Stereolab @ Royal Festival Hall, London
Rating: 25,000 ********************** ... 25,000
Shut off the mics (which happened three times throughout
the show, you’re fired RFH), and the silent freeze frame stars two front
women who could easily work at Northborough Public Library, a drummer whose
resemblance to comedian Louis Anderson is spooky, and three Beck-ians on
guitars and keyboard. A rather benign and well-groomed group that
you could easily take to dinner at your racist grandfather’s house.
Switch the power on and you have the top of a pyramid, you have Shangri-La,
you have a 5000-piece puzzle that puts itself together. Sounds organic
and cosmic. Voices European and insect. Rhythms that
hijack your pulse. A dynamic love song sung in French, backed by
three keyboards, a trombone, and a high-pitched chant of “puppy puppy puppy
puppy puppy love.” Every acoustic electronic hybrid owes royalties
to Stereolab. Every clunk, every zip, every ‘je t’aime’ owes a nod
to Stereolab. If Stereolab were a food it would be a mouthful of
sparkling gelatin-free jello. If it were an island it would be Java:
a godly network of water temples cascading down a mountain surrounded on
all sides by the sea, inhabited by shaman, visited by loud American tourists
in bikinis.
-s.jo
Ryan Adams… “Gold”
Rating: 8 ********
What a name. Both of them. They each
place some pretty high expectations on the bearer. Ryan Adams, while
a gifted musician has yet to match the feat of Bryan Adams’ “Everything
I Do,” which spent 40 weeks at number one. But we’ll let him slide,
as he did win over one Meghan Moran. However, “Gold,” while being
a very good album, is maybe sterling silver, at best, or maybe a really
nice cubic zirconium. Basically, if you like Bob Dylan you might
like this album. If you like the Rolling Stones, you might like this
album. If you like Crosby, Stills, Nash, and/OR Young, you might
like this album. If you like the Who, you might like this album,
or you might get pissed off that song 11 contains a guitar riff straight
from the “Tommy” overture. If you like “Heartbreaker,” you might
not like this album. You might like the 2nd disc that comes with
it though. And if you think Ryan Adams is a sexy motherfucker, you
might like this album. (Bonus! You’ll also like looking at the various
pictures of him with an American Flag, a girl, and a gun...it's so hot.)
-mbm
Music of the WB Reviewed
Rating: 6.85 ******.85
Last week’s episode of D’Creek featured songs by Cat Power and
Kristin Hersh. Cat Power is soooooo depressing; I just bought the Covers
Album, and all the songs just bring me way way the fuck down. Aside
from accentuating the maudlin melodrama of Cape Side, these songs perfectly
fit the mood when you get home from an all night party and you just want
to chill, or when you’ve had a bad breakup with the one you love and you’re
like cry cry cry. Mick Jagger and Lou Reed become like femi-goddesses
on this album; bisexual leather pant gummy lips become flowing hair ivory
skin estrogen misery. The delicate and aching piano rhythms drown
you in their slippery chords until you gasp for cheerful relief, but you
sure as hell won’t find it on this album. I know this is a
stupid question, but what came first: Rolling Stone Magazine, Dylan’s “Like
a Rolling Stone,” or The Rolling Stones. B.T.W., speaking of covers,
Hersh’s song “Trouble” is apparently a remake of a song written by Cat
Stevens (someone told me he was this British Muslim now! Is this true???????).
The song is beautifully composed: “Trouble, oh, trouble can’t you see,
you’re eating my heart away and there’s nothing much left of me.”
Pang. I mean, really.
-s.jo
Sean Agnew
Rating: 2 **
How the hell did this guy get voted one of the Top
Ten Philadelphians? What is the criteria for this list, and more
importantly, why wasn't I on it? I mean, I'm obviously a way better
Philadelphian than he is. You know, just because I'm not all 'indie'
and everything...I get no respect. Maybe if I dropped 20 pounds,
got a mod cut, put on a t-shirt and tight jeans that look like they're
from 1967 and listened to The Corners (...so indie YOU've never heard of
them). That way I could act like a jerk and still be voted a Top
Ten Philadelphian like the darling god of the indie world, Sean (xoxo).
He's in the Make-Out Club for chrissake. But maybe I'm being too
harsh...I've been to shows at the church and the Rotunda and 4040, all
venues he works with. I gave this some serious thought...aren't I
being a hypocryte? No, because if he didn't do it someone else would,
so would everyone please stop sucking his dick?
-mbm
Prince of Peace by James Carroll
Rating: 16 ****************
Rachel Wright, I love you for giving me this book
to read. Capsule: Guy goes to Korean War, comes home, becomes
a priest...lots of important stuff happens...starts protesting the Vietnam
War, and the protest escalates throughout the book. That's kinda
just the skelton, but to tell you more than that would be to ruin everything.
And I'm not a ruiner. James Carroll writes the most beautiful prose
and he tells the story so convincingly. When he's writing as Durk,
he becomes Durk. When he's writing about Michael Maguire, he becomes
Michael Maguire. When he's writing about Carolyn, he becomes her.
Everyday I would say to Rachel, "You'll NEVER guess what happened last
night!!" And she would say, "What? Did Heidi pull five more
boys?" And I would say, "No, but this happened to Michael Maguire...!"
And she would say, "Oh my god, I know!" because she had already read the
book, so I was telling her old news. This went on everyday until
I finished. It's amazing, and this review is rather pointless, because
nothing I say here will, in my eyes, do this book justice. Peace
out.
-mbm
American Inanimate Carbon Rod - "In Rod We Trust"
Rating: 23 ***********************
Shoegazing at it's worst. Upon hearing the
first full-length release from AICR, I fell in love. With the music,
with the lyrics, with the band members ( especially Ainsley), and with
the ingenius calculus behind the music. Like a sociopath, this album
is sweet, endearing and completely emotionally detached. This concurrent-emo,
pre-baggy/madchester, proto-math rock group is hard to place under one
genre, and so it shall be, as the band members are against being forcefully
labeled, especially with anything that has the word post in it. They
will admit though, that by default they fall into the lo-fi category, for
no other reason than the poor sound quality of the album...which makes
it all the more charming. This album sounds like it was made in outer
space. The sound quality lends to the album a detached lonely galaxy
kind of feel. The songs are gorgeous: fantastically harmonized, intricately
crafted and unpredictable. Like the lights of an oil refinery this
album is sad and beautiful all at once. Like an algebra equation,
the songs, whether kick your ass fast an' happy or way way the fuck down
and methodical, fit together into one tight album. AICR has laid
down 16 tracks of pure scientific genius.
-pmf
Weezer - "The Green Album"
Rating: 3.104 ***.104
The Green Album was the once much anticipated follow-up
to Weezer's first two extraordinary albums. Tthis album reminds me
of cotton candy: you wait anxiously, mouth-watering...you get it
and can't wait to take a bite...for a second, it's delicious. But
then you try to find something to chew on and it quickly dissolves into
nothing and you realize you've wasted your money and wish you had gotten
something else. Matt Sharp, please come back.