Red Mass is a group of musicians who fit in the general category of a band. They’re on the psychedelic/experimental side of rock and roll AND will be opening for King Khan and the Shrines at select shows! Among those select shows is the Royale Boston one that we’ll be attending. Ahh, the excitement! Well, anyway, I like what I hear and thought I’d share them with all of you guys. You know, move them to the next level of recognition.
“Male Models” – Haha! This one is funny. They sound like they’ve been at this since the ’80s. The style is dance-rock, but it’s eclectic and nearly parodies mainstream ’80s rock while still maintaining an edge that none of the shitty bands ever had at that time.
Band: Abe Vigoda Release: 9/2010 Label: Post Present Medium
1. “Sequins” – B+
2. “Dreams of My Life (Chasing After You)” – B
3. “Throwing Shade” – B
4. “Crush” – B+
5. “November” – B 6. “Pure Violence” – B 7. “Repeating Angel” – C+ 8. “To Tears” – B
9. “Beverly Slope” – B
10. “We Have to Mask” – C+
Comments: Ha ha! What funny guys Abe Vigoda are. Well, funny…sort of. They’ve all but ditched their lo-fi “tropical” punk aesthetic for something more…hi-fi and softer. This record sounds a bit like a Bloc Party record in that it combines traditional post-punk revival tendencies with synth/electro pop. It’s a wimpy showcase that is momentarily fun, but rather stale. I sense they had a hard time parting with their earliest asset: tropicalismo. There are some slight elements of that genre present on this record like on “Pure Violence” in the form of reverb-drenched guitar riffs (a la Real Estate and the like). The band gets all Arcade Fire Suburbs on “To Tears.” I might even have to call this out as “chillwave.” Gross. I guess if you plan on falling asleep in the middle of listening to this then it’s all right.
Full Title The Wizard Of Oz Director(s): Victor Fleming, George Cukor, Mervyn LeRoy, King Vidor Year: 1939 Comments: This needs no introduction, the wonderful, coming of age, fantasy movie about discovering you need not look further than your backyard to find inspiration and/or happiness. I would argue this is amongst the top five or ten films to revolutionize cinema forever. Grade: A+
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Full Title: Spiderman 3 Director: Sam Raimi Year: 2007 Comments: This is definitely the weakest of the three Spidey flicks, but it isn’t terrible. It is still a good action packed, entertaining adventure. The story is interesting enough to follow through and the aciting is okay. The villians (Sandman and Venom) are decent characters, but neither generate the kind of hatred or terror one hopes to find in his Comic Book villians such as the antagonists in the previous two Spiderman movies (Green Goblin, Doc Ock, respectively). Overall, pretty average, worth seeing if you are a fan of Spiderman and/or this genre, if not, then you may or not dig this. The film fails to move beyond its basic plot and doesn’t bring anything new to the table. Grade: C+
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Full Title: Juno Director: Jason Reitman Year: 2007 Comments: I don’t care what people say about this movie, I love it! I know it has received overwhelming popularity and mostly positive reviews, but I truly think this is one of the best films of the past decade, or at least one of my favorites (# 2 for the 2000s) and it seems like that’s where people lose me. As a viewer and in general as a fan of any kind of art, one of the most vital qualities, if not the most vital quality is how memorable it is. And Junebug is chock full of lasting images, quotes, scenes, characters, and one of the most endearing soundtracks of all time. I am always glad to hear that people who normally would never listen to obscure music now know and love artists like Sonic Youth and Kimya Dawson because of this soundtrack. Speaking of Kimya, her songs (as the other artists’ music) fit astonishingly perfect in the film; as if they were made solely to be heard with this film, which of course none of them were, all having been recorded prior to director Jason Reitman contacting Kimya about collaborating. So yeah, this is highly KLYAM Recommended. Wizard! Grade: A+
1. “The Changingman” – A 2. “Porcelain Gods” – A- 3. “I Walk On Gilded Splinters” – B+ 4. “You Do Something To Me” – A+ 5. “Woodcutter’s Son” – B+ 6. “Time Passes” – B+ 7. “Stanley Road” – B+ 8. “Broken Stones” – B 9. “Out of the Sinking” – A- 10. “Pink on White Walls” – B+ 11. “Whirlpool’s End” – A+ 12. “Wings of Speed”- A+
Comments: I consider this the Modfahjah’s serious, yet bittersweet phase. I’ve been listening to these songs on a fairly irregular basis since about the year 2000. Collectively, they’ve never struck me as worthwhile listens… up until very recently. After seeing Weller in a live setting, I realized that the guy isn’t that bad! No, no, even more shockingly…he’s good! Of course, the sound he’s maintained over his solo career is in a faraway land from punk rock or “mod” rock…whatever that was. On this release in particular, Weller is pretty much down for anything. An extended guitar solo here and there, a soft piano-rock unrequited love ballad, an inspirational oldies power-pop number, country sounding tunes, and other goodies. Even the songs that aren’t “great” tend to flow real well with this album as a whole. The core of this album is in “You Do Something to Me,” Weller’s solo magnum opus “Whirlpool’s End,” and, of course, the gospel piano track “Wings of Speed.” I remember listening to “Wings” when I was a wee lad. I hadn’t heard anything like it. Its gospel swagger (which was something I never would have termed it years ago) was captivating. I think I downloaded it on Napster or Kazaa. That’s how much impact it had on me. It’s still such a touching ditty.
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Kids Like You & Me (KLYAM) 