Music Review: Ty Segall, Twins

By Less Lee Moore

Despite being astonishingly prolific, I’ve only gotten wise to Ty Segall‘s musical output recently; my album intro was June’s Slaughterhouse, performed with Segall’s touring band (reviewed here). Hearing Twins, recorded almost entirely by Segall himself, has proved he’s not a one trick pony. Twins hits the sweet spot between heavy guitar fuzz and pretty melodies and is immediately, deliriously enjoyable.

That’s not to say Twins is full of disposable pop songs. In these post-post-ironic times, it’s not uncommon for music fans to feel distrustful of something they like immediately, concerned about being manipulated by both our nostalgia and the desire for something that’s not a rip-off.

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Music Review: Dark Dark Dark, Who Needs Who

By Chelsea Spear

If Who Needs Who dropped in the early 1990s, Dark Dark Dark would have appeared in Sassy magazine’s “One to Watch” column. This band is the real deal. Frontwoman Nona Marie Imrie has a striking voice, their songs are catchy and insightful, and their arrangements and the spare production cast a spell over the listener. This Minneapolis-based quintet has a great album in them. The band’s third long-player isn’t quite that album.

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Blu-Ray Review: Chained

By Less Lee Moore

Chained is a gripping, grueling experience. I had originally seen Jennifer Lynch’s latest film in August in one of the Screaming Rooms at Rue Morgue’s Festival of Fear, part of FanExpo Canada. This feeling was only exacerbated upon a second viewing of the film, this time on the newly released Blu-Ray from Anchor Bay.

Chained, despite the title and subject matter (a serial killer keeps a young boy prisoner), is not a straight up horror movie, but is far more horrific than the mainstream, high-budget horror movies that have glutted theaters over the last few years.

Vincent D’Onofrio plays Bob, a taxi driver who kidnaps women, brings them home, rapes and murders them, and forces his captive, Tim, to help him clean up the mess. It’s sordid, but to avoid the movie based on the synopsis would be a mistake.

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Music Review: John Cale, Shifty Adventures in Nookie Wood

By Emily Carney

John Cale turned 70 in March; however, his music proves to be age-proof with his new album, Shifty Adventures in Nookie Wood. Don’t ask; I have no idea about the title, either. Cale does have typically inscrutable album titles.

Usually when musical artists of any sort turn 70, they do endless “farewell” or “greatest hits” tours, or they engage in embarrassing collaborations with a very 1990s-sounding Metallica (I’m looking at you, Lou Reed. Yeah, I said it). Cale is doing neither, refuses to give into age, and is turning out impressive original compositions that aren’t at all dated or misguided. He’s only gotten better and more experimental as he’s gotten older.

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Music Review: The Very Best of Vince Guaraldi and The Very Best of The Bill Evans Trio

By Emily Carney

In the last six months, Fantasy Records and Riverside Records (through Concord Music Group) released compilations detailing the best selections of jazz behemoths, including Vince Guaraldi (on Fantasy) and The Bill Evans Trio (on Riverside). Both compilations are great primers for those interested in getting a feel for both artists.

Vince Guaraldi was a jazz pianist and immortally associated with “Linus and Lucy,” otherwise known as the music from the Charlie Brown TV specials. This disc, featuring 14 of his best cuts, reflects that fame and has the iconic songs from those shows (“Linus…” as well as “Charlie Brown Theme,” “Christmas is Coming,” and “Christmas Time is Here”).

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Music Review: Gemma Ray, Island Fire

By Julie Finley

I stumbled upon Gemma Ray a few years ago by taking a listen to her album, Lights Out Zoltar!. It was actually her second full-length album, but the first I ever heard of her. That album was rock-solid, and mighty impressive.

So, its only natural that I’ve followed her career somewhat. I am no expert on Ms. Ray, but I do know this: She writes and performs her own music. She isn’t some pretty face template with a producer and bankroll. Granted, Gemma does have a pretty face, but there is clearly more going on with her creatively, compared to the many other current female performers she has been compared to. Her skills are even impressing fellow musicians who actually have some taste and skills themselves.

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Book Review: Raising Hell: Ken Russell And The Unmaking Of The Devils By Richard Crouse

By Less Lee Moore

If you live in or around Toronto, Ontario, Canada and you like movies, then you’ve already heard of Richard Crouse. For the rest of you, he’s a Toronto-based film critic and TV personality, who can be seen on both Canada AM and CTV’s 24-hour news channel (as well as at nearly every film event and festival in the Toronto area). Most importantly:, he’s also a tremendous, lifelong fan of filmmaker Ken Russell.

Crouse’s latest book (he’s written six others) is all about Ken “Enfant Terrible” Russell’s most controversial and frequently misunderstood 1971 film The Devils, starring Oliver Reed and Vanessa Redgrave. Raising Hell: Ken Russell and the Unmaking of The Devils begins much like my own recent reintroduction to Ken Russell: a prologue detailing Crouse’s 2010 meeting and interview with Russell in conjunction with Rue Morgue’s Festival of Fear screening of The Devils.

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Movie Review: Cold Blooded

By Less Lee Moore

Jason Lapeyre‘s Cold Blooded is only his second feature film, but it’s already obvious that he’s a director to watch. The film has a terrific trailer that gives hints at the goodness within; it doesn’t spoil anything but it does leave you wanting more. Cold Blooded is definitely more than your average indie thriller.

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Coal Porters, Find The One

By Cait Brennan

Sid Griffin is one of the great, unheralded musicians of the last 30 years.

How unheralded? Wikipedia, that self-styled arbiter of “notability,” doesn’t even have a page for him. If it did, it would do well to start by calling him one of the most important founding fathers of alternative country.

In the early ’80s, Griffin’s outfit the Long Ryders was a good decade ahead of the alt-country movement. Combining Gram Parsons-style Cosmic American Music with hard-edged, punk-influenced rock, Griffin, with guitarist Stephen McCarthy, drummer Greg Sowders, and a succession of bass players (notably Tom Stevens) brought a much-needed boot-kick in the pants to L.A.’s Paisley Underground scene, and influenced a generation of bands that followed.

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Bob Mould, Silver Age

By Danny R. Phillips

I feel as though I should begin this review with a disclaimer: I believe Bob Mould to be a true master of his craft. From his days with the groundbreaking group Husker Du to his time piloting the power pop band Sugar, Mould has made few musical missteps (I choose to forget the mess that was his electronic music phase). His latest album, Silver Age, is an ode to the genre he helped create, a flawless mix of Husker Du noise/aggression and Sugar’s bouncy goodness.

Some of the music literati have said that Silver Age is the return of Mould to the world of musical relevance. I say it is just an excellent album that proves that he’s never gone away or gotten rusty with age. Listen to several bands over the years, most notably Foo Fighters, and you will hear Bob’s omnipresence. For the past thirty years he has blended aggression with melody, volume with deep thought and beautiful songwriting. Silver Age is certainly no exception.

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