Band: Waylon Thornton and the Heavy Hands Release: 1/2010 Label: White Moon Recordings
1. “Yours Truly” – A-
2. “Meet Me By The Garbage Can” – A 3.”I See Evil” – A 4.”Color TV” – A 5. “Walking With The Wicked” – A- 6. “I Slayed The Hydra” – B+ 7. “Men Don’t Cry” – A-
8. “Teenage Gluehead” – A
9. “Coca Cola Rock ‘N Roll” – A- 10. “Wolf Wagon” – B- 11. “The Man With The Golden Arm” – B+ 12. “Tuned Out” –A+
13. “Black Fur” – A- 14. “Manson Halloween” – N/A [Funny, though]
Comment: Ding Dong! First came Waylon Thornton then came the Ding Dongs, I know. As far as a point of reference go I’m thinking three parts Bloodshot Bill and two parts Mark Sultan on this one. Bill’s instrumentation and Mark’s singing. This psychobilly filled mother father was released on cassette! How 1995 of Waylon! The best song on here is “Tuned Out.” It’s a quickie, clocking in @ 1:38. Definitely give this crazy thing a listen if you are into Ding Dong kind of tomfoolery.
Band: High Places Release: 3/2010 Label: Thrill Jockey
1. “On Giving Up” – C+ 2. “She’s A Wild Horse” – B- 3. “The Channon” – C- 4. “Canada” – C 5. “Constant Winter” – B 6. “On a Hill in a Bed on a Road in a House – C
7. “Drift Slayer” – C
8. “The Most Beautiful Name” – C+ 9. “When It Comes” – B
Comments: I can’t believe I’m listening to the same High Places that I saw in concert back in July 2008! “On Giving Up” would make you think they are a electronic dance music duo from way back. The next song and beyond sort of proves that was just a one time deal. They are an experimental group after all. When Ben’s girl Mary doesn’t sing the result is kind of meh. When she does sing, the result can be anywhere from pretty good to pretty average. The dream/electro-pop of “Constant Winter” is where I think the band excels the most…in general in that style of music. “On A Hill” is pretty damn eclectic. “Put me down in the earth” sings Mary on the last track, which is, to no one’s surprise, about the end of life. High Places is a pretty tolerable experimental band for me and for that I applaud them.
Band: Ted Leo and the Pharmacists Release: 3/2010 Label: Matador Records
1. “Mighty Sparrow” – A- 2. “Mourning In America” – C 3. “Ativan Eyes” – B 4. “Even Heroes Have To Die” – C- 5. “The Stick” – C- 6. “Bottled In Cork” – C- 7. “Woke Up Near Chelsea” – D 8. “One Polaroid A Day” – C- 9. “Where Was My Brain?” – B- 10. “Bartolomeo…” – C 11. “Tuberculoids Arrive…” – D+ 12. “Gimme The Wire” – C+
13. “Last Days” – B
Comments: I’m not entirely unfamiliar with Ted Leo. I mean, I’ve seen their name thrown around so much, but I never really listened to them. Not going to bullshit you people, but I always got the impression that this band played some kind of math rock. That was unwarranted and I couldn’t have been more wrong. It turns they are more of a post-punk or pop-punk outfit, somewhere between Louis XIV and Head Automatica. I have a spot in my heart for bands like this and I could tell pretty quickly that Ted Leo is going to be hit or miss personally. Not sure if the band intentionally ripped off Sonic Youth’s “Poison Arrow” with “Mighty Sparrow.” Obviously any well produced rip-off of Sonic Youth is going to sound pretty good. I guess listening to this band gives you hipster cred, because they dance on the line of what’s mainstream pop-punk and what’s not. Even attempts that are meant to be of the hardcore (not literally) “I don’t give a shit” variety of punk come off unnatural like in “The Stick.” All right Ted Leo, time to sign to Columbia. Enough of this shit, you posers. You make good bands signed to Matador look bad like the late Jay Reatard and Mission of Burma. Slightly kidding, but slightly not. The below average songs are really sucky and the decent songs are really decent. “Last Days” is a pretty good way to end a pretty ugly string of tracks.
1. “Keep Askin” – B 2. “Healing Hands” – B 3. “I Couldn’t Explain Why” – C 4. “Lifeline” – B- 5. “Off The Ground” – C+
6. “Jericho” – B- 7. “The Newspaper” – C 8. “A Father’s Son” – C+ 9. “Lifeline (Barefeet Version)” – B
10. “Keep Askin’ (Acoustic)” – B-
Comments: Cope. Yeah, that guy. The guy that Matt Hurton loves. The guy that lands three consecutive nights (Thu-Fri-Sat) at the Paradise Rock Club. The guy that realized major label releases are over-rated and releases an album all by himself on his own record label. Cope’s got a funky acoustic swagger that is a little more digestible than what you’ll get in the mainstream. Speaking of which, other than a plethora of TV spots, Cope remains relatively unknown to the public eye (besides his fairly large cult following). His songs are ripe for media picking because of their flexible usage potential and flow. I like what Cope is doing most of the time here, but it’s obviously just not my style. It’s not exactly what I’d consider depressing, but Cope’s heavy delivery has that component almost built in. He’s not afraid to experiment with tropical genres, hip-hop, and electro-pop.
Artist: Immortal Technique Full Title: Revolutionary Volume 1 Label: Viper Records Year: 2001 Grade: B+
Keyword: REVOULTIONARY. Many refer to themselves as revoltuionaries, whether it be a Republican Congressmen from Texas or a radical nerd on his blog, but few can back it up. Immortal Technique is part of this rare breed. He is the closest example of a musical Che Guevara, if there ever was one. Before the listener even hits play, he/she is already bombarded by tech’s intense dissidence in the cover art: masacred police officers and the hammer and sickle a la Soviet Union. But, unlike dem pinko commie fags, tech’s Revolution (at least musically) succeeds because as he says it is, “built out of love for his people and not hatred for others.” The album opens with a solid 9 in “Creation and Destruction.” It basically foreshadows everything the MC is notorious for: violent lyrics, intimidating delivery, and uncompromising politics. This continues throughout the record, while he delves into such untouchable topics as police brutality, corporate media bias for the elite (“The Getaway”), the racist, White, economic, class structure which leaves poor people, mostly blacks and latinos, but also whites, and millions in the Third World concerned only with day to day poverty rather than developing Socialista philosophy to rise out of this trap (“The Poverty of Philosophy”- Spoken Word), and the harsh and regrettable reality of thug life, (“Dance With the Devil”). The latter is arguably one of the most horrifying tracks I have ever heard. Tech’s disturbing lyrics paint a petrifying picture of rape and murder. Overall, this is a sound record one of the finest from today’s greatest hip hop star. You would be hard pressed to find another rapper with as much skill, integrity, and hardcore style. To add to this hardcore reputation, all of the raps were created while he was in prison. Take that Fat Joe, you Fake, Fat, Fuck! Not that I’m in any position to criticize, with absolutely no street credibility WHATSOEVER! But, that’s alright, at least I’m not Billy Jacobs. You’ll have to listen to this album to know who Billy Jacobs is!
I love the energy of this band as I’ve said before. According to a fellow by the name of Rich, they should be bigger than they are here in the United States.
IS SO INDIE SINCE HE’S SIGNED TO XL IMMA GIVE HIS ALBUM A…8.5!
I listened to an early leak of I’m New Here by the inventor of “rap” and I got wicked bored. It was painfully boring that I couldn’t follow up and review it. I respect those with the patience to give this a worthwhile listen.
This is the final scene in the epic, Spike Lee film, Malcolm X (1992), one of my all time favorite movies. Sorry, to give away the ending ahhahaah. I highly recommend watching the ENTIRE film, reading his Autobiography and Malcolm X Speaks , watching his sppeches, as seen on Youtube, etc.
Kids Like You & Me (KLYAM) 