Author: David Medsker (Page 5 of 96)

Candi and the Strangers: 10th of Always

February 3, 2011 / David Medsker

RIYL: Blondie, Cocteau Twins, Lush

Forming a dream pop band is one of the ultimate acts of devotion one can commit. No band in the genre ever rose above cult status in terms of sales, but the ones that have done it well will live forever. You have to think that Austin quiintet Candi and the Strangers knows that their commercial potential has a visible ceiling, but God love them for reaching for it anyway. The band’s sophomore effort, 10th of Always, is like listening to the thoughts of a cool girl in love. She feels the same things that everyone else feels but refuses to let it show, so even when the songs swoon – and boy, do they swoon – it’s done so with impeccable taste and composure, and perhaps a bit of detachment. Cool girls don’t lose their shit, you know.

Fans of Blondie are going to lap up this album, and not just because “Femme Sonique” is a toned-down re-write of “Atomic.” “Nico Regrets” captures both the smooth and edgy aspects of Blondie’s sound, and the epic closer “The Weather Is Here, Wish You Were Beautiful” is like the Jesus and Mary Chain getting their hands on some lost girl group song and turning it inside out. “Glide,” meanwhile, is positively blissed. There are times, though, when singer Samantha Constant’s vocals are a bit too far down in the mix, and despite the album’s consistently strong songwriting, it takes several listens before some of the songs leave a visible footprint. But such is love, even with a cool girl – you take the good with the bad, and with 10th of Always, it’s all so pretty that complaining about imperfections seems petty. (Candi and the Strangers 2011)

Click here to download Candi and the Strangers – Nico Regrets

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Audio Bullys: Higher Than the Eiffel

January 27, 2011 / David Medsker

RIYL: Primal Scream, The Ting Tings, Basement Jaxx

Yet another lesson in why bands should choose their names carefully. The word ‘bully’ suggests someone aggressive and intimidating (and, conversely, someone insecure and a little scared). The Audio Bullys, however, are no such thing. They’re beat mongering rockers, like Hard-Fi pulling the late shift in an Ibiza club. (Singer Simon Franks and Hard-Fi’s Richard Archer should do a duet, just to mess with people’s head over who’s singing which line.) The band’s third album Higher Than the Eiffel has some good ideas – lead single “Only Man” is armed with one hell of a hook, and closing track “Goodbye” is a nifty modern-day take on the Specials – but is sorely lacking a filter, not to mention an editor. Two of the first three songs contain fragments of ideas stitched together, much like Coldplay’s Viva La Vida, but there is no flow. Why did “Daisy Chains” need to end with an a cappella bit? (Answer: it didn’t.) “Shotgun” is the only song here that takes advantage of melding two separate ideas into a whole, but it arrives a bit too late to care, thanks to the album’s 56-minute (!) run time. Take out some of the clutter, and this bully could have been a contender. (The End Records 2011)

Audio Bullys MySpace page
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George Michael: Faith (Special Edition)

January 27, 2011 / David Medsker

RIYL: Madonna, Michael Jackson, ’80s-era CHR

The world will probably never see another album rule the world like George Michael’s Faith did from 1987 to 1989. Twenty million copies sold worldwide. Number One on the R&B charts, a first for a white artist. Six Top Five singles, four of which went to #1. As pop records go, it was a monster, and while Michael Jackson’s Bad, released two months earlier, notched one more #1 single than Faith did, Faith managed to outsell Bad by two million copies. It also, strangely, won the Grammy for Album of the Year two years after its release.

Looking back at the album today, it’s easy to see why it was so popular; the songs have held up remarkably well (unlike, say, a good chunk of the songs on Bad), and Michael covers a lot of territory in the process, from contemporary dance pop (“I Want Your Sex,” “Hard Day,” “Monkey”) to mid-tempo ballads (“Father Figure”), while throwing in a Bo Diddley-style jam (the title track) and a jazz-fueled torch song (the underrated “Kissing a Fool”) for good measure. Michael’s voice has tremendous range and versatility, and his production is downright minimal in an era known for bombast. It’s a dead brilliant pop record, and the fact that Michael was a mere 23 when he made it is, well, sickening, really.

The bonus disc of Epic/Legacy’s re-release of Faith culls together B-sides and remixes from the era, which includes instrumental versions of “Faith” and “Kissing a Fool,” Michael’s covers of “I Believe When I Fall in Love” and “Love’s in Need of Love Today,” and, at long last, the full-length version of Shep Pettibone’s remix to “Hard Day” (the version that appeared on the Faith CD is a good two to three minutes shorter). Also included are Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis’ mixes to “Monkey” (single edit, 12″ mix, a cappella). Very shrewd move on Michael’s part to get them involved, as the song would not have reached the top of the charts without them. Curiously, the track “Fantasy” is included as well, though it first appeared as a B-side to Listen Without Prejudice Vol. I track “Freedom ’90.” Tough to argue with its inclusion, as it’s a gem, but there are some UK-only and promo-only remixes to “Faith” and “Father Figure” that should probably be here instead.

The DVD contains all of the music videos from the period, as well as the MTV promo film “Music, Money, Love, Faith,” where Michael gears up for his first solo world tour (don’t blink, or you’ll miss his chreographer, a then-unknown Paula Abdul). The uncensored version of “I Want Your Sex” is included as well as the censored one, and both clips seem pretty tame by today’s standards. (Michael wearing nothing but a sheet, horrors!) The best bit is the 40-minute interview Michael did with British TV personality Jonathan Ross, where he delves deeply into Michael’s personal life, even asking him if he’s taken an AIDS test and whether or not he wears a condom. Fans of George Michael, or ’80s pop in general, will find much to love here. (Epic/Legacy 2011)

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Steal This Song: Little Tybee, “Nero”

January 26, 2011 / David Medsker

There are few slopes that are as slippery as music that could fairly be described as precious. A wrong move in any direction, and that ‘c’ becomes a ‘tent’, if you know what we mean. It was therefore with great trepidation that we clicked Play on the song from Little Tybee, a group of Georgians whose press release was quick to mention Fleet Foxes. And don’t get us wrong, we like Fleet Foxes…but do we need a dozen of them?

As it turns out, “Nero,” the first song from the band’s upcoming album Humorous to Bees, is probably being done a disservice by being compared to anyone, but you know how press releases work – they need to mention a couple of successful bands to give the reader a reference point (and truthfully, that’s exactly how we like it). If anything, the song reminds us of a less amped version of the Noisettes’ song “Wild Young Hearts,” perhaps refitted for play in a jazz club. Trade out drum sticks for brushes, throw in some fiddle, and groove, man. Good stuff. The record drops in April. Hopefully this will tide you over until then.

Click here to download Little Tybee’s “Nero”

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Steal This Song: U.S. Royalty, “Monte Carlo”

January 25, 2011 / David Medsker

Holy west coast pop, Batman. Now this is a sound that we wouldn’t mind seeing catch on and infiltrate the mainstream…again.

We’re on our first spin through Mirrors, the debut album U.S. Royalty, a band who is about as far removed as one can get from the west coast while still being in the States (they’re from Washington DC), and it has a vibe to it that is instantly familiar without sounding derivative. Big, soaring vocals with some nicely stacked harmonies, along with the occasional foray into feedback, these guys are definitely a band to watch. Fans of Fleetwood Mac are going to jump all over “Monte Carlo.” It’s like “Dreams” as a driving song. Get it now, so you can say you were there first.

Click here to download U.S. Royalty – Monte Carlo

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