Category Archives: Review

Review: Scott Walker – “Bisch Bosch”

“Nothing clears a room like removing a brain…”- Corps De Blah

In my years of working music retail I can 100% ascertain that nothing clears a store like a Scott Walker album and that is a compliment of the highest order. Difficult listening? I’ve spent the past month trying to digest Scott Walker’s new album, Bisch Bosch, and a month is not enough. It is difficult listening but there are rewards to be reaped. At times, it’s lush, sparse, swinging and some songs resemble Morphine. It’s varied and doesn’t rely solely on standard instruments in the production. Machetes, whoopie cushions and something that sounds like dogs barking are utilized. Sounds creep in and out, synths stab and drop out like the evening being disrupted by a sole scream and overall left me with a feeling of nervousness. There are many moments where Bisch Bosch eerily sulks around and leaps out of the shadows to startle listeners.

Lyrically, imagine seeing a Broadway production starring legitimate scoundrels (Nicolae Ceau?escu- Romanian Communist politician who was executed on Christmas Day- subject of “The Day The Conducator Died (An Xmas Song)), freaks (Zercon- the jester for Attilla The Hun) and knaves. The lead is an unassuming man who revels in being surrounded by the dredge of society who has assembled a historical Legion of Doom to ruin your day.

Bisch Bosch is easily the most harrowing and bizarre musical journey of the year. Fittingly, a near Christmas release for possibly the years most fucked up album for the most fucked up season. Buy for Mitt Romney supporters, anyone who received special gifts from President Obama, your cousin who wants the new Swans/ GSYBE records or anyone heavy into acid. While you’re at it, watch 30th Century Man to try and understand the most out there Ohioan expat.

Bisch Bosch is out now on 4AD Records.

Thursday @ Woodlands: Souljazz Orchestra

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Columbus gets a rare treat as Toronto’s Souljazz Orchestra comes to Woodlands Tavern on Thursday night. After multiple Canadian and World tours, the 10-year old band is wrapping up its second American tour, in support of their recently released fourth full-length album Solidarity. This, their second album on Strut Records, sees the band continuing to expand its Afrobeat sound, a path begun on 2010’s Rising Sun. While that album was a more subdued, spiritual affair, however, the new record feels like a marriage of their increased musical base with the intensity of their earlier albums.

Featuring a wide range of collaborators from the diverse Toronto music scene, Solidarity brings forth a fiery mixture of Afrobeat, jazz, soul, tropical, and reggae stylings. Opener “Bibinay” sets a strong Afrobeat base for the proceedings, but the album then takes a hard left turn on “Kelen Ati Leen,” which is one of many Afro-latin hybrid smokers on the album. The horn-laden breakbeat funk of “Conquering Lion” is a highlight here, as well as the sultry singalong “Kingpin.” The tempo only really slows down for album finale “Nijaay,” leaving behind a trail of sweat and a destroyed dance floor. The horn and rhythm sections do plenty of work here, but the “vintage keyboards” of Pierre Chrétien are also a cornerstone of the band’s sound, driving songs like the Latin burner “Ya Basta.”

Opening Thursday’s show is Brooklyn Afrobeat band Zongo Junction (click the link for a download of their new single). The band draws on inspiration from Fela, but also acts like the Talking Heads and Sun Ra. Their debut Thieves was released in 2010, and a new album is planned for 2013.

Doors for this internationally funky double bill are at 9pm, and the cover is $10.

Listen to/download Souljazz Orchestra’s “Cartao Postal” below and stay tuned after the jump for more videos of both groups.

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Live Review: Action Bronson In Columbus, Ohio 10/12/12

Action Bronson played Skully’s in Columbus, Ohio last Friday.  If I was in NYC today I would most certainly peep him out at Complex Magazine’s  “Judgment Night” CMJ Showcase tonight.

Ok. let me give my little recap:  Earlier that day I went to a wedding also worked and it was my mom’s bday. So I got to the venue around midnight wanting to actually to enjoy myself for change. When I was standing out front Action Bronson and the promoter Schoolboy walked by. Bronson had his hood up and was wearing all black. He looked like a pro-boxer or someshit.

After getting in the venue, I hit up the bar. After I got my drink,  I saw Bronson already on stage pouring out Goose or Ciroc. Whatever the case;  he was breaking the crowd off with some decent Vodka. It was not well rubbing alcohol bullshit.   You can see him pouring up top. My picture is blurry. I am not a good photographer and Action Bronson is quick bastard so for someone like me to try to keep hold is NOT happening.

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Some observations re: the LC Pavilion’s “festival setting” for Mumford & Sons

People LOVE Mumford & Sons. A lot. The band played the Wexner Center’s Black Box on the Mershon stage a couple years ago, then sold out the roughly 5,000 tickets for the outdoor version of the LC Pavilion. So Scott Steinecker, head of LC’s parent company PromoWest, decided to turn the Aug. 14 show into a “festival setting,” which meant renting a stage and turning the LC’s parking lot into a venue that could hold roughly 10,000 people. And the Brits packed that lot, too, selling out double the LC’s regular capacity.

This was the scene: A fence around the perimeter, beer stations everywhere, Late Nite Slice, a burrito bus, plus a large screen next to the main stage and another in the middle of the lot about halfway back. Here’s a view during Dawes’s opening set from roughly halfway back on the left side:
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Review: Some Musings About the 2012 Pitchfork Music Festival

Danny Brown (pictured above) asked the crowd Saturday if Pitchfork was the first thing they check when they get on a computer. I mean, I don’t give a fuck who you are, or what you are into; It prolly goes Facebook, Twitter, Vice.com, and P4k.  That rhetorical question had a point.  So with that said, the reason this review is mad late is because I didn’t think I had much news compared to their own coverage.  Lady Gaga did watch Kendrick Lamar. If you care you already know that. I figure at this point you can read this after you have run out of things to look at on the internet. I do have a yelp about the Megabus, a liking of Liturgy  and a suggestion on how to fix all rap performances.

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Show Review: Milk Music – Ace of Cups 7-25-12 Columbus, Ohio



Milk Music’s
set at Ace of Cups Wednesday had the Olympia, Washington band, who has made public their love of SST Records, going further away from Black Flag and continued their journey down the Dinosaur Jr. path. They played songs from “Beyond Living” and also some new stuff. The aggressive attack of “Violence Now” is certainly a thing of the past.

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Review: Puscifer at The LC

The last time Maynard James Keenan and Puscifer came through town we were treated to a near Lynchian hoedown. On this particular occasion we were met by pilots and flight attendants flying the friendly skies of Vagina Air. Yes, Vagina Air.

Two large screens flanked the stage while two smaller picture frame-esque monitors stood side by directly in the middle of the stage. That was also where Maynard and the female counterpart of Puscier, British chanteuse and opener Carina Round would stand behind and gyrate being projected through a fisheye lens. Continue reading

Wednesday at Ace of Cups: Bobby Conn/Sonny Vincent

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MP3: Macaroni

Wednesday night brings a smorgasbord of rock ‘n roll sounds to Ace of Cups.  Among them is Chicago’s Bobby Conn, whose latest album Macaroni was released on May 1st.  Macaroni sees Conn and his band, the Burglars, covering a bevy of relevant topics over a backdrop of mutant pop-rock flavored by various stylistic influences.  “Govt” parodies the political viewpoints of the masses hypnotized by TV while becoming a low-key funk jam.  “The Truth” utilizes “a beat stolen from Fela” to address society’s fears of the realities of life, and “Can’t Stop Th’ War” describes the feeling of carrying on while war continues around the world while conjuring up both Jon Spencer and Slayer.  The broad palette used here helps the messages come across in different ways, and usually effectively.  While this collage has the potential to become incoherent, one aspect that connects the material is the searing violin of Conn’s wife Monica Boubou, which certainly gives a unique spin to the results.

On this tour, Conn and the Burglars play second fiddle (sorry) to Sonny Vincent and the Bad Reactions.  To quote the press release, “Sonny Vincent has been contributing stellar Rock ‘n’ Roll for over 30 years now with the legendary TESTORS as well as his solo work.  Sonny is making his first trip back to the states to tour since 2003, and features members of Ex Humans, Carbonas, and Sorrows.” Opening is Starring, who look pretty darn interesting themselves.

After the jump, peep the new Starring video as well as material from the other bands. Continue reading

Fool’s Gold – “Leave No Trace”

MP3: Street Clothes

Los Angeles’ Fool’s Gold recently released Leave No Trace, the follow-up to their 2009 self-titled debut album. Their lineup (which still includes Columbus ex-pat and multi-instrumentalist Brad Caulkins) and sound have changed a bit since the first album and previous tours, and the new album reveals a band that is focused on what it wants to be.

Leave No Trace features 10 new songs that delve into a wide range of styles and textures. While their collection of international influences are still easy to hear, the new material also touches on 1980s British pop (the opening of the title track is a near dead-ringer for a Smiths song) and dance music. Another stylistic shift is that lead singer Luke Top sings in English for the majority of the album, as opposed to the debut album that was sung in Hebrew. The result of these changes is that the songs have a more grounded, personal sound, which also plays out in Top’s lyrics. Songs like “The Dive” and “Narrow Sun” mix Top’s yearning spirit with catchy hooks, while the synth-laden “Street Clothes” seeks to inspire while evolving into a dirty jam led by Caulkins’ saxophone. The now five-man outfit has created a batch of songs here that convey passionate personal emotions while remaining primarily joyous and buoyant, led by Top’s soaring vocals.

Fool’s Gold is currently on the road in support of Leave No Trace, and the tour includes a stop Monday night at Skullys. Opening are locals Maza Blaska and You’re So Bossy. Admission is $10 at the door.

Video for “Wild Window” after the jump. Continue reading

Blank City Review By A Fan of Odd Future & Lil B Who Used to Write on Other Peoples Things

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Blank City

(Céline Danhier, 2010)

Unmade Beds / Permanent Vacation
// Double Feature
Fri, June 10–Sat, June 11, 2011  |  7:00PM
Wexner Center Film/Video Theater

Celine Danhier directed Blank City, which is a documentary about the No Wave Film movement that eventually ran into Hip Hop & graffiti’s move from the Bronx, and in general the art world.

I typed her name first so I would at least do 1 thing right in this review. I would tell you to google the other reviews, and they would tell you that Blank City gathers stories from people like Akron’s Jim Jarmusch, John Waters, Thurston Moore and Debbie Harry about the early 80’s community of thin, broke people with an excellent sense of style doing whatever it takes to utilize new developments that allowed movies to be made by just anyone, and be shown by just anyone in New York City.

You know kids writing their names big on trains? Well, frail pasty white folk were using film to write their images on anything.

So if you read this blog cause you like rap shit. Then you should watch this movie because eventually it ties in the scene from Wild Style where Lee was boffing that gallery lady to why you be looking at that junkie looking girl at the end of the bar.

Fab Five Freddy, Daze, and Charlie Ahearn are in the building.

Think about Lil B…. how everyone is mad that he can’t rap. But he also has really weird You-Tube videos and is thriving.

Somewhere in the movie, someone says the No Wave Movement rejected everything pre-1976. Think about Tyler, the Creator saying he hates people that only talk about 1994 rap. Continue reading