Indie and Lo-Fi music reviews

This is probably one of the 10 best alternative albums of all time. Beck is well-known for his country roots and on Mutations he explores them damn fine.
Opener "Cold Brains" sets the tone for a soft beginning and "Nobody's Fault.." is even softer but also dark with its slow tempo. Both tracks reveal a stoner-folk side of his which 3rd track "Lazy Flies" manipulates to even more essential listening with its close-to-latin sound.
"We Live Again" pays tribute to the Beatles and early Bowie and it's an absolute masterpiece while first single "Tropicalia" reminds us of his 1997 single "Deadweight" and does what its name says.
"Dead Melodies" & "Bottle Of Blues" are beck country-folk-classics while "O Maria" is a tremendous work of jazz-ballad-crooner kinda thing.
"Sing It Again" reminds of "Rowboat" and "Modesto" from 1994's "Stereopathetic Soul Manure" Collection. Last song "Static" sounds extatic and sums it up for bonus tracks: Rockish "Diamond Bollocks" (one of the most peculiar songs Beck ever came up with) and spooky "Runners Dial Zero".
This is one of the few albums that they have to put an "Essential Listening" etiquette. You can listen to it all day long, it's catchy and its Beck's finest Hour.

Good gravy, this Beck fella's talented. And I don't mean merely in the lyrics department--my feeling is that he's still learning to control his tongue. Even the music on this disc is enough to get you hooked. I can't stop singing and/or humming these tunes. They go everywhere, it seems. To call this album "folky" (see below) is to miss the point. This goes way beyond "folk" (I'd like to meet the "folk" who dabble in this strange hybridity). Bonus: the Japanese version gives you two extra tracks that are *maybe* as good as anything else on the disc. "Electric Music and the Summer People" has a surfy, sixties, party feel to it, while "Runners Dial Zero" has an eerie, driving-late-at-night vibe. Outstanding disc, all told. I only wish he would've played some of these songs when I saw him live several months ago. This is a CD I won't even leave at my girlfriend's house.

The Mountain Goats have created a wonderful song-cycle with "Nine Black Poppies." The brilliant "Cubs in Five" starts this EP rattling off a list of impossible occurrences( such as "The Canterbury Tales" staying on the bestseller list for 27 weeks, finding intelligent life on the moon, and as the title suggests- the Chicago Cubs winning the World Series in five games) and then blasts into the chorus with- "...And I will love you again..." (another impossible occurrence). "Cubs in Five" is the most literate kiss-off breakup song ever recorded. My favorite song on this EP is "Cubs in Five," but the other songs are all excellent. In "cheshire County," over a lazy acoustic guitar rhythm the words begin- "When the sun came up, I got up 'cause you were saying my name backward in your sleep again..." As with most of the songs, the intro draws in the listener who can't help but be intrigued and anxious to find where the song will lead. Musically, this EP is mainly acoustic guitar and voice with the occasional bass or drum machine thrown in. Though this EP never got within six blocks of the radio station in my town(or yours probably), it deserves to be heard and will reward with each listen.

I bought this fairly expensive, but rare title and I love it. Of course I love the single, Nobody's Fault By My Own, but the two B-sides, Diamond in the Sleaze and One of These Days are amazing. They should've been on the terrific and underrated Mutations album. Pick this up if a true Beck fan and you will not be dissappointed.

Though I haven't heard "The Coroner's Gambit" I can with reasonable certainty say that it's unlikely that the Mountain Goats will ever surpass "Nothing For Juice," which is one of the most truly beautiful records I have ever heard. I think the album's completely free of slackers and in it's finer moments (which are many) it achieves an almost transcendental grace. The Goats' haunted cover of Robert Johnson's haunted "Hellhound on My Trail" is a sublimely mournful homage from one guy with a guitar to another, "Full Flower" is an oddly jubilant song where the electric guitar drowns out Darnielle's voice at times, "Waving at You" embraces complete destitution by declaring in its opening line, "Listen, you can tell your lawyer that he can go to hell." And it's only fitting that on such an amazing record the closer, "Going to Scotland" is magnificent ("...and i loved you so much it was making me sick"). John Darnielle has a true gift with words but words can't do justice to this one. Dig it up at all costs.

This is the smoothest Amps For Christ relese to date
and incorperates the usual well rounded approach to many
styles from many lands done in a particularly American way.
In this album,AFC is not afraid to be either to mellow
or to radical. The home built amps and stringed instruments
are pictured in the 8 page booklet and played extreemly well.
The beat poet "White" reading poetry in duets with the ex-
Man Is The Bastard hardcore drummer takes some getting used to
but works well in breaking up the from middle eastern to folk
to jazz stylings. A record one would be glad to own.

It is undeniable that this album will appeal to almost anybody. The memorable blend of jazzy folk with pop and rock shines through every song in an exciting combination which will urge you to listen to it over and over - a simply marvellous album, utterly compelling

I love this CD (I haven't purchased the import, but I own the American version). Beck's got some really cool stuff on this album, and he doesn't stick to one particular style (the only I've heard of that's been able to pull that off successfully), but this is a great CD. If you don't know anything about Beck, check this one out before the others.

This is one of of those CD's that I got out of the bargain bin - which I frequently do just to look for something new and caught the Jay Farrar/Kelly Willis duet on the back of the jacket. That alone was worth the 4 bucks in my book. Anyway - wasn't expecting too much and have been pleasantly blown away by what I found. Would highly encourage anyone who's even thinking of buying it to do so - you won't be disappointed. Highlights for me were tracks - 2, 6, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15, & 17 though not necessarily in that order. Much depends on my mood. Oh yeah - have never heard guitars like the ones on the Verlaines track - just and outstanding raucous celebration. Like standing on a pile of dead rock stars....

This stuff is the real deal. I've been playing it for weeks on end and I just can't stop, because the more I listen, the stronger it gets. I think this is one of those bands that I'll be able to say I knew about long before the rest of the world catches up.

Comparisons are always lame -- writing about music is like dancing about architecture, right? -- so Regular sometimes gets tagged as "emo." Songs like "Talk Me Down" can sound a little like Jimmy Eat World -- if Bowie produced them during the "Hunky Dory" sessions, anyway -- but it's much richer than that kid stuff. The Elvis Costello influence is undeniable. And I'd even put John Kieltyka's songwriting on this first effort up against any of the big guns, like Neil Young, Steve Earle, PJ Harvey -- any of 'em. The strength of this guy's talent is particularly evident on tracks like "Tyrone," "Sin of Pride," "Parade," and "Huffer." As a matter of fact, it's worth getting the CD for "Huffer" alone. It's terrifying, it's beautiful -- it's hands-down the best song I've heard this year.

But I don't want to wreck anybody's experience of hearing "Huffer" for the first time by giving anything away (!!) so I'll try to describe "Tyrone" -- a song about kids and race relations without the soapbox -- to give you a taste of what you can expect. From the Hammond opening to the sidewinder slide-work, the guitar punctuation that jumps right into your lap and the fretless bass, it's pure magic. The tight performances somehow allow it to sound airy and just this side of lo-fi but it's still got a hot, solid groove. The songcraft has a pop sensibility and it's played by musicians who can make all sorts of sneaky references from Stax-Volt to Lou Reed.

Like I said, this is the real deal -- a desert-island-disc -- and not to be missed.

love this album all night long....
the best of a new breed of california ambient spatial songs