American Alternative music reviews

An amazing overview of Thin White Rope's career. TWR was always better live than it was in the studio and this disc is a testament to the power and intensity of TWR's songwriting and playing. The mix of the country-fied thumpa-thumpa bass, the drony guitars, and Guy Kyser's wailing washes over you like a slimy tidal wave.

Forget what you've heard on the studio albums, these are the definitive versions.

whatever this is--blues rock punk dirge ambient sober desert
groan, it has it's own territory, and is great to play
cd # 2 at 4am after everyone has crashed and has begun to dream.
heh.

I usually steer well clear of live albums. After all, why would I want to shell out my hard earned cash for muddy sub-standard mixes of songs I already own? The background cheering of the crowd? Hardly.

But this.... this is different. The One That Got Away is quite possibly the greatest live rock album ever. Already great songs are held up on massive walls of squalling feedback as Thin White Rope - the most criminally neglected rock band of the 80s and early 90s - go out with a bang. This is the only CD I own that someone's asked me to stop playing because she was _frightened_ by it; not because she thought it was bad, but because she thought it was genuinely terrifying. And at times it is, but it's also occasionally deeply, surreally funny ('Elsie Crashed the Party', anyone?).

The amazing thing about The One That Got Away is that, almost without exception, the live versions of the songs are _better_ than the studio originals. I'm thinking particularly of 'Take it Home' and 'Triangle', which were already breathtaking slices of American psychosis even before they were given the live once over. And then there's the covers... If anyone knows of a more stunning version of Roadrunner, I'd like to hear it. Only the cover of Silver Machine lets them down ever so slightly.

Personally, I couldn't do without this album. Why don't you own it?

This is a defining moment for the guitar in the world of "experimental-avant garde" music. Thurston Moore (The Sonic Youth) w/ bombastic guitar driven explosions in close quarters with the percussive drilling of William Winant (played percussion for various composers and compositions by Zorn, Ferrari, Feldman...etc) and Tom Surgal (drummer for Rudolph Grey & The Blue Humans). Highly influenced by free and improvised jazz skronk and the freeform movements by such guitar luminaries as Ray Russell (recent reissue on Jim O'Rourke's Moikai) & Sonny Sharrock (played w/ Pharoah Sanders, Last Exit w/ Brotzmann, Laswell...) Great own for any avant-guitar-rock fan. Also equally worth checking out is the same trio on 'Lost In The City' (Intakt records) and Moore w/ Surgal on 'Klangfarbenmelodiee...and the colorist strikes primitiv' (on Dead C. honcho Bruce Russell's Corpus Hermiticum label).

Thurston teams with two percussionists in a live recording featuring over an hour of intense improvisation. Not for the weak, this amazing document of a great night furthermore declares Thurston to be one of the truly amazing improvisors of our time. Gentle at times but always exciting. Put it on in a dark room with no distractions and invision yourself float to heaven.

Ahh, that record is one of the best pieces in my collection. It's really a classic piece: long, tempo changing, stirring, emotional. It's not really music in the usual sense of this term - and if you thought that can be applied to any Sonic Youth / Thurston Moore record, what can i say, think again. Daydream Nation is Puff Daddy near this one. It can't really be described, compared to anything ... Before i bought it i asked other Sonic Youth fans on the internet, how it is, they said "it's really a jazz improvisation". OK, i said, i like jazz and i like Sonic Youth, i'll get it. Well, it doesn't sound like Gillespy, Miles Davis or Bud Powell. It's a different kind of improvisation. Give it its fair chance.

This is an incredibly varied album, sometimes hysterically funny as on the title track, but always cerebral, thought-provoking and strangely captivating. It's awash with clever samples that definitely contribute to the ambience and the weirdness. There are gentle ballads like Great Radio, What If and their cover of Kisses Sweeter Than Wine. Chicken Pussy is a bizarre sound collage with hilarious spoken lyrics while White Rental Car Blues sounds like a sweet soul song if you ignore the suggestive lyrics.

Nick Cave Dolls starts with those weird samples, a guy talking about the name of the band plus random snatches of conversation and noise, before Ann's wistful voice takes up a surrealistic tale of a stroll through the city while sending up a variety of stereotypes. On Bedazzled she turns into Marlene Dietrich or similar European sultry chanteuse in a conversation/talk and response format with the other voices. The next one, Obscene & Pornographic Art, is a literate and witty observation of a trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art that'll have you in stitches, especially the "suffragette song."

A robotic, laconic male vocal narrates the tale of a visit to a strange game room over ominous warbling guitar sounds on What Kind Of Man Reads Playboy, while Junior kicks off with raucous guitar and turns into a love song with Ann's dreamy vocalising.

This amazing album's tour de force is the astonishing Folk Song, all 11 minutes of it, where Magnuson's voice really gets a chance to soar. It deals with inter alia anarchists, sexual politics, media networks and refers to anthropologist Joseph Campbell in this most beautiful chorus: "Joseph Campbell gave me hope and now I have been saved/So I sing hello death, goodbye Avenue A."

As the song progresses, Ann sings abut health food, Dr Suess, religion, TV series, movies, politics, taking mushrooms at Joshua Tree, Carlos Castaneda, Berlin Alexanderplatz, the feelgood movie of the decade and many other things, before ending with those beautiful lines again: "Hello death, goodbye Avenue A." Phew! Not many songs in the history of popular music can encompass so many things and still remain cohesive.

This is one of the most intelligent rock albums I've ever had the pleasure of hearing, brimful of melodic twists and turns, with gripping lyrics, brilliant instrumentation and vivid imagery. I know Ann Magnuson is now a successful actress, but I'm surprised she's not a famous author too, judging by her talent for satire and moving imagery.

I can't really think of anything else that sounds like this... some of Zappa's stuff perhaps. If you've never heard them then this is probably their most accessible and entertaining album: crazed psychedelic pop folk from beginning to end. Good tunes were never their strongest point - much of their best material is cover versions - but the sheer energy and exhibitionism of Magnusson's singing combined with Kramer at his most innovative easily makes up for that. They were never this good again - The Big Sell Out was a Big disappointment for me - so get this while they were still young, fresh and full of fun.

Those familiar with Bongwater (essentially, witty/beautiful Ann Magnuson and all around indie renaissance man Kramer)will find everything they love about the band in abundance here. Those wishing to explore this great and all too short lived project may find this their most accessible release.

Accessible, perhaps, but still a long way from the mainstream, this disc is a tongue in cheek, neo-feminist poke in the ear consisting of samples and found sound bytes all tied up with rocking, harmonious tunes, clever and more-often-than-not sardonic lyrics and a very pointed world view.

A perrenial in my CD player, this disc has worn well with the years - still funny, groovy and right on target. Isn't it time you heard it?

This is an incredibly varied album, sometimes hysterically funny as on the title track, but always cerebral, thought-provoking and strangely captivating. It's awash with clever samples that definitely contribute to the ambience and the weirdness. There are gentle ballads like Great Radio, What If and their cover of Kisses Sweeter Than Wine. Chicken Pussy is a bizarre sound collage with hilarious spoken lyrics while White Rental Car Blues sounds like a sweet soul song if you ignore the suggestive lyrics.

Nick Cave Dolls starts with those weird samples, a guy talking about the name of the band plus random snatches of conversation and noise, before Ann's wistful voice takes up a surrealistic tale of a stroll through the city while sending up a variety of stereotypes. On Bedazzled she turns into Marlene Dietrich or similar European sultry chanteuse in a conversation/talk and response format with the other voices. The next one, Obscene & Pornographic Art, is a literate and witty observation of a trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art that'll have you in stitches, especially the "suffragette song."

A robotic, laconic male vocal narrates the tale of a visit to a strange game room over ominous warbling guitar sounds on What Kind Of Man Reads Playboy, while Junior kicks off with raucous guitar and turns into a love song with Ann's dreamy vocalising.
This amazing album's tour de force is the astonishing Folk Song, all 11 minutes of it, where Magnuson's voice really gets a chance to soar. It deals with inter alia anarchists, sexual politics, media networks and refers to anthropologist Joseph Campbell in this most beautiful chorus: "Joseph Campbell gave me hope and now I have been saved/So I sing hello death, goodbye Avenue A."

As the song progresses, Ann sings abut health food, Dr Suess, religion, TV series, movies, politics, taking mushrooms at Joshua Tree, Carlos Castaneda, Berlin Alexanderplatz, the feelgood movie of the decade and many other things, before ending with those beautiful lines again: "Hello death, goodbye Avenue A." Phew! Not many songs in the history of popular music can encompass so many things and still remain cohesive.

This is one of the most intelligent rock albums I've ever had the pleasure of hearing, brimful of melodic twists and turns, with gripping lyrics, brilliant instrumentation and vivid imagery. I know Ann Magnuson is now a successful actress, but I'm surprised she's not a famous author too, judging by her talent for satire and moving imagery.

This is the funnest album you will ever hear! I have all Bongwaters CD's as well as Magnuson's solo effort but this takes the cake! So invite the funnest friends you have, make a pitcher of margaritas and break out this CD. They'll love you for it.

This is one of the best things to come down the pike since Oysterettes! Buy it. Buy it, now.

Adopt a dog and force him or her to listen to it. The small animal will lick you for it.

This album is brilliant. I had no prior exposure to Mojo Nixon and limited Jello Biafra time, and this album has me hooked on both. One of the beatiful things about this album is that, unlike in Biafra's punk work, you can actually understand a lot of the lyrics (well, I can actually understand them, which means most people probably could). It fills my need for twangy, made for singing music and anti-authroitarian lyrics.

Aside from being an amazing truck crash of style, the ideas the album expresses are consistently thought-provoking every time I listen to it. The general theme is the experiences and ideas of the working class, but Mojo and Jello are not to be pined down. The album is a remarkable balance of songs critiquing hegemonic middle class American society (ie, Love me I'm a liberal), mocking fundtamentalist thinking (Atomic Power), pointing out problematic working class cultural experiences (Mascot Mania), and honoring the experiences and ideas of working class people (Hamlet Chicken Plant Diasaster, Plastic Jesus).

Since we're playing the favorites game in these reviews, and because the music is wonderful both individually and as a wholeconcept, I'll wax musical on a few tracks (though nothing beats numbers 23 and 42):

1) Will the Fetus Be Aborted? (on my burned copy, this is the first track, and so it will always be in my mind) is such a catchy tune that it makes you want to sing with glee. My favorite verse is about the revolutionary woman having fifteen commie babies - Phyllis Schafley, ain't that great? (If you don't know if you're ready to hear this album, listen to this one first. It's an easy, biting, funny satire.)

4 (on my cd)) Atomic Power - The deadpan arrogance with which this song is mockingly sung makes me think of Stephen Colbert. I sometimes sing the refrain when I'm walking around empty streets at night - it's resounding.

8) Nostalgia for an Age that Never Existed - I think this is the best song on the album. It is such a spot-on critique of the total disregard and abuse of history in our society that it gives me goosebumps. The genre is perfectly Jonathan Swift-y - a fifties do-wop song. And it makes it clear that nobody is safe from Jello Biafra. From the use of the 50s as a heteronormative patriarchal utopia for the conservative right to the hypocrisy of the moderate left who played at the 60s and then forgot everything they learned, Biafra cuts through the fat and hits the bone of our historical myopia. He is at his most disgutedly dersisive, though, when talking about his own ilk, former punks who exaggerate their rebelious experiences and have become clsoed to the basic tenets of punk. This song is high social critique. It is a piece of art.

9) Hamlet Chicken Plant Diasaster - Eloquent and full of suppressed rage, this song shows the dragon created by the abuse of the laboring classes that is just waiting to be unleashed. It is also a fitting tribute to the victims of exploitative labor practices.

This is just beautiful. Admittedly, I'm incredibly biased; I love Jello, his political views and the fact that he used such a traditionally "God, Apple Pie and the U S of A" genre to get them across. It's difficult for me to pick a favorite off this cd because everything is just great. I initially wanted the CD for "Will the Fetus be Aborted?" and was so pleasantly suprised.

I normally have a really difficult time getting past country's twang, but if you enjoy the majority of Jello's work, just give this one a chance.

Great Great Great !!!!! I loved it right off. Go onto www.alternativetentacles.com and buy it direct. Support your independent record label. YeeHaw !!!!!!!!!

I'm talking about Squirrel Bait: post-punk, pre-math rock, a dense mix of massive hooks, a twin guitar attack and raw vocals which manged to be not punk enough for the hardcore kids but too fast and f--ked up for the indie rockers resulting in Squirrel Bait being, overlooked and TOTALLY UNDERRATED.

The pride of Louisville, Kentucky, these guys were LITERALLY just kids when they started this sonic bombast. A bit thrashy perhaps for power pop purists (boo!), these boys wrote the book on post-hardcore for sure. Good enough (or better than, depending on who you ask) to be as influential SB's second and final release clocks in at under 30 minutes, but even more than their debut, Skag Heaven packs the future of indie rock and the blueprint for post-rock right there in that half hour. This band explodes and offers up song after song dense with strange melodies and furious rocking, delicate arrangements and hooks galore. These guys accomplished more in this half hour than most bands do in their entire careers. They may have been POST hardcore, but the hardcore spirit meant you didn't need a 80 minute double album to say your piece, short and sharp, and pretty darn near perfect. Maybe more twin-guitar buzz this time around, more refined songwriting (without giving up the innovation OR the aggression), some of the best drumming EVER, and vocals that show real angst and depth without devolving into that indie sad boy whine. All this and still not one member legally old enough to purchase alcohol!

Quite simply, the best band you've never heard. Aggressive, intelligent rock n' roll with the sub-par recording charm of a true indie record. If you like to expose your friends to bands they don't know, this is a great opportunity. I agree with a previous review in that their first EP is even better than Skag Heaven.

Argueably the sound that would become grunge was born not in Seattle but in Louisville, KY by Squirrel Bait. This band was once quoted as Bob Mould's favorite in Rolling Stone. The raw energy is unsurpassed in any album I've ever heard. This band was the NEW ROCK.

I knew these guys well and helped setup shows (once with Husker Du). That aside the album rocks. One band member went on to Slint, one to Love Jones, one to Big Wheel, and two formed Bastro. The creativity found in this album (which includes the first self-entitled album) is extended by Slint and Bastro.

Once again another UK artist has captured my ears. If you were to hear this kat, you would think automatically it's D'Angelo. No, in my opinion he has a vibe much different from D'Angelo's but the voice on some songs can make you think twice. What got me the most about this CD is the TIGHT production that was done on this CD. The beats are phat inspite of what you may think of the man. The very first track had my ears open from the smooth stroke of the bass guitar. "Say it ain't so?" is one of the many tracks that the production is on point and his voice makes them a true jam. With his great voice (HE CAN SING) and the phat beats made this a welcomed addition to my sOuL collection. Let me go out on a limb AND SAY that I like this CD better than D'Angelo's second release.......but Brown Sugar is the bomb. Not trying to compare him at all because it's like comparing an apples to a oranges......it's all good music period.

oNe

This CD is a real find and worth the hefty import price!!! While Hall never gets mentioned with fellow UK'rs Craig David and Hil St. Soul, he's just as good. Maybe even better. I first heard him on Comcast Cable's digital R&B channel (411). The radio remix of "Forgive Me" is on very, very limited rotation and it blew me away. So, I purchased the CD and found it packed with great tunes including "If I Had To Choose", "Say It Ain't So", "U Let Him Have U", "Hard Way" The planets must be aligning because I then found a used UK copy of his first CD and started groovin' to "Qualify". In all the songs the beats are tight and Hall's scratchy soulful singing always stands out. His voice is a little funkier than most R&B balladeers and compares favorably to D'Angelo and even Sly Stone. Whatever the case, "Other Side" is now on heavy rotation -- on my CD player along with Dave Hollister's Chicago; Jessie Powell's - "About It"; Jaheim's - Ghetto Soul; Hil St. Soul's -Organic Soul; Angie Stone's -Mahogany Soul; + India.Arie, Ruff Endz, Koffee Brown, Tweet, Missy, Bilal, Misuq, Tyrese. Some pretty tough company -- and he fits right in.

This album is all that and then some. I was sold on him from the first album. This one is even better than the first. Most people haven't heard of him. He has that clean, smooth style. Not to mention that his sound is similiar to D'angelo's. He is not trying to portray or even emulate him, but the sound is somewhat close. He also is up there with Maxwell. Might even be better than Maxwell. I think he could go real far. His music is somewhat innocent. Being that it is not dragged down by the nowadays typical R&B sound of whooing and whining. This album is a must. If you want to hear all the grinding and cursing listen to another CD. This CD will sooth and get you in the mood without even trying.

"Sorry in Pig Minor" is probably the best album in Cows' catalog. It is a far departure from their earlier works like "Sexy Pee Story" and "Cunning Stunts" in the sense that the song writing is a lot more personal and shows that even the hardest Bovine has a soft side. Themes of depression, anger, and self destruction are rampant, but without ever getting whiney, as opposed to, say, on a Stabbing Westward album. The opening song, "Cabin Man", has our hero contemplating suicide on the top of a bridge and, I suppose, the rest of the album can be looked at as the events that took place in his life that ultimately led him to that moment. This is also a very different album for Cows because it is the first time they've incorporated keyboards and sampling into their music and they do so very frighteningly. If the idea of bashing your head against a bath tub seems like a good one, then this is the album for you. With an almost sick sense of humor, the lyrics walk you through several different stages of misery and leave you screaming, "Uncle!" You just might be able to relate. Unfortunately, this was the last Cows album, but if you like this one, or any of their other works for that matter, go ahead and check out the band Heroine Sheiks which is also led by frontman Shannon Selberg. Their album "Rape on the Installment Plan" could be considered "Sorry in Pig Minor: the Squeal".

After the one-two sucker punch combo of the disappointing and downright boring Sexy Pee Story and Orphan Tragedy albums, the Cows redeemed themselves with both Pig Minor and the previous record, Whorn. King Buzzo's production savvy really gave Pig a kick in the rear end. If you gave up on the Cows back around '94, you might be happily surprised with the two newer releases.

Do you like NOISE ROCK but think Fugazi sucks?
Do you like VARIETY?
Do you like WEIRD MUSIC THAT NEVER GOES ANYWHERE BUT BUSTS YOUR ASS JUST THE SAME?

Then try these guys. This album doesn't go into some country schlock like "Cunning Stunts," but neither is it as unlistenable as their real early work ("Daddy Has A Tail" etc.). It's probably the best album Cows have ever done (and yes, that INCLUDES "Cunning Stunts").

So if you're done with that Cannibal Corpse album, come over to MY headphones and peruse "Sorry In Pig Minor." I'll wean you off that third-rate death metal rock schlock yet.

Spooky and Atomic Bongos, go ahead, give 'em a 'listen' on this site. Man, if the whole album sounded like those two songs it'd be a killer album. As it is, the whole thing is pretty good and not something you commonly run across, musically. She brought together some of that old timey big band sound but not in a BIG BAD VOODOO DADDY way. She's got her slinky sound and melds it well with this sophisticated musical tapastry.

I'm just glad she made this album because there's so many she did of spoken word or other musical albums that just aren't my speed. The incredible TEENAGE JESUS and the JERKS (unbelievable grating guitar and perfect pained vocals) and 13:13 (Lydia's version of a band, not 8 EYED SPY rootsy but a real sorta punk band) are my speed. I'd rate this right in there, assuming you aren't expecting any punk rock on this item.
chrisbct@hotmail.com

One of the few albums I bought 15 years ago that still makes my spine shiver. Like some kind of noir-musical theatre take on L. Carroll's ALICE IN WONDERLAND, "Siam" throws the listener headlong into a swirling, smoking cesspool where a numbing void lurks behind every highball and the gorgeously nervous arrangements (courtesy of the Billy "Flintstone's Theme" Van Planck Orchestra) make you ignore the abyss that lies directly below yr wingtips. Lydia's lyrics were developing out of the stark, blunted rants that defined her earlier TEENAGE JESUS and 8-EYED SPY projects into something way more ambiguous - and ultimately richer for it. All you nay-sayers out there that think Ms. Lunch's art has been nothing but one prolooooonged whine: crack an ear here. This is one timeless cocktail that'll keep heads spinning for years to come.

Queen of Siam was Lydia's first solo release, and, in my opinion, her best. Her voice sounds like that of a psycotic little girl - her words pouring out of her mouth like liquid.

Her unique chanting and drumroll of words can be found in tracks like "Mechanical Flattery", "Tied and Twist", and "Blood of Tin". In other tracks, she sings with what seems malicious intent. In "Lady Scarface" [on of my faves] a haunting jazzy song about the seduction of the young and innocent. And out of all the versions of "Gloomy Sunday" I've heard, Lydia does the best. And how can you not dance to the beat of "Spooky" - a twisted love tale?
Queen of Siam shoul be in any goth's collection.

Spooky and Atomic Bongos, go ahead, give 'em a 'listen' on this site. Man, if the whole album sounded like those two songs it'd be a killer album. As it is, the whole thing is pretty good and not something you commonly run across, musically. She brought together some of that old timey big band sound but not in a BIG BAD VOODOO DADDY way. She's got her slinky sound and melds it well with this sophisticated musical tapastry.

I'm just glad she made this album because there's so many she did of spoken word or other musical albums that just aren't my speed. The incredible TEENAGE JESUS and the JERKS (unbelievable grating guitar and perfect pained vocals) and 13:13 (Lydia's version of a band, not 8 EYED SPY rootsy but a real sorta punk band) are my speed. I'd rate this right in there, assuming you aren't expecting any punk rock on this item.
chrisbct@hotmail.com

One of the few albums I bought 15 years ago that still makes my spine shiver. Like some kind of noir-musical theatre take on L. Carroll's ALICE IN WONDERLAND, "Siam" throws the listener headlong into a swirling, smoking cesspool where a numbing void lurks behind every highball and the gorgeously nervous arrangements (courtesy of the Billy "Flintstone's Theme" Van Planck Orchestra) make you ignore the abyss that lies directly below yr wingtips. Lydia's lyrics were developing out of the stark, blunted rants that defined her earlier TEENAGE JESUS and 8-EYED SPY projects into something way more ambiguous - and ultimately richer for it. All you nay-sayers out there that think Ms. Lunch's art has been nothing but one prolooooonged whine: crack an ear here. This is one timeless cocktail that'll keep heads spinning for years to come.

Queen of Siam was Lydia's first solo release, and, in my opinion, her best. Her voice sounds like that of a psycotic little girl - her words pouring out of her mouth like liquid.

Her unique chanting and drumroll of words can be found in tracks like "Mechanical Flattery", "Tied and Twist", and "Blood of Tin". In other tracks, she sings with what seems malicious intent. In "Lady Scarface" [on of my faves] a haunting jazzy song about the seduction of the young and innocent. And out of all the versions of "Gloomy Sunday" I've heard, Lydia does the best. And how can you not dance to the beat of "Spooky" - a twisted love tale?
Queen of Siam shoul be in any goth's collection.