New Music: A Hawk and a Hacksaw, k-the-i???, Charter Oak, Boogie Boarder

A Hawk and a Hacksaw - Fernando's Giampari - The Way the Wind Blows (Leaf 2006)


A Hawk and a Hacksaw – The Way the Wind Blows / Leaf

A Hawk and a Hacksaw, the brainchild of former Neutral Milk Hotel drummer Jeremy Barnes, built it’s following by exploring 20th century American music, but for their third album in as many years, Barnes has dove into the mesmerizing world of Eastern European Balkan music. After finding himself in the Moldovan village of Zece Prajini, Romania, a traditional community devoid of modern technology including pavement, plumbing and motor vehicles, Barnes became obsessed with the mixture of Jewish and gypsy music that remained intact since the early 20th century. With the help of local group, Franfare Ciocarlia, the beginnings of The Way the Wind Blows was recorded; notably the music is not representative of traditional Romanian music, but a progressive fuse of both artists’ personalities. Back in the states, AHAAH’s other member, Heather Trost, and Zach Condon, the young and very talented trumpet player better known as Beirut, rounded out the recording to create a very intriguing and compelling album that is both very influenced and individual in itself. While I am digging this phase of AHAAH, I can’t wait to hear where Barnes finds himself next.





k-the-i??? - Little Did She Know - Broken Love Letter (Mush 2006)


k-the-i??? – Broken Love Letter / Mush

Finally! I have always been a fan of underground hip-hop, but the wave of indie emcees in the last few years has really disappointed me. I want to be into lyric-heads like Subtitle and Busdriver, but I just can’t find myself really going back to them for repeated listen. But now, thanks to the avant-rap ears of Mush (who has already brought us such quality voices like Aesop Rock, Doseone and Labtekwon), I have the strangely named k-the-i??? (the question marks are his idea) to fill that void. Hailing from the school of El-P, the heavy-set Cambridge rapper does it all, concocting dense, Dalek-like beats with mile-a-minute rhymes that is posed for the underground but surprisingly accessible. His biggest asset besides his amazingly clear vocal delivery for such high speeds of spitting is his beats, which are as I mentioned are dense and gritty, but he laces them with jazz horns, impressive turntablism and a constant stream of surprising moments. He even drops a danceable number or two just to keep it real. Sure his lyrical prowess sides with the relationship dissecting lean of indie-hop, but it doesn’t retract from the music, which is creative, individual and worth your attention.




Charter Oak - Waterfall - Your Life That Won't End (self-released 2006)


Charter Oak – Your Life That Won’t End / self-released

This debut self-released 3-song EP from Charter Oak deserves your utmost attention if you are a fan of textural indie-rock, from The Decemberists to Thee More Shallows. Fronted by Brendon Anderegg, an extremely talented musician and ever-productive person in general (co-founded the Apestaartje label, one half of much heralded minimal electronic duo Mountains and solo singer/songwriter), the Brooklyn 5-piece wind through dramatic melodies composed by piano arpeggios, marching drums and threading cello with sincerity and an underlying sense of urgency. The rest of the band includes pianist Lucas Jansen (who has played with Anthony Braxton), cellest Tianna Kennedy, bassist Rob Hatch-Miller (former MD and PD of WNYU and contributor to Dusted Magazine and Other Muisc) and drummer Chris Millstein (member of Home and Jah Division as well as playing with Samara Lubelski). The recording, engineered by Gary Olson of Ladybug Transistor, is crisp as the fall air and the music comes through the speakers with a full-body richness that seems to envelope the listener. To put it lightly, the band shows tons of promise on this very limited edition EP and more than likely Charter Oak will be a name you’ll hear again.




Boogie Boarder - Stay Cool Ninja - What Riding Waves is All About (Famous Class 2006)


Boogie Boarder – What Riding Waves is All About / Famous Class

On the heels of the irresistible synth-pop of Snakes Say Hisss!, NYC upstart label Famous Class is now unleashing the turtleneck-clad trio of Boogie Boarder onto your ears. With varying biographical information that ranges from the band starting out in a ceramics glaze room to playing their first show online in mostly “ps3 pre-release rumor sites,” you know that this is a band that doesn’t take themselves too seriously, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that the music suffers because of that. In fact, they play a rambunctious blend of Lightning Bolt inspired crunch-rock and whimsical gritty pop with omniscient surf melodies catching breaks with every wave of sound. As with the SSH!, What Riding Waves is All About is packaged in seemingly self-constructed booklets of hand drawn cartoons mostly of half-naked men with animal heads… let me reiterate the not taking themselves too seriously part. As a whole, this is a fun album that will please fans of lo-fi rock and DIY music of all kinds, and another successful notch in the young roster of Famous Class.

New Music: Assemblage Sessions 2, Caural, DoF, Susan Christie, Owen

Conrad Newholmes - Old and News - Assemblage Sessions Vol. 2 (Abandon Building 2006)


Various Artists – Assemblage Sessions Vol. 2 / Abandon Building

Columbus, OH has earned the nickname “The Arch City” due to the dozens of metal arches that span the streets of the Short North district originally used for streetcars. Upstart Columbus label, Abandon Building Records is taking that concept to an entirely new level. With their Assemblage series, which makes up 40% of their releases to date, the progressive collective is not only arching genres but cultures as artists from Japan, France, Spain, Germany, China and the UK reside next to hometown and other American musicians. The music itself connects the borders between electronic and organic styles, folk flutters through IDM, jazz mashes with hip-hop, psychedelia swirls around broken beat evoking descriptions like folktronica, organica, illbient and other fun to say words. The most amazing arch though is the shared aesthetic and the maintained level of quality throughout the entire 21-song compilation. Fans early WARP, Plug Research, Mush, Anticon, Carpark, Merck and other similar labels take notice, because though only 5 releases deep, Abandon Building very well may be your new favorite label and just maybe, Columbus, OH could be the next focal point for a potent electronica scene.





Caural - I Won't Race You - Mirrors for Eyes (Mush 2006)


Caural – Mirrors for Eyes / Mush

Chicago bred musician Zachary Mastoon has always made the type of music I am typically into, but for some reason, we have never fully connected on a complete album (because obviously he and all other musicians should be catering to solely my taste). Under the Caural moniker, Mastoon crafts left-field hip-hop leaning towards folktronica, ambient and IDM with Eastern influences. His previous albums for Chocolate Industries always seemed a bit too cluttered, but with his return to Mush, Caural sounds reinvigorated with finally a fully realized sound. Because he builds his songs from the drums up, Mastoon’s earlier productions sounded stiff, but now he lets the melodic instrumentation, notably strings and clarinet, breath and take over from time to time, almost like an instrumental hip-hop version of Jen Jelinek. With the minimal vocal help from Hrishikesh Hirway of One AM Radio, Chicago emcee Racecar of Modill, Paul Amitai and Jacob Croegaert, Mirrors for Eyes is the album I’ve always wanted to hear from Caural… and you should too.




DoF - Explosions Over Baseball Fields - Sun, Strength, and Shield (Abandon Building 2006)


DoF – Sun, Strength, and Shield / Abandon Building

The pseudo-genre of folktronica has flourished in the last 5 years, but in all actuality, the style name can be misleading, since key artists in the field don’t necessarily use anything more than the solemn mood of folk in their music. For example, Four Tet samples free jazz more than anything, Caribou relies on heavy usage of psychedelic pop, The Books piece together found sound and Colleen sticks with minimal tinkers. Enter Pennsylvania’s Brian Hulick, who under his moniker DoF has been creating what could be the truest definition of folktronica over the last couple years. With a foundation of plaintive acoustic guitar and soft piano melodies, Hulick is just a delicate croon away from Nick Drake territory, but instead he incorporates glitchy percussion and waves of white noise to counteract the lush harmonies with disjointed IDM. With his second album for the noteworthy Columbus, OH label Abandon Building, DoF is producing the type of quality music that can strip the pseudo from a poorly defined genre.




Susan Christie - Paint a Lady - Paint a Lady (B-Music 2006)


Susan Christie – Paint a Lady / B-Music

So there are rare records, maybe less than 1000 ever printed. Then there are records so obsolete they solely existed in demo acetate form; for example, Susan Christie’s attempt to produce a meaningful record, Paint a Lady, which was scoffed at by CBS after it’s completion in 1968 and left for dead. Christie, a promising Philadelphian singer/songwriter, recorded a novelty hit in the late 60s called “I Love Onions” which gained fame from its appearance on the Captain Kangaroo show. CBS, being a stereotypical major label, attempted to cash in on Christie’s 15-minutes of fame and unknowingly sent her into the studio with a rhythm section trained in Philly funk and producer John Hill, an innovative artist in his own right who is sometimes credited with the first outings into trip-hop and heavy metal(!?). With this support, Christie’s pristine voice and her tales of inner-city loneliness, Paint a Lady baffled the execs with its unprecedented mix of acid-folk, psychedelic country and light funk. They panicked, scrapped everything and pressed nothing… 40 years later Christie is finally getting her rightful due, though the impact would have been much greater if it would have originally fallen into the right hands.




Owen - A Bird in Hand - At Home with Owen (Polyvinyl 2006)


Owen – At Home with Owen / Polyvinyl

The problem with Mike Kinsella’s Owen projects is not that the music is bad, but it tends to remain redundant with little artistic progression. For a typical singer/songwriter, this wouldn’t be that much of a problem because it’s what the audience expects, but for Kinsella, who has played with Cap’n Jazz, Joan of Arc, Owls and American Football, I just want more from a proven creative mind. Like the previous the full-lengths, there are flashes within the sentimental, acoustic guitar driven ballads, like in the final seconds of Bad News where it enters Sigur Ros territory or the avant electric guitar outburst of centerpiece and highlight, A Bird in Hand. But these moments of “Yes! Here we go!” are always drowned between the predictable post-emo that drapes every Owen album. I want to reiterate that I am not knocking Kinsella, the intricate finger-picking is top notch and his crackling, emotive voice is perfect for this setting, but I know there is so much more creative energy inside that mind and if he would just unleash it, his alter-Owen-personality could really shine.

New Music: The Black Keys, Steffen Basho-Junghans, A.G.

The Black Keys - The Flame - Magic Potion (Nonesuch 2006)


The Black Keys – Magic Potion / Nonesuch

I don’t think The Black Keys will ever top Thickfreakness. It’s not that they’re losing grip on the backwoods blues-rock that seems to come so naturally to the drum-and-guitar duo, but the head-turning urgency of their breakout sophomore release will be near impossible to ever recreate. Saying that, Rubber Factory was pretty damn good, but with Magic Potion, their 4th album in as many years, the Akron boys just seem too comfortable, too predictable. With the move to Nonesuch, singer/guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney can no doubt approach recording with more patience and more time to sweeten their sound, but is that what you necessarily want in a riff-heavy blues album? And as predicted, Magic Potion is finely recorded with a nice middle punch and a warm room sound, but when Auerbach gets really riled up I want to hear his classic croon over-modulate as he tries to out sing his blaring guitar, not lay flat in the mix. Now all complaints aside, The Black Keys are still playing the best contemporary blues and perhaps classic rock on either side of the Mississippi. So as long as your are not expecting anything more than what they’ve already shown you, Magic Potion will not disappoint.




Steffen Basho-Junghans - Azure No. 3 - Late Summer Morning (Strange Attractors 2006)


Steffen Basho-Junghans – Late Summer Morning / Strange Attractors

In a musical world devoted to riffs, power chords and devil-horn inducing guitar stances, it’s extremely important to carry on the tradition set by experimental guitar players from Django Reinhardt to Sandy Bull of pushing the boundaries of the instrument as far as humanly possible. The Berlin-born Steffen Basho-Junghans, a direct descendent of the Takoma label trio (John Fahey, Leo Kottke and Robbie Basho), carries on these ideals with his insanely technically-proficient style influenced by American folk, classical, Indian ragga and Eastern modal methods. Using the languid calmness of late summer as a theme, Junghans wields his acoustic steel 6-string guitar with elegance and bravado, letting earthy tones flutter and twinkle with his unorthodox picking and swirling rhythms. Being described as “minimalist trance-folk,” Late Summer Morning captures the same hypnotic vibe as a Steve Reich composition, but within the beautiful confines of a shimmering guitar. It’s a shame that Junghans wasn’t a contemporary of the Takoma trio, because he would have absolutely been grouped in with the cream of the guitar experimenters’ elite.




A.G. - Take a Ride feat. Party Arty and Aloe Blacc (produced by Madlib) - Get Dirty Radio (Look 2006)


A.G. – Get Dirty Radio / Look

At the turn of the 90s, the first wave of rap was down spiraling into the depths of party-oriented redundancy and commercialism, but with the crucial help of Bronx hip-hop crew D.I.T.C. (Diggin’ in the Crates) an underground was formed that laid emphasis on potent rhymes, creative production and a cold-as-ice swagger. Lyricist A.G. aka Andre the Giant was an original member of that crew and now more than 15 years later (7 years since his last solo outing) teamed with both classic (Showbiz, Lord Finesse) and new school (Madlib, Oh No) producers, Andre Barnes sounds as fresh as ever. In fact, while listening to the “Bronx’s punchline rapper” you can clearly hear the influence he has had over modern streetwise rappers, especially the Shady/Aftermath crews, with his slightly-humorous, self-promoting hook-heavy vocal styling. Concurrently, A.G. retains his freshness by being open to the youthful influences that surround him, whether it’s the unconventional lo-fi quirk of the Oh No produced Love or the Def Jux ripped synthy dancehall bump of Say Yeah. But no matter who is influencing who, Get Dirty Radio is a solid album that is traditional enough for mainstream rap fans but features the inventive production the underground craves… so everybody wins.

New Music: Born Ruffians, Coach Fingers, Annuals, The Curtains

Born Ruffians - Hedonistic Me - Born Ruffians (WARP 2006)


Born Ruffians – Born Ruffians EP / WARP

Oh shit. Oh shit oh shit. The last indie-rock EP I heard with this amount of youthful exuberance, creative intensity and limitless potential was Bloc Party’s self-titled EP, and we all know what’s happened to them. That vibe you get when you’re absolutely sure that you are listening to the next big thing is almost visibly spewing from the Born Ruffians’ 6-song self-titled debut (the eerie parallel to B.P. is ridiculous). Stylistically the Ontario trio plays a completely infectious brand of loose, jaunty indie-rock, as if The Libertines were influenced by angular art-punk rather than pub rock. Front man Luke Lalonde sounds like the long lost son of Frank Black Francis and sings with the energy of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah’s Alec Ounsworth while bassist Mitch DeRosier and drummer Steve Hamelin yelp background vocals that would make Isaac Brock swell with pride. The music is attacked with an angular pop approach keeping things minimal but never lacking with unexpected turns at every corner. Though only six songs long, this EP is surprisingly sufficient leaving you wanting more but satisfied with just playing it over and over again. With the backing of WARP, the young lads of Born Ruffians are in for a very busy immediate future of touring, press and warranted hype.




Coach Fingers - A Pine Bush Fantasy - With Friends and Family (Locust 2006)


Coach Fingers – With Friends and Family / Locust

Jason Meagher sounds like a man possessed. It sounds as if all of the great spirits of 60s/70s Southern Rock are battling their way to the forefront of the main Coach’s music, but none seem to really take priority over the other so styles wish and wash in and out of a song almost as if Meagher can’t control it. And while the Southern tag does define the rural, bearded swagger of Coach Fingers’ sound, the influences range much wider, especially into the realms of psychedelic rock and backwoods blues. In just one song, you can hear John Fogerty jamming with Ray Manzarek (keyboardist from The Doors) while Zappa arranges, The Free Design adds a touch of color and Pink Floyd hints on their studio trickery. With a more contemporary frame of mind, I routinely hear the kind of sound Man Man would embrace but without their unyielding instinct to skew unrelentingly, or All Night Radio brought up on blues rather than hippie hoopla. Any way you define it, Meagher, and a couple of his fellow members from the No Neck Blues Band, have created a thoroughly enjoyable, challenging and unpredictable album that stays humble in its lo-fi production and does an amazing job of embracing its influences without straight copping them.




Annuals - Complete or Completing - Be He Me (Ace Fu 2006)


Annuals – Be He Me / Ace Fu

So the hype has been trickling in on North Carolina’s Annuals for a couple of months now: a couple promising demos here, a couple kind words there, and the absolute kicker, some positive anticipation from Pitchfork, “like some fantasy hybrid of Animal Collective, the Arcade Fire and Broken Social Scene…” nice. And ridiculously, it’s not a bad assessment. Not one member of the Raleigh band of merry men (and one lady) are older than 22 years of age, but their eclectic blend of indie-folk is anything but immature musically. The songs are extremely unpredictable with stylistic shifts that would make Mike Patton proud but always remaining true to their rural folk roots, hence the Animal Collective comparison. Per Arcade Fire, they go abouts composing music with lush instrumentation but remaining tactfully lo-fi and with an underlying epic urgency. And finally, for better or worse, it’s a collective outing like BSS, all members contribute, play a variety of instruments and are just waiting for their solo break. I want to say this is all potential, but the young’uns seem to be delivering already. Be He Me is wonderfully eclectic, masterfully performed and posed to dominate the indie world.




The Curtains - Green Water - Calamity (Asthmatic Kitty 2006)


The Curtains – Calamity / Asthmatic Kitty

There are some people who like their pop music to prance gently at a humbled speed, some who like it to bounce and smile and cheer to no end, and then there are some who like it stumble drunkenly in a woozy, care-free skip with a don’t-give-a-shit grin and an ominous hiccup. The Curtains are the latter group’s new favorite band. The brainchild of Deerhoof and Natural Dreamers member Chris Cohen along with help of his close friends, including John Ringhofer aka Half-Handed Cloud, former Mae-Shi drummer Corey Fogel and Kill Rock Stars Nedelle Torrisi, The Curtains play a brand of loopy pop rock that is eccentric without being pretentious. Drawing from familiar 60s psychedelic pop riffs, art-punk and even occasional prog-like moments, Cohen keeps it wonderfully unpredictable and unsuspecting throughout an entire album that sounds innocent without being ignorant. I don’t think everyone will believe they ‘get this,’ and I’m not completely sure I do, but I’m thinking that’s because there is nothing to get. Calamity may just simply be 13 odd pop tunes that could no longer be restrained in the colorful imagination of Chris Cohen.

New Music: So Percussion, Rom, Patrick Porter

So Percussion - What the Hell - Amid Noise (Cantaloupe 2006)


So Percussion – Amid the Noise / Cantaloupe

Producers and programmers have dominated the meshed genre of folktronica/acoustica, obviously because it’s a sample-based, building-block style of music even though it finds its roots in the classical experimentations of Steve Reich and his contemporaries. The Yale-based quartet of four extensively trained percussionists (who by the way teach their craft at Harvard, Duke and Princeton among others) have set out to bring this style of music back to it’s origins while simultaneously continue to push it’s progression. After albums consisting almost solely of drums, the group who goes by So Percussion experimented with an array of melodic instruments including glockenspiel, toy piano, vibraphones, bow marimba, melodica, prepared pipes, metals and even electronic wiring to create a tightly composed sound of percussive wonder. Slated somewhat fittingly as Four Tet and Tortoise meets Aphex Twin and Brian Eno, Amid the Noise is a challenging and enjoyable percussion and tone exploration that can appeal to fans of folktronica, IDM, classical, experimental, ambient and post-rock alike.




Rom - Glacier - Rom (Wimm 2006)


Rom – Rom / Wimm

Rom’s eponymous debut will more than likely not receive much attention in the States, which is a shame because it is a very good album. Given the fact that it’s being released on a Japanese label, Wimm Recordings, not even close to showy in an immediate attention-grabbing sort of way and content in finding a single humble groove to build each song’s foundation just doesn’t give me much hope for it finding a solid American audience. The production duo is made up of the Miami-based Matt Crum, a guitarist turned drummer who has spent some time in the pop band Feathers, and Georgia-based Roberto Lange, who also records as Boom & Birds and Epstein. They team together for a sound that finds a calm void between post-rock, IDM and instrumental hip-hop, coming off like the hypothetical product of a Fridge and Jimmy Edgar collaboration. They have the ability to push their sound from blippy dance-floor ready grooves to more contemplative post-rock meanderings; a skill I definitely dig. It will probably be overlooked in the large context of things, but will definitely make a small group of lucky listeners very happy.




Patrick Porter - Lite Sleeper - Die Wandaland (Greyday 2006)


Patrick Porter – Die Wandaland / Greyday

The much traveled and prolific writer Patrick Porter is out to reestablish himself stateside by jumping from Australia’s Camera Obscura label for Portland’s Greyday, home to Minmae, Head of Femur and Books on Tape. With years of homemade cassettes behind him, Porter has been honing his singer/songwriter approach and for the most part, it comes through fittingly. While not stupendous or overtly individual, his voice has a good variance to it as he is able to low-end it in a gravely Nick Cave-lite deal to a fluttery upper-register hum. I expect a bit more from him lyrically, especially with his hearty bibliography, and once again, while excelling at points, he doesn’t posses that individuality that can really distinguish singer/songwriters. His inventive folk-pop backdrop is what pushes Porter of the mundane as he intertwines acoustic and electric guitar parts with peculiar keyboard ditties and jangling percussion. Die Wandaland certainly has its high points, but it would fare much better as an EP than a full-length, which would shroud Porter in a much needed cloak of mystery and potential.

New Music: Rafter, The In-Kraut Vol. 2, Roger O'Donnell

Rafter - Bicycle - 10 Songs (Asthmatic Kitty 2006)


Rafter – 10 Songs / Asthmatic Kitty

Strangely enough, while listening to Rafter’s charmingly strange pop album for the first time through, the name Rob Crow kept jumping to mind; there is just something about Rafter’s homely falsetto and canonic song structures that mirror’s Crow. And lo and behold, I pull out the press release and this album was actually recorded in 1998 while Rafter was living in the Go-Homes, a small artsy San Diego community where Pinback was recording their debut record at the same exact time (hell, there’s even a song called My Friend the Crow). Now some time later, Asthmatic Kitty has dug up this hidden avant-pop record so it finally receives the attention it deserves. The limited budget forced Rafter to be immensely creative with the materials at hand and his clever production techniques and unorthodox sounds absolutely shine. The description that keeps popping in my head is a late 90s collaboration between Crow and Beck, where Beck handles the music and arrangements with limited funds while Crow handles the songwriting and vocal duties. For the time period in which it was created, this is a phenomenal record, not that it would lose much of my respect if it were made in the last year. Either way, 10 Songs is a wonderful patchwork pop album where the financial and equipment restrictions actually enhance the heart of the music.





Kai Rautenberg & Orchester Jurgen Ehlers - Moon Mission - The In-Kraut, Vol. 2 (Marina 2006)


Various Artists – The In-Kraut, Vol. 2 / Marina

So let’s be honest, when you think of German music, it’s not likely that hedonistic party music is the first style that popped in your head, probably more along the lines of mechanical electronic music or experimental krautrock. But compilers Stefan Kassel and Frank Jastfelder have once again returned to their crates to prove those stereotypes wrong by assembling yet another compilation of hip-shaking, booty-scooting German grooves from the late 60s and early 70s. The 2nd volume of The In-Kraut unleashes 20 more rare selections of soul, beat, now sound, mod and even soundtrack cuts that totally dispel any notion of the stringent, button-downed society that most people associate with Germany. And to add to the attraction, there is always something slightly off-center as the ambitious underground bands attempt to infuse elements of funk, jazz, psychedelia and swing into their sound completely tearing away the boundaries between the genres and creating a style very much their own. Each track has its own quirky story, and the ample and colorful liner notes tell them beautifully with each of the original cover designs. Listening to this wonderful comp really makes me long for paralleling cinematic scene to round out the experience… if we only had Germaxploitation films. Sigh.




Roger O'Donnell - For the Truth in You (Four Tet Remix) - The Truth in Me (Great Society 2006)


Roger O’Donnell – The Truth in Me / Great Society

It goes without saying that Bob Moog was an amazing and inspiring man who was essential in the development of modern music. And now even the recent documentary of his life has proved to be somewhat inspirational as it led to creating of this very cool album. Roger O’Donnell, the man stroking the keys for both The Cure and The Psychedelic Furs, was asked to contribute a song to the Moog soundtrack and he enjoyed the experience so much that he upped the ambition and set out to create an entire album solely composed and performed on the Moog Voyager, an updated monophonic analog synthesizer based on the popular keyboard of the 70s. While using a restrictive and essentially cold-sounding instrument, O’Donnell was able to side-step a sci-fi sound and instead crafts a very warm and endearing album that relies heavily on timing and tone due to its monophonic restrictions. I find it enjoyable on the same level as the gentler tracks of Les McCann’s amazing 1972 album, Layers, which was solely composed on the then new ARP synthesizer. A bonus disc is included with quality remixes by artists who owe a lot both to Bob and Roger, Kieran Hebdan (Four Tet), Jimmy Tamborello (Dntel/Postal Service), Martin Gretschmann (The Notwist/Console) and Jimmy LaValle (The Album Leaf). Upcoming vocalist Erin Lang also contributes to three songs as well.

New Music: Spanky Wilson & the Quantic Soul Orchestra, Owusu & Hannibal, F.S. Blumm

Spanky Wilson & the Quantic Soul Orchestra - A Woman Like Me - I'm Thankful (Ubiquity 2006)


Spanky Wilson & the Quantic Soul Orchestra – I’m Thankful / Tru Thoughts

In our age of rediscovered re-releases, unearthing an initially overlooked funk classic is nowhere near as rare an occurrence as it was in the past. Now digging up a living, breathing classic funk voice is on a completely new level, and British musician/producer/DJ Will Holland has done just that. Philly soul singer Spanky Wilson emerged in the blooming late-60s funk and soul scene as she devoted her sassy, raw talent to collaborations with musicians from all sorts of backgrounds including Marvin Gaye, Willie Bobo and even the Duke Ellington Orchestra. In the 80s, she left for Paris where she disappeared from the map though her music remained a staple on the DJ scene for many years to follow. Fast forward to present day and after many years of searching, Holland aka Quantic finds Wilson in L.A. where they promptly record two songs for Holland’s solo album. The enthusiastic feedback has led to Wilson’s debut full-length, in which backed by the sparse, JB’s influenced funk backdrop of the Quantic Soul Orechestra, she sounds as youthful and energetic as ever. Joining Sharon Jones as one of the very few premiere soul voices left, Wilson’s sass and femininity take center stage with an album that somehow is both intimate and ready to completely destroy a dance floor.




Owusu & Hannibal - Caroline No - Living with... (Ubiquity 2006)


Owusu & Hannibal – Living with… / Ubiquity

Why the best retro-80s soul music seems to be coming from the Scandinavian region (Nicolay, General Elektriks, etc) I’ll never know, and Danish duo Owusu & Hannibal are doing nothing but cementing that observation. With Ghanaian, Danish, German and American roots Philip Owusu and Robin Hannibal have written, played and produced a dubby collage late 70s/early 80s soul, downtempo cool-out, electro-pop and future-funk. Think Donny Hathaway backed up by Chromeo, Steve Spacek fooling around with the Brothers Johnson or even Jamie Lidell getting down with Scritti Politti and you are getting the idea of what’s bubbling from the mixers of this young producer duo. What I’m most impressed with is the ambition and diversity within the album; in one second you’re hearing a blippy boom-bap ballad, then they’ll hit you with some bumping left-field house and in the next they are copping Beach Boys melodies for a spliff-ready space jam. This is a very mellow (in the best way possible) and a very cool album primed for late night city drives with your fine, fly lady from the block.




F.S. Blumm - Flocke - Summer Kling (Morr Music 2006)


F.S. Blumm – Summer Kling / Morr Music

As the bubbly electro-pop bread & butter of Morr Music begins to stagnate, their excursions into lush chamber-pop have picked up the creative slack. Maybe the most important of these artists is the classically educated guitarist F.S. Blumm, whom after digressions into noise, has completely fell back on his trained melodic ear. In the footsteps of his last album, Zweite Meer, Summer Kling is a gentle lapping of intricately conducted dream-pop but with an emphasis on woodwinds and horns rather than the keyboard-centric sound of Meer. On first listen the music is deceptively simple because Blumm places a heavy influence on the strategic placing and recording techniques of the instruments rather than striving for a large, encompassing sound. The result is a rather peaceful but lush album of meandering melancholy melodies that emphasize the contrasting timbres of separate instruments and the beautiful harmonies they can make together. Consider Kling the perfect soundtrack for frosty winter mornings when you find yourself swathed in blankets and motionlessly staring out your window.

New Music: The Blood Brothers, Jeffrey & Jack Lewis, Mouse on Mars, Phelan Sheppard

The Blood Brothers - Lazer Life - Young Machetes (V2 2006)


The Blood Brothers – Young Machetes / V2

So there was no doubt that 2004’s Crimes was a bit of a disappointment after the unprecedented art-core perfection of …Burn, Piano Island, Burn. And the truth of the matter is that The Blood Brothers may never be able to top that album if only because of the absolute surprise that it was, but if anything, Young Machetes is a damn fine go at it. With quite a few surprises including some group sing-alongs, a couple leanings toward dance-punk and the very pretty clarinet, upright bass and organ conclusion to Street Wars/Exotic Foxholes… yes, pretty. Don’t fret though, the Seattle quintet’s core sound remains: Jordan Blilie and Johnny Whitney trade fanatic yelps and eerie whispers alike, carnival organ riffs dance over scathing guitar blasts, and songs continue to find that unusual niche between abrasive and catchy. Not to mention, Laser Life may be their best single yet, easily paralleling the ridiculous fun of Ambulance vs. Ambulance. It’s good to hear the Brothers continuing to progress so fruitfully in an often mundane genre… and I will continue to get every one of their albums in what sadly may be a lost cause to find a follow-up that surpasses Piano Island, but it will certainly be damn fun trying.




Jeffrey & Jack Lewis - Williamsburg Will Oldham Horror - City & Eastern Songs (Rough Trade 2006)


Jeffrey & Jack Lewis – City & Eastern Songs / Rough Trade

On his third properly released full-length, NYC’s Jeffrey Lewis along with his brother Jack continue to hone their anti-folk sound with a great deal of success. Behind Jeffrey’s everyday voice and hyper-literate, idiosyncratic lyrics, the Lower East Side products jump back and forth from Velvet Underground-inspired rock to loosely crafted punk to wavering folk without it ever feeling particularly forced. The lyrics are incredibly specific and visual, obviously thanks to Jeffrey’s other gig as a comic book artist, but I wouldn’t call the album personal because there is a completely relatable quarter-life crisis vibe throughout. There is also a certain classic, DIY indie-rock feel to the album; as if it was recorded half structured, half improved on the bedroom 4-track after a particularly inspiring high, but with expanded instrumentation, mixing and mastering (which is a hearty nod to producer Kramer [Galaxie 500, Butthole Surfers, Daniel Johnston]). This is a very enjoyable album that can reach new and old DIY rock fans, from Lou Reed to John Darnielle, but with a particular individual trip for each listener.




Mouse on Mars - Retphase - Varcharz (Ipecac 2006)


Mouse on Mars – Varcharz / Ipecac

To be completely honest, my favorite Mouse on Mars moments come when the German electronic pioneers tease the samplers with a bit lighter touch, letting them pop rather than pound. Well this is an Ipecac release and Mike Patton like his pop music to grind into uncharted territories, so I am a bit out of luck. But no worries, this is Mouse on Mars we’re talking about and with whichever approach they take, you can expect an inventive barrage of pop, techno, disco, trance and ambient. In this department, Varcharz (a technical term short for ‘variable character [field]’ minus the –z), the duo’s 9th proper full-length, does little to let down as their personal brand of unconventional electronica trips, bounces, smacks, slips, slides and grinds its way across the dance floor. There are as many moment of spaz-glitch as there are poptronica, so it should please fans from both sides of the MoM spectrum. The first half is for fans of their Idiology and Niun Niggung phases while the second half is for devotees of the heady stuff.




Phelan Sheppard - Weaving Song - Harp's Old Master (Leaf 2006)


Phelan Sheppard – Harp’s Old Master / Leaf

David Sheppard and Keiron Phelan, two-thirds of State River Widening, are once again tinkering around the studio with every instrument they can squeeze a sound out of and bringing forth what seems to be another subtly gorgeous record for the Mecca of minimal amazement, the Leaf Label. Harp’s Old Master emphasis is on sparkling string sounds, but its what’s happening around those harmonies that really move the song; a double bass simultaneously plods and whirrs as mechanical snares tiptoe over echoing keyboard snippets and bright, high-frequency pads zip by like passing headlights. Songs swoon, patter and blossom in an array of lush sounds that envelope gently back onto each other before settling quietly like the morning after a good snow. Recorded during the London winter of 2005, Harp’s Old Master manifests the feelings you get on a cold December morning walking the peaceful back alleys of a dense city grid: tranquil, aged and humble.

New Music: Dosh, Scott Solter Plays Pattern is Movement, Julie Sokolow, Crime in Choir

Dosh - Um, Circles and Squares - The Lost Take (Anticon 2006)


Dosh – The Lost Take / Anticon

I’m not sure what I was expecting the first time I saw Dosh perform live, but it definitely wasn’t the skinny trucker-looking dude that perched down behind the drums as the lights dimmed with a guitar in lap and an array of flanking keyboards and samplers. He then proceeded to put on such an amazing melodic stutter of a show that he looked no longer trucker-like, but slightly resembling Jesus (but that could have been just the strategic back lighting and PBR #8). If there was any music that could be described as heavenly though, it would be the one-man-show that is Martin Dosh. For this third LP, Minneapolis’s finest completely out does himself and any prior indications of what this album could be with 12 amazing tracks of shimmering post-rock that sounds like Steve Reich reading The Books while tripping out to some Tortoise vibe. With the help of frequent tour-mate Andrew Bird as well as members of Fog and Tapes ‘n Tapes, Dosh has masterfully strewn together the warmest characteristics of all things post- into one of the best albums of the year.




Scott Solter Plays Pattern Is Movement - In Glasstone - Canonic (Hometapes 2006)


Scott Solter Plays Pattern is Movement – Canonic / Hometapes

While über-popular indie-rock bands like The Mountain Goats, Spoon and John Vanderslice are wreaking the subtle benefits of crisp and inventive production on their latest records, the man responsible for such studio wizardry, Scott Solter, stays humbly under the radar. Following a solid solo full-length earlier this year, Solter has brought out the grease, razor and tape for some old school dub remixing… these are classic techniques were talking about, some King Tubby or Abbey Road cool-out shit. His source material is from innovative math-rock band Pattern is Movement (Solter produced their last record, Stowaway), and the gritty, beautifully imperfect final product justifies the whole idea of the remix way more than some 4-on-the-floor, let’s dance nonsense. Polyrhythms fight their way through crackled tape hiss to only be surpassed by snaking sounds of guitars and synths, ghostly vocals and unrecognizable mathematical noise. This is a very cool unpredictable album from a man whose studio comes before his home and a wonderful homage to classic audio experimentation.




Julie Sokolow - Alternations - Something About Violins (Western Vinyl 2006)


Julie Sokolow – Something About Violins / Western Vinyl

With today’s rampant technology, recording an album on one’s own in a manner that is aesthetically lo-fi can result in a self-produced record with a surprisingly high amount of fidelity and clarity. Julie Sokolow’s Something About Violins should be all the proof you need. Utilizing just her voice, a $30 acoustic, a touch of keys and her built-in Mac G4 microphone, Sokolow recorded her debut album with little need for pricey equipment (besides the comp of course) or skilled engineers with very promising results. With a penchant for crafty songwriting and an endearing, accessible voice, she truly embodies the dimly lit bedroom in her confessional lyrics and minimal accompaniment that slides from sketchy to sexy with the slightest of breezes. Most effective when layering her voice in contrasting melodies and wavering textures, she approaches Cocorosie territory on many occasions, but never sacrifices good songwriting for unnecessary over-quirk. This is a very promising debut from an inventive young songstress who, with a wider array of tools, could really shine.




Crime in Choir - Land of Sherry Wine and Spanish Horses - Trumpery Metier (GSL 2006)


Crime in Choir – Trumpery Metier / GSL

Bent on fulfilling the gaping hole of a life-void that can only be filled with triumphant instrumental prog-rock comes San Francisco’s Crime in Choir. Made up of five ambitious musicians, of which were in early line-ups of At the Drive-In as well as members of The Fucking Champs, Citay and The Mass (also Hella’s Zach Hill was the original drummer), C in C thrives on the manic drumming of math-rock, the sparkling keyboard arpeggios of prog, the swirling effects and bombastic saxophone solos of fusion and sheer grandness of arena rock. Comparable in ideals to bands like Faust, Goblin and Magma as well as to the experimentation of fusion pioneers like Soft Machine, the Choir’s best contemporary similarity that could be made would be to acts like The Fucking AM or even Don Caballero. The music of Trumpery Metier is complex, ambitious, bombast and whole truckload of fun no matter if you are diehard prog-revivalist or just a rock fan looking to throw up some devil horns.

New Music: Lee 'Scratch' Perry, Flying Lotus, Pop Levi

Lee 'Scratch' Perry - Fight to the Finish - Panic in Babylon (Narnack 2006)


Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry – Panic in Babylon / Narnack

First of all, Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, one of if not the most inventive mind in the history of reggae and dub music (King Tubby makes a strong argument), is fucking 70 years old… 70 years old and making music that is just as creative and amazing as his early productions days when he was a wily 20-something mixologist fighting for studio time at Coxsone Dodd’s Studio One. Originally released in 2004 on Damp Music, Narnack has re-released this amazing latter day Perry album that feels not a day older than 1978 with Scratch in top form. His knob twiddling is still spot on as typically cheesy special effects (like the vocoder for instance) take on illustrious life spinning songs in twenty different colorful directions without ever sounding exceedingly manic or schizophrenic (Perry’s psyche may be another story). Backed by apt Swiss reggae band White Belly Rats, Perry sings in his truly individual and often unintelligible style that just ups the quirk level to fantastically fun realms of ridiculousness. Packaged with the re-release is a bonus disc featuring a Dave Sitek (TV on the Radio) and DJ Spooky remix, but neither even approaches the original music and are unnecessary.




Flying Lotus - Orbit Brazil - 1983 (Plug Research 2006)


Flying Lotus – 1983 / Plug Research

Bringing some of the finest instrumental hip-hop I have heard in a while out of Plug Research, beat concocter Flying Lotus drops his debut full-length with a galaxy of potential. Pushing boundaries without losing accessibility, the L.A. producer rides a very necessary line between J Dilla and Daedelus (who mixes up his brand of odd glee on the closing track) never leaning too much on traditional hip-hop or left-field excursions. Keyboards shimmy to oddly defined drum patterns while sci-fi samples sweep in from the stars, drop a futuristic groove and disappear into the night sky. In a perfect summation from Plug Research themselves, “this is Blade Runner, Bambaataa, the Bomb Squad, and Basquiat, all in one.” Word to that and word to another visionary ready to take beat-oriented music to yet another level.




Pop Levi - Skip Ghetto (Echo Park Version) - Blue Honey (Counter 2006)


Pop Levi – Blue Honey / Counter

Emerging phoenix-like from the hazy Liverpool psych-rock collective Super Numeri, Pop Levi (leave-eye) is taking center-stage with his wavering falsetto, gritty electric guitar and a sleeve full of classic-rock influences. With just a couple of raw demos from Levi’s emerging album, Ninja Tune actually drew up an entirely new imprint called Counter Records so they would have first crack at releasing his super infectious psych-blues on the music world. Self-described as “Prince making out with Dylan in Syd Barrett's bedroom,” this 5-song single/EP just hints at Levi’s full potential when he is able not only to embrace but expand on the obvious Marc Bolan influence (which is no knock whatsoever). In the mean time, Levi’s dirty glam retro-pop leaves little else to be desired as he picks out the best attributes of 70s rock and swirls them into a kaleidoscope of psychedelic grit tinged with winding guitars, handclaps and even a killer whistle solo or two.