Amazon.com

Originally performed as a live accompaniment for a 1995 theater-dance production about the life of painter Egon Schiele, this is the both the exception to the Rachel's rule and their defining moment. Though they are normally a three-headed, multiperson new-music and classical ensemble centered around Jason Noble (ex-Rodan), Christian Frederickson, and Rachel Grimes, this suite was written entirely by Grimes and performed by Grimes (on piano), Frederickson (viola), and cellist Wendy Doyle. As always, the music (not to mention the letter-pressed packaging) is spellbinding; the fact that this is classical music by--and for--people who grew up on indie rock in no way diminishes it, nor does it make the music too low-brow for those with a classical background. For a more complete picture of what the entire Rachel's ensemble is capable of, both Handwriting and The Sea and the Bells are recommended. --Randy Silver ... Read more

Reviews (20)

Inspiring
The simplicity and warmth from the piano/viola/cello trio configuration on Music for Egon Schiele set this album apart from the other Rachel's recordings. As on their other albums, they compose their own material and play beautifully. I am part of a bass clarinet/viola duo that idolizes this group and we admire any chamber group that can get filed in the indie rock section. Music for Egon Schiele is our (mutually) favorite album. One of my former bass clarinet students (really into indie rock) turned me on to Rachel's and I am forever grateful.

Spellbinding, not at all pretentious
I think it's very dismissive to call this record "prententious tripe" as a music "fan" wrote below. I'm not going to get into a fight with him, but his comment about living in Vienna in 1919 is confusing. This album is the soundtrack to a dance production chronicling the life of Egon Schiele, so Vienna circa 1919 probably isn't a bad thing. Don't dislike this album because it is "artsy". I actually think it is more simplisitc than most classical music, but far more moving. The music itself, is orchestrated beautifully, and the repeating themes that recur throughout the album are cathartic. I don't know anyone who buys Rachel's albums just so they can say "I listen to classical music." This is an incredible album on its own merits.

Very,very fine!
It just has nothing to do with post-rock or the groups like EXPLOSION IN THE SKY,MOGWAI or GODSPEED YOUR BLACK EMPEROR.I would recommend to Amazon.com to put it together with THE PENGUIN CAFE ORCHESTRA,which is stylistically similar to RACHEL'S music.Great music!

austrian malcontents in border regions
I went to the Egon Shiele Museum in Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic recently and they had this video monitor constantly showing a small biographical film of him produced in the early eighties and the music was terrible. It was like video-synth-production-type music. I kept wishing it was the Rachel's music playing instead.

chamber music
A very, very "traditional" album from the Rachel's. On the upside, the tempered pace and quiet arrangements make for an album that plays like the slow parts of a Brahms. There is an (almost self-conscious) filter on this album that keeps things at a rather "ambient" pace, although there are a few flashes.

On the downside, the ambient pacing is probably the most "experimental" aspect of this album. There is not much electronica or sampling that the Rachel's have proved themselves so good at in their other albums. If you're not in the right mood, the rather minimal tonal range -- mostly same-key, mostly returning -- might annoy.

Probably the album diametrically opposite to Systems/Layers. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

The Best of the "Sea and Cake" Albums.......
Admittedly I've only recently discovered "The Sea and Cake", and this was recommended as a similar artist, by another group I was heavily into. Most people that don't know 'Sea and Cake' and briefly hear them for the first time will lazily label the band as 'Easy Listening', and although that's partly true, it goes way short of explaining how brilliant this band are at conveying a precious, Gently intimate Post-Rock that has more than a little bit of a hushed whimsy feel to it. The shimmering pop singalong of "Jacking The Ball" are highly infectious pop songs that seep into consciousness and will have you humming long after the Cd has left the Stereo. The downtempo strum of "Polio" show Sea and cake to be masters of reflective whimsy, and carry a poignancy, that never feels forced or pretentious. This wouldn't be a sea and cake album without several Acoustic tracks, and "Showboat Angel" fills this criteria perfectly, with a gentle groove ushered over the subdued vocals, its easily one of the best tracks on an album that although runs to only 10 tracks, is not cumbered with filler and every songs is deserving of space on the album. Those new to the Sea and Cake will be well advised to start with this album, and then continue with the rest of the albums if they like what they hear. But It must be mentioned that this isn't music that designed to impress your friends, as it resolutely considered, slow moving, refined, distinctive & cerebral. Its an album that grows over time, and each listen will give a deeper appreciation of what's being presented here, and it's very easy to get lost in the groove and let the lyrics pass over you. Either way, Sea and cake are a unique in the sense that their music is distinctive and isn't easy to mistake for anyone else....and those willing to give the album some time, will find its (considerable) charms hard to resist.

If Dave Mathews didn't suck...
He might be as good as The Sea and Cake. This album, their self-titled debut, is a rare case of a band sounding fully mature on their debut. What may be suprising for someone who has never heard The Sea and Cake is how much their music influenced by '60s soul and R&B. Personal favorites include "Jacking the Ball", "Bring My Car I Feel To Smash It", and "Showboat Angel". If all you've heard about TS&C is that they are "post-rock", check out this album of light, jazzy, funky indie rock.

ecstasis
ethereal - feathers your mind's eye with perfect blue beaches and lazy white sheets - a transport to myriad paradises - seductive and sublime ..

Impressed and Delighted
Damn. This is a great CD. The Sea and Cake are the band that you've been longing for (Intelligent, progressive, experimental, accessible). Their songs have a confused simplicity about them that captures the listener and keeps one listening. Hours later, you'll swear you've had this CD for years. Top cuts: "Showboat Angel" "Flat Lay the Water" "Lost in Autumn" "Goodbye to the Captain". A great find.

Good, clean, mellow excellence.
This album belongs on the Top 10 Best Albums of All Time list. Inescapably enjoyable. ... Read more

Reviews (17)

One Of The Best Live Albums Of All Time!
When you think of John Cale, you think of many different things. You think of his days with the Velvet Underground. The poetry of Paris 1919. The seminal Island Years. His Music For A New Society. His reunion with Lou Reed for Songs For Drella. Fragment's of a Rainy Season is a completely different side of Cale. This entire album is John Cale live with only a piano or guitar, both acoustic. The effect is some of Cale's best recordings ever. Every facet of Cale is on this album. The Island Years, Songs For Drella, Paris 1919, etc. Although all the songs here are great, and done beautifully, there are a few standout tracks. Dying on the Vine is done incredibly. The best version of the song ever. Darling I Need You is also a standout. Also, an incredibly beautiful version of Thoughtless Kind makes the album worth buying. All the other tracks are great, also. This album is more than essential for fans of Cale.

Rainy Seasons Is Sublime
The first time I saw John Cale live was with his blistering backup crew of "Honi Soit" in 1979. The concert was a revelation and I became among the annoited Cale fanatics and bought every release by this criminally ignored genius. I own every Cale CD (including four anthologies)and quite a few out of print vinyl editions of his work. Of the 2000+ compact discs I own, "Fragments of A Rainy Season" has graced my CD player more than any other album in the ten years since it's release. This live album focuses on all of Cale's strengths, his lyrical song craft, his tender and anguished voice, his instumental wizardry and his larger-than-life stage presence. Give this wonderful showcase of Cale's brilliance a listen and I promise you will seek more. The additional tracks that have been piggy-backed onto the original 1992 release make this CD a real dollar value.

"Rainy Seasons" Showcases Cale, the Minimalist
Fragments of A Rainy Season" has graced my CD player more than any other album in the twelve years since it's release. This is the after-hours incarnation of John Cale, not the menacing sabatouer personna that Cale created for himself in the Seventies. This live album focuses on all of Cale's strengths, his lyrical song craft, his tender and anguished voice, his instumental wizardry and his larger-than-life stage presence.

"Rainy Seasons" is ample evidence that Cale's post-Velvet career has outlasted those of his bandmates, even Lou Reed. Cale has always maintained his avant gardist sensibility while Lou Reed, for better or worse, has stuck with his original black leather, NYC street hustler image that marked his Velvet Underground years. Cale's back catalog is a wealth of undiscovered treasures. What is most striking about this live performance is the passion and immediacy Cale brings to all of his classics. It's a revelation that Cale's music is better suited to this accoustic format, because his strikingly original classically influenced piano is not drowned out in a wall of guitar noise. In performances with a band, Cale generally sticks with a guitar, which he doesn't play with nearly as much conviction as piano.Cale's expressive voice simply works better with a piano.

I own most of Cale's albums and the three career retrospectives of his work. I like "Rainy Seasons" better than all of them because this live recording proves that Cale's music stands on the strength of his songwritting and doesn't need a lot of orchestration or post-production "enchancement" to work. The additional tracks that have been piggy-backed onto the original 1992 release make this CD a real dollar value.

Simply the best ever
There really isnt alot one can say. You will listen. And listen. And listen.

Cale at his best and barest
This is John Cale pure and simple. Unpredictable, elegant, manic, literate, articulate, witty, bittersweet, psychotic, passionate, stately, dark and romantic. I could go on and on. It's very hard for me to review Cale's records because they're so wonderful and perfect; they warrant essays. This is indeed a classic album. It reveals John's creative intent in the simplest forms, from brooding quiet ballads to manic, ham-fisted keybashing exercises in noise and chaos. JC is an artist and this album is a testament to that -- GET THIS ALBUM NOW! ... Read more

Amazon.com

As supergroups go, this one--featuring Jeff Tweedy, Jim O'Rourke, and Glenn Kotche--is almost as good as Rockpile, on par with Blind Faith, and a whole lot better than Ciccone Youth. It's also a project that makes sonic sense, in a twain-shall-meet way. Wunderkind experimental guitarist-producer O'Rourke has been creating warped Americana since the late '90s, while on 2002's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, Tweedy and company finely deconstructed the alt-country rock they'd worked so hard to create in the first place. The two major problems that afflict projects of this sort--overindulgent twaddle and ill-suited explorations--surface here, but they only hold sway over a third of the album. The tunes that work the best are the Tweedy-fronted ones, especially "Laminated Cat" and "Chinese Apple," both of which are seven-plus minutes of gorgeously subtle guitar, weird background noises, poly-limbed percussion, and oblique lyrics delivered by a melodic-minded mumble mouth. --Mike McGonigal ... Read more

Reviews (17)

Good Album. Minimal Collaboration
Last year was a great year for several Chicago artists known to many as Jim O'Rourke, Jeff Tweedy, and Glenn Kotche. The latter two members are from the celebrated outfit called Wilco. O'Rourke, historically, has been on his own doing solo acoustic and electronic material, but over the last several years has found himself creeping into other band's studios to collaborate and provide some helpful insight. He's shown the music world that he definitely has what it takes, and that his precise and melodic sensibilities are completely valid in the music industry. While becoming a major contributor to Sonic Youth's Murray Street, it became quickly apparent that his style of melody was exactly what Sonic Youth had needed for quite some time. Simultaneously, Tweedy and Kotche were at work on the release of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. It finally landed around April 2002, with much praise and accolades from the public. It had been a long ride for the band, but the time had finally come to get the long awaited material out. After comparing the YHF demo tapes to the final product, it's again obvious that O'Rourke had quite a bit of influence on what the public would call Wilco's best album yet.

If you've heard anything by any of these gentlemen, you know by now that Tweedy, O'Rourke, and Kotche are talented musicians in their own rights. However, there really isn't anything on Loose Fur that Wilco and O'Rourke fans haven't heard before. Except maybe for the fact that Tweedy is "back in the saddle again." In fact, Loose Fur sounds pretty much exactly like what you'd expect. The opening track, "Laminated Cats" leans toward the Yankee Hotel Foxtrot sessions and begs comparison to Radiohead's "I Might Be Wrong," while "Elegant Transaction" is all O'Rourke in scope. It permeates the album with homage to anything on Insignificance or Eureka. For this reason alone, Loose Fur seems a little "insignificant" and somewhat forced. I'm not speaking of the music itself, because each song is respectively great. However, I find myself wondering why this collaboration was formed other than to make an album that would expand O'Rourke's already endless catalogue even further. Regardless of my assumption, the material that's been produced here is pleasantly received.

"So Long" is the stand-alone track due to the fact that on the surface it has the least aesthetic appeal. About half way through the song, the noisy guitar antics begin to fade, and we're left with what seems to be one of the only two true collaborative moments. "You Were Wrong" follows behind "So Long," and is signature Wilco from beginning to end. Why this song wasn't on Yankee Hotel Foxtrot is beyond me. The true gem here, however, is the final track, "Chinese Apple." It's the only song that actually sounds exactly like O'Rourke and Wilco combined. It resonates with pure harmony, and proves that this is a collaboration that truly works for something better. I guess the best things are saved for last.

So, if reading this review still leaves you in question as to what Lucifer, I mean, Loose Fur sounds like as a band, simply refer to Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, Insignificance, and Eureka. It's really impossible to put it any other way. Going by what these guys have produced in the past, it's almost hard to say anything negative about the music itself. The only question that truly remains is, "Why collaborate on something you can do yourself?"

Finding Its Own Place Among the Tweedy Catalogue
The release of Jeff Tweedy solo and Tweedy-related projects is really rolling along now: besides this album, there is Minus 5's "Down With Wilco" (just released), the pending release of new Wilco material on the "Camera" EP, not to mention of course YHF and "Chelsea Walls", both released in 2002.

The trio that makes up Loose Fur consists of sound engineer/producer Jim O'Rourke (who worked on YHF) and Wilco's Tweedy and Glenn Kotche. The album covers 6 songs in 39+ min. Opener "Laminated Cat" and closer "Chinese Apple" are the best tracks (both Tweedy-penned), with that could-have-been-a-YHF-track feeling to it. The other tracks are quite good as well, combining lots of accoustic sounds ("Elegant Transaction") with sound scratches and twists. "So Long" reminds me of Pink Floyd's "San Tropez" (from "Meddle"), updated musically for 2003.

Don't expect this to be "YHF 2". It's beyond that, perhaps less ambitious, but in its own right very much enjoyable (more so than the "Down With Wilco" album). As he did on "Chelsea Walls", Tweedy invites you to trust him that he will deliver out-of-the-ordinary, enduring music. And right he is! You won't be disappointed.

Boss Tweedy and Friends
This is a very nice album but not a masterpiece. Tweedy and O'Rourke warp their own peculiar brand of old timey music into tribal beats and cotton candy weirdness. A nice addition to any wilco collection but far short of a legitimate project.

...it just grows on you.
....the more you listen to it the more you'll like it. I initially was a huge fan of the Tweedy penned numbers (with Laminated Cat and its nod to early Velvets a special favorite). After several dozen listens, however, I can't seem to get Open Arms out of my mind. I can't agree more with the earlier reviewer who suggested it sounded like something out of Meddle era Pink Floyd. Yeah, I see that, but with one caveat: Pink Floyd with Robert Quine on lead guitar.

Elegant Transaction
Jim O'rourke, Glenn Kotche and Jeff Tweedy en masse equal one beautiful album. The six tracks make this effort deceiving; it appears to be more like an ep than a full-blown record. Don't be tricked though, this cd has all that and then some. From the sweet mechanical melody of the opener Laminated Cat, to the last note of the gorgeous Chinese Apple, this record takes you across the ocean, valleys and plains, the mountains and the moon. My favorite songs on here are the ominous So Long, and the wonderful closer, Chinese Apple. I highly recommend this disc to any fans of Wilco or Jim O'rourke. ... Read more

Album Description

The central theme of this CD is about negative dominance politically, sexually, and emotionally, despite the space of a new, hopeful relationship. Musically, there's less of a dance influence and more of a pop and academic/experimental influence. It's Xiu Xiu's most experimental record, yet it's their most delicate and accessible. ... Read more

Reviews (14)

fabulous record
all corny review titles aside, this record is the best of the year so far and is sure to (at least) make it in my top 5. FM is the best record xiu xiu has released. it is probably the most accessible xiu xiu record while also being their most uncoventional. Jamie Stewart doesn't rely so much on strange instrumentation and noise to freak you out. instead, he creates an uneasy atmosphere throughout the record. there are a few points that remind me of A promise: crank heart has a little bit of the apistat commander vibe and brian the vampire is in the same vein as pink city. this is the most consistent xiu xiu release yet no low points or slip ups, just a fine, fine record. keep up the great work Mr. Stewart.

track list 1. Crank heart (fav track) 2. i luv the valley OH! (fav track) 3. bunny gamer 4. little Panda McElroy 5. Support our troops 6. fabulous muscles (fav track) 7. brian the vampire (fav track) 8. nieces pieces 9. clowne towne 10. mike

Gasp!
Xiu Xiu is an acquired tase, kind-of like electro noise-mongers Black Dice. But where Black Dice barrages you with a slew of manipulated chaos sans proper vocals (just some screaming and mutters here and there), Xiu Xiu has the vocal prowess of Jamie Stewart, a singer possessing the pipes of Robert Smith with the mindset of Todd Solondz. It's not pretty. Fabulous Muscles, the band's third full-length, is filled with tales of emotional/physical/sexual abuse, severly broken relationships, and emotional instability. They're not the first band to tackle such topics, but Jamie Stewart's battered, tortured, whispered vocals are gut-wrenching, to the point where the album becomes quite difficult to listen to. Xiu Xiu has been accussed of being overly-dramatic, but Stewart knows the power of restraint, so even when his voice seems about to break, it lingers on. The album's highlight, "I Luv The Valley OH!," breaks from the synth driven rampages of "Brian The Vampire" and "Crank Heart" and the minimalist dirges of "Nieces Pieces" and "Little Panda McElroy" to deliver the most starteling departure in Xiu Xiu's catalog: a pop song. Not content to deliver any ordinary pop song, however, "I Luv The Valley" layers its jagged guitar lines with random noise and a general sense of dread. Jamie's mocking "la la la's" are a brilliant touch while his release of a screamed "OH!" in the second verse working as a nice cherry on top to an already great song. Are Xiu Xiu becoming accessible? Hardly, they're just becoming a better and better band.

For Those Disillusioned with Morissey's Pandering
Applying the label 'gay' to Xiu Xiu's frontman, Jaime Stewart, would be something of a misnomer. This is one angry dude, and with the angst-ridden, dissonant intensity of his particular brand of experimental pop, he insists on letting you know why. Combining pulsating synths with scattered, screeching guitars, Stewart doesn't so much pour his heart over this album's ten tracks, as much as he rips it out of his chest and lets the blood slowly drain onto your bludgeoned skull. Inhabiting a world of obsessive infatuations and childhood humiliations, Stewart's cathartic lyrics demand intimacy. Stewart isn't just some 20-something still recovering from teen angst, he's got some serious **** that he needs to contend with, and with his music, he conveys his thoughts with an unrelenting fury that would make all the mainstream angst-rock exploiters shiver in their All-Stars. Stewart's vocals, probably the most divisive aspect of his music, aim to capture the anxiety and rage of an individual whose skin crawls at the thought of the person who inhabits it. With breathy vocals, Stewart draws you in close as if he's going to tell you some dark secret, and then quickly transitions to a fit of frenzied screaming, unleashing his once-restrained anger in a maelstrom of synth-driven noise. The album's first two tracks best exemplify this effective pattern. 'Crank Heart' begins deceptively with cheezy synths, and then jumps into post-punk mode, carefully balancing a somber mood with Stewart's intense screams. 'I Luv the Valley Oh!' layers Stewart's almost delerious ranting over a distanced guitar and a crashing, industrial beat. The rest of the album is more or less successful at capitalizing on this initial momentum. 'Bunny Gamer (b)' finds Stewart more restrained as he delves into obsession, whereas the stripped down, cloying psycho-ballad, 'Fabulous Muscles', betrays its exterior sweetness with lines like 'Cremate me after you cum on my lips, honey boy.' 'Support Our Troops OH! (Black Angels OH!)' slows the album down a bit, as Stewart gives an angry, spoken word '**** you' to the common grunts that are universally hailed as 'heroes' by the American media. The thing one must keep in mind, of course, is that Xiu Xiu isn't going for pretty melodies and catchy hooks. Xiu Xiu wants nothing more than to make your skin crawl with theirs, to make you feel their anxiety, and to spit it all back in the face of the world. It's this aspect that makes it so easy to forgive the album's missteps, as one never gets the sense that Stewart is struggling to find a way to express what he means. His grasp on atmosphere is unshakable, and though a few tracks may come off as a bit unfocused, the emotion propelling the album forward never lets up. 'Fabulous Muscles', while not fully developed and slightly inconsistent, is a jarring manifesto from young musicians with a purpose. It's a challenging, honest record that manages to channel a lifetime of angst without coming off as juvenile or contrived. Jaime Stewart has a damn good reason to be pissed off at the world, and if it's this anger that's driving him to produce such daring music, I'd say the world now has a damn good reason to keep pissing him off.

yes album of the year
album of the year. well almost. its a tie between "fabulous muscles" and "culture for pigeon" by tracy + the plastics. this album is so full of anguish that it almost makes you laugh. but its still great, no matter how dramatic jamie stewart is. its quite less noisy than other xiu xiu releases, though doesnt suffer from being more accessible. my personal faves are clowne towne and fabulous muscles (which is about being murdered by your lover!) sad, depressing, experimental, beautiful, dramatic, political, just great. buy this if you enjoy feeling pathetically depressed, or just enjoy hearing something truely different. its like bright eyes on a bad acid trip.

Spastic
Remember Being John Malkovich? Yeah, that movie where there's a portal into the actor's brain. This album reminds me of that because it is, I imagine, like a portal into Jamie Stewart's brain. It's a dangerous trip and some people will absolutely hate it, as you can see in some of the other reviews.

This music will not make you feel good about yourself. This is music for the anxious, self-conscious, and depressed. Personally, I think it's brilliant. It's difficult to describe the actual music, but I think it's safe to say that this is some of the most intense stuff I've ever heard. Jamie Stewart's lyrics are often dark and disturbing yet strangely humorous at the same time. "I Luv the Valley OH!" and "Clowne Towne" are obvious highlights and "Nieces Pieces" is absolutely devastating. This is Xiu Xiu's most accessible album to date, but that's not saying much. This is a difficult but rewarding listen, my personal favorite album of the year so far, right in front of TV on the Radio's Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes.

"The album is scarier than underwear from Goodwill." - Magnet magazine, No. 63 May/June 2004 ... Read more

Reviews (28)

Not their best album by a long shot
Sonic Youth had at least 4 incredible albums in a row, starting with 1987's Sister to 1992's Dirty. For those 5 years, Sonic Youth were at the top of their musical game. With their 1994 release, Experimental Jet Set Trash & No Star, however, the noisy and innovative messiahs of experimental and alternative sound somewhat burnt out, uninspired and less "sonic." This album was more mellow than its predecessors, which wasn't a bad thing. The opening title,"Winner's Blues" is just Thurston Moore, and an acoustic guitar, and although it's just over 2 minutes long, it's a moving song, and the tone of it is pretty melancholy. Even bassist/vocalist, Kim Gordon, toned down her neo-feminist rants with songs like "Skink," "Bone" and the closing song "Sweet Shine." Her song, "Bull In the Heather" even became a modest hit. Maybe she mellowed out a bit too much, since some of her songs, particularly "Bone" just drag on with no focal point or overall sense of clarity to them. The same goes for many of the songs on this album by Lee Ranaldo and Thurston Moore. This album has its moments, but it's mainly a drag compared to the likes of classics such as Daydream Nation.

Random sonic sugar treats for no one in particular
This record is most impressive for its sound - the EQ is just scrumptious. Recording engineers and musicians should take a listen (past the lo-fi, muted acoustics of the first song, the atypical "Winner's Blues"). It's the best-recorded SY album yet, but strangely, instead of using this kind of technical prowess to record the kind of sprawling 7-minute+ epics with multilayered noise breakdowns which grace other albums such as Daydream Nation, Goo, and Washing Machine, the songs here are simple, straightforward, mostly three-minute vamps of a kind not found in their catalog since, oh, Confusion Is Sex, if one really needed a comparison. EJSTANS is a real curveball - a major departure from the flamboyant extroversion of Dirty. A lot of Kim Gordon's songs here have a kind of glistening resonance that is wonderful to behold - viz. "Bull In The Heather", "Skink", "Doctor's Orders", and particularly "Sweet Shine". Thurston takes command of the two-chord skronkers, which often have an abstract beauty of their own, although I could do without the grating "Androgynous Mind."

You've got to admire the kind of self-assuredness that would enable this band to record an album as aggressively unconventional as this, regardless of major label expectations, and after their ascendancy into the new practically-mainstream "Alternative" genre (that absurdity of absurdities) fostered by Nirvana in the early 90's. Speaking of which, producer Butch Vig seems to be something of a fifth wheel here - you can hear that for all intents and purposes, this is a self-produced album. I read in an interview that on occasion while recording, he'd ask for a second take on a song, and they'd simply refuse. The band are in complete command of their craft here, and they need no one but themselves to help them prove it. Uncompromising and dedicated to the last, Sonic Youth are truly a band without peers.

Criminally underrated
I don't know why this album does be overlooked by Sonic Youth fans as it is a joy to listen to. Yes there's an acoustic track in there but just one and that's the first track ( and it ain't half bad either!). I'll admit they might not seem as out there but this was a logical step-forward from Dirty and it improved on some of Dirty's flaws ( which you can easily see ).And yes you could see that there's more of pop influence in what they were doing but it's done elegantly and there's nothing superficial in it's execution. Also you got to check out for the hidden track at the end. It's surely one of the most bizarre things you'll ever hear!

Perhaps not for everyone but at least give it a try!

weirdness``````
well, this album as all sonic youth albums, is beyond weird, and
also [is bad], unless your stoned. the whole album is different for
sonic youth, in order that fans hated, because sonic youth didnt
do any " 10 minute songs with ear-screching guitar" and also fans
call this album acoustic. acoustic? what are they talking about?
this album is heavy. the only reason this gets two stars is because, it is safe to say they're are three really good songs.
"starfield road". now this is typical sonic youth, 1 minute intro
of guitar noise and then a minute of singing, its a weird but good song. elsewhere, what made me buy the album was the interesting melody infused cool voice weird song," screaming skull." i like this song for its guitar. and finally, one of
sonic youths best songs," winners blues." a very short acoustic
relaxing song, that is good, it doesnt sound anything like sonic,
thats why its good. the rest of the album, is empty and without
hope, i dont like it. if your a fan of sonic youth, you wont
like this album, nost likely and if you aren't, you might. not
worth buying, but they're are three good songs.

SY's most overlooked album
And I don't really see why. Longtime fans call it their poppiest, and while it's definitely the mellowest, that doesn't mean that it's not noisy or self-indulgent for the mainstream. While the lyrics don't mean all that much, it adds up the eccentricness of the album, making it more fun with each listen. About the only other flaw with this album is that Lee Ranaldo doesn't sing on any tracks on this album.

"Bull in the Heather" is a classic, as is its video with that Le Tigre girl cameoed in it. Kim has an excellent voice on it, as well as it being loved among the fans. The outro part sounds real cool.

Opener "Winner's Blues" is a real nice track, as it's an acoustic-like track, a brilliant track on this album.

I just love "In the Mind of the Bourgeois Reader". It's a punk-like track here, probably the fastest one, and Thurston sounds as if he's having a lot of fun during the recording of it. Then it goes into "Sweet Shine" the only song with any real length on the album. It's a great love song.

She has some pretty interesting tracks as well. Her style overall has a sexy sound to it. "Bone" is very awesome, I love the energy of the drums on it, then the chords are well-progressed. It's just a real memorable one on this album. She sings 7 of the 14 songs.

'Experiental Jet Set, Trash and No Star' is something that really shines on track 12 "Tokyo Eye", a very noisy song. It's very awesome to listen to either in the car or on your stereo.

This one's good for introducing people to SY. I got this January of this year, and I think it's excellent. There are some flaws, but overall, I think it's pretty good. The songs are very short, which helps, 'cuz it doesn't really contain enough epic stuff. So yeah, I am recommending it here. Esp. if you don't like the mainstream much and think that this sounds cool, like I do. ... Read more

Reviews (19)

HALF GOOD, HALF BAD
basically, the song "Welcome To Bucketheadland" explains the whole album its very strong and exciting and doesnt get boring, but can get annoying, especially when the guy screams at the end of the song... it represents how it seems like Buckethead was bored with his own music so threw in some utter [POO].... but like i said HALF is GOOD and HALF is BAD!!!!.... its very simple.... go and download the good songs and make ur own Giant Robot CD, with the good stuff.... and throw the rest out

haha

A great guitar album.
All too often these instrumental guitar albums are simply vehicles for the musicians to flaunt their amazing technique. Melody is forgotten and we are treated to plodding instrumental virtuosity without rhyme or reason. These albums have their merit, but they sometimes fail to stand the test of time because they lack qualities that keep us coming back for more.

Buckethead is different. He's got reams of technique, sure, but he also writes great songs with infectious, fun melodies. Buckethead is a great musician, evidenced by challenging instrumental passages, and he also provides tons of variety in his playing, from the keen rockin' melodies in "Binge and Grab" to the fusion-injected "Robot Transmission" to the pretty, delicate and elegant ballad "I Love My Parents" (complete with string ensemble). Buckethead has a quirky sense of humor (in a good way) that is revealed to the listener through several weird skits interspersed among the album's nineteen tracks. It creates a wonderful, surreal musical journey that you aren't likely to grow tired of.

This is 73 minutes of great guitar music. Fans of Joe Satriani and Steve Vai will eat this up.

THE MOST DEVASTATING BHEAD SOLO ALBUM
Ladies and Germs. This is my favorite Buckethead album. It is just very universal in reference to the styles and genres of musical themes found in this album. A lot of the other reviews(with all dues respect) are so wrong such as a few morons that said there is not that much superfast shredding here..wrong there is more than enough. A lot of times people complain about the bad things of the album or they overhype the good qualities. I will try not to be biased on this review or any of my reviews for that matter. In my personal opinion this is Buckethead's best overall work and my personal favorite. Just can not get enough of this album. For starters it has "Welcome to Bucketheadland", "Star Wars", "I love My Parents(beautiful)", and one of the best melodic rock instrumentals of all time in "Binge and Grag." Can arguably be stated that these four songs alone are one of this man's best efforts to date. Not to mentioned the others that also rock. ALso another thing people have tended to over look is the great voice pieces by Bootsy Collins, Bootsy Collin's Mom, and punk legend Iggy Pop. If that is not enough people also over look the drumming of Bigfoot who pounds the skins just as good as Bhead's other drumming associates Pinchface and Brain. If you like instrumental rock you will eat, sleep, and S#$T this till you die. IF YOUR A GUITAR FAN and have not heard this album in it's entirety you are doing your self a great disservice.
COKE08

weirdo
a great guitar player yet this album doesn't ahve a whole lot of actual music in it. it contains alot of little musical jokes and stories more so than actual songs. not that this is bad, i love it, he shows extreme creativity and i also think that hes trying to tell a joke or something along those lines. all in all Giant Robot has some pritty badass stuff on here. as well as clasic Buckethead material. It rocks!

Great, with a few minor problems
Buckethead is funny and fluid, with more than enough ideas to fill a whole CD.

But some of the songs don't work. Monologues interrupt (or are laid over) the music, distracting the listener. The final track, for example, has Buckethead playing a beautiful piece of music while someone describes construction of "Bucketheadland" out of the monorail window. It's okay the first time, and annoying after that.

Still, if you like Buckethead, you should get this one. If you haven't heard him before, start with Monsters & Robots, Electric Tears, and Colma. ... Read more

Reviews (83)

Absolutely Breathtaking
There is a reason Spiritualized "Ladies and Gentleman We Are Floating In Space" beat out Radiohead's "OK Computer", the Verve's "Urban Hymns, and Primal Scream's "Vanishing Point" for NME's Album of the Year. It is a phenomenal journey of music, and like most outstanding works, it isn't completely accessible at the outset. I too thought it was overrated during my first ten listens, and put it away for six months. Then I pulled it out again, and it just lodged itself in my head for a good month straight. The sheer sonic brilliance of this album is what one should pay attention to. There are no real hooks or catchy melodies, but rather hypnotic guitar lines, bursts of carefully constructed white noise, and Jason Pierce's voice is simply one of the most emotional, soulful sounds in music this decade. This album really is like floating around in space.

My favorite bands are Oasis, Blur, REM, Wilco, that kind of stuff. The fact that I appreciate this music should tell you that it is not completely inaccessable to pop music fans. This is not pop music. It is is more demanding, and often more fulfilling. Only serious listeners and people in touch with the sadness and adventure in your soul need apply.

A true love it or hate it CD...
The reviews here are harsh, particularly from Spiritualized fans. The truth is, this album is a bit pretentious, but all Spiritualized/Spacemen 3 albums have been. They basically define self-indulgent music. That's not necessarily bad, though. I think this album is far more interesting and experimental than anything Jason has ever done before, really reaching into many different types of music and production styles. Does it work 100% of the time? Nah, some of the tracks are overlong and a couple are a little grating at times. But that doesn't stop this CD from being a completely wonderful experience. From the title track to the impeccable Come Together to the aching Broken Heart, the songs are interesting, different, emotional, beautiful. It's very different from the first two albums, which is possibly where the hatred from the Spiritualized tried-and-true masses is coming from, and it's very worth listening to. My pick for CD of last year.

An anguished masterpiece
Well this one's certainly one of the best breakup albums ever. Among other things - it's certainly one of the best albums ever (at least in the top ten or so). This album is a fairly large zig to the trancy pseudo electronic zag of Pure Phase. And it's nothing short of amazing.

What's the sound? Orchestral, at times (though nothing quite so extreme as the follow-up). Certainly a touch of gospel (coming in at just the right time, with 'Cool Waves'). A healthy dollop of free jazz which you'll either like or not (me, I'm a fan of Sun Ra and Coltrane's wacky period, so I like it just fine) but which, in my opinion is absolutely essential to the album.

Because this here is a capital A Album about Jason Pierce's usual topics: heartbreak and heroin, and he never does it better than he does here. The production is meticulous and offers endless discoveries to the beheadphoned listener. The songs are ever slow explosions of beautiful sound into wrenching noise with Pierce's anguished whispering atop it all. The whole 12 song sequence is draining, immensely moving, and brilliant.

Yes, it's hard going at times (the free-jazz bits for many). And yes, it doesn't immediately grab you - took me about a year to really appreciate everything. And yes, if the self-pity of an (ex)junky is the sort of thing that wears on you, this might not be your ticket.

Those caveats aside, this is a simply brilliant piece of work. Check it out.

So much music, so little time
Well I snagged an original UK promo (50 copies pressed) of this before they had to re-mix it (licensing/sampling problems) and played it from beginning to end almost every night before going to bed. The production & flow of the orginial mix worked quite well, stretches of flowing tones, then melancholy chords & finally sonic mayhem. I then picked up a copy of the Japanese version (w/ the Broken Heart Instrumental as a bonus track), which felt a little more stifled....but oh that broken heart works wonders...even without words.

I then saw them tour for this album & was it a show.....one of my all time favorite concerts. The light show really was quite an assault on the senses & the cacophony of Cop shoot Cop worked even better live than on disc.

Snagging a copy of the original "Ladies & Gentleman..." track would be worth it....but I ain't going to part with my copy to see what the going price is, so don't ask.

another great British-rock record
as Spiritualized being one of my favourite bands, i can easily say this is a great record. you have the slow and melodic beginnings... then turns into a total thrash fest. (especially on Cop shoot Cop... which is a lot like sonic youth's Diamond Sea).

you get 70 minutes of galore. you have the beautiful title-track "Ladies and gentle we are now floating in space", rock-fests like "come together", and also (my favourite) "cop shoot cop...". 12 tracks, and you have a bit of everything. you're just cool having this in your collection. will be a classic in a decade. quote me!

but this is definitely not the best Spiritualized album. Lazer-Guided Melodies and Pure Phase are much better. "Ladies and gentlemen..." actually sounds very weak when already having listened to those two. but thats simply the only problem with this and its only my opinion! so either way, this may be your favourite album of all-time that i'm giving four stars!

"Ladies and gentlemen we are now floating in space" makes you feel like you're floating in space. it makes you feel the singer is singing about YOU. if you happen to like 'good' music, and haven't experiance a 'experiance' before listening to a cd... this is the album to get! a great album. ... Read more

Album Description

Smooth Jazz WJJZ 106.1 Volume Eleven hits the Philadelphia marketplace with a collection of most requested Smooth Jazz favorites.This year’s compilation features a unique blend of some of the most familiar artists like Sade, Dave Koz, George Benson, Art of Noise, and Praful.

Net proceeds from Smooth Jazz WJJZ 106.1 CD Volume Eleven will benefit two charities.The Grover Washington Jr. "Protect the Dream Foundation" is an organization committed to enriching the lives of young people through music education, and the Linda Creed Breast Cancer Foundation, committed to promoting breast health and fostering the healing process and establishing a public agenda for prevention and cure. ... Read more

Amazon.com's Best of 2001

Low are well-practiced in the art of using less to inspire more. Their minimal indie-rock melodies create somber moods with sparse instrumentation. Every chord, staggered drum beat, or note from front woman Mimi Parker's voice hangs in the air with the importance of a slow-motion raindrop falling to a parched earth. The Dirty Three are equally conservative with their skills, creating emotional flurries by simply dragging a bow across a violin, or strumming a note from a guitar, sometimes building the two into a storm of sad beauty.

It was a brilliant mind, then, that schemed to bring Low and the Dirty Three together for In the Fishtank, a natural fusion of Low's woeful elegance and Dirty Three's delicate folk. As Parker croons like a country girl with a broken heart, these somber lullabies stretch like lost rural highways across the post-rock landscape. Although it's a sonically quiet album, it's beautiful in its simplicity, saying so much in so many pregnant spaces. The final track, "Lordy," is definitely the standout, though, sounding like an old gospel gem that builds intensity as the bands jam around the lyrics "Lordy, save my soul/ From sinning/ From myself." Overall, In the Fishtank is an inspired set of material that will make slowcore fans hope these greatly talented bands record together more often. --Jennifer Maerz ... Read more

Reviews (5)

A beautiful 30 minute gem
I love this cd! Except for perhaps the last song.. this has some of the best vocals I have ever heard. It's amazing... especially since it was recorded in two days! I like the crooning style on this one compared to "Things We Lost in the Fire". Mimi has a beautiful voice.

Smooooth
Damn, this is a yummy CD. So smoooth. So sad...

Soothing
This is a very smooth sounding cd. It's simplicity is what makes it work so well. The best of both bands have collided and the aftermath is beautiful chaos. I was not too keen on the idea of vocals over Dirty Three's instrumentals, but with the addition of Low's frontwoman she proved that it can be done. A nice short cd for all sorts of atmospheres. Definetly suggest giving it a listen.

Review taken from ALL MUSIC GUIDE by THOM JUREK
In late 1999, the Dutch label KonKurrent invited Minneapolis band Low into an in-house studio to record one of the label's near-legendary In the Fishtank sessions: Bands have two days to record between 20-30 minutes of all new material of their choosing. Also touring at the time were Low's pals, the Australian instrumental dynamos the Dirty Three. Low invited them in, and in the same collaborative spirit as another In the Fishtank session involving Tortoise and the Ex, this half-hour session is the document. What is truly amazing about this hookup is how natural these two bands sound playing with one another. Low has been striking out lately, playing different kinds of material while keeping its signature slower-than-slow approach to songwriting. The Dirty Three has taken a more melodic and dynamically restrained tack since their landmark Ocean Songs recording of a few years back.

Of the six songs recorded here, none is more successful that the nearly ten-minute cover of Neil Young's "Down By the River." Mick Turner's trademark guitar style opens the work with lots of brush and cymbal work. It's unrecognizable for the first five minutes; it's just an opening shimmering drone with guitar strings wafting in and out of the atmospherics before Low's Mimi begins singing the verse and Alan teams with Turner to entwine guitars. And when Warren Ellis' violins slip into the middle of the stream, the eerie effect is complete, and the trancelike motion of the song takes hold and won't let go until silence takes over.

The other five tracks are sensual Low originals full of longing and resplendent minimalism. The D3 hold their place in the Low mix, painting it out over a vaster, more colorful expanse, creating more space in their trademark suffocating mix. Alan and Mimi croon together, singing like lovers rather than as bandmates on "Invitation Day." Mimi's vocal and Turner's guitar playing sound enmeshed on "When I Called Upon Your Seed." Drummer Jim White is also a perfect foil for Low; his off-time washes of brush and muted rimshots split the notion of time in two, making the vocal and the tune's time signature two separate entities in a sea awash with the driftwood of the other instruments. Alan's harmonium and organ and Turner take the tune out with Ellis' haltingly shimmering strings. He opens "Cody," however, with the most lonesome, forlorn fiddle line this side of Hank Williams' "Six More Miles to the Graveyard," though it echoes Fartein Valen more than country music. This is really the D3 with Low lending textural ambience and structural balance. It's full of a haunted, hunted beauty that only the D3 can muster up, and it is enhanced by the addition of Zak Sally's bass playing. The disc closes with "Lordy," featuring Low's Alan (providing banjo accompaniment) and Mimi in a gospel-drenched duet before the D3 kick in full-tilt with sawing violin from Ellis tearing the tune apart from the inside; Turner plays slide and counters him to keep in it in a blues mode as White and Mimi duke it out on the trap kits. Turner's scree ends just as the banjo re-enters and Alan forlornly pleads for his soul to be saved as the track just falls apart before ending properly.

This is a studio collaboration that works. It's half an hour of music made from the heart of goodwill and the desire by six musicians to do nothing more than play together to see what happens. What resulted is some of the best material either unit has produced.

Consummation at last!
Low and Dirty Three have flirted for a long time...touring together, releasing dual singles, and praising each other in the press. Well, after a long long courtship, they've finally recorded together, and the outcome is worth the wait.

I was nervous that this album would be nothing more than Low backed with D3...or Dirty Three with Mimi's voice as an extra texture. But both bands have recently moved away from their dissonant pasts (Low's left behind their gothy beginnings and Dirty Three's become far more melodic than punk), and this album feels like the destination both bands were heading towards: beautiful, homespun, needle-edged songs filled with longing and hope.

The most amazing thing is hearing how the bands fit each other like a hand in a glove. I never missed vocals on Dirty Three albums until I heard Mimi's voice float over Warren's sorrowful violin, and I never missed complex counter-rhythms in Low's music until Mick Turner and Jim White filled out their sound with D3's trademark strums and brushed snares. The two together find something each band was missing. Hopefully this album's the start of a longer relationship, not just a one-off experiment. It's too natural for that. ... Read more

Reviews (17)

Easy, fun, and catchy. For a change!
Top jazzy-indie with a modern rock edge - believe me this is fun stuff. Every track is VERY memorable, and the four minute instrumental The Escort is an enjoyable romp with some nifty riffs. Sam Prekop's relaxed vocals - more understandable here than on newer Sea and Cake efforts - compliment the tracks nicely, as do the occasional usage of wibbly electronics (only occasional mind, which is why latter releases have gone downhill - to much arsing about with style and effects!). One negative point is For Minor Sky - far too heavy by comparison (to the rest) and IMHO hasn't stood up to such repeated listening. A shame since I find going through the rest of The Biz to be So Darned Enjoyable. :) Make sure this is the album you start with if you haven't heard these guys yet!

too relaxed for its own good
This album has some great tracks, namely "The Biz," "Leeora," and "The Transaction." Unfortunately, most of the other songs just don't work; they rely on a lazy jam aesthetic, sacrificing the tight dynamics of The Sea and Cake's best work. This album's highlights are probbaly my favorite Sea and Cake moments, but those highlights are too few, and far between. Check out Nassau instead.

The Sea and Cake's best. A Post-Rock masterpiece.
Many TSAC listeners seperate the band's career into two segments: pre and post-Fawn. And I would definitely agree. While their work on The Fawn and later albums is undeniably TSAC in its sound, it is remarkably different than their first three albums. For my money, The Biz is the best of the pre-Fawn era.

Here they are still the guitar driven, slightly edgy band they were on their first release. The album flows well and has a cohesive "sound", just like most of TSAC's albums. But the tunes on this album seem to stick in your mind, demanding to be listened to again and again. The guitar work on this album is superb as are the bass and drum work. All very solid. Prekops vocals also reach a high point here, before he moved totally into the breathy vocals of their later albums.

For the uninitiated, this is probably the best way to get into TSAC. Put yourself in a "I'll try anything" mood and pop this album in. You won't be disappointed.

Highlights here include the title track, The Kiss (with the beautiful and trippy fade out finishing the song), Escort and The Transaction.

sea and cake- the biz
there aren't too many records that sweep you off your feet like this, make you smile when you put them on for the very first time...just a handful. you get that "ahh" feeling and lean back, and you breathe in the oxygen around you and things are perfect. it's just a very rare thing, a phenomenon...records just don't do that too much. this record can be anything and everything, it's so versatile and well-put together. it's new everytime you hear it, clean and fresh, never fails to keep you happy. it's a perfect marketing scam, because once you finish listening, you wish you had more sea and cake records...but you don't. still, in the middle of "darkest night", there's no need for worry, as everything in the world finally sounds and feels completely in tune.

Incredible
This is the most fully realized album The Sea and Cake ever released, and captures them at a time when the jazz & prog-rock inspired Chicago scene had just reached a high & mighty plateau. The intense rhythmic complexity of John McEntire's percussion, alongside the relaxed vocal tones of Sam Prekop, go down as smooth as ice cream on a hot summer's night. Yet The Biz defies easy listening. This album will engulf and activate you, as it plays out tensions as fundamental as your own struggle to survive. A must have. ... Read more

Amazon.com

In calling its new album It's All Around You, Tortoise might be referring to the cultural universe from which it draws its expansive, one-of-a-kind sound. Try as you might to be succinct in describing the Chicago band's dreamy instrumentals, the only way to categorize them properly is to string together stylistic tags like so many Mardis Gras beads. As with a Quentin Tarantino movie, part of the pleasure is identifying and annotating the sources of the music as it unfolds, and folds back on itself. Studio-refined without being studio-slick, It's All Around You is awash in ambient pop and cool chamber jazz, hip-hop beats and more strident rhythmic feats, Spaghetti western touches, and the sound of ... opera? Just when it has you falling into its seductive spell, it will jolt you with a dose of rancorous drama. It's Tortoise's most accomplished and winning album--great fun and some kind of great art and who cares where that twain does or doesn't meet? --Lloyd Sachs ... Read more

Reviews (14)

mellower, ambient version of TNT
The instruments, the sounds, the feeling reminds me a lot of TNT. This seems like a mellowed-out, better blended, more atmospheric version of that album's sound. I like this a lot more than TNT (but then I didn't like TNT that much). The title and (lame) cover art warn that Tortoise has gone new age. Fortunately that's not the case. This album is very dreamy but also quirky and textured, maintaining a fairly consistent feeling throughout, with the exception of track 6, Dot/Eyes, which has a lot of drive and is one of my favorite tracks, but definitely interrupts the flow of the album. All in all a satisfying album, much mellower than anything they've done before, but once the initial "when is the caffeine going to kick in?" passes, once I started listening to it on its own terms, it gets better and better on repeated listens.

One of Tortoise's best
I was looking on this site for Tortoise CD's with the vague notion of running across a new one. Well, I did, and I resolved to get it. During that, though, I read lots of reviews expressing dissapointment, feeling that this CD was mereley a retread of the group's previous work. I decided to buy it anyway, expecting to like it - and I did! In fact, I fell in love with "It's All Around You". This is like a statement of purpose for the group - sure, it has elements of what they've done before, but it unifies all of these with a desire to explore new things. Their signature sound - vibes, spaghetti-western guitar, dub-influenced electronics - is still present, but that add new twists, like the use of wordless vocals on the breezy "The Lithium Stiffs", the lofty, cinematic epic "Crest" (which is on a grand scale never produced by Tortoise before), the unsettling atmospherics of "Dot/Eyes", which has fast and frenetic drumming underneath a churning soundscape, or the closer "Salt the Skies." This song starts off like a lot of their other songs, with moody vibes, but shifts into a hard 6/8 workout that sounds distinctly prog-rock inspired and ends in a blast of furious guitar feedback and synthesizer noise. I've never heard that kind of intensity from the group before.
In conclusion, I'm very happy with the CD. After only owning it for a few days and having listened to it two and a half times, it's one of my favorites. Those who found it disappointing are entitled to their own opinions, of course, but they might want to give this one another listen or two. I've already found that it reveals more to me each time I hear it. Anyone who hasn't picked it up yet, give it a try. Music of this quality is rare and special, and it definitely deserves to be heard and treasured.

Nice enough, but underdeveloped and very disappointing
I've followed Tortoise since the release of TNT in 98 and am familiar with all of their releases. I eagerly looked forward to this one coming out, as it'd been a few years since Standards, and their live show is still a marvel to behold.

I initially held off on picking it up when I read most of the reviews from critics (and friends), saying it was essentially a mediocre album that shows the band in a place of stagnancy. When I finally did buy it, although I really wanted to love it, I found myself agreeing with their assessment. This album has a few great songs and far more songs that are just as easily forgettable.

The sounds themselves are one of the album's best assets. McEntire has topped himself with the recording and mixing of the album. Jeff Parker gets great new guitar tones (especially the delayed guitar on the title song and the tremolo on "On the Chin"). The drums sound wonderful, crisp and yet devoid of that awful distortion that was present on Standards. But while the quality of the engineering initially won me over, much time spent with this cd yielded a grave disappointment that the boys have not pushed themselves further and are content to rest on their laurels.

The second song, "Lithium Stiffs", makes use of a very nice synthesized voice patch, but after that segment of the song completes, it falls into a boring transition on its way to the next song, Crest, which happens to be the best song on the album. Crest's melody is fully developed, the arrangement is spectacular, and it evokes a feeling of familiarity, as many good songs do. Very majestic sounding.

The following song, Stretch, is an exercise in diet-funk that really could go so much further and feels underdeveloped. Following that comes another one of the album's few treasures, On the Chin, a very forceful, hectic workout featuring dizzying 16th note hi hat work and lots of dreamy but dirty synth washes leading into a chaotic climax to an abrupt She's So Heavy-like cutoff.

The rest of the album, however, fades back into Tortoise doing what they know how to do already: creating left-field melodies over beautiful arrangements of vibes, synths, drums and twangy Fender guitar. This time, though, the songs seem bogged down by a meandering feel, and the melodies no longer inspire but seem contrived and forced.

I can appreciate that they are heading in a more live-band direction and leaving much of the electronica behind, but the songs themselves definitely need more strength in order to make it work. If you're a Tortoise fan, pick it up and admire it for the few brilliant songs, and skip the rest; if you are new to this band, START WITH TNT! Pick this one up way later, once you have begun to appreciate what these gents are completely capable of producing. Be sure to catch them live, though, for they still bring the house down.

Good for relaxation...
Tortoise could be best described as a modern-day Can, blending jazzy sensibilities with sampled noise to create an effect. Perhaps my opinion will change after I hear some of their other releases, but it's just a good CD to listen to while you're out driving in the country on a sunny summer day.

familiar, mellower, tighter, but still killer
just saw these guys at ny's bowery ballroom and hearing them live it's easy to figure out what's different about these new songs compared to their older stuff. in many ways, everything pre-standards is still amazing, especially live, because of the strong song structures, which are very architectural and decontructivist, literally. you see, hear and feel how the songs are built layer upon layer, building and building to the inevitable crumble and stumble that comes back satisfyingly to the original motif. i think beginning with standards, the songwriting has become much, much tighter, so that you almost don't notice the amazing musicianship at times. but also, the design of the songs is less apparent, and so sometimes, in comparison to the older tortoise sound, the new songs feel a might boring, especially with the slow jams. but when you experience this stuff live, you realize nothing has changed and these new songs rock just as much as the old ones. (also, i think one of the reasons it may feel like they're stalling, musically, is that the instrumentation hasn't changed: two vibraphones, two drum kits, bass, synth/effects, jazz guitar; hopefully on the next album they'll mix up the sounds some.) the double drumming live is killer. they played for nearly two hours and seemed really into it, as was the crowd. the opening act beans from anti-pop consortium was amazing as well. ... Read more

Album Description

Julian Cope wrote, 'There is no group more mythical than Faust'. Both these albums have been very difficult to find for years. Now their first two CD's available on one CD. Their debut 'Faust' was truly a revolutionary step forward in the progress of 'rock music'. Originally released in 1971, it was pressed on clear vinyl, packaged in a clear sleeve, with a clear plastic lyric insert. The black X-ray of a fist on the cover graphically illustrates the hard core music contained in the grooves, electronics, rock tape edits, acoustic guitars, musique concrete and industrial angst. The second from 1972 moves closer to actual song structure, but still remains experimental. Standard jewel case. 2000 release. ... Read more

Reviews (13)

The ultimate in bizarre avant-garde
Two formerly rare Faust albums on one disk has to earn 5 stars. The mother-lode gem here is Faust's first album. Otherworldly noise combined with hippy jam music, classical, piano, horns, New Orleans on acid, strange vocal harmonies, echo/reverb drenched sound effects - it's a mind-blower. If you like trippy, unpredictable music, you'd be hard pressed to beat FAUST in that catagory. The avant-garde stuff is bursting out in all its glory on the first two songs (comprising the first side) while the second side provides a long, hypnotic jam that eventually dissolves into more out-there experimentation.

SO FAR begins with "It's a Rainy Day, Sunshine Girl" (track 4 on this CD) which is appealing for its V.U. repetitive stomp, followed by a virtually pure classical guitar and flute piece. There are plenty of instances of wild experimentation on this album as well, with more of an emphasis on actual songs than on FAUST (or, at least, something approximating songs appear in the middle of the chaos at times). Some songs have rather comical qualities and sound like they came from a circus. Faust finishes the set with some very strange tape manipulation combined with a sort of vaudville number. This is original music in the extreme.

electronic songs from the black forest
This 2-for-1 is a great deal, as it contains the best of Faust's early work - So Far - an album for me only rivalled by the recent Ravivvando. The additional tracks, the three that comprise their first self-titled album, are full of anarchic oddities, a kind of musical dada, but they lack the more formed musicalities and dynamic, at times beautiful, at others relentless sonic assuault of So Far.

From the opening track (#4 here), "It's a rainy day, sunshine baby" - a heavy and twisted satire on the Beach Boys to my ear - the album builds and shifts into utterly amazing and original territory, from demented digs at mundane suburban existences ("I've got my car and my tv", "Mamy is blue") to electronic soundscapes.

The power, aural dynamics and humour of the music was illustrated by a series of wonderful paintings in the original So Far vinyl release (I have seen them on the Faust website)which perfectly underpinned the dark mood - as indicated by this cover, a music that looks under glamorous surfaces.

There's a touch of Monty Python and Frank Zappa in Faust's music, albeit with a strong experimental and electronic orientation, and this album, now an extended listening experience for enthusiasts, maintains interest and momentum from go to wow. This is quintessential Krautrock.

Just may be my favourite recording of all-time....
... since the rare albums "Faust" and "So Far" we're already some of my favourite albums of all-time. Now it's put onto one disk, and sounds better than ever. In the late 1970s' as psychadelia was on its last wabbely legs, the British noticed the Germans weren't following the same rock script. The politically incorrect term "krautrock" then became a genre based on German rock. based on legendary bands like Can, Kraftwerk, Neu!, and perhaps the most legendary of all... Faust. easily one of the most innovative bands of all-time. they debuted with their self-titled experimental, three-track album in 1971. with three legendary songs "Why Don't You Eat Carrots", "Meadow Meal", and the 16 minute experimental epic "Miss Fortune". every song is freakin' amazing here. "Why Don't You Eat Carrots" is a fully experimental and instrumental song. the guitars are also... once again... "legendary". "Meadow Meal" is a incredibly weird song, but right when it hits the seven minute mark it has eerie and dark sounds of a thunderstorm in the background. truely brilliant. "Miss Fortune" is easily the best on the first part of the album (Faust). amazing vocals, experimental sounds, streaming guitars, and a weird ending to the song. its just amazing. Then comes along the second album "So Far". personally, I prefer Faust more than So Far, but many people disagree with me. but of course, all of it is great, So Far is more like a song album with nine tracks, but still has the experimental.

It starts perfectly with the amazing one-liner lyric song with "It's a rainy day, sunshine girl". shows big influences from The Velvet Underground here. hearing a song with a person saying the same thing over and over has never sounded so damn good. then along comes "On the Way to Adamäe". a two minute experimental, not much here but just because I say that doesn't mean you should skip it. never even think about skipping a track on this album. then "No Harm" builts up almost ten minutes for the great title-track "So Far". "Mamie Is Blue" is a forgettable but still great song. "I've got my car and my TV" is a funny and awkward song, two minutes of a little girl saying the line over and over. "Picnic on a frozen river" is a short experimental song. amazing sound scapes of the river. "Me Lack Space..." is also a short seconds instrumental song. then the amazing finale "...In the Spirit".

So there you have it, two classic albums from Faust on one disk in a perfect full time of 73 minutes. I wish I have much more to say, but I simply shouldn't have to. Your collection of CDs is a complete failure is you do not have this "two in one album for only 15 bucks" in your collection!

Wild Avant-Rock
Here is a reissue of Faust's self-titled FAUST (1971) album, and SO FAR (1972) put on one disc.

Some of the wildest, weirdest, trippiest, scariest music can be found on this disc. The band even admits in the liner notes that they were using marijuana while creating this music. However, no matter how bizarre it gets, there manages to be an element of fun running throughout. The band makes extensive use of the tape manipulation technique which was used by Zappa in 1967, and even earlier by 20th Century composers like Stockhausen and possible others. The cut-and-paste technique employed here makes the music sound strange, but it doesn't take away the bizarre charm this music possesses.

We'll start with the self-titled disc first.

To be quite honest, I get a strange feeling that this album was, more or less, a parody of the 60s: the musicians (Beatles, Stones, Hendrix, Frank Zappa, etc.), the lifestyle, the beliefs - they all seemed to be poked at in a snide, humorous and entertaining way. "Why Don't You Eat Carrots" starts off with some abrasive proto-industrial noise, shortly followed by a snippet of The Rolling Stones' "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction," which is then followed by a snippet of The Beatles' "All You Need Is Love." Before you know it, you're thrown into a world of classicalesque piano, hospital machine-like noises used as music, then a blast of New Orleans-like music fronted by some jolly vocals. And the last track "Miss Fortune" certainly goes out with a bang: a 16-minute number which starts out with an elongated psychedelic rock jam, and loads of wah-wah (or what I call 'wow-wow') pedal effects. Near the end, is what I consider the most ridiculous thing on this self-titled disc: a Chimpmunk-like effect which springs from what sounds like a super-sped-up wah-wah pedal, squeaking out these vocal-like effects. When hearing this, you could swear you were listening to the singing of the long-lost brother of Alvin, Simon and Theodore.

SO FAR seems to be more song-oriented than the first disc, but that doesn't make the music any less experimental or strange. "It's A Rainy Day, Sunshine Girl" is a cute, charming extended catchy kraut-pop tune. The fast, hybrid guitar picking found here can recall the technique of Pete Townshend (The Who), while "On The Way To Abamae" is a beautiful, melodic, serene classical guitar piece - the kind of thing one wouldn't have expected amongst the dizzying experimentation crammed throughout. "No Harm" seems to resemble classic prog-rock with it's atmospheric arrangements - for the first three minutes, before turning into an extended frenzied-rock rush. Elsewhere, "Mamie Is Blue" is a dark, strange, menacing industrial number to evoke a prototypical Nine Inch Nails, to an extent. Sounds less like music, and more like machines, engines and other devices, and "I've Got My Car and My TV" is a short, playful, whimsical number featuring some child-like voices singing the lyrics, while backed up by some goofy grown-male vocals.

Closed-minded or faint of heart listeners need not apply. For fans of avant-garde, adventurous and wildly experimental music, you'd be missing out if you don't pick this up.

Mmm, sublime.
This CD is the excellent reissue that combines Faust's first two albums, their self-titled release and _So Far_. Both albums are masterful, comprising some of the finest experimental music to date. Recorded in the 70s, I'm completely blown away by how they remain so original and fascinating. It also ranks as some of the tastiest ear candy I've indulged in.

Up first is _Faust_. Combining the usual rock lineup with tape manipulation, electronics, and plenty of diverse styles, the self-titled album is three songs of godly experimental music. The 10-minute "Why Don't You Eat Carrots" begins with a harsh electronic drone before plunking in a sample from the Rolling Stones' "I Can't Get No Satisfaction". There is plenty of satisfaction to be found here, though. What follows is a montage of trance-inducing marching rhythms, odd ball lyrics, weird cosmic zone-outs, strange circus-sounding themes, and distorted vocal noises that fade in and out. Transitions between movements are quite herky-jerky, but remember: a lot of this stuff was arranged by slicing and connecting different sections of tape. I find it very hypnotic the way the music flows. "Meadow Meal", song number two, comes off the melodious ending of "Why Don't You Eat Carrots" with an array of industrial plinks and clanks, before evolving into a pastoral guitar melody, fierce rock, a brief episode of musique concrete (a storm), and finally a lulling organ spot. "Miss Fortune" (hee hee) would take up all of side 2 on the original LP. This is a strange one. Lots of effects and textures, interesting percussion -- very avant-garde and amazing. I wish I could describe it better, but my review title applies nicely here. Some other choice adjectives are: entrancing, remarkable, and pukka (yes, that's a real word).

With _ So Far_, the band applies their avant-garde style with slightly more conventional structure and weird pop hooks. You still get some very avant-garde stuff, like the primitive noise of "Mamie is Blue". On the other hand, there is also the pretty "On the Way to Abamae", just light acoustic guitar and an ethereal flute synth. "It's a Rainy Day, Sunshine Girl" takes a constant, tribal 4/4 drum beat and puts different instruments on top of it -- synthesizer, jangly guitar riffs, piano, saxophone, and a darn catchy vocal line. "So Far" is an amazingly groovy, smoky jazz shuffle. "I Have My Car and My TV" has a childish vocal introduction which cuts into a careless, brisk keyboard (or guitar?-- their tones are so weird and cool) line that is Evil-Catchy, overlain with guitar and saxophone solos. "No Harm" is amazing, from the heralding melody at the beginning to the bacchanalia of guitar jamming and the wildly crazy shouts of "Daddy take a banana | Tomorrow is Sunday". Uh, yeah.

These albums are amazing and timeless. If you have any interest at all in experimental music, you are insane not to have this. It is a deserving classic.

All right, enough from me. Hit the "Add to shopping cart" button now. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Skateboarding and hip-hop culture have always made good bedfellows--you only need ask Tommy Guerrero. This icon of the sport is just about as famous as a skateboarder can get, yet at the age of thirty-three he decided to hang up his wheels and concentrate on more leisurely pursuits. A Little Bit of Somethin' is the inspired result--an album for which campfires and kicking back must surely have been invented. It's a little bit country, a little bit rock & roll, a Beck-lite collision of postrock blues, breezy summer jazz and whatever else gets pulled out of the rucksack. "Pescadito" is Nirvana's "Come as You Are" stripped down to its drum machine bones; "Soul Miner" oozes hot buttered '70s soul; "4 Track Samba" does exactly what it says on the tin, while "100 Years" is the sound of Ukrainian peasants nodding their heads to a twilight hip-hop mantra. This is music to toast marshmallows to. --Paul Tierney ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Smooth beat
Tommy Guerrero brings you smooth beats that you can listen to while doing literally anything and it will enhance the experience. Each track flows cleanly into one another and that allows you to be captivated by every sound. Each track is distinct and carries a certain layed back quality you only get from Guerrero. i recommend this album with a fat sack, layed back on sunny evening.

An Ambient Soundtrack to Life's Leisures
When I picked up this album a couple of months ago, I confess: it was strictly an impulse buy. Admittedly, only the album cover attracted my attention, and I didn't have a clue what Tommy G. was all about. When I threw it on my cd player, however, boy was I engulfed into a trance-like state of mind that I rarely achieve except while listening to artists like Portishead or Cibo Matto. Upon first listen, the tracks tend to meld into each other, leaving titles almost obsolete. But don't get me wrong, each stands out in its own beautiful way. From somber atmospheric iterations like on "its raining again" to downright funk with an operatic twist on "soul miner", this offering will probably disappoint many who like grandiose production, while those who can appreciate minimalimist tactics will enjoy this CD while studying, doing the dishes, or whatever menial activities we seek to enhance. Not bad for a CD that clocks in at just under 50 minutes.

Let Your Mind Unwind
In this great future you cant forget your past!! So tommy G.. a blast from the sprained ankle past. The disk rocks! Its 1970, you got your ray bans on, the world is a hazy golden brown, you are cool like that... The tracks are Phat, loops are forgiving and represent an envelope of cutting edge artists that really pick up a laid back open sound thats fresh and engulfing, Some of the beats could be a little more complex, but then again there could be more artists attempting to make mucis like this. What i want to see is - Get Dj Shadow - Money Mark - Tommy G - and Beck... all in the same studio together laying down tracks what an outcome.. Buy This CD!!! Soundtrack to the futurefunk millenium pt1... ... Read more

Reviews (11)

TWEEZ!
I'm sorry diablo but I had to join you. I could not believe only one person had reviewed this while sixteen have spiderland. This is the better album. Spiderland is good but it looks ahead too much to Nirvana. This is Slint. This is fun.

Slint-O-Rama
What can you really say about Slint other than they are masters of their genre. This album is heavy, dense and atmospheric; it moves with a grace all it's own. Tweez contains some of the finest playing around. It's built on pure instinct. This ones a masterpiece.

Tweez takes you in the opposite direction of Spiderland.
I don't think it is really accurate to say that Spiderland is a *better* album than Tweez. They are just completely different. I agree with the other review that you hear a lot of Big Black influence on Tweez. Not so much on Spiderland. Spiderland's production is tighter than Tweez, yes. And the lyrics are stories, not anecdotes - it's more melodic, more experimental.
Spiderland takes you on a journey.

Tweez is more of an angsty album, it's raw and aggressive. Lots of noise. It's great! It gets your adrenaline going. I heard Spiderland first, instantly fell in love with it. I would have liked more albums ala Spiderland. But I was just as happy to have found their first album, Tweez. I do admitt that I don't have the same connection with Tweez as I do Spiderland (hence minus a star). It is pretty much the opposite of Spiderland but equally enjoyable, for a different mood/mind set. You have to decide for yourself if that is a good thing. I think it's great when you have a band that can take you in two completely different directions like that. We are also talking about Tweeze being released in 1989 and Spiderland following it up in 1991.

I know this is not the right genre for this, so please don't flame me - but since someone else brought up Nirvana *hides*.. To say that Spiderland is better than Tweez is like saying "Nevermind" is better than "Bleach". (ummn I liked Bleach much better, but that has nothing to do with _this_ review!) When it's obvious, to me at least, that the musicians were still developing where they wanted to go with their sound(s). Music grows and changes, that is what it is supposed to do. However, out of the two albums, I would say that Spiderland is my favorite and if I were introducing someone to Slint - I'd give them Spiderland. But that really depends on the person. If they were really into Big Black, I'd give them Tweez first. It depends on if you're feeling "grrrr" or "swoony". For lack of better terms. yeah, real punk rock of me. ; >

I really get into listening to Tweez not only for it's own merits, but also to experience what Spiderland did eventually grow out of. I think every fan can appreciate that.

If you like Slint, you should also check out Aerial M (multi-instrumentalist David Pajo, formerly of Tortoise, Slint, Stereolab & others, is Aerial M.). If you haven't already, go pick up Tortoise: "Millions Now Living Will Never Die". And Big Black fans should give a listen to Babyland - "A Total Let Down" &/or "Who's Sorry Now".

If you like Slint, you should buy this album. You can never have enough Slint, and there isn't much to begin with. I also recommend grabbing any/all Slint singles you can find.

better than spiderland?
A lot say that this album is better than spiderland, and they could be right. I myself am not sure that such a distinction could be made, the two albums seem to different from each other in approach to really be compared. It is not as if I listen to Tweez and say to myself; 'well they were on to something, but they really perfected in Spiderland'.
Tzeez seems to be the product of anxious brilliant minds, it sweeps in and out of different styles and approaches to subject to the point that it might seem disjointed in a way that Spiderland isn't. Tweeze feels contrived (I mean that in the most positive way) where Spiderland feels organic and intuitive. Where as Tweez is a cerebral album, you will feel it your mind, it will other path of meditation for the active listener and then provide 'blocks' to the meditation that will confound the passive listeners. It will switch 'modes' or deliver musical abstracts that are complex and intelligent. It will slip between careful parody and complete seriousness. I did not know what to make of this album the first time i heard it, where as my connection with Spiderland was instantiations. But this is not album where the band are are searching for the mode that is Spiderland, Slint were simply in a different place, thinking in a different way.

Tweez, is in my personal opinion, one the greatest pieces of music ever created.

Great Album
An amazing album. I was a hardcore punk rocker until I got ahold of this album in the late 80s. This album blew me away. Years ahead of any record at the time and it holds up very well to this day. Indie-rock elitists should already own this album and know it by heart. Slint's influence can be heard in all rock music today. Everyone says Spiderland is better, but they heard Tweez second. This is the album that started the whole indie rock revolution. ... Read more

Amazon.com

John Lennon's solo hits have been repackaged numerous times since his tragic death in 1980, but Shaved Fish--the only compilation actually released during his lifetime--remains the strongest solo Lennon collection. As with his former partner Paul McCartney, Lennon's post-Beatles albums were (with the notable exceptions of Plastic Ono Band and Imagine) generally patchy affairs, but his singles were almost uniformly excellent. Shaved Fish includes all of his hits from 1969 to 1975, including such non-LP singles as "Instant Karma," "Cold Turkey," and "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)." These tracks and others mirror the political and social turbulence of the Nixon era, as well as the inner turmoil that gripped Lennon during this period, but there's still room for the occasional slice of pure pop, like "#9 Dream" and "Whatever Gets You Through the Night." In short, it's a compelling capsule of Lennon's post-Fabs, pre-domestic-bliss period. --Dan Epstein ... Read more

Reviews (19)

Will the "real" Lennon greatest hits collection please stand
This was a collection of hits put together not only by the author but by an artist. It's the total package and concept that matters here. Of course the post-mortem greatest hits are more slick and inclusive. Five of the eleven songs on "Shaved Fish" were never on an LP before this collection: "Give Peace A Chance," "Cold Turkey," "Instant Karma," "Power To The People" and "Happy Xmas". Back in 1975 that was reason enough to grab this collection Sure "Give Peace A Chance" is butchered (and should not have been). But the age did not know about re-mastered compact discs that allowed for seventy minutes of crystal clear digital sound. Don't look at "Shaved Fish" through digital eyes but rather through the vinyl cracks and hisses and scratches of art and the 70's. The album cover is full of Lennon's humor and intelligence. The title is brilliant. Maybe you had to be there to really appreciate what I'm saying, and I'm not saying the other greatest hits shouldn't be grabbed and enjoyed. Enjoy them all. But this LP/CD is Lennon at his artful, political, humorous best. Don't compare 1975 to 2000. John and Yoko were a "happening" as was all their music and art and daily events. This collection rates with Lennon's "Plastic Ono Band" and "Imagine" recordings. Buy it!

Essential, yet underrated
People have become spoiled by CDs, it seems. Common criticisms of "Shaved Fish" are that it doesn't contain any of Lennon's later material, and that it doesn't contain enough material.

There are a number of reasons why "Shaved Fish" is what it is:

* It's a straight reissue of an LP. The typical 1975 LP contained 30-40 minutes of music.

* It's a singles collection, and about half the tracks had never been available on any album. Furthermore, the original release date of October 1975 suggests it was targeted in part at holiday shoppers.

* As with George Harrison's "The Best of George Harrison", it's important to remember that "Shaved Fish" essentially a Contractual Obligation Album. 1980's "Double Fantasy" was originally a Geffen release, while the posthumous "Milk and Honey" originally came out on Polydor. All of Lennon's post-Beatles recordings before his five-year hiatus from the music business were released on Apple (EMI). It is only because of subsequent licensing arrangements between Yoko Ono and EMI that Lennon's eighties recordings are included on any compilations (e.g., "The John Lennon Collection", the "Imagine" soundtrack, "Lennon Legend") with his 1970-75 material.

(N.B., those who complain about the lack of songs from the "Imagine" LP should keep in mind that the song "Imagine" wasn't even released as a single in the UK until 1975 - which means that it could have failed to make this collection at all.)

The really great thing about "Shaved Fish", of course (though this is probably less of a selling point now than it was in 1975), is the inclusion of the non-album singles "Give peace a chance", "Cold turkey", "Instant karma!", "Power to the people", and "Happy Xmas (War is over)". All of these songs are still vital, though "Power to the people" hasn't aged as well. "Give peace a chance" is still relevant (despite its dated references), "Cold turkey" and "Instant karma!" are still powerful in their rawness, and "Happy Xmas" has become a modern Christmas classic.

The "lost weekend" chart highlights are all here as well: the utopian "Mind games", the no.1 "Whatever gets you through the night" (with Elton John on piano and harmony vocal), and the gorgeous "#9 dream" - still my favorite Lennon single.

Complain about the lack of later songs if you like, but "Shaved Fish" is still the only compilation of Lennon songs to have actually been released during his lifetime - and it's still available, in all its raw, abbreviated glory...

FOR THE TRUE BEATLE FAN
This review should actually encompass all of the Beatles' recordings, as a group as well as the individual efforts of John, Paul, George, and Ringo, but reviewing this CD will do. IF YOU ARE A TRUE, REAL, NO-NONSENSE BEATLE FAN, NO OTHER REVIEW LESS THAN A PERFECT ONE WILL DO!!! IF YOU LOVE THE BEATLES, YOU WILL BUY THIS, AS WELL AS ALL OTHER BEATLE MUSIC! IF YOU DON'T HAVE IT,GET IT. IF YOU HAVE IT IN ANOTHER FORMAT, GET THE CD. SHAVED FISH is a fantastic album, but then again, John Lennon is, was, and always will be THE musical genius of our time and all other times to come.

This Is A Great One
This Album Rocks! Nearly His Best Album But Dont Forget This Is A Collection Album. Some Songs Like Cold Turkey And Mother(2 Of My Favorute) But If Your Not A Beatlefan Dont Listen To Me Because "I LOVE EVERYTHING THAT THE BEATLES DID EVEN ON THE SOLO YEARS, I TELL YOU" But Its A Great Album It Rocks! Rocks! Rocks!
Shaved Fish Rocks!

Conceptual Greatest Hits Package
If you just want the biggest hits and more of them than you might want to try "Lennon Legend" (I must say that the re-mastering job on "Lennon Legend" is very thin and very over done though). I heard that this album was made by John Lennon himself. The music on this album will be with us for many years to come. "Imagine", "Mind Games", "Whatever gets you thru the nigh" and "Instant Karma" are worth the ticket price alone. But there is something about this album that blows all of the newer best of Cd's away. It has a flow and a feel. It helps to stare at the album cover while listening to it. I think "Woman is the Nigger of the World" (A song that you'll probably never see on any other greatest hits packages in the future) makes this CD, album even more worth it. The edited "Give Peace a Chance" seems to make it an even more powerful song for some reason. Trivia: Stevie Wonder sings on "Give Peace a Chance" at the end of the album. ... Read more

Album Description

Their sophomore release is a mind blowing masterpiece, layered and rhythmic with strict definitions and timing. These four artists were known individually before forming their power quartet, being ex and current members of Don Caballero, Storm And Stress, Helmet, and Tomahawk. ... Read more

Reviews (14)

perpetual art
In all fairness, I have to admit that one of the reasons I took right to this album is that I just saw Neubauten play these songs live last week. So I able to skip the sinking in period it sometimes takes to enjoy albums like this. The songs were amazing live, and the studio versions are every bit as good. As I listen I just cannot imagine why anyone wouldn't get immediately hooked.

One of the more fascinating things to me about these guys, is trying to figure out exactly how they make these sounds. So it was especially cool to see these songs played. I had no idea, that these dark sounds were compressed air shot down long tubes by hand. The springs, and metal objects were much easier to picture. What's impressive though, is how these objects are used so effectively to create a mood. This is really beautiful music.

I won't go into the individual tracks, as so many already have, more eloquently than I'm able. I would just say that this album picks up where Silence is Sexy left off. In places, it surpasses. This is just mellow, and beautiful, but remains challenging.

Lyrically, I have to admit, I don't speak German and don't have too much interest in reading the translations. It seems to me that quite often Blixa uses his words like an instrument, and that meaning may not be as important, as the rhythm and the sounds of the words themselves. But then again, it becomes difficult to define meaning, in this context. I feel the words stand on their own, for the way they fit in and complement their surroundings, and no translation is really necessary.

I think many people miss the brutal, punishing sounds that were so prevalent in Neubauten's earlier days. I personally am fascinated by the direction they have taken and anxiously await what they may create in the future. Above all, I hope people will give these later albums a chance, and enjoy them as much as I do.

Spinning Change is the Only EN Constant
My first impression is this album brings the listener down, paused and pondering. It harks back to Ende Neu, in that it demands repeated listening - quite unlike the excitement and adrenaline of hearing Silence is Sexy for the first time. The experience of hearing these new pieces (which are now quite literary) in a smoothed out, straight forward album sequence feels more broad in its reach than any of their previous achievements. Weird for EN's ability to focus. Lots of air compressors at this point.
I'm still convinced in the integrity of EN. They remain a great musical muscle. What's to come?

in perpetual motion
If you are wondering, "what are they up to now?" Well, Neubauten are back with an album that captures some of the beauty, breadth, breath, and space/room of earlier releases. On the track "youme & meyou," for example, one can hear a sparse bassline like the ones that made tracks like "zwoelf stadte" from the album Fuenf Auf Der Nach... so great. From the opening track there is a building suspense. This is not fast, synth-driven industrial dance. This is "industrial music" in the sense that it is avant-garde, and partially made with industrial implements, and yes they do at times echo the sounds of a factory. But E.N. has matured over few years, as they are always evolving, with a tip of the hat to John Cage and Stockhausen. Hence, some may find their recent albums less "industrial" (if that really matters to you)... although I have still found them to be brilliant. On "Pereptuum Mobile," however, there is the ambience and subtlety found in their recent works (e.g. Silence is Sexy) that is combined with (to some degree) the intensity of their earlier greats (e.g. Halber Mensch, Fuenf Auf der Nach Oben...). Blixa Bargeld still does that amazing thing with his voice so that I can only wonder, "how...?" Darkness, yes, but uplifting, and presented with a singular wit and humor. Blixa et al. obviously believe in what they are doing, no matter what the rest of the world is doing, and so will you when you listen to this record. Recommended *****

ich gehe nicht jetzt
i'm really not sure why so many people seem down on this album. i think it's their best and most accessible (which may be why some don't think very highly of it) so far. it's not my personal favorite, but it's their best. they've obviously spent the last 20+ years perfecting their music and this is the result (or is it?!). i won't bother tying to explain WHY it's the best because that would be a waste of words because you just can't explain things like that.
i agree with a reviewer below who said if you think they've lost it to old age or WHATEVER, you're crazy because i just saw them live about a week ago myself and they were gloriously noisey and did everything they used to do back in the 80's.

but going back to the album, it has a good mix of noisey and quiet songs.
ich gehe jetzt (i'm going now) is one of my favorites. it's built around the sound of air from an air compressor being blown into long plastic pipes. like blowing into a soda bottle. blixa's voice is most definetly at it's peak. it's warmer and softer then i've ever heard it before. he can be very subtle and convey what he's saying without the listener having to understad german.
the title track is probably the loudest one on the album, but it still manages to keep a peaceful tone to it. even when it involves dragging a bunch of olive oil cans down a hallway. i may be wrong (who knows, when it comes to neubauten lyrics...), but the lyrics seem to be about how monotonous traveling can be, but he does it out of love.
ein seltener vogel (a rare bird) is definetly the standout track in my opinion. it goes from a quiet beggining to a frenzied ending with all kinds of weird vocalizations and so forth. there's a lot of windchimey sounds inbetween. it's about noah's ark landing on mt. ararat. most of this album can't be described, so i won't bother

if you're already a neubauten fan and you dont have this album, you MUST buy it. but don't give them a hard time for not being the speed-fueled delinquents they were 20 years ago. they should be allowed to grow and progress with age and that's exactly what they're doing. if you can't appreciate the album for what it is, that's nothing to do with the band.
if you aren't already a neubauten fan, i think this would be good place to start. especially if you aren't terribly familiar with real (meaning NOT vnv nation) industrial music in the first place. it's not going to make your eardrums bleed, but it will prepare you for their older, more agressive material.

Mainstream acceptance
Blixa Bargeld and company have always seemed like one of those old bands. A few years ago when they were on Nothing Records, they seemed like they may have a big breakthrough. It seemed like a long way from their early noise and collaborations with Heiner Muller. But they wallowed in the background of a Nick Cave film. When F. M. Einheit left the band a few years ago they seemed doomed. So they are back with a new record that doesn't really have any pop tunes or new statements. It seems solely made for those goth enthusiasts who only come out of their alcove whenever Bauhaus or Sisters of Mercy decide to reform. What is great about Neubauten is that they always have great artwork. Hopefully on this American tour, they will fully explain themselves? ... Read more

Reviews (3)

A different side of Laetitia
I liked this CD and am gald these songs are not on a Stereolab album where they might have been asked to carry a bit more weight or fit into a concept, mood or sound; here the songs are like little clockwork animations that are wound up and allowed to run around on the tabletop in their own safe place. The sound palette is similar to Stereolab's earlier albums but lighter on drums and guitars. There is an intimate feel to the vocals and the production has preserved the bedroom 4-track feel to great effect. It's like being invited to tea at Laetitia's house for tea rather than going to a concert.

My favorite tracks are Cache Cache, Witch Hazel and Vol de Jour (which tells the story of a versatile cardboard box).

great lyrics as well, though
i would agree perfectly with the previous reviewer, but to understand the thoughtful lyrics offers an ultra-bonus! its wonderful to discover an album with a honest purpose, and to reiterate the last review, that is beautiful. break out the french manuals for an extra star.

as a functional review for browsers: if you appreciate stereolab, this album is complementary in many regards.

so beautiful...
I love this cd and here's why -- you don't really NEED to know French to enjoy it. The vocals are so haunting and heartbreaking in some tracks and so uplifting in others that the language is practically universal. Je l'aime! I also love how low key and experimental it is. I have never really listened to French pop, but if all of it is this superb, I want to kick myself for listening to all the other crap that's been polluting my ears. Good job, Monade... I hope you come out with more music soon! ... Read more