Artigos com o marcador pop
The Jameses – The Haunted Rider & Rat People 7″ (2010)
20/08/10
If there’s one thing I’ve learned from reading Carl Hiassen and Dave Barry novels, it’s that Florida can be a weird place. I imagine that Captured Tracks band the Jameses would agree with this sentiment: They hail from the Sunshine State (Lake Worth, to be exact), and their song “The Haunted Rider” has plenty of surreal imagery and non sequiturs to go around. “Alone in the tunnel with the radio to keep me awake,” singer/multi-instrumentalist Dan McHugh sings, which is normal enough until he follows it up with, “There are dogs to feed/ So there’s not a drop of paint I can waste.” Canines ingesting primer is the least of his worries, though, as he later warns, “They’ll crucify the men for having nothing to say.” Even though the oddness quotient is upped during the chorus (“Hands disappear in thin air/ In the garden, there’s a horse drinking rye”), there’s nothing strange about the way “The Haunted Rider” sounds, although the organ-droned false start might trick you into thinking otherwise. The song’s got a chugging, marshy pace, subtly sweet melodic turns, and a guitar lick or two that is reminiscent of Television, if Marquee Moon had been recorded in a backwoods bar by a couple of Southern rock enthusiasts. Nope, nothing weird about that at all. ~ Pitchfork
My Rate: 7.5/10
Áudio de “The Haunted Rider”
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The Spongetones – Beat & Torn (1994)
20/08/10
Now combined on one CD, Beat Music and Torn Apart represent the band’s earliest recordings and some of their finest. These two albums are simply Southern power pop at its best, and this package is essential for fans of pure pop. ~ Chris Woodstra, AMG
My Rate: 8.8/10
Vídeo de “Here I Go Again”
The Style Council – The Singular Adventures of the Style Council (1989)
18/08/10
The Style Council’s albums were always weighed down by their far-reaching musical ambitions, which meant that their ideas were usually best heard on their singles. And while this period of Paul Weller’s career has been criticized heavily, he wrote several excellent songs during the Style Council, most of which are featured on the fine compilation The Singular Adventures of the Style Council. Not all of the 16 songs are first-rate, as it begins to lose steam toward the end of the band’s life, but “My Ever Changing Moods,” “You’re the Best Thing,” “Long Hot Summer,” “Shout to the Top!,” “A Solid Bond in Your Heart,” “Money Go Round,” “Walls Come Tumbling Down,” and “Speak Like a Child” are terrific, and make the collection worthwhile for fans of the Jam and Weller’s solo career, as well as fans of New Romantic new wave and jazzy sophisti-pop. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, AMG
My Rate: 9.8/10
Vídeo de “Shout to the Top!” (Live, TOTP 84)
The Superimposers – Sunshine Pops! (2010)
03/08/10
The record’s title has twofold resonance. First, the chilled rhythms and anthemic chants (like ‘Would It Be Impossible’s “rise in the morning sun” chant) make you understand why The Superimposers have been compiled on Ibiza chillout albums. Second, the title references the infectious melodies of 60s sunshine pop like the Free Design, Left Banke and Curt Boettcher. These songs seem custom-built to soundtrack the current season and become even more fitting the higher the mercury climbs in the thermometer.
The album constantly reminds you of classic pop, with little Northern Soul riffles and echoes of the Isley Brothers in ‘The Beach’, while celestial choruses and harpsichords are much in evidence. You could easily namecheck John Barry and Ennio Morricone while listening and get few naysayers. ‘Seeing Is Believing’ has a 60s pop vibe redolent of the great Emitt Rhodes while the loping rhythms of ‘The Harbour Mystery’ remind you of Harry Nillson. Maybe you aren’t intimately familiar with all those names but it’s a mark of the Superimposers that they are, and have borrowed what makes them so good. On ‘Sometimes’, they’ve even fallen in with master crate digger Jonny Trunk for a sample-fest. But that’s also the downside. They’re so well versed in pop moves that everything seems like a tastemaker’s record, with the right samples and references but lacking something of the creators: plenty of Soul but no soul. I’ve bought Superimposers records in the past and liked the concepts almost more than the tracks. Their methods are impressive and I’d play this record in the heat of summer but I won’t fall in love with it. ~ Ged M, SoundsXP
My Rate: 7.8/10
Áudio de “Where Do You Go?”
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The Cowsills – Painting the Day: The Angelic Psychedelia of the Cowsills (2006)
12/07/10
ALLMUSIC A group consisting of six siblings from Rhode Island and their mom is never likely to get big points for hipness (and signing a million-dollar endorsement deal for milk didn’t help matters), but while the Cowsills were regarded as a lightweight pop outfit by most “serious” music fans during their 1967-1970 heyday, their body of work has stood the test of time better than most of their more prestigious contemporaries. The Cowsills were brilliant harmony singers, they could play their instruments and write songs quite well (unlike most similar groups), and they created some glorious pop records that were clever, ambitious, and marvelously crafted. At their best, the Cowsills made singles at least as good (if not better) than what the Beach Boys or the Monkees were doing at the time, and without the presence of an acknowledged genius like Brian Wilson or the backing of a major television network. Painting the Day: The Angelic Psychedelia of the Cowsills is a compilation that draws together some of the group’s best-known and most ambitious work. The first half of the disc includes a handful of the Cowsills’ biggest hits, including “The Rain, the Park and Other Things,” “Indian Lake,” “We Can Fly,” and “Hair” (the latter a superb example of a great performance redeeming a truly foolish song), as well as some lesser-known album cuts such as “Dreams of Linda,” “The Fantasy World of Harry Faversham,” and “Painting the Day,” which are all first-rate sunshine pop.
The second half of this compilation includes all 11 songs from II x II, an adventurous folk-rock album that was released as the Cowsills’ popularity was waning in 1970. The album’s tone is moodier and more pastoral than the Cowsills’ hit singles, but the harmonies are strikingly beautiful, the songs (most of which were written by members of the group) are great, and the set’s adventurous reach (embracing country-rock, spiritual themes, familial crises, emotionally mature love songs, and some of their most potent rock & roll ever) proved they were capable of much more than AM radio fodder. By all rights, II x II should have earned the the Cowsills a new audience, but it was ignored by both critics and record-buyers, and the album’s inclusion here is more than welcome. While it doesn’t shy away from the Cowsills’ hits, Painting the Day: The Angelic Psychedelia of the Cowsills aims to give a broader picture of the group’s talents than the “best-of” packages on the market, and on that score it succeeds admirably. ~ Mark Deming
My Rate: 9/10
Vídeo de “The Rain, The Park & Other Things”
Beach Fossils – Beach Fossils (2010)
22/06/10
ALLMUSIC In 2010, there were a lot of bands doing roughly the same thing as Beach Fossils. Namely, a lo-fi take on the indie pop sound with loads of reverb, guitar parts reminiscent of surf music, simple-to-rudimentary drums, and innocent, almost deadpan vocals. Many of the bands are on the same label,Captured Tracks. Many of them are one-person outfits, as well. In this case the one person beingDustin Payseur. Of all the bands operating in this general area, Beach Fossils is one of the best and their self-titled record works as one of the early landmarks of the sound. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly why, though it helps that Payseur’s songs are instantly catchy and his voice betrays no smirkiness, just pure innocence. The focus and clarity of his playing and arrangement also give the record an originality that lets the record stand out from the hissing crowd. No one else (apart from the Drumsand their naggingly omnipresent “Let’s Go Surfing” or maybe Surfer Blood with “Swim”) has written as song as radio ready as “Daydream.” More impressively, that song is only one of many shining examples of on-the-cheap pop that hits like the blunt end of an axe. Beach Fossils may be very 2010 but they aren’t just along for the ride, they’re driving the bandwagon. ~ Tim Sendra
My Rate: 8/10
Áudio de “Daydream”
Neverever – Angelic Swells (2010)
24/05/10
One of the best records of this year! Oh yeah.
SLUMBERLAND Jihae and Wallace Meek are a couple with a keen ear for POP who’ve travelled the world together in search of the perfect tune. Having met in Glasgow while Ms. Meek was the singer for pop phenoms The Royal We and Mr. Meek helmed the excellent Bricolage, they eventually relocated to LA to soak in the sunny vibes and pop history. Surrounded by stacks of dusty 45s, crack musicians and dinette counters lined with hopefuls and has-beens, they set about on the next stage in their musical journey. Neverever is their new band, a tough group with a flair for echoey three minute symphonies, marrying classic pop melodies with punk-informed crunch and glam-infused 70s stomp.
Angelic Swells is the their debut album, and it’s a remarkable effort that takes in 50s rock ‘n roll, 60s girl-group sounds, the 70s glam heyday of Slade and Suzi Quatro and 80s power-pop on its way to creating a bang-up-to-date idea of what pop should sound like in 2010. It’s a timeless sound: fuzzy riffs, pounding rhythms and tales of teenage love and lust. In other words – classic POP. From the epic, widescreen opener of “Here Is Always Somewhere Else” to the breathless tale of adolescent sexual awkwardness that is “Coconut Shampoo” to the slow-dance swoon of “16th Wonder,” every tune could be a lost hit echoing from a crackly AM radio. Not that there’s anything lo-fi happening here; the band worked hard with Jeff Ehrenberg at famed LA studio Infrasonic (No Age, Beck, Peter Case) to give Angelic Swells that warm, technicolor sound that marks so many great records.
First single (under the name The Champagne Socialists) “Blue Genes” is here in freshly recorded form, its catchy guitar riff and rama-lama drums literally jump from the speakers and head straight for your feet, sure to pack the dancefloor and get you hand-clapping along with the chorus. “Young Runways” and “Teardrop Tattoo” go for a Shadow Morton vibe, updated slices of girl-group goodness that re-imagine the Shangri Las as they might have sounded playing at CBGBs in 1976: brilliant power-pop for the ‘00s with nods to Blondie and Shop Assistants along the way. The power-pop connection is made explicit by Neverever’s cover of The Plimsoul’s “Now,” which fits in so well with the rest of the songs that you’d think it was an original. The albums end with a bang with “Underwater Ballet,” two and a half minutes of glorious pop stomp that accelerates to a cacophonous finale.
Neverever know their pop history, but they also know how to write great songs and Angelic Swells provides ample evidence of that. It is a an ambitious, iconoclastic record packed with rambunctious riffs, rumbling drums, ear-nagging melodies and, most of all, timeless tunes.
My Rate: 9/10
Áudio de “Blue Genes”
Gigi – Maintenant (2010)
21/05/10
MYSPACE Capturing the spirit of the pop music that flooded the hit parade in the early 60′s is a tall order, and the songs on “MAINTENANT” decidedly develop a world and language of its own. With a reverent eye on the past and a deep respect for the airtight songsmithery of artists like Ellie Greenwich, Jeff Barry and Shadow Morton (among countless others), the songs aren’t content to be throwback-y pastiches or polka-dotted retro workouts but rather stand as attempts at working within a specific and incredibly rich tradition of pop music production. There is something deeply satisfying about bringing together a large group of singers and musicians, cramming them into the studio, running through a song a couple times and then hitting “record”. The shape of the songs forming on the fly and being coloured by the entire group, the intent and heart of the song crystallizing as the tape rolls. By the same token, the charming flubs and missed cues swirling in a dense cloud of reverb revealing sublime harmonies, soaring brass, and all the bells and whistles one might expect from a Krgovich/Stewart helmed project.
In addition to Stewart’s engineering and production credits on albums by Black Mountain, Cave Singers and Destroyer, as well as, Krgovich’s other groups NO KIDS and P:ANO, GIGI has given the pair an opportunity to unabashedly profess their love of pop music in the most direct way conceivable, and this could not have been accomplished without the talents of the many players and singers that graciously helped out along the way. With singing contributions from artists such as Owen Pallett of Final Fantasy, Mirah, Zac Pennington of Parenthetical Girls, Katie Eastburn of Young People, Rose Melberg and Karl Blau, the character studies in the songs are voiced from wildly distinct positions giving the narratives of lovesick loneliness, solitary walks around the neighbourhood at twilight, and friday nights at home with parents watching television in the front room, just that much more poignancy. In the end, what began as a humble experiment four years ago has ballooned into a pop extravaganza that will sit just as comfortably next to your Back To Mono box set as it will your rotary phone, waiting to ring.
My Rate: 9.5/10
Áudio de “The Hundredth Time (with Duffy Driediger & Ryan Peters)”
Box Elders – Alice and Friends (2009)
09/05/10
GONER RECORDS Debut album from this great Omaha, Nebraska “Cave Pop” band. Formed by brothers Clayton and Jeremiah McIntyre, and completed by manic drummer/keyboardist Dave Goldberg. Songs are cool & catchy! Redd Kross rides with The Clean on a Rollercoaster full of freshly spun cotton candy while funhouse mirrors sparkle with the reflections of confetti floating in air. Clayton attracts the young ladies with his dashing looks & outlandish outfits. Dave amazes all with his ability to play drums and keyboards simultaneously. Jeremiah holds the whole thing together. Beautiful!
My Rate: 8/10
Áudio de “Hole In My Head”
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