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Post by Thorngrub on Nov 14, 2011 10:47:11 GMT -5
 This is one of three (count em!) albums Hank III dropped this past September, on account of his having just been freed from his old Label's contract. This one's a Double LP, which spreads out into a glorious 3-LP vinyl sprawl of assorted hoe-down numbers and outlaw country tunes, replete with guest vocalists, with many a strange interlude ala "Louisiana Stripes", Disc 2 of Hank's most classic album Straight To Hell, but with even more thrown into the stew, such as real cajun cookers and odd vocal appearances from Tom Waits on a couple songs, and even Les Claypool lends a hand on the album's closer, a regular pirate dirge lamenting the ship going down. I gotta say, as far as I'm concerned, there is a goldmine of twisted gems and mutant hybrids in this, as well as a sense of real, down-to-earth collaboration with an odd assortment of drifter musicians, enough to conjure a a real sense of backwoods haunted cajun country. I only have the vinyl version and there is plenty to sift through across it's many faceted six sides. Highly recommended if you like cajun country outlaw or were ever in the slightest interested in Hank III's output. |
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Post by Thorngrub on Nov 14, 2011 11:11:32 GMT -5
 Puscifer's 2nd studio LP "Conditions of my Parole" is officially out now, so the legion of Tool Army Drones have their Pacifier to Suck On until the 5th Tool album drops, probably next year on December 12, I'd wager. In the meantime, Maynard has taken his experimental/collaborative vehicle Puscifer into its next incarnation. Sounding completely different than the now legendary "V is for Vagina", the sound takes a half-step towards Tool's decidedly more "alt-metal" sound, only in a more "alt-rock" direction. The results are glorious indeed. The twelve tracks on this album explore a diversity of lush sounds which beckon the listener in with all the allure of the sweet smelling, deadly perfumes of hallucinogenic desert flowers which bloom only at night, lulling one into a sense of having gone on a walkabout along the landscape of one's mind. With song titles like "Tiny Monsters", "Green Valley", "Monsoons", "Telling Ghosts", the album lures one further astray from the well-beaten path of normalcy and invites the listener ever deeper into the hushed, more lucid realm of a waking dream. My first favorite song "Horizons" does not appear until track 5, and there are still plenty of solid tracks left to explore before the album closes with "Tumbleweed". If any out there are left who doubted Puscifer from the beginning, the 2nd album "Conditions of my Parole" is the Virtual Proof in the Pudding that MJK is not kidding around while maintaining this sideproject. It's every bit as enigmatic and in certain ways more willing to take chances and explore strange terrains than the massively dedicated TOOL. If you haven't given an ear to Puscifer, look no further than their two official studio albums V IS FOR VAGINA and CONDITIONS OF MY PAROLE. They both comprise a unique and what I consider stunning audial achievement from Maynard James Keenan, in some ways preferable to Tool's more concentrated force. Puscifer is far more relaxed, V is for Vagina resembling trip-hop most closely, and Conditions of My Parole being a solid alt-rock experiment. Keep your ears and eyes out for more Puscifer kids, cuz when the 3rd one drops, I'm sure it will bring something new to the table for our consideration and enjoyment. |
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Post by Thorngrub on Nov 14, 2011 11:47:36 GMT -5
 I consider this the real surprise of 2011 - not because I didn't think Will Oldham was capable of releasing such an honestly stirring record as this -- just listen to '99's I See A Darkness or it's follow-ups Ease Down The Road and Master and Everyone -- I'm just pleasantly shocked that the bonnie Prince has released yet another insanely intimate album as those aforementioned ones, and not only that--but in certain ways, this new album goes beyond those to travel even deeper into the cracks and crevices of the human heart, and all that it has known. From the opening track "No Match" and on through this record, Will takes the listener deeper into the private realm of human emotion, and the musicians that help carry us along for the ride are exceptional, here. This is not an album that I'd imagine would garner a lot of radio -play, but that's the whole point. It's an 'anti-radio' sort of listening experience, a hushed, reverential atmosphere pervades most of the songs, and the lyrics rendered here are top-notch Oldham, simple and to the point. Any Bonnie prince Billy album release is cause for celebration, but wtih WOLFRAM GOES TO TOWN, Will Oldham outdoes even his own legacy. Add this one to the long list of classics. There is no stopping the bonnie prince. |
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Post by Thorngrub on Nov 14, 2011 12:33:21 GMT -5
 I guess ol' Tom wasn't about to let anyone live him down, so he released this batch of honkin', clangin', smooth'n'soothin', barked- out and croonin' arrangement of tunes soundin' both old and new. "BAD AS ME" finds our train-track wanderin', king-of-the-hobo Bards in fine shape, and altho' at least one critic has maintained that this record is another "game changer" on the level of RAIN DOGS or MULE VARIATIONS--I have to say I disagree with that. It's more of a Retrospective, a going-over of the various styles and modalities the One-Eyed King in the Land of the Blind has tried on over the past forty years. And even when certain tracks carry us back like the opener Chicago does sorta reminding us of Big In Japan, the songs themselves work as if freshly shaven and splashed with cologne. When Tom puts on his falsetto on the third track "Talking At The Same Time" it's enough to raise an eyebrow. When he softens the tone with "Back in the Crowd" it's another sort of throwback to Mule Variations, in particular the song "Picture in a Frame", which "Back in the Crowd" serves almost as a sequel to, in a certain respect. Waits is no stranger to turning a sentimental card, and on this album he produces a Royal Flush, continuing on with surprising deftness on "Kiss Me" and "Last Leaf", an emotional crooner featuring guest Keith Richards again (who I don't think has appeared on a Waits album since Bone Machine). One of the album's real surprises is the gruff and unique "Hell Broke Luce", a satirical potboiler about the ravages of war as cried out by a disillusioned army Captain to a rough marching parade. The album's closer New Year's Eve is as fitting a finale as one could want from Mr. Waits. Everything you've heard about this album is true. The Dish ran away with the Spoon. And our dear old troubadour Mr. Tom Waits is here with us now, proving he's still got what it takes to show us the underbelly of our American dream. |
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Post by Ayinger on Nov 14, 2011 20:15:26 GMT -5
The Man with the Way with a Review! great Thorn!
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Post by maarts on Nov 15, 2011 4:35:41 GMT -5
Righto! Will give this a listen tomorrow!
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Post by Thorngrub on Nov 15, 2011 10:21:18 GMT -5
Thanks Ayinger ! Right on maarts. Good to see the both of ya
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Post by RocDoc on Nov 15, 2011 10:45:34 GMT -5
that's enough reminder that i'm way overdue for a tom waits revival!
i do have a hank III on my hard drive here somewhere, but haven't heard it yet.
and that first puscifer album i DID like despite you straightening me out on the everso imaginative maynard's correct pronunciation of his project's name, NOT rhyming with lucifer like i thought but pronounced (oh boy!) 'pussy fur' - evinced instant dislike in a 'godDAMN is that stupid for a grown man'-way...like the guy's stuck in a 14 year old's mind, addled by his star power.
NP:
the 'EEEeeeeeEEEEEeeeeeEEEEEEEeeeee' of my tinnitus in the house as i prepare to go off to work, while in a musicless environment (my father-in-law is sleeping)....aaaah, just put on the local NPR college jazz station, quietly....bliss.
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Post by Thorngrub on Nov 15, 2011 10:59:03 GMT -5
and that first puscifer album i DID like despite you straightening me out on the everso imaginative maynard's correct pronunciation of his project's name, NOT rhyming with lucifer like i thought but pronounced (oh boy!) 'pussy fur' - evinced instant dislike in a 'godDAMN is that stupid for a grown man'-way...like the guy's stuck in a 14 year old's mind, addled by his star power. Ya but Boss - don't forget the key detail in yr "instant dislike" of mjk's alleged "correct pronounciation" *koff* / 'twas but I whosoforth put the idea into your head [that the "correct" pronounciation is "pussy fur"--!-- meaning *again, koff* it is merely I who am stuck in a 14 yr old's mind], addled not by "star power" of course, so yr guess is as good as mine but I'm a go with "Internet Starpower", this RS "Hall of Fame Legend" status musta gone to my head.  p.s. While on the subject of whosoever's idea of correct pronounciations of Puscifer goes, allow me to suggest that even if Mr. winepressing Keenan in his ever so dry climate of universal stardom were to authoritatively declare, let's say on The Colbert Show no less, that the "correct" pronounciation of Puscifer was, indeed, an exact rhyme with "Lucifer", I, for one, would stand up righteously and declare otherwise--and who are you going to believe, hmmmm-?--a Hall of Fame LEGEND from RS, or this apparantly conceited superstar whose sense of entitlement through fame has gone to his head in such a way that he can churn out simple melodies with nothing more than his PC and Protools and some random, oddball guest musicians that happened to crash his pad on account of having drunk too much vintage Judith? Let me make it easy for you Boss, the answer is "PUSSY FUR" and it will always remain so ;P |
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Post by RocDoc on Nov 15, 2011 11:06:05 GMT -5
lol, but -
i had no inkling that you might've decided on that yourself - my assumption was it was maynard's own idea after you strongly implied it. i had no reason to think any differently.
i'm gullible that way, y'see. folks can bullshit me al they want and i'll believe whatever they're slinging - until they give me reason not to.
and even THEN the next day i'm prob gonna be an easy mark, again.
howTF else did i let anyone and everyone goad me into shitstorm arguments here, i asks ya?
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Post by Thorngrub on Nov 15, 2011 11:36:56 GMT -5
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Post by RocDoc on Nov 15, 2011 14:17:18 GMT -5
well, yeah i suppose, but my 'assumption'/presumption came from you tellin' me, 'here, THIS is how'. for you to necessarily contradict maynard on his 'band' was the furthest thing from my mind. and yeah i stand by the fact that i thought it sounded pretty dumb, however that reflects back to you. and that the music WAS good. ~ and maarts, i meant to respond to to the 'meh' re the current state (if that's what you meant) of maura o'connell's singing...if you're saying this 1989 recording was meh, fair enough - but if you're saying in her more recent work she wasn't distinguishing herself, i might agree even though i can't recall hearing her on anything other than these prog bluegrass bootlegs from 15-20 years ago which i've been discovering by the shipload these past few years. to be honest de danaan didn't impress me at all either...but THIS 1989 show is a young-er singer with douglas, meyer and barenburg pushing her to excel in a way that they themselves knew she would. she did the bluegrass fest circuit for several years through the 90s with ALL the best players of the time. i've prob got 4-5 of her performances w/those guys... |
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Post by RocDoc on Nov 15, 2011 14:22:51 GMT -5
oh! i've got music on! NP:  coincidence. now alison krauss's voice is one i regarded as too 'slight' in comparison to the success she's had...but her band of course is unreal. dimming of the day - she's good here, but gimme linda thompson or eve cassidy (!!!) singing this one. RT himself has always killed with his song as well. |
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Post by maarts on Nov 16, 2011 5:28:55 GMT -5
As voices go- here's one that slayed me when I watched this clip sometime ago. It's from an Australian music quiz show called Spicks & Specks...this lady is one of the newest alternative sensations currently around but while her album's filled with good songs, it's when she sings the world's standing still for a little while. Watch it and you know what I mean....
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Post by Thorngrub on Nov 17, 2011 12:40:54 GMT -5
Holy Moses, the band weren't Kidding Around when they claimed to have changed up their Sound, check THIS out!!!
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