PopMatters Music Short Takes

The Low Anthem, Oh My God, Charlie Darwin (Self Released)

Gorgeous melodies adorn this album of country-tinged classical sounds and philosophical concerns. The Low Anthem is known to Rolling Stone and NPR for their earlier record What The Crow Brings. If we are tempted to hold that against them, we shouldn’t, as here again they achieve the difficult task of writing simple, memorable songs on which uncluttered vocals survive harsh examination. Themes of decay and time intermingle with images of travel over water to new horizons and snapshots of floods. The instrumentation is subtle and extremely varied. “Charlie Darwin” and “To Ohio” are sublime pieces with gentle, breezy voices melding together, floating away, and carrying warnings of decline. For contrast, “The Horizon Is a Beltway” lands unapologetically between the Old Testament blare of Tom Waits and the celebratory instincts of The Pogues.

Oh My God, Charlie Darwin is a lovely self-release in a beautiful homemade sleeve from a group who can really play. The key quieter pieces “Ticket Takers” and “To the Ghosts Who Write History Books” could have been written years ago in preparation for crisis or sent here from years ahead to document a tragedy. This release is nuanced, prescient, melodic, and stirring. Now a trio, The Low Anthem suggests that when money is worthless and demons no longer scare us we will still clamor for songs of comfort and inspiration. Maybe not even God can cage the songbird.  [Amazon]

Various Artists, The Imus Ranch Record (New West)

Despite the big mouth and poor judgement that got him in trouble recently, radio host Don Imus is a pretty good guy. He and his wife Dierdre run the Imus Ranch, an actual working ranch which hosts children who are afflicted with cancer and their families. This album has been in the works for quite some time, having been put on hold when Imus made his notorious remarks about a certain women’s basketball team in 2007. Yet when each participating artist (including Little Richard, Willie Nelson, Levon Helm, and others) was polled, they all chose to remain involved with Imus and his charity. 

The album features these stars singing classics both country and pop. Patty Loveless kicks it off with a breathtaking bluegrassy version of Stevie Nicks’ “Silver Springs”, while Lucinda Williams turns “Mamas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys” into a mournful dirge that reveals the pathos hidden in the old Waylon and Willie duet. Even if the proceeds weren’t going to a good cause, The Imus Ranch Record is a must-purchase. Sure there are some missteps; actually there’s only one: Big & Rich’s appalling, semi-rewritten cover of Beastie Boys classic “Fight For Your Right To Party” that makes one wish for the sweet silence of burst eardrums. However, much like the man himself, the good of this album far outweighs the bad. [Amazon]

DJ Woody, Selected Works 2002-2006 (International Deejay Gigolo)

Electronic albums that admittedly are a collection of singles typically go one of two ways: they join a range of provocative oddities that didn’t quite fit in full-length format or they are a streamlined presentation of dancefloor jargon that betray an artist’s creative sterility over time (see Judge Jules’ Proven Worldwide). The debut LP from long time gigolo DJ Woody definitely falls closer to the latter category. Having spun in front of ecstatic German crowds for years, Woody’s Selected Works are just that, the acid and microhouse 12-inches that consistently raised the biggest crowd reaction. I’m a little on the cynical side myself—having been the victim of far too many boring club nights—so I have found that the most crowd-pleasing tracks are often the most simplistic and predicable. Naturally, there is nothing new here. Though it is assembled to a professional degree, all the sounds are recycled from the early ‘90s, including that terrible synthetic hi-hat from the stock techno track they always played when Mr. Bean went out for a night on the town, and the few lyrics here are simply atrocious ("take you down to booty bar / then get on my smoke and drink / then take home and fuck a freak” from “Take It Down"). Underworld is in another dimension compared to this stuff, and their finest work was actually produced in the early ‘90s. This DJ Woody’s tracks merely represent a sad parody of the era. As such, I can’t see these so-called Selected Works surviving the test of time. [Amazon]

Drunk Stuntmen, State Fair (Self-released)

Drunk Stuntmen, out of Northampton, Massachusetts, make ace barroom pop and rock ‘n’ roll—hearty, buoyant, a bit ‘70s classic or arena, with shades of Tom Petty and Springsteen, and an album-perfect balance of driving songs, rocking songs, slow-cooked ballads, and kindly accessible hooks. Letting you know they’re a hell of a live band—and they are—is something you’ve probably guessed already, so the litmus test for new Stuntmen albums like State Fair is whether they can translate those frissons to headphones, living rooms, and car stereos, without the benefit of good time vibes, Saturday nights, and skinfuls for everyone.

Granted, the album takes a few tries (not beers, though those help, too) to really feel out. Not until the fifth track, a roots rock triumph called “Silver City”, does it start to burrow in, and all over the place come expansive keyboard effects, occasionally indulgent solos, and tricky tempo changes in a band not typically known for tightrope walking. But a few times through and decent tracks—such as the instrumental title cut—become good listens. And good tracks, like the lithe, twangy “Buy Your Love”, or the crisp pop of “Underground”, are keepers. No one’s reinventing the country-rock wheel here, and no one expects to. [Amazon]

Icy Demons, Miami Ice (Obey Your Brain)

The Icy Demons are a project from Man Man’s Christopher Powell and Gabriel Rodriguez from Bablicon. Powell handles the drums while Rodriguez plays bass and sings. The rest of the band rotates regularly, but members always take goofy code names while in the group. Hence, Rodriguez becomes Blue Hawaii while Powell is Pow Pow, and the Miami Ice cast is rounded out by Ta Freak Ya, Il Cativo, and Ali Hawkbar. And there are a host of guest musicians contributing anything from saxophone to cello to upright bass to fill out the sound on songs.

Miami Ice is such a kitchen sink-collection of musical styles and sounds that it doesn’t feel anything like a cohesive album. Occasional, stubborn bouts of what feels like weirdness for its own sake sink several of the songs on this album. “1850” suffers from a bizarre falsetto midsection. “Jantar Mantar” drags on for too long, and album closer “Crittin’ Down to Baba’s” is a groovin’ tune undermined by really silly lyrics. But when the band focuses on pop hooks, the songs start to click. The title track is driven by a catchy distorted keyboard riff and an infectious vocal melody, while “Spywatchers” has an effective spy movie bassline, driving drums, and uses a vintage synthesizer sound to great effect. These songs, along with “Summer Samba” and “Centurion”, give a glimpse to what Miami Ice could’ve been had the Icy Demons taken the contrived weirdness down a notch. [Amazon]

Heartthrob, Dear Painter, Paint Me (M_nus)

Everyone in the industry is dealing with the unavoidable issue of piracy in their own way. Jack White now refuses to send out advance press promos after a DJ played his latest record in its entirety before its release date. Nine Inch Nails, Saul Williams, and Radiohead launched albums under a loose “pay what you want” structure. Most tragically, the RIAA spends millions of artist earned dollars investigating and suing potential life long customers for a short-term gain.

While most cautious distributors choose to tag their promos with annoying voiceovers that ruin the experience every time, Richie Hawtin’s innovative approach is to issue condensed versions of all Minus releases specially mixed by the artists themselves. As such, the commercially released debut of Jesse Siminski runs about an hour over eight tracks and the version I’m reviewing is one continuous 23 minute file, with one cut from the commercial debut missing entirely.

From what I have to go on, I think the record will be a fine selection of warm, quirky minimal techno. Basslines bubble, often a little on the woozy side, while precise German sounds and well-crafted synths fill out the paranoid production. However, I’m not sure how these tracks actually progress or even which ones I liked, though the press release gives a breakdown of the entire real album (including the track reviewers were not granted access to—gosh, that is sure helpful). Seriously, how am I supposed to recommend or decry a record with any real authority when I’ve only heard a third of it? That awkwardly brings the unknowing reviewer’s ethics into play. Though it’s a progressive idea fundamentally, there isn’t much point in sending these out. You either trust the press or you don’t. Condensed version should be released to the public as a sample, not to those who are going to sell the whole album for you. [Amazon]

Various Artists, Give Me Love (Honest Jon's)

The story is fascinating: prior to becoming EMI, the “Gramophone Company” managed to wrangle hundreds of recordings out of local artists in Iraq, a mixture of styles all coming together for these yearning, heartbreaking songs that existed well over a decade prior to WWII. Just listen Badria Anwar’s “Ahis Ras Eddelil”—you can practically hear the tears coming out during the singing. This is Middle Eastern traditional music at its most raw and unfiltered. Leave it to the excellent Honest Jon’s label to mass-market a selection of these songs for historical purposes… it’s just unfortunate that Give Me Love: Songs of the Brokenhearted provides very little thrills outside of a strictly historical context. Though the instrumental “Taqsim” does break up the action (due to four different covers appearing throughout the disc), a majority of these songs sound very much alike—which might have to do with the fact that the Gramophone Company employed the same backing band of Jewish musicians for each new singer that was brought in. With these songs now appearing some 80 years later, it’s hard to fault the recordings for being fairly rudimentary; as an archival find, though, it’s nothing short of invaluable. [Amazon]

CIAM, Anonymous (Ciam Music)

With track titles such as “Misunderstood”, “Here I Am”, and “Looking for Love” CIAM are pushing the right buttons for the disaffected youth. Jeff Shapiro’s vocals are a predictable baritone on most of the tracks, sounding not unlike a young Wayne Hussey at times. Furthermore, a spotty teenager with no friends probably wrote the lyrics. Not a great start.

However, the music and the production are where Anonymous wins points. Anonymous is a sumptuously produced collection of electronic sounds with a doom-laden almost old-school “goth” sound that has veins filled with modern fire. CIAM seem an idealistic bunch that want to restructure the landscape of music. With this release they have not broken any new ground yet but I suspect that they have won a healthy bunch of fans. Not least of all because the album is just plain free if you go to ciammusic.com or you could buy it for $8.99 from Amazon.com—a tough choice to be made. This is an interesting business model. Perhaps they plan to make all their money on t-shirt sales.

However, one should listen to the album with caution for there is a bump in the road that may just throw you off your bike. Anonymous contains a cover version of the Velvet Underground classic “Venus in Furs”. If ever there was a list of songs that should NEVER be covered this one would be on it. CIAM have unforgivably taken this song, sucked out the atmosphere and rocked it up. They rocked up “Venus in Furs”! This reviewer shakes his head and walks away gloomily. [Amazon]