Gonzales - Solo Piano

An intriguing project from an interesting character. 

A native Canadian, Chilly Gonzales is a pea in the indie-white-rapper-who-isn't-good-but-is-popular-because-they-commit-the-hell-out-of-their-shortcomings-and-have-a-penchant-for-humorous-and-usually-raunchy-lyrics pod. If CG got together with Har Mar Superstar, Peaches (her and Gonzales have actually collaborated in the past), and Serge Gainsbourg's corpse, the four would make up a venerable Traveling Wilbury's of VD.

But beneath all the flows about pubic hair, Gonzales has some serious musical chops. And, to add another layer to his Gainsbourg comparison, has collaborated with Jane Birkin as a pianist.

Solo Piano is just that. While the record certainly offers a range of emotion it doesn't offer polar extremes (see: sledgehammering the keys, or a half-hour track striking the lowest key once every five minutes). Even with it's darker times, Solo Piano is quite a pleasant listen. This record has the ability to keep you attention while you sit in a beanbag chair with can-like headphones on your ears. It also has the subtlety to take a back seat while you study for a midterm or try and take a nap.

How you use Solo Piano is up to you. The important thing is that you do, in fact, use it.

Really good stuff.

May Picks[ii] - andrew [IN eMUSIC WE TRUST]

the benefit of a media subscription service is the ability to side-step the traditional forms of distribution. a few years back netflix began their own Red Envelope distribution service, which picked up independent films and hyped them up on the website. it's a pretty great business model which serves the indie community well.

so in the last few months our source has begun offering eMusic Selects; unreleased albums by unsigned bands. so far they've released 3 records and they occupy three of the five slots on the main page's "must haves" column. i'm sure emusic has a larger profit margin on these titles, and although they [probably] believe in the music, calling these records "must haves" is a little disingenuous. of course the butcher is going to tell you his prime cut came for his Holstein.

nevertheless i support the idea, and took them at their word when i picked up 03/07 – 09/07 from brooklyn duo High Places a few months back. i've rocked that record so many times it hurts. "If we never take the first step, we cannot go too far" from 'Jump In' has become my 2008 mantra.

so it came time to once again put my trust in the guiding benevolent hand of e* and pick up their other two acquisitions. I didn't preview the records, just clicked the download button. two very different records. where Breathe Owl Breathe has a patient country vibe Hands on Heads attacks like a Ritalin deprived monkey.

The Ghost Glacier EP opens with slow burner reminiscent of The National, but the following 7 tracks is where Breathe Owl Breathe get interesting. "Window" has a later-day David Byrne feel to it with its blend of violin, and xylophone.

The frontman sounds a bit like David Berman (Silver Jews) meets Jemaine Clement (especially on "Sabertooth Tiger")and has a good but forgettable voice. He's accompanied by a high tenored female vocalist throughout the record who adds enough interesting harmonies to levitate the lyrics.

The record is solid throughout, and upon the third listen the lyrics have invaded your head. I'm not sure if its a sign of a good record when it's immediately recognizable or so memorable. So I feel I could easily tire of the record, but for now it's as pleasant as an evening breeze.

Hands on Heads eponymous release on the other hand is a surf-shiv to your frontal cortex. If The Animals or ? and The Mysterians unleashed their inner Frank Zappa and increased their shouting five-fold, you'd be approaching the 12 songs that span 15 minutes. I hate to use comparisons like that as they always fall short. but i'd say e* is three for three in their selections.

[UPDATE] All FIVE albums in the "Must Haves" are on the eMusic Selects "label." c'mon guys, at least have a rotation of other records.

and for those keeping track, my 40 downloads this month total 80 minutes of music.

New Music Blog

found a new blogger site that has an interesting approach to music downloads. they just upload files to one of the many free data hosting sites and provide a link to download entire albums. nothing too out of the ordinary is available, and everything could be found on a torrent. their top albums are nothing too out of the ordinary, but there might be a few albums worth checking out.

http://lewisandclarkleague.blogspot.com/

May Picks [i] - andrew

We'll call this one live blogging as I'm checking out the debut record of Philly's Tickley Feather. I heard a bit of hype about her - Feather is the one woman act of Annie Sachs- a few months back, when she got signed to Paw Tracks, the label created by the boys inAnimal Collective.

Then I saw her a few weeks back at the Cake Shop, with about 20 people in the audience. Although petite and endearing in concert, the songs suffered from being partially pre-recorded or having slow delays in layering sounds/textures. While Andrew Bird and Owen Pallett are masters of this form, Ms. Sachs struggled to have the songs cohere. But what was lacking live is perfectly suited for studio tinkering.

Actually "at home" tinkering is probably more accurate. The songs have an amateur, lo-fi 8-track quality to them akin to label mate Ariel Pink. Clocking in at 33 minutes, breaking the record into 20 tracks is a bit overkill, especially as songs like the 46 second "ooooo" bleeds seamlessly into the following track, and it's unclear where many tracks start and end. Most of the brief tracks are front loaded, so the second half is packed with stand out tracks. The ethereal "keyboards is drunk", even with the keyboard stumbles, intentional or not, is haunting.

"Sorry Party" follows which layers Sachs' voice as she intelligibly throws out a call and response to herself. Truthfully, you pretty much can't make out anything she says on the record. Partly due to the layered vocals, partly due to the tremolo effects she puts over her voice, and partly due to her Bjork meets Nina Persson delivery and cadence (respectively).

She'll never find a large audience, and I can't say I'd see her live again without further enticement, but the record is a knockout. Not for anyone who wants to hum along to a strong melody, but for those with a tolerance and penchant for lo-fi.

godspeed you! black emperor: Yanqui U.X.O.

Blogger's not letting me post the album cover...just imagine two bombs falling from a plane in mid-dissent. Anyway....

Yawn.

I admittedly downloaded this because, as AST, I consider myself a completist, and I wanted to say tat I have the complete GYBE discography.

So...I've got it.

And what I got from this album was, i my opinion, their least inspired work to date.

Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven is damn near perfect. I remember it was a little over a year a go when I heard it for the first time. I was playing Playstation 2 while blasting the music from my bedroom. Roughly an hour and a half later, I turned the console off and asked myself, "Did I just listen to the best album ever?" I was absolutely floored.

Every album of theirs is good, but just not LYSFLATH-caliber good. And of all the GYBE to download, I'd have to put this one at the bottom of the list. It almost felt showy, and less sincere than their previous offerings. THis is pretty surprising considering Steve Albini was behind the controls for this one. I always think f him as a real no-nonsense kind of producer, but oh well.

In conclusion, If you haven't heard Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven, you're doing yourself a complete disservice. Get your ears on that shit post haste. But Yanqui is totally skippable, and is the lone blemish in my April downloads. Luckily GYBE's songs are ridiculously long and this didn't take up a bunch of DLs.

The Walkmen: Bows + Arrows

Hey Walkmen. How's it going?

This is a formal apology letter, from me to you. I'm so sorry for never making time in my schedule to listen to Bows + Arrows when it was first released. I had heard of you guys, but some reason figured I wouldn't dig ya'll. I admittedly illegally downloaded the song The Rat during this time. I think I came to the conclusion that you guys couldn't possibly make a album that could stand up to the awesome wonder which is The Rat. Serious, one of the most kick-ass rock songs of the new millennium.

But you know what? The rest of Bows + Arrows stands alongside The Rat quite nicely. While he songs wont knock you on your ass in the same way, they're all ever so solid. I have now listened to this album the whole way thru several times ad am always amazed at how well it flows.

In conclusion, you, The Walkmen are not some fly-by band who have nothing original to offer. You guys are like a grittier Interpol, and I'm sure you could totally kick their ass in a bar fight.

My deepest apologies The Walkmen. You've carved a place for yourself in my music-lovin' heart.

Seriously, The Rat's So Fucking Good,

PT

Free Download: Nine Inch Nails

third in a series










everybody's favorite post-industrialist is back with another record (are there really any others left?) while giving away only the first of four parts for Ghost, a rightfully lauded instrumental set, Mr. Reznor and co are giving away the baby and the bath water for The Slip, Nine Inch Nails' forthcoming LP. not only is it free, but it's available at least six weeks prior to hitting store shelves.

the NIN team seems to be cranking out the jams as Ghosts was physically release only a few weeks ago.

here's the link. just found out about it, so a review may be coming.

april eMusic picks have been chosen. reviews still pending. get off my back alright.