I sure am reviewing a lot of timeless superstars this week. Imogen Heap sounds as good as she always have. Leadoff track “First Train Home” has the same breezy feel that she’s long been famous for. The music is a lot like what Kate Bush has been doing her whole career, although the voices are obviously nothing alike.
The syncopation in “Earth” makes it a standout track. I can’t help but worry, though, that it is something my mom would listen to. “Swoon” has more of a modern feel, but by that I mean not the 1980s. This song could be a B-side of “I’m Too Sexy.” It’s really a great song. The percussion is similar to Cause & Effect’s “You Think You Know Her.”
“Bad Body Double” is a little peppier as far as Imogen Heap songs go. It’s a fun little number. “Aha!” would be good for driving in traffic. The violins are lane changes.
“Half Life” has nothing to do with Jahi, but it’s a great way to end the album. A little more piano shows up on this one, and it sounds great. No real surprises on this album, but there’s no need for it, either.
Archive for the ‘KSCU’ Category
Imogen Heap “Ellipse”
September 20, 2009Eva & the Heartmaker “Let’s Keep This Up Forever”
September 20, 2009This has an early-’90s pop sensibility, like Kirsty MacColl’s Walking Down Madison, Juliana Hatfield’s Hey Babe or old Sixpence None the Richer. I really like this a lot. “Charming Sexy” packs a power-pop punch, cliche as it sounds. “Superhero” is a bit overproduced but still great to listen to. In addition, the chorus has the same melody as “All 4 Love” by Color Me Badd.
“Please!” reminds me of a less-pretentious Pipettes. Maybe this is because there’s just Eva, and she has no need to compete with two others for attention. All I know is that I have a sudden urge to don a jean jacket.
“Life Still Goes On” is a ballad and makes me glad I am not still in junior high school. Having to dance to “Angel” by Aerosmith was bad enough. “The Spell” is one of the best tracks on the album, musically. It’s nice sometimes to hear some female-led pop music with no edge. Just because you want to rock doesn’t mean you have to kick ass and take names, too. That said, the lyrics are so corporate that it detracts from the song. “Move forward” does not belong in a pop song, period.
Hope Sandoval & the Warm Inventions “Through the Devil Softly”
September 20, 2009For nearly 15 years have I believed the Hope. I have no idea what she looks like, but I’ve always been in love with her. The Warm Inventions are like 10 dudes (mostly dudes), and they provide all the musical accompaniment so Sandoval can do her thing. Pablo may be my favorite baseball player, but Hope is my favorite Sandoval.
“Blanchard” is as good as any other track. It just happens to be first. Sandoval has never been one to mess with success, so it’s actually a hard album review to write. You already know whether you’re going to like it, and you better, or I will pour maple syrup in your gas tank.
“For the Rest of Your Life” has haunting, ethereal instrumentation and sounds like it would fit right in on a Twin Peaks soundtrack. Julee Cruise wishes she were this good.
The 1980s was the decade that broke New Age, and George Winston became a household name. All that Windham Hill hoohah has inspired in some unusual places, and when you listen to “Thinking Like That,” it is hard not to hear the same musical stylings that once featured music videos of lush landscapes and rolling hills.
Shonen Knife “Super Group”
September 20, 2009You pretty much know what you’re getting with Shonen Knife, a trio of Japanese women who sing in English as best they can. They’ve been doing it to it for 27 years, and this is their 14th album. “Deer Biscuits” is sillier, and that’s what you want with your Knife. This is not a band that takes itself seriously, and that’s why it works.
“Na Na Na” has lots of fun real-life-in-Japan samples and is also a fun one. If you want a more serious track, try “Your Guitar,” but really, why would you want to do that?
“Super Group” and “Evil Birds” are the two end pieces on this loaf of french bread. They do an excellent job of getting it started and finishing it off, respectively. But such references should be reserved for a Cibo Matto review. Are they even still around?
Nine Seven Four “Dreamcatcher”
September 13, 2009In a word, uninspired. Nine Seven Four are from the 847 area code and play mid-’80s movie soundtrack rock music. They must have wanted to see what it was like to be in a rock band, so they then went out and did it. Good for them. I don’t see how anyone who does know them or want to know them would find anything memorable about this band.
“Strange” is as good as any other track. The vocals are smooth and not forced. Everything is just really polished. Although that is great for fundamentals, it also removes any of the personality from this generic record.
“Give It All” musically sounds like one of Spin Doctors’ many generic tracks. Great, because we really need more bands that sound like Spin Doctors and Black Crowes.
And it goes on. There’s nothing wrong with any of it, but there’s just so much better out there.
Tiny Animals “Sweet Sweetness”
September 13, 2009It’s a classic power pop album. Thoughts of Duvall come to mind when I hear songs like “Useless.” This whole album is trapped in 2003, really, but that’s OK. It was a good time for this genre.
“Goodbye July” has guitar similar to “My Hero” by Foo Fighters. The song itself is fine. I think Dashboard Confessional had thoughts of going in this direction before selling out. Glad to see Tiny Animals pick up the slack.
The best song on the album is “I’d Give It All Away.” It could pass for a Remy Zero classic from the late ’90s. The guitars are just fuzzy enough.
“Scarlet” is also an upbeat number. You can’t help but smile when this one emerges from the speakers. “Is This the Last Time?” is a Better Than Ezra ripoff, and I mean that in the kindest way possible. It’s bliss. Possible song of the year, right here.
“Answer Me” also has all the right components. This album really grows on you the more you listen to it. You just can’t go wrong.
Thee Headliners “Rain & Blood”
September 13, 2009This would have sounded a lot better if it were still hot out. This does that Alannah Myles old-school rhythm and blues thing on tracks like “Howlin’ at the Moon.” The album does more than that though. “Sketch City” has a fun atmosphere with it, unlike that stupid restaurant on the moon. It does have great food, you know. “Double Dutch” is a classic rock ‘n’ roll number.
There’s an intermission, which I like. I hope they play this live in the middle of their sets too.
“Sourpuss” makes good use of keyboards and backing vocals. If you like extravagant late ’70s rock music, this track will do it for you. If Queen had made a song for the Rocky Horror Picture Show soundtrack, it would sound like this.
“Whatchagonnado?” will make alt country fans smile. This definitely has a mid-90s feel.
All in all, it’s a bunch of songs in random order for 40-year-olds, whose musical tastes have diversified over the years. So it’s one of those Kellogg’s Cereal Variety Packs.
Kelli Rae Powell “Guy What Takes His Time”
September 13, 2009Kelli Rae Powell sounds like the female singer from Squirrel Nut Zippers. You know who I mean. This bluesy album is less honky and more tonk, which is fine with me. “Guy What Takes His Time” sets the stage for an album of relaxing glasses of lemonade and watching the clouds pass by.
“Old Tom” is a nice story, I guess. It’s kind of hard to tell, but it might be because football is on TV. The song itself is good. Powell tries a little too hard when she sings, which is entirely unnecessary with her pipe skills. But it’s less apparent in this ditty.
“Drinkaby” is kind of trippy. I would recommend listening to this one sober unless you like to be freaked out. “Some Bridges Are Good to Burn” has the right balance and is one of the best songs on the album.
Otherwise, the songs tend to run together, but nothing misses, either. It will be interesting to see what the next album sounds like. Sometimes the temptation of variety ends up making things worse, so you never really know what to expect with that sort of thing.
Electric Valentine “Automatic”
September 13, 2009Yeah, I miss Hot 97.7 too. Dwaine Luna is in Cincinnati, Ohio, now, you know. Electric Valentine wishes it were 1992 and opening for Expose at Great America, only $6 with park admission. “Automatic” is straight outta Bush 41 and makes me wonder where my Cavariccis are.
Some of the sound is slightly modernized. “Binary Outbreak” has some definite crossover potential. “Chasing the Sun” should be playing at middle school dances everywhere.
A lot of the songs run together a bit. It’s a tired theme after 25 years of high energy. Imagine how reggaeton artists will feel in 2030. But “Waiting for the Harmony” sets a good pace and really belongs further up in the album where more people will see it.
The album even has a bonus track. Back in the proverbial day, the CD would sometimes have a bonus track that the cassette did not, ostensibly because a CD had a higher capacity than a tape. I don’t know about that. You could just make the tape thinner, but they hated to do that because it would snap easier. At any rate, the bonus track is “Take Your Time,” a cover of the SOS Band song. Of course it’s great.
Madison Park “Another Yesterday ::: The Remixes”
September 13, 2009Pff. Madison Park isn’t even Korean. What a waste. So we get eight versions of “Another Yesterday” and a collaboration with GXR called “I Don’t Want to Know.”
“Another Yesterday” would have been huge about 10 years ago, likely gracing the speakers of Nero’s 2000, later called Club Nero. It sounds as good now as it did then, but why would anyone besides me care? Most people see their taste in music mature along with them, so rewarding my stubbornness just ain’t gonna getcha that far.
The Rob Kiraly Remix has a Beatmania feel to it. All the sounds have pinpoint beginnings and ends. I really like this one. It’s good for Robert Miles fans. You remember him. He had that blue album, as opposed to Eiffel 65, who just sucked.
The DJ Costantino Remix takes too long to build. This song is not complex enough to need such infrastructure. The Danny Houghton Remix sounds like a Debbie Gibson mashup. I swear there is a remix of “Electric Youth” that sounds like this.
And now they’re just mocking me. The Raving Donkey Remix wants me to break out the chromium picolinate and mix up some smart drinks. I had these great pants that had pockets so large I could store about 20 individually wrapped glow sticks in three different sizes. There was the weed guy, the E guy and then me. I always had your sticks and in five different colors. Do I really want to be reminded of this? So if you want to be reminded of perhaps your sordid past, I have to admit that the Raving Donkey Remix will strike a chord, or perhaps just a nerve, with you too.
DJ Costantino returns for the “I Don’t Want to Know” remix at the end. This is a better application of his strengths, because the song is much more complex.
Nothing beats a bunch of remixes for my shopping dollar, provided the original song is artfully rendered. It’s a bit hit or miss on this one.
Today's featured shit 