BOY IN STATIC – VIOLET (Mush Records)
The Boston-based Alexander Chen is Boy In Static, and he has some interesting things going for him. First, he plays a wide-range of instruments, including the fifteen he recorded for this release. Second, he also mixes it all together on his own, creating a sound that somehow manages to feel both extremely well-layered, yet airy in its simplicity. If that makes any fucking sense. Unfortunately, while the musical end of this creation is almost without flaw, the lyrical side of the album leaves much to be desired. I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a million times, and I’m sure I’ll say it again: lyrics have the potential to ruin an otherwise perfect album. This is one such example.
RATING: TWO STARS
DALEK – A PURGE OF DISSIDENTS (Ipecac Records)
Man, I don’t know what category to put this release in, because not only is it a CD with over two dozen tracks (as pieced together by Haze XXL), and a book of artwork (as compiled by artist Dalek), but you also get a DVD that combines both the sounds from the CD and the art from the book (all set into animated motion). The brainchild of both Dalek and Haze XXL, A Purge Of Dissidents actually started out as an art gallery project that was picked up as a CD/DVD/book combo by Ipecac. Haze XXL’s mixes have more layers than middle management at a corporation, and are the perfect blend of both noise and sound. Dalek’s cartoony (yet eerily morbid) computer generated graphics create a colorful and bloody visual aesthetic that goes remarkably hand-in-hand with the music. It’s the perfect blend of candy for both your eyes and ears. And as if the concept weren’t already fucked-up enough for you to wrap your brain around, dig this: this… well, art show release will be opening for The Melvins on their U.S. tour. Expect to your mind to be fucked.
RATING: FOUR STARS
FINNTROLL – UR JORDENS DJUP (Century Media Records)
I might have really dug this album if I were a fat nerd who worked at the Renaissance Faire during the summer months. Luckily, I’m not. Also, here’s a quick tip for the band: You have the worst fucking logo ever created in the history of logos. Get one that’s actually readable, you Finnish metal dorks.
RATING: ONE STAR
GABBY GLASSER – GIMME SPLASH (Latchkey Recordings)
A fair amount of the bands I dug in the Nineties are gone now: Morphine, Soul Coughing, Luscious Jackson, etc. Of course, from each of those bands came something new: Morphine became Orchestra Morphine and then eventually Twinemen. Mike Doughty broke away from Soul Coughing and made some amazing solo albums. And Luscious Jackson lead singer Jill Cunniff recently released a solo album that ain’t half bad. Now you can add former Luscious Jackson guitarist Gabby Glaser to that list. Don’t expect her solo debut to be as funky (or as Luscious Jacksony) as her previous work. But that’s not entirely a bad thing. Here Gabby mixes some new sounds with some of the old, bringing together a taste of what she once was and a breath of what she now is. It’s a good album, with a handful of powerful tunes that stand out. Still, I do have to admit that there was a part of me that kept thinking, “I wonder what this would sound like if Jill, Vivian, and Kate were on it….” I guess that’s only natural.
RATING: THREE STARS
GREAT LAKES MYTH SOCIETY – COMPASS ROSE BOUQUET (Quack! Media)
I can understand what it is the Great Lakes Myth Society was trying to do with this release, which is offer up a bit of back-porch grit that isn’t found very often in music. Unfortunately, any attempt at creating something rough and original is lost in its production, which at best just comes across as being standard and high-gloss. I think they have the talent to make something great, but this album just fell flat for me. Next time around they should ditch their producer (or any true production altogether), play some shit live, record with shitty audio devices and strange instruments, and bang and kick and whistle and scream. Then they might really be onto something. Until then, not so much.
RATING: TWO STARS
LCD SOUNDSYSTEM – SOUND OF SILVER (Capitol)
I cringed when James Dolata gave me this disc for review. See, I reviewed LCD Soundsystem’s (also known as the one-man-band James Murphy) self-titled debut years ago, as well as his Nike project from last year, 45:33, and I ripped both of them pretty well. I found that fucking “Daft Punk Is Playing At My House” song just as annoying as I once found Daft Punk themselves (even though I’ve admittedly warmed up to Daft Punk through the years). So yes, the kid gloves were off when I put this new release into my CD player. Wow. I think I might like LCD Soundsystem. This release is a bit more edgy and a lot less repetitive than its predecessor. And while it’s not perfect, it’s a good attempt and a fun outing. I actually played a couple of the songs twice! What a concept! So, way to prove me wrong, Mr. Murphy. Keep making more stuff like this and less stuff like that goddamn Daft Punk song. I still hate that song! And the moon!
RATING: THREE STARS
LITTLE AIDA – MAD COUNTRY (Second-Shimmy Records)
Yeah, this is okay, I guess. I mean, it’s essentially just a watered-down version of Mazzy Star, which is okay for what it is. I would have preferred something a little more unique and original, as I’m not so young that I don’t know who the hell Mazzy Star is. Still, and this is for each and every record label and PR company out there, please, for the love of Christ, check your fucking press releases for typos. When the first thing on your one-sheet is a quote comparing the artist to Billie Holiday (which is already a HUGE lie), yet they spell her name Billy Holliday, you’re just asking for a world of hurt. Double-check your fucking spelling, kids. Jesus. Unless of course they really were comparing Little Aida’s lead singer to someone named Billy Holliday, in which case I don’t know who the fuck he or she is.
RATING: TWO STARS
THE RAPTURE – PIECES OF THE PEOPLE WE LOVE (Mercury Records)
One of the main rules we have around here is that we don’t review old shit. So why am I reviewing a CD that came out in September of last year? Because I dig it. I had never heard The Rapture before, mainly because I avoid the radio like the plague. But while stuck in a car without a CD player one day last month I caught a song from them, and promptly requested a copy of their now-old disc. Fan-fucking-tastic. More fun than a playground, more funky than the socks I’m wearing, and about as shake-your-ass worthy as it can get, this nearly-year-old release is now on loop in my stereo. I guess all radio isn’t bad after all.
THE RATING: THREE STARS
RUSH – SNAKES & ARROWS (Atlantic/WEA)
You know, when I was a dumb kid back in the early Nineties I knew a few people who really dug Rush. Back then, I never understood the appeal. They just always seemed like a bunch of washed-up old men, fronted by a guy (Geddy Lee) who sounded as if he were my grandmother with her tits slammed in a door. Their newest release, Snakes & Arrows, makes me realize one thing: I wasn’t as dumb of a kid back then as I thought I was.
RATING: ZERO STARS
SCHOONER – HOLD ON TOO TIGHT (54º40\' or Fight!)
This North Carolina fivesome brings back the indie power pop sound that musicians like Matthew Sweet and Bob Pollard brought to radio waves over a decade ago. I never liked Matthew Sweet, Guided By Voices, or indie power pop, so I’m not the best person to review this disc. But if you dig those two bands of yesteryear and that sound, hey, go for it. It’s just not my bag.
RATING: TWO STARS
TIGER SAW – TIGERS ON FIRE (Tract Records)
When you have an album that has nearly sixty-four brillion musicians on it, the result is going to be one of two things: it’s either going to be bizarrely brilliant to the Nth degree, or it’s going to be the Polyphonic Spree. This release, luckily, is the former. The Massachusetts-based musical collective has created a sound that is about as grassroots as one can get, with guitars and drums, whistles and shouts all coming together to form one giant bohemian backyard party of noise. Concentrating on the ideology of music and not the business bullshit of the industry, Tiger Saw is successful in doing something that doesn’t happen to me very often: giving me something new to listen to.
RATING: THREE STARS
TOMAHAWK – ANONYMOUS (Ipecac Records)
Leave it up to the musical mastermind Mike Patton to take something that is already bizarre and take it that one step further. Tomahawk—one of Patton’s numerous projects—was already a band that was hard to describe. And with this, their third full-length to date, it gets even harder to describe them. Instead of doing a “typical” Tomahawk release, this time around the fellas decided to create thirteen new tracks that are inspired by traditional Native American arrangements from the late 19th century. The result is something even darker and more fucked-up than what you’d normally expect from Tomahawk. Also different this time around is the way in which they produced the album. Now a trio, the group produced this album in two parts: Duane Denison (The Jesus Lizard) and John Stanier (Helmet) recorded guitar and drum parts in their Nashville studio and then passed it along to Patton in San Francisco for vocal and sample work. So this isn’t the Tomahawk you’ve come to know and love through the years, but it’s still fucking fantastic.
RATING: FOUR STARS
MATT WOODS – SOMETHING SURREAL (Severe Records)
I have a few ways I could review this album. They are the following:
1. Worst opening sentence on a one-sheet bio page ever: “Matt Woods’ band is built on the sonic landscapes of the Counting Crows and Matchbox 20….” Ahhh… next!
2. This album came out nearly two years ago! What the fuck is it doing in my mailbox today?!? Is the United States Postal Service really that slow?!?
3. On Woods’ MySpace page (Strike one!) he has a blog that says we should pray (Strike two!) for the victims of the Virginia Tech killings. He then goes on to give us a “news link” to the story. The link points to the website of Fox News (Strike three!).
RATING: ONE STAR
BOOKS:
THE BIG BOOK OF DUH! A BATHROOM BOOK (Andrews McMeel Publishing)
I like to read. I like to poop. I like to read while I poop. This book is perfect! Collecting thousands of stories of members of the human race acting like complete morons, this book is a great read while you’re… emptying. I’ve always known people are (for the most part) totally fucking stupid, and this book proves my theory. Don’t believe me? Here, let me give you a little excerpt from the book: A Japanese politician, running behind in the polls, didn’t need a campaign manager to come up with this original strategy: He faked an assassination attempt to gain the sympathy vote. To make the attack look convincing, the politico stabbed himself in the leg. He severed an artery and bled to death before he could make his final campaign speech. Yeah. Now just imagine that story times a thousand. You get the idea.
RATING: FOUR STARS
MASTERING THE MELON: PROJECTS BY ALIX LAMBERT (Trilce)
Alix Lambert is a photographer, writer, performance artist, actor, director, tattoo artist and pilot. Whew. Her newest book, Mastering the Melon, collects a bit of all of those things and then some. “The Marriage Project”, produced from 1992 to 1993, documents Lambert’s desire to marry and divorce as many different people as possible within a six-month span (she married and divorced four times: three men, one woman). “Platipussy”, produced in 1996, documents a fake all-girl band, from rise to fame to fall from grace (and inevitable murders). And “The Mark of Cain”, produced from 1999 to 2000, documents the tattoo work of men incarcerated in Russian prisons. This particular group of work was also made into a spectacular documentary film that Lambert directed. Because of such a vast array of talents and work, Lambert is someone to pay attention to in the future, especially since she’s just under 40. That means she’s got a lot of work left in her.
RATING: FOUR STARS