Chumbawamba – Tubthumper

September 23, 1997 • Universal Music

This is totally going to date me, but anyway: As you may remember, "Tubthumping" was a huge radio hit in 1997 in the US. I was eight years old and thought (for some reason) that it was the greatest thing that I had ever heard; my parents then bought this album, which was the first CD I ever personally owned. (In a disgustingly-romantic coincidence, it's also the first CD my girlfriend ever owned.) And, like most of the one-hit-wonders of the '90s, the album is unfortunately mostly forgettable—but not for me, as a nice little slice of my childhood.

What most people probably wouldn't guess is that the album isn't full of cheesy dance-pop anthems. Sure, there are a couple other ones and they are equally silly and kind of dumb. But buried in the middle of the album there are some actually-good songs, notably "The Good Ship Lifestyle" (by far my favorite) and "I Want More". And just about every other track, while certainly flawed, have a few little bits and pieces that are worth listening to. Many songs have little intros or outros of wildly different genres or with neat samples, which go a surprisingly long way to keeping the listening experience more interesting.

Unfortunately, most of the songs really aren't very good. Maybe I'm too acclimated to all of it, but just about every track has some aspect (if not the whole thing) which is just a bit too cloying or silly. Maybe it's something you have to be in the right mood for; generally I'm not in the mood for this kind of dance-pop.

I won't say this is necessarily a good album, or one that people should listen to even if they were into "Tubthumping" back in the day. On the whole, it's not particularly noteworthy or even listenable. I'll still take two or three tracks, but that's not a very good percentage.

The Church, The Sharp Things

March 7, 2015 • The Grog Shop, Cleveland, Ohio

A trip up to Cleveland with the SO + her family, to finally go to a venue I almost went to ten years ago to see Isis (but didn't because I was a minor). It's actually a pretty nice place—at least, a step up (albeit a small one) from most of the dingy bars I go to in Columbus. I guess The Church is one of the most well-known acts I've seen in a long, long time, so it's somewhat fitting. Although they also sell out huge venues like the Opera House in Australia, so what do I know.

The Sharp Things

I'd never heard of this band before and after today I'll probably never think about them again. They're supposed to be some kind of big chamber pop / pop-rock group, but at this show there were just two guys, one on bass and one singing and on guitar or piano. They played incredibly generic pop ballads, I think; I barely remember because it was just so forgettable.

The Church

For a band who I really haven't heard much of (one album off-and-on a while ago) and a I was pleasantly surprised by this show. As I often forget, with concerts what matters usually isn't what you play but rather how you play it, and even though I'm pretty ambivalent about their studio work I thought the show was done very well. For a bunch of old dudes they actually do still rock sufficiently. I didn't recognize most of the songs they played (I knew three out of about fifteen) but most of them were still fun to watch in their own way. They tended to go off on extended post-psych jam sessions at the end of some songs which usually wound up working really well, though it sometimes seemed to clash with their poppier tunes a little. On the other hand the mix of styles, old and new, helped keep the long show from getting stale too fast (though I was ready to go home about five songs before they stopped, but I was pretty tired anyway). Some enjoyable banter from Steve Kilbey helped keep things light too. All in all, enjoyable stuff; I'm glad I went.

Shivering Window – When We Were Metal

Bridgetown Records • August 12, 2014

Time for some more weird stuff today! Shivering Window is a left-field lo-fi pop band. the sort that defies simple classification and makes it very frustrating to write about. But they do make some pretty darn interesting music.

This is mainly a cassette release, and boy is that taken seriously. I have the digital version, and it still sounds like it was dug out of someone's basement in 1989—a bit of tape hiss and AC buzzing, telephone EQs, some tracks that sound like they were ripped from ancient reel-to-reels. If you put this album alongside a bunch of actual '80s and '90s underground-lo-fi-DIY tapes, I wouldn't know the difference.

Of course, this is an entirely good thing; I think the aesthetic fits Shivering Window's music perfectly and I don't think there's a better way for the music to be presented. Strip it all out and it's a pretty basic pop album, one that probably wouldn't be too terribly interesting and technically is a bit of a mess; but with its production, the drum machines and out-of-tune instruments and silly keyboards work together surprisingly well. And there are a handful of neat little riffs in there, like the guitar line in "Sloucher".

I'd say this album is probably an acquired taste, but for anyone like me who is remotely fascinated by underground tape culture, this is a great modern representation of that. It's not perfect by any means, as it sometimes seems a little too amateur for its own good, but that doesn't mean it isn't worth a listen.

Mason Mercer – Slobber

June 6, 2014 • self-released

Just a quick review today of a little EP that was recommended to me: Slobber is some kind of island neo-psychedelic art rock trip, with driving acoustic guitars in front of huge industrial drumming. It has this very ethereal and dreamy sound, helped by its clever use of samples and huge variety of different instrumental voices. It sounds pretty dense at times but never overbearing. When it's not so dreamy, it has some really great rhythms, (especially in "Scrappy Doo"); I've rarely heard acoustic guitar sound quite so heavy.

It's a bit repetitive and all the songs are pretty much the same (although "The Water Helps" has this really cool heavy rhythm in it about halfway through), but there's clearly a lot of production talent here regardless. Definitely an EP worth a couple spins. I'd be interested in something a little more full-featured.

Eiffel 65 – Europop

November 30, 1999 • WEA Records

I finally decided to give this another spin now, in 2013, and it's probably been ten-plus years since I last heard any of these songs (including "Blue"). This was one of the only albums I ever listened to back when I was ten, so the nostalgia factor here is enormous—everything here reminds me of hanging out at my friend's house, building Legos, reading terrible horror novels, playing his Playstation 1 (yep, "My Console" was amazingly relevant).

Still, I can't help but feel that at least a couple of these songs are still pretty good. The album's overall tone, the spacey, ethereal, cold aesthetic, is really good. Naturally I like the more "serious" tracks like "Too Much of Heaven" or "Now Is Forever" over the cheese that is sings like "Move Your Body" or "Your Clown" (although something about "Living in a Bubble" and "Hyperlink" is strangely fascinating).

Of course, it could be that the elements of this album I still enjoy are because I listened to this so much back in the day. I'm not complaining either way.

And yeah, it's really not a good album. It's often kind of stupid and repetitive; definitely the kind of thing you put on as background music at best. But if you don't take it seriously (and you shouldn't), it's at least sort of fun.

5

Carrollhood – Violence.

February 11, 2013 • self-released

Something quick and short today—an EP I nabbed off of Bandcamp a few weeks ago on a whim: Carrollhood's Violence. I'm not really sure how to best describe the music Carrollhood makes; the first track starts off as a sort of ethereal ambient pop, then quickly moves into a more aggressive, drum-heavy riff that lies somewhere between rock and... electropop maybe? I have no idea, it's not the kind of stuff I usually listen to so I don't really have any idea what I'm talking about.

I've been enjoying it though; the songs' layered textures and use of dynamics are both very well-done, and the songwriting itself is pretty good, with strong melodies and composition. Anyway, long story short, it's solid stuff and more than worthy of its free download.

7

Why?, Astronautalis, Dream Tiger

February 18, 2013 • Ace of Cups, Columbus, Ohio

My first trip to Ace of Cups, courtesy of Why?, who slowly became one of my favorite bands a few years ago with Alopecia. Despite a few logistical hitches ("doors at 7" became "doors at 7:45", with the show itself at 8:45) it turned out to be one of the best shows I've ever been to.

Dream Tiger

I'd never heard of Dream Tiger before, despite the fact that she has apparently been a member of Why? for some time. It was surprisingly good stuff, not the sort of music I'd seek out, but I liked her quite a bit. Gloomy electronic beats and melancholic singing, a sort of slowed-down, ethereal, drugged-out Björk. The variety of sounds and instruments sampled was pretty neat as well.
6 • Most Seemingly Surprised at Her Success Award

Astronautalis

Another act new to me. Basically a stripped-down and more rock version of Why?, with heavy indie-rock beats (with live drums and guitar, which was neat) and a half-singing-half-rapping approach. It wasn't totally my kind of music, but I have to give the guy props for giving one of the most enthusiastic performances I've ever seen. After Dream Tiger put everyone to sleep (not in a bad way), I was surprised how easily he woke everyone back up, considering that a lot of us didn't know who he was, probably in no small part due to his admittedly funny audience-participation freestyle.
7 • Most Entertaining Stories About Insane Clown Posse Award

Why?

This show exceeded all my expectations, somehow. Firstly, I was impressed that everything was played with live instruments (I should've known better, but still), and the scope of them—two good-sized drumkits, a full-time xylophonist, and a part-time glockenspielist. They played a good mix of stuff, mostly newer material (of course) but a large handful of old tracks, two from Elephant Eyelash and fully half of Alopecia, which were some of the highlights for me (especially "These Few Presidents"). I guess it was partly so good because the crowd was as into those songs as I was and the atmosphere was really great. (I even tolerated the bit of singing along that happened.) So yeah—I guess it's partly that seeing one of your favorite groups makes for a good show, but they wouldn't have disappointed even the mildest fans.
10 • Largest Number of Fans Who Feel They Have the Need to Make Out Right in Front of Me Award

Taboo – Fallin' Up

2011 • Touchstone

I received this book as a gag gift (on the cheap when Borders went out of business) but I thought I'd read it anyway just for kicks. I've never liked the Black Eyed Peas, but I figured if nothing else it'd be a look into how pop superstars run their music careers, and having heard a few of their songs before I'd at least have a bit of context to work with.

Hence my incredible disappointment when I found out that this book is not about music. At all. I was hoping for at least some discussion of songwriting or production techniques or anything, but no luck. For the purposes of this book the Black Eyes Peas could have been magicians or cabaret dancers or clowns; it wouldn't have made any difference. That leaves the only reason to read this book being if you were really interested in Taboo solely as a person, and I was not—even less so after finishing it, because that guy is an asshole.

The story itself is actually pretty dull; it starts out alright, if in a semi-cliché rags-to-riches ghetto tale, with Taboo rising in the ranks of b-boy dancing; but after he joins his bandmates just a few chapters in he basically rides their coattails the rest of the way. Aside from the copious descriptions of drug and alcohol use, nothing ever really happens to him (nothing interesting, anyway).

And when the partying and drug use is described, it only seems to serve to drive home the book's backwards moral: If you're successful and/or rich, you can get away with anything. There are plenty of cases in the book where this sort of thing happens; the worst offender is probably their trip to St Maarten where several band members and crew are driving drunk and/or high, get pulled over, thrown in jail, and are let go anyway simply because they had a show the next day. A combination of superstar-level fame and incompetent police work results in no consequences and no lessons learned. What's the point?

Yes, he does make a drastic improvement and sobers up at the very end, and supposedly works hard to get there, but it doesn't make me have any more sympathy for someone who has already proven themselves to be an utter asshole for 90% of the book. It all left a very bad taste in my mouth.

Additionally, despite having an editor help him out, the book is very amateurly-written. Its style seems to be some weird hybrid of a newspaper article and a campfire story—half of the paragraphs are one sentence long, making the book read in a very uncomfortable way. The patchwork vocabulary (it's pretty obvious someone broke out a thesaurus at random just to add impressive-sounding long words) and very jumpy storytelling (where the focus switches between events almost at random, perhaps in a ridiculous attempt to keep things chronological) doesn't help at all.

Needless to repeat, I was not remotely impressed by this book and I'm a bit surprised at myself for somehow making it all the way through. It is not even worth digging out of the bargain bin, regardless of how much one likes the Black Eyed Peas (in that case, wait for will.i.am's biography—he's the true hero of the story and seems like the one only deserving of his success).

Purity Ring – Shrines

July 24, 2012 • 4AD Records

Never say nothing good can come out of dumb fads. Remember the whole witch house thing that was really popular with artsy underground artists back in 2008–2009? Okay, so I liked some of it, even if it was kind of silly. But finally something amazing has come out of that scene—Purity Ring's fantastic debut album. It doesn't seem like the kind of thing I'd like at all but I can't stop listening to it.

In fact I think a pop shift was exactly what witch house needed; I always liked the production style but most bands were missing something. I guess that something was a really solid sense of melody and vocals to realize it. Shrines has catchy hook after catchy hook, and the vocals play off the synths and samples really well to bring everything together. Sure, those choruses can get a bit too saccharine for my tastes now and again, but on the other hand it's a nice contrast to the spacey, jittering, echoing production.

Speaking of which, the album has an incredibly consistent sound. With just a couple exceptions, each track is pretty much the same thing, which is great if you happen to like what they are doing. I do, and I think the over-consistency is a strong point on this album (which is rare for me to think), though I can completely understand it boring the pants off other people, especially those for whom the chintzy drum and synth programming is unappealing. But when unique elements come into play they stand out in a great way, such as the male vocals on "Grandloves", which are one of my favorite parts of the album.

And now I'll tear down everything I said with this: Purity Ring shouldn't have released this, and should have stayed a singles band instead. (Or an EPs band at best.) I love their music but Shrines can be hard to digest all at once (for reasons stated above). Most of these songs are strong enough to stand on their own (something they've already demonstrated); the weaker ones don't bring anything extra to the album format and the overall flow isn't terribly good.

Regardless, I am still probably gonna keep this one in rotation for a long time. I'm not sure if it has any more staying power than the mostly-forgettable witch house from whence it came, but time will tell. If nothing else, best ethereal pop album of 2012 for sure, am I right?

8

Ulver – Childhood's End

May 28, 2012 • Kscope

Either Ulver has transcended all of space-time or they've totally lost it; I'm not sure which. It seemed like they could do no wrong after releasing some of the greatest albums ever over the last nearly-twenty years or so, mastering everything from black metal to electronic to art rock to ambient. Since Wars of the Roses, though, they've been losing me. Childhood's End is an interesting new direction for the band but I don't know if I'm really feeling it.

For anyone who doesn't yet know, Childhood's End is a cover album; Ulver takes on various rock bands from the mid-'60s with a psychedelic pop feel. Given that neither '60s rock nor psych pop generally do much for me, it's hard for me to click with the music on this album. Garm's vocals are the only thing reminiscent of older Ulver—not that I wasn't expecting them to change their sound yet again, but the songs don't sound like Ulver songs in the same way you could tell that Wars of the Roses had Ulver songs (even if they weren't particularly good ones).

Not that Childhood's End is bad, though. Given the source material Ulver did quite a fine job crafting new sounds with it. Many tracks have a really nice ethereal quality to them—lots of reverb and background strings, of course—combined with a sort of folky aesthetic (comes with the '60s territory, I suppose). Sometimes it works and they pull out something really great (like "Where Is Yesterday" or "Can You Travel in the Dark Alone?"), but other songs are still a bit too silly or cheesy to warrant more than one listen ("Today" or "I Had Too Much to Dream Last Night", among others). Fortunately most of the songs are pretty short, so the bad ones are over soon enough, but I still feel like a lot of the dumber ones should have been trimmed easily.

Even after a few listens I'm still a bit confused by this album. Ulver completionists will of course listen to it, but be forewarned that it's not the same band that you grew to love back with Bergtatt or Perdition City. As an introduction to obscure '60s rock, sure, this might be a good place to start, but I couldn't care less. Dad rockers (yeah I went there) might like it for sentimental reasons, but what dad rocker is going to listen to Ulver in the first place, let alone enjoy their covers more than the originals? And that doesn't really leave us anywhere. Sure, it's a fine album. They did a good job. But why bother?

4

Asteroids

1982 • Kid Stuff Records

I know what you're thinking: "Asteroids barely had any music!" Yeah, it was basically two notes, like the Jaws theme, and nothing else, both on the Atari 2600 and the arcade version most people are probably familiar with (and the one I played most; there was a cabinet at our local roller skating rink: pretty neat!). Fortunately nobody was dumb enough to release that terrible two-note monstrosity as a real soundtrack, but this little promo EP that came out for the Atari 2600 version isn't much better. Its three annoying songs are painfully stupid and simply aren't very good.

In short, we have a very dated '80s-sounding fanfare for the Atari theme, an incredibly cheesy space-age-pop tune with embarrassing vocals and lyrics, and a less-awful synth-pop-ish tune with some robotic-sounding vocals. None of them are any good, especially the second one, but as promotional material goes they could have done worse. Their decision to include lyrics that mentioned things that weren't even remotely related to the game is a bit sad though (there's no time warping anywhere, for one), and the only two features of the game ("HYPERSPACE! ... THRUST CONTROL!") are way more banal than the songs make them out to be.

It's an interesting piece of game history, I suppose, but even if video gaming was still in its infancy in the early '80s, music was not, and this could have had some actually decent music on it. Oh well.

2

Björk – Biophilia

October 10, 2011 • One Little Indian Records

So I've been a Björk fan for some time now, and I have even enjoyed Medúlla and Volta considerably even though people seem to think she's been going downhill lately. After listening critically to Biophilia, I am going to have to agree; it is unfortunately a pretty dull album that doesn't offer anything new or better than her older material.

I think probably one of the biggest issues with this album is that it seems like Björk has gotten a bit too comfortable with her sound, and the music is suffering because of it. Nothing here sounds too much different from Volta: it's very vocal-centric, with instrumentation simply supporting the vocals in the background. The music does pull out some really creative stuff here and there, using some unique instruments (for a pop album), but most of the music is not very attention-grabbing. Instead of Homogenic's dark and dirty beats or Post's eccentric and theatrical numbers, Biophilia is mostly very quiet—and very safe. A lot of the time the music feels like it is going nowhere and many songs just end out of the blue, which feels awkward. There is the occasional awesome exception, though, like the neat drum and bass-ish sections in "Crystalline", "Sacrifice", and "Mutual Core". They aren't very Björk-sounding and kind of come out of nowhere, but they are refreshing to hear and work pretty well in context (not to mention they are about the only times the beats get really interesting).

I feel like I should discuss the vocals some since it is a pop album but honestly like I said if you've heard Volta you've heard this as well. They are very typical for her style and while they certainly aren't bad, they aren't very interesting either, especially for someone like me who listens to music for the music, where vocals support the music and not vice versa. So obviously it will probably appeal to some more than others, but it doesn't do anything for me.

I had some pretty high hopes for this album and I liked the album on the first couple listens, but now I don't, and I think that made the disappointment even worse. Fortunately we still have a handful of very strong earlier albums from her to listen to, even if we aren't going to get that quality of material out of her anymore.

4