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Check out our even older Archive reviews section
Here are the latest reviews!
(Click on any of the titles below to go directly to that review, or simply scroll down)
Greg Weeks - Slightly West EP
Joy - Joy
Smart Alec - The Debris That Is Me
Don Campau/Michael J. Bowman - Sinecure
Cooterfinger - Smells Like Rock'N'Roll
Kinski Spiral - Kontakte
Jeremy Weissman - Iredream Demo
The Dent - Farewell
Selsius - Selsius
Robert Jackson - Personal Jesus
Nanook of the North - The Taby Tapes
Eric Wallack/Don Campau - Wreck A Lilac
Walls of Genius - Crazed to the Core
Held Back - Stuck Between Dreams and Reality
Peter Gullerud - Eve With Ancestor of Noah's Dove
Greyroom Breakthrough - Shock in the Key of Red
Reynols - "-------"
First Night on Earth - No One Knows Anything For Sure...
Jet Jaguar - Retrofit!
Milo - Smell the Parade
Frizzle Records 2001 Sampler
'Till Next: The Ken Clinger Tribute Album
The Punsters - Cancel My Subscription: The Worst of NPR
Ronis Brothers - Radio Sampler
Tony Low - Sleight of Hand
Beyond the Planets - Rising Star
The Mod-est Lads - They Stand Up Straight(When She Lays Down)
Total - Buffin' The Celestial Muffin
Andrew Wilshusen - Eric(A Children's Album)
Ouija Board Reunion - Radio Curse
Slow Car Crash - Come Out And Play Tonight
Lick the Star - Trendy Three Song Demo
Gazelles - Demonstration Disc
Nothing 2 Declare - Frozen Child
Asciento - Seppuku
Sleepy Company - Sleepy Company
Lowbelly - 12
Mike Fisher - Catfisher
The Floreans - Three at the Price of Four
Lowbelly - Mysteriously Untitled Fourth Album
The JFK Jr. Royal Airforce - 2
Greg Weeks - Slightly West EP CDWeeks has certainly blossomed into one of the finest modern songsmithers and arrangers that you've probably never heard. This CD, aside from the unforgiving and misleading XXX cover, levels the listener into a swirly world filled with mellotrons, slow lowly basses, VERY weird synths, and a knack for intensifying songs through steady repetition and occasional strange shifts paralleled by few. Swooing electric guitars on "Devils", amidst a rather brilliant original melding of 1970 Pink Floyd and Radiohead at an analog synth convention. The strange twisting synthesizer melodies and sounds really build beautifully on this EP. Wonderful record! Get in touch here:http://www.gregweeks.net |
Joy - Joy CDThe songwriting duo from Boston that brought us the Jack Mccoys and Godboy kick back for some good ole fashioned acousti-pop here. Matt Savage's lyrical sneering and Daniel Madri's trademark dirging(is that a word?) acoustic cycloning are a delight, as always. The piano driven "Pulverized" hankers back to the land where Daniel Johnston is king, and Soul Asylum were never born. The simple arrangements on the CD really bring out the crazed-folk genius of the songwriting. It's great to hear "space" on modern releases, a little breathing room on a song goes further than most people can imagine. Great work! Get in touch here: Shrimper Records PO Box 1837 Uplan CA 91785 USA, or email daniel_madri@hotmail.com and pacosavage@hotmail.com |
Smart Alec - The Debris That Is Me CDWow. Three discs(including free mail-in CD from Alec) absolutely filled with some of the most delightful music to grace my ears. XTC flavored pop, mildly offensive Beatles-esqueness("She's Not You"), weird McCartney-ish vocals over wonderful and evocative chordal weirdness. The first disc features 24 vocal songs, while the second disc captures Alec's imitational instrumental fantasies with 36 instrumentals. From weird waltzes to Elfman inspired film scores, to Gershwiny jazz, this set has it all. The bonus disc, which he claims are "extra" songs is a musical delight as well, filled with weird quirky little pop numbers. What a treat to hear pop music without big dumb guitars wanking all over the rug. Get in touch here:http://www.mentalslapstick.com |
Don Campau/Michael J. Bowman - Sinecure CDFine-weirdo-crafted pop from DC and MJB. Rockin' lofi ditties from the basement! This is what its all about. From the heartfelt strange-ballad "This I Will, I Will Fulfill" to the whining-Ween-went-wrong anthem "Eat Meat" to the outness of "Collab", which features MJB's gentle stylistic crooning-ness over Campau's dark-processed drum loop--a tidy self-aware track that I doubt I'll get out of my head for weeks, or months. Get in touch here:httP://members.tripod.com/~lonelywhistle/index.html and http://www.semperlofi.com |
Cooterfinger - Smells Like Rock'N'Roll CDMore pissin in a can beer guzzlin' backwoods rock'n'roll from James Richard Oliver. Top notch authentic recording technique which captures the essence of early twang mixed with Oliver's own blend of kickin's ass. Catchy little numbers, hook-filled and genuine. We've come to expect a certain level of quality from JRO, and have yet to be disappointed. Get in touch here: http://www.geocities.com/illbillyrocks/index.htm(IllBilly Records) |
Kinski Spiral - Kontakte CDWeird instrumental math rock, bubble-gummy Gamelan childrens music meets Mike Oldfield in a G.I. Joe toy chest. The weird whirliness that is "Tuc" - I love hearing what folks can do to a synthesizer. Very cool build up on the monster cut here, "Elizabeth Disappears", fourteen plus minutes of zony hand drummin' and raga riffin. Get in touch here: cut and paste records pob 152 green OH 44232 http://members.aol.com/cutandpasterecs/cp.html or cutandpasterecords@yahoo.com |
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Jeremy Weissman - Iredream Demo CD Dark poly-rhythmic electronica with seering fuzz-bass and eerily phased synth lines opens the disc in a mid 90's B-horror movie fashion. From there Jeremy plucks quaint little melodies from slightly melancholic electronic passages. Interesting electro-counterpoint climaxes in a techno'd fury by the end of the demo. Interesting work. Get in touch here: jlweissm@artsci.wustl.edu |
The Dent - Farewell CDElaborate CD packaging for this melodic AOR throwback in songsmithing, but mistakenly produced in the wrong decade. I like the significant amount of ballads on this disc, usually this kind of group records one or two token ballads, but this disc is chock full of them. I think this is their strength, in a catchy soft-rock-ness niche. Bring slow-rock back to FM!! Get in touch here:http://www.dentmusic.com |
Selsius - Selsius CDPunk-rock with some guitar virtuoso stuff crossing over. I dug the basic droney riff on 'The Down Side" in the verses, although too much of one thing can be as detrimental to itself as it is good. At least the songs are hummable on this one. Get in touch here: Selsius, 1761 Dakota St. Westfield NJ 07090 or http://www.selsius.cjb.net |
Robert Jackson - Personal Jesus CDVery produced big drum sounding rock'n'roll, with one foot in the retail radio market, one foot teaching a class in socio-political modernisms in lyrical twisting, and one foot layering and rockin'the-hell out of about a dozen guitars. A little too much for my tastes, but I can appreciate the staying power of this musical style. Get in touch here: AIF Records PO Box 691 Mamaroneck NY 10543 USA or aifrecords@erols.com |
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Nanook of the North - The Taby Tapes CD Strange celtic-esque folky-weird stuff with male and female vocal duets, and robust orchestration. An eskimo concept album(love that!), complete with waltzes(track 4), and Enya or Bjork-like electronica(track 5). Droney orchestration abound and even the middle eastern flavoured eighth cut provide a real haunting sound throughout. Bizarre. Get in touch here: mattias.olsson5@telia.com |
Eric Wallack/Don Campau - Wreck A Lilac CD16 weird short instrumentals from Don Campau and cohort Eric Wallack, chock full o' strange combinations of sounds. The very dirty sounding "Jake Gets a Gun" could easily spark and flare some life into any serial killer movie, as could "Rear Window Deleted Section". The watery "Purple Rose of Bowling Green", the sad mountainous "Mara Leaves"--Damn it, why aren't these guys composing film scores? Get in touch here: Lonely Whistle Music PO Box 9162 Santa Rosa CA 95405 USA ewallack@owens.edu and campaudj@jps.net |
Walls of Genius - Crazed to the Core CDCrazed to the core indeed! Garage rock from 1984, re-released by Little Fyodor. 2 CD's filled with loud off kilter renditions of their rock'n'roll faves, as well as strange originals. Analog synths, muddy guitars, plunging basses and the no-nonsense grrr of Little Fyodor and company's screaming growls. The especially watery "Motel 6" is a standout on disc 1. The music, especially the attitude reminds me of the glory days of ESP-rockers The Fugs and Holy Modal Rounders, with their anarchistic pre-punk go-git it no-adults-allowed musical explosions. The elctronic experimentation on "Ape Heaven", on Disc 2, feels more like a Sun Ra out-take from 1968, while the silly sing-along anthemic disc closer, "Burning Smurfs" brings the listener right back to the time when this was made, by rubber cementing their influences to the early 1980's. Great, and classic. Get in touch here: Little Fyodor 3277 Raleigh St., Denver CO 80212-1707 and littlefyodor@yahoo.com |
Held Back - Stuck Between Dreams and Reality CDHome recorded punk rock. Melodic and lo-fi, kept alive by some energetic and skilled drummin'. The charm here is in the fidelity for me, and the obvious enjoyment in the "making of"(laughter precedes the song "Complication") Get in touch here:Heldbackxmillz@aol.com |
Peter Gullerud - Eve With Ancestor of Noah's Dove CDMostly brooding and atmospheric instrumental cuts, some with live drumming, others through synths and sequencers. Weird tiki music that borders on new age, but the versatile comic talent tweaks it back to the jungle. Aside from a talented multi-instrumentalist, Peter Gullerud is a strange vocalist, and knows how to treat his vocie with effects. Using his synths, he even introduces 'mock' fish, wooly mammoths and cows into his world. Totalling in at 20 tracks, and 79 plus minutes, you'll get way more than your money's worth here. Get in touch here: Peter Gullerud PO Box 6462 Pine Mountain Club, CA 93222-6462 and www.grootlore.com/petergullerud/ |
Greyroom Breakthrough - Shock in the Key of Red CDVery loose, raucous energy driven make-no-sensa-rock in the vain instrumentall of some Captain Beefheart sideshow or even Frock and the Latest Situation. Clearly Lo-Fi, no over-production herre, quite fittingly. The third cut opens with an ominous vocal that flutters into a state of ABSOLUTE WEIRD. The next two cuts delve even further into a state of spiritual rock-jazz, before culminating into a nice space-rock extravaganza by the discs' end. The liner notes speak of an upcoming LP release, can't wait. Get in touch here:GreenRecordings@aol.com |
Reynols - "-------" CDMiguel Tomasin & company create a world of home-groan noise that is like no other. This trio from Argentina heavily processes their mix of chihuahua harmonica, roto chivas and cholesterol into a finely tuned pound of sonic explosives. Heavy and fiery all the way, and equally pleasing to some, as it is theoretically unbearable to others. Luckily I enjoy the harshness and eagerly await more. I just feel sorry for the chaps who don't Get in touch here: reynols@hotmail.com |
First Night on Earth - No One Knows Anything For Sure... CDElectro-euro pop meets the dreamy layered guitars that encompassed early 90's Chapterhouse. Catchy in a way, as the mix of live drums and programming blend atmospherically. Nice swirling guitars, very low key feel and somber songwriting-I can only imagine the light show! Get in touch here:www.firstnightonearth.com |
Jet Jaguar - Retrofit! CDElectronic space-rock with tons of effected guitars and synthesizers (gotta love that!) meets the Pixies in a vocal distortion box. Interesting combination of sounds, dictated by driving drum machines. "We Burn the Hard Metal" sounds like some kind of robot factory work-song from the future. Weird. Get in touch here: Aktivator Records 4800 San Mateo Ln, NE #142, Albuquerque NM 87109 and outworlder5@hotmail.com |
Milo - Smell the Parade CDFrom the countrified "Open Minds Open Soars" to the weird-metal "Mirko's Car" to the cabaret hit "New Panties", Milo stretches the genre borders as he sees fit. Most artists are not this bold, but it works for Milo. A true independent songwriter, Milo uses style and genre as mere backdrops for his musical and lyrical visions. The bizarre-pop "Cheated Lied Left" is my favorite here, complete with alien-vocal treatment over a mix of subtle guitars and synths. Cool. Get in touch here:info@gloomytunes.com and check out www.gloomytunes.com |
Frizzle Records 2001 Sampler CDWith a roster boasting artists called Winston Jesus, Furiously Stuff, The Shits and The Whores, one might not get what you might expect. Good! Aside from the fact that half of this CD is cover material, it's the original music which I choose to write about. Winston Jesus' tracks are of particular note in their very weird synth rhythms, bordering on circus-y chase themes at times. Furiously Stiff is also quite rockin', teetering on the rawkus bizarro, sometimes going into full-out electronica. The basement lo-fi-ness of the Shits and Whores round out the disc in a warm, welcomed way. Nice sampler. Get in touch here: kconnell@lawrenceville.org |
'Till Next: The Ken Clinger Tribute Album CDWhat a splendid idea! A tribute to the legacy of legendary home-taper, Ken Clinger. Featuring the likes of collaborators and admirers Michael J Bowman, Lord Litter, Don Campau, Ray Carmen(who put this glorious disc out!), and more. Some songs here are cuts written as tributes, while most just pay homage to individuality. 12 cuts in all, plus a spoken intro by Jack Jordan. From Don Campau's particularly synthetically spooky "Sandra" to Lord Litter's snarling venerable tribute "Ken Klinger's Music", absolutely spectacular! Dino DiMuro's eerie "Closet" even made my living room shake a little. Dan Fioretti and Nutley Brass provide wonderful electro-acoustic arrangements for 2 of Clinger's finest. Body cocktail provide the scariest moments here with "Sallymae Hogsby's Treat", filled with tantallizing synths, tape speed vocal treatments and a dissonant grrh that I can't get enough of. A great tribute for a great songwriter, assembled brilliantly by Ray Carmen(whose Lucifer Sam mix of Dopey Smiles is a wonderful application of basement brilliance!) Essential. Get in touch here:cutandpasterecords@yahoo.com and http://members.aol.com/cutandpasterecs/cp.html |
The Punsters - Cancel My Subscription: The Worst of NPR CD36 cuts comprise this comedica concept NPR extravaganza, filled with jingles, radio voices, classy and some not so classy musical numbers. Presented by and as tribute to legendary radio personality Moe Moskowitz, this ia wonderful blend of comedy and music. Fromt the Steely Dan-ish "Long Division" to the Dylan-esque "Gefilte Fish", this cd is a true packed full-o-goodies delight, with bits of Broadway, psychedelia and children's music thrown in the Punsters stew. A wonderful, wonderful disc. |
Ronis Brothers - Radio Sampler CDAngry distorted vocals(some sped up) ovver chaotic sequences of programmed drums, samples, found sounds, quitars and synths. Imagine Beck on dangerously toxic steroids. The disc features a touching dirge-hop rendition of the classic "In The Ghetto"-pretty cool. "Pins Through Your Wings" is a rather dangerrous sounding sample-collage pop number which grows increasingly creepier as it progressess Get in touch here: www.ronisbrothers.com |
Tony Low - Sleight of Hand CDTony's new disc is absolutely sparkly. With a gentle Bryan MacLean-ish voice, he thickens up the sound with layers of harmonies and guitars. Very 60's influenced folk-rock, but with a hint of that modern LA power-pop thing makes this disc devastatingly intriguing. The real strengths here are the ornate vocal arrangements blended into and perfectly against the meshy guitars. Throw in a lively version of Phil Ochs' classic "Chords of Fame", and you got one helluva disc. The discs' finale, "I Will Listen" is a Moody Blues meets Love masterpiece, chock full of bells and whistles including a hidden scratchy operatic jewel at the very end. Classic! Get in touch here:lowtunes@aol.com |
Beyond the Planets - Rising Star - The Demo CDAbrasive home-produced heavy metal thrashing back and forth from from melodic ballad rock to in-your-face screaming death. The synths in the background give it a slightly warmer feel, which is a nice break from all this rowdyness. Get in touch here:rising_star1976@yahoo.com |
The Mod-est Lads CD SingleGeez! This is great! These four lads from "Bladderpool England" sing the best song about breast implants ever! Unfortunately the CD only contains the one song. I think I need more hip-shaking, rock-stomping swingalicious sounds from these guys. Rowdy, and yet very funny in that forbidden in the US(But OK in the UK--but actually where are they really from?) kind of way. Get in touch here: www.mod-estlads.com |
Total - Buffin' The Celestial Muffin CDQuite harsh feedback'n'squeals, with modulating and osciallating whirrs of shrill. Rather bludgeoning actually. The third cut is especially disturbing with its' record-looping piano duet intro which builds to a catastrophic finish. Piercing shrills and hordes of percussion just send it over. I can't hear myself hiccup. Get in touch here: Rural Electrification Program 67 Holbern Hill, Millom, Cumbria, LA18 S8L, England |
Andrew Wilshusen - Eric(A Children's Album) CDCute sounding eclecti-pop complete with whirling organs and tubas, coupled with an extremely friends vocal. Great circus-pop! It's not often a record comes in that evokes the wonderful lush immagery of taking your kids to their first carnival, but Andrew captures it perfectly. I like the low-key-ness of the most conventional of modern instruments: the guitar. There's more tuba than guitar on this one! Astounding revelation: We should replace all guitars with tubas! Very twisted children's album indeed, filled with fun, yes, but equally demented and frightening just the same. "Freon Nights" is rather disturbing, with its' mix of slowed down drums and voices, with normal speed bass and organs tossed over. Wonderful, distinct and pasty. Get in touch here: liberatednsf@yahoo.com |
Ouija Board Reunion CDVery produced guitar-driven indie-alternative rock with catchy hooks and all. Well played and melodic, and ready for college radio, but maybe too high-class for Orange Entropy radio. Get in touch here:www.obr.info |
Slow Car Crash - Come Out And Play Tonight CDPiano and synth driven electronic pop, candy coated with the usual arrangements. Their strength is in their synth melodies. Quite nice actually, especially the piano. I like the instrumental passages the best. Get in touch here: slowcarcrash@hotmail.com and www.slowcarcrash.com |
Lick The Star CDDIY indie-emo with zoned out guitars and brooding vocals. The three song demo has clear vision, plus these guys do get a pretty big drum sound(which is refreshing in this genre). The natural tape distortion is what gets me here. I like the idea of overloading a tape machine with more frequencies than it can handle, it gives it a nice raw feel. Get in touch here: bradcaffeine@aol.com and http://angelfire.com/indie/lickthestar |
Gazelles - Demonstration Disc CDGreat packaging(hot pink enevelope!?!) with handwritten info on the back. Nice'n'weird music inside as well, with lots of yelping. Action packed with sampling and cool drumming, even getting funky - but by no means is this conventional. This disc has a very peculiar direction, towards the unexpected. The songs start to build towards one thing, then suddenly shift off somewhere else, going from gentle organ bass grooves to aural malfunctioning to sparse sound collages, with a snap of a finger. Inventive and creative - makes for good repeated listenings. Get in touch here: deconstructmyhouse@hotmail.com |
Nothing 2 Declare - Frozen Child CDVery clean rock'n'roll, with relatively tame production(this is a good thing, as this genre often overproduces the hell out of themselves). Nice melodic guitar playing thoughout the disc. Energetic and tight. Get in touch here:Nothing2Declare@lycos.co.uk |
Asciento - Seppuku CDPretty broad alternative rock, utilizing cellos and moogs to paint their portraits. Dry and occasionally breathy half of the time, heavy and breaching the other half. Get in touch here: www.asciento.com and info@asciento.com |
Sleepy Company - Sleepy Company CDCool indie rock from Eastern PA. Flarey vocals from Robby Barringer intimately capture the feel on the mostly upbeat numbers. The cleantone jangly guitars are rarely muddled up by distortion, giving nice playtime for the bassand emptying the sound out for some great vocals. Really good mix here, the music felt natural to me. The brightly ornate "Sparrow" is my favorite here. Get in touch here:sleepycompany@yahoo.com and www.sleepycompany.com |
Lowbelly - 12 CDQuaint melodic instrumentals on this disc feature hand drums, synthesizera, kazoos, found sounds and more. Almost like bizarre incidental music for video games. The titles evoke the images perfectly. "Tartar Men" even made me brush my teeth! Get in touch here:lowbelly@forthazel.com and www.forthazel.com |
Mike Fisher - Cat Fisher CDSinger songwriter acoustic folk-rock, full o'feel good lyrics and geetar accompaniment. "Lookin for Home" is a pretty straight up blues, while "Amnesia" features more folky finger-pickin' stuff. Mike's tenor voice is good against his guitar. Keeps it together in a nice'n'simple way. |
The Floreans - Three at the Price of Four CDItalian guitar driven rock, with some added horns to give it a nice finishing touch. I dig the especially droney "Sonny", though it was a bit too short. Most of the cuts on the CD mix a DIY attitude with late 80's college rock(a la MTV's 120 minutes stuff). Get in touch here:carlsch@iol.it |
Lowbelly - Mysteriously Untitled Fourth Album CDMore of an electric feel that the other Lowbelly disc I received. Bits of spoken word sampling amidst a demonic hard-rock riffin' open the CD. Bits of free jazz(80's ECM stuff), underwater soundtrack music and weird rock all over the place. The continuity flows like a wonderful messy river, filled with found voices, toy instruments and oscillators. Great stuff! Get in touch here:lowbelly@forthazel.com and www.forthazel.com |
The JFK Jr. Royal Airforce - 2 CDHere we go, wonderful pop music, like some bastard East Coast cousings of LA's Migs. Crisp in your face drumming, melodic wavy vocals, tasy instrumentations and great raw songs. "Sanctuary" is a like a one of the olda songs. we used to listen to in '26, complete with scratchy waltz outro. "Hot Dog Stand" is a devilish delight of some sideshow circus freak exhibit theme song. Really tasty organ playin' throughout, with Gershwin-esque piano melodies on the last 2 cuts. Brilliant! Get in touch here: www.slutfishrecords.com |
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