Archive for the ‘Reviews’ Category
Review: Sufjan Stevens - The Age of Adz
Wednesday, October 20th, 2010
Need to know: Sufjan Stevens is an American musician from Detroit, Michigan. He has been an active part of the music scene since 1999 and released his debut record, A Sun Came, in 2000. Since then, Stevens has released nine albums on Asthmatic Kitty Records. Stevens is recognized for his very distinct, personal and reflective albums. He is best known for his 2005 release, Illinois, which hit #1 on the “US Heatseekers” chart. Stevens is often noted for his varying styles of music from album to album: lo-fi folk, electronic, indie rock - it’s all there and it sounds great. On October 12, he dropped his first song-based LP since 2005’s critically acclaimed Illinois, titled The Age of Adz (pronounced “odds”).
In 100 words or so: Sufjan’s undoubtedly abandoned his “Fifty States (folk rock) Project” to explore a far less informal, much more personal, relatable topic; love. Don’t be misled by the first track, “Futile Devices”. This is by no means an soft, acoustic album. On the contrary. Dig one song deeper into the album and it’s clear that Stevens has become a masterful electronic musician. Similar to most of his previous albums, Adz’s songs are entangled with instrumental fusions and laced with meaningful, often ingenious lyrics that altogether concoct a rather handsome record. The album concludes with a 25 minute long epic, “Impossible Soul”, that, in under 30 minutes, epitomizes this record and everything Sufjan Stevens including his talent, relatability and uniqueness. Comparable to an earlier electronic venture of Stevens, Enjoy Your Rabbit, Adz offers a change in pace from Michigan, Illinois and All Delighted People that isn’t necessarily long needed, but simply a nice change from his usual, folk-rocky self. The Age of Adz uncovers a side of Sufjan that is seldom seen. Thank god it does, though. It’s unsurpassed by anything of its kind. Despite a noticeable change in style and genre from Illinois, we have a first-class album that seems to be more pertaining to the listener than any of the singer-songwriter’s previous works. But really, what else could we have expected from Sufjan Stevens?
Best track: “I Want To Be Well”
RIYL: Andrew Bird, Grizzly Bear, Owen Pallett, Arcade Fire, The Welcome Wagon
Sample: I Want To Be Well
Website: http://www.asthmatickitty.com/sufjan-stevens
Rating: 8.2/10
Buy, download, steal, don’t bother: Download.
Tags: sufjan stevens
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Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest
Friday, October 15th, 2010
Need to know: Deerhunter is a four piece consisting of Bradford Cox, Moses Archuleta, Josh Fauver, and Lockett Pundt. Subsequent to forming in Atlanta, Georgia, they released their first album in 2005 called Turn It Up Faggot. Throughout many changes in the roster, Deerhunter have continued to produce a steady flow of albums, EPs and rarities, though it wasn’t until 2008, with the release of the accomplished Microcastle, along with it’s bonus disc Weird Era Contd, that Deerhunter began to receive serious critical acclaim. Having begun their career with the intent to induce hypnotic states livened with the forcefulness of punk, they have since evolved their style into the ambient shoegaze genre heard in it’s perfected form on Halcyon Digest. The album gained pre-release buzz with their guerilla marketing, urging fans to download a promotional poster created by Cox to put around neighborhoods with the reward being a leak of the tracklist and album artwork.
100 words of less: Deerhunter’s fourth studio album sounds exactly as the title suggests. As Cox has cited, Halcyon Digest “is a reference to a collection of fond memories and even invented ones. [...] The way that we write and rewrite and edit our memories to be a digest version of what we want to remember, and how that’s kind of sad.” Indeed, it’s a compilation of songs that harkens the intimacy of an idyllic time in the past, climaxing in the first single, “Revival”. However, the somber tone conveys an underlying sadness that results from applying this selective process to cope with something as intricately interdependent as memories. This antithesis of happiness and sadness comes to life in the second single, “Helicopter”, boasting a fluid synthesis of these oppositions. Deerhunter’s tribute to the late Jay Reatard in “He Would Have Laughed” at just over seven minutes long, abruptly polishes off Halcyon Digest, leaving listeners feeling similar to how they perceived Jay Reatard’s short life, that it has ended too soon.
Best track: Revival
RIYL: Atlas Sound, No Age, Wavves, Women, Panda Bear
Rating: 9/10
Buy, download, steal or don’t bother: Buy
Sample: Helicopter
Website: http://halcyondigest.com
Tags: Deerhunter
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Review: Smith Westerns - S/T
Friday, October 1st, 2010
Smith Westerns Smith Westerns [Fat Possum]
Need to know: Smith Westerns were formed in Chicago, Illinois by three teenagers (they’re now aged 18, 19 and 20). They released an early 7” on HoZac Records, which was followed up with a self-titled full-length LP last year. The album cover features a painting of the Virgin Mary chopped up and intermingled with Nirvana’s iconic Nevermind cover, upside down (they say they have yet to receive a cease-and-desist letter from Courtney Love, so they’re all good). After selling out its 3000 copy run, they eventually signed with Fat Possum, which has just reissued the album also on CD for a wide release. Smith Westerns are finishing off their sophomore album, scheduled for a January release and currently on the road opening up for both Belle and Sebastian and Florence and the Machine.
In a 100 words or so: Glam rock may be the immediate thread to follow on Smith Westerns’ debut album – “Girl In Love” is a straight up T-Rex aping if I ever heard one, from the arena-rock boom of the drums and guitar chugs, to the softly, effeminate vocal delivery and those drenching strings. But taking into consideration the blown-out, level-bleeding lo-fi production and the teenage innocence dripping from the lyrics, they’ve certainly found inspiration elsewhere. “Diamond Boys,” for instance, swings like a Motown outtake that was shelved, lost in a flood and resurrected, water damage and all. That the trio are all so green makes this self-titled album such an extraordinary work. Sure the coarse membrane of the production might be a little too much for some to bear, but underneath Smith Westerns is heaving with irresistible hooks that can rival any chart-topping act of yesteryear or today.
Best track: “Be My Girl”
R.I.Y.L. T-Rex, Wavves, The Black Lips, Girls, early ’70s David Bowie, The Strange Boys, Christmas Island, Nobunny, Harlem
Rating: 9.5 /10
Buy, download, steal or don’t bother: Buy on vinyl. The sleeve is worth it.
Sample: “Boys Are Fine”
Website: MySpace.com/SmithWesterns
Tags: Fat Possum, Hozac, Smith Westerns
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Review: Salem - King Night
Wednesday, September 29th, 2010
Salem King Night [IAMSOUND]
Need to know: To quote their bio, “Salem are John Holland, Heather Marlatt and Jack Donoghue. John and Heather went to high school together in Interlochen, Michigan and later moved to Chicago where they met Jack.” After meeting, the John and Heather joined Jack’s project Salem, which they used as an outlet to merge their respective influences – shoegaze, goth, ambient, Chicago Juke, Houston Screw, crunk, Dirty South rap and pop - and see what would happen. What resulted was a sound unlike any other out there: beautiful and creepy, tranquil and murderous, beguiling and sedating, as slow as molasses and as rapid as automatic gunfire. Eventually, they’d be credited as originators of “drag” and “witch house,” insular subgenres known for discombobulated effects, screwed and chopped beats, trill synths, haunted vocals and goth-y overtones. Their first single was called Yes, I Smoke Crack (Acéphale) sold out instantly, and was followed by a bunch of singles, splits, remixes and mixtapes. Their EP Water featured a drugged out cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “Streets of Philadelphia” re-titled “Brustreet.” The video for single “Dirt” featured a woman trying to kill herself in a car via carbon monoxide poisoning, while another naked woman dances on the hood and roof of the car. In an interview with Butt magazine, where John admitted to a stint as a “highbrow prostitute.”
In a 100 words or so: Salem have only been in the public consciousness for two years now, but the anticipation for King Night has made its release feel like we were waiting in dog years. Between the band’s divisiveness and the album’s build up, this felt like a debut that was destined to fail. But for those who have fallen for Salem’s austere, disorienting music, the album transcends expectations. Mixed by Dave Sardy (Rage Against The Machine, LCD Soundsystem, Jay-Z), King Night goes for broke without any concept of what that actually means. Nothing is considered off limits: “Asia” parades Aphex’s overzealous techno beats from “Ventolin” into the euphoric shoegaze of “Frost,” which then descends into decelerated, sizzurp-slurping rap joints like “Sick” and “Tair,” without giving two shits. The nerve of this trio is completely off the charts: case in point is the title track, which has the nerve to sample a choral rendition of “O Holy Night” and inject it like a filthy syringe into a blown-out symphony of gunshot beats and distorted keyboards. While Salem may be grouped in with the witch house/drag gang, King Night is a singular artistic statement that hits you like a miasma of the most toxic chemicals imaginable. And like everything that’s bad for you, it tastes damn good.
Best track: “King Night”
R.I.Y.L. The Knife, oOoOO, the 20jazzfunkgreats blog, Balam Acab
Rating: 9/10
Buy, download, steal or don’t bother: Buy the vinyl and play it backwards.
Sample: “King Night”
Website: S4lem.com
Tags: King Night, salem
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Review: Nobunny - First Blood
Thursday, September 23rd, 2010
Nobunny First Blood [Goner]
Need to know: Justin Champlin is one of the truly deranged characters in the underground punk and garage scenes. As Nobunny, he wears a bunny mask and whatever clothing he can find – dress, panties, tighty-whitey briefs, trash-covered coats – and puts on one hell of a rock’n’roll show. Assuming the identity of his leporid alter ego back in 2001, Champlin has released a number of one-off CD-Rs and singles and eventually got around to releasing his debut album, Love Visions, in 2008. Last year he released a cassette called Raw Romance on Burger Records, as well as a live album recorded at Jack White’s Third Man Records HQ, which was recently released on vinyl by the label. First Blood is his first album on Goner Records.
In a 100 words or so: Nobunny made quite the first impression with Love Visions, an album that fused ‘50s rock, bubblegum pop, glam, dusty garage rock, pop punk and rockabilly with plentifully uncanny hooks and a the unforgettable image of a guy in a rabbit mask performing them. Nobunny’s follow-up is no progressive leap forward, but why would it be? This furry frontman is successful in his crack at making goofy, lo-fi gems that linger like a case of herpes. Making a big-eared, bushy-tailed Frankenstein monster out of his influences, Nobunny’s music is absurd and trashy, brisk and rascally, turning a middle-fingered salute like “(Do The) F**k Yourself” into a bopping anthem for anyone 18 and up. Evoking the likes of Lux Interior, Lou Reed, Chuck Berry, Jay Reatard and Marc Bolan all at the drop of a hat, Nobunny might come off as some kind of gimmicky tribute act, but despite the novelty of his act, First Blood’s greatest strength is just how solid his off the wall songwriting is.
Best track: “Motorhead With Me”
R.I.Y.L. Jay Reatard, Hunx And His Punx, The Black Lips, Ty Segall, Smith Westerns, The Reatards, Box Elders
Rating: 7.5/10
Buy, download, steal or don’t bother: Buy the vinyl. The cover’s worth owning in full size.
Sample: “Ain’t It A Shame”
Website: MySpace.com/Nobunnylovesyou
Tags: First Blood, Goner, Love Visions, Nobunny
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Review: Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s - Buzzard
Tuesday, September 21st, 2010
Need to know: Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s is an American indie rock band. Formed in 2005, the band is comprised of Richard Edwards (vocals, guitar, bells), Tyler Watkins (bass, vocals), Erik Kang (violin), Brian Deck (drums), Ronnie Kwasman (guitar), Cameron McGill (keyboard, vocals) and Gary Vermillion (drums). According to the band, Edwards and former member Andy Fry met in a pet store and struck up a friendship, which ultimately led to the band’s formation. From 2006 to 2008, Margot released three LPs titled The Dust of Retreat, Not Animal and Animal. The band is signed to Mariel Recording Company and has released their most recent LP, Buzzard, on the label.
In 100 words or so: Margot has left behind Animal’s abstract (almost confusing) synth-enjambments (which aren’t necessarily a bad thing) and have addressed the rock side of the genre spectrum. Buzzard is definitely much more concrete than any other Margot album to date. It makes more sense to the listener. The album is introduced with a track titled “Birds”, a clear indicator of the overall tone of the record. The track is seriously sexy. It begins with a soft, melodic story being told by Edwards, but is then matched by an equally brilliant downpour of guitar and cymbals, which very much works and flows wickedly. Yeah, Margot gave up on their nice little Animal synth-embellished harmonies, but… wow! It was worth it. Each song is beautiful in its own way and the album as a whole, simply put, is pretty much a masterpiece. Buzzard is an album that, in twelve songs, easily describes what indie rock is all about - the sound, the style, the best. Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s really hit the nail on the head with this record. They’ve clearly defined where indie rock is headed and have done a hell of a job doing it.
Best track: “New York City Hotel Blues” or “Tiny Vampire Robot”
RIYL: Arcade Fire, Broken Social Scene, The Stills, Miniature Tigers, Sea Wolf
Rating: 8/10
Buy, download, steal, don’t bother: Buy… on vinyl. Please. It sounds friggen’ brilliant as a MP3 coming out of crappy speakers. This will sound fantastic on vinyl.
Sample: Will You Love Me Forever
Tags: Buzzard, Margot & the Nuclear So and So's
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Review: Frankie Rose & The Outs - Frankie Rose & The Outs
Monday, September 20th, 2010
Frankie Rose And The Outs Frankie Rose And The Outs [Slumberland]
Need to know: Brooklyn’s Frankie Rose may not be a household name, but if you’ve heard Crystal Stilts, Vivian Girls or Dum Dum Girls, well, you’re likely at least familiar with her music. Having previously drummed for all three of those bands, Frankie decided it was time to step into a leading role and start her own band. Not long after, the band signed to Slumberland Records, home to a compatible roster of artists like The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, Lichtenstein, Brilliant Colors and Neverever, and released their debut 7” last year, Thee Only One.
In a 100 words or so: Frankie Rose’s career arch has left a certain impression, as far as what you could expect from her music. Her three previous bands all had a dusty, throwback sound that was as heavy on the reverb as it was on the melody. And so her band’s self-titled debut is no exception, building on her past exploits with a songwriting scope that is completely her own. As she’s said, “I tried to make this album as hi-fi as possible while sticking to the sounds that I’ve always loved,” and she’s actually right about that. Taking traces from her former band, Rose and The Outs have made a beautiful monster of an album. The melodies soar and crash, the reverb provides the indispensable haze and more than any of her peers, Rose explores a diverse range of influences, touching on ’60s garage (the searing “Memo”), fuzzy minimalism (a cover of Arthur Russell’s “You Can Make Me Feel Bad”), Phil Spector’s wall of sound orchestrations (“Little Brown Haired Girls”) and Slumberland’s signature sleepy indie pop (“Candy”). It’s these tiny idiosyncrasies that make Frankie Rose And The Outs stand out from the rest of the in crowd.
Best track: “Little Brown Haired Girls”
R.I.Y.L. Crystal Stilts, Vivian Girls, Dum Dum Girls, All Saints Day, Tennis, Las Robertas, Aislers Set, Best Coast
Rating: 8/10
Buy, download, steal or don’t bother: Buy the vinyl. The artwork is lovely.
Sample: “Candy” http://vimeo.com/15038170
Website: http://www.myspace.com/saintoftherose
Tags: Frankie Rose, Frankie Rose & The Outs, Slumberland
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Review: Summer Camp - Young
Monday, September 20th, 2010
Need to know: I became utterly consumed with finding any concrete information whatsoever about the elusive Summer Camp after hearing a track featuring the voice of Heather Chandler of the 80’s cult flick The Heathers, but was unsuccessful for months. The online music publication Gorilla Vs. Bear teased the disguise of a group of seven pals from Sweden, but divulged no other specifics. Evidently I was not the only one enthralled by the group’s anonymity, as they have quickly become a hype-machine. Alas, now that a debut EP has been released their true identity has been revealed: Summer Camp is a couple from London comprising of Jeremy Warmsley and Elizabeth Sankey.
100 words of less: Although the Young EP remains a work in progress in terms of Summer Camp establishing themselves as successful group, it does remarkably well considering the amount of pressure weighted on their first release. It’s six tracks are an absolute embodiment of the simultaneous nostalgia and melancholia of another era, particularly conveyed through allusions to 80’s youth culture. With another Heathers reference in ‘Veronica Sawyer’, titled after Winona Ryder’s character, it resonates closely with memorable Veronica quotes like, “Dear diary, I want to kill and you have to believe it’s for more than just selfish reasons, more than just a spoke in my menstrual cycle”. Following in this trend of teenage angst is ‘Jake Ryan’, whose namesake derives from John Hughes’ Sixteen Candles, as well as a sample from Cameron Crowe’s Say Anything in ‘Ghost Train’. The highlight, aside from these high school film samplings, is the opener, ‘Round The Moon’, dominated by Warmseley’s retro vocals. Overall, Summer Camp’s romantic indie pop will make you long to be a seventeen-year-old in hot pants and a peasant blouse, riding your banana bike with your flower crown on during summer break in 1976.
Best track: Ghost Train
RIYL: Suckers, Active Child, Best Coast, The Sandwitches, Twin Sister, Happy Birthday
Rating: 7.5/10
Buy, download, steal or don’t bother: Buy on vinyl
Sample: Round The Moon
Website: http://summercampband.blogspot.com
Tags: Review, Summer Camp
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Review: The Walkmen - Lisbon
Wednesday, September 15th, 2010
The Walkmen Lisbon [Fat Possum]
Need to know: The Walkmen were born out of the ashes of Jonathan Fire*Eater (drummer Matt Barrick, guitarist/pianist Paul Maroon and organist/bassist Walter Martin) and The Recoys (vocalist/guitarist Hamilton Leithauser and guitarist Peter Bauer), two up-and-coming bands from DC and Boston, respectively, that failed to live up to their potential. Once formed, the members relocated to New York and built themselves a studio and rehearsal space called Marcata, using leftover funds from JF*E’s deal with Dreamworks. Signing to Startime International, The Walkmen’s first EP arrived in 2001 at the height of the rock’n’roll revolution headed by The Strokes and The White Stripes. Being associated with those bands helped the band build their profile, which received a major boost when they released their debut album, 2002’s Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me Is Gone, the next year. It was the 2004 follow-up, Bows + Arrows (released on Record Collection), however, that elevated The Walkmen into indie rock’s upper echelon. In 2006, they released two albums: A Hundred Miles Off and “Pussy Cats” Starring the Walkmen, a straight remake of Harry Nilsson’s 1974 album Pussy Cats. Neither album made much of an impact, yet The Walkmen bounced back in 2008, signing with Gigantic Records to release their fourth album, You & Me. For their fifth album, Lisbon, the band signed with Fat Possum (Wavves, The Black Keys) and recorded 30 tracks, which they whittled down to 11.
In a 100 words or so: If you look back on The Walkmen’s catalogue, the simplest observation to make is that with Lisbon the New Yorkers are now doing more with less. Unlike the crashing crescendos and frontman Hamilton Leithauser’s that dominated the majority of the first two albums, the band have stripped down their sound to a minimalistic set-up that showcases their songwriting more than even You & Me. The melancholic “Blue As Your Blood” is virtually naked, both in Leithauser’s lyric “I’d give you all my love/But my heart itself is broken” and the perpetual motion brought on by the cyclic guitar line and motorik rhythm. The song is sad and pitiful, but nonetheless a fine example of how this band can keep their composure even when they’re downright heartbroken. But The Walkmen aren’t ready to ditch those thunderous upsurges completely just yet. How could they possibly resist converging for the chorus of a song called “Victory” or not going all surf on “Angela Surf City”? Thankfully they don’t. But this newfound maturity, best fulfilled on the snail-paced, flirtatious interplay of “All My Great Designs” and the dreamy doo-wop harmonies of “Torch Song,” looks good on a band that clearly isn’t afraid to age. When it’s this graceful, why the hell not?
Best track: “Stranded”
R.I.Y.L. The National, French Kicks, White Rabbits, Beach Fossils, The Clientele
Rating: 9/10
Buy, download, steal or don’t bother: Buy the 180 gram gate-fold vinyl.
Sample: “Stranded”
Website: Marcata.net/Walkmen
Tags: Lisbon, The Walkmen
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Review: Grinderman - Grinderman 2
Tuesday, September 14th, 2010
Grinderman Grinderman 2 [Anti-]
Need to know: Grinderman is essentially a more stripped, unhinged version of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds. Formed by Cave, Warren Ellis, Martyn P. Casey and Jim Sclavunos as a way to unlock their more primal rock’n’roll urges and liberate themselves from the Bad Seeds canon. Aside from the looseness and no holds barred attitude of the music, it’s Cave’s decision to pick up the guitar that distinguished Grinderman from the Bad Seeds most. The band released their self-titled debut album in March 2007, but returned to the Bad Seeds the next year to record and release Dig, Lazurus, Dig!!!. Grinderman 2 was recorded in August 2009 with Nick Launay, who also produced the first album.
In a 100 words or so: Like the threatening wolf that graces the cover, Grinderman 2 is one snarling, temperamental beast. Like its predecessor, Cave’s unguarded prose reveals this sexual predator persona, waxing about mid-life neuroses and triple-x urges through biting one-liners. On the slithering, skronking “Worm Tamer,” Nick boasts that “My baby calls me the Loch Ness Monster/Two great big humps and then I’m gone,” while on the sludgy blues of “Kitchenette,” he tries to woo a housewife with the line “What’s this husband of yours ever given to you?/Oprah Winfrey on a plasma screen?” For all of his lyrical double entendres and free-flowing zingers though, Cave’s lyrics are only as dangerous as his band. But he’s got three depraved souls behind him, not to mention himself clawing away at the guitar, to make this some of the dirtiest, unbalanced music since Cave’s first band, the debaucherous Birthday Party. But just when you think you have them pegged, Grinderman throw in the surprisingly spiritual and sophisticated “Palaces of Montezuma,” a song that can save any soul, even these four brutes.
Best track: “Worm Tamer”
R.I.Y.L. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, The Birthday Party, The Stooges
Rating: 8.5/10
Buy, download, steal or don’t bother: Buy.
Sample: “Heathen Child”
Website: Grinderman.com
Tags: Grinderman, nick cave, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
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