Ecstatic Sunshine- Freckle Wars [2006]

The greatest praise one can give Ecstatic Sunshine when it comes to Freckle Wars is for consistency of vision. It's a vision that consists of two young gentleman in Baltimore, probably hanging out in a dorm, strumming away haphazardly at guitars with little knowledge of chords or songcraft. There's really no other way and no truly nice way to put it: the album's indistinguishable 12 tracks seem recorded by preteens or some other innocents who have just recently been introduced to musical instruments. Distant inspirations like Fahey, Kotke and Modest Mouse are obvious, but at this point in their career, Matthew Papich and Dustin Wong (Ponytail) simply can't measure up. While the guys might have fun jamming, laughing, and possibly indulging in some college substances, the music that results isn't typically the kind of stuff that's released by a record label. In their Freckle Wars, Ecstatic Sunshine wins the battle of outlasting a listener's patience. Perhaps with more variation and a great deal of practice, their future might be brighter. - Tim DiGravina

Freckle Wars [2006]

Perrier

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Alec Empire and Merzbow- Live CBGB's NYC 1998 [2003]

The two artists collaborated together during the legendary show at CBGB’s in New York City. Empire shows off his DJ skills with obscure scratching techniques and hard breaks, while Masami Akita (aka Merzbow) is painting the apocalypse with shapes of white noise. In 1998 critics celebrated this concert as ‘the defining end-point of the popular music era of the 20th century’.

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Califone- Quicksand/Cradlesnakes [2003]

With Quicksand/Cradlesnakes, Califone finally sounds like a confident, poised outfit rather than a Tim Rutili work-in-progress. It may lack some of the highlights of Roomsound, but Quicksand/Cradlesnakes makes up for it through consistency and pacing. Califone still explores the shadowlands between acoustic and electronic sounds, but the experimentation is more focused here, more in support of the song. The duo of Tim Rutili and Ben Mansarella remains at the group's core, but longtime Califone collaborator Brian Deck sits this one out, and as a result Quicksand/Cradlesnakes has a sparser, less-textured feel than its predecessor. The clinking, clanging, buzzing, and scraping are still present, as well as the occasional burst of controlled feedback -- something that has followed this crew since the days of Red Red Meat.

Quicksand/Cradlesnakes

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Silkworm - Firewater [1996]

It's a difficult thing to have too many cooks in the kitchen, especially when all of them are iron chefs. Joel Phelps' semi-forced exit made a big difference. On one hand, it was bad: Phelps was an integral part of the band since its inception. And on the other, it was good: the pared-down sound fit the band well, and that's quite evident on the four-sided Firewater. Left to two voices, the band produces its most cohesive and precise set, despite it being their most broad; Firewater clocks in with 16 tracks at an hour long. Not a minute is wasted, and everything sounds more measured and relaxed. Lyrically, the themes of each song tie in with a couple concepts in mind, not suffering from the somewhat schizo topics of previous LPs. As the lone guitarist, Cohen spreads his wings, turning in some lengthy solos. At times, his scorchy leads seem twice as loud as the bass and drums, but it's called for each time. Midgett's thick bass becomes more of a centerpiece than an anchor, sounding its thickest yet. Stripped bare to the degree of sounding awkward on the first few listens, a couple songs rely mainly on light rhythms and little else. The record's themes of alienation and inebriation are balanced by spells of dark humor. Cohen is always reliable for the occasional zinger, and Midgett's woes-of-the-road "Miracle Mile" provides many yuks at the band's expense. Also, the occasional cathartic yelping and complex structures seem to be done away with, in favor of more classic influences (the Stones-y "Lure of Beauty") and decreasing tangential incidents. Though one hates to say it in the wake of Phelps, Firewater sounds like a band that's just lost its training wheels -- fuller yet less cluttered. - All Music


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Go Back Snowball - Calling Zero [2002]

Guided By Voices' maestro Robert Pollard is the King of Melody. The man could be given a recording of garbage trucks in reverse and emerge with something hook-laden. Thankfully, he has more to work with on Go Back Snowball's Calling Zero, his highly anticipated collaboration with Superchunk's own leader, Mac McCaughan (and Pollard's first venture outside of the GBV camp). The move paid off nicely, as Pollard's lyrics and melodies play off of McCaughan's instrumental beds (and vice versa) as if the two had been honing their craft together for years. This is all the more impressive given the fact that the gifted songwriters have never been in a studio simultaneously. McCaughan sets Pollard up beautifully throughout Calling Zero, with scores that recall Guided By Voices ("Never Forget Where You Get Them," "It Is Divine), the synth pop of New Order ("Again the Waterloo," "Throat of Throats"), the lighter side of Superchunk ("Go Gold"), and his own solo project, Portastatic ("Lifetime for the Mavericks," which starts off sounding like Bob Mould covering GBV). Needless to say, the Captain is up for the challenge. Adventurous fans will be pleasantly surprised to hear classic Pollard refrains over a horn section ("Radical Girl), a sparse, acoustic guitar/percussion/trumpet arrangement ("Dumbluck Systems Storefront"), and something downright danceable ("Again the Waterloo"). A hypothetical question is also raised: What if Black Sabbath bought a drum machine ("Climb")? The strained chorus and throwaway phrases on the otherwise fine acoustic-rooted ballad "Calling Zero" is the one time the plan fails, while "Red Hot Halos" is an example of the plan when it all works perfectly -- as the words and melody interact with the shifting musical moods to create something more than worthy of the expectations.


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Condo Fucks - Fuckbook [2009]

An alter ego of indie rock veterans Yo La Tengo, the Condo Fucks allegedly hailed from New London, CT, and featured drummer Georgia Condo (aka Georgia Hubley), guitarist Kid Condo (aka Ira Kaplan), and bassist James McNew. In 2008, the band played one of the final shows at Brooklyn's Magnetic Field, and a "secretive Hoboken rehearsal" that featured covers of Richard Hell, Small Faces, Troggs, and Beach Boys songs resulted in Fuckbook, which was released by Matador in spring 2009.


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Crocodiles - Summer of Hate [2009]

Crocodiles are a two-piece from San Diego, USA formed in 2008 playing lo-fi new wave, featuring former members of The Plot to Blow Up the Eiffel Tower. So far they have released a 7” on Zoo Music, and have two forthcoming split 7”s with a number of artists plus an LP entitled ‘Summer of Hate’.


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