Coldplay

So Coldplay here is a band. They've got 4 people. I tried to review all of their albums for tonite's reviews, but I couldn't get through more than 2 songs in a row.

The Flaming Lips w/ Starlight & White Dwarfs - Play "Dark Side of the Moon"

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To be completely honest, I was never going to listen to this release. From what I heard of “Embryonic” (the album the Lips put out last year), I wasn’t preparing to be blown away. Furthermore, I really don’t care for Pink Floyd. Maybe it has something to do with my junior high years, but even today, I can not make it through a full Pink Floyd album without falling asleep or becoming bored. But since there were the holidays and I can’t find anything by new by a group that I enjoy that is somewhat recent, we’re left here with this. And since I’ve never heard all of “Dark Side of the Moon”, this review won’t be me comparing it a whole lot to the actual version, but whether or not it is pleasant.



Some important things to note: I guess that on “Dark Side of the Moon”, there was some sort of talking happening there. Well, all of that talking has been replaced by a Mr. Henry Lawrence Garfield, or Henry Rollins as you might know him (from Rollins Band and “The Henry Rollins Show” fame). In between tracks like “On the Run” and “Time”, you get to hear the man who was shouting out Black Flag hits like “TV Party” and “Damaged I” coughing…Coughing? You mean to tell me that Wayne Coyne dragged in Henry Rollins to cough over the same sound loop found on the 30 minute hidden track off of “Hit to Death in the Future Head”? Way to go! Ohh! And how about Peaches?! That’s right, Peaches is on here. What does she do? Well, when not remixing songs of the most recent B-52s album, she finds time to screams all over “The Great Gig in the Sky” (which I’ve read is actually on the Floyd version).



And then there are songs like “Money”. This one I’ve actually heard. Usually I’ll turn it off, but I know it well enough. This version sounds completely dead and lifeless. Then after the groove is looped for a bit, Wayne comes in sounding like he’s singing through a vocoder or something to that effect and then it ends with the groove and Henry Rollins talking in a cave or something. Also, it turns out that I know some other songs on here. I never knew what Pink Floyd song “Brain Damage” was until I heard this version. The Lips do a nice job with it, but once again, Henry Rollins laughing? What?! “Eclipse” sounds good, but really, it just makes me think “Man, the Flaming Lips need to stop listening to Pink Floyd, get Wayne’s brother Mark back in the band, and record some Spacemen 3 covers!”



Furthermore, let’s chat about who Starlight & White Dwarfs really are…Turns out, Wayne has a nephew who enjoys playing music and helping build stuff for the Lips’ live concerts. So, he started a band and Wayne, who was presumably preoccupied at the time designing the “Silver Trembling Fetus” Christmas ornament called on them to help out. Well, call me crazy, but I can’t tell who’s doing what. It’s obvious when Wayne is singing, but as for the instrumental parts, how can I tell who’s doing what? What if I really want to appreciate Steven Drozd? Is Kliph drumming on any of it? Also, from what I’ve read, “Dark Side of the Moon” is pretty heavy in terms of the bass. How come I can not hear any? What’s Michael Ivins doing over there? Other than wearing CCCP t-shirts, presumably NOTHING.



So did you hear? There’s a new Guided by Voices release – “Suitcase 3”, featuring 100 demo recordings, including a version of “Alright” with lyrics! Let’s see how Steven Soderbergh’s match up.



OVERALL RATING – Kind of like going to Zuma - play it once, laugh at Rollins, and never listen to it again. Unless you liked “Embryonic” (in the Zuma case, its tex-mex), then you’ll be in heaven here.

KEY TRACKS – “Brain Damage”, “Us and Them”, “The Great Gig in the Sky”.

Crass - The Feeding Of The 5000

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OI OI OI OI!
ANARCHY!!!
FIGHT WAR, NOT WARS!!!
THERE IS NOT AUTHORITY BUT YOURSELF!!!

That's the kinda sloganing your going to find on this 18 song, 30 minute debut LP released in 1978 by Crass. Crass was an anarchist punk band that actually wrote some catchy songs. Granted, the copy around nowadays starts with 2 minutes of talking about religion over guitar feedback that ends with "Jesus died for his own sins, not mine". DANG! The next song has a drum beat that goes "dumdumdumdumcrash!" and a guitar that goes "chchchchchchch" with the chorus "Do they owe us a living? Of course they f**king do!". "They've Got a Bomb" is a jam that starts off and turn to silence about a minute in. I've read it was a tribute to Cage and that it was supposed to be "the bomb going off and everybody would stop dancing blah blah blah". Then the bassist sings 3 songs and he sounds like a rugby player (main singer, Steve Ignorant, had a cockney sounding high pitched voice).

Most of the songs are completely interchangeable, but its so enjoyable! I mean, you wouldn't think so, but these guys and gals had a sense a melody and humour. And don't get me started on the lyrics, because their great! I mean, I'm not saying its Kerouac or nothing, but they get the point across. Crass was that kind of band. I can't listen to Crass and not smile. I just can't. Something about it just makes me think "man, they lived in house together, didn't shower often*, wore all black clothes, and were anarchists who listened to Bach and Cage". Its just like living in the dorms. And the album ends with the song it started with, with the same melody and lyrics, just a lot faster.

Regarding the 2 minute intro, the first time it was pressed, the pressing plant refused to press the album because they thought the first track was "blasphemous", so it was replaced with 2 minutes of silence called "The Sound of Free Speech", which some view as another Cage reference.

Anyway, enjoy it! I did when I was 14.

OVERALL RATING - better than bjork's first band KUKL.
KEY TRACKS - banned from the roxy, they've got a bomb, punk is dead.

Sufjan Stevens - Sufjan Stevens Invites You To: Come On Feel The Illinoise

Sufjan Stevens is a banjo playing dork who thought it'd be fun to release an album for every state in the best country ever (Canada), but since he's a failure switched to the US because Canada has provinces and he didn't realize that. So he did one about Michigan that was about depressing as their football team this season. Then he decided to go off and "research" about my fair state. Well listen here, I don't need no banjo playing, wing wearing fool telling me the history of my fair state.

Furthermore, I read an interview in rolling stone a few years back that he didn't own any instruments. His attempts at being vague and appearing as a compositional pop genius irritate me and make me want to burn copies of his "Seven Swans" album in a fire.

Let's talk about the album now:

There's 22 songs.

7 of them are little instrumental ditties that have NO LYRICS about Illinois. They are 2 minutes or less.

Another 7 are less than 5 minutes and are nice, but don't have much more substance than some swelling flute sounds and backing vocals that go "ahhhhhh" like some bad eno ambient album.

The other 8 are 5 to 7 minutes long that are OK but some of which are COMPLETELY INTERCHANGEABLE!

Like "The Tallest Man" and "Come On Feel the Illinoise" are pretty much the same song! "Man of Metropolis" is 6 minutes of a noisy pop deal that Rogue Wave does better. "Casmir Pulaski Day" sounds nothing like the Big Black song and "Chicago" is a 6 minute song that was in "Little Miss Sunshine" which was OK. But throughout the album, Soof is just reusing the same ideas over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again.

Furthermore, his facts are all wrong. For example, John Wayne Gacy did not kill 10,000 or 27 people. It was 33. And I can't figure out if he's being silly or what, but I don't know, I can't take it seriously and its a weak track on the album. Also, for that track "Concerning the UFO sighting near highland, IL", I remember when that happened. Why does he have to turn it into a song about God? And what's the point of talking about the wasp of palisades when everyone knows that the real problem are the cicadas that come every 17 years.
And regarding "The Seer's Tower", I can say that Fazlur Khan as no record online of being beat by his father as the song would make you think he was.

Lastly, how bout that last track that starts of like "Golden Hours" by Eno, but turns into some Reich sounding jam! WhooO! Because that's what I want, 5 minutes of Reich music after 68 minutes of the same songs over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again.

I do like some songs, and his voice is quite soothing.

To be honest, I did enjoy this much more my sophmore year of high school when kim burned it for me, but, since then, I don't know, I just feel that it is highly repetitive, the snippets are kinda useless (and don't give me wrong, I love snippets! your GBV and TFUL282 snippets rev my engine, but the DON'T belong in the newsroom), and well, there's just better music to listen to, like the next band! If I wanted to keep listening to Soof, I'd probably just pull out my old Bright Eyes albums from junior high and rock out to that as well...

OVERALL RATING - thanksgiving leftovers
KEY TRACKS - Wasps of Palisades..., Tallest Man..., Man of Metropolis...

Songs: Ohia - Didn't It Rain

Songs: Ohia plays fun-time pop rock jams that are as sweet as a jelly donut on a summer sidewalk.

Just kidding.

Actually, this album is very slow and sparse, with the most complex arrangements having some drums and electric guitar and some backing vocals. According to a press release, everything was recorded without overdubs and Jason would actually share the mics with the other singers while recording. These aren't full out jams here, but their skeletal beauty and empty nature makes it all the more desirable. I mean, listen to "Blue Factory Flame". Towards the end, you hear something and you think "OH MAN! IT'S GONNA BE A CRAZY HORSE GUITAR SOLO MAN!!! NEIL YOUNG THROUGH YR. SKULL!" but instead, it just fades away.

Might I also add that in all of its sparse-ness and whatnot, its is quite depressing. I mean, 4 of the 7 songs have the word "blue" in them (Steve Albini's Blues, Blue Factory Flame, Two Blue Lights, and Blue Chicago Moon). Steve Albini's Blues scares johnboy, or at least thats what he told me. He also likes the album after this one more. I don't have an opinion yet.

BUT let me tell you about "Blue Chicago Moon". Dear lord. This is a song that after I first listened to it, I had to listen to it 2 or 3 more times after I heard it. Luckily, its the last song, so I wasn't missing anything after. Jennie Benford (of Benford Tools from Home Improvement fame) lends a voice that isn't much more than "ooohhh"s, but god dang does it hit ya where it needs to. There's some piano too, but I can't describe it. Its just one of those things where it sends chills up your spine and makes the hair on your neck raise.

Listen to this album when it's cold, raining, and you are alone. Unless you suffer from depression, then make sure you're with someone else.

OVERALL RATING - not the best book Neil Peart ever wrote, but better than that one Stewart Copland did.
KEY TRACKS - Didn't it rain, blue chicago moon, steve albini's blues

Tapes 'n Tapes - The Loon

shplloooooo!
shpeeel!
banana shpeell!
gol darn am I confused by cirque du soleil.
is it my fault that i am not entranced by a bunch of folks flipping around and breathing fire? i mean, it sounds awesome on paper, but where's the excitement for me?! at least with concerts, you can get into the danger. david yow can spit venom into your face, j mascais can leave you deaf in one ear, and michael mcdonald will want you to put either your's or his head in an oven (whoever is closest to said oven, of course)3wa21qa22 - sorry, that was my phone falling on the keyboard as Johnboy sent me a text. anyways - - - - am i the only one like this? if you are a cirque fan, please, don't hide in the shadows. maybe i've just yet to see the light. i also have a simpsons magic 8 ball.

this album by tapes 'n tapes is OK. you know, the kids love it. all them bloggin' hooligans were eating this up along with avaliable space on their hard drives while still yammering about "hail to the theif" and this new hip website called "pitchfork" and wearing rolled up jeans and torn shirts bought from american apparel while walking to jimmy john's and ironically listening to Kate Bush albums.

this was a bad idea.

i'm clearly tired and can't keep a straight thought, but I'm waiting for laundry to put in the dryer, so i've gotta kill time someway. maybe its because yesterday i composed for an hour, slept for 2, ate, watched "step brothers" and "clerks", and composed another 35 minutes and went to bed at a crisp 5.30am. oh well, as that Rush title goes "We hold on"...

so here we got 11 songs packed into 41 minutes. it sounds like music. the title comes from a deli in minnesota, where these guys are from. lots of great stuff from that state, so they can't be that bad. i'm listening to it now for the first time in maybe 2 years or so. I got this my freshman year from teacher who had a "I love Tapes" button on his coat or shirt. i enjoyed it. its slightly fuzzy, the words are kinda marbled around and its kinda no frills pop hooplah. 3 songs reference areas in north america, one song is called "the illiad", "just drums" has got a swingin' beat with a break down that has ONLY DRUMS! AH! HOW CLEVER! "omaha" sounds sorta like "promenade" by U2 without the buildup and eno atmospheric jehova-ness (see, i'm getting clever now!). "crazy eights" is some jam with the only words being "whoooo" backing vocals and someone yelling the numbers 1 through 8 in the background complete with instrument clattery - like a less awesome version of "Contort Yourself" by the Contortions. I got this book on No Wave for xmas, it's great! "manitoba" sounds like the fleet foxes without harmonies BEFORE the fleet foxes! BUT then it turns into this jam complete with keyboards and some crazy rhythms! some songs are too slow and are kinda like being trapped in a tarpit, but not the dinosaur jr. kind...

cool jams.

OVERALL RATING - hostess apple pie - nice treat, but its better when you eat one for the first time in two years rather than eating one just after you finished another.
KEY TRACKS - manitoba, just drums, omaha

Thin Lizzy - Jailbreak

This is an album with "male bonding" written all over it.
Why? Well, listen to it for christ sake! I mean, the lyrics are full of great lines like "if that chick don't wanna know/the forget her" and "brothers fight or fall" and "breakout!", and more songs about cowboys and being a "warrior and fighting for the death machine". This band has 2 lead guitarists! I know! Like Spinal Tap! Except, I don't laugh when I listen to "Jailbreak".

It's quite amusing, this was the "breakthrough" album, and it was album no. 6 for these guys.

My love for the album goes back to my early days around age 4/5. My mom worked at a school and occasionally, we'd go to a place called the Dugout right across the street from her school. Other than the place being decked out in Blackhawks and White Sox stuff, there was always music and cherry coke. And for some reason, the hit song "the boys are back in town" would be on when I would go there. I guess it was just that time on the radio or what have you, but listening to this throws me back some 14 years.

A few years ago, I actually got this album (soph. year?) and i thought it was great. Of course, my jam was there, as was "jailbreak", a darned fine single in its own right. then you got jams like "the cowboy song" with a fist-pumping chorus (something like "i am just a cowboy lonesome on the trail/lord, i'm just thinking about a certain female" and "angel from the coast", a story with ends with "the crook, he got away". some lighter moments can be found in "fight or fall" and "running back" which are near perfect pop song craft with great guitar licks. Then you have "warriors" and "emerald" which aren't as much songs as they are shredding showcases for the guitar and drums. But, its awesome! It's not some Joe Satriani crap thats just "dodollooododollooododollooododollooo" for 5 minutes. Instead, its well thought out soloing and harmonizing and phaser sound effects.

Oh hey, they're Irish too! (waffles)

Cramming 9 songs into the time it takes to make 3 seperate boxes of Annie B's Bunny Mac and Cheese, you got some sweet happenings here.

I picked this because after the night of music and eating and snow-fighting, I thought, "enough of this bill frisell crap! let's kick out the jams!". so i drove home by myself listening to this album that should be listened to by large groups of people.

Hey Gary, remember when we were listening to it after we rehearsed for Kim's recital at Feingold's house and then went to Byron's? Wasn't that great?

Hey family, remember when we were listening to it numerous times when we were boating the past few years?

Hey Mike, owner of the Dugout, remember when this song would be on the radio and I'd go there and get food? Where's the cherry coke?

Hey Weekly Sunday Nite Record Review friends, remember when I reviewed this album and you subsequently listened to it and then we all went to play billiards and darts and go bowling?

OVERALL RATING - Gumby-level awesome
KEY TRACKS - Boys are back in town, romeo and the lonely girl, cowboy song.

for anyone wondering, the Dugout IS still around at its original location 6300 W. 79th St, Burbank, IL. I went there the day I got my learner's permit, the day I took the ACT and after landing for Thanksgiving break. The owner Mike is a swell guy.

The Jesus Lizard - Head

(can't find album art)

You know what I realized?

David Yow is a dirty dirty man.

How did I never realize this?

Well, my few JL albums I had were downloads without lyrics. And the 7" box didn't come with lyrics either.
Well, I bought the "Head" reissue on LP a few weeks ago, and the lyrics are in there. And boy, was he a silly, disgusting short man! I mean, just by looking at the song titles here - "My Own Urine", "If You Had Lips" . . . and 8 others!
well, one's an instrumental called "Tight and Shiny". If you are curious, I think wikipedia has a whole article about it. but anyways, i was finally able to read this lyrics (which helps, because here, david's vocals are probably the hardest to make out from any JL release), and boy, did I need to take a shower after! however, its all great!

Mac finally joined the band - adding a much needed heft to the band that was trying to be like Big Acid or Scratch Black or Black Acid or Scratch Big or whatever. And he sounds great! Truly fitting in well with the guys as he would for the next 7-8 years before he quit. Duane here is tearing it up. "S.D.B.J." has some wonderful chords and noises - especially that ending! AND "Pastoral" is just beautiful - much better than the other Jesus Lizard ballad ("zacharia" on LIAR). And Sims, Mr. David Wm. Sims is a demon here. Seriously, his bass tone is something that sounds like is covered in barbed wire attached to a rabid dog with a low growl. OH! and listen to "Waxeater", featuring some cool arpeggiated whatnot with sims and duane that sounds great! And there's "Killer McHann", one that Mark Prindle hates. Well, he's crazy! I think its great. I mean, listen to those meter/rhythm changes during the chorus as the notes are just modulating all over the place! the only mis-step is "Good Thing", a less than 2 minute ditty about spending time with a loved one that just sounds like "Tight and Shiny", which follows it on the album!

OVERALL RATING - waffles with a door attached and a cat on the ceiling
KEY TRACKS - SDBJ, 7 vs 8., killer mchann, if you had lips

Wilco - A Ghost Is Born

I have quite a love/hate relationship with Wilco.

Why?

Well - love because I genuinely think "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" is a good album.

Also, I tend to hate anything I hear by them the first time through.
I really hated this album.

I just did.

I heard that the recording was all Pro-Tools and that Tweeds plays most of the guitar on this album and Nels Cline wasn't in the band, so on paper, it looks like a transitory album. The first song I heard from it was "handshake drugs" which I had to learn for the first Pilcher's List gig. We never played it, but how dare a band follow up a boring 3 chord song for 4.5 minutes with 1.5 minutes of noise for no reason.

I could imagine how these sessions went down:
TWEEDY - uh...so, Sue said I need to record an album because Spencer needs new shoes. uhm...well, crap. Where's Jay?
GLENN - hmm, do i get to play drums on this thing? I mean, the 3rd track is just a drum machine for 4 minutes...
TWEEDY - uh, sure, that's what the next 6 minutes of the song are for.
JOHN - So, the 3rd track is 10 minutes long?
TWEED - Well, actually closer to 11. I'll sort it out in pro-tools. don't ask stupid questions.
LEROY - eyaeah, I think I'm gonna quite soon.
MIKAEL - me as well.
TWEEDS - Oh, hey! there's jim o'rourke!
JIM - sorry guys, sonic-youth was busy saying they didn't want a 3rd guitarist on the new album...
GLENN - wait, one song is acoustic then buzzing noises for 15 minutes. what the hell? can i play the drums on this thing?
TWEEDS - uh, well, pick a buzzing sound. everyone pick a puzzing sound!
JOHN - jeff, you should stop smoking.
TWEEDS - shut up or join son volt john!
LEROY - Uh, i'm still here guys.
TWEEDS - here's a rock out song with no lyircs other than "123456789" and "uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh".
GLEEN - thanks jeff.
JIM - WHAT?! sonic-youth is gonna tour with Mark Ibold!? He never released anything on drag city!!
JOHN - how bout a bass solo jeff?
TWEEDS - oh, well, don't forget about the 11 minute one during the third song!
JOHN - well, thats two notes.
TWEEDS - shut up or join son volt.
JOHN -
GLENN - so, what else is there?
TWEEDS - hm a beatles rip off, a crazy horse rip off, and 9 or so more others. i don't know, pro-tools can figure it out. op! gotta go to rehab. see you soon!

Needless to say, you can see what I found annoying about this album.

EVERYTHING!

and i refused to listen to it for months.

then when working on a rough draft for a paper a few weeks ago, i promised john i would listen to it.

what did I find? well, i was right! there's a 11 minute song, some beatles/crazy horse ripoffs and other stuff, but its all so enjoyable! i mean, i can live with "handshake drugs" and "less than you think" and "hell is chrome". why? because, i don't know, i just can! don't get me wrong, i still think YHF is a better release, but this is still all right. I mean, listen to "muzzle of bees" - that's a pop song in there! "I'm a Wheel" is Wilco's "My Pal the Tortoise" by TFUL282 - just bopping along with some silly lyrics and whatnot. "Theologians" has that country rock crap that the kids like. "Less than you Think" is the 15 minute one with some noises at the end. its a good one to fall asleep to. but don't! because you'll miss the last song - 2.5 minutes of music with songs you can't hear on the radio.

I do feel that Glenns contribution that made parts of YHF so exciting are missing just to add emphasis to Tweedy's newfound guitar playing stuff. I think Jeff played most, if not, all guitars on the album (this was pre-Nels Cline for those confused). Furthermore, i find the piano playing on this album to be annoying and just chord pounding, which gets old fast. also, what's the name of that neil young tune that has that lyric "and if we never get out of here..."? because the first track on this sounds like that.

hmmm, i need a better way to end this review. suggestions?

OVERALL RATING - waffle sticks with powdered sugar
KEY TRACKS - "i'm a wheel", "spiders", "muzzle of bees", "at least that's what you said"

Elvis Costello - This Year's Model

So, Elvis. Hmm.

Well, I'd been interested in this album for a few years. I was picking around on the internet about Todd Trainer - drummist for rock band Shellac - and he said along with "Goat" by the Jesus Lizard, "In on the Kill Taker" by Fugazi and "Quadrophenia" by the Who, this was an album he listened to for drumming inspiration. And I know Todd. And Mac McNeilly, Brendan Canty and Keith Moon. Personally. We play solitaire together. Anyway, we aren't here to talk about how I spend my Wednesday mornings. Instead, we're hear to rock out to this new Elvis Costello album!

Well, its not new, but you can certainly "rock out" to it! To be honest, I haven't heard much of Elvis' stuff. I mean, I've heard your "Alison" and other classics that you might hear on XRT, but that's about it. What I got was an explosion of kinetic whipped out energy of no-frills rock and roll hooplah. Dear god, that was a terrible sentence. Who cares? I'm leaving it.

A lot of the songs start of in the mid-tempo to fast range with either a drum intro, the whole band playing, a piano or something else. After a while, some of the songs start to sound the same, or kinda blend into each other, but, overall, its enjoyable. And Elvis slows it down - just listen to "Little Triggers" for the high school prom dancer in you.

And the band sounds good - I can tell why Todd is totally into the drummer here. He's just tearing it up and being semi-flashy, but not metaphorically spilling ice cream all over Elvis' metaphorical typewriter. Like "Lipstick Vogue", which also has this cool weird sound keyboard line and stuff that sounds spooky! At times, the keyboard/organ sounds gets annoying, but in most cases, its fine. The bassist does some stuff, like that cool bass line in "(I don't want to go to) Chelsea". Elvis sings and plays guitar and is fine. He's still alive, feel free to call him up and ask for him to interview you on Spectacle. It'll be a blast!