Marilyn Scott, Innocent of Nothing (Prana Entertainment) When Marilyn Scott's Innocent of Nothing showed up in May 2006, headlines everywhere should have read, "Guilty As Charged: Marilyn Scott Does It Again". The vocalist has, time and again, proven her commitment to creating great music, as well as her passion for social enrichment. In 2005, her Prana Foundation raised over $30,000 for victims of Hurricane Katrina through her website's fundraising campaign. As for music, Innocent of Nothing proves she's guilty on all counts. First, she's guilty of joining forces with a musical dream team: George Duke (producer and keyboardist), Jimmy Haslip and Brian Bromberg (bass), Steve Tavaglione (Saxophone), Mike Miller and Ray Fuller (guitars), Renato Neto and Russell Ferrante (keyboards), and Patrice Rushen (piano). Next, she's guilty of challenging herself to create a fresh and action-packed album: that glorious, thunderous piano solo on "Round & Round" (Exhibit A), the way she nails her vocals on the slower numbers, like the seductive "'Round Midnight" and "Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most" (Exhibit B). She's mesmerizing on the funky "Icebox" (Exhibit C), and the album possesses added texture due to the incorporation of spoken word poetry on "Moods", featuring Steve Connell, and "Share It" (Exhibit D). If that's not enough, there's the social commentary of "A Change", along with the Dylan-penned "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" (Exhibit E). Finally, "The Wilderness" is a masterpiece that rises softly through Ms. Scott's tender vocals, and then crescendos in a wave of desperation and wailing guitar riffs (Exhibit F). We don't even need to mention her songwriting credits. We've already got more than enough to keep her in our stereos for a long, long time. The prosecution rests, Your Honor.
[Insound]
— Quentin B. Huff
multiple songs: [MP3 and video]
multiple songs: [streaming]
Jazz
Paik, Monster of the Absolute (Strange Attractors) Detroit's transcendent psyche threesome -- Rob Smith, Ali Clegg and Ryan Pritts -- hammer repeated patterns into distorted mandalas, in this fifth full-length's obliteratingly loud, murkily beautiful soundscapes. "Phantoms" slips in and out of rock conventions, its wickedly spiked guitar line running in clockwork-precise away from the drums and bass, then ducking precipitously earthward in a two-note nose-dive. Drums push to the foreground late in the cut, every beat making space for ponderous fills and ritual crashes. Dense, wall-to-wall textures billow through "Snakeface" where eighth-note shifting guitar patterns emerge from a resonant MBV-ish dirge. This disc, which will appeal to fans of Bright, Kinski, Bardo Pond, Yume Bitsu and other deafening but beauty-enraptured psychedelicists, peaks with the title cut. This nearly 10-minute meditation pits the transparently gorgeous guitar notes against the murky howl of feed-back. It is indeed a monster, and indeed a statement of absolutes.
[Insound]
— Jennifer Kelly
"Phantoms": [MP3]
rock / Space Rock / Shoegaze
Streetlight Manifesto, Keasbey Nights (Victory) Is this the same 1998 album by Catch 22, with only a miniscule number of alterations? Well, basically yes? The lead singer is the same, the songs are the same, nothing is added in terms of bonus tracks but the band is different. Aside from that, what is true is whether you have had this since 1998 or are picking it up for the first time, it is a rich and fun, happy, bouncy ska album (are there any other kinds?). The catchy, frantic "Dear Sergio" sounds like a bit like Less Than Jake while "Sick and Sad" will have you dancing into friends in some crazed ska hoedown. The same can be said for the sing-along title track that changes gears throughout. The consistency of the album is what drew people to it in the first place, with the rambling but spirited "Walking Away" easily one of the bigger highlights. "On & On & On" tends to recapture the early energy and comes off swimmingly well. Rather short and to the point, this album had no filler then and none now despite "Supernothing" being, well, nothing super. Two of the final three push the traditional ska boundaries as The Kinks-like "Kristina She Don't Know I Exist" and "1234 1234" are at five and seven minutes respectively.
[Insound]
— Jason MacNeil
"SONG": [MP3]
rock / Ska-Punk
Chop Chop, Chop Chop (Archenemy) Definitive proof that you shouldn't just give every Harvard architecture student a record deal, Chop Chop is everything that could go wrong with "ironic", DIY indie music. From the oh-so-clever Kenny Loggins-referencing press sheet to the "twisted" lyrics (boiling an ex-boyfriend and eating him, etc) and retro/new-wave/indie pop within, this is a project that should've stayed in the bedroom. Singer/songwriter Catherine Cavanagh sing-speaks in a passive-aggressive little girl voice, like an affected Suzanne Vega fronting a bad Elastica cover band. The music is punchy enough to pass as hip -- until you realize there's precious little in the way of songs. When your best tune is cribbed from "Chopsticks", well, time to stick to the drawing board.
[Insound]
— John Bergstrom
"Mix Tape": [MP3]
"Blood Bath": [MP3]
"Funny Funny Ideas": [MP3]
"Lines": [MP3]
Indie / Pop / Electronic
