The first Galveston set. A lot of this stems from the online listening sessions with Mike, but a lot of free time here has given me an opportunity to do a lot of exploring and music mining.
Best of the Week
Monkey3 - The 5th Sun
2013 7 tracks (54:07)
The German kings of stoner psychedelic rock made this a few years back, but they stay true to form. The 14-minute “Icarus” starts the parade with a few moments of reflection thrown in. “Circles” at the end is the closest they come to a conventional song. As usual, no lyrics, at least not in the normal sense. A-
Ex Hex - Rips
2014 12 tracks (35:10)
The return of the great girl band. This power trio of women have a great knack to make the three-minute power pop song. It’s hard to come up with favorites because they are so delicious throughout. Credit the ageless and somewhat forgotten Mitch Easter to bring their vitality out. I’m hoping for more to come. A
Follakzoid - V
2023 4 tracks (53:30)
Chilean electronic music masters feature long rhythmic music pieces. Evidently heavily inspired by electronic dance music, it is still better to listen to with your feet on the ground. Definitely more Eno like than Editors. Once they get into a groove, you can listen to it for hours. A
The New Pornographers - Brill Bruisers
2014 13 tracks (43:06)
This album is a pop tune explosion with many well done and catchy songs by the large assemblage of performers. Often switching back and forth between vocalists Newman, Case and Bejar, the arrangements are dense with piles of instruments. Sometimes too much is not a good thing, but not here. The overlaying harmonies and jingle nature give a psychedelic punch. The homage to the Brill Building is not displaced. In fact, they played a live set where the Brill Building was home to all those hits in New York. A terrific album. A
The Silencers - A Letter From St. Paul
1987 10 tracks (53:03)
Jingling guitars, pretty harmonies, catchy tunes are prevalent on this album by The Silencers, a band similar to Simple Minds, a contemporary at the time. There were so many groups at the time that the whole post wave scene just imploded by the sheer weight of all the output. That was unfortunate considering how hard it is to make the quintessential four-minute pop tune that this album is chock full of. The album is slick, well produced, performed, and fun to listen to for a blast in the past. A-
Interesting Finds
GoGo Penguins - A Humdrum Star
2018 11 tracks 58:25
A riveting set by a jazz/rock trio. Featuring mainly piano, double bass, and drums - with a few electronic keyboard additives - they are able to rock pretty hard in an accessible manner. Think Pat Methany and Lyle Mays when they were at their rocking best. Beyond that, there are elements of nu-jazz, ambient, classical, and EDM, without straying from the core jazz flow. The piano, of course, sets the pattern and is often melodically tuneful. The double bass adds a real presence. Top tracks “Reactor”, “Prayer”, “Raven”. Well recorded and played throughout. B+
Jenny Lewis - On The Line
2019 11 tracks (47:14)
She may be considered a crossover artist considering the pop nature of the songs often with a country filament, but it would be fair to think of her work as more indie. “Heads Gonna Roll” is a contender for the Chrissy Hynde sound alike award. Practically everything on this is palatable and some plain great. Once in a while she becomes the living embodiment of Karen Carpenter, but without the sentimental goo (see “Party Clown”). All in all, a solid album. B
Psychic Ills - Hazed Dream
2011 11 tracks (40:54)
Psychedelic shoegaze album by these experimental rockers are likely to lead you into a sleep, especially after some mind altering substances (or even beer) are taking effect. This album represented a shift from experimental noise makers to dreamy sparse electronic and fuzz guitar mood music, aided by Tres Warrens sleepy vocals. Warren died in 2020, so anything after that is probably archived material. Not bad to listen to if you know what is coming. Just not super engaging. C-
TV on the Radio - Seeds
2014 12 tracks (52:43)
If TVOTR had a blood brother, it would have to be Nine Inch Nails. They share a similar style of electronic pop without the angst and edge of Reznor’s group. TVOTR has a better pop sense that leads to more of a mix of The Byrds, XTC, LCD Soundsystem, and Arcade Fire. It’s as infectious as hell. B
Moon Duo - Shadow of the Sun
2015 10 tracks (45:42)
It is clear Moon Duo has a pretty simple pattern that plots through their material. Start with a basic song structure in simple time, use a regular set with keyboards augmented by some simple fuzz guitars and over-echoed duet vocals and round out with a few added instruments. Not bad, just not invigorating either. The problem with formulaic approaches is the predictability wears thin. Still, for an occasional listen like those inserted in a playlist, it’s a fine listen. Album listening should probably be avoided. I was lamenting the fact that I had a chance to see this act that was warming up for Les Claypool and Lennon concoction during the summer and passed it up, but this at least cured me of feeling like I really missed out. C
Ulrika Spacek - The Album Paranoia
2016 10 tracks (45:07)
This group could be Moon Duo’s alter ego. With similar sparseness and droning, they devolve the Moon Duo sound into a freaking mush that sometimes doesn’t sound like music. To be clear, Ulrika Spacek is not an individual, but rather a group. A couple of the tracks were added for future playback, but a lot of it skipped as it just wasn’t appealing. It’s amazing how the styles of the two bands aren’t that dissimilar but the results diverge. D
Sleep-makes-waves - …and so we destroyed everything
2012 8 tracks (52:11)
Despite going through traumatic line up changes and having one remaining original member of the core group, this sophisticated prog rock group delivers a creative impressive album. The titles are the only clue that there is a central theme, but the overall music is cohesive and interesting. Better to listen through it from beginning to end rather than listening to spot songs. The multi-layered splotches of guitars, keyboards, and miscellaneous other instruments is good throughout. B
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