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voxpoptart mix #2: "not the carefullest of towns"Jan 23 '07 (Updated Jan 25 '07) Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line I enthusiastically recommend Rock and Pop Mixes, especially trading them with Brian or myself.
Approximately two and a half years ago, my good friend and fellow Epinions writer Brian (also known as voxpoptart 'round these parts) lived in Massachusetts. I say this not to divulge his whereabouts or previous haunts for any feds that may be spying on this review, but to say that, since we lived mere blocks from each other, it seemed only natural that we exchange the occasional mix cd over lunch; to think, mix trades conducted without the hassle of postage! It's certainly a miraculous thing. Sadly, the intersection of our paths didn't last very long, as Brian and family eventually packed up and headed south. Understandable, surely. A month after our last mix exchange, I reviewed Brian's first mix: entitled "too smooth, like mayonnaise", it primarily focused on hip-hop, dance-y stuff, and other things that wouldn't fall under the vast umbrella of alternative rock. It was excellent, and I listened to it a lot; still do, really, except two years later I own much of the albums that the songs I liked came from, as I think is probably part of the purpose of mix cds. Occasionally the purpose is red-hot lovin', but Brian's married. What people may not know about all this is that there was a second mix; a lost mix, if you will. That mix was recieved by me, slid right across the table by the man himself one morning in Newcomb Farms, right along with its funkier cousin; and, somehow, I never got around to reviewing it. Which is really giving a perfectly fine mix the short end of the stick, and I'm sure both the mix and Brian feel horrible about that. So here it is, Brian, two and a half years after the fact: I am finally reviewing your Boston-centric rock mix cd "Not the Carefullest of Towns". I feel good about this, and I hope you do too. 1. the Dresden Dolls, "Girl Anachronism" A couple of ominous scales, a "1, 2, 3, 4!", and then the sound of a piano being taken forcefully, but liking it in that masochistic sort of way. Of course, two years later, the Dresden Dolls have not only become mildly popular, but they've released another album, and I own both. But I think this still may have been the best choice for my introduction to the Dolls; it's beguiling and disarmingly scary, all at once, and it shows that Brian really knows how to kick off a mix. 4/5 2. the Gravy, "the Song" And then there's The Gravy, borne out of the ashes of Boston power-pop faves Cavedog. There's not a lot to "the Song", really; a bunch of hard-rocking guitar passages, some shouting, a few spastic octave changes, and it's all over in a flurry of sound and fury. And yet, something about the song makes me want it; it makes me want to keep this song for my own and reveal it, layer by layer, to my other friends. I think that what it boils down to is energy; "the Song" is alive with sweet, pulverizing, moshing energy, and it's a beautiful thing indeed. 5/5 3. Juliana Hatfield, "You Are the Camera" On the opposite end of the spectrum, "You Are the Camera" - which transitions from the outro of "the Song" so well I can only assume that Brian planned it - works precisely because it's not energetic; that's not to say that it's not enjoyable, because it is, but that Juliana's perfect disaffected vocal is actually rather beguiling, singing in a smirking monotone over what is ostensibly jangle-pop, punched up with grungy guitars imported from the mid-90's. Which makes it sound like a bit of a relic, but that's okay; it's also wholly endearing. 4/5 4. Cordelia's Dad, "Brother Judson" At first listen, it's difficult to discern whether "Brother Judson" sounds like it's forward-thinking and proggy, or backwards and grungy. Either way, it's intriguing; the grunge guitars are two parts Mudhoney and one part Middle Eastern mysticism, and it layers itself quite nicely, building in intensity until the singer breaks out in a "currently-shitting-myself" howl. It's perhaps a little more sludgy than something that would normally warrant repeat listenings for me, but this is entirely good enough to leave on. 3.5/5 5. Cave-in, "Youth Overrided" I'm always tempted to pass by "Youth Overrided", because everytime I listen to this mix, I find myself considerably less-than-gripped by how it starts; it's rather slow and you can tell it's intent is to build in intensity to an anthemic chorus and blah blah blah. Predictably, it does, but the cool part is how good that chorus is; in that moment, Cave-in, a band that I've never heard of, become my own personal Foo Fighters, dark, minor-key, almost mysterious, but utterly rocking. This cleanly occupies and bridges the space between the Foos and Radiohead. 5/5 6. Chainsuck, "My Only Son" "Interesting" might be the only adjective I can think of to truly describe this song. It's not weird; different, but not nearly obtuse enough to be weird. It's not catchy either; the instruments are pretty standard, but the vocals are monotone and inexpressive. I'm always distracted by it, though; perhaps because of the song itself, perhaps because it doesn't sound like the product of a band named Chainsuck. Either way. 3/5 7. Tanya Donelly, "Lantern" Meanwhile, former Belly/ Throwing Muses/ the Breeders member Tanya Donelly sounds (at least on this particular song) as though she'd be mostly at home strumming an acoustic guitar, perhaps singing some primo Lilith Fair jangle-pop; except, "Lantern" sets all of that against a wall of sound that rivals Phil Spector's best moments, an army of guitars chug-chugging away until they block the sun. It all sounds really damn good; Donelly clearly has an ear for a hook and the balls to rock, and this song ably reflects both of these attributes. Exemplary. 5/5 8. Kristin Hersh, "Spain" Still, it's Donelly's stepsister and former Throwing Muses compatriot, Kristin Hersh, who delivers one of the biggest curveballs on this mix; her "Spain" is slow and acoustic, and threatens to wear out its welcome, until the tempo speeds up and the song turns angry. At which point, Hersh becomes extremely interesting, if not quite as pleasant to listen to as stepsis. 4/5 9. American Measles, "God Took My Bike" "I wasn't nice/ in fact I was fuucking ROTTEN" sing the American Measles on "God Took My Bike", and I have to admit to being able to understand the sentiment. Really, this is the only track on this mix that I feel the need to skip over; I kind of admire the way it bops around, all Ramones-y, but the title conceit wears thin quickly, and the female singer's vocals are entirely too wacky and tuneless. Sorry, Brian! 1.5/5 10. Consonant, "Post-Pathetic" Consonant are classic-sounding indie-rock, written by a guy who was in Mission of Burma. That pretty much encapsulates "Post-Pathetic"; there's very little about it that isn't encapsulated in that sentence, and yet, there's plenty to enjoy about it, all clean electrics and dissonant harmonies. Totally pleasant. 3/5 11. Chevy Heston, "Recovery Systems Are Failing" Much like the Consonant song, Chevy Heston's "Recovery Systems Are Failing" is plain-spoken, and rather unremarkable in its modest uber-indie Pavement/ Wire leanings. That's not to say that it's bad: I like how it shuffles along, and I like its unhurried pace. I just don't know if an entire album of it would keep my attention, but that's why people make mixes. 3/5 12. Helicopter Helicopter, "Like Detroit" I'm not a hundred percent sure why the chorus of this droning indie-rock ballad - that actually is pretty consistent with the paragraph I wrote for "Recovery Systems Are Failing", now that you mention it - reminds me of Aerosmith, but I'm convinced it can't be a coincidence. This is, after all, a mix of Boston bands, designed to initiate me to the music scene of my then-newly adopted hometown, and Aerosmith is the big daddy of Boston bands, right? I don't know if "Like Detroit" is actually Helicopter Helicopter's own personal "Seasons of Wither", but it's good enough to be, I suppose. 3/5 13. Bleu, "Sayonara" Now, this is more like it! Brian has since convinced me to buy Bleu's album proper Redhead, but, really, he couldn't have put a more perfect track on a mix; "Sayonara" is inexplicably not on most new pressings of Redhead, but if it were, it would easily be the catchiest track on there. "Sayonara" is a perfectly crafted confection, made for pop radio if only pop radio would play it. The verse has a nice little pre-chorus build-up, the chorus contains excessive and gleeful amounts of falsetto, and there's even one of those parts where Bleu sings a quieter version of the chorus, over subdued, arpeggiated chords, and then the guitars come in and chug it back up to ten. This is beautiful, expressive, chest-bursting stuff; it is what power pop must sound like, and it must be a huge hit in some alternate (but not altogether different) universe. 5/5, but more if I could. 14. Jim's Big Ego, "They're Everywhere" The spiritual successor to "Stress" from the Noplace Like Nowhere album - not to mention on the first mix Brian gave me - "They're Everywhere" eschews "Stress"' vanilla funk pastiche for a more straightforward four-chord alt-rock chugalong but sacrifices none of the sardonic wit. "I'm a paranoid schizophrenic with surround sound speakers," Jim intones in the very beginning, "I hook my cell phone to a megaphone to my headphones and I'm still alone." The paranoia and the stress of modern life is still alive and well within Jim Infantino, and his Big Ego is still there to pick up the pieces. This band will never be popular. They're way too good. 5/5 15. Buffalo Tom, "Postcard" Meanwhile, Buffalo Tom just sound _big_; on "Postcard", at least, they perfect the kind of big, fractured balladry Hootie and the Blowfish wish they could've done. It sounds like lo-fi Counting Crows or perhaps indie's own Matchbox Twenty, thoughtful and wistful, expansive and earnest. There's really nothing to dislike about this song, and I'm not just saying that so Brian can get a three-song five-star streak. :) 5/5 16. Jennifer Kimball, "Take One Step" Buffalo Tom are clearly a tough act to follow; I'm not saying that Jennifer Kimball's not up to the task, but her little lock-step folk groove here can't nearly sustain itself long enough. For a few bars it's cute, but after that, damn, enough is enough. 2.5/5 17. Count Zero, "Bachelor #3" In the meantime, Count Zero set to setting up a similar groove, but when they lock into it, it's positively propulsive. I knew from Brian's first mix (and Guitar Hero) that Count Zero were a little bit on the weird side; so when "Bachelor #3" is all queued up and ready to go, I know that it is time for me to bop my head to a fun little song that I can't really say I entirely "get". And that's satisfying to me. 4/5 18. Double Dong, "Sex Negative" This song is different; it's kinda-cool, a cappella, sounds like Anthony Keidis rapping over a Doug E. Fresh beatbox, accompanied by a weird chorus of oohs and ahhs. It's odd, but pleasantly so. The cadence of the rhymes are straight out of "Give it Away", and the (non-)instrumentation is straight from - well, from the most creative, oddly-structured part of someone's brain, but in a good way. Will always, it's important to note, be overshadowed by the fact that this band is named Double Dong. 4/5, and I get to type Double Dong again. 19. Baby Ray, "Little Red Caboose" Catchy, slight, and pleasant; "Little Red Caboose" sounds like two guys singing over a rhythmically-scrubbed acoustic guitar; even though they have instruments they sound even more stripped-down than Double Dong. In other news, the only reason I made that comparison was to type Double Dong once again (that's five! yesss!); this song, though, is really cool. That's about all I can say about it, really. 4/5 20. the Damn Personals, "Sleeping on the Floors, United" Somehow the intro to this song sounds like the unlikely meeting of Elvis Costello and Queen. That alone should be a selling point on this song, but if that doesn't do it, consider that this is punchy, quick, and yet epic-sounding; whoever sings in the Damn Personals yowls like a preacher clutching his pulpit, preaching to a rapt audience of rockers. And when the song finally takes off, it barrels down the runway, not even listening to the air-traffic controllers, and leaps into the sky. It's awesome, quite frankly, and it gets another perfect 5/5. I would like to thank Brian, then, for a mix that has introduced me to several exceptional acts; I would also like to invite him to another mix exchange, perhaps one that won't take me two and a half years to complete, and apologize for my tardiness in this matter.  |
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