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Feb. 24th, 2003
Music: February 2003
Feb. 24th, 2003 08:14 pmA few records I'd been anticipating came out this month. Here are some quick'n'dirty (like me!) reviews.
Console - Reset the Preset
»www »discography »consume!
In 1999 Console scored a sleeper hit with "14 Zero Zero", which was a tale of a computer falling in love with it's user, or maybe the user falling in love with the computer. Regardless the track was really hot and fused a lot of great aspects of Techno, Hip-hop and electro. Unfortunately 1999's Rocket in the Pocket kinda sucked otherwise. Or at least fans didn't find more tracks like 14 Zero Zero on that record, although the track did get around on a lot of Electroklash [sic] compilations.
Fortunately the new record is not as obtuse as previous works and fits into pop sensibilities without sounding derived. I'm singing about architecture here. Expect very danceable geeky electro-pop. The second CD "Preset" is some good IDM/ambient wankage, nothing stunning but definitely not bad for a genre that's full of it.
The Postal Service - Give Up
»www »discography »consume!
In 2001 Dntel (Jimmy Tamborello) came out with a really great record called "Life is Full of Possibilities" that forged the Pet Shop Boys-comme-indie rock of his other outfit Figurine with the oh-so-chic Intelligent Dance Music glitches and glatches of the momment. End result was something highly innovative and engaging which one much critical acclaim. One stand-out track was a collaboration with Death Cab for Cutie's Ben Gibbard called "(this is) The Dream of Evan and Chan", particularly because of Gibbard's vocal talent and "nice guy" sound. The track spawned a remix EP with four very good mixes, infact so good that the term remix doesn't do them justice they sound more like re-interpretations. Safety Scissors did a wonderful faux R&B mix that's just as many parts geeky as it is a booty call. Barbara Morgenstern lends her vocals along-side Gibbard's slightly out of time adding to the sense of urgency for genuine love in the inhumane climate that is a smokey club. Superpitcher's mix is all house and fits snuggly into any DJ's set while Lali Puna provides the only instrumental remix.
See needless to say the concept was a creative success. In comes "The Postal Service", an entire record of collaboration between Tamborello and Gibbard. One can't be sure if the intention was to re-create a whole record's worth of Evan & Chan, regardless the end product sounds a lot more like Figurine than Dntel. There's a lot more emphasis on pop and plain old fun, which of course has the prissy indie snobs up arms. The most welcome change from Figurine is the Electroklash dead-pan vocals and tongue-in-cheek retro irony that's wearing rather thin these days.
Stand-out tracks:
» Such Great Heights (single)
» Sleeping In
» Nothing Better
Buck 65 - Square
»www »discography »consume!
Since spending summers as a kid in Nova Scotia at my Aunt & Uncle's summer home on the south shore I do and continue to sustain that they are one of the best large groups of people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. The pace of life is general more human and the scenery and fresh moist saline air off the Atlantic make for a much calmer state of mind.
So it's not wonder to me why really great people come from rural NS. That annecdote aside I'd like to smoothly co-relate Rich Terfrey aka Buck 65 (so smooth).
Buck 65's music is very much in the Underground Hip-Hop [sic] vein in and that he raps a about a lot more than tits, props and ice. All the while Buck stays out of the masturbatory trance of "bringin' it back to the old school" other successful Underground Hip-Hop artists like Jurassic Five tend to indulge their egos in on far too frequent a basis.
Enter "Square", the fourth album in Mr. Terfrey's career as Buck 65 and by far his most eccentric effort despite being his first on a major label. Square is divided into four tracks (squares) each with their own feeling and a lot of great deliveries. From the an ironic description of the sadness and pure pathetic nature of most clubs to a ballad about that girl everyone knew who was told she was ugly her whole life and became that way because she started to believe it herself.
What strikes me about Square in contrast to other Buck records is the real feeling of urgency, there's a real desire to say something important. That could be said for all his records but there was always comedic breaks, the balance is a little different. And given interviews with Buck I've read you can tell the man is definitely on a mission to communicate a deep meaning. Luckily, after having seen him life, he posses both a candor and wit that's accessible to everyone but not abrasive and preachy.
Also of note is the artwork done buy Sketchordinary Presstube. Any long term readers of my journal remember Insert Silence? Same guy.
Gonna go see the pretentious "post-rock" of Godspeed You! Black Emperor March 29th. Apparently it's an "experience" but I dunno, their fans all seem to be the shallowist of indie rocker trendbots. That is to say that the musical content seems secondary to the image, I can get that shit commercially thankyouverymuch. So it's time for some first-person investigation.
Console - Reset the Preset
2003 Virgin 2CD
»www »discography »consume!In 1999 Console scored a sleeper hit with "14 Zero Zero", which was a tale of a computer falling in love with it's user, or maybe the user falling in love with the computer. Regardless the track was really hot and fused a lot of great aspects of Techno, Hip-hop and electro. Unfortunately 1999's Rocket in the Pocket kinda sucked otherwise. Or at least fans didn't find more tracks like 14 Zero Zero on that record, although the track did get around on a lot of Electroklash [sic] compilations.
Fortunately the new record is not as obtuse as previous works and fits into pop sensibilities without sounding derived. I'm singing about architecture here. Expect very danceable geeky electro-pop. The second CD "Preset" is some good IDM/ambient wankage, nothing stunning but definitely not bad for a genre that's full of it.
The Postal Service - Give Up
2003 Sub Pop CD
»www »discography »consume!In 2001 Dntel (Jimmy Tamborello) came out with a really great record called "Life is Full of Possibilities" that forged the Pet Shop Boys-comme-indie rock of his other outfit Figurine with the oh-so-chic Intelligent Dance Music glitches and glatches of the momment. End result was something highly innovative and engaging which one much critical acclaim. One stand-out track was a collaboration with Death Cab for Cutie's Ben Gibbard called "(this is) The Dream of Evan and Chan", particularly because of Gibbard's vocal talent and "nice guy" sound. The track spawned a remix EP with four very good mixes, infact so good that the term remix doesn't do them justice they sound more like re-interpretations. Safety Scissors did a wonderful faux R&B mix that's just as many parts geeky as it is a booty call. Barbara Morgenstern lends her vocals along-side Gibbard's slightly out of time adding to the sense of urgency for genuine love in the inhumane climate that is a smokey club. Superpitcher's mix is all house and fits snuggly into any DJ's set while Lali Puna provides the only instrumental remix.
See needless to say the concept was a creative success. In comes "The Postal Service", an entire record of collaboration between Tamborello and Gibbard. One can't be sure if the intention was to re-create a whole record's worth of Evan & Chan, regardless the end product sounds a lot more like Figurine than Dntel. There's a lot more emphasis on pop and plain old fun, which of course has the prissy indie snobs up arms. The most welcome change from Figurine is the Electroklash dead-pan vocals and tongue-in-cheek retro irony that's wearing rather thin these days.
Stand-out tracks:
» Such Great Heights (single)
» Sleeping In
» Nothing Better
Buck 65 - Square
2002 Warner Canada CD
»www »discography »consume!Since spending summers as a kid in Nova Scotia at my Aunt & Uncle's summer home on the south shore I do and continue to sustain that they are one of the best large groups of people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. The pace of life is general more human and the scenery and fresh moist saline air off the Atlantic make for a much calmer state of mind.
So it's not wonder to me why really great people come from rural NS. That annecdote aside I'd like to smoothly co-relate Rich Terfrey aka Buck 65 (so smooth).
Buck 65's music is very much in the Underground Hip-Hop [sic] vein in and that he raps a about a lot more than tits, props and ice. All the while Buck stays out of the masturbatory trance of "bringin' it back to the old school" other successful Underground Hip-Hop artists like Jurassic Five tend to indulge their egos in on far too frequent a basis.
Enter "Square", the fourth album in Mr. Terfrey's career as Buck 65 and by far his most eccentric effort despite being his first on a major label. Square is divided into four tracks (squares) each with their own feeling and a lot of great deliveries. From the an ironic description of the sadness and pure pathetic nature of most clubs to a ballad about that girl everyone knew who was told she was ugly her whole life and became that way because she started to believe it herself.
What strikes me about Square in contrast to other Buck records is the real feeling of urgency, there's a real desire to say something important. That could be said for all his records but there was always comedic breaks, the balance is a little different. And given interviews with Buck I've read you can tell the man is definitely on a mission to communicate a deep meaning. Luckily, after having seen him life, he posses both a candor and wit that's accessible to everyone but not abrasive and preachy.
Also of note is the artwork done buy Sketchordinary Presstube. Any long term readers of my journal remember Insert Silence? Same guy.
Gonna go see the pretentious "post-rock" of Godspeed You! Black Emperor March 29th. Apparently it's an "experience" but I dunno, their fans all seem to be the shallowist of indie rocker trendbots. That is to say that the musical content seems secondary to the image, I can get that shit commercially thankyouverymuch. So it's time for some first-person investigation.
Springbreak Lawyer: This Spring Break Justice Hits the Beach!
Claude (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
claudecub), this one's for you.
Claude (
claudecub), this one's for you.