- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
![](http://brainwashed.com/brain/images/solielkraast-choresonic_preludes.jpg)
Read More
- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
Tribute albums fall into different categories. There's the serious, professionally assembled tribute albums with a cast of well-known well-respected players on a firmly established or hip record label (see Blue Skied an' Clear and A Tribute to Spacemen 3); there's the abominable releases where a cast of has-beens and never-have-beens are found together unbeknownst in some cash-in-quick scheme (see the entire Cleopatra catalogue); there's the fanboy ones where a group of friends just decide to do something for kicks and trade it amongst themselves (see nearly any email list); then there's the painful, uninspiring ones which are posing as a professional tribute but wind up with more bad contributions than good ones (see For the Masses and A Means to and End). We Could Live In Hope isn't simply a Low tribute, it's a song-by-song cover of Low's very first full-length album (with two versions of "Words.") With a cast of people like Red House Painters' Marc Kozelek, His Name is Alive with Dan and Liz from Ida, A Northern Chorus, and Jessica Bailiff, the disc seems promising, but it's got some harsh problematic recordings which hold it back.Fractured Discs
Kicking off a record with a weak, out of tune and false accent-touting Daniel G Harmann version of "Words" is a complete mistake and gives me little hope for the rest. While Pale Horse and Rider add a pedal steel to "Fear" and A Northern Chorus go deep in their version of "Slide," the disc is already turning out to be a bit too samey. These are obviously people who have been so influenced by Low already in their own music, that nearly every album is a tribute, making a cover tune almost completely redundant. Most of the tunes, while pleasant, suffer from a lack of originality and simply go in one ear and out the other. Mark Kozelek is a saving grace, however, as his fingerpicking and rearrangement of "Lazy" turns it into a completely different song, however, this hope is almost immediately shattered when the first notes of Kid Dakota's "Lullaby" makes it sound like they want to be Low. Idaho's Coldplay-ish "Rope" makes me want to find one and the second version of "Words" is flat, tired, depressing, and drags on way too long (and coincidentally with some absurd accent). Thankfully the album ends on a very inspiring note, as His Name Is Alive with Nanang Tatang present a very graceful version of "Sunshine," which, actually isn't a Low cover, but that tune we all sang in kindergarten. (I also have the sneaking suspicion this is simply a Warn Defever remix of a song which appeared on Elizabeth Mitchell's You Are My Sunshine album a few years back, but I can't prove it at this point.) Luckily We Could Live In Hope escapes being the worst kind of tribute, but it comes dangerously close. If I just make my own CD-R and only use Halou's version of "Words" instead of the other two here, it's going to sound much better. 
samples:
Read More
- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
![](/../../../../brain/images/ml-man_is_the_warmest_place_to_hide.jpg)
Read More
- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
![](/../../../../brain/images/hardman-shirts_and_pistols.jpg)
Read More
- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
![](/../../../../brain/images/julian_fane-special_forces.jpg)
Read More
- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
Delivery Room is a bargain-priced sampler of new and upcoming releases from the Leaf Label, and reflects the eclectic, modern aesthetic of label boss Tony Morley. Unfortunately, as is often the case with collections such as these, there is a fair amount of substandard material by bands the label hopes to promote, as well as songs that suffer from the lack of context inherent in a compilation.Leaf
The trio of Bill Wells, Stefan Schneider and Anne Whitehead contribute two tracks from their mini-album Pick Up Sticks. These three musicians (and the uncredited keyboardist Barbara Morgenstern) form an avant-jazz ensemble with trombonist Whitehead improvising over Wells' spacious, textured laptop-glitch backdrops. Mexican IDM artist Murcof is virtually indistinguishable from every other artist of his ilk, and Sutekh's mix adds merely another level of boring pseudo-sophistication. In my view, Icarus is one of the more overrated electronica artists currently being heralded by scads of post-hip laptop enthusiasts, and the two cuts included here from his Leaf album I Tweet the Birdy Electric (Walt Whitman puns are oh so clever) don't do anything to change my mind. I know a lot of people who would slap me for saying this, but I'm also not altogether convinced that Manitoba's Up In Flames was an amazing reinvention of the avant-pop wheel (is there an avant-pop wheel?), and the pointless song fragment "Crayon" included here is nice, but disposable. A Hawk and a Hacksaw is the new project from ex-Bablicon, Neutral Milk Hotel and Guignol member Jeremy Barnes, and the self-titled debut is another collection of songs composed and recorded in the French countryside. The two tracks included here are richly detailed, piano-led folk songs with gloriously uncomplicated melodies and a natural sense of development, with interesting touches of outre' production. Perhaps the best reason to buy this compilation is the inclusion of a previously unreleased (outside of Japan) track from Asa Chang & Junray, whose Leaf album and subsequent EP were two of my favorite experimental releases of the last two years. "Parlor," taken from the Senaka EP, is a typically ingenious mix of hicupping, laptop-treated tabla rhythms, trumpets and recordings of Japanese slot machines. 310's "Exumix" is a jazzy sort of downtempo number that might appeal to fans of the Ninja Tune label, but holds zero interest for me. Colleen's "Ritournelle" tried hard to convince me that it was anything other than a looped kindergarten glockenspiel with extraneous glitches and pops, but failed. Japan's Riow Arai contribute one of those instrumental hip-hop things where they keep interrupting and/or mutating a random beat using ProTools presets, thereby producing something that is sure to be labeled genius by someone balder and more European than me. Clue to Kalo sound even more dreadfully dull on "Ignore the Forest Floor" than they did on their first full-length; more Four Tet beats with emo vocals. Ending the collection is a fascinating unreleased track by A Small Good Thing, a tantalizingly indescribably work of evocative cinematic ambience, sounding not unlike a spaghetti western taking place at night in a German POW camp.
- A Hawk and a Hacksaw - Maremaillette
- Asa Chang & Junray - Parlor
- A Small Good Thing - Owl in a Box
Read More
- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
![](http://brainwashed.com/brain/images/blowuphollywood-fake.jpg)
Read More
![](http://brainwashed.com/brain/images/julian_fane-special_forces.jpg)
- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
![](http://brainwashed.com/brain/images/julian_fane-special_forces.jpg)
Read More
- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
Though I've heard the formula before, it's impossible to disregard this album. Despite being another quiet and minimalist approach to electronic soundscaping, there's something special about the way these songs play themselves out and, in some cases, the integration of just a few key sounds adds up to startling beauty. Lido Lato is a double CD release from Greece's Poeta Negra label.Poeta Negra
The CDs differ from each other in slight ways. The first disc is a purely sound-oriented amalgam of synthetic pops, hisses, hiccups, and blurs while the second disc sounds like it could be performed live by a group of individuals (given the right equipment). "Amymoni P." and "Shaker S." begin the first disc with a wavering blend of distorted plastic expanding into infinity and a churning series of pseudo-melodies that barely escape the speakers. They're a perfect statement of intent and while I've heard similar compositions before, Coti has a unique way of arranging the sounds so that they play with eachother in ways that are unavoidably hypnotic. "Beben G.," for instance, rolls along in exactly the same way from beginning to end, but Coti adds a whole spectrum of sounds over this radiating harmony and ends up producing the illusion of movement. The manner in which the crystaline pops and hums fall in and out of existence is somewhat breathtaking and repeated listens only add to its beauty. There are numerous examples of excellent aural trickery to be heard throughout the first disc. It would have, by itself, stood comfortably as a great album with many highlights, but the second disc is the most attractive thing about Lido Lato. "Neige P." is the more rhythmic cousin to disc one's "Amymoni P.;" where one moans and bellows, the other skips along in staccato before loosening up and bleeding away in a whisper of piano and reverberation. The mixing of acoustic and electronic sound sources on disc 2 is absolutely superb. "Partito Per Sempre" coughs and eases along with the sound of escalating whines and old upright pianos hooked up to life support. The instruments never stand away from their buzzing counterparts, but they add an element that would've made the first disc even more exceptional and unique. "Beben P." stands out in my mind as one of the finest and most endearing songs I've heard this year. A simple melody played on what sounds like a toy keyboard gallops along clumsily over the sound of a baby attempting to sing and playing with wooden or plastic toys. I found myself pressing the back button on this song more than a few times before moving on to the final two pieces. "P. Strtch" closes out the album with the purity of strings moving like water over a faded and delicate ringing that escapes into the atmosphere. The way the violins and cellos take over the synthesizers and laptop productions is as elegant as can be and it serves as the perfect ending to an album that showcases the depths electronic music can reach. 
Read More
- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
![](http://brainwashed.com/brain/images/twilightloves.jpg)
Read More