Girls - Album

Restructuring the catchy melodies and stripped-bare musical architecture of the Ramones for a west coast beach house garage party, the San Francisco-based two-man duo Girls (Christopher Owens and Chet "JR" White ) have crafted a infectious and charming debut album of California sunshine pop and fuzz-out surf guitar haziness. With a backstory that includes childhood cult indoctrination, a millionaire surrogate and prescription drug addictions, it all synthesizes down into their psychological-evaluation opening track "Lust For Life", as Owens line-lists aspirations for normalcy: boyfriend, father, suntan, pizza, beach house. "Ghost Mouth" slows down the signature 'boom ba-boom kssh' beat of the Ronettes to deliver an ode of dejected isolation and AM gold. Elsewhere, they unleash huge waves of sound as on "Summertime" which drops into hypnotic, wavering sonics of being lost in the curl, or "Big Bad Mean Motherfucker" which revs up and lets loose with an over-charged greasy guitar solo, with background harmonies wooing the whole affair in loving Beach Boy tribute. A deceptively simple record but executed perfectly.

Mr. Thing - Strange Breaks & Mr. Things II

Taking the DJ skills he's honed at DMC battles worldwide and digging deep into his treasured vinyl collection, Mr. Things of the Scratch Perverts releases his second set of rare and sought after breaks. Planned as a five-part series, Strange Breaks & Mr. Things revives the conceived beat mix-tapes from hip-hop golden era: scouring through bins of obscure 60s and 70s for the undiscovered, nasty break that can turn a thousand producers on and turn a party out. Starting with the funk-lite sitcom-jazz of "Sally", Mr. Thing re-arranges the eerie organ and drum backbeat on Dick Walter's "Spooky Doo" before scratching up the raw Michigan funk of Jake Wade and The Soul Searchers. Yes, anonymous names fill the roster here, with only one or two being familiar to only the most devote record collector. But whether its the disco-groove of Johnny Griffith, the sunny xylophone schmaltz of Jerzy Milian Orkiestra or the marching band cover of the Jackson 5's ABC by Hot Butter & Soul, Mr. Thing scoops out unexpected nuggets of funky delicacies from these underackngowledged sources, providing further stimulus for beat heads everywhere.

Frank Fairfield - Frank Fairfield

From the black and white album cover to the tinny, hollow recording process, everything on Frank Fairfield debut screams authentic. Or mimicry. For eleven songs, you can't find fault with the pure talent Fairfield shows. His voice creaks and tremors like the venerable Appalachian country music he admires. With a blazing hand, he works the banjo, guitar and fiddle as you'd picture the sun-dried fingers of Dock Boggs or Elizabeth Cotten doing, and his song selection is just as scholarly. From the mid-19th century post-civil war minstrel "To The Sweet Sunny South" or his quick playing opening arrangement of the John Henry's steel driving song "Nine Pound Hammer", Fairfield has steeped long and hard on a tradition he is respectfully keeping alive. But unlike the equally studied hand of Gillian Welch, Fairfield replicates instead of innovates, which boxes his album as an excellent academic survey. But what a terrific foreshadowing of possible future greatness.

Dead Man's Bones - Dead Man's Bones (Featuring the Silverlake Conservatory of Music Children's Choir)

Cringing at actor side-projects has become a natural reaction given the bevy of sour outcomes. But award Ryan Gosling a chance, for his partnership with fellow horror fan Zach Shields has yielded a first-rate macabre soundtrack for the Halloween season. Originally envisioned as stage production, Dead Man's Bones has the heft of grandeur, yet a number of rules kept it from over-inflating. Besides eliminating electric guitars and click tracks and including a kid's choir, they constrained themselves further with allowing only three takes for any performance. With such self-imposed amateurism, it's a wonder how they've accomplished such a realized spectral musical. Howling ghouls accents "Dead Hearts" as shattering glass confuses the cymbals and the thudding bass drum recalls Poe's beating heart beneath the floorboard. A greasy Cramps-like bashing romp stains "In The Room Where You Sleep", while "My Body's A Zombie For You" starts as a 50's line stroll, ending with a fully exuberant choir hand-clapping and cheerleading in unison: "I'm a Z-O-M / B-I-E. Zombie!" A bewildering surprise from an unlikely source, Dead Man's Bones is magical listen.

Karen O And The Kids - Where The Wild Things Are OST

Creating the soundtrack to the widely anticipated movie, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Karen O gathers up the key instruments that are universal amongst children playtime -- handclaps, shouting, percussive shakers and sugar-spiked exuberance. With the help of a kids' choir and a few fellow indie rockers (Deerhunter's Bradford Cox, Greg Kurstin of the Bird And The Bee, her fellow bandmates), Karen O And The Kids assemble ramshackled, punky-folk anthems that can inflate to cinematic, screen-filling proportions ("All Is Love") or collapse to dispirited, heartfelt ballads ("Worried Shoes"). Being a construct for a soundtrack, instrumental scores exist next to full-fledged songs, thus every track won't have the Karen O's gleeful, crackling vocals floating through it. But tracks like the hyperactive "Capsize" with its screeching guitar and its woozy center, or the downcast ache of "Hidaway" feel like excerpts from a Yeah Yeah Yeahs album, and make this soundtrack a "worth-wild" ride.

Black Heart Procession - 6

San Diego's Black Heart Procession prefer the shadowy corners, as its name may suggest, but their sound skips over the industrial aggressiveness of black-clad goth entirely. Instead, their mood and lyrical moroseness centers on the religious metaphors and bleak self-destruction that haunts the works of Johnny Cash and Nick Cave. On 6, Black Heart Procession took their time creating these depressed vignettes, executing them simultaneously as they recorded a new Three Mile Pilot album, their legendary secondary outfit. Opening with "When You Finish Me", its Cave-like delivery and melancholy piano begins shuddering out of daylight as this album sinks into the roots of Americana gloom. "Heaven And Hell" stirs with an Wurlitzer gospel organ and somber marching line, as a perceived saviour is instead the punishing finisher, while "All My Steps" is a junkyard tango with its percussion instruments resembling clattering hubcap and oil barrel, as a Spanish guitar begins the affair. Black Heart Procession move exceptionally between the cheerless emotions of Leonard Cohen to the rickety dramatics of Tom Waits, showcasing the demons on their back.

The Avett Brothers - I And Love And You

The Avett Brothers have gotten shoulder-tapped to join the big leagues. Leaving their tireless promoter Ramseur Records for the major-label calling of American Recordings, this North Carolina trio continues to expertly marry the ramshackle acoustic sweetness of The Band with the tender, pensive lyricism of Townes Van Zandt. With production assistance from grizzled vet Rick Rubin, The Avett Brothers sound tuned to perfection: a cello embedded in vocal harmonies, string sections swelling to grandiose elegance, with all the acoustics sounding hearth-warmed. But equally, their songs carry an introspective and softhearted appeal. "January Wedding" captures the adoring excitement of a fiancé's crush: "She knows which birds are singing/and the names of the trees where they're performing/ in the morning." The emotional gravity pull of "The Perfect Space" has the rumpled feeling of an older man in reflection. But just a quickly, they can kick in the beat, and return to revved-up rock and roll as on the amped-up piano pop of "Kick Drum Heart" and the hand-clap bop of "Slight Figure Of Speech". A well-excuted album from start to finish.

You've seen the movie, now read the book.

Before switching to Stephen King book in grammar school, I purely read movie books: Goonies, Disney's 1981 Condorman, and C.H.O.M.P.S., the 1979 classic about a robot dog. Wish these were around.  

http://spacesickart.com/books.html

Micachu - Jewellery

Studying at Guildhall School of Music and Drama and being commissioned to write an orchestral piece for the London Philharmonic, twenty-one year-old Mica Levi off-sets the rigors of academic training with her left-field alter-ego Micachu. Lifting inspiration for the UK's thriving grime and garage scenes, she as comfortable looping beats and releasing her own grime mixtape as with the down-tuning of a viola. On her debut full-length, Jewellery, she reveals a dizzying set of hyperactive songs that fringe on noisy chaotic fun yet retain a remarkably listenable heart. "Lips" plunder a Bhangra guitar lick for its opening before its garage rock meets circuit board freakout chorus. The minute and a half "Floor" shows Micachu at her most reserved- her guitar and electronic, blip-filled backdrop that resembles her producers Matthew Herbert's own work. If you can joyfully recall the sonic whimsy of the Fiery Furnances or the sneering jangle of The Fall, you may have a new friend in Micachu.

Crocodiles - Summer Of Hate

Yanking the title of Echo & The Bunnymen's debut album as their moniker, Crocodiles floor their Delorean to 88 miles per hour, and land into the heart of eighties revivalism with plenty of lo-fi grit. Filled with echoing reverb, sheets of white noise and the underlying bubblegum pop that fueled Jesus and Mary Chain albums, Crocodiles may have a strike against them from Reagan babies hesitant over mimicry. But out the gate, Summer Of Hate nails it with their first two songs, "I Wanna Kill" & "Soft Skull (In My Room)", a delicious bubble of pop swaddled in sonic gauze followed by a rocker woven from a ravel of pealing guitar. On "Here Comes The Sky", they soften their edges for a moment, offering a dreamy sleepwalking ballad. But they return with the stalking beat of "Flash Of Light" which refuses to die; it ends in a near two-minute long feedback loop, challenging even the diehard lover noise. A solid debut!

El Michels Affair - Enter The 37th Chamber

Consider this a reclamation of all that hip-hop looted from funk's greatest beats. Organist and drummer Leon Michels has slowly worked his way from being a member of the Meter-inspired outfit, The Mighty Imperials, to taking over wayward Brooklyn funk label Soul Fire, and reviving into its current dynamite status as Truth & Soul Records. Building his original band from session musicians moonlighting from the Dap-Kings, Budos Band and Antibalas, El Michels Affair's reputation eventually lead to an invitation to accompany Wu-Tang Clan's Raekwon for a promotional concert. Every fire needs a spark, and that collaboration has spawned Enter The 37th Chamber- an instrumental soul examination of the RZA's gritty production. As moodily ominous as it is skillfully funky, El Michels Affair shade the strings and keys of "Duel Of The Iron Mic" in minor notes, the drums on "Cherchez La Ghost" crisply replicate the sampled original, and the blaring horns and children choral singing on "Shimmy Shimmy" is pure genius. A must for any respectable, true Wu fan. Throw up your double-Us.

Black Moth Super Rainbow - Eating Us

Previously a jumble of lo-fi wiring and bedroom electronics rolled in a shaggy rug of kaleidoscopic pop, Black Moth Super Rainbow may be in the act of growing up. Entering a modern recording studio for the first time, they are now under the wing of star indie-producer Dave Fridmann, who combed out the Flaming Lips' acid frizz for Soft Bulletin and unearthed the textual beauty on Mercury Rev's Deserter's Songs.

On Eating Us, sharp edges have been polished down to reveal chrome smooth harmonies and melodies gentle enough to rock baby androids to sleep. On first listen, you may wonder if you've mistakenly put in Air's Moon Safari accidently, as you're flooded with gorgeous, hypnotic ambient pop; BMSR have never sounded so restrained. But soak in its headphone delight - the twinkling vocoder daydream of "Twin Of Myself" and the exploding symphonic neon of "Dark Bubbles"- and its the same old BMSR, but just in a better tailored suit. A complete aural thrill!

Pink Mountaintops - Outside Love

Stephen McBean's Pink Mountaintops musically counterweights the prog/Sabbath riff-rich rock of his other band, Black Mountain. Originally the sexier of the two franchises (you get the anatomical allusion, right), Pink Mountaintops dirty blues rock has slowly ingested a wider range of influences, toning down its previous testosterone posturing for a gentler combination of ramshackle folk and ethereal psychedelia. The title track "Outside Love" slinks by with the sex melancholy and fuzzed out guitars of a Mazzy Star ballad, only to be followed by "And I Thank You", a lo-fi alt-country slow swagger that hints at Gram Parson and Emmy Lou Harris, with their final track "Closer To Heaven" resembling a dusty serenade by the Psychedelic Furs. The only suggestion of Pink Mountaintops previous muscle is the uptempo, noisy boogie of "The Gayest Of Sunbeams", which may cause a sigh of nostalgia for their first album. Either way, Stephen McBean's rich voice is remarkably flexible for any number of musical settings. A good listen from start to finish.

Various Artists - Local Customs: Downriver Revival

Numero Group, once again, delves into the recesses of uncelebrated American small time recording studios, this time spotlighting Ecorse, Michigan -several miles down river from Detriot- and the basement of Felton Williams, an electrician at the Ford Motor Company by day. From 1967 to 1981, Felton's Double U Sound recorded whoever came knocking on his door. So while he longed for a national hit, this DIY electrical marvel unintentionally chronicled a local musical history. While he capture to tape the sounds of Appalachian folk (Coleman Family), garage Mod (Young Generation), and instrumental funk and soul (The Organics and Bobby Cook & The Explosions), the star of this collection is the raw gospel recordings, especially the work of Shirley Ann Lee, a contemporary of Candi Stanton. Opening the album with her spiritual stomper "There's A Light", Downriver Revival is an aural discovery of poking through antiquated platters, only to realize they haven't lost a gleam of their luster. Exceptional!

Parenthetical Girls - Entanglements

Experimental popsters with panache toward the hurly burly musical production of show tunes and Broadway, the Parenthetical Girls offer up the majestic pomp of classic pop twisted to a modern aesthetics. Here, instruments are returned to their emotional capabilities. Just listen to the track “Unmentionables”. From the heavenly lushness of a violin’s vibrato, to the street carnival bounce of tuba and trombone's fat sliding voice or the dream-like wonderment caused by the glockenspiel's endless twinkling, all this noise is laced up within this one song to dramatic and invigorating effect. This is the baroque-pop of Andrew Bird, and though it tends to lean more toward Cabaret zaniness than MGM sophistication, its grandeur can never be questioned. And when the song writing carries the poetic literary heft of “The Former” as its twist with sexual tension accented by angelic choral harmonies and a rising unison of strings, it’s as cinematic as any stage production.

Koushik - Out My Window

For a producer, Koushik must have one of the most serene views in the country. As his second release for Stones Throw record, he balances oft-kiltering, cavernous beats with light-as-air harmonies, and with the album opener "Morning Comes", he'll coax the sun out of hiding and make your waking yawn a delightful experience. Its all about mood, with conventional song structure taking a back seat to textual ambience and soundscape. Part eclectic beat tape in the tradition of Madlib and J Dilla, Koushik adds large measures of pop melodies that swirl around his mist-thin falsetto and dramatically build to a glorious apex. And before you know it, the track ends as gently as it began, each track taking up on enough time to create an impression, then moving on. This is a masterful opus of organic chillout jazz, with the production clarity and inventiveness of legendary producer David Axelrod's best work.

Karl Hector + The Malcouns—Sahara Swing

Record label Now-Again has emerged as a funk aficionado’s dream, time and time again. As a side label to the forward thinking hip-hop label Stones Throw, it’s been the outlet for the upper management’s collection of obscure funk 7-inches, preserving rare soul gems from the dustbin of obscurity. With such sophisticated and honed tastes, it’s no surprise that when they discover a new artist, it’s like entering a time machine. Karl Hector’s full length debut merges the backbeat and horn ensembles of the rawest funk, with the poly-rhythmic complexity and found sound of Pan-African ethnomusicology. If you remember Mulatu Astatke’s Ethiopian jazz featured prominently in Jim Jarmusch’s Broken Flowers, then consider this your new tonic. With contributions from Poets Of Rhythm’s Jay Whitefield and his European soul brethren, this instrumental jazz-funk owes as much to the progressive exploratory vision of Funkadelic and Sun Ra as it does to the pure smoking grooves of Africa’s most dynamite soul ensemble.

One Day As A Lion—One Day As A Lion

Merging the intense velocity of punk and thrash with the biting lyrical commentary of hip-hop, Rage Against The Machine erupted in the ‘90s with its fiery, passionate frontman Zach de la Rocha as its figurehead. When the band folded, the rest of the group recruited Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell and formed Audioslave; everyone else eagerly anticipated Zach’s next move, a wait that lasted nearly a decade. Well, the return is here, but now as a duet, and with an equally polemic moniker taken from George Rodriguez 1970s photo of a wall scrawled with this defiant message: “It’s better to live one day as a lion, than a thousand years as a lamb.” As politically instigating and musically volatile as his previous band, it’s an excellent, kinetically charged return, all stuffed into a five-track EP. Heavy on Rage-like riffs built from skronky explosions of Zach’s overly amplified keyboard and the sizzling, bombastic drumming of Jon Theodore (ex- Mars Volta), it’s as explosive as anything Rage put out yet doesn’t sound like a mediocre re-hashing. A welcome return to a political voice that been sorely missed.

Abe Vigoda – Skeleton

Give the kids a place to play, and eventually the noise will be heard. In Los Angeles, it’s the Smell, a club that’s been the outlet for bands such as No Age, HEALTH, and Mika Miko to pound delirious sounds out to young, hungry ears. Taken full, capable advantage of their scenes newfound limelight is Abe Vigoda, a four man crew whose tumultuous drumming is underscored with equal measures tropical influenced guitar melodies as well feedback drenched noise. Instant comparison will be made to the other current Afro-pop/ indie-rock purveyors, Vampire Weekend. But instead of their Ivy League pop sentiments, Abe Vigoda turns up the mix until everything bleeds together in a wash of energetic, lo-fi hurly burly no wave. It can all be quite exhausting, even at thirty minutes, so the few investigation into sound- the subdued, shimmering reverb of “Visi Rings” or the hollow feedback of “Whatever Forever”- act as perfect palate cleanse before the percussion pummeling returns. Like Campari, this will be invigorating for some, bitter to others.

Rodriguez – Cold Fact

Opening his 1970 debut, Cold Fact, with the deeply seductive lure of “Sugar Man”, a tripped-out blues ode to his drug dealer, Sixtoo Rodriguez illustrates the working class, counter-culture of late 60’s with a tongue that was dipped in Dylan lyricism. With heavyweight fuzzed out guitar work provided by Dennis Coffey (that’s him on the Temptation’s “Cloud Nine”), and catchy psych-folk songs that stick to the inside of your brain after a single listen, this album, unfortunately, tittered on lip of the obscurity, despite being a sensation in foreign countries. In 2002, producer David Holmes re-introduced Rodriguez’s gem “Sugar Man” with its inclusion on his curated compilation “Come Get It, I Got It” and caught the attention of listeners world wide, which finally culminates in this re-issue. Rodriguez shuffles personal alienation with societal critiques as Marvin Gaye did on What’s Goin’ On, and like that classic, it still is refreshing enjoyable, and unfortunately, quite topical.