After HoursKeren Ann, Keren Ann, Metro Blue/Blue Note [5/8/07]A moodier, more enigmatic enterprise than Nolita (2004),her first self-titled effort witnesses Keren Ann branching out. As accomplished as her last album may have been, it was remarkably similar to Not Going Anywhere (2003). The artist now takes a leap into the unknown.This isn't to suggest that Keren Ann is unfocused, but rather that she's moving away from jazz, folk, and chanson-oriented forms into less predictable territory. Her remarkable voice remains essentially unchanged, but there are some neat sonic surprises, like buzzing drums and echo effects. That said, she does give the impres

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A Master of the Mixed Message Here's a review I wrote for Resonance, before finding out that another writer beat me to it. Suffice to say, I liked the film, he didn't. MUTUAL APPRECIATION (Image Entertainment)At first glance, Andrew Bujalski's post-collegiate comedy looks like prime Cassavetes or Godard. Like his esteemed predecessors, the Harvard grad shoots on film and edits by hand. But his black and white follow-up to Funny Ha Ha (2003) isn't a tribute to the art house cinema of the 1960s. Bujalski's got his own thing going on.The loose-limbed story revolves around Alan (Bishop Allen's Justin Rice), an indie rocker who moves from Boston to New Yor

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Sketches of the SouthwestTuatara, East of the Sun, Fast Horse Recordings [6/12/07]"Musically, the Sun songs are more masculine, with a kind of High Plains Drifter/Spanish troubadour quality. The Moon songs are more groovy and feminine, but definitely just as powerful..."-- Barrett Martin (Tuatara)*****Tuatara's fifth full-length feels a lot like a compilation.And I don't mean that as criticism. It's simply a morefitting description than the misleading “supergroup.”The compilation designation comes about because the ever-changing line-up was all-instrumental before they added vocals to their arsenal. This time around, duties are shared between Scott Mc

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They're in PartiesThe Death of a Party, The Rise and Fall of Scarlet City, Double Negative Records [5/22/07]*****The band's jerky rhythms and popish punk hooks recall first-gen punks the Buzzcocks and the Clash. And it conjures up the kind of dark and paranoid imagery that had post-punks of that era reaching for the black eyeliner...-- Bill Picture, San Francisco ChronicleThe minute I popped this debut disc into the player, my first thought was, "Hey, it's a British Strokes!" And that's ironic, since the Death of a Party are neither Britons nor New Yorkers. Rather, the quartet hails, as Journey once put it, from the city by the Bay. I'll leave it up t

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Step Into the LightThe Clientele, God Save the Clientele, Merge [5/8/07]The Violet Hour (2003) was my first introduction to London’s Clientele. I was instantly smitten. Next I picked up the Suburban Light collection (2001), but took a pass on Strange Geometry (2005). They were starting to sound like a traditional pop band. Before that, the trio, now a quartet with the addition of the lovely Mel Draisey, had been vaguer, hazier—jazzier. There was something effervescent, yet mysterious about their sound. Like another instrument, songwriter/guitarist Alasdair MacLean’s vocals were mixed into the music, an effect I've always found appealing. It brings to

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Smiles All AroundLabi Siffre, Remember My Song, EMI [1975]it’s entertainment. that means we the audience shouldn’t have to make an effort. you artists should do everything for us. you’re the whores and we’re paying for you to suck our dicks and lick our clits so cut the crap about challenging our purseptions [sic] and get on with it. -- Labi Siffre, "the contempt is mutual" (2006)*****Several weeks ago, I sang the praises of Bill Withers,circa 1971-75. On these shores, British singer/songwriterLabi Siffre (born 1945) isn't as well known, but his sixthfull-length, Remember My Song, would probably appeal tomany of the same people who appreciate the Amer

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One Good Turn Deserves AnotherBefore Dunedin's the Chills (1980-), there was Auckland's Split Enz (1972-1985).Perhaps I should have said,in my previous post, that New Zealand neophytes should begin with them. I still think the former's "Pink Frost" is as fine a place to start as any, but the'Enz released a number of great new wave numbers, like "I GotYou," "Message to My Girl," and "Six Months in a Leaky Boat."On the track below, possibly my favorite, Neil Finn [second from left] sings lead, instead of brother Tim [center], and anticipateshis more radio-ready work with Crowded House (1985-1996).Split Enz - One Step Ahead (1981)Endnote: A few YouTube u

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I thought I was dreaming...I recently asked a friend, who's around my age, if he'd ever heard "Pink Frost," and he said no. Then I asked if he'd ever heard anything by the Chills. No again. I was shocked. Back in the 1980s, the Chills were one of the key bands among the college radio/fanzine set. Though they never had the same sort of breakthrough, they inspired as much affection as Robyn Hitchcock or IRS-era REM.So, I asked if he'd ever heard fellow New Zealanders the Verlaines or the Bats. No and no. (I was working at Cellophane Square the day Kurt Cobain and his retinue came in and purchased the latter's acclaimed Law of Things.) I could've asked a

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This Is Your Brain on...Aa, GAaME, Gigantic MusicThe kindsa sounds that young people shouldbe making and enjoying in bistros from here toKalamazoo...and it sounds quite pleasing!-- Thurston Moore, Arthur Magazine The name is pronounced "BIG A little a." On their first full-length, this Brooklyn quartet creates an art punk-meets-no wave noise that owes a greater debt to tribal and industrial traditions than to trip-hop, dubstep, or whatever the kids are dancing to these days.In other words, GAaME is more Animal Collective than Scissor Sisters. I also detect delectable traces of the Pop Group and Savage Republic. Maybe it's because I don't usually like

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Star Fruits Surf RiderThese are the reviewsand other assignmentsI'm working on this month.Amazon CDs:Dolores O'Riordan - Are You Listening?(first solo release from the Cranberries frontwoman).Amazon DVDs: Gomez - Five Men in a Hut: Singles (click here for my review of How We Operate), Dark Circle (Sundance Grand Prize winner about the nuclear industry), Dreamland (low-budget sci-fi), An Unreasonable Man (profile of Ralph "Spoiler" Nader), Hacking Democracy, Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman [three-disc set] (it was a pleasure to revisit this subversive serial--Louise Lasser is amazing), and 7th Heaven - The Fourth Season[six-disc set] (click here for my revi

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