Some Last-Minute Reviews for 2011

Here are some short capsule reviews of some 2011 releases we didn’t otherwise get to over the past year.

Bill Orcutt, How the Thing Sings (Editions Mego) LP– Seemingly more aggressive than A New Way to Pay Old Debts, Bill Orcutt’s second “post-comeback” LP  How the Thing Sings still manages to showcase the occasional moment of beauty within what superficially may sound like a huge racket. Buy it here.

Nathan Salsburg, Affirmed (No Quarter) LP — We praised Salsburg’s duo record Avos with James Elkington, and we worked on the occasional show with him, so maybe you’re tired of reading about Nathan Salsburg’s deft guitar work and superb melodic sense in these pages. Well, guess what? Too bad. His solo debut, Affirmed, is every bit as good as Avos, perhaps it’s even better in its melancholy starkness. Can’t wait to hear more from Nathan in 2012. Buy it here.

Craig Colorusso, Sun Boxes (self-released) 7″ — One of the more pleasant surprises in our mailbox this year was this unassuming 7″ record documenting Craig Colorusso’s “Sun Boxes.” Basically they’re some sort of contraption that involves twenty amplifiers looping parts of a guitar chord and running on solar power, documented here in two different Massachusetts locations. Despite the short format, we look forward to hearing more. Buy it here.

The Parasites of the Western World, “Politico” b/w “Zytol Automation” (De Stijl) 7″  – Faithful repress of an obscure 1979 single by this band, recently resurrected by the same folks who brought you Michael Yonkers and 39 Clocks (so you know it’s gotta be pretty great). Late 1970s Eno-damaged glam-punk moves on the a-side, with a sparkling synth-driven instrumental on the flip. Highly recommended. Buy it (and their self-titled debut LP) here.

Silver Tongues, Black Kite (Karate Body) LP – This new Louisville band is both confounding and fascinating — the former because of their occasional “big rock” moves, the latter because of the clear gospel-via-Spiritualized influence we hear ringing throughout. Tough to grasp, in a good way, and hints at a possibly more interesting sophomore record. Buy it here.

Stare Case, Lose Today (De Stijl) LP — If you thought you were familiar with Nate Young and John Olson’s music through their “other” band Wolf Eyes, you may be in for a slight shock when you hear the much mellower — yet still intense — Stare Case. Lose Today is almost like a mash-up of their solo work as Regression (Young’s vocals and electronics) and Spykes (Olson’s electronics and reeds), which shouldn’t work, but does. Buy it here.

Mark McGuire, Get Lost (Editions Mego) LP — Excellent solo noodling by the guitar player in Emeralds, probably the best band to come out of Cleveland since, well, the 1970s. Reminiscent of our favorite Cluster/Harmonia/Eno records, but with an acid-drenched modern edge, which is no mean feat. Buy it here.

Void, Sessions 1981-83 (Dischord) LP — Void still sounds better than 99% of hardcore since. Buy it here.

Two Good Shows Tomorrow!

It’s going to be tough to decide on which of these to go to — that is, if we end up not having to work tomorrow night!

The Web
Brett Ralph’s Kentucky Chrome Revue
David Grubbs
Rude Weirdo
Straight A’s
at the Bard’s Town, 1801 Bardstown Road. 9 PM, $6, apparently now it’s all ages. This show, presented by Louisville’s excellent Noise Pollution label, should be a good one as it’s well-stocked with artists that (should) need no introduction. If you need more info, you might find it at the Facebook event here: http://www.facebook.com/events/145355115567233.

Also, over at Zanzabar (which is at 2100 S. Preston, of course), Natural Child and State Champion are playing (here’s the event invite: http://www.facebook.com/events/255787627819138). Natural Child played an excellent set at this year’s Cropped Out, so if you missed it, don’t sleep on this show! It’s $5, 21-and-over, and starts at 9 PM.

No matter what you end up doing, have a fantastic New Year!

Wooden Wand & The Briarwood Virgins, Briarwood (Fire)

My review of Briarwood by Wooden Wand & the Briarwood Virgins ran in this week’s LEO Weekly:

The near-closing lines of the first song, “Well, it’s winter in Kentucky/And I’m all tapped out,” perfectly encapsulate the emotional desperation running like a crooked river throughout Wooden Wand’s ambitious new Briarwood. Recorded with a large ad-hoc ensemble of Alabama-based session players, Briarwood showcases the usually solo, Lexington-based Wooden Wand at his most musically accessible; it’s an album chock full of beautifully sung harmonies and well-played solos, overflowing with melancholic, defiant lyrics written from the perspective of scarred loners just trying to survive. In an era overpopulated with generic music masquerading trite sentiment as true insight, with hackneyed retro retreads posing as nods to “tradition,” the despondent personalities inhabiting Wooden Wand’s songs should earn him an appreciative audience akin to those enjoyed by the best American singer-songwriters. Alas, much as the characters of Briarwood well know, the small rewards eventually come to those who lower their expectations.

You can buy it from Fire Records here.

David Lynch, Crazy Clown Time (PIAS America)

My review of David Lynch’s Crazy Clown Time ran in this week’s LEO Weekly:

David Lynch – director of such cinematic classics as “Eraserhead,” “Blue Velvet” and “Mulholland Drive” – has decided to try his hand at music. While both his masterpieces and near-misses (like his underrated adaptation of “Dune”) possess a fantastic musical sensibility, it’s difficult to discern why Lynch felt it necessary to inflict Crazy Clown Time on the public. At best, such as with album opener “Pinky’s Dream” (with guest vocalist Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs), Lynch retreads the gothic Americana creepiness present in most of his movies. At worst, which describes most of the album, he sounds like a comically impaired Neil Young — except without Young’s heart-tugging sentiment, simple lyrical genius, or compelling melodic sense. Crazy Clown Time plays like a bizarre hybrid of Young’s famous failure Trans mixed with the terrible techno of ex-porn star Traci Lords’ 1000 Fires — except not as enjoyable as either.

If, after reading that review, you still want to buy it, you can find it at http://www.pias-america.com.