KZSU Radio Music Reviews

Groder, Brian & Burton Greene / Groder & Greene

Craig Matsumoto — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 22:48:41 -0800

Review by Craig Matsumoto

Acoustic free jazz fronted by trumpet, sax, and piano, with plenty of accessible touches. Bright moods, mostly. Track 1 has a particularly organized feel, and track 6 gets a nice drum groove going. For something more abstract, try 3,4,7. Burton Greene (piano) Brian Groder (trumpet/flugelhorn) Rob Brown (alto sax) Adam Lane (bass) Ray Sage (drums) 1- Coolly soulful. Crisp trumpet lead with nice late-night piano joining in. Things break apart a bit later, with sax and piano getting into a mid/fast, disjoint free-jazz rumble. Then, like curtains parting, it opens back into simple piano and trumpet, back to the lonely late-night feel. 2- Bright, midtempo sax and drums; creeping piano. A "slow" feel with fast, propulsive drums. Expansive. 3- Slow piano start, like cracking ice. Sax and muted trumpet move carefully. Eventually blossoms into a bustling, disjoint piece. Loosens up considerably for a bass solo. 4- Abstract. Groaning bass; prepared piano that sounds like rubber bands. 5- Spacious but gets moving, with a brisk trumpet and piano duet. Fairly accessible once it gets going. 6- Nice drum groove under some blaring horn statements. At once funky and free. Slower middle, fast-paced ending. 7- Goofing around. Lots of growly vocal sounds followed by a staggered composition. Some spoken phrases later during a heavy-handed, start/stop piano segment. 8- Jazzy. Brisk muted trumpet; later a more midtempo, sinewy sax solo. 9- Darkly midtempo, a quiet, mildly menacing overhang. The "Sleepwalker" title is a nice image.

Plunge / Dancing On Thin Ice

Craig Matsumoto — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 22:26:55 -0800

Review by Craig Matsumoto

Trombone, sax, bass trio. Straight-up jazz with a modern feel, in an overall calm vein, quite a laid-back session (having no drums helps keep the fireworks down). Built on rhythms that frequently make you forget there's no drummer. The leader is Marc McGrain on trombone, who also did all the compositions. On a couple of tracks, he does the trick of singing into the trombone, which produces some weird sounds (but he doesn't use it for the abstract air that Jen Baker does). Often it's distracting and doesn't really add to the music. Tim Green on sax and James singleton on bass. Recorded in New Orleans. It's their second album; we appear to also have the first (on Accurate Records, from 1996). 1- Perky midtempo horns, maybe shades of '70s cop-show music (but not that manic) 2- A sneaky little groove, catchy and slowish. 3- Pleasantly rolling. Percolating horn melody over a fast bass 4- Slowish, the instruments feeling out riffs like a game. 5- Distortion: a buzzy bass riff, with gloopy vocodor-like sounds later. Doesn't quite work; it's like a living-room jazz band after a trip to Fry's. 6- A cute upbeat composition, with occasional weird sounds (vocalizing into the trumpet, I'm guessing.) 7- A fun one, in a subtle way. Touches of New Orleans. 8- Midtempo and lightly sad, like a funeral dirge 9- Lightly chugging march (58 seconds long) 10- Airy, hopeful 11- A short happy piece with a touch of bluesiness in the bass

Various Artists / Tribute To The Dead Soliders (1914-1918) Part I

Ragnar of Ravensfjord — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 21:30:26 -0800

Review by Ragnar of Ravensfjord

French Net label La Caverne Du Dragon has released this fantastic (and free!) 2 volume compilation of Neo-Folk, Dark Ambient and Martial music artists from all around Europe. Plenty of stuff that is keeping the genre alive and very well. Check this out if you like Rome, In The Nursery, Death In June, Sol Invictus, Current 93, Laibach, etc. Also, don’t be a dumb Fokker and confuse WWI with WWII. Yes, the Kaiser was a murderous dickwad-same goes for Mao. Anyway, support these bands & this release, it’s really worth your time especially if you’re into history. DISC I (Tracks 1-10) ((((1)))) Cold, rumbling then neo-folk chords and female voice “en françias”, later duplicated. (((((2))))) Simple, sullen, dark neo-folk, electronic swooshes. Kind of similar to Sol Invictus, samples in English and German about the fracturing of Europe. (((((3)))) Percussion, acoustic guitars, fuzz guitars and odd, repetitive English & French vocals. Sample from a classic classroom documentary on WWI. ((((4))) Brooding dark ambient with chains, piano, Italian vocals high in the mix. Odd metered but sort of works. (((((5))))) Dark electronic warbles ‘ala Legendary Pink Dots, sullen “very Euro” deep & vocals. Gets more accessible around the 2:50 mark with more rat-a-tat drumming. ((((6)))) “Mini-documentary” mix of horn samples, piano, ambient & electronic randomness, string loops, German & British voices discussing the war + wolves barking & gun shots. ((((7)))) Cold, rainy (!), long piece of ambient, French narration(s), with “coming up the hillside” troops who later sit in a soaking wet trench playing harmonica & avoiding mustard gas. Gets hugely orchestrated & verrry random near the end. (((((8)))) Acoustic guitar, bi-plane noise, moody keys, sparse ambience then a bunch of explosions and loud gun fire and maybe Kaiser Wilhelm II yelling into the acrid wind. ((((((9))))) Majestic, bombastic neo-classical, martial sound. Huge and cinematic as fuck! ((((10)))) Musty 78 record singing then contemporary hit for “our boys” as the Brits called ‘em. “But sod all that – there’s a feckin’ bomb comin’ yer way!-Bloody krauts!” DISC II (Tracks 11-20 for ZK's use) ((((((1)))))) Beautiful, somber ethereal ambience. (((((2)))) Air raid sirens, dark organ sound, trance-y drumming all looping around, some military dispatchers and even louder drumming. ((((((3))))) Cinematic strings, German or Austrian leader talking in the background. ((((4))))) Ambient electronic warbelings compounded by repeating percussive turret fire & der Kaiser (or one of his cronies) rambling on with a deep sullen voice droning about. ((((5)))) Sad piano, some distraught French solider talking and a shit ton of electronic/industrial bombast & Godzilla stomping atop of the fields of Flanders. Slow fade end. ((((6)))) French news report sounding thing. Very dramatic, cinematic, running to the front sound that loops around. ((((((7)))))) Very Laibach-ian stomp and march industrial with “iron singing” (translated title) & words “im Deutsch”. Some fantastic martial percussion and electronics. ((((8)))) Slow classical feeling with record static. A distant news report in English (sounds like it might be President Wilson?) on the then state of affairs. ((((9)))) Distorted duck noise (?) and floating classical ambience mixed together with a pastiche of voices in the distance. ((((((10)))))) Perfectly fucked up electro-techno weirdness with loud screams of terror (which is really part of all wars) trance-inducing loops. Not far off from a modern Throbbing Gristle.

Joyner, Simon / Out Into The Snow

Ragnar of Ravensfjord — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 21:24:05 -0800

Review by Ragnar of Ravensfjord

Rather good singer-songwriter from the very prolific Mr. Joyner. Many a tune in the realm of Lee Hazelwood, Lou Reed, Bob Dylan, Neil Young and even Black Heart Procession. He’s apparently a big influence on Bright Eyes as he’s from the same city (Omaha, Nebraska) as them. (((((1))))) Lou Reed-y vocals, slow but moving electric country twang. ((((2)))) Bob Dylan/Lou Reed mix with sad, slow ballad tempo focused on piano and guitar, flute and a bit of pedal steel. Sounds best once it picks up a bit. (((((3))))) Female vocal backing vocals, slowly strumming guitars, slow trickles of pedal steel and glockenspiel. (((((4))))) Acoustic guitars, “sounds like he’s 5 ft. away” vocals, similar to a country-fried Dylan and Neil Young in the early 70’s. ((((((5))))) Slow, cascading and sort of dark ballary in the vein of Black Heart Procession. (((((((6))))))) Excellent, sparse country folk with a Lee Hazelwood-ish vocal vibe (though nowhere near as bassy/deep). (((((7))))) Dual female and male vocal duet with a strong 70’s country-folk feeling. Interesting lyrics like: “Toasted all the heads not yet hung”. ((((8)))) Dylan-ish, swaggery wobbly folk rock ramblers played on an Omaha porch after a few dozen strong beers.

Shrinebuilder / Shrinebuilder

Ragnar of Ravensfjord — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 21:22:51 -0800

Review by Ragnar of Ravensfjord

AWESOME Doom/Stoner/Heavy Psych Rawk “all-star band” with Scott Kelly (Neurosis), Scott “Wino” Weinrich (Hidden Hand, The Obsessed, St. Vitus), Dale Crover (Melvins) & Al Cisneros (Om, Sleep, Asbestos Death). 5 long and epicly stunning tunes that will keep your attention and never gets dull. If you like heavy, bombastic stuff and wah-wah pedals then this is for you. ((((((1)))))) Strangely mixes Neurosis and “Dopesmoker”-era Sleep. (((((((2))))))) HUGE RIFF! Then goes into a slow burn with Scott Kelly’s very focused vocals and then more big resonating riffs. Al comes in later to do some trippy vocal lines about “lunar host ascendant freedom...” ((((((3))))) Bassy, slow burnin’ with big drum sound. Scott Kelly leads the vocals again. A bit more laid back and fuzzy psych. (((((4)))))) Classic Doomy/Heavy Rawk with a ton of guitar fuzz and pounding drums. Some nice & big sounding vocals from Wino. Pretty minimal but a ton of feeling and good build up. ((((((5))))) Heavy Psych-Fuzz Rock/Metal repeats the structure of #1 with the Wino/Kelly/Cisneros vocal trade offs. The latter of who’s part is verry trippy psych. Killer wah-wah sound, too.

Marduk / Wormwood

Ragnar of Ravensfjord — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 21:21:39 -0800

Review by Ragnar of Ravensfjord

Blasting but very dynamic Swedish Black Metal. The dynamics have come from the (few albums ago) addition of vocalist Mortuus, aka: Daniel Rosten (from the strange but awesome Funeral Mist). That said, this isn’t all 1000 mph blasts like they were once known for. The pacing makes them much more interesting than their earlier years. The stomp of “Funeral Dawn” adds a new dimension to what’s capable within the general Black Metal framework. Lyrically it’s more of the “using the Bible to prove it’s backwardness” similar to the Orthodox Black Metal of Funeral Mist, Deathspell Omega and Watain. (((((1))))) Slow dark ambient, then drum-heavy & blasting Black Metal. Drums sound unfortunately a little “triggery” but vocally Morttus & the guitar play is top notch. (((((2))))) Oddly industrial rock tempo mixed with modern Black Meta. Very repetitive but –it works brilliantly. Stomping tempo and locked in guitar tone (((((((3)))))) Mortuus spewing up vocal bile like so few can. Wild, zig-zag tempos and bombastic low end. (((((4)))) Interlude with bells o’ doom, distorted evil vocals, slowly strummed guitars. ((((((((5))))))) Insane speed and screams, wild guitars. Nice triumpherant middle part Trippy bass at the end. ((((((6))))) Speedy BM with off-kilter tempo and plenty of spiraling tremolo riffs and “typical Marduk-ian” triumpherant breaks. Crazy vocals that will freeze the Pope’s soul on impact. Extra points for the line “vomiting vacuum”. ((((((7))))) Slow, steady and burgeoning mixing Doom & Heavy Metal riffing and more diabolic vocals. Good bass work and drumming. Funny that he sings “yoys of war” not “joys of war”. ((((((8)))))) Spindly riff then blasting with dramatic, over-the-top vocals. The fast-to-fastER blasts are a nice touch as is the “hell & brimstone” preacher sample. (((((((9))))))) Slow guitar intro into whirlwind super-blasting Black Metal with a great chorus and a super HEAVY riff ride at 1:41. Kicks mucho ass! “As fire sharpens...flesssssh!” (((((10)))) Drum & bass intro with huge, anticipatory, moody Heavy/Black Metal sound. Fantastic guitar work. Ends with extreme vocal spew.

Necrite / Abandoning The Soul

Ragnar of Ravensfjord — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 21:20:17 -0800

Review by Ragnar of Ravensfjord

Promo-demo CD-R from local San Jose (!) Dark Ambient & Epic Black Metal mysterians. 2 epic tracks mixing the tonalities of cold, dark caves and the rage of dark, Black Metal. Dig this if you like Lurker of Chalice, Blut Aus Nord, Xasthur and Leviathan. ((((1))))) Slow, minimal intro with languid guitars then clanging, noisy, lo-fi, Very Dark, mid-paced Black Metal starting at 3:25 that blends vocals into a blur with the other instruments. Then 11:32 they go back to the ambient part. While it’s been done bunch of times before this has a certainly quality to it. Nice drum fills and some good tempo changes. ((((((2)))))) Mellow intro severly darkly reverbed guitar oddly sounding like post-punk/art rockers Durrutti Column (!?) more haunting, sullen chords resonate through a lonely, hollow cave.

Biafra, Jello And The Guantanamo School Of Medicine / Audacity Of Hype, The

Ragnar of Ravensfjord — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 21:16:32 -0800

Review by Ragnar of Ravensfjord

Yep, Jello’s got himself a new band that rocks like mad. 9 tracks of hard rockin’ punk with Jello usual crazy vocals and sarcastic and funny lyrics. Despite everything controversial or negative some people see in him, you will find that he continues to make some great music and puts together a fantastic band – include Billy Gould (Faith No More, Brujeria) on bass. Ironically, Shepard Fairey who did Obama’s “Hope” posters also did this cover. ((((1)))) Psych-wah pedal with hard hittin’ punk. Some funny lyrics about G.W. “9-11 was no conspiracy/more like Spinal Tap for me”. ((((2)))) (FCC “Fuck” sung once) Jello playing the part of some sleazy Southern politican and speedy punk riffage and some trippy guitar work & catchy verses. ((((((3)))))) Charging punk rawk with Jello’s classic warbly vocals and oddly enough DK’s style guitar and nice bass lines. ((((4))) Stompin’ MC5-style rocker (not far from the “Kick Out The Jams” riff) . Rather good. ((((5)))) Bassy, murky intro, uppity tempo, good punk riffs with plenty of flanger. Funny vocal cadence & good build up from Jello. (((6))) Slow moody build into fast DK’s punk. Kinda naff lyrics but otherwise good. (((((((7)))))) Fast punk with flurries Arabic scales, spot on playing and vocals all around. Good lyrics about overconsumption. ((((8)))) Mid-paced, off-kilter rocker not unlike the Cows or Jesus Lizard. ((((9)))) Military-style drum and loose bass, slow build up hard rock with a posi-message. Takes a few spins to latch on to but it’s mostly good.

Baroness / Blue Record

Ragnar of Ravensfjord — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 21:15:19 -0800

Review by Ragnar of Ravensfjord

Modern Heavy Rock/Metal from Savannah, GA (see: Kylesa, Damad) with a fixation on an epic vibe and a bit of psych. Catchy while also being intricate and technical yet also nothing show off-y about it. Pretty similar to Kylesa, Neurosis, Big Business and the earlier-mid 90s bands like Quicksand, Failure and Season To Risk. Overall, very consistent and continually interesting. Dare I say “heavy music for those not into metal?” ((((1))))) Pretty chords, very psych intro. (((((2)))) Intrictate riffing with a very nice vocal and guitar tone. Sort of brings a blend of Neurosis and Thin Lizzy. Weird thing is the backing vocalist sounds like a mix between Laura from Kylesa & Scott Kelly of Neurosis. ((((((3))))) Very lively with hard hitting drums and some great chord/tempo changes. Very dynamic sound and structure. ((((4)))) Starts acoustic sort of psych-folk then becomes a washed out melted down slab of fuzz before it fades into... ((((5)))) Bassy, mid-paced, warbly chords. Catchy vocals with the bass & some basic riffs following right underneath. The second set of guitars are again very dynamic. (((((6))))) Fantastic heavy & bombastic interlude which might be based of an Ogeechee tribal hymn. Easily sticks in yer head. ((((((7))))) Builds off the last notes and builds into a complex burrowing zig-zaggy tune in constant movement. Excellent use of guitar harmonics and vocals. Plus more of them classic Thin Lizzy twin harmonies and fuzzed out solo. ((((8)))) Big build up with fast bass and more zig-zagging tempos. Big bass/drum and guitar sound. Spoken vocals with some very good instrumentation. ((((9)))) Straight up and hard hitting then pulls back to a more modern melodic heavy rawk to fast solos that are melodic and not wanky. Once more continues to go in forward motion. ((((10)))) Nice interlude with acoustic ramblin’ folk with a bit of electric guitar in the mix. (((((11))))) Mellow intro then bigger, louder and sort of snakey tempos. Sounds like Neurosis doing a straight ahead heavy rawk tune. GREAT bass sound & melodies., ((((12)))) Instrumental with a dream-like psych intro that connects back to Track #6 .

Muldaur, Maria & Her Garden Of Joy / Good Time Music For Hard Times

Wallace Brontoon — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 21:05:13 -0800

Review by Wallace Brontoon

I’m a huge fan of Maria Muldaur’s 1960s work with the Even Dozen Jug Band and Jim Kweskin’s Jug Band—- here, she’s back in the jug mode, and the results are pretty great. Her voice isn’t the high, razor-sharp thing it was decades ago—it’s pretty gravely and gruff, actually—but she makes it work. Each track is about as good as another. 1) * Upbeat jug band music. Nice washboard-centered percussion center. Midtempo. Not too surprising, but there’s a great breakdown at the bridge, punctuated with what sounds like a hotel-lobby-type bell being rung. Perhaps a little too goofy. 2) More of a ragtime/country blues beat. Midtempo. Guitar and jug stand out—really nice jug playing. 3) Oh, this is an even better arrangement. Fiddle, and heavy washboard. Midtempo. Fun mid-song scat, but could stand to be a little quicker. 4) An Emmett Miller song, with an appropriate Dixie brass backing. (Including the clarinet, which really makes a Dixieland band.) Quicker than midtempo. Terrific instrumental break at 3:00. Muldaur does a little yodel at end, nice to hear. 5) Less “jug,” more smooth folk. It’s nice smooth folk (and really, Muldaur’s voice these days is better for a smooth folk ballad than a jug stomper), but kind of bland. Saved by good scatting in fade-out. 6) *** Fiddle and jug, a spare jug band arrangement. That’s more like it. Slightly slow, but catchy. The song better accentuates Muldaur’s low register than the old stuff—yeah, her voice is pretty great here. 7) *** Duet with Dan Hicks, whose voice is a little too syrupy-slick for jug band. I don’t think it really works. Pleasant, but not much more. WAIT! It goes uptempo at 3:10, and it’s suddenly awesome! Muldaur and Hicks scat, ostensibly imitating animals (repeat: second half, awesome.). 8) Good midtempo jug band groove, heavy on the jug and fingerpicking. Mostly forgettable, but a good groove. 9) Uptempo. Another good jug arrangement—a little fuller here. 10) Exactly like the old Kweskin take, except she’s three octaves lower, and a little less energy on the fiddle breaks. Good, sure, but doesn’t compare to the Kweskin. 11) Slow delta blues dirge. Pre-FDIC tragedy. 12) ** Traditional country blues tune, retrofitted to sound pretty damned contemporary. (It’s the first jug song with an Obama reference, at any rate.)

Bassy, Blick / Leman

Don Farrell — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 07:06:04 -0800

Review by Don Farrell

LEMAN (means mirror in Bassa) mellow velvety throated male vocals with hints of bossa nova, Jazz & soul. Hails from Cameroon, lives in Paris & sings in Bassa (one of 260 languages in Cameroon). the Kora, calabash & double bass are featured. Can't go wrong with any track 1: 3:05 poppy, mellow male vocal, female chorus 2: 4:21 poppy, mellow male vocal, chorus 3: 3:42 poppy, mellow male vocal, chorus 4: 4:31 slow, mellow male vocal, chorus 5: 4:09 slow to mid, vocals are a bit faster 6: 1:20 very nice kora instrumental 7: 3:02 faster, more bigger percussion, nice playing 8: 4:10 slow to mid, male vocal, chorus, nice flute ***9: 3:31 fast, upbeat, vocals are a faster, very nice groove 10: 3:57 mid to faster, big bass, cool percussion nice harmonizing. 11: 1:11 kora & percussion instrumental, nice groove, too bad so short 12: 2:52 upbeat fast nice vocal/mellow wail 13: 3:21 mid to faster vocals & chorus 14: 3:42 mid tempo, guitar & vocals 15: 0:48 kora & percussion instrumental, nice groove, too bad so short D Farrell 11/2009

Swine / Marked By The Baron

Ragnar of Ravensfjord — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 19:58:47 -0800

Review by Ragnar of Ravensfjord

One man British nutter doing blown out D.I.Y. Black Metal with a super fuzzy guitar and a well-programmed drum machine. Much in the filthy vein of local cult goat worshippers, Von and Canadian bestial blur blasters, Blasphemy. Solitary repetition & lyrical minimalism is the game here but there’s a certain oddness that compels you to follow the command of their cloven hoofs. That and you can’t knock titles like “Goat Coat” and “Tusk Toothed”. Also, Swine features a member from the totally crushing Hellhammer worship act, Salute. ((((((1))))) Trippy, slow mixed with very fast guitar tone with possessed goat vocals & minimal lyrics. (((((2))))) Thrashin’ (but not “Thrash Metal”) rudimentary underground Black Metal sound in a mere 1:03 (((((3)))))) Amazing guitar tone with “satanic vacuum” vocals. Gets, oddly psych near the end. (((((4)))) Slow bassy mellow interlude. ((((((5))))))) Raw, sputtering drum havin’, pure filth & e-viil! (((((6))))) More of the same but trippy delayed guitar effects and some cool stop/starts. ((((((7)))))) Fast and grimm Black Metal with really rad echoing vocals then slows way down into a mellow, ethereal guitar bit. ((((((8)))))) Gnarly & teeth gnashing Black Fuckin’ Metal with the same crazy kind of vocalizations as Von.

Beak> / Beak>

Gears — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 19:39:15 -0800

Review by Gears

FANTASTIC! A modern rendition of krautrock/psyche/whatever you call this, mixed with a good dose of experimentalism and eastern flavored musical textures, and indecipherable, echoey, chant-like vocals. Amazingly slow, dark, and brooding in some tracks, dreamy as hell on others and even doom-metal style heavy on some more, these guys just fucking rock. The whole thing was recorded live in 12 days, by the way. Beak> are a trio of bass, drums, and keyboards and feature Geoff Barrow from Portishead, though there are no evident trip-hop elements here. You are holding in your hands one of the best albums I've heard in a while. Don't miss out on this one! For fans of: Neu, Can, Guru Guru, Harmonia, early Pink Floyd, Fripp & Eno, Wooden Shjips. Picks: 8, 2, 1, 5, 11, 6, 3 *** No FCCs *** Can/Neu-style jams: 1, 2, 4, 5, 8 **1. starts quietly, only bass, organ comes in and then @-3:07 goes into this amazing motorik Neu-style jam... very nice! **2. middle-eastern style psyche intro (is this a violin?), bass kicks in, wow these guys are amazing... i love the psyche-style organ. sounds like something that came out of Turkey in the 70s. where are the drugs??? *3. weird chanting intro, horror film style bass, background mumbling and then... BOOM @-3:02 feedback kicks in, and we have the Melvins... excellent... *4. another Neu-style motorik jam with a super weird keyboard sound as background... quite upbeat, almost techno-like! think Wooden Shjips **5. wow nice and dreamy... think Eno or old-school Pink Floyd, beautiful textures, reverb... awesome! builds up nice and smooth and stays there for a while, very post-rock, but not boring **6. weird intro keyboards give in to yet another Can-like motorik beat... these guys love their krautrock. quite intense! disconcerting background chants for sure, nice interplay with keyboard... 7. noisy noodling around, builds into this slow spooky horror film soundtrack thing, nice! ***8. reverb drenched bass and Kraftwerk style electronic sound slowly build up into a tight motorik jam... fantastic! 9. video-game keyboard abstract abrasive noisiness 10. hah! slow, almost cheesy lounge music style, but kinda twisted **11. Sunn O))), Earth style heaviness, slow, sludgy, great! 12. slow, repetitive, melancholic... builds up in intensity towards the end. kinda like Godspeed. a fitting closer to a great record!

Peel, Julie / Near The Sun

ROX — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 18:50:21 -0800

Review by ROX

Genre: Singer/Songwriter Indie/Folk Pop Sounds like: Aimee Mann, The Weepies, Thao, Tegan and Sara Play Tracks: 3,4, 7,8 General: Storytelling minimalist folk/pop that saturates solitude with low-fi guitar and celebrates happiness with layers of quirky instrumentation. Julie Peel has a unique voice that projects both gritty edge and soft silkiness. Expect to hear a charming integration of upright bass, cello, real piano, ukulele, banjo, kazoo, horns, and the occasional resonance of electric guitar—giving this folk pop record some atmosphere. Perfect soundtrack for a winter road trip through snow-covered trees and barren countrysides. Track Descriptions (NO FCCs Detected): 1. Living In a Movie (3:20)—bouncy superficial fun, ukulele brings happy sentiments with shadowing piano rift, Regina Spektor stuttering vocals during chorus 2. Innocence (4:39)—starts with sound of drums, goes into piano with acoustic guitar picking, soft poppy ballad 3. Sister (3:39)—Acoustic minor chords changes that drive into an almost bitter vox, similar to Tegan and Sara, this track has got more bite and attitude 4. Unfold (3:38)—song builds on a simple acoustic guitar arrangement then the use of reverb, drums, and a conjoining male vox makes expands this track, musically and emotionally, into an addictive space of shared loneliness 5. The Piece of the My Heart (3:02)- Poppy tune of layered guitars and percussion that sounds like an Apple commercial written intentionally for Valentine’s Day heart-shaped i-pods. 6. Ok (3:43)—quiet folk diddy with sad yet expressive vocals 7. The Greatest Story (4:03) —pursues indie-folk rock with catchy electric guitar rifts and driving harmonies, has this alt-country vibe similar to some of Wilco’s folksier material 8. Near the Sun (3:43)—self-reflective track that sounds just like Aimee Mann, creative use of bongos and tambourine gives this a different feel 9. Once More With Feeling (3:57)—fun acoustic guitar chords chased by electric guitar underrifts, deeper vox has a little bit of jazzy soul, parts of chorus has just vox and percussion as guitars drop out 10. In Slow Motion (4:05)—another expressive folk pop diddy of acoustic guitar picking 11. Alone (3:18)—“sexy sounding” female vox over strumming ukulele, kazoo makes this quirky 12. Broken (bonus track)—slow and relaxed vibe about an emotional apology, cello adds some dimension

Flipper / Love

Gears — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 18:00:24 -0800

Review by Gears

Sludgy, heavy, messy music, somewhere in the intersection of punk and hardcore. Simple, slow and repetitive, bass and percussion driven with squeaky guitar fillings and screamed out, rather than sung, vocals. This music is not meant to be liked by others. It's meant to annoy you, but in fact it sounds great to me... Lyrics mostly carry moral messages about how to deal in a punk way with this weird and fucked up life. Flipper were one of those bands that influenced many many others (Nirvana, the Melvins, and the whole grunge scene are obvious examples) but never really made it big themselves. This is their first album since 1993 and the album lineup features Krist Novoselic from Nirvana (though he left shortly after they recorded this). Good stuff! For fans of: the Melvins, Nirvana (esp Bleach era), Black Flag, the Stooges. Picks: 10,2,5,8 *** FCCs: 3 *** 1. pretty high energy opener for the Flippers, kind Stooges like *2. nice cyclical bass melody, goes well with the spoken style vocals. 3. FCC "fucking" @-4:23 and @-2:15, starts almost quiet, bass enters and goes into this sludge jam 4. typical Flipper... noisy, messy *5. more rocking! i like the lyrics criticizing TV and the media 6. kind of repetitive garage rock... nice stuff 7. same deal: slow but also kind of rocking... he sings more here than in the other tracks. again sounds like a track from Generic... *8. kind of bluesy in its sludginess... starts slow and picks up into this cyclical messiness 9. sounds pretty grungy, nice bass **10. nice! very Generic sounding, if you like the Melvins this is for you. slow and doomy, gory lyrics, echo in the vocals, cool...

Bronzed Chorus / I'm The Spring

Frank Rodriguez — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 17:44:32 -0800

Review by Frank Rodriguez

Bronzed Chorus/I'm the Spring Two-piece instrumental band from Greensboro. Their instrumentation sounds like Modest Mouse to me, but without vocals to really build up to a Song the sounds go off in really interesting directions. Most of the tracks ebb and flow into loud distorted guitars or gentle playing with the drummer just tapping the cymbals. This is Very Good Stuff. All the tracks are worth playing and radio-friendly. Just pick one. I'll say start with 2 and you'll make your own way through the rest. This rocks. --Frank 1) Staccato beat then high-pitched guitar, becomes full-on on rocker by the end with louder guitar and shredding. 2) Drums lead to start then keep mid-tempo beat for minute+half while guitar plays along almost softly, guitars become more pronounced and, again, then they start to rock out. 3) thick keys, organ-like for minute+ then more electroniccy 4) Mostly a really gentle guitar, like you'd hear at start of a lot of Modest Mouse songs; this this for most of track and occasionally rises to loud guitar; longest track 5) guitar races to keep up with fast drums. sweet 6) Do I hear a bass from this two-piece? Sounds great. Becomes a sort of untuned/distorted rocker at one point. 7) mellow guitar beat, with some kind of non-instrument, another, louder guitar, and our beloved drums upon whose entrance first guitar gets really played. [TEN SECONDS OF NOTHING AT END] 8) echoed guitar intro to more uptempo guitar song. 3.3 in come loud distorted guitars.

Woolen Men, The / Pavilion Ep

Frank Rodriguez — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 17:42:14 -0800

Review by Frank Rodriguez

Woolen Men, The/Pavilion EP Low-fi indie rock from the Northwest of our country. The first two tracks have decent hooks that make for good songs but in most of the album the instrumentation is too simple to hold anything together. The first two work well for that reason, riding on the good jangly guitars and decent drums. 3 really only picks it up at the end, but it contains some of the best playing from the band. 1-3 are very fun and > the rest. No FCCs detected but vocals are kinda washed out and hard to make out. --Frank 1) **James Kochalka-style vocals, only a bit more earnest and subdued. mild-tempo song about accepting world's flaws as adult 2) **lala vocals and simple guitar keeps pace, more complex picking in middle 3) *breakup song whose pathos doesn't go with band very well; with a minute to go vocs drop out and killer baseline brings it all back... uptempo towards end... 4) other, bad, singer takes over, backed up in parts by original real low-fi vocs. don't play this 5) Never get it together here, disjointed guitars that sound okay but drums are just in the way...bad... 6) Slow, lumbering song about dogs, particularly low-fi.

Le Vent Du Nord / La Part Du Feu

Decca — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 16:31:07 -0800

Review by Decca

Fresh, fiery Quebecois folk music. Great vocals plus bouzouki, guitar, hurdy gurdy, accordion, fiddle, bass, piano, clogging, mandolin and some great guest starts. Every track is a stand-out. In French with borth Celtic and Breton influences. 1. Upbeat and instantly catchy high-energy dance. Wildly good. 2. Striding mid/upbeat dramatic story song. 3. Slow and sad with an elegant tragic quality. 4. Relaxed guitars & accordions, sweet, nostalgic instrumental. 5. Instrumental hornpipe, a great toe-tapper. 6. Clogging, upbeat a charming lively folk tale. 7. Downtempo w/a sadfiddle and warm vocals. 8. Bright and catchy uptempo folk dance instrumental. 9. Slow & spare, rather haunting but so beautiful. 10. Upbeat and fun like a crazy Yiddish big band jam. 11. Sweet, slow, introspective, then warm and joyous. 12. Happy-fast Cape Breton reels w/lots of style. 13. Slow and warm, old-fashioned and sweet. Sigh...

Various Artists / Esopus Number 13: Nostradamus

Alma Mahler — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 14:39:54 -0800

Review by Alma Mahler

Nostradomus’ predictions inspire each song in this collection. Female singer-songwriters are the highlight, with a few interesting 80s throwbacks. FCC track 1. Try 2, 11, 8, 3 1) Frightened Rabbit – [FCC] gentle rock, nice male vocals 2) Natureboy – beautiful harmonies, fem vocals like Carla Bozulich 3) Savoir Adore – Cold synths, shallow dancy rhythms; on the 80s tip. 4) Laura Gibson – sparse singer-songwriter; I hear Jolie Holland 5) French Horn Rebellion – 80s new wave with a few electro bits, interesting. 6) Lesser Gonzalez Alvarez – Folk-pop with fem & male vocals 7) * Lia Ices – Eerie female vocals with super sparse instrumentation. 8) Gejuis – Dancy electronica with vocoder! 9) Phil Kline – mysterious composition 10) Raelian Geto – Indie rock, kinda bland 11) Julianna Barwick – beautiful looped vocals

Bird Names / Open Relationship

Alma Mahler — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 14:08:54 -0800

Review by Alma Mahler

Jangly folk pop with terrific vocal harmonies. Playful, kinda jagged, catchy. Fans of Animal Collective, Pumice, Ariel Pink take note, as they say. Definitely check this out if you haven't heard 'em before - all tracks great! FCC clear. 1) Strummy rhythm, rad vocal harmonies 2) Light, bright 3) * Sparse, spoken vocals. 4) * Love it. Good in a Mae Shi way. 5) Distortion blow out woot 6) Tender, sweet, throwback 7) * Frenetic, loud 8) Sparkly, plays at new age 9) Snazzy, hear those maracas workin’ 10) Fem & male vocals, great drums 11) Rockin’ guitar-driven pop. 12) Slower, thoughtful track 13) Big reverb guitar mimics vocals 14) Nice plodding pace 15) * Noisy layered

Th'mole / Greatest Hits (Ha Ha Ha) Vol. 1

Alma Mahler — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 13:27:05 -0800

Review by Alma Mahler

Electro with MC vocals. At times reminds of Mochipet or Hawnay Troof fucked-upedness. [FCC 2, 3, 4, 5]. Try 1, 11, 9, 5 1) Squeaky birds over heavy beats 2) [FCC] Bizarro. Freestylin’ over fucked up electro. 3) [FCC] Terrific beat made of chimes. With Warrior Queen! 4) [FCC] Blah song; story about elementary school. 5) [FCC] Hateful lyrics over tender electro melody. Sentiments for those with ex-wives (Brick, yiFriend – looking at you). 6) Spanish guitar over drums, sampled vocals 7) Oh my gawd. Don’t even know what to say. 8) Awful lyrics, interesting sounds 9) More straightforward hip hop. Great male vocals on this one. 10) [FCC] Remix of track 5 11) A jam, screwy and good.

Eisenstadt, Harris / Canada Day

Fo — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 13:02:20 -0800

Review by Fo

HARRIS EISENSTADT: Canada Day Clean Feed, 2009 AVANT-GARDE – This is the first recording by drummer Eisenstadt’s adventurous Canada Day quintet, but they’ve been working together for a few years. That experience, plus the first-rate lineup of musicians, lends the music a clean, accomplished feel, while the tight rhythm section and lush vibraphone shimmer give it an appealing texture that makes the often harsh horn tones go down easy. Very well done! Nate Wooley - trumpet Matt Bauder - tenor sax Chris Dingman - vibraphone Eivind Opsvik - bass Harris Eisenstadt - drums * * * * | All tracks good. Fo’s Picks: 1, 2, 4, 5 1. 6:38 – catchy rhythm; vibes cascade over dissonant horns; great trumpet! 2. 6:52 – relaxed & sneaky: slow melody, sinuous sax exploration, calm vibes 3. 7:07 – heavy, slumping theme & chugging beat; sax zooms, trumpet brays 4. 9:21 – undulating, odd-meter pulse: vibes run in place; meaty bass solo 5. 6:59 – upbeat walk goes sour: sax argues w/drums, trumpet murmur & wail 6. 7:07 – staccato march, speech-like rhythm; winding trumpet, sax/vibe chat 7. 5:42 – dragging tempo, unresolved melody; relaxed bass & sax solos 8. 7:12 – sparse vibes, then enigmatic midtempo: pulls in multiple directions [ Fo ] 11/22/09

Various Artists / Espana

Decca — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 12:55:55 -0800

Review by Decca

Everything from Putumayo is good. This is no exception. Every track is stylish and wicked good. 1. Upbeat and wiggly w/great male vocals & a way catchy sound. 2. Sexy upbeat and playful with female vox like a Spanish Eartha Kitt. 3. Fun midtempo jazz w/horns and and style for days. 4. Slow at first then midtempo w/a sexy vibe. 5. Mid/upbeat, sexy m/f vocals. So hip. 6. Mid/upbeat rock w/a touch of electronica. 7. Relaxed Afro-reggae blend. Very cool. 8. Sexy female vocals, midtempo and warm. 9. Beautiful ballad, male vocals in Basque. Sigh... 10. Fun and laidback w/a hint of reggae. 11. Accordion, Celtic-influenced instrumental.

Solter, Scott / Scott Solter Re-Populates The Caribbean

Alma Mahler — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 12:46:15 -0800

Review by Alma Mahler

Glitchy electronic music - remixes of The Caribbean’s Populations album. Elements of pop, drum 'n bass, darker stuff. Solter produced Pattern is Movement’s latest album, and worked with lots of other big name indie rockers. No FCCs. Try 1, 2 1) Broken drum beat over dark synths, distorted vocals. 2) Strong, catchy rhythm. Heavy drums, haunting horns. 3) Glitchy drum 'n bass 4) Uneventful experiment. 5) New agey - spiritual synths, misc. organic noises in the background.

Hexlove / Your Love Of Music Will Be An Important Part Of Your Life

Alma Mahler — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 12:34:59 -0800

Review by Alma Mahler

Excellent experiemental ambient & drone. First CD is atmospheric and hazy (drums & synths), the second pairs drone with more structural elements real nicely. Maybe you’ll hear similarities to books, grizzly bear, volcano!. I like the cover art. No FCCs. Disc 1 – Spacious sounds, reverberated vocals – Try 1, 4, 5 1) (8:34) Light, atmospheric looped guitar; faraway & smudgey vocals (male & female). 2) (7:37) Shimmery electronics with frenetic high-pitched, jazzy drums – warm and all over the place. 3) (7:29) Spacey drone, similar to 3 4) (13.38) Beautiful! Hypnotic waves of bright, then rainy white noise, into more structured rhythm, echoey harmonies. 5) (5:08) Aleatoric - watch out for u-turn at ~3:20. 6) (4:04) Quirky, playful sounds. Disc 2 – Angular compositions, some frantic drumming – Try 2, 3 1) (5:17) Interesting drum- & harmonica-driven song 2) (15:18) Super-catchy bass taken from the book of Kraut, slides into a smooth drone with distorted vocals that sound like whale song. Very good. 3) (8:02) Rolling drums, frenetic chimes 4) (10:22) Layers are off just enough to make this eeeeerie (“trust nothing”) 5) (8:20) Dense drums, heavy bass backdrop

My Cat Is An Alien & Enore Zaffiri / Through The Magnifying Glass Of Tomorrow

Alma Mahler — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 12:21:45 -0800

Review by Alma Mahler

Beautiful soundscapes that are kinda fragile, and have an industrial aura about them. This comes out of a collaboration between the Opalia bros (of My Cat) and Enore Zaffiri, Italian electronic musician extraordinaire. Zaffiri is apparently an 80-year-old recluse who decided to come out of hiding after hearing Maurizio and Roberto Opalia’s work. Disc 2 is an artsy-fartsy film + soundtrack; check it out if you're into that sort of thing. No FCCs. 1) 25:22 – slow start, atmospheric chimes, layered & looped wind noises grow, climax ~11:30, drops into a hazy doomy industrial drone. 2) 15:46 – dark & kinda spooky soundscape; grating/odd sounds get plunked down on top of hazy synthscape.

SFJAZZ Collective / Live 2009: Sixth Annual Concert Tour

Fo — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 12:18:37 -0800

Review by Fo

SFJAZZ COLLECTIVE: Live 2009: 6th Annual Concert Tour SFJAZZ, 2009 MODERN JAZZ – This all-star septet, sponsored by SFJAZZ (the people who run the San Francisco Jazz Festival), meets every spring to premiere new compositions and celebrate the legacy of a major jazz composer – this year, it was McCoy Tyner. The band tours, conducts educational workshops, and generally blows every other band out of the water for a month or two, then everybody goes back to doing their regular thing. If you’ve heard any of the previous years’ output, you know what to expect here: brainy arrangements and dynamic post-bop playing in a “little big band” mode, recorded live. The only major change this year is that there’s no vibraphone, making the group a bit smaller and the sound a little more streamlined. Outstanding work as always. Joe Lovano - tenor sax Miguel Zenón - alto sax Dave Douglas - trumpet Robin Eubanks - trombone Renee Rosnes - piano Matt Penman - bass Eric Harland - drums * * * * * | All great; take your pick. (some shorter tracks on Disc 2) DISC ONE 1. 10:49 – moody, abstract intro; propulsive Brazilian theme soars with high drama... authoritative piano and high-speed sax work 2. 06:26 – odd, percolating tune in 6/4 time: solos alternate w/ ensemble play 3. 14:44 – celebratory in odd meters: cool horn groupings over strong rhythms; trombone solo really digs in; turns relaxed & soulful in second half 4. 12:41 – serious, flowing work: excellently layered horns over ticking-clock rhythm; brooding and melancholy; sweet bass and sax solos 5. 15:38 – free-flowing improv within a thickly layered Ornette Coleman-style structure; drifts somewhere between free jazz and modern bop 6. 12:19 – fast bounce: catchy theme gets busy; strong trombone & sax solos DISC TWO 1. 11:39 – striding postbop anthem with bright lyrical accents, great trumpet 2. 06:42 – hi-octane modern-bop romp with twisty sax & piano solos. Yow! 3. 06:43 – midtempo ballad: interesting mix of old-school and modern sounds 4. 06:56 – long, billowing intro; bright optimism: full, rich sound & fine trumpet 5. 11:08 – serious, complex rhythms: spinning sax & trombone, hard drums 6. 10:22 – vocal percussion, then heavy rhythmic sound with popping horns 7. 10:18 – rich, gliding: elegant piano & soaring trumpet, mellows out later 8. 07:19 – upbeat, speedy: horn solos burn wth bop energy [ Fo ] 11/22/09

Olovni Ples / Olovne Pjesme Za Olovni Ples

Adam Pearson — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:38:44 -0800

Review by Adam Pearson

I’m not sure if this qualifies as ‘singer-songwriter’ because none of the compositions include percussion (except 9), but definitely vocals/electric guitar-oriented. Oh yeah, Croatian (or some other language I can’t identify) male vocals. Guitars and music may be close to early–to–mid-period Jason Molina, but definitely not as sad. I see online that he likes to identify his music as “lyrical blues” or something, but like aforementioned, it sounds like a less dramatic, stripped-down Molina. 1. Panning organs, rhythmic, repetitive electric guitar, no percussion, kind of playful, warm. (2:09) 2. Low piano, bluesy guitar effect, more wandering, slow, drifty. (2:51) *3. Upright bass, big warm accordion, sweet song. (2:33) 4. James Bond opening credits anthem if the Bond movie was overdubbed in Croatian. (2:17) 5. Vocals a little less structured, some crooning. (2:39) 6. Upbeat, walking bass, horns come in, but not in an epic, joyful pop way. (2:42) *7. Light synth pad (almost undetectable) in the background, and some strings come in with a pretty, simplistic electric arpeggio. (4:13) *8. Reverbing, effects-dripping keys, spaced out, another guitar is layered in, and the track suddenly is striking. (2:40) 9. Full band here with drums, distorted electric guitar, comes a little too close to a bad 80s sound for me, impassioned vocals.

Various Artists / Fabriclive.46: Ltj Bukem

Locky — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 01:15:50 -0800

Review by Locky

Fabriclive 46: LTJ BUKEM Drum&Bass legend LTJ Bukem presents a mix of smooth liquid DnB flavours for London super club/religious institution Fabric. At times this is as close as DnB gets to chill out and lounge music. The good tracks have edge though, allow dem ones that sound like they could be in a car commercial. No FCCs. Recommend 3 & 8, and also 4 especially after the drop. 1. Fairly tame track - amen break occasionally peppered with flute flourishes and Ricky Martin-esque guitar sample. Loungey/background music. (Zzzzzzzzzz) 2. Track actually breaks at 1:03 deeper bass, soul vocal snippets, more like it. 3. *** More of track 2 but dropped at the right place, continues and then blends into a similarly deep riddim. Start here because you get the best of tracks 2 & 3, yes transitions, Bukem serve it up like a badman. Big basslines. 4. Next track drops at 1:25, buzzing bass answered by low metallic FM bell sounds, and yes sonar bleeps enter later. This one's a roller. If you had to make this beat before the advent of computers you would do it by dragging the dishwasher slowly away from the wall over tuned floor boards and then banging some pots and pans together. Kitchen renovation across the nation on the kzsu station. 5. You can hear Bukem get deep in the mix as the splashy hats roll over each other. Fluttering tremolo pads, starts to get more exciting as it gets more squelchy. 6. Drops at 1:25. Lush vibe to this track. The break does most of the work, a soulful euphoric female vocal whispers sweet nothings in your ear, warm textures. 7. The stuttering & spitting hi-hats make the third space (the overlap between the two records) a bit hectic and abrasive. 8.*** Goes from big bass, dark atmosphere and sparse blips and echoing vocals for the late night vibe into a euphoric vocal track. Probably for the bit of the night when everyone is rushing really hard and looking to make out. "Ooooh boy gonna make you love me". Good introduction to smoother DnB still. Deep/dark --> deep/soulful. P.S. Drum&Bass IS NOT TOO FAST JUST FOLLOW THE SNARE with your hips, the groove just holds you, have a proper rinse out/skank out and you will feel so much better. Locky

Girls / Album

Rhino — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:25:45 -0800

Review by Rhino

Play. This. Record. San Francisco boys hit the (indie circuit) big time; they don’t need our spins for fame anymore, but, our audience should hear these songs. Sunny, warm pop, reminiscent of 60s girl group sounds w/ the voice of Elvis Costello. “Lust for Life” (track #1) is the standout single; I edited the “fucks” out to make it FCC-friendly. RIYL: Ariel Pink, Kurt Vile, Phil Spector. 01.**** Unstoppable pop goodness; think Beach Boys, Ramones, playing frisbee on the beach with your best friends. (2:25) 02.*** Post-breakup “let’s be friends” tune. Catchy, bouncy verse with an irresistible hook. (4:52) 03.** Sugary-sweet like an early Phil Spector love song (3:12) 04. Pretty acoustic guitar intro, shuffling beat. (2:18) 05. FCC. Might as well be the Beach Boys, + noise and “mthrfckr.” (2:16) 06.**** Slow-build dreamer w/ an incredible hook and chorus, poignant lyrics, noise-washed finish. (6:57) 07. Melody like a 50s pop ballad, production like 90s dream-pop. (4:00) 08.*** Thrumming, pounding beat and bassline w/ a catchy hook. (5:40) 09.** Softer, slower ballad; builds to a noisy conclusion. (4:58) 10.** Blatant rip-off of Sonic Youth’s “Mote,” with far better, MBV-ish vox. (2:37) 11. Pretty instrumental (2:08) 12. Country blues number w/ some twang. (3:00)

Neon Indian / Psychic Chasms

Rhino — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:24:17 -0800

Review by Rhino

Another laid back lo-fi electro synth-pop revival record. Very similar to Washed Out, but w/ a greater 80s influence. RIYL: Washed Out, New Order, Notwist. 01. Instrumental intro, tone-setter (0:25) 02.**** Woozy twilight making-out-on-the-beach groove. Sublime. (4:03) 03.*** Terrific hypnot-pop instrumental (1:44) 04.*** Upbeat, almost an instrumental but for a few spare verses. (3:34) 05. Brief spacey instrumental (0:48) 06. Slower, less dancey electro-pop ballad. (3:21) 07. Slightly more traditional noise-pop structure (2:21) 08. 80s synth-pop slow jam a la Kajagoogoo (3:08) 09.** Infectious New Order beat w/ some less captivating vox. (4:06) 10.** Like some mid-period Cure pop. (3:27) 11. Instrumental (0:57) 12. Newer, harder synth beat, like a less catchy Justice or Daft Punk (2:52)

Various Artists / Generate Records: 1999-2009

Craig Matsumoto — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:13:02 -0800

Review by Craig Matsumoto

Abstract improvised music with traces of free jazz in some tracks. No electronics, but could appeal to fans of strange, noisy stuff. It's a retrospective of drummer Jeff Arnal's various groups over the past 10 years, but there are common threads: nearly all-acoustic instrumentation, and some jazzy wisps from sax and piano (or, outright free-jazz aggression as on 1 and 4.) 1- Free-jazz attack. Lotta drums, wailing tenor sax. 2- Rattly drums and spare bass clarinet spatters 3- Sporadic, squawky. Echoey lo-fi. 4- Stern, slow piano. Gets loud and stormy 5- Rapid patter of small, curly sounds. Active yet low-key 6- Saxophone squawks. Pecking, abstract. 7- High, surreal squeak. 8- Mid/fast, lonely free jazz: Cooking sax/drums, crystalline piano. Great late-night bustling feel. 9- Dark and ritualistic sax/bass. Gets intense, a nice 15-minute journey 10- Small piano, metallic percussion 11- Chamber piano, slightly off. Really short. 12- Languid: loping, twangy bass, then calm jazz guitar. 13- Peppery piano and bass. A nicely dense, short track. 14- Otherworldly rattles and low, low trombone notes 15- Scattery skewed-jazz piano/sax 16- Gentle drone

Skipper / Cactus In A Babyshoe

bigthyme — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:35:31 -0800

Review by bigthyme

Skipper Cactus in a Babyshoe Drunk Slavic destro-synth rock. Jam packed with glammy debaucherous mischief anthems and psychedelic excavations, altogether ballasted by a faux-anarchistic no future attitude. Still, the songs can be catchy and ultimately this record plods along the 80s revival path whether it wants to or not. Most importantly, track 3 is the shit. Play this for your parents when they ask you what you learned at school today. Absolute pessimism at its purest. FCC: 2, 6 Try: 3, 7, 8 1. Almost epic. Almost incomprehensible. Cheese grated synth. 2. FCC – “fucking hell” Thick accent. Achieves a catchy, poppish melody on the hook, which stands in nice contrast to the rest of the song. 3. Anthemic, pig trough boasting. Guitars drop out for the verse and come tumbling in to add fireworks to the chorus. This track gets my special stamp of approval. 4. Slower, depressing. Lonely keys, subtle low ends. 5. Feels like the Simple Minds. Very catchy. 6. FCC - “fucked up” prominent bassline and guitar launches that scrape all the way down your back. 7. Dynamic haunted house anthem. Very cool climax. 8. FCC(?) – hard to tell with the accent, but let’s stay on the safe side) Powerful bent on taking over the world type shit. “Free gun with every son!” Fantastic idea, skipper. 9. Organ backed self-reflection and self pity. 10. Faster, upbeat, epic piano scales. Name-checking monkeys, bears, and elephants. Super cheesy breakdown ¾ in. 11. Fun voice manipulation + piano pounding & casio diddling.

Brom, Rafael / Refugee From Socialism

Brick — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 05:10:52 -0800

Review by Brick

Biggest wtf of my career at KZSU. Ultra patriotic acoustic christian new age outsider pooorly grammared music with multitracked vocals of a non-singer. This is the happiest most patriotic man in the country. He probably works at a post office and is smiling 40 hours a week. He enjoyed capitalism by buying a studio recording session with the person who produces the covers of 80s songs for asian karaoke bars, maybe john tesh or yanni impostor, or maybe just used the top 10 most common effects from garage band. Took guitar lessons from Estebans tapes from the QVC network.s The songs are long and go nowhere dramatically. Don't know if this is actually some clueless vietnamese refugee, or a super tongue in cheek prank. It's bad, but doesn't sound much worse than some of the worst shoegazers, new age music, christian music, acoustic indie whinesters. This fits real well with your set. fcc clean. 1- "i am refugee from socialism," he is free from godless social medicine and godless dictatorship. call and response vocals with himself, but echoed. total new age delay production, acoustic. stretches on for 8 whole good minutes. 2- minor key sawtooth synth odyssey across the purple mountain majesties and fruited plane. about how "america is beautiful place." bird noises at 4:20. 3-hillarious thunderstorm intro. about how they will take your money, your freedom away, all the great things about living in a socialist state. 4-hymn, rafael brom is kingdom come. 5-america you will never die, it wil live in our hearts. actually kind of sounds like slowdive. drops a rush limbaugh shoutout. 'remembering great ronald reagan.' 6- america will be great again. who said america wasn't great, punk. 7- oooh spritiaul gifts. music for buying overpriced incense. echoey repetition of sacraments is frightening. 8-megasynth take on glory hallelujah. why he is always smiling while he sits behind the counter at the post office.

Blau, Karl / Zebra

trainee Ryan Kailath — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 23:13:29 -0800

Review by trainee Ryan Kailath

Woozy lo-fi pop psychedelia with a hint of funk/west african influence. Production values not terrible, but clearly a K Recs sound. Repetitive vocal lines over dub drums, piano tinkering, heavy synths and more esoteric sounds. This might be your daydream soundtrack when you fall asleep in the sun. RIYL: Beck, Microphones, Jefferson Airplane 01. Loose and vaguely harmonious noises in a pop framework. 02.** Awesome thrumming synth intro into a less interesting verse. 03.*** Catchy guitar hook w/ dreamy beat and vox. 04.** Slow and mellow w/ harmonica and flute lines. 05. Haunting drum and guitar with a Bonnie Prince Billy feel. 06. Almost jazzy, modal experiment, heavy on keys and synth. 07.** Disco bass beat with a catchy (by K standards) hook & synth line. 08. Faintly blues number that starts mellow and builds in intensity/instrumentation. 09.*** Head-nod bass beat w/ catchy melody and synco keys. 10. Brief bass/key/synth experiment. Falls apart nicely near the end. 11. Echoey vox over repetitive bass line w/ synths and keys. 12. Backwards tape loop vox & synth over a barely-there beat.

Fuckin' Dj Zdena / Pretending To Be An Englishman

englishmen — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 20:50:00 -0800

Review by englishmen

Fuckin’ DJ Zdena Pretending to be an Englishman Unclassifiable repetitive sample based echo-happy Slusaj goodie. Zdena touches almost every recognizable genre with this disc. The common element is (presumably) Zdena’s stream of conscious, scattershot, indulgent vocal meandering. It’s almost like a big ‘Fuck You’ to music of the late 20th century; he awkwardly appropriates a sound then trashes it by relegating it to sound-bed status while he runs off with a lackadaisical and canyon-echoed half-sung half-spoken victory lap in the form of a spectral, Slavic, less heady Mark E Smith meets the “can you dig it” guy from the Warriors. Come for the beats, stay for the unforgettable and poorly pronounced taglines. FCC: 7 Try: 1, 3, 5, 12 1. Deep, wavy lows & hip hop drums; think Group Home era DJ Premier meets Gorillaz era Dan the Automator. Harmonica eventually gives way to oddly synthetic guitar solo. Built around a surefire panty-dropper: “My woman – let me be your Englishman!” 2. Funkier rap-esque track. 3. Big on the echoes this time. Looped drums & guitar crunch. Lethargic delirium inducing repetition. “I am your superman!” 4. Closer to punk. His first of a couple ostensible “Roadrunner” covers. 5. Fast synth arpeggio. Sounds like Holy Fuck using a drum machine. 6. A Salt n Pepa remix for a brazilian nightclub where druglords and soccer stars are competing for assorted future sports illustrated models. 7. FCC – ‘Mothafucka’ Mysoginistic sex lyrics Un-echoed Zdena tries an awkward impression of Johnny Rotten doing Jonathan Richman (bad accent and all). Backed by a pretty standard fare 90s rock track. 8. Fast, dark techno. Another “Roadrunner” cover. 9. This one goes everywhere – from south asian bubble drums to invisbl scratch picklz esque high-tone wobbles to chopped and destroyed pop. 10. Funky. 11. FCC –‘fuck’ is all over the place. Straightforward (on the heavy side) rock and roll. Akin to #7. “Hey man...fuuuuuuckk you” 12. slow, low key blues chat. Zdena finds himself in a conversation with some bluesman. 13. low-fi, high mic, no echo, one unintelligible line repeated over and over.

Throw Me The Statue / Creaturesque

DJ Doublestuf — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:04:09 -0800

Review by DJ Doublestuf

Jangly maximalist pop-rock with catchy melodies and whimsical vocals. Generally fast moving songs with buzzy guitars yet chilled out whispered reverb soaked vocals. Layers of guitars, keys, drum machines, hand claps melodicas, glockenspiels, and whatever multi-instrumentalist Scott Reitherman could add to the mix. Fuller then their debut, the album is sunny and bright with the occasionally grabby hook. A perfect summer day by the pool album, it’s definitely worth the dive to check out. ** IMPORTANT to note that all songs have about at least 6-10 seconds of silence at the end. FCC: CLEAN, PICKS: 5,1, 4 1. Slow build up but becomes energetic with a fun dancy melody. 2. Accoustic guitar, electric organ, tribal beat and sweet vocal harmonizing 3. Very epic big band sounding, more piano focused, excellent track with more somber tones 4. Catchy buzzy electric guitar line, simpler drum kit, beautiful whispered/semi-sung vocals, fast moving pop 5. Cheery, very summery, catchy chorus, uplifting 6. Synthy, darker toned, distorted vocals, chanted chorus 7. Upbeat, trumpet, plenty of handclapping, and falsetto 8. Catchy synth line, reminds me of 80s pop 9. Goofy and jangly, guitar and synth lines weave in and out. He rocks out here the most. Solid track 10. Acoustic guitar anthem, very Band of Horses-like 11. About 6 seconds of intro silence. Slower paced somber track, very iron and wine-ish. Like a slow train ride through the winter snow, beautiful. 12. 15 second ambient/naturish noise intro, very catchy chorus that takes awhile to get to. The multitude of instruments that come in and out give it that big band sound

Upsilon Acrux / Radian Futura

DJ Doublestuf — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:03:31 -0800

Review by DJ Doublestuf

Upsilon Acrux- Radian Futura (Cuneiform Records) Amazing chaotic yet melodic upbeat instrumental math rock. As their sixth release, the album has all the speed and energy of a young debut. The tracks are explosive as the musicians show off their awesome technical skill. Highly abstract and loaded with moogs and jumpy guitar and bass lines. Wilder than King Crimson and more melodic than Magma. Give this thought provoking punk with elements of prog-rock a try. The Cuneiform Records’ review is fairly straight on. FCC: CLEAN. PICKS: 1, 4 & 3 ***1. Opens with old violins. Most melodic and cheery with a bouncy moog and bass emphasis. Incredible drum work! Urgent and very start-stoppish. 5:10 2. Sporadic drums but more dissonant and darker than the previous track. 6:12 *3. Moog and guitar lines wrapping around each other in an ordered chaos. 3:32 **4. Nature soundsish intro. Slower pace with wizzing synths and playful guitar. Picks up speed a minute in. Great poppy and mellow track. 2:38 5. Epicly long. A constant bouncing back and forth. 28:21 6. Purely synth and electronic drum kit. Great for a quick pyschedelic punk showcase. Last 10 seconds are silence. 1:17 DJ Doublestuf

Knock Knock / Girls On The Run

DJ Doublestuf — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:00:55 -0800

Review by DJ Doublestuf

Tasty boy/girl harmony indie pop that sprints and jangles. Knock Knock is sort of a poppier version of Yo La Tengo. Very well crafted melodies with rich lyrics, catchy guitar hooks, and rhythms that are always thumping and building momentum. The album has a healthy mix of slower folksy acoustic songs and tight indie rockers that often dip into bouncy surfer rock territory. If you like Wilco, Talking Heads, Roxy Music or Fleetwood Mac play this CD!!! Play it otherwise because the gorgeous harmonies never seem to leave your head. The versatility of the male vocalist is impressive. His crooning and belting pull off such a cool rock swagger sometimes. In other moments his soft harmonizing leaves the spot light to other band members, but still steals it in a way. Does that make sense? The band has opened for !!! and Jackpot as they tour Northern Cal a lot. Knock Knock received a Sammie (Sacremento Area Music Award) recently, but I expect a lot more tasty things for this record. Picks 1, 6, 2, 7 FCC on 2 1. ***Short pop rocker with enough sugary guitar lines, hand claps, and catchy vocal hooks to have you boppin your head even after the song ends. 2. **Elegant harmonizing between the vocalists on this rocker. Shame she whispers “fuckers”. 3. The vocal energy tones down here but the light distorted guitar continues to hop around pretty well. 4. Relaxed. 60s pop “buuuwop buuwop” harmonizing 5. Focus on the female vocalist, really energetic, if I could have picked more tracks this would have been it! Great lyrics 6. **The full on rock energy returns in full form as you listen to catchy melodies set to lyrics about living it up before the world ends! 7. *Folksy indie pop with catchy acoustic guitars, sticky piano lines and fiery vocal harmonizing that in its subtle moments reminds you of Iron and Wine but then quickly becomes a different animal with affecting lyrics. 8. Gritty blues solo here towards the end. Love it. 9. Catchy punk energy yet not too distorted 10. Slow hang out tune that plods along with eerie background vocals 11. Whispery folk that sweats emotion. This starts out like a song a band would play in their live show to have the crowd hugging each other with lighters in the air, but then it surprises you when it speeds into a powerful bursting anthem only to recede back again. 12. Pop that hits so strong, it’s sugary sweet with a vengeance.

Barlow, Lou / Goodnight Unknown

Ragnar of Ravensfjord — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:51:27 -0800

Review by Ragnar of Ravensfjord

) Long running Indie Rock & Folk straight from the heart, very little in the way of boring wallpaper sounds here. Lou Barlow's (also of Sebadoh, Folk Implosion, Sendridoh, Dino Jr. and fast-core pioneers, Deep Wound) been at this a long ass time. Barlow makes a bunch of memorable folk & pop tunes that more than often don’t wear out their welcome. Granted they’d probably use some of this in a horrendous montage from a vomit-inducing “rom-com” with Michael Cera. (((((1))))) Boomin’, strummy catchy as hell folksy rock. Typical Sebadoh-ish song but damn good. ((((2)))) Strummy and vocal-centered tune. (((((3)))) Fairly fast 1-2-1-2 acoustic chords and heartfelt vocals. ((((4)))) Simple folk weirdly similar to a uh, less bloated by time & redundancy, “Simon & Garfunkle”? (((5))) Bright chords, even more direct and louder vocals. Possibly the best version “that one guy at the café playing acoustic” we can get? ((((6)))) Quacking, steady electronic box beat with uptempo pop-folk. (((7))) Bare-bones strummy folk-rock. Pretty good vocals but the chords could change a few times more. ((((8)))) 60’s styled folk duet with some good, basic chords and a it of strings and electronics. ((((9)))) Big clanging beat, loose strumming, sometimes slightly distorted vocals. Pretty neat. ((10)) Sort of clumsy duet with half-ass chords. (((11))) Mellow, simple folk with decent chords, silly lyrics “and you’ll love me like a pancake”. Pretty naff chorus though. ((((12)))) nice balance between the note and note spacing as well the vocal cadence. (((13))) Minimal orchestrated sound then goes into a dreary chorus and clunky beat but somehow the vocals keep this afloat. ((((14)))) Very direct, basic folk tune with easy to follow lyrics. Good tune but wtf does “knowin’ that you could go like a redheaded elder” mean?

Amber Asylum / Bitter River

Ragnar of Ravensfjord — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:10:31 -0800

Review by Ragnar of Ravensfjord

Fantastic, engaging, ethereal neo-classical & somber chamber music from this long-running group. Amber Asylum at this stage is led by founder Kris T. Force. This time out the band is rounded out with the current line up that has members of Saros, Noothgrush, Grayceon and Hammers of Misfortune. There’s also guest appearances by Jarboe (Swans and a zillion other things) plus Eric Wood of M.I.T.B./Bastard Noise. In all a very mellow but very beautiful sounding album made by the sort of group that can express a lot of feeling with a mere stroke of the viola. ((((1))))) Slow with ethereal vocals, slowly played but very nice guitar, viola/violin and cello. (((((2))))) Pleasant ballad with semi-operatic vocals that builds into a nice dramatic structure and vibrative strings near the end. ((((3)))) Solo piece by Kris Force with ghostly floating strings and trippy, sparse and sometimes operatic voice elements. (((((4))))) Wonderful straight folk tune with simple but very resonating chords. This is a cover of a Sandy Denny (Fairport Convention and also known for dueting with Robert Plant on Led Zep’s “Battle of Evermore”) tune. Haven’t heard the original but this is great regardless. ((((5)))) Bass, slowly plucked guitar chords, cello, ethereal operatic vocals that accentuate nearly each syllable (though you have to listen closely). Gets pretty noisey near the end. (((((6))))) Slow, dramatic, minimal with a lot of slow motion, space and resonation. Very nice. (((((7))))) Medieval folk sound with flute, acoustic guitar and a nice duet between Leila Abdul-Rauf & Kris Force. lyrics inspired by Huxley’s “Devils of Loundun”. (((((8))))) Big. slow piano chords with clear vocals, some interesting flute work by Sigrid Sheie. (((((9))))) Dark ambient, then dramatic strings, acoustic guitar, trippy effects (might be that oscillator box) and poetic narration by Jarboe at the 10:55 mark. (((((10))))) Droning strings, dark, slow piano chords & flute. (Not too different from the moods invoked on UIver’s acoustic album “Nattens Madrigal”).

Far East Family Band / Nipponjin

Ragnar of Ravensfjord — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:10:18 -0800

Review by Ragnar of Ravensfjord

First Western unearthing of this 1975 Japanese Cosmic Space/Prog Rock/Psych masterpiece. Later a few of these cats went on to make new age, namely Masanori “Kitaro” Takahashi. Tangerine Dream’s Klaus Schulze produced this hence, bridging the arguably best psych scenes in the world. Get your ears around this if you like: Hawkwind, Gong, early 70’s Pink Floyd, Camel, Acid Mother’s Temple (who probably nabbed a few ideas from F.E.F.B.), bongs, and the “smokier” side of KFJC. Join our mental phase sound, indeed! Mind. Totally. Blown. ((((((1)))))) Sloooow drift into space with mellotron, laser swooshes, sitar, folky guitars with patient Camel/Hawkwind-ish vocals. Later goes into a “typical” 70’s psych/prog slow burn and some tripEEE chanting in Japanese. ((((((2)))))) Folky, mellotron & moog laden prog/psych with Japanese vocals that has phrasings/tone similar to Pete Barden of Camel/J. Hayward of Moody Blues. Later our space brothers take off across the day glo universe.. ((((((3)))))) Maan, Hawkwind was sooo riiight-space IS deep. Here’s why! (((((((4))))))) Slightly Floydian guitars and airy, trippy vocals in English along with more mellotron and near glissado guitars similar to Gong. ((((((5)))))) Quiet drift out into the oceans of Mars. ((((6)))) Flute, slow guitars and emotive vocals then bombastic keyboards and slow David Gilmour-ish guitars. ((((((7))))) Electronic, cosmic ambient/space rock with tribal drumming blends into... (((((((8))))))) & ((((((9)))))) (Both tracks blend together) Way gone vocals -moving from one channel to the next or really one side of your brain to the next. Neat mix of 70’s folky psych and prog. ((((((((10))))))) A-mazing slow burner, vocal-centric psych-prog later with symphonic parts. Goes in the same direction as primo ‘Floyd, Camel & Novalis

Blue Scholars / Oof

Sadie O. — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:34:40 -0800

Review by Sadie O.

Blue Scholars – OOF Reviewed by Sadie O., 11/17/09 “Alternative” Hip Hop – fun percussion and electronics riddims, solid raps. One member of the duo is from Hawaii, which is played up, here, but they’re Seattle-based. Disk 1 is riddims with raps, Disk 2 is the instrumentals. Unfortunately, virtually none of the tracks with vocals can be played outside Safe Harbor. The instrumentals sound a lot sweeter without the vocals... FCCs: every track on CD 1 has at least 1 FCC, although track 1 is such a quick and subtle “shit” that I’m still not 100% sure that’s really what it is... CD 1 (vocals): 1. 2:22 **grunty percussion & bass riddim, rhythmic rap. Last 40 seconds involve airy electronic squeebles. 2. 3:39 FCC: “shit” repeated in the chorus ***goofy little voice repeating “808”, then whumps and organ chords, Hawaii reality rap. 3. 2:42 FCC: “shit and piss” a couple of times, “fucked” **downtempo drum kit hip hop skank, fun riddim, rap sounds a bit like Gorillaz. 4. 3:27 FCC: “shit” x1, fleeting **electronics, big beats and sweet chords. A bit of vocal chorus, sort of pop – think “Hard Knock Life”. 5. 2:42 FCC: “fuck” x2 very clearly, “shit” ***downtempo percussion and bass with relaxed keyboards. Really nice lyrics, apart from the FCCs. 6. 4:04 FCC: fuckin’ once. ***very poppy little relaxed skank – sweet and fun. Fun rap, apart from the single FCC (dammit!). Ends 8 seconds shy. CD 2 (instrumental): 1. 2:22 **minimalist lopassed percussion and grunty keyboards. Groovy. 2. 3:40 ***goofy little voice repeating “808”, drums, booms and keyboards, midtempo and fairly aggressive. 3. 2:37 **downtempo drum kit and twinky guitar skank. Bits of bass and “ay-oh” vocals in the background. 4. 3:28 **mellow midtempo electronic pop with various percussion and tweedly synch. 5. 2:43 **downtempo synth chords, swingy beat, cute little grunts and funky doodles. Mellow. 6. 4:01 ***positively adorable little midtempo skank – like a rasta merry-go-round ride.

King Khan & Bbq Show, The / Invisible Girl

Sadie O. — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:30:19 -0800

Review by Sadie O.

King Khan & BBQ Show Reviewed by Sadie O., 11/17/09 Deranged garage/doo-wop/soul/punk duo. It’s kinda like if you took Hasil Adkins and split him into two equally gonzo people, and made them slightly closer to soul than redneck country, and you’d pretty much have these two, I think. (If you don’t know from Hasil Adkins, MEND YOUR WAYS NOW.) We’re not talking some guy with a big production rig and the other guy singing – one guy is playing a three-piece drumkit with his feet, guitar with his hands, and singing with god-knows-what, the other is just mangling both a guitar and his voice. MAD! Major FCC in content on track 7, one FCC on 8. All brilliant. I like 1, 5, and 6 best. 1. 2:56 ****Doo-wop love song. Twist-worthy, and you can bring it home to mom! 2. 4:01 **slow dance with monster reverb – stoned hippie surf rock. 3. 3:10 ***very jaunty, perky guitar (seems to have some sort of self-cancelling reverb) with philly soul vocals. Sincere as all get-out. 4. 3:37 ***psychedelic garage rock with spoken vocals. And animal noises. The Standells meet Howdy Doody. It’s actually quite good... 5. 3:18 ****super-jangly uptempo frug-a-go-go. AWESOME. Deeply inspired ploinking. 6. 4:44 ****gosh! Slow dance with farfisa, doo-wop... Grab your best girl, SMASH her up against your manly chest, and get ready to cry, cry, cry... Gets all disturbed and full of monsters for a couple of minutes. 7. 3:21 FCCs – starts out cute, goes completely obscene. Dammit! MAD. High speed garage rock for damaged people. 8. 2:38 FCC – pretty sure he says “fuckin” ***downtempo Ramones-esque, but with gnarly guitar solo. 9. 4:07 ***hollerin’ midtempo anthemic semi-psychedelic garage rock. There’s a deep message for young people here. 10. 2:29 **hyperactive surf/Ramones rock, somewhere between heartbreak hotel and creepy stalker. 11. 3:50 ***swingy, boppy midtempo garage-pop-punk with a bit of doo-wop. 12. 4:16 ***almost a real guitar line, vocals recorded in the bathroom, kinda psychedelic.

Themays / Knowfi

Brick — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 06:20:32 -0800

Review by Brick

Oxygen deprived awake on ambien core/ whipp-itcore scifi winter music drone. Icy, spacey, low aquatic, end twisting frequencies from synthesized & organic sources w/ scratchings, scrapings and field recordings. The bass textures are the highlight of the album, and each track is a different fucked up from huffing soylent green night in a module on solaris where you see ghosts of your ex-wife sleeping with every bartender that ever served. All tracks fade in to each other. you dig this, check out Xiphiidae, Sky Limousine, Softwar, Loscil. 1- ominous pulse gives way to thick low end nocturnal space drone sci fi drift w/ rain. 2- twinklier icy massive low end, warped & evil manipulations & field recordings 3- shorter plodding, i have to shit while half passed out on whippets type of dirge. 4- lowest low end, we're talking brown frequencies. 5- tribal killer goofy faux skaters circus w/ processed digeridoo 6- twinkly deep stony drift. like being marooned on a satellite. 7-widening body morph/bee mask style space drone /w twinklybells that drops a crushing low end 8-low end continues giving way to a rising 9-goofy warbling space carousel theme 10- beautiful plucked folk strings and massive low enddrone w/ whistling & soaring bliss out moments. reminds me of a few Roll over Rover records releases. 11-processed quasi wind noises & thumps 12- high end distant echoing of air through metallic tubes, watch out dj last 30 sec are silence, but you'd already have 3 other sources going with this anyway, right!?

Various Artists / Habitat

tobygerHeart! — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 19:39:55 -0800

Review by tobygerHeart!

[Coll]: Habitat Habitat Collection of minimal electronic sound experiments. Most of these tracks have a real earthy texture that a lot of modern electronic music misses. For the most part these are expertly arranged and executed pieces with a very high fidelity (or, as the case is with a number of them, a crisp and precise low-fidelity). The slower, more patient tracks tend to be much richer. Each track brings a unique aesthetic and each is done superbly. Overall, it’s difficult to go wrong with the majority of the tracks on these two discs. Indie kids will like: Disc 1: 8, 10 Disc 2: 4, 9, 11 Old people will like: Disc 1: 3 Disc 2: 3, 6, Too cool for school john cage worshipers will like: Disc 1: 5, 7, 11, 12 Disc 2: 5, 10, 13 Any human with ears and a heart will like: Disc1: 4, 6, 13, Disc 2: 1, 15 Track reviews inside. Disc 1 1. Slow, cinematic, oceanic haze. 2. Minimal click that incorporates live drums behind soft tones. Cool idea, not sure if it works. 3. A dynamic, genuinely musical peace offering. 4. Trembling feather-pitch chime-waves create what sounds like a medieval monastery on fast forward. 5. Slow, dark, docked boat Castlevania interlude. 6. Very slow, very quiet, very patient. Treble-tastic drone atop a buffer of pillowy, echoed, almost unintelligible howls. 7. Quick percussive experiment – say, STOMP meets John Cage. 8. Almost a hip hop rhythm. Close to a modern interpretation of DJ Shadow’s older stuff. Features an oddly tuned (and rather tinny) piano. 9. Arbitrary household noise + simple guitar. Kind of boring. 10. Trip hop kids will like this. Very Portishead. Slow 30 second intro before it launches into the good stuff. 11. Fun with wind chimes and eerily tuning violins. Builds. 12. Very slow unaltered traditional Eastern rhythm serves as the bed for a host of different sounds and combos. 13. Slow hiding in an LA river tunnel glitch + dark tones. Very calming. 14. Complex piano jaunt built on top of the single word “speak” stretched out over six minutes. Disc 2 1. Feeback + fast but unintrusive drums give way to an insistent tonal typewriter crunch. Things get really interesting with about 2 minutes to go. 2. Fast acid hop drums. Emo raps. 3. Stoned uncertain noodling on a steely dan keyboard. Upbeat percussion enters with 1:45 to go. 4. A slower interpretation of the modern electro-R&B-pop aesthetic. Think YACHT meets Discovery. 5. Vocal experiments. Somewhere between one guy singing an epic Wagnerian chorus and a Gregorian chant. Varies in recording quality and sound bed. 6. Enthusiastic tribal percussion. Easy guitar plucks slowly morph into heavier feedback-laced jolts. 7. A slow garbled mess. A lot is going on here. 8. The first two minutes are nearly inaudible. Weird scurrying creatures rush around to a sullen piano-accordian dialog. 9. Crawling washy bedroom pop. Over-enunciated breathy lyrics. Sounds a lot like Atlas Sound. Builds in energy, but stays slow until the last minute, where shit starts to explode into a cacophony of every possible sound imaginable. 10. Quiet clinky burbling factory. 11. Short, chaotic track. Delirious vocals, quick progressions and ADD diversions. Similar to Animal Collective. 12. Glitchy persussion behind strummy progressing tones. Basically, OUTHUD with more involved drums. 13. Throbbing static and minimal pitter-patter. 14. Out of tune, poorly played guitar accompanied by different and various shit. 15. Slowly building angelic epiphany. Sunrise meets cathatic movie finale, but manages to skip past the realm of cliché and fast into the realm of awesome. Also, gets my vote for Track Title of the Year.

Kernel / Magnitude No. 8

KarelTheHoBot — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:24:30 -0800

Review by KarelTheHoBot

Kernel (Yasushi Miura) Magnitude No. 8 High-bpm minimal anti-bass glitchy IDM done right. Similar to matmos, matthew dear, sped up early autuchre. Try tracks 2 & 4. Yasushi releases all of his stuff under different pseudonyms, but all of them are titled as Magnitude No. ‘..’. 2. fast pace phone tones and robot squeaks. Builds in complexity, feels all over the place but it retains a steady rhythm, helped largely by a steady, rudimentary drumbeat. 4. chopped and sped steel drum & marimba pinball game. I can’t think of anything else this fast that’s nearly as relaxed. 5. slow, no beat. remember putting your kids to sleep? But you were already kind of drunk and space out off ambien? And one of those wind up machines that make that music kids love is playing, but to you it sounds like an intro to some old, poorly acted science fiction movie? Or maybe some beat from a 1996 4-track tape from the living legends? Bicasso says hi. 6. ascending tidal wave of glitch. Starts pretty calm but gets bigger and bigger and bigger. 7. one single solitary sound repeated at high frequency for two minutes. Not for the faint of heart.

Ndegeocello, Meshell / Devil's Halo

Don Farrell — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 07:38:57 -0800

Review by Don Farrell

Vocalist & bass player, her 10th album, soulful lyrics and singing, a bit drowned out by the instruments. I like her singing check out the cd Plantation Lullabies & what she does on "Standing In the Shadow of Motown" 1: 2:38 slow, soft intro then on & off again big sound 2: 2:31 slow dreamy, deep low bass sounds FCC 3: 3:12 fast fast bass & drum kit, guitar FCC muffled "Fuck"@ 0:45 & 1:37 & 1:42 4: 1:42 slow dreamy FCC 5: 3:45 fast rock, pounding rhythm FCC muffled "Fuck"@ 1:15 6: 2:42 mid to fast big sound, dreamy vocals 7:5:22 deep low bass sounds, slow, swirl electronics, dreamy vocal 8: 2:22 Instrumental, guitar noodling with electronics, big drum kit 9: 3:03 fast rock, pounding rhythm dreamy vocals 10: 2:39 mid to faster, rock tune, soft dreamy vocals 11: 4:21 slow to mid tempo, soft dreamy vocals 12: 2:35 slow strummed & picked strings, swirl electronics soft vocal D Farrell 11/2009

Akhtar, Najma/Gary Lucas / Rishte

Don Farrell — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 07:34:41 -0800

Review by Don Farrell

Indo American Blues fusion. She is a London based Ghazal singer (she sings mostly in Urdu) he a veteran of Captain Beefhart/Jeff Buckley guitarist. Can not go wrong on any track for a GREAT pairing of talents. 1: 3:49 mid tempo strummed folk guitar, tabla and very nice female vocal 2: 3:41 a bit slower, mellow, more almost scat style singing, very good sound, blues/slide guitar 3: 3:04 mid tempo, mellow wailing vocal ****4: 3:59 fast vocal wailings, cool rock fusion guitar ***5: 7:59 slow vocal wailings, guitar noodling/drone, Very cool sound ***6: 5:57 cover of Skip James's "Special Rider Blues" very nice slow picking with mellow vocal wailing 7: 3:25 mid to fast vocal wailings & folk guitar picking, fast tabla plus violin 8: 5:43 slow wailing vocal, Indian drone intro, @ 1:30 tabla & guitar pick up the tempo ***9: 5:56 mostly Indian, mid to fast vocal wailings, fast fast tabla, violin, scat style vocals 10: 4:30 mid fast vocal wailings, tabla, blues/ rock infused guitar 11: 5:01 mid tempo blues/folk guitar with pounding tabla, vocal wailings D Farrell 11/2009

Echo & The Bunnymen / Fountain, The

ROX — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 22:32:29 -0800

Review by ROX

Genre: Post-punk rock/pop Sounds Like: Stellastarr *, Snow Patrol, and Coldplay in a blender General Description: This is the 11th album by Echo and the Bunnymen, an older British post-punk group dating back to 1984. Even though singer Ian McCulloch and guitarist Will Sergeant are what some consider “old”, the music on this of record was not born yesterday. “The Fountain” promotes a clean, perhaps cleaner, formulaic sound similar to many of these...what do we call them again)...“indie-pop” bands of today. Expect to hear catchy vocal harmonies and guitar rifts layered by piano, rhythmic keeping bass lines and acoustic guitar strumming. Overall, “The Fountain” is mostly upbeat and predictable—with the exception of the last track—“The Idolness of Gods”, which features a piano-rock ballad driven by lead vocalist Ian McCulloch. Even though producer John McLaughlin gives the album a poppy feel, some recognizable 80s undertones still manage to prevail. Track Descriptions (No FCCs Detected): Play: 1, 7, 9 10. 1. Think I Need It Too (3:41) Fast paced, tightly produced, “radio ready”, rock pop song with vocal accompaniment by Chris Martin, catchy guitar chord changes, almost melodramatic vocal showcase during the bridge 2.Forgotten Fields (3:47) Starts slow and sparse and builds into a pop rock anthem you would hear during a road trip scene in a “chick flick” 3. Do You Know Who I Am? (2:52) Guitar rifts come in fast followed by fast tempo harmonies and matched by cuts of synth 4. Shroud of Turin (4:11) Starts with echoey synth, Will Seargeant’s guitar carries this tune, sounds like “My CoCo” 5. Life of a Thousand Crimesha (3:22) Carbon copy of Coldplay style on the Vida La Vida record 6. The Fountain(4:02) Slower paced, deeper vocals, reminds me a bit of the older EATBM 7. Everlasting Neverendless(3:08) Softer slower start that jumps right into more “indie-pop” guitar rifts and follows that pattern 8. Proxy(3:15) Starts with electronic beats, complemented by piano arpeggios, backing vocals make this one really catchy and super happy 9. Drivetime(4:12) Starts with some nice post-punk guitar, vocals come in, a little edgier than the rest, acoustic guitar strumming adds nice dimension, during the last 50 seconds guitar cuts out and piano comes in for a softer melancholic finish 10. The Idolness of Gods(4:26) Different track than the rest, much slower, mainly piano (similar to Lennon’s style), reminds me of something Okkerville River would write, catchy deep toned vox during bridge, layering of synth gives it some ballad-like elevation

Monotonix / Where Were You When It Happened?

Gears — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 19:34:02 -0800

Review by Gears

Kick ass garage rock. This Tel-Aviv based trio blasts out some pretty retro sounding tracks, mostly bringing to mind the Stooges with some Sabbathy stoner rock elements. Gritty, dirty sounding guitars, crazy drumming, gnarly Iggy-style screaming vocals. Great stuff! Sounds like they would make a great live act. Some might call this derivative, but who cares? This is very good stuff and loads of fun to listen to. Picks: 5, 7, 6, 4 ***No FCCs detected*** 1. Weird, rocking, and noisy as hell. Good opening material... 2. Has this chugging start stop rhythm going... Good stuff, nice guitar riff... 3. Swaggering, dirty, swampy, nice. *4. Slow and bluesy, gets all noisy and messed up towards the end. **5. Nice! Singer and guitarist trade squeels and feedback in a very cool way. Nice guitar work. Badass... *6. Fast paced balls-out moshpit rocker. *7. A minute and a half of indecipherable rambling gives way to an awesome head-nodding stoner riff, then some more rambling, then back to stoner land... Weird... 8. Total psyche-style experimentation... Taking the stoner paradigm to its quieter moments... Quite pleasant

Black Dice / Repo

Gears — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 18:23:47 -0800

Review by Gears

Messed up collage of sounds and beats. Weird organic sound samples mixed up with voices and samples of electric guitars, mechanical sounds, all sorts of stuff, but with a definite plodding beat to keep things moving forward. The weird thing is that this sounds kind of accessible to my ears, but it might be that I have been listening to Orangeasm and Brownian Motion for too long. What do you call this? Noise rock? Not sure, but I do know that I like it a lot. Just give this thing a listen and play any track. For fans of: Wolfeyes, Matmos, Aphex Twin, and a bunch of other stuff that I am not familiar with. Picks: 3, 5, 13, 6, 2, 7, 10 *** No FCCs *** 1. Starts all weird then somewhere in the middle there's this nice upbeat silly sounding melody that makes it kinda cute... *2. Sock buying supermarket music messed up and turned upside down. Wish they played this stuff at Safeway. That would definitely make me shop there more often. Definitely picks up towards the end... **3. Probably the least abstract. Nice danceable beat and fucked up vocalizations. Gets bouncy towards the end. 4. Short tv sample interlude **5. Wow, this would be the soundtrack to a nightmare based around the carnival in Rio but where everyone's face was Aphex Twin's... This is messed up but danceable at the same time... *6. Scary, slow, plodding... The monster is approaching... *7. Crazy shit... Mixed up bad pop and TV samples with acid written all over it... 8. Short sample of groaning voices... Weird... 9. Noisy, abrasive noise rock in the vein of Wolfeyes *10. Again abstract, dark, abrasive... Difficult but good... 11. Acoustic guitar sample with some bird sounds. Makes me dizzy, but in a good way 12. Short and dubby **13. Disturbing, kind of like a messed up version of a funk song... Then this tribal kind of chanting starts in the background... Weird, weird, weird... 14. Unsettling laughter sample with some tribal beats and samples of clanking pots... These people are undoubtedly crazy drug fiends...

Eldorado / Golden

Gears — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 17:54:14 -0800

Review by Gears

70s infuenced rock from Spain. A bit of a badass attitude here with equal parts Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Fu Manchu, Soundgarden, and AC/DC. Flashy guitar work, fancy use of effects. Lyrics in English with a distinct Spanish accent. The vocals can get a little bit annoying (a la Ronnie James Dio annoying). Also the production quality is a bit too clean for my taste. Overall, however, this is a pretty decent album. You can tell that these guys are huge metal fans and they enjoy what they are doing. Picks: 7, 8, 5, 9 *** No FCCs *** 1. energetic opener with baby baby vocals and some black magic hidden message... fancy guitars 2. psyche-style guitars give way to a straight up head-nodding rocker 3. starts slow and all rock-ballad Scorpions style, alternating with some heavier bits. every 70s rock album has to have one of these, again pretty flashy guitars 4. more stoner rock attitude with some ballad parts *5. bombast and bad attitude... pretty rocking! check out the wah wah funky instrumental interlude... nice 6. like aerosmith. this could be a hit song in live 105, sucks... **7. yeah this one is much more rocking! think of fu manchu. nice start-stop drumming, play this one **8. again straight up rock, with a nice dual guitar harmonization part like maiden *9. slower paced, heavier, this one is good too...

Capgun Coup / Maudlin

Your Imaginary Friend — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 15:50:33 -0800

Review by Your Imaginary Friend

Messy swampy rootsy fucked up noisey garagey rockabilly that veers into the indie-rock ballady realm too (huh? Well take a listen). Nothing harsh or driving or off the hook, just deep swing, deep blues, soulful playing (guitar bass drums fuzzed male vocs styled). Fans of The Gris Gris, Ill Gotten Gainz, White Stripes, John Spencer through a fuzz box take note. From Nebraska of all places. 1) desperate urgent feel, rocking, wailing 2) honkey tonk blues romp 3) waltzy rootsy ballad 4) epic swingy feel, rockin old school 5) bursts of chords, poundy and upbeat fun 6) Instrumental: mancini spy/surf feel-riff in the guitar a la the Munsters theme, surfy for sure, goes through a bunch of interesting changes 7) cool swingy sex-beat 8) poppy soaring vocal melody over acoustic-rock living room fun feel, good beat/rhythm 9) slow stoney swing, subtle triplet feel 10) indie rock pop feel but beyond that, great upbeat stuff that takes a waltzy shift midway 11) heavy tribal tom tom beat – cant go wrong with that! Check it out 12) piano fronted, almost a bar-room ballad, upbeat and weird 13) surfy, almost “wipe out”, with organ, at the start, garagey rockin 14) banjo fronted blues, swampy off-key wailing ballad

Goldberg, Ben / Go Home

Fo — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 10:20:42 -0800

Review by Fo

BEN GOLDBERG: Go Home BAG Production, 2009 MODERN JAZZ – Very cool, quirky quartet with deep Bay Area roots – the players’ overlapping careers include years of exciting work in the local scene throughout the 1990s (guitarist Charlie Hunter has moved on, but clarinetist Goldberg and drummer Scott Amendola are still based here; trumpeter Ron Miles is from Denver). All have gone far beyond the normal confines of jazz in the past, and it’s interesting to see what strange artifacts they bring back to this context. Good stuff! Ben Goldberg - clarinet Charlie Hunter - 7 string guitar Scott Amendola - drums Ron Miles - cornet, G trumpet * * * * | All good. Fo’s Picks: 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9 1. 5:30 – easy tempo: sneaky short-form melody into loose, jamming solos 2. 6:08 – bar-band-blues groove; cool interplay, especially between horns 3. 7:01 – mysterioso guitar, horns wail & slither: it’s like looking under a rock 4. 9:11 – live: a friendly, oddball glide; excellent clarinet & guitar solos 5. 9:25 – slow walk: everybody has lots to say, and plenty of time to say it 6. 8:07 – live: laid-back stroll adds twisty energy: perky solos, bluesy edge 7. 5:30 – funeral-march intro; slow-chugging space-blues guitar, horns pile on 8. 9:16 – live: low, bubbly groove; cool, undulating solos; gets spacey at end 9. 5:30 – bright, nostalgic intro with overlapping melodies; then a happy march 10. 6:24 – live: slow, exotic creep, puffs up and contracts; bashing drum solo [ Fo ] 11/15/09

Math The Band / Don't Worry

Trent Kay — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 05:49:29 -0800

Review by Trent Kay

Fast & dancey 8-bit blast of sheer fucking awesome. Boyfriend and girlfriend outfit out of New Bedford, Mass. Their second record. Short (2-3min), superfast energy sonics. Crazed, yelled vocals. Lyrics that reference the lyrics on other tracks. Tinny, high-pitched, metallic Game Boy goodness. All the songs end with a gong noise (?!). Holy shit, dudes. Please skank to this in the dj booth. Play play play play play. try: 4, 5, 2, 1, 9 FCC clean *1. fast. happy, exuberant. but: soft start. full volume at :12. vamps “everybody have fun tonight!” ends with a spoken sample (after the gong). *2. mid-fast, bouncy. awesome synth melody. “good enough isn’t good enough!” 3. doubled upfront vocals. hard-hitting call-backs. somewhat discordant chorus. random grandiose bridge. calms down a little for the last few seconds. *4. fast. line dance instructions over crazed honky keys. “everybody throw your hands in the air!” *5. mid-fast. great overarching synth line w/doubled vocal melody. “what’s the deal with the horses?” a bit of a bridge in minute 2. the longest track on the record at 3:37. 6. mid-fast. pan pipes synth. very video gamey. comparably tame and almost classically melodic. “whatever happened to big foot?” 7. mid-tempo, laid back, sing-songy -- could be an 8-bit cover of a pop punk / old school emo song. “this is how we put our clothes on.” nice keys breakdown at very end. 8. mid-fast. somewhat fuzzy bass synth. sparkling, scattershot key runs. *9. mid-fast. driving tinny drums. “it’s so awesome... yeah!” randomly vamps “it’s the end of the world as we know it”.

Bibio / Ambivalence Avenue

Trent Kay — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 05:48:45 -0800

Review by Trent Kay

How to describe this? Electronic, but not electronica. Folk-influenced, but also soul-influenced. Chamber pop / bedroom pop, I guess. Lots of sampled noise and nature sounds (think: bubbles, water). Very weirdly, it’s Sunday afternoon chillout fare. It’s fuzzy. And spongy. And... pretty. And pretty British. Not Britpop British... like, tea and crumpets and countryside British. Not unlike Simon & Garfunkel. Or, I don’t know, Kings of Convenience? On the more recent side, you’ll probably like it if you liked Phoenix and the Antlers, though it sounds like neither. I like it, but what the hell? This is Bibio’s fourth record. He’s a British dude named Stephen Wilkinson. He studied “sonic arts” at Middlesex. No, really. try: 11-12, 1, 7, 9 no FCCs *1. soft opening. cool, spongy 3/4 beat. sounds almost etudey. lilty vocals. 2. up the funk! laid back. fuzzy wa-wa guitar and high-pitched male vox. 3. quick & cute. “ditty” is the word. bellsy guitar and s&g vocals. 4. starts with abrasive kid noise. lots of samples and hip-hoppy playbacks. 5. fade in ~7sec. pretty. slower waltz. light, indie vocals. could fade around 1:25 to end, or around :25 to end. either way, fade this sucker out. 6. pushy yet laid-back electroclash beat. delayed playbacks under ethereal bells. *7. a full 1:30 intro of straight-up fingerpicked waltzer guitar. the main tune is super cute! handclaps, shakers, claves, easy/quick chord changes, and soft-pedal vocals. 8. messy un-tempo twinkly guitar and almost overpowering harmonies. a little too much positive stimulus for me. *9. bright, sharp, tinny music box intro. vacuumy funk with delayed, cut-up hip-hop vocals, but minus the hip-hop sound. 10. pretty, sad, midtempo solo guitar. lots of audible scratching/sliding. thin vocals. beatlesy. simple. actually somewhat haunting. *11. play w/ track 12. it’s instrumental and awesome. starts with dark minor guitar ---> wet, crunchy beat. there’s a false ending -- you can cut it there (about :45 to end) if you please. otherwise, bleeds into ---> 12. weird clicking/buckle noise. heavy, scratches/skips. kind of forbidding and epic.

Balbo, Adam / Fix

Adam Pearson — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 21:35:09 -0800

Review by Adam Pearson

Local folk act with willfully eccentric lyrics that borders on novelty. The music here is mostly just three chords on an acoustic guitar with a rough, flat, but somewhat earnest voice. Very lyric-centric; like what Jeff Mangum’s demos would sound like in an alternate universe if he didn’t have something important to write about. Compositions for the most part seem like incomplete ideas, and combined with the “I’m more clever than thou” lyrics makes me think he doesn’t really take this too seriously. Watch the FCCs. 1. 2 clear FCCs, kind of clever lyrics, sort of upbeat. (1:35) 2. Slower, soothing (1:18) *3. About being a processed cheese being cooked and served for dinner with macaroni? Probably cuts out 10 seconds early. (1:09) 4. Light waltzy percussion, folk, not that great. (1:59) 5. Snapping, harmonica, and voice. Very simplistic. (0:53) 6. More upbeat, a bit repetitive, insistent. (1:08) 7. 3 clear FCC’s, self-loathing vulgar strum. (0:42) *8. Maybe the most representative track, self-deprecating, absurdist, warm, upbeat acoustic. (1:07) 9. FCC (0:20) 10. Multiple clear FCCs sing-spoken. (1:07) 11. More of a song structure, a little happier; like a NMH demo. (2:24) *12. Memorable lyric passage, kind of sweet in a twisted way. (1:55) 13. Repetitive and boring; I guess the short songs do work to his favor because this one is long and doesn’t go anywhere. (3:54) 14. Slow waltz, sad, kind of in the folk-country tradition. (1:33) 15. Something about this reminded me of Jack Johnson. (0:54) 16. More strange lyrics, mid-tempo acoustic strum. (1:29) 17. Goes through a questionable spoken verse, fail. FCC (2:42) *18. Drum machine, minor key, picks up in intensity, relatively ‘normal’. (2:36) 19. More traditional sound here, 60s Dylan. (1:38)

Vile, Kurt / Constant Hitmaker

trainee Ryan Kailath — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 13:49:30 -0800

Review by trainee Ryan Kailath

Very noisy, lo-fi, often drone-based country/blues-tinged pop songs. Tons of reverb, delay, feedback and tape hiss over chugging blues riffs or folk fingerpicking. This is a collection of KV's home recordings: very much the R. Stevie Moore/Ariel Pink aesthetic. RIYD: Beach House, Strokes, Wavves, Times New Viking. 01.*** One of KV's catchiest most upbeat pop tunes; very Is This It? 02. Slower country-folk number. Virtually no noise, just a drum machine and plenty of reverb. 03.** Slower w/ fingerpicking. Alien hum/radio squall behind the vox. 04.*** Seriously beautiful, sinister, deep-winter fingerpicking. Slapback reverb, no noise. 05. 3-min instrumental, mostly textured noise and hiss. 06.** Calmer, melancholy full-strummed number w/ a steady 4/4 drumbeat. Little hiss, plenty reverb. 07. 30 second space-noise interlude. 08. Slow and ambient w/ a barely-there flitch beat and delaaaaaayed, whispered vox. Beach House meets Amnesiac. 09. Dreamy, spaced out and slow. Sounds like its title. 10. 1:45 space noise interlude. 11. 1:28 mumbling and noise interlude. 12. Space signals and samples w/ some muttered vocals and plenty hiss. 13.* Pretty acoustic fingerpicking rag w/ a downtrodden, melancholy vocal melody.

Vile, Kurt / Childish Prodigy

trainee Ryan Kailath — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 13:44:29 -0800

Review by trainee Ryan Kailath

Very noisy, lo-fi, often drone-based country/blues-tinged pop songs. Tons of reverb, delay, feedback and tape hiss over chugging blues riffs or folk fingerpicking. KV's Matador debut is the most accessible of his many recordings to date, and for my money the best. Different songs have very different vibes, so check out a few. RIYD: Girls, Wavves, Ariel Pink, Times New Viking. 01.** Pounding noisy blues 02. Noisy dreamscape w/ reverb fingerpicking over the top. Similar vibe to 5 and 7 but not as catchy. 03. Seems like every KV album has a track with this head-bob rhythm guitar (see: "Deep Sea," "My Best Friends"). It works 04.*** 7 mins long. Steam train drumbeat behind gobs of noise, Springsteen yelps and whistles. FCC: "shit" but you can barely make it out. 05.*** Mellower, hypnotic fingerpicking lick w/ decent amount of noise/hiss and muddy vocals. 06. Keyboards, more standard pop structure/chord changes than the rest. 07. ** Similar vibe to 5: slow steady fingerpicking. Less noise/hiss, more delay and reverb, clearer vocals. 08. Quieter tone w/ a shuffle beat. 09. Slow, pounding beat with reverb harmonica. Heavy, distorted Julian Casablancas-style vocals in the back of the mix. 10. Mid-tempo, cleaner ballad. Clear vocals. 11.** 3-min instrumental of the beat from track 4.

Various Artists / Jah Shaka Presents The Positive Message: Roots Classics From The Greensleeves Va

Sadie O. — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 10:22:06 -0800

Review by Sadie O.

Jah Shaka Presents The Positive Message Reviewed by Sadie O., 11/14/09 Roots Rock Reggae from the last three decades. Jah Shaka is a selecta from the UK, known for bringing positive music and vibes to the dancehall floor. All great tracks, by excellent (although some lesser known) vocalists. No FCCs detected – all positivity. I like 3, 8, 12, 14 best. 1. 3:37 **swingy midtempo roots bubble, with Earl Sixteen’s sweet vocals, lyrics about the ideal of Rastafarianism. 2. 3:09 ***downtempo skank, very subdued and roots/righteous to be coming from one of the top original dancehall vocalists, still a cool vocal style. 3. 4:41 ****original mix of one of Black Uhuru’s earliest hits, with prominent nyahbinghi drums, great number. 4. 4:14 ***slow, solemn intro, then a sort of nyahbinghi march from the group that introduced the genre to the wider public. Interesting mix of extremely roots and groovy danceable elements. 5. 3:12 ***relaxed midtempo bubble with bits of syndrum, Hugh Mundell’s sweet tenor. 6. 2:48 **midtempo skank, very similar in feel to track 5, echo on the vocals. 7. 5:52 ***downtempo swingy skank, fairly minimalist instrumentation. Very pleasant. Includes the dub, which is very groovy. 8. 3:12 ****downtempo roots skank, prominent bass, fine roots rock reggae, rather demented vocals – perfect! 9. 3:18 **downtempo but upbeat skank with birdcalls, swingy and positive. 10. 6:28 **midtempo bubble, hip-wiggler. Includes a nice, but not particularly amazing, dub. 11. 3:39 **midtempo roots rock bubble, classic song recorded by several major artists. Dennis Brown’s version is worthy enough. 12. 3:25 ****downtempo skank, relaxed and minimalist, with Eek’s highly distinctive vocals. 13. 3:45 **downtempo, downbeat skank with nyahbinghi, mourning vocals. Somewhat unusual slide guitar style. 14. 4:05 ****downtempo emphatic skank, fine vocal harmonies by one of the great vocal trios. Gets very dubby. 15. 3:14 ***downtempo but upbeat dubby skank, more fine harmonies. 16. 3:17 **groovy midtempo bubble, echo on the vocals, impassioned delivery.

Nickodemus / Sun People Remixed

Sadie O. — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:56:47 -0800

Review by Sadie O.

Nickodemus – Sun People Remixed Reviewed by Sadie O., 11/11/09 Club mixes from New York, but with deeply international roots. Mostly chill and a bit trance-y, but with lots of syncopation and vocals and elements from simply everywhere. Everything is really lovely and warm. No FCCs detected – very positive vibe. I like 3, 10 and 11 best. 1. 7:35 **subdued solo African chanting and flutes for first minute, then swingy midtempo handdrums. After almost 2 minutes there’s a bass groove and a bit of Dancehall vocals, very relaxed vibe, sweet. 2. 4:35 ***Dancehall vocals intro, horn flourishes, uptempo dub skank ,bouncy and fun – “outernational” feel. 3. 4:09 ****very upbeat syncopated groove, eastern European accordion and Indian vocals. Great, groovy mashup. 4. 5:39 **thumping 4/4 beat and disco claps, bouncing bassline, preaching, then righteous hip hop vocals. Relaxed vibe, a bit sweetly religious. 5. 5:04 ***boinky little toy piano with funky disco overtones, adds layers into irresistible dance groove with African vocals. Wow! When this thing started out, it didn’t seem like it was going to get this good! 6. 5:27 ***funky cowbell and blats... relaxed, trance-y vibe with lovely female Indian vocals, but also a club/dance element. Huh! 7. 7:08 **little bits o’ beats, gets a Latin percussion swing, and male vocals in Spanish. But it’s also dubby, trance-y, clubby... Odd but cool. 8. 9:25 **building beats... snips of chants. Rather subdued, but uptempo and syncopated. Gets really complicated, but swingy and nice. 9. 4:46 ***tweedles and growls and beats, terribly mysterious – then suddenly it’s blats and club beats. Whoosh! Blat! Tweedle! Yay! 10. 7:37 ****hand drums, eastern flutes – you can see the birds soaring between the minarets... relaxed and swingy, with a whole selection of great flute/horns, and bits of Bhangra drums. 11. 5:46 ****funky! Blatty! Dubby! Righteous hip hop vocals (see track 4). 12. 8:17 ***layering on the beats into complex slightly uptempo syncopation, builds energy as it goes. A bit of Africa in the snips of vocal chants.

Chairlift / Does You Inspire You

Trent Kay — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:07:39 -0800

Review by Trent Kay

Yes, it’s true. I rescued this from the Amoeba bin. Because it’s SPLENDID. If you liked MGMT and Amazing Baby and your name is not Sir Adam King Of The Militant Hipsters, this record is for you. Retro “big synth” electro indie out of Brooklyn, nee Wesleyan. Vocals a la Suzanne Vega, PJ Harvey or UUVVWWZ. There’s something incredibly 80s about this record. Is it the unabashedly lipsmacky synth pop? The New Order keyboards? The impeccable femme vocals? And then there are the tracks that sound like Loreena McKennitt or Sarah McLachlan circa ‘97. I know, what? It’s uneven, but the starred tracks are worth it. Slick and produced. You know, stuff YIF would hate. That’s why it’s my add. try: 6, 8, 4 FCC: 1, 7 1. FCC “shit” slinky/cool. groovy keys loop. vacuumy synth. creeper electro bass. this song is about trash. you know, refuse. rubbish. waste. 2. starts w/bird sounds. draggy, smoky pop drone. big east vibes. vamps a pretty un-enthused “i am feeling great tonight”. 3. barrelling so/fried bass and near-monkish vocals. somewhere between an incantation and a soundtrack for a western. *4. adorable uptempo pop. ganks the bass bit (and pretty much everything else) from the cure’s “close to me”, but eh, it works. very cute/pretty “ooh”s in the chorus. 5. slow, airy. bells, keys. delicate male/female vocals. pretty. *6. i really hope this becomes the next “psychic city” at kzsu. laid-back electro swag, machiney drums and slinky video game bass. bizarre undertone call-backs in the chorus. bloody amazing. i can’t stop listening to it. 7. FCC “shit” slow. dark imperial synth. epic, belaboured vocals. *8. new wave funk. skeazy french lyrics... and english in a hilariously overdone french accent. odd and great. 9. starts w/soft tremolo. minimal vocal-fronted verses. also minimal funk-ish chorus. 10. upbeat and uneventful. faster drums and synth. male vox. 11. slowww 3/4 twang. very upfront isolated vocals. like, so much you expect the mike to crack. pretty, but pretty country. 12. what the hell is going on in this track? fucking random filler music. mostly brass + spaceship noise. bleeds into next track. 13. hard start, if not prefaced by track 12. deep drums, ethereal noise, some vocals. creepy and low.

E-603 / Torn Up

Trent Kay — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:06:55 -0800

Review by Trent Kay

Oh my god. A gapless mashup of the highest order. Sounds great, and fun as hell. Danceable and hilarious and tight. If you have an hour to kill, put this on! Very hip-hop/rap centric, but some surprises in there. (Oh, the songs you haven’t heard in a decade, and for good reason -- get ready!) The Wikipedia entry on the record will give a (working) listing of all the samples. I’ve written out the ones I immediately recognised. Sounds like: Girltalk. Gapless, so watch the transitions. Most tracks start off well enough (no need to fade in), but you might have to do some creative fade-out or continuous play maneuvering to get into your next song. try: anything clean. my faves: 6, 9, 11-15 is a GREAT run. FCCs for language: everywhere! (i didn’t hear any on 1, 4, 7, 9) FCCs for porn (?): 11, 15 Note: LOTS of FCCs here. I tried very hard to catch them all, but be careful. Just because I didn’t hear it doesn’t mean it’s not there. Two words: SAFE HARBOUR. 1. eminem & “all the small things” & “fly away” by lenny kravitz 2. FCC (“motherfuckin” / “bitch”) “for those about to rock” & ludacris’s “move bitch” 3. TOO MANY FCCS “slow hands” by interpol (just the guitar rudder), “whatta man”, “everyday i love you less and less” 4. beck’s “loser”, “sea legs” by the shins, tlc’s “waterfalls” 5. FCC (“shit” once, maybe others less audible?) en vogue!, “a thousand miles” by vanessa carlton, “tom’s diner”, “closing time” *6. FCC (“fuck”, though he doesn’t really say the “k”, “shit” once) my favourite! “teenage dirtbag” by wheetus, “i want you back” by the jackson 5, “torn” by natalie imbruglia. can play with #7. 7. “nookie”, “down with the sickness”, MATH THE BAND!! (the 8-bit part), passion pit, the macarena... yeah! 8. FCC (“motherfuckers”, “shit”) the strokes! “automatic stop”, “lean back”, flava flav, incubus “drive”, “come on eileen” *9. “float on” by modest mouse, toto!, “my own worst enemy”, sa-fire’s “thinking of you”... and the “jump” song. 10. FCC (“ass”) crazy town’s “butterfly”, “shake your rump”, “shoop” over karla bonoff’s “personally”... and... robby nevil. *11. FCC/porn (didn’t “my neck, my back” get edited for radio? otherwise, no swears -- i think) tom tom club!, “my neck, my back”, “american boy” by estelle, “jump on it”, daft punk’s “around the world”, “ants marching” by dmb *12. FCC (“shit”) “finally (it is happening to me)”, lady gaga’s “just dance” over mgmt’s “kids”, “bizarre love triangle” *13. FCC (“shit” once) “digital love” by daft punk, “low” by flo rida, ATB’s “don’t stop” *14. FCC (“bitches”, “shit”) “just what i needed” by the cars!, “come on ride the train”, “i’m too sexy for my shirt”, “i kissed a girl” over “wild thing”, ABBA!, “bokkie” by elefant. 15. FCC/porn (it’s the three 6 mafia song for porn. also, “bitch” once) three 6 mafia’s “i’d rather (get some head)” over “happy radio”, “got to get you into my life”, “lovers who uncover”, coldplay’s “viva la vida”, ends with “let it be”

Spy From Cairo, The / Secretly Famous

Sadie O. — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:11:25 -0800

Review by Sadie O.

The Spy From Cairo – Secretly Famous Reviewed by Sadie O., 11/18/09 Funky Arab/club grooves by multi-instrumentalist and producer Zeb, outa New York. Born in Italy to an eastern European/Kurdish Gypsy mother, he worked in London and studied stringed instruments from around the world, as well as electronics/sampling. This particular outing (he’s recorded and produced an almost absurd number of various projects) is heavily Arabic instrumental, with a funky rhythm section and some electronic/dub elements – and it’s gorgeous. Vocals all in Arabic (and Kurdish?) – no FCCs detected. All tracks are AWESOME; I like 6, 8 and 10 most of all. 1. 5:26 Blood and Honey ***flute intro, then midtempo belly-dance sway with a funky back beat. 2. 5:14 Nayphony ***midtempo lilting Arabic groove with a bit of funk and dub, lower in timbre than previous track. Gets really dubby. 3. 5:38 Kurdish Delight ***lovely oud, cool beat, bits of vocal samples. The music reminds me a bit of Rachid Taha (not the vocals, which are quite pretty, a bit like Indian singing). Ends with water and birds. 4. 5:31 Kembe ***very pretty strings, a bit of a club beat, then goes electronics and funk. Alternates between belly dance and electronic club. 5. 5:07 Ana Arabi ***hey! More pretty strings and hand drums!, gorgeous female vocals saying “I’m an Arab”. 6. 4:44 Leila ****low-pitched strings and club dub. So nice! 7. 6:12 Oudfunk **a bit more relaxed and atmospheric, still with great strings. 8. 5:50 Sufi Disco ****mysterious vibe – breathy flute and drone, as well as strings and funky eastern beat. 9. 7:26 Saidi the Man ***very trad intro – flutes, hand drums and male vocals, but they’re almost like Arabic folk hip hop, sounding like Rachid Taha, with extravagantly rolled R’s. Turns into dub reggae. Huh! 10. 5:32 Reggada ****swingy groove with a Reggae beat and wide variety of strings. This is bitchen!

Hans Grusel's Krankenkabinet / Blaue Blooded Turen

Your Imaginary Friend — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 22:01:30 -0800

Review by Your Imaginary Friend

Electronoise, great use of Moogs and other analog type synths, sound sources by an east german ex-pat who is claimed to have escaped the east hidden in a cider keg (sounds like something I’d do on accident). Experimental, on the non-musical noisey end of things for sure. All tracks are interesting excercises in the limits of the analog synth and the patience of the reviewer/listener. 1) slow pulse, creepy, gets joined in with burst of noise then layered upon 2) a very pretty bow exchange/feedbacky tone, lovely, does get noisier 3) almost songlike in its onslaught of disjunct melodies 4) blippy, spastic overall 5) brief noise 6) aquatic 7) somewhat harsh 8) a nice amalgam, balm of noises, chills out a bit toward end 9) circus-playland merry go round feel at first for sure, then boy does it get weird 10) jut ugly synth, nothing harsh but definitely and aquired taste 11) blippy noisey 12) starts with a horn and then what sounds like a crowd of humans behind, truly bizarre 13) again, starts with mimimal tones but turns into something else quick 14) minimal noises, get louder 15) more noise, with an echoey outro to end this

Bird Names / Sings The Browns

Brick — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 06:37:45 -0800

Review by Brick

the best pop album of the decade. genius sense of vocal melody. a perfect circus of honky tonk struttin' guitars with dreamy lulls and a bed of instruments pulling in 4 directions at once but going to the same place. super inventive kaliedoscopic song structures , off kilter but inviting. this band has a melodic sense of genius, which is reflected in the vocal harmonies. weirdo pop album of the year for sure. everything is a surprise. pieces together the best moments of dream pop, honky tonk , western, freak folk, & hypnagogic pop. a brilliant work, and totally it's own thing. play each and every track at least thrice. wowowowowowowow. 11 stars out of 4. get this to number one for a year. fcc clean-brick 1- buzzing kaliedoscopic pop masterpiece. swelling group vocal moans, funky pulse, fake i shot the sherrif guitars 2- jangling pumpy honky tonky wierdo strut w/ clip clop percussion & beautifully strange vocal harmonies 3-warbly western faux la tengo with half a brain missing and a twizzler up their nose jam 4-crunchier tambourine noisier off key wierdo jam, entitled scandinavia and a definite nod to fonal and finnish freak folk 5-swelling keyboard pop metallic, tinny clanks w/ a easy flute and delightful high scratches and high places style vox 6-narcotic dream trance twinkly cradle fantasy waltz pop w/ soaring brass. oh beautiful. 7-straightforward folky love song 8-swollen organ and clippity clop percussion 9-pulsing big bass swing your gal around poprock retro thriller 10-oomp-pa pa circus style with rising and falling vocals 11-60s summertime pop style vocals, xylophones, contrasted w/crunching guitars, beautiful. 12- wild dissonant organ intro gives way to beautiful chug ug a lug, with swirls, and a knee stompin rocker hidden somewhere 13-clunky 40 second intro unexplectedly turns into the most beautiful

James & Evander / Awkward Turtle Ep

Brick — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 06:37:06 -0800

Review by Brick

Warm instrumental hypnagogic pop w/ laptop percussion, mixed with the lounge-cheese sensibilities of tortoise. Repetitive structjure, and some cute toy sounds. A cotton ball is more abrasive than this album. Not really much in the way music musicianship, virtuoso, or experimentation. Would play nicely between with broadcast, american analog set, stereolab. For a fucked up take on this album try ducktails, the polyps. fcc clean 1) relaxed tropical watery guitar & clinky laptop percussion w/ organ swells 2) happy twinkly faux 50's commerical jingle sound w/ treated snare 3) sparse western guitars w/ clippy clop percussion & fx 4) great arpeggiated guitar/keyboard intro, gets ruined by awful cliche of a laptop beat 5) churning, thick warm looped guitar w/ a dramatic piano line and handclaps 6) toy box sound & easy sounds give way to a freakout with thicker guitars and a noise mash, and ends with the same toy box sound

Wingdings / Return To Earth & Windings Ii - Zarathurstra's Puzzle

Brick — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 06:36:08 -0800

Review by Brick

Vague asian summer melodies fucked through an alien spaceship here to probe pizza eaters. Happy go lucky face melting tropical wtf synth goo tape slurp. Tried buying these tapes but James Ferraro's buddy Sam stole my money and spent it on drugs to make new tapes. Windings i is more spacy murk scifijams, while windings ii is more tropical summertime carnival inspired. 1) starts with vaguely asian karaoke kids pop until someone spills pizza all over the satellite, huge drone and more, somewhere in the middle (-9:41 killer guitar song emerges, no worries it's covered in space goo by -5:00 again 2) low sci fi warble & infomercial synths static out anal probe old skaters style jam w/ futuretechsynths. murkier in the middle, synthier at both ends. fill all your (emotional) holes with this. 3) goofed out happy go lucky synth demo tropical jam. stays real floaty and sporelike with some garbles and bubbles. makes me want to lick 18 inch lollipops with the imaginarymidgets in pigtails singing oo ee ooh aa aa zing zang awannwanwnna bing bang at the end. 4) starts w/ faux byrne eno-"mea culpa" indecipherable spoken word/synth pulse intro, and turns into the happiest capri sun metallic melted man beach groove you ever heard

Legendary Stardust Cowboy, The / Paralyzed!! His Vintage Recordings, 68-81

Brick — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 06:34:53 -0800

Review by Brick

if johnny cash had aspergers and was a bad clueless comedian doing karaoke night, you'd get the legendary stardust cowboy. does killer bird calls. the greatest performer of his generation. ass trumpet solos, yelped vocals, frantically strummed guitar, mashing drums, and a cowboy costume act that couldnt quite sing but sung like hell. one of the greatest performers, novelty acts and joke rockers that ever existed. esssential for fans fans space rock, punk, country, odd vocalists, psychobilly, surf rock, genius performers. fcc clean- brick 1) paralyzed.holy shit this cowboy can yelp. the drums shred. but that yelping, so infectious, and out of nowhere, a killer mangled americana trumpet solo (of the same variety that got me my jaw broken) best track of the decade. 2) relaxed doodly do cowboy constipated croon, with a honky tonky country slow breeze and drums that get thrashed 3) ballad about a chevy with a pegasus, and meeting your true love by the wrecking yard, guitar strut calls and responds with an awful trumpet, but great vocal delivery by the cowoy 4) about taking a spacetrip, woooo. with great, serious, discernible vocal delivery on this, no tourettes yelps. reminds me of jonathan richmanb. got covered by david bowie. 5) lounge pop orchestration + xylophones and the cowboy = great bad lounge music. the vocals are karaoke caliber genius. 6) faux johnny cash bad love song, about not getting big 7) great love song, solo warped guitar and the cowboy shows his full vocal range, wants to take a girl home trigonometry, cause he likes to study figures. tremendous ass trumpet solo. 8) cool ballad where he wails for a gloria, trumpet 9) the legendary stardust cowboy shows off his bird calls. amazingly bad rhymes. then a slow downer space ballad about donna plus apollo space program innuendos. 10) a more produced and discernible recording of paralyzed (tr 1.) with a guitarist who can actually play and discernible lyrics. do not play. half assed version of a classic. 11) pulsing and surprisingly coherent surf rocker with the cowboy yelping over it. 12) quick ballad about his baby trackin him down like radar 13) the worst cover of fly me to the moon you've ever heard with a cold war era diatribe in the middle 14) quick interview w/ the cowboy space fascination. great snippet. 15) low lounge lizard bass w/ the cowboy giving western flying saucer ballad, with a restrained vox. great track. 16) short ditty, about a dysfunctional ma in a cast iron apron, nothing wild. 17) the cowboy doesnt yelp, he's just way out of tune naming types of cactus and rambling. great shit. 18) pulsing staccato drums, and the cowboy getting out some fierece feral calls, trying to defeat the tiger. wildly psychedelic. 19) your standard cowboy doodly do ballad 20) spoken track, the legendary stardust cowboy shows off his rebel yells and elephant cries. 21) neat synchopated cowboy yelp to start, and quick, funky strumming and pulsing drum. 22) spoken track about not being a fruit, funny 23) the cowboy sings like a beatle, to mr songwriter, to write him a song a the moon. 24) explosions like dynomite and the cowboy make this take this surf rocker. 25) clippy clop cowboy bluesy ballad w/ spoken vox

Bardo Pond / Peri

Brick — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 06:20:54 -0800

Review by Brick

greatest heavy stoner psych rock band of all time.. oputtakes from 1996-2001, the height of their creative powers. moody psych masterpieces. play 'em all. these guys are the greatest. 1- gloomy sludgy murky moan dirge 2- melodic spacious release with an oddly harmonic and catchy isobel 3-loose crunchy moody space jam 4-masssssive 20 minute heavy psych explosion that hits the brown frequencies 5-tenser crescendoing colossus of a closer

Human Being / Live At The Zodiac - Berlin 1968

sure thing — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 02:37:06 -0800

Review by sure thing

Human Being Live At The Zodiac – 1968 “You can’t paint a German landscape once a tank has driven through it,” Anselm Kiefer Here we have a previously unreleased and widely unheard live recording of this prophetic avant group’s first show in West Berlin in 1968. This is a throbbing, demonic whale dirge; it’s unhurried, deliberate and dull. Occasionally the players develop a sustained theme (ghoulish howling, a broken hell train chugging away from the station, chain gang grunts, an upset and deranged troop of mordor gate-beasts swinging through a tangle of weighty molasses, breaking free, and tumbling off of a nearby cliff one by one like stupid lemmings and landing with a thud onto an old, deeply fastened war drum) before allowing it to recede into a dark, incomprehensible rumble. The piece shifts and changes, but never really develops into anything more than a succession of interesting experiments in found sound and patient free jazz appropriations. Regardless, portions here are truly frightening and the piece is worth a full listen. 56 minutes long.

Aphrodesia / Precious Commodity

Sadie O. — Mon, 9 Nov 2009 15:45:45 -0800

Review by Sadie O.

Aphrodesia – Precious Commodity Reviewed by Sadie O., 11//9/09 Big band Afro-funk from SF, but with its heart in Ghana and Zimbabwe. Powerhouse female vocals and horns, bass and percussion – and also gnarly guitar; I guess that about covers it! Excellent musicianship and serious funk. No FCCs detected. I like 3, 4 and 10 best. 1. 1:19 **chimes – almost like gamelon – then a midtempo highlife funk riddim gradually comes in. 2. 4:43 ***galloping highlife funk, complex rhythm, lots of bass and horns. Jazzy female vocals. 3. 6:01 ****female afro-jazz vocal intro, uptempo makossa groove, vocals in an African language and English, about orishas. Sweet. Some kind of crazy distorted guitar solo in second half – gnarly! 4. 5:06 ****downtempo SUPER funky strut, pretty vocal harmonies and grunty electronics (as well as funky guitars). 5. 4:18 ***midtempo, lilting South Afro-Caribbean groove with funny pidgin lyrics. 6. 5:46 **bass and claps intro, relaxed midtempo syncopated sway 7. 8:13 **grunty bass and horns, slow, pretty lyrics in an African language. Very mellow, rather sad sounding. 8. 4:27 ***upbeat and a bit uptempo, highly syncopated and danceable. African lyrics, a bit of odd harmonies. 9. 3:43 **downtempo, builds syncopated groove out of odd elements, interesting. Instrumental, super-cool sax solo. 10. 6:11 ****slow SUPERFUNK, highly syncopated, African lyrics. 11. 1:46 **swingy hand percussion, bass, chimes. It actually seems like it should lead into track 1. Fades to a few hand claps.

Helado Negro / Awe Owe

Eustace McFrillyFries — Mon, 9 Nov 2009 14:44:25 -0800

Review by Eustace McFrillyFries

Helado Negro Awe Owe Gentle, reserved latin art folk with hints of classic psychedelia and modern electronic themes. Seamlessly blends clean yet quirky instrumentation, mish mash loops carved from a broad quotidian sound palette, and rich harmonious, haunting vocals. Melodically the vocals are more derived from yo la tengo and belle & sebastian than your traditional latin signifiers, but the record retains a certain exotic feel throughout. Shades of grizzly bear and devendra banhart(if they had worked with Tom Zé). Helado Negro is Roberto Carlos Lange, a frequent collaborator of prefuse 73. Basically, yet another Brooklyn hipster has emerged out of the woodwork with a sound that’s both eclectic and beautiful. Well, shit. No fccs. It’s in Spanish, fool. 1.Pleasant acoustic strumming, kitchen sink percussion. 5:41 2.Brisk stomp, more forceful guitar. A subtle marimba fits well with the layered vocal hook. 3:40 3. Simple plucked progressions and a soft swirl of vocals that take the front seat here, directing the melody and summoning the life of the song. Female solo at the end is a real treat. Very grizzly bear. 2:35 4. Upbeat panda bear, looped chants, and a charming bassoon. 3:32 5. Sneaks in with echoed vocals and two competing percussive rhythms. Patient, subtle, disruptive bassoon laced aphex twin meets brian eno break in the middle. 3:48 6. Quick and simple. Stuttering drums. Lazy smoky evening at the beachside bar. 1:52 7. Ethereal – wind instruments spinning around, distant spiritual crooning. No beat. 2:15 8. Tribal, sparkling panda bear loop that builds into a snail’s pace orgy of instruments, effects, and coos. Vocals, but no lyrics. 5:16 9. Marimba, clackers, and shakers. The most latin track on here. 2:48 10. Strong percussion, moves on well from the previous track. Manages to create a relaxing mood despite its relatively upbeat tempo. Dissolves. 3:28 11. Handclaps, lonely bassy wind instruments. Evokes a rainy, echoey kaleidascoped daze. In my cursory google search before writing this review I stumbled upon a pitchfork writeup on this song. They gave it a 6. Fuck them. This is a 10. Ends with a final triumphant wind instrument huff. 2:28 -EUSTACE MCFRILLYFRIES

Forro In The Dark / Light A Candle

Don Farrell — Mon, 9 Nov 2009 06:47:57 -0800

Review by Don Farrell

NYC based Brazilian group playing Forro ( fo ho). Think Brazilian Polka, Rhythm & dance from the Northeast of Brazil. Forro is played with a drum, the zabumba, a flute, accordion & triangle. They substitute an electric guitar for the accordion. ***1: 2:56 fast fast percussion, flute & vocals ***2: 3:15 fast percussion, flute, triangle with e guitar & vocals 3: 4:25 mid to faster, vocal in English 4: 3:20 mid tempo, vocals in English, flute ***5: 2:36 fast cool dance tune 6: 3:26 more rock influenced, fast vocals, sax **7: 4:05 flute, big bass, fast Instrumental **8: 3:25 mid to faster, female vocal in English 9: 2:34 mid to fast instrumental 10: 3:08 rock & forro, fast everything ***11: 3:42 fast fast vocals, percussion, song about Brazil's famous national drink ( lime, sugar and cacha (sugar cane liquor)) ***12: 3:17 mostly an instrumental, fast dance **13: 2:53 rock & forro, mid to faster vocal in English D Farrell 11/2009

A Hawk And A Hacksaw / Deliverance

Don Farrell — Mon, 9 Nov 2009 06:47:00 -0800

Review by Don Farrell

Balkan Folk band from Albuquerque New Mexico, great Balkan trance dance music ***1: 3:55 fast gallop percussion intro, mid to fast soaring bowed strings, clarinet, accordion, deep brass, klezmer ****2: 4:46 fast fast cimbalom (hammered dulcimer) with slow soft vocal ****3: 5:37 fast fast bowed strings, accordion, klezmer ****4: 2:29 fast fast cimbalom, accordion & strings 5: 4:52 slow strings, picks up to fast at 2:50 with cimbalom 6: 2:38 slower to mid accordion, strings & male vocal in English ****7: 5:07 fast fast full wall of sound, great horns ***8: 2:18 fast fast bowed strings, cimbalom & accordion 9: 3:59 slow plucked (hit) strings, deep brass, cry in your beer tune 10: 2:01 slow deep bowed strings D Farrell 11/2009