Sigur Rós - Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust (2008)

Sigur Rós - Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust (2008)

Takk was an album that had a handful of some of the best songs Sigur Rós has ever recorded somewhat marginalized by a handful of some of the worst. Because of this, what was otherwise a smooth transition from epic sad music to upbeat pop songs was viewed as a step back for the band. With Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust (I've yet to even bother trying to pronounce this, and in future conversations will just refer to it as "the newest one" or "the one with the naked dudes on the cover.") they don't seem to try to reinvent themselves as much as they try to do Takk again the right way. An effort that, for the most part, has mixed results.

"Goobledigook" sets the tone for the first half of the album and feels like a natural transition from the sound established on Takk. And just to make sure you're aware that their new sound is here to stay, at three minutes long, it's their shortest song with lyrics but is still loaded with the most beats per minute of anything they've previously done. Surprisingly, it doesn't feel too out of character. Though there are Animal Collective comparisons floating around, no one familiar with the band would mistake this for anyone but Sigur Rós. The following three songs are nice enough but fail to make much of an impression. In comparison to similar songs from Takk like "Hoppípolla" and "Gong", they don't really stand out or give you goosebumps; they merely transition and move the album along. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing as it works well for the album experience as a whole, but I can imagine skipping them on a randomized playlist.

What Með suð does better than Takk, though, are with the longer songs. While Takk's longer tracks -- outside of the excellent "Sé Lest" -- suffered from being too formulaic for their own good, Með suð's longer songs, including "Festival" and "Ára bátur," don't fall off track so easily. The difference isn't necessarily in the formula, as the crescendo's are quite predictable, but simply in the fact that they don't sound as forced and tacked on (pun avoided; +10 points to xoxobra).

The latter half of the album slows the flow down considerably, for the most part abandoning the upbeat sound of the first half. It may annoy people who wish the band would do something different and stick with it, but I'm fine with the Sigur Rós that goes for achingly beautiful sounds. By doing so, they compromise and give both types of fans what they want.

As mentioned above, this albums works best when listened to all together, which will lead to vastly different opinions on how good or bad the album is. To put it in concrete terms: I don't think they'll ever make another album as good as Ágætis Byrjun (probably one of my top three of all time), and they don't get much closer with this one. But still, I'm not going to fault them for at least trying to move forward.

Score: 6/10


"Gobbledigook"


"Fljótavík"

Notes: Count Bass D; Sigur Rós

Greetings friends. Just a couple of notes for the week ahead. First, I'd like to bring attention to Count Bass D's (who's album, Dwight Spitz, I reviewed earlier this month) new instrumental project, Robbed Without A Pistol, that he featured on his blog just last week. It can be downloaded at 320kbps from the link on the entry page. He's releasing a new album later this year called L7 (Mid-Life Crisis). Which I'll likely be checking out.

I'm going to a concert tomorrow night for the band Sigur Rós. Maybe I'll review it and maybe I'll take some pictures and post them in the future. It's probably because I'm getting older, and also probably because I'm actively trying to practice something resembling financial responsibility, but I'm not very big on concert going lately. If this were four years ago and I was seeing Sigur Rós live I'd be pissing myself with excitement right now. As a matter of fact, I did see them four years ago and I was pissing myself with excitement (not literally; mom wouldn't be proud). Of course, four years ago I had a lot more time on my hands and Sigur Rós were still recording classic material.

But they do put on a good live show, and I figure this could be the last opportunity I have to see them (considering next time they come through I might not even care). I'm just hoping they play a good mix of their earlier material.

To coincide with the concert, I'll post my review of their latest album, Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust, tomorrow.

G'day, folks.

Links:
Count Bass D
Sigur Rós

Digital Good Time I

Digital Good Time I

(Digital Good Time is a series in which xoxobra focuses on the visual arts of music)

When I started to pursue my degree in Visual Effects & Motion Graphics, I did so with the dream that one day I would one day be making music videos. Though the unpredictable nature of life has pushed that dream back somewhat (hopefully temporarily?), I've maintained a great interest and appreciation for the visual side of music, so I wanted to start a recurring feature in which I post some of the more visually stunning music videos, shorts, and album artwork that I've seen recently.

First is a short called "Blissful", done by the motion graphics studio Left Channel. This is over two years old, but it still blows my mind. Using excerpts of Fantomas' 74-minute album/song Delirium Cordia, the black and white short makes excellent use of negative space in 3D to create a rather creepy environment. Also, I single-handedly credit this for getting me into Fantomas. Here's a YouTube link, but this really deserves to be enjoyed in all its clarion, non-pixelated-YouTube-FLV glory at the website:

Next is a music video. Can't say I'm much interested in Solange's sophomore album, but the video for her single, "I Decided", is awesome. Directed by Melina Matsoukas through Black Dog Films, the overall look resembles 60's-style pop art, complete with cut outs layered over highly Technicolor gradients and halftone circle patterns. Familiar pop culture references and images from the past 40 years a flash throughout, many of them related to icons of protest and revolution, such as Che Guevara, the Civil Rights marches, and the Tommy Smith/John Carlos black power salute at the 1968 Summer Olympics.

The visuals seem to have little or nothing to do with the song lyrics, and the entire thing comes off like a high budget rip ripoff of an M.I.A. video, but it really is well done. And, to give credit where credit's due, the song itself isn't bad. You can almost convince yourself that she actually had some creative control.

Links:
LeftChannel
Black Dog Films

Trees - Lights Bane (2008)

Trees - Lights Bane (2008)

What's with this trend of the 30-minute doom album? Who resurrected this? Did the guilty party feel that doom fans had long been spoiled by the doom records that stretched easily past the one hour mark on a consistent basis (the Epicus Doomicus Metallicus, if you will) and figured that our greedy doom-loving asses had had too much for too long? Or were their intentions more noble, feeling that doom had come to a point where it was getting too overblown, and figured some fans would welcome a more streamlined doom album? The answer is likely that I'm reading way too much into this and have just wasted several seconds of your time. But if it wasn't obvious at this point, Light's Bane, at 27-minutes, is yet another entry into the "doom LP's that feel more like EP's" category.

And of course it's good, otherwise it's length wouldn't be a problem. Comparisons of Trees to the now defunct Khanate are more than valid. The music is just as intense, slow, and suffocating. Vocalist L. Smith's delivery isn't quite as memorable as the shrieks and growls that came out of Alan Dubin, but it does the job. I found myself wishing that the changes in the songs were slightly less subtle. At first it was easy to miss the variations and have the whole thing sound like one jumbled mass of noise and screams, but I did begin to recognize the nuances and started to "get" the songs after repeated listens. It's a minor complaint, and may have more do to with my own listening habits than any flaw on the band's part.

Still, I keep coming back to the length. Even though I'm trying to judge the album based on the music that's actually there, it's difficult not to think of the music that isn't. As if it's expecting something to follow it, "Black" lacks the climactical quality that an album closer should have, so when it ends it's hard to shake the feeling that a third song should be starting. But alas, your (insert music playing device of choice) tells you a different story. And as a result, Lights Bane comes off like a teaser trailer before the real show starts, though it's tantalizing enough to build anticipation for what's next.


Score: 6.5/10


"Nothing" (excerpt)

Metal Friends?

Two recent events have convinced me that I need more metal friends. By that I of course mean friends who listen to and can discuss metal music (not cyborgs, although I wouldn't mind that so much either). The first event came last weekend when I ran into some old college friends after I had left a local record shop. After brief introductions and small talk, they asked about the CD's in my hand. I had picked up Daedelus' Love To Make Music To (review forthcoming), which I described as electronica, as well as one called Radiance of Shadows: one of the two billion albums by the band Nadja that, at that point, I had yet to hear (review also forthcoming). My immediate reaction was to describe Nadja as drone doom metal and leave it at that, but then my common sense kicked in and remembered that most people have no idea what that is, so I simplified:

Me: "It's like....drone....metal."

Yes! Brilliant! Drop the "doom" and they'll totally know what the hell I'm talking about!....right?

College friends: "....drone metal?"

Of course they didn't. So my fiancee chimed in and managed to eventually change the subject, which was probably for the best.

The second event was the discovery of this picture:

(He's madly in anger with you)

Yeah, I know it's old (so three weeks ago!), but I didn't find it until last week because I'm usually pretty late with these kinds of things. As was the case with most people that know what it's referencing, I laughed out loud and kept laughing probably long after I should not have found it funny anymore. Immediately I wanted to tell someone about it who would care so that we could both share a laugh and maybe they could make fun of me for not having seen it sooner (because only on the internet can having a life outside of the internet be used as an insult both ways), but I came up blank.

I have friends and acquaintances that I can talk to about pretty much every other form of music I listen to besides metal. Psych rock? Yup. Old school rap and R&B? Uh huh. Jazz? Surprisingly. General weird, unclassifiable shit? Sorta. Indie? I can throw a rock in any direction from where I'm sitting and hit someone who can talk about indie bands. But metal? None. I used to work with a couple of guys who's knowledge (and collection) of metal dwarfed mine and anyone that I knew or have known since, but we didn't keep in touch after I quit the job.

I think the main thing I miss is having someone open-minded to talk to about music. Most of the people I've known who were into metal had very broad musical pallets that didn't end with metal. Whereas it's always been a stereotype (and with good reason) that metal fans only care about metal and think that everything else is, shall I say, "fuckin' gay!!!1", my experience has been that people who were fans of metal have always been the most open-minded about all forms of music. Bringing up metal in any conversations these days, though, I usually find myself having to defend it.

It's not really as big of a deal as I'm making it, I suppose. But it is nice being able to say "stoner doom" without having to explain himself.

Dengue Fever - Venus On Earth (2008)

Dengue Fever - Venus On Earth (2008)

I'm glad Dengue Fever are getting more popular. I can tell this because a Google search for their name actually brings up the band's MySpace near the top of the page, directly below images and information on the actual disease. That's a huge step up from a couple of years ago when they were delegated to the ass end of the search results.

So they have this new album now, and it's not too shabby. The band gives us more Cambodian-flavored pop music with a number of songs performed in singer Chhom Nimol's native language, Khmer. The really exotic, somewhat snaky intonation of the language on top of her already beautiful voice gives the music real flavor, so much so that when singer/guitarist Zac Holtzman contributes English vocals on a few tracks, the album tends to falter. Which raises the question: why ruin a good thing? Nimol is one of the most unique voices in modern rock. Holtzman, while not a bad singer by any means, would better serve the band by sitting back and letting her do her thing.

Musically, Venus on Earth maintains an upbeat pop tempo with a surf rock/spy music kind of feel. Personally, I was hoping for a little more progression into the psychedelic territory they've explored previously. Instead, they've given us more of the same and taken no significant steps forward or backward, which is both good or bad depending on how you approach it. The hooks are still there, so I'm happy. They aren't as huge as they were on their last album, but trying to outdo those hooks would've been asking too much, and I'm just not that selfish. It's good music nonetheless. Interested parties should check out the band's previous album Escape From Dragon House first, though, and then give this one a shot if you're left wanting more.

Score: 7/10


"Clipped Wings"


"Laugh Track"

Various Artists - The Bombay Connection, Vol. 1 (2006)

The Bombay Connection Volume 1: Funk from Bollywood Action Thrillers 1977 - 1984 (2006)

I had a feeling that this album was going to be great before I even heard it. Why? Mainly because of the word "Bollywood". I'm convinced that you can take pretty much anything, make a Bollywood version of it, and it will automatically make that thing more ridiculously awesome than it previously had been, or that it ever could have been:

Michael Jackson's "Thriller" video? Pretty great. Bollywood "Thriller"? Epic!

Superman? America's most recognized superhero. Bollywood Superman? American Superman + dance moves (+ Spiderwoman??) = no comparison.

Funk music? I'm down. Bollywood funk music? Amazing.

James Brown and Sly Stone might have created and innovated the funk music scene, but even they probably couldn't have imagined how India would've interpreted it. The Bombay Connection is a compilation of songs from Bollywood action movies that gives us the answer. Composed by some of Bollywood's most famous musicians, including R.D. Burman and sibling duo Kalyanji & Anandji, these songs combine elements of funk, exotica, jazz, and traditional Indian performance to create some of the strangest music in my collection.

Just try to get through this album without laughing. It can't happen, unless you just have no sense of humor whatsoever. R.D. Burman's "Music" is the worst (best?) offender, starting off modestly enough with hypnotically rapid, fluctuating guitar picks and establishing a frame drum-driven funk rhythm before introducing a hilarious exchange between a mother and her whiny son, who doesn't want to be bothered. It gets even better when the chorus ("JOHN IS A BIG BOY. LONG LIVE JOHN!") starts. It's absolutely bizarre and incredibly funny, even after repeated listens.

Even though my interest in The Bombay Connection had more to do with it's novelty value, there really is great music to be found on here. And it's the quality of the music that will keep bringing you back. Can't wait to get my hands on volume two.

Score: 8/10


"Music" (RD Burman)


"Yeh Dhuaan" (Laxmikant Pyarelal and Asha Bholse)

Harvey Milk - Life...The Best Game In Town (2008)

Harvey Milk - Life...The Best Game In Town (2008)

Sometimes an album just finds you at the right time...or you find it; however it works. I was looking for something sludgy and heavy after realizing that 2008 had brought somewhat of a drought in the metal department for me. Add to that my fiancee was out of town and I had absolutely no idea what I should do with myself. The fact that I exclusively listened to Life...The Best Game in Town in the midst of that ten day period -- which was filled with a Grand Theft Auto IV binge, maintaining my worst diet and hygiene habits since college, and not really bothering to get dressed and do anything productive unless it was absolutely necessary -- was actually really fitting in hindsight.

This, my friends, is man music. Huge sludge riffs. Deep growls. Rock with balls -- man music. Macho man music minus Macho Man. You can almost smell the beer, cigarettes, sweat, unwashed clothes, and farts emulating from this album. Rumor has it that listening to this makes chest and facial hair grow faster (it worked for me!). It makes having a breakfast consisting of soda pop and frozen pizza left sitting out overnight sound like a good idea.

Absurdity aside, Life..The Best Game in Town really is a pleasure. The opening track,"Death Goes to the Winner" starts off deceptively as a harmonic ballad before Creston Spiers gruff vocals and the hammering kick-drum and guitar riff storms in. From that point, the energy of the album seldom drops. On top of having plenty of sludge to satisfy what I was looking for, the album also mixes elements of punk and avant garde metal to keep things fresh. There's still time for this album to be dethroned, but right now, this is tops for me in the metal category for 2008.

Score: 9/10


"Skull Socks & Rope Shoes"


"Roses"

Alain Goraguer - La Planète Sauvage (1973)

Alain Goraguer - La Planète Sauvage (1973)

Has anyone coined the term "dream funk"? [ed. note: A quick Google search reveals some death metal band in the UK goes by that name, as well as a Japanese techno artist on MySpace, but they're unsigned, so screw them] If not, then I'd like to officially apply that term to the music of Alain Goraguer. This album is the soundtrack to an animated French sci-fi film called La Planète Sauvage (Fantastic Planet). I've never gotten high on any sort of psychedelics, but if the YouTube clips tell me anything, then this seems one film to avoid watching while on an acid trip.

The surrealistic animation fits extremely well with the music, and vice versa. Effects-laden guitar and synthesizers establish the dreamlike atmosphere, and combined with the flute and rhythmic bass riffs, the album is also groovy at times. The result is a sound that's sounds equal parts Curtis Mayfield and Robert Wyatt: unique to the point that it deserves to be considered a genre all its own. A genre in need of a name. Might I recommend Dream Funk? No? Well...fine then.

Score: 8/10


"Déshominisation I"


"Maquillage de Tiwa"


"Les Fusées"

Everything I've Ever Wanted To Know About Ass-Kicking

Eugene S. Robinson is my hero.

The meaning of the word "hero" as I intended it there would probably invoke the assumption that he's an inspiration to me, which is correct to a degree, but at times he doesn't inspire me so much as he deflates any motivation I have to even try to be on his level. He's the lead singer of probably my favorite band, Oxbow, who are known for making music on their own terms (read: all strange and shit) and have been doing so for a long time. He's a writer who not only has had articles published in a laundry list of major publications, but has even written a book, called Fight: Or Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Ass-Kicking But Were Afraid You'd Get Your Ass Kicked For Asking. Probably the best title for anything ever.

So he's pretty much exactly what I want to be. It's not just that he's a musician and a writer, but he's the exact kind of musician and writer that I would want to be: distinctive style; writing intelligently about topics most people assume require little intelligence (i.e. fighting). I'm trying to improve as a writer, but my flaws are too great right now. I can't say my skills are anything more than decent. So I settle for the title of "blogger", which I believe is derived from a Latin noun meaning "failed journalist drunk on his/her own sense of entitlement and self-importance". I also want to be a musician, but I seem to lack the motivation to sit down with an instrument and force myself to learn it (hello bass in my closet!). I tell myself that I will one day, when things are less hectic; when my debt is paid off and I'm not working two jobs. But the truth is that I have plenty of free time even if it's less than what most people have. And in three years I should've been able to make the time if I really wanted to make the time.

There sometimes isn't a correlation between what people say they want and how they spend their time. An overweight person might say they want to be thin, but the constant consumption of unhealthy foods and lack of exercise tells the real truth. I've made a big step personally in starting this blog because I had been putting it off so long. I got tired of telling myself that I want to do something and then not doing it. I can only hope this sense of taking action makes me more determined in other areas and by this time next year this blog will still be active and I'll be good enough with my bass to be able to complain with confidence about how Guitar Hero is nothing like the real thing, because I need new things to be a snob about.

Oh, and I should also mention that Eugene Robinson and I share somewhat of a resemblance. It's kind of weird, actually.

(I'm on the right, in the photo that's obviously not taken professionally)

He's way more intense-looking in his photo than I am in mine; probably thinking of kicking my ass.

Eugene Robinson's Personal Website
Oxbow Website

Dead Meadow - Old Growth (2008)

Dead Meadow - Old Growth (2008)

If I were to use a sports analogy to describe Dead Meadow, I'd say that they're like the Tim Duncan of modern rock. That is to say -- for the benefit of those who care less about sports or the NBA in particular -- Dead Meadow are one of the most consistent and reliable bands in modern rock. All of their efforts up to this point have been at least solid if not exceptional. There was very little doubt in my mind that Old Growth would continue to adhere to that consistency, and I was delighted, though not surprised, to find a strong set of new material presented here.

The repetitive seven minute stoner anthems of their past albums are even further behind them now, as Old Growth picks up where Feathers left off and finds the band trying to perfect the art of the four minute song. While at first it seems like the band are too eager to get things over with, the songs start to feel just right with repeated listens. The back to back to back to back combination of "Down Here" through "Seven Seers" is one of the best groups of songs that we're likely to experience all year. The mood of the album is decidedly more down home and folky than past efforts, which the band actually executes well even though I've always been a fan of their repetitive, droning, psychedelic wall of sound.

All in all, it's a good record that's not immediately impressive but ultimately rewarding over time. I guess they call these types of albums growers. The irony of this description and the album title should not be lost on anyone.

Score: 7.5/10


"I'm Gone"


"Seven Seers"

Count Bass D - Dwight Spitz (2002)

Count Bass D - Dwight Spitz (2002)

In 2004, Madlib and MF Doom released a collaborative effort under the name of Madvillian. The album, Madvilliany, was met with thunderous approval in the world of indie music. Backpackers all over hailed it as one of the best hip hop albums of the year (which I could agree with), and one of the best hip hop albums of the decade thus far (which I could agree with) if not one of the best hip hop albums of all-time (whoa there). Two years earlier, Count Bass D released this album; similar in style and equally as good, yet largely ignored.

I'm not sure why is this album not as revered in the indie hip hop world as Madvilliany. The similarities between the two are notable, especially in the rapid fire album flow with punk song lengths (and partially because both albums feature MF Doom). I'm not prepared to argue that Count Bass D is better here lyrically than Doom is on Madvilliany, because he isn't, but whereas Doom trumps him in skill they are both about equal when it comes to appeal. Bass D's slightly nasally yet ultra-relaxed baritone delivery exudes tons of personality. And with a host of guest rappers by his side (including Edan and the aforementioned MF Doom), the album feels fresh throughout. Production-wise, Dwight Spitz is at least on par with Madlib's effort in Madvilliany, meaning lots of off-kilter beats layered with obscure and not so obscure samples, but the use of live instruments (played by Bass D himself) give it a feel all its own.

Fans of Madvilliany will be doing themselves a favor by checking this out. It's similar enough to feel familiar but still has it's own unique personality.

Score: 8.5/10


"Subwoofer"


"Real Music vs Bu11$#!+"


"Blues For Percy Carey"

Boris - Smile (2008)

Boris - Smile (2008)*

*Japanese release reviewed here

Cacophonic? Yeah. But there's no reason to have expected differently from a Boris record. They're certainly no strangers to harsh noise, and some moments in Smile have them at the harshest that they've ever been, while other moments have them at their softest and most melodic, sometimes in the same song. But that's Boris for ya.

The album starts off with the excellent "メッセージ", a drum driven masterpiece that, other than "花･太陽･雨", is the easiest song on the ears. One writer compared this song to TV On The Radio if they were trying to be a Japanese noise rock band, which is so painfully accurate a comparison that there's no need for me to try to think of a more creative one. After "BUZZ-IN" has you scrambling for the volume switch, the also excellent "放て!" kicks in, which is a complete mess of a song and still manages to work well somehow. So well, in fact, that you'd have to go back to Lightning Bolt's 2005 album Hypermagic Mountain to find a better noise rock track. "となりのサターン" is somewhat of a departure for the band, as it introduces some electronic elements, the result of which almost sounds like a pop song. In an interview for Pitchfork, drummer Atsua spoke about the band having an admiration for Japanese glam rock bands of the 1990's. While I haven't heard any Japanese glam rock and he declined to name any names, I imagine that this song comes closest to paying any sort of homage. The rest of the album has a rather large sound that, due to lack of verbal ability and in depth knowledge of music history on my part, I'll compare to arena rock. It's stadium sized Boris, and though no individual moments stand out, the listening experience is every bit as intense as at Last -Feedbacker-.

Coming off a somewhat high profile release in Pink, the band probably recorded with more pressure and anticipation than they ever have. Most people would probably agree that this isn't their best record by far, but even so, it's still likely going to be one of the better releases of the year. If fellow Japanese noise/post rockers Envy made this exact album, it would've been the best thing they've ever recorded. Fans of the Boris will definitely dig this, but Smile is unlikely to win them any new ones. Their loss.

On a side note, the Japanese version's foam/plastic packaging is quite awesome, worth every penny of it's ridiculous import price.

Score: 7.5/10

"メッセージ"


"放て!"

Prolyphic & Reanimator - The Ugly Truth (2008)

Prolyphic & Reanimator - The Ugly Truth (2008)

What do rappers like Dalek, Sage Francis, and Sole have in common? Chances are, if you've heard an album by either of those artists, then you've pretty much heard everything that The Ugly Truth has to offer. This album has trouble escaping mediocrity, though it's probably not so much the fault of Prolyphic's rhyme skills or Reanimator's beats. Well...on second thought, perhaps it is. Don't get me wrong, they're talented dudes. Reanimator really shines with the production; it's well done, consistently interesting, and sets the mood effectively, giving the album a really gritty, almost futuristic street feel. Prolyphic's rhymes take a backseat, but are still solid. I was at first a little turned off by how his nasally voice sometimes resembles Eminem, until I reminded myself that, even though Eminem is a lot of bad things, he is not a bad rapper, so resembling him in this aspect isn't necessarily terrible.

The major beef I have with The Ugly Truth is that I'm just personally so sick of this apocalyptic, dystopian rap shit. I can tolerate commonly revisited topics in hip hop at times, but Prolyphic just doesn't do enough to make me care what he has to say about those topics. I'm more interested in rappers who have a little bit of fun with the music. Not the mainstream party rap, make up a new dance and talk about women and bling kind of fun, but more in the way that they can find other topics to speak about other than the things in the world that suck. There are a few light moments; "Dick & Jane" comes to mind...if you don't pay much attention to the lyrics of course, but that's about it. In hindsight, I suppose the title of the album should've tipped me off.

Other artists have done this style better, and listening to those other artists reveals that the role The Ugly Truth wants to play has already been filled several times over. I personally don't feel there's enough about this album that's different or interesting. But hell, if in 2008 you're still looking for that perfect rap album that offers a bleak view of the world and the state of hip hop, and you've somehow missed out on the tons of albums of that nature that came before this, then by all means, buy this. You won't be disappointed.

Score: 5/10


"Ugly Truth"


"On The Side"

Maintenance Stuff & Anticipated Fall Releases

It's been a busy week or so since I started writing on here, so I'm still trying to work out the kinks in my free time, and develop a more streamlined system of reviewing and yadda yadda yadda. It didn't even occur to me until yesterday that I should implement some sort of scoring system, so I went ahead and threw that on. I'm also currently working on getting some sort of Flash-based streaming MP3 player on here, so as to give all zero of the people who are reading this a chance to listen to at least a couple of songs from the albums I review. That should be up pretty soon.

In other news, it's shaping up to be a good Fall when it comes to music. There have been several confirmed releases that I'm looking forward to, and I'm sure there will be more in the near future. But I wanted to take a second to list a few albums that I know about at this time, lest I forget about them somehow:

TV On The Radio - Dear Science (September 23rd; Interscope)
I was one of the five people that thought TVOTR's debut full length, Desperate Youths, Bloodthirsty Babes, was miles ahead of its follow-up, the much lauded Return to Cookie Mountain. Desperate Youth was more experimental whereas I felt the Cookie Mountain had the band sounding a little too comfortable (read: just like everyone else). They're still one of the most talented bands out right now, though, so it'll be interesting to see where they take their sound.

Brightblack Morning Light - Motion to Rejoin (September 23rd; Matador)
I really enjoyed the slow as molasses psychedelic jams on their debut album that you could literally smell the weed smoke permeating from. I wouldn't mind a little more of the same.

Caïna - Temporary Antennae (September 30th; Profound Lore)
Their last album, Mourner, was a real grower, and the first black metal album that really grew to love.

Dungen - 4 (September 30th; Subliminal Sounds)
5th album from the Swedish psychedelic rock band (so what's with the title, I wonder). Given the strange genius of the band's mastermind Gustav Ejstes (according to interviews of guitarist Reine Fiske), I'm not really sure what to expect from this, but I'm sure it'll be interesting.

MF Doom - Operation: Doomsday (October 7th; Metal Face Records)
The eagerly anticipated re-release of Doom's 1999 debut, being released on...what's that? Metal Face Records!? Given how unpredictable and mysterious Doom has been lately, I'm not holding my breath that this will actually see the light of day. But I sure hope it does.

Bohren & der Club of Gore - Dolores (October 21st; Ipecac)
More creepy, dark ambient, experimental doom jazz? I'm down with that.

Should be a good last quarter of 2008...musically, at least.

Exuma - Exuma (1970)

Exuma - Exuma (1970*)
*original release year; 2003 re-release reviewed here

Wow, this album was a great find. Mixing elements of freak folk, soul, reggae, and African rhythms (among many other styles), Exuma's long forgotten and criminally ignored debut album is a masterpiece. Think of how a Caribbean version of Comus' First Utterance would sound and you might get something that sounds like this. Many of the album's seven tracks could have (or should have) been classics. But aside from being well composed, much of the album's appeal comes from its lyrical themes relating to voodoo and zombies and other such stereotypically cool-sounding stuff.

Looking up the biography of the mysterious man known as Exuma, the Obeah Man, I found out that he wasn't so mysterious after all; his real name was Tony. I stopped reading after that. Similar to such musicians as Robert Johnson or Sun Ra, knowing little factual information does so much to add to the character of his music. You know that Robert Johnson didn't sell his soul to the devil and you know that Sun Ra didn't come from outer space to make music on earth, but hot damn does that add to their appeal. It's the power of myth. I'm not sure if Exuma really believed that he came to earth on a lightning bolt with "fire and brimstone coming out of [his] mouth", but it makes for one hell of an interesting listen.

Even without the mythical appeal, this album is the very definition of an underground treasure. His music didn't find much of an audience in his lifetime. Hopefully such an error can be corrected in a new generation.

Score: 9/10


"Dambala"


"You Don't Know What's Going On"

Mike Patton - A Perfect Place (2008)

Mike Patton - A Perfect Place (2008)

Well, there's no mistaking it: this is definitely a Mike Patton record. Even if you ignore such dead giveaways as his name being printed all over the digipak or his distinctive singing voice on a handful of the albums' fifteen tracks, it's clear to anyone familiar with his past work that this has his fingerprints all over it.

A Perfect Place is Patton's first official film score, but he seems to be perfectly at home working in this medium. His music has always had somewhat of a theatrical quality to it, acting almost as a soundtrack for a movie that only exists inside his head. The collaborative work that he's done with film composers Kaada (Romances) and John Zorn, as well as his admiration and emulation of Ennio Morricone -- 2005's Crime & Dissonance, compiled by Patton, is one of the best Morricone collections out there -- have also prepared him for this task, and he's able to make it all his own. A Perfect Place is dripping with his personality and works well as a stand alone album (I've yet to watch the actual short film, which comes packaged with the CD). I wouldn't be surprised if this opens the door for future film scores for him. It does seem to be his calling, after all.

Score: 7/10

"A Perfect Twist (Vocal)"


"A Little Poker Tomorrow Night"

Welcome to xoxobra!

I'll start by getting this out of the way. It's pronounced "zo - zo - bruh"; zozobra as in "old man gloom", or that mythical creature that is burned in a festival every year in Santa Fe, New Mexico. According to the event website:

"Zozobra is a hideous but harmless fifty-foot bogeyman marionette. He is a toothless, empty-headed facade. He has no guts and doesn't have a leg to stand on. He is full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. He never wins. He moans and groans, rolls his eyes and twists his head. His mouth gapes and chomps. His arms flail about in frustration. Every year we do him in. We string him up and burn him down in ablaze of fireworks. At last, he is gone, taking with him all our troubles for another whole year."

Um...neat! Perhaps the name is more familiar to some of us as that band that's signed to HydraHead Records. But nah, this blog isn't affiliated with any of that nor is there any reason why it's named what it is other than the fact that I liked the word and decided to use it and gave it a cute alternative spelling.

That being said: welcome to xoxobra! I've had the idea for this blog in mind for a while, and after over a year of fleshing out the concept in my head, designing the look, and just general procrastination, I present it to you. So what is xoxobra? The simple answer is that it's a music blog, and for the most part that would be an accurate way to put it. I originally wanted to create it so that I could write about underground, esoteric music and my opinions on music related topics, and have them in a place where I could pretend that people cared what I thought. As time goes on, though, I imagine it becoming much more than that. My ambitions for what I want this blog to be range from doable to impossible, and it was those ambitions that led to this project being delayed for so long, until I finally decided that if I didn't start it soon in some fashion then I probably never would. So here we are. Only time will tell if it ever becomes what I want it to become, but we shall see.

The main thing I should make clear is that I AM NOT a music journalist. I don't claim to be a skilled writer with formal training and the experience to offer an authoritative voice on the subject. There are enough of those out there and many of them are a lot better at describing and giving you an objective opinion on a piece of music than I am. I'm just a guy who likes music and likes writing an opinion about it, which isn't exactly the same thing. The music featured on this blog is music that I have sought out and (probably) paid for, so naturally, it's music that I'm interested in and not music that I feel obligated to feature. This is not a place for professional reviews of new releases written by dudes who can describe guitar sounds accurately without looking them up on the internet first, and I ain't one of those dudes.

So now that the introduction is out of the way, I'll make way for actual content!....soon. Thanks for reading. I hope you'll occasionally continue to do so in the future.