NOEXTEHO

As the subtitle states, this compilation is about the "The Rise of the Independent Music Industry After Punk." Pretty much every song is great, and if you're like me and haven't already heard all the bands on here, this will provide a great jumping off point for more exploration. Oh, and in case the "Independent Music Industry" bit is scaring you into thinking you're getting a disc of Blind Mellon and Violent Femmes, you can sleep safe... it's mostly 1970s/early 1980s British post-punk or post-post-punk, not cheesy American early 1990s "Indie." Thank god.
(By the way, you can rarely go wrong with a release on the Soul Jazz label. They're usually (always?) compilations, sure, but they're great compilations! Unless, of course, you already have all the stuff they're compiling.)

Because it was just sitting there, already open (I swear!), I decided to see what the new Nine Inch Nails album sounds like. I was surprised with it, as was this cute girl who may or may not have agreed just because she was flirting with me (I can't tell). It's not Downward Spiral, but it did not embarrass me the way some NIN albums have, and it held my attention all the way to the end. I'll have to listen to it some more to decide whether or not I actually like it, but on first listen, I'm pleased, and I may have to learn some new NIN songs to help me relive junior high. (By the way, the new Avril Lavigne does not get my recommendation, even though my friend wrote an stunning argument for her being the epitome of punk, where irony and non-irony meld into a higher plane of existence.)

(This might be disgustingly lazy, but whatever.....)
See my previous post about Pop Levi, except imagine that there are more songs and that they're all still totally awesome.

INSTANTANEOUS UPDATE:
Oh wait. I actually did not say much of anything about the music last time. Well, I don't get it. I can't explain it. Not because its so weird and freaky. Nah. It's just pop songs, but they sound awesome, like they could have been made back in 1968 or '71 or something. The singing sounds a little like T.Rex, in a way, but less annoying, I think. And the music is just awesome. Even when its not super upbeat, its still happy (but not too much) and funky. Thats the main thing: funkiness. Not 'funk' but 'funky' (...and I mean that in its positive connotation, not its original negative connotation. For the negative connotation, see: "Damn! You're breath is funky!")

I remember having heard of Matt Shadetek before, although I thought (misread?) that it was Shadtek (with no 'E'). Anyway, I had no clue what it was about. Well, good thing I'm curious. This CD is some awesome hiphop stuff. Lots of MCs, lots of electro hip hop beats. Some MCs sound British, others American, and others Jamaican. Its a real nice mixture, and an awesome CD all the way from start to finish. You could honestly start on any song on the album and think "whoah. sweet." Well, assuming you like awesome electro hip hop, that is.

Thank god I listened to this merely on the basis of "oh, look. a new Kill Rock Stars release" instead of reading reviews first. The reviews of this album keep mentioning that Marnie is a totally awesome guitar player who can shred as well as Steve Vai. Uggg. What could possibly turn me off more than that? Reviews like that do not describe this album accurately at all. OK, so there is guitar on this album. But the sound of the guitar (and whatever else makes music on this album) is so crazy and perfectly dischordant that its semi-reminiscent of Lightning Bolt, musically at least. Combine that with the almost-but-not-quite-pop song structures, and combine that with her singing/shouting somewhere between Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Kathleen Hanna of Bikini Kill. Now thats more like it. So, I'd say that is is definitely like Lightning Bolt + Yeah Yeah Yeahs + Bikini Kill + Kill Rock Stars (if I had to say it in one sentence).

When I first saw the title, I thought to myself "oh great... more '8 bit' electronic music crap" but then I listened to the album. They're covering Kraftwerk songs! And they're doing it (arguably) better than Kraftwerk! Awesome! If you are like me and have ever been a little disappointed by the blandness of some of Kraftwerks bigger hits, this is just what you need. If only this was what the original songs sounded like....
[By the way, I just learned that early early Kraftwerk albums are amazingly rocking and awesome! Their first album, Kraftwerk 1 (or just Kraftwerk) sounds like a lost Can or NEU! album. All krautrock psych droningness.... ah! And it makes some sense, since one of the NEU! guys was in Kraftwerk at this stage in their career. But check it out. Its so completely different than "We Are The Robots" and "Autobahn" style Kraftwerk.]

The first TTC album was a pretty awesome mixture of rap and cool/weird electronics. This one takes the same elements, but fuses them together much much tighter. The electronics have now become solidly funky beats to back the rhymes. If anyone speaks French, you'll have to let me know if the verses are as awesome as the beats. They sure sound pretty sweet, but who knows what it means.... it could all be able shooting dice and selling crack. I doubt it, though, because the beats are way too good for that.

I really didn't want to post about a Pitchfork favorite, but, the truth is that it is really good. I keep finding myself listening to it more and more lately. And it truly is a very unique sounding album. Often, you can pick out the influences, and yet what is being produced sounds nothing like the influences at all. I think the two most dominant influences are post-punk and Swedish indie-pop. And what is made sounds like both and neither at the same time. Damn. Please forgive me, but I have to say (for the first time ever) that this album is "a breath of fresh air" in the indie world. Due to legal issues, the only thing further that I'm allowed to say is: I really like this album.

Another CD I was disinterested in at first. I assumed this was bad techno, like a Paul Oakenfold or something. But no! Its simply a compilation of awesome awesome jazzy soul and soulful jazz that I've never heard of before! I'm not a huge soul-head (read: I don't go out collecting obscure bits of expensive vinyl) but I'm glad Giles Peterson is, so he can feed me primers like this. The funky country-soul cover of "Higher Ground" alone is worth getting this CD. (On the subject of obscure soul, though, also check out the Eccentric Soul series on Numero.)

I remember reading about this at some point and not thinking it was worth investigating. Then, I saw a music video for the title track somewhere. Wow. Its poppy, and fairly polished, but its still good. And the video! Wow. Its weird and retro and futuristic at the same time. And sexy. And all those phrases can describe the music as well. And it works. I could see this stuff going on the radio, even. But it'd definitely be one of those songs where you think to yourself "Whoah... sometimes pop music is good!" And damn funky, too. Maybe groovy would be a better word, actually.