Chromeo is Montreal BFF’s Pee Thug and Dave 1. Fancy Footwork sounds like 80’s night mixed with LCD & Basement Jaxx and is probably being played at gay clubs all around the universe.
Year: 2007
John Cale Circus Live [EMI]
Rating: 7.5
Lou Reed has always received the most credit for what is widely known as the incredible legacy of the Velvet Underground. The name John Cale, although it does conjure up an instant association with the aforementioned group, usually draws a blank with most people concerning his solo output from 1968 until the present. This is hugely due to the overwhelming lack of hit material that he has produced. However, those who have seen him as a vital presence as being at least equally important as Lou Reed in defining the Velvet Underground’s place in music history, have discovered that Cale’s solo career has consistently outshined Reed’s by leaps and bounds. To be succinct, his records contain a fine balance between pop, classical, and avant-garde music. His albums, for the most part, are both intelligent and challenging where Lou Reed’s often suffer from a prevalent tendency towards average good time rock and roll. When considering this point, it is obvious why the first two Velvet Underground records are so different from the third and fourth. The fact of the matter is that John Cale is an astonishingly original multi-instrumentalist and songwriter. The new double CD collection Circus Live was recorded mostly during the tour that followed 2005’s excellent BlackAcetate.
High Violets To Where You Are [Reverb Records]
Rating: 8.0
The High Violets are high on the obscurity radar, even as far as Myspace bands go. However, the Portland band stands apart from many of its dream-pop contemporaries through its marriage of the right mixture of bite and beauty. To Where You Are is a potent little album that raises quite a bar above its bland name.
Total garbage mp3 of the day featuring Andy Partridge
Hello, cheese? NO! Cheese can’t dial a phone
Sweet Andy Partridge has been working on an experimental and improvisational collaboration called Monstrance to be released April 3rd. Here’s a track called I Lovely Cosmonaut that you might enjoy if you are currently preparing for 2007: A Space Odyssey.
CocoRosie – Rainbowarriors
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The Cassidy Sisters new album, The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn, will be releasted on April 10th. You like horse sounds? You got it! Check out the Rainbowarriors mp3. Sounds like Bjork, Lemon Jelly and some horse got together and layed down a serious track.
The Stooges Weirdness [EMI]
Rating: 5.0
As everyone and their grandmother have heard by now, The Stooges, have had a fairly recent reunion and, in their current incarnation, they have just released their first studio album in thirty-seven years this past month. Technically, they have already recorded together as they perform three songs on Iggy Pop’s last solo record entitled Skull Ring. Since then, Mr. Pop, Ron Ashton, Scott Ashton and bassist Mike Watt (filling in for the late Dave Alexander) have been touring together over the past few years. Admittedly, I was skeptical before I saw them live in 2004, but their energetic performance was rather shockingly terrific. The Weirdness is the title of this somewhat unexpected new album and it has been highly anticipated since their recording plans with producer Steve Albini were announced last year. So far, this record has been thoroughly panned by critics across the globe, but considering the ages of the band members, and more importantly, if one remembers that Funhouse was released almost four decades ago, I would have to say that this new recording, although it has it’s faults, is not a bad one.
New Band Feature — Stencil!
Photo by Kelley Bingham
Today’s USOUNDS new band features five-piece orchestral indie pop band, Stencil (Jared Fiechtner, Sean Anderson, Joseph Schultz, Brad Martin, and Glen Yoshioka). Jared dropped by the USOUNDS HQ to answer a few questions about the new album, Weekend at Bernie’s III, and barrel-chested actor Brian Dennehy.
USOUNDS: Your new album, the dead lie golden was recently released in February. Did you plan this release around National Hot Breakfast Month?
Jared: Well, we all really love a good hot breakfast. I mean how can you not like a nice warm meal directly after waking? Pancakes, sausage, bacon, hash browns, they’re all great. Hell, we went entire weeks without eating anything but Huevos Rancheros while mixing the album. And although I can’t honestly say we planned the release of the dead lie golden around the celebration of National Hot Breakfast Month, it has worked our rather nicely.