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CD: $13.98
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120 Days
Self-Titled
Built on the foundation of a singular, addictive, driving beat, Norway's 120 Days manufacture dark, atmospheric, electronic rock. Propelled by guitar drones, intense hooks, and vintage synth lines, this record recalls the desolation of cold, dark Oslo nights spent searching for escape. This is their debut full-length. -CP
Even though this is a Cut and Paste review JW highly approves of this record and feels sorrow for not writing about his satisfaction.
Release Date: 10/10/06
Label: Vice Recordings
Genre/Style: Electronic / Rock / Dance
MP3 Come Out (Come Down, Fade Out)
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CD: $15.98
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Be Good Tanyas
Hello Love
"A mixture of deep country, early American folk, old-tyme jazz, blues, gospel and folk, the sound of the Be Good Tanyas is reminiscent of a bygone era."
Truer words have never been spoken, about three ladies who take what is old and add new life to it. The Be Good Tanyas, craft songs with simple elegance and grace, that are as warm and comforting as your grandmothers embrace (hey that's a rhyme!) and don't forget about her apple pie. On their third release, Hello Love, we find BGT diving deeper into their folk roots, both traditional and contemporary For example we have two covers on this recording, Prince and Neil Young. This is very lovable and if you have ever heard BGT do a cover you will know it's done with the method of Johnny Cash - You play it untils it's yours, then you share with the world. They are so incredbily charming - even in person. Check this out if you are into that do right down home folk music. -JW
Release Date: 10/10/06
Label: Nettwerk
Genre/Style: Country / Folk
MP3 myspace
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CD: $15.98
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Blood Brothers
Young Machetes
These dudes have been around for a loonnggg time. They've been a band since 1997 and to my knoledge they have put out 4 records before this and all of them have kicked ass. I can admit i didn't know about The Blood Brothers before they were big and everyone was running around howling "Love Rhymes With Hideous Car Wreck" and yes, that was the first song i heard by them too. I checked out Burn Piano Island Burn and Crimes and fell in love. The Blood Brothers spastic post hardcore melodies and screaming draws you in for some reason. It's good shit. Somehow they keep running with it too, but in some way it's different.
When I had heard they were coming out with a new album, i was pumped and surprised at the same time. These dudes have been around for a long time, and a lot of times good bands fizzle out after a time span like that, but then again they're now signed to a major label. Young Machetes isn't a huge turn from Crimes or Burn Piano Island, Burn which is good but yet not good. The album opens up with Set Fire To The Face On Fire which has been the acclaimed song floating around the internet and myspace pages. And sure enough, you know it's The Blood Brothers right when Johnny screams "fire! fire! fire!" and it goes into 2 minutes and 18 more seconds of spastic rock.
Young Machetes has it's soft spots too. Johnny (singer/spastic singer) actually puts on his soft voice for songs on the record like 1,2, 3, 4 Guitars and Street Wars, Exotic Foxholes (which goes into an instrumental break halfway in the song) I hadn't heard a Blood Brothers songs like that before, and at first I wasn't digging it, but after hearing it a couple more times, I like it. It's a nice small turn for the blood brothers sound. On the song Camouflage, Camouflage Johnny also puts on his soft voice for a small synth break and then closes the song with Jordan.
Young Machetes is definitely an album to pick up this month if you've been into The Blood Brothers stuff for a while. If you're new to The Blood Brothers, pick up some of their old stuff and this album too. Their post hardcore will hopefully get you pumped for anything that comes your way. -WB
Release Date: 10/10/06
Label: V2
Genre/Style: Rock / Post Hardcore
MP3 myspace
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CD: $15.98
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Califone
Roots & Crowning
Despite the abundance of different sounds, Roots & Sounds never overwhelms or gets cluttered. Instead it’s a meticulous and adventurous journey into atmosphere and sounds. Featuring founding members of Red Red Meat and key players in Ugly Casanova, Califone isn’t the kind of band to shy away from experimentation. That sounds like a piano with the strings all duct taped together on “Spiders House” because that’s exactly what it is- the muted, deft tones lend themselves well to the song’s embryonic mood. The whole record has that type of thought-out instrumentation- lush, exploratory sounds and tones peppered with the songwriting prowess of Wilco (only more humbled). The warm guitars and banjos create a cocoon of sound for the vibraphones, organs, pianos and chimes to morph while the synth washes and electronic loops loom outside. It’s the kind of beautiful and familiar sounds that corporate America uses in car commercials- the hip young couple are driving their black Volkswagen Beowulf sedan through the hilly countryside just to escape their fabulous life in the city and glamorous jobs while Califone’s “The Eye You Lost in the Crusades” plays through the night sky. And as this couples reach that campsite where all of their sweatered friends are waiting by the fire you think,”I want that car.” But what you really want is the mood Califone exudes. There’s more to Califone than embryonic Volkswagen music, though. There’s a heavy electronic influence as drum loops and samples dance throughout Roots & Crowns. The Tortoise comparisons are tough to ignore, but so are the Modest Mouse and Iron and Wine similarities, so whatever. The bottom line is that these guys create inviting and casually breezy tunes that beg to be repeated. Ugly Casanova and Holopaw fans should be excited- as should anyone else who likes to enjoy music. -JS
Release Date: 10/10/06
Label: Thrill Jockey
Genre/Style: Rock
MP3 Sunday Noises
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CD: $16.98
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Chavez
Better Days Will Haunt You
Two legendary albums, a bunch of tours, a small but fanatical fanbase... the twin guitar attack of CHAVEZ is at last enshrined in a landmark, extremely enhanced collection. No stranger to the brain-cracking power chord, CHAVEZ differs from bands both from the mid-'90s and now in the application of extraordinary minor-key harmonies and mindblown, fiercely joyous lyrical subjects. These sit easily atop the silver-electric guitarage of Matt Sweeney and Clay Tarver. Scott Marshall's huge bass moves give space and counterpoint to the shattering ANTI-rock drumming of James Lo. Indeed, the band claimed Carl Maria von Weber as a major influence, and it is not hard to think of the lower-Manhattan-based quartet as the reincarnation of 19th-century romanticism via incredible chops and a musical upbringing soaked in the Kinks, AC/DC and Pretty Things. Ferociously rocking with a high-wire fragility, CHAVEZ's music stuns and satisfies like nothing else.
The double CD includes both albums, the 4 non-LP A- and B- sides, the two compilation tracks, and one completely unreleased studio track, entitled "White Jeans".-CP
Release Date: 10/10/06
Label: Matador
Genre/Style: Rock / Math Rock
MP3 You Faded
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CD: $14.98
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Chin Up Chin Up
This Harness Can't Ride Anything
The opening/title track of this album is awesome enough on its own to warrant buying This Harness Can’t Ride Anything. It kicks my butt so hard every time I listen to it, I start bouncing around my room like a jack-rabbit on a sugar-rush having the time of his (my) life. It’s on their myspace page (which is linked at the bottom), and I’d sugget you put it on and then read the rest of the review with “This Harness Can’t Ride Anything” in the background (that is, if you can even manage to sit still while the song is playing.
The post-it note at Relative Theory that was stuck on my very first Chin Up Chin Up CD a year ago said “I don’t really like math rock. I just don’t get it. This is math rock for people like me.” I have no idea who wrote it otherwise I’d give credit, but I found it to be an excellent way to describe this poppy math act from Chicago. The differences from that album to this are rather small though they do exist. For one, there are more diversions from the pseudo-math genre CUCU capitalizes on than before, with new less-hyper songs such as “Water Planes in Snow,” and “Stolen Mountains.” Also, the singer’s very distinct low nasal voice has become significantly easier on the ears without dropping its unique amusing nature.
I’m not sure what else there is to say. I find it hard to ramble on and on about bands whose awesomeness is straightforward and simple. This music pretty much speaks for itself. Really fun indie rock with a bit of math, a dash of atmosphere, and a lot of pump. Think American Football meets Interpol meets Appleseed Cast. It’s not blowing my mind but it sure as heck is moving my feet and shaking my hips and keeping my brain busy at the same time. This is their first album coming out on Suicide Squeeze (Minus the Bear, Modest Mouse, Pedro the Lion, Unicorns), and if you dig any of the other stuff on that label I recommend giving this a listen. This Harness Can’t Ride Anything might not make it to my top 10 albums of the year, but I pretty much guarantee you “This Harness Can’t Ride Anything” will be in my top 10 songs of the year, and I’d pay the money just for that. -JM
Release Date: 10/10/06
Label: Suicide Squeeze
Genre/Style: Pop / Rock
MP3 This Harness Can't Ride Anything
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CD:$14.98
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Cold War Kids
Robbers & Cowards
I am not really sure what influences to discuss when reviewing the Cold War Kids but I would like to say it has extremely passionate and soulful vocals accompanied by bright staccato piano with some ringing guitars that can bounce back and forth between 80s brit rock and 60 psyche pop. I think my inability to nail down any influences is due to the vocals throwing me for a loop as there aren't too many who sing like Nathan Willet. Also you should go to their actual band website where you can view portfolios of their photography and design. Their talents go far beyond music so you can rest assure that they will have all kinds of wonderful supplements to their actual recordings. Actually, for the rest of this review I am just going to cut and paste this thing from their myspace because all you need to know is that their music is beautful and this following paragraph conjures just those types of thoughts. -DH
Reagan babies, missile fears, and international blues. Cold War Kids started with jangly guitar, hand claps, and a Harmony amp in a storage room atop Mulberry Street restaurant in downtown Fullerton, CA. For the first practices, having instruments was not as important as heavy stomping and chanting. Clanging on heat pipes, thumping on plywood walls. Hollering into tape recorders. Slipping and swaying into alleyways and juke joints of yesteryear. Dreaming the American dust bowl and British maritime. On the restaurants roof the sound and feeling was cultivated and burned, built and hallowed out, painted and stripped to the primer. Cold War Kids make songs about human experience in orchards and hotel rooms, laundromats and churches, sea ports and school halls. Using songs of Dylan, Billie Holiday, and the Velvet Underground as a road map, they strive to manipulate, structure, and style their music with honesty. -Cold War Kids myspace
Release Date: 10/10/06
Label: Downtown
Genre/Style: Pop / Rock
MP3 myspace
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CD: $13.98
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El Goodo
Self-titled
These five gentlemen, hailing from Wales, are making some of the best acid soaked psychedelic jams, since Spaceman 3, under the worst moniker ever.
El Goodo (cringe) want nothing more than to be stuck in the sixites. Throughout, their self-titled debut, you hear the warm drones of vintage amplifiers being pushed to their limits, ever so softly cracking and popping. The timeless harmonies reminiscent of The Beach Boys or The Zombies and lot's of Tambourines, Maracas, and Shakers. Basically, this is what Brian Jonestown would sound like if they got their shit together, or if the Shins got into heroin.
El Goodo (cringe), walk the fine line of bittersweet pop songs and drug induced walls of noise. The perfect soundtrack for your indian summers. -JW
Release Date: 10/10/06
Label: Empyrean
Genre/Style: Pop / Psychedelic / Acid
MP3 myspace
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CD: $13.98
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Tommy Guerrero
From Soil To Soul
Once upon a time, the city of San Francisco gave birth to a diminutive 3-headed beast named Tommy Guerrero. From a very young age, the kid could skateboard up walls and down hills like no one else. He played in punkrock bands well before he could even get into the clubs legally. And he displayed an artistry in Life that few folks ever achieve.
At 40, the guy's resume reads like a dream- Bones Brigade skate team in the 80's, movie appearances, co-founder of Real Skateboards and 40's Clothing, art director for Krooked Skateboarding, and prolific recording artist- from the "Fat Jazzy Grooves" and "Another Late Night" compilations, to albums for Mo' Wax, Galaxia, Function 8 and now Quannum, T.G. has lead a full life. Then there's the collaborations with Lyrics Born, Jack Johnson and Prefuse 73. Remixes for Money Mark/Nigo, Poets of Rhythm and Sean Lee. His band, Jet Black Crayon, has toured with Isotope 217 and Tortoise. He's scored tunes for Thomas Campbell's surf film "Sprout" and had the honor of being the sole provider of music for Todd Oldham's show "Hand Made Modern" on HGTV. He's packed houses from the Fujirock Festival to Café DuNord in S.F. and MaxFish in N.Y.C.
Tommy's music, like his graphic design, is beguilingly simple. He sounds like a guy fucking around on his front stoop, and maybe that's exactly what he is- but the result will touch you down to your toes. From Mission District punkers to Shibuya-Ka hipsters- his melodies dance lightly around your head while the rhythms build under your feet. His is SOUL music, made by a street kid raised on Santana and Bill Withers. With more than a little nod to the Clash and Public Enemy in there, too. -CP
Release Date: 1010/06
Label: Quannum Projects
Genre/Style: Pop / Jazz / Electonic
MP3 myspace
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CD: $13.98
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Micah P Hinson
Self-Titled
On the full-length follow up to his critically acclaimed The Baby and the Satellite EP, MICAH P. HINSON offers a substantiated account of misery and triumph, evoking translucent memories and physical struggle. Recorded, arranged and produced mainly at home in Abilene, TX during an ironically twisted period of heavy medication and physical torment brought on from recent back surgery, Micah P. Hinson and The Opera Circuit is the product of rallying above physical torment, facing proverbial closeted skeletons and discovering eventual resolution through the power of euphonic connection. Supported by a revolving cast of seasoned players, including Eric Bachmann (Crooked Fingers), The Opera Circuit imparts a newfound, expansive and virtual basement jam quality to Hinson’s trademark no man’s land take on hushed, emotive balladry. At the end of the tunnel, Micah P. Hinson and The Opera Circuit is a veritable reminder that progress through pain can be intimate, heartfelt and epically necessary. -CP
Release Date: 1010/06
Label: Jade Tree
Genre/Style: Pop
MP3 Jackeyed
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CD: $11.98
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Isis & Aerogramme
In the Fishtank 14
Netherlands record label Konkurrent Records has been for ten years now putting a band or two into a studio for two days and giving them the “freedom to do whatever they like musically.” Sonic Youth, Black Heart Procession, and Karate have all taken part in Konkurrent’s crazy scheme, the results all being very surprising. Isis and Aereogramme, both known for experimentation and ambience as well as metal sensibilities combine their musical forces to forge one hell of a disc. “In a Fishtank” has, for 14 compilations now, given artists an arena for personal statements to be made about music and style. Before listening, you have to assume like I did that this collaboration was going to be Konkurrent’s heaviest disc by far. Instead of an assault on the senses brought on by the two days holed up in Oslo, Isis and Aereogramme both settled down for the forty-eight hours and produced an exciting journey of melody and space. Roominess, described in other reviews, is a good word for the approach of substance by the two bands.
“Low Tide” brings the sparse guitar and spacey vibe with the vocals of Chris B. “Delial” is pure Isis with the chugging guitar rhythm that includes a haunting layering of Chris B. and Aaron Turner’s vocals. “Stolen” has no vocals, just slow and precise pacing with the two bands letting electronics take the music most of the way. Every style has room to breathe life onto the disc, no matter how short or inconsequential it may seem. “In a Fishtank” is intriguing because you don’t know what is going to come out of this. Both bands are known for having hard and soft tendencies, avant-garde as well as post-hardcore roots, and experimentation with a little melody. “In a Fishtank” is a look beyond the layers of skin placed on these bands and them coming together to show us, the listeners, where these two bands lie right now. Isis has a record called “In the Absence of Truth” coming out on October 31st and Aereogramme has a tentatively titled “My Heart Has A Wish That You Would Not Go” with no release date, but where these bands will diverge during the next year is an even stronger testament to “In a Fishtank.” This album is a snapshot, a preservation of a moment in the history of these two bands. The future is uncertain obviously, but the convergence upon this record is certain. Two bands came and crafted 24 minutes of music, that has to be enough in it self in the arena of personal statement. -DS
Release Date: 10/10/06
Label: In the Fishtank
Genre/Style: Post Rock / Metal / Ambient
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CD: $13.98
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Damien Jurado
And Now That I'm In Your Shadow
Damien Jurado is trying to shake his “guy with a guitar” indie/folk image that has been given to him over his decade of recording. It seems that with his fantastic “And Now That I’m In Your Shadow,” Damien Jurado is trying to break himself into a new mold, one that will be recognized by more than just the enthusiasts. Come on, we all know who Jurado is and we all know how underrated he is. “And Now That I’m In Your Shadow” is going to propel Jurado to the big time, as big as he wants to be.
“And Now That I’m In Your Shadow” is sad. No better words, yet don’t believe Jurado has lost it. For anyone who’s listened to 1999’s “Rehearsals for Departure” or 2005’s “On My Way to Absence,” Jurado just has a knack for the whimsical and melodic story-telling regardless of the content of the songs. “Ohio” and “Tonight I Will Retire” from “Rehearsals for Departure” are among Jurado’s heartbreakers; “Denton, TX” and “Shannon Rhodes” are masterpieces to be added to the list. Lyrically, Jurado has never been better. Songs of betrayal, lust, violence, friendships are par for the course. Jurado brings it all home, hard.
The album is Jurado’s first with a full time band, with Eric Fisher and cellist Jenna Conrad joining Jurado on his sentimental journey. Jenna Conrad lends her voice on a few tracks including the scandalous “What Were the Chances.” Full band or not, the spacious energy mixed with unique instrumentation and a little electronic influences make for one full listen to a new side of the ever changing Damien Jurado.
Word is that Jurado is releasing another album, the second with his now permanent band showing up next spring, which will be more upbeat than “And Now That I’m In Your Shadow.” For those looking for their Jurado fix, another master work is waiting on store shelves now. For those who don’t know where to begin, there is no shame beginning with this release. Jurado has never sounded better. -DS
Release Date: 10/10/06
Label: Secretly Canadian
Genre/Style: Singer / Songwriter / Rock
MP3 What Were the Chances
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CD: $16.98 |
The Melvins
A Senile Animal
You all know Shirley Temple, right? She was the curly-haired, tap dancing, child actress from the 1930s who starred in over 40 films and sang “On The Good Ship Lollipop.” This might be the worst lead-in of all time, but during my Melvins-related research I discovered the band’s former bassist, Lorax (aka Lori Black), who played on their albums Ozma, Bullhead, Eggnog, and Houdini is actually the daughter of Shirley Temple. Who would have thought The Melvins were somehow connected to the most disgustingly cute and beloved child celebrity of Depression Era?
I had to do some research on the band before I started this review because honestly, until I heard someone mention this album’s imminent release a month ago, I wasn’t even aware the Melvins were still releasing records. In fact, I thought they had broken up in the mid-90s. People seemed to stop talking about them and the 20 or so records they’ve released since 1996’s Stag. However, with all the kids (re)discovering all things heavy, sludgy and slow, the Melvins might have a whole new audience and a chance to catapult themselves back onto the indie A-list with their one billionth album, Senile Animal.
On this record, their 19th studio album, the band is joined by former Karp member Justin Warren on bass, and one of the guys from Murder City Devils joining the band’s permanent drummer, Dale Crover on drums. That’s right, they have two drummers, but honestly if i hadn’t read about it I wouldn’t have even noticed. There are a couple of parts during certain songs where the percussion is unusually strong, but other than that this just seems like your average Melvins record: ugly, sludge-y, and chock full of heavily distorted 70s metal riffs with an overall “grunge-y” sound. This has always been the Melvin’s secret weapon. Any band can have heavily distorted guitar, but unlike most, guitarist Buzz Osborne truly understands how to harness and wield this power to maximize it’s impact - with twenty years under their belt, the Melvins have a great understanding of their music.
Being the first Melvins record I’ve heard since Stoner Witch, Senile Animal shows the band has no plans on slowing down or even expanding their sound; they know what works for them and their good at, so why fix what isn’t broke? It’s this mentality that will certainly help existing fans embrace the new album. It’s catchy, heavy, and classic Melvins that will appeal to fans new and old. -KM
Release Date: 10/10/06
Label: Ipecac
Genre/Style: Rock / Punk
MP3 myspace
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CD: $13.98
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Oxford Collapse
Remembering Night Parties
The sound of a new day spawned on a hazy intro of cushiony feedback, feedback that echoes and diffuses with the colors of the rising dawn, opens the Remember the Night Parties. A spindly voice coasts punchily among the waves, luring the listener into the Oxford Collapse’s passive-aggressive contradictions. The band enjoys roiling skillfully among distended guitar drifts like those found on Yo La Tengo albums, but they prefer cutting across the peace with a bass out of early REM or the unease of the Feelies. In other words, the kind of indie-rock that’s easy enough to come by – but almost impossible to do well, or impart originality too – both of which the Oxford Collapse succeeds at blissfully.
Searing back and forth over that jittery, taunting divide, the standout moments on Remember the Night Parties, come when the band unleashes its full hyper potential. After building up dreamy momentum over the first half of the album, they churn into a highlight with “Lady Lawyers.” Youthful lyrics, “we took our tests today/and, got a passing grade/we, followed all the rules/now, we celebrate/we’re all better off without it/we’re thrilled/and, we’re fresh out of school,” ride along a melody twirling like a propeller on the top of a kid’s colorful beanie hat. Their jubilant celebrations rise in a chorus that carries all the power of the earlier drone-y guitars, boyish release exploding the sound. Having worn off the day’s hangover, these guys are heading out for yet another night’s party. From there on, the album never looks back, the momentum of each song tops the next and the disk is set to perform an amazing dance into a enthusiastic night never-ending. -SS
Release Date: 10/10/06
Label: Sub Pop
Genre/Style: Rock / Pop
MP3 Please Visit Your National Parks
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CD: $15.98
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Pit Er Pat
Pyramids
After the release of Pit Er Pat's first album, Shakey, I read a couple of reviews likening the band's sound to Blonde Redhead, but without the guitar (singer Fay Davis-Jeffers' keyboard plunks out the melodies for the band). I never really thought about it until sitting down to review the new disc, but now I can't think of a more accurate way to describe their sound - it's gloomy pop played with art-rock aesthetics, strange rhythms, and off-key vocals, a description that could almost fit Blonde Redhead.
One of the best things about reviewing records is getting a chance to discover bands that might have otherwise been completely under your radar. When I first got Shakey for review I loved how original Pit Er Pat sounded. Using only keyboards, drums, bass, and guy/girl vocals the band created this vivid picture in my head, like of drawings out of a children's book, but instead of being colorful with smiling faces and hand-holding, the images I picture are in black and white and comprised of children with sullen faces while dead trees with evil-looking crows lurk in the background. This, the band's second full-length, hasn't strayed too far from their sparse, almost childlike melancholy pop sound displayed on the first record with the exception of a bit more experimentation with a couple of weird sounds interjected every few minutes, so their new songs still conjure up those old images for me.
With discordant melodies and a minimal (if not total) lack of chords, Pyramids isn't much of a grandiose record in the way of most traditional rock. Their songs might be more suited to chronicle life at it's most mundane: getting caught in the rain, locking your keys in the car, driving to and from your stifling job in silence because your car CD player has been broken for months. Really though, I think we have enough "Beautiful Day" songs - thank you very much U2 - so when a band like Pit Er Pat comes along and drops tunes titled "Rain Clouds" and "No Money = No Friend" with lyrics and music so sad it literally caused me to picture Edward Gorey drawings in my head I say "right on." -KM
Release Date: 10/10/06
Label: Thrill Jockey
Genre/Style: Pop / Experimental
MP3 Time Monster
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CD: $14.98
LP: $14.98
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Robert Pollard
Normal Happiness
The second release from ex-Guided By Voices member inside a calendar year. Pollard has assembled a tour de force that will single-handedly re-establish the 2-minute pop song as one of the truly American art forms of this new century. Sixteen songs in just over 35 minutes, with brilliant melodies that'll be stuck in your head for days. -CP
Release Date: 10/10/06
Label: Merge
Genre/Style: Pop / Rock
MP3 album stream
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CD: $14.98
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Portastatic
Be Still Please
Their second release of 2006 and ninth full-length sounds as fresh as ever. Analytically angry, melding darker imagery with indignation, Mac McCaughan also musters the wherewithal to remain hopeful. "Be Still Please" continues the full-on rock band sound of 2005's "Bright Ideas" but with more of an emphasis on the orchestration featured in his soundtrack work, "Who Loves The Sun". -CP
Release Date: 10/10/06
Label: Merge
Genre/Style: Pop
MP3 album steam
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CD: $13.98
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Nikki Sudden
The Truth Doesn't Matter
Inspired by T. Rex in 1971, Nikki Sudden and his brother, Epic Soundtracks, began releasing their own records in 1977. Without a complicated history lesson, you should know that Nikki has released albums with Swell Maps, The Jacobites and as a solo artist (sometimes with strong affiliations to REM). An accomplished guitar player with a determined work ethic, Sudden released over 20 albums in as many years and made countless guest appearances. Falling somewhere between glam and post-punk, Sudden brought Velvet Underground's vibe together with The Ramones' urgency and created his own brand of grandiose guitar rock. His recent death has brought him back into the spotlight and one couldn't wish for a better swan song than The Truth Doesn't Matter.
A freewheeling garage rock epic, The Truth Doesn't Matter is as beautiful as it is gritty. It's a good time record full of meticulous songwriting and Lou Reed style vocals. But it's the guitars that shine- soaring and transcendent, Sudden is bent on finally establishing himself as one of rock's best guitar players. He's been determined on that issue his whole career, but he's ended all debate this time. With that in mind, he also establishes himself as a lyrical savant for the first time in his career. Perhaps because he was writing his autobiography during recording, Nikki delivers his most meaningful and sentimental lyrics and stories of his career. Elaborate tales of heartbroken Romeos (“Beyond Hope”) intertwine with autobiographical ballads (“Green Shield Stamps”) and soulful rock (“Don't Break My Soul”). Nikki Sudden becomes a mythical figure of sorts as he leaves us with a masterful collection full of fragile yet confident rock and roll. Sudden pours his heart out over his distorted guitars and metaphorical lyrics of sorrow. It's a shame that his final album will finally get Sudden the attention he deserves from another generation. Thankfully, he's left us with the best record of his career. -JS
Release Date: 10/10/06
Label: Secretly Canadian
Genre/Style: Glam / Rock
MP3 Seven Miles
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CD: $13.98
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Sybarite
Cut the Shape
In the beginning, there was the microphone, and it was good. Then, many years later, there was the synthesizer and MIDI technology, and they too were good. Much of the electronic music community, however, neglects the latter of the two technological developments. Sometimes, though, there is that kind of electronic musician who hasn’t forgotten how to make use of live sound. Xian Hawkins is this kind of electronic musician. Cut Out Shape, the first full CD release from Sybarite (the moniker of composerand producer extraordinaire Xian Hawkins) to hit the shelves in four years shows the sign of an electronic musician whose knowledge farsurpasses the world of laptop plug-ins and sequencers.
Since his previous 2002 release on 4AD, entitled Nonument, Hawkins’ busied himself working on a variety of projects aside from working on a follow-up album; thus the long wait. However, his diversity of experience composing the music for MSNBC’s 2003 special on the Iraq War, a 2005 independent feature film entitled Slipdream, which tells the story of a drug dealer who’s “catapulted on a mystical adventure when he trades his father's gold watch for a pair of psychotropic seeds,” as well as a myriad of independent shorts, shows. While many of the tracks from Nonument fade away into the endless recess of IDM, every track on Cut Out Shape has a little something different to offer. The album’s second track, “Runaway”, features Sybarite working with the downtempo “toytronics” of English electronica duo Psapp, on which Sybarite gives Psapp’s quirky, lovable sound just the boost it needs to make it to the dance floor, while the sixth track, “Memory End”, is better suited as an electronic opener for 65daysofstatic or some equivalent. Even the
album’s IDM pieces that hearken back to Sybarite’s earlier days such as “Dot the Lines” and “Kill the Moonshine” carry with them a live studio sound, favoring sampled live drums and acoustic guitar riffs to overwrought glitch rhythms and sequenced synthesizers, and no question, my ears are thankful for it.
Sybarite has clearly taken a step in the right direction with Cut Out Shape, splitting away from the pack and delving deeper into different sounds and stylistic treatments. Unlike Nonument or his debut, Musicforafilm, Cut Out Shape lacks sonic homogeny. Given his recent work, it is unsurprising that the album listens more like a movie soundtrack than a studio album, featuring a number of guest vocalists and in-studio musicians (string and horns find themselves scattered
throughout the album), with each song employing a different combination of each. Don’t expect the album to have continuity from beginning to end; it’s won’t. While this may bother some, I think its just what Sybarite needs to do to make his sound happen. Finally, it is also fitting that Sybarite returns home to the label that
released his debut CD; namely, Temporary Residence. As home to everything from the math/punk rock of Sleeping People to the ambient pop of Caroline, Sybarite’s explorative sound fits right back in with the label that launched him. All I can hope is that Hawkins’ continues to explore his new, organic sound more actively into the future so it won’t be another four years until another album like Cut Out Shape makes it into my hands. -IG
Release Date: 10/10/06
Label: Temporary Residence
Genre/Style: IDM / Electronic
MP3 Cut Out Shape
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CD: $13.98
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These Arms Are Snakes
Easter
THESE ARMS ARE SNAKES second full length for Jade Tree finds the Seattle foursome towing a proverbial line between paradox, hostility and a caustic blend of post-hard/math core. Retaining the definitive tension and angular force of earlier TAAS efforts, Easter is the year-long culmination of a more structured yet experimental song writing process for the band. Recorded at Red Room Recording in Seattle by TAAS drummer Chris Common, Easter explores the relationship between suspect animism, impending otherwordly doom and the ethereal battle between virtue and ruin. More than anything from TAAS ’ back catalog, Easter was meant to hurt you. -CP
Release Date:10/10/06
Label: Jade Tree
Genre/Style: Rock / Post Hardcore
MP3 Horse Girl
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CD: $13.98
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Your Black Star
The Sound From The Ground
To say the least, i was quite surprised by this somewhat unknown bands debut full length album. Parts of it made me think of Radiohead, Pink Floyd, Muse, The Cure, Fugazi and a lot of other dark rock bands. The entire Sound From the Ground album has this foreboding feel to it, a sense of mystery if you will. You don't really know who these guys are, or what the deep, saddening lyrics are referring to, and it is beautiful.
In doing a little research i found that they come from Louisville Kentucky... yeah... i don't get it either. I am continually confused and delighted when a band breaks the cliche of their surroundings to put out great music. Within the last year, YBS has accomplished more than most bands manage in a decade. They have played the South by Southwest festival, toured the world (Europe, Japan, Etc.) and played shows with the likes of VHS or Beta, and The New Pornographers. Apparently i am not the only one who sees something good in this band.
The music itself is accessible yet has the ability to speak to the individual. Swirling guitars, feedback/delay drenched tones fill the air around structurally sound and booming percussion that sets a sonic stage for the passionate vocals that carry you through each song. While this description may sound close to a Boris style band, YBS is easier to break into. Think along the lines of Film School, meets Interpol, with the influences that i listed in the first paragraph.
It is hard to find bands who come out of the gates strong and leave room for potential to bloom on later albums. While i do not think that Sound From the Ground is going to be YBS's best work, it is very good and will have me, and im sure many others waiting impatiently for the next release. Expect great(er) things from this band, I predict an explosion of their music in not much time. -BF
Catch them live at Relative on Oct. 28 with Casper and the Cookies
Release Date:10/10/06
Label: Reignition
Genre/Style: Rock / Post Punk
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CD: $15.98
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LP: $19.98
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Red Sparowes
Every Red Heart Shines Toward the Sun
Red Sparowes’ sophomore release, Every Red Heart Shines Toward the Red Sun, is a truly self-defining album. The members of the band, who include alumni from and current members of Isis, Neurosis, Halifax Pier, and Pleasure Forever, show true group maturation from their debut 2004 release, At the Soundless Dawn, and have pooled their efforts to put together what may well be the best post rock album of 2006.
Every Red Heart follows the story of the Great Leap Forward, a political initiative put forth by Mao Zedong and the fundamentalist Communist leadership of China in the late 1950s. More specifically, the album recounts the atrocity of the Great Sparrow Campaign, which was an initiative within the Great Leap Forward project. Seeking to compete politically and industrially with their communist counterparts in Soviet Russia, the Maoists sought to move the Chinese labor force out of the fields and into the factories. In its attempts to rapidly industrialize the country, however, the Chinese government foresaw the need to maximize crop output. In order to achieve this end, it was mandated by the Maoist leadership that all wildlife preying on farmland crops should be put to death. Sparrows, who feed off crop seed, were the main targets of the Great Sparrow Campaign. To achieve the end of killing as many sparrows as possible, Chinese farmers were sent into the fields banging pots and pans beneath the birds, insuring that they had no place in which to land and thus killing then through sheer exhaustion. While the initial effects of the campaign seemed successful, the Great Sparrow Campaign overlooked the fact that the locusts’ primary predator was indeed the sparrow. As a result, the locust population exploded. The locust population demolished the Chinese crop, resulting in a nationwide famine that some historians claim took the lives of nearly 30 million Chinese.
Upon reading the rear cover of the CD Jacket where the story is described, my first reaction was one of disbelief, first at the fact that the tragedy of the story could possibly be true, and second at the fact that it so beautifully melded with the artistic vision of Red Sparowes. The titles for each of the eight tracks on the album are taken from the paragraph long description of the story and Red Sparowes excel at incorporating that piece of the story into its respective song. “A Message Of Avarice Rained Down And Carried Us Away Into False Dreams Of Endless Riches” is hopeful, upbeat, a slow, disturbing march of triumph, while the eerily distant, reverberating guitar leading into “Millions Starved And We Became Skinnier and Skinnier, While Our Leaders Became Fatter And Fatter” is rife with hopelessness, pain, and mourning. What Red Sparowes do well in avoiding is relying too heavily on the climax/release structure that so characterizes their debut effort and the vast majority of material composed by peer acts such as Pelican, Mono, and Explosions in the Sky. Only “We Stood Transfixed in Blank Devotion As Our Leader Spoke To Us, Looking Down On Our Mute Face With A Great, Raging, And Unseeing Eye” so definitively follows this pattern, but to great effect, where climatic bone-crushing power chord after bone-crushing power chord draw you into the blinding terror of totalitarian propaganda.
There is no question that Every Red Heart Shines Toward The Red Sun is as long and pretentious as its song titles, but nor can there be any question that the album is indeed a testament to the power of instrumental rock and, even more, a testament to the power of ideas. Red Sparowes’ signature wall of guitars sound, swirling distortion and burning intensity relentlessly drive you into the horrors of totalitarian power and the sadness of unimaginable tragedy and loss. -IG
Release Date: 09/19/06
Label: Neurot
Genre/Style: Post Rock / Experimental
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CD: $13.98
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Ratatat
Classics
So I was in church the other day, denomination not needed here, and I began to pray. Now I know that prayers aren’t like birthday wishes, so I feel comfortable revealing this to you all. I was like, “God, big G, my man, do you think you can help me out?” No answer, cause he works in mysterious ways and what not. “So anyway, I’m looking for this band that sounds like Explosions in the Sky, but maybe a little more like Franz Ferdinand. And maybe, if you could, make them sounds a little like Forever Einstein, but less political. Oh man, one last thing, just if you could maybe throw in a little funk so that I can still grove like I’m listening to Prince. Pretty please, maybe, with sugar on top? Of course immediately, after the organ lady left me alone, down floated Ratatats latest classic, Classics. Out on good ol’ XL Recordings back in late August, Ratatat successfully does what I hoped M. Bolton would do in the late nineties; rock it likes its hot. Through ten tracks, Ratatat successfully reveals a sweet Daft Punk feel over the classic instrumental mentality, i.e., yeah. Or did I mean yep? No, I meant YEAH! The tracks coexist nicely, though I would like more of a sweet story, as opposed to an equally sweet catalogue of singles and not so sing alongs. The sweet, sensational muse of Lex almost mirrors Gettysburg too cleanly, but the two are so well crafted that it is totally acceptable to ignore. And so what if Wildcat sounds a little too much like the roaring puma that graces the cover, union concerns are none of my concerns. The facts that I give you isn’t just some fact of the matter shenanigans, ok? This record is the must own if you just bought Red Sparrows or just the latest Celine Dion epic, capeesh? -LC
Release Date:08/22/06
Label: Matador
Genre/Style: Rock / Pop
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CD: $13.98
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Michael Leviton
My Favorite Place to Drown
Last week myself and two friends were on youtube.com watching videos of Elton John from when he was younger (yeah… so what?) and we began discussing modern singer-songwriters or the lack there of. The list may be short, but one man you can not blame for the lack of good s-songwriters is Michael Leviton. His full length ‘My Favorite Place To Drown’ came out in April and if you are still sleeping on it, you need to get things together.
Michael’s instrument of choice is the ukulele, which means that while this album has a folk feel, it also has elements that are unique only to Mr. Leviton. His mix of soft vocals and intricate relaxing music sets a perfect stage for the harsh bitter words that come from his mouth. Not to say vulgar, or angry, but deadly honest is how I would describe his lyrics (if sense were really common, then everyone would have some. There’s a competition for the dumbest girl in town, everyone’s competing… im sure you’ll win that crown.). The overall “concept” (I use quotes to let you know that in no way is this a concept album, more like the inspiration for the album) of this record is summer life in a beach resort style town. Leviton’s obsession with the sea falls somewhere between Jack Johnson’s love affair with the beach and the Decemberists harsh reality of the ocean. There is an element of love followed by the realization of how things work, true to life, if you will. Think of Michael Leviton as that sad puppy that you know wants to be left alone, but you cant help picking up and playing with, at the end of which only to run back to isolation. The songs are lonely, but you cant help loving them. The melodies may move you to tears or to slow dancing. The entire album feels like Michaels test in reverse psychology.
The album is simple. You can count the number of instruments in each song with one hand, and the production is minimal, but that credits its beauty. The stories told and the wisdom shared throughout the record fills it up and makes it all worth while. In a world of fleeting songwriters, hold on to this record. It will keep you company every summer for the rest of your life. -BF
Release Date: 04/18/06
Label: Smith Street / Ace Fu
Genre/Style: Pop / Chamber
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CD: $13.98
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Indian Jewelry
Invasive Exotics
This Halloween, October 31st, will commemorate the thirteenth anniversary of River Phoenix’s death. He overdosed from a combination of heroin and cocaine (often called a speedball) outside the hip Hollywood nightclub, Viper Room. Which is where, I am going to pretend, Indian Jewelry was performing that night. As their minimal and nocturnal sound would of been soothing for River’s last breathes.
I know, that is a morbid and callous opening, but as much as I like Indian Jewelry, it’s a bleak, subdued, and rejected soundscape their music paints in me.
Indian Jewelry, have been a product of the TX scene for years now, and in that time, they have seen members come and go and band names change to, “throw off the scent of the chase.” Their latest offering, Invasive Exotics, is a aural adventure into sonic noise, walls of distorted synths, and drone. This coalescence reminds me of the more washed out times of Sonic Youth, the imminent doom of Suicide or the boisterousness of Psychic Ills. All the while, remaining dark and cold. This is one of those records, where it’s such an attack of your senses - wether it’s unnerving or pandemonium. But, I do know, if this comes on in the club, to put my sunglasses on and act cool as shit, like River would of. -JW
Release Date: 09/12/06
Label: Monitor
Genre/Style: No Wave / Experimnetal / Noise / Drone
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CD: $16.98
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Matmos
The Rose Has Teeth in the Mouth of A Beast
Matmos’ Drew Daniel and M.C. Schmidt have a deeply cerebral style that’s unlikely to reach a large, mainstream audience anytime soon, but casual listeners are rewarded a journey to their distant, highly-developed sonic landscape; a place to spread out upon the sunstruck shore of reverie and reflection. Even as an electronica act, a genre that’s so often chattered about as being continuously inventive, Matmos remain innovators.
Their latest effort, The Rose Has Teeth In The Mouth Of A Beast, is yet another chapter in their strange and beautiful series of oddly natured concept albums. It’s a seamlessly patched quilt of collected samples weaving from jazz and ragtime piano to disco inspired synths and porn-funk[!] The opener, Roses And Teeth For Ludwig Wittgenstein, is an especially peculiar little number that’s focused upon an excerpt of the Austrian philosopher’s “Philosophical Investigations” read by Björk, and others whom I’m unfamiliar. Basically, it’s my worst memories of sitting in the back of philosophy in awe of the ridiculously debated subject matter- but put to music. The idea begins like so- “A new-born child has no teeth. A goose has no teeth. A rose has no teeth.” He then supposes what might happen if a cow crapped on a rose. Hmmmm. Quite the rubix-cube. My favorite track is probably Rag For William S. Burroughs. It commences as a winding ensemble of beeps, clicks, slurps, and hushed speakeasy piano until a gun goes off. The curtain to the smokey scene is drawn as the echoing pistol boom is funneled away. Then footsteps, a fumbling for keys, and the tk-tk-tk of a typewriter introduces a dazzling culmination of orchestrated office machines. What a harmonious service sector frenzy! I can imagine the restless office spacers dancing around the burning mound of fax machines now. It would be additionally worthy to note that Matmos’ recordings are, well, much deeper than what meets the ear. Over the past decade, the duo have taken their themes to great experimental lengths in the name of unique music. Most songs are fractured samples of field recordings that have been manipulated, scissored, warped, and pasted together to create something unlike anything else. In the past, they’ve utilized such obvious music makers as rat cages, electrical interference generated by laser eye surgery, buckets of oatmeal, and amplified crayfish nerve tissue.
Matmos is a first-rate example of how a properly put together concept album remains strong, even without the back story. -NH
Release Date: 05/09/06
Label: Matador
Genre/Style: Pop / Experimental
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Jeremy Enigk
World Waits
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Supersunny-speedgraph
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Gomez
Five Men In A Hut (Singles 98-04)
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Hello Everything
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White Ox
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Born In the UK
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