I hadn’t heard Milwaukee’s art punk acolytes Body Futures until last night when my band played with them and were blown away. Taking the best lessons punk and new wave can teach them, they create a fusion of the two that is bursting with power and fury. Their live show was a whirlwind of guitars and autoharp and “HEY” bgvs, and the record is just as good. See you around, Body Futures.
Month: August 2014
Record #267: Daft Punk – Random Access Memories (2013)
For years, Daft Punk has shown the world glimpses of pop music’s future. Tracks like “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger” or “Human After All” broke through the surface of pop consciousness like an elusive White Whale before diving back down into the depths.
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Record #266: The Drift – Memory Drawings (2008)
Here’s the thing about post rock. As much as the term brings up images of heavily delayed guitars playing glacially paced riffs until they explode into bombast, that hardly accounts for every group under the term’s large umbrella. Continue reading
Record #265: Chuck Berry – Chuck Berry’s Golden Hits (1967)
I don’t care what Back to the Future says: rock n roll was not invented by Marty McFly. It was invented by Mr. Charles Berry, who here offers newly recorded versions of his previous hits.
Record #264: Isis – Panopticon (2004)
Lately, it has occurred to me that I really, really, really like metal. But not just any metal. Not the dirty, long haired, macho, thrashy metal the baggy-black-shirted kids in high school listen to, or the moshy, blast-beating, breakdowning metal the tight-pantsed kids with eyeliner listen to.
It’s not enough for metal to be pissed. No, metal needs to be powerful. Enter Isis, who offer here one of the best metal albums of all time without a single masturbatory, finger tapped solo or palm muted “chug-chug-chug. Chiggity chug-chug-chug.”
Instead, Panopticon achieves its metalicness with sustained chords played through layers of distortion in between post-rock level handling of dynamic shifts. Most of this album is instrumental, which makes it a closer contemporary to Pelican than Pantera, which suits me just fine, even if I can’t believe I missed it for ten years.
Instead, Panopticon achieves its metalicness with sustained chords played through layers of distortion in between post-rock level handling of dynamic shifts. Most of this album is instrumental, which makes it a closer contemporary to Pelican than Pantera, which suits me just fine, even if I can’t believe I missed it for ten years.
Record #263: American Football – American Football (1999)
Time for another confession: I never listened to American Football until this year.