Tag Archives: CD Review

CD Review, Entertainment, Music

CD Review: That’s How We Burn [2010]

Leave a comment

Band: Jaill
Release: 7/2010
Label: Sub Pop

1. “The Stroller” – A-
2. “Everyone’s Hip” – A-
3. “On the Beat” – A-
4. “Thank Us Later” – A-
5. “Summer Mess” – B+
6. “She’s My Baby” – A-
7. “Snake Shakes” – B+
8. “Demon” – B+
9. “Baby I” – B+
10. “How’s the Grave” – B+
11. “That’s How We Burn” – A-

Comments: Bringing to mind the likes of The B-52s and other pop, yet weird mainstream acts of yesteryear, Jaill’s all right. “The Stroller” is a post-punk revival jam with strong streaks of catchiness. Despite it being a fairly unoriginal jam, it still’s great on the ears. “Everyone’s Hip” reeks of ‘alternative’ genius. No complaints on the powerpop/post-punk flavored “On the Beat,” either. The Shins comparisons are justifiable on the vocal-centric “Thank Us Later,” surely one of the better songs on here. Some songs that I’d normally think are great just don’t have the memorable kind of chops I wish they had. What I thought may have been a near-the-top album for me turns out to be lost in the midst of above-average obscurity.

Grade: B+ (89)

CD Review, Entertainment, Music

CD Review: The Suburbs [2010]

Leave a comment

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)

CD Review, Entertainment, Music, Rap

CD Review: How I Got Over [2010]

Leave a comment

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)

CD Review, Entertainment, Music

CD Review: Raw Pie [2010]

2 Comments

Band: Personal and the Pizzas
Release: 3/2010
Label: Burger Records [CASSETTE]/ 1234GO! [VINYL]

1. “I Don’t Wanna Be No Personal Pizza” – B
2. “I Don’t Feel So Happy Now No More” – B+
3. “I Can Read” – B+
4. “I Ain’t Takin’ You Out” – A-
5. “Brass Knuckles” – B+
6. “Nobody Makes My Girl Cry But Me” – B
7. “Knuckles #2” – B+
8. “Pizza Army” – B
9. “Tearjerker” – B+
10. “Never Find Me” – B
11. “7.99 For Love” – B-
12. “Pepperoni Eyes” – B
13. “Don’t You Go In That Ground” – A-
14. “Toss That Pie” – C+

Comments: Wait a second while I figure out a brief survey.
DO YOU LIKE THE STOOGES? A LITTLE
DO YOU LIKE THE RAMONES? YEAH
DO YOU LIKE WEIRD AL? YEAH

So I’m supposed to like these guys. These greasy pepperoni pisans sound like textbook novelties. This is a live record of sorts recorded with, presumably, a tape recorder in an empty bar. It’s nice to know they can read. Their songwriting style resembles that of the late Bobby Ubangi and the present day Nobunny circa Raw Romance (see “I Ain’t” for reference). They obviously take cues from The Ramones, but who in the Burger in-crowd doesn’t? Personal and crew don’t really mobilize me all that much. Like, ya know, I’m not blown or anything. You have to possess a sense of humor and a degree of patience in conforming your ears to this piece of vinyl. If you aren’t paying much attention while listening or if you are like me and trying to hear this album while reading about Howard Zinn, you might mistake the first half of “Don’t You” as a mockery of mentally challenged individuals. It clicked, though! They’re talking about Jay Jay. “Reatard, Reatard, such a little Reatard, you’re dead, what did you do?”

Grade: B (85)

CD Review, Entertainment, Femmes, Music

CD Review: Crazy For You [2010]

Leave a comment

Band: Best Coast
Release: 7/2010
Label: Mexican Summer

1. “Boyfriend” – A
2. “Crazy for You” – A
3. “The End” – A-
4. “Goodbye” – A-
5. “Summer Mood” – A-
6. “Our Deal” – A-
7. “I Want To” – A
8. “When the Sun Don’t Shine” – A-
9. “Bratty B” – A
10. “Honey” – B+
11. “Happy” – B+
12. “Each and Every Day” – B+
13. “When I’m With You” – B+

Comments: Ahhhhh I wrote a lot about this album here but then I guess it never saved! Ahhhh! I’ll revisit it soon.

Grade: A- (90)

CD Review, Entertainment, Music

CD Review: /\/\ /\ Y /\ [2010]

Leave a comment

Artist: M.I.A.
Release: 7/2010
Label: XL Recordings

1. “The Message” – N/A
2. “Steppin Up” – C
3. “XXXO” – C-
4. “Teqkilla” – C+
5. “Lovalot” – C-
6. “Story To Be Told” – C+
7. “It Takes a Muscle” – B
8. “It Iz What It Iz” – C
9. “Born Free” – C-
10. “Meds and Feds” – D+
11. “Tell Me Why” – C+
12. “Space” – C

Comments: “Carried away” in studio. That’s truth. For the most part this album is an experimental mess. Not totally experimental, though. It’s like an electronica album (2/3 of it, at least) with vocals. Some of the more stripped down tracks like the dub/reggae cover “It Takes a Muscle” and the mellow “Space” are easier to digest. Unless, of course, schizophrenic beats are your thing. The repetition and hectic flavor of most of the tunes on here are discomfiting aspects of the listening experience. I honestly haven’t struggled with as many albums as this one.

Grade: C (75)

CD Review, Entertainment, Music, Punk

CD Review: Radical Sabbatical [2010]

Leave a comment

Band: APACHE
Release: 6/2010
Label: Burger Records

1. “Bad Kids” – A-
2. “Heaven Can Wait” – A-
3. “Finger Banger” – A
4. “Pint Size Punker” – A
5. “Bloody Knuckles” – B+
6. “Outside” – A
7. “Jam Pusher” – A-
8. “Beat Myself” – B
9. “Faster Louder” – B
10. “Hospital Bed” – A
11. “OMC” – A
12. “Boomtown Gems” – A
13. “Kitty” – B+

Comments: “Bad Kids” is not quite “Bad Kids,” but it rock and rolls. Most of these song rock and roll. This is a punk record through and through if you couldn’t already tell from the titles. You’d think they were talking about you Chris on “Pint Size Punker,” but nah, she’s only 17. SHE. Anyway, the music itself is catchier than most punk records I’ve listened to this year. APACHE likes heavy doses of sensible freestyle guitaring, especially on “Outside,” the most memorable jam on this disc. The fast fast fast (FASTER. LOUDER) ones aren’t as fun as the more rhythmic power-poppers, but that’s just my preference. As far as 2010 lowbrow independent record label releases go, this LP definitely has to be near the top of that lit.

Grade: A- (91)

CD Review, Entertainment, Music, Wavves

CD Review: King of the Beach [2010]

Leave a comment

Band: Wavves
Release: 6/2010
Label: Fat Possum

1. “King of the Beach” – A+
2. “Super Soaker” – A+
3. “Linus Spacehead” – A++
4. “When Will You Come” – A-
5. “Baseball Cards” – A+
6. “Take On The World” – A
7. “Post Acid” – A
8. “Idiot” – A
9. “Green Eyes” – A-
10. “Mickey Mouse” – A-
11. “Convertible Balloon” – A-
12. “Baby Say Goodbye” – A

Comments: Ye gods, the production quality on this is fantastic. Nathan Williams goes from being a lo-fi tape hissing noise punk on his first two records as Wavves to a pop punk extraordinaire on this one. Count me in on The Impressed Club. These songs are simply warm-weather chilled out re-playable classics. For obvious reasons, Wavves does a much better job at this than any of those ’90s/early ’00s hype summer pop rock bands that birthed hit singles. Wavves is much more real. Thank God they got a nice studio to kick around and experiment. It seems like they really took advantage of that setting by trying out new sounds: a light organ and sleigh bells (reminiscent of something in between Panda Bear and Christmas music) on “When Will You Come,” snapping, more vocal samples, synths, and all around Panda Bear esque psychedelia on “Baseball Cards,” and uncontrollable laughter on “Idiot.” A song built around laughing behind someone’s back? There you go. Like I said before, I’m truly impressed that this is the same guy who recorded simple, but only sometimes really catchy tunes in his bedroom. This isn’t selling out folks. It’s exploring and expanding. It’s…surprising and unexpected. A stripped down “Mickey Mouse” would have fit in Wavves catalog fine a few years ago, but it would have had only two or three layers. The “Mickey Mouse” on here has at least six different layers and every single one of them truly makes a world of difference. “Baby Goodbye” might be really awesome live, but damn that ending is far too long. The first three minutes or so are just fantastic. This record is tied for being my favorite of the year. I really don’t see that changing much. The quality and immediate impact of these songs is currently blowing my mind, but that might be because I’m looking outside it’s 90 degrees and sunny. This kind of weather just works this sound. Good work, Wavves.

Grade: A (94)

CD Review, Entertainment, Music

CD Review: In and Out and Back Again [2010]

Leave a comment

Band: Woven Bones
Release: 5/2010
Label: HoZac

1. “I’ll Be Running” – B-
2. “Guess You Already Knew” – A-
3. “Seven Year Mirror” – B+
4. “If It Feels Alright” – B
5. “You’re Way With My Life” – B
6. “Creepy Bone” – B+
7. “Half Sunk Into The Seats” – B+
8. “Couldn’t Help But Stare” – A-
9. “Blind Conscience” – A-

Comments: Awesome drumming. Vocals can be a little disappointing, but am I the one to talk?! Woven Bones’ got Thee Oh Sees thing going on, but ho ho ho something is lacking. I may never figure out what it is, but it’s not like whatever isn’t here isn’t helping. Whatever is here works to a satisfiable degree. It might be the sometimes apparent cross between shoegaze psychedelia and no-gaze garage rock.

Grade: B+ (87)

CD Review, Entertainment, Music

CD Review: White Mystery S/T [2010]

Leave a comment

Band: White Mystery
Release: 3/2010
Label: White Mystery

1. “White Widow” – A-
2. “Power Glove” – A
3. “Lions of Tsavo” – A-
4. “Overwhelmed” – B+
5. “Vorpal” – B+
6. “Switch It Off” – B+
7. “Farmer” – A-
8. “Take A Walk” – A-
9. “Don’t Hold My Hand” – A-
10. “Halloween” – B+
11. “Respect Yourself” – A-
12. “Aaron” – B+
13. “Ye Olde Stone” – A-
14. “Trance” – A-

Comments: That voice! She sounds eerily familiar…you know the female vocalist in this band? Maybe Alissa Mosshart? White Mystery know how to rock quick. Press the record, play some inspiring hooks and beats, press stop, and call it a day. Like the Hives and the Dirtbombs, White Mystery plays passionate ’60s rock revival. Sure, most of these songs — for no fault of the female vocalist — sound pretty much the same or have the same construct. That’s a turn-off for a lot of garage enthusiasts. BUT, these songs are too good not to like. They have that “right now” appeal that I treasure.

Grade: B+ (89)