Category: Reviews

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Alias – Fever Dream

Alias’ Fever Dream hits you like a stab and then a surge of something heavy and thick in your veins. Track by track, Brendon Whitney’s trip-hop makes murky your blood. It seizes your brain and you’re conscious of being enraptured in its pulsating rhythm of rainbow hues. While 2008’s Resurgam featured actual instruments, this time the sounds that you hear are all samples. Whitney’s baritone grumblings slide under sparkling zips, zaps and huge echoes on “Goinswimmin,” while his high layered vocals tremble and shimmer on “Talk in Technicolor.” And “Dahorses” is amazingly upbeat with whistles and kicking percussion. Far from being simply an aimless but beautiful drive through delirium, Fever Dream sounds like it knows where this trip is going. Each song is crafted around a stable core that keeps it from being too abstract. As interesting a piece of art as it is, Fever Dream isn’t a complex thing that you appreciate and analyze in your head – it’s wam and lively and engaging for your whole person. (Anticon, www.anticon.com) Adrienne Yeung
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Taking Medication – Prescribed Nonsense

if the rheostatics, primus, the residents, ween, grateful dead, frank zappa, new model army, mahogany frog, pink floyd (early era), king crimson, servotron, devo and wall of voodoo all got together and had a bastard son. then if that bastard son started a band. taking medication is that band. this album has something in it that fans of all those would find something to enjoy here. it is all over the map musically. from acoustic numbers to slightly extended drones. odd vocals, mentions of time machines, robots, archaeology; this is a quirky record for quirky people. (Oak Apple Records, oakapplerecords.com) c.frsn
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CC Trubiak – They Say I’m Different

cc trubiak’s album they say i’m different is not what i expected. upon blindly picking it up at the stylus meeting and believing it to be some sort of rhymesayers or break bread style of hip-hop, imagine my surprise at it being an acoustic singer-songwriter affair. names like montreal’s patrick watson and groups like beirut come to mind in terms of contemporary artists. trubiak has a subtle voice that really carries these tracks about love (lost and found). this record is highly advised, not only for fans of the aforementioned patrick watson and beirut but for fans of james taylor as well. (Independent, myspace.com/cctrubiak) c.frsn
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Say Hi – Um, Uh Oh

It was initially difficult to phrase how I feel about Say Hi’s seventh album. This was surprising, because my immediate reaction to the first track was “Oh, this song! Where have I heard this before?” Perhaps it’s just that: Eric Elbogen (formerly Say Hi To You Mom)’s low-key guitar-driven indie rock’s strongest point is its familiarity. This is easy to listen to and easy to like; there aren’t any big risks here, but the tracks are no less friendly and you’ll be no less ready to get down. Lyrics are where the songs are given that little bit of extra polish. “We’ve played our only record back to front infinity / When it’s dark, all I can see is the whites / Of her green eyes,” sings Elbogen on “Dots on Maps,” a song about waning passion. Things take a finger-snappin’ turn on “Devils” where there’s a great sarcastic chorus: “Woe is me indeed!” Although moody at times, this never fails to feel warm and approachable: “Trees Are A-Swayin’” is so good-natured that I can practically see a crowd strolling and singing through a sunlit city pg-13 rom-com style. Hints of minimalist blues, sunny pop, and soulful indie-rock reflection keep things interesting. The finished product feels very full, thoughtful, and unaffected – and there’s nothing wrong with that. (Barsuk Records, www.barsuk.com) Adrienne Yeung
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THE BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE – The Singles Collection 1992-2011

Now here’s a release that I’ve been waiting YEARS for! As a fan of the BJM, buying up every album and EP I could find was a fairly easy (albeit expensive) undertaking. The 7” and 12” singles, however, were another story. Copies of their early releases (with alternate versions, of course) reach up into the hundreds on eBay, etc. Recently, Anton Newcombe has acquired the rights to these early releases and has been reissuing them on his ‘a’ recordings label (previous rare reissues include the This Is Why You Love Me and Love 12”s on CD). This 2 CD set essentially fills in the rest of the gaps. The early singles from ’92-’95 show the band in baby form, finding a sound while paying respect to garage bands of the ’60s and guitar bands like Ride and Swervedriver of the ’90s. Also included is the band’s most recent single, the 12” Illuminomi b/w There’s A War Going On, released just this year but sounding less like their last two albums (which left fans who wanted another …And This Is Our Music asking themselves if Anton’s really just mental) and more like the modern psychedelia they’ve been heralded for. As a bonus, two songs by Acid (a BJM pseudonym from 1993) see their first CD release here, along with 12 others that have been wax-only releases. A real treat for the fans, even more for completists. Just awesome, really. (a recordings, cargorecords.co.uk) Patrick Michalishyn
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Kram Ran – The Idiot Prince

(Disclaimer) by KRAM RAN

Mark Wohlgemuth has been releasing albums under the Kram Ran name for many years now, long before this whole Alpha Couple thing came about. And now, signed to Steak Au Zoo Records, with his album The Idiot Prince, it seems like Kram Ran’s balance between noise and fine art is finally coming to a head. Opener “Prepare to Qualify” (the title being a reference to a Clint Enns video/installation of the same name that is about the self-conscious nature of making art and being validated) starts with a simple enough acoustic guitar strum and delayed static, but quickly launches into some straight-up HNW shit, and pulls back into a mélange of sound clips. Or there’s the beat of “(Disclaimer),” which is driven by a drum machine and what seems like white noise sequenced on and off, to an almost R & B vibe. No doubt that Wohlgemuth has packed this release full of references that could be pulled apart and identified for years, but even on the surface, he’s made something noisy yet enjoyable. (Xiu Xiu is the first and easiest comparison that comes to mind). But The Idiot Prince is in it for the long haul. (Kram Ran for the Polaris!) Check him out this fall, on an album release tour, when he’ll definitely be returning to Winnipeg, his home town. (Steak Au Zoo, steakauzoorecords.com) Taylor Burgess

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Angels in America / Weyes Blood – Split Cassette

Angels in America – The Corpse by Northern-Spy Records

Angels in America are Baltimore based duo Moppy and Merv, who make sex crush music that is too smart, and too aggressive, to be called spaced out and too real life to be associated with the words witch or house. Past Angels releases (including 2009’s EP on Ecstatic Peace) have been moody, terribly recorded, barely decipherable noise hymns flirting with melody in a very special lo-fi heroin daze. In comparison, these three tracks, though equally knee weakening, make up a sludgier, more mature gothic masterpiece. It’s exciting to see where this band is at now. The gems found on Split Cassette are all the more precious in that they’re cut short so soon – the release’s climax, the final minute of “The Corpse,” is also the final 60 seconds of the Angels side. Taking a song that clocks in at almost seven minutes and keeping things loose and droney for over five before erupting into some kind of bass heavy, weird synth-infused murder anthem (accented by Angel’s long time signature ambient whistling and the rare treat of Merv’s snarled vocals) is definition tweenoise. I’m addicted.
Weyes Blood begins the reverse side with two tracks that, ignoring whatever underground neo-folk mystique Natalie Mering might have achieved, read as lost-on-purpose Joan Baez b-sides, after which the third and final song apexes with vocals played backwards over some synths and random noise, which as a whole isn’t very interesting. Side B is a lot like what I’ve seen of Mering’s live show – sometimes hypnotic and atmospheric, sometimes tedious. I don’t get making psych music in 2011 that could pass for forgettable music from 50 years ago – the effort seems pointless and even regressive. I’m not giving up on Weyes, but for now I’ll stick to Angels.
Speaking of, check out Merv of AiA’s PLEASURE Editions and newsletter The Gorgon, a small press project, which just reached its Kickstarter start-up goal. (Northern Spy, northern-spy.com) Kristel Jax

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Bon Iver – Bon Iver



He has collaborated with Kanye West and made an ambitious EP that dabbled into new territory by experimenting with an auto tune effect on his voice. It appeared as though Bon Iver’s next album could go in any direction. Although his new self titled release is very different from his debut, For Emma, Forever Ago, Justin Vernon manages to evolve his sound while still staying firmly in the territory that got him his fan base. The album has interesting effects all over it, such an example of this can be found in “Minnesota, WI” with a distorted bass effect in the back end of the song, as well as in opener “Perth” that teeters on rock when the drums come into full swing. Each song comes off as a sort of living, breathing piece of art. Each track changes pace and builds on itself by constantly adding and removing elements, making each track more exciting as you listen. As an album, this is immaculate, the unique construction of the songs leads the album to not only flow well but also prevents any sort of redundancy from setting in. The strange “Hinnom, TX” and “Beth/Rest” are both very interesting, the latter sounding extremely cheesy upon first listen but somehow still catchy and a nice way to finish the album. (Jagjaguwar, jagjaguwar.com) Scott Wolfe

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Son Lux – We Are Rising

The world seems to expand like breath in a bubble with the first note of Son Lux’s sophomore album. The nine songs on here have a frenetic back story – We Are Rising was conceived as a response to the RPM Challenge to produce an album in a mere 28 days – but in fact, it couldn’t sound any more polished. On the first track “Flickers,” gates creak open into a huge expanse of crystal music notes and a voice fluttering like a flag. Ryan Lott’s classical training and clear voice make this sound like an unsentimental walk to the altar – if there ever was one. It’s bare, measured, yet unbelievably passionate in the intricacy of its details. I could take a stab at labelling this… classical witch house? But really, Son Lux’s sound is something completely of its own. Trumpets and waving sighs accompany “All the Right Things” hip-hop throb. “Claws” is excellently fuzzy and heavy. So yes, Lott’s got range, but through this there’s a distinct peacefulness on every track that stems not from lack of sound but from the feeling that he definitely knows where he’s going and is getting there at the right pace. And even though the lyrics of “Let Go” consist of the same two words repeated 120 times, it’s far from boring: it’s hypnotic, with a curiously heart-pumping mixture of club-like beats and forest piping. All this sound rushes into a peak that makes you feel like a kitten being picked up by the skin of its neck and paralyzed by pleasure. Is there anything else you could ask for? (Anticon, www.anticon.com) Adrienne Yeung
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AMEN DUNES – Through Donkey Jaw

Arriving to the party a tad late, I’ve since become a member of the church of Amen Dunes. Damon McMahon’s latest seems a little less improv than his debut D.I.A., and a tad more “poppy” and structured. “Baba Yaga” starts off the album with some beautiful meander and almost unintelligible lyrics (English, yeah, but the phrasing is odd). But whenever he sings the refrain, “You know that I, I lie,” each time more soaring than the last, the goosebumps start to pop up. Same with “Swim Up Behind Me,” the lyrics are always in English but are treated as another instrument, twisted and tangled and sounding unconventional. “Good Bad Dreams” sounds like a late ’60s Stones-on-mescaline trip, Satanic Majesties-style and “Not A Slave” sounds a little Eastern, like something you’d hear coming from the closed tent of a night-time bazaar. The whole listen is completely ethereal and a tad spooky, demanding repeated listens to peel back its many layers. Oh yeah, if you buy the CD version of Donkey Jaw, you get two exclusive bonus tracks, “Gem Head,” a shimmering jungle-beat jangly ’60s trip-out and the 10+ minute freakout “Tomorrow Never Knows” that sounds like Nine Inch Nails meets 23 Skidoo. Essential, if ya know what’s good for ya! (Sacred Bones, sacredbonesrecords.com) Patrick Michalishyn