Bob Mould - "Workbook" (LP Review)

We're nearing the end of Pride Month and the LP I'm choosing to mark this year's with Bob Mould's first solo LP, 1989's "Workbook".  I haven't listened to this LP in I'm not sure how many years, but I was  recently reminded of it when Bonnie was showing me something on her phone (some kind of photo collage function or something) and the built-in sound effect was the instrumental "Sunspots", the first song on this LP.

I was a huge Husker Du fan in college, but they broke up in 1988, not long after I learned of them.  I purchased his second LP, 1990's "Black Sheets of Rain", while I was still in Blacksburg, but it wasn't until the mid 90s that I bought his debut LP at Plan 9 Records in Richmond.  Conventional wisdom is that "Workbook" is almost folk, whereas "Black Sheets of Rain" was a return to the heavier sound of Husker Du.  As I listen to "Workbook" in 2020, I think the lighter, folk influence, while present, is over emphasized.  Yes, there's a cello and acoustic guitar, but this is still a heavy, angry LP.   It might not be as good as SST Husker Du, but it's arguably better than Warner Brothers Husker Du.

Even though I have it on CD, the first five songs (presumably, side 1 of the LP) are extraordinary, but the second half of the LP is less distinguished.  There are no bad songs on the LP, but it just doesn't close as strongly as it opens: "Sunspots" (a simple yet beautiful instrumental), "Wishing Well" (great riff, solo), "Heartbreak a Stranger" (perhaps my personal favorite on this LP?), "See a Little Light" (pure pop magic), and "Poison Years" (his diss track for Grant Hart).

So what's the connection to Pride Month?  It's now well-known that Bob Mould is gay, but I probably did not know this until the mid or even late 90s.  His homosexuality is not necessarrily part of his musical identity, but I bring this up as an example of how things have changed about how much we know about the artists we follow (as well as our changing attitudes regarding sexuality: I can understand why a gay man in a punk/metal band in the 80s did not want to be out).  In the 80s and into the 90s, if friends introduced me to the music and I liked it, I bought the LPs.  I never really spent much time with Rolling Stone, Spin, or other music magazines, so when Spin effectively outed him in 1994, I missed it.  Now, with Wikipedia, social media, etc., for better or worse, the distance is reduced between artists and their artistic output.  Today, I know more about the personal details of artists I don't like than I knew in the 80s about artists I loved.

I have only a fraction of his considerable post-Husker Du discography, but rediscovering "Workbook" has been a joyful experience for me.  If you're not familiar with it, you should check it out.

Standout tracks: "Sunspots", "Wishing Well", "Heartbreak a Stranger", "See a Little Light", "Poison Years", "Compositions for Young and Old", "Dreaming I Am", "Whichever Way the Wind Blows"

Skip 'em tracks: none

Final score: 8/10

The Head and the Heart - "The Head and the Heart" (LP Review)

SXSW is underway, and at this time of the year I always think about Lee Dirks and my trip there in 2012.  Lee and I always talked music, and one the recommendations he gave me at SXSW and repeated in email was about Seattle-based The Head and the Heart:

... They burst on the scene in 2010 and then full-on exploded in 2011.  If you listen to their stuff, I think you'll definitely pick-up the multiple style similarities.  Their album is awesome - well worth picking up.  I'm clearly biased towards them as I saw them in small clubs here long before they blew up...and I told friends to watch out for them, as I *knew* they were going to blow up.   I'd like to think I had some great sense or insight here, but it was pretty obvious they were head and shoulders above the other local bands on the scene.   Check them out...

Based on his recommendations, I picked up their 2011 self-titled debut LP.  Official reviews are mixed, for example the Pitchfork review is rather unforgiving ("Conceptually, they're close to Mumford & Sons: opportunistic in their borrowings, yet entirely unimaginative in the execution. Theirs is a thoroughly timid, tentative take on Americana: roots music without the roots.").  My assessment of the LP is more in line with Lee's than Pitchfork's: I find the execution inspired and grounded.

I'm also choosing this LP to kick-off Women's History Month.  The band had six members for their fist LP, and while I don't wish to minimize the contributions of the other five members, the secret weapon here is violinist and vocalist Charity Rose Thielen.  They have three primary singers (and other other three sing backup), but my enjoyment of their songs is directly proportional to how much she is a featured vocalist.  The LP starts off mildly, but the last half closes strongly, and Charity is a big part of why. 

Standout songs: River and Roads (exemplary live version), Honey Come Home (live KEXP), Lost in My Mind, Winter Song (live version), Sounds Like Hallelujah, Heaven Go Easy On Me (live version).

Skip 'em songs: none

Final score: 8/10.  Thanks Lee for turning me on to these guys.



Bonus connection: Dog-n-Burger, a local dining institution, is closing next week after 50 years in the same spot.  DnB reminds me of various BBQ places Lee took us in Austin, and the Redwood Smoke Shack that will replace it is a Texas-style BBQ place.  They're thinking about adding live music, so maybe we can catch the next up-and-coming indie-folk band there. 

Opal - "Happy Nightmare Baby" (LP Review)

Keith Mitchell, the drummer for Opal and Mazzy Star, died in May 2017.  While you've probably heard of Mazzy Star you might not have heard of their predecessor, Opal.  Coming from the California "Paisley Underground" psychedelic, jangle pop movement, Keith Mitchell, guitarist David Roback (formerly of Rain Parade) and bassist/vocalist Kendra Smith (formerly of Dream Syndicate) formed the band Clay Allison.  After releasing a 7" ("Fell from the Sun"), they renamed themselves Opal.  The Opal discography is pretty confusing: an EP as Clay Allison, an EP as Opal, the latter two collected as a posthumous LP, and a bootleg LP of unreleased tracks.  Most of these releases are out of print and can fetch big $ among collectors.

Their 1987 LP "Happy Nightmare Baby" was really their only contemporary, official release.  Unfortunately, it came during the slow motion wreckage of the once-mighty SST Records, and was not well-promoted.  Kendra Smith quit during the following tour, and David Roback recruited Hope Sandoval to replace her.  After continuing for a while as Opal, they changed their name to Mazzy Star and finally enjoyed the success they deserved.  I don't believe Mitchell ever shared any writing credits during his time in Opal or Mazzy Star (instead, Roback, Smith, and Sandoval were the primary writers), but he was with them since the beginning and his passing deserves to be recognized. 

My own story with this LP ties together several of the friends I regularly mention here.  It was either my college freshman (87/88) or sophomore year (88/89) and I was shopping at the Blacksburg Record Exchange, which was the "cool" record store.  While I was browsing the records, the song "Soul Giver" came on the store's sound system.  I was quickly mesmerized and I had to stop and go ask the clerks who was playing.  I left with a copy of "Happy Nightmare Baby".  In my later professional life I met Butch and learned that he used to work at the Record Exchange; if this was 1987 he might have even been working there that day.  I also bought Terry a copy of the LP for Christmas and on returning back home to Newport News for the holidays,  I went to Drew's house, where Terry was, and proclaimed to the many people there that I had an awesome new LP that they had to listen to immediately.  We did, and Terry was a big fan afterwards. 

The LP itself can be triangulated between The Doors, The Velvet Underground, and Black Sabbath.  The lineage to Mazzy Star is clear, although this LP lacks the quieter dream pop and alt-folk/country sounds that Mazzy Star would introduce.  This LP has several good tracks and a couple that, while not bad, don't quite work for me ("A Falling Star", "She's a Diamond").  But that doesn't matter -- even if the rest of the songs were bad, there's still "Soul Giver", which is as commanding now as the day I first heard it in the Record Exchange; in part because of the strong rhythm from Smith (now retired) and Mitchell (now deceased).  And much like I was bursting to share it with Terry, Drew, et al. some 30 years ago, I'm happy to share it with you now.

Standout songs: "Rocket Machine", "Magick Power", "Supernova", "Happy Nightmare Baby", "Soul Giver"

Skip 'em songs: none

Final Score: 8/10  -- "Happy Nightmare Baby" doesn't have accessible songs like "Halah" and "Fade Into You", so casual Mazzy Star fans won't care for it but it's necessary for serious collectors. 



Bonus link: a live version of "Soul Giver" (ca. 1988) with Hope Sandoval singing.

Hope Sandoval and the Warm Inventions - "Suzanne" (LP Review)

Time for another (belated) installment for Women's History Month.  I'm a huge fan of Mazzy Star, and while they had never officially broken up, their long hiatus between LPs (1996--2013) rivaled only My Bloody Valentine (1991-2013) in the alt-rock world.  So it only makes sense that in the interim Hope Sandoval (Mazzy Star) and Colm Ó Cíosóig (My Bloody Valentine) came together and created Hope Sandoval and the Warm Inventions.  And while technically it's a band, make no mistake this band is really about Hope Sandoval.  "Suzanne" is a four song EP released in 2002, it's also the third and final single from the 2001 LP "Bavarian Fruit Bread".  Although it came out after the 2001 LP, this EP was my first introduction to Hope's post-Mazzy Star work, so I'm writing about it first here.

Hope Sandoval and the Warm Inventions sound a lot like Mazzy Star: if you like one, given Hope's distinctive voice, you'll like them both.  Even though both bands mine the dream-pop vein, David Roback (the other half of Mazzy Star), drawing from the Paisley Underground sound,  often writes material that borrows heavily from The Doors (e.g., "Mary of Silence", "She Hangs Brightly") or is very bluesy (e.g., "She's My Baby", "I'm Sailin'").  I won't say I dislike those songs... but I appreciate the more straight-forward dream-pop sound of HS&TWI.  I like David, and he's definitely one-half of Mazzy Star and its sound, but I like Hope more and she's 90% of the sound of HS&TWI.  Of course now you don't really need to choose, since Colm is now also the drummer for Mazzy Star, as well as Suki Ewers playing keyboards for both bands as well.

I should review their proper LPs, but until then enjoy this EP as your introduction to HS&TWI.

Standout songs: "Suzanne", "I Thought You'd Fall for Me", "Friends of a Smile"

Skip 'em songs: none.

Final score: 8/10

Mount Moriah - "Mount Moriah" (LP Review)

In recognition of Women's History Month I'll be reviewing as many female artists (or at least bands with prominent female members) as I can get to. 

I've been meaning to review Chapel Hill's Mount Moriah for a while now.  Butch first turned me on to them a couple of years ago and they've been working their way in my play list for some time.  The most concise way to describe them is young Dolly Parton meets Crazy Horse / Stray Gators.  I realize everyone makes that comparison, but listen to "Plane" and "Words (Between the Lines of Age)" and tell me I'm wrong. 

In a review of their most recent LP, Evan Rytlewski said "Mount Moriah no longer sound like an indie band playing country music".  That's a fair description of their 2011 debut LP, and to be honest that's what I like about it.  Heather McEntire's powerful, haunting voice dominates the band, just edging out Jenks Miller's country/metal guitar sound (see my previous review of Jenks' drone metal band, Horseback).  The LP "Mount Moriah" is definitely alt-country with an emphasis on "alt", and also is evidence for the "everyone-in-the-south-likes-at-least-a-little-country" phenomenon Margo Timmins described in the 80s (see my review of "The Trinity Session" for the full quote).  You also have to acknowledge their debt to the Indigo Girls, in attitude if not entirely in sound (although I've been to at least one Indigo Girls show where their sound had more in common with Horseback than you might expect -- Joy tells me that's Amy's influence).

Pitchfork gave this LP a good review when it came out, although the CoS review is less favorable.  I think Pitchfork got it right: there are no bad songs on this LP and the best songs on the LP are extraordinary.

Standout songs: "Only Way Out" (live version), "Plane" (live version), "Lament" (live version), "Reckoning" (live version)

Skip 'em songs: none.

Final score: 8/10

Celtic Frost - "Morbid Tales" (LP Review)

Enough of the Beach Boys, Lesley Gore, etc. -- today we're going back to high school and Celtic Frost.  I remember Scott Kinkade getting their debut EP, "Morbid Tales" as an import in 1984.  Although I was a fan, I was never the biggest CF fan at the time (their goth-viking visual imagery was especially silly), so it with some surprise that when I revisit it now I realize that the music has held up so well after 30+ years.  The debt they owe to Black Sabbath is more apparent to me now, although they extend that sound with the speed and punk-like attitude (for lack of a better term) of Motorhead.  The production is mid-80s awful, but again that's part of the charm (cf. Blacktask).  This stuff is ferocious in a way that more polished & produced metal just can't touch. 

Also, in retrospect, their lyrics were much better than most of their contemporaries.  Certainly they were into the whole doom/black metal thing, but their lyrics borrow more from the Conan / Weird Tales milieu instead of, say, Venom's comically satanic imagery.  With songs like "Into Crypts of Rays" (about Gilles de Rais) , they get points for realizing history provides more sources for "morbid tales" than fantasy ever could. 

Standout songs: "Into the Crypts of Rays", "Visions of Mortality", "Procreation (Of the Wicked)", "Return to the Eve", "Danse Macabre",  "Nocturnal Fear"  (that's all six from the original European import; later versions had additional songs -- full EP on Youtube)

Skip 'em songs: none.

Final score: 8/10.  And not just from nostalgia or irony, but neither is it focusing on its significant influence on later bands.  Even out of its historical context, this is just really good, heavy music. 

Take my soul away into the dark, dreaming 1000 morbid dreams, no tomorrow when the wind caresses my mind, could I ever return, it would be my doom.

--"Return to the Eve"

Houndmouth - "Houndmouth" (LP Review)

To borrow from the Tappet Brothers, the last several reviews have been "classic", and by "classic" I mean "old".  Time for something contemporary...

"Houndmouth" is the eponymous 2012 debut by the Indiana-based band, Houndmouth.  This four song EP successfully mines the alt-country, folk, blues, roots music genres: there's not necessary anything new on this EP, but they execute it very well.  Lisa (via Herbert) actually turned me on to this band, kindly dropping the CD in the mail to me a few months ago. 

If you're going to do country music, you need a song about going to jail.  Just in case there was any doubt, the opening song is "Penitentiary":

Come on down
To the Penitentiary
Oh momma the law came crashing down on me

Excellent stuff.  The other standout track is "Krampus", nicely featuring the vocals from Katie Toupin and Matt Myers.  "Houston Train" is also good, with "Oil Spill" being the weakest of the four songs.  I must not be the only one that feels that way since "Oil Spill" is the only track off "Houndmouth" that was left off their 2013 full-length LP "From The Hills Below The City" (which I haven't had a chance to get yet).  A quick search shows that they're booked on a lot of major summer festivals (Lollapalooza, Newport Folk Festival, UTOPiAfest); these guys are poised for success in the future.

Standout songs: "Penitentiary" (studio, live November 2012), "Houston Train" (live UTOPiAfest 2012, live November 2012), "Krampus" (live, live acoustic)
 
Skip 'em tracks: none.

Final score: 8/10 

The Cribs - "Payola" (LP Review)

"10 years on and 2001 is long gone
So I didn't wanna write another leather jacket love song"

Those are the opening lyrics to "Leather Jacket Love Song", the only previously unreleased song on the The Cribs 2013 singles compilation "Payola".  It's also a great song and an appropriate way to describe a ten year retrospective.  It is also indicative of what's disappointing with "Payola" -- only one unreleased song. 

There are actually two versions of "Payola": a single CD with 21 singles from their first five LPs and the one unreleased song, and a "deluxe" double CD that also includes 18 b-sides, bonus songs, and non-LP singles.   Of course I have all of albums and many of the singles and EPs, so my interest was in the deluxe edition to try to fill out some of the songs that I was missing. 

Much like my review of "Preemptive Strike", I'm reviewing the collection as a collection, not really the songs themselves.  The songs are great, but on a collection like this you have to review how the collection itself was created.  My problem with "Payola" is that 1) it oversamples the later LPs, and 2) doesn't have enough hard-to-find material for completists.  On disc 1, only seven songs (of 21) come from the first two LPs.  But as a collector, I really want to talk about disc 2.  The Cribs have always had a strong focus on singles and their associated b-side; for example, see their 7" collector box set.  Not being a 7" collector, I was hoping to get canonical copies of many of their hard-to-find songs.  Here's a list of their non-LP songs, roughly in order of the time frames of the corresponding LPs, with "*" indicating presence on "Payola":

The Cribs (2004):

On The Floor
Death To The Dead Bodies
Feelin' It!
I Gotta Go To LA
Song From Practice 1

The New Fellas (2005):

Happy's Just A State Of Mind And A State Of Mind Is Just Electrical Impulses           
*It Happened So Fast           
North Of England                               
I'm Still Blaming You          
*Saturday Night Facts Of Life
*To Jackson            
I Was Her Man But I Done Her Wrong             
*Advice For A Roving Artist
*Non-LP single: You're Gonna Lose Us

Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever (2007):

*Kind Words From The Broken Hearted            
*Fairer Sex            
Tonight                                
*My Adolescent Dreams          
Run A Mile             
*Get Yr Hands Out Of My Grave          
*Bastards Of Young
I'm a Realist (Postal Service Remix)
*Non-LP single: Don't You Wanna Be Relevant?

Ignore the Ignorant (2009):

*So Hot Now
Curse This English Rain
*Is Anybody There?
Non-LP single: Housewife

In the Belly of the Brazen Bull (2012):

*Glandular Fever Got The Best Of Me
*On A Hotel Wall
*Eat Me
*Better Than Me
*Don't Believe In Me

Again, the bias toward later material is evident -- there are no b-sides from the era of their first LP and five songs from their 2012 LP.  B-sides from the era of their second LP are well-represented, but unfortunately for me those five songs are also on the 2006 Japanese-only EP "Arigato Cockers".  Apparently that EP is hard to get, so I consider myself lucky for having a copy and I guess I can't really fault their inclusion on this collection.  The songs from the era of MNWNW are excellent and deserve more coverage than they receive, but unfortunately for me the only one I did not already have was The Replacements' cover "Bastards of Young".  I did not have any of the included songs from the era of the last two LPs, and although I already have "Curse This English Rain", I don't see how one could exclude this excellent song twice: once on "Ignore the Ignorant" and now on "Payola". 

I'm also disappointed in how they treated the non-LP singles.  "You're Gonna Lose Us" and "Don't You Want to Be Relevant" are excellent songs, but they should appear on disc 1.  Also, the single-sided 7" from the Johnny Marr-era, "Housewife", is still effectively unavailable -- that should be on disc 1 as well. Speaking of Johnny Marr, "Leather Jacket Love Song" is the last song he recorded with The Cribs and it is excellent -- this should have been a single in its own right. 

So in addition to the one unreleased song, I already had 10/18 of the songs on disc 2, and I'm no closer to getting copies of the really obscure songs from 2004 & 2005.  So while "Payola" is welcome, it is also a bit frustrating that the collection falls short of what it could have been.

Standout songs: nearly all of them, but here is a list of songs not covered in other reviews: "Leather Jacket Love Song" (live version for NME), "Fairer Sex" (2007 live version; Payola has the studio version), "Get Yr Hands Out Of My Grave", "Bastards of Young" (2007 live version; Payola has the studio version), "Glandular Fever Got The Best Of Me", "On A Hotel Wall"

Skip 'em songs: none.

Final score: 8/10.  I wish they had included some of the earlier leather jacket love songs.

N.B. Yes, I have not yet reviewed "In the Belly of the Brazen Bull" or "Live at the Brudenell Social Club".  I'm working on it.

Zomes - "Earth Grid" (LP Review)

About a year ago I covered the 2008 self-titled debut LP "Zomes", the drone alias for Asa Osbourne.  His second LP as Zomes, 2011's "Earth Grid" is very similar in structure, but with minor differences in the resulting sound.  I have to confess I liked the fuzzier, more distorted sound of the first LP, but really these two LPs are interchangeable.  I still haven't thought of a better description than from last year's review:

If Kevin Shields, Brian Eno, and Phillip Glass listened to a bunch of Ramones and Iggy Pop LPs and then went on a weekend recording bender, it would sound like this.

So I'm not going to try to improve on it.   Fortunately, there are a number of effusive reviews that do a better job at capturing the essence of this LP: Pitchfork, Tiny Mix Tapes, and Thrill Jockey.  And to be fair, here's a review from Spectrum Culture from someone who doesn't care for the genre. 

Standout songs: Again, this kind of LP doesn't lend it self to picking out individual songs.  The entire LP is available on GrooveShark, and only a few selections are on YouTube: Pilgrim Traveler, Alec's Anthem

Skip 'em songs: none

Final score: 8/10.  I gave the first LP a 9/10, and since I have a slight preference for the first LP I'm giving this one an 8/10. 

Bonus link: live 2010. 

Ph Balance - "Ph Balance" (LP Review)

I'm betting you haven't heard of the band Ph Balance; few people outside of their original Atlanta base have.  Outside of a chance viewing of one of their videos in 1999 on the "Independent Music Network" (I've forgotten which cable channel carried it), I would not have heard of them either.  discogs.com has almost nothing on them, YouTube has two songs, wikipedia has literally nothing on them, and myspace has an outdated page. 

The summarized band history goes something like this: Pam Howe (the "Ph" in Ph Balance) and Christopher Burt have formed the basis of Cicada Sings, then Ph Balance, then Chakra Bird, then (and current, I believe) Pam Howe's Bossa Nova Jazz.  Cicada Sings was a straightforward lounge, jazz, bossa nova band, and when they incorporated a hip-hop esthetic (complete with a few new members), they changed their name to Ph Balance.

What makes Ph Balance different from the 100s of other bands that seek to achieve the prized but elusive jazz/hip-hop integration is they do it with from a solid jazz orientation: no samples, the instruments are acoustic, and the synths are rare and limited to background use (think of them as a lounge-oriented version of The Roots, or the acoustic, non-trip-hop version of Portishead).  MC Mudfish provides the adequate rapping, but the star of the show is Pam Howe: the Gen-X, hip-hop influenced torch singer.  Not unlike Blondie 20+ years earlier, while Ph Balance is technically a band the whole thing works only because of Pam. 

The sound is very much of the time, and while not every experiment works (a few songs are worth skipping), they fail while trying to do interesting things so the misses are easily forgiven.  "Soothing" was the video I saw in 1999 (it may well be their only video), and it made such an impression on me that I had to order this LP.  Their eponymous first LP was released on tiny Daemon Records (founded by Amy Ray) and although I think it is out of print you can still find new copies on Amazon. 

Standout Songs: Soothing, Flora Avenue, C'est Noire, Come Back to My Arms (And Stay), Whirl Twirl Toy, Speak To My Face, Hand Hurt, I Want to Shrink, (find these songs at grooveshark).

Skip 'em Songs: She Favors Winter, Kaleidoscope React, Back Off

Final Score: 8/10

Bonus link:  cduniverse has an informative LP review.  

Mazzy Star - "Common Burn/Lay Myself Down" (LP Review)

Yeah, I know Mazzy Star never officially broke up and they were just on indefinite hiatus, but I was still surprised to find this new single from them.  "Common Burn/Lay Myself Down" was released in late 2011 and is the advance single from their still untitled and unreleased 2012 LP.  Since it was 1996 the last time they released an LP, I guess we can wait 8+ months after the first single is released to find out the title of their new LP. 

In what is becoming de rigueur for hip bands, here are two ways to get this single: digital and 7" vinyl.  I went the iTunes route, in part because I know if I start collecting 7" vinyl I won't be able to stop.  On the other hand, it still doesn't feel real if I don't have a CD to file on the shelf.

The song themselves...  honestly, and I mean this in the best possible way, I can't tell if these are new songs or outtakes from the 1990s.  They represent the two main types of songs from the Mazzy Star oeuvre: "Common Burn" is hazy, quiet shoegazing, dream pop, similar to "Blue Light", "Rhymes of an Hour", or "Mary of Silence".  It sounds like the cover art set to music.  The B-side, "Lay Myself Down", is a more up-beat, alt-country song, not unlike "I'm Sailin'" or "Give You My Lovin".  They sound like Mazzy Star; they sound like the 1990s never ended. 

Standout songs: "Common Ground" (live version), "Lay Myself Down" (pitchfork.com)

Skip 'em songs: none.

Final Score: 8/10.  Neither song is "Hallah" nor "Fade Into You", but who cares?  It's new Mazzy Star and they (still) sound great.

2013-08-20 edit: The name of their forthcoming LP is "Seasons of Your Day".

Autechre - "Peel Session" (LP Review)

If you don't like repetitive, electronic music you're not going to like Autechre, who are in some ways electronica's answer to Phillip Glass. Herbert turned me on to Autechre (aka Sean Booth & Rob Brown) many years ago, and their 1999 EP "Peel Session" is probably my favorite release of theirs.

At first listen, Autechre's music seems rather simple: loops of different melodies and percussion gradually introduced, combined, retracted, modified, and reintroduced (thus the comparison with Glass). Any single loop is simple enough, but their combination and the summation of their effect is surprisingly complex and hypnotic, and only reveals its full design after repeated listenings.

"Peel Session" was recorded for and broadcast by John Peel in 1995, but the EP itself wasn't released until 1999. At 25 minutes, it contains three songs in increasing length and complexity: "Milk DX", "Inhake 2", and "Drane". They're all good, but "Drane" is a hypnotic masterpiece (with some elements bordering on shoegazing). This EP has a more ambient feel than some of their more IDM-influenced releases, making it that much stronger in my opinion.

Standout songs: "Milk DX", "Inhake 2", "Drane"

Skip 'em songs: none.

Final score: 8/10. Don't play this as background music, because it will suck the air out of the room.

Mayer Hawthorne - "A Strange Arrangement" (LP Review)

This is the best Hall and Oates LP in 30 years.

Mayer Hawthorne (hip-hop / blue-eyed soul's version of Rivers Cuomo) released 2009's "A Strange Arrangement" on Stones Throw Records.

Standout songs: "A Strange Arrangement", "Just Ain't Gonna Work Out", "Maybe So, Maybe No", "I Wish It Would Rain", "One Track Mind", "Let Me Know", "I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)"

Skip 'em songs: "Your Easy Lovin' Ain't Pleasin' Nothin'" (I didn't like in 1982 either).

Final Score: 8/10.

2014-03-27 Edit: Just in case there was any doubt, here's Mayer Hawthorne with Daryl Hall on "Live From Daryl's House": "A Strange Arrangement",  "Just Ain't Gonna Work Out", "I Can't Go For That", "Private Eyes", "You Make My Dreams Come True", (full episode)

Deathprod - "Treetop Drive 1-3, Towboat" (LP Review)

Here's another one for Butch @ Squealer Music. I see Butch once or twice a year and we use the time to catch up on music. Our interests overlap in the areas of ambient, doom, drone, stoner -- basically all the sub-genres that Black Sabbath spawned (see my review of "Vol. 4"). One of the artists that Butch turned me on to is Deathprod (aka Helge Sten).

After hearing Deathprod from Butch, I bought the eponymous 4-CD boxset (released in 2004). I wasn't sure at what granularity that I wanted to review the music: 4 LPs in a single review? Instead, I review them separately starting with my favorite LP from the set, 1994's "Treetop Drive 1-3, Towboat" (yes, the LP title is simply the listing of the LP's four tracks).

Reviewing this LP is actually rather hard -- Sten is generally credited on LPs with "Audio Virus", and that's about as good an explanation as you'll find. There is almost no percussion, just swaths of looped, foreboding sounds. Here's a string of words I'd associate with the music in general: dark, powerful, repetitive, nightmarish, mesmerizing, plodding, haunting, homemade, menacing, stalking, Giger-esque. Similar in a sense to Plastikman's "Consumed" in results, but far more organic and, well, viral.

I'll attempt another comparison: on the "Time" episode of Radiolab, they describe "9 Beet Stretch", which is Beethoven's 9th Symphony stretched out to 24 hours in length. "Treetop Drive 1-3, Towboat" could easily be excerpts of MBV's "Loveless" with the same stretch treatment.

Treetop Drive 1 sounds like an interpretation of a series of looped, slow-motion car wrecks. Treetop Drive 2 sounds like warring, maniacal channel buoys. Treetop Drive 3 sounds like a plague of locusts, and features a narration of:

So there's a strange affinity with death. Many school districts today are teaching a death education, where they take first graders, second, and third graders and acquaint them with death: Not in the concept of life after death, but with death itself. And, kids are being taken to mortuaries and are allowed to see, and even touch, dead bodies. There is this fascination with death, to desensitize us to death.

This is the only thing that passes for vocals in the LP, and I have no idea where this is sampled from. But my favorite song is the LP closer "Towboat". It starts off pretty minimalist, then slowly builds an aural description of a conflict, closing with what sounds like (abstracted) machine gun fire in the last 4-5 minutes of the track. This could easily be the dream soundtrack of Willard / Kurtz going up the river.

Standout tracks: Treetop Drive 1, Treetop Drive 2, Treetop Drive 3, Towboat.

Skip 'em tracks: none.

Final Score: 8/10. Not light background listening, but powerful and important.

Husker Du - "Everything Falls Apart and More" (LP Review)

"Everything Falls Apart" was Husker Du's first studio LP, originally released in 1983 on Reflex Records and then re-released as "Everything Falls Apart and More" in 1993 on Rhino Records. The "and More" part refers to including Husker Du's first two 7" singles, 1980's "Statues / Amusement" and 1982's "In a Free Land", as well as two unreleased tracks a studio version of "Let's Go Die" (a live version appears on 1982's "Land Speed Record"), and the previously unreleased "Do You Remember?" (which is the English translation of "Husker Du"). The original LP clocked in at under 20 minutes, but the bonus material takes it to 42 minutes. Yes, in 1982 20 minutes was considered a full length LP for punk bands.

I got this LP sometime well after college, so it doesn't have the same nostalgia for me as "Flip Your Wig" or "New Day Rising". And this LP doesn't show the depth, complexity or variety that other LPs would; this is straightforward, hard-core punk. The production is thin & biting (courtesy of Spot, who produced most of the bands on the early days of SST Records) and the songs are short, furious, and rarely last much over two minutes. I wish I had heard this LP when it came out, it would have made a huge impression on me then.

But even still, this is a surprisingly good LP to listen to today. It is mostly angry punk music, but a few glimpses of their future, more melodic sound peek through in a few songs, like "Everything Falls Apart", "In a Free Land", and "Do You Remember?". So while this LP stays well within its genre, it is a genre that Husker Du helped create. Many fans think Husker Du began with "Zen Arcade", but if you're in the mood for a ferocious blast of energy, then give this LP a listen.

Standout Songs: "From the Gut", "Punch Drunk", "Bricklayer", "Afraid of Being Wrong", "Everything Falls Apart", "Target", "In a Free Land", "Do You Remember?".

Skip 'em Songs: their awkward cover of Donovan's "Sunshine Superman".

Final Score: 8/10

Thanks to HUSKERchout for the super-rare concert videos.

Steve Hillage - Rainbow Dome Musick (LP Review)

I first became aware of Steve Hillage by listening to and reading about Alex Patterson / The Orb, specifically their 1991 ambient house masterpiece "Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld", which remains one of my favorite LPs of all time.

There is no way in this review I can cover the expansive career of guitarist Steve Hillage, an early (and again current) member of the space rock band Gong, which in its long run has ties to nearly every alternative UK musician. His partner, Miquette Giraudy, has been with him for most of his career, including time in Gong as well as side projects like System 7. In fact, although "Rainbow Dome Musick" is billed as just Steve Hillage, it is actually Hillage & Giraudy.

The 1979 LP features just two songs (albeit at 20+ minutes each): "Garden of Paradise" and "Four Ever Rainbow", the former written by Giraudy and the latter by Hillage. What separates this LP from its 1970s ambient / space rock contemporaries is that holds up well over time. It is very much an atmospheric, lush, swirling soundscape, but it is not cloying, repetitive, or modish. I have a slight preference for "Garden of Paradise", probably because it has a brighter, fuller sound that is closer to the songs by The Orb that I first heard. I want to say "Four Ever Rainbow" sounds more like "deep space", even though I'm not sure what that means.

There is a reason these two songs sound similar to songs by The Orb: if you check the liner notes of "Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld", you'll see that Hillage & Giraudy co-wrote & performed on "Supernova at the End of the Universe" and "Backside of the Moon". In particular, there is a strong affinity between "Backside of the Moon" and "Garden of Paradise". The Orb adds a rhythm, vocal samples, and other 1990s updates, but the essence of the songs remain similar (see also Hillage & Giraudy's work in System 7).

Although not entirely fair to the "Rainbow Dome Musick", due to my order of discovery I can't help but consider it in the context of post-"Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld". The LP still stands up well, but their work with The Orb did take it to the next level.

Standout songs: Garden of Paradise, Four Ever Rainbow.

Skip 'em songs: none.

Final score: 8/10.

The Cribs - "I'm A Realist" (LP Review)

This is an odd sort of EP from The Cribs: I think it only exists for the public in digital form, although I've found some evidence on ebay that it also exists (under a different cover) as a promo-only 4 track EP (the discogs.com entry seems to support this theory as well).

In my quest to acquire the back catalog of The Cribs (see my other reviews), I tried to find a CD version of this EP. Failing in that, I broke down and bought it on iTunes, which I have to confess is very unsatisfying. Yes, I understand that I'm something of a fossil by continuing to buy hard-copy formats of music, but 1) the collector in me isn't satisfied if there isn't a physical manifestation, and 2) my professional interests in digital preservation make me more optimistic about the long-term viability of CDs over my iTunes library.

Should you buy this EP online? Or hunt up a promo version on ebay? The short answer is "yes". It is mostly a collection of songs that have appeared in other releases, but some of them have been difficult to get and/or have only been in 7" vinyl. And if you're a hard-core collector, then promo-only releases are gems in your collection (for example, I'm proud to have a copy of DJ Shadow's "One to Grow On" promo-only LP).

The title track is the final single from 2007's "Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever" LP. It's not a bad song, but it certainly wasn't a standout track from the LP. This EP also contains a remix of "I'm A Realist" from The Postal Service, which I believe is the only track on this EP you can't find elsewhere. I'm a big fan of Jimmy Taborello (1/2 of TPS; see also my review of "Dumb Luck"), and while I really like the idea of a TPS remix of a song by The Cribs, I can't say it works that well. It is "interesting", and it sounds exactly like what a TPS remix should sound like, and while I'm happy to have it as a collector I don't really play it all that often.

However, the other two tracks on the EP I play all the time. "Don't You Wanna Be Relevant" and "Kind Words From the Broken Hearted" first appeared as a 7" non-LP single in 2007 after the release of MNWNW. "Don't You Wanna Be Relevant" is a blistering continuation of their previous songs like "Hey Scenesters" and "Mirror Kissers"; conventional wisdom says The Pigeon Detectives are the target of the band's wrath in this song. No one can do sneer and snarky like The Cribs.

"Kind Words From the Broken Hearted" would sound at home on either of their first LPs. This is in part because it was produced by Edwyn Collins (who also produced "The New Fellas") after his recovery from illness. There should be a law that requires Collins to produce every LP by The Cribs -- they simply don't miss when they get together.

The digital-only version closes with a video for "Our Bovine Public" from MNWMW. Not new material, but an excellent song and the video draws heavily from the DVD set "Live At The Brudenell Social Club".

Standout songs: "Don't You Wanna Be Relevant" (live version), "Kind Words From the Broken Hearted" (live version), "Our Bovine Public" (live version, Jools Holland).

Skip 'em songs: none.

Final score: 8/10, on the strength of "DYWBR" and "KWFTBH" and being the last release of the pre-Johnny Marr era.

Bonus Links: "I'm A Realist" (live version on Jools Holland; last.fm live version w/ Johnny Marr), "I'm A Realist (The Postal Service Remix)" -- these aren't good enough to be "standout", but they're not really "skip 'em" either.

Bonus Links #2: The B-side of the original 7" of "I'm A Realist" featured a cover of "Bastards of Young" by The Replacements: cover by The Cribs, original by The Replacements.

Bonus Links #3: Wichita Recordings has the official video for "Don't You Wanna Be Relevant", but the audio volume is very low. It's a great video, but you'll need to really crank your volume.

Galaxie 500 - "This Is Our Music" (LP Review)

First post of 2010 and time to complete the Galaxie 500 hat trick...

Released in 1990, "This Is Our Music" was Galaxie 500's third and final studio LP. The name of the LP is a nod to the Ornette Coleman LP of the same name. That alone should tell you that the band is simultaneously 1) clever, 2) ambitious and 3) just a bit pretentious. I mostly like the reference, but sometimes it is seems a bit much for a garage rock band.

The short version: "This Is Our Music" is a very good LP, but pales in comparison to their first two LPs, "Today" and "On Fire". I'm not sure if they were running out of ideas, becoming worn down by touring, or perhaps their initial unassuming -- almost timid -- sound was unsustainable.

The LP represents a continuation of direction that was introduced on their second LP, "On Fire". But some of the ideas don't work. For example, the opening track, "Fourth of July", is a good song, but is lyrically awkward. Prior songs found the poetry and beauty of quotidian events, such as this from "Snowstorm" on "On Fire":

Well I listen to the weatherman
He's changed his tone of voice
And he can see it on the radar
Only seven hours away
Well there's gonna be a snowstorm
When the t.v has gone wild
And they got nothing else to think of
And they're letting me go home

"Fourth of July" tries to be too clever for its own good:

I wrote a poem on a dog biscuit
And your dog refused to look at it
So I got drunk and looked at the Empire State Building
It was no bigger than a nickel
...
I stayed at home on the Fourth of July
And I pulled the shades so I didn't have to see the sky
And I decided to have a Bed In
But I forgot to invite anybody

"Snowstorm" is precious; "Fourth of July" is affected.

Perhaps I'm being too critical... There are no bad songs on this LP, and some are excellent. But more so than the first two LPs some are nondescript, such as "Hearing Voices", "Spook" and "Way Up High".

The excellent songs include bassist Naomi Yang singing the Yoko Ono song "Listen the Snow is Falling", "King of Spain, Pt. 2" and "Melt Away", which is perhaps the best song on the LP. The 1997 Rykodisc reissue includes an outstanding cover of "Here She Comes Now" by the Velvet Underground (originally a B-side to the "Fourth of July" single). Galaxie 500 had always borrowed heavily from the Velvet's aesthetic and this cover just makes it official.

"This Is Our Music" is a strong LP that deserves to be in your collection. And while it would be a remarkable LP by almost any other band, it just doesn't quite live up to the standards set by their first two LPs. Dean Wareham left the band in 1991 after touring and went on to form Luna. Damon Krukowski and Naomi Yang would eventually form Damon and Naomi. Both bands would release decent LPs, but neither band would capture the magic of their original band. For those whose are interested, the site "Head Full of Wishes" expertly covers Galaxie 500 and their various post-1991 bands.

The Galaxie 500 discography would be posthumously extended with a live LP, Peel sessions LP, B-Sides LP, etc. But "This Is Our Music" is an appropriate coda for a band that was criminally undiscovered while they were active.

Standout songs: "Fourth of July", "Listen the Snow is Falling", "King of Spain, Pt. 2", "Melt Away", "Here She Comes Now". (Many of the above are live versions; the studio versions can be found on Grooveshark.)

Skip 'em songs: none.

Final score: 8/10.

Scott Hardkiss Presents God Within - "Crucial Introspection Parts One And Two" (LP Review)

This one is going to be harder to explain than "Bunky's Pick"...

But first a story: It was my 30th birthday, and some folks were hanging out at the house where Terry and I lived. Seth Littman, an accomplished DJ and one of Terry's friends, was playing some excellent music at our house. Seth always had great music, but this one song was just captivating me. I inquired, he told me it was Scott Hardkiss, and then gave me the newly released CD and said "happy birthday". Thanks Seth.

You'll frequently see mistakes made in listing the metadata for this EP, so I'll break it down for you. Scott Hardkiss is a DJ and one third of Hardkiss, along with brothers Gavin and Robbie. "God Within" is a pseudonym that Scott also uses (introduced for the first time with these songs, I believe). "Crucial Introspection Parts One And Two" is a four song EP that collects the two prior releases: 1998's "Crucial Introspection" and 1999's "Crucial Introspection Part Two" (note how the cover art for the former two releases is merged for "Parts One and Two"). The EP is released on Sunburn Records, which is loosely affiliated with Hardkiss (see also the Hardkiss label).

"Part One" has the two songs "Why, Why, Why? (Technosoul Remix)" and "Indian Summer". Both songs are unremarkable: neither bad nor good. But "Part Two" is what makes the EP great: "Why, Why, Why? (Olympic Terrorist Original Mix)" is a very good song (much better than the "Technosoul Remix"), but "Infinitely Gentle Blows (Infinite Aural Hallucination Remix)" is an amazing song. This is the song that prompted Seth's gift. 9:28 minutes of pure bliss. If you like electronic music, you must listen to this song. And if you don't like electronic music, well... maybe this will change your mind.

But the story doesn't end there... Scott Hardkiss only remixed "Infinitely Gentle Blows"; the original is a 3 minute version by Alte)ring, of whom I know almost nothing. The original version of the song (said to sample "Little Red Corvette", but I'm not sure I hear it in the Scott Hardkiss remix) appeared on the obscure compilation LP "The Event Horizon Tau". I've never even heard the Alte)ring version -- Googling turns up only the 9+ minute Scott Hardkiss remix, even when the metadata credits say it "Alte)ring". The Scott Hardkiss version was also featured on the sound track to 2000's "Groove".

Standout Tracks: "Infinitely Gentle Blows (Infinite Aural Hallucination Remix)", "Why, Why, Why? (Olympic Terrorist Original Mix)"

Skip 'em Tracks: None.

Final Rating: 8/10. Part One would rate a 10/10, but Part Two would probably rate a 5/10. Round up the average based on the strength of "Infinitely Gentle Blows".

Negativland - "Guns" (LP Review)

"Guns" was the first Negativland release I bought. In retrospect, that was fortunate because this two song EP is one of their most accessible releases. It was released in 1992, replacing the withdrawn 1991 "U2" EP. The saga between Negativland vs. U2's label, Island Records, as well as Negativland vs. their own label, SST Records, is well documented and will not be rehashed here (see: "The Letter U and Numeral 2", "Fair Use: The Story of the Letter U and the Numeral 2" and "These Guys Are from England and Who Gives a Shit"). The cover art of the "Guns" EP is clear nod to the then-current U2 situation.

"Guns" consists of two songs: "Then" and "Now". "Then" samples from 1950s-1960s icons of TV and film, humorously and critically examining the cultural status of firearms. "Now" is similar, but pulls from more recent sources. I could try to describe the songs further, but since they're available online it is easier to just listen. Due to their dispute with SST, Negativland makes the mp3s freely available from their web site even though SST still sells the EP. How many bands do you know that actually promote free mp3s over their CDs?

Peter Neville has created an excellent video for "Then", providing many of the TV & movie clips that correspond to the samples in the song.

Standout tracks: "Then" (Negativland.com, YouTube), "Now" (Negativland.com).

Skip 'em tracks: none.

Final Score: 8/10. Not their most experimental release, but a good intro to their body of work. If this EP resonates with you, you should explore their other releases. If this is not to your liking... well, it pretty much gets weirder and noisier from here.

P.S. Terry went to a Negativland show in Norfolk (ca. late 1992) and got Mark Hosler to autograph my copy of "Guns". There are probably dozens of people (besides Terry and me) that think that's cool.