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The Insomniacs, Get Something Going! (Estrus): Together for over a decade, with a sound dominated by guitar and Hammond organ, this garage-pop combo has delivered an album sure to be loved by fans of artists ranging from Big Star, the Bangles and the early Stooges to the Make-Up and The International Noise Conspiracy. "Tear It Up," with a jangly guitar intro and insistent, snotty vocal by singer/writer David Wojciechowski, is sublimely addictive. Put it on, turn it up, tear it up. I'm there. — MG
Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions, At the Doorway Again (Rough Trade): Four years after we last heard from Mazzy Star, Hope Sandoval quietly arises in a new guise, joining forces with former My Bloody Valentine drummer Colm O'Ciosig for a four-song EP. The musical terrain At the Doorway Again charts is painfully quiet and breathtakingly beautiful, with guitars, piano and percussion providing a gentle bed for Sandoval's singing. Her peerless voice colors this record's character, whether she's wondering "if God is a lesbian inside?" on "Around My Smile" or wordlessly sighing on "Sparkly." — AC Various, In Griot Time (Stern's): Subtitled "String Music From Mali," this is the soundtrack to Banning Eyre's remarkable book of the same name (available from Temple University Press), a narrative of the seven months he spent learning guitar in Mali. Its 19 tracks come from Eyre's own cassette recordings of various jam sessions and live shows, as well as tracks plucked from international releases by Oumou Sangaré, Salif Keita and Ali Farka Touré. As you might imagine, this approach to compilation isn't conducive to consistency; it's a rare Afropop collection that displays both the undercooked ethnography and the slick overreaching of many of the records that make it to Western shores. But Eyre means to make this music less foreign, and most of his selections are immediately pleasurable even without the book. Rarely, if ever, do field recordings showcase rhythms that interlock so intricately as those of "Kedo," which Eyre performs with Djelimady and Solo Tounkara. And guitarniks ought to make the acquaintance of Habib Koite and, especially, Lobi Traoré, who by now must have inspired scribblings of "Traoré is God" on walls all over Segu. — Kevin John The (International) Noise Conspiracy, Survival Sickness (Burning Heart/ Epitaph): Having founded a once-subversive website called Addicted To Noise, I find it hard to resist a great punk-rock band that calls itself The (International) Noise Conspiracy. Doesn't hurt that this band, formed by former Refused singer Dennis Lyxzén and Separation guitarist Lars Strömberg after the awesome Refused broke up, has produced a raw Detroit-style (think MC5, think Stooges) punk blast that reminds me of some of The Make-Up's best work. Highlights include the anthems "Smash It Up" and "I Wanna Know About U." — MG Mascott, Follow the Sound (Le Grand Magistery): Kendall Meade, in her solo guise as Mascott, made one of 1999's most delightful debuts with Electric Poems, an EP of simple, elegant, quiet folk songs. On her first album, Follow the Sound, she turns toward more pop-like sounds, but doesn't lose much in the move. In chasing her nostalgic, sun-shining sounds, Meade finds fine help from her producers: Jim O'Rourke on one half and Jeffrey Baron of The Ladybug Transistor, Mario Suao of Shoestrings, and Canadian combo Stars on the other. Her lilting voice and melancholic lyrics make for a charming listen throughout. — AC Death Cab for Cutie, The Forbidden Love E.P. (Barsuk Records): Evoking the fallout from having one's heart broken, The Forbidden Love E.P. speaks to that age-old truth: experience earned comes at the price of innocence lost. The Seattle indie-rock quartet's five songs are richly layered, intensely touching and soothingly melancholy. Forbidden Love's dark, melodic sounds — low-key, infectious beats and droning vocals — swing and echo behind stories of love lost. Its songs typically start slow, then build to a heavy explosion of hard-hitting guitar. Check out "Song for Kelly Huckaby," a somber, passionate track featuring emotive violin; it feels like a mind-meld between The Cure and Built to Spill (a prominent influence throughout). — Jenny Tatone more reviews |