The members of New York based Akron/Family have been working relentlessly since signing to Young God Records in 2003. The four gents have released two full length albums and a split LP with label mates Angels of Light while touring the country. The most recent of which is the exciting and challenging Meek Warrior. Akron/Family make it clear from the opening song that they are not attempting to simply rehash the successful formula used in their lauded debut. The frenetic guitar riff and ominous, insistent drums are a far cry from the melodic, understated finger-picking one finds on their previous record. The intensity slowly evolves into an amalgamation of hand claps, dissonant murmurs, and finally an impassioned chant. One could easily see a song like "Blessing Force" being separated into four songs due to Akron/Family's tendency towards progressive and constant variation. At times, Akron/Family sounds like a relative of Animal Collective due to their unbridled, exuberant sing-a-long style and eccentric campfire folksy sensibilities. Meek Warrior is organic, cosmic, and unrestrained all at once; it’s the kind of album that can grow on you.
Sunday, October 22, 2006
Review - Meek Warrior 6.7/10
Review - Into the Blue Again 8.6/10
The latest release from multi-instrumentalist Jimmy LaValle a.k.a. The Album Leaf expands on the distinctive, ethereal sound established on his previous records. LaValle delicately crafts songs reminiscent of Sigur Ros in orchestral grandeur, but with abundant use of a Rhodes piano and programmed drum beats, Into The Blue Again is distinctively Album Leaf. Enlisting Pall Jenkins to help with writing lyrics, LaValle's vocals are more prominent than ever before. On the second track, "Always For You", LaValle sings "Through the cities I've walked / In castles I dream / On mountains I've climbed / When I called your name". Paired lush, layered sounds, the album evokes a cinematic quality in which the protagonist is a weary lovelorn traveler . Each song slowly builds into an inspiring crescendo and is resolved in seven minutes or less. In the iTunes era, in which singles take precedent over full albums, LaValle has succeeded in creating a cohesive, flawlessly integrated record. Recorded in Washington and mixed in Iceland, Into The Blue Again transports the listener to equally familiar and distant places. Tranquility never sounded this good.
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Majesty, OH WORD?
For those of you lucky enough to have caught Mr. Stevens on his current tour, you'll be familiar with the EPIC new song Majesty, Snowbird . If you haven't heard it, or simply want an mp3 version, clickity clack on that there link and download the song. You won't be disappointed.
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
MENOMENA's New exclusive mp3!?!?!!
Thats right biatches. The turds over at pitchfork have the linkz to "Wet and Rusting" off of the new MENOMENA!!>!!?> album (Friend or Foe) that should be "dropping" in January. The Portland band of all Portland bands signed to Barsuk for this one and if the album is anything like Wet and Rusting... oh mah gawd. These talented song writers have topped themselves again, I won't waste anymore of your time. please. go. download. it.... now.
- Dyl.
Friday, August 04, 2006
News: New Album! Remixes!
The Beasties Boys are currently in the studio (well, not right now...its about 5 am on the east coast, but i assume they'll be in there at a reasonable hour) WORKING on a NEW ALBUM. After 2004's self-produced, acclaimed To The 5 Burroughs, the beasties have again decided to produce the lp themselves.
- Also, Stars lp "Set Yourself on Fire" is set to be remixed by a whole gang of folks. Among them, Junior Boys and Broken Social Scene. The reeeemixes will be released in the fall under the title of "Do You Trust Your Friends?" and will feature a reworking of every track from the original. On a side note: Stars are fucking awesome.
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Track Review: Ratatat - Wildcat
Ratatat's acclaimed self-titled debut dropped in 2004 and thankfully they're back in the game with their new disc Classics. The fourth track "Wildcat" means business and that business is making you dance. The bassline is funky as shit and the guitars are as Ratatat-y as they come, but what really sets this track off is the sample of a wildcat roar. Interjected every so often, the howl gives the song an extra ounce of attitude -- not that it's lacking in that department. What begins as fairly tame builds into one ferocious beast of a song.
Saturday, July 22, 2006
News: Decemberists
So one of Portland's biggest bands is prepping their upcoming release The Crane Wife (Oct. 3rd) with a N. America tour. The album features some pretty sweet folks like Laura Veirs and Chris Walla(of Death Cab) who co-produced it. The wintery group will be playing two shows at the Crystal Ballroom October 17 and 18 with Lavender Diamond. They will also be playing shows in Seattle and Salem.
Heres a tracklist suckaz:
01 The Crane Wife 3
02 The Island:
Come and See
The Landlord's Daughter
You'll Not Feel the Drowning
03 Yankee Bayonet (I Will Be Home Then)
04 O Valencia!
05 The Perfect Crime #2
06 When the War Came
07 Shankill Butchers
08 Summersong
09 The Crane Wife 1 & 2
10 Sons and Daughters
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Review: The Looks 9/10
The fallout left from Daft Punk's hideous creation Human After All created an opportunity for someone to take "robot-dance-flame." Death from Above 1979's Jesse F. Keeler and Dj Al-P teamed up to create MSTRKRFT and found whatever it was that Daft Punk lost in the process of making Human After All.
The Looks starts off with their obvious single "Work on You" which is extremely catchy a la "Harder, Better" etc. At the start of the song vocoder voice croons "I'm gonna work on you/until you're feeling right/I'm gonna make you mine/under the disco light"
wow.
The icing on the cake is that the video for this song is indeed animated, and yes done in the same style as Interstella 555. Moving along we get to track 3 "Shes Good for Business". Here they follow the standard dance song recipe: loads of claps, synthy basslines, and lots of girls singing "I gotta shake it" Yes, yes you do.
"Paris" is the next song and basically if you took Mylo and Daft Punk and mixed them together you would get this song. +5 more really dancey songs that will make you dance.
So, nothing new here in this album, its just that its done really well. From start to finish its no BS straight up shake-yo-booty-to-dis-beat. Daft Punk undoubtedly wishes they could have made this album.
-Dylan Reed
Friday, July 14, 2006
Review: The Avalanche 7/10
With 2003's Greetings From Michigan: The Great Lakes State, Sufjan Stevens set the bar high for the following 49 albums. Despite producing such an excellent soundtrack for one watery mid-west state, Mr. Stevens was able to work his magic once again with the masterpiece that is Illinois in 2005. Now, he comes to us with The Avalanche, a collection of songs that didn't quite make the cut on Illinois. In this fairly polished b-sides record, we see more of the songwriting and orchestration that has made Sufjan massively popular.
The opening track "The Avalanche" is a warm introduction that reaches a surprisingly thrilling crescendo with insistent horns and percussion. It is easy to see a track like this fitting seamlessly into the Illinois track listing. In other instances however, the listener will thank Sufjan for his discretion. In the case of the epic "Chicago", we see three alternate versions which come in acoustic, adult contemporary, and multiple personality disorder. They are aptly titled, to say the least. At times, Sufjan sounds a bit clumsy and more experimental than in his previous ventures. One can hardly be critical, as they are outtakes. Rather, it is interesting to see the evolution of his songs; the tweaks and compositional modifications that he makes.
Sufjan's ability to effectively blend historical matter and superb songwriting continues on this album. "Saul Bellow" tells the tale of a nobel prize-winning author, and the many locations such as "Kaskaskia River" all help to paint the patriotic picture so deftly presented by the songwriter. The standout track "Henney Buggy", with a catchy riff in the vein of "Jacksonville", will make your summer playlist.
Perhaps this release was merely a stopgap in the Sufjan Stevens discography, something to satisfy his fans momentarily. Whatever the reason for release, this work should not be regarded as completely second-rate. Many songs on the album live up to expectations, but others are more noticeably outtakes. Overall, The Avalanche is a nice accompaniment to Illinois, especially after you've listened the hell out of the latter in the past year.
-Kyle Gilkeson
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Review: The Eraser 7.3/10
Thom Yorke has made it clear in interviews that he gets uptight about The Eraser being dubbed a solo album and while its true that snippets from a few songs are by other members, this is pure Yorke. With electronic fiddlings and bleepy bloopy tweakings this album is a relative of Amnesiac, but lacks the heavy jazz presence brought by Johnny Greenwood. Yorke's pension for solo laptoppy projects is no secret with songs like "Worrywort"[Knives Out Single] and "I am Citizen Insane"[Com Lag] finding their release on b-side compilations and singles.
The album opens with the title track Eraser and pushes a cut up piano sample (based on something Greenwood wrote) through the whole song but by the end it has picked up some fuzz and other production. The vocals on this track aren't quite the typical Yorke we are used to and are much smoother. The lyrics are brutally honest and seem to directly involve Thom Yorke himself: "Please excuse me but I got to ask/are you only bein' nice because you want something?" later on he turns it on himself "I am only bein' nice/because I want someone something"
"The Clock" is a song that easily could have weaseled it's way onto Hail to the Thief, this is due largely to the fact that he uses some of the same drum samples. The music paints a bleak landscape as Yorke's vocals loom giving the song a very brooding feeling which can be found throughout the entire album. "Harrowdown Hill" (The First Single) is about a UN Weapons Inspector who committed suicide under strange circumstances at the song title. Yorke also makes his appreciation of Autechre known with "Atoms for Peace" which if heard on its own would have hinted at a Yorke/Autechre collaborative effort.
The Eraser ends with "Cymbal Rush", a song that Radiohead has been playing at some of their recent shows, although it sounds quite different. Think Idioteque revamped. Fast moving drums and Yorke being paranoid as usual. This song is however much more delicate than Idioteque. It has a soft piano part floating around in the background eerie Kid A era synth patterns which make a it a pretty good ender yet it can't hold its own against songs like The Tourist or Motion Picture Soundtrack.
Overall a decent album best heard on a rainy Sunday to go with your already-less-than-impressive mood. It sags a bit before and after the halfway mark but the beginning and end are worth the trouble. What this album proves is that Radiohead is greater than the sum of its parts.
-Dylan Reed
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Oh! Sleater-Kinney! Noooo!
In a posting on their website, the pacific northwest-based trio broke the news to their fans:
"After eleven years as a band, Sleater-Kinney have decided to go on indefinite hiatus."
As of now, there are no future plans for recording or touring after their currently scheduled shows. DAMN. Well, they had a good run. And we thank them for that. And for anyone who saw them live, feel blessed, because they were GREAT. Lets hope this indefinite hiatus finds a definite end sometime soon.
THIS JUST IN:
Sleater-Kinney has added one final show on August 11th. Drum Roll.....IN PORTLAND - AT THE CRYSTAL BALLROOM. Go get your tickets kids, this is momentous.
Saturday, June 24, 2006
Maher Shalal Hash Baz & others
Ok, so I didn't catch the whole show because I was off volunteering at the Clinton St. But! I caught the Watery Graves and Maher Shalal Hash Baz, the former of the two was great as usual. Bassist Davis Lee Hooker stood in for Adrian Orange on drums who is off in Europe. WG's played loose like always and for one song brought in Arrington De Dionyso of Old Time Relijun on bass clarinet + tuvan throat singing = huh? anyways Curtis Knapp (piano in WG's) probably said it best when he responded to Arrington's claim of" not knowing the songs well" by saying "Neither do we."
Maher Shalal Hash Baz (Longest first name in the Bible) was incredible. Melodic but often disjointed by purposefully playing off tempo with a guitar two trumpets and other melodica type things. The percussionist made the best of brushes, soft mallets, and a cardboard box and definitely pulled it off. Lead singer and writer Tori Kudo fumbled around with what appeared to be hastily written sheet music and in broken english just said "ahh no." Later on in the relatively short set he sugared up the audience with these lyrics "I was born in Portlandtown." The music they played was honest and its refreshing to see a band like Maher Shalal Hash Baz that is completly comfortable in their awkwardness.
