|
THE
FALL
Fall Heads Roll (NARNACK)
On the last Fall album there
seemed to be an emphasis (if
not directly, then certainly
a journalistic implication
thereof) on proving that the
Fall could be just Mark E.
Smith and whomever he surrounded
himself with. Since the rather
complete and extremely public
break-up of the last version
of the band containing any
long-time members several
years ago, the output has
slowed down a bit, but the
results are still defiantly
Fall-ish. Contrary to the
way that Captain Beefheart
couldn’t just draft
a bunch of young players,
tell them to play weird, and
expect them to be the Magic
Band, Smith consistently gets
a whole new batch of players
to somehow be the Fall. Instead
of sounding out of place,
however, the changes actually
brings an incredible sense
of energy to the band, in
the same way the Fall came
together in their peak Nations
Saving Grace period. Not many
30-year-old bands sound this
new and in their element.
Everything I’ve ever
loved about every Fall album
I’ve ever loved is in
place here. Just witness “Assume”
and it’s melodic simplicity,
Smith sounding the eternal
grump poet, bass thumping
away. People come and people
go, but the Fall remains the
Fall as long as Mark E. is
singing over it all. It’s
more a state of mind than
it is a musical chemistry,
and this bunch is quite mindful
of being the Fall. --d.n.l
THE FALL
Fall Heads Roll
narnack
On the last Fall album there seemed to be an emphasis (if not directly, then certainly a journalistic implication thereof) on proving that the Fall could be just Mark E. Smith and whomever he surrounded himself with. Since the rather complete and extremely public break-up of the last version of the band containing any long-time members several years ago, the output has slowed down a bit, but the results are still defiantly Fall-ish. Contrary to the way that Captain Beefheart couldn’t just draft a bunch of young players, tell them to play weird, and expect them to be the Magic Band, Smith consistently gets a whole new batch of players to somehow be the Fall. Instead of sounding out of place, however, the changes actually brings an incredible sense of energy to the band, in the same way the Fall came together in their peak Nations Saving Grace period. Not many 30-year-old bands sound this new and in their element. Everything I’ve ever loved about every Fall album I’ve ever loved is in place here. Just witness “Assume” and it’s melodic simplicity, Smith sounding the eternal grump poet, bass thumping away. People come and people go, but the Fall remains the Fall as long as Mark E. is singing over it all. It’s more a state of mind than it is a musical chemistry, and this bunch is quite mindful of being the Fall. --d.n.l
The
Fame
Get on the Beat (Play
This Loud)
Amazingly precise facsimile
of generic new wave/power
pop hopeful circa 1981. From
its faux-Regatta de Blanc
(the Police) cover art, to
the edgy, click-track rhythms
and squalling hard-rock guitar
solos, this EP could have
been huge 20-odd years ago,
in a Romantics/Cheap Trick
kinda way. The songs are all
typical boy/girl rockers,
borderline clichés,
though performed with enough
oomph and enthusiasm to warrant
a few repeat playings. Though
this gets by more on nerve
and novelty, the very purism
at the record’s heart
makes it a keeper. --Charlie
Sands
SCOTT
FARR
Jazz Farm (Banana Bread)
Scott Farr
manages to both incorporate
and destroy the term "fusion"
with his rock-jazz guitar
hybrid. While more recent
jazz guitarist such as Pat
Metheny have chosen the slicker,
smoother path for their noodly
explorations, Farr doesn't
mind adding some crunch to
his tone. The jazz angle comes
from both his composition
and playing style which is
not unlike Be-bop horn lines
played on a distorted Les
Paul, and when Farr blows,
he can blow Daddy-O, especially
on "Eff-Yoo." He also keeps
the tunes brief and self-indulgence
free, which is certainly welcome.
(Andy Smith)
AMY
FARRIS
ANYWAY (YEP ROC)
Having proved
her pedigree out on the road
with Americana luminaries
Alejandro Escoveda and Kelly
Willis, Amy Farris has more
than earned her right to step
out on her own. Produced by
Dave Alvin (with whom she
co-wrote a number of the album’s
tracks), her solo debut is
an impressive mixing pot of
Americana, fancy Texas swing,
girl group pop, pure honky-tonk,
and smoldering lounge blues
that allows her to display
the range of music she has
digested over a lifetime.
The stylistic depth of the
album makes more sense with
the realization that she’s
referencing everyone from
early punks X on a breezy
cover of “Poor Girl”
to orch/pop auteur Scott Walker
on an unusual “Big Louise,”
and while she sounds most
comfortable in the most countrified
cuts, she doesn’t embarrass
herself in any of her explorations.
While the general feel of
the covers is rooted in Americana
grit, her originals lean in
more diverse directions, as
the stately pop of “Let
Go” clearly recalls
a classic Roy Orbison ballad
and “No Exit”
rides a George Harrison-ish
guitar lead to venture out
into jangle pop. To be sure,
her violin playing is generously
featured, which provides ample
opportunity to prove just
how accomplished she is as
an instrumentalist, but for
the most part, the set emphasizes
Farris' singing and songwriting.
Her thin, reedy vocals resemble
Emmylou Harris and Nanci Griffith
a good bit, but as a writer,
she still seems to be working
on developing her own voice,
more comfortable working in
established genre than settling
on something her own. That’s
hardly a complaint, though,
as Anyway is an album that
predicts that her days as
a backing musician might be
drawing to an end; talent
like hers deserves center
stage. (Matt Fink)
JAY
FARRAR
THIRDSHIFTGROTTOSLACK EP (ARTEMIS)
Built around
a Tom Rothrock (Beck, R.L.
Burnside) remix of the bluesy
"Damn Shame" (who emphasizes
its thwack-thwack rhythms
and serpentine guitars), Thirdshiftgrottoslack
tacks on four extra leftovers
from Farrar's fine 2001 opus,
Sebastopol. Actually, these
outtakes are a bit more straight-ahead
than Farrar's relatively experimental
work on that album, harkening
back to Son Volt's world-weary
signature guitar rockers.
"Strip-malls of road rage
are bringing us down," Farrar
sings on the standout here,
"Kind of Madness," which picks
up on Sebastopol's alienated
tint. Total time: 13:44. (Luke
Torn)
Fastbacks
Truth, Corrosion, and
Sour Bisquits (Book Records)
The Fastbacks managed to last
from Seattle's late 70's/early
80's punk days all the way
through the grunge explosion
and were subsequently hailed
by the local bands (Nirvana
anyone?) that went on to major
stardom. The band even had
some moments of arena rock
glory touring with Pearl Jam
in 1995, even if their punchy,
punkish power pop sound didn't
exactly fit in with the latter
day, flannel shirt crowd.
In 2002, after almost 25 years
together, the Fastbacks surprisingly
called it a day, sadly. Truth,
Corrosion, and Sour Bisquits ties up the loose ends of
the band's career and includes
a few new originals but is
mostly stacked with covers
of songs by such artists as
the Soft Boys, Raspberries,
Pixies, Supersuckers, Tommy
James, and Elton John. It
may be disappointing for its
lack of Fastbacks material
(what little there is really
stands out), but Truth,
Corrosion, and Sour Bisquits provides an excellent reminder
of why so many people hailed
this band for so long. (Andy
Smith)
A FEATHERWEIGHT BURDEN
Sleep EP
(Earth Gets Black)
Songwriter/guitarist Colin Swietek has some
pretty impressive credentials as a sideman
in such well-regarded Austin-based instrumental
bands as Cue and the Octopus Project, but
the Sleep EP finds him as a frontman with
a serious jones for the grand sounds of
people like Scott Walker, and even a bit
of the ol' Bacharach, with lots of those
fret-stretching chords you'll have to look
up in a big guitar book to see what they're
called. The four songs on this EP offer
a taste of what is promised in the full-length
Featherweight Burden release which is promised
within the next year. The brief opener,
"Another Beer, Another Cigarette"
features some nifty piano and horn arrangements
while Swietek plaintively spills his guts,
all in under two minutes. The EP's title
track shows a harder guitar sound and achieves
more of a sense of urgency as a result.
The closing "Song In My Pocket"
is listed as a demo, but it's very rough
recording quality achieves an interesting
ethereal effect that contrasts nicely with
the other three songs.--Andy
Smith
FILM SCHOOL
s/t
Beggars Banquet
When it comes to attracting critics, sometimes
a band's worst enemy is the well-intentioned
label employee or publicist who writes some
hyperbolic gobbledy-gook on a release's
promo copy. Since any experienced critic
will have read some similar crap about countless
bands, rather than excitement, such blather
actually makes you immediately skeptical
and possibly even biased. So here comes
Film School's self-titled debut equipped
with the line "Welcome Film School.
Music needs them" to close the intro/bio
text on the CD. So instead of an open mind,
I cringe as the CD begins and it takes about
three songs for me to forgive the band for
something they didn't even do. Now that
that point has been bludgeoned beyond recognition,
here's the scoop on Film School. It is a
dense record of downcast, slightly spiky
shoegazery rock music with about half being
yawn-inducing and the other half being really
interesting and cool. It lacks the hooks
that would likely earn the band a hit, but
there is a great deal of musical substance
to it. No this band is not the great savior
of music as we know it, nor should they
be pushed to be. --Andy Smith
Sarah
Fimm
Nexus (Self-Released)
Luxuriating
synth beats radiate over crystalline
singing about a space journey,
losing velocity and the sky.
New age music for robots in
love. (David Pyndus)
THE
FIRE THEFT
The Fire Theft ( RYKO)
Jeremy Enigk
(ex-Sunny Day Real Estate)
will always be just another
Jesus freak to me. His lyrics
make me feel like I’m
in church, though to be fair
he steers toward the vaguely
secular, avoiding too many
references to “God”
by veiling his text with messages
of “love” and
“belief” (sort
of like U2). Above all, his
sentimentality and emotion
seem so overblown and contrived,
just like his musical compositions.
Sure, the music has certain
merits; the production on
his new project, The Fire
Theft, is just as lavish as
any great prog-rock masterpiece
of the 70s. To me, it’s
like Billy Graham, someone
preaching via a medium that
is not terribly conducive
to the message. Religion,
spirituality, whatever, to
me is an intimate thing, not
something destined for elaborate,
enormous spectacles. Then
again, Billy Graham is extremely
popular and millions of people
pay him lots of money to listen
to his preaching. If only
the over-the-top production
of this Fire Theft album could
in fact distract me from Jeremy
Enigk’s message, because
I would really like to avoid
focusing on the singer and
his bloated message. This
is not to say that Enigk should
not write Christian-oriented
lyrics; he can write whatever
he wants. I merely choose
not to listen. (Don Simpson)
Fischerspooner
Odyssey (Capitol)
Watching kids grow up is always
uncomfortable, but rewarding.
Warren Fischer and Casey Spooner
are honing their moves away
from their love of late 80s
dance grooves and Ziggy Stardust
flourishes. They've ditched
some of the hackneyed bleeps
and forced electro accents
in favor of slightly more
focused songs without losing
their lust for the dancefloor.
You won't be convinced when
the breathy "Cloud"
hits stride -- the dreamy
chorus and dire lyrics of
"Everything adds up to
a truth/maybe now I can know
me too/I have you now where
you should be/you are my now
but I lost me" don't
inspire much. That fades,
though, as soon as "A
Kick In The Teeth" clicks
into high gear; the reverb
soaks in and skillfully blends
a softly spoken vocal with
an aching, soaring chorus.
A sly twist on a Boredoms
song tucked at the end shows
the duo is serious about their
change in direction. It's
reinforced when you learn
Susan Sontag gave them the
lyrics for "We Need A
War." By means of their
website, Spooner explains
"When I approached Susan,
it was September 2003. I went
to her house and had this
fantasy that we would pick
something to work on together
from my notebook of ideas."
Instead, after a brief discussion,
she disappeared into her library
and returned fifteen minutes
later with a printed sheet
of lyrics titled "We
Need A War." "I
read them and said 'I don't
think I can say the word war,
I'm not comfortable saying
it.'" Sontag responded,
"You need to get comfortable
saying the word war. Your
president approved eighty
billion dollars for a war
in Iraq yesterday." That's
a cool story no matter how
you feel about the music.
Also, major props to EMI &
Capitol for shipping the CD
with demanding copy protection
that made this disc useless
in 3 of the 4 audio components
in my house. --Boon Sheridan
The
Flaming Lips
LateNightTales (Azuli)
Typical of the Flaming Lips,
their take on the mixtape-as-artistic-statement
for the LateNightTales series
features little of their loopy
psychedelic bubblegum and
nearly all austere and ethereal
pop songs. From Bjork’s
“Unravel” to Nick
Drake’s “River
Man” and Radiohead’s
“Pyramid Song,”
the collection is considerably
more downcast and somber than
anything in the Lips’
catalogue. Comprised of mostly
British artists of varying
levels of obscurity, the album
veers from the luminescent
cathedral drones of Lush’s
“Monochrome” to
Faust’s somber pop and
garbage disposal growls on
“It’s A Bit of
a Pain.” The selections
are consistent in tone and
texture, as a chilly ambiance
and crisp aloofness runs through
the set, though Chris Bell’s
“Speed of Sound”
and 10cc’s “I’m
Not in Love” provide
a slightly more tangible sense
of human frailty. The lone
exception is the Lips’
cover of the White Stripes’
“Seven Nation Army,”
which largely stays true to
the simmer-and-explode intensity
of the original despite copious
amounts of police siren. Coyne
has obviously taken liberties
with the lyrics, adding an
irreverent slant to the surprisingly
faithful rendition by casting
Colin Powell and John Ashcroft
in the Wizard of Oz with his
muttering falsetto. All in
all, it features none of the
hallucinatory or celebratory
tones you might expect, but
anyone who wants to know what
kind of stuff is playing in
the Lips tour van needs to
look no further. – Matt
Fink
BÉLA
FLECK & THE FLECKTONES
LIVE AT THE QUICK (COLUMBIA)
When banjo king
Béla Fleck first started the
Flecktones over ten years
ago, his visionary blend of
jazz, bluegrass, funk, and
pop was startling and undeniably
captivating. The band (Fleck,
bassist Victor Wooten, electronic
percussionist Futureman) evolved
into the most effortlessly
enjoyable fusion band on the
planet for a while. But Fleck
is an ambitious musician and
realized the inherent limitations
of the trio format, even one
as forward-thinking as this
one, early on, so he's made
a policy of inviting special
guests to contribute to Flecktones
records. The band's last studio
record, Outbound, took this
approach to its logical conclusion
with numerous guest musicians
on a variety of instruments,
and it became one of its most
popular albums. So the natural
follow-up would be a concert
album with many of the same
guest stars, to see if the
approach translates to a live
setting. Live At the Quick
finds the group joined by
steel pans artist Andy Narell,
tabla player Sandip Burman,
a three-piece wind section
that includes Flecktone regular
Jeff Coffin on saxophones,
Oregon's Paul McCandless on
saxes and oboe, and electric
bassoonist Paul Hanson, plus
Tuvan throat-singer Congar
Ondar on one track. Most of
the material is drawn from
Outbound, of course, but the
infusion of live energy gives
tunes like "Zona Mona," "Earth
Jam," and "Big Country" some
extra sparkle. While the steel
drums are (thankfully) consigned
to the back of the mix, the
woodwinds make their presence
strongly felt, and rightfully
so, though the constant soprano
sax solos bring Grover Washington
to mind a bit too often. The
addition of various worldbeat
rhythms, particularly African
and Middle Eastern, adds dimension
to the band's sound as well.
Primary composers Fleck and
Wooten have an unfortunate
knack for melodies a bit too
facile and ingratiating, but
the skill of the musicians
and the obvious joy they take
in playing the songs keeps
them out of too much trouble.
Longtime fans will eat this
up, while newcomers may find
Live At the Quick a nice jumping-on
point. (Michael Toland)
The
Fleshtones
Beachhead (Yep Roc)
The Fleshtones started out
some 30 years ago, and stand
as one of the first to bring
back the garage rock sound.
In the early days of MTV,
lead singer Peter Zaremba
could be found hosting IRS
Records' excellent The Cutting
Edge series. It's kind of
unbelievable that they're
still together, still playing
the blend of garage/rock/surf/pop
they've always played, with
three of the four original
guys (new guy bassist joined
11 years ago). What's even
more amazing is that this
is the finest collection of
songs they've released in
ages. Production on the album
was divided between Rick Miller,
head hillbilly in Southern
Culture on the Skids, and
Jim Diamond, the Detroit hipster
who worked with The White
Stripes, and it's a tossup
as to who contributes more
to the band's sound. This
is simple, basic, pounding
fuzz-tone fueled garage at
its finest. Every track works.
"Bigger & Better,"
"Serious," "Pretty
Pretty Pretty," "Do
Something For Me," and
"I Am What I Am"
all sound like hits in a world
where radio still played songs
purely because the quality
of song demanded it. File
it in between Exile on Main
Street, Nuggets, and Ramones'
Leave Home, because this high
energy stomper is just made
for blastin' out at parties.
--Kent H. Benjamin
FLYING NUNS
EVERYTHING'S IMPOSSIBLE THESE DAYS
(Q DIVISION)
If you like the dB's, and you need innocuous
background music as you try to make eye
contact with the girl across the bar, pop
in the Flying Nuns. They include a lyric
sheet, God bless 'em. Who would bother?
Maybe a girlfriend or two. This is entirely
forgettable local-type music with just
enough of an earnest edge to make it grating
after a while. (Tiina Lombard)
THE FOCUS GROUP
hey let loose your love
Ghost Box
Although kitsch never goes out of style,
it rarely amounts to anything but a one-line
joke: something once deemed aesthetically
tasteful is now obviously tasteless or corny, ergo, it's cool again. Beyond that
irony-based fashion cachet, recycled cultural
styles seldom have any deeper value. However,
the quirky kitschtronica of the Focus Group
(designer Julian House, best known for his
Stereolab graphics) is a rarity, reworking
the seemingly trashy aural traces of a bygone
era to create a meaningful and deeply evocative
record that triggers recognition and nostalgia,
like the best Boards of Canada material. hey let loose your love will resonate
most strongly if you grew up in Britain
in the 60s and 70s. House channels a collective
unconscious sampled from children's records,
bland jazz, educational programming and
stock background and incidental music, assembling
uncanny aural postcards from a time that
optimistically embraced the future: a proto-Ikean
world of orange and brown fabrics and beige
plastics, a washed-out Polaroid Instamatic
world of white vinyl swivel chairs and the
first color TVs. Like any work of art whose
effect is intimately rooted in memory and
association, taking listeners back into
the depths of their earlier selves, hey
let loose your love has a strangely
ambivalent power. It's warm and austere;
reassuring and unsettling; familiar yet
unfamiliar. Even if this record doesn't
evoke your personal cultural history, the
Focus Group's selection and combination
of these fragments suggests that the past
is both more deeply embedded within us and
more irretrievably lost than a simplistic
kitsch aesthetic assumes. --Wilson Neate
FOLLOW THE TRAIN
A Breath of Sigh
Darla
Last year, this Louisville, Kentucky band
released a strong EP that earned national
indie notice and landed them a deal with
Darla, the California indie label and distributor.
That EP was a splendid collection of downcast
melodic pop music that had enough lift to
it to avoid sounding too bleak. Unfortunately
on A Breath of Sigh, that bleakness seems
to have taken over and Dennis Sheridan and
company slip too far into the grays and
blacks of their musical palette. Follow
the Train's musicianship and songwriting
skill is never in question, but the overriding
mood on this record becomes exhaustingly
maudlin after three or four songs. --Andy
Smith
STEVE FORBERT
JUST LIKE THERE'S NOTHIN' TO IT
(KOCH)
The great lost
New Dylan just keeps on rolling,
with album after great album,
though only his cult knows
for sure. His career stunted
by ridiculous record company
shenanigans in the mid-80s,
Forbert nonetheless carries
the torch for self-contained
troubadours everywhere with
undaunted perseverance and
inspirational, poetic, deeply
felt writing. Never as bitter
as his peers (like Graham
Parker or Willie Nile), Forbert’s
songcraft is deliberate, his
musical signposts obvious
(as in a tell-it-like-it-is
tribute here to the Band’s
Rick Danko, “Wild as
the Wind”), but no matter.
His songs are open-hearted,
traversing the backwaters
of a kind of gritty, blue-collar
America (see “I Just
Work Here”), recording
life’s little disappointments
and epiphanies. His songs
are so deceptive, they sound
trite the first listen or
two. Soon enough, though,
the truths (trite or not)
underneath intersects with
Forbert’s folk/rock
melodicism and Forbert’s
shaggy dog vocals, and you’ve
got yet another mini-classic
that AOR radio and VH1 and
even college radio "should"
be fascinated with. And “Autumn
This Year” ought to
be blaring from car radios
as THE song of the season.
(Luke Torn)
THE FORECAST
In the Shadow of Two Gunmen
Victory Records
The epic western packaging reminiscent of
a Sergio Leone flick and the alt-country
references in the bio and on Allmusic.com just confuse the hell out of me. After a
long few weeks of writing about indie rock,
I was sort of anxious to hear something
different. Maybe that is the root of my
disappointment. I could maybe give the alt-country
label on "Some Things Never Change,"
but really it is far from it. In fact, the
only similarity this has to any sort of
country roots would be the whiskey that
fuels it. In the Shadow of Two Gunmen has much more in common with the big
midwestern rock radio sound and emotional
pop punk bands from a couple years back.
Right now I'm just not finding that sound
very exciting. --Don
Simpson
JEFFREY
DEAN FOSTER
Million Dollar Hotel (ANGEL
SKULL)
Jeffrey Dean Foster releases
don’t come around too
often, but when they do, they’re
always worth your time. Since
the early ‘80s, his
work with the Right Profile,
the Carneys and, more recently,
the Pinetops, has put Foster
among North Carolina’s
elite musicians. The five-years-in-the-making
Million Star Hotel (slang
for being homeless), put together
with help from Mitch Easter
and Brian Landrum among others,
is his most ambitious effort
yet. Foster says correctly
that it sounds as if it could
have been recorded “in
the last or the next 35 years.”
Merging classic rock, roots
music and pop experimentation
with Foster’s reliably
brilliant songwriting, the
album recalls the likes of
Big Star, Wilco, Neil Young
and even the Flaming Lips.
“The Summer of Son of
Sam,” in which “the
devil left his mark and the
freebird hit the ground,”
is a wonderfully realized
remembrance of youth, with
Foster’s sweet tenor
positively perfect. The achingly
beautiful “Milk &
Honey,” recorded at
4 a.m. with Mercury Dime’s
Cliff Retallick on piano and
organ, is a stunner. While
mostly low key, the album
does rock out occasionally
and effectively (“Little
Priest,” “I Know
How Your Broken Heart Feels”).
At 14 songs and more than
65 minutes of music, Million
Star Hotel requires a bit
of an investment, but reread
the first sentence: worth
your time. Foster does not
disappoint. --Andy Turner
FOUNTAINS
OF WAYNE
WELCOME INTERSTATE MANAGERS
(S-CURVE RECORDS / VIRGIN
RECORDS)
From the Rick Springfieldish/Romantics-esque
opening chords of the hit single "Stacy's
Mom," Fountains of Wayne have me
hooked. Their songs are pure pop genius,
taking musical inspiration from anything
and everything--"Valley Winter Song"
(Simon & Garfunkel), "Supercollider"
(Oasis), and "Hung Up on You"
(Dwight Yoakam). Place and time has always
been a prominent theme in Fountains of
Wayne's lyrics--memories of teenaged unrequited
love and weekend keggers, modern day visage
of organized travel, commuting, and working
like hell at some white collar job--all
somewhere in the New York tri-state area.
Who couldn't relate? (Susan Darnell)
FOZLUR
Fozlur (
SELF-RELEASE)
At first glance at the artwork for this album
and liner notes one word came to mind: sophomoric.
However after popping it in I was pleasantly
surprised. Lo-fi anthems showing the big
boys out there with more shine and polish
that you don’t need money behind your
record to make something that is meaningful
and challenging. This is definitely an album
that sprouted from a group influenced by
Nirvana and that has heard Radiohead’s
OK Computer once or twice. The opening epic "Riot
Gun" shimmies and shakes with distorted
vocals and guitars to match. The song is
framed by wails that could definitely be
called Thom Yorke-esque, setting the listener
up to be mowed down by a killer guitar melody
that will have you humming this one the next
day. This album features guitars exclusively
and that is a good thing. In a modern music
culture that has declared guitar rock dead
it's great to see people doing so much with
the axe of the gods. Boys, the money will
come; until then, take solace that you are
putting out solid records that people are
digging! (Tyler Ley)
FRANCINE
28 PLASTIC BLUE VERSIONS OF ENDINGS
WITHOUT YOU (Q DIVISION)
Former Poundcake songwriter
Clayton Scoble runs the Francine show,
impressing all and sundry with his deft
compositional skills, which include references
to French easy listening ("Inside
Joke"), moody soft pop ("Fake
Fireplace Things"), Elvis Costelloish
new wave ("This Sunday's Revival"),
quirky music hall ("Albany Brownout"),
Pavement slacker ("Oxygenated"),
and indie-rock ("Chlorine").
Eclectic? Well yes, and with its clever
wordplay, Francine may be an effective,
kinder-and-gentler alternative to Weezer.
One witty refrain from "Uninstall"--"where
minimize uninstall delete and X out one
more acronym I swear you'll never lol
again." Or how about - "maybe
soon we'll get a drink at the plough like
Dave Lee Rothra Man Ray Gothra battling
Mothra" from "Ratmobile"?
Esoteric? Yes, but is Clayton Scoble too
clever for his own good? (Kevin Mathews)
PAULA FRAZER
A Place Where I Know: 4 Track Songs 1992-2002 (
BIRDMAN)
Once in a while, a truly remarkable voice
bellows out, a voice that is able to be graceful
and mighty at once with ease. Paula Frazer
has such a voice and a potent songwriting
catalog to back it up. Known for her gorgeous
twang, classic country and folk aroma, and
work under the name Tarnation, Paula Frazer
is here represented under her own name with
a collection of songs spanning 10 years.
More than a greatest hits collection, A Place
Where I Know functions more as intimate,
homemade portfolio, playing back the songs
that have gained her much recognition, in
their most naked, paired down forms. Arranged
with the focus on Frazer's voice and guitar,
the album respects Frazer's love for bedroom
crooning and her Yamaha four-track. Heartfelt,
eerie, and tender the album chimes in the
signature of ghostly cries, flavored with
earthy, rustic sweat and tears. Present here
are her favorite tracks, as well as two previously
unreleased compositions, "Long Ago" and "Taken" and
three videos for "Game Of Broken Hearts", "Watercolor," and "Always
On My Mind." A staple for any Frazer
fan and a fine introduction for any novice.
(Antonia Santangelo)
FRENCH KICKS
Two Thousand
Startime International/Vagrant
Two Thousand is the third release from French
Kicks and shows that this band has found
an interesting middle ground between sweet
tunes and an edgy post-punk sound. The sound
is not too far from what the Walkmen have
been doing, although this has fewer emotional
peaks and valleys. The record opens with
the excellent "So Far We Are,"
an engaging song with a nice drum pattern
and some lovely, shimmering guitar playing.
Also strong is the third song "Cloche"
which also showcases some excellent Johnny
Marr-esque guitar playing. After that, Two
Thousand loses a lot of its initial intrigue
as the songs remain tuneful and interesting
but seem to lack real inspiration. --Andy
Smith
FRIEND/ENEMY
10 SONGS (PERISHABLE)
As much as I sometimes love
the Joan Of Arc collective, I've always
thought they'd be even better as an instrumental
combo or, at the very least, if they vocalized
in ways that aren't so grating and off-kilter.
Before you can even say it, let me counter
that thought with "yes, but that
was Captain Beefheart, and he was good
at it!" Yes, it does make this project
recognizable as a spinoff group, and musically
this expanded collection of players (including
folks from Califone and Sunny Day Real
Estate) adds a layer of depth to the barren
approach in the Arc. Friend/Enemy are
striving for something more, and I see
them getting there (hell, "I'd Rather
Be High Than Fucked Any Day" is almost
beautiful!). The ghost of Gastr del Sol
haunts this bunch, in that they were an
example of a similar group who made a
parallel transformation five years back
(before falling apart). The band's name
is apt in that it does illustrate how
thin the line is between love and hate,
and how easy it is to get war out of peace.
There are moments when I love this album
and moments that I hate it. Thankfully,
the more I listen the more the balance
falls onto the side of love (or at least∑friends!).
(d.n.l)
RACHEL FULLER
Shine
self-released
Fuller's new release is an EP to coincide
with the success of her webcast show with
significant other Pete Townshend, In
The Attic (www.intheattic.com).
The title song is the show's theme, and
was a best seller by download before this
release. A classically trained pianist and
arranger, Fuller excels at perfectly crafted
pop songs. Comparisons must still be made
to Tori Amos and to Kate Bush, but that's
fine company for comparison. Two of the
songs, "In The Mix" (the EP's
best work) and "Just Breathe"
are co-written with Townshend, who contributes
guitar very reminiscent of The Who's "Sunrise"
to the latter. Well worth seeking this one
out. --Kent
H. Benjamin
RICHIE FURAY
Heartbeat of Love
self-released
Singer/songwriter Richie Furay ought to be a household name from his years as the frontman for Buffalo Springfield and later Poco, but sadly, that never happened. By the mid-'70s, after a stint in Souther-Hillman-Furay, he became a Christian minister, and for the last 30 years, has made only Christian albums. Heartbeat of Love is his return to secular music. It is music of hope, love, and joy. A lot of it sounds very similar to early Poco's penultimate album, Good Feelin' To Know, when they were the best country rock band, arguably, of all time, and before they became a (more successful) MOR ballad act, some of the other Poco members taking the forefront. While no label has picked it up yet, this sounds for all the world like the best Eagles album from the '70s. The album's most upbeat songs, "Forever With You," "Let's Dance Tonight," and the title track, are the equal of "Good Feelin' To Know," "Pickin' Up The Pieces," and "Go and Say Goodbye." There's a new version of his signature song, "Kind Woman," with Neil Young guesting on backing vocals. His other Springfield partner Stephen Stills adds harmonies to "Callin' Out Your Name." His band, including his longtime music partner/foil Scott Sellen, is excellent, and the legendary Dan Dugmore's slide guitar work and daughter Jesse Furay Lynch's harmony vocals are terrific. Also making guest appearances are Poco's Rusty Young, Paul Cotton, Timothy B. Schmidt, Al Perkins, Kenny Loggins, Jim Horn, Johnny Reno, and Mark Volman. In a perfect world, "Forever With You" and "My Heart's Cryin' Tonight" would be big hits, and by this fall the lovely ballad (sounding like one of the Eagles' biggest hits) "In The Still of the Night" would be sitting at #1 in the Adult Contemporary charts. If you've ever loved Furay's music in the past, picking this up is a no brainer--you're almost guaranteed to find some songs to love.
www.richiefuray.com --Kent H. Benjamin
FUTURE
BIBLE HEROES
THE LONELY ROBOT (INSTINCT RECORDS)
God bless Stephin Merritt's
songwriting genius, but the man does make
the odd misstep here and there. If 69
Love Songs is more your bag, and you never
much cared for occasional Magnetic Fields
vocalist Claudia Gonson, then you'll find
this seven-song EP of remixed versions
from Eternal Youth (released earlier this
year) to be instantly forgettable. Why
did Merritt neglect work for his far superior
bands, Magnetic Fields and the 6ths, to
put out remixes of songs that in no way
reflect his gifts as a writer? Beats me.
But because I've listened to this record,
you don't have to. You're welcome. (Amanda
Cantrell)
back to top |
