ADDPOOL CDS for 10/31
Sorry this is a littel tardy. 11/7 adds will be posted later today.Tons of great new music into the station!
DATE: 10/31/05
ARTIST:Carmen Rizzo
TITLE: The Lost Art of the Idle Moment (The Lab)
GENRE: ELECTRONIC
GRADE: A+
REVIEW:Carmen Rizzo is an LA-based, two-time Grammy nominated producer, remixer, musician and programmer who has has worked with a veritable "who's-who" in the music industry including Alanis Morissette, Coldplay, Seal, BT, Delerium, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Cirque du Soleil, Marius de Vries, Trevor Horn, David Foster and Don Was. With such an estimable resume, it only seemed natural that Rizzo would eventually look to releasing his own material. Recently, Rizzo joined forces with "Vas" vocalist Azam Ali and "Axiom of Choice's" multi-instrumentalist Loga Ramin Torki to form the highly acclaimed world-beat/electronic group "Niyaz." Apparently Rizzo's endless well of creativity is nowhere near empty. The Lost Art of the Idle Moment is a sumptuous and atmospheric collection of electronic gems featuring guest vocalists Esthero, Jem, Kate Havnevik, Inga Liljestom, Grant Lee Phillips and the Digable Planets' Ladybug Mecca, Diedre Dubois (of Ekova) and Thomas Hanreich. Other musicians include long-time friend and co-writer Jamie Muhoberac and Andy Jenkins and Corin Dingley of retro-chillout band Alpha. With its eclectic and hip roster of collaborators onboard, The Lost Art of the Idle Moment proves to be an exceptional listening experience chock-full of aural beauty and bliss. Canadian downtempo diva Esthero provides vocals for the sensual and languid "Too Rude." Fans of Alpha's music will definitely hear the creamy 70's Burt Bacharach influence as Esthero croons over jazzy breaks and orbiting synth swells. The whispery sweet voice of Kate Havnevik graces the retro-fabulous "Travel in Time," a Bond-esque, filmic piece of work and the more dense and aqueous "Bring it Back to Me." Welsh popstress Jem is featured vocalist on the self-introspective "Easy Way Out." "I'll Carry You" is another strange and lovely piece with Inga Liljestrom's strongly-accented and rich voice rolling over a dramatic soundtrack backdrop. Rizzo also finds space for two male-vocal fronted tracks: "As the Day Breaks" with former Grant Lee Buffalo frontman, Grant Lee Phillips and "Next Life" featuring Thomas Hanreich. Diedre Dubois takes the helm on "Farther," the only truly "trance" inspired track on the album. Ladybug Mecca of Digable Planets lays down a tight and smooth rap on the funky "Indigo." The instrumental tracks "Overlooked Happiness" and "Amborella" are both fine ambient numbers that compare favorably to the best Delerium instrumental numbers.
RECOMMENDED TRACKS: 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9 INST: 3, 10
REVIEWER: excerpted from Justin Elswick's review at musicaldiscoveries.com
DATE: 10/31/05
ARTIST: Blackalicious
TITLE: The Craft (Anti)
GENRE: HIP HOP
GRADE: A
REVIEW:The Craft is the album Late Registration promised to be. Should be. And likely wishes it were. At the very least, the latest release from American veterans Blackalicious is this year's finest hip-hop album. The duo of lyricist Gift of Gab and producer/DJ Chief Xcel have, fittingly, crafted a smart, sharp, soulful breath of fresh funky air as good as -- artistically and commercially -- anything in the OutKast catalogue. It's a ripe release that transcends the self-imposed limitations of the genre, taking it somewhere else entirely -- a predominantly positive, uplifting and very real someplace, where few acts such as De La Soul, OutKast, Dangermouse and Jemini are open to taking it and have in the past. With the help of other musicians and collaborators, the San Fran pair do it with a well balanced sense of humour and seriousness, and an ear for eclecticism and accessibility that allows very few excuses for The Craft to be ignored as have previous equally as excellent efforts such as Blazing Arrow and NIA. Supreme People, Rhythm Sticks, Side to Side, Black Diamonds and Pearls -- there's an embarrassing wealth of hit riches here for the finding.
RECOMMENDED TRACKS: 1, 3, 6, 9, 11, 13
REVIEWER: Mike Bell/Calgary Sun
DATE: 10/31/05
ARTIST:Richard Hawley
TITLE: Coles Corner (Mute)
GENRE: MAINSTREAM ROCK
GRADE: A
REVIEW:Coles Corner is Hawley's third full-length, and it finds him further refining his sound. His voice is richer and the arrangements have an extra smidge of polish. The songs are remarkably clear and direct, trading almost exclusively in familiar couplets that have become part of western pop currency.Coles Corner is unapologetically retro to the max but it works. Hawley's style, his sturdy baritone singing songs that combine hints of country with pre-rock pop and orchestral flourishes overlaid with healthy dollop of reverb, has a robust appeal. It translates in 2005 because this corner of music was always about nostalgia and taut drama constructed with tightly circumscribed language. Hawley resides deep inside this material, writing songs with the melodic muscle to stand up next to standards.
RECOMMENDED TRACKS: 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10
REVIEWER: exceprted from Mark Richardson pitchforkmedia.com
DATE: 10/31/05
ARTIST:Gang of Four
TITLE: Return the Gift (V2)
GENRE: ROCK/ALT
GRADE: A-
REVIEW: by Andy Kellman Why let others reheat your back catalog when you can do it yourself? Maybe that's one of the questions Gang of Four asked themselves before recording Return the Gift, a self-tribute album involving re-recordings of their earliest and best work. While the reunion of the original members synched up with the popularity of several bands that were appropriating some of their ideas, one of the greater music-related motivators behind this release was...wait for it...correcting the drum sound. Drummer Hugo Burnham likened the drum sound on those releases to that of cardboard boxes, and some of the other members seemed to harp on it as well, in addition to regretting that the records never reflected their live sound, despite the nagging specters of greater imperfections in their past. There has rarely been any dispute about the magnificence of the 1979-1982 releases, so it's not as if thousands, or hundreds, or even dozens of Gang of Four freaks spent the past 20 years pining for something like Return the Gift. But here it is anyway, and it's very loud, and it comes across like a mostly live album played in an empty meat locker. Like Wire (who re-recorded old material as well, but released it in a very limited form and then went on to make an album of new songs), the early-2000s version of Gang of Four is more caustic than ever. There are moments when the band seems as temperamental and charged as a downed power line. One thing that remains unchanged, to no surprise whatsoever, is the enduring vitality of the material. The songs, concerning the politics of both self and societal interest, make as much sense today as they did when they were originally recorded and released. They also contain some of the most startling sounds you will ever hear.
REVIEWER: allmusicguide.com
TRACKS: 1, 3, 4, 8, 10, 12, 14
DATE: 10/31/05
ARTIST:STS9
TITLE: Artifact: Perspective (1320)
GENRE: ELECTRONIC
GRADE: A
REVIEW:Over the years, Sound Tribe Sector 9 has dug deeper and deeper into its electronic influences. Originally an organic outfit, whose sound melded jazz/fusion with light trance, STS9 has gradually drifted into virtual reality embracing computers, synthesizers and a DJ persona dubbed Live PA. Perhaps the final stage in the group’s evolution towards electronica is Perspectives, the first remix album culled from the group’s long labored studio disc Artifact. A 15 song collection, arriving roughly six months after the group first unearthed Artifact, Perspectives features remixes by a number of well known DJs, hip-hop MCs and electronic producers. Intended as an Artifact companion piece of sorts, interjecting new energy into STS9’s songbook as is the group continues to barnstorm clubs across the country, Perspectives turns out to also be something of a shift in identity. Gliding from dub to drum and bass to thoughtful hip-hop, Perspectives continues to develop STS9’s often overlooked studio persona. Instead of remixing its entire album, STS9 focuses on Artifact’s signature tracks: “Tokyo,” “Possibilities” and “Better Day,” with a few additional numbers thrown in for good measure.As expected, each of Perspectives remixes resembles its creator’s voice. Drum-n-bass icons Ming + FS adjoin “Tokyo” and “Better Day” like Siamese twins while Richard Devine creates an electric suite consisting of “Better Day” and “Trinocular.” On “Possibilities,” Mr. Lif, who has collaborated with STS9 on stage in the past, adds a hip-hop beat which calls his work with the Perceptionists, while noted oddball producer/bassist Bill Laswell sets the group’s “Tokyo Shinjuku Flashback Mix” around a mellow dub backdrop which recalls his famed Dub Chamber series. By having a number of musicians reinterpret its songs, STS9 follows the lauded jamband principal of changing its songs structures and also establishes the studio as an forum for experimentation as well as documentation. The end result allows STS9 to carve a new identity while using the studio as its newest instrument. RECOMMENDED TRACKS: 2, 3, 5, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14
REVIEWER: Mike Greenhaus jambands.com
DATE: 10/31/05
ARTIST:Steve Reynolds
TITLE: Exile (SLG/429)
GENRE: FOLK/SS
GRADE: A
REVIEW: A Canadian in L.A., Reynolds has an arresting sound that places him way in front of the singer-songwriter guys-with-guitars pack. For one, he can actually play the guitar in a distinctive way that recalls the fingerpicking of Nick Drake, although he is not a Drake clone. The album has an overall smokey vibe (as in wood smoke from a fireplace), moody and comforting.
RECOMMENDED TRACKS: 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 12
REVIEWER: Jim Manion/WFHB
DATE: 10/31/05
ARTIST:Bruce Cockburn
TITLE: Speechless (Rounder)
GENRE: FOLK/SS
GRADE: A+
REVIEW:Speechless is a perfect title for an instrumental album. Sometimes words aren't enough and all we need is love and or music, but when they are combined it can be more powerful then the component parts. Cockburn's love of the guitar shines through on this collection which features three new tunes with the rest culled from previous albums including a track previously only available in Japan thrown in to pique interest. This makes the release of minor interest perhaps to those possessing the complete Cockburn discography, but a completist will likely purchase the album eventually. The album will probably be of more interest to the casual Cockburn fan, especially guitar enthusiasts. Cockburn ranges from elliptical folk jazz into the folk blues territory reminiscent of "Mississippi" John Hurt. It's more refined, but the spirit is there. The new recordings range in tone from the mournful "Elegy", blues laced "King Kong Goes To Tallahassee", to the evocative and near tantric feel of "The End Of All Rivers" which sounds like Cockburn is trying to tell the life story of a river with music. "Rise And Fall" is the cut previously only available in Japan. The rest of the album is filled with choice gems of instrumentation from previous albums, most featuring just Cockburn and a guitar. I'm partial to the bright jazzy tracks filled with sparkling splashes of notes myself with the best of the bunch being "Sunwheel Dance" dating back to 1971.
RECOMMENDED TRACKS: 1, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 14, 15
REVIEWER: Wally Bangs blogcritics.com
DATE: 10/31/05
ARTIST:The Capes
TITLE:Hello (Hard Soul)
GENRE: ROCK/ALT
GRADE: A
REVIEW:Most press on the Capes has relied heavily on comparisons to Bloc Party, but these parallels are misleading; both bands may be throwbacks to bygone genres, but the Capes lean heavily on the synths to produce bright and bouncy tunes—embodied best in the wonderful "Tightly Wound." Hello is so full of chipper melodies and electronic blips that there are few songs on the band's first LP that don't warrant a head bop or two, though the more impassioned tracks, such as "Comet Tails" and "Gimme," show the band successfully reaching beyond the one-dimensional confines of today's pop.
RECOMMENDED TRACKS: 2, 6, 8, 9, 11
REVIEWER: cmj.com
DATE: 10/31/05
ARTIST:Billy Joe Shaver
TITLE:The Real Deal (Compadre)
GENRE: COUNTRY
GRADE: A
REVIEW:As a singer, no one will mistake Billy Joe Shaver for Ray Price or George Jones, but his limitations work to his advantage. On The Real Deal the extra effort he puts in to make his case adds a poignancy that a more skilled singer might sacrifice for technical perfection or smoothness. Shaver sings with a relaxed confidence, reminiscent of the late Don Williams, giving his material a standalone quality that puts the focus more on the product than on its producer. For a journeyman songwriter like Shaver, that's not a bad thing. Since you can't make a country record these days without guest stars, we get Big & Rich with a nice turn on "Live Forever" and Kevin Fowler on the semi-tongue-in-cheek "Slim Chance and the Can't Hardly Playboys." (There's also a bonus cut of "Feliz Navidad" with the immortal Flaco Jimenez.) But it's Shaver's female friends who provide sweet nuance on two of the disc's best cuts-"Valentine" and "West Texas Waltz." They help not only to elevate The Real Deal above the ordinary but to confirm the truth of its title.
RECOMMENDED TRACKS: 1, 2, 6, 7, 9, 11, 12, 13, 16, 17
REVIEWER: Rick Allen Harp Magazine
DATE: 10/31/05
ARTIST:The Earlies
TITLE:These Were (Secretly Canadian)
GENRE: ROCK/ALT
GRADE: A+
God and death are no strangers to art, but that doesn't mean they can't be explored with grace, which is exactly what the Earlies do on their epic psych-pop debut These Were the Earlies, quite possibly one of the best new albums … ever. A British collective of Polyphonic proportions, the Earlies employ nonrock instruments bassoon, oboe, and euphonium, and unlike the Dallas outfit, these folks never resort to cutesiness in their psychedelic treatise on living and dying. "In the Beginning" opens with a burst of sound swelling with samples of comforting words from a preacher and a child. It segues into "One of Us Is Dead," on which singer Brandon Carr – quite possibly the next pop prophet – evokes a mellower Wayne Coyne as euphonium floats plaintively above the music. Is it a call to arms or a beckoning home? The disc alternates between unsettling, exhilarating, and devastating in its emotional impact; it's also difficult not to get distracted by everything going on musically. Nevertheless, the Earlies' meditation on the gates of heaven is a deeply affecting one – perhaps even a masterpiece.
REVIEWER: Austin Chronicle
OTHER ADDS THIS WEEK:
Castanets First Light's Freeze (Asthmatic Kitty)
Cherryholmes Cherryholmes (Skaggs Family)
Franz Ferdinand You Could Have It So Much Better (Domino)
Buddy Guy Bring 'Em In (Silvertone)
posted by WFHB Music @ 10:36:00 AM
0 comments
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home