Monday, August 29, 2005
My review of Miasma, the new album by The Black Dahlia Murder, appeared back on Friday. There's a lot to like about this band, not to mention the CD, but as great as they sound, they need to write more songs that remain in your head after repeated listens. That only happens a few times on Miasma...it's as well-played as any metal album this year, and I don't dislike it, but it lacks character.
The metal world lost a major talent over the weekend. Late Friday night, Denis D'Amour, aka "Piggy", guitarist for the innovative Canadian metal band Voivod, pased away due to complications from colon cancer. He had already beaten cancer back in the late-80s, but sadly, the evil disease wasn't through with him.
Voivod never had the huge chart success that some of their peers in the underground 80s metal scene eventually achieved, but one consolation was that they had earned the respect of everyone in the metal community, from musicians to fans. Personally, it took quite a while for me to get into the band, though...back in 1984-85, Much Music played the band's early videos for "Voivod" and "Ripping Headaches" over and over, but their dense, noisy form of thrash metal was a bit too chaotic for me to grasp. If a band was going to be fast, I wanted them tight, not sloppy. It wasn't until 1988 that I realised just how good these guys were, thanks to "Tribal Convictions", a chilling piece of proressive metal that was unlike anything we had ever heard before, a shocking musical departure that left us all stunned. The band hinted at a stylistic shift on their third album, 1986's Killing Technology, but it was Dimension Hatross that the band truly started to come into their own. Their following record, 1989's Nothingface, was even better, so good, in fact, that I named it my album of the year. Their cover of Pink Floyd's "Astronomy Domine" became a minor hit, and when they toured America in support of the album, who opened for them, but Soundgarden and Faith No More. Sadly, while those two bands broke in a huge way in the following couple years, Voivod faded away from mainstream eyes. Their 1991 release Angel Rat tried a bit too hard to sound accessible, and while it had its share of moments ("Panorama"), the band started to lose me around this period, as I was in the process of being duped by the grunge fad. During the rest of the 90s, I didn't like the band's return to the heavier sounds of their early days, and it wasn't until 2003 that I fell in love with the band again, thanks to their excellent self-titled album, which featured Jason newsted on bass. The band was in the midst of recording their new record when D'Amour fell ill.
But back to Piggy. I regarded him in the same way I do Rush's Alex Lifeson, in that he was not the most ostentatious guitarist on the planet, and how you were usually listening to Snake sing or Away hammer away those complicated beats. D'Amour's performances on record remain astonishingly unassuming, which, frankly, is a very rare, not to mention weird, thing to hear in metal music. His sounds, especially post-1986, were more atmospheric, more textural, and when he did come up with a huge riff, it still had a strange, mechanical quality to it. Hailing from the small Northern Quebec industrial city of Jonquiere, the band was heavily inspired by the noises that emitted from the massive aluminum factory, and D'Amour's distinctive guitar tones were no exception. Equal parts melodic, aggressive, and dissonant, other great guitarists from the period have always said how difficult those chords were to learn. Even his solos had an off-kilter, idiosyncratic feel to them, a metal version of Thelonious Monk, as he'd head into atonal directions that would catch you completely off-guard. If I can remember correctly, from day one, D'Amour has always used custom-built guitars, hence that distinctive sound of his...you hear it on the ultra-heavy "Nuclear War", from the excellent debut War and Pain, and you hear it on 2003's "Gasmask Revival".
Jonquiere has always been known as a place where its citizens are more susceptible to cancer and Alzheimer's disease than most places in Canada, which many people blame on emissions from the massive Alcan plant, and the band draw attention to that fact on Nothingface, first on "Missing Sequences" ("Stupendous flaking fume/Tremendous dancing doom/Smoke stack spill/Momentous reeking ooze/Enormous creaking crew/Vapour-ville/Neuro-link dementing/Limbo-Inc. Amnesia"), and then on "Pre-Ignition" ("Are you/Generated by waste/Arid quarry displaced/Environmental squeeze/Aluminum disease"). "Brain Scan", from Dimension Hatross, was inspired by D'Amour's hospitalization, as doctors tried to remove a cancerous tumour from between his brain and optic nerve, and you can sense the fear and isolation, that both he and his bandmates were going through: "Who's in my head, hiding themselves/It hurts me so, it's a brainscan/Who's it instead, instead myself/I hate it so, it's a brain scan/Creeping in your double mind/There's nothing they can't find/You've lost all your energy/Not able to set you free."
I said this last year, but out of every metal guitarist who came out of the 80s, nobody was as crucial, as inextricably linked to their band's sound as D'Amour was to Voivod. His is a sound that is completely irreplaceable, not to mention inimitable. Like their song goes, Voivod will probably carry on, but from this day forward, they'll be a shadow of their former selves. This is one pair of boots that nobody will ever, ever fill.
My review of War and Pain
My review of Voivod
If you're new to Voivod, here are some downloadable tracks that best explain what Voivod, and Denis D'Amour, were all about:
Voivod - "Killing Technology"
The epic title track from their 1986 slbum, this signaled the band's shift from their own, highly original, form of thrash metal, to a much more complex, progressive sound. Tighter, much more intricate, this is a great example of how D'Amour's guitar work was so unlike American thrash metal; it has an almost hardcore punk kind of sound to it.
Voivod - "Tribal Convictions"
Arguably the band's greatest song, it blends metal, industrial, and progressive rock. As Snake delivers a fantastic vocal performance, D'Amour's sinewy guitar licks underscore Away's massive, primal beats.
Voivod - "Astronomy Domine"
The song that Voivod will probably be best known for, a daring, masterful cover of the Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd tune that does the unthinkable, obliterating the original. Winding signs flap, flicker, flicker, flicker, flam, pow.
Voivod - "Panorama"
A good example of what the band was trying to achieve during the Angel Rat period. One of the most strikingly melodic songs they've ever recorded, it still has that distinctive Voivod feel, thanks in large part to D'Amour's riffs.
Voivod - "We Carry On"
One of the more straightforward songs from the 2003 album, it's also the last on the disc, a fitting, uplifiting, passionate send-off that's been made all the more poignant this past weekend.
Friday, August 26, 2005
Broken Social Scene, please come to Saskatoon in November. We love you guys...really.
It's weird how some people who like a certain musician or musical style cannot grasp the fact that it's possible to enjoy different forms of music. Posting on a Dylan board, I let it slip that I'm as big a fan of Iron Maiden as Bob Dylan, only to be met by a shocked reaction, not to mention with plenty of scorn. Conversely, if I mention on a metal board how I really enjoy, say, Metric, the exact same thing happens. I don't know why the fact that I enjoy such wildly varying styles of music such a crime in some peoples' eyes. I know there are folks who glance at this page and wonder why I go on and on about the metal, and vice versa...kids, can't we all just get along? Indie fans, go listen to the new albums by Clutch and Opeth. Metal fans, go listen to the new Richard Hawley and Magic Numbers albums. And all of you, go listen to Lady Sovereign. It never hurts to try new stuff every once in a while, and you never know what you might wind up enjoying. Now pardon me whilst I step off my soapbox...
Over the past year, I've become a big fan of Finland's Nightwish, and this recent live performance proves a) just how great they are live, and b) just how huge they are in Europe. Along with giving their 55 minute set a listen, go and watch their stirring performance of the great single "Nemo" from the same set here.
I've been listening to Electric Blue Watermelon, the new album by the North Mississippi Allstars for two or three weeks now, and I've come to the conclusion this is their best, most eclectic album to date. Anyone who found the adventurous Americana-meets-blues-meets-pop of 2003's Polaris (for the record, I loved it), and missed the gonzo blues stylings of the audacious debut Shake Hands With Shorty will truly go nuts over this one. Opening track "Mississippi Bollweevil", by far the wickedest blues cover they've done since "Shake 'em on Down", gets right down to business, the band combining a dobro, distorted guitar, washboard, a drum & five band, and the meanest funk bassline I've heard in ages, into three minutes of blues-rock fury. There's a strong Stones vibe on "Teasin' Brown" and "Bang Bang Lulu", more of a Hendrixy funk on "Stompin' My Foot", a sweet duet with Lucinda Williams on "Hurry Up Sunrise", and a very cool addition of hip hop on the very strong, bittersweetly reflective "No Mo". "Moonshine" and "Horseshoe" are just plain gorgeous, not to mention emotional, as both songs pay tribute to the blues past of their home. "Horseshoe" especially packs a wallop, as it's specifically about the band's friend and mentor Otha Turner, the song bookended by a touching New orleans jazz dirge. The trio are in fine form on the album, but it's Luther Dickinson who is most noticeable, as he's really coming into his own as a soloist on this record. A mighty fun time, it's yet another contender for my year-end best albums list. It's out next Tuesday. Go buy it.
Thursday, August 25, 2005
My review of Alice Cooper's fun, surprisingly excellent Dirty Diamonds is up. Seeing as I went into great detail about how much I enjoy the album, both on this page (scrool down) and in my big review, there's little more for me to say...other than, give the thing a chance. Really, it's enormously fun.
Meanwhile, over at Static, my review of the superb UK grime compilation Run the Road has appeared. I hadn't mentioned the disc here...I'd been craving it since early this year (I could never find it in stores), and true enough, it does not disappoint. Great, highly intense music from Kano, Terror Danjah, and The Streets ("Fit But You Know It" gets a brilliant overhaul), but the two artists who really steal the disc are the ladies, the ferocious, venom-tongued No Lay, and that little motormouth Lady Sovereign, who I've really been getting into over the past few months. An excellent comp, and a fine introduction to the thrilling new sounds coming ou of East London, you'd be doing yourself a favour by picking it up.
So yesterday afternoon was a bit odd. I wanted to review the wonderful new Richard Hawley album, but I got the new Hypocrisy CD in the mail, and wanted to give that a listen fisrt. So I did, and wound up enjoying it quite a bit (imagine Arch Enemy focusing more on extreme metal song craft, and less on guitar solos). After that, I returned to Coles Corner, which was a weird change in musical direction. However, when I dashed off a quick reply to a cohort about Mercyful Fate and Venom, I felt the sudden urge to play Don't Break the Oath and Black Metal at a really, really loud volume. While I was cranking the most satanic metal song ever recorded, the UPS guy came to the door with another package. I opened it up, and much to my surprise, I found the brand-spankin' new Bob Dylan Bootleg Series set. Off went the devil metal, and on went the Bob. As I was listening to some incredible early bootleg peerformances, I learned that the new Sugababes single had leaked, so I quickly downloaded it and gave it a cursory listen. While I was doing that, I found out the new Neil Young record had surfaced on the net...it was all too overwhelming, and before I knew it, I had no time to start my Richard Hawley review. See, this is what happens when I don't work in a structured environment. Like the hippie dude said, Prioritize, man! I'm awful.
So, I've lost a valuable day in what is turning out to be a rather busy week. If I can get my Hawley review going today, I'll try to find the time to post my thoughts on both the Dylan discs (in short: spectacular!) and the new North Mississippi Allstars album, which I'm really smitten with.
Monday, August 22, 2005
My review of Slough Feg's new album, Atavism, appeared this past Friday. And a fun disc it is, as the band are total throwbacks (see the album title), churning out the fun, early 80s style melodic power metal as well as Wolf, Falconer, and Grand Magus.
Speaking of Grand Magus, I've been listening to their new album Wolf's Return a lot lately. It's heavily indebted to the late 80s doom sounds of Candlemass, with some NWOBHM touches thrown in, too. "Kingslayer" blows me away.
We all thought it was only a matter of time until the new Broken Social Scene album leaked, and lo and behold, the inevitable happened yesterday. Funny, though, the hipsters must have been otherwise preoccupied on Sunday afternoon, because the internet has not exactly been abuzz. That'll change once word spreads about just how excellent the new record is, cos it's sure a good one, kids. It's quite different from You Forgot it in People, but the overal sequencing is very much the same. It starts off exuberantly, with a handful of urgent, instantly lieable tracks, beginning with the light tones of "Our Faces Split the Coast in Half", which really reminds me of the livelier monets from Apostle of Hustle's Folkloric Feel. After that, there's the gorgeous "7/4 (Shoreline)", the cacophonous, yet highly orchestral "Ibi Dreams of Pavement" (which had me thinking of Pavement, circa 1995, with horns, until some folks started dropping early Mecury Rev comparisons, which I realised were a bit more accurate), the jubilant "Fire Eyed Boy", and the odd funk of "Windsurfing Nation" (featuring the much-ballyhooed appearance by K-OS). Then, like YFIP's "Anthems For a Seventeen Year Old Girl", Emily Haines sings lead on the equally lovely "Swimmers", which signals the much more eccentric second half. Again, like YFIP, which took me a good few months to fully appreciate, the second half of the new album is decidedly more adventurous, with the mellow "Handjobs For the Holidays", the upbeat, noise-drenched "Superconnected", and the lengthy, eccentric, and oddly lovely "Bandwitch" highlighting the last 20 minutes. Out of all the more subdued songs, the best, and prettiest, is "Major Label Debut", with its acoustic guitars, backed up by swirling, droning guitar effects, tastefully mixed by Dave Newfeld. If there's one track I have a real problem with, it's "Hotel", an electronic-inpired tune sung in an extremely annoying whisper. I detest whispering in songs...it's the whole nails on a chalkboard effect, it's hard to explain. I just hate it, so thusly, my reaction to "Hotel" is extremely negative, and I cannot see my opinion of the song changing in the future. It's a shame, because it's otherwise a very strong album, a great follow-up to one of the most beloved indie albums of the decade so far.
If you were to ask me, right now, what Canadian indie album I prefer, The New Pornographers' Twin Cinema or Broken Social Scene, I'd have to go with Twin Cinema. Broken Social Scene has always had to grow on me, so I might think otherwise come November. Though the very presence of "Hotel" all but guarantees the album won't make my year-end top five.
If you're wondering just what the heck "Bruce Dickinson vs. Sharon Osbourne" is over in my weekly top five, go here, to see, and hear. Classy lady, that Sharon. I don't doubt she sabotaged Maiden's set on Saturday.
Friday, August 19, 2005
Over at PopMatters, Justin Cober-Lake has a really interesting interview with Serbian prog metal band AlogiA. A while back, the dude was kind enough to hook me up with a copy of their most recent album, Secret Spheres of Art, and to this day, I remain rather impressed by it. They're a good, solid Dream Theater/Symphony X type band, with an occasional burst of Savatage/Sonata Arctica style melodies, but every so often, they toss in little pieces of Eastern European folk music. So as a result, you get epic, operatic prog/power metal tunes, with little slices of Middle Eastern-derived melodies. I'm always a sucker for that blend of indigenous sounds and modern metal...from Sepultura, to Soulfly, to Amorphis, to Orphaned Land. Anyway, Secret Spheres isn't perfect, its production is a bit thin, but it's a very pleasant surprise overall, a good bit of music from the other side of the world, a disc that deserves some attention from metal fans over here.
One of the albums I was really looking forward to this year was the third album by the Constantines. Their first two albums rank as a couple of the best Canadian rock albums in recent memory, their live shows are absolutely killer, they're building up a solid, loyal fanbase...the big time is theirs for the taking. Or so I had thought. I've had the leaked version of Tournament of Hearts for the past couple weeks, and after giving it every chance to impress me, I have to admit that I'm not feeling anything from this one at all. Well, that's not entirely true, as "Working Fulltime" is an incredible song, as good as anything on the last two records, the kind of tightly-wound Fugazi rip-off these boys do so extremely well, and "Love in Fear", with its tempo changes, is pretty cool, but the rest is such a crushing disappointment. The songs are all so lifeless...the last time I heard a band going through the motions like this was on Radiohead's Hail to the Thief. Too many of the songs sorely lack the energy that this band is capable of, plodding at a lethargic pace, and when they do try to sound more insistent (as on "Draw Us Lines"), it rings hollow. This kind of pensive departure by the Cons totally works against them, I think. They're best when they're either fully cranked, or nearly bursting with tension. There are going to be some people who dig the traces of ska, the downtempo songs, the country/folk excursions, and I will admit that Bryan Webb pulls out all the stops on "Soon Enough", effectively distracting us from the fact that the song is little more than a rather ordinary Sadies imitation, but when you get to the abysmal closing trio of songs "Thieves", "Conductor", and "Windy Road", you just want the pain to end. A lot of people, especially Eastern-based Canadian writers, will be writing lots of nice things about the lovable Cons, and waxing nostalgic about the great underdog label Three Gut, which is closing up shop soon after the album's October release, but take my word for it, dear reader, take it from someone who has always been a fan of this band's music (Shine a Light placed #3 on my 2003 list): do not be duped by the inevitable flood of positive reviews. Aside from one flat-out great song and two decent ones, Tournament of Hearts is one of the year's biggest stinkers. Seriously, you can't listen to such great early tracks such as "Young Offenders", "Hyacinth Blues", "Blind Luck", "Nighttime/Everytime", and "National Hum", alongside the new stuff, and then say Tournament of Hearts deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as the first two albums. How such a talented band could shoot themselves in the feet like the Constantines have done is beyond my ken. Better luck next time, boys. In the meantime, I'm washing my hands of this crap. When's the new Broken Social Scene album leaking, anyway?
Tuesday, August 16, 2005
Finally! Goldfrapp's third album, Supernature, one of my most eagerly anticipated albums of 2005, has leaked at long last. So how is it? Very good, with a few brilliant moments. It's definitely a more pop-oriented album, but considering how "Strict Machine" really broke the band in the summer of 2004, and how Alison Goldfrapp continues to come out of her shell as a performer, that's no real surprise. Neither was the first single "Ooh La La", which obviously capitalizes on the success of "Strict Machine", doing the same glam rock/schaffel beat as Alison and her partner Will Gregory shamelessly rip off Norman Greenbaum's "Spirit in the Sky". It's a fantastic single, one of the year's best (it charted at #4 this past weekend in the UK), but frankly, it's a bit of a relief that's the only such track on the album ("another glammy tune, "Beautiful", was wisely cut from the album). Instead, Goldfrapp continues their evolution from a sumptuous trip-hop act to a truly unique voice in pop music, full of wicked hooks, mega-slick production, and some wildly eccentric qualities that set them apart from the Girls Alouds and the Rachel Stevenses of the UK pop world. It's obvious Alison has always been a huge fan of vintage synth pop and disco, as she's covered both Olivia Newton John's "Physical" and Baccara's Euro-disco classic "Yes Sir, I Can Boogie", and Supernature is loaded with great dance tracks. "Now take me dahn-sing/At the disss-co/When you park your/Winny-bago," she coos on "Ride the White Horse", one of my faves on the album, a supercool mitempo stomper that blends her ethereal vocals with an insistent beat, eventually giving way to some crooning in the latter half that greatly resembles Kate Bush. "Lovely 2 C U" is dominated by a huge synth sound, while the infectious "Fly Me Away" is the most straightforward dance track they've put out to date, its flimsiness made palatable by Alison's distinct presence. "Koko" slips in a little bit of sitar amidst the sultry synths and vocal harmonies, while the bouncy "Satin Chic" bears an uncanny resemblance to Maxine Nightingale's "Right Back Where We Started From" (really). Probably the album's best track is the gorgeous "No. 1", which goes for more of a Gary Numan (I won't say Fischerspooner) sound...it's Goldfrapp at their simplest, Alison at her most openly romantic. It's not the most adventurous song, but it is the prettiest, and deserves to be a single. Like on Black Cherry, Goldfrapp veer into more soft, ambient territory from time to time, as on the gently stuttering "U Never Know", the gentle "Let it Take You", and the very nice "Time Out From the World". Also like on Black Cherry, it's the more upbeat tracks you tend to remember...although there's nothing quite as revelatory as "Train", "Strict Machine", or "Slippage", the slightly more understated Supernature is still worthy of high praise. It was worth the wait.
Now on to something completely different. I was a huge fan of Alice Cooper in the 80s, starting with his duet with Twisted Sister "Be Chrool to Your Sceul", and then his two comeback albums, Constrictor and Raise Your Fist and Yell. I was heavily into shock rock between the ages of 14 and 18, reveling in the over-the-top antics of W.A.S.P., and enjoying old Kiss records...I dug the whole theatrical quality of it, the fact that these guys were true showmen. Couple that with my constant fascination with slasher flicks, and you've got a disturbing, yet perfect combination of obsessions: rock music and gore. It was in eighth grade when I first saw Coop. We were watching an old 70s educational film on the more "evil" qualities of rock 'n' roll, as it talked about the druggy lyrics in songs by Boston and Eric Clapton, but it was the footage of Alice Cooper chopping up a baby doll that stayed in my head. By the end of high school, I was exploring Cooper's early stuff, first School's Out, then an old vinyl copy of The Alice Cooper Show that I got for five bucks, thensuch classics as Love it to Death, Billion Dollar Babies, and Welcome to My Nightmare. I read the fun book Billion Dollar Baby, Bob Greene's entertaining account of his life on the road with the band in the early 70s. I'd become a fan, and when Trash broke big in 1989, thanks to the Desmond Child-penned "Poison", it was nice to see Alice's career hit another high point. That success took his show to my city, and I finally got to see the man in person in early 1990. It was heavy on the more straight-ahead rock numbers in his catalog, but there was a thrilling section midway through, where he donned the makeup and straightjacket, performing "Steven", "Welcome to My Nightmare", The Ballad of Dwight Fry", "Gutter Cats vs. the Jets", and "I Love the Dead" (complete with guillotine) that totally made my night. 1992's Hey Stoopid was great fun, but by then, I was moving from metal and shock rock to other kinds of music, and while I still loved the old stuff, I lost interest in the new material. I've always been a Coop fan at heart, my McFarlane action figure displayed prominently, but over the past decade, aside from the odd music video on TV, I just never took the time to pay attention to his more recent albums.
Which makes Alice's new CD Dirty Diamonds all the more of a shocker. I thought it'd be fun to cover this CD, to hear how the old guy was sounding these days, and when I plunked it in the stereo yesterday, I was struck immediately by how rejuvenated the man sounds. It must be the golf, because Alice sounds rejuvenated, positively ageless. Part of it is because his voice has never changed. He's never been one to over-exert himself vocally, aside from his affable growl, so his longevity shouldn't be much of a surprise. What really impresses me about Dirty Diamonds, though, is how great his band sounds. They're not the usual generic metal noodlers you'd see backing an aging rocker...these guys have flair. Alice and his boys have ventured back to the 70s on this album, not only revisiting the catchy tunes of Billion Dollar Baby, but often sounding incredibly similar to the old original band. Songs like "Woman of Mass Distraction", "Perfect", "Steal That Car", "You Make Me Wanna", and the cheeky, jubilant, insanely catchy "Sunset Babies (All Got Rabies)" have the band duplicating the sound of such classics as "Under My Wheels", "Muscle of Love", and "Department of Youth". The cinematic title track, the country spoof "The Saga of Jesse Jane", and the slinky cover of The Left Banke's "Pretty Ballerina" show the man is still capable of pulling the odd rabbit out of the proverbial hat. The album has a few duds in the latter half, including "Stand", a duet with rapper Xzibit that's just plain dumb, but there's more than enough here to like. It's far from the best album of the year, but I already feel affection for this disc, as it reminds me of why I loved Coop in the first place. It's good, simple fun, an album that really caught me off-guard, a reminder to all that Alice Cooper still has plenty of life left. In fact, Dirty Diamonds is so impressive, I can let Alice's whole Republican thing slide. Keep on givin 'er, dude.
Monday, August 15, 2005
It took a while, but I finally got around to reviewing the new Cephalic Carnage album. It's loads of fun, some wildly ambitious grind/sludge metal that veers all over the stylistic map. First they sound like Cattle Decapitation, then they sound like Napalm Death, then Cannibal Corpse, then The Melvins...and if that weren't enough, "Dying Will Be the Death of Me" is an hilarious send-up of metalcore that's done so well, it's scary. Definitely worth trying out.
The new Ladytron album, Witching Hour, leaked over the weekend, and as I expected, it's a good one, perhaps their best. Interesting to note, though, that the four tracks on the album sampler that surfaced last month are easily the best songs on the album. Not that the rest of the disc is garbage...anything but. Only that "Sugar", "International Dateline", "Destroy Everything You Touch", and "All the Way" are the songs that leap out at you the most, examples of the band's gradual move towards more urgent, pop-oriented fare. As for the other tracks, aside from "Fighting in Built Up Areas", which has yet to grow on me, the rest of the album holds up nicely, especially "Soft Power", "Last One Standing", and "White Light Generation". Definitely a buyer.
Consider Richard Hawley 4-for-4. His first album was excellent. Lowedges was a stunner, making my year-end top ten in 2003. His production on A Girl Called Eddy's album was exquisite, almost like a companion piece to Lowedges. And his new album, the lovely Coles Corner, is beyond anything I would have expected. Lowedges was rich in 50s pop melodies, but it was still a very guitar-oriented album...on Coles Corner, his amazing, comfortably deep voice is the primary focus, as Hawley does the old-style crooner thing, brilliantly, I might add. Lots of orchestration. There are touches of Sun Studios style country ballads ("I Sleep Alone"), Righteous Brothers/Spector grandeur ("Coles Corner"), and torch singer melodrama. "The Ocean" is flat-out gorgeous, a single truly deserving of the adjective "epic", which does that slow burn Hawley has always excelled at, a lush orchestra underscoring a languid band performance, but midway through, the waves suddenly come crashing in, the strings take off toward the sky, Hawley's voice taking on more power and emotion, before a sumptuous guitar solo kicks in. It's all so breathtaking. The entire album is shamelessly retro, shamelessly romantic, but like his recent work, it just oozes class. Talk about a late bloomer...this guy has transformed from an anonymous Britpop guitarist to a supremely talented solo artist. The album's out September 6. Don't miss out.
Speaking of former rockers heading toward the middle of the road in classy fashion, Frank Black's new album Honeycomb is an interesting one. While the big dude is merrily continuing the never-ending Pixies reuinion tour, this album has seen its way into stores, and is it ever different from what he & the Pixies are doing. Recorded in Nashville with a bunch of noteworthy session musicians, including keyboardist Spooner Oldham, guitarist Steve Cropper, and Anton "I drummed with Ace Frehley, Kiss, and David Letterman" Fig, it's surprisingly straightforward. Considering his last solo foray was the fascinatingly odd Frank Black Francis, this rather normal-sounding country excursion seems to come in from way over in left field. The songs themselves are all decent enough, especially "I Burn Today", "Sing For Joy", the very Frank Black-ish "Go Find Your Saint", "Strange Goodbye" (an oddball duet between Black and his ex-wife), as well as the covers of Doug Sahm's "Sunday Sunny Mill Valley Groove Day" and, get this, a shockingly tender version of Wislon Pickett's "Dark End of the Street", but vocally, Black lacks the kind of flair for the melodramatic you need in country music. It's clear he's having fun (he's singing about selkies and shrimp, for crying out loud), and his countrified compositions are all good, but you can't help but think how great these songs would sound if they were sung by a real capable vocalist, like Neko Case, Kelly Hogan, or, oh, I don't know, Allison Moorer. The one track that does work best is the excellent "My Life is in Storage", which starts off sounding grimly upbeat, then devolves into a wonderfully lethargic coda, highlighted by a beautiful solo by Cropper. If you're a Frank Black fan, you'll want this, but if you're just a casual listener, sample before you buy. If anything, make sure you hear "My Life is in Storage".
Oh, and over the last few days, my opinion of the new Idlewild CD, which I panned on Friday, has grown since I wrote that. It's still far from a great album, but the acousitc numbers really grew on me, reminding me a lot of the latest album by Teenage Fanclub, which I'm a big fan of. Anyway, my thoughts were made clear in my review, which should be appearing soon.
Friday, August 12, 2005
Another crazily busy week comes to an end. My reviews of the new albums by Arch Enemy and Nevermore appeared early in the week, and my piece on the smart, ultra-catchy punk classic Germ Free Adolescents by X-Ray Spex, popped up as well. I don't think I mentioned the X-Ray Spex album here before...the reissue is excellent, as the album is appended by early singles (namely the legendary "Oh! Bondage Up Yours!"), b-sides, and a couple of Peel sessions. I'm actually amazed at how the album has held up so well over the past 28 years. Poly Styrene's songs, which seem to both deride and celebrate consumer culture brilliantly, sound as relevant today as they ever have.
Interesting to hear through the grapevine that shows by both Behemoth and Opeth will be happening in Saskatoon this November/December, which is rather thrilling. And who's opening for Judas Priest on their upcoming fall tour? None other than Anthrax.
The new Idlewild album, which leaked ages and ages ago, still isn't grabbing me at all. Reminds me a lot of the last one by Travis, awash in a lugubrious adult-alternative sea. I liked it when they tried to sound huge ("You Held the World in Your Arms", "Broken English"), but it's hard to sound huge when you're playing dinky rib joints in Texas, so this time around, they've gone the Wilco way, countrifying their rock just a bit. Warnings/Promises starts off well enough (I do like "Love Steals Us From Loneliness" and "Welcome Home", but it sounds more and more uninspired as it goes on. Someone help these boys find their way back...they're totally lost on this album.
Oh man, does the new reissue of the classic Fates Warning album Awaken the Guardian ever look fantastic. Much like the deluxe cersion of Voivod's War and Pain, which I really enjoyed a year ago, Metal Blade have given the same treatment to this 1986 album. I was slow to catch on to the band...I certainly knew who they were, and were well aware that they played a very cool kind of progressive melodic metal, much like Queensryche, Savatage, and Helloween, but back in 1986, music videos played a huge, huge part in convincing me to buy an album, and since Fates Warning never put out videos, I concentrated more on bands who did (actually, the first time I ever actually heard Fates Warning was in the great movie River's Edge in 1987). Anyway, this three-disc look at the band in their prime is a real treat, especially for older fans...the remastered album sounds excellent, super-heavy, but very melodic, predating Dream Theater by a good several years, with songs that are epic, challenging, yet accessible. There's such a smart sense of craftsmanship in the compositions...they toy with the listener, establishing a strong doom element, before sticking in classy, classical-inspired guitar harmonies, singer John Arch howling away in his astonishing tenor voice, exerting himself with the bold dexterity of King Diamond, sans the cartoon element, but just when things seem too complicated, a little four-on-the-floor metal chuggin' kicks in, before returning to the stuttering rhythms and operatic screaming. It's simply a stunning album, and still mops the floor with the rest of todays power/prog metal competition these days. The second disc of demos and live tracks is cool (I love the cover of Black Sabbatch's "Die Young"), and although the footage on the companion concert DVD is dicey at best (they apologize profusely at the start of the DVD), it's still the only live footage of the band from this period, so it's still essential viewing for fans. Another superb reissue by Metal Blade, good enough to make you wish they'd give the same treatment to the early Slayer albums...
Hopefully over the next day or so, I'll mention the new albums by the North Mississippi Allstars, Richard Hawley, and Frank Black. And the new Sianspheric compilation. And the new Death Cab For Cutie DVD. Yikes, the pile around me is getting mighty high lately. It's like I'm typing from behind a fort, sheltered by ramparts of CDs.
Here's a Hold Stady song. Why? Because it's a killer tune from one of the best albums of the year. Download. Listen. Buy. And you're welcome.
The Hold Steady - "Your Little Hoodrat Friend"
Monday, August 8, 2005
First of all, if you ever find yourself travelling through the fine province of Saskatchewan, say, around Saskatoon, you must make the drive out to Dundurn (along with a 7 km drive on our notorious grid roads), and spend an evening at the Hole in the Wall for some of the best food you'll ever have in your lifetime. The meals always take long (we were there four hours on Saturday), but it's oh, so worth the wait, each course absolutely immaculate. It's extremely fancy, and tres expensive, but like Saskatchewan as a whole, friendly but not annoyingly so, and completely devoid of pretention. It's one of this province's best-kept secrets, and the two times I've been there, the food has been nothing short of stunning. And if you go (what are you waiting for?), order the pastellitos...they make your knees buckle.
My gigantic review of the second installment of Can reissues appeared as a feature piece on PopMatters over the weekend. If you've never gotten into the music of Can, now is the time to do so, as their first eight albums have all been completely remastered, each release boasting spectacular sound quality. People always say that the sprawling Tago Mago, the tetchy Ege Bamyasi (arguably their finest moment), and the lovely Future Days are their best albums, and justifiably so, but I have to say again, one must not ignore Soon Over Babaluma. I'm nuts about that one these days.
Oh, and thanks to my editors for coming up with a good summary blurb. I was delirious with exhaustion, and couldn't come up with anything good at all...
Two more new reviews have appeared over at Static: there's my little piece on the debut by Anna Nalick, yet another angsty, doe-eyed female singer-songwriter, but her album is good at what it does, and the young lady shows tremendous potential on such songs as "Paper Bag" and "Wrecking Day". Also, there's the new compilation by influential Scottish post punk band Orange Juice, the former band of Edwyn "A Girl Like You" Collins. It's an excellent introduction to a woefully underrated band, featuring all their early singles, and an alternate version of their debut album. A perfect place to start for newbies.
I haven't mentioned it, but a couple weeks ago I finally got my hands on a copy of the new album by The Hold Steady, and I tell you, Separation Sunday is shaping up to be one of my very favourite albums of the year (right up there with the new Clutch album, which continues to skyrocket up the list in my head). Nothing but simple barroom rock 'n' roll, but played with more passion than you'd expect from an American indie buzz band (they all seem to be so gimmicky these days), and featuring some of the most beautifully engaging lyrics this side of the Drive-By Truckers. Plus, like I said a few months ago, the band's singer, Craig Finn, sounds like a drunken Randy Newman (with maybe a little stoned Greg Keelor thrown in) sitting in, spewing stream-of-consciousness narratives in a tuneless voice. it's gritty, it's heartfelt, it's rollicking, it's sensitive...it's the best pure American rock album I've heard since The Dirty South. Standout tracks for me right now include "Your Little Hoodrat friend", "How a Resurrection Really Feels", and of course, "Stevie Nix", the tune that got my attention back in late May.
And speaking of those Drive-By Truckers, this week's Anti-Hit List mentioned the DBT's cover of Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone", which is appearing on a companion CD attached to this month's issue of Uncut magazine (John Sakamoto has really become a DBT fanboy over the last couple years...sort of like yours truly). Anyway, a day after I tracked down a subpar rip of the song, someone posted a much better MP3 over at the SOMB, which I'm eternally grateful for, because it's an outstanding cover, as four band members sing a verse each: first Patterson Hood, then Shonna Tucker (so great to hear her singing lead!), her hubby Jason Isbell, and then Mike Cooley. It's a typically energetic performance, as Cooley and Isbell re-create Al Kooper's classic organ riff with some cool slide guitar work. Just a wonderful version of a wonderful song, and I urge you to give it a listen for yourself:
Drive-By Truckers - "Like a Rolling Stone"
Oh, and congrats to my fellow colleague Justin Cober-Lake on the lil' bundle o' joy!
Thursday, August 4, 2005
Yeesh, where to begin?
I know. Long-overdue reviews. More specifically, my pieces on two most adequate best-of compilations, one by Megadeth, the other by The Offspring. The tracklisting on the Megadeth disc has some flaws, but it's hard to argue with the Offspring one, as all their best singles are on there, as well as a few duds. Both collections are excellent for the casual fan, but for anyone looking to give Megadeth a more serious look, I can't stress their first four albums enough.
Metric is coming to Saskatoon on October 24 at Louis'. Their new album is out on September 27, one week prior to the new Broken Social Scene CD. October is always the best month of the year, but it's really going to rule in 2005, I tell youse.
The most recent Dylan Pool was my most successful one in three years. It's been a long struggle to regain the form I showed on my first pool, where through some ridiculous bit of luck, I placed second.
I've had the new Constantines album for almost a couple weeks, but have had zero time to give it a listen. People are saying it's a good one, though.
The Pitchfork review of the new Turbonegro album (August 23, people!) is way, way off. Insultingly so.
Been hearing a lot of good new metal releases lately, but two have been the focus of my attention lately. Arch Enemy's Doomsday Machine and Nevermore's This Godless Endeavor came out on July 26, but the similarities do not end there. Both albums boast immaculate production by Andy Sneap. Both bands combine classic power metal with harsher, more contemporary metal influences. Both bands feature immensely talented lead guitarists, Michael Amott (Arch Enemy), and Jeff Loomis (Nevermore). However, it's Arch Enemy who is on the cusp of big-time success, while Nevermore will undoubtedly continue to toil away in relative obscurity, known only by those in the metal community. It's a shame, because as much as Arch Enemy's recent success is nice to see, Nevermore deserves just as much attention.
Doomsday Machine continues where Arch Enemy's Anthems of Rebellion left off, as the band continues to evolve into a full-fledged power metal outfit. They're still capable of huge sounding post-thrash that they perfected on Wages of Sin (see "Nemesis"), but Michael Amott and his brother Christopher deliver an endless supply of killer harmony leads and classic riffs, and their domination of the album reminds me of Yngwie Malmsteen's early albums. Angela Gossow's growled vocals continue to be a contentious issue with listeners, many people hating the tuneless, monotone screech, but Michael Amott's goal with this band has always been to combine brutality with accessibility, and Arch Enemy does just that on this album.
This Godless Endeavor, however, is not as immediate as the Arch Enemy disc. I've had Doomsday for the past week, and found it extremely easy to get into, but on the other hand, I've had the new Nevermore album for the past month, and found it considerably more lofty. The more I became acclamated with the record, though, the more I realised just how superb, pristine, brutal, and ornately beautiful this CD is.
Nevermore's greatest asset, though, is the trio of musicians that form the core of the group. Drummer Van Williams is the finest American metal drummer today, he can hammer the skins as hard as Lars Ulrich did in the mid-80s, yet pull off dexterous polyrhythms and tempo changes as easily and with as much grace as Neil Peart. Guitarist Jeff Loomis, meanwhile, is a virtuoso, and his versatile playing exudes more emotion than any noodler from the 1980s. It's vocalist Warrell Dane, though, who is the band's trump card. The classic form of the operatic metal singer is a dying art, as young bands opt (lazily, many think) for a more hardcore style of vocals, but following the example of great singers such as Candlemass's Messiah Marcolin, Dane's voice possesses tremendous range, yet he never overplays his hand.
The new CD is as solid as any other Nevermore album (they've never put out a bad record), but they seem to be on just a slightly higher level here...the music is really nothing new, as this band is firmly, firmly rooted in the 80s prog metal of Fates Warning and Queensryche, but instead of going for the cheeseball stuff like Iced Earth (bless 'em) do, the band's talent as musicians keeps them from sinking into tired cliches, revealing enough surprises to keep things interesting. I really enjoy "Born", "Final Product", and "Medicated Nation", but it's the closing triumvirate of "The Psalm of Lydia", "A Future Uncertain", and the epic title track that really bowled me over. The album does run a little long ("Bittersweet feast" should have been cut), but in all honesty, there's very little to complain about at all. I recommend both the Arch Enemy and the Nevermore albums, but I think I prefer This Godless Endeavor (I keep wanting to type "Endeavour", good Canadian boy that I am) just a bit more. If you're curious about these titles, but can't decide which to get, oh, just be diplomatic, shell out the dough, and buy both.
Saturday, July 30, 2005
It was eleven long, draining, extremely loud hours of insane metal and hardcore music, but man, was Sounds of the Underground ever worth it. It was a small gathering of fans for the day-long extravaganza, around 2,000 people by my estimation, but they were an impassioned group, the kids ready to have fun. Lots of circle pits, flying water bottles, devil horns, not to mention those funny flailing dances the hardcore kids do (kind of like a violent version of the Charleston). The music was extremely eggressive, but there was no nastiness in the audience, just a sense of fun, the kids respectful enough to keep each other safe. The no re-entry rule was in effect, but the massive arena never got too hot inside, and it was great to have the option of standing on the floor or just kicking back in the seats for a bit, something that an outdoor environment would not have offered. Plus, lots of cheap t-shirts, not the usual overpriced merch you find at most arena shows. Anyway, on to the music, which I've divided into three sections:
The Great
Lamb of God
The reason why Lamb of God were the headliners was made even more obvious when the reigning kings of American metal took the stage. The band boasts a swagger and confidence that few bands can pull off...they're great, and they know it. Flanked by the shaggy blond trio of guitarists Willie Adler, and John Campbell, and bassist Mark Morton, vocalist Randy Blythe stalked and paced the stage, his cantankerous persona and maniacal growl contrasting with the technically precise metal the rest of the band reeled off. Drummer Chris Adler was excellent, anchoring the band's flawless set. Although the band was on at the end of a very long day, the tired fans still had plenty of energy left. It was interesting how on the band's first visit to my city, when Blythe introduced the set's finale "Black Label" with, "You know what to do," the kids in the pit indeed knew what to do, immediately going to opposite sides of the floor to set themselves up for the infamous "Wall of Death". When Blythe counted to four, the song kicking in, the stampede was on, and bodies flew everywhere. Like Exodus once said, it was friendly violent fun, and Lamb of God's visit should further galvanize an already growing fanbase here. The setlist:
Laid to Rest
Hourglass
As the Palaces Burn
Now You've Got Something to Die For
Ruin
11th Hour
Bloodletting
What I've Become
The Subtle Art of Murder and Persuasion
Omerta
Vigil
The Faded Line
Black Label
Clutch
This was the one band I was most looking forward to, and not only did they not dissapoint, they played one of the best live sets I've seen in ages. I got goosebumps. I never get goosebumps at concerts. Their Southern rock/jam band/metal vibe was a great relief from the hardcore screaming, as the bearded Neil Fallon sermonized and gesticulated onstage, spewing his psychedelically surreal lyrics. I've always thought that the band's most recent two albums, Blast Tyrant and this year's Robot Hive/Exodus, tower over their earlier work, and to my great pleasure, their 40 minute set focused on those two albums. Highlights included the raucous reaction to the "Let's all move to Canada and smoke a lot of pot" line in "The Mob Goes Wild", the nutty tunes "Cypress Grove" and "Burning Beard", as well as the cover of "Gravel Road". What am I saying, the entire set was perfect, and I didn't want it to end. Incredible. The setlist:
Gravel Road
Burning Beard
The Incomparable Mr. Flannery
Profits of Doom
The Mob Goes Wild
Cypress Grove
Gullah
10001110101
(notes from the trial of) La Curandera
Opeth
Swedish metal bands just don't come to my town, so when this tour was announced, it's no surprise that the local metal contingent would be out in full force. Of all the bands, Opeth separated the metal crowd from the hardcore crowd the most, many kids not knowing what to make of the band's epic blend of mellow, Pink Floyd tones with ornate death metal. My brother hated it, considering it the height of tedium (and laughed out loud when Mikael Akerfeldt sang, "There's nobody here," during "To Rid the Disease"), but I loved it, Akerfeldt's solos sounding impeccable, the tight drumming by Strapping Young Lad's Gene Hoglan (who was substituting as the band's drummer had fallen ill recently) sounding great. The band doesn't exactly exude charisma, and Akerfeldt's laconic introductions to the songs sound like a DJ on a classical FM station, but the guy does possess a wickedly deadpan sense of humour that I got a kick out of. They played for 40 minutes, which meant only five songs, but the songs they did were fantastic:
Deliverance
To Rid the Disease
In My Time of Need
The Grand Conjuration
Demon of the Fall
Strapping Young Lad
"Welcome to A&W, my name is Devin...can I take your STINKING ORDER!!!" Devin Townsend was in fine form, shouting some of the funniest stage banter you'll ever hear, and SYL (with DevilDriver's bassist filing in) were as awesome as ever. Townsend was a show-stealer, thanks to his circle pit stunt which had the crowd changing direction every time he yelled, "Reverse!!!" during "In the Rainy Season", creating total chaos. People were going in every direction by the end, bodies going everywhere, as Townsend declared, "Stop it, you all look like a bunch of f---in' retards!" It was one of the funniest sights I've ever seen at a metal show. I said it back in April, I will never, ever miss another SYL show. The setlist:
Imperial
Velvet Kevorkian
All Hail the New Flesh
Love?
Relentless
In the Rainy Season
High on Fire
Sandwiched in between four no-frills hardcore bands, the kids didn't take to High on Fire like I thought they would, as many of them took off to hit the washrooms and merch booths. A shame, too, because the trio sounded absolutely massive, Matt Pike being his usual madman self, screaming in his Lemmy-style voice and letting loose some insane licks on his Les Paul. It was only a 25 minute set, but a fiery one..."Cometh Down Hessian" pleased me the most. The setlist:
Cometh Down Hessian
The Face of Oblivion
Nemesis
Devilution
Unearth
These guys were the biggest surprise of the day, by far. I had heard stories of how their live show was excellent, but I was really taken aback by just how good they are. This is a band with stage presence...they exude charisma, and were the perfect band to set things up for Lamb of God, after the more laid-back sounds of Opeth and Clutch, running around the stage, guzzling from beer bongs, and reeling off plenty of old school metal riffs. I don't know all their songs (I have to buy their recent album now!), but I know they did "The Great Dividers", "This Lying World", and "Black Hearts Still Reign".
GWAR
We all knew this would be one the the best acts of the day, and GWAR pulled out all the stops during their half-hour set, with the usual blood and goop spraying everywhere. They had two cannons on either side of the stage which were surprisingly powerful, and needless to say, lots of people got drenched (the washrooms were packed with people dripping with fake blood). The floor was such a mess afterward, that they had to clean it with a little mini-Zamboni afterward, to meke it safe for the rest of the night. Oh, and the music was pretty darn good, too, especially "Bring Back the Bomb" and "Sick of You".
The Good
Chimaira were very solid, impressive live, the Slayer-style riffs enhanced by cool keyboard bombs that rattled our teeth. Earlier stuff like "Power Trip" and "Pure Hatred" were good, but the new songs "Nothing Remains" and "Comatose", impressed the most.
It was neat to see All That Remains in a venue much bigger than the tiny club I saw them in last November, and they were eager to impress, their high-energy set of likeable metalcore made memorable by the antics of their lead singer, who made good use out of every minute the band had. Metalcore needs good frontmen like that.
Out of all the hardcore bands, Madball were the best, delivering tunes hugely influenced by Agnostic front. No surprise there, as the band is led by the little brother of Agostic Front's vocalist.
I liked Norma Jean's more abrasive sounds, coming off as a tamer Dillinger Escape Plan, and DevilDriver, who opened the show at noon, were entertaining enough, especially their bass player, to seemed to be copying the stage persona of the late Cliff Burton, to a tee.
The...Meh.
A Life Once Lost, Terror, Throwdown, Poison the Well, and Every Time I Die were all very ordinary. Not awful, just mind-numbingly bland.
So yeah, a great time was had by all, and I hope this tour comes around again in a year's time. Oh, and which band, along with Lamb of God, sold out their t-shirts the fastest? None other than Opeth.
Wednesday, July 27, 2005
First off, tickets for the big Oct. 4 Arcade Fire show go on sale this Saturday morning. So that means I, who will be absolutely drained from enduring the madness at Sounds of the Underground the day before, will have to drag myself out of bed horribly early to order tickets. The scenario is just about perfect enough for me to predict I'm going to sleep through it...
Speaking of Sounds of the Underground, two days to go. Coincidentally, the new Opeth album, The Ghost Reveries has leaked, and it's very, very good. The same old stuff from Mikael Akerfeldt, epic, ten minute songs that alternate from goth/death metal to acoustic folk, aggression vs. pensive moods, rough death vocals vs. clean singing. It's much less intricate than past stuff, like Deliverance, technical prowess taking a backseat to groove, but still sounding as powerful as ever (reminding me a bit of Sigh). Two songs really stick out, the midtempo "The Baying of the Hounds", an organ-driven tune that chugs along like Deep Purple before slipping into a hypnotic, mellow middle section, and the massive "The Grand Conjuration", which is built around a simple, gloomy goth riff, alternatig from softly sung verses to harsher choruses. Like any Opeth tune, it takes its own sweet time, but I really like how Akerfeldt keeps things extremely simple...there's not much there at all, but overall, it's a fantastic, phantasmagoric mood piece that's as good as anything I've heard in metal today. They've been playing it live this past month, so hopefully we'll be treated to it on Friday. I strongly suggest you try it out for yourself...you non-metal listeners, especially...you might be surprised:
Opeth - "The Grand Conjuration"
I've been playing the astonishing mash-up of Kelly Clarkson's "Since You Been Gone" and frank Black's "You Ain't Me" constantly for the past ten days or so. Every year for the past five years, I've been coming across mash-ups that become a permanent fixture in my music collection, and this one is no exception. Download it here immediately.
So while Patterson Hood and the Drive-By Truckers are busy blowing people away at Lollapalooza, opening for Dave Matthews, and generally avoiding Western Canada like the plague, Hood has been putting together his second solo album, and unlike , it's going to be a full band effort. "Pollyanna" (download it here) sounds rough, and needs some serious mixing, but it's very encouraging nonetheless. Good to hear the big guy turning up the volume.
Oh, and before all the little indie kids and O.C. fans out there go all teary-eyed over the new Death Cab For Cutie album, I should say that I really like "Soul Meets Body" quite a bit...
Friday, July 22, 2005
Only a week until Sounds of the Underground hits Toon Town, and there has been an interesting development regarding the tour's lineup. From Autumn to Ashes, who had been subjected to some apparently merciless booing by the hardcore crowd, have bolted. As a result, in order to fill up the band's spot, the five bands who are co-headlining under Lamb of God (Clutch, Opeth, Chimaira, Unearth, Poison the Well) have all had 10 to 15 minutes added to their sets. Fantastic news, as Clutch and Opeth are two bands I'm most looking forward to seeing. Should be quite a day, and I hope to post a full recap here.
Over the past two and a half weeks, I've been enjoying the four newest selections from the massive Can reissues project. 1973's Future Days is amazing, and deserves to be spoken in the same breath as 1971's Tago Mago and 1972's Ege Bamyasi, 1975's Landed is a decent album that suffers from the band's change from live-to-stereo recording to swanky multi-track twiddling, and 1976's Unlimited Edition is a fun collection of studio outtakes (highlighted by four tracks from the late 60s, including the stupendous "Connection"), but it's 1974's Soon Over Babaluma that is quickly shaping up to be my favourite Can album. Yeah, the presence of the great Damo Suzuki is missed (he left the band to get married and become a Jehovah's Witness in 1973), and guitarist Michael Karoli's vocals are a bit, erm, stilted (not unlike The Notwist's Markus Acher), but Suzuki's absence seems to draw the four remaining band members together, the resulting music sounding as focused, precise, and bold as their previous three albums (sometimes even moreso). The first three tracks (which comprised Side One of the original LP), focus on different members of the band. Karoli is all over the murky, reggae-tinged excursion "Dizzy Dizzy", sawing away sensual melodies on the violin, his layered vocals stuttering the nonsensical lyrics ("Got t-t-to get-t it up/Got t-t-to get-t it over"). Led by Irmin Schmidt's flamboyant piano stabs and his creepy, spoken verses and howled choruses, the eerie tango "Come Sta, La Luna" takes the sound of early Roxy Music and weirds it up as only Can could do. On the Latin jazz jam "Splash", Jaki Leibezeit, easily one of the greatest percussionists of the 1970s, proves his worth with his lithe, yet highly disciplined polyrhythms. It's the 20 minute "Chain Reaction/Quantum Physics", though, that always knocks me off my chair. Already masters of the extended piece, such as "Yoo Doo Right", "Mother Sky", "Halleluwah", and the aforementioned "Bel Air", Can simply top themselves...the ultra-precise syncopation of bassist Holger Czukay and Leibezeit (along with touches of drum machine), which propels the entire band, predates disco and trance music. The use of African and Cuban-influenced percussion hints at the world music explosion which would happen a decade later. "Chain Reaction" shifts from dance-fueled aggression to more pensive, lightly funky moments, as Karoli reels off some of his most impassioned guitar solos to date, delivered in his signature choppy style. Enhanced by tape effects, "Quantum Physics" takes a turn toward the surreal, the mood shifting from exultant to foreboding, Czukay providing some of his most brilliant bass patterns, and Schmidt's prehistoric Alpha 77 synth adding an ethereal backdrop to the proceedings. Arguably the band's zenith, it's the climax of a stunning run of six great albums in six years. And oh my, what an album cover.
It's funny, I only first heard of Can three years ago, but thanks to stuff like the very good Anthology compilation and Simon Reynolds's inspired write-up in the Spin Alternative Record Guide (a very obvious reason why I've swayed more toward Babaluma than any other disc)(I had that book for nearly a decade, yet still didn't know Can from a hole in the ground), I've been steadily learning more about the band. These reissues are the capper, and sound absolutely incredible. Their first six albums were recorded using rather primitive technology, but these new remasters sound so immaculate, it's often hard to believe, and make today's young American lo-fi indie bands sounds like rank amateurs in comparison.
On a completely different note, I've really been enjoying the new Greatest Hits compilation by The Offspring. They're one of those bands who have always been around over the past 11 years, and I've always enjoyed their tunes, as well as a couple of their albums, but I hadn't fully noticed just how many quality singles they'd put out over the years. There are a few duds, like "Defy You" and "Original Prankster", but overall, it's a very fun CD, revisiting their punk breakthrough days ("Come Out and Play" is still a stroke of genius), their flawed 1997 follow-up (whose singles I've always liked), and the band's eventual embracing of goofball novelty tunes. They're not the most talented band, and they've really been slipping over the last five years, but as tunes like "Want You Bad" and "The Kids Aren't Alright" prove, they're still capable of some first-rate pop punk, and that's all we ask of them. This'll be a good CD to have around.
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
Finally.
The Arcade Fire 10/02 Saskatoon, SK - Odeon Event Center w/ The Bell Orchestre
Monday, July 18, 2005
Well, I'm back from a rather refreshing week spent completely away from the internet. My typing, rudimentary as it already is, is even more on the rusty side.
So what happens while I'm gone, but a sudden, unprecedented barrage of articles written by yours truly, all sprouting up at PopMatters. So before I continue, here's a rundown of it all:
First, my big My Favorite Thing essay on Iron Maiden's Live After Death album appeared. It's the fifth, and final, Favourite Albums essay I'll do...It was a goal of mine to write about my all-time five favourite records, and three years after starting, I'm now done. I'm indebted to my PopMatters editors for giving me the chance to do such a thing. So to sum it all up, here's my List of Five, in alphabetical order:
Iron Maiden - Live After Death
Metallica - Master of Puppets
Pavement - Slanted & Enchanted
Pulp - Different Class
Ramones - Leave Home
Now Hear This is a special section PopMatters has been doing for years now, and my first contribution to it is now up, as I take a look at the outstanding debut album by The Ladies & Gentlemen. As the review says, the album was suppoed to be out last week, but I've just learned that the release has now been delayed until September. However, I think the CD can still be ordered at the Boompa site. Order it now, if you know what's good for you. And take my word for it, smart, warm, organic-sounding synth pop is very, very good for you.
CD reviews galore! La Foret, Xiu Xiu's third album in less than three years, is an interesting one, a disc that's as dark as anything they've done before, with a couple of phenomenal tracks, especially the chilling "Pox". The new album by Miami's Torche is a stunner, a very cool blend of melodies and huge stoner metal riffs. And speaking of stunners, Primordial's epic The Gathering Wilderness knocked me off my feet. The new Mudvayne album sucks, buy most of us knew that already, as nu-metal continues to become less and less relevant with each passing month. The debut album by The Forecast is mildly impressive, an emo record that has a lot more genuine heart than most emptyheaded, overly melodramatic emo releases.
A very, very busy week awaits me now, and hopefully I'll get around to mentioning the new Can reissues, the new compilations by Megadeth and The Offspring, and a host of other stuff, from Morningwood to Dredg, but for now, it's relaxy time.
In the meantime, do yourself a favour and make your Monday a whole lot better by giving a listen to the new Girls Aloud single:
Girls Aloud - "Long Hot Summer"
Sunday, July 10, 2005
Sorry about the lack of updates, but I've been crazily writing CD reviews, in preparation for the next week, when I'll be completely internetless for the longest time in many, many years...
My review of the new Fountains of Wayne compilation is now up, over at Static. Has the usual bumps that these kinds of albums always have, but there are loads of gems here that make it all worthwhile. Although I thought their last album was more flawed than the impeccable Utopia Parkway, I don't think I can ever hate this band. "Maureen" is one of my favourite singles of the year so far.
I always say it, but I have to repeat myself yet again: as fun as the albums that live up to or exceed our expectations are, it's the surprises, the ones that come from out of nowhere, that make this all worthwhile. Last year, it was the songwriting genius of Jens Lekman, and this year, it's the unpretentious charm of The Magic Numbers. I had only heard of this UK band in passing, but never got around to hearing them. It turns out I've been missing out on what has become the unlikeliest of success stories in UK pop this year. Here's a band of four hippy-dippy musicians, featuring two sets of siblings, both brothers and sisters, singing a sumptuous combination of 80s folk pop and modern powerpop, music too cute to generate massive buzz, but quicker than you can say "toppermost of the poppermost", these kids wound up debuting at #7 on the UK album charts a month ago. Yes, Virginia, there is hope for clever, simple pop after all.
Of course, being the dummy that I am, I didn't know any of this on Friday, as I glanced indifferently at the CD sitting in its bubble mailer, still warm from sitting outside in a 90 degree mailbox for a couple hours. I'd been growing more and more jaded with indie rock lately, the album by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! being the straw that broke the dromedary's back. All the gimmicks, all the hipster posing, all the singing in idiotically affected voices, all the irony...I just couldn't stand it anymore. So when I saw that Magic Numbers album, I thought, oh great, another indie rock album and ignored it as I ate lunch. Before I went out, I decided to pop the CD in, just for a polite test run that would last no longer than a song or two. A half hour later, there I was, jaw on the floor, flabbergasted, thinking, am I nuts, or is this one of the best things I've heard in ages?
This album is absotively, posilutely, flat-out gorgeous. The band heads in the same direction as The Thrills, the Delgados, and Hal have recently done, embracing the West Coast singer-songwriter pop of the early 70s, but with one colossal difference: hooks. Major, contagious, glorious, fabulous roman candles bursting like spiders across the stars hooks. Romeo Stodart plays guitar and croons in a gentle voice that greatly resembles Cat Stevens. His friend Sean Gannon plays percussion. And their sisters, bassist Michele Stodart and keyboardist Angela Gannon provide some of the most sumptuous backing vocals, this side of a Leonard Cohen album. It's easy to compare this band to the Mamas & papas, but really, how often do we get a boy/girl vocal combination that works as brilliantly as this? The bouncy "Mornings Eleven", the booze-drenched "The Mule", the Strokes-ish (really) "Love Me Like You", the gently rolling, soulful "Don't Give Up the Fight", the folky "Wheels on Fire", and the epic "Hymn For Her" are all standouts, but in all honestly, there's nary a weak moment here at all.
Two songs, though, really hammer home just how great this band is, and I've posted MP3s for you guys:
The Magic Numbers - "Forever Lost"
The first single from the album, it begins like a regular, contemporary alt-rock song, with the same kind of driving pace of a Strokes tune, but then the chorus bursts in, as if the Strokes have suddenly surrendered the stage to the Partridge Family, the three singers delivering a happy melody. Then, from out of the freakin' blue, comes a stunner of a breakdown, sounding so inspired, there's no way an American band could come up with it, as Michele and Angela gracefully intone, "Looks like it all went wrong/What am I to do?" before picking up the pace, reprising the chorus and first verse to close the song. Simply lovely. Oh, and watch the extremely cute video here.
The Magic Numbers - "I See You, You See Me"
This song, though, is the real kicker, so devastatingly beautiful, you'll be left winded. An homage to classic folk pop of the 60s, and early 70s, it begins innocuously, Romeo gently singing, "I never wanted to love you, but that's okay," as a simple arrangement of chiming guitar, bass, organ, and minimal drums provide a backdrop. After a lilting chorus, Angela enters the fray with a verse of her own, her beautiful voice sounding a bit like Emmylou Harris. After the pair engage in a country-inspired duet, the band shifts into a lively bridge that brings to mind The New Pornographers, launching into an extended bridge, where they sing, "This is not what I'm like, this is not what I do/This is not what I'm like, I think I'm falling for you," before returning to the understated majesty of the opening bars.
If you live in Canada, run out right now and buy this album. If you're in the States, order an import copy at once. A day without this stupendous record is a day wasted.
It's amazing, at the moment when I think all hope is lost for new indie bands, something falls into my lap, completely restoring my faith in the sound. Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.
Monday, July 4, 2005
Yikes, what a weekend.
First off, I have to mention my review of the new GWAR album, which popped up this past Friday. Not your usual live album, the "live"-ness of it all is highly questionable, and it's loaded with canned crowd noise, but although it's almost a parody of a live record, it still shows how good this band can be, once you're forced to listen to the music, and not spend half your time laughing and trying to avoid being sprayed with blood. It's a decent CD, but has added sentimental value for yours truly, because my little niece Rilyn was born twelve hours after I saw GWAR last November. I still had green GWAR goop blotches on my arms when I held her for the first time. That stuff does not wash off easily.
So, Live 8. I tivo'd the entire thing, and found CTV's coverage to be either adequate or absolutely infuriating. First, we all knew going in that CTV would be showing the Canadian concert in its entirety, but would it have killed them to show feeds from the other venues on CTV NewsNet? And no, I chose not to watch the internet feed...I'm not going to sit in front of this silly computer for ten hours. So instead, we were forced to watch the leamest lineup of Canadian musicians that anyone could come up with. It was embarrassing...if it wasn't Simple Plan cheeseballing it up, it was a has-been like Tom Cochrane trying unsuccessfully to prove he's still relevant. The early stuff from London was impressive, namely Coldplay's duet with Richard Ashcroft, and Madonna, who really surprised me with a solid performance. Macca was good, The Who were The Who, U2 were U2, but what we were all waiting for was Pink Floyd.
When Floyd took the stage in London, Motley Crue was playing in Barrie, delivering a lame, limp set. To sit through that was bad enough (I've always loved their first two albums, but have long felt they're a very weak live act), but to do so knowing the reunited Pink Floyd was blowing peoples' minds at the same tim was agonizing. After a commercial, the host said, "Here's the moment most people have been waiting for," and they started playing the pre-recorded Floyd set. Yes! I was on the phone to fellow geek Steve, telling him, "They're on, they're on!" I watched them do a sublime version of "Breathe", then requisite crowd-pleaser "Money", and right as that song ended, I was thinking, oh man, this is too perfect, eagerly anticipating the expected "Wish You Were Here" and "Comfortbly Numb". Right then, at that very moment,the picture faded to black, with a caption that read ominously, "Coming up...the Tragically Hip," and then another set of commercials started. Oh thank you CTV...after all, there's nobody we want to see more than another aging Canadian rock group in their decline. Thank you so very friggin' much. People have been calling that the Canadian version of the Heidi Bowl, and that's an absolutely perfect way to describe it. I was beside myself with rage...and then later that night, when the network aired the "best moments" from the day, they just replayed "Money". Idiots!!! This could only happen in Canada. A pox on CTV for dropping the ball in a most spectacular fashion, at the worst possible moment.
Thankfully, that night I was able to download the entire Pink Floyd set, and yeah, it was something special, not to mention painfully brief. Very nice to see them doing their thing as a simple quartet, with no extras that ruined the recent incarnation of the band (one backing singer and a second guitarist played a little bit, but were much more understated). I'd wish for them to tour, but since I live in a place where they would never, ever come near, quite frankly, I don't really care whether they do or not.
Floyd might have exceeded my expectations, but the real knockout surprise was Robbie Williams, who just tore the place up. The guy was born to play in front of a kazillion people...he hammed it up, and the crowd ate it up. "We Will Rock You/Let Me Entertain You" was fantastic, while "Angel" was downright gorgeous, with the crowd all singing along. You always wait for one guy to steal a big show like this, and Williams did it.
Okay, on to new stuff. A sampler of the new Ladytron album Witching Hour has leaked, and the four tracks are so great, I can't wait to hear the rest. The version of "Sugar" is slicker and more beefed-up than the demo quality version that came out eight months ago, and "International Dateline" and "All the Way" are quite lovely, but it's "Destroy Everything You Touch" that really got my attention. It continues the band's progression towards a more dance-oriented sound, but still has strong elements of electro and krautrock. It's so fantastic, I thought I'd share it with y'all:
Ladytron - "Destroy Everything You Touch"
Also, just because the song is so, so great, here's a better version of the new Goldfrapp single:
Goldfrapp - "Ooh La La"
Oh, and be sure to download the amazing new video for the same song here.
Friday, July 1, 2005
Before I get down to some serious semiannual listmaking business here, I should mention a couple of new reviews that have popped up recently. There's the new album by DC metalcore guys Darkest Hour, a mightily impressive third album that goes totally for the Swedish metal sound, which was a very pleasant surprise. Also, my review of the new Clutch album, a superb record that I've been spouting off to everyone recently. Including here, I think (check the June archive, over there on the right).
Also, do yourself a favour and celebrate Canada Day by watching the new video for Stars' "Reunion".
Can we already be six months through 2005? Time sure flies when you're busy listening to great music, and this being the first of July, it's time for my fifth annual (man, this blog is old!) Best of the Year So Far List. It's been a funny year so far...it started off extremely strongly, with new albums by LCD Soundsystem, MIA, Fischerspooner, Doves, Bloc Party, and Caribou, but after February, the quality of new music seemed to taper off considerably. The mediocrity of American indie rock, especially, has gotten so bad, that I'm close to washing my hands of it completely, as freak folk (a sound best experienced in small doses), the increasingly popular (and annoying) Bright Eyes, and insipid critical darlings such as Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! receive too much praise for their own good. My growing aversion to American indie is reflected in my mid-year list, where only one American indie band band places among my list of 21 albums. Meanwhile, Canada and the UK continue to export brilliant new acts, many of which, like The Ladies & Gentlemen and Art Brut, couldn�t quite squeeze on to my list.
On the other hand, what a glorious six months it's been for metal. If it weren't for the overwhelming wealth of superb metal releases, 2005 would be a complete lost cause. We had superb comebacks by metal veterans (Judas Priest, Candlemass), established American artists outdoing themselves (COC, Clutch, Nile), and stunning masterpieces by international acts (Behemoth, Primordial). It's gotten to the point where it's hard to keep track of all the great new metal CDs I've heard, so this year, in addition to my list of 21 discs, I've decided to toss in ten additional metal albums that are worthy of your attention. So, enough talk. Here we go:
The Best Album of the Year So Far:
LCD Soundsystem - LCD Soundsystem
It was a long time coming, but the debut album by dancepunk stalwarts LCD Soundsystem did not dissappoint. For those of us accustomed to such great DFA singles as "Yeah", "Beat Connection", and "Losing My Edge", the album did have plenty of tricks up its sleeve, as band leader James Murphy decided to stretch his band's sound beyond the constraints of dancepunk, delivering instead a surprisingly taut record that veered from funk ("Daft Punk is Playing at My House", "Disco Infiltrator"), to krautrock ("On Repeat"), post punk ("Movement"), classic rock ("Never as Tired as When I�m Waking Up"), and the lush, airy, ambient sounds of 70s-era Brian Eno ("Great Release"). If all that wasn�t enough, the album comes with a companion disc, which compiles LCD Soundsystem's previous singles (including the three classics I mentioned). So not only do you get nearly two hours of sensational music, but this album gives you the most bang for your buck, out of everything else that�s come out this year so far. The album certainly sounds ambitious, and it is, but Murphy's music, especially on this record, is always friendly and accessible. He might be lampooning hipster culture on "Losing My Edge", but the music itself never, ever gets as lofty and pretentious as the crowd he makes fun of. It might be innovative, but above all else, it's fun, and when that cowbell kicks in, the message is not lost on the listeners.
And here are the top ten other contenders for my year-end list, in alphabetical order:
Behemoth - Demigod
Straddling the line between death metal and black metal, the Polish band�s latest album is an impeccably-produced blend of the brutal and the accessible. Epic in every sense of the word.
Bloc Party - Silent Alarm
As this British band built strong word of mouth last year, comparisons to Franz Ferdinand were flying, but as this startlingly assured, musically rich debut CD proves, they couldn�t be more different.
Clutch - Robot Hive / Exodus
After years of releasing good, but uneven albums of Southern-tinged stoner rock, Clutch finally nailed it, with a groove-laced record that remains loyal to their trademark sound, yet still is daring enough to try new things.
Fischerspooner - Odyssey
I was ready to write this duo off, but they returned with a stunner of a second album that caught me completely off-guard, one that trounces their debut, eschewing arty pretension in favour of pop hooks.
M.I.A. - Arular
The most highly anticipated debut album of 2005 did not disappoint, as Maya proves she�s not a lame hip hop gimmick by putting together a minimal, yet multilayered disc that is every bit as catchy as it is enigmatic.
Okkervil River - Black Sheep Boy
I had no idea who this Austin band was before this year, but this darkly ambitious album of Southern gothic-tinged country, rock, and folk shook me, thanks to the chilling singing and songwriting talents of Will Sheff.
Primordial - The Gathering Wilderness
In which the Irish metal band delve deep into pagan mythology, the history of their homeland, and Celtic folk music, creating an emotional, pulverizing, remarkably melodic opus that defies categorization.
System of a Down - Mesmerize
The first half of an intended double album, this CD continues the astonishing progression of metal's most wildly creative bands. If Hypnotize is as good as Mezmerize (I expect it to be even better), I predict it will be a lock for my album(s) of the year.
Torche - Torche
While sludge and stoner bands continue to churn out the same old recycled, turgid sounds, Miami�s Torche have dared to do something different, throwing in layered vocal melodies that perfectly offset the huge riffs, and the idea works brilliantly.
Turbonegro - Party Animals
The latest album by the Norwegian deathpunk legends continues their incredible streak of superior releases, this time returning to the simple, pop-fueled rifferama of Apocalypse Dudes, making this their best record in seven years.
Ten other albums that are definitely worth mentioning, in alphabetical order: Candlemass - Candlemass, Caribou - The Milk of Human Kindness, Corrosion of Conformity - In the Arms of God, Dalek - Absence, Damon & Naomi - The Earth is Blue, Doves - Some Cities, Nile - Annihilation of the Wicked, Maximo Park - A Certain Trigger, The Raveonettes - Pretty in Black, Teenage Fanclub - Man-Made
And for good measure, here are ten more metal albums that are too great to ignore, again, in alphabetical order: Brand New Sin = Recipe For Disaster, Cursed - Two, Dew-Scented - Issue VI, Fantomas - Suspended Animation, Hate Eternal - I, Monarch, High on Fire - Blessed Black Wings, Jesu - Jesu, Judas Priest - Angel of Retribution, Napalm Death - The Code is Red�Long Live the Code, Strapping Young Lad - Alien
So why didn�t I mention The New Pornographers' Twin Cinema? Well, it/s not out for another seven weeks, so why not be fair to the stuff that's already out, right? (but yeah, it would have made this top ten if I had included it)
