Reviews (3)

This CD whips a werewolf's ass!
All I can say is, "Shoot My Jam Session Down" has worked its way into my everyday vocabulary. The album is great. Besides "Shoot My Jam Session Down," Willis offers several other cutting-edge tracks. One of my personal favorites "Ward My Rock Music Off." Willis also was down on Saddaam before it was made popular again by George W. Bush on "Rock Saddaam Hussein's Ass." Wesley, consider Saddaam Hussein's ass rocked! This album also features the song "Alanis Morrisette" which was made into a music video. I only saw it once, but it was hillarious. He parodies all her videos with him acting as her.
R.I.P.
WE LOVE YOU WESLEY!

Use evil profanity on me, ward my rock music off...
When I had the opportunity to see Wesley play live in 1999, I stood by the edge of the stage and yelled, "Play 'Shoot My Jam Session' down!", repeatedly. After ignoring me for the better part of 45 minutes, Willis had all he could stand. "H*ll no! I ain't gonna play no motherf*cking 'Shoot My Jam Session Down'! That's hellride music!", came his reply. Well, what could I do? You don't argue with a 350 lb schizophrenic who's obviously being tormented by his "demons". Not if you aren't prepared to endure a good headbutt. Still, that song was and continues to be one of my favorites.

In general, I find that there are two basic types of Willis song. There's songs about things that happen to him (ie. "shoot my jam session", "i wupped Batman...", "they threw me out of church", etc) and songs about famous people and places. I tend to prefer the former, and regard "Shoot My Jam Session Down" as a classic in that regard. It is a window into the tortured soul of an artist on the brink of emotional and creative collapse. Will the demons in Wesley's head win the battle for his soul? Will they finally succeed in transforming his harmony joy ride into terrifying hellbus ride? Will they shoot his jam session down, as it were? The 800 or so songs he managed to record after this album came out, and before his tragic demise, would suggest that the answer was no.

Though life may have dealt Wesley an absurdly compromised hand, it could never manage to ward his rock music off.

RIP

"Taco Bell...make a run for the border!"

Wesley's CD is aw-sum!
Wesley's CD "Fabian Road Warrior" reveals a lot of the "new" material Wesley is working on, while keeping the beat of the previos albums-the beat played on his Casio keyboard. Songs like "Alanis Morrisette" show his feelings about other members of the music world, while more personal songs such as "Annie Vookman" and "Wesley Willis" reveal much about the inner Chi of this 300-pound paranoid schizophrenic. We learn that the music keeps his "demons" in check. he no longer has the need to destroy portable CD players, as his demons often tell him to do. And some of his tunes "Rock the nation", "Spank Wagon", etc., are just plain fun. Most people who have heard the music of Wesley will think its just the same as his other music. This would be true. But this CD is quite a glimps into the psyche of the artist that is Wesley Willis. END ... Read more

Reviews (6)

best GBV album hands down
like many other fans, I started getting into GBV with Bee Thousand and Alien Lanes. After that I loved Under the Bushes Under the Stars. Then I bought this album and thought it was OK, but was not immediately stunned by it. I moved on to buy
Propeller, and then Mag Earwhig. I don't like Mag Earwhig, I think Robert Pollard made a huge mistake in firing the band and replacing them. To end this rambling, let me just say that after listening to their albums over and over this album *towers* above the others in it's evocative melodies and rock appeal. It just ROCKS. 'Expecting Brainchild' is awesome. 'Dusted' is another awesome track. But the whole album is great- you just pop it in and the whole thing flows.

The Beginning of It All
Looking at the history of Guided by Voices, Vampire on Titus was the first in a string of four albums to really capture the sound that the GBV purist has been after ever since. Most of us outside the Dayton, Ohio rock scene didn't discover the band until 1993's Bee Thousand, an album which was an incredible blend of uplifting songs that were instantly catchy but fleetingly brief. Vampire on Titus is a much darker album than the three that would follow (Propeller, Bee Thousand and Alien Lanes) and it's brilliance is often overlooked. I consider it to be much like the Stones' Beggars Banquet, an album that was the start of a string of albums that captured a sound that marked the band's high point. Although Beggars Banquet is considered by some to be the Stones finest, the same cannot be said of GBV's Vampire on Titus. I would never recommend a newcomer begin with Vampire on Titus, but instead listen to it after digesting Propeller, Bee Thousand and Alien Lanes. There are some gems here, to be sure!!

flowing-just like the days of early GBV
GBV has always been a sailor into the depths of confused and hallucinatory imagery melted down into its spectral essence, and Vampire On Titus represents the earliest stages of their 'unstable journey'. About half of the tracks have the worst sound production they've ever recorded, but also posess some of the most coherent and intellectual lyrics ("Dusted", "Wished I Was A Giant", "Unstable Journey", etc). Meantime, the rest have the trademark lofi medium, shifting between beautiful ballads of melancholy august ("Gleemer", "Jar Of Cardinals", "Wondering Boy Poet") and creppy lapses into nightmarish lost thought ("E-5", "What About It?", "#2 In The Model Home Series", etc). This album is also the shortest of their albums, but that hardly means a thing in their universe...say Fertile Jim, shall we contemplate existence?

Last 6 songs, brilliant
This collection by GBV came right before they would receive that critical acclaim that would lead them to be known as the world best low-fi band ever. Although spotty sometime on the overall quality of the songs, there are still some great ones. Particularly the final 6 songs are awesome, and definately GBV at their best. You ad in "Jar of Cardinals","World of Fun", and "Donkey School", and you have a 5 star CD. Are there better GBV collections, of course but they still have their charm on this one, so do yourself and Bob a favor and ad this one to your collection.

Exemplifies the lo-fi ethos
What is it about lo-fi that proves so compelling, at least to those of us who cut our teeth at VU's garage a few decades ago? Maybe it's that lo-fi cuts through the crap, getting to the heart of the riff/song (and maybe it is fair to talk about riffs more than songs structures, at least at times). Lo-fi seems intent on reducing music to the atomic level--the antithesis of the fugue--while still communicating something meaningful, primal, though that's a loaded term. The fact that you can barely hear the lyrics on a cut like "Wished I Was a Giant" is a big part of the point, although I think a less conscious and pretentious decision than, say, the impulse behind REM's early inscrutable lyrics.

Just as Punk was a reaction against the arena rock bloat that's parodied in the film "This is Spinal Tap," so too does Lo-Fi seem to be a reaction against studio technology that's incredible in its sophistication. Lo-Fi asks: what can I do with these few tools? Answer: Some Drilling Implied. ... Read more

Reviews (27)

Move over Chuck Berry, Wesley Willis the true daddy of rock
I, too, have not heard this album, but I can assure you that one day soon I will. Wesley is truly the man among all musicians, not just rock n rollers. He tells it like it is, and though his sincerity may partially be the result of his schizophrenia at least he's making money off of it. No other musician has dared tackle the issues he does as bluntly as he does. Not even Rage Against the Machine. He is genius, however crude, and all musicians should follow his example in sculpting their careers. For all the hip-hop artists who are trying to keep it real, and for the punks who are trying to stay indie, this man, Wesley Willis, is the example of how to do it. ¡Viva Wesley! ¡Viva su Fiasco! . . . BTW, Jello Biafra loves Wesley Willis--even though the latter bumrushed the former as he was counting the ways. Why don't you then? Keep chillin and illin and rhymin and stealin, cats, I know I do. Yeah.

Move over Chuck Berry, Wesley is the new daddy of rocknroll
I, too, have not heard this album, but I can assure you that one day soon I will. Wesley is truly the man among all musicians, not just rock n rollers. He tells it like it is, and though his sincerity may partially be the result of his schizophrenia at least he's making money off of it. No other musician has dared tackle the issues he does as bluntly as he does. Not even Rage Against the Machine. He is genius, however crude, and all musicians should follow his example in sculpting their careers. For all the hip-hop artists who are trying to keep it real, and for the punks who are trying to stay indie, this man, Wesley Willis, is the example of how to do it. ¡Viva Wesley! ¡Viva su Fiasco! . . . BTW, Jello Biafra loves Wesley Willis--even though the latter bumrushed the former as he was counting the ways. Why don't you then? Keep chillin and illin and rhymin and stealin, cats, I know I do. Yeah.........

this duuude rocks!
Wesley Willis is one of the few reasons to be alive. His music actually gives me pure joy and laughter in addition to the affirmation of still being a punk. It is Greatness- satire that is just beyond the ability of the average person to even begin to grasp at. He rocks and I will miss him a lot - the world lost another bright light and it is darker now.

A good record done very well!
Yes, most songs start and end the same. Three songs are heavy metal based-by far the best remake of girls on film (duran duran) The genious in writing a song about getting your oil changed is hard to top. I'm running my ink pen sounds like some early Department S 70's punk. Wanna get some funny looks? crank the vultures ate my dead ass up at a stop light. This is a master piece of punk rock!

wesley is god
nerff20 is a ball licker. Wesley rocks my world ... Read more

Amazon.com essential recording

Who needs psychotropic medicines when Olivia Tremor Control can thoroughly, positively alter one's mindset? OTC's crammed, lysergic debut full-length from 1996 is an undeniable masterpiece, but of what sort? Of the Elephant Six kind. Naturally, then, the vocals are smothered in Big Star/Beatles-like harmonies and the songs segue from musique concrète to delicate drone to Piper at the Gates of Dawn-style jams and even flat-out, poppy rock. The lyrics are a delirious update of psychedelia's most positive moments ("We feel OK, which is how we feel most of the time now / Nothing can be done without the willingness to succeed"). And oh yeah, it's a concept record (the full title is Music from the Unrealized Film Script 'Dusk at Cubist Castle') that has something to do with green typewriters and California sinking into the Pacific Ocean. This record is a life-affirming, druggy, beautiful mess. --Mike McGonigal ... Read more

Reviews (26)

A complete trip, from start to finish
Dusk at Cubist Castle is an albumn that anyone interested in psychedelic music should own, I cannot recomend it enough.

Like all great psychedelic albumns it is a concept peice, representing a trip as a whole albumn, not just a selection of tracks. With this in mind Dusk at Cubist Castle clearly embodies the old saying "the whole is more than the sum of the parts". The albumn starts with The Opera House which to me is like a rejection of pop culture values and then moves to fun songs like Jumping Fences and Define a Transparent Dream which are happy and daydream like, like fond childhood memories. Then one of my favourite tracks Holiday Surprise which seems to have a regretfull yet urging feel about the dreams we grow out of. A few more songs in and then come the Green Typewriters after which the albumn builds up steadily, like a psychedelic experience, to the peak song Dusk At Cubist Castle. Along the way we even have lyrics calming and assuring "when your ready to come back down/I'll be waiting here/all your friends will be around/I promise I'll wait forever" like a trusty friend with their hand on your shoulder calming you if you start to freak out. After the peak we settle into the joyous glowing sounds of Gravity Car, excitment and imagination, to finish the albumn and bring the trip to an end the song N.Y.C. -25 tells us "pleasant dreams but please don't sleep too long/everything you need is right here" and plays out with a slumber like sweet guitar, almost gently rocking the listener to sleep after a tiring journey.

Anyhow that is some of my interpretation of this amazing albumn, but I guess everyone who listens will get something different. Never before have I heard a more complete albumn and at about 1 1/4 hours of solid music, there are few if any albumns that are so long yet have no tracks that you would skip. Even the sound collage tracks have their place, even though they are not all that popular with some listeners, I like them. Many people compare Olivia Tremor Control with the Beatles, but I believe quite strongly that this albumn has far more to offer than anything the Beatles ever recorded.

Even after countless playings, for me Dusk At Cubist Castle has never lost any of it's enegmatic magic.

Incredible
This is the one.

The Olivia Tremor Control created the greatest psychedelic album I have heard in a long, long time. One of the best albums ever, period, in my opinion. I do not hesitate to give this 5 stars.

I hear a lot of "Beatles rip off" comments about these guys, but I don't really see it. Sure, some of the harmonies and sounds are reminiscent of the Beatles' more tripped-out moments. But OTC's influences and imagination run much, much deeper than that. The music runs from delirious pop to flat-out psych rock to trippy dream sequences and ambient noise excursions into the outer limits.

This is a HIGHLY creative album. It's also a very long album -- over 74 minutes. You get a whole lot for your cash.

The "Green Typewriters" section, which consists of tracks 12-21 on the disc, is far beyond anything the Beatles did. My only complaint is that track 19 goes on for about 9 minutes of ambient noise, and probably could have been cut a bit. But on the other hand, it only serves to make the entrance of track 20 even more startling. After being lulled into a hypnotic trance by the long, trippy ambient sequence, having a voice (recorded close up in the mix) suddenly sing, "How much longer can I wait?", is startling. It signals the beginning of the return from the heights of the amazing "green typewriters" trip, and the comedown. (The next track, number 21, says "When you're ready to come back down, I'll be waiting here...")

If you like amazing, trippy, harmony-drenched pop with strong melodies throughout, look no further. THIS IS THE ONE. A tremendous debut that took the band three years to record.

And -- if you happen to have two stereo systems to spare -- go pick up the "Explanations II" dream sequence album along with this. This album was meant to be played at the same time as you listen to Dusk At Cubist Castle. Start both CDs at the same time and, wow, what a trip.

And, oh yeah, check out Black Foliage too. It is just as infectious.

Wow
It Doesen't matter if you are into Metal, Hip-hop, Pop, Polka... This goes beyond all that. If you are a fan of music, you owe it to yourself to listen to this cd. You wont regret it.

BUY IT!

My interpretation
Firstly, this album is definitely a concept album, so be prepared to totally immerse your mind's eye. Contrary to the Amazon.com editorial review, it is not totally upbeat. In the beginning, yes, but there is a kind of sleepy darkness that gradually takes over, and is resolved in the end. The overall way that I took this album was a metaphor for our individual minds and the metaphysical 'castles' that we can be in when we need some time away to brood and puzzle the cubisms of life after 'jumping everybody's fence'. The album builds you as some sort of royalty who, after frolicking in the daytime courtyard, retires to your nighttime tower of dreams high above. And in the end, when the day comes, you can join your friends back in the courtyard if you desire. At the same time, there is another layer in which the musicians directly address and encourage the listener through the lyrics. All positivity.

Even if the CD is not taken in as a whole album, the individual songs are superb, both pop and ambient noise tracks. Some of the song titles seem to have an undefined relevance, but who cares? Superficial Beatles/Floyd comparisons aside, I sincerely believe that 'Cubist Castle' could be argued as the greatest pop rock concept album of all time. Of course, I haven't even begun to digest Black Foliage yet.

Retro-psychadelia that is almost too far-out for words
This album would seem to be perfect for the fans of early Pink Floyd (pre Dark Side), Sgt. Pepper, and various other gems in the musical crown of the sixties. Well, it is and it isn't. It certainly fits into the genre of psychedelic music. Everything about it is far out. Much of the album is SO far out, that it becomes boring. There is a stretch of about eight (approx.) tracks in the middle of the album which are just so out there they are bad. If this album were pruned to half of it's twenty-plus tracks, it would be much better. Fans of seriously psychedelic music will find several things to enjoy, but they will also be disappointed by the album as a whole. Buy the classics first, then buy this album to see the difference. Comparing this album to albums like "Sgt.Pepper" is like comparing the original Psycho with Anthony Perkins to the remake with Vince Vaughan. It's true what they say, "They don't make 'em like they used to". ... Read more

Reviews (31)

some intense analysis on one of my favorite bands
pollard's songwriting necessity only helps to perfect his craft. on this album he tries a lot of progressive rock tricks...song structures are a bit more labored here and there, this isnt new news because songs like "christian animation torch carriers" and "the enemy" have followed this approach...all of this is great because he continues to incorporate new ideas, striving for that moment when all the new elements blend into that seamless whole that is rock&roll perfection...in my opinion, i dont think he's quite there yet with the new prog influences...but he may get there after a few records...songs like "secret star", "beat your wings","trophy mule in particular", "mix up the satellite".. all of which are soooooooooo good...but have parts that seem too separate from each other at times...its not that effortless perfection that is, to me, the pinnacle of GBV...that moment when you feel pollard wrote the song in 2 seconds but you'll listen to it for two decades. luckily, for my GBV addictions, every album has that one song on it...on average usually like 6-8 i guess..but all i need is that ONE song and it makes the whole record worthwhile.

for me, that one song on this album is "useless inventions". this song encapsulates everything about GBV that makes them one of my favorite bands of all time... all parts of this song are so catchy, and contain that out of place chord or change that is unpredictable but flows so perfect.... all the while rocking hard. if you're new to GBV and want to really understand why they are so good, i say skip the "my kind of soldier" and "ill replace you with machines" songs and try to get "useless inventions" somewhere. dont get me wrong, "soldier" is good but its just a simple rocker, "machine" has a bit more of the GBV character in its chorus, but in the verse its really just rockin' ....another example of my GBV taste using "isolation drills" as an example... i like "unspirited" WAY more that "glad girls"

overall, this album is really good for GBV, millions of times better than ANY new music on rock radio...

Random thoughts here...
This album seems to really take off in its second half. Specifically, Dead Cloud through Secret Star represent a solid sinewy block of R. Pollard at his most deeply fascinating, adventurous and, yes, hook-laden. The "singles" on this album are great, catchy, etc, but knowing how easy it is for Pollard to write that sort of thing I'm not really all that impressed by Soldier, Inventions, and particularly Best of Jill Hives which is by far my least favorite song on the album, though undeniably pretty.

The song I find most fascinating, for very strange reasons, is probably "Beat Your Wings" which is so lazily infectious in its tumbling flapping rhythm that it actually tends to get immediately tiring... yes, it's boring AND catchy. This is when I really feel like I'm exploring the "playground in [Pollard's] head". In fact, the entire album's "tired" vocal sound, as one reviewer put it, is dead on... there's something wild about the idea of having so many brilliant ideas and melodies rollicking through your head that it gets burdensome... effortless brilliance can be a curse, and it can also provide the instant soundtrack to the state of fatigue it itself creates, and I have never heard that manifest as beautifully as on this album.

The hole he digs is bottomless, indeed.

Listenable but uneven
I don't know if there's anyone, anywhere, ever, who can claim to be a songwriter quite as prolific as Bob Pollard in the history of pop music. This, however, is a mixed blessing. The knock on Bob has always been that self-censorship isn't always exactly his strong point, and I think it's a fair criticism, especially in the face of his myriad recent releases, both solo and as GBV, which have shown an alarming tendency toward being about 25% brilliant indie pop and about 75% self-indulgent filler. A friend of mine liked to compare post "Under the Bushes" GBV albums to post "The Shining" Stephen King books - the occasional decent effort, but by and large a whole lot of crap. (I guess that would make the horrible Ric Ocasek produced "Do the Collapse" the aural equivalent of "The Tommyknockers".... anyway, it's a comparison I found strangely apt). In the old days, it was almost like Tobin Sprout acted as a kind of filter for Bob's muse, so well did their partnership work (Tobin coming up with some gems of his own, of course). But Tobin's gone, and that fact has to be faced.
So - this album. I don't quite know what to make of it overall. There are parts of it I really enjoy, like "Best of Jill Hives", probably because it sounds the most like the old and now defunct GBV. There are large parts of the album I am relatively indifferent toward, a good example being "Of Mites and Men" which just sounds like pointless noodling to me, and there are parts I really dislike. I mean, really, "I'll Replace You With Machines"? It plays like a bad cover of a Who b-side. And this is the maddening thing about being a Bob Pollard fan. He always seems to leave you expecting more. This is not a horrible album, and nine-tenths of it is still better than the best commercial pap being played on the radio. But for those of us who know Bob, we'll just have to continue waiting for the next masterpiece to come along.

shockingly bad
I stopped buying anything from Pollard years ago after foolishly hoping for more bee thousand / alien lanes brilliance with each release and out of the 100 + albums he's released since that period, you'd be hard-pressed to fill a 75 minute cd with good tunes.
Heres another pathetic release from a once 'prolific' songwriter. The thing that irks me about Pollard is that he still thinks he has it. I read a recent interview (Magnet mag I think) where he says he can write more songs while taking a sh*t than most people can in a longer period of time. Well, that may explain why his songs ARE sh*t these days. Almost everything on this album save maybe 1 track lacks any melody or hook what-so-ever. All you hear is his horrible new band that knows nothing about melody and everything classic rock power chords (boring!). Pollard is lost under a wash of sound.It is probably a good thing though as his lyrics are crap, he rhymes like every other word and cannot come up with a hook to save his life.

I still long for those moments where you hear a tune like "my valuable hungting knife".. or lets face it, ANYTHING off of Bee Thousand / Alien Lanes and you just smile wondering how someone could think up such a wonderful hook. Im afraid that 'prolific' Pollard doesnt exist any longer.

Guided By Genesis
When your guided by so many voices, they're are certainly some voices that won't appeal to everybody. As much as I adore the pop/punk/psych voices of Pollard, I dislike his prog rock offerings. This is just not my cup of tea. Doesn't mean I won't eagerly await the next. ... Read more

Reviews (38)

Unstoppable pop rocks keep on fizzing
I pop this scintillating disc in the stereo - quite frequently - and the first track begins to play. Something comes over me. I become a human rhythm machine. My brain actually shuts off, except for the part of my brain that makes me drum along with various writing implements to this amazing driving pop. I also try to sing along, but my brain can't combine melody and rhythm with anywhere near the skill that Beulah can.

It's true, the 60's influence is here: the lush orchestration, strummy guitars, production by Elephant 6's modern-day Brian Wilson, Robert Schneider. Yet somehow it all sounds fresh and new. Miles Kurosky's lyrics and delivery set Beulah apart from so many wanna-be pop bands. Even when his songs don't make much sense, his delivery is just so damned punchy and passionate I can't help but to sing along!

What I'm trying to say is, this album makes me act like a complete idiot for half an hour, and that's a wholesome and gratifying thing.

Beulah's brand of indie-pop shines on their 2nd release.
I am one of the few people that have actually heard Beulah's first release, "Handsome Western States." I pretty much buy anything associated with the pop conglomerate "Elephant Six," so when I saw this I gave it a try. While the record had some memorable tunes, I was not blown away; this time however, I was. "When Your Heartstrings Break" is a classic record from Beulah, they have found their voice. There has been a definite growth in the last year or so, especially in songwriting abilities. While they lean more towards indie rock than other Elephant Sixers, the hooks still abound. This record boasts about 20 extra players, playing horns, to strings, to analog keyboards; making this a unique listening experience. The disc is short, a good thing, leaving the listener wanting more after the last, and most beautiful, track. I highly recommend this record. It's one of the best releases of this year so far.

Genius in pop's clothing
At first listen, you like it. It's fun. It's catchy. It makes you want to sing. So you listen again and you do. And you listen again... and, what's that? Wow... right along there with those catchy oh-so-indie melodies, there's all this tremendous orchestration. As a musician, I am constantly challenging myself to hear things that a band might have forgotten. And so I think "horns!" and there are horns. And so I think raunchy Beatlesque guitar tones, and lo and behold "Yeah, we'll do anything that you want!" The composition of each of these songs simply leaves nothing to be desired. Good job, Miles.

Nice try
Pretty lame. None of the songs stick; the melodies just aren't there. Everything sounds pretty much the same also, like a '60s bargain bin band. Even the much-heralded "Emma Blowgun's Last Stand" just builds on and on forever on a silly seven-note motif, with assorted weird sounds inserted to, ostensibly, create some variety in the midst of the monotony. Then the brass kicks in with annoying 17-note riff that just goes on and on forever, replacing the 7-note theme. Finally, about 2:40 into the song, the vocals kick in with a really lame melody that basically repeats the same exact notes four times and calls that a "verse." This goes on for three verses. Then more of the 17-note brass thing, until finally the song ends at about 5:20. Too bad the song doesn't really even make a good 2:00 minute song, let alone one that nearly last 5 and a half minutes.

The rest of the album is more of the same, only even less memorable.

Emma Blowgun's Last Stand makes everything alright
The fourth track on this record, Emma Blowgun's Last Stand, makes me smile every time I hear it. Doesn't matter what's going on in my life; when the song's on, it takes over. I don't know how it does it, but it taps into this beatific joy, a kind of total emotional satisfaction. It makes me feel like I'm a Keith Haring painting, all lively colors and motion/energy lines bouncing out of my head, elbows, and knees.

The rest of the record is better than good. Lots of very catchy melodies, and less overtly retro than Apples in Stereo, which I suppose it resembles. But it's all got this relaxed, test-pattern offhandedness to it, a very strange, airless quality. It does a good job of getting under your skin and into your head without your noticing it. Nearly every song has at least one passage or segment that's worth cheering about. And Emma Blowgun makes you want to play it over and over again and not stop. It's as perfect a song as I know. I'm listening to it right now, smiling away. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Earlier albums (1996's Pop Spelled Backwards and 1997's Unisex Headwave) found Jack Drag mastermind John Dragonetti to be a studio-obsessed indie rocker who liked to play with effects and sounds on his otherwise lo-fi recordings. Dope Box, the band's major-label debut, is Dragonetti's first opportunity to really wig out in the studio, and he takes full advantage of the freedom. His songwriting is as catchy as ever, mixing influences from the Stone Roses to Folk Implosion, but the songs are enhanced by vocal effects, tape loops, and a willingness to play that equals whatever the Dust Brothers did with Beck on Odelay. As a result, Dope Box is a hell of a lot of fun to listen to--and sounds like it was just as much fun to make. --Randy Silver ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Wow!
Why the hell aren't these guys around the top of the music scene? This album is amazing. Buy it!

f__king great!!!!!
it is just a great cd. especially when you may be surfing the net!!almost every song is a "repeater"if there is a such thing as 90's psychedelic music... well... this is it!!R.I.Y.L.:brian jonestown massacre, remy zero, flick, the dandy warhols andspacehog!! and this is all coming from a 42 year old guy!Michael B(good) :)

Wow! Kick ASS!
I saw this band at Martyr's in Chicago the day they opened for Dishwalla. I saw three guys who know how to put out a whole hell of a lotta good noise! A must-see live show! If you get the chance, don't miss it!!!

This cd is just a small example of their powers, I crave more!

Jack Drag, Flaming Lips Aesthetic with Brit-pop Sensibility
Got an advance copy of "Dope Box" from work and haven't been able to get it out of my player!

So, I saw Jack Drag September 2, 1998 at 9:30 Club in Washington, DC and was thoroughly impressed. Got an autograph on my CD too! John seems to be a nice guy as well as an excellent guitar player and popster.

What is most impressive is the tone and sound John Dragonetti (Jack Drag) achieves with his black Gibson and carefully selected (much adjusted) multitude of tremolo, distortion, delay, etc. Run through twin miked vintage Fender Vibroverbs, the sound is pure sonic nirvana.

Fortunately Dope Box captures this essence -- that's the Flaming Lips, AM radio, underwater aesthetic.

The rest of the Jack Drag trio is as strong, with amazing bass player (really!) Joe Klompus and fine drummer Jason Sutter.

The song writing is very nice as well. You might get these songs looped in your head, they're that catchy -- that's the Brit-pop sensibility a la Teenage Fanclub, Pastels, etc.

It should be mentioned John Dragonetti does an excellent job in the singing department with suprisingly sweet harmonies and lush vocals.

My favorite songs are:

1) Surfing the Charles ...for it's dreamy Everlyesque tremolo-y chorus.

2) Debutante

3) Seem So Tired ...can you believe there's no guitar on this song -- it's all bass, Joe's and JD's 25 year old Swedish bass that according to legend has never had its strings changed.

4) Tall Buildings ...very inspirational!

5) Sinner's Delight ...check out that super-phased and distorted in-out tremolo!

I've listened to both versions of Surfing the Charles (compliments of Amazon's real audio preview) and have found the comparison interesting.

Both versions are excellent but Unisex Headweave's is more mellow.

I thought I'd review Dope Box today before picking up the earlier Unisex Headweave.

I would recommend this record to my mom.

-Bill Moss ... Read more

Reviews (5)

I need a louder stereo
I've never wanted to play a CD as loud as this one.

If you listen to tons of music and feel as though there is nothing new, nothing exciting, nothing breathtaking anymore, GIVE THIS A TRY.

I feel bad for the reviewer below who returned this CD the same day he/she got it. This CD is full of hooks, but probably requires some getting used to.

It's not like Kid A, where every reviewer under the sun wrote, "It consistently gets better after the twentieth and twenty-first listening." That CD was the musical equivalent of a dark forest (like Dante's 'selva oscura').

This CD is the musical equivalent of having defibrillator paddles shocking the stale music out of your brain.

Perfect Mixture anyone?
This is just what i've been looking for, its a perfect blend of indie rap (with meaningful/genius lyrics) like no other in a rap song and followed by the interesting yet creatively grooving sounds of Fog. It doesn't have a bad song on it, for any Why or Fog fan, this is a must have.

yeah
holy amazing, if you like clouddead you'll love this. i havent been able to stop listening to it, but if you expected hip hop you might have been dissapointed

frickin' awful
This is possibly the worst CD I have ever owned. I ordered it because I thought it might be worthwhile, subsidiary of warp and so on but it is NOT. I took it in and traded it in the same day I got it in the mail.

Why has no one reveiwed this yet ????
I will keep it short . This is one of the best releases this year . Hymie's Basement is made up of Fog from ninjatunes and Why? from Anticon . It has excellent music , excellent lyrics and a style all of its own . Very rewarding listen . Get this ! ... Read more

Album Description

Japanese-only release, the second single from his 1998 album 'Mutations'. It's backed with two previously unreleased non-album tracks, 'One Of These Days' (an original) & 'DiamondIn The Sleaze'. Slimline jewel case. 1999 release. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Some of Beck's B-sides ever.
I bought this fairly expensive, but rare title and I love it.Of course I love the single, Nobody's Fault By My Own, but the two B-sides, Diamond in the Sleaze and One of These Days are amazing.They should've been on theterrificand underrated Mutations album.Pick this up if a true Beck fanand you will not be dissappointed. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Suicide Notes
The 11 songs here have a serrated edge that holds you at bay for a while, until they hack their way under your skin, like a paper cut that makes it to the bone. This isn't a cd you like or dislike--it's an alarm clock in the dark night of the soul.

Many of the protagonists here, like Dante's sinners, describe their torment in vivid detail, all the while denying responsibility, and thereby ensuring eternal, self-imposed torment. "I know god hates alchemical work (I loved him lonely), but in the end what else to do? but begin again" intones the speaker in "Speed Lab" after the DEA has incinerated his operation. The pornoholic in "Bill Gates Must Die" blames the Microsoft CEO for his addiction, and as teeny tiny little teens pour out of his computer observes that "people stray, just don't say I'll never make it back intact." Other songs seek redemption in love ("Big Band Stars," "Josie Anderson," "Foothills of My Mind") but even these focus more on struggle and pain than on unity and joy.

The playing here (mostly Vanderslice, aided on several songs by members of his former band, MK ULTRA) is always on target (but never predictable) and the engineering by Vanderslice and John Croslin is revelatory (JV manages the acclaimed Tiny Telephone Studio in San Francisco).

Numerous posturers pretend to recreate hellfire and damnation in their 4-minute MTV schlock videos. John Vanderslice dispassionately depicts the lost world, much as Ray Davies chronicled the British working class. Mass Suicide Occult Figurines may not save your soul, but at the least it can tell you how you got off the path, and maybe where to get back on again.

Deserves 5 stars
In my previous review I stated that there were a couple of songs that I didn't care for... after more listening I enjoy absolutely all of the tracks. I find myself singing the lyrics subconsciously - for me that's a sign of a classic. It's a great album, lots of surprises to sink your teeth into.

Very enjoyable - A lot of variety
I was uncertain about this album until I listened to it about ten times. It's different. It's edgy yet polished.

John Vanderslice's album is full of quirky lyrics that somehow make sense and is packed with terrific playing. The drum beats in the songs are catchy. Vocals are good and polished. The track "Bill Gates Must Die" is a great classic rocking tune with amusing lyrics -- I'm a fan of Microsoft as well as its competitors and even I like the song. The single should be playing on "modern" and college radio stations across the country because it's better than most of the stuff on the air. Ditto for "Speedlab."

The last song, Mass Suicide Occult Figurines, is a great electronic/synth instrumental. There's a lot of variety on this album. Sometimes it sounds like Pink Floyd, sometimes Greenday, sometimes Kraftwerk. ...

There are a couple of tracks that I don't care for. The price of variety is not pleasing everyone on every track. There's plenty there to enjoy. I give this album four stars and highly recommend that you add it to your CD collection. ... Read more

Amazon.com

The Future Bible Heroes' first full-length since 1997's Memories of Love is a loose concept album about the undead and other everlasting life forms. Designed to appeal to indie rockers and club kids alike, the band features three complementary talents. Wordsmith Stephin Merritt (Magnetic Field, 6ths, Gothic Archies) remains endlessly quotable and droll. Chris Ewen's synth pop recalls a more twee Bauhaus or a wittier Cure. Finally, Claudia Gonson delivers the same kind of breathy vocals that broke hearts on the Magnetic Fields' 1999 69 Love Songs box set. "I'm a Vampire" ought to be a dance-floor hit ("I am what I am / And I'm impossibly glam"). "The World Is a Disco Ball" posits that "we're little mirrors, one and all." These tunes are rich with comedic pathos, as well as romantic empathy. --Jillian Steinberger ... Read more

Reviews (12)

Stephin Merritt has done better...
And admittedly, he has also done worse, if we want to go on a song-by-song basis. True, the lyrics are still wry and the rhymes are clever, but unlike other albums, I didn't catch myself singing memorable little lines back to myself like I usually do after first listening to a new Stephinn Merritt-related album. I think my biggest problem, personally, may have been the lack of Stephinn's vocals. I felt that The Magnetic Fields made a turn for the better when he took over the singing duties many years ago. It's fine to delegate, but his misery-laden crooning is one of the things I like most about The Magnetic Fields. Claudia Gonson sometimes sounds bored or overwhelmed while singing, which works fine for some songs, but not for all of them. If you're not overly familiar with Merritt's generous output, I wouldn't start here, and if you're not a rabid collector of all things Merritt, you wouldn't miss too much by not having this album.

Maddening!
Those familiar with Stephin Merritt will be unsurprised (and maybe - like me - disappointed) to discover he pursues his idiosyncratic ways with the second FBH album. All the elements for a classic electro-pop album are present, yet Merritt and partner-in-crime Christopher Ewen twist everything to create a ghostly, morose work. "Eternal Youth" only fitfully achieves the pop splendour of "Memories of Love", and there's certainly no "Hopeless" on this new album.
There are compensations: "A Thousand Lovers In A Day", "No River", and the closing "The World Is A Disco Ball" combine exquisite melodies with elegant yet forbidding lyrics and arrangements. It's certainly not an album to hear as casual background music (it's jaggedly poppy and unsettling), and I agree with the reviewer who thinks this album sounds like Merritt's earlier album "The Wayward Bus". Claudia Gonson's limitations as the album's sole vocalist sometimes make it hard going. I don't understand why Merritt doesn't utilise better vocalists; 'naive' singers like Shirley Simms and Dudley Klute on "69 Love Songs" transformed good songs into minor classics.
Some may find it regressive, but the sounds on "Eternal Youth" are far more textured and polished than anything Merritt creates with Magnetic Fields. Obviously he's committed to the art of the 3 minute pop song, but I keep hoping Merritt will expand his musical horizons.

The only Merritt album I have ever returned
The higher than average rating on the All Music Guide should have given me a clue; after all, the rock critic mafia only bestows high marks on uncompromising (read unmelodic) work, eschewing the hits that we mere mortals seem to enjoy. Dancing about architecture, anyone? I cannot recall a single memorable tune on this album which, aside from that Gothic Archies EP/coaster, is the only Merritt album I have ever returned. One or two listens is all it takes to discern magic from tedium. I left Eban & Charley at the listening post, won't even touch Pieces of April and am now officially worried about 'I'. Has the well run dry?

More Love Songs?
Future Bible Heroes is another project from the prolific Stephin Merritt. This band is also comprised of Man Ray DJ, Chris Ewen, and singer Claudia Gonson. It sounds more like Merritt's early work with Magnetic Fields than some of his recent solo work and collaboration. In fact this album is more like the atmospheric work of Eyeless in Gaza and Cocteau Twins. How we keep all these bands and side projects in order is a mystery. But for this album, I guess fans of Erasure can pick up here where they left off. It's a pop album for those who thought Dead or Alive were not over the top disco.

"Losing Your Affection" is a song that flirts with electropop but doesn't go all the way. It is music that out of sync with anything going on right now, and seems trapped in some apolitical new wave bubble. I look at some of the pictures of babies and Hawaiian kitsch and just imagine that this album takes place in neverland. The song "Doris Day The Earth Stood Still" lays there like some primodial ooze, with its psychedelic wanderings. This is music that doesn't want to grow up. "I'm A Vampire" is probably the strongest track on the album. It sounds like like a bad vacation in Toyko: a take on "Don't Touch Me There" by The Tubes. This music is the sort that didn't have the guts to be punk and was too iffy to be new wave. I could imagine myself reading Jacqueline Susanne while listening to this. The record explores some weird soundscapes and abandons the idea of "youth" in the midst.

After gradual listens, this album truly excels.
Yes, this album is sadly deprived of Stephin Merrit's excellent vocals. However, he will be doing all the vocals on the upcoming Magnetic Fields album, being released by Nonesuch. Claudia Gonson's vocals however filled in well. "I'm a Vampire" is perfect synth-pop, cognizant of its campiness, and Stephin's lyrics capture that quality. "Losing Your Affection," "Kiss Me Only With Your Eyes," and "The World is a Disco Ball" are also very good. It strays a ways off from what we've expected from this Merrit side project, and it is not as catchy as the excellent Memories of Love, but this album is beautiful and interesting. And, if this album fails to please you, by all means be prepared for the next Magnetic Fields album. Stephin Merrit has not yet failed to deliver a winner. ... Read more

Album Description

Reissue of 1996 release, originally issued as a limited edition (3,000 copies only) triple vinyl LP box that sold out immediately! All tracks are exclusive to this title & each isover 18 minutes long! Includes cuts by Flying Saucer Attack, Roy Montgomery, Loren Mazzacane Connors, Jessamine, BardoPond and Charalambides. 12 tracks total. Double slimline jewel case. 1999 release. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

An entire music festival all in one place...
Given the hype around the original OOP LP version of this, I was surprised to only find one review posted. I think this collection is so solid that -- as stated in the other review -- it needs to be heard by many, rather than cloistered by a few. I have been lately getting into Bardo Pond, FSA, and Roy Montgomery. I also just picked up some Charalambrides at Other Music in NYC. In addition to rounding out my collections of such artists, this collection introduced my ears to Loren Mazzacane Conners. I find all of the music represented here hard to categorize. Space rock, experimental rock, avant rock, etc. Whatever you wish to call it, this music is transcendental, transportive (if that's a word), and trance-inducing. It's also very challenging (at times) and very rewarding. This "sampler" is also an easy/efficent way to jump into this type of sound. BTW, it's a double CD priced about the same as most single discs.

as influential as No New York...
...and other legendary samplers which defined the scene and often outlived the scene itself. Harmony of the Spheres, when first released on vinyl only in a beautiful black box with substantial liner notes, was the hot item of 1996. Enamored does not even begin to describe how most of us felt about this collection--it was enough to make me pick up a new record player if that at all describes the excitement. Perhaps the album reaffirmed that after the wasteland of the 80's, the 90's really was a great time for music; not simply coincidence.

With all of that said, Harmony of the Spheres is not a flawless collection. The Flying Saucer Attack material feels forced and WAY over extended--the one contribution I could do without, while Loren Mazzacane Connors seems somewhat out of place amongst the far more cosmic artists included here. Yet, when Harmony of the Spheres does work--notably the Bardo Pond, Roy Montgomery and Charalambides tracks--it ranks among the best material by those artists. Also, don't miss Jessamine's continued improv moog fest that seems to borrow a little from Can.

Some have been dissapointed that Drunken Fish did not keep their promise, turning Harmony of the Spheres into a collectors item worth hundreds in the up and coming years, but I for one think this is music that needs to be heard not hoarded and applaud the Fish for putting it out. I should add, in the second act of 1999 that puts Darren Mock and his crew on my list for altruistic record label of the year (the first being the Roy Montgomery singles reissue disc), Drunken Fish will actually mail you the original book that came with the vinyl release (or perhaps just a transcript?) if you ask very nicely.

The only other thing I could ask for this Christmas would be Siltbreeze's reissue of Charalambides' Market Square. Please? ... Read more

Amazon.com

Any doubts about Ric Ocasek producing Guided by Voices' latest record are swiftly put to rest within the first few seconds of "Teenage FBI," the brilliant opening track on Do the Collapse. As new-wavish keyboards snake around Robert Pollard's nasal vocal delivery it's apparent that GBV have always been, among many other things, a great new-wave band and that Ocasek, the one-time crown prince of new-wave techno geeks, is a natural fit. Do the Collapse is GBV's most polished effort yet, although the slick production doesn't sabotage GBV's lo-fi, garage aesthetics. The songs virtually leap out at the listener with typical spontaneity and the hooks still come early and often. This time out Pollard has surrounded himself with a loose aggregate of musicians including the Breeders' Jim Macpherson on drums and guitarist Doug Gillard, a holdover from 1997's Mag Earwhig! The lineup does an exceptional job fusing all of their disparate influences with a consistency not seen on previous GBV releases. Every song here is a gem; there are echoes of Syd Barrett on "Dragons Awake" and "Wormhole," the Who (circa A Quick One) are recalled on "Much Better Mr. Buckles" and "An Unmarketed Product," and the record's most astounding track, "Liquid Indian," finds GBV channeling a myriad of unlikely '70s sources and mingling them with their own sensibilities to create something all their own. The beauty of Do the Collapse is GBV's ability to seamlessly stitch together the best of '60s British garage pop, '70s prog-rock, '80s new wave, and '90s indie rock to create their own personal history of rock & roll. --Paul Ducey ... Read more

Reviews (74)

How can you not love this?
I have been a Guided By Voices fan for about 6 years now and still am struck about how tenaciously Bob Pollard's melodies stick in my brain. When I bought this album, I put it on at work and hit replay without telling anyone and let it play all day. The next day, the Garth Brooks and Skynyrd fans were all humming "Liquid Indian" and "Hold on Hope" without realising that they were betraying their country inclinations. That's what is so amazing about his songwriting: Bob Pollard has a way a slicing through the ordinary and mundane (read: commercial), to let the obscenely hummable shine through. The glossy sheen thrown on this record doesn't get in the way of that aesthetic. It's amazingly easy to ignore the Cars-like keyboards and beefed up guitars. This isn't really as over-produced as other long-time GBV fans let on. The fact that Bob can write a hook better than anyone else out right now isn't lost in this immediately apppealing work. Yeah, "Bee Thousand" is a a more cohesive, complete work, but if what you need is the major label sheen and completeness, this is a good place to start. If this were 1982, Guided By Voices would be opening for The Who, not The Clash. A great date album if you were trying to impress someone who is moderately in the know. If s/he is really hip, put "Bee Thousand" on. If trying to impress someone when your "in-the-know" isn't the point, this one will have him/her remembering something about the night, even if it isn't you.

gbv could never disappoint!!
Okay, first of all, anyone who thinks GBV sold out doesn't know anything about their music. The lo-fi, messy feel is still there, and the most important element, Pollard's voice, is in top form on this album. The down and dirty guitars mix with beautiful melodies and GBV probably is the hookiest band in history! The CD is one of those that intrigues and makes you want to listen to it again and again, and every time you do, you get more out of it, you come to appreciate a different song. The first four songs are great, as are the last four-everything in between doesn't disappoint either. If you are a true GBV fan, then you will realize they are incapable of making a truly "bad" album. And don't knock them because they've cleaned up their sound a little-this album simply displays the potential they've always had to make a "big" rock album, but could never reach in their early days. The reason they used to sound more "garage" is not really by choice-they simply didn't have the funds to make the album that "Do the Collapse" finally is. The only reason I give it four stars instead of five is because the only GBV album I will give five stars to is Alien Lanes. Regardless, it's a really smart, amazing album-GBV fans, buy it!!!

Top- Notch Production Highlights this GBV Effort
Guided by Voices was known in its early days for its "garage band" sound, a tribute to the low- fi production on its music CD's. With "Do the Collapse", GBV made a sizable leap toward a more polished, well- produced sound, thanks to the album's producer, Ric Ocasek, former lead singer for the Cars. His influence can be felt on the first track, "Teenage FBI" (Ocasek even plays the keyboards on this song), and elsewhere on this musical collection.

The most memorable things about the songs on this CD are the unusual, quirky lyrics supplied by front man Bob Pollard and the music itself, which takes off in several different directions from one song to the next and sometimes even within the same tune. "Hold on Hope" is a soft, but powerful ballad. "Teenage FBI" and "Zoo Pie" have a techno- pop sound. "In Stitches" and "Much Better, Mr. Buckles" feature the thrashing, grinding guitar of Doug Gillard. "Liquid Indian" is dark and mystifying, while tunes like "Optical Hopscotch" cannot really be placed in any musical category at all.

"Do the Collapse" is an interesting album with weird song titles and lyrics, yet catchy musical hooks. It was the first time that GBV got serious about production by hiring the well- known musical talent Ric Ocasek as the albums main producer. It was also the first time that GBV attempted to create a pop song, with the memorable track "Teenage FBI". It didn't become the pop phenomenon that the band would have liked, but it did introduce GBV music to an entirely new audience.

Whether you're a die- hard fan of Guided by Voices or a casual listener, you will enjoy "Do the Collapse". Older fans may be reluctant to give this CD a spin, since it doesn't have the raw, basement- taped sound of the earlier GBV material. But it's still worth a listen. You wouldn't want to be without such great songs as Hold on Hope, Surgical Focus, and Liquid Indian.

Their Best record to start with
If you are new to GBV, this is a good one to start with. Pollard consistently writes beautiful, silly, acidic lyrics and the band sounds great.

From there I would send you to try earlier discs like Alien Lanes, Bee Thousand with some warning about their lo-fi aesthetic. Which I love. I have all their records.
They are truly Guided by Beer, and I love where it takes them.

They put out a new record about every 5 minutes, all good-to-great, but this is very consistent and almost normal sounding. A great introduction.

Sneaky Good
OK, so maybe this is no news to Guided By Voices fans, but to these relatively unfamiliar ears, this is a CD that -- while I don't get it out too often -- gets better with each play. Arrangements often rock and are never less than melodic. Lyrics are intelligent and (very) offbeat. Each song is distinct, albeit usually unfathomable, and the Voices will never be accused of being a one-sound group. Teenage FBI, Things I Will Keep, Dragons Awake!, and Liquid Indian are the four best of this excellent collection. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

this IS lo-fi
This is probably my favorite album ever. Amazing, beautiful, honest songs, recorded at home on 4-track or even with 2-track trickery. If most people tried this it would come out bad, but the fact that this album is so great shows you how talented Lou Barlow (and Eric Gaffney) is. One of the most personal albums I have ever heard, and was the perfect theme to my grade 12 school year. Every kid in high school should start listening to Sebadoh. It was the first time I actually started to understand what someone was saying in the lyrics, before I never really cared that much. After this album, I started buying albums for their lyrics as much as the music. It'll make you want to buy a 4-track and learn guitar. And yes, the track listing listed here is totally wrong (as far as the last half of the album goes). But of course it IS printed like that on the inside of the CD! The "Weed Forestin" part is identical to the original album, but the "Freed Man" half is quite different from the original. So don't think that you have the complete Freed Man LP if you buy this CD! Freed Man has many more songs (especially Lou songs (like 'Healthy Sick')) as well as different versions of a lot of the Eric songs! It is a must have! And so is "The Freed Weed"..

Pure Sebadoh
I've looked at most of the reviews of the other Sebadoh records and there's at least one for each that proclaims "this is the best Sebadoh album." Well, mine will be that review for the Freed Weed. It's the best. The purest songs. Lou, the self-described "folk terrorist" who wanted to "say things that made people uncomfortable...to the point where it wasn't cool anymore," he's in the zone. Just listen to Whitey Peach and Mr. Genius Eyes a few times. You even get to hear Eric before he went completely insane - see Made Real and Bolder (not on the list above for some reason). I love all their records but this one is my favorite.

The Song List On Amazon Is WRONG.
Okay, quite simply put - I bought this CD specifically to listen to Healthy Sick - paid the DHL shipping, waited, finally got the CD. Guess what folks? No Healthy Sick on this CD. Never mind the track listing above. I complained to Amazon, and they said they'd fix the title listing - well - they haven't. And I *still* want Healthy Sick - and I can't find it. That's all. Not a review as much as a warning.

The Holy Grail of the Lo-Fi home recording genre
The first time I listened to these albums (they were released seperately on LP) I hated every song but one. More than a decade since, I put my CD on 'repeat' whenever I get in a Freed Weed mood. Fans of pure songwriting will most definitely be influenced subconsciously and might start thinking this is the best pop rock album ever made !?! P.S. Listen to 'Poledo' on Dinosaur (Jr's) "You're Living All Over Me"

You might not ever even get around to hearing the 2nd half!
Yeah; personally, I got so freaked out by the way everything on the "Weed Forestin'" songs sound that they're the ones that I fell for, to the point of barely ever listening the Lou vs. Eric stuff later on on "The Freed Man" (although "True Hardcore" and lots others on that part are amazing, too, I think)...Lou's easy-listening-from-hell tape manipulations, pitchshifts and weird timecode mumblings that he starts off songs with (ie. "7:20", etc.) make "Weed Forestin'" a hometaping classic that has probably inspired tons of other overgrown kids to hunker down over 4-tracks (myself included), and which I think merits the hype...Useless Trivia: It would have been neat to get "W.F." as a cassette bonus to Dinosaur's "You're Living All Over Me" when they both first came out... ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Their Best
Crappin You Negative is by far the best Grifters album. I'm drawn by the sloppy playing, low fi sound, lyrics by Tennessee art school grads crossed with ancient Greek mythology, super cool production. I keep this on the shelf next to Husker Du Zen Arcade for alphabetical as well as conceptual reasons. Both are bands with strong songwriting, the ability to blast noisy, berserk rock. To compare them with another great, defunct group, there is a slight Pavement connection. Whereas Pavement in later years emulated the Stones' country twang, the Grifters are more on about Keith Richards loose, careless guitar playing.

They must have made a deal with the devil pictured on the cover of this album though, because, for just this one shining release, everything came together for Grifters. After this their stagecoach turned back into, if not a pumpkin, maybe a rusty '73 Chevy Vega. I have always assumed that after Crappin You Negative, certain pivotal band members either started using drugs or maybe stopped using drugs. Either way, it's our loss that they only hit the stratosphere for this one release.

Kind of a shame their spending all their most exciting years on their little Shangri-La records. Their light was hidden from the rest of the world. Now they could be like Wire or Rudimentary Peni, bands that influence other later bands but are rarely heard themselves. Did they ever consider Touch and Go? That would have been a great label for them.

Anyway, I never get tired of listening to Crappin You Negative. Its somehow the last great Rolling Stones album, the album The Stones would have made if they could have stayed relevant much past 1975. On Crappin You Negative check out Junkie Blood, Bronze Cast, and Piddlebach. (A question: on Piddlebach, is that language American Indian? Gaelic? It's really bugged me for a long time¡K)

1 of the best
this is a must have album full of all that we love about the grifters.lo fi messed up guitar blues recorded in the band members own homes and a flower shop.if you don't know what the grifters sound like then take a risk you wont regret it.

Amazing rock n roll meltdown
This record will kick you, turn you inside out, love you, and then leave you pushing replay again and again. It won't ever be far from your CD player, especially if you don't care about genres, but just like original, exciting, soulful, beautiful noise. Innovative (not superfluous) tempo and genre changes, sweet singing and angry growling, fast-driving fury to poignant pop -- from the quiet fury of Dead Already, Felt-Tipped Over, and Junkie Blood to the funked up anthem rockers of Rats, Spaceship, and Cinnamon -- this album's greatness does not once let up. Fans of GBV, Sebadoh, The Beatles, and Big Star. This band is shamefully underrated, and this is their opus. Buy it. A couple of listens later, you will "get it" and won't be able to live without it, and then you'll be spreading the gospel too. Let's just hope they don't break up before they realize how much we all need them.

beautiful blaring dischordance - a nearly perfect rock album
a wholly beautiful and haunting record that you'll be humming long after the first listen. the grifters delve beneath the ordinary and create a near religious experience on crappin' you negative, their most complete and powerful offering. blaring dischordant harmony is carved into urgent, highly literate, stream-of-conscious pop masterpieces written from a space traveler's viewpoint.

Excellent
I love this album! It's original and rocks out. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Overkill or Underkill?
Good in parts but I wish it was a lot more "up". Peggy Suicide is fa-fa-better. I quite like Upwards at 45 Degrees, Mystery Trend, Fear Loves This Place & Tower. Necropolis is a killer track I can play over & over it's so much fun. Ahead of it's time in bleakness & a sign of a few of his albums to come I'm afraid.

Pure Genius
You'll want to sit back and listen to this album from start to finish without doing anything else - definitely try listening with headphones. This is trippy psychedelic pop with influences from Kraftwerk to Iggy Pop and everything in between. Unbelievably excellent production, songwriting, and vocals. The title may scare some people off, but the theme of the album as you may guess is organized religion and how it has screwed our society up - excellent lyrics that are never preachy. Why is Julian Cope not much more famous and why has this album been deleted without ever receiving the publicity it deserves? Probably because the major labels want us to consume "Safe" music. This is one of Julian Cope's 4 masterpieces (my favourite one overall)- the others being Peggy Suicide, Autogeddon, and 20 Mothers.

The Best Album Of All Time?
Easily, one of my favourite albums ever and possibly my favourite. Unfortunately, it seems like it's going to remain a lost classic.This is Julian's finest hour combining Krautrock, Psychedelia, Pop and general weirdness. It's beautifully and simply recorded and it still puts a shiver down my spine.

One of most eye-opening releases of the 90's
Julian Cope hit a creative peak in the early 90's with Peggy Suicide and then this album. Peggy Suicide was more commercially viable, but Jehovahkill is a genuine powerhouse. Musically all over the map -- from the pop bliss of "The Mystery Trend" and "Fa-Fa-Fa Fine" to blistering Krautrock primal scream therapy ("Upwards at 45 Degrees", "The Subtle Energies Commission") to techno-dance ("Poet Is Priest"). On the closing mother-goddess "war of the genders" epic, "The Tower", Cope recalls The Doors' "The End", sounding uncannily like Jim Morrison at times. This album is a feast of musicianship and experimentalism with a cynical, mystical neo-hippy edge that only arch drude Julian can deliver so perfectly. A classic.

The missed classic of the new era.
Whatever you say about julian, he always does things with passion. Ther closet he ever came to half stepping was the commercial retread of My Nation Underground. This album represents a new vision fully realised in the wake of the abrasive raw turnaround which began with Droolian and Skellington and came to commercial attention with Peggy Suicide. The album is a journey that should be felt with headphones. I diisagree with anyone who says this isn't the best. Peggy may have been the most exciting time but this album gets as close to the edge in a way like tonight's the nighjt did for neil young. Julian's laser was on target and he had blinders on when he did the album. If you ever see them pick up on the jehovakill fear loves this place dual cd singles with 6 extra non-lp tracks. If you haven't been there you, need to go. this is modern soul searching cosmic artistry at its finest. too bad the masses are so wrapped up in walmart and mtv to give merit to where it belongs. this is a classic album, time will bear me out. ... Read more

Amazon.com

More proof that radio would be a lot more interesting if we could all tune into KCRW/Santa Monica. This batch of 1995-'96 live tracks begins with a shivery, very electric Cowboy Junkies version of Springsteen's "State Trooper" and includes real keepers by Patti Smith ("Dancing Barefoot"), The Wallflowers, Stereolab, Ben Folds Five, Fiona Apple, and a riveting Me'Shell Ndegeocello. --Jeff Bateman ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A step down from vols 1 & 2
Having listened to vols 1 & 2 of the series lots and this one somewhat less, I have to say that this is definitely a step down. There are some good moments: The airy floating sounds of Booth & Bad Angel's "Fall in Love With Me" is good as is Gonzalo Rubalcaba's instrumental version of "Imagine", but much of the rest of the CD doesn't leap out at me. I don't feel like I'm hearing something new and unique here like I did with vols 1 & 2. I've wavered between 3 and 4 stars for this, and what I'd really like to give is 3 1/2 stars, but I'll aim low.

first rate
I have bought all the Rare on the Air series. This one is the best. the cowboy junkies version of state trooper is worth the price alone ... Read more

Reviews (1)

im hooked
I picked this one up 3 weeks ago and it hasen't left my player. The bass lines are amazing, the guitar riffs are some of the catchiest i've heard, and the vocals are perfect for screaming along with. If you like gettin' your socks rocked off then buy this one. ... Read more

Amazon.com essential recording

Hailing from Athens, Georgia, and often discussed in the same breath as psychedelic upstarts Olivia Tremor Control and Neutral Milk Hotel (since they all operate under the loose umbrella of the Elephant Six collective), Elf Power are an eccentric rock quartet that perform engaging, subtle music with a sonically subversive underbelly. On the band's third full-length release, songwriter Andrew Rieger shows a penchant for clever wordplay on tunes like "All the Passengers" and "O What a Beautiful Dream." Along with band members Bryan Helium, Aaron Wegelin, and Laura Carter, Rieger takes the listener on a quirky musical journey that is as surreal as it is smart with unconventional instrumentation and random noise filtering throughout. With cameos by Athens alt-rock royalty, this marks the dawning of a new psychedelic underground. --Mitch Meyers ... Read more

Reviews (18)

Just very good
I fell in love with this CD the 2nd or 3rd time I listened to it. This band is quite talented and has the usual E6 ear for a melody. What I like is that they combine the pop energy of the Apples in Stereo with some of the sonic leanings of Olivia Tremor Control. They are not particularly similar to either, but their stuff borrows a little from each. None of the songs are groundbreaking, but almost all of them are catchy and show off quality musicianship.

A couple other reviewers have complained about the singer's voice. I'll agree that he tends towards a certain vocal range for almost every song, but I don't consider that a weakness because the songs are well suited for his vocals. Overall this is just a solid, solid release if you like pop-rock music and catchy melodies. It won't totally knock your socks off, but you'll be tapping your toes and feeling lighthearted.

Best of 1999
Before I make this claim, I should note that I don't buy a lot of new music and all of the new music I buy is indie. That said: this is the best album I have from 1999. I was on my Elephant 6 addiction (which I still am, partly) and I just put this and When the Red King Comes on my wish list. My parents seemingly randomly picked this one and it blew me away. It's not amazingly emotional or anything incredibly new in sound. They just write really good songs with lyrics that fit the songs well. It's pop, but not like anything you would hear on the radio, or much of anywhere (It could be argued that one would hear similar things from the Apples in stereo or OTC, but this is something different frome even that, I would say). They have a unique sound and what's amazing is that even when they cover a Nobles song, it sound like an Elf Power song. My personal favorite for the album is "Simon," which is just completed by the horn line by Scott Splain (sp?) of Neutral Milk Hotel. Buy it and enjoy!

This album will get you beat up at school!
I saw them live in New Orleans. They were awful. They opened for Wilco, what an embarassment for the Chicago natives. I lived in Athens just long enough to realize that this is the sort of poser music that only Athens can produce. I almost fell into the trap of thinking these guys were worth a crap until it dawned on me - this is the type of music that will get you beat up in school. // The tracks on this album are whiney boy pop rock, aspiring for something which I don't really seem to know...I don't think they do either - so, "hey! lets call it ART!!! They'll be sure to buy it then..." - Don't get caught wasting your money.

Not the Elephant 6 I love
I am a slavish devotee to the Elephant 6 Collective, but I may have to rethink that after listening to this release of Elf Power's. Maybe I didn't give it the time it needed to grow on me, but I can honestly say this album grated on me more than any album I have listened to this year (and I listen to a lot). It was just too sparse. Most of the tracks seemed to lack a melodic center. And the words just bounced off of me. For my money, you would be much better off with Olivia Tremor Control, The Apples in Stereo, or Beulah. Even the Red King is to be preferred to this one.

I know people have rated this album off the charts, but I just have to say that it really does not do it for me. Let this be a voice of warning and/or dissent.

wow, this is nice
elf power are a great thing, with plenty of trippy noise and sounds. however, their songs, like the apples in stereo are really cool and poppy and nice to listen to. i like. ... Read more