Okay, I know that I (Cup) say below that Little is my fave Vic Chesnutt album, but the thing with ol' Vic is that each album has proven to be not only a crafty progression from that which came before, but also a solid work unto itself. Each one is sooo darn good in its own way! His third album is a perfect example. Drunk gets its hooks into ya right from the beginning. It kicks things off with the churning toss'n'turn guitar of "Sleeping Man" and shifts gears into a batch of songs that slowly weigh heavier and heavier on the heart. If anyone can articulate weary despair and emotional collapse, it's this man... but he does so with an occasional sharp-witted elbow in the ribs to counter the dull ache in your chest. Includes a heap of bonus songs, many of them live recordings with Chesnutt's spoken introductions (indexed separately from the songs so that you can skip them if you wish). An additional note: The cover art is different from the original release (a drawing of a strange jester figure as opposed to the photo of a shadowy brown sillhouette).
After last year's Silverlake album and slew of old Chesnutt reissues, we've sure had our fave Vic on the mind around here, and been wishing for more. Well folks, whadyaknow?! Here's a brand new album, and it does not disappoint!
Some folks we know were a little disappointed by Silverlake, not sure why, maybe they were missing the more playful ramshackle Chesnutt of old, and while those folks might not necessarily find what they want here, they should be prepared (and excited) for yet another new direction from the musically restless Chesnutt. Even darker (if that's possible) and a lot more lush, Ghetto Bells is a swoonsome, melancholy dream world of droning soundscapes, twangy melancholia, and wistful countrified folk. Lyrically, less wryly clever secretly silly, and more serious and somber. The seemingly incongruous pairing of his gravelly voice atop the surprisingly elegant string arrangements brought to mind a few recordings of Leonard Cohen.
We might venture to say though that the final song on the album is by far the strangest, most out-there song Chesnutt has ever recorded. A delicate, sparse, moody soundscape of upright bass, vibes, chiming harmonics, with Chesnutt singing in a wavery falsetto. Werid but really quite beautiful.
As much as we love everything Vic Chesnutt has ever done, if pressed to pick one record that is THE ONE, it would without a doubt be Is The Actor Happy?. A perfect realisation of Chesnutt's quirky songwriting and impeccable arranging. Combined for the first time with a crystal clear sparkling production. While ITAH? had many crying "Sellout!" it had the rest of us laying in bed, at four in the morning with the headphones cranked, alternately teary eyed, and laughing our heads off. Such is Chesnutt's gift. Weaving wonderous tales of love and lonliness, that cut to the quick and leave you heart broken in 4 minutes or less, along with equally compelling tunes, that perhaps also deal with love and loneliness, but more obliquely, using metaphors that struggle desparately to escape becoming non-sequiters, lines about dandruff, bold eyebrows, delicious onion soup, Bob Guccione, Trivial Pursuit, nausea, participles, sniffles, Rupert Murdock, drunken archers, wanting to be Aaron Neville, and crooked nipples, delivered in Chesnutt's cracked warble with seemingly effortless alliteration. All over a lush bed of dark and melancholy twang, one part No Depression, one part classic pop songsmithery, all filtered through a truly unique and twisted musical palette. Musically, the polished production and expert playing don't detract at all from the sound, Chesnutt's oft-championed quirky grit is still in full affect, but what could have otherwise remained a musical diamond in the indie/underground rough, gets plucked and polished and put on display for everyone to adore.
This is Vic's fourth album, and the one we think oughta be a big hit. Some of the most bittersweet heartfelt songs you'll ever hear.
One of our favorite performers, Athens GA's Vic Chesnutt, unleashes a record of demos and rarities. It's his ninth album (god, I remember when his first one came out). More experimental than any of his previous releases, this record's got ghostly blues dirges
Vic Chesnutt's early albums have always been a bit hard to come by... especially this one from 1990. Fingers are crossed that New West keeps these reissues in print!
This is the album that started it all, and it's the one that's nearest and dearest to Cup (Andee on the other hand hugs Chesnutt's Is The Actor Happy? album). Unlike his later albums which infused pop elements into the foundation of his rootsy blues-folk, Little features some of his most barebones, raw acoustic guitar work. This starkness provides an all the more effective backdrop for one of the most expressive sourpuss voices around singing some of the most gnawingly bleak songs around. Bleary and skewed, his words tumble unapologetically from his lips -- emotional scars and verbal barbs all completely out in the open. Produced by Michael Stipe who took a shine to Chesnutt early on and helped bring him to college radio eyes and ears. Includes five previously unreleased tracks.
Vic Chesnutt's collaboration with a number of folks on the Constellation Records roster (aka A Silver Mt. Zion and a list of friends which includes Fugazi's Guy Picciotto and members of Hangedup, Frankie Sparo, Esmerine, The Quavers, and yes, Godspeed You Black Emperor) sounds *exactly* as you would expect... bleak and immensely moving. They keep such perfectly dour company that we wonder what took them so long to make it happen! Flooded with anguish and raw nerves, North Star Deserter is an intense frayed journey, but not without a moment or two of glimmering hope and twisted folly. Chesnutt's lyrics have always been an affecting bruised blend of the absolutely direct and the utterly cryptic. We know they're a perfect match for his own creeping, barren plain plucked guitar accompaniment, but wow, when joined by these additional like-minded vocalists and musicians the results are often times crushingly beautiful. Placed before a landscape of ominous cello drones, electrified string shards, and near-military marching drums, his weathered rasp of a voice resonates anew. The amazing breadth of this album is captured in two songs late in the album -- the thunderous roar of "Debriefing" and the hushed haunted loner "Marathon". Damn. Recommended.
We (along with a who's who of indie and not so indie luminaries) have been Vic Chesnutt fans for years now, ever since his first album Little dropped way back in 1990. Wheelchair bound and ornery as a beehive, Chesnutt's dusty downtrodden tales are suffused with a warm sweetness that contrasts well with the gruff attitude. And since Little, Chesnutt's albums have each gotten more mellow -- in a good way, like aged whiskey. At some points on this record he reaches Neil Young-strata levels of confidence and maturity. Wow.
Compared to earlier works, Silver Lake is less willfully eccentric, and worlds more focused and POWERFUL. Recorded in some mansion above Silver Lake in LA with a full band and a nice complement of additions to your regular rock guitar bass drums formula. It's, for example, delicate with lonely tambourine, autoharp, poignant piano, pedal steel, lush backup vocals... but it's also heavy with majestic climaxes and downright wild guitar noisiness. A wonderful combination and then, of course, on top of that is Vic's unique vocal style, his gravelly, southern-accented growl/howl. Fantastic!
Perhaps indicative that he's not completely abandoned his peculiarities, the third song "Band Camp" made Cup think Mr. Chesnutt was doing his best Paul Simon impression (circa Graceland) while making wry references to the movie American Pie. Plus he also gets bonus Scrabble points for fitting the word "transmogrified" into his lyrics. For fans of Neil Young, Howe Gelb, Uncle Tupelo, Jayhawks.
MPEG Download: "Stay Inside" [/audio/chesnuttstayinside.mp3]
MPEG Stream: "Stay Inside" [/audio/chesnuttstayinside.m3u]
MPEG Download: "2nd Floor" [/audio/chesnutt2nd.mp3]
A much more sedate affair than his last few outings, this dark, meloncholy 'tale' features a dreary cinematic backdrop provided by Nashville's Lambchop, who end up being the perfect foil for Vic's wry, and often plain silly sense of humor. Lambchop are exquisite, and offer the perfect musical pillow for Vic's weary head. Easily his finest record since Is the Actor Happy?. Recommended.
Here I (Cup) go again... gushing over the reissues of ol' Vic! Spent so much time last week re-visiting Chesnutts #1 and #3 that I didn't get to his sophomore release West Of Rome... yet another great album! Who can resist that withered rasp of a voice? Well... okay, it's not really for everyone, but his songwritin' and guitar playin' are much more so. Perhaps a hint at the lusher pop-infused tunes to come on his later albums, some very subtle strings are added to his barebones arrangements of guitar, piano and vocals. As with Drunk, Michael Stipe once again ably handled the producer's duties. And as with the other Chesnutt reissues, West Of Rome comes with a heaping serving of great bonus tracks! Yay!
I'm not sure who Mr. and Mrs. Keneipp are, but they're an intriguing choice of collaborators, because this charming album they've made with Vic Chesnutt is the perfect combination of two seemingly disparate styles of music. There's Vic's gravelly voiced twang-inflected loner rock, but it's mixed with a heavy dose of doped out, decadent Bowie/Eno-in-Berlin-era experimental pop. Yes, it's different from what you'd expect if you're already a Chesnutt fan, but it's very nice.
Whoa, this is quite a strange gathering of peculiar musical entities, don't you think? Mr. Chesnutt's collaboration with the A Silver Mt. Zion folks last year made total sense in its beautiful bleakness. Psst, it was called North Star Deserter and we heartily recommend it! However, when we heard the names Vic Chesnutt and Elf Power and the mysterious Amorphous Strum in the same breath we were left scratching our heads. Nevertheless, we gave it a spin and found that this twisted roots rock album is for the most part really the Vic Chesnutt show. It's perfectly understandable though, no slight on Elf Power, but he's such a potent and distinct musical force all by his lonesome. Signs of that trademark Chesnutt vitriol-soaked distemper comes quickly. you need look no further than Dark Developments' second song "Little Fucker". Really, the only glimpse of even a bit of Elf Power's indie psych poppiness comes late in the proceedings in the seventh song, the slightly more quirkily layered pop tune "Bilocating Dog"! Definitely for devoted Chesnutt fans, but perhaps not the place to start if you're just getting your feet wet, nor if you're looking for a new Elf Power album!
It has been far too long since we've heard from Chessie. Seven years, in fact. And that sabbatical, hibernation, hiatus, or whatever you want to call it is somewhat quizzical, considering that Overnight (the 2001 album in question) had received heaps of acclaim from all across the board. For loyal Aquarius customers who happened to venture in the store around that time, Overnight was on the short list of albums that seemed to be in constant rotation here in the store, alongside the likes of Spoon's Girls Can Tell, the first New Pornographers album, Amon Duul II's Yeti, and the Andrew Chalk / Jonathan Coleclough collaboration Sumac. We have our beloved former co-worker Byram Abbott to thank for getting Overnight under our collective skin. Seven years later, Chessie works their magic once again.
A duo comprised of Stephen Gardner and Ben Bailes, Chessie operates along the borders between digitally crunched electronics and impressionist shoegazing. Gardner began his off-and-on musical career in US shoegazing indie-pop band Lorelei back in the early '90s, with a smattering of impressive singles that clearly formed the foundation for Chessie's chiming guitars grafted into an electronica context. Many of the songs on Manifest enjoy wistfully slow-burning, post-pop crescendos (e.g. Pinback, early Stereolab) as remixed through the fizzing Max/MSP patches of Fennesz. Shuffling motorik breakbeats, pierced bleeps 'n' bloops, blissed-out washes of multi-tracked guitars, and maudlin samples from muted French horns and strings pock the album's varied tracks, with occasionally lulls into hypnotic atmospherics only to snap into some truly memorable pop hooks. Had Chessie decided to incorporate a vocalist, perhaps they might be the next Postal Service; but the more adventurous route of the instrumental better serves Chessie's sensibility. A very highly recommended album, and one which will no doubt be on lost of folks 2008 top ten lists!
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
-- GET THE US VERSION INSTEAD!
At long last, we've received the new, second album from the French instrumental post-rock duo Cheval De Frise. (With the help of an free internet translator and my meager high school French, I can confidently proclaim that their name means, uh, "Horse of Curls" in English. Hmm. Furthermore, the title of this record, I am sure, means "Frescos On The Secret Partitions Of The Skull".) Their previous album on Sonore was a fave 'round here, falling somewhere between Don Cab and Gastr del Sol... This new disc is, we're happy to report, more of the same: acoustic guitars (and electric) vs. drums, both very active and complex yet quite pretty too, the tangle they make. Dynamic and detailed, Cheval de Frise rock out with the elegance of a math equation scribbled on a doily. Imagine an introspective, high-end-eq'd Ruins, or a Hella with hitherto unrevealed, somewhat mellow and romantic qualities. Look for a US release of this, on Frenetic in October...something we learned only after we got these imports, which at least aren't especially pricey.
Haven't heard from these guys in a while. Oft described as Don Caballero meets Gastr Del Sol, due to their mathy post rock sound, and the fact that the guitar player wields an acoustic guitar. But he still kicks up quite a din, and he has to since the drummer is a wild beast, like the dude from Hella but with a bit more restraint. And in fact, that might even be another shorthand description of this here 10", it does sort of sound a bit like a less spastic and more reserved Hella. Their sound has changed very little, tangled complex acoustic guitar doing serious battle with some crazy octopoidal drumming that swings from reserved shuffle to free jazz freakout to metallic pound, often within the same song. If anything, they've managed to get even more mathy, sounding at times almost like some sort of indie post rock free jazz, fluttery melodies, shuffling skitter, that bursts into full on furious strumming and blown out wall of drumnoise, before slipping back into dreamy minimal groove. These guys still blow our minds, managing to be crazy instrumentalists without losing sight of the part about songs being catchy and fun to listen to. Definitely recommended, for math rockers, post rockers and anyone into complex instrumental rock...
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
French duo of acoustic (but not quiet!) guitar and drums that play in an instrumental 'post-rock' vein -- a shorthand description would be to call them a cross between Don Caballero and Gastr del Sol (but better!). Complex, dynamic, and full of that delicate post-rock beauty...although we can't figure out why bands like this, with musicians this good, don't play metal instead. On the same label that brought us the last two Ruins releases.
The second of two new releases from the UK's Trensmat Records, the first being the long awaited Cave ep elsewhere on this list, and this one, the first we've heard from a one man band from NY called Cheval Sombre, whose sound is a delicate, druggy slowcore, not all that far removed from folks like Galaxie 500 or Spacemen 3, the music soft billowy swirls, slow burning soft focus buzz, all drifting gently beneath hushed soft vocals, that are sometimes a dead ringer for the Spacemen.
As with all Trensmat 7"s, the record also includes a bonus cd-r, featuring the tracks from the 7" as well as an extra bonus track. The opener is a gorgeous lazy, late night slow crawl, soporific and cough syrupy, no drums, just long slowly unfurling ribbons of guitar and keyboard, and those sweet lullaby like vocals. The second track, produced by Spacemen 3's Sonic Boom, is an even murkier blurrier version of the opener, all the sounds muted and smeared into indistinct streaks of buzz, the vocals flipped backwards (you know how we love backwards!), the whole track woozy and off kilter, melty and psychedelic, but still dark and dizzy and dreamy.
The bonus track on the cd-r, also features a slowcore, bliss rock guest, Britta Phillips from the duo Dean & Britta (with Dean from Galaxie 500) produces, the result, another hazy, washed out soft around the edges slow folky drift, all glimmering guitar, tinkling chimes, reverbed vocals, all floating in an expanse of sweetly swirling lowercase musical murmur. So lovely.
Fans of druggy slow motion blessed out psych pop (who isn't?!?) will definitely love this. Full color sleeve, printed cd-r, and of course, as always, SUPER LIMITED!
Not a new release anymore, but still well worth mentioning, at last... Chevreuil are not your average mathy post rock band, and we don't just mean musically. Starting with the cover image, of a skinny shirtless man sprawled on the asphalt, his head under a little patch of Astroturf, to the poster inside, of another man dressed all in white, head covered in blood, standing atop a little ladder, to the instrumentation: voice, samples, harmonica, magnetic drums and touch guitar, to the legend printed inside the cd case: "This record is connected to SCIENCE." And the music is just as off kilter and confusingly brilliant.
Falling somewhere between Feuhler, Turing Machine, Hella and the Champs, but managing to not sound anything like any of them, Chevreuil are more like Faust or Can reincarnated as some damaged experimental post rock band. Drums are everywhere, pounding and shuffling, complex dense and agitated, loud and super powerful, laying a solid framework for the hypnotically looped guitars. and buzzy bits of sampled synth. Sort of like a krautrock Hella, but way more fragmented, stuttering and convoluted, and somehow more aggressively tweaked.
Definitely one of the coolest weirdest bands doing the mathrock / postrock thing, turning a somewhat played out sound into a super fucked and freaked out blast of hyper rhythmic psychedelic weirdness.
Absolutely recommended!!
Maybe it's the Slint reunion (just ask Andee or Elliott about how awesome that show was!!) or those for-now-aborted Bastro releases we were waiting for, but we've been kinda been feeling the post-rock 'round here lately. So this disc by French instrumental post-rock outfit Chevreuil showed up at just the right time. They remind us of a comforting Don Caballero, a slightly scatterbrained Circle, or a more warm n' relaxed version of AQ faves Feuhler. And the use of synth brings in comparisons to local boys Crime In Choir too. First released in 2003 by the French label Ruminance (the same folks who brought us the last Cheval de Frise when it was an import), now slightly updated and released domestically by Sick Room, Chateauvallon consists of eleven instrumental post-rock jams that just do us right. We especially like how their hypnotic grooves and repetitive riffery are allowed some wobbly breathing room...they're far from sloppy but seem to get intentionally off-kilter and fucked-up sounding, like a dizzy Discipline (King Crimson), while paradoxically remaining tight as an Albini-recorded drum (which some of the drums on here are, in fact). Even math rock, sometimes 2 + 2 = 5 can work, it seems. These derailments and double-exposures that they work into their songs serve to increase the pleasurable tensions that are always a post-rock calling-card...as is the mixture of mellow and pretty with the sudden on-rush of the hard and metallic which Chevreuil also expertly employ herein.
So, if you've got a soft spot for the post-rock, or want to try some on for size, this is our latest fave in the field for sure!
There's two kinds of post rock, the sort of jazzy, drifty, Tortoise-y modern Krautrock bliss of bands like, well, Tortoise, and To Rococo Rot, Tarentel, all shuffling and dreamy and shimmery, and then there's this. A churning, chops heavy, rhythmic and textural workout. Big BIG drums, even when the surrounding music is muted and subtle, the drums are still pounding and deftly navigate dense tangled time signatures and stretches of full on pounding rock, The guitar parts are slippery and noodly, often supplying texture more than melody. A lovely abstract counterpoint to the booming big drum framework. French duo Chevreuil travel a similar sonic post rock path on Sport (a reissue of a 2000 release) as outfits like Dazzling Killmen, Shellac, Fuehler, Lynx and the like but an ultra stripped down version of any of those. All instrumental, thick and propulsive, each track is a dizzying swirl of proggy guitar filligee drifitng like clouds of multi colored dust around the whirling dirvish drums, an impossibly octopoidal, solid as a rock, pounding pummeling percussive crush. All that said, this will still most assuredly appeal to fans of Tortoise and other likeminded post rockers, but it's a lot weirder and heavier and more fucked up sounding. A bit like Tortoise's bad ass little post rock brother who carries a switchblade and runs with the wrong crowd and hangs out on the corner in the bad part of town and can't be bothered to write songs or listen to jazz, opting instead to put some spikes and studs on his Members Only jacket, and turning the drums WAY up and just sort of wandering aimlessly, seeing where the music might take him. Or better yet, imagine, Hella or Lightning Bolt played at 16rpm, the spastic splattery drumming becoming a solid chugging rhythm, the suquirrelly squiggly guitar freakouts, transformed into shimmering melodyscapes and near ambient guitar swirl.
Awesome surreal moldy ground beef cover art too!
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
We pretty much have a standing order for anything that PlusTapes releases. Much like Mississippi, PlusTapes has become the sort of label folks collect, which as we've mentioned before is pretty remarkable for a label so young. But so far, almost every release we've gotten from PlusTapes has flown out of here. And like Mississippi, they've also decided to dabble in more contemporary sounds, along with their ambitious reissue campaigns. Supporting their local scene, while paying homage to the past. Such is the case with these two latest releases, both limited to 100 copies, and we got less than 20 of each.
PlusTapes really couldn't get more eclectic. Indonesian pop, surf music from Singapore, dramatic cabaret folk from former industrial icons, Peruvian garage rock, and now thrash metal from Chicago. Hell yeah!
The appropriately named Chicago Thrash Ensemble are a furious thrashing four piece hell bent on wreaking utter musical havoc, blazing riffage, furious drumming, lightning speed tempos, raspy glass gargling vocals, some little bits of shred here and there. All recorded super raw and lo-fi and in-the-red like some lost eighties demo, what more do you need to know. How about it, the tape is blood splattered (okay, maybe it's red paint, but still!), the covers feature a weird hand drawn heavy metal kid binder beast, with the band's name in the mouth, and the evil eyes glowing red, thanks to an extra set of red eyes pasted on to the plastic case. Oh and they totally shred, it's hard to tell if these guys are true metalheads, or indie kids getting their thrash ya ya's out, but it hardly matters, it's heavy, thrashy, with plenty of nods to Slayer of course, with some wannabe "Raining Blood" and "Angel Of Death" moments, what's not to love? These guys probably destroy live, Chicago folks should definitely check them out. The rest of us will just have to make do with this little plasticky bit of old school thrash, and enjoy the vio-lence vicariously!
LIMITED TO 100 COPIES. We have less than 20. Cool hand drawn covers, lots of beasts and creatures, glowing red eyes pasted onto the tape case, the tapes themselves 'blood' splattered, each one hand numbered.
Finally one of the greatest bands ever (Doubt it?!?! Email me and we will debate to the death) gets the deluxe reissue treatment. Nicely packaged in a digipak with a slip cover and remastered (but no bonus tracks...lame). Kick ass seventies soul flecked rock and roll with plenty of weird 'free' jazz piano, kick ass horns and unforgettable tunes. Their arrangements were complex, unpredictable and brilliant; 14 minute songs with different sections that keep you wondering what's coming next. Some of the best guitar playing you will ever hear (Chicago had guitar?!?!?). Guitarist/vocalist Terry Kath was even one of Hendrix's guitar heroes! And Kath supplied all of the rock and roll charisma and energy with his raspy growl (later replaced by the whiny and annoying Peter Cetera, who in the old days just played bass), wicked guitar playing and his totally rock and roll death, PLAYING RUSSIAN ROULETTE! FUCK YEAH. There's also a freaked out instrumental Fushitsusha-worthy wild and psychedelic guitar freak out track that Allan and many other visitors to Aquarius mistook for Haino, Cline, Brotzman and any other of a number of noise-y guitarists! Did you realise Chicago were so cool?? I thought not. AND they were formed on February 15th, my birthday!!! Which also, for the record, makes us (me AND Chicago) AQUARIUSES!! What more do you need to know. Buy it. Or listen to the sound samples and be converted!!
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
A double seven inch from the DHR electronica realms of low IQ punk fury thrown onto 808s and powerbooks. Chicks on Speed follows Cobra Killer's alienated and blatant sampling in a new wave context... DMX Krew (the same who did those cheese-ball electro cuts for Rephlex???) cranks out the punk rock songs, literally.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
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J.P. Massiera related! Hendrix-y French heavy psych.
An increasingly prolific body of work is emerging from a loose collective of San Francisco artists and musicians, a group that has spawned such neo-psychedelic improvisers as Thuja, Mirza, The Knit Separates, The Blithe Sons, and now The Child Readers.
In the ongoing stream of releases, the Jewelled Antler collective continues to offer new facets to their signature of hazy, psychedelic improvisations; but of all of their productions, none are as risktaking as The Child Readers. The collaboration between Loren Chasse and Jason Honea, The Child Readers juxtaposes the detail oriented field recordings that Chasse brings to his numerous projects with Honea's idiosyncratic songs that center on Honea's fluttering falsetto. For those 'purists' in the field recording community, Honea's voice, uttering stream of consciousness lyrics of wide-eyed wonder and innocence, may be an irritation within the time-based narratives that Chasse builds though his seemless collages of crows, airplanes, and campfire cracklings. Yet, there is a strange logic that exists in The Child Readers, which seeks to reconcile Chasse's field recordings and Honea's voice by blurring everything into expressions of natural sound. The Child Readers cares little for semantic distinctions, preferring to concentrate on listening to each other and what they bring to the collaborative process and wandering wherever inspiration takes them. "Dark Laughter" is sloppy, obtuse, and occasionally stumbles; but even in those falterings, The Child Readers could be one of the more rewarding projects you will find.
MPEG Download: "Perfect Rainbow" [/audio/childreadersperfect.mp3]
"It's not magic, it's music". The Child Readers are the duo of Jewelled Antler mainstay Loren Chasse and vocalist Jason Honea of The Knit Separates. This, their third album (the two earlier ones were cd-rs on JA, now out of print) is something like an audio postcard from their own far-off fantasyland... They give free reign to their creativity, with tracks here ranging from textural noise/drone of near Merzbowian dimensions to the folky acoustic song-fragments seemingly recorded on a picnic in the woods...We hear child and adult voices mingling, alongside tape spooling and twinkling tinkling toy piano or chiming music box sounds...Honea's sensitive, melodic vocals might be accompanied equally by sparsely strummed guitar and the burble of a brook. Lyrically, he could be taking inspiration from children's stories -- that is, stories BY children. Such as the weirdness of "The Shark Airplane". Other tracks, like "Sexual Anguish (including The Psychic Castle)" can only be the work of grown up children. Full of interesting textures and real emotion, this is yet another excellent Jewelled Antler-related release, something like Honea's inner child being babysat by the Blithe Sons. Euro import, limited.
Yay, 'tis time for another delightful dose of Jewelled Antler goodness... these dusty gems aren't strewn about the twiggy forest floor as much as they used to be (back in the day of Jewelled Antler's prolific cd-r production), so it's with even greater pleasure that we regard this latest from Jewelled Antler potentate Loren Chasse (Of, Ov, Thuja, Blithe Sons, Franciscan Hobbies, The Knit Separates, etc.) and his compatriot, and Berlin-based expatriate, Jason Honea (The Shitty Listener, Teenage Panzerkorps, Chord Fort, The Knit Separates, Franciscan Hobbies).
The usual hazy Jewelled Antler soundworld of abstruse natural field-recordings, fragmented folky melodies, and the textural droning of acoustic instruments (and non-instruments) is utterly entered into here, with the gentle, lullaby-like vocals of Mr. Honea softly taking you by the hand to wander in wonderment through it all. The music glistens and shimmers and sighs like the soughing sound of wind in the trees, and Honea's voice does too... it's some sort of lo-fi, fairytale indie-rock, though not very rock - the angular outset of the track "A Loved Thing/Gull's Blood" being the most raucous, rock-like thing here, almost Swell Maps-ish, reminding us, as much of this does, of likeminded New Zealanders Pumice... mostly though, while replete with much buzzing noise and sudden shiftings, this certainly on the dreamier and driftier side of things! Imagine Martyn Bates magically transported into the musical context of a Charles Burchfield landscape painting, perhaps... yet with this duo's "weird dude energy" keeping things interesting and unexpected (for instance, "A Poem In One Song" features indistinct background groanings that we recognize as Loren being silly).
Jason's intimate, close-miced vocals provide distorted textures of their own to go with the rather abstract music-making, always melodic and soothing even if you never bother to puzzle out the imagery of his improvised, stream-of-conciousness lyrics, some of which probably have to do with his new experience of fatherhood!
There's a sweet sixteen audio tracks here, plus four MPG4 video clips as a bonus! A few guests drop in to join Chasse and Honea on some of the songs, including Rob Reger (Thuja), former AQer Christine Boepple (Ov, Skygreen Leopards, Whysp), and Mark Williams (Mirza, Father Beard). Meanwhile, the videos take you out in the field with the Child Readers, each one a perfect visual analog to the accompanying music (four non-album tracks), full of natural scenery and more of that "weird dude energy", Jewelled Antler style. For these alone this is probably a must-buy for any Jewelled Antler fan or follower - if it wasn't already - since this fourth Child Readers disc (after 2 cd-rs on JA and a cd on Mallard Lake, all seemingly years and years ago) is perhaps our new favorite. Sometimes it's hard for us to express how much we like these records, 'cause we're friends with these guys and we feel weird gushing to much, but this IS fantastic. So glad the Child Readers are still up to their (un)usual hijinks. Recommended!!
What do you get when you mix Bay Area grind sludge noise rock sonic deconstructionists Burmese with local howling heavies Kowloon Walled City? You might guess something heavy? Brutal? Punishing? Pummeling? You would think. But this strange hybrid does in fact exist, and is called Child's Wife, and probably better described as tripped out, psychedelic, druggy, electronic, and heck even poppy!
Even we were confounded, we were sort of expecting some downtuned crush, something harsh and hellish, but heck, these guys get enough of that in their day jobs. We always wonder why the hell folks feel compelled to start new bands that sound exactly like their old bands anyway. So in that sense, it should maybe come as no surprise that Child's Wife sound NOTHING like either Burmese OR Kowloon Walled City. Instead, it's a twisted drum machine driven, psych pop of sorts. Lysergic and druggy, looped and woozy, but definitely pop. Guitars crunch and buzz, even jangle here and there, but are not metallic, not in the least, the rhythms are electronic, and skitter and pulse, and the vocals, well, the vocals are the focal point, much of the time at least, a distorted, reverbed croon, surprisingly melodic, the songs in some ways reminiscent of the poppiest Butthole Surfers moments, with a little Residents mixed in, a little industrial crunch and clatter, plenty of new wave / cold wave vibes, all mixed with a little, wait for it... XTC, yep, you heard us, sounds fucked and bizarre and impossible, and maybe it is, but it's also pretty cool. Twisted and tweaked, but definitely cool.
Probably not what most Burmese / KWC fans are looking for, but any one in the market for some freaky, outsider, psychedelic, noise rock new wave weirdness, well, this is definitely FOR YOU.
Billy Childish has been playing garage, writing poetry and painting for going on 25 years now. This retrospective documents his prolific and ever awesome garage rocking career, featuring tracks by The Pop Rivits, The Milkshakes, Thee Mighty Caesars, Thee Headcoats and right up to now with the Buff Medways as well as solo tracks and a bit of poetry.
He is also the genius behind the all-girl bands the Delmonas and the Thee Headcoatees, who both make an appearance. The 2 discs are in chronological order, so the first disc is crazy lo-fi fucked up punk rock before it slowly progresses into a little cleaner, better recorded garage. One of my favorite things about Mr. Childish is his knack for picking great songs to cover., all those old mean rock 'n roll songs from the '50s that one may never have heard if it wasn't for Billy. I (Sadie) am a true fan. I love this guy in all his phases and this is a great retrospective.
Everything you ever wanted to know about Billy Childish? Perhaps. With no filmmaking experience but a desire to document the life of the enigmatic, emphatically non-commercial artist, Graham Bendel was granted access to a few months of Childish's day to day life to gather footage for his film "Billy Childish Is Dead" subtitled "a fascinating insight into the world of Billy Childish -- painter, musician, poet and writer". And indeed, it is! Fans of Childish will surely find much that pushes their intrigue and interest buttons. He candidly chats about a plethora of topics including (but not at all limited to) his childhood and his artistic pursuits. On the music side of things, there's plenty of footage and discussion about all of his garage rock bands Thee Headcoats, Thee Mighty Caesars, Thee Milkshakes, and The Buff Medways as well as interviews with his musical chums Holly Golightly and Shane MacGowan. There's also a good deal presented on his incredible body of writings and paintings. Contrary to the title (which Childish came up with himself), this documentary reveals the gent to be very much alive and his work to be as vital as ever.
Oh Billy, how your music bristles with wonderfully wry snarkiness in true blue vintage garage rock tradition! Not always pretty, not always kind, but always a down'n'dirty kick in the pants for those who're feeling a bit sluggish both mentally and physically. With raw, screamin' yowl vocals and guitars to match, this unholy terror is as punk as hell. He darn near breathes fire. If your ears have somehow missed being touched by Childish's torrent of garage rawk over the last quarter century, by all means, make this YOUR first Billy Childish album. This cd compiles songs from a whole bunch of his musical projects... and there have been many! The Buff Medways, The Pop Rivets, The Chatham Singers, The Buffets, The Delmonas, Thee Mighty Caesars, Thee Headcoats and their female counterpart Thee Headcoatees are all included here (hey, why no Milkshakes?!). Whew. Be sure to keep a cold flannel nearby to cool your fevered brow and feet.
While we've always loved us some Billy Childish, there's something about when he and Holy Golightly collaborate that just takes it to the next level for us! And maybe it's because as much as we love Billy we love love love Holly Golightly! She's without a doubt one of the strongest, sexiest, and most confident singers of her generation. She possesses a timeless poignancy that we think will make her even more revered and appreciated as time goes on. Luckily her inclusion on The Broken Flowers soundtrack helped her reach a well deserved wider audience. When she joined The Headcoatees in 1991 she became a part of one of the best garage bands of that decade. She and Childish side by side are like a grittier version of Lee Hazelwood and Nancy Sinatra. This is a reissue of the pair's 1999 album and it still packs a serious punch. Primal blues soaked rockabilly with a garage pop sensibility. It don't get a whole lot better than this!
Billy Childish is a man of many hats -- writer, painter, rocker -- and his three decade spanning body of work while wearing each of those chapeaux has proven to be remarkably varied. Nothing would really surprise us, but Childish and EM Records have thrown us for a loop with this reissue of a rare album from 1988. Calico Jack alias Wild Billy hooked up with his backing band The Blackhands (aka Bill, Ludella, Kyra, Richard, Dave, and Seamus) to slip into, of all things, a calypso kind of mood! Fear not diehard fans, he's still got his trademark reckless snarl though as he rambles through loose and light hearted renditions of "Rum And Coca Cola", "I Love Paris" and "Anarchy In The U.K." Raw and gritty, and recorded with one microphone. Rad! EM does it again!
Oh, and EM fans, look out for this summer's "EM Under Water Series" of five surfing-related reissues from '60s/'70s Australia, all really cool stuff.
We were pretty excited when we heard that Drag City was releasing a recently unearthed, 35 year old recording by members of Father Yod's Source Family commune, who are experiencing a revival of sorts nowadays what with the publication of Isis Aquarian's the book The Source and the reunion of their communal band Ya Ho Wha 13 for live performances (we also have an LP that just came out, The Feather Of Wisdom, which documents the show they played at Cafe Du Nord here in San Francisco after they, Isis, and a bunch of other Source Family members did a book signing here at Aquarius the afternoon of 11/18/07). Having heard the Children Of The Sixth Root Race now, though, we're not -quite- so excited, as we'll explain...
The songs on this disc were recorded by The Source's musical unit Spirit of '76 (who later would morph into the Ya Ho Wha 13) during rehearsals for a 1973 gig at LA's Whisky A Go Go. The sound is excellent, with a few minor distortions, it sounds like a "real" studio album not merely practice tapes.
Those familiar with the contents of the 13-cd God And Hair box set know that records by Father Yod's flock could vary from the utterly cosmic to the unintentionally comic. That the music of a New Agey commune from LA in the '70s would be sometimes sorta cheesy is perhaps no surprise, but at their higher key best, the Ya Ho Wha 13's throbbing, out-there psychedelic garage improvs on albums like Penetration: An Aquarian Symphony and I'm Gonna Take You Home made 'em the closest American equivalent to the krautrock likes of Amon Duul and German Oak. So that's what we were hoping for on this record, of course... but instead, these are mostly zippy, uplifting psych-pop-prog productions with choruses of female vocals and funky guitar licks, that sound like they could be showtunes intended for a churchy, hippie musical theatre production along the lines of Hair or Godspell. The mellower numbers are also dated-sounding preachy pop ballads. It's all quite catchy, but also kinda corny. There IS entertainment value to be had, if you're into hippy kitsch. And Ya Ho Wha obsessives will want to check it out for sure. But the bottom line is, it's on the amusing, rather than amazing, side of Ya Ho Wha audio documentation. It surely ain't no Penetration. The closest they come to that sort of thing is on the apocalyptic track "Catastrophy" which makes predictions of nuclear war - to occur in "1975, maybe 1976" - and other disasters based on information from an ancient Egyptian pyramid. This prophecy is discussed over a bed of "Ya Ho Wha, Ya Ho Wha" chanting (prevalent all across this album) and chaotic sound FX. Oddly enough, this dire news segues directly into an energetically positive track called "Go With The Flow", laced with flute and acid rock guitar, that promises salvation from the Earth's upcoming catastrophies via the blessings of Yahowa. Actually, we do find ourselves getting into the groove of these somewhat more freaked out tracks towards the end of the disc...
In the liner notes, Djin Aquarian (who wrote most of this music, and still lives a very spiritual, Source Family/Rainbow Gathering lifestyle up by Mt. Shasta) mentions that after the Whisky gig, Father Yod disbanded the Spirit of '76 in favor of the "totally spontaneous, unrehearsed, channelling band" Ya Ho Wha 13, featuring Yod himself on vocals, gong, and kettle drum... a wise move by the wise man, we think. Djin also says that the same tape that was found with this material on it also, on the other side, featured "a great recording of a spontaneous jam with the Spirit of '76 backing up Father Yod"... c'mon Djin and Drag City, we want to hear that!
Post-BoxTops, pre-Big Star finally on disc.
MISSISSIPPI ALERT! MISSISSIPPI ALERT! MISSISSIPPI ALERT!
After the awesome Chin Chin 7" we reviewed a while back, we were psyched to discover that Mississippi was teaming up with Slumberland to bring us this, Swiss all girl post punk outfit Chin Chin's 1985 full length, Sound Of The Westway.
When we reviewed the single, we mentioned that this Swiss combo would appeal to folks into recent girl groups like The Girls At Dawn, Black Tambourines, Vivian Girls, Dum Dum Girls or their early eighties predecessors, Girls At Our Best, Shop Assistants, Bow Wow Wow or Lilliput (who came from the same Swiss scene as Chin Chin). And that definitely still holds true, even more so in fact, the full length finds the band way more polished and poppy, reminding us more of groups like Fuzzbox and the Belle Stars, not as urgently punk, more sort of pogo-y and poppy, the guitars thick and fuzzy, and of course jangly, lots of sweet harmonies, if one didn't know better, one might be forgiven for assuming this was in fact a new Slumberland signing, who like many of today's bands, are simply channeling the spirits of girl groups past. And listening to this now, boy would this sound pretty perfect right next to that Pains Of Being Pure At Heart record... which of course means RECOMMENDED!
Nice full color sleeve, with a 12" x 12" insert, and lengthy liner notes on the history of the band. And as with all Mississippi stuff, probably pretty limited...
MISSISSIPPI ALERT!
Another post-punk gem has been unearthed thanks to the dedicated heads of Mississippi Records. This all-girl punk-pop trio from the early eighties Swiss Punk scene has been timely rediscovered as we're in the midst of a current girl-group revival. Fans of recent groups like The Girls At Dawn, Black Tambourines, Vivian Girls, Dum-Dum Girls or their early eighties predecessors, Girls At Our Best, Shop Assistants, Bow Wow Wow or Lilliput (who came from the same Swiss scene as Chin Chin) will definitely want to check this out. Three self-penned songs from 1984 released on the band's own Farmer Records label, "We Don't Wanna Be Prisoners", "Desires Only", and "World's Burning".
Urgent punk lyrics with catchy pop hooks and harmonies, look out for their upcoming full length release to be reissued in a label collaboration between Mississippi and Slumberland records!!!!
So good!!!!!!! As always with Mississippi's 7"s, this will be gone before you know it, so you know the drill!!!
The immediately likeable Chin Up Chin Up follow the tried and true indie rock template set by bands like Pinback, Modest Mouse, Built To Spill with the punchy upstart attitude of bands like Hot Hot Heat and Maximo Park. Extra boyish and extra catchy on this their third full length, these Chicago based fellas have got it down! And wouldn't you know it, this was recorded by Brian Deck who's also worked his studio magic on Modest Mouse and Iron & Wine so you know he's well-versed in traversing this terrain.
There are no chashu bao nor any egg tarts coming from these Chinatown Bakeries (at leats not that we know of!). Instead, it's the non-edible, gentle sounds of this new SF neo-folk band -- two brothers Jon and James Sterling Pitt along with Keryn Sovella and Ryan Stively. They follow the enchanted forest path frequented by the likes of Devendra Banhart, Vetiver and Iron And The Albatross. This quartet's lo-fi homespun music nestles itself in comfortably among those artists -- a bit less high-strung than the former and a bit more barebones than the latter. Earnest, unrestrained male vocals atop banjo and guitar plickety-pluck, some flute, keyboards and harmonica too. A very promising debut. (Note: if you dig this, we also have Stively's fine solo cd-r here too).
The Bay Area's Brothers Pitt and company quickly follow-up their Chinatown Bakeries debut cd-r Rise Wide Open with this lil' guy. This disc might only be 3" in size, but it's filled to the gills with twenty one minutes of music. Simply put, Sleeps is more homespun, folksy goodness. Perhaps a bit more trippy -- in a Jandek or Wooden Wand And The Vanishing Voice sort of way -- than their last offering. Nonetheless, fine stuff once again!
Another band of NY lo-fi new wave noiseniks, the Chinese Restaurants dip one toe into gothy, gloomy, retro wave, and another into something distinctly more angular and punk rock, with muted muddied riffing, pounding minimal drums, and whiney, dramatic vocals, reminding us of groups like the Electric Eels, until all of a sudden, out of nowhere, Barack Obama begins to speak, a sample of a speech maybe, but it's SO random, the band keep chugging along, it almost sounds like you're listening to two different radio stations at once, the best part is the fact that as he speaks, his remarks are peppered with strange moans and groans from the singer, which makes the whole thing seem weirdly warped and whatthefuck.
The flipside is sample-free, and is gorgeously gothic and dirgey, the guitars syrupy and swaddled in crumbling distortion, the main melody, warped and minor key, the whole thing laced with strange swooshes and unexpected bursts of noise and static and glitchy effects, the vocals still frantic and dramatic, the second track ups the energy, pounding a bit harder, getting more punk rock, but still staying plenty snotty and new wave and lo-fi. These guys definitely dwell on the fringe of the current retro cold / new wave resurgence, but fans of releases on Sacred Bones and Captured tracks will probably dig these guys as well...
Following the pretty cool star-shaped cdep these guys released last year on Skin Graft, here's the debut full-length (for them, clocking in at a hectic half hour) from this Providence, RI outfit featuring ex-members of Arab On Radar and Six Finger Satellite. Spastic dance punk skronk stuff that ought to appeal to fans of Erase Errata.
2nd full-length from this Providence outfit, featuring ex-Arabs on Radar and Six Finger Satellites, kickin' out the slightly spazzed dancerock. Cool kids layin' down the synth-laced late night beat, singing about "Drugs And Sunshine" (an anthemic lead-off track, that one), getting high and being in love/lust. If we squint while listening, the vocals somehow remind us of the Afghan Whigs' Greg Dulli, fronting Erase Errata, but not quite.
#1 cool thing about this band: This debut cd ep of theirs is shaped kinda like a Chinese throwing star! The music is equally jagged and dangerous, totally angular and (intentionally) aggravating, art punk spazz in that currently happenin' Erase Errata neo-retro '80s new wave/no wave 'danceable' punk style. Whiny vocals, nervous energy, fucked up groove. More cool things: they have cowbell. They're made up of ex-members of Arab On Radar and Six Finger Satellite. And Load Records deemed them too annoying to sign, so they went with Skin Graft where they definitely belong. Seriously, this IS pretty cool. 5 songs, 14 minutes, great packaging.
Every time I sit down to review this record, I just can't seem to put into words what makes it so great. But as this is the last list of 2005, and this record is absolutely my favorite record of 2005, it seems like it can't be put off any longer. But it's true, I listen to this record every day, all the time. And even after months of non-stop listening I still can't get enough of it.
I'm a bit embarassed to say I first heard about Chiodos in some magazine touting them as a 'band to watch' or 'next big thing' or something. And rarely do I pay much attention to those sorts of things, but a few things definitely caught my eye. They were described as being really heavy, really ridiculously prog, a little emo, and with a vocalist who sounded quite a bit like a woman. And you know what, that's not really that far off the mark. Imagine the over the top prog of Coheed And Cambria and the proggy bombast of the Mars Volta, the angular art rock of a band like the Blood Brothers, some super intense Slayer style metal guitar, lots of piano and keyboards, ranging from delicate ballady bits to full on Cradle Of Filth style bombast, extremely emo lyrics, and a completely amazing vocalist who can go from a throat shredding howl to an impossibly high wail. Wrap all that stuff around super complex multi part epics chock full of killer riffs and unbelievable hooks, amazing drumming bizarre arrangements, and vocals that are just so completely are gloriously over the top. Some parts of this record are just SO massively punishingly crushing. Full on headbanging brutality. The opening riff to "The Words 'Best Friend' Become Redefined" would make any thrash metal band proud. Just check the sound sample.
This is also one of those records that has lots of THOSE parts, you know the kind, the parts that give you chills EVERY time you hear them, or make you use every ounce of self control to not wildly air guitar or drum madly on the steering wheel while you're driving. One of which just might be THE part, maybe the ULTIMATE part. Freaks me out every time I hear it. Makes me want to hear it over and over and over. Makes me wish I had written it, makes me wish I was in a band just so I could play it. Check out the sound sample for "Baby, You Wouldn't Last A Minute On The Creek" and see if you can tell which part I mean. Shouldn't be too difficult. The fact is, this whole record kicks my ass that hard. Rare that a record can pull off being this heavy, this complex, this emo, this over the top all at the same time. Without devolving into something impossible and confusing. And it is wildy all over the map, sonically schizophrenic, but somehow every part just sounds completely perfect. The more I listen to it the more perfect it sounds. Anyway, not sure what else to say. It all comes down to the music, so a quick listen to the sound samples should tell you all you need to know, is this indeed the best record of the year, or is Andee full of shit? Well, just so you know, this IS the record of the year, and if for some crazy reason you don't agree, you're probably just mistaken. Or wrong.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
