All posts by G. Gordon Gritty

CD Review, Entertainment, Music

CD Review: The Suburbs [2010]

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Band: Arcade Fire
Release: 8/2010
Label: Merge

1. “The Suburbs” – (A) – This tune is really likable. It does suffer from length issues, but this is Arcade Fire we’re talking about.

2. “Ready to Start” – (B) – The instrumentation is really great, but the vocals weaken it for a while. It does get a little bit better, but the whole Interpol/Peter Bjorn and John dark thing makes this random.

3. “Modern Man” – (A) – This has an old feel to it. It’s really good! The bass is awesome!

4. “Rococo” – (B+) – This doesn’t stand out, but is humorously okay.

5. “Empty Room” – (B-) – Sounds like Sonic Youth meets ABBA.

6. “City With No Children” – (B+) – Private prisons aren’t cool.

7. “Half Light I” – (B+) – Sort of epic.

8. “Half Light II” – (A) – A bit more than sort of epic. Reminds me of Girls.

9. “Suburban War” – (B+)

10. “Month of May” – (A) – I like the drumming.

11. “Wasted Hours” – (B+) – Kind of slow, kind of so-so. Interesting, though.

12. “Deep Blue” – (B)

13. “We Used to Wait” – (B-) – A bit like Spoon.

14. “Sprawl (Flatland)” – (C+) – Probably the worst thing on here.

15. “Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)” – (B+) – A strange dancey number.

16. “The Suburbs (Continued)” – (B) – Okay, we get it.

Final Comments: This will probably end up being one of the more disappointing records of the year for me. It’s pretty forgettable save a few numbers. A good five or six songs could have been cut out, but I must say the band’s foray into a bunch of different styles is refreshing as a listener. If they cut it short after “Month of May,” I’m not so sure the album would be any better, but it’d save us from a few less than stellar tunes.

Grade: B+ (87)

concert review, Entertainment, Music

Concert Review: Kurt Vile, Real Estate, Sore Eros @ Harper’s Ferry (7/23/10)

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Technically Difficult

Bands: Kurt Vile/Real Estate/Sore Eros
Date:  Friday, July 23, 2010

Act One – Sore Eros – Chris likened them to Deerhunter. They fall in that sort of experimental ambient rock category that Vile and, to a more considerable degree, Here We Go Magic, fall into. The lead singer and guitarist was really using effects to his advantage to derange his vocals and guitar. I think he also made use of looping, but it was tough to tell. His vocals were brief and incomprehensible. The noises that did come out of the amps were relaxed. There were moments of rocking out — and these were my favorite moments — but for the most part Sore Eros’ set was bigger-than-thou stand and stare kind of fare.

Act Two – Real Estate – These guys were pretty much what I expected. I was pleasantly surprised by the lead guitar parts (my favorite) as they were loud and precise. Sure, there was a moment of technical difficulty at the end of their set, but the songs that preceded this disturbance were entertaining. There were a few people dancing and that was understandable with this form of surf rock. I can understand the “they were boring” arguments, but as a fan of Real Estate’s “hit” songs –“Beach Comber,” “Fake Blues,” “Atlantic City,” and “Basement” — I can tell you I had a great experience during those.

Act Three – Kurt Vile – Kurt was a disappointment. My expectations totally differed from what actually happened. I expected a mostly acoustic slow set with a few electric guitar ditties thrown in the mix. What actually happened was an array of hard rocking vocally incomprehensible so-so tunes. I couldn’t hear the man except on maybe one or two songs. The lead guitarist was playing what seemed to be the same reverb drenched notes over and over on every single song. There were individual components of individual songs that were decent, but for the most part it was a disappointing noise jam. Get rid of the Violators and just have Kurt up there or something.

Grade: C+

Black Lips, Entertainment, Music, News, Nobunny

“The Underground Is Rewinding To Revive The Cassette”

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Awesome article in today’s Boston Globe. Mentions include Burger Records, the king of tapes, great local band Girlfriends, Black Lips, and the background of the screen you are looking at…Nobunny!

“…The story is the same for Burger Records, a music shop and tape label based in Fullerton, Calif., that just released the new MMOSS tape. It tends to do runs of 250 with handmade artwork, though high-selling tapes have earned repeat pressings. The lo-fi rock ’n’ roll Nobunny’s “Raw Romance’’ tops the discography at 1,000 copies to date, but that hasn’t stopped it from becoming a collectible already.

“One of those has sold for $40 on eBay,’’ says label head Sean Bohrman.

Bohrman got into releasing tapes just for kicks when he saw a friend’s band do it a few years ago. “We made CDs of two of our albums,’’ he says. “We still have hundreds and hundreds of copies of them. But we sell tons of tapes, so go figure.’’

Word has spread, and bigger labels are starting to complement wide releases with small runs of cassettes. Indie giants Sub Pop and Vice Records have started working with Bohrman to coordinate tape releases of bands like the Black Lips, Happy Birthday, and Jaill. The reason isn’t just to boost sales. Having a tape, especially one with homemade artwork, can reconnect with fans and ever-more-influential bloggers.”

Read the entire article: http://www.boston.com/ae/music/articles/2010/07/23/the_underground_is_rewinding_to_revive_the_cassette/?page=1

Classic CD Review, Entertainment, Music

Classic Review: You’re Living All Over Me [1987]

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Band: Dinosaur Jr.
Label: SST

1. “Little Fury Things” – (A+) – A long-time favorite, I love the smothering of distortion and pop at the beginning of the tune. Of course, the rest of the tune is just as amazing; the solo toward the middle really stands out.

2. “Kracked” – (A-) – Interesting solos, but rather dull verses. I do like the proto-grunge chorus.

3. “Sludgefeast” – (B+) – Another heavy battering of noise! Of course, a little teaser of a slowdown leads to an even more massive outbreak of…sludge. Mascis’ vocals fit snug on here.

4. “The Lung” – (B+) – A tiny bit toned down from the two tracks before it, this is a more relaxed interpretation of distortion.

5. “Raisans” – (A-) – Unfortunately not really note-worthy, but it’s still quite listenable. The final long shred is impressive. The best of its kind on here so far, I’d wager.

6. “Tarpit” – (A) – Would probably work best as an album closer because it’s just that great and has that whirlpool of noise that gives me a sense of closure.

7. “In a Jar” – (A-) – Reminiscent of Pavement in its clean, yet lo-fi ways — at least at first.

8. “Lose” – (B+) – A little bit of a hassle to appreciate, but Barlow meant well.

9. “Poledo” – (C-) – An unnecessary “sound collage” as Wikipedia dubs it. Really not necessary. For throw-aways in the grand scheme of throw-aways, I guess this isn’t terrible.

10. “Show Me the Way” – (A+) – Awesome! An instant favorite!

GRADE: A-/B+

CD Review, Entertainment, Music, Rap

CD Review: How I Got Over [2010]

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Band: The Roots
Release: 6/2010
Label: Def Jam

1. “A Peace of Light” – C-
2. “Walk Alone” – B+
3. “Dear God 2.0” – A
4. “Radio Daze” – A-
5. “Now Or Never” – B
6. “How I Got Over” – B
7. “DillaTUDE: The Flight of Titus” – C
8. “The Day” – B+
9. “Right On” – B+
10. “Doin’ It Again” – B
11. “The Fire” – B
12. “Tunnel Vision” – C-
13. “Web 20/20” – B-
14. “Hustla” – B+

Comments: I liked “Walk Alone” for the most part, but “Dear God” is where it’s at. The verses are top shelf hip-hop. My gripe with a lot of this album is the amount of half-ass tunes. What I mean is that The Roots seem to have a consistent focus on the way these songs are structured. That might appeal to a lot of folks who like a good amount of rap, but also don’t mind a soulful or R&B flavored chorus. I get bored with that. Also, does this record really need short interludes every five or six songs? OK so this isn’t that great in the whole scheme of hip hop records. It might be one of the best of its kind this year, though.

Grade: B- (83)