Record Reviews

The Vinyl Strangers

originally published June 21, 2006

It no longer means much to say that a group is influenced by the Beatles; you have to get specific. In the case of Athens’ Vinyl Strangers, 1965's Help! (think "Ticket to Ride" and "I've Just Seen a Face") serves as their Beatles touchstone. The boy-girl subject matter rules, though the lyrics delve a little deeper than "I wanna hold your hand." More importantly, from a sonic point of view, the Vinyl Strangers’ songs don't bombard you with psychedelic trickery. Of course, we all love Revolver, but everybody tries to reinvent that these days. It’s refreshing to hear pop songs that stand on their own, embellished only with tambourine and occasional, show-offy, three-part harmonies.

All of this is not to say the Vinyl Strangers come off as a twee retro act. Though the album’s opener "The Slightest Chance" sounds as peppy as a receptionist on that first day at work, it still unfolds naturally and, despite its influences, doesn’t sound dated. And, as on most of this record’s songs, singers Joe Guerzo (also of Flood City Shootout) and Reid Howland (The High Caliber) weave their vocal lines together until you can't tell where one ends and the other begins, all backed by the bass of Steve Cox and the drums of Ian Werden (Slackdaddy, Jackpot City, The High Caliber).

"Patriotic Girl" is another standout: a complex piece of power pop delivered at a breakneck pace. I imagine if Marshall Crenshaw were commissioned to write a surf number, "Patriotic Girl" is what he would deliver.

The only song that seems out of place on the record may be the last: "Letting it Ride." It's as cool and catchy as they come, but the song's rolling groove and ever-present wah-wah guitar recalls 1975 more than 1965. Then again, this may be done by design. Perhaps the Vinyl Strangers were leap-frogging over the heavy stuff and taking you from one bubblegum era into another.

Tom Bavis The Vinyl Strangers are playing at Tasty World on Wednesday, June 21 and at Transmetropolitan on Friday, June 23 as part of AthFest.

Tom Bavis

The Vinyl Strangers are playing at Tasty World on Wednesday, June 21 and at Transmetropolitan on Friday, June 23 as part of AthFest.

Record Reviews

Kieran Hubden & Steve Reid

originally published June 21, 2006

Four Tet's last record Everything Ecstatic was a return to folk strumming/ laptop doodling form following the faintly sterile, running-in-place Rounds. I'll likely always prefer Pause, Kieran Hebden's first release under the Four Tet name. It's a wonderful thing, though, when a respected artist branches out and completely redefines perception. Hebden's recently fallen head over heels for jazz drummer/ percussionist Steve Reid, and already the second volume of The Exchange Session is hitting shelves.

Reid's best known for his friendship and drumming with Coltrane and Davis during both legends' artsier fusion periods, although his résumé contains session work with Sun Ra, Féla Kuti and James Brown. More impressive is his fluidity behind the kit, and this volume more than the first illustrates what a perfect kinship he shares with Hebden's knob-freaking. Completely improvised with no overdubs, the three lengthy tracks meander like Billy from "Family Circus," but rarely does your attention follow suit. "Hold Down the Rhythms, Hold Down the Machines" does exactly that, whirring, snaring and hi-hatting along, not going anywhere extraordinary but just locking into an effective cyclical groove. "Noémie" is to these ears the highlight. Kind of like if Can were on Kranky Records, an Eastern flute melody breezes through wind chimes, layering and layering until noise takes over. "We Dream Free" finishes off the set and is essentially the jazzier sequel to "Noémie."

Seriously exciting stuff. Obviously improv isn't everyone's bag, and many fans of Four Tet's records will be bored stiff. But you can tell Hebden's far more inspired in this context with Reid, who sounds like he's having the time of his life.

Michael Wehunt

Michael Wehunt

Record Reviews

Regina Spektor

originally published June 21, 2006

There’s no question Regina Spektor has talent, and she appears to be getting closer to making a cohesive album without down spots, but Begin to Hope is more what its title describes: a reason to look forward to what comes next, but not to be satisfied with the present. The first song on the record, “Fidelity,” is different from anything she’s done before - bigger, and driven by a strangely hip hop beat based on rough pizzicato strings - but it’s not the single, which seems like a mistake.

The song that is being released first is “Better,” which isn’t. It’s also something different, but in a much less interesting way, though it steals some from the Beatles (you’ll hear those influences again in “On the Radio,” which echoes “I Am the Walrus” in its chorus of chanting backing vocals). What it does do is show off Spektor's strong and distinctive voice, which skips among octaves like it’s fun and easy and conveys sort of the same thing as opera; she can’t sing like Maria Callas, but she does sing with her whole body in that way, and she’s powerful enough (almost) to make it not sound silly when she drags out the word “boobs” for syllable after syllable in “20 Years of Snow.”

Tracks alternate between more piano-driven, simply produced songs that sound like what we’ve heard previously from Spektor and ones that are as much of a grab-bag as Gwen Stefani’s solo stuff is. “That Time,” for example, is straight-up New York garage rock, with no piano in sight, and “Edit” slips in a beat that’s right off one of Diplo’s productions. None of these works as well as “Fidelity,” but they’re always at least interesting, and it’s fair to say we’re farther along the path than just the beginning. Solidly into hope, let’s call it.

Hillary Brown

Hillary Brown

Record Reviews

Snowglobe

originally published June 21, 2006

There is clearly something in all of us that longs for harmony, whether it’s expressed in the beauty of a mathematical proof, a perfectly phrased sentence, a pattern composed just so or, as in this case, songs that hum with a deeply buzzing force. Nothing about the name of the band or the CD or the cover of the CD will quite let you know what you’re in for, but maybe the photograph on the back does: a picture of Brad Postlethwaite as a kid, buried in those colorful plastic balls they have at Chuck E. Cheese. That is, it is bright and multifarious and wants to swallow you whole.

Elements of the Elephant 6 crowd - tons of different instruments, mostly - show up, but so do those of The Magnetic Fields (pitch, commitment to melody, the darkish tone of the lyrics), Imogen Heap (the barely separated harmonic vocals on “Hide and Seek”) and Magical Mystery Tour-era Beatles (most evident on “Dry”). But none of it feels druggy or self-indulgent except in the way it makes you need to listen to it over and over again, creating a self-sufficient cocoon of sound. There is almost too much to delight the ears on some songs, like “Rainbow,” which causes addiction with its “da da da" chorus, and “Happy,” which piles on instruments and vocals in a hook that makes you want to do nothing but breathe it in.

It’s all very much like being hit with a ton of super gorgeous bricks in slow motion, which is the feeling I'm always looking for from music and which makes it one of the best things out so far this year.

Hillary Brown

Hillary Brown

Record Reviews

Gotan Project

originally published June 21, 2006

Tango. For many, this word merely summons images of Al Pacino being Al Pacino on the dancefloor in Scent of a Woman. Or it's anything it takes two to do. For others, it identifies a sacred form of music, an elegant genre which tests the waters of classical form as well as traditional dance. French (what? isn't tango Argentinean?) trio Gotan Project has done the ever-popular "take something that rules and put cool beats in it" trick, and on its second album, Lunático, the group succeeds a little more than on its debut, La Revancha del Tango. The reason for this is simple: tone back the dub and kick the always fascinating tango up a notch. The synthesis is more pure, and it all sounds like an actual album rather than a remix project.

Opener "Amor Porteño" scores extra points immediately due to the presence of Calexico, indiedom's most amazing flamenco-rock act. Guest vocalist Cristina Vilallonga provides vocals on the majority of these 12 tracks, and I'd rather it be only a handful. Her voice is a Spanish sort of Letitia Sadler and often detracts from the wonderful environments swirling around her. As a tango record, Lunático works fairly well. No way will anyone be saying "Piazzolla who?" - but it's pleasant if a bit too jazzy.

My advice would be to skip this and pick up violinist Gidon Kremer's Hommage a Piazzolla or Tango: Zero Hour by Astor Piazzolla himself. His music will always be the high point of the genre, and neither of those albums sounds at all dated or cheesy. But if beats are your selling point, you could do far worse than this.

Michael Wehunt

Michael Wehunt

Record Reviews

Mojave 3

originally published June 21, 2006

Mojave 3’s Neil Halstead has made a career out of singing dreamy, countrified chamber pop songs perfectly suited for rainy-day contemplation. On Puzzles Like You, the band’s fifth release, Halstead isn’t afraid to lighten up and get a little cheesy. With opener “Truck Driving Man,” Halstead lays down a challenge for himself - to create an album that gets loose and stays loose throughout - and for the most part, he succeeds.

The rock vibe that was so muted on Mojave 3’s last effort (the eloquent but meandering Spoon and Rafter) has come back with a vengeance on this one, with nods to the Byrds and the Jayhawks. Mojave 3 differs from those bands and their followers in one glaring regard, however: whereas the Byrds (et al) are prototypically American, Halstead and crew sound British, and unabashedly so. On “Most Days,” Puzzles Like You’s only real downer (and paradoxically, the most brilliant track on the whole album), Halstead summons Nick Drake’s ghost, singing with only slightly more lyrical clarity than that iconic folk singer.

On most other tracks though, the boys and girl of Mojave 3 are rocking instead of moping, and more importantly, are enjoying the process. Halstead, in particular, sounds downright celebratory, like an awkward little girl whose pig wins a blue ribbon at the county fair.

Mark Sanders

Mark Sanders