Nov
    02

    New Releases

    Lou Reed & Metallica – Lulu

    Lulu was first previewed with an especially repellent 30-second tract of “The View” that confirmed everyone’s worst suspicions of the project– namely, that Reed’s crotchety, atonal poem-rants would be wholly incompatible with Metallica’s fidgety riffage. The clip’s most prominent lyric (“Throw it away/ For worship someone who actively despises you!”) seemed to mock both artists’ most forgiving fans for even clicking on the link. By the time “The View” was released in its full, five-minute ghastliness– with Hetfield variously professing himself to be a table, a 10-story building and, possibly, the premier member of Philly hip-hop band the Roots– the Internet had all the evidence it needed to preemptively crown Lulu the Worst Album of All Time. – Read the full review on Pitchfork

    The Decemberists – Long Live the King

    A collection of outtakes from the King Is Dead sessions, Long Live The King finds inspiration in the Grateful Dead, whose gently rollicking “Row Jimmy” gets covered in spirited, surprisingly boozy fashion. Similarly, Long Live The King is a loose, almost ramshackle record; the songs, particularly the home-recorded demo “I 4 U & U 4 Me” are as catchy as ever, but they’re like snapshots of a band living in the moment, without regard for whether everything is falling exactly in the right place.  Read the the full review on AV Club

    Florence + The Machine – Ceremonials

    On her follow-up, “Ceremonials,” Welch has struck a fantastic and necessary balance. She’s found a way to honor her Bjorkian appetites for lavish orchestral spectacle while finding the depth and subtlety of her voice. She’s become a better actor, a keener listener and still manages to let it rip on occasion. But she also knows when to hush up, like at the close of “Spectrum,” when Tom Monger’s harp gorgeously flutters and dips around her. Read the full review on LA Times Blog

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    Mar
    08

    Album Reviews – “Plastic Beach” by Gorillaz

    Beloved virtual-band Gorillaz return this week with their first album since 2005′s Demon Days. Having previously relegated production duties to top-shelf talents like Dan the Automater and Danger Mouse, Gorillaz boldly do it for themselves this go-round. Frightened? Fear not. With Plastic Beach, the band demonstrate they are fully capable of producing the kinds of diverse, eclectic and infectious soundscapes they are known for.

    Gorillaz are also known for their collaborations with guest musicians. In this respect, Plastic Beach does not come up short. There’s a little something for everybody here; from high-profile MC’s like Snoop Dogg and Mos Def to icons like Bobby Womack and Lou Reed. By and large, everyone’s bringing their A-game. On “Some Kind of Nature,” it’s thrilling to hear Reed sing with a bit of youthful energy for the first time in decades. Grime MC’s Kano and Bashy are delightful on “White Flag.” “Superfast Jellyfish” offers the head-scratching pairing of De La Soul with The Super Furry Animals’ Gruff Rhys in an album highpoint. A handful of so-so performances aside (Mark E. Smith, I’m looking at you), Plastic Beach’s guests deliver on the promise of their pedigree.

    Damon Albarn, the band’s mastermind, is in fine form as well. One need only listen to the sublime “Rhinestone Eyes” for evidence that Albarn is up to the task of carrying a song without assistance. It’s difficult to offer praise for the rest of the band because I’m not entirely clear on who’s doing what for Gorillaz these days. Whoever these unsung heroes may be, they do nice work.

    Plastic Beach has a few faltering tracks, and the band’s sound is a little less striking than it was ten years ago when their genre-hopping style was less commonplace. Nonetheless, Plastic Beach is a worthy successor to Demon Days and one of 2010′s best releases so far. If you haven’t seen it yet, check out the video for the album’s first single, “Stylo.” It’s fantastic. (Unfortunately we can’t embed it.)

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    Dec
    29

    My Pure Pop Top Ten Albums Of The Year List by Jason M. Kooly

    1989Hey, it’s my top ten list for this year. Hope you like. It’s been a rough year for me. High school sucks.

    My Pure Pop Top Ten Albums Of The Year List by Jason M. Kooly.
    1.  Jane’s Addiction, “Nothing’s Shocking”
    I know this actually came out last October, but I didn’t get around to it until May. Wow, this album is enormous. It starts off with a very simple, quiet bass line, there’s a weird sort of breath (or a “pssh”? Not sure) and then BOOM! Loud and gorgeous power chords and screaming vocals that seem to echo on forever. Just about every song on it is like this. I listened to it at least two times a day this past summer. The cover is really cool, too (yet even though the drummer’s name is Stephen, from the pictures inside the tape I can’t tell if it’s a boy or a girl). They are my new favorite band (besides The Beatles).
    2.  The Cult, “Sonic Temple”
    I love The Cult. This is a mixture of their first two American albums “Love” and “Electric”, the former being very psychedelic and the latter sounding more like AC/DC. (They have one European release called “Dreamtime” I’m trying to save up for. Imports at Pure Pop are expensive.) It’s a good mix. When Ian says “This is where it all begins” during the first tune (entitled “Sun King”. I know. Weird, right?) you know this record is going to kick some ass. Make sure to save up for the CD version. I know it’s $6 more but it has the bonus track “Medicine Train” which totally rocks and is worth the extra dough. Also, they rocked at Memorial Auditorium opening for Metallica.
    3.  Lou Reed, “New York”
    I read about it in Rolling Stone (my dad got me a subscription for Christmas). They gave it four stars and then some 15-year-old kid wrote in to say how much he liked the review. The review made it sound good and the cover looked good, so I asked my mom to buy it for me at Pure Pop on her way home from work (just like “Sonic Temple” and “0U812″). It was $6.99 for something I’d never heard so it was a risk, but it was totally worth it. I know they’ve been playing “Dirty Blvd.” on Triple-X, but there’s even better songs other than that one.
    4.  Beastie Boys, “Paul’s Boutique”
    This is a very weird, different album than I was expecting. I actually didn’t buy it, I copied it off my friend Matt. The tape was ugly and orange. Pure Pop only got one cassette of it in and it wasn’t on sale, so I didn’t get it. Also, I heard it sucked and wasn’t anywhere near as awesome as “Licensed To Ill”. According to MTV they predicted they’d be doing this ’70s stuff back in ’86, and I admire that they weren’t kidding. It is weird, though.
    5.  Violent Femmes, “Violent Femmes”
    This girl I secretly have a major crush on is really, REALLY into this band. She even wrote out all the words in a note she gave me before I even heard it. Then she lent me the tape and it was really good. I’ve been trying to get out of listening to so much metal lately. I keep asking that guy Rick at Pure Pop if they have anything different. I asked him about this band and he said they sucked. I don’t think so! I know it came out in 1983 (a really good year in music) but it makes my list anyway.
    6.  The Cure, “Disintegration”
    I got this tape the same day I got “Nothing’s Shocking” and listened to it in my mom’s office on a Sunday (she was working extra hours) and it was really pretty, but also very sad. I got it because the girl I have a crush on doesn’t like me anymore (she got a perm and is now popular) and she said she liked them. I tried to get her to notice me having it in English class, but didn’t. Or if she did, she didn’t care. I really like “Pictures Of You”. I don’t have any pictures of her.

    7.  The Jesus And Mary Chain, “Automatic”

    This tape is really cool, but too short even though it has two extra songs on it. It has a really neat rocking sound with electric drums. Triple-X has been playing “Head On” a lot but I like “Blues From A Gun” way better. I don’t care about the state of my hair!

    8.  A mix tape I made for myself.
    I know I made it, but I like this tape. It’s got a bunch of stuff I like, like The Cult, Tears For Fears (it took me a while to get into them), The Clash, Talk Talk, and other new stuff I’ve heard. There’s this song called “Wave All Through The Nation” on it that I taped off of WRUV but they never said who it was that played it. If anybody knows who it is out there, please let me know. It’s a really pretty, slow song. I opened up the cassette and stuck a cool Powell-Peralta sticker ad inside from Thrasher Magazine. I know I don’t have a skateboard, but I like Thrasher. It’s cool.
    9.  Camper Van Beethoven, “Key Lime Pie”
    I got this tape the same time I got The Jesus And Mary Chain” one because it has “Pictures Of Matchstick Men” on it, which is a wicked cool song. The other songs are kinda weird and country-ish. There’s this really pretty one called “All Her Favorite Fruit”. The words are sort of creepy, but I kinda get what he’s talking about.
    10.  Fugazi, “Fugazi”
    This is a band I’d never heard of before, but my friend Haik videotaped them playing at 242 Main and it looked awesome, so I went to Pure Pop and bought the tape. It was cheap. The artwork looks crappy, but don’t judge a book by its cover. It’s really good! It’s an EP, but the songs are all awesome and they go perfect with each other. “Waiting Room” is the first one and it’s a killer. My favorite is the last song “Glue Man” because it’s very echoey and I don’t know what it means but it rocks. I hope they come back and play again so I can see them. I wish I knew what a Fugazi is.
    Honorable mentions (sorry, some of them are from last year. I have to save up for them, you know!): New Order, “Substance”, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, “Mother’s Milk”, The Church, “Starfish”, The Stone Roses, “The Stone Roses”, Michael Penn, “March”.  Thanks, everybody. See you next year (I hope)!
    (and in no particular order)
    Girls, “Album”
    Phoenix, “Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix”
    Black Dice, “Repo”
    Animal Collective, “Merriweather Post Pavillion
    Dinosaur Jr., “Farm”
    Lightning Bolt, “Earthly Delights”
    Sonic Youth, “The Eternal”
    Fuck Buttons, “Tarot Sport”
    Karen O and The Kids, “Where The Wild Things Are”
    The MP3 I have of The Boredoms show I saw in September
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    Nov
    23

    Matador Owns Me

    All right, so I’m not sure if I’ve got this new site polished down yet, but I’m giving it a shot. Avatars and youtubes are beating down my soul but luckily everything Matador records seems to put out lately helps it reascend. Here’s my Top 5 in rotation today:

    Pavement: Brighten the Corners-Nicene Creedence Edition – I used to have favorite Pavement albums and then one day they all just melted into one universal pile of affection. Obviously I’m not the only one as this is the 4th reissue for the band and features no less than 24 bonus tracks. Unreleased classics include “Harness Your Hopes,” “Cataracts,” and a killer version of Echo and the Bunnymen‘s “Killing Moon.”

    Brightback Morning Light: Motion to Rejoice – Eerie, rhodes driven rock forged in electric slow motion and ideal for any modern opium den.

    Jay Reatard: Matador Singles ’08 – Get past the name, quick. Because an acoustic guitar has never sounded more ideal for punk-rock. “Seesaw” is all you need to get hooked.

    Belle and Sebastian: BBC Sessions – The best from 1996-2001 on weighs heavily on tracks from If You’re Feeling Sinister. The production quality is phenomenal and the band is even better. Sound from the hayday of mellow perfection.

    Lou Reed: Berlin-Live at St.Anne’s Warehouse – This 2006 live performance of his 1973 album, while essentially for fans only, can serve as a comforting step for the novice Velvet Underground fan to reach into the more obscure world of the Lou Reed catalogue. I ‘get it’ more each time I listen. I think.

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