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)

Short Attention Span Record Reviews, August 2020

THE LOUDER STUFF

BLACK CROWN INITIATE – Violent Portraits Of Doomed Escape
This album is to “Blackwater Park”-era Opeth what Mikael Akerfeldt’s “clean” stuff is to Steven Wilson. (8)

CREEPER – Sex, Death & The Infinite Void
British horror punks move away from their AFI/Misfits-derived shtick and try to approach the ambition of My Chemical Romance’s “The Black Parade”, almost get there. BTW the album intro features Patricia Morrison who used to play in The Sisters Of Mercy and later married The Damned’s Dave Vanian, if you’re into semiotics. (8)

ENUFF Z’NUFF – Brainwashed Generation
Another strong power pop/hard rock album from the Chicagoan veterans, sort of like a Cheap Trick/ELO hybrid. Special guests include Mike Portnoy and Ace Frehley. (7)

HUNTSMEN – Mandala Of Fear
The general idea of blending Mastodon-style modern progressive metal with psychedelic Americana elements is interesting, but at 84 minutes long this could certainly use a haircut, or at least a trim. (7)

INTER ARMA – Garbers Days Revisited
Covers albums really only make sense if they mess with the originals and this metal band does good, not only adding extra crunch to songs by some of the band’s heavier influences (Ministry, NIN, Husker Du, Venom, Cro Mags), but also totally re-imagining non-metal tracks (Tom Petty, Prince, Neil Young). (7)

ALAIN JOHANNES – Hum
A deeply personal piece of work, born from pain and loss but sounding cathartic, from the quintessential musician’s musician. (8)

NOFX & FRANK TURNER – West Coast Vs. Wessex
Fun split album with the two acts covering each other’s songs. (8)

STEVE VON TILL – No Wilderness Deep Enough
Neurosis guy (the one with the bigger beard) on new solo album sounds like Nick Cave’s 2010’s electronic soundscape stuff. (7)

THE STOOGES – Live At Goose Lake: August 8th, 1970
Soundboard recording of legendary, very loud, and extremely messy “Fun House”-era concert unearthed half a century later and officially released. Priceless for the converted, too obnoxious for newbies who’d be better off starting with the studio albums. (-)

JOHN ZORN – Baphomet
40-minute long Zorn composition played by Simulacrum, the Hammond-led power trio he put together to blend death metal and jazz in ways that will blow your mind. (8)


THE OTHER STUFF

THE CHICKS – Gaslighter
Star country pop female group The Dixie Chicks change their name in light of current events, recruit AAA-list contributors (uber-producer Jack Antonoff, St. Vincent’s Anne Clark) and come out of a 14-year hiatus with an album that will appeal to Taylor Swift fans who can get past the heavy, divorce-related lyrical content. (8)

SHIRLEY COLLINS – Heart’s Ease
The Grande Dame of English folk is back. She’s 85 and sounds about twice as old and I mean that in the best possible way. (7)

RAY WYLIE HUBBARD – Co-Starring
Guest star-studded album from outlaw country’s could-have-been 70-something features people like Ringo Starr, Don Was, Joe Walsh, Chris Robinson, Aaron Lee Tasjan, Ashley McBryde, Larkin Poe etc. and kicks some serious ass. Don’t know if this qualifies as country music, it sure sounds more like swampy southern rock to my ears. (8)

LANA DEL REY – Violet Bent Backwards Over The Grass
Not a proper album but an audiobook of poetry set to music, it’s influenced by the Beats (Ginsberg, Kerouac) and fits quite nicely into the Del Rey canon. (7)

MY MORNING JACKET – The Waterfall II
Better than 2015’s “The Waterfall”, an album it doesn’t sound very much like. I’ve always compared MMJ to the Grateful Dead because of their jam band-ness, but this time around they’re doing more of a Flaming Lips/Mercury Rev thing. (8)

MARGO PRICE – That’s How Rumors Get Started
Country’s rising star goes Rock and discovers her inner Stevie Nicks on fantastic, Sturgill Simpson-produced third album. (8)

TAYLOR SWIFT – Folklore
First she goes from country whiz kid to pop superdiva, and now she goes after the hipster/beardo crowd by surprise-dropping a gorgeous indie goth folk album with a cover that looks like a Norwegian black metal demo, produced by that guy from The National and including a duet with that guy from Bon Iver. (8)

Short Attention Span Record Reviews, July 2020

DAMIR IMAMOVIC – Singer Of Tales
I suspect that the Venn Diagram for people who like Slayer, Dolly Parton, AND traditional Balkan music contains exactly zero people apart from myself, but in any case, if you’re interested – this Bosnian dude has released a solid Sevdah record. (7)

EMPTY COUNTRY – Empty Country
An impressive debut from Joe D’Agostino, ex-frontman of Cymbals Eat Guitars, not as loud as CEG but just as vast-sounding and ambitious and emo-ish. (8)

FATHER JOHN MISTY – Anthem +3
Benefit 4-track covers EP, the main attraction being Leonard Cohen’s “Anthem” as the other covers (Cat Stevens, Link Wray, and another Cohen song) are previously released. (8)

HAIM – Women in Music Pt. III
The Soft Rock Queens of L.A. go past their early 80’s Fleetwood Mac fixation, enhance their sound with new influences and darken it up a bit, with glorious results. (8)

KAVUS TORABI – Hip to the Jag
From the very depths of the English psychedelic underground, having worked with the Cardiacs, Monsoon Basoon, Guapo and Gong among others, this guy finally releases a solo album and it’s just as bonkers and otherworldly as you might’ve expected. (7)

KHRUANGBIN – Mordechai
Hyped-up trio combines 50% American psychedelic dub-funk with 30% African influences and 20% South-East Asian sounds, ends up 40% boring. (6)

MAGICK TOUCH – Heads Have Got to Rock 'n' Roll
Sort of like a Thin Lizzy/Dokken hybrid. Would have been much bigger in 1983. (7)

TRANSGLOBAL UNDERGROUND – Walls Have Ears
Largely responsible for popularizing in the 90’s the electronica/world music hybrid later exploited by the likes of Thievery Corporation, TGU are back with something resembling the original line-up and an album worth a few spins if you’re in a nostalgic mood. (7)

WILLIE NELSON – First Rose Of Spring
He is 87 years old. This is his 70th album. He has smoked more weed than everyone else alive in the State of Texas put together. You can excuse him for writing just two new songs this time around and mainly doing covers. (7)

WINO – Forever Gone
Doom metal godfather does solo acoustic record but it doesn’t sound like a solo acoustic record, it sounds like a doom metal record for which he couldn’t afford to pay the electricity bill or hire a band. (7)

Short Attention Span Record Reviews, June 2020 Vol. II

BLACKBERRY SMOKE –Live from Capricorn Sound Studios
Premier contemporary southern rock band doing stellar covers of a handful of classics from the Capricorn Records catalog including tracks by the Allman Brothers, Marshall Tucker Band and Wet Willie (whose frontman guests here). (8)

BOB DYLAN – Rough and Rowdy Ways
How can a 79-year old with a 6-decade career already behind him release an album so good? Seriously, this is probably the best Dylan record since 1975’s “Blood On The Tracks”. (9)

ERIC HILTON – Infinite Everywhere
1/2 of Thievery Corporation on very cool ambient solo effort. (8)

JAZZ SABBATH – Jazz Sabbath
Long-time incognito Black Sabbath keyboardist Adam Wakeman has some fun doing jazz versions of classics from his employer’s first four albums. (7)

JEHNNY BETH – To Love Is To Live
Savages frontwoman releases first solo album which moves a bit away from her band’s post-punk towards a darker electronic sound. (7)

LAMB OF GOD – Lamb Of God
Is it just me losing my heavy metalness, or is this less exciting than previous LoG albums? (7)

LARKIN POE – Self Made Man
Blues rock on steroids, this kicks some serious ass. (8)

MELVINS & MUDHONEY – White Lazy Boy
Great collaborative EP by an ad hoc group featuring the key members from both legendary grunge bands. Two new tracks plus Black Flag and Neil Young covers. (8)

MICHAEL FRANTI & SPEARHEAD – Work Hard And Be Nice
What is this happy hippy shit? Of course I wasn’t expecting the Beatnigs or the Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy, but even compared to recent Spearhead albums this is too lightweight. (5)

NORAH JONES – Pick Me Up Off The Floor
Haters might call her Snorah Jones but this album proves that even her leftovers are interesting – Jones revisits previously rejected songs from her demos and reinvents them for a new release which goes beyond the smooth jazz she’s known for, blending it with blues and country elements. (7)

PHOEBE BRIDGERS – Punisher
You’re gonna see this on many year-end Lists in December since Bridgers is the new Indie Rock Hipster Queen. Going beyond the hype, her sophomore album is a strong testament to her songwriting and storytelling talents. (8)

PROTEST THE HERO – Palimpsest
The third best (and by far the nerdiest) Canadian progressive metal band of all time is back with their best album since 2008’s “Fortress”. (8)

Short Attention Span Record Reviews, June 2020

ARCHIVES – Carry Me Home: A Reggae Tribute to Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson
Reggae band from Washington D.C. doing covers of songs originally performed by Scott-Heron and his closest collaborator, Jackson, with some special guests and production help from the Thievery Corporation camp. A labor of love. (7)

ASHLEY McBRYDE – Never Will
Great sophomore effort by tough female country rocker, successfully bridging Lydia Loveless with John Mellencamp. (8)

BEHEMOTH – A Forest (EP)
Extreme metal cover of a song by The Cure, plus a couple of new tunes. The cover version makes a lot of sense. (8)

BRIGID DAWSON & THE MOTHERS NETWORK – Ballet Of Apes
Backing vocalist/keyboardist from Thee Oh Sees steps out on gently psychedelic solo effort. (7)

BRIGID MAE POWER – Head Above The Water
Irish folkie and UK music media darling adopts a fuller sound on new album, goes for a sort of Mazzy Star/Bob Dylan hybrid sound. Nice. (7)

CHANTAL KREVIAZUK – Get To You
Canadian singer/songwriter returns with a new collection of smart pop songs. (7)

JEFF ROSENSTOCK – No Dream
E-x-c-e-l-l-e-n-t hook-filled punk rock, covering the whole gamut from quirky power pop to urgent hardcore. (9)

KING WITCH – Body Of Light
Metal the way it’s supposed to be: Heavy but melodic, adventurous, over the top. And what a voice! (8)

NICOLE ATKINS – Italian Ice
Atkins calls her music “pop-noir” but to put it more simply this is like a 21st century version of Dusty Springfield. (8)

OHMME – Fantasize Your Ghost
A sound impossible to categorize, Ohmme’s second album brings together chaos and melody, angular rhythms and catchy hooks, dissonant chords and angelic harmonies. (8)

REVENGE – Strike.Smother.Dehumanize
A relentless, unforgiving maelstrom of noise and hatred. (8)

RUN THE JEWELS – RTJ4
The best hip-hop album of the year and, either by genius/design or by luck/coincidence or both, it sounds just like the apocalyptic soundtrack the times we live in deserve. (9)

STEVE EARLE & THE DUKES – Ghosts Of West Virginia
Alt-country elder statesman sounds angrier than ever on fantastic anti-capitalism manifesto. (8)

WHITE DENIM – World As A Waiting Room
The most classic rock of indie rock bands releases an album recorded in lockdown that sounds like a cross between Marc Bolan and Steve Miller Band. (7)

Short Attention Span Record Reviews, May 2020

THE LOUDER STUFF

BRANT BJORK – Brant Bjork
If you’ve heard any one of Bjork’s solo albums you know exactly what to expect since they’re all the same (and all pretty good), and he sticks to the formula here: Warm and fuzzy, laid back, melodic desert rock. (7)

FAKE NAMES – Fake Names
Punk supergroup featuring members of Refused, Bad Religion, Girls Vs. Boys etc. is as good as you could possible hope it to be and a dream come true for people raised on Husker Du and/or who love the aforementioned. (8)

GREEN CARNATION – Leaves Of Yesteryear
Tchort’s prog metal band is back after a long hiatus. The album’s no dud, but compared to recent releases from Katatonia and Conception it falls a bit short. (7)

HORISONT – Sudden Death
Retro hard rock heavily influenced not by late-era Beatles, but rather by those 70’s semi-prog/semi-power pop bands influenced by late-era Beatles. (7)

JIMMY URINE & SERJ TANKIAN – Fuktronic
Mindless Self Indulgence & System Of A Down frontmen do soundtrack for imaginary gangster film, it doesn’t work without a film. (5)

OLD MAN GLOOM – Seminar VIII: Light of Meaning
Second album this year, just as noisy as the other one. (7)

PARADISE LOST – Obsidian
Strong late-career album from goth metal veterans, this time blatantly emphasizing the Sisters Of Mercy influence on a couple of tracks. Their best in many-many years. (8)


THE OTHER STUFF

GRETCHEN PETERS – The Night You Wrote That Song: The Songs of Mickey Newbury
One of the great living americana/country songwriters pays tribute to one of the great dead ones with stripped-down versions of classics and deep cuts. Stunning. (8)

HOT COUNTRY KNIGHTS – The K Is Silent
The Steel Panther of country music, but the jokes are smarter/funnier. (8)

JASON ISBELL & THE 400 UNIT – Reunions
Isbell’s a slow-burning one, on first listen of an Isbell album you always think “OK, a solid 7” and then, several listens down the road, its greatness suddenly dawns upon you. His songwriting and storytelling remain world-class on “Reunions”, even if production-wise there’s a departure from the straightforward country rock sound of previous albums in favor of a richer, Dire Straits-like vibe. (8)

JESS WILLIAMSON – Sorceress
A step forward with Williamson’s mix of country rock and folky pop getting more cinematic – like an earthier Lana Del Rey, with none of the meta- stuff. (8)

KAMASI WASHINGTON – Becoming (Music from the Netflix Original Documentary)
Soundtracking different scenes for a Michelle Obama documentary, Kamasi serves up 15 bite-sized nuggets of (mostly) smooth jazz. By the time you get into the groove of each, it’s over. (7)

MARIACHI EL BRONX – Musica Muerta
The mariachi alter ego of The Bronx (one of the best punk bands around) release double LP featuring unreleased songs, demos, covers, live tracks etc. It’s fun. (7)

WILLIE NILE – New York At Night
Even when he favors a rootsier sound reminiscent of Springsteen/Dylan, Nile is that very “New York” type of rock person like Lou Reed or Debbie Harry or the Ramones, and this album is his ode to that great city. (8)