It’s seven tracks, right on the border between EP and full length. It’s less than 15 minutes long, though, so I guess that settles that.
“Sister Savior” and “Color Opposition Theory” fly right by. They are certainly good tracks, but they’re like leaves on a windy day. Whoosh!
“Master & Servant” is not a Depeche Mode cover. It’s certainly good, though. It reminds me of a winter day in San Francisco, when you wake up the next morning after spending the night at your friend’s apartment in the Richmond, the humming of the 31 Balboa passing through the paper-thin walls, along with the cold. Thankfully the meters are not enforced on Sundays, but you still have to drive home. (It turns out this EP was recorded in San Francisco. Coincidence, I swear. But really, it’s that sound. It’s no surprise at all.)
“Bones” has a xylophone. “My Dear Man (Unrequited)” haunts like the stray cat that doesn’t go away because you keep feeding it. Trap, neuter, release! It doesn’t work if you don’t release!
“Uxorial Demands” sounds a lot like “My Dear Man (Unrequited),” but that’s OK. She should find all of the Run for Cover Lovers, make them get back together and do a show with them. It’s the same sound but stripped. It must take her about three minutes to set up for a show. Metallica could learn a thing or two from Lady Lazarus.
The title “The End of the Dream” makes it sounds as if it should be the last track. It is! It’s good burrito-getting music. To the Mission!
Archive for the ‘KSCU’ Category
Lady Lazarus “Home Recordings EP”
September 13, 2009Asleep in the Park “Coming Home”
September 13, 2009It’s a six-track EP with three songs and a live song that is surrounded by interludes. The band is definitely more Punky than Brewster, especially on “Coming Home.” “Precious Injury” has nothing to do with Gollum and a torn ACL. It sounds like a Metro Station song. You could really get the Generation Y chicks with this one.
“Nobody Wants” puts it all together. I really like this song a lot. The music reminds me of Blair Tefkin, although obviously a dude is singing. Despite all the keys and guitars, it’s not overwhelming.
“Interlude 1” is kind of cute with its sampling and whatnot. The live version of “Uncool” leans more to the band’s rock side than dance side. It’s amusing the two distinct sounds that this act has. “Interlude 2” sounds a lot like “Interlude 1.” Surely that’s not a coincidence.
Divisible “Less Than Lion”
September 13, 2009I’m always suspicious when all 10 tracks are between three and four minutes in length. Music is art, and when all your songs are the same duration, well, just what are your true intentions?
We get proficient singing and musicianship here. There aren’t any risks being taken here (just like with the song lengths, perhaps). It reminds me of the San Francisco 49ers’ offense.
“A Girl You Can’t Leave” has synths and hand claps. That’s how you get my attention. “Big Machines” reminds me of The Pretenders. Lead singer Shola can characterize (or is it channel) many of the big names. Leslie Rankin also comes to mind.
“Don’t Say Nothin Now” is weird because Shola actually says “nothing” when singing the title in the chorus. If you’re going to actually pronounce the whole word, then it means you can’t be cool and use the colloquial title. This also sounds like an iTunes commercial song, which ought to be a compliment.
The album ends with a nice piano ballad, “The Cutting Room.” It’s the perfect way to end an album of solid tracks, even if none stand out.
Florence & the Machine “Lungs”
August 30, 2009I always wished that Beth Orton would learn how to sing. Everything else about her music was great, but man, every time that mouth would open up, well, you get the idea. Florence & the Machine have convinced me to stop hoping for this pipe dream to become reality.
“Dog Days Are Over” features some amazing chops, and the accompanying music dovetails nicely with it. It’s quite amazing. And I can’t help but think that I am in the act’s target demo, because tracks like “Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)” bring to mind such famous acts as Sinead O’Connor and Bananarama.
I hate to agree with the stickers they put on the CDs, but it’s true. The third great song on this album is indeed “Kiss With a Fist.” The beat sounds like a KT Tunstall, but it has vocals that match the rest of the albums. Musically some comparisons could be made with White Stripes as well.
“Girl With One Eye” is also good, and not just so I can feel better about picking out a song on my own. “Drumming Song” sounds like a saner version of something Ruby would do. “Hurricane Drunk” sounds like something that would have played in an early-’90s teen movie.
I really enjoyed this album a lot more than I thought I would. Its pandering to me did not feel like it, so it let me focus on being entertained by it.
Major Lazer “Keep It Goin’ Louder”
August 23, 2009It’s another one of those Wild 94.9-style voice distorting Akon knockoffs. This is a maxi-single in the classic sense: the radio edit and 11 other versions. The Tommie Sunshine Radio Edit is extra obnoxious, and it’s what the car ahead of me in the Jack in the Box drive-thru at 2:30 a.m. Sunday morning is always playing. It makes me wonder how their order was even taken, but perhaps the workers use fancy headsets purchased from headsets.com.
With 12 versions, one is sure to stand out. I like the Superchumbo Louder Mix, because it uses a lot of the style found earlier this decade. The problem is that hook has no soul, and every remix obviously has to use the hook. The most ambitious DJ still has to keep the basic premise of the song intact. But at least this version has enough other distractions. Even at nearly eight minutes in duration, it’s pleasing to me. It’s like when you eat cake because of the frosting. The Superchumbo Harder Mix is a bit, um, trancier but also good. I like this Superchumbo guy.
The Diplo Mix has similar synths to “You’re Not Alone” by Olive, but then doesn’t every song? Still, it’s nice to hear it again. No wonder sampling is such a successful template for cutting a track. The Mixin’ Marc Mix and Dub have it too, but it sounds better in the Diplo Mix. The Mixin’ Marc Mix has a more modern club feel to it. The Diplo Mix sounds dated enough that it could sneak onto the turntable at the Edge in Palo Alto.
Telegraph Canyon “The Tide and the Current”
August 23, 2009When you submit your stuff to a radio station, the little things sometimes determine whether it gets reviewed. The Tide and the Current hand wrote at the bottom of the onesheet, “Small label. Small band. GREAT record. Help us! Thanks. Jeff.”
Jeff must work for the label, because there are no Jeffs in Telegraph Canyon. At any rate, it was enough to make me decide to review the album. Chuck Brown goes along and sings on tracks the way a lot of late ’90s indie bands did. Megatron Jones and The Dambuilders comes to mind. The band is from Ft. Worth, Texas, and that does not surprise me one bit. “Safe on the Outside” personifies this best.
All the songs accomplish the same thing. They’re as dependable as McDonald’s. “Captain” stands out a bit if you want a slower song. The strings or whatever those are give it just a hint of an alt country feel.
“Dressed in Fight” is my favorite song on the album. Musically, it sounds like a classic Rilo Kiley song, and the male leads work wonderfully.
The New Up “Better Off”
August 23, 2009These San Franciscans are a fun bunch on this five-track EP. “Dear Life” gets things off to a good start, although an instrumental section or two could have been removed to shorten the song, and no one would have been hurt.
The second track is the title track. The band sounds a bit like another local act, Lackadaisy. Maybe it’s the same singer. There’s no time for fact checking when reviews are due in less than three hours.
“Bitch” is fun. The harmonies really make the song go. F.Y.R.U.F.N. slows it down a bit. Perhaps it is because they keep stopping to find a vowel. It’s bad enough to only have one, but “u”? That’s the worst of the bunch. Sure, “y” has commitment issues, but at least he does a good job when he shows up.
“Wait (for Danny G.)” is slow and reminds me of another local band from the ’90s, Honeypot.
This EP is a good start, if that’s what it is. If they go in the “Bitch” direction, they could be on to something.
Lightning Dust “Infinite Light”
August 23, 2009An album of ballads, Lightning Dust know how to mix up the men’s and women’s vocals to give the listener some enjoyable tracks. Everything is very deliberate, and the effort is easy to spot when spinning the disc.
“Honest Man” is amazing. It has subtle synths in the background and delightful singing. It’s very well mixed.
Many of the tracks answer the question “What would happen if Hope Sandoval sang with a dude?” Amber Webber’s voice is more textured than Sandoval’s, but it works just fine here. “Waiting on the Sun to Rise” has several layers to it, and it plays well with Webber’s strengths. I cannot get over the fundamental strength this album has!
“Take It Home” is last and is slightly downtempo. Definitely something for fans of Portishead and Morcheeba. But regardless, every track is a gem. I can’t wait for these Canadians to visit us.
Jemina Pearl “Break It Up (College Edition)”
August 23, 2009It’s the lead singer of Be Your Own Pet. Some of the tracks really hit home. “Heartbeats” has Dollyrots vocals, but the music is not as action-filled. “Band on the Run” is not a cover, but it is easy to listen to. There’s not a lot of passion in these songs, but if this is the formula you’re into, you’ll be happy. Clearly she has her fan base, but I don’t see how she is going to add new followers with this effort, or lack of.
“I Hate People” has special guest Iggy Pop doing backing vocals among other things. Perhaps this partnership had more to do with his lust for her. One never knows. It is a key track regardless.
Thirteen tracks is acceptable because the tracks are short, but it’d still have been preferable if she had spent more time writing. The whole effort feels rushed. The hand claps in “D Is for Danger” are a nice touch, though.
Really, she is at her best when she just lets it all hang out. “Selfish Heart” is a lot of fun and has a frenetic pace that will make you want to do shots and tear shit up.
Put another way, Jemina Pearl seems to be having an identity crisis right before our eyes. Does she want to be cutesy? Does she want to be hard? Similar to our president when it comes to healthcare reform, she is trying too hard to please everyone, and instead she is going to please no one.
Amanda Blank “I Love You”
August 16, 2009If Peaches is a designer drug, then Amanda Blank is methamphetamine. It’s the same concept (gets you high), but it’s a little trashier and dirtier. There’s something bohemian about Peaches. She comes across as a strong woman who uses sexuality to assert herself in a positive light. Blank just sounds like a slut. You go to the club hoping to take home Peaches, but instead all you get is Blank. You get the idea.
There’s nothing wrong with “I Love You.” The freestone and cling shoes are hard to fill, even with heavy syrup. “Make-Up” is a fun song about makeup. It’s a bit misogynistic, but maybe she is being ironic. Or I am missing the point. I do that, you know.
“Shame on Me” sounds like it should be in a car commercial. But I would at least rent the car. This ain’t no Kia Soul ad. It kind of sounds like Garbage. I wonder whether Blank is only happy when it rains.
“A Love Song” sounds like a bad Northern State song. Yes, I know that’s redundant. “DJ” sounds like Madonna when she is singing “Hung Up.”
The album is fine. It’s not the most thoughtful thing out there, but it’s great for parties or bumpin’ in the car when your windows are rolled up.
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