Tyvek - s/t (emusic download 7/7/09)

This is kind of similar to Abe Vigoda's album from before Skeleton, called Kid City. Only this is even rougher and more amateur-sounding. Really what the two have in common is a primitive sort of try-anything mentality, with hints of early punk, no wave, Krautrock and early-'90s noise rock, plus some glimpses of real promise and creativity. Maybe a little less with Tyvek than with Abe Vigoda, but there's definitely something here. Tyvek seem generally lazier on the performance and production side, but there are plenty of good ideas here.

The album starts out really rough (you'll be tempted to give up on the first track) but manages to hit a pretty good groove with "Summer Things". Yeah, this is another "lo fi" band so things are always gonna sound a little crappy (but not as doggedly and effectively abrasive as Times New Viking who are, basically, peerless in this "genre"), but on the smattering of good tracks here, it hardly seems to matter. It's good, sloppy fun. The only really memorable parts is the recurring instrumental (with several different titles to make it appear as if it were actually several different songs), but that's probably just because it gets drilled into your head over the course of the album. Well, and there's also "Building Burning", which I like, that appears twice, back to back, in two different versions, the slower first version serving almost more as a build-up to the more intense "re-edit". In all, I'd say this album seems more like a demo tape passed along to garner interest in what this band could be capable of. Although expecting them to "get serious" would probably be missing the point, I'd still be interested in what they do next, especially if they could tighten it up just a little bit.

Rating: 7.5/10

Blank Dogs - Under and Under (emusic download 7/8/09)


Blank Dogs - The Fields (emusic download 7/9/09)

Getting both this album and EP at about the same time and always listening to them back to back is probably overkill, especially with this guy (band?). This stuff has its moments, and as Mike Sniper (the dude behind Blank Dogs) himself has described it, it can often sound like "blown out Factory Records demo(s)"... at best. There's the general vibe that just about any dude in his bedroom with Garage Band could have made this - much like Wavves - but it does have moments that impress ever so slightly. In general, the basic guitar and drum machine (and maybe synths, I don't remember) groundwork tends to be pretty good. There are some nice Joy Division/early New Order-ish riffs here and there, and that same dark, frigid feeling pervades. What kind of muddles the whole thing up are the vocals, especially the cheap, garbling digital processing he seems to put on all of them. His voice is also really flat, and when there seems to be some female vocals accompanying him, they just muddy up the mix even more.

I honestly don't really know where the album ends and the EP begins when I listen to these two things, but it's been my general impression that things are a little better towards the beginning - on the album - than towards the end - on the EP. Although it could just be that listening to 22 Blank Dogs songs in a row is just really exhausting, and I can't help but lose interest after a while. I'm not real concerned about getting to the bottom of this one or "being fair" about it, though. It's not really worth it.

Rating: 6/10 (Under and Under), 5.5/10 (The Fields)

Ganglians - s/t EP (emusic download 7/10/09)


Ganglians - Monster Head Room (emusic download 7/10/09)

To go from listening to something like Blank Dogs to listening to these two Ganglians releases... is like lying in bed way too long, accumulating staleness and stiffness, only to finally get up, get outside and actually do something, and find that it's a really beautiful day. To have a gratifying feeling of having accomplished something rather than having wasted your day away. Both bands could fall under the wide blanket of the recent "lo fi" trend, but where Blank Dogs can seem lazy, content to tread water, Ganglians are out there really trying. Going for the gold, reaching for the stars, etc.

You could draw a lot of similarities between Ganglians' sound and that of Akron/Family, although Ganglians seem to be thankfully a little less on the hippie side. They do go for some big themes on some of their songs, but aside from maybe "The Void" (which appears on both the EP and album, unfortunately), they keep things pretty earthbound and concrete. Also like the first two Akron/Family releases, Ganglians have an LP of calmer, pretty ballads (like A/F debut) and an EP of edgier wilder rockers (like A/F's split with Angels of Light). Of these two, the album is better, mainly because of its soaring highs which surpass 95% of everything I've heard this year. The two highlights for me are "Lost Words" and "Cryin' Smoke", the former being strikingly well composed and arranged, with some great vocal harmonies, a catchy, memorable melody, and some pretty damn good lyrics, to boot. The latter is a mournful ditty with lyrics about smoking "reefer in the bathroom" that don't seem the least bit lame because they evoke a sad resignation rather than some kind of dubious adolescent celebration of getting high. This is an album with real heart, and I think this band has a ton of potential.

Rating: 7.5/10 (Ganglians EP), 8.5/10 (Monster Head Room)

Hear "Lost Words" here:
http://rcrdlbl.com/2009/06/12/download_ ... lost_words

"Cryin' Smoke":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRcaxYozbvE

And a pretty funny & awesome "video" for the song "Hair" from the EP:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Grs-33zJ ... re=related
(The same dude also posted something even better for Crystal Stilts - "Sugarbaby": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhXE08we ... re=channel )

Monster Head Room is definitely a fun listen.

Oneida - Rated O (emusic download 7/16/09)

I'd pretty much ignored Oneida for a long time prior to this, but I'm not really sure why. A friend of mine introduced me to them several years ago by giving me a copy of Each One Teach One. I actually think I liked it, but maybe it seemed a little repetitive or something, or just wasn't memorable. I still need to go back and revisit it, but I think it may have been fairly similar to this "triple" album, which I like. I put "triple" in quotes because the whole thing is right at 2 hours long and would easily fit on two CDs. But for whatever reason, the band chose to break even the CD release of this album up into 3 separate 40 minute discs. Maybe they just wanted to break it up into more digestible chunks, but honestly, even as long as it is and with some of the long, fairly repetitive jams clocking in at over ten minutes each, I've never had trouble getting through the whole thing in one listen (when possible). Quite a feat for a mostly instrumental band, but they actually pack quite a bit of variety into this.

The dark, "deep" groove tracks are probably my favorites, like "Story of O", "Ghost in the Room", and the epic closer "Folk Wisdom". Some of the more song-like tracks aren't quite as strong and haven't fared as well on repeated listens which is why I've cooled off on this album a little in the past few months. Still, it's among my favorites of the year, and it serves as a reminder that I need to spend some time delving into this band's already deep back catalog.

Rating: 8/10

Magnolia Electric Co. - Josephine (emusic download 7/22/09)

I'd prefer not even acknowledge the existence of this thing, much less write about it. I won't say I had high hopes for it, but I was cautiously optimistic based on the "It's Made Me Cry" 7", the Sojourner box set, and the amount of time and amount of stuff Molina had been through since the last proper album he put out as MEC (Fading Trails). The box set made it seem like Molina might finally bring something interesting to the table with the derivative country rock he's been peddling for the past 6 years, especially the Black Ram disc. Unfortunately, this is probably the worst thing he's done under the Magnolia moniker, and probably the worst thing he's ever put out.

It's so middling and predictable as to be hard to even pay attention to when I'm listening to it. The lyrics shift between the totally clichéd and the nonsensical. Although to be perfectly honest, this is something that has plagued a lot of this guy's work for a long time. And now that he's only backing this up with standard, competent bar band music, it's just overwhelmingly dull. I can't begin to describe how sick I am of hearing the same slide guitar in every single MEC song. Having listened to pretty much his whole discography lately, I think I'm having to face the sad fact that Didn't It Rain was a fluke, not a height that he may someday reach again or even one that he had really come close to in the past. Still, I'd be perfectly happy with something new on par with Axxess & Ace, The Lioness, Impala or even Ghost Tropic, but the chances of that are seeming slimmer with each new MEC release. If anything, the stuff released under his own name - and hopefully this Molina & Johnson collaboration - is the best bet for at least measuring up to some of the better Songs: Ohia albums. I may have to give up on Magnolia Electric Co. after this one.

Rating: 5/10

Edit: But I will say that the one glimmer of hope here - if there is one - is the song "Little Sad Eyes" which actually does sound a lot like Songs: Ohia circa Axxess & Ace. Of course, I don't just want him to go back and remake his old records, but this at least shows that maybe he's not totally tied to his recent country-rock direction and that even with MEC he's capable of maybe doing something just a little bit different. Plus it's a pretty good song.

Bang on. I haven't brought myself to listen to Josephine yet, but I haven't liked a thing of his since the Pyramid Electric Co. record he did as Jason Molina, post-Songs:Ohia's "Magnolia Electric Co" album. Hard to believe an album that good – my favourite that year – spawned an eponymous band that's so pedestrian. I wonder what happened. Did he get all his pain out already? It seems like a conscious decision was made to abandon anything resembling S:O. You can't say that "Didn't It Rain" was a fluke though. It was the crowning achievement under a moniker that holds several affective if not great records to its credit, most of which you named.

I kind of feel the same about Will Oldham's output since "Master and Everyone".

Agreed on Oneida, all around.

Didn't It Rain may not be a "fluke", but I really feel like it stands very, very high above the rest of his output. The stars just really aligned for that one. His best songs (melodies + lyrics) plus his best supporting cast, best performances, and best production. There are times that album rivals or even surpasses On the Beach for me.

I need to listen to that Oneida again. The version I downloaded was fucked up or something.

I can hook you up with the one I have, if you want.



The Dodos - Time to Die (Amazon download 7/28/09)

I think that this album is an improvement over Visiter in just about every way. It's tighter, shorter, and more consistent with stronger melodies and better lyrics throughout. Rather than sounding like an uneven mesh of their different influences, The Dodos now suddenly seem to have their own very distinct sound. And it's not like they really sound all that different from before. I really don't feel like they've lost any of the energy abundant in their last album. Rather, they've added subtlety and nuance in the rhythms and overall playing, and the addition of a vibraphone has added just enough color to the mix to make the whole thing really sound complete. I've found this album to be steadily rewarding and never a chore to get through like Visiter could sometimes be. It was a bumpy (but exciting) ride, and this is pretty much smooth sailing start to finish, with no obvious missteps. There is a standout track, and it's still probably my favorite on the album - "Two Medicines". It's somewhat similar to "Fools", I suppose, in that it also shows a certain Animal Collective influence, but The Dodos' simmering energy and frenetic, impressive virtuosity is something Animal Collective has never really had.

Rating: 8/10

Here are a couple of good live clips (KEXP) of songs from this album.


"Acorn Factory"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFzdpotg ... re=channel

"Troll Nacht"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skG78GmK74I

"Time to Die"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAqFHC6T ... re=related

The sound is better on "Acorn Factory" than the other two. Those are a little muffled (the guitar and a lot of the high end are kind of faint), but the quality is pretty good otherwise. Better than other live clips I've found.

i found one that i think works, but thanks.

Didn't It Rain is his best work, but Magnolia Electric Co the album does not trail far behind. Whereas DIR is the last and pinnacle of Songs:Ohia, MEC is the first and pinnacle of the MEC outfit (even though it's a Songs:Ohia record). Let's call it a weird overlap even he hadn't figured out yet. But there's a clear trajectory pre-DIR from the depths of Songs:Ohia to that apex.

I can see how the earlier S:O stuff led up to DIR, but I still think it's a pretty big leap from The Lioness, Ghost Tropic, and Axxess & Ace. And those are all very good albums. I used to agree with you that the MEC album doesn't trail far behind it, but I think his subsequent work under the MEC name has kind of tainted it. Like seeing where those ideas led makes them less appealing in the embryonic stage, even if the execution was still much better.

Anyway...


Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz! (CD purchased 8/1/2009)

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs are alright. To be honest, I never really gave them a chance until the Is Is EP from a little while back, which I liked. Because of that I decided to give this a go, and I like it as well. Overall, I'm not exactly in love with their current slick, dance-rock style, but the songs are pretty tight and generally pretty good. Where the album really succeeds for me is on the last two tracks ("Hysteric" and "Little Shadow") which are on the slower, somewhat sappier side. It kind of surprises me that those work so well, but I find them to both be pretty poignant. I'm really starting to appreciate this band's versatility, and even though they can be a little bit on the boring/safe side, I should probably stop ignoring them. They may not ever make an album that I'll really love, but from what I've heard so far, I'm sure they'll continue to release songs here and there that will really work for me.

Rating: 6.5/10

i'll have to check out Ganglians. Akron Family's Love Is Simple was my #1 of 2007.

I like their Set Em Wild Set Em Free or whatever from this year.

Yeah, it's good. That's actually the next one I'm gonna write about.

i dig a few tracks off that, but Love is Simple just like, blew me away.

Akron/Family - Set 'Em Wild, Set 'Em Free (CD purchased 5/8/09)

I still don't think that Akron/Family has really lived up to my expectations based on their first two releases, their self-titled debut and their split/collaboration with Angels of Light. The former showed a band with a unique new take on folk (coming right off the whole freak folk fad) and a solid songwriting base, and the latter showed that they had an exciting, wild, spontaneous side that made it seem like this band was capable of just about anything. Some kind of bombastic, ecstatic, ragged new folk rock. But the mini-album (Meek Warrior) that followed those really dialed up their more hippie/jam band tendencies and featured some of their most unfortunately "cosmic" and "universal" lyrics. Love Is Simple brought things back to earth a little bit, but not quite enough for me. What this album ends up being, in a lot of ways, is a sort of summation of where they've been so far without offering much in the way of any new directions. But I guess they've already been all over the map so where is there left to go? Maybe that's the one hindrance this band has had since those first two releases: all overflowing energy, enthusiasm, and talent, but never quite finding that perfect way to focus it. I still feel like they could do something great, despite the departure of one of their core members. For the time being, I suppose I could just be content that they have consistently put out very good, and generally pretty interesting, records.

Rating: 7.5/10

Think this is spot on with both the band in general and the record. Still love them live and like you, still think there is potential for something stellar with these guys.

Not a huge fan of them myself, but "Everyone is Guilty" ended up being one of my summer jams this year.

Mount Eerie - Wind's Poem (emusic download 8/3/09)

Phil Elverum has made quite a comeback in the past couple of years. He's still under the radar from most people, but he's managed to find his way back to making compelling, fully-realized music. Somehow just as he was transitioning from The Microphones to putting out music as Mount Eerie, he forgot how either to write real songs or how to finish any of his ideas. I saw him live around this time, and he was awful. Just a string of meandering song fragments, none of which seemed to show any promise. All the while he was extolling the virtues of spontaneity and "not practicing", and I have to say, I wasn't sold. He's always been a little on the precious/pretentious side, and he's always presented his music as rough-hewn and imperfect, but at one time he at least knew how to put together a good song. His best records (It Was Hot, We Stayed in the Water and The Glow, Pt. 2) never seemed like spontaneous, one-take wonders, either, but rather meticulously labored over homespun masterpieces. So when he was at his nadir in the middle of this decade, it seemed like he had not only lost his muse, but that he had also gotten lazy. Now, thankfully, it seems like he has fully recovered from both.

Last year's Lost Wisdom showed that Phil had regained his ability to write actual songs, and now with Wind's Poem, he's back to embellishing his music with the kind of homemade effects and powerful arrangements that made the Microphones package so complete. This was supposedly his "black metal" album, but it's really pretty far from that. It's probably about as close as any K Records alumni could ever get, but it's still basically just an intermittently heavy Mount Eerie (think about the louder, more distorted parts of In the Glow, Pt. 2) album. It's definitely a dark record, though, and it's also pretty epic. A lot has been written about the Twin Peaks influence on this album, and the track that's always been a highlight for me is the one that takes the most directly from the Twin Peaks soundtrack, "Between Two Mysteries". The rest is less distinctive in terms of memorable melodies, and a lot always seems to slip by unnoticed until the heavy parts snap me back to attention. I feel like there's still a lot to be discovered here in the quieter parts, and I'm still trying to take it all in after who-knows-how-many listens.

It makes me really happy to have this guy back making good music, and I hope the trend continues.

Rating: 8/10

Akron: Feel similarly. I liked the Angels of Light record, but was really turned off by them live – it was like Barenaked Ladies – until I saw them as a completely different band it seemed in Austin this March, and was really surprised at how much I like this record. My favourite of theirs.

Cass McCombs - Catacombs (emusic download 8/7/09)

This naturally begins to feel like more of an obligation after a while, less something I really enjoy. I have a hard time leaving something unfinished, though, and whether or not this was a good idea, I want to do as many of these as I can before I'll be forced to take a break from them in a few weeks. Of course, it doesn't help when I'm trying to write about something totally uninspiring, either, for which I can muster up neither strongly positive or negative feelings. It's tiresome to try to think too hard about this pleasant but often cloying little Cass McCombs album.

This is my introduction to him, and he does seem like a pretty capable wordsmith. Some of the songs even take some interesting directions on some marginally unusual subjects, like "The Executioner's Song". But then there's the music. It's completely tasteful and competent modern folk, 100% NPR and Starbucks friendly. There's really nothing bad about any of it (although the opening track "Dreams Come True Girl" is just a tad too sickly sweet), but there's nothing about it that's really good enough. It's just barely on the warm side of lukewarm. Maybe some of his other work is better or more interesting, but I have a hard time caring after listening to this album.

Rating: 6/10

I totally disagree with your Cass McCombs review, but I have been a fan of his earlier work, especially A, not so much Dropping the Writ. Catacombs is arguably my favourite. I don't get very much of anything out of his lyrics, and recognize that it is relatively commonplace instrumentally, structurally. But his voice, and the melody, grew on me immediately. I listened to this last night, and it was perfect again. Admittedly, I have had more interesting listens to this with my family, discovering that we could play it near-simultaneously on two sets of iPod speakers, and create a really weird, lush, phasing effect. This'll be in my top 20 this year.

Is it just me or can 'Dreams Come True Girl' be added to the long list of songs that sound like 'Stand By Me'.