Balkan Beat Box – Blue Eyed Black Boy

Listening to Blue Eyed Black Boy by Balkan Beat Box reminds me that I may not understand all of the intricate workings of making music, but I know what I like. The three core members – Ori Kapan, Tamir Muskat and Tomer Yosef – met up in New York City and released their first album in 2005. The trio’s diverse backgrounds come together in a sound they describe as “Nu Med”, a mash-up of old world and new world aesthetics that combines Balkan traditional instrumentation with hip-hop, electronics, rock, and more. While there is a healthy roster of current performers going the route of old school/new school mashups, Balkan Beat Box takes the juxtapositions to an entirely new level.

The album begins with a 31 second track, aptly titled “Intro”, which transitions right into “Move It”. The combination of gypsy brass and percussion cut right through this cool spring weather and sunbeam my heart right to summer. This is the kind of dance music that actually makes me want to move – it’s intelligent, fun, infectious, and completely lacking the overworked bubblegum traded on the airwaves today. Balkan Beat Box may “make beats like gorillas”, but if this amount of shake and shimmy doesn’t get you to move it, you might be a hopeless cause.

The title track has a slower grove with a more hip-hop orientation, but the overall sound is still a global fusion. It’s important to note that while Blue Eyed Black Boy contains a lot of electronics, they are completely homegrown and organic – meaning the group played everything you hear, even if that sound is chopped up, looped, or otherwise meshed into the whole of the song. “My Baby”, “Look Them Act”, and “Dancing With the Moon” keep the dance-ability factor high – the first two with beats that wouldn’t be surprising to hear at an underground dancehall or city block party, the latter more fitting for a backyard party where the young and old folk alike get into the dance.

The final track, “War Again”, wraps up the Balkan Beat Box’s international appeal in one sweaty, grimy, perfectly executed package. The talent these guys have for infiltrating your very bones with rhythm is undeniable. If half this energy is translated to a live show – which I imagine it easily is – then Balkan Beat Box is one not to miss. It’s rare that an album maintains this much vigor from beginning to end and each of the 14 tracks here should speak as much to the young city dweller as they do to the old world farmer. That is how Balkan Beat Box transforms its multiculturalism into its music. Add in the smart lyrics and you’ve got a budding powerhouse of the global-fusion market. Listen to the album on Balkan Beat Box’s website or proceed directly to your favorite site to purchase.

Crammed Discs / Nat Geo

Dirt Mall – Pacifuego

Dirt Mall’s second full-length album Pacifuego comes out swinging like a mixed martial arts fighter ready to knock somebody out; the Boston based rockers created a fervent and unrefined hybrid of Rock & Roll and 70s inspired punk, making the songs on the record a bit more engaging than on their previous release Got The Goat by The Horns. There is an immense liveliness glowing from the album possibly due to the brevity, the 11 songs fly by in about a half-hour, and while the band is wholehearted and sincere, there are various setbacks on this effort.

Besides the particularly second-rate production, the record is rather hesitant to come out of its comfort zone and bring forth a distinct approach in terms of freshness.  The guitar riffs are admirable, but most of the songs rely too heavily on the riff indicating the band’s inability to bring that little bit of variety that would have enhanced the quality of some of the songs; tracks such as “What Now?” and “Standing in The Road” also exhibit the reality that Johnny Anguish’s rasping voice is unpleasant and distracting at times.  Pacifuego does nevertheless still manage to keep things moving despite its deficiencies, tracks such as “Pearl” and “Rats” demonstrate the band’s ability to craft attractive tunes while still preserving their heady Rock & Roll sound. Dirt Mall does a decent job of overwhelming the listener with determined/melodic songs leaving one with little time to catch their breath.

Pacifuego is definitely a fun listen, and whilst the band manages to create potent rock songs with plenty of attitude, there’s just something lacking.  I find that this is an album that you want to root for and love, but it just falls short of going to that next stage.

Day Kamp Records

New EP from Midnight Spin

Already named New York’s “Best Emerging Artist of 2009” by readers of The Deli Magazine, Midnight Spin recently shot their first music video for the debut single “In the Air (Revival)” (

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) with the help of MTV producers seeking additional high-profile exposure for the band and this undeniably accessible song.

This goal is now being met as this five-piece rock outfit from Williamsburg, Brooklyn, fresh off playing the John Varvatos Fashion Week party with Guns ‘n Roses, has begun selling out premier venues such as Manhattan’s Mercury Lounge.

Now, Midnight Spin is quickly expanding their horizons beyond their Brooklyn crib by making plans to bring their high-energy guitar rock for the 21st century to colleges and clubs around the country. The band will be touring in support of its debut EP Through the Mojo Wire produced by Nic Hard (The Bravery).

Official Site: http://www.midnightspin.com/

Moneybrother – Real Control

There’s a whole lotta  music goin’ on on this, the fifth full-length (first in the U.S.) from Sweden’s Moneybrother (aka Anders Wendin).  A whole lotta heart, too. Wendin is a veteran by now, having been on the scene since the 90s, and he sounds especially confident on Real Control, combining the strains of rock, punk, reggae and pop he’s been toying with all along.

Best of all, this record sounds like it was a blast to make, and that feeling comes through. Wendin has a rough, pack-a-day voice that cuts through these songs and he’s in high spirits throughout. The tunes sound like they were culled from a couple decades of radio highlights; they have a rock wallop, but also groove with soul and reggae undertones which create a welcome sense of variety throughout, an impression helped by the just-enough variety of the arrangements and the loud production.  The disc has quite a few irresistible moments, including the single “Born Under a Bad Sign,” where the slinky verses stalk the anthemic chorus to great effect.

“Just Another Part of Me That Breaks Down,” is a super snappy number that sounds half Joe Strummer, half Joe Jackson with biting guitars and poppin’ percussion and a soulful set of background vocals. A somewhat unexpected African guitar feel launches “We Die Only Once,” a lovely song that glides past in a gentle rock-a-bye manner that underlies its hard-wisdom lyric, with yet more excellent vocals. It’s a perfect song for that moment of melancholic realization, a bittersweet survivor’s song.

A little Springsteen bluster animates “Get Some Tonight,” the kind of rousing song the Boss still finds time for when he’s not in mourning mode. The tremulous Hammond organs shiver and the piano octaves ring with a sound that might be a shade to close to Springsteen’s operatic style (since indie-fied somewhat by the Hold Steady), but Wendin’s tune is amply good that it carries you past simple similarities.

The Leader-of-the-Pack type intro that sets up “Not Too Old” is a nice touch and the song itself is the apex of all the fun you’ll be having spinning Real Control. In a record generous with unshakable choruses, this song has the best one. Wendin’s falsetto coaxing for his listeners to ignore everything except their desire to dance and live boldly will be tough for the listener to ignore, I predict.

This boisterous music comes along at a good time, too, just as that long Winter is finally fading from memory and the warm weather begins to draw everyone out from their funk. Moneybrother is a very happy discovery and Real Control is great way to get introduced to him.

Bladen County Records

Coheed & Cambria – Year of the Black Rainbow

I prepared to review Coheed & Cambria’s fifth studio album, Year of the Black Rainbow, by immersing myself in their entire discography and mythos for the last two weeks. I know these albums very well now, and what follows may spark disappointment (towards the band) and outrage (towards me). YOTBR is a huge letdown, quite possibly standing as their weakest album. There is really no reason to even hear YOTBR.

Coheed & Cambria is a quartet formed in NY circa 2001. Their name comes from two major characters from the “Amory Wars” concept mastermind Claudio Sanchez derived for their albums. The five part saga spanned all their studio discography, and YOTBR serves as the first part. Often they are labeled as merely an emo band, which is a huge disservice since their ambition, intricate musicianship and knack for memorable, affective melodies places them more into a progressive rock with pop sensibilities category. The influences of Rush, Pink Floyd, as well as a sound similar to The Mars Volta, are apparent. Unfortunately, YOTBR lacks a lot of these qualities, so the band feels like only a shadow of their former selves.

The album opens as you’d expect: ominous atmosphere and a simple piano melody (which doesn’t reference any of their previous motifs). “One” sets the stage appropriately, but the next 50+ minutes, save for a few moments, aren’t very special. “The Broken” carries the attitude and volume fans expect, but not the passion or hooks from previous album openers like “No World For Tomorrow” and “Welcome Home” (well, these aren’t technically album openers, but you know what I mean). Those two songs had more excitement, emotion and raw kick ass riffs than all of YOTBR combined. They were songs you couldn’t help but strain your voice and hurt your hands playing along with, featuring an exhilarating, bombastic energy that’s not found here.

All of their previous albums encompassed the feeling of an epic, life altering struggle for survival. We felt the Amory Wars unfold with all the anger, loss, betrayal, and love Claudio conveyed in the lyrics. We don’t with YOTBR, save for one track: “Pearl of the Stars.” With a great melody, meaningful lyrics, and powerful production (orchestration, sound effects, etc), it earns a spot alongside their other ballads. This track feels like it is part of the Amory Wars story. The rest of the album doesn’t. In fact, these songs are so unremarkable and unmemorable that I won’t bother discussing them individually.

So what exactly is missing from YOTBR? Well, for starters, where’s their great usage of dynamics? These songs are all about being in your face (and rather generically too). Where are the softer parts within these tracks that we can sing along with and get stuck in our head? Where is the aforementioned skill for pop appeal (besides “Pearl…”)? Also, where’s the counter-melody and eclectic, strange vocal overdubs of “The Suffering” and “The Willing Well I?” Where’s the orchestration? Finally, where is the song suite fans expect to end a Coheed & Cambria album?

Looking at the larger concept, Year of the Black Rainbow feels like it should be their debut since it features less sophisticated song structures, little experimentation, and no musical or melodic references to the saga. There’s no conceptual continuity. Remember how “The Suffering” from Good Apollo I borrowed its hook from “Three Evils” from In Keeping Secrets…? Remember how all four previous albums, somewhere, referenced the “What did I do to deserve?” lyric? And, just like No World for Tomorrow, the “time skip motif,” which opened the first three albums and appeared throughout them, is missing. Why is it missing?! It should have opened and/or closed this album (I had the same gripe about NWFT, but at least that album maintained quality and an epic feel). This feels like a Coheed & Cambria album, don’t get me wrong, but it feels like a less ambitious and less refined version. Again, it feels like a debut.

Year of the Black Rainbow is not a bad album. It has its moments, but it is a far, far cry from the greatness Coheed & Cambria possessed on all four previous albums, especially the masterpiece of melody, dynamics, musicianship and continuity that was Good Apollo I. That album was the band at their peak, fully realizing and possessing all the tools and tricks they needed to bring their ambition to life. Maybe it makes sense that, being the prequel album, YOTBR lacks the developments the story gained as it progressed. That’s fine for the concept, but musically, it’s not an excuse. This album should feel like another entry into the epic, crushing, heartbreaking, explosive, murderous and cathartic “Amory Wars.” It doesn’t.

Sones de México Ensemble – Fiesta Mexicana: Mexican Songs & Stories for Niños and Niñas and their Papás & Mamás

When I was a young child, growing up I experienced both the traditions of coming from a family deep in Mexican culture while being born in the United States. Living on the U.S./Mexican border in one of the largest border cities also added an influx of strong culture from all sides. Through years of schooling where I transitioned from a bilingual class to a monolingual setting I always recognized the significance of understanding one’s roots and ancestry. So it brought me immense pride to know that there was someone like the Sones de México Ensemble, an entirely not-for-profit musical organization whose goal was to deliver Mexican stories and songs into the lives of children all over the U.S.

The sounds on Fiesta Mexicana: Mexican Songs & Stories for Niños and Niñas and their Papás & Mamás are just that, a festivity that is intended for both boys and girls and their parents. A lively and open interpretation, the ensemble features narratives where one member re-tells a story asking for participation from children and with the support of the rest of ensemble to bring out the sounds. Whether it’s a story about the earliest beginnings, dancing lessons or about a sneaky rat, there is an enchanting feel to this album that leaves you affected. Not only is it something that could easily be heard by any child (it’s a two-disc set that is English on one side and Spanish on the other) but their messages are ones that all can relate to: covering themes of love, unity and having balance in your life.

The album opens with a flourishing and vibrant original composition by music director Victor Pichardo. As much as this is a somewhat educational blending about Mexican folklore, the music is as equally important in representing how different styles, sounds and cultures can come together for a melting pot of learning. While all the music is arranged by Pichardo, it is Juan Díes that narrates all of the stories and teachings. Everything smoothly moves from one story to the other with music that is richly decorated with Mexican tradition. Even when Díes is narrating, there is hardly ever any silence with either a drum pat, guitar strum or a singular instrument always in the background. And even after the ‘learning’ part is over, everyone rejoices in dancing to the festive music.

If there was anything confusing about the album’s aim is just where the focus is supposed to be: the music, the stories, the lessons behind the stories, all of it? Primarily, this started out as a project to go around towns to bring out the best aspects of Mexican culture in the lives of children all over the country. And while one may feel a tinge of frustration from not being able to simply hear great songs with lyrics about Mexican tales, the narrations serve a larger purpose. And much like one of their lessons, everything is balanced with a precise hand and it shines towards the end; after the dances of Tixtla, we are left to celebrate each dance and then end it all in a rousing jam of Richie Vallens’ “La Bamba.”

Through its special artwork, to the musicians’ love and desire to create something both educational and fun, to the incorporation of both an English and Spanish set, Fiesta Mexicana: Mexican Songs & Stories for Niños and Niñas and their Papás & Mamás is a success in every sense of the word. It connects a bit stronger with someone like me but it genuinely is a modestly championed collection that can find happiness in a lot of people, no matter what your age, race or background is.

Forming – Sleep Like A Dog EP

As much a part of essential nineties nostalgia as a Bart Simpson slogan t-shirt or the first few series of Power Rangers, the inspiration for the songs on Forming’s Sleep Like A Dog EP will be obvious to anyone who has listened to much alternative rock music from that period, with bands like Dinosaur Jr. in particular having a disproportionate influence on the band’s sound.

But even if this is hardly pushing boundaries or cutting edge, a bit of early nineties revivalism is certainly no bad thing especially when the band can do it as well as Forming can. This EP is full of good songs that demonstrate the band’s sense of melody and harmony. Continually relaxed, the music is almost slouching in it’s lack of urgency, songs trundle along unhurriedly like a soundtrack to lazy sunny afternoons.

A lot of good comes out of this too, the chorus on “In The Middle” is as addictive as any grunge song that fell short of iconicity and rolls slowly to a stop with some pleasant guitar harmonies that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Sonic Youth album. “The Metric System” is built on a brilliantly memorable, soaring guitar hook that will soften the heart of even the most ardent imperial measurement fanatic. The songs here generally stick to a similar formula and there’s not much deviation from this and it’s also debatable how relevant an ‘Intro’ is when the running time is less than twelve minutes but as a pastiche, whether intentional or not, it’s an altogether pretty good one.

Vitriol Records

Our Noise: The Story of Merge Records, the Indie Label That Got Big and Stayed Small

Merge Records is now a fairly well-oiled machine, but it wasn’t always so. It started off as a bedroom label working exclusively in the 7” format as a means for Mac McCaughan and Laura Balance to put out their and their Chapel Hill friends’ bands’ music because, as Mac put it, “it’s not like there was anyone else asking to put them out.” Slowly and by necessity, they learned the ropes, experienced growing pains and embarrassments along the way, and branched out, but have always done so with a good head on their shoulders (usually Laura’s), a big heart (usually Mac’s), and an honest approach.

Published in 2009 (I waited 8 months to get it from the library) in a slightly oversized paperback and printed in full color, the book is a big mix of photographs, ephemera, descriptive narrative, and direct quotes from the people who lived the story. The narrative serves mainly to set the scene, and then gets out of the way as the participants tell the tale. The presumed author of these parts, John Cook, adeptly blends the content to make it sound like all of the participants are in a room together, hashing out differences and piecing the story together at the same time. Mac and Laura are the most quoted, but at other times, you hear from Touch & Go owner Corey Rusk, Nirvana-manager and major label man Danny Goldberg, Merge band members, legendary engineer Steve Albini, assorted business partners, and unfamous friends. I’m a slow reader and I had its almost 300 pages read within 48 hours, so it’s a well-paced and engrossing book.

The book is arranged chronologically, and covers Superchunk’s career arc and all the steps in Merge’s development. Interspersed over the course of the main story, every other chapter is dedicated to the individual stories of other bands: Butterglory, Neutral Milk Hotel, The Magnetic Fields, Lambchop, Spoon, and The Arcade Fire. Little-known Butterglory frontman Matt Suggs could never catch a break (except from Merge, of course) and tells it like it is. The chapter on Neutral Milk Hotel really doesn’t do anything that the 33 1/3 book In the Aeroplane Over the Sea hasn’t already done in more depth, but still provides a strong feel for the times and personalities surrounding that classic record. Stephin Merritt gives you a sense for his cantankerousness, proudly expressing his views as the only real character here to disavow any sort of Romanticism for indie labels. Lambchop are a fun crew who inexplicably found success in Europe but not in the States. Spoon get fucked over and rise from the ashes to sell the most records of a Merge artist until The Arcade Fire, whose ambition and charisma as performers helped put them in the right place at the right time. Aside from Jeff Mangum, all of the artists agreed to be interviewed, and their direct participation gives the book a soul that is sometimes missing from music writing.

Part of the fun here was going back and listening to stuff I’ve loved before but which has been collecting dust on the shelves for awhile, as well as checking out stuff I didn’t know or stuff I’d heard of but never took the time to try. With music clamoring at our fingertips for attention, it’s never been easier. That fact might make this story one that won’t repeat again, but there isn’t a lot of time spent pondering whether Merge is more of a one-off or a model for upstart labels to base themselves on. If anything, the book is more of a celebration of Merge’s independence and level-headed business practices. They were open to growth, but allowed themselves to develop at a responsibly scaled pace that kept them out of too much risk and debt, and used an ethic which stressed the personal relationships between the bands and label, even as the label grew beyond its North Carolinian borders.

As a fan, it was disappointing that the only mention of the Clientele was an old photograph of the band; that Portastatic was only mentioned more or less a few times in passing even as Mac has delivered some of his best songwriting yet under that name since Superchunk has gone on hiatus; that Polvo didn’t get their own chapter. It also seemed like an oversimplified characterization was made of Raleigh and Chapel Hill, the former as hard-edged and working class, the latter as arty and ambitious. But, within the confines of the book, not everyone can be mentioned in detail and most of the bands they concentrated on deserved the ink spent on them.

So, instead of trying to make bold, eggheaded pronouncements about DIY culture and the future of the music industry, Our Noise modestly tells the story of Mac and Laura’s life together as a couple (and ex-couple) in a band, the rise of Superchunk, and the steady ascent of Merge. It shares the story with the people and bands they’ve gone into business and become friends with, and their experience of the constantly changing landscape of the music business. In particular, the early 90’s rise and mid-90’s fall of alternative rock in popular culture and in the music business receives an especially enlightening treatment from the viewpoint of artists courted by and competing with the major label money machine. If you’re a fan of even a few Merge bands or lived close to underground rock sometime over the last 20 years, you really can’t go wrong with this history. It’s been lovingly assembled, beautifully packaged, well-written, and it comes straight from the horse’s mouth.

Merge Records

Our Noise Website

Debut album from Ash Reiter

Leading the way in a fusion of musical stylings that encompass the jazz elements of Feist and the intimacy of Cat Power, Ash Reiter won’t let the beat drop whether she is crooning about trampled hearts or singing an ode to a run down apartment. Reiter has been performing and touring since 2006 when she started her college band, Drunken Boat, a lo-fi folk affair with a sound that now underlies the more dance oriented rock and roll sound she now represents.

A voice like honey and whiskey and lyrics like… well, honey and whiskey, Reiter brings you California soaked grooves and an arsenal of dance gems. She’ll lure you in with delicate folk-pop melodies made believable by Reiter’s charming rough edge.

Reiter’s debut album, Paper Diamonds, was partially recorded in Arizona with musicians she met on tour.  The spontaneity of those recordings is balanced with the stability of the remaining tunes which were produced by Reiter at home with her drummer, Will Halsey. Other members of the Ash Reiter band include Mike Spreer on Bass and Drew Brown on Lead Guitar.

“Paper Diamonds” [MP3]

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MySpace Site: http://www.myspace.com/drunkenboat

No Second Troy – Colors

The aspect of music being entirely subjective has always bewildered me. On one side, you have people arguing that music cannot be judged as being ‘good’ or ‘bad’ because who’s to say what qualifies something to be worse than the other? And on the other side, you have people arguing that music can be directly broken up and dissected and that yes, you can significantly say that a band like Wolf Parade is better than Creed. I’ve always followed the thinking that music can be objective but even after over-analyzing it to death, I can start to see what the other side believes.

A band like No Second Troy firmly falls in between the lines where music can be subjectively enjoyed, as well as being objectively solid. For every new lyric on a broken relationship, there is a solid chorus that is built on sturdy melodies and chords, and in between, there is a charm and endearment that transcends their music. Their newest album, Colors, challenges the black and white thinking of objectivists, like yours truly, into pushing outside of their boundaries and hopefully, recognizing that music is a purely subjective art.

The album’s strategy can be simply detailed: everything, including the music, is made up of colors that attempting to deem something as right/wrong, bad/good, or even, black/white will never amount to anything because of all the grays involved. But upon further listening, one can easily notice that while topical in many forms, it’s a debate that has been raging for years. And through the album’s music, everything is brought forth by musicians that are all comfortable in their own skin, aware of their abilities as band mates. These assets provide an album that is not only aware of its challenging themes but at the same time, filled with an abundant amount of great music.

Jeff Wharen’s vocals recall the earlier decade’s alternative crooners with lyrics that cover the love we all hope to find and the love we all lose at one point in our lives. On “Surfacing” Wharen’s words are admirably convincing as he calls for his love to “come take my hand.” With his band softly layering guitars and keyboard lines, they come together for a fitting climax into Wharen’s final declaration. And “Wake Up” is certainly one of the better cuts with a piano line that hovers above the composition – quietly in the background – before being brought back out towards the end.

And the message is always clear, as it’s positioned on the aptly titled, “Grounded.” Staying close to the ground and never becoming presumptuous or worse, self-righteous, is hard for many people to do but with a Crowded House influence, No Second Troy comes together for a terrific album starter. Prefacing the surface with a steady amount of rock that flashes with angular guitars and pounding drums, everything is always moving forward. Although Colors definitely brings up a debate regarding musical judgments, it’s also a nod to the album’s varying styles of rock. Each song carries its own fashion and style and even the album’s ending ode of Scott Joplin’s “Maple Leaf Rag” all make for a pretty colorful album.

It all works out well for No Second Troy in being able to not only make music that will jump out to subjective people but also, objective people alike. Making honest music with solid hooks and melodies is always a great thing and one that many can agree on. And sure, I love some music about relationships too so call me a subjectivist if you’d like. There’ll always be good music like Colors to debunk any theory.

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