If you’ve been disappointed by the last few Bjork records but you enjoyed Debut and Post, this record will make you fall in love with Bjork all over again. This record feels like a joyous sequel to those first few solo albums and as such, goes by rather quickly on the first few listens. Of course, time flies when you’re having fun and this record is a blast compared with Bjork’s other releases since then. Of course that’s not necessarily a knock on them as Homogenic has become my favorite of her records over the years, but this one still feels like a welcome return-to-form. Of course, Bjork being Bjork, this still has some touches not found on her previous records. For instance, LIGHTNING BOLT drummer BRIAN CHIPPENDALE, KONONO NO. 1 and ANTONY HEGARTY are among the guests here, not to mention the fact that TIMBALAND produced the lead single “Earth Intruders” (which ends with nautical sounds highly reminscent of Debut’s “The Anchor Song”) and the equally terrific, politically charged “Declare Independence”. Furthermore, MARK BELL (who has collaborated with Bjork on every record since Homogenic) mixed the last track “I See Who You Are”, thus cementing this album’s connection not only to the early records it has the most in common with but also with her more recent work as well.
I have no idea why The Knitters are touring since as far as I know they have no new album and their members are busy with other projects like X and EXENE CERVENKA AND THE ORIGINAL SINNERS, not to mention JOHN DOE and DAVE ALVIN’s solo careers. With that said, their show here last Monday was just as enjoyable as the last time they played Philadelphia, which is in August 2005 on the very hottest day of that summer at a very underattended late show at the Trocadero with no air conditioning. Fortunately this time not only was the weather nicer (hey it helps that it’s spring now), but the venue was more appropriate size-wise as well. I got to sit right next to Dave Alvin’s monitor and it was the best seat in the house as he fired off one blazing, rockabilly-inspired solo after another. As for the songs, well it was a good mix of songs from both Knitters albums as well as a few dips into the X catalog and some covers as well. Unfortunately, we didn’t get their magnificent version of LEADBELLY’s “Rock Island Line” (easily the highlight of the 2005 show), but we did get their take on “Born to Be Wild”.
My fellow Big Takeover blogger STEVE HOLTJE wrote a comprehensive review of this album (which you can read here) and he’s right on the money. This is definitely more a better-sounding and more “hi-fi” record than many of their previous releases, but it’s only more accessible by Melt-Banana’s standards. Thus, the screaming vocals, blitz-speed pacing on par with that of thrashy hardcore and the relentless experimentation are thankfully still there.
Although I’m a much bigger fan of this great band’s ‘79-’83 period than I am of their later work, I still consider this album to be by far the best record they did that doesn’t include their classic self-titled debut (originally issued only on cassette by Roir) or the poorly-produced but still great Rock for Light. When I was a kid, I didn’t like it very much, preferring the live versions of these songs on the live album The Youth are Getting Restless (which was taken from the tour for this album). However, time has proven to be very kind to this album’s unique mix of punk, hard rock and reggae. This album marks the first time they successfully fused together all of these styles without separating the hardcore punk tracks from the reggae/dub ones like on their earlier records.
In the process they influenced many lesser bands and some good ones, too. For instance I wouldn’t be surprised if the recently reunited RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE had a copy of this album when they first started. Furthermore, one can hear the influence of this album on the slightly more progressive-minded late ‘80s New York-area hardcore bands like UNDERDOG (who were always very heavily Bad Brains-influenced anyway) or TOKEN ENTRY.
Hot on the heels of last year’s absolutely brilliant Ys is this stop-gap, cleverly-named (Ys is pronounced “yees”) and excellent EP. There are only three songs here and while only one is brand new, the other two are new recordings. The new song is “Colleen” and the re-recordings consist of “Clam, Crab, Cockle, Cowrie” (from her debut full-length The Milk-Eyed Mender) and a version of “Cosmia” (the last track on Ys) that stretches it out from its seven-minute length on Ys to over thirteen minutes (!) here. Although I like the Ys version of “Cosmia”, it had the misfortune of being surrounded by absolutely jaw-dropping material like “Monkey and Bear” and “Sawdust and Diamonds”, so it felt more like the dessert than the main course. Here, though, despite the fact that it also closes out this EP, it really has a chance to shine, its expanded length drawing more prominence to it.
In a recent Dirtnap order, they mistakenly sent me this Lp instead of what I had ordered. They were nice enough to send me a copy of what I ordered and let me keep this Lp (on limited-edition brown vinyl, too) for no extra charge (so buy directly from them). Anyway I’d been meaning to check out this New Jersey-based band for some time anyway as I’d heard they were a DESCENDENTS-style pop-punk band and thought that it was about time that the once terrific (until BLINK-182 and their ilk ruined it) genre got a jumpstart. Anyway I like this record, but it reminds me less of The Descendents than it does of early ‘90s, East Coast pop-punk stalwarts like WESTON, PLOW UNITED and especially THE BOUNCING SOULS. It’s not a coincidence that all of these aforementioned bands also either came from New Jersey (in the case of The Bouncing Souls) or in the case of the other two, played many shows there despite coming from the Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania, thus having a considerable fanbase there that probably included these guys.
While most of this record is straightforward pop-punk, albeit played at an almost thrash-like pace, there’s a funny attempt at a country-tinged song called “Stinking of Whiskey Blues” and a long, unnecessary jam at the end of the title track (which is also the album’s last track). Nevertheless, this is an enjoyable record that will no doubt get better over time as I feel that The Ergs are throwing so much at the listener that it will take multiple listens to fully comprehend all of what’s going on.
After three terrific albums bursting with incredible melodies and a lyrical sensibility closer to the wry, cynical observations of STEELY DAN than any of their power-pop contemporaries, Fountains of Wayne were bound to release an album that feels like a letdown and unfortunately this is that album. That’s not to say that the long-awaited Traffic and Weather doesn’t have its moments, though. Unfortunately, though, most come within the first few songs. For instance, opening track “Someone to Love” cleverly dissects the life of two single twenty and thirty-something New York City professionals in as snarky of a fashion as their previous jabs at suburbia (on their first two albums) and mid-level managers (on their last album Welcome Interstate Managers), all of course belying the sympathy they may or not feel for these characters. It doesn’t hurt that the song has a verse melody so catchy that it will be stuck in your head for days, either. Elsewhere, “Fire in the Canyon” is a nice stab at ‘70s country-rock that sounds less like AMERICA (whose recent comeback album was co-produced by ADAM SCHLESINGER) than “Valley Winter Song”, their previous attempt at the genre. Also “Strapped for Cash” balances a typically hooky chorus with funny lyrics about a hapless character.
However, the album is populated with a large share of insipid songs such as “Planet of Weed”, which is indeed as dumb as its title. Also, the title track (despite a catchy melody) has incredibly stupid lyrics about an affair between two New York area newscasters. Furthermore, this album just doesn’t have as many memorable, first-rate songs as any of their previous albums did. Here’s hoping that Fountains of Wayne can recover from this mediocre effort with a better album in the future, but for now this makes me wonder if they still wanna be doing this after the success of “Stacy’s Mom” if this is the best they can come up with after four years.
I missed this fantastic band’s recent Philadelphia show and now I’m kicking myself. I absolutely love this record. As a fan of FELA KUTI and Afro-beat as a whole (not to mention the terrific, visionary and unfairly derided at the time MILES DAVIS Lp On the Corner), it appeals to that part of me, but it’s also unlike anything else I’ve ever heard. I’m sure that many of you know the story of how these musicians gained international prominence over the past few years, but if not, I’ll briefly tell it here. They formed in Kinshasha in the ‘80s, but after the great Dutch punk band THE EX heard them, this brought them attention in Europe and then eventually here in the U.S. Regardless, their amplified thumb piano and percussion-driven sound will not only appeal to fans of traditional African music, but to fans of modern-day electronica as well as anyone who enjoys repetition and hypnotic grooves. Highly recommended.
I swear that it’s just a coincidence that I have two late ‘80s SST records on this week’s list. I just happened to pull it out recently for whatever reason and I was reminded of just how great and underrated this band was back then. Of course they’re much better known for their major label work, including “Nearly Lost You” (their contribution to the Singles soundtrack) and its accompanying album Sweet Oblivion. However, I’ve always preferred their earlier records and this is my favorite. It’s just an absolutely perfect mix of punk and West Coast psychedelia that defies the insipid “grunge” label with MARK LANEGAN’s fine vocals already channeling JIM MORRISON as well as the creepy, late-night direction his future solo work would take a decade later on ballads like “Grey Diamond Desert”. The songwriting is top-notch as a whole and while the whole thing is great, “Smoke Rings,” “Direction of the Sun” and the album closer “Night Comes Creeping” are the standouts here.
Wattstax (Not Rated)
After being unavailable for close to three decades, this excellent documentary from 1974 finally saw the light of day on DVD a few years back with bonus features and the like. Directed by MEL STUART, it chronicles the Wattstax festival, sometimes known as the “black Woodstock”. As the name of the festival implies, it was held in the Watts section of South Central Los Angeles, which had experienced riots seven years earlier. Tickets were sold for only one dollar a piece to encourage residents from the neighborhood to attend and the roster was full of soul and r’n’b stars of the day, many of whom were associated with Stax Records. Of course, the music is outstanding with the highlights an entertaining RUFUS THOMAS (check out the pink shorts) and his “Do the Funky Chicken”, his daughter CARLA THOMAS doing “Pick Up the Pieces” and THE BAR-KAYS doing “Son of Shaft”. The blues is represented by ALBERT KING’s “I’ll Play the Blues for You” and the documentary comes to a close with ISAAC HAYES performing “Theme from Shaft”. Interspersed with the music are interviews with members of the African-American community in Watts talking about racial identity, unemployment, gambling, crime and other issues. Furthermore, RICHARD PRYOR shows up on several occasions with a few monologues, including one especially hilarious (though sadly truthful) one about standing in a police lineup in Peoria, Illinois. PUBLIC ENEMY fans will also recognize excerpts from JESSE JACKSON’s “I Am Somebody” speech, which is shown at the beginning of the film, and which they sampled on their landmark 1988 album It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back. Fittingly, CHUCK D’s commentary is one of the bonus features as well.
