Record Reviews
The Stills
originally published July 5, 2006
The press release accompanying Without Feathers, Montreal-based The Stills’ sophomore effort, mentions something about the band’s newfound love for simplicity. Indeed, compared to the band’s debut Logic Will Break Your Heart, this is a return to form for a band that’s still too young to have really developed one yet. Leadoff track “In the Beginning” marks a strong divergence from Logic’s reliance on ’80s guilty-pleasure tricks (think INXS), proving the band has matured beyond irony and cockiness to something new and sincere.
With this release, The Stills have cultivated a Springsteen-like love for the common guy, complete with arena-ready piano riffs, but without losing the pomposity that made them such standouts in the first place. The band sometimes falters in their pursuit of a more timeless, distinctive sound, though the results of their efforts on Without Feathers prove they’re anything but sophomoric.
Mark SandersRecord Reviews
Serena Maneesh
originally published July 5, 2006
In the interest of full disclosure, I have to confess: I’ve been listening to My Bloody Valentine an awful lot lately. Perhaps the aftertaste of Loveless in the headphones has influenced (if not tainted) my opinion of Serena Maneesh, since the band’s self-titled debut sounds uncannily like that iconic 1991 album. The built-up mountains of psychedelic, tribal rhythms, washed over by transcendent, layered electric guitars and gauzy, breathy vocals all tell listeners what branch of the alt-rock tree these guys fell from.
That’s not an indictment - far from it. Serena Maneesh is a throwback band of the best variety, paying homage to the canon of '90s Buzz Bin rock while reminding us listeners of why those antecedents were so important in the first place.
Mark SandersRecord Reviews
Hot Chip
originally published July 5, 2006
"I hesitate to ask, Holmes, but what on Earth could Hot Chip have to do with this murder?" The sleuth gave me that elementary look.
"Frankly, Watson," he began, "since your own bones danced to The Warning all the way from Baker Street to this locked-room murder investigation, I'm rather surprised you don't grasp the obvious.
"As you can see, Hot Chip's previous album, Coming on Strong, is perched on the shelf in the corner. The new record, The Warning, lies on the floor beside the body. See the wrapper there. I deduct it had presently been purchased and eagerly opened. Now, we both know the band worked with the super-hip producers the DFA for this project. And we know how the new album is filled with the usual brimming toolbox of ingenious beats, bells, whistles and such with which the DFA flutter our eardrums. The only mystery here is that the DFA did not produce this near-hour of fun and infectiousness!"
"But Holmes, what are you on about?"
"Watson! The duo did all the production on the album! They fooled even these senses! The album surpasses its forebear. 'Over and Over' is one of this year's great pop songs. 'And I Was a Boy From School' is deadpan beauty with a brilliant disco groove. Perhaps the DFA ghost-produced, but this is baffling all the same. Fantastic dance slacker pop!"
"But Holmes, the murder!"
"Murder? This was suicide, old bean. Note the absence of any sort of music player. The poor man was locked in here with no means to hear The Warning! Put in his position, what would you do? Pray you heed the warning, Watson; pick up your own copy, and quit nicking mine!"
Mark SandersRecord Reviews
Board Of Canada
originally published July 5, 2006
Boards of Canada's The Campfire Headphase came in at No. 10 on my year-end list for '05. So I owe all my faithful readers (don't roll your eyes - I'm talking about you) a bit of an apology. When reviewing the record, I wrote something along the lines of "This is a step down from their earlier efforts, but Boards are still several rungs higher than anyone else in their field." I still hold to that, but the album has grown a little stale in the subsequent six months or so. Perhaps its late release date and my four-year anticipation combined to trick me into letting it slip into my prestigious list. I'm supposed to be too smart and objective for that. Oops.
Now comes another test for me, a longtime fan of BoC. Trans Canada Highway, a six-track EP companion to Campfire, leads off with "Dayvan Cowboy," a selection from that album, and it's easily the best track off the previous disc. The same goes here, unfortunately. It's mildly distorted guitar fuzz and unraveling synths before a clean tremolo guitar breaks the mood. The best Boards of Canada overflows with relaxing and head-nodding nostalgic joy, and "Dayvan" is near the top of its canon.
"Left Side Drive" is vintage Boards. So is "Heard From Telegraph Lines." "Skyliner" is too acid for my tastes.
There are only 28 minutes here, so deduct five for the previously released track and nine more for Odd Nosdam's remix thereof. So 14 minutes worth of new goodies isn't much. Choose wisely.
Michael WehuntRecord Reviews
Intellekt & Dirty Digits
originally published July 5, 2006
Visit the MySpace page for Atlanta hip hop duo Intellekt & Dirty Digits and you’ll find their chosen genre of music described in the usual, hum-drum way: hip hop/ rap. But, then, comes another backslash, and the third qualifier - turntablism - turns out to be a far more appropriate descriptor. Emcee Dillon “Intellekt” Maurer and deejay Dan “Dirty Digits” Chavez first released their debut Intellektual Property in 2004 while still knocking around the Gainesville, FL, club scene. Now part of Atlanta's burgeoning ArcTheFinger stable, Property has been re-released with all its regular-guy cred in tow.
If the two-man wrecking crew comes across as a couple of wiseguys who get their kicks playing video games, rolling blunts and slicing/ dicing old Isaac Hayes records, well, they are. “Mario Cart Relivin’” is a prime example, starting with a casual game of Nintendo and progressing into a thumping mix of verbal tradeoffs between the two.
The duo doesn’t revolutionize suburban hip hop here, but there’s a down-to-earth quality about Intellektual Property that’s tough to resist. The samples are well cut and blend seamlessly, the lyrics are well paced and intelligible (whoa, does that ever help) and the sometimes-goofy tradeoffs between the two provide some welcome self-deprecation. Intellekt’s mom even drops in to send a shout-out to her boy on “Phenom Mental.” A more serious cut, “Freebird (For Ben)” references the standard lighter-lifter in a tribute to the duo’s mutual friend who was killed in an auto crash. Elsewhere, though, it’s a bling-starved, ragged-jeaned workaday world that Intellekt and Dirty Digits nimbly slice into like a warm stick of margarine.
Michael Andrews Intellekt is playing at the Masquerade in Atlanta on Saturday, July 15.If you are having problems with the site, or have questions or suggestions, please contact us here. Thanks!
Care to comment on this article? Click here!
You will be the first person to comment on this article.