na: cat power, black mountain
Yowza — welcome to the first major New Release Day of 2008. It’s been a long, cold, lonely winter thus far, but all of that changes today with new arrivals from (deep breath) Cat Power, Black Mountain, Times New Viking, Evangelicals, Dengue Fever and many, many more.
Cat Power, Jukebox
The first “big” record of ‘08, Jukebox finds Chan Marshall taking a spin through the back catalogs of Hank Williams, Joni Mitchell and Frank Sinatra (among others) and recasting them in decidedly dusky light. The music is spare and aching, and comes courtesy of a cadre of indie lifers: Jim White of the Dirty Three plays drums, Judah Bauer of the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion and Chavez’s Matt Sweeney both play guitar and Greg Foreman from the Delta 72 mans the organ. As on The Covers Record, Chan’s versions don’t bear any resemblance to the originals, which is part of the charm. Full disclosure: since The Covers Record, I’ve liked each Cat Power record a little less than the one before it. Jukebox isn’t really my cup of tea, but almost everyone I talk to is totally bananas for it — which is something I do not take lightly.
Black Mountain, In the Future
What I am bananas for, however, is this Black Mountain record. Man oh man. Big, lumbering and druggy, BM plunges face-first into leftover pot haze from the late ‘70s and emerges with their own personal Master of Reality. The record runs between two poles, from sledgehammer-to-the-stomach rockers to sluggish, spooky ballads (of which “Queens Will Play” is a standout). This is the kind of record you listen to as a teenager while reading Dune bleary-eyed underneath a big black light poster of a castle. That is, unless you’re the kind of teenager who wasted his adolescence playing Zork and talking about Robotech. Not that I know anyone who spent his teenagers years that way. To put it another way: this record is pitch black. It is in danger of being eaten by a grue.
Times New Viking, Rip it Off
Just Plain Fun. No one told TNV about ProTools or Serato, so they’re still making albums the old-fashioned way: with a 4-track. This is a big, brash, noisy record, lots of unsrubbed guitars and grade-school yowling — both of which are big virtues. Everything is in-the-red, and I’m convinced if you turn this all the way up, all the sound just blends into a slurry of static. It’s totally unprofessional — and I mean that as the greatest possible compliment.
Basia Bulat, Oh, My Darling
Surprise, surprise: two weeks before street date, it’s Basia Bulat’s Oh My Darling. I’ve already confessed my love for “In the Night.” The rest of the record is…polite. It reminds me a lot of Blind Man’s Zoo-era 10,000 Maniacs. By which I mean I have the same kind of crush on Basia Bulat that I did on Natalie Merchant. There is no possible way that statement can come back to haunt me.
Jack Penate, Matinee
Jack Penate should perhaps come up with some clever band name for himself (and I have a stash in supply, should he need one; “Paul Revere’s Hoarse,” for example), because he’s not doing himself much justice using his own handle. To explain: I expected “singer/songwriter” from this record, so I studiously avoided it in the weeks leading up to its release. Imagine my surprise to discover that Jack actually has more in common with the Housemartins and the Lucksmiths than with — well, just insert the name of a singer/songwriter you dislike in this space. The songs are bouncy and bright-eyed, and Jack’s got a spry voice and wry lyrics, both of which make Matinee a pleasant little surprise for me.
Dengue Fever, Venus on Earth
I would have preferred the production be a little less pristine, but despite that the third record from Dengue Fever continues to do what the band does best: merge Cambodian pop with kitsch rock of the American ‘60s. I’m plagiarizing my own review saying this, but Chnom Nimol’s voice curves like a question mark, and the songs span so many genres that Venus ends up a short lesson in global groove. Also, I am told they rule live. I should add that I’ve liked this record a little more every time I’ve listened to it.
Evangelicals, The Evening Descends
A lot of people really like the Evangelicals. They haven’t quite clicked for me yet, but I’m willing to be convinced. I give them points for being awesomely unfussy: there’s a serious kitchen-sink aesthetic to these songs: guitars surge up and then vanish, keyboards bubble up briefly and songs are suddenly flooded with strange, wraithlike noises. I give the group massive props for just being so damned hard to pin down. Anyone want to try to, uh, “convert” me? I’m totally open.
Bodies of Water, Ears Will Pop & Eyes Will Blink
We’ve had this on the site for a bit, but now we have it a second time. Kinda Polyphonic Spreeish.
Liam Finn, I’ll be Lightning
Singer/songwriter ranges from clattering pop to smooth, easy ballads. Fun fact: Liam Finn is the son of Crowded House’s Neil Finn. A bit of his dad’s genius has certainly rubbed off.
Envy, Abyssal
Another awesome gut-punch from Envy. Droning ambient metal, with guitars nicked from Ride and Hum and vocals nicked from the pits of hell. 10-minute opener goes from quiet to OH-MY-GOD-LOUD to quiet again over and over and over. The rest of the record rides between those two extremes. The best parts for me are the ones where the guitars start surging so dramatically that they sound like the ocean and vocalist Tetsuya Fukagawa sounds like a dude who’s out drowning in the middle of it.
Mahjongg, Kontpab
Chintzy beats, warping keyboards and spoke/sung vocals. Like a dance party made out of cardboard.
Blood on the Wall, Liferz
eMusic’s Keith Harris sez: “This is the sound of untucked shirts and broken E-strings that was minted way back when ‘college rock’ was the slightly dismissive catchall term for ‘kids with guitars.’” That sums it up perfectly, actually.
Buzzcocks, 30
Live Buzzcocks album finds the group revisiting both recent faves and classics. Muddy sound quality, but the band sounds surprisingly fierce.
It’s worth noting that Jck penate’s album is at the following link for Europeans and has been for a couple of months:
http://www.emusic.com/album/Jack-Penate-Matinée-MP3-Download/11101079.html
Sigh… Of course, I meant to type “Jack Penate” and the URL got messed up, but you all know what I meant…
I love this line: “This is the kind of record you listen to as a teenager while reading Dune bleary-eyed underneath a big black light poster of a castle.” I used to love science fiction and fantasy books when I was a kid, but now Dune is the only one I could stomach re-reading (horribly bad David Lynch movie, tho).
The first song from the Dengue Fever disc — “Sober Driver” — is fantastic.
Daniel, Lynch’s Dune practically begs a re-viewing as a grown-up (I am assuming you, like me, were a teenager when the movie came out). Despite questionable casting decisions, the film seems more *misunderstood* to the now-adult viewer than just plain *bad.*
And Joe, can you mix some Planetfall references the next time you prep the New Arrivals column? That was my preferred Infocom game as a kid. Zork never took.
Also, can the next really big new release date come, say, two or three days before my downloads renew? That would be pretty cool, too. As it is I either have to wait 3 weeks for the new Black Mountain, or download it from Amazon for four times the price. Probably well worth it, though.
Man, I haven’t watched Dune in a long, long time. I’m sort of afraid to re-watch it. Urban lore says that Lynch was given the choice to direct either Dune or Return of the Jedi and he picked the former. Think how history might have been different.
I never played Planetfall, sad to say, but I thought I was all badass because I had a contraband version of Leather Goddesses of Phobos that my parents didn’t know anything about. Much to my chagrin, I could not get very far. Just like real life, in a way. I also had one that came with a glow-in-the-dark rock, but I can’t remember the name of it. The Commodore 64 was my teenage drug of choice. Defender of the Crown, anyone?
WJ: Unless I’m missing something, the next major new arrivals day is shaping up to be 2/19. Consider yourself warned!
Oh, I also noticed the Hey Willpower (Imperial Teen’s Will Schwartz doing his best Justin Timberlake impression, tongue firmly in cheek) full-length finally dropped today (in the US, anyway). I’ve only actually heard the ridiculous 2005 EP, but if this record (which includes an Architecture in Helsinki cover) is anything like their live show, then it’s probably worth downloading.
I am totally intrigued by that description.
The early arrival of Basia Bulat suddenly makes the coming week tolerable. YAY!
Also, I second the thumbs-up for the Dengue Fever. “Seeing Hands” and “Sober Driver” are my tracks of choice….very cool.
I should also mention that Bodies of Water’s album was quite high on my Best of 2007 list. It’s hard to deny the oddball eroticism with lyrics like “It is Familiar”s “When you bend over into the fridge /And try to grab some Tupperware, / I’ll surprise you and pour the half and half, / Onto your newly sunburnt neck.”
@joe: “Wishbringer” was the one with the glow-in-the-dark rock. IIRC, that was my first Infocom adventure.
Surely there must be a good Infocom emulator out there…
It should be noted that half-and-half is not a clinically recommended topical treatment for sunburns. Nonetheless, I like what I’ve heard of Bodies of Water. I would like to come up with a better comparison than the Polyphonic Spree, but I haven’t been able to. It’s too bad. I don’t really care for the Spree, but I like BOW.
I’m also enjoying the Whitsundays’ S/T album, out today on Friendly Fire. It doesn’t really live up to the tracks released last year on that Friendly Fire compilation (”Sorry James,” and “It Must Be Me”), but it’s a very pleasant half-hour for fans of the Clientele or the Association.
Hooray! Hooray!
I checked last night (GMT) for the Black Mountain album and *glee* it’s here! Consider me locked in my room and playing at full volume Mom.
ps; Times New Vikings sound great, will check out.
re: Infocom emulators: Google something called ‘Frotz’.
Now you’ve got me thinking I need to give Zork another whirl. Twenty-five years later. Thanks, joe and poireaux.
eMusic has a lot of indie rock, garage rock, and punk rock. But eMusic needs more glow-in-the-dark rock.
I’m still giddy over Basia. I’ve had the disc since the CD release shows here in Toronto in September, and it gets lots of play. See her live if she passes through your town. Wonderfully happy music.
Thanks so much (eMusic) for the new Black Mountain album- I have been anticipating this one for a while!
As for Dengue Fever, they really are great to see live, full of energy and Mrs. Nimol’s vocals are even better in person! A side note Joe- the review incorrectly spells Zac’s last name- it is Holtzman (sorry, he is my cousin, I just can’t let that slide… and no, I am not gloating).
D’oh! It will be fixed tomorrow.
Your description of the Black Mountain album as music to read Dune to won me over. Too bad I only had two downloads left.
can i just say i love the apple pan?
Dune is a work of genius - a pity it got screwed by the producers, but just the outlandisness of it - there are great set pieces - the box in which paul atreides puts his hand, the baron pulling the heart plug on his next victim…
and there is this bit me and my flatmate at Uni used to love where Paul Atreides gets his Fremen name and part of it is some gutteral grunt … just so cool
oh the depravity…