FREEZEPOP, "FOREVER"
This young, well-coiffed fashion savvy Boston trio reminds me why I prefer why Pizzicato Five sings in Japanese, as it's far easier to enjoy superficial lyrics when they're in an incomprehensible language. The music is simple, full of predictable progressions, pre-programmed sounds and beats, with a flat vocal delivery derived from overdosing on Laurie Anderson, Kraftwerk and Liz Phair. Melodies aren't complex and harmony isn't in their vocabulary. Don't be fooled by catch phrases like "80s Retro" or "Electro Lounge" however as the tunes closely resemble those of many a teenager's terrible demos sitting in the trash buckets at Mute Records. "Kinder-pop" might be more appropriate, however, as I've heard of 5 year olds with a better sense of composition. To their credit, there's a lot of local support for the group, and I personally feel they have the potential to become something of note. One song on this disc jumps out, their Japanese-titled song (which appeared on the Arch Enemy 'Know Your Enemy' comp) shines head and shoulders above the rest of the tracks, with an actual effort placed on writing a multi-part song. These trust fund babies obviously have access to the equipment and recording facilities, now it's time to work on those writing skills, fellas.
This young, well-coiffed fashion savvy Boston trio reminds me why I prefer why Pizzicato Five sings in Japanese, as it's far easier to enjoy superficial lyrics when they're in an incomprehensible language. The music is simple, full of predictable progressions, pre-programmed sounds and beats, with a flat vocal delivery derived from overdosing on Laurie Anderson, Kraftwerk and Liz Phair. Melodies aren't complex and harmony isn't in their vocabulary. Don't be fooled by catch phrases like "80s Retro" or "Electro Lounge" however as the tunes closely resemble those of many a teenager's terrible demos sitting in the trash buckets at Mute Records. "Kinder-pop" might be more appropriate, however, as I've heard of 5 year olds with a better sense of composition. To their credit, there's a lot of local support for the group, and I personally feel they have the potential to become something of note. One song on this disc jumps out, their Japanese-titled song (which appeared on the Arch Enemy 'Know Your Enemy' comp) shines head and shoulders above the rest of the tracks, with an actual effort placed on writing a multi-part song. These trust fund babies obviously have access to the equipment and recording facilities, now it's time to work on those writing skills, fellas. samples:
As a North American it's tough to listen to an Icelandic female singer backed with an adventurous rock band without remeniscing over the Sugarcubes. This debut solo album from former Unun singer features a wide spectrum of styles over ten captivating songs, from the rock-based opener, "Hugsjór," a pleasant tune with a dark aggressive side which rears its head from time to time to the surf-epic hit single "Loftborg," winding down to the slow "Sé Þig Alla Leið," which could easily be interpreted as a tribute to the smooth jazz vocalists of the fifties. The disc may be filed under Heiða's name but props are in order for a backing group who have successfully pulled off the dynamic stylistic demands with a remarkable precision, skill and feel. If this girl continues on outside of her homeland with touring and the label can succesfully export, there's no doubt in my mind the dull roar of an industry buzz would be terribly far away. Unfortunately I have yet to see this for sale anywhere outside of the Bad Taste website, 
Scottish born, Chicago based singer/songwriter Chris Connelly is often compared to David Bowie, Scott Walker and the like but he has truly come into his own over the past decade. "Blonde Exodus" is the 5th album of his solo career, the second to be credited with his new band The Bells. And unlike the previous album "The Ultimate Seaside Companion", here The Bells live band (Mark Henning - guitars, mandolin, backing vocals, timpani; Henry Polk - bass guitar; Kim Ambriz - drums, percussion; and others) serve as the studio band too providing a solid live band sound throughout. Dramatic, poetic pop song craft is Connelly's forte as he takes great care in marrying his expressive lyrics, mostly relationship adventures, to lush and melodic arrangements of acoustic and electric guitars, piano, harmonica, keyboards, female backing vocals and strings. "Generique" opens the curtains of this play with a gorgeous, swirling theme and French text reading. Most of the songs to follow are mid tempo pop rock in the 3 to 5 minute range, save for the title track which comes in two near 8 minute mini epics, the former detailing the doomed journey of a model from 'Chicago to Milano'. "Diamonds Eat Diamonds", dedicated to fellow Scot singer Billy Mackenzie of the Associates, begs 'if I could will you sweet angel, back to the front, I would force my doors open, kiss you like diamonds eat diamonds'. "Blue Hooray!" is a bitter condemnation of a former lover with the repeated line 'you were always hoping that I'd immortalize you in a song'. "Magnificent Wing" and "The Long Weekend" are fantastic bits of travelogue, the former with rolling tides of timpani. "Julie Delpy" is by far the catchiest and up beat tune, infectiously so with gorgeous piano work and a declaration: 'and I want you, most sincerely, to acknowledge, right of place, when all your life appears to be a waste'. The "Closing Titles" cleverly deliver a spoken cast of those responsible, bringing the album to a curtain call close. Brilliant! Chris Connelly is simply one of the finest living songwriters today as far as I'm concerned, a woefully unsung artistic treasure, and "Blonde Exodus" is once again sure proof of that .
Bill Rieflin and Chris Connelly have been friends and collaborators for nearly 15 years beginning with Revolting Cocks/Ministry albums, tours and side projects. "Largo" is the 15th album they've appeared on together, a series of 'writing experiments' literally a decade in the making and finally recorded this past year. The stark b/w cover photo of the pairs' stern faced floating heads gives a good indication of the slow and quiet, minimalist aesthetic of the music. Most of the 13 tracks are centered around Connelly's voice and guitar and Rieflin's piano then further embellished with drum machine, keyboards, basses (Fred Chalenor) and strings (Caroline Lavelle and members of The Alexandria Quartet). The title track is the lengthiest at near 8 minutes and immediately sets the tone with spacious chords and lovely melodies intermittently set to metronome. "Pray'r" is more compact with an aching vocal, steady guitar strums and bass groove, flirtatious keys and a simple rhythm. "Strayed" and "Salt of Joy" update past solo Connelly album songs, the former with an additional verse and double bass, the latter with a newly penned call and response vocal. "Close Watch" and "Sea Song" are strong, reverent and fitting covers, John Cale and Robert Wyatt respectively. "Wake" is a poem in 3 brief parts: the first a cute lullaby, the second a more straightforward vocal and piano exercise and the third a barrage of rapid piano notes and melodramatic singing. "Rondo" is a wonderfully light and breezy, cinematic instrumental theme. "The Call Girls" features the most abstract poetry and an elegant swan diving cello part by Lavelle. "Prayer" serves as a solo piano bridge to "Y", a song devoid of repeating parts and with Connelly's voice reaching it's highest possible register. Altogether "Largo" is a beautiful piece of work, powerful in it's genuine emotional honesty and intensity rather than instrumentation and volume overkill. The composition is tastefully spare throughout and the mood varies from outright somber to fun. This is a crowning jewel in both mens' careers and I'm certain it will be in my top 10 of 2001 list. The duo plan on touring later this year, piano in tow .
Premiered first at Sonar 2000, this release could very well be an impressionistic aural painting of a thunderstorm which gets closer and closer, unleashes its wrath and then breaks.
The sixth full-length Low CD release comes after a year of releasing enough music for three CDs and one baby girl. Like the last one, this one both appears on Kranky in the US, Tugboat in the UK, two bonus songs on the vinyl edition, and production by Steve Albini. While Low's songwriting skills get amazingly stronger and stronger, I'm finding more problems with Albini's production. To their credit, songs like "Sunflowers," "Dinosaur Act," and "In Metal" carry on their own style of somewhat abstract lyrics matched with breathtaking vocalizations, unchallengable synergy with a fondness of dissonance. To experience Low in person as a collective entity, you'll find that each of the three members create a triangular symmetry. Albini however completely disregards this with songs as "Black Like a Forest" (as he did with "Will the Night") by retiring Mimi's vocals to the background, ignoring the vocalists' harmonic set up. I'm also confused with the album's opener where the hell the strings came from as the music's going, going, going, flowing nice, but then a harsh fade up of strings from out of nowhere almost makes no sense without setup. Perhaps I'm being entirely too picky but after a while these things become out of place threads in a carpet. Disregard these things and you've got a perfect slab of wax, suitable for framing. samples:
This week's mad scientist is a Californian named Jay. Starting off on this journey, the breaks are very disjunct and the transitions between tracks are so choppy, it's even confusing to me when new songs begin or if there are indeed different songs. It almost seems like he's making a conscious effort to avoid anything semi-conventional like establishing a rhythmic base or a bass foundation. But then SMACK! The track with Blectom from Blechdom and the "Gearhound Suite" provide that important plot twist, this guy is actually going somewhere with this! It's almost as if this disc is a physical journey up a mountain, hard steps and unclear paths on the way up, many choices and much on your mind, the sweat beads down and you fall short of breath and tell yourself how much you need to get out more. You reach the peak, have a nice look around, enjoy a refreshing bottle of water and begin your descent, looking down on the beautiful planet from high up, as you encounter various attractions on the way down. Keeping this analogy in mind, the remainder of the disc sort of heads down a rather soothing path, without giving up the digital choppery however. Three-dimensional visions burst into my head, giving the impression of lying on a soft waterbed that keeps shifting around, or running my finger on a densely-filled helium balloon, ready to burst. The end of the disc is the end of our journey, back on the earth with a sense of accomplishment behind us. Lookng back up the mountain we just climbed the whole picture seems clear but we're glad the heavy legwork is over. Lesser has successfully navigated a flight in the face of convention on many levels here. First off, he placed the peak in the center as opposed to most albums throwing a killer bang-up opener and a memorable fade for the closer. Then, consciously or unconsciously, he threaded a certain congruency between rather abstract and disjointed pieces. A disc which I originally thought would make more sense to me in the distant future has become much clearer with the proper attention. We, the listeners can be far more guilty of attention defecit than what many critics will accuse the musicians of. 
Mighty Doug Scharin has a new sound for Him once again for the latest release. Last year saw the release of two full-lengthers, one with a modern electro-jazz feel, the other with a pure force of improvisational mayhem. This 32-minute three-tracker dives into the deeper, cooler side, known simply as dub. The opener, "Five" clocks in at over 14 minutes with long delays, hypnotic bass loops, trickling guitar, latin percussion, warm organs, and an unobtrusive sax. Track two's the shortest of the three tracks and a nice stop-gap which explores sound almost through entirely synthesized by analogue electronics - a primitive drum machine, older keyboards and tons of delay. The last track, "Six" takes an approach completely void of the standard drum kit - electronic or organic, with the group taking a sort of plugged-in "unplugged" mentality, all members grooving together without anything clocking the beat. Sure, these are remixes, meaning the originals have been tampered with, but where are the originals? This release is wonderful but it's a tease, it's way too short and the remix aspect gives me the impression their next album didn't start out this far into dub. Who knows except for Him? 
Calla is the Texas-bred, NYC-based trio of Aurelio Valle (vocals, guitar), Wayne B. Magruder (programming, percussion, drums) and Sean Donovan (bass, keyboards, programming). "Scavengers" is their second full length in as many years and the first for Michael Gira's Young God Records. The sound is somewhat minimal, always stark yet spacious, centered around husky hushed vocals, cleanly plucked guitar with mild Americana overtones and a seriously deep bass guitar groove. Add to that adequate rhythm and a very slight amount of subtle electronics and programming for atmosphere. Most lyrical passages are morphine drip slow while musical passages are allowed to repeat and crescendo, to a certain point. The image of crawling is expressed lyrically in two songs and in the title of a brief instrumental third, "A Fondness for Crawling". The last track is an utterly beautiful cover of U2's "Promenade" presented as if it were Calla's own ... and it is now as far as I'm concerned. "Scavengers" has an honest and deep sense of vulnerability, longing and heartbreak throughout. It makes you want to listen to it over and over again and revel in it rather than immediately shut it off and slash your wrists. A remix 12" for "Fear of Fireflies / Slum Creeper" is in the works.
Tristan Bechet of Portugal and Sebastien Brault of Madagascar formed Flux Information Sciences in NYC in 1996 and with the aid of a revolving door membership have released 4 full length albums to date, "Private / Public" being their debut for producer Michael Gira's Young God Records. The duo abuse guitars, bass, keyboards and samplers and are further augmented here by drummer Derek Etheridge. An explosive percussive onslaught drives most of the songs, many 2 minutes or less, with occasional breaks for sample blitz, menacing soundscapes and even some genuine tender moments. A delightfully bizarre fun house/show biz humor prevails as lyrics are generally simple repeated slogans yelled in English over and under the sonic fury. Imagine if you can something that borrows a bit from early SWANS, Suicide, Big Black, The Monks, Devo and James Chance ... it's simultaneously ugly, quirky, chaotic, energetic and fun with a thoroughly lo-fi DIY punk attitude. Some comments on a few of my favorites tracks: "Adaptech" dances like a mechanical monkey on crack. "Sit Down, Silly!" is the best Big Black song they never wrote. "Love" seems sincere with lovely organ and backwards guitar melodies, straightforward drums and the single word lyric, "love". I have a single word summary for all of "Public / Private": FUN! 
