RE: VIEWS (LISTEN) | Tastes Like Chicken

admin

22 December 2023

THESE ARE WEB-EXCLUSIVE REVIEWS. BUT YOU CAN CLICK HERE TO ORDER PRINT ISSUE #6, WHICH CONTAINS A TON OF OTHER REVIEWS, AND MORE!

Here\'s what\'s making love to our ears this month. Click on the artist\'s name to visit their website, and click on the title to buy it on Amazon.

A WILHELM SCREAM - RUINER (Nitro Records)

Never has a name been more appropriate than with A Wilhelm Scream. And, man, are they a musical rarity-- aggressive-as-fuck punk rock with extremely catchy melodies, wicked vocals, and all the heavy metal riff-ready alchemy you secretly like, but think you’re too cool to admit to.

THE GRADE: A+

- Vinnie Baggadonuts

$\"A$

AMERICAN MINOR - AMERICAN MINOR (Jive Records)

Imagine the type of music that would come from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Lynyrd Skynyrd making their way down the Mississippi River on a raft, heading to Louisiana for a gumbo festival. That’s American Minor.

THE GRADE: A

- Bethany Shady

$\"American$

APSCI - THANKS FOR ASKING (Quannum Projects)

A Bronx-born producer/MC (Raphael LaMotta) and a classically-trained Australian vocalist (Dana Diaz-Tutaan) walk into a bar. After a few drinks (and years), Apsci is born: a hip-hop tag-team that rarely stays within the boundaries of what most would expect from the genre. That\'s a damn fine thing. It\'s sexy and soulful, rich in sound and rhyme. It\'s the kind of hip-hop that helps in the evolution of not only the genre it represents, but also music as a whole.

THE GRADE: A

- Wayne Chinsang

ARAM DANESH AND THE SUPER HUMAN CREW - THE SPOT (Mammoth Entertainment)

I must admit that I wasn\'t big on this when I first got it. I must have been menstrual at the time. Like a superhero team leader, Aram Danesh put together his Super Human Crew (some 15 people) to create eight songs that dip in and out of literally every kind of music known to man. It\'s hip-hop! It\'s world (Middle Eastern, Latin, and more)! It\'s DJ/dance! It\'s jazz! And best of all, it\'s like me: solid, through and through.

THE GRADE: B+

- Wayne Chinsang

ATOMIC SWINDLERS - COMING OUT ELECTRIC (Abacus Creative Management)

This sounds like a Mazzy Star/Gwen Stefani rock concert performed in a space bar somewhere in the year 2145.

THE GRADE: B

- Bethany Shady

$\"Atomic$

BAD FATHERS - ANGELS IN THE CHAMBER (Rosemary Records)

Who\'d have thunk six kids from Iowa could make music as fly as this? The lyrical delivery is reminiscent of Pharcyde, but some of the beats get a little old and repetitive. However, it\'s easier to listen past them when good lyrics are laid over them. I said it before: I think the Coasts are currently tapped dry right now when it comes to groundbreaking shit, and some really interesting stuff is happening in between. Bad Fathers is proof. Pay attention to \"Strap It On\" and \"The Titty Fuck Song\". They\'re comedic gold.

THE GRADE: B+

- Wayne Chinsang

$\"Bad$

BLACK MOUNTAIN - DRUGANAUT EP (Jagjaguwar)

\"Deep, dingy rock\" best describes to me these five Canadian social workers/musicians from Vancouver. They sound bluesy and folky, much like classic rock, but with a modern, troubled-hipster sound.

THE GRADE: A

- Sal Swayzo

$\"Black$

CLUE TO KALO - ONE WAY, IT\'S EVERY WAY (Mush Records)

This album sounds like the cover art looks: warm and flowery, but not in a sickening way. More in a smart, decorative way. Clue To Kalo might be mistaken for the love child of some of your parents\' vinyl (the records kept in that orange crate in the garage); it\'s a little folky, a little rock-ish, and a whole lot of mellow. Not bad. Not bad at all.

THE GRADE: B

- Fphatty Lamar

$\"Clue$

DAIKAIJU - DAIKAIJU (Reptile Records)

Do you like to surf, man? Daikaiju likes to surf, man. At least, I think they do. Their first full-length album sounds like what I think surfing would feel like, man, which makes me think I like to surf, man. Yeah, man.

THE GRADE: Man. I mean, B+

- Fphatty Lamar

DAKAH - UNFINISHED SYMPHONY (KUFALA Recordings)

A few months ago, I reviewed the lead-in EP of this. I was impressed enough. They didn’t have to go and trump it with the full-length. Unfinished Symphony isn’t an album. It’s an all-enveloping experience, and proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that daKAH is no gimmick. They’re a 70-person hip-hop symphony orchestra. No shit. And they have a serious penchant for boom, bap, bows, and brass with a hearty lot of jazz and soul.

THE GRADE: A+

- Vinnie Baggadonuts

$\"DaKah$

DANE COOK - RETALIATION (Comedy Central Records)

Dane Cook’s stand-up loses a lot in the translation from visual performance to the two strictly-audio discs of this three-disc set. Don’t get me wrong, the dude is still damn funny. But if you’ve ever seen Dane launch a flying bicycle kick six feet into the air and land flat on his back to illustrate his theory about a furious restroom patron-- all without missing a beat in the actual telling of the joke-- then you know what I mean when I say that his frenetic stage presence is easily the most memorable part of his act. The third disc is a DVD sampler platter of Dane Cook segments from a handful of Comedy Central shows, like Shorties Watchin’ Shorties and Crank Yankers. His appearance at the roast of Denis Leary is further proof that the Friars Club is the Kryptonite of comedy, but Dane’s set at the Bar Mitzvah Bash makes me wish the disc had more video of just his hyperkinetic stand-up act.

THE GRADE: B+

- Staff Member #716

$\"Dane$

DENISON WITMER - ARE YOU A DREAMER? (The Militia Group)

I definitely wasn’t expecting to be dishing out an \"A\" this morning, but what a sweet fucking record. Soft, slightly twangy storytelling, à la Damien Jurado at his quietest, and Sean Hays all the time. Thanks, Paul!

THE GRADE: A

- Vinnie Baggadonuts

$\"Denison$

GENERAL ELEKTRIKS - CLIQUETY KLIQK (Quannum Projects)

Imagine if French pop-weirdos Air were more funk than fluff, if Radiohead had more soul than Motown, and if music made you hallucinate a really fun dream. You’d have just imagined yourself one Herve Salters, the mad multi-instrumentalist who is the Wizard of Odd known as General Elektriks.

THE GRADE: A++

- Vinnie Baggadonuts

$\"General$

GROUNDTRUTHER - LONGITUDE (Thirsty Ear Records)

This is my first time with Groundtruther-- a dynamic duo made up of the legendary Charlie Hunter (eight-string guitar) and Bobby Previte (electric and acoustic drums), that’s actually a trio, but the third and final member is different every album. This time around? The incomparable DJ Logic. And if ever there were a more perfect marriage of sounds, this is it. Jazzy, jammy, and absolutely unique.

THE GRADE: B

- Vinnie Baggadonuts

LORD CARRETT - UNSWEETENED (Kool Kat Music)

Looking and listening to Lord Carrett answers that burning question that lives deep down inside us: What would have happened if Milton Berle were reincarnated as the fourth member of The Stray Cats? Carrett keeps the crowd in his hand by dishing out jokes, not anecdotes. If you don’t like the one he just told, keep listening. You’ll love the next one. Check out this internationally distributed re-release, and keep an eye on comedy clubs in your town.

THE GRADE: B

- Stella Canoli

M.I.A. - ARULAR (Interscope Records)

Sweet Jesus! Did Missy Elliot just have a kid with Joe Strummer? Because M.I.A.’s the living embodiment of Missy’s dance floor domination and Joe’s social awareness. If Arular doesn’t make every bone, muscle, and nerve in your body shake like a rebel possessed, you aren’t human.

THE GRADE: A+

- Vinnie Baggadonuts

NEW ESTATE - CONSIDERING (Kittridge Records)

This is not what I typically like, but it’s a sound like I\'ve never heard before! I love it. It\'s not a clone of some other band, either. Androgynous vocals with heavy bass lines really bring it all together. It reminds me of Sunday mornings. These kids are young, but they also know how they want to sound.

THE GRADE: A

- Eric Adkison

$\"New$

SMALL TOWNS BURN A LITTLE SLOWER - MORTALITY AS HOME ENTERTAINMENT (Triple Crown Records)

This band is on the cusp of being a great rock band, but still have their feet caught in the murky waters of the \"we sound like every other guy rock band out there today\" swamp.

THE GRADE: B

- Bethany Shady

SOMERSET - PANDORA (Punk News Records)

Cute boys with sexy voices playing guitars. It\'s got a sing-songy melody, and then heavy, escalating guitars. It\'s less angry sounding-- more \"get up and dance\" type stuff. It\'s not really something I prefer to listen to, but I know a lot of people that are into this sound now.

THE GRADE: B-

- Eric Adkison

SON VOLT - OKEMAH AND THE MELODY OF RIOT (Sony)

Thank you, Vinnie, for setting this aside for me!!! Okemah And The Melody Of Riot is one of my top favorite American albums this year. It pays homage to many musical legends, such as Woody Guthrie and Creedence Clearwater Revival. The music will surely please veteran Tupelo/Son Volt fans, and indeed give birth to a new litter of Jay Farrar enthusiasts.

THE GRADE: A

- Hellkat

$\"Son$

THE CHICHARONES - WHEN PIGS FLY (Camobear Records)

If our gang of retards here made music instead of magazines, chances are it would sound something like this. Vancouver\'s Sleep and Josh Martinez make up The Chicharones and serve up a platter full of hip-hop that is everything it should be: beat-filled, catchy-as-fuck, and smart as can be. And where The Chicharones succeed most is in an area where most hip-hop acts today fail: they don\'t take themselves too seriously. In all, it\'s great music and fun as hell. Dig it.

THE GRADE: A

- Wayne Chinsang

THE JAMES HARDWAY COLLECTIVE - OVER EASY (Lunaticworks)

You’re gonna love this one, kids, because you can lose yourself in it. It’s like riding a flying carpet made of Femi Kuti’s spirit, Curtis Mayfield’s funkiness, Brand New Heavies’ sexiness (but sexier), and, sweet God, a thousand other things that somehow beautifully gel together.

THE GRADE: A+

- Vinnie Baggadonuts

THE MUGGS - THE MUGGS (Times Beach Records)

Holy moly! The Muggs really know a thing or two about resurrecting music that died from an overdose of too much sex, drugs, and rock \'n\' roll. Their self-titled new release sounds like an electric freight train headed straight for the stadium in Detroit Rock City. It’s explosive, titillating, and good-- sort of like an orgasm on crack.

THE GRADE: A-

- Hellkat

WHY? - ELEPHANT EYELASH (Anticon)

Yup. This is the weirdest pop record I’ve ever heard. By no means is that a negative comment. Quite the opposite. While I’m still relatively fresh-faced to the Anticon family, Why? seems to possess that trademark Anticon free-spirited sound, and Elephant Eyelash is an unpredictable, yet catchy exploration in if there really are limits in pop, and just how far one man and his band can stretch them.

THE GRADE: B

- Vinnie Baggadonuts

WILLIE NELSON - COUNTRYMAN (Lost Highway Records)

Willie can do no wrong, even with this, his first reggae album. (Yes, you read that correctly.) Equal parts country twang and reggae rhythm, Willie proves that being a great musician doesn\'t limit one to a genre. If you love reggae already, you\'ll love Willie. And if you love Willie, you\'ll love reggae. (And I might be going out on a limb here, but based on the album\'s cover art, I think Willie might smoke weed. Just a guess.)

THE GRADE: A

- Wayne Chinsang

$\"Willie$

THE ABOVE REVIEWS ARE WEB-EXCLUSIVE. BUT YOU CAN CLICK HERE TO ORDER PRINT ISSUE #6, WHICH CONTAINS A TON OF OTHER REVIEWS, AND MORE!

artid

3275

byline

Compiled by the staff of TLC

byline2

Above image by <A HREF='http://www.ellagraph.com' target='_blank'><u><b>Kathrine Berger</b></u></A>

Old Image

7_12_listenheader.jpg

issue

vol 7 - issue 12 (aug 2005)

section

entertainmental

Search

Share This Page