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Finally! The Autumns Aug. 29th, 2004 @ 05:46 am
Artist : The Autumns
Album : Self-Titled
Label : Pseudopod Records

I don't know what else Pseudopod Records has ever put out, if anything at all, but I want to give them a big THANK YOU for putting out the new album by The Autumns.

I was first introduced to The Autumns with their album "The Angel Pool" and then followed closely, eagerly snapping up "In The Russet Gold of This Vain Hour" and then finally digging for every single Autumns release I could find. I was never disappointed.

Then there was an excrutiatingly long wait for this album. There have been few bands with as bumpy of a label ride as The Autumns. The last Record label, Risk Records, folded right at the apex of "Russet Gold's" popularity and there are rumors of difficult battles for the band during that time.

The dark days are over. The new album is being released in the U.S. by Pseudopod Records and in Europe by Bella Union.

The review staff here have been fighting over this disc. It is easily the most beautiful and entrancing album of the year. I'm told that originally it was meant to be a concept album of lullabies and songs for the morning titled "Nocturnes and Subades", but that title was deemed too pretentious. As opposed to a title like "In the Russet Gold of This Vain Hour"? This band is MEANT to be pretentious.

The music however, lives up to the pretense. The wall of swirling guitars and ethereal vocals add depth and mood to the other-worldly lyrical construction of the songs.

I also have to mention Fred Frith as I listen to this disc, but the connection is tenuous. I could swear some of the compositions are constructed with Frith-style influence in certain places.

Every song leaves me in a state of headphone ecstacy. Now, like an addict, I begin eagerly awaiting the next release.

For Fans of : Shoegazer, Dream-pop, Indie-rock, The Church, Slowdive, Fred Frith, Swervedriver
High Points : EVERY SONG! *Ahem*, “Slumberdoll”, "Every Sunday Sky"
Reviewed By : Brock Reller and Dana Geoff
Current Mood: ecstatic
Current Music: The Autumns - The Autumns

World War I, lest we forget. Aug. 29th, 2004 @ 05:16 am
Artist : Caustic Soul
Album : An Absence of Warmth
Label : Gestalt Records

Caustic Soul, a Denver band with an amazing heart and intensity, have created a concept album on World War I, also known as The Great War.

It was also known as The War To End All Wars. It introduced mechanized and chemical warfare and brutality never before seen on the world stage. It shaped the world and everyone in it.

Yet it passes from collective memory in the shadows of World War II, Vietnam, and other more recent conflicts.

Caustic Soul have decided that memory needs to be brought to the surface.

The way this album approaches the material is interesting. It focuses on the emotional qualities and the experiences of the individual soldiers rather than on the larger scope of the events themselves. This creates a somber and deeply personal mood and listening experience.

"Elysium Fields" opens the album with the story of a soldier trapped between enemy lines and writing to his wife under the cover of his comrades dead bodies. This may be one of the saddest songs I have ever heard. Then I went and watched the rough self-produced video for the song and nearly cried.

Other topics include Paschendale, and the sinking of the Lusitania. Once again, the event isn't discussed so much as the more personal consequences for those that were there.

This is, without a doubt, the most emotionally intense album I have ever heard.

For Fans of : History, The Swans, Joy Division, Slo-Core
High Points : "Elysium Fields", "Solitude"
Reviewed BY : Brock Reller
Current Mood: contemplative
Current Music: Caustic Soul - An Absence of Warmth

Faux Fox; what's old is new wave again... Aug. 29th, 2004 @ 04:38 am
Artist : Faux Fox
Album : Black Glove or White Glove

I'm afraid I really enjoy Faux Fox's "Black Glove or White Glove". I've been known to sneer at electroclash bands like VNV Nation and Fischerspooner. I would declare them "nothing but regurgitated new wave that everyone was sick of ten years ago..."

But... I really like Faux Fox. Mabye it's the tongue-in-cheek quality of the album. It leaves you wondering if the band is just playing a big joke on the newest-new wave enthusiasts, or if they really are serious.

The songs are catchy and fun. I love "Kate is a Fascist" and "Crystal Castles" for the way they totally transport me back to days listening to The Human League and Gary Numan and drinking wine coolers. Do people still drink winde coolers?

Good fun, decent songs, and I'm not ashamed to admit I like it.

For Fans of : Gary Numan, Human League, and... *sigh* Fischerspooner...
High Points : "Kate is a Fascist"
Reviewed By : Dana
Current Mood: amused
Current Music: Faux Fox - Black Glove or White Glove

25% Toby is 100% good Jul. 8th, 2004 @ 05:11 pm
Artist : 25% Toby
Album : "Live At The BPL"
Label : BPL

Fans of Polyphonic Spree have probably already heard of this quartet from Texas because all of the member are in Polyphonic Spree. It isn't the fill-blown orchestral weirdness of their regular gig, but 25% Toby is excellent in it's own right.

Toby Halbrook, of Polyphonic Spree of course, is the 25% that the band's name speaks of and is joined by fellow "Spree-ers" Taylor Young, Mike Melendi and Jimmy Eggert on percussion, guitar and bass, respectively.

Halbrook says 25% Toby actually pre-dates he and his friends’ experiences with the Polyphonic Spree. “We started this band in 2000, kind of as a joke, just me and three of my friends doing gigs for the summer. But it turns out that people came to our shows a lot; and sometimes, when we were absolutely terrible, people liked us even more.”

This release is named after Dallas' Bass Propulsion Laboratories and is an apt showcase piece for the Studio. The production communicates the genre-spanning nature of the songs perfectly. Personally, I enjoyed this disc a lot more than the Polyphonic Spree songs I've heard.

For Fans Of : Polyphonic Spree, Dinosaur Jr., Pop-Punk
High Points : "Mississippi","Kill Me"
Current Mood: pleased
Current Music: 25% Toby

ShowGazery Goodness, The Autumdivers Jul. 7th, 2004 @ 05:02 pm
Artist : The Autumdivers
Album : Self-Titled
Label : Online Rock

If you do a search on The Autumdivers, a great many links come up as "Gregory Paul & The Autumdivers", so I get the impression that Paul is the leading force behind the band... Either that, or the name he made for hinself in Stillmotion, his previous shoegazer-style band, was big enough to help the Autumdivers establish themselves.

This disc spans shoegazer, Brit-pop, and an experimental, edgy sound that comes together nicely. The shoegazer enthusiast will have trouble lifting his head from his toes on this one, but the more common listener will still enjoy the disc for it's interesting production and clever experimental sound.

This is a band that is moving up rapidly and I fully expect to see more of them in the future.

For Fans Of : The Autumns, Shoegazer
High Points : The entire album... but especially "Amend", "I Still Feel" and "Get Me Out"
Current Mood: contemplative
Current Music: The Autumndivers
Other entries
» Jessie Rae come "Out of the Blue"
Artist : Jessie Rae
Album : Out of the Blue


I love the publicist I got this disc from. They send me everything from rap to metal to blues and it is definitely keeping me on my toes!

Jessie Rae's release is titled “Out of the Blue” and features very strong vocals reminiscent of a personal hero of mine, Bonnie Rait. Of course, this means that I can’t help but compare the two as I listen and think to myself “Well, she’s no Bonnie Rait!” with my nose turned firmly into the air.

The tunes on “Out of the Blue” are very good when judged on their own merit. The songwriting is clever, the musicianship is good, and... The vocals are a very nice blend of Bonnie Rait with a slightly less rootsy feel and contemporary folk-rock. All in all a good listen.

For Fans of : Bonnie Rait, Bluesy Rock
Highlights : “Blue Armor”, “Around Here”
Jun. 30th, 2004 @ 04:52 pm
» Hey, listen to my South Hole...
Artist : South Holes
Album : “Warhole”
Label : Stark Music

The first thing that strikes me about this disc is that the track listing shows 17 tracks, but when I put it in iTunes 20 tracks pop up. What are these unlisted tracks? Ooohhh... wait... tracks 3, 5, and 10 are short snippets of what seems to be drunken rambling. Gotcha.

I would love to see these guys live. They seem like freaks. Their bio that was included with the CD seems to be an email from a schizoid drunk and their lyrics and singing styles are just silly. At times, I'm even reminded of Half-Japanese, but just a little less weird. They must have been raised on some of the sillier post-punk of the late-eighties and then thrust into modern day in an alcoholic haze.

Rocking enough to be rock, bizarre enough to throw in steel drums, definitely worth the listen.


For Fans Of : Half-Japanese, The Raunch Hands, The Stranglers
High Points : "Further South", "Just A Person", "Hey Watch It"
May. 20th, 2004 @ 04:35 pm
» Attack of the Mutated Rappers
Artist : Dynamite Jive
Album : “Mutated”
Label : Dynamite Jive

Dynamite Jive is HOT. And I don’t just mean T.Marie. Mutated reps the live show of this wildly creative duo, Tony J. and T.Marie. Don’t get all West Coast, East Coast, Southern, or whatever, this is solid no matter where is comes from. The Dynamite scene is a land of brand new beats, an angel of an MC, a rugged mutant MC and an invisible heaven.

So gather round and get hip to the mutated sound. It’s “Unexpected”.

For Fans Of : Digable Planets, ATCQ, Outkast, Madlibs
High Points : “Rise”, “Smoove”, “Settle Down”

Reviewer - Diggy
Apr. 30th, 2004 @ 06:26 pm
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