2pworth

Author: Marc A. Price

  • OPTIMO: PSYCH OUT

    OPTIMO: PSYCH OUT

    OPTIMO

    OPTIMO PRESENTS PSYCH OUT

    Eskimo

    2006-07-11

    Optimo is a Scottish DJ duo: Twitch and Jonnie Wilkes. Or, perhaps more accurately, Optimo is a club in Glasgow, Scotland that seems to pride itself on its musical eclecticism, if this release is anything to go by. This mix CD offers a motley assortment of acid house, psychedelia, experimental tracks, rare grooves, and Simple Minds.

    From Psych Out seeps a stinky, dark, sweaty nightclub. If 10 or even 20 years ago, like me, you felt the need to go to cheap student clubs in search of a good time, or even just a late drink, you would have found yourself treated to the sort of musical delights found on this release. Listening to the CD brings back memories of a damp, beer-soaked carpet, a smoke-filled room, and toilets that refuse to perform their most basic duty.

    How these guys can maintain a straight face as they mix Mr Fingers into Chris and Cosey is a mystery to me. Quite how they came up with the idea of mixing The Temptations classic “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone” into a hard house track is perhaps best left a mystery. Suffice it to say, any record that includes Hawkwind and Simple Minds within the same frame of reference deserves some kind of accolade. I’m not too sure whether it is a good thing, but I am glad that they did it nonetheless. All of this is packaged in a horrible pink-and-blue Day-Glo cover that is, frankly, impossible to read. So psychedelic and whacky.

    Psych Out works on a number of levels. It’s a cool introduction to some lost gems (the Silver Apples’ “Oscillations” should be played to children as part of their history lessons), and it will serve as a reminder to those funky kids that frequent this Glasgow venue, as well as for those like me who are too old to get into these places any more (aah, poor me). All in all, it should be worth the price of admission.

    Except it isn’t. Something is not quite right in the land of Optimo. The sound quality just does not stand up to scrutiny. In a dark, smelly, smoke-filled club, after you have had more than your fair share of the intoxicant of your choice, everything just sounds cool and groovy. However, when you take these songs from various decades (from the ’60s, ’80s, and so on) and put them together, you begin to realise that that production values have changed somewhat over the last 50 years. A little bit of warble here and a volume drop there just make you think that you would rather be in the club itself, rather than listen to an approximation burnt on to CD. After all CDs and digital media in general are much less forgiving of sound inconsistencies than your beer-addled memory. That said, there are some great tunes on here that still manage to excite more than 10 years after their original release. It is always good to hear Simple Minds’ “Theme for Great Cities” on a relatively new release, even if it is mixed with a lesser-known acid house tune.

    The bottom line is, if you are looking for a mix CD in the vein of 2 Many DJs, then forget it. Optimo’s choice of songs is not as cool, the mixing ain’t really up to much, and the sound quality of the some of the recordings is very poor. However, if would like a musical history lesson where you’ll be introduced to a bunch of tunes that you would not stumble upon normally, then this one is for you. Just get yourself some dark glasses before you look at the cover.

    This review was originally posted on popmatters.com

    https://www.popmatters.com/optimo-psych-out-2495695816.html
  • HELLO STRANGER: HELLO STRANGER

    HELLO STRANGER: HELLO STRANGER

    HELLO STRANGER

    HELLO STRANGER

    Aeronaut

    2006-08-08

    When you are the son of such famous musician as Ry Cooder, it must be really difficult to strike out on your own and make your own mark in the world of pop while avoiding the shadow of your parent. I wonder if Joachim Cooder deliberately chose a project that was light years away from his father’s work? Perhaps he didn’t even consider it. I mean, if you are striking out on your own, the best option would be to hook up with some unknown multi-instrumentalist and one of your oldest friends and just jam until you came up with stuff that reminded you of your teens. And then when you have just the right sound, ready to record your debut opus, as it were, the best bet would be to get Pappy to produce said record and play on 3 tracks. Oh, you wouldn’t do it like that? Nah, me either.

    However, there is something really endearing about this release. If you can get past the honestly, TRULY AWFUL sleeve (which in itself is no mean feat; what were you thinking, people?), you will find some really nice pop tunes. Despite their spiritual genesis in the nineteen eighties, the songs manage to remain relatively non-pompous-mentis, although the cheesy production doesn’t really do them justice.

    Mostly what Hello Stranger have recorded are thirteen synth-driven songs that feel like they are being played by a 1980s TV producer’s idea of what a futuristic band might sound like. You can picture the scene in Buck Rogers in the 25th Century where our hero walks into a bar and a female singer scantily clad in aluminium foil croons over futuristic synth sounds. Hello Stranger don’t sound quite like this but one does get a sense that they wouldn’t mind if they did.

    Hello Stranger consist of Jared Smith, Joachim Cooder, and Juliette Commagere, and their press release would have us believe that they are a relatively new outfit. In actuality, they used to be known as Vagenious until fairly recently. I can’t imagine why they changed their name. Because Hello Stranger sounds soooo much better. Why is this important? It is important because it highlights the lack of ability to self-edit; Hello Stranger are missing a “this looks/sounds like crap” filter. While they have a number of quite good ideas, they are stamped upon by the band’s failure to pan their river of creativity for golden musical nuggets; we are presented with the stuff silt, rocks, and all.

    This is a real pity, actually, because once you get past the we-love-the-eighties façade, Hello Stranger are quite good. Stripped of most of the funky fromage that is present on the preceding tune, “Kubrick Eyes”, “Learn Again to Feel” is a dreamy piano-led ballad that allows Commagere’s vocals to really come to the fore. Similarly, on the final track, the languid, country-soaked “Let it Ride”, the band slip into a more comfortable mode that just doesn’t sound so forced. Here it all comes together; it is somewhat of a shame that I had to put up with the polyester pop that preceded it. Indeed, the other songs are also good but the sounds used to produce them let them down.

    Therein lies the trouble: the 1980s were so twenty years ago. It would be lovely if we could just put its monsters behind us and get on with the matter in hand: living in the now. Sure, the Moog was way cool when it first came out, but things have moved on to some extent. If only Hello Stranger would put away the old gear and allow their potential to shine.

    This review was originally posted on popmatters.com

    https://www.popmatters.com/hello-stranger-hello-stranger-2495695807.html
  • THE HOLY FIRE: IN THE NAME OF THE WORLD

    THE HOLY FIRE: IN THE NAME OF THE WORLD

    The thumping opener “Raised on Planes” prepares the way for the coming of a great six-track mini album.

    THE HOLY FIRE

    IN THE NAME OF THE WORLD

    The Militia Group

    2006-02-21

    You hold on to you seat for a white-knuckle ride of turbulence with pop sensibilities and one eye on the stadium prize. The five tracks that follow don’t quite live up to this promise. With the exception of “We’re Not Here to Learn”, what follows is an exploration of the territory first explored and colonized by the Manic Street Preachers. The aforementioned tune is classic Boy-period U2, who at that time were young upstarts with pop sensibilities and one eye on the stadium prize. Overall, a pretty good effort that opens really well and ends with a song that spits fire and venom from the speakers. “Hate Your Smile” does leave you wanting more, simply because of the sonic guitar riff and bile-filled chorus. Keep an eye on these guys; a full-length album may be in the cards, and if they graft more of their own sound onto these beginnings, it’ll be a stormer.

    This review was originally posted on pop matters.com

    https://www.popmatters.com/the-holy-fire-in-the-name-of-the-world-2495692319.html
  • ROBIN GUTHRIE: CONTINENTAL

    ROBIN GUTHRIE: CONTINENTAL

    There is a certain tension coming from within this latest Robin Guthrie release. It seems on the face of it that Continental is just another ambient, collection of haunting melodies. The songs swirl and sweep like an abandoned shopping bag that has been caught by the wind. They hold the listener’s attention, as s/he waits for some other dramatic, unexpected event to take place. Sometimes it happens, and the bag swoops into the air with a vitality and expression that one does not come to expect from a discarded object. On other occasions, the unwanted container of tomorrow’s debris just sits there and does pretty much what one expects it to do. And still it holds the attention as if it were a traveller recounting a ghost story to an audience that have heard the tale oh, so many times before. After all, it is not the story that is important but the manner in which it is told.

    ROBIN GUTHRIE

    CONTINENTAL

    Darla

    2006-05-16

    This particular haunting tale is embellished to the point of distraction. However, there are no surprises here, nothing that jumps out at you, shocks you, or makes your heart pound. Every song, every step of the journey is told in a manner that Robin Guthrie has used on a good many of his recordings. It is the familiarity of the 10 tunes on Continental that is so discomforting. What makes this particular recording so spooky is that it is in fact haunted. The spectre of the Cocteau Twins drifts in and out of each expression; the absence of Elizabeth Fraser is to coin a cliché “conspicuous”. And this adds to the lost feeling that the music introduces in you. So is this release any more than karaoke Cocteau Twins, without a song sheet?

    Well … no. Continental doesn’t really try to be anything that it isn’t. There can be no claims of capturing new musical territory or of Guthrie pushing himself beyond what we all know him to be capable of. This is plain and simple, the Cocteaus sans voice. There are moments of trepidation, like on “Crescent”, where Guthrie rocks out on the guitar and adds some vocals. However, these are little more than backing vocals and never come close enough to the foreground to be considered anything else. Indeed, their inclusion only made my yearning for an impish female voice, making sounds that cannot be mistaken for words, even stronger.

    Where Guthrie does succeed is when he serves up material with more of an ambient-soundrack-for-a-future-film feel to it. Tracks such as “Last Exit” and “Pale” (coincidentally together at the end of the album) are truly beautiful even if they do sound a little like Bill Nelson. But when was that ever an insult?

    Overall, Continental really does retread very well worn territory for Mr. Guthrie. However, I am fairly certain that fans of his work would want nothing else. As for new converts, if you’re under the age of 30, or you lived in a vacuum (as in space, not a cleaning tool) in the 1980s, and have never encountered recorded artefacts of the Cocteau Twins, then you may well find this a good addition to your “chill out” section. If you fall into none of those categories, then it is likely that you may be nonplussed as to how this recording will enrich your life.

    This review was originally posted on pop matters.com

    https://www.popmatters.com/robin-guthrie-continental-2495687716.html
  • HEZIKIAH JONES: HEZEKIAH SAYS YOURE A-OK

    HEZIKIAH JONES: HEZEKIAH SAYS YOURE A-OK

    There is something gorgeously brittle about Hezekiah Says You’re A-OK.

    HEZIKIAH JONES

    HEZEKIAH SAYS YOU’RE A-OK

    Yer Bird

    2006-06-27

    In around 30 minutes we are taken on a melancholy ride through a world that is constructed completely from harmonies. The layers used to build this record veil eleven uncomplicated songs with undemanding melodies. Philadelphia songwriter Raphael Cutrufello has put together a promising batch of tunes based round the premise of acoustic instruments and vocal harmonies. It is such a simple idea and it just works; like all unfussy plans, there is little to go wrong.

    Cutrufello’s voice sounds as if all of the songs were recorded in his bedroom and he didn’t want to wake the neighbours. This makes for an intimate and slightly unsettling performance. The songs sound like they were written during a hot and sticky summer, they have such an unhurried quality, but there is the sort of edginess that you might expect from a man on the brink. The highpoints are “Albert Hash” and “Circumstance”, both of which sound like a more cheerful Elliott Smith. Hezekiah Says You’re A-OK gives off the warm glow of a smile, but you suspect that behind the smile all is not well in Mr. Jones’ house.

    This review was originally posted on pop matters.com

    https://www.popmatters.com/hezikiah-jones-hezekiah-says-youre-a-ok-2495691313.html
  • UNDERGROUND ORCHESTRA: ACTIVE INGREDIENT

    UNDERGROUND ORCHESTRA: ACTIVE INGREDIENT

    I could wax lyrical about how these ten instrumental pieces are so well crafted, and how the musicianship of the band is beyond reproach.

    UNDERGROUND ORCHESTRA

    ACTIVE INGREDIENT

    Wyman Records

    2006-06-06

    These two statements might be true, however, I won’t do that. This album is barely dull, and if I encouraged anyone to go out and listen to it I would be derelict in my duty as reviewer of CDs. Give it a miss; even your older brother would hate this record. The thing is that it is neither one thing nor the other. The songs meander between jazz, funk, fusion, and Middle Eastern, never pausing to stay in one camp long enough to figure out if it would like to remain there or not before setting off again to find somewhere else to be. And, yes, that sentence was deliberately long and convoluted, just like Underground Orchestra’s Active Ingredient.

    This review was originally posted on popmatters.com. It probably shouldn’t have been.

    https://www.popmatters.com/underground-orchestra-active-ingredient-2495691318.html
  • ALAN SINGLEY AND PANTS MACHINE: LOVINGKINDNESS

    ALAN SINGLEY AND PANTS MACHINE: LOVINGKINDNESS

    I wonder what it is like in Alan Singley’s head?

    ALAN SINGLEY AND PANTS MACHINE

    LOVINGKINDNESS

    Slow January

    2006-06-20

    If I could take a Being John Malkovich-type trip through the cobwebs and the undoubtedly dark places that reside in Singley’s cranium, I’m sure I would find a strange and scary place. Nonetheless, it would be bizarrely coated in some kind of sugary substance, not unlike the shell of a headache pill. If Lovingkindness is really anything to go by, despite it being a scary place, I would also find it quite an entertaining one too. This release is littered with pop loveliness that takes its cues from 1960s beats, as well as psychedelia and folk. Lyrically, Singley matches this eclecticism, using a post-modern dictionary that teeters on the edge of being twee. However, by golly, the mixture is like playing drinking games with some long-thought-lost friends while simultaneously having the worst hangover you have ever had in your life. I can’t wait to play it again.

    This review was originally posted on pop matters.com

    https://www.popmatters.com/alan-singley-and-pants-machine-lovingkindness-2495692173.html
  • THE GOOD LUCK JOES: WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THAT NOISE?

    THE GOOD LUCK JOES: WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THAT NOISE?

    Hardly groundbreaking (but then what is these days) however The Good Luck Joes make the right sort of fist with What Do You Think of That Noise? 

    THE GOOD LUCK JOES

    WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THAT NOISE?

    Machine Records

    2006/07/26

    By and large, if we were to answer the question posed by the title we might answer “mostly harmless”. The Good Luck Joes hopscotch in and out of territory long claimed by Wilco, INXS, and Coldplay. They never quite seem to claim the ground that they want for themselves. One song sees them playing pub rockers another pumps for stadium (candle in the air) sway-a-long. The last song “Butterflies” sounds a lot like that song by David Gray with the incongruous electronic beats. Not that there is anything wrong with being eclectic. I for one am always complaining about how bands these days play it too safe. It is just that What Do You Think of That Noise ends up sounding more like a end of contract retrospective than that “difficult” third album.

    This review was posted on popmatters.com

    https://www.popmatters.com/the-good-luck-joes-what-do-you-think-of-that-noise-2495692186.html
  • SAY HI TO YOUR MOM: IMPECCABLE BLAHS

    SAY HI TO YOUR MOM: IMPECCABLE BLAHS

    Lets be honest, Say Hi To Your Mom is largely the work of one man, and Eric Elbogen’s (for that is his name) fourth foray into the world of pop music is a strange, beguiling affair. Not to say that the previous three (Ferocious Mopes, Numbers and Mumbles, and Discosadness) were run of the mill releases. On the contrary, they were filled with wondrous and peculiar observations on life and relationships, masked as throwaway collage-boy poetry. A fine example of this being “Let’s Talk About Spaceships” from Numbers and Mumbles. This tune sidesteps that uncomfortable silence that preludes the we-need-to-talk-about-our-relationship talk by simply saying “LOOK BEHIND YOU, A SPIDER!”

    SAY HI TO YOUR MOM

    IMPECCABLE BLAHS

    Rebel Group

    2006-07-25

    This time round Elbogen is preoccupied with the music of the night, Bela Lugosi style. Impeccable Blahs is an album with a concept (rather than a concept album); all of the songs are about vampires and their relationships with their human prey. The sleeve notes are clear that we are not talking about the “… creepy, goth vampires but rather people just like you and me who happen to get their nourishment from drinking blood.” In as much, Elbogen plucks one of literature’s most maligned inventions from the night sky and grounds it in his own version of the real world. Vampires, if Say Hi To Your Mom is to be believed, have feelings and needs just like the rest of us. They are funny too.

    Lyrically, this record is as droll as it is observant, cutting in the “reality” of becoming a vampire with the poetic illusion. For example in “Blah Blah Blah” the vampire breathes to his potential victim, “If you want, I’ll give you eternal life. Well not so much life, but have you ever seen a good zombie movie? Well like that, but you’ll be smarter and you’ll stay 23.” It is this mixture of off-the-wall humour and crackingly catchy choruses that make this record such an enjoyable listen. It cannot fail to bring a smile to your face.

    The textual content is counterpoint, with stripped bare musical arrangements that are almost so unadorned that they are in places missing altogether. It is at once a mixture of simple guitar lines, undemanding quirky electronic sounds, and lush layered puree. Still, this straightforwardness really kinda works. The music has a sincere personal feel, an honesty that you rarely find in pop these days. This may mean that it doesn’t appeal to everyone’s tastes. Those that like their pop all bloated with multi-part melodies may find this to be an unsatisfying morsel which will not sate their gourmet tastes. These people should get over themselves.

    Most things about this release are about simplicity, from the pink artwork barely adorned with a small bat and a kooky drawing of a vamp, to the musical content described above. However, it would be a real mistake to think that this sparseness is detrimental. The structure of the 10 songs on Impeccable Blahs is pretty perfect. They may not be the shiniest buttons in the pop box, but they are the kind that exhibit an unusual quality that makes you want to keep them and take them out every once in a while to look at them.

    In the grand scheme of things, this record is unlikely to prevent any wars. However, we live in an unjust world full of evil things that want to suck the life from us, whether that be taxes, Big Brother or vampires. So, any piece of work that goes some way to set the balance right by bringing these things to our attention so that we can snigger at them (well actually ourselves) is, quite frankly, more than welcome.

    This was originally posted on popmatters.com

    https://www.popmatters.com/say-hi-to-your-mom-impeccable-blahs-2495687724.html