The run-up to the big hitter new releases on the back stretch of 08 is on, and I am hereby cleaning out as much of the backlog of discs as I can. Quite a few remain un-reviewed, but for the most part, they are duds, but un-spectacularly. Why let that be made redundant by my writing?
So anyway, here is a drop for ya's, and it should be the last for awhile. For your reading pleasure, I provide the M83 song Kim & Jessie which is not only a spectacular slice of 80's synth done better than it ever was in its time, but also a fine video. Think of it as meeting your aesthetic needs half-way:
Chad VanGaalen - Soft Airplane: Without a doubt, the voice isn't for everyone, but this album is really good. The songs are fantastic, and he really doesn't keep going after the songs the same way twice. This album is one that is likely to hold up for a long long time. Sometimes I get albums like this wrong - and again, the vocals here are a very acquired taste - but While this can get a little sparse and down in spots (not often, and usually not for long) I would place this almost in Arcade Fire territory in terms of constructing an end-to-end solid indie rock album. Something in the water up in Canada I suspect. Because he vocally could be accused of making Tiny Tim seem masculine, download the ample supply of cuts from this album before making up yer mind (try Hype Machine.) I think my ear is right on this one, at least song-wise. Here is your chance to calibrate your ear to mine. (B)
The Replacements - Tim: Listening to this re-issue of the first Mats major label album is totally different than my recollection of the album has long been. This was one of the few albums I had by them when they were still going, and I got it primarily because I thought Bastards Of Young was one of the best songs I had ever heard - if a little sentimental. I don't know why the sentimentality of that song, and many of the others, didn't really dawn on me then. I thought of this as being the last of their true "punk" albums, and in retrospect, I realize it isn't, and they weren't. They were a pop band. They weren't punks, they were just loud, liked distortion, and at times, deliberately sloppy. I think that was mostly a put-on. They were a pop band with heart-on-sleeve, and I think it took them awhile to embrace it (not long - but at least a few releases in.) Tim recaptures no old glory, it foreshadows the last of it. Bastards Of Young actually is one of the best songs produced by an American alt.rock band (or any rock band for that matter), but there are more than a few other gems on this. While lyrically I find it reactionary and mean-spirited, ya can't deny Waitress In The Sky as a song (I should clarify: I only like the lyrics when I am feeling reactionary & mean while having to endure travel BS.) Here Comes A Regular is classic alt.rock as well. I have no sympathy for the subject matter, and therefore, could never love the song, but if one is prone to over-romanticizing their Vida Loca, then I am sure it hits the spot. There is some filler on the album - most of the stuff I fast-forwarded through on the cassette version I had as a kid is stuff I still FF through. That said, there is just no way to front on Left Of The Dial, Kiss Me On The Bus, Hold My Life, Waitress, & Here Comes A Reg. They are just fantastic songs done well. With this reissue, you get a handful of bonus cuts, and they make it well-worth getting a new copy of the album. In listening to the versions of Can't Hardly Wait that were done during the Tim sessions, I realize they were better off waiting to make the cut they did (on Pleased To Meet Me, which is probably my favorite by the Mats, and is next on my shopping list.) These other versions are awesome, but they are extra. A side dish, if you will. The official version is, and should be, the version of record. The other extras are all of the kind I wish all re-issues had: fully-formed true outtakes, revelatory demos, B-sides. There ain't any filler among the extras, and that is becoming increasingly rare to find, so cheers to them for that. All in all, if you are a fan in passing, I suppose you could start here. If you only know "I'll Be You", get one of their greatest hits comps. If you are a big fan, nothing I say will make a dent anyway. If you are on the fence - as I always have been - this is well worth it. The stuff holds up better than I thought it might. (B+)
Clash - Live At Shea Stadium: I am one of those lame-o's who like the later Clash over the early Clash. For me, the fact that this show was a late period show and has a bias towards that material gives it a bias in favor of my ear, but to be honest, it doesn't blow me away. The arrangements of some of the stuff (Magnificent 7/Armageddon Time, Rock The Casbah, and a Bo Diddley take on Guns Of Brixton) don't do that much for me. Some of the old stuff is a yawn, and some of my least favorite "hits" of theirs (Spanish Bombs, Clampdown) are in evidence. I just don't think this is all that great, and frankly, I prefer the From Here to Eternity album of a few years back. If I had to guess, I would say that the fact the band was at the end of the line is part of it, as is the fact that Tory Crimes is drumming instead of Topper are a big part of it. Don't get me wrong, even on an off-day, The Clash were excellent. This is a great band in less than optimal conditions being packaged for sale long after their death in a way that leaves me feeling like it is product. I will pretty much buy anything that they put out, so I suppose I am the problem, but I know what I like. I like The Clash, but I am not sure I think Shea does much to make their case. (C+)
Castanets - City Of Refuge: I think This Song Is Not A Song Of The World by the Castanets is gonna end up in my top 5 songs of this decade. I love it, listen to it often, and have never tired of it. Not even close. Their albums are a different story. They are quite spotty and are very uneven. This is their second album in a very short span, and it also is getting some less than stellar reviews, so I had pretty low expectations. My first listens made me wonder if Castanets will remain in my "buy all they put out" category, but then, I decided to try it again this past weekend when walking back to my hotel from my friend Kevin's house in Portland, OR. Kevin lives up the hill near the Zoo (kinda), and I took my walk near midnight. It was just me and my footsteps in the dark (it was a good day...) and I put it on as I started walkin', and it was then that the value of it hit me. The album is really sparse, and the album has a good number of little sketches of songs in lieu of full songs - moreover, it was recorded pretty much solo in a desert hotel room, only to get some indie-star overdubs (a very few) after the fact. It is ramshackle, without a doubt. Even so, on a beautiful night high above a beautiful city - and indeed, for the civilized, a true city of refuge within a country that makes little islands of such places - I totally bonded with it. It isn't end-to-end perfect, but in their catalog, it has a higher % of solid tunes than most of their other albums. The idea of contriving something high-n-lonesome is something really easy to spot. This gets to that spot without feeling like a contrivance. I think it just comes down to the fact that I like Ray Raposo's sensibilities, and that this is really his project, and that the catalog is uneven in spots because I think he feels uneven in spots. That may seem cheesy, but deciding not to edit yerself isn't the easiest thing to do when you have something to lose by doing so is a tough thing to do. I would much rather find my way through the 'misses' myself because so much would be lost if an album like this never bubbled up to the top because it is either too soon or doesn't feel as polished as other work. This ain't Nebraska or the first Blood On The Tracks or anything; it is a snapshot of time by someone capable of greatness. It doesn't aspire to anything else, and it doesn't need to. I suspect the feeling it created for me on that walk is precisely what the intent was; and to do that, it had to be rough, sketched, and wear its warts out. Album of the year it isn't. Album-of-the-moment it can be in a way that only the good stuff does, and that means something, especially when that moment is intense and special. (B-)
Mercury Rev - Snowflake Midnight: They are probably never gonna make a Deserter's Songs #2, and I don't expect them to. I actually have liked much of the stuff that has come out since, and I think between all the albums since, I can pluck out an album's worth of prime-grade stuff. Each one seems to be good for a few awesome songs, a few in the middle, and then the rest are kinda 'eh..." This disc basically seems to fit the same pattern. It is possible that it will grow on me and reveal its excellence, but I am not counting on it. I think there are gonna end up being a handful of heavy rotation cuts, and a goodly number that make the Merc Rev mix disc I go to (and go to often actually.) I will keep trying for a bit to make it work for me from beginning to end (it is only 9 songs, and isn't particularly long at that), but I am not counting on it happening. I like Mercury Rev, and I will pretty much pick up any new album of theirs whenever they come out (there is a companion album to this for free download, which I am yet to listen to, but I have high hopes it will be fresh.) Since they lost the first vocalist, there has been quite a bit of continuity in their catalog, and their albums are usually a safe purchase. This fits the series, but I would be lying if I didn't admit that I would one day pick up a new disc from them that hits me as hard as Deserter's Songs did. Some day, maybe. (C+)
Wilderness - Vessel States: I read about them somewhere, and they had the early-PiL comparison going in their favor, so I gave it a try. I hear why that is mentioned, but they aren't an homage, nor do they advance the ideas; it is just pale imitation. I like PiL's Metal Box so much that anything in the neighborhood can't be all bad, and this isn't ALL bad, but it just gives me little reason to listen to it any more than the first few spins. (C-)
Bill Dixon/Franz Koglmann/Steve Lacy - Opium: There's plenty of Downtown/Out/Free/Modal/etc. jazz still being made. Some of it I like a lot, and not all it is just new stuff by the old masters. This trio has names I know of and have heard as a part of other bands, but I know nothing of their history together, and I know little more of their solo stuff. While my medical history draws me to the title, I can't say that is why I ended up with it. I saw some Bill Dixon & Tony Oxley stuff with Cecil Taylor (an all-time fave) and realized I needed to learn more. When I saw this get a nice write-up from Downtown Music NYC, I took a chance on it, and I am - for the most part - glad I did. To be honest, I am not as much a trumpet fan as I am of the sax, but I think Mr. Dixon is gonna break the trumpet open for me. That he does so with some sax playing in the mix here likely helps, but I don't think the dude needs it. I am getting good enough at finding my way through the free stuff to know what I am gonna go back to often, and I think there is stuff on here that I will take with me a long time (my iPlod is full, so I gots to make the choices, and about half of this has earned a spot.) While I usually warn people away from discs to start with, this might actually be one that a novice could stomach. The "out" aspects of it aren't all that over-bearing, it definitely references all types of jazz, even going back into almost Dixieland stuff in flashes. The disc is listed as a trio, but there's more than that going on. The bass/drum backbone is consistent and tight, and the range of winds and reeds played keep things from stagnating (which is a problem in the genre - at least for my ears.) I guess the only way I can phrase it is: I wouldn't think to use this disc to anger neighbors in need of aural beatdown...it isn't far out enough, long enough for that. Moreover, there is the chance that here and there, they make actually like it. (C+)
VA - Hear O Israel: A Prayer Ceremony In Jazz: I take my chances on occasion by buying re-issues of obscure jazz albums that lean toward the experimental. Creating a Jewish Prayer service in jazz fits that bill, and I might have gone and picked it up just to hear that. Then I read that the dude who wrote it for his Temple - at the age of 17! - found a way to get heavyweights like Herbie Hancock to lead the band at the service. I simply had to hear it. Usually these reissues have a high reward payout, but I gotta say, this one ain't all that great. Maybe I don't know enough about the nature of the service or whatever, but I really haven't spent more than a few spins on this, and I am calling it a dud. Maybe it is great. I wouldn't know. (D+)
First Nation - First Nation: This is the first album by the band who ended up changing their name to Rings. I liked the Rings album well enough because it reminds me of the Raincoats (if a little more shrill and not as tight in the song department.) When I had a chance to pick this disc up reasonably priced, I did, and it pretty much hits the same spot. Pretty good, not great. It has its high points, and I find it slots in nicely in the little Rings playlist I had together. I am not sure this is a band who is ever going to break out an get more than a passing glance, even in the indie world, but they deserve one. I may not say I totally love it, but when it hits me to listen to it, I realize that there is little out there that sounds like this and does what this can do. It is true I take it in small doses, and I usually go for the Raincoats themselves, but Rings/First Nation could end up making a massive album one day. Not massive in the sense of sales or recognition - the Raincoats never did that, and pulled off almost 3 massive albums - but massive in terms of staying power and understated power. If you dig the first 2 Raincoats albums in particular, you should dig these discs up. (C+)
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