Music Review: Gayngs - Relayted

Despite his recent run-ins with the law, George Michael has at least has one thing to smile about – Gayngs’ newest release, Relayted. After all, the album has fingerprints of his influence all over it, as it drips with slow-burn ballads full of softly cooed sexual advances. In fact, nearly every touchstone of eighties soft rock gets a shout-out here – whether it’s the saxophone-player in a smoky alley vibe of Sade or the nearly note-for-note homage of Godley & Creme’s Cry. The trouble is Gayngs play it a little too tight, forsaking the deconstruction of this rich source material into something exciting (see: Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti), and instead choosing to create lesser facsimiles. Still, Relayted remains a worthwhile listen, but only as a warm up while you dig out the originals from the crate in your basement.

Music Review: Infinite Body - Carve Out the Face of My God

Infinite Body – Carve Out the Face of My God

Somewhere between the abrasive melodicism of My Bloody Valentine and the tireless drone of Stars of the Lid rests Infinite Body, the handiwork of one Ryan Parker. His album title couldn’t be more apt, as his musical landscapes are populated by grand hymnal reveries full of swelling, clear-eyed crescendos, buried by cottony sheets of white noise. Like some kind of sonic approximation of the disintegrating gaze of a deity, Carve Out the Face of My God is full of songs like ‘Out to Where I Am,” where a majestic cathedral organ multiplies itself over and over until the sheet power of its presence strips everything else away.

Dead Man's Bones - s/t

Dead Man’s Bones – s/t
Oh October, how you charm with your ghostly gifts. Halloween’s a funny (non)holiday – it gives us a chance to both cringe and laugh at the things that go bump in the night. The collaboration of Ryan Gosling and Zach Shields., otherwise known as Dead Man’s Bones, gets this contradiction completely. Backed by an eerily high-pitched children’s choir, they sings songs about zombies, love, werewolves, love and drowning – and in that order. It’s a marvelous blend of old-school doo-wop crooning and darkly dreamt romanticism – in other words, a great soundtrack for a night of ghouls and giving out candy. Highlights include: My Body’s a Zombie for You, Pa Pa Power and Flowers Grow Out of My Grave.

Music Review: Discovery – LP

Discovery - LP

Summer is the best time for ridiculousness. Something about all that heat seems to loosen up our normally narrower critical faculties. Summer makes it okay to wear crocks and appreciate Transformers sequels un-ironically. With that in mind, LP from Discovery is made for the sunshine season. Born out of a long-running side project from the lead singer of Ra Ra Riot (who released the solid Rhumb Line recently) and the keyboardist from Vampire Weekend, Discovery is all about throwaway pop songs and plenty of auto-tune. It shouldn’t work, and it wouldn’t usually, but the cheesy lyrics and ramshackle synths scream summertime good times. If a comparison can be made, it’s like Chromeo, but less lusty. Whether it’s the playfulness of So Insane or the spot-on cover of I Want You Back, Discovery are mining the right kind of shallow – and making the perfect soundtrack to baggy shorts and Hawaiian shirts.

Music Review: Crystal Castles, Health, Gutter Twins

Crystal Castles
s/t

It’s an Atari game and now it’s also a Toronto two-piece who twist an 8-bit aesthetic into dark, danceable post-rave. Singer Alice Glass contorts over Ethan Kath’s combination of warped Nintendo squeals and heavy synthesizers – the resulting sound isn’t just cold – it’s positively frozen. Crystal Castles sound as though they’re playing frost covered instruments in a meat locker while wearing black hoodies and black sunglasses with the lights off – in other words, it’s menacingly good. Highlights: Untrust Us, Courtship Date, XXZXCUZX ME

Health
DISCO

If there’s one release that could probably do with a drastic remix it’s Health’s underwhelming self-titled release from this year. While their first album did add some interesting thematic elements to the sludge-rock genre (pop, noise and ambience), it felt a little too much like Boris’ Pink redux than an original release from an original band. DISCO re-imagines Health through the lens of some wickedly aggressive electro – it’s an impressive mix of brontosaurus rock with razor sharp synthesizers – and it comes across like a raving LCD Soundsystem hopped-up on angel dust running naked through the streets. Highlights: Lost Time (Picture Plane Remix), Heaven (Narctrax Remix), Zoothorns (Nastique’s Remix)

The Gutter Twins
Saturnalia

Remember when gothic meant something other than wearing dark make-up and scribbling in a skull and cross-bones diary? Me neither, but The Gutter Twins (former Afghan whig Greg Dhulli and former Screaming Trees Mark Lanegan) conjure up a dark and sensuous record that would soundtrack perfectly to Bela Lugosi’s Dracula. Whether its white noise strings, growling stand up bass, rumbling synthesizers, or whispery come-hither lyrics, the whole record effortlessly melds into a smoky vision of wax candles and crushed velvet. Highlights: The Stations, Circle the Fringes, God’s Children

Fast Five Music Reviews

The Acorn – Glory Hope Mountain
Glory Hope Mountain is a quasi concept album about the lead singer’s mother and her tumultuous journey from South America. It’s a tender mix of shambling acoustics and subtle African rhythms where the heart is mapped over the geography of continents and psychography of hardship in a wide-eyed tribute. Highlights: The Flood pt. 2, Crooked Legs

Burial – Untrue
A year-end favorite, and deservedly so, Burial’s second album is the warmest cold record I’ve heard in a long time. Distant, yet edging over with latent emotion, it’s the perfect synopsis of unreconcilable love. Not a sunny day record, but one that soundtracks great saying hello to the night. Highlights: Arcangel, In McDonalds, Ghost Hardware

Ladyhawk – Shots
Ladyhawk are proving to be more consistent than small town transit with a second release of solid, squalling guitar workouts. This release gets a little darker, moving away from no luck resignation into alcohol-fueled mortal contemplation. The abyss stares back and it sounds great. Highlights: Fear, Corpse Paint, Faces of Death

Miracle Fortress – Five Roses
So Panda Bear gets all the credit for reviving the Beach Boys with Person Pitch, but I prefer Miracle Fortress’ Five Roses. Rather than play to the postmodern crowd, Five Roses revels in oldschool melody and the sweet interplay of double-tracked falsetto vocals. It’s forward-thinking, but still saves the baby from the bathwater. Highlights: Maybe Lately, Beach Bay, Hold Your Secrets to Your Heart.

Ungdomskulen – Cry Baby
The band name means “middle school” but sounds more like something a middle-schooler would draw on their binder. It’s a pretty fair representation of the band – a buzzing amalgamation of sung-scremed vocals, high-wire guitars, galloping drums and punch your lights out bass. The rhythm section is worth the admission alone. Highlights: Glory Hole, Modern Drummer, Ordinary Son.

music sounds better in you in 2007

Top Music for 2007

When I inevitably go deaf from listening to too much music, I would like to at least be able to remark on what made me go deaf, and hopefully remember that I enjoyed the experience along the way. Here is my "list" of music that I liked in 2007. It's neither a list in that it's not numbered, and it certaintly isn't exhaustive - this is just the stuff I can either find on my ipod or dig out of my unsteady memory.

Rap
Abdominal
Dalek
Wu Tang

(I thought it was a pretty weak year for rap - sorry Kanye and 50 cent, neither of your releases lived up to their hype)

Metal
Insomnium
KillWhitneydead
Longing for Dawn
Honorable considerations:
Neurosis
Baroness
Earth
Nadja
Dolorian
Middian
Virgin Black
Fucking Champs
Veil of Maya
Boris with Michio Kurihara

(It's already past trendy to like metal, but it was a good year with a lot of diverse releases which the above reflects)

Pop/Rock
The National
Radiohead
The Saps
Band of Horses
Battles
Radiohead
King Khan and the Shrines
Black Moth Super Rainbow
Blitzen Trapper
Boat
Brunettes
Christian Kiefer
Chromatics
Hallelujah the Hills
Households
Jens Lekman
Joel Plaskett
Les Savy Fav
Liars
Loney Dear
Love of Diagrams
Maritime
Marnie Stern
Meneguar
Wingtip Sloat
Miracle Fortress
Nina Nastasia and Jim White
No Age
Okkervil River
Spoon
St. Vincent
Twilight Sad
Uncut
!!!
Benoit Pioulard
Jetplanes of Abraham
LCD Soundsystem
What made Milwaukee Famous
Wintersleep

(I felt like the best releases came early, but things picked up in the fall)

Electronic
Burial
Cex
Clark
Cassius
Alter Ego
Muscles
DJ Jazzy Jeff
The Field
Gouseion
Justice
Pantha Du Prince
Simian Mobile Disco
Studio
Tobias Thomas
Tough Alliance
The Tuss
Aphex Twin
Mixed Up in the Hague
Yeasayer
Dan Deacon

(a great year for electronic with some off-the-wall releases and new trends)

Out-there
Eric Copeland
Magik Markers
Stars of the Lid
Eluvium
Svarte Grenier
Phosphorescence

(I feel like there was a lot more than this, but I can't remember - these are still really good - from dissonant to etheral)

Punk/Hardcore
Lifetime
Circa Survive
Comeback Kid
Daggermouth
Ghost of a Thousand
Hot Cross
I Can Put My Arm Back On You Can’t
Wednesday Night Heroes
Crime in Stereo

(Another weak category, but these releases blew me away)

Best spring-time album - Loney, Dear - self-titled - fun and wistful like rain
Best summer-time album - Lifetime - bouncy and fun to listen to while running
Best fall-time album -The National - moody and introspective
Best winter-time album - Burial -Untrue - Haunting, dark yet luminscent

Recent Reviews

Apologies, the wolf comic is not ready. Some changing job issues and needing to find a new scanner issues mean it should be ready tomorrow.

In the meantime, here are some recent music reviews.

Better versions of a couple of these reviews can be found on the BeatRoute site:

http://www.beatroute.ca/view_article.php?sectionID=4&articleID=981

http://www.beatroute.ca/view_article.php?sectionID=4&articleID=980

Voxtrot
s/t
Playlouderecordings

Voxtrot are done with teasing, it’s time for the real thing. After three tantalizing, yet all too brief EP’s through 2005 and 2006, Voxtrot finally release their first self-titled record. With a larger canvas, Voxtrot break away from measured gauziness to produce songs brimming with propulsive energy and stand out hooks. The first song, “Introduction” starts familiarly enough as delicate strings and hushed guitars weave together behind singer Ramesh Srivastava’s deep voice that pays homage to Morrissey; however, by the time the second chorus ends, a white hot guitar solo erupts, signaling a change to the band’s typical sound. By the time “Firecracker” rolls around, Voxtrot plows through statacco rhythm and stop-start percussion until the song unleashes frenetic guitars and clean high-register vocals from Srivastava. Voxtrot’s first full-length is a welcome change from a band growing out of its influences into its own distinctive sound full of confident aggressive melodies.

The Locust
New Erections
Anti-

Is it possible for a band like The Locust to grow up? Inherently self-destructive, it’s a tough job to chart the sonic evolution of a band whose sound is closely tied to an annihilation aesthetic If New Erections is any indication, The Locust are making strides away from their thrashy grindcore into unnervingly focused neo-prog. Oddly enough, the band’s effort to slow down the tempo results in their most unsettling work yet. On songs like “The Unwilling led by the Unqualified…” spastic drum fills drop away revealing decaying horror movie keyboards and Bobby Bray’s blitzkrieg shrieking about our trash-worshipping culture building garbage towers to heaven. While New Erections is more chaos than control, there is definitely a politically-charged theme behind the strangled synthesizers and short-circuit riffs. While it’s hardly a lucid affair, New Erections is the closest the band has come to actual songs, without losing their raucous intensity. It’s these small steps that show The Locust’s creative leaps, and once again, put them one step ahead of the game.

Dntel
Dumb Luck
Sub Pop

Dumb Luck is a fitting title for an artist whose success was totally unexpected. While few remember now, Dntel (Jimmy Tamborello) was already an established electronic artist before he took part in the zeitgeist known as The Postal Service. Going solo for the first time since 2001’s Life is Full of Possibilities, Dntel’s newest is like his previous collection of austere electronica. Unfortunately, Dumb Luck doesn’t recapture the playful spirit of its predecessor. Instead, the record downplays hooks for tone, burying captivating synths behind wet blanket production. Sadly, it makes Dntel’s electronics unnecessary and leaves the album without a memorable foothold. Add that to the fact Tamborello’s woe-is-me lyrics dance around with two left feet, producing a few cringe-worthy stumbles. While contributions by Lali Puna and Grizzly Bear’s Edward Droste show promise, it’s drowned out by mailed-in performances from the likes of Conor Oberst and Mia Doi Todd. Too bad, Dntel’s Dumb Luck falls flat from such great heights.