Swedish math metal to be more specific...heck yeah!
http://www.othermusic.com/updates
NEW RELEASES:
No-Neck Blues Band
Pajo
Jamie Lidell
Spectral Sound Vol. 1 (Various)
Laura Cantrell
Boobs: Junkshop Glam Boutique
Julien Neto
The Magic Numbers
Meshuggah
Thursday, June 30, 2005
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Lowlights / Dark End Road / Rating 7.7
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/l/lowlights/dark-end-road.shtml
I love a good music makeover and Albuquerque’s Scared of Chaka is no exception. Members of this blazing punk band went on to play in the Shins (Dave Hernandez) and Lowlights. (Dameon Lee)
My only bonus comments to the PFM review is a request for a small warning label to be placed on the cd saying “Do not operate heavy machinery or drive while listening to “Dark End Road”. The humble lullabies cradled by even softer harmonies sedate and seduce as powerfully as it’s near cousins Vetiver and Iron and Wine.
Listen here: http://www.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewProfile&friendID=4201484&Mytoken=20050321182322
I love a good music makeover and Albuquerque’s Scared of Chaka is no exception. Members of this blazing punk band went on to play in the Shins (Dave Hernandez) and Lowlights. (Dameon Lee)
My only bonus comments to the PFM review is a request for a small warning label to be placed on the cd saying “Do not operate heavy machinery or drive while listening to “Dark End Road”. The humble lullabies cradled by even softer harmonies sedate and seduce as powerfully as it’s near cousins Vetiver and Iron and Wine.
Listen here: http://www.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewProfile&friendID=4201484&Mytoken=20050321182322
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
Various Artists / Não Wave / Sexual Life / Rating 7.9 & 7.8
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/comp/brazil/nao-wave-sexual-life-of-the-savages.shtml
Attention all readers : I am looking for some help.
I can't really afford one, no less both of these imports but they sure seem tempting. I have tried finding more reviews on line but have come up empty handed. Does anyone have any review(s) to show me other than the Pfork one or a store trying to sell them?
Personal testimony will work for me too.
Lastly, it doesn't appear this comes on vinyl but maybe somebody knows otherwise. ? !
THANKS!
PS: It must be national typo month (including my many) because the Pitchfork site says Various Arists ( minus the 2nd t) in reference to these cds.
Attention all readers : I am looking for some help.
I can't really afford one, no less both of these imports but they sure seem tempting. I have tried finding more reviews on line but have come up empty handed. Does anyone have any review(s) to show me other than the Pfork one or a store trying to sell them?
Personal testimony will work for me too.
Lastly, it doesn't appear this comes on vinyl but maybe somebody knows otherwise. ? !
THANKS!
PS: It must be national typo month (including my many) because the Pitchfork site says Various Arists ( minus the 2nd t) in reference to these cds.
Monday, June 27, 2005
Art Brut / Bang Bang Rock & Roll / Rating 8.9
http://pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/a/art-brut/bang-bang-rock-and-roll.shtml
Is the state of music today so pathetic that we need to call Art Brut “refreshing”? Are they really “the most punk band” we have heard in years? I will leave that argument to the letters section of Maximum Rock and Roll and Punk Planet but just to offer you my own silly idea of what punk is, I consider Medulla by Bjork pretty damn punk and anti-mainstream.
Anyhow...
Certain bands must have a dog-like whistle that only certain people can hear because I can’t pick out the quality and worth hidden behind Bang Bang Rock & Roll. This might be the very same invisible awesomeness fans of The Offspring or The Hold Steady celebrate but I do not. I don’t hate them but at the same time I wouldn’t go out of my way to listen to a full record by them either. Their humor and charm is totally lost on me and with each Art Brut song mocking a different band in lo-fi demo form, it befuddles me even more. Aren’t there are hundreds of “punk” bands just like them clogging the stage of a high school talent show right now?
Call me paranoid but I feel like when Pitchfork embraces a record this silly its like a test to see just how gullable the readers are. Do yourself a favor and listen to some MP3s before you consider buying this cd. http://www.artbrut.org.uk/
Until something better comes along I will turn to Born Against when I need to quench my 1-2-fuck-you thirst.
PS: After reviewing pictures of the band they appear to be snappy dressers so maybe that’s selling point to all those looking to add a few more sassy lads and lassies to their Anglophile music collection.
Is the state of music today so pathetic that we need to call Art Brut “refreshing”? Are they really “the most punk band” we have heard in years? I will leave that argument to the letters section of Maximum Rock and Roll and Punk Planet but just to offer you my own silly idea of what punk is, I consider Medulla by Bjork pretty damn punk and anti-mainstream.
Anyhow...
Certain bands must have a dog-like whistle that only certain people can hear because I can’t pick out the quality and worth hidden behind Bang Bang Rock & Roll. This might be the very same invisible awesomeness fans of The Offspring or The Hold Steady celebrate but I do not. I don’t hate them but at the same time I wouldn’t go out of my way to listen to a full record by them either. Their humor and charm is totally lost on me and with each Art Brut song mocking a different band in lo-fi demo form, it befuddles me even more. Aren’t there are hundreds of “punk” bands just like them clogging the stage of a high school talent show right now?
Call me paranoid but I feel like when Pitchfork embraces a record this silly its like a test to see just how gullable the readers are. Do yourself a favor and listen to some MP3s before you consider buying this cd. http://www.artbrut.org.uk/
Until something better comes along I will turn to Born Against when I need to quench my 1-2-fuck-you thirst.
PS: After reviewing pictures of the band they appear to be snappy dressers so maybe that’s selling point to all those looking to add a few more sassy lads and lassies to their Anglophile music collection.
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah / Rating 9.0
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/c/clap-your-hands-say-yeah/clap-your-hands-say-yeah.shtml
My ears must be broken.
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah sounds like David Byrne drunk singing karaoke to a Smiths record. ( I am being lazy and quoting myself from an email I just sent a friend but I needed to get this off my chest officially)
How did this get a 9.0 from Pitchfork?
Why is this number one at Other Music?
I am clapping my hands and saying EH.
A little help here.
Are they good live?
Have friends in high places?
Did they cast a magic spell over NYC to love them?
My ears must be broken.
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah sounds like David Byrne drunk singing karaoke to a Smiths record. ( I am being lazy and quoting myself from an email I just sent a friend but I needed to get this off my chest officially)
How did this get a 9.0 from Pitchfork?
Why is this number one at Other Music?
I am clapping my hands and saying EH.
A little help here.
Are they good live?
Have friends in high places?
Did they cast a magic spell over NYC to love them?
Mice Parade / Bem-Vinda Vontade/ Rating 6.6
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/m/mice-parade/bem-vinda-vontade.shtml
"I know Múm's more song-oriented direction has its fans, but for my part Valtýsdótti's singing is completely unlistenable, a tuneless whisper/shriek that seems to exist only as a twee placeholder without having any content on its own. When she comes in on "Night's Wave" and "The Boat Room" she completely pulls me out of whatever reverie the music inspires. Here is an example of when indie's DIY inclusiveness goes too far."
and
"Nothing wrong with formerly instrumental bands wanting to experiment with songs but it makes sense to recruit singers and songwriters that approach the skill of the music that surrounds them. So much of Bem-Vinda Vontade sounds so nice, with guitar and drum textures as lovely as anything the band has attempted. But the singing seems tacked on and the music suffers, resulting in Mice Parade's least consistent album."
I am going to put this simply. Ditto.
Mice Parade's last tour also included Kristin and besides the fact that she stood so far over to the left of the stage she was hardly there at all, her windy approach to singing made her utterly pointless within M.P.'s otherwise gorgeous performance. Adam Pierce’s carefree yet calculated drumming by bare hand on the box he was seated upon is a perfect example of how even live their lax, go where ever the moment takes them vibe is exactly what makes them so special.
Live and recorded.
I also can’t help but notice that the vocal melodies Adam chooses for Bem-Vinda Vontade remind me of a more insecure Swirlies; a group he has been playing drums in for years. My hope is this record will be a vocal stepping stone for Pierce and for their next release he will offer more confident singing and fewer vocal cameos.
This cd is close to good but no cigar.
"I know Múm's more song-oriented direction has its fans, but for my part Valtýsdótti's singing is completely unlistenable, a tuneless whisper/shriek that seems to exist only as a twee placeholder without having any content on its own. When she comes in on "Night's Wave" and "The Boat Room" she completely pulls me out of whatever reverie the music inspires. Here is an example of when indie's DIY inclusiveness goes too far."
and
"Nothing wrong with formerly instrumental bands wanting to experiment with songs but it makes sense to recruit singers and songwriters that approach the skill of the music that surrounds them. So much of Bem-Vinda Vontade sounds so nice, with guitar and drum textures as lovely as anything the band has attempted. But the singing seems tacked on and the music suffers, resulting in Mice Parade's least consistent album."
I am going to put this simply. Ditto.
Mice Parade's last tour also included Kristin and besides the fact that she stood so far over to the left of the stage she was hardly there at all, her windy approach to singing made her utterly pointless within M.P.'s otherwise gorgeous performance. Adam Pierce’s carefree yet calculated drumming by bare hand on the box he was seated upon is a perfect example of how even live their lax, go where ever the moment takes them vibe is exactly what makes them so special.
Live and recorded.
I also can’t help but notice that the vocal melodies Adam chooses for Bem-Vinda Vontade remind me of a more insecure Swirlies; a group he has been playing drums in for years. My hope is this record will be a vocal stepping stone for Pierce and for their next release he will offer more confident singing and fewer vocal cameos.
This cd is close to good but no cigar.
Sunday, June 26, 2005
Why? / Sanddollars, The EP / Rating 6.6
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/w/why/sanddollars.shtml
In the mid 90’s two separate artists in two totally different parts of the country really captured my attention.
I was at a hardcore show in N.J. watching the usual screamo back turned to the audience kind performance when curiously one lone kid with glasses started to set up a drum machine and microphone. Adam Goren AKA Atom and his Package played for the crowd the sort of set one would expect to get their ass kicked for daring to perform in front an all ages rented hall crowd. His lyrics too clever for his own good took the ubsurd pop intelligence of They Might Be Giants and managed to win over most of the high-water pants and backpack wearing audience. I couldn’t have imagined comedy whined over synth hooks and simple Yamaha drum beats working but it was like listening to a young David Cross trying to sing and damn it he was really likable. It was one of Atom’s first shows and while it was clumsy you could tell he was onto something good. Maybe not for everyone kind of good but none the less he was onto something new.
A few thousand miles to the left Sam Jayne was in-between bands. The Olympia / Seattle band Lync had broken up and his solo cassette only project called Love as Laughter was about as underground and unknown as it could get. Just a few years before Beck’s hit song “Loser” introduced the mainstream to indie rock’s version of hip-hop and as Beck extended his repertoire to include his version of the blues, Sam Jayne was included among several other Northwest guest stars on “One Foot in the Grave”. This snowball affect of mix and match styles had taken root in Sam Jayne’s songwriting and out came two tapes of some of the craziest most unique sounding home spun records around. His trademark nasal vocal straining remained but replacing a full band was a drum machine and the kind of experimental instrumentation few kids attached the blooming Sunny Day Real Estate scene were capable or willing to make. Love as Laughter has matured into an utterly different monster almost a decade later but his early 4track material easily still fits under the same family tree Anticon has built over the past several years.
(I swear I am going somewhere with my walks down memory lane…promise.)
The first time I heard Why? All I could do was think back to these two separate time periods in my life and connect the dots to the now like a cartoon map filled with dashes between the past and present. Forgive me but I don’t associate Yoni Wolf to hip-hop at all. My ears settle into the comfortable feeling I get when I still play “Don’t Let Start” by They Might be Giants. Lyrically I can understand why hip-hop fans would be a fan of Why? but if anything I feel like his talents deserved to be heard by a much wider audience. The same people who embraced that scrawny white guy singing “I’m a loser baby, so why don’t you kill me” or didn’t cringe at the thought of listening to an entire Beat Happening record.
I love the “Sanddollars” Ep because of all the above reasons and for his mention of the Danielson Family. There is nothing “safe” about his lyrics and if having a strong melodies and song structures to back them up makes it less appealing to his usual fan club then good. Why? deserves better.
In the mid 90’s two separate artists in two totally different parts of the country really captured my attention.
I was at a hardcore show in N.J. watching the usual screamo back turned to the audience kind performance when curiously one lone kid with glasses started to set up a drum machine and microphone. Adam Goren AKA Atom and his Package played for the crowd the sort of set one would expect to get their ass kicked for daring to perform in front an all ages rented hall crowd. His lyrics too clever for his own good took the ubsurd pop intelligence of They Might Be Giants and managed to win over most of the high-water pants and backpack wearing audience. I couldn’t have imagined comedy whined over synth hooks and simple Yamaha drum beats working but it was like listening to a young David Cross trying to sing and damn it he was really likable. It was one of Atom’s first shows and while it was clumsy you could tell he was onto something good. Maybe not for everyone kind of good but none the less he was onto something new.
A few thousand miles to the left Sam Jayne was in-between bands. The Olympia / Seattle band Lync had broken up and his solo cassette only project called Love as Laughter was about as underground and unknown as it could get. Just a few years before Beck’s hit song “Loser” introduced the mainstream to indie rock’s version of hip-hop and as Beck extended his repertoire to include his version of the blues, Sam Jayne was included among several other Northwest guest stars on “One Foot in the Grave”. This snowball affect of mix and match styles had taken root in Sam Jayne’s songwriting and out came two tapes of some of the craziest most unique sounding home spun records around. His trademark nasal vocal straining remained but replacing a full band was a drum machine and the kind of experimental instrumentation few kids attached the blooming Sunny Day Real Estate scene were capable or willing to make. Love as Laughter has matured into an utterly different monster almost a decade later but his early 4track material easily still fits under the same family tree Anticon has built over the past several years.
(I swear I am going somewhere with my walks down memory lane…promise.)
The first time I heard Why? All I could do was think back to these two separate time periods in my life and connect the dots to the now like a cartoon map filled with dashes between the past and present. Forgive me but I don’t associate Yoni Wolf to hip-hop at all. My ears settle into the comfortable feeling I get when I still play “Don’t Let Start” by They Might be Giants. Lyrically I can understand why hip-hop fans would be a fan of Why? but if anything I feel like his talents deserved to be heard by a much wider audience. The same people who embraced that scrawny white guy singing “I’m a loser baby, so why don’t you kill me” or didn’t cringe at the thought of listening to an entire Beat Happening record.
I love the “Sanddollars” Ep because of all the above reasons and for his mention of the Danielson Family. There is nothing “safe” about his lyrics and if having a strong melodies and song structures to back them up makes it less appealing to his usual fan club then good. Why? deserves better.
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