July 2002
POLMO POLPO
The Science of Breath
(Substractif/Alien8, www.substractif.com,
www.audisensa.com)
Polmo Polpo (a.k.a. Toronto/Montreal’s Sandro Perri) really puts the "deep" in deep house with The Science of Breath, his long-awaited full-length that combines four tracks previously released on limited-edition 12-inches with four brand-new ones. In 2003, a merman you may be, as you sprawl out with this on the stereo you may believe your couch is the ocean floor. The octopus, that intelligent denizen of the depths that adorns the sleeve, is your guide through this wondrous undersea world, where bass rumbles up from the Marianas Trench and lap steel humpback calls welcome you to drowned cities. At the bottom of this limitless ocean of reverb, you will begin to feel quite at home. After all, this is where life got it start. JD
File next to: Cephalod-centric nature-show soundtracks.
THE ONAKABAZIEN TREATMENT
s/t (independent, ochild@sympatico.ca)
NAUGHTY BY NATURE
iicons (TVT/Universal)
Face it: since the mostly awesome summer of 2000, hip-hop has sucked. The Onakabazien Treatment saves us all – beats ranging from back-to-the-wall thinkers to neck snappin’ rockers, all set to the best rhymes of the past 15 years ("Night the Earth Cried," "Strictly Business"). It works, and you know why? Because production is numero uno for rap music, and these days, nobody seems to acknowledge that. The O is shaming his idols, and that makes more sense than sitting around waiting to hear something good from them. iicons, on the other hand, is insane. Naughty By Nature bring to the table an album full of attempts to recapture an "OPP" or "Hip Hop Hooray", and don’t go down in flames – they actually manage to create a poststructuralist satirical hip-hop record, without even meaning to. The beats are overproduced even by 15th century Florentine standards, and lyrics like "Bring the rah-rah/ Come with the rah-rah/ Shake your rah-rah/ Break your rah-rah/ The roddy rah-rah/ We the rah-rah/ He the rah-rah/ She the rah-rah" (?!) speak volumes about a deluded subculture. Fucking genius. BP
File nex to: Andy Warhol’s BAD, Andy Warhol’s Frankenstein
BARMITZVAH BROTHERS
Night of the Party (independent)
I’ll put this down first: they’re young (16 on average). Get the fuck over being 25, kid! Shee-it, you’d think we all die at 35 like in Logan’s Run. The part that’s difficult to get over is how good this record actually is – it’s smart, too smart; it’s catchy, too catchy; and it’s unprecedentedly original, too... you get the picture. What makes it work is the obviousness. Walking bass, casios and harpsichords, household items – everything you thought (and Stereolab thought) was stupid? Turns out it was brilliant. No irony about music here, just unmasking the ironies of "The future is now." Tim Gane and Jim O’Rourke – hang your heads in shame. BP
File next to: You know when you hear a record that "isn’t like anything else" but you listen to it and it is like something else? This is not that record.
NINA NASTASIA
The Blackened Air (Touch and Go)
Some people (yours truly included) are fascinated by the Southern Gothic. Whether it’s the rich stories of Flannery O’Connor or the darkness of Johnny Cash murder ballads, tales of evil deeds, dread and gloom have always found a willing audience. So it goes with this darkly beautiful second album by New Yorker Nina Nastasia. While not so much about death, there is a certain darkness to this that’s not out of place in comparison to these others. Skillfully recorded by none other than engineering mastermind Steve Albini, this album is akin to turn-of-the-century funerary photographs or the characters that inhabit Shelby Lee Adams portraits. Rural characters doing a dirgy waltz in a dusty farmhouse. Even in the darkness there is beauty though, and this album plays on both of these elements to great effect. Nastasia’s lazy but strong and graceful voice adds a rustic patina to these simple yet poignant songs. The mix of cello, violin, accordion and bowed saw (!) add beautifully to this dark yet intriguing work. Highly recommended. SV
File next to: Freakwater, Retsin, darker Gillian Welch, The Black Heart Procession meets Joni Mitchell.
WIRE
Read & Burn
(Pink Flag, www.pinkflag.com)
In 2000, Wire decided to reform once more in the four-person, four-letter, version of the band. (1991-3 saw the band named Wir due to the fact they were minus drummer Robert "Gotobed" Grey.) They also decided to do something they almost never do, and played their oldest songs. In typical fashion, they played brutal, pounding updates of the material, leaving audiences floored. (This is well-documented through the first few releases on the band’s own Pink Flag imprint – visit www.pinkflag.com and search out It’s All In The Brochure and The Third Day.) What next, you ask? Well, 2002 finds the first proper studio release of new songs from the band, and it is a stunning return to their noisy ‘77 beginnings. Read & Burn is both the angriest and most condensed Wire have sounded since their debut album. In fact, it’s about the angriest and most condensed they’ve ever sounded. Which is quite okay by me. PO’D
File next to: Pink Flag (the album), Pink Flag (the label), Pink Flag (the website).
YOUNG AND SEXY
Stand Up For Your Mother (Mint Records, www.youngandsexy.org)
Vancouver’s Mint Records have unleashed a lot of great talents label recently and these guys are no exception. While not all that young, their melodic pop sound is definitely sexy. This release could easily be this year’s best album that The Beatles never made, it’s that good. The boy-girl vocal harmonies of Paul Hixon Pittman and Lucy Brain are well suited, making this an understated pop masterpiece. But another strong element of the Sexy sound comes in the form of Ted Bois’ terrific piano work, which nails this as a keeper for me. The melodies throughout are warm and joyous. Many of the songs, including "Better" and "Television," start off quite simply, but build into beautiful tapestries of hooky notes and sophisticated performances. It’s not all sweetness and light though, as you hit "Scott", which adopts a decidedly Twin Peaks vibe that echoes, faintly, through the rest of the record (I think it’s that guitar sound that reminds me of it). The pop brilliance found on this release is not relegated to the studio performance alone. Young and Sexy are incredible live as well (as evidenced at the recent NXNE music festival). Their magnificent live cover of The Velvet Underground’s "I Found A Reason" is worth the price of admission alone! I feel as these guys get older they’ll get even sexier (and they’re turning me on already). Don’t miss this. SV
File next to: Stars, Destroyer, Prefab Sprout, your next favourite pop record.
Reviewed by: Jonny Dovercourt (JD), Craig Fraid Dunsmuir (CFD), Paddy O’Donnell (PO’D), Buddy of the Pines (BP), Steven Venn (SV)