Latest late August releases for your perusal!

Manatella - "Eye Spy"
The album reminds me very much of early Throwing Muses with the dual female vocals and blocky folk feel to an otherwise straight indie pop record with some very basic basslines. This is probably the most polished song of the bunch, with a little extra in the rhythm and guitars to keep it flowing. Played on 8/23/07.

Clare & The Reasons - "Rodi"
Berklee school grad uses her (and daddy's) connections to get a FBI wanted list worth of guest stars from Van Dyke Parks to Sufjan Stevens on what basically is a Frente record for the new century. In other words, a whole lotta effort for something that works best when it's sweet and unencumbered by 5,000 guest stars.

Odd Nosdam - "The Kill Tone Two"
The UK buzz is already cranking on the latest Odd Nosdam, which is still as odd as previous releases but admittedly in different ways. Not as experimental with unexpected WTF moments but containing plenty of left-field ideas, just more seamlessly presented. This one has a few spoken word guests including the guy from TV on the Radio which makes it more likely to get played in the near future.

The Lickets - "Crowd of Pimps in The Rain"
Background music fodder from this Chicago-style instrumental combo. They meld extreme repetition (in this song a plingy guitar-like instrument) with some less predictable elements taking foreground/background duties. Not interesting enough for a solo spin but it's queued for possible concert report music duty.

Christian Scott - "Void"
Concord Jazz decided to ship an extra review copy to the indie-rock kids, and for good reason. This particular track melds an Explosions in the Sky style backing with Christian's melancholy horn playing for an effective concert report music combo on 8/23/07. Most of the other tracks are crafted from a similar pattern, with either mathy or shoegazery backing to reasonable effect. Still, unless we can get Chris Bobko of the LRC interested I bet I'm the only one who will spin it. Maybe Ken Field?

Amiina - "Hilli"
Saw these four multi-instrumental Icelandic females open for Sigur Ros once, and must admit they are more impressive on stage than record. Here it's just overly pretty-precious background music fodder, great wallpaper but not worth noticing in the foreground. Very repetitive and heavily syncopated with just about every pluckable instrument available making some sort of guest appearance.

Maps - "To The Sky"
Thanks to the listener who tipped me off on these guys, I had missed it in the new rack back in July. Worth at least one spin (on 8/23/07), it has a free-flowing electronic/pop hybrid feel not unlike the One AM Radio combining tight drumming with breathily laconic male vocals containing airy reverb. Ticks along at a pleasant pace, the Mobius Band is another comparative touchstone.

Mr. Scruff/Spank Rock - "Get A Move On/What It Look Like"
Scion sponsors a Ninja Tune mix series which periodically show up on our doorstep at WMBR, this one was compiled by Spank Rock. The tune is basically a mash-up of the two artists, since I do enjoy the organic experimentation of Mr. Scruff quite a bit it's no surprise this hip-hop confabulation worked best for me. How this helps as a marketing tool to sell cars I'm unsure, but considering they're up to #18 in the series I suppose someone's deemed it effective. I'll stick with Subaru thanks very much.

The New Pornographers - "Mutiny, I Promise You"
Each new New Porno release seems like a slight step down from their previous effort, I can't find anything here that surpasses even the mid-level tracks like "Slow Descent" or "Execution Day" from Mass Romantic. Not to say the disc is awful, just treading well-trodden ground in a "when do we get an out-of-step Bejar track"/"when will Neko cut loose" kind of familiarity. Like most supergroups the well is starting to dry up from lack of creative excitement and time spend on other more worthy projects. Played it on 8/16/07 as a public service to y'all.

Rilo Kiley - "Silver Lining"
I've often said in 10 years we'll all be embarrased we lavished this much attention on a mediocre band like Rilo Kiley. Perhaps my estimate was off by 7 years or so. The best moments are the ones that sound like they should have been saved for the Watson Twins 2 album instead of being sacrificed to over-production and the overt commercial orientation of this record. It's a shame because this feels like it has puppet strings waggling the band in the background, though I've never thought of them as being overly brave (musicially that is) in the first place.

Pinback - "From Nothing To Nowhere"
Can't say I found much to love about the new Pinback either, beyond the leadoff track and one other song. It's another case where too many elements have drifted them away from the smoothly motivating Sea & Cake-ish style into an overloaded model that eschews efficiency for style and dual DVD players for the kids.

Numbers - "Fantasy Life"
Never been a huge Numbers fan though they have plenty of other WMBR devotees to their heavily frazzled rock feel. This one calms down enough to be a passable Blonde Redhead knockoff with awkward female vocals and sloppy guitars. This is not wound nearly as tight as anything from BR.

Shock Cinema - "Howling Door (Evasion)"
Mining the goth-punk genre with buried female vocals, spooky keyboards and super fuzzy bass from a 45 Grave era gone past. This particular selection doesn't really attempt to rock too much, instead going for tempo changes that increase the spooky factor. Quite effective despite my less-than lavish praise.

Dave Jones Xperience - "Mountain Road"
We get oh so many releases that never get spun on WMBR, and I listen to most of them. Quite simply they are terrible hand-made records, mostly people trying to knock off their favorite artist or latest style in subprime fashion with terrible lyrics. Many are laughable, yet I still feel for people so committed that they're willing to shell out the money to record, print, and mail these things. Nevertheless, we could fill a weekly hour-long show on WMBR called "Your Band Sucks" with immense yet misguided entertainment. The Dave Jones Xperience is an example of these types of bands at their best, as a poorly photoshopped cover of the dude's cat and his "isn't that a stalker?" picture with a Wendy O. Williams t-shirt tell you everything you need to know about this gentlemen and his musical output. Many of the songs have a high head-scratching factor, like this one warning us to slow down on mountain roads lest we end up in a ditch. Deserves an ending slot on the show, and soon.

Home Blitz - "Right Cut Even"
Pretty much what you'd expect from a Gulcher release that isn't a focus on some poorly recorded & barely remembered late-70's garage punk band. Instead it's a recent day distillation of that same garage punk/power pop hybrid with little concern for recording fidelity or 3+ minute song lengths. At just under 100 seconds it does make for a perfect filler track if the need arises. I also like how this song literally stops for a chat-up when the ride he's looking for finally arrives.

Prinzhorn Dance School - "Hamworthy Sports and Leisure Center"
Ok they want to be The Fall. REALLY want to be the Fall circa 82 or so. If you think Mark E lost it when he started to use more than two instruments per song here's a new disc for you. Male/Female vox but the sung/shouted male vox about non-subjects are definitely the most prominent. Not to say it isn't a competent distillation of the sound, just that after 4 tracks or so the novelty wore off for me, surpassed by the "I get it, I get it" factor.

Love Like Fire - "SOS"
Not an ABBA cover unfortunately. Instead it's typical Rainer Maria style rock with a female singer and friendly 80's leaning rock backing. You know, they type with a dut-dut-dut-dut-dut dut-dut-dut-dut-dut bassline and keyboards that only show up during the soaring chorus. That being said, they hit the combo ball on at least one track so kudos there (and here).

Patrizia & Jimmy - "Trust Your Child Pt. 1"
Another Numero Group compilation, or should I say excavation of rare 60's/70's soul tracks. This one claims a title of the ABC's of kid soul, or cute pre-teens with limited vocal skill trying to pry our hearts away. On the leadoff track an extremely effective duo provide just as many reasons not to trust your child as they do the other side of the argument which a wonderful but basic funk band augments. The closing track on 8/23/07.

Oakley Hall - "Angela"
Dirty smelly faux-folk hippies clean it up just a little bit on their first album for Merge. There's still plenty of slow & scattered Gram Parsons inspired efforts but this particular track goes for more of a mid-stream chick-folk-pop execution ... think mid-period Downy Mildew. Sweet & nice, I have not a complaint and played it on 8/23/07.

Dolly Varden - "Small Pockets"
Some country pop (more country, less pop) from the Chicago area with traded male/female vocals. Disappointing in that Cowboy Junkies without-the-VU-obsession kind of way, tough to criticize them too harshly but at the same time it's like a tasteless glass of good wine, it works while it's front and center but soon after the experience I have a hard time remembering the distinguishing characteristics.

Lindsay Anderson - "Sweetness & Light"
Vocalist from the group L'Altra steps out on her own. This is one of the few tracks I thought didn't stray too far into AAA territory, instead relying on a spacious drums/chimes/strings arrangement that allows Lindsay time to paint her voice across the sonic canvas. Quite lovely, too bad the rest of the record doesn't show a similar restraint.