Although she is best known for her successful career in films, Brigitte Bardot also had a prolific recording output during the 1960s which carried over into the beginning of the '70s. Thanks to a new DVD compiling all her musical performances for French television, a new generation of fans all over the globe can get a taste of how these two media combined made B.B. the most beloved pop icons in French history.
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The most recent evidence of the enduring peculiarity of the humancondition comes in the form of this collection of on-air sermons by theself-proclaimed "Reverend" Lester Knox of Tifton, Georgia. Lester Knoxis a radio personality of questionable religious pedigree, but withenough hootin' n' hollerin' holy-ghost ferocity to more than compensatefor his lack of Biblical acumen. Knox was something of an eccentric whofelt his message was important enough to buy airtime, out of pocket,every week for more than 18 years to broadcast his demented God-typemessage to Southern Georgia, despite his rather noticeable speechimpediment. Recorded straight off the airwaves between the years of1982 and 1992 by cult rocker Tom Smith (of To Live and Shave in LA), Put Your Face in Gwodoffers 71 minutes of the more unhinged moments of Knox's broadcasts.The recording quality varies from endearingly low-fi to annoyinglyshitty, but Lester Knox still comes through loud and clear, deliveringhis hellfire-and-brimstone message of sweaty-toothed allegiance to thespirit in the sky. Knox is frequently joined in the studio by arevolving cast of blithering hayseeds, powhitetrash and hill people,many of whom are invited to warble a gospel number or two, and theirperformances give new meaning to the term neo-primitive. Astutelisteners of The Incredible String Band will recognize "The World IsNot My Home" as the coda to "Ducks on a Pond." Many of these gospeltunes are in the classic repertoire of devotional folk hymns, asdocumented in Harry Smith's Anthology of Folk Music, but you'renever heard them like this. Unorthodox guitar tunings and hilariouslyoff-key vocals contribute to the real-people/outsider feel of thismaterial. But Knox himself is the main attraction, whooping wildly andfeverishly whipping up religious fervor: "Amen, I FEEL the power ofGOD! Somebody is in this radio station besides us! Do you HEAR me outthere in radioland?" A chorus of measured amens from the in-studioflock can be heard throughout the disc. Despite this apparent support,at times, Knox seems to be suffering from severe bipolar mood swings;howling and speaking in tongues one minute, quietly crying andbemoaning his own frustrated existence the next. One particularlyfragile segment has Knox desperately yelling vain threats of divineretribution to whatever imp is making the lights go on and off in thestudio during his broadcast: "Somebody in here is a-messin' with thislight, goin' off and on...You mess with a man of God, and God'll knockyou down! Do you hear me, women and men?" Put Your Face in Gwodis everything I could possibly want from an outsider document;simultaneously funny and sad, bizarre and charming, completely unhingedyet utterly human. 
Signed to Mogwai's Rock Action Records overseas, this unique projectfrom Chris Mack finally sees the shelves of the US, where listeners maynot be guite prepared for this brand of Scottish nigh-bluegrass.Nevertheless, Mack has crafted an easy to listen to thirteen tracks,about half instrumental, that approach a burgeoning awakening, and anew style along with it. Itwould be absolutely gorgeous if more Scottish bands latched on to thisstyle and went for it, starting a new craze. So far Scotland has onlyhad very limited genres to offer to the rest of the world: bagpipes,bland pop music, blistering instrumental rock, or the twee-ness ofBelle and Sebastian. There have been others, but these are the onlyones I can think of that actually went anywhere. Personally, I thinkindie Scottish twang could take off rather quickly with James OrrComplex as a leader. Here is their platform: Chris Mack is an amazingguitar player, like Django Reinhardt good, and people would gather frommiles around just to see his pickin' and grinnin' (reports of himactually grinnin' could not be confirmed at press time — it is Scotlandafter all). Second, the songs are fairly minimalist in their approach,and extremely catchy. "Mouthpiece" is a brilliant song, about drinkingand needing someone else to talk for you, and it makes anyone want totap their toes. Lastly, the songs contain lyrics that would go downwith any bluegrass or country fan: the pursuits of the downtrodden.There is some positivity, but for the most part the songs outline ageneral force out to get the little man, with titles like "HappyAdversary" and "Fade Grey to Fade Blue." In the event that it doesn'ttake off, no matter. Just leave it to the James Orr Complex and let itride, because these guys have got it all. -
It's rather hard to believe that a Tony-winning actor can record an album of indie rock this affecting and heartfelt, but that's exactly what Michael Cerveris manages. A featured actor in several successful musicals, including Hedwig and the Angry Inch and Assassins, for which he got the Tony, Cerveris is probably more known for that vocation, and less known as the lead singer of the band Retriever. Along the way in his career, he has also performed with Pete Townshend and Bob Mould on albums and tours. All of these experiences inform his debut solo album, a global-jaunt recording project with all the musician friends he's made over the years. And where his vocal stylings onstage are more presentational, on these songs he sings from the heart more than from the lungs and diaphragm.
On this second album from the former D Generation frontman he provesthat his debut was not a fluke, and even betters it wherever possible.Maybe it's the fact that he produced it himself, or maybe because hedistanced himself from Ryan Adams on this release more, but Malin'ssongs have more power, more flavor, and definitely more presence thanbefore. This may also be attributed to the stellar guests thatcontribute, from Eli Janney of Girls Against Boys to formerReplacements and Guns N' Roses bassist Tommy Stinson. Where his lastrecord concentrated on self-destruction, this record seems to centermore on self-healing through sympathy. Malin reaches out to himself andto others on this record with equal strength, much in a way ofidentification, but also as a cry for help so that he doesn't go downalone. Anchoring it all is a sometimes plaintive, sometimes gale windforce of country-fed rock, with Malin's unique voice front and center.He's always been adept at telling stories, and this record is nodifferent, with tales of beauties and delinquents alike, successful ornot. There are concerns about the way our country is going intermingledwith the story of the girl who left a mark, and there's never a jarringmoment. Malin does rely a bit too much on couplets in his songs, and itdoes annoy after a while, but the quick rhymes are all part of hisappeal. Where Springsteen was all about songs for and chronicling theworking man, Malin's are for and about the freaks and castaways, thelate night lounge lizards and the men who dress up in their mother'sclothes. The beautiful thing is that there is no judgment in his words:he simply presents things as they are, and with a quasi-endearmentwhich embraces while it informs. Already more successful solo than heever was in a band, Malin is proving to be one of the new rock and rollpoets, whether he likes it or not. The Heat is on, all the time, and the streets are ripe with more to tell. -
Neubauten's first album of the 1990s, is one of my favorite albums of the decade and Mute's expanded reissue generously comes with a bonus disc of nearly all the tracks released on the Interim and Malediction singles. It's an important point in their career, as, for the first time, the group seriously explored their more quiet, pretty, and introspective side. Even the album cover and lavish booklets suggest that Neubauten's intentions were to move the public perception away from being a noise/rock/ post-industrial outfit to more of an art band.
The two latest Mute releases from the vaults of Einstüzende Neubauten both conveniently fill spaces before and after the series of self-issued remasters as well as they each represent beginnings. Kalte Sterne collects some of the first Neubauten recordings from 1980 through 1992, in Berlin first as a duo of Blixa Bargeld and N.U. Unruh through 1982 where the long running steady quintet was established with F.M. Einheit, Mark Chung, and Alexander Hacke.
I always like knowing that Mark Nelson is involved in a new album. Whether he's involved in Labradford, in a collaboration with another musician, or is writing music as Pan?American, Nelson's compositions always come as welcome, quiet, and warm embraces. Quiet City, his fourth Pan?American album, is a much different recording than 2003's The River Made No Sound
Matt Waldron's music as Irr. App. (Ext.) covers a spectrum from hallucinatory and intricate strings of sound that are broadcast from the universe of the wacky to found-sound recordings that share spaces with crunching glass, odd-ball vocal samples, and gorgeous guitar. Ozeanische Gef?le, however, comes as a complete surprise. Rooted in the experiments, philosophy, and beliefs of Wilhelm Reich, the term "ozeanische gef?le" translates, roughly, as "oceanic feelings." This term is wonderfully appropriate for the music Waldron has assembled on this recording. The self-titled and 42 minute opener is a consistently hypnotizing blend of bells, wooden drums (I think?), organs, submerged choirs, obscured hums, brushes, crickets, and solar flares. These references and images may seem fanciful, but one listen to the record will reveal that Waldron has somehow recorded life and placed it on a compact disc. Waldron's most exciting and captivating technique is his blending of completely opposite sounds into a whole. No matter how disparate Waldron's sound sources may be (horses trotting on brick roads, a poorly tuned ukulele, wooden boards crashing, rain drops and thunder, there are a ton of sounds I'm sure I'm missing), they sound entirely perfect together. The result is a strangely fascinating organism of living tissue, meterological events, and cosmic birth and death. The music isn't just fascinating though, it isn't just some exercise in academic sound collage. The sounds course and wind into eachother and make a heavenly soft bed out of the air. The combination of bells, buzzes, sonic burps, and resounding echoes is radiant and graceful and never fails to soothe or entertain. The second track, "The Demiurge's Presumption," carries over from the sonic dust of the first 40+ minutes and blows it up to the tune of expanding straws, static electricty, broken springs, and divine presence. There is a constant ring through the track that attempts to obscure the work of a stream of sounds that pulses steadily beneath it. On the whole, the final track is a much more dense affair than "Ozeanische Gef?le," but it is a fitting end to the quiet sanctuary that much of this album is. It fades away into silence as a stringed instrument is plucked randomly and softly out of existence. This silence lasts only a few moments before a strange collage of bird sounds, bubble-like distortion, and phased noises lap over and into themselves. As the music flows throughout this album, as it moves away from its center and produces newer sounds and more diversity, it becomes more and more addicting. Waldron is demonstrating another side of his musical personality that had been hidden from view for too long and the resulting musical tide is mind-blowing.
