Ugly Rumors

Hoop Of Love: Ugly Rumors’ Top 50 Albums of 2011

E. — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 15:00:46 +0000

Yes, it’s been a while, and it’s going to be even more of a while. No, I don’t want to draw the curtain entirely, but I am going to invite you to join me in an extended intermission. Writing this blog has been (and continues to be) a delight, even if the amount of time I can dedicate to its upkeep wanes. Please enjoy this roundup of my favorite albums of the year, and browse through my old reviews which stand the test of time (if I should be so bold).

50. Unknown Mortal Orchestra – Unknown Mortal Orchestra
49. Twin Sister – In Heaven
48. Atlas Sound – Parallax
47. The War On Drugs – Slave Ambient
46. PJ Harvey – Let England Shake
45. Laura Veirs – Tumble Bee
44. John Wesley Harding – The Sound Of His Own Voice
43. Mariachi El Bronx – Mariachi El Bronx (II)
42. Pokey LaFarge & the South City Three – Middle of Everywhere
41. Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues
40. Deer Tick – Divine Providence
39. The Feelies – Here Before
38. DeVotchKa – 100 Lovers
37. The Twilight Singers – Dynamite Steps
36. Gospel Music – How To Get To Heaven From Jacksonville, FL
35. The Horrors – Skying
34. Man Man – Life Fantastic
33. Kate Bush – 50 Words For Snow
32. The Go! Team – Rolling Blackouts
31. Dominant Legs – Invitation
30. Hunx and his Punx – Too Young To Be In Love
29. Blitzen Trapper – American Goldwing
28. Girls – Father, Son, Holy Ghost
27. Okkervil River – I Am Very Far
26. Bon Iver – Bon Iver, Bon Iver
25. Architecture In Helsinki – Moment Bends
24. Foster The People – Torches
23. Cut Copy – Zonoscope
22. The Black Keys – El Camino
21. Wild Flag – Wild Flag
20. Cold Cave – Cherish the Light Years
19. Elbow – Build A Rocket Boys!
18. Tom Waits – Bad As Me
17. Destroyer – Kaputt
16. Shilpa Ray & Her Happy Hookers – Teenage and Torture
15. Mister Heavenly – Out Of Love
14. Lykke Li – Wounded Rhymes
13. St. Vincent – Strange Mercy
12. The Raveonettes – Raven In The Grave
11. The Vaccines – What Did You Expect From The Vaccines?
10. TV On The Radio – Nine Types Of Light
9. Peter Bjorn And John – Gimme Some
8. tUnE-yArDs – w h o k i l l
7. Dum Dum Girls – Only In Dreams
6. Middle Brother – Middle Brother
5. Battles – Gloss Drop
4. Smith Westerns – Dye It Blonde
3. Black Lips – Arabia Mountain
2. The Baseball Project – Volume 2: High And Inside
1. Cults – Cults

Thanks for reading and have a happy new year!
E.

Under Review: Kate Bush – 50 Words For Snow

E. — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 15:00:37 +0000

As artists go, Kate Bush is artsier than most. From her start as a teenage musical bookworm through her spans of creative reclusion, Bush herself has been as unpredictable as her muse. After a multi-year break (which itself followed an even longer break), Bush returned earlier this year with something both new and old, Director’s Cut. A collection of reworked songs from two mid-career albums, The Red Shoes and The Sensual World, Director’s Cut hinted at Bush’s new experiments without revealing them outright. With 50 Words For Snow, her tenth album, Bush has created a concept record in its purest form. Each of the seven tracks is a variation on a single theme, and that theme is indeed snow. With all unnecessary embellishments clipped away, 50 Words For Snow is far from Bush’s most approachable album, but it is nonetheless rewarding in its moods and stories.

Despite its chilly subject matter, 50 Words For Snow is a warm-sounding record. Bush is accompanied, albeit very gently, by bassist Danny Thompson and drummer Steve Gadd; they help give a loose and jazzy feel to Bush’s meditative explorations. The stories told on 50 Words For Snow are charming, wistful and, true to Bush’s nature, a little strange. The album’s centerpiece is “Misty,” in which Bush is visited by an amorous snowman crafted by her own hand. Her voice is tentative, suggesting a slight fear of the apparition, though she reassures herself that she’s “not afraid.” As you could well imagine, things don’t turn out well for the frigid visitor, and Bush’s repetition of “I can feel him melting in my hand” implies a most morbid climax. Other arctic creatures are presented, such as the Abominable Snowman in “Wild Man.” Bush naturally relates to the beast, having spent several years in seclusion through the ‘90s and ‘00s. While her eager fans might not have posed as much a threat as those hunting for the Himalayan yeti, “Wild Man” nonetheless paints a picture of a kindly creature who just wants to be left alone.

Throughout the album, Bush is visited by a number of more worldly guests. On opener “Snowflake,” her son Albert’s choir-like intonations embody the titular crystal in a haunting way. Elton John appears on “Snowed in at Wheeler Street,” a tale of lovers meeting after years of separation. While it might have been more apropos for Peter Gabriel to guest on this song, John’s mid-range vocal complements Bush’s boundless voice. On the title track, Bush counts to 50 as Stephen Fry conjures various terms and ideas related to snow. This is a highly specific seasonal album, to be sure, but for its potentially limited yearly plays, 50 Words For Snow excels in capturing the indescribable essence of cozying up to a roaring fire as snow piles up outside. Bush’s skills as an artist emerge only fleetingly in recent years, but are put to tremendous work when they’re on display as they are on 50 Words For Snow.

Under Review: Tom Waits – Bad As Me

E. — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 15:00:26 +0000

Calling the music of Tom Waits an ‘acquired taste’ isn’t nearly enough. A complete suspension of every musical convention is more like it. Then again, Waits’ entire career has been so rooted in variations on traditional music (folk, jazz, blues) that it would be fair to say that he’s as American as they come. Over the past few decades, perhaps coinciding with his marriage to artist Kathleen Brennan, Waits’ albums have become increasingly experimental, reinforcing everything that both his fans and critics were saying about him. Going in to Bad As Me, Waits’ seventeenth studio album and first since 2004, you might expect a characteristically difficult presentation. In fact, the album is one of the more accessible ones that Waits has made in years, even if being ‘accessible’ still requires the mind to be open to Waits’ peculiar muse. Bad As Me frantically opens with “Chicago,” dropping the listener into a bustling scene that’s already in action. The album’s songs generally fall into two distinct modes: raucous and challenging or tender and understated. Waits is a long-established master of both sentiments, and Bad As Me finds him channeling his strengths into a taut package.

With regards to the more difficult (read: classic Waits) moments, they serve as Bad As Me’s biggest hooks. The loping noir of the goody-goody-skewering title track and the militaristic clang of “Hell Broke Luce” are some of the most ear-catching moments on the record. To be fair, Waits usually adheres to the mantra of ‘If something’s worth doing, it’s worth overdoing.’ His angry songs are very angry, but his sentimental songs are very sentimental. On Bad As Me, we get the reflective “Last Leaf,” in which Waits marvels at his own “staying power.” This disarming moment of creative doubt (from such a singularly creative artist) gives Waits a rare vulnerability. The Mexicali flair of “Back In The Crowd” comes courtesy of Los Lobos’ David Hidalgo, whose guitar work gives a melodic counter Marc Ribot’s more aggressive style. Bad As Me ends with “New Year’s Eve,” whose interpolation of “Auld Lang Syne” caps off the record with a feeling of both celebration and melancholy. Expressing and embodying universally core emotions is a skill that Waits has honed over nearly forty years. His music is certainly not for everyone, even if it is infinitely relatable.

Under Review: Veronica Falls – Veronica Falls

E. — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 14:00:03 +0000

With few exceptions, upbeat indie pop acts can often get too cheery for their own good. Thanks to bands like Belle & Sebastian and Camera Obscura, though, dark romanticism has helped give an edge to songs that might otherwise be too sappy. Things work nearly the other way around for London/Glasgow coed quartet Veronica Falls. Since creeping onto the scene a few years ago with a string of gloomy pop singles, Veronica Falls’ ethos has been rooted in mixing chilling guitar figures and macabre lyrical motifs and injecting just enough twisted pleasure to avoid total ennui. While a number of songs on Veronica Falls, the group’s full-length debut, were previously released on various singles and EPs, the complete set (including new songs) expertly blends the fresh with familiar, the pretty and eerie. The album begins with one of the group’s earliest songs, “Found Love In A Graveyard,” whose monotonous intonations from the male members underscore Roxanne Clifford’s necromancing. Songs like “Beachy Head” (which, as any Throbbing Gristle fan will tell you, refers to a popular British suicide cliff) exploit the inherent darkness of well-known cultural reference points, but Veronica Falls also do quite well when they explore the chasms of human interaction.

Veronica Falls’ skills at contrast go much further than simple vocal counterpoints. The ominous refrain of “Bad Feeling,” “I’ve got a bad feeling/and it’s not going away,” is delivered with such exuberance that you might forget just how grim a song it is. When Clifford’s guitar locks into a groove with guitarist James Hoare’s, the result is tense and exciting. The intro to album closer “Come On Over” is gorgeous in its simplicity, and when the song kicks in around the 45 second mark, the group launches into its most captivating composition. With a nod to Tommy James’ “Crimson And Clover” (it does rhyme, after all), “Come On Over” is a chugging, dynamic gem that sounds both retro and timeless. Slightly discordant guitars give the song a woozy imbalance, and the ambiguous yet inviting lyrics perfectly demonstrates the band’s mood-blending skills. By showing how fun it is to be miserable, Veronica Falls have created an essential pop album.

Under Review: Girls – Father, Son, Holy Ghost

E. — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 17:26:40 +0000

San Francisco’s Girls have a very strong creative leader in Christopher Owens. On the group’s debut album, simply titled Album, Owens unleashed a barrage of classic pop influenced material. The feelings of mental anguish as well as unbridled freedom heard in Owens’ music primarily stems from his childhood in the California-based Children Of God cult (now known as the Family International Movement). Back then, Owens’ outlets for expression were limited, and his intake of popular music was restricted. Gleaning sounds from the backgrounds of movies, Owens cultivated a love for the sunny, pastoral pop of ‘60s bands like the Beach Boys as well as the bombastically emotional rock of ‘70s groups like Queen. The timid fragility of Album was all but purged by the time Broken Dreams Club, a six-song mini album, was released last year. With that release, Owens embraced a jangly, Big Star-indebted power pop sound. That sound (along with many other new ones) carries over into Father, Son, Holy Ghost, Girls’ second full length.

Though he’s become insurmountably more confident as a performer, Owens’ music still features a lurking unpredictability. For starters, there are musical moments on Father, Son, Holy Ghost that are quite surprising, even taking Girls’ adventurous past into account. The first surprise comes only a few songs in, on “Die.” The song’s intro is a noisy, relentlessly propulsive rush, with searing guitars falling in the middle ground between glam rock and heavy metal. A quick transition brings a speedy, punkishly pessimistic delivery from Owens. An about face brings on the last movement, a hazy, Pink Floyd-ish outro. Another focal point on the album is “Vomit,” an extended ballad that features hushed strumming, a full choir and wailing electric organ. Its Book of Proverbs-nodding title and quasi-gospel composition alludes to Owens’ continued frustration/fascination with his faith. After all, he did name the album Father, Son, Holy Ghost.

The more straightforward songs on the record are just as rewarding as the aforementioned experiments. Sprightly opener “Honey Bunny” and its thematic companion, “My Ma,” are both odes to Owens’ mother. Like Christopher, Owens’ mother was part of the Children Of God, and their turbulent relationship has served as the basis for some of Girls’ most intense songs. The jaunty “Magic” and the breezy “How Can I Say I Love You” are exercises in throwback pop songwriting, and Owens sticks the landings on each. The album closes with “Jamie Marie,” ostensibly a relative of Album’s “Lauren Marie.” The song’s a very delicate number that Owens has likened to the character studies of Randy Newman. Steeped in pop’s past and effortlessly forging its future, Owens continues to take Girls into bold and immeasurably captivating directions.

Under Review: Twin Sister – In Heaven

E. — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 15:00:31 +0000

I’ve always had a fascination with the first song on a given band’s first album. To me, it’s a declarative statement, announcing both ‘Here we are’ and ‘This is who we are.’ More often than not, those first songs feature slight variations on that band’s main musical mode, offering just enough of a hook before the band gets into their groove. Think of songs like Talking Heads’ “Uh Oh, Love Comes To Town” or The B-52s’ “Planet Claire.” Despite having a number of eclectic EPs already to their credit, New York quintet Twin Sister don’t make themselves any easier to pin down on their debut album, In Heaven. If you only went by In Heaven’s opening track, “Daniel,” you’d be led to believe that Twin Sister is a cocktail jazz-inspired mood music group. Swirling synths and a nagging percussion sequence just barely accompany Andrea Estella’s unusual vocal style, which sounds like a cross between Madeleine Peyroux and Shivaree’s Ambrosia Parsley. Just a few songs later, on the sassy “Bad Street,” funk and R&B are the predominant influences. Twin Sister continue changing things up on just about every song, but In Heaven never sounds disjointed.

Atmospheres are a big part of In Heaven’s particular character, and while each song is very different from its companions, the moods are all established strongly and quickly. The spacey-yet-pastoral “Kimmi In A Ricefield” evokes a sense of being blissfully lost in nature, and the late-album delight “Gene Ciampi” is a Morricone-esque roundup. On the whole, Twin Sister sound like a more skeletal version of a number of late ‘80s pop bands. “Saturday Sunday” recalls Harriet Wheeler and The Sundays and with its breezy delivery, and “Space Babe” is a laid back take on New Order’s melodic house music. Direct comparisons are easy enough to bandy about (as you can see), but the truth is that Twin Sister’s sound is as unique as it is difficult to fully ascertain. Sure, they’re a pop band at heart, but no deviation from that core is off limits to them. As a debut album, In Heaven doesn’t quite deliver on the exact promise set up by Twin Sister’s EPs, but it shows that there’s much more to Twin Sister than those EPs ever could.

Aural Fixation: Dominant Legs

E. — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 14:00:09 +0000

Think of the music of San Francisco, and you might be drawn to the freakouts of the Haight-Ashbury district of yore. More recently, the Bay Area has been home to a burgeoning garage rock scene, albeit one heavily influenced by those legendary psychedelic rockers. One band that isn’t lo-fi by any stretch of the imagination is a duo called Dominant Legs. Formed by Ryan Lynch and Hannah Hunt, Dominant Legs do away with fuzzy guitars and distorted vocals in favor of a glimmering new wave sound that’s more Human League than human be-in.

After releasing a Dominant Legs EP a few years ago, Lynch joined SF pop/rockers Girls. Now that he’s back with his own group, Lynch has time to explore and expand his rich, retro sound. Dominant Legs’ debut, Invitation, is indeed inviting, with cleverly written tracks like “Hoop Of Love” and the cooing “Make Time For The Boy.” The most overt influences on Dominant Legs’ sound are bands from the ‘80s like Prefab Sprout and OMD, but there are also touches of ‘60s girl- and bubblegum groups to be heard. The swirling “Darling Girls” sounds like a track from a lost John Hughes soundtrack, and “Lady Is Sleek And So Petite” gives modern dance-pop a cool makeover.

Romance plays a big part in Dominant Legs’ lyrics, but the drama and theatricality is knowingly over the top. The grooving “She Can Boss Me Around” is a moody tale of loving submission and “2 Thoughts About U” does sorta evoke Prince’s mid-‘80s jittery funk. By playing against their local trends, Lynch and Hunt have come upon a timeless and trendsetting sound..

Watch: Dominant Legs – “Hoop Of Love” from Invitation (2011)

Under Review: Dum Dum Girls – Only In Dreams

E. — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 14:00:53 +0000

You can hear a multitude of emotions in the voice of Kristen “Dee Dee” Gundred on the Dum Dum Girls’ new album, Only In Dreams. That’s worth noting since Dee Dee’s delivery on her band’s full-length debut, last year’s I Will Be, was deadpan, detached and distorted. A more dynamic vocal style is not the only change this time around, as the full-band sound of the He Gets Me High EP is carried through the new set. As purveyors of sassy garage pop, Dum Dum Girls haven’t forgotten their roots in tape-based, two-minute rock n’ roll. Only In Dreams, despite its richer production, offers plenty of punchy moments to satisfy fans of the Girls’ early output.

The opening one-two of “Always Looking” and “Bedroom Eyes” features call-and-response vocals, lush harmonies and towering guitars. Unlike many other lo-fi records (including I Will Be), Only In Dreams boasts a sound that’s cloudy rather than muddy. The production work comes from legendary songwriter Richard Gotteher (who also worked on I Will Be) along with Sune Rose Wagner of The Raveonettes (who assisted Gotteher on He Gets Me High). The atmospheric arrangements on Only In Dreams aren’t unlike those on Raven In The Grave, but Dee Dee’s particularly personal songwriting is never obscured.

Dee Dee has proven herself to be exceptionally skilled in conveying her ideas within the confines of a brief pop song. Furthermore, many moments on Only In Dreams stand out within the context of their respectively surrounding songs. A short bridge in “In My Head” shows a keen understanding of how the songwriting staple is best used. The slow-burning closing track, “Hold Your Hand,” is an elegiac number that reflects on the recent death of Dee Dee’s mother, a recurring theme throughout the album. At the album’s center is the stunning, show-stopping “Coming Down,” a six-minute ballad that evokes one of Dee Dee’s acknowledged influences: Mazzy Star. The rapid progression from one-girl noise blitz to fleshed out rock band has been thrilling to watch; a meteoric rise to maturity that befits the Dum Dum Girls’ newfound cinematic style.

Under Review: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – Hysterical

E. — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 14:00:37 +0000

I for one cannot blame Clap Your Hands Say Yeah for wanting to take the last few years off. With the release of their 2007 sophomore album, Some Loud Thunder, the Philadelphia/Brooklyn group found themselves in the uncanny situation of being ripped apart by the very internet-based writers who heaped praise upon the guys’ self-titled debut just a few years before. As you can well imagine, Some Loud Thunder wasn’t a particularly bad album, but anything that wasn’t a direct sequel to Clap Your Hands Say Yeah just wasn’t going to do it for those fickle bloggers. In the ensuing years, singer Alec Ounsworth released a solo album and a disc with a new group, Flashy Python, drummer Sean Greenhalgh worked on movie soundtracks, guitarist Lee Sargent and his bassist brother Tyler have formed several bands, as has keyboardist Robbie Guertin. While the guys remained busy on their own, they never officially declared an end to CYHSY, leaving future endeavors an ongoing possibility. Following the release of a demo track called “Statues,” Clap Your Hands Say Yeah has officially returned with a third album, Hysterical.

For anyone who was hotly anticipating Hysterical, they will probably not be disappointed. Most of the songs are upbeat, straightforward and hooky. If there’s a hint of dejection in my description, it’s only because Hysterical is a remarkably average album considering the circumstances of the band behind it. If CYHSY were planning on making a return with this album, they certainly have. A grand return? Maybe not. Opening with the headrush of “Same Mistake,” Hysterical’s musical identity is that of a pretty textbook indie rock album. The yelping “Maniac” is pleasantly jittery and “Ketamine And Ecstasy” has a bubbly, early-‘90s energy. These moments are regrettably overshadowed by bloated extended arrangements (“Into Your Alien Arms,” “Adam’s Plane”) and indistinguishable filler songs (“Same Mistake,” good as it is, is followed by the nearly identical title track). Mid-career fumbles are excusable enough, but Clap Your Hands Say Yeah should know how to make a compelling re-entrance, even if they never really made an exit in the first place.

Under Review: Ladytron – Gravity The Seducer

E. — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 14:00:55 +0000

For a band to release a career retrospective without disbanding is an intriguing move. Ladytron, the co-ed British electronic group, celebrated the tenth anniversary of their debut, 604, with an album collecting their finest moments of the past decade. After spending some time looking back, the band now looks ahead with a new album, Gravity The Seducer. Never content to settle into one style, Ladytron’s sound has drifted around romantically menacing themes for the past few albums. Gravity The Seducer is no different, though it doesn’t pack as much of an immediate wallop as other recent efforts. Ladytron’s last album, Velocifero, boasted a thunderous, industrial sound courtesy of ex-Nine Inch Nails keyboardist Alessandro Cortini. The strong rhythms complimented and contrasted Helen Marnie’s plaintive, melodic vocals very well, making Velocifero an impressive effort. The band’s focus on Gravity The Seducer has shifted away from throbbing beats and more toward melody, although the songs take a few passes to truly sink in.

Containing nearly as many ballads as upbeat numbers, Gravity The Seducer begins with “White Elephant,” a kind of elegantly baroque retelling of Suicide’s “Shadazz.” The album’s other single, “Ambulances,” is sparse and pleading, with gothic backing vocals framing Marnie’s sorrow-laden lead. A trio of instrumentals punctuates the record, the first two, “Ritual” and “Transparent Days” are satisfying enough, but sound somewhat incomplete. Also notably missing are any Bulgarian contributions from keyboardist Mira Aroyo. Gravity The Seducer does feature “Ace Of Hz,” a new song that originally appeared on the aforementioned decade best-of. Repetition in the name of familiarity is one thing (as is giving a pretty good song a proper home), but the inclusion of “Aces High,” an instrumental variation on the song, is questionable at best and lazy at worst. If just one band were to be tasked with saving the music industry, Ladytron would not be that band. They still deserve your attention, but they might not be able to hold it for nearly as long as they could in the past.