Digital JukeJointBox
by Jason Gross and David Manning
(circa August 2004)
Keren Ann Not Going Anywhere (Capitol/Metro Blue)
Even if you're not a fan of adult contemporary music (which we admit that we're not), there's something different about this chanteuse that should appeal to anything who thinks there's nothing wrong with Norah Jones but also nothing to get excited about there either. Though Ann is pretty low-key and subtle with her voice and tunes too, she's a little less so than Jones and has a sweeter lilt to her singing- anyone who's a Belle and Sebastian fan will definitely find a nicely familiar vibe here and it's comforting to know she's a Chet Baker fan. The minimal settings here help (lush arrangements would definitely spoil it) as do her songs like the bluesy "Road Bin," the breezy, swinging "Sailor & Widow" or the lovely "Right Now & Right Here" (though "Sit in the Sun" does get a little too mushy). We can only hope that her ascendancy will precipitate Cat Power's descent.
2/5 BZ Ulonbay (Gozel)
It's not just their Turkish locale or Eastern tunings that make this so exotic- it's this band's bizarre sensibility that pulls and pushes against tradition and Western music heard in this collection of early 90's music. Call-to-prayer howling voices and delicate string instruments mix with drum machines, tape loops and filtered voices. Even if they sang in the Queen's English exclusively and used electric guitars only, they'd still be foreign to most of us. They're not so much the "belly dance punk" they describe themselves as- maybe a dance party hijacked by peaceful but crazed cultural terrorists. Muslimgauze meets Negativland? An Istanbul radio broadcast re-done as a club remix? Manu Chao's Arabic brethren?
10+2:12 American Text Sound Pieces (Other Minds)
Not exactly easy listening but not necessarily noise either, these composers use the power of the voice to convey a particular sound rather than meaning per se. The rhythmic looping of Charles Amirkhanian's "Just" works better in theory and practice than Clark Coolidge's cut-up of a John Cage narration which works better than a piece by Cage himself made up of screeched word fragments. Not surprisingly, the artists who've made a career of bearing down on voice and text fare best here: John Giorno's shimmering cut-up of a pre-teen voice, Charles Dodge's computerized singing (years before everyone over-used Apple's text-to-speech program), Robert Ashley's calm-but-quick recitation over an apocalyptic synth and Brion Gysin's blustering pronouncements. Being a release originally from 1975, hopefully Amirkhanian or some other enterprising producer will consider a long overdue update.
Brian Azzarello/Eduardo Risso 100 Bullets- Wylie Runs Down the Voodoo Part One (Veritgo Comics)
Some of Azzarello's dialog is too hamfisted in this illustrated tale but Risso's graphics have the qualities of great film noir and the splinted but mysteriously-connected narrative of Atom Egoyan and Quentin Tarrentino. With the backdrop of New Orleans, you find yourself roped in with booze-soaked memories, regret, not-so-subtle racism, revenge, double-dealing, doubt, existentialism, indiscriminate sex and not-so-indiscriminate violence in the space of a 22-page publication, climaxing in a full-page single frame semi-revelation of where this sordid tale has brought us. Oh and of course there's the great tip to Miles in the title.
Blue Ash Around Again... 1972-1979 (Not Lame)
By late '60's, rock moved into psychedelica and heavy mode as even the fab four had abandoned power pop ("Helter Skelter," "I Want You (She's So Heavy)") so it took revivalists like Big Star and this Cincinnati-area band to keep the flame burning. Even with one major label album (and another one put out by Playboy) and critical praise, they disappeared into history prematurely. You have to wonder if miss-matched tours with Stooges, Ted Nugent, Nazareth and Aerosmith didn't exactly help their career. Judging from this archival set, this is an even bigger shame since it left a lot of prime material in the can for decades. Since the Raspberries did have hits and Big Star has gotten plenty of well-deserved props in indie land, that would probably make the Ash the great undiscovered powered poppers of the 70's. And like the Star, they've reformed and even play out sometimes now. But as much as we love "Start All Over Again," where the hell is the great unheard "It's Elementary, Dr. Watson"?
Marshall Crenshaw, live at the South Street Seaport, New York, August 24, 2004
Sporting the dark brim hats and bright shirts that have made up his wardrobe for a while, this criminally under-rated songwriter has gallantly persevered for some two decades now after his one radio song ("Someday, Someway"). Though he's been spotted playing with the reconstituted MC5 recently, Crenshaw's real forte are his own tender, sweet songs. Playing solo, he easily showcases his best songs ("Whenever You're On My Mind" and "Cynical Girl" with a dig at Bush thrown in) and a few obscurities. And then he pulls out Grant Hart's "2541," probably little heard even among Husker Du fans. The song is so full of sadness, longing, heartache, loss (of a domicile and a girl) that it's amazing that Crenshaw himself didn't dream it up, which is no doubt why he thought to give voice to it at his shows now.
Despistado The Emergency Response (Jade Tree)
If you're jaded by emo by now, it's definitely understandable but a group that also takes its cues from new wave and Jane's Addiction (especially Perry's whine) is something that catches our ear. You just wish that the songs themselves were as 'there' (as felt) as the vocals. They definitely have the sound down, which the ferocious "Hi/Fi Stereo" and the relatively tender "Lipstick" proves, so we'll be listening next time.
Doctor Mix and the Remix Wall of Noise (Acute)
After French 'electro-punks' Metal Urbaine fell apart in the late '70's, Eric Debris made a few last stands, part of which was this bizarre long-lost solo project. Much like the Residents Third Reich and Roll, Debris decided to take an unsympathetic romp through some oldies. While the eye-balled mysterioso's managed to reconfigure and re-imagine the classic pop hits to showcase the songs' dark underbelly, Doc Mix reimagines cult faves and garage rock standards as trashy dance music (which they are, in a way). A malevolent malfunctioning robot programs three versions of the Stooges' "No Fun" plus the Velvet Underground's "Sister Ray," "Hey Joe," the Kinks' "You Really Got Me," Vince Taylor's "Brand New Cadillac" (also covered by the Clash) and nuggets from the Seeds and the Troggs. It sounds like a perverse joke (and it probably is) but between the flat vocals, noisy screeches and primitive drum machine, this might also be a birthplace of industrial music. And if the original garage groups were nothing more than noisy amateurs with ridiculously unrealistic lofty dreams, doesn't this follow along in that proud tradition? Also give Doc Debris credit for turning traditional bar band fare into a futuristic nightmare that most venues with a happy hour couldn't imagine.
Dave Douglas/Louis Sclavis/Peggy Lee/Dylan Van Der Schyff Bow River Falls (Premonition)
Though the most notable/visible player here, horn man Dave Douglas doesn't necessarily lead this trumpet/clarinet/cello/drums line-up. The quartet indulges in some nice, solemn Ornette-meets-Monk romps that weave in and out of musical themes. After leading off with a playful Steve Lacy tune, they divvy up songs among other wild romps (Sclavis' "Dernier Regards/Vol"), gentle bop (Douglas' "Paradox" and Sclavis' "Maputo" ending with Lee's fearful cello), exotic tapestries (Lee's "Window," which settles into a peaceful groove), sexy sauntering (Douglas' eight-minute "Woman At Point Zero") and somber meditations (Douglas' title song and Sclavis' "Fete Forraine"). As you probably guessed, Lee isn't the recently decease war-time singer, which is just as well since it would disrupt the proceedings.
Edu Lobo Edu (Dubas)
The lithe sound of Brazilian Tropicalia heard on these 1967 is a treat not just because Lobo has a soothing voice like master of the style Caetano Veloso but also because bossa nova is just as prevalent here, providing a connection between the older and newer styles which were thriving at that time. Even if your Portuguese is rusty (or you don't speak it), this is a chill out record for the ages.
The Futureheads The Futureheads (679 Recordings)
How do you like that? It's a British band that we're excited about. With gulped vocals, tense new wave sound, sing-a-long choruses and short, punchy shake-worthy tunes, you've heard this before in some form but you haven't heard it done this well in a while. In recent memory, only Hot Hot Heat has approached this kind of kooky-pop catchiness. Since they're already UK media darlings, whatever U.S. label picks this up will hopefully market them the right way so they get the recognition they deserve otherwise.
Hanzo Steel Vol. 1 'Kill Bill' Mixes (Hanzo Steel)
Quentin Tarentino has a rep among other things for being a music fan's director, mining all manner of '50's-'70's hip obscurities as background for films. Never mind that Scorcese did it before him and did it better... The thing is, QT's soundtracks read better than they sound- while you might be jazzed to see Nancy Sinatra sharing space with Isaac Hayes sharing space with Neu!, what you get in the end is a messy mixtape. One way to make a better flow is using the material as source for dance tracks and bootleg remixes. Sometimes it works brilliantly: Blackstone & Atari adding Nancy's "Bang Bang" to Dizzee Rascal's "Look Sharp" (which itself includes Billy Squire's "The Big Beat") and then mixing Hayes with Jay Z (Dangermouse, take note) and Bernard Herrmann's "Twisted Nerve" with Jacko's "Billy Jean." And sometimes it doesn't work: B&A mixing Tomoyasu Hotei's already fine "Battle Without Honor or Humanity" (aka Lucy Lui's entrance music) with Tears for Fear's "Shout." But here, the good ideas are so good that you don't worry about the duff ones. We await Vol. 2, hopefully featuring the Human Beinz's "Nobody But Me" (which didn't make it onto the official movie soundtrack).
Homosexuals Astral Glamour (Messthetics.com/Morphius) and The Homosexuals' CD (ReR)
With their nicely provocative name, this crazed art-punk group had its music languishing in out-of-print obscurity for decades and now comes back with a flush of releases including a reissue of their album plus a few extra goodies from their original home of ReR/Recommended Records to an extensive lavish 3-CD set for the truly faithful. Gloriously lo-fi and deliciously sloppy with twisted, pained vocals, they weren't above making tuneful songs nevertheless, putting them somewhere in Buzzcocks territory (if they had been a properly under-rehearsed Rough Trade band)- as a starter, dig the sing-a-long "Neutron Girl." The Recommended version is a fine intro but once you've been sucked in, you know what to do...
Ellis Hooks Uncomplicated (Artemis)
Thankfully, not everyone got the message that soul music is dead and buried. Hooks has a nice, warm Sam Cooke croon and relies on guitars instead of horns to carry him. With help from producer Jon Tiven, this music sticks not just because of the singing but also the weary but determined songs, all penned by Hooks/Tiven: the desperate "Forty Days and Forty Nights" begs to be covered , "Can't Take It No More" is a great gritty blues tune and the title song has his naked baby dancing with his dog. And, rare for a soul album, the guitars do carry the music well here from Hooks own acoustic rhythms to Tiven's lovely Steve Cropper imitations. He's been called "a young Wilson Pickett" even though ZZ Hill would be a closer call (but that's not as sexy, is it?). However you slice it, this guy would have easily had a Stax contract back in the day. Hopefully, his reliance on live instruments won't alienate him from modern R&B fans.
Matt Howarth Savage Henry: Powerchords - Number 1 (Mu Press)
A comic where Krautrock legends Manuel Gottsching and Lutz Ulbrich of Ashra (Tempel) and Conrad Schneitzer become earthy superheroes battling an alien invasion with guitar effects. OK, so it's a little nerdy and over-the-top but anyone who has a yen for the music will appreciate these musings. Gottsching himself said that he likes the overall comic but notes that he doesn't wear ties and his nose isn't that big. Still, how could you not love his politely defiant rejoinders to the space monsters: "I also voice my disapproval of your plans to invade Berlin."
The iOs Center and Stop (Truthflies)
As catchy as this quartet's songs are, they stake out such unique music that potential fans might have trouble getting a handle on them: there's too much heavy guitar riffing for them to be rightly called a pop band and too many sweet harmonies and hooks for them to be a rock band. They claim the Cure and the Smashing Pumpkins as heroes but they deserve better- even on this five-song EP, they show much better songcraft than Smith or Corrigan have since anyone would dare to remember. Even though it might be a self-defeating path that avoids commercial success, we still hope that when they're ready to do a full-length record, they don't settle in one place or another and keep expanding on this unusual turf.
Jimmy Martin Don't Cry To Me (Thrill Jockey)
Admirable as it was to get a mainstream audience interested in old-time country music, the O Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack was also missing the fervor, fun and depths of moral deprivation that made that music so moving in the first place. Lo and behold, a post-rock sanctuary provides us with a welcome reissue of wonderful bluegrass music to remind everyone who gleeful and carefree this all can be. Even the corny radio show banter is a welcome addition that's much downtown and embracing than a run of overly sensitive singer-songwriters who show off their alt.country 'souls.'
Mushroom Glazed Popems (Black Beauty)
Mastermind/label-head Pat Thomas is a PSF writer but if we could try to be a bit objective, he's still a saint alone for the multitude of reissues he's engineered in the last few years on BB, Water, Four Men With Beards and elsewhere. This double-CD has the look and feel of a spaced-out krautrock classic- you could almost imagine this as a reissue of a long-lost jam session from the early '70's not just with the ten-minute plus tracks but also the short-quizzical tunes that bring to mind early Faust. The jazzy, peaceful atmosphere isn't a quiet storm so much as a tripped-out flow of sound, much like how you'd have hoped that some of Miles' spin-off bands would have sounded like. Even with lovely Beatles and Bert Jansch tributes, their hippy-folk doesn't register as soundly. Considering that some vets are floating around in bands like Pete Cosey's Children of Agharta and Michael Henderson's Children on the Corner, maybe all of Miles' kids could and should converge with these Bay Area heads.
Rio Baile Funk Favela Booty Beats (Essay Recordings)
As Andy Cumming notes in the liners, this ain't funk per se but if you're willing to hang the idea of "sweaty dance music" around something other than George Clinton and company, this will more than suffice. The Brazilian DJ's here rock the Rio crowds not just with Latin music but a wild mix that ropes in ideas from all over the place to go along with the programmed beats. The wonderfully experimental hit-and-miss quality of early rap music finds a new home here: MC Jack E Chocolate's accordian-hooked opera rips, MC Mascote's march band music, Paty's schoolyard vibe, De Falla's metal riffing, SD Boys' planet rock and Bonde Do Tiagro inquiring about who the dogs out. Even with its stylistic hop-scotching, a nearly seemless dance mix.
The Wackos Fresh Out the NutFarm (Wackoworld)
Recalling the savage immaturity of the Beastie Boys and Enimem (who they piss on), these Great White Northerns (aka Screwy Lewy and Psycho Phil) wear Hannibal Lecter protective masks and brandish jail clothes and hockey t-shirts, trying to make the most of their anti-social behavior. How funny you find their serial killer schtick depends on not just your own sense of humor (natch) but also how funny these guys actually are. Granted, their blood'n'guts isn't much more appealing than your average gangsta tales but their sick humor is funny in a cartoonish way, which makes the gross-outs easier to take. Considering his notoriously short-fuse, we hope this does make its way to Mr. Mathers who will then be glad to provide a scathing answer tune on his upcoming fall album, no doubt.
The Waxwings Let's Make Our Descent (Rainbow Quartz)
While most post-70's power pop sounds good, it has little meat (i.e. songs) to sink your teeth into and get excited about. If these Motor City boys don't hit the mark as well as Blue Ash (see above), they are miles (we mean, miles and miles and kilometers) ahead of their competition nevertheless. Dozens of other bands have the sweet harmonies, tight sound, ringing guitars and so on, so it's got to be the songs, right? Probably (we've got a special place in our hearts for the strident "All the Fuss") but there's also the rush and enthusiasm here that you'd want and hope from a catchy band. Unfortunately, it's also one that will tragically be kept off the charts nevertheless. We guarantee you that if this was presented as a lost record from some sixties English band, it would be praised to the skies by revivalists. It should be praised anyway so we're glad to do our part here.
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