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Check
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around Winnipeg tonight! |
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Check
out this week’s
online CD reviews by our
music staff |
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The
High Dials
A New Devotion
(Rainbow Quartz)
B+
Website: www.rainbowquartz.com |
It seems like eons
since Canada's Datsons released their first album in 1997.
At that time the band was negotiating a sound that fell somewhere
between peppy alt-country and what was to become their true
calling mod power-pop. As the newly christened High
Dials, original members Trevor Anderson and Rishi Dhir
along with a new drummer and second guitar player have
created a loose concept album that attempts to mine the classic
vein. It works, for the most part. The band extracts plenty
of juice from their '60s vibe, and with Dhir's bass a-rumblin';
and the guitars chiming away coherently, they fashion quite
a tidy din. What's missing is a strong vocal presence
something possessed by all the best "face" bands
of the swinging' 60s. The concept is buried deep in the lyrics
and is largely overshadowed by the top-notch musicianship.
Catch the High Dials live Wednesday, Aug. 13, at the Albert.
Jeff Monk |
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Polysics
Neu
(Asian Man Records)
B
Website: www.polysics.com |
To describe the music
made by Japanese quartet Polysics as spastic would be an understatement,
to say the least. Having released its own brand of new wave-affected
music in its homeland since 1997, the band has recently chosen
to reissue its 2000 full-length debut, Neu, to the broader
stateside audience. The band's sound relies heavily on buzzsaw-like
synthesizers mixed with what sound like blips and bleeps of
a child's video game. Factor in the band';s high-pitched,
squealing vocals, along with its machine-gun drum sequencing
and distorted guitars, and the results come off like Devo
played at warp factor nine. While its frantic urgency may
not be for everyone, Neu does have a certain charm, with a
happy nervous energy that's enough to make you get up and
dance about the place in an uncontrollable fashion.
Jared McKetiak |
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Big
Sandy and his Fly-Rite Boys
It's Time!
(Yep Roc/Outside)
B+
Website: www.yeproc.com |
Robert (Big Sandy)
Williams and his gifted band not only dress the part, they
trade fully on a fabulous gumbo of '50s-informed roots rock
of the most pleasing kind. Whether it¹s the cracking,
Sun Records-style rockabilly of opener "Chalk It Up to
the Blues," the jazzy, minor-key "How Did You Love
Someone Like Me?" or instro-gold like the surf-bustin'
"Strollin' With Mary Jane," the band delivers in
spades. The album was recorded at a classic studio in Hollywood
and producer Joey Altruda (formerly of Winnipeg favourites
Tupelo Chain Sex) has made the album sound as natural as can
be. As prolific as Big Sandy is, it¹s a wonder that he
keeps releasing album after album of such high quality. Perhaps
in some other, smarter dimension it is actually time for these
cats to break out.
Jeff Monk |
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The
Burnettes
Album Schmalbum
(Go Rock Records)
B+
Website: www.gorockrecords.com |
The debut album from
husband-and-wife team Cora and Chris Burnette is a wonderfully
home-made affair, rich with nonsensical sound bites and clunky
background noises. When it came down to picking the final
mixes, one can guess it was a toss-up between the track with
the cat tipping the pot over in the background or the one
with the incessant squeaky hinge on the back door. The 11
songs are sparse and at times awkward, but highlight the natural
warmth of Cora¹s deep vocals. Rejecting the "folk"
title, songs like "Going Blind" instead capture
the indie-rock spirit of the band, throwing open their appeal
to a much wider audience. The album itself is adorned with
handwritten liner notes and personal photos, allowing the
listener a lingering glimpse into the Burnettes' world. Catch
them at the Times Change(d) on Thursday, Aug. 14.
Kari D. |
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Super Furry Animals
Phantom Power
(XL Recordings)
A-
Website: www.superfurry.com |
On 2001's Rings Around
The World, Welsh sensations the Super Furry Animals put forth
their biggest-sounding album to date, complete with a guest
appearance by none other than Sir Paul McCartney. How does
a band that most of the world still refuses to take seriously
follow this up? In spectacular fashion, of course, with Phantom
Power, an album packed full of summertime singalongs whose
spirits exist in a darker realm. The heart of the band¹s
music is where it¹s always been, a fine mix of neo-psychedelia
and electronic meandering, and singer Gruf Rhys is at his
emphatic best, deftly mixing lyrics about cabbage and turtles
with far more serious ones that focus on battle and bloodshed.
Perhaps the Furries aren¹t as wild and carefree as they
once were, but the mood is no doubt a byproduct of the troubled
world in which we live.
Jared McKetiak |
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Ohgr
SunnyPsyOp
(Eagle Rock/ Spitfire)
B
Website: www.ohgr.org |
The second solo release
from former Skinny Puppy vocalist Nivek Ogre (again
collaborating with producer Mark Walk), SunnyPsyOp is interesting.
Most of its tracks were written and recorded before the 2001
release of Welt, so it can hardly be classified as "new."
His industrial influences are fading slowly besides
the crashing programmed beats of tunes like "Jako,"
the music owes more and more to '80s new wave and electronica,
with a dash of Prodigy-like programming for good measure.
The hypnotic, breathless vocals are captivating and the clever
"Chemtale" is similarly impressive, with its growling,
shrieking mayhem of world-beat rhythms and bizarrely inventive
programming (though it does get repetitive). But as is generally
the case with modern gothic music, this record remains stuck
in a niche: goth aficionados will love it, but the rest of
the world won't get its obtuse, trancelike moods.
Melissa Martin |
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The
Mars Volta
De-loused in the Comatorium
(Universal)
B
Website: www.themarsvolta.com |
Shortly after cracking
the mainstream in 2001 with Relationship of Command, El Paso's
At the Drive-In split up. The two bushy-haired members, Cedric
Bixler and Omar Rodriguez, formed the Mars Volta, a project
that sought to expand on traditional rock boundaries. And
it does just that, almost to the point of distraction. Producer
Rick Rubin indulges the band¹s loud-soft-loud prog-rock
leanings with controlled explosions and busy passages that
may leave you longing for simplicity, rough edges and a real
chorus or two. However, unbearable wankfests like "Eriatarka"
are countered with a multitude of stirring and cathartic moments
of genuine emotion. Though the album claims to be "inspired
by the life and times of Julio Venegas," it¹s impossible
to discern any concept in the stream-of conciousness lyrics,
but Bixler¹s powerhouse voice can make the most inane
gibberish sound invigorating and vital.
Jill Wilson |
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Tennis
Laundromat
(Watermark)
C+
Website: www.tenniswithouta.net |
If a local listener
is quickly charmed by the debut CD from New York's Tennis,
it could be because it unwittingly recalls one of this city's
most fondly missed bands from the quirky opening groove
of "Toothbrush," one is tempted to scream "Lovedaddys
are back!" But this happy comparison is short lived,
only re-emerging in glimpses over the course of the record.
Jangly, cheeky-voiced, melodic emo has been done to death
in a very short space of time, and while tunes like "Jessica
Alba" are good cause for some earnest head-bopping, the
record is hampered by shortsighted, formulaic songwriting
and predictable melodies. "Pure Evil" and "Blame
Me," holdovers from a previously released 7-inch, fare
better with their punk rawness and raspy vocals. Laundromat
is solid from a musical standpoint, but it fails to separate
itself from the leagues of ironic emo populating CD store
shelves.
Melissa Martin |
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Various
Artists
Electro Kills
(Nettwerk)
B+
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There are probably
going to be a lot of electro compilations at used music stores
in a few years. People will keep a couple of discs and the
rest will be resold for beer or drug money. There isn't much
that sets this CD apart from the hundreds of compilations
that have already been released over the past two years. It
has the recognizable prerequisites, Fisherspooner and Felix
Da Housecat, but also includes Black Strobe's cheeky "Me
and Madonna" and rookie sensations Codec & Flexor's
pumpin' electro-house number "Black Diamonds."²
Other stylish acts rounding out the disc include Ladytron,
Mount Sims and FC Kahuna. Although there's nothing wrong with
the music that has been selected for this compilation, it's
obvious that if you¹re interested in electro, you probably
already have many of these tracks in your collection already.
If so, downgrade this review to a C-.
Anthony Augustine |
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