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Written by PLAYBACK:stl Thursday, 27 April 2006 10:53

london elektricity, madagascar, mylo, parts and labor, payola reserve, stavesacre, talkdemonic, the follow, the tango saloon, wilderness, darsomba.

London Elektricity: Power Ballads (self released)

Ridiculous musicianship chops right from the start. I knew immediately that this was a progressive, groundbreaking musical experiment.

Wait a minute

Is that a freakin’ drum machine?

Never mind. | Derek Lauer

Madagascar: Forced March (Western Vinyl)

Madagascar is in a group all its own. It’s like Yiddish folk music, which at times often borders on an opening sequence to an Addams’ Family funeral, like in its opening track and “Bear Goes Shopping.” Their influences definitely range from a fully orchestrated chamber music to accordion filled laments.

“I’m So Tired of Violets (Take Them All Away)” and “A Brief Stroll – The Velvet Parasol” sound like a soundtrack appropriate for melancholy rainy day alongside Mary Poppins. And that’s meant as a positive. It’s interesting and refreshing to hear music that doesn’t have to draw on lyrics to inspire a mood once in awhile. | Janelle Greenwood

 

Mylo: Destroy Rock ’n’ Roll (RCA)

RIYL: Orbital, Meat Beat Manifesto, John Tesh

Listening to Destroy Rock ’n’ Roll, the new CD from Scotlands’ Mylo, is a bit like reading Wuthering Heights. Sure, it is a good piece of work, but at the same time, it’s painful to get through it. Mylo, whose real name is Myles MacInnes, has a lot of talent as a DJ who mixes great keyboard and guitar parts. The disc contains 17 tracks, most of which are instrumental, and none of which connected with me. I can recall hearing great sample work done by groups like Big Audio Dynamite and Meat Beat Manifesto in the past and I have always loved the keyboard sounds of Orbital, but this just didn’t interest me. Though it certainly is original and is hardly a copycat of any club music available today, the music just didn’t leave an impact. | John Kujawski

 

Parts & Labor: Stay Afraid (Jagjaguwar)

The first 30 seconds of Brooklyn trio Parts & Labor’s newest album promises something that the next 32 minutes just don’t deliver. Opening with hard-hitting distorted drums and a barrage of fuzzed-out bass and electronics, Stay Afraid’s opener “A Great Divide,” suggests a cross between Lightning Bolt and labelmates Oneida—that is, until the vocals come in. I’ve heard that this band used be instrumental, and, in my opinion, they should have stayed that way, or tried a different approach. I can appreciate the effort, but trying to marry a pop sensibility with a noise-rock aesthetic just doesn’t work in this context. At worst, the band’s attempts at anthemic hooks come off as bad pop-punk, and there’s really nothing new or exciting about that. | Adam Roberts

 

The Payola Reserve: One Long Apology (self-released)

The Payola Reserve, a foursome from Maryland, has made a valiant attempt to create something new here. One Long Apology can’t really be categorically placed. While it combines harmonizing vocals with a clear guitar background, nothing really stands out here.

“Brave New Radio” is very Panic! at the Disco with its sound and it’s reminiscent of ’80s pinball rock songs played at every skating rink in America. “Anything but Ghosts” also stands out due to its somewhat unusual usage of a Rhodes piano and maybe an organ in there too. It’s worth a listen, if even for the instrumentation. | Janelle Greenwood

 

Stavesacre: How to Live With a Curse (Abacus Recordings)

RIYL: Foo Fighters ,Taking Back Sunday, Story of the Year

About ten years ago in Seattle, Stavescare’s show came to a stop, and I was there to see it. The band was playing a show at the Velvet Elvis, an 84-seat theater, and about halfway through the set, lead singer Mark Salomon announced that Stavesacre was a “band of Christians.” Salomon’s microphone was then turned off and someone representing the venue hit the stage and said the band was not allowed to preach at the Velvet Elvis. The group did get to finish their set, but after hearing the new Stavesacre CD, I can’t help but wonder what Salomon was trying to say.

How to Live With a Curse is a great CD filled with great guitar melodies, solid vocals, and a variety of complex lyrics. The four-piece from Huntington Beach, Calif., plays good, strong, indie rock with a bit of grunge and metal influence thrown in the mix, coming up with high impact songs that are truly powerful. The two best examples of this are “We Say” and the opening track “A Reason to Believe.” Simply put, the melodies are great and the vocals are perfectly suited. Stavesacre songs seem to be concerned with emotions and life struggles, and there’s enough in the verses to want to listen back to them several times in one sitting.

I will never know what singer Mark Salomon was going to say in his speech at the Velvet Elvis; he was not allowed to be heard. But the new Stavesacre CD is well worth a listen and I’m glad it’s one I now own. | John Kujawski

 

Talkdemonic: Beat Romantic (Arena Rock Recording Co.)

RIYL: Tristeza, Dirty Three, Japancakes

Instrumental indie rock can provide the perfect background music for small social gatherings. I’ve found that when you have just a few close friends over for a casual meal, or maybe wine and appetizers, you don’t want distracting music playing in the background; you just want something that’s cool and interesting enough to complement the mood. Bands like Tristeza, Tuatara, Japancakes, and many others fit the bill, and so does Talkdemonic, the Portland duo responsible for the charming sounds on Beat Romantic, their second disc. Kevin O’Connor is the wizard behind this multi-instrumental souffle, and he’s responsible for everything here except viola and some of the synth work by partner Lisa Molinaro. The 16 tracks are all fairly short, but each brims with enough musical detail to keep you engaged. O’Connor likes to feature several instruments in each track; “Cascade Locks” offers effectively minimal keyboards, banjo, shaker, and Molinaro’s winsome viola playing. Molinaro, in fact, plays with textural grace throughout—“Bering,” “Mountaintops in Caves” (a particularly soothing little piece which is mostly guitar and viola), and “Verite” are among the tunes where her playing is integral to the subtly beguiling effect of the music. “Human Till Born” is a showcase for O’Connor’s near-tribal percussion, joined by a bit of emberglow synth, and “Sept With Smith” is a lilting composition where O’Connor shows the kind of taste and restraint on guitar (with a satisfying change or two) that always increases the mood-enhancing effect of music like this, rather than getting showy or distracting with empty virtuosity.

Though billed in the press release as “a collection of style-bending, folktronic hop songs” this is really just modern mood music, at heart. No track lasts long enough to induce over-analysis, yet they all flow nicely, with some segueing directly into each other with no break. This kind of thing isn’t really that easy to do, either; O’Connor and Molinaro deserve kudos for finding the core musicality of each track, and making sure whatever instruments they add, whether a banjo, accordion or Wurlitzer, don’t veer too far from that core. Modest and charming, yet still filled with ear-caressing moments, Beat Romantic is a well-named recording that illustrates why the term “post-rock” is hopelessly inadequate as a catch-all banner for instrumental rock. I’m really not sure what to call this stuff, but I know where it’ll be filed in my head: in the bin marked “Engaging, classy, instrumental mood music, perfect as accompaniment to inspired discussions and drinking high-quality spirits.” In fact, there’s a high quality to the spirit with which Talkdemonic create and perform this rather effervescent brand of instrumental pop. With a little tronica added... | Kevin Renick

 

The Follow: Up With the Sun (ONI Music)

RIYL: U2, Snow Patrol, Tom Petty

Value of being a hard-working Midwestern rock band on the verge of breaking out: variable. Having an exceptionally good bass player: priceless. Yes, I’m gonna sing the praises of Amy Rickertsen straight away in reviewing the new album by the Follow, a sturdy little trio from Columbia, Mo. Rickertsen joined the band in 1997, proceeded to develop into my favorite kind of bass player—the kind you can always hear, the kind that anchors the songs and makes the good ones even better. Her playing is exemplary on Up With the Sun, making her possibly my favorite female bass player since Tina Weymouth. The Follow have a very chunky, no-nonsense sound that hovers between mainstream radio-friendly and Athens-era indie rock. Mat Matlack is a terrific drummer, and Troy Rickertsen (hubby of Amy) is a strong, accessible vocalist. A lot of the Follow’s song titles could actually apply to the band’s approach: They sound like they have a “Heart of Joy” (very catchy opener), they’ll do “Anything at All” to make sure a tune has been performed and recorded as smoothly as possible, they have a “Burning Vision” (a truly classic song, with pitch-perfect balance between guitars, percussion and bass, and some sweet harmonies) to put their music across, and they exhibit “Strength Beyond Words” in the consistency and professionalism of their work. “Can you believe just how far you’ve come/Can you believe this is only a glimmer,” the band sings in one of many infectious moments. Guys, I’m already knocked out by your “glimmer,” so if you’re planning a large-scale creative light show down the road, you can count on my attendance. | Kevin Renick

The Tango Saloon: The Tango Saloon (Ipecac)

The Tango Saloon’s style can be found in its name: dusty-sounding tango, for sure. There are no unexpected spazz-outs, no screaming out of left field; just tango. To be completely honest, tango isn’t a style that does a lot for me, but I would be completely ignorant to lay down descriptions of this disc that were negative. The Tango Saloon leaves one with a feeling of embarrassment. Spoke the brain: “Don’t you realize that this band is good? You must be a complete dumbass for not liking this.” There is just something about labels like Ipecac and John Zorn’s Tzadik Records where nearly everything the label releases all possess a certain level of wisdom higher than any musical fish hack will ever have. Of course, this isn’t always the case. However, outside of their rock releases, their catalogs contain an enormous amount of records that have a literal foreign flavor to them. The Tango Saloon is quite foreign, so in this case, I have to defer to the band and take its honor and word as actual fact. Is this a cop-out? Probably. Will this record appeal to a large amount of people? It all depends on one simple question: Do you tango? | David Lichius

RIYL: Tzadik Records, Ipecac Recordings

Wilderness: Vessel States (Jagjaguwar)

If there’s one word that best describes the second album from Baltimore’s Wilderness, it’s “grandiose.” In the liner notes for Vessel States, the band thanks “The Music,” as if the songs themselves were a separate, spiritual entity. Vocalist James Johnson, whose style echoes John Lydon, Ian McCulloch, and even Jim Morrison, seems to be shouting from a mountaintop, delivering every pretentious reverbed line like it was one of the Ten Commandments. Even their name suggests a primal vastness. This kind of pomposity might be acceptable if the band were doing something original, but unfortunately, they do little more than mine the same mid-tempo, post-punk territory as bands like Interpol, albeit with an even greater degree of sameness from song to song. Given the glowing reviews of last year’s self-titled debut, with adjectives like “cerebral” and “unconventional,” Vessel States comes as an even greater disappointment. | Adam Roberts

Darsombra: Ecdysis (At a Loss Recordings)

If you listen to it on fast forward, you can almost make out the shape of a melody. It starts out with a chaotic clamor of people screaming at each other set against the backdrop of rancid-sounding, long, drawn-out, wretched guitar tones. It’s just what you’re looking for…if you’re into that sort of pain. | Derek Lauer