You are currently browsing the monthly archive for April 2009.
So here’s the deal: I have a little more than 70 CDs to review. So I’m going to do a few batches of these short, one-sentence reviews to get caught up.
Sound good? Awesome!
Let’s go!
Sleeper “Behind Every Mask” – A nice attempt at making a minimal electronic album from little more than blips and bleeps, but it often relies too heavily on being more noise than it is music.
Various Artists “Luaka Bop: 21st Century, 21st Year” – Luaka Bop offers up this fantastic compilation (celebrating their 21st year in existence) featuring 14 of the label’s superstars including Jorge Ben, Shuggie Otis, Susana Baca and Mr. Luaka Bop himself, David Byrne.
Cheer-Accident “Fear Draws Misfortune” – A haphazard and scattered mix of experimental avant-prog-rock that falls somewhere between a watered-down Zappa album and a creepy off-off-off-Broadway musical.
Dazy Head Mazy “Mercury Said 65” – If you ever attended H.O.R.D.E. Fest or own any CD from Blues Traveler, Barenaked Ladies or Hootie and the Blowfish you’re gonna have a huge boner for Dazy Head Mazy… and I’ll let you decide whether or not that’s a good thing.
Say Hi “Oohs & Aahs” – The project of solo singer/songwriter Eric Elbogen, Say Hi’s first label debut is an inspired disc of fable-like storytelling laid over subtle sounds and strumming.
Willie Nelson “Naked Willie” – Only Willie Nelson has the power to take 17 of his vintage RCA tracks (originally released from 1966 to 1970) and strip them down to the bare singer/guitar essentials… and thank Christ, because the result is Willie sounding exactly the way he had intended to be heard: on top of his game and naked as hell.
The Prodigy “Invaders Must Die” – Liam Howlett and Co. return with the familiar heavy bass and harsh beats that made their 1997 album “The Fat of the Land” a dance floor favorite, giving us a new Prodigy album that is laced with vintage Prodigy sound.
Dengue Fever “Sleepwalking Through the Mekong” – An ABSOLUTELY AMAZING CD/DVD soundtrack/documentary collection. The documentary follows Dengue Fever lead singer Chhom Nimol as she returns to her native Cambodia to tour during the 2005 Water Festival. The accompanying soundtrack features classic tracks from Cambodian musicians like Sinn Sisamouth and Meas Samoun. And yes, I’m aware this review breaks the one-sentence rule, but it’s one of the best things I’ve been sent to review in awhile and therefore deserves the love.
ApSci “Best Crisis Ever” – A fantastic follow-up to 2005’s “Thanks For Asking,” this husband/wife duo returns and continues to push the boundaries of experimental hip-hop, delivering familiar ApSci beats in a mixture of the fresh and new; a shining star in Quannum’s already bright sky.
Iggy Pop “Preliminaries” – The most bold, beautiful and bizarre Iggy Pop album to date, featuring The Stooge himself crooning in a Leonard Cohen-esque fashion (but in French), singing love ballads and trying his hand at… jazz?
J. Todd “Ryzzynynce” – An electronic instrumental bit of brilliance from Milwaukee’s own J. Todd, with sexy-smooth synthesized sounds and sweet samples, “Ryzzynynce” is the perfect album to have playing on loop throughout the day as you bust your ass to get shit done… like writing a thousand CD reviews.
Bibio “Ovals & Emeralds EP” – A new six-song EP from Bibio (who I covered not too long ago), a one-man band whose scratchy, old-timey instrumentals transform your CD player into a phonograph.
Beck “One Foot In The Grave” (Remastered) – This remastered version of Beck’s 1994 release gives fans an album that is now nearly twice its original size, with all of its previous tracks as well as a ton of new b-sides… and now it’s all cleaned up and pretty sounding!
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds “Your Funeral… My Trial” (Remastered), “The First Born Is Dead” (Remastered), “From Her To Eternity” (Remastered), “Kicking Against The Pricks” (Remastered) – Nick Cave’s entire back catalog is getting a major reworking with remastered versions done up in 5.1 surround sound. These mark the first four in a set, and if they’re anything like what’s coming it’s going to be a very nice collection to own. Each disc is now a double-disc set, with one containing the remastered album and the other containing the disc in 5.1 sound. Also included on each disc are b-sides and singles. Sure, if you’re a huge Nick Cave fan, chances are you already own all of this music. But you don’t own it like this.
More coming… goddammit.
A few months ago I wrote a quick little post about a cool event here in L.A. called Unique Los Angeles.
Well, they’re having it again this weekend! If you’re in town, be sure to head on out. I’ll be there… with bells on… some part of my body.
For those of you who don’t know, Unique Los Angeles is a quarterly independent design and gift sale where local artists meet and sell their wares. It’s an amazing event with some extremely talented kids, and it’s a cheap day: only $5! And half of that gets donated to local charities!
So head on out, check out some art, support local talent and charities, and have something to talk about on Monday. What’s everyone else in your office going to be talking about? “Oh, I went and did crack in a bathroom stall at some shitty club Saturday night!” or “I watched forty episodes of ‘The Simpsons’ on Sunday.”
Yippee. Go out and do something instead! Do Unique!
Here’s all the info for you reader types:
Unique Los Angeles
May 2nd, 2009 :: 11AM – 7PM
May 3rd, 2009 :: 11AM – 5PM
California Market Center
110 E. Ninth Street
Los Angeles, CA
90079
$5 donation/2-for-1 entry for students/Children under 10 are free
And here’s some of Unique’s propaganda for those of you who need your information delivered via imagery:
Uniquely,
I’m sure you’ve seen the ads/commercials for this cinematic nightmare:
Well, if you look really closely at Matthew McConaughey’s eyes they’re a little… jacked. Like one of them is more open than the other, and he’s staring at me in a creepy, sleepy-eyed grin.
Here, check it out for yourself:
Did he have a stroke? Or did they just happen to use an image where one of his eyes wasn’t entirely open? And, if so, couldn’t they have fixed it in Photoshop? I mean, they can put Brad Pitt’s face on a baby’s body, but they can’t open Matthew McConaughey’s eye for him?!?
Christ… don’t stare at it too long. It’s making me want to kill… again.
The only good movie starring Matthew McConaughey is… well, nothing,
No, not days in office. (Although, good job, buddy!)
The 100 I’m talking about is the 100th episode of “Lost” which will air tonight on ABC. Be sure to watch it!
Also (and I’ll make another post about this closer to the actual date), on May 9th be sure to watch “Ace of Cakes” on the Food Network. That episode may or may not have something to do with Jorge, my sister and tonight’s episode of “Lost.”
Better than 100 episodes of “Charles in Charge,”
I just found out that I will be Jorge’s date this Thursday night for the premiere of “Star Trek” at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre!
OH-EM-GEE!
What should I wear?!? Will he try to kiss me at the end of the night?!? If so, should I sleep with him?!?
In all seriousness though, this is going to be unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before. It might even be more nutty than my Trent Reznor Situation (TRS).
So stay tuned for a full report and pictures!
The wrath of (Comic) Con,
…from our trip to Prague last year.
It’s really brief, but I’m drinking rainwater that is dripping out of a water spout from the top of Prague Castle.
The spout looked like a gargoyle with the water coming out of its mouth, so it looked like a spitting gargoyle. Hence, the “spargoyle” part of the post.
Better than a “shargoyle,”
Jeremy “Jocco” Scott has been busy as hell these past few days working on the website that accompanies our upcoming children’s book, “The Lava is a Floor!”
It’s Flash genius, and has just now been officially launched, so check it out for yourself here.
Thanks, Jocco! You make doing these books look easy!
Of course, they’re not, but at least you make it look that way.
The Flash Whiz is a Jocco,
…for y’all to check out right here:
Also, I don’t think the book is listed on Amazon.com yet, but I just got the ISBN number which you can use to pre-order a copy from your local bookstore.
The ISBN number is: 978-1-60706-123-6
If you have any problems ordering one, just let me know and I’ll do my best to help you out.
Still ain’t no Seuss,
The Blarg 