July/August Mini Reviews

During this last break from writing, I finally completed my move to the 412, but this didn't stop me from listening to some new music. Granted, it was a little harder to get a hold of in a state of transition and without internet, but with all that worked out, I thought I'd share my opinion on a few albums that came out in the interim.

Various Artists: Beck's Song Reader

I was pretty excited for this album to see release. Apparently I was one of the few, as it took me some effort to find this at a record store (thank you House of Guitars for being the only place in Rochester to stock this). I had previously purchased the collection of sheet music, but it's a completely different experience to hear the songs performed. I had heard some Youtube performances and my own attempts to play these songs were a little rough (my guitar playing is far from perfect, I'll just leave it at that). It was interesting to hear each artists' take on Beck's work. My favorites were Jack White's fuzzed out country "I'm Down", Laura Marling's "Sorry", and Jack Black's comical take on "We All Wear Cloaks". But of course the star track was "Heaven's Ladder", performed by Beck himself. I've seen reviews criticizing that all the artists sound alike. And to that, I have to disagree. I feel like each song has its unique energy, but with a unifying Beck lyrical style. I quite enjoyed this album.

Juice Machine: Hot Rainbow

I had been meaning to take a look at one of these recordings for some time. During one of my bandcamp searches, I came across the tape label Turmeric Magnitudes. This label seems to specify in releasing tapes and downloads I can only call noise. The output from this label is pretty astounding, and I just picked this release because it was a recent release that I thought was a standout. I feel like this kind of music is like ambient music for the death metal crowd. Each release is made up of plenty of distortion, harsh noise and other sounds. While some releases sound like piercing noise or rotting tape loops, this releases sounds more like someone took a sledgehammer to an NES Track & Field game and then attempted to play the resulting shards. The sounds are interesting to say the least. Definitely only something to listen to if you're in an adventurous of experimental mood.

Stardeath and White Dwarfs: Wastoid

I first heard of Stardeath and White Dwarfs through their collaboration with the Flaming Lips on the Dark Side of the Moon cover album. And while it's true that the band has not and probably never will escape the shadow of the Flaming Lips, I can still say their output thus far has been enjoyable. Like the Flaming Lips, their sound is fuzzed out electronics and guitars marinated in LSD. I found the build and climax of "The Chrome Children" to be pretty satisfying, and the Flaming Lips feature on "The Screaming" was a welcome surprise. I look forward to more by the band, including their parts on the upcoming Sgt. Pepper's cover album (the track list had them playing with Tegan and Sarah on 'Lovely Rita'- what a weird combo).

So those were my opinions on some late July/ early August releases. What were your opinions if you listened to the albums? What new stuff have you been listening to? Also, speaking of the Flaming Lips, I'll be looking at the new release from the Wayne Coyne/ Steven Drozd side project, Electric Würms, in the near future.

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