What can we say? Ozit has put together a collection of Beefheart odds and sods spanning the 1960's and 1970's. As can be expected, the fidelity of the recordings ain't the best, but for Beefheart fans yearning for new material there really is less and less that hasn't already been compiled elsewhere at this point. And while much, if not all, of the songs here will be familiar to everyone with a fair sized collection of Captain Beefheart studio recordings, the arrangements here are often completely different and as such are an interest to those curious about the creative process that went into shaping them into their final form on LP. If all of this seems like apologist mutterings, we can't convincingly argue otherwise. But note that all the tracks here, to the best of our knowledge, haven't been released on CD until now, save for one or two tracks (can't speak for all the myriad bootleg LP collections of Beefheart rarities that have been released lo these many years).
The adorable Acid Mothers Temple chanteuse steps out all on her own with this truly solo album (no guests, no sidemen). It's got a bold title, but hey, who doesn't love Cotton? Rather than try to demonstrate that she can match the mothership's psychedelic overload freakout intensity all by herself, she veers off into a more intimate, personal realm of J-pop inflected, melodic voice-and-synth tunesmithery. It's airy and breathy and embellished with the quietly burbling and swooshing sci-fi keyboard sounds she wields so effectively in AMT. Definitely very different from the general run of Acid Mothers side projects, that's for sure! Recommended, if you're in the mood for some gently psychedelic, spacy pop with a wistful feel and exotic ambience.
Euro-scenesters Chicks On Speed host a wild electro-rock, disco-punk party on their somewhat-inaccurately titled new album 99¢, inviting such friends as Peaches, Tina Weymouth, Le Tigre, Kevin Blechdom, Miss Kittin, Mika Vaino and others to get down with them. Now, while fashion/design/music collective Chicks On Speed are considered cutting edge, it may be that their visual aesthetic is more advanced than their musical mode -- which, despite the laptops and advanced Austrian electronica technology, is less 21st century than 1983. Of course, that's the idea. Sheer good times retro dance floor fodder, with an edge. It's fun and hip and sure to please fans of the CoS, Peaches, Blectum From Blechdom, Ladytron, all that sorta thing. It's hard to tell if the lyrics are supposed to be clever or dumb, but since when did anyone have a problem with disco having dumb lyrics? Includes video clip for the track with Peaches, "We Don't Play Guitars" (for which we're also selling the cd single, $6.98, fyi).
Our favorite f*cker, I mean, tr*cker, Matt "Cool Beans" Kelly is back with another issue of his fab 'zine. It's the Truck Truck Truckin issue, based in part on Matt's recent employment experience, though he's no longer roaming the open highway now, being back in Berkeley doing less drivin', more strivin'. So, this ish includes Matt's truck driving memoirs (July-November 2001), a CB lingo glossary, truck drawings, a trucker-themed belt buckle pictorial, and more. Being an indie-rock/punk 'zine, theres also of course some music-related interviews -- Deadbolt, Jad Fair, Daniel Johnston, Foibles -- but don't worry, most of the questions are about trucks and trucking. And it wouldn't be Cool Beans without the bonus cd, which this time features truckin' music from a bunch o' folks, including Slow Poisoners, Deadbolt, Rhythm Pigs, Unbunny, Big Red Goad, Foibles, Dan Hayes, Bush League All Stars, and others... Jad Fair does "Phantom 309"! AND Matt thoughtfully provides instructions for how best to dub the cd on to 8-track, for a more authentic trucker listening experience.
It's been a great year for fans of Cul de Sac, the experimental/instrumental rock outfit from Boston who wowed us after a more-or-less three year absence with the brilliant Death Of The Sun back in the winter and who now give us a soundtrack album recording in the midst of the Death Of The Sun sessions. We don't know anything about the film for which this music was made, but if it's half as good as this soundtrack, it'd be worth a viewing, or two.
The music here was all composed and edited for specific scenes, or improvised in the studio as the film was being screened by the band. They got pretty creative in constructing this soundtrack, dabbling in diverse styles as befit the action in the film, from motorik krautrock-y jams to Faheyesque acoustic guitar to abstract drone-scapes to divebombing digital hardcore noise assaults! It's a myriad of moods, all expertly rendered, and despite the eclecticism it hangs together really well. It's obviously not at all a casually-tossed off endeavor -- the project was taken quite seriously by Glenn Jones, Robin Amos & co. and contains some of their finest work. Quite possibly, this will be one of those soundtracks that ends up being more significant and memorable than the film itself, though we won't know 'til we see the thing, which as we said we certainly will want to do based on the strength of its sonic component already. At turns, a haunting, propulsive, and suspenseful blend of folk, electronics, and scenic psychedelic rock.
LA stoner metal templars Fireball Ministry return with their 2nd full-length album, first with former Hammers of Misfortune (and current Pink!) four-stringer Janis Tanaka on board. There she is, right on the cover, alongside the rest of the band in the fantastical comic book vision of a rock n' roll revival meeting that adorns the disc. Pretty cool, and a lot to live up to, but Fireball Ministry deliver the goods, if you're in the market for some retro-styled, rawkin', grungy stoner tunage. They're kinda like Queens of the Stone Age gone denim and leather, teasing out more of the Sabbath vibe while remaining totally radio-ready. Who knows, they're on a bigger label now, maybe MTV fame and fortune are just around the corner. In the meantime they can be new cult heroes for those already into the likes of QOTSA and Spirit Caravan...
The mysterious Norwegian outfit Fosen provides little to no context for us to describe their music, leaving it much harder to position this set of dronescapes against the next batch. It appears that Fosen's source material is acoustic in nature, possibly being flutes and bells; the group then renders each sound dronological with considerable care via basic loopings, sonar depth reverb, and vast pitchshifting manipulations. The first track entertains a looping passage from a breathy flute stretched into a wonderfully hypnogogic drone that favorably compares with Biosphere's more minimal ambience or the Hafler Trio's fluttering drones. Other tracks flicker with feedback oscillations and attack-modified bell tones, some pitter and clank like some mutant tape construction derived from water dripping in a cavernous warehouse. Altogether, Fosen offers a very evocative if equally mysterious album.
Tears streaked many a black metal fan's corpsepaint when they heard the news earlier this year that those stalwarts of the Norwegian black metal scene, the one and only Immortal, *weren't* actually (i.e. the band broke up). At least Immortal went out in glory, with their final album being the magnificent Sons Of Northern Darkness, one of their best. Now drummer Horgh From Immortal (that's his name, right?) has got a new band together, Grimfist, a trio with guitarist/bassist Ole Walaunet and vocalist Frediablo (Gorelord, Svartpest, Necrophagia, et. al.). Time to wipe away the tears, kiddies, 'cause while Grimfist is no Immortal, they're pretty good. As you might expect with Horgh From Immortal behind the kit, the velocities are excessive, and Grimfist's brutal music is like a grim fist in your face (where'd we get that simile?). At one point early on in the album, some power-metally clean vocals take over from the rough rasping growls, but as it turns out that was only a one-time occurence, which is kind of neat 'cause it keeps you guessing throughout, though it would take more than that to distract you from the full-on headbangin' this disc will precipitate. Death, black, and thrashin' eighties metal are fed into the Grimfist grinder, and the results are hard not to like, if nothing super original. But while we mourn Immortal, why not have a little fun with Grimfist?
Last list we slobbered all over an album called Under Sided by UK psych rock rulers The Heads, and in the course of the review we mentioned we also had an even newer disc by them, the live-in-rehearsal album At Last. We quickly ran out of Under Sided (hopefully we'll be getting more of 'em back in soon) but At Last is still here, and it's a great freaking freakout record too. With a band like The Heads, ALL their albums might as well be live, it's just that with the actual live album you get versions of classics culled from earlier albums, plus new material n' improvisations never heard before (or again). To quickly recap, The Heads are an unsung uber-awesome heavy duty psychedelic garage rock band that takes their inspiration from '70s masters like Hawkwind, The Stooges, and the Pink Fairies. We're also reminded a bit of Lubricated Goat and some other Aussie acts. So if you're into any of that, and/or current acid-rock acts like Monster Magnet, High Rise, Comets On Fire, and suchlike, you ought to like The Heads. Apparently they recorded this while getting ready to open up for Mudhoney, who, good as they are, must have been blown off the stage. As good as Under Sided (a few tunes from which get the live treatment here) and equally as recommended!
After a spell of expensive releases both solo and as Organum that held a paltry amount of material, David Jackman has finally provided a new album where the dollar per minute ratio is less than one! In other words, you get 35 minutes of aggregate sound collage for a mere $14.98. Though a reissue, essentially nobody has really heard these recordings before as Up From Zero was one of the very first cassettes that Jackman put out on his Aeroplane Records back in 1982 in an edition of just 30 copies. There's also an extra track dating back to 1980, a collaboration with the underappreciated Philip Sanderson. While his strongest work has clearly been his Organum project which concentrates on timbral accumulations of bowed gongs and scraped metals into epic drones and minimalist constructions, Jackman's solo work has a considerable amount to offer. Up From Zero is a particularly dynamic suite distinguished by the easily recognizable samples which riddle Jackman's compositions. A screeching loop of a car crash interrupts the burbling of a placid stream; deep rumbling drones situate behind the seasick motion of scraped metals and smashed glass; and bowed guitar echoes toward infinity. These sounds are much more obvious than most Organum / Jackman sounds, but never quite articulate themselves as the Surrealist epiphanies of Nurse With Wound. It may have been that these early works experimented with various sounds before he hit on the signature of Organum. Nevertheless, another very strong piece of work from one of the great minimalists of the contemporary era.
Leave it to Swedish reissue label Subliminal Sounds, who've already brought us Parson Sound and the Stomachmouths from their native land, to turn us on to someone this disc's liner notes somewhat bizarrely refer to as American's Toscanini! Black minstrel showman Abner Jay hailed from south Georgia, and was one of the last of the travelling minstrel musicians. Presumably he's dead now, though his habit of laying on his belly to drink water from the Swaunee River helped him to persevere for more than fifty years in a career as a one man band, banging out tunes on his six-string banjo, bass drum, harmonica and little else. On the evidence of this disc, Abner Jay was quite the entertainer. He tells some off-color groaners 'tween songs, but the humor in his show doesn't stop his most affecting songs from being truly morose and sad, and beautiful. He's got the blues alright (the "Cocaine Blues" to be precise). Indeed, one of his most moving songs is entitled "I'm So Depressed". Stick that alongside his risque jokes and more lighthearted fare, and you've got a manic-depressive masterpiece, not to mention a piece of close to forgotten history.
It doesn't say anywhere exactly when these tracks were recorded, or from which of Jay's rare records they were compiled, but from the sounds of things, and Abner Jay's between-song patter, we'd guess this material dates from the late sixties or so. There's a song about Vietnam, anyway. Definitely a slice of Americana worthy of checking out, kudos to Subliminal Sounds for digging this up!
Extreme doom here folks. I mean, these four tracks (two of 'em approaching twenty minutes each) are slower and lower and uglier even than the tunes on Khanate's immense self-titled debut from two years ago! We're not saying this tops the debut (that would be difficult) but Things Viral takes the Khanate sound into a seldom-explored realm where signs of life and hope are few and far between. This is some sparse, slow, intensely creepy metal for sure. The plod of a drum, some glitchy amplifier feedback, a crushing guitar riff, bass drone...all the perfect accompaniment to the anguished rasp of vocalist Alan Dubin, who turns this record into his own personal let-it-all-out psycho-drama session. As soon as the first track "Commuted" starts, you can imagine the band, broken, bleeding, crawling across the floor of the studio, scrabbling at their instruments, Dubin clutching the microphone like it's his last link to a world of human emotion. It's harrowing, simply put. The ravings of a disturbed man put to music by Earth would be a decent description. Downer metal was never so down, and the clarity with which this was recorded belies the term sludge. Only for the brave -- leave the lights on when you listen to this, and make sure you have the suicide hotline number handy. Includes the track "Dead" previously released on vinyl only as the b-side to the "No Joy [remix]" 12".
'60s Moog-pop pioneer Gershon Kingsley, of Perrey and Kingsley fame, made some fab music without partner Jean-Jacques Perrey as well -- such as his hit single "Pop Corn" which you'll find on this at-long-last reissued edition of Kingsley's 1969 masterpiece, the incredibly FUN album Music To Moog By. Along with snazzy originals like "Pop Corn" and energetic album-opener "Hey, Hey", Kingsley also gives the Moog instrumental treatment to Simon and Garfunkel's "Scarborough Fair" and both "Nowhere Man" and "Paperback Writer" by the Beatles. He also sneaks in some Beethoven too, and takes writing credit for a manic version of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star"! Sometimes his Moog sounds like a church organ, other times like the whip-whip-wap of a hip hop dj's turntable. It's a frothy, hip, pop-psychedelic space age 'electronica' album all right. Released the year man landed on the moon, you can imagine it spinning on the Apollo 11 hi-fi, had the astronauts been partying up there. Wonderful stuff.
First off, this isn't a new Ladytron album proper. The deal is, apparently in addition to being 'electroclash' heroes/heroines, Ladytron are also rad DJs, and this brand new mix disc Softcore Jukebox has us convinced. Of the eighteen tracks on here, two are by Ladytron themselves (both of 'em never before released in the USA) and the rest are by artists as diverse as My Bloody Valentine, The Fall, New Fast Automatic Daffodils, Wire, !!!, Lee Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatra (the one everyone loves, "Some Velvet Morning"), Fanny Pack, Fat Truckers, and others. There's your '80s new wave roots tracks like Cristina's "What's A Girl To Do" from 1982, and also a bunch of stuff from Ladytron contemporaries that are so new and hip and up to date that the tracks taken from albums that aren't even out yet. We were happiest though with the inclusion of the fuzz-filled "Send Me A Postcard" from Holland's Shocking Blue, circa 1969. So if you need help at your next dance party, this Ladytron DJ set could be handy.
Amazing, very METAL metalcore is what Atlanta's Mastodon crank out. These guys used to be in AQ-faves Today Is The Day, which is quite obvious when you hear 'em. They're heavy, aggressive, technical, and -- most importantly -- imaginative. Already up there with the likes of Coalesce and Converge in our estimation. Mastodon seems even more metal than those metalcore worthies, though.
Maybe it's how the guitarist is partial to spitting out those Zakk Wylde-style harmonic squeals. Or maybe it's simply the crushing, crunching, complex riffs and drumming. But there's also some quite pretty melody to be found amidst Mastodon's math n' mayhem, and they have an almost 'post-rock' sense of dynamics (something most 'extreme' metal acts lack). Imagine your favorite old AmRep noise-rock act gone metal...or, Dazzling Killmen mixed with The Champs? Something like that. Also, they cut back on the movie samples that cluttered up their otherwise awesome debut ep (as per our suggestion?). Very impressive.
Drunken, Dirty, Dave, Misery, and Migg are back, stumbling out of the gutter and into the studio to record a follow-up to 2002's self-titled Mistress debut. England's answer to Cavity or Eyehategod (but way more wasted), Mistress make rock n' roll with much feedback and bad feelings. Some of these guys are involved with the amazing Anaal Nathrakh, and what that band is to polished black metal symphonics these guys are to good times stoner rock. In other words, they're not so much about cracking open a brew and smoking pot as they are about smoking crack and, uh, brooding. Well maybe that's not true, they're all smiles in the band photos. Musically, though, this is some mean-ass, serious stuff. On II: The Chronovisor, Mistress tear through eight tracks of ugly, raw, punkish sludge-metal with titles like "Rat Piss" and "Wanker Colony" before wrapping things up with an epic 13-minute ninth track, entitled "38". Their debut did the same thing, culminating in a lengthy doom opus as well. Clearly these boys don't want to mess with a winning formula!
Ms. John Soda's previous album No P. Or D. was a great complementary record to the the likes of Notwist's Neon Golden, the Postal Service's Give Up, and Broadcast's Ha Ha Sound, as this Bavarian duo of Stefanie Boehm and Micha Acher (who also plays in the Notwist) successfully recreated much of the same wistful indie-pop sensibility of those other bands while adding their distinct signature of retro chic mired in technologically advanced programming. This new While Talking EP moves a bit away from that pop sensibility, at first picking up more of an avant-rock groove by adapting their sound to incorporate the jagged guitar riffs of Blonde Redhead or Sonic Youth around their Fake Can Be Just As Good or Goo albums, respectively. Elsewhere the songs begin to fragment into pretty electronica splatters smoothed over by Boehm's voice. 5 tracks, 27 minutes.
Remastered, repackaged, repriced, relisted! We're happy to announce that Matador has gone and reissued this AQ-fave band's 2000 debut (previously only available as a Canadian import, of which we sold gizillions) domestically. There's no bonus tracks or anything, but it's been remastered (which actually means something -- they tamed the treble and it's indeed an improvement), repackaged (the cd is in a jewel case this time), and now the price is a real deal. So if you haven't already picked this up, now's the time. Here's the review we wrote back when it originally came out:
Amazing pop maestro Carl Newman (Zumpano, Superconductor) heads the star-studded cast of what is, to AQ's collective ears, simply THE BEST POP ALBUM OF THE YEAR 2000. When was the last time the AQ staff and our wildly differing tastes happened to *unanimously* agree on a single album's brilliance? Maybe Neutral Milk's second record? The Soft Bulletin or Conet Project? Suffice to say that this happens very rarely, and that's how good this New Pornographers record is. "Mass Romantic" is absolutely shiningly great power pop, with influences as wide-ranging as Big Star, the Zombies, Eno, the Beach Boys, Cheap Trick, and Built to Spill.
Not since, well, the last Zumpano record (or Silver Sun's debut) has a pop record emerged that's this powerful, kickass, well-crafted and totally complex. Really. Each of the twelve tracks is a fully realised pop creation unto itself. Intelligent, infectious, and uplifting, with truly flawless arrangements (the key to pop greatness).
In a sparkling non-country spin, the wonderful Neko Case lends her vocal gusto to complete the soaring FOUR-PART vocals on such gems as "Letter From An Occupant" not to mention the title track. And the four other members of the New Pornographers are super talents in their own right: Daniel Bejar (the enigmatic figure behind the very Nilsson-influenced combo known as Destroyer), John Collins (bassist/engineer for the Nardwuar the Human Serviette-lead freakos the Evaporators, garage-pop stalwarts Smugglers, and the rock army known as Superconductor), Kurt Dahle (drummer for Canadian college popsters Limblifter), and indie filmmaker Blaine Thurier.
Recommended for everyone -- even if you only buy one pop or rock record this year, this should be it.
Chicago instru-metallers Pelican are back, with the full-length follow up to their brilliant "Untitled" debut ep. Like that disc, this is almost the perfect blend of heaviness (METAL heaviness, to be precise) and post-rock. There's prettiness and precision, darkness and dynamics. From slow and powerful downer grooves to mellow melodic interludes to rapidly riffing, sheer super heavy metal, could Pelican do it any better? There's even one track where they've got a guy playing the singing saw. It's freakin' beautiful. Influenced by epic black metal, academic minimalist throb, psychedelic Floydian rock, and the post-rock of their hometown (among much else) these guys have shaped their band into contenders for the avant-stoner throne, positioning themselves somewhere between Mogwai and Melvins, with some flashes of Morbid Angel. Or, imagine the Growing's The Sky's Run Into the Sea album (AQ Record of the Week back in September you'll recall) as performed by The Fucking Champs! It has the oceanic warmth of Growing's droning heaviness lashed to some more mathy, metallic constructions. Our customers who love all things heavy (Isis, Boris, Gore, 5ive, Tarantula Hawk, Dead Meadow, etc.) and who have a soft spot for spacier, sleepier stuff too should dig these six tracks for sure!
You probably don't need us telling you about The Rapture. But if you've been in hiding for the past few months, The Rapture's "Echoes" has been one of the most widely anticipated albums of the season. There has been an inordinant amount of hype surrounding this band and the DFA production team; and often that type of silliness doesn't really play that well here at Aquarius. So for us, the anticipation was out of a simple question which many other people have been asking as well: Is anything else on Echoes as good as that "House of Jealous Lovers" track? Honestly, no; but The Rapture trying to out-groove "House of Jealous Lovers" is like My Bloody Valentine trying to out-shoegaze "Soon." It's just not going to happen. And if that question is what you needed answered, we're happy to oblige.
However if you look beyond that obvious question, and beyond the ridiculous hype of 'New York's best new band' and actually listen to the record, you might be surprised at how good it is. That said, The Rapture will never escape its influences, in particular Entertainment by Gang of Four, Metal Box by Public Image Limited, early A Certain Ratio, and The Cure. Why anybody would want to ape Robert Smith's nasal whine is beyond me, but The Rapture's singer Luke Jenner has done just that. There's even a direct citation of The Cure's "One Hundred Years" found on The Rapture's "Olio," where Jenner yelps the phrase "Over and over and over again," just as Smith does. It's a little painful, but the DFA production of this remade Rapture track which appeared on their Gravity debut many moons back is a powderkeg post-punk groove laced with plenty of uptempo rhythms. It's certainly strong enough to transcend the vocals and comes close to the cocaine frenzy of "House of Jealous Lovers." As a whole Echoes succeeds through its dynamics, at times suffocating the band's sound in the pressure cooker of jagged guitar scratches, Jenner's voice, and heart-racing rhythms (i.e. "Killing"), at others releasing Jenner's voice as a ghastly diva amidst tubular bells and beatific Chicago house grooves (i.e. "I Need Your Love"), and at others donning the vastly different art rock poses of The Birthday Party and Radiohead (i.e. "Heaven" and "Open Up Your Heart" respectively).
The Rapture is a true amalgam of all things cool at the moment, and the cynic in me wants to call this bullshit for that exact reason; but it's just too good to receive that damnation from me!
We've been getting these Burial Mix 10" singles in here for some time now and probably the single most asked question regarding them has been "when the hell are they going to release these on CD?" Well, the time has come. Rhythm & Sound created a stripped down post-Detroit techno sound reminiscent of Chain Reaction and the Stefan Betke/Pole continuum of Euro-dub artists. Unlike others though, Rhythm & Sound took it one step further and acquired the talents of some excellent modern roots vocalists like Paul St. Hilaire (Tikiman), Cornel Campbell, Shalom, The Chosen Brothers, Love Joy, Jennifer Lara and Jah Batta. Asphodel has pragmatically chosen to release the singles as two separate discs, one of the A-sides including the vocals and one of the B-side dub remixes; cuz sometimes you feel like a nut, n' sometimes you don't.
We've been getting these Burial Mix 10" singles in here for some time now and probably the single most asked question regarding them has been "when the hell are they going to release these on CD?" Well, the time has come. Rhythm & Sound created a stripped down post-Detroit techno sound reminiscent of Chain Reaction and the Stefan Betke/Pole continuum of Euro-dub artists. Unlike others though, Rhythm & Sound took it one step further and acquired the talents of some excellent modern roots vocalists like Paul St. Hilaire (Tikiman), Cornel Campbell, Shalom, The Chosen Brothers, Love Joy, Jennifer Lara and Jah Batta. Asphodel has pragmatically chosen to release the singles as two separate discs, one of the A-sides including the vocals and one of the B-side dub remixes; cuz sometimes you feel like a nut, n' sometimes you don't.
Oh so very full of sunshine and bounce. Whereas their debut album presented The Shins in a very Beach Boys-y light, their new full length bears more than a passing resemblance to New Pornographer Carl Newman's former band Zumpano whose two albums were released on the very same label. At times, it's almost eerily so. What with the success of the New Pornographers, any hopes of a new Zumpano album have been dashed. Well folks, sounds like SubPop's found a band who're itchin' to slip their feet into those sizable shiny Z-band's shoes. That's not to say The Shins have become complete Zumpano facsimiles, but the resemblance is more than noticeable on songs like the thoughtful, keyboard and strings driven "Saint Simon", the ultra-exuberant "Turn A Square" and the album's first single "So Say I". That said, The Shins also draw comparisons to sensitive British songsmith The Jazz Butcher (check out the second song "Mines Not A High Horse"). What does this all mean? Geez... that The Shins have a firm grasp on the art of joyful vocal harmonies and elaborate pop orchestrations, but falter in the originality department? Granted the aforementioned artists were by no means groundbreaking, but they made their sounds their own and were just sooo good! Nonetheless, these ten intelligent, lush and very retro-pop tunes filled with falsetto male vocals, elaborate harmonies, jangly guitars, and strong piano melodies make for a pretty great end-of-summer album.
Wow, we were surprised and pleased to see the release of a new The(e) Speaking Canaries album! It's been quite a while since 1995's Songs For The Terrestrially Challenged, but they've still got it, in fact, this may be even better than we remembered 'em being. The Speaking Canaries, for those for whom 1995 is a blur, are a band from Pittsburgh featuring the talents of Don Caballero drummer Damon Che. Che plays drums on half the album, but the whole disc showcases his just-as-impressive ability with the electric guitar. His nimble, Eddie Van Halen styled guitar licks are distorted, yet cleanly chiming n' gorgeous. Yep, we said Eddie Van Halen. If you've never heard The Speaking Canaries before you're in for a surprise -- Van Halen is an obvious, huge influence. And Damon even lets off some some jubilant David Lee Roth yelps. But, don't get the wrong idea, this is a melodic indie-pop record, not any sort of retro '80s hair metal throwback. The songs are somewhat complex and mathy (as you'd expect from a Don Cabber) but have pop hooks a la Foo Fighters. And these days, after after Trans Am and The Fucking Champs and so forth, the idea of heavy metal guitar heroes in an indie-rock context isn't so novel. It's just good music. Damon and co. kick ass on this record, from the three-minute track one (with the excellent title "I Wear Glasses in the Most Brutal Sport Ever Invented") to the disc's hidden bonus track finale. Very recommended! (PS The cd and LP have different artwork, so don't get confused.)
During an interview for a Boston weekly, tape experimentalist Howard Stelzer wrapped up the history of his collaborations with Jason Talbot with the pithy statement, "There was silence and we weren't afraid not to fill it." If you want to read any references to John Cage into that statement, they would be found not in Cage's infamous 4'33" but in Fontana Mix, John Cage's classic tape piece where jagged electronic sounds slam against extended passages of silence. The Stelzer / Talbot production Songs is a raw and hostile reinterpretation of the fundamentals behind Fontana Mix within a context of live improvisation. Stelzer with his arsenal of tape decks and cassettes, and Talbot with his abused turntable and tabletop of effects, articulate concise gestures which abruptly stop as quickly as they enter into existence. Reproduced with an incredibly low fidelity, these sounds erupt like distorted blurps and squiggles as if broadcast through an intercom speaker or a walkie-talkie. The claustrophobic intensity of these angry turntable 'n' tape machinations bleeds across the sonic spectrum between noise and silence.
For all of the acclaim that we have given to Michael Gira's recent project Angels of Light, nothing that he has done of late has come close to the majesty, power, nihilism, and abjection of Children of God from his now defunct outfit Swans. Arguably, Children Of God is the best Swans record. Period. For a band that has so many great albums -- Filth and The Great Annihilator being just two -- this is saying something.
In many ways, Children Of God is a transitory album, marking the termination of the no wave marches that dominated the early recordings and announcing the centrality of Gira's songwriting prowess which continues on into the recent Angels of Light project. The miltant stomps, barked vocals, and expertly mangled buzzsaw guitars remain intact from those early recordings; but Gira and co. make those sounds even more ugly by juxtaposing them with the fragile beauty of a oboe solo, or a acoustic guitar introduction, or simply the majestic presence of Gira's now refined baritone. While fellow vocalist Jarboe had contributed to previous albums, the empathic dynamism of her voice really shines on Children of God, at times seductively cooing and at others emanating bloodcurdling screams. Lyrically, Children of God is a far more complex affair, extending the mythologies of power beyond grim tales of work as humiliation and all relationship roles cast to the extremities of either master or slave. Love enters the fray for Gira, or perhaps it is sexual dependence disguised as love? Or is it addiction disguised as religion? Gira, who once reveled in his position of terminal abjection, now damns himself to the ecstasies of the flesh and curses of his own megalomania.
World of Skin, found on disc two of this reissue, developed as the quiet alter-ego of Gira and Jarboe. While the later World of Skin albums were virtually identical in sound to the contemporary Swans body of work, the first World of Skin recordings (which at least on one occasion was condensed down simply to Skin) contrasted considerably to those of Swans at that time. The two World of Skin recordings on this disc are the two albums Blood, Women, Roses and Shame, Humility, Revenge. Drenched in nihilist atmospheres of infinite reverb, these songs are very spartan in their arrangements for acoustic guitar and majestic synthetic tones, spotlighting the bleak tales of the themes described in those titles above.
Both of these albums have been reissued before in various guises and have gone through prolonged periods of being out of print. Hopefully, Gira will keep both of these amazing albums in print from now on. They're so absolutely necessary, I might have to buy it again...
We're still waiting on the upcoming string quartet version of Ulver's black metal masterpiece Nattens Madrigal, but in the meantime they've released something else new, another soundtrack effort (their second, after last year's Lyckantropen Themes). As with that album, Ulver are in their current manifestation as a dark, avant-electronica act, their Nordic metal past a mere shadow cast over the proceedings. With eerie, tinkling piano and far-off, distant screams, Ulver create sonic echoes of crimes that we'll assume appear on celluloid in Svidd Neger. Melancholic horns and downtempo beats make this a creepy yet club-contemporary sounding listen. And after you're lulled into thinking it's all gonna be quiet and mellow, wham some ominous heavy chords come crashing down, Mogwai-style. Mostly though, this is quiet and creepy, and menacingly melodic.
A fantastic record in the sampladelic genre: fans of DJ Shadow, Barry Adamson, David Holmes should take note! It's rare that we'd quote a press release in an AQ review, but in this case the reasons why I (Windy) like this record so much are exactly what's stated herein:
"Unagi extends an invitation into his unique sonic wonderworld, constructed from forgotten vinyl and dollar bin digging. He serves up mid-fi sample based music, sidestepping the antiseptic production values dominating present day hip-hop. Influenced by luminaries such as Lonnie Liston Smith and Eumir Deodato, Unagi offers tracks carefully crafted with an ear refined through a lifetime of musical consumption. This self-titled debut album is a stylistic drive-by of love. Unagi's magazine is loaded with an array of themes ranging from space jazz, Caribbean cruise ship lounge, roller rink couples' skate and Sunday afternoon afterglow soul fusion."
About a year ago we wrote about a 12" split of a couple of Wackie's tracks that were both amazing in their own ways. The A-Side was Horace Andy's "Musical Episode", an extended 12" mix which is probably one of the best disco mixes we'd ever heard and the B-Side was an absolutely bizarre extended mix called the "Wack Rap" from 1979 and featuring some completely off kilter impersonations of the Sugarhill Gang. Well, Dis-Joint records, the fellas who released that 12", have put together a nice compilation of tracks featuring the aforementioned along with several singles -- new and old -- that their label has released. Now the vinyl-ly challenged can also join in on the enjoyment of these two tracks and then some. There's quite a few rare tracks here, including an instrumental mix of Ronnie Gee's "Raptivity" from 1980, Zap Pow's reggae homage to Kool & The Gang "Lottery Spin" recorded at Dynamic Sounds way back in 1976, plus some new dance floor cuts inspired from the old school by the likes of DJs Cool Chris & Romanowski, Ben Cook & Deep Fuzz, Dub Diablo and more.
Nice collection of sound system exclusive tracks belonging to King Tubby, taken off of sessions recorded by Bunny Lee. Starting in the late sixties, Bunny "Striker" Lee and King Tubby would develop a special symbiotic relationship where Bunny would bring all his sessions to King Tubby to be mixed and cut to disc, and in return King Tubby would get to keep a copy of the tapes himself to mix special dub plates and other versions for use on his incredibly popular "King Tubby's Home Town Hi-Fi" sound system. These are some of the most popular sound system tracks of the day, including The Abyssinians' "Satta Massa Gana" voiced by crooner Ken Boothe, Jackie Edwards' "In The Mood", Johnny Clarke's "Ride on Girl" and Horace Andy's "Guiding Star".
They're back! Aquarius' favorite nut-ball dancehall crew Ward 21 return with another great album. The producer crew (studying under King Jammy) turned, err... don't know how you'd call it... "dancehall group"(?) pretty much took us by storm with their first full length release way back at the beginning of 2001. Their fusion of hip hop and hardcore dancehall was seamless, and their production values kick ass, so you can imagine how excited we were to find out they'd just released a new record. And it seems like the hip hop world is starting to take notice to their talents as well. They were not only interviewed in the most recent issue of Murder Dog, but grace the cover as well. So it was a bit of a shock to read that they still see themselves intimitely connected to hip hop, 'cos they have moved their production back to a more strictly dancehall sound. But fear not fans of Mentally Disturbed, their newest release is equally great, if not even more rock solid. While their rhythms are indeed like old school dancehall, they're tweaked to the highest intensity by the crew. What may sound tinny and crippled in more incapable hands, sounds heavy and pummeling in theirs. For one thing, they just can't go wrong with that fucking backwards bass line they always use, the one that goes WoooOOOp WoooOOOp and feels like someone beating you silly with a monster truck inner-tube filled with glue. Then there's their vocals: the deep baritone murmuring paired up with the tenor mile-a-minute motormouth. You just can't go wrong. But what probably gives them such a great overall album batting average is due to the fact that they never attempt the faux-soul slow jam crap that destroys so many dancehall albums. Along with 19 new tracks, there's the awesome "Petrol" cut which we creamed over this last summer in our Nice Up The Dance: Two Worlds Collide review. Highly recommended!
Still pretty essential to anyone trying to keep up with 'new music', the UK's Wire magazine is here again with another monthy installment.
Aphex Twin is the cover star this time around (nice pic!), and other features include a Taku Sugimoto interview, an Invisible Jukebox session with Christian Marclay, shorter bits about Erik Friedlander, Tim Hecker, and the reactivated Earth. There's a Primer on 'Spectral Music', and this year's Burning Man rates 2 pages as well. Then there's lots more, the usual plethora of reviews and such. And don't think we didn't notice Dimmu Borgir's Death Cult Armageddon in the reviews section (and it got a good one).
Yo La Tengo are like the Energizer bunnies of indie-rock, aren't they? There's always a new album or ep and, not only that, it's always usually pretty good. So, get set, here's a fine new six-song ep to add to your collection. The first three tracks are derived from the sessions for YLT's Summer Sun album that came out earlier this year. You get a more 'rock' version of "Today Is The Day" (which appeared on Summer Sun in a milder version) along with two other tracks that were cut from Summer Sun 'cause they also just rocked too hard, which didn't quite fit with the rest of that album's material. But they sound great here. Then, getting away from the rock, there's also a lovely Georgia-sung cover version of "Needle Of Death" by British folk guitarist Bert Jansch, a previously-unreleased mellow instrumental groover called "Dr. Crash", and a live-on-the-radio acoustic take on "Cherry Chapstick" from YLT's And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out. Real nice. Oh, and downtown NYC free jazz bassist/big shot William Parker shows up on one track, playing not bass but double reed horn, by the way.
