- Chris Roberts
- Albums and Singles
Possibly the most heavily anticipated Boston hip-hop release of the past 10 years (ironically released on New York-based Definitive Jux), Black Dialogue represents what is hopefully the once-and-future identity of hip hop: witty, exuberant, politcal, playful and thoughtful all at once. There is also remarkable balance between the players: not once does either Mr. Lif, Akrobatik or Fakts One unfairly steal the stage or fail to shine when called upon, not even when dueting with Boston legend Guru and the notorious big nosed Humpty Hump (!!). Black Dialogue opens with the brash thumper "Let's Move!!," a bombastic call-to-arms that combines the aforementioned dorkiness with the skillful and cerebral rhyming that have served Lif and Ak so well in the past. The two MCs share the spotlight, rhyming line on line, occasionally spitting back and forth, sometimes dropping verses at a time, keeping Black Dialogue's tempo and energy up at all times. Along with hilarious diss couplets like "This ain't no fraternity step-show/ wait, you'll be traded upstate like Bledsoe," Black Dialogue also has social consciousness worthy of Public Enemy. "Memorial Day" decries the war in Iraq and the spurious weapons of mass destruction while honoring those who serve, and the title track is a relevant and timely statement on the status of visible black America, offering a stinging rebuke to the one-dimensional MTV and BET set: "I walk the path my elders laid out/cause acting like a monkey for white folks is played out." Black Dialogue isn't perfect. The attempted ballad "Love Letters" falls flat on its face from the goofy opening lyric "You don't even know I exist/But I want you to/ That's why I'm writing you this love letter," and there's a few too many tracks dedicated to hip hop for hip hop's sake that sound vapid in the face of the heavier fare. But while "Blo" and "People 4 Prez" could be seen as breezy overindulgences, the guest spots provided by Guru on "Party Hard" and Humpty Hump on "Career Finders" simply tear the roof off, more than making up for any shortcoming and sealing the deal on Black Dialogue, a rare combination of relevance and enjoyment -
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- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
Entschuldigen
This insanely hecticmix of various breaks, noises, jumbles, and explosions unapologeticallymoves at the speed of light. Averaging roughly 26 seconds per track andrecorded live in 2004, Keith Whitman is assembling, abusing, andthrowing away themes, ideas, melodies, rhythms, and effects so fastthat it is sometimes hard to keep up with what's happening. Thankfully,the Irrevocably Overdriven Break Freakout Megamixalbum develops over a series of tracks, letting some melodies andflurries of intergalactic noise doom sink in before they are slappedaround and left for dead in the wake of Whitman's playful attitudetowards his own brand of electronic grooviness. Up until track 18 orso, Whitman stays pretty loose, not letting many rhythms repeatthemselves whatsoever, but playing around with unified sets of samples.After track 18, Whitman seems to have indexed many of the songs bywhich rhythm he was choosing to use underneath an already establishedarrangement based on instrument timbre and mood. In fact, tracks 18through 58 run around a brass-like horn born of the pits of hell, butby track 59 Whitman has ditched that theme altogether and arrived atsome odd crossing of video-game music and tin percussion static. Out ofnowhere track 61 opens up a keyboard melody that dots across a hazy andsmoky series of buzzed out samples and iron crashes. At every turnWhitman is moving into new territory. Sometimes his breaks soundfamiliar, like something that might get a few people dancing, butbefore any four-on-the-floor action can get going, Whitman tears themusic to shreds with the sound of wrecked civilizations and damagedelectronics. Irrevocably Overdriven is a limited run disc(though the site doesn't say just how limited) and is likely to besnatched up quickly and for good reason; music this much fun is rareand the quality of Whitman's live work on this disc is just as good asanything he does at home or in his studio.
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- Joshua David Mann
- Albums and Singles
Constellation
Among the other things that have been augmented since the first releaseis Efrim's vocal presence, which at this point is pretty ubiquitous. Inthe lower registers, his voice is a fairly stable countertenor whichover-pronounces the lyrics disarmingly. But Efrim can warble his voiceand destabilize it when he reaches and extends it slightly. The effectis purposeful but perhaps not always pleasant. The Mt. Zion music risesand falls behind the vocal wanderings, creating either an impressivemountainous background or an insufficient mole-hill which leaves themusic unguarded and vulnerable. In either case, the socio-politicalcritiques and commentaries of the vocals take center-stage on thealbum, sometimes supported by glittering beautiful music and sometimesleft out to dry like so many of the disenfranchised subjects of theseptet's lyrics. The album's opener "God Bless Our Dead Marines" begsthe question, "Does Canada have Marines, or is he talking aboutAmerica's?" In either case, someone is putting angels in electricchairs, according to Efrim, and the band marches through six disparateand disconnected movements describing a collection losses or deaths,none of whom sound very much like the few and the proud. "MountainsMade of Steam" is the best song in the album, elaborating quietly onthe theme of "My Favorite Things" in its first half. Mt. Zion's chorusbacks up Efrim in this first half, eventually yielding to areverberating guitar which itself gives way to the more fascinatingcello bridge between the final movement. The choir sings over thecello, "The angels in your palm/ sing gentle worried songs,/ and thesweetness of our dreams/ like mountains made of steam" while otherstrings casually but importantly join in. The violins' melody over thecello lilts hypnotizingly and too soon the song dissipates without anyhint of a departure. It marks one of the most graceful exits ever for asong. The title track is a quiet, contemplative song marked more byrestraint than most of the album. To see an example about how the musiccan throw the vocalists under the bus, you need only listen to "Hang onto Each Other." "Ring Them Bells" is the most Godspeedesquecomposition, while "Teddy Roosevelt's Guns" is the most thematicallyand lyrically interesting (think of it as Canadian national protestanthem outfitted thoughtfully with the obligatory apostrophe "OhCanada"). Horses in the Skyis a very holistic album, comprising and even colliding various soundsof the Constellation Records family under this one, though admittedlyrambling, band name. If the rambling can be weathered, there are someworthwhile moments on the album which are not drowned out by the equinestampede of the band's thoughts.
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- Jim Siegel
- Albums and Singles
Mego
In 1997 Pavlovseemed content to let a consistent rhythmic pattern remain unchangedfor nearly four minutes, as evidenced on "Fracture," however, with2003's "Untitled Smash Hit," the skeletal groove transforms into atechno-esque pattern that most of the preceeding tracks were remotelyhinting at. An entire set of this type of solid 4/4 groove would wearthin quickly, but by gradually building the set to this point, it is awelcome release of the tension that has built up during therhythmically ambiguous first half of the set. "Dynamo Babe" seamlesslykeeps up the pace and sees Pavlov weaving layers of interlocking 16thnote patterns that build up to a distorted ending. The newer set worksbetter because the tracks build off of each other and have a bettersense of cohesion. Much of the early set has a similar feel to hisrecordings released between 1998 and 2000 on Raster-Noton, exploringthe intricacies of single tones and pulses for minutes on end. Hearingthese two sets back to back it is clear that he has since becomeskilled at combining these base sounds into more structurally andcompositionally advanced pieces, which have become more enjoyable forme at least. The recent tracks are also noticeably shorter than their1997 counterparts, showing that he has learned how to distill theimportant information into a tighter composition, and not waste as muchspace. While the crisp, digital textures Pavlov was exploring in 1997still sound fresh texturally, his subsequent development as a composerand arranger is what will allow him to remain relevant in the future.
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- Lucas Schleicher
- Albums and Singles
Secretly Canadian
The Magnolia Electric Co showed Songs:Ohia taking off into a full sound that covered epic guitar-driven pieces just as well as old-time country feelings. Molina was certainly pulling spirits out of the past, but his own mark was clear and distinct on every track. What Comes After the Blues continues the varied character of Molina's last record and sees Molina and his band emerging from whatever lines were drawn between them and other performers. The album begins with the rush and force of "The Dark Don't Hide It," a song that's appeared on the road for some time, now, but sounds incredible in the studio with the new band that Molina has decided to record with. The arrangement is fluid, crossing in and out of acoustic and electric instruments and building with a hidden intensity that culminates in one of my favorite lyrics on the record. Molina's delivery might seem restrained, but the resignation in his voice and the chorus make the intensity greater than it would've been with simplistic volume increase or dynamic explosion. The slide-guitar playing stands out on several songs, but nowhere more than on "The Night Shift Lullaby." Its warm tone literally bleeds all over Jennie Benford's lovely vocals. The first four songs on the record are incredibly strong. "Leave the City" is one of the more unique songs in Molina's catalogue. The trumpet playing takes center stage in front of a cast of country guitars and piano, but cannot seem to escape Molina's lament over leaving his hometown. Magnolia Electric Co have never recorded anything as beautiful as "Hard to Love a Man" and the easy disposition of the entire second half of the album is simply blissful. Both "Hammer Down" and "I Can Not Have Seen the Light" are maybe two of the best Molina has written; they're simple and naked lyrically and sonically. Molina might be compared to a whole slew of people, but nobody sounds like him and there's only a few bands that can touch on Magnolia Electric Co's soulful delivery and power. -
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- Andrew Culler
- Albums and Singles
Rune Grammofon
Apparently a specific reference to Turkish miniaturepainting—where artists are subject to a rigorous structure demanding noperspective, no shadow, no uniqueness of objects, etc,...—the album isthe group's most beguiling work yet, emphasizing ideas that definetheir sound: that no track is merely a sum of its parts, that arrangementis central and will not be led by predictable dependences orpattern-for-pattern's-sake. Like so much of John Cage's work, Alogmusic is necessarily un-improvised but stands firmly on the side ofchance, suggestion, and natural lopsidedness. Their technique remains arather straightforward computerized cut-loop-paste-repeat of warmdigital flicker and the disassociated instrumental sounds of guitar,organ, string, bell, and percussion, though to call the duo's musicfragmentary is to miss something. Theirs is not an Ovalian world ofcompositions realized through faulty connection or breakdown, but asimilarly electrified domain in which sounds approach an abstract (ifnot pure) reverie, repeated only enough to erase the temporal nature oftheir origins, lent only enough open space to wind themselves out, andgiven momentum only through a kind of forced contact with contrastiveelements. While on past releases this kind of directive-lesssong-building could sound amateurish or at times even grating, Miniaturesfeels uncommonly graceful after only a few listens. The probability ofa track's ending entirely unrecognizable from its beginning will alwaysbe a reason to give Alog a chance, one that is justified immediatelyhere with the opening track, "Severe Punishment and Lasting Bliss,"which served also as the attractive start for the latest Rune sampler, Runeology.A virtual hour in ten minutes takes tiny, plastic synth smears througha fuzzed toy guitar, growing miraculous and soon to steam engine, thento 4-track feedback harness attempt, and on to the anticlimax that inAlog fashion comes forward to claim my whole climactic memory of thetrack: a penetrating, fat ass-end of a drone, bottoming out and outuntil reeled in to simple, sleepy strings, a miniature quartet allalong. Another of the disc's longer tracks ("St. Paul Sessions II")appeared as the lead-off track on Rune compilation/mission statement Money Will Ruin Everythinglast year, but such previous exposure need not be a deterrent as thealbum is completely solid, both patchy and fluid in the best ways. Forthe Alog-familiar, plenty of surprises wait inside, like the duo'sincreased incorporation of ambient sound (more on-the-surface andpopulated with voices) and a pleasant favoritism of live, clatter-heavypercussion over drum machines. As usual, listening is less involvedwith marveling at just how different sound is shifted into themix than with the experience of drifting forward with each newlyabstracted noise and uncovering the powers of suggestion latent ineach.
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- Jonathan Dean
- Albums and Singles
- Jonathan Dean
- Albums and Singles
Wabana
The recordings that comprise this album could only bedescribed as dodgy, often sounding not much better than a fan-recordedbootleg made on a wobbly old cassette deck. As per usual, AMT pushtheir noisy space-rock contortions into the red zone, which togetherwith the low-fidelity, high-distortion recording quality, makes for analbum that will be unappealing to all but the most committed listenersof blistering, atonal noise rock. Personally, I prefer other AMT livedocuments to this one, most especially the superlative Live in Japanreleased in 2002. Because of its relative brevity, this album must cutshort certain songs, which in the case of epic, monolithic tracks like"La Novia" and "Pink Lady Lemonade" is truly unfortunate. "Pink LadyLemonade" is to AMT what "Dark Star" was to the Dead: they perform itat nearly every gig, and there are as many variations and permutationson the song as there are times they've performed it. The relativelybrief variation included here only hints at the full power of the song,excerpting an eight-minute maelstrom of churning guitar noise andsquealing synthesizer from what was most likely a much longerperformance (it's not at all rare for performances of the song to last45 minutes to an hour). AMT's longform adaptation of the Occitainianfolk song "La Novia" is also included, with Kawabata Makoto pullingsome particularly fierce, ephochal solos from his much-abused electricguitar. However, without the enraptured vocal harmonies that normallybegin the song, this version feels stunted and incomplete. The Japanesepsych-rockers' insane rendition of "Acid Tokion 2000" is probably theonly track that recommends this album over past live documents, aheavy, acid-drenched wall of chirping, twittering electronics matchedwith Kawabata's senseless, masturbatory improvisations, falling overhimself as he races towards the song's orgasmic conclusion. Even withthis inclusion of this killer cut, I'd say it's a safer bet to seek outLive in Japan. That is, of course, unless you are a completist, in which case you should consider getting a life.
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- Jonathan Dean
- Albums and Singles
Wabana
As a way of expressingtheir violent distaste with he-who-shall-not-remain-nameless, Wolf Eyeslaunch into a lengthy, aggressive, speaker-cone obliterating storm ofelectronic noise and senseless junkyard scrap metal percussion.High-pitched squeals and grating, piercing shrieks and monstrousscreams echo through a maelstrom of cheap junk electronics that haveturned against their masters, shooting out showers of sparks andshrapnel that embeds itself into your cranium, sizzling your scalp likehot battery acid. The sweet, putrid smell of protein burns, decayingflesh and cross-wired electrical smoke fuse together, burning nasalpassageways faster than a gram of dirty bathtub crank. A demented,jerry-rigged post-consumer junkyard cyborg lumbers through a dystopianfuture cityscape that resembles what Escape From Detroit mighthave looked like if John Carpenter had ever made such a film. Far inthe distance, contract builders hired by the occupational governmentdrill giant holes in the ground in order to erect a giant rustywatchtower that transmits a 24-hour tinfoil-hate-penetrating brainscramble frequency to keep the street gangs in line. The cold, bitingwind howls and the moon is blotted out by smog that chokes the lifefrom every living thing not equipped with industrial-strength breathingfilters. Sure, this is well-worn territory, and it could be argued thatWolf Eyes don't stray too far from the imperatives first set in motionby Throbbing Gristle and their ilk more than 25 years ago. However,Wolf Eyes are very good at negotiating this territory. Their noiseassaults are narrative in their scope, building fascinating dramas fromjunk electronics, air raid sirens, homemade distortion boxes and otherassorted stuff. Though there is, obviously, a dark streak of nihilismrunning through the sounds on Fuck Pete Larsen, there is alsoan atmosphere of a few guys having a lot of fun making a big, scaryracket. It's this punk-rock attitude and playfulness that has earnedthem a place in the Sub Pop roster (not to mention their morestructured, rhythmic work on Burned Mind). I'd be lying if Iclaimed there was anything particularly unique about this album overmany of the other limited LPs, cassettes and CD-Rs by this veryprolific band, but it does the job nicely, and sometimes that's all youcan ask for.
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- Chris Roberts
- Albums and Singles
Lexicon
Most of the compositions on his first two records,though nothing like the jams he used to spin, had recognizablebreakbeats and vaguely similar song structures to the very music Broderwanted to abandon. On his third effort and first on Lexicon, he makes aclean break, coming very close to making a pop record. 10th Avenue Freakoutstill displays Broder's talent as a sound collagist—the album'sthirteen tracks are simply brimming with patchworks of differentnoises: horns, woodwinds, blips, beeps and even the stray turntable.The arrangements are alternately sparse and low key and cacophonouslybusy, providing the perfect backdrop for Broder's pleasantly thin,reedy voice that takes the stage when it needs to, but sometimes fadesinto the sea of noises and becomes just another pleasurable sound. Therecord starts off strong. "Can You Believe It?" subtly layers organsand strings over a distorted broken drum and ends with hornsflourishing. Broder's songwriting is strongest on "We're Winning," anapocalyptic warning that is nearly lost in the staccato backbeat.Unfortunately, nowhere on the record do Broder's lyrics and music workbetter together. While 10th Avenue Freakout is more accessible andeasier to hum than anything Broder has done before, the end resultfeels like two distinct entities vying for attention at the expense ofthe other. In the end, the music wins, and 10th Avenue Freakout is the better for it. Broder is capable of beautiful harmonizing, and 10th Avenue Freakoutis full of bizarrely wonderful duets. He is probably the only person onearth who can make a song out of a telephone call, white noise and acar-wreck and actually do it well. And his lyrics aren't worthless—he'swonderfully charming to listen to, especially when his soft tenor emitscouplets like "and as for today/ I've had sneezes with much more tosay/ with tiny little novels in every fleck of snot." 10th Avenue Freakoutwill never be mistook for The Postal Service, but that doesn't detractfrom Broder's accomplishment: a uniquely charming and sonicallychallenging record.
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- Lucas Schleicher
- Albums and Singles
Mute
A quick glance at the tracklisting will reveal the obvious; there have been plenty of singles, 7"records, compilation recordings, and soundtrack appearances from NickCave and the Bad Seeds since they formed in 1983. Another glance willreveal that there's more to this release than just those b-sides orone-off recordings. The inclusion of radio session tracks, unreleasedalternate takes, tribute album songs, and altogether previously unheardpieces have made the near impossible journey of finding all these songsfar easier than it would've been previously. Though I love Nick Caveand the Bad Seeds, I own very few singles by them and have been lesscompelled to go looking for the odd appearances that pop up here andthere (a Neil Young tribute album, the X-Files soundtrack, etc.) and sothis release makes complete and total sense. The first two discs areespecially captivating because they contain roughly 35 tracks ofmaterial I've never had the chance to hear before. Not included aresolo Cave pieces nor Cave guest appearances with other bands (with theexception of "Time Jesum Transeuntum Et Non Riverentum," which wasrecorded with The Dirty Three and "hidden" on the X-Files soundtrack),but that only makes sense seeing how this is billed as a Bad Seedsrelated release. B-Sides from each era of the band's history isrepresented on all three discs, up to and including material recordedduring the Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheussessions. There are raw, maniacal, and completely unhinged songssituated next to some of Cave's signature slow and brooding ballads,but the roughly chronological order of the tunes never sounds toouneven or haphazard. Many of the songs sound as though they belong toone another; "Blue Bird" and a cover of Neil Young's "Helpless" sitbeautifully beside each other before the rough and rumbling "God'sHotel" annihilates the peace and calm of those performances and theentire "What a Wonderful World" single rolls out gently enough, but isthen torn to shreds by an excellent acoustic version of "Jack theRipper." There is a version of "Where the Wild Roses Grow" with BlixaBargeld singing Kylie Minogue's part, a version of "What Can I GiveYou?" with new lyrics, a surprisingly excellent version of "Red RightHand" with Barry Adamson, new orchestral arrangements, and new lyrics,and many other stand-outs all over each disc. The third CD is dividedbetween outtakes and b-sides from The Boatman's Call, No More Shall We Part, and Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus.While this material is less interesting to me than the music on thefirst and second CDs, it is nice having all the songs from the singlesthat were released during that time, as well as a couple extras thatinclude the song "I Feel So Good," which was used for Martin Scorsese'sdocumentary about the blues. There is a wealth of material on thistriple disc set that will be valuable to all but the most obsessive ofcollectors. Even those collectors will find plenty to be happy about.For people like me, this is an outstanding collection of songs that Imay never have had the chance to hear otherwise.
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