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16 FUGPOLE.COM DECEMBER 1,2010
All
DAY
GIRL TALK
All Day
Illegal Art
Released digitally on his website
(www illegal-art.net/allday) earlier this
month to an unsuspecting public. Greg
Gillis’ newest set of eclectic mash-ups
continues his perfection ol the style.
The product of two and hall years of
extensive touring and exhaustive edit
ing. A//Gay still delivers as fun and
spontaneous of a party record as is
likely to come out this year. The spastic
editing of his earliest albums has been
forgone almost completely in exchange
for a build-and-ffow-based groove
constructed upon what has become
his trademark juxtaposition: gangsta
rap + arena rock anthems ♦ sampled
percussion that helps drive the pause
less mix.
He toys with this formula and the
expectations of those familiar with the
original artists throughout the album.
flipping both on their heads early on
with Joey Ramone singing 'Blitzkrieg
Bop' over a sample collage before the
song’s familiar riff kicks in.
Later on, Basement Jaxx vocals
are laid over a Rick Ross beat to thrill
ing effect. Sometimes the pastiche
of different highly produced sounds
fails to cohere, but Gillis' increased
use of dynamics and adventurous
taste prevails, revealing unexpected
elements in the disparate source mate
rial. His knack for recontextualization
even evokes other artists at times: a
Bone Thugs/Superchunk mix uses
the Cleveland rap group's uniquely
melodic vocal delivery to bring to mind
fee/s-era Animal Collective. More than
anything, this album seeks to unite
fans of generally incompatible music,
and it should succeed even with less
open-minded listeners. And since the
download is offered for free (physical
release will likely follow), there’s no
reason not to consider yourself among
them.
Brian Veysey
A VUNNY I)AV TN GLASGOW
POPSO«evi*»
&
■
A SUNNY MY
Autumn, Again
Independent Release
I have always seen shoegaze as
a limited genre-something mat
countless bands draw inspiration from
but tew ever dedicate themselves to
wholeheartedly. WMIe D» Cocteau
Twins and My Bloody Valentine are
surely great bands in Iheir own rights,
they are often remembered more for the
avenues they opened up than tor their
actual output It is lor this reason that
the recent, meteoric rise of A Sunny
Day in Glasgow has been both aston
ishing and extremely welcome as it is
undeniably a shoegaze band, even as it
is exploring and reinventing the form
All ihe traditional elements are
present, from Ihe dark, warm lifeblood
ol swirling synths to the loop-de-loop,
canyon-echo vocal rounds, but in
between are elements of tropicalia.
dance-pop. chillwave and even tradi
tional folk. In identical twin vocalists
Lauren and Robin Daniels, one can't
help but hear the Cocteaus' influence
from the first note of the lovely opening
canticle ‘Fall in Love.’ The boy/girl
vocals on "Moments on the Lawn* are
complemented by beautifully rendered
handclap percussion that seems to
clatter to the floor as it repeatedly
fades down into the mix, and the oddly
danceable “Drink Drank Drunk' sounds
like a killer collaboration between
Animal Collective and mysterious
Swedish popsters jj. But the album's
real gem is its final track *100/0
(Snow Days Forever),* which spirals
through triplets of plucked electronic
strings and fractured marimba to create
a piece that recalls the group's rollick
ing. 22-track colossus Ashes Grammar
more strongly than anything else on
the album, while also serving as an
entrancing cliffhanger lor that which is
yet to come.
David Fitzgerald
THE OCTOPUS
PROJECT
Hexadecagon *
Peek-A-Boo
Wanting to achieve a new level of
immersion, the Austin experimental
band introduced this material first as a
live muftimedia encounter employing
custom electronics. 360-degree sur
round sound and eight synchronized
video projections (designed by Austin
digital artist Wiley Wiggins). Sounds
like a pretty dope live experience,
huh? But on a studio record pumping
through your off-the-shelf speakers,
it will sound less like the voyage of a
wildly daredevil pop band and more
like the studious exercise between
composer and electronic orchestra.
(No accident since minimalists Terry •
Riley and Steve Reich are cited as
. inspirations.) With lots of intricate,
precise and measured elements that
dance about the head, Hexadecagon is
unquestionably The Octopus Project’s
most sophisticated and pristine work
yet. Unfortunately, the band’s signs- '
lure spirit is bleached to the point of
immaculate sterility, which is problem
atic for a group built on a sense of fun.
Within its vast evenness, the album's
most salient moments are the gleeful
dimax of’Glass Jungle,* the noisy
maelstrom that Tataiog* goes out
and the meaty balance of Tuguetef
and ‘Korakrit"
Every band should be allowed to
grow, and it has demonstrated some
real technical aptitude on this complex
compositional onion. But every big
change requires a new level of proof
And for all its hi-def accomplish
ment. Hexadecagon certainty isn't The
Octopus Project's most stirring hour
Bao Le-Huu
*!G r>OM AANO
BIG DON BAND
Bad Luck
Independent Release
In the liner notes of Bad Luck.
Big Don Band states that the album is
"brought to you by the letter T and the
number ‘69 " From the opening track,
its clear that this blues-rock Athens
group is the real deal: genuine good
o!' boys singing about blue-collar
topics that include farmers who brew
moonshine to feed their families. EBT
stamps, ghost stories and falling in
love with a deep-fat fryer in a Sears
catalog while sitting on the toilet.
Clearly, this Athens group isn't worried
about impressing your mom—or any
one. for that matter.
However, therein lies the problem.
There are numerous tracks that simply
sound like bad takes. In the intro tor
‘God s Country,* before the drums
awkwardly stumble in, vocalist Donald
Spurlin attempts tn embellish the mel
ody but never lands on definite notes
The result sounds like a Scott Stapp
karaoke attempt that ends up an off-key
muddied mess. In “Somewhere Over
You,’ Spurlin just talks through the end
of a melody phrase, as if he doesn't
even care enough to follow through.
Unfortunately, sloppy moments like
these permeate the album, and when
coupled with consistently trivial subject
matter, it* hard to take Bad Luck s& \-
ousty. Maybe that's how they want it.
anyway.
John Granofsky
THE BUCK
Sun in the Day, Moon at Night
Moon
Forget that this Austin band is
comprised of alumni of.. And You
Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead
and Voxtrot ft wont prepare you
for its unapcJogebcaily classicist, -
TSOs-inspired folk rock. Here, the coun
try and folk echoes of The Byrds, Dylan
and The Flying ButHq Brothers dance
to the throbbing pulse of original rock
and roll. Besides clear Instinct for tune,
what makes The Black* music effective
and refreshing is the unvarnished,
garage-like economy that comes from
a recording done mostly live with no
overdubs.
While songs like the Chuck Berry
burner "Freeway (Exiled)" and the hard
honky-tonker "Deaths Beil" distinguish
them from their counfry-rock contem
poraries. they're best when they work
an easier, more reflective pace and just
bask in the grand vintage glow like on
"Now I Am Here" and "Throwing Away."
And none move as much as the sweet
yilts of "It Only Makes You Blue." a
Gram Parsons-esque beauty liberally
slathered in country honey
Without a doubt, this album is a
historical piece done with love and
authenticity. However, though it's
strange to ascribe this to a revival
ist band. Black manages lo sound
fresn simply by keeping it lean and
simple rather than overcooked and
overdressed
Bao Le-Huu
IMF DOOM
Expektoration Live
Gold Oust Media
Daniel Dumiie apologists argue
that the man behind the mask sends
lip-syncing 'Doombot* enactors of Ihe
DOOM persona into concerts because
he takes his name from a Fantastic
Four villain, raps about villainy and
generally acts villainous. The reason
that Dumiie gives in interviews is more
simple: he fancies himself the director
of several roles. Expektoration Live, '
which Dumiie appropriately divides
into two acts and an intermission,
features that director giving a hungry
performance, the hits and a metal
middle finger to his fans. .
Dumiie has always been a fascinat
ing chronicler of his own oversize,
mythic history, charting the hard times
by unmixed drinks ('Shot the Henny
straight—couldn't afford to cop the
Cherry Coke*), the rap competition by
their state of undress and the heights
of his cartoonist) personality by actual
cartoons.
Most of DOOM* raps are super
heroic epics, stories littered with spe
cific nouns—brands, films and many
foods—that repeatedly reorient Hie
listener, who races through detailed,
crumb-laden trails' DOOM* seemingly
breathless recall of every word on
Expektoration is impressive, and his
delivery, especially on *Kon Queso.*
sounds ferocious where it was once
^lackadaisical.
DOOM s fiery intensity appears
here, but the New York concert
recorded for this afbum seems to
have taken place in 2004, before the
widespread reports about DOOM being
a no-show.
The criminal mastermind auteur
wants the audience to respect him
strictty IwNs genius, but believing
in a man who languishes on a distent
throne instead of fighting hte own
battles has become its own herculean
task.
AlexDfmftropcufos