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Catching Up and Record Shopping Haul Report

Yes, this blog has lain dormant far too long and, again, the usual culprits of real life are to blame. Some days there isn't enough time to go around and, quite honestly, this blog is the first to get set on the back burner when push comes to shove. Anyway, I do have another project in the works that I hope to bring to the light of day very soon, so please stay tuned for that.

In the meantime, I just got back from a well-deserved break with family in Michigan. In addition to the relaxing and general hanging around, I was able to squeeze in a little bit of record shopping in a couple of my favorite stores in Ann Arbor (namely, Wazoo and Underground Sounds). Here's what I bought and some early thoughts. The drive home from Detroit this afternoon gave me plenty of time to dive into the pile.

Pere Ubu - The Modern Dance (DGC)
This has long been on my "to purchase" list, but I'm glad I was able to finally come across a reasonably priced copy that allowed me to pull the trigger. I knew I'd heard "Non-Alignment Pact" before, as well as several others I couldn't have recalled by name, but I was a little astonished how familiar the whole thing felt. These guys are an obvious touchstone for a lot of bands mining the post-punk vein over the past thirty plus years and it is easy to see why, these guys crammed a lot of ideas into this release. I'm ready to dig further into their catalog.

The Feelies - Crazy Rhythms (Bar None)
Full disclosure, I (ahem) downloaded a copy of this a few years ago when I was broke and having trouble locating the reissue so I'm not entirely new to this, but I am thrilled to finally have a copy of my own. This reissue sounds great, so much better than whatever had sourced my original download, and it really is one of those timeless albums. After such a crisp, clear listen, I'm starting to wonder why this one doesn't pop up on any lists of great guitar albums, because Bill Million and Glenn Mercer absolutely kill it all over this record.

Boris - Attention Please (Sargent House)
One of the two new albums Boris released in May, this was hotly tipped to be the more experimental of the two, finding the trio pushing their sound in a few unexpected directions. After an initial listen I can confirm that this is very much true and while quite a few purists are decrying the band for swinging to (gasp!) dance-pop and away from their trademarked low-end sludge and crawl, I'm so far finding this much more interesting than the awkwardly titled Heavy Rocks (not to be confused with the 2002 Boris album with a completely different tracklist), which seems to be more of the same old same old. I'm actually glad to have both approaches, because while you can't ever tire of Boris up to their usual tricks, it is great to hear them have a little fun too.

Art Brut - Brilliant! Tragic! (Cooking Vinyl/The End)
If you think too deeply about it, its kind of crazy to think that we are actually seeing a fourth album from Eddie Argos and company, considering how narrow their whole shtick was back when the debut came out. Don't get me wrong, it was a great schtick. Not only was Bang Bang Rock N Roll a fantastic album, they were an absolute blast live. It's a Bit Complicated, album number two, despite a few bright spots, only fed into the fears of a short lifespan for the band, finding them blandly rehashing some ideas from the first and unwisely attempting to mature in weird new directions. Album number three, however, was a definite contender for that whole "return to form" thing we always here so much about, a fun, funny and often affecting disc. So how does number four stack up? After two listens, I'm afraid it seems to fall closer to It's a Bit Complicated than either of the other two pillars of their catalog. There are certainly some charming winners here ("Bad Comedian", "Martin Kemp Welch Five-A-Side Football Rules", "Axl Rose"), but the attempts at stretching out can sometimes fall flat. I love the concept behind "Sexy Sometimes", a singer with a not-so-great voice expresses his desire to soundtrack a sexy cocktail party and woo the woman of his dreams, but it lacks the spark of the better moments. But two of the longer tracks actually wind up pretty well. "Is Dog Eared" is a great ode to being misunderstood and finding love in (and with) fiction, while "Ice Hockey" is a sweet little tune about saying goodbye. Maybe this will grow on me though, because the more I think about the individual tracks, the more I want to hear them all over again. A good sign.

Friendly Fires - Pala (XL Recordings)
This was one of the real surprises of the bunch so far. I picked this up on a whim, mostly because I still love the Aeroplane remix of "Paris" off their debut. I was really surprised by how much I loved the whole thing. I've always found bands that mine this dance-pop formula to be wildly hit or miss, but these guys know what they are doing. There are some obvious touchstones sprinkled throughout - I hear more than a little disco, Daft Punk, and New Order sprinkled liberally throughout, but never enough to distract or make it feel at all like a game of spot the influences. I need to spend more time with this, but sitting here a few hours later, I can name, off the top of my head, about five tracks I would wholeheartedly recommend - "Blue Cassette", "Hawaiian Air", "Pull Me Back To Earth", "Hurting" and the title track. A pleasant surprise.

Faust - Faust IV (EMI)
Another one that was, surprisingly, completely new to me. I've long been a fan of krautrock and krautrock-indebted bands, stretching all the way from Can and Neu! to Secret Machines and Wooden Shjips, but Faust has been one of those founders of the genre (literally in one way, the lead track on this thing named the genre) that I never spent time with. Its hard to grasp everything that is going on here with one listen, but I'm really kicking myself for not diving in sooner. The opener mentioned above is mesmerizing from the start, a series of drones and feedback hypnotizing for seven full minutes before (no hyperbole, one of the greatest moments of recorded music I've ever heard here...) the drums kick in and set the controls for the heart of the groove. Yes Virginia, this is EXACTLY the kind of thing that genres can and should be named for. The rest ain't too shabby either, finding the band playing with pop, noise, and groove in near equal parts.