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NEWSLETTER
Editor, Michael James McGonigal, associates of amazon.com,bn,tower,cdnow
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POSTED 20 FEBRUARY 2002
"Sometimes Good Weather Follows Bad People [IMPORT]"
Califone
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...available here.
With "Sometimes Good Weather Follows Bad People," Chicago's amazing
post-blues act Califone reissue both of their self-titled, now
out-of-print EPs (on Road Cone and Flydaddy). Picking up where their
former band Red Red Meat's warped banjo-prog-rock left off, Califone
craft beautiful, somnambuler songs that fall apart and come back
together seemingly at whim. For completists, the disc includes two
previously unreleased tracks.
"Don't Worry About Me"
Joey Ramone
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...available here.
Joey Ramone's posthumous release, "Don't Worry About Me" , is
easily as good as any late-period Ramones album, if not better. His
version of Louis Armstrong's classic "What a Wonderful World" is
truly touching; it will bring tears to the eyes of even the most
hardened punk rocker.
"New Ground"
Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise
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...available here.
Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise stray a little further afield
for inspiration with their latest. While they don't abandon their
funk-blues base, the gang ventures in something of a psychedelic
R&B direction on these 12 songs.
"Fool Me Good"
Precious Bryant
Our price: $14.49 | You save: $1.49
...available here.
Recorded alone with no overdubs, the first full-length solo album
from Georgia blueswoman Precious Bryant offers a wonderfully raw but
not at all harsh collection of blues, ragtime, spirituals, and early
rock & roll. Bryant's steady, driving guitar mixes
fingerpicking, John Lee Hooker boogie, and Piedmont-style strumming,
providing a perfect backdrop for her energetic and warm, almost
sweet vocals.
"Is A Woman"
Lambchop
Our price: $14.23 | You save: $0.75
...available here.
On the piano-and-guitar-driven "Is a Woman," the orchestra-size
group Lambchop tone down the robot country funk of their last few
discs to let the subtle songs fend on their own. The lack of
instrumental competition allows Kurt Wagner's singular voice to
sound even more vulnerable and wracked than usual. The lovely
"Bugs," for example, might contain the most underplayed lead vocal
in the history of popular music. "Is a Woman" is perhaps best
thought of as a companion volume to the Tindersticks' "Can Our
Love..." and the Blue Nile's "Peace at Last"--it's a deadpan
masterpiece.
"Talkatif"
Antibalas
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...available here.
Thankfully, multiculti Brooklyn-based collective Antibalas don't
tinker much with their winning update of '70s Afrobeat on their
latest release, "Talkatif." Antibalas's music is funky and
politically motivational, like some loose jam between the JB's,
Fela, and Sun Ra's Arkestra.
POSTED 3 DECEMBER 2001
"Glow, Pt. 2"
Microphones
Our price: $14.22 | You save: $0.75
...available here.
This album of intentionally messed-up folk soundscapes is nothing
short of brilliant. All hail Phil Elvrum and the Microphones. "The
Glow, Pt. 2" almost makes you not care that there hasn't been a new
Neutral Milk Hotel album in four years.
"Idiology"
Mouse on Mars
Our price: $14.49 | You save: $1.48
...available here.
Mouse on Mars's album "Idiology" is arty post-everything music
that's weirdly accessible. None of it should work anywhere near as
well as it does. Oddly arranged horns perch precariously atop a
clatter of mechanistic, humming tones. Cartoon sound effects,
ridiculously sped-up drum sounds, and synth squelches give way to
gorgeous strings and subtle melodies. Piano tinklings, phat bass
lines, ska horn parts, and skittering insect rhythms layer on top of
a deep house-ish, booty-shaking gurgle. Mouse on Mars combine many
sounds from myriad genres, asking the listener to discard their
preconceptions, wherever possible, and it's all really, really good.
"Cold Vein"
Cannibal Ox
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...available here.
Remember the first time you heard the Wu Tang Clan's debut, how the
catchy and bombastic, lo-fi bedroom raps wormed their way into your
head so quickly? Cannibal Ox (two young'uns from Harlem, named
Vordul Megilah and Vast Aire) have been widely hailed as their
successors, and after one listen to their invigorating, wild and
wooly El-P produced album "Cold Vein," it's easy to see why.
"Someday My Blues Will Cover the Earth"
His Name Is Alive
Our price: $14.22 | You save: $0.75
...available here.
His Name Is Alive made a wonderful about-face with their 2001
release, "Someday My Blues Will Cover the Earth," with producer
Warren Defever hooking up with gospel singer Lovetta Pippen to make
gorgeous, deeply soulful R&B. Hands down, it's HNIA's most solid
and satisfying album to date; Defever's haunting songs sound best
when sung with such full-throated delivery and propelled by
atmospheric, downtempo, bare-bones R&B music.
"Vol. 1-Liberation Afrobeat"
Antibalas
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...available here.
This is an excellent debut; activist Brooklyn collective Antibalas
mix Fela grooves, Latin rhythms, and '70s funk on "Liberation
Afrobeat, Vol. 1." It's a blast from the past and future
simultaneously. What else do you need?
PREVIOUS REVIEWS
FREE DIGITAL DOWNLOADS
The Ramones are the Beatles of punk rock. Their music sounds as
fresh today as it did when they debuted over 20 years ago, and not a
single pop-punk band since has surpassed their brilliance. Download
a handful of Ramones tracks, including four rare demos.
Go to download
...available here.
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