NOEXTEHO

so, most of the album lacks drums. and its awesome. there's rhythm to the album, just not a rhythm section... its sort of like if philip glass made an indy album, sort of? and if he used words, and had a sense of humor? yeah, sort of? oh, and by the time the first (and only?) song with drums comes in, oh man, the energy is so very amazing. i know this album is a few years old, but if you haven't heard it, you have to get it right now. and dont just get a few songs, then decide that you dont like it. get all of it, and listen to it all the way through at least once. then decide what you want to about it.

[on a related note, I heard the new Sparks album Hello Young Lovers and it's got some good points, but it's really not as good as this one.]

perhaps you've heard that girltalk song where he mixes together ALL of the jockjams songs into one impossibly pumped-up song. or perhaps you've heard the one where he mixes the meow mix jingle with 'every rose has a thorn'.... those are mostly awesome due to their funny, but this one is awesome for being essentially the awesomest mash-up i've heard. so many songs.... so many cuts and transistions... sure, some of it is funny, but that's not the point. the point is that its a crazy mind fuck of a mix. its got rap references directly contrasted with the material their referencing. its got Biggy rappin on top of elton john. oh, and its got the mashup standard of using MIA at least once. but don't hold that against mr. girltalk, because it really is a dense, booty-shakin, amusing, and yet somehow totally cool mix.
[update: i wrote this while listening to the cd for the first time. by the end, i was a little sick of it. but thats probably just because its really insane the whole way through. i still have fond memories of it, though.]

for some reason, i wanted to not like this cd. probably because of the name, it made me think of something i would hate. but within the first few seconds of the album, upon hearing the dirty distorted (yet impeccably tight) rhythms, i started to think "hmmm, ok, i'm digging the music. but how are the vocals? they can't be good too, can they?" well, they were. they've got an awesome flow to them.... and theyre set in the mix just right, like theyre a background instrument instead of a solo focus. and theyre chopped up quite awesomely too, at times. so good. and the music! oh the music! awesome electro. dirty electro. plus, if you actually listen to the words, theyre just as dirty as the electro. wonderful. and cool. like miles davis. a very dirty miles davis. if he didnt play jazz but electro-hiphop instead. yeaaaaaah.

this is probably the poppiest boris album, but thats not to call this pop. its just that it has the highest concentration of songs with lyrics out of all the boris releases. but thats totally ok, since their brand of powerful rock is just so hard, energetic, and supremely cool. like if guitar wolf were to do fast stoner metal instead of garage rock. (oh, and in case i haven't done so yet, i want to recommend every boris album ever right now, because i haven't met one that disappoints.) i would say that so far, this is the best Boris album to listen to if you haven't heard them before. and if you have heard them before and you haven't heard this yet, well, you're insane.

have i recommended Om yet? well, i am now. this, their latest album, is awesome. unlike their first where the songs (all 3) all sort of sounded the same, but really really awesome anyways and the repetition was sort of the point, this one has more changes going on in the music (all 2 songs), and even has some acoustic guitar, i think. its got sort of the same mood as the first record, which is sort of the same mood as psych-rock but arrived at through a completely different method. in a single sentence: it's heavy-as-fuck guitars repetitiously going awesome, while monotone lyrics rhythmically pump on to make 15 minute long songs of, um, i don't know what theyre about, but theyre awesome....

this one is one of those things that have only just caught my eye recently. i wouldnt recommend it as highly as something like Om or Spank Rock, but its still pretty cool. to describe it simply, its some electro-pop type stuff with a girl singing. to expand, this album is less experimentally influenced than the previous Psapp album (entitled "tiger, my friend" or something like that). but in a way, thats good, since the songs are sort of softer and gentler, and therefore wouldnt be as well suited to crazier electronics. several times, i found myself bveing reminded of bossa nova, and yet i don't think there were any bossa nova trademarks going on. but it was nice, and definately has the same sort of feeling as an astrud gilberto song, i think.

mmmmmm. black sabbath-y guitar and rocking, without ozzy singing! yes! sure, there's a singer, but the singing is further back in the mix, and no where near as much of a focus as it was with black sabbath. the focus here is just awesome rockin' out. also, this album is the only album that all 6 of us (my departmental coworkers and i) have ever aggreed on. and we dont just agree on it, we all think its pretty awesome. so, a modern update of black sabbath as the key to world peace? maybe. just maybe.

I JUST got done listening to this. This is by far the speediest review turnaround I've ever done here. But this is that awesome. I think i might have mentioned Soul Position before, and their other stuff is indeed good, but oh man... this one is even better! My only complaint about this album is that one of the songs uses the same sample as one of the songs from Dan The Automator (and friends)'s Lovage - Music To Make Love To Your Old Lady By, and Automator used it better.... but that's really my only complaint. This album has awesome and always-interesting production, worthwhile lyrics with a good sense of humor and intelligence, and, perhaps most importantly, the best song about cellphones ever (which just so happens to have one of the best choruses ever). Oh, and the album opener is basically the definative essay about the stupidity of popular hiphop (a.k.a. 'pop-hop' a.k.a. 'radio hits' a.k.a. 'utter crap'). so, if you can even find this CD anywhere (it comes out april 4th), you need to hear it. and you will enjoy it. i think. maybe. if you're awesome.

sure, its all in the same 60s/70s female garage rock style of which there are many awesome compilations available, but theres something nice about being able to get an entire album by one band, instead of just having to deal with compilations of singles or 7"s. and, theyre very very awesome, too. i dont exactly understand Thee Headcoatees' relationship to Billy Childish (and his bands Thee Milkshakes and Thee Mighty Caesars and Thee Headcoats, etc, etc, all of which are awesome) but i think he just makes all these bands, and theyre all garage rock-y. which of these Billy Childish projects came first? who cares. if given the choice, i prefer girls singing. you know that. oh! and they're english, so theres the slight hints of their english accents working their way through, oh so awesomely. oh, and the singer of Thee Headcoatees (Holly Golightly) has awesome solo material too... its more early rock'n'roll (bo diddly, chuck berry, buddy holly) than it is girl-group garage-rock... totally worth checking out.

[note: this entry proves that i need to come up with better descriptions than just 'awesome'.... sorry about that.]

Moondog wasn't quite the 'outsider' to music that many make him out to be. He did, in fact, study music before moving to NYC and performing with homemade instruments on the corner of 54th Street and Sixth Ave dressed in homemade robes with a Viking helmet and spear. As bizarre as his costume was, his compositions were delicate minimalist masterpieces, which folks like Philip Glass and Steve Reich credit as being the first of their kind. But above all else, his music is just soooooooo awesome and soooooo beautiful.

[NOTE: this blurb works equally as well for the Moondog release Moondog/Moondog 2, and i can't figure out whether that or Viking... is better. so, they're both good.]