Music Reviews – International: April 2009
Hungry Bird by Clem Snide
The album that Clem Snide broke up over when it was recorded in 2006 is finally out. Needless to say, the band is also back together. Straddling the alt-country and indie rock genre, they return with darker, more foreboding lyrics. Frontman Eef Barzelay maintains his soft, twangy wailings but lacks in the whimsical memorability found on previous albums. With verses like “Not everyone will die/ but no one is promised they’ll live” propped up against melodic guitars, banjos and trombones, the songs are resigned and wounded. The esoteric lyrics still cut deep, but these ten tracks will take a few listens to stick. JP
All Aboard Future by These Are Powers
The New York-based triad shows they’re still true noise-makers on All Aboard Future, their third studio release. Despite being an experimental rock band, they take what is usually regarded as incomprehensible noise and make it into something relatively poppy. The influence of “No Wave” clearly manifests itself, with fragile but high-pitched guitar noises and obscure female vocals mixed into the electronic beats. The combination is strange but makes for funky good dance times. And as a bonus: Local Beijing guitar hero Shouwang from Carsick Cars contributes a photograph to the album booklet. LC
Years of Refusal by Morrissey
The depressing but poetic lyrics, the agonizing self-pity, the vortex of torment in the music – it’s all here in Morrissey’s ninth solo album (as it was with the previous eight). The music is mildly harder, with much more employment of gong and trumpet to differentiate itself slightly from its predecessors. Other than that, fans will find comforting familiarity and no unsettling surprises. “Something Squeezing My Skull” is the most glammed-up and atypical song for those seeking something fresh, while “I’m OK by Myself’ evokes classical Morrissey that is sure to delight hardcore fans. RC
Incredibad by The Lonely Island
“Dick in a Box.” That’s how The Lonely Island got your attention. The fake MCs have wowed the Internet and SNL for a couple of years with their digital shorts. Now they have an album, adding new material to what made them famous, and they’ve managed to rope in real stars to rib their own genres (E-40, Julian Casablancas and Norah Jones), making the music surprisingly good. As comedy records go, they are notoriously weak, but this holds its own as music and humor. It might be juvenile, it might be puerile, and it might not always hit the target, but it is funny. HC
The Bridge by Grandmaster Flash
When “White Lines” was blowing up in the mid-’80s, Grandmaster Flash was snorting them up and ended up falling way out of the game. Now clean, the man who pioneered hip-hop DJing is back with his first new material since 1988. An expansive roster of guest rappers bridges most of hip-hop’s lifespan, with veterans KRS-One and Big Daddy Kane holding it down. Ironic, really, that it’s the youth that lets this 51-year-old’s noble and ambitious project down; the younger MCs (read: Snoop Dogg and Busta Rhymes) seem uninspired. Still, much can be appreciated in production that is all original with not a single sample in sight. JW
