Category: CD QuickTakes (Page 111 of 149)

Social Code: He Said, She Said

October 31, 2008 /

There’s something that’s different from most power pop and Warped Tour fare when it comes to Canadian rock band Social Code. On the band’s debut US EP, He Said, She Said, Social Code sets itself apart from the pack a bit with a lot of guitar-driven energy and with Travis Nesbitt’s raspy vocal (think Hawthorne Heights and Fall Out Boy having a child). The title track is the kind of stuff that will give record labels and radio programmers a collective wet dream. But Social Code is just paying the bills with that and with the catchy but slightly grating “Beautiful.” That’s because the best tracks here are “Perfect Grave” and “The Shortest Line.” The former has a dark, melody-driven approach ala the Goo Goo Dolls, and could launch this band into superstardom if the right people hear it. Love it or hate it, this genre is still here to stay for a while, and Social Code is worth keeping your eyes and ears on. (LABEL: Fifth Season Music)

Social Code MySpace Page

Alternative, CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Emo, Pop, Power Pop, Rock

Mr. Meeble: Never Trust the Chinese

October 31, 2008 /

Downtempo is a tricky sub-genre of electronic music. Everyone wants to be Massive Attack or the Orb and deliver the end-all-be-all of post-club chill out. But if you take it too chill and relaxing, then the next thing you know you’re Dirty Vegas, or even worse, easy listening or New Age. It’s a fine line. On their offensively-named debut Never Trust the Chinese, Mr. Meeble tread that line like a tightrope, showing signs of sedative brilliance before tripping and falling off into the safety net of “Days Go By” derivatives. It opens great, through; “Raindrops” is a pretty out-there cover of “Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head” that combines the ’70s cheese fest with occasional interludes of cut-up glitched vocals and an even more out-of-place rapping coda. It’s not exactly perfect, but it’s certainly unique. Other tracks, like the overly aggressive “A Ton Of Bricks” (apt name: it hits you like one) are jarring and obvious attempts for mainstream appeal that come off as soulless and empty.

All of Never Trust the Chinese is like this, going back and forth between the experimental and boring, the edgy and safe. This is a band of two minds, so much so that they even split up a song to demonstrate them both. “Everything Is Good (Part 1)” is an album highlight, a mostly instrumental sonic soundscape that engulfs you. But second part blows it all to hell by removing much of what made the first part so good and replacing them with dry, vapid and tone-deaf vocals. Never Trust the Chinese has all the trappings of a debut album by a band who has not yet found their sound. These guys need to throw a desire for a Top 40 fanbase to the wind and stick to the fringe, because they’ll definitely thrive there. (Absolute Motion 2008)

Mr. Meeble MySpace Page

Alternative, CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Electronica

Various Artists: Irish Hip Hop Volume 1

October 31, 2008 /

For any of those out there who are still listening to House of Pain’s “Jump Around” and wondering what other Irish hip hop might sound like – only, you know, in 2008 – this compilation of 20 such tracks may very well quench that desire. As could be expected, not everything here is top notch. Rira’s “25 O’Clock in the Mornin'” and CMC’s “Home” sounds pretty generic no matter how you slice it (and the “fuck that” asides are unintentionally funny). And the less said about Shaymin’s “Lassie,” the better. But The Elements’ “Nu Skool” sounds tight and funky in an old-school way, and Project 77’s “Takin’ on the Planet” throws an Irish female voice into the stew with decent results. Other tracks such as Jee4ce’s “Contact” and Ophelia’s “Revolutionary” hold their own, but for the most part this collection feels a bit stale and sounds more like a quick cash-in than a fully realized project. (80 Million Records)

CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Hip Hop

Saiah: Evolution

October 31, 2008 /

I don’t know who Saiah is, but his new disc Evolution starts off with a remixed version of a tune called “Nobody.” It doesn’t really matter, because this wannabe rapper doesn’t have a whole lot going for him. The mix on this track alone is atrocious, with generic squiggly synth notes farted out against a skeletal beat, both of which are mixed so low behind Saiah’s boring rhymes that it doesn’t even register as background noise. On the lamely-titled “H8,” we have to listen to yet another hip-hopper tell us how tough it is while hilariously bad synth cello lines mope around in the back. And when Saiah sings “Don’t walk out on me, baby / ‘Cause I’m about to be famous” on “Famous” while it sounds like some kid is listlessly pushing on piano keys, you just can’t take this dude seriously. So don’t. It doesn’t seem like anyone else is, anyway. Besides, you can tell the whole thing’s not worth your time thanks to the sleeve art that looks like it was made with the usual cheapo graphics kit available in the bargain bin at your local Wal-Mart. (April Fool Records)

Saiah MySpace page

CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Hip Hop, Rap

Deerhoof: Offend Maggie

October 24, 2008 /

Think what you will of Deerhoof – if you think of them at all – but know that whether you call them cute, noisy, awesome or annoying, you have to admit that they’ve got originality and ambition to spare. The San Francisco noise-pop darlings of the Kill Rock Stars roster are no less intriguing than usual on their ninth full-length studio album, with vocalist Satomi Matsuzaki sweetly cooing her regular mix of minimalist Japanese and English lyrics about a random assortment of topics (in this case, stalker boyfriends, God, and basketball, among other things), while her bandmates alternately churn out delicate yet forceful melodic thumpers (“Chandelier Searchlight”), prog-like dirges anchored by guitar arpeggios and piano a la Radiohead (“Buck and Judy”), and even a couple of fun stabs at a vaguely classic rock sound, straight out of Free’s “All Right Now” riff book (“The Tears and Music of Love”). The experiments with meager lyrics and unconventional song structures don’t always work – “Basket Ball get Your Groove Back” comes off like little more than an undeveloped fragment – but when they do, like on the album’s high point, “Numina O,” the results are nothing short of sublime. (Kill Rock Stars 2008)


Deerhoof MySpace page

Alternative, CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews

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