Some Recent Record Thoughts...
Interpol - Our Love To Admire:
CThis band is pretty polarizing, but I have enjoyed their previous efforts. I thought Antics was a top record that year. Listened to the new thing twice and its somewhat of a snooze. Only a few (2-3) standouts even make it to the forefront, other than that it just seems like they lost their touch.
Mammatus - The Coast Explodes:
B+California prog metal acid heads. Good shit. A little long in the tooth even for my tastes, but it's still completely bad ass. When a long song can keep me tranced the whole time, i'm game - when it never gets to the pinnacle of awes ribs - I'm no so game. There are enough rad riffs here to slam your brain though. Good disc. Supposed to be epic live. Gotta see em.
White Stripes - Icky Thump:
A-God damn this disc surprised me. It will beat your ass. I dont care who you are if you dont feel the power zone of the song "
Icky Thump", then you deserve a kick in the special place. The rest of the record is phenomenal. Songs like "Bone Broke" are good examples of why you like this dude singing - just fuckin' yellin about some shit over a riff. Like, hey dude i know what your fuckin' yellin about. The sound of the record reminds me a lot of Led Zeppelin 3 & Gram Parsons. The front cover might even be a nod to the latter. Fuckin' good one yall.
Ween - Friends Ep:
AMy anticipation of this thing was through the damn roof. Ween recorded 60 songs for their new record, 5 of them appear here, 20 go on their full length, leaving 35 to float in space. Damn. Most people will probably shit on this ep. Its all over the map - which, what is new for ween - but really what initial haters dont see is how god damn well these songs fit together. Opens with the theme of the summer "
Friends" - a colab with
THE CRAZY FROG which results in none other than a fucking techno jam that will blow your skull out. Deaner chimes in with one of his blasts "Gotta Put The Hammer Down" about junkies on the run, you have a reggae stomp produced by fucking KING JAMMY, a latino heat jam which they reworked from a country tinged live gem, and it closes with a tears for fears / spandau ballet esque love song about getting blown...away. My love for this band knows no bounds.
R Kelly - Double Up:
C+Two Words - SEX PLANET.
Best song of the earth.
Rest of the album is WAY hit and miss. A victim of too many songs. If he cut this thing down to a 12 song album, it would probably be an "B" or "A" for me. Songs like "The Zoo", "Real Talk", "Leave Your Name", and the previously mentioned "Sex Planet" hit you 4 horse stong and have you laughing your ass off. L and I decided our favorite lyric of the album is from
Planet..."I'm about to twinkle and touch your soul / Once I am touring to your black hole(baby uhh)" - amazement. Songs like "Rock Star" make me wonder why he still gets paid to do this, god awful. I sometimes wonder if the majority of Kells' fans like him for his music or because his songs are such a god damned joke.
Dungen - Tio Bitar:
A-Organic jam blast to the frontal lobe. What really blows my mind about this record is the main dude recorded every instrument. You hear these songs and the ambitious nature of each of them and you wonder. How much jam can this dude fit in? A lot. This is a perfect follow up to the first full length. Similar but not the same, acid but not the shrooms. More freak outs here and more concentrated flute jams. I swear, you put this disc on and you might as well have some of those shoes with the wheels on the heel, cause you want to zoom. Get a sixer and enjoy this shit, it rips.