I must admit to being rather dismissive about much of the current waveof so-called "free folk," and certainly I've also been guilty ofdeclaring much of the music it has produced as being the product of aninsufferable scenesterism. However, I've also been among the first to praise the truly worthyexamples of the genre, and this new release by The One Ensemble ofDaniel Padden clearly demonstrates that amazing work continues to comeout of the new folk zeitgeist. |
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I must admit to being rather dismissive about much of the current waveof so-called "free folk," and certainly I've also been guilty ofdeclaring much of the music it has produced as being the product of aninsufferable scenesterism. However, I've also been among the first to praise the truly worthyexamples of the genre, and this new release by The One Ensemble ofDaniel Padden clearly demonstrates that amazing work continues to comeout of the new folk zeitgeist.
6303 Hits
This two-CD set contains the now-defunct band's second (and last) albumand an EP of, well, odds and ends, and both CDs are filled with themusical equivalent of cotton candy: sweet, soft, and fuzzy with nonutritional value to speak of, but it's sure fun to eat.
7029 Hits
Rollie Pemberton (aka Cadence Weapon) isn't just another 19 year old MC / producer looking to provide the world with explicitly commercial hip hop to soundtrack international youth culture. He also isn't looking to strap himself stylistically to the back of MF Doom, Cage or Slug to get his dues as this self produced independent debut ignores both the obvious underground and overground.
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Beingthe last night of the year I'm making preparations to head out, andthere are few better soundtracks to doing exactly that than this year's release from Phon.O,which is easily one of the best party albums of 2005. The sounds are dirty, fat, meaty, big, and bouncy: exactly what thedoctor ordered for a year that seemingly had a lot of more cleaner,quieter, introspective releases at the forefront of everybody'sminds.
8346 Hits
It'seasy to dismiss Ladytron: they rode the high wave of electroclash andcrashed with a stinker of a sophomore album during the electroclashbacklash that swiftly made everybody forget who Fisherspooner andPeaches were. The first two songs on their latest album, however,are powerful enough to lay waste all prejudices.
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After reviewing Vega, I was sure that Andrew Chalk had some new tricks up his sleeve. Albums like Fall in the Wake of a Flawless Landscape and Over the Edges were dynamic by virtue of their tonal range or through the use of multiple layers shifting throughout the record. Vegasaw Chalk working with the subconscious, slowly pulling it apartthrough slow spatial manipulation. Here, Chalk centers his attention onthe guitar and develops a series of meditations that gives his musicnew depth.
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Miwon’sdebut for City Centre Offices comes at just the right time of year forme, when a contemplative, quiet record of subtle melodies and soothingrhythms is just what I need to complement the freezing rain andice-covered trees.
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When the only complaint I have about a record is that it's far, far tooshort, that's got to be a good thing. This collaboration betweenJessica Bailiff and Rachel Staggs could go on for another hour and I'dbe more than happy to get lost in it.
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This single precedes Film School’s forthcoming album. If the album is as patchy as On and On then I’ll probably steer clear. If it avoids the pitfalls of the dodgy B-side included on this single, it might be worth a look.
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Edith Frost’s music has always had a certain derivative quality to it.Past releases have always hewed a little too close to the alt-countryline to make it stand out amongst the rest. Her previous release,Wonder, Wonder, saw her incorporating more overt pop flourishes toprovide her well-defined sound with a few more options. On It’s a Game,Frost strips her sound to its basics, both returning to herwell-defined sound yet tweaking it just slightly so as to providelittle gems that allow the record to avoid rote repetition.
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On paper this album is a great idea. Give some babies toys, instruments or whatever and record the results. Unfortunately Kindermusik amounts to nothing but uninteresting tracks that are essentially field recordings of playrooms. Nursery With Wound it isn’t.
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Kites' 12" single with Prurient excited me quite a lot. The circus-like approach to noise that Christopher Forgues took on as Kites sounded fresh because it didn't sound like one long stream of random noises; a popular approach to making "free noise." Forgues' latest on Load is a scattered album, however. His often compelling ideas aren't articulated very well and though I'm convinced a political message peppers the entire album, the music and words are often too scattered to understand exactly what message the album might have, if any.
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Paul Dickow's Community Library label, formed in the Spring of 2005, subscribes to a mantra of sorts: music without borders or community without geography. It's a costly mantra in the case of Sawako's first recording on the label. "Sawako +" is Sawako assembling various sound samples given to her by friends and musicians from all over the globe. If it weren't for its brevity, Omnibus would be a very unsatisfying grab bag of strange, random sound.
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The Rogers Sisters are from New York and sound like they were born 25 years too late. If all the members of Blondie and Talking Heads were dead they would be rolling in their graves. I’ve no problem with taking influence from an era but trying to recreate it in such an awful way is obscene.
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This is another reissue that is perfect for existing fans, as it's beena sought after item, fetching high prices at online auctions. Honestly,and the band is well aware of this, while there are some great songscontained, it's simply not as strong a caliber as is the writing andproduction that the band have found their international acclaim with.
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Kinski blew my mind the first time I saw them. They tore the roof offTerrastock 5 in Boston, unleashing a loud, blistering, and healthy mixof psych-rock and pop with a sound clean enough to hear the great songsrather than be buried in a barrage of overwhelming distortion. The bandworked together and didn't step on each others toes in some sloppy messthat other modern day psych rockers are far too guilty of.
6910 Hits
The Wardrobe is a collaboration with Sol Invictus driving force TonyWakeford and Andrew Liles; the release more resembles Wakeford's workwith Matt Howden than Sol Invictus. Cups in Cupboard is limited to 500signed copies and is released on Wakeford's own label Tursa.
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The world’s longest serving Bad Seed releases another album of covers. Unfortunately it's not another Serge Gainsbourg tribute, but a collection of songs that Harvey felt a strong connection to by such songwriters as Lee Hazelwood, Tim Buckley and Guy Clark. Without hearing it, I knew exactly what was going to sound like: a depressed cowboy with a drink in one hand and a battered guitar in the other.
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All India Radio are not Indian and they are not to be confused with the Indian radio station. In fact they are an Australian electronic band, but its always great to hear that South Asian music and culture is inspiring music artists everywhere. Permanent Evolutions is in many ways a reflection of a new Global South Asian sound that captures an essence that is quite different from South Asian music that was being produced a few decades ago.
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Theseare the first steps of a band with a definite goal in mind and thoughsome of those steps are awkward, Capillary Action harnesses the abilityto fuse the wide, wide world of music into something new and exciting.Just so long as they don't screw up and write more tunes like"Scattered Remnants."
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