impromptu reviews

yea, this here be a music blog, but unlike basically every other music blog, i don't limit myself to one particular genre, nor am i only interested in contemporary music. also, i'm a musician, so that lends a bit of cred to the proceedings, no? (or maybe just the opposite, if you still follow the commandments of that hack lester bangs, who supposedly loved music but despised musicians; he was above all of our petty emotions, you see.) and so i click through your standard list of music blogs + my general reaction is, "what? why?" take the unanimous praise of the new leslie feist album. in truth, it's awful. her previous album had this cool '70s r&b thing going on, but this new one is mired in tepid, precious indie rock shit, which, i suppose, is why music bloggers like it so much. same w/ the new lcd soundsystem. good god, that thing is horrid! you're supposed to dance to this mess? wait, actual dancing or that jagged, angular, spastic shit all the billysburg douches do? and while we're on the subject of turds-- bjork's volta. christ. bjork has always been a love/hate thing for me: i royally loathe some of her stuff + obsessively love some of her stuff. for instance, i thought medulla was, largely, boring (and i'm all for "avant garde" shit-- stockhausen 4eva), but "desired constellation" is probably in my top 10 favorite songs ever list, so there you have it. this volta business, though, is just busted any which way you slice it.

so what have i heard lately that i've liked? pelican's city of echoes. definitely their best yet, in my opinion. i was a little nervous there because the fire in our throats will beckon the thaw never really grew on me (thought they were drifting into explosions in the sky territory). and, all praise be to allah, there's audible bass + drums in the mix this time! not only that, but loud, slap-you-around bass + drums. they actually sound like a band this time + not just two guitarists backed by vague impressions of a rhythm section. if you've always been intrigued by, or at least appreciative of metal music, but turned off by the vocals, pelican may be a band to invest in. they're solely instrumental, but not purely metal. their music is epic, spacious, slow, melodic w/ a decent amount of acoustic guitar + smatterings of piano thrown in every now + then. another recent release i dig is cinematic orchestra's ma fleur. it's like a culmination of all their previous albums, but w/ more acoustic instruments + less programmed beats. i really can't say if i think it'll hold up to their first two albums at this point-- blessed time can only tell. i can say that it's damned good, if a little uneven + treacly at times. if instrumental, downbeat, "chill" "nu-jazz" sounds at all appealing to you (think of a nighttime cityscape in the dead of winter + you're close to the images cinematic orchestra's music conjures up), then co can do you no harm.

oldie but goodie recommendation: public image ltd.'s first issue. it's fundamental. it's also what all of these whack-ass billysburg bands have been ripping off for the past 5 years. and while you're at it, pick up some miles davis + siouxsie sioux. these three can teach you quite a bit about the human voice.

by the way, the new velvet revolver is rubbish. it's so bad i'm inclined to state that slash sucks. really, stop beating the dead rock horse. i still can't believe they have a song titled "just sixteen"-- wow, that's only so 60 years ago. "straight up fucking rock n' roll"-- cutting edge as always.