With Of Montreal’s mounting success, it seems frontman Kevin Barnes is just steps from signing to a major; for the time being, though, Polyvinyl’s got one more of his brilliant noise-pop opuses to call their own. Crafted during a depressing time living in Norway, Barnes tempered his dreary surroundings by writing some of the cheeriest pop of his eight-album career. Tracks like “A Sentence of Sorts in Kongsvinger” rank up there with his absolute finest (despite the sad tales involved), while “Gronlandic Edit” ekes out a space for disco within the pop master’s oeuvre. Amazing!
Deerhoof Friend Opportunity
Creating fractured pop collages topped off by calliope-voiced songbird Satomi Matsuzaki, Deerhoof gets the spazz tag too often, as if its lush and willfully weird music is just the end result of chugging too much Jolt Cola. But Friend Opportunity, the group’s more relaxed yet equally complex new record, shows the ‘Hoof is just as adept at pacing and restraint. For every stampeding song, where chugging drums build like a wick slowly reaching its end, there are subdued moments framed by blunted beats and Matsuzaki’s grandiose coo. The prickly guitars of the 11-minute-plus closer “Look Way” even unfold like a free-jazz soundscape. The departure of guitarist Chris Cohen means less inspired noodling, but Deerhoof has filled in any empty spaces with plenty of rich, moody melody. Just don’t call it their “mature” record.
Clinic Visitations
“Liverpool four-piece Clinic is a one-trick pony. But just because a decorated racehorse only goes fast and turns left doesn’t make him less of a champion. Like The Jesus and Mary Chain, Clinic stamps out roughly hewn, frothing pagan surf that’s part cryptic disassociation, part manic confrontation. Following 2004’s more glazed Winchester Cathedral, the ritualistic slur of Clinic’s fourth full-length harkens back to the band’s craggier, coltish daze. Strident urgency imbues the slide-streaked “”Family,”” the melodica-peppered “”Children of Kellogg,”” and the stroboscopic “”If I Could Read Your Mind,”” while “”Animal/Harvest”” and “”Harvest (Within You)”” provide haunted counterpoints.”
Christ. Blue Shift Emissions
Scottish electronic composer Christ. (pronounced “Krisst”; short for Christopher) experiences a resurrection, releasing a second proper Benbecula full-length four years after 2003’s Metamorphic Reproduction Miracle. Christ. was one of the early members of Boards of Canada, so the pastoral, sepia-toned synths and woozy melancholic melodies waft as expected; additionally, there is an anchoring flicker of oxidized, fireside beats. He manifests a bucolic whorl with the best of them, referencing the immersive and animatronic sensibilities of both the Warp and Morr catalogs with an insistent sawtooth undercurrent.
Various Artists Jukebox Buddha
While some cherish the FM3 Buddha Machine for its simplistic, lo-fi preset loops, the 15 ambient and drone veterans present on Jukebox Buddha put the little guy in the game, pushing it from an 8-bit chant box into a mammoth tone generator. Folks like Thomas Fehlmann and Sun City Girls push the cigarette-sized box to the limit with hazy soundscapes reminiscent of Beijing at its most serene, but it’s the surprises that make this the quintessential comp for ambient heads everywhere. Sunn O))) disregards their gritty, subsonic walls of distortion for tranquil brutality rooted in a 10-minute ode to cosmic bass. But Einstürzende Neubauten’s Blixa Bargeld steals the show with the fluttering “Little Yellow,” a startlingly pretty composition that (literally) chirps in at just over one minute. Regardless of what the plastic machine might do on its own, Jukebox Buddha is an impressive and engaging byproduct.
The Residents Tweedles
Recorded in Hunedoara, Romania, Tweedles showcases The Residents as they encroach upon their creative peak. After more than 30 years, the masked collective continues to churn out media-manipulating hijinks, taking creepy samples of church bells and street musicians and transforming them into atmospheric narratives about sexuality and obsession. Throughout the record, the experimenters revert back to their textural side, focusing more on tone and melody, (as opposed to their recent descent into full-on musical detective stories). Given the thought-provoking existential lyrics and soundscapes on Tweedles, it’s clear that The Residents are still as gripping as ever.
Laibach Volk
Like the calm after a storm, Slovenia’s Laibach returns after three years with their most mature, powerful record to date. Giving their militant industrial boots a rest, the collective takes national anthems from several countries and converts them into sonatas that summon the anxiety and chaos of today’s geopolitical climate. In typical Laibach fashion, “America” is an epic call-to-arms for the proletariat. Tracks like “”Germania”” and “”Slovenia”” invoke the subtle electronics of Múm while maintaining Laibach’s trademark anthemic, growling vocals. Volk again solidifies these controversial icons’ position in the history of revolutionary music.
Various Artists Serge: Vintage Future
After having made a bright, neon, air-brushed name for himself with the Box Jams comp, label boss Serge unloads his first DJ mix CD, a time-traversing primer in electro-disco that showcases exactly what makes Clone so vital. From the big guns like Legowelt and Lindstrøm to classics and rarities from Egyptian Lover and Mike Dunn, Serge’s seamless and skillful contextualizing of old and new dancefloor maneuvers and Vocoder-driven monster synthesizer sounds proves an ecstatic delight. Ultimately, a testament to timeless electronic music.
Rafter Music for Total Chickens
It’s hard to pin down Rafter Roberts’ new album; one moment it’s filled with static, the next with mellow strings. It’s an indie melange, with guitars, drums, sometimes-thin vocals, and other instruments twisting everywhere. Music for Total Chickens‘ schizophrenic sound is matched by its pace: 18 tracks totaling about 37 minutes. That brevity makes it hard for these tracks to dig into the lofty ambitions signaled by their titles (“hope,” “tragedy,” etc). Still, there’s a sort of fragmented optimism here that gives the album warmth.
Various Artists Elaste Vol. 1: Slow Motion Disco
Unlike Italo-disco, the slowed-down Italian style “Cosmic” was never widely exported, despite its dancefloor-friendly blend of 4/4 beats, synths, and influences like Afrobeat and industrial. Though almost jarringly lethargic, the slowed-down funk and quasi-disco (around 80 to 105 bpm) really grooves. The tempo also gives the tracks a playfulness and novelty, as does the berimbau (more commonly used in samba) on the remixed “Mystery Man,” from Clive Stevens & Brainchild. Not everything works so well, though: Love International’s “Dance on the Groove (and Do the Funk)” doesn’t stretch far enough to be interesting.
