St. Germain – The best one-man deep house show in Paris
Bouelvard Reissue
by Jess Minnen
Originally released in 1995, Boulevard is testament to the fact that underground music is at least alive in France, if not alive and well. But if you tried to praise Ludovic Navarre, the mind behind St. Germain, for saving the French dance music scene from the vacuous sarlac pit of plastic pop music, he’d probably shrug, bristle, and proffer a mumbled ‘merci.’ TrŠs humble, non?
In fact, for Navarre it isn’t a case of modesty so much as one of mistaken identity. He wouldn’t like to be so quickly labeled as belonging to any genre, let alone as being its savior. Since the success of his 2000 release Tourist, St. Germain has re-released Boulevard, a “new version,” of his second album, which includes the self-explanatory “Soul Salsa Soul,” and the hugely popular and played-to-death-in-Europe “Alabama Blues.”
And even if Boulevard is about as artificial as albums get-Navarre created it all out of computers and synthesizers-the heart of each song beats with Navarre’s unmistakable style. The man knows how to slather on jazz grooves like nobody’s business, and Boulevard is one, big, delectable layer cake of grooves. The heady backbeat is the cake, and all the icing-trumpet, sax, flute, trombone, and additional percussion-is enough to leave you salivating for more.
The tracks are mostly long, some well over ten minutes, and within each one, Navarre crafts his own special brand of house music, blending inflections of jazz, blues, techno, downbeat electronica, and drum & bass into a mass of chill. That’s what it all comes down to on this album-chill. It just fits, no matter what your mood or activity.
In retrospect, it’s a little hard to believe that Boulevard was released a good four years before Moby sewed himself onto the great pop culture quilt with his blues samples and looped beats. He owes a debt to St. Germain, although his American audience might never know it. The same holds true for most of the burgeoning French house/garage/electronica scene.
Although Ludovic Navarre would deny it with a downcast glance, groups like Air and Dimitri from Paris wouldn’t be riding their current wave of popularity if the waters had not first been tread by St. Germain in the late nineties.
Most house fans probably already have or have heard this album. If you’re not sure, but you like jazz, downbeat electronica, or trip hop, do yourself a favor-sample some house flavor … la St. Germain.
****
Sub.Bionic – The Pablo Honey of a band that ain’t Radiohead
you I lov
by Kevin Skiena
You I Lov/// is Sub.bionic’s attempt to do what most great rock does: make something beautiful and surreal out of the elements of everyday life. They’re getting there.
There is no question that the music is great. The shimmering, electric guitar riffs don’t leave anything to be desired. While amateur alt-rockers will wallpaper their music with synthesizers, Sub.bionic uses them tastefully to add an ambiance to the guitars, vocals, and bass. The way the vocals of lead singer Jimmy Tucket languishes over a wah-wah guitar harkens back to the great rockers of yore.
Founders Jimmy Tuckett and Jimmy Paxson claim their debut album carries the echoes of such greats as Pink Floyd, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin. Whoa, fellas! I’m not stoned yet. While You I Lov/// is an extremely inspired album with some wonderfully mellow music, it’s a little sloppy.
There is a purity to Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin that is lacking in You I Lov///. You can hear the beginnings of it in almost every track, especially “Plum” and “Phonophobic”-an acoustic loveliness that blends naturally with soft and honest lyrics, but the lyrical depth and musical originality aren’t quite there yet.
Some fans are already declaring them the next Radiohead, but this is no OK Computer. Radiohead is great because they continue to be innovative, modern, and remarkably prolific after their initial success. Sub.bionic make beautiful music, but their poetry doesn’t carry the insight and variety that the greats are known for.
You I Lov/// has some great tracks that deserve to be heard, but they can’t carry the whole album. Songs like the heavy-handed “Nuclear Bomb Parade” scream at you with a message you don’t feel like hearing beyond the first few seconds.
Then again, Radiohead came out with Pablo Honey two years before The Bends, and that four years before OK Computer. I’d like to think that You I Lov/// is Sub.bionic’s Pablo Honey-a tentative sign of great things to come, but by no means a guarantee.
***1/2
Wesley Willis – A sneak peek at the new album from everyone’s favorite 320 lb. schizophrenic genius. Seriously.
Rock and Roll Star Wars
by Eric Dienstfrey
In my experience, people tend to only know what they like and like only what they know. And it can only be this principle that has kept singer-songwriter Wesley Willis from achieving more than just critical acclaim.
But while Willis has been ignored by society for over fifteen years, the upcoming release of his new album, tentatively titled Rock and Roll Star Wars is sure to change that.
In it, listeners will find songs that are sure to become Wesley Willis staples. Songs like: “I Kicked Your Ass In Chess,” “James Joyce,” “I Slept Through Das Rheingold,” and “I Whooped You At Risk” are just as catchy as his earlier classics.
However, in all respects, the new album represents an evolution in Wesley Willis’s life and work; the lyrics show him in a more mature and provocative state of mind then ever before, as evident in this sample from “I Whooped You at Risk”:
After holding the Asia bonus and trading in
cards, I recieved 42 armies
I placed 20 in Alaska, 11 in Ukraine, and 11 in The Middle East
I lost 12 armies attacking the Northwest Territory, but I still took half of Europe
I then tactical moved my remaining armies into Southern Europe.
I whooped you at Risk, I whooped you at Risk,
I whooped you at Risk, I whooped you at Risk.
(piano solo)
Rock on London, rock out Chicago.
Rogaine, ask your doctor about it.
Also on the album are three songs inspired by the events of September 11th: “Osama Works at Wal-Mart,” “I Bombed The Taliban’s Ass,” and “They Threw Me Out Of The Army,” a song which can be seen as an anthem to the many schizophrenic and mentally challenged patriots who wish to enlist in the Armed Forces but are tragically denied.
Now, it may be difficult to judge, due to the scant access to Willis’ highly sought-after albums, and because of the gaps in the scholarly documentation on the development of his oeuvre, but as far as this reviewer can tell, Wesley Willis’ forthcoming album looks to be his Sgt. Pepper.
Death Cab for Cutie
Stability EP
by Douglas Ott
If you haven’t heard of them by now, Death Cab For Cutie has been hailed by many Indie rock critics for the past two years as one of the underground bands that has a good shot at breaking through to mainstream.
Though that might have been true in 1999 with the release of Something About Airplanes, a solid and emotive effort that captured the hearts of many, it would be hard to argue for Death Cab’s accessibility to the casual music listener of today (although I’ve seen a Dashboard Confessional video on M2, which was silly).
With The Stability EP, it seems that Death Cab has taken a more slo-core approach to music, very similar in fact to Mogwai’s huge change in sound with their Rock Action LP. The EP’s opener, “20th Century Towers,” feels about as slow and as sad as Codeine, but gains from the warmer Mogwai-style lush and melodic group vocals.
Probably the EP’s most interesting moment comes with Death Cab’s cover of Bjork’s “All Is Full of Love.” It’s the only upbeat song, rhythmically speaking, with a driving beat replacing Bjork’s sweeping voice and the ambient strings and noises of the original production.
For the closer, “Stability,” Death Cab even invites label mate John Vanderslice (who manages Tiny Telephone Studios, responsible for groups like Beulah, Mates of State, and At the Drive In) to join in on vocals. It marks an anticlimactic end to a altogether anticlimactic disc.
***1/2
Queen of the Damned Soundtrack
by Molly Sutter
If I had to choose one word to describe the soundtrack to the slightly campy, sinisterly sexy recent release Queen of the Damned, the word would definitely not be “discrete.” This soundtrack embraces the dark side of Goth’s black heart with tracks from such artists as Wayne Static of Static-X and David Draiman of Disturbed, with the most famous (and probably infamous) track being Marilyn Manson’s “Redeemer.” In the movie, many of the songs are cleverly used as The Vampire Lestat’s rock and roll soundtrack of morbidity, and the combination is a winner. Vampires and heavy rock music-what more could you want?
The album boasts a good variety of artists, from Papa Roach to the Deftones and Tricky to Jay Gordon of Orgy, along with some lesser known but no less talented groups such as Earshot and the band with the most gruesome (and therefore, coolest) name, Kidneythieves. The songs, most from the heavy, gothic tradition, portray the pain and decadence of the vampiric lifestyle with such title tracks as “Dead Cell,” “Change (In the House of Flies),” and “Down with the Sickness.”
The lyrics are just as potent in their creepiness. One great example of this comes from my favorite track, “System” by Chester Bennington of Linkin Park, in which he howls the chorus of “Why won’t you die?/Your blood in mine?/We’ll be fine/Then your body will be mine.” Great stuff.
Then again, if you don’t like dark music with bloody subject matter, this album is probably not up your alley. However, if you enjoyed the movie, or just really think blood and gore are cool stuff, give this CD a spin-it’ll leave you shrieking.
***