gray/matter » Music

A Night at the Genre Event

gray — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 04:58:41 +0000

So, how do you get out of your head? Isn’t that what we all desperately need as respite, a way to escape the incessant weight of being under your own ceaseless observation? Perhaps, as the Handsome Family put it:

“This is why people OD on pills/and jump from the/Golden Gate Bridge

Anything to feel weightless again”

Let’s go to a concert.

Except you cannot escape yourself if you are, or ever were, a music journalist. Then, some part of your consciousness remains aloof in a corner, notepad flipped back, choosing with agonizing precision what pithy phrase to tag, to shape, to wrestle the performance into an ill-fitting sack that might capture some nuance of the experience. Except, of course, you can’t really write about music, not in any way that equates to the merest act of standing there in its presence. Dancing about architecture. So, the old tricks come back, the tropes of reference and imagine-if and RIYL. Is the singer a modern Prometheus, carrying the spark that will set fire to the seething worshipful throng desperate for conflagration, or just a stumbling mumbling schmo who shouldn’t have given up a steady job at the Guitar Center? Can you lasso this latest concoction of creative thievery and, whip in hand, break it and tame it and make it answer to a single label called genre? And, ego beating like a fevered pulse and forever demanding due, can you let pass any opportunity to play the Grim Eater, make the sly background insertion, reveal erudition through deft mythological allusion and ironic tabloid mimicry? And underneath the hubris, itself hidden behind a veil of attempted egalitarian “ahead of the hype machine” appreciation, is there the base truth that “all critics are failed artists”? Nah, wingman W is in a band. Maybe it’s just a surfeit of love, the kind that makes you talk off random ears about the latest unheralded masterpiece. We’re part of the memetic engine that replicates fandom. Preach, and perhaps, next time, more will not miss out on the revelation. Also, the blog needs page views.

So, the opening band. Low expectations, not a familiar name, Toro Y Moi has still come a long way traveling from hipster hinterland South Carolina to play in a dark box in front of a crowd of strangers for what cannot amount to much more than hamburger money for 3 fashionably underdressed look-like-kids. Wikipedia posits the style of founder Chazwick Bundick as being “identified with the chillwave movement of summer 2009,” which despite sounding like a description of 19th century French history is at least a place to start. Having dared to proffer a category, however, no sooner is the box drawn than its borders are rubbed out in dispute. Chillwave is “sonically disparate,” relies on a diagnostic menu of “often characterized” elements that boil down to a list of effects pedals and electronic instrumentation used by scores of non-member bands since their invention. This vague approximate definition then comes under assault on philological grounds from the vaunted perch of the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and (er) Gawker. The story unwinds back to Hipster Runoff blogger Carles coining the term and dragooning a handful of acts to support its existence. Carles’ inauspiciously-titled post “Is WASHED OUT the next Neon Indian/Memory Cassette?” comments on the familiar lament of the indie-gone-mainstream, leaving the underground faithful left to seek out the next new thing to replace the now overexposed colossi (cf. the ‘real fans’ of practically every band, forever).

More specifically, he explores the problem space of how to position oneself in the correct orientation for pre-breakout success in the undergrowth now left behind by the likes of Animal Collective: the ‘brand’ cannot be too personal; members cannot be too dweeby, or ‘too’ serious; ‘conceptual’ material and ‘artistic’ live shows both delay audience burnout. And indeed here is enough material to undertake a serious study of the market dynamics of band popularity, the sort of arcane brinksmanship with fickle consumers that sends A&R agents and coolhunters and, nowadays, indie scene bloggers into conniptions of professional anxiety and partisan fervor. For the moment, however, scroll back and notice what Carles does not say about this proposed new collective noun – namely, anything about what its members should sound like. It’s a market designation (e.g. microcap stocks) with PR chaser (e.g. socially responsible funds), not a musical reference. A band can be not ‘authentic’ enough, or too dweeby-looking, but thus far they can sound like anything that authentic non-dweebs with pop sensibility can come up with. And before ending up with ‘chillwave,’ Carles first throws out a laundry list of 31 other pastiche terms mostly referencing shoegaze and new wave, and name-dropping tastemakers Pitchfork. Nevertheless, he crowns ‘chillwave’ the winner of the one-member poll of 32 flavors and then inducts its founding members as the post title indicates. A ’summer of chillwave’ is invoked, and ergo, must exist.

Gawker’s “How to Invent a Music Genre” covers some of the end-stage backlash as the mainstream culture press first consumed, then regurgitated the term in spite. NYT’s Jon Pareles gets credit for providing the ‘microtrend’ (his term) with an almost-usable circumscription of an actual sound in common, while also managing to tie it into the current socioeconomic milieu:

“They’re solo acts or minimal bands, often with a laptop at their core, and they trade on memories of electropop from the 1980s, with bouncing, blipping dance-music hooks (and often weaker lead voices). It’s recession-era music: low-budget and danceable.”

Pareles’ report on this year’s SXSW also carries on the theme of bands as market players, eschewing the former coy elusiveness of last year’s indie rock for a new come-hither catchiness, marketing immediacy and availability since “bands weren’t counting on a second glance.” Recession-era music, indeed. But it’s WSJ’s Speakeasy that focuses on the label, calling the question whether it’s truly a trend to watch. Carles and Washed Out’s Ernest Greene both put forward positive descriptors, while Josh Kolenik of Small Black mentions joking with Neon Indian about creating a scene “that never really existed.” And Alan Palomo of Neon Indian gets to the core idea – “now it’s just a blogger or some journalist that can find three or four random bands around the country and tie together a few commonalities between them and call it a genre.” Was it ever not thus? Yet somehow this ‘made-up’, placebo genre seems to work just as well as a real one, in terms of getting press, gigs, and even a section in that modern-day Tower Records, the iTunes Store. Speakeasy backfills an origin story, with chillwave being a reaction to “over-produced Italo-Disco and French house records of recent years” much like the story of indie rock to Britney pop, grunge to glam metal, punk to disco and prog rock. Write your own rock history here, of dirty/sloppy/raw following refined/tight/glossy, until raw grows up and starts making Target commercials. And then, viva la revolution!

The Guardian’s Dorian Lynskey digs into Toro Y Moi’s place in this hallway of mirrors and finds Chaz Bundwick shrugging sheepishly at being at the center of something with a name but little else to define it. Self-defined as a singer-songwriter, he concedes its ancillary benefits but asserts he was in fact going more for “My Bloody Valentine hip-hop” and when writing the debut album Causers of This, drew from the infinite well of “trying to get over this girl.” On stage, Bundwick held mostly to the standard shoegazer stance of focusing mostly on gear, his frequently onomatopoeic vocals – already passed through layers of reverb, distortion, and looping – troubled by a cold. As the set began, buttressed by guitarist and drummer, Toro built up a torrent of interwoven, fuzzy samples that might actually fall under the thumbnail sketch forwarded by chillwave theorist Carles, “like something playing in the background of an old VHS cassette that you found in the attic from the 90’s.” Indeed, this retrospective perspective is prominent in the most curious part of the ‘chillwave’ entry on Wikipedia: “The overall aesthetic of chillwave is generally influenced by the idea of hauntology. In this case, nostalgia of 80s synthpop is filtered through a distorted lens, re-envisioning the era in a more vague and lo-fi sense.” Hold on, ‘hauntology’?

While sounding like something from the voluminous liner notes of DJ Spooky, this offhand reference actually invokes the ghost of Jacques Derrida, and pulls the whole debate on genre into the philosophy of history, Continental assaults on the basis of meaning, and a somewhat glum prospect for an artistic event horizon in music. For hauntology, as put forward in Derrida’s Spectres of Marx, is the state of a somewhat Zen phantom, who consists of both being and non-being. Lingering on after death, the spectre haunts its future and thus prevents history from truly moving forwards, as it continually looks back in comparison. Striking a parallel with Francis Fuyukama’s “end of history,” the hauntological music critic sees time at the end of natural genres, leaving only room for music to refer back to prior movements and thus defining itself only by the ghosts of past vibrations. So as chillwave is a gauzy nostalgia for rundown 90s guitar shoegaze played back on laptops and pawn shop synths, thus might we see all new music as a kind of mashup, rehash, or hyperlinked recombination of what has come before. You could just as well view all music criticism as différance, Derrida’s symbol game of reference, each review tying this band back to that, in endless chains that never ground to referents in actual experience. Thus emboldened by having no regard for saying anything, we return to Toro Y Moi slowly stirring rhythmic bullets of melody into the murky soup, and piece to piece moving from Flying Saucer Attack-scale assault sonics to compositions comprehendible as indiscreet but discrete songs. And then, perhaps as microcosm of Carles’ thesis, they suddenly devolve from art futurists to retro-funk cracked frat-pop in their final three selections. Finally joining full in, the neck-high crowd of striped shirts and too-shiny faces emerges exultant from its steady nod-hop forbearance to prototypical party gyrations. And the ghost of Art of Genres Past claims another too-serious dweeby trio for its spectral mantel.

Oh, and Caribou were great.

eMusic Picks – February

gray — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 03:42:11 +0000

Albums added in February: 17,821

Featured Selections

Apoptygma Berzerk, You and Me Against the World (14)

Apoptygma’s Stephan Groth met stiff scene resistance in shifting from earlier, harsh attack EBM to the kind of epic synth rock exhibited here to great effect. Naturally, cries of ’sellout’ and fan rebellion were followed by the album achieving runaway success, particularly in Tokio Hotel-loving Germany. Anthemic, crashing chords tear the roof off with tracks like “In This Together” and the gripping “Cambodia.”

Asobi Seksu, Hush (12)

Asobi Seksu return with more immaculate, Lush-esque twee dreampop.

Autechre, Amber (11)
-, Incunabula (11)

Before they got self-consciously experimental to the point of becoming ‘difficult’ music, Autechre put out some wonderfully melodic IDM in Incunabula and Amber, which would be followed shortly after by Tri Repetae.

Scooter, Jumping All Over the World (24)

It’s Scooter. Jumping All Over the Place is pretty much self-descriptive.

See Also

Apples in Stereo, The Discovery of a World Inside the Moone (12)
-, Let’s Go! (5)
-, Velocity of Sound (11)
-, Her Wallpaper Reverie (15)
-, Tone Soul Evolution (14)
-, Look Away (5)
-, Science Faire (13)

A Camp, Stronger Than Jesus (1)

Ace of Base, Wheel of Fortune 2009 (2)

And One, Frontfeuer (5)

Apoptygma Berzerk, Welcome to Earth (13)
-, 7 (10)
-, Apocalyptic Manifesto (12)

A Shoreline Dream, Recollections of Memory (10)

Beirut, March of the Zapotec & Realpeople: Holland (11)

Belle and Sebastian, The BBC Sessions (14)

Gavin Bryars, Amjad (17)

Claire Voyant, Time and the Maiden (13)
-, Time Again (13)
-, Love Is Blind (10)

Clannad, An Diolaim (14)

Download, Charlie’s Family (9)

Faith & The Muse, Annwyn Beneath the Waves (14)
-, Elyria (14)
-, The Burning Season (12)

Faunts, Feel.Love.Thinking.Of (10)

Front 242, Pulse (12)
-, Still & Raw (6)
-, Headhunter 2000 (9+8)
-, Re-Boot Live ‘98 (12)

Grizzly Bear, Yellow House (10)
-, Friend EP (10)

Gus Gus, Need in Me (4)

Jean Michel Jarre, Oxygene (6)
-, Equinoxe (8)
-, Les Chants Magnetiques (5)

Cevin Key, Music for Cats (13)

Kill Hannah, Hope for the Hopeless (10)

Ladytron, 604 Remixes (13)

LCD Soundsystem, 45:33 (2)

LFO, Frequencies (14)

Love is Colder Than Death, Mental Traveller (12)

Timo Maas, Subtellite (1)

Nightmare Lodge, Blind Miniatures (8)
-, Tentacled (10)

Nightmares on Wax, A Word of Science (15)

Old 97’s, Hitchhike to Rhome (13)

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart (10)

Plateau, Spacecake (16)

Polygon Windows, Surfing on Sine Waves (11)

Praga Khan, Not Strictly Rubens (10)

Ratatat, Mirando (2)

Rhea’s Obsession, Between Earth and Sky (11)
-, Re:Initiation (14)

Robert Rich, React (11)

Gabrielle Roth, Jhoom (5)

Sabres of Paradise, Sabresonic (8)

School of Seven Bells, Iamundernodisguise (2)

Scooter, Jump That Rock (4)

Tindersticks, The Hungry Saw (12)

M. Ward, Hold Time (14)

Wendy & Lisa, White Flags of Winter Chimneys (9)
-, Girl Bros. (13)

soundtrack, The Count of Monte Cristo – musical (13)
-, Coraline (12)

various, Artificial Intelligence (10)
-, Bytes (11)
-, The Evolution of the Groove (9)

Free

Giant Brain, Thorn of Thrones (1)

Melissa Giges, Evident (1)

The Rosebuds, Sweet Beats Troubled Dreams (10)

various, An Introduction to Truth & Soul (12)
-, eMusic Sampler Vol 2 (13)
-, The Wages of Syntax (18)

Spoken Word

Anais Nin, Delta of Venus (4)

Basil Rathbone, Sherlock Holmes – The Unfortunate Tobacconist/The Paradol Chamber (2)

Black Cab Sessions

gray — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 01:07:31 +0000

Craft has been said to be the art of doing more with less. Part of the appeal of famous adaptationalists like MacGyver and The Swiss Family Robinson is how they take everyday objects and minimal materials and create sophisticated solutions through inventiveness and a deep command of basic principles. So it should perhaps not be such a delightful surprise that the Black Cab Sessions reconnect with a primal experience of musical performance, stripped down as they are to musicians stuffed in the back of London’s famous cabs and making the most of a limited space. Yet within that basic premise – “One song, one take, one cab” – some truly wonderful, understated experiences develop.

While it may seem confining at first, cars can be effective acoustic spaces, as many have discovered singing along their radio. Vehicles with slightly rounded roofs, sloping rear windows and decent insulation and window seals create a bit of a natural fishbowl, allowing sound to rebound without directly reflecting; the closed space also helps amplify volume like that other favored personal stage, the shower stall. This can make for a rich, warm enveloping sound that makes you feel in the midst of the music rather than having it broadcast at you. And a London cab, with its traditional double-seat rear seating and slightly bulbous non-rectilinear frame, is upon reflection a bit of a rolling sound booth. And so the Black Cab Sessions are formed of the simple expedient of musicians limited to what they can hold and play in a back seat while slowly navigating the streets of London.

Part of what makes these so affecting is that they are by nature a hybrid experience of casual and professional. Traveling musicians can get swallowed by the stagecraft and perfectionist minutiae of soundchecks, but here you strip all that away and, in the most unguarded moments, see through to the experience of the music beneath in its raw form. Some of my favorite highlights so far include the spontaneous grins of Amanda Palmer (of Dresden Dolls) from behind her ukulele and Annie Clark (of St Vincent) from behind her electric guitar as they seem to catch themselves in the joy of the moment; Lykke Li breaking out a miniature percussion ensemble of handclaps, shaker, finger cymbals and sleigh bells to supplement a bullhorn and accordion while Li herself wriggles dance moves in miniature; Jens Lekman exuding a solid calm as he solemnly plunks out his “Black Cab” on what I suppose is a finger piano (which, I kid you not, just came up on rotation in my iTunes…a song I didn’t even know I had); the transposition of synth-heavy duo The Raveonettes to an acoustic rendition of “Dead Sound” bounded by telltale British sirens and other traffic noise; and Ane Brun’s adorable sniffling. In each, you can see the performance against the mundane backdrop of the city (most are shot in daylight) as normal life continues around them. As cynical and removed as I sometimes find myself from the purity of music as a personal act of expression in a crowded, noisy world, the Black Cab Sessions are an unassuming remedy.

Media Aside:
The videos themselves are also a successful example of the long-heralded ‘independent media’ in that the creators at Just So Films are a trio of filmmakers “who understand the vast opportunities presented by the online environment” and have created a new property that builds on unscripted performance, handheld cameras, cinéma verité production, and online distribution while promoting both established and upcoming musicians to reach hundreds of thousands in over 150 countries. Contemporary visions of the future often trade on images of hundreds of simultaneous TV channels – even in farcically dystopic vistas like Mike Judge’s Idiocracy and Richard Kelly’s Southland Tales, or the dour Babylon A.D. – with many apparently serving as direct-from-the-people communications. With YouTube long entrenched, the rise of CNN’s iReporters, and independent ventures like these Sessions, a future without the traditional gatekeepers of broadcast media seems ever closer.

[Thanks to Neil Gaiman's Journal for the tip.]

eMusic Picks – January

gray — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 02:33:26 +0000

Albums added in January: 14,007

eMusic Feature

Saddle Creek Essentials

Featured Selections

Andrew Bird, Noble Beast (12)

Andrew Bird continues to veer further away from his swing jazz roots with the Bowl of Fire while continuing to produce consistently pleasing pop/folk concoctions, with trademark violin, whistling, and lyrical flourishes to challenge The Decemberists’ Colin Meloy.

Client, Heartland (12)
-, Untitled Remix (12)
-, Xerox Machine (6)

Not as immediately infectious as preceding albums Client and City, Heartland takes a few listens to gell, but ultimately still delivers the retro synthpop with a bit more Gary Glitter stamp and stomp, particularly the Alice Cooper-esque “Lights Go Out” and their cover of Adam Ant’s “Xerox Machine.” The Untitled Remix includes primarily mixes from Heartland plus collaborations with Douglas McCarthy and fellow synthetes Replica.

Stoa, Silmand (13)

More silky-swoopy neoclassical darkwave from ex-Hyperium act Stoa.

Maria Taylor, Lynn Tweeter Flower (11)

Both Taylor and fellow Azure Ray bandmate Orenda Fink get several older solo releases added (below), while Lynn Tweeter Flower represents the latest output of AR’s more straightforward half.

See Also

AFX, Analogue Bubblebath (4)

Duplicate.

Antony and the Johnsons, The Crying Light (10)

Apples in Stereo, Fun Trick Noisemaker (13)

Attrition, Kill the Buddha! (11)

Azure Ray, Hold On Love
-, November (6)
-, The Drinks We Drank Last Night (3)
-, New Resolution (3)

Big Country, Rarities IV (12)
-, Rarities VI (16)

Bola, Mauver (4)

Bon Iver, Blood Bank (4)

Boomkat, A Million Trillion Stars (14)

Bright Eyes, Letting Off the Happiness (10)
-, Easy/Lucky/Free (5)
-, Four Winds (6)
-, When the President Talks to God (1)

Bunnygrunt, Action Pants! (8)
-, Jen-Fi (16)

Crystal Method, Bones Theme – Remixes (3)

Cut Off Your Hands, You & I (12)

Cyberaktif, Nothing Stays (4)
-, Temper (3)

Dälek, Gutter Tactics (11)

Eden, Return to Innocence (12)

Excessive Force, Gentle Death (13)
-, Conquer Your World (12)

The Faint, Danse Macabre (9)

Orenda Fink, Invisible Ones (10)
-, Bloodline (3)

One half of Azure Ray.

Gravity Kills, Gravity Kills (11)
-, Guilty (11)

Gus Gus, Lust/Porn (2)

Hilt, Journey to the Center of the Bowl (16)

Hood, Compilations 1995-2002 (20)
-, Structured Disasters (18)

Icon of Coil, Machines Are Us (14)
-, The Soul Is In The Software (10)
-, Uploadedandremixed (14)
-, Serenity is the Devil (10)

Cevin Key, The Ghost of Each Room (10)
-, The Dragon Experience (11)

Kristeen Young, That’s What It Takes Dear (1)

Love Is Colder Than Death, Oxeia (14)
-, Teignmouth (13)

Modern English, Beautiful People (6)

Mogwai, The Hawk Is Howling (10)

Repost?

Mos Def, Audio 3 (24)

My Brightest Diamond, Shark Remixes Vol 2 (4)

Gary Numan, Jagged (12)

Of Montreal, Jon Brion Remixes EP (5)
-, Mad Decent Remixes (3)

The Pica Beats, All Mysteries Solves Themselves (12)

Planet P Project, Planet P Project (16)

Psykosonik, Unlearn (10)
-, Silicon Jesus (6)
-, Welcome To My Mind (7)

Jorge Reyes, Tomani (8)

Rilo Kiley, The Execution of All Things (3)

Sister Machine Gun, Addiction (5)
-, Not My God (5)
-, Wired/Lung (5)

Maria Taylor, 11:11 (10)
-, Time Lapse Lifeline (1)

Other half of Azure Ray.

The Timelords (KLF), Doctorin’ the TARDIS (5)

Toyko Police Club, Elephant Shell Remixes (5)

X Marks the Pedwalk, Drawback (12)
-, Retrospective 1988-1999 (14)
-, Freaks+ (14)

Xorcist, Insects & Angels (12)

The Watson Twins, Southern Manners (8)

Wildbirds & Peacedrums, Heartcore (12)

Free

Mars Laser, Free Music from Mars (10)

various, Builder Vol 1 (4)
-, Relay the Fallback (9)
-, Supraphon Selections (14)

Spoken Word

F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2)

Anais Nin, Henry & June (4)

Ayn Rand, Anthem (12)

Tribute Corner

Amonn-v2, New Year’s Day (1)

Vitamin String Quartet, String in the New Year (12)
-, Performs the Hits of Rock Band (12)

eMusic Picks – December

gray — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 03:55:15 +0000

Albums added in December: 16,452

Major additions this month from the Metropolis Records back catalog, featuring Darkwave/EBM/Industrial acts like Clan of Xymox, Combichrist, Covenant, Haujobb, KMFDM, Suicide Commando, Velvet Acid Christ, VNV Nation, and Wumpscut.

Featured Selections

Cranes, Cranes (11)

Cranes choose their eighth album to go eponymous, four years after Particles and Waves. Alison Shaw’s child plaint remains a constant in their dream pop repertoire, backed with the familiar strumming of Jim Shaw, and accompanied by the bell-like tones from their more recent outings.

Gotan Project, Live (24)

As it says on the tin, live renditions of Gotan Project’s electronic-flecked nuevo tango add spice and uncertainty to their more battened-down studio versions. The album covers material from their tours supporting La Revancha del Tango and Lunático, plus two orchestral reworkings.

Sigur Rós, Med sud I eyrum vid spilum endalaust (11)

Translating as “With a Buzz in Our Ears We Play Endlessly,” the fifth release by Icelandic post-rockers Sigur Rós adds more upbeat whimsy than earlier Hopelandic laments and includes their first song in English, “All Alright.”

Hector Zazou, L’Absence (11)

A companion album to Strong Currents, featuring some of the same featured female vocalists (Nicola Hitchcock of Mandalay, Caroline Lavelle, Emma Stow) plus others including actress Asia Argento, and a rare male voice by the French singer Edo. Sadly, among the last of Zazou’s collaborative efforts before his untimely death late last year.

Special Star Wars Copyright Challenge

Boba Fettt, Meisters des Universums (16)

See Also

Air Miami, Sixteen Songs (18)
-, Fourteen Songs (14)

And One, Bodypop (12)

Repost.

Apoptygma Berzerk, Harmonizer (11)
-, APBL2000 (13)
-, Singles Collection (13+18)
-, Soli Deo Gloria (14)
-, Kathy’s Song (6)
-, Black (10)

At the Drive-In, This Station Is Non-Operational (18)

The Breeders, Last Splash (2)
-, Off You (3)

Bright Eyes

Anne Clark, The Law Is An Anagram of Wealth (12)
-, To Love And Be Loved (10)
-, The Smallest Acts of Kindness (12)
-, Unstill Life (13)
-, Psychometry (19)

Holly Cole, Baby It’s Cold Outside (13)

Noel Coward, Sings Sail Away And Other Coward Rarities (26)

Cut Copy, Far Away (7)

Gigi D’Agostino, L’Amour Toujours II (15+15)

Danú, Think Before You Think (13)

Decemberists, 5 Songs EP (6)

Duplicate.

Deerhunter, Weird Era Cont (13)

Eels, Blinking Lights and Other Revelations (17+16)

Repost.

Faithless, A Kind of Peace (4)

Forthcoming Fire, Ekhnaton (14)
-, Illumination? (14)
-, Je Suis (12)
-, Watching Rome Burn (11)

John Foxx, Cathedral Oceans I & II (11+10)

Frightened Rabbit, It’s Christmas So We’ll Stop (1)

Hybrid, Symphony (4)

Jega, Geometry (13)
-, Spectrum (16)
-, Type Xer0 EP (4)

Juno Reactor, Transmissions (9)
-, Luciana (1)
-, Beyond the Infinite (8)
-, Bible of Dreams (8)
-, Shango (9)
-, Labyrinth (9)
-, Gods & Monsters (9)
-, Pistolero (7)
-, Masters of the Universe (5)
-, Hotaka (4)

Ken Kase Group, Extended Play – No Waiting (5)

KRS-One, KRS-One Digital (20)

Ladyhawke, Paris Is Burning (6)

Daniel Lanois, Rockets (10)
-, Here Is What Is (18)

Malicorne, Nous sommes chanteurs de sornettes (Malicorne IV) (10)
-, Quintessence (11)

M.I.A., Mausen (6)

Alannah Myles, Black Velvet (11)

Michael Nyman, MGV & Piano Concerto (9)

O’Death, One (5)

Rasputina, Frustration Plantation – Bonus Disc (9)

Duplicate.

Rilo Kiley, The Execution of All Things (12)

Steve Roach & Eric Wøllo, Stream of Thought (19)

Rocket From The Crypt, Group Sounds (13)
-, R.I.P. (20)

The Silent League, Aeroplanes (4)

Smile.dk, Party Around the World (6)

Toyko Police Club, Elephant Shell (11)

Laura Veirs, Two Beers Veirs (5)

Veruca Salt, IV (14)

Wumpscut, Music for a Slaughtering Tribe II (14)

soundtrack, Anne of Green Gables – Off Broadway cast (16)

Free

BLK JKS, Mystery EP (4)

Spoken Word

The Kama Sutra – Abridged (4)

Tribute Corner

Amonn-v2, A View To A Kill (1)
-, Be Bop A Lula (1)
-, Justify My Love (1)
-, Venus (1)
-, Anybody Seen My Baby (1)

Dan McKie vs Orbital, Halcyon Again (3)

Hampton String Quartet, The Off White Album (14)

Los Straitjackets, Smells Like Teen Spirit (1)

eMusic Picks – November

gray — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 03:50:53 +0000

[No album count this month; I didn't check in time.]

Featured Selections

Au Revoir Simone, Reverse Migration (13)

Remix collection of the entirety of 2007’s The Bird of Music, with “Sad Song” and “The Lucky One” both earning double dips. Some tracks are actually more stripped down rather than built up, such as the spare Slow Club mix of “The Lucky One” which concludes in a rousingly messy chorus round.

Lisa Hannigan, Sea Sew (10)

Longtime musical partner of Damien Rice, Irish sweetheart Hannigan was set free amid some untoward drama, but confidently breaks out on her own on Sea Sew. The album enjoyed early success with the leadoff single “Lille.”

Ladyhawke, Ladyhawke (12)

Kiwi Pip Brown plunders the dusty chest of 80s pop and pulls off the new-new wave secret soundtrack to a John Hughes film that never was.

Ulrich Schnauss, Goodbye (10)

Schnauss moves on from his homage to 70s space rock like Tangerine Dream to epic 90s shoegaze like Slowdive and SoulWhirlingSomewhere, right from the aching swell of opener “Never Be the Same” with its crashing synth waves under blissed out vocals. Music for dreams to ascend into.

See Also

4 Clubbers, Secrets/Sonar (2)

Christina Aguilera, Just Be Free (12)

Asobi Seksu, Me & Mary (2)

Tracy Bonham, In the City + In the Woods (11)

Carla Bruni, No Promises (11)
-, Comme si de rien n’était (14)

Bush, Zen X Four (9)

Cobalt 60, Elemental (12)

Cujo, Adventures in Foam (18)

Ani DiFranco, Little Plastic Castle Remixes (4)

DJ Spooky, Collected Ambient Tracks (12)

Final Fantasy, Plays to Please (6)

Fisher, She Kissed Me (1)
-, Remind Me (1)
-, Closer (1)

Folksongs for the Afterlife, Put Danger Back in Your Life (11)

Repost.

Johann Johannsson, Forlândia (11)

The Handsome Family, Last Days of Wonder (12)
-, In the Forest of Missing Airplanes (3)

Hybrid, Fall Out of Love (8)

Katzenjammer Kabarett, Grand Guignol & Varietes (12)

Lacuna Coil, Visual Karma – Live at Wacken 2007 (12)

Cyndi Lauper, Shine (5)
-, Shine Remixes (6)

Lovespirals, This Truth (9)

Malicorne, Le Mariage Anglais (10)
-, Colin (11)

Material, Seven Souls (10)

Mediaeval Baebes, Miracle (3)

Ingrid Michaelson, Be OK (11)
-, Slow the Rain (9)

Lisa Miskovsky, Still Alive (Theme from Mirror’s Edge) (11)

Gary Numan, New Dreams for Old (19)
-, Scarred (12+10)

The Orb, Vuja De (7)

Plastic Bertrand, Dandy Bandit (11)

The Postmarks, By the Numbers (12)

Rajna, Duality (12)

Rasputina, Frustration Plantation – Bonus (9)

The Raveonettes, Wishing You a Rave Christmas (4)

Robert, Sourde Et Aveugle (12)

Shallow, CD Laser Lens Cleaner (6)

Stars, Sad Robots (6)

Miriam Stockley, Second Nature (10)

aka “The Voice of Adiemus”

Suicidal Tendencies, Suicidal Tendencies – remastered (12)

Taras Bulba, Sketches of Babel (10)
-, Peyote Moon (12)
-, Basta Cosi (3)
-, Von der Wahrheit (3)
-, Shiva Diva (3)

Throbbing Gristle, Thirty-Second Annual Report (9)

The Tiger Lillies, The Little Matchgirl (12)
-, Die Weberischen (14)

Trance Mission, Obsession (10)

Trentemøller, Remixed (5)

Vanilla Ice, Vanilla Ice Is Back! – Hip Hop Classics (12)

John Williams, Raiders of the Lost Ark (22)
-, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (22)
-, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (19)

New Musical Cast, Phantom of the Opera (13)
-, Mama Mia! (12)
-, Valley Girl (12)
-, Valley Girl Singalong (12)

soundtrack, Boom Blox (18)
-, Dead Space (17)
-, The Marvelous Wonderettes (12)
-, Need for Speed Undercover – Paul Haslinger (19)
-, Saw V (12)
-, Were the World Mine (12)

Free

various, BBC Music Magazine Sampler (13)
-, Deep Elm Sampler No. 8 (16)
-, Fiscal Apocalypse 2008 (15)
-, Mint Records Ridiculously Late eMusic Sampler (7)
-, Redeye 2008 Holiday Sampler (13)
-, So Indie It Hurts: ROIR Rocks Volume 1 (11)

Spoken Word

Sherlock Holmes (Sir John Gielgud) – Doctor Watson Meets/The Final Problem (2)

Value

Fear Falls Burning, Fear Falls Burning + Nadja (6)
-, Frenzy of the Absolute (6)

Kronos Quartet, Plays Holmgreen (4)

eMusic Picks – October

gray — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 03:17:57 +0000

Albums added in October: 24,319

eMusic Features

Halloween Ear Candy

Featured Selections

Ani DiFranco

Queen of independent alternative folk, Ani DiFranco makes her eMusic debut with a whole mess of albums – from the earliest on her own label Righteous Babe up through recent studio releases.

Lush, Topolino (12)

Along with the sunny change in style Lush showed on Lovelife, they also put out a blizzard of quality B-sides. This Topolino is one of two regional collections of those (the Japanese version having a slightly different track listing), featuring a number of summery gems. Others are included on the singles also added this month.

Scooter, The Age Of Love (11)
-, And the Beat Goes On (11)
-, Back To The Heavyweight Jam (12)
-, Mind The Gap (14)
-, No Time To Chill (12)
-, Our Happy Hardcore (10)
-, Sheffield (12)
-, The Stadium Techno Experience (12)
-, We Bring The Noise (12)
-, Who’s Got The Last Laugh Now? (12)
-, Wicked! (11)

Along with Dune and Blümchen, I spent a lot of time and even more money tracking down these import albums of happy hardcore mainstay Scooter, many of which never made it far out of Germany despite being in English (although they have had significant success in the UK). In addition to the albums above, numerous singles and compilations were also added.

t.A.T.u., Happy Smiles (12)

Despite losing the tabloid allure of their faux teen-lesbian act, t.A.T.u. continues to turn out enjoyable pop albums. And like their prior releases, this saw dual release – first in Russia as Vesyolye Ulybki (Happy Smiles) and then repackaged as Waste Management.

See Also

Ace of Base, Happy Nation – US Version (15)

Kelli Ali, Kids (3)

Animotion, Obsession (2)

The Archies, Greatest Hits – Digitally Remastered (12)
-, Jingle Jangle – Digitally Remastered (12)

Atari Teenage Riot, Burn Berlin Burn (14)

Azam Ali, Elysium For The Brave (9)
-, Elysium Remixes EP1 (5)
-, Elysium Remixes EP2 (5)

Reposts.

Banco De Gaia, 10 Years (11+8)
-, Big Men Cry (7)
-, Farewell Ferengistan (9)
-, Igizeh (9)
-, I Love Baby Cheesy (5)
-, Kara Kum Remixes (4)
-, Live At Glastonbury (9)
-, The Magical Sounds Of (8)
-, Maya (9)
-, Obsidian (4)
-, You Are Here (8)

Beach Boys / Jan & Dean, self-titled (12)

Beach House, Used to Be (2)

Heidi Berry, The Moon and the Sun (4)

Andrew Bird, The Mysterious Production of Eggs (14)
-, Weather Systems (9)

Björk, Army of Me EP (4)
-, Army of Me (4)
-, Big Time Sensuality (7)
-, Nattura (1)
-, Violently Happy (7)

Black Tape for a Blue Girl, The Aflame (4)
-, The Remnants (5)

Blonde Redhead, Elephant Woman (3)

Brian Setzer Orchestra, Christmas Rocks (20)

Michael Brook, Live at the Aquarium (7)

Ane Brun, Changing of the Seasons (14)

Bush, Sixteen Stone (12)
-, Razorblade Suitcase (13)
-, Deconstructed (11)
-, The Science of Things (12)

David Byrne & Brian Eno, Everything That Happens Will Happen Today (11)

Tony Carey, Some Tough City (11)

Johnny Cash, Country Boy (11)
-, Folsom Prison Blues (11)
-, The Legendary Performance (16)
-, Ring of Fire – Live San Antonio 1974 (14)
-, Train of Love (10)

CéU, CéU (15)

Chumbawamba, Enough Is Enough (3)
-, Homophobia (4)
-, Ugh! Your Ugly Houses! (4)

Cocteau Twins, Aikea-Guinea (4)
-, Echoes in a Shallow Bay (4)
-, Love’s Easy Tears (4)
-, Lullabies (3)
-, Singles Collection (4)
-, Tiny Dynamine (4)

Chris Connelly, Initials C.C. (13+12)

For more Fini Tribe, check the epic version of “Monster in the House” on One Little Indian’s Greatest Hits Volume 2 (14).

Deerhunter, Microcastle (12)

Delerium, Silence [Lissat & Voltaxx Remix] (4)

Devotchka, Curse Your Little Heart EP (6)

Chöying Drolma & Steve Tibbetts, Selwa (11)

Euphoria, Euphoria (10)
-, Beautiful My Child (12)

John Foxx

Front 242, Moments – Limited Edition (16)

Lisa Gerrard, Abwoon (2)

Gogol Bordello, Live at the Casbah 5/18/2004 (16)
-, Live At Maxwell’s 4/25/2004 (15)

Rachel Goswell, Coastline/Plucked Remixes (4)

Emily Haines with Beausoleil, C’etat dans la Nuit (1)

Neil Halstead, Two Stones in My Pocket (7)

Haddaway, What Is Love – Remix (3)

Handsome Family, In The Air (11)
-, Milk & Scissors (12)
-, Singing Bones (13)
-, Twilight (13)

Her Space Holiday, XOXO Panda and the New Kid Revival (14)

Katjenjammer Kabarett, Katzenjammer Kabarett (14)

Kiln, Sunbox (5)
-, Vaporbend (4)

Kitchens of Distinction, Breathing Fear (4)

Ladytron, Ghosts (Blestenation Mix) (1)

Laibach, Laibach (13)
-, Rekapitulacija (17)

Lambchop, OH ohio (11)

Los Campesinos!, We Are Beautiful We Are Doomed (10)

Lush, For Love (4)
-, Sweetness and Light (3)
-, Black Spring (4)
-, Mad Love (4)
-, Ladykillers (4)
-, Single Girl – 1 (4)
-, Single Girl – 2 (4)

Massive, Not An Angel (10)

Mojave 3, In Love With A View (2)

My Better Half, Twilight – instrumental (1)

Niyaz, Niyaz (10)
-, Remixed (4)

Reposts.

Of Montreal, Skeletal Lamping (15)

Piano Magic, Son De Mar (6)

Duplicate post.

-, Writers Remixed (4)

The Pixies, Velouria (4)
-, Monkey Gone to Heaven (4)
-, Debaser (4)
-, Debaser – live (4)

Preston Klik, Untitled (22)
-, Remixes (4)
-, Remix Reaction Vol 3 (12)

Raveonettes, Beauty Dies (4)

Robert Rich, Illumination (7)

Steve Roach, Dreaming…Now, Then (12+9)
-, Landmass (6)

Scheer, Wish You Were Dead (4)

Scooter, 24 Carat Gold (24)
-, The Age Of Love EP (3)
-, Aiii Shot The DJ (3)
-, Apache Rocks The Bottom! (5)
-, Back In The U.K. (4)
-, Break It Up (3)
-, Call Me Manana (3)
-, Encore – Live and Direct (18)
-, Endless Summer (3)
-, Fasterharderscooter (4)
-, Fire (4)
-, Five Essentials (5)
-, Friends (4)
-, Fuck The Millennium (3)
-, Hello! – Good To Be Back (4)
-, How Much Is The Fish? (4)
-, Hyper Hyper (3)
-, I’m Raving (4)
-, I’m Your Pusher (4)
-, Jigga Jigga! (4)
-, Let Me Be Your Valentine (4)
-, Live – 10th Anniversary (13)
-, Maria – I Like It Loud (4)
-, Move Your Ass! (3)
-, Nessaja (4)
-, The Night (5)
-, No Fate (5)
-, Posse – I Need You On The Floor (4)
-, Push The Beat For This Jam (19+13)
-, The Countdown (1)
-, The Question Is What Is The Question? (4)
-, Ramp! – The Logical Song (4)
-, Rebel Yell (3)
-, Rough And Tough And Dangerous (16+13)
-, Shake That! (4)
-, Shake That! – Remix (4)
-, She’s The Sun (3)
-, Suavemente (5)
-, We Are The Greatest (4)
-, Weekend! (4)

The Shamen, Boss Drum – CD1 (4)
-, L.S.I. EP (4)
-, Make It Mine (4)
-, Move Any Mountain ‘96 (4)
-, S.O.S. (4)
-, Transamazonia – CD2 (7)

Vonda Shepard, By 7:30 (13)
-, It’s Good Eve (12)
-, Chinatown (13)
-, Live (14)

Sneaker Pimps, Becoming Remixed (10)
-, Low Five – CD1 (3)
-, Low Five – CD2 (3)
-, Tesko Suicide (3)

Sonique, Why (4)

Spirea X, Chlorine Dream (3)

Stellamara, The Seven Valleys (12)

Repost.

Sugarcubes, Regina (4)

Terem Quartet, Dog’s Waltz (13)

Emiliana Torrini, To Be Free – CD2 (3)

Trentemøller, Serenetti (3)

Tweaker, The Attraction To All Things Uncertain (13)
-, Linoleum EP (9)

Unrest, Cath Carroll (4)

Chris Vrenna, American McGee’s Alice (20)

Repost.

Windy & Carl, Songs for the Broken Hearted (10)

Wire

various, All Virgos Are Mad (12)
-, Eden – A Collection of Global Chill (11)
-, Facing the Wrong Way (13)
-, Highlander – The Original Scores (16)
-, Lilliput (16+12)
-, Nerdcore Rising Soundtrack (15)
-, Rocky Horror International (17)
-, The Rocky Horror Picture Show (16)
-, The Rocky Horror Picture Show – Audience Participation (2)
-, The Rocky Horror Show – Original Roxy Cast (17)
-, Six Degrees Rarities (9)
-, TOKYOPOP Presents J-Pop Volume 2 (10)

Spoken Word

Orson Welles, War of the Worlds (1)

Tribute Corner

In Strict Confidence, The Sun Always Shines On TV (2)

Derek Marin, A Tribute to Depeche Mode (20)
-, Modemix (18)

Topmodelz, Maniac (4)

Cover of the Michael Sembello hit.

various, Perfect As Cats – Tribute to the Cure (17+20)
-, My X-File (15)

Value

Byron Metcalf, Nada Terma (1)

eMusic Picks – September

gray — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 02:38:24 +0000

Albums added in September:14,769

Featured Selections

Handsome Family, Through the Trees (13)

Funny story – my friend TNG played this alt-country couple’s album essentially non-stop for six months in an office we shared, and I hated it. Now I can’t live without it. I have since sampled the rest of their catalog, and while still quality all, they never top the lyrical genius and sublime modesty of tracks like “Weightless Again”, “My Sister’s Tiny Hands”, “Giant of Illinois” and “The Woman Downstairs.”

The Notwist, Neon Golden (13)

Glitch acoustic-inflected marginal pop, of the Ms. John Soda vein. “Consequence” will remind you of something you can never quite pin down.

Ulrich Schnauss, A Strangely Isolated Place (8)
-, Far Away Trains Passing By (6+6)
-, Passing By (4)

Ulrich Schnauss started out in homage to early Tangerine Dream and gradually evolves over multiple releases into warm 90s shoegazer ambience, sounding like instrumentals left off Slowdive’s Souvlaki.

Hector Zazou & Swara, In the House of Mirrors (10)

It came as a shock to discover that Hector Zazou had died, which I found out simply by reading a user review of this, his final collaboration.

Best Metaphoric Cover

Richard Strauss, Elektra (10+12)

Presumably meant to capture the titular character as “the personification of the passionate lust for vengeance.”

See Also
All Girl Summer Fun Band, Looking Into It (11)

Animal Collective, Strawberry Jam (9)
-, Water Curses (4)

Tori Amos, Live at Montreux 91/92 (16)

Arctic Monkeys, Whatever People Say That’s What I’m Not (13)

Björk, Dull Flame of Desire (6)

black tape for a blue girl, The Pleasures Everlasting (4)
-, the first pain to linger (7)

Harold Budd, A Song for Lost Blossoms (7)

Tony Carey, Blue Highway (10)

Caribou, Up in Flames (10+6)
-, Start Breaking My Heart (10+10)

Featuring the insouciant title of disc 2, track 8.

Cassette Electrik, Electromagnetic (10)
-, 28 Days (4)

Cassettes Won’t Listen, Freeze and Explode (6)

The Cinematic Orchestra, Ma Fleur (10)

Anne Clark, Wordprocessing (11)

Josie Cotton, Movie Disaster Music (11)

Daft Punk, Leftovers (12)

Matthew Dear, Asa Breed Black Edition (17)

Four Tet, Rounds (10)
-, Pause (11)
-, Everything Ecstatic (10)
-, Everything Ecstatic Part 2 (5)
-, Ringer (4)

John Foxx, Modern Art – The Very Best (18)

Front 242, Moments 1 (18)

The Gathering, Downfall – the Early Years (14+13)

Golden Girls, Kinetic (2)

Grouper, Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill (12)

Halou, Halou (14)

Handsome Family, Odessa (14)

Mickey Hart, Planet Drum Supralingua (16)

Kirsty Hawkshaw vs Arnold T, Good To Be Alive (8)

Gemma Hayes, Hollow of Morning (10)

Horse Feathers, House With No Home (11)

Human Drama, Moments in Time (15)
-, Feel (16)
-, The Best Of (16)

Ladytron, Runaway – single (4)
-, Runaway EP1 (4)
-, Runaway EP2 (4)

Laika & The Cosmonauts, Cosmopolis (27)

The Levellers, Letters from the Underground (11)

Annbjørg Lien, Waltz With Me (10)

Lightspeed Champion, Falling Off the Lavender Bridge (12)

Lovespirals, Windblown Kiss (10)

Love Spirals Downwards, Idylls [Remastered] (16)

Luscious Jackson, In Search of Manny (7)

Mogwai, Batcat (3)

The Notwist, The Devil You + Me (11)

October Project, Angels We Have Heard (1)

Okkervil River, The Stand Ins (11)

Planar, This Battle Will Make Your Blood Boil (8)

Psychic TV, Peak Hour (11)

Ratatat, Shempi (2)

The Raveonettes, Sometimes They Drop By (4)

Rozalla, Everybody’s Free (12)

Kate Ryan, Alive (17)

Lee Safar, Who I’ve Become (5)

Sebadoh, III (23)
-, Bubble and Scrape (32)
-, The Freed Man (52)

If you have been on the prowl for 90s alt-punk Sebadoh, you might want to still check the bargain bin simply due to the track counts (108 over only 3 albums).

Vonda Shepard, (10)

Sia, The Girl You Lost to Cocaine (2)

The Smithereens, B-Sides The Beatles (12)

Solarstone, Spectrum (3)

Stone Roses, Sally Cinnamon (4)

Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs, Under the Covers Vol. 1 (15)

Kristy Thirsk, Under Cover (4)

Channeling her inner Goldfrapp on “Hourglass” and a slinked-up version of “When Doves Cry.”

Jill Tracy, Diabolical Streak (10)

Tricky, Knowle West Boy (13)

Sven Väth, Accident in Paradise (11)
-, The Harlequin The Robot and the Ballet-Dancer (9)

Way Out West, Spaceman (3)

Robert Wyatt, Comicopera (16)

soundtrack, Bones (13)
-, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog (14)
-, The Simpsons – Testify (41)

Free

The Real Tuesday Weld, eMusic Compilation 2008 (10)

various, Global Symphonic Sound (6)

various, Simulacra Records Label Sampler (11)

Spoken Word

Lewis Black, Anticipation (11)

George Carlin, It’s Bad For Ya (28)

Randy Pauch, Time Management (1)

Basil Rathbone, Sherlock Holmes – Tales From Baker Street (2)
-, Tales from Baker Street [2] (2)

Tribute Corner

various, Time After Time Vol 3 (12)

Value

Tom Green, Music for MRI Scanners (3)

eMusic Picks – August

gray — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 02:02:19 +0000

Albums added in August: 12,936

Featured Selections

Blümchen, Best Of (33)

A fantastic double-album collecting Blümchen’s hits from the happy hardcore of Herzfrequenz to the sophisticated dance-pop of Die Welt Gehört Dir, plus numerous remixes.
[ed. note: Under the revised album credits system, this is an even better bargain - 33 tracks as a 12-credit album.]

Nina Deli, Bricolage (6)

A MySpace discovery, Nina produces hushed post-triphop atmospheric balladry.

Hybrid, Soundsystem 01 (15+12)

Despite being a mix collection featuring numerous high-profile electronic beat artists (Trentemøller, Sasha, Spooky) the composition and prevailing mood frame a much quieter, downtempo, emotive experience anchored by film composers like Harry Gregson-Williams (Kingdom of Heaven, Man on Fire) and John Murphy (28 Days Later, Sunshine).

Ra Ra Riot, The Rhumb Line (10)

Debut album by act often described as a cross between Arcade Fire’s majestic scoring and Vampire Weekend’s jittery pop. Includes their cover of Kate Bush’s “Suspended in Gaffa.”

See Also

Amber, No More Tears (7)

The Archies, Bubble Gum Friends (27)

Archon Satani, Mind of Flesh & Bones (5)

Emilie Autumn, Opheliac (20)
-, 4 O’Clock EP (9)

Blümchen,
-, Verliebt (12)
-, Verliebt – The Fanedition (14)

George Carlin, Early Comedy Dayz (7)

Alice Cooper, Along Came a Spider (11)

Gigi D’Agostino, Suono Libero (17+23)

Vanessa Daou, Zipless (10)
-, Slow to Burn (11)
-, Plutonium Glow (14)
-, Head Music (9)
-, Make You Love (12)

Durutti Column, Treatise on the Steppenwolf (14)

Elsiane, Hybrid (11)

Extreme, Saudades De Rock (13)

Fila Brazilia, The Life and Times of Phoebus Brumal (14)

Fragile Porcelain Mice, The Best of Modern Rock (16)

Gescom, Key nell (4)
-, ISS:SA (5)

Juliana Hatfield, How to Walk Aawy (10)

Head Like A Kite, No Ordinary Caveman (6)

Inanna, Day Ov Torment (9)

Jack Off Jill, Sexless Demons and Scars (14)

Milou Largo, Entre Le Monde Et Moi (18)

Mira, Eve Dönmeliyim (13)

Monkey (Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett), Journey to the West (22)

Ennio Morricone, Malena (18)
-, Il Fantasma Dell’Opera (15)

Motorhead, Motorizer (11)

Jennifer O’Connor, Here With Me (12)

Outta Control, Sinful Wishes (11)

Plastic Bertrand, Plastic Bertrand (19)

The Polyphonic Spree, Live from Austin TX (9)

Speaking Silence, Insides (13)

Steve Roach, Empetus (9+2)

Stray Cats, Hollywood Blues (15)

Sunscreem, O3 (13)

Matthew Sweet, Sunshine Lies (13)

System 7, Golden Section (10)

This Ascension, Walk Softly A Dream Lies Here (9)
-, Light and Shade (9)
-, Tears in Rain (9)

Emiliana Torrini, Me and Armini (2)

Brian Tyler, Bug score (15)

Vidna Obamana/Sam Rosenthal, Terrace of Memories (5)

The Walkmen, You & Me (14)

various, Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (19)

Free

The Postmarks, By the Numbers – 8 (1)

various, Over a Dozen Flavors (14)

Spoken Word

H. Jacoby, Phantom of the Opera – The Radio Broadcast of 1943 (4)

Tribute Corner

Barnicle, I Kissed a Girl (1)

Down in June, Covers Death In June (14)

Pickin’ On, Biggest Hits of the 1980s Vol 1 (15)

Scala & Kolacny Brothers, It All Leads To This (15)

Star 13, I’m Afraid of Americans (1)

Studio All Stars, Metallica – Chill Out (11)
-, Evanescence – Chill Out (11)

Vitamin Dub, Dub Tribute to Linkin Park (10)

Vitamin String Quartet, Tribute to Guitar Hero (15)

Voices of Pop, Renditions of Kate Bush (16)

Value

Attrition, This Death House… (2)

Steve Roach, immersion:three (3)

eMusic Picks – July

gray — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 01:05:20 +0000

Albums added in July: 13,106

eMusic has (finally?) garnered a Web 2.0 makeover, adding in the obligatory design elements: large type treatments, pastels, glassy controls, AJAX motion, and of course gradients. Each album is also now festooned with related content from YouTube, Flickr, Wikipedia, and 17 other ’social networking’ sites. Fortunately many of these are collapsable so you can avoid them if you’re not doing more than just grabbing an album.

What I find most exciting, in suitably pedantic fashion, is the inclusion of much higher resolution album artwork. eMusic still features a lot of releases that are difficult to source elsewhere, which also includes finding quality cover art. Their prior thumbnails were even smaller than the iTunes default badge, let alone suitable for environments like CoverFlow or the iPod Touch. If you’re appreciably obsessive, you may want to go back into your download library and upgrade some of your album art, although it should be noted that some albums still have only the smaller original image and patchwork default images reminscent of Sierpinski triangles.

Featured Selections

Einstürzende Neubauten, The Jewels (15)

Collection of tracks originally offered to band supporters via the band’s site at neubauten.org. A step back from the more-conventional songcraft of previous works (e.g. Alles Wider Offen) to earlier experimental flair. Doubtless this is due to the origin of the tracks, which were constructed based on idea cards similar to Eno’s “Oblique Strategies” and taking lyrical cues from dreams.

Head Like A Kite, There Is Loud Laughter Everywhere (13)

I originally discovered Head Like A Kite via Pandora suggestion based on a playlist derived from the Cranes, though they sound very little alike. Loud Laughter, HLAK’s second album, takes more chances, covers a wider range of influences, and includes the irrepressive “No Ordinary Caveman.”

Nine Inch Nails, The Slip (10)

Trent Reznor’s online promotion experimentwas to distribute the album digitally for free as a reward to fans (still available on the band’s site). Along with Ghosts I-IV, the album restored my faith that Reznor &co. could still put out quality material that wasn’t generated by the same algorithm and sound blender combination that composed much of The Fragile on. Since you can download the album for free elsewhere, the main motivation to purchase here is to support NIN as you might buying the physical copy.

Ratatat, LP3 (13)

Jubilant rock carnival instrumentals make for infectious playground listening.

The Secret Meeting, Ultrashiver (10)

Collaboration between Curve’s noisemaker Dean Garcia and Collide’s vocalist kaRIN. With Collide already being among the most Curve-esque of the darkwave contingent, the crunch-clash result is the kind of beautiful noise you would expect.

See Also

The Archies, Sugar Sugar (14)

Architecture in Helsinki, Like It Or Not (5)

Beach Boys, Stars & Stripes (12)

Bola, Shapes (9)
-, One (4)

Bubonix, Please Devil Send Me Golden Hair (11)

Can, Out of Reach (7)
-, Inner Space (8)

Csilla, Signifire (13)

Cut Copy, Hearts on Fire (4)

The Damned, The Black Album (12)
-, Machine Gun Etiquette (11)

Dark Sanctuary, Les Memoires Blessees (13)

DJ Spooky, Sound Unbound (45)

Dr. Dog, Fate (11)