2006 October archive at Candied Pop

Archive for October, 2006

Trick-or-Treat?

Published by David October 31st, 2006 in Random and Meta-Chatter. 0 Comments

Is today April Fool’s Day or I am I just getting Tricks rather than Treats on Halloween? Two things arrived in my in-box this morning that have me slightly upset, well the first has me near tears. Yo La Tengo has announced they will not be playing any dates during Hanukkah at Maxwell’s this year. This is the event I look forward to all year and I have declined a couple other concerts that are coming up so I don’t overload myself.

From the band:

Hey everybody,
In answer to the most FA’d Q of the last few months, we have reluctantly decided not to play the eight nights of Hanukkah this year at Maxwell’s. We have concluded that our touring schedule is such we just wouldn’t be able to put together a lineup as Hanukkahriffic as years past. Was the refusal of the cast of “The Times They Are A-Changin’” to take part the last straw? Really, is there anything to gain in assessing blame?
But yes, it was.
Georgia, Ira and James

The second doesn’t affect me but it will affect anyone new to this site and visitors to blogs across the globe that point out an excellent place to buy music which we feature. eMusic has announced it will be decreasing the amount of downloads for new subscribers, but it doesn’t change if your currently a member. The prices of the plans are not changing but the amount of downloads is decreasing. With the Basic plan the 40 downloads a month now go down to 30 at $9.99 (around 34 cents a track). The Plus plan which had 65 downloads a month goes down to 50 for $14.99 (around 30 cents a track). And the Premium plan which had 90 downloads goes down to 75 a month at $19.99. That’s around 27 cents a track which is still a great deal but I know it’s going to get a lot of people very upset. There is a discount when you purchase a 2-year 90 download per month at $359.82. If you are a member and you do not have the Premium Plan this is the time to do it because after November 21st you won’t be able to go up anymore.

So I am going to be nice and not trick you, here are a couple Halloween treats for you:
Night Time Reaper Garage rock from the Apes from Washington D.C. playing this Thursday opening for the Slits at Maxwell’s. A speedy punk song about Frankenstein’s Car by The Spectremen.

A Halloween 2006 DIY Almost Free MP3 Mix

Published by David October 30th, 2006 in Free Tracks, Singles and Album. 1 Comment

Calling All Fiends album cover So your trying to make a Halloween mix for this weekend’s bash, or you went to one this weekend and the music bombed (I mean how many times can possibly listen to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”) and you have it in you to fix that for next year. So let’s fill that puppy or should I say three-headed dog with some strange, unique music your friends never heard that you can seize for free or very cheap.

The creators of Oddio Overplay an eclectic database of DIY, free, legal and obscure sounds, have put together a collection of “frightening, damaging and disturbing music” they call Calling All Fiends, that will help intensify that perfect Halloween mix. The on-line collection is divided up into three beastly sections. The first sixteen songs are Cinematic and Soundscapes based and some would be perfect to play as hair-raising background music for a Haunted House. The second and third groups are Rock and Dance and Fiendish Songs. I suggest throwing the following spine-chilling cuts from the series. A frantic robotic-like techno track by Click Click Click (not to be confused with Chk Chk Chk) entitled “Romance Keys”. The DVDs lead by 6 year old David G, dispense the scary tale of the “Big Orange Monster”, think They Might Be Giants but lead by a kid. A northerner’s tale of “Southern Gothic” is sung/spoken by Bureaucratica, AKA Matt Love of multiple DIY bands. Sink your fangs into horrifying hypnotic mixes of synthesized sounds such as “Trickertreat” by Lenkei a graphic designer based out of of New York City and “the Pit” by The Threshold People. Also check out Martinibomb and the Coconut Monkeyrocket’s monstrous remix of the Munsters Theme they call “Munster Beat”, it will entice you to get your ghoulish groove on, so I suggest putting this on right up front.

You have to pay for this next one, but if you do it through eMusic it will be well worth it, at least for one play each year during Halloween season. The North American Halloween Prevention Initiative released “Do They Know It’s Hallowe’en?”, a novelty parody of “Do They Know it’s Christmas” last year as a charity-benefit song where all proceeds go to UNICEF. The NAHPI consists of Arcade Fire, Beck, Buck 65, David Cross, Devendra Banhart, Elvira, Peaches, Postal Service, Redd Kross, Rilo Kiley, Roky Erickson, Sonic Youth, Sparks, Wolf Parade among others.

YANP posted a cover version of Ministry’s “Every Day is Halloween” by the MiamI based band The Postmarks which will work up next with Steve Wynn’s live solo version of Dream Syndicate’s Halloween recorded last year on the 30th in Germany. I found a bunch that are just on MySpace, so the bit-rate is pretty poor but if that doesn’t bother you check out the Oklahoma based band Evangelicals who just put a new song, appropriately titled “The Halloween Song”. It has the aura of a Bright Eyes song with light strange eerie noises with vocals applied in a jauntily fashion. Also check out this one by Calabrese it’s rockin’ tune that will add some fright to the night if yu can figure out how to download it.

DC mash-up artist SOLCOFN (AKA Phil) has put together Son of Monster Mash Up a collection of devilishly delicious mashes done by DJs including my fav mash up artist DJBC. Barrage your victims with Cheekyboy’s “Halloween with Morrissey”, Mr Fab and His Bag O’ Heads’ “Skeleton Crew on the Graveyard Shift” and “Haunted House of Mash ups” by DJBC. So that should help you get started composing a Ghastly G(h)oulash of Halloween treats for the ears.

The Buff Medways - The Last of the Buff Medways EP

Published by Scott October 30th, 2006 in Review and 2006. 2 Comments

The differences between Billy Childish’s various projects over the last three decades are subtle, as they’re all pretty much in the same range along the garage-punk-blues-rock spectrum. I count myself as a fan and don’t mean to sound dismissive, but you might generally characterize his music as scrappy and primitive. With snarling, charismatic vocals, thick British accent and often bitingly funny lyrics, Childish taps the raw power of traditional rock and roll and transcends recycled riffs to create some truly exhilarating music. Of course not everything he records is choice material. The guy has put out dozens of albums and hundreds of songs after all. This latest three song EP is pretty good though and serves as a fine farewell for his most recent project.

As the title of suggests, The Last of the Buff Medways is the final recorded efforts by the band. It starts off with “1975,” a rough edged mid-tempo rocker about rejection and longing with a very catchy chorus that makes absolutely no sense in the context of the song. Maybe I’m missing something but the lines, “1959 I was just in time/ 1965 I was still alive/ 1969 I nearly died/ 1975,” have nothing to do with being dissed. Oh well, it sounds good. Next up is “Albion,” which sounds vaguely like Hendrix’s “Fire,” a song that Childish has covered in the past. The title track rounds out the set and is the real attention grabber. In the course of this swaggering pseudo-history of the Medways (with some truthful nuggets), Billy takes swipes at “Jackie White,” John Peel, and Kylie Minogue among others. I’m as puzzled as he is when he sings, “You’d have thought John Peel would be our friend / But there was only silence on his end.” It includes a nice bit of trivia that tells about the band’s name too: buff medways are an extinct breed of chickens!

As prolific as Billy Childish has been in his musical career, I’m sure the end of the Buff Medways merely marks a transition to working with a different group of musicians. Whatever incarnation he assumes next, I’m sure it will be similar to his past work but no less exciting.

Hyperbolic List Making

Published by James October 25th, 2006 in Lists. 0 Comments

Winner! Cracking my knuckles and readying myself for the frantic season that is end-of-the-year list making. Surprisingly, there are less albums this year than last. Am I listening less or am I more jaded? Pshaw! I’m listening just as much and prefer to say that I am more sophisticated.

Anyways, in no particular order are my tops so far:

Luomo - Paper Tigers
Quantic - An Announcement to Answer
The Contingencies - Viva Ole
Wale Oyejide - Africa Hot!
Ratatat - Classics
The Format - Dog Problems
DJ Cheb I Sabbah - La Ghriba: La Kahena Remixed
Hallelujah Chicken Run Band - Take One
Nino Moschella - The Fix
The Coup - Pick a Bigger Weapon
Loka - Fire Shepherds
Bibio - Hand Cranked
Sayag Jazz Machine - Anachro’mix Experiences
Natacha Atlas - Mish Maoul
John Coltrane - Fearless Leader

I’m sure a couple more might find their way on before the year is out and likely several after I have set my final ten in stone.

Luomo - Paper Tigers

Published by James October 23rd, 2006 in Album, Review and 2006. 2 Comments

Paper Tigers reminds me of the drawing exercises I encountered in studio classes so many years ago, particularly the ones where we were asked to draw the space that the model occupied and by interacting with that space gain a deeper understanding of the subject matter. Sasu Ripatti appears to take that visual arts concept to heart on this release as the arrangements are often indicative of something lusher and more detailed but have been worked down to those essential threads that bind the work together. It is at once abstract and organic, possessing a warmth and depth that can only be arrived at by realizing that a supposed finished composition can often be reworked into something more meaningful and that objects are often defined by the space which they occupy.

Ripatti’s process of carving and sanding his compositions is best felt on “Really Don’t Mind” which for all intents is a House track with a strong club beat and lush, soulful vocals. Execution of the piece takes a different turn as the vocals a reworked as an instrument and a texture much like the beat production, being used to both provide a structure and context to hang arrangement from as well as to serve as a primary focus for the listener. Wrapping about the arrangement are beats that occasionally skitter into the soft pads and sweeps that make up the songs open landscape. As the song bleeds into “Let You Know” it becomes clear that Ripatti approached the album as a whole rather than a series of discrete tracks. The composition sees the arrangement of the prior track evolve into a sort of minimalist Deep House production, similar to the trance leaning “Good To Be With”, though that description does not really do it justice as the compositions are more carefully thought out than just layering samples and beats.

The songs on Paper Tigers have a tendency to slowly unfold, quietly rotating and shifting in a manner that is more akin to the ambient work of Thom Brennan, Robert Rich, or Pete Namlook. It is this tendency that makes the album best suited for headphones rather than pumping it through your stereo as it is a study of contrasts: sparse and lush; wispy and warm; minimal and detailed. For myself, it is one of Ripatti’s best releases and easily makes it on my Best of 2006 list and finds itself to even be a contender for my favorite album of the year. Paper Tigers is simply outstanding.

From Europe 3. Arturo en el Barco (FREE EP)

Published by Marc October 23rd, 2006 in Free Tracks, Album and Review. 0 Comments

The new classic-tronic

Erik Satie, Brian Eno, Boards of Canada, Twin Peaks, Aphex Twin, Mum.
OK, this young woman is not european. Angélica Negrón is from San Juan, Puerto Rico. Classical piano and violin are quite present in her music. Normal, it’s said in her biography : She received an early formation in piano and violin at the conservatory of music of Puerto Rico. Her music is aerial, ambient and dreamy. Her web site is called Sad Music For Happy People. And the picture is great to give this mood :

Arturo

One year ago, she released a great EP. Carte Postale, a Belgian label, released again this EP with two new tracks and five remix. But the best are the four original tracks of minimal classical electro music. After the folk-tronic, it’s now the classic-tronic. The album can be bought on Label web site (also a lot of links for reviews (majority in not English language).

Some other words in english from Angrape : Music for Students and Friends is an organic Múm at their best. Sweeping pianos fuse with soft synths to soothe and comfort. Sounds are muted, as in the opening track Beth Dorris, where minimal piano is articulated and built upon carefully, whilst looped samples are brought in alongside delicate cracked electronica. Loops are a staple part of the tracks, along with subtle voice samples and melancholy violin melodies. Negrón has created an album with oceans of charm which oozes innocence and warmth; it’s like wearing rose tinted spectacles.

I heard someone saying : this guy is boring with these albums we can not find in US. OK, the EP (with cover) is FREELY available on Observatory on Line or on her web site. Also listenable on Myspace…

The Lovely Sparrows - Pulling Up Floors, Pouring on (New) Paint

Published by David October 20th, 2006 in Free Tracks, Album, Review and 2006. 0 Comments

Austin’s The Lovely Sparrows, produce sweet soulful harmonies backed by breezy acoustical guitars, combined with a multitude of various instruments on their latest five track EP Pulling Up Floors, Pouring on (New) Paint. This is their second release, the first being a 7″ released earlier this year. They have a similar sound to fellow Austinites American Analog Set, as well as influential mixture of The Kinks and Big Star in a similar fashion to way The Shins set up their compositions but more carefree. Lead singer and songwriter, Shawn Jones provides illuminated narration to the bands open and airy landscape. The setting is soft around the edges, like a fluffy cloud mixed with mini bursts of tiny explosions of percussion.

All of the songs are blended together rather inconspicuously and release an overall soothing impression. Upbeat finger-snaps and hand-claps nestled together with a harmonious jangling guitar strum and the robust patter of the percussion construct the third track “The War Has Seen the Best of Me”. In turn it is followed by “Attention Disorder Kid” which openly critiques how our nation is drugging our children and turning them into drones: “Attention disorder kid, they want to replace with you robots. All things not cool, come round, come round. You’ll hear them say settled down, settle down”. The piece is slightly scattered and has it ups-and-downs (as well it should) and concludes by seamlessly blending into the first 45 seconds of the final track “Let’s Watch the Tourists”. We watch the tourists as they shuffle along with another mixture of clatter and clanging, loosely meshed together as it closes the 20 minute collection rather nicely. But guess what, my two favorites are the first two tracks “Chemicals Change” and “Your Flowers Will Bloom” as they are both a bit more polished and shine ever so brightly. This EP sets up a promising future for The Lovely Sparrows that I am looking forward to hear.

Freebies
A high quality version of the lead off track Chemicals Change. Pick up the EP at eMusic or iTunes or order the actual CD from Abandoned Love Records.

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