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University of Richmond Radio

 

 

 

 

10

Album Reviews

Music Worth  Hearing

 

Wolf Parade: At Mount Zoomer (Sub Pop) - Canadian indie-pop combo Wolf Parade’s sophomore is remarkable.  With a more relaxed perspective and a balancing of their guitar and keyboard elements, they have achieved a cohesive work which is full of counterpoints and connections to carry you along.  The guitars bound from punchy proclamations to southern rock inspired swells, while swooning synths frame buoyant keys, and crashing rhythms keep things churning.  Highly Recommended. 

Emmylou Harris: All Intended to Be (Nonesuch) – After a five year absence, Alabama born country legend Emmylou Harris returns to the studio.  For her sophomore Nonesuch album, Harris penned half of the songs, and makes material by Patty Griffin, Billy Joe Shaver, and Merle Haggard seem like here own.  There’s always an intimate feel to the acoustic based music.  The arrangements are sophisticated, yet remain somewhat monochromatic – framing the mood and sentiments.  The story based songs about lives that didn't turn out quite as planned come to life with Harris’ sparkles like a diamond.

King Khan & the Shrines: The Supreme Genius of King Khan & the Shrines (Vice) - Supreme Genius isn’t far off the mark in describing this collection of sides from King Khan & the Shrines.  Since the last century (1999 to be exact), the Canadian born King Kahn and German big band The Shrines have been kicking out supreme slabs of golden garage rock nuggets and psychedelic blues slathered in hot buttered soul.  Khan’s lyrics are clever, full of tongue-in-cheek sexuality and twisted humor.  The large band includes a live horn section that’s well versed in the Stax tradition, organ, psychedelic guitar riffs and elastic rhythms.  Highly Recommended. 

Herman Düne: 1-2-3 Apple Tree [ep] (Everloving) - Sweden born, Paris based anti-folk duo Herman Düne are sibling singers/guitarists André and David-Ivar Herman Düne broaden the pallet generally associated with the NYC anti-folk scene.  They combine flavors of 60s pop, spaghetti western, and afro-pop.  Features trumpets, woodwinds, playful percussion, and girl-group vocals from The Woo-Woo's in bolstering the guitar foundation – taking their clever, story based lyrics and sing-along catchiness to great heights.  Recommended. 

[Their next full-length is due September 2008].

Calico Horse: Mirror (Banter) - Calico Horse is a new project from Emily Neveu (The Clock Work Army).  With help from producer Pall Jenkins (of The Black Heart Procession), she embraces a darker, more twisted sense of song-craft.  Calico Horse prances through the shadowed lowlands, where gentle waltzes and ghostly echoes rustle the canopy.  Soft vocals glide among the piano, singing saw, textural guitar, vibes, subdued percussion and more.  Recommended. 

The Chap: Mega Breakfast (Ghostly International) - Mega Breakfast is the third album from British experimental pop quartet The Chap.  From their primary colors of keyboards, guitar, cello, violin, bass and drums grow unlikely multi-dimensional works of art that reference much yet are strangely fresh.  While organic in nature, there is a pronounced minimalist, prog inspired ascetic.  Their vocals bound from the glam-ed up, to syncopated harmonization, to softly spoken monochromes.  It’s twisted and unpredictable in the best of ways.  Recommended. 

Flying Lotus: Los Angeles (Warp) - The sophomore release from Flying Louts (Steven Ellison, great nephew of jazz artist Alice Coltrane) explores the streets of his hometown Los Angeles.  It’s an instrumental journey of fractured beats.  The seventeen track journey through the urban corridors encounters abstract ambience, ethnic echoes, future funk and minimalist hip hop.  His colorful beat collages are given a sense of space and distance with reverbed vocal samples and dubed out aesthetics.  Recommended. 

The Black Ghosts: The Black Ghosts (I Am Sound) - The Black Ghosts is a new project from the London duo of Simon Lord (Simian) and Theo Keating (The Wiseguys).  Call it electro-rock with a tortured soulful side.  Shadowed electro beats, Rhodes, keys, strings and vocal harmonies are combined into haunted gothic disco grit.  Good. 

Big Blue Ball: Big Blue Ball (Realworld) - Big Blue Ball is a fitting title for this project.  A global cast of 75 artists [including Gabriel, Wallinger, Sinead O Connor, Natacha Atlas, Iarla O Lionaird & James McNally (both of Afro Celt Sound System), Papa Wemba, Joseph Arthur, Marta Sebestyen, Tim Finn, Vernon Reid, Justin Adams, Jah Wobble, the Holmes Brothers, and many more] from 20 countries revolve around a magnetic rhythmic core.  Since the recordings were made between 1991 and 1995 at Peter Gabriel’s Real World studios in the England’s countryside, these archival sounds initially appear somewhat musty.  However once uncorked prove rather savory. 

Earlimart: Hymn & Her (Major Domo/Shout Factory) - As implied by the title, Earlimart has been distilled to a duo of co-leaders Aaron Espinoza and Ariana Murray.  After about three years, they decided to knock out an LP in 30 days.  Recorded at their Eagle Rock studio, California remains integral to their sound.  Though not as precise as their earlier work, these adjectives seem appropriate: light, tender, thunderous, fuzzy.  Recommended.