If one is to believe those VH-1 "Behind The Music" specials, the brotherly disputes between Noel and Liam Gallagher are ancient history and both have been getting along splendidly in their relative sobriety. Yet, the music that their Oasis has been producing as of late is far from being "godlike" (to paraphrase Liam's coke-induced megalomania during "Wonderwall" era Oasis). As blasphemous as it may sound, Oasis' second album "What's The Story Morning Glory" is probably the best Beatles album that McCartney and Lennon didn't pen themselves. If you're going to commit an artistic felony, you should do it on the grandest of scales; and that's exactly what the Gallaghers did in their outright pilfering of the Beatles on that album.
It's possible that during the aftermath of that album, the numerous reconciliations, drug intervention programs, and general turmoil, Oasis started to feel guilty about their theft and have attempted to re-invent themselves as sounding 'unique.' "Heathen Chemistry" is the third album following "What's The Story Morning Glory" and it sounds exactly like you'd expect: recycled UK-beat / psych riffs, the twin vocal sneer from the brothers, and an upbeat pop sensibility crafted out of minor-keys. Yet without the thrill of the swindle, neither Liam nor Noel seem to rock with any enthusiasm. So, this album is pretty good, and will probably do well enough for them. But it's clear that Oasis won't be winning any new fans with this one.
With pretty little electronic bells, pretty little electronic melodies, and pretty little electronic rhythms, Opiate has crafted a pretty little record in "While You Were Sleeping." Denmark's Thomas Knak (aka Opiate) has had the good fortune to work with such electronica luminaries as Bjork and Carsten Nicolai, with his own work falling squarely in between those two distinct aesthetics, bringing a wide-eyed and wondrous sense of melody to the clinical sterility of the Raster glitch 'n' pulse. "While You Were Sleeping" appears to be a collection of oddities, collaborations, and compilation tracks that Opiate produced during the past couple of years. If you never read the liner notes, you would probably never know that this was a compilation as Opiate's sound is so uniformly solid that an album of ephemera even sounds pretty good all the way through. Opiate's success hinges upon the interplay between stuttering, often oddly timed electronica rhythms and the perpetually minor-key melodies. For the most part, the album pulls off a moodiness similar to Boards of Canada's "Music Has The Right To Children" or Autechre's "Amber;" although Opiate's child-like lego-beats and melodic plinkiness can be a little overly cute. But that's never stopped the legions of Boards of Canada fans.
OK, I admit it. No one here is a fan of Kruder and Dorfmeister, let's just leave it at that. If you can't say anything nice... then praise the side project instead. Really, though, one snowy evening in Lake Tahoe, stoned and well-fed, I did experience several moments of communion with the debut Peace Orchestra album, Peter Kruder's solo project, which is a well-executed piece of trip hop. This here Reset record is a remix album that IMO doesn't improve on the original, in fact the differing styles of the remixers make an already sufficiently cohesive statement into a mish mash. Can't we just leave well enough alone? Remixers include: DJ DSL, Gotan Project (whose leadoff remix is actually quite lovely, especially with the added bandoneon that makes for a very Morricone-style wistfulness), Zero dB, Guillaume boulard, Truby Trio, and more.
Like the Ivo Watts-Russell / John Fryer productions as This Mortal Coil, Glen Johnson supports his endeavors in Piano Magic by surrounding himself with a constantly rotating crowd of talented guests. Where This Mortal Coil tipped the balance in their favor in covering pre-existing material (Syd Barrett, Alex Chilton, Tim Buckley, as well as other 4AD outfits like Modern English and Rema Rema), Piano Magic is firmly based upon the Johnson's ability to delegate and collaborate in order to compose new material. At his strongest on the Victorian-tinged album "Low Birth Weight," Johnson shaped his various collaborations into a cohesive, yet multi-faceted album dominated by an atmosphere of aristocratic sadness and dignified decay. Such moods have been the goal for Johnson ever since, but without the same success. This isn't to say that "Writers Without Homes" is a bad album, in fact it's quite good. But in comparison to its predecessor, this falls a little short.
With a few exceptions of bombastic percussion and theatrical vocalizations, Johnson crafts his bittersweet pop miniatures out of simple and quiet elements: a gently lulling piano, an unassuming acoustic guitar, and hushed / whispered vocals shrouded in the classic 4AD production of glistening bohemian miserablism. Johnson has rounded up an impressive roster of collaborators including '60s folk maven Vashti Bunyan, Simon Raymonde (ex-Cocteau Twins), Robert Lippok & Bernd Jestram of Tarwater, Robert Johnstone (Life Without Buildings), and plenty more.
What we had hoped to be a collection of previously unknown, unheard, and unreleased songs from the Pixies is not that at all. Essentially, this album features the remnant tracks from the demo tape (aka "The Purple Tape") that the Pixies sent to 4AD, who in turn picked 8 of the 17 demo tracks for the Pixies' debut "Come On Pilgrim." All of the songs (with the possible exception of "Rock A My Soul") have made their way onto later recordings, albeit with much better production. So there are the demo versions of "Broken Face," "Break My Body," "I'm Amazed" (all appearing on "Surfer Rosa"), "Here Comes Your Man" (making its way onto "Doolittle"), "Down To The Well" (landing on "Bossanova"), and "Subbacultcha" (later on "Trompe Le Monde") with "Build High" being a B-side track and the raucously howled version of "In Heaven" from David Lynch's "Eraserhead" which had been a BBC session and a live standard. It's a little disheartening to know that there's nothing new on this album, but would probably make die-hard fans happy. If you're new to the Pixies get "Surfer Rosa" or "Doolittle" instead, as those albums, filled with whores, mutilation, and obsessively catchy indie-rock cacophony, still rank as some of the best records ever.
Sounding like Lesser circa "Welcome To The American Experience", but with a slightly more commercial bent, Posthuman take AQ favorites Lesser, Dark Noerd and the Tigerbeat 6 stable of noiseniks, add a little Boards Of Canada and mix in a heaping spoonful of mainstream techtronica ala Prodigy or KMFDM and come up with some cool, slightly dated, too weird for the dance floor, too dance-y for the weirdos. Out-there electronica.
Epic Irish black metal band's fourth album. Quality stuff, totally heavy and majestic (with a few acoustic detours) that fits in stylistically with the likes of Enslaved and Opeth and Emperor, and even reminds us a bit of Albion's kings of mythic doom metal, Solstice (with whom they share their producer, and a similar mood). Primordial's varied vocals (from clear, sometimes overwrought tones to wretched rasps), dynamic songwriting, thunderous drumming, and folkish melodies conjure up a world of ancient Irish metal fantasy, from storming battle scenes to ponderous, sad laments. We found their previous album "Spirit The Earth Aflame" (perhaps their masterpiece) to be more immediately thrilling, but this one's good too.
We've had this disc before, in a home-brewed version released by Sir Proscriptor McGovern himself (he's the drummer for the amazing Texas occult metal band Absu). That version was cheap (packaged in a paper sleeve, no jewel case), and is now gone. But now "The Serpentine Has Risen" rises again, getting a 'proper' release via the Dragon Flight label. So if you didn't pick up the original, now you can get this one for only a few bucks more -- likewise, you could get it again if you have the old version but would prefer a jewel case and more 'pro' packaging (but, the tracks are the same).
Here's some more info for those who aren't 100 percent Proscriptor-savvy: this is the follow-up to Proscriptor's first bizarre solo record "The Venus Bellona". As we said when listing the earlier version, those who have heard "The Venus Bellona" know that Proscriptor's solo stuff is hardly black metal, it's more like an experimental soundtrack to his personal magickal / historickal mythology. This disc follows suit. As the liner notes put it, in such a way as to give a sense of his aesthetick that our own description never could: "Not only has Proscriptor composed euphonic concoctions of oscillation experimentations, pre-to-post wave art musicology, and folklore prestige, but also has expressed his ancestral customs from Glenorchy District to the Prioma Materia of Thoth once again." And we challenge any music critics to dispute that! As with his main band, Proscriptor never steps out of character, everything is always mysterious and arcane (even his emails to us appeared to be translated from Latin!). Just a glance at this album's credits will confirm his dedication to such weirdness: guitars and basses are always referred to as "six-fold bows" and "four-fold bows", and we find Proscriptor and his conspirators credited with the likes of "blaze illuminations" and "infrequent voices that are unseen" as well as "unicursal hexagrams" and "symmetrical tartan designs". Of course, none of this would matter if the music wasn't equally odd and evocative, and it is. Apart from the very rock n' roll "Devil Woman" cover, that is (which is the one brief moment, as with the Flock of Seagulls cover on his previous disc, that tells you that perhaps this guy isn't ENTIRELY serious...but then again, maybe he IS and that's even scarier!!)...
The Chicago issue. Mekons, underground hip hop crew Molemen, Homocore Chicago, Venus magazine, deathrow inmate Aaron Patterson, Tortoise, punk rock hot dog merchant Doug Sohn, low-income neighborhood organizer James Mumm, Bloodshot Records, The Dishes, DIY book your own big show.
Why? and Odd Nosdam from Anticon/Mush mainstays cLOUDEAD and Greenthink demonstrate that they do nothing but record 24 hours a day by releasing their 500th record under as many different names. And again cries of quality control are quashed by just how fucking great EVERYTHING they do is! Reaching Quiet is sort of more song based, with totally tweaked (but amazingly creative) production, bizarre samples, low-fi beats, hammond organs, -and- the kitchen sink all crafted into demented little pop song/hip hop tidbits with lots of strange vocalising, rapping, spoken word, melodic warbling and flat out wailing. Sometimes haunting and otherworldy, sometimes dark and dreary sometimes goofy and silly, but always really, really good.
I'd be surprised if any of you didn't know who Rocket From The Crypt was, but just in case, here's a quick synopsis. San Diego party rock band hits the big time with rollicking, super kick ass horn flecked power-pop-punk. Become the next big thing, but never actually become THE big thing. Soundwise, Andee thinks Andrew W.K. owes it ALL to Rocket, but whatever. This here cd is a cd reissue of two super out of print vinyl RFTC rarities, the doomed 'Hot Charity' lp and the 'Cut And Play 12". Both are not ordinary RFTC records as the liner notes describe in great detail, but the long and short of it is, 'Hot Charity' was recorded twice, with lots of major label moolah, and the 'Cut and Play' 12" was released after all of that disappointing major label bullshit and recorded punk rock style with Hot Snakes bassist and hot shit San Diego engineer Gar Wood. The 'Cut And Play' 12" was originally a 12" with the record stuck to the sleeve with a sticker so you had to...duh... cut it out to play it! These are two of my favorite RFTC records, but are not necessarily the -best- rocket records. But if you don't want to buy the lps for $70 on EBAY then this cd is the way to go!
Yo, all fans of spazzed-out mathrock madness! Here's drummer/vocalist Tatsuya Yoshida and bassist/vocalist Sasaki Hisashi (joined by local guest vocalist Wong Lei on the one final improvisational track) captured live in full, frantic action on August 13th, 2000, and released on Hong Kong label Noise Asia which has also recently graced us with discs by Otomo Yoshihide and the Keiji Haino/Tatsuya Yoshida duo. The 19 tracks here mostly draw from Ruins' most recent albums, with nine songs from "Pallaschtom" and two from "Vrresto". Plus, there's a few new and/or impromptu tunes (with titles like "I Ate Yu Bing This Morning" and "Eating 7 Kinds Of Chang Fen Was Too Much") as well as some old favorites like "Hyderomastogroningem" and "Del Fanci Kant". Oh, and of course this also features their now obligatory insane progressive rock and classical music medleys (which are fun, but I always wonder if it's pandering for a band with Ruins' accomplishments to resort to what is basically gimmickery...what the hell though, such jaw-dropping entertainment can't be argued with). Nicely recorded, "Live In Guang Zhou - China" is a fine addition to the vast Ruins discography. We can't say it's essential (being their second -- or third, if you count the Enterruption cassette -- live record within less than two years) but it's darn good, and both fans and novices alike will find it suitably mind-boggling. If you ARE a novice, look elsewhere on our website for more info about Ruins, Japan's drum/bass heavy progcore dervishes.
DJ Shadow's second full length is finally here, and I do believe I (Windy) am the only AQ-er who likes it. Well, Jim thinks it's ok, but the general consensus 'twixt my colleagues is that the rest of the field has caught up to him, and he hasn't hitched up his britches to keep ahead of the herd. Hmm. I disagree. Certainly The Private Press is no Endtroducing (his acclaimed debut full length), but neither should it be. It's a lot more accessible and crowdpleasing than the debut, the layers aren't as impenetrably mysterious, and yeah, it requires less work to like it (i.e. not as challenging). But there's nuthin' wrong with that. He's keeping it interesting for himself. The Private Press is a likable, listenable (might we even say, at times lighthearted?) trip. It's got everything from the moody arpeggiated piano lines that're DJ Shadow's signature, soul divas, sad minor key laments, funny Cut Chemist / Kid Koala-style spoken bits, super epic percussive climaxes, and an all over hip hop flavor. And the heartbreakingly sincere audio letters that bracket the album are incredibly well chosen, framing the songs as an emotional musical narrative. *Very* well done.
And now for my co-workers to have their say:
We have to wonder, though, why he used that old "pure energy" sample. Why don't ya just throw in "I got the power!" too? Not to mention the overused tired, sad android voice (y'know just like the one Radiohead used).
Cup sez: We had a DJ Shadow 12" here a little while ago, and I thought one of its tracks sounded as if he'd just plugged in his Playstation 2 system and recorded the sounds of someone playing the game REZ. If you're at all familiar with the game you'll undoubtedly find the Shadow track ringing familiar too. REZ is basically a shooter game, but with an astounding combination of rave-ready sounds and gorgeously trippy visuals - both of which are manipulated by your performance. Oh yeah, and the level bosses are pretty spectacular. Stunningly beautiful and deluxe fun! Really, you could just project the game action on a wall, pump the sounds through a bad-ass sound system, and *POOF!* instant party. Anyways, that track is included here too. And it sticks out like a sore thumb which makes the REZ theory all the more plausible!
Now available on CD for a limited time! The amazing Sonny Sharrock cranks out three lengthy tracks for the BYG/Actuel label, accompanied by his lovely shrieking wife Linda, bassist Bob Guerin, and drummer Jacques Thollot. "27th Day" is a seventeen minute free psych epic that begins with minimal abstraction (and Sharrock on a slide whistle!) and slowly builds into a massive freakout fireball. "Soon", written by Linda Sharrock, is another ferocious jam that doesn't let up for its eight heart-stopping minutes. Finally, the closing "Monkey-Pockie-Boo" is more abstract and mellowed out, with Sonny and Linda chanting back and forth in an indecipherable, unconventional vocal style. The combination of Sonny's guitar playing and the voice of wife Linda on tracks like "27th Day" and "Soon" (speculation here) could almost definitely be a major influence on Japan's free noise guitar god Keiji Haino. If not, the Sharrocks and Haino were certainly treading the same cosmic terrain. Very psychedelic at times, totally out there and so intensely exhilarating. Like most releases in the BYG/Actuel catalogue, recorded in the legendary Studio Sarawah in Paris, on June 22 of 1970. Very highly recommended to those seeking out the best in free improvisation and "fire music".
More from this cult Illinois '80s metal combo. We reviewed their actual album reissue of 1985's "Winter Kill" nearby. This disc collects the previously unreleased tracks from the sessions for their aborted second album, 1987's "Free The Beast", along with some early demo material circa 1981-84. Get "Winter Kill" first, and if you want more of this band's very '80s over-the-top metal onslaught, then pick this up.
Yeah, yeah, another obscure '80s cult metal band reissued. I'd heard about this group and how amazing they were supposed to be for a long time, but when I first got the cd reissue of their only album, 1985's "Winter Kill", it sounded just like I expected: high pitched vox, widdly guitar solos, Maiden-esque songwriting... cool, yeah, but nothing special. BUT, then I listened to it again. Something about this, some X-factor, makes it VERY special (or maybe it's just me). Rather than sounding like they're derivative of Maiden, Priest, and a host of mid-'80s Metal Blade bands, Slauter Xstroyes somehow do what they do so perfectly that THEY sound like the Platonic ideal of '80s true heavy metal, the template for every other band, the originators rather than imitators. Of course this isn't actually the case, yet a few listens into it, "Winter Kill" was having that effect: while it's on your stereo, it's the ultimate in metal. I bow down. Fans of the likes of Omen, Cirith Ungol, Warlord, Manilla Road, Attacker, and Brocas Helm should add this to their collections for sure. Classy, slightly eccentric, skilled, and -- the kicker -- full of actual emotion. Absurd as it sounds -- and the vocalist's squeals do sometimes sound absurd -- this metal is for real and meaningful. From the heavy droney keyboard intro, through the album's intervening moments of galloping attack, doomy riffing, and acoustic bliss, to the closing anthem "Mother, Mother Fucker" these guys rule. If you can listen to Spinal Tap for more than comedic value, as I can, you'll agree.
Second issue of nice looking newsprint zine featuring thoughtful articles about records and artists that the reviewers actually WANT to write about and have something worthwhile to say. AQ-heartthrob Ian Christe writes about Necromandus, AQ-fave customers Bill Meyer and Jason Gross write about Kevin and Drumm and When, respectively. Au Pairs, The Faces, Wilco, Nikki Sudden, Rocket from the Crypt, Meredith monk, Koji Asano, DJ Shadow & Cut Chemist, Asmus Tietchens, that Mamma Mia! ABBA play that my mom's taking me to for my birthday (it's her third time), Jimmy Giuffre, and much more. Recommended.
We rave on and on elsewhere on this list about the Cardiacs, who are a damaged out-there pop-punk-prog beasty from the UK, described by me as "the Pixies meets the Sweet meets the Toy Dolls meets Uz Jme Doma meets Queen meets the Rocky Horror Picture Show soundtrack meets XTC but more punk rock, and more prog". Sounds good huh? Well if that sounds good to you (and it should) then check out Spratleys Japs, a logical continuation soundwise of the mighty Cardiacs, with Ms. Spratley, sometime vocalist for the Cardiacs, taking center stage and Cardiacs mainman Tim Smith right there by her side! A little more stariaght forward structurally, the sound is still gorgeous and damaged, with keening high vocals (almost impossible to tell whether it's Smith or Spratley!) perfect hooks, lots of reverbed keyboards, lush harmonies but more space than on the Cardiacs records, lots of shimmer and buzz and stretched out spaces scattered between the dizzying chunks of perfect pop. You might as well buy this one too since I KNOW you're gonna buy both the Cardiacs records and you'll be kicking yourself if you don't!!
Talk about some fine cover art!! A watercolor silhouette of a warrior, carrying a bloody scythe and a shield on horseback. Nice. Chicago's finest post rock warriors return with another blast of complex, stop/start, loud/soft saxophone studded RAWK. Long songs. Complicated but melodic enough to be memorable and rocking enough to kick ass! Super tight and super fierce, after an almost break up, and some line-up changes a few years back, this band just keeps getting better and better. Fans of Hella, Don Caballero, A Minor Forest, Dianogah, Rumah Sakit and all that sort of stuff will very likely have a new favorite record!
While strictly limited to the subscribers of the "Purposeful Availment" series, we have managed to get hold of a handful of this 6 song EP from the San Francisco ensemble Tarentel, which finds the group pushing even further away from the epic post / space rock that defined their "From Bone To Satellite" album. These days, Tarentel is far more content to build their barren, desert-like atmospheres out of those interwtining Slint-ish / Morricone guitar quotations, without ever having to crank up the volume. While their earlier incarnations of the quiet / LOUD dynamism mounted some furiously beautiful live shows, Tarentel's recent balancing act has been located between the traditional rock instrumentation of bass, guitars, and drums (although the drums haven't been of much use as of recent) and the Max/MSP digital tricks promoted by Fennesz, Stephan Mathieu, and Ekkehard Ehlers. "Fear Of Bridges" switches off with the spartan guitar interplay on one track and the laptop re-interpretations of Tarentel sounds into gossamer droning pieces spinning with digitally pointilistic details. If it's any indication where Tarentel is heading, guitarist Jefre Cantu has a couple of solo projects of his laptop work coming out soon and there's a Tarentel release on the electronica boutique label Bottrop-Boy also in the pipeline.
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The man they call MC Trachiotomy is a cohort of mad sonic scientist/organist Mr. Quintron from New Orleans. Certainly not to be confused with their ladyfriend and puppet wrangler Miss Pussycat! Such a mysterious, eccentric trio they make. You might've spotted them on Quintron's recent Drum Buddy tour. What is a Drum Buddy? Well, it's another Mr. Quintron invention, an amazing light beam triggered spinning instrument contraption thing that spews crazy drum beats and sounds, and it makes an appearance on this cd too! Anyways, back to the business at hand, "W/ Love From Tahiti" is Trachiotomy on his own, and yes, it was indeed recorded in Tahiti. You might find this cd in the hip hop section of many record shops, but we're not so sure if that's really the right place for him to be. His often incoherent mumbling sort of sounds like a cross between Tom Waits and Bill Cosby. This "rapping" is plopped over a jumble of shuffling beats (many I'm sure are courtesy of the aforementioned DB) and assorted samples. Quite haphazard and homespun, distorted and a bit murky. The sizeable sample of Steve Martin as Navin Johnson in the movie The Jerk on the track called "Valentine" (I think that's the title, but I can't really tell for sure 'cause the liner notes are in messy chicken scratch) perked up my ears, but that might be because it sticks out amid the tracks as a *somewhat* coherent voice. Note: there is a warning in the liner notes that states "this is 'THE' baby makin' music. NNUUUUUTTHIN' BUT SSLLOOOOWW JJJAAAAAAAAMMMMZZZZZ!" Hmmm, dunno 'bout that! But whether or not that's completely true, we do recommend proceeding with caution. Maybe it's just me, but I found this to be some pretty weird, swampy and a bit dirty stuff - especially the track called "Along Th' Coast" that's driven (ha ha! bad pun intended) by a play-by-play pitstop commentary of the changing of a Maserati's tires. Something's might be better experienced live and in the flesh. You might say "Yikes!" or you might say "Yum!"
This Virginia band plays real heavy metal, '80s Iron Maiden style, like few others in the world today (Skullview, Metallucifer, Wolf, Sacred Steel, and their touring pals The Lord Weird Slough Feg are a few of 'em). Sure, "power metal" is all the rage in Europe, but this is just more underground and cult and non-commerical than bands like Hammerfall and Primal Fear.
Much better produced than their Miskatonic debut, this second TTD album soars with bald burly frontman Tony Taylor's Bruce Dickinson / Geoff Tate style vox, rips with the ace twin guitar attack of Scott Waldrop and Dave Boyd, and pounds with the rhythm section of Jim Murad (bass) and Marc Stauffer (drums). While TTD's songs are still a bit generic (titles like "Sign of the Storm" and "Battle Cry" tend to indicate as much), what do you really want from five guys in black leather and bullet belts? Some silly headbanging tuneage, and that's what you get. They're still young, maybe they'll develop more personality in the future. For now, they uphold the flame of metal more proudly than most (although we could do with more memorable riffs and less balladry). Besides, their cheesy fantasy cover art can't be beat (a painting of the band in medieval armor, hanging out with a big ol' dragon).
Reissue of the second Charles Tyler recording for the seminal ESP Disk label in 1967 in which the former Ayler collaborator introduced a formative backing band consisting of solely a cellist and two bassists. "Eastern Man Alone", presents itself as a low end version of a string quartet backing a confidently mellow Tyler on alto. Really Nice.
Like Autechre and Squarepusher, Norway's mysterious Upland (a person? a duo? a group?) offers up the sort of instrumental electronica that in some ways could be seen as the avant-garde player piano music of the 21st century. Upland's densely clicking, stuttering, sputtering geiger-counter frenzies are manipulated into impossibly broken yet pleasing rhythms. These glitchy textures are backed by by ominous synth drone-tones and thick buzzes. Rather noir-ish and quite listenable.
Norway's always-interesting, and stylish, Jester label has provided this with a 16 page cd booklet with no text, just beautiful artwork: scratched up prints of a repeating moon-shape that's a good visual analog for this sort of abstract digital music. It's becoming more and more ridiculous that Jester's releases seemingly only gets distribution in the States via metal outlets, as they've quickly become one of our very favorite labels for electronic, experimental, and even pop (When) music. Most of Jester's releases have only tangental connections to the realm of metal, if any at all. Upland is a case in point. As we said, very much a la Autechre, not Abigor or Abruptum.
This *excellent* hip hop comp was put together by Joseph Patel, one of the co-founders of the Solesides label, and also one of the guys responsible for the groundbreaking first volume of the Deep Concentration series released in 1997 that had Cut Chemist on it, plus Latyrx, Prince Paul etc. Patel is well aware of what's happening in our currently wank-heavy world where anyone and everyone claims to be a DJ; the press release reads: "The once spectacular potential of turntablists seems to have devolved into a theater of the mundane: turntable masturbation, scratching for scratching's sake. While DJs on the competitive circuit certainly flash their talents, song trumps sport any day." What he said!
So what we have here is eleven quality tracks, most of them certainly qualifying as high points for their makers, as well as being exclusives. El-P (Def Jux / Cannibal Ox) opens the album with a crazily catchy instrumental featuring an ebullient booty-shakin' chord progression plus lots of warm 'n scratchy vinyl crackle. This track is going to make me buy his album. Further on, Anti-Pop Consortium's typically manic case of attention deficit disorder never sounded this great. Peanut Butter Wolf likewise contributes one of the best pieces I've ever heard from the guy, and Freestyle Fellowship's track is hilarious. Other participants include This Kid Named Miles (Breakestra), Omid, Recloose, Chief Xcel of Blackalicious, Z-Trip, legendary "Lessons"-creator Steinski, and more. There's a coupla duds, in my opinion, but all in all I'd say this is one of the best hip hop comps to come out of the underground in a long while.
One on one showdown remixes from some of the top fighters in Tigerbeat6's roster. Kid 606 vs. Adrien75, Stars As Eyes vs. Lusine Icl, Cex vs. Com.a, Lesser vs. Kid606 (as heard on the Mensa Dance Squad disc), knifehandchop vs. Meccaknifehandchop (!) and Cex vs. gamers in exile. Dreamy mid-nineties Autechreish atmospherics on side A. In Your face raggadancehallmashup on the B side. Boys only? How about a girlfight!
More jacked up space funk and acid drenched future musik from the libraries of Chappell, Southern, iM, Bruton, Peer and Parry. For those unfamiliar, what has come to be known as library music is essentially commissioned music pieces -- usually instrumental (though there's the occasional ambiguous vocal harmonies, la-la-la's and what not) -- and archived for use as backing tracks in film and televison. As expected, some of the heavy hitters of documented library music are here: Roger Roger, Jack Arel, Georges Teperino, Eric Peters, Paul Bonneau, etc. Like Vibert's first volume, this collection rides all sorts of genres, though ultimately what holds everything together is tha funk. There's psychedelic orchestral funk ala Alain Goraguer's "La Planete Sauvage". Roger Davy's aptly titled "Crazy Flute Happy Guitar" fuses distorto hammond space organ with tripped out flute (all breathy and raw like Roland Kirk) and porno wah wah strumming and snazzy horn rawkus. Lots of Moog, tons of drum breaks, and loads and loads of sticky cheese. Big props to Lo for scavanging the choice cuts in the massive collections and making them available to us! A must for any self respecting sample happy musician -- breakbeats and exotica galore! For more space funk dementia, be sure to check out Luke Vibert's Nuggets volume one and Barry 7's Connectors (both on Lo), as well as the Music For Dancefloors collections on Strut!
The "Masonic." compilation celebrates five years of operation for the Germanic tekno / noirish IDM label with a bunch of mostly unreleased tracks from m2 (aka Panacea), Funkstorung, Scorn, Lilienthal, Venetian Snares, Somatic Responses, Lusine ICL, Bochum Welt, Neutral, Dead Hollywood Stars, Beefcake, Immanent, Gridlock, Xingu Hill, Substanz-T, Starfish Pool, Noosa Hedz, and tons more. Pretty much acts as the missing link between contemporary IDM and Skinny Puppy's lineage throughout the '80s.
Scratch Attack was a monthly two hour radio show dedicated to the art of turntablism, and ran for one year until it unfortunately got booted off of KPFA in Berkeley. These tracks are culled from archives of the show, and feature both live on the air and pre-recorded stuff made especially for the show. Released by the inimitable Billy Jam, whose taste is impeccable, the collection isn't endlessly wanky (as many dj comps are, let's face it), but interesting and varied good listening. With DJ T-Rock, D-Styles, DJ Shortkut, 8-Ball, Quest (Live Human), Golden Chyld, even DJs from Netherlands, England and Ireland. Lots of spoken snippets from the radio shows, including poor Shortkut talking about how his records were stolen at an airport. Really fun, and a nice document of the groundbreaking radio show.
Deluxe version of the Velvet Underground's debut album. If you've never heard this record, for heavens sake don't wait a moment longer. If you already are familiar with the album, here are some possible reasons to buy this version: Two discs, second of which is entirety of album in *mono* format, plus 4 songs from the album in their 7" versions. Also includes 5 songs from Nico's debut album Chelsea Girl which features the VU as backup band. Btw, I don't think these Nico tracks are on the VU boxset Peel Slowly & See.
It must be said, though, that unless you're some sort of intense audiophile, or a VU completist, I'm not sure why you'd need the mono version of the album. Handsome packaging features transparent slipcase, glossy digipak, and yes, a peelable banana!
Guitar (and sample) slinging Texan Scott Ayers's Walking Timebombs make a return to the fucked up industrial/goth/experimental rock of his previous outfit, the late great Pain Teens. The Walking Timebombs are not only a full-fledged guitar/bass/drums band now, they also got themselves a female singer a la Pain Teens. But while Scott's heavy duty guitar, loops, and samples haven't changed much from the Pain Teens days, new singer Sarah Evans is no Bliss Blood. Her singing is just too forced and affected, in that Alanis Morrisette style. Or like a female Layne Staley, even. Alanis Morrisette fronting the Pain Teens? Hmm. None of the danger of Blood, indeed a few tracks like "Good Thoughts" could maybe be played on modern rock radio. Ugh. What's with that? Pain Teens wrote some "pop" songs too ("RU486") but not like this. Still, some of this certainly does bring back memories of Pain Teens' heyday, and might get you dragging out your old "Stimulation Festival" or "Born In Blood" discs, 'cause while "Sapsucker" has its enjoyable moments, for this most part this new stuff is just too safe. The Pain Teens we remember had much more of an edge, this is just kinda hokey; the 'disturbing' bits just aren't convincing even when the music is fairly heavy. Of course, it's NOT the Pain Teens, so maybe we're not being fair. But Scott and Co. have to expect comparisons... so give it a listen yourself.
One of the most gleefully eccentric albums around right now is a re-issue from 1970! Fans of the bizarre genius of Bruce Haack and Raymond Scott gather 'round! Heck, you're undoubtedly already more than familiar with Mr. Fred Weinberg, but for those of us who missed it the first time around... Here's 18 tinkly twinky twisted compositions (including 7 bonus tracks) that would probably be deadringers for television theme songs and commercial jingles if they were being performed on a more - ahem! - traditional array of instruments, but such is not the case! The Weinberg Method involves the electronic manipulation and mutation of "natural" sounds (y'know, from the world around you: car horns honking, sirens squealing, toilets flushing, hearts beating, etc). These sounds are then inserted where those of the string, horn or percussion instruments would have been. Incredibly strange music indeed! We should also note that the liner notes suggest "this album be played at 33, 45 and 78 rpm." Kinda hard to do on a cd, but probably well worth the effort!
Whoa! The Bill Wells Trio are pouring out some smooth, easy-listenin' jazz full of mellow piano, baritone sax, trumpet, and harmonica. It immediately transported me back to the highschool years. Y'know, the kind of dinner jazz performed by the school's senior ensemble at the year-end assembly that made the brass players' parents beam with pride and want to dance the night away? There's even a song called "Jab The Chemistry Teacher"! In indie circles, this may succeed in doing for soft jazz just what Rachel's did a few years back for chamber music. The lone track that differs in pace among the ten - much more antsy and perked up - is "New Ascending Staircase" (catch that Marcel Duchamp/Salvador Dali reference?). The guest list runs the music gamut, from avant-jazz multi-instrumentalist Lindsay Cooper (playing tuba on "Presentation Piece #1" and bass on "D.A.D.E.") to The Pastels' Stephen and Katrina (providing keyboards and vocals respectively on "D.A.D.E.").
Precision. Exactitude. Mechanization. These have been the traits of Windsor For The Derby's previous explorations into surgically tight post-rock minimalism. This is not entirely the case with their 4th full album "The Emotional Rescue," which finds the Austin / NY trio embracing the traditions of the singer/songwriter. Similarly, little of the agitated melancholia from the preceding "Difference And Repetition" can be heard on this relatively optimistic album. Guitarists / vocalists Dan Matz and Jason MacNeely intertwine arpeggiating guitar chords and back-porch fingerpicking in forming a diverse selection of songs ranging from elegantly fragile ballads to uncharacteristically punchy pop-grooves. The production on these songs has also noticeably changed, embracing a far more hazy and humid warmth than the chilliness of some of their earlier records. A pretty solid indie-rock album for fans of Papa M and early Bedhead.
Wire were never a band that tried to rock. If anything, the quartet of Colin Newman, Graham Lewis, Bruce Gilbert, and Robert Gotobed made their best music when they struggled to escape the trappings of punk rock they initially embraced on their debut 1977 album "Pink Flag." Their constant investigations into electronics, adventurous songwriting, and lyrical complexity resulted in several pinnacles in the history of punk with "Chairs Missing" and the willfully obtuse "154." The band then parted ways in the early '80s to pursue a huge number of side projects, only to reform as a mildly entertaining new-wave pop band in the mid-'80s that relied far too much upon cute lyrical surrealism and clever idiosyncracies. Wire would like for you to believe that the band split up, but there was the ill-fated Wir project with all members present except Gotobed. Regardless, "Read & Burn" is the result of Gotobed rejoining the band after a number of successful gigs in which the all four blasted out the classic tracks from those aformentioned early albums. It needs to be said that during the late '70s when Wire was making huge leaps towards experimental rock, the band was outwardly antagonistic towards live audience requests for their punk anthem "12xU." So their return to such numbers needs to be viewed with a certain degree of skepticism. Such is the case for the six songs on "Read & Burn," which finds Wire trying very hard to rock. This is pretty much straight forward monochord punk dating back to '70s, but with the production techniques of today with an emphasis on heavy low-end thuggishness and very cleanly defined distortion. The success of this album is wholly based upon how much the audience is willing to suspend their disbelief that "Read & Burn" doesn't sound like Graham Lewis and a generic Nu-Metal band trying to sound like old Wire. An entertaining experiment, but inherently flawed.
This self released five-track ep by up and coming Brooklyn trio is going to give the comparatively more famous White Stripes a run for their money. When she's not absolutely screaming, the girl lead singer wails with a strong gravelly voice and that trembly
