// Category Archive for: Music Reviews

The Spinning Special: Mary Edwards, Eastern/Central & Mountain/Pacific

By John Lane

To understand the title of this review and to enter into the spirit of the occasion, one needs to watch this first; it’s mandatory.

Such is the momentous arrival of Mary Edwards‘s new album Eastern/Central & Mountain/Pacific! Her album title harkens back to a time during the 1970s when television networks would announce the scheduled show times applying to those specific time zones; the casual spectator was always given a dual sense of sweeping national geography and a sense of union, that we were all bound together by what was coming across the channel.

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France Gall, Made in France: France Gall’s Baby Pop

By Emily Carney

France Gall’s mid-1960s “baby pop” was engineered in part by one Serge Gainsbourg, the dirty old man of French music who took Jane Birkin’s English accent to new, filthy heights with their duet “Je T’aime . . . Moi Non Plus” in 1969.

That being said, Old Serge gave the then-teenage Gall a ditty called “Les Sucettes,” a lovely paean to sucking on lollipops that doubled as a song about oral sex. Gall allegedly was mortified to discover what she was actually singing about (Gainsbourg later recorded his own perverted, “wink wink” version, not surprisingly—this guy did a song once called “Suck Baby Suck”).

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20/20, 20/20 and Look Out! Reissues

By Cait Brennan

Before Pete Townshend even coined the term, power pop has been competing for oxygen—airplay, respect, dollars, a place in history—with bloaty classic rock. Virtually every interminable flatulent hour of every ponderous wanking jam-band guitar solo on every tiresome, self-indulgent, derivative, larcenous, mystic-hokum junkie 1960s blues-rock “gods” album has been catalogued, compiled, reissued, remixed, remastered, etched into 180 gram virgin vinyl, and shoved into soul-deadening collectible box sets like the rigor mortis museum pieces they are. Meanwhile, some of the most vital music of the rock era, made by great power pop, New Wave and American hard-pop bands, sits forgotten in zombie record label vaults, as the iron oxide tape slowly peels away to dust.

Thankfully, there are still some boutique record labels, run by actual music lovers instead of actuaries, willing to raid those vaults and bring forth musical treasure. So it is with Real Gone Music’s lovingly assembled reissue of 20/20’s acclaimed Portrait albums, 20/20 and Look Out!, two records that helped redefine American rock music at the turn of the 1980s. And they sound as vital as ever.

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Blind Benny, No Honor EP

By Less Lee Moore

If you’re looking for a new band to get into, you should check out Blind Benny. The duo of Jade <3 and Jonathan Carmelli hails from Brooklyn and their music is enthralling. Their EP, No Honor, features six songs, each bursting with talent in both songcraft and performance. Best of all, there’s a yearning quality that belies the band’s obvious pop hooks.

Right away, “Chewjitsu” feels like a hit single. It’s positively anthemic, but the sweetness is cut with some dark undertones. Although you can easily imagine this song in the soundtrack to your favorite ’90s indie romcom, it’s still fresh and modern. Jade’s voice is a big reason why: it’s cute but not cutesy; plaintive but not cloying; tiny and huge at the same time.

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Weep, Alate

By Less Lee Moore

An alate is a winged reproductive of a social insect (especially ants or termites, but the term can also be applied to aphids and some thrips). Alate females are typically those destined to become queens (also referred to as gynes), whereas alate males are occasionally referred to as “drones” (or “kings”, in the case of termites). However, the existence of reproductives that do not have wings necessitates a term to distinguish the winged from the wingless reproductive forms. This is an example of polymorphism associated with eusociality.
—Wikipedia entry on “alate”

On Weep‘s latest album, Alate, vocalist and guitarist Doc Hammer stretches his musical and vocal capacities into heretofore unexplored territories, with mixed results. Although not as immediately gratifying as the band’s previous release, Worn Thin, the expansive nature of Alate still brings considerable pleasures.

Opening track “It’s So Late” seems to shrug and say, “Oh hey, remember us? We’re Weep and this is what we sound like,” featuring all the hallmarks that we’ve come to associate with the band: ringing guitars, New Romantic synths, vaguely Goth basslines, and memorable melodies. Yet immediately we sense a change in Weep’s sound. Hammer’s voice is still gravelly, but there is a sprightly nature that we have not heard before. It’s startling and charming all at once.

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Micah Sheveloff, Exhibitionist

By Chelsea Spear

Listening to Micah Sheveloff‘s solo debut brings to mind a variant on everyone’s favorite movie trailer voiceover: “IN A WORLD. Where smug, solipsistic bros have taken over the airwaves. ONE MAN. Can save the ‘singer/songwriter’ genre from navel-gazing boredom.”

While Micah Sheveloff easily fits into this niche, his work lacks the snoozy self-absorption that has given it a bad name. His music, with its rich melodies, rolling bar chords, quotable lyrics, and that lived-in marvel of a voice, elevates his material from the closing credits of Grey’s Anatomy to something more transporting and otherworldly.

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Big Black Delta, Tour EP

By Less Lee Moore

While Big Black Delta might seem like the name of a blues band, the new musical incarnation of former Mellowdrone and touring M83 member Jonathan Bates sounds nothing like that genre.

The new four-song EP from the band—created for their recent tour—sounds more like the soundtrack to an apocalyptic Blade Runner sequel; you can almost visualize Rachael smoking in the Tyrell Corporation building. Fitting, as Big Black Delta is actually a reference to UFO folklore.

Even with its vaguely retro synths, “Betamax” isn’t some Kraftwerk retread. The drums are too booming, and Bates’s voice is too romantic for that. What’s striking is how warm and sensual his voice is against the coldness of keyboard explosions, especially when he breaks out the falsetto. The end ushers in some Hans Zimmer-ish synthy strings before ending abruptly.

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Harry Shearer, Can’t Take A Hint

By Melissa B.

Can a record that relies as heavily on current events as Harry Shearer‘s Can’t Take A Hint stand the test of time? Political humor is almost ephemeral, and the political climate and players mercifully change so quickly. Songs about Herbert Hoover, for example, are so rarely sung today, and sea shanties about the Great Fire of London have fallen out of favor. So how does one approach a record in 2012 that has songs about the 2008 election, the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil disaster, and the Iraq war? If this album had arrived two years ago, it might have been cutting in its satire. At this point, however, it feels a bit creaky.

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Booker T. & The M.G.s: A Sweet, Sweet Serving of Green Onions

By John Lane

Yes, Virginia, back in the ancient times of the mystical 1960s, there was a universe that expanded far beyond The Beatles, even though they were heaven-sent. While The Beatles were decompressing after playing to a kajillion people at Shea Stadium or elsewhere, I guarantee you that somewhere in their collective mind were the righteous sounds of Booker T. & The M.G.s taking them to a soulful place.

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Sleepies, Weird Wild World

By Less Lee Moore

Sleepies have a deceptively lazy name. If their music makes you sleepy, something’s wrong with you. According to a recent Noisey interview, they also considered Tires & Skunks as a name. That alone should be enough to pique your interest. Oh, and their new album Weird Wild World is fantastic, by the way.

Right off, there are going to be a lot of people comparing them to Nirvana with accusatory tones in their voices, but come on, didn’t that critique go out of style a few years ago? Sleepies are more reminiscent of Flipper (a huge influence on Nirvana) and Flop (who also happen to be an early ’90s Seattle band). If this means nothing to you, you should look up those two bands on YouTube immediately.

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