Howlin' Wolf- Moanin' in the Moonlight

In 1951, the Chess brothers purchased two singles from their newly formed associate Sam Phillips' Memphis Recording Service titled "Moanin' at Midnight" and "How Many More Years". The Chess brothers quickly moved Chester "Howlin' Wolf" Burnett and his band to Chicago. It would be a long five years before Wolf perfected another song they had recorded in 1951, then entitled "Cryin at Daybreak" into the instant classic "Smokestack Lightning," which had been within Wolfs' repertoire  since the 1930's (although constantly refined). Four more years would pass before the album was fully formed and released.

This is a true blues album. From the first song (the title track Moanin' at Midnight) through both sides to the end, Wolf steals the show with his raw guttural voice and namesake howls. The primary guitarist of the album, Hubert Sumlin demonstrates the frantic yet depressed fury of notes risen from racial Southern states during the depression coupled with sudden piercing silences yet all wound around masterful and nearly reckless rythmic suspension that would later make him a major influence on several very skilled guitarists (Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix, and Stevie Ray Vaughn all citing him so.) Willie Dixon (famed for writing several of the Chess songs that would shape the Chicago blues sound as well as working with Chuck Berry and Bo Diddly to later form the basis of Rock and Roll) is featured prominently as a bassist throughout the album. Willie Johnson (a long time Wolf collaborator and future Muddy Waters guitarist), Hosea Lee Kennard, and Earl Phillips round out the band Wolf had assembled for the majority of the album (although several other notables did work on the album as well, included Ike Turner playing piano on "How Many More Years".)

The true drawing feature of this album is the single "Smokestack Lightning" which Wolf had begun work on in the 30's. Its earlier versions featured more of a Delta blues chord structure with a slower time structure and less dominant harmonic playing (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xs6cTV1L7UQ). Tweaking a few words and incorporating Sumlins' guitar lick, Smokestack Lightning quickly took shape. With the addition of standard blues piano and drum pieces, cutting back on the use of the harmonica, as well as bringing it to the forefront of the track alongside the vocals, the song is a classic example of '50s blues.

Another of my favorite songs from this is the fourth song on the second side "I asked for Water (She Gave Me Gasoline)". Although no other song compares to Smokestack Lightning in terms of listen-ability, there isnt a weak song on the album. It is, quite literally, Eleven good songs and One great song.

Overall: 10/10

I would recommend buying a Howlin' Wolf greatest hits compilation but the serious Blues affectionate would do well to invest in this album.

I wanted to throw in something like "Mixes Delta blues with Chicago blues in a previously unseen fashion" somewhere in here but I couldnt find a place or better wording. This is exactly what it does though, it is the first album, that Ive yet heard, to mix the two earliest goliaths of blues music.

BlakRoc - BlakRoc

BlakRoc

BlakRoc

Ⓟ2009 BlakRoc LLC

Rating: 9/10

BlakRoc, to explain, is a rap/rock collaboration between The Black Keys and various hip-hop artists. And when I say (not to quote myself) “various hip-hop artists,” I don’t mean your erryday, run-of-the-mill, bitches and hoe-ing, club traxx-ing, pimp juicing hip-hop artists we hear excessively, and unfortunately, nowadays. These are the artists true to the craft; the artists that boys like Nas rap about. The real heavy hitters. The ones that white girls like me, can listen to and try and understand where they’re coming from because they’re poetic with their rhymes. This is what I live for, when it comes to music. A sound and a feeling behind the music that I can grab onto; when the musicians, artists, and producers are just as excited about what they’re doing, as we are when we listen to it. I guess by now, you can tell where I’m going with this review. So, where to begin?

The Black Keys are doing what they do best, on this album. Playing the base heavy, organ tempered, soul-laden tunes that you imagine coming out of dimly lit, smoke heavy bars of the late sixties and seventies that a girl like me would’ve been talked out of going to at that time of age. Don’t misunderstand me, from what I said above. The Black Keys need serious accolades for this album. They recorded all the music previous to even meeting the artists that appear. All the lyrics came after. It wasn’t until they joined forces with Damon Dash (executive produce and co-founder of Rock-A-Fella records) did everyone agree to sign on. I highly recommend watching the ‘webisodes’ that are available on www.blakroc.com, it gives you a full behind the scenes picture of what went on. Most of the lyrics were written the day of recording, just whatever the visiting artist gleaned from the music. You can see all the guys like Mos Def, Jim Jones, and Raekwon get excited by what they hear. You get a real idea of the way Q-Tip works, layering, and working off his own rhymes. Billy Danze was originally asked to appear on Dollaz & Sense, but got overly excited when he heard what was already recorded for What You Do To Me.

The stand out song is definitely Ain’t Nothing Like You (Hoochie Coo) featuring Mos Def and Jim Jones. Mos sings with soul and Jim Jones’ rhymes are smooth as can be. His deep and layered voice convinces you when he rhymes words like ‘been’ and ‘wind,’ and ‘petals’ and ‘ghetto,’ effortlessly. The best line in my opnion?: “Being humble is a hard quality to achieve when your ego is crazy with no modesty.” But there are a lot of shiners other than this leading single. Stay Off The Fuckin’ Flowers featuring Raekwon is a personal favourite, as well as Hope You’re Happy featuring Billy Danze, Nicole Wray, and Q-Tip; mixing Q-Tip’s peppered rhymes with Billy Danze’s angry vibrato and Nicole Wray’s heavy vocals. You also shouldn’t miss Coochie featuring Ludacris and O.D.B. (yes, O.D.B) and Done Did It featuring, self-proclaimed king of hip-hop, Jay-Z, both of which are only available on the CD printing, not the iTunes version.

Overall, I was so impressed with this album (which I was only recently informed of it’s existence) that I wrote a review of it 2 years after it’s original release. The artists successfully combine two genres of music I adore and do it with credibility on both ends. Now all I’m waiting for is a follow up.

Хлад - Власть Зимы (A Brief Review for a Delightfully Brief Album)

Artist: Хлад
Album: Власть Зимы
Release: 2010
Genre: Ambient Black Metal
Rating: 90%. Short and sweet.

The cacophony of liquored voice (muffled only by the thin drywall separating my roommates from myself), interlaced with laughter and the steady hollow bounce of ping pong ball meeting masonite table. With pen and pad in hand, I rest my iPod in its dock, and fill the room with the enchanting melodies of Власть Зимы.

We are met head-on by a full arrangement of instruments; soft tremolo, a subtle keyboard soundscape, all glued together by the drive of Ivan's pulsating drumming. No intro to speak of, which is somewhat unorthodox considering the musical path Хлад guides you along throughout the album. Already, there is a defining Russian quality resonating through the music. Stunning, and often joyous keyboard pieces are elegantly interwoven, starkly contrasting the fundamentally black metal structuring of the album. From the albums first track, Власть Зимы, to its finale (and outro), Светлая Скорбь, there is a distinct emotional evolution. The music carries you from the darker, more cliched black metal found on the first two tracks, ever so slowly into the feelings of hope you are left to ponder when the last few notes fade into silence.

Born of a country whose black metal scene is heavily dominated by self-produced, solo-project, basement musicians (the majority of whom probably should, and likely will, remain as such), Russia's Хлад truly is a diamond in the rough.

Battles - Gloss Drop

Battles

Gloss Drop

Warp (2011)

I guess I just don’t get Battles. Their debut, Mirrored, landed with quite a splash, earning a generous helping of critical acclaim, and it seemed like a bunch of my friends liked it. People over at other music review websites were pretty quick to heap praise on it, and while I admit that the level of musicianship was extremely high, and it had some pretty good tracks on it, (Atlas, for one) but overall, I didn’t really like it. I didn’t particularly enjoy listening to it. Unfortunately, for me, Gloss Drop has a lot of the same issues.

I typically enjoy Post and Math-Rock, labels that are often applied to Battles, but perhaps the problem there is genre definition more than anything else, and both genres are fairly encompassing. I quite like guitarist/keyboardist Ian Williams former band, Don Caballero, but to me, the bands do not sound much alike. I think the problem might just be me, though. To me, the songs often drag, and do not hold my attention, so it might just be my short attention span. When I took a break from focusing on the album and did something else (read: played shining force) while listening, I found myself bobbing my head to some of the tracks, so maybe they’re not meant to be listened to, they’re meant to be put on in the background.

I have absolutely no issues with the musicianship and production of this record; they’re all amazing musicians. John Stainer’s drumming is so tight one can’t help but wonder if he’s actually a robot. Even without Tyondai Brixton, zany sounds abound, and I can’t be certain which instrument is making a lot of these sounds. It is clear that a great deal of attention was paid to making this album sound… well, weird.

Since “singer” Brixton has left the band, Battles have opted to ally with a bunch of guest vocalists. These collaborations are some of the high points of the album. “Ice Cream”, which features European dance producer Matias Aguayo, is essentially a straight-ahead pop song, albeit a pretty strange one with really good drumming. For some reason, Gary Numan’s vocal turn on “My Machines” really reminds me of TV on the radio’s Tunde Adebimpe – or should that be that it just made me realize that Adebimpe sounds like Numan? “Sweetie and Shag” - which features Blonde Redhead’s Kazu Makino – finds the band in as relaxed a mood as I’ve ever heard them, and it actually suits them fairly well. Of the collaborations, only the album closer “Sundome” falls flat, as the Boredoms’ Yamantanka Eye basically just yells like some kind of an alien, vocoded reggae singer over top of a riff that gets pretty tedious after seven minutes.

“Wall Street” is the definite standout of the album for me, it being the only track that actually rocks, and it brings an intensity that isn’t really found on the rest of the album. Battles’ forays into latin-influenced territory, “Dominican Fade” and “Inchworm” don’t really work for me, with the steel drum sounds getting jumbled together, and by the end of each of the songs, pretty boring.

I think I’m probably the wrong person to be reviewing this album, really. If you are one of those people who thought that Mirrored was the best thing since sliced bread, then you’ll probably like Gloss Drop, too. Even as a three piece, they still sound like Battles – and I still don’t really like them.

-Ian Baker

Beastie Boys-Hot Sauce Committee Part Two

Beastie Boys

Hot Sauce Committee Part Two

Ⓟ2011 Capitol Records

Rating: 6.5/10

I might get a lot of flak for this, considering their fans and considering this is my first official album review, but the Beastie Boys’ Hot Sauce Committee Part Two (HSC Part Two) ended up a lot like prom night (well, mine anyways); a lot of hype and anticipation, and nothing really happens in the end. After 7 years since To The 5 Boroughs was released, a lot of people (myself included) were waiting with eager anticipation for the original b-boys to make their comeback. And, sadly, it falls a little short. The boys seem to have lost it, whatever ‘it’ was in the first place.

I’ll admit, the first single, ‘Make Some Noise’, holds strong. With a catchy hook and a genius marketing plan, Beastie Boys fans couldn’t get enough. Honestly, the Make Some Noise video has almost every popular/talented actor they could get a hold of, and the first time I watched it, I bounced up and down in my seat like a 8 year old girl watching a Justin Beiber video. The song production is in classic Beastie Boys style with a mix of drums and turn tables, the beat makes your head bob, and the boys’ lyrics almost draw out your own inner b-boy, with simple rhyme time and scheme that makes you rap along. That is, if you can understand what they’re saying. I’m not sure if it has anything to do with Adrock’s recent surgery, so I’d just like to clarify, I’m not trying to be insensitive, but the boys seem to have taken to distorting their voices throughout the entire album. Sometimes there’s an effect that adds emphasis to a particular lyric, which is not anything new to their production style, but mostly it just sounds like the boys have tapped pillows to their faces and are attempting to rap through them in the recording studio. This effect adds nothing to the album overall and I actually find it particularly annoying.

None of the other tracks really stand out on the rest of the album, unfortunately. The Beastie Boys have lost their collective flow when it comes to lyric writing. A lot of the time it feels choppy and that they’ve chosen certain words simply because they rhyme. In my opinion, ‘Say It’ is probably their strongest showing, with the exception of ‘Make Some Noise’, and ‘Crazy Ass Shit’ follows at a close second. They hold true to what the Beastie Boys do best, while still sounding fresh. There’s a throwback to the punk rock days in ‘Lee Majors Come Again’, and ‘Don’t Play No Game I Can’t Win’ featuring Santigold sounds more like a Santigold song featuring the Beastie Boys.

I’m a little upset, I really wanted to like HSC Part Two. I would consider myself one of the more devoted Beastie Boys fans out of anyone I know, perhaps besides my oldest brother who turned me onto them when I was 7 or 8 in the first place. Overall, I’d give it an ‘A’ for effort, but the whole thing just never really came together. Perhaps it might be a case of over-production, which now that I think about it, seems entirely plausible since the whole album essentially had been recorded 2009. Anyways. Solid effort put for by the boys, but lacks the magic that used to take place, and in my opinion hasn’t been around since Hello Nasty.

Mogwai - Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will

Mogwai

Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will

Sub Pop (2011)

Poor Mogwai. Rarely does a band arrive fully formed, but when Mogwai released Young Team all the way back in 1997, it sounded like they’d been playing post rock all their lives. Somehow, now that they’ve been playing post rock for a good portion of their lives, they’re not doing it as well. Most bands have a fairly predicable career arc: it takes them a little while to find their sound, and then release the best material of their career (unfortunately, usually limited to an album or two). After that, bands usually release album after album of attempts to recapture that former glory, and sometimes these albums are pretty good, but typically they’re not fooling anybody. Of course, there are many exceptions to the path I’ve just laid out, with bands like Radiohead releasing pretty amazing material through their entire careers, and other bands that no one likes to talk about that have never released a single good album.

So where does that leave Mogwai, a band that climaxed too soon? Surely they realize that it is doubtful they will ever write a song that is as good as Mogwai Fear Satan again, and yet they keep writing new songs. You can’t blame them, though, because they’ve released some pretty good material since, actually. Rock Action, specifically, holds a special place in my heart, even if it has nowhere near the significance of Young Team. Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will falls somewhere in the middle of their post-Young Team offerings.

Hardcore doesn’t really do a lot to advance Mogwai’s sound, but they lay down some excellent melodies on a few tracks, and their trademark - the slow build that has become typical of post-rock – is found in a few places on the album, including standouts “Death Rays” and “White Noise.” Unfortunately, though, the band’s forays into heavier material – something that’s usually worked for them in the past – don’t quite come together.  Tracks like “San Pedro” and “Too Raging To Cheers” just end up getting mired in the sludge and sounding dirgey, without much emotional payoff. Mogwai also make fairly liberal use of vocoder on this album, and every time it appears it’s really just annoying and distracting. “You’re Lionel Richie” comes close to recapturing their former glory as it builds into a pretty bombastic climax, but is still missing something.

Actually, the best track on Hardcore is “How To Be a Werewolf”, because it’s free of any sort of gimmick. When they drop the idea of trying to be heavy and just try and make something beautiful, it really works. Hey, maybe I’ve just come up with a new career arc for Mogwai. I doubt they’ll listen to me, but I’ve never released anything as good as Young Team, so I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt - for now.

-Ian Baker

Sterbend - Dwelling Lifeless

Someone asked me an interesting question the other day. How is it that I could possibly enjoy most of the music I listen to? In this was implied, I'm sure, the more refined question of how I could enjoy black metal or any of its vast sub-genres. It wasn't the first time I had been posed this query. It was simply the first time I realized a true answer. An answer in the form of an album.

Artist: Sterbend

Album: Dwelling Lifeless

Release: April 13, 2006

Genre: DSBM

Rating: 86%. A despairing masterpiece

Akin to the likes of Burzum, Nyktalgia, and Silencer, Germany-based Sterbend's debut album, Dwelling Lifeless, has quickly found itself comfortably worn in my disc tray. Although pretty well your "drawing inside the lines" dsbm as far as any definition would go, the album still seems to fulfill a void that had, by and large, gone unnoticed. Nothing exceptional, just exceptionally well done.

We open the case, pop out the disc, and slip it into the player, where we are met by a cold, dim ensemble of howling wolves, breathy whispers, rain, and an oddly enchanting keyboard piece. Interesting, but not entirely a foreshadowing of what is to follow. My first listen had me more pondering their abrupt genre-shift into something more along the lines of Cradle of Filth than anything remotely dsbm. These thoughts quickly evaporated upon hearing the first note of "Depressing Paths Through Fullmoon Forests", our journeys second stop. Steady riffs and lamenting wails, all backed by the pulsating drums and inspired cymbal work of Winterheart. This, far from monotonously, carrying through for about an hour and some change to "Endtime Sermon", where it is not until the last bitter chord that we once again find warmth in our hearts. An album desiring only to project unto our own a world entirely devoid of light, as one wandering through the unforgiving landscapes of a forest shrouded in darkness. Desiring and delivering.