Album Reviews
TENEMENT HALLS
Knitting Needles & Bicycle Bells
(Merge)
Chris Lopez, grand poobah of Tenement Halls, used to lead Atlanta's much-respected Rock-A-Teens, a band I confess I never much liked. Lopez applies a more traditionally crafted aesthetic to Knitting Needles & Bicycle Bells than he did to the loose 'n' lively Teens, shaping these tunes with at least a semblance of accessibility in mind. Lopez's voice has matured into an Ian Hunter-like rasp; that and his embrace of pop melody give "Plenty is Never Enough," "Charlemagne" and the very Hunterish "Up & Over Thee Turnstiles" an instant appeal that will keep me coming back to this record in order to discover its deeper delights. Michael Toland [buy it]
UNTO ASHES
Grave Blessings
(Projekt)
Grave Blessings is the latest record from New York's finest Gothic/Celtic/medieval/classical/folk/ambient/pagan/whatever band, and it's a killer. Mixing acoustic guitars, percussion, strings, dulcimers and horns with just enough electronics to ground the arrangements in the modern world, the trio (plus guests) weaves a timeless spell. The lyrics may be full of melancholy and dread ("Why do the nights collapse? Why is your heart so numb?" asks "The Lesson") but the glistening music and glimmering voices turn the pain into beauty. "Tortured By Rose Thorns" (which adds gutteral black metal counterpoint vocals to the band's already heady mix) and "In Memory of D'Drennan" are unsettling yet lovely; "Winter Born" and "Emptiness" will bewitch you into singing along to lines like "That's where our emptiness goes." The group also seduces a number of outsiders' numbers, and you'd never know the traditional Irish "Four Loom Weaver," the Cure's "The Drowning Man" or Flipper's "Way of the World" came from other sources if you didn't check the liner notes. Grave Blessings is the best album yet from one of the best bands in the world, genres be damned. Michael Toland [buy it]
LAURA VEIRS
Year of Meteors
(Nonesuch)
Year of the Meteor is punk dressed up as folk. Laura Veirs' second disc is loaded with heavy lyrics, and the music and delivery are out of sight. The musicians create vivid images of fanciful playing and ethereal landscapes. Veirs' vocals are crisp and commanding, but at times seems to fade into the rhythm. A little electronica is present on songs like "Galaxies." Year of the Meteors sounds a little retro, something from the 80s, maybe. I'm sure that's accidental, so let's not judge her intentions based on that. Though nonsensical at times, this is an entertaining record, and Veirs does a good job of blending experimental sounds with pop hooks to offer a little something to everyone. Lance Looper [buy it]
VIVA K
Viva K
(Stinky)
The main thrust of Viva K, the shtick, if you will, is a combination of Eastern music and rock & roll. Outside of the now-familiar psychedelic drone drawn from the Beatles' "Tomorrow Never Knows" and a few stray sitar and tabla moments, there's not a heck of a lot of an Indian influence. The L.A. foursome mainly puts punkish smears of guitar over digital rhythms, while frontperson Ween Callas emotes like a cross between Siouxsie Sioux and Missing Persons' Dale Bozzio. The band has solid songwriting chops and balances noisy distortion and winsome melody fairly well, so Viva K is hardly a bust, but if you're expecting innovation, you've hit the wrong "play" button. Michael Toland [buy it]
JIMMY WEBB
Twilight of the Renegades
(Sanctuary)
Jimmy Webb has resurfaced after a decade-long hiatus with Twilight of the Renegades. I have to admit, I had to Google his name and I felt stupid when it turns out I'm the only person in the English speaking world not to know who he is. Webb has written some pretty recognizable songs, including "Wichita Lineman" and "By the Time I Get to Phoenix." On this record he sounds his age, with a worn and poetically-wise voice . The arrangements are complicated, but manage not to crowd or drown the lyrics, which are more than a little narrative. Twilight of the Renegades will likely not make Webb any new fans, but should be popular among his following. Lance Looper [buy it]
YOB
The Unreal Never Lived
(Metal Blade)
Grave Blessings is the latest record from New York's finest Not many bands could get away with just four cuts in 52 minutes, especially when those tracks seem to be constituted mainly of polluted river sludge. But, as ever, YOB does it. On its fourth album The Unreal Never Lived, the Eugene, Oregon power trio pushes, pulls, mashes and mauls four slow, heavy songbeasts, pouring ever-increasing amounts of liquified titanium on top of them without ever obscuring the melodies or cutting off the intensity. Heavy metal in every sense of the term, The Unreal Never Lived ups the ante not only for YOB itself, but for heavy music in general. Michael Toland [buy it]
VARIOUS ARTISTS
Summoning of the Muse: A Tribute to Dead Can Dance
(Projekt)
Dead Can Dance was a pretty unique proposition in its time and much imitated since. Projekt leader Sam Rosenthal pulls together a selection of DCD covers from various Projekt-affiliated acts, emphasizing the band's appeal to the contemporary Gothic community. As such, the set leans heavily on DCD's early work, just as the duo was transforming from Gothic rockers to droning world beat innovators. Some of the performers remain pretty faithful to the DCD sound, as with Rajna's "Cantara," Kobe's "Bird" and Faith & the Muse's "Chant of the Paladin," but others take more chances. Dream pop duo Autumn's Grey Solace easily adapts "Musica Eternal" to its own style, Chandeen makes "In Power We Entrust the Love Advocated" into a dreamy hymn and black tape for a blue girl puts its inimitable stamp on "Fortune Presents Gifts Not According to the Book." Summoning of the Muse is no substitute for the real thing, of course, but it's not a bad entry point into either the Projekt roster or the world of Dead Can Dance. Michael Toland [buy it]
VARIOUS ARTISTS
WarfRat Tales (Unabridged)
(Avebury)
Once upon a time, Los Angeles was the breeding ground for what we now call "alternative rock." That was when "alternative" actually meant something (alternative to what was on top-40 and AOR radio), instead of being simply a marketing term. Now every city in the world has an underground music scene, with interesting bands emerging ad nauseam. But back in the early 80s, you had L.A. and New York and that was pretty much it. Originally issued in 1983, WarfRat Tales: Tracks From the Murky Bowels of L.A. captured the throbbing pulse of the City of Angels, starting with its garages. You can hear new wave morphing into the Paisley Underground or devolving back into garage punk. You can hear early, lo-fi tunes from future underground stars the Gun Club, the Rain Parade and the Leaving Trains. You can hear the first recordings from talented, luckless hopefuls like Wednesday Week, the Urinals (and their alter-ego 100 Flowers), To Damascus and the Last, whose manager Gary Stewart paid for the rehearsal space in which most of these tracks were recorded. And you can hear the first and last shots from the Question?, the Point, the Up & Out, Earwigs and Hector & the Clockwatchers, bands that never made it past the borders of this compilation. There's a lot of great music here (nearly 30 songs!), and if it puts the spotlight on a group of musicians and friends that made a bigger mark than they're given credit for, than WarfRat Tales is a boon. (It would be especially nice if the work of the Last come back into print.) Regardless, there's enough good stuff on it to make it more than just a history lesson for Trouser Press devotees. Michael Toland
VARIOUS ARTISTS
We Reach: The Music of the Melvins
(Fractured Transmitter)
Grave Blessings is the latest record from New York's finest I would've thought that the infamous Melvins' avant-sludge would defy interpretation, but a gaggle of intrepid souls make the attempt anyway on We Reach: The Music of the Melvins. There's really only so much you can do with a Melvins song unless you're a Melvin yourself, so an impressive lineup of underground metalheads do what they always do: pound the living shit out of everything. With a lineup that includes Mastodon, High On Fire, Keelhaul, Blessing the Hogs, Meatjack, Eyehategod and the Dillinger Escape Plan, any fan of uneasy listening already knows that he or she is gonna get a pounding, and that's indeed the case. Even Dog Fashion Disco, not usually known for its heads-down riffbashing, gets into the kill-'em-all-let-King Buzzo-sort-'em-out spirit. A couple of artists (Made Out of Babies, Mare, the methamphetamine scatters in Pincer 2) screw around with established protocol, but mostly We Reach smashes and bashes. Michael Toland [buy it]
