Reviews (8)

It would be a mistake not to hear this album.
What are we going to do with John Vanderslice? It's been two years since the last taste of anything by the ex-MK Ultra studio whiz, and just by reading the press packet, it's clear the San Francisco analog junky is making some pretty big claims with his new record. First off, he's calling it "Cellar Door," the same phrase a character in the film Donnie Darko calls the most perfectly beautiful linguistic combination in the English language. As if that weren't ballsy enough, the lyrics off the record's first track are directly adapted from Percy Shelley's "The Mask of Anarchy."

Now that's not to say "Cellar Door" is a poor title, or that Shelley was somehow insignificant as a Romantic poet, he pretty much founded the Satanic School of poetry for crying out loud. But to allude that your new album is somehow connected with the most beautiful phrase in the English language, while also borrowing lyrics from one of history's most well-known poets, well, that seems almost arrogant enough to make one not want to listen to the album.

But that would be a mistake, because Vanderslice definitely pulls it off. After 400 hours of recording in his analog-happy San Francisco studio, Tiny Telephone, John Vanderslice - and Seattle's Barsuk Records - have a solidly good record on their hands.
The album begins with "Pale Horse," the borrowed Shelley poem set to music. Behind Vanderslice's rough tenor is the repeated chorus, "Rise like lions, after the slumbering / in greatly unknowable numbers." A meticulously crafted, veritable landscape of sound accompanies him - strings, horns, distorted acoustic guitars - but rather than tracking instrument after instrument just because he can, Vanderslice is sure that every instrument has its place and nothing gets too cluttered.

A Masterful CD
I haven't enjoyed a CD this much since OK Computer. JV's poetic lyrics really fit well within the melodies. The level of his songwriting is well beyond his years. This is one of those CD's where a different song will grab you each time you listen to it. The songs seem more emotional and inspired than his previous releases. This CD, like previous JV releases pays homage to the great poets. This time it's Shelley on the first track. This disc features Scott Solter using a subtle variety of unconventional percussion throughout. Solter's input could be what makes you want to listen to this over and over again. I highly recommend this CD for anyone any age.

As Usual J.V. Delivers
I was very excited by this album's release, as I am a huge J.V. fan, and I was not let down. John Vanderslice's 4th album again delivers. Like his previous releases, Cellar Door is a rich pop/rock album infused with guitar, keyboards, samples, and of course poetry. John Vanderslice is a brilliant songwriter. While this album departs from the previous 2, in that it is not a concept album, there is definately the theme of family, self-doubt, and regret running throughout. I actually think this album is probably better than Life and Death of an American Fourtracker as it focused more on each individual song, rather than building the story.

Particularly good tracks: They Won't Let me Run, Family Tree, When it Hits My Blood

Want to know whats in store if you buy Cellar Door???!!??
I'll tell you what. Pure unadulterated genius on every level. But you have to hear it with you own ears to believe me. I personally have not been this excited about a CD in a very long time. I also have seen him live many times and the tunes sound just as good live as on his recordings. He does surround himself with amazing talent but then again I think talent gravitates to this man because he inspires. He is touring right now and do yourself a favor go see the show he has an insanely good band with him right now. For tour dates and schedules check his website at www.johnvanderslice.com - Please trust me on the purchase of this cd if you were smart enough to even search for John Vanderslice on hear then please reward yourself with buying it. Go ahead. Click it. Click it and then get a ticket.

Another great album
John Vanderslice should be a household name. He's an incredible storyteller, and he can write catchy tunes with the best of them. This album will slowly creep up on you and burrow under your skin and grow there like a bot fly. If you like any kind of indie rock, check this out, give it some time, and you will not be disappointed. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Guided By Voices, the mascots of antihero rock and four-track hackery, chart another couple afternoons in their basement on Alien Lanes. It's the band's ninth album and second since being unearthed from the rich Ohio clay a year or two ago.

So now that lead voice Robert Pollard and buddies have quit their day jobs and late-bloomed into one of today's more successful indie rock institutions, what does the band's insistence on maintaining their signature muddy humming home recordings signify when they could obviously afford better studio-quality sound? Two possibilities. One: In order to continue delivering the stuff they have built a name on, Guided by Voices have descended from stardom to self-parody quicker than any band since the Doors. Or two: Do-it-yourself is not a romanticized economic necessity, but rather a conscious artistic choice--and hence reducible to merely this year's fad.

Either way, Alien Lanes finds Guided by Voices in the frustrating position of a new-aesthetic Moses: They can lead us to the low-fi Promised Land but can't enter with us. Or in other words, the band is like a mass-marketed "homemade" cookie: a well-intentioned contradiction that has nevertheless outgrown its usefulness.

But for everyone who still loves the music, there's a third possibility: Maybe the tape recorder is neither utility nor gimmick, but rather an irreplaceable piece of the band--even more so than any instrument or musician. That makes Alien Lanes simply a better-distributed chapter in the band's inimitable recast of classic psychedelic rock as sloppy postpunk; another collage with dozens of irresistibly cryptic song snippets shifting speeds and colors and not stopping (except for a disturbing homosexual slur half way through) until the last Beatlesque "all right" twenty-eight songs from go. --Roni Sarig

... Read more

Reviews (29)

The epitome of GBV
If you don't love this album, i seriously wonder about you. It is like one, long, nonstop beauty of pop. The 28 little pieces of perfection add up to one wonderful 41 minutes and 15 seconds. Once you pop this in, you WILL NOT stop it until it's done. You start seeing Robert Pollard as a genius, and wondering how he became so prolific. How come he is able to just spout out a million perfect melodies, one after the other? If you don't think lo-fi stuff is you, then you will after hearing this. It's messy, yes, but each little mess or note he hits off key, or off beat, becomes an essential part of the album's overall feel. It wouldn't be the same without it. And by the way, the lyrics are simply unparalleled wackiness! Just take a look at the song titles. "Game of Pricks", "Closer you Are", "My Valuable Hunting Knife," and "Blimps Go 90" are some favorites, and as with most of their songs, they're short and sweet, so much so, that you're actually disappointed when they end! You just keep wanting more, but you definitely get it all here. This will always be in my top ten list, and is the best cd to start with if you've never heard GBV. I know every word, every note of this cd. But it wasn't my fault i learned them, i just listened, and listened....

GBV create an experience of short shots
Now let's face it, Bee Thousand was totally unexpected. Yes! This 1994 critic's darling upped the anty considerably on these low-fi pop masters. So with the world watching, how do you follow up a masterstroke? Well...

Robert Pollard's idea was to take a series of very short songs to make a LONG album... The pieces flow into one another usually at about a minute and a half... sort of like the classic Minutemen albums. But the sound is still very GBV, and amid the continuous song fly-bys are many of their classics: "Watch Me Jumpstart", "Striped White Jets", "As We Go Up We Go Down", "The Closer You Are". Of course, you also have some annoying bits, but they're over (some within 12 seconds!)soon enough.

So it can be said that Pollard DID successfully follow up Bee Thousand by creating an interesting event unlike any he had done before. If catchy, quick pop numbers is your cup of tea, precede to Alien Lanes immediately!

Picture my Amazement
At work surrounded by the powers (burning fevers) that be while "Always Crush Me" (track 27) plays softly in the background allowing a single ear to HEAR THIS MAGIC. The moment is sublime.
If you're met Mr. Pollard and Co. and are sitting on the fence -- "Should I buy Alien Lanes or no?" -- on this side of caution err -- buy now.

avoiding challenges
why wait through a dull stanza to get to a hooky chorus? why take a brilliant intro and put it in front of a mundane song? gbv can be thought of as only serving up the good parts. the chorus stands alone; the intro stands alone. the bridge is a song unto itself and when that idea is done, the song is over and we're on to the next inspired idea. at least that's the way its supposed to work. me, i'm reminded of the film "adaptation" - yes, its clever to show your limitations and the smart way you've dealt with it. but i feel cheated out of the chance to see a really good film based on "the orchid theif." and i'm cheated out of hearing pollard's melodic ideas in a really good song.

Brilliant lyricists and rockers
This is a great, fun, poppy, and rocking album. It takes a few listens to really get into and get over the unpolished sound. It seems like ever other song on the album is a genius of catchy low-fi pop-rock, and the ones in between go by so fast you don't even notice them. My favorite song is "striped white jets" with its line, "what's expected of this super-breed". You can go a million different ways with what that actually means, but in the end you know it just rocks with reckless abandon. These guys were endorsed by the beastie boys and this is proof of their great lyrical ability. Buy this album. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Back in the early 1980s, when the punk-rock DIY spirit was going strong, emerging artists found a cheap and efficient way of distributing their music--the homemade cassette. Sometimes very crude and low-fi, the tapes became a hallmark of instant "indie cred." The erratic, troubled, and startlingly talented Daniel Johnston was one of the first musicians to really make a name for himself in this medium, and his first two tapes, 1980's Songs of Pain and '81's More Songs of Pain make up this collection, re-mixed but retaining their rough edges. The anger and sadness of "An Idiot's End," the wry twist of "Joy Without Pleasure," and the resignation of "More Dead Than Alive" exemplify thegenius of his carefully chosen words. His lyrics can sting as well as delight, and his piano playing resonates with emotional depth. Hearing these songs makes one long to hear Beck doing arendition of"Urge"or Johnny Cash taking on "Wild West Virginia." --Lorry Fleming ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Unbeatable!
Be careful! This is the real stuff. It will break your heart and make you smile. More! There's at least 10 more CDs worth of 80s Daniel Johnston out there. Buy this so they will release more. There is no way you will regret it. Low-tech in recording quality. Pure in emotional expression.

Five stars aren't enough.
I've been a huge fan of low fi and indie music for years so I've known of Daniel for a long time, and I do have his album Fun in my collection. But I'm ashamed to say I never delved into his early stuff. Always meant to, but didn't, and now availability is (stupidly, unbelievably) a bit of an issue. But I jumped at the chance to see Daniel perform in Denton, Texas a couple of weeks ago and I bought this collection at the show.

What can I possibly say about this music? It's inspired and inspiring. It has emotion, insight, and humor. It couldn't be more raw, but at the same time it's wierdly refined. Maybe most of all it's surprising: there's hardly a note or lyric that comes out of Daniel quite the way you expect. But none of what I've just written really means anything, because I'm using words to do a job that they're not all that well suited for. Something else, something that has nothing to do with language, gets a hold of music for us. If I believed in it, I'd say it was the soul. Then again, after hearing Daniel, maybe I do believe in it....

Do I sound inspired? I'm inspired. Buy this music and listen to it.

Undeniably great music
It's easy to realize Daniel Johnston's greatness after listening to this album. His talent shines clear as day and I believe that he belongs in a very select class of musicians like Blind Willie Johnson, Robert Johnson, Roscoe Holcomb, and other great American songsters. What more can you wish for from a musician but the utmost sincerity and a strong dignity to his or her music. Daniel Johnston bleeds honesty and truth. I've read many people refer to Johnston's music as naïve, there it nothing naïve in these recordings. Naïve are the songs of miscellaneous pop divas singing manufactured songs of love. Naïve are the songs of aging rockers wishing they could change the world. Daniel Johnston's music is an immense treasure trove of palpable spirit and emotion. Whoever digs it up will definitely be rewarded. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Here Be Monsters finds singer/songwriter Ed Harcourt developing the gentle melancholy of his previous efforts. "God Protect Your Soul" combines anguished, rambling lyrics ("I need to build a wall around me") and an off-kilter melody with bluesy harmonica and trumpets to create something akin to what Elliot Smith might make sitting at the piano. "Beneath the Heart of Darkness" starts in a similar fashion before slipping into a mash of guitars and radio interference, then drifting back again to a gentle lullaby. While "Apple of My Eye" starts with a quiet but buoyant proclamation--"I'm sick of this angst"--it quickly becomes clear that Harcourt isn't really so positive. This is one for all those who appreciate music that's full of understated despair. --Caroline Butler ... Read more

Reviews (12)

Outstanding album
I first found out about Ed Harcourt when I read a review in some magazine. It made an impression and I looked for the album but couldn't find it in retail stores. I forgot about it. A year later a friend sent me a CD-R that he said I had to hear. The name rang a bell and so did the title. I really, really liked it. It combined elements of prog, alternative and a unique soup that had its own taste. It was "Here Be Monsters" by Ed Harcourt.

Harcourt's rich melodies and unusual arrangements make this album a unique experience. While it doesn't sound like anything by Brian Eno, it sounds like something Eno might have done if he had thought of it. Harcourt's whisper of a baritone voice with hints of the smokey qualities of Chris Rea immediately draw you into the melodies and the lyrics he's singing. The music is deceptive on the surface; many of the songs are as calm as a pool of water on a still, winter day while others have the undercurrent of a raging river.

I purchased this album and the follow up. It's no wonder he was nominated for the Mercury prize. He didn't win which is a crime but, unlike many of those artists that win Grammys as "best new artist" that disappear within weeks of winning, Harcourt's music will continue to improve and make an impression even if its on a small hardcore group of fans. I can't describe Harcourt's music any better so listen to the clips to get an idea of what you'll be missing before you forget.

Ed Harcourt -Here Be Monsters
The understated tones of Ed Harcourt truly shine on this perfectly pieced album. With a mix of up-beat melodies and heartfelt ballads it confirms the reasons behind his Mercury Music Prize nomination but gives no answers to why the man didn't win hands down. With infectious tracks such as God Protect your soul, Apple Of My Eye and Hanging With The Wrong Crowd which shy away from typical alternative music backing, he creates a new music genre that some, on first viewing, may naively mistake as pop. But don't be fooled, this album is one that deserves a second glance and only then will Mr.Harcourt's vocal and instrumental talent glow and leave you pondering why he isn't up there with the likes of Badly Drawn Boy and Turin Brakes, but maybe that's what gives 'Here Be Monsters' the x-factor which many critically acclaimed musicians strive for.
As cliched as it may measure, Ed Harcourt doesn't put a foot wrong on this disc. But if I had to highlight a negative point it would but that of the contagious nature of his album, after looping it on your CD player its almost certain you'll find yourself humming his contaminating sounds when you'd least expect it.

Madonna!
This is the stuff of religious proclamations! Top draw stuff, sad piano, up tempo horns, some cool loops and great lyrics...awaiting sphers with baited breath. I would compare (although not in style) to Sea Change by Beck for album greatness.

Here Be Monsters
Harcourt fits very nicely into the Bacharachian (like Bacchanalian?) singer-songwriters - those who know how to use trumpet flourishes, glockenspiel and tack piano refrains, and harmony vocals correctly. Though well-received in Europe and a Mercury Music Prize nominee, Harcourt seems to have had difficulty breaking through in America with little critical acclaim and hasn't amassed anything more than a cult audience. His opening spot for Neil Finn's club tour this summer should help him out as the two have similar melodic and rhythmic ideas. "Hanging With The Wrong Crowd" could've been written by Finn himself. Fave tracks: "Something In My Eye," "Apple Of My Eye," "Like Only Lovers Can." (originally written May 2002)

Incredible debut
An album just dripping with emotion. It's dark and atmoshperic, yet underneath it all is a hope that things will get better. Harcourt's voice is the glue that brings all the songs together. It targets the emotions living inside the song and points them out to the listener whether they realize it or not. The best thing about the arrangements is the trumpet in almost all the songs. It's shocking to hear in this era of music when everything is muddled with over-production. ... Read more

Amazon.com's Best of 1999

Olivia Tremor Control can't decide whether they want to be experimental-noise progenitors or avant-garde psychedelic pop stars. That schism makes Black Foliage alternately wondrous, challenging, and frustrating, with moments of pure brilliance patched together with overworked, overedited passages of indulgence. But frustrating doesn't mean bad. It's just not easy listening, and OTC like it that way. --Tod Nelson ... Read more

Reviews (47)

Unadventurous listeners need not apply.
Black Foliage is a big, sprawling, adventurous mess of imagination and creativity. The entire album is practically crushed by the weight of its own ambition but it never comes off as pretentiousness. Though the album is filled with more bizarre instrumentalization and experimentalism than the bands earlier effort, 'Dusk at Cubist Castle'; 'Foliage' is less derivative of 60's rock music and the effects are far more memorable here. Songs like 'A Peculiar Noise...", "A Place We Have Been to" and "Hideaway" just wouldn't be have the same effect without the tape effects and added sounds. Though it requires an open mind and many listens to comprehend, Black Foliage is truly an astounding work that is a lot of fun to listen to as well.

Immerse yourself in this one!
I have nearly worn out my copy of Olivia Tremor Control's 'Music from the Unrealised Film Scrpit Dusk at Cubist Castle' from playing it soooooo many times. It's a wunderous delight of an albumn and easily on the shortlist of my all time favourites.

I always wanted to get Black Foliage but as you can see it is listed as out of print here (and on every other US music site, believe me I checked). I lost all hope of ever being able to hear this CD untill I tried the UK amazon where there is a UK version that that is still available and I would suggest anyone interested in their own copy of this brilliant CD check it out before they are all gone.

That said, on first listen this albumn strays a fair bit from the style of Dusk. While Dusk sounds more like a dreamy journey carried on very sweet harmonies and sound collages, Black Foliage has a more urging and constant beat and the sound is a lot more thicker filled with all manner of pinball machine type sound effects. I still found it an amazing CD, contained within are sounds that are joyous and depressing, excited but laid back. Like Dusk, this albumn deserves to be listened to with a good set of headphones with your undivided attention to totally absorbe the complexities of the music. My second listen I used headphons and soon found myself being overwhelmed totally by the music.

Like Dusk, this is a powerfully beautifull masterpiece of an albumn and a wunderfully addition to any music collection.

Audio Gold
This is a very interesting and catchy album. My complaint is that they could've played these songs a little more straight. Had they left off some of the bleeks and squeeks, and just played some of them as straight pop songs, I would've been more satisfied with the album. But I guess, that's not the direction they were going. The last song, "Hilltop Procession" is a suprising gem, especially after listening to some of the more aimless instrumentals. I will say that it is a great album for driving on the interstate, especially late at nite.

Everything I could hope for in an album
This album is everything I could hope for by any band. Great melodies, great harmonies, great musicianship, and they're not afraid to be weird! Somewhere between the Beatles and The Beach Boys and Sonic Youth (if SY used lots of keyboards and classical instruments).

I recommend that everyone owns this album. However, *don't* pay the giant prices that are on the Amazon marketplace. If you want to save yourself a little money (read: not pay 100 dollars for this album), go to amazon.co.uk. It's still available in England. You'll have to pay import prices, but you're still saving yourself a good chunk of money if you absolutely must have this album.

Amazing!
This is great! OTC have surpassed their more than promising debut " Dusk at Cubist Castle" simply because "Black Foliage" works better as an album and has more of a continuos flow than its predesessor. This is a cornet of the brightest, most colorful psychedelic earcandies you can imagine. Gorgeous melodic vocal harmonies, clarinets, horns and Zappaesque tape loops and sound effects all over the place.
Even if OTC is reminiscent of early Pink Floyd, Beatles and Beach Boys, it's impossible to point out exactly what albums/songs they have been listening to. They have quite simply created a sound which is entirely their own.
Put on your headphones, close your eyes and get ready for one hell of a mindblowing album. ... Read more

Amazon.com

The Moaners erupt from the glut of guitar-and-drums garage/punk/blues duos with this debut, a hard-smackin' boil-down of bad love, grinding riffs, atmospheric droning, and vocal harmonies that justify their name. Singer and guitarist Melissa Swingle hails from Mississippi, where enough molasses and cotton powder stuck to her vocal cords to make her songs about juke-joint nights and hauntedhearts leap from elementary to elemental. She's also funny, in a sneering way, comparing men to breeds of dogs in "Terrier" and wryly paraphrasing author Flannery O'Connor in "Flannery Said." "Elizabeth Cotten's Song" pays tribute to the late North Carolina blueswoman by quoting her classic "Going Down the Road Feeling Bad." Nevertheless, the way Swingle's bittersweet drawl, raw, effects-colored slide guitar, and slow chiseled solos mesh with veteran punk drummer Laura King's uncluttered thumping sidesteps identifiable regional styles and musical eras to create the Moaners' evocative, distinctly Southern soundscapes. To call their music timeless would be an exaggeration, yet their take on rock certainly rolls to its own heartbeat. --Ted Drozdowski ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Drags On
Same ol' tired voice over and over.Not horrible beginnning to end, but not so good either.The band's name sums it up.

Reminds me of 70's garage rock.
If Janice Joplin started a rock and roll grageband, this duo is what it would sound like. It's like a psychedelic goth female-version of whiskeytown, the type of band that would play in a bar, while you're at the bar drinking whiskey. I absolutely love Melissa Swingle's vocals. They're Dark and catchy. The whole album is great.

rock stars not porn stars
Melissa Swingle (formerly of Trailer Bride) and Laura King offer up their own blend of guitar and drums rock on their first CD Dark Snack. The recording has the usual line-up of heartbreak, bitter, love-sick, and social commentary songs that music fans have come to expect from punk-influenced rock. Swingles compelling voice slides out of the speakers and is injected into the listener's veins like a vaccine against rock poseurs.

The Moaners take on the rock format with a wry smile, particularly with their version of "House of the Rising Sun" that has a modern and personal twist ("Paradise Club"). "Heart Attack" kicks off the CD with a walking blues line in the verses and then shifting into straight 4/4 rock with the chorus. The blues comes out again on "Elizabeth Cotten's Song" with a harmonica intro and blues rock style melody and lyrics. Math rock-ish "Too Many People" is a commentary on life in a crowded city from the perspective of an agoraphobic introvert. "Terrier" bares its teeth in an aggressive rock fashion, and could become a theme song for women who have had too many macho ex-boyfriends (or ex-husbands). "Oh Christy" has a hypnotic guitar riff that runs through this character essay of a self-destructive person. Despite the upbeat musical arrangement of "Talk About It," the song deals with a non-communicative relationship that is spiraling downwards with the weight of un-spoken problems.

Twelve songs in thirty-five minutes... I would be happy to have more. Swingle and King have a lot to say, and the talent to present their compositions with unique musical arrangements.

Chasin' the moan or moon
First off , the singer is Melissa Swingle form the Bloodshot records hillbilly goth outfit Tralerbride.Her voice is is fantastic, dark, distant and full of yearnin'.This is some fuzzy punk/blues that will git yer ass a'shakin'.This is what it is.A "garage blues punk duo"guitars and drums, so if your are tired of the genre this may not be for you, but it beats a lot of the schtick out there.For fans of Mr. AirplaneMan, and TrailerBride.
Give it a whirl, I ain't never heard nothin' bad on Yep Roc ... Read more

Amazon.com's Best of 1999

The Folk Implosion duo Lou Barlow and John Davis offer a kaleidoscope of tracks on One Part Lullaby, turning through a lucid dream state of lyrical introspection. Thickly padded, moderately paced hop-hop rhythms synced with distorted guitars, rolling snares, and simple keyboard touches lend a powerfully hypnotic quality to the alt-rock wash. Its warm, steady flow bestows on the listener a sort of clairvoyance that remembers birth, foresees death, and relives all the good stuff in between. --Beth Massa ... Read more

Reviews (37)

Truly great!
I've followed Lou Barlow through Sebadoh et. al. and found his work uneven but so artful that even his failures are wonderful. John Davis is clearly his perfect partner and together they've created an amazingly cohesive and entrancing album that's not only danceable but poetic. And while Barlow is great at mooning about lost love ("Think" from Bubble & Scrape being one of the most heartfelt love songs of all time)he's never sappy, and is willing and able to take on other subject matter. (A relief really--I hate that pop music forces you to think about relationships all the time!) Also, unlike everyone else these days who's sampling or stealing from their predecessors, Folk Implosion's sound is 100% original. I got this CD three months ago, and although I've made attempts to stop myself (I don't want to get so sick of it I don't love it anymore)I still listen to it almost every day, and it still charms me. I also think the KIDS soundtrack is just terrific. What I don't understand is, why aren't these guys more famous? They're totally brilliant.

Folk-Hop? Just Call It Grand
I've been a big fan of Sebadoh for quite a while, but I admit I knew nothing about Lou's little side project until it was recommended to me by a friend. Buying this album was both a blessing and a revelation. One need not be a Sebadoh fan to appreciate the warmth that emanates from this laid-back yet slowly boiling album. The beats are funky, matching the vocals and guitars perfectly, and all the songs are well-crafted. At first, one might be taken aback by the crudeness of some of the technology - the rhythm track for "Mechanical Man" is lifted from the cheapest of possible Casio keyboards. But after a few listens, one realizes that the choice of synthesizers was perfect, and I can't imagine the song being constructed any other way. There are hints of Beck and Sebadoh here, as well as Led Zeppelin (believe it or not - try track 4, 'Serge'), but this album is remarkably original. It's easy to listen to, but by no means easy listening. For all those who hope that post-rock isn't the only option for the future (and I love post-rock, by the way, I just recognize its limitations), try this unique indie release. Lou, you've done it again. And you're not even spreading yourself thin yet!

incredible
one of the finest records of the 90's, for sure, it's incredible that it spawned no hits.

would be popular in a fair world
I am listening to the album right now! yep. Because it's good. This is perhaps the most fully developed work Lou Barlow has done to date, and the most consistent all the way through. It is missing some of that fun indie guitar rock that made Dare to Be Surprise and Sebadoh's Bakesale so good, but it makes up for it with some high quality layered and better produced songs (which isn't a bad thing). good songs, some might even make you dance!

Stole this CD from my brother, a twenty year old college boy
This CD is awesome. There are very few CDs (including those of my favorite bands) of which I can honestly say I love every song. This one however, is an exception. There is a wide range of music, all of which is fresh, interesting, and just REALLY GOOD! I am a fan of Liberal Arts college boy music, (a style I named myself that includes such bands as Death Cab for Cutie, Built to Spill, Elliott Smith, Bob Dylan, and some people no one has ever heard of) and this CD definetly fits in at the top of that collection. Buy it, buy it, buy it!!! ... Read more

Album Description

Full title - Oh Me Oh My The Way The Day Goes By The Sun Is Setting Dogs Are Dreaming Lovesongs Of The ChristmasSpirit. Mr. Barnhart's excellent 2003 debut album on YoungGod Records is compelling and weird, escaping definition.Using voice, guitar and four-track, his raw song-craft isterrifyingly effective at communicating the breadth ofhuman emotion. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

oh...MY
This disc is so beautiful.
Some people have described it as having, perhaps, "evil" qualities, and I suppose I see it in some of the songs (The Charles C. Leary, maybe)..but, all in all, I really think it's just delightful.
Personally, I love The Spirit is Near.
The foot stomping and sporadic shrieks really get me going. This man is a genius!

I want my blanket...
These songs give me the creeps, the kind that make me stay up all night with every light in the house on, with a few candles lit and a few prayers whispered for good measure. Still the cd keeps playing, all through the night until dawn comes because I just can't seem to stop listening. Like chimera or yet discovered flora, these songs crawl under your skin...and Devendra's voice-at times "Yeesh!" and at other times-pure, haunted beauty-still other times raw sensuality. There does seem something truly evil about this CD, but in that darkness there is a light I cannot pinpoint. Perhaps that's the appeal. At any rate, 'Oh me oh my...' inspires me, makes me feel younger than my 28 years, like I was 19 again and still even interested in music.

"Oh Me Oh My"! It's Devendra
I'm not sure what to make of Devendra Banhart. He tiptoes on the margin between sublime and sheer lunacy. "Oh Me Oh My" is one of those rare CDs you put on, in an altered state, at 3 am in the morning, and like a bolt of lightining the genius of the artist strikes you. I listened to Skip Spence's "Oar" for several months before the elusive quality of his brilliance sank in. Devendra is a similar type of artist.

The production values are charmingly low-fi and the lyrics...well... let's just say if you find a meaning in the content of Banhart's lyrics, then you are capable of some very loose associations. A lot the lyrics resemble the stream of consciouness, automatic writting practiced by Andre Breton and his brethern in French surrealist movement. It is just a guy and his guitar and a voice that defies any precedents. No production tricks like crunchy loops or sound reprocessing. He soars and swoops from pleasant mid range voice into a screeching falsetto almost at a whim. He pays little attention to conventional musical structures. It's almost as if Mr. Banheart never heard music at all, or even knew what a guitar was; and some guy handed him a guitar and said,"Here, Devandra do something with this thing."

I will be interested in seeing where Devandra goes from here. Yesterday's low-fi genius, often becomes tomorrow's charlatan, after two or three releases. Is he a savant or an idiot? I'm sure we will get the answer in a year or two. Unconventional artists like Devandra don't have a lot of choices: they either melt down like Syd and Skip, or persue more centrist musical directions. A few artists like Beck and Captain Beefheart can pull it off, but smart money isn't betting on it yet.

Eerie, effective, and otherworldly...
I had high expectations for this album based on the hype I'd read. Although Banhart at times does indeed reach for a bizarre falsetto, I thought it would be more obviously demented than it turned out to be, but after a while it worked its unusual magic on me. As has been previously mentioned here, there is little more at work here than an accoustic guitar, voice, and a basic four-track recorder. The vocals are multi-tracked most of the time, which because of their looseness gives the songs a very strange choral effect that actually gets to be quite chilling. The songs here are great, with bittersweet melodies that will stick in your head for days, and the lo-fi production only adds to the ethereal, unsettling vibe. And of course there are the odd interludes here and there which sound like old records being played through an ancient, crackling cable.
If I had to draw comparisons, I would definately cite Tiny Tim, the accoustic/folkish Current 93 material, and maybe Marc Bolan? In any case, I can say with a clear conscience that this would be right at home within the World Serpent roster.
Overall, this is spooky yet very charming; quite an implausible but intoxicating achievement that must be heard to be believed.

Part Nick Drake, Part tiny Tim,part Angel
This is one of the more unusual releses' I have heard in quite some time. On OH ME OH MY...Barnhart does not seem to be making a pretentious statement, rather stripped down, he's getting to the essence of his sound.Bare guitar chords, and a eeirly beautiful voice combine to make some of the more haunting sounds I have heard in quite some time. The Charles c leary is gorgeous,as is cosmos and Demos and a gentle soul.Other songs sing the praises of friends teeth and ears. many of the cuts are a minute or two in length,and the bare bones prduction sounds are intentional,and add to the overall effect, which ranges from soft to off the wall. If Devendra Barnhart can keep his voice and vision, this is the genesisof a great artist.Either way, this is a terrific album. ... Read more

Album Description

After twenty-odd years and twenty-odd releases, this is the final album by Ohio's famed geniuses. It's their most serious and mature record in years, more akin to those recorded in the mid-90s than the most recent releases. At the same time, it's influenced by both American and British mid-60s chime-pop, pointing out the intricate interweaving guitar lines, the stunning wordplay, the vastly melancholic and somehow still uplifting tone, the impeccably tossed-off phrasing, and the stately, plump rhythm section. Elegiac and remorseful; a jewel of a farewell. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Although Beulah usually gets lumped in with Elephant Six outfits like Neutral Milk Hotel or fellow California smartasses such as Pavement, the San Francisco band’s fourth album is more like a cross between the tart pop of New Pornographers and the studio-tan ambition of Wilco. As with the band’s previous albums of low-fi pop, singer-guitarist Miles Kurosky’s melodies are reliably sweet, but there’s a stronger undertow of melancholy to the lyrics and the arrangements are sometimes rougher, lesser accommodating. The keyboards of Pats Abernathy and Noel play a particularly prominent role, and so does the trumpet of Bill Swan. Oh, there’s still plenty of guitar from Kursosky and Swan--angular and agitated when it isn’t sweet as a pedal steel in heaven. And, rare among indie-rock rhythm sections, bassist Eli Crews and drummer Danny Sullivan actually know how to find and ride some interesting grooves. Yoko may be not quite be the career-defining album that Yankee Hotel Foxtrot was for Wilco, but it’s a major step forward for a band still restlessly defining its own sound. --Keith Moerer ... Read more

Reviews (35)

Fantastic!
I had my first listen to Yoko about four hours ago, and I've had it playing over and over ever since. Easily one of the best albums of the year so far, maybe the best. There is no bad or even ho-hum track on it; just when you think a song may be a little dull, it takes off in a completely unexpected direction. Yet the band also knows when it needs to slow down and enjoy the moment, like in "Hovering," which has a gorgeous and very simple piano/acoustic guitar section. It is a little "darker" than their previous albums, I suppose, but I've never considered Beulah to be a cute band like, say, the Apples in Stereo or Of Montreal. And any album that ends with merry whistling, like this one does, can't be all that dark. It's no "Fun Trick Noisemaker," but it's no Einstuerzende Neubauten album, either.

The production on this album is perfect. All the instruments can be heard clearly, but it still isn't too polished and overproduced. The songs are spontaneous and fresh, like they made them up on the spot, and it's obvious they had a lot of fun making this record (or at least they hid it well if they didn't!) Even with all the tempo changes and subtle experimentation, the songs are cohesive, and you couldn't imagine them any other way.

This is an album by a band that has come into its own. You can pick out influences all over the place: Bowie, Beach Boys, early Roxy Music, Beatles, and even tinges of lounge music and punk pop up. But you hear the music and you think, "Oh, it's Beulah." I hope they continue to make great music.

Enough analysis! Buy it and have fun!

Take it for what it is
The excitement has been mounting for weeks--it's finally here...the new Beulah album. I was so excited at what I heard when I put it into my stereo at home that I couldn't even wait to finish listening past the 3rd song before starting my review. Let me just say, it rocks. As all you Beulah fans out there probably already know, everything written about the album so far has crushed hopes for another 10 tracks of sunny melodies and beach boys comparisons---I have to admit I was a little worried that this album might be the band's desperate attempt to prove that they really are "deep" and that the music would get hopelessly lost in the process. Not so. As a long-standing Beulah fan, just the sound of Miles Kurosky's smooth crooning is enough to make a bad album good. Not to say that it's a bad album. Cause it's good. And didn't we all know notice the gloomy undertones to even the seemingly cheeriest Beulah tunes of previous albums? If you didn't notice, you weren't listening hard enough. It's always been there. So sure, it may be darker and gloomier than previous Beulah endeavors---but moody or not, take Yoko for what it is: a seriously top-notch album. We'll be reading about this one for a long time. That's about all I can say right now, cause I'm just about moved to tears by track 7.

Don't Be Sad That I'm Goin'
The best record by one of the most underappreciated and underrated indie bands of the last ten years. Perfect from start to finish, no filler to speak of. I'm sad to say it's the last Beulah record that will ever be made. At least they left us with this beautiful record. Thank you Beulah.

Its not their best, but it still kicks everyone else's asses
hey my friend got me hooked on this band and so i have all their major records and a few of their singles. their first album, handsome western states, is pretty good, and its their most like indie badass one. their next two are their best in my opinion. when your heartstrings break has a whole different feel than states, with some trumpet and stuff to give Beulah its own distinct sound. "Coast" was the next one and its pretty cool and has a kinda california feel to it. "yoko" is more depressing than the rest, because the band went through a lot of break ups with girlfriends and stuff while recording it. its still good, but get heartstrings and coast first, so that this doesnt turn you off of beulah.

I Can't Breathe!
Yoko is a lofty and inspired album investigating the subject of the devastated heart constructing one of the most flawless, evocative recordings in recent recorded history. It's a hook filled beaut of an album with 10 outstanding tracks. While Dylan and others have explored the same subject, Beulah somehow make it sound fresh and new. A rare find in today's morass. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Lo-fi no longer, Lou Barlow and friends come on like early R.E.M. with their most melodic, produced and likable album. --Jeff Bateman ... Read more

Reviews (16)

All of the little Sebadoh pieces have fallen together....
Somewhere in the middle of Lo-Fi & Hi-Fi lies Harmacy. "On Fire", a masterpiece, shows Sebadohs capability. "Too Pure" and "Open Ended", The ideal sound for Sebadoh, and "Willing to Wait" is whispering perfection. Most of the 19 songs are notable and if they would have trimmed this album down to 12 songs...who knows, It could be the perfect album to play straight through. But "Shame About Ray" by the Lemonheads (their Boston Brothers) still takes the cake. Don't get me wrong, it's still in my top 15 of all time because there's always a song for every mood.

Get that man another long black!
Harmacy is a frustrating record. It's difficult to know what to write about it and to know where to begin such writing. This will consequently be a frustrating and difficult review to read, but I guess that some reviews have to be so, otherwise no-one would appreciate the good ones.

For me, Harmacy is uneven and disjointed. While it's no more rambling than the average Sebadoh long-player, the fact is that the high points of this record - Lou Barlow's tours de force Too Pure and On Fire, for example - are truly lofty. It's consequently an indispensable part of my record collection and yet I thus also feel compelled to sit through the songs do not scale the aforementioned heights. While Jason Loewenstein's songs are possibly more gut-wrenching than his rather bland-seeming contributions to The Sebadoh (which is rumoured to be the band's last album), I find them to be a little tiresome when interposed between songs such as Willing To Wait (which echoes a prior Lou) and the aforementioned Too Pure (which time after time transports this reviewer to a magical land of otherness).

I could also quibble that Harmacy outstays its welcome by perhaps ten minutes - after Can't Give Up I invariably find that I'd rather be listening to something else - but this is a petty grievance, given the (albeit capricious) quality of the foregoing. In the end, however, I'm invariably plagued by thoughts that perhaps in reality this is a consistently good album and I just need another coffee.

Different sound, same songwriting
After the semi-success of Folk Implosion in 1995 with the song Natural One. Fans were eagerly waiting to see what Lou Barlow would do next. The result is this.

Harmacy is a total indie sound. No more low-fi, no more Eric. We're in the NORMAL stage now. With songs like On Fire, Willing to Wait, Beauty of the Ride and Open Ended making this seem more like an almost different band but the songwriting is still there as is the hard rock/punky songs to fill in for these more pop sounding songs. The harder songs are actually the better ones, but something comes to mind. Without Eric writing these, they sound disturbingly close to Mudhoney or Nirvana especially Crystal Gypsy and Love to Fight which have the grungy guitar sounds and the Mark Arm-like signing. Then there's Can't give up, Worst thing and Nothing like you which sound like Nirvana-esque tunes. Can't give up actually reminds me of Pearl Jam a bit in some cases. A few instrumentals on here also, Weed against Speed (I'd take speed), Szforando! (don't quite get it) and Hillbilly II (hilarious Mudhoney-type song) which make for some jammin songs with no signing. The whole album is worth listining too if you're a new fan to Sebadoh (This was the first I got from Lou) the sound is there and so is the soungwriting but it does lose a star for the lack of ANGER. The past albums had more emotion and anger to fill the void of these depressing love songs goen wrong. And without Eric there, I think half the anger is gone (if you don't believe me, then listen too "As the world dies from Sebadoh III). But still Sebadoh snowballs as you progress into their catalouge of music.

What's next after this? Try the Freed Weed or Bakesale if you're a new fan.

I highly recommend this awesome piece of indie rock.

harmacy equates harmony
Prior to purchasing this album, I had heard so much exasperated to-do from other fans about how it was "below" anything else Sebadoh had put out, that I became all the more attracted to it, and knew it was likely to be favored by my unconventional self.
Likewise I was correct. Anymore it seems like albums aren't worth taking a chance with, but this little treasure clearly defied that weary statement. Putting the collective opinions aside, and focusing on the pinnacle of the music, the tragically restless crooning of Lou and glimmering guitar strums magnifies, the catchiness prevails and Jason sanctifies his frustrated cries.
"Prince-S" conveys amusingly honest lyrics, but the music that supports it is an intangibly firm ballad of the lonely, cool quality that is indie rock. My personal favorite on the album :)

Tugging
Of all Sebadoh's albums, this is the one that I found hard to leave behind. Bubble and Scrape is probably the most indicative of Sebadoh's style, but Harmacy is chokeful of heart stringing songs, the ones that make you wish you did not have that breakup, the ones that make you wanted to go back and listen to with your head between the speaker, post-breakdown. While most of their contemporaries have gone down extra-weird, split or gone into some uncharted territorries, Sebadoh's up there in the place they know best. We're not worthy, Lou!. ... Read more

Reviews (10)

I'll be damned, he did it again.
Not to split hairs, but I've always considered The Mountain Goats to be poets, rather than songwriters. Musically, the "same-ish" argument might hold true, but the lyrics render that point pretty freaking moot.

The lyrics are smart, funny, painful, literate, and often leave room for enjoyable examination and interpretation (not to mention a refreshing cultural anthropology lesson). In my opinion, no better imagery can be found in modern music.

And even if you struggle with your own interpretation of what the words mean, the passion in John's voice will make the struggle worth while. And believe me, an unexamined song from The Mountain Goats is not worth listening to.

For those new to the Mountain Goats, this is a fine start, but please keep "Sweden" in mind when you need more.

brilliant
Great words. This guy can turn a phrase like no one else I've heard. The lo-fi aspect may turn some people off, but it just wouldn't be the Mountain Goats otherwise. This album is full of exasperation and thoughtful tenderness- it conveys well the idea that life is both beautiful and sad.

A masterpiece
Do you know who these guys are? Well first off its pretty much just one guy, John Darnielle. And he is a legend. He has recorded over 300 songs and scores of albums. His prolific song bank includes songs of love lost and found, songs of travel and adventure and songs of tragedy and hope.

Are all the songs true accounts? No. But that doesn't make them any less compelling.

This album would be hard pressed to be called his best but definitely is not a bad starting spot, though i would personally recommend All Hail West Texas.

If you have ever wondered what is up with this Low Fi nonsense this is the man to teach you your lessons. He shows the true spirit of the content quality in place of prduction quality tilt that makes Low Fi the fabulous genre it has become.

Gotta Love the Mountain Goats
It's a good Goats CD to start on, no doubt. It's a little more polished than some of his other stuff, but overall a very very solid CD. I personally prefer the scratchy, record sounding recordings that came before, but I love the Mountain Goats, so even when it's not Low-fi it's still awesome music.

Good Like Food
Not only is John Darnielle a thoroughly nice guy, but he's currently making some of the most literate and emotive music under the radar. Look, lets be honest if you like your records with industrial strength studio polish and nary a bum note or fluffed string in sight, then this isn't for you. If you understand the idea that humans make mistakes, and that trying to erase your mistakes, and attain perfection only makes you less human, than welcome to what will become one of the soundtracks to your lives...the honest, the witty, the tender, the empathetic and just plain bloody wonderful Mountain Goats.
Too many great tracks on this one to mention. Just listen. ... Read more

Amazon.com

It was only a matter of time before the return of the sensitive singer-songwriter. However, the 1990s style requires that the introspection be broken up with a little tomfoolery. Sebadoh are masters of the game. Lou Barlow is the inquisitive and earnest leader who delivers the heartfelt "Not a Friend" and "Together or Alone" with all the hurt and pain he can fit on his sleeve. Jason Loewenstein is the guy with the captivating guitar line. Put together, they're something like Donny and Marie--one is a little bit sensitive, the other a little bit rock 'n' noise. And just to prove they're a democracy, they give drummer Bob Fay some with his lone composition, the surprisingly tuneful "Temptation Tide." --Rob O'Connor ... Read more

Reviews (18)

Lou Barlow's subtle pop classic
Once again, I am amazed by reviewers who trash a band that moves away from its perspective musical style and tries something new. Sebadhoh's Bakesale is quite different than anything they have ever done before, but that is cool as hell!! First off, "Not a Friend" is one of the most heartbreaking and beautiful songs I have ever heard. "Careful" is powerful, especially the line, " And God only knows, I need a blance". The album is perfection from the first line Lou sings in "Liscense to Confuse", where he expresses, "I'm not attractive today, I'm not a sight for sore eyes". Lou Barlow is our generation's Lou Reed. Love him, respect him, and buy this amazing Lo-Fi Pop masterpiece!

a perfect album?
here's the deal.....bands evolve, they change, and though the sebadoh that is heard on bakesale is very different from the sebadoh on a say, III, or even bubble and scrape, it is still one of the finest bands out there. bakesale is an incredibly cohesive effort, its not at all schizophrenic like some of the earlier work....lou tackles the personal issues here, self image, love and loss, etc. i think the thing that makes the album so good however, is that jason's songs are finally fully realized and fully listenable. it seemed before he was always just a record behind lou, but here, he really comes into his own, in fact, penning the albums best tune (s. soup) of course the lou stuff is great too: check out not a friend, skull, and together or alone.....i've probably listened to this album once a week since i first bought it my freshman year of h.s....and i didn't exactly whip through college. timeless stuff.

Easy rockin'
This actually is one of the best albums Sebadoh would release. The music and sound is totally laid-back compared to something like Bubble and Scrape or Smash your head on the Punk Rock. One reviewer said it was a "subtle pop classic" and that is the exact definition of the album itself. It's way more subtle and easier then other Sebadoh albums.

This actually had the first Sebadoh tune I've heard and this is the second last album I bought. The song was Skull and I heard it in the opener of the skateboarding video Anthology (by Transworld magazine). I liked the song at the beginning and thought it flowed really well with what was going on. I would later find out after about 2 years that it was from one of my favorite bands.

Even though this is way more relaxed then the other albums, it doesn't mean that Lou won't deliver some harsh (But cynical) lyrics and some pretty powerful songs. Tunes like Careful, License to confuse, Not a friend and Magnet's Coil all have a unique sound with some very, very good lyrics. Careful is almost devastating to hear but it's all so simple at the end. Not a Friend is something we all can relate too sometimes with friendships. License to Confuse is just 2 minutes of cynsism from Lou. Magnet's Coil isn't as harsh as most of the album, but the opening base line is extremely catchy. Then there's the easier songs with the easier sound. Skull, Got it, S Soup, Rebound, Dramamine and Together or Alone. Together or Alone just gives me a feeling of emptyness but it's a great song. Skull is the first song I heard from Sebadoh, great tune but nothing to crank. Rebound is just awesome. S Soup and Dramamine somehow connect within listens.

One song that sticks out though is Give Up. Starts off like a heavy metal track then goes right into the normal Sebadoh type ranting. It's my favorite track on the album next to Careful and Not a Friend.

Totally recommended for some great songs with even better lyrics. I wish Sebadoh were still around....

adequate enough
This is my second Sebadoh album. My first was "III."

I actually owned "III" for a very long time before even liking it. It's not like I hated it in the first place; I just sort of disregarded it for some completely dumb and idiotic reason. A few weeks ago, however, I actually blew the dust off of the disc and placed it in my CD player. It was incredible, nearly perfect. Lo-fi at it's best.

I am assuming it is, with this album, where Sebadoh made the transition from lo-fi to medium-fi (is there such an expression?). While they do a good job, playing catchy music that gradually grows on you, not much of it is all that compelling (musically). Lyrically, Barlow is probably at his peak -- especially in songs like "Not a Friend" and "License to Confuse."

But what's with the radio friendly production? It doesn't sound or feel intimate anymore... you know what I mean? When I listen to "Hassle" or "Kath" from the album "III," I feel like Lou really means what he's saying, and the low-fi production emphasizes the feelings in both the music and the lyrics. It has a certain charm, too -- the vocals would waver and occassionally go off-key, the music sounded rough but just lovely at the same time. Almost all of that is gone on this record.

Not that there's no good songs -- there's almost a good enough amount to warrant a purchase. "Temptation Tide" (the sole song by drummer Bob Fay) uses the shiny production in the best way possible; it sounds dream-like and ends way too quickly. "Not a Friend" is probably the closest this album comes to a Barlow "III"-ish masterpiece. "Got It" is incredibly catchy, with a guitar line that is really infectious.

And there is, of course, "Skull." I sort of have a love/hate thing with this song -- it's really pretty, and well made to boot, but the chorus is simply ... uninspired. It was the one song on here that got any radio airplay, and it's easy to see why -- it's the most mainstream-ish song on the record. It's a good song, regardless; not great, but good.

Eric Gaffney, who, in my opinion, was as good as Barlow in the songwriting department, is notably absent here. And it shows. I've read somewhere that he left in 1993, a year prior to the release of this. Which is unfortunate; I miss him and his wonderful songs. Whereas Barlow wrote quiet (albiet beatiful) confessions, Gaffney wrote some really messed up tunes. They were loud, scary (sometimes not), and incredibly interesting. "As the World Dies, the Eyes of God Grow Bigger" (from "III") is one of my favorite songs, ever. It has an incredible story (the lyrics are nothing short of spectacular) and, musically, the flip-flopping between jangly guitar pop and heavy metal is simply infectious. You must hear it if you haven't yet.

Without Gaffney, "Bakesale" is almost a one-note affair; the songs are mostly mid-tempo, and none really distinct from one another (save for a few). Like I said before, though, it does grow on you. There are no standouts, but there are no bad songs either.

I think that if "III" (or anything else before this) had never been released, and Sebadoh debuted with this record instead, my perception of it would of been entirely different. I would of liked it a lot more.

But I just can't help but make dumb comparisons. Sorry.

Good CD
This is probably the only Sebadoh that I will listen to on a regular basis and i haven't heard much of their other material. However, i found that some of the songs seemed to be under par compared to the great ones here. Magnet's Coil, Liscence to confuse, Careful, Dramamine and Not To Amused are the better tunes, and the rest are all filler to me. But these songs don't hold down the band nor the disc. The best part about Sebadoh? This is real rock. Sebadoh is like the Foo Fighters: they don't need to talk about depression, drugs, and stuff like that to get their point across and good guitar rumbling through a lot of people's speakers. ... Read more

Amazon.com

After the success of his previous album, The Doctor Came At Dawn, Bill Callahan (who is Smog) joined forces with some of Chicago's and label Drag City's finest musicians to craft this album over a few days. The band atmosphere frees up Callahan's singing and the songs which verge into country music (in terms of what country once was and not what it presently is) seem far more open than previous efforts. The symbolism of the color red is a bit overdone ("Blood Red Bird," "Red Apples," and "Red Apple Falls") and an undercurrent of overseriousness threaten to defeat the album's relaxed nature. ("Ex-Con" loosens things considerably). The simple beauty of much of what's here is quite astonishing at times. --Rob O'Connor ... Read more

Reviews (11)

(classic)
I own just about all of the official Smog releases from the gritty home tape recordings, to the newer albums that will keep some steady friends around. This is by far the best (Smog) album that I've heard. Think Leonard Cohen meets The VU w/a touch of beautiful pedal steel over the top of it all. This album really is amazing and it embraces all of the different stylings that Bill Callahan employs throughout all of his works. From violent pop songs set over a cheary beat (ala Ex Con), to the isolated and introspectiveness w/a gritty sense of humor (es Stranger). This album really hits home. The one thing that may annoy new comers to this album is the heavy handedness of all the symbolism that reoccurs throughout the album. To me it's perfect but to others it can possibley ware you down. If you get this album and are looking for more Smog to listen to then the next logical step is Knock Knock. If you own Knock Knock and want more of the same then pick this one up.

Representative of Smog's best work
I cant say that this is Smog's (Bill Callahan or whatever his name is) best work because like so many, I have really only discovered Smog in the last few months. Of the 4 records Ive heard, Red Apple Falls is the best. These songs are great and what's more... they are accessable. Much of Smog's early work was a bit formless and avant-garde for my tastes, but this borders on a straight ahead pop album.
Smog's songs in general are melancholic tales of the absurd, much like those of Leonard Cohen or Tom Waits. This CD is no exception. I would say, based on what Ive heard, that this would be an excellent place to start if you are thinking about picking up some Smog.

Good work but only rates 4 stars
it's interesting to see that most of the other reviewers don't give this CD more than 4 stars. I admire it. The songwriting is clearly intelligent and the performances are tastefully restrained. Maybe I just heard too much of this low-key sort of thing lately (Jim O'Rourke, some of the Tindersticks, etc.) and so it did not really overwhelm me. Worth checking out but not especially compelling.

His most consistent work yet.
Bill Callahan aka (Smog) constantly reinvents his style on each release. His style of music is keenly languid, joyfully lachrymose, and almost always, horribly beautiful. Check out his whole catalog: It contains everything from Sebadoh/Lou Barlow indie pop, to orchestral Van Dyke Parks/Brian Wilson masterpieces. That being said, this is his most consistent work. Check out Gastr del Sol if you like this.

Smog and "Diamond Jim"
Just over the past few weeks and months, I have become very engaged by Smog's music- and of the records of his that I've heard, Red Apple Falls is definitely among the best. I think I prefer Knock Knock for a few reasons, but, this one is close by, and- that's a tremendous compliment.
If I were to knock it for anything, there are songs where Bill's singing isn't as strong as I'd like ("Red Apples" comes to mind on this count), and on the whole the red apple motif is very heavy-handed, and, can get annoying if you don't warm up to it. That said, "Red Apple Falls" is one of the most amazing songs I have -ever- heard- Bill's singing is perfect on this one, and the instrumentation gets in your head and sticks. On top of that, the lyrical content is complex and, to me, moving. Its not the type of song that really blows you away, but, to me it represents Smog at his very best.
To top off the record, "Diamond Jim" O'Rourke collaborated/produced it, which means, in my book, its golden. ... Read more

Album Description

Over the last 24 years, New Zealand's The Clean haveinfluenced countless bands with their unique blend ofhomemade garage rock, hook-filled melodies, and psychedelic experimentalism. This double CD documents the band'sdevelopment from the late 70s to the early 90s and includes out of print and hard to find singles, EPs, and tracks from the first three LPs. Merge Records. 2003. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

These are big fish
Jangly guitar pop riven with whisps of rain and honeyed penguin harmony. A few misfires, sure, but such is evolution. Well worth the ducats for songs you'll forever play.

the clean cleansed my musical soul, it did
thank goodness for merge, the label who has given this legendary new zealand post-punk/spacy twee pop group a well-deserved wider audience. so far this year my most valuable musical discovery. this 2-disc collection is essential, 46 songs, all of them delightful and effervescent, for 13 bucks. simply unbeatable.

kudos to the clean for being the band that kickstarted my favorite musical genre of last year, kiwi-pop (chills, bats, verlaines, straitjacket fits, etc...these are good places to turn if you like what you hear with the clean).

importance to music can not be denied
The importance of this band on music can not be overlooked. They really were one of the first bands to make it ok to record your record so it sounded like you were playing percussion on a basketball but it still sounded great. Oh and don't think it gets 5 stars only for importance to music it is also loaded with great songs. "Tally Ho," "Oddity," and "Diamond Shine" are personal favorites, but there are many other great songs that you will constantly be putting on your mixes with Beat Happening, the Chills, and Simon Joyner. Get it soon though, I doubt it will stay in print for long.

The Best Garage Band You've Never Heard
Pop Kulcher Review: The Clean are part of that small number of truly wonderful, legendary bands known almost exclusively to music critics and a few indie bands who cover their work. They started out in the early '80's as the forefront of Kiwi Rock, New Zealand's small crop of occasionally-overlapping artists channeling the Velvet Underground, late '60's garage bands, and punk-ish guitar bands like Television (see also the Bats, the Chills, the Verlaines, etc.). They issued a bunch of wonderful singles and ep's, ranging from thumping garage band rock to moody guitar vamps, hyper lo-fi energy with sing-along choruses. Then they broke up for awhile, regrouping in the '90's for a few albums that lacked the power and innovation of the early stuff but still had a few noteworthy moments. Anthology captures pretty much everything of theirs that matters, one disc dedicated to the early stuff and another disc for the lesser '90's material (excluding 2001's so-so Getaway). Most of the first disc was previously available on Compilation, but that one's out of print; also out of print is Vehicle, the best (and catchiest) of their latter albums, a large chunk of which can be found on disc two here. If you like the first 2 VU albums, and/or see the virtue in ? and the Mysterians' "96 Tears," there's simply no excuse for not owning this. The dark drone of "Point That Thing Somewhere Else," the cheesy organ romp of "Tally Ho," and the silly garage nonsense of "Oddity" are simply mandatory inclusions in any respectable record collection.

Kiwipop heaven!! Add a few stars to this review...!!
Yay! New Zealand "kiwipop" has never had more than a devoted cult following in the US (and hardly *anyone* listens to it in NZ!) But the mainstream's loss has always been our advantage, as bands such as the Bats, Chills, Verlaines and (of course!) David Kilgour's Clean have been special secrets for the indie-rock in-crowd. This is a stunning 2-CD compilation which gathers old college rock "hits" such as "Tally-Ho" and "Billy Two," along with newer songs from recent records, and a nice selection of live tracks and rarities. Most of the old albums and EPs on the Flying Nun label are pretty hard to find nowadays, so this well-programmed and quite generous collection will be a welcome blessing for kiwipop fans and kiwi kurious alike... Even if you have all the old records, it's nice to have all of these songs gathered together in one place... Highly recommended!! ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Even if you have the whole album, buy it for the b-side!
I'll admit, I'm late getting into Modest Mouse. I knew they had a few albums out prior to hearing "Float On" on the radio, but I had to rush out and buy the single when I heard the song.

"Float On" reminds me of something the Talking Heads would have recorded in their prime. It's very catchy and upbeat, with a cool guitar riff and chorus that I often find stuck in my head all day.

Although "I've Got It All (Most)" is not as stellar, it's still a very strong track. If you own the full-length album ("Good News For People Who Love Bad News"), you could probably compare "I've Got It All (Most)" to the album's "Ocean Breathes Salty." Actually, the song is good enough to have made the album, but since it didn't, I'd recommend spending a couple bucks to have it.

COOL SINGLE
I heard Modest Mouse on the radio and I liked what I heard. It seemed like fun, enjoyable music. This is a pretty good single for track 1. Im not a real fan of track 2. It's kind of a boring track.
Ratings:
1-- 10/10
2-- 7/10 ... Read more

Reviews (2)

"Everything Is" excellent
Buzzing, staticky voices open the "Everything Is" EP, followed by a staticky, buzzing drum solo. Neutral Milk Hotel is in fine form here, with frontman Jeff Mangum providing his usual hallucinatory innocence to the offbeat songs and catchy, fuzzy music.

The "Everything Is" single is a solid, swirling song with a weird spoken intro. It's also insanely catchy by Neutral Milk Hotel's standards, enough to make you bounce in your seat. A slower, rippling song follows in "Snow Song Pt. 1" and the bouncy, unexceptional "Tuesday Night." Perhaps strangest and most striking is the eerie "Aunt Eggma Blowtorch" is basically an experimental collage of music and recorded sounds.

Neutral Milk Hotel is known for its low-fi sound, and that's definitely present here. It's rough and unpolished (anyone else hear Mangum coughing into the mike?), which makes its quality all the more striking. Mangum's high-pitched voice sounds full and solid in this outing, without the reedy quality he had in "Avery Island."

Mangum's sweetly psychedelic lyrics are as striking as ever ("As children draped in flowers form a chain/They sing a song with jelly jars and bird calls/As night falls into dust and it's day again"), and the fuzz guitar and rapid-fire percussion are pretty solid. And in "Aunt Eggma Blowtorch," things get even weirder. It was recorded when Mangum was only seventeen, and so this is just a bunch of sounds patched together. There's a food blender, vocal samples, somebody singing, his sister playing piano, accordian, and strange sonic waves.

It's hardly the best introduction for someone new to Neutral Milk Hotel, but "Everything Is" is a solid EP of this brilliantly oddball band's bits and pieces. People who love bucking musical conventions will adore this.

vintage early E6
This is a rerelase of the "Everything Is" single from 1994, plus one bonus track, "Tuesday Moon." Although the depth of Neutral Milk Hotel's two full-lengths hasn't really been developed yet, there's some very accomplished songwriting here, and some rather nice lyrics ("Won't you stay awhile? We can close the door and sleep all day"). The best track by far is the warm, fuzzed-out, lo-fi title track, which is clearly the product of the same collective as early Olivia Tremor Control tracks like "Beneath the Climb" and "Fireplace", although a bit more melodically sophisticated. Weirdly, though, Jeff Mangum doesn't really sound like himself on most of these tracks. You can hear the roots of his distinctive vocal style on "Everything Is", but he has something akin to a California surfer accent on "Snow Song Pt. 1", and "Tuesday Moon" sounds more like the crazier side of Of Montreal ("Coquelicot", for example) than anything else. "Aunt Eggma Blowtorch" is not a song but a bedroom sound collage in true, self-indulgent-but-fun Elephant 6 fashion. Crying babies, vocal samples, out-of-tune piano noodling and random assorted noises combine into an entertaining, if a bit pointless, composition.

All in all, this is a very nice collection, although I wouldn't recommend it as anyone's first Neutral Milk Hotel purchase. And it is a bit overpriced...Still, it's essential for any NMH fan who wants to see where the band was coming from. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

A beautiful exposition on love and more
Of Montreal's first, and still their best, "Cherry Peel" is an indie pop delight like none other. Though parts of the album are weaker, and it winds down near the end, Kevin Barnes' frank writings on the meaning of love (especially the puppy love of crushes) and the band's flawless pop style makes up for their shortcomings. It is dissapointing that Of Montreal will probably never make an album on this subject again, but on the other hand they don't really need to. If any song has ever captured the meaning of brief love, it's "Baby" and if any song has ever got down exactly how it is to be unsure about another's feelings and thus having a hard time sorting out your own, it's "Don't Ask Me to Explain".

It opens with a simple, but characteristically strange love song, "Everything Dissapears When You Come Around", and it never leaves it's core themes. And there's nothing wrong with that. It'd be a classic if it weren't for some of the later songs and the unfortunate fact that the cheap recording equipment mars the album's beauty at times. Still, I have to say you should pick it up.

possibly my favorite record
this is a gorgeous record...it's hard to believe i've owned it for 5 years because i still keep listening to it. i think the reason is the songs have a timeless quality to them--ignore what people say about a "sixties" influence, these songs could have been written in 1920 or last week, and it wouldn't matter. it's pop at its best, but there are elements of waltzes and quasi-jazz here as well. essentially, it's folk music as written by burt bachrach, or better yet, quit comparing them to others and just enjoy. this stuff is great. and your girlfriend will like it too!

I slipped on this Cherry Peel!
This cd is on repeat in my cd player. Infact I have two one far my car and stereo. Even though I'm indifferent to living in a feather house somehow I can realate. So like sonic youth said "Closing time" NOW go BUY this cd or you will just be wasting your precious time!

Clever And Charming But Ultimately A Bit Disappointing
Pop Kulcher Review: Maybe I was just expecting too much. I'm a huge fan of most of the Elephant 6 stable, and was blown over by the single "Don't Ask Me To Explain." But while this is pleasant and catchy enough, nothing else on the album quite measures up to that single (though a few ditties come close, most notably the painfully infectious "I Can't Stop Your Memory"). This album falls somewhere between the pleasant pop of Apples in Stereo and the psychedelic experimentalism of Olivia Tremor Control, but falls a bit short of both. Not that I want to sell this short -- if you're a sucker for the Smile-era Beach Boys-derived naive pop championed by the Apples, Olivia, Elf Power, Beulah, et al., this will go down just fine -- if anything, this is probably the closest thing to mid-60's Brian Wilson put out so far by any of these bands. But the stripped-down minimalism of the sound and the calculated amateurishness of the performance and vocals occasionally distracts from the charm, which I don't think was the intent.

the best collection of songs this decade has heard
quite minimalist in production; quite genius in melodic orchestration; brilliant songwriting-pop music has never heard such harmonic and intelligent melodies....as quoted by a friend, "very clever." stranded on a desert island with this would be heaven. ... Read more

Amazon.com

With their interstellar (really!) lyrics and angular song structures, Modest Mouse tend to defy their self-deprecating band name. In truth, the trio's got some lofty ambitions, and The Moon and Antarctica indulges their grand dreams with pristine production and a vivid sonic backdrop. It also dives deeply into their geographical obsessions--always with the same subjective twists that made The Lonesome Crowded West and This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About such inspired wonders. Isaac Brock opens Moon with meditations on the universe's shape--all twisted into such a solipsistic tangle that they illuminate immediately how much these songs are about the mind as about the world. Rarely giving off the cage-jarring thickness of guitar rock, Moon's 15 tunes are shaped around vignettes of a disheveled head figuring out the rambling disconnections of postmodern society. Guitars wobble, Brock wails on vocals, and his band mates--Eric Judy and Jeremiah Green--help take each song away from any predictable formula and toward wherever they seem to want to go. This is a band as profoundly touched by suburbia as was writer Harold Brodkey. You can imagine Brock, Green, and Judy lying on wide-open lawns, philosophizing about the shape of the universe and coming up with lyric moments like this (sung to folky, spare acoustic guitar): "A wild pack of family dogs came running through the yard and as my own dog ran away I didn't say much of anything at all / A wild pack of family dogs came running through the yard as my little sister played; the dogs took her away, and I guess she was eaten up, okay." Replays of American Beauty, anyone? --Andrew Bartlett ... Read more

Reviews (147)

Not so modest
Modest Mouse has signed with Epic, which has afforded the band to be not half as modest, at least not in studio time and production. Each song on this album is meticulously crafted and tweaked; there is not a track that avoids some post-production manipulation. In this sense the album parallels Radiohead's OK Computer to an extent, but that's where the similarities end. Whereas OK Computer is a massively overproduced (in the best possible way) album, The Moon and Antarctica appears to be less an album of self-indulgence and more a seized opportunity to explore new territory for the band. Isaac Brock's lyrics remain as dry and cynical as ever, while the musical arrangements appear to have opened up a great deal to incorporate more extensive use of the violin and bits and pieces of odd electronic effects. "The Stars Are Projectors" is the album's centerpiece, with its off-kilter arrangement and melancholy lyrics, but there are no real disappointments in the album as a whole, whereas past releases often proved to be more on the hit-or-miss side. Highly recommended, despite any reservations of the band joining the major label playing field.

Original, inspiring, and beautiful.
Will Modest Mouse save rock and roll? I don't know and I don't care. The fact is that rock and roll is very alive and kicking. Of course it can't be found near the mainstream, but there are bands out there putting out amazing records, and I could care less if anyone else has heard of them. The Moon and Antarctica is simply amazing. And this is a true band. Each member brings an inticing element to the band, and the chemistry is amazing. The somber bass lines, funky drumming with mood shifting time changes, and the oh so awesome lyrics of Isaac Brock. He's got one of those entertaining voices that wouldn't be considered good, but just fits the music perfectly. It's kind of cross between David Byrne and Frank Black.

Okay now, lets get to the Album. Every song is excellent, although "I came as a rat" is hard to take if you're not in the right mood. The overall landscape is very dark and moody. It won't make you smile or shake your ass, but it puts you in a state of meditation and makes you philosophy. It sounds good whether you're in your car or just sitting lazily in your room. Fans of "The lonesome crowded west" may be a little dissapointed at first. This is VERY produced, and you might need to adjust to the new sound. But you should enjoy it, as should anyone else.

Buy it, and enjoy.

Perfect pop creation
A lot of good music is about the balance between pop and experimental sounds that are not immediatly appealing. Sonic Youth continually wrestles with this, as the best example. Modest Mouse, and more specifically Issac Brock, the genius of the band, has managed an almost perfect major label debut. The songs all center around tight poppy hooks but then go off onto weird explorations. Brock's voice keeps its weird lisping quality but changes with each song, sounding psychotic in Tiny Cities but then gentle in Perfect Disguise. His lyrics, which alternate between "It was alright,yeah,ok" and grand philisophical explorations about time and space and God manage perfectly the tricky feat of being both laid back and intensely intrested. This album is essential for any one who likes indie pop/rock. Also,the extended version is worth its price if its about a dollar mre than the regualr, which is what I bought it at. The three extra tracks are cool at least, especially a craxy echocing Tiny Cities which is even weirder than the first.

Poignant in its individuality
You simply don't hear lyrics like those written in a Modest Mouse song, and this album contains Isaac Brock's best. "Your heart felt good it was dripped in pitch and made of wood" (Noah's Ark anyone?). The chord changes are simple, yet by the end of the song the guitars have spread enough flavor to create a distinct sound. MMs songs aren't driven by dominant melody lines, rather subtle riffs that create tension through their overlap (I think this is one of the reasons many struggle w/ MMs music). The song is not an opportunity for a lead guitarist to slide all over the neck of the guitar like a drunk on any icy street while the drummer thumps on the down beats and the bassist only hits the tonic of each chord...rather the song is about the chemistry amongst the percussion, the percussion oriented vocal lines, the oftentimes dancing bass line, and the lead guitar. The sum is greater than the individual parts. If you like that type of music and you like uncharacteristic lyrics, you'd love Modest Mouse. 3rd Planet is an awesome song, one of my favorites.

Nothing great
Sorry, but this cd just doesn't do it for me. I tried listening many times but I just don't see anything great about it. I find the music to be uninspired and it feels like they're trying too hard to be different.... which they're not. Sounds like REM without any passion. I have more hopes for their latest cd "Good News for People Who Hate Bad News" and I do admire their creative titles. The music though is another story. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

The Future's Past
One of the things you'll immediately notice about Devendra Banhart is his eerie, yet beautiful, acoustic sound. His recordings are extremely lo-fi and very intimate sounding, almost to the point of sounding ghostly. The Black Babies is a collection of eight short songs, some of which appeared on last years Oh Me Oh My album from the same label. The music appears to come from a different time and place, while also sounding somewhat black and white in tone. Opting to keep the production value as simple and pure as possible, Banhart's songs could be compared to the great blues guitarist, Robert Johnson. All his songs are recorded on a four-track recorder and usually contain a high level of tape hiss. He claims this is what happens when you don't know what you're doing, but I think it's pretty apparent that this is part of his intent and charm.

In addition to tape hiss, there are moments on Banhart's recordings where you can hear various sounds coming from the distant background. It usually comes by way of a car passing on the street, the sound of the phone ringing, or even gunshots from nearby. This is another one of the unique qualities that The Black Babies possesses. The most important component, however, is the sound of Devendra's genre-defying voice. At times it's very old-fashioned sounding, while other times it's high pitched and aggressive. He's also not too embarrassed to throw in an occasional whistle to add different textures to the sound of a song. On a song like "A Surgery I Stole," we see that the primary concept of Banhart's music is to push an innate level of melody in basic song writing. The song "Cosmos and Demos" is a track compiled of individual thoughts, and visually reminds me of Harmony Korine's movie, Gummo.

In a time when most music is heavily produced and meant to capture a listener immediately, Davendra Banhart is an artist that does things in his own simplistic way. At first, I was kind of annoyed with what I was hearing, but eventually became quite fond of his style. On some levels, it's some of the strangest music I've ever heard; even if the main idea of it is to remain completely simple and pure. Furthermore, I'm always amazed when an artist like Banhart can take the most basic elements (guitar and four-track recorder) and, in the end, make something much larger than the sum of its parts. ... Read more