Paul McCartney casts a large shadow over Mead’s work. On “Girl on a Roof” from Mead’s second album Mine and Yours, he starts the song with an “Ob-Li-Di”-like coo that leads into an “Ob-Li-Da”-like verse. “No One Left to Blame” features some harmonizing that could have been lifted from Revolver.
On “Figure of Eight”, Mead channels Elton John and John Lennon, right down to the “Imagine”-like piano and “Rocket Man”-like chorus.
That’s a lot of name-dropping, and it’s not difficult to pick these influences out of his songs. Does that detract from Mead’s own music? Most certainly not.
If anything, Mead reminds listeners of what gave that previous generation of songwriters such creds — a slavish devotion to melody, an apparent professionalism in performance, and voices that could alternately seduce and inspire.
Producer Adam Schlesinger from Fountains of Wayne has deemed fit to cast Mead’s songs in a variety of textures.
The opening “Flamin’ Angel” might mislead listeners into thinking Mead is an ethereal male Enya-type, but then the album’s title track crashes in with a solid rock back beat and muted electric guitars.
For the remainder of the album, Mead balances crafted pop songwriting, Eno-era U2 atmospherics and straight-forward rock rhythms.
A listener could use the adjective “sensitive” to describe “Comfort” and “Echoes of the Heart” without having to snicker or imply any preciousness on Mead’s part.
Mead soars on the choruses of “Standing Here in Front of Me” and “No One Left to Blame,” and on the concluding “Only in the Movies,” he perfectly captures the cognitive dissonance between romantic fantasy and reality.
Like Dan Wilson’s work on Semisonic’s All About Chemistry, Mead takes the best bits from rock’s songwriting past to make a contemporary album full of treasure.
A music fan raised on healthy doses of post-punk won’t feel too self-conscious about liking an album so steeped in the past as in the present. Mead does a remarkable job of transcending time and getting to the heart of good songwriting.
When L’Arc~en~Ciel announced it would let fans vote for the track listing for its singles collections on Yahoo! Japan, the band broke music industry rules on many levels.
First, sales, not fans, are supposed to determine what appears on hits collections. Repacking old material is a time-honored technique in the music industry to bleed the proverbial turnip. If it sold well before, it will sell well again, ergo producing income for labels, publishers and maybe the band.
Second, fans don’t know better — at least in music criticism circles. A band’s best work may never be released as a single, and if a popular vote shuts out artistically worthy material, then it’s really a rigged race. Of course, music journalism arrogance dictates that critics — and no one else — knows what’s best, even for the band.
So, does Clicked Singles Best 13 really represent L’Arc~en~Ciel well? Yes and no.
L’Arc~en~Ciel is an incredibly flexible band, able to switch between rock genres at a drop of a hat.
One minute, they’re sentimental balladeers supported by oceans of strings, the next minute, they’re a stripped-down rock ensemble with grunge-y guitars.
With such a diverse output, it’s possible for the band to miss as many times as it hits. Clicked Singles Best 13 is not the collection for people who like the rougher moments in L’Arc~en~Ciel’s repetoire.
The disc’s voting constituency has determined that up-tempo, bouncy songs such as “flower”, “winter fall” and “Blurry Eyes” set the tenor for the rest of the disc.
“Lies and Truth,” a song that should have been recorded in the 70s but unfortunately wasn’t, epitomizes the worst of said consituency’s taste. Strings? A disco beat? Oy.
But are the fans totally wrong? Toward the end of Clicked Singles Best 13, they get a fair share right.
“Dive to Blue”, with its ringing Edge-like guitar riffs, shows Laruku personalizing U2’s The Unforgettable Fire. “Honey” is the grunge-meets-new wave hit Pearl Jam and Smashing Pumpkins were too serious to write.
“Neo Universe” sports some of the best synthesizer work in a mainstream rock song ever, while “Heaven’s Drive” has the one of the greatest opening drum licks.
In other words, not every fan is going to be satisfied with the votes, especially when North American fans [hand raised] never got a chance to participate.
Critically? Clicked Singles Best 13 misses the boat. Many times.
How is it that absolutely nothing from heavenly and only one song from ray made it on the album, while one of the band’s weakest albums, ark, gets represented by four singles? The omission of “Snow Drop” is nearly criminal.
As a means of introducing the States to the band — Clicked Singles Best 13 is one of the first albums released on the new Sony Music Imports imprint — the album may not be dark enough for American rockers and too rock-like for pop audiences.
That, and “Lies and Truth” does nothing to establish L’Arc~en~Ciel’s credibility.
Clicked Singles Best 13 is gift for fans all over the world, but it’s a hard sell for folks yet to be swayed by the band’s incredible talent.
There are reasons Colombia’s Aterciopelados sells out stadiums in South America.
Mostly, it’s singer Andrea Echiverri’s mesmerizing voice, a bittersweet, husky instrument that hypnotizes listeners in the same way a snake charmer keeps a viper at bay.
But also, it’s the duo’s mellow, Latin-tinged rock that floats somewhere between dreaming and waking. Aterciopelados has been labeled as a trip-hop band, and that may have been appropriate for 1998’s Caribe Atomico.
Gozo Poderoso finds the band with more up-tempo numbers and a stronger sense of its Latin identity.
Certainly, the more ethereal quality of Aterciopelados’ recent work remains, as evidenced by the ghostly vocal samples on “Luz azul” and the chiming guitars on “Uno lo mio y lo tuyo.”
But unlike Caribe Atomico, Gozo Poderoso starts out energetically and doesn’t let up till the middle of the album.
Latin rhythm drives such tracks as “Rompecabezas”, “Esmerealda”, “El album” and “La misma tijera”. The rumbling, super-slow trip-hop beats of Caribe Atomico are mostly tempered.
Aterciopelados still manage to use a sparse instrumentation to create a big sound. Even with the faster tempos, the overall mood of Gozo Pederoso is mellow, thanks to the subtle touch of instrumentalist Hector Buitrago. He doesn’t overdo it with the ethereal synthesizer effects or the Latin percussion.
“Restrained” might be the correct adjective to describe this album, but it would also be incredibly inaccurate. There’s nothing restrained about Gozo Poderso’s brighter, more energetic sound. At the same time, it’s not a return to the band’s “Florecita rockera” days.
Gozo Podersos, then, could be considered an amalgam of Aterciopelados’ various styles. Exuberiant but soothing, driven but calm.
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Before Gozo Poderso was released in the States, Aterciopelados was given the Serie 2000 treatment with a collection of the band’s hits.
Serie 2000 does an incredible job of providing a brief but detailed history of the band’s work. From its more rock days to its trip-hoppy work on Caribe Atomico, the best of the best is there.
Bring Serie 2000 with you when you take Gozo Poderoso to the register.
Only in a burgeoning economy can something as unlikely as a resurgence of swing music happen.
Think about it — a bunch of dot-com babies giddy on inflated market expectations and a tight job market can afford the dress code to get into cigar and martini bars.
So what does that mean for the Prairie Cats now that the New Economy bottom has fallen out? Not a damn thing.
‘Til the Daytime Fades, the Omaha, Nebraska ensemble’s second disc, find the Cats with stronger songs and a more confident sound.
The band’s debut album, The Big One, laid out the blueprint for the Prairie Cat’s muse — swing music that ventured here and there to Latin-tinged rhythms and good ol’ country conventions, all performed with a rock ‘n’ roll verve.
As a recording, The Big One held its own, but it didn’t quite succeed in capturing the Cats’ live show energy. Frontman Jeff Koterba has an appealing croon, but the vocal contributions of trombone player Jason Grotelueschen and Amy Stickney hinted the ensemble was capable of much more.
‘Til the Daytime Fades delivers on that potential.
This time around, Koterba shares the mic and the songwriting duties with Grotelueschen, whose Midwestern voice provides the perfect foil to Koterba’s lounge lizard act.
Grotelueschen’ songs puts the “Prairie” in “Prairie Cats”. “Honeychild” has a kind of bluesy feel that would sound at home with a pedal steel as with a big band. “One Night Stan” could have been honky-tonk song.
Koterba, meanwhile, channels some 8 1/2 Souvenirs with the very French “Lover du Jour” and even provides a sobering, humorous insight into the plight of swing bands with “Not in the Mood.” (Drop “not” in the title, and you get a sense of what the song talks about.)
The Cats’ solos definitely burn hotter on this album, and the trumpets are much more pronounced. Even a number as mellow as “Five Martinis and a Beer” feels like an improvisational workout.
The core of the band’s music is still fast-paced swing, as evidenced by “Takin’ a Chance”, “Never Said” and “Swing That Thang”, but this time out, there’s enough variety from track to track to keep listeners interested throughout the album.
Even swing music skeptics (raises hand) find themselves chanting along with the Cats.
In other words, the Cats are a good thing getting better.
When I sent a friend of mine a copy of J~E II, Musicwhore.org’s homemade compilation of Japanese rock, he had the followng to say about Bleach:
there’s one in particular (track 5, believe) that hurt my ears the first time i heard it, but now its wayward screams and tinny guitars ala-System-Of-A-Down are oddly captivating
Yup.
Bleach is a straight-ahead, take-no-prisoners punk band. No rap. No pop (with maybe the exception of “Koe”). Just ear-crushing guitars, a pair of screaming vocals and a drummer that can kick your posterior into next week.
(Not to be confused with the American Christian rock band of the same name, although probably more like the Nirvana album of the same name.)
After Japan Nite 2001 Sampler was passed around at this year’s SXSW festival, Bleach was perhaps the most anticipated band on the bill. When the Okinawa, Japan, trio played, they were amazing, but too many long pauses between numbers undermined the band’s set.
Of course, Bleach had half an hour to fill, and the band’s first album, Kibakuzai (or “Detonator”), contains only eight tracks and clocks in at a quick 22 minutes, but even those 22 minutes are packed with a rare kind of intensity.
On “Santa Claus” and “Kakumei Ryoushuudann”, Bleach veers from double-time rage to choatic noise to buzzsaw riffs all within two minutes. “Kobuta 28 Gou” and “Koe” are the closest things Bleach reaches to hooks, which basically means there are fewer barrages of noise.
By the end of Kibakuzai, listeners feel like they just got the workout of their lives. Folks who miss Super Junky Monkey when Mutsumi passed away may find themselves gravitating toward Bleach’s fist-hammering sound.
Back in the late 1980s, Sony bought CBS Records hoping to use the near century-old label as a leverage to breaking Japanese artists in the U.S.
In 1990, the label introduced Matsuda Seiko — simply called Seiko — to the States, pairing her up with then It-boy Donnie Wahlburg of New Kids on the Block for a duet.
The album tanked, and Sony retreated.
But a few years later, Shonen Knife and Pizzicato Five made in-roads to America’s indie scene, achieving a kind of success that puzzled the folks back home.
And when Sony released a pair of hotly-received promotional discs at the SXSW festival, the company decided it was time to brave the U.S. market again.
Enter Japan For Sale, the commercial version of said promotional discs.
The tone of the compilation is thoroughly indie, with DJs and electronica artists occupying the most air time. All kinds of music are represented on the disc nonetheless.
In the rock category, Dog Hair Dressers offer Redd Kross-like power pop, while The Brilliant Green serves up a more Byrds-inspired alternative rock.
Hip-hop has its emmisaries in YKZ and DJ Krush, the former pairing up with the Beatnuts, the latter sticking closer to home with rapper Twigy and idol-singer-turned-R&B-chanteuse ACO.
Polysics attempts to channel DEVO through Nine Inch Nails, while Yoshinori Sunahara, Denki Groove, Boom Boom Satelites and Chappie (who is really Pizzicato Five’s Yasuhara Konishi) fill out the rest of the disc with thundering beats and electronic effects.
For the most part, Japan for Sale is devoid of anything hinting at Matsuda Seiko and her aborted attempt to crack the U.S.
Even the token idol pop track from Puffy AmiYumi isn’t typical — it’s an ABBA-meets-Beatles confection delivered with tooth-rotting sweetness.
As an album, Japan for Sale offers a diverse program in which none of the tracks feel forced. DJ Krush doesn’t feel out of place with the cheerleading chants of Chappie or the Cranberries-meets-Radiohead moodiness of FEED.
In short, Japan for Sale is a good introduction to the second largest music market in the world. Perhaps Sony will be a bit more successful in its bid for American audience this time around.
Of all the people responsible for Duran Duran’s more moodier music, John Taylor seemed like the most unlikely candidate.
The founding member who listed Chic as an influence and who participated in the more rockier Duran Duran side group, the Power Station, Taylor seemed more like the guy who gave the band its slick, dance floor-friendly groove than informing its more Cure-like moments.
Oddly enough, Duran Duran lost a bit of its moodiness when Taylor left the group in 1997, and even more so, that dark quality showed up on the bass guitarist’s solo works.
Techno For Two picks up where his self-titled debut album for Japan’s Avex Trax left off, improving the hooks and cleaning up Taylor’s deadpan vocal.
Tracks such as “6,000 Miles”, “Immortal” and “Mister J” leave lasting impressions with their memorable chorus and by-the-numbers guitar-keys-drum machine arrangements.
Other tracks, such as “Tight”, “The Other Side of the Sun” and “Out of the Blues” revel in atmospheric effects and driving beats but not without hammering in a some buzzing guitar riffs here and there.
After indulging a jones for punk music in the mid-1990s, Taylor has boomeranged back to the electro-rock mix on which his original group built an entire 20-year career. Remarkably, he sounds nothing like Duran Duran.
If anything, Taylor has struck the same kind of balance between rock and electronica that would-be labelmates Supercar, Dr.StrangeLove and Quruli have achieved.
Taylor would probably make some really good music if he teamed up with Takamune Negishi from Dr.StrangeLove. He still has a hard time carrying a tune, but this time around, it doesn’t interfere with the songwriting.
On the surface, Techno for Two sounds like a synthesizer-driven album, but at its core, it’s a rock album.
The English duo’s alternately sparse and lush arrangements, coupled with Nicola Hitchhock’s breathy vocals, make for some really nice, unintrusive listening.
Even when Hitchhock’s whisper barely registers above Saul Freeman’s oceans of synthesizers, Mandalay manages to bring everything together for the chorus, hooking listeners into the group’s ethereal sound.
“Not Seventeen” opens the album, and it’s nice. “Like Her” follows, and it too is nice. “Beautiful” offers more of the same, and it’s nice like the others.
Then “Deep Love” dabbles in a bit of Julee Cruise territory, and, well, it’s nice.
One track leads to the next, and to the next, and to the next, and after each track, it’s just … nice.
In other words, Solace doesn’t deviate from its basic aesthetic, and after a while, the entire album sounds like one long song.
By the time the album concludes with a cover of Phoebe Snow’s “I Don’t Want the Night to End,” Solace feels like it overstayed its welcome.
Even Enya, an artist who’s recorded one album numerous times, knows the value of giving a work some sense of an arc.
Granted, Solace is really a Stateside repackaging of Mandalay’s U.K. releases, and in that sense, the album contains very little filler. Freeman is also an incredibly deft instrumentalist, making the most minimal of textures feel incredibly full.
At times, Solace calls to mind Sarah McLachlan at the very start of her career. Other times, it recalls Craig Armstrong’s beautiful The Space Between Us.
But you have to be a pretty avid fan of very ethereal, soothing, dance-beat driven music to really appreciate Solace. Mandalay are incredibly good at what they do, but their single-minded adherance to their sound comes across as a bit too stubborn.
Put Back to the Mono Kero! on your stereo, and it’s hard to believe that four years ago, eX-Girl didn’t know how to play their instruments.
A bit of that amateurism still lives on in the band’s music, but with producer-collaborator Hoppy Kamiyama guiding Chihiro, Kirilo and Fuzuki to more complex musical terrain, eX-Girl has become an unlikely candidate for bringing high art closer to pop art.
A far cry from the noise-fest of the Japanese trio’s debut Heppoku Pou, Back to the Mono Kero! shows eX-Girl at its tightest and wildest.
One moment, the Girls are growling, the next, they’re affecting operatic singing.
On such tracks as “Wipe Out”, “Gween-Kong-Gee” and “Zero Gravity”, they pound their instruments like mochi dough on a New Year’s Day. On other tracks, such as “Tozka”, “Solid States Kerok n’ Roll” and the group’s rousing cover of M’s “Pop Muzik”, they rock out with straight-forward riffs that never quite stay in line.
Compared to the band’s other albums — Back to the Mono Kero! is their fourth — this one has the most structured songs and the most likeable melodies.
Not to say eX-Girl has started writing typical songs — far from it.
Instead, eX-Girl performs with a sense of direction. They’re not just making noise for noise’s sake — there’s a method to all the madness, and it makes for an enjoyable, dischordant listen.
Take, for instance, the album’s opener, “Waving Scientist @ Frog King.” Chihiro’s dirty guitar work drives the song, but in between Fuzuki’s complex rhythms and the trio’s sweet harmonizing, the song becomes an epic piece. “Waving Scientist @ Frog King” makes “Bohmemian Rhapsody” look like “Chopsticks.”
With Back to the Mono Kero!, eX-Girl has definitely arrived. They’re not just a cute trio of Japanese women banging on instruments (condescending as that obviously sounds). They’re talented musicians giving punk music high aspirations.
Do you remember R.E.M.’s previous album Up? If you answered yes, give yourself a biscuit — I admire someone who could stay awake for that album.
Like a good manager, Bertis Downs put a really good pre-release spin on Up, evoking the magic words “Automatic for the People” to get people’s attention. (Me? Automatic for the People was all right, but it’s not the ground-breaking album for which critics wet themselves.)
When Downs described Reveal as “lush” in this most recent round of pre-release hype, it almost served as a warning for everyone who had to overdose on caffiene to get through Up.
So. Reveal? Any good?
Yes. Thank your personal dieties, but yes, it’s good.
And it doesn’t require multiple listens — hell, even very attentive listens — for Reveal to grab hold.
All the sonic experiments that informed Up are still around, but this time, they serve as garnish, not centerpiece, to the songs.
R.E.M. have gone back to writing hooks. Michael Stipe has gone back to singing melodies. Peter Buck even straps on a guitar from time to time, even making it sound jangly.
But Downs was right — this album is quite lush. Thick strings, layers of harmony, a glockenspiel here and there — Reveal sounds like the aural equivalent of some really elaborate bedding displays at Bed, Bath and Beyond.
Very cozy. Very warm.
Any stand-out tracks? Not really. Or at least not on the level of, say, “Nightswimming” or “Electrolite”.
But some do come close. “All the Way to Reno (You’re Going to Be a Star)” will leave you singing the core line of the chorus. Same thing applies to “I’ll Take the Rain”.
“I’ve Been High” sounds like the cousin to “Everybody Hurts,” and the album’s first single, “Imitation of Life”, is a great return to the band’s more uptempo milleu.
So yes. It’s safe to like R.E.M. again. Get Reveal, and leave the stimulants behind.