Roots Manuva, Awfully Deep
Sounds like: El-p, Madlib, The Herbaliser The Beatnuts, Guru
Music's good for: Standing on Kings' Road in London for a week straight, by an FCUK or something, naked accept for a clear plastic parka, screaming lyrics to some song by the Libertines, while holding a giant cardboard sign that says: "I AM COMING TO GET YOU."
7/10 Part dancehall, part electronic, all hip-hop, this UK bred emcee is also 100% crazy bastard. In this post millennial lull of mundane hip-hop, Roots Manuva throws some much needed spice into the stew with his fourth release "Awfully Deep." While fellow UK acts like The Streets and Dizzee Rascal have attempted this too, no one has been able to match this guy's style, substance, or sound. Roots Manuva is the Jay-Z of the European rap world - no one can compare to him and, no matter how much they try, they can never imitate his skill. Roots Manuva is the present and future of European hip-hop. On "Awfully Deep" he runs the gamut of danceable hip-hop/IDM/dancehall cunningness as best displayed on the contrasting "Rebel Heart," a disjointed, bassy joint with digitized Jamaican spirit. On the other end of the spectrum, Roots Manuva comes with a hard-edged string-accompanied "Too Cold".
"Some times I love myself," he says. "Sometimes I hate myself."
And this terrible line caused me to drop this disc from a 10 to a 7, after weeping uncontrollably. That lyric is inexcusable. And the rest of the album is fairly inconsistent, containing clichéd, shitty synth production that drowns out Roots' impeccable flow for almost the entire album So. no ten for you, bitch! Er.Roots? Mr. Manuva? Whatever.
- George the Friendly Communist
LCD Soundsystem, LCD Soundsystem
Sounds like: Out Hud, The Emporer Machine, The Rapture, Earl Zinger
Music's good for: Slow-motion sequences in action flicks. But no one knows this yet, so don't go blabbering.
9/10 As a member of the production duo DFA, James Murphy twiddles knobs and works switches to reinvent entire bands. On his massively hyped, long delayed debut album (LCD Soundsystem), he slaps down 10 danceable disco punk jawns you can. I don't know, listen to. And enjoy; in a strange world that sounds like that Hackers movie with Angelina Jolie - like crazy digital punks running amok, hacking into servers to change their grades! While causing governmental confusion! And. downloading porn!
LCD Soundsystem succeeds in all the ways other bands dubbed as "disco punk" have failed. While most of the elements remain the same, the puzzle pieces fit much better under Murphy's influence. Some stand out tracks include the quirky "Daft Punk is Playing at My House" and 80's reminiscent "Disco Infiltrator." It's my opinion that this album will be used as the blueprint for aspiring digital punks for years to come. But what do I know.
- Dave Missioni
The New Fiction, Lapse
Sounds like: P.J. Harvey, Patti Smith (kinda), Garbage, The Kills
Music's good for: Imagining life without disharmony - a world without violence; a society without peril. Then totally eating a bucket of chocolate and watching "The Hours."
6/10 Talented musicians - two females out of four including a female drummer (which gives me limited, but strengthened faith in humanity). Solid bass and lead guitar throw some Pixies influence into the mix. Lead singer/rhythm guitar player - the other female - has a gorgeous voice, but sounds medicated, like she snorts a lot of Percocet.
Though that's the sound they're going for I guess - sedate, mid-90s Lilith-rock. So like, take that.
www.thenewfiction.com - Sophie Wyburd
Amos Lee, Amos Lee
Sounds like: Nora Jones, Ben Harper, Eagle-Eye Cherry, Jason Yates
Music's good for: relaxation, smoking weed, seduction, steamy bacon grease rub-downs
9/10 Amos Lee has extensively toured with some of folk's biggest artists (including a tired, unintelligible old kook named Bob Dylan). And isn't that nice. Good for him. But can he. rise from the dead? Can he heal leapers? Can he save the world from a sinful fate of lust and excess? Can that motherfucker make me dinner!?
Anyway, last year, after touring with songbird Norah Jones, Mr. Lee decided to leave his elementary school teacher position to concentrate on his blossoming music career. And the result - a self-titled debut on Blue Note Records - is pretty good. Soulful, jazzy, smoov. Dig it.
- Francine Bratwurst
Louis XIV, The Best Little Secrets Are Kept
Sounds like: The Fiery Furnaces, The Von Bondies, T. Rex
Music's good for: Pretending you're in a garage.
3/10 You know this, but, a couple years ago, big record labels were gambling on mid 80s glam as the Sound of the Future. But, as The Darkness quickly faded from the spotlight (became pathetic instead of ironic), trends started moving closer to the Rolling Stones and Velvet Underground than Motley Crue and Poison.
So, will Louis XIV fight through the rubble and emerge as one of the truly great bands in an increasingly mediocre genre of kitschy, pseudo garage pop?
Wait six months and see. The darkness is upon us.
- Andrew VanSlyke
Johnson Bros Band, Launch
Sounds like: Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Johnny Lang, Paul Butterfield
Music's good for: Recognizing that you've grown old and bitter
5/10 We here at Deek Magazine have a special bond with the Johnson Bros. (though we're not quite sure what that bond is ). Whatever. A very general description goes as such, and is overly harsh, in a brotherly kinda way:
Picture every radio hit from The Who, Led Zeppelin, Stevie Ray Vaughn and George Thoroughgood if mutated into a 45 minute rock opera by three talented high school students. There ya' go.
- grace Barrel
The Homosexual Agenda, The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Fabulous
Sounds like: Death in Vegas, Ween, The Eagles of Death Metal
Music's good for: floating
8/10 With a sound that pitchforkmedia once described as "proto-emo slamcore," Queens-based trio The Homosexual Agenda defy easy classification. While their sophomore effort, 2004's We're Here, We're Steer , used ambient noise to explore the alienation and despair of modern life a la Floyd's The Wall , Protocols is a less experimental, more layered work. A wide range of influences are apparent - the creative restlessness of Ween, the melting-pot production of Death In Vegas, slathered with the retro-hip patina perfected by The Eagles of Death Metal.
Such a cornucopia of divergent aesthetics can lead to disaster, but The Agenda usually pull it off. The album's standout track, "I Miss My Red-Haired Goddess," sounds like Merle Haggard channeling Abba - or maybe vice versa. Its lyrical cleverness - lines like, "Once I had a girl, but couldn't keep her/Just another lonely night, me and Minesweeper" have to bring a rueful smile to your face - recall the ironic poignancy of Pinkerton -era Rivers Cuomo, with the instrumentation providing a less-brooding counterpoint.
The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Fabulous proves The Homosexual Agenda as a dynamic creative force not content to rest on their laurels; they're one group that'll continue to push forward to new horizons. This is one Agenda we should all be curious about.
- Jesse Hicks
Erasure, Nightbird
Sounds like: Pet Shop Boys, New Order, Alison Moyet, Yello
Music's good for: Reminiscing about the good old days when you were under 10, wondering why your older brother looked so much like Cindi Lauper before he OD'd.
6/10 "Nightbird" is the first fully self-produced album by Erasure. It is also the first release since Andy Bell (the voice of Erasure) tested positive for HIV. And now you're caught up. Quiz later.
That said: "Nightbird" is a departure from Erasure's previous high energy, campy, dance songs in its clarity and maturity. Whether in context of personal issues befalling the duo or a natural progression beyond older material, it's a welcome change. After recycling the same drudgery of flamboyant dance music for almost a quarter century, "Nightbird" makes for a better-rounded sound than anything they've released in the past few years.
The opening track, "No Doubt," is a swooning track perfectly highlighting Bell's stirring soaring vocals. Matters of the heart - whether, broken, mending, or head over heals in love - are the underlying themes of "Nightbird." Bell's choirboy vocals are the perfect conveyor of these messages of love with near-perfect range and satiny smooth texture. Unfortunately, Erasure isn't the first group to release songs about loving and heartbreak and all that. And the same can be said for Erasure's music: Time changes everyone. It has noticeably changed Erasure, turning them from an irrelevant, campy dance duo into well aged producers of electro love songs. Unfortunately the progression hasn't completely flourished and what we're left with is little more than a single step in a new direction.
- Dave Missioni
Brazilian Girls, Brazilian Girls
Sounds like: Wax Poetic, Bebel Gilberto, New York trip hop
Music's good for: Dancing around in your back yard, barefoot, cooking pineapples and beef. Also, rolling your face off.
7/10 Blending downbeat dance, house, and samba, this mostly Brazilian, girl group has earned kudos from Thievery Corporation, Chocolate Genius, Citizen Cope, and Bebel Gilberto to name a few.
Namedropping aside, I'm most infatuated with "Pussy" - a Brazilian Girls track that speaks to me deeply. It says: "Pussy, pussy, pussy, marijuana, pussy, pussy, pussy," as if raving in tongues, trying hard to promote meaningless indulgence. But instead, to me, it produces an image of Dick Cheney wearing a hula skirt, screaming "Pussy" lyrics on the Senate floor, skipping, playing small bongo drums without rhythm. I guess there's something lost in the translation. Perhaps the song's about a stash of cannabis found, and then taken, by a cowardly feline. Maybe not. In my extensive research into Brazilian culture, I've learned that many Brazilians are fond of both pussy and marijuana. Maybe the repetitiveness of the song is Brazilian Girls' way of conveying . ah fuck it. Who cares. All I know is that the horny dub beats on this record make every last track strong in its own way. Only problem is, they stand stubbornly alone in context and style. And the result is a record that sounds more like a good compilation than an album.
- Eliza Eyeza
Kasabian, Kasabian
Sounds like: Happy Mondays, Neu!, Stone Roses
Music's good for: Running away from the police, after shoplifting a bottle of Crown Royal or something.
7/10 If you were among those who thought the Manchester wave of bands like Happy Mondays, Stone Roses and others were trash, well then. Kasabian isn't for you. But, if you're like me, this is how the Stone Roses' second coming could have (and should have) sounded. Tom "Baggy" Meighan sets a perfect outline and is accompanied by a massive onslaught of spacey blips and chaotic synths. Kasabian harkens to early nineties bands the likes of Primal Scream, Northside and the Verve, with catchy choruses mixed with Chemical Brothers style beats. The opening track, "Club Foot," is a perfect example of a live band emulating that big beat sound. The songs run smoothly into each other with well crafted synth heavy interludes.
- Dave Missioni
Norma Jean, O, God. The Aftermath
www.normajeannoise.com
Sounds like: Shai Hulud, Walls of Jericho, Converge, Throwdown, Candiria
Music's good for: Imagining life without disharmony - a world without violence; a society without peril. Then totally eating a bucket of chocolate and watching "The Hours."
6.5/10 If you stick Norma Jean's new disc into your CD drive, your internet browser is sent directly to Solid State Records' website. Which fucking bothers me - you've got the attention of my ears, you awful record company cretins; aren't my ears enough? - but whatever.
This is a moderately impressive disc. One of the more creative heavy releases I've heard recently. But still, it's in that strange, increasingly hackneyed hardcore no-man's-land between Mudvayne and Converge. And that's fine. But there's nothing new or brilliant on this record that makes me quiver with glee. Solid release, though.
Side note: If you go to www.normajean.com, Terri Shiavo invades your computer.
Sleep tight.
- David Shadowood
The Vacancy, Heart Attack
www.vacancyrock.com
Sounds like: Green Day, Face to Face, H2O, FuManchu, Everclear
Music's good for: Getting into trouble at the mall; writing in your Livejournal; picking a fight you'll probably lose, even though you're sober (and admit later that you were fighting over a girl1).
7.5/10 First time I listened to this record, I was like, "Dude, I already have 'Dookie.' And I don't even like Green Day." Then I listened again and reconsidered. "Heart Attack" is actually a really good disc - the song structures are continually surprising, new influences seem to emerge on each track, and, somehow, they get through most of the CD without sounding trite (a serious achievement for an outfit like this). Big surprise on this album is that, since The Vacancy are on A-F Records - home of bands that use music as a platform, like Ant-Flag and The Code - you half expect an ocean of political propaganda. Instead, you're left confused because a pop-punk act sings about hot chicks and good times, instead of political affairs. And that, to me, is complete fucking madness.
- Sandy Wyburd
Vale and Year, Civil
www.valeandyear.com
Sounds like: Bob Dylan, John Cale, percussive imagery
Music's good for: Realizing that most of your favorite folky alt-rock performers are pretty unmotivated, in terms of creativity in songwriting.
8/10 These guys are all over the place. They jump genre, create new sounds, new instruments, new paths to travel. They go from jangle pop, to hard acoustic blues, to . noise - experimenting with time, refurbishing furniture into percussive instruments; not allowing their listeners to get totally comfortable after hearing a song with a catchy hook.
In news: Their album "Vale and Year Create a Perfect History" - first released February, 2004 - has been picked up by Fat Possum Records, which has, in its history, distributed music for acts like Solomon Burke, R.L. Burnside and The Black Keys. It will be available nationally in June.
- Sergeant Cataclysm |
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