- Mark Robinson
- Albums and Singles
Although I was only alivefor two years during the 70s, I can definitelyappreciate the annoyingness of overproduced 70s arena rock (mostlythrough the magic of those VH1 "Behind the Music" specials). This new3-song EP from Jello Biafra, Al Jourgensen & Co. aims to poke funat this very genre (well, at least the title track does). The 7-minute"70s Rock Must Die" contains just about every 70s rock cliche in thebook: the cheesy guitar riff, the cowbell, the tambourines, thefalsetto voice (which Biafra nails perfectly), the guitar-wanker solo,the chorus of "come on"s, the slow ballad-esque breakdown in the middleof the song, the kickin' drums, and just about everything else you everheard a million times in every Ted Nugent or Aerosmith song. The twoother tracks on the EP "Volcanus 2000 (We Wipe the World)" and "Balladof Marshall Ledbetter" are somewhat generic Lard songs, similar to thematerial on their last album, "Pure Chewing Satisfaction". They seemtacked on and unrelated to the whole 70s rock theme, but aren'tnecissarily bad either. If you're a fan of Lard (or loathe 70s rock),then this EP is definitely worth picking up for the title track alone(and for the excellent liner notes which, as usual, contain tons ofhumorous newspaper clippings and headlines).samples:
- see the Alternative Tentacles Website
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- Mark Weddle
- Albums and Singles
"Esperanza" is his 9th and most recent soloalbum, originally released in 1996. The entire back catalog of soloalbums were digitally re-mastered and re-released at domestic prices in1999 by Germany's Random Records, each with bonus tracks and newbooklets (in German). Rother's solo music is mellow, light and airywith a flair for new age synth pads, samples and piano. Every track isinstrumental and relatively simple, most with a subtle beat pattern.It's much closer to "Hearts of Space" than Kraftwerk or Neu! really.Rother has gradually shifted from guitar to electronic basedcompositions over the past 20 years and now seems to favor shortertracks, most clocking in at under 4 minutes. If there is any guitar onthis album I can't detect it. "Esperanza" is pleasant start to finishbut there's 8 or so of the 17 tracks in particular that stand-out dueto their beautiful melodies. I don't enjoy any of Rother's solo work asmuch as that of Kraftwerk or Neu! but this music does fill a niche forsomething soft and chilled out for bedtime or background listening. Iown most of the re-mastered back catalog now and have been listening toit frequently. Also, the "Chronicles I" compilation on Cleopatra is agood overview of Rother's solo career. Rother is currently on tour withDieter Moebius (of Cluster) and Dead Voices On Air in Europe and hisnew solo album is due very soon via Random ...samples:
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- Mark Weddle
- Albums and Singles
The Man in Black ... backwhen he was a real bad ass. "At Folsom Prison" was recorded on January13, 1968 and originally released later that year, then again on CD in1996 coupled with the '69 "San Quentin" live album. A quick, possiblylittle known fact: Cash was so big by the fall of '69 those two albumswere outselling the Beatles at around 250,000 copies per month. Thisre-release gives "Folsom" the royal treatment it deserves: 20-bitdigitally remastering, restored and uncensored original song order with3 previously unreleased bonus tracks and a nice new booklet. Cash isbacked here by the Tennessee Three (including Carl "Blue Suede Shoes"Perkins), the Statler Brothers and wife June Carter on a few numbers.The sound is the classic Cash two-beat in varying tempos and moods witha few by Cash solo. It's not really country music persay but more ablend of American roots, folk and gospel musics. And of course there'sthe one and only haunting baritone that deeply resonates throughout thehall. The 19 song set list is custom made for the captive (haha)audience of 2000 with serious and humorous songs filled with tales ofprison, drugs, crime, murder, death, mother, love, hope andspirituality. There is an amazing tension in the air but Cash distillsit with his songs and talk in-between and during songs. The prisonersloved it and so do I. The 24 page booklet is nicely done with the original "Folsom PrisonBlues" letter by Cash, brief liner notes by Cash and Steve Earle andnumerous photos from throughout the day of the show. What's reallyinteresting for me is listening to this album and looking at thepictures to get a small sense of what it was like to be there. Ifyou've never given this sort of music a real try, "At Folsom Prison" isone of the best possible places to start. Cash is currently workingwith Rick Rubin on his 4th album for American Records due out laterthis spring ...
samples:
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- Mark Robinson
- Albums and Singles
Anyway, this definitelyisn't your typical mainstream hip-hop album, despite the fact that it'sbeen getting play on lots of mainstream hip-hop stations. Not only canMos Def throw together some great rhymes, but he seems genuinelyinterested in creating putting together actual songs with some degreeof structure and progression. This is definitely a welcome change frommost other hip-hop artists today, who seem satisfied putting out tracksthat are really just 4 minutes of rhyming over the same repeating beat.The whole album is pretty damn good, but a few tracks in particularstick out. "Ms. Fat Booty" (yeah, I know, lame title), the first singlefrom the album, mixes some traditional hip-hop beats and rhymes withsamples of what sounds like an old, soulful female jazz singer. "Rock NRoll", my favorite song on the disc, starts out as a rant about howwhite artists have been stealing and profiting from black music foryears (remember the article in last week's Brain? It's along thoselines). The music starts out fairly laid back and funky and then all ofthe sudden turns into a straight-out guitar-driven rock song. Prettycool. The album closes with the funky instrumental "May-December",which features a nice keyboard melody played over some deep synthsounds, a vibraphone and funky bass line (the latter two of which wereplayed my Mos Def himself). In this album, Mos Def comes across as oneof those artists who's truly mastered their genre and is able tosimultaneously able to appeal to both mainstream fans and pickybastards like myself.samples:
- check back soon
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- Jason Hyde
- Albums and Singles
I loved the purityand simplistic beauty of Soft Black Stars, but those who didn't enjoythe last album will be pleased to know that this EP is nothing at alllike it, or really like much Tibet has done before. It's a 22-minuteexperimental electronic piece with lots of nice drones, disembodiedcut-up voices, occasional blips, and Tibet's surprisingly restrained,almost monotone delivery. The text by Ligotti is both creepy and cleverwith lots on nice wordplay and repetition. Tibet's voice seems to becoming from a tape recorder, and before each segment of his deliveryyou hear a clicking sound that I'm presuming is the sound of the tapebeing started. Some segments have the sound of the tape machinesqueaking as well. Overall, it sounds pleasantly primitive and vaguelyreminiscent of early electronic compositions from the 1950s. The endhas Tibet's electronically altered voice repeating twice. It's areprise of the first segment of the text, "when everybody you love isfinally gone,..." The artwork, a very colourful David Tibet painting ofsome sort of tentacled creature with a black section featuring thetitle in white over and over and over, is also wonderful... Highlyrecommended.samples:
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- Carter Adams
- Albums and Singles
I'll admit, this is my first introduction to Mark Nelson's project, Pan•American. Even though I had read a little blurb concerning his first album in Magnet, I imagined that I would be hearing something very similar to Nelson's other musical venture, Labradford.
I was kind of in for a surprise when I put this album on. Immediately pumping out of the speakers were rolling basslines, shards of keyboard, and lots of reverb and echo, the perfect combination for a nice electronic dub album. It seems that most of the musical avant-garde and indie rock world is turning to dub for its widespread influences, with bands from Pole to Twilight Circus churning out some of the most original music to be heard in recent times. But, what's nice about each of these new dub releases is that they each have their own individual flair and flavor.
Pan•American is no exception to this, soliciting a great vocal appearances on "Code" from Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker of Low. They add a great depth and dimension to the track, infusing it with beautiful, trance-like vocals that come damn near close to giving this track some dancehall sensibility. But, this isn't music for the dancehall. It's music for some unknown tropical ambient lounge.
Guest appearances on "Both Ends Fixed" and "Coastal" by cornetist Rob Mazurek of Isotope/Chicago Underground lend a jazz sensibility. While it might not have been what I was initially expecting, this album is easily one of the best of the year to date, and one that I plan on taking along with me on my next journey to the beach. Great driving music, by the way.
samples:
- Code (with vocals by Alan and Mimi from Low)
- K. Luminate
- Both Ends Fixed (with coronet played by Rob Mazurek of Isotope/Chicago Underground)
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For what it takes years and a few releases to get to, Scott Heren has reached on his debut CD.
- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
"Folk Songs for Trains, Trees and Honey" took a year to record and pulled in only a minute amount of guests to round out the record. The music is an instrumental blend of electronics, moderate paced progressions, talented percussion, organ and bass guitar interplay. The sound is far from amateur - excellently produced and presented. Songs like "Paulo," "Conditioning," and "F Ride + Blues" sound like mainly improvised jammed pieces while the album's closer, "Slabulas," along with a couple of the album's 30 second bits explore more beat-less electronica. The flow of the album is natural and well placed, but I have a couple bones to pick. While all of the songs are very strong, I'm left aching for a little more. Much like Tortoise's TNT album, the songs are a bit short, not allowing quite enough time to develop, mature and settle in well with the listener. It's almost as if once our attention span is tapped into, it's time to end the tune and jump into the next. With nine tracks, the album is only about 30 minutes when it could have (seemingly) easily been stretched to over forty with some deeper exploration of some of the tracks. Don't let that be an influencor either way because apart from that, it's a brilliant record.Read More
- Jason Olariu
- Albums and Singles
Moving further away from guitar-based tunes with each release, andconcentrating more on rapturous/meditative spirituality, their fourthrelease is most likely their best. Utilizing horns, keyboards, dozensof ethnic instruments, and an impressive battery of percussion, "Homb"has a sound that could best be described as music for a new religion.The very majestic "Myrrh (Waft)" starts with sparse percussion, only toswell with keyboards, horns, and guitars in the distance, providing anatmospheric base for loping bongos and impassioned chanting. "Myrrh(Reprise)" has a very Eastern feel to it, and not just because of theappearance of shakahuchi. The way the instruments lock together,weaving a trancey melodic tapestry, and how the soul-fire vocalizationsdart between and beneath. You will be rapt in trance bliss in no time.As atmospheric but not as jazzy as their last album, the stunningsoundtrack "Elements Of Structure And Permanence", Cerbebrus Shoalcontinue to show us the path of evolution toward true musical genius.Read More
- Mark Weddle
- Albums and Singles
samples:
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- Mark Weddle
- Albums and Singles
This is the first time I've reviewed something without actuallylistening to it all beforehand ... but do you know how long it's goingto take to hear all of these tracks? Quite a long time. Someday when Ihave a lot of free time on my hands I'll sit down and do it and maybetape them off.
Anyways, I dropped the needle randomly several dozen times on bothsides for this write-up. What I heard were short (a few seconds apiece)found sound style loops of just about everything you can imagine:whirs, clicks, whistles, buzzes, drones, clankings, bangings,scrapings, industrial noises, electronics, drums/percussion, dialoguebits and undescribeable samples and collages. A lot of reallyinteresting sounds here ... quite a few you can leave repeating for agood length of time. The record comes in a neatly designed b/w gatefoldsleeve inside a clear bubblewrap cover with the full list of artists onthe inside. This is one of those items you own just because it's uniqueand cool, show off to all your friends and don't necessarily spin allthat often. Art, for cheap, at around $10 ...
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