WFHB Adds 1.16.07
DATE: 1.16.07ARTIST:Menomena
TITLE: Friend and Foe (Barsuk)
GENRE:ROCK/ALT
GRADE: A+
REVIEW: Juggling a wild sense of experimental pop, psychedelia and indie,
Menomena emerges from the sometimes-primitive effects and weird sounds
that colored its earlier songs for a full-bodied album that keeps all its
quirks as it straightens out the band's sound. Quirks, in fact, are
Menomena's calling card, but the band doesn't let its songcraft
deteriorate in the name of peculiarity. "Muscle'N Flow" plops bursts of
guitar atop a bubbling bass line as drummer/singer Danny Seim holds things
together with a sing-along delivery and clever drum work to split the
difference between Spoon and The Flaming Lips. "Evil Bee" could be a
straightforward jangle-pop effort if the band didn't drop random chunks of
saxophone skronk and keyboards all over it. "Wet and Rusting" gets more
quirky, as it adds backward guitar sections, overlapping vocals and bells
to the pop formula. Menomena's a band of idiosyncrasies, but somehow,
Friend and Foe keeps the band from wallowing in weirdness or going off the
deep end. Friend and Foe's ready for anyone who wants to enjoy its quirks
-- and they're easily enjoyable. With music like this, who needs a crummy
television show to get it into our ears?
RECOMMENDED TRACKS: 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 10
REVIEWER: www.aversion.com
DATE: 1.16.07
ARTIST: Various Artists
TITLE: The Music of The Band (429)
GENRE: ROCK/MAINSTREAM
GRADE: A+
REVIEW: Hard to believe this hasn't been done yet, tributing The Band.
Some of the best songs written in the latter part of the last century,
done by a fairly diverse gaggle of artists. The ones I'm not particularly
fond of even do a fine job.
Enjoy!
RECOMMENDED TRACKS: 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 12, 16, 17
REVIEWER:Jim Manion/WFHB
DATE: 1.16.07
ARTIST:Chumbawamba
TITLE: A Singsong and a Scrap (AK Press)
GENRE: ROCK/ALT
GRADE: A
REVIEW:ENGLAND'S Chumbawamba are best known on this side of the pond as
one-hit wonders for their infectious 1997 hit single Tubthumping. Now in
their second decade, these rabble-rousing anarchists have turned down the
loud to offer up a baker's dozen of very fine, folk-inflected,
politically-charged tunes that are well worth hearing.
Bella Ciao is dedicated to a 2001 G8 summit protester killed by police.
You Can relates the story of a mass trespass in the English countryside in
1932 and The Land of Do What You're Told is an ode to the plight of
American slaves. And on and on.... There is great attention paid to
heavenly multi-part vocal harmonies (including a few a cappella gems) and
some top-grade, spine-tingling, acoustic musicianship. Active idealism may
never have sounded so pretty.
RECOMMENDED TRACKS: 1, 4, 6, 8 (Clash cover), 10, 11
REVIEWER:-- Jeff Monk www.whatsonwinnipeg.com
DATE: 1.16.07
ARTIST:Vietnam
TITLE: Vietnam (Kemado)
GENRE: ROCK/MAINSTREAM/PSYCH
GRADE: A-
REVIEW: One look at these guys and you know what you're in for: Singer
Michael Gerner most definitely prefers bandannas and beanies to shampoo
and razors, and his grass-scorched vocals testify to years of collecting
Bob Dylan and Lou Reed albums. With the help of bell-bottomed guitarist
Joshua Grubb, drummer Mike Foss and bassist Ivan Berko, Gerner builds
hallucinatory narratives against a backdrop of electrified blues. But
they're not your average hippies. Underneath the band's psychedelia,
there's something else -- something sassy. They don't shy from politics,
either. Gerner's lyrics are stuffed with puns and metaphors -- something
to be valued in today's shallow, materialistic music world. On their debut
LP, Vietnam revisit their roots in yesterday's counterculture, but keep it
real by making the music of the '60s and '70s savory now.
RECOMMENDED TRACKS: 1, 2, 4, 7, 9
REVIEWER: Emily Valentine www.papermag.com
DATE: 1.16.07
ARTIST:The Cat Empire
TITLE: Two Shoes (Velour)
GENRE: FUNK
GRADE: A
REVIEW: Two Shoes, the second studio album from Melbourne, Australia's Cat
Empire, was cut at the legendary Egrem Studio in Havava, Cuba -- the site
of landmark recordings by the Buena Vista Social Club and countless other
Cuban artists -- in just under a month in late 2004. Like their
self-titled studio debut, Two Shoes was a massive success in the sextet's
homeland, debuting at number one, and its word-of-mouth stoked an already
expanding fan base in Europe and North America -- enough of one to nab the
band a booking at Tennessee's prestigious Bonnaroo music festival in 2006
-- despite the lack of an American release. The fuss was justified: the
Cat Empire is a wholly engaging, genre-splicing band that exudes equal
parts musical intelligence and no-frills party-down exuberance. The Cuban
influence is never far from the surface on Two Shoes, but neither is it
the point of the Havana excursion. Primarily, the Latin brass blasts and
percussion serve to accent rather than define the direction.
RECOMMENDED TRACKS: 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 10
REVIEWER: allmusicguide.com
DATE: 1.16.07
ARTIST:The Broken West
TITLE: I can't Go On, I'll Go On (Merge)
GENRE: ROCK/ALT
GRADE: A-
REVIEW:Following up its 2004 debut (the self-released Dutchmans Gold EP),
the artists formerly known as the Brokedown drop their first full-length
with a new, legally sanctioned name and a more streamlined sound. Though
Dutchmans Gold celebrated SoCals alt-country tradition, I Cant Go On, Ill
Go On ratchets up the harmonies, hand claps and keyboards for a
power-pop-leaning album that mixes equal parts Teenage Fanclub and
mid-period Wilco. The impossibly sunny Down In The Valley (the standout on
Dutchmans Gold) gets a welcome encore, filled with heavy percussion and an
irresistible chorus straight out of Roger McGuinns most
whipped-cream-covered dreams. Parts of I Cant Go On couldve been cribbed
from the Summerteeth fakebook (the sugar-sweet ooh oohs of Hale Sunrise
and Shiftee, the rollicking piano of Brass Ring), but its tough to raise
any originality beef with melodies this contagious. A few more distinctive
touches, like the synth tone growling through the starry-eyed Big City and
the cavernous desperation of Baby On My Arm, mightve been welcome, but for
the most part, the Broken West gives fans who pine for the Jeff Tweedy/Jay
Bennett era plenty to go on.
RECOMMENDED TRACKS: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 11
REVIEWER: Chris Barton www.magnetmagazine.com
DATE: 1.16.07
ARTIST:The Good, The Bad & The Queen
TITLE: S/T (Parlophone)
GENRE: ROCK/ALT
GRADE: A
REVIEW:With its elegaic tone, The Good, the Bad and the Queen might be
considered a belated, more melancholy follow-up to the social observation
of early Blur albums like Modern Life Is Rubbish and Parklife. "It's not a
nostalgic play on Englishness," Albarn has claimed. "It's more about what
I think it is to be English now." The mood is set by the opening "History
Song", a recollection of "Ships across the estuary/Sundays lost in
melancholy", before the gentle bed of sliding acoustic guitar, organ and
subtle drums collapses in on itself. Tracks such as "80s Life", "Kingdom
Of Doom" and "Green Fields" develop further the wistful tone of regret for
lost places and principles. As he gazes across the city Albarn notes how
the green fields have turned into stone. Not that this album is infused
with the hustle and bustle of the city: it's a much more thoughtful
portrait the band is painting, tapping into something deeper and less
sharply defined about London. Musically, the album is a peculiar blend of
disparate elements complicated by the band's habit of building a song from
separate blocks of riffs. Ex-Clash Paul Simonon's basslines reflect his
dub interests more than his punk background, loping along with a languid
muscularity, while former Verve guitarist Simon Tong furnishes a wide
range of textures, from acoustic arpeggios to stealthy lead lines and
shards of treated guitar noise. But it's Afrobeat pioneer Tony Allen who's
the star player: where one might have expected forceful, driving African
rhythms, he plays complex, jazzy figures in a quiet, understated manner
that doesn't overpower the subtle songs, but helps glue them together more
firmly.
RECOMMENDED TRACKS:1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 10, 11
REVIEWER: independent.co.uk Andy Gill
DATE: 1.16.07
ARTIST:Peppertown
TITLE: Firefly (SOL Records)
GENRE:ROCK/MAINSTREAM/INDIANA
GRADE: B+
REVIEW: Peppertown is a unique blend of alt-country rock infused with a
slight Bruce Hornsby meets John Cougar flare. Their base roots embrace
blues and 70s southern rock which makes for a pleasant, if not
predictable, mid-western delivery. Hailing from Indiana, the quintet has
spent the last year playing roadside bars from Cincinnati and Louisville
to Indianapolis. 23 year-old Scott Siefferman leads the band with his
nasal baritone and acoustic guitar. He can craft a hook as thats
immediately addictive like the intoxicating She Runs From Me or the amped
up Bob Seger-like Cold Hand. Yet, its his candid, direct and, at times,
deeply personal lyrics that elevate the songwriting. Joined by lead
guitarist Ryan Baker, bassist Keith Eckstein and ex-Pure Grain rhythm
section Brian DeBruler (drums) and Michelle DAmico (percussionist) the
five come together in a tangle web of rustic folk and exhilarating jams.
There are the elegant guitar sweeps in Change My Ways, the Santana
wizardry of Season of the Burn and the mesmerizing coaching of Alone Again
where Siefferman vocals meet layered harmonies that drip like honey over a
keyboard ripple. Over 11-tracks, the five-piece showcase some serious
chops proving to be well-rehearsed instrumentalists as well as unique and
original in their songwriting. Funny how even in their darkest, bluesy
moments Peppertown still conjure up memories of the Smithereens and
BoDeans.
RECOMMENDED TRACKS: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 9
REVIEWER: www.thecutting-edge.net
ALSO ADDED THIS WEEK - YOU CAN FIND THESE REVIEWS ELSEWHERE ON OUR BLOG
Anonymous 4 Gloryland Harmonia Mundi
Willie King One Love Freedom Creek
posted by WFHB Music @ 4:23:00 PM
1 comments
1 Comments:
I really dig Menomena, it seems to be well perched between being experimental and being easily accessible.
Chumbawumba is a defiance of all expectations I had for it, which is good.
Was anyone else a little disappointed with Lee Ann Womack's cover of "The Weight"? It seems that one of the best parts of The Band was how raw and loose all of the songs were. With all of the harmonies coming in perfectly with pitch and timing, it almost seems to defy the spirit of the original. Although, I suppose I should consider that tribute albums ideally reinterpret the original material rather than replicate it.
Does anyone else have thoughts good or bad about tracks from Endless Highway?
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