New records by nerBeater, Devendra Banhart, Zebras, Warren Teagarden, Klang, The Rhythm Messiahs, and Ontologist—reviews and more info after the jump!
cd 16358
nerBeater
Decibel Salad
Post Egoism Media, 2009
Brenden MacDonald—aka nerBeater—hides out in the hamlet of Nanaimo, British Columbia where he finds sufficient solitude to concentrate on his craft of laptop-produced electronica…Decibel Salad is his fifth release since 2005, and the 71-minute, 21-track opus is packed with engaging minor-key nuggets…house, techno and hip hop beats take turns grounding the cuts, but it’s the wide and weird palette of synth timbres, noisy washes, media-sampled voiceovers and MacDonald’s own goofy humming and vocalizing that work together to fly his nerdy and unique freak-flag…
http://www.myspace.com/nerbeater
cd 16357
Devendra Banhart
What Will We Be
Warner Bros., 2009
Here comes multi-culti, pan-sexual nu-hippie folk rocker Devendra Banhart again,with the seventh album he’s brought out under his own name since 2002—that count excludes plenty of EPs, collaborations with other artists, etc…What Will We Be continues in the promising vein of focused songcraft that appeared around the time of Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon (2007)—this to contrast with the stoned fragmentation and meandering that previously vexed his output…not to say that the dude isn’t still wacky as all get out, and it’s probably even true that at least in some sense, he really is the charlatan and pied-piper his detractors have always claimed him to be…it’s just that by now it’s become clear he’s gifted in not only throwing out tons of musical ideas, but together with his talented band, capable of fleshing them out into stirring little pop rhapsodies…just don’t stare directly into his eyes…
http://www.myspace.com/devendrabanhart
cd 16358
Zebras
Parasitic Clones Under the Strong Arm of the Robotic Machine (EP)
Secret, 2008
Here’s a seven-song blast from a co-ed trio of Wisconsin spazzoids…Zebras are wound up tight, vibrating with pent-up aggression—when the leashes come off they play tricky prog-punk at breakneck speed…the band foregoes bass guitar, instead substituting Moog synthesizer for a suitably alien vibe…guitarist Vincent Presley, veteran of many previous Badger State outre outfits, is also on the mic, sounding like a caged pig squealing for vengeance…
http://www.myspace.com/slazebras
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Warren Teagarden
Ugly As A Monkey
self-released, 2009
San Francisco’s Warren Teagarden is a guitar toting singer-songwriter whose wordy tunes tend to chug along as mid-tempo rock—so how does he stand out from the million other doofuses who fit the same basic description?…the answer is that Teagarden seems to understand that he’s a doofus, while his unpretentiousness and limitations actually lend him some charm and dignity that the vast majority of vapid, preening S-S’s can’t touch…Teagarden’s ditties—unassumingly recorded using both overdubs and two backing musicians—are mostly of the pathetic romantic longing variety…but when they’re belted out in his bizarre nasally whine, it’s like he’s already conquering his fears and insecurities just by opening his misshapen mouth…he’s an ordinary guy with an unfortunate disfigurement (his voice) that ironically proves he deserves a listen…I recommend cueing up his cover of “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun”—yes, the Cyndi Lauper hit—which he plays completely deadpan, for a terrific gender-bent hoot…
http://www.myspace.com/warrenteagarden
cd 16360
Klang
Tea Music
Allos / Improvised Communications, 2009
Here’s a classy set by four terrific players from Chicago’s thriving jazz and improvised-music community…Tea Music’s tunes were written by clarinetist James Falzone, whose round, minty tone contrasts with his often knotty compositional style…he’s ably joined by Jason Adasiewicz on vibraphone, Jason Roebke on bass and Tim Daisy on drums…the mood is warm and conversational, but also rich with ideas and exploration…this is no violent screech-fest, but neither is it a pat recital of easy melodies and loungey clichés—in other words Klang rewards the active listener…
http://www.myspace.com/jamesfalzone
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The Rhythm Messiahs
Melody Method
Post Egoism Media, 2009
Eugene, Oregon’s J.D. Casten makes music as The Rhythm Messiahs, and he also produces computer-based visual art, video, philosophical treatises and more—check his website below…Rhythm Messiahs is beat-driven electronica with plenty of identifiable instrument sounds as part of a sample-delic cornucopia…Casten himself uses the term ‘trip hop’ to describe Rhythm Messiahs, but unlike most of the numbingly repetitive drivel that falls under that tag, there’s an acute intellect behind this heady brew, mixing and matching dozens of different colors, effects and percussive devices for some vibrant, occasionally hypnotic results…my only quibble is that every track uses a 4/4 beat—if Casten could only push himself a little further, and break away from 4/4 hegemony, I think he could achieve some serious mindblowing…
http://www.myspace.com/therhythmmessiahs
cd / dvd 16362
Ontologist
Arrow To The Sun
Canzona, 2009
…and speaking of mindblowing, here’s a disc that can take the listener all the way, even though paradoxically it often sounds a zenlike restraint…Ontologist is Chicago’s Patrick Liddell, who incorporates the palettes of 20th Century minimalism and IDM (Intelligent Dance Music), using both ‘real’ instruments as well as electronics…some portions of Arrow To The Sun were produced by Liddell operating solo, and others by ensembles he’s led or conducted…there’s a stream of constantly changing ideas, and every track has its surprises, from field recordings of birds and thunder to a stately a capella chorus to an Indonesian gamelan to gorgeous orchestral groups…when Lidell uses synths, their tones are carefully sculpted and never sound like presets…
The lavish foldout disc package for the album features a grid of dozens of seemingly unrelated images—somehow (I think) trying to convey a totality of human experience…the track listing inside the package outlines a concept for the album as a boy’s coming-of-age journey…there’s also a separate DVD version of the entire album included, with Lidell’s varied and imaginative video interpretations of his own sounds (it’s too bad we can’t broadcast the images over radio)…Arrow To The Sun is a grandly ambitious project, and the heights it aspires to are often met…
http://www.myspace.com/neominimal
ps! check out the Live From WZRD Chicago podcast soon for a new episode featuring Jewsus—-you can click the link or just search WZRD on itunes and subscribe!
Peace, Love, and Freeform!
