Adventures In Stereo
Adventures In Stereo CD
Marina. MA 24.
by Keith Mclachlan.
February 2, 1997.
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I have seen schizophrenic reactions to this album, dripping praise for
its melding of Stereolab cha-cha-chas with Beach Boys melodicism and
damning spite for its lack of originality and overtly sweet
tendencies. Well I will tell you if you don't love this record then
you must really hate ice cream, and puppy dogs and all other things
that bring universal smiles. Jim Beattie, ex-Spirea X'er and
ex-Primal Screamer has crafted a grand tribute to Phil Spector here, a
clutch of 18 radio-friendly short pop ditties, well, radio-friendly
back when radio stations had taste, that remind me of the Crystals,
The Ronettes, Supremes, all of the great girl groups from the early to
mid 60's. Maybe the singer is not quite up to those standards but she
sings like she has a heart of gold, truly charming beyond description.
Laika
Breather CD
by Keith Mclachlan.
February 2, 1997.
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Not a lot has changed in camp Laika, they still come off as a
danceable, groovy version of My Bloody Valentine, and they still have
perhaps too much dependence on technology but they still write ace
tunes, and inject enough warmth to outstrip the competition when it
comes to making highly technical music liveable for those of us who
prefer our guitars with 12 strings and not played through a Macintosh.
The 236 mix of "Looking for Jackalope" is especially great. I am happy
Laika has not followed Moonshake in their spiraling descent down the
tubes.
Gorky's Zygotic Mynci
Tatay CD
Ankst. 047.
by Keith McLachlan.
December 26, 1996.
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Continuing on the Welsh theme, this is a reissue of the first Gorky's
Zygotic Mynci record, which would have been recorded when the band
members were all still fresh faced teens. If you have heard the
domestic major label debut from GZM called Introducing... well then
you are sorely mistaken if you think that it is a fine collection of
their early work, no it is not. This record finds the Mynci's all
over the map sounding like a bunch of weirdos creating their own
little version of fairyland. Again the songs are sung in both English
and Welsh, but it is the Welsh songs that are most mysterious, for
both the obvious and not-so obvious reasons. Whomever tabbed this
phenomenon as a rehash of prog-rock is sad and old, this is fun, fresh
and brilliant, especially in the rush of bands trying to become the
next Oasis.
Alec Bathgate
Gold Lame CD
Flying Nun. fnn 353.
by Keith McLachlan.
December 26, 1996.
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For years the nearly silent half of the magnificent Tall Dwarfs, Alec
has stepped from the shadow of his more famous cohort Chris Knox and
created a charming little jangler of an album. Alec is the only
member of the Dwarfs that can actually play so you learn that he is
the architect of the Dwarfs wonderful hooks as this comes off sounding
like a record of Alec's out-takes from Tall Dwarf sessions. Mostly
acoustic and winsome, Alec does get louder on tracks like "Your Heavy
Dream Won't Fly" which has the best harmony vocals I've heard since,
uh, whenever, and "Happy Hound" which ends in a crazy instrumental
freakout. But mostly the songs are sweet, intelligent and dizzyingly
melodic. A treat.
Fuxa
Very Well Organized CD
Mind Expansion.
by Keith McLachlan.
December 26, 1996.
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As a resident of the fine metropolitan area surrounding Detroit it is
tough not to be completely sick of all the hype surrounding the
"Michigan Space Rokk" thing, but as a resilient soul I will carry on
and talk up this nice new Fuxa disc. First off these guys are full of
themselves, from personal experience there, but it doesn't really seem
to infringe on their creative abilities, no over the top excesses
here, but then there isn't anything that would make you sit with mouth
agape either. The same organ is trampled on every song and the effect
is more sedentary than hypnotic, nothing happens on any of the songs.
Perhaps that is intentional? Who knows? It probably makes for nice
background music while reading the latest William Shatner "Tekwar"
masterpiece but I don't believe anyone would say the music here is
compelling enough to stand on its own.
the Divine Comedy
Casanova CD
Red Ink.
by Keith McLachlan.
December 26, 1996.
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Out of Stock.
I wonder, sometimes, if indeed I am the only one who desperately
misses Prefab Sprout and all of their wonderfully adult pop. But
alas, along comes Neil Hannon to soothe the ache with a stunning album
of pretension and pretty much all other things english. Starting with
"Something for the Weekend" which sounds vaguely like the Judybats
(who of course were something close to the American version of Prefab
Sprout) and moving through a grand line of sweeping ballads and
cheeky, clever pop songs Casanova is destined to be a record that
is either despised with all intents or loved for the spectacle it is.
Put me firmly in the latter camp. Of course I still wish Paddy McAloon
would come out of hiding, but this is a keeper.