Friday, April 28. 2006
No matter how many sub-genres the elitists (and pigeon-holing critics) create, there's always going to be a band that needs one created just for themselves. The Dresden Dolls are definitely one of those bands.
Just about the best description I've heard for them thus far is "cabaret-punk," which at least hints at the unique piano and drum sound created by Amanda and Brian. Their latest album, Yes, Virginia, builds brilliantly on the style they've cut out for themselves. With a little more of a produced and polished feel on this album, they've made themselves more accessible but never any less compelling. Amanda's lyrics don't back down, she's confrontational, she's spilling her guts, she hates you but she wants you and especially wants you feeling her emotions just as vehemently as she does. Sometimes with a haunting feel (especially with the first track "Sex Changes" opening with piano very much resembling the film Halloween's theme) or a romantic one, this album explores every part of the spectrum. Amanda's powerhouse vocals have a spectacular range and seduce you like a sexy jazz singer lounging across a piano ("Mandy Goes to Med School") or make you want to hug the little broken down girl she portrays herself as on "Me and the Minibar." Mental health, sex, drugs, and rock have always been frequent themes for the Dresden Dolls, almost as though Amanda tries to piece together the events of her seemingly traumatic life through her music. Yes, Virginia evokes the band's first taste of fame, with the first single "Dirty Business" showing Amanda's reaction to the recognition she's slowly gaining - not surprising for a band breaking out of the underground and becoming the next big thing.
Amanda's sexual prowess never ceases to be a driving force behind the music, with lyrics like "I'm trying hard not to know the name of who is waking up beside me," she captivates listeners but never gives away too many details. This album perfects the Dresden Dolls' sound, and I expected nothing less.
Thursday, April 20. 2006
The last guy I'd ever expect to see without his synthesizers is Erasure's Vince Clarke, but their just-released Union Street is an all-acoustic remake of songs from earlier albums. They didn't touch any of their hits, and there are no dance songs, just lots of silvery guitar from producer Steve Walsh behind Andy Bell's vocals. (Walsh is also the owner of the studio in Brooklyn that gave Union Street its name.)
I was living in Europe when Clarke, an original member of Depeche Mode, broke up his wildly successful synth-band Yazoo and started searching for a vocalist for a new group. I caught one of Erasure's very first shows, at a small club in London, where Andy Bell managed to sound disturbingly like Yazoo's Allison Moyet, and they brought the house down - most especially when Bell sang Abba's "Gimme Gimme Gimme" in leather jacket, motorcycle boots, and a pink tutu.
Erasure topped the charts in the UK and had some pop success in the US as well, but have usually been seen as the lightweights of the holy trinity of surviving 80s synthpop bands (the others being Depeche Mode and the Pet Shop Boys). Certainly DM and PSB are musically more complex and topically darker, but while there's no shortage of critics who don't think much of Erasure as musicians, the real problem is that they write pure pop love songs, and that is just so not cool.
Union Street's first cut was also the first single, and if they wanted to set the bar high, they succeeded. "Boy" is killingly beautiful, and had been all but lost in its original version on 1997's Cowboy. I wondered, in fact, how I had missed it, and just put Cowboyin the CD player and thought... ok, that's how.
Is the rest of the album as good as "Boy"? No, it's not, but most of it's very good indeed. For instance, their little trip through the back catalog turned up "Tenderest Moments," a b-side I'd never even heard before and that almost hits the heights of "Boy." And the guitars in this one, by Clarke as well as Walsh, are almost as purty as Bell's vocal.
Will this risk pay off for Erasure? Reviews so far have been mixed, so maybe, maybe not. But as Mallory O'Donnell said over on Stylus:
Erasure have taken a chance with Union Street, but then their continued insistence on making music this purely honest, tender and revealing is in itself taking chances in the face of hipster irony and designer miserablism.
And don't we all need that now and then?
Wednesday, April 19. 2006
After a handful of EPs and their debut LP, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs have returned with Show Your Bones. The twang in Karen O's voice and Nick's guitar hasn't gone anywhere, but some of the band's in-your-face energy has. Where Fever to Tell, with its raunchy style, left you feeling like you'd just been eaten, chewed up and spit back out, Show Your Bones is much less driven. There are definitely some great, hard hitting tracks, like "DéjàVu," "Mysteries," and "Fancy," which really epitomize the sound the band built their fame on, and where they're taking it.
A little bit of folk style, as well as more technical production and effects from producer Squeak E. Clean fused with their original dance-rock feel, creates a newly-matured and slightly more experimental Yeah Yeah Yeahs. On the lyrics side, Bones is more emotional than we've seen in the past, probably from the band dealing with newfound recognition, hard touring and growing pains in general. With more emotional, sometimes pained, lyrics come slower tempos and songs to sway to, with a more ballad-like feel, with cuts like "The Sweets," "Warrior," and "Turn Into."
Show Your Bones still makes for a solid, engaging record, but lacks the raw, powerful execution they're capable of, and makes me wonder if they've lost that touch of what really pulled us in in the first place.
Tuesday, April 18. 2006
Chan Marshall has taken on her stunning musical persona of Cat Power once again and delivered a fantastic new record, The Greatest.
Don't let the title confuse you; this isn't a greatest hits compilation, but her sixth full length release from Matador records. The Greatest was recorded in Memphis, which makes its presence known with the twanging guitar on "Islands" and the whistling refrain on "After It All."
With the first half focusing on her skill as a pianist and the guitar taking over on the
last half, this album features more of a backing band than her previous work. Help from Al Green's backup band and a few other musicians make The Greatest a little more upbeat and give it a more full-bodied sound. It was surprising to hear so much going on in a Cat Power song, reminding me of when I threw on Elliot Smith's Basement on a Hill and heard "Coast to Coast." A full band backing someone we're used to hearing alone, strumming away at their guitar, can be daunting, but Marshall reassures us nothing has changed. Her haunting songwriting and strong, velvety voice are still the forefront of her music, and none of her talent gets lost in the sound of the new musicians on board.
Although her style has progressed and we see a lot of new additions to the Cat Power mix, she hasn't swayed from what we know her best for. Lost love, missing your love, depression, death and (did I mention losing your love?) come up in her intelligent and honest songs, but the morbid accompaniment is gone. This makes for a slightly unusual mood, since there are horns and banjos and whistles that have you bopping your head to fairly melancholic vocals. The Greatest may be suffering a bit of genre-confusion, but it's still shows Marshall's experimentation with different styles and growth as an artist. Moving more toward the soulful, bluegrass style of music her voice sounds most suited to sing, she's proven she isn't going to make soundtracks to breakups and crying sessions forever.
Ok I admit it. I miss Max. I have always been into the vocals in music more than anything else. The words speak to me. I have failed on the bass and guitar, and let's just say I am a tad intimidated by the drum kit in the basement. But it's safe to say Derrick Green has grown on me with this CD. He has finally found his way in the land of Sepultura. Igor Cavalera on drums, Andreas Kisser on guitars and Paulo Xisto on bass round out the original trio of the group.
This CD has something that I love about the older Slayer CDs as well. It plays almost like one straight song. A long, hardcore, heavy song. And also perfectly seamless. A song to get the aggressions of the day out with. A song that makes me want to throw down and hit the pit. Yes, some girls really did like to hit the pit and work out those pent up angers. But I digress.
This CD is such a throw back to the Old Skool metal that I love so dearly. Hard, heavy with ripping guitars and heart stopping double bass. Strength and force come through each song. This is the best album the band has released since Roots back in '96 or even perhaps Chaos AD in '93. The others were merely a growing period for the band. They have found the missing pieces of the puzzle and are verging on being a force to be reckoned with again in the thrash world.
Favorite songs:
"Convicted In Life" (this will be the first video off the album)
"Ostia"
"Still Flame"
A release like this album early in the year has me eagerly anticipating the rest of the year. One very nice touch was the tribute to the late great Darrel "Dimebag" Abbot. Two years is too long already for us to be without this god of a man, but it is a nice touch to remember him. It also reminds me that metal is not just music, it's a family and a way of life.
Tuesday, April 11. 2006
Staunch conservative republicans should read no further. Sometimes it takes something special to bring out an artist's best works. For Ministry, it appears that special something is having a Bush in the White House.
Cuts from their forthcoming CD Rio Grande Blood are available on their website. Darker, heavier and faster than earlier disks such as "The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste" or "Psalm 69," this disc is more raw and brash, not quite as hooky. Certainly the politcal rhetoric is ramped.
Ministry is always shoved into the "industrial" genre along with artists such as Nine Inch Nails, and it is really not the right fit. Ministry is a mix of speed metal and thrash punk all its own.
This disc will make it into my collection soon after its release in May. Jello Biafra makes an appearance. Ministry will be touring this summer with the Revolting Cocks and Pitbull Daycare. For CD release and tour info and to listen to tracks, go to http://www.ministrymusic.org/.
Sunday, April 9. 2006
P!nk was packaged as just another pop princess on her first album Can't Take Me Home, got disgusted with the way she was being marketed, and went out and got one of my heroes and hers, 4 Non Blondes' Linda Perry, to slap everyone silly on her sophomore album, M!ssundaztood. Her third album, Try This, sold badly and she herself has spoken negatively about it, but there are some great songs there - "Trouble," "God is a DJ," "Catch Me While I'm Sleeping."
But her fourth album, I'm Not Dead, is going to blow everything else she ever did right out of the water. If this isn't P!nk's year, I'll eat this blog. And if that means my indie/alt street cred gets flushed down the toilet, I really don't care. If this foul-mouthed, smart, badass gets even one teenaged girl to ditch the "itty bitty doggies and the teeny weeny tees" and take karate or something, then it's worth it. If I had a daughter I'd not only want her to have P!nk as a role model, I wouldn't mind one little bit if she actually grew up to BE P!nk.
"Stupid Girls," the first single and video from the album, is something I'd like to have piped into the bedroom of every girl in America, although I don't actually have to arrange that, as they seem to be listening to it on their own. "Dear Mr. President" is unabashedly melodic, lyrical, and political - and not for those who like George Dubya, with its shout-out to Cindy Sheehan and backup harmonies from the Indigo Girls; I loved it.
The other single/video release, "U+Ur Hand," harkens back to the subversive dance floor P!nk of M!ssundaztood:
Keep your drink
Just give me the money
It's just U + Ur hand tonight...
You're high fivin' and talkin' shit
But you're going home alone tonight - aren't ya?
Pure rock-pop: "Who Knew," the anthemic "Long Way to Happy," the heartbreaker "Nobody Knows," "I'm Not Dead."
I'm also trying to wrap my brain around the number of people on Amazon who reviewed this album negatively because of the lyrics to the rock/dancey "'Cuz I Can" and the R&Bish "I Got Money Now." I think the schools of America need to teach Sarcasm 101 or something.
I didn't love every single song on I'm Not Dead. I could have lived without "The One That Got Away," P!nk's homage to Janis Joplin. The lyrics are pretty witty, but didn't Melissa Etheridge corner the market on being the reincarnation of Janis already? And I'm maybe too old for "Conversations With My 13-Year-Old Self," but that probably won't dimish its impact on P!nk's main audience, girls far closer to those hormonal and tragic days than I.
Long story short: I'm Not Dead is tight, raw, mean, warm, sexy, and smart. Just like P!nk.
PS: For the two people out there who admit to liking dance music, I also have the remixes of "Stupid Girls," one of the very small number of songs I like enough to pay ten bucks for three remixes of. Noize Trip Remix is better IMO than the album version, and about the same three-minute length. The Junior Vasquez & Dynamix Club Remix could be less synthy and more percussive, but I love what they did with her vocal, and it may win the award for "most times the word 'fuck' appears in a song not about sex in the history of dance music." (Oh shit, did I say "dance music"? Is that allowed on this site?) I was kind of cool on the D-Bop at Crash Mix at first, but it heats up a lot in the middle, so I did too. It's not on iTunes, at least not yet, so you'll have to buy the whole CD; start saving your allowance. Long story short: For dance music and serious P!nk fans only, but we'll love it.
Friday, April 7. 2006
Pigs fly. Hell freezes over. Morrissey gets laid.
That unexpected new chapter in the saga of Mr. Never Loved No One Ever was enough to get me to listen to Ringleader of the Tormentors, despite having disliked every post-Smiths album Morrissey ever released, and having cooled on even some of the stuff I used to like when I was following the Smiths all around Europe just about the time Hatful of Hollow came out. (I helped translate "William, It Was Really Nothing" into Italian. Such are the things we waste time on when we're young and obsessed.)
I heard the news of this transformative development in the life of the world's unhappiest man on a music blog I read, and thought..... surely not. Surely when I actually listen to the song it will all turn out to be either some metaphoric excursion into poetic excess (from Morrissey? imagine that!) or some kind of sarcastic joke. But no. It was pretty much just what it seemed to be: The boy got some. And he was actually happy about it.
I wish I could tell you the album had such a happy outcome. Although the Moz fans are rhapsodizing all over iTunes, to my mind there isn't that much going on with it. I do like the single, "You Have Killed Me," and "Dear God, Please Help Me," the song about getting laid, is not bad; it's just that overall, Ringleader is nothing but the usual droney, boring story from our Stephen, only totally over-produced... I guess I should have suspected something like that, given he posed with a violin on the cover, but there is ORCHESTRATION on this thing.
And here we all thought love could fix anything. Guess we were wrong.
Tuesday, April 4. 2006
What can you say about an artist who combines reggae, hip-hop and traditional hasidic religous values? Oy vey!
Brooklyn, NY native Matisyahu exploded onto the reggae/hip hop scene in 2005 with his "Live at Stubbs" disc, and this year we get a taste of his studio work with Youth.
Youth is an amalgam of styles, with the sonic influences of Marley and Tosh, but with the freshness and verve of hip-hop that helps bring reggae into the 21st century. Like Marley, Matisyahu's music is politically charged message music, with a distinct religous bent. This disk will make you want to twist a blunt, sway back and forth, and check the flight schedules to Jamaica. Highlights of the disk include "Youth," a reggae anthem about making the right choices, and "Fire of Heaven/Altar of Earth," a lush reggae celebration of god's gifts and a call for appreciation. Keep your eyes out for the "Best Buy" version of the disk as it includes a neat remix of "King Without a Crown" by Mike. D. of the Beastie Boys.
Is Matisyahu the future of reggae? Could be. If so, it will require a change in hats.
Favorite Songs:
What I'm Fighting For
Jerusalem
South African band Seether's second full length North American release Karma and Effect is a solid album with a number of stand-out songs, including "The Gift" and "I'm the One." Buzzsaw guitars, Shaun Morgan's strong, angry voice, and a uniquely identifiable, gritty sound - there's not a song on this album I don't like.
One can certainly hear Kurt Cobain's influence on tracks like "Remedy" and "Plastic Man," but Morgan's voice is smoother and warmer and it works better on slower and richer tracks such as "Never Leave" and "Tongue."
Often compared to Creed, Seether's sound is less accessible to the masses, its ballads not quite so sticky sweet or "perfect." This band rocks hard and has an energy and exitement that seems to drive each song. I hope they can continue to keep this going in further releases. The less corporate and
over-production this band receives the better. They have just the right amount of pointy sharp edges.
Favorite Songs:
Burrito
Truth
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