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Jul
9
2008
0
I had forgotten that I had done this little review. It is a very cool CD tapping the Wilco vein. I say CD but I seem to be able to find it available for MP3 download. Well worth $9 for hot August night listening…
The frontman of Cheyenne, Beau Jennings, has released this crop of tunes as a solo album because they allegedly did not fit with the sound of his main project. In honesty there is little difference between these songs and Cheyenne songs
[From Music, PopMatters, Reviews
Jul
1
2008
0
This stark little record is nothing really very new in musical terms but it does give goosebumps. Any recording that provokes some kind of physical response has to be worth the investment of a few dollars. It doesn’t look like this album is available in the UK yet but I guess that you could from Amazon US. It is available for download via iTunes here.
Lisa Cerbone has a gentle, childlike voice and with We Were All Together she has created an album that is somewhat evocative of Tanya Donelly or Kristin Hersh. Every aspect of this package—from the case with its lyric adorned fine art photo cards to the crystal clear production—is finely crafted and exudes quality. One wonders why this lady is not more well known as this is her fourth release in the last eight years.
[From PopMatters, Reviews
Jun
20
2008
0
This record disturbed me, I wanted to know when it was going to do something other than what was established during the first track. When it finally did, it was something so completely different and off the wall that the rest of the album paled into insignificance. Not a good album but I would recommend that you download the track Psycho. It is so wonderfully over the top that it is worth a listen. Below is an excerpt from this short take review with a link to full thing after it.
It is a sad day when you have to consider the possibility that you are old and no longer understand young people’s music. To this reviewer Mud’s Yearbook contains 13 songs that, with one exception, all sound identical. The album appears like it was created by the corpses of Real Big Fish with the ska influences ripped forcibly from their cold dead hands fronted by Avril Lavigne. It is Californian punk by checklist; repetitive riff… check, amusing self deprecating lyrics… check, brass section… check. I could go on.
[From PopMatters, Reviews
Jun
18
2008
0
Cedric Gervais – Space Miami Terrace
This collection of dance tunes bemused me. I had some trouble getting in to it. After listening to what appeared to be two hours of a 4/4 drum beat augmented by samples I realised what it was about. The album was an historical record of an event, a means by which the listeners can relive if they were there or live vicariously through if they weren’t. Exerpt and link below…
Space Miami Terrace is one of those “you had to be there” recordings. It is a two CD, 22-track mixed compilation of dance tracks from the Yoshitoshi, Yo! and Shinichi labels. All tracks are mixed together by DJ Cedric Gervais. It stomps along at quite a pace. By listening to the album alone one can only imagine the heat that would be generated by the sweaty bodies dancing to these tunes.
[From PopMatters, Reviews
May
20
2008
0
The French Kicks – Swimming
The French Kicks were a band that I got into 7 or 8 years ago by accident when I saw them play a really small hall in Peterborough. They really lit up the room for me, which led me to get hold of everything that I could by them. They had an edgy post punk sound that really spoke to me, it had such a quirky charm. Then I sort of forgot about them. I thought that they had spilt up or something. It seems that they are indeed still together and I was excited at the prospect of reviewing a new album by them. I was to be disappointed.
The trouble with not keeping in touch with old acquaintances is that they sometimes move on without you. They grow and form new opinions, new tastes, and new ways of expressing themselves. Then, when you finally catch up with them, they are barely recognisable. You find it hard to really fully get what it is that they mean. You forget what it was that you saw in them in the first place.
[From PopMatters, Reviews
May
8
2008
0
Firewater – The Golden Hour
The Golden Hour
The Golden Hour stands tall as a flawed but remarkably good experiment in mixing up influences from all over the globe. Firewater’s main man Tod A. went to the source of his musical influences to create this collection of catchy melodies that, for the most part, grab your attention instantly. It teeters on the line between punk and world music and thankfully does not sit well in either camp. It does show that pop music is universal.
Firewater: The Golden Hour – PopMatters Music Review
Other Links http://www.firewater.tv/ http://www.myspace.com/realfirewater
May
6
2008
0Another fun little Short Take that I submitted to PopMatters. An excerpt below and the direct link after that.
Lissa Schneckenburger’s Song is a cheerful array of old school folk tunes with the emphasis on the fiddle and quality vocal performance—a mixture of self-composed work and traditional songs from the New England area of the United States.
Lissa Schneckenburger review
Technorati Tags: PopMatters, review
Apr
23
2008
0
Various – Beautiful Escape
Beautiful Escape… Is Comping Right Along
The Posies were a power-pop outfit from Washington State that didn’t so much set the world on fire as give it a nasty Chinese burn. They did, however, produce some mighty fine tunes and at least one classic album, Frosting On the Beater.
The full review can be found here
Mar
15
2008
0
Hanne Hukkelberg – Rykestrasse 68
One of the blogs that I go to every once in a while is 3hive. This is an excellent site if you are looking for new music. This tireless team trawl t’Internet looking for freely available mp3s. This site and Last.FM I just could not live without. My most recent find on 3hive is Hanne Hukkelberg. She is a Norwegian singer-songwriter. That makes her sound a bit lame. Not at all. She is also a musical experimenter. She searches for new ways of expressing her art by using a bunch of weirdness and found sounds in her music. Which in my view is always good.
On her previous album, which I have yet to hear, she employs bicycle spokes, dish brushes, wine glasses, and rain. Rykestraße 68
Moreover, there is a shockingly good cover of Pixies Hold My Bones, slowed down and barely recognisable until you reach the chorus. This track is worth the price of admission alone.
Mar
14
2008
0
REM – Accelerate
REM are guests at this year’s SXSW festival in Austin Texas and played to a packed out but cold (by the looks of it) Stubbs BBQ. It appears that they went down really well. At least the reviews are quite good. If the new material that I have heard from their forthcoming record is anything to go by then they seem to have regained their mojo somewhat.
If you head on over to REM HQ (link provided below) you will be able to hear the new single (Supernatural Superserious). It is old school REM, the track would sit really happily on Document or albums of that period. There are two other tracks that you can hear excerpt from; Until the Day is Done is more acoustic in a Green mould. Horse to Water is destined to be a live classic it bristles with energy and spark just like REM songs used to.
For the first time in years I am looking forward to an REM album. Either I got old or they got good again. I hope for my sake that it is the latter.