Hunters, Run! - Forgotten Souvenirs of the Modern Age  Review By:  Joseph
Nine Inch Nail - Ghosts (Volume I)  Review By:  Rev. Doktor Alejandro Fruitbat
A Weather - Cove  Review By:  Joseph
Lemuria - Get Better  Review By:  Matt Barber
The Mountain Goats - Heretic Pride  Review By:  Danish
The Gifted Children - Whitespace Differences Review By:  Matt Barber
The Keith John Adams - Unclever  Review By:  Matt Barber
Mobius Band - Love Will Reign Supreme EP  Review By:  Danish
The Raveonettes - Lust Lust Lust  Review By:  Eric the Mouse
Balthrop, Alabama - Your Big Plans & Our Little Town  Review By:  Danish
Bob Mould - District Line Review By:  Lou Ripman
British Sea Power - Do You Like Rock Music?  Review By:  Eric the Mouse

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Nine Inch Nails- Ghosts I-IV (Volume I)
*8 Out of 10* (The Null Corporation, 2008)

I can honestly say I was a Nine Inch Nails fan since the 1980s. The first time I heard Pretty Hate Machine was New Years’ Eve 1989, I fell in love. It was however, a short love affair. The first three albums and the subsequent remix EPs were amazing, as well as the soundtracks for David Lynch’s Lost Highway and Oliver Stone’s Natural Born Killers. Trent Reznor’s “just a little too intrusive to be ambient” style was the PERFECT soundscape for id Software’s shoot-’em-up classic video game QUAKE and remains the only PC software this Mac addict has ever purchased. The Downward Spiral was the last record of his I kept after purchase, fitting name for the band’s last good album.

Ghosts I - IV was released online and has since gone on to take in $750,000 in pre-order sales for the deluxe editions, the equivilent of selling 300,000 records the old fashioned way. Following Radiohead’s lead seems to be working well, you can’t buy this kind of press. It also shows the awesome power of viral marketing, I have been a skeptic of NIN since the release of The Fragile and now may have to bust out my old concert t-shirts even when it isn’t laundry day.

Volume I clocks in at exactly twenty-seven minutes, and none of the 9 songs come close to the five minute mark; I’d like fewer songs but with a bit more development. It is entirely instrumental with some background effects that sound like sampled female vocalizing and animal noises. The effect lends itself to comparisons with Cabaret Voltaire and Coil (two of Reznor’s longtime influences) and Angelo Badalamente. Overall, this is not an album I’d have expected to carry the NIN moniker. The track “5 Ghosts I” is a very lonesome, eerie western Gothic quality. Spare Ennio Morricone-esque tense guitar licks, light, ethereal piano and a dead slow beat that sounds like a gun fighter’s spurs clicking on a dusty saloon floor. “6 Ghosts I” features a vibraphone and minimalist electronics and channels Coil’s “Musick To Play In The Dark I & II” and Phillip Glass’ “Aguas Da Amazonia”. “8 Ghosts I” is the only track that really gets into the sludgey industrial rock that Reznor made his name by recently, and is by far the weakest of the offering. The “packaging” of the digital version is impressive as well. It comes with a PDF, album cover art and the art that appears in the iPod/iTunes “now playing” window. I like those little extras (Radiohead, take note, Mac users rejoice)!

Releasing an epic length industrial instrumental album in 2008 is a huge risk. I have loved the industrial genre since high school, but I can’t remember the last album I purchased that wasn’t made in the late 1990s to 2003. Ghosts is not going to pump new blood into a virtually dead style and is not ground breaking in terms of its music. At its worst, Ghosts is an homage to a genre of music that has had little recognition. When one hears “industrial music”, Nine Inch Nails, Ministry and Marilyn Manson are the first bands that come to mind for most people. Industrial and experimental music in the US largely ignored in general or lumped in with White Zombie style metal. Few realize that industrial can be even more unsettling when using a feather touch rather than a jackhammer. I would love to see this performed live in a smaller venue in its’ entirety, though I doubt that will happen. Most NINnys are not the “sit in a chair and watch a concert” types. This is a very mature album by a band who’s fans are known for carving its’ logo into their forearms... Overall, I’m going to give the first volume of Ghosts an A for effort. Yes, this is a nostalgia grade, but it is not wholly unwarranted. The viral marketing approach and middle finger held proudly aloft are things I feel strongly about. Reznor and his crew have had so many bad experiences with the music industry, it makes me happy to see them do something this ballsy and succeed.

Review By: Rev. Doktor Alejandro Fruitbat

Listening to Cove can be a bit uncomfortable at times – as if you’ve been invited to eavesdrop on a late-night bedroom break-up, but it works well. As Gerber and Winchester whisper on “Oh, My Stars”: I'm trying real hard to not make you feel like you've done something wrong.

Cove, produced by Adam Selzer (M. Ward, The Decemberists), is a beautiful record that deserves a listen from fans of the hush-pop, etc genre, but can also stand up to any indie-outfit on the scene today. A Weather are both playful and somber on this album; a surprisingly tight release from these Portland newcomers - Cove gets an 8 out of 10.
Clocking in at 45 minutes, these 9 tracks are solid. Stand out numbers include: “Spiders, Snakes”, "Oh, My Stars”, and “Pinky Toe”. Obligatory RIYL: (see above), and throw in mellow Stars.

Review By: Joseph

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Lemuria- Get Better
*8 Out of 10 Stars* (Asian Man, 2008)

Confident, honest, accomplished, and enthusiastic are all adjectives that accurately describe Lemuria’s music. Those same words apply when describing the way Lemuria conducts the business – for lack of a better term – of presenting and promoting its music. The trio’s dedication to touring (an increasingly difficult path for independent musicians to choose) has made them the latest Buffalo-based band to cultivate a national following. Lemuria’s first full-length record was officially released a few weeks ago on West Coast mainstay punk label Asian Man Records, home to releases by influential groups as diverse as The Queers, Screeching Weasel, Alkaline Trio, and Buck-O-Nine, to name a few.

Anyone who has experienced one of Lemuria’s intensely energetic live sets knows the significant clutch of dedicated fans they’ve garnered from underground punk circles is the result of more than shared lifestyles. But on record the band’s songs lean heavily to the pop side of pop-punk; its tight, concise tunes, male/female vocal trading, and indelible melodies recalling the likes of Hazel, Discount, and The Forecast. Clocking in at just over 28 minutes, Get Better is a glowing example of the “leave them wanting more” approach to album making. And while some heavy subject matter – death, loss, chemical dependency, etc. - is covered lyrically, the musical accompaniment never turns dour or dirge-like.

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The Mountain Goats- Heretic Pride
*9 Out of 10* (4AD, 2008)

John Darnielle, et al have returned with an exceptional album! Heretic Pride will surely please fans, but added orchestration and lack of a central theme (generally love lost) marks a bit of a departure from 2006’s Get Lonely. These subtle departures make for a friendlier album, while maintaining all the quirks and lyrical depth that make The Mountain Goats stand out in the first place. The sincerity and passion with which Darnielle sings (and even shouts!) remains mind-blowing, even though it may stray from the more overtly reflective story telling fans might expect.

The album is full of songs littered with a hopeful desperation and perseverance riddled among devastating scenarios.

On the upbeat “Sax Rohmer #1”, Darnielle shouts a chorus of: "I am coming home to you, with my own blood in my mouth / And I am coming to you if it’s the last thing that I do." The title track, “Heretic Pride”, cleverly describes the last moments of a haughty heretic being killed by an angry mob… and it’s an uplifting song! While “Autoclave” marks a return to some classic self-loathing, it does so with a twist – a catchy beat and background vocals. “Lovecraft in Brooklyn" is a brilliant number with a forceful tempo that showcases the furies of desperation that Darnielle does so well on this album. While “How to Embrace a Swamp Creature” depicts feelings of displacement, and “Michael Myers Resplendent” an actor anxiously awaiting his close-up.

The breadth of this album is remarkable! You don’t have to get any literally/cultural allusions to enjoy these 13 tracks; they’re gratifying clever stories sung with passion - what more could you ask for? The Mountain Goats have always offered a beautiful break from the more straightforward indie-pop out there, and this is no exception. Darnielle remains one of today’s most clever, unique, and enjoyable lyricists.
Obligatory RIYL: Andrew Bird, Magnetic Fields (vague, I know), Destroyer.

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The Gifted Children- Whitespace Differences
*7.5 Out of 10* (Tinhorn Planet, 2008)

Many experimental noise artists and proponents of improvisation – as well as several hacks trying to philosophize away the fact that they have no discernable talent – have argued that the revolutionary freedom and power that rock n’ roll was meant to represent at its inception can’t possibly be neatly packaged into three and a half minutes of traditional pop song structure. The ever-present tension between the success of a blueprint, expectations of listeners and the liberating muse that birthed rock n’ roll is one of the things that keeps the music vital. Understanding this struggle might help one make sense of a record like Whitespace Differences.

So many impulses and influences push and pull each other on the latest release from Rochester, NY collective The Gifted Children that casual listeners might feel it’s all too scattered to keep track of, but people looking for music that will excite, engage, challenge, and surprise them should find Whitespace Differences worth a listen…at least. In less than half an hour this disc veers from bold, gusto grabbing rock anthems (“ah, Pan –,” “infection swath flyover”) to turbulent electronic swells (“tinhorn planets”) to something like a classic Atari game soundtrack (“…and then fold, homeward”) to sweetly melodic acoustic-based pop (“the best of the surface tourists,” “grace”) that wouldn’t sound out of place alongside Matt Pond PA or (forgive me, but…) Toad The Wet Sprocket. And that doesn’t even cover it. Not acknowledging the frequent offerings made to the altar of Bob Pollard here would be ignoring the obvious. Ghosts of Guided by Vocies manifest themselves in cryptic lyrical refrains, ambient noise, and vocals sometimes drenched with effects, but Gifted Children songwriter Jeff Suszczynski has enough confidence and command of his talent to keep it from becoming an exercise in mimicry.

Review By: Matt Barber

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Mobius Band-Love Will Reign Supreme
*6 out of 10* (Misra, 2008)

Brooklyn/Massachusetts-trio Mobius Band have given us a fun (and free!) Valentine with this 6-track EP of covers. One of the more interesting EP’s to come our way in a bit, Mobius Band offers up a melodically synthed twist to an eclectic array of love-tinged favorites.

The use of synthesizers on Neil Young’s “Razor Love” sets the tone of the album; a solid pop-twist on some not so poppy originals. “Baby, We’ll Be Fine”, is a very solid melodic take, a harmonious twist ala 60’s pop on this favorite from The National. The instrumentation on Daniel Johnston’s "True Love Will Find You In The End" does a good job of creating a less somber, more upbeat interpretation than other artists who have covered this track in the past (Wilco, Beck).

The jangly tambourine-infused “Mobius Band in a Green Cotton Sweater”, originally a Casiotone For the Painfully Alone track, is the highlight of the disc. While “I’ll Keep It With Mine” sounds more like a take on the Nico’s interpretation than the oft-covered Dylan original. This isn’t a bad thing, much more melodic and slower than the original, with a drum-loop beat that makes for a stand out track. In addition, Mobius Band offer a solid take on Daft Punk’s “Digital Love” to round out the disc.

Love Will Reign Supreme clocks in at just over 22-minutes, and while it’s not anything groundbreaking (it is a covers record), the selection of tracks covered make for an interesting and very enjoyable listen. Did I mention it’s available for free on their website?

The trio is set to launch their first European tour on February 21st; if you weren’t sold on the band before, give the EP a listen; Mobius Band knows how create some fun and melodic electro-rock!

The Raveonettes - Lust Lust Lust
*6 out of 10* (Vice, 2008)

Lust Lust Lust shows The Raveonettes predictably not straying far from the 3 chord 60's fuzz-noir-pop formula that has so far worked well for them. That said, they are leaning more towards the dark and sexy (dare i say drugged-out) side of things on this record. It's good, its just not far from what you would expect from them, which is ok too, depending on what exactly your looking for...

“Aly, Walk With Me” is the most drastic change for the band with its almost trip-hop back beat reminscent of mezzanine-era massive attack, while Sharin Foo sings like she’s channeling a peyote-high Jim Morrison and Sune Rose Wagner sporadically throws up washes of surf/white noise in between. Its a great opening song but sadly, this theme doesn't continue and we're back to Raveonettes 101 by track 2... “Hallucinations” is basic Raveonettes, enough said.

The title track, “Lust”, revisits that trip hop drum sound again but it feels like the rest of the song is too slow and basic to catch up with that feel, it’s plain old raveonettes over it. It leaves me wishing that if they were going to experiment a little, then they should do it across the board, instead of just dialing in a cool sound on a drum machine for percussion while leaving everything else status quo. “Dead Sound” is another little cute 1-2-3 song with a little New Order influence adding just enough surf-jangling to make it sound their own. Those are the stand-out tracks to me at least. The others steadily meander in the middle of the road as "half-way decent" to "pretty good"; typical Raveonettes songs at best.

So if you love the Raveonettes solely for the novelty value of what they do, then surely pick this up. But if you’re expecting something new and innovative, then you probably shouldn't be touching a Raveonettes album to begin with. On its own its a good album to drive around at night to, or to have playing at a party for strictly background enjoyment. As far as pushing the envelope musically, it doesn't fare so well.

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Balthrop, Alabama - Your Big Plans & Our Little Town
*8 out of 10* (EndUp Records, 2007)

Balthrop, Alabama have released a beautiful debut record, or should I say, two beautiful records: Your Big Plans and Our Little Town. Each disc contains 8 tracks, elaborately packaged as one, in a manner that brings to mind more of a Criterion Collection DVD release than a double record. The eco-friendly cardboard packaging comes complete with a booklet containing lyrics and specific artwork for each track. Really, the entire project has a very cinematic feeling. The credits list a cast of characters with fictional names, adding to the feeling that you have in your possession something more than just a collection of songs.

Though a cast of over 30 characters are credited, Balthrop, Alabama is essentially a project of Pascal Balthrop, who wrote the words and music, and commands prominent vox and guitar on nearly all 16 tracks.

Disc 1, Your Big Plans, opens with birds chirping over organ like keys for a mellow almost deceiving number that flows into “Colored Eggs”, a rough track showcasing Pascal’s vocals which are prominent on the rest of the album. It took me a couple listens to get used to the tracks that showcase some of his rougher vocals, very reminiscent of Spencer Krug (Sunset Rubdown, Wolf Parade), but they work nicely in between the more melodic songs that really drive the album.

It wont take long to recognize that there is quite a bit of depth in these records, with an excellent display of background vocals from a rotating cast of characters, and an eclectic bit of instrumentation including the perfect use of a bad toy piano to create a xylophone sound (unless it actually is a xylophone?). In addition to the toy piano, you’ll hear cornet, viola, and a glockenspiel riddled throughout the album. Lyrically the album is sound, and equally eclectic - with songs of love, loss, and escape, then there’s the ode to satellites, a little girl on a beach, and a song about how "Taipei is a Shithole". Track 4, “Love to Love You” is an incredibly likable track, and track 7, "Explode", showcases a great use of shared male/female vox, as well as the remarkable backing vocals that really give the album as a whole a refreshing sound.

Disc 2, Our Little Town, is the stronger of the two discs, with a bigger, very solid, and more fluid sound. It opens with the dark jingle-jangly “Another Hell to Live In”. The second track, “Down On Us” shines as a beautiful Beatlesque number featuring stand out vocals by Caithlin de Marrais (Rainer Maria). Truly a must-hear, this lofty breakup song will have you melting with lyrics like:
“and every time I think of you, I smile despite the pain / cuz I know that it was worth it all somehow / and I know that we could never be together again / but a friend is something we could both use now.”
Track 4, "Satellite" is a toe-tapping infectious number, "Gergiana Starlington", another stand-out track, delves into the lyrically darker side, flowing nicely into"Tightrope", which utilizes a wurlitzer-like sound to create a slightly creepy, yet appropriate, circus feeling.

Overall Our Big Plans & Your Little Town is a great album; at times it remind me of a more pop-friendly Sunset Rubdown, other times I can’t help thinking Belle & Sebastian and The Moldy Peaches. (So, there’s your obligatory RIYL.) The whole package gets an 8 out of 10; a well thought-out record, dark on the inside and coated with an indie, yet friendly pop-sensibility.

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Bob Mould - District Line
*7 out of 10* (Anti, 2008)

A new Bob Mould album. Let's get the obvious out of the way first: Catchy melodies, soaring harmonies? Check. One of the best guitar tones in the history of rock music? Check. Lyrics about good relationships gone bad? Check. This is Bob Mould, and if you've heard him before, there aren't many surprises on the new album District Line. But that alone puts it above countless bands trying to repeat the formulas he perfected so long ago.

The album starts off with "Stupid Now" -- and immediately we're in Black Sheets of Rain-era Mould. Laid back guitars bang out the chords like nails hammered carefully into a finely crafted framework, and the song builds slowly until the chorus lets Mould cut loose with a stream of words about -- well, another relationship. In a breakdown, Mould tries desperately to catch his breath and lets a few notes go sour -- an odd moment for the perfectionist Mould, but reminds the listener that the man behind the music is human after all.

The songs run their course -- twelve string acoustic guitars jangle, subtle electronic flourishes leftover from Mould's Modulate dart in and out of the mix (yes, the vocoder set-to-Cher is back again too), slow ballads with brooding reflection and everything else we've come to expect. "All the triggers pulled at once/ so begins my ugly fall from grace/ again," Mould pines in "Again and Again."

"Shelter Me" is closer to New Order than any of Mould's previous efforts, and almost sounds like Mould is trying to play catch-up with bands that are way ahead of him on the retro-cool, post-punk-at-the-disco sound. Odd considering Husker Du set the standard for so many of the original post-punk bands. A bit out of place, but Mould's knack for a hook and lyrical finesse save the song from being run of the mill.

One of the best additions to this record is drummer Brendan Canty (of Fugazi), who provides a machine gun and thunder percussion that immediately recalls the best moments of Sugar, something noticeably lacking from previous solo outings. Canty especially shines on "Who Needs to Dream" and "Between Us," where the similarities to Sugar drummer Malcolm Travis are uncanny.

The album closes with "Walls in Time," a somber, reflective song with touches of strings and no percussion, with Mould echoing into the distance "we all want to leave a mark somewhere."
While not a perfect album, District Line has enough moments that make it a nice fit in the Bob Mould canon. Fans of his previous work will welcome the return of the rock, and especially Canty's inspired performance lifting the songs off the ground a little higher. Mould allows his electronic side into the picture again, as he did on his last album, and though at times it can be a bit unwelcome for the purists, it doesn't distract from the overall strength of the songs themselves. Nothing shocking, nothing new, this is Bob Mould doing what he does best, and he's damn good at it.

Reviewed by: Lou Ripman

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British Sea Power - Do You Like Rock Music?
*9 out of 10* (Rough Trade, 2008)

Holy Shit! Here it is - the first truly GREAT album of 2008. I knew they had a great album in them but I honestly didn't think they bust out with something of such epic proportions. I have a feeling that people will be talking about this album in 2008 the same way they were talking about Neon Bible in 2007. I'm no oracle or anything...I'm just saying....

First off, a little FYI: Do You Like Rock Music? was made in Montreal, the Czech Republic and Fort Tregantle - a 19th century fortification in Cornwall, on England's south-west coast; and it was recorded with the likes of Howard Bilerman (Arcade Fire), Efrim Munuck (Godspeed You! Black Emperor) and Graham Sutton (Jarvis Cocker, Bark Psychosis). All know how to keep the mystery and grit without sacrificing the catchy hooks and overall quality of the recording. Before even listening to DYLRM? one can tell that alot of thought and energy went into making this album.

Layers layers layers...Things start off on a grand scale with "All In It" with swirling crescendo's of washed out guitars and organ accompanied by a steady chant of "we're all in it, and we close our eyes". A Simple and effective opener that actually gives you a sense of unity with the music and lets you know your in for something special. "Lights out for Darker Skies" has a serious Pixies vibe with vocal delivery grabbed right from the mouth of Black Francis. Things are starting to remind me of the first time I heard Trompe Le Monde, and that feeling continues throughout.

Track 3, "No Lucifer", begins with folksy finger picked acoustic and accompanying strings before exploding into shout along yelps over epic chamber-pop goodness that we've come to love bands like the Arcade Fire for; I'm guessing this is the work of Bilerman. Hats off! It's this sort of production that lets BSP expand to their full potential, while maintaining sort of gravitational pull, you just don't want to walk away from it.

"Trip Out" conjures a riff out of The Jam's songbook, with Yan's vocals delivered in a sing-songy style that only an eccentric Englishman can manage. Eventually the storm ends, blending nicely into the all instrumental "Great Skua", a walk-in-the-woods introspective dreamer of a song, complete with traces of piano, strings, and a little bit of theremin. "Atom" brings things back up with an interesting lyrical take on "getting to the bottom of things", possibly expressing a general worldly conclusion of wanting to get to the sub-atomic core of all the madness going on right now... but still coming up clueless:

"I'll be the first to admit this is a bright but haunted age,
i just don't know, now now, i just can't save the world,
when you get down to the heart and the bones of it,
that's when it breaks you know, that's when it falls apart, but that's the prize now..."

Do You Like Rock Music? is definitely a musical roller coaster of a record. This might just be "one of those albums", and I think British Sea Power and Rough Trade are fully aware of it ,and probably can't wait to watch the explosions ensue around it. NOTE: Promos for this record were actually sent out as early as November. For a February 12th release date, that's quite a push, so you know that everyone is pretty excited about it... I'm with them 100%. This album is just that fucking brilliant.

Reviewed by: Eric the Mouse

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