Author: Michael Fortes (Page 3 of 8)

The New Up: Better Off

October 2, 2009 / Michael Fortes

RIYL: Stone Temple Pilots, No Doubt, Radiohead

San Francisco quintet the New Up abandoned the album format with 2008’s Broken Machine EP, the first in a series of three EPs the band began working on with producer Jaimeson Durr (Dan the Automator, Chickenfoot). Better Off, the second EP in the series, picks up where Broken Machine left off stylistically, while songs like opener “Dear Life” and the title track get some extra breathing room with looser, more swinging drums and percussion than before. While all five of the EP’s songs are solid, well-crafted tunes, the title track in particular turns out to be the real earworm on the disc. With a useful “be thankful for what you got” type of philosophy, a powerful vocal from Emily Pitcher, an unforgettable chorus and cherry-on-top flute melody from Hawk West, “Better Off” stands out as a formidable rocker and perhaps the best song in the band’s catalog to date. While it may overshadow the other four tracks on the EP, the remaining tunes nonetheless hold their own and maintain the New Up’s trend of favoring quality over quantity. (The New Up 2009)

The New Up MySpace page

Alternative, CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Psychedelic, Rock

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Calvin Harris: Ready for the Weekend

October 2, 2009 / Michael Fortes

RIYL: LCD Soundsystem, Daft Punk, Lady Gaga

For those who dig their electronica with a generous helping of humor and irony, Calvin Harris’ 2007 debut I Created Disco delivered even beyond its oh so ironic and humorous title (the dude was born in 1984!) and home grown charm. Unfortunately, while Calvin has gained a more polished sound and access to more bells and whistles than in the past, he has lost his sense of humor. Tunes like “You Used to Hold Me,” “Worst Day” and “Blue” (with a damning cliché of a lyric in “everything around me is blue / the color that reminds me of you”) are indicative of an artist who has some breakup tension to unleash – in this case, a better place to do that would be in a therapist’s office. Calvin’s cheekier take on electronica was a classic pick-me-up. If he can get his head back into that space, perhaps he’ll be a whole lot happier – and so will the rest of us. (Columbia 2009)

Calvin Harris MySpace page

CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Electronica

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The Happy Hollows: Spells

October 1, 2009 / Michael Fortes

RIYL: Deerhoof, The Pixies, Q and not U

The Happy Hollows’ world as laid out on their debut full-length album, Spells, is inhabited by monsters, horses, flowers that turn into radios, and all sorts of other colorful characters, both real and imaginary. Such is the place sometimes referred to as Negahdariland, the namesake inner world of the Happy Hollows’ mistress-mind, singer/guitarist Sarah Negahdari.

This psychedelic punk approach radiates excitement of narcotic addictiveness, given a solid driving force by powerhouse drummer Chris Hernandez and nimble bassist Charlie Mahoney, whose often trebly bass lines jump over Sarah’s rhythm guitar to tag team on melody duty, most effectively so on opener “Faces,” on which Sarah declares that she’s trying to “escape from great expectations.” This is the only failure evident on Spells – after three years of high-energy live shows and two solid EPs that hinted at what a full Happy Hollows album could achieve, the band has actually met expectations and produced the most exciting debut album of the year. Props to ex-Mighty Lemon Drop David Newton for capturing the band’s live vibe while also making room for subtle decorations, like the tastefully placed violin in “Turtle and Hare” and “Second Lieutenant,” and punctuating several songs with Sarah’s adorably idiosyncratic background vocals.

You can feel the band smiling and having fun throughout all 14 of the album’s songs, and unconsciously injecting a renewed vitality into punk that has been lost in so many other quarters due to over-production and too many layers of polish. On Spells, the band got it just right. Prepare to fall in love. (Happy Hollows 2009)

The Happy Hollows MySpace

Alternative, CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Punk, Rock

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Kris Kristofferson: Closer to the Bone

September 25, 2009 / Michael Fortes

RIYL: Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings

Like his old buddy Johnny Cash before him, Kris Kristofferson’s autumn years are seeing a beautiful, stripped-back recording renaissance. Following up 2006’s This Old Road with that album’s producer, Don Was, Kris has delivered a dozen mostly drum-free tunes (the exceptions being “Let the Walls Come Down” and his cool tribute to Cash, “Good Morning John”) with the aid of acoustic guitar, harmonica, and not a heck of a lot else, giving the feel of a private living room performance. In fact, at the beginning of the song Kris wrote for his kids, “From Here to Forever,” you can hear his breaths so clearly, the effect is almost as if Kris is breathing right in your ear. While most of the record sticks close to family, friends, love and loss, the cherry on top of Closer to the Bone is “the first whole song” Kris ever wrote, at age 11, called “I Hate Your Ugly Face.” It’s every bit as funny as the title would suggest, and an eerily prescient indicator of all the greatness that was soon to come. (New West 2009)

Kris Kristofferson MySpace page

CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Country, Folk

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Yo La Tengo: Popular Songs

September 10, 2009 / Michael Fortes

Umpteen albums into Yo La Tengo’s nearly quarter-century of existence, it seems that they’ve finally hit on a spectacular balance. No, Popular Songs is not a compilation (though the band’s actual ‘best of,’ Prisoners of Love, is somewhat less satisfying than Popular Songs), but it might as well be. It finds the band smoothing out some of its rough edges without totally abandoning their rough-and-tumble approach to indie rock. The opener in particular, “Here to Fall,” sweeps the listener into the air with a strings-and-keyboard arrangement that’ll stir up wet dreams of Paul Buckmaster making love to Georgia Hubley and Ira Kaplan’s interpersonal-musical union with muted fire and momentum. This could easily be the sound of Yo La blowing their wad way too early, but as it turns out, it neatly sets up the rest of the record to roll through ‘60s homages like the Farfisa fun-time “Periodically Double or Triple” and the Lovin’ Spoonful-esque “I’m On My Way” (try singing “Didn’t Want to Have to Do It” over the verses), and on into three lengthy drones that could easily be the perfect soundtrack to getting stoned. (Matador 2009)

Yo La Tengo MySpace page

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