earpollution album reviews [page 1] - issue 2.Ų2, february 2ŲŲŲ

Agathodaimon - Higher Art of Rebellion
Agnostic Front - Riot, Riot, Upstart
Bardo Pond - Set and Setting
Bill Laswell - Imaginary Cuba
The Burnouts - Go Go Racing!
Corporal Blossom - Corporal Blossom
Cro-Mags - Revenge
Discount - Crash Diagnostic
Dismember - Hate Campaign
Drunk Horse - Drunk Horse
Gridlock - 5.25
In Gowan Ring - The Glinting Spade
Jansen Barbieri Karn - _ism
Jazzyfatnasties - The Once and Future
Les Thugs - Tout Doit Disparaītre
Lock Up - Pleasures Pave Sewers
Micronaut - Slinky

Pan American - 360 Business/360 Bypass
Peace Orchestra - Peace Orchestra
Pegazus - Breaking the Chains
Plone - For Beginner Piano
Porter Ricks and Techno Animal - Symbiotics
Rage Against the Machine - The Battle for Los Angeles
Sinner - The Second Decade
Sorten Muld - Mark II
Therapy? - Suicide Pact - You First
The Undisputed Heavyweight Champions - The Undisputed Heavyweight Champions
Union 69 - Holiday 2000
Various Artists - Everything is Nice
Ward. A - Out of Hand

Agathodaimon Higher Art of Rebellion Nuclear Blast		A highly intriguing blast of black metal. Blasts ignite, heat up, blow out; blasts also slow down to build momentum for greater power--look at the sun. Well, not literally because you'd be blind and miss this cover. The cover is a cemetery outside a charbroiled church in blue tints. It could only be more black metal if it were shot covered in snow. The back cover is the band piercing a victim with a large spike in blue tints. Higher Art of Rebellion may have a generic cover, but inside is what counts--the album contains black-Germanic-with-one-Romanian-dual-vocalist-gothic-industrial-techno-metal loaded to the brim with ideas. This is one church-burning blast furnace that is poised to blow...but blow sneakily. The press release about Higher Art of Rebellion is weird. Evidently the band was unable to sneak Vlad (vocals/keyboards) out of Romania for the first recording and picked up another vocalist, Akaias, who stepped in for Blacken the Angel. After listening to Akaias for an entire session the band kept him, too. Oh, and on track 7, "Body of Clay," you get to hear vocalist #3, Byron. Some bands have a hard time finding vocalists, let alone good to great vocalists; Agathodaimon just collects them. All tracks are sung (well, sometimes) or growled or spoken in early Romanian or English. The eight-piece monster combo band is unique in black metal where duos with sessionmen are the norm. Hyperion and Sathonys play eloquent, but understated guitars. Vlad, Vampallens and Christine S. stack up for a potent force on keyboards. Marco T. (bass) and Matthias R. (drums) combine to form the rock-solid rhythm section that steadily supports the mayhem that is Agathodaimon. The vocals vary from song to song; some songs even utilize clean vocals, and a few shock with spoken word poetry-style melancholic vocals. "Ne Cheama Pamintul," "Body of Clay" and "Heaven's Coffin" stood out as the blackest and heaviest tracks reminiscent of a much heavier Dark Tranquility. "Glasul Artei Viitoare," "Norvus Ordo Seclorum" and "A Death in its Plentitude" are slow, burning gothic ballads that bring to mind a more metal Katatonia. "When She's Mute" is a fiendishly-weird Journey soundalike at the beginning that mutates into a heavy black-metal gothic ballad that psychedelically implodes with fervor. *-Sabrina Wade-Haines* [ top of page ]
Agnostic Front Riot, Riot, Upstart Epitaph Links: Agnostic Front		Few bands know how to properly open an album and gain the listener's undivided attention from the get-go. After 17 years, a few lineup and musical misdirections, Agnostic Front still know how it's done, as is evidenced by Riot, Riot, Upstart's 63-second, hardcore-fueled opener, "Police State." While my interest in Agnostic Front has waxed and waned over the years, you've got to give respect to someone who opens an album with machine gun guitars and the lyrics: "New York Police State, New York Police State You know we hate you...ahhhh!!! Giuliani, Giuliani, Giuliani Fuck you! Giuliani, Giuliani, Giuliani Fuck you...die!!!" Tough to compete with that sentiment, and that's only the beginning. Riot, Riot, Upstart is a blistering hardcore ride of political angst that is sonically no different from what the band was doing in the '80s, but still just as relevant, powerful, and ear numbing. Working men are pissed, and Agnostic Front are the working class heroes of hardcore. It's good to see the elder statesmen of hardcore once again holding true to the cause and showing the whippersnappers that punk isn't just a brand name or an image flashed to you on MTV. The album's muscle, message and might holds up throughout and on this one Agnostic Front once again show us the blueprint that has put so many others on the map. Anger is an energy... *-Craig Young* [ top of page ]
Bardo Pond Set and Setting Matador		Bardo Pond don't so much use delay, distortion and the wah pedal as they live within the effects themselves; carving their sounds out instead of plucking notes, shaping sonic themes instead of moving from verse to chorus and back again. Set and Setting is a stoner's delight--a psychedelic raga with a bit of the blues and the muted singing of Isobel Sollenberger to keep it grounded here on earth. And like any good stoner album worth its weight in bud, Set and Setting is a desert album; a long, slow trek across its sun-bleached, windswept, forbidding landscapes. The creepy crawl of the sun rising on "Walking Stick Man" with its interspersed fits of harmonica. The repeated crackle, like the desert wind on sun cracked lips, of the sample at the beginning of "This Time (So Fucked)." The heat exhaustion that finds us in the heady swoon "Datura." "Again =" with its driving intensity is the only track that doesn't crawl like a funeral dirge. "Lull" soothes us from the blinding sun with its melancholy guitar, and "Cross Current" appears to offer some respite as well in the form of the Eastern-tinged sounds of a violin, but all too soon the achingly heavy guitars of brothers John and Michael Gibbons come seeping in to drive it all away. "Crawl Away" finds us back inside the arms of our opiate stupor. Finally, the feedback cries of an electric guitar set against an the lonely strum of an acoustic guitar slowly fades out and closes the album like the long shadows of evening stretching across the desert floor. Like the noise and more experimental numbers of Sonic Youth, Scarnella and their ilk, Bardo Pond can't be played up close and personal. It's best taken in from a distance where you can better see their giant brushstrokes of sound; somewhere off in the corner of your subconscious where you can tune in and out without forcing yourself to listen. Take a good bong hit, grab your trusty hiking staff and head out across the desert. Bardo Pond are the soundtrack there waiting for you. *-Craig Young* [ top of page ]
Bill Laswell Imaginary Cuba Wicklow Links: Bill Laswell		Laswell's always finding something new to lay his hands upon and this time around he pulled out a series of tapes from the streets and studios of Cuba. The source material was recorded on a recent junket to the island and captures a number of local musicians--on the streets, in their homes, in the studio--easily and simply playing their music. Laswell takes these tapes and adds a mist to them, a dreamlike layer of bass and atmosphere that makes the music much more ethereal and illusory. There is a torpid heat to the sound, an irresistible tropical groove which makes you move and sweat. What with the Buena Vista Social Club and Afro-Cuban All Stars bringing attention to the musical flavor of Havana and environs, one might be inclined to ask if we actually need another take on the music of Cuba. Sure we do. It's a nice offset to the continued existence of Britney Spears and the Backstreet Boys. Invisible Cuba throws us across the water to an island coated with a hot mist and a rich dreamscape. There are a number of tracks referred to as "Habana Transmissions" and these re-interpretations are thick with the studio magic of Orange Music Sound Studio while other tracks like "Los Ibellis" play like they are just single-miked street performances. But it all flows together in an unreal landscape in which we are but aural participants. Laswell has said in interviews that he creates for the moment, that he doesn't really look back once a project is completed. He's on a constant voyage, discovering new sounds to mix, to deconstruct, to embellish. And each project of his builds on the efforts prior as he continues to find ways to intermix the new with the old. Listening to "Drafting Shadows/Leaving La Habana," the last track on the album, you can hear a summation of what the last hour has introduced you to interwoven with plaintive elements that might be left over from the collaborations past with Peter Namlook or Tetsu Inoue. (As well as drones that have got to be from the Robert Rich/Lustmord Stalker album.) It's what Laswell does best: gift us with the exotic sounds and rhythms of distant places while re-threading them with the ambient and the eclectic. *-Mark Teppo* [ top of page ]
The Burnouts Go Go Racing! Bad Afro Records		The Burnouts come screaming out of Denmark with thick clouds of chlorine-enhanced smoke, puking out of the thick black slicks on their ass end. Things that come to mind are lots of booze, fast-ass fucking cars and freaked-out screaming girls. This is pure "Fuck You" punk rock done right with loads of attitude. There's no longhaired guitar solo wanking on this chunk of splatter. We could say this is one of the better releases to come out of Denmark in a while, but (not to take anything away from them) not many creatures get out of Copenhagen alive. Their bio says that the Burnouts build on the foundation that was added to by the likes of The Oblivians, New Bomb Turks and Nashville Pussy. Well this sounds like the Burnouts have just ripped the lid off the top of the fuckin' H-bomb and puked their volatile punk rock down its barrel to make sure that it was lethal. With Go Go Racing! these Danes have added no bullshit on this almost-live recording of galloping guitar churning punk rock explosion, stripping down to the bare essentials, building it back up into the '67 cyclone fast tracking funny car doing the quarter mile in under 8.3 seconds. If you're looking for a hot new band, check out the Bad Afro site because you will not find this in your local record stores. *-Steve Weatherholt* [ top of page ]
Corporal Blossom Corporal Blossom Micropop Links: Corporal Blossom		The illbient scene in New York City is a tightly knit cooperative that has been operating on the back side of your radar for a number of years. Now some of these beat destructors are starting to find their way onto your scopes with their deconstructed/reconstructed dub/ambient sonic environments. Layng Martine III has been quietly at the fringes for some time, finally stepping out with a collection of his singular tracks--the entire record of his Corporal Blossom entity--and the encompassed lot is a strong gathering of illbient collages that highlight both his bass playing and his deft ability at tape editing. Take the opener, "Poprocket." Distressed and abused with the constant interruption of radio voices, the song struggles to find a consistent beat, dissolving and reforming around the idea of a time signature, filling us instead with the disturbed rhythm of the dense metropolis, where a consistent beat is a myth supported by the variations of block and neighborhood. You are launched with this rocket, and while you shoot by some satellites that drop in to guest on a few tracks, for the most part this trip is powered by the sparks thrown off the colliding neurons in Layng's head. Wrecked and reassembled over the last four years and a couple of compilations, these tracks flow fairly seamlessly, a surprising cohesiveness from a near-dozen tracks that threaten to explode at any second. These songs are the echo off the hard concrete of the dark street corner, the beats threaded with menace and the howling sonic backdrop is nothing more than the whistle of wind through broken tenements. Chopped, diced, and whacked, these rhythms are complete but they're going to heal scarred. "Burning Today's Memory" gives back a nod to Beck Hanson (the source of most of the samples for this pastiche) before it takes enough flesh to build a new man and, in a little over four minutes, manages to consolidate the entirety of Beck's last album into one splendidly molded homunculus. "Sailin' On" starts off with a wordless hum lifted from Lori Carson's throat, a meaty backbeat carted out of Mick Harris' studio, and relooped vocal patterns from your last illicit cell phone call. The live instruments--bass, drum, and trombone--are processed through thick vellum and wrapped--still wet--around your head and allowed to dry. It's the best scramble you're going to get this week. The Corporal's done doing PT; he's done licking the pots and cleaning the rifles. He's ready for a third stripe and some of that front line action. Step aside, soldier, there's a veteran coming through. *-Mark Teppo* [ top of page ]
Cro-Mags Revenge Cro-Mags Recordings Links: Cro-Mags		Well, the once-Monsters of the NYC hardcore scene return. The Cro-Mags, now consisting of Harley Flanagan and Parris Mayhew, are here to show the new kids in the streets how NYC is supposed to be hammered out. With Revenge, the Cro-Mags have given us some of the finer points of the old Cro-Mags with "Premeditated," "Can You Feel?" and "Tore Up." These tunes have the vintage thundering pounding metal hardcore that once pushed this band to the top of the heap. We are also treated to songs that seem like they were taken out of the Misfits demo collection and Harley just overdubbed his vocals in place of Danzig's. These are good songs in their own right, but not the C-M of old. Harley must have just split up with his girl as evinced by the four songs dedicated to or about his life without her, such as "My Life," "Without Her," "Open Letter" and "Don't Forget." For the rest of this disk it sounds like these guys are trying for airplay on your local heavy metal station. The Cro-Mags have hit some of their old strides with Revenge, but all is not of the old vein. Harley and Parris can still show you how to lay down some cool riffs and musicianship. This CD is a good listen if you're looking for some old punks that still can outperform many of today's bands. *-Steve Weatherholt* [ top of page ]
Discount Crash Diagnostic New American Dream Links: Discount		This is the third full-length release from Discount, and not a bad one to add to the record collection. The songs are emo-tinged punk pop and work best when the guitar distortion is up and the pop diversions kept to a minimum. Singer Alison Mosshart's vocals and lyrical stabs are spot-on in this age of self-reflection as defensive weapon. The tight tempo shifts and chord changes--especially on the album's opener, "Broken to Blue"-- keep the ears perked and the rhythm moving. "Age of Spitting" opens up sounding a bit like Wire before shifting into a very Rush-like chorus. "Math Won't Miss You" and "Harder to Tell" are a bit too poppy for my tastes, but the slinky guitar licks of "Sleeping Motor Boy" and the up-tempo, catchy push of "Hit" will make sure you find your way to the backside of this album and on to its ender, the discordant melancholia of "The Kill Fix." Word has it that the live setting is where Discount hit best, and I'm looking forward to catching a show next time they swing through. Until then, I'll just have to keep myself pacified with this fine release. *-Craig Young* [ top of page ]
Dismember Hate Campaign Nuclear Blast America Links: Dismember		Dismember has set forth their Hate Campaign with style and unrelenting heaviness. No one could question the technical skills of Dismember or the vitriol expunged by Marrt Karki vocally. Karki's vocals are understandable, yet truly deathy in nature. Lyrically Karki is mature and bitter. Songs like "Questionable Ethics," "Mutual Animosity," "Beyond Good and Evil" and "Suicidal Revelations" reflect the personal questions that each of us wrestle with on a daily basis. Fred Estby is one of the best drummers that you never hear discussed in elite circles. Maybe Estby is just a team player that won't ring his own bell, but his skills certainly elevate him beyond the rest of the death metal ilk that probably couldn't keep up with him on a bad day. David Blomqvist, Richard Cabeza (bass) and Magnus Sahlgren combine their six-string skills for a potent and melodic force that propels Hate Campaign to a higher level. *-Sabrina Wade-Haines* [ top of page ]
Drunk Horse Drunk Horse Man's Ruin		Drunk Horse bring back the '70s, but not in the right way. Having lived through that time once was bad enough. Not everything was bad...music had made some dramatic two-fingers in the air statements, but boogie rock was not one of those statements. Mountain rock, rock opera--whatever you want to call it--was something I could never figure out. I get visions of bands playing for their friends in someone's living room: fringe, v-neck collars, tons o' chains, funny-looking hats with the crease down the middle and "where's the coke?" Culturally, the '70s were hard times, almost comparable to the Great Depression. Sure, these guys can play music, but I ask: Do they really enjoy this stuff? If you're going to jump on the retro bandwagon, pick something that has credibility, some excitement and passion. I just can't see the passion in this. The bio says to list this with: "Kinda, sorta...Cap'n Beefheart, The Who, Motörhead, The Tubes." Well, those are some big-ass names to fit this into, but I hear more of the bad parts of Blue Öyster Cult. And Motörhead definitely isn't even in the same arena! So, if you're looking for that boogie woogie nice boy rock 'n' roll, then go ahead and check out Drunk Horse. *-Steve Weatherholt* [ top of page ]
Gridlock 5.25 Pendragon Records Links: Gridlock		Every time I listen to this band I wish I could watch them work. The atmospheres created by these two gentlemen make me feel as though I were no longer among the carbon-based. Containing live, remixed and new material, 5.25 represents the past present and future for Gridlock. Twelve tracks total, the first nine are live and remixed versions of songs from the past, including a slashing cover of Berlin's "Metro." The live tracks show just how developed this duo are as their undeniable studio prowess shines even brighter through the live medium. The huge reward of owning this disk comes twofold. First, the last three songs are new tracks that give us a peek at what is to come with Gridlock's next release (tentatively titled Trace). "5.25" demonstrates the minimalist level at which these guys can create brilliance. Cadoo's cascading bleeps, clicks and low bass rumble set against Mike's unmistakable percussive blast make for a certain headspin. "Edit 364" is one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard; this song is exactly why I love Gridlock. The textures and ambience make for an otherworldly listen. The way the melody is intricately fused with the percussion would make one think that Cadoo and Mike are Siamese twins. And then there is "Program41"--this song is a skyscraper of sound, a dreamwash of movement. And second, the packaging is fucking brilliant: the CD slips into a 5-1/4 inch floppy case, which fits into a static shield bag. The only bummer is that a mere 1000 were printed. *-Jeff Ashley* [ top of page ]
In Gowan Ring The Glinting Spade Blue Sanct		The sorrowful yet hopeful resonance after meeting life full-force on the battlefield. Such a hum permeates The Glinting Spade, third album from In Gowan Ring. Found here are forgotten, ancient melodies and harmonies, deliberate bells and chimes, classically placed horns and pipes. Lead man B'eirth and his conspirators seem to retain here much of what Clannad and Enya all but lost in delicacy during their respective descents into the mainstream. The instrumentation is amazing, and the arrangements speak of individuals raised tooth and nail on traditional celebratory tunes of England and Scotland's middle ages. The vocals seamlessly escape from the music, almost whispered...except for their longing lyrical content. These are real bards forging accessible, original acoustic pieces. The past tense. The present tense. The drying of the blood after the passing of the blades. Stunning. *-Al Cordray* [ top of page ]
Jansen Barbieri Karn _ism Medium Productions		Founding members of the band Japan, Steve Jansen, Richard Barbieri and Mick Karn have each enjoyed varied and fruitful (if underappreciated in the mass market) careers. While they have played on each other's numerous solo albums, this is their first time contributing equally since 1990's Rain Tree Crow, which reunited them briefly with Japan co-founder David Sylvian. David Torn and Aziz Ibrahim contribute their distinctive guitar stylings, and Zoe Niblett her lovely voice (the most seductive I've heard since...hell, I can't even recall any others once she starts singing.) With their assistance and six other guest musicians, the trio has succeeded in creating an amazingly beautiful album. It flows through ambient to jazz syncopation to touches of trance and straight rock, all with a natural feel which belies the highly-detailed underlying composition. The liner notes reveal the hidden complexities through a chart of twenty-nine unique instrumental credits: drums, basses, keyboards, loops, woodwinds, synths, samples and more are all enumerated. Not counting Jansen's soothing vocals, each member averages almost three instruments per track. The sounds and songs flow and transform into each other, while retaining their unique qualities. Piling layer upon sonic layer, the immersive depths are seductive, mesmerizing and intoxicating; they are as otherworldly as a codeine buzz in an underwater grotto--pure aural endorphins. You could follow the bubbles back up to the surface...but if it means leaving this place, why? *-Paul Goracke* [ top of page ]
Jazzyfatnastees The Once and Future MCA/Motive Records Links: Jazzfatnasties		Should urban radio in the Northwest be courageous enough to add something worthwhile to its rotation, it should be "The Wound" from the Los Angeles natives, The Jazzfatnastees. If the music sounds familiar, you may recognize that the songs have a Roots touch to them (they produced it). The vocals? You might have heard this duo's vocals with The Pharcyde and on The Roots' "Illadelph Halflife" off Things Fall Apart. Affectionately called "The Jazzies," this duo's debut recording presents a ten-song collection that seems to be extinct in this day and age. The diva duo consists of Mercedes Martinez and Tracey Moore whose angelic vocals alternate through this disk as the primary songstress. "Breakthrough" presents Moore's torchy vocals accompanying the bluesy song. Martinez' sweet voice in "Unconventional Ways" sings about a type of love that transcends things like the ring, the house, etc. that define typical modern relationships. Moore sings: "Peace, be still, if once was said/A wise man once got thoughts/blown out his head" in "Hear Me." Some may class this band as new soul or acid jazz since it juxtaposes retro soul with a new flair. Jazz-influenced, sometimes groove and even quiet storm, the Jazzies' mellifluous, honey-tinged vocals and smooth harmonies speak to the soul. So come on KUBE, are you ready to take on something new? *-Hope Lopez* [ top of page ]
Les Thugs Tout Doit Disparaītre Labels Links: Les Thugs		Everyone has their favorite artist or band, someone whose music they hold dear and are torn between wanting to share their treasure so the whole world will take notice and wanting to keep it hidden, close to the heart for the fear that the whole world will indeed take notice. For me, that band is Les Thugs. And it is with mixed feelings to have heard that Sub Pop--who, with the exception of 1991's I.A.B.F. on Alternative Tentacles (SP was broke and the band really loved AT), have released stateside every full-length in the band's career--won't be releasing Les Thugs' latest gem because of lack of sales on this side of the pond with the band's previous album, Nineteen Something. What adds further to this irony is that Tout Doit Disparaītre is Les Thugs' most polished, best sounding album to date. In fact, hands down, it's simply amazing! Made up of the brothers Sourice (Christophe on drums and vocals, Pierre-Yves on bass, Eric on guitar and lead vocals) and Thierry Meanard (guitar), this album was recorded and engineered by their live technician "Tech" near their French home town of Angers. Tech expertly captures the subtle intensity of the band. With such an exquisite ear I'm surprised they haven't used him behind the recording console more often instead of employing the likes of Steve Albini (Big Black) and Kurt Bloch (Fastbacks). The songs are on par with the best the Thugs have released, matching even their finest hour, 1992's As Happy As Possible. Each track retains the fiery intensity of the aforementioned; waves of distorting guitar crash behind you as the songs swell and then recede, but all here is not just the rush of tide pulling you out. The band has really come together on this one, and as much as each song drives with a blistering intensity, each also glistens with a warmth and enough pop sentiment to lift you up off your feet and keep you humming guitar and vocal lines all day. And that's the infectious little secret of Les Thugs. Hidden inside each song are clever little melodies that hook themselves into your subconscious where they happily sing themselves away day in and day out. With Tout Doit Disparaītre, they all shine. Christophe's simple backing vocals on "This World is Looking Great" set against Eric's terse lyrical reaffirmation of life, the nostalgia found in "Gone" and "The River," the punk guitar drive of "Mio-Mio" with Pierre-Yves simple yet emotionally powerful bass lines, the aural intensity of "I'm Scared" and "I'm Just Kidding" with its fist-raising line of "I'd like to kick your ass"...even the Yo La Tengo-esque "Your Smile" with its drum machine and organ have a warmth and glow that's hard to ignore. Every song here hits home, and Les Thugs have created a masterpiece that shines from start to finish. So while there's a harrumph of satisfaction in knowing I'm one of very few people in the States lucky enough to own this gem, I'm sorely disappointed that Les Thugs still haven't received the exposure they so deserve. Their non-pretentious approach to their musical ethos is both genuine and divine. With Tout Doit Disparaītre they stand at the top of the game. *-Craig Young* [ top of page ]

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