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TITANS OF FILTH
Feats of Strength EP
Independent Release
When your whole musical
schtick is about the narrow avoidance
ol disaster—delicately teetering
on a very tiny point that equals
success as opposed to complete
embarrassment—how long can you
keep it up? At least tor one more EP,
apparently. It's a wise decision for
Athens’ Titans of Filth tn stick to the
brief EP format. As we know from
Survivor, one can only balance on
one leg for so long, but most of us
have the strength to do it for the span
of five or six lovely, brief songs. Has
the band made a new commitment to
professionalism? No, thank God.
Sam Grindstaff's tales of painful
(and occasionally exhilarating) love
have the same charm as on the debut
Best Behavior EP; just listen to the way
he breathes out the word “book” on
“Please Caroline Stay,” as though he’s
trying to sneak deep emotion in while
you’re not quite paying attention. This
time, Becky Brooks from Cars Can Be
Blue joins in on "Sympathetic Mind,"
giving new and aggressive vocal
color, and Jason “Casper" NeSmith.
who also recorded the EP, plays some
guitar on “The Great Rewards in Being
Considered Normal."
If there's one track that stands out
strongest, it's the concluding one,
“Swinging Lovers," in which Grindstaff
and Ann Rogers trade playful lines over
a genuinely danceable beat punctuated
with guitar strums and plunky
keyboards. They're doing their best
not lo grow up, and let’s hope they can
keep the high-wire act up a little longer.
Hillary Brown
Titans of Filth are playing at the
Caledonia Lounge on Friday, July 6.
PRIDE PARADE
Untitled l?
Independent Release
These are the first four songs
ever recorded by new Athens band
Pride Parade Originally intended as
a demo, the band decided that the
record sounded so good, it should be
released. I concur.
Comprised of three ex-Brown
Frowners (Andrew Prater. Bubba
McDonald and BJ Bracewell), along
with Aaron Sims and Allen Owens,
Pride Parade is conversely open-armed
and tightlipped On one hand, these
guys sure have made a lot of word-
of-mouth noise happen around town
(which may, in fact, not be their fault
at all), but refuse to give their songs
any names and have only just played
Athens for the first time during AthFest.
Further, the name Pride Parade is
questionable in and of itself: do they
mean a gay pride parade, a parade
with a patriotic theme, a collusion of
the concept of each whereby identity
politics are rendered a total joke or,
which is most likely (he case, are they
just being difficult? Who knows.
What matters here is the music,
even though there’s definitely some
conceptual work happening. This
music is dirty. It’s earthy and working-
class and heavy and populist. It’s also
distinctively Southern without being
anything close to traditional Southern
rock. Just as Mudhoney can be the
most authentic representation of
hard rock from the Pacific Northwest,
Pride Parade runs neck-and-neck,
already even, with Music Hates You
for the Southern title. But that could be
extreme on my part. At any rate, Pride
Parade is definitely a contender.
Pride Parade's music is
heavy metal distilled through the
disappointment of post-boom grunge
and the exhaustion of the service
industry. The lead guitars are slaps
to the back of the neck rather than
exercises in dexterity. The rhythm
guitars are, at once, jolting and bottom-
heavy The vocals are both accusatory
and possessive of an us-versus-them
quality, which is different than the we-
versus-you quality that Brown Frown
had Forget Clinton, Obama. Biden,
Kucinich, Edwards and them. Vote
Pride Parade in 2008.
Gordon Lamb
Pride Parade is playing at Smith's
Olde Bar in Atlanta on Thursday. July 5.
VON SUDBUFED
Tromatic Reflexxions
Domino
Who would have ever thought that
a pairing of Mark E. Smith with Mouse
on Mars would be so funky? Tromatic
Reflexxions is a dance-floor dirty bomb
that pounds with sharp, robotic beats
while maintaining the ramshackle post
punk fire of The Fall. From the get-go.
"Fledermaus Can’t Get Enough’ jitters
with what at first feels like a hollow and
somewhat antiquated, pre-millennial
house groove. There’s something very
Trainspotting about the relationship
between the fizzling beats and Smith's
drunken rants. But stale it is not. and
the simple, plodding pace serves as a
primer for the album that is about to
unfold.
Each song builds one piece at
a time in a post-punk/ electronica
back-and-forth that dips erratically
into Smith's mumbled mantras before
leaning toward Mouse on Mars’
bombastic beats
"The Rhinohead" hits hard with a
disarmingly rich pop cadence, turning
crashing alarm clock rhythms into party
anthems. It's the greatest Fall song
that The Fall never wrote. Big hooks
sweep over sizzling electronic noises
that simmer behind the straightahead
pop structure. “Flooded" blasts with a
powerful dub bass that crackles with
blown-speaker fuzz while Smith barks
nonsensically about deejays pissing
themselves. If his words made sense,
the song wouldn’t be as good, which
serves as a potent summation of the
record. Tromatic Reflexxions thrives on
the unlikely alliance of Mouse on Mars’
precision electronics and Smith's loose
and drunken slurs. Their respective
dynamics shouldn’t jive, but they make
beautiful music together.
Chad Radford
MACHINEFABRIEK
Weleer
Lampse Audiovisual Recordings
In the world of abstract music, to
say someone's getting a lot of hype
means that maybe 500 people on the
planet are talking about the artist.
In this regard, Roger Zuydervelt's
feeling like the Arcade Fire right now.
With only one proper full-le n gth
under his belt, Zuyderveit is enjoying
ample praise. This is due partly to
his homemade 3" CD-Rs, of which
he’s produced and self-released more
than 30 in less than four years; that
definitely makes the word prolific
an understatement. Following last
year's Marijn debut comes Weleer,
a wonderfully expansive two-disc
collection of pieces culled from those
30-plus 3" releases.
In a nutshell, the Dutchman is
the most exciting artist to come along
in his genre in some time, and his
breadth is astonishing Thirteen-minute
"Hieperdepiep" rides an analog wave,
picking up acoustic strums, white
noise that builds to shrieking near-
Merzbow levels, modulated choral
segments, and Machinefabriek's
patented jet-engine power drone. It's
a jaw-dropping snowball of a track
Flitting from minimal single-instrument
compositions to prepared piano
vignettes to wall-of-sound gauze,
there’s something for every discernible
taste And perhaps most impressive is
that although these tracks were pulled
from so many releases, there's a clear
feeling of an album here.
“Onweer” is Stars of the Lid after
the Zoloft wears oft. Pure gorgeous drift
tempered with low-end grumble and
noise-washed bass pulses. Weleer’s
centerpiece comes on disc two. the 20-
minute "Lief." It takes its oh so sweet
time in picking up glorious strands like
some angelic lint roller. By the climax,
it feels like 1000 drones have convened
for an auraLUnited Nations peace talk.
And somehow all the distortion lends
to this sense.
For such a young artist, Zuyderveit
has completed all his homework
assignments, studying his wide range
of idols. Amazingly, he is already
beginning to surpass many of them
I hesitate to use the word brilliant on
a whippersnapper who should still
be cutting his teeth on this stuff, but
hesitance would be the greater crime.
No need to state that we can expect
great things from Machinefabriek
because he has arrived. Behold and
hail.
Michael Wehunt
BEASTIE BOYS
The Mix-Up
Capitol
As elder statesmen of New York
City hip-hop, it would have been too
easy for the Beastie Boys to record
another album of rowdy Brooklyn
rhymes backed by brazen breakbeat
production. Instead, the fortysomething
Boys have again flipped the switch
on convention (after all, they started
in 1981 as a hardcore punk band).
Their newest album. The Mix-Up,
is a thrilling but often unassuming
collection of funk, dub and post-punk
instrumentals.
On The Mix-Up, three emcees
and one deejay are replaced by three
talented musicians (and assorted
players), utilizing not just guitar,
bass and drums, but also organ,
congas and swimming pool whistles
to surpass accepted rock paradigms.
Singles "Off The Grid" and “The Rat
Cage” (available on YouTube) sweetly
replicate End Hits-era Fugazi, a
surprising but pleasant place to find
the writers of "Hey Ladies" (or even the
acerbic “Sabotage").
The round of applause at the end
of "Freaky Hijiki" is a meta moment
of (ecognition that if three longtime
frienus can produce chart-toppers
and fan loyalty for 26 years, they can
do pretty much whatever they feel like
with the backing of a major label. The
Beasties have done the instrumental
album thing before, though 1996’s
The In Sound from Way Out! had a lot
of lounge (hence, corny) styling that
seemed insincere. The dynamic tones
and tempos of The Mix-Up never seem
anything but earnest while still lun.
It took the Beastie Boys seven
years to release 2004’s bland To The
5 Boroughs, but if three years is all it
takes for them to create a release as
well-crafted and engaging as The Mix-
Up, let's hope they release something
else by December Or next week.
Scott Reid
THE NORTH SEA
Exquisite Idols
Type
I wonder if Brad Rose is as tired
of "freak folk" as I am. Like most hip
genres, it was welcome at first, but then
quickly became over-saturated. I'm
not sure if that's why I have no further
interest in Devendra Banhart. or if it’s
just that he put out 30 albums in two
years. Rose has dabbled in the fringes
of the movement for a while now,
but is only now releasing his proper
debut full-length. Exquisite Idols. Last
year's magnificent collaboration with
Rameses III, Night of the Ankou. took
the dronier elements of both and drifted
on a calm bed of sustained folk tones
and tunes.
Rose is certainly more caffeinated
this time out. Employing traditional
song structures and instrumentation,
he creates drifting pieces that somehow
never stray far from actual “songs."
“We Conquered the Golden Age"
comes off as a medieval drone piece,
with its meandering percussion and
strums anchoring pure drift. Rose's
vocals then take the track into a raga
campfire trip. “Take It From Me Brother
Moses" is a hoedown by comparison, a
gently rollicking banjo number. “Cover
Me With Knives" features rambling
vibes and fried guitar freak-out,
stepping firmly into psych territory.
Type Records, which has quickly
become one of the worlds premier
labels for lovely experimental music,
has noticeably broadened its horizons
ol late, and The North Sea exemplifies
these new flavors while keeping its
heart in the ambient realm Exquisite
Idols is a must-have for fans of
everything from White Rainbow to Greg
Davis. Or anyone who’s just looking for
some real “freak" in their folk.
Michael Wehunt
PORTER WAGONER
Wagonmaster
Anti-
Porter Wagoner is the latest aging
country great to be given a new lease
on his career. On Wagonmaster, his
Marty Stunt-produced debut for the
Anli- label, Wagoner’s dusty baritone
rings wi'h as much conviction and
commanding presence as he did on
country classics like “Cold Hard Facts
of Life" and "Carroll County Accident."
Thankfully, neither Wagoner nor Stuart
goes out of his way to add unnecessary
selling points to the meat-and-potatoes
recording Take Wagoner, a tep hand at
penning/performing material that walks
the line between hope and darkness,
put a strong band behind him (Stuart
and his Fabulous Superlatives) and roll
tape— that, friends, is enough.
Wagonmasters song selection .
is a brief composite of Wagoners
strengths as a vocalist, songwriter and
interpreter Johnny Cash originally
wrote the previously unrecorded
“Committed to Parkview" for Wagoner
The results are capable of producing
both chills and tears. Wagoner
blows the doors off Stuart’s steel-
driven “Hotwired," provides spoken
background to story songs like "Albert •
Erving" and gives the Dolly & Porter
oldie “My Many Hurried Southern
Trips’ a set of smoking new wheels.
He's been compared to Hank
Williams and Buck Owens, but
Wagoner's portrayed here more as a
Sam Elliott-type character—hard eyes,
stiff upper lip and a matter-of-fact way
of describing the many tough roads
he’s traveled—in a movie short on
trite senlimentaliiy and long on true,
lasting grit
Michael Andrews
THE WHITE STRIPES
leky Thump
Warner Bros.
After 2005 s Get Behind Me Satan,
an intermittently thrilling but relatively
dour affair, it was clear The White *
Stripes could use a vacation from their
musical marriage. So Jack White went
on his yearlong guys’ night out with The
Raconteurs, while Meg White modeled
for Marc Jacobs.
Jack also finally found himself a
wife. British model Karen Elson, and
had a baby, and the whole extended
family (Meg included) left Detroit and
settled in Nashville. The result is leky
Thump, an album on which both Jack
and Meg sound reinvigorated.
Though not as revelatory as
2001's White Blood Cells, or as
swaggeringly triumphant as 2003 s
Elephant, leky Thump is notable for
this renewed sense of play, as well as
Jack’s increasingly honed songwriting
chops. He’s still dropping stuck-pig
guitar solos and Godzilla blues riffs all
over the place, but with the exception
of the masturbatory fretboard pawing
of “Catch Hell Blues." it's all in service
of the song and the hook. "Bone
Broke." “Little Cream Soda" and the
standout “I’m Slowly Turning Into You"
are mutant riff creatures that wouldn’t
sound out of place on the Stripes'
raw debut album, except they've been
filled out with Jack's new toy. a buzzing
organ, and Meg’s more refined, even
occasionally subtle (!) drumming.
“A Martyr for My Love for You"
and “You Don't Know What Love Is
(You Just Do as You’re Told)," on the
other hand, sound like little else the
band has done. With their tight hooks,
smooth dynamics and rich, full sound.
4hey seem like direct results of Jack's
Raconteurs experience. “You Don’t
Know What Love Is" even suggests that
Jack might have a lucrative luture as a
Music Row gun for hire.
The album isn’t without its
problems, however. I sometimes wish
that Jack's gift for pastiche wasn't so
great; he brings in bagpipe player Jim
Drury to help out on the ersatz Scottish
reel “Prickly Thorn, but Sweetly Worn"
and “St Andrew (This Battle Is In the
Air)," a mildly diverting mini-“Black
Angel's Death Song" with a great title
but not much else going for it. but I d
rather hear him incorporate the pipes
into a more typical Stripes song
leky Thump also isn't an entirely
cohesive album If there's any
connective tissue between the songs,
it's that Jack takes a far less dismal
view toward women than on Get Behind
Me Satan Instead of blaming them for
all the world's ills, he’s just trying to
protect them, in a weird, vaguely sexist,
old-fashioned way Progress! Though,
to be fair, “I’m Slowly Turning Into You"
does offer a very sweet expression ol
love to Elson, or Meg. or both.
Whatever its faults may be. leky
Thump is still full of pleasures, from
the ridiculously awesome mariachi-
tmged kitsch of "Conquest" to the
adorable Jack-and-Meg-go-dumpster-
diving ditty “Rag and Bone." There
is evident joy in this music, the joy
of new relationships forged and old
relationships renewed Here's hoping it
sticks around awhile
Gardner Linn
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