Reviews

Record #807: Binding Spell – English Basement (2021)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

Last year, I started writing for a music site called Tuned Up. While combing through submissions for review, every once in a while I’ll strike pure gold.

One of the heftier nuggets recently was English Basement, a piece of psych-rock tinged post-punk from Binding Spell. While this year has seen absolutely no shortage of albums written in and about quarantine (my own band is going to have our own coming out one of these days), bandleader Roger Poulin brings a uniquely personal perspective set to a soundtrack of wobbly basslines, dancy rhythms, and stabby guitars.

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Record #806: Amy Winehouse – Back to Black (2006)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

In the summer of 2008, three of my best friends from college interned together at their church. Meanwhile, I was interning at a church in a city about 45 minutes away. Throughout the internship, two of them tortured the third, Josh, by singing the hook to “Rehab,” drawing scoffs every time.

The following semester, Josh and I were roommates, and I had drawn much delight from buying records that would annoy or confound him. His look of disgust as he asked, “what is this?” was almost as rewarding as the music itself.

One day, hoping to keep the prank going, I bought a vinyl copy of Winehouse’s Back to Black. To my dismay, he joyfully sang along with every word of the track that tormented him.

I sold the record a few months later, but not before it got its hooks in me. In the years since, I have wrestled with the choice to purchase another copy over and over. This copy in particular was in the “Buy it Later” section of my Amazon cart for months before I accidentally bought it alongside a bottle of conditioner.

Accident or not, I’m glad to have it back.

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Record #805: Cursive – Burst and Bloom (2001)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

In my perception, Cursive has had two distinctive characteristics. The first is Tim Kasher’s conceptual and self-referential lyrics, which really came to their own on Cursive’s Domestica. The second is the presence of a cellist, which marked The Ugly Organ and their two reunion albums.

In that perspective, this is the first release in their chronology that really sounds like Cursive to me before my recent deep dive into their discography.

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Record #804: Cursive – Domestica (2000)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald / 1 Comment

On paper, it shouldn’t have worked. An emo concept album about a failing relationship loosely based on the singer’s own divorce doesn’t exactly sound like a formula for a hit record.

Lucky for all of us though, Cursive’s Domestica manages to avoid all of the self-indulgence and clunky storytelling that too many concept albums fail to avoid. Instead, it shows a huge leap forward in both Tim Kasher’s songwriting and the band’s musicianship, leading to an undisputed emo masterpiece.

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Record #803: Cursive – The Storms of Early Summer: Semantics of Song (1998)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

After their Crank! Records debut Such Blinding Stars for Starving Eyes, Omaha natives Cursive joined up with the then-burgeoning Omaha record label Saddle Creek. In a few years time, Saddle Creek would become a staple of the underground emo-ish scene, enlisting such bands as Rilo Kiley, The Faint, and Bright Eyes to their roster.

Now, when people talk about Saddle Creek, Cursive is always one of the first bands mentioned. But on their second album, released just five years after the founding of the label, Cursive was still building their legend alongside their new label. And while it might not be remembered as one of their best works, The Storms of Early Summer: Semantics of Song is an important chapter in their mythology.

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Record #802: Cursive – Such Blinding Stars for Starving Eyes (1997)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald / 1 Comment

I’ve been a fan of Omaha’s Cursive for quite a while. I picked up a CD single of “Art is Hard” from my local music store in 12th grade, and I spun those two songs on repeat for weeks. I downloaded several songs from Domestica on LimeWire and burned them to my one of my many emo mixes. Through my “serious music fan” phase in college, The Ugly Organ was one of the few emo records that I still listened to regularly.

But as much as I love those records, I’ve never dug too deep into their earlier material. That is, until I bought a box of classic records from my friend Stephen that included most of the Cursive back catalog.

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Record #811: Cold Cave – Fate in Seven Lessons (2021)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald / 1 Comment

Let’s get one thing straight. As a subgenre, modern dark wave’s chief aim is to bow at the altar of New Order. The scene’s aesthetics pay homage to the British new wave pioneers with unflinching fidelity.

Throughout their career, Cold Cave has always been one of the most devout pilgrims. But nowhere is that more clear than on Fate in Seven Lessons, an album that, from the sonic palette to the album art, is largely a celebration of New Order’s classic second album Power, Corruption, and Lies.

Don’t get me wrong though: this isn’t derivative schlock. While it’s clearly referential (and feels like it was intended to be), enough of Wesley Eisold’s own voice comes through for it to be a rich and rewarding disc.

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Record #810: Childish Gambino – Because the Internet (2013)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

2013 to 2014 was a frustrating period for Community fans. Despite a number of behind the scenes changes, there was a notable absence of Troy Barnes, the lovable idiot played by Donald Glover. He only appeared in five of the season’s thirteen episodes, then announced that he was leaving the show to focus on his music career.

At the time, it felt ill-conceived. He had already released some music under the name Childish Gambino at the time, and while it was fine for an actor’s side gig, it definitely didn’t seem like the sort of thing that had strong enough legs to build a career on.

Then Because the Internet dropped, and we realized what fools we had been.

Read more at ayearofvinyl.com #childishgambino #hiphop #r&b #rap #vinyl

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Record #809: Boris – Feedbacker (2003)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

The famed Japanese outfit Boris is a bit of a chimera; a many-faced beast that defies easy understanding. Throughout their career, they have explored hundreds of different directions, exploring doom metal, drone, post hardcore, shoegaze, psychedelic, punk, post rock, rockabilly, and even synthpop.

But if there is a single signature to Boris’ sound, it is a devotion to extended song structures and guitar feedback. And thus, Feedbacker, an album comprised of a single 44-minute, largely instrumental song, showcases Boris at their most pure.

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Record #808: At the Drive-In – Vaya (1999)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

Conversations about At the Drive-In’s best release usually dance around a gridlock between In/Casino/Out and Relationship of Command. 

However, that conversation simply cannot be complete without taking their incredible EP Vaya into consideration. While it contains absolutely no shortage of ATDI’s signature angular fury, it also sees the group adding experimental elements into their sonic palate. While it’s often described as a bridge between the two legendary full lengths, it even points to Omar and Cedric’s future in the Mars Volta with astonishing prescience.

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