Panda Bear - "I'm Not"
The leadoff track on this new Panda Bear full-length is about as dead-on as a Brian Wilson knockoff can get. This particular song is more glitchy but no less satisfying. On the production side the glistening sheen of this works much more for me than his Animal Collective stuff ... perhaps he should continue on the solo path.
Grant Lee Phillips - "Raise The Spirit"
Grant Lee Buffalo frontman with another solo effort, this one has a strong Marc Bolan feel filtered through his alt.country leanings. No real T. Rex moments, think about that band's predecessor and you'll get closer to the flavour of this particular effort. This song is about as dead-on as it gets on the record.
Jarvis Cocker - "Tonite"
Well, this solo effort is not up to Richard Hawley's high standards but still enjoyable in its own right. They both mine similar territory, moodier efforts with a look to the past rather than forging a new future. Jarvis sonically colors things a little brighter as you'd expect with some touches of dark humour here and there.
Helen Stellar - "Diane"
A band, not a woman. Thank the lord, as you'd hope someone with the surname Stellar would avoid naming their daughter Helen. Harkens back to early 90's shoegaze rock and does a reasonable job capturing the flavor. They're no Early Years mind you but a few tracks are blustery enough to blow some good vibes.
Menomena - "The Pelican"
These gents are usually good for one track per album, though this one comes across totally different that previous efforts. Instead of tight metronomic lockstep rock this one crashes and bangs like a drunkard with time changes and layer upon layer of vocals. Dramatic intensity is a plus.
Marnie Stern - "The Weight of a Rock"
The tape manipulation chorus takes the five simple words above (plus a handful more) and wraps them around each other - definitely the highlight of this song for me. Urgent spindly rock backing blasts through the tune in herky jerky sub 3 minute style.
Adult - "You Don't Worry Enough"
Some of the advance press promised a stylistic change on this Adult (oops, it's Adult.) release, but happily enough it's pretty much the same icy cold new wave dance rock with more emphasis on guitar and less on voice. In the end, its still very identifiably Adult with frozen synths and drum-machine beats driving the business.
Maria Taylor - "Irish Goodbye"
One half of the Azure Ray duo goes the Orenda Fink route (actually I think Maria's first came out before Orenda's but I digress) and offers this very satisfying solo release on Saddle Creek. Quality stuff all the way through, adds much more of a pop dance feel to the formula and sonically it reminds me of the TPS mix of "New Resolution" with some fantastic synthetic beats punctuated with jangly guitars and addictive vocal samples.
Joakim - "Lonely Hearts"
Overall this record is a bit of a fractured mess, hard to get a grip on its many stylistic shifts. I prefer the new wavey tracks of which this is one, a few other nuggets of lucidity pop through the cut and paste collage of electronic elements.
Sybarite - "Dot The Lines"
Another fine melding of the electronic and organic in this mostly instrumental release, perfect for concert report music. It served dutifully on 3/1/07. This one is punctuated with some vocals, but most bounce between happy and moody.
Kieran Hebden and Steve Reid - "Mirrors"
Speaking of background music, here's the concert report companion from 3/8/07. Call it a Four Tet solo project though there's probably more people involved here than on the primary identity. It's also much simpler than the last layer upon layer upon layer of the last Four Tet album. Which in my book means it's much more enjoyable.
The Twilight Sad - "I'm Taking The Train Home"
The extremely prominent Glasgow burr of the vocalist put me off this full-length a bit though in the end the grandeur of the musical execution prompted me to mark this one on the plus side of the ledger. This track made the grade for its elliptical lyrics and build and wane guitar attack.
Softlightes - "Untitled Duet #3"
Pretty much anything on Modular will get a mention on this blog as I find their selections almost always align with my sensibilities. This one's more scattershot in style than most, this particular tune gets closest to the elements that comprise the band's name, a piano driven country-esque duet with some pesky squalling in the background. The rest of the disk jumps around a bit.
Bang Gang - "Something Wrong"
This tune is rather aquatic sounding, using some submarine percussion with some menacing synths to communicate the idea that something is wrong. Based on the ep we received from them I wasn't expecting the balance of this disc to be more introspective and folky (in style if not execution) but it has some Viva Voce type moments.
Peggy Honeywell - "Birthday Boy"
Nu-folker covering perhaps my favorite Ween song of all time and doing it a great service. The original is heartwrenching in its honesty and this sparse execution brings the emotion to the forefront. My only complaint - it's so short!
Dead Heart Bloom - "Someday Soon Our Time Will Come"
Reserved this one from a mostly acoustic folk-country effort. Difficult to discern the differences between these rather reserved tune but this has some nice female backing and a solid lick at its core. The record is available free to download.
Bow Thayer - "The Way That It Swings"
The album is actually credited to "Bow Thayer with Levon Helm" ... I guess if you get a member of The Band to drum on your record the least you can do it put him above the fold. As you might guess this one's straight 70's country rock with some horns, not typical BoC fare but I worked it into the 3/15/07 show.
Jesse Malin - "Don't Let Them Take You Down"
The Ryan Adams protege continues his solo career with this sweet sounding disc, the production on both his efforts has been stellar. Joanie was hoping for more of a D-Generation vibe but this one hunts for what little space commerical rock records can find these days with a slight country vibe (aka Brooce). Spun on the 3/15/07 show.
Walker Kong - "Lonesome Eyes"
Really enjoyed the first record from this indie-pop group, subsequent efforts haven't quite found the same production effort. The awkward vocals weave in and out of this late 80's UK pop leaning tune. The build and layering of sonic elements is interesting and there's even a bit of Clash in there for the punkers.
Wilderness Pangs - "Roundabout Ways"
One of those art-in-the-garage type projects that has plenty of fragmented song ideas melded with passion (or is that liquor) but not much else. Still I liked some of the tone behind the rather muffled production and put this one to the side for further consideration. It seems on the verge of collapse from note #1 and predictably implodes before recovering for a quite coherent solo.
Land of Talk - "All My Friends"
Femme-fronted indie rock. Predictably my favourite song curses like a sailor in a cold shower limiting its airplay potential. I liked the reverb on the vocals and fuzzy guitar tone but it still has a very live first take feel regardless.
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