THE LOBBY: ALBUMS OF THE WEEK
February 27th 2007 11:15
For all of my wonderful readers out there waitin’ for the reviews of Tom Waits’s Orphans and Ween’s Quebec, thank you for your patience. They’re still being prepared and should be hot ‘n’ ready before next week.
Sorry for the disarming silence here in the Lobby last week. The entire Hotel has been pretty quiet, because I’ve managed to wrestle myself away from the reviewing demon inside of me to spend some time warming up my real life. It was feeling pretty unlived in.
I’ve been on an alphabetical kick this week, and my inner Mr Snuffleupagus (I don’t know how he finds space inside me next to the reviewing demon; explains why I’ve been putting on weight lately) has been listenin’ to bands that start with the letter A. This is also part of an attempt to satisfy Alan, my inner obsessive compulsive guy (Alan likes to arrange my internal organs according to their size, shape and unpleasantness of odour) by bolstering my alphabetical index of reviews. Have a look at it why don’tcha? It’s like a barren forest of decay and dismay. Help fight review erosion and stop me from crying by picking one of the below albums:
1) for the money…
The Avalanches:
Since I Left You
(2000; Modular)
After recording a few EPs of Antipodean Beastie Boys rip-offs, The Avalanches came back at the turn of the century to deliver another Beastie Boys rip-off. Okay, that’s a bit harsh, but this album constructed of over 900 different samples (which is not counting the ones that reappear to give a sense of continuity and flow) seems like a logical successor to the B-boys album Paul’s Boutique (1989), which contains around a measly 400 samples. On Since I Left You these guys shut their fat strine-rappin' mouths and focus on the music for what is a breathtakingly inventive, groovy, and just plain fun record, that seques from one tune to the next like a non-stop mega-mix of old films, tv-shows, and vinyl curios. Almost makes my fat ass want to dance, and I only usually dance to “Nutbush City Limits”.
2) for the show…
At The Drive-In:
Relationship Of Command
(2000; Grand Royale/Virgin)
As the Skyhooks sang back in the seventies ‘I’m livin’ in the seventies,’ proving that like Flava Flav, they knew what time it was. They also sang ‘emo is not a dirty word,’ way before anyone had even thought of using the term, suggesting that perhaps they didn’t know what time it was after all. The word emo is as slippery as a buttered eel, but it's one that's been widely applied to At The Drive-In—who split into the proggy Mars Volta and truly emo Sparta right after this, their third full-length. Thankfully these fuzzy-haired Texans were plugged into the funky, rockin’, and experimental spirit of bands like the MC5, Fugazi, and Drive Like Jehu rather than the weepy plastic bullshit that has somehow earned the emo tag, and this is a tightly wound ball of cryptic, screaming, punk rock energy that points the way towards the aural wanderings of the Mars Volta without pulling its own dick too much. I call it prog-punk, or awesome.
3) to get ready…
Barry Adamson:
As Above So Below
(1998; Mute/Liberation)
I’ve already mentioned this record at the Earache Hotel, the song “Jazz Devil” earning a place in that Top Thirteen Halloween Songs post everyone is still talking about around the water cooler at work. But as cool as that song is, it's only one small taste of what this dandy album of jazzy noir and soundtrack swing has to offer. It's a concept album that follows Mr Adamson’s descent into hell and subsequent ascent into heaven. While that might seem like an all-too-obvious idea that someone like his old bandmate Nick Cave wouldn’t touch with a ten foot heroin needle, Adamson makes it a worthwhile venture by tempering the inherent darkness with his sharp sense of humour and somehow making the whole biblical journey a metaphor for his morphine-addled experience with hip surgery. This album of simmering sax, hip hop beats, and industrial noise is so hip you’ll need hip surgery too.
Now go, cat, go!
***
IMAGES
ince_i_left_you.jpg" target="_blank">Since I Left You*
Relationship Of Command*
As Above So Below
(album covers used under fair dealing)
*images on this page were taken from the following Wikipedia and Shot By Both Sides pages:
Since I Left You
Relationship Of Command
Adamson Solo
Sorry for the disarming silence here in the Lobby last week. The entire Hotel has been pretty quiet, because I’ve managed to wrestle myself away from the reviewing demon inside of me to spend some time warming up my real life. It was feeling pretty unlived in.
I’ve been on an alphabetical kick this week, and my inner Mr Snuffleupagus (I don’t know how he finds space inside me next to the reviewing demon; explains why I’ve been putting on weight lately) has been listenin’ to bands that start with the letter A. This is also part of an attempt to satisfy Alan, my inner obsessive compulsive guy (Alan likes to arrange my internal organs according to their size, shape and unpleasantness of odour) by bolstering my alphabetical index of reviews. Have a look at it why don’tcha? It’s like a barren forest of decay and dismay. Help fight review erosion and stop me from crying by picking one of the below albums:
1) for the money…
Since I Left You (2000)
Since I Left You
After recording a few EPs of Antipodean Beastie Boys rip-offs, The Avalanches came back at the turn of the century to deliver another Beastie Boys rip-off. Okay, that’s a bit harsh, but this album constructed of over 900 different samples (which is not counting the ones that reappear to give a sense of continuity and flow) seems like a logical successor to the B-boys album Paul’s Boutique (1989), which contains around a measly 400 samples. On Since I Left You these guys shut their fat strine-rappin' mouths and focus on the music for what is a breathtakingly inventive, groovy, and just plain fun record, that seques from one tune to the next like a non-stop mega-mix of old films, tv-shows, and vinyl curios. Almost makes my fat ass want to dance, and I only usually dance to “Nutbush City Limits”.
2) for the show…
Relationship Of Command (2000)
Relationship Of Command
(2000; Grand Royale/Virgin)
As the Skyhooks sang back in the seventies ‘I’m livin’ in the seventies,’ proving that like Flava Flav, they knew what time it was. They also sang ‘emo is not a dirty word,’ way before anyone had even thought of using the term, suggesting that perhaps they didn’t know what time it was after all. The word emo is as slippery as a buttered eel, but it's one that's been widely applied to At The Drive-In—who split into the proggy Mars Volta and truly emo Sparta right after this, their third full-length. Thankfully these fuzzy-haired Texans were plugged into the funky, rockin’, and experimental spirit of bands like the MC5, Fugazi, and Drive Like Jehu rather than the weepy plastic bullshit that has somehow earned the emo tag, and this is a tightly wound ball of cryptic, screaming, punk rock energy that points the way towards the aural wanderings of the Mars Volta without pulling its own dick too much. I call it prog-punk, or awesome.
3) to get ready…
As Above So Below (1998)
As Above So Below
(1998; Mute/Liberation)
I’ve already mentioned this record at the Earache Hotel, the song “Jazz Devil” earning a place in that Top Thirteen Halloween Songs post everyone is still talking about around the water cooler at work. But as cool as that song is, it's only one small taste of what this dandy album of jazzy noir and soundtrack swing has to offer. It's a concept album that follows Mr Adamson’s descent into hell and subsequent ascent into heaven. While that might seem like an all-too-obvious idea that someone like his old bandmate Nick Cave wouldn’t touch with a ten foot heroin needle, Adamson makes it a worthwhile venture by tempering the inherent darkness with his sharp sense of humour and somehow making the whole biblical journey a metaphor for his morphine-addled experience with hip surgery. This album of simmering sax, hip hop beats, and industrial noise is so hip you’ll need hip surgery too.
Now go, cat, go!
***
IMAGES
ince_i_left_you.jpg" target="_blank">Since I Left You*
Relationship Of Command*
As Above So Below
(album covers used under fair dealing)
*images on this page were taken from the following Wikipedia and Shot By Both Sides pages:
Since I Left You
Relationship Of Command
Adamson Solo
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