know if it hit you.”
“When you’ve had enough, you’ll give me up.”
“Your dream is my nightmare.”
“You’re just like my father.”
“What’ll you do? Nobody loves you no more.”
This Californian duo knows a thing or two about truth in advertising. Singer/guitarist Annie Hardy’s outlook on relationships is terminally pessimistic, and the flat and dispossessed manner in which she sings about them can make listening to her songs…well, a giant drag! Fortunately, her songs are good enough to compensate for the bad vibes. Overall, Lemona sounds like a 14-minute summary of the highlights of 1990s female-fronted alternative rock. “This Isn’t It” and “Tired Yet” are the kind of breathy, angular ditties I haven’t heard since Jennifer Trynin’s first album. The bent guitar playing on “Cordial Invitation” is straight out of the My Bloody Valentine handbook, and the sinister synthesizer groove of “YFLMD” pure Garbage. The final track, “Jonah Ray Is A-Okay (But That’s All Hearsay),” has a verse/chorus transition that sounds like two different songs stitched together, but Micah Calabrese’s steady, sprightly drumming makes it work. Each song on this EP improves on its predecessor, which bodes well for Giant Drag’s upcoming full-length. They’re a bit too derivative for me to praise them to the skies, but they’ve definitely got talent and potential. I look forward to hearing more!
---Sean Padilla
Artist Website: http://www.giantdrag.com
Label Website: http://www.wichita-recordings.com
Collection of Colonies of Bees "Customer"
Collections of Colonies of Bees is an electro-acoustic group consisting of three former members of Tortoise acolytes Pele (Jon Minor, Jon Mueller and Chris Rosenau) and composer Jim Schoenecker, who previously collaborated with Minor in the electronic duo Dartanjal. Anyone familiar with CCB’s pedigree won’t be surprised that their latest album Customer uses the glitchier moments of Pele’s last album Enemies as a springboard for further experimentation. Most of the songs on Customer have guitars, bass and drums, but they’re played and altered in such a way that the results don’t sound remotely like traditional rock music. Side projects like Nervous Cop and Flossin plow similar fields, but whereas those two projects beat the listener upside the head with abrasion, CCB inserts enough space and silence in their music to make Customer an ideal soundtrack for daydreaming.
Many songs on Customer start off in a disorganized manner, only to serendipitously assume a discernible structure over time. Track three begins with a series of squeaks from unidentifiable sources, under which a repeating two-note bass line slowly gains volume. Two guitars, each on its own side of the stereo spectrum, start playing pretty riffs that, at first, don’t adhere to any discernible meter. Shortly after the two-minute mark, the guitars start playing in tandem, and the song becomes something that listeners can actually nod their heads to. The tenth and final song begins with two guitars playing slightly out of tune with each other, atop which percussionist Mueller does his best Kevin Shea impersonation. One of the guitars starts playing backwards, and is accompanied by a brief bit of laptop flatulence. At around the three-minute mark, a crashing cymbal announces the arrival of an actual riff, which a minute later gets drowned in a sea of white noise and piercing test tones.
Other songs are content to remain in nothingness for their entire running time. The first song consists of one guitar chord strummed amid a barely audible arrangement of trebly ticks and aquatic murmuring. On track seven, the guitarist sounds like he’s running yarn through his strings in lieu strumming it; the slithering noises this technique produces are eventually usurped by the pitter-patter of raindrops. Track nine sets serene organs against stuttering modem-like noises, a juxtaposition that brings to mind Markus Popp’s later work with Oval. On track two, the guitarists sound like they don’t quite know how to articulate the melodies dancing inside their heads. While they fumble around, Mueller’s drum kit and drum machine go their separate ways, and a synthesizer scatters off-key specks of sound everywhere. Every instrument operates in simultaneous yet independent motion, but the result is as relaxing as it is downright messy.
Every song on Customer is peppered with enough buzzes, whirs, ticks and glitches to make your ears feel like they’re being tickled, especially if you listen on headphones. If this sensation feels good to you, make this album’s title a self-fulfilling prophecy and collect all three versions of it. There’s a vinyl version on Polyvinyl and another CD version released on the Japanese label Some of Us; both of them have different versions of the same 10 songs. If I had enough money to throw around, I’d certainly do it.
--Sean Padilla
Artist Website: http://www.collectionsofcoloniesofbees.com
Label Website: http://www.polyvinylrecords.com
Many songs on Customer start off in a disorganized manner, only to serendipitously assume a discernible structure over time. Track three begins with a series of squeaks from unidentifiable sources, under which a repeating two-note bass line slowly gains volume. Two guitars, each on its own side of the stereo spectrum, start playing pretty riffs that, at first, don’t adhere to any discernible meter. Shortly after the two-minute mark, the guitars start playing in tandem, and the song becomes something that listeners can actually nod their heads to. The tenth and final song begins with two guitars playing slightly out of tune with each other, atop which percussionist Mueller does his best Kevin Shea impersonation. One of the guitars starts playing backwards, and is accompanied by a brief bit of laptop flatulence. At around the three-minute mark, a crashing cymbal announces the arrival of an actual riff, which a minute later gets drowned in a sea of white noise and piercing test tones.
Other songs are content to remain in nothingness for their entire running time. The first song consists of one guitar chord strummed amid a barely audible arrangement of trebly ticks and aquatic murmuring. On track seven, the guitarist sounds like he’s running yarn through his strings in lieu strumming it; the slithering noises this technique produces are eventually usurped by the pitter-patter of raindrops. Track nine sets serene organs against stuttering modem-like noises, a juxtaposition that brings to mind Markus Popp’s later work with Oval. On track two, the guitarists sound like they don’t quite know how to articulate the melodies dancing inside their heads. While they fumble around, Mueller’s drum kit and drum machine go their separate ways, and a synthesizer scatters off-key specks of sound everywhere. Every instrument operates in simultaneous yet independent motion, but the result is as relaxing as it is downright messy.
Every song on Customer is peppered with enough buzzes, whirs, ticks and glitches to make your ears feel like they’re being tickled, especially if you listen on headphones. If this sensation feels good to you, make this album’s title a self-fulfilling prophecy and collect all three versions of it. There’s a vinyl version on Polyvinyl and another CD version released on the Japanese label Some of Us; both of them have different versions of the same 10 songs. If I had enough money to throw around, I’d certainly do it.
--Sean Padilla
Artist Website: http://www.collectionsofcoloniesofbees.com
Label Website: http://www.polyvinylrecords.com
February 23, 2005
The Dears "Protest EP"
The Dears, a long-running Canadian group who finally made their American splash last year with No Cities Left, return with Protest, a reissue of a shorter political concept record. In theory, political music should be moving, rousing songs that tell a story and inspire you to greatness. Well, that's the theory, at least. Protest is a monotonous, fashion-heavy record that's not very inspiring, due, in large part, to the fact that the songs are just downright boring. Instead of grand political statements, we get songs with dull lyrics that are too dull to repeat. Sure, "No Hope For Destruction" has some pretty moments, but such moments are largely forgettable due to the tedium of the rest of the record. If you're looking for an introduction to this otherwise excellent band, don't look here.
--Joseph Kyle
Label Website: http://www.acefu.com/
--Joseph Kyle
Label Website: http://www.acefu.com/
February 21, 2005
Mono "Walking Cloud and the Sun Shined"
I don’t claim to be an expert on Japanese music. However, one thing I can say about the best Japanese bands I’ve heard over the last couple of years is that they possess an uncanny ability to synthesize the best ideas of a genre’s key artists into a composite whole that transcends mere “Recommended If You Like” mimicry. Acid Mothers Temple does it with psychedelic rock, Luminous Orange does it with shoegaze, Cornelius does it with postmodern pastiche, and Mono does it with post-rock. At their best, Mono synthesizes the volatility of Mogwai, the wistfulness of Explosions in the Sky and the orchestral melancholy of Godspeed You Black Emperor. Of course, this is just a namedropper’s way of saying that 1) their songs layers simple, pretty riffs on top of each other, 2) they slowly build up to glorious crescendos and 3) they make extensive use of strings.
If Mono’s previous album One More Step and You Die was their version of Mogwai’s Young Team, then this album is their Come on Die Young. Like that album, Walking Cloud and Deep Red Sky, Flag Fluttered and the Sun Shined offers more tension than release. The album is sequenced so that the band’s usual bombastic dirges are interspersed with shorter ambient pieces, the best of which (“Mere Your Pathetique Light”) reach the same heights as the louder songs without drums or excessive distortion. Even on the louder songs, the crescendos are few and far between; because of such, some listeners may get bored quickly. Fortunately, Mono is well acquainted with the element of surprise. The explosion that occurs about five minutes into “Ode” will scare the crap out of you on first listen…and you still might not be prepared for it on the 20th. “Lost Snow” sustains its crescendo for long enough that you start paying attention to changes in texture more than changes in volume. Even after the song finally calms down, the band keeps you on edge by interrupting the quiet coda with intermittent bursts of amplifier noise.
Last but not least, Steve Albini’s “recording” is perfectly suited for Mono --- the guitars singe, the snare drums sound like gun shots and the bass is felt more than heard. I must admit that Temporary Residence’s decision to release this album feels a bit superfluous; even its title reads like something Explosions in the Sky would come up with if English was their second language. However, Walking Cloud and Deep Red Sky… holds up well enough after multiple listens to justify its own existence.
---Sean Padilla
Artist Website: http://www.mono-44.com
Label Website: http://www.temporaryresidence.com
If Mono’s previous album One More Step and You Die was their version of Mogwai’s Young Team, then this album is their Come on Die Young. Like that album, Walking Cloud and Deep Red Sky, Flag Fluttered and the Sun Shined offers more tension than release. The album is sequenced so that the band’s usual bombastic dirges are interspersed with shorter ambient pieces, the best of which (“Mere Your Pathetique Light”) reach the same heights as the louder songs without drums or excessive distortion. Even on the louder songs, the crescendos are few and far between; because of such, some listeners may get bored quickly. Fortunately, Mono is well acquainted with the element of surprise. The explosion that occurs about five minutes into “Ode” will scare the crap out of you on first listen…and you still might not be prepared for it on the 20th. “Lost Snow” sustains its crescendo for long enough that you start paying attention to changes in texture more than changes in volume. Even after the song finally calms down, the band keeps you on edge by interrupting the quiet coda with intermittent bursts of amplifier noise.
Last but not least, Steve Albini’s “recording” is perfectly suited for Mono --- the guitars singe, the snare drums sound like gun shots and the bass is felt more than heard. I must admit that Temporary Residence’s decision to release this album feels a bit superfluous; even its title reads like something Explosions in the Sky would come up with if English was their second language. However, Walking Cloud and Deep Red Sky… holds up well enough after multiple listens to justify its own existence.
---Sean Padilla
Artist Website: http://www.mono-44.com
Label Website: http://www.temporaryresidence.com
Nine Inch Nails "The Downward Spiral" (Deluxe Edition)
The Downward Spiral is rightfully considered a masterpiece. It's a very hard, very dark and downright abrasive record; it takes no prisoners, it leaves no room for sentimentality and it destroys everything in its wake. Though Trent Reznor and company give no consession to happiness or positivity, a case could be made that object darkness and negativity does deliver a glimmer of hope; based somewhat upon the adage "it's darkest before dawn," part of the reason that people are drawn to dark, depressing music is that it makes them feel better to know that their own dark feelings are natural and that others have experienced it, too. Like a good friend, this bleakness is a source of comfort for those in need.
It is absolutely no surprise, then, that The Downward Spiral received the deluxe remix, remaster and repackage treatment. Though it already sounded excellent, the Dolby 5.1 remix makes it sound much bigger, much wider and much deeper than before. The tortured man introduction of "Mr. Self-Destruct" sounds much clearer than ever before, and, of course, you'll shudder when you hear it. Songs that were considered amazing before are now even more so. The sexy, Prince-like funk of "Closer To God" strikes an even sexier groove now; the rage of "Heretic" will leave you feeling as if you've committed a mortal sin; the pain and pathos of "Hurt" resonates deeper into your soul. (The song is made even more powerful when you consider how it served as an epitaph to both Johnny Cash's musical career and life.)
Of course, the main attraction for this upgraded album is the second disc, a loaded, potent album of "remixes, b-sides, demos, and non-album tracks." Unlike other records in this series, there are absolutely no liner notes, and there's no description given for any of the songs on the second disc, other than three songs being labelled as "demo." As frustrating as that might be, it's a moot point, because this disc not only stands on its own, it's an amazing counterpart to The Downward Spiral. And oh, how amazing it is! Unleashing a potent sexuality that was only hinted at on the finished album, Trent Reznor and company deliver a non-stop industrial erotic cabaret. "Closer To God" appears twice; once as a dark, atmospheric demo that's devoid of the beat and much more jazz-minded, and a second, more funked up and even more erotic than the final version. It ends with a blast of noise that will make you reailze that there is indeed a connection between Nine Inch Nails and latter-day practitioners such as LCD Soundsystem and Black Dice.
As far as classic albums go, The Downward Spiral is most definitely a classic. You might not dig Reznor's moods; his anger and despair might be a little too much, but for this album, it worked perfectly. The additional disc proves that the genius was no mere fluke, and that Reznor is a master manipulator of sound and emotion.
--Joseph Kyle
Artist Website: http://www.nin.com
Label Website: http://www.nothingrecords.com
It is absolutely no surprise, then, that The Downward Spiral received the deluxe remix, remaster and repackage treatment. Though it already sounded excellent, the Dolby 5.1 remix makes it sound much bigger, much wider and much deeper than before. The tortured man introduction of "Mr. Self-Destruct" sounds much clearer than ever before, and, of course, you'll shudder when you hear it. Songs that were considered amazing before are now even more so. The sexy, Prince-like funk of "Closer To God" strikes an even sexier groove now; the rage of "Heretic" will leave you feeling as if you've committed a mortal sin; the pain and pathos of "Hurt" resonates deeper into your soul. (The song is made even more powerful when you consider how it served as an epitaph to both Johnny Cash's musical career and life.)
Of course, the main attraction for this upgraded album is the second disc, a loaded, potent album of "remixes, b-sides, demos, and non-album tracks." Unlike other records in this series, there are absolutely no liner notes, and there's no description given for any of the songs on the second disc, other than three songs being labelled as "demo." As frustrating as that might be, it's a moot point, because this disc not only stands on its own, it's an amazing counterpart to The Downward Spiral. And oh, how amazing it is! Unleashing a potent sexuality that was only hinted at on the finished album, Trent Reznor and company deliver a non-stop industrial erotic cabaret. "Closer To God" appears twice; once as a dark, atmospheric demo that's devoid of the beat and much more jazz-minded, and a second, more funked up and even more erotic than the final version. It ends with a blast of noise that will make you reailze that there is indeed a connection between Nine Inch Nails and latter-day practitioners such as LCD Soundsystem and Black Dice.
As far as classic albums go, The Downward Spiral is most definitely a classic. You might not dig Reznor's moods; his anger and despair might be a little too much, but for this album, it worked perfectly. The additional disc proves that the genius was no mere fluke, and that Reznor is a master manipulator of sound and emotion.
--Joseph Kyle
Artist Website: http://www.nin.com
Label Website: http://www.nothingrecords.com
February 19, 2005
Prefuse 73 "Surrounded by Silence"
Any avid reader of this site can tell you that we love the music of Scott Herren, an expatriate currently living in Spain who goes by many aliases, but is most widely known for his work under the name Prefuse 73. Herren’s latest Prefuse album, Surrounded by Silence, has been the subject of controversy ever since it was leaked onto various file-sharing services months ago, much to his chagrin. Critics and fans have run the album through the wringer, claiming that it’s not as good or innovative as his previous work and that its emphasis on collaboration comes at the expense of cohesion and intimacy. While I can understand the basis of these criticisms, I still think they’re a bit unfair. Does Silence live up to the one-two punch of 2003’s One Word Extinguisher and its companion Extinguished? Well…almost. However, saying Silence is almost as good as Herren’s previous work is like saying that Deerhoof’s Apple O’ is almost as good as Reveille. In both cases, the artists have set the bar so high for themselves that even if they miss it by a couple of inches, they’ve still earned your money two times over.
Silence begins in almost the exact same manner as Extinguisher, with two tracks that insult biters and fluffy mainstream artists. Opener “I’ve Said All I Need to Say About Them Intro” doesn’t hesitate to trot out all the trademark of Herren’s production style: rapid and intricate rearrangements of vocal samples, stuttering drum programming, flatulent bass lines, squealing synthesizers and entire chord progressions lifted from obscure jazz records. The second track, “Hide Ya Face,” is a collaboration with Def Jux figurehead El-P and Wu-Tang’s resident emotional train-wreck Ghostface Killah. The sentiment voiced in the chorus --- “Just ‘cause the radio will play you doesn’t mean that you’re great” --- is frighteningly similar to that voiced on Extinguisher’s second track “Plastic.” People who claim that Herren’s repeating himself can use these tracks alone as evidence, and the 19 tracks that follow aren’t exactly radical departures either. However, we at Mundane Sounds have no problem with getting more of the same. Does the music on this album sound dated? Never. Can anyone else do this kind of music better than Herren? No. Does Herren match or exceed the quality of his previous work? Most of the time.
Herren made this album with two goals: to emphasize his hip-hop roots and to give his music new life by collaborating with artists from many different genres. Ironically, his collaborations with hip-hop artists achieve varying degrees of success, and the best one doesn’t even boast a marquee name. “Now You’re Leaving” features the heretofore unknown-to-me Camu, a rapper who switches from a tongue-in-cheek singing voice to a flow as mellifluous as Tupac’s. His ruminations over a dying love affair would have fit well thematically with the lovelorn laments on Extinguisher, arguably the first IDM album ever made about a breakup. This song is the closest that Silence comes to having a feasible radio hit. Aesop Rock delivers a terrific performance on “Sabbatical with Options,” switching from surrealist spoken word to airtight rapping to vituperative ranting at the drop of a dime. He speeds up his flow to keep up with Herren’s rhythmic triplets, achieving a synergy with the beat that the album’s other hip-hop collaborations lack.
Beans delivers a criminally brief but hilariously perverted rap on “Morale Crusher,” but his double-tracked voice simply overwhelms the beat until no traces of Prefuse can be found. The album’s absolute nadir is “Just the Thought,” the only song on Silence in which both Herren and his collaborators fall below par. Wu-Tang MCs Masta Killa and GZA deliver performances that sound both phoned in and off beat, and Herren’s backing track sounds like third-rate RZA. In fact, this song is so bad that I’m willing to bet that if it wasn’t on the record, its rating on Metacritic.com would be at least 10 points higher. The fact that Herren shelved a collaboration with TV on the Radio’s Tunde Adebimpe to make room for crap like “Just the Thought” is a crying shame.
Herren’s collaborations with artists outside of the hip-hop sphere fare better overall. His two tracks with Tyondai Braxton are both excellent. Braxton’s distorted guitars and wordless sighs mesh perfectly with Herren’s beats on the inaccurately named “Ty Versus Detchibe.” The song ends with a section in which the drum machines completely lose track of meter, producing a total free jazz meltdown that would do Tyondai’s father (legendary saxophonist Anthony Braxton) proud. On “Mantra,” Herren makes the wise decision of leaving Braxton’s voice unaltered, as Tyondai’s gurgling, hollering and beat-boxing is spastic and disjointed enough to render any further digital manipulation unnecessary. Herren’s two collaborations with Claudia Deheza, vocalist for unremarkable shoegazers On!Air!Library, work because Deheza’s breathy sigh is tailor-made for his vocal cutups. If she weren’t in the studio with Herren, he’d have found a voice out of some unknown bossa-nova record to run through the wringer anyway. The best collaboration on the album, hands down, is “We Got Our Own Way,” which features Blonde Redhead vocalist Kazu Makino. The track glides on junkyard percussion, pretty flutes and Kazu’s eternally high and yearning croon. It’s a slice of forlorn art-pop so perfect that an entire album of Herren/Makino collaborations with render the last two Blonde Redhead albums obsolete.
The few songs that Herren does on his own not only serve as nice palate cleansers between collaborations, but also give the album the pacing of a well-constructed mix tape…which is probably how he intended it. The transitions may be a bit more jarring than on previous albums, but unlike Extinguisher, Silence wasn’t meant to hang around a central theme. I’m assuming that Herren has moved on from his last relationship, and he doesn’t feel the need to wear his heart on his sleeve anymore. If anything, I think that the people who accuse this album of being incoherent and impersonal were hoping more for a continuation of Extinguisher than they were of a genuinely groundbreaking record. Silence isn’t that record, but I’m willing to bet that the ideas scattered across these 21 songs will lay the groundwork for Herren’s next real masterpiece.
--Sean Padilla
Artist Website: http://www.prefuse73.com
Label Website: http://www.warprecords.com
Silence begins in almost the exact same manner as Extinguisher, with two tracks that insult biters and fluffy mainstream artists. Opener “I’ve Said All I Need to Say About Them Intro” doesn’t hesitate to trot out all the trademark of Herren’s production style: rapid and intricate rearrangements of vocal samples, stuttering drum programming, flatulent bass lines, squealing synthesizers and entire chord progressions lifted from obscure jazz records. The second track, “Hide Ya Face,” is a collaboration with Def Jux figurehead El-P and Wu-Tang’s resident emotional train-wreck Ghostface Killah. The sentiment voiced in the chorus --- “Just ‘cause the radio will play you doesn’t mean that you’re great” --- is frighteningly similar to that voiced on Extinguisher’s second track “Plastic.” People who claim that Herren’s repeating himself can use these tracks alone as evidence, and the 19 tracks that follow aren’t exactly radical departures either. However, we at Mundane Sounds have no problem with getting more of the same. Does the music on this album sound dated? Never. Can anyone else do this kind of music better than Herren? No. Does Herren match or exceed the quality of his previous work? Most of the time.
Herren made this album with two goals: to emphasize his hip-hop roots and to give his music new life by collaborating with artists from many different genres. Ironically, his collaborations with hip-hop artists achieve varying degrees of success, and the best one doesn’t even boast a marquee name. “Now You’re Leaving” features the heretofore unknown-to-me Camu, a rapper who switches from a tongue-in-cheek singing voice to a flow as mellifluous as Tupac’s. His ruminations over a dying love affair would have fit well thematically with the lovelorn laments on Extinguisher, arguably the first IDM album ever made about a breakup. This song is the closest that Silence comes to having a feasible radio hit. Aesop Rock delivers a terrific performance on “Sabbatical with Options,” switching from surrealist spoken word to airtight rapping to vituperative ranting at the drop of a dime. He speeds up his flow to keep up with Herren’s rhythmic triplets, achieving a synergy with the beat that the album’s other hip-hop collaborations lack.
Beans delivers a criminally brief but hilariously perverted rap on “Morale Crusher,” but his double-tracked voice simply overwhelms the beat until no traces of Prefuse can be found. The album’s absolute nadir is “Just the Thought,” the only song on Silence in which both Herren and his collaborators fall below par. Wu-Tang MCs Masta Killa and GZA deliver performances that sound both phoned in and off beat, and Herren’s backing track sounds like third-rate RZA. In fact, this song is so bad that I’m willing to bet that if it wasn’t on the record, its rating on Metacritic.com would be at least 10 points higher. The fact that Herren shelved a collaboration with TV on the Radio’s Tunde Adebimpe to make room for crap like “Just the Thought” is a crying shame.
Herren’s collaborations with artists outside of the hip-hop sphere fare better overall. His two tracks with Tyondai Braxton are both excellent. Braxton’s distorted guitars and wordless sighs mesh perfectly with Herren’s beats on the inaccurately named “Ty Versus Detchibe.” The song ends with a section in which the drum machines completely lose track of meter, producing a total free jazz meltdown that would do Tyondai’s father (legendary saxophonist Anthony Braxton) proud. On “Mantra,” Herren makes the wise decision of leaving Braxton’s voice unaltered, as Tyondai’s gurgling, hollering and beat-boxing is spastic and disjointed enough to render any further digital manipulation unnecessary. Herren’s two collaborations with Claudia Deheza, vocalist for unremarkable shoegazers On!Air!Library, work because Deheza’s breathy sigh is tailor-made for his vocal cutups. If she weren’t in the studio with Herren, he’d have found a voice out of some unknown bossa-nova record to run through the wringer anyway. The best collaboration on the album, hands down, is “We Got Our Own Way,” which features Blonde Redhead vocalist Kazu Makino. The track glides on junkyard percussion, pretty flutes and Kazu’s eternally high and yearning croon. It’s a slice of forlorn art-pop so perfect that an entire album of Herren/Makino collaborations with render the last two Blonde Redhead albums obsolete.
The few songs that Herren does on his own not only serve as nice palate cleansers between collaborations, but also give the album the pacing of a well-constructed mix tape…which is probably how he intended it. The transitions may be a bit more jarring than on previous albums, but unlike Extinguisher, Silence wasn’t meant to hang around a central theme. I’m assuming that Herren has moved on from his last relationship, and he doesn’t feel the need to wear his heart on his sleeve anymore. If anything, I think that the people who accuse this album of being incoherent and impersonal were hoping more for a continuation of Extinguisher than they were of a genuinely groundbreaking record. Silence isn’t that record, but I’m willing to bet that the ideas scattered across these 21 songs will lay the groundwork for Herren’s next real masterpiece.
--Sean Padilla
Artist Website: http://www.prefuse73.com
Label Website: http://www.warprecords.com
Prefuse 73 "Surrounded by Silence"
Any avid reader of this site can tell you that we love the music of Scott Herren, an expatriate currently living in Spain who goes by many aliases, but is most widely known for his work under the name Prefuse 73. Herren’s latest Prefuse album, Surrounded by Silence, has been the subject of controversy ever since it was leaked onto various file-sharing services months ago, much to his chagrin. Critics and fans have run the album through the wringer, claiming that it’s not as good or innovative as his previous work and that its emphasis on collaboration comes at the expense of cohesion and intimacy. While I can understand the basis of these criticisms, I still think they’re a bit unfair. Does Silence live up to the one-two punch of 2003’s One Word Extinguisher and its companion Extinguished? Well…almost. However, saying Silence is almost as good as Herren’s previous work is like saying that Deerhoof’s Apple O’ is almost as good as Reveille. In both cases, the artists have set the bar so high for themselves that even if they miss it by a couple of inches, they’ve still earned your money two times over.
Silence begins in almost the exact same manner as Extinguisher, with two tracks that insult biters and fluffy mainstream artists. Opener “I’ve Said All I Need to Say About Them Intro” doesn’t hesitate to trot out all the trademark of Herren’s production style: rapid and intricate rearrangements of vocal samples, stuttering drum programming, flatulent bass lines, squealing synthesizers and entire chord progressions lifted from obscure jazz records. The second track, “Hide Ya Face,” is a collaboration with Def Jux figurehead El-P and Wu-Tang’s resident emotional train-wreck Ghostface Killah. The sentiment voiced in the chorus --- “Just ‘cause the radio will play you doesn’t mean that you’re great” --- is frighteningly similar to that voiced on Extinguisher’s second track “Plastic.” People who claim that Herren’s repeating himself can use these tracks alone as evidence, and the 19 tracks that follow aren’t exactly radical departures either. However, we at Mundane Sounds have no problem with getting more of the same. Does the music on this album sound dated? Never. Can anyone else do this kind of music better than Herren? No. Does Herren match or exceed the quality of his previous work? Most of the time.
Herren made this album with two goals: to emphasize his hip-hop roots and to give his music new life by collaborating with artists from many different genres. Ironically, his collaborations with hip-hop artists achieve varying degrees of success, and the best one doesn’t even boast a marquee name. “Now You’re Leaving” features the heretofore unknown-to-me Camu, a rapper who switches from a tongue-in-cheek singing voice to a flow as mellifluous as Tupac’s. His ruminations over a dying love affair would have fit well thematically with the lovelorn laments on Extinguisher, arguably the first IDM album ever made about a breakup. This song is the closest that Silence comes to having a feasible radio hit. Aesop Rock delivers a terrific performance on “Sabbatical with Options,” switching from surrealist spoken word to airtight rapping to vituperative ranting at the drop of a dime. He speeds up his flow to keep up with Herren’s rhythmic triplets, achieving a synergy with the beat that the album’s other hip-hop collaborations lack.
Beans delivers a criminally brief but hilariously perverted rap on “Morale Crusher,” but his double-tracked voice simply overwhelms the beat until no traces of Prefuse can be found. The album’s absolute nadir is “Just the Thought,” the only song on Silence in which both Herren and his collaborators fall below par. Wu-Tang MCs Masta Killa and GZA deliver performances that sound both phoned in and off beat, and Herren’s backing track sounds like third-rate RZA. In fact, this song is so bad that I’m willing to bet that if it wasn’t on the record, its rating on Metacritic.com would be at least 10 points higher. The fact that Herren shelved a collaboration with TV on the Radio’s Tunde Adebimpe to make room for crap like “Just the Thought” is a crying shame.
Herren’s collaborations with artists outside of the hip-hop sphere fare better overall. His two tracks with Tyondai Braxton are both excellent. Braxton’s distorted guitars and wordless sighs mesh perfectly with Herren’s beats on the inaccurately named “Ty Versus Detchibe.” The song ends with a section in which the drum machines completely lose track of meter, producing a total free jazz meltdown that would do Tyondai’s father (legendary saxophonist Anthony Braxton) proud. On “Mantra,” Herren makes the wise decision of leaving Braxton’s voice unaltered, as Tyondai’s gurgling, hollering and beat-boxing is spastic and disjointed enough to render any further digital manipulation unnecessary. Herren’s two collaborations with Claudia Deheza, vocalist for unremarkable shoegazers On!Air!Library, work because Deheza’s breathy sigh is tailor-made for his vocal cutups. If she weren’t in the studio with Herren, he’d have found a voice out of some unknown bossa-nova record to run through the wringer anyway. The best collaboration on the album, hands down, is “We Got Our Own Way,” which features Blonde Redhead vocalist Kazu Makino. The track glides on junkyard percussion, pretty flutes and Kazu’s eternally high and yearning croon. It’s a slice of forlorn art-pop so perfect that an entire album of Herren/Makino collaborations with render the last two Blonde Redhead albums obsolete.
The few songs that Herren does on his own not only serve as nice palate cleansers between collaborations, but also give the album the pacing of a well-constructed mix tape…which is probably how he intended it. The transitions may be a bit more jarring than on previous albums, but unlike Extinguisher, Silence wasn’t meant to hang around a central theme. I’m assuming that Herren has moved on from his last relationship, and he doesn’t feel the need to wear his heart on his sleeve anymore. If anything, I think that the people who accuse this album of being incoherent and impersonal were hoping more for a continuation of Extinguisher than they were of a genuinely groundbreaking record. Silence isn’t that record, but I’m willing to bet that the ideas scattered across these 21 songs will lay the groundwork for Herren’s next real masterpiece.
--Sean Padilla
Artist Website: http://www.prefuse73.com
Label Website: http://www.warprecords.com
Silence begins in almost the exact same manner as Extinguisher, with two tracks that insult biters and fluffy mainstream artists. Opener “I’ve Said All I Need to Say About Them Intro” doesn’t hesitate to trot out all the trademark of Herren’s production style: rapid and intricate rearrangements of vocal samples, stuttering drum programming, flatulent bass lines, squealing synthesizers and entire chord progressions lifted from obscure jazz records. The second track, “Hide Ya Face,” is a collaboration with Def Jux figurehead El-P and Wu-Tang’s resident emotional train-wreck Ghostface Killah. The sentiment voiced in the chorus --- “Just ‘cause the radio will play you doesn’t mean that you’re great” --- is frighteningly similar to that voiced on Extinguisher’s second track “Plastic.” People who claim that Herren’s repeating himself can use these tracks alone as evidence, and the 19 tracks that follow aren’t exactly radical departures either. However, we at Mundane Sounds have no problem with getting more of the same. Does the music on this album sound dated? Never. Can anyone else do this kind of music better than Herren? No. Does Herren match or exceed the quality of his previous work? Most of the time.
Herren made this album with two goals: to emphasize his hip-hop roots and to give his music new life by collaborating with artists from many different genres. Ironically, his collaborations with hip-hop artists achieve varying degrees of success, and the best one doesn’t even boast a marquee name. “Now You’re Leaving” features the heretofore unknown-to-me Camu, a rapper who switches from a tongue-in-cheek singing voice to a flow as mellifluous as Tupac’s. His ruminations over a dying love affair would have fit well thematically with the lovelorn laments on Extinguisher, arguably the first IDM album ever made about a breakup. This song is the closest that Silence comes to having a feasible radio hit. Aesop Rock delivers a terrific performance on “Sabbatical with Options,” switching from surrealist spoken word to airtight rapping to vituperative ranting at the drop of a dime. He speeds up his flow to keep up with Herren’s rhythmic triplets, achieving a synergy with the beat that the album’s other hip-hop collaborations lack.
Beans delivers a criminally brief but hilariously perverted rap on “Morale Crusher,” but his double-tracked voice simply overwhelms the beat until no traces of Prefuse can be found. The album’s absolute nadir is “Just the Thought,” the only song on Silence in which both Herren and his collaborators fall below par. Wu-Tang MCs Masta Killa and GZA deliver performances that sound both phoned in and off beat, and Herren’s backing track sounds like third-rate RZA. In fact, this song is so bad that I’m willing to bet that if it wasn’t on the record, its rating on Metacritic.com would be at least 10 points higher. The fact that Herren shelved a collaboration with TV on the Radio’s Tunde Adebimpe to make room for crap like “Just the Thought” is a crying shame.
Herren’s collaborations with artists outside of the hip-hop sphere fare better overall. His two tracks with Tyondai Braxton are both excellent. Braxton’s distorted guitars and wordless sighs mesh perfectly with Herren’s beats on the inaccurately named “Ty Versus Detchibe.” The song ends with a section in which the drum machines completely lose track of meter, producing a total free jazz meltdown that would do Tyondai’s father (legendary saxophonist Anthony Braxton) proud. On “Mantra,” Herren makes the wise decision of leaving Braxton’s voice unaltered, as Tyondai’s gurgling, hollering and beat-boxing is spastic and disjointed enough to render any further digital manipulation unnecessary. Herren’s two collaborations with Claudia Deheza, vocalist for unremarkable shoegazers On!Air!Library, work because Deheza’s breathy sigh is tailor-made for his vocal cutups. If she weren’t in the studio with Herren, he’d have found a voice out of some unknown bossa-nova record to run through the wringer anyway. The best collaboration on the album, hands down, is “We Got Our Own Way,” which features Blonde Redhead vocalist Kazu Makino. The track glides on junkyard percussion, pretty flutes and Kazu’s eternally high and yearning croon. It’s a slice of forlorn art-pop so perfect that an entire album of Herren/Makino collaborations with render the last two Blonde Redhead albums obsolete.
The few songs that Herren does on his own not only serve as nice palate cleansers between collaborations, but also give the album the pacing of a well-constructed mix tape…which is probably how he intended it. The transitions may be a bit more jarring than on previous albums, but unlike Extinguisher, Silence wasn’t meant to hang around a central theme. I’m assuming that Herren has moved on from his last relationship, and he doesn’t feel the need to wear his heart on his sleeve anymore. If anything, I think that the people who accuse this album of being incoherent and impersonal were hoping more for a continuation of Extinguisher than they were of a genuinely groundbreaking record. Silence isn’t that record, but I’m willing to bet that the ideas scattered across these 21 songs will lay the groundwork for Herren’s next real masterpiece.
--Sean Padilla
Artist Website: http://www.prefuse73.com
Label Website: http://www.warprecords.com
February 17, 2005
Various Artists "It's A Trap! Readers Companion"
The music scene is so fertile in Scandinavia, a Pitchfork-style website has emerged. Called It's A Trap, this site is updated daily, with news and reviews for excellent bands you've more than likely never heard--or will ever hear, outside of Soulseek. That such a website exists is proof enough that we Americans aren't always getting the full scope of what's going on abroad, proving that 'comprehensive' doesn't properly serve the description of some (most?) American music media outlets. It's a great resource worth examining.
As you'd expect from such a general website, the music found on It's a Trap Readers Companion Volume One pretty much covers all bases of musical styles. The one consistent factor is that almost all of the songs are excellent. It's also obvious that the biggest band from the area, The Soundtrack Of Our Lives, is a massive influence. Of course, there's also the Hives, and their garage rock style is also noticeable, too. (Neither bands appear hear, though.) Thankfully, there's more interesting music than that; there's country (The Lionheart Brothers, Waver), pretty pop (Jim Stark, Isolation Years), crunchy pop-rock (David & The Citizens, Thirdimension), folk (Jose Gonzales) and even a weird moment or two (Desert Planet). Even though there are some styles I just don't like, I can't say that any of those songs are particularly bad, and I haven't hit the skip button yet.
There's plenty of great music here, and at the rather cheap price of six bucks, it's a steal. All I know is that it's a risky proposition for you, though, because if you're broke like me, you'll be tempted to spend your hard-earned money seeking out more records by many of these acts. Volume Two cannot come soon enough!
--Joseph Kyle
Compilation Website: http://www.itsatrap.com/vol1
Label Website: http://www.itsatrap.com
As you'd expect from such a general website, the music found on It's a Trap Readers Companion Volume One pretty much covers all bases of musical styles. The one consistent factor is that almost all of the songs are excellent. It's also obvious that the biggest band from the area, The Soundtrack Of Our Lives, is a massive influence. Of course, there's also the Hives, and their garage rock style is also noticeable, too. (Neither bands appear hear, though.) Thankfully, there's more interesting music than that; there's country (The Lionheart Brothers, Waver), pretty pop (Jim Stark, Isolation Years), crunchy pop-rock (David & The Citizens, Thirdimension), folk (Jose Gonzales) and even a weird moment or two (Desert Planet). Even though there are some styles I just don't like, I can't say that any of those songs are particularly bad, and I haven't hit the skip button yet.
There's plenty of great music here, and at the rather cheap price of six bucks, it's a steal. All I know is that it's a risky proposition for you, though, because if you're broke like me, you'll be tempted to spend your hard-earned money seeking out more records by many of these acts. Volume Two cannot come soon enough!
--Joseph Kyle
Compilation Website: http://www.itsatrap.com/vol1
Label Website: http://www.itsatrap.com
February 16, 2005
Anders Parker "tell it to the dust"
I never understood Varnaline. Try as I might, I have to admit that I never got 'em. Oh, it wasn't that I didn't try, but there have always been a few bands that I just never could fully appreciate. I understood that they made smart music, but bands like Swell and American Music Club and Varnaline, I really couldn't dig 'em. Can't explain why, really. Listening to them now, I can appreciate their nuances, but back during their heyday, there was no love connection. Tell It To The Dust is Varnaline mastermind Anders Parker's solo debut, and it's refreshing that he laid that moniker to rest, otherwise this little record might not have been as well-loved as it deserves.
Tell It To The Dust is a fresh start, and it's a great-sounding fresh start, too. The songs follow a dusty, slightly stoned country road, though you should be hesitant to call it country. Parker sings with a voice that's hard, yet delicate; it's jaded enough to be cynical, but soft enough to be sensitive. At times you might mistake him for Jay Farrar--which only confuses the issue on "Feel The Same," which has Farrar joining him on vocals! Though this is a solo record, it doesn't feel like a solo record, because he does have a talented bunch of musicians backing him up, including Farrar, the excellent Joan Wasser on strings and Kendall Meade on piano.
Relationships appear to be Tell It To The Dust's underlying theme. Songs of love meet songs of hope meet songs of sadness meet songs of joy, and with his sensitive tough voice, Parker sounds all the more convincing. He can turn a phrase, too; in "Tell It To The Dust," he sings of being alone, listening to Iggy Pop, and "I spent a year out there one night when you were gone," all the while wishing his ex-lover well. Though in songs like "So It Goes" and "Innocents" he sings of broken hearts, he does so with a little bit of hope; he messed up, love didn't quite work out, but you feel it's going to be the best and he wishes well for the ones who hurt him. When he sings of the joys of love and friendship, he's even more convincing. "Go Alone" is a wonderful ode to a lover who's hung up on asserting their independence, but Parker warns them "You're going to need/A friend to watch your back." With its simple message, it's upbeat piano and distant saxophone solo, it's easily one of my favorite songs. And if you happen to be one of those types who loved Varnaline's psych-rock freakouts (and prog-rock side project Space Needle), he gives you the epic album closer "Doornail (Hats Off to Buster Keaton)."
Tell It To The Dust is a quiet little jewel of a record. Take a little time to seek this record out; it possesses many little nuances and quirks and some excellent, heartfelt songwriting. Though he might have retired the Varnaline name, Tell It To The Dust proves Parker can stand alone as a solo act.
--Joseph Kyle
Artist Website: http://www.andersparker.com
Label Website: http://www.baryonrecords.com
Tell It To The Dust is a fresh start, and it's a great-sounding fresh start, too. The songs follow a dusty, slightly stoned country road, though you should be hesitant to call it country. Parker sings with a voice that's hard, yet delicate; it's jaded enough to be cynical, but soft enough to be sensitive. At times you might mistake him for Jay Farrar--which only confuses the issue on "Feel The Same," which has Farrar joining him on vocals! Though this is a solo record, it doesn't feel like a solo record, because he does have a talented bunch of musicians backing him up, including Farrar, the excellent Joan Wasser on strings and Kendall Meade on piano.
Relationships appear to be Tell It To The Dust's underlying theme. Songs of love meet songs of hope meet songs of sadness meet songs of joy, and with his sensitive tough voice, Parker sounds all the more convincing. He can turn a phrase, too; in "Tell It To The Dust," he sings of being alone, listening to Iggy Pop, and "I spent a year out there one night when you were gone," all the while wishing his ex-lover well. Though in songs like "So It Goes" and "Innocents" he sings of broken hearts, he does so with a little bit of hope; he messed up, love didn't quite work out, but you feel it's going to be the best and he wishes well for the ones who hurt him. When he sings of the joys of love and friendship, he's even more convincing. "Go Alone" is a wonderful ode to a lover who's hung up on asserting their independence, but Parker warns them "You're going to need/A friend to watch your back." With its simple message, it's upbeat piano and distant saxophone solo, it's easily one of my favorite songs. And if you happen to be one of those types who loved Varnaline's psych-rock freakouts (and prog-rock side project Space Needle), he gives you the epic album closer "Doornail (Hats Off to Buster Keaton)."
Tell It To The Dust is a quiet little jewel of a record. Take a little time to seek this record out; it possesses many little nuances and quirks and some excellent, heartfelt songwriting. Though he might have retired the Varnaline name, Tell It To The Dust proves Parker can stand alone as a solo act.
--Joseph Kyle
Artist Website: http://www.andersparker.com
Label Website: http://www.baryonrecords.com
Lou Barlow "EMOH"
Ah, Lou Barlow! How long it's been since you've released something new. That New Folk Implosion wasn't as bad as people said it was, and it's a shame only three people appreciated it. And that Sebadoh tour you did last fall wasn't bad, either! You sounded fresh and revitalized, playing all of the hits, and you looked like you were havin' a good ol' time up there on the stage. Of course, you've got a lot to be smiling about, don't you? Your old band Dinosaur Jr is about to get the respect it deserves, you've got a new record that's excellent and you've got a new Barlow on the way.
Let's talk about Emoh, shall we? It's a wonderful record, my friend. Plain and simple, but I really can't say I'm surprised. You've always had this knack of making simple music sound so complex and lovely, and that's not an easy feat. Sure, the Sentridoh stuff might have been a little too lo-fi for my own tastes, but I always liked the Folk Implosion, and Sebadoh's music was always righteous and occasionally goofy, but it was always heartfelt. I mean, there's a reason why I listen to Harmacy a lot--it's simply wonderful, because it rocks and it weeps and the songs on there are some of my all-time favorites.
I know it must be annoying to hear all of your past glories mentioned all the time, but with Emoh, it's necessary to do so, because it's a cumulation of every good thing you've done over the last twenty years. In the back of my mind, I've always hoped you'd finally put together a record that's all acoustic--or, at the very least, acoustic-tinged. One of my favorite Sebadoh records is the CD EP for Rebound, and it's not just because of the great title track, either--I love the all acoustic renditions of your other songs. You've got that Nick Drake quality that I like, and I can't stand Nick Drake, either.
I'll admit; it's taken me some time to listen to Emoh. I've had the hardest time making it past the second song, "Home," because after hearing that song, I really don't want to hear the rest of the record. That song--man, it's easily the best thing you've ever written. If you were trying to make me silently weep like an undergrad, then mission accomplished, my friend. It's good to know you've still got your heart on your sleeve and that you're still making instant mix tape classics.
Thankfully, there's more than just one great song on Emoh. "Puzzle" is a great little downbeat number; "Confused" shows that you still are, "The Ballad of Daykitty" is a touching tribute that fit perfectly with an incident in my own life. The only time you falter, the only time I cringe and the only song I skip is that awful cover of Ratt's "Round And Round." I just don't dig that. I'd expect that from one of your many Lou-alikes, but not you! I thought irony ended when the Sub Pop contract expired.
Still, you've done good, sir. I'm proud of this. I knew you had it in you. Your life's about to get bigger and better and more interesting and it's reflective of your art. Neither rebel nor the natural one, it's good to see you've just decided to be you, Lou.
--Joseph Kyle
Artist Website: http://www.loobiecore.com
Label Website: http://www.mergerecords.com
Let's talk about Emoh, shall we? It's a wonderful record, my friend. Plain and simple, but I really can't say I'm surprised. You've always had this knack of making simple music sound so complex and lovely, and that's not an easy feat. Sure, the Sentridoh stuff might have been a little too lo-fi for my own tastes, but I always liked the Folk Implosion, and Sebadoh's music was always righteous and occasionally goofy, but it was always heartfelt. I mean, there's a reason why I listen to Harmacy a lot--it's simply wonderful, because it rocks and it weeps and the songs on there are some of my all-time favorites.
I know it must be annoying to hear all of your past glories mentioned all the time, but with Emoh, it's necessary to do so, because it's a cumulation of every good thing you've done over the last twenty years. In the back of my mind, I've always hoped you'd finally put together a record that's all acoustic--or, at the very least, acoustic-tinged. One of my favorite Sebadoh records is the CD EP for Rebound, and it's not just because of the great title track, either--I love the all acoustic renditions of your other songs. You've got that Nick Drake quality that I like, and I can't stand Nick Drake, either.
I'll admit; it's taken me some time to listen to Emoh. I've had the hardest time making it past the second song, "Home," because after hearing that song, I really don't want to hear the rest of the record. That song--man, it's easily the best thing you've ever written. If you were trying to make me silently weep like an undergrad, then mission accomplished, my friend. It's good to know you've still got your heart on your sleeve and that you're still making instant mix tape classics.
Thankfully, there's more than just one great song on Emoh. "Puzzle" is a great little downbeat number; "Confused" shows that you still are, "The Ballad of Daykitty" is a touching tribute that fit perfectly with an incident in my own life. The only time you falter, the only time I cringe and the only song I skip is that awful cover of Ratt's "Round And Round." I just don't dig that. I'd expect that from one of your many Lou-alikes, but not you! I thought irony ended when the Sub Pop contract expired.
Still, you've done good, sir. I'm proud of this. I knew you had it in you. Your life's about to get bigger and better and more interesting and it's reflective of your art. Neither rebel nor the natural one, it's good to see you've just decided to be you, Lou.
--Joseph Kyle
Artist Website: http://www.loobiecore.com
Label Website: http://www.mergerecords.com
February 14, 2005
The Postal Service "We Will Become Silhouettes"
On a very superficial level, this little single seems quite gratuitous. It's been two years almost since Give Up, The Postal Service's debut record, appeared in stores, on the top of the world, The OC and in the Ipods of the so-called indie-rock disposable incomed elite. Why a new single from that old record? Doesn't it seem like Sub Pop's merely milking the cash-cow?
Yeah, it does.
But hey, when the milk's really good, why notgo back for seconds...or, in this case, thirds? It's certainly true with this cheap little record, designed to highlight another one of Give Up's little gems. And "We Will Become Silhouettes" is about the most perfectly perfect little gems of a song you could possibly want. It's loveable, it's mix-tapeable and it should be a single no matter what year it may be. The next song, "Be Still My Heart," is a NEW SONG from this band that's not a band and though it's a new song it's merely a pretty good song. The next two numbers are remixes, one of "Silhouettes" and one of the album track "Nothing Better." They're also pretty good, too, but remixes sometimes leave me cold. Not these songs, though; they're also pretty good, too. This is a great single from the hardest working fictional band ever!
--Joseph Kyle
Label Website: http://www.subpop.com
Yeah, it does.
But hey, when the milk's really good, why notgo back for seconds...or, in this case, thirds? It's certainly true with this cheap little record, designed to highlight another one of Give Up's little gems. And "We Will Become Silhouettes" is about the most perfectly perfect little gems of a song you could possibly want. It's loveable, it's mix-tapeable and it should be a single no matter what year it may be. The next song, "Be Still My Heart," is a NEW SONG from this band that's not a band and though it's a new song it's merely a pretty good song. The next two numbers are remixes, one of "Silhouettes" and one of the album track "Nothing Better." They're also pretty good, too, but remixes sometimes leave me cold. Not these songs, though; they're also pretty good, too. This is a great single from the hardest working fictional band ever!
--Joseph Kyle
Label Website: http://www.subpop.com
The Blow "Everyday Examples of Humans Facing Straight Into The Blow"
This CD is a reissue of a cassette that Khaela Maricich (a.k.a. the Blow) sold during K Records’ 2001 “Paper Opera” tour, during which she, Microphones/Mount Eerie auteur Phil Elvrum and label head Calvin Johnson wove their individual songs into a multimedia tapestry about love, death and the moon. Judging by Khaela’s performance, it seemed as if she had already outgrown the material on the cassette. She performed under her current name, as opposed to the cassette’s unwieldy “Get the Hell Out of the Way of the Volcano” moniker, and the songs she showcased were sparer and funkier than the lilting acoustic material on the cassette. When Khaela sold the cassette to me, she warned me that it was nothing like her current material, but I bought it anyway as a gesture of financial support. I listened to it once on the way home, but never returned to it afterwards. Her next three releases as “the Blow,” two of which I’ve reviewed for this website, did a much better job of capturing my attention.
Because of such, I wonder whether K considers this reissue a mere archival gift to Blow diehards (yes, they exist…and they should!), or as something bigger than that. Is Everyday Examples of Humans Facing Straight into the Blow an underappreciated gem that holds up well on its own? Would anyone unfamiliar with the Blow’s R&B-influenced later work be blown away (no pun intended) by this album? Would anyone who owns the Poor Aim: Love Songs EP consider this album its equal, let alone its superior? In my opinion, the answer to all of these questions is “no.” However, Everyday Examples is still worth more than a cursory listen, if only because it demonstrates that 1) Khaela had a knack for writing a good tune even before she learned how to play guitar, and 2) she could have easily went in other artistic directions after recording this cassette.
Almost all of this album’s 14 songs are four-track recordings consisting only of voice and acoustic guitar. The six-string work is consistently clumsy throughout. Sometimes it’s endearing, but other times it’s annoying. Khaela’s attempt at bossa nova on “My Heart” is tough to listen to, and on “Tidalwave” she sounds as if she can barely press her fingers against the frets. She’s a much better singer, though, and many songs on this album are saved by the sweetness of its double-tracked harmonies. “Why Don’t You” is entirely a capella, and its wordless, slightly out-of-sync harmonies form an inviting backdrop atop which Khaela tries to convince a boy to crash at her place: “I would open my sheets and open my arms/I would make you a food or two/I would run right into you.” The harmonies on “Lily Pink” purposefully go in and out of tune, which make the (admittedly cool) descending guitar riff she plays sound even woozier.
One thing I noticed about Everyday Examples is that there isn’t as much of a focus on romantic relationships as I expected. Khaela begins “Surf Song” with the lyrics “Hello, my naked airy sweetheart/you are but a creature of the ether now/But one day, you’ll be born into the flesh/and we will play.” This sentiment is closer to Phil Elvrum’s nature worship than it is to the boy-craziness of the Blow’s later work. Similarly, “Did You Drive” speaks of a need for profound, visceral experience: “Did you feel the flow? Do you feel it still? Did you bring some home?” Later on in the record, Khaela sings about the joys of being alone in her room: “I don’t even notice at all/The aching expanse of space.” These songs get much more metaphysical than anything Khaela’s done since. In retrospect, I’m glad that Khaela became obsessed with sex and funk --- besides, we already have Mirah to hit us with the deep stuff.
---Sean Padilla
Artist Website: www.thetouchmefeeling.com
Label Website: www.kpunk.com
Because of such, I wonder whether K considers this reissue a mere archival gift to Blow diehards (yes, they exist…and they should!), or as something bigger than that. Is Everyday Examples of Humans Facing Straight into the Blow an underappreciated gem that holds up well on its own? Would anyone unfamiliar with the Blow’s R&B-influenced later work be blown away (no pun intended) by this album? Would anyone who owns the Poor Aim: Love Songs EP consider this album its equal, let alone its superior? In my opinion, the answer to all of these questions is “no.” However, Everyday Examples is still worth more than a cursory listen, if only because it demonstrates that 1) Khaela had a knack for writing a good tune even before she learned how to play guitar, and 2) she could have easily went in other artistic directions after recording this cassette.
Almost all of this album’s 14 songs are four-track recordings consisting only of voice and acoustic guitar. The six-string work is consistently clumsy throughout. Sometimes it’s endearing, but other times it’s annoying. Khaela’s attempt at bossa nova on “My Heart” is tough to listen to, and on “Tidalwave” she sounds as if she can barely press her fingers against the frets. She’s a much better singer, though, and many songs on this album are saved by the sweetness of its double-tracked harmonies. “Why Don’t You” is entirely a capella, and its wordless, slightly out-of-sync harmonies form an inviting backdrop atop which Khaela tries to convince a boy to crash at her place: “I would open my sheets and open my arms/I would make you a food or two/I would run right into you.” The harmonies on “Lily Pink” purposefully go in and out of tune, which make the (admittedly cool) descending guitar riff she plays sound even woozier.
One thing I noticed about Everyday Examples is that there isn’t as much of a focus on romantic relationships as I expected. Khaela begins “Surf Song” with the lyrics “Hello, my naked airy sweetheart/you are but a creature of the ether now/But one day, you’ll be born into the flesh/and we will play.” This sentiment is closer to Phil Elvrum’s nature worship than it is to the boy-craziness of the Blow’s later work. Similarly, “Did You Drive” speaks of a need for profound, visceral experience: “Did you feel the flow? Do you feel it still? Did you bring some home?” Later on in the record, Khaela sings about the joys of being alone in her room: “I don’t even notice at all/The aching expanse of space.” These songs get much more metaphysical than anything Khaela’s done since. In retrospect, I’m glad that Khaela became obsessed with sex and funk --- besides, we already have Mirah to hit us with the deep stuff.
---Sean Padilla
Artist Website: www.thetouchmefeeling.com
Label Website: www.kpunk.com
February 11, 2005
Little Brazil "You and Me"
Little Brazil's debut album, You & Me, took me by surprise. There's reason to fear when the band makes a point of mentioning that the band is not only from Omaha (strike one!), but that its members have been and are also active in the Saddle Creek (strike two!) scene as well, having performed with established bands Bright Eyes offshoot Desparacedos, Son, Ambulance and The Good Life. That they manage to save their credibility and have created a record that's not only not particularly Omaha-influenced but also highly listenable is the two-strikes, bottom-of-the-ninth home once-in-a-lifetime game-winning home run that saves Little Brazil.
It's to Little Brazil mastermind Landon Hedges' credit that he took his band into a studio that wasn't operated by Mike Mogis. Not that such a thing is a knock to Mogis' abilities, but Little Brazil walk that very thin line between imitation and inspiration, and the involvement of a man who's made the Omaha sound might have distracted from the band's talents. That said, the band does have a sound that occasionally hints at that whole Omaha/emo sound, but I guess such things aren't entirely unavoidable, are they? Nah, I'll let it slide this time, simply because they don't wallow in that whole emo thing, either. Only on "Tip Of My Tongue" does the band falter and become 'typical' in that regard: They've got that whole emotional pseudo falsetto yelling over driving powerful rhythms thing going on here and though it's not bad, it's still cringe-worthy. (Okay, on second listen, it's really not that bad, but still, it could go either way.)
There's still plenty to love on You & Me, though, because there's plenty of love to be found. Hedges sings with a style that's sincere and charming; his lyrics, while about that whole 'love' thing, aren't that terrible and angst-ridden. The words are all about being in love, falling in love, the joy of being in love and all that good stuff that makes you smile. AND NO WHINING! That's how they get away with being so sentimental. They're also somewhat mellow, too; "The Way You Listen" is a jazzy rocker that takes its time getting its point across, in only a good way. I'm also a huge fan of "Walk In The Park," which is a groovy little album closer that has a hidden treat. The total utter winner is the title track. It sounds like a lost Turtles song; it's got hand-clapping and fun organ and is just the most perfect little love song I've heard all morning, and damn it, I've got that song in my heart now and I'm humming it as I walk around the house and you know what? I dont even care. When you listen to it, every day is Valentine's Day and no one is sad.
Do yourself a favor--take a trip to Little Brazil. You'll be glad you did. And don't be afraid by the superficial things that might make you hesitant, because when you set those preconceived notions aside, you'll be quite glad you did.
--Joseph Kyle
Artist Website: http://www.myspace.com/littlebrazil
Label Website: http://www.mtfujurecords.com
It's to Little Brazil mastermind Landon Hedges' credit that he took his band into a studio that wasn't operated by Mike Mogis. Not that such a thing is a knock to Mogis' abilities, but Little Brazil walk that very thin line between imitation and inspiration, and the involvement of a man who's made the Omaha sound might have distracted from the band's talents. That said, the band does have a sound that occasionally hints at that whole Omaha/emo sound, but I guess such things aren't entirely unavoidable, are they? Nah, I'll let it slide this time, simply because they don't wallow in that whole emo thing, either. Only on "Tip Of My Tongue" does the band falter and become 'typical' in that regard: They've got that whole emotional pseudo falsetto yelling over driving powerful rhythms thing going on here and though it's not bad, it's still cringe-worthy. (Okay, on second listen, it's really not that bad, but still, it could go either way.)
There's still plenty to love on You & Me, though, because there's plenty of love to be found. Hedges sings with a style that's sincere and charming; his lyrics, while about that whole 'love' thing, aren't that terrible and angst-ridden. The words are all about being in love, falling in love, the joy of being in love and all that good stuff that makes you smile. AND NO WHINING! That's how they get away with being so sentimental. They're also somewhat mellow, too; "The Way You Listen" is a jazzy rocker that takes its time getting its point across, in only a good way. I'm also a huge fan of "Walk In The Park," which is a groovy little album closer that has a hidden treat. The total utter winner is the title track. It sounds like a lost Turtles song; it's got hand-clapping and fun organ and is just the most perfect little love song I've heard all morning, and damn it, I've got that song in my heart now and I'm humming it as I walk around the house and you know what? I dont even care. When you listen to it, every day is Valentine's Day and no one is sad.
Do yourself a favor--take a trip to Little Brazil. You'll be glad you did. And don't be afraid by the superficial things that might make you hesitant, because when you set those preconceived notions aside, you'll be quite glad you did.
--Joseph Kyle
Artist Website: http://www.myspace.com/littlebrazil
Label Website: http://www.mtfujurecords.com
February 10, 2005
Acid Mothers Temple "Does The Cosmic Shepherd Dream of Electric Tapirs?
If there's one word to describe the music of Acid Mothers Temple, it's consistent. If you take the time to buy one of their records or to go see them live, you already know what you're in for: spaced-out music that's got a lot of weird moments but features loud guitars mixed with pretty guitars and noise mixed with long, long, looooooong jams and equal devotion to beauty and noise. Temple guru Kawabata Makoto has been making this music for decades, but his approach to his creation always sounds fresh. So, yeah, you're going to get what you paid for, and you already know what's in store, but it's an amazing testament to his talent that his music never sounds repetitive. Thus, you really have no reason to be disappointed with the latest Acid Mothers Temple offering, Does The Cosmic Shepherd Dream Of Electric Tapirs?
From the opening blasts of "Daddy's Bare Meat," you'll get that blast of rock, with some excellent yelping from Cotton Casino, who has since left the band. "Suzie Sixteen" is a little number that's best described as silly; imagine a punk group taking a 50's pop song and making grunting noises instead of vocals. It doesn't sound quite that juvenile, of course, but it does produce a smile or two. Then there's the gentle folk of "Hello Good Child" and "The Assassin's Beautiful Daughter," which is then blown away by the wild ride of "Dark Star Blues" and "The Transmigration of Hop-Heads." These jams--I don't like jam sessions, but Acid Mothers Temple have a knack of making me forget that dislike--are amazing, mindblowing and everything you've come to expect from these folk.
So it's par for the course with Does The Cosmic Shepherd Dream of Electric Tapirs?. No real surprises, of course; they're like the Ramones of psych-rock, and I really wouldn't want it any other way.
--Joseph Kyle
Artist Website: http://www.acidmothers.com
From the opening blasts of "Daddy's Bare Meat," you'll get that blast of rock, with some excellent yelping from Cotton Casino, who has since left the band. "Suzie Sixteen" is a little number that's best described as silly; imagine a punk group taking a 50's pop song and making grunting noises instead of vocals. It doesn't sound quite that juvenile, of course, but it does produce a smile or two. Then there's the gentle folk of "Hello Good Child" and "The Assassin's Beautiful Daughter," which is then blown away by the wild ride of "Dark Star Blues" and "The Transmigration of Hop-Heads." These jams--I don't like jam sessions, but Acid Mothers Temple have a knack of making me forget that dislike--are amazing, mindblowing and everything you've come to expect from these folk.
So it's par for the course with Does The Cosmic Shepherd Dream of Electric Tapirs?. No real surprises, of course; they're like the Ramones of psych-rock, and I really wouldn't want it any other way.
--Joseph Kyle
Artist Website: http://www.acidmothers.com
Montag "Alone, Not Alone"
On first listen to Montag's second album, Alone, Not Alone, it would be easy to get confused. You might think you were listening to a Stereolab/Broadcast collaboration. You might think it was released in 1998. You might think that this band consisted of several Nico-loving people who are inspired by that 'space age bachelor pad music' fad that was popular ten years ago. You might also think that this music was the soundtrack to a lusty, erotic French art film.
You'd be wrong on all counts, of course. Montag is the vision of one man from Montreal, Antoine Bedard, and though it sounds like a soundtrack to something sexy, it's merely a collection of mellow, electronic-minded jazz songs. No members of Stereolab were used in the making of this record, though guest vocalists Ariel Engle and Amy Millan's singing styles are clearly indebted to both bands and James Cargill is one of the masterminds behind Broadcast. You could easily be fooled that Montag is something it's not, but there's a fine line between imitation and inspiration, and Bedard straddles it quite boldly.
A word of warning is needed, though; Alone, Not Alone is an excellent example of a record not being as great as the sum of its parts. Taken individually, the songs don't make a lot of sense; they come across as meandering, indulgent little experimental pieces that are nice enough but really aren't very substantial. Sure, songs like "Grand Luxe" or "Angels, Country & Terrain Connu" can stand on their own, but the rest of the record sounds does not, simply because the record doesn't seem to be designed that way. Alone, Not Alone feels like one long song, and as each song flows seamlessly into the next, taking it apart weakens it.
That doesn't mean Alone, Not Alone isn't a good record -- far from it. It's a gorgeous, relaxing labor of love, a soothing balm for hard, stressful days and the soundtrack to gorgeous, erotic nights. Never too light and never heavliy sexy, Alone, Not Alone is a wonderful record to listen to for those moments when you are alone. Or not alone.
--Joseph Kyle
Artist Website: http://www.montag.ca
Label Website: http://www.carparkrecords.com
You'd be wrong on all counts, of course. Montag is the vision of one man from Montreal, Antoine Bedard, and though it sounds like a soundtrack to something sexy, it's merely a collection of mellow, electronic-minded jazz songs. No members of Stereolab were used in the making of this record, though guest vocalists Ariel Engle and Amy Millan's singing styles are clearly indebted to both bands and James Cargill is one of the masterminds behind Broadcast. You could easily be fooled that Montag is something it's not, but there's a fine line between imitation and inspiration, and Bedard straddles it quite boldly.
A word of warning is needed, though; Alone, Not Alone is an excellent example of a record not being as great as the sum of its parts. Taken individually, the songs don't make a lot of sense; they come across as meandering, indulgent little experimental pieces that are nice enough but really aren't very substantial. Sure, songs like "Grand Luxe" or "Angels, Country & Terrain Connu" can stand on their own, but the rest of the record sounds does not, simply because the record doesn't seem to be designed that way. Alone, Not Alone feels like one long song, and as each song flows seamlessly into the next, taking it apart weakens it.
That doesn't mean Alone, Not Alone isn't a good record -- far from it. It's a gorgeous, relaxing labor of love, a soothing balm for hard, stressful days and the soundtrack to gorgeous, erotic nights. Never too light and never heavliy sexy, Alone, Not Alone is a wonderful record to listen to for those moments when you are alone. Or not alone.
--Joseph Kyle
Artist Website: http://www.montag.ca
Label Website: http://www.carparkrecords.com
February 08, 2005
Eisley "Room Noises"
Due to the demands of writing, it sometimes happens that we music writers don't get the opportunity to fully appreciate a record's nuances. Because we're innundated with so much music, sometimes a writer only has the ability to listen to a record once or twice before writing about it. This is a shame, of course, but it's a somewhat understandable consequence that comes with devoting your life to music. How many excellent records have been dismissed simply because the writer didn't have the time to fully appreciate what they were listening to? The "it'll grow on you" factor is one that's terribly frustrating for us.
A good example of this phenomenon is the band Eisley. Having only briefly listened to their previous two releases, Laughing City and Marvelous Things, I was quick to dismiss them as a bland group that possessed good qualities but were being exploited and shaped and sucked lifeless by a money-hungry record label who saw three cute sisters as a potential moneymaker that should be exploited and would most likely be discarded as soon as the sales peaked. In my reviews of those records, I said as much. After said reviews were published, I did not, however, expect to give them a second listen. But some things happened and I did give them a second listen and I found myself coming back for a third listen and then a fourth listen and then a fifth listen and then I found myself infected with Eisley fever.
All of that is beside the point, of course.
Room Noises, Eisley's debut record, proves me wrong. After a good bit of time spent listening to those EP's and after learning the history of the band (which, in the order of fairness and objectivity, came directly from the band), I came to see that Sherri and Stacy DuPree are two very gifted songwriters. Though they may be dressed in Victorian-style clothing on the cover, and they may have a gorgeous harmonic style that's only found in siblings, there's nothing fanciful about their music, they're not as mystical--or as prepackaged--as they seem, they're just real (and real talented) young ladies who spent their youth playing music together and reading lots and lots of books.
When you look at pictures of the band, you'll discover that Eisley's music sounds exactly like you'd expect; dreamy, country-tinged rock that's heavy on the atmosphere, heavier on the lyrical content and overdosed in talent. Big-eyed Sherri DuPree is this generation's Tanya Donelly, writing songs that are pretty and intelligent and lovingly touching, singing songs that are deep and powerful in their simplicity. The LA-style rock of "My Lovely" is a good example of this; while the chorus of "Here's a song for you, my lovely/Remember that it is for you only, for you only" might come across as charmingly innocent, it takes exactly one listen to it to stick into your head and blossom into a beautifully complex but deceptively simple message of love and longing for that person you care about. The same can be said of "Brightly Wound," an ode to youthfulness; reading the lyrics, the song might seem annoyingly twee, but the DuPree girls make it sound like the best song Karen Carpenter never sang. And just wait until you hear "Just Like We Do," a beautiful acoustic ballad by Stacy DuPree; it's gorgeous in its simplicity and shows that her age (sixteen) means nothing when it comes to her music.
The rest of Room Noises follows suit; it's a wash of pretty lyrics and gorgeous harmonies and excellent musicianship. Though she does not sing on Room Noises, Chauntelle DuPree's guitarwork sparkles and shimmers throughout the record, highlighting her younger sisters' songwriting. The music stays dreamy, and though the record can best be described as "mellow," it's never so mellow as to become monotonous or dull. The only time the band lets go of the mellow is on "Plenty of Paper," which is a heavy-duty blast of 90's-style alternative-rock, and it makes those seemingly dismissive comparisons to Belly seem not so far-fetched. The closing "Trollywood" also
While Room Noises is a pretty record, it suffers from one major flaw--the first half of the record is dominated by four songs that have been previously released. While they've all been rerecorded, they really don't sound all that different from the EP versions, and though they're good, it just seems puzzling as to why a label would want a band to rerecord songs from their debut releases for their debut album. The sole exception--and Room Noises' lowest point--is a pointlessly remade version of the excellent "Telescope Eyes." If you've heard the original, this newer version, with a much faster tempo, just seems wrong. I'm sure the band has four excellent songs that could have been used instead. That's a minor quibble, and if that's the least that could be said about Room Noises, then so be it.
Room Noises is to Eisley what The Bends was to Radiohead--a really good album that shows their talents now and forecasts a storm of genius on the horizon. The world needs songwriters like Sherri and Stacy DuPree--talented, innocent songwriters who speak from the heart and the soul and the mind. It's sorely lacking in today's music world, and the simple fact that a band like Eisley exists shows that there's still a glimmer of hope in a run-down music scene. Here's to the success of the moment and to the launch of a wonderful career. Keep up the good work, y'all!
--Joseph Kyle
Artist Website: http://www.eisley.com
Label Website: http://www.repriserecords.com
A good example of this phenomenon is the band Eisley. Having only briefly listened to their previous two releases, Laughing City and Marvelous Things, I was quick to dismiss them as a bland group that possessed good qualities but were being exploited and shaped and sucked lifeless by a money-hungry record label who saw three cute sisters as a potential moneymaker that should be exploited and would most likely be discarded as soon as the sales peaked. In my reviews of those records, I said as much. After said reviews were published, I did not, however, expect to give them a second listen. But some things happened and I did give them a second listen and I found myself coming back for a third listen and then a fourth listen and then a fifth listen and then I found myself infected with Eisley fever.
All of that is beside the point, of course.
Room Noises, Eisley's debut record, proves me wrong. After a good bit of time spent listening to those EP's and after learning the history of the band (which, in the order of fairness and objectivity, came directly from the band), I came to see that Sherri and Stacy DuPree are two very gifted songwriters. Though they may be dressed in Victorian-style clothing on the cover, and they may have a gorgeous harmonic style that's only found in siblings, there's nothing fanciful about their music, they're not as mystical--or as prepackaged--as they seem, they're just real (and real talented) young ladies who spent their youth playing music together and reading lots and lots of books.
When you look at pictures of the band, you'll discover that Eisley's music sounds exactly like you'd expect; dreamy, country-tinged rock that's heavy on the atmosphere, heavier on the lyrical content and overdosed in talent. Big-eyed Sherri DuPree is this generation's Tanya Donelly, writing songs that are pretty and intelligent and lovingly touching, singing songs that are deep and powerful in their simplicity. The LA-style rock of "My Lovely" is a good example of this; while the chorus of "Here's a song for you, my lovely/Remember that it is for you only, for you only" might come across as charmingly innocent, it takes exactly one listen to it to stick into your head and blossom into a beautifully complex but deceptively simple message of love and longing for that person you care about. The same can be said of "Brightly Wound," an ode to youthfulness; reading the lyrics, the song might seem annoyingly twee, but the DuPree girls make it sound like the best song Karen Carpenter never sang. And just wait until you hear "Just Like We Do," a beautiful acoustic ballad by Stacy DuPree; it's gorgeous in its simplicity and shows that her age (sixteen) means nothing when it comes to her music.
The rest of Room Noises follows suit; it's a wash of pretty lyrics and gorgeous harmonies and excellent musicianship. Though she does not sing on Room Noises, Chauntelle DuPree's guitarwork sparkles and shimmers throughout the record, highlighting her younger sisters' songwriting. The music stays dreamy, and though the record can best be described as "mellow," it's never so mellow as to become monotonous or dull. The only time the band lets go of the mellow is on "Plenty of Paper," which is a heavy-duty blast of 90's-style alternative-rock, and it makes those seemingly dismissive comparisons to Belly seem not so far-fetched. The closing "Trollywood" also
While Room Noises is a pretty record, it suffers from one major flaw--the first half of the record is dominated by four songs that have been previously released. While they've all been rerecorded, they really don't sound all that different from the EP versions, and though they're good, it just seems puzzling as to why a label would want a band to rerecord songs from their debut releases for their debut album. The sole exception--and Room Noises' lowest point--is a pointlessly remade version of the excellent "Telescope Eyes." If you've heard the original, this newer version, with a much faster tempo, just seems wrong. I'm sure the band has four excellent songs that could have been used instead. That's a minor quibble, and if that's the least that could be said about Room Noises, then so be it.
Room Noises is to Eisley what The Bends was to Radiohead--a really good album that shows their talents now and forecasts a storm of genius on the horizon. The world needs songwriters like Sherri and Stacy DuPree--talented, innocent songwriters who speak from the heart and the soul and the mind. It's sorely lacking in today's music world, and the simple fact that a band like Eisley exists shows that there's still a glimmer of hope in a run-down music scene. Here's to the success of the moment and to the launch of a wonderful career. Keep up the good work, y'all!
--Joseph Kyle
Artist Website: http://www.eisley.com
Label Website: http://www.repriserecords.com
The Coy "A Beautiful Sad"
When you're a young band, at first it's kind of tough to work out what it is you want to sound like. When you have lots of ideas, it's best to work on your songs before you record them, and it's probably a good idea to have an idea of what you want your album to sound like. Otherwise, things can get a bit sloppy, and that's the primary flaw of The Coy's debut album, A Beautiful Sad. The Coy is a husband and wife combo of Jennifer and Robert Hart. On the cover, they look like a hard-rockin' metal couple, but their music goes from folk to kinda gothy to a weird alternative-rock blend to kinda folky goth and all points in between. On the first track, "He Dances" starts with a loud rock guitar, but it's answered with really melodramatic operatic over-singing. The rest of the record is a zealous mix of oversinging and over performing. Sure, they're trying out different styles, but as said before, you should know who you are before you release your debut album. (Methinks they're a folkies who don't want to be folkies, because when they perform material that's more traditionally folk, they aren't bad.)
What's frustrating about A Beautiful Sad is that the main flaw is so obvious, it overpowers the record. Jennifer's range isn't that strong, which is frustrating, because in the brief moments where she stays within it, such as the otherwise lovely "Happy," she sounds really good. (To some extent this might not be her fault; her voice does fall a little high within the mix.) Otherwise, A Beautiful Sad shows that The Coy is a band that could be good but they need to seriously work on refining their style and determining who they want to be and how they choose to sound.
--Joseph Kyle
Artist Website: http://www.thecoy.com
What's frustrating about A Beautiful Sad is that the main flaw is so obvious, it overpowers the record. Jennifer's range isn't that strong, which is frustrating, because in the brief moments where she stays within it, such as the otherwise lovely "Happy," she sounds really good. (To some extent this might not be her fault; her voice does fall a little high within the mix.) Otherwise, A Beautiful Sad shows that The Coy is a band that could be good but they need to seriously work on refining their style and determining who they want to be and how they choose to sound.
--Joseph Kyle
Artist Website: http://www.thecoy.com
Live Report: Zykos, Zykos, with The Chapters, What Made Milwaukee Famous and This Microwave World, Emo's, Austin Texas, January 8, 2005
This evening was yet another reason why Emo’s is my favorite place to see bands. The club begins every new year with a week’s worth of free shows, most of which end up being showcases for local talent. There were four local bands a piece on both stages, but I stayed on the outside stage to see Zykos. Both I and this website’s editor have fallen in love with this Austin quintet over the last couple of years, and every time I see them play I know that they’re a couple steps closer to getting the national recognition they deserve. Surprisingly, they weren’t the only highlight of the evening. In the many years that I’ve been attending Austin shows, this might have been the first all-local bill in which I liked every single band.
Opening band the Chapters took a couple of songs to grow on me, mainly because the guitarist sang in that same throaty Ian Curtis-style croon that makes bands like Interpol and the Arcade Fire a bit difficult for me to tolerate. Once I got used to his voice, I noticed that the Chapters have some pretty decent tunes in their repertoire. Their songs didn’t deviate much from the art-punk template: four-on-the-floor rhythms, simple bass lines, wheezing synths, minimal guitar parts and anguished one-note crooning. Most of the people in front of the stage seemed to be either relatives or friends of the band, and they were an expectedly supportive audience, shouting things like “You sexy bitch!” at the guitarist in between songs. Fortunately, the Chapters are good enough that they can be recommended to people who don’t know them personally (which I can’t say about many Austin bands). I didn’t buy their CD, but I would definitely see them live again.
The second band, What Made Milwaukee Famous, was awesome. Their sound isn’t as easy to pigeonhole as the Chapters’, mainly because they have two distinct singers/songwriters who are adept at both guitar and piano. The lead guitarist wasn’t as good of a singer as the rhythm guitarist, though, and it was a wise decision to leave most of the singing to him. Sometimes they played rollicking power-pop in the style of the Replacements and Centro-matic; other times, they played long and dissonant epics in the style of Radiohead. The rhythm guitarist pulls off a Jeff Buckley/Thom Yorke quivering falsetto effortlessly. Each stylistic change is buttressed by the band’s amazing rhythm section --- a jazz-trained drummer who makes his cymbals beg for mercy, and a bassist who isn’t afraid to use his distortion pedal.
The third band, This Microwave World, is fronted by a friend of mine named Sean O’Neal. He is most famous for finishing “Dr. Buck’s Letter” for Mark E. Smith when he dropped the microphone at the end of the Fall’s show at Emo’s last year. I’d seen O’Neal’s other band the Arm live at least three times, but this was my first TMW experience. It was a good one, even though they didn’t play “Dear Disaster,” my favorite song of theirs. This evening was notable for them because it was their drummer Kevin’s birthday. The rest of the band got the audience to sing “Happy Birthday” to him during the set. Whereas the Arm is basically a Mark E. Smith tribute band, TMW borrows more from Les Savy Fav. O’Neal hollers and strums to his heart’s content atop a backdrop of rolling bass lines, squelchy keyboards and metronomic, hard-hitting rhythms. It seemed pretty superfluous to have two keyboardists play extremely simple lines, especially since you couldn’t even hear one of them. Also, the songs tended to sound the same after a while. However, O’Neal’s stage presence gets more and more animated each time I see him, and most of the songs held up fine when examined individually. I am definitely looking forward to their upcoming full-length.
Zykos put on a terrific set that was almost as good as when they opened for TV on the Radio last year. They recently got a new guitarist, who occasionally looked like he didn’t know what he was doing but, fortunately, didn’t sound like it. He replicated the loops that drive many of the songs on their new self-titled album effortlessly. Because of this lineup change, this evening’s set was truncated a bit. The rest of the band, though, was in rare form. Singer/guitarist Mike Booher, always an intense front man, pushed his strangled whine (which splits the difference between John Darnielle’s reedy croon and Conor Oberst’s shaky warble) to its absolute limit, often taking his hands off of the guitar to wrap them around the microphone and put his all into the lyrics. Bassist Mike Roeder’s playing is getting more melodic and aggressive by the minute. Drummer Jerod Cykoski and the incredibly gorgeous pianist Catherine Davis held down the fort, playing hard but looking cool. They concentrated mainly on songs from their new album, which is great because all of them were MUCH better than the ones on their debut Comedy Horn. They’ve tightened up their arrangements and experimented more with dynamics; the climactic moments sound great on record, but become almost titanic live (especially “Understanding Fire,” a song from Comedy Horn that appears in a much better version on the new album). From beginning to end, Zykos had the audience in the palm of their hands. The audience imitated the handclaps on “Calliope” and pumped their fists to many of the band’s more upbeat songs. Right now, Zykos are one of the best rock bands that Austin has to offer, and after what I’ve heard was a pretty gruesome national tour, this warmly received homecoming couldn’t have come at a better time.
---Sean Padilla
Opening band the Chapters took a couple of songs to grow on me, mainly because the guitarist sang in that same throaty Ian Curtis-style croon that makes bands like Interpol and the Arcade Fire a bit difficult for me to tolerate. Once I got used to his voice, I noticed that the Chapters have some pretty decent tunes in their repertoire. Their songs didn’t deviate much from the art-punk template: four-on-the-floor rhythms, simple bass lines, wheezing synths, minimal guitar parts and anguished one-note crooning. Most of the people in front of the stage seemed to be either relatives or friends of the band, and they were an expectedly supportive audience, shouting things like “You sexy bitch!” at the guitarist in between songs. Fortunately, the Chapters are good enough that they can be recommended to people who don’t know them personally (which I can’t say about many Austin bands). I didn’t buy their CD, but I would definitely see them live again.
The second band, What Made Milwaukee Famous, was awesome. Their sound isn’t as easy to pigeonhole as the Chapters’, mainly because they have two distinct singers/songwriters who are adept at both guitar and piano. The lead guitarist wasn’t as good of a singer as the rhythm guitarist, though, and it was a wise decision to leave most of the singing to him. Sometimes they played rollicking power-pop in the style of the Replacements and Centro-matic; other times, they played long and dissonant epics in the style of Radiohead. The rhythm guitarist pulls off a Jeff Buckley/Thom Yorke quivering falsetto effortlessly. Each stylistic change is buttressed by the band’s amazing rhythm section --- a jazz-trained drummer who makes his cymbals beg for mercy, and a bassist who isn’t afraid to use his distortion pedal.
The third band, This Microwave World, is fronted by a friend of mine named Sean O’Neal. He is most famous for finishing “Dr. Buck’s Letter” for Mark E. Smith when he dropped the microphone at the end of the Fall’s show at Emo’s last year. I’d seen O’Neal’s other band the Arm live at least three times, but this was my first TMW experience. It was a good one, even though they didn’t play “Dear Disaster,” my favorite song of theirs. This evening was notable for them because it was their drummer Kevin’s birthday. The rest of the band got the audience to sing “Happy Birthday” to him during the set. Whereas the Arm is basically a Mark E. Smith tribute band, TMW borrows more from Les Savy Fav. O’Neal hollers and strums to his heart’s content atop a backdrop of rolling bass lines, squelchy keyboards and metronomic, hard-hitting rhythms. It seemed pretty superfluous to have two keyboardists play extremely simple lines, especially since you couldn’t even hear one of them. Also, the songs tended to sound the same after a while. However, O’Neal’s stage presence gets more and more animated each time I see him, and most of the songs held up fine when examined individually. I am definitely looking forward to their upcoming full-length.
Zykos put on a terrific set that was almost as good as when they opened for TV on the Radio last year. They recently got a new guitarist, who occasionally looked like he didn’t know what he was doing but, fortunately, didn’t sound like it. He replicated the loops that drive many of the songs on their new self-titled album effortlessly. Because of this lineup change, this evening’s set was truncated a bit. The rest of the band, though, was in rare form. Singer/guitarist Mike Booher, always an intense front man, pushed his strangled whine (which splits the difference between John Darnielle’s reedy croon and Conor Oberst’s shaky warble) to its absolute limit, often taking his hands off of the guitar to wrap them around the microphone and put his all into the lyrics. Bassist Mike Roeder’s playing is getting more melodic and aggressive by the minute. Drummer Jerod Cykoski and the incredibly gorgeous pianist Catherine Davis held down the fort, playing hard but looking cool. They concentrated mainly on songs from their new album, which is great because all of them were MUCH better than the ones on their debut Comedy Horn. They’ve tightened up their arrangements and experimented more with dynamics; the climactic moments sound great on record, but become almost titanic live (especially “Understanding Fire,” a song from Comedy Horn that appears in a much better version on the new album). From beginning to end, Zykos had the audience in the palm of their hands. The audience imitated the handclaps on “Calliope” and pumped their fists to many of the band’s more upbeat songs. Right now, Zykos are one of the best rock bands that Austin has to offer, and after what I’ve heard was a pretty gruesome national tour, this warmly received homecoming couldn’t have come at a better time.
---Sean Padilla
February 04, 2005
Revenge "No Pain No Gain: Revenge Live 1991"
Live records are often a tricky sort of proposition; often considered a contract-filler or a way for a slow-working band to bide their time, they're often plagued with dodgy sound (either poor quality recordings or polished performances that don't sound live at all), retreads of old material and simply poor performances makes 'em difficult for reviewers to look forward to. There's the rare exception, though: historical value. If the band or artist in question didn't gain much in the way of acclaim during its lifetime or simply never made it into the studio--or if the band's at the top of their game--then live recordings are more easily accepted.
No Pain No Gain Live 1991 definitely falls into the latter category. This is a live document of New Order bassist Peter Hook's short-lived Revenge, and, frankly, it's a wonderfully stunning eye-opener. Though the band only released one album One True Passion, that was received fairly, the band never quite took off. Hook formed the band in part because he wanted a return to playing live, and it's obvious from these two sets that playing live was where Revenge shined brightest, and that Hook and company were a quite rewarding live act.
The first set, from an August 1991 performance at the Manchester Cities In The Park festival the band is red-hot. Their setlist is inspired; their performance is red-hot, Hook's in great spirits, and they sound like a band having fun on stage. "Jesus...I Love You" and "State of Shock" are fine numbers; "Slave" is a loud rocker, and the entire affair sounds not unlike New Order. The set ends with an excellent performance of New Order's "Dreams Never End," which they use to serve tribute to the then recently deceased Martin Hannett. The second set, from a January 1991 date in Japan, is shorter; the band's a little sloppier, but they're still in good spirits. The band reveal their rock roots with two surprising covers--The Rolling Stones' "Citadel" and Velvet Underground's "White Light/White Heat."
In the liner notes, Hook says his one regret with Revenge was that they didn't perform live before they entered into the studio, and it's easy to see his point; had the band worked this material on stage, One True Passion probably would have had much more spark. Still, this is a fine record as it is, and coupled with last year's excellent two-CD reissue and remastered One True Passion, it proves that Revenge is a band that deserves a better fate than to be considered a mediocre "side project."
--Joseph Kyle
Artist Website: http://www.ltmpub.freeserve.co.uk/revengecat.html
Label Website: http://www.ltmpub.freeserve.co.uk
No Pain No Gain Live 1991 definitely falls into the latter category. This is a live document of New Order bassist Peter Hook's short-lived Revenge, and, frankly, it's a wonderfully stunning eye-opener. Though the band only released one album One True Passion, that was received fairly, the band never quite took off. Hook formed the band in part because he wanted a return to playing live, and it's obvious from these two sets that playing live was where Revenge shined brightest, and that Hook and company were a quite rewarding live act.
The first set, from an August 1991 performance at the Manchester Cities In The Park festival the band is red-hot. Their setlist is inspired; their performance is red-hot, Hook's in great spirits, and they sound like a band having fun on stage. "Jesus...I Love You" and "State of Shock" are fine numbers; "Slave" is a loud rocker, and the entire affair sounds not unlike New Order. The set ends with an excellent performance of New Order's "Dreams Never End," which they use to serve tribute to the then recently deceased Martin Hannett. The second set, from a January 1991 date in Japan, is shorter; the band's a little sloppier, but they're still in good spirits. The band reveal their rock roots with two surprising covers--The Rolling Stones' "Citadel" and Velvet Underground's "White Light/White Heat."
In the liner notes, Hook says his one regret with Revenge was that they didn't perform live before they entered into the studio, and it's easy to see his point; had the band worked this material on stage, One True Passion probably would have had much more spark. Still, this is a fine record as it is, and coupled with last year's excellent two-CD reissue and remastered One True Passion, it proves that Revenge is a band that deserves a better fate than to be considered a mediocre "side project."
--Joseph Kyle
Artist Website: http://www.ltmpub.freeserve.co.uk/revengecat.html
Label Website: http://www.ltmpub.freeserve.co.uk
Jennifer Gentle "Valende"
Less than a month into the new year and we've already got the winner of the "What the Hell Was THAT?" award for weirdest record of 2005 goes to Italy's Jennifer Gentle. They are making their debut for Sub Pop (and the rest of the world, essentially) with Valende, a record that defies easy any comparison to anything heard all year. Yes, I know, the year's barely five weeks old, but after giving their record a spin or two, I still can't tell you anything about them except the obvious: they are WEIRD.
But they're weird in a good way. They take their name from Pink Floyd's "Lucifer Sam"--one of Syd Barrett's masterpieces--and that fact answers about 99% of any questions you may have about this curious band. What's that, you say? Of Montreal? Olivia Tremor Control? Elephant 6? Let me tell you something--and I never thought this would be possible, but it's true--all of those bands have now been rendered useless imitators and failed usurpers to the Syd Barrett throne, because Marco and Alesso are the two-headed, two-faced personification of the best Acid trip vision Barrett ever had. At times such visions are exciting; some times they're horrifying. All in all, though, Jennifer Gentle's soundscapes are never less than mind-bending.
Really, though, there's so much going on within the confines ofValende that it would be futile--and detremental--for me to try to explain or reveal all of the record's secrets. Bells and whistles and silly voices and all kinds of unclassifiable things pepper the record in a nice way. Stylistic-wise, the music runs a course from thrashy psych garage-rock ("I Do Dream You") to trippy, dreamy folk-pop ("Circles of Sorrow") to joyous blasts of unknown weirdness that will make you smile with each and every listen ("Nothing Makes Sense"). Don't think the rest of the record stops there, because it doesn't; each song is a different journey into a bent, psychedelicate mind, and combined together it makes perfect sense.
Yes, Virginia, there are still uniquely weird bands, and Jennifer Gentle is definitely one of them. Valende is a welcome blast of oddness that stays fresh with every listen and never becomes anything less than enjoyable with each successive listen, and is perhaps the best musical find of 2005.
--Joseph Kyle
Artist Website: http://www.jennifergentle.it
Label Website: http://www.subpop.com
But they're weird in a good way. They take their name from Pink Floyd's "Lucifer Sam"--one of Syd Barrett's masterpieces--and that fact answers about 99% of any questions you may have about this curious band. What's that, you say? Of Montreal? Olivia Tremor Control? Elephant 6? Let me tell you something--and I never thought this would be possible, but it's true--all of those bands have now been rendered useless imitators and failed usurpers to the Syd Barrett throne, because Marco and Alesso are the two-headed, two-faced personification of the best Acid trip vision Barrett ever had. At times such visions are exciting; some times they're horrifying. All in all, though, Jennifer Gentle's soundscapes are never less than mind-bending.
Really, though, there's so much going on within the confines ofValende that it would be futile--and detremental--for me to try to explain or reveal all of the record's secrets. Bells and whistles and silly voices and all kinds of unclassifiable things pepper the record in a nice way. Stylistic-wise, the music runs a course from thrashy psych garage-rock ("I Do Dream You") to trippy, dreamy folk-pop ("Circles of Sorrow") to joyous blasts of unknown weirdness that will make you smile with each and every listen ("Nothing Makes Sense"). Don't think the rest of the record stops there, because it doesn't; each song is a different journey into a bent, psychedelicate mind, and combined together it makes perfect sense.
Yes, Virginia, there are still uniquely weird bands, and Jennifer Gentle is definitely one of them. Valende is a welcome blast of oddness that stays fresh with every listen and never becomes anything less than enjoyable with each successive listen, and is perhaps the best musical find of 2005.
--Joseph Kyle
Artist Website: http://www.jennifergentle.it
Label Website: http://www.subpop.com
The Angelus "The Angelus"
Denton, Texas has a new epic rock band, and this is a good thing! The Angelus is a four-piece band, but they sound much, much bigger than that. Methinks it's due to the fact that they're obsessed with bells. There are bells on this record. A lot of bells. Anyway, bell-ringing aside, they've got this whole epic thing down. Kinda on par with Godspeed Your Black Emperor but kinda not, The Angelus go for the big thing in a big way, and if you're not into that sort of thing...well, you should be into that sort of thing! Moody, dark and dismal, but never ever boring, songs like the beautiful piano-driven "Story of the Shaken," the turbulent "Latin" and the cold yet warm "Cast a Certain Light" will make you feel all emotional--without ever being emo. You might have to get used to the singing style of Emil Rapstine; it's not bad, it's just very detatched yet emotionally involved--and though that doesn't look like it makes sense, it makes perfect sense once you hear it.
Everyone who has seen them says they're a great band that's best experienced live, and I believe them. As seeing them hasn't happened yet, I'll take their word for it, but in the meantime The Angelus is good enough for me!
--Joseph Kyle
Artist Website: http://www.theangelus.net
Label Website: http://www.pyramid-scheme.com
Everyone who has seen them says they're a great band that's best experienced live, and I believe them. As seeing them hasn't happened yet, I'll take their word for it, but in the meantime The Angelus is good enough for me!
--Joseph Kyle
Artist Website: http://www.theangelus.net
Label Website: http://www.pyramid-scheme.com
February 03, 2005
Various Artists "Sunday Night: The Songs of Junior Kimbrough"
In the blues world, Junior Kimbrough is a legend--even though, of course, he didn't release his first album until the last six years before his death. His sound was raw, raucous and nasty, and though he didn't shine until the end of his life, it's obvious that his style was one that bridged the gap between harder rock and the blues world. With Sunday Nights: The Songs of Junior Kimbrough, modern acts pay tribute to this legendary and unknown performer, and the results are fascinating.
Of course, some of the acts appearing here are not really surprising. After all, what would a blues record be without The Black Keys, who do an ace job on "My Mind Is Ramblin'," and would it really be right to not include the Blues Explosion. who, with the help of the late Elliott Smith, perform the dirty blues of "Meet Me In The City." It's well known that Iggy Pop has been a bluesman, and Iggy & The Stooges appear here doing "You Better Run," and they deftly turn the song into their own with two versions of it, which bookend the record. Spiritualized, whose spaced-out rock has always had traces of blues, surprise here with "Sad Days Lonely Nights," and their sound all of a sudden doesn't seem so ahead of its time. On the same token, there are one or two surprises. I'd have never considered The Fiery Furnaces as a blues band, nor would I have thought of Pete Yorn as much of a bluesman, either, but both appear here, and they do quite well at interpreting Kimbrough's work.
Then again, isn't that the point? Sunday Nights: The Songs of Junior Kimbrough is an interesting, enjoyable romp through the legacy of a long-gone but never forgotten bluesman, one who never received his due during his life, but is living again through the art of others, and that his star continues to shine is perhaps the greatest testament to his legacy.
--Joseph Kyle
Label Website: http://www.fatpossum.com
Of course, some of the acts appearing here are not really surprising. After all, what would a blues record be without The Black Keys, who do an ace job on "My Mind Is Ramblin'," and would it really be right to not include the Blues Explosion. who, with the help of the late Elliott Smith, perform the dirty blues of "Meet Me In The City." It's well known that Iggy Pop has been a bluesman, and Iggy & The Stooges appear here doing "You Better Run," and they deftly turn the song into their own with two versions of it, which bookend the record. Spiritualized, whose spaced-out rock has always had traces of blues, surprise here with "Sad Days Lonely Nights," and their sound all of a sudden doesn't seem so ahead of its time. On the same token, there are one or two surprises. I'd have never considered The Fiery Furnaces as a blues band, nor would I have thought of Pete Yorn as much of a bluesman, either, but both appear here, and they do quite well at interpreting Kimbrough's work.
Then again, isn't that the point? Sunday Nights: The Songs of Junior Kimbrough is an interesting, enjoyable romp through the legacy of a long-gone but never forgotten bluesman, one who never received his due during his life, but is living again through the art of others, and that his star continues to shine is perhaps the greatest testament to his legacy.
--Joseph Kyle
Label Website: http://www.fatpossum.com
John Frusciante & Josh Klinghoffer "A Sphere in the Heart of Silence"
The last year was a rather ambitious one for John Frusciante. Over the course of a year, he released six solo records; five under his name and one as Ataxia, which was a collaboration with Fugazi's Brendan Canty. Five of these six records are part of a six-album package deal, released once a month. That's an amazing amount of music, of course--but surprisingly, there's been very little filler or lesser material among them. (Expect a full rundown briefly.) A Sphere In The Heart of Silence is the fifth of these records, and unlike the other releases, it's quite a bit different.
Where previous records consisted of stripped-down, lo-fi recordings with a basic guitar/drum accompaniment, this record is an astonishing experiment that's decidedly more piano and synthesizer based. It's also credited to both Frusciante and his longtime musical companion Josh Klinghoffer. It's amazing, though, that it's taken so long for Frusciante to remember that a. he is a member of a red-hot band that makes great funk-rock music and b. he has a very, very soulful voice. For the first time in this series, he's actually made music that is similar to and that easily rivals the work of his day job, to which one would rightfully say...ABOUT TIME!
The opening track, "Sphere," is an epic eight minute instrumental that starts off with a simple, repetitive keyboard rhythm, but it slowly builds up into a quiet storm of beats, white noise and distant guitars. Though it seems a bit of an odd way to start an album, this Orb-meets-Aphex Twin style number is unlike anything Frusciante's done in the last year, but that's a good thing, as the song is quite peaceful and calming. Frusciante then turns the tables with the one-two punch of "The Afterglow" and "Walls." Both of these songs have a dance beat and the most passionate Frusciante vocals ever. "The Afterglow" shows that Frusciante's falsetto is a force to be reckoned with, while "Walls"--which sounds like Black Dice would sound like if they collaborated with James Murphy--finds Frusciante yelling and unleashing his passion; sustaining your screaming vocals for ten to twenty seconds is an amazing accomplishment. Both songs show that if the two were to get into a sing-off, Frusciante could easily give Anthony Kiedis a run for his money.
For the next three songs, Josh Klinghoffer takes control of the vocals. Having accompanied Frusciante on his musical journey for some time, it's interesting to hear him sing. "Communique" is a dark, depressing piano ballad that's not unlike the better work of This Mortal Coil, and Klinghoffer's voice is equally sad and distant. The next song , "At Your Enemies," is beat-laden and more electronica-based, but it's equally as sad-hearted. Klinghoffer has a young, boyish-sounding voice, and while it might not be as strong as Frusciante's, it's clear that he's taken lessons from his collaborator. The two pair up together on "Surrogate People," and it's enjoyable to hear the two collaborate vocally as well as musically. The album closes gracefully with "My Life," which is a brief, beautifully sung and surprisingly inspirational composition.
A Sphere in the Heart of Silence is a wonderful album. It's nice to hear Frusciante take his music in a different direction, and, to be honest, it would be nice if more of his solo work followed the directions he used for this album. It also shows that Klinghoffer is an artist who has yet to fully blossom--and as such, it's a rewarding work for both men.
--Joseph Kyle
Artist Website: http://www.johnfrusciante.com
Label Website: http://www.recordcollectionmusic.com
Where previous records consisted of stripped-down, lo-fi recordings with a basic guitar/drum accompaniment, this record is an astonishing experiment that's decidedly more piano and synthesizer based. It's also credited to both Frusciante and his longtime musical companion Josh Klinghoffer. It's amazing, though, that it's taken so long for Frusciante to remember that a. he is a member of a red-hot band that makes great funk-rock music and b. he has a very, very soulful voice. For the first time in this series, he's actually made music that is similar to and that easily rivals the work of his day job, to which one would rightfully say...ABOUT TIME!
The opening track, "Sphere," is an epic eight minute instrumental that starts off with a simple, repetitive keyboard rhythm, but it slowly builds up into a quiet storm of beats, white noise and distant guitars. Though it seems a bit of an odd way to start an album, this Orb-meets-Aphex Twin style number is unlike anything Frusciante's done in the last year, but that's a good thing, as the song is quite peaceful and calming. Frusciante then turns the tables with the one-two punch of "The Afterglow" and "Walls." Both of these songs have a dance beat and the most passionate Frusciante vocals ever. "The Afterglow" shows that Frusciante's falsetto is a force to be reckoned with, while "Walls"--which sounds like Black Dice would sound like if they collaborated with James Murphy--finds Frusciante yelling and unleashing his passion; sustaining your screaming vocals for ten to twenty seconds is an amazing accomplishment. Both songs show that if the two were to get into a sing-off, Frusciante could easily give Anthony Kiedis a run for his money.
For the next three songs, Josh Klinghoffer takes control of the vocals. Having accompanied Frusciante on his musical journey for some time, it's interesting to hear him sing. "Communique" is a dark, depressing piano ballad that's not unlike the better work of This Mortal Coil, and Klinghoffer's voice is equally sad and distant. The next song , "At Your Enemies," is beat-laden and more electronica-based, but it's equally as sad-hearted. Klinghoffer has a young, boyish-sounding voice, and while it might not be as strong as Frusciante's, it's clear that he's taken lessons from his collaborator. The two pair up together on "Surrogate People," and it's enjoyable to hear the two collaborate vocally as well as musically. The album closes gracefully with "My Life," which is a brief, beautifully sung and surprisingly inspirational composition.
A Sphere in the Heart of Silence is a wonderful album. It's nice to hear Frusciante take his music in a different direction, and, to be honest, it would be nice if more of his solo work followed the directions he used for this album. It also shows that Klinghoffer is an artist who has yet to fully blossom--and as such, it's a rewarding work for both men.
--Joseph Kyle
Artist Website: http://www.johnfrusciante.com
Label Website: http://www.recordcollectionmusic.com
February 01, 2005
Reverend Glasseye "Happy End and Begin"
Okay, now, this is kinda spooky, kinda creepy and yet really kinda cool. Reverend Glasseye-a member of the weird and wacky and underappreciated Slim Cessna’s Auto Club-is a mysterious fellow, which you’ll quickly glean from Happy End And Begin his latest sermon to the masses. This five-song rant is a happy collection of gypsy-meets-hillbilly sounds that borders on the unclassifiable, though if you’re a fan of anything by Tom Waits, Nick Cave or 16 Horsepower, you could easily give the Reverend and his band of merry-makers a home. The Reverend has a voice that sounds like a gospel preacher-well, he is a preacher-and his band could give revival to even the weakest soul. Dig their soulful “The World Is Not My Home Sir” and their utterly creepy “Spook the Turk’s Nag” or the caravan-styled “Last Standing Man.” With creepy organs and banjos and saxophones and trumpets and all kinds of weird instruments unknown by most, Happy End and Begin is, if nothing more, a cornucopia of sounds all piled together. All of these songs will inexplicably draw you in and will give your soul some communion and sanctuary…but do you really want it? It’s up to you, my friend, but don’t fear-the Reverend will not hurt you.
--Joseph Kyle
Artist Website: http://www.reverendglasseye.com
Label Website: http://www.musicforcats.com
--Joseph Kyle
Artist Website: http://www.reverendglasseye.com
Label Website: http://www.musicforcats.com
Destroyer "Notorious Lightning and Other Works"
Last year, when Destroyer released Your Blues, it was a stunning record that showed the possibility of a man and his midi. Lush, grandiose pop songs with a hint of glam-rock, it stood in contrast to the previous Destroyer record, This Night which was as plodding and dull as a Russian novel. But Your Blues, as good as it is, was going to prove difficult to reproduce live--a man and a computer, it just don't work onstage. So, for his tour, he hired members of the band Frog Eyes to accompany him. Notorious Lightning and Other Works is a six-song collection of songs from Your Blues, recorded with the touring lineup of Destroyer.
Having not had the benefit of seeing that revamped version of Destroyer live, I have no idea how the collaboration came off in a live setting, but I know one thing's for sure: their studio collaboration is a sloppy, unorganized and amateurish mess. It literally sounds as if they simply recorded their rehearsals and called it a record. Maybe they were trying to capture the spontanety of their live show or maybe they thought that the shambles of songs they produced actually sounded good--whatever the case, they were mistaken, because this record is simply too sloppy to really be enjoyed.
What makes the sloppiness of Notorious Lightning even more frustrating is that the songs themselves were already pretty good to begin with. The clandestine accompaniment on "New Ways of Living" and "An Actor's Revenge" simply egg on Bejar's...umm...unique vocal style, helping these songs to slide down the toilet pipes quicker than they should be. Don't get me wrong; a sloppy style can be interesting and rewarding in its own way, but more often than not, it's simply...bad. The only moment that's kind of rewarding is the blues-like "Don't Become The Thing You Hated," simply because the band restrains itself from its tendency to go wild with the arrangments.
And that's the ultimate flaw of Notorious Lightning and Other Works. It was an interesting concept, but as there's simply no restraint in the execution, it disappoints. Perhaps these songs don't translate from their midi-band state, or maybe the arrangements don't translate outside of the live setting for which they were intendend. Whatever the case may be, you should try a little harder next time, guys.
--Joseph Kyle
Label Website: http://www.mergerecords.com
Having not had the benefit of seeing that revamped version of Destroyer live, I have no idea how the collaboration came off in a live setting, but I know one thing's for sure: their studio collaboration is a sloppy, unorganized and amateurish mess. It literally sounds as if they simply recorded their rehearsals and called it a record. Maybe they were trying to capture the spontanety of their live show or maybe they thought that the shambles of songs they produced actually sounded good--whatever the case, they were mistaken, because this record is simply too sloppy to really be enjoyed.
What makes the sloppiness of Notorious Lightning even more frustrating is that the songs themselves were already pretty good to begin with. The clandestine accompaniment on "New Ways of Living" and "An Actor's Revenge" simply egg on Bejar's...umm...unique vocal style, helping these songs to slide down the toilet pipes quicker than they should be. Don't get me wrong; a sloppy style can be interesting and rewarding in its own way, but more often than not, it's simply...bad. The only moment that's kind of rewarding is the blues-like "Don't Become The Thing You Hated," simply because the band restrains itself from its tendency to go wild with the arrangments.
And that's the ultimate flaw of Notorious Lightning and Other Works. It was an interesting concept, but as there's simply no restraint in the execution, it disappoints. Perhaps these songs don't translate from their midi-band state, or maybe the arrangements don't translate outside of the live setting for which they were intendend. Whatever the case may be, you should try a little harder next time, guys.
--Joseph Kyle
Label Website: http://www.mergerecords.com
Moth Wranglers "Never Better"
Misery loves company, and LD Beghtol and company certainly love misery! Lead by the unrepentant LD Beghtol and Chris Xefos, the dastardly duo make music that's certainly heartbreaking, undeniably cruel and never, ever contrite--and they wouldn't want it any other way. Despite their glum demeanor, they're actually both highly creative and super-talented fellows, and the Never Better mini-album is a wonderful exhibit of their collective talents.
We should consider ourselves lucky to have this little morsel, though; in this day and age, Beghtol's classically-trained voice is a rare commodity, and tempered with the genius of Chris Xefos, the duo--along with a cast of dastardly accessories, including Future Bible Heroes' Christopher Ewen and Three Terrors' Dudley Klute--tread the seas of heartbreak and disappointment in such a manner that's both rewarding and depressing.
You like songs about bitterness towards someone you tried to love but didn't love you back? Skip over to track two, "Love And Jump Back" Want to hear a love song about a failed actor? Then hit up track three, "Overnight Sensation," which is made all the more powerful by Dudley Klute's emotionally detatched, unconcerned vocals. Want to hear perhaps the most unique and most disturbing Pixies cover ever? Then you'll want to check out their remixed and remodeled version of "No. 13 Baby," which starts off slow, gets even slower, but is accentuated by an alarming number of additional vocals. (Makes Black Francis' psychotic yell seem like nothing, this!)
There are three songs, though, that make Never Better worthy of purchase. First is "Never Said 'I'm Sorry'," a beautifully performed autoharp-driven song about a boorish, unapologetic lover who does things like break the protagonist's abacus, cheats on him and forces him to watch television. It's a song that rings true on many levels. Then there's the all-too brief "Pledge," an operatic-style limerick that's quite succinct and will make you smile for hours on end--even though, of course, it's quite serious and somewhat sad, too. The most rewarding track, though, is the album closing "Better Off Alone." With three simple words, the Moth Wranglers have summed up Morrissey's oevure and rendered it useless. After hearing this simple little track, you'll never again want--or need--to seek solace in The Queen Is Dead.
I've always considered the phrase 'never better' to be nothing more than a convenient lie that miserable people use socially, but in the Moth Wranglers' case, they've really never been better. Never Better makes depression fun, and should be a soundtrack to your next bout of gloom and doom.
--Joseph Kyle
Artist Website: http://www.mothwranglers.com
Label Website: http://www.magneticmotorworks.com
We should consider ourselves lucky to have this little morsel, though; in this day and age, Beghtol's classically-trained voice is a rare commodity, and tempered with the genius of Chris Xefos, the duo--along with a cast of dastardly accessories, including Future Bible Heroes' Christopher Ewen and Three Terrors' Dudley Klute--tread the seas of heartbreak and disappointment in such a manner that's both rewarding and depressing.
You like songs about bitterness towards someone you tried to love but didn't love you back? Skip over to track two, "Love And Jump Back" Want to hear a love song about a failed actor? Then hit up track three, "Overnight Sensation," which is made all the more powerful by Dudley Klute's emotionally detatched, unconcerned vocals. Want to hear perhaps the most unique and most disturbing Pixies cover ever? Then you'll want to check out their remixed and remodeled version of "No. 13 Baby," which starts off slow, gets even slower, but is accentuated by an alarming number of additional vocals. (Makes Black Francis' psychotic yell seem like nothing, this!)
There are three songs, though, that make Never Better worthy of purchase. First is "Never Said 'I'm Sorry'," a beautifully performed autoharp-driven song about a boorish, unapologetic lover who does things like break the protagonist's abacus, cheats on him and forces him to watch television. It's a song that rings true on many levels. Then there's the all-too brief "Pledge," an operatic-style limerick that's quite succinct and will make you smile for hours on end--even though, of course, it's quite serious and somewhat sad, too. The most rewarding track, though, is the album closing "Better Off Alone." With three simple words, the Moth Wranglers have summed up Morrissey's oevure and rendered it useless. After hearing this simple little track, you'll never again want--or need--to seek solace in The Queen Is Dead.
I've always considered the phrase 'never better' to be nothing more than a convenient lie that miserable people use socially, but in the Moth Wranglers' case, they've really never been better. Never Better makes depression fun, and should be a soundtrack to your next bout of gloom and doom.
--Joseph Kyle
Artist Website: http://www.mothwranglers.com
Label Website: http://www.magneticmotorworks.com
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