Category: Alternative (Page 49 of 155)

Yo Gabba Gabba: Music Is…Awesome!

October 20, 2009 /


RIYL: Old school hip hop, hipster bands, your children

Anyone who was lucky enough to snap up a copy of 2008’s here-today-gone-yesterday Yo Gabba Gabba! CD will likely be disappointed with Music Is…Awesome!, the newest release of songs from the TV show that’s a hit with both kids and stoners. Eight of the 13 tracks from the previous release are here, along with songs from the Shins, Chromeo, Of Montreal, I’m from Barcelona, and Money Mark. That’s a whole lotta hipster, right there, and the decision to include the hipster bands over acts that actually had our kids singing along – there is no excuse, for example, for the exclusion of the Aggrolites’ “Banana” or GOGO13’s fantastic ska tribute “Pick It Up” – is a curious one, to say the least. Then again, the soundtrack supervisors had positively tons of bands to choose from (The Bird and the Bee, the Ting Tings, Mates of State, Jason Falkner, MGMT, Jimmy Eat World, Datarock, the Clientele, etc.), not to mention original songs (“Hold Still,” “Please, Thank You”), so it stands to reason that they were going to leave some essential YGG moments out. Be that as it may, Music Is…Awesome! is good, but not quite as awesome as it could have been. (Filter/Fontana 2009)

Yo Gabba Gabba MySpace page
Click to buy Music Is…Awesome! from Amazon

Alternative, CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Dance, Electronica, Pop, Ska

Rain Machine: Rain Machine

October 19, 2009 /


RIYL: TV on the Radio, Animal Collective, Akron/Family

Enter the mind of Kyp Malone with Rain Machine, the new solo project of the booming-voiced TV on the Radio guitarist and co-frontman. The album cover bursts with bright colors and naked girls, leading the listener to believe there is a Dionysian sort of feast within. And is there ever, with Malone cutting loose with claps, whistles and bells throughout the album’s seemingly massive length.

The god of ritual madness and ecstasy would surely appreciate the content, with Malone sparing no appropriateness to sing about being a “Desperate Bitch,” or having “the fattest cock or the sweetest pussy.” Indulgence abounds on Rain Machine, in ways good and bad – of the 10 tracks, six of them hover above the five-minute mark, meaning there are some eye-rolling, “Okay, this song could be over,” moments. Then there’s the joyousness of “Give Blood” and “Hold You Holy.” The second half of the album transitions from the cacophony of paeans to love and politics into quiet, lightly strummed desperation. That does just fine for “Driftwood Heart” and “Desperate Bitch” but after “Free Ride” and “Leave The Lights On,” you keep hoping he’ll get back to being rambunctious. The closing track, “Winter Songs,” gets there at times, but at 10 minutes long, it’s hard to get more than five minutes in.

Malone’s mind is an intense place, but worth the journey. As for how listenable it is, those inclined towards extravagance may find something to appreciate here, but those whose motto is “everything in moderation,” would do best to look elsewhere. (Anti, 2009)

Rain Machine MySpace page

Alternative, CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Psychedelic, Rock

Steal This Song: General Elektriks, “Take Back the Instant”

October 15, 2009 /

Somewhere in California, Beck is throwing stuff across the room, pissed that he didn’t come up with this first.

The project of French expatriate Hervé “RV” Salters, General Elektriks is minimalist blue-eyed funk filtered through a microphone and a bevy of vintage synthesizers. RV seems particularly fond of the Clavinet (think “Superstition,” “Trampled Underfoot”), which makes sense considering it’s arguably the funkiest instrument ever created. Adding the horns for the last verse is a nice touch, too.

general elektriks

Wow, look at that shirt and tie combo. All right, so the guy might be color blind. But when it comes to music, color blindness is never a bad thing. It-it’s time to get, it-it’s time to get funky, kids.

General Elektriks – Take Back the Instant

General Elektriks MySpace page

Alternative, Artists, Dance, Downloads, Funk, Pop, Steal This Song

Hope Sandoval & the Warm Inventions: Through the Devil Softly

October 15, 2009 /


RIYL: Galaxy 500, The Innocence Mission, The Sundays

Call it music for insomniacs. Or anyone else that needs to catch up on their sleep. The second solo album by Hope Sandoval, late of ethereal ingénues Mazzy Star, not only maintains the same hazy drift and downcast drone of her former colleagues, but actually manages to take whatever minimal energy they mustered down another notch. Hushed and lethargic, Sandoval conveys a haunting, unhurried sound that’s immersed in spectral surroundings, contemplative musings and the occasional ominous overtones. Given their narcotic and nocturnal sensibilities, Sandoval and company seem hard-pressed to make a more emphatic impression, and even those songs that pass for sensual dreamscapes barely register beyond any cerebral set-ups.

Hope Sandoval Devil

Consequently, willowy offerings like “Blanchard,” “For the Rest of Your Life” and “Sets the Blaze” are more celestial than sublime, not exactly the type of thing that makes a lingering impression once the haze is lifted. So forget any notion of a sing-along. There’s not much of the Devil in these details. (Nettwerk 2009)

Hope Sandoval MySpace page

Alternative, Ambient, CD QuickTakes, Emo, Melodramatic

Liam Finn & Eliza Jane: Champagne in Seashells

October 15, 2009 /


RIYL: Crowded House, The Beatles, Oasis

Liam Finn, son of Crowded House’s Neil Finn, is back with a five song EP that is somewhat of a follow-up to his critically acclaimed 2008 release, I’ll Be Lightning. And when Paste says that 2008 project “could be an Abbey Road outtake,” quite honestly, where do you go from there? So Finn did the smart thing and teamed up with band mate and fellow Aussie singer/songwriter Eliza Jane Barnes to create something of a diversion. The result is Champagne in Seashells, and it’s not totally what you might expect by pairing a male and female singer/songwriter together. In fact, “Long Way to Go” is more like bouncy hipster fare – you know, the kind of thing you might hear in a clothing store in New York City and think to yourself that you have to find out what that ear candy is you’re listening to. But there is also rainy day brooding as on “Won’t Change My Mind,” and Eliza proves she is every bit worthy of being in Finn’s company when she takes the lead on “On Your Side.”

Liam Finn Eliza Jane

Side project or not, this is a damn good EP and proof that the Finn genes are also, well, damn good. (Yep Roc 2009)

Finn/Jane Website

Alternative, CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Pop, Rock

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