Venice is Sinking - Sorry About the Flowers

Venice Is Sinking - Sorry About the Flowers
(2006 - One Percent Press)

Here is some especially satisfying fare for all you melody loving, indie-minded shoegazers out there. Sleepy guitars and lush strings build and layer around heart melting male/female vocals. Thoughtfully arranged dreaminess that evokes just enough wistful melancholy for those rainy summer afternoons. Not the self-indulgent, "Boo hoo for poor me," variety of melancholy mind you, more like a sudden moment of understanding and acceptance after a great loss.
Sometimes low-key and other times anthemic, the songs on Sorry About the Flowers are mainly of the stalwart mid-tempo ilk. Stunningly gorgeous and with plenty of musical variety to keep things interesting, Venice is Sinking consistently succeed in recapturing the shoegazer stylings of the early 90's.

The World/Inferno Friendship Society - Red Eyed Soul

The World/Inferno Friendship Society - Red Eyed Soul
(2006, Chunksaah Records)

This is the kind of band that I quickly find myself falling in love with. The World/Inferno Friendship Society is eclectic, vibrant, festive, soulful, irrevrent, creative and generally radiates good times. The band, which employs only two permanent members but may contain as many as twelve at any given time, has been around for several years, entreated the world with a few releases and converted a gracious plenty showgoers into devoted followers.
The players and their truckload of various instruments are tight and together in that non-clinical, feels-like-it's-natural sort of way. At first the vocal stylings of the frontman/ringmaster guy (sorry, there were no credits on my copy) seemed much too white bread for the musicians' jazzy, art-punk mayhem. However, after a couple listens I really couldn't imagine the words being presented any other way. Everything about The Society (as we'll refer to them henceforth) is just that infectious.
As one of the original purveyors of cabaret punk, The Society mix all the fun of a Gypsy Halloween carnival with pop melodies and punk attitudes to summon forth a funtastically danceable anarchy. This new album is somewhat lacking in the punk department, leaning more heavily on body moving theatrics and orchestration but Red Eyed Soul is still a slap in the face of convention. It may not have the frantic insanity of past releases and it may incorperate more ambitious musicianship but there is still a floor stomping good time to be had.

Conner - Hello Graphic Missile

Conner - Hello Graphic Missile
(2006, Sonic Boom Recordings)

The comparisons and likenesses applied to the Lawrence, Kansas quartet Conner are true and accurate but at the same time somewhat misleading. They do belong in the same bullpen as The Strokes, The Killers, Franz Ferdinand and dozens of other danceable rock revivalists. The mislead is that, while most of their compatriates are all forced swagger and no substance, Conner skips the posturing and just delivers damn good songs. The swaggering coolness is just gravy.
Compiling the best tracks from the band's first two self released albums, Hello Graphic Missile is Conner's first attempt to reach a national audience. Soundwise, the influences vary from T-Rex to Gang of Four to a little bit of Rolling Stones boiled down into modern indie rock structures. Phil Bonahoom's plump basslines bounce along with Bryce Boley's no-nonsense dance/rock beats. The guitars, provided by Tom Wagner and James Duft, marry straightforeward riffage with memorable melodies for a result that is complex but never degenerating into art-wank. Duft's vocals are certainly affected in that Brit Glam / New Wave fashion that The Strokes brought back into vogue.
The initial gut reaction to Conner may be to dismiss them as another face in the crowd of an already overpopulated sub-genre but there is honestly something more to this band. Conner proves that style doesn't necessarily have to mean formula. A band can have a definite sound and still do more than one thing. What it all comes down to is that Conner offers a joyful affirmation of everything that is right about the whole dancey/rock/new wave revival thing. What's more, they're better than most of their fellows and as good as the best.

Widget

I've got a widget. A brown furry widget that lives in a shoe. I downloaded him from Apple. He likes brown rice and potted meat and publishes posts to Blogger from my swanky widget thingie on OSX. I'm typing on my widget right now. Hold still widget. You can get your own brown fuzzy widget here... www.google.com/macwidgets/

Now I can drunk post even easier, not that I'm drunk now, I just saying, though my widget tells me to have a beer. I'm at work Widget, I tell him. But he doesn't care. He mocks me and has now crashed. So maybe my Widget isn't worth downloading. I'll give Widget another try.

World/Inferno Friendship Society playing in Asheville on Sunday

Don't forget that Sunday night, July 23rd is your chance to enjoy the cabaret/punk stylings of The World/Inferno Friendship Society at Joli Rouge. Here's what their Wikipedia entry says:

"A rotating cabaret of punk/klezmer/gospel featuring horns, piano, guitar, a number of percussionists, as well as a variety of other instruments, such as accordion, xylophone and orchestra bells. All of this adds up to a mayhem-inducing live presence.
The band has historically had over 30 members, including former members of Dexy's Midnight Runners. Usually one can expect to see about nine or ten members on-stage when they perform. The group is led by singer Jack Terricloth and drummer Benjamin Kotch, who have been the most constant members throughout the group's history.
Their annual Halloween show, Hallowmas, is usually their biggest show of the year and the group tries to make it a memorable event with such things as half the band and most of the audience marching down the street, pumpkins held aloft, during the last (and hallmark) song, Pumpkin Time, which references The Great Pumpkin of Peanuts fame. Pumpkin Time has also featured dangerous, home-made pyrotechnical displays, flying band members, enough candy corn to form a thick sludge under the dancing feet of the crowd, burned effigies, or terrifying, wall-sized singing apparitions."

You can also learn more at www.worldinferno.com

We're Seeking Writers

We're looking for writers. Funny writers. Politics, Local (Asheville N.C.) Humor, Features, Current Events, Inane Scribblings are all welcome, but must be funny. If you'd like to be published online, have no use for money, and can write things that make us laugh, then we would love to hear from you. Send submissions to captainspiffo@hotmail.com

New songs on the jukebox

Howdy folks, just letting you know that we've changed the songs over at the website. We've now got songs by cinemechanica, final fantasy, about and Candy Bars. You can find 'em here: http://www.ashevilledisclaimer.com/music/

Three more days to see The Devil and Daniel Johnston

I saw this at the Fine Arts Theater last night and it was fan-freaking-tastic. It will only be playing through Thursday here in Asheville so get thee to see it. If your unfamiliar with Johnston or the film then go here and be informed: http://www.sonyclassics.com/devilanddaniel/

Cracker is to play Belle Chere

I just got a tip from one of my contacts that David Lowry and company will be playing in Asheville on Saturday July 29th as part of the Belle Chere city festival thingy. This will be their only show in NC in support of the new album Greenland.

Album Review: Final Fantasy - He Poos Clouds

Final Fantasy - He Poos Clouds
(2006, Tomlab)

When The Arcade Fire came through town a couple years ago, their string arranger and touring violinist Owen Pallett also served as opening act under the moniker of Final Fantasy. The crowd loved his geekishly sincere songs about romance, magic, myth and video games. Many of us eagerly bought copies of his album, ...Has a Good Home!!!!!!!!!!, but were a bit disappointed that the recording didn't capture the creativity and wonder of his live set. It was pretty good but seemed hastily recorded and had little variety although there were a couple stand out tracks. Now Pallett is back with a bigger budget and sharpened skills. From the opening bars of He Poos Clouds, it's clear that the ante is being uped.
There's more of everything on He Poos Clouds. More orchestration, a greater variety of instruments with highly nuanced arrangement, better production values, more creativity, more melody and generally more realized potential. Pallett's loveably absurd pretenses are also magnified, the recording itself is a concept album based on the 8 schools of magic in Dungeons & Dragons. The title is a sillified reference referrence to some mystical proverb or such.
As could be expected, the primary instruments are strings. This time he brings in an entire quartet as well as quite a bit of harpsichord, piano and percussion. Not so many effects pedals and tape loopings I'm afraid. Don't mislabel this as chamber-pop though. The instrumental choices may imply it and at times even sound it but each song creates it's own nitch with the sound without really adhering to any one genre. To say it another way, the writing style changes even if the instruments don't.
Whereas ...Has A Good Home!!!!! mostly sounds the same, things get a bit diversified here. Some tracks like "I'm Afraid of Japan" sound as if they're composed for quartet, others such as "Song Song Song" and "This Lamb Sells Condos" are more like pop songs that've been adapted. With different instruments a song like "Many Lives -> 49" would be a riff-heavy rocker.
Did I mention that the guy has an amazing voice yet? He does. It's youthful yet seasoned and endlessly emotive, swoonworthy even. It can deliver lines such as, "When his massive genitals refuse to co-operate no amount of therapy can hope to save him marriage.", with the utmost sincerity. With that emo hair and his gayness I'm suprised he isn't a bigger hit on the Myspace circuit.

Album Review: Cinemechanica - The Martial Arts

Cinemechanica - The Martial Arts
(2006, Hello Sir Records)

Much like Nashville, our friends to the south in Athens, Ga have been busy adding a new chapter to their town's already rich musical history. In the last year bands like Ham1 and Untied States have chipped away at the musical preconceptions most listeners have about Athens. A major player in the current musical scenery is Hello Sir Records, the owners of which perform in one of the labels finest bands, Cinemechanica.
I was wondering when the first of the summertime-road trip albums would get here. The ones you pop in on a long distance drive with friends exclaiming, "Holy Shit! You HAVE hear this!" Then Cinemechanica's debut, The Martial Arts, came along and I stopped wondering.
Embodying a veritable avalanche of energetic riffs and intense rhythms, Cinemechanica are usually filed into genres with the prefix "post". Dueling guitars intertwine, race along together and then unexpectedly diverge summoning order from chaos and then nimbly diving back into chaos. The guitars may be the stars of the show here but the rhythm section is there to underline and punctuate every step of the way. The drums produce a controlled frenzy of snare and cymbal that never drowns out the prominently powerful bass. As for the vocals, they are of the screamin', yellin', make my throat hurt if I try to sing along variety.
The running time may seem brief clocking in at just over 31 minutes, but there is so much energy exuberated in that time that you may need a nap afterward. Every second of The Martial Arts demands your attention. Every riff and abrupt change wants to be the one you remember. These are songs for folks who like their riffs to come fast and furious and seldom pause for a breath.
Cinemechanica's frantic gutar work and masterful execution of complex time changes often invites comparisons to bands like Drive Like Jehu, Q and Not U, Faraquet and Don Caballero. I'll leave the genre classification to you people, just know that Cinemechanica is loud, fast, complex and will kick your indie/emo ass. Also they have given us THE guitar album of summer 2006. So far at least.

Mt. Egypt and Band of Horses at the Grey Eagle tonight, June 19

Hey all you hep cats. Don't forget that there's a damn good show at The Grey Eagle tonight (June 19th) with....

...Mt. Egypt

"Travis Graves is the singer/songwriter/frontman/forest ranger for Mt. Egypt, a band of honesty, sensitivity, romance and greatness that nods its musical head in the direction of The Flaming Lips, Willie Nelson, The Walkmen, Cat Power, Will Oldham, James Mercer, Neil Young and Leonard Cohen."

..and Band of Horses

"Guitarist/vocalist Ben Bridwell and guitarist Mat Brooke formed Band of Horses in 2004, after the dissolution of their nearly ten-year run in northwest melancholic darlings Carissa's Wierd. Carissa's Wierd trafficked in sadly beautiful orchestral pop, whose songs told unflinching stories of heartbreak and loss, leavened with defeatist humor. And, Band of Horses rises from the ashes of that well-loved and short-lived band. After playing music with each other for over a decade, Bridwell and Brooke picked up together again when Bridwell began fleshing out his compositions post-Carissa's. "It was really just a natural thing we started doing," explains Bridwell. Buoyed by Bridwell's warm, reverb-heavy vocals (which strangely channel a dichotomous blend of Wayne Coyne, Brian Wilson and Doug Martsch,) Band of Horses' woodsy, dreamy songs ooze with amorphous tension, longing and hope."

New Al Qaeda Head Deemed to Have Sufficient “Crazy-Eyes” to Run Organization.

Asheville Disclaimer News - June 15, 2006: 2:17 PM EDT- Days after the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Al Qaeda in Iraq issued a press release announcing its new leader Egyptian-born Abu Ayyub al-Masri. Members of Al Qaeda are very excited, but are wondering if he will maintain their current sick-day policy or get rid of Hawaiian burqa Fridays.

“Regardless of his leadership skills," said an al Qaeda spokesman, "we felt he had mastered the crazy eye needed to be a great al Qaeda leader. Leadership skills are great, but when you’re cutting the head off a hostage on TV, it’s really about the look. Even more than that, it’s about that “crazy eye” look. We think he’s nailed it.”

In a press release by al-Masri himself, he said that his past beheading experience, his many terrorist workshops, and his BA in Infidel Destruction and The Explosive Arts lets him bring to the table a cache of valuable work experience, not to mention a face full of “crazy eye”.

“I look forward to bringing al Qaeda in Iraq into the new millennium. I see our beheading output tripling. I see many new things exploding. It’s really an exciting time to be in Iraq. I look forward to the short time I have left before I’m martyred by a large American bomb. ”

Album Review; About - Bongo

About - Bongo
(2006, Cock Rock Disco)

A glance at the cover of Bongo would indicate that it is maybe the product of a rap/rock outfit from your local high school. That assumption is not the least bit accurate by the way. Those poorly drawn animal heads pasted on heroin chic bodies merely represent the cut & paste, deconstructionist nature of the album in question.
About is not a band but in fact a studio and stage project by Amsterdam's own Rutger Hoedemaekers. The album Bongo is the result of three years and several collapsed lungs worth of work.
High energy, creative and catchy to the extreme, Hoedemakers rearranges samples and snippets of collected sounds and lays them next to his own recorded material for an eclectic, indie/electro fun fest. About comes across as playfully disjointed with the starts and stops and the hopping of genres between tracks. That incongruity never really disrupts the pop aesthetic of each individual song however. Trendy as the style is, I can't deny that Bongo is as anjoyable as anything the genre has to offer.
The caveat emptor on this one is that the album comes with a mere 32 minute running time and five minutes of that is cluttered, pointless filler. Songs like " Furry Dice (dangling from the guitar)" and "Boo (Hoo)" are pointless excursions and serve no purpose other than boosting the album's playing length over half an hour.
Still, all gripes about the filler aside Bongo is, for the most part, one catchily dancetastic release. I plan to use most of these songs on various summer mixes for family and friends. However it would've been tighter and had more impact as an EP.

Album Review: Candy Bars

Candy Bars - On Cutting Ti-Gers in Half and Understanding Narravation
(2006, New Granada Records)

I don't even know where to start. Most people read the first few scentences of an album review, just enough to get the gist of a band's basic style, and then move on. That would be the wrong thing to do in this case. You see a certain musical trio from Tampa called Candy Bars has come along with a debut album that is completely one thing without be everything you're tired of about that one thing. That one thing (and stick with me to the end on this) is dreamy, orchestral dream pop.
You'd be right to say that the genre's resurgence is getting old fast. Most of the groups sound identical and are steeped in cliche. What Candy Bars reminds us is that ANY genre, no matter how stagnant, still has the potential to be thrilling and vital as long as there is genuine effort by the artist to find his or her own voice. In the case of Candy Bars that voice is the menacingly eerie whisper of vocalist Daniel Martinez.
With their debut, On Cutting Ti-Gers in Half and Understanding Narravation, the members of Candy Bars have restored some of the mystery to psychodellic pop. They've made a melancholy album of remarkable textural depth that sinks its hooks deeper into your heart with each repeat listening. The music swells and unfurls in a breathingly loose and organic fashion without transgressing into long-winded freeform boredom. The core instrumentation consists of guitar, drums and cello although there's plenty of auxillary layering throughout the album's 11 tracks making On Cutting Ti-Gers far more rewarding through the magic of stereo headphones.
As for the Martinez's lyrics, they almost make sense some of the time and then suddenly flee from grasp and into a surreal, semi-decipherable haze. With the typical passage being in the vein of, "A closed-eye Houdini with a deck of breath plays silk harp in the morning." you should know that these words have no intention of revealing any sort of meaning. Their true function is that of conjuring of vivid but mysterious imagery which may sort of allude to whatever the song is about if indeed it is about anything....ahem.
At it's lowest point On Cutting Ti-Gers... is still a damn good recording and although the album's second half isn't nearly as rivetting as the first, there's still quite a bit of melody and dreaminess to be enjoyed. It isn't quite slowcore, it isn't quite psychodellia and it isn't quite chamber pop but Candy Bars incorperates elements of all three genres into something at once distinctive and familiar.

Wes McDonald playing this Saturday

Hey folks, just letting you know that Wes McDonald will be playing at Jack of the Wood this coming Saturday (June 10th). If you're unfamiliar with his rock stylings then scroll down and read my review of his new album. Better yet drop by the Disclaimer website website www.ashevilledisclaimer.com and listen to his songs on the music page's jukebox.

Album Review; 13 Ghosts - Cicada

13 Ghosts - Cicada
(2006, Skybucket Records)

13 Ghosts didn't exist in its current form until nearly a decade after its inception under a different name. The members came together in 1990, played around for a couple years and then scattered until the 1998 death of the original bass player. The two remaining members, Brad Armstrong and Buzz Russell, rekindled their musical partnership the day of their friend's funeral in an attempt to exorcise their own grief. The resulting recordings have never been released but Armstrong and Russell went on to make three proper albums and two EP's. Their third album, Cicada, came out a couple years ago with limited distribution. Now Skybucket Records has come along to bring Cicada to the rest of the country.
The thing about Cicada is that it does not sound like a band's third album. It has the kind of go-for-broke-and-throw-every-passing-idea-into-the-mix quality that most bands shed on their first album. Americana, lo-fidelity cut and paste arrangements, laid back pop, old-timey spirituals, the occasional drum machine, pedal hopping indie rock and straightforeward country all come into stylistic play as Cicada meanders through it's 60 odd minutes on your stereo. Disjointed? Yep! Unfocused? You betcha, but something about 13 Ghosts' complete disregard for clarity makes the album all the more worthwhile.
13 Ghosts' genre-hopping never comes off as forced or desperate. The songs sound natural and perfectly fit into the skin of whatever style they happen to be presented in. This bullseye faithfulness to far-flung sensibilities is no doubt a byproduct of the rotating asseblage of 20 or so contributing musicians who appear on the album. Buried in the ranks are quite a few recognizable names including Daniel Johnston and Azure Ray's Maria Taylor.
While Cicada never jells stylisticly, it certainly does so thematically. I believe it's a concept album, but about what I have no idea. I do know that it is broken into two parts and many songs examine life cut short by untimely death or changed in an instant by unforseen events. The songs themselves often cut off suddenly and immediately throwing the listener into new territory with little time to adjust. 13 Ghosts sounds less like a band and more like a friendly neighborhood recording project with too much talent to keep among friends, Armstrong and Russell would be wise to let it remain that way.

DVD Review - The Passenger (1975)

The Passenger
(1975 - Dir. Michelangelo Antonioni)

To call the 1975 masterpiece, The Passenger, an existential thriller is mostly correct. Is it existential? Oh sweet Christmas yes! This is Michelangelo Antonioni after all, the man who made Blow Up, La Notte and L'Aventura. A man whose career-long obsession with identity and alienation produced some of the most enigmatic and discussed films ever made. Then there is the "thriller" part of the moniker.
What elements of a thriller do we have? Do we have a hot young star on the rise? Yes, we have Jack Nicholson at his absolute peak, smack dab between Chinatown and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. We've also got; international intrigue, potentially fatal mistaken identity and an alluring young woman who may provide some steamy answers. However, this is an Antonioni film, the man never had much interest in telling a conventional story. The Passenger, like most of the director's other films isn't about the plot, it's about something much bigger.
Jack Nicholson plays David Locke, a London-based journalist working North Africa. When a fellow traveller named Robinson dies in the next hotel room over, Locke impulsively switches information with the man he barely knows and assumes his identity. Keeping the appointments in Robinson's notebook, Locke revels in what he thinks is a newfound freedom from the stuffy confines of his old life. What he doesn't know is that Robinson was an arms dealer and there are some mighty dangerous folks looking for him. Soon he meets a beautiful young girl, identified in the credits only as "The Girl", and the two trot the globe attempting to escape themselves and the people chasing them.
For an Antonioni film that's a hell of alot of story, but don't worry it unfolds at a snail's pace. Even the chase scene seems poderous and slow. Then again we don't watch Antonioni for mind blowing action. His films are for the most patient of viewers. The story and the people and the dialogue are merely set-pieces, they are only important in their relationship to the world around them. The Passenger's central theme is the desire to be free of the life you have made. While driving down the road in one scene the girl asks Locke, "What are you running from?" Locke tells her to put her back to the dashboard. She does so and watches the road behind them stretch into the distance.
As in other Antonioni films there are no easy answers. The body of the film is constructed and layered in such a way that the central theme is explored in great depth but the resolution is ultimately up to the viewer to put together. In The Passenger's legendary 7 minute, one shot final scene, everything unfolds silently, beautifully and with the kind of tension and release that only a master like Antonioni could build and control.
This is the very first time The Passenger has been available on DVD or available at all in its original restored length. I really wish Criterion had picked this one up and given it the full treatment. The transer is good but nowhere near the level that a film of such scope and beauty demands. There are some nice extras including a rare commentary by Jack Nicholson himself who, although not what you would call "chatty", is clearly in awe of Antonioni and regards his own appearance in one of the director's masterpieces with much pride.

Hazard County Girls - Divine Armor

Hazard County Girls - Divine Armor
(2006, Rev'd Up Records)

Straight outta bayou country, these three ladies power things up with pounding drums, sultry vocals and gut crunching riffage. After losing their bass player to Nashville Pussy and endless delays resulting from that Katrina storm, Hazard County Girls finally have their second full length release out for people to hear. The result is a mixed bag of fuzz, melody and old fashioned fanny kicking.
Having made the rounds opening for the likes of Hank lll and Rasputina you know to expect an ominous, southern gothic brooding to their sound. Add to that some heavy fuzz with steady mid-tempo riffs and you've got some pulsing black magic melodies to make the stoners happy. Although they seem to be labelled a "female Black Sabbath", Hazard County Girls actually sound more like a doom rock version of Throwing Muses.
Christy Kanes' raspy voice has a darkly coy sensuality and for all the attention paid to pounding drums and chug-a-chugging guitars there is a remarkable amount of melody on Divine Armor. Songs like "Fine Lines" and "Insect" take the band's driving darkness into more restrained and melodic territory with stunning results.
Unfortunately the album does drag occasionally in its second half as some of the more unremarkable tracks go on a couple minutes too long with few dynamic changes. That being said, Divine Armor's high points thankfully overwhelm those few low ones.

Untied States - Retail Detail

Untied States - Retail Detail
(2006, Self Released)

In modern music, nothing should be cherished so much as the unexpected. Surprises are rare things these days musically speaking. Most songs, and in some cases entire albums, can be predicted by the attentive listener after hearing just a couple bars. Fortunately Atlanta's Untied States have successfully incorperated enough imagination on their second full length, Retail Detail, to keep even the most jaded listeners guessing as to what is coming next.
Born of the near life-long friendship of Colin Arnstein and Skip Engelbrecht, Untied States presents an intriguing pastiche of incongruous parts and pieces jammed together to somehow form a satifying disarray. The 12 tracks on Retail Detail are experimental without resorting to drone or feedback, dissonant without sounding atonal and oddly melodic without sounding formulaic.
There IS structure and cohesion here but it's a different kind of structure, one that hinges on agressively shifting time signatures and jarring changes in tone. It's the kind of giddy inventiveness you'd find with Deerhoof, US Maple or early Sonic Youth. The songs themselves rarely sound like one thing through their short lives. Untied States keep things fresh by switching gears often although there are a couple songs such as "My Cause is My Curse" where the deconstruction slows down a bit to allow for a more traditional post-punk experience.
Although theres quite alot of sonic juxtaposition on Retail Detail, things never degenerate into cacauphanic mess of noise without reason. When two conflicting sections are jammed against one another they simply create tension and thankfully not a mess. Even though there are heaping loads of art flying around on this album it's at least been tethered to a very strong leash. Energetic, engaging and hugely satisfying, Untied States haven't come to bury the A,A,B,A song structure, just to rebel against it a little.