Damon Albarn has quietly emerged from the shadows of 90's MTV fame with Blur's hit (No. 2 Song) to become one of the more interesting musical figures in the more mainstream realms of modern rock. From his travels to Africa that resulted in the great Mali Music album, his collaborative efforts in The Gorillaz, and even the last Blur record, Think Tank which was pretty much a solo endeavor and contained some really smart and somewhat somber pop songs. He's also been running a great record label Honest Jons who have released some amazing records old and new from the likes of Moondog, Candi Staton, Tony Allen, Las Malas Amistades, etc. The Good The Bad & The Queen is his latest project and he's assembled quite the all-star cast including Clash bassist Paul Simonon and legendary drummer (of Fela Kuti fame), Tony Allen, with production duties handled by Danger Mouse. Together they've created a really nice album of subdued pop songs with layers of warmth and an expansive and moody disposition. At times it even made us think of a more polished version of Three Mile Pilot's Another Desert Another Sea, and this for sure should appeal to fans of Pinback and Radiohead. This keeps growing on us listen after listen, revealing something more each time. For sure one of our favorite major label records in quite a while.
Billy Childish has had quite a prolific career, and one that shows no signs of slowing. He is a writer and an artist, but perhaps he is most known for his music. Much of his musical output was written and recorded with his main band Thee Headcoats (although he also fronted such garage wonders as Thee Milkshakes). This is an impressive double disk collection of fifty (!) singles released by Thee Headcoats and friends between 1990 and 1999. Never bowing to trends or technology, the garage rockin' rawness of Billy, Johnny and Bruce's music continues to shine and inspire their fans and other bands. Comes with a very very thorough discography. All hail Thee Headcoats!
Your basic great rockin' record that merges garage rock with sampling collage. Already a staple of hipster jukeboxes nationwide.
Japanese garage rawk in suits and shades. Pretty good, but not totally goin' crazy like you really want 'em to.
Local duo that play a very very pleasant, quiet sort of midtempo indie rock, with lots of delicate details if you're patient enough to listen closely. They remind me a lot of another beloved local band -- Fuck -- not only because the groups share similarly whispered boy vocals, but also in the way the melancholy songs start off quietly and serenely, then build the tension as the songs progress, culminating in restrained yet intense explosions of emotion. They also recall the lyrical wistfulness of Lambchop, and the scratchy vocalising of Wilco's Jeff Tweedy. At 56 minutes the album is unnecessarily long; take off a third of it and the album would sound sweeter, more poignant in its brevity. Nonetheless a fine rainy day record for indierockers.
Thee More Shallows have a new unexpected home on the usually hip hop-centric Bay Area label Anticon, but we shouldn't really be all that surprised now, should we? Heck, music genre boundaries have been dissolving left right and center over the past few years. The SF band's sound on their new full length is a little unexpected too. Since their last release 2006's Monkey Vs. Shark, the formerly more rootsy rock band's already broadening scope seems to have expanded in all directions with impressive results. Book Of Bad Breaks journeys through many moods -- alternately romping, rocking and reclining -- but always with a shadowed, subtle druggy headiness.
Not sure about the significance of this 7-song EP's title, but we are sure that Thee More Shallows can deliver the dreaminess. 'Tis all soft pop grandeur like a not so distant cousin of Mercury Rev and Flaming Lips. The third song "Phineas Bogg" is particularly gorgeous, whisking you off into the heavens. The EP includes a remix of their song "Freshman" by Odd Nosdam and Why? which takes them into the neighborhood of the Postal Service (the band not the, um... service). Ultra pretty!
More? Yes, please! This fine album has received a very welcome reissuing, offering this Bay Area band's fans and newcomers another opportunity to have their hearts melted. On More Deep Cuts, Thee More Shallows are seemingly inspired by the over-the-top trippy grandeur of bands such as Sparklehorse, Flaming Lips and Radiohead, but adeptly avoid falling prey to idol worship, crafting a dark, achingly beautiful world of their own. 'Nuff said!
Once a tour-only piece of merch, now available in stores...like ours. Four new tracks (two about 5 minutes, two around 10) from this Montreal based, Godspeed You Black Emperor! related ensemble. From the intimate to the epic, some of this is garagey and "ghettoblastered" while other parts are ethereal and grandiose with violins sawing away, massed voices and birdcalls.
Somebody here thought this was possibly the worst . record . ever. But really, how can it be?
**SALE **SALE* *SALE**
Found two (2) of these hidden in a box in the back of the store, haven't listed 'em since 2003, great album, grab one if you can, first come first served, sale price...
AQ pal Drucifer (and the guy who runs Dielectric Records, who released those amazing 12" a while back: Sote, Karen Stackpole, etc...) had been threatening to play this record for us for a while, and he's got pretty darn good taste so we were looking forward to finally checking it out. We always just sort of assumed from the title and from talking to Drucifer that it was going to be some sort of jazz, but boy were we surprised when we threw this on. The quartet in question is actually a trio, and while the music these three play does have certain qualities one might find in jazz, this is GRINDMETAL through and through. Five tracks of furious, chaotic, brutal and pummeling hyper complex metallic grind a la Agoraphobic Nosebleed, Pig Destoyer, Discordance Axis and the like. But unlike most grinders, TGWMQ stretch their songs way out (none of the songs is shorter than 3 minutes, most significantly more), allowing them to explore and develop and stretch out a bit. The final track is nine minutes long ferchrissakes, with lots of splattery free noise, rumbling ambient passages, found sounds and ethereal female vocals, almost-groovy riff rock parts, and buzzing droning weirdness. But don't be frightened off by all that, 'cause the core of this record is dense and grinding, ultra complicated, dizzyingly agile, and crushingly savage heaviness. So good. All you folks who freak out over Agoraphobic Nosebleed and their similarly sonic minded ilk definitely need this!
Quietly gently Theodore And Hamblin's debut album creeps out of our speakers and tiptoe into our ears. Their name might recall Hollywood musical maestros Rodgers And Hammerstein or Las Vegas magic men Ziegfied And Roy (at least to us it did!), but this pair's electronics based music is far more low key and intimate than either of those duos' works. Rain droplet chimes ring out amid the deeper tones that undulate and flutter. Rounded 4/4 beats pulse softly as if they're being broadcast through many layers of blankets. Yes, this is music best suited for nestlin'.
The profane and blasphemous agenda of Lee M. Barlow (the principle agent behind Theologian, working with a few willing supplicants) looks backwards at the dual histories of metal and industrial culture. Yup, it is commonplace to find vehement opposition to Christian doctrine in the reversal the symbols as sigils of a black magic. Yet, this opposition is rarely a full-frontal denial of God as the blank void of atheism has no place for the transcendent and the spiritual, both of which manifest proudly in this rich and diverse iconoclasm. Aesthetically speaking, we suppose this could be trace even further back to Carl Orff, whose work has become the de facto audio signifier for all things Satanic; and probably further before Nietzsche, Lautremonte, and Baudelaire to the charisma of heretics, ignoble witches, and self-designated messiahs. So in a polemic for the will to power and the deification of the self, it's not all that much about what's said, but how it's said. And the aesthetics of Theologian speak mightily through blunt force, wielded as a relentless production of blackened synths and grim industrial drone. Pain Of The Saints conjures a sonic turbulence that is almost wholly drumless, which stands as a departure from much of the other Theologian albums which rely on heavy Teutonic beats to propel the vitriol and wailing. It's nonetheless an exhausting and exasperating journey, blasting through one miasma after another of aggressive amalgams of guitars, synths, and voice, two whole discs worth!
"Some things have to be endured, and that makes the pleasures so much sweeter!" So spoke the villainous Frank Cotton in Clive Barker's first Hellraiser movie. It is interesting to think back, and realize that Coil had their proposed soundtrack to that same movie rejected with some citing that Coil's themes were 'too frightening' or (more likely) 'not commercial enough' for a major studio motion picture. Anyone with ears who has listened to Coil's unreleased themes to Hellraiser will not find anything frightening or scary at all. In fact, Coil was quite reverential to somebody like David Shire, especially with his minimalist and maudlin score for The Conversation, with Coil composing everything on the Fairlight synthesizer, which itself had a distinct sound but one that didn't fall in line with the Goblin / Carpenter axis. Had Coil turned in to the film studio something like what they produced on their grand statement to the apocalypse in Horse Rotovator, it might have sounded close to where Theologian ended up on this death-synth industrial opus.
Here, Theologian - the project of a cold-hearted character simply given the name Leech - has employed the talents of a host of female vocalists from the darkwave and noise underground. The conceit has a similar feel to Lustmord's recent album The Word As Power; and thankfully, both albums transcend any notion of female tokenism. Furthermore, both albums do not suck. Far from it for Theologian; as this album triumphantly extends the M83-produces-Swans analogy that we posited regarding the 2012 epic The Chasms Of My Heart album. After a garbled, witchy cackle that introduces the album's first track "Black Cavern Myopia," Leech uncorks a dark-minded, power techno rhythm, crunched through distortion, echo and sinister atmospheres featuring the deep-in-the-catacomb vocalizations of Hecate's Rachael Kozak. A more familiar militantly bashed rhythm keeps with a Swans-styled corporal beatdown on "The Conjoined Deviant Procession" with the monotone chanting delivered by Kristen from Sewer Election. The vocals never really come to the foreground throughout the album, instead they swirl and commingle amidst the metalgaze hiss, powerdrone murk, and audio sickness from Leech's decomposing productions. Even when he employs the talents of opera singer Melissa Kelly (the only vocalist not hailing from noise culture), her voice is cacooned in billowing reverb as it flutters throughout the ghastly synth melodies and blackened industrially crushed doom plod on "Ectothermism." Aside from Sewer Election and Hecate, we've not encountered any of the other vocalists, but their legion is Rachel Maloney (Tonikom), Nikki Telladictorian (Prometheus Burning), Patricia Benitez (Fetish Drone), Gillian Leigh Bowling (Teloahqaal), Christiana Key (Delphic Oracle), Joan Hacker (Factoria), and Shari Vari (Void Vision). Leech has crafted monstrous, ghastly album of lurching rhythms and totally downer melodies - think the Cure's Pornography remixed by Vatican Shadow. So good!
The second of two releases this year from black ambient alchemist Theologian, the other, Finding Comfort In Overwhelming Negativity, released on Handmade Birds and reviewed here recently, and now this one, The Chasms Of My Heart, released on Crucial Blast. Like Finding Comfort (and The Further I Get before that), Chasms is another stunning collection of grim, industrial wastescapes, all bleak drones and industrial percussive crunch, although Chasms does start out on a remarkably 'musical' note, opener "Abandon All Hope" weds actual singing to tense layered keening tones, and churning machinelike rhythms, the vocals mantra like, wreathed in static and crackle, drift atop a dense droned out thrum, driven by that relentless rhythm, eventually the vocals and drums drop out, leaving some seriously serene sonic shimmer and softly sweeping cinematic ambience.
The second track makes up for the melody in the first, unleashing a heaving onslaught of power electronics and blacknoise skree, which eventually blurs, and is melted down into a thick morass of crumbling low end that gradually becomes a hushed blackened drift.
But it does seem that melody will be a recurring theme on Chasms, as "My Body Is Made Of Ash, I Live As Ash" begins as a series of thick thick distorted synth swells, which rapidly blossom into something much more melodic, soaring and cinematic, like M83 via the Swans, but even slower and meaner, and then the beats come in, and you can add Muslimgauze to the mix. Weird combo, but it works, hypnotic and tranced out, until the hammer falls, and the song explodes into full on face melting noise, but if you listen close, within that caustic cloud of noise, the rhythm continues to churn, vocals wail, and melodies drift and shimmer, it's the sort of hard noise, that softens a bit the more you listen, and seems to transform before your ears into something weirdly, and impossibly catchy. The rest of the record reveals more of Theologian's bleeding black sonic heart, the stuttering, almost 'danceable' "We Can't All Be Victims", the processed vocal driven blackened power electronics skitter of "I Don't Exist", the blown out noisebliss of "Bed Of Maggots, the almost house music-y pulsating noisescape title track, and finally, the sprawling 13 minute, haunting, grinding cinematic ambient noisescape closer.
Comes packaged in a super striking, full color, oversized dvd style, six panel digipak.
Theoretical Girls (Jeffrey Lohn, Wharton Tiers, Margaret Dewys & Glenn Branca), fixtures of the New York no-wave scene, only released one single back in the day. The tunes Branca penned can be found on his 1977-79 Static/Theoretical Girls compilation; Jeffery Lohn's contributions are collected on this new 19 track disc. Lohn wanted to combine punk rock with avant-garde classical composition. Less sharply jagged and jarring than Branca's compositions, these very lo-fi recordings have a definite element of straight-up, Dead Boys-style, dirty, stripped-down RAWK. Some tracks bring on the full on noise destruction, while others display a punk anthemic-ness almost on the level of Wire's first album. One of the most striking things on first hearing this disc is the blatancy with which Theoretical Girls provided a blueprint for Sonic Youth, especially in the spoken vs. sung vocal interplay; Lohn's voice is even a bit reminiscent of Thurston Moore's (or is it the other way around?). The degree of classical rigor isn't exactly clear, if it's even really there at all, but what does shine through is some immensely influential, kick-ass New York noise rock. Keyword: Raw.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Theory of Ruin is the new project from Alex of Fudge Tunnel, and here are three songs to give you a taste of where he's at these days. Bass heavy and staccatic, very much in the Shellac/Big Black vein (almost uncannily so).
Ace Of Spades is a cd-r series of live recordings showcasing the intimate acoustic music of a variety of local indie artists. The series so far boasts consistently strong performances from all participants (well played and well recorded at Mama Buzz Cafe in Oakland).
The Volume 6 edition was recorded on February 20th, 2005 and features a few songs each from Mike Therieau, Brian Glaze, Paul Panamarenko, James Moore and Monique Lacour.
We raved up and down about the Thermals last year with the release of their ass kicking, Strokes squashing jangle punk classic More Parts Per Million, a sweaty, sloppy, lo-fi kick in the nuts, equal parts Stooges, Strokes, Ramones, Guided By Voices and loads of snotty swagger. Now, they're back! With a supposedly cleaner production, which worried us a bit, but on first listen, it became clear that better production just meant differently shitty and sloppy. Which is a relief, 'cause the Thermals' brand of simple, catchy, snotty punk-pop sounds so much better all sweaty and covered in lint and crumbs and broken glass and whatever else was all over their practice space floor. And while the sound is still appropriately raw and in your face, some things -have- changed. There is definitely more of a pop to punk ratio this time around, with the band expanding beyond their 4 chord, 2 part song limit. Although for every lilting melody and sugary sweet hook, the Thermals stomp it to bits within minutes. Lots of folks here think that this is what the Mountain Goats would sound like all drugged up and punk rock supercharged, with the vocalist's nerdy whine, sung/spoken delivery and oblique wordy lyrics. Imagine the simple jangle pop of the Strokes, the skewed take on classic Beatlesque songwriting of Guided By Voices, the three chord stomp of the Ramones and add lots of packed basement, broken down van, DIY, punk rock snarl and you've got Fuckin A.
Everybody who's been worshiping at the altar of the Strokes for the last year will be facing some serious theological choices with this, the debut from the Pacific Northwest's Thermals. A buzzing blast of white knuckle pop in punk rock's clothing. The Thermals sound like the Strokes cranked on crystal meth and recorded on a boom box in a sweaty smelly basement. The lazy jaded stoned jangle of the current crop of New York hipsters is rolled in dirt and piss and whiskey and handed a beat up old guitar. Thirteen songs, most barely reaching the two minute mark, of blasting fuzz and ramshackle rooooaaaaarrr with a whiny, snotty vocalist climbing all over your table and spilling drinks in your lap. Or think Guided By Voices if their drug of choice was speed instead of Pabst Blue Ribbon and their influences were the Stooges and the Feederz instead of the Beatles and 80's/90's college rock. So great!
Four-song ep previous to their "More Parts Per Million" full-length that Andee loves so much.
Finally reissued on vinyl, the debut from, and our favorite record by, this kick ass Northwstern trio, who would blow up pretty big after this album, but More Parts Per Million remains the group's best we think. Here's our review from when we first reviewed it way back in 2003:
Everybody who's been worshiping at the altar of the Strokes for the last year will be facing some serious theological choices with this, the debut from the Pacific Northwest's Thermals. A buzzing blast of white knuckle pop in punk rock's clothing. The Thermals sound like the Strokes cranked on crystal meth and recorded on a boom box in a sweaty smelly basement. The lazy jaded stoned jangle of the current crop of New York hipsters is rolled in dirt and piss and whiskey and handed a beat up old guitar. Thirteen songs, most barely reaching the two minute mark, of blasting fuzz and ramshackle rooooaaaaarrr with a whiny, snotty vocalist climbing all over your table and spilling drinks in your lap. Or think Guided By Voices if their drug of choice was speed instead of Pabst Blue Ribbon and their influences were the Stooges and the Feederz instead of the Beatles and '80s/'90s college rock. So great!
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
These Arms Are Snakes surprise us by going in a new, increasingly metallic direction. It spurred us to muse, "what happens when the guys leave their Mastodon and Big Black records out in the sun next to each other?" Not a bad thing, just quite different from what this post hardcore band used to sound like... at least to our memory. There's fewer convulsive fits and starts, and a steadier stream of aggressive rock intensity. Standouts are the ninth and tenth tracks, the winding "Lady North" (think Pleasure Forever colliding with Jesus Lizard!) and the Pink Floyd leaning "Perpetual Bris". Cool!
Did someone say post-hardcore? Bringing it back from the near-dead, Seattle's These Arms Are Snakes are just born and ready to unleash their slightly arty raucousness on you. On their debut album, Oxeneers or..., TAAS offer that signature balance of dissonance and melody with much brooding fans of other post-hardcore bands will recognize (though in a vein that's more Rodan than Shellac). You'll enjoy some arty post-hardcore similarities to Drive Like Jehu / Hot Snakes, even the slightest seasoning of melodic guitar angularities as heard in Brooklyn's Les Savy Fav. Really good stuff.
After some truly spectacular British only singles, These New Puritans landed their debut album on Domino. In the process of recording Beat Pyramid (including some rehashing of those earlier singles), the art-punk quartet polished up their sound with the production chops of Gareth Jones, who had worked with Wire, Nick Cave and Einsturzende Neubauten back in the day and more recently with the Liars. These New Puritans have adopted the classic post-punk sound with jittery sparkplug guitar riffs and nervously taut rhythms, which could come from the best works from Gang Of Four, the Fall, or Joy Division. Unlike many of their contemporaries which also wear those same influences on their sleeve (i.e. Interpol, Bloc Party, The Editors, etc.), These New Puritans keep it dark without ever getting maudlin. Vocalist Jack Barnett has a dispassionate delivery more in keeping with Mark E. Smith's slurred bark. If only his subject matter were a bit more caustic like Smith's, though. Much of what Barnett has to say is rather quotidian verses about numerology or paranoiac surveillance or whatnot. Fortunately, the band is good enough to overcome his shortcomings at this stage in the game as a lyricist. Altogether, Beat Pyramid makes for a pretty damn good record.
We reviewed a previous, long out of print reissue of this, way back in 1999, saying simply and succinctly (as we did back then, we're more long winded now):
Outstanding psychedelic folk rarity with delicate female vocals, from Hawaiian trio circa 1973. There's just enough tabla, slide guitar, and Arp synthesizer to give it an 'edge.'
We further cited it as being one of then AQ-owner Windy's new favorites.
Well, These Trails apparently have fans over at Drag City too, 'cause they've just reissued it, on cd and vinyl, and we're glad to have this old fave back! These gentle, melodic songs are alternately sunny, sprightly and delightful, or moody and mellow, a bit country-twangy and tropical too, this album overall having a wonderful hippy Hawaiian vibe to it... As mentioned above, some strangely buzzing, burbling synth alongside the acoustic guitars and dulcimer gives the proceedings a darker, mystical feel much of the time, with tracks like the droning, melancholy "Hello Lou" being among our favorites. The vintage electronics, in combination with the lovely harmonized vocals, do definitely put this into a very special category of its own, even among all the privately pressed, mysterious one-album-ever gems out there, from the dusty past.
Definitely for fans of Linda Perhacs, also perhaps imagine '70 UK folksters Trees on a Hawaiian vacation, on the beach at sunset, with a synth plugged in somewhere.
Perfect time to have this reissued, with the ongoing acid folk and New Age revival, lots of folks haven't heard this before and are gonna LOVE it. We should have had it on our Summer Special last inbetween list, come to think of it. So check it out, and hang loose, very loose, with These Trails.
Maybe Drag City will reissue The Enlightening Beam of Axonda, next...?
By the way, amazing that These Trails somehow anticipated the internet, by writing a song here called "Of Broken Links"... haha.
If there's one thing you can count on around any special season, it's They Might Be Giants leading the festivities parade. Hoisting their eggnogs, ringing the bells and handing out plenty of pop goodies from their big sack with plenty of mirth and glee.
What's your favorite TMBG song? "Ana Ng", "Birdhouse In Your Soul", "Don't Let's Start", "Particle Man", "Spider", "I Palindrome I", "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)"? Well, you've got another prime opportunity to figure it out! Yup, here's yet another They Might Be Giants compilation, but it's a much more concise one. Whereas its double disc predecessors "Dial-A-Song: 20 Years of They Might Be Giants" and "Then: The Earlier Years" were a bit pricey and overwhelming, this new collection has somehow whittled their highlights down to one single ultra concentrated cd serving of TMBG bliss. It's still a whopping 29 songs long though! They could've easily called it "The Best Of..." or "Greatest Hits", but dubbing it a "User's Guide" works just fine. It's sorta one step away from those "...For Dummies" or "Idiot's Guide To..." how-to series -- perfect for that rare guy or gal who has yet to experience the assorted pop mastery of the 'Two Johns'. The liner notes even includes an assortment of both relevant and seemingly irrelevant trivia facts and figures. One thing tho', you'll need a magnifying glass to read them. The print is teeny tiny!
Despite the title, this is NOT a complete compilation of the two Johns' Dial-A-Song answering machine genius. Bummer! I mean, sure, they let us know in the liner notes that almost each of the songs here originated as a dial-a-song, but that's just not the same. Hold your horses though 'cause what this two cd set is is a gigantic, stellar collection of They Might Be Giants' best to commemorate their 20th year together! Bonanza! They kick it all off with a triple whammy of "Birdhouse In Your Soul," "Ana Ng," and "Don't Let's Stop", but the running order of the songs from there on is somewhat puzzling. Seems to be just a big jumble. Definitely not chronological nor alphabetical, but it does come with a hefty booklet filled with photos, discography, lyrics, and band-written essays - all laid out phonebook style. There's 52 songs in all including a handful of live versions as well as their contributions to the television and movie world (for Austin Powers and Malcolm In The Middle respectively). A genuine TMBG fan undoubtably already owns a copy (or two) of each of the albums from which 95% of these songs come, but then again, a genuine TMBG fan is also undoubtably a completist so.... TMBG fan or not, if you like finely crafted eclectic, eccentric pop, this is splendid!
Features the wonderful "Birdhouse in Your Soul", "Istanbul", "Particle Man", "Whistling in The Dark"... I could go on and on. 19 songs in all. Quirky, brainy nerd pop at it's best.
Yes, another children's music album from They Might be Giants. Who better to stimulate the minds of youngsters around the globe than these fellows? They've made it their life's work creating remarkably varied, irresistibly catchy and irrepressibly smarty pants pop songs since the 1982. Heck, most of their songs old and new are already totally child-friendly. However just like old Saturday morning cartoons, there's often a subtext that engages the grown-ups too. That said, this their thirteenth album is indeed just for the kids! It's the numerical follow-up to 2006's Here Come The ABCs. Unlike that release whose cd and dvd were sold separately, the cd and dvd for Here Come The 123s come packaged together. What a whale of a delightful, entertaining deal for thrifty parents! Count along with the two Johns -- monkeys, pirates, miles, monster eyes, soup, and pennies too!
More kids stuff from They Might Be Giants! Here's the dvd version of their latest children's cd that we reviewed a couple of AQ Lists back. The Johns enlisted the assistance and talents of various friends to bring the songs to life via super cute and fun computer animation and puppetry -- the endearing puppet stars are from Robin Goldwasser's Deeply Felt Puppet Theater. True TMBG fans will recognize the names of the folks who produced this dvd 'cuz they were responsible for the excellent documentary film about the band, Gigantic: A Tale of Two Johns. Running time: 45 minutes.
For all of you out there who been askin' for children's music, well, They Might Be Giants have once again heeded your call! You might remember their last kids' release, the 2002 album simply titled 'No!' As this title tells, these are alphabet songs... but they're so much more than the traditional "Now I know my abc's, next time won't you sing with me?" song. They start things off by using the alphabet to run through the names of countries, then jump right into letter-related songs about such subjects as animals, music instruments, and food. That's right after years of schoolin' the masses on the wide wide world of pop, the Johns are gettin' even more educational. And they've refined they're quirky songcraft to a textbook-like science -- pun intended, hahaha! Lots of funky beats, bubbly cheezy melodies, and vocoder singing. Of course as with all of their kids music they drop references in here and there that'll probably go right over the heads of the tots and into the ears of their parents (such as Linnell's mention of 'flying v' guitars). This cd includes bonus tracks and cd-rom fun stuff too.
Would've loved to have had Mr. Linnell and Mr. Flansburgh for elementary music teachers, wouldn't you? The learning process would've been so much fun. So much better than Barney and so much cooler than Sharon, Lois and Bram. Over the years, they've proven that they're just as skilled at schooling kids of all ages on other subjects too - the alphabet (2005's Here Comes The ABCs), arithmetic (2008's Here Come The 123s), history (well, sort of on 1990's "James K. Polk"), geography (well, sort of on 2005's Venue Songs) and now science! Here they succinctly and catchily cover topics such as speed and velocity, the color spectrum, the planets, the elements, the environment, photosynthesis, evolution, thought processes, biology and more. 19 smart, engaging pop tunes that bounce along at a sprightly pace, planting little seeds of learning. For the most part this stands up to repeat listens without completely driving the grown-ups nuts... unless you happen to have an aversion to TMBG's trademark nasality which we understand some folks do. That said, we should note that there are a few more singing voices than usual including that of Mrs. Flansburgh. Heck, though this is definitely for youngsters, older listeners might learn something too! Sounds like the Johns have recycled a few melodic lines from their old songs which might make this ring warmly familiar to those parents who cherish their early TMBG albums. They've even reprised "Why Does The Sun Shine?" from 1994. Plus you also get a terrific dvd that's filled with playful candy colored animated video clips for each song which can be viewed individually in alphabetical order, or altogether as a program hosted by the Johns. With this delightful set, we'd say they're really giving Sesame Street a run for their money!
Easing themselves into the Barsuk camp with this lil' five song EP, those two Johns (Flansburgh and Linnell) from Brooklyn have kept their almost maddeningly infectious, quirky hooks as sharp as ever. In recent years, they've focused more on writing music for tv shows and movies. One of their TV theme songs is included here -- "Am I Awake?" for the series Resident Life. With its burbly percolating electronic beats and Flansburgh's sleepy vocals, it actually made me think of a hyperactive Notwist on a super sugar rush. Their lyrics are still mighty clever and witty, however the overall tone of the proceedings is much less playful and kooky than even the most recent TMBG offerings. It's no less glorious in the pop department, although each song seems ever so slightly unfinished or truncated. Very odd. They close the EP with their fine version of the Beach Boys' "Caroline, No". Probably not essential, though, unless you're a TMBG completist.
After many years of romping through almost every possible musical style imaginable and composing tons of music for movies, TV and kids' albums, Join Us find the two Johns bringing the focus back to what they've always done best... that is, writing clever, witty, quirky, hook-laden pop songs with a sweet dorky charm. Really, this is their most solidly classic college pop rock (circa '90s) album in eons. So, if you're an old They Might Be Giants fan with a nostalgic hankering for their earlier sounds (y'know, the ones with the maddeningly catchy jingles!), you'll probably find a bunch of peppy tunes here to tickle your fancy (heck, who are we kidding? All of you true old school TMBG devotees don't need us to tell you that. You already secured your copies of this album the day it was released, right?). One thing we came to realize though while listing to this album was that their use (overuse? abuse?) of their magical hook-writing pen over the past decade for non-TMBG projects has resulted in virtually every song here sounding slightly familiar, quite slick and somewhat calculated... like some gleaming TV sitcom theme. A bit unsettling. To be honest, Join Us just had us digging out and dusting off our beloved Flood and Lincoln albums to hear the real deal, and we recommend you do too!
The endearingly nasal voices of the two Johns are back. Not as immediately infectious as previous records, "Mink Car" might take a while to grow on you. Even longtime fan Cup isn't quite sure about this one. Ever the quirky, fearless genre-jumpers TMBG deliver their trademark, crafty hooks in a number of different guises - careening from bombastic rock ("Cyclops Rock") into a disco-y, New
In celebration of their 20th anniversary of 'Giantness, the two Johns decided to release an album "for the entire family", but we ask "which They Might Be Giants album isn't exactly that?!" More accurately this is a record for children. Their skills of conveying twisted tales and toothsome sentiments in a multitude of styles with a sharp, strange wit cross over smoothly into the kids section. Quirky lyrics sung by quirky voices abound. "Here on Fibber Island we hide mittens in our hair. You might need to stare to see the mittens in our hair." Absurd! There's songs about grocery bags, a Supertaster (!), violins, and the Edison Museum. Some are straight-up singalongs, while others are more like their more "grown-up" rollicking tunes (the Supertaster song for instance). Oddly, the march-along track called "Bed Bed Bed" has a very Residents feel to it. Did I mention that John Linnell has a perfect storytelling voice (he's probably had some practice since he's the father of a toddler). Anyways, the big bonus of this release is that it is an interactive disc which if inserted into a computer will offer up a delightful selection of playtime videos.
Severe Tire Damage is surely no stranger to diehard TMBG fans. This live album was originally released on Restless Records back in 1998, and has been reissued by the kind folks at Zoe Records. So if you somehow missed it the first time 'round or have worn out your first copy, here it is again! Yes, a bunch of the two Johns' classics are here: "Birdhouse In Your Soul", Istanbul (Not Constantinople)", "Spider", "Meet James Ensor", "Why Does The Sun Shine?", "Particle Man", "Ana Ng"... oh, you know'em and love'em all, doncha? Plus demonstrating what quick-wits these gents are, there's a bunch of highly entertaining impromptu stuff at the end.
After numerous extracurricular activities, reissues and special projects, They Might Be Giants return with their first studio album in three years. Not counting 2005's children's record Here Come The ABCs, their last full band album was The Spine which was released in 2004.
So this many moons later, what do the two Johns sound like? Themselves! Well, sort of... the first song sounds strangely like Fat Boy Slim's "Praise You". Lots of rock/pop variety and lots of weird voices, but their trademark dual nasality reigns geeky supreme. The strangest notable thing about The Else is how much everything gleams with a glossy sheen which may be attributed to the production by The Dust Brothers. Nevertheless another TMBG fan pleaser!
PLUS: If you hop to it quickly enough, you'll get the limited first edition which includes a bonus full length cd filled with even more They Might Be Giants new tunes!!!
