All posts by G. Gordon Gritty

CD Review, Music

CD Review: Is And Always Was

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Band: Daniel Johnston
Label: Eternal Yip Eye
Release: October 2009

1. “Mind Movies” – 9.4
2. “Fake Records of Rock and Roll” – 8.2
3. “Queenie The Doggie” – 9.3
4. “High Horse” – 9.4
5. “Without You” – 8.9
6. “I Had Lost My Mind” – 9.2
7. “Freedom” – 8.9
8. “Tears” – 9.3
9. “Is And Always Was” – 9.4
10. “Lost In My Infinite Memory” – 8.9
11. “Light of Day” – 8.9

Comments: Daniel Johnston’s “outsider” shtick ended sometime ago, but his awkwardness in music still lives on. He’s just a funny guy at the heart of it all. Very simplistic and catchy tunes show a happy Daniel…a “Love Wheel” Daniel, but not as obnoxious. No more “True Love Will Find You In The End” or “Devil Town” downers. He even tries out a Dinosaur Jr./Built to Spill kind of thing with “I Had Lost My Mind.” I’m not falling over because of this album, but I’m glad to see Danny still kicking it around at the age of 48.

Grade: 9.1

CD Review, Music

CD Review: Born Again Revisited

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Band: Times New Viking
Release: September 22, 2009
Label: Matador

1. “Martin Luther King Day” – 9.0
2. “I Smell Bubblegum” – 8.7
3. “City On Drugs” – 9.2
4. “Born Again Revisited” – 8.5
5. “Little World” – 8.8
6. “No Time No Hope” – 9.4
7. “Half Day In Hell” – 9.1
8. “Something Moore” – 9.3
9. “2/11 Don’t Forget” – 9.3
10. “These Days” – 9.2
11. “(No) Sympathy” – 8.9
12. “High Holidays” – 8.4
13. “Hustlers, Psycho, Son” – 8.7
14. “Move To California” – 9.2
15. “Take The Piss” – 8.3

Comments: Beneath the static there is some level of goodness on here. Unfortunately, the better part of this album suffers from “not as good as Wavves” syndrome. The better tracks are the cleaner tracks…you know, the ones that aren’t layered in fuzz up to the neck. A good balance of 40% lo-fi noise and 60% breathable pop (like No Age) would be nice rather than the 75%-25% madness going on here.

Grade: 8.9

CD Review, Music

CD Review: Break It Up

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Band: Jemina Pearl
Release: October 6, 2009
Label: Ecstatic Peace (Thurston Moore)

1. “Heartbeats” – 9.2
2. “After Hours” – 8.9
3. “Ecstatic Appeal” – 8.7
4. “Band on the Run” – 8.3
5. “I Hate People” – 9.5
6. “Looking For Trouble” – 8.7
7. “Retrograde” – 9.0
8. “Nashville Shores” – 8.8
9. “No Good” – 8.9
10. “D Is For Danger” – 8.7
11. “Selfish Heart” – 8.2
12. “Undesirable” – 8.5
13. “So Sick” – 8.9

Comments: With the Vivian Girls and Mika Miko, I felt a certain kind of like punk grrl vibe, but Jemina sounds like a girly girl just happening to sing punk. She’s really good at sounding clear, making me hesitant to call this natural garagey punk, which tends to be “dirty.” Overall, this sounds like cleaner garage a la Hunx, except with a pure female voice. It’s catchy, but I wouldn’t listen to it on a regular basis, other than maybe one or two songs.

Grade: 8.7

Entertainment, Music, News

Arctic Monkeys @ HoB

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I dig if tickets aren’t sold out. The date is December 13 and that’s a Sunday night. If I do manage to get a ticket, I know that I’ll do all that I can do to get there earlier than last time when I saw Animal Collective from the way back, but by the grace of God (and a few pushy-shove people) I managed to get really close to the front. I don’t think that will happen at an Arctic Monkeys show.