Uncommon music criticized by the common man. (Or, exercises in futility masquerading as critical thought.)

Tuesday, March 16, 2004

It has been a while since I've posted anything of substance here. (Wait for it.) And that's not going to change tonight. (*rimshot*) Thank you!

Actually, I'm inspired to post because there have been a number of songs that have been getting the repeat treatment while on the portable CD player lately. Just some random thoughts about these random songs:

Cunninlynguists (f. Celph-Titled, Tonedeff, Sankofa, and Kashal-Tee) "616 Rewind"
This is a track off the 'Lynguists first album, Will Rap For Food and is easily one of my favorite tracks from any genre of music in the last few years. From Deacon the Villain's production (I wish I could identify where the basic track is from; it sounds like it could be from an opera or a movie soundtrack), to some great punchline fueled verses from all six MCs on board (Tonedeff, Sankofa and Celph-Titled shine here), this track kills. In a just world, this would become a classic posse cut a la Marley Marl's "The Symphony."

Electric Wizard "Funeralopolis"
The second song on the EW's classic Dopethrone starts off with a slow and thick, Sabbath-inspired rhythm that billows outward like smoke (obligatory pot-reference for stoner metal review) for about a minute and a half before the guitar gets cranked up and the trio proceeds to level everything in sight with one crushing blow after another. A few minutes later, they switch gears, with the rhythms faster and the riffing/singing more insistent. It ends with an appropriately doom-laden couplet ("Nuclear warheads ready to strike/This world is so fucked lets end it tonight") being screamed over and over again before the whole thing settles down and goes right into the next track. Unfortunately for my CD player's back button, I didn't make it to the third track much this past weekend.

Olivia Tremor Control "No Growing (Exegesis)"
Before the Elephant 6 Collective kinda disintegrated, OTC's Dusk at Cubist Castle was one of their crown jewels (along with Neutal Milk Hotel's In the Aeroplane Over the Sea and The Apples In Stereo Fun Trick Noisemaker). This song, from that album, is a nice little bit of 60s-style psych-pop. The weird/neat thing is, despite its bubblegum pop pretensions, this isn't a neat little verse-chorus-verse song. Rather, it feels more like a composition in the classical sense, with different sections, perhaps analogous to "Heroes and Villains" era Beach Boys.

Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks "Water and a Seat"
The opening track off of last year's Pig Lib, which overall is a solid if not extraordinary record, but I do like this song a lot. Not even sure why. I just do. So there. Download it and form your own opinions, dammit.

Beulah "Popular Mechanics For Broken Hearts"
This is a jaunty little pop number off the mostly average The Coast Is Never Clear. It's 70s AM radio, The Monkees, and the Wonders (the band in That Thing You Do all rolled into one, with some banjo and pedal steel thrown in for good measure. Doesn't sound like much of a recipe for success, but I'll be damned if it isn't a pleasant little toe-tapper that gets stuck in your head after just one listen.

Rodan "Everyday World of Bodies"
Without this track, Rusty would be an average album and Rodan's legacy would be less (in my eyes, anyway). Monstrous, epic, and totally fucking rocks. Sure, they had to labor under the shadow of/comparisons to Slint, but in this one track, Rodan proved they could stand heads and shoulders above just about anybody. With spoken-sung lyrics, semi-metallic math-rock, and some excellent drum work, the song builds to an incredibly visceral climax. Fucking. Sweet.

Wednesday, March 10, 2004

fakejazz.com readers, no doubt following my very influential lead (ha!), selected Explosions in the Sky's The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place as their album of 2003. Good for them. More importantly, FJ has an assload of new reviews up, so check those out as well.

Also: Sonic Youth have announced the details of their upcoming album, Nurse. Solid.