Weekend Discoveries

We have five window wells, owing to the fact that our five base windows are technically below the ground. This, in fact, was not the Weekend Discovery.

The discovery was that these window wells are the preferred place for stray cats to raise litters of adorable kittens.

This discovery was made by the Missus during our "get the house ready in time for Jack's birthday" event, which including power washing the house, stripping and re-treating the deck, and clearing out the trees and bushes and dead leaves, many of which found their way to said window wells.

It also turns out that shelters and animal rescues will only come and take the cats away if they have the room to do so. No one had the room. And places like the North Shore Animal League and others actually charge you a "surrendering fee" to take animals that don't belong to you away, which I'm still trying to understand. And since both of us are really allergic to cats, I packed them up in a box and threw them in the....

What? You really though I was going to go there? C'mon...I'm not that hard a man - just ask my wife (ba-dum bum!) Despite our allergies, we're now raising 4 kittens and, by default, their mother until such time as they can be picked up the one of the ASPCA-sponsored cat rescue organizations to be neutered, adopted, etc...

Pot Luck Review #12: Smile

WHAT: Boris' Smile (2008)

WHY: Boris are one of those conundrum bands. They're highly regarded in both the indie music scene as well as the extreme metal scene. Their last album Pink gained a ton of US recognition, vaulting them into a spotlight that has so far been unable to pigeonhole them. A quasi-album (Altar) with avant-drone masters Sunn 0))) and a full-length with psychedelic guitar freak Michio Kurihara (the excellent Rainbow) further blurred any attempt as easy classification. So Smile, their first "proper" album since Pink was eagerly anticipated by wallet chains and devil horns alike. All people would know going in was that this would be a more rock-oriented record (apparently Boris uses all lower-case when releasing anything mellow or experimental and all capitals when bringing forth the mighty rock).

The few reviews I've read have been somewhat mixed, so I have no real preconceptions before diving in. A quick note: apparently the Japanese version has different mixes and possibly different songs. I have the US version from Southern Lord records.

1. Flower, Sun, Rain - A fuzzy chord lingers, feedback goes crazy and suddenly we're very lo-fi as singer Takeshi sings in Japanese from the bottom of a jar. Sounds like the closing credits of a mid-80's Japanese movie played over a mono TV in the next room until a searing guitar solo cuts in. I don't know a whole lot about this band, but I do know that the lead guitarist is shall we say, ah, an attractive woman named Wata (i.e. "insanely hot" in my admittedly juvenile and possibly Freudian opinion) who happens to be a ferocious guitar player. This is a real subdued opener, solo excepted. Long, too, at over seven minutes. Very mood-driven, and nice for a cool rainy Friday morning. The end builds larger and larger with another great solo.

2. Buzz-IN - Bring the metal, baby! Crunchy riffs and huge drums make it sound like the speakers are buzzing out. This is barn burner hard rock. There's not much in the way of explanation here, this is loud, fast, crusty rock that completely owns my geek ass. Two songs in and I'm grinning from ear to ear.

3. Laser Beam - Another fast rocker, with killer guitar in the beginning. Very thrashy. Without a lyrics sheet I'll be honest, I don't even know if they're singing in English or not, but this is great anyway. The second half of the song incorporates keyboard accents wouldn't feel out of place in a nighttime police procedural. Things peter out with some acoustic strumming and picking, and then abruptly ends just as someone starts singing. Is this a defect in my download?

4. Statement - Another balls-out rocker. And I think I heard a cow bell in the opening measures. I think this is even more rock-driven than Pink was. The guitar on this album is shredding.

5. My Neighbor Satan - Things slow down a bit. The guitars swirl, but way in the background. The major presence here are the vocals and keys, moving at a much difference pace than the background. Two minutes in things changes, and the background takes over into a dirge/pop confection that leaves me thinking with only 3 songs to go this might be an A in my book. The music cuts out, and then returns for a coda of frenzied feedback. There's a definite Melvins influence to Boris, but I think their pop sensibilities turn that influence on its head.

6. KA RE HA TE TA SA KI-No One Grieve - Yup. That is actually the name of this song. After a solid 90 seconds of feedback everything erupts into a chaos of swirling chords and crashing drums that settle into a cloud of noise, with yet another killer solo slicing through everything. The vocals come in like smoke, droning more than articulating. This is probably the most "experimental" song so far, but true to the all caps name, everything is firmly embedded in rock.

7. You Were Holding an Umbrella - This starts out slow like "My Neighbor Satan" but that's no guarantee for what could happen - there's 8 minutes to kill. And sure enough, around the four minute mark things pick up a bit, but still in keep with the mellow vibe. This whole section has a heavy 70's vibe flowing, from the organ accents to the lengthy solo and moving bass groove propelling everything forward. The second half of this song may be my favorite thing on Smile so far.

8. ... (Untitled) - I would call this an untitled bonus track, but since the untitled track is 15 minutes long I think (hope) it's safe to say this was already intended to be the closer of the album. It meanders, touching on all the soft, drenched in fuzz moments from the entire records with vocals weaving in and out of the mix, as if they're only there by happenstance.

BOTTOM LINE: A!! Not only is this a great album, I think it surpasses Pink and has become my favorite album of 2008 so far. I've been told the US version is corrupted because the Japanese "original" version is much more electronic, and that those pieces were overdubbed with the solos for the American release. Which I'm sure is true but makes no sense - it's not like there was pressure to "make it modern" or anything - they're not on Warner or anything - so I imagine it's more of a quirk on their part, and one that I'm perfectly fine with. Great, great, great record.

Pot Luck Review #11: The Slip

WHAT: The new "free" album from Nine Inch Nails, The Slip (2008)

WHY: Radiohead may have started the charge with In Rainbows, but I think Trent Reznor has taken the whole "bypass the industry" mentality to the next level by making his intentions public, and offering a much wider array of choices for his first experiment in digital downloading. The Ghosts I-IV project was available in multiple formats including lossless audio (something Radiohead didn't come close to offering) for it's $5 price tag, and unlike Radiohead, the profits were made public. People can say what they want about the music contained in Ghosts (a series of 36 instrumental interludes), but financially it was a huge success, and as a thank you Nine Inch Nails last week offered up The Slip, a more mainstream (i.e. it's got vocals) record free of charge.

I've been a huge NIN fan since Pretty Hate Machine, so this one was a no-brainer:

1. 999,999 - More of an intro to the next song than anything else, this is a snippet of ambiance, electronic hissing slowly rising out of the mix of ethereal keyboards.

2. 1,000,000 - Real drums kick in, a dirty fuzzed-out chord erupts, and we're knee-deep in a vicious little rocker. Great raver, Batman, this feels like Pretty Hate Machine a little bit. The different dynamics make everything pop when necessary, and begs to be played at maximum volume.

3. Letting You: More so than the previous track, this sounds like it was mixed in a blender with dirt and small rocks. The Fuzztone is seriously back in. Reznor's vocals are garbled and buried deep in the mix. A lo-fi rager, the chorus constantly repeats "We are letting you get away." Getting away with what? With being awesome, my friends...with being awesome.

4. Discipline: I love the purposefully rough production of these songs. It feels like Year Zero (which I loved) but beaten and bruised and left on the curb to die. "Discipline" has a catchy hook, and plays like a single, except of course there's no record company to push it as a single.

5. Echoplex - Swanky flip-side to "Discipline" this is more menace wrapped in a slow pop beat. On a wholly unrelated note, have you seen Trent Reznor lately? Didn't he used to look like a drowned rat, all skinny and dirty? That guy looks like he could pick me up and throw me over a small building. Just sayin', the dude's huge.

6. Head Down - A little more of the same, and that's the danger of any NIN record - although a lot can happen in each song, there's a sameness that can permeate everything, whether it's the overall production, a certain tone or instrument. By the time we get to the chorus though, my mind's changed and I'm digging on this song. Free or not, this is so far a strong record.

7. Lights in the Sky - Things gets quieter, "Hurt" fashion. The downside of songs like this is that you have to strain to make out what Reznor's saying. I think he's right to have the vocals be so quiet and behind emphasis of the piano, but it's hell trying to make things out. I'm sure that's the point: force you to listen more. It's nice, but doesn't really go anywhere for me.

8. Corona Radiata - Low droning...I look over and see this is going to be the "epic" track, at least in terms of length - over seven minutes. One minute in and the drone is still building, with a barely present melody playing over things. Two minute mark - same thing. Atmosphere music, and as we approach the three minute mark I'm worrying this is all it's going to be. If so, I question why this is the 8th of 10 tracks - I have to sit through seven minutes of this before getting to the next song. Maybe this would work better as a closer, but not here. At the four minute mark we begin to get some percussion, electronic pulses and beats taking over for the drone. After quietly fading the last two minutes begin to build again, perhaps serving as a way too long intro to the next song...

9. The Four of Us are Dying - The beginning is something I think NIN does better than anyone else - that mix of cold electronic and more organic sounds. This doesn't seem to have any vocals either, but musically is a lot more interesting than "Corona Radiata" was. This could have come off of The Downward Spiral or one of its remix singles.

10. Demon Seed - The Slip ends on something a little more rocking than the last two tracks. This is a lot more like his recent stuff. Decent song, kind of right in the middle in terms of quality.

BOTTOM LINE: A- Considering it's free, this album is great - there are a number of solid and above-average tracks. In fact, take off "Corona Radiata" and I would push this up to a solid A. But who am I to tell you? Download it and see for yourself. If you're a fan of NIN in their current iteration you'll love it, and if you think they sold out after Broken maybe you'll find a track or two to like.

Click the image below to go to the site and pick it up:

Pot Luck Review #10: The Else

WHAT: They Might Be Giants' The Else (2007)

WHY: There was a time when my friends and I were obsessed with They Might Be Giants. This was roughly around the time of Factory Showroom (1996). Every album was on constant rotation, and arguments a-plenty ensured over which John (Linnell or Flansburgh) was the better Giant. We called Dial-A-Song constantly, checked the website daily, and bought all the solo stuff (how many people can cop to owning Linnell's State Songs? Sing it with me, "Montana is a leg!")

In the 21st century TMBG have divided their time between records geared specifically for children (NO!, Here Come the ABC's) and adult fare, with the adult stuff being mostly uneven. Last year they teamed up with The Dust Brothers to record The Else, released digitally about 2 months prior to the CD release. I promptly purchased it via iTunes and forgot about it completely until this morning when "She's An Angel" came on during the morning commute.

So have at it:

1. I'm Impressed - Mid-paced rocker that sounds a little washed out. You can immediately hear the difference in production. The song's okay, but I hope the whole album doesn't sound like this. A lot of people have turned off TMBG when they abandoned the duo format and got a full band - I wasn't one of them, but I admit to being nostalgic for those days, especially when you can't count on an opening track to knock you off your feet like it used to. Even The Spine had "Experimental Film".

2. Take Out the Trash - Flansburgh takes a turn and this is a swanky, tongue-in-cheek 60's throwback done Giant-style. A huge improvement, and the production works much better for this type of song. Drums are great, there's some funk riffing going on over organs and a rude bass sound. Lots of fun.

3. Upside Down Frown - Is Linnell going to strike out twice? No. This is what he does best: innocent quirky lyrics that somehow manage to fit inside the melody line. The only other person who can consistently squeeze that many words into a line and make it work is Elvis Costello. This feels like vintage Linnell - very sweet and catchy.

4. Climbing the Walls - The keyboards stand out nicely. Decent song, I can take it or leave it right now, but this could be one that sneaks up on you later. The great strength of TMBG best stuff is that it compels you to sing along. This has got the hook to do it.

5. Careful What You Pack - The chorus stands out more than the verses. This is just okay. The song structures are all very solid, maybe it's the overall sameness that's hurting this record. After five tracks I should have heard at least two kick-ass songs, and that hasn't happened. Damn, this was short.

6. The Cap'm - Rock it, baby. The harmonies are back. My friend Steve used to try and sing every single TMBG song in harmony as we drove around our small dirt town when we were younger. He failed more often than not, but it was still fun to do. I find myself doing it sometimes when I'm driving. There's clapping in the background, and the mix feels very live. Fun song.

7. With the Dark - Softly sung, this is sitting in your rocking chair listening to AM radio until the horns kick in and things get rowdy. Styles change at least four times here, and the whole things almost comes off as completely silly, but it's a silly I'm enjoying. "No more sunlight, please".

8. The Shadow Government - Another Linnell rocker that manages to sound like all his other rockers without standing out in any way. Not even much of a unique hook to grab onto. I hope it's not that I'm starting to grow out of TMBG, I usually love Linnell's stuff, but this isn't standing out at all.

9. Bee of the Bird of the Moth - Well, he's going to try again, and the lyrics are better, the lines are more interesting, and overall this what I like to think of as the old reliable Linnell. "Subatomic waves to the underwater caves..." A distant cousin of "Particle Man" and "Which Describes How You're Feeling" without the kiddie element.

10. Withered Hope - Things are looking up now. There's lot of different sounds clashing together here, funk and electronics and classic TMBG mashed up a la "Mr. Xcitement" which was another song that grew and grew to be a favorite. This is ranking as one of my favorites songs on the album.

11. Contrecoup - Question for John Linnell: Why are you finally showing us your good stuff so late in the record? This isn't anything special, but it's friendly and inviting and makes you all the more aware of the biting lyrics. This is what I want when I hear a Linnell song.

12. Feign Amnesia - Flansburgh has been very consistent on this album. Usually I can take or leave his stuff, especially in the early days, but he's been getting stronger and stronger with each album, and this is a lot of fun, geek-driven rock.

13. The Mesopotamians - Closing song. I love it. This is classic, essential TMBG. I should have known better than think I wouldn't get at least one great song. This would fit right alongside anything from Flood or Apollo 18. This is how an album should end...epic and contagious in its fun.

BOTTOM LINE: B- Although there are a few good songs (and one great one), there's nothing here to lift The Else over other, better records. I would probably place this side by side with The Spine and just under John Henry and Factory Showroom in terms of discography.

Pot Luck Review #9: Third

I've got about a dozen or so new (to me) albums sitting around (literally and figuratively - what do you call it when you have a bunch of record laying about on your hard drive?) waiting to be listened to, so for the rest of the week I'll be doing one Pot Luck Review a day and get these things listened to.

WHAT: Portishead's new album, Third (2008)

WHY: Because it's been 11 years since the last Portishead studio album. Because driving late at night in a city you're unfamiliar with and hearing snippets of Roseland NYC Live and not knowing who it was drove me to distraction until I could get to a record store and buy it. Because Beth Gibbons has one of the most haunting, sorrowful voices in modern music and because that video for "Only You" was frikkin' awesome.

Put on your dark clothes and light a candle...

1. Silence - Instruments begin to wake over foreign narration. Drums are prominent, moving this opener along a little more vibrantly than I'm used to hearing from Portishead. But as soon as the vocals kick in I'm suitably depressed. This might be the album to review on a bright Spring day...

2. Hunter - A quick cut off of the previous song leads to this, a lush, string-laden cup of sorrow that abruptly turns face, injects some crazy, and lapses back into more carpet gazing. I like this song more than the opener, which seemed to go in one direction and end. This largely does the same (one could argue all Portishead songs are roughly the same in their direction and goal), but there's a quiet theatrical menace that permeates the song. Real nice.

3. Nylon Smile - I read an amazon.com review where mastermind Geoff Barrow was quoted as wanting to sound different, but the same. I think they succeed. "Nylon Smile" is the same thing you've from Portishead before, but different. There's more of a world vibe on this track, shades of India and the Middle East.

4. The Rip - I would love to her a song like this unadorned, just the finger-picking of the guitar and Beth Gibbon's voice. Which isn't to do this song a disservice, but I imagine I could play any Portishead song and eventually hear creepy theremin sounds (whether from an actual theremin or a moog) and open chords heavy with the tremolo. About halfway in the song mutates into a more New Wave/drum and bass thing. So far I'm digging the overall lack of orchestrations from the live album.

5. Plastic - Goes crazy with the starts and stops, the dynamics shifting seemingly at random with throbs and crashes. There's a lot going on here, like their other records, everything benefits (I imagine since this is listen #1) from repeated listening.

6. We Carry On - Starts as an industrial march, then moves to something other. This is the pulse of a machine realizing it's sentient. And the preceding sentence was more pretentious than anything else written this year. Anyway, instead of feeling cinematic like their earlier records, this sound like a movie, evoking different moods and ideas over its length. So far this, "Hunter" and "The Rip" are sticking with me.

7. Deep Water - What? No effects? No reverb or echo? Just a ukulele's breezy strum and a voice singing to itself, no audience until the harmonies kick in with the right amount of ridiculousness and fun. Great unexpected diversion before proceeding back to items needing an electrical outlet.

8. Machine Gun - The cold, sterile staccato of the beats force you to focus on Gibbon's voice, here playing multiple roles as the sung harmony lines swerve between the speakers. Good, but when she's not singing this gets old quickly.

9. Small - Spare, but this sounds like something not quite finished. At least for the first 2:30; then it reinvents itself as a weird, 70's prog rock interlude, complete with sci-fi effects and a moog that sounds like it's covered in decades of dust. This is probably what people are going to like the least, but I applaud such a departure from what you would expect from a Portishead song. A brief return to the opening before descending to massive keyboard wanking. A little long in my opinion, but satisfying.

10. Magic Doors - Calling anything Portishead does as "traditional" is a bit of a misnomer, but "Magic Doors" is probably the most accessible song on Third. At least as long as you consider the vocal melody. As great as Gibbons is, this is definitely Barrow's album, and the music has quirks and intricacies that serve to elevate what could have potentially been a "Glory Box" or "Sour Times" clone. The odd sax break may be a bit too much, but I'll let it go because the percussion is so great.

11. Threads - Closing time. Typically eerie and sad, "Threads" ends Third with kind of a bored sigh than anything else. I don't know why I'd be surprised - how else would a Portishead album end? But after the eclectic display and move away from their comfort zone, this feels a little like a half-hearted attempt at melancholy as opposed to a full-fledged dive.

BOTTOM LINE: B+ There's enough going on to make it interesting, and it's not just a clone of what they 11 years ago. Third probably won't take the place of the live record for my favorite Portishead, but it's a brave choice to come out and not cash in on past successes when you've been gone for so long. Not something I'd recommend for every occasion, but perfect when isolated and feeling so alone (sung in best Morrissey imitation - please use plenty of echo).