After various collaborations, guest appearances and the spectacularSoft Cell shows here's finally the new album by this remarkable Artistwho's always somewhere over the rainbow, caught between pop stardom andthe underground around midnight. The second release on his own labelBlue Star but with proper distribution settings now hopefully morewidely available."Stranger Things" has a more light and polished production, compared tothe preceding "Open All Night" and provides an overall glossy feel asthe Trevor Horn produced "Tenement Symphony" did.
No cover versions of well known songs he's so famous for are includedthis time, instead two songs are taken from an album by JohannJohannson; "Love In The Time Of Science" and "Come Out" which seem tobe written exactly for him.
Surprisingly only four songs are co-written or feature his maincollaborator since "Fantastic Star" - Neal X (of Sigue Sigue Sputnik?fame'), all the others where co-written with his Icelandic Team;mainly J.Johannson who also produced the album, Siggi Baldurson (of"Sugarcubes" fame) and Sara Gudmandsdottir (Backing Vocals).
The opener and single "Glorious" is a fine piece of Almondesqueoptimism, but the non album pieces "Fur" and "Give In" which give hisvoice more room to illustrate the lyrics hit the listener between theears and are the real bonus - as so often with his singles. There areno techno remixes of "Glorious", just a radio edit included, if youwant to hear him more discoid there's "Soul On Soul" with System F.around, nearly simultaneously released in various versions.
The album itself demands to be heard completely, it's one flow of allhis tasteful and well known obsessions; love, desire, dark sinfullongings, haunted loneliness, melancholy and the will to survive. Thegroove of "Dancer" reminds me pretty much of Elvis' "Fever" and isbesides the hypnotic "Love In A Time Of Science" and the heart tearingepics "When It's Your Time" and "Under Your Wing" a bit outstanding,but there are no misses, maybe some songs could have been longer orshorter, the lyrics (not included this time) a bit more twisted but whocares if it's Marc Almond and the "feeling's wider than the sky".
There's a beautiful 1st edition of the CD with engraved Cover, alsofeaturing as bonus cut the duet "Amo Vitam" , sung with the Germankitsch duo Rosenstolz (some might recall the cover of Klaus Nomi's"Total Eclipse" he did with them lately), which is a fine addition andending for "Stranger Things".
samples:
- Find them at his website
I'm a sucker for cowboy films. The kind of south of the border,gun-running, robbing banks, poor luck, cactus and tumbleweed epics thatSam Peckinpah and John Wayne used to make. Migala, though they may notknow it, write perfect soundtracks to modern westerns. I picture a bandof cowboys, running from the law and some grave mistake, staking it outin some dirt town everytime I put on "Arde," their first US-releasedfull-length. It's like Latin post-rock, but that's generalizing, and Ihate to generalize. Easily the greatest thing Belle and Sebastian'sStuart David is responsible for (he championed the band to Sub Pop),Migala create gritty soundscapes with twangy guitars and, sometimes,Leonard Cohen-esque vocals. "Arde," meaning "it burns," has a tragicflair to it, as each song seems to highlight some tragic moment intime. The album cover even features the end result of a tragic carwreck. As flavorful as this music is, what makes it stand out and grabthe listener is the sextet's use of ambient noise. Static, distortedguitar, xylophone/vibes, and keyboards add great range and depth towhat may easily become a tired sound after a few tracks (I lovewesterns, but do I own the soundtrack to "Stagecoach"?). Migala don'tstay too long on any one idea, and they don't ram their music down yourthroat. As dark as it may be, these songs have a playful quality tothem, bringing forth an inherent dichotomy I love to listen for. Letthere be no doubt: Migala are magical, and "Arde" is a whollyworthwhile listening experience.
Errr... hmmm. Italian electronic musician Bochum Welt's latest offeringis quite a departure from the usual Hymen fare. Although Hymen isbilled as the "technoid" subdivision of Ant-Zen (little differencebetween the two these days), "Fashion" fits right in with all the otherC64/Sidstation/Amiga "videogame" music that seems to be coming indroves out of Finland these days. Clocking in at somewhere around tenminutes (four two-and-a-half minute songs), this 3" CD offers little inthe way of content or length. If you're familiar with the new wave of"retro IDM" that's popular these days, you've heard this CD before; ifyou're not, it's basically light techno constructed from very simple"bleeps and bloops" - you know, Amiga, Gameboy, etcetera. The inclusionof atrocious "vocals" by the Italian-accented "Andy" only makeseverything worse, and removes any possible enjoyment that may have beenhad. I can't recommend this at all, honestly - it's short, boring, andthe whole "retro video/computer-game" thing has been done several timesbefore with much better results (8 Bit Rockers, Atom Heart, etc.)
Mike Patton's band, Fantomas, has released another album, this time acollection of theme songs from various movie soundtracks. The majorityof the movies are in the suspense/thriller/horror genres, which fitsFantomas' schizoid attention span. I liked this record a lot more thanthe first Fantomas album ("Amenaza al mundo!"), it seems more cohesive,and it seems like the band is getting more comfortable with itself. Thesongs' veer into the familiar, such as "Theme from Godfather" and theobscure, such as the excellent "Der Golem" although even those familiarwith these songs will find something surprising in the band'sinterpretations of them: "Godfather" starts off with the accordion(played on melodica, I think,) motif so familiar from the movies andsuddenly breaks into a full on assault of crashing drums and poundingelectric instruments. Drummer Dave Lombardo's (ex-Slayer,) playing is ahighlight of the whole disc. Patton's yelps and screams are stillpresent, though not as annoyingly or pervasively as on solo material;here he's using his voice as an instrument, with a lot of melody. Someof the material has got me intrigued enough to look for some of thesefilms (still trying to find "Der Golem"). So what's the disc soundlike? A jazz-metal band doing covers of movie themes while trying tobranch out from jazz and metal to avant-guarde noisescapes, with some"California"-esque vocals. All 39 minutes are highly enjoyable andrecommended.
As if 4 separate volumes of the "Disburden Disciple" album weren'talready enough, here is an extra CD-R's worth of 'work in progress'tracks to tide the more rabid fans over in the downtime between the 1stand 2nd installments. Jarboe has long made her unfinished workavailable to the public to further reveal her creative process overtime and, perhaps, to help finance her life and future projects. Whatimmediately strikes me about the music on this disc is how wellproduced the tracks are even in a demo form. And though theinstrumentation is somewhat skeletal - some guitar, drum/bass loops,keys - it's not too terribly far off from finished product. Backworldguitarist Joseph Budenholzer and James Izzo, aka Thread, help providemusically while lyrically Jarboe continues to heal and grow. "ToForget" and "Lost" couple sweet vocals with pretty guitar melodiessplit across the stereo field. On "Feral" Jarboe unleashes severallengthy, cathartic bellows over spooky piano chords and atmospheres."Angel" and "Real Life" feature the electronic bass and beatprogramming, presumably by Izzo, that works so well with Jarboe'svoice. "Penance" specializes in gorgeous breathy vocals, outstretchedbass notes and pretty piano twinklings. "Notebook Fragments" and "W/outWords" are a bit more 'artsy' and dramatic, the latter expressingitself vocally with no words. The next "Disburden Disciple" looks to bevery promising judging from these supposedly rough sketches, possiblybetter than the first album which was also very good. "Dislocation" isavailable from The Living Jarboe web site for $15 signed . 
For the last few years, an amazingly dedicated girl with great taste inmusic has been building her London-based operation Rocket Girl into asmall empire of a label and mail order shop. "A Rocket GirlCompilation" collects tracks from the first handful of 7" singlereleases along with an entire second CD of unreleased and rare tunes.Contributors include Silver Apples, Windy & Carl, Fuxa, RoyMontgomery, Experimetnal Audio Research, and the precious collaborationbetween Low, Piano Magic and Transient Waves, "Sleep at the Bottom."While it's a great addition to a collection of anybodys who includesthe aforementioned artists, it serves as a fine introduction tonewcomers Loopdrop, PS. I Love You, and Pluxus, all who have otherreleases on Rocket Girl. While styles vary from quiet rock, dream pop,instrumental bliss and electronic ear candy, the quality remains high.The flow from track to track is perfect, and it makes me personallyache to hear the full-length releases from Loopdrop and Pluxus. Fans ofDarla, Kranky and Bedazzled labels be warned, you may become hooked ifyou aren't already.
I had never heard of Radio Birdman before hearing this CD. In fact,before I read the liner notes, brilliantly written by David Fricke ofRolling Stone fame, I thought that Radio Birdman might be a new bandtrying to create that hype machine around them by getting a whole bunchof people to say "No, they were contemporaries of the Ramones and theStooges. Yeah!" It all had a very Spinal Tap backstory to it. Then Iput on the CD. All I can say is it ate my words and thoughts right up.David Fricke says it beautifully in the notes: there hasn't been since,and there probably never will be, another band like Radio Birdman. Soit's good that Sub Pop is releasing this "Essential" collection, mostof which hasn't been available in the United States in 23 years. Theirfirst EP, "Burn My Eye" is included in its entirety, plus songs offboth their studio albums, and a few live tracks to give the listener anidea of what this band could pump out live, as many in America nevergot a chance to see that. From the opening notes of "Aloha Steve &Danno," which follow the sounds of the waves flowing in to shore, youknow you're in for a treat. This is almost surf punk: highly energetic,with snaky guitar lines and driving drum beats, and forceful,commanding vocals. It's all incredibly ahead of its time, from the teenrevolution cries of "New Race" to the sheer majestic glory of "DescentInto The Maelstrom." It's a shame they didn't release more. It's also ashame I've never heard of Radio Birdman. The time is now to spread theword, as Radio Birdman deserve their rightful place in the annals ofRock history.
Martyn Bates is a founding member of the eclectic '80s duo Eyeless inGaza and a prolific collaborator and solo artist. "Dance of Hours" is a27 minute mini album that is essentially a continuation of his solowork "Letters Written" begun in 1982. Bates plays most everything here:piano, organ, bass and electric Hawaiian guitar plus additional vocalson 2 songs by Elizabeth S. and co-production by former Gaza partnerPeter Becker. But, most importantly, is the voice. To say that Bates'voice is heavenly is still an understatement. It is undeniably thefocal point of these richly melodic, poetic songs. In fact, the moreminimal the musical accompaniment, the better. "Poems Pennyeach" and"Alone Reprise" (which are pretty much the same James Joyce piece, bothless than a minute apiece) and "The Heart Song" showcase only Bates'golden throat within a reverberated cloud or intermittent backgroundvocalizations. The rest effectively couple the voice with flickers ofnotes and drone. Though this album is brief it's still a very welcomeaddition to Bates' catalog. And the insert thoughtfully contains all ofthe lyrics, pure poetry in and of itself.
The latest offering by seminal Ant-Zen "powernoise" favoritesSynapscape is an interesting one. Although "Positive Pop" is moretechnoid than anything released recently on Ant-Zen save for PAL's lastRebirth-rife album, it manages to sound quite fresh and interestingwithin the constraints of the genre. The first track, "Ammunition," isa test of your patience, however - atmospherics accompanied by apiercing frequency which slowly raises makes for an interestingintroduction. The track that follows, "Thirsteater," is classicSynapscape, while "Smogue" is a beatless piece with a fewhigh-frequency injections like the first track. "Dubforce" is aptlynamed, using reverb and a slower tempo to create a very interesting,dub-like feel for a Synapscape track. Reminds me of Nine Inch Nails.The album continues as expected, not varying much from Synapscape'stried-and-true (or not?) formula. If you acquired the box set, you'rein for a very special treat - three (yes, three!) ten inch slabs ofvinyl accompany the album, and the remixes and extra tracks featured onthese records are (for the most part) golden. Disc one is newSynapscape tracks, whose standout is "Bizarre Vinyl Junky," with itsskittery, up-tempo beats. Discs two and three are remixes, and here arewhere things get interesting. The remixers are varied, and whileseveral of the remixes are formulaic and predictable (Converter, Asche,Somatix), some of the results are downright surprising: Savak'sreconstruction of "Thirsteater" begins with melodic synths straight outof your favorite IDM track. Hell-G's "Notorious" is a dancefloorbreakbeat track reminiscent of good-ol' Position Chrome, and ImminentStarvation's remix borders on glitch-techno, with miniscule hypnoticbeats ripped right from Panasonic. Yes, the box set is most definitelyworth your money. Overall, not a bad album, but "Positive Pop" onlyreinforces Ant-Zen's latest direction: to be the next "stepping stone"for those getting tired of EBM and looking for something just a tad bitless friendly.
There are times, when listening to a particular release by a particularband, you feel very sorry for the musicians. Not because they aren'tplaying their music well, mind you. The music is luscious, hypnoticeven, and they play it with fervor, energy. But it seems no matter howhard they try, they are a vessel for the voice that sings over them.Luckily, 27 doesn't really have that problem. The music is compellingenough to keep you there before the voice comes in, and then itimproves. Sparsely arranged, and melodically playful despite a slowertempo on the majority of the songs, "Songs From The Edge Of The Wing"is an excellent first release from 27, defining in its beauty. Thesesongs are captivating, even without Maria Christopher's sensual vocallines, but her presence is what takes 27 to the next level. She weavesin and out of the songs with the skill of a siren, singing about thetroubles and trappings of human relationships. And the variation ofstyles not only speaks well for future releases by 27, but also gives ahint of their influences and pasts. With ex-members of Dirt Merchantsand Spore present, one might not be expecting music of this subtlety.Loud moments of guitars are present, but they are few and far between.Mostly, these songs are lush, languid, the soundtrack to a dream youwait every night to have. The only seemingly awkward moment (no, theNeil Young cover of "Danger Bird" is brilliantly executed, thank you)is the latin-flavored "Lone Mariachi," where Christopher's vocals areintermingled with spoken word by someone else, who sounds frighteninglylike Mark Sandman of Morphine in areas. What do you expect from a bandfrom Boston, though? A fine release, and I wait for more...
