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This Week's Featured Downloads
As influential as Unrest (and band leader Mark Robinson's TeenBeat label) were to early- to mid-'90s DIY indie pop, they're not a group that gets championed much these days. It's a real shame actually, as records like Imperial ff.rr. and Perfect Teeth sound as good to me today as Pavement's Slanted and Enchanted or Sebadoh's III. After the group disbanded in 1994 the members would continue to release various individual projects on TeenBeat, though nothing could touch Unrest when they were at their peak. Needless to say, I was pretty excited to hear the new eponymous full-length by Maybe It's Reno, the nom de plume of former Unrest bassist Bridget Cross (later of Air Miami and an early member of Velocity Girl), and a quick scan of the liners reveal that her former bandmates Robinson and drummer Phil Krauth are accompanying her on the first seven tracks. I'd be blowing smoke if I tried to paint this album as a reunion of sorts, but damn, there are so many moments that could easily be mistaken as Unrest outtakes. Album opener "Baby's Lost in Tracks" could easily sound at home on the B.P.M. collection (and even an early Factory Records release), Cross' crystalline vocals carried by the spacious counter-play between her circular bass melodies and Krauth's breezy, double-time ride cymbal and finally dissolving into a hypnotic, minute-and-a-half wash of Robinson's chiming guitars. Like Unrest, much of the Maybe It's Reno album is rooted in pop minimalism, only here additional instrumentation like electric piano and synthesizer accent and intersect Robinson's layered guitars in songs like "Gravestones and Christmas Trees" and "Sugarloaf Mountain," the latter track slowly fading out with the inclusion of a drum machine. And while the atmosphere of these songs sound wonderfully familiar and comfortable, Cross makes plenty of stylistic divergences, reminding us that this is her project, after all. Joined by Basin Street's George Kuhar and Jordan Strudel for the remaining three tracks, there's no holding back in songs like "Lonestar" and the punked-up "Drunk Pilot," while the lovely "December" finds Cross accompanied by the skeletal chords of a piano. Tacked on at the end are bonus versions and reprises of "Sugarloaf Mountain" and "Days Like Cups." If you can't already tell, Maybe It's Reno started a bit of a TeenBeat revival for me this week, now if I could only find that old TeenBeat mousepad that I bought at Arlington's Go Records all those years ago! -Gerald Hammill
First things first, no B.S. -- this is one of my favorite records from Rough Trade's salad days during the post-punk boom, and I am unabashedly psyched that it's finally available again. After the Young Marble Giants split in 1980, YMG's main songwriter Stuart Moxham got depressed, did a bunch of drugs, and released this album in 1982 to virtually no fanfare or success. That's a damn shame, because Embrace the Herd is a stunning, beautiful record of stylistic variety and melancholic beauty that had few parallels at the time. Eschewing the stark contrasts of YMG's Colossal Youth for a sound that mixes the pastoral ambient soundscapes, arty Germanic grooves, and lyrical non sequiturs of Eno's Another Green World and Before & After Science albums with the heartbreaking desperation and bedroom bossa novas of early Everything but the Girl and the Marine Girls (whose second LP was produced by Moxham), he assembles an all-star crew of Rough Trade pals to contribute -- both of his YMG bandmates make appearances, as do members of This Heat, Swell Maps, Essential Logic, and the Flying Lizards. Though I love the album as a whole -- best experienced from beginning to end as a suite -- the disc is worth buying for the album's lone single "Love at First Sight" alone. Any fan of Young Marble Giants, the aforementioned Eno LPs, or of the more introspective side of the bedsit indiepop scene should check this without hesitation. Highest recommendation! -Mikey IQ Jones
A dusty, intimate snapshot of the musical life in Lima from nearly a half-century ago. Jarana was a form of dance music that originated in the ghettos of Lima, Peru during the late 19th century and continued to rise in popularity through the mid-20th century. In a vastly overpopulated city, multiple families often occupied single rooms and it was through these extremely cramped living conditions that jarana evolved. Jarana was based on a dance tradition called the marienera limena, that cut across social and class divisions; but in the largely black and mestizo ghettos of Lima, an improvised singing style developed. Frequently, spontaneous gatherings would break out with the best musicians and singers competing with each other, these contests actually bearing some resemblance to a modern hip-hop battle. Usually, the basis of the competition was agreed upon beforehand and it was up to each singer to build upon and one-up the previous singer with wordplay or a similar theme or subject from before. Within these late-'50s recordings you can hear some of the finest musicians of the time. Handclapping and guitars are prominent, but violins and percussion can also be heard, and if you listen closely, even the non-Spanish speaker can pick up on unique interplay and dexterity of the singers and players. -Geoff Albores
Patty Waters recorded two fantastic records for New York's original avant-garde label ESP-Disk in the mid-60s. College Tour was her second for ESP and her final album, period, before fading into obscurity. Since that time however, her stature as innovator has continued to grow. She was one of the first female singers to explore extended vocal technique in a purely experimental setting, before Yoko Ono, Diamanda Galas, Joan LaBarbara, et al. She was recommended to the label by none other than Albert Ayler himself. Her first album had some very quiet and mellow vocal tunes, however, for these recordings she had fully embraced the prevailing underground aesthetic towards spontaneous improvisation. Waters is notably joined on these recordings by such ESP-Disk luminaries as Burton Greene, Dave Burrell, Giuseppi Logan and Ran Blake. College Tour is definitely an essential edition to the catalogue. -Michael Klausman
This collection of rare and unreleased Derrick Morgan productions, recorded between 1966 and 1968, is an excellent comp of rocksteady-era soul. Here's a little history...Due to his failing eyesight, Morgan gave up his day job and pursued singing, first as a vocalist for Duke Reid, then Prince Buster, and later Coxsone Dodd. It was in 1966 that Morgan began his production label with the help of Leslie Kong. Utilizing his house band the Jets, led by guitarist Lynn Taitt and pianist Gladstone Anderson, Morgan began to change the sound of Jamaican music from ska to rocksteady. The grooves became slower, half that of ska in fact, and the influence of American soul began to sink in more; reggae was still in the distance. This collection from Pressure Sounds differs from most of those on Soul Jazz as the mindset is more about the overall soul influence, not just the funky stuff, and it digs a bit deeper. Excellent saxophonist Roland Alphonso is highlighted on two tracks and great vocalists croon their hearts out. (Be sure to check out the Blood Brothers' "Lonely World," a slightly freakish vocal number of note.) If you liked the Darker than Blue collection on Blood & Fire, or the pure soul sound of JA, check this out. Lots of good tunes! -Daniel Givens
In 1999, Peter Kruder released a beautiful, lounged-out, downtempo classic under the name Peace Orchestra. Reset is the reworking of this album. The mixes follow the chronology of the original record, with the exception of "Henry" and "Domination" which appear here twice. Reset is redesigned for the dancefloor, full of broken-beat jazz, soul and Latin influenced rhythms. Interpreters include Gotan Project who add their twist of Basque guitar to the mix while Beanfield combine a rolling bass line with Fender Rhodes stabs to create a two-step vibe reminiscent of their Compost roots. Some more standouts: DJ DSL who offers a hip-hop summertime jam for the backyard BBQ, and a remix from the Meitz, which opens as a classical piece suitable for stage and quickly morphs into a creepy, acid-like bass-driven funk. Chateau Flight, Truby Trio, and Zero db are among the other notables. A must for the Kruder and Dorfmeister faithful, and anyone who enjoys that Jazzanova-influenced sound. -J Dennis
On his fifth full-length release, Ryoji Ikeda forgoes electronic music altogether, instead creating an album of spectral compositions for strings. While Ikeda's signature experiments with standing waves and stereo field disturbance are largely absent, his concerns with psychoacoustic space remain. This time, however, Ikeda uses sweeping violin glissandi, instead of sinewaves, to pierce the listener's ear. The distinction between where notes begin and end is largely indescernable on op. Just as Japanese calligraphers approach the brushstroke as breathing onto paper, Ikeda "breathes" his sounds into being. This results in a distinctly more "organic" feeling than his earlier works, which have been described as forensic and clinical. For many listeners, Ikeda's tonal clouds will recall the works of Xenakis, Ligeti, Part and especially Morton Feldman. Ikeda is not alone, as contemporaries Bernhard Gunter, Richard Chartier, and Steve Roden have all acknowledged their dept to Feldman's crepuscular landscapes. On op., however, the discrete arrangements of harmonics and subtle pulses are more of a reference than a direct homage. Ikeda layers and subtracts these elements to create a highly pensive atmosphere where dissonance is never resolved; it is only pulled back to reveal further dissonance. The results leave the listener with a feeling of suspense and suspension, evoking the experience of flying in an airplane, landing through heavy fog, and slowly seeing a landscape revealed. -Dan Hirsch
Released on Stones Throw in 2003, this solo release from Wildchild, of the infamous Lootpack crew, is a tasty blend of beats and flavorful flow. Production is split in half by Oh No and the unstoppable Madlib. (Any fan of Madlib's bouncy, bleepy, and intoxicated beats should pick this up with no question.) Secondary Protocol is reminiscent of Slum Village, Aceyalone (who guest on one track), pre-Roots Common, or a less moralizing Talib Kweli. Guests include Medaphor, Spontaneous, Planet Asia, and Vinia Mojica. A solid release with bits of guitar, strings, piano, and film dialogue floating throughout, backpackers take note! -Daniel Givens |
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