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RE: VIEWS (LISTEN)

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22 December 2023


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.

 

 

BAD WIZARD - SKY HIGH (Howler Records)

 

There is absolutely no decipherable difference between this album and the kick-ass, bare rock \'n\' roll of the Seventies. Equal parts Black Sabbath, Uriah Heep, and Humble Pie, Bad Wizard has given us nine more tracks of rock hysteria on their fourth full-length album, Sky High.

 

THE GRADE: A

 

- Bethany Shady

 


 

Beth Orton has done it again. I love all of her previous stuff, all of her guest stuff (especially her work with The Chemical Brothers), and-- chances are-- everything she\'s yet to create. Comfort Of Strangers opens with \"Worms\", a fun and sweet track. Other gems include \"Absinthe\", \"Countenance\", and \"Shadow Of A Doubt\". This disc doesn\'t stray from its predecessors, but it\'s yet another positive step forward in the evolution of Beth Orton.

 

THE GRADE: A-

 

- Wayne Chinsang

 

COLLECTIVE EFFORTS - TRAIL MIX (Arc the Finger Records)

 

Get the bling-bling out of here! Here cometh the first full-length release from Collective Efforts. This is hip-hop that hasn\'t been destroyed by overzealous record companies branded for the masses. Reminds me of a group like Black Star, or even KRS-One. This group sounds old school, but they are definitely serving up something new.

 

THE GRADE: A

 

- Erik Adkison

 

COLOURMUSIC - COLOURMUSIC (Pink House Records)

 

Coming straight out of Oklahoma, this trio’s five-song EP is based on Sir Isaac Newton’s theories of sound and colour. Or at least that’s what the press release says. I was never good at science, so I can’t say if this is true or false. What I can say is that four of the five songs are pretty catchy. However, the first song, \"Yes!\", is a pretty annoying opener. So, four out of five is 80%, and that translates into a B-. I was always good at math.

 

THE GRADE: B-

 

- Wayne Chinsang

 

DJ CAM - REVISITED BY (Inflamable Records)

 

DJ Cam’s past work has been, at least as far as I’m concerned, almost perfect. So how necessary was it to have thirteen fellow musicians rework some of Cam’s past tracks? To me, it wasn’t necessary at all. But I have to admit that the result is damn fun. There isn’t a bad track on the disc, but some of my favorites are the remixes from Thievery Corporation, DJ Vadim, and Four Hero. My only real complaint is that a few of the same songs are remixed by different artists. Cam has enough in his back catalog that each guest could have gotten their own song. Still, it\'s damn pretty.

 

THE GRADE: B+

 

- Wayne Chinsang

 

GIL MANTERA\'S PARTY DREAM - BLOODSONGS (Audio Eagle Records)

 

What is Columbus, Ohio known for? Great football, of course! Just kidding. Football is gay. Columbus will forever be known as the birthplace of Rjd2, yours truly, and Gil Mantera’s Party Dream. This Eighties-infused synth-duo of wonder pups (Gil Mantera, and his brother Ultimate Donny) bring us ten songs that are filled with freakish fury, power production, and sex saturation. Packing more pop than Orville Redenbacher and more rock than a crack dealer, GMPD proves that while their live performances are the stuff of legend, they still have the music to back it up. Although, there is something endearing about guys playing keyboards in nothing but thongs, sunglasses, and fake mustaches.

 

THE GRADE: B

 

- Wayne Chinsang

 

GRAND NATIONAL - KICKING THE NATIONAL HABIT (Sunday Best Recordings)

 

Grand National’s Kicking The National Habit had me pouncing all over the dance floor in a groove explosion. The record\'s unique mix of instruments and vocals kept my attention, and I had the record stuck in my head for days. Even while I was napping! I have a soft spot on my underbelly for the UK, and this London duo definitely rubbed it the right way.

 

THE GRADE: A-

 

- Hellkat

 

HAYRIDE TO HELL - ...AND BACK (HairBall 8 Records)

 

Psychobilly! Listen by the light of campfire to the storyteller singer conveying songs of evil, cars, girls, and ghouls. Choppy scratchin\' on the standup bass guitar gives this band definition. Listen to this at night while riding through the woods on a wagon filled with hay!

 

THE GRADE: B

 

- Eric Adkison

 

HEROS SEVERUM - PLAGUE DOGS (Two Sheds Music)

 

This Atlanta-based trio’s release took some getting used to. I struggled through the first song, but pushed through to the remaining nine. And while I initially thought this disc left no impression on me, I found myself singing the track \"I Can\" to myself at the grocery store. Because of this, I went back and listened again. And while I still think the first track is a horrible choice for an opener, the rest of the disc isn’t bad. Some of the more soulful and funky stuff (\"A Sick Dog\") reminds me of a band I used to dig on back in the day (Soul-Fu Villains), but the album as a whole is impossible to push into a genre. And that’s a good quality to have.

 

THE GRADE: B-

 

- Wayne Chinsang

 

JEL - SOFT MONEY (Anticon)

 

If you aren’t already a Jel fan, you will be after Soft Money. A twelve-track display of unconditional love for music, Soft Money dips from surreal, drum-drowsy instrumental orchestrations, to lyrically accented reality checks by Steffi Bohm, Poor Righteous Teachers\' Wise Intelligent, and Jel himself (making the statement I’ve been dreaming of making for so long on \"To Buy A Car\"). To follow up his work on 13 & God with this? That’s a good track record.

 

THE GRADE: A

 

- Vinnie Baggadonuts

 

LIARS - DRUM\'S NOT DEAD (Mute Corporation)

 

The CD: This interesting band\'s Drum\'s Not Dead is based on two fictional characters: \"Drum\" and \"Mount Heart Attack\". The characters are polar opposites represented as drum machines who duke it out on this eccentric record that is both indie rock and beautiful symphonic music. The DVD: Here you\'ll find three videos for \"Drum\'s Not Dead\", \"The Helix Aspersa\", and \"By Your Side\". These videos star the band members, and are like experiments with simple effects and composition made into stories. There is also a lot of interesting weirdness going on, like toothbrushes coming alive, and feathery costume masks. This DVD is a nice companion to the Liars\' unordinary album.

 

THE GRADE: A-

 

- Sal Swayzo

 


 

The Stonecutters is psycholicious. I\'m new to the psychobilly scene, but with bands like The Stonecutters, 12 Step Rebels, and Horrorpops, I am quickly becoming a fan. This album aims to please the rockin\' wolfman in all of us! Generally fast-paced, Mad Marge\'s haunting voice is perfect! Give me more psychobilly!

 

THE GRADE: A

 

- Das Bork

 

NEXT LIFE - NEXT LIFE (Cock Rock Disco Records)

 

Imagine if Nintendo put out Slayer: The 8-Bit Adventure, and you had to take the death metal giants on a wild and crazy adventure, with a soundtrack of their tunes rendered in video-game bleeps and bloops. That’s what this sounds like. The cover art doesn’t do it justice, but ignore that. The music’s too fun to avoid.

 

THE GRADE: A

 

- Vinnie Baggadonuts

 

P.O.S. - AUDITION (Rhymesayers)

 

I don’t know whether to shelve this between Big Daddy Kane and Sick Of It All, or Wu Tang Clan and Bad Brains. The production is hard as shit. The rhymes are clever as fuck. And props to \"De La Souls\". That was a risky track to fuck with (at least in my book), but it came out damn cool.

 

THE GRADE: A

 

- Vinnie Baggadonuts

 

ROSANNE CASH - BLACK CADILLAC (Capitol Records)

 

I had never before heard even one song from Rosanne Cash. But after listening to this disc, I\'d like to hear more. Of course, I\'m openly biased, as Rosanne\'s famous father is one of my all-time favorite musicians. Black Cadillac is loaded with emotion. Within a span of two years, Rosanne lost her step-mother, father, and birth mother. And if that doesn\'t give one enough ammo to make a personal and heartfelt album, I don\'t know what does. It\'s not a perfect album, but it\'s one hell of a goodbye.

 

THE GRADE: B-

 

- Wayne Chinsang

 

STAY TUNED - THIS IS ONLY A TEST (Self-Released)

 

How far can a band that only creates rock versions of TV show themes go? Pretty fucking far if they’re Stay Tuned. With hilarious, yet rockin’ versions of the theme music from Mr. Rogers, Charles In Charge, and Silver Spoons, the band lets you reminisce as well as rock out to your childhood.

 

THE GRADE: A

 

- Bethany Shady

 


 

Welcome to the manlier side of psychobilly. This deeply disturbed brand of music from Arizona has some of the roughest, grizzliest vocals that could make Tom Waits sound like a cute little girl. Even if the vocals are a bit much, there is plenty of heavy bass and hard guitar sounds that make for excellent psychobilly.

 

THE GRADE: B

 

- Sal Swayzo

 

TERMANOLOGY & DC - OUT THE GATE (Showoff Records)

 

Why is it that the words that mean the most in hip-hop (\"nice\", \"dope\", \"hype\", \"fire\") are only four letters long? Because there’s a million of ‘em, and you always wind up using them all to praise albums like this. Never mind that Termanology rhymes with a serious amount of respect for the language he’s using and the beats he’s rhyming over. He also sounds like someone who had a serious love affair with the music and culture, and found a producer (DC) that came up the same way. Out The Gate is for anyone who loved how and understood why Guru and Primo have sounded so good together all these years.

 

THE GRADE: A

 

- Vinnie Baggadonuts

 

THA ALKAHOLIKS - FIREWATER (Waxploitation Records)

 

While I have a lot of respect for artists who close certain chapters of their careers while they’re still at their peak, I gotta say, this does nothing but depress me. Firewater’s probably one of the nicest hip-hop albums to come out in a while, and listening to it will only make you hungrier for whatever Tash, E-Swift, and J Ro do in the future. Mark another home run for Waxploitation.

 

THE GRADE: A

 

- Vinnie Baggadonuts

 

THE ACCIDENT THAT LED ME TO THE WORLD - THE ACCIDENT THAT LED ME TO THE WORLD (Nobody’s Favorite Records)

 

This came with no press release, no band lineup, and no release date. And the limited amount of info I was able to find online about it was rather cryptic. But I have to admit that I love that level of mystery. The Accident That Led Me To The World is the creation of songwriter Mark Mandeville and musicians Raianne Richards and Zack Ciras. It’s simple orchestration-- including banjo, violin, and upright bass-- and plush vocals make for one of the most unique and mysterious releases this year.

 

THE GRADE: A-

 

- Wayne Chinsang

 


 

Yep, I’m still a fan of The Prodigy. Just because the whole techno craze of the mid-Nineties came and went faster than Vinnie at a male strip club doesn’t mean my interest left with it. The brains behind The Prodigy-- Liam Howlett-- is a damn fine DJ, and this double-disc set reminds me of how good he actually is. You get over thirty tracks, including some live versions, remixes, and a handful of unreleased tracks. Add to that a fifty-page color booklet that serves as a scrapbook for this fabulous foursome, and you’ve got a pretty tight and flawless package. Kind of like me.

 

THE GRADE: A

 

- Wayne Chinsang

 

THE LADIES - THEY MEAN US (Temporary Residence Records)

 

A collaborative project from Rob Crow of Pinback and Zach Hill of Hella doesn’t live up to the benchmark set by their separate efforts. With odd drum beats that don’t seem to match up with the guitar and vocals, The Ladies’ experimetal sound (yeah, I claim copyright on that word) just doesn’t give us the album we were hoping for.

 

THE GRADE: C-

 

- Bethany Shady

 

THE SLACKERS - PECULIAR (Epitaph Records)

 

You know how little kids see a movie and love it so much that they watch it, quite literally, ten times a day? That’s me with new Slackers albums. Peculiar hasn’t really left my stereo in the month and a half I’ve had it. And each time, I hear something new that reminds me why I consider The Slackers my favorite band. Never mind that this is the first record I’ve ever heard where all the rhythm tracks were recorded at a live show, and everything else was added later, which makes the album sound almost as raucous as one of their gigs. Instead, let’s focus on the fact that \"86 The Mayo\" is as bittersweet a tune as \"Mommy\" (from their last album, Close My Eyes), and \"Set The Girl Free\" and \"What Went Wrong\" are about as Motown as you can get nowadays.

 

THE GRADE: A

 

- Vinnie Baggadonuts

 

THE SWORD - THE SWORD (Kemado Records)

 

You’ll realize The Sword\'s name fits like a condom when their rock pierces your inner musical soul. Although almost every song starts out with the same chord (creating a Spinal Tap–like sound), The Sword’s Seventies rock will take you on a trip to the haunted gothic castle that resides within your mortal soul.

 

THE GRADE: A-

 

- Bethany Shady

 

VITALIC - OK COWBOY (Citizen Records)

 

This is electronic music that scares me slightly, but it\'s a good thing. OK Cowboy is boastful beats combined with acidy rhythms. It has electronic, techno, and rock all rolled up into one, and all done without the overuse of sampling.

 

THE GRADE: B

 

- Sal Swayzo
artid
3588
byline
Compiled by the staff of TLC
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Above image by <A HREF='http://www.ellagraph.com' target='_blank'><u><b>Kathrine Berger</b></u></A>
Old Image
8_6_listenheader.jpg
issue
vol 8 - issue 06 (feb 2006)
section
entertainmental
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