THE VEILS are singer/songwriter FINN ANDREWS's baby, especially after he fired all of his bandmates after their 2004 debut, THE RUNAWAY FOUND. As he was barely 20 at the time, that deed no doubt seemed premature and precipitous -- the act of an emotionally unsteady enfant terrible.
Be that as it may, if the guy continues to produce thrillingly schizophrenic albums like 2006's NUX VOMICA, I say let him lay as many sacrificial heads on the chopping-block as his cold, dark heart desires.
Andrews' music has a shape-shifting, chameleon-quality to it (as does his voice, which is one that some listeners will have to grow to love). Just when you've got the record pegged as a well-executed exercise in breezy indie-pop and bright, joyous choruses ("Calliope!," "Advice for Young Mothers to Be"), the guy hauls out his hairshirt and starts going to town ("Jesus for the Jugular," "Pan"). But once that's done, he'll find the time and inclination to lighten up and do the BRUCE/E STREET BAND thing ("A Birthday Present"), or put his own stamp on the whole FRANZ FERDINAND/EDITORS/etc. trend ("One Night on Earth"). Through it all, that aforementioned voice of his rises and falls; sags and soars. At times, it's highly evocative of STARSAILOR's JAMES WALSH. But on the slow-burn-to-explosive title track, he could just as well be JEFF BUCKLEY's bitter big brother, angrily lurching his way through a DOORS/LED ZEPPELIN bender.My hope is that the two songs below will give you some idea of the sonic extremes to be found on Nux Vomica. The trip it'll take you on isn't the easiest you'll ever experience; there are a number of detours you'll have to endure. But, sometimes, getting lost and having to find your way back by unexpected means can make for the most exhilerating and worthwhile trip of all.Me, I'll follow this kid anywhere.
The Veils on MySPACE.
[MP3] "Advice for Young Mothers to Be"
[MP3] "Nux Vomica"
If I didn't know better, I'd guess that THE ESSEX GREEN were modern-day English hippies, lounging about some shabby-chic London flat, rotating out FAIRPORT CONVENTION and KINKS records under a bounteous, pungent haze.
Thing is: They're from Brooklyn. (I'm sticking with everything else.)
I'm not even going to try to list the members of the band; they've had a habit of switching out players over the years. Also, they're one of those groups that likes to moonlight, with members pulling second shifts with the likes of LADYBUG TRANSISTOR and THE SIXTH GREAT LAKE.
With their third full-length under the Essex Green moniker, the band seems to have found their comfort zone. As with THE SUBMARINES, these folks make skillful use of boy-girl vocal interplay while spinning their neo-psychedelic, indie-folk yarns. What makes CANNIBAL SEA the best record of their career to date isn't just that the song cycle here is the strongest they've yet produced (though it is), but also the fact that they've embraced a wider sonic palette and a more expansive, "cleaner" production style. The song below is one of the more simple and stripped-down on the album, but even here the charming vocals and familiar-but-winning melody-line win the day.
The Essex Green on MySPACE.
[MP3] "Rue de Lis"
Well, here's ANOTHER record that I had low hopes for coming into 2006. Truth be told, I hadn't heard much from ANDY LeMASTER's project in the past that had impressed me overmuch. Somehow, his sometimes formless, shoegaze-inspired compositions seemed over-stuffed, almost too intense, and just plain unappealing.
Not so for NOW IT'S OVERHEAD's third release, DARK LIGHT DAYBREAK. In November, I wrote: "the songs seem to have some sharper edges than in the past (which [is] welcome), but there remain[s] a certain unsatisfying drone... a certain lumbering quality to the note and chord progressions...."Obviously, at that point, I still wasn't entirely sold on the CD, even though I felt good enough about it to write it up and post a couple of songs. I have absolutely no problem recommending DARK LIGHT DAYBREAK fully now, after listening to it through a number of times. LeMaster's voice remains entirely recognizable from his earlier efforts, and some of that old, dense intensity remains. But the SONGS are better here, and that has to be the biggest step forward this Athens, Georgia band made in 2006.
Now It's Overhead on MySPACE.
[MP3] "Let Up"
I didn't particularly care for SCISSOR SISTERS' self-titled debut LP when it "came out" in 2004. I found the lead singer's voice annoying, and, after about a minute, their cover of PINK FLOYD's "Comfortably Numb" quickly skipped down the Yellow Brick Road toward tedium.
So, I didn't have the highest of expectations for 2006's follow-up, TA-DAH. Nonetheless, first single "I Don't Feel Like Dancin'" disarmed me quite a bit when it first hit the Internet, and I made a mental note to give the full album a fair shot before compiling my end-of-year Favorites list. Turns out, that mental note was a fortuitous one, as I ended up enjoying this record from "top-to-bottom." To my ears, it slants more toward late-'70s BEE GEES this time around than mid-'70s ELTON JOHN, so maybe it's my internal disco queen that's driving this pick. Regardless, like THE PIPETTES and THE FRATELLIS further down my list, Scissor Sisters traffic in fun, escapist pop for dancers and non-dancers alike.
Scissor Sisters on MySPACE.
[MP3] "I Can't Decide"
When I was but a wee lad, it was the era of the great Bubblegum Wars. I'm not talking about bubblegum pop MUSIC, by the way, but about ACTUAL bubblegum. You see, whether you preferred HUBBA BUBBA or BUBBLICIOUS back in the day could have a very major effect on a person's popularity at LEWIS CASS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL (or Lewis "Ass" Elementary School, seeing as pranksters were always making off with the "C").
All of that has pretty much nothing to do with my #7 selection for Top Album, 2006. I just happened to enjoy the hell out THE PIPETTES and their '60s-styled pop debut. Shallow? Perhaps. Not destined for a long shelf-life? Maybe so. Do I sometimes skip past Pipettes songs while blasting mix CDs from my car windows -- fearful that people on the street might mistake them for THE SPICE GIRLS? Guilty as charged.But great chord progressions are great chord progressions; great harmonies are great harmonies; great pop songs are great pop songs. Regardless of which brand of bubblegum you chew.
The Pipettes on MySPACE.
[MP3] "Judy"
Somebody should check the water in Montreal; there's something fishy (Vichy?) going on. What else to explain the greatness of ARCADE FIRE's 2004 FUNERAL and the also-pretty-damn-well-swell 2006 debut by city-mates MALAJUBE? The latter group shares some of the former's boisterous energy, though its songs tend to play out in their native French. But no matter. The careening, devil-may-care soundscapes require no translation, and they've more than succeeded in keeping me occupied while awaiting Arcade Fire's upcoming effort. Viva la French!
Malajube on MySPACE.
[MP3] "La Monogamie"
[Well, surely you didn't think I'd neglect to prepare a Top Albums lists for 2006 -- just like every other blogger and his brother? I spent quite a lot of time over the holidays re-listening to albums that I thought might make the final list. Some, of course, didn't quite live up to my initial evaluation(s). Others seemed to improve with the passage of time. I'll be rolling these out over the next few days, and you won't be seeing such blog beloveds as JOANNA NEWSOM, TV ON THE RADIO, SUFJAN STEVENS, or BEIRUT here. Their popularity continues to mystify me.]
Sometimes, being dropped by your record company can be a GOOD thing. It seems to have worked out that way for Arizona's THE FORMAT, who were dumped by Atlantic before releasing 2006's excellent DOG PROBLEMS.
On June 27, I wrote about these guys: "You can hear a bit of XTC in THE FORMAT's sound. Also: BEN FOLDS and THE FLAMING LIPS. But there's something of the '70s burbling up in there, too. A heaping helping of HARRY NILSSON, perhaps? A sliver of SUPERTRAMP? Well, why the hell not."
The Format on MySPACE.
[MP3] "I'm Actual"
