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CD Review, Entertainment, Music

CD Review: Still Night, Still Light

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Band: Au Revoir Simone
Label: Moshi Moshi Records
Release: May 2009

1. “Another Likely Story” – 8.3
2. “Shadows” – 7.2
3.  “All Or Nothing” – 8.9
4. “Knight of Wands” – 8.9
5. “The Last One” – 7.5
6. “Trace A Line” – 9.3
7. “Only You Can Make You Happy” – 8.7
8. “Take Me As I Am” – 8.3
9. “Anywhere You Looked” – 9.5
10. “Organized Scenery” – 8.9
11. “We Are Here” – 8.0
12. “Tell Me” – 9.0

Comments: One has to expect a band with the name Au Revoir Simone to be artsy and have at least two girl members. Right? When it comes down to it, this is the kind of obscure pop act that’s sure to be considered rather household in that genre, comparable to toned down electro-pop outfits like the German  quartet Lali Puna. Whereas bands like Handsome Furs, Editors, and most recently Clap Your Hands Say Yeah offshoot Uninhabitable Mansions (of which ARS’s Annie Hart is a member) have embraced elements of this genre in putting together instantly catchy tunes, Au Revoir Simone requires some patience on the part of the listener. The best songs that ARS has on this album are infectiously dreamy and fast paced. I’d be lying, though,  if I said that there is a lot of lasting appeal to these numbers. They are great if you want a quick mix of quirky electronics and attractive female vocals.

Grade: 8.5

CD Review, Entertainment, Music

CD Review: Real Estate

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Band: Real Estate
Release: 2009

1. “Beach Comber” – 9.5
2. “Pool Swimmers” – 8.7
3. “Suburban Dogs” – 8.3
4. “Black Lake” – 8.8
5. “Atlantic City” – 8.8
6. “Fake Blues” – 9.2
7. “Green River” – 9.4
8. “Suburban Beverage” – 9.3
9. “Let’s Rock The Beach” – 9.3
10. “Snow Days” – 9.4

Comments: For all you Boston area folk the best I can do in describing Real Estate is to say I hear Faces on Film. Real Estate is less minimalistic, heavier, and generally more accessible than Faces to the non “zomg I <3 folk” diehards of the world. I also hear a little Built to Spill here and there and I might as well throw in Cotton Jones as a similar band as well. I’m not going nuts over this album, but it doesn’t lack in the chill department. It’s soothing, depressing, and exciting. I like hearing songs called “Atlantic City” that remind me of the old boardwalk and the feel-good resort casino atmosphere. Speaking of feel-good, how can the “Fake Blues” riff not make someone smile?  “Green River” is almost a perfect tune for this time of year. It’s sad in a way, at least for me, because it reminds me of opportunities missed. The instrumentals make the latter part of this album. Just awesome stuff.

Grade: 9.1

CD Review, Entertainment, Music

CD Review: Invisible Girl

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Band: King Khan & BBQ Show
Label: In The Red Records
Release: November 3, 2009

1. “Anala” – 9.6
2. “Invisible Girl” – 9.8
3. “I’ll Be Loving You” – 9.7
4. “Animal Party” – 9.4
5. “Spin the Bottle” – 9.8
6. “Third Ave” – 9.8
7. “Tastebuds” – 9.7
8. “Truth or Dare” – 9.6
9. “Crystal Ball” – 9.8
10. “Lonely Boy” – 9.7
11. “Tryin’” – 9.8
12. “Do the Chop” – 9.7

Comments: This album rules! It doesn’t quite have the innate catchiness of most of the songs on What’s For Dinner? or The King Khan & BBQ Show LP, but it’s a lot more of the same great old-skool garage and doo-wop. “Anala” gets us right into things with King hollering his typical  “uhm-bau-wau-uhm-bau-wau” in the background of BBQ’s graceful ballad about making Anala (yes, Anal-a) cry. “Invisible Girl” is a bit of a change-up from “Anala” in that it is more modern garage-rock sounding, playful and as inviting as ever. “Purple, pink, and orange make me high as when the sky…” is the perfect line for a sing-a-long. A dirty sing-a-long at that; seemingly about fantasies of the cover-girl. “I’ll Be Loving You” is another powerful BBQ straight from the heart tune…different from the previous three because it is to a great degree innocent. “Animal Party” carries on the innocent vibe and could easily be played alongside children, provided it’s cleaned up slightly. Next is “Spin the Bottle” which really isn’t like anything KK+BBQ have done before. King’s “dirty” vocals fit perfectly in this raunchy-but-not-really-raunchy-at-all number. “Third Avenue” is probably the oldest sounding song on this album. Everything about it: the lyrics, the slow-strummed guitars and the light tambourine have a definite old skool vibe. “Tastebuds,” I imagine, will most definitely become a live staple for these guys. It’s so obnoxious and memorable that live crowds are bound to immediate recite the words like any old KK+BBQ classic. “Truth or Dare” is another party-game play-on that rocks. Just like “Spin the Bottle,” this song probably wouldn’t be the same without King on lead vocals. “Crystal Ball” wouldn’t be out of place on a Shrines record because it is so fast paced and feels like a complete experience…almost like there is a seven member back-up band. “Lonely Boy” is fast-paced too with a punk structure. I can definitely see this song as long-lasting addition to their set-list. “Tryin'” further exemplifies BBQ’s amazing vocal range as if you had any doubts before. The line: “The way you chew tobacco, baby, reading magazines/Makes me want to sit around and sow into your jeans” has awesome written all over it. “Do The Chop” isn’t really dancing music, but it’s definitely something to consider. I’d try to do the chop, if I could decipher what BBQ is instructing me to do. Stop, drop, and then do the chop? Damn, that sounds fucked up, but I might as well do it anyway.

Grade: 9.7

CD Review, Entertainment, Music

CD Review: Gay Singles

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Band: Hunx and His Punx
Label: True Panther Sounds
Release: 2009

1. “You Don’t Like Rock ‘N Roll” – 9.5
2. “Gimmie Gimmie Back Your Love” – 8.6
3. “Hey Rocky” – 9.3
4. “Movin’ On” – 8.6
5. “Cruising” – 9.6
6. “Good Kisser” – 9.2
7. “Don’t Cha Want Me Back” – 8.3
8. “The Last Time” – 8.5
9. “Teardrops On My Telephone” – 9.0
10. “I Won’t  Get Under You” – 8.6
11. “You Better Tell That Girl” – 9.0
12. “Do the Make Up” – 8.9

Comments: As Chris said in a concert review from October 3, “If you think you have seen homocore or queercore, then look again. Hunx and His Punx is just about as gay as it gets and unabashedly so.” If you ignore the hilariously creepy/flamboyant lyrics, these are pretty damn awesome glam pop-punk songs. You know, basic chord structures playing underneath an effeminate voice. Let’s not ignore lyrics for one second. Take “Hey Rocky,” which is about a gay one night stand with said man. Lyrics alone could be offensive to many, but a plethora of popular hip-hop/pop songs today are just as disgusting/immoral as this. You can’t make the claim that these songs aren’t catchy. Musically, they are as fun as can be. “I’ve got so many fellas, I make all the ladies jealous. Just hope they’re playing on my team,” hollers Hunx on “Cruisin’.” A typical immediate reaction might be: “Oh my…gay!” And that was my reaction. Try watching 10 seconds of the music video. But..but…”Cruisin'” is easily one of the rhythmically catchiest songs on here.

Grade: 8.9

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CD Review, Entertainment, Music

CD Review: Phrazes For The Young

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Band: Julian Casablancas (The Strokes)
Label: Rough Trade
Release: November 3, 2009

1. “Out of the Blue” – 9.6
2. “Left & Right In The Dark” – 9.1
3. “11th Dimension” – 9.9
4. “4 Chords of the Apocalypse” – 8.8
5. “Ludlow St.” – 8.9
6. “River of Breaklights” – 9.2
7. “Glass” – 9.3
8. “Tourist” – 9.5

Comments: If I had my ways, I would wish every song on here would be as great as “11th Dimension.” That’s not the case, but what we have here is a very noteworthy effort from Casablancas. He loves his synths and drum beats and he sure loves changing things up from track to track. As for the Strokes comparisons…you’ll (obviously) hear it in his voice, but the instrumentation is very different for the most part. Overall, this should land in top 20 lists for ’09, but I’d be fooled to see it appear as one of the very best.

Grade: 9.3

CD Review, Entertainment, Music

CD Review: Raditude [Deluxe Edition]

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Band: Weezer
Label: Geffen Records
Release: November 3, 2009

1. “(If You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To” – 8.9
2. “I’m Your Daddy” – 8.0
3. “Run Over By A Truck” – 7.8
4. “The Girl Got Hot” – 7.5
5. “The Prettiest Girl In The Whole Wide World” – 7.9
6. “Can’t Stop Partying” – 4.4
7. “The Underdogs” – 5.5
8. “Put Me Back Together” – 6.4
9. “Tripping Down The Freeway” – 7.3
10. “Love Is The Answer” – 7.7
11. “Let It All Hang Out” – 6.5
12. “In The Mall” – 6.1
13. “I Don’t Want To Let You Go” – 5.8
14. “Turn Me Around” – 6.2

Background: Weezah! Okay I’ve spent maybe 30 minutes total in my lifetime listening to these guys. I think”Undone” is pretty sweet as well as “Say It Ain’t So” and maybe their cover of “Velouria” too. I do remember listening to their 2008 release a little bit. Pretty average from what I remember.

The Real Deal: Not going to joke around here, I was hoping this album would be worse than Bonnie “Prince Billy’s Beware. That was effectively the worst album I’ve heard all year.  This album starts off pretty great, I’m not going to lie. “I Want You To” is a nice upbeat pop number. But then… “I Can’t Stop Partying” is just dumb. It’s like “I Gotta Feeling” except even more pathetic. Besides maybe three songs maximum (that sound similar to something out of the Louis XIV catalog), I get a sense that Weezer is just dabbling in a plethora of rock genres. It seems like they recorded a bunch of intrinsically different songs and simply slapped them on here. So yeah, this is the worst album that I’ve reviewed all year. Got anything worse?

Final Grade: 6.9

CD Review, Music

CD Review: High Times

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Band: Washed Out
Release: 2009

1. “Belong” – 8.6
2. “Good Luck” – 8.8
3. “Phone Call” – 9.1
4. “Olivia” – 8.7
5. “Clap Intro” – 8.0
6. “Luck” – 8.2
7. “It’s Kate’s Birthday” – 7.1
8. “You Will Be Sad” – 7.3
9. “Yeah” – 7.4

Comments: Like the name of the band, this music is “washed out.” A lot of the album is coated in some kind of slick material that sort of drowns all instrumentation…at least to a certain extent. What results is sample heavy synth-pop. On many occasions, I like what I’m hearing. There are some extrema like “Olivia” that is entirely new wave-y, which is okay because it sounds pretty good, but doesn’t have much lasting appeal. If Washed Out expected “It’s Kate’s Birthday” to be a song embraced by girls named Kate near and far, they effectively failed! Your best bet for liking anything this band has done on this album is the first four songs.

Grade: 8.2

CD Review, Entertainment, Music

CD Review: Tarot Sport

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Band: Fuck Buttons
Release: October 14, 2009
Label: ATP Recordings

1. “Surf Solar” – 8.8
2. “Rough Steez” – 8.6
3. “The Lisbon Maru”‘ – 8.1
4. “Olympians” – 9.2
5. “Phantom Limb” – 8.2
6. “Space Mountain” – 8.9
7. “Flight of the Feathered Serpent” – 9.2

Comments: The only thing I know about Fuck Buttons is their song “Sweet Love For Planet Earth” consistently scares me. It’s strangely amazing and epic, because of a roaring synth that’s echoed to 20 on a scale of 1-10. If you can actually bare to listen to a song of the 9 minute, 41 second variety, I congratulate you, my friend. Because that roaring synth turns into a variety of synths and stuff before screaming voices come in. I’d call it noise rock, but this shit’s child’s play compared to the likes of Lightning Bolt, etc. “Sweet Love…” is the kind of song that you might listen to on occasion just to get an ear on the roaring echo-synth. Other than that, it doesn’t really do much. Enough rambling about a song that came out in ’08. This album takes up almost a 1/10 a gig and is nearly an hour long. I’m going to admit that I made some judgments without listening to the whole of all songs. Sorry. I bet the likes of Pitch-dork did too. K so this album is pretty good. Lots of good sound effects. If that’s what you like in music, then this shit is totally awesome. For me, I find it kind of exciting, yet anti-climatic just because of the length. I only see slight value in listening to this music on (A) long plane flights (B) long car rides (C) raves. That’s all. Hell, I’m pretty damn sure Fuck Buttons even sampled “My Girls” by Animal Collective on “Space Mountain.” Maybe. They even knocked off “Brother Sport” by naming this thang “Tarot Sport.”

Grade: 8.7

CD Review, Entertainment, Music

CD Review: Primary Colours

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Band: The Horrors
Label: XL Recordings
Release: April 21, 2009

1. “Mirror’s Image” – 9.5
2. “Three Decades” – 9.3
3. “Who Can Say” – 9.6
4. “Do You Remember” – 9.5
5. “New Ice Age” – 9.5
6. “Scarlet Fields” – 9.6
7. “I Only Think Of You” – 8.7
8. “I Can’t Control Myself” – 8.3
9.  “Primary Colours” – 9.0
10. “Sea Within A Sea” – 8.7

Comments: This is just one of those albums that’s been sitting in the queue since approx. July waiting to be reviewed. In fact, this is a first-time listening review. Present on this album are very enticing elements of ’80s post-punk. For instance, I thought right away on Mirror’s Image “damnit, this could be a boring one,” but it turned out awesome. There’s no fucking around on Three Decades with the creepy factor turned way up. It’s strangely engaging as well. Who Can Say has a poppy synth that plays at certain points beneath layers of guitar effects. I have to give it up to this band for being at least partially deceiving. Their formula for success is basically combining really dark elements of shoe-gaze with retro upbeat post-punk. A lot of bands have tried out this formula, but The Horrors really seem to possess a “catchy-bility” element like none other; i.e the reverb/delay effect on Do You Remember and the heavy-metal yet noise-pop New Ice Age. Scarlet Fields maintains a scary effect, but has a Pixies-esque bass line that reconciles dark with light. I Only Think Of You had me mistaking Faris Badwan for Calvin Johnson. The title track has a soothing flow to it. The final track has an ambient dance vibe to it that sort of works. Overall, I like this piece of work.

Grade: 9.2

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