Issue #31 Extra!: New Releases
Asia – “Silent Nation”
Camper Van Beethoven – “New Roman Times”
Big Wedge – “Minutiae”
Debase – “Unleashed”
Gordon, Martin – “The Joy of More Hogwash”
Gnomus – “II”
Haco + Sakamoto Hiromichi – “Ash In The Rainbow”
Kings X – “Live All Over the Place”
Lithops – “Scrypt”
The Muffin Men– “Bakers Dozen”
The Muffin Men– “Live at the Cavern”
Pilot Around the Sun – “Creep”
Remy – “Different Shades of Dust”
Shadow of a Great Name – “Exteriors”
Shipp, Mathew – “Harmony and Abyss”
DJ Spooky That Subliminal Kid – “Celestial Mechanix: the Blue Series MasterMix”
The Yohimbe Brothers – “The Tao of Yo”
Mathew Shipp – “Harmony and Abyss”
(Thirsty Ear THI 57152.2, 2004, CD)
Pianist Mathew Shipp is still gradually pushing himself into the use of electronic instruments in his jazz endeavors. By embracing dance and hip hop rhythms he has become one of the last acoustic pianists to branch out electronically until he had become satisfied that he had something substantial to say. Harmony and Abyss is the man’s seventh CD in five years and it finds him in evaluation and refinement mode. Flam has now become an essential element to his recordings adding much flavor to the jazz sound map besides essential rhythms. William Parker has been Shipp’s co-pilot as his upright bass provides a compass to steer by as on “Galaxy 105”. Pieces such as “3 in 1” show a balance to acoustic piano grounded tracks supported by Parker and drummer Gerald Cleaver. “String Theory” is a key experimental track with Shipp’s distant watery piano entering the musical foreground with electronic smears and cuts encircling the backwards looping melody line. “Invisible Light” is one of the few free moments on the disk as Shipp and Parker walk an estimable fine line between conversation and telepathy. Alternately, “Amino Acid” relies on a samba rhythmic thrust to drive a penetrating theme. Closing out the recording is an electronic ballad that wallows in a morass of synthesizer despair. Taken as a whole Shipp has come to a crossroads where he has found a method on each path that works entirely for himself. – Jeff Melton
Haco + Sakamoto Hiromichi – “Ash In The Rainbow”
(Recommended ReR HACO3, 2002, CD)
Haco was the singer for After Dinner, while Sakamoto Hiromichi has played in a Pascal Comelade cover group and Lars Hollmer’s SOLA. On Ash in the Rainbow, they combine her voice, sometimes multi-tracked, his cello, and many effects to create experimental art pop. Some of the material is rather melancholy and pretty, while other tracks are more typical of the ReR catalogue and would be best described as quirky. Most tracks are with the duo, but percussionist Era Mari also plays on several tracks. The sparse arrangements avoid sounding thin due to the sampled sounds and studio work. Highlights include the shoegazing title track, and the somber and fragile “Zero Hills”. At its best the music is pretty and infectious. The ones with English lyrics, in the minority, can be dadaist and nonsensical. The odd cut like “Hot Road” combines both rather well. In all though I don’t really connect with the material emotionally. I like it better than Haco’s work with After Dinner, but it seems like a work easier to admire like a crystal, than it is to relate to as a listener, something innately alien. For some this will be perfect listening. – Sean McFee
Gnomus – “II”
(Fiasko FRCD-17, 2004, CD)
This is the second release of spontaneous compositions from this Finnish trio. Drums, keyboards and guitar wander into the outer reaches of deep space for improvisations that never really approach rock, though they don’t sound like jazz either. This must be the improvisational side of post-rock, I suppose. Even when the guitar hones in on something like a riff, the drums refuse to cooperate and settle on a standard backbeat, loosely keeping the tempo on cymbals with sporadic emphasis on toms. At least the basic tracks of these three pieces were recorded live; there are credits for “sound treatment” which may refer either to something done live at the shows or later in post-production. Certainly there are processed noises and voices appearing that do not have a clearly defined source among the principal players. Most of the time, keyboards dominate, but not in the ways keyboards usually do. While there are some melodies or lead lines, most of the playing is textural, probably involving knob-twiddling and outboard effects devices. No sequencers are in evidence, and in fact, it’s often difficult to identify the instruments at all. The low end of the frequency spectrum is sometimes covered by a recognizable keyboard, but at other times, the lines precisely double the guitar’s notes, and must be the result of an effect on the guitar. Often the guitar is obscured by keyboard sounds (or maybe participating incognito), but at times it works into a Fripp-like sustained line or a low growly bass line. – Jon Davis
[www.fiaskorecords.com]
Remy – “Different Shades of Dust”
(AKH Records, 10041-2, 2004, CD)
Young composer Remy Stroomer from the Netherlands admires Klaus Schulze and that can be heard in “Following Differences”, the first track. He chooses the same repeat in tones as Schulze does. His playing and use of rhythms is fine and make this track stand out. “Shades in Darkness” is a combination of older 80s Schulze and more modern rhythms. It’s shame that he chooses clichéd dance tunes to end the track. Despite the fullness of sounds “Moving Through Dust” excites and really rocks half way. Stroomer captures the emotion with fine, almost ear splitting solos like Schulze did on his mini. Before the finale, which is a reprise of earlier material, we can hear fine sequencing. Stroomer uses a whole battery of analog and digital synths and the sounds he comes up with mostly combine very well. Although not a stunning discovery in synth land, it certainly will give the listener an hour of pleasure. – Roel Steverink
[www.akhrecords.nl]
Lithops – “Scrypt”
(Thrill Jockey Thrill-32, 2003, CD)
Far from the reaches of electronic music as mere impetus for dancing, or even the spacious universe of ambient soundscapes, lies the realm of Lithops. Picture a two-dimensional coordinate system for electronic music. On the X axis you have the continuum that runs from ambient drone (-10) at one end to beat-pounding dance music (+10) at the other. The Y axis goes from chaotic academic electronic music (-10) to Tomita/Synergy electronic classicism (+10). Lithops averages at about (0,-8): things change much too fast for any suggestion of relaxation, and there is little hint of melody, tonality, or sometimes even pulse, though sounds reminiscent of percussion instruments occasionally turn up. When there is a detectable beat, it’s the kind of thing that seems to coalesce out of mist, like a pattern that emerges slowly from an out-of-focus blur, revealing lines and shapes if not recognizable objects. And for all the abstraction, it’s still appealing, with a kind of charm, as if a group of cute but hyperactive aliens got together with a bunch of synthesizers and started messing around without reading the owners’ manuals. It may be folk music on their planet, but on ours it’s a curious mixture of things that don’t go together. There’s obviously an underlying logic to it, but our minds can only guess at it. Certainly this is not music for everyone (at least not on this planet!), but for those willing to stretch out a bit into the chaotic country, it’s worth a listen. – Jon Davis
[www.thrilljockey.com]
DJ Spooky That Subliminal Kid – “Celestial Mechanix: the Blue Series MasterMix”
(Thirsty Ear THI 57148.2, 2004, 2CD)
It’s not hard to figure out why DJ Spooky is in such demand in the New York downtown scene; it seems the man has no tangible musical boundaries by finding further riches in already excellent sound recordings. The modern sampling process has evolved into much more than the sample, borrow and steal orientation that only a few years ago was not identified as a viable musical source. Spooky straddles both sides of the fence: the compositional side as well as the sampling side and the best of both worlds is the intuitive outcome. He mastermix on this collection of reworks always focused on rhythmic sequences start here with “CD-DIR Gesture” before navigating into jazzy territory on “Travelogue – NYC to Hawaii”. “Lingua ex Machina” is Spooky’s own rap vibe of his collective mindset across a walking bass line. “Maldoror’s Gambit” merges mournful violins with jungle beats and even a few snippets of Star Trek samples of hand phasers that is quite amusing. Closing out disc one is a rendition of Craig Taborn’s “Shining Through” that gives an altogether positive new slant on the ambient and rhythmic shape of the piece. Disc two is one continuous 35 track sequence of pieces that cycles through many a substantial number of twists and turns. Beginning with the sampled announcer’s statement that “This is your story” into a brief piano interlude from Anti-pop Consortium’s project with Mathew Shipp and later into an extract from the pianist’s “New Bop”. The longest most ethereal bridge is sampled from Shipp’s Equilibrium CD with vibes and a straight 4/4 tempo. The mix closes with two ambient stylized tracks that end the piece on an ominous tone. Overall Spooky has a wide palette of tools to use at his disposal and he is fearless in his pursuit of the ultimate mix. – Jeff Melton
The Muffin Men– “Bakers Dozen”
(Muffin Men MMCD 13/2, 2003, CD)
The Muffin Men– “Live at the Cavern”
(Muffin Men MMCD 13/1, 2003, CD)
The Muffin Men are a UK based act that is heavily versed in the fine art of being a Frank Zappa tribute band that features old Mothers vocalist Jimmy Carl Black. Bakers Dozen serves as a retrospective of the live band’s gigs across the last thirteen years. The first two pieces were recorded on a 1994 German tour with the band’s original line-up and features guitarist Mr. Jump (Mike Kidson) whose blazing performances were a noticeable tour de force. The CD opener, “Lucille has Messed my Mind Up” opens with a phone call from Ike Willis before heading into a classic piece of reggae. “Chunga’s Revenge” comes off quite well too considering Kidson’s blistering guitar leads and a solid rhythm section. “Teenage Wind” shows the band’s ability to do clever unisons both instrumentally and vocally which was one of the Zappa band’s unique characteristics. Plus it’s cool to hear a new version of “Peaches en Regalia” with excellent horn charts as vibrant as old band was. The version of “Filthy Habits” is a surefire barn burner as Kidson mops it up backed by some great sax playing and a solid bass line from band leader Roddie Gilliard.
Live at the Cavern in contrast captures the most recent ensemble in performance at the reconstructed concert home of the early Beatles. The line-up for this show features an altogether new band except for Gilliard and Black. Guitarist Carl Bowry carries the six string baton high as heard on the closing section to the disc opener “Trouble Every Day” from Freak Out. The surprise cover is a version of Captain Beefheart’s “Plastic Factory” done up in a sly blues rocking style and a brash brass section chart. The piece captures the essentials of the Captain himself calling into question what the artist would be doing today. The band has also branched out to covers of different Zappa material from the “Great White Buffalo” (featuring a great flute interlude from Andy Frizz) to “T Mershi Deween” and “Wonderful Wino”. As a tribute to the Beatles the band constructed a medley of “Come Together/Drive My Car” that works to show how well they can arrange more standard song fair. The first section rocks steadily in a manner Frank would love including a smooth brassy blues transition into the lead track from Rubber Soul. A clever lyric rework states tongue in cheek, “Baby you can drive your car over me”. Overall these recordings represent an accomplished tribute act to rival Zappa’s Universe as they embrace the material as all their own. – Jeff Melton
The Yohimbe Brothers – “The Tao of Yo”
(Thirsty Ear THI 57149.2, 2004, CD)
DJ Logic and Vernon Reid (ex Living Color) are collectively known as the Yohimbe Brothers and this is their second release. On their first excursion together the duo established an enthusiastic level of musical interaction that is only refined in these thirteen high energy collaborative pieces. Various other contributors are also present from rappers such as (Latasha Nevada Diggs on “Shine for Me” and Bos Omega on “TV) to vocalists such as Eva-Milan Zsiga on “No Rio”. “TV” is their most political statement on the disc and it reminds me of a few Living Color’s classic 80s stuff. Reid’s incendiary guitar leads blaze a path across the disc beginning from the riff to “The Secret Frequency” to “Overcoming”. “Unimportance” carries the oddest riff with unison guitars and lead synth creating a memorable obtuse melody line and freest jamming on the disc. “No Pistolas” takes an unexpected Hispanic musical turn which Spooky has an easy handle on as well. The most successful intersection points between sampling technology and acoustic guitar occur on the pieces, “Shape 4”, “30 Spokes” (a cool groove piece) and the delta blues influence on “Shape 4”. The duo also embraces light jazz and dance beats with “Anchor” where rapper Taylor McFerrin gives us the low down. Overall it’s a brainy concoction that Spooky and Reid have made for fans of who don’t mind pushing their boundaries a little in the NY downtown scene. – Jeff Melton
Debase – “Unleashed”
(Sanctuary LC09066, 2004, CD)
Debase is another of Noise records recently signed European acts to try their hand at high profile metal. Hailing from the small town of Malmoe, Sweden the quintet does its best to wade through a balanced set of high-octane rockers and hard rock anthems (such as on the CD’s opening cut, “Holy Caravan”). The group has garnered favorable comparisons to many popular acts ranging from Metallica to Megadeth and even Queensryche (probably due to the use of taped effects) and each is merited. Tracks such as “Restrained” show a penchant for dramatic verses and blistering guitar leads that adequately back lead vocalist Michael Hansson who often sounds a lot like James Hetfield. The longest piece and best track on the CD is “Symphony for the Unholy”, which opens with haunting chants wafting behind an ominous church organ. A Black Sabbath style riff pushes the piece into a heavy track that recalls prime Soundgarden with anthemish overtones. This is the group’s third release shows that some of their exposure opening for Alice Cooper has paid off in their sense of time and dramatics as heard on “The Blood Remains”. The group consistently has a take no prisoners modus operandi as there are few weak moments on the album and no ballads per se. The closing self-titled piece displays the only acoustic intro section before driving yet into another intense all band work out. In closing, Debase needs stateside exposure to be able to make any further serious dents in the metal market. – Jeff Melton
Martin Gordon – “The Joy of More Hogwash”
(RFVP006CD, 2004, CD)
Bassist Martin Gordon has spent the better half of his career backing a wide array of established pop stars from the lesser known Mael brothers (in Sparks) to Robert Palmer and Kylie Minogue. The Joy of Hogwash sees him put forth another solid collection of crafted pop tunes within a quartet configuration. Gordon is the sole composer for most of the album except for a witty group collaboration (“Love Power”) and a harmonically skilled cover of the early Beatles, “Every Little Thing”. The opening cut of the CD’s fourteen pieces begins with an uncredited nod to the Beatles “Baby in Black” that segues into a pastiche of harmony vocals and tongue-in-cheek political commentary. Martin’s band occupies a niche not far removed from ELO or the poppier songs of Utopia (fronted by Todd Rundgren). “Land of Nod” even recalls some of the 80s pop rock territory charted by Chris de Burgh. “She Still Thinks (That We’re Still in Love)” is an upfront aggressive rocker that reminds me of the same approach used on Todd’s “Hammer in My Heart” or “Infrared and Ultraviolet”. Lead vocalist Pelle Almgren given an excellent delivery throughout and often times sounds like Robin Zander on the Beatles track. The song “Cheap Trick” in fact is a tongue-in-cheek tribute to the band of the same name. In closing, Gordon’s fondness song craft has placed him squarely on the European radar with hopes for cracking the US not far behind. – Jeff Melton
Big Wedge – “Minutiae”
(Independent release, 2003, CD)
Based out of New York City, Big Wedge is a mainstream rock band with a few unexpected twists. Every song on Minutiae is in a different style. The album opens with “Land Of The Free” – a ska-influenced rock tune with patriotic post-9/11 lyrics. The next track “Modern Technology” is more hard rock in nature, then the song after that is super melodic pop rock. “Meet Your Match” is funk-based and includes a guest horn section and extended trombone and sax solos! Two of the songs “Pick One” and “When I Had You” sound straight out of the 1950s. The Elvis sounding rock and roll tune “Pick One” actually features one guitarist’s dad making a guest appearance on twangy guitar. And he’s pretty good! With “Dymond City”, the band lands squarely back in the late 1980s sounding like Warrant. A contemporary country track follows that, and then the first of two interesting instrumentals appears. “Blue” features some nice fretless bass and guitar melodies throughout. The other instrumental “Stomp” has some great Thin Lizzy twin harmony guitar melodies playing on top of a Dave Gilmour sounding delay guitar line. “Faces Of The Storm” is a prog-metal heavy riff tune in 7 with war story lyrics and good melodic guitar solos. The playing on Minutiae isn’t flashy, but the tracks are clean and polished and the vocalist is a good rock singer. While all the songs fall within the boundaries of pop/ rock, the stylistic variety is definitely high. – Mike Grimes
[www.bigwedge.com]
Camper Van Beethoven – “New Roman Times”
(Pitch-a-Tent/Vanguard 79779-2, 2004, CD)
Reunions of seminal Santa Cruz based acts are few and far between but lo and behold here comes a new concept CD from the band that brought you “Take the Skinheads Bowling”. Semi-punk indie rocker David Lowery (who has seen some rock and roll glory with his tongue in cheek band, Cracker) is back along with the Jonathan Segel whose sly gypsy violin is a prominent player in the twenty new pieces. Plus it’s really great to hear guitarist David Immergluck’s leads come in handy on “White Fluffy Clouds” with a few unison riffs that are downright proggy. “That Gum You Like is Back in Style” and the title track indicate clearly that the band has not lost it’s keen sense of humor doing up a country twang like Ween achieved on their classic C&W spoof “20 Golden Greats”. The dreaded concept album is often dissed in the current press but in this form it’s quite endearing and well arranged. Other excellent instrumental vignettes such as “The Poppies of Balmorhea” shows off Segel’s violin playing in a similar role as Eddie Jobson did with mid-seventies Roxy Music. “Civil Disobedience” contains perhaps the best message out of the disc’s twenty tracks as well as the best tortured guitar solo. “Discotheque CVB” is a clever finale dance track that even features an effective splashy rhythm guitar part. Overall the serious undercurrent to the disc is a clever anti-war statement that succeeds to go where no other concept album has gone before. – Jeff Melton
Kings X – “Live All Over the Place”
(Brop! Records, 3984-14513-2, 2004, 2CD)
For over twenty three years on the road, Kings X (that other little power trio from Texas) has clocked up a lot of live miles. After a few attempts to capture the band’s live shows for a CD comes this two disc archive covering multiple tours. The mix of songs is first-rate as there are quite a few from the band’s early days including “Goldilox” (from the first album), the anthem-ish “Over My Head” as well as “Summerland” from Gretchen Goes to Nebraska. Pearl Jam’s bassist, Jeff Ament, makes a notable guest appearance on the band’s only cover of Hendrix’s “Manic Depression” that the band released on 1994’s Dogman along with “Cigarettes”. Black like Sunday is well represented with the title piece as well as four tracks including the mid-tempo rocker “Screamer”. 1998’s Tape Head CD is represented by the funkiest songs including “Groove Machine”, “Little Bit of Soul” and “Mr. Evil”. From Faith Hope Love, we have the syncopated opus, “We Were Born to Be Loved”, which is the certainly the most aggressive piece in the collection and tightly executed bordering on technical metal. Unlike Neal Morse’s recent excursions, King’s X wear their spirituality on their sleeve so as not be as preachy. My personal favorite from Ear Candy is “A Box”, a subtle statement about the compartmentalizing of religion from TV evangelism to ritualistic Sunday attendance. One of the consistently redeeming aspects of the band (I’ve seen them a few times myself) is the menacing bass lines from Doug Pinnick that relentlessly propels the trio through their catalogue. Closing out the disc is a slow acoustic version of “Over My Head” that is the best soulful rock track in their repertoire. Overall it’s a lot of phases the trio has been through and many of them are well documented in these 25 tracks. – Jeff Melton
Asia – “Silent Nation”
(InsideOut/SPV 085-60842 CD, 2004, CD)
I have often wondered why keyboardist Geoff Downes keeps soldiering on under the Asia banner. Without other high profile members to offset much of the heavy handed hard rock themes, a lot of the emphasis has shifted to variations on 80s rock clichés. Silent Nation is a creditable attempt to return to the beginnings of the band by focusing on melodic development with the most consistent line-up ever for the quartet. John Payne is a competent singer and bassist as heard on “Long Way from Home” which brings the act closer to format of Foreigner or post Paul Rogers Bad Company. Hooks and catchy chorus lines are the main forte as heard on “Gone Too Far” with standard guitar fills, lush keyboard backing and an emotive chorus. Govan is the band’s lead guitarist and he brings a creditable approach to much of the standard rock and roll fair. Also on the plus side it’s great to hear Downes emphasize his Hammond on organ on many songs including the introduction to “Midnight”. “I Will Be There for You” is probably the most upfront rocker on the disc similar to “Go” with Govan’s best blistering guitar. In contrast, “Darkness Day” opens with a monastic chant before transitioning into a pummeling 4/4 tempo. Overall it’s more of the same for Downes and Payne which doesn’t mean they don’t have a few surprises remaining. – Jeff Melton
Shadow of a Great Name – “Exteriors”
(private release SGN004, 2004, CD)
Their website proclaims them to be “America’s Lo-Fi Orchestra”, although one shouldn’t take that too seriously; this improvising trio based out of Raleigh, NC sounds pretty damn good to these ears – not lo-fi at all. Featuring a variety of instrumentation played by John Vincent, Michael Miller, and Brian Donohoe – the latter ex-of Volare, this is the band’s fourth release, and shows them growing stronger compositionally without losing that improvisational spirit that their unique blend of post-rock and experimentation evolved from. Start with the basics: drums, bass and guitars – then add some keyboards, piano, electronics, loops, tapes, and many unusual textural sounds of mysterious origin; the contrasts between spaces with a lighter touch (usually leaning to a somewhat jazzier vibe) and the heavier moments of gritty, often abrasive post-rock segue together with smooth transitions, not shock-breaks, and are often punctuated with more experimental interludes, so it all works and fits together very well. Steve Gore from Rascal Reporters offers some disturbing spoken dialog on “There’s Too Much Reality Coming Through”, while “Something Jolts Me…” is a great example of the cleaner, jazzier style that the trio sometimes operates in, opening with searing guitar leads alternating with electric piano over bubbling bass and an unusual drum pattern. In all, there’s a lot of great material here that just gets better with each repeat listen. – Peter Thelen
[www.soagn.com]
Pilot Around the Sun – “Creep”
(Creep Records Creep 059, 2001, CD EP)
My first exposure to Pilot around the Sun was their opening gig for Land of Chocolate’s late night performance on the Friday night before Nearfest 2004. The quartet has been lurking around the Pennsylvania area for over four years making a few local inroads. Led by guitarist and lead vocalist Robert Berliner, the band makes a stab at modern alternative rock with a clear balance between instrumentation and vocal delivery. More sophisticated guitar riffs are utilized on pieces such as “Grounded Pilot” that charts a soulful rock thread that reminds occasionally of Humble Pie’s old catalogue. “Glass Ceiling” in contrast works as both power ballad and semi-grungy rock anthem with decent harmony vocals. “The Only Thing is All” lyrically occupies familiar love pining subject matter without being too trite. Closing out the EP is the spaciest track on the disc and perhaps the most sincere lead vocal from Berliner that strongly builds into an anthem like section. Overall the quartet has much in common with contemporaries that are as influenced by power rock as they are by U2. - Jeff Melton