| Electric Ladyland: Clickhop Version 1.0 | | Posted Friday, September 08, 2006 2:11:54 AM by BlogJeeves Team | | This extraordinary comp dizzies with its sonic riches. Clickhop Version 1.0, part of Mille Plateaux's Electric Ladyland series, contains over two hours of crazily inventive IDM. Hip-hop, house, R&B, and other dance genres get gobbled up by clicks and cuts only to be spit out in myriad and mutant funky forms. Unlikely things happen here. Archconservative Phillip Larkin's notorious poem "This Be the Verse" provides haunting lyrics for MRI3's "As a Child I Could Fly Without Wings." Track tempos vary wildly, ranging from the superslow "Rubbercement" by Errorsmith to the insanely fast "Ghost Breaks" by M. Singe. Unpredictable shifts occur. This is the sort of CD where riffs emerge out of thickets of noise, or seriously tweaked hip-hop dissolves into ambient industrial gloom. Well-known figures such as Vladislav Delay, DJ Spooky, and Kid606 contribute to the comp, but don't let the big names distract you from the album's other selections. Clickhop Version 1.0 is a perfect marriage of experimentation and wack-funky. --Fred Cisterna... | |
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| | | Cosmic Peekaboo | | Posted Sunday, September 03, 2006 6:11:59 AM by BlogJeeves Team | | In southern California in the '60s, a number of bands mixed hip rock and square pop to create a highly distinctive sound. Groups like the Beach Boys, the Association, the Mamas and the Papas, and Love made beautifully arranged recordings that were simultaneously uplifting and dripping with melancholy. Around the same time, the Free Design were concocting similar sounds on the East Coast. Cosmic Peekaboo is the group's first recording since the early '70s, and not surprisingly, their sound has mellowed. Don't expect effervescent pop classics like "Bubbles" or "Kites Are Fun." However, they do still have the same basic sound: gorgeous sibling vocal harmonies backed by thoughtful arrangements. At times this reflective album flirts with schmaltz, but the disc also features lovely songs like "Cosmic Peekaboo," "Day Breaks," and the standout "Listen," on which flugelhorn, violin, and piano parts nicely accompany the group's sonorous singing. Fans of the Free Design owe Cosmic Peekaboo a listen. --Fred Cisterna... | |
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| | | Presidential Suite | | Posted Thursday, August 31, 2006 6:12:07 PM by BlogJeeves Team | | 'Chilly' Gonzales proudly presents his 3rd album, the Baroque meets Broadway 'Presidential Suite'. Collaborations and tours with Peaches gave them the (in)famous name of 'Bonnie & Clyde of Prankster Rap'. The album is packed with Groucho-esque raps, self-help anthems, sarcastic love songs and odes to the popularity contest. 2002 on Kitty-Yo.... | |
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| | | Clicks & Cuts | | Posted Tuesday, August 29, 2006 6:11:48 AM by BlogJeeves Team | | Starting with Warp's Artificial Intelligence releases, the compilation CD has become to electronic music what the 7-inch single was for indie rock, and Mille Plateaux's compilations have been of consistently high quality. As the liner notes for this one succinctly put it, "You have come here, you must think about minimalism." There's quite a variety of minimalism on display: the highly melodic but still mind-bendingly strange work of Wolfgang Voigt (calling himself All here, better known as Gas); an austerely beautiful Ester Brinkmann track; the subtly propulsive rhythms of Frank Bretschneider and Farben; and edgy, bordering on grating pieces from Kid 606 and Kit Clayton (two of a handful of Americans in an otherwise heavily Northern European crowd). The sonic density and style varies from one track to another, but they are all minimal to the extent that each attains cruising altitude within the first minute or so, letting the listener choose whether the resulting state of mind is one he or she would like to be in for the next four to five minutes. Although the aesthetic unity of the collection is its intent, the CDs do serve as a useful consumer guide, giving a good introduction to many names that may be familiar but are often attached to pricey imports. --Bob Bannister... | |
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| | | Duality | | Posted Saturday, August 26, 2006 6:11:57 PM by BlogJeeves Team | | Truly risk-taking popular music is hard to find, often buried beneath a mound of play-it-safe "alternative" rock or formulaic electronica. The risk inherent in doing something truly unique is in being tagged "pretentious," an insult almost worse than being called just plain "bad." England's In the Nursery walk a very fine line between the worlds of pop and classical music, making themselves broad targets for archers poised with the "pretentious" arrow. But what ITN almost always do, album after album, is succeed in creating glorious beauty--music so cinematic and lush as to almost spoil your taste for anything else. Duality, originally released in 1992 and remastered with two bonus mixes for this 1999 reissue, is a perfect example of the soundtrack-like work at which twin brothers Klive and Nigel Humberstone excel. Much like its predecessor, 1991's Sense, Duality takes the listener through a self-contained world of swelling (but never cloying) strings, melancholic piano, crisp snare, and rumbling timpani, accented here and there by the ethereal French vocals of Dolores Marguerite C. Duality's brilliant contribution to the ITN catalog was the introduction of classic British poetry to the mix. The Humberstones sample liberally from an old Richard Burton spoken-word album and throw his richly textured voice atop their larger-than-life musical tapestries; it's a perfect fit (check out "Corruption," on which Burton reads John Donne's sonnet "A Feaver" to spine-chilling effect) and a tactic they would use more fully on their magnum opus, 1994's Anatomy of a Poet. Duality's other highlights include "Belle Epoque," the disc's uplifting opener, and the title track, a darkly powerful symphony that builds in emotion and drama to a spectacular climax. ITN provide the music; you provide the imaginary film. --Steve Landau ... | |
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| | | Pop | | Posted Thursday, August 24, 2006 6:12:10 AM by BlogJeeves Team | | Köln kingpin Wolfgang Voigt often waxes tyrannical about the sanctity of techno's four-on-the-floor heartbeat. In his Gas guise, though, Voigt is gradually coming to value beatless bliss. His atmospheric Gas-werks are as in thrall to the almighty kick drum as all productions bearing the redoubtable Voigt's nom de jour. But over four albums (and a vinyl-only mini-LP), Voigt has been refining the Gas concept to the point of perfection. Practice indeed has its virtues. Voigt craftily weaves string and woodwind samples that he has skimmed from obscure classical recordings into bolts of melodic mesh. Where these folds once fell freely over beds of uncompromised beats, Pop hangs them as from a lofty bough to billow in the breeze. As this shimmering material twists and tangles, shadows collect among the creases. Voigt introduces the knotlike texture of the familiar 4/4, and the intrusion of rhythm is for once absolutely justified. While uplifting and ravishingly melodic, Pop is certainly not pop. Nor is it ambient music in the strictest, Brian Eno-sired sense of the word--Voigt's still reluctant to give up those ghost drums. For now, Gas is like no other music on Earth or off it. --Gil Gershman... | |
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| | | Very Best of Sarah Vaughan | | Posted Monday, August 21, 2006 6:11:53 PM by BlogJeeves Team | | Includes the Very Best Recordings of the Roulette Years, 1960-1965, plus Blue Note Live Recordings from 1947, all Showcasing her Supremely Powerful and Flexible Jazz Vocals. Tracks Are Taken from the Classic Albums "Town Hall Live", "Dreamy", "Count Basie and Sarah Vaughan", "After Hours", "The Divine One", "Star Eyes", "You're Mine You", "Sarah Sings Soulfully", "Sarah Slightly Classical", "Snowbound", "Sweet `n' Sassy", "The Lonely Hours" and "Sarah plus Two". Standout Tracks Are the Popular Standards "Call Me Irresponsible", "Fly Me to the Moon", "Lover Man", "Round Midnight", "Honeysuckle Rose" plus the Astonishing Early Live Vocals on "Don't Blame Me", and "Time after Time".... | |
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| | | My Body, the Hand Grenade | | Posted Saturday, August 19, 2006 6:11:51 AM by BlogJeeves Team | | 1997 anthology of rare & unreleased recordings from 1990- 1995. 14 tracks, including live versions of 'Drown Soda' & 'Asking For It', a previously unreleased cover of Donovan's 'Season Of The Witch' from MTV's Unplugged, a previously unreleased demo of 'Miss World' and more! A City Slang release. ... | |
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| | | Best of the 70's | | Posted Monday, August 14, 2006 4:12:19 AM by BlogJeeves Team | | Original artists, 108 original hits. Scheduled to include tracks from The Ramones, The Damned, XTC, The Ruts, Magazine, X-Ray Specs, Flying Lizards, The Stranglers, Blondie, Suzi Quatro, Dave Edmunds, Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, T. Rex, A Taste Of Honey, KC & The Sunshine Band and many more. Tavares, KC & The Sunshine Band, Olivia Newton-John and many more. 2000 release. Each CD comes in it's own paper sleeve and come housed together in a 5' x 5' x 1' box. ... | |
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| | | Totally Awesome '80s: 1983-1985 | | Posted Wednesday, August 09, 2006 2:12:10 AM by BlogJeeves Team | | The second of three budget-priced compilations devoted to international pop hits for EMI & their associated labels in the '80s. This set features Fun Boy Three, Ultravox, SpandauBallet, Re-Flex, Thomas Dolby, Duran Duran, Pat Benatar, Kate Bush, Power Station, Huey Lewis & The News, Katrina & The Waves, The Colourfield, Paul Hardcastle, Arcadia, Go West and more! 18 tracks total. 1999 release.... | |
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