MOG - sageturk's Posts

Stream New Track by New Animal Collective - "Water Curses"

sageturk — Wed, 07 May 2008 14:59:08 GMT

If they truly are a collective of animals, it's the sea-creatures turn on this latest EP from the crazed minds of Panda Bear, Geologist, Donkey Boy, Murtle the Turtle, and whoever else is in Animal Collective.

What a Beautiful Buzz - Album Review of Rolling Stone's Shine A Light

sageturk — Tue, 06 May 2008 20:35:18 GMT

Rating 9.2
Summary The most necessary unnecessary album of the year.

For all the Rolling Stones have accomplished, and that list is as extensive as the items Keith Richards has personally injested, none is more impressive than what Scorsese's Shine A Light makes clear: the Stones are outliving and outperforming their critics and chroniclers.

Their peers had the good sense to be canonized: The Beatles went out in ego and flames, Dylan went reclusive - but the Stones, the goddamn Stones, they just stick around, front and center, having the best damn time of them all.

It makes for a boring story - but for one hell of a good show.

As a critic, the Stones are maddening. Through sheer longevity they wring cliche like water from stone, through sheer virility they beg rhetoric - "What more can be said?", "Where does one begin?" - and in doing so leave their detractors (and their worshippers) impotent. The Stones don't need you, they don't need me - they don't need the music and music doesn't need them. There is no symbiotic relationship - only perfect unity. And if that seems a little dramatic, just listen to Jumping Jack Flash - it's impossible for that song not to exist, and seemly impossible that it can still sound so good, so relevant, and so alive.

When you're dealing with the Stones, you're not dealing with a band or a song or a performance - you're dealing with a fact of life. Like sex or death or pain. Only...minus the death in the Rolling Stones' case. And probably 3 times the sex.

So there's an album here from the film Shine A Light. It's full of well-trod songs. These songs sound good. But why does it exist? The only thing more timeless than music is making a buck, so is it simply that? If you love the Rolling Stones, why bother? If you've never heard the Rolling Stones (and sad to say a majority of music listeners out there probably haven't...sorry guys) why care?

The answer is simple: These songs have existed in infinite varieties for ages, but never has the world needed them more. The song that exists metaphysically on your cd or vinyl or harddrive isn't nearly as important as the version Mick is somewhere this very instant generating from baser elements - transmuting from oxygen and swagger - and Shine A Light is your closest circuit to that raw intimacy.

The album is aptly named - as you listen, little lights are constantly going off in your head - little blips of understanding. Never has the inescapable relation of Blues to Rock (and basically everything else) been so clear. Never has Mick Jagger's desperate attempts to be a bona fide' bluesman been so heartrending because it matches our own desire to truly know pain as much as avoid it. Never has the lived in voice of Keith Richards seemed so authentic - despite his recent pop-culture ubiquity. And with the inclusion of pivotal guest stars (an starstruck Jack White, a stripped down Christina Aguilera, an impossibly raw Buddy Guy), never has the eternal nature of music itself been so clear - the Stones are but a Universe inside a Universe and so on forever in both directions.

The Stones are not the best band of all time. They're not the best band today. Every success includes an embarrassing misstep. But the Stones of today are not the Stones that made "Black and Blue". One of the critical factors to the Stones remaining a contender in the eternal Greatest Of All Time is their misteps. One step forward, two steps back just means you do alot more walkin' to get where you're going and less circles when you get there. The Beatles may have been more technically perfect - but it's the earthier Stones still in the business of shaking the floorboards.

As the poster boys for late night one-liners about overstaying one's welcome or performing well past your use-by date, Mick Jagger and company - though the purveyors of the truest bluest rock and roll - have made the ultimate stick-it-to-the-man punk move by not doing anything at all - they just keep going.

With a collective age of 255 years, how that's even possible truly boggles the mind, but some type of pact with unholy Satan is probably the best guess.

Bonus Treat

A game my friends and I indulge in is "Beatles Vs. Stones". Check out the examples below and feel free to leave your own in the comments.

The Beatles are lawn bowling The Stones are ten-pin.

Beatles: Leonardo da Vinci. The Stones: Van Gogh.

Beatles: Tom Hanks Stones: Johnny Depp

Beatles: Thomas Jefferson Stones: Andrew Jackson

Beatles: Jeff Gordon Stones: Dale Earnhardt

Beatles: Michael Jordan Stones: Charles Barkley

Beatles: Martin Luther King Stones: Malcolm X

Beatles: Paul McCartney Stones: John Lennon

Beatles: Zack Morris Stones: A.C. Slater

Beatles: Bill Nye the Science Guy Stones: Beakman's World

Beatles: Doug Stones: Rugrats

Beatles: Luke Skywalker Stones: Han Solo

Beatles: Betty Stones: Veronica

Beatles: McDonalds Stones: Burger King

Beatles: Superman Stones: Batman

Thanks to Client #9 over at the AV club for alot of these

Album Review: "Rabbit Habbits" by Man Man

sageturk — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 00:18:58 GMT

rating 7.3
summary Gypsy strange-mongers Man Man return with more songs; less mindless shouting. That should be a good thing...right?

This two person review is by Ethan E. and Sage Turk

EE: Well, i'm honored the great William Shakespeare has asked me to help do a review.

ST: What's that supposed to mean? Oh..right...my last review. Shakespeare never wrote southern influenced short stories based on an album's titles and content..ok?

EE: Whatever...what's next? a collection of poetry? haiku?

ST: If haiku I spoke
would nincompoop ethan know?
a numbskull he is.

EE: stop. just stop. besides, that's more Yoda than haiku.

ST: well, you have nothing to fear...my literary purge has left a gaping hole that can only be filled by your cheetoh's powdered observations.

EE: So, today we're checking out Man Man's newest album.

ST: Which is called Rabbit Habbits - a familiar title that only solidifies my theory that Man Man are essentially Animal Collective in gypsy drag.

EE: Hmm... you may have something there. We've never seen them in the same place at the same time - they both have ridiculous stage names - Panda Bear, Critter Crat, Honus Honus, Geologist, Pow Pow, Chang Wang....i wish I were making these up...

ST: And they're both following the same general accessibility curve - early records that are almost impregnably obtuse, later albums more approachable and more interested in actual songs than just noise.

EE: ah..but then there's the difference my friend. AC's Strawberry Jam record was a folding in of themselves, a condensing of their own sound that while infinitely more concise and listenable was, still, all their own. To me, Man Man are more borrowers - stealing other genre's babies in true gypsy fashion and raising them as their own.

ST: Really, Gypsies steal babies and raise them as their own? That seems a little racist....or....what would it be.....gypsyist...

EE: Hmm..maybe i'm thinking Carnival Workers.... anyway, someone out there has had their musical baby stolen and now Man Man have dressed him up like a little russian dancer and taught him how to play the Tuba.

ST: But that's always been Man Man's appeal - wondering what they were gonna do next, because no matter the veneer of familiarity, they're pretty much guaranteed to zig when you expect a zag. And they do just that on this latest album. There's a B-52's influenced dance number "Hurly/Burly", the tribal influenced "Harpoon Fever", the wobbly electro-rock of "El Azteca", a poodle skirt wearing Doo Wop ditty - "Doo Right" and the most impressive xylophone solo of the year on "Ballad of Butter Beans". And as much as the sickly sweetness of some of those influences may make you groan, the stretched shouting/weirdness of Honus Honus adds just enough sour texture to keep things interesting.

EE: And while they certainly keep things interesting....this album made me wonder if Man Man aren't just Ween in those tall fur hats. Not that I'm complaining per se...it's just to me, in earlier records and at live shows, Man Man seemed to inhabit their own plane of weird existence...and if something crept in that sounded familiar or even tuneful it was more like a passing alien observance. To enjoy a band like Man Man, you have to believe that they know what they're doing...even if you don't. And as entertaining as this album is, it kind of grounds things a bit. The experimental stuff seems less powerful and...well....just that - experimenting. No real purpose, just messing around.
That worries me. What if ALL the weird stuff in Man Man's past albums that I liked was just coincidence?

ST: I see what you are saying...and it's probably true. But I don't think when a band like Man Man starts to become more mainstream (and that term is being stretched here to its limit) and craft more "songs" it means that there isn't a Santa Claus. Some of their earlier stuff simply didn't work...and I see them here trying to stick closer to the stuff that does...and as such, we get an album that's more cohesive - which has it's obvious pros and cons. Less surprises, more consistent goodness. And here, that consistency is fun...I listen to this album as a trip through Pinocchio's Pleasure Island...full of carnivals and chaos and forbidden delights.

EE: I guess that's it...Man Man used to frighten as much as excite....now both have melted away some for a more stable listening experience.

ST: And either that's the best thing you could hope for Man Man, or the worst....you be the judge.

EE: You know what they say, "A beast without his fangs can still hump you."

ST: right. wait what?

Stream Track: Plants and Animals' "Mercy"

sageturk — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 16:30:30 GMT

If Dave Matthews Band got into a car wreck with The GO! Team (imagine a prius slamming headfirst in an el camino) the smouldering wreckage would look something like "Mercy".

Stream Track: Basia Bulat's "I Was A Daughter"

sageturk — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 21:19:14 GMT

It seems like every year an indie chantreuse pops up and takes everyone by storm (think Feist) while a more complicated, equally impressive female vocalist gets relatively unnoticed (think St. Vincent).

I have the feeling Basia will find herself in that second category - but that's certainly nothin' to be ashamed of.

Stream Track: The Presidents of the United States Of America's "LadyBug"

sageturk — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 23:18:00 GMT

It was a tough decision picking one track from the long awaited, surprisingly awesome POTUSOA album "These Are Good Times People".

I decided to go with a track that is solid proof that, yup, the Presidents are back - and can now reclaim the dusty, unused, #1 american goof-rock 3-string guitar band trophy.

enjoy the pure Presidents "LadyBug", from an album that delivers on it's promise.

two more tracks in comment section

Stream Track: Stephen Malkmus' "Real Emotional Trash"

sageturk — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 21:31:12 GMT

Stephen Malkmus and his non-pavement friends take 10 minutes to peruse the current tide of slow-burnin' indie rock before blowing the lid off at around the 6 minute mark just to remind you that he was, you know, part of the best indie-band on all time.

Stream: Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin's "Think I Wanna Die"

sageturk — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 16:49:46 GMT

Vampire Weekend may be the bloggy-darling of the hour, but Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin has been making Afro-Pop indie-rock perfection for years now - to basically zero fanfare.

It's a conspiracy I tell ya. Damn Commies!

Stream Track: Cloud Cult - When Water Comes To Life

sageturk — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 15:56:02 GMT

summary An Andrew Birdian pop lament that's over too soon - much like the tragically short life of the lead singer's son that inspired it.

from Cloud Cult's latest album.

Stream Album: The Builders and The Butchers

sageturk — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 23:45:18 GMT

rating 8.7
summary The punk (in)sensibilities of the Mekons worships at the altar of Tom Waits gospel with a vocal mix of the Decemberists meet Two Gallants. It's good.

disclaimer If you're looking for your standard music review here - or if you simply have a short attention span - you'll be disappointed with this post. I've decided to try something new here - if you don't like it, tough. If you do, wait until all 11 chapters have been posted in the comment section before commenting.

enjoy.

(feel free to play the accompanying track as you read along)

THE BUILDERS AND THE BUTCHERS

Chapter 1: The Night Pt.1

The smell of oily gasoline sticks to the humid air - chemically bonding to the inside of my nasal cavities. The heavy thumping drone of the propeller has long since turned to white noise, the vibrations coursing through the aluminum hull simply numb instead of annoy - but that smell - that goddamn smell - it's enough to drive a man crazy.

If he wasn't crazy to begin with that is.

I look up to the sky - the mossy trees are suddenly much thicker, black limbs raised in twisted supplication, slowly obscuring a blood red sky - full as a tick and ready to burst into the infernal darkness of the Louisiana bayou.

A jolt rocks through the Fan-Boat. I must have hit one of the thousands of cyprus roots, phallic spires penetrating up through the inky water. The shock to my senses is good - the hard knock alerting me that we're getting close. I kill the engine and the silence is deep. The smell is still pungent, but hell at least it's keeping the mosquitos away.

I flick my cigarette into the water and listen. The gentle sloshing soons recedes and soon I start to hear it - the gospel choir of this perverse cathedral. Blood above me, oil below - I look at trash bag at my feet and smile.

We are at the Altar.

(THE STORY CONTINUES IN THE COMMENT SECTION )

This Just In: Stream New Ranconteurs - "Salute Your Solution"

sageturk — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 16:45:30 GMT

An audio pinkslip to Meg White - your services will no longer be needed.

All hail the Raconteurs and their new album - way to turn it up to 11 boys.

Album Review: Retribution Gospel Choir Self Titled

sageturk — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 17:45:48 GMT

rating 8.2
summary LOW founder's side project dials up the urgency and volume...but remains slo(core) and steady enough to win the race.

This two person review is by Wendy W. and Sage T.

ST: Wendy, it's good to have you around - it's been too long since we've been honored by your keen musical insight.

WW: Ditto for you..only replace keen musical insight with keen ass kissing.

ST: Your tact and grace are as refined as a mythical princess and never ceases to amaze.

WW: shut it.

ST: So me'lady, today we are reviewing Retribution Gospel Choir's self titled album.... which, just to get out of the way, is not a down on their luck Acapella group from the block. There's a weird trend with indie band names lately - make it sound all deep woods religiousy or make it something about Vampire Robots.

WW: Well, beyond the fact that their music isn't a literal interpretation of their name - The surprising thing about Retribution Gospel Choir isn’t their foot-stomping, melodic music, It’s not that they sound like a slightly more restrained Queens of the Stone Age, It’s that the man responsible for this riff-heavy band is none other than Alan Sparhawk.

ST: Who, as we all know, is the leading man behind LOW - the band that if they didn't invent "slowcore" basically perfected it.

WW: Who knew that he had an inner rock star just waiting to be heard?

ST: Well, it's certainly something fans of LOW have been secretly hoping for. I'm a huge fan, they made it on my best of '07 list, but sometimes the snail's pace drum smack as a guy methodically eats an entire cake just doesn't quite get the blood pumping. And what do you know, it aparently didn't get Alan Sparhawk's blood pumping either - thus this left-of field cathartic release.

WW: Well...it's not totally left of field. Retribution Gospel Choir has been around since 2005 and has released two tour EP’s. It’s just taken them until now to release this full length album. And i'll agree...for the founder of slo-rock, this is about as peppy as it gets.

ST: Not that you'll confuse RGC for the Descendents or anything. But if LOW 's music is like the morgue - full of harsh light, vacuous dread, chilled air, and oh-god-did-i-just-hear-a-heartbeat-in-the-walls
style rhythms, Retribution Gospel Choir is like the operating table - a hushed urgency, the electric crackle of paddles on flesh, and the occasional spurt of arterial fluid. It's all very controlled and very messy and someone just might die.

WW: So who are they operating on then?

ST: Us man! the listener!

WW: wow. that's deep.

ST: thanks.

WW: Usually it's bad form to keep bringing up an artist's past work with another band, but really, you just can't separate the two bands, and it's not just cause RGC is in effect LOW minus one. LOW ’s influence is in the undercurrent of the entire record and specifically in the form of two songs: “Breaker” and “Take Your Time” are both covers that appeared on the last Low album and are re-imagined on the Retribution record with heavy backbeats and twitchy drum patterns.

ST: but that's really it...it's an influence - not like RGC is a tribute band to itself or something.

WW: exactly. Like LOW there’s a dark, gruff undercurrent to the songs - but unlike LOW that undercurrent actually materializes, thanks largely to the production talents of Mark Kozelek – a former member of the band who also released the record on his Caldo Verde label. Kozelek’s unfettered production gives the album a dry, propulsive crunch that works well with the uptempo tracks. Songs like “Take Your Time” and “Holes in Our Heads” have a loud/soft dynamic that would rarely be found on a Low album, and large portions of the record are straight-up rock’n’roll.

ST: That's where the equation shifts...LOW was about building the dread, RGC finally delivers on that threat. The slow chug escalates to a mighty pumping - pulling us toward the blown out tracks and our fiery demise.

WW: As you said earlier..this is the sort of thing fans of LOW were always hoping would happen but were too embarrassed to ask for. It’s exciting to hear Sparhawk’s voice used in a heftier way, and his straightforward lyrics contrast well with the big, Neil Young and Crazy Horse-style playing. Even lines like “Our bodies break / and the blood just spills and spills” seem fitting in the urgent framework of the album.

ST: Really, if you haven't picked it up from this review yet, viewers at home, if you like LOW , or at least see the potential but couldn't stay awake for the execution - this album is for you. You can only keep slowburning emotions like lust, anger, and fear bottled up for so long - RGC 's self trepanation releases their demons...now it is we who must figure out what to do with them.

WW: Sparhawk has always had a keen talent for getting to the emotional core of a subject, and this album is no exception. With a visceral sound that resonates on an emotional level, the Retribution Gospel Choir has given us an album that is rough and powerful. The end result is a swaggering, aggressive surprise that releases all the pent up rage Low always hinted at. Gospel? Maybe. Retribution? Definitely.

Album Review: Saturnalia by The Gutter Twins

sageturk — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 15:53:03 GMT

rating 7.8
summary High pressure meets low pressure in a storm that roils, crackles, and ultimately passes - for now.

This two person review is by Ethan E. and Sage T.

EE: The album cover is right - a storm is a brewin'.

ST: But what kind of storm?

EE: That's the question now isn't it.

ST: So, to get everyone at home up to speed, The Gutter Twins is the long rumored fusion of Screaming Trees' Mark Lanegan and Afghan Whigs/Twilight Singers' Greg Dulli.

EE: You could call em a supergroup..if more than 10 people in the whole world had ever heard of any of those things.

ST: "A screaming what in your gutter's who?"

EE: Heh. Exactly. But for people who know...this is a big deal. I loved the Screaming Trees, and have always been a huge AW fan.

ST: Same..only I became a Dulli fan a little later on with his Twilight Singers side project.

EE: I've been hearing rumblings about this album... about these guys not bringing anything "new" to the table - but you know from the Twilight Singers, innovation isn't what they're about.

ST: Yeah, this isn't about being "new" - on Powder Burns Dulli samples the Beatles no less - it's about two guys taking their long, hard-learned lessons from a combined 40 something years in the scene and putting it to use.

EE: That's the way I see this album - they probably decided, "Ok, we either make this about writing songs...or making an experience.

ST: And really...they've proven they can do the song thing.

EE: Not to say that this is some experimental noodling or rain-drops in the glen or something.

ST: well, it tells you something about the world we live in when a cohesive, well assembled ALBUM is considered an "experience". What Dulli and Lanegan have done is made a record that demands to be listened all the way through and understood on those terms.

EE: That's true, on a basic level, they're old fashioned fuddy-duddies that couldn't care less about having an iTunes single-of-the-day. So, the sheer novelty of crafting an "album" is something in and of itself... but I don't want to quantify, these guys really have made an experience.

ST: Hence the storm comment at the beginning.

EE: right.

ST: The more you mention it, the more I think you've nailed it. This record really does roil in like a cloudy bulkhead, muted lightning-flashes deep in its guts.

EE: And it's not enough to just approximate the sounds of a storm, any heavy metal band with a penchant for cymbals can do that. No, what the Gutter Twins are doing here is recreating the FEEL of a storm. The pressure drop...the tingle on your skin...then the torrent.

ST: It really gives the album more dimension to listen to it in this way. The first track, "The Stations", is exactly like the darkening before a midwestern funnel-storm - all becomes cold, the air about to burst. The buildup continues on "God's Children", "All Misery / Flowers" brings the rain, "The Body" the supplication, "Idle Hands" brings the thunder. The storm brews, boils, and eventually passes. Hell, the final song, "Front Street", even has the chirping birds of a new day washed clean.

EE: You mention a funnel storm, and I know what you mean, those huge dark sheets of cloud that wrap over the sky, the feeling that nature is about to kick your ass - but that's not the kind of storm here. A twister never forms and pulls Helen Hunt's shirt off.

ST: yeah, it's more like one of those storms people gather to watch over the mesa or whatnot. More awe than ominous.

EE: Which in large part comes from the grounding narration of Dulli and Lanegan - one sounding like a thousand year old mystic, the other a faith-shaken preacher. These guys are story tellers, and you want to hear them through - and you know they'll never let the storm get out of hand.

ST: Which, for me, is maybe the downside of this album. I was really hoping these guys would just freaking let loose and blow minds. The storm never does get out of hand, which while being fun while it lasts, only really leaves you itching for the next one - and hoping this time it'll punch wheat-stalks into the power lines.

EE: Well, expectation will always get in the way of enjoying an album like this. It's not a math equation - Screaming Trees X Afghan Whigs != Explosive Audio Diarrhea.

ST: Well, heh, when you put it that way. Make no mistake, this album is a grower, and is badass in its own slow burning way. I truly enjoyed the listen - but something tells me I'll enjoy the next storm even more.

EE: Amen.

the MOG shirt baby

sageturk — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 19:08:12 GMT

check what came in the mail.... the MOG shirt baby, delivering her wares at the speed of adorable.

(Starring:
Maebe Turk as MOG shirt baby.
MOG shirt as himself)

now cue the saucy south american celebration music!!

Album Review: Just A Little Lovin' by Shelby Lynn

sageturk — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 19:39:32 GMT

Rating 7.5
How Proud would Dusty Springfield be? 8.5
Summary Shelby handles Dusty's ditties with the gentle caress of a first time lover. of course, a little "day after awkwardness" is normal.

Ah...the cover Album. That most guilty of audio pleasures tends to be a surprisingly delectable creation or a bloating greasy confection...but either way, in the end, is usually just empty calories.

So why do artists do it? Do they not see the inherent braggadocio in trying to make another's work "your own"? Can they not see that, no matter how pure the intentions, the entire work will essentially be a gimmick? Or can they, when the moons align just right, create something that stands on its own merits?

From what I know of musicians, the cover album has one of three muses:
1) Experimentation - Can I play it faster? Can I do it Hip Hop style? Can I have a choir of dogs bark it?
2) Cockiness - I honestly believe I can do it better than the original.
3) Reverence - This artist is my hero, and seek to respect their legacy with my own, carefully crafted renditions.

So here we are. Shelby Lynn's 12th album in 20 some-odd years (Just A Little Lovin') is a gentle, stripped down collection of Dusty Springfield songs with one original thrown in for good measure. On paper, classic country shaved down to the essentials, sung in a breathy cow-girl voice, seems cliched, even for a covers album. Do it softer, do it prettier, find the message in the music, etc. Almost every important musical act in the last century has had a cover of their songs done in this manner... so if Sarah Mclachlan can't get the Beatles' Blackbird right, what can Ms. Lynne hope to achieve diggin through Dusty's dirty laundry?

Well, luckily for Shelby, this isn't paper. This is music...and music is all about soul. And that's where this equation starts to make sense: one of today's most sincerely soulful vocalists carefully interpreting the veritable "White Queen of Soul" more in the style of a sunset painted backporch bluesman than a studio twangin' country crooner.

If you are a Dusty fan, you'll love it or hate it, naturally...and even to those who aren't fans, there's a bit of a mental conflict with what to think of this beautiful bastard child - this shudder cover album.

It helps that Lynne can be a little unpredictable (for better or worse..see 2001's pop/rock "Love, Shelby"). It would have been easy to go the cheap-shot "acoustic version" route. But not Shelby Lynne. When I say Shelby has "stripped down" Dusty's songs, I don't mean watered down or diluted. I mean laid bare, flesh exposed, a sensual revelation.

Think of it as an Uncovered Album...and enjoy this Little Lovin' by Shelby Lynn.

Sunday Sampler: Pop Perfections

sageturk — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 22:42:35 GMT

It's been a little while since the last sampler... oh well, it's here now. A trio of perfect little pop confections -

1) Vampire Weekend's steel drum enfused Walcott

(next 2 in the comment section)
2)Hot Chip's Hold On drips and drops until it builds to a wicked stalagmite point

3)Helio Sequence's airy Keep Your Eyes Ahead

Baby Got Back - Indie Acoustic Style

sageturk — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 21:55:43 GMT

In honor of the late St. Valentine, a love ballad for the ages:

Jonathan Coulton's touching rendition of Baby Got Back.

Album Review: Circular Sounds by Kelly Stoltz

sageturk — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 19:36:07 GMT

Rating: 8.4
Summary: Like having dinner at your mother's house...nothing new or experimental, but damn if she doesn't make the world's best meatloaf.

For all of those cranks out there that complainin' that they don't make music like they used too...all I can say is you just aren't listening hard enough.

Case in point: Kelley Stoltz's newest album Circular Sounds. As faded, warm, and friendly as an old photo hanging in a mahogany frame, Stoltz's music rummages through the cedar chest of 60's and 70's MopRock and emerges with something vintage, hip, and as long as you don't mind the smell of mothballs, oddly wearable.

As a cobbled together grab bag of chugging Morrisonesque rhythm strumming, Ray Davies' nose-plugged voice, and Get-Back era Beatles experimentation, the album exudes the same pulsing aura as the entire crate of dusted vinyls sitting in your parents garage. If you want a crash course in why that entire era was so alive with potential and buzzing with jittery anticipation, Kelly Stoltz is your man.

And there-in lies the greatest strength and possibly greatest flaw in Stoltz's work. The majority of the thrill in Circular Sounds is playing "guess that influence". I personally enjoy it when a Pink Floyd psych-jam wobbles into the speakers with Mother Nature, or the Bunnymen steeped sound of I Nearly Lost My Mind... but others might get a nagging sense of been-there-done-that.

Not that everything in Circular Sounds is second-hand...a few of the tracks take the lessons learned, absorb the Fab and Funky energy through osmosis, and then unleash something wholly new and exciting...most notably Tintinnabulation, Gardenia, and Your Reverie.

In the end, it doesn't matter if Circular Sounds is redundant or been attempted before...because Stoltz himself doesn't care. He's simply making music he loves, and I pity anyone that can't love it along with him....Besides, if most of the people who heard this type of music when it first came out are old enough now to be losing their hearing, does it matter if this new resurgance sounds similar?

Album Review: Rip It Off - Times New Viking

sageturk — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 18:23:46 GMT

Today's two person review of Rip It Off by Times New Viking is brought to you by Sage and Ethan.

Sage's Rating: 7.8
Ethan's Rating: 6.5

For fans of Apples In Stereo...if that "stereo" was a set of 10-year-old laptop speakers.

Single The Apt

ST: Today we have Times New Viking's Rip It Off, their third studio album.

EE: I have to admit, I hadn't heard of these guys before. I thought their name actually was Times New Viking Rip It Off. I'm a little disappointed.

ST: So never having heard them before, what did you expect ... and what did you think about what you heard?

EE: Well, I expected them to be sort of pop-punky, and I was right. What I didn't expect was for the music to sound like it was being played through a walkie talkie over one of those tin-can phones.

ST: Welcome to Times New Viking: "music so tinny it can give you tetanus."

EE: It's almost an art form that they could get music that sounds so strained and blown out. My 4-year old daughter has this 12-dollar Barbie karaoke machine that she uses to sing "Bohemian Rhapsody" on..

ST: Aww, how cute...

EE: ...and seriously, her squealing "skabba boosh canna do a fanago" is recorded in higher fidelity than these dudes.

ST: I'll admit, it's off-putting. We live in a world where audiophiles get into fistfights over vinyl versus digital, or 320 kbps vs. FLAC , or with which 8,000 dollar headphones you can best hear Steve Tyler's lips cracking. In come Times New Viking and basically give the whole lo-fi vs. hi-fi argument the finger.

EE: When you put it that way, it is pretty punk. When you've flipped the bird to everything already, I guess the only thing left is flipping it on your own music.

ST: So, getting past the mixing and audio quality, which with these guys is definitely on purpose, what do you think of the music itself?

EE: Well, that's the thing. The first time I listened to this, I almost threw my headphones away cause I thought they were broken. I kept listening and listening ... I knew there were interesting little indie-rock songs in there, I just had to keep pushing past the static.

ST: You are describing a big portion of what TNV fans feel is a major part of their appeal ... you have to work at it to get to the good stuff. So much that comes out these days is so overmastered, it becomes apparent that there weren't any real songs under there to begin with. I find a band so confident in their music that they UNDERmaster it exhilarating.

EE: There's definitely a confidence here and a maturity, even if it is by all accounts male/female shout-pop. It takes a certain kind of band to understand the power of a pop song, but do it in such a way that it will never be popular.

ST: I think that's the perfect summary of TNV ... they love to dangle the carrot of pop, hooks, anthems and sing-a-longs to keep you moving forward ... until, before you know it, they've led you into their own scuzzy little punk wonderland.

EE: However, I'm still not totally sold with this whole purposeful deconstruction through purposefully deconstructing my speakers (which happened by the way; literal smoke came out of my laptop). To me, the tinniness and static is less a problem for me (and my delicate ears) than it is a blanket solution for them. I think they use it almost as a crutch. Like someone who uses way too much self-deprecating humor ... it's funny at first, but soon you start to think they actually believe they suck.

ST: I wouldn't take it that far, but I will admit the poor recording quality does smack more of a gimmick than something that actually adds to the music itself. However, for me, it's one of the few gimmicks bands like TNV have left ... and a refreshing slap in the face to all those wanna-be famous indie-rockers who "damn the man" but would secretly do anything to be on an iPod commercial.

EE: Okay, okay. Honestly, I'm just a wuss. My ears can only take so much. I'm filing this under Interesting Listen, one that was worth the effort, but I probably won't be going back.

ST: Maybe you're right. Me, I'm gonna keep digging though ... every time I do I find another treasure.

Album Review: Venus on Earth by Dengue Fever

sageturk — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 20:48:05 GMT

Today's two-person review is brought to you by Sage and Ethan.

Sage's Score: 7.0
Ethan's Score: 6.0

ST: So today we're reviewing Venus on Earth by Cambodian psychedelic pop-lounge rock band, Dengue Fever.

EE: Seriously. I tried entering that into the genre category in iTunes. I had to settle with "religious."

ST: Not "world"?

EE: Nah. I don't have much "religious" ... figured I'd spread my genre list out a bit. Also, when I think of world music I picture some guy in an alpaca poncho playing a wooden flute ... or some kid playing the steel drum for his 10th grade presentation.

ST: You're right ..."world" either means "novelty" or "Ladysmith Black Mambazo".

EE: Hey! Ladysmith kicks ass. Those guys have been a band for like 70 years.

ST: Whoa, whoa. Focus.

EE: Sorry, but their work on the Graceland album seriously got me through puberty.

ST: You had a weird puberty, then. Most people woulda picked something that at least had boobs on the record cover.

EE: Okay, okay ... Graceland and that one Santana album.

ST: Now you're talking. Anyway! Dengue Fever!

EE: You mentioned the word novelty above. I'm not entirely convinced they're not. And it has nothing to do with where the singer is from.

ST: Okay, I know where you're going with this. It's not that they're "world" music (which they're not ... at least anymore), or that the singer is Cambodian (which she is), it's that they play a very specific type of music. One might call it spy-rock.

EE: Oh! That's it. That's what I'm putting into iTunes. It totally sounds like the perfect soundtrack for every old 007 knock-off movie. All gold jumpsuited women, angry toughs with cheap sunglasses, and some little person in a tux.

ST: Yep. We've even got the name of our spy and his theme song: "Mr. Orange" (track 11).

EE: So, Mr. Orange, we meet again FOR THE LAST TIME !

ST: There's Mr. Orange at the end of the huge lounge fight tossing his empty gun aside and planting a full-mouthed kiss on the sultry singer in the sequin dress he's handcuffed to.

EE: She slaps him but he only gives a sly grin and says, "Mmm...I don't usually have time for foreplay," then she melts and kisses him even more passionately.

ST: There's Mr. Orange, jumping off the roof and kicking the helicopter pilot in the face.

EE: There's Mr. Orange being shot by the evil villain's laser-beam gun ... but wait! The beam bounces back and fries the villain! Mr. Orange produces the giant stolen diamond from his suit coat. "Looks like I have a friend in the diamond business," he quips.

ST: Really, your enjoyment of this album depends on how well you play along. If you don't play well, it is just a novelty. And you don't have to imagine each song as a different scene in Mr. Orange's sexy adventures (though you could). It's a matter of accepting Dengue Fever on their terms and entering the bizarre little world they inhabit.

EE: That's fair enough ... I imagine that Dengue Fever want you to play along ... they're playing in the first place. This may be novelty, not the novelty you'd expect ... but it is in a good way. I can't score it super-high because I absolutely have to be in the right mood to appreciate this, but Dengue Fever a mining this little untapped region of indie-dom and I'm happy for them.

ST: They started out playing basically nothing but existing Cambodian songs, moved into original pop music, and now are developing this smoky world of Khmer-delia. Chhom Nimol's voice is a fluttery crystaline thing of beauty, and I love how far this band, as a whole, has progressed. For Venus on Earth they've eschewed hooks in favor of a cool loungey feel, and in the process a lot of songs get lost in the mix ... but as an album, it is well worth checking out. If for no other reason than to see how Mr. Orange escapes the clutches of Dr. Dread.

EE: I pictured the bad guy being named Rhubarb Montgomery. But whatever.

Mr. Orange: The MOVIE , starring Weng Weng (rip)

Album Review: Aretha Franklin - Rare & Unreleased Recordings from the Golden Reign of the Queen of Soul

sageturk — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 21:26:35 GMT

Rating 8.5
How much does this make you wanna party with Aretha? 9.6

There it is in bold, right above this text: Aretha Franklin - Rare and Unreleased Recordings from the Golden Reign of the Queen of Soul. As any fan of Sister Ree would agree...I almost feel like saying anything more would be redundant. And if you do happen to be a fan, then it surely is. This is the long-overdue collection of odds and ends from a woman who defined an entire genre and is the watermark all other balls-to-the-wall vocalists are judged by.

If you're into Aretha, go man! Just go.

But what about the rest? What about all those to whom Aretha Franklin is just a name...a golden myth of sorts. Let's face it, unless you grew up in the 60's (and if you are using this here contraption called the internet, there's a fairly good chance of that not being the case) or were raised near the tar houses and shanties of the deep south, soul music just probably isn't a guiding force in your life. I imagine, for most of the younger audiophiles among us, soul is held in the same regard as black and white movies - "sure there are classics there, maybe even surpassing most modern works, sure i'm a fan (or so i've been taught to say lest I look like a schmuck), but would I really choose to watch one?"

The question is, what does "The Queen of Soul" really mean in 2008? In this bleeping, blipping future world of Amy Winehouses and American Idols... where does Aretha fit in? At a time when soul is considered a novelty, or a parody collapsing in on itself...what can the symbol of its existence teach us?

Maybe this year we'll find out - straight from the woman herself. At the spry ol' age of 66 Franklin has an album due out here in '08, "A Woman Falling Out Of Love". If Dylan can do it, if Springsteen can do it, hell...if the Eagles can do it, why not Aretha. Until then though, we have this collection of "Rare and Unreleased Recordings" - a record that makes one thing crystal clear: Unlike the aforementioned artists, Aretha isn't about the music itself..the song per se.. (even with her almost inseparable ties to gospel, blues, and, obviously, soul)... Aretha is about the _voice_.

Like the musical equivalent of James Earl Jones, it doesn't matter what context Franklin is in - her voice is the star of the show. On these recordings, does the music sometimes sound dated? Sure. (although, admittedly, it _is_ dated) But even when the accompanying melodies seem to wrap Aretha in a syrupy cloud, it's her voice , bright an focused as a laser beam, that bursts through. For those that revere her already, this might seem like a redundant thing to say - but for those jaded by the obscene amount of music available at the push of a button, the true magic is that, indeed, Aretha is still relevant, her voice is still passion personified (or is it audiolized?).

Now, this collection isn't without its weak spots. Franklin has such mastery of her voice, one often looks for those moments, where the little hairs in your ear tingle with excitement, on every track. Now, that wouldn't be a fair mark against this album (no one can be revelatory all the time), if it didn't feel at times, maybe a little to often, that Aretha is just phoning it in. Here's a woman with a voice so powerful that she can almost put it on autopilot and belt out a classic. Not that I blame her, this is an outtake album after all.

On the flip side of that, though, is where this album reveals its true beauty. On this record, we hear moments and catch glimpses of Aretha making mistakes, experimenting, and being, well, human. It is this rawness, when the voice strains but the passion burns even brighter, that Aretha transcends time. She need not worry about staying relevant...for he voice usurps relevancy. She is timeless, her music truly golden, and her voice.... that voice....

perfect.

Single - Aretha and Ray Charles Blowing Minds with Ain't But the One

Sage and Wendy Review: Sojourner Box Set by Magnolia Electric Co.

sageturk — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 01:09:37 GMT

Box Set Rating Nashville Moon: 7 Sun Session: 6 The Black Ram: 8 Shohola: 7.5
How much Jason Molina sounds like he has a beard even though he doesn't 9.6

(Wendy's back and helping me to review this thick collection from the mellow folk king Jason Molina.)

ST: Today we are reviewing Sojourner, the box set from Jason Molina's latest incarnation, Magnolia Electric Co.
WW: It's four discs and a DVD filled with odds and ends culled from the recording sessions that produced his 2006 album Fading Trails. Released by Secretly Canadian, the four audio discs unearth content that Molina’s been hinting at for a while now: the Nashville Moon session, recorded with Steve Albini at Electrical Audio, the Sun Session, recorded at Sun Studios in Memphis, the Black Ram session, recorded by David Lowery at Sound of Music, and the Shohola session, which Molina recorded by himself.
ST: Box sets are always a mixed bag for me. Either they are just compilations - massive best-ofs - or (like Sojourner) B-sides, rarities, and out-takes. And often, whatever category the box-set falls into, they always smack more of capitalism than artistic endeavor. Sure, there are usually collectable trinkets for the fans, artwork and notes and whatnot, and the hidden musical gem or two, but overall I have a hard time convincing myself that it was the artist's vision and not the marketing department.
WW: Well, I can almost guarantee that for the most part, you're right. Honestly, I've never really known a fan of some band to buy a box set...they're obviously intended for the obsessive who's trawling for Maroon 5's towel sweat on Ebay or to be purchased as gifts.
ST: "Ooh! Jim loves KISS ! I heard him listening to them on the radio once! I've got $150 bucks...he's gonna love this 10 cd set with authentically reproduced Gene Simmon's codpiece." Yeah, there's a reason these things show up around the holidays.
WW: So what about Sojourner? As far as I can tell, there's no codpiece inside.
ST: Well, I refer to my distrust of box-sets as mixed bags for a reason. They tend to just be a bunch of junk I already have, or didn't really want, thrown in together with little rhyme or reason. That's why (pay attention readers at home) Sojourner is refreshingly different. Those that are fans of Jason Molina know that his genius is broad, but the glimpses he gives us are too short to see how deep. As we go on, I think you'll see that Sojourner is a long, engaging, and sometimes uncomfortable look into this mind as deep, clear, and solemn as a winter lake. So that's what I like about this box set. It's not random junk. There's a real theme here.
WW: Well, you brought up the theme, and as much as I hate to make blanket statements, Jason Molina is obsessed with the moon. There’s simply no other conclusion to draw from looking at the track list. Disc One – “No Moon on the Water” and “Nashville Moon”. Disc Two – “And the Moon Hits the Water”. Disc Three – “Memphis Moon” and Disc Four – “Spanish Moon Fall and Rise”.
ST: Well, I think It's less obsession with the moon as it is connection. It's a way of relating to the moon that I think all wanderers feel to some degree. The constant motion, the waxing and waning, the light that illuminates but never warms.
WW: Well, if anyone is a wanderer, it's Jason Molina. He's been touring constantly since, what, 1996?
ST: He's like a modern minstrel - always on the move. That's the theme I get from this box set. The freedom of constantly moving, but the deep ache for somewhere to call home. It's bittersweet, and bittersweet is Molina's middle name.
WW: I'm impressed not only with his ability to find a theme in the expansiveness of a box-set format, but with level of consistency in both quality and content throughout. You mention the bittersweet, and on cursory listens Sojourner can seem a little maudlin, but it’s also clear that Sojourner is testament to the joy that can be found in thoroughly mining one’s convictions. Here's a man dedicated to, like the moon, constantly moving, shining, and even if he can't be seen, tugging at the world with his influence.
ST: Heh...it's true...he pulls the indie-folk tide.
WW: It's hard to bring up specifics in a set a broad as this, any of these albums will evoke whatever scarred and desolate landscape your mind can conjure up, but I found Nashville Moon to be the most confident piece in the set. It’s hard to understand why this wasn’t the next big Magnolia project in and of itself, except that nearly half of its songs have been previously released.
ST: Maybe it is the confidence found in familiarity.
WW: I think you're right. Not that confidence makes for the most inspired listen. With the exception of “Hammer Down” the re-worked songs seem to suffer a bit in comparison with their previously released versions, as Nashville Moon reins in the band’s billowy reverb and replaces it with a subdued sound. “Bowery” is played at an even slower pace than the original, and “Down the Wrong Road Both Ways” gets the full band treatment instead of sticking to the original intimate voice-and-guitar formula.
ST: However, this is still better than the majority of dusky, raw voiced, Americana albums out there.
WW: Agreed. “North Star” (not to be confused with “North Star Blues”) features a slinky steel guitar that glides like a garotte through Molina’s lyrics, and “No Moon on the Water” and “Montgomery” grip you with a gritty, percussive edge. Throughout Nashville Moon, Molina’s broken-hearted lyrics are surrounded by the band’s warm sense of security, allowing him full range to display his grief and loneliness.
ST: In contrast, the solo Shohola is another story entirely. Self-recorded by Molina, it sounds like folk from a different time, a time of chapped hands and burnt-out candles. The sounds of “Night Country” are some of the starkest since the first self-titled Songs: Ohia record.
WW: Despondent and flickering, it’s not Molina’s usual songwriting-as-therapy. Rather, it’s a pale offering to the night, his voice wavering on the knife-edge of hope and resignation. When listening to this disc, it’s impossible not to picture cracked highways and watery red sunsets.
ST: Or the album art...a rough dark oil painting of a woman in the dark. It's spooky and unsettling. If you're a fan of Bonnie 'Prince' Billy style warble-rock, then Shohola is worth the price alone.

WW: Perhaps the most revealing disc is Black Ram, an album where Molina’s songs are played by a completely different band (including Andrew Bird); while they retain Molina’s distinctive style, they open the music up to a sense of growth that reflects his progress from Axxes and Ace on through to his current music. It’s more driven than the other three discs, maintaining a steady tread throughout each track. “Kanaha” is marked by a heavy beat that’s eventually washed out in reverb, while “Will O’ the Wisp” and “What’s Broken Becomes Better” pulse with toothy feedback. It's a taste of what his next incarnation may be.
ST: I agree. When I finally heard Black Ram, the rest of the set made more sense. Here is a man not wandering, but stretching out his travelings. He has a destination...he has a destiny...but can you blame him for not wanting to reach it just yet?
WW: Black Ram stands out with a sense of renewed possibility, and is a fitting bookend to the set. It’s as if the asthmatic ghosts that populate Magnolia Electric Co.’s landscape are ready to move outside the usual sphere and head down the open road, this time with the moon at their back. As Molina sings in “The Lamb’s Song”, “Has the will been broken? / Yes, but into an answer”, it’s clear that we may not know what lies down that road....
ST: ...or what the moonlight will flush from the shadows...
WW: ...but I have the feeling we’re about to find out.

sageturk's Best of 2007

sageturk — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 10:01:13 GMT

Well here we are, perched on the edge of a year that just kept peaking for music. Despite the handwringing among radio barons and industry bigwigs, who are understandably worried that their children will have to settle for an un-endangered birthday tiger this year, 2007 proved to be pretty damn good for those of us that actually like LISTENING to music.

Of course, the one thing audiophiles like more than listening to music is bitching about other people's opinions of it....and never has there been a more magical time for doing so than this blessed season: the december end-of-year best-of lists!

So, without further ado, my own little slice of musical snobbery:

The Sage Turk Annual Best Albums and Songs of 2007

There's not much in the way of attention spans on this here internet, but on my mog page there's a playlist with almost every song listed. So if you want to help me pretend like I didn't waste 8 hours putting it together, go ahead and take it for a spin. You won't be sorry! Let's begin!

albums that were really good but everyone already talks about all the time so I'm just gonna get it out of the way and list em here so people don't blog and whine that I forgot your favorite band even though at this point even my grandma knows who Arcade Fire are

Eh hem...Arcade Fire, MIA , LCD Soundsystem, Band of Horses, Radiohead, Rilo Kiley, The White Stripes, Spoon, the National, Bruce Springsteen.

albums that were really good but had songs that make you want to punch yourself in the ears cause they were so overplayed
Feist - offender "1234", play instead "Sea Lion Woman"

Peter Bjorn and John - offender "Young Folks", play instead "Amsterdam"

Modest Mouse - offender "Dashboard", play instead "Missed the Boat"

album that deserves a second chance

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Some Loud Thunder - "Satan Said Dance" (Everyone was secretly twirling their mustaches waiting for indie uber-darlings CYHSY to be just some kind of fluke and when the already weird, exuberant, angular to begin with band released a second album that was just more concentrated portions of all of the above, the love-to-hate bandwagon was filled faster than the internet can leak an album. But something nagging inside told me to try again, and thank goodness I did. A few songs are non-starters, but same with the first album. Some Loud Thunder is one of those "i'm glad I didn't give up so easily" sort of albums. Give it another spin... it's not like you paid for it the first time.)

Architecture In Helsinki - Places Like This - "Heart it Races" (Jangly, wild vocals wrapped around odd-duck tunes that burn into your brain. People dismissed this one faster, if not as harshly, as CYHSY , but deserves an equally sincere second try. It's too much fun to miss..)

album that may have come up in 2006 but I got it in 2007 so suck it

The Blood Brothers - Young Machetes - "We Ride Skeletal Lightning" (take every word in the band name, album, and track, shake in a bag, and pour into your ear. That's the type of music you got here.)

gypsy music magic

Beirut - Lon Gisland EP - "Scenic World (Version)" (The beefed up version of last years scenic world that is simply breathtaking)

Gogol Bordello - Super Taranta! - "Supertheory of Supereverything" (madonna is a fan of these guys but don't hold it against them)

albums that are unapologetically catchy as hell

Aqueduct - Or Give Me Death - "Split the Difference" (perfect exhuberant pop with some Princess Bride influences. excellent)

Sloan - Never Hear the End of It - "Who Taught You To Live Like That?" (how can they keep making so much music that's not only good, it's the 'hasn't this song been around forever?' sort of good)

Pop Levi - The Return to Form Black Magick Party - "Pick Me Up Uppercut" (catchiest. song. ever.)

Chad Vangaalen - Skelliconnection - "Flower Gardens" (no where as dark as his last album, but underneath the sunshine some shadows still lurk)

Softlightes - Say No! To Being Cool, Say Yes! To Being Happy - "Heart Made of Sound" (these guys are almost TOO happy. I'm supposed to be sulky dammit!)

Tunng - Good Arrows - "Bullets" (catchy doesn't have to mean super sweet...Tunng spread their ditties with a dark glaze that somehow makes it all the more tasty.)

dark fuzz....guitar fuzz...not...nevermind

The Black Angels - Passover - "The First Vietnamese War" (rock as droning and dark as a walk through skull lined cambodian jungles)

Liars - Liars - "Plaster Casts of Everything" - (the six die-hard Liars fans out there hated them for getting more accessible and polished. Everyone else was just happy to be rocking out.)

The M's - Future Women - "Trucker Speed" (fluctuating between pop and a white-guy version of TV on the Radio)

LOW - Drums and Guns - "Belarus" (what can I say, they're the best slo-core band on earth, which is fitting cause they invented the damn thing)

The Veils - Nux Vomica - "Nux Vomica" (The lead singers voice is a wild unleashing torrent of awesomeness)

Nick Cave & Grinderman - Grinderman - "Honey Bee" (Nick Cave is a leathery bar brawlin' bad ass which makes his wry sense of humor even more disconcerting)

cross-breed soundalike wonder kids

Electric President - Electric President - "Metal Fingers" (postal service + why?)

Caribou - Andorra - "Sandy" (The Shins meet the 60s)

stringing us along - acoustic awesomeness

Sean Lennon - Friendly Fire - "Friendly Fire" (he does the impossible..he stands on his own merits. Not bad from the son of the most loved musician in the world)

Elliot Smith - New Moon - "Thirteen" (he's the master...and he should really be in the top five, but he's dead and that's not gonna help me get over it any time soon)

Elvis Perkins - Ash Wednesday - "While You Were Sleeping" (the surest proof that Jeff Mangum is dead and was reincarnated as the son of Psycho's Anthony Perkins)

John Vanderslice - Emerald City - "White Dove" (So good, and JV is such a top notch guy, I'll forgive the topical political undertones)

Hip Hop Hipsters

Spank Rock - YoYoYoYoYo - "IMC" (the dirtiest mouths in rap with the sharpest minds equals a potent mix)

Pharoahe Monch - Desire - "Body Baby" (if hip hop is dead, then loving this album as much as I do is illegal in 48 states)

Aesop Rock - None Shall Pass - "None Shall Pass" (butterscotch buttery gold, jittery zeitgeist...there, three months of listening to this thing and I can officially sing along to 5 words of it)

K-Os - Atlantis Hymns for Disco - "Sunday Morning" (I DEFY you to listen to this song and not have it stuck in your head for the rest of your life. DEFY YOU . The rest of the album is really good as well...but damn you sunday morning!)

happy happy joy joy - aka Polyphonic Spree, watch your back

I'm From Barcelona - Let Me Introduce My Friends - "Treehouse" (this should be in the catchy as hell category, but more than it's immediate stick-to-your-mind ditties, this band of a suspiciously large number of members is pure sunshine in a bottle.)

The Apples In Stereo - New Magnetic Wonder - "7 Stars" - (The lead singer no longer sounds 14...he now sounds 15. Which might not seem like a big accomplishment, but then again, you obviously don't realize how good this band really is.)

The Little Ones - Sing Song - "Lovers Who Uncover" (yeh yeahyeahyeahyeah!)

Bishop Allen - The Broken String - "Rain" (with one of the best songs of the year, the rest of the album surprisingly keeps up. Plus, they've tuned down the preciousness by about 3 notches making this a less-guilty pleasure than their last)

weirdo wonderland

Panda Bear - Person Pitch - "Bros" (Panda Bear samples like a dance-hall MC inhabited by brian wilson's ghost. I know he's not dead, but work with me here.)

Frog Eyes - Tears of the Valedictorian - "Idle Songs" (Finally, a frog eyes album I can like as much as my indie-cred tells me to)

Yeasayer - All Hour Cymbals - "2080" - (like animal collective meets gang gang dance meets the black dice meets the steve miller band. try finding an itunes genre category for that.)

Old Time Relijun - Catharsis In Crisis - "Liberation" (vocals so awful they're awesome...just listen you'll see)

Deerhunter - Cryptograms - "Cryptograms" (take away every band with the word Deer or Wolf and you'd be left with...I dunno...Soulja Boy and some "the Who" tribute band... but anyway, I digress. I weird building little album that gets under your skin and lays eggs.)

Sunset Rubdown - Random Spirit Lover - "The Mending of the Gown" (who knows what is real and what is side project when you discuss spencer krug, carey mercer, or Dan Bejar...but this feels pretty damn real. A mind blowing album that absolutely lives up to the potential their first album made so apparent.)

swede as candy

Loney, Dear - Loney, Noir - "I Am John" (a bouncing ditty that gives twee a good name)

Jens Lekman - Night Falls Over Kortedala - "I'm Leaving You Because I don't Love you" (morrissey meets cabaret in the most awesome "what if they mated" album ever)

punk that rocks...see also, rock that punks"

Ted Leo - Living With the Living - "A Bottle of Buckie" (Slightly more hit and miss than their last albums...as in, when they hit, it's right in the awesome-bone, and when the miss they still end up glancing you on the rad-sack. I'm sorry about this, it's late.)

warbly boy wonder of the year, 10 years running

Bright Eyes - Cassadaga - "Middleman" (even though, I think he should officially be known as a man-wonder. But that's weird.)

female / male wonder-duos

Los Campesinos! - Sticking Fingers Into Sockets - "We Throw Parties, You Throw Knives" (as soon as these guys figure out how to hold onto a hook once they've found it, they'll be the new Mates of State)

The Submarines - Declare A New State - "Peace and Hate" (i think these guys ARE the new mates of state)

Fields - Everything Last Winter - "Skulls and Flesh and More" (a more sweeping brand of sweet and sour duo-rock)

Enon - Grass Geyers...Carbon Clouds - "Mirror On You" (imagine if deerhoof made real music and not just Satomi Matsuzaki's fever dreams. side note: I'm a fan so calm down.)

Stars - In Our Bedroom After The War - "Personal" (this one I listened to once and set aside...but providence put them in my shuffle and they've stayed there. Really worth letting it sink in....as good as their last.)

she-wolves...ferociously awesome female leads

Blonde Redhead - 23 - "23" (their most accessible album...like a haunted room with a missing doorknob accessible)

Elk City - New Believers - "Cherries In The Snow" (cool song from a cool smoky voiced lady)

Lavender Diamond - Imagine Our Love - "Open Your Heart" (one of the most exciting new voices in indie rock... this earth mother can belt it)

Tegan & Sara - The Con - "The Con" (everyone focuses so much on the headline makers 'Lesbian! Twins! Sisters! Haircuts!' they ignore the basically perfect pop magic these two lesbian twin sister haircuts are making.

Nina Nastasia and Jim White - You Follow Me - "I write down lists" (the only reason this isn't listed in the top 5 is because it's too raw and painful to listen to often. Honestly though, that's top accolades if I've ever given em.)

Scout Niblett - This Fool Can Die Now - "Kiss" (a raw duet with Will Oldham that only gets better with each listen)

she-beards

Devendra Banhart - Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon - "Seahorse"

she-weirds

Cocorosie - Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn - "Werewolf"

Joanna Newsom - the Ys Street Band E.P. - "Clam, Crab, Cockle, Cowrie" (it's only three songs and this one is a alternate version of an earlier song...but it was still all I could do to not put this in top 5)

PJ Harvey - White Chalk - "The Piano" (if you think time has mellowed her out, you obviously don't know that the slowest burns go the deepest)

silent but dancey

Black Moth Super Rainbow - Dandelion Gum - "Lollipopsichord" (audio LSD )

Holy Fuck - Holy Fuck LP - "Super Inuit" (who would have though a band called Holy Fuck would be so easy to google? oh, and they make rad music)

coolest song with the words "snap off your head"

Hot Chip - "The Warning"

the funniest person on the planet right now is

Patton Oswalt - Werewolves & Lollipops - "At midnight I will kill George Lucas with a shovel" (here he singlehandedly makes up for his years of laughless King of Queens appearances)

if their beards give them their power, let us pray they never ever shave

Iron and Wine - The Shepherd's Dog - "White Tooth Man" (Sam Beam can literally do no wrong. It's not as good as Woman King...but maybe that's good since I can actually get through this album without sobbing)

Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago - "Skinny Love" (Maybe the best song of 2007. Simple, powerful, haunting, enough reading go listen to it now.)

best album that's technically the soundtrack to a movie even though it really isn't

Loudon Wainwright III - Strange Weirdos - "Daughter" (it's from Knocked Up, but Louden continues to be all the good things about his son and daughter without the baggage...maybe he IS the baggage...who knows.)

most bafflingly well received album of the year

Britney Spears "Blackout" - Honestly, whether you actually liked it or not, how can you really even consider Britney the actual artist of the album? If you were to list the army of writers and producers who made this happen like movie credits, it'd take like 5 minutes of scrolling to get to Britney herself. She'd be way down with the Best Boy or Key Grip (or Craft Services...heh, I keed.... )

and now, drum roll please....the Best Albums Of The Year - The Top 5

5. Cloud Cult (This earthy band gets alot of guff for their...well....tree planting...but this is no mungbeans and birkenstock kumbaya jam. This is cynical finely honed pop majesty with references to Alien Christ, Death, and medicated oblivions. The death of lead singer Craig Minowa's baby son obviously tore away a piece that he's never been able to fill...but as long as he keeps trying with albums as good as this, maybe there's hope for this dumb earth after all.)

4. Les Savy Fav - (they're back and they're better than ever. A genre bending mix that was one of the best treats of 07)

3. Patrick Wolf - The Magic Position - "bluebells" (the flamboyant young man with the grown up voice, this was one of my most exciting finds of 07. Just the right touches of electronica, strings, and percussion drip from an album with blinding whites and inky darks. Catchy, disturbing, and disturbingly catchy, this was a sadly underlooked album. If i'm in the right mood, this is number one of the year.)

2. St. Vincent - Marry Me - "Marry Me" (the slight gentle exterior hides a whallop of a voice...if Feist hadn't taken the indie-sultry-voiced-seductress award early on, St. Vincent would be the one gracing ipod commercials. Not that i'm complaining. One of the brightest out-of-nowhere gems of 2007.)

1. Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha - "Scythian Empire" (Andrew Bird is proving himself as one of the greatest artists and musicians of the last decade...even though no one's listening. This is one of those rare albums (just as his last) that does the miraculous...it actually changes as you listen to it. Unfolding, evolving...Andrew Bird doesn't just make songs. He makes music. There's a difference, and this is it. Every pluck of the guitar string, every beat, every whistle (yes I said whistle) is exactly where it was meant to be when the universe aligned to bring this music to life. If you think that "fake palindromes" or "nervous tic motion" were the best songs on his last albums, you probabaly need to listen to that one a little more before moving to this one - the maturity here requires a little more effort to dissect, but damn...I keep coming back to this album and keep finding myself amazed. If that's not best of the year requirements, I don't know what is.)

well folks, if you read this far, then thanks for the year of awesome mogging. Here's to another 365 days made somewhat more tolerable the the great music in our lives. Happy Holidays and Merry Mogging.

Sunday Sampler: Sufjan Saves Christmas

sageturk — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 17:15:57 GMT

If you're like me, the last few months of non-stop popular Christmas music is like a slow methodical torture...every song another drip to the forehead...that's only ever broken up by moments of pure agony (McCartneys "wonderful christmastime", Band Aid's "do they know it's christmas", anyone singing along to the "Hanukkah Song"). It makes me feel like a scrooge...which is unfortunate cause really, I do enjoy Christmas and Christmastime.

So thank the Christmas gods (wait..i guess that would be...um...christ...) for Sufjan Stevens Songs for Christmastime. If you're on Mog, this is probably old news, but this collection of obscure christmas hymns, earnest spirituals, and even a few original compositions is truly a christmas miracle -- 5 cd's of christmas music you actually WANT to listen to again and again. Every time a Manheim Steamroller song comes on, an angel loses its wings. Sufjan's working to give em back.

Stevens may be the king of precious balladry (for better or worse), but here he has taken a coveted postion among the Whos, Herbie the elf, and of course Earnest (god rest his soul), as a veritable savior of Christmas.

Album Review: Untrue by Burial

sageturk — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 23:57:21 GMT

Due to popular demand, the two person review is gonna become a semi regular event - the people have spoken! Guest reviewer this week is good friend Ethan E. from Oregon)

rating 7.6
amount of hipster genre namedropping in this review 9.1

ST: Alright, this week we've got Untrue, by Burial - the enigmatic London MC making waves with his homespun dubstep masterpieces.

EE: Ooh yeah, i've heard of this guy...I heard no one's ever seen his face. Like the music producer gets a knock on the door and when he goes to open it, no one's there! But then when he turns around, there's the newest Burial cd sitting on the floor next to a single rose...

ST: ... or an origami cathedral, that when opened, shows but a single word: "Sandra". "That's the only woman I've ever loved," the producer thinks. "How could he know?"

EE: He goes to the open window and shakes his fist "One day Burial! Your secrets will be mine! I swear it!"

ST: Heh...so anyway. How much do you want to bet that the average American doesn't even know dubstep exists as a genre?

EE: Not many. They're probably confusing it for triphop, grimesauce, or bassline-house. pfff...Plebeians.

ST: Plebians indeed. And did you just say "grimesauce"?

EE: It's gotta be a real genre, right?

ST: If emo-core is, then why not.

EE: But seriously, people know about trip-hop. It's the theme music for House!

ST: Heh... Teardrop is like the dub version of "Saber Dance" - you hear that thing everywhere.

EE: Speaking of which, what is it with triphoppers giving themselves band names that sound so kick-ass? Massive Attack... Burial... Thievery Corporation... for such mellow tunes, you wonder if they're like compensating or something.

ST: I've noticed the same thing. You half expect some guy dressed like a vampire barking lyrics about grave-robbing...instead you get your head dipped in a sensory deprivation chamber with someone opening the hatch ever few minutes and dropping in another sound.

EE: I'll admit it, I have a hard time getting into trip-hop...or what is this...dubstep?

ST: Technically, I think it's called two-step.

EE: Right. There's never been another form a music better for taking a nap to. Not that it's boring, it's just so mellow and soothing. This one is a little more peppy, but still... you have to work at listening to this thing. Maybe that's a good thing.

ST: I close my eyes while listening and imagine that this album is exactly what the world sounds like to a newborn in the womb.

EE: You mean a fetus in the womb.

ST: Yeah, but that sounds creepy.

EE: I can see that. The vocals are sort of muffled and distorted... wait, there's the Kanye helium voice, there's vocoder Cher... oop, back to muffled.

ST: Trip Hop fans are gonna kill me but the best way to describe this type of music to those who have never heard it....imagine Enya making club music. There done, perfect description.

EE: Amen. But you like this album, right?

ST: I actually do. I find myself drawn to trip hop, but like you say, it can get a little sleepy...which can be from the repetition more than the actual sound even. But burial isn't being repetitious here so much as he is following a theme. That theme is...well...the enigmatic. You nailed the sound of the vocals...but the FEEL is more than just the sound...the feel here is mysterious. The vocals ooze around you, almost like he's telling you a secret.

EE: One thing I dig on this album is the crisp beats...each treble ping is a different sound. A bullet casing here, the crackle of radio static there, coins in a change machine.

ST: This is one of those albums you need to listen to on the best sound equipment you have. There's layer upon layer of sound all building up into this whole. Every time I listen I catch something different.... I can hear the rain, I can hear a jet landing....but it feels like a natural part of each song, not just a gimmick.

EE: Even though it sometimes reminds me of that song, "Leggy Blonde" from flight of the conchords. The one with the tape and the scissors and the typewriter....

ST: One way to think of this record is the inverse of those car-sound-system demo cds you get. You know, they're called like Bass-Gasm or something.

EE: Ooh yeah...I have one called Kick Bass. I don't think the guy who made it realizes you pronounce it "base".

ST: Like I was saying, this is the inverse of that...it's meant to be played at full treble. The crystal clinking, the buzzing crackle of electricity. Almost like it's meant to test the tweeters in your sound system. I happen to find that quite interesting. So, Ethan... let's wrap this up. Final thoughts?

EE: I appreciate what Burial is doing here... anything that can push a respective genre farther, musically, without selling out its sound...I can respect that even if it's like Nyquil to me.

ST: And if you are a Trip Hop (sorry, Two-Step) fan, like I am, please find this record and give a spin. It's not so much an evolution of the genre as it is a Maestro milking it for all it's worth. Even if you're not a fan... this wouldn't be a bad place to check out what the fuss is about.

Album Review: You Follow Me by Nina Nastasia and Jim White

sageturk — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 23:24:18 GMT

rating: 8.9
number of listens before its genius becomes apparent Probably 4 or 5. Or 1, who knows, maybe you're one of those kinds of people.

Hey Everyone - a slightly different review style with this post. I asked my good friend Wendy to Co-Review this spectacularly understated album with me.

We'll see how it goes. Enjoy.

ST: So "You Follow Me" is the collaberation between vocalist Nina Nastasia and drummer Jim White (of the Dirty Three).

WW: Let it be known that this isn't like some inverse version of the White Stripes...though someone needs to come up with that.

ST: Agreed. So, I'm gonna go ahead and assume most people haven't heard of Ms. Nastasia. Let's just get the basics out of the way...what does this album sound like?

WW(with sarcasm): Oh well that's easy.

ST: Well, it's sparse. There's a backing band, but really it's Nina's voice and Jim's drums taking center stage.

WW: This is one of those records that takes some getting used to. This isn’t to say that it’s not beautiful and engrossing, but rather that you have to be in a certain mood to appreciate this album.

ST: Exactly. This isn't necessarily a sad album, or an angry album, per se. It has an energy to it... like an inverse radiance. Like a open arctic field, the cold so dense it burns.

WW: Poetic...I can dig. This is music for scuffed wood floors, bare trees in winter, and driving through the desert at one in the morning with no destination in mind. This is a record for smooth things that have been rubbed raw.

ST: Which is actually an apt description of Nina's voice. It's not really melodic...i wouldn't call it musical... but it's one of those times when passion trumps perfection. It's crookedly beautiful.

WW: People will pay most attention to Nina's vocals, but I'm really impressed with Jim White. He's been a member of her backing band since 2002, but here he's a full on partner.

ST: I think it's hard sometimes for a drummer to shine unless it is during some Neil Peart acrobatics or, I dunno, the solo from wipe-out. We're accustomed to drums laying the foundation for all the other layers to build upon. Here, the drum is almost a second voice...a duet with Nastasia. I didn't think drums could really do more than punctuate, but here they wrap around, curl through the cracks, and seep into every song.

WW: White is given the space to shine on You Follow Me, and he definately takes full advantage. It doesn’t seem fair to call what he does “drumming”, since his playing is so inventive and emotional that it’s a spectacle in itself. At times feathery and distant, at others skittering and wailing like a hail of rocks in a tornado, White teeters between order and chaos. Hitting on downbeats and creating a sense of being off-balance, he creates subtle rhythmic shifts that keep each song fresh. He seems to drum around the beat, rather than directly on it.

ST: I would love to see them live, see if the interplay is as organic as it sounds. Or even better, I would love to have seen them during their original collaborative process.

WW: Back to Nastasia, she possesses complete control of a volatile emotional intensity that never collapses under its own weight. Her voice slides effortlessly between sly and caustic, elated and resigned, and she never mistakes the soft delivery of a line for sweetness.

ST: That's such a good point. It's what we've been taught to expect from female vocalists...sweetness. Sure, there are variations...you can gnarl it up for fem-punk, or put on a pout and sex it up... but underneath it all, when a woman sings, we expect it to be sweetly palatable. Nastasia just breaks that convention right off. It's not so much "singing" as it is giving voice to the ethereal, a vessel to the primal emotions we all feel.

WW: What's nice is I don’t think I’ve ever heard her be this open or willing to experiment, and the result is like a less grating Joanna Newsom.

ST: Heh...I'll save it for another discussion, but I love Joanna Newsom. I'll hand it to you...sometimes she can be grating.

WW: Sometimes she sounds like a parking brake.

ST: heh. no comment.

WW: In a similar vein though, Nina explores new vocal terrain, sometimes reaching a chilling upper register only to swoop back down to familiar ground with great effect. Ominous yet comforting, Nastasia demands your full attention. Her voice is electric and intimate to the last syllable.

ST: For as raw as it all is, this isn't lo-fi. Steve Albini was behind the boards on this one, and it keeps just the right amount of polish.

WW: Albini has a soft touch. He adds just the right amount of vocal reverb, and the visceral, crisp production prevents the voice/guitar/drums set-up from becoming too stale. It also lends itself to Nastasia’s ornate thoughts. Her literate metaphors and dry observations are never overlooked in the mix. The lyrics are bolstered by narratives on communication, relationships, and the vast space that lies in between.

ST: To me, if you charted this album on the vast, knotted Musical Evolution Chart, it would be a direct link to whatever the first song was to creep out of the ooze. I mean, here you go, a vocalist that sings for the same reasons a wolf howls and a percussionist, well, percussioning the hell out of some skins.

WW: So it's cromagnon?

ST: In the best way possible. What are some key moments for you?

WW: Well, from the tense stride of “I’ve Been Out Walking” to the autumnal, sparse beauty of “There Is No Train”, Nastasia and White pack every song with sinewy intensity. I can't pick a clear favorite.

The songs range from bloodied tales of dissolving relationships, as in “The Day I Would Bury You” (I wanted to tell you again and again/ How much I blame you/ How hard this has been), to languid ruminations such as are found in “How Will You Love Me” (Love, if a dream is true / I will try I will try I will try / I love you – no, I do). It should be noted, at just over thirty minutes, there are no haphazard tracks on this record.

ST: And thank god for that. All killer and no filler, i always say. Go ahead and wrap er' up for me Wendy.

WW: You Follow Me is a record that unfolds itself slowly, listen after listen. It’s challenging and subtle, yet has a huge payoff for the listener who takes the time to really listen to it. Nina Nastasia and Jim White have crafted a feverish world, ripe with heartbreak and beauty, which you would do well to visit. This album has hovered near the top of my year-so-far list and I suspect it will stay there.

ST: Like the jagged branch of glass you find when lightning hits sand, this album is a rare, supremely delicate beauty. If you handle with care you'll treasure it for years to come.

Sunday Sampler: Electro-Violent-Boogaloo

sageturk — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 06:34:53 GMT

This week's sunday sampler is an android's wet dream...a circuit breaker's lament...a digital baby laughing... you get the idea, right?

First up: Holy F*ck (aren't you glad I put the asterisk there?) playing "Lovely Allen". Think of the Octopus Project...but for adults. A weird little melody that's distorted and jubilant in equal measures.

Secondly, Suburban Kids with Biblical Names playing "Loop Duplicate My Heart" - take the above band, add actual human vocals and an even more "ironically hip" band name, and there you have it.

and finally, White Williams - The more human of these androids - a steampunk DJ employing feedback, chugging basslines and rapid fire bongos. hell yeah!

Album Review: Catharsis In Crisis by Old Time Relijun

sageturk — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 18:31:45 GMT

Rating: 8.7

Ignoring the unignorable (a squiggly red line is telling me that's not a word even though, clearly, it should be) Captain Beefheart connections, Old Time Relijun have never been more aptly, or literally, named.

To listen to Catharsis In Crisis is to take a roadtrip across America's dusty southwest, through its murky south, and into the eastern Oakie backwoods searching out the religions that define the native populations. And we're not talking gospel clapping, or come-to-Jesus amped guitar - we're talking the sweat lodgers, the barefooted polygamists, the snake handlers, and the Santeria mystics.

These sounds and songs are, like those that believe, odd and earnest, exhibiting a bizarrely sound logic that takes our simple watered-down theologies and explores the dark and delirious back alleys that most of us are too afraid to trespass into. "Hey," they say, "the bible you supposedly believe is infallible says that true believers will withstand a serpent's bite and not be harmed...so why the hell aren't you handling cobras?"

Despite the relative ease to look at a these people and make fun or dismiss them as simply crazy...one thing remains infallibly true - they, like Old Time Relijun, are deathly serious about what they profess. And as far as preachers go, few are as moving, serious or bizarre, as OTR 's Arrington de Dionyso.

If you're reading this and still trying to wrap your brain around what they guys sound like, just go ahead and give up, because I haven't even gotten to de Dionyso's voice yet. My only explaination for how he gets his voice to do what it does is that he's installed a zipper in his throat - and instead of singing, he just unzips and plays his vocal chords like a gristly banjo. It's either that or he's been gargling on Tom Waits' acid reflux.

Trust me, it's a sight to behold...or, um.. a sound to be-hear.

One of the pleasures of this album is that Old Time Relijun treat it as such. Like that trip through the American underbelly, it's less about the individual stops than it is (say it with me) "the journey". It's refreshing in this age of ringtones and singles and the general failure of the album concept as a whole to hear a band that knows what it means for a song to butt up against the song before it, to drip into the song after, and to flavor all the tracks throughout. This album isn't designed to be taken as a shot...nope, you gotta chug the whole damn thing.

For all the praise I have for this album, there are a few weak parts...and they all have to do with the lead vocalist, or, I guess I should say, when he disappears. When you have someone as hypnotic as de Dionyso, you get greedy as a listener. You always want more. 'Garden of Pomegranates' is a groovy southwestern horn dirge, but its pure instrumentation only really serves to stall until de Dionyso lets loose the gravelly caterwauling of 'Akavishim'. Luckily, this type of thing doesn't happen often - and honestly, on a trip as wild as this, can you blame em' for needing a break?

Old Time Relijun will either scare you, or make a believer out of you - and let's face it, the most effective religions always try and do both.

If the vocals intrigue you, try Ghostdigital (if Old Time Relijun made electro hip-hop), Frog Eyes, Xiu Xiu

Album Review: Load Blown by Black Dice

sageturk — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 22:49:55 GMT

rating 7
sample lyrics blaahh, blaah, blippy blippy doo (zappida zappida!)

If you haven't noticed lately, there's a posse of arty hooligans walking our halls... an angular, Cubist version of the Jets. Or maybe the Sharks. Wait, which ones made music that sounds like an accordian being flayed by a casio?

No matter.

Snapping irregular beats, every once and a while violently pushing a nerd out of the way, this group - led by their dark captain Animal Collective - are the cool kids of this odd school we call late '07. Sure, people complain that they're up to no good, the older folk just shake their head in confused disagreement, you might climb the bandwagon and spout disdain...but you know full well that secretly you wish they were your friends.

The noise-rock gang is an odd bunch - Yeasayer, the aforementioned AC, Liars, Sunset Rubdown - but oddest of them all is Black Dice. Never speaking, Black Dice are like the bipolar kid who never takes off his headphones. But something about him is just so cool. Maybe it's the winking adult references (see their last album's cover art...or the title of this album), maybe it's the lack of pretense - Black Dice certainly speak their mind however the hell they feel like it. Maybe it's the full commitment to being exactly who they want and giving a great big finger to anyone who says different.

If you've never heard them, this is distilled, vocal-less (essentially) sound-effect rock. Everything from typewriters, static, beans in a can, keyboards, robot insects (i think), maybe a chainsaw somewhere... It all goes in and black dice kindly chews it up and puts it back together for you.

Now, the question with music like this is usually how much of it is "art" and how much is, you know, actually listenable. After all, if you're the sort to give music like this a try, you can certainly appreciate an artists need to express, even if that expression is borderline impenetrable. But do you ever go to the effort to find it in your iTunes or add it to a playlist? Do you listen while driving or exercising or having sex? Luckily, Load Blown is less art and more a redefining of what listenable actually is.

Are there tunes and melodies and compelling moments? Yes. Are there strange interludes where you feel like your puny brain just can't grasp the deeper meaning? Also, yes. It's for this reason that this album doesn't score higher. While several listen throughs will probably expand your chakra or something... it remains just barely obtuse enough to prevent you from actively wanting to listen to it any more than that.

Load Blown has it's place (it works great as a palate cleanser. accidentally hear a Britney song or Fall Out boy? give Black Dice a spin and they'll practically steam-clean your brain for you), but there's a reason they're not the leader of the pack. I appreciate this movement - and thank god that there are swathes of bands like the Noise Rockers standing for musical diversity - but for now will have to accept my role as the nerd they push out of the way.

if you like this try Boards of Canada, Junior Boys, Ghostland Observatory

Ween - La Cucaracha

sageturk — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 02:13:55 GMT

rating 7
rating compared to previous Ween albums 5
summary Ween's wild ride is back for another lap - but the whiplash is beginning to set in.

Have you ever seen the movie UHF ?

A veritable pinnacle of cinematic excellence (big words...check), UHF is the master-opus of Weird Al Yankovich at his earnestly bizarre best.

Whether I'm being sarcastic or not, I don't even know, but regardless - It's the story of a dopey, down on his luck, twinkie-dog lover (don't ask) who becomes the owner of a local public access television station. With the help of his partner (a buck-toothed, hi-yuking, pre-racist meltdowny Michael Richards) the two embark on a quest to recreate as many genres of programming as they can - but do it in the way THEY want it done. (Ween fans, I think you know where I'm going with this) Wackiness, of course, ensues. Conan the Librarian, a Latino fellow suction-cupping turtles to the ceiling, and a children's show where a kid gets fire-hosed in the mouth - the two create a medly of goofy, surreal, hyperactive parody. But, is it parody if your creation is actually superior to that which you lampoon?

Which brings us to the point of this review: Ween's newest, La Cucaracha.

With every album, Dean and Gene Ween, like our two protaganists down at UHF , hijack contemporary music and twist it into their own odd-ball, mad-cap, yes even zany creations. Unlike our two heroes, they also toss in a good dose of dark humor, perversion, and good ol' fashioned freakishness.

So what music "channels" get the Ween make-over this go-round? Despite the title, it's not telemundo, univision or the myriad of snowy, half received spanish language programming that fills the back end of your television channels. (And thank god...no offense, but during one late night instance of channel surfing I saw what looked like a group of screeching children in masks chasing a goat and throwing spoonfuls of cottage cheese at it... can you imagine if Ween got their hands on something like that?)

We do, however, get everything but..and it's classic Ween...for better or worse. Where else outside of a schizophrenic's shuffle would you get a half dance-hall / half sesame street jam complete with distorted Cher-esque vocals ("Friends"), a Jamaican "Ya Mon" rasta-swag ("Fruit Man"), and a hillbilly honkytonk ("Learning to Live"). There's even the most polished, perfect Flight of the Conchords song ever...courtesty of "Party".

There are serious moments, sorta, and as always Dean and Gene's talents are impeccable. La Cucaracha does however seem to polarize the two sides though. The goofy moments are goofier, the bizarre moments bizarrier...but not necessarily to greater effect. The 10 minute "Woman and Man" is arguably one of their best songs, and a perfect example of all of Ween's talents coalescing into a brilliant whole. It, however, stands alone on the album as such.

In the end, it's Ween's versatility that is both their greatest asset and annoyance. It's a whiplash journey being shot from one disparate genre to the next - and if you are in the mood for that sort of thing, no one does it better. But what do you call a mood like that, exactly?

Like Weird Al's twinkie-dogs, Ween isn't so much an acquired taste...as it is a series of acquired tastes. La Cucaracha isn't the tastiest Ween has ever been, but it'll satisfy fans - and act as a pretty good primer for newcomers lookin' to see what the fuss is all about.

if you like this album, check out: "Chocolate and Cheese" and "The Mollusk" also by Ween

HAPPY MOG-O-WEEN

sageturk — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 19:00:57 GMT

I too feel like I should jump on the bandwagon and wish everyone a huge sloppy Happy Halloween. And since I marked this as a review...I guess i'll review halloween.

I give it two severed thumbs up.

Here's a fun-creepy vid(Hardrock Hallelujah, Lordi):

And a genuinely creepy vid (Rubber Johnny, Aphex Twin):

and...well...the most awesome halloween video ever:

oh, and just for the hell(oween) of it, a musical treat:

Track Review: Skinny Love by Bon Iver

sageturk — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 17:50:54 GMT

Category: Soft, Acoustic, Folk, Beards
Rating: 9.4

Maybe it's the air, the weather, the cold... maybe it's something internal, some deep broken piece that never quite healed right... regardless, the newest album from Bon Iver hits like a quiet, gentle punch to the heart.

Honestly, without reservation, as far as acoustic, high-pitched, threadbare folk goes - this is the best new song i've heard all year.

I don't want to say any more. get on some headphones and listen to this track already. If it doesn't bring out the beardy, weepy folkster inside of you, i don't know what will.

Album Review: Heresy and the Hotel Choir by Maritime

sageturk — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 09:00:16 GMT

Rating: 6.6

You don't need to be Cherith Cutestory, Pirate Lawyer, to appreciate a band called Maritime... you just need a healthy love of harmless indie rock and the constant buzzing need to listen to something new before discarding it.

Maritime is that perfect little hit that us crack..er...music addicts relish for a few fleeting moments before moving on more potent fixes.

I can't say I'm a humongous fan of Maritime... i like em when I listen to them, and then promptly forget they exist. I gladly give them space on the ol' ipod, but have to sheepishly change the subject when people ask me what they're like or what song of theirs I like. I'm trying to change that with their latest effort. I've been trying really hard to make these guys stick. I've played their newest album Heresy and the Hotel Choir nonstop for a day now... and I still feel like I'm listening to them for the first time. Not in a good way..nor in a bad way...it's music that just kind of melts into your brain and then pours out, leaving a happy warm feeling.

In this day and age, that's somethin'... right?

Anyway, if you're one of those aforementioned music addicts, this'll give you a buzz for a little bit - not the kind that has you seein' Jesus, but enough to have you giggling at something random for no real reason.

speaking of which:

enjoy your tuesday everyone.

Sunday Sampler: Good Ol Fashioned Roots Rock

sageturk — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 01:17:23 GMT

On this weeks Sunday Sampler-

Sometimes it's good to get to your roots...and if you're American, it's nice to be reminded that your roots run deeper than multi-pattied burgers or NASCAR themed ballcaps. I'm talking gutsy, dusky roots Rock. so...ok...one of these bands is from Wales, and the others are from San Francisco, but these are the sounds born from the swamps, saloons, and dank venues of the heartland. It's my hope that where ever there's a ramshackle little bar where people go to drown sorrows, forget heartbreak, and nod your head at fellow travelers - there will always be a four-piece in the corner wailing out music like this.

Song One: My Baby's Gone by Two Gallants

Song Two: Weapon of Choice by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

Song Three: For Miles Around by People in Planes

Two Gallants are a divisive sort of band. Whether it's their appropriation of Texas Slave Music, or the raw, scratchy vocals- they're a band that either inspires revelation or revulsion. I'll let you decide.

Sunday Sampler: Good Ol Fashioned Roots Rock pt.2

sageturk — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 01:10:35 GMT

Artist: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Album: Baby 81
Track: Weapon of Choice

Heavily reminiscent of Stereophonics replacing the deeper growl for a more nasally drawl. But it works. A hit or miss band, but this song shows what they can do when their on their game.

Sunday Sampler: Good Ol Fashioned Roots Rock pt. 3

sageturk — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 01:02:41 GMT

Artist: People In Planes
Album: As Far As the Eye Can See
Track: For Miles Around

A slow burning track with catchy harmonies drowning into gritty bar ballad.

Album Review: Night Falls Over Kortedala

sageturk — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 19:58:15 GMT

Rating: (at the risk of losing all my street cred) 8.5

I like to consider myself an equal opportunity music aficionado. There were times in my ignorant youth that, when asked, I would declare my love for "everything pretty much..except rap music. and country." It was later in life, when I discovered the joys of acquired taste, that I forced myself to sit down and actually digest music from these respective categories. I soon found that once you wipe away the contemporary radio-swill, there will always be music that is as valid in it's existence as it is enjoyable.

At least...that's what I've been telling myself all this time. Sure, I had came to terms with Country and Rap...then eventually Avant Garde, Noise Rock, Metal, Classical, you name it (the weirder the better) - I was convinced that there wasn't a category of sound that I couldn't conquer, add to the playlist, and hold aloft like a trophy declaring my expansive and superior taste in music.

I've been sitting pretty smug on my pedestal for some time now... feeling like I'm part of some elite club that can hate popular music (simply for it's popularity) but can listen with appreciation to someone scratching on a log for 35 minutes while a woman cries in the background. It's art! I'm enlightened! Huzzah!

Who would have thought that some skinny goofball of a kid from Sweden would come and knock me right off that pedestal and onto my ass.

His name is Jens Lekman.

I became interested mostly over the incredible reviews being hurled his way. 4 stars there, 9.0 there, 5 out of 5 clipart thumbs-up. So off I went to see what the fuss was about...and what I heard truly floored and confused me... and made me recoil in horror.

I love all forms of music right? No genre is safe?

"Oh yeah smart guy", says Jens (Yens)... "what about:"
1940's Sychronized-Swimming Musicals?
Ratpack era holiday tunes?
Jackson 5 melodies?
70's sitcom theme music?
Blaxploitation end-credit scores?
gasp SHOWTUNES?

Jens' newest album, Night Falls Over Kortedala taps into all these genres and then some - and like an Idahoan Senator caught in the act, I immediately turn red faced and ranting. I DO NOT LIKE CHEESY MUSIC ! I WAS FRAMED ! BAHH!

Yes, Jens had exposed me.... A long time self declared Cheese-o-phobe. But was my anger only a reaction against something deep inside myself? Am I a closet cheese lover living my life off of knee-jerk reactions against my own syrupy impulses?

Turns out...not really. I'd love if I could just announce that I'm coming out of the cheese-closet (cupboard?) - and declare my newfound love of Rodgers and Hammerstein or Aaron Neville or Kenny G... but that's a pretty broad brush to paint with.

I'm gonna have to stick with simply loving this new album. It took some doing...some serious repeated listening, and the occasional deathmetal chaser to wash the High Fructose Cheese Syrup out of my mouth....but I came to love this album.

What did it? All it took was actually listening and realizing that Jens is in on the joke. Sure this is cheesy music, but why not give it a biting edge? Can bubbly orchestration accompany lyrics about severed fingers, dating a lesbian so her father won't find out, or telling a woman to kiss your ass?

Turns out it can.

So... be warned. If you're in a sour mood, this'll grate on you (ah! another cheese metaphor!)... but be doubly warned... you might, just might, find this hits you like the arrow hit Smaug...

I'm not gonna be listening to the Cats soundtrack any time soon... but at least I can now go on feeling like another musical venue has been bested (even if Jens did all the work for me).