Withered - Folie Circulaire
Amidst cascading walls of noise and remorseless choruses of sound, a sort of ailing splendour lurks below the black metal of Withered. Formed in 2003, the Atlanta four-piece is an incorporation of sludge, grindcore, death metal, and every other flaming thing between.
Their latest, Folie Circulaire, is on the aptly-named Prosthetic Records. You may wind up missing a limb after listening to this one.
With vocals channelled from the depths of Niflheimr (that’s a Norse concept for the underworld) and guitars that whirl around like vampire bats out for blood, the sound of Withered is rather easy to peg. To all intents and purposes, it’s the devil’s music.
The cavernous mire and dirt is mined from the depths of the Dark Lord’s mind and the anomalous harmonious portions seem placed purely as a counterfeit reprieve for the castigation of weighty bass and drums that saturate the whole thing like a beat driving someone to ruin.
I mean that in a good way!
The fatal mauling of Folie Circulaire blares through the sonic doom attack of the “The Fated Breath,” which is led by Napalm Death’s Barney Greenway. It’s as though Death has warmed over and is reaching through the stereo speakers for another participator.
Withered’s bloody assault keeps tearing away with its claws, imposing its sadistic spirit with textbook death metal on tracks like “Gnosis Unveils.” With a beautifully sick melody serving as a prologue, “Gnosis Unveils” quickly turns into a pit of horror and swallows up anything in its wake.
Truly epic shit.
Folie Circulaire even contains an elegy (maybe) to John McCain (“Purification of Ignorance”) and a cover of Necrophobic’s “Into Armageddon” to close things off.
Withered’s second album is a fierce follow-up to Memento Mori and should grant the quartet a spot in the annals of extreme music. It is a vicious record worthy of many spins for lovers of lethal and shadowy metal. The band’s attention to detail proves gratifying, as the swirling guitars and thundering vocal beating fuse for one of the best metal albums of the year.
8/10
Calabria Foti - A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening
Born into a family of musicians in upstate New York, Calabria Foti grew up wholly absorbed in music. With both of her parents being highly trained and enormously talented individuals, they passed many a nugget of musical prominence down to young Calabria and she soaked up the talent like a sponge.
By 12, Calabria was kicking butt in jazz clubs and singing with her parents and their associates. She already knew how to groove on several instruments, including a serious knack for the violin. Drenched and baptized in jazz and classical, young Ms. Foti had her destiny carved out for her at a very early age. With influences from Ella Fitzgerald and Judy Garland, Calabria knew she wanted to connect with an audience and touch hearts in the same way those great singers had done.
Fast-forward to present day and Ms. Foti is using her incredible understanding of music to do just that.
2005 saw her debut record, When a Woman Loves a Man, pick up plenty of accolades. Ms. Foti was getting noticed. By the time her second record (2007’s A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening) dropped, she was receiving praise from the masters of the industry.
“One of my great pleasures in life is listening to a beautiful voice. This recording of Calabria Foti’s voice is some of the most beautiful and artistic music I have ever heard,” said Johnny Mathis. That’s right, that Johnny Mathis.
With similar words of praise from the likes of Johnny Mandel, Chris Botti, Jorge Calandrelli, and Dave Koz, it’s safe to say that Ms. Foti’s dreams of touching hearts have become realized.
A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening is, if you’ll absolve the truly obvious cliché, just that. With ten elegant songs, Calabria’s second album is a sultry and silky album certain to steam up the windows.
Ms. Foti’s enchanting voice coos over the tender bossa nova gait of “Love Me as Though There is No Tomorrow,” a song once recorded by Mathis. Her intonations of longing for love are stunning, as is the arresting nylon string guitar solo from Larry Koonse.
Calabria continues in that fashion throughout the record, charming listeners with her take on Cole Porter’s “All of You” and unleashing an impressive rendition of a Peggy Lee medley (“When Lights are Low/Linger in My Arms”).
Calabria Foti’s second album is a scorcher. Destined for greatness, her voice is capable of enchantment and the graceful way in which she achieves her exquisite sounds deserves more than a few listens. A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening is also A Lovely Way to Spend an Afternoon or A Lovely Way to Spend a Morning. For great vocal jazz at any time of the day or night, look no further than Calabria Foti.
8/10
Be Your Own Pet - Get Awkward
Schoolyard fights, cafeteria brawls complete with requisite tossing of food, and bad boyfriends temper Be Your Own Pet’s Get Awkward, a frenzied punk salvo from the dubious Nashville four-piece.
Led by young rapscallion Jemina Pearl and her new tattoo – the chick from Friday the 13th with a hatchet in her forehead – Be Your Own Pet has become somewhat more organized with their follow-up to their 2006 self-titled debut.
To say that Pearl and the gang are more structured is not to suggest that they’ve lost their punk bread and butter, though. In terms of lyrics, Pearl took the lead this time and penned a series of rants and devastating ravings about all things bristly and spiky. With more time to work on the record, the album comes across as more polished and grounded but no less seditious.
Get Awkward, like the ’06 debut, burns and bitches its way through about 30-minutes of straight-ahead in-your-face punk rock.
The U.S. version is three songs shorter than the U.K version. The chopped trio (“Black Hole,” “Becky,” and “Blow Yr Mind”) were said to be too violent for American minds. Apparently screaming “Let’s go and kill someone” on “Black Hole” is a bit much for U.S. listeners reared on 50 Cent. Who knows? Maybe it would have made the cut if Pearl had been a dude…
Be Your Own Pet sounds like a crew of rowdy kids because that’s what they are. A gaggle of giggly goof-offs worthy of The Breakfast Club on amphetamines, this crowd means business. Pearl is as severe as a cartoon knife fight and the tightness of the rest of the band around her go-getting tone is indicative of the early dirty days of punk.
Visions of Buzzcocks and Stooges likely float through their heads while they sleep.
Pearl’s disorderly vocal chords gun it through the RoboCop-obsessed mania of “Bitches Leave” and the energetic lunacy of “Zombie Graveyard Party!” without a sign of stopping.
Get Awkward feels like the unavoidable zenith of stumbling home at three in the morning to slog past sleeping parents or passing filthy notes in science class or hating that girl that stole your best friend or getting drunk and puking all over the inside of your friend’s car. In other words, it’s a fucking blast!
9/10
Nat King Cole - 10th Anniversary (Reissue)
Nat King Cole’s 10th Anniversary was a momentous release in 1955 because it marked one of the first times a label mined its vaults and released unreleased tracks to the public. Such a practice might not seem like a big deal in the “download age,” but back in good ol’ ’55, it was something out of the ordinary.
Cole was a substantial success since he had signed with Capitol Records in 1943 as the leader of the King Cole Trio. He was skilled as a jazz pianist at that point, but more attention was being paid to his vocal talents. Cole’s tunes started to feature more and more vocals until he pretty much left the piano bench for a career as a full-time vocalist. The collection of music found on 10th Anniversary is culled from his jazz and easy-listening days and highlights a time of growth and transition.
By the time 10th Anniversary came out, Cole had announced to the world that he was going solo and would be leaving the King Cole Trio moniker behind. The album, then, reflected a bit of a shift and gave fans a chance to hear both where Nat King Cole had been and where Nat King Cole was going with the rest of his extraordinary career.
The reissue of 10th Anniversary in 2008, along with the reissue of many Nat King Cole albums, marks this period of transition with solid presentation. Many of the songs from 10th Anniversary have never been featured on CD before, so for Cole fans this collection will be a real treat. In fact, this is the first time this album has been reissued in any form since its first release. For collectors, that’s a pretty big deal.
One side of the album (remember when albums used to come with “sides?”) is dedicated to King Cole Trio recordings from its later stages, mostly featuring material from between 1945 and 1949. The Trio, comprised of Cole on piano and vocal, Oscar Moore on guitar, and Johnny Miller on bass, were among the first jazz groups to set up the now-popular arrangement of guitar, bass, and piano.
The Trio sounds splendid on classics like “Dream A Little Dream of Me,” “The Love Nest,” and “I’m an Errand Boy for Rhythm.” The album features three different configurations of the Trio, as on some tracks Irving Ashby moves in to play guitar and Joe Comfort takes over on bass. Regardless of the formation, the King Cole Trio works like a dream. “Lulubelle,” which features Ashby on guitar, is a grand example of the ability of the Trio to fit together under Cole’s guidance.
The second side of the record features vocal recordings and a more orchestral sound. Arranged by Capitol Records hit-makers like Pete Rugolo, Dave Cavanaugh, and Les Baxter, the second part of the album reflects more of where Nat King Cole was headed with his stellar career. He takes center stage and commands every song with care and his trademark vocal style.
Whether he’s singing a majestic ballad (“Lovelight”) or a big band number (“I Wish I Were Somebody Else”), Cole commands with his ability to adapt to various genres. One interesting little ditty is “The Story of My Wife,” which manages to be sweet and fun without being tacky. Nat King Cole always had a gift for singing with charm and affection that drew people in to the music. That gift is evident all over 10th Anniversary.
Nat King Cole’s 10th Anniversary is a collector’s dream. Featuring a nice compilation of songs that represents a transitional era in his career, this album will be a must-have for lovers of Nat King Cole’s everlasting excellence. Personally, I’ll be returning to this recording again and again.
8/10
Larry Vuckovich Trio - High Wall: Real Life Film Noir
And there she was. The woman in red drew attention to herself like a crimson angel on the wrong side of town on a stormy night where nothing was what it seems and everything was just a little…different.
I approached her from across the crowded smoky room with a drink in my left hand, and a lighter for her cigarette in my right. Ready for anything, I calmly drew near and flicked the flame out just in time. Her cigarette greeted my warm flame like two lovers who hadn’t seen each other for a while. She smiled.
I stole a glance at her figure quickly, hoping to go unnoticed by the dame in red. She had a body that’d make a bishop kick out a stained glass window and lips that seemed to say “Thank you, I’m yours.” Her purse was slung over her left shoulder and she held it tight as though protecting something.
Everybody’s protecting something here.
In the middle of all of this smoke – or is it smoke and mirrors? – comes Larry Vuckovich and his gang of jazz thugs. Without warning, the sounds of High Wall: Real Life Film Noir fill the crowded smoky room and people are paying attention to something else besides their drinks and besides their respective women in red.
See, Larry’s a pro.
He’s what hipsters in jazz call a “rare bird.” Proud of his Slavic heritage and making no jokes about his love for film noir, Vuckovich has been filling smoky rooms with beautiful music as though it flows straight from his veins. 2006 saw Street Scene, a critically-acclaimed marvel that saw him join with stellar jazz musicians under a dim street lamp somewhere to create gorgeous and haunting sounds. With the page turned midway on 2008, High Wall: Real Life Film Noir picks up where Street Scene left off.
Vuckovich has composed High Wall because of his interest in the themes of deception, false accusations, and The Big Lie. Perhaps for me, The Big Lie is somewhere in the red woman’s purse.
Based on a 1947 film noir of the same name, Vuckovich’s High Wall references the barrier to the truth that we all sometimes wind up facing. Larry knows that barrier well, having grown up in a Communist regime in Yugoslavia. Throughout his life, he’s looked for the truth wherever he can find and has produced music based around that search for reality.
The musicians joining Vuckovich must be searching for the same sense of truth because the musical cohesion as evidenced in the arrangements is truly something special. Larry’s accomplices move through a variety of tones, taking on Afro 6/8 rhythm in “Afro 6/8 Minor Blues” and sweeping through film themes in Bronislaw Kaper’s “High Wall” or his own composition “View from Telegraph Hill.”
Vuckovich also works through jazz-funk with precision (“Put It Where You Want It”) and organizes his crew through classic blues patterns on Coltrane’s blazing hot “Locomotion.”
As I find myself drifting off through the Eastern European patterns of “Gypsy Roma Mambo (Dark Eyes),” I start to realize that the woman in red is gone.
Frantically, I turn around and look behind me for just a glimpse of the sweet crimson dress or the beautiful lips. She’s gone. Nothing remains but a memory and the eerie possibilities of The Big Lie in her purse.
8/10
Amos Lee - Last Days at the Lodge
Amos Lee bears his soul on Last Days at the Lodge, a Don Was-produced set of tunes that rolls together like a private concert in an intimate setting. The Philly native has spent some serious time getting to know how things work in the industry, having toured with some of the all-time greats like Dylan and Van Morrison. With that experience in tow, Lee is evolving into a trustworthy and expressive alt-folk singer.
Last Days at the Lodge, his third album, sticks principally to the smooth approach that has pleased his fans since his 2005 self-titled debut. The basic components are still around, as most of the songs are unhurried and even-tempered. The production feels heartier, though, as the band’s attendance is felt boldly and the melodies are a bit more inclusive to other instruments than some of his previous work.
A perfect example of the band’s presence is the roomy and upbeat “Truth.” Lee is appropriate as the frontman in this type of Ben Harper rocker, digging deep to his unsophisticated side and throwing out lyrics like “Now they got me here at the lock-down for a crime I did commit” with the bluster of a barroom tough guy.
Lee first picked up a guitar as a college student and, since his discovery by Norah Jones, has since been collecting a nice little fan-base for his brand of folk rock. His humility is evidenced on his approach to each song here, but there are signs that he’s waiting to display a slightly tougher side.
Along with the swagger found on “Truth,” Lee out-preaches his title character on “Street Corner Preacher” in a funky 80s Dylan-esque song that should get some radio rotation.
But for all of the barn-burning songs, Lee cruises right back to his fundamentals for the bulk of Last Days at the Lodge.
The comforting arrangement of Spooner Oldham’s organ and Lee’s towering vocals create the extraordinary “What’s Been Going On,” one of the best tracks on the record, and the rest of the band mines a bit of country music with “Ease Back.”
Amos Lee’s Last Days at the Lodge fits agreeably with a sinking sun on a summer evening, as the upbeat songs won’t crack the mood and the relaxing melodies of songs like “It Started to Rain” and “Kid” will play right into the tranquil radiance of patio lanterns.
8/10
Ashanti - The Declaration
Ashanti has always struck me as one of those doomed-for-background-vocals type girls. Her unexceptional voice was always better suited to singing hooks behind some over-exuberant, crusty pop-rapper. After a set of mild albums and singles, Ashanti stepped outside of her standard set of producers from The Inc. and put out the album she’d always wanted to make with 2008’s The Declaration.
Ashanti’s voice is never brilliant. But unlike the other R&B paragons of mediocrity, Ashanti has a certain appeal as the star in front of her songs. She doesn’t grant a cure for insomnia like Cassie and she’s not as pedestrian as the ladies from Danity Kane, but she’s not particularly good either.
What can one say about The Declaration other than to press the point that this is about as average as average gets? It will sell well, it’s easy-to-digest and flavourless, and it’s wholly unremarkable.
There are tracks here that are respectable, proving that the Ja Rule duets from hell are in the rear-view mirror. Take “Body on Me,” for instance. The catchiness of the track and the services of Akon and Nelly create a concrete single which should see plenty of chart time.
The piano-heavy “The Way that I Love You” is a good tune too and Ashanti makes fine use of the limitations of her voice by confining herself to a level-headed range. She stays safe here, as she always does, but it somehow works with the undulating production of the track.
The cooingly sexy “Things You Make Me Do” is a tantalizing track, as Ashanti writhes and breathes with a sort of Janet Jackson sensuality. A video for this song would be scorching.
Unhappily, those three exceptions aside, the bulk of The Declaration feels less like a decree of autonomy and more like the same old bag of feeble tricks. The light “Good Good” is fronted by a bored-sounding Ashanti and the yawn-inducing “Struggle” doesn’t provide anything noteworthy either.
The Declaration continues to prove Ashanti as a background singer pretending to be a lead artist. She’s certainly not as mind-numbing as some other performers, but Ashanti’s fundamental lack of individuality and character do little to make The Declaration memorable.
4/10
Martha Wainwright - I Know You’re Married But I’ve Got Feelings Too
Visions of Martha making her way down a fire escape frantically with the strap of a high-heeled shoe in her mouth and a wadded-up pair of panties gripped in her hand temper I Know You’re Married But I’ve Got Feelings Too with a sense of urgency and a sense of treachery and a sense of peril.
Part broken-hearted, part howl-at-the-moon, part soulful-shitstorm, the stellar youngest Wainwright is often noted for being a ball of emotion (most of it directed at the shitty parenting skills of Loudon Wainwright III) and a citadel of profane and unrefined impulse. She’s also despairingly needy and distressed; a true trickster with a hiked-up skirt and a wounded soul attached to the bottle.
Aw hell, it’s light and shade for all of us in the end anyway.
I Know You’re Married But I’ve Got Feelings Too exemplifies the gloomy patterns we fall into in hopes of finding pleasure. By focusing on our lost wishes and our frantic, obsessive dreams, we’re able to give a blessing to a small splinter of sunshine before once again shrinking back into the shadows to bear witness to our own devices.
It’s not surprising that the cover of Martha’s second album – and can you believe that? – features her prone on a sofa, legs bare, ready to victimize or be victimized. This record is that openness, it is that austerity, and it is that discrimination.
Take for instance “Bleeding All Over You,” fierce title and all. She messily lays her soul out and suffers the wounded results: “My heart was made for bleeding all over you/And I know you’re married but I’ve got feelings too/But I still love you.”
Martha seeks implicit approval incessantly and is incessantly frayed or flung by love and living, it seems. On “So Many Friends,” she bemoans the direction her life has taken. “I have lost so many friends/I have gained so many memories.”
Where there’s a will, there’s a way. Thankfully, dear Martha has found her way through the depths of her tormented choices and the directions her life has taken her. She is more than willing to look forward and courteously assembles what she can. “Comin’ Tonight” lets us know that she’s still searching for that encounter and is willing to forget it when it’s done.
But in the end, what can Martha do?
A tempest of bad choices – that’s why we love her – and a throng of heroic attempts rush through her life in song with frankness and audacity. She’ll get up again. She’ll climb down another fire escape. And we’ll be there, every step of the way.
8/10
We Are Scientists - Brain Thrust Mastery
“We all recognize that I’m the problem here,” Keith Murray confesses through the distorted fuzz of guitar at the beginning of the lead track to Brain Thrust Mastery, the latest pop-rock nugget from Cali trio We Are Scientists.
Indeed if Murray is the problem, then the poppy and funky melodies found on the group’s 2008 follow-up to the brilliant With Love and Squalor are the solution. The music is easy to digest and accessible, resisting the need to go for The Complication or The Pretension. Instead, We Are Scientists play it safe all over Brain Thrust Mastery.
The results? Delicious morsels of “expertisery.” Call me, Webster.
Driven strongly by guitar and enthusiastic background vocals, Brain Thrust Mastery is the sort of toe-tapping delight perfect for the summertime. The Futureheads tried the same formula with This Is Not The World, but their effort lacked the sense of adventure held by We Are Scientists.
This is the rightful fruition of alternative rock, in fact. It’s dance rock with principle and easy-to-swallow attitude, providing a perfect breather from the nastiness of today’s oppressed global and economic climate.
Like all good alternative music, Brain Thrust Mastery wouldn’t exist without the 80s. Tones of classic club songs resonate all over the gorgeous synth-backed “Lethal Enforcer” and the addictive and noisy “Tonight.”
We Are Scientists aren’t content with just one swipe at another genre, though, as they take a strong dig at riff-heavy rock with “Let’s See It” and the sweetly goofy “Chick Lit.”
Despite the swell of positivity and frenetic energy, singer Murray has an ability to ground the album in our times and infuse the lyrics with a sense of trouble and gloom. “Enough is not enough/but I keep saying that I’ll stop/over and over/I’m drowning in each drop,” he intones on the album’s final track, “That’s What Counts.”
Brain Thrust Mastery is an album tempered with wrong impressions, pop-rock sentiment, and an addiction to keeping things fun regardless of what the cost is in the morning.
While it isn’t as strong as With Love and Squalor, it is still a solid entry in the lab of We Are Scientists and should keep fans of their brand of “vaguely danceable, implicitly humanist” music quite pleased.
7/10
Danity Kane - Welcome to the Dollhouse
From the mind of Diddy or P. Diddy or Piddy D. or whatever the hell he’s calling himself these days comes Danity Kane, a quintet forged in the reality TV flames of his series Making the Band. The girls sprang out of the third installment of the show and signed to Bad Boy Records. Their first album, a self-titled 2006 “effort,” sold a million copies in the United States but didn’t chart well in other countries where consumers have ears.
March 2008 finally saw the release of Welcome to the Dollhouse, the long-awaited follow-up to the debut. Once again the record was released by Bad Boy and once again the record snapped to the top of the U.S. charts.
An overproduced mess, Welcome to the Dollhouse is a really dreadful experience. Using the regrettable hip-hop trend of focusing on the producers instead of the actual musical act, the girls in Danity Kane simply drift to the backdrop on the majority of the tracks. Instead, it seems as though this is an excuse to feature Timbaland protégé Danja, Mario Winans, Diddy, and a selection of other big money producers.
The quintet is as tasteless as paper plates, though, and the slick cabinet of production is actually rather apt over their featureless voices. Aided and abetted by computers whenever doable, the girls fall back on overproduction to collect a feeble facade of consistency. They’re just all over the map, though, and the record sounds unbelievably slipshod. It actually made me long for The Pussycat Dolls.
Nicole Scherzinger, save me now! (Trust me; I’ve had that dream before).
Welcome to the Dollhouse’s insipidness is only balanced by its qualified incompetence. A track like “Ecstasy,” for instance, is out-and-out unlistenable because of the heap of breathy attempts at sexiness filling up the showy backdrop to the song. It doesn’t help matters that the song is four-and-a-half minutes long, which is an eternity for this drivel.
Then there’s “Bad Girl,” the album’s second single behind the awful “Damaged,” features an apparent video featuring WWE Divas. The song is set against an aggravating beat and silly scale-singing that feels more clumsy than controlled. Imagining WWE Divas frolicking around to this nonsense was good for a preposterous mental image, though.
Other songs are just flat out off the wall, like the softheaded “Strip Tease” that opens with a huge breathing exercise or the dull “Lights Out” that again features breathing exercises. I have no idea if these girls were doing yoga during production, but it really becomes trying after exhalation is featured with such frequency. An alternative title for the album could have been Breathing Lessons.
Add to the forgettable songs a handful of pompously brash “interludes” and you’ve got one of the silliest efforts in recent memory. This album is a bag of excremental gibberish better suited to be set ablaze and set on Diddy’s porch.
Overall, Welcome to the Dollhouse is a contrived “effort” that should be avoided. Fans of Making the Band will likely herd to this record like famished buffalo, but the rest of us should be avoiding it at all costs.
1/10
