CD Reviews
Artist: Why?
Title: Elephant Eyelash
Label: Anticon
Year: 2005
4 / 5
“Here’s to inhaling crushed bones through a dried-up white-out pen and riding the backwards racer in hot June rain,” MC/singer/bandmaster Yoni Wolf enigmatically declares in the first bars of Why?’s Elephant Eyelash. It is testament to the Oakland genre-bender’s near-cinematic sense for atmosphere and storytelling that, by the time the song closes matter-of-factly with “us in fish-net hats and canvas shoes, as was the style that year,” the listener may as well have been on the roller-coaster seat behind him and his ex-lover, whose departure is the loose theme of Why?’s second full-length album.
Elephant Eyelash has the sound of Wolf emerging from his bedroom, asking some friends to play any instrument they can find, structuring songs as if he at some point owned a radio, and nasally singing as often as he drone-raps his hallucinobiographical lyrics.
“Sanddollars” channels Pavement guitars and Run-DMC last-word-shouted lines into a clap-along romp as anthemic as can be demanded of a song that rhymes. Sadly, the relatively plain songs in the album’s closing minutes largely disappoint, if only in failing to meet the expectations generated by earlier tracks.
If in 10 years music fans are reminiscing about how Why? signaled a new branch of musical macro-evolution, we’ll be fortunate.
Michael Schwandt
Artist: Ben Rogers
Title: The Dawn of a New Error
Label: Broken Records
Year: 2005
2 / 5
Vancouver singer-songwriter Ben Rogers wrote and recorded this debut album, The Dawn of a New Error, before he even turned 20; I can only assume that years or decades from now he’s going to look back on this muddled alternative album, cringe and wonder what the hell he was thinking.
While the disc does have some promising displays of talent, Rogers comes across throughout the whole thing as just trying way too hard. On some songs, he’s trying way too hard to get you to have fun; on others, he’s trying way too hard to get the song stuck in your head. A lot of the time, his lyrics are trying too hard to be clever. And most frustrating of all, the production values are ramped up to excess on most of the tracks — overemphasizing the guitar riffs, synthesizing the background vocals, dropping in sound effects at strange intervals, that sort of thing. Taken as a whole, the album seems desperate to be mistaken for something that would have been Top 40 in 1997 — almost as though Rogers is hell-bent on being a new-generation Rob Thomas. (He even sings suspiciously like Rob Thomas. It’s distressing.)
His more folksy songs are far better than his pop-rock songs, but that’s not saying very much; The Dawn of a New Error shows potential, but that’s about it.
James Howard, Volunteer Staff
Artist: 10 Years
Title: The Autumn Effect
Label: Universal
Year: 2005
1.5 / 5
A general tip for all aspiring and practising songwriters: if one of your songs uses the word “crucified” to describe your feelings, it’s most definitely time to rewrite the lyrics on that sucker. While we’re at it, please note that adding an entire pretentious string section to a completely uninteresting ballad does not somehow make the song automatically better.
Why do I bring this up? Because I’m reviewing The Autumn Effect, the debut album of Tennessee quintet 10 Years. You’ve heard of Staind, I assume? Well, these guys are almost exactly like Staind — except that, and I can’t believe that I’m typing this, their music is even less interesting.
The entire album is the same two plodding songs (played at the same two tempos, no less!), given slightly different (yet consistently awful) lyrics, and repeated six or seven times apiece. There is honestly nothing of note or interest on this disc at all — unless you get your unintentional-comedy jollies from clichéd and frustrating lyrics, in which case you’re going to have a field day with this album. “Leave me, I’ll shed my skin, these scars will mend?” Why, that’s nothing at all like Linkin Park’s “Crawling in my skin, these wounds they will not heal!” No, sir!
Just pass this album up entirely. You won’t be missing anything, I promise.
James Howard, Volunteer Staff
Artist: American Analog Set
Title: Set Free
Label: Arts & Crafts
Year: 2005
3 / 5
I first became aware of Austin’s American Analog Set when I found their Late One Sunday & the Following Morning EP in a bargain bin and decided to take a chance on it. The gamble paid off, as I was instantly captivated by the band’s ethereal pop. Since that time, my esteem for the band has only grown. While their output has been consistent, the band has explored muted dynamics in new and interesting ways.
Unfortunately, the sonic avenue they’ve been exploring is fast turning into a cul-de-sac. Both 2003’s Promise of Love and this latest album feel like retreads of their earlier work, and while Set Free is listenable, it fails to move in the way an album like The Golden Band does.
I hesitate to blame the fact that this is the first studio album for a band traditionally home-recorded, as their prior — home-recorded — album was similarly flat. But like that album, Set Free does have some great moments that make it worthwhile for existing fans: “Cool Kids Keep,” is a great upbeat number, and “Play Hurt” mines an engaging droned chord for all it’s worth. If you’re new to the music of AmAnSet, there are much better places to start, but if you’ve been following them for years, Set Free will make you want to stay with them — just barely.
Michael Elves, Volunteer Staff
Artist: Jason Collett
Title: Idols of Exile
Label: Arts & Crafts/EMI
Year: 2005
4 / 5
Jason Collett’s second album for Arts & Crafts starts off with a folk twist on Bacharach-ian pop in “Fire,” and from there the pop hooks don’t let up, dispelling any notions of a sophomore slump in a bold but understated manner. Guests, including Emily Haines of Metric, lend their assistance and tremendous skills without detracting from Collett’s overall vision for the album.
It’s a baroque pop that brings to mind Rufus Wainwright’s work — though where Wainwright’s material is polished to a high gloss, Collett’s remains resolutely gritty. Sometimes this ‘grit’ puts his work in the alt-country category, as on “We All Lose One Another,” and the guitar work on “Parry Sound.”
Lyrics allude to a quaint rural lifestyle and laid-back atmosphere that’s especially compelling in our rushed contemporary milieu. How Collett managed to write these in Toronto, the heart of our urban experience, is a marvel.
There are some references to the urban experience to be found on Idols of Exile as well, including the wistful “Pavement Puddle Stars,” where the protagonist uses binoculars to watch satellites fall and cell phones ring phantom tones. It’s apparent the rural idyll is preferable to the urban reality in Collett’s mind. After listening to Idols of Exile, one would be inclined to agree.
Michael Elves, Volunteer Staff
Artist: Brad Mehldau
Title: Day Is Done
Label: Nonesuch
Year: 2005
4 / 5
Reputedly a “difficult” artist, Mehldau is nevertheless an amazing pianist and accomplished arranger. This is no less evident on Day Is Done than it has been on previous recordings with his trio (rhythm section Larry Grenadier [bass] and Jeff Ballard [drums] certainly deserve their share of credit for this and other releases).
It’s becoming de riguer for Mehldau to arrange his own interpretation of a Radiohead song, and Day Is Done begins with his latest. Mehldau’s “Knives Out” is a frenetic, blisteringly quick take that impresses, though it isn’t the jaw-dropping experience that hearing his “Exit Music (For a Film)” was on 1998’s Art of the Trio, Vol. 3.
More impressive here is a rollicking take on Nick Drake’s “Day Is Done” (from which this album takes its title). There’s a playful spirit, and Mehldau reaches his stride with the arrangement around the six-minute mark, pounding the chords out and submerging the melody under them. Meanwhile, “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover” preserves the sprightly spirit of the Paul Simon original.
What’s most impressive about Mehldau’s work is that his own compositions compare favourably to, and sit comfortably alongside, his covers. My recommendation, however, is for those who enjoy his original material to get a copy of Elegaic Cycle, his brilliant solo album.
Michael Elves, Volunteer Staff
Artist: Bend Sinister
Title: Through the Broken City
Label: Storyboard
Year: 2005
3 / 5
Bend Sinister’s Through the Broken City is an eclectic blend of musical styles that was created within the confines of the indie rock genre. There is no disputing the fact that these guys can play their instruments. The title track begins with formless noise, which leads into a very rock ‘n’ roll guitar solo and finally settles into a pop song. It is as though the group tried to fuse two separate songs together like two incoherent thoughts. This stands as a perfect story within a story for the entire album: two incoherent EPs, which are weakly bridged by tracks five, six and seven. If you’re going to check out any of the songs, I’d suggest “Through the Broken City” and “Selling Promises.” These tracks showcase a distinctive sound, which makes Bend Sinister unique. However, their unusual sound is offset by the lyrics, which are cliché; everything that Bend Sinister has to say has been said before, but better and more strongly by other poets, artists or musicians. That said, if you’re looking for a band to listen to for musicality and not for lyrical depth, Bend Sinister just may be for you.
Derek Sawatzky
Artist: Robert Plant & the Strange Sensation
Title: Mighty Rearranger
Label: EMI/Sanctuary
Year: 2005
3 / 5
Hard to believe, but Mighty Rearranger is Robert Plant’s eighth solo album since Led Zeppelin was laid to rest in 1980. As the hoary old rocker struts and pouts towards the big six-oh, his tunes have become altogether more thoughtful. Rather than yelling about his favourite gal squeezing his lemon, Plant is now contemplating big-ticket themes like love, war, celebrity and aging.
What sets Plant apart from the likes of other rock icons like Geddy Lee, Bruce Dickinson and Steven Tyler is the astonishing breadth of his influences. In Plant’s musical unconscious, Duke Ellington rubs shoulders with Moroccan nomads, Hungarian peasants and sitar players from Bangalore. The golden-haired Brit has become a poster boy for the Œ-world music-movement, and Rearranger draws on many of these eclectic styles.
Plant’s post-Zeppelin work is patchy but often extraordinary. So it is with Mighty Rearranger. Highlights include “Shine It All Around,” a punchy grunge anthem and “All the King’s Horses,” a rich acoustic number that could be Led Zeppelin circa 1970. Meanwhile, “Tin Pan Valley” paints a depressing soundscape of life as an aging celebrity, only to rip it to shreds in a tsunami of angry guitar chords. Awesome!
He may be 57, but there’s life in the old dog yet.
Peter Hughes
Artist: Nekromantix
Title: Brought Back to Life Again
Label: Hellcat Records/ Epitaph
Year: 2005
3.5 / 5
It’s more than likely that you’ve never heard of “psychobilly:” a B-movie-influenced underground European combination of 1950s American rockabilly and 1970s British punk. If this is the first time that you’ve heard of such a thing, and if you think that such a style would very much appeal to you (you weirdo), then this album is certainly a great introduction to the genre.
Brought Back to Life Again is the remastered and reissued re-release (hence the Again part) of the 1994 album from Danish psychobilly trio Nekromantix. Led by singer/coffin-bassist Kim Nekroman (who built the wooden upright coffin-bass himself; damn, that thing looks awesome), the Nekromantix fire off 45 minutes of fast, catchy, off-kilter awesomeness on this disc. The lyrics are amusing horror-themed lunacy, the music bounces along tightly and the production values are spot-on (which really should be expected from a reissue, I suppose). If you can get into this music, you’re going to love this album.
However, that is admittedly a pretty big ‘if.’ This is not easily-accessible music by any stretch of the imagination, and many people will stare at this album in complete befuddlement. But trust me — at the very least, Brought Back to Life Again is a better choice of Halloween music than listening to the Monster Mash for the millionth time in your life.
