Category: Rewind Reviews

Rewind Review: The Duke Spirit – Bruiser (2011)

Full of wonderful fuzz and lovely vocals, the Duke Spirit‘s Bruiser begins with the rock solid “Cherry Tree,” a song about regret following a break-up.  All the guitars on it surge with power as lead singer Liela Moss claims she doesn’t look back on the past with hope, but we all know otherwise.  “Procession” flips the story a bit, with the former subject of Moss’ affections acting like he’s cool with everything, but her knowing that he’s on the verge of cracking at any moment.    “Villain” has lovely piano and vocals by Moss while Oliver Betts puts down beats that are harder than you realize at first.  The song’s about two people who know they’re probably bad for each other, but will most likely hook up regardless of that fact.

In case you haven’t guessed by now, the name of the album hints to the many songs on the record about the dangerous side of love, lust, and attraction.  “Don’t Wait,” about the struggle to let go of someone after they’ve left (“Oh such a heavy love rolls out like a blanket.  Why must it fold up on me?”) has that great mix of rock, shoegaze, and soul that the Duke Spirit do so well.  Marc Sallis struts his bass stuff on “Surrender,” in which Moss sings that she just wants to surrender to a lover.  Moss’ voice is already seductive enough, but it’s borderline devilish when she sings lyrics like “Oh the weather got worse , so you’ll have to stay here.”

“Bodies” has another slick Sallis groove that paves the way for shoegaze riffs from Luke Ford and Toby Butler.  There’s a short piano breakdown in the middle that catches you off-guard before Betts and the rest wallop you upside the head.  “Delux” has organ and glockenspiel that ticks like a music box and warnings from Moss to a lover to keep his eyes and hands on her instead of someone else.

“Sweet Bitter Sweet” seems to be about sex with lyrics like “I’m coming with you, for there’s nobody else,” but you can never be sure with Moss’ writing.  She can be deceptive and her use of metaphor is top-notch.  It’s sexy even if it isn’t about sex.  I’d be a gibbering idiot if she sang this to me in a smoky bar.  Well, I’d be a gibbering idiot if she just walked into a room with me, but that’s beside the point.  In “Running Fire,” Moss tells a lover that he can chase a future he can never fully grasp or he can return to the moment (and her) and be much happier.  Ford and Butler shred on “Everybody’s Under Your Spell” (which has a great burn-out / fade-out at the end.

“Northbound” has some of Betts’ best beats on the record while Moss sings about a bad day becoming a better day as she realizes she’s going to end it by seeing her lover.  “Homecoming” has a similar theme, but Moss can’t help but wonder if her happiness is an illusion.

Love can be bruising, but bruises and scars are sometimes the remains of a hard-fought but worthy battle.  Bruiser and the Duke Spirit show us that love is worth it.  Love is the thing for which we should all fight.  What else is there?

By the way, certain versions of this album have bonus remixes of “Procession” (by Gary Numan, no less), “Cherry Tree” (by SONOIO), “Bodies” (by Black Onassis), and “Don’t Wait” (by Loose Meat).

Keep your mind open.

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Rewind Review: Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band – The Mirror Man Sessions (1999)

Recorded sometime between 1965 and 1967 and originally released in 1971, Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band‘s Mirror Man album was a bit of a hot mess when it was released.  It was compiled of four tracks taken from a recording session that was supposed to be for a double album called It Comes to You in a Plain Brown Wrapper that was never finished or released due to them being dropped by their label (Buddha Records).  According to John Platt’s liner notes for this 1999 re-release, “In 1971 someone at Buddha reviewed all the extant tapes, and a decision was made to issue a single album’s worth of material under the title Mirror Man.  What they chose were the three live-studio cuts plus ‘Kandy Korn.'”  The Mirror Man Sessions includes those four tracks as well as five more previously unissued cuts by the good Captain and his lads.  The four original tracks were also placed in an alternate order than the original album “for aesthetic reasons” that Buddha Records claims “for the time being at least…is as close as we can reasonably get to the Captain’s original intentions.”

The four original tracks are (in this album’s order) “Tarotplane,” “25th Century Quaker,” “Mirror Man,” and “Kandy Korn.”  I’m not sure anything I can write would do justice to “Tarotplane.”  It’s a nearly twenty-minute psychedelic freak-out masterpiece with the Captain’s harmonica, shinei, and vocals sounding like a warped, scratched 78rpm record you found in the back of an old blues honkytonk.  “25th Century Quaker” is so freaky that its beats from John French sound like a bag of oranges rolling down the stairs.

“Mirror Man” starts out with some of Captain Beefheart’s signature grungy harmonica work before Jeff Cotton and Alex St. Clair Snouffer‘s guitars let loose with warped chords that sound like they’ve been left out in the sun all day.  The Captain’s vocals are either distant and funky or sound like they’re coming through a damaged megaphone.  “Kandy Korn” is, on its face at least, about the waxy, sugary Halloween snack (“They look so good, I wanna eat ’em.”).  I’m willing to bet it’s about something else, but I’ll let you make the call.  It melts like candy on the roof of a VW van, and it practically sends you into a trance around the three-minute mark.

“Trust Us (Take 6)” has the Captain encouraging all of us to trust not only him and the Magic Band, but also people outside our comfort zones.  The rhythm of it is more urgent than you realize at first.  It becomes a toe-tapper and lingers a bit in jam band land.  It also has a neat fake fade out and fade in that I’m sure has fooled many DJs in its time.  It gets more warped the longer it goes.  “Safe As Milk (Take 12)” is one of the Magic Band’s biggest hits.  It has a cool, weird groove to it that’s hard to describe and the right amount of fuzz without being overwhelming.  The Captain’s vocals are playful and you can tell that his singing style influenced everyone from Tom Waits to Mike Patton and Les Claypool.

“Beatle Bones N’ Smokin’ Stones” is an obvious poke at the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.  The Captain has fun with “Strawberry Fields Forever” lyrics (reverbed and stuttering) and Keith Richards’ blues riffs (turning them into almost calliope music).  “Moody Liz (Take 8)” has near-country guitar licks that transform into psychedelic oddities.  The lyrics are barely recognizable, but that’s okay because the track is more a showcase for Cotton and Snouffer’s bizarre yet fascinating guitar work.  The album ends with “Gimme Dat Harp Boy,” and the Captain getting to strut his stuff on harmonica while the Magic Band drives the funk bus.

This might not be the best place to start your Captain Beefheart musical journey, but it’s essential listening if you’re a fan of his work and psychedelic blues.

Keep your mind open.

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Rewind Review: The Clash – Sandinista (1980)

Heralded as one of the greatest albums of all time, and certainly one of the greatest political statement records of all time, it’s amazing that I’ve never owned a copy of Sandinista! by the Clash or even heard it in its entirety until now.   As the story goes, this triple album was released as even a protest against their label at the time (CBS) when they weren’t allowed to release London Calling as a double album but CBS released a double Bruce Springsteen record the same year.  The Clash even took less royalties from Sandinista! so they could release it at an affordable price to fans.  They decided to explore their love of reggae, dub, gospel, rap (which was still new at the time), and dancehall, and they pay full homage to those genres on Sandinista!.

Opening with the (as Joe Strummer puts it) “fucking long” hit “The Magnificent Seven” (which is fewer than six minutes), the Clash let everyone know right away that Sandinista! wasn’t a typical Clash record.  The opening track is a rap about being a working stiff (“Working for a rise, better my station, take my baby to sophistication.  She’s seen the ads, she thinks it’s nice.  Better work hard, I’ve seen the price.”) with hip hop and dub beats.  “Hitsville U.K.” slaps down the U.K. music industry and Clash fans’ expectations with a pop beat and Mick Jones‘ girlfriend at the time, Ellen Foley, sharing lead vocals with him.  “Junco Partner” is a dub cover of a classic James Waynes blues cut.

“Ivan Meets G.I. Joe,” a song about the U.S.-Soviet conflicts of the time, brings in a bit of disco (along with what sounds like vintage video game sound bytes) and lead vocals by drummer Topper Headon.  “The Leader” takes a swing at the cult of personality and appeasement of the masses (“The people must have something good to read on a Sunday.”).  “Something About England” has weird jazz piano licks as Mick Jones and Joe Strummer takedown people who remember the past through rose-colored glasses.  “Rebel Waltz” follows a similar theme and “Look Here” is jazz written by the legendary Mose Allison no less.  Bassist Paul Simonon sings lead on “The Crooked Beat,” and it’s no surprise is has heavy dub undertones.  Simonon learned a lot of his bass licks by listening to dub and reggae records. “Somebody Got Murdered” is about Mick Jones learning of a murder that resulted from a robbery not far from where he lived.  “One More Time” has Jones sharing vocals with another legend – reggae / dub musician and producer Mikey Dred.  The song’s about the struggles  As if it weren’t dub enough, the following instrumental track is “One More Dub.”

“Lightning Strikes (Not Once but Twice)” is a reprise of “The Magnificent Seven,” but with different lyrics, a fat bass by Simonon, and even better rapping by Strummer.  “Up in Heaven (Not Only Here)” is Jones’ smackdown on the proliferation of cheaply constructed, crime-ridden towers of London flats (“Fear is just another commodity here.  They sell us peeping holes to peek when we hear a bang on the door resoundingly clear.  Who would really want to move in here?”).  “Corner Soul” blends gospel and reggae, while “Let’s Go Crazy” blends calypso and reggae (and sounds like the beginnings of Jones’ future band Big Audio Dynamite).  “If Music Could Talk” splits the vocals between left and right channels while mixing lounge jazz with reggae beats.  It’s weird, and it works.  They bring back the gospel on “The Sound of Sinners,” with Strummer singing, “After all this time to believe in Jesus, after all those drugs I thought I was him.  After all my lying and a-crying and my suffering, I ain’t good enough, I ain’t clean enough to be him.” at one point.

Their cover of the Equals‘ “Police on My Back” reminds you that, despite all the dub, reggae, and gospel that’s come before it, the Clash were still a punk rock band.  “Midnight Log” is about temptation and the Devil (both literal and metaphorical), and “The Equaliser” is a trippy bit of dub calling for economic equality.  The draft wasn’t around in 1980, but Selective Service was just initiated and that might’ve been the inspiration for “The Call Up” – a strong denouncement of both.  The wicked “Washington Bullets” (one of the Clash’s greatest songs) exposes American and British-funded combat missions in China, Afghanistan, and Chile.  “Broadway” blends dub with smoky dive bar music.

“Lose This Skin,” with vocals and violin by Tymon Dogg (who would later go on to join Joe Strummer’s Mescaleros), seems to be about racial disparity.  “Charlie Don’t Surf” sums up the band’s belief that the U.S. military loves to turn other countries into little Americas at the expense of their native cultures.  After the instrumental “Mensforth Hill,” we get to the trippy track “Junkie Slip.”  Strummer’s vocals are hardly discernible.  The beats take precedence instead.  “Kingston Advice” blends heavy dub (Strummer’s vocals echo all over the place) and punk guitars.  It blends well into “The Street Parade.”  They almost feel like one long track.

“Version City” brings back disco bass and jazz piano and adds blues harmonica as Strummer and Jones sing about their love of classic blues (“Is that the train that you speak of, the one I heard in my younger days?  All the great bluesmen have rode her.  I’m jumping up, gonna ride that train.”).  The album just gets weirder from here.  “Living in Fame” is psychedelic dub, “Silicone on Sapphire” is a dub remix / re-edit / reboot of “Washington Bullets,” “Version Pardner” is a dub remix of “Version Partner,” “Career Opportunities” is a version of the Clash’s classic hit sung by children, and “Shepherds Delight” is an instrumental mind trip.

Sandinista! isn’t a typical Clash record, but that was the point.  They were already atypical and became even more so after this release.  They had drawn lines in the political sand before, but on Sandinista! they draw those lines with a bulldozer instead of a bayonet.

Keep your mind open.

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Rewind Review: Miss Red – Murder (2016)

I was listening to BBC 6 Music (arguably the best radio station on the planet) last week when I heard a fiery MC with wicked flow, an accent I couldn’t place, and a killer dub/dancehall beat behind her.  I immediately opened my Shazam app and discovered I was listening to Tel Aviv’s Miss Red, teamed up with Kevin “The Bug” Martin.  I searched for more than the track I was hearing, and I found her mixtape – Murder.

Martin provides the weird 16-bit video game-like beats to open the mixtape with “Mad,” and Miss Red is chanting and singing right away with no fear whatsoever as Martin’s beats expand to near-madness levels, almost drowning out Miss Red’s voice.  The title track follows, and it’s a stunner.  If it doesn’t hook you right away, something is wrong with you.  Seriously, get to a doctor, because Red’s squeaky reggae-loving flow is arousing (i.e., “Everywhere I go, the cool get hotter.”).

“No Guns” starts off with horror movie synths before unleashing beats thicker than Leatherface.  The contrast with Red’s reverb-layered rapping is lovely and shocking at the same time.  Martin takes his beats and synths straight into industrial territory on “What Would You Like” while Red sings about sex hot enough to match Martin’s beats.

“Rollercoaster” builds like the machine of its title creeping up the first hill toward a possibly terrifying plunge, but it leaves you stuck at the top in time for “Ganja Man” to come along and either relax you while you’re at the top of the hill or make you more paranoid.  I’m not sure which.  Martin’s beats are a bit “bad trip,” but Red’s vocals are like a scalp massage.  “Sugar” might be about drugs or, to be frank, the taste of Red’s…kisses.  Yeah, let’s go with that.  One thing’s for certain, I’ll go with Martin’s beats all day long on this track.  They’re thick as sorghum and slippery as butter cream icing.

“Lean Back” starts with an air raid siren that morphs into Red’s hypnotizing vocals as she encourages us to relax, listen to good music, and put aside our differences.  Don’t worry, she doesn’t suggest we give up partying or standing up against the Man, because the next song is called “Trash It.”  Martin’s beats sound like distorted rubber bands and Red’s rhymes grow like the She-Hulk.  “Fever” begins with a shimmering harp notes until Martin’s Donkey Kong-stomp beats unload on you.  Red’s vocals swirl around you like smoky ghosts.

Martin keeps surprising you with his loud bursts of synths and beats on “Pull It Up” while Red squeaks, chants, and rhymes in praise of her selector (That’s a Jamaican term for DJ, in case you didn’t know).  Microphone feedback is used as percussion in “Leggo,” and Red stage whispers her creepiest vocals on the album.

The opening of “1 Dog Shot” sounds like a particularly grating alarm clock.  Trust me, you’ll appreciate the wake-up call because Red bursts into the track like she’s crashing through a window on a rope while firing an Uzi.  The beginning of the last track, “Come Down,” almost sounds like a dog barking in a far-off room, and I’m sure that’s no coincidence.  Martin’s beats sound like a pressure cooker ticking off steam and Red hopes that someone will come down and pick her up, perhaps from her blues, perhaps from this plane of existence, or perhaps from the local club for a nightcap.  It fades out quick, so it seems she got her wish.

Murder is hard to describe because it sounds like dancehall, but it also sounds like industrial madness, dubstep trip-outs, and psychedelic dream wave.  In other words, it sounds like something you need to hear right now.  Miss Red’s first album, K.O., is out this July and is already high on my list as something I need to snag as soon as it’s available.

As if Murder wasn’t good enough, Miss Red offers it for free download through her website and her Bandcamp page.  You can’t miss.

Keep your mind open.

 

Rewind Review: Caribou – Swim (2010)

Canadian DJ, producer, and mathematician Dan Snaith, otherwise known as Caribou, released Swim in 2010, and I’m not sure how I missed it.  I actually hadn’t heard of him until he was slated to perform at the cancelled Levitation Music Festival in 2016.  I had hoped to catch his set there, as I was impressed with the few songs I heard while researching him ahead of the festival, but Mother Nature had other plans.

So, I put him on a list of bands and artists whose discographies I need to explore deeper, and I finally got around to picking up a copy of this album.  I don’t know why I waited two years, because Swim is excellent.

Starting with the hip and groovy “Odessa,” Snaith punctuates dance floor bass with strange bird cry-like sounds while he sings about a woman striking out on her own.  “Sun” (the only lyric in the song, repeated over and over) bounces, thumps, and glistens with house beats and shining synths.  The synths on “Kaili” are a bit distorted, but it works for the building tension of the song (which seems to be about another woman in Snaith’s life, this one dealing with illness and possibly approaching death).

“Found Out” is full of quirky beats and synths that sound like doors being slammed in a video game (and the jingle bells are a great touch).  “Bowls” is lush with its slightly Asian bells, strings, and synths.  I’m not sure if the title of “Leave House” means Snaith wanted to leave house music behind and explore other genres of electronica in 2010, but it wouldn’t surprise me if that’s the case.  He explores many avenues on Swim, so it makes sense that he constantly wants to expand his boundaries and skill set.  It reminds me a bit of Alan Parsons Project tunes with Snaith’s vocal work and the synth bass.

The album mellows out with the last three tracks.  “Hannibal” and “Lalibela” are almost dream-house, and “Lalibela” is especially trippy with Snaith’s reverberated vocals.  “Jamelia” is sci-fi lounge jazz mixed with warped house beats, almost like a space station night club is keeping the beats going while the station wobbles in orbit.

Snaith has plenty of other material out there, and Swim is intriguing enough to make me want to seek out more of his work.  It might intrigue you as well.

Keep your mind open.

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Rewind Review: Bombay the Hard Way – Guns, Cars & Sitars (1998)

I’ve been looking for Bombay the Hardway – Guns, Cars & Sitars for years.  Lo and behold, I found it at Waterloo Records in Austin, Texas during my recent trip there, and in a used CD bin to boot.  It’s a collection of “brownsploitation” music from 1970’s Bollywood action  and crime films composed (often quickly and with all sorts of studio hiccups) by legendary Bollywood film music brothers Kalyanji and Anandji Shah and edited by Dan the Automator, who convinced Anandji to release these tracks from his vault.  The result is a stunning, ultra-cool mix of funky jams, lounge music, and make-out tracks you need to hear.

“Bombay 405 Miles” opens the album with a nice sitar gliss and then turns into intense music suitable for a stakeout or sneaking into a palace to commit a jewel heist.  “The Good, the Bad and the Chutney” brings in, no surprise, spaghetti western guitar touches to up the intrigue.  “My Guru” has a lovely sitar groove throughout it, and the flute loop is icing on the cake (or chutney on the naan, if you prefer).

“Ganges A Go-Go” is 1970’s psychedelic garage rock filtered through a hookah, and it’s a crime if “The Great Gambler” wasn’t the opening song for a movie of the same name.  It immediately throws you into a world of high stakes dice rolls, sexy people, exotic cars, and nefarious schemes.  “Professor Pyarelal” is, by contrast, a lounge groove with between the sheets beats and sizzling synths.  “Fists of Curry” doesn’t hit as hard as you’d expect with such a title, but it is slicker than Bruce Lee’s footwork.

The squeaky guitar and table-infused rhythms of “Punjabis, Pimps & Players” are a great combination, and you can just imagine “Inspector Jay from Delhi” going after them in his muscle car (with a case of $50,000 in the trunk) while his bad-ass, bass heavy theme song plays from its speakers.  “Satchidananda” could be a love theme, or it could be the music for a leisurely journey on a Bond villain’s yacht.  “Theme from Don” lets you know that Don is a bad cat who will probably punch your lights out as soon and then kiss your girl if you cross him, so don’t.  The underlying synths on it convey menace, and those tabla drums and sitar riffs convey street smarts beyond belief.

“Fear of a Brown Planet” (a nice play on Public Enemy‘s record Fear of a Black Planet) has hints of John Barry’s James Bond theme in it, but it adds psychedelic spice to the mix.  “Uptown Bollywood Nights” has fierce drumming and those tinny, weird, great synths you only seem to hear in bhangra and Bollywood music.  The beats on “Kundans Hideout” are even wilder, as are the crazy vocal sounds (chants, whistles, and possibly a woman nearing orgasm).  It’s the soundtrack of escaping from a madman’s lair and rescuing your latest fling along the way.  The record ends with “Swami Safari,” which, as you might have guessed, combines surf rock guitar with Bollywood beats.

This record will stay in your head for days.  It always sounds great.  There’s a sequel out there that was released in 2001 that I now need to find.  Find them both if you can.

Keep your mind open.

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Rewind Review: Betty Davis – Nasty Gal (1975)

Funk mistress Betty Davis classic 1976 album Nasty Gal has recently been remastered and re-released.  If you’re looking for a funk record, a make-out record, or a diva record – look no further.  Nasty Gal is a trifecta of all that.

The title track opens the album, and Davis comes out swinging with her proclamation to an ex-lover that she is a nasty gal, and her ex will now miss her freaky self after she leaves him for spreading lies about her.  It’s a fierce vocal performance that instantly lets you know that she wasn’t screwing around in 1976.

As if the opener wasn’t freak enough, the next track is “Talkin’ Trash,” which is all about dirty talk during freaky sex.  “Do whatever you want to do to me.  Be a freak, I don’t care.  Tell me what gets you off,” she sings while an antsy guitar churns behind her.

“Dedicated to the Press” has great slap bass propelling Davis’ takedown on 1976 media.  She feels bad that they can’t understand where she’s coming from or that they won’t join her on the ride.  “You and I” is a lovely jazz ballad about deciding to leave a lover.  “Feelins” has a fast groove that should’ve been the theme to a third Cleopatra Jones film with its “Hey!  Hey!  Hey!” chants and car chase beats.

“F.U.N.K.” has Davis giving shout-outs to Steve Wonder, Tina Turner, Al Green, Jimi Hendrix, Aretha Franklin, Funkadelic, and others.  “Gettin’ Kicked Off, Havin’ Fun” has Davis purring about having a good time and encouraging a lover to not be afraid to get down with her.  The organ and bass work on “Shut Off the Light” is outstanding, and Davis’ vocals are downright intimidating as she pretty much demands a sweaty romp before bed.

The groove on “This Is It” makes you feel like a bad ass, but just know that you will never be half the bad ass Betty Davis and her crew were on this record (or any other time, really).  The album ends with one of her sexiest tunes ever – “The Lone Ranger.”  There’s not much I can write about this song that would do it justice.  I can’t guarantee that this song will get you laid, but I’d say playing it will probably improve your chances by at least fifty percent.  Davis’ voice moves around you like the hands of a masseuse and her band mixes funk and psychedelia to produce an intoxicating brew.  “Is it true that you want to hi ho my silver?” Davis asks.  Yes.  The answer to that is always “Yes.”

This is the album you wish was the soundtrack to your sex life, even if you won’t admit it.

Keep your mind open.

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Rewind Review: Lionel Hampton and the Golden Men of Jazz – Just Jazz: Live at the Blue Note (1992)

Take a powerhouse jazz lineup and let them go wild in a legendary club and you get a great record like Just Jazz: Live at the Blue Note by Lionel Hampton and the Golden Men of Jazz.

Hampton was a legend on the vibraphone and his equally famous backing band included bassist Milt Hinton, drummer Grady Tate, trombonist Al Grey, saxophonist James Moody, pianist Hank Jones, flugelhorn player Clark Terry, saxophonist Buddy Tate, and trumpeter Harry “Sweets” Edison.  According to the liner notes of this album, the average age of the band in 1992 was 72.  They were still killing it and teaching youngsters a way of jazz you rarely hear anymore.

The opener, “Corner Pocket,” is tune originally written for Count Basie and has great back-and-forth fun between Hampton, Grey, and Terry.  The title track was written by Al Grey for the show and the whole band has a blast on it.  Everyone gets their turn in the spotlight and Moody especially cooks with a great solo.

Tate sings lead vocals on “Body and Soul” while Hampton and Jones stroll along beside him with their respective instruments.  “God Bless the Child” is an instrumental cover of the Billie Holiday classic with Hampton taking lead on it like the grooviest tour guide you’ve ever met.

“Ring Dem Bells” (originally a Duke Ellington song) is great fun as Hampton encourages each band member to shred a solo.  Edison rips it and Jones’ solo is so good that it almost sounds like he’s goofing throughout it.  The album ends with “Flyin’ Home” (apparently a favorite of Hampton’s to close a show) and has fabulous saxophone work throughout it and Hampton having a blast and laughing through parts of his solo.

This is a great jazz record, live or otherwise, and a worthy addition to your jazz collection (or any collection, really).

Keep your mind open.

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Rewind Review: The Flaming Lips – The Soft Bulletin (1999)

The Soft Bulletin marked a departure for the Flaming Lips from their heavy, psychedelic guitars to, well, a softer touch and even more psychedelia.  It’s a lovely record that explores the band’s now-frequent themes of the universe, the self, death, and love.

“Race for the Prize,” for example, is the story of two scientists burdened with the competition of finding a cure for something, even though the stress of it might kill them and leave their wives widows and their children orphans.  The initial swell of keyboards lets us know right away that this won’t be a typical Flaming Lips record.

We learn that the scientists were successful on “A Spoonful Weighs a Ton,” even though the race did indeed kill them.  The cure they found?  Love.  It’s always been right in front of us.  The percussion on “The Spark That Bled” blends rock drums, orchestral beats, and psychedelic drippiness as lead singer Wayne Coyne sings about a moment of enlightenment.  “The Spiderbite Song” has Coyne thanking the cosmos that friends of his didn’t die too soon from things as varied as a spider bite, a car crash, or falling into crazy love.

“Buggin'” is, appropriately, a song about insects.  It’s rather peppy and fun, even as it discusses bugs dying against your car’s windshield.  I can’t describe “What Is the Light?” any better than the notes on the back of the album: “An untested hypothesis suggesting that the chemical (in our brains) by which we are able to experience the sensation of being in love is the same chemical that caused the ‘Big Bang’ that was the birth of the accelerating universe.”  That’s what this lovely, shimmering song not only discusses but also makes you believe.

If you ever doubted the Flaming Lips are inspired by Pink Floyd, just listen to “The Observer,” which is practically a lost cut from the Dark Side of the Moon sessions.  Wayne Coyne described “Waitin’ for a Superman” as “a sad song” when I saw them live two years ago.  It is a song about depression, and how even Superman can fail so we shouldn’t be crushed when we do the same.  It’s one of the Lips’ greatest songs, really.  It’s uplifting and bittersweet at the same time.

“Suddenly Everything Has Changed” is about one of Coyne’s favorite subjects – embracing the idea that one day we’ll all be dead.  Little moments of existential panic are actually reminders that we should appreciate things like the clouds we see on the drive home, the vegetables we just bought at the store, and the fact that we can fold laundry while floating on an orb in an endless universe. “The Gash” is a call to fight on even when to do so exposes wounds in us that must be healed no matter how frightening it is to confront them.

“Feeling Yourself Disintegrate” continues the Lips’ theme of not being afraid of death, for “life without death is just impossible,” as Coyne sings while the rest of the band plays bright keyboards and whimsical guitars behind him.

The album ends with the instrumental “Sleeping on the Roof,” a beautiful send-off that could be the sound of a dream, a funeral, a birth, or all three.  The entire album could be played during any of those events.  It’s another masterpiece by the Flaming Lips and still uplifting after nearly twenty years.

Keep your mind open.

 

 

Rewind Review: Diagonal – self-titled (2016)

Chicago-based psych / shoegaze rockers Diagonal play an intriguing mix of both genres.  Their self-titled album, currently only available on cassette or digital download, starts with a meditative, almost ambient, nearly instrumental song called “Aura.”  I listened to this on a frosty northern Indiana morning as the sun rose over harvested corn fields.  It was perfect.

“Wide Eyed” teases you with a bit of drone sludge before breaking into a heavy shoegaze riff.  “Inside Your Mind” is so steeped in psychedelic tea that you can pretty much see rear projection oils when you hear it.  “Where to Go” ups the fuzz and races by you almost before you realize it’s happening (and I love the trippy fade-out).

“Waterloo” is another rocker that puts in enough reverb to almost make it a weird dream that eventually turns into a crazy psychedelic nightmare.  “Come Down” reminds me of early Black Angels material with its distorted yet somehow crisp guitars and lyrics lost in layers of reverb.  The album ends with “Cave” – a loud, wild, feverish freak-out that swirls around you like a tornado full of broken, dead trees and shattered houses.

It’s a solid release, and Diagonal is definitely a band to watch and hear.  They have the chops to be serious players in the psych-rock game.

Keep your mind open.

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