I bought this at the Big Takeover party a few weeks ago and have been listening to it since. If this warm, emotional and intense album has a flaw, it’s that none of the other songs can match the opening one-two punch of “This is London” and “Toy Factory Fire”. McGlashan played most of this disc during his performance at the Big Takeover party a few weeks back and during the show, that latter song stood out, but it stands out even more so here. In fact, it may be the best song I’ve heard all year. Oh and while a few of his former MUTTON BIRDS bandmates appear on the record, this very much feels like a solo record and not a full band record. Being unfamiliar with his music prior to seeing him live a few weeks ago and hearing this disc, his style reminds me of PAUL BUCHANAN (from THE BLUE NILE). In other words, this is definitely music for adults, though not of the awful, adult contemporary kind.
Although headliner Amy Millan (of the excellent STARS) disappointed me with her so-so county-rock stylings, former ARCHERS OF LOAF and more recently CROOKED FINGERS mastermind Eric Bachmann stole the show with a set showcasing material from his recently released solo album To the Races.
My second time at the North Star in only five days was to see a way sold-out show by a band whose fanbase has expanded considerably in the last year or so. Thus, it was a real treat seeing them in a place so small and intimate where they could really interact with the similarly (like the band) drunken crowd. Having the Constantines open the show was a nice touch as well as what I caught of their set brought back memories of early ‘90s FUGAZI and the seemingly hundreds of bands they inspired back then who played in the nation’s basements and VFW Halls.
The late JOHN PEEL and PJ Harvey were good friends and it’s easy to see why. With a mutual love of THE FALL and the British countryside (where Harvey was raised and where Peel lived until his passing) and given that they both never chose easy career paths, it’s not surprising that Peel had her on his show on several different occasions. This disc chronicles a 1991 session where she debuted songs like “Sheela-Na-Gig” as well as several other sessions from 1993, 1996 and a performance of “You Came Through” from a Peel tribute show in 2004. The 1991 session is the real draw here, taking up a third of the entire album and presenting alternate, superior versions of songs that would end up on her debut album Dry the following year. However, further surprises include a cover of HOWLIN’ WOLF’s “Wang Dang Doodle” and “This Wicked Tongue”, a track that was released only on the Japanese version of her 2000 album Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea.
Once again, JOE PERNICE and his band deliver a winner. This one, like 2003’s Yours, Mine and Ours, is a bit of grower. If you play them enough, you’ll be humming songs like “PCH One” and “High as a Kite” all day!
Led by ex-WISHNIAKS guitarist ANDREW CHALFEN and fronted by singer BETH FILLA, this is the third disc from Philadelphia’s Trolleyvox. Chalfen’s songwriting resurrects the jangle-pop scene of the mid ‘80s where bands like R.E.M., LET’S ACTIVE and dozens of others mined ‘60s influences to glorious effect. However, this record (unlike much modern power-pop) feels forward thinking as well with lyrics touching upon political themes (check out the video for the GUIDED BY VOICES-like opener “Just You Wait” here), though in general they deal with more personal concerns as well. Furthermore, this record also stands out because it rocks harder than many of their power-pop contemporaries.
Available only on iTunes, this is like a modern-day version of KRAFTWERK albums like Autobahn or Trans-Europe Express that were explicitly written to mimic motion. Instead of being written to simulate a car or train ride, however, this mostly instrumental piece (with only a few sampled voices thrown in the mix) was written to accompany a run. However, even if you aren’t an avid runner, this makes for excellent listening nonetheless. Fittingly, it starts slow and then accelerates before coming back down again. I was skeptical of this before I heard it, but this confirms that right now JAMES MURPHY can do no wrong. Highly recommended.
Before he was in FUGAZI, GUY PICCIOTTO was a member of this seminal Washington, DC band. One of the first bands to be called “emo”, they combined hardcore punk with an incredible sense of melody along with Guy’s unbelievably intense and cathartic vocals, not to mention the occasional psychedelic freakout. They broke the rules of what hardcore punk should sound like and along with others from that incredible scene like the just-as-great (but less heralded) GRAY MATTER, they unknowingly paved the way for the commercial rise of ‘90s punk and hardcore. A favorite of mine from my youth, I rediscovered this CD after I heard a few cuts from it at my favorite bar last night. This CD combines their classic, self-titled album and 7” EP with one bonus track (“End on End”) that didn’t make the album, thus comprising their entire recorded output.
Since Springhouse’s two albums Postcards from the Artic and Land Falls went out of print at some point in the ‘90s and I wasn’t hip to them at the time of their release, I got to hear them when I first became a subscriber to this very magazine over four years ago when Jack sent me this CD as a thank you for subscribing. After watching singer/guitarist MITCH FRIEDLAND play a terrific solo set the other week at the Big Takeover party, I dug this out and it’s remarkable how this stuff still holds up almost a decade and a half later. Just about every cut on this CD is excellent, but my favorites are “Enslave Me,” “Layers,” “Eskimo” and “Alley Park”. And with the news that there’s a third Springhouse album on the way, now might be the time for a full-scale revival! As for how to get a copy of this disc? My advice would be to subscribe to the magazine if you haven’t already.
Their first album gets the most recognition and attention, but while it’s great, this album (their second) is just as good if not better. Counting ROBERT WYATT and THIS HEAT’s CHARLES HAYWARD as guests, this album has a more experimental, avant-garde feel as VICKY ASPINALL’s violin and guest RICHARD DUDANSKI’s percussion are both more prominent. As entrancing as it still is today, I can only imagine how people reacted to it back when it was first released.
