November 2006 (PDF) - Antigravity Magazine

The Body, The Blood, TheMachine was produced byFugazi’s Brendan Canty andappears to be some kind of concept record about how muchChristianity sucks. Well, it might not be a concept record perse, but pretty much all of the songs rage against those whouse Christ as a tool to control people. For example, HutchHarris describes certain Christians as “the ambitious warmongers,those who seek to enslave humanity in the nameof Jesus rather than follow the true teachings of Jesus andembrace all of humanity with love.” Pretty heady stuff, huh? Itgets headier — dig this sample lyric: “Our power doesn’t runon nothing, it runs on blood and blood is easy to obtain…”The Thermals sing about a world on the brink of destruction,a world that our country’s leaders have brought into being(seriously, that George W. guy is a total dick). While the lyricsmay be depressing as all hell, the music of the Thermals isincredibly upbeat — the tunes are bright and hopeful even asthe lyrics speak only of doom and gloom. The Thermals havegrown in leaps and bounds since their previous release, FuckinA, which took a mere four days to record. And yes, there’seven a ballad or two on The Body, The Blood, The Machine, andthat’s how you can tell the band has matured, people.—Joseph LarkinIII was originally releasedin 1991 and is consideredby many to be the definitiveSebadoh record (I don’tknow if that’s true, but itwas certainly the first Sebadoh release that people actuallypaid attention to). Prior to this reissue’s release, I hadn’theard III in at least ten years, so imagine my surprise whenI took this double disc set for a spin and found that mostof the material on it, unlike Hustler publisher Larry Flynt,still stands up. Sure, III is nowhere near as good as 1994’sBakesale, the band’s crowning achievement, or even 1996’sHarmacy, but it’s still a good listen, especially after all theseyears of tepid indie rock and pale imitations. Wanna knowwhere people like Bright Eyes and Ryan Adams get theirshtick from? Look no further than the Lou Barlow-pennedtunes on III, a multi-layered album that is ten times moreinnovative than the vast majority of albums made by bandsinfluenced by Sebadoh’s particular brand of lo-fi rock and/or roll. From the opening jingle-jangle of “The Freed Pig”to the closing psychedelic noise fest of “As the World Diesthe Eyes of God Grow Bigger,” III is a curious mixed bag oflow fidelity pop songs that sounds unlike anything else thatwas being made at the time. Yeah, Lou Barlow got calleda “pussy” for his introspective acoustic contributions tothe band’s catalog, but Sebadoh never really relied on girlyacoustic numbers as much as the cynics would have youbelieve. What those fat cats in Washington, DC don’t wantyou to know is that most of the trio’s output is far noisierthan it is folky. Sebadoh was a prolific band, recordingnot only 23 songs for III but also an additional 18 songsduring the same period of time. These 18 songs, whichinclude the tunes that made up the infamous Gimme IndieRock! EP, are the extra special content of the bonus disc inthis deluxe reissue. Sure, a lot of these bonus tracks areinferior to the songs that were actually released on III, butthey’re still fun to listen to, unlike a Bright Eyes album.Do I really need to convince you to buy this? You shouldalready own it and know it by heart.—Joseph LarkinSparklehorse is MarkLinkous and Dreamt forLight Years in the Belly ofa Mountain, Sparklehorse’s fourth long player, is the firststudio album that Linkous has released in five years, partlydue to health problems and partly due to troubles withthe vintage recording console on which Linkous recordedthe majority of the album. Linkous chose to work witha number of surprising collaborators on Dreamt for LightYears, namely famed DJ Danger Mouse, Tom Waits (whomade his first Sparklehorse album appearance on 2001’sIt’s a Wonderful Life), Joan Wasser from the Dambuildersand Steven Drozd of The Flaming Lips. Linkous may havesome famous friends, but Sparklehorse is still his baby, forLinkous plays all the instruments on no less than threesongs on the album. It should come as no surprise thatmuch of the material on Dreamt for Light Years sounds likevintage Sparklehorse when considering the fact that fourof the songs on this album were previously released as b-sides, bonus tracks and compilation cuts during the band’sIt’s a Wonderful Life era. Yup, all the hallmarks of a typicalSparklehorse release are here, including distorted vocals,woozy mellotrons and melancholy melodies. Having saidthat, some of the material on Dreamt for Light Years breaksnew ground for Linkous, as some of these songs are actuallysomewhat upbeat and the instrumental title track soundsmore like the background music to an especially hauntingmovie than one of the sad pop songs we’re used to hearingfrom Sparklehorse. All in all, Dreamt for Light Years in theBelly of a Mountain is a satisfying album from a wonderfulman who was officially dead for a full two minutes followingan accidental drug overdose, a trauma that caused his legsto be pinned beneath his unconscious body for almostfourteen hours — it’s a long story. (Please note that mynose bled like a stuck pig while I listened to this album forthe first time. Make of that what you may.)—Joseph LarkinDark Meat hails fromAthens, GA (hometownof R.E.M., dontcha know!)and started out as a NeilYoung cover band (no, seriously, they really did). UniversalIndians is the group’s first album — and to give you an ideaof how ambitious this recording is, I’ll tell you that 23 peopleplayed on it and it took five months to record. UniversalIndians boasts walls of horns, piles of percussion, chirpingbirds, footsteps and even children’s voices. The songs arebombastic yet catchy. Honestly, I don’t even know how toproperly describe this racket — the music of Dark Meat isimpossible to categorize. I will say this: I saw some picturesof the band on their label’s website and they look like afilthy hippie collective. Make of that what you will. I willalso tell you that the band’s horn section is called the VomitLasers. Still not sold? I’ll also point out that someone on theinternet said Dark Meat is “Funkadelic meets the Stoogesmeets the Manson Family.” Doesn’t that sound like a goodthing? Of course it does. Buy this CD and then see this bandlive when they hit the NOLA area twice in November. Orjust fuck off, you dirty tosser.—Joseph LarkinDark Meat plays Ernie K-Doe’s Mother-In-Law Loungeon 11/16 and The Big Top on 11/18almost lost my virginity toI Yo La Tengo’s classic I CanHear the Heart Beating as OneLP. I say “almost” because I experienced my first and onlyepisode of erectile dysfunction that horrible night, due in nosmall part to the incessant blaring of this Hoboken threepiece’spatented brand of adult alternative music, whichmade it virtually impossible for me to perform in bed. Toomuch information? Anyway, my point is that Yo La Tengo willalways have a place in my blackened heart, even if the band hadrewritten the same exact album five times in a row now. Butwhat’s this? Not only does this new Yo La Tengo disc have thegreatest title for an album ever, but the fifteen songs on this LPactually sound slightly different than those found on previousefforts! I Am Not Afraid... opens and closes with two verylong psychedelic freak-outs—we’re talkin’ ten-plus minutesof pointless guitar solos (to be fair, the ten-plus minutes ofguitar wankery don’t seem nearly as long—they feel morelike eight or nine minutes). In case you hadn’t guessed, Yo LaTengo is giving fans their money’s worth with this sprawling75-minute album. In between the freak-outs, the listener willfind 13 of the catchiest and most varied songs in Yo La Tengo’svast catalog, most notably the first single, “Mr. Tough,” a jazzylittle number that is sung in falsetto, and “Watch out for Me,Ronnie,” a pseudo-rockabilly tune. Each song on this recordhas been augmented by lush musical arrangements—the bandhas added oodles of instruments to the mix, creating a densesonic stew for hungry ears to eat up…or something like that.Put simply, I Am Not Afraid... is the best album Yo La Tengohas recorded in years—no home is complete without a copyof this fine LP.—Joseph LarkinWoven Hand is DavidEugene Edwards,former frontman for thelamentably late SixteenHorsepower. When I sayWoven Hand is David Eugene Edwards, I’m not exaggerating—Edwards produced Mosaic, created the gorgeous sleeve art forMosaic, plays most of the instruments on Mosaic and wrote themusic and lyrics to all but two of the twelve songs on Mosaic.To call Woven Hand a pet project of David Eugene Edwardswould be an understatement. Those “in the know” probablyaren’t surprised to see Edwards taking complete control ofthis project, seeing as Sixteen Horsepower split due to “anaccumulation of differences, mostly political and spiritual.” Yousee, David Eugene Edwards is an unapologetic Christian and,presumably, his former bandmates were not of the same holymind. Also unsurprising is the copious amount of God-glorifyingfound on this release (hell, the name Woven Hand refers tothe image created by two hands folded together in prayer)— Mosaic, Woven Hand’s fifth release, is a musical valentine tothe man upstairs. Don’t let the testifyin’ Edwards does on thisrecord scare you off — the religious tug-of-war he documentsin his songs is a compelling one, even for heathens like you,dearest reader. The spirituals on Mosaic are moodier thanmy ex-girlfriend, though not nearly as crazy, and it probablygoes without saying that fans of Sixteen Horsepower will digthis disc, which sounds not unlike a mellower version of theband Edwards used to front. Granted, Woven Hand’s musicisn’t nearly as gripping or rockin’ as the music Edwards madewith his ex-bandmates, but it’s still quite good and it’s certainlybetter than anything DC Talk ever came up with. So pick upMosaic and get yourself some religion, boy — your wearysoul will thank you for it. You’re still gonna burn in hell for alleternity, but at least you’ll have some pretty melodies to playin your head as you endlessly surf the lake of fire.—Joseph Larkinantigravity: your new orleans music and culture alternative_27