MUSIC REVIEW - Dan Auerbach

Dan Auerbach – Keep It Hid

Dan Auerbach is undoubtedly most well known as the singer-guitarist from the Black Keys. After five albums with the band (and hopefully many more), Auerbach has written, produced, and mixed a own solo album in his almost entirely vintage private studio. And it’s spectacular. Auerbach has almost always defined himself as a bluesman, and this album showcases that side of him; along with his abilities to create beautiful yet subtly complex melodies while kicking ass and taking names.

The entire album is incredibly worthwhile. Interesting sound tricks and playful audio asides are thrown about at random intervals, but are carefully placed so as to not detract from the songs. As musicians tend to do on solo albums, Keep It Hid is mellower overall in tone compared to a Black Keys album, but that is not a criticism – the soft points have an earnestness which forbears the doldrums, and serve to make the albums’ thicker moments all the more savory.

Starting off on a little experiment in acoustics, the first track is incredibly bare. It then drops into a rich delta blues jam (“I Want Some More”) with some funk to it – heavy fuzz and some whirling guitars are layered on a guitar and synth backbone. Song 3, “Heartbroken in Disrepair”, replaces the delta for call-and-response, keeping the heavy bass-lines intact. Next few songs tone it down again, but in a good way – for example, track 5 “Whispered Words” for takes it’s time building up a gorgeous melody that draws you in to the highly emotive singing. He lets loose again on track 8, aptly named “Mean Monsoon”. It’s followed immediately with “The Prowl”, a song defined by it’s simplistic and beat-centric – I love it.

I would love to continue a song-by-song review, but I feel I must congratulate those who’ve read this far, and apologize for rambling on. Suffice to say that the remaining five tracks build upon those mentioned, while continuing to develop individual sounds for each. It’s actually a little difficult to believe this album is the work of one man, given the variety and depth achieved.

Will I play it on my show? Yes, it’s going on twice this Saturday. RIYL – The Black Keys, Heavy Trash, early White Stripes.

BUY THE CD/MP3's ON AMAZON
http://www.nonesuch.com/artists/dan-auerbach
http://www.myspace.com/danauerbachmusic

MUSIC REVIEW - Lily Allen

Lily Allen – It’s Not Me, It’s You

A short three years after Lily Allen was thrust somewhat unceremoniously into the spotlight with the release of her first album, her second full LP has finally come out. While the first album showcased a girl who had been working hard for years to get famous, and the tracks showcased a lot of that work. They might have been based on a life that was partially created to garner more media attention, but the songs were undeniably fun (for the most part).

This album is a little different. Ms. Allen has been claiming for months to be headed in a different direction, and in doing so has lost some of what defined her first album. The songs have the same basic vibe (synth, drum machine, boys are smelly), but the songs don’t match the pure entertainment from Alright, Still. It seems like she’s gotten a bit full of herself, to be quite honest. The songs are still going to have the crap played out of them, though, because she’s popular and they aren’t really bad, per se. They just aren’t as good as you’d hope.

Will I play it on my show? Probably, begrudgingly. RIYL – Kate Nash, The Bird and The Bee.

BUY THE CD/MP3's ON AMAZON
http://www.lilyallenmusic.com/lily/
http://www.myspace.com/lilymusic

MUSIC REVIEW - M. Ward

M. Ward – Hold Time

M. Ward first came to my attention with his 2005 album Transistor Radio, but I’m m most familiar with him as the “Him” from She & Him, the collaboration between M. Ward and actress / singer Zooey Deschanel. This album, Hold Time, continues his pattern of ethereal excellence. Ward has a classic coffeehouse voice (makes sense, as he’s from Portland), and his compositions are light and pleasant.

The album as a whole will appeal mainly to people who enjoy soft pop. If you like that kind of music, this is crack. If you don’t, this will be horrible – pay close attention to the RIYL in this case. Regardless, on tracks like “To Save Me” and “Hold Time”, it’s had not to be impressed with his abilities as a songwriter and producer. “Hold Time” is the highlight of the album for me. I usually dislike overly whispery, wafting tunes, but the violin backing on this song helps to congeal it more than many songs of this sort. I also enjoy “Epistemology”, a garage-band blues track that has the unique combination of peach-fuzz distortion, violins, and banjo.

Will I play it on my show? Likely. RIYL – Rilo Kiley, She & Him, Bright Eyes, Tom Waits.

BUY THE CD/MP3's ON AMAZON
BUY THE VINYL ON AMAZON
http://mwardmusic.com/
http://www.myspace.com/mward

MUSIC REVIEW - Horatio Lee Jenkins

Horatio Lee Jenkins – Drunker Than Satan

From the liner notes:

The legendary musical hero, Horatio Lee Jenkins, humiliated Satan in a drinking contest and composed the gloriously brilliant song “Drunker Than Satan” about the experience. He followed that work of genius with the emotionally devastating masterpiece “OH SHIT! I Don’t Feel So Good” and with the most romantic song ever made “Girl, This Bed Is Too Big Without All 12 Of You”. Horatio Lee Jenkins, the world’s most potent heterosexual, then brought us a new uplifting anthem of hope, acceptance, and unconditional Christian love: “It’s Okay To be Gay”.

This album is loltastic. It’s 4 country tracks fully embrace the melodrama inherent in the genre and turns them into songs we all can relate too. Songs about drinking Satan under the table then going back for more beer. Songs about feeling like shit after drinking Satan under the table, then deciding the only cure is more whiskey. Songs about missing the 12th girl in your 13-way. Songs about born-again Christian heterosexuals accepting gays. Truly universal themes.

And just when you think the album is as good as it could possibly get, his brother, friends, and band mates put out 3 EPIC bonus tracks. EVEN BETTER, his brother’s name is my FAVORITE WORD IN THE WORD, so much my favorite that it is my religion on Facebook – Trafalgar. True story.

So, in the words of Horatio Lee Jenkins, HELL YEAH.

Will I play it on my show? MoDef. RIYL – A little country with your comedy.

Listen to his songs here:
http://drunkerthansatan.com/
http://www.myspace.com/drunkerthansatan

MUSIC REVIEW - Franz Ferdinand

Franz Ferdinand – Tonight: Franz Ferdinand

If you like Franz Ferdinand, you’ll like this album – however, I don’t think it’ll persuade any non-believers to change their opinions. Tonight: Franz Ferdinand is the product of a very good band that is fully aware they have reached most definitions of success that one can realistically hope for. But they don’t really seem to care; the music still features the yearning and intensity of their previous releases, fueled primarily by thumping bass lines and their trademark Talking Heads-esque harmonizing.

However, where this album fails, in some sense, is that it lacks any really stand-out singles. There’s no individual song that you can point to and say, “Yes, THAT is awesome.” There’s not a defining track to the CD for Franz Ferdinand. As far as possible shortcomings for an album, that is a very minor one, particularly in this case. Every song featured is well conceived, written, and mixed. The overall quality, both in terms of musicality and production, is extremely high, as one would expect from such a band. Because of these factors, if you like Franz Ferdinand, you’ll like this album, but there’s nothing here to convert new fans.

I like “Ulysses”, the single from the album, “Send him away”, and “Bite Hard”.

Will I play it on my show? Yes. RIYL – Umm, Franz Ferdinand, The Futureheads, The Talking Heads.


http://www.franzferdinand.co.uk/
http://www.myspace.com/franzferdinand

MUSIC REVIEW - The Bird and The Bee

The Bird and The Bee – Ray Guns Are Not Just The Future

If you haven’t heard of these guys yet, you’ve been missing out. This self-dubbed “jazz-influenced electro pop” band’s second full length album continues the high level of musical excellence their followers have come to expect, featuring a variety of sounds within their rather uniquely defined genre: For example, two of the tracks, “Diamond Dave” and “Witch“, are highly reminiscent of James Bond title songs in the most awesome of senses, “You’re A Cad” is synth heavy and almost elctro-polka, while “Ray Gun” follows a slower, more lounge-y tune.

I particularly am partial to “Love Letter To Japan” and “Polite Dance Song”, though all the tracks are highly enjoyable in their own ways. “Love Letter To Japan” has a fairly repetitive vocal and lyrical pattern, over which is laid a simple beat. But the song begins to experiment with the sounds, creating a playful and experimental vibe which leaves the song feeling like it ends far too early at four minutes. “Polit Dance Song” is a song geared entirely to sweet-action dance parties, but takes a rather supplicatory approach to the genre (“Give it up for me, please”, “I beg of you to dance, it’s such a crazy kick-ass beat”).

If you like playful but quite beautiful jazz-influenced electro pop, this is most definitely your album.

Will I play it on my show? Yes. RIYL – Lily Allen, Pizzicato 5, Rilo Kiley.

http://www.thebirdandthebee.com/
http://www.myspace.com/thebirdandthebee

MUSIC REVIEW - The Lonely Island

The Lonely Island – Incredibad

From the creative … erm …. people who brought you such songs as the SNL Digital Shorts’ “Dick in a Box”, “Lazy Sunday”, and “Jizz In My Pants” comes this album. The group is SNL’s Andy Samberg along with Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone, and the album is pretty much what you’d expect from them – the songs featured in the Digital Shorts along with new music in the same vein. It’s a comedy album which impersonates a variety of music, all of which is well done and is totally, liek, lol.

As for radio play, it’s a hard sell. I really don’t know why they bothered sending it to KMNR. Of the 19 tracks, only three can be played anytime, nine feature severe amounts of cussin’ and can only be played during the radio’s safe harbor hours, and six are obscene – can’t be played at all, anytime. Ever. Which kinda blows, because those are the funniest (and, arguably, most musically sound) songs on the album.

With all this profanity and naughty talking, this CD is sure to sell like hot cakes.

Will I play it on my show? Meh. RIYL – The SNL Digital Shorts.

http://www.thelonelyisland.com/
http://www.myspace.com/thelonelyisland

MUSIC REVIEW - N.A.S.A

N.A.S.A. – The Spirit of Apollo

This is such a cool concept for an album: Two DJ’s met in Brazil and connected over their mutual love of Brazilian Funk, then came back to the U.S. and proceeded to get as many people as they could to agree to make an album aimed at breaking down barriers between musical genres, races, and people as a whole. Over 35 artists are featured on this 17 track album, creating some interesting combos in each song: David Byrne and Chuck D., Karen O. (Yeah Yeah Yeahs) and Ol’Dirty Bastard, Tom Waits and Kool Keith, The Cool Kids and Ghostface Killah, Del Tha Funkee Homosapien and DJ Qbert.

And as cool as all this sounded conceptually, the music is orders of magnitude better. It’s hip-hop, to be sure, but by drawing in such a diverse group of back up musicians there is significant variety and subtlety imbued even upon individual tracks. All the music is funky as all hell, and, as an intravenous solution, is a guaranteed cure for chronic white-boy-dancing syndrome. While the extreme contrast of many of the featured musicians had the potential to cripple this project, it is turned 100% into its strength.

There are some low points, to be sure (“Hip-Hop”, for example, falls too far into generic bad rap habits), but the high points more than make up for it. Try Track 13, “Whachadoin?”, featuring Spank Rock & M.I.A, and “Money” with David Byrne and Chuck D.

Will I play it on my show? Yes, no doubt. RIYL – The X-Ecutioners, Beck in his hip-hop stages, any of the contributing artists.


http://www.myspace.com/nasa

MUSIC REVIEW - SPACESHIPS ARE COOL

Spaceships Are Cool – Spaceships Are Cool 5-Track EP

I picked up this EP from the radio station to review thinking it was going to be a joke band playing keytars and singing about PacMan (you think I’m kidding, but there’s a precedent - Mr. Pacman). I was very pleasantly surprised to find a delightful bastard-love-child from Beck and Of Montreal encapsulated in this short but very rich EP. It’s 5 songs long but features examples of both simple poppy songs and deeply layered tracks. The album as a whole leaves an impression of a band(-ish) that doesn’t take themselves overly seriously, but also has a strong understanding of what they feel music should be with the ability to write and record precisely what they want. I use the term ‘band’ as that’s what the promotional material makes them out to be. In reality they’re only a band when performing live. When recording it’s just Rob Maddison of Nottingham, England.

I enjoyed this album a substantial amount, particularly tracks 3 and 4, “This Fond Farewell” and “Gingerbread Houses”. “This Fond Farewell” is an excellent electro-indie ballad which showcases the band’s ability to layer its mayhem. “Gingerbread Houses” takes a much more simplistic route as it meanders across the tune. Add in tracks 1, 2, and 5 to get a complete and worthwhile album: “Let Things Go” is what you wish NES music would have been, featuring very cool guitar and synth lines layered heavily with staccato drums while fading in and out of more melodic interludes; “Strawberry Knickers” is simple but fun (you can listen by following the first BBC link below); and “Sooner or Later “ is a saccharine-sweet melody that deserves to be played with a black turtleneck sweater and cappuccino.

DJ’s – play any of the first four tracks on air. Baristas – play track 5 on the coffee shops loudspeakers.

Will I play it on my show? Yes. RIYL – Beck, Of Montreal.

http://spaceshipsarecool.com/home.htm
http://www.myspace.com/spaceshipsarecool2
BBC - video link
BBC - Interview

Jerks of Grass – Come on Home

The promotional material labels this band ‘bluegrass’, a genre I can enjoy in moderation under the proper circumstances; however, the online CD database has the album listed under ‘country’. I would feel comfortable placing them in either category, as it is slower songs that embrace a much more modern style of songwriting than the traditional bluegrass people usually associated with the genre, which makes it feel a little bit more country-esque (especially the tracks with singing). If you like other bands in this vein (such as Oakhurst), this might be something to look into, but the songs don’t convey as much energy as those related groups. The album is decent for what it is, but I have a feeling this band specializes more in live shows. The songs recorded here lack a chutzpah that probably (hopefully) is more evident in concert.

Will I play it on my show? No. RIYL – Oakhurst (maybe).

http://www.jerksofgrass.com/
Myspace

MUSIC REVIEW - Marykate O'Neil (2)

Marykate O’Neil – Underground

Ms. O’Neil has graced KMNR with another of her productions. My previous review of her material was maybe a little too harsh – she is a quality musician in her own genre, namely that of coffee-shop musicians. The album is incredibly saccharine, and shows numerous signs of musical ability. The songs are well constructed and have all the trappings of a highly competent singer-songwriter, so if you like this acoustic style of music you’d like this album. It doesn’t appeal to me as a whole, but I can understand why she has a dedicated, if small, following (at least, as far as I can infer from her promotional material and the interwebs). If you do play this album, I recommend tracks 1 and 4 “Green Street” and “Saved”. Also, she looks a lot cuter on this album cover than on MKUltra.

Will I play it on my show? Probably not. RIYL – Ben Folds, Starbucks.

http://www.marykateoneil.com/
http://www.myspace.com/marykateoneil

MUSIC REVIEW - The Blizzard of '78

The Blizzard of ‘78 – Book of Lies

This band was raised on rock from the late ‘60’s and ‘70’s, and tries to emulate a lot of the music from that time. The songs sound a lot like Zepplin’s slower tracks mixed with some of the more poppy music from the ‘70’s, with three or four of the tracks channeling more of the bluesy / country songs by The Rolling Stones. While Blizzard of ’78 might have been highly influenced by these bands, they don’t match the quality. The songs have a fair amount of complexity to them, as saxophones, violins, and other non-‘rock’ intruments are added in, but the mixing is mediocre. The result is a noticeable lack of depth to the album, which makes it difficult to enjoy more than in mere passing.

Will I play it on my show? Not too likely. RIYL – I don’t have any thing, sorry.

http://www.tbo78.com/
http://www.myspace.com/theblizzardof78