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28 FLAGPOLE.COM-JULY 19,2006
NATACHA ATLAS
Mish Maoul
Manta Recordings / Beggars Gioup
Thank God for the informative
blurbs on the back of promo copies
sent out to the press Not that context
is necessary as far as determining how
much one likes an album, but it helps
a little when informing one's readers
about it Natacha Atlas is the kind of
hybrid world music act that goes over
; quite well in Europe Her stuff draws
mostly on Middle Eastern roots (which
she has) but with samplings from, on
this album, bossa nova, hip hop. trance
and global pop
Apparently, this is more tradi
tionalism than is usually present, yet
it stilt reminds one a bit ot Shakiras
attempts to cross over into the tielo of
just "pop,' sans adiectives delineating
national origin Atlas isn t as success
ful as Shakira. though, despite the oc
casional hip twitcher The songs range
between 3 1/2 and 61/2 minutes long
and although the album itself isn't ex
actly nevei-endmg (a brief 51 minutes),
it one isn t entranced by swirtmg colors
or flashing lights (read in da club),
they tend to run on a bit.
The traditional tracks are fine,
even it they tend to call to mind Tim
Robbins' character in High Fidelity,
but the ones with a bit more experi
mentation definitely catch the ear more
readily Teen.* coming after the classic
Middle Eastern tone of the first song,
ceriainly makes the listener sit up. with
the lyrics ‘It's freaky, baby You ever
wonder why the world's so crazy 7 *
| sung/chanted in a fashion one could
j see Gwen Stefani adopting
Does if reach as tar as good 7 U s
| hard to say Wliaf one can confirm is
i that the efforts to move beyond genre
j aren l entirety successful File unde;
! world muiic. still
Hillary Biown
RAMBLIN' JACK
ELLIOTT
I Stand Alone
Anti-
01' Ramblin' Jack has iived througff
it all He was personally nentored by
Woody Guthrie, and as Bob Dylan*
compass he serves as a link between
the two. In essence, he* a vital link in
the chain that connects folk* earliest
days to the new breed, kids like Jackie
Greene And naturally, a lolkie that*
been on the scene since Jack Kerouac
sounds just a little aged, but also quite
perfected by folk standards.
The appropriately tilled I Stand
Alone (Elliott sings in a broken tone,
like the last ot a dying breed) is just
another album in the Elliott catalogue,
but it's the first he* recorded lor Anti-,
Blackalicious' and Elliott Smith's
label. Therefore, it might surprise
longtime Jack Elliott fans to see guests
Flea. Nels Cline (Wiico) and Lucinda
Williams guesting on a few cuts. But
it* still Elliott* show, and I Stand
Alone sounds exactly like one recorded
by a pioneer ol the genre, now about
75 years old: weathered, carefree and
falling a bit info country at times.
A few choice tracks—but not
standouts—include *Hong Kong
3lues : * ’Call Me a Dog* (where Elliott
gets downright ornery) and closer
‘Woody* Last Ride.* in which Elliott
describes the last lime he saw Woody
Guthrie alive Its all the more chilling
when you consider that none ol that
song is fictional
This is highly recomr..ended fglk
music It's not out for career revivals
sake It* iust put out lor the same rea
son as the rest ol Elliott s records—it's
what he does
Andy Stokes
SIX ORGANS OF
ADMITTANCE
The Sun Awakens
Drag City
I've listened to the new Six Organs
of Admittance record three times now,
and my computer screen just stares,
blankly back at me Before I pled on.
groping around for my muse. I should
point out that this is not Ben Chasny*
lau' The Sun Awakens .$ well worth
ycur time ard money It s .us! that h;s is
a music that defies proper description
But here goes
John Fahey is '*.e obvious
touchstone here A recent popular
comparison to be loosely made is the
Btokeback Mountain secte Chasny
has always had a knack for hazy guitar
plucking and gorgeous compositional
style This culminated on his last al
bum. School of Ihe Flower Where
that was a breath of fresh air. The Sun
Awakens treads murkier paths in and
out ol the dark The song titles are
an immediate clue "Torn By Wolves*
and ‘Bless Your Blocd,* however, are
almost pastoral in their delicate beauty
At least until the latter* vocals come
. in, sounding like a lightly distorted
Lou Reed
'Black Wall* turns up the fuzz,
beginning a gradation into increasingly
psychedelic and eastern-tinged moods,
all leading up to the 24-minute closer.
■River ol Transfiguration * It* a big
old droning monster ol a track, darker
than anything Chasny has released
Epic, beautiful and ominous, often at
the same time. I'd describe it as a spa
ghetti western Microphones/ Mt Eerie.
There* little of Chasny* signature gui
tar playing here: only the martial drums
anchor the song It* nothing blazingly
original, but in its own way. it is like
nothing you've heard before
Michael Wehunt
THE INSTRUMENTS
Cast A Half Shadow
Orange Tv/in
W'th this album The Instruments
have crafted a wonderfully hypnotic
collection ot songs. The album slinks
in with ‘Show To Begin,* and although
it's the lead track, it automatically
places the listener in comfortable re
pose and almost instantaneous audi
tory solitude Lilting, almost chant-tike
vocals glide alongside a slow-motion
carnival dirge ot a melody After this,
the immediately subsequent tracks
(Tor Travelers.* "Seems So Far* and
*Our Lovely Ladder*) feature a heart-
stoppingiy beautiful track bcok-ended
by two somber, mystery-laden instru
mentals The effect is immediate
The rest of the album follows in
very similar suit Cast A Halt Shadow
as a whole fits very neatly together by
specific design, not merely a collec
tion ol bandleader Heather McIntosh's
latest compositions I* is musical in a
painterly style Even skipping a single
track means you may not absorb the
whole picture lhav*. ny favorites of
these latter tracks ('Through The Air'
and ’Lantern*), but I have no desire
to hear them divorced from *he rest of
the album
Significantly. Cast A Hall Shadow
cannot be called easy listening
Although the music is in no way bom
bastic or even particularly overtly force
ful. it contains an undeniable emotional
element that is more fhan mere mel
ancholy This is distant music, not so
much between artist and audience, tut
between listener a r d peer To near this
album ;s to hear it alone
Gordon Lamb
SUFJAN STEVENS
The Avalanche: Outtakes S Extras
front the Illinois Album
Asthmatic Kitty
Consider The Avalanche\he DVD
extras to Illinois Even more so. con
sider it as though a new disc ot extras
has iust come out six months after the
hypothetical film was released on DVD
Would you pay as much lor them as
you did tor the original? And atte; you
bought them, would you sit around
sluggishly watching/ listening to them
and eventually, after a certain period
ol time passed, being annoyed with
yourself for continuing to do so instead
of going back to what you enjoyed in
the first place or seeking out something
new?
There are nice things on tfiis al
bum ol ’extras and outtakes* trom the
Illinois recording sessions (‘No Man*
Land* and The Avalanche.* for ex
ample. could almost be on that album),
but there are also a wearying number
of tracks that start off promising and
end up noodling around for minutes
upon minutes, leading to one leaving
the room to get a drink or go pee and
not bothering to pause the CD There*
a place tor wallpaper music, but that
place is usually after you know a record
well Its also an odd mix of experimen
tation (some songs are almost iam)
and revisiting of previous territory,
sometimes you get both at once as cn
hi$ three versions ol 'Chicago *
But. as with many DVD deleted
scenes, there are reason* that the
things that made it into the movie did
so they ’were important to the plot they
helped pace it correctly and often they
were simply better Tnis is for comple-
tists only (either of the Sutjan or the
Prairie State ’/anety)
Hillary Brown
ONEIDA
Happy New Year
Jagjaguv/ar
Let* see. this umpteenth record
by this Brooklyn-based, chameleonic
band in about 250 words 7 Well. Iirst. it
you're a newcomer to the noise made
by this trio, a little preface is in order
Oneida throws a lot of styles—krau-
bock. free ia:z and garage among
them—agamst the side of the refrig
erator and how they end up in a messy
pi : e on the kitchen floor is how you
hear them Cyclical electronic clips and
stahbirg guitars tvmealethe mu. nro-
v 'ding a kmetic contrast to some static
.ind hypnofc element like a monast c
chant or some punch*' session
On Happi New Year, f eida comes
ac'osu a tittle rt< 'i s. "tued (or pei-
haps focused) ftwi cn previous chaotic
outings Murky opener Distress'
sounds like a tune ter leading robed
believers through a religious cer
emony But with a cascade of frenzied
Synth sounds, the title track takes you
right back out of the ether with pure
electronic confusion It must be what
computers hear when they download
a virus But even though much ot the
record works this way--serving up
an unorganized melange o! sounds
that seem like the result ot a random
scattering more than an actual arrange-
rpent—and the sounds themselves are
contused, the Oneida sound is pretty
digestible Somehow, this overload
of divergent zaps, clicks and blips all
torm a nice bed for Kid Million* jim
0 Rourke-hke chants The dub-infused
The Misfit’ illustrates this best, it* rife
with some electronics teeming under
the surface, but Million* placid voice
and minimal pulse (he* also the drum
mer) pin it all down
Andy Stokes
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