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Grand Duchy: Petit Fours

April 17, 2009 /

If Grand Duchy’s Petit Fours sounds like an overt throwback to the uncomplicated, low-budget sonics of ‘80s indie rock, there’s a very good reason: One half of this husband and wife duo is Frank Black, a.k.a. Black Francis, a.k.a. the creative engine that drove the Pixies during its seminal late ‘80s/early ‘90s run. Black’s attitude toward that period has always been ambivalent at best – he’s been quoted as saying he “spent the latter part of the ‘80s doing my part to destroy the ‘80s” – but paired here with wife Violet Clark, he allows the more accessible elements of his music to surface, creating one of the most consistently enjoyable efforts of his post-Pixies career in the process. Petit Fours’ consistency is somewhat ironic, given its resolute eclecticism; not only does none of this stuff sound particularly Pixies-ish, quite a lot of it sounds like it couldn’t have been recorded by the same band. Most groups can’t run the distance between the growly garage stomp of “Come Over to My House” and the poppy “Lovesick” without falling down, but Grand Duchy serves them up back to back, setting the tone for nine tracks of genre-bending home-studio fun. Will any of it supplant Doolittle in your collection? Highly doubtful, but it’s nice to know the old misanthrope still has some hooks left in him. If Black’s smart, he’ll keep the Pixies on the road and continue writing new material with his talented better half. (Cooking Vinyl 2009)

Grand Duchy MySpace page

CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Rock

The Datsuns: Headstunts

April 17, 2009 /

The fourth album by New Zealand rockers The Datsuns is mostly a more-of-the-same kind of affair, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, after a couple of less-than-memorable releases – including their second album, produced by none other than Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones – Headstunts is somewhat of a throwback to the high energy, ’70s-style r-a-w-k that US listeners first got a taste of on their 2002 self-titled debut. “Highschool Hoodlums” recalls nothing if not their own “MF From Hell,” in in intent if not in sound. Other tasty sonic nuggets abound, such as the surf-y “Hey! Paranoid People!,” the grungy groove of “Your Bones” and the extended raunch ‘n’ roll of “Eye of the Needle.” While this album certainly isn’t going to start a new musical revolution, and the Datsuns aren’t the saviors of rock ‘n’ roll, Headstunts is a solid-if-safe effort that will still hit your gut a lot harder than your head, which, again, is not necessarily a bad thing. (Cooking Vinyl)

The Datsuns MySpace Page

Alternative, CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Punk, Rock

Jenny Gillespie: Light Year

April 17, 2009 /

Jenny Gillespie’s hushed, vaguely introspective musings find her treading similar territory to Feist, Sarah MacLachlan and even early Joni Mitchell on occasion, but there’s a hazy glow that adds an unexpected lilt to her proceedings. Her third effort overall following her eponymous 2001 debut and the six song Love and Ammunition four years later, Light Year evokes Day-Glo imagery and idyllic settings, pondered ever so sweetly through poetry and prose. She graces these fragile soundscapes with subtlety and flair, utilizing primarily piano and acoustic guitar, which are then tastefully embellished by bells, accordion, cello, fiddle, mandolin and pedal steel. Yet despite the richness of the arrangements, the songs never feel over-indulgent, radiating instead a shimmer, sparkle and gentle sway that’s ever so beautiful and beguiling. In fact, the entire set is so unerringly mesmerizing, it’s a challenge to distinguish a single standout, although “Vanishing Point,” “Littleblood,” and “Hummingbirds” certainly vie for that distinction. However, with the songs maintaining such low wattage, it may also be necessary to submit to more than a cursory listening – in fact, several may be required before true seduction sets in. Yet be assured that once its given those repeated encounters, Light Year will shine that much stronger.

Jenny Gillespie My Space page

Adult Contemporary, CD QuickTakes, Folk

Yonlu: A Society in Which No Tear is Shed is Inconceivably Mediocre

April 17, 2009 /

Imagine what the early 21st century bedroom recordings of a depressed Brazilian teenager with a penchant for quietly direct songs about his frayed state of mind, a delicate but confident touch on acoustic guitar, a talent for artful overdubbing and an affinity for the occasionally off-beat multi-part musical, and that’s Yonlu, a/k/a Vinicius Gageiro Marques, in a nutshell. Yonlu created the 14 songs herein all alone, in his studio, sharing them only with his online friends and fans until his suicide in 2006 at the age of sixteen. Though his tragic story would naturally draw in listeners, the music itself transcends his short lifespan – his voice was steady and tuneful, whether in English or his native Portuguese, spinning delicate and pristine performances in the mold of Elliott Smith and Nick Drake, but always informed by his Brazilian heritage. Songs like “Humiliation” and “Suicide” are maddening in their blatant foreshadowing, but “Katie Don’t Be Depressed” beats ‘em all. The pointed line he sang to the subject is exactly what the sympathetic listener will be feeling upon hearing this collection lonely aural postcards – “seriously now, what the fuck?” But for all the words he wrote, Yonlu’s most poignant statement remains “Waterfall.” A wordless melody sung over acoustic guitar, the tune soars with heartbreaking beauty like a lost Milton Nascimento demo, answering in one way the question “why is there suffering in the world?” (Luaka Bop 2009)

Yonlu MySpace

Alternative, CD QuickTakes, Folk, Jazz

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