Reviews: Ouled Bambara / Polvo / Mantons / Reigning Sound

Ouled Bambara -
Portraits of Gnawa
(Drag City / Twos & Fews)

I have to hand it to Drag City for consistently throwing me out of my Western music comfort zone with the treasures they unearth - the Chicago label is also responsible, most notably for us Detroiters, for bringing out the long-lost album For The Whole World to See by mid-70's hard/rock-punk trio Death. They also brought us the collaboration between Helena Espvall & Masaki Batoh (Overloaded Ark), so you know they're going to be throwing us a lot more than standard fare indie-rock and noise-pop like all those other labels, by comparison.

The latest that they're stumping me with is the rich, sultry, meditative (and indeed, hypnotic) vibes of Portraits of Gnawa, a collection of various artists from Morocco, calling themselves Ouled Bambara ("Children of Bambara"), that being the musical suite that begins the "nocturnal portion" of the ritual known as Gnawa - a trance/healing ritual linked to music. If the press release is any indicator, the songs capture a mysterious phenomena of Morocco - "mystical Sufism, trance rituals, possession rites, ecstatic music and dance." The songs collected here are long grooves that facilitate deep meditation, with rounded chants, shuffling percussion and plodding strums that feel like the soothing fall of raindrops. Collected here with the recording is a DVD with live performances from Brahim Belkani, Hassan Zougari, Mohamed Hamada & Abdellah Nait Mau. Drag City is aided by Louisville KY based recording imprint, Twos & Fews.
More Info

Polvo
In Prism

(Merge)





NC based quartet Polvo had been broken up for a handful of years after a decade's worth of LPs and EPs in the vein of heavy-yet-melodic, crunchy-guitar-spreading indie-rock that epitomized caustic, yet still gave you a groove. While lyrically they may still cling to the dark overtures of past releases, the mood of the music, the tones, the ringing reverb and wobbly surf guitar yowls make this release, their grand return, one of their more immediate and palatable. It blends metals melodrama, grunge's dizzy drone, indie-rocks jittery jaunt and jazz's stately swagger. "Right The Relation," with its overly buzzy brutality in riffs and in percussive pound, feels a bit like a cobweb clearer, shake the dust off and re-situate yourself; that surfy hooked refrain riding the deep booming bass groove on "D.C. Trails" highlights the sunnier sides that have been sprinkled into their usual brood; speaking of brood, its the best word I can use to describe the opening bars of "City Birds" but after a minute or so, the guitars start intertwining in a scorching ballet so characteristic of Polvo, giving wings to the subdued spooky vocals. They get a bit more conceptual, they clear out a bit of the obscuring reverb and at times there's moments pop/rock-sounding epiphanies - but for the most part the shirt still fits.

The Mantons
Squeeze The Fish
(self / recorded at Tempermill)

The Mantons debut has a lot of heart, balancing a charming sense of humor with a genuine passion for blues and Americana; driving rhythms are perfect for toe-tapping, guitars are disarmingly intricate and spill into a spindly jazz-like realm and the lyrics capture that rambling anecdotal style of traditional folk. In the jangly drive of their bluesy rock style, you can grasp all the influential pillars that propped them up but they seem to inhabit their own territory. The guitars could fit anywhere between folk and indie-rock, the bass could fit into bluegrass or traditional R&B and the drums could be jazz as much as they could be hard rock. Some of the ballads sound like defiinite bar-band fare or daytime festival jaunts ("Cheesy Folksinger") but allow more mystical jams like "Lord of the Lake" to play out and you can appreciate their passionate playing style.

See The Mantons - 9 / 26 at the Belmont in Hamtramck

Reigning Sound
Love and Curses

(In The Red)

Love and Curses is Reigning Sound's 11th full length and its the first non-live or non-collaborative album since 2005's Home For Orphans (which was produced by Jay Reatard, a fellow Memphis garage-rocker to Reigning Sound leader Greg Cartwright). Cartwright is already rapt in avant-garde rock history, through his tenure with the Compulsive Gamblers and the Oblivians, and collaborating with the Sympathy for the Record Industry label. Not to mention that Reigning Sound's most recent recording Dangerous Game had them as backing band for girl-group-pop heroin Mary Weiss. That early 60's garage style pounded percussion shines through on some downright delicious pop ballads on Love and Curses, see: "Call Me" and the sweet endearment of "The Bells." But the more gristly growl of garage thrash whirls its way around the stabbing guitars and banging-drums of "If I Can't Come Back." When Cartwright relocated to Ashville NC, he had to enlist an entirely fresh trio of players for the band with bassist David Wayne Gay, drummer Lance Wille and keyboardist Dave Amels. When Cartwright's soulful/smoky growl or the guitars wavering of pristine-to-shred aren't hogging the spotlight, its the wholesome hum of the keyboards, adding at times a new-wave post-punk style "Trash Talk" or waving underneath the fibrous guitars and waltzy drums to bring it back to that early 60's pop style on "Something To Hold Onto."

Origix and D.C. - Record Release - 9/26 at Lager House

"The Resume" Release Party - hosted by Uncle P
with: Bash Bros / Rtkul8 / The Red Hour and DJ Gruv



more info: The Zone Radio on myspace

Dally in the Alley 2009

32nd Annual Dally
--Get Involved: volunteers.dallyinthealley@gmail.com

--Go Green: ("Recycle Detroit, Waste One, and Great Lakes Recycling are working together with the North Cass Community Union to green the Cass Corridor during Dally in the Alley 2009.")
more info: http://www.dallyinthealley.com/ / http://www.recycledetroit.com/

Dally Official Artist - Mark Arminski



LINE UP:

Forest Stage:

12:00 pm Audra Kubat
1:00 pm Looking up at Down
2:00 pm General Population
3:00 pm Catfish Mafia
4:00 pm The Wrong Numbers
5:00 pm James and the Rainbros
6:00 pm Jessica Hernandez
7:00 pm Erno the Inferno
8:00 pm In remeberance of Titus"Baatin" Glover
9:00 pm Will Sessions
10:00 pm USM (United States of Mind)

Garden Stage:

12:00 pm Rachel Taylor
1:00 pm ER
2:00 pm Petal Shop
3:00 pm Illy Mack
4:00 pm Darren Locke and The Combanations
5:00 pm Mother Whale
6:00 pm Uneven Universe
7:00 pm Dune Buggy Attack Battalion
8:00 pm Jennie Knaggs and the Sure Shots
9:00 pm Daniel Zott
10:00 pm Oblisk

Alley Stage:

12:00 pm Slow Giant
1:00 pm Woodman
2:00 pm The Rogue Satellites
3:00 pm BeeKeepers
4:00 pm Mick Basset and the Marthas
5:00 pm Snakewing
6:00 pm Devilfish
7:00 pm New Grenada
8:00 pm Noman
9:00 pm Oscilating Fan Club
10:00 pm Blasé Splee
11:00 pm Innerphonic

The HandGrenades - Dual CD Release with The Ferdy Mayne - 9 / 12 at Simon's in Allen Park

with The Lessmores

more info (and to hear a bunch of their songs)-
HandGrenades on myspace

Polvo - Magic Stick - 9/6

Relatively unsung indie-trailblazers (at least, next to ad-nauseum dropped names like Pavement or Guided By Voices), this NC quartet churned out the shambled shrieks, gristly guitars and caustic tones throughout the 90's before breaking up before centuries end.

"Beggars Bawl" - from In Prism

They captured the scruffy blue collar slacker shrug rock but added a poetic raucousness, a sort of clangy and cavernous noise-pop style that utterly distinguished itself from the more droney-leanings of a Sonic Youth... But I'm drifitng towards cliche and had better cut-it-off there before I say something totally eye-rollably contrived like, 'thinking-man's-Pavement...'

My convoluted point being, that a good underground band should make you question the character of everything else you're lisetning to - and Polvo did that to a tee. Thankfully, they reunited recently and this month sees their first album in more than 10 years. In Prism comes out on Merge - and the band is supporting it with a tour joining them with Titus Adronicus - They play the Magic Stick Sunday night (9/6) with Titus Adronicus, Tigercity and the So So Glos.





Polvo on myspace


In Prism on Merge

tomorrow night (Friday) - free show at Crofoot Lounge: Electric Fire Babies

You're invited!

The Pokemon will be DJ-ing

Johnny Headband - Phase 3

Johnny Headband's Phase 3 feels like it's about the eureka, about the enthusiasm, about the -can't-wait-to-get-going...

Download Here

“Wastin’ Time” explodes in, jolting at first, but then quickly gets you situated, still strongly rousing you into an instant hard-driving dance/rock energy – perhaps specifically designed to feel as though we are joining our regularly scheduled programming—already in progress—as a means of expressing Johnny Headband’s continuous development. This is Phase 3. “I’ve got to start again,” singer/keyboardist Chad Thompson howls on the refrain of this opening anthem against sitting still, an anthem against losing your life to the computer-set day job. We’re able to gather our bearings as a cowbell clatters in the background under bassist Keith Thompsons exertive sighs, “breath in—breath out,” before the keyboards swell and slide and the drums pound to push the song into a higher gear.

The girth added to Headband’s particular flavor of prog/pop and disco-tinged krautrock is apparent before “Wastin’ Time” has even had one minute to warm up in its ever punching, sliding run, when guitarist Pan!c (the newest addition) brings in a metaly/funky guitar riff to shimmy right beside the fuzzy synth before adding to the vocal harmonies. And the way those fuzzy-tones cascade upon the second chorus and Chad’s vocals, irked and passionate in their declarative howls it sets a fresh flavor of soul for the shy/magnetic singer.

Always adept at setting a mood, “Fly Song” extols exactly what it sounds like – soaring harmonies, spacey guitar streams, RGS's marching/danceable rhythm and fuzzy, instantly arresting vocal melodies that could turn into some kind of kazoo-led orchestra of Hey Jude-like communal sways.

Much like “Wastin’ Time” is the defining statement of Headband’s drift away from the more playful exuberance of 2007’s Happiness Is Underrated, the opening sludgy/buzzy guitar growls of “Death of a Disco Beat” has a an almost sanctimonious (by space-rock standards), grab-ya-by-the-collar effect that loosens you to fall into this shoulder-shimmying ballad, dark and pedaling at first in a somber drum-led hustle over funky bass blurts. But the first two verses seem to only flirt with you only to recede for the guitars and synths to flare up in momentary flips, before we finally launch into the chorus – “Ohhhh ohh aaaaaay oh woooooh hoooooo…” This chant-like ballad, so pulsed by its atmospheric accoutrements, surfy guitars, tribal drums, - it’s the perfect sibling for the weightless feeling escapism of “Fly Song,” but palpably conscious that when it runs out – it means the end of the all too brief EP, giving it that go for broke mood that feels celebratory. And, appropriately celebratory – as the EP acts as a narrative for breaking out of stunted blocks, be they simple writers blocks or blocks brought on by the begrudged day job – it’s here, it’s hit you...so, how else would you let it out but that visceral wordless howl of a chorus? With one final “whoo” as the song fades away.

Yo La Tengo - Popular Songs

"Here to Fall" mp3
















Plenty of convoluted career-spanning assessments will be thrown around for Yo La Tengo’s 16th release, celebrating their longevity as one of the few remaining bands from the 80’s indie-rock aristocracy. This is only inevitable for this month’s release, Popular Songs, as even this reviewer’s age barely matches their tenure as a band. Such was the same when Sonic Youth released their latest, and such will be the same when the Flaming Lips bring out their next batch.

But far from some beatnik-romanced no-wave haunt-fest, or some sunshine acid-tinged psychedelic punk trip (as the formerly mentioned are respectively pinned), Yo La Tengo have always kept their noses clean and their feet moving – hopping from three to four different genres within the start-and-stop-time of every album. They grace a hazy drug-rock daydream (“Here to Fall”) that swells with stately strings, they genuinely capture the driving chug and shimmy of so many lo-fi college rockers aiming their fuzz-rock sludge so ambitiously towards the wavy hooks of power-pop (“Nothing to Hide”), a soulful little aerodynamic dance-n-strut tune, (“Periodically Triple or Double”) sounds so delicate or abiding that it might be playing from a neighbors radio upon the stoop of sardine’d homes in a paved urban jungle on a dying summer day, cutting away for a staticy crackle that distracts you long enough for singer Ira Kaplan to sidewind into one of his characteristic instrumental freakouts that epitomize graceful noise. This grooving trip at the halfway point sees the trio lean into one of their unabashed send-up songs, like “Little Honda” blew a kiss to driving surf tunes or “Watch Out For Me Ronnie” was a jittery juke towards late 50’s hectic rock, “Periodically” pushes them into a bass line that mirrors the heartwarming chromatics of the opening of Motown jam “Sugary Pie Honey Bunch,” bringing those delightful strings back in to provide wings for the nerdy lovebirds of Kaplan and drummer Georgia Hubley.

Known for their loungey lullabies that feel like the come-down lull back stage or the perfect night cap under the stars (fleshed out here with “I’m On My Way”) or for extensive jaunts that either greet or surpass the ten minute mark riding sturdy and consistently pleasing bass lines while Kaplan flexes his guitar scorching penchant, (“And The Glitter Is Gone”), the Hoboken NJ trio always had an ear for pop that wasn’t so easily defined as their similarly-long-lasting counterparts. On 2006’s I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass, the band locked into some impressive presentations that were crisp, clean, danceable (“Mr. Tough”) or followed a nice twangy folk style (“The Weakest Part”). The entirety of side one of Popular songs could be played on the radio and have everyone fall in love with it – but whatever grimy sort of punk or avant-pop leanings they may have exerted in previous more ostentatious outings, is stripped away for a subtle, aerodynamic pop sound led by pianos and strings. Side two, however, is where they get back to the subtly mind-expanding atmospheric rock, (the odyssey-like “More Stars Than There Are In Heaven”), as grand as outer space itself, but still cozy enough to settle into anyone’s lamplit bedroom.

What are we all supposed to say? Yo La Tengo do it again? Ask yourself what ‘it’ is, and how that ‘it’ may be specific to Yo La Tengo. Few who find them walk away not feeling some enamored.

Ferdy Mayne - EP Review

Ferdy Mayne Chase that Jackrabbit

Flavorful batch of tunes ranging from blues, gospel, folk, punk and art-rock, this Ypsi-trio finds the muddy creek where David Byrne's church-striding, big shouldered cowboy meets Tom Wait's scruffy romantic with the cigarettes scorched croon, then spread that nicely over warm toned acoustics and intricate percussion. Nicely negotiates that strummy, voice-echoing-through-the-woods feeling ("Dresses"), with the harder-pounding rock rousing ("Lab").

Weird and wobbly but so familiar, given distinction by the quirky, poetic rambling and strange and exciting imagery invoked in their lyrics (“Diver”), Ferdy Mayne capture the swampy-vibe missing in most blues, but they aren’t even aiming directly for it, there sampling a lot here and it makes for rewarding re-plays.

Download Johnny Headband's new EP

http://johnnyheadband.com/phase3/

Free Digital Download

Johnny Headband

Phase 3 - EP

1. Wastin Time

2. Fly Song

3. Death of a Disco Beat

Chad Thompson (vocals / electronics)

Keith Thompson (bass / guitar)

RGS (drums)

PAN!C (guitar)

Written by:

Chad & Keith Thompson

Recorded & Produced by:

Chad Thompson

Mixed & Mastered by:

Jason Kuehn

Review on the way

Plus – Johnny Headband appearances:

Sept 19 - DIY, Ferndale

Oct 1 - Washington DC

Oct 2 - Brooklyn, NY

Oct 3 - Asbury Park, NJ

Oct 10 - Detroit, MI (Magic Stick)

Stuff from the Internet

The Silent Years (video) - Taking Drugs at the Amusement Park
(thank Yahoo! for the cheese cracker commercial)






...dig the cinematography...
says singer/guitarist Josh Epstein: "We reached out blindly to the Paul Green School of Rock and they were receptive so we nervously showed up to teach the kids our song. We spent a long day there and brought pizza and snacks and taught the kids various parts. Then the most amazing stuff started happening, like conversations about how to start bands and how to tour and it wound up being one of the most rewarding days I can remember. "

The Silent Years - (mp3) - Taking Drugs at the Amusement Park
(from their latest, the Let Go EP on SideCho Records)

~

Also, as you've heard everywhere else on the indie-rock-leaning blogger world - someone specifically stood out, in the crowd at a recent Grizzly Bear show - Jay-Z is a fan of indie-rock too - and he wants healthy competition.

"It felt like us in the beginning. These concerts, they're not on the radio, no one hears about them, and there's 12,000 people in attendance. And the music that they're making and the connection they're making to people is really inspiring. So I hope that they have a run where they push hip-hop back a little bit, so it will force hip-hop to fight to make better music. Because it can happen. Because that's what rap did to rock."When rock was the dominant force in music, rap came and said, 'Y'all got to sit down for a second, this is our time.' And we've had a stranglehold on music since then. So I hope indie rock pushes rap back a bit because it will force people to make great music for the sake of making great music."

~

Q-tip's long-awaited/long-lost album Kamaal the Abstract is coming out on Battery Records - take a listen.