Newspaper Page Text
AfMATHALLO
Canopy Glow
Anticon
Chicago six-piece Anathqllo .
holds back no punches on Canopy
Glow, its second full-length album.
Like 2006's Floating World, the album
skips between quieter moments and
larger musical proclamations, as liter
ate in pop gorgeousness as The New
Pornographers.
Guitarist/pianist Matt Joynt and
autoharp player Erica Froman are
Anathallo's primary vocalists, but there
are moments when the whole band
comes in and sings, and the choral
harmonies hit like some sort of ebul
lient. angelic marching band. Unlike
some bands who pack on the instru
ments to obscure a lack of songwriting
chops, Anathallo only unleashes its
biggest sounds when necessary; it’s
tasteful overindulgence, and the entire
album’s united by solid lyricism and
a thematic current of life and death.
“We saw the sky. swarming full with
the light that the fireflies made.' sings
Joynt on opener “Noni's Field.’ “An
accidental constellation/ You. how will
you go?/ Out through your mouth in
a sigh?’
Anathallo relies on sturdy yet
inventive song structures—check the
precise vocal interplay on “Interplay"—
and there’s an orchestral quality to
much of what’s happening on Canopy
Glow. An obvious touchstone is Sufjan
Stevens, whose lush pop arrangements
find parallel on this album. Sure, he
was no huge innovator when it came
to overstuffed pop music, but in recent
years he’s been a huge factor in the
acceptance of a sort of unbridled sin
cerity and joy in alternative pop. and
that same giddy love of verdant sounds
shines through with Anathallo.
Chris Hassiotis
Anathallo is playing at the 40 Watt
Club on Wednesday, Mar. 11.
DEX ROMWEBER
DUO
Ruins of Berlin
Bloodshot
One thing you can admire about
Dex Romweber is his consistency.
Without fail, each record he releases
provides a crash course in various
American music traditions coupled
with a sense of backwoods revival
ism, resulting in something akin to
homegrown revisionist history. Itls not
Jesus who saves your soul—it’s Dex
Romweber. But then who saves his
soul? His records also point toward a
man full of demons, a man who builds
himself up just so he can tear himself
back down.
All of these things are present on
Ruins of Berlin. However, there's a new
quality here that might throw oft tradi
tional fans: For once. Dex Romweber
sounds like he's finally gaining on the .
stability required to launch a full-on
assault on the internal forces that
plague him. With his smooth-as-ever
baritone and drummer sis Sara by his
side, he sounds as if he’s ready to let
himself be.
But don’t take that to mean he can't
still shake things up. If one thing's for
certain, it's that those Romwebers know
how toTock a joint. Whether hitting the
surf rock or reworking old Hollywood
standards, this sibling team careens
off each other at sych a natural pace
you can’t help but let them take you
to their world even for just a moment.
And when darkness descends—and
it does—they’re both there to lead
you through it—Dex Romweber as
savior and now seasoned guide. If he's
never allowed himself to feel proud, he
should now.
Jennifer Gibson
The Dex Romweber Duo will play
the Star Bar in Atlanta on Friday, Mar.
13.
HI RED CENTER
Assemble
Joyful Noise
I think I love music because,
secretly, subtly, it exposes our weird,
idiosyncratic hearts. Ever since I first
heard Hi Red Center. I watched my
heart get slammed onto the worktable
and flattened, caressed and molded like
so much stoner’s clay—never tossed
in the kiln, always wet and ready to be
shaped into some other weird mis
shapen mess.
This great feeling can't be priced
and. funny as it is, the experience of
listening to Assemble would be prob
ably be appraised altogether differently
by other listeners. And that makes me
feel great, too. Kurt Vonnegul said.
“Many people need desperately to
receive this message: ‘I feel and think
much as you do, care about many of
the things you care about, although
most people do not care about them
You are not alone.”
I want to feel less alone in my
appreciation for Hi Red Center, and
if you. any of you. lend it your ear, I
think you’ll be surprised—surprised by
sneak-attack polyrhythms and ghostly
vibraphones. These four guys—united
by the percussion program at a state
school in New York -carefully arrange
their music into a triptych approach
consisting of a.) moths-to-a-flame
scattershot free-time, b.) strict Machine
Age lockstep, and c.) sheer, shiny
beauty. It’s stunning and so, so much
fun. This sort of geeky musicianship
usually never has time for hooks, but
the band's deadpan playfulness is.
really, the trump card. It hits me hard
where it counts, and you know, maybe
that’s just me. But I don’t think so.
Jeff Tobias
DBM LEE
The Rebirth of Venus
New West
Somewhere along the way Ben
Lee went from spastic indie tagalong
to a confident and quiet songwriter;
nobody's really sure when it happened,
but Lee’s latest offering. The Rebirth of
Venus, may be some of the most com
pelling and catchy pop music released
in this short year. From the Tom Petty-
like strut of the album's opener “What's
So Bad (About Feeling Good)?" to the
Beatle-y, George Harrison-like warble
of the album's closer "Song tor the
Divine Mother of the Universe." Lee
shows off his newfound songwriting
muscle with a frankness and subtlety
that is rare.
The Petty and Harrison com
parisons aren't the only classic rock-
inspired moments on The Rebirth of
Venus. In fact. Lee seems to be chan
neling his inner Traveling Wilbury. and
while his voice never quite reaches the
•heights of a Roy Orbison. his songs
never carry the depth, resonance or
the WTF-like weirdness of Dylan, Lee
never seems to sink to Jeff Lynne-like
levels of schmaltz, either.
The album is hardly perfect; 'I
Love Pop Music' seems to ramble on
and become preachy at times, but the
strength and the size of the hooks on
the rest of the tracks (including “Boy
with a Barbie,' which features a hook
so large it could land Moby Dick) more
than make up for the shortcoming.
L6e may not be the indie-rock
wunderkind that people thought he
was 10 years ago, but he sounds fine
with it. In fact, he’s probably better off
because of it.
Jason Bugg
OF .MONTREAL
Jon Brion Remix EP
Polyvinyl
v
Jon Brion has produced Aimee
Mann. Eleni Mandell, Robyn Hitchcock,
Evan Dando, Kanye West and more
He's probably best known for his
soundtrack work, though, scoring
idiosyncratic indie films like Eternal
Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, I Heart
Huckabees and Synecdoche, New
York, as well as most of Paul Thomas
Anderson’s films (Magnolia, Punch-
Drunk Love, etc.). Now he’s tackled two
tunes for reworking off Of Montreal’s
Skeletal Lamping album.
The track first Time High
(Reconstructionist Remix of ‘An
Eluardian Instance’).’ explains itself
pretty well through its title, taking “An
Eluardian Instance* and not so much
reworking it, as most remixes tend to
do. as cleaning it up. smoothing out
some of its shaggy edges and eliminat
ing some of Kevin Barnes’ weirder
indulgences. It’s a rare remix that cuts
back on odd flourishes and inessential
tangents, but that's what Brion does
with “First Time High,’ making it a
little more palatable to the dance floor,
emphasizing its chorus, but robbing it
of some of its weird pop charm.
The EP’s second track is an acous
tic version of the same song, adding
backing vocals and mandolin, recast
ing the tune from a propulsive power-
pop track to a more sensitive one that
shines new light on the repeated line
“Do you remember our last summer as
independents?'
Brion also remixes the track
“Gallery Piece." offering up three
versions: a regular one. an extended
eight-minute version and an instru
mental track There’s less changed from
the original; it's more reimagining than
remix, taking a vampy, glam-rock look
at psychosexual desire and adding
a whole mess of bleeps and bloops.
easing back on some of the song’s
obsessive qualities and making it more
dancey. more electric, more arcadey.
Online word is that Brion is set to pro
duce an album for Blikk Fang, the still-
gestating and tentative collaboration
between Of Montreal’s Kevin Barnes
and MGMT's Andrew VanWyngarden.
The Internet quivers in anticipation.
Chris Hassiotis
CHRIS MCKAY
AND THE CRITICAL
DARUNGS
Satisfactionista
SideB Music
The second full-length album
from Athens’ power popsters. Chris
McKay and the Critical Darlings, is
a refreshing and upbeat blend of feel
good power-pop and seriously 70s
classic rock.
Satisfactionista is what happens
when you put elements of The dB's
and E L.O. into a blender: you get
a smoothie full of delicious guitar-
driven melodies and delectable vocal
harmonies.
The band’s latest release is chock
full of stadium-sized guitar meltdowns
and super-catchy hooks that go on for
days. “Rage On' is just one such song;
from the opening guitar hook to Jhe
fading overlapped vocals, this song
is easy to press the repeat button on.
“Scared of Myself.' however, is com
pletely different and sounds like a lost
Black Lab song, starting out minimally
and then building to a ferocious climax
before settling back down.
“Something Unseen" is perhaps
the best track on the album, which
also features legendary pianist Mike
Garson, (David Bowie, Nine Inch Nails.
Smashing Pumpkins), who plays on
the final eight-minute opus. Honestly,
every song on this album is stellar,
and Satisfactionista would do well to
accompany a long road trip or a con
templative night in.
Satisfactionistds other bonus is the
benefit of having Grammy-nominated
co-producer David Barbe (R.E.M.,
Drive-By Truckers) at the helm. Barbe’s
production remains slick and clean,
and it does a nice job of keeping all the
instrumentation prominent throughout.
Perhaps it's the departure from
the band's synthy, almost punk-ish
prior effort, or maybe the addition of
guitarist/vocalist Joe Orr and drummer
Joshua Harrison that adds more fuel to
the line-up, but whatever it is. satisfac
tion is guaranteed.
Charley Lee
THE WEIGHT
Are Men
Tee Pee
Athens has lost many a musical
talent to the Big Apple. Because if you
can make it here, meh. But if you can
make it there, you can make it any
where. Of course, that's just one way
to look at it. Perhaps expatriate Joseph
Plunket was thinking differently when
he headed north with his decidedly
Southern sound (?).
These days the troubadour has
removed his name and the ampersand
from the marquee, choosing instead
the paih of solidarity in a quartet called
The Weight. At the intersection of.Bruce
Springsteen and Star Room Boys,
you'll find a gruff, hillbilly swagger
informed by booze, broken hearts and
backwoods travel below the Mason-
Dixon.
'No one does the cooking, and,
darling, I guess thaPs just as well/1
pour a box of cereal, and I raise a bottle
to myself.’ growls Plunket on “Man
Alone,’ a country-tinged testimony
to the least glamorous elements of
bachelorhood.
It seems cliche, but the fact that
it has been done before doesn't make
it any less cool. The sound of a cold,
canned brew being cracked open is a
glorious one. "A Day in the Sun' opens
with said glory before freight-train har
monica and honky-tonk guitars bend
notes and trade solos while a bar-stool
choir shouts the chorus in blissful,
inebriated unity.
David Eduardo
V/A
Johnny Cash Remixed
Compadre
There’s still a whole year’s worth
of releases lo come, but this remix
compilation of the Man in Black's Sun
Records masters is already a lock to >
be one of 2009’s most hated albums.
The biggest thing setting it up for
near-certain damnation is that it dares
tinker with the work of one of music
history’s greatest, most identifiable
figures. An endeavor so daring as to be
crazy would be no better way to honor
the iconoclastic Cash if actually pulled
off with both poise and balls. But this
album does neither, which means it's
gonna be a pihata. You can already
hear the villagers banging on the castle
doors.
Leading off is the gravest trespass
of all, ODTs abominable commercial-
rap remix of the iconic 'I Walk the
Line' featuring Snoop Dogg, which
looks bad on paper but is actually
much more tragic in reality. The tracks
range from jaw-droppingly bad. offen
sive even, to bloodless at best (Philip
Steir’s “Get Rhythm,' Machine Drum’s
“Belshazzar"). On most, the ungainly
collision of country and dance music
winds up like hick-hop (Sonny J’s
“Country Boy"). The sole exception
to the nightmare is “Doin’ My Time"
by hot British newcomers The Heavy. .
which isn’t so much a remix as it is a
sweeping, soulful and transformative
reinterpretation.
This comp has the blessing of the
stewards of Cash's legacy. But after
they hear how it turned out. they may
actually regret not allowing “Ring of
Fire' to be used for a hemorrhoid com
mercial. At least his music would've
remained untouched.
Bao Le-Huu
JASON ISBELL AND
THE 400 UNIT
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
Lightning Rod
The first thing most will notice
about Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit's
new album is right there in the title of
the band and the record—this is no
longer just Jason Isbell. This is an
album by a full band, and it shows.
While Isbell's debut (2007’s Sirens
of the Ditch) may have been a decent
solo affair, it did at times feel thrown
together and somewhat haphazard.
That cobbled together feel is nowhere
to be found on Jason Isbell and the 400
Unit. Instead, the album sounds like
■the work of a fully realized band, from
the sizzle of the cymbals on the album’s
rockers to the hum of the organ on the
ballads.
During Isbell's tenure with the
Drive-By Truckers, his songs often felt
out of place, but given the time to shine
and his own backing band, the songs
have room and space of their own. The
sound ranges from the slide-guitar-
drenched and near-Bo-Diddley beat of
“Seven-Mile Island’ through the big
guitar rock of “Good' and all points
between.
If the real stars on Jason Isbell
and the 400 Unit ate the backing band.
Isbell's songs are the pertect platform
on which to showcase them. There’s
not a weak song in the bunch, and
now Isbell, long touted as a promising
singer-songwriter, is finally starting to
prove his mettle and to show what the
hubbub was about. All it took W3S the
right band to get him there.
Jason Bugg
14 FLAGPOLE.COM • MARCH 11, 2009 *