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| | Latest magazine (Swedish)
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| | Rolling stone
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The Besnard Lakes - The Besnard Lakes Are the Roaring Night
Artist:
The Besnard Lakes
Review:
At its website, Montreal's Breakglass Studios — run by
Besnard Lakes bandleader Jace Lasek — trumpets its custom
1969 Neve mixing board, used by Led Zeppelin on Physical
Graffiti. The same piece of equipment was used on "Albatross,"
a standout on the Lakes' immersive second LP, a magnificently
oceanic meld of Beach Boys harmonies, My Bloody Valentine tidal
waves and Phil Spector girl-group siren songs shot through with
soaring guitar. It's a producer's wet dream, like most of
the...
Rating:
3.5 Stars
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Beat The Devil's Tattoo
Artist:
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Review:
Five studio albums in, California psych-garage trio Black Rebel
Motorcycle Club are still religious zealots — worshippers in
rock's Gothic cathedral. The song titles tell the tale: "Bad
Blood," "War Machine," "River Styx." In "Aya," singer-guitarist
Peter Hayes moans, "She's a reckless lover/With blood-stained
hands/Around the neck of her helpless man." There was a time, circa
2001, when Black Rebel Motorcycle Club were supposed to inherit the
Earth, or at least the mantle of Rock's Great...
Rating:
3 Stars
Serj Tankian - Elect The Dead
Artist:
Serj Tankian
Review:
System of a Down frontman Serj Tankian's 2007 solo debut,
Elect the Dead, was a harmless brain-dump, but the idea of
recording it live with an orchestra is another story. The Auckland
Philharmonia Orchestra gamely chase Tankian into a maze of
art-song, but where SoD might turn lyrics like "prophets all
destroying the Tao" into an apocalyptic blitz, surging symphonics
expose it as the doofy pomp it is. And asking classical musicians
to play a song called "Beethoven's Cunt"? That's just mean.
Rating:
1.5 Stars
Jimi Hendrix - Valleys Of Neptune
Artist:
Jimi Hendrix
Review:
Some grousing from fans greets most posthumous Jimi Hendrix
studio releases. And fair enough: Hendrix can't offer his opinion
anymore, and between past dubious product (i.e., the heavily
overdubbed Crash Landing) and ongoing estate squabbles,
there's been plenty of sketchy business over the years. But on
Valleys of Neptune — a collection of more-or-less
previously unreleased tracks recorded with the Jimi Hendrix
Experience in 1969, assembled by the archivists at Legacy and the
Hendrix...
Rating:
3.5 Stars
Broken Bells - Broken Bells
Artist:
Broken Bells
Review:
Part Kanye West, part Brian Eno, producer-musician Brian Burton
— a.k.a. Danger Mouse — has defined himself with his
excellent taste in brilliant misfits. His biggest smash was Gnarls
Barkley, with whom he turned oddball former Dirty South rapper
Cee-Lo into a falsetto swinging soulman on the sublime "Crazy,"
triggering moving karaoke performances worldwide. He's helped
blues-rock freaks the Black Keys find their groove; helped
midcareer weirdo Beck locate his mojo on 2008's
Modern...
Rating:
4 Stars
Various Artists - Amchitka
Artist:
Various Artists
Review:
This two-CD set documents a 1970 Vancouver fundraiser that sent a
boatload of protesters off to halt nuclear-bomb tests on Alaska's
Amchitka Island — the first example of Greenpeace-style
activism. The concert was sweet and stirring: Phil Ochs is in fine
voice despite tape noise; ditto a 22-year-old James Taylor,
showcasing his brand-new Sweet Baby James. But the night
belonged to a giggly, incandescent Joni Mitchell, previewing songs
from her future classic Blue. Choice moment: "Big...
Rating:
3.5 Stars
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