Freebass – Two Worlds Collide
(Hacienda Records/24 Hour Service Station)
3.5
Peter Hook, former bassist for legendary Manchester bands Joy Division and New Order, has rejuvenated himself after the split of New Order a few years ago. His new projects show a healthy reflection and reverence for his classic work. All but gone (thankfully) are the club dance tracks that New Order became known for in their twilight years. "You Don't Know This About Me" is a highlight, and features former Charlatans UK vocalist Tim Burgess, and is a welcome return to the stylish indie-rock roots of Hook and his Manchester mates. It's really a lovely song and compares favorably with the best of Hook's past works. Pete Wylie fronts "The Milky Way Is Our Playground," which isn't quite as effective, with some cringeworthy lyrics. "Dark Starr" is a lengthy piece of wacked sound-poetry with Howard Marks, and Hook himself fronts the dancy and New Order-like "Live Tomorrow You Go Down." Certainly a tentative EP, but a fine start for Hook's next phase, whatever it may be.
-- Todd Zachritz
Little Beirut – Fear of Heaven
(In Music We Trust)
4
Weaned on college radio (like REM, The Smiths), Portland, Oregon-based Little Beirut gives us here a third full-length full of lush pop songs – without the all the polish. The trio has here turned in something with maturity and songcraft. Nothing too edgy, but never ever cheesy, Little Beirut posses that wonderful quality you yearn for in a band: restraint tempered with a sense of when to let loose; hooks that can come from a line of vocals or a guitar riff; a rhythm section that sets down a hard backbone of infectious beats… all along the band manages to sound like its very own band – they’re influenced of course, but not terribly derivative.
The beautiful “Apology to My Heart” is airy, while the groovy “Bow and Quiver” (which immediately follows) is driven by a slightly distorted guitar and a mega-catchy singalong chorus. “True Swords” is Wilco-ish in its construction (a good thing). “Tullalah, How Long” is music to make love to, with ups and downs and a lovely and ethereal vibe haunting the five minute track all along. “Armageddon Rag” has a pre-chorus that I simply love, with crackly, hot-tubed guitars cranking out this atonal riff that is simply delicious. “Crooked Crown” – a toe-tapper if there ever was one – puts the final bookend on a pop album for people who say they don’t like pop music. Little Beirut should be heard farther and wider away from the Pacific Northwest, so get to checking them out, pronto!
-- Dylan Gibbs
The Cringe – Play Thing
(Red Distribution)
3.5
When I first saw the cover of Play Thing by The Cringe, I only noticed the sardonic smile spread across they symbol monkey’s face. I came to the conclusion-purely based on that primate’s smirk that Play Thing was going to be dark, heavy metal. Once the opening chords of “Ride” ran through my speakers, I realized I was wrong. Play Thing is actually a fast-paced, catchy rock album. This just goes to show, you shouldn’t judge a CD by its cover.
Play Thing keeps a high energy tempo even through the slower songs – not slow songs, because there are no slow songs just “slower than the other songs” songs. The highlights of the album are “No Control,” “Knee Deep” and “Give and Take.” “No Control” has a hypnotic rhythm to it and the easiest chorus to remember, “You’ve got no control” then repeats six more times. “Knee Deep” has an infectious beat that will make you bob along or tap your foot, whatever you’re into. “Give and Take” starts off with a throwback to old western music then goes into blues rock, which is unlike anything else on the album. All together, I found Play Thing to be upbeat with exceptionally catchy choruses.
Play Thing by The Cringe was better than average, but I didn’t want to put them on my music player so I feel that 3.5 is sufficient.
-- Kate Grimm
Mono – Holy Ground: NYC Live With the Wordless Music Orchestra
(Temporary Residence)
5
Among their post-rock brethren, Japanese loud-soft rockers Mono are perhaps the most disciplined and symphonic of all. Their devastatingly intense live shows are consistently among the very best concerts I've ever seen, and it seems I'm not alone in that sentiment. So, joining up with a full orchestra to perform for two consecutive nights in New York doesn't seem much of a stretch for this band.
Building with the string section in the opener, "Ashes in the Snow," Mono and the Wordless Music Orchestra lead into the swarming crescendos of "Burial At Sea," as the band rides a cascade of swirling noise and bombastic percussion. "Pure as Snow" is epic -- with mop-haired guitarist Taka Goto kicking over his chair and attacking his guitar and effects boxes with reckless abandon. My favorite, "Halcyon (Beautiful Days)" is as beautiful and majestic as it gets, with the orchestra enhancing the band's gorgeous melodies and crushing finale.
Mono's strength lies in their mastery of juxtaposing gentle, soft guitar lullabies with powerful waves of amped-up noise. Their music is simultaneously energetic, lilting, monolithic, gentle, cathartic, peaceful, savage and sorrowful... yet it always finishes with unquestionable hopefulness and humble humanity. Holy Ground is possibly the group at its pinnacle. Mixing by Matt Bayles (Mastodon, Isis, Soundgarden) brings the live experience up to par with the studio recordings, while the DVD is a no-frills (but multi-camera) affair that more accurately represents the live experience than their 2007 tour documentary, The Sky Remains the Same as Ever. Holy Ground: NYC Live is a splendid package, and priced more than reasonably. It's a must-see for fans as well as those curious about Mono's blindingly evocative and gorgeous experimental rock.
-- Todd Zachritz
Pierce the Veil – Selfish Machines
(Equal Vision)
3
As this is being written the Vans Warped Tour is in full-tilt, touching down at locales across the Fruited Plain. Among the many, many bands on the various stages is progressive post-hardcore outfit Pierce the Veil. Whether they masterfully exploit the genre is wholly subjective, but to my own ears, they put together a well-thought-out arrangement of quiet/loud/quit/scream that’s endeared the band to fans. Who want their introspection, rage and yes, self-pity all in one outfit.
Yeah, it’s formulaic. Yeah, there are times when vocalist Vic Fuentes’ whiny whine gets a little old. But I have to give the band props for their ability to mine the depths of hardcore and splash a rather lovely patina of pop sensibility on top of it all.
Hailed as Alternative Press’ “Most Anticipated of 2010,” Selfish Machines delivers about what anyone familiar with the band would expect. Newcomers will take to it right away or leave feeling that they’ve heard it all before. As a stand-alone release, the album is a solid buy for fans – for those wanting a bit of this and that from the CD, standout tracks include the opener, “Bestitos,” “Caraphernelia,” the laid-back “Stay Away From My Friends” and “Disasterology.” Avoid “Million Dollar Houses (The Painter).” Its AutoTune on the vox is horrible.
Taken as a whole, though, it’s an average effort from a band that has a thousand compatriots.
-- Dylan Gibbs
Tom Waits – Under the Influence
(Chrome Dreams via MVD Visual)
4
These unauthorized critical examinations are really well-done, but generally essential only to the already-devoted fan. This is no exception. Waits, it needn't be said, is an enigma, and an American songwriting legend at this point. His music is instantly identifiable, from his gruff froggy vocals to his ramshackle, old-time vaudeville vagabond beat-poet persona. Under The Influence tackles exactly what inspired Waits through the years, and through the eyes of his collaborators and journalists, we see some of the jumping-off points that led Waits to forsake "pop culture" and embrace a timeless, historical context within his music and art. Beginning with the beat poets (especially Jack Kerouac), we get portraits of writers like Charles Bukowski and Ken Nordine, and musicians like Captain Beefheart, the Rolling Stones (chiefly friend and collaborator Keith Richard), avant-composer Harry Partch, and European songwriters Kurt Weill and Bertold Brecht. Waits' widely-disparate influences make sense, and this DVD does a fine job examining, and proving these inspirations to be likely truths. That's not to say that Waits has emulated any of these composers too greatly, as his vision and personality are uniquely his own. Well worth a look to any Waits collector, but if you don't consider yourself already interested in the man's impressive body of work, this won't convince you.
-- Todd Zachritz
D.O.A. – Kings Of Punk, Hockey and Beer
(Sudden Death Records)
4
Vancouver's venerable legends of hardcore punk rock just keep on truckin', and they have not tempered their attack at all over the course of their long and influential history. This new selection of 13 tracks pay homage to some of the band's biggest inspirations – punk, hockey and beer. There are anthemic sing-along choruses galore here, strong classic punk-style songwriting, and a requisite sneering sense of roughneck humor.
"Donnybrook" starts off the face-off with a fast and fun-loving punk/hockey mashup anthem. I enjoyed "Beer Liberation Army," too, which needs no explanation. "Pencil Neck Geek" covers wrestler Classy Freddie Blassie to good effect, and the breakneck "Logjam" is full-on ragin'. "Coctail Time In Hell" is a good, old-fashioned drinkin' song, and the closing cover of BTO's "Taking Care Of Business" somehow fits. Rowdy, raucous, catchy, raw, and a good time all the way through, D.O.A. are at the top of their game here.
-- Todd Zachritz
The Ready Set – I’m Alive, I’m Dreaming
(Sire)
2
I still believe that if it’s too loud, you’re too old. But what if what’s loud is too… bad? That’s the first thing that sprang to mind when I popped in this... this… thing. The Ready Set’s bio has such phrases as “mammoth pop sound,” “super melodic tracks,” “pop stuff, techno, rock – there’s everything.” Except rock. Not much rock here.
The “mammoth pop” thing is accurate, however. Syrupy, tummyache-inducing and machine-like, I’m Alive, I’m Dreaming was the creation of one young man (and I’ll have to give a moderate kudo to a fellow Hoosier) – Jordon Witzigreuter, a Ft. Wayne native who spent his high school years writing songs, learning instruments, singing, and dreaming of – as he puts it – “to just keep writing and touring and not to have to worry about living paycheck to paycheck…” In other words, his intent from the beginning was to sell out. Boy has he succeeded.
Who is responsible for all this, other than one-child mastermind, the young Mr. Witzigreuter? Who other than Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy (‘scuse me while I color myself surprised). In a story we’ve heard from the annual of both great (not this) and not-so-great music (this), Wentz saw gold when his finely-atuned musical ear first heard The Ready Set; right away, the band (Witzigreuter) was signed to Wentz’s own label.
Now we have this. And I can’t really go into it. Cheese has fallen from the sky like frogs and locusts; saccharin (the real, uncut, powdered stuff) is clogging every open surface in this room and I just… can’t. I’ve had I’m Alive, I’m Dreaming spinning for a couple of hours now, and I can safely say that somewhere in all the gloss and polish, there may be something worthwhile, musically. But let’s face it: this is a product, meant to be consumed and then thrown out. You could do well to save yourself the first step and proceed to just toss this one into the “sorry young Hoosier fellow, but your music sucks” pile.
-- Dylan Gibbs
Vincent Herring – Memories of New York (through jazz and photography)
(Metropolitan Records)
4
Jazz fans have several things in common with fans of other types of music. Fans of the only true American form of music tend to listen to many different types of jazz as they get more familiar with the genre. Like those fans of rock, pop, country, R&B, and hip-hop, jazz fans also start at a very distinct place when they begin to enjoy the music. When I got into rock music, for example, the first real influence for me was the Beatles. While this may “date” me a bit, it was a place to start.
If you read many commentaries on jazz, you will eventually get to several that may suggest that the “Big Three” albums that one can cut their “jazz teeth” on are Time Out (Dave Brubeck Quartet), Kind of Blue (Miles Davis Sextet), and Giant Steps (John Coltrane).
I tend to somewhat agree with that assertion. I have said many times, however, I came to jazz originally through the fusion movement in the 1970s. It was only after that introduction that I got to experience some of the foundational aspects of jazz.
Some of my favorite musical experiences could best be described as “flavors.” An example of this is Memories of New York. Originally released in 2000, it is an excellent combination of well known New York songs and exquisite photographs of celebrated city landmarks documented by famed photographer, George Forss. The band on this release is led by hard and post bop sax man, Vincent Herring. A child of the 60’s, Herring has played with everyone from Freddie Hubbard and Cedar Walton to occasionally touring with Nancy Wilson. He has recorded 15 CDs as a leader and over 200 as a sideman. While amassing these impressive credentials, Herring has developed his own voice and style. Herring is also involved in jazz education. He is currently on staff at William Patterson University as well as conducting master classes and jazz workshops at Juilliard. Herring has also conducted master classes on jazz improvising at Duke and Cornell Universities.
Herring gathered together a competent group of New York sidemen for this project. Gary Fisher is a working pianist in the five boroughs, now playing with Yaacov Mayman. George Mitchell plays the double bass and keeps the music on firm footing. A veteran of the New York scene, Mitchell has played with The Jefferson/Grant Quintet and Joe Henderson. Rounding out the group is Carl Allen on drums. Traveling in similar circles as his album mates, Carl is an innovator and educator who has recorded and played with Nicholas Payton and Cyrus Chestnut.
Memories of New York gives the listener a delicious buffet of musical nuggets that can only be associated with the Big Apple. The eight cuts on this CD start with a delightful trip down “Broadway” (1), with Herring opening the throttle just enough to put the lights in your eyes and the wind in your hair. It finishes up with a moonlit seat in Central Park that puts the listener “In a Sentimental Mood.” (8) There are classics like the Ellington favorite, “Take the A Train” that has a dash of Latin flavor. “Central Park West,” one of my favorite Coltrane tunes, features Fisher doing some fine piano work. The best cut on the release, in my opinion, is a scrumptious tune “Lounging at the Waldorf,” from the Broadway musical, “Ain’t Misbehavin.” It has the hustle and bustle that was on display during the Waldorf’s busiest day. Yet, it gives the listener a taste of the chic ambience that everyone who ever stayed there experienced.
New York City is like so many other places. The old jazz haunts of 52nd Street may be gone. But new clubs are springing up all the time. Those that are left from the heyday of the greatest jazz city in the world are doing their best to keep jazz alive and well. Memories of New York is a testament to that legacy and keeps the flavor of our only American music on the tips of our tongues and in the depths of our souls.
-- Paul Mattingly
