Canadian Audiophile’s Reviews and News

December 17, 2008

Karl Blau – Nature’s Got Away

Filed under: 2008, blues, experimental, folk, music, pop, rock — Tags: , — Jordan Richardson @ 12:27 am

karl-blau-natures-got-away

When it comes to Karl Blau, it’s all about listening.

Based out of Anacortes in Washington State, one finds a real sense of the magnificence of the Pacific Northwest in his work. Equal parts shade and splendour, Blau’s DIY pieces have a quiet sensibility about them that belies a musician gifted as much in the art of listening to noise as he is in making it.

Blau’s latest, Nature’s Got Away, finds the performer pulling in on the stick a little bit. While previous records have featured a meandering exploration of sound, including the soft electronica of 2007’s Dance Positive and the raw experimentalism of 2006’s Beneath Waves, this record is cohesive and tenderly balanced.

As Blau effectively listens his way through the album, something special occurs. Melodies are flawed, guitar and keyboard dissolve together with a tone of deficiency, and his vocals drive in and out of dark tunnels with no headlights. This is music that Karl Blau allows to exist and he lets the arrangements go where they must instead of forcing them into a corner. At times, it almost seems as though the songs get away from him. At other times, Blau is working overtime at taming the beast within.

There is sweet exactness in the flaws, gentleness in the failed experiments, and loveliness in the unsightly paths he takes.

Take “Carry and Rob,” for instance. Piano plunks arbitrarily below a funky basin, filling Blau’s forest floor up with sounds that are simultaneously unpleasant and dazzling. His use of distortion is elegant and abrupt, bursting forward from what appears to be a straightforward grind and changing into a monster mid-phrase.

“Before Telling Dragons” finds Blau reaching a gorgeous zenith. Unfolding simply and good-naturedly, the track is gentle folk at its best. And “Make Love That Lasts” uses rhythmic guitar and the cracks in his vocals to generate a delicately heartbreaking, graceful tune.

“2 Becomes 1” may well be the finest folk rock tune of the year, bouncing with a wonderfully heart-warming gait as Blau’s lower registry and half-spoken vocals channel a touch of Eddie Vedder meshed with Dylan. The awkward guitar accents are the perfect touch over the glowing tune and the solo cuts to the heart.

Nature’s Got Away is a beautiful album. This collection of songs is exquisite, resonating from deep within the forests of the Pacific Northwest with all of the mesmeric splendour that only nature can bring. Karl Blau is a unique talent and this elegant record is as close to flawed perfection as one can get. It is truly wonderful stuff.

9.5/10

December 16, 2008

Delta Spirit – Ode to Sunshine

Filed under: 2008, alternative rock, blues, folk, music, pop, rock — Tags: , — Jordan Richardson @ 5:55 am

delta-spirit

Part of the magnificence of having the luck to do this work is having the fortune of discovering something extraordinary. I have had a few such experiences this year, with the most recent coming in the form of a small, modest San Diego quintet.

Featuring some of the most contagious melodies of the year, Delta Spirit’s Ode to Sunshine is one of those albums that deserves multiple spins and conjures visions of pure enchantment. With enough sandy waltzes and beautiful rockers to bring a smile to even the most weather-beaten mug, this is one of the best albums of 2008.

Based out of San Diego, Delta Spirit has an unsophisticated worth that goes beyond most youthful indie upstarts and ventures into the territory of tested performers.

Ode to Sunshine is a spirit-quenching force of folk, soul, Southern rock, and indie greatness. It is everything music should be. With cheering balladry and continuous soulfulness, this debut springs with character and sparkle.

Led by singer Matt Vasquez, Delta Spirit’s plan of attack is one entrenched in history and independent thinking. “Louis Armstrong, Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, Nick Cave, Talking Heads. They’re characters, almost folkloresque, because they did exactly what they wanted to do,” he told The Boston Globe. Citing Alan Lomax and Jelly Roll Morton, Vasquez is a musical personality without a trace of insincerity or ingratitude.

Instead, Vasquez’s Delta Spirit is completely engaged in the hope of music-making. Ode to Sunshine swells with that hope, invoking a spiritual experience through its eleven exquisite tracks. The album was recorded in a cabin in the woods in Southern California in one week. It feels clean, tight, and altogether unique.

Ode to Sunshine opens with a quick little ditty, “Tomorrow Goes Away,” that feels like a front porch jam between the best of friends. And as the album courses warmly forward, that’s really what every track sounds like. Free of posturing, incongruity, and unnecessary glitz, this is extraordinary stuff.

Take, for instance, the achingly elegant piano as it leads through “Trashcan.” Vasquez’s vocals radiantly dispense into the song, stretching out with a hoarse but exclusively converted step. The rest of the band plays abundantly alongside him, popping through a stunningly-textured refrain. The swirling guitar accents towards the close of the song ice the cake.

“House Built for Two” is a soft meditation set to a waltz rhythm, while “Streetwalker” unfolds superbly to splashing cymbals and an unimpeachable guitar solo.

Along with the beautiful moments, there’s a good amount of foot-stomping testifying going on too. “People C’mon” is a surefire hit, bounding with forceful roots guitar and Vasquez’s insistence on firing up his people and driving forward with no wavering. “If you’re feeling what I’m feeling, c’mon, all you soul-searching people, c’mon,” he shouts, rallying the troops.

Astonishingly, every moment on Ode to Sunshine is compelling and infused with an irony-free modesty. Whether they’re working with harmonicas, trashcan lids, slide guitars, pianos, strings, or trumpets, Delta Spirit pours it all into the stew. There is limitless heart to this music and Ode to Sunshine provides yet another example that all is positively not lost in contemporary music.

9.6/10

December 14, 2008

Innerpartysystem – Innerpartysystem

Filed under: 2008, experimental, music, pop — Tags: — Jordan Richardson @ 5:44 am

innerpartysystem

Filled with zealous sparks of brilliance and shards of pop/emo/punk/electronic/dance awesomeness, Innerpartysystem’s self-titled debut is a speaker-rattling thunderbolt.

Based out of Pennsylvania, Innerpartysystem began out of the remnants of an emo band. Singer Patrick Nissley and drummer Jared Piccone were members of Thirteen Over Eight before they started The Takeover (which was later renamed as Innerpartysystem based on a hodgepodge of Orwellian social classes) and started gathering acclaim for their vigorous and colourful live shows.

The musical aesthetic of Innerpartysystem is largely based on two levels of existence. The first is a delightfully delicate spell of electronica and the second is a sort of foot-stomping quasi-anthemic emo drive complete with dejection and eye shadow.

“Die Tonight Live Forever” begins with thick bass creases that call to mind a touch of drone. A swell of hard dance takes over and Nissley’s vocals soar over robotic backing voices. “We’re all here ‘cause we’ve lost control,” the mechanized singers murmur. The cut’s passionate underpinning helps provide a boost, giving the song a sense of mass and depth.

Other tunes find Innerpartysystem with a leg on each side of the line between industrial rock and dance pop.

“Last Night in Brooklyn” is a sparkling number, working tasty programming patterns with ease and cranking out a crisp mid-tempo jam. And “Obsession” furthers Innerpartysystem’s straddling of the line, bumping out textured resonance that swirls with a sense of detachment and yet pulsates with intimate cadence.

“Don’t Stop” is certainly Innerpartysystem’s keystone of agitation. A grinding, insistent cut, Nissley uses a noisy backing track as the milieu for his derisive tirade regarding disproportionate celebrity adulation. “I feed the rich and fuck the poor!” he acerbically gloats over a harshly-paced electro-riff.

One of the more convincing aspects of this debut is the pace and song position. Nissley and the boys work impetuous patterns, sliding softer and prettier songs after the album’s more discordant numbers. While the preponderance of the material is mid-to-low tempo, Innerpartysystem never runs low on force or groove.

While Innerpartysystem is musically sturdy, Nissley’s lyrics often seem torn from a miserable teen’s MySpace blog. The bulk of the record runs over recognizable ground, with stories of lost love and pristine revulsion spilling over into the compositions. “I used to think that you were pure, but now I see that you’re just empty,” Nissley states with qualified daftness on “New Poetry.”

A few missteps aside, Innerpartysystem’s debut is quick and pleasingly appealing. The blend of industrial rock and dance music plays well and the band has a good sense of steadiness. Nissley’s vocals are a little slapdash at times, but he’s a tough enough frontman for the group and hits on some exciting moments. All in all, this marks an impressive introduction for the quartet. 

6.7/10

December 11, 2008

Kurupt and Roscoe – The Frank and Jess Story

Filed under: 2008, hip hop, music, pop, rap — Tags: , , , , , — Jordan Richardson @ 6:38 am

kurupt

American outlaws Frank and Jesse James were among the most notorious bandits in history. Wreaking havoc and robbing was a way of life for the James Brothers, as they shot their way across the state of Missouri and committed a series of raids with the James-Younger Gang. Jesse was eventually murdered by Robert Ford while cleaning a dusty picture, while Frank went on to give tours of the James Farm and died at age 72 in 1915.

Often romanticized, the James Brothers are frequently elevated to legendary status and used as examples for the gangster and thug lifestyle. With lives coated in heartbreak and odd sadness, the real story behind the James-Younger Gang and their activities is never quite as thrilling as the romanticized versions.

And perhaps that’s what takes the wind out of the sails of Kurupt and Roscoe’s The Frank and Jess Story. The title, an ode to the aforementioned James Brothers, sparks a sense of revitalization. Blood is thicker than water and West Coast rapper Kurupt is banking on that connection with his younger brother Roscoe in their debut record as a duo.

Kurupt, the former executive vice president of Death Row Records and member of Tha Dogg Pound, carries this record. He takes the majority of the workload and handles his business well, dropping some of his usual braggadocio and sprinkling his street wisdom into the pockets. Roscoe seems talented, but here he is essentially underwhelming.

Make no mistake about it, Kurupt is the selling feature here. Having dropped rhymes on just about every early Death Row record in the heyday of gangsta rap, he’s a solid MC when he sticks with what he knows. Sadly, that also often makes him sound redundant and pointlessly dull. Having never surpassed his best record (1999’s Tha Streetz Iz a Mutha), Kurupt has been left on the sidelines while other, better rappers from the gangsta rap movement have progressed.

In a day and age when rappers are going political or engaging in the social issues of our time, Kurupt and Roscoe impenitently live and appear to flourish in the past. The lyrics are still about weed, bitches, and bling. The weird inclusion of Gail Gotti, Kurupt’s wife, on one of the record’s two strip club anthems (“Like Dem Girls”) furthers the notion that Kurupt and Roscoe might be a little behind the times.

The record’s other strip club anthem, the indolent and disused “Lap Dance,” is as bad as every other lap dance-related hip hop track besides N.E.R.D.’s take and oozes the same inanity. The beat is sluggish and dreary and the lyrics lack punch and essence.

As if The Frank and Jess Story needed to prove its obsolete nature any further, Too Short shows up on “Break It Down Like” and delivers his usual vociferous punches. Unfortunately, he doesn’t mesh with the track very well and the whole effort winds up sounding really lethargic and passé. The same game happens with the majority of the record, capping a rather lacklustre entry.

The Frank and Jess Story features a promising duo in Kurupt and Roscoe, both of whom have utilized their talents to much greater effects elsewhere, but in the end the music and lyrics are just unimaginative and barren.

2/10

The Japanese Popstars – We Just Are

Filed under: 2008, experimental, music, pop — Tags: , — Jordan Richardson @ 6:35 am

thejapanesepopstars

Devastating and gorgeous all at once,The Japanese Popstars’ We Just Are is one of the most enthralling records of the year. Much in the same way Bristol’s Fuck Buttons unloaded obliterating noise on one of the best albums of 2008,Street Horrrsing, The Japanese Popstars have similar ferocity in their approach to the ultimate purity of sound.

Based out of Derry, Northern Ireland, The Japanese Popstars are three vastly talented DJs. Gareth Donoghue, Declan McLaughlin, and Gary Curran amassed their skills into one collective after playing together and performing at a variety of music festivals to much critical acclaim.

Part of what makes We Just Are, the trio’s debut, work so superbly is the approach. Every song crackles with a cuff of electronic righteousness and the punctuation of drum-and-bass accents. Noises blast out from beneath the covers, forming thunderous segments of music with mesmerizing production.

“Face Melter” does exactly what the title suggests, providing a skin-liquefying cocktail of clanging clatter, rave beats, and rolling energy. The sound swells, staggeringly stops, and toys with standards of formation with a deformed upper level and serenity-testing synth sure to blow a few speakers.

The broad-shouldered “Sample Whore” rides a wave of scathing white noise into a collapse of orgasmic ecstasy, using malformed delight as a beat and carving out a vital bulge that builds until the unavoidable culmination when everything is washed away in a flourish of speckled sound.

Tracks like “B.C.T.T.” and “Anthepic: We Have Taken Over” are rock-hard near-ambient tunes that spread out magically like flowers set to greet a summer’s day. “The Smile” ignites similarities with the likes of Orbital and Underworld.

Ultimately, The Japanese Popstars have crafted a charitable spell of stunning music. Their range as a group is palpable, with equal parts reverence and genre-bending grandeur coursing through We Just Are. There is no beat the trio will not play with and no ground they will not break the fuck open.

“Rise of Ulysses” is an outrageous track with a brilliant synth whine and enough starts-and-stops to mystify a traffic cop. And “F19B (Droppin’ Bombs)” is hell-bent on taxing eardrums with cyclic splatter.

The debut album from The Japanese Popstars is a monster. A brute to be reckoned with for tent-dwelling ravesters and a chillingly intricate piece of music for the rest of us, We Just Are introduces the onset of this trio of DJs with pageantry, edge, ferociousness, and magnificence. 

9.3/10

December 8, 2008

Lions – No Generation

Filed under: 2008, alternative rock, blues, music, rock — Tags: , — Jordan Richardson @ 5:49 pm

lions

Based out of Austin, Lions snarl to life amidst a squall of furious guitars and thumping drums. With a sound that calls upon late-’80s Soundgarden, a touch of Fu Manchu, and a good ol’ dose of Kyuss, the quartet from Texas have come up with a heavy, bluesy, ultimately rewarding record with No Generation.

Formed in the late summer of 2005, Lions have toured ceaselessly with the likes of Burning Brides, Blue Cheer, Local H, and the Toadies. And, as a true sign of having arrived, their track “Metal Heavy Lady” appears on Guitar Hero 3.

Led by lead singer and guitarist Matt Drenik, these Lions pace the jungle with a slow, stoned swagger. Infused with the ’60s, ’70s, and early ’90s, No Generation finds this band ripping through an amalgamation of different sounds and discovering their own in the midst of shadowy guitar riffs and some seriously solid grooves.

No Generation is short, clocking in at less than 40 minutes, but it manages to coax many a thick jam out of the time. Austin Kalman’s guitar adds a sense of coating to the tracks, while Trevor Sutcliffe’s bass and Jake Perlman’s rolling drums drive the music from the bottom up. As a band, they are a crisp entity with a firm sense of timing and accuracy. At the same time, the music has a liberal and almost languorous feel about it.

Perfect for a smoke-filled van with shag carpeting, the record kicks off with the sludgy breadth of “Start Moving.” Drenik shouts the vocals over a swirling riff, calling to mind the Eddie Glass-led Nebula. The song has a pull to it, unremittingly driving through the mill with an easy lean.

As the album unfolds, the diversity of Lions starts to show. They play with grunge, pre-grunge, and ’70s jams but keep the solid riffs and hard-working stance throughout it all. This is a band that never loses the beat when experimenting and always maintains a semblance of order, even in the most ostensibly untidy moments.

That’s not to say that Lions don’t embrace the chaos every now and then. Check out the misshapen fuzz and AC/DC riffs that greet the middle of “Can You Hear Me?” The track drives with an almost industrial music grind, but snakes off through classic rock patterns with reckless abandon. And “Evil Eye” toys with the industrial pound again before rolling through a thrust that Lemmy would be proud of.

No Generation closes out with the record’s most enterprising cut, a nearly seven-minute jam called “Get Out Alive.” Guitar sprinkles the track as Sutcliffe drives it with his bass. Perlman’s kick drum provides rhythm in the psychedelic haze. Slowly-paced and progressive to the core, this beautiful cut is a brilliant way to slow things down and redeploy after the driving rock of the previous cuts.

Lions’ No Generation is a tight rock album packed with smoking jams and teases of industrial, punk, thrash, and progressive. With enough riffs to satisfy the most judicious air guitar player and plenty of stoner rock greatness, this is a record that these Lions can take pride in. 

8/10

December 4, 2008

Beyonce – I Am…Sasha Fierce

Filed under: 2008, music, pop, r&b — Tags: , , — Jordan Richardson @ 6:25 am

beyonce

Beyonce introduces us to an alter-ego that many of us have known for a long time with her third studio album I Am…Sasha Fierce. A double-album that really isn’t, this record features an impressive array of vocal acrobatics from Beyonce in her usual unpretentious but extraordinary style.

The obvious critique here isn’t really with the music but rather with the gimmick. As Sasha Fierce, Beyonce elucidates tracks of the speed and personality that were found to be more than at home on Dangerously in Love or B’Day. Indeed, there is nothing new about Sasha Fierce and nothing overly “fierce” about her either. She is remarkably docile.

The idea of splitting the disc in two is perplexing, as the entire album is only composed of eleven tracks (six are found on the I Am… disc, the remaining five are on Sasha Fierce). Is a double disc really necessary? Nope. Beyonce has precisely and skilfully displayed these two sides before, so it almost seems like a wasted trick. At least when Christina gave us Back to Basics there was a reason for the second disc.

But hell, such are marketing gimmicks…

The music itself is enjoyable and fulfilling, with Beyonce’s emotional approach to singing evident in every track. She pours herself into each one, laying her soul bare for the listener with no shame and little use for theatrics.

It is the first disc that is the most stimulating and, ironically, the most dynamic. Here, Beyonce lays out the strong single “If I Were A Boy” and allows her voice to soar through the upper registry with ease and purity. The track is one of the album’s most impressive, coursing through the bloodline of a woman scorned with no apologies and a sense of brutal irony. Beyonce doesn’t just run through a litany of “guy excuses” either; she’s telling a deeply personal story and it works like a charm.

“Broken-Hearted Girl” is breathtaking, as Beyonce catches all of the right notes and pours herself into the song with command and control. Strings drive through the background, punctuating what could easily be a lame self-affirmation ballad with notes of necessity and feeling. And “Satellites” is a stunning song accented by soft guitar and Beyonce’s graceful voice.

Her take on “Ave Maria” is affectionate, offering some updated lyrics and an utterly astounding arrangement sure to give chills to the listener.

The second disc introduces us to Sasha Fierce starting with the fun single “Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It).” Accented by a sound effect that sounds like it’s from Frogger, the cut’s beat should work well in dance halls.

Fierce, who Beyonce designed “exclusively for the stage,” wears a “roboglove” designed by New York-based jeweler Lorraine Schwartz. The alter-ego came to light when Beyonce was recording her 2003 hit “Crazy In Love” and has been developing ever since in the mind of the singer. Interestingly, the lyrics for the Sasha Fierce disc are not included with the record. Curious listeners can check out www.beyonceonline.com to see what she’s hiding.

Sasha Fierce carries on with more songs that are incontestably club-ready but remarkably risk-free. “Radio” finds Beyonce channeling a techno goddess, belting out a rather soft vocal pattern over club beats and a foamy synthesizer. “Diva” takes a hip-hop approach and uses 808 bass to rattle trunks and subs around the world.

It isn’t until the last track that Beyonce really finds the unchecked sexuality that the alter-ego is supposed to represent. “Video Phone” plays to many a fantasy, riding over an eerie, slinky backdrop that Trent Reznor would be proud of. Punched by moans and sliced beats, the cut is delicious in its sensuality and mischief.

I Am…Sasha Fierce is a conceptual album, no doubt about it, but it really doesn’t need to be. Beyonce never really hits the edge with Sasha Fierce until it’s too late and is much, much stronger on the first disc. The album lacks the range it needs to be a double album and, truthfully, there just aren’t enough songs to warrant the addition of another CD. 

5.6/10

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