American Alternative music reviews

El Destroyo's new the alterna-star lineup (including the Violent Femme's Brian Ritchie and former 4 Non Blond Roger Rochas) and Brian Ritchie production credit may find El Destroyo more listeners. At the core of the folk-pop band's sound are the naive melodies of Jimmy Friedman, moving from Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen depth ("Central Park") to Daniel Johnston inanity ("Hey Everybody," "Christen Brett") and Saturday morning cartoon melody ("Those Kids"). The instrumentation is classic: retro, '60s folk revival, new wave, and a dollop of power pop meet ultra space age bachelor pad. "Everyday" has a breezy string melody by Yuki Ki Chai and some crazy atypical dusky vocals by Friedman; "My Voice (Yeah-Yeah)" repeats the formula with a twisted Lee Hazelwood/Nancy Sinatra groove. "Heaven" is Cohen meets the Beatles. All over the map, and fans of eclecticism will flip over the musical borders smashed by El Destroyo.

I grew up going to Fleshtones gigs in NYC, and they remain to this day the greatest party band on earth. Powerstance finds the 'Tones going for a more guitar-driven, muscular sound, and it ROCKS. "Candy Ass" is both hilarious and serious booty-shakin' music.

With punk legends like The Ramones, X, Circle Jerks, and Fear, there can't be much doubt that this disc shreds. If theres any doubt, Iggy Pop, Killing Joke, and The Vandals erased it for me. Cute punker girl on the cover too!!

Living in Copenhagen, Denmark and therefore finding quality roots-music on the web, it turned out to be a great surprise, when I stumbled across this CD in my local second-hand shop. Till now I?d only heard of Bruton periphally, as a songwriter.
But let me cut to the chase: This album is a masterpiece, and it sets the standard for the perfect country-rock album in my humble opinion. This album is clearly in the vein of great records of artists like Delbert Mcclinton, Bonnie Raitt (who both appear on this recording.),Lee Roy Parnell, Hal Ketchum and many others. Great melodies, hooks, the lyrics are raw, clever, emotional, and full of life wisdom. I can?t wait to work my way through his other albums. In my research, I noticed that he worked as Bonnie Raitts guitarist for a while - I can see why! Stephen Bruton is a major talent and his music deserves much attention.

the premise behind this record was simple, Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth), recorded several guitar shorts and sent them out to various artists- the result: 25 new musical pieces and orignal artworks by such names as: Alec empire, Blur, David Bowie and more. As there are varied artists retooling Thurston's works, the output is eclectic, ranging from experiments in statics, traditionally structured songs, and those who veer on tangents; ending in bossa-nova like chords. An exceptional work which should be played from beginning to end.

Rough Trade is a legendary independant record shop based in London that has always been able to supply the clued up record collector with the latest cutting edge singles .

The cultural significence of this shop is immense as it has always fanned the flames for new musical directions whether this was punk , or cool Jamaican roots reggae in the seventies , or the cutting edge sounds of today .

This 4 cd box set has been released to celebrate 25 years of Rough Trade shops and it certainly does the company justice . Unknown artists sit side by side with musical legends like Pere Ubu , Joy Division , a young Bjork , The Pixies , Lee "Scrath" Perry , and The Smiths ( whose legendary legacy was released on the Rough Trade record label ) . The only thing that links the eclectic music on this collection ( apart from the quality ) is that all the songs were recorded by musical mavericks who were keen to push the sonic envelope back . If you want to hear four hours of exciting , groundbreaking music at a criminally cheap price . START HERE!

The first time I bought this was when I was 18. I was starting college and I became so deeply involved in it..I would just listen to it everyday. It was amazing!!! I threw the CD away in some ritual of trying to throw away everything that was making me obsessed whether it was books, music cds,and all my art. So 10 years later I am buying it again!!The first time I heard Lydia and Exene's spoken word was on The Home Alive Cd which was to benefit Mia Zapata from the Gits. Rude Hieroglyphics is far the best spoken word I have ever heard. I saw Lydia 4 years ago doing her spoken word in New Orleans at the now defunct Shim Sham club..it was great!! I think she was aggravated with me and my friend because we were the only prissy looking girls there and we were laughing at all the goth people who kept on giving us evil stares. The Shim Sham was full of victorian goths who brought dolls with them that were dressed just like them..Lydia took notice.

This being my first foray into Ms Lunch's spoken word work, I was initially disappointed that this album was literal 'spoken word' with no accompanying music.
However, it soon became apparent that this was the perfect medium for an excoriating diatribe-a-deux on the disgust engendered by the cruelties and hypocrisies of the modern era, one in which any 'arty' softening of the blow is unequivocally denied. Lunch and Cervenka identify the labels society uses to alienate and condemn, and this performance makes up one part of what seems to be at least in Lydia's case (I'm more familiar with her work) an extended project of living as vengeance.
No-one familiar with her oeuvre should be surprised that Lydia's work ranges outside the usual tired and sub-literate rantings of the 'transgressive'. The subject matter places the album firmly in its contemporary period (with reflections on, for example, the O. J. Simpson case) but ranges more broadly, covering feminist rage, the identification of a view of Nazism as a mythological evil unrooted in knowledge of its historical reality allowing modern Western societies and individuals to deny their own complicity in present and past atrocities, Japanese war crimes, and 'alternative' fashion, to name just a few of the issues discussed.
The performance develops as a stream-of-consciousness duologue which mingles the aforementioned political, social & historical exploration with more poetic material.
Rude Hieroglyphics is infused with a mordant humour which, along with the ethos of self-sufficiency espoused by the performers, allows the listener to avoid plunging too deeply into despair and depression at the world as accurately represented here (although I suspect that this wasn't an intentional mercy on the part of Lunch and Cervenka). The method in which they deal with a male heckler alone is a perfect demonstration of this wit, and, outside the individual context of the encounter, evinces the contempt the performers hold not only for the wider world but for a hostile and/or passive audience.
This is not a performance to be comfortably consumed or to valorise teenage-rebellion style rejection and alienation; rather, it's a scenic tour through the byways of an endlessly sick society, and a manifesto which paradoxically calls for both hermit-like withdrawal, and for vengeance.

this cd totally rocks! each song has such a different sound. it's hard not to learn the words to each and every song. the last song is sweet! and this cd is gonna make this band BIG!

Back when I was in high school, friends used to make mix tapes for me. I'd listen, get excited about some of the songs, and go hunt down the albums from the musicians that created them. It was a lot of fun, but I haven't really done that in a while.

Buying this brought me back to those days. Somebody in the Rykodisc ranks made me (and everyone who is willing to spring for it) a mix of a bunch of songs he or she (or more likely they- some kind of committee most likely) appreciated in some way. As with any mix that I'd receive, I like some parts more than others. I'll tend to listen to the Devo or Sugar tracks repeatedly, and skip over "Happiness is Drumming," for example. But the beauty of it is that you can pick out what you like best and skip the rest. Then, you can go buy albums by the artists if you are so inclined.

Which is how I discovered "With These Hands" by Alejandro Escovedo, one of my new favorite discs. And how I learned that Soul Asylum used to sound a lot more like "Husker Du" than "Runaway Train." You'll have your own minor revelations too, I'm sure. And if there's nothing on here that does it for you, you're not out much cash.

One warning-- the focus here is on 80s and 90s "alternative" rock for the most part, so if you are adverse to that loose genre description you're better off saving your money.

This CD reminds me of those "compilation tapes" that I and friends used to make years ago for ourselves that had all of our favorite songs on them. It's a lot of fun and never gets dull. And if anyone else listening doesn't like a song or artist, it doesn't matter, because there's only one song by that artist anyway. But, more likely, someone will say, "That last song was so cool! What's it called and who did it?"

Some "sampler" albums can go all over the place as per quality and interest, but this one packs a punch all the way through. And what a show! Frank Zappa, Yoko Ono, and Jimi Hendrix all on the same CD! For many, the CD will be a mixture of old favorites and new discoveries.

I recommend this CD for both it's fun and also for it's potential to inspire new directions in your collecting. It would serve well as a CD to play at a party without having to pick out what goes together-- it's done for you! And sometimes you might be surprised how much you like something that you never heard before!

Have fun! :-{D}

The other 5/5 reviews say enough to let you judge if you will like the music, though I would add that if you liked any of her other albums, this will treat you to her signature voice, plus more adventurous riffs and rhythms. My main addition to the other reviews is that if you have a good stereo, you'll want the Japanese pressing, which has great clarity, detail, imaging and rich, tuneful bass. Some audiophile disks are ones you are *supposed* to like just because they are recorded well. This is one you *will* like. It partners well with the JVC XRCD pressing of Patricia Barber's "Companion". Both are outstanding as stereo audition disks and as ones to kick back and luxuriate in.

I took a chance on this CD since I've been hearing great things about Holly Cole. I must say I love her crisp, clear, cool voice. It is so refreshing to listen to her and to her type of music.

I listen to this CD over and over...have always been a fan but this cd is by far my favourite....I don't walk the dog without it, go to work listening to it..and I've had it for 4 months now...know every word....sorry I missed her in TO last weekend - far prefer this to Norah Jones which I also listen to quite a bit!!