After his sophomore album, POSES, sailed critically but failed commercially, Rufus Wainwright fell into a pattern of hard drug abuse. Luckily, the support of friends and family landed him in rehab. Emerging newly sober and clearheaded, Rufus threw himself into his work. The result is Want One, an unabashedly honest, musically sprawling record that finds the vocalist reaching a new level of maturity. It becomes quite clear during the borderline satirical album opener "Oh, What a World" (which goes so far as to reference Ravel's "Bolero") that Wainwright has met his musical match in producer Marius de Vries (U2, Bjork). Rather than reigning in the singer/multi-instrumentalist's vision, de Vries understands that the sincerity and conviction in his voice keeps even the most over-the-top of tracks grounded. Standout moments include the epic "Go or Go Ahead," "14th Street," and the stunningly candid "Dinner at Eight." Want One is the work of an artist who is, above all, determined to live life to the fullest.(RS)
Wednesday 28 February 2007
Rufus Wainwright - Want One
After his sophomore album, POSES, sailed critically but failed commercially, Rufus Wainwright fell into a pattern of hard drug abuse. Luckily, the support of friends and family landed him in rehab. Emerging newly sober and clearheaded, Rufus threw himself into his work. The result is Want One, an unabashedly honest, musically sprawling record that finds the vocalist reaching a new level of maturity. It becomes quite clear during the borderline satirical album opener "Oh, What a World" (which goes so far as to reference Ravel's "Bolero") that Wainwright has met his musical match in producer Marius de Vries (U2, Bjork). Rather than reigning in the singer/multi-instrumentalist's vision, de Vries understands that the sincerity and conviction in his voice keeps even the most over-the-top of tracks grounded. Standout moments include the epic "Go or Go Ahead," "14th Street," and the stunningly candid "Dinner at Eight." Want One is the work of an artist who is, above all, determined to live life to the fullest.(RS)
The Killers Discography
Brandon Flowers (vocals/keyboards), David Keuning (guitar), Mark Stoermer (bass), and Ronnie Vannucci (drums) took the fashionista pop world by storm in summer 2004 with "Somebody Told Me." The perfectly stylish song pulls from the band's influences -- the Smiths, New Order, Oasis, and the Cure -- and it was just enough to get them on MTV. Part new wave and part new-millennium post-punk, this Las Vegas foursome originally got together in 2002. Flowers had left behind his former synth pop band, Blush Response, when he noticed a classified ad in the local newspaper placed by Keuning. Both of them were huge Oasis fans, and within weeks the two composed their soon-to-be cult hit, "Mr. Brightside." Stoermer, a former medical courier, and Vannucci, a classical percussion major at UNLV, soon joined the fray that became the Killers.http://rapidshare.com/files/16207088/The.Killers.Discography.sfv
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Tuesday 27 February 2007
The Drift - Neomena (2005)
With the debut full-length, Noumena, the band leaves no stone
unturned. Taking their name to heart, The Drift do just that - from ambient noise and elegant guitar rock to mournful jazz ballads and stunted, down-tempo hip-hop - all with the subtle grace that is to be expected from veterans of the sound. As The Drift, Danny Grody (Tarentel, Furniture), Safa Shokrai, Jeff Jacobs, and Rich Douthit (Halifax Pier) comfortably expand on the cinematic bliss that Tarentel willfully abandoned long ago for more chaotic landscapes. Existing somewhere between Miles Davis's In a Silent Way and Tarentel's From Bone To Satellite, The Drift compose predestined soundtracks for everyday life - not only perfect for a night on the beach, but just as suitable for the long drive getting there. Their music is inescapably passionate, executed with just enough wide-eyed improvisation to sound eternally fresh.(RS)
unturned. Taking their name to heart, The Drift do just that - from ambient noise and elegant guitar rock to mournful jazz ballads and stunted, down-tempo hip-hop - all with the subtle grace that is to be expected from veterans of the sound. As The Drift, Danny Grody (Tarentel, Furniture), Safa Shokrai, Jeff Jacobs, and Rich Douthit (Halifax Pier) comfortably expand on the cinematic bliss that Tarentel willfully abandoned long ago for more chaotic landscapes. Existing somewhere between Miles Davis's In a Silent Way and Tarentel's From Bone To Satellite, The Drift compose predestined soundtracks for everyday life - not only perfect for a night on the beach, but just as suitable for the long drive getting there. Their music is inescapably passionate, executed with just enough wide-eyed improvisation to sound eternally fresh.(RS)
Blackfield - Blackfield II
The sophomore release for this melodic duo (actually a five piece band, but the leads are Steven Wilson and Aviv Geffen) based to some degree on the progressive sound of Porcupine Tree covers much of the same ground as their debut. The sound is still
firmly in the realm of progressive rock, with hints of The sophomore release for this melodic duo (actually a five piece band, but the leads are Steven Wilson and Aviv Geffen) based to some degree on the progressive sound of Porcupine TreeRadiohead and Oasis. Unlike the previous album which was recorded off and on over a 2-year span, this one was recorded in one short stretch, and shows somewhat more consistency in tone as a result. The album opening Once has a particularly Radiohead-like vibe and a bit of heaviness, but the development of the album works into other veins as well, with large string movements, light piano accompaniment, and a generally melodic guitar approach. Somewhat 80s-influenced sounds come and go slightly, a touch of Pink Floyd comes through now and then (particularly on Christenings), and a general melancholy hangs over the album as a whole. Aviv Geffen has taken a larger role in lead vocals here with good effect (particularly in a handful of tracks he had composed, eventually translated from Hebrew). The overall effect is a fine one -- this album has more of what fans of the duo will enjoy and make a fair introduction for newcomers. That said however, newcomers would likely do better with the debut album first, and the short nature of the album (coming in around 42 minutes) will almost certainly have some of the fans wishing for more.(FTP)
firmly in the realm of progressive rock, with hints of The sophomore release for this melodic duo (actually a five piece band, but the leads are Steven Wilson and Aviv Geffen) based to some degree on the progressive sound of Porcupine TreeRadiohead and Oasis. Unlike the previous album which was recorded off and on over a 2-year span, this one was recorded in one short stretch, and shows somewhat more consistency in tone as a result. The album opening Once has a particularly Radiohead-like vibe and a bit of heaviness, but the development of the album works into other veins as well, with large string movements, light piano accompaniment, and a generally melodic guitar approach. Somewhat 80s-influenced sounds come and go slightly, a touch of Pink Floyd comes through now and then (particularly on Christenings), and a general melancholy hangs over the album as a whole. Aviv Geffen has taken a larger role in lead vocals here with good effect (particularly in a handful of tracks he had composed, eventually translated from Hebrew). The overall effect is a fine one -- this album has more of what fans of the duo will enjoy and make a fair introduction for newcomers. That said however, newcomers would likely do better with the debut album first, and the short nature of the album (coming in around 42 minutes) will almost certainly have some of the fans wishing for more.(FTP)
Saturday 24 February 2007
Yo La Tengo - Painful
The musical evolution of Yo La Tengo continued on 1993's Painful. The
group's tendency to veer between soft-and-slow and hard-and-fast remains--as demonstrated in the two wildly different versions of "Big Day Coming"--but as whole, the record shows increasingly nuanced songwriting by Kaplan and Hubley and greater variety in their overall sound. The addition of organ provides another sonic dimension, evoking a mood of tender fragility on the love song "Nowhere Near" and adding a caustic urgency to "Sudden Organ." What's also notable here is that Yo La Tengo, who have always acknowledged the influence of both the old and the new, have begun to sound more and more like their influences. "From a Motel 6" with its soft, trance-like vocals and monolithic guitar attack eerily evokes the twisted '90s psychedelia of seminal British shoe-gazers My Bloody Valentine. Throughout, the record brims with rich guitar textures, from the shimmery instrumental "Superstar Watcher" and the burnished ripple of "A Worrying Thing" to the metallic whomp of version 2 of "Big Day Coming." Yo La Tengo continues its tradition of unexpected cover songs with "The Whole of the Law" by punk cult faves the Only Ones.(MF)
group's tendency to veer between soft-and-slow and hard-and-fast remains--as demonstrated in the two wildly different versions of "Big Day Coming"--but as whole, the record shows increasingly nuanced songwriting by Kaplan and Hubley and greater variety in their overall sound. The addition of organ provides another sonic dimension, evoking a mood of tender fragility on the love song "Nowhere Near" and adding a caustic urgency to "Sudden Organ." What's also notable here is that Yo La Tengo, who have always acknowledged the influence of both the old and the new, have begun to sound more and more like their influences. "From a Motel 6" with its soft, trance-like vocals and monolithic guitar attack eerily evokes the twisted '90s psychedelia of seminal British shoe-gazers My Bloody Valentine. Throughout, the record brims with rich guitar textures, from the shimmery instrumental "Superstar Watcher" and the burnished ripple of "A Worrying Thing" to the metallic whomp of version 2 of "Big Day Coming." Yo La Tengo continues its tradition of unexpected cover songs with "The Whole of the Law" by punk cult faves the Only Ones.(MF)
Blondie - Parallel Lines
Recorded at The Record Plant, New York, New York in June & July, 1978. Originally released on Chrysalis (1192). Includes liner notes by Mike Chapman. All tracks have been digitally remastered using 24-bit technology. Madonna and Michael Jackson aside, this is supreme pop music and as good as the genre can ever get. Everybody loved Blondie; fans, children, critics, other musicians and senior citizens - and not just because Debbie Harry was its frontperson. This is an unintentional greatest hits record that doesn't let up until the last note of 'Just Go Away' has died. If one wanted to carp, you could have asked for 'Denis' and 'Call Me' to have been included, but that would be just plain greedy. One of the greatest 'up' records of all time.(MF)
Belle and Sebastian - Lazy Line Painter Jane
Fans who missed out on the three import EPs between If You're Feeling Sinister and The Boy With the Arab Strap should pick up the reissue set that puts them all in one little box, as it's more quality work, and all non-LP. The band and Matador should have taken the opportunity to put them together on one disc. What a waste of extra plastic.(RS)
Black Heart Procession - 1
The bandmembers' musical backgrounds gave no real indication
what this first album would be like, and the result is quietly, affectingly fascinating. Pitched somewhere between the darker, quieter moments of European or European-based performers like Jacques Brel and Scott Walker and the haunting hush of more recent American acts like the For Carnation, 1 wraps itself in a lovely melancholia that avoids self-pity for deliberate reflection and consideration. Matters of the heart, as the band name indicates, are very much to the fore; no less than seven of the album's eleven songs have "heart" somewhere in the title: "Release My Heart," "Heart Without a Home," "Square Heart," and so forth. Many of the songs are piano-based or led, accentuating the late night blue feeling well, though everything sounds so high and lonely that, at points, the imaginary setting seems more like a lonely heath at midnight instead of, say, a smoky theater. The trio's blend of instrumentation is a definite strong point right from the first song, "The Waiter," with soft bells and what sounds like a musical saw mixing with acoustic guitar and bass. The use of accordion on the following song, "The Old Kind of Summer," brings the theatrical cabaret affectations of the group to the fore, but Jenkins' cracking, high vocals owe more to a certain strain of indie rock, making for a striking combination. At times his singing actually calls to mind the Afghan Whigs' Greg Dulli in a wholly different musical context -- perhaps a surprising link, but there's the same passion there. Of the album's many strong tracks, highlights include "Bluewater Blackheart," with a lovely piano break midsong, "Heart Without a Home," which slowly builds to a quiet, striking coda, and the distinctly doom-laden "Stitched to My Heart," with portentous opening piano chords leading into the no-less chilling main piece.(MF)
what this first album would be like, and the result is quietly, affectingly fascinating. Pitched somewhere between the darker, quieter moments of European or European-based performers like Jacques Brel and Scott Walker and the haunting hush of more recent American acts like the For Carnation, 1 wraps itself in a lovely melancholia that avoids self-pity for deliberate reflection and consideration. Matters of the heart, as the band name indicates, are very much to the fore; no less than seven of the album's eleven songs have "heart" somewhere in the title: "Release My Heart," "Heart Without a Home," "Square Heart," and so forth. Many of the songs are piano-based or led, accentuating the late night blue feeling well, though everything sounds so high and lonely that, at points, the imaginary setting seems more like a lonely heath at midnight instead of, say, a smoky theater. The trio's blend of instrumentation is a definite strong point right from the first song, "The Waiter," with soft bells and what sounds like a musical saw mixing with acoustic guitar and bass. The use of accordion on the following song, "The Old Kind of Summer," brings the theatrical cabaret affectations of the group to the fore, but Jenkins' cracking, high vocals owe more to a certain strain of indie rock, making for a striking combination. At times his singing actually calls to mind the Afghan Whigs' Greg Dulli in a wholly different musical context -- perhaps a surprising link, but there's the same passion there. Of the album's many strong tracks, highlights include "Bluewater Blackheart," with a lovely piano break midsong, "Heart Without a Home," which slowly builds to a quiet, striking coda, and the distinctly doom-laden "Stitched to My Heart," with portentous opening piano chords leading into the no-less chilling main piece.(MF)
Wednesday 21 February 2007
The Cranberries - Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We
Title aside, what the Cranberries were and doing wasn't that
common at the time, at least in mainstream pop terms; grunge and G-funk had done their respective big splashes via NirvanaDr. Dre when Everybody came out first in the U.K. and then in America some months later. Lead guitarist Noel Hogan is in many ways the true center of the band at this point, co-writing all but three songs with O'Riordan and showing an amazing economy in his playing, and having longtime Smiths/Morrissey producer Stephen Street behind the boards meant that the right blend of projection and delicacy still held sway. One can tell he likes Johnny Marr and his ability to do the job just right: check out the quick strums and blasts on "Pretty" or the concluding part of the lovely "Waltzing Back." O'Riordan herself offers up a number of romantic ponderings and considerations lyrically (as well as playing perfectly fine acoustic guitar), and her undisputed vocal ability suits the material perfectly. The two best cuts were the deserved smashes: "Dreams," a brisk, charging number combining low-key tension and full-on rock, and the melancholic, string-swept break-up song "Linger." If Everybody is in the end a derivative pleasure -- and O'Riordan's vocal acrobatics would never again be so relatively calm in comparison -- a pleasure it remains nonetheless, the work of a young band creating a fine little synthesis.(RS)
common at the time, at least in mainstream pop terms; grunge and G-funk had done their respective big splashes via NirvanaDr. Dre when Everybody came out first in the U.K. and then in America some months later. Lead guitarist Noel Hogan is in many ways the true center of the band at this point, co-writing all but three songs with O'Riordan and showing an amazing economy in his playing, and having longtime Smiths/Morrissey producer Stephen Street behind the boards meant that the right blend of projection and delicacy still held sway. One can tell he likes Johnny Marr and his ability to do the job just right: check out the quick strums and blasts on "Pretty" or the concluding part of the lovely "Waltzing Back." O'Riordan herself offers up a number of romantic ponderings and considerations lyrically (as well as playing perfectly fine acoustic guitar), and her undisputed vocal ability suits the material perfectly. The two best cuts were the deserved smashes: "Dreams," a brisk, charging number combining low-key tension and full-on rock, and the melancholic, string-swept break-up song "Linger." If Everybody is in the end a derivative pleasure -- and O'Riordan's vocal acrobatics would never again be so relatively calm in comparison -- a pleasure it remains nonetheless, the work of a young band creating a fine little synthesis.(RS)
Tuesday 20 February 2007
Belle & Sebastian - Dear Catastrophe Waitress
For a band with such a modest, homespun feel as Scottish cult heroes
Belle and Sebastian, the utilization of a big pop producer like Trevor Horn could easily have been a tragic mistake. Instead, it proves to be a stroke of brilliance. Rather than doling out the kind of overblown mountains of sound he's heaped on artists like Seal and Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Horn simply expands the B&S palette in a completely organic, extremely effective manner. The arrangements are more fleshed-out than usual, the textures more varied, and the overall sound a bit more sprightly and sunny. All this is to the good, however, as the band's unerring melodic sensibility and gently quirky lyricism remain joyfully intact. The interaction of Belle and Sebastian's trademark twisted-twee songcraft and the effervescence of Horn's production makes Dear Catastrophe Waitress one of the group's most instantly appealing albums.(RS)
Belle and Sebastian, the utilization of a big pop producer like Trevor Horn could easily have been a tragic mistake. Instead, it proves to be a stroke of brilliance. Rather than doling out the kind of overblown mountains of sound he's heaped on artists like Seal and Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Horn simply expands the B&S palette in a completely organic, extremely effective manner. The arrangements are more fleshed-out than usual, the textures more varied, and the overall sound a bit more sprightly and sunny. All this is to the good, however, as the band's unerring melodic sensibility and gently quirky lyricism remain joyfully intact. The interaction of Belle and Sebastian's trademark twisted-twee songcraft and the effervescence of Horn's production makes Dear Catastrophe Waitress one of the group's most instantly appealing albums.(RS)
Monday 19 February 2007
The Dave Matthews Band - Under the table and dreaming
On their major-label debut, Under the Table and Dreaming, the Dave Matthews Band is helped by the lean production of Steve Lillywhite, who manages to rein in the group's tendency to meander. The result is a set of eclectic pop/rock that is accentuated by bursts of instrumental virtuosity instead of being ruled by it. That also means that the Dave Matthews Band is capable of turning out pop songs, and as the hit single "What Would You Say" and "Ants Marching" illustrate, they have a flair for catchy hooks.(RS)
Sunday 18 February 2007
Deerhunter - Cryptograms
The Deer Hunter is a movie. "Deer Hunter" is a game. Deerhunter
are a band that sometimes gets called Deer Hunter. Deerhoof are somebody else. Source(s): Twenty-five years on Earth, Google.
Of course, even the second recording session's highly melodic space-outs aren't fully coherent. As Cox laments in "Hazel St.", "The subject is always just out of frame." At this point, with an album called Cryptograms, you're weird if you haven't been wondering what, exactly, the encoded message might be-- if, in fact, there is one at all. I like to think it's that Deerhunter are a pop band.
After all, while Cryptograms presents its own obstacles, it's easily enjoyed as a whole. Memorable melodies and an awkward, charismatic narrator are often peeking from behind the dissonance-laden mists that self-consciously choke them. From The Velvet Underground & Nico to Sid and Nancy, the sweetest romance of the rock underground's life was always death. And the tragic beauty of Cryptograms, as to an extent with Cooper's novels, is the way something as innocent as pop can be so mercilessly corrupted-- and due to the ensuing tension, emerge as better art for it.(RS)
are a band that sometimes gets called Deer Hunter. Deerhoof are somebody else. Source(s): Twenty-five years on Earth, Google.Of course, even the second recording session's highly melodic space-outs aren't fully coherent. As Cox laments in "Hazel St.", "The subject is always just out of frame." At this point, with an album called Cryptograms, you're weird if you haven't been wondering what, exactly, the encoded message might be-- if, in fact, there is one at all. I like to think it's that Deerhunter are a pop band.
After all, while Cryptograms presents its own obstacles, it's easily enjoyed as a whole. Memorable melodies and an awkward, charismatic narrator are often peeking from behind the dissonance-laden mists that self-consciously choke them. From The Velvet Underground & Nico to Sid and Nancy, the sweetest romance of the rock underground's life was always death. And the tragic beauty of Cryptograms, as to an extent with Cooper's novels, is the way something as innocent as pop can be so mercilessly corrupted-- and due to the ensuing tension, emerge as better art for it.(RS)
Andrew Bird - Fingerlings
Limited to just 250 copies, the self-released Fingerlings documents
Andrew Bird's electrifying live show, both in solo performance and backed by his Bowl of Fire. Though no recording dates are given, the material is culled from appearances across the country, most notably hometown venues the Abbey Pub and the Hideout, the latter Chicago's best live music spot; much of the material has yet to appear on any of Bird's Rykodisc LPs, and presumably anticipates an upcoming studio project. Although the performances featuring the full Bowl of Fire lineup are incendiary, highlighted by a barnstorming rendition of The Swimming Hour's "How Indiscreet," the best songs here are also the most stripped down; whether solo or backed solely by the great singer/guitarist Nora O'Connor, Bird thrives in more intimate contexts, where his virtuoso violin work achieves new peaks of beauty and grace and his songs, absent the genre trappings of their studio counterparts, even more effectively capture the cosmopolitan timelessness of their musical agenda.(FTP)
Andrew Bird's electrifying live show, both in solo performance and backed by his Bowl of Fire. Though no recording dates are given, the material is culled from appearances across the country, most notably hometown venues the Abbey Pub and the Hideout, the latter Chicago's best live music spot; much of the material has yet to appear on any of Bird's Rykodisc LPs, and presumably anticipates an upcoming studio project. Although the performances featuring the full Bowl of Fire lineup are incendiary, highlighted by a barnstorming rendition of The Swimming Hour's "How Indiscreet," the best songs here are also the most stripped down; whether solo or backed solely by the great singer/guitarist Nora O'Connor, Bird thrives in more intimate contexts, where his virtuoso violin work achieves new peaks of beauty and grace and his songs, absent the genre trappings of their studio counterparts, even more effectively capture the cosmopolitan timelessness of their musical agenda.(FTP)
Abandoned Pools - Humanistic
The Warner-distributed debut by Tommy Walter's alter ego,
Abandoned Pools (he wrote, sang, and played almost everything here), is a curious culmination of ghostlike voices from the rock & roll ether. Walter sounds a lot like a harder-rock version of Tommy Gnosis, the character from Hedwig and the Angry Inch: vulnerable, lost, and wanting desperately to put it all into terms that are rock & roll enough to make him stand out from the crowd. But there's also the tenderness and the deep desire to write love song hooks like John Rzeznik of the Goo Goo Dolls. And as if this weren't enough, this Woodland Hills, CA, kid is as pissed off as Kurt Cobain and obviously worships that trait among many others in his idol. What that adds up to is: Who is Tommy Walter? He's certainly encompassed all of the strands that create a musical persona, but do they make a personality? The songs themselves -- especially the dark, hooky "Mercy Kiss" (the single), the overdriven guitar-crunching refrain and bridge in "Monster," and the highly textured shifty-shuffle rock of "Sunny Day" -- hint that this kid's got something to say. And then there's the souled-out girl chorus-sounding backing on "Ruin Your Life," a shimmering reflection on desolation and the possibilities in its aftermath. "Seed"'s electronic hard rock and elongated riffs push the needle into the red and offer this kid's jaded view as a way out, a way toward something else. Perhaps listeners will discover what that is on the next disc. The ace production of Paul Q. Kolderie and Sean Slade handled the boards with great sensitivity and flair, erecting a dynamic, fluid alt-rock monolith. By he sound of this, Walter has more -- and better -- recordings in him as he emerges from behind his wall of identities, but this is an auspicious debut nonetheless.(FTP)
Abandoned Pools (he wrote, sang, and played almost everything here), is a curious culmination of ghostlike voices from the rock & roll ether. Walter sounds a lot like a harder-rock version of Tommy Gnosis, the character from Hedwig and the Angry Inch: vulnerable, lost, and wanting desperately to put it all into terms that are rock & roll enough to make him stand out from the crowd. But there's also the tenderness and the deep desire to write love song hooks like John Rzeznik of the Goo Goo Dolls. And as if this weren't enough, this Woodland Hills, CA, kid is as pissed off as Kurt Cobain and obviously worships that trait among many others in his idol. What that adds up to is: Who is Tommy Walter? He's certainly encompassed all of the strands that create a musical persona, but do they make a personality? The songs themselves -- especially the dark, hooky "Mercy Kiss" (the single), the overdriven guitar-crunching refrain and bridge in "Monster," and the highly textured shifty-shuffle rock of "Sunny Day" -- hint that this kid's got something to say. And then there's the souled-out girl chorus-sounding backing on "Ruin Your Life," a shimmering reflection on desolation and the possibilities in its aftermath. "Seed"'s electronic hard rock and elongated riffs push the needle into the red and offer this kid's jaded view as a way out, a way toward something else. Perhaps listeners will discover what that is on the next disc. The ace production of Paul Q. Kolderie and Sean Slade handled the boards with great sensitivity and flair, erecting a dynamic, fluid alt-rock monolith. By he sound of this, Walter has more -- and better -- recordings in him as he emerges from behind his wall of identities, but this is an auspicious debut nonetheless.(FTP)
Dave Matthews Band - Under The Table And Dreaming
Recorded at Bearsville Studios, Bearsville, New York. "What Would
You Say" was nominated for a 1996 Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal. So far, the year 1994 has been a splendid one for grass roots rock bands outside the New York/L.A./Nashville loop. Emerging from the pack with a unique sound of their own have been regional sensations such as Counting Crows, Collective Soul, Hootie & The Blowfish and now, the Dave Matthews Band. Centered around the talents of their lead singer-guitarist, and featuring some of the top talents on the Charlottesville, Virginia scene, Under The Table And Dreaming is an exquisite polyglot of voices and moods. As their closing instrumental "#34" demonstrates, the Dave Matthews Band not only possess a sublime pop sensibility, they're able to move seamlessly from rock through jazz, blues, funk and a variety of pastoral folk sources--all the while maintaining a distinctive lyric perspective. With a slamming, sensitive rhythm section, and powerful solo flights by violinist Boyd Tinsley and saxophonist Leroi Moore, the Dave Matthews Band keeps several pots boiling all the time. Their vigorous group interplay compliments the leader's driving acoustic guitar, grainy, soulful vocals and gentle ambiguities on "Typical Situation," and his harrowing tale of addiction, "Rhyme & Reason." Matthews' sly humor emerges on the sardonic "Dancing Nancies," where he agonizes over every variety of woulda, coulda and shoulda on top of a dancing flamenco groove, and the funky "What Would You Say," where his character urges us to live our lives, not lament them. Under The Table And Dreaming is positive, upbeat, exploratory pop.(RS1)(RS2)
You Say" was nominated for a 1996 Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal. So far, the year 1994 has been a splendid one for grass roots rock bands outside the New York/L.A./Nashville loop. Emerging from the pack with a unique sound of their own have been regional sensations such as Counting Crows, Collective Soul, Hootie & The Blowfish and now, the Dave Matthews Band. Centered around the talents of their lead singer-guitarist, and featuring some of the top talents on the Charlottesville, Virginia scene, Under The Table And Dreaming is an exquisite polyglot of voices and moods. As their closing instrumental "#34" demonstrates, the Dave Matthews Band not only possess a sublime pop sensibility, they're able to move seamlessly from rock through jazz, blues, funk and a variety of pastoral folk sources--all the while maintaining a distinctive lyric perspective. With a slamming, sensitive rhythm section, and powerful solo flights by violinist Boyd Tinsley and saxophonist Leroi Moore, the Dave Matthews Band keeps several pots boiling all the time. Their vigorous group interplay compliments the leader's driving acoustic guitar, grainy, soulful vocals and gentle ambiguities on "Typical Situation," and his harrowing tale of addiction, "Rhyme & Reason." Matthews' sly humor emerges on the sardonic "Dancing Nancies," where he agonizes over every variety of woulda, coulda and shoulda on top of a dancing flamenco groove, and the funky "What Would You Say," where his character urges us to live our lives, not lament them. Under The Table And Dreaming is positive, upbeat, exploratory pop.(RS1)(RS2)
Fiona Apple - When the Pawn Hits the Conflicts He Thinks Like a King...
When The Pawn... was nominated for the 2001 Grammy Award for
Best Alternative Music Album and "Paper Bag" was nominated for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance. Japanese edition features the bonus songs "Across The Universe" and "Never Is A Promise". Of the many women who came of age during the "Lilith Fair" age of the 90s, none was as intellectually precocious or as emotionally scarred as Fiona Apple. Her sophomore album, When The Pawn revealed Apple to be a fiercely independent artist who jealously guarded the sanctity of her creative expression. It bubbles over with confessionals pertaining to the effects that fame had on Apple's continuing string of disastrous relationships. Rather than whine about her trials and tribulations, the lithesome 20-something matter-of-factly sings of yearning ("Paper Bag"), moving on from bad love ("The Way Things Are"), and staying wrapped up in it ("Limp"). As was the case on her debut, Apple's smoky delivery and understated piano playing make her the '90s equivalent of Nina Simone, another headstrong iconoclast. Producer Jon Brion does a great job incorporating a mix of swirling orchestration, lo-fi ambiance, and punch onto some of Apple's more notable numbers including the breathlessly fast-paced "Fast as You Can" and the defiantly resilient "Get Gone." Musically rich and lyrically challenging, When The Pawn is the kind of smart pop that is unfortunately more the rare exception rather than the common occurrence.(FTP)
Best Alternative Music Album and "Paper Bag" was nominated for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance. Japanese edition features the bonus songs "Across The Universe" and "Never Is A Promise". Of the many women who came of age during the "Lilith Fair" age of the 90s, none was as intellectually precocious or as emotionally scarred as Fiona Apple. Her sophomore album, When The Pawn revealed Apple to be a fiercely independent artist who jealously guarded the sanctity of her creative expression. It bubbles over with confessionals pertaining to the effects that fame had on Apple's continuing string of disastrous relationships. Rather than whine about her trials and tribulations, the lithesome 20-something matter-of-factly sings of yearning ("Paper Bag"), moving on from bad love ("The Way Things Are"), and staying wrapped up in it ("Limp"). As was the case on her debut, Apple's smoky delivery and understated piano playing make her the '90s equivalent of Nina Simone, another headstrong iconoclast. Producer Jon Brion does a great job incorporating a mix of swirling orchestration, lo-fi ambiance, and punch onto some of Apple's more notable numbers including the breathlessly fast-paced "Fast as You Can" and the defiantly resilient "Get Gone." Musically rich and lyrically challenging, When The Pawn is the kind of smart pop that is unfortunately more the rare exception rather than the common occurrence.(FTP)
Saturday 17 February 2007
R.E.M. - Murmur
R.E.M.'s full-length debut is a landmark album that set the standard
for the next 10 years of indie rock. The Athens quartet combined Byrdsy, folk-rock guitar jangle with obscurantist lyrics and a post-punk compositional sensibility to create a vibrant new sound that would soon be imitated by every high-school poet with a Rickenbacker guitar. R.E.M. was also one of the first bands to make the long, hard journey from college radio (when it was still college radio) to mainstream acceptance, and managed the difficult task of maintaining its integrity at every step along the way. Murmur, far from an embryonic debut, shows a fully-formed unit with a strong artistic vision. (It was preceded by two legendary underground releases: The "Radio Free Europe" single--which was re-recorded for Murmur--and the Chronic Town EP.) Producers Mitch Easter and Don Dixon's lofty reputations would have remained intact even if they had never worked on another record after this one. The gentle-but-insistent arrangements and glorious pop hooks of songs like "Catapult" and "Talk About The Passion" provide the perfect contrast to Michael Stipe's earnest, moody vocal style. Drummer Bill Berry's breathless effervescence provides the perfect backdrop for this album of jumpy, intellectual pop. (RS)
for the next 10 years of indie rock. The Athens quartet combined Byrdsy, folk-rock guitar jangle with obscurantist lyrics and a post-punk compositional sensibility to create a vibrant new sound that would soon be imitated by every high-school poet with a Rickenbacker guitar. R.E.M. was also one of the first bands to make the long, hard journey from college radio (when it was still college radio) to mainstream acceptance, and managed the difficult task of maintaining its integrity at every step along the way. Murmur, far from an embryonic debut, shows a fully-formed unit with a strong artistic vision. (It was preceded by two legendary underground releases: The "Radio Free Europe" single--which was re-recorded for Murmur--and the Chronic Town EP.) Producers Mitch Easter and Don Dixon's lofty reputations would have remained intact even if they had never worked on another record after this one. The gentle-but-insistent arrangements and glorious pop hooks of songs like "Catapult" and "Talk About The Passion" provide the perfect contrast to Michael Stipe's earnest, moody vocal style. Drummer Bill Berry's breathless effervescence provides the perfect backdrop for this album of jumpy, intellectual pop. (RS)
Joanna Newsom - Ys
It shouldn't be a surprise that an artist as stridently unconventional as
Joanna Newsom would make a second album that overturns all the expectations established by her first. While Newsom's harp, highly poetic lyrics, and distinctive, child-like voice will be familiar to fans of The Milk-Eyed Mender, Ys takes Newsom's art in a new, startling directions. The quaint, self-contained folk portraits of the debut are obliterated here in favor of sprawling epics that recall sea shanties, Homeric myths, and progressive rock. Newsom's words are still highly literate and evocative, though they seem more narrative and symbolic than the surreal expressions of Mender. The album is graced by string arrangements from Van Dyke Parks which create a swelling, dramatic counterpoint to Newsom's performances. Production assistance from indie-rock titans Steve Albini and Jim O'Rourke helps make this stellar effort one of 2006's most provocative releases.(FTP)
Joanna Newsom would make a second album that overturns all the expectations established by her first. While Newsom's harp, highly poetic lyrics, and distinctive, child-like voice will be familiar to fans of The Milk-Eyed Mender, Ys takes Newsom's art in a new, startling directions. The quaint, self-contained folk portraits of the debut are obliterated here in favor of sprawling epics that recall sea shanties, Homeric myths, and progressive rock. Newsom's words are still highly literate and evocative, though they seem more narrative and symbolic than the surreal expressions of Mender. The album is graced by string arrangements from Van Dyke Parks which create a swelling, dramatic counterpoint to Newsom's performances. Production assistance from indie-rock titans Steve Albini and Jim O'Rourke helps make this stellar effort one of 2006's most provocative releases.(FTP)
Friday 16 February 2007
The Cinematics - A Strange Education
The Cinematics: Scott Rinning, Ramsay Miller (vocals, guitar); Adam
Goemans (bass guitar); Ross Bonney (drums, percussion). Recording information: Bryn Derwen, Wales. On their full-length debut, the Scots band the Cinematics recall the early-1980s bass heavy dance grooves of bands like New Order and Simple Minds, notably on the angst-ridden "Break" and the rolling, percussive "Asleep At the Wheel," though "Rise and Fall" cruises along on the crest of a contemporary sounding hypnotic wave of rhythm guitar, with singer Scott Rinning sounding like a cross between the Cure's Robert Smith and Coldplay's Chris Martin. (SS)
Goemans (bass guitar); Ross Bonney (drums, percussion). Recording information: Bryn Derwen, Wales. On their full-length debut, the Scots band the Cinematics recall the early-1980s bass heavy dance grooves of bands like New Order and Simple Minds, notably on the angst-ridden "Break" and the rolling, percussive "Asleep At the Wheel," though "Rise and Fall" cruises along on the crest of a contemporary sounding hypnotic wave of rhythm guitar, with singer Scott Rinning sounding like a cross between the Cure's Robert Smith and Coldplay's Chris Martin. (SS)
Babyshambles - Down In Albion
It's impossible to mention British rocker and ex-Libertine Pete
Doherty without also referring to his highly publicized drug addiction, the haze of which hangs heavy over his band Babyshambles' 2006 debut. Ex-Clash member and punk-rock elder statesman Mick Jones produces with a light touch that's occasionally reminiscent of the Clash's Sandinista! album, despite the fact that Doherty and his mates can't quite seem to muster up the same energy as their forefathers. Still, there are more than enough rough gems on Down In Albion to make the listener want to root for Doherty. "F**k Forever" carries hints of vintage Ray Davies, and "The 32nd of December" is a great pop song in embryo, while the pretty, fragile "What Katy Did Next" laments Doherty's scandal-beset relationship with the fashion model Kate Moss (who contributes backing vocals on "La Belle et La Bete"). Though it's definitely a shambolic affair, Down In Albion has enough truly splendid moments that it deserves to be heard apart from Doherty's shenanigans. (RS)
Doherty without also referring to his highly publicized drug addiction, the haze of which hangs heavy over his band Babyshambles' 2006 debut. Ex-Clash member and punk-rock elder statesman Mick Jones produces with a light touch that's occasionally reminiscent of the Clash's Sandinista! album, despite the fact that Doherty and his mates can't quite seem to muster up the same energy as their forefathers. Still, there are more than enough rough gems on Down In Albion to make the listener want to root for Doherty. "F**k Forever" carries hints of vintage Ray Davies, and "The 32nd of December" is a great pop song in embryo, while the pretty, fragile "What Katy Did Next" laments Doherty's scandal-beset relationship with the fashion model Kate Moss (who contributes backing vocals on "La Belle et La Bete"). Though it's definitely a shambolic affair, Down In Albion has enough truly splendid moments that it deserves to be heard apart from Doherty's shenanigans. (RS)
Wednesday 14 February 2007
Blur - Parklife
After many decades of rock, there's an equation that still holds
true--there's only twelve major chords to choose from. And if you listened to the British rock press, you'd think that they invented them. Wedged in between retro and revisionist sits Blur. Wearing the hat of a Ray Davies-type sociologist, Blur's Damon Albarn weaves tales of modern London laced with the suspicion that indeed, the empire HAS ended. Albarn's fascination with urban decay was apparent on Modern Life Is Rubbish, but with the followup Parklife, Blur embraces the modern. During the instrumentals, Parklife plays like a surreal game show. Layering the aesthetic of the 1980s film "Brazil" with the Kinks' "David Watts," Blur is quite possibly the new British hope. While Blur emerged from the same fertile, neo-glam soil as Suede (Albarn's girlfriend, Justine of Elastica, used to be Suede's rhythm guitarist), Blur is the king among the new British glams. The disco rhythms and keyboards in "Girls & Boys" highlight Albarn's cutesy look at romance in the 1990s. A climate where everyone is "looking for girls who want boys who like/Boys to be girls who do/Boys like their girls who do/Girls like their boys." Laments Albarn, "Oh I should be someone you really love." If it's solid pop songs with a bite you're craving, you'll love Parklife. (RS)
true--there's only twelve major chords to choose from. And if you listened to the British rock press, you'd think that they invented them. Wedged in between retro and revisionist sits Blur. Wearing the hat of a Ray Davies-type sociologist, Blur's Damon Albarn weaves tales of modern London laced with the suspicion that indeed, the empire HAS ended. Albarn's fascination with urban decay was apparent on Modern Life Is Rubbish, but with the followup Parklife, Blur embraces the modern. During the instrumentals, Parklife plays like a surreal game show. Layering the aesthetic of the 1980s film "Brazil" with the Kinks' "David Watts," Blur is quite possibly the new British hope. While Blur emerged from the same fertile, neo-glam soil as Suede (Albarn's girlfriend, Justine of Elastica, used to be Suede's rhythm guitarist), Blur is the king among the new British glams. The disco rhythms and keyboards in "Girls & Boys" highlight Albarn's cutesy look at romance in the 1990s. A climate where everyone is "looking for girls who want boys who like/Boys to be girls who do/Boys like their girls who do/Girls like their boys." Laments Albarn, "Oh I should be someone you really love." If it's solid pop songs with a bite you're craving, you'll love Parklife. (RS)Tuesday 13 February 2007
Incubus - Morning View
Morning View was nominated for the 2003 Grammy Awards for Best
Engineered Album (Non-Classical). This is an Enhanced CD, which contains both regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files. Incubus is ready to pave its own way in the modern rock scene. With the brooding and crunchy musical themes of Morning View, it's almost hard to imagine that the album was written and recorded in the relaxed atmosphere of a California beach house. Drummer Jose Pasillas offers tasty percussive coloring in the breakout single, "Wish You Were Here." The song's trippy verses set against its heavily strummed choruses fits the profile of push-and-pull dynamics that Incubus fans have come to expect. "11am" touches on regret and indecision with some neo-Eastern flavor and Mike Patton-inspired vocalizing by frontman Brandon Boyd. "Float" borrows from traditional Asian music and shows the band's near-fearless spirit of experimentation.Morning View's most eccentric track is the crafted epic "Just A Phase," whose quirky time signature changes and adventurous arrangement show that Incubus has a great deal more to offer than strategically placed turntable scratches.(RS1)(RS2)
Engineered Album (Non-Classical). This is an Enhanced CD, which contains both regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files. Incubus is ready to pave its own way in the modern rock scene. With the brooding and crunchy musical themes of Morning View, it's almost hard to imagine that the album was written and recorded in the relaxed atmosphere of a California beach house. Drummer Jose Pasillas offers tasty percussive coloring in the breakout single, "Wish You Were Here." The song's trippy verses set against its heavily strummed choruses fits the profile of push-and-pull dynamics that Incubus fans have come to expect. "11am" touches on regret and indecision with some neo-Eastern flavor and Mike Patton-inspired vocalizing by frontman Brandon Boyd. "Float" borrows from traditional Asian music and shows the band's near-fearless spirit of experimentation.Morning View's most eccentric track is the crafted epic "Just A Phase," whose quirky time signature changes and adventurous arrangement show that Incubus has a great deal more to offer than strategically placed turntable scratches.(RS1)(RS2)
The Coral - Magic & Medicine
Mixing equal bits Merseybeat melody, ragged "Nuggets" energy,
and pure rock nostalgia, the Coral create one of the 21st century's finest odes to 1960s and 1970s garage rock. Not since the La's has a band more convincingly aped an era, and like that album, there's not a cringe-worthy moment in sight. Everything's in its right place, one might say. If the lads were accused of being too bombastic and experimental on their debut, here they reign in their influences and just stick with the program of creating rocking tunes. So subtle are the songwriting, playing, and production, one almost imagines these 12 songs are lost sonic treats from the Animals, Love, or some long-lost band. While a number of songs stick out as catchy, melodic, highlights, particularly the U.K. singles "Don't Think You're the First" and "Pass It On," a majority of the songs work as growers. While the band has abandoned the rousing loony attitude of its debut, and filtered out any ska influence, jazz, blues, and Spanish guitar motifs keep things varied. Beyond the singles, every track works its own fine magic, but the spooky, chugging "Bill McCai," and the atmospheric ballad "Careless Hands," are particularly noteworthy. The album loses its bearings somewhat after "Pass It On," not because the final two songs are weak, but because they stray from the even tone of the previous ten songs. Remarkably authentic in recovering the vibes of early British rock, Magic and Medicine is a mature, solid throwback. Whether or not the Coral travel these same musical avenues in the future, for now they've definitely created an album that's a world unto itself, and one that's well worth repeat visits. (RS)
and pure rock nostalgia, the Coral create one of the 21st century's finest odes to 1960s and 1970s garage rock. Not since the La's has a band more convincingly aped an era, and like that album, there's not a cringe-worthy moment in sight. Everything's in its right place, one might say. If the lads were accused of being too bombastic and experimental on their debut, here they reign in their influences and just stick with the program of creating rocking tunes. So subtle are the songwriting, playing, and production, one almost imagines these 12 songs are lost sonic treats from the Animals, Love, or some long-lost band. While a number of songs stick out as catchy, melodic, highlights, particularly the U.K. singles "Don't Think You're the First" and "Pass It On," a majority of the songs work as growers. While the band has abandoned the rousing loony attitude of its debut, and filtered out any ska influence, jazz, blues, and Spanish guitar motifs keep things varied. Beyond the singles, every track works its own fine magic, but the spooky, chugging "Bill McCai," and the atmospheric ballad "Careless Hands," are particularly noteworthy. The album loses its bearings somewhat after "Pass It On," not because the final two songs are weak, but because they stray from the even tone of the previous ten songs. Remarkably authentic in recovering the vibes of early British rock, Magic and Medicine is a mature, solid throwback. Whether or not the Coral travel these same musical avenues in the future, for now they've definitely created an album that's a world unto itself, and one that's well worth repeat visits. (RS)
The Beautiful South - Gaze
Persistently popular and defiantly uncool' (Time Out UK), The Beautiful
South return with their ninth studio album. Illustrating why one in seven households in the UK own one of their records, 'Gaze' ('It's a short word that means a lot. It has depth. Plus it's a double meaning. And there is a song on the album about gay men' so says the singer, Paul Heaton) features 12 more vignettes of true pop and real life - all penned once again by the invincible Paul Heaton and Dave Rotheray partnership. Another stunning mix of luscious melodies and delightfully subversive lyrics, standout tracks include the bittersweet 'Let Go With The Flow', the barbed '101 per cent Man' and the gorgeous, closing 'Last Waltz', featuring the band's fantastic new female vocalist, Alison 'Lady' Wheeler (RS)
South return with their ninth studio album. Illustrating why one in seven households in the UK own one of their records, 'Gaze' ('It's a short word that means a lot. It has depth. Plus it's a double meaning. And there is a song on the album about gay men' so says the singer, Paul Heaton) features 12 more vignettes of true pop and real life - all penned once again by the invincible Paul Heaton and Dave Rotheray partnership. Another stunning mix of luscious melodies and delightfully subversive lyrics, standout tracks include the bittersweet 'Let Go With The Flow', the barbed '101 per cent Man' and the gorgeous, closing 'Last Waltz', featuring the band's fantastic new female vocalist, Alison 'Lady' Wheeler (RS)Sunday 11 February 2007
The Broken West - I Can't Go On, I'll Go On
I Can’t Go On, I’ll Go On is a true power pop gem - shimmering
and cool, with sharp edges and soaring melodies - recorded over the course of a year (July 2005-August 2006) under the watchful eye and patient, insightful ears of engineer Raymond Richards at his Red Rockets Glare studio in Rancho Park, CA. The process was truly a labor of love, wherein the band grew by leaps and bounds as songwriters and musicians. The results are captured on a record that ranks with the best of debuts, a mature and cohesive album. Like any great pop record, I Can’t Go On, I’ll Go On deals with eternal themes of isolation, distance and the longing for a center - a sense of place - in this topsy-turvy world. The Kinks, Big Star, and The Byrds are obvious touchstones, as well as more contemporary favorites like Spoon and Teenage Fanclub, but The Broken West's triumphant songs stand strongly on their own.(RS)
and cool, with sharp edges and soaring melodies - recorded over the course of a year (July 2005-August 2006) under the watchful eye and patient, insightful ears of engineer Raymond Richards at his Red Rockets Glare studio in Rancho Park, CA. The process was truly a labor of love, wherein the band grew by leaps and bounds as songwriters and musicians. The results are captured on a record that ranks with the best of debuts, a mature and cohesive album. Like any great pop record, I Can’t Go On, I’ll Go On deals with eternal themes of isolation, distance and the longing for a center - a sense of place - in this topsy-turvy world. The Kinks, Big Star, and The Byrds are obvious touchstones, as well as more contemporary favorites like Spoon and Teenage Fanclub, but The Broken West's triumphant songs stand strongly on their own.(RS)
Death Cab For Cutie - Transatlanticism
Death Cab for Cutie finally delivers on its promise with its fourth album,
Transatlanticism. Although the band's earlier outings have excellent moments, this collection of indie power-pop plays to Death Cab's strengths, wrapping Ben Gibbard's plaintive vocals and emotive lyrics in consistently dynamic and engaging arrangements. The album opens with the majestic surge of "The New Year," and moves to the instantly catchy "Lightness." While guitars chime over solid bass-and-drums backing, Gibbard's melancholy tales unfold, drawing the listener in further with each song, largely due to the perfect production of guitarist Chris Walla. By the time the wide-screen title track runs it course and the album ends with the oddly optimistic "A Lack of Color," it becomes clear that this is one of those albums that you'll listen to over and over again. (RS)
Transatlanticism. Although the band's earlier outings have excellent moments, this collection of indie power-pop plays to Death Cab's strengths, wrapping Ben Gibbard's plaintive vocals and emotive lyrics in consistently dynamic and engaging arrangements. The album opens with the majestic surge of "The New Year," and moves to the instantly catchy "Lightness." While guitars chime over solid bass-and-drums backing, Gibbard's melancholy tales unfold, drawing the listener in further with each song, largely due to the perfect production of guitarist Chris Walla. By the time the wide-screen title track runs it course and the album ends with the oddly optimistic "A Lack of Color," it becomes clear that this is one of those albums that you'll listen to over and over again. (RS)
The Beautiful South - Quench
the London Community Gospel Choir (background vocals). Quench,
the Beautiful South's sixth album, finds them a little more musically introspective and somewhat more melancholy than before, though the songs still maintain the band's twin obsessions: singing about drunks, about drinking, and about being drunk; and disguising brutal and often cruel lyrics with deceptively sweet (verging on sad) music. From the slide-guitar tinged "How Long's a Tear Take to Dry," through the miniature epic-weepie "The Slide," to the jaunty snipe-fest of "Your Father and I," the album swings on a number of intriguing contradictions. "Dumb" introduces an oddly introspective mood before breaking into a Motown-influenced chorus. "Window Shopping for Blinds" swaps its string-saturated opening for something that mixes a German beer hall and a Western saloon, while "I May Be Ugly" is a track that, other than its explicit drug references and crass juxtapositional jokes, wouldn't sound out of place being sung by Jim Croce. The best cut, however, is the piano-driven "The Table," which obliquely examines a familial relationship from the perspective of a table.The British pop outfit's 1998 album which is out-of-print domestically. 13 tracks, including the single 'Perfect 10'. Go! Discs. (RS)
the Beautiful South's sixth album, finds them a little more musically introspective and somewhat more melancholy than before, though the songs still maintain the band's twin obsessions: singing about drunks, about drinking, and about being drunk; and disguising brutal and often cruel lyrics with deceptively sweet (verging on sad) music. From the slide-guitar tinged "How Long's a Tear Take to Dry," through the miniature epic-weepie "The Slide," to the jaunty snipe-fest of "Your Father and I," the album swings on a number of intriguing contradictions. "Dumb" introduces an oddly introspective mood before breaking into a Motown-influenced chorus. "Window Shopping for Blinds" swaps its string-saturated opening for something that mixes a German beer hall and a Western saloon, while "I May Be Ugly" is a track that, other than its explicit drug references and crass juxtapositional jokes, wouldn't sound out of place being sung by Jim Croce. The best cut, however, is the piano-driven "The Table," which obliquely examines a familial relationship from the perspective of a table.The British pop outfit's 1998 album which is out-of-print domestically. 13 tracks, including the single 'Perfect 10'. Go! Discs. (RS)
Saturday 10 February 2007
Panda Bear - Young Prayer
Composed and recorded following the death of Panda Bear's
father, it is perhaps no surprise that Young Prayer comes off as a musical eulogy. But it is nothing like a wild outpouring of emotion. There is no tearing of hair or gnashing of teeth here. Rather, the short album is a restrained lamentation, a controlled elegiac mediation on the death of a loved one. The grief has settled in to stay, and it is reflected upon from a slight distance now. Panda Bear wordlessly but somberly moans in a falsetto through much of the album, setting a mood of crystalline bereavement. Descending vocal arpeggios echo through hollow halls, while erratic but tunefully strummed guitar and loose, mantra-like piano playing maintain an ethereal fragility. The most upbeat of the nine untitled songs is a hand-clapping, foot-stomping chant-in-the-round that ends the A side. A song that, despite it's relative joyousness compared to the rest of the album, still recalls a funeral march more than a hootenanny. Young Prayer, however, isn't a morbid work. It seems to come from the point of view of acceptance, and can be seen as the sober and mournful flipside to the hyperactively gleeful Sung Tongs.(RS)
father, it is perhaps no surprise that Young Prayer comes off as a musical eulogy. But it is nothing like a wild outpouring of emotion. There is no tearing of hair or gnashing of teeth here. Rather, the short album is a restrained lamentation, a controlled elegiac mediation on the death of a loved one. The grief has settled in to stay, and it is reflected upon from a slight distance now. Panda Bear wordlessly but somberly moans in a falsetto through much of the album, setting a mood of crystalline bereavement. Descending vocal arpeggios echo through hollow halls, while erratic but tunefully strummed guitar and loose, mantra-like piano playing maintain an ethereal fragility. The most upbeat of the nine untitled songs is a hand-clapping, foot-stomping chant-in-the-round that ends the A side. A song that, despite it's relative joyousness compared to the rest of the album, still recalls a funeral march more than a hootenanny. Young Prayer, however, isn't a morbid work. It seems to come from the point of view of acceptance, and can be seen as the sober and mournful flipside to the hyperactively gleeful Sung Tongs.(RS)
Sonic Youth - Rather Ripped
Sonic Youth's turn-of-the-century output has shown a marked focus
on the more abstract aspects of the band's sound, as evidenced by, if nothing else, the prolific number of experimental releases on the band's SYR imprint, including the double-album tribute to avant-garde composers, Goodbye 20th Century. And while to use the phrase "stylistic departure" is unbefitting of a band with such catholic tastes and influences, the straightforward pop element that marks 2006's Rather Ripped , the band's 14th proper studio album, is so pronounced and, to a certain extent, jarring, it's difficult not to focus in on it. From the Thin Lizzy-like twin-guitar interlude on "Incinerate" to the gentle lullaby melody of "Do You Believe in the Rapture" (arguably the loveliest song Sonic Youth has produced since "Diamond Sea") to Kim Gordon's new-found pop croon on the opener, "Reena," and "Turquoise Boy," the band hasn't made a record with this many fun, enjoyable tunes in years. Of course accessible is a relative word when discussing Sonic Youth, and by no means has the band lost its edge. Even at its most poppy, Sonic Youth still twist and gnarl any rock troupe they encounter. But on Rather Ripped , the band that essentially created noise rock have once again placed the rock front and center. (FTP)
on the more abstract aspects of the band's sound, as evidenced by, if nothing else, the prolific number of experimental releases on the band's SYR imprint, including the double-album tribute to avant-garde composers, Goodbye 20th Century. And while to use the phrase "stylistic departure" is unbefitting of a band with such catholic tastes and influences, the straightforward pop element that marks 2006's Rather Ripped , the band's 14th proper studio album, is so pronounced and, to a certain extent, jarring, it's difficult not to focus in on it. From the Thin Lizzy-like twin-guitar interlude on "Incinerate" to the gentle lullaby melody of "Do You Believe in the Rapture" (arguably the loveliest song Sonic Youth has produced since "Diamond Sea") to Kim Gordon's new-found pop croon on the opener, "Reena," and "Turquoise Boy," the band hasn't made a record with this many fun, enjoyable tunes in years. Of course accessible is a relative word when discussing Sonic Youth, and by no means has the band lost its edge. Even at its most poppy, Sonic Youth still twist and gnarl any rock troupe they encounter. But on Rather Ripped , the band that essentially created noise rock have once again placed the rock front and center. (FTP)
Aphex Twin - Drukqs
It's tempting to imagine Richard James holed up in his basement for
years on end, concocting foaming aural experiments to try out on unsuspecting listeners, and he certainly does little to dispel that image here. His past musical output has varied from the gentle but weird, to the baffling, to the ghastly, and with Drukqs he manages to combine all the aforementioned in a compelling yet unsettling mix that is never less than fascinating. The tracks are listed on the booklet, but not necessarily in the same order they appear on the album, and moreover James seems to have developed his own language somewhere along the way, so we're left to our own devices to figure things out. Like some demented baseball pitcher, James constantly varies his stylings, now pastoral acoustic piano, now impossibly fast breakbeat techno garage, now weird hollers from behind the basement door. He keeps the listener constantly off balance (at one point including a Stephen Hawking-like voice reading snippets of Goldilocks and the Three Bears); it's a wild, strange ride, but it's consistently fascinating to hear what comes next. (RS)
years on end, concocting foaming aural experiments to try out on unsuspecting listeners, and he certainly does little to dispel that image here. His past musical output has varied from the gentle but weird, to the baffling, to the ghastly, and with Drukqs he manages to combine all the aforementioned in a compelling yet unsettling mix that is never less than fascinating. The tracks are listed on the booklet, but not necessarily in the same order they appear on the album, and moreover James seems to have developed his own language somewhere along the way, so we're left to our own devices to figure things out. Like some demented baseball pitcher, James constantly varies his stylings, now pastoral acoustic piano, now impossibly fast breakbeat techno garage, now weird hollers from behind the basement door. He keeps the listener constantly off balance (at one point including a Stephen Hawking-like voice reading snippets of Goldilocks and the Three Bears); it's a wild, strange ride, but it's consistently fascinating to hear what comes next. (RS)
Thursday 8 February 2007
Radiohead - The Bends
Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano); Ed O'Brien (vocals, guitar); Jon Greenwood (guitar, recorder, piano, organ, synthesizer); Colin Greenwood (bass); Phil Selway (drums). Additional personnel: John Matthias (violin, viola); Caroline Lavelle (cello). Producers: John Leckie, Radiohead, Jim Warren, Nigel Godrich. Engineers include: John Leckie, Nigel Godrich, Chris Brown. Recorded at Rak, The Manor and Abbey Road, London, England. On only their second outing Oxford's Radiohead fulfilled their huge potential, fashioning an album whose relentlessly downbeat tone was offset by an ability to formulate consistently winning melodies. The title track and "Just" throw some customary rock poses, but for the most part the band displayed a far more expansive approach. Thom Yorke emerged from the woodwork with a new-found vocal confidence, revealing a striking falsetto on two of the album's strongest tracks, "Fake Plastic Trees" and "High & Dry." The last three songs build inexorably to the stunning emotional climax of "Street Spirit (Fade Out)" with a control and poise that showcased the band's new maturity.(RS)
Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures
Hailing from Manchester, England, Joy Division profoundly affected the
alternative music scene. Arriving as punk music was waning, Unknown Pleasures Joy Division's music inhabits an eerie, twilight world. Decay and alienation envelop singer Ian Curtis, whose cavernous, but dispassionate, voice belied the intensity he brought to bear. Rolling drum patterns, thudding bass lines and uncluttered synthesizer combine to create a dank, brooding atmosphere, chillingly supporting the songs' bleak lyrics. Yet listening to Unknown Pleasures is not a depressing experience. The group generate a terse excitement, emphasizing individual strengths and avoiding unnecessary embellishment. Their sense of commitment is utterly convincing and few debut albums can boast such unremitting power. (FTP)
alternative music scene. Arriving as punk music was waning, Unknown Pleasures Joy Division's music inhabits an eerie, twilight world. Decay and alienation envelop singer Ian Curtis, whose cavernous, but dispassionate, voice belied the intensity he brought to bear. Rolling drum patterns, thudding bass lines and uncluttered synthesizer combine to create a dank, brooding atmosphere, chillingly supporting the songs' bleak lyrics. Yet listening to Unknown Pleasures is not a depressing experience. The group generate a terse excitement, emphasizing individual strengths and avoiding unnecessary embellishment. Their sense of commitment is utterly convincing and few debut albums can boast such unremitting power. (FTP)
Jane's Addiction - Nothing's Shocking
Jane's Addiction may not have been a strict metal band, but their
music was certainly full of traits inherent to metal substances: hard, gleaming, powerful. On Nothing's Shocking, which captured the much too short-lived quartet at its very peak, they were a blazing metallic supernova--grooving up a streak across the sky one moment, setting off heavy rhythmic discharges the next. Feeding off radically diverse musical elements--from art and classic rock, to hard-core punk and funk--Jane's Addiction was the last great precursor to the alternative revolution of 1991-92. Simultaneously, they were the sole inheritors of Led Zeppelin's mantra to make a different kind of sprawling heavy rock, and that they did in spades. Thematically, Nothing's Shocking set out to prove that no subject was beyond the gleam in lyricist/vocalist Perry Farrell's (pronounced "peripheral") eye. Serial killer Ted Bundy ("Ted, Just Admit It"), punk ideology as Eastern philosophy ("Pigs In Zen"), mystic romances ("Summertime Rolls") and high-falutin', early-morning thoughts ("Standing In The Shower...Thinking") were all dissected through a psychologically-stimulating viewpoint, with a stream-of-consciousness delivery. Farrell's tales also served the band as a guide to attack the canvas, and the musicians burned heroically behind him, providing the songs with an expansive set of musical colors. Guitarist Dave Navarro continuously exploded on the drop of a dime, while bassist Eric Avery and drummer Stephen Perkins proved to be among the most formidable rhythm sections in all of rock. Above all, Nothing's Shocking helped revive the idea that heavy rock need not be formulaic, or lack any semblance of meaningful content. Rather than focus on the old-hat aspects of the rock rebellion myth (sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll), Jane's Addiction looked in the hard-to-find places for their muse, demonstrating that metal rebels didn't have to be idiots.(RS1)(RS2)
music was certainly full of traits inherent to metal substances: hard, gleaming, powerful. On Nothing's Shocking, which captured the much too short-lived quartet at its very peak, they were a blazing metallic supernova--grooving up a streak across the sky one moment, setting off heavy rhythmic discharges the next. Feeding off radically diverse musical elements--from art and classic rock, to hard-core punk and funk--Jane's Addiction was the last great precursor to the alternative revolution of 1991-92. Simultaneously, they were the sole inheritors of Led Zeppelin's mantra to make a different kind of sprawling heavy rock, and that they did in spades. Thematically, Nothing's Shocking set out to prove that no subject was beyond the gleam in lyricist/vocalist Perry Farrell's (pronounced "peripheral") eye. Serial killer Ted Bundy ("Ted, Just Admit It"), punk ideology as Eastern philosophy ("Pigs In Zen"), mystic romances ("Summertime Rolls") and high-falutin', early-morning thoughts ("Standing In The Shower...Thinking") were all dissected through a psychologically-stimulating viewpoint, with a stream-of-consciousness delivery. Farrell's tales also served the band as a guide to attack the canvas, and the musicians burned heroically behind him, providing the songs with an expansive set of musical colors. Guitarist Dave Navarro continuously exploded on the drop of a dime, while bassist Eric Avery and drummer Stephen Perkins proved to be among the most formidable rhythm sections in all of rock. Above all, Nothing's Shocking helped revive the idea that heavy rock need not be formulaic, or lack any semblance of meaningful content. Rather than focus on the old-hat aspects of the rock rebellion myth (sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll), Jane's Addiction looked in the hard-to-find places for their muse, demonstrating that metal rebels didn't have to be idiots.(RS1)(RS2)
Wednesday 7 February 2007
Manic Street Preachers - The Holy Bible
James Dean Bradfield (vocals, guitar); Richey James (guitar); Nicky Wire
(bass); Sean Moore (drums). All songs written by Manic Street Preachers. The tragic and unresolved disappearance of Richey Edwards looms larger than life every time this album is played. Just as they were being hailed as the potential "next big thing," the band was thrown into disarray, and as a result, this credible album was somewhat overlooked while the world searched for Richey. Now that the dust has settled and people have accepted his likely demise, this album can at last be appreciated. Even though the spoken introduction "Of Walking Abortion" is spookily prophetic, the understated quality of all the songs puts this album much closer to the gigantic Everything Must Go than its success would indicate. (RS)
(bass); Sean Moore (drums). All songs written by Manic Street Preachers. The tragic and unresolved disappearance of Richey Edwards looms larger than life every time this album is played. Just as they were being hailed as the potential "next big thing," the band was thrown into disarray, and as a result, this credible album was somewhat overlooked while the world searched for Richey. Now that the dust has settled and people have accepted his likely demise, this album can at last be appreciated. Even though the spoken introduction "Of Walking Abortion" is spookily prophetic, the understated quality of all the songs puts this album much closer to the gigantic Everything Must Go than its success would indicate. (RS)
Modest Mouse Mouse - Everywhere And His Nasty Parlour Tricks
Its unlikely ascension to a major label didn't prevent Pacific Northwest
trio Modest Mouse from pulling old school indie rock moves. In 2000, the band quietly released the limited 4-song vinyl-only collection Night On The Ssun on their early home Up Records. Back on the label which mates them with a certain King of Pop, 2001's nattily named Everywhere And His Nasty Parlour Tricks brings the worthy songs on said collection to the light of the majority who have sadly said goodbye to the world of needles and Rpm. Completing the EP are three new songs and a subtly beautiful (not to mention weird) instrumental collage of tunes from the full-length The Moon and Antarctica. Modest Mouse partially owes its success to a knack for balancing atonal, off-the-wall punk sensibilities with perfect pop hooks. Nowhere is this more evident than on "I Came As A Rat (Long Walk Off a Short Dock)," with its emphatic bop-along chants and melodic refrains over a hypnotic, swirling psychedelic soundscape. The threesome also thrives with lyrics both simple and sonorous, like the repeated "you're hopelessly hopeless, I hope so" on the winding "Night On The Sun." Everywhere stands as a hearty, if too short, release from these unfailing defenders of the lo-fi faith.(RS)
trio Modest Mouse from pulling old school indie rock moves. In 2000, the band quietly released the limited 4-song vinyl-only collection Night On The Ssun on their early home Up Records. Back on the label which mates them with a certain King of Pop, 2001's nattily named Everywhere And His Nasty Parlour Tricks brings the worthy songs on said collection to the light of the majority who have sadly said goodbye to the world of needles and Rpm. Completing the EP are three new songs and a subtly beautiful (not to mention weird) instrumental collage of tunes from the full-length The Moon and Antarctica. Modest Mouse partially owes its success to a knack for balancing atonal, off-the-wall punk sensibilities with perfect pop hooks. Nowhere is this more evident than on "I Came As A Rat (Long Walk Off a Short Dock)," with its emphatic bop-along chants and melodic refrains over a hypnotic, swirling psychedelic soundscape. The threesome also thrives with lyrics both simple and sonorous, like the repeated "you're hopelessly hopeless, I hope so" on the winding "Night On The Sun." Everywhere stands as a hearty, if too short, release from these unfailing defenders of the lo-fi faith.(RS)
Tuesday 6 February 2007
Fugazi - Red Medicine
Fugazi are as notable for their "political music for the common man"
approach as for the stop-start riffing that made their guitars-and-gestalt-therapy sound into an industry buzz. Their 1995 album, Red Medicine, reasserts the band's grasp on alterna-angst and charging guitars--enough so to make your jaws lock. Yet, Red Medicine isn't just another exercise in Fugazi-style political manifestos; on it, Fugazi come across more as musicians than politicians. The yelping "I have something to prove" tone of previous releases has relaxed into a more confident approach. The dueling guitars are looser, more melodic. The riffs and vocals don't bark and grate as much--they simmer and, in some cases, even swing. Songs like "Birthday Party" may still rely on the old-school Fugazi approach--the proven shout and power-chord stomp--but "Forensic Scene" sounds almost Beatlesque in its lovely hesitance. Regardless of that evolution, Red Medicine still includes all the things that made REPEATER-era Fugazi so inspiring, their standard ringing guitars and shouted vocals glaring through the mix. But Red Medicine also shows a new-found eloquence, a quieter approach for their songwriting craft, and previously unseen musicianship. (RS)
approach as for the stop-start riffing that made their guitars-and-gestalt-therapy sound into an industry buzz. Their 1995 album, Red Medicine, reasserts the band's grasp on alterna-angst and charging guitars--enough so to make your jaws lock. Yet, Red Medicine isn't just another exercise in Fugazi-style political manifestos; on it, Fugazi come across more as musicians than politicians. The yelping "I have something to prove" tone of previous releases has relaxed into a more confident approach. The dueling guitars are looser, more melodic. The riffs and vocals don't bark and grate as much--they simmer and, in some cases, even swing. Songs like "Birthday Party" may still rely on the old-school Fugazi approach--the proven shout and power-chord stomp--but "Forensic Scene" sounds almost Beatlesque in its lovely hesitance. Regardless of that evolution, Red Medicine still includes all the things that made REPEATER-era Fugazi so inspiring, their standard ringing guitars and shouted vocals glaring through the mix. But Red Medicine also shows a new-found eloquence, a quieter approach for their songwriting craft, and previously unseen musicianship. (RS)
Ratatat - Mixtape Vol. 1
Ratatat Mixtape Vol. 1, released in 2004, was the second album released by
the Brooklyn indie electronic rock duo Ratatat.
Ratatat Mixtape Vol. 1 was a self-released remix album of hip-hop artists including Missy Elliott, Dizzee Rascal, Raekwon and Ghostface. Guitarist Mike Stroud, in an interview with Glide Magazine, acknowledged both the marked departure from their instrumental first album Ratatat and perceived dichotomous nature of their sound by saying “Especially with remixes, we approach it a bit differently than our other music. It’s something we originally did for fun, that’s now part of what we are.” (SS)
the Brooklyn indie electronic rock duo Ratatat.Ratatat Mixtape Vol. 1 was a self-released remix album of hip-hop artists including Missy Elliott, Dizzee Rascal, Raekwon and Ghostface. Guitarist Mike Stroud, in an interview with Glide Magazine, acknowledged both the marked departure from their instrumental first album Ratatat and perceived dichotomous nature of their sound by saying “Especially with remixes, we approach it a bit differently than our other music. It’s something we originally did for fun, that’s now part of what we are.” (SS)
Bloc Party - A Weekend in the City
The group has everything that needs to conform to the currently
received ideas of what a band is. They have musical tastes as well as friends in common, heavily influenced late 70s punkers such as Joy Division, Gang of Four and Sonic Youth, taking experimental noises and blending these noises onto their music without leaving what pop culture needs. All of these create Bloc Party and make them favorite indie rock band since their prosperous debut Silent Alarm.
"A Weekend In The City" is band's new excitement in which they're running to more complex sound waves. At first appearance, it's definitely hard to understand what's going on in the record. Like anything that seems rigid at first glance, it doesn't want to show most excellent side of itself. Believe that every good record sounds queer at first. That's why because you discover grateful composition on the songs time after time. Every song has its own beauty, searching blow to get you in. Powerful guitar lines of "Hunting For Witches", dramatic beginning with "Uniform" and its perfect exiting, smooth ideas in "Where Is Home?" -- are giving an account of "A Weekend In The City".
With "A Weekend In The City", Bloc Party proves why they're so formative today's indie music trend, one step forward, and it never looks back--Modern Music (RS)
received ideas of what a band is. They have musical tastes as well as friends in common, heavily influenced late 70s punkers such as Joy Division, Gang of Four and Sonic Youth, taking experimental noises and blending these noises onto their music without leaving what pop culture needs. All of these create Bloc Party and make them favorite indie rock band since their prosperous debut Silent Alarm."A Weekend In The City" is band's new excitement in which they're running to more complex sound waves. At first appearance, it's definitely hard to understand what's going on in the record. Like anything that seems rigid at first glance, it doesn't want to show most excellent side of itself. Believe that every good record sounds queer at first. That's why because you discover grateful composition on the songs time after time. Every song has its own beauty, searching blow to get you in. Powerful guitar lines of "Hunting For Witches", dramatic beginning with "Uniform" and its perfect exiting, smooth ideas in "Where Is Home?" -- are giving an account of "A Weekend In The City".
With "A Weekend In The City", Bloc Party proves why they're so formative today's indie music trend, one step forward, and it never looks back--Modern Music (RS)
The Mars Volta - Deloused In The Comatorium
Formed by Cedric Bixler and Omar Rodriguez from the ashes of their
previous band At the Drive-In, the Mars Volta takes a dizzying journey to hell and back on this colorfully titled album, traveling inside the mind of a man who attempted suicide but went into a week-long coma before ultimately choosing death. As one might expect the ride is intense and at times disturbing. Galloping bass by Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers) provides the rocky foundation for exploratory psychedelic guitar experimentation and keyboard soundscapes that paint an aural picture of madness. The centerpiece of Deloused In The Comatorium is the 12-minute plus "Cicatriz Esp." Its long, ambient middle section lulls you into a nervous calm before breaking out into a Santana-esque jam. Take care, though; trying to interpret the lyrics, or song titles ("Eriatarka") for that matter, in a literal sense will undoubtedly place you in the same deep psychic void as the subject. In an era where cookie-cutter bands pretending to be angry at life are the norm, the Mars Volta is a shining example of originality and talent. (FTP)
previous band At the Drive-In, the Mars Volta takes a dizzying journey to hell and back on this colorfully titled album, traveling inside the mind of a man who attempted suicide but went into a week-long coma before ultimately choosing death. As one might expect the ride is intense and at times disturbing. Galloping bass by Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers) provides the rocky foundation for exploratory psychedelic guitar experimentation and keyboard soundscapes that paint an aural picture of madness. The centerpiece of Deloused In The Comatorium is the 12-minute plus "Cicatriz Esp." Its long, ambient middle section lulls you into a nervous calm before breaking out into a Santana-esque jam. Take care, though; trying to interpret the lyrics, or song titles ("Eriatarka") for that matter, in a literal sense will undoubtedly place you in the same deep psychic void as the subject. In an era where cookie-cutter bands pretending to be angry at life are the norm, the Mars Volta is a shining example of originality and talent. (FTP)
Monday 5 February 2007
Sufjan Stevens - Illinois
The second entry from sui generis singer/songwriter Sufjan Stevens in
his absurdly ambitious project to make a record for every state in America outdistances even 2003's superb Greetings From Michigan in scope and beauty. A sweeping paean to the Lincoln state, Illinois weaves together history, personal confession, and detail-filled scenarios with chamber folk, expansive orchestral pop, and back-porch pastoral settings for a stunningly progressive indie gem that sound like Brian Wilson, Stereolab, and Neil Young holding hands in heaven. Remarkably, in its intricate, gorgeously crafted surfaces, Illinois lives up to its aims. In addition to its symphonic grandeur, the album also showcases Stevens's heartland folk, and some of the album's most shimmering moments are its most spare. "John Wayne Gacy, Jr.," for instance, is an absorbing narrative that features Stevens's sweet tenor couched by guitar, piano, and backing vocals. "Casimir Pulaski Day," similarly, rides a rootsy banjo and guitar groove while Stevens unfurls image-rich lyrics over a lilting melody. Witty, audacious, and moving, Illinois manages to be spiritual, entertaining, and educational all at once, resulting in an utterly unique conceptual and musical statement. (RAR)
his absurdly ambitious project to make a record for every state in America outdistances even 2003's superb Greetings From Michigan in scope and beauty. A sweeping paean to the Lincoln state, Illinois weaves together history, personal confession, and detail-filled scenarios with chamber folk, expansive orchestral pop, and back-porch pastoral settings for a stunningly progressive indie gem that sound like Brian Wilson, Stereolab, and Neil Young holding hands in heaven. Remarkably, in its intricate, gorgeously crafted surfaces, Illinois lives up to its aims. In addition to its symphonic grandeur, the album also showcases Stevens's heartland folk, and some of the album's most shimmering moments are its most spare. "John Wayne Gacy, Jr.," for instance, is an absorbing narrative that features Stevens's sweet tenor couched by guitar, piano, and backing vocals. "Casimir Pulaski Day," similarly, rides a rootsy banjo and guitar groove while Stevens unfurls image-rich lyrics over a lilting melody. Witty, audacious, and moving, Illinois manages to be spiritual, entertaining, and educational all at once, resulting in an utterly unique conceptual and musical statement. (RAR)
Ted Leo And The Pharmacists - Heart Of Oak
Heart Of Oak was Ted Leo's long-awaited breakthrough album. His
former band Chisel never made it out of the indie-hipster ghetto, and the Washington DC native's earlier albums with the Pharmacists were sprawling, all-over-the-place conglomerations of old-school punk, ska, Irish folk, dub reggae and tape-splice experimentation. Heart Of Oak is almost as stylistically diverse as Leo's earlier records, but his songwriting is far sharper: here, all the pieces fit together into a cohesive whole. First single "Where Have All the Rude Boys Gone?" pays heartfelt tribute to the post-punk UK ska milieu of the late '70s and early '80s, namechecking all of the key figures of the scene but smartly avoiding temptation to mimic their sound; if anything, the head-down boogie and football-shout vocals sound more like prime Thin Lizzy! The other single, the tough but catchy "Tell Balgeary, Balgury Is Dead," is like late-era Jam at their most '60s obsessed, with a dash of Madness' ultra-English music hall period. The rest of the album moves easily from sparse electronics to clattering post-punk rock, rounding out this varied and very strong effort.(RAR)
former band Chisel never made it out of the indie-hipster ghetto, and the Washington DC native's earlier albums with the Pharmacists were sprawling, all-over-the-place conglomerations of old-school punk, ska, Irish folk, dub reggae and tape-splice experimentation. Heart Of Oak is almost as stylistically diverse as Leo's earlier records, but his songwriting is far sharper: here, all the pieces fit together into a cohesive whole. First single "Where Have All the Rude Boys Gone?" pays heartfelt tribute to the post-punk UK ska milieu of the late '70s and early '80s, namechecking all of the key figures of the scene but smartly avoiding temptation to mimic their sound; if anything, the head-down boogie and football-shout vocals sound more like prime Thin Lizzy! The other single, the tough but catchy "Tell Balgeary, Balgury Is Dead," is like late-era Jam at their most '60s obsessed, with a dash of Madness' ultra-English music hall period. The rest of the album moves easily from sparse electronics to clattering post-punk rock, rounding out this varied and very strong effort.(RAR)
The Shins - Oh Inverted World
The Shins appeared out of the middle of New Mexico as if by magic,
though they had been around for a while under several other names on several different labels. In a landscape of boy bands, pre-teen chanteuses, and nu metal, the literate, '60s-influenced jangle of the Shins' debut seems a bizarre anomaly. This is indie rock that channels Love and Creation rather than the Ramones and Sex Pistols. Standouts include "One by One All Day," with its Space Invader intro, rattling drums, and retro keyboard solo, the gentle "Weird Divide," which highlights James Mercer's Brian Wilson-esque voice, and "Your Algebra," with its echoing vocals and guitar arpeggios. Arguably, the album's best track is "New Slang," which begins with the lines "Gold teeth and a curse for this town are all in my mouth/Only I don't know how they got out." For listeners with a computer, the disc also contains a charming if very low-fi video for "New Slang."(RAR)
though they had been around for a while under several other names on several different labels. In a landscape of boy bands, pre-teen chanteuses, and nu metal, the literate, '60s-influenced jangle of the Shins' debut seems a bizarre anomaly. This is indie rock that channels Love and Creation rather than the Ramones and Sex Pistols. Standouts include "One by One All Day," with its Space Invader intro, rattling drums, and retro keyboard solo, the gentle "Weird Divide," which highlights James Mercer's Brian Wilson-esque voice, and "Your Algebra," with its echoing vocals and guitar arpeggios. Arguably, the album's best track is "New Slang," which begins with the lines "Gold teeth and a curse for this town are all in my mouth/Only I don't know how they got out." For listeners with a computer, the disc also contains a charming if very low-fi video for "New Slang."(RAR)
Andrew Bird - Weather Systems
Critically acclaimed composer, singer and violinist Andrew Bird
quietly soars to new heights with his first Righteous Babe release. This lush, gorgeous collection of 7 original songs, his own adaptation of a Galway Kinnell poem, and a Handsome Family cover showcases Bird's gift for conveying subtle emotional states through music. In addition to his signature violin (which he often plays like a guitar), the virtuoso instrumentalist employs glockenspiel, organ, whistling, and tape loops to set the scene for the intimate, haunting stories he tells through his lyrics. Bowl of Fire bandmates Kevin O'Donnell (drums, percussion, glockenspiel) and Nora O'Connor (vocals, guitar) accompany Bird, and producer Mark Nevers (Lambchop, Will Oldham) crafts a stunning, almost orchestral setting for the recording. Also included on the disc is an 8-minute Quicktime film on the making of the record by director Robert Trondson.(RAR)
quietly soars to new heights with his first Righteous Babe release. This lush, gorgeous collection of 7 original songs, his own adaptation of a Galway Kinnell poem, and a Handsome Family cover showcases Bird's gift for conveying subtle emotional states through music. In addition to his signature violin (which he often plays like a guitar), the virtuoso instrumentalist employs glockenspiel, organ, whistling, and tape loops to set the scene for the intimate, haunting stories he tells through his lyrics. Bowl of Fire bandmates Kevin O'Donnell (drums, percussion, glockenspiel) and Nora O'Connor (vocals, guitar) accompany Bird, and producer Mark Nevers (Lambchop, Will Oldham) crafts a stunning, almost orchestral setting for the recording. Also included on the disc is an 8-minute Quicktime film on the making of the record by director Robert Trondson.(RAR)
Chris Cornell - Euphoria Morning
"Can't Change Me" was nominated for the 2000 Grammy Award for
Best Male Rock Vocal Performance. On his solo debut, Chris Cornell teamed with two-thirds of Eleven (Nastasha Shneider and Alain Johannes, who both also co-produced the album) for a record that allowed him to hang up the rock-god mantle in favor of more sensitive and experimental pursuits. Self-admittedly striving for the diversity of the Beatles, Cornell has succeeded in making music that breathes the same kind of emotion with a healthy '90s updating. Songs such as "Follow My Way" and "Can't Change Me" find the former Soundgarden frontman tossing Indian flourishes into the mix while "When I'm Down" is delivered with the kind of elan that says even grunge-gods have soul. Elsewhere, Cornell dips a toe into the sounds of his youth by including the murky "Mission" and more ethereal "Pillow of Your Dreams," a pair of tracks guaranteed to hearten fans of his former group. The true highlights of Euphoria Morning come when Cornell pushes himself, whether on the sonically rich "Disappearing One" or "Wave Goodbye," a sinewy funk number that doubles as a tribute to the late Jeff Buckley. (RS)
Best Male Rock Vocal Performance. On his solo debut, Chris Cornell teamed with two-thirds of Eleven (Nastasha Shneider and Alain Johannes, who both also co-produced the album) for a record that allowed him to hang up the rock-god mantle in favor of more sensitive and experimental pursuits. Self-admittedly striving for the diversity of the Beatles, Cornell has succeeded in making music that breathes the same kind of emotion with a healthy '90s updating. Songs such as "Follow My Way" and "Can't Change Me" find the former Soundgarden frontman tossing Indian flourishes into the mix while "When I'm Down" is delivered with the kind of elan that says even grunge-gods have soul. Elsewhere, Cornell dips a toe into the sounds of his youth by including the murky "Mission" and more ethereal "Pillow of Your Dreams," a pair of tracks guaranteed to hearten fans of his former group. The true highlights of Euphoria Morning come when Cornell pushes himself, whether on the sonically rich "Disappearing One" or "Wave Goodbye," a sinewy funk number that doubles as a tribute to the late Jeff Buckley. (RS)
Sunday 4 February 2007
Kaiser Chiefs - Employment
Emerging in an era rife with New Wave rip-off artists, the Kaiser Chiefs
ran the risk of their sharp suits, angular haircuts, and early-1980s influences being taken the wrong way. While many of their peers shamelessly aped the most obvious aspects of the Cure, New Order, et al, Kaiser Chiefs (the name comes from a South African soccer team) much more subtly incorporated the sensibilities of their influences. Though one can hear traces of everything from Madness to XTC and Adam & the Ants on the Chiefs 2005 debut album, Employment, these Brits are no one's slavish imitators. Their undeniably catchy melodies, sarcastically witty lyrics, and often-sophisticated song structures bespeak a band that has developed its own style. Thus, the record finds Kaiser Chiefs standing head and shoulders above the mid-2000s neo-New Wave pack, brimming with energy, smarts, and promise. (RS1)(Bonus)(Covers)
ran the risk of their sharp suits, angular haircuts, and early-1980s influences being taken the wrong way. While many of their peers shamelessly aped the most obvious aspects of the Cure, New Order, et al, Kaiser Chiefs (the name comes from a South African soccer team) much more subtly incorporated the sensibilities of their influences. Though one can hear traces of everything from Madness to XTC and Adam & the Ants on the Chiefs 2005 debut album, Employment, these Brits are no one's slavish imitators. Their undeniably catchy melodies, sarcastically witty lyrics, and often-sophisticated song structures bespeak a band that has developed its own style. Thus, the record finds Kaiser Chiefs standing head and shoulders above the mid-2000s neo-New Wave pack, brimming with energy, smarts, and promise. (RS1)(Bonus)(Covers)
The White Stripes - Elephant
Elephant won the 2004 Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music
Album. The album was also nominated for Album Of The Year. "Seven Nation Army" won for Best Rock Song. The song was also nominated for Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal Lo-fi in production and uncompromising in approach, Elephant finds The White Stripes continuing to walk to the beat of their own pomo blues drummer in ignoring the enormous expectations heaped on the follow-up to 2001's smash White Blood Cells. Recorded in two weeks, this outing is packed with loose, soulful, and delightfully unpretentious songs that rage and howl. Jack and Meg White hit the ground running with the chugging shuffle "Seven Nations," with its infectious bass line and thudding cadence. Surprises abound, from the wall of Queen-like harmonies that infuse the choppy, psychedelia-tinged "There's No Room for You Here" or a reading of Burt Bacharach's "I Just Don't Know What to Do With Myself" bursting at the seams with distorted guitar. Not surprisingly, the blues are never far from the equation, particularly on the heavy stomper "Ball and Biscuit" with its bursts of screaming guitar solos. Equally impressive is Jack White's slide guitar on the pleading "I Want to Be the Boy to Warm Your Mother's Heart" and six-string histrionics on the chugging "Girl, You Have No Faith In Medicine" that shakes and shimmies with Stooges-like aggression.(RS1)(RS2)
Album. The album was also nominated for Album Of The Year. "Seven Nation Army" won for Best Rock Song. The song was also nominated for Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal Lo-fi in production and uncompromising in approach, Elephant finds The White Stripes continuing to walk to the beat of their own pomo blues drummer in ignoring the enormous expectations heaped on the follow-up to 2001's smash White Blood Cells. Recorded in two weeks, this outing is packed with loose, soulful, and delightfully unpretentious songs that rage and howl. Jack and Meg White hit the ground running with the chugging shuffle "Seven Nations," with its infectious bass line and thudding cadence. Surprises abound, from the wall of Queen-like harmonies that infuse the choppy, psychedelia-tinged "There's No Room for You Here" or a reading of Burt Bacharach's "I Just Don't Know What to Do With Myself" bursting at the seams with distorted guitar. Not surprisingly, the blues are never far from the equation, particularly on the heavy stomper "Ball and Biscuit" with its bursts of screaming guitar solos. Equally impressive is Jack White's slide guitar on the pleading "I Want to Be the Boy to Warm Your Mother's Heart" and six-string histrionics on the chugging "Girl, You Have No Faith In Medicine" that shakes and shimmies with Stooges-like aggression.(RS1)(RS2)
Saturday 3 February 2007
Deerhoof - The Runners Four
The follow-up to 2004's acclaimed Milk Man finds Deerhoof traversing slightly more accessible territory than on its past outings. Given the San Francisco-based noise-pop band's penchant for fractured, fragmented chaos, however, The Runners Four is still a challenging and strangely fascinating album. Jarring prog-rock mixes with sunny melodies (courtesy of helium-voiced singer/bassist Satomi Matsuzaki), and the group follows a winding, jagged path that could seemingly veer down almost any stylistic byway in an instant. Highly eclectic and inventive, this record stands as one of 2005's most adventurous indie-rock releases.(RS)
The Libertines - The Libertines
Fuzzed-out guitars, ragged rock rhythms, and radiant hooks abound
on their self-titled sophomore effort, as on their debut, Up The Bracket. But while the Stooges and Nuggets-style raunch can be heard, it is the influence of native ancestors that distinguishes the band's music. Traces of the Kinks, and early Beatles and Rolling Stones can be heard ("Don't Be Shy"), as well as cheeky '50s throwbacks ("What Katie Did"), lager-fueled pub rockers ("Tomblands"), and arch social satire ("The Man Who Would Be King") Another key to the Libertines' success is their use of dynamics. While The Libertines rocks, it does so in a low-key, understated way. "Music When the Lights Go Out," driven by acoustic guitar, alternates dreamy, ambling verses with a punchy refrain. The minor-key rocker "Last Post on the Bugle" is so gently melodic that its edge seems incidental. There are exceptions, of course, as on the old-school punk thrash of "Arbeit Macht Frei." Appealing and familiar, yet freshly presented, The Libertines is a very strong entry in the garage revival of the early 2000s.(RS)
on their self-titled sophomore effort, as on their debut, Up The Bracket. But while the Stooges and Nuggets-style raunch can be heard, it is the influence of native ancestors that distinguishes the band's music. Traces of the Kinks, and early Beatles and Rolling Stones can be heard ("Don't Be Shy"), as well as cheeky '50s throwbacks ("What Katie Did"), lager-fueled pub rockers ("Tomblands"), and arch social satire ("The Man Who Would Be King") Another key to the Libertines' success is their use of dynamics. While The Libertines rocks, it does so in a low-key, understated way. "Music When the Lights Go Out," driven by acoustic guitar, alternates dreamy, ambling verses with a punchy refrain. The minor-key rocker "Last Post on the Bugle" is so gently melodic that its edge seems incidental. There are exceptions, of course, as on the old-school punk thrash of "Arbeit Macht Frei." Appealing and familiar, yet freshly presented, The Libertines is a very strong entry in the garage revival of the early 2000s.(RS)
Friday 2 February 2007
Good, The Bad & The Queen
This project began in 2004 when Damon Albarn & Simon Tong travelled to Nigeria to record with Afrobeat pioneer Tony Allen. Much later, Albarn gave the tapes to producer Brian "Danger Mouse" Burton & his attitude changed, feeling like he would just write the songs but not sing. Danger Mouse helped gel the project and Albarn just wanted to write tales of West London. The final collaborator was Clash bassist Paul Simonon, whose presence changed the whole dynamic. The result is a record that traces a journey from the English music hall tradition over to West Africa for Afrobeat, zigzagging through the West Indies and its reggae and dub, back to England and London's punk scene, all the while taking in a strand of British beat music from the '50s right through to Britpop. A very English record, the title refers to a saying in the area that is another way of saying "this is about today, this is about the present". A heartfelt tribute to London.(RS)
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