Link: The Cure’s Official Site

All Hail the return of the melon collie!

Bestival Live 2011, a double album set, boasts thirty-two of The Cure’s classic and greatest hits including “Why Can’t I Be You,” “Lullaby,” “One Hundred Years,” “Friday I’m in Love,” “Jumping Someone Else’s Train,” “Close To Me,” “The End of the World,” “Fascination Street,” “The Walk,” “A Night Like This,” “Lovesong” and “Boys Don’t Cry,” among a laundry list of others.

Never before in their thirty plus year existence has The Cure put together a set for a live album like they have with this one. Diehard and casual fans alike will enjoy this album from beginning to end.  Notable tracks off the album include a stunning rendition of “The Catepillar,” and a blast from the past of tracks off their first ever album Three Imaginary Boys/Boys Don’t Cry  including “Grinding Halt,” “10:15 Saturday Night” and “Killing and Arab.”

All profits of the album will go to the Isle of Wright Youth Trust which is a charitable, independent and professional organization offering counseling, advice, information and support services to young people 25 years old and under. The Youth Trust has been working on the Isle for 27 years and has made a positive input to the well-being of its local people. For more information on the Trust, please visit www.iowyouthtrust.co.uk.  

Link: http://www.facebook.com/BigHarpMusic

Although Big Harp hails from the sprawling city of Los Angeles, their style descends down the Sierra Nevadas and more toward the foggy atmosphere of the Bay area. Chris Senseney has the demeanor of Mark Eitzel while their music stretches across the Plains.

But instead of tales of desperation, you get noir stories from the streets. “Nadine” weaves a tale through honky tonk pianos setting the stage. It’s the perfect aura to the ghosts of the westward expansion.

The first time I spun through “Everybody Pays,” I was not too impressed. But multiple passings, and I quickly warmed up to this song. The unique acoustic configuration breathes across an African landscape while keeping the lyrics atuned to an urban-worn tale. I cite this as an example because many of these songs warm up to you the more you listen. At first you sit with a blank stare, but then once the music sinks in, you get it and its dark vaudevillian approach to the metropolitan circus they paint.

“Steady Hand Behind The Wheel” sounds like a lost song off of Lou Reed’s Coney Island Baby, while “All Bets Are Off” is Nick Cave swooning. As Senseney raises his voice and the levels begin to heat up, you expect a fight at any time. It comes at the end of the song.

The husband/wife (Stefanie) duo has created an honest release that is straight forward and out there for all to grab on to. For a debut, it feels like Big Harp has been at it for a long time. The music is that progressed.

Big Harp: Everybody Pays from Love Drunk on Vimeo.

Link: http://www.milagresmusic.com/

Oh my God, what a beautiful release and a surprising addition to the Kill Rock Stars roster! The sophomore album opens new territory for this band. When you listen to these songs, you feel like you can stare out into the universe.

“Halfway” clearly defines where Milagres’ intentions are on this release. Glimmering keyboard tickles falsetto vocals that fly through the atmosphere of amazingly conceived songs, that is where it is at. The harmonies are exceptional and the melodies perfect. It makes you want to fall back and float along with the band.

The New Yorkers bump up the tempo for pure indie pop thematic on “Here To Stay.” But for a song like “For Disposal,” the band looks more towards Bowie or Pulp to fuel the drive for an eclectic vision of grandeur.

One thing you can be sure is that as much as the band deviates from the traditional, they maintain a balance of style and sound creation that re-occur through every song making a clear identity for themselves that becomes sought after with each passing song. The addition of a cello on “To Be Imagined” or the nighttime crooning over strings following a moonlit piano on “Moon On The Sea’s Gate” is an extra allure like a vampire hypnotizing its prey.

It’s an album you will find equally interesting as you will a band that is gripping with talent.

Milagres: Here To Stay from Johnny Woods on Vimeo.

Link: http://deadleafechonyc.com/splash.php

Verisimilitude is a collection of remixes taken from the New York band’s Truth release. The album primarily exists based on two songs: “Half-Truth” and “Act Of Truth.”

Mark Van Hoen is the rare adventurer who goes against the populace and tackles “Woolgathering,” but expect various versions of a small sampling from their album. It is because these two songs are the most accessible. As for “Woolgathering,” Van Hoen turns the song into a trip hop fantasy that slurs reality and makes it feel like someone just dropped acid in your drink.

The Fryer Remix transforms the shoegaze wonderland of “Half-Truth” into a deep coldwave dance of the dead where Elika focuses more on the ambiance of the song. Expect Spry! to do much of the same.

RxGibbs re-working of “Act of Truth” is closer to the band giving subtle pushes here and there. It’s so naturally done you will forget you are listening to a remix. DLE changes up the song to be a “What If” scenario; “What if early Depeche Mode remixed a Dead Leaf Echo song.”

Overall, these versions are nice compliments to the Truth album.

Link: http://www.artbrut.org.uk/

There is that scene in Harold And Maude where the graveside service is over and Maude is walking away. It is raining and everyone has a black umbrella, except for her. She is holding a yellow umbrella. It bears similarity to Art Brut’s latest album cover design.

Where this scene is showing symbolism to Maude’s boldness in life, Art Brut’s cover symbolizes their boldness and straightforward honesty to music and to us. It’s that little thing that makes them stand out. Maude breaks beyond the fear that most people have to fully embrace life with no reservations and no guilt. Brilliant! Tragic! goes where most bands wouldn’t dare to fully embrace the truth within music.

In the beginning, Art Brut was this sarcastic reality that stood out for their art school approach and daring attempt to tell things how they really were in a societal approach. You did not walk away feeling better about yourself, but you were made aware of its ironies.

Several albums later, the band has evolved, added more structure and stepped away from the completistic bore-rock, hypno-reactionary art punk. “Clever Clever Jazz” makes you feel like they are flogging a dead horse, while still putting their debut album on the gold pedestal for its glory.

But then you are faced with “Lost Weekend” and “Bad Comedian,” and suddenly the debut does not mean so much. These songs are good — really good. And it feels like they are songs that would even surprisingly impress the creators.

Not all songs on the album end up with this much poise. They revert back to their defining quirkiness, but with doing so, they also proudly flip off anyone in their paths. The world is not resting on a silver platter and Art Brut continue to make sure you are fully aware of it, thick British accents and all.

Link: http://www.ojet.com/site/elysianfields.html

Elysian Fields is back with an album that not only reels the duo in to their popularized noir undercurrent, but brings them back to the States after a decade of dominating the European market. But what we see with Last Night On Earth is primarily a simpler and softer modern side to the group.

Last Night On Earth is everything you would want from Elysian Fields. The seductive flirtation with her vocals, the hypnotic squandering that if she snapped her fingers, the trance would still linger. “Chance” reminds us of her Bleed Your Cedar days and an alternative scene haunted by the likes of Curve and Doves.

Just outside the shoegaze genre, Fields has always went against the grain and provided an alternative to the alternative. Last Night On Earth does no different. “Sweet Condenser” is early dawn chamber folk that floats around the heavenly pop of “Sleepover” and the meditatively sobering “Church of the Holy Family.” The only edginess to the release is the brooding “Red Ridind Hood,” featuring Oren Bloedow’s gruffy baritone voice.

The band seems to still wear the scars of their exodus from Radioactive Records, but with Last Night On Earth, the group stears into a more focused territory of softcore odes with more timeless tunes than their dated ‘90s work. It might not appeal to the purist in Elysian Fields’ sound, but it does not veer too far off track to bridge their career together in a nice paste up of elegant songs and typical sway that the band knows how to capitalize on.

Frosting
Fresh Frosting
Self-Released
Rating: 3.6 out of 5

Link: http://www.frostingusa.com/fr_home.cfm

There are few rock groups that distinctly define the essence of the night. When I listen to a band like Morphine you can feel the bravado, the fragility, and the danger of the night seep into your conscience. That brooding underbelly where you are not sure if the song will break you down or build defiance, you can feel it rattle guitar streams and procured beats. By the end of it, we hope to all be survivors.

Add Frosting to this list as Chicago’s Mark Grzelak plant that seed in “Comfortable Enough.” That translucent glow wraps around his slightly-bluesy rock that sways in slow motion.

For “Katrina Wells,” it sounds like Grzelak has spent some time with XTC’s Oranges and Lemons as he follows the path of Andy Partridge’s songwriting structure with great regard. It’s not just homage, but it shows off Grzelak’s knack for great songwriting.

Back with a Southern rock appeal, “King Dawdle”’s atrophic chorus may seem a little childish in context with the album as a whole, but a song like “Breathe Free” opens the scope of his work wide open.

One thing is certain, no matter which direction Frosting goes when it comes to style, everything is nicely thought out and enjoyable whether it is slight quirkiness or bedroom recording sincerity or straight up alterna-rock goodness. It’s all done well.

Link: http://www.ganggangdance.com/

Once upon a time, 4AD was not all about Dead Can Dance, Lush, Cocteau Twins and an escapade of dream pop and shoegaze. 4AD’s beginnings were about Dif Juz, the experimental Rema Rema and early Bauhaus; the experimental beginings of what an alternative label is all about.

With Gang Gang Dance, I feel 4AD has come full circle and has re-embraced the beauty of challenging music. Not to say 4AD in the ‘90s is a bad thing, the label fueled many classic ventures that remain a staple in my perpetual playlist. And Gang Gang Dance displays many marks in the ethereal. But it is the brazen approach to modern music where I feel 4AD shines and Eye Contact soars reluctantly into the 21st Century and beyond.

Who starts off with an almost 12 minute epic beast? “Glass Jar” is like Cerebus Shoal in the stratosphere. The song climbs and climbs as a soundscape that explodes with electro rainbows and waterfalls to dance under. Sure the song could have been cut in half, but it would not be as impacting without the meditational beginning to prepare you for what is to become.

“Adult Goth” is a dark underbelly dressed in a subtle dubstep beat and latex that would blow up any anime dreams. And when you feel like your brain has broke apart in a million pieces and re-animated into a true cyberpunk visionary, it still is not enough to comprehend the expanse this band has gone through. One song is treated like an epic quest.

You will find part of the album testing, especially after just two songs of mind-bending experiences, but that’s the beauty of it. Listen again and again, and you will understand.

If you look into “Mindkilla” and “Thru And Thru” you will see through neon nights and trace through avenues of plastic sheen like Philip K. Dick writing erotica. I only regret that this band was not around to create the soundtrack to Blade Runner. There is still time.

I would hope that someone in 2075 will look back at this artifact and realize what a monster this was in 2011.

Link: http://secondmotionrecords.com/artists/steve-kilbey-martin-kennedy.html

Steve Kilbey’s solo career is just as prominent and almost as long lasting as his involvement in The Church. And with the second phase of the 30th Anniversary Church re-issues in the works from Second Motion, White Magic is perfect timing.

With the heavier and denser structure of The Church’s Untitled #23, White Magic lets Kilbey focus and expand on his airy, natural views on the transcendental experience. It reminds me of why I love Priest=Aura and songs like “Destination” from Starfish so much.

Teaming up again with Martin Kennedy, the two enlisted members from Kennedy’s Aussie band All India Radio to help expand the moody contexture of Kilbey’s mysterious mind and Kennedy’s chakra-like floating pop.

The beauty of White Magic is the expanse of Kilbey’s talent wrapped up into the three-minute pop song. Even with the shorter time constriction, we still feel that journeyman in him, as well as the moment of suspended animation in us. We lose ourselves in the beauty of the delicacy in the music and the sheer joy that Kilbey can still feel as vital and fresh as the day we discovered the clouds.

“Intense” proves you don’t have to turn it up to have the song’s essence weigh down on you. “Unfocused” is the pure art of floating as the song is the perfect feeling of slow drifting. Not much gets beyond the tempo structure of a drawl. With guitar reverb like on “Sumer,” it’s a perfect accentuation.

Without plucking the nectar from every song on this album and divulging the elements that transform within every blooming experience, it’s best left to be experienced yourself. What I can say is that White Magic may just be one of the most beautiful albums to experience.

Let’s Wrestle
Nursing Home
Merge
Rating: 3.1 out of 5

Second records are notoriously difficult to nail, especially for bands whose debut effortlessly charms a relatively large audience. Many young bands are not content to become artistically stale, making the same record over and over again. So they consciously veer into more mature territory, darkening their sound and alienating fans in the process. If they’re lucky, and if the talent is there, their career will continue to develop. They’ll convert many of their original fans and eventually will win new ones. Other bands will not survive this maturity process — they’ll collapse under the weight of unfulfilled expectations.

English pub rock trio Let’s Wrestle charmed their way into our collective consciousness back in 2009, with their peppy debut, In the Court of the Wrestling Let’s. Nearly a year later, Merge signed them in the US, reissued their debut CD, and sent them into the studio with renowned producer Steve Albini to record the follow up, Nursing Home.

The resulting record, while decent enough on its own merits, will probably disappoint fans who were expecting more of the quirky, funny band on display on In the Court of the Wrestling Let’s. Albini adds a light but noticable layer of scuzz to the music, effectively darkening the mood to fit lyrics that have become more sarcastic than humorous.

The songs themselves are reasonably strong, but are missing a lot of the hooks found on the debut. Repeated listens warmed me up to the album’s charms (“In Dreams Part II,” “In the Suburbs,” “I Forgot”), but the appeal wasn’t as instantaneous as it was the first time around. Furthermore, a handful of slower cuts (“For My Mother,” “I Am Useful,” “Getting Rest”) effectively stalls the momentum created by the upbeat numbers that precede them. The album sort of sputters along to a premature conclusion, and winds up feeling a bit unfinished.

Let’s Wrestle minted a great deal of goodwill with In The Court of the Wrestling Let’s. And signing to Merge — an indie label with both impeccable taste and the money and patience to develop its talent — tells me they’ll be in the game for a while. In the future, I may listen to Nursing Home less frequently than I do In the Court of the Wrestling Let’s, but it certainly won’t stifle my anticipation for Let’s Wrestle’s third album.