Kahimi Karie
(Minty Fresh 10)
You play it once and think, “No I can’t take this.”
The voice is too sickly sweet, even if the lyrics have a certain edge to them.
But don’t go putting Kahimi Karie in the “To Sell” pile yet. Play it again and again. You’ll soon say “Well. . . her voice still bugs me but I have to admit that that one song is pretty good. I’ll put that on a various tape and then sell it.”
Listen the following day and now there are three songs to go on that tape.
. . . and soon enough, no day seems complete until you’ve listened to the disc all the way through.
Kahimi Karie is a Japanese Pop Mega-star in her home country. This is her first album and contains songs written by such indie cult stars as Cornelius Fantasma and Momus, as well as covers of Serge Gainsbourg and Astrud Gilberto. Also a Beck sample. It’s a big piece of candy at once sweet and (pleasantly) sour. Give her a chance and you’ll get the sweet tooth.
— Brian Greene
Belle & Sebastian–
The Boy With The Arab Strap
(Matador 311)
This Scottish group’s 1997 CD, If You’re Feeling Sinister, was one of those aural treasures that seemed to define it’s year of release, for me and several others on the staff at least. A seamless set of songs, programmed expertly, intriguingly sung; defying expectations all the while. How often does that happen?
The Belle & Sebastian “sound,” so blatantly anachronistic specialists think mid-period Donovan crossed with Nick Drake fronting the Velvets on the 3rd Velvets record and you’ve almost got it shaped itself to the waveform of some of the most uncompromising and intriguing lyrics to be heard. The band’s reclusive lead songwriter, Stuart Murdoch avoids interviews, plays limited U.S. live gigs, etc., but he laid it all out on the line in Sinister’s multi-faceted songs (what more would you want him to say, anyway??)
I’m happy to report that the band’s Matador debut, The Boy With The Arab Strap is a wondrous follow up to Sinister that every fan of the earlier disc should snatch up immediately released at a perfect time, too. This is falling trees music, golden and changing and organic; full of mood shifts and haunting melodies.
Like Sinster, and the string of excellent U.K.-only EPs the band released last year, this new 12-song collection contains a similar musical blend of sour-sweet melancholy (“The Rollercoaster Ride “), hushed reflection (“It Could Have Been A Brilliant Career”) and stone-faced black humour (the poptific “Dirty Dream#2″). This time around there are two (to my ears) inferior tracks that keep me from putting it in Sinister’s league. . . but I won’t tell you what they are because I could always change my mind the more I listen.
And I intend to listen. If I have any kind of serious quibble about The Boy With The Arab Strap, though, it’s that so many of the songs seem tobe about the rock star game, getting signed, meeting the indie music press,etc. I usually hate this kind of inside-industry quoting people who go into the studio and write songs about their producer, for instance and it runs counter to the lasting strength of If You’re Feeling Sinister, where you could peer inside the souls of the songs’ characters, and the characters themselves were worth hearing about. But even their most frivolous (see “Chickfactor”) Murdoch’s tales are told behind some of the most tear-inducing chord changes and string arrangements you’ll ever hear in your life.
When you wed music this fragile (and this is indeed pretty fragile… no one said this band “rocked” in the rad sense) to subject matters as limited as your band getting signed, you are in danger of seeming a little precious and full of yourself; with Belle & Sebastian I have a feeling that the subject matter is more an honest reflection of what they’ve gone through the past year their U.S. label went under, record exec Seymour Stein flew over to sign them and got turned away, someone they know left the music biz, etc. than an attempt to show off or name drop.
In any case, if anyone could make name-dropping sound bittersweet, it would be Belle & Sebastian.
- Don Harrison
Charlie Feathers– Get With It!
Essential Recordings ’54-’69
(Revenent 209)
We can thank John Fahey’s new Revenant label for bringing to the surface the incredible recording career of a criminally forgotten rockabilly legend.
Charlie Feathers was a Sun recording artist back in the ’50′s, just like Elvis and Johnny and Jerry Lee.He was not only one of the label’s top artists, he was always happy to help out other performers in the studio– one of those whose sound he helped shape was a guy named Elvis Aron Presley.
Although he could be prone to batheticcountry ballads, when Charlie got the high-treble going on his guitar with a rockin’ beat from the rhythm section behind him, he could let go and out-Sun Session The Sun Sessions; he was also capable of being loonier than Hasil Adkins and more endearingly pathetic than George Jones. . . and then there are the ghostly tunes, like”Dinky John” and “Johnny Come Listen,” wherein Charlie goes slowly and patiently about as he gives you that sinister but lovely graveyard chill.
It’s too bad this set is so pricey(Note to Fahey When you sell ‘em a double-CDer, you’re supposed totake a little off the second one), but since Feather’s stuff is so hard to come by, and since Get With It! serves as a comprehensive collection of his recorded career, it might just be worth saving your lunch money for.
-– Brian Greene
Nick Lowe’s always been something of an underdog.
Throughout his solo career (and as a member of pub-rock legends Brinsley Schwartz and the equally well-remembered Rockpile before working under his own name in late ’70′s), he’s been overshadowed by his friend and contemporary, Elvis Costello.
And although Elvis one of the five or so best pop songwriters of the last twenty years has certainly deserved his notoriety, that’s not to diminish the accomplishments of Lowe, who produced or co-produced some of Elvis’ most lasting efforts. As a solo artist, Lowe has steadily, sometimes haphazardly, mapped out a Pure Pop For Now People (’77) and Labour of Lust (’79) are two of the better albums of their respective years (and that’s saying something); Nick The Knife (’82) and Pinker and Prouder than Previous (’87) aren’t far behind those. The latter LP even has the distinction of being in one Rock “Guide” as one of the best records of the ’80′s, and in yet another as one of the “worst records of all time.” You know Nick was doing something right.
And now this a near perfect set of late-night torch songs. And if the Grammys were ever given to people who won’t hit the Billboard Top 200 with a bullet, this would be a contender for honors next Spring.
At times coming off like Chet baker, at other times like Charlie Rich (and even Johnny Cash), Nick Lowe mostly sounds like Nick Lowe, in a quiet, reflective frame of mind. Consider the mood dug.
-Brian Greene
Various Artists– Classic Elements
(K 79)
I could write yet another glowing review of Rawkus’ new Lyricist Lounge compilation, a record that’s being heralded as the music that you will be hearing for the next ten years. . . and yet…
One of Rawkus’ biggest supporters, yours truly, feels obligated to turn your ears back to the west-coast for the best hip hop I’ve heard this year.
Seattle is the home of K Records, a rock-identified label that has released Classic Elements, a compilation of Seattle hip hop artists that rings true to the hip-hop of the late 80′s that most of us consider to be the golden age of the art form. Once again, as the grass roots performers of a region come up through the ranks vibing off of NYC/LA hip hop they reach an incredibly creative and cooperative atmosphere that gives birth to a rich intense scene bursting with flavor… FLAVA CRYSTLES?!?! Try Chicago in ’93-’94 (Common Sense, NO I.D., Rubberroom, etc.), Atlanta in ’95-’96 (Goodie Mob, Outkast, all of Organized Noize for that matter, etc.), and now check Seattle (Source of Labour, Jace, etc.).
Back to the music…. The CD is mellow to begin with, no over-hyped sound effects, no guns, no “cool” skits or other BS. The first track is a statement of mission, it features artists from the compilation talking about hip hop and which groups they liked and why. While that might not sound interesting in print, think about how many hip hop albums start out with MC’s assassinating each other or talking a whole buncha’ shit about that ethereal MC that’s biting EVERYBODY’s styles. From there you get to enjoy each group’s contribution and you quickly learn that these Seattle artists are unaffected by the fact that Sir Mix-A-Lot and Kurt Cobain represent their homeland to the rest of the nation and have moved on to represent their own thing. They do it so darn well.
— Daniel Poarch
Bobby Fuller Four– Never To Be Forgotten
(Del-Fi / Mustang 3903)
As a shimmering two-disc blast of stellar West Coast guitar rock . . . as an exploration of one of rock music’s great “lost” artists, and also a murder mystery that still baffles amateur sleuths over 30 years later, this authoritative Bobby Fuller 3-CD package (with booklet) is in every way a well-remastered success.
The set shows that, far from being one-hit wonders (you remember the classic, oft-covered “I Fought The Law,” don’t you?), Fuller and his combo, originally from Texas, were one of the best, rootsiest American rock bands that managed to rage against the tide of the British Invasion. Fuller was an avowed Buddy Holly fanatic and the best cuts here (the exhilarating “Let Her Dance,” the still-pounding “I Fought The Law,” the proto-psychedelic title track) fuse the poptific Holly style to the ’60′s new, beatific sensibility. Even if the live tracks presented (a 1965 gig at the band’s weekly show at hip L.A. nightspot P.J.’s comprises a “bonus” CD) is spotty and suffers from a flat sound, the studio portions of the Fuller Four’s Del-Fi recordings spotlight a band that combined tex-mex, pop, rock and surf music in an exciting blend the BF4 certainly had their own recognizable “sound,” not a mean feat during Beatlemania and was obviously a band cut down in its prime.
The booklet that comes with this handsome set is an exhaustive history of the sessions, of Fuller’s burgeoning career. But it’s also a definitive summing-up (at least until a good book comes along) of the controversies surrounding Fuller’s alleged “suicide” in 1966. Several theories are postulated (the mafia did it, the bass player did it, even Timothy Leary did it), but there are no answers to date (even Robert Stack and “Unsolved Mysteries” have gotten involved) no one knows how Fuller ended up in his car one morning, doused with gasoline, his arm broken, dead several hours. And no one can quite believe to this day the official Los Angeles police verdict of “suicide.”
But even without the morbid curiosity of his shadowy death, Bobby Fuller is one of rock’s great “should have been’s.” Anyone with even a passing interest in ’60′s rock should make this wise investment and find out why.
-Don Harrison
Autour De Lucie– Immobile (Nettwerk 30121)
This is what Francoise Hardy might have sounded like if she’d been the lead vocalist of a ’90′s jangly-guitar band, rather than a sultry ’60′s chanteuse.
Even if there is a predictable formula at play here (each cut starts slow, with one guitar, no drums, and a melody-less vocal; then, a minute-and-a-half in, explodes into a groove with a grinding but sweet guitar line, heavy backbeat, and sing-along vocal part), but the thirteen tracks (not counting the bonus remix of the single) on this album shows it to be a formula that works. This collection shows the French act to be much better songwriters than they were on their occasionally brilliant, but inconsistent, ’95 debut.
- Brian Greene
Grant McClennan– In Your Bright Ray
(Beggars Banquet 192)
Sometimes it’s not so bad when an artist’s album sounds just like you’d expect it to. While Grant McClennan’s ex-bandmate in the Go Betweens, Robert Forster, recently released an LP that was half-filled with what sounded like beer commercial music, “G.W.” is still unveiling the same smart, controlled-emotion pop that made the Australian-based Go-Betweens the indie legends they are. “Sea Breeze” and “Who Said Love Was Dead” are two perfectly-paced mid-tempo tunes, “Comet Scar” may be the prettiest song heard all year, and “The Parade of Shadows” closes a mostly-optimistic set of songs on a brooding note, which leads the mind to wander.
The only time that McClennan messes up here is on the album’s two unconvincing and unworthy “rockers.” When the introspective singer-songwriter tries to rock out, he gets songs that only Eddie Money would cover. That’s not a compliment.
—Brian Greene
Chris Knox– Yes!!
(Flying Nun 400)
Have Here Come The Warm Jets-era Brian Eno write some songs with Eugene Kelly of Eugenius, record them lo-fi style, and you’ll come out with something like this sixth solo album by Chris Knox, the former member of the Tall Dwarves and a founding member of the New Zealand underground scene that birthed the Chills, The Verlaines and The Clean, among others.
Knox is a man in his ’40′s who sound like a teenager that just got his first Four Track. Repeated listens to this disc reveal a 20-year music veteran who knows how to make a well-crafted song sound like a tossoff.
Sometimes you do wish Knox would grow up, like on the 17-minute noise-fart experiment that closes this otherwise enjoyable pop album (which you don’t have to listen to if you don’t want to).
— Brian Greene
Now playing on the Grip Juke
Solex– Pick Up (Matador) Pick Up makes you believe wholeheartedly in post-modern Sound Experiments with Found material . Dutch record store owner Elisabeth “Solex” Esselink’s quirky pop consists of samples from some of the tackiest, most obscure music lying around her Amsterdam shop, and she wrings energetic groove after tuneful surprise after electrifying rant out of the clearance bin, like the creepy nursery rhyme-gone-bad, “Oh Blimey!. . .The Hollies– Evolution (Sundazed) It had long been written in Rock Lore that this U.K. “Singles” machine (one of the best ‘60’s pop bands, with or without Graham Nash) didn’t make good albums. Diehard fans always knew different and here’s the proof: a remastered and expanded version of 1967’s long-out-of-print Evolution, a forgotten Brit Invasion jewel. The seller, of course, is the classic chart hit, “Carrie-Anne,” but the surrounding tracks more than hold their own and a few, like “Have You Ever Loved Somebody?,” are revelations. Beware the bonus material, especially the horrendous “Jennifer Eccles”. . . Boom Boom Satellites– Out Loud (Sony-Epic) Masayuki Nakano and Michiyuki Kawashima’s expansive dance rock manages to sustain itself beyond import 12-inch singles with a rollicking and eclectic set of mixes and versions. This is for lovers of phase-shifting groove music, although rock fans and psychedelians should head straight for the garage-rock of “Oneness” and the spacy “On the Painted Desert.”. . . Brilliant Mistakes– All Hands & The Cook (Aunt Mimi’s) An intelligent, tear-jerking country-rock outfit with a debut CD that has unjustly slid under the radar. All Hands. . . boasts great songs like “Unsuspecting Girl” and “Absence of Passion,” and deserves a seek-out, especially for fans into No Depression bands and alternative country. (Available now from 305 W. 18th St. #3F, NY, NY 10011 or www.thebrilliantmistakes.com). . .The Arsonists– As The World Burns (Matador) Formerly Bushwick Bomb Squad, this New York hip-hop crew invites comparisons to the Beatnuts (who also have a recommended new disc in the shops, Musical Massacre) because of their Latino roots. But the Arsonists have their own playful and eccentric style– dizzying, at times. Having no less than five verbal abusers on board can make for hyperactive listening over 21 kick-driven tracks and you might need to take some Dramamine before exposing yourself to this full-to-bursting flow. Pick hit: the brooding “Blaze”. . . Blinker The Star– August Everywhere (Dreamworks) Frontman / songwriter Jordon Zadorozny sounds uncomfortably like Kurt Cobain at times (regrettably on the mid-tempo “All Dreamed Out,” which has a wonderfully warped finale), but this Canadian trio’s melodic blending of Beach Boys-like vocal harmony and power-rock riffing hold your interest anyway. Pick hit: The orchestrated rave-up, “Pretty Pictures,” a roll-down-the-top convertible sing-along. . . King Brothers– King Brothers (Bulb) They played their first American show ever in a warehouse in Charlottesville, and the guitarist leapt out of a second story window while still playing his noise to cap off the set. Which means that they deserve your money, if only to defray future hospital bills (he was fine, just a bit hobbled, and kept playing his guitar in the alley). Completely undesirable, utterly basic garage rock performed by three people who actively seek out feedback in the home, office, or place of worship. What I mean to say is, I liked it. But I’m a masochist. Are you? Why the heck not?. . . Rock * A * Teens– Golden Time (Merge) Back in one of the first issues of Grip, we called the music of this spooky, testifyin’ Georgia Band, “Southern Goth-Rock.” Even though last year’s Merge debut was a bit soggy, this time they pull it all together into one raging firestorm of echo-abuse, reverb, fingerpicking and rave-up. Best in show: “Black Metal Stars,” but you could take your pick. . . Dum Dum Project– Desi Vibes Vol. 1 (Panjabi) How ya gonna keep em on the farm when they’ve been to Bombay? These Indian-influenced grooves add samples and breakbeats to the sophisticated production of “Bollywood” soundtracks, and if you can find a big bottle of Tiger Beer you won’t need a whole lot more to get you to July. Psychedelic, relevant and fun. . . XTC– Apple Venus Vol. 1 (TVT) The reclusive Swindon U.K. pop-formalists, MIA for six years, emerge as a duo– Partridge and Moulding– and craft a quaint (if strangely static) set of brooding love songs and whimsical rememberances. Winner tracks: The English Settlement-like “Green Man” and “Harvest Festival,” one that would’ve fit just fine on Mummer, but here’s one XTC fan who admits to being a bit disappointed. . . Green Pajamas— All Clues Lead To Megan’s Bed (Camera Obscura) Seattle’s Green Pajamas throw out heart-stopping melodies, swirling harmonies & great guitar lines; the influence is mid-60 Beatles without the slightest excursion into 70s Big Star/Badfinger turf that tripped up the Posies. You’ll wish I’d written “The Secret Of Her Smile!”. . . Melt-Banana– MxBx1998 / 13000 Miles At Light Velocity (Tzadik) The big thing is that anything they can do in the studio, they can do live. If you’ve heard these maniacs on record, you know what that means: their guitarist is the man who can make any sound ever, and the rest of the band was born on MaxAlerts. The next big thing is that they deconstruct “Surfin’ USA,” “deconstruct” as in “tear the building down”. The third big thing, as pointed out by Grip‘s own Kadugan, is that they show their speed metal roots. So what you got here is “Surfin USA” played by a white-hot speed metal band with one of the top five deranged guitarists on earth. And that’s only the fourth best song. . . . The Savage Resurrection (Mod Lang) The Juke kept meaning to review the early 1998 re-issue of the United States of America’s 1967 psychedelic debut, but short-term memory being what it is these days (ahem!)– this one (and only?) effort by the Savage Resurrection was issued a year later on Mercury Records, and its a bit more generic in a San Francisco, acidy-guitar kind of way, but “Thing In ‘E’” “Every Little Song,” and “Talking To You” are standouts that 60s psych lovers shouldn’t be without. . . June & The Exit Wounds– A Little More Haven Hamilton Please (Parasol) These days, good Beach Boys rip-off albums seem to come out once-a season, and here’s Spring’s catch: a baroque-pop soap opera from Twiggy frontman Todd Fletcher. Probably has as much Todd Rundgren as Brian Wilson; quite the pop find. The hooks hit me harder each day, and I can’t figure out whether they’re going more for Smile, Holland or Terry Hall’s Colourfield, which is good. . . Prince Paul– Prince Among Thieves (Tommy Boy) More subtle and premeditated than Paul’s classic 1996 disc, Psychoanalysis, this faux-Blaxploitation epic features stellar assistance from an all-star cast (Chris Rock, RZA, Kool Keith, Special Ed, Biz Markie, Big Daddy Kane, et al) and is typically hilarious. . . Manishevitz– Grammar Bell And The All Fall Down (Jagjaguwar) This one has been whispered about around the Grip offices for some time, and the finished article delivers the goodz: a brittle folk document of quiet, understated power and some awesome production touches– samples, sparkling guitars, odd drips and drones. You’ll feel the urge to sing the one about Lonesome Cowboy Dave Thomas in the shower, and don’t fight the feeling . . Porter Waggoner– The Essential Porter Waggoner (RCA Essential) While not blessed with the most expressive voice in country, Waggoner’s long and elastic solo career had room for existential moralizing (“Skid Row Joe,” the oft-covered “A Satisfied Mind”) amidst some righteous downhome-honky-tonk (“Trying to Forget the Blues”). Hard to forgive RCA for not including “The Rubber Room” and spotlighting a side of Porter known only country collectors– the deranged psycho– but this set rescues some fine recordings from obscurity . . Bunny Wailer– DubD’sco Vol. 1 & 2 (Ras) Originally released in 1979, Wailer’s classic dubs have been reissued on CD for the first time. Fans of skanky, EQ-shifting, Lee Perry-esue reggae dubs will find much to zone out to, as Bunny deconstructs his excellent solo debut, Blackheart Man, as well as some Wailers classics. . . Little John– Give The Youth A Try (Rasslin’) Another archival reggae reissue, this one from a Northern Virginia label that specializes in rare and out-of-print reggae and dancehall records. It’s a groove-laden set from 1981 featuring the pleading voice of Little John, and one audacious classic in the closing “I Love My Mommy.” Also available from the Rasslin’ label: Cornell Campbell’s Money and A Live Session With King Stur-Gav Hi-Fi Lee Unlimited, which features early work from a young Beenie Man. All can be had by contacting 6714 Whittier Ave., McLean, Va. 22101. . . Rah Bras– Wear the Beat Spectacular (Vermiform) Not quite as off-the-wall as the first one, but maybe it’s just because we knew what to expect. Modified power-trio (no bass, but big keyboard bass gives you so much more) continues to ask the question: “If we eat this thing we found in the fridge, the one with the illegible expiration date, could we become the American Boredoms?” The answer, as contained in the mini-burst of “Dead Bass Thing”, is a grin-inducing, head-banging, crotch-grabbing ‘yes’. . . Marmoset– Today It’s You (Secretly Canadian) Fans of early Wire, early Polvo and early Pavement take note: someone heard your plea for an album that sounds exactly like the center point between those three. Watch out for the lead vocalist, who sounds uncomfortably like Dieter from “Sprockets”. Bonus wack points (wack might mean good or bad, you figure it out) for the Barrett-esque subject matter of “Laugh Giraffe”. You connect the dots. Or maybe, Marmoset already have. . .Varnaline– Sweet Life (Zero Hour) Bittersweet country rock merging into lyrical pop, spinning around in rustic acoustic psychedelia– and a contemporary PRODUCTION– that redefines mood music. Best in show: The swirling title cut, a drum-workout-meets-string-quartet that breaks your heart.. . . Various Artists– American Primitive Vol.1, Raw Pre-War Gospel (Revenant) Self-accompanied, noisy, spare and droning and delirious and drunk. Even more incredible when one considers that some of these songs weren’t written or performed with the Lord in mind, but rather to capitalize on a craze for religious race records round about 1930. Whatever. You don’t have to listen all that hard to see where all the best American music since drew first inspiration from. Rev. I.B. Ware with Wife and Son’s “You Better Quit Drinking Shine” simultaneously betters and annihilates all 12-step programs ever. . . Sparklehorse– Good Morning Spider (Capitol) This sophomore effort from Richmond’s own Mark Linkous has just been released in the U.S., and hits the joy button again and again– “Pig” “St. Mary, ” the exquisite “The Painbirds” and, of course, “Chaos of the Galaxy” / “Happy Man”. . .
His Name is Alive– Fort Lake (4AD-UK) Sparklehorse’s disc was just issued by Capitol stateside after intense critical acclaim from Europe. Another pop beauty unavailable stateside– a perfectly fine followup to HNIS’s So Nice mini-CD. There’s lots more gospel here, via guest singer Lovetta Pippen. But it’s the pop that kicks, and these suburban Detroiters keep churning out some of the best, dreamy, pop and rock-pop since, I dunno, the new Sparklehorse . . . Silver Jews– American Water ( Drag City) Dave Berman makes what sounds like a lost gem from 1974 but it’s only Drag City so you were expecting it. Actually gets his dander up on a couple of tracks. Add it up: rocks harder than The Natural Bridge; prominent Pavement guy vocalizing; pop songs. It all equals number one on the CMJ college charts and possible play on the dreaded Triple-A format. More power to him. . . Legendary Pink Dots– Nemesis Online (Soleilmoon) Sometimes the cultish Dots sound like Can, other times like Pink Floyd, and sometimes like Ministry. In all instances, they come off as witty, tongue-in-cheek lyricists with a good sense of melody; better at being psychedelic than industrial, but it’s all in good fun. . . Various Artists– Stretch Armstrong presents Lesson #2 (Fuzzy Box) An excellent underground hip-hop sampler, chronicling the latest beats from Toronto to New York to Philly. Ace atmosphere. . . and the package art is a hoot!. . . Various Amigos– Exitos A Go-Go: ‘60’s Teenbeat South of the Border (AIP) This offers the best in Latin American Psych, acid rock and more from Mexico, Puerto Rico and South America. Was thrilled to find the Los Hitters’ “Marijuana,” but even better: La Tropa Loca’s Farfisa-heavy “El Fanatico” and Los Canario’s fantastic “3-2-1-Ah!”. . .
Reviews by the Jukebox Boys:
Don Harrison, Dave Harrison, Tyler Magill, Dan Poarch and Brian Greene