Short Attention Span Record Reviews, Sep. 2020 Vol. II

THE LOUDER STUFF

EN MINOR – When The Cold Truth Has Worn Its Miserable Welcome Out
Phil Anselmo goes American Gothic and sings clean but so low he makes Leonard Cohen sound like Cyndi Lauper. RYIL Nick Cave, Mark Lanegan, slashing your wrists in a bathtub filled with warm water. (7)

EXPANDER – Neuropunk Boostergang
If you were wondering what would happen if you put Power Trip, Voivod, Jesus Lizard and Lightning Bolt in a blender then look no further. With Kurt Ballou seal of approval. (8)

ACE FREHLEY – Origins, Vol. 2
Ace covers Led Zep, Deep Purple, the Beatles, the Stones, the Kinks, Jimi, and others. He still plays a mean guitar, he still can’t sing to save his life. (6)

IHSAHN – Pharos
2nd EP this year by the Emperor dude, slightly better than the previous one, focusing on his mellower side and occasionally sounding like Opeth sounding like Porcupine Tree. Includes covers of A-Ha (thankfully not THAT song again) and Portishead. (8)

MARILYN MANSON – We Are Chaos
This is his Bowie album and it’s as good as the great “Pale Emperor”, certainly better than the Manson-By-Numbers of 2017’s “Heaven Upside Down”. (8)

MASTODON – Medium Rarities
A mixed bag of rare tracks, live recordings, covers and one new unreleased song. Some exciting stuff for completists in here, but the (many) instrumentals are mostly forgettable. (7)

SUMAC – May You Be Held
The two improvisational albums they recorded with Japanese avant-garde experimentalist/noisemonger Keiji Haino obviously rubbed off on them, since they’re not even pretending to be a post-metal band anymore. File Under “Uneasy Listening”. (7)


THE OTHER STUFF

SARAH DAVACHI – Cantus, Descant
80+ minutes of minimalist drone organ music. Not a party record exactly, but great for meditation. (7)

RICHARD DAWSON – Republic of Geordieland
Lockdown home recording of instrumentals, acapella vocal pieces, and outtakes by Geordie folk weirdo who released last year’s third-best album. (7)

CRAIG FINN – All These Perfect Crosses
Collection of demos, outtakes, and acoustic versions of songs from The Hold Steady frontman’s solo albums, a treat for fans. (8)

THE EMPTY HEARTS – The Second Album
Power-pop/garage rock supergroup made up of guys from The Cars, Blondie, the Romantics, and the Chesterfield Kings on second album of catchy, jangly, 60’s-influenced goodness. Ringo Starr plays on it too. (8)

THE FLAMING LIPS – American Head
A sort-of-concept album reimagining the Flaming Lips as an early 70’s druggy rock band hanging out and jamming with a pre-fame Tom Petty in Oklahoma, “American Head” sounds like a return to the mellow psychedelic orchestral pop sounds of their most commercially successful phase (1999-2002). Country star Kacey Musgraves guests. (8)

TIGRAN HAMASYAN – The Call Within
A piano-led virtuoso jazz trio that feels more like a prog-metal juggernaut. (8)

THE LEMON TWIGS – Songs For The General Public
Wildly ambitious, a bit all over the place, and filled with more hooks than a fisherman’s shoulder bag, this power-pop/glam rock pastiche sounds like the perfect tribute to 70’s American radio. (8)

RICHARD THOMPSON – Bloody Noses
Lockdown acoustic EP by legendary guitarist who still sounds like Bob Mould’s folkie dad. (7)

VARIOUS ARTISTS – Angelheaded Hipster: The Songs Of Marc Bolan & T. Rex
When it comes to putting together multi-artist tribute albums, producer Hal Willner (RIP) was in a league of his own. Willner’s swan song is this double album featuring a wildly eclectic bunch of people (Kesha, Nick Cave, Joan Jett, Peaches, U2 feat. Elton John, Father John Misty, Perry Farrell, Marc Almond to name just a few) paying tribute to glam rock’s first superstar and sounding, for the most part, very little like glam rock. (8)

Short Attention Span Record Reviews, September 2020

THE LOUDER STUFF

THE ATOMIC BITCHWAX – Scorpio
After a few line-up changes the Atomic Bitchwax today is essentially Monster Magnet minus Dave Wyndorf, and that tells you pretty much everything you need to know about this album. (7)

BLUES PILLS – Holy Moly!
She’s got a nice voice. (6)

KING BUZZO WITH TREVOR DUNN – Gift Of Sacrifice
Weird but great acoustic stuff by Melvins/Mr. Bungle/Fantomas-related supergroup (superduo?). (8)

METALLICA & THE SAN FRANCISCO SYMPHONY – S&M 2
Just like the first collaboration with the San Fran Symphony, the only thing this pretentious horseshit (worse than “Lulu” BTW) achieves is to take the edge off some of the best heavy metal songs ever written and reaffirm how poorly Lars rates as a musician vs. real musicians. (6)

NAPALM DEATH – Throes of Joy in the Jaws of Defeatism
Name one more metal band whose 16th album is among their 3-4 best. One. (9)

VARIOUS ARTISTS – NWOBHM Thunder: New Wave Of British Heavy Metal 1978-1986
Excellent 3-CD compilation, sequel to another compilation released in 2018. You get the stuff you’d expect (Saxon, Venom, Diamond Head, Tygers, Raven, Blitzkrieg, Samson, Demon, Girlschool…) plus a lot of forgotten gems. (9)


THE OTHER STUFF

KATHLEEN EDWARDS – Total Freedom
Canadian folk-rock singer/songwriter returns eight years after calling it quits, and the opening song on her brilliant new album includes the lyric “We bought a rock and roll dream, it was total crap”. Just so you know what you’re getting into. (8)

FANTASTIC NEGRITO – Have You Lost Your Mind Yet
If you’re going to play Blues Rock in the 21st century, you’re better off going Fantastic Negrito’s iconoclastic way rather than following Blues Pills’ shallow traditionalism. (8)

JERRY JOSEPH – The Beautiful Madness
Veteran roots rocker, virtually unknown but idolized by people like Patterson Hood (Drive-By Truckers) and Jason Isbell, tries to reach a wider audience. Hood produces, his DBT act as backing band, and former Trucker Isbell also shows up on a track or two. Recommended if you like, well, DBT and Jason Isbell. (8)

THE MAVERICKS – En Espanol
Genre-bending/blending Tex-Mex mariachi country rock, this time sung in Spanish. A good record. (7)

NEW MOON JELLY ROLL FREEDOM ROCKERS – Vol. 1
Ad-hoc roots rock supergroup – basically a bunch of guys who were touring together back in 2007 and just sat down in the studio of one of the guys (Jim Dickinson’s  Zebra Ranch), had a few drinks, and improvised a set of blues standards, a couple of originals, and some Jimi Hendrix. Recorded live, no rehearsals, no overdubs, collected dust on a studio shelf for several years and released now. A bit messy but fun. (7)

MARIA SCHNEIDER ORCHESTRA – Data Lords
Most of us jazz ignoramuses (ignorami???) were superficially introduced to Maria Schneider through her 2014 collaboration with David Bowie so I’m not familiar with her previous work, but “Data Lords” sounds like a revolution in big band music that stands on the shoulders of giants like Gil Evans and Stan Kenton. Most intriguing jazz release I’ve come across since Kamasi’s “The Epic”. (9)

STICK IN THE WHEEL – Hold Fast
English folk revisionists try too hard to sound “modern”. (6)

GILLIAN WELCH & DAVID RAWLINGS – All The Good Times
Home-recorded acoustic covers Americana album by partners in life and art is like sitting on their porch. (8)

VARIOUS ARTISTS – Willie Nile Uncovered: 40 Years of Music
A tribute album to Nile was only a matter of time – the guy is in his 70’s, virtually unknown but widely respected by every single singer/songwriter who’s ever listened to his stuff and the quintessential NYC troubadour. Elliot Murphy, Graham Parker, Nils Lofgren, Emily Duff and a bunch of others pay their respects on this honest but uneven collection. (7)