Brian Jones like Wilson

An Honest Thanks

2011-03-30T04:50:00.000-07:00

During the few months that I made it back into the states in-between my ventures here in Korea, I was fortunate enough to spend time with my sister. She is fully aware of my affection for the music described here, and was kind enough to ask if 1) I was still listening to music that scared our parents? and 2) if I had any musical plans or direction in the near future? Out of her kindness she dropped me a line to a woman who she was working with over in NYC. She didn't have much more information at the time beyond that, but a month or so later I had an e-mail contact and some material on my plate.

Through a few good words from my sister, I was provided with the most recent project from a label. It's called Hljóðaklettar, the newest offering for my pleasure was called Rosa, and it's run by Sabrina Joy and Runar Magnusson. In our brief correspondence I revealed that I was doing some casual freelance music criticism, so I was pleasantly surprised that in the package was a multi-media project.

The range in artistic mediums made for a surprising change of pace. I initially went straight towards the music, since I feel the most qualified in this area, but also because I had dropped by the label website to check out what I might be store for. True enough, the offering dabbled in electronica across the board. There was some flickering minimalism on tracks like "Work," and "Gamelan Marimba Vibraphone" by Ilex, and cacooned break-beats on "Beforesundown" by Björk Viggósdóttir. "A Love Story" by Sophia Maj reminded me of a slow haunting pastiche of Zola Jesus. The track that really stands alone in style and energy was "Portal to Portugal," a piece of house shaking dub-step. There were only seven "just audio" tracks all told, but the music is just portrayed in other mediums.

In goodie bag of extras there's abstract music videos, like the swirling vortex "Window Flicker" by AGF, or the dead heat of Johanna Kristbjorg Sigurdardottir in her "untitled." The experimental artwork coincided perfectly on this project with the music, which makes me understand why the audio section was a little slim. Some of the pieces in the non-musical department are even more provocative. Birta Thrastardottir series of depressingly dark comics ended with heartfelt triumph of a mother and child found. Marit Victoria Wulff Andreassen's geometric shapes of ejaculating penises and a woman caressing a "vagina-in-breast?" Sabrina's has what appears to be a tissue paper torn in the shape of a crude face mounted on top of a TV screen. Like I said, this is not my area of expertise so I won't try to read deep into this.

I thought about approaching this offering from a variety of different directions. The difficulty of devoting a project to womens artwork, without falling into reproducing the pathology of gender restrictions. Or how producing this kind of multidimensional releases can be used to promote smaller labels to an audience with a broad sense of interest. Ultimately, Rosa is about the artwork that Sabrina Joy and Runar Magnusson love and are inspired by. I would like that thank them deeply for their kindness and graciousness.

Late On Time

2011-02-09T16:52:00.000-08:00

At the end of every year there are usually a few albums that I don't get to until a month after. By the way, when I say end of the year, I mean in the last couple weeks. I don't know why record companies decide to release them at this time, for the simple fact that it will most likely disappear under the weight of holiday blockbuster promotions and fans trying to trace high water marks.

Even if I had got to Mikkey Halsted's The Dark Room, which was released on December 21st, I wouldn't call it just a good album. Halsted has been bumped around by around Cash Money and Virgin records in recent years, and has earned his time to shine. He's Chi-town proud, has a M.A. in Education, and hates on an Uncle Tom the way Scarfarce hates on a snitch. Along with production from No I.D. (Common, Jay-Z, Kanye West), who covers the boards for most of the album, he delivers over an hour long compilation of tracks that isn't a debut LP. It's a mission statement.

The two tracks that really standout are "Field Ni*#a Blues" and "Exorcist." "Blues" features Freddie Gibbs, another rising star from the midwest, a running ice-cold piano, and a swooning hook from B.J. the Chicago Kid. "Exorcist" is lead in by "Reading of Scripture," a poem read by J.Ivy that would make Farrakhan proud, then Halsted and a smoldering organ attempt to free hip-hop from it's wayward ways.

It's true that over the duration of the album the production begins to thin itself out and the returns begin to diminish, however in turn Halsted is given the chance to lyrically flex his talent. On "Camera Ready" Nat Turner takes you on a ride by Hyde Park and The Israel of God church, "Frozen" delves into the tragedy of neglected and abused women in his community, and "Story Untold" is a letter of warning and compassion from a father behind bars. The pain and pathology of ghetto life is captured on "N****z Just Complain" when Halsted rhymes:

"I'm from the place
where it used to take a village
now we scared to say shit
to anyone else's children.

Where we're paying for our feelinz'
slingin' death right by the buildinz'
our back up against the wall
we killin to make a livin."

This is a multi-dimentional, piercing, and mature emcee committed to his craft. Most artists need several efforts in order to establish an identity for themselves, but The Dark Room finds Halsted fully aware of who is he is as an artist. The years of trial and opportunity deferred has only sharpened his lyricism and a determination to be heard. With his connection to other Chicago names like Kanye and Lupe, it's only a matter of time before word gets out, and there is no doubt that when the time comes, Halsted will be ready.

Other 2010 greats that I am stuck on:
Megafaun - Heretofore
Pestifer - Age of Disgrace

Bits and Muses

2011-01-24T13:36:00.000-08:00

2010:

In terms of being "that's-the-spot" albums, my favorites would have to be:

Owen Pallet - Heartland
Flying Lotus - Cosmogramma
Abscess - Dawn of Inhumanity

I have lots of love to give, but if pushed into a corner, I would send these up with the most confidence. I honestly thought about Kanye being on this list, because My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is that good, but does he really need anymore praise on this one?

Black Milk's Album of the Year was probably this years greatest disappointment. After Tronic I was looking forward to him taking his game to the next level. The live drums just became overwhelmingly prominent and drowned out other creative directions. The strings on "Black and Brown" was the crown here and made for one of my favorite tracks this year.

Jayke Orvis was the biggest surprise this year. I ran across It's All Been Said by total accident and I get caught up with the brilliant picking on songs like "Yankee Taste," "Shady Grove/Gypsy Moon," and "Dreadful Sinner" every time around. The purest country moment had to be "Streets," another favorite track of mine this year. In the end, Been Said didn't have the kind of awareness as how to pace a LP which kept it off my favorites list.

Other Honorable Mentions:
Big Boi - Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty
108 - 18.61
The Mynabirds - What We Lose In The Fire We Gain In The Flood
Bonobo - Black Sands
Chicago Underground Duo - Boca Negra
Therion - Sitra Ahra
Jamie Lidell - Compass
Emeralds - Does It Look Like I'm Here?

2011 update:
Right now listening to: Caitlin Rose - Own Side Now

Not Letting Go

2010-12-22T13:04:00.000-08:00

NO. I will not fall prey to best-of-year-list grovelling. You know, the kind of self serving dribble that, in a musical context, articulates nothing about the importance and patience for dialectic conversation, and has everything to do with bragging about how deft everyone else is to your sense of authority. INSTEAD. Owen Pallet. Heartland.

Since it's release in January, few albums come off as dead-on-target. It was conceived as a concept album, following the life of a fictional character named Lewis, which is cool and all that, but I find this precursor a bit misleading. What I mean by this is that great concept albums do not require a consummate back-story. Even if you never read the liner-notes, you could still understand where Heartland is coming from, because you soon realize it's welling over with vision and intention.

The arrangements here are absolutely stunning. Pallet is a classically trained musician and composer so it's not surprising to find his work constructed with this kind of authority and grace. It also can't hurt to have the full fledged power of The Czech Symphony Strings and The St. Kitts' Winds at his disposal. Songs like "The Great Elsewhere" awaken with murmuring keys and synths, then takes flight half way through with soaring drums and strings. He follows after it with the sly ballad, "Oh Heartland, Up Yours!," an example of how he's mastered the kind of push and pull that keeps songs from becoming benign duplicates. The horns and hook on single "Lewis Takes His Shirt Off" is perhaps the albums most immediate moment, while the closer "What Will Happen Next?" features a wounded piano dancing under Pallet's layered vocals, and keeps the drama breathing until the last second.

While there has been plenty of great music this year, Heartland is one of the few complete masterpieces. It has held true all year long, and I find myself anticipating every turn and leap with nothing less than wonder. Last year I didn't make a best of 09', and I'm brewing as to whether I should make one this year, or perhaps a track listing instead? Be sure either way to see Owen Pallet's name among them.

Death By Wrench

2010-11-29T21:33:00.000-08:00

For the past couple of days I have been listening to Murder Construct. They have been labeled as a kind of grind/death super group, in the same way that last year Shrinebuilder was for doom metal. I think these collaboration have no pretensions of being touted as "super groups," but are really just a group of like minded friends who love playing spine-break music with just enough time on their hands.

Construct's line-up contain members of Exhumed, Cattle Decapitation, and Bad Acid Trip for anyone needing some meaty proof to warrant the hype. Their self titled EP is everything one would expect, extreme metal that makes your bone marrow quiver and all that good stuff. My favorite track is "End of an Error" where drummer Danny Walker builds up a stormy bridge on the toms before they all come together again to finish the kill.

But these extremes rarely surprise anyone who is familiar with the genre. Bands like Inhume and Last Days of Humanity have pushed all the qualifiers such uncompromising ends that their relevance is purely THAT, being the nastiest in a nasty neighborhood. While these extremes represent the edge of the spectrum, they are predictable and quickly assimilated.

And then there is a band like Flourishing. Yes, they also play death/grind, but it's the a less obvious approach that makes A Momentary Sense of the Immediate World one of the more intriguing metal listens this year. The crew is from New York, which explains their style of "later-years-death-metal riffs", but they are also willing to take some needling chances. Gorguts and Cynic did this maybe more than any other bands from a previous generation, and Flourishing guitarist Garett Bussanick (Wetnurse) seemed to have been taking notes. On "Fixture" all the chaos vaporizes in an instant and Bussanick slithers around in the free space in a way that recalls early Dillinger Escape Plan and Discordance Axis circa 2002. With all this said, this band comes off relavent in their own age.

This trio has a sound that's all their own, so don't get it twisted. Most of their EP is unquestionably extreme metal, with old-school production, and throws down plenty of musical chops. A Momentary Sense is a mutation with wire brush limbs. Check it out.

No More All That

2010-10-31T07:50:00.000-07:00

The Chicago Underground Duo is trapped in time. Most would agree that somewhere in the eighties, jazz, one of America’s greatest art forms, started to fade into the background. Culturally today there is a lot of indirect exposure, since the creative energy that used to go into the genre is still alive, but is just spilling into different directions. But the disconnect between Art Blakey and Pete Rock to broader audiences is a tragedy, and makes me wonder why there aren't more artists uncovering this space and musical text?

The Duo, now as formed, by cornetist/trumpeter Rob Mazurek and drummer/percussionist Chad Taylor, have an improvisational tradition with multiple and/or previous band members since the“Chicago Underground” name has traversed a quartet and an orchestra over the years. Boca Negra finds the two instrumentalists transitioning between their dizzying talents, inspired by greats of the seventies, and incorporating their own brand electronic influences.

The frenetic moments are highlighted on the opener “Green Ants,”and there is no denying the musical talent on display. They are full of soul and devotion, which should resonate with anyone who has an appreciation for acid/avant-garde era. Where they make contributions to a modern identity is on the tracks that come after. Tracks like like “Left Hand of Darkness” and “Quantum Eye” slow things down and graft synthetic bridges into the same environment.

During the course of the album things begin to smooth out over these divisions. The dizzying energy finds solid ground to glide across on “Confliction” and “Spy on the Floor,” by adding lucid bass lines and sprite piano and xylophone percussion. By consequence, the almost interlude moments harbor themselves within the same wave, and quietly glow on “Hermeto” and “Vergence.”

The most difficult role in defining the triumph of Boca Negra is the lack peers for comparison. In an era when jazz is too often trying to appeal into shallow perceptions of the past, the Chicago Underground Duo has the confidence to say, while challenging the moment has its risks, it's worth the sound of history to come.

Pixilation Wave Train

2010-09-27T04:40:00.000-07:00

So I came across something not too hot, or too stale, when I found Fudge Fingas. The man goes by the name Gavin Sutherland, is from Scotland, and bumps some awesome electronica. The catalogue of his music is dispersed amongst a handful of mixes and compilation albums, but it’s his most recent EP that I'm here to give some love to.

About Time is only three tracks long but brings plenty of energy and weight without being overbearing. It is closer to techno or house than it is minimalism, so it's sure to get your blood flowing. The arrangements are full of deep synth harmonies, slick percussion, funky guitars, and hypnotic vocals that keep a diverse groove in motion. The single off the album, "It's About Time" slowly builds throughout and sets the stage for the other two songs, "Me & u," and "MmmHmm."

The terrain of the techno/house/electro culture is based in the spontaneous nature of the club world. DJ’s are constantly taking apart old songs and previous re-mixes to apply their own appeal and insight. It's all about going to hear someone spin that evening, and creating in the moment something that you may never hear again. That being said, I have to give About Time much respect, even if I can throw it on from the comfort of my apartment. Fingas comes with straight class, and anyone who is a fan of electronica should dig this, no matter where you are coming from.

A Righteous Man

2010-09-09T04:19:00.000-07:00

Country music is America’s royal-blooded black sheep. Names like Cash, the Louvin Brothers, Hank, George, and Loretta just to name a few, and are a line-up of controversy unquestioned, but also devastating revelation.

When the commercial force of music mutated during the seventies and eighties, country music had to move along with it. The kind of “roots” identity that had been highlighted in previous decades began to draw from rock and pop music. Kitty Wells gave way to Olivia Newton-John, CMT appeared on the national scene, and all your rowdy friends came over to watch football. They were changing with the times, and still are legitimate, if not popular names in country music today, that represent a large percentage of consumption and common perception.

This gave birth to aggressive and darker sub-genres, and old-school purists looking for banners to unite under. Hellbilly was influenced by punk and metal, not only as a driving instrumental force, but also in imagery and lyrical themes. Hank III, grandson of Williams Sr., is the most recognized figure in the scene for obvious reasons, but he does not standalone. It’s a movement that has been going on for over a decade with artists like David Allan Coe, Wayne Hancock, and Those Poor Bastards surviving through a loyal underground following.

Jayke Orvis, the founding member of the blue-grass gunslingers the .357 string band, on his album is called Its All Been Said, moves away from his overdrive plucking, and breaks his heart all through the night. He describes an individuals attempt to escape from the paranoid and self-destructive power of falling, “I guess I love you/ I love you more than I could ever really love myself / Cus' when things go wrong / I just stare too long at empty bottles on a broken shelf.” “Dreadful Sinner” sings the refrain “Mercy wrap your arms around me / Jesus why did you not buy me? / What does it take to become a righteous man? /…. Wickedness is painless / But its blaze is strong and true.” The mood of the It's All is uncompromisingly dark, but it’s also a living, breathing, human descent.

Orvis isn't afraid to reach for even greater depths in a music scene that will never make it onto broad radio circulation. “Gone Forever More” is confession of murderer who is driven to suicide in order to find peace after taking the life of his loved one. The chorus backing vocals on “Streets,” are so sweet that you forget he’s singing about the desire to disappear from a tortured life. Those who followed his previous band and were anticipating some lightning mandolin work, will be mildly disappointed. There are moments on the instrumental “Yankee Taste” and a great ode to the legendary Doc Watson on “Shady Grove/Gypsy Moon,” when he comes roaring down the highway at you.

This album is tough, but comfortably worn in, and by redefining the appreciation for those forgotten legends, it shows how their work is both timeless and essential. Jayke Orvis walks a long and lonely road on Its All Been Said, and spits in the face of those who want to sing about salvation.

Writing On The Wall

2010-08-28T18:18:00.000-07:00

I have to say this. JIM was a great album, no questions asked. But the newest offering Compass, is at least as good. The words I’m fighting off are “progressive,” or “transitioning,” or “maturing,” because I'm not going to play that game.

What makes Jamie Lidell’s newest album stand alone with confidence is its ability to blur all the lines previously highlighted. The diversity of JIM and Multiply shined bright, both of them creative, but also articulate and honest. He was framing previous decades of influences in all the right places, and the music community started to pay attention the new guy in the neighborhood. Compass lets us know, finally and unashamedly, this is where he belongs.

There are flashpoints that occur during a career where artistic labels become easily accessible. The branding that goes along with presenting ones work to the public, is at the same time, both superficial and necessary. It can be really exciting when “the new thing” arrives, but it’s the same force that declares a need for “a revival” of greatness gone by. The megaphone name-calling does matter, but limited titles in the end are just words, and don’t serve any artist with inspiration. The most successful ones are able to find an identity that they believe in concretely, and brilliantly illuminate the contradictions embedded from the very beginning.

Prince is a real target for comparison, and he comes closest to this on Compass, but he also glances with Eddie Kendricks, Bill Withers, and The Jackson 5. Lidell is just as much himself as he has ever been, and understands that being capable of much more, won’t change what’s already his.

Rebel In Prayer

2010-08-14T04:24:00.000-07:00

I should have written something about 108. I blame it on Defiance, OH. I initially thought about writing an entry for both, because both 18.61 and Midwestern Minutes are great albums, but decided that the former was tugging on my curiosity.

In a genre of music that often has defined itself through secular philosophies, I found this punk crew provocative because of their devotion to a Hindu idol. 108 are named after the number of sacred Hindu and Buddhist prayer beads and hold claim to a hardcore sub-genre known as Krishna-core. This would seem in complete contradiction with the previous ideologies in punk, which often are associated with Marx or Nietzsche as influences. In this context, I think most punk artists and others with similar politics, choose figures from the European Enlightenment instead of religion in order to oppose over a millennia of Christianity’s solidarity with the state and its justification for imperialism and exploitation.

Contemporary presentations of counter-culture have roots in the social upheaval of the sixties and seventies. While many take this as common knowledge, I only bring it up because the same political implications coincided with a religious curiosity, reaching outside of the Judeo-Christian history of thought. Hindu belief and influence extends much deeper into history than the middle of twentieth century, but its reverence towards the cow plays towards punk’s intersectional relationship of anti-capitalism and a vegetarian/vegan lifestyle. All these forces are at work and explain how a band like 108 would gravitate towards a religion for artistic inspiration.

The album title comes from a chapter and verse in the Bhagavad Gita which reads, "The controller of all lies at the heart of the machine, and connects its wires to the living being who is under its spell." It's the kind of quote to straight-edge bands love to scream for, but too many of them take a self-righteous stance that believes what they're doing is "something true." 108 has broken-up recently due to religious differences, but it should be stated that they aren't reaching into hallow rhetoric. It's about the music, which is why they are still touring and in the end, 18.61 is great hardcore. It’s full of powerful vocals, solid drumming, and easily my once of my favorite punk albums this year.

And I love Midwestern Minutes too. Now it's even.

Take Your Seats

2010-07-08T08:58:00.000-07:00

Good morning class. We have reached the midway point of the school year. Today I wanted to go over some of our work with a short review. Stand when I call your name.

The Roots remain stylistically and culturally relevant on their newest release How I Got Over. A really awkward, or maybe perfect example here is the Johanna Newsom sample/hook on “Right On.”

Talib Kweli and Hi-Tek are talented as individuals, but when their talents unite they become something quintessential. Call them what you want...textbook, undeniable, classic, all of them were earned over the years of great work.

Planet Asia has been disappointing as of late. He is great on the battlefield, but it’s a one-dimensional approach that tires quickly. A little change of scenery would make a big difference and solidify him as a more complete emcee.

Madlib is the hardest workingman in hip-hop. Check that.
Madlib is the hardest workingman in showbiz. Period.

Jay Electronica has made a reputation of his own and has defined it through unconventional means. With names like Nas, Talib, Mos, and Just Blaze as comrades in arms, it would seem that he would have an established career to warrant that kind of blue-chip love, and there is a small back story concerning a woman known as Eryka Badu. Most of his career has been made off of online mix-tapes or collaborations, and has yet to release a LP, so there is plenty of confusion and conversation about why such a promising new voice hasn’t rushed open that door ten-toes strong.

With the internet climate providing a state of insatiability, releasing individual songs or streaming them is a good way to keep people hungry and at the same time giving them something to talk about. Homemade distribution for decades has been the grassroots voice of hip-hop and I think this plays a role in Jay Electronica’s intrigue.

Record deals have historically put more power in the hands of the labels than the artists. Hip-hop is the example of how a genre can be totally dismissed by the record industry for years, only to be strong-armed later when the possibility of large profit enters the window. De La Soul, please stand up. While downloading has taken a large chunk of income away from the industry as a whole, it also has driven artists to search for alternate means of profitable recognition.

There won't be a massive transition overnight but I believe that more artists, both old and new, will start to wean themselves towards more progressive ideas when it comes to reaching out for public awareness consumption in the coming years. Immortal Technique, please stand up. According to online sources, Jay Electronica has a LP dropping sometime this year entitled Abracadabra: Let There Be Light. Don’t believe the hype. Dr. Dre, please stand up.

The year is not over. Black Milk, you could be emerging as a new leader and claim the best producer/emcee title-belt that another Detroit native used to own. Study hard.

Earth Tracing the Sun

2010-06-20T02:03:00.000-07:00

The horizon never sleeps. No one knows where it ends or where it begins , but we are all cast under it’s spell. At night the day takes a brief and quiet exit while the sky graces a familiar and long journey. If you are interested Jacob Newman has the whole thing on record.

Reflections and Diffusions is so vast and daunting that taking on all seventy-one minutes is a challenge. Part of the experience is meditating on the tense contradictions in dynamics that justify the title "ambient" or “experimental.” After the first track there is an impulse for drama or some breaking points that would provide a familiar kind of emotional release. This initial reaction drives home the purpose of artists who delve into creating works like this; they confront the assumptions and normative standards that were never called into question. The whole purpose is to take convenient terms like “subtle” and “overwhelming” and turn them into something indivisible but perfectly understood.

By no means is the album disturbing, it is more likely to induce indifference than fear. Dismissing Reflections all together would be a mistake because this album is rich with superlatives. It is however a complicated place to linger, and an isolating musical experience. I can’t think of an artist in recent years that channeled this the kind of energy or intense environment. Jacob Newman has taken on a massive effort in order to craft this world and I thank him for his passion and ambitions.

Remember Your Friends

2010-06-06T07:58:00.000-07:00

I don’t know how long it will take, but somewhere down the road there will be a writer who chooses to undertake all that gave birth to the music climate as we understand it in 2010. Who interrogates the terminology of competing segregation and understands why they have always existed. Who can concisely define all of this on both a micro and macro scale, and then goes on to provocatively narrate why we care so much in the first place.

I bring this point up because the Mynabirds have got me thinking about the importance of nostalgia. Bands like Yo La Tengo and My Bloody Valentine just to name a few, were part of a culture that opened the floodgates on a story that still presides with us today. I have a growing hope that instead of namedropping bands, critics years down the line will look at the labels who believed in them.

Saddle Creek is one of the labels that will have to be mentioned. A part of the watershed to be sure, but love it or hate it they served as a gatekeeper to many, and anyone who denies it has got some skeletons to deal with. Why is this relevant you ask? The most obvious reason is this entry is about the Mynabirds, who are signed to Saddle Creek. The better point is that when I listen to What We Lose In the Fire We Gain In the Flood I feel transported to when there was a whole lot of people who were hearing Rough Trade and Sub Pop for the first time and growing into something new. Another young generation, with revolutionary access, as naive as they were passionate and looking to play a part, looking for acceptance.

The Mynabirds do Nebraska right. They play a little slide guitar twang on songs like “Good Heart,” and kill you with a smile on “Give It Time” and “LA Rain.” On “Let the Record Go” and the title track they flirt with southern rock and drive home a heavy handed piano. Laura Burhenn is front and center in this band and delivers a dramatic and soulful presence. She takes the time to look you in the eye, boldly speak her heart, and isn't afraid to make a stand. What We Lose In The Fire has got a will of it's own and thanks you kindly for tagging along.

If there is something that The Mynabirds got me to do, it was dust off the shelves and make room for a whole lot more. I don’t know if a critic should ever accept the idea that they have transcended naiveté. Insight often requires alienation and I believe the most personal, challenging, and important memories have this at its heart.

Swarm and Multiply

2010-06-04T03:17:00.000-07:00

Fear the robot revolution. It will come overnight while we sleep. Crawling from the skyscrapers and streetlights electric lines will strangle and envelope the world, rendering mankind to witness the evils of its own destructive desire for power.

Sci-fi seems to often generate images of the dateless teenager or socially immobile, and it’s a tragedy because it becomes more relevant with every passing second. Models and standards of technology become obsolete before the collective culture is aware, or much less understands the nature of its relevancy. To an even greater extent, the division of understanding between older and younger generations definition of this revelancy is a conversation left unresolved and spiraling into a nameless distance.

Death metal is inherently dystopian, but Laethora has a style that understands what that looks in real time. While playing extreme metal and being from Sweden is a misnomer, The Light In Which We All Burn deserves some recognition. I loved their release March Of The Parasite and was hoping that a sophomore effort would cement the band as something to watch and praise in the metal scene in years to come. Their angle mixes with old-school doom riffs, but what sets them apart are the the lead melodies. It doesn't take on blistering speed, or wretched distortion, but calculated sterility. There is something cold, or detached, or ominous that's scary and interesting when this colossus throws down.

Laethora is that band, but The Light isn’t the album I was looking for after hearing Parasite. If you listen to the intro on "The Scum of Us All" from their first release, there's a use of industrial vocals that I wanted to make a more defining role this time around. It fits perfectly into their modern apocalyptic themes going on here and would have really carved them with greater distinction. At points on songs like “A.S.K.E,” “Saevio,” and “Cast to Ruin” the band goes pretty much silent and misses the opportunity to capitalize on throwing in some Godflesh or NIN.

I am still not going to say that disappoint should be the tag here. I waited on this album for a long time and have been listening to it consistently since its release and I will be just a excited for their next release. Laethora is one of the most visionary death metal acts around right now and anyone who is slightly interested should check out The Light to find out why.

The Invisible Amendment

2010-04-29T09:13:00.000-07:00

I have always been suspicious of critics who view hip-hop through the lens of “positive” vs. “negative.” My problem with this is the standard is too often based on personal politics than an actual understanding of aesthetic. This applies to not just music but all artistic expression of any era, form, and genre. Since hip-hop plays such a pervasive role not just in the US but across the entire globe, there is an incessant need to talk about the abuses of pathology or how it reproduces itself through the culture. This is to a large degree a misunderstanding and serves a media culture quick to form conclusions instead of provocative questions, but at a deeper level it's an attempt for an individual perspective to define the role of art society.

I am confidant in saying that criticism from respected hip-hop artists has been on record since somewhere in the mid-nineties. What makes these contributions different is that their understanding is connected to something objective, beyond the conventional narrative of why most hate on hip-hop. Where criticism isn’t constantly defined by violence, misogyny, the "n-word," and economic control of distribution. These are the over-arching themes brought up from opposition without really any discussion in an American context, about police brutality, euro-centrism, the prison-industrial complex, the white normative gaze, the domestic terrorism of J. Edger Hoover, the republican/conservative southern strategy and its connection to slave diaspora and the labor movement, the democratic/progressive complicity in a system that accepts racism, patriarchy, and homophobia as valid political positions, and the list goes on and on. When America gets rid of so-called “Black History Month,” and sings the praises of David Walker, Harriet Tubman, Marcus Garvey, Ella Baker, Malcolm X, Angela Davis, and all those freedom-fighters forgotten or left nameless in history every minute of every day of every year, I will start to listen to former complaints.

Raheem DeVaughn would fall into the “positive” category for those critics who would seek to pacify the explicit or controversial elements of the hip-hop. Raheem isn’t an MC, but fits into a part of the culture in the same way that R.Kelly and Angie Stone fit. What he misses is that for all the politically correct checkpoints he crosses off, Love and War Masterpeace doesn’t deliver consistenly enough to be comapred with the likes of Curtis Mayfield and N.W.A., whom are deeply political artists, possessing both style and substance. There are moments when Raheem turns it out on songs like “Revelations 2010 Ft. Damian Marley” and the hit single “Bulletproof Ft. Ludacris,” which he should be given credit for. These songs do the album title the most justice, and it doesn’t hurt to sample Mayfields “The Other Side of Town” for the later and have professor/activist Dr. Cornel West preaching as master of interlude.

Where Raheem goes wrong is when he tries to blend this identity with sensual intimacy. I can bite my tongue on songs like “I Don’t Care,” “Black and Blue,” or “My Wife.” These songs have good intentions but don’t stand out as knock out punches on the album. Where it really falls apart is on the - my sex is better than your vibrator - anthem “B.O.B.” Can anyone imagine Marvin Gaye comparing his sexuality on the same terms?

Love and War Masterpeace has its heart in the right place, but doesn’t have the soul to keep you playing it for months after.
I would recommend Sharon Jones or the upcoming Jamie Lidell instead of this album.

In Water Colors

2010-04-21T05:29:00.000-07:00

Right now in Korea it’s officially Cherry Blossom season. I don’t know if you are aware of what that means, but it’s a wonderland around here. A world full of unnatural color and calm that turns the sidewalks into an adventure whispered in silk.

Donawhale is the first Korean band that I have fallen for. Their most recent release Dive to Blue would be on any major “Indie” best in 2009, if anyone in the west had got a hold of it. Their sound is a mix of tween-pop and shoegaze to my ears. This observation deserves major interrogation since I have a narrow grasp of Korean culture. This of course is even a broader statement about my understanding about culture and social norms in general. What I do know about this band in a musical context, is that they are undeniably good.

Dive to Blue one of those albums that you just become calmly wrapped into. The last time I felt this way "2 a.m." by Kaki King. Donawhale is something special and I will be damned if I don’t get a chance to see them live while I am in Korea. I doubt that they will ever make it to the states, and trust me when I say that our hearts are lesser for it.

Fork Tongues Lie

2010-03-26T23:32:00.000-07:00

Matt: We have got to make this one heavy, like nothing we’ve done before.
Des: What the hell have we been doing all these years?
Jeff: I got a few ideas.

It’s just another day at Heinold's First and Last Chance Saloon when High on Fire get together.

Jeff: So when do you want to meet and work all these riffs out?
Matt: When do we get off tour?
Des: On Communion I got the chance to throw down some thrash. Can we keep that alive?
Matt: I want this album to rip. Hold nothing back.
Des: Like on Blessed Black Wings?
Anonymous drunk: Hey aren’t you that Pike guy?
Matt: Um, yeah my name is…
Anonymous drunk: Dude, you sound just like Lemmy!
Matt: Thanks. Motorhead rules.

Des: I have got tons of great fills, kinda like Slayer’s "Necrophobic."
Jeff: And I really want to get into some creepy bass work.
Des: Aren’t we working with that big name producer on our new album?
Jeff: You mean Greg Fidelman?
Des: Yeah, that dude.
Matt: I got a feeling we are gonna clash.
Anonymous drunk: Man, you sound just like Lemmy and Black Sabbath! Your band is amazing and sh*t!
Matt: Umm. Thanks. Later bro.

Des: Didn’t he produce the last Slayer record, World Painted Blood?
Jeff: Ya, and played a role in the last Metallica record.
Des: Seems like a bad idea.
Jeff: Metallica did put out their best album about two decades.
Des: Is that really saying much?
Jeff: How many times did you listen to Master?
Des: Reality or Puppets?
Matt: What are you trying to be, Cliff Burton or something?
Jeff: No, I just want to toy around with the kind of tones that they were able to rock on songs like “The Thing That Should Not Be.”
Matt: Between the two of us I think we can work something out.
Des: Slow it down a little?
Matt: Keep it heavy.
Anonymous drunk: Hey Pike guy! Be like Venom!

Last Chance has a lone patron sitting at the other end of the bar. Dressed in a Hellhammer jacket and crusty jeans, he finishes his dry whiskey and exists the Saloon. Driving away in his pickup he blares Celtic Frost's “Circle of Tyrants."

Des: Can we rock some Judas Priest, maybe like “Sinner?”
Jeff: I was thinking “Beyond the Realms of Death.”
Matt: As long as we keep it late classic late 70’s Priest, I'm cool.
Des: Matt, you said you wanted to write something about Samurai's?
Matt: Ya, I think it would fit with the tribal warfare theme we got going.

Anonymous drunk: Please, man, I am stupid drunk, but please don’t sell out like Metallica!
Bartender: Have you ever listened to No Life 'til Leather?
Anonymous drunk: No. Why does that matter? I just wanna say…I think...I'm gonna be sick.

Matt: Ok, so I want to make this one heavy.
Des: I’m ready to rip it up.
Jeff: Sounds good. Anybody got an album title?

Photos From Last Night

2010-03-15T03:27:00.000-07:00

Blues Control released an E.P. this last year entitled Local Flavor, and overall, it didn’t knock me off of my feet. I had never heard of the band before, so I can’t say it was a major disappointment since I really didn’t have any expectations, it's just that most of the songs I thought tied into a larger narrative about what is hot now…with one exception.

It’s a rainy day in 1972. Little Richard walks into a dark New Orleans dive with a red sequence suite and a green valour bow tie. He grazes a bouncer who measures time in neon lighting, takes a deep breathe, and glances across the room only to see Frank Zappa drop a nickle and throw on The Who’s “Won’t Get Fooled Again.” A worn and lonely bartender understands just why, and calmly watches Zappa squat over at a nearby booth laced with cigarette ash, oak, and pearl leather. The bartender thinks about the time in 69', when he wandered onto the Brooklyn Bridge at 4:15 in the morning with Lou Reed and screamed at the top of their lungs, "You Gotta, You Gotta, Gotta, Try A Little Tenderness!"

Blues Control captured all of this on "Good Morning" and have created one of my favorite songs of the last year. The E.P. is only four songs long, but if you know anything about the good times, you know they go by fast.

Buried Sounds

2010-02-18T03:24:00.000-08:00

I remember sometimes waking up in Portland (OR) after a night out, sweating out the events of last night, breathing in the hints of smoke left on my jeans and skin. It wasn’t the best feeling in the world I have to admit, but I can’t help thinking of those mornings when listening to this album. Everything started out sour, but after I got some grub in me and an afternoon shower, I couldn’t have felt better.

Zola Jesus pushed me more than any other artists this year, and I have to admit that I had a really hard time trying to figure out why. The Spoils had similar qualities that made My Bloody Valentine or the Microphones intriguing, but what I have really fallen for is how the keys ride waves of distortion, without being buried underneath them. I keep returning to “Smirenye,” “Soeur Sewer,” and “The Way” like silver antiques hidden under the floorboards in a dusty wooden box with iron trimming, or maybe one buried in your grandmothers garden, made of dented and rusting tin.

This album has been a labor of love for me, and while at moments I lose my train of though, I always come back to a simply melody in the mess. I really dig this album. Check this out if it shines in your direction.

Chapters In Good

2010-02-07T05:36:00.000-08:00

I am listening to the new Mountain Goats album for the millionth time and wanting to say a few words about the claims surrounding its inspiration. Each song is onThe Life of the World to Come inspired by, though not directly connected, to a particular Bible verse. Mr. Darnielle (songwriter) has spoken publicly describing his own personal faith and how each song relates in various media outlets. What bothers me is that this is a narrative long established that doesn’t need titles from the good book to see where he’s coming from. This is not to condemn the Bible, John, the Goats new album, or even the critics formerly mentioned. I have been stirring over this for a while now and I have come to the conclusion that my argument is over an interpretation and abstraction of religion, not music.

His lyrics have always been, to me at least, stories of redemption spoken through sinful hands. Though not exclusively, this is in many ways a Christian concept that finds reconciliation by allowing suffering to speak. His newest album speaks directly to this, but like I said before, one can look at his older work and see the same themes at play. Sometimes he is bluntly using the Bible on songs like “Love, Love, Love,” when he writes “King Sol fell on his sword / when it all when wrong / and Joseph’s brother / sold him down a river / for a Psalm;” or “Against Pollution,” “This morning / I went to the Catholic Church / because something just came over me. / Forty-five minutes in the pious / praying the rosary.” I want to raise the notion that John has always been able to articulate the same concepts, album after album, without explicitly mentioning religion, but with an understanding of the everyday and mundane.

He finishes the same verse on “Love, Love…” with “And Sonny Liston rubbed some Tiger Balm into his gloves. / Some things you do for money / and some you do for love;” and juxtaposes the “Against” verse with “Decorative grating on my window/ gets a little rustier ever year / I don’t know how the metal gets rusty / when it never rains here.”

The message is that revelations occur, in spite of our moral crisis or lack of understanding. A new way is made, we count our losses, and survive in one way or another. This has been the story, for me at least, while listening to the Mountain Goats and The Life Of The World To Come.

A Moment Like This

2010-02-04T06:02:00.000-08:00

I have been waiting on a full length from Regurgitate to my dissatisfaction for more than a couple years now. No other grind band has mastered the art of how to get so much out of so little as these guys. They have a new split out with Dead Infection and three more killer songs to add to their catalogue.

Their side of the split is titled Yyyaaaaaah, which might make you think, “It seems like a lazy effort, why should I even care?” It might make you think, “How could these Swedish giants be thirsty for blood with a title like that?” It might make you think, “Could this be the same band that gave us Carnivorous Erections?” To this I respond…

1) You should care.
2) This is gore by the gallons.
3) Regurgitate Ain't Nuthing ta F*ck Wit!

It’s gore-grinds audience that limits releases, not talent. This is why you get so many bands creating splits or E.P’s, instead of creating larger, longer bodies of work. That doesn’t change the genius of this band for a second though. In a genre where songs don’t break the two-minute mark, most bands understandably run out of room, but not this Swedish crew. They continually come up with slick and groovy riffs amidst all of the blasting, perfectly balanced out with great vocal arrangements. Rikard Jansson ties pitch shifting with screams like tar on cement, and brings a natural coherence between verse and chorus dynamics. The mere fact that Regurgitate is able to distinguish the two with such ease is cause for thousands grind fans to mosh til their eyes bleed, or maybe just shotgun a few brews on a weekday afternoon.

I am still waiting another Sickening Bliss to be released, but whatever this band pukes out, I will be there to document every second of it, no matter how brief the glory is.

Everything Is Everything

2010-02-03T03:01:00.000-08:00

I remember hearing Sa-Ra’s The Hollywood Recordings back in 2007 and feeling a bit caught off guard. It wasn’t the best thing ever or make my end of year list, instead what made Sa-Ra special was all of the genres that they were able to navigate. Arriving after the neo-soul party had winded down some years ago the album had that kind of feel, and at the same time sounding nothing like the artists of that era. There were more electro flavors, even landing in some minimalist Dub ground at times. If they had shown up circa 2001, when everyone was in the groove, it might have been either too early to appreciate or too crowded get noticed.

Even now I don’t think they are really getting noticed. I would claim that the reason for that is not only the eclectic nature of their sound, which can be distracting, but also how the albums linger on a bit too much. I can understand a group with this much musical talent not wanting to leave any muscle un-flexed but it begins loose direction after a while. That said, I won't stand around while critics damn a lack of creativity in Hip-Hop without talking about Nuclear Evolution: The Age of Love. Their sound has expended even more while at the same time coming into greater form. “My Star” is a radio ready R&B track with seductive guest vocals by Erica Rose. My favorite track on the album has to be “Death of a Star (Supernova).” It’s full of disco energy that begs for a dance floor. It all comes to an end with the free-flowing jazz of “Cosmic Ball.”

These guys might never make a Top-Ten list but they should care less since artists shouldn't pay much mind to conventional criticism. However, more critics should be laboring for hours in midnight lit rooms, filled with smoke, heat on full blast, and numb fingers that grow weary with definition. Sa-Ra is that real.

Off The Beaten Path

2009-10-20T18:53:00.000-07:00

I wanted to take a break from my usual direction of album/music writing and comment on something a little off topic. Defiance, OH is an amazingly cool band. They play a brand of acoustic punk that pretty much wipes the floor with other bands in there genre and most bands in general. They have four new songs released for something called this Icarus Project, which is the subject of interest for this entry.

The project is dedicated to creating space for greater understanding of those who have been diagnosed as mentally insane. The idea being challenged here is that too often societies create a narrow room for behavior and self-understading. Instead of classifying those who live outside of the norm as suffering from chronic illness, they should be understood as people seeing the world through a neglected lens. It's a contention that human suffering and plight are to often are placed on individual responsibility rather than society as a whole. You can find more information at the host site.

I wanted to dive into the notion of society being a the source of suffering and it correlation with the ideological undercurrent of Punk music as a whole. Anarchism and Punk are inextricably linked, and every adolescent romantic who hates "the system" knows it. Behold, the radical revolution!

What makes this project provocative to me is that it challenges the passive nature of participation within a musical context. Most genres do not require the same kind of historical/social responsibility that Punk does. This isn't to dismiss all the other crowds who would object to such an assertion, it's just that there isn't a lot of experimental space in the genre, so it's only natural that fans end up disseminating into accompanying watering holes, which brings us to the genius of the Icarus project. When madness can finds itself in human form, rather than an ideology/political argument that dies with a record deal, it's harder to walk away from or dismiss. This is Anarchism in the flesh, a human being located outside the lines, asking not for only social recognition, but self-affirmation by challenging collective awareness and responsibility. Music, no matter what form, should aspire to the same kind of moral high ground.

The vanity of Rock and Roll doesn't seem to be leaving anytime soon, but the loudest voices define themselves by those they drown out. Big props to Defiance, OH for supporting this project, and much love to the Icarus people for the courage to bring together all those who deserve a voice. Priceless.

It's Cold Out Here

2009-09-28T21:24:00.000-07:00

Since more and more black metal bands are taking risks in an attempt to reach for new territory, there has been as much praise as upheaval. Last year Nachtmystium’s Assassins: Black Meddle, Pt. 1 was the band/album that many critics, including my own circle of friends choose to unload on. I could go on naming others that fell under the same lens, especially when it comes to USBM, but I would rather say good things than burn others down.

I am absolutely in love with Wormsblood’s Mastery of Creation. The album was released through Barbarian records, which is awesome since the same label has history with Foetopsy*. I don’t really know how much Wisconsin and Scandinavia have in common, but both areas know how to do ice cold music apparently.

What first struck me when I threw on Creation was how dissonant the drums were, writhing on the treble without any double bass. These guys know how to blast but nothing is ever overblown instrumentally, keeping closer to an earlier punk ethic. The experimental nature of the album resonates more with shrill electronica, but also gets away with creating the harmony one is used to hearing from black metal. The common course as of late seems that bands can't get anymore bleak, thus warming up to newer sounds shouldn't be discouraged in the name of artistic survival and progression. I can understand that, but Mastery wants to challenge what the hell is bleak in the first place?

Wormsblood howl at the moon, keep all the out-in-nature tropes, and offers some a simply perfect acoustic bridge on “Good Night.” Some fans may never warm up to USBM, which is fine and all that stuff. The haters should take note that isn’t any shoegaze hum; this sounds like black metal, that literally tastes like metal. It should be mentioned the album is collection of earlier demos and releases, but it's worth your time to check out if you're invested the conversation.

*What is up with great extreme Metal from Wisconsin? Check out Foetopsy's In the Bathroom

Inside The Silver Lining

2009-09-27T21:11:00.000-07:00

I have between moving out of my apartment, preparing to leave the states, and had my hard drive collapse, which is why I haven’t posted anything in some time.

To get this thing rolling again I wanted to delve into Blackout Beach’s Skin of Evil. The album is lyrically driven, telling a story linear fashion. It’s the vocals that provide the drama, like a man strapped to a chair and forced to watch a small computer screen as his only window to the world. Carey Mercer’s voice is tied down with leather straps in an aluminum tunnel, straining for some rest in an artificial cage.

Thin arrangement, electric guitars and synthesizers shake the metal timber and echo down the hall. The moments of acoustic warmth on songs like “Sophia, Donna, I Was Down The River Waiting” let a bit of light shine in and offer some relief from all the shivering.

The most amazing aspect of the album to be is how desperately alive the experience is. Mercer’s voice gives this prison a beating heart and grabs your attention from start to finish. Skin of Evil haunts while scratching for the surface.

You're Gonna Need A Bigger Boat

2009-08-01T16:53:00.000-07:00

Amongst all the chaos that Suffocation has wrought over the years (Blood Oath 2009), I wanted to concentrate on Mike Smith’s work for this entry, and how he changed the blast-beat. If you are unfamiliar with the history of the blast-beat, this isn't the time. I got work to do.

Any great antagonist never disappears, remaining daunting at every corner and cavity. The same goes for Jaws of the deep, Satan in the flesh, and Mr. Smith’s snare drum. Production techniques over the decades since their LP debut Effigy of the Forgotten have changed significantly, but his presence in the sound hasn’t.

Smith alternates between the two bass drums instead of speeding up on one; the later is considered the desired one because it drives the band harder. When Smith strikes the snare though, he changes this interpretation, by creating a downward-shatter-point, not a forward beat. Plenty of drummers in the extreme metal scene can play faster, but none can single handedly dominate like this. Each strike is so powerful that the snare doesn’t even get the chance to expand entirely before the next blow, creating a blur of intense notes that cave in on each other. The same consequence allows him permeate into other areas of the mix, distorting into the guitar section, while his kick and hi-hat flank their sides.

A lot of younger bands think being the fastest thing around is the only way to get noticed, they should take some more notes from Suffocation. This band has thrown on a hardhat for decades and put in enough work to own a place in metal history. Mike Smith just happens to be the catalyst with the cleaver.

Having to Crack the Window

2009-06-29T22:38:00.000-07:00

Ever since Outkast has started to fade from the limelight, Hip-Hop just doesn’t smell the same. I always imagined Big Boi and Andre 3000 were carrying on the funk in the tradition of George Clinton and Bootsy Collins. Break-beats on the turntable sweltered in a purple and green haze made them one of most original and influential crews in the late nineties, if not the best duo of all time.

There will never be another space-bass or “brown-stallion horse with skates on“ but Abstract Rude is carrying on the tradition after the smoke clears with his newest release Rejuvenation. An established voice in the Fat Jack crew during the rise and proliferation MC’s in California during the nineties, he has a lyrical pedigree to be respected and a flow that makes bleach stank. The title track is a lyrical manifesto when he rhymes:

“My redirect / is filled with predicates / including subjects / my pronouns / build for the U and I / to use they judgment / my adverb and your clause supports / my course of action / My Preferential phrase / will add many more attachments / When paragraphs give life / sentences do time / hard times / hard rhymes / in every line.”

While playing Hip-Hop Historian on “Diggin It?”

“So call AB a chief rocker / a corner-box battle / could use a ghetto-blaster or a beat-boxer / to Dane to Dane the human beat boxer / to Rah Zeal and Kill Keel we rock well acapella / we keep developing high level intelligence / Fundamentally acceling every different era / from Jazzy Jeff to Jeff Jeff to Mos Def / to X-Clan and YZ and Wyclef.”

Rejuvenation is a solid release but I can’t help feeling Vitamin-D’s production starts to taper off half way through the album. The opening track “Hip-Hop Ryde” is everything I could ask for, with Abstract’s heavy voice lacing the melody on slow burn. Some of the other tracks don’t offer the kind of glow I was hoping for, I just wanted more funk. Long Live the Funk! Uh!

There Goes the Neighborhood

2009-05-26T19:33:00.001-07:00

Local band Circa Vitae were kind enough to give me their self-titled EP and asked for a review. Much love and respect 541!

The EP is full with electronic interludes like “Do Gees See Gods” and “Trace Mammoth (Holy Pachyderm),” while holding form on tracks “Stranger” and “Infinity is 8 on it’s Side.” “Smile” recalls some Rooney/northern-Cali sentiments, but most of the EP sounds more like the Flaming Lips.

The term “Indie Rock” has lost it’s footing in an ever growing pool. The Cira Vitea EP is one of the best things going on in Eugene and part of the watershed. This is for fans of The Evangelicals, Super Furry Animals, and Boards of Canada.

Elephant Band 2.

2009-05-20T11:02:00.000-07:00

I have long held that in the end, Mastodon is Brann Dailor’s band. He is the original reason that I started listening to these dudes from Atlanta, and while he has toned down his role more than ever, this time it’s his songwriting that stands out. Like Mountain before, thematic inspiration is coming from the band, instead of playing the middle man like they did on Leviathan (Moby Dick). The drama of Brent getting in a fight/coma, an intensified touring schedule and media attention, and hometown lives left behind; provide the lyrics on Skye with a sense of corrosive tension and loss.

For the first time Mastodon was damaged, so a catharsis is understandable. There was even some conversation about the death of Brann’s sister? Skye, being an influence for the album, but I can’t really speak on that. One thing I did notice, that no one seems to be talking about, are the parallels between the albums story line and the one obvious missing element. Looking at their catalogue I think to myself; Remission “Elephant Man,” Leviathan “Joseph Merrick,” Blood Mountain "Pendoulous Skin"; all instrumental songs dedicated to the historical figure. When I first saw the track listing I was surprised to find the familiar piece missing and heard that it would be about Rasputin. The Russian mystic turned out to be a peripheral influence, while astral travel as liberation from physical confinement (pause) is the over-arching message...any connection to Merrick, who knows?

I would have liked a little more kick, or even switching "Quintessence" with "Ghost of Karelia" in terms of album placement, but I hope further listening will prove me wrong. I did catch them on Dave Letterman show, one honest strike against the performance quality due to staging compromises, but the off-key vocals are another big strike. While touring Troy will have to get more comfortable live if he wants to due the album justice, and the same goes for Brent. I will have see Mastodon live and let them prove me wrong. I’m loyal like that.

Elephant Band 1.

2009-05-13T22:37:00.000-07:00

I have been waiting on Crack the Skye for about a year. What I mean by that is that I have been on a non-stop rescue effort to see why Mastodon “new album buzz” seemed overdue by the end of 07’. Out of respect, and what little journalistic integrity I might have, I need to say and have been a devout follower of these guys since 04’.

Out of all their influences Skye reminds me a lot of Neurosis. While this album sounds nothing like Through Silver in Blood or Times of Grace, they are all seamless in execution. In other words it's not made out of singles, a fear that I held firmly with the addition of new producer Brenden O’Brien. Thankfully, Mastodon and the new hot-shot producer hone their conceptual texture (wind/ethereal) with great diligence. The band had the fortunate chance to record the whole album, and then smooth out the details during the Mayhem summer tour. I have to admit that the production move from Matt Bayles to O’Brien was a positive one in the end. While the album does sound more compressed than previous works it fits like a glove. This album slowly churns and crafts its weight, which explains the Neurosis comparison, while keeping all the hallmark tones and superlatives that Mastodon has garnered over the years. The band also intends to play Skye in its entirety live, which adds to my out of many one assertion.

The biggest individual improvements are Bill/Brent's dueling guitar work, and Troy’s sung vocals. The two axemen have always been part techni-color(Bill) and part southern-southern(Brent), both perfectly showcased on "Divinations." Songs like “Oblivion” and “The Czar” provide Brent with more then enough space to solo and he doesn’t miss the opportunity to tear it up. The lead guitarist was also was the first member take a swing a sung vocals on Leviathan, a risk that paid huge dividends. Since then, Brann has been used sparingly while Troy started singing full time. This album would have been a huge mistake if Troy didn't improve his vocal skills, luckily it ended up being the single greatest improvement.

Don’t Play the Joker

2009-05-03T23:04:00.000-07:00

The new MF Doom, now just DOOM, Born like this is a verbal tongue-lashing bent on squashing limp MC’s. While J Dilla and Jake One highlight production on the album, it can easily be said this is an emcee’s album.

Anyone who has come across a MF/DOOM album is familiar with the lengthy sample interludes, celebrity guests like Danger Mouse and Wu-Tang members, but recognize his work has always about the pen. 2Pac is a perfect example of an emcee who never really had transcendent production values on his albums, but will always be remembered for his lyrics, like them or not. As a lyricist, DOOM is coming from a totally different voice and perspective but both respect the discipline at the same level.

The tragedy is that in 2009 DOOM doesn’t have the same context as the 2Pac/golden era of hip-hop. His audience escapes to the basement while too many up and comers flock to the attic shelf for radio play and a quick dollar. On tracks like “Ballskin” and “Batty boyz” he shaves all sheep naked, and parodies the auto-tune scene on “Supervillian.” The album ends with “Bumpy message” summing it all up.

As much as I love J Dilla, see“Lightworks,” and Jake One; they aren’t Born like this. That slap across your face...is a man called DOOM. Check this out.

Is This Thing Working?

2009-04-20T22:59:00.000-07:00

The new Bomb the Music Industry! album Scrambles is a great piece of music . I mean that not only in the “you need to hear this if you love punk/great music,” but because this band makes me feel good about life in general*. With a true DIY ethic, donated on-line music, make your own merch, and cheap all-age shows; Jeff Rosenstock and crew rock it for the kids.

Rosenstock is the ringleader and originally the sole musician. The electronic elements on tracks like “It Shits!!!” and “Saddr Wierdr” remind you just what a bored kid with a computer can do (think Adam and his Package). The change came 07’ when he got a full band to record and tour with, a change that has ultimately bettered his brainchild. The bands hardcore elements continue to be threaded into broader songs, but stays true on “Gang of Four Meets the Stooges (But Boring).” Bomb the Music's lyrics have always been drunk with humor and self- deprecating insight. On “(Shut) Up The Punx!!!” he screams “ The last thing I want to be / Is another negative asshole / Like God speaks through my acoustic guitar / and I have a perfect set of morals!”

What makes this gem stand out is the songwriting on anthems like “24,000,000” and “Sort of Like Being Pumped.” There is an emotional tenor driven by the decked out band that parallels Rosenstocks lyric conviction, for all that it's worth. Bomb the Music Industry! has always been comically vulnerable, on Scrambles they can unabashedly say they got it right.

*Others included in this category are classics like PB & J and Joe Paterno.

More Open Road Please

2009-04-13T22:02:00.000-07:00

This past week the sun has decided to represent for a bit before inevitably retreating until mid June. The rising temperature has stirred my desire for making an escape.

Vulture Whale hail from Alabama but remind me of the Violet Femmes (Milwaukee, MI) amongst others, and even rock a little “the boys are back in town” groove on “Tote It to Cleveland, AL.” Their self-titled* album is with out a doubt a willin’ road trip I would leave blaring out the car windows.

They play with guitar twang inspired by spare change, and kick ass on the rockabilly “Guillotine." On songs like “Head Turner,” their opening lyrical humor is both cynical and disarming; “You look good / for a woman you age / I’ll let you know / when you need old lady shoes.” For those who initially perceived this as just another indie band who captured a hip band name without any substance will be surprised.

The album opens and closes with an electronica blip, the humor continues on “Sum Yung Scientist,” but laughs alone on tracks like “Sugar” and “What Do.” On their second album Vulture Whale captures how to smile at the rust gathering around the engine block and chase the sunset.

* I think Vulture Whale has two albums out, and both are self-titled.

Award Tour

2009-03-22T22:30:00.000-07:00

So I’ve been listening to K’naan’s Troubadour. “America,” feat. Mos Def and Chali 2NA has been on non-stop rotation over the past week and is one of my favorite tracks so far this year. Mos Def takes the award for best verse after all the dust has cleared when he rhymes, “make that cake / hook that trick / lick my swagger / and suck my shit.” I haven’t really been down with Jurassic 5 over the past couple years, but Chali 2NA shows he’s still the lyrical Frankenstein that I grew to love so much, and his voice is a breath of fresh air in comparison to the other MC’s on the track.

Give respect where it’s due. In the end Troubadour belongs to K’naan. His bio begins in Somalia, moves to Canada, then America. Some times he rhymes in Somali and I have no idea what he is saying, but has a delivery that sounds a bit more familiar than a lot of foreign Hip-Hop artists. On “I Come Prepared,” feat. Damien Marley, he rhymes, “And Africans love them / Some B.I.G. / But 2Pac is official / Ed N.I.C.” Whether you agree with the assertion or not, he isn’t naive to the achievements and conflicts that preceded him.

As Hip-Hop grows more and more global I think new voices, in particular new languages, will provide vast roads of unexplored territory. K’naan’s Somali accent adds a subtle inflection to his delivery, and I find myself singing along to the words that I don’t understand. On “People Like Me” he rhymes “And we both liked American rap rhymes / Even though we didn’t understand one line.” I know how he feels.

On the downside, I’m not really about Troubadour’s dance hall feel, adding another unfamiliar theme for my American sensibilities. I am impressed, but also totally confused with headliners like Adam Levine of Maroon 5 and Kirk Hammett of Metallica stop by for cameo roles. This is Hip-Hop 2009, you reap what you sow, and we all have to eat. Check out Troubadour if this sounds like your taste.

For They Know Not What They Do

2009-03-19T21:38:00.000-07:00

Fact #1: Euronymous was one of the founding members of black metal legends Mayhem.
Fact #2: He also dug electronica.

I bring this up on the midst of listening to Wardruna’s Runaljod - Gap Var Ginnunga. The album isn’t old school black metal, it’s ancestral. But rather than get into discussing the cast of characters, or describing how awesome a goat horn sounds bellowing through a rainstorm; I want to talk about the survival, and future direction of black metal.

In the early nineties electronica had just started making a mainstream presence in America, a full decade after most European countries. This is the very time that black metal, a genre that once prided itself on barren distorition, is spreading over the Scandanavian countryside, while countries like France, Brazil, and America are getting into the act. Today it seems that electronica is the dominant counterpoint for all genres to experiment in, which is what I love about the offering by Wardruna. Runaljod is pure and simple, but carved out of acoustic wood work.

Black metal has been engrossed in the electronic possibilities for some time. From Dimmu Borgir, Blut Aus Nord, and Prurient, what is there really left to cover? I think that this album deserves notice on a micro-scale, a reminder that division is never dead, but born anew.

In Review 08'

2009-01-13T22:30:00.000-08:00

Lets get right into it:

Jamie Lidell – Jim
“Another Day” captures gospel glow, “Figure Me Out” is a chunky piece of neo-soul, and “All I Wanna Do” is the slow dance you waited all night for. This album got tons of rotation.

Paavoharju – Laulu Laakson Kukista
Remember to put Paavoharju, and Fonal Records on your radar.

Diesto – Isle of Marauder
One of the true surprises this year. The huge riffs in the last minutes of “Marauder” and barbaque-quitar-break at the end of “Mind Eraser” have a return value that competes with some of my favorite moments this year.

Christine Fellows – Nevertheless
Technically this is a Canadian release from last year, but Vampire Weekend is making every indie list this year, when their album leaked some twenty months ago. Nevertheless deserves just as much online clamor, if not more.

Oddisee – 101
This is another album that no one is talking about. Oddisee will teach you soon.

Ceremony – Still You Feel Nothing
In other proletariat awards:
Paint it Black “Shell Game Redux” = best song
Vitamin X @ Satyricon Portland, OR = best show*

The Donkeys – Living on the Other Side
What makes the Donkeys different from other folk, indie, and other label mates are their bluesy lyrics and instrumental-grassroots-high on tracks like "Downtown Jenny" and "Dolphin Center." If you own Birkenstocks; kick a hippie, and ride with the Donkeys.

Scarface – Emeritus
What hasn’t already been said? I’ll say it again. Respect.

Ponytail – Ice Cream Spiritual
This album is crazy blur of Pop fun, like MTV played backwards in double time, but in a good way.

Prostitute Disfigurement – Decedents of Depravity
Roel’s lead guitar work on this album stands up to anyone within the genre. Previously, Dave Suzuki of Vital Remains blew me away with his lead work on Icons of Evil, and after listening to Decedents I believe the Roel is just as talented . The solos on “Concealed Insanity” and “Life Depraved” are perfectly balanced between melody and prowess.

Crystal Castles – Crystal Castles
Good music. Bad humans. Hate to Love.

I might write an Honorable Mention crew…

*w/ the glorious thrash-a-puss! Basically, a giant inflatable octopus was throne into the pit.

If You Don't Know

2008-12-27T13:30:00.000-08:00

In case you haven’t heard, Scarface has announced his retirement. Artists make these proclamations in the sand; Chinese Democracy owns that title, but Emeritus truly deserves your praise and respect. At the other end of the tunnel, Oddisee released the album I was hoping for like a fresh pair of Air Jordans.

Scarface is one of a few reigning champions from mafia era in Hip-Hop. While LA and NYC will always be remembered as the dominant forces, Scarface is half 2Pac, half Nas, all south-side Houston, TX. He never was huge on the Billboard charts or a poster-turnstile-god; but he owns respect in the neighborhood he rose from while his lyrics mastered the trials and brought “the code to the game” for nearly two decades. One lyrical grail that I think is often passed over is the Christian imagery that bleeds its way onto thug-scripture with every Scarface release. On "Can't Get Right (ft. Bilal)," Scarface ryhmes "America the Beautiful / there's a funeral on every day of the month / tryin to get our knees up / what we want / is another chance under these circumstances / My people ain't advancin, but if we pray / Maybe we'll get to live our lives in the sun 'stead of livin on the blocks dyin young." While the relationship between sin and survival isn’t new, there are few who own a reputation as real as their poetic skill. Emeritus is raw-cut Scarface, criminal confessions burning up in the Texas heat. Do your homework and educate yourself on one of the greatest MC’s still around today.

Oddisee declares on “iRap,” “Wayne say he the greatest rapper alive / Guess that make me the greatest rapper/producer alive/ Dilla rest in peace.” I was sold. Lil’ Wayne and Kanye West are the new era right? What about the great new releases by Ice-Cube and Q-Tip? Don’t they deserve the same respect? Class, take your seats, this is Oddisee 101.

Most criticism in recent memory has tried to divide Hip-Hop, including yours truly, into configuring an economic direction during an era of inflation. 101 voices a challenge to the machine from the inside out, flawlessly aware of his place and responsibility. His sly delivery matches the production skills, a definitive statement that he isn't confined to being just another producer who dabbles being the mic. Oddisee has learned to rhyme for the K.O, take a breath, and let his opponents suck for wind during the hook.

On 101 he takes his time, laying out his conflicts with presicion and insight. Delving into Black vs. Black vs. Brown conflict in a America vs. Islam world on “Camera,” a path to the top on his own terms on “A Song for That,” respect for the sex he loves on “Delusional (ft. Little Brother)” , and adding Flying Lotus to create some dream-funk on “The Perch (feat. Phonte, Tor);” Oddisee is challenging convention with nuclear purpose.

This is the album I have been waiting on, and am still waiting to get it in hardcopy. One of my 08' favorites.

In Broken Light Shades

2008-12-08T23:33:00.000-08:00

This might be my favorite album of 08’.

Paavoharju’s Laulu Laakson Kukista sounds like a Sigur Rós album shipwrecked on a secret island, grasped by wild vines, and venturing into the mist . Every track on this album is coming from the same environment, the same spell, which is why Laulu has wound me up. This years "top" picks will be labored over scrawl spaces in the coming days and weeks, but I am sure that every time I listen to this album, it will remain both familiar and enchanting.

Paavoharju are from Finland, the Netherlands, and other places where godly carpenters of sound are birthed. The opener, "Pimeänkarkelo” is nothing surprising to an ambient music fiend prepared for the long haul, but the next track “Kevätrumpu,” rolls through like an electronica-dance-kicker. The whole body of work is wound tightly enough that severing a single reaching limb would be a fatal loss. This is Laulu Laakson Kukista’s strength, it’s weakness, it’s story; and there are plenty limbs to choose from if you’re counting. “Kirkonväki” is a haunting martial procession; "Uskallan" a well of Beirut-style-levity, and “Tyttö Tanssii” an acoustic lullaby that brings the magic to a quilted decent. The album doesn't loose pace with bridges like "Alania" and "Salainen Huone," serving a greater purpose. So what’s to hate?

In the end, my biggest complaint is that the album is too short at barely over thirty-five minutes long. Next time I would like to see Paavoharju stretch to greater lengths, but until then, I'm addicted. The year is drawing to a close, and Laulu Laakson Kukista is one to remember.

Skin Deep

2008-11-21T16:37:00.000-08:00

I am sautéing up onions for lunch when I get the urge to write this…

Jens Lekman has a cover of Boyz II Men’s “Water Runs Dry” on stereogum that is absolutely amazing. I have a soft spot for the Boyz from Philly and the world that surrounded that era, but that is a different story. There is another great cover that I ran across, that isn’t getting the same kind of notice, so I will suspend my date with an electirc-coil love, and get this in writing.

Miracle Fortress has done a masterful job of covering Daft Punk’s “Digital Love.” The track is almost spot on, but when the track really picks up, the band throws a wood-block into the mix. The cover song has a whole new life to it while still retaining Daft Punk’s energy. Mmm..Mmm...Love it.

Lets Make A Baby

2008-11-15T13:21:00.000-08:00

Lloyd’s new album Lessons in Love, has one of the biggest singles this year with “Girls Around the World” ft. Lil’ Wayne. His brand of music isn’t asking for my attention, or much less a vote of confidence, but this album has captured my curiosity into what unseen conversation could bridge the gap.

I remember back in the nineties when Hip-Hops persuasion had shifted R&B acts to adopt a similar sound an image. Were Boyz to Men the first to own the "not too hard, not too soft" title? Today Usher Raymond and Justin Timberlake claim headlining roles, sell millions with blockbusters like My Way and Justified, dominate Pop airwaves, and publicly endorse presidential candidates.* This being said, today it seems that they gets as much smack as praise, which I believe is more to do with criticism over iconography than it does over musical work. So was the music ever really that good?

The jaded music critic might call for a public hanging, but what gets looked over are the aspirations of artists like Usher and Lloyd, that transcend their failures. They still speak to the conflicts between the sexes and culture that are just as relevant today as any other topic in music, for better or worse.

Lloyd boasts on "Treat U Good," how he wants to “Keep it hood/ Just a lil'' which pretty sums up his Pop appeal and his newest album. Through the eyes of a younger audience Lloyd's ethos is one of blissful salvation, and while gettin' nasty on top of the washing mahine might be a hard sell for older Pop critics, Lesson's success will say other wise.

The hating to go around on Lessons in Love is for good reason. There are many things to appreciate about Pop music, but a lack of emotional depth shouldn’t be one of them. Still, I have to admit that “Girls All…” is a hot single, I'm digging the vocal play and lyrical triples play on “I’m Wit It,” and his falsetto reminds a little me of an early Michael Jackson.

This is the High School party where the parents leave, everyone gets drunk on bad drinks made with good liquor, and Lloyd hopefully croons you to third base by the end of the night. Like those before him, he is a musical/sexual identity searching for confidence while maturing into adulthood . Lessons in Love is another youthful attempt for unrequited love, while keepin' it hood, just a lil.'

* Both endorsed Obama for president, but I remember reading some where that John McCain proclaimed that Usher was his favorite musical artist. Pandering, or true maverick?

Malleable

2008-10-25T22:10:00.000-07:00

So I am listening to Blood Ceremony’s S/T debut,* and mulling over some big-name death metal.

Origin's latest, Antithesis, is a nitro-blast downpour of tech-metal. Make no mistake about it; Origin has the goods, Topeka, KA born to kill. This is the technical death metal album to fall for this year, and what makes these songs stand out, more than newcomers like Braindrill, is that the band has begun to master songwriting in parallel with their obscene instrumental prowess. I wish that there were more prominent guitar leads on the album, and I have some problems with the production (blurred guitars and heavily triggered drums are standard detractions), yet there are some great songs on this Antithesis. “Wrath of Vishnu” tears you in half then releases a melodic guitar lead, opener “The Aftermath” showcases the bands love of sweeping guitars, and the drum on licks on “Algorithm” reveal John Longstrengths skill in overdrive. After careening through most of the album, on the title track Origin rides a groove before putting Antithesis to rest.

Krisiun just keeps on barreling ahead through the years. While the three bothers are heralded as a pure, straightforward death metal band, I think what makes them special is a grasp of subtleties within the genre. Morbid Angel was essential for early death metal, but also for their influence on black metal through overtly implementing classical themes in their music (Mozart), as an addition to their religious imagery. The titles for the first LP’s are an obvious sign; Alters of Madness and Blessed are the Sick, but also reveal a fascination with classical aesthetics, to create an ugly combination of blood in baroque.

Krisiun is undoubtedly a part of this tradition, old school style and cultural devotion. While Krisiun’s Bazilian aesthetic is more militant in comparison Morbid Angel, a relationship to an ancestral identity has played a pivotal role in establishing them as a force over the years. One could point to the acoustic interludes, but they are nothing new to Metal; and Max’s tribal drum fills are a highlight every time around, but never the silver bullet. It’s Moyses’s penchant for unique melody and Alex's diminished vocals residing in the background of every album that ties Krisiun to their predecessors . His solos can be wild, but it’s the intangible “less is more” guitar work during the lulls that deserve notice in a genre that prides its self on excess.

Their newest offering, Southern Storm, improves on Assassination by taking their time around each base. On Storm they labor longer , instead of pouring all of their technicality into over-blown breakdowns. The solos have improved and are more prominent, and it should be stated that Max Kolesne is still, one of the best Metal drummers period. I have said enough.

*Blood Ceremony: coolest album of 08'.

Soo Coo

2008-09-10T19:08:00.000-07:00

I initially wanted to write about the new GZA, Pro Tools, why you ask? Because some reviews are saying that it sounds a lot like Legend of Liquid Swords...,* and when was that a bad thing? The Wu-Tang clan and their splintered solo releases never were really about breaking new ground, but staying true their to cult fame. They own a place in history and the fact that the Wu are still around, losses aside; is a statement in itself.

On the flip side, I have a really hard time defending the status of the real-time southern scene, and to completely honest, I struggle with Lil’ Wayne and T.I. They have a few bright spots in their respective repertoire’s, (Earthquake/ The King Back), but it’s as much the production’s winning effort, as the lyrical jockey riding it. Differences aside, I really have got to give some love to Pusha-T, who is one of the most underrated rappers in one of the most underachieving crews. His Clipse patriot Malice join MC’s Ab-Liva and Sandman to fill out their first Re-Up Gang LP, Clipse Present: Re-Up Gang. The best tracks, “Million Dollar Corner” and “Been Through So Much,” are formulaic but successful in comparison to the sixteen-and-over synth approach that define the album’s failures. I am waiting for the next Clipse release for some redemption.

One album that actually has started to get under my skin is the newest Nappy Roots release, Humdinger. While the club scene tracks “Flex,” “Fresh,” and “Panic Room,” remind me of why my southern sympathies feel like an outcast, Humdinger also never forgets where it came from. There is an emotional tone on the album's worthwhile tracks because they find themselves in their surroundings. I 've been really digging on, “On My Way To Georgia,” “No Static” ft. Greg Nice and "Small Town," which are a mix of southern comfort with a dash of sweet tea in comparison to those hastily delivered from the bottom shelf. The single's are respectable, “Good Day” reminds me of De La Soul’s "Trying People" (Bionix), as the feel good track with a children's choir present to lift the spirits, while “Down and Out” ft. Anthony Hamilton keeps the groove alive. It might not be my the best thing I have come across this year, but what's a diamond in the rough if you don’t get a lil' dirty? Check this one out.

* To be honest, the guitar riffs/beat on "Stay in Line" ft. Santi White (Legend) and "0 % Finance" (Pro), do sound uncomfortably similar.

Profana en Oakland

2008-09-03T21:41:00.000-07:00

So I’ve been listening to the new Morbosidad Profana la Cruz del Nazareno. They play a vicious style of black metal inspired by bands like Blasphemy, and they finish the album with a Sarcofago cover! If you know what I mean, then you know.

Most black metal albums create a vast amount of space to dwell within and gather strength over time. Morbosidad are grounded through the vocal arrangements, mostly because their death metal pacing and dynamics don’t create an overarching voice. Vocalist Tomas Stench layers his vocals from torrential heighs to seething depths, and on Profana, Morbosidad keep all the spike-pierced death for an uncompromising work of black metal.

Songs like "Posiedo Por El Diablo" and "Templo de Lucifer" flash their early black/thrash allegiance, while "Inmortalidad Diabolica's" vocal intro presents a foreboding place of ritual. For those who love black metal burning down the speedometer, this is for you.

Perspective Massing

2008-08-24T23:45:00.000-07:00

The new Ceremony, Still Nothing Moves You*, arrived the other week and has been on strong rotation. It doesn’t expand from their previous release, Scared People, as much as it completes it. Their growth from a mature EP to LP goes through without a hitch and has brought my apartment moshing to the extent that neighbors are gathering at my door, but what I really want to get after though is the new Have Heart.

Songs to Scream at the Sun is off the same label, Bridge Nine, as Ceremony which gave them the credibility from the start. I don’t think it stands up to Still’s intensity, but Songs to Scream still provides plenty of tension in comparison. Have Heart chooses a hard-core ethic rooted in straight-edge, honest family values and failures. On "Bostons” vocalist Patrick Flynn gets the floor to scream “So I could be the boy you couldn’t be / And father you didn’t care to see / Have the youth you did not get to live / Or feel the love this world forgot to give," which sums up what this album is all about. The band's identity comes full circle with platoon background vocals that resound through out the album on tracks like “Hard Bark On The Family Tree” and “Brotherly Love.” They never fully explodes into power-violence speed, but their melodies are heavy and drawn out, which makes Songs to Scream something to be reckoned with. The blasting-proletariat-surge ahead never comes to full force, instead Have Heart stands at a breaking point and refuses to move. I’ll give Ceremony the nod between the two but Songs to Scream is just as strong.

I was apparently mistaken when I announced that the release would be called The Full Length.

More of the Summer

2008-08-04T15:36:00.000-07:00

Last year the Long Blondes debut Someone To Drive You Home struck a chord with me. The UK has tons of dance-hall rock, but every year a new band seems to grab my attention and offer a slant on the sound. Someone was naive as it was seductive and I can’t help but feel the same way about Ida Maria’s Fortress Round My Heart. The album’s killer opener, “Oh My God,” just might contend for single of the year. The chorus and song title off “I Like You So Much Better When You’re Naked” shows the band’s age, but also was their biggest hit in the UK. What really draws me to this album is her voice. Ida's professions cry, cringe, and wail without resignation, and Fortress is better for it.

I have to say something about the new Kaki King, Dreaming of Revenge. The album unfolds like a moonlit-walk-home that has put me to bed for a good part of the 08’. Revenge holds you in a daze, without Kaki letting her guitar skills break the mood. Tracks like “Sad America” and “Montreal” set the luminous scene, while album single, “Pull Me Out Alive” is an familiar break. Look for her on the road with John Darnielle, who has her slated to open for The Mountain Goats this fall.

Ice Cream Spiritual

2008-07-11T21:41:00.001-07:00

I hear summer's old fireworks, my blaring alarm, and single rotating fan. Jumping off the couch, I scourer for my keys, and slam off the alarm. It’s 2 p.m. on a Saturday, and I am late for a date with rocky-road ice cream.

I havn't eaten anything for the past three days, (it's the price you pay when trapped in a washing machine); so I swipe up half a jug of Gatorade and a box of Fruity Pebbles before running out the front door. The July heat reminds me that I forgot to change out of my soggy Fugazi t-shirt and tie-dye Puma's, as I down the last bit of power juice with a mouth full of pebbles. After a couple minutes, or maybe more, my course drifts towards the sun. I go flying past the dairy parlor, and head for the river.

*check out the new Ponytail

The Long and Short

2008-07-11T21:39:00.000-07:00

I want to say a little something about the new Iron Lung, Sexless // No Sex. They are easily one of my first power violence bands, and it’s great to see them still breathing life into the scene.

I first heard of them when they were playing Reno, before they moved to their current location in Seattle. A friend from school hooked me up with an Iron Lung/Lana Dagales split (2002), and it caved in my chest. They were just a two-piece (guitar/drum) band, but produced some of most horrific Punk I had ever heard.

Sexless reveals just how much the band has grown up. It runs three times longer than the split, and closes with the almost three minute long “Cancer,” moving along at a sludge pace. Don’t get me wrong, songs like “Contested” and “Liars” taste like steel-toed boots, and the album never comes close to sounding compromised. The guitar work is more diverse, from the complex and abrasive riffs on “Autojector,” to the spiraling melodies on “Lumbar Puncture Test," the attack takes new shapes, and with solid drums and vocals filling out the weight, Iron Lung take their songs to greater lengths.

A part of me misses the lo-fi "basement" production and industrial samples, but the core of the sound here is unmistakably Iron Lung. Is it really possible for a power violence band to sell out anyway? I don’t know how much longer Sexless // No Sex will be in print, so get to it.

A Guilty Pleasure

2008-07-11T21:38:00.000-07:00

It's been a nasty good time over the past week, though when I try to tell my friends about it, they either cringe in disgust, or smile out of shock. My omission, the new Cliteater album is great, not to mention finger-licking fun.

Extreme genres like gore/porno-grind gorge not only on controversial topics like death and murder, but also sexual violence. While this pushes against my musical limitations, I have to admit there is a part of me that believes these guys are joking around, especially with songs titles like “Bruce-Dick-In-Son?” It would seem obvious on one hand to take the genre as seriously as the Braindead flims that influence them.

At the same time, it’s not really hard to believe that people would be up in arms about an album titled Scream Bloody Clit. If the genre's intentions are real, I feel that the themes are justified, in the sense that they aren’t advocating sexual violence, but showing it’s horrible realities from a brutally uncompromising perspective. Though this might be an uncomfortable conversation topic, it's dismissal is what the genre is challenging. It reveals crimes committed in daily life, and silently tolerated, in the workplace, home, school, and church. The themes and imagery of extreme metal are both comically and essentially, a kind of radical protest, reflecting these horrible acts as an opposition to the solidarity between violent sexual deviance and social control.

Back to the lecture at hand…

Cliteater stick to their guts on Scream, blending gore tropes with early grind/punk inspired riffs. They choose not to blast along the entire way, which by comparative standards makes for a more accessible listening experience. They have added a new guitarist (Susan Gerl ), to beef up the guitar tone. It’s great to see women on the music side of Metal, especially in gore-grind, a sub-genre where men dominate gender identity. If you don’t know the name Joost Silvrants (Inhume), you don’t know guttural vocals. He possesses an obscene range, and I was blown away when I first heard that he doesn’t use any pitch shifting. On “Impulse to Destruct” Joost takes the opportunity during the bridge to just go schizophrenic at the helm, spitting and screaming in every direction. There are some pitch-shifting vocals, used by the guitarist (Ivan Cuijpers), and are placed as dynamic punches before the band plunges into sonic oblivion. The comedic series “Positive Aspects Of Collective Chaos,” is kept alive with "Part III," ending to the sound of an accordion. Cliteater also has done a consummate job at borrowing from other Metal genres to diversify the album, like thrash metal (“Your Mouth, My Seed”), death metal (“Obese Obsession”), and death n’ roll (“Pedophiliac Cult”). While Cliteater's themes might be hard to swallow and their sound might turn your stomach over, Scream Bloody Clit is a bloody good time.

I also wanted to briefly give some love to the new Prostitute Disfigurement album, Descedents of Depravity. The high point of the album are the guitars; the songwriting has great flow between the riffs and solos, each holding their own and while playing off each other. The drum performance provided by Michiel van der Plicht is relentless, and the vocals (Niels Adams), are more in the mid-range, which I think it's an overall improvement for the band. Descendents also rocks one of the my favorite song titles so far this year, with “Killing for Company.” Check these out.

Flag Bearers

2008-07-11T21:36:00.002-07:00

Stones Throw has to be one of the hottest labels in Hip-Hop. I have been listening to Guilty Simpson’s Ode to the Ghetto*, and while the album studio team is lead by the legendary Jaylib (Madlib, J.Dilla), it should be said that some of the albums best moments come courtesy of Black Milk.

It’s not to say that he is better by any standard, but his three tracks contain the Jaylib "sound" that his legendary predecessors can claim rites to. Each track is distinct from the other, which makes the juxtaposition of “My Moment” and “Run" wild since their respective synth use is almost alien. “Moment” is a slumped ride down to cruise, while “Run” is a fiendish riff looking for trouble. My favorite of the three is “The Real Me,” probably because it reminds me of Dilla (R.I.P.) almost instantly. The beat doesn’t sound like he wants be the man, but like their fingerprints have traced the same studio boards if you know what I mean. Black Milk is carrying on their tradition in the present, so remember the name and look for it in the future.

No matter if you are a fan of the past, present, or future when it comes to Hip-Hop 2008, the Roots have to be central to the conversation. There has been plenty of great stuff written about the Roots's Rising Down so I won’t try to repeat established ideas in print, but I will put my money down on this, they are the essential Hip-Hop artist/crew of my generation.

Rising in the mid-nineties, the Roots not only took a completely individual slant on the genre, but also immersed themselves in understanding their place in musical history. They ushered in the “Organic” thing as much as anyone without demonizing their notorious past. They sought to inform an audience off stage, as much as they unapologetically attacked their opposition while on it. ?uestlove has become an icon, and ambassador, for Hip-Hop music and culture. They tour probably better than anyone, always play an irreplaceable set, and continue to grow in audience despite their uncompromising musical direction and politics. They have played with Jay-Z, Fall Out Boy, Erykah Badu, and Stephen Colbert. The Roots are contradictory by nature, and singular in comparison. Rising Down is a great album, from one of the truly undeniable bands of my time.

*Guilty Simpson can get away with his lyrics/delivery, but Ode lacks dramatic content and memorable hooks. Not bad, but I'm there for the production.

Misnomer

2008-07-11T21:36:00.001-07:00

I was initially going to write about the new Crystal Castles, which I have been digging on and is probably my favorite Electronica album so far this year, but when trying to choose my early favorites of 08’, I find myself digressing into Times New Viking’s Rip It Off.

Times New Viking is really a noise/garage band by obvious standards, but I get the same kind of feeling when listening to Fuck Buttons Street Horrrsing. They both really stress the high end of their sound, and allow the subtle white noises to carry the melody. While most songs stay under two minutes, Times New Viking still has something there. Confident vocals and keys are blanketed but audible, and songs like “Teen Drama” and “Relevant: Now” ride a wave underneath it all. Fuck Buttons Horrrsing is far more eccentric and grand in composition, but the cerebral distortion sticks around.

For me, there has always been something sterile about Electronica; I think it has something to do with programmed drums. While the songs structures relatively don’t really stray too far from conventional Pop, they come off sounding recycled instead of repeated. I don’t want to sound out of touch, but I never have been much into the tech. world, and what makes the Times New Viking's Rip It Off interesting for me, is that I feel the same kind of distance and intrigue with Fuck Buttons as I do a supposed garage band. It’s as much of a pitfall as it is a bridge.

Just check out the new Crystal Castles. eh...

Mighty, Mighty Joseph

2008-07-11T21:35:00.001-07:00

I can’t stop listening to Mighty Joseph. Vast Aire and Karniege throw down together on Empire State, and have created my favorite Hip-Hop album so far this year.

There has been plenty written about Vaste Aire’s chunky chew delivery and talent for double take rhymes, while Karniege brings his own flar to a more traditional bark. The lyrics are straight up bananas, no joke*. Ranging from the home front, “Kidz (N.Y.C.),” to the party scene, “Night Life,” to gangland on “Anything Can Happen?,” these two MC’s rule the scene from behind the wheel, while keeping respected friends in the back seat throughout, with the likes of M.U.R.S, Genesis, and Vordul Mega.

As ridiculous as the lyrics are, the production is what keeps pulling me back. The synth drenched beat on “Legend” opens with a country sample and comes courtesy of master producer Madlib. The vocal samples on “Out the Gate” and “The Dark Ages” light up the place, while creeping piano keys on “Criminal Tales,” lurk in the shadows. On Empire, the sun never sets, and there is nowhere to hide.

It doesn’t really matter which reason you choose to listen to Empire State, just listen to it now! It has not left my rotation since I got a hold of it and I hope more people start to recognize the Mighty Joseph. Bananas.

*My favorite verse is Vast’s closer on “The Dark Ages.”

Tartarus Rising

2008-07-11T21:34:00.001-07:00

There is an army forming in Greece. Last year saw Rotting Christ release another strong album, Theogonia (2007), to their catalogue and introduced me to a new sound in Metal. Press releases defined Rotting Christ as “Goth” for their synth use and approach to melody; a dramatic voyage in genre progression since it began with Grindcore. While thematically Rotting Christ can be associated with Black Metal’s tropes of the ancient world, the sound wasn’t nearly as harsh, the melodies and production values were radiant enough to break through the distortion, burning hotter than their Nordic forefathers. What about Viking Metal? While I have to admit I am not a big fan of the sub-genre, along with Folk Metal; the two share a similar relationship to Black Metal in ancestral imagery and progressive attitudes towards established melody? Eh, moving on…

I have been mulling over this ever since I got a chance to listen to Septicflesh’s (previously Septic Flesh) new album Communion. If Theogonia’s melodies stirred up enough heat to break through walls, then Communion has an army to topple them. What everyone will mention about this album is the 80 orchestral and 32 choral members whom were enlisted to back Septicflesh’s epic return. The band had split-up, and after a few years, are back with one of the biggest arrangements for an album that I have ever heard of. When this Titan raises up before you, it is truly something to behold.

The duration of the album is relatively short for such an enormous assembly, but what the album lacks in length, it makes up for by capturing the moment with plenty to spare. The orchestral work deserves repeated listenings, and elevates the melodies to soaring lengths. On the title track their Death Metal roots are expanded on when choral vocals echo after the assault like heat from the flame. Septicflesh has an amazingly diverse background as well, and an explosive attack on “Babel's Gate” shape shifts into some technical breakdowns that flaunt the bands musicianship now long recognized. Like I said earlier, the album is really all about melodies. Sung vocals on “Sunlight Moonlight,” build them like moutians, while booming horns and thunderous drums on "Persepolis,” turn them into avalanches.

Metal’s evolution has always been rooted in its international appeal and Greece has been playing an important role for some time, while continuing to harness a distinct sound. Whatever this “Greek” sound is, it’s on par with anything being released in sibling genres, and with more albums like Communion, Septicflesh will remain casting their shadow over the land.

In A Few Days

2008-07-11T21:32:00.000-07:00

So Death Cab for Cutie has a new album coming out, and I’m sure it will be huge, if it isn’t already. I was part of the crowd that saw Death Cab move from an “indie” band to OC acclaim. Does this make them Pop? I have to admit I haven’t listened to Death Cab in a long time, but I want to say the last time I did, it was unfortunately at Starbucks.

So what’s new? You’re looking at it, but is it really any better? I saw Vampire Weekend last summer at a local bar in Eugene, this winter they played SNL. They released their debut album almost a month before, and were already hitting the prime time. I wrote about them, and so did everyone else apparently. Since these things are hit or miss, I am writing about two bands, and hoping for the best.

New Pop bands tease me from all directions these days. The Magistrates are from Essex, and I can’t stop listening to their new song “Make This Work.” This is ridiculous in one sense because they aren’t even with a label. They just have booking information and a band website, but there's something funky in the air. Falsetto vocals cry under pulsing neon keys, and make for Purple Rain anthems that won't quit. Fans of old school greats like Prince and Jamiroquai, not to mention new school names like Jamie Lidell and Hercules and Love Affair, will dig this.

If you dig Melt Banana as much as I do, and want some kick to your pop, I have to confess my affections for Glasgow’s DANANANANAYKROYD. They play “Fight-Pop,” which is basically everything Pop you would expect from Glasgow, infused with spacious breakdowns, and some noisy Hardcore Punk. They're opening for the Japanese noise crew in their hometown late June and are set to release an E.P., Sissy Hits, on Holy Roar earlier that same month. I would love to see them judging from their recorded live samplings, and from experience, I can tell you Melt Banana is unreal.

These two bands don’t deserve being mentioned in the same category. Melt Banana has been putting out splits since the early nineties and these guys have yet to hatch, not to mention fly. It isn’t fair to hope for the best when life is young, triumphs that come after early stumbles should be what leads to fame worthy of praise. Just ask Death Cab.

Battle Cry

2008-07-11T21:31:00.000-07:00

I have been listening to the new Akrobatik for the past couple weeks, and for a first encounter, I am pretty impressed. Boston isn’t really the first place that comes to mind when you think about Hip-Hop from the Northeast, but Akro holds his own on his newest release, Absolute Value, while boasting battle tactics for the conscience few.

The album really caught me by surprise. I hadn’t heard about him at all going into Absolute, but did recognize parts of the album’s entourage. The most obvious attraction was “Put Your Stamp On It,” featuring production by the late J.Dilla and tag-team rhymes with Talib Kweli, but that’s just the beginning of guests that show up. Mr.Lif and Little Brother chip in on “Beast Mode” and “Be Prepared” respectively, even legendary MC Chuck. D throws down some narration on “Kindred” ft Brenna Gethers. Akro boasts, “...check the archives, back in 95” on the title track, and on Absolute, there’s a veteran crew to vouch for him.

Akro’s delivery is loud and in your face, just like his New York neighbors, but it’s the content that hits your from a different angle. He preaches that there is too much conscious Hip-Hop afraid to pull the trigger behind the mic, and too much commercial Hip-Hop selling guns not music, and on one hand I agree, but also have to take issue with the notion of an absolute voice in Hip-Hop. Akro has a style rooted in old school greats like KRS One, which is pretty much impossible to knock, it’s when his attack slows down on the R&B tracks, “Kindred” and “Rain,” that his Absolute Value seems to run out of ammo. The last track, “Back Home To You,” is a dedication to his wife and seems out of place, but I can’t hate, you should stick around anyway for the hidden electro-funk that follows.

Like I said, I can’t hate. The album is full of huge beats and Akro stands tall with them. “Soul Glo,” “Black Hell Breaks Loose” ft. Willie Evans Jr. & Therapy, “If We Can’t Build” ft. Bumpy Knuckles, and the title track rain down like angry fists and capture Akro at his best.

With the big names like Gnarls Barkley dropping this past month, and many to come in still a young year, Absolute Value probably won't claim this year's crown, which is fine by Akro; he’s got blueprints to the castle and stockpiles of dynamite. Check this one out.

Thrash to Death

2008-07-11T21:30:00.000-07:00

Back in the nineties Metal was out, Punk was in. Remember when all your friends loved Reel Big Fish, Offspring was on MTV, Infest played 924 Gilman, and NOFX owned the Warped Tour stage? Things have changed.

The truth is that music does not possess this kind of solitude, since genre’s bleed into one another over time, but that is a different path. It’s still safe to say that in recent years Metal has seen a return to power, but it’s only a matter of time before the revolution. Bomb the Music Industry!’s Get Warmer was my favorite Punk album last year, and over the weekend I went searching for early favorites of 08’.

Paint it Black’s New Lexicon caught my attention when I recognized a Kid Dynamite connection. East coast hardcore junkie and Kid Dynamite guitarist, Dan Yemin , is in on the act, this time with vocal duties. The Kid Dynamite sound is there, spewing hardcore that gathers its form in catchy breakdowns, opener “The Ledge” puts this on full display, but that is not all New Lexicon has to offer. On the outro to “We Will Not” Yemin’s posi-ranting “Even when the ship has run aground / Don’t let the bastards get you fuckin’ down!” leads into background keys and dissonant electronic drums. This aspect is used sparingly over all, but on a hardcore album, a little goes a long way.

Short and mean is the name. Ceremony. They're a California power violence unit that have gained attention in the North Bay scene recently. Last year saw them release an E.P., Scared People (2007) that made waves in the Punk underground. They have a full length coming out late summer/early fall on Bridge Nine records entitled The Full Length, which I anticipate will receive tons of hype in the months to come. Their sound has been compared to Crossed Out, lurching riffs that explode into freak-outs, but power violence is Punk in a straight jacket, so freedom to experiment here is really limited. It’s on songs like “Making With The Stale Air” that they manage to capture my attention by balancing the attack with a jittery thrash riff.

In the Metal glory days of the eighties, it was thrash that ruled. Metal and Punk were thrown together, and a movement began* that would solidify America in Rock’s dark arts forever. The truth is that finding good, never mind great, thrash these days is hard to come by. Extremes in contemporary metal have caused thrash to essentially turn into death metal with heavy thrash tendencies, like Year of Desolation, who put out a wicked S/T last year and nailed this style. I ran into a band that does the exact same, just twenty years earlier. Corrupt is a Swedish thrash metal band that play a combo of thrash/death, but in the Kreator/Dark Angel/Slayer vein. It’s grimy and blistering, but those infectious riffs are what kill me in the end. The chorus and guitar solo on “Profits Prevail,” off their E.P. Silence Equals Death (2006), will bring a white-knuckle smile to your face, and remind you of why you still listen to those old Thrash albums over and over. They are slated to release a LP later this year on Blood Harvest records entitled Slavestate Serenades. Corrupt is a really good thrash band that I bet will only get better. Go!

*Sure NWOBHM/First-wave black metal were important too. sure.

Old Growth

2008-07-11T21:29:00.000-07:00

The new Christine Fellows finally arrived last week and it’s spindly arms have entangled me back and over again. No one writes songs like she does. There have been comparisons to the Mountain Goats (John Darnielle), and I see why. They both have a dense lyrical style and an instrumental approach that leans towards the singer-songwriter warmth, instead of freak-folk obscurity that’s all the rage. More than any of these comparisons could say, the two belong in an elite group of lyricists out there. That is what their albums are all about, and it’s what I knew Nevertheless would be about. Ever so spindly, I am caught in a new place.

Nevertheless is a burgeoning adventure, spilling out of the house and into the spring overgrowth. Christine’s previous release, Paper Anniversary (2006), was a handful of diamonds, as brilliant as they were precious. Nevertheless is dramatically fleshed out in comparison, saturating in the spaces previously left hollow. Broad strings arrangements, backing choral vocals, and newly prominent drums have Christine and friends painting in the details. “What Makes the Cherry Red” is a montage at dawn, brimming over with droplets of percussion, wild strings, fluttering piano, and chirping birds. On “Yours, And With Ever Grateful Wonder” the song eventually digresses to the sound of a typewriter and spoken lyrics. She captures the opposing direction on the title track; with one of her most pop structured pieces to date. This time the songwriting has turned into a splendor all it’s own.

The lyrics are nothing less. Nevertheless is a phrase adaptation from author Marianne Moore. In the liner notes it reads that the title song and “What Are Years?” are responses to poems written by Moore, and she also references W.B. Yeats in “The Spinster’s Almanac.” The poetry penned here is breath taking, and quieter moments on the album, like “To A Prize Bird,” give her tender voice a chance to be alone with the words.

While most songs, in true Fellows form, don’t break the three-minute mark, they reveal a powerful new depth. Nevertheless showcases Christine Fellows as one of music’s lyrical heroines, wielding spells and new light. Destined to be one of this year’s best.

Epic in Concert

2008-07-11T21:28:00.001-07:00

Last spring some friends from Portland invited me to hang at a local concert in Eugene. They had some friends who were traveling down the coast on tour, opening up for a band called Loom. True to college form, I ended up taking the opportunity to avoid my schoolwork in favor of a show and drinks with friends. I sadly missed most of openers, including their friends, but I did get to see all of Loom’s set. They came off like a band that was either five years behind the scene, or five ahead. I was given quick rundown of what to expect, At The Drive-In post-hardcore intensity with a violin that brings to mind Cursive’s instrumental formula. What got left out were the skirmishing math breakdowns that pass through briefly, then disappear behind an angry chorus. By the end of the show, I had joined into the crowd.

The night only got better. My friends picked me a Loom T-shirt and E.P., Angler (2006), as well as the record label, Exigent, sampler mix, The Colors of Sound Breathing V. 1. I gave the sampler a listen and really liked two bands, Gaza and Sweet Jesus. Sweet Jesus has release just a S/T, two song EP, and I have not heard any noise about future recordings or happenings, which is sad because they played a badass hybrid of punk spazz and metal sludge. Gaza has gained some attention and have released an EP, East (2004), and an LP on Black Market Activities, I Don’t Care Where I Go When I Die (2006), to solid reviews. The bands lyrics are whimsical, citing American Idol's Ryan Seacrest amongst others. In the end though, the lyrics are unintelligible, like most extreme metal vocals since the late eighties. Debating over the lyrical strengths is dwarfed by the intensity of the vocal performance, and Gaza's are nasty. What makes them stand out is that they demonstrate little concern for a specific genre convention; the guy is just trying to heave his lungs from his chest. The bands sound is a Math/Grindcore combo, somewhere between Botch and Meshuggah. The guitar work and grind-wall are bound by some chunky time signatures that stomp all over each other. In the broad world of metalcore, I can see these guys getting some love from the Dillinger/Converge pack that’s ready to step outside and go on the prowl.

This month I decided to check back in after not hearing much from the label. While Gaza has moved on to bigger things and Sweet Jesus hasn’t really moved at all, I was happy to see a new band making a their presence felt. Exigent is based in Salt Lake City but has recently moved into Portland and signed a band called Diesto. Isle of Marauder is Diesto’s first release with Exigent is some of the best doom metal I have run across this year. While Neurosis has been the genre’s bulldozer since the early nineties, bands like Isis and Pelican have brought progressive doom to the surface from the underground and are headliners of a recent trend in American metal, and now with Marauder, Diesto have begun carved their name in landscape. Their approach, in an already crowded room, grabs your attention almost immediately by scraping against the hammer throw with some Industrial-style production. It’s still heavy as hell, but rings coarse when compared to dominant codes in the scene. On their band web page they list "soul" as an genre influence, and you can hear it on the guitar solos strangely enough. The band also shows an early affinity for rock dynamics, like on “Monarch,” when instead of just rolling down a long treaded path, a seven minute march charges ahead into fist-throwing punk glory. The epic closer "Black Water" ceeps in with leading guitars, punishes for over ten minutes, then has the guitars return only to put the album to rest. Isle of Marauder is doom metal churned out of a junkyard compactor, and for Diesto, a very promising start. Check these guys out.

Committed

2008-07-11T21:27:00.001-07:00

Today it snowed and I decided to give the new Ghostface a listen. As a precursor to listening to the album, I had heard all sorts of things said about the Clan regarding their new album and RZA’s production not being up to par. Both albums dropped within a week of each other, and with the added drama, it’s not hard to imagine battle lines being drawn between the two. This aside, The Big Doe Rehab continues the streak of amazing albums by Ghostface in recent years. It’s rare to find an artist that is this consistent. Big Doe doesn’t have the scope of Fishscale (2006), keeping subject matter in the status quo of drugs, women, and money. Fishscale was at times confessional, reflecting on the fast life. Rehab doesn’t dwell on the past as much as it gets caught up in the good times ("We Celebrate” ft. Kid Capri), while his talent for dramatic story telling is kept in tact, showcased on part II of the drug robbery series “Shakey Dog,” ft. Raekwon and Lolita. Production credits include The Hitmen amongst others, and continues Ghost’s signature feel for soulful sampling and New York ruckus. This is classic Ghostface Killah and just a flat-out great album. Thank you snow day.

Side Tracked

2008-07-11T21:25:00.000-07:00

For the past couple years I have made it a major priority in my life to go up to Portland and see the Mountain Goats perform at the Doug Fir Lounge. The Mountain Goats are a must see, and the Doug Fir is a hip new spot in the rose city with a cool basement stage area, probably why John decides to play there every year. This year, he is actually coming to Eugene and playing the WOW hall, so I am actually debating seeing both shows this year. I could go on about the Mountain Goats* forever being one of my favorite bands period, but this sojourn has come to serve a different purpose as well.

Back in 06’ I walked about ten minutes late into the opening act for the Mountain Goats, a single woman was on stage with a very small arrangement of piano, keyboard, and iBook. She sang and played the keys behind a computerized percussion track, nothing really jaw-dropping at first listen, but I soon warmed up to something unfamiliar. Her name was Barbara Morgenstern, she’s German, sings in German, and writes some amazingly lush tunes for a living. Her piano and voice stood nicely in contrast to the digital background, partly because she was singing in German, a language that I know exactly kaput. As soon as I got home I looked into her newest release, The Grass is Always Greener (2006), and loved it.

The next year a band named the Pony Up! was rolling out the carpet. While I was less impressed this time around, a couple of songs later had friends and I wandering over to pick up their album, Make Love To The Judges With Your Eyes (2006), and flirt a little with the band. The album has grown on me, despite not having one of their best songs “Wet,” which I got to see live, while it did feature cool song title and single “The Truth About Cats And Dogs (Is That They Die).” If you can’t get enough toe-tapping indie pop, these are your girls.

This year the Goats crew are bringing along fellow North Carolina scenesters, The Moaners. They’re a female duo playing syrupy noise rock and it will be interesting to see an opener with some teeth this time. The band draws from Pavement/Sonic Youth's cluttered distortion and the upbeat, post-punk tempo that almost seems standard in today’s indie world. What makes The Moaners fresh is a grating blues guitar, slathered on top of the familiar mix. The guitar howls, not in a Hendrix kind of way, but like a stray dog at the front door. Similar “duo” bands like the Kills, don’t get this sloppy, who instead scratch at dance rock from the outside looking in, while the Moaners let their hair down and get their hands dirty. There's even a Saw and Harmonica that find time to slide in, adding a little depth beyond the standard guitar/drum uniform. While still a young band, they have captured my attention and got me debating which LP to snatch up when I see them in person, I'm just happy they chose to moan on my front stoop.

*The new Mountain Goats album, Heretic Pride, is out Feb. 19th. He has released one song over the Internet and is soon coming out with a video directed by Ace Norton. Goats rule!

In Review 07'

2008-07-11T21:24:00.002-07:00

Now that the year has come to an end, I feel obligated to deliver a “Best-of-Year” list. I think that to some degree, these miss the entire point of good criticism because music doesn't conform to a linear set of standards. There is no constructive way to rate albums against each other since different genres strive for a different emotional release, and to a greater degree, language does little to describe emotion. Comparing Big Business’s Here Come the Waterworks against Marissa Nadler's Songs III: Bird on the Water is a free fall through the abyss and all I've got is a flashlight. It’s been good 07', so long:

Profanatica – De Domonatia
Babyshambles – Shotter’s Nation
Rock Plaza Central – Are We Not Horses
Prodigy – Return of the Mac
Old Time Relijun – Catharsis In Crisis
Black Moth Super Rainbow - Dandelion Gum
Laethora – March of the Parasite
Pissed Jeans – Hope for Men
Bomb the Music Industry! – Get Warmer
Scarface – Made
The Long Blondes – Someone to Drive You Home
Pig Destroyer – Phantom Limb
Bowerbirds – Hymns for a Dark Horse
Panda Bear - Person Pitch

These are in no order at all. Like I said, things like this are difficult contain. For example, Sa-Ra’s Hollywood Recordings didn’t make my list but was one of the most entertaining/funky pieces of music I have heard in a while. There were also tons of albums that I never got to listen to, including Christine Fellows's Nevertheless* and Foetopsy's In the Bathroom. Then there are some records that I technically shouldn't’t really be listening to in the first place, like Vampire Weekend’s S/T debut, which is officially released later this month. Hell, I haven’t even heard the new Radiohead album. On that note, don’t bother me - I’m busy.

*Sixshooter! I am STILL waiting…album please.

Detour

2008-07-11T21:24:00.001-07:00

Back in 2003 I was fortunate enough to pick up Freeway's debut, Philadelphia Freeway. It came on the heels of Jay-Z’s The Blue Print (2001/my favorite Jay-Z album) and saw Roc-A-Fella records climb to the forefront of the Hip-Hop hype machine. They had a solid MC roster and two of the best producers in the game, Just Blaze and an up and comer by the name of Kanye West. Freeway had arrived at just the right time to take advantage of the momentum, and Philadelphia Freeway didn’t disappoint. The album featured Freeway’s distinct growl, not stopping to catch a rookie breather, and was almost entirely produced by the two dynamite sound boys previously mentioned. An impressive debut to say the least.

Now four years later he has returned with a follow-up, Free at Last, with intentions of bringing the fire back to life. The problem this time is that while Freeway was out, the home turf got a little messy. Beanie Siegel, the man who brought Freeway to Roc-A-Fella, ran into legal trouble and his State Property crew fell apart. All the chaos killed Freeway’s limelight going into a second release and he seemed to disappear off the map with his State Property peers.

On Free at Last, the big name producers are missing (the only returnee is Bink!) and have taken the hype machine with them. Bink!’s production is still strong, “Still Got Love” is one of the albums best tracks and he plays some funky live drums on “When They Remember.” Overall, the album lacks diversity and plateaus half way through, but some gems appear in the mix. The beat by Dangerous LLC on “Spit that Shit” is a solid Dr.Dre impression and Scarface* comes to the rescue on “Baby Don’t Do It.” The albums two worst tracks are the radio friendly "Roc-A-Fella Billionaires" ft. Jay-Z and "Take It To The Top" ft. 50 Cent, both executive producers on the album, evidence that Rap’s royalty no longer have the Midas touch. Free at Last, does not stand up to Freeway’s debut, but shows plenty of heart when the chips are down. He's proven he can make it on his own, which is actually something new this time.

*The new Scarface is ridiculous. It has yet to leave my rotation since it came out and should contend for “Album of the Year,” no matter the genre, more on this later.

Spellbound Pt. 1 and 2

2008-07-11T21:21:00.000-07:00

1. Black metal, or at least as it is known today, got started back in the late 80’s in Norway (This does not include the first generation, but Venom also influenced Metallica, so there you go). Seeing as I was working with Saturday morning cartoons at this time, not Pagan Occultism, I really had no chance at hearing A Blaze in the Northern Sky, and even if I did, I’m sure it would have been traumatized me for months. So, like many fans of the genre, especially in the current world of Metal, we end up rushing the gate a little bit later…okay, a lot later. I admittedly was late getting into Metal, like less than five years ago. The nineties were amazingly cruel to the genre and in my neighborhood of Beanbag hippies and Chrisitan all-stars, the bleak underground of black metal was worlds away from my ears.

A decade plus, here I am dying to talk about the genre and even getting a chance to represent my home turf in the process. A far cry from Norway, America has always taken a back seat in black metal, owning the rites to death metal instead. While this year shows that Scandinavia is still strong with releases by seminal bands like Mayhem (Ordo Ad Chao) and Marduk (Rom 5:12), there are also some great efforts made in the good ol’ U.S.A.

Profanatica is from New York and has been around since the early days, and so underground that it took them almost two decades to release an LP. There were demos and “Best of” compilations along the way, but no definitive statement to match the second-generation greats, like Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk (Emperor) or Storm of the Light's Bane (Dissection). De Domonatia is one, a conjuring of satanic worship, and oddly second, a fusion of American prog/doom. Fans that are holding on to Deathcrush “kvlt” will detest the guitar tone because it “drones,” instead of offering the scathing low-fi of traditional black metal. The album is full of classic tremolo work, but powerfully cloaked, mixed down to the extent that the guitar is almost indistinguishable from the bass, like a molten tide rising beneath Paul Ledney’s monstrous vocals. Even some of the dynamics drudge along, like on “Scourging and Crowning,” adding to the doom influence. Song titles and lyrics are pure blasphemy, with names like “A Fallen God, Dethroned In Heaven" and “Cursed Nazarene Whore.” To sum up, Ledney ends the album screaming “I’ll tear this fucking religion to the ground!!!” With De Domonatia, Profanatica is back in a huge way.

2. The Northwest. Surrounding Cascades and dense forests provide a view that never strays too long before turning up and into a bent wall trees. Most escape to the valleys to find some space to roam, but the regions trademark is the hymnal of roots that reach towards the heavens through a canopy of limbs. Then, it begins to rain. Throughout most of the year, a steady dirge of rainfall gathers the dead and rotting earth, and carries it to some swift and cold depth. The constant downpour seems to weigh on time as much as it does the land. A long grey winter soaks into your bones, the rising mist drawn in through every breath. You learn to live in a fog, wake in the night.

For Wolves in the Throne Room (and yours truly), this is home. Home, and then some, to the extent that they have decided to shed all trappings of “civilian life” and dwell completely immersed in the forests of rural Olympia, WA. Their second release, Two Hunters, is a reverent oath to their world, beyond the sight of average daily life, born from the hidden realms of a lost time. In the symphonic vein of black metal, Wolves in the Throne Room are reminiscent of Burzum’s brooding melancholy and extended composition. The production isn’t heavily tampered with, but the album sounds beautiful. The tremolo guitar work resonates powerfully without overpowering the low end, the drums aren’t triggered but audible when raining down. It gives great depth for the guitars and bass to well up from under, and surround the driving percussion.

The band chooses not to focus on Satan in subject matter, relying instead on nature’s unrelenting path and force. While the emotions that stir when in the alone in wilderness have always been a part of black metal, at least the second generation, it defines Wolves', and like Burzum, Two Hunters sacrifices raw aggression for a desolate serenity. Then, there are more subtle touches in the mix, adding some corners to turn. First track “Dia Artio” opens with sounds of the forest night before a sweeping synth takes over the reigns. On “Cleansing” a brewing storm is haunted by guest female vocalist Jessica Kinney, a rarely seen aspect in black metal, and is one of the albums greatest moments. While there is no real new ground broken with Two Hunters, Wolves in the Throne Room have created a triumph of black metal, true to their hallowed roots.

Current Beneath the Surface

2008-07-11T21:20:00.000-07:00

Back in the mid nineties Hip-Hop was everywhere. In over just a decade it had crept from the streets of the Bronx, to growing in the household of Americana. Once the East vs. West thing came to a tragic ending, those in the Hip-Hop community needed time to slow down, reflect, leading to the rise in sub genre’s like "Organic Hip-Hop" and "Neo-Soul." Champion artists of this era, (Talib Kweli, Common, D'Angelo, etc.) tried to shift the spectrum of ideas in Hip-Hop, choosing a "grass roots" route over "the benjamins", on giving back to the community and culture. Even the mainstream got in on the act with The Roots teaming up with Jay-Z on MTV's Unplugged (which I love and is one of MTV's last great moments in musical relevancy.) Now with their best work behind them, the leaders of street Bohemia can be found at a diminishing well, (Mos Def/ True Magic), and trying new tricks…Peace, Love, GAP!?!? Where is a Resurrection when you need it?!! With the gangster world no longer in the dark and a conscience lost at the shopping mall, Hip-Hop is stalled looking for direction and new heroes to lead it.

The "indie" world has tried to enter the Hip-Hop ring since this decline, and from finding alternative voices/styles abroad (Dizzee Rascal, The Streets), to the hyping the explicitly absurd (Spank Rock), it would seem that eccentricity is the premium. MC's like Aesop Rock and MF Doom have landed on solid ground for some years and developed a strong following, but they own such distinct styles that holding up the same banner seems slighted and would probably be too exclusive to last.

Enter Oddisee. While calling him a hero for the next generation is reaching at best, especially since the "next big thing" has yet to really come into form, he is a fresh face that shows plenty of promise. Hailing from Washington, D.C., he got his start with DJ Jazzy Jeff and since then has taken his soul/funk-laden production to visible heights. Honestly, I am late getting to this album so you might already be up on this, but for those who don’t know, Foot In The Door (2006) delivers over thirty tracks, each goes down smooth, sinking deeper into a groove that warrants the hour plus stretch. It initially comes off as a mood album, since most don’t break the two-minute mark, acting more like beat samples more than actual songs. The longer cuts, often with guest MC’s, like “Boogie” featuring J-Live & Asheru, offer a glimpse of things to come. While this album was largely over shadowed, and rightfully so, by master producer J.Dilla’s (R.I.P.) Donuts*, Oddisee on Door has earned himself a place in line. It should be mentioned besides producing, he shows some talent for lyrics and delivery as an MC.

Until a full-length, main event, LP appears I will keep the megaphone out of your face and raise my hand from the corner, but when Oddisee gets his chance, I’ll be front-row. How many new faces in Hip-Hop deserve as much?

*If you don’t have Donuts? Get some!

From Eugene to Gainesville

2008-07-11T21:18:00.001-07:00

It was the video killed it for me. Not in the Buggles, image trumps talent way, but because it had been floundering for some time and was going to come to an end sooner than later. By now music has broadened itself across so many mediums I wonder just how much control the individual has over the whole musical experience/consumption? Is it possible to avoid taking part in the packaged show? Would it have made a difference? I doubt it.

I was in my dorm room sometime in the winter of 03’. After a casual exchange about music with a friend from the dorms he mentioned that he had got word of this great band, “if you got the time for a listen,” kind of conversation. I would listen and keep listening but it wasn’t till the summer when the hooks had really sunk into me. For the scope of my college years I would hold onto them like my nights of Blue Ribbon. Headphones on the way to class, screamed through the early morning, sweat in the carpet floor.

a poetry spoken silently between me and the stereo

New Wave is Against Me!’s newest release and has put me to scale for the past months. I guess that everyone has a band or two that they hold onto through the years and in the process becomes something tangible to identify with, such is our post-modern world. Wave is a sign that the band is looking for a new/bigger audience. In the “Thrash Unreal” video the band plays while fake wine is poured on them, and Tom Gabel(songwriter/frontman) is shirtless like some boy-band/TRL gimmick. On the bands previous album, Searching for a Former Clarity (2005), the songs differed from their early work as well, but wasn’t reaching just for the sake of it. The production had cleaned up, there were songs you could dance to, new instruments; signs of a band maturing and taking chances. On New Wave, all of these qualities are pushed to the front, “Stop” is a straight up dance song, “Borne on the FM Waves” is a love ballad first, and “Animal” abandons Punk for Alternative accessibility. The album isn’t a complete loss, "Americans Abroad" and the title track come to mind, but I can’t deny the feeling that the glass is half empty. I have always found Punk's idealism a bit romantic, and such great intentions are probably doomed from the start.

So what now? Maybe I should write them off, another tragic casualty to the money and mob? Maybe I can forget all the times that I sung off key, forgot the lyrics, and still - remember nothing less? I doubt it.

Variety Pack

2008-07-11T21:16:00.000-07:00

Vampire Weekend. They are a quartet from New York and after listening to them now for some months has brought me to a small conclusion. Canada is getting tired. It seems like every year our northern friends put out clusters of pop/indie bands that really are just building off the work that Broken Social Scene and The New Pornographers established years ago. While these bands are by no means a waste of time, their sound never really comes off tremendously original. While this middle of the road appraoch will always bring in enough fans by just being new to the scene, Vampire Weekend blends in some new touches and colors. On songs like "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" bongos are played behind some guitar who's rhythm's have a reggae bounce to it and call and response vocals are shared on "One (Blakes Got a New Face)". Their affection towards an African-style beat and melody coupled with great placement of strings and keys round up to a "larger than the sum of their parts" pop appeal. Singles like "Mansard Roof" and "Oxford Comma" are worth a listen if you want something to sink your teeth into.

From the Shadows

2008-07-11T21:15:00.000-07:00

It’s fall. The trees have begun to fade, light escapes us, and my socks always seem to be wet. After much anticipation this summer, the change in season has seen the release by two Metal albums that I have to mention.

First there is Nordic Death Metal band Blood Red Throne. The tag on this band is that they play Florida inspired Death Metal while hailing from Norway, a country known for its Black Metal. Their newest release, Come Death, shows the band moving towards a powerful groove element, an aspect that they had only briefly plodded in before. Bassist Erlend Caspersen’s work is skull bending, absolutely titanic. Purists looking for an early nineties production effort or boxed in neck breakers will turn away. They will miss the rare, but great, breaths of Black Metal that show up on "Guttural Screams" and Gorguts cover "Disincarnated." It should come as no surprise since guitarists Tchort and Død formed the band while playing/touring together with cult leaders, Emperor and Satyricon. I would kill to see these songs live.

Earlier this year I did get the chance to see the Doom/Stoner giant, High On Fire. Their newest release, Death is the Communion, is a continuation of the break in sound inspired Steve Albini on Blessed Black Wings (2005), which new producer, the legendary Jack Endino (Nirvana, Soundgarden), sharpens instead of rounding off. High On Fire at first sounded like Matt Pike’s Sleep hangover*, familiar doom and gloom, while growing new teeth. For those truely stoned-cold, still waiting for Jerusalem to end, this will probably kill your high. Communion rocks barrel-fisted anthems that thrash and flaunt some major chops in their murky depths. The opening riff in “Turk” is a blistering ode to Megadeth and the album pack-leader “Fury Whip,” digs up the past like an exhumed South of Heaven. New double-kick currents, acoustic interludes, and Motörhead lovin’ soul come as a welcome whiskey shot to the chest. On Communion, High On Fire builds a Metal alter, then burns it down to the ground. Check these out.

Blogger for money

2008-07-11T21:07:00.000-07:00

something about responsibility and promises? Basically I have to re-write everything...here we go.

the following pieces were written between 10/07 and 3/11.