It can boil down to the question on whether or not the distillation of the raw energy of sound in a open space competes well with that of the closed session. It may even determine the movement of the masses or the travel of the bits downstream to the many peer-to-peer network jackers. Jacked in and into the stream of consciousness that can be given and taken from the aural stimulants found breathing and pulsating on the shiny side of things to come. If it works, it works. If it doesn't, regrets and misgivings for the future to come.
Belvedere Jehosophat - Wednesday, September 7, 2005
Recorded on the 3rd March, 1979.
(Two of the songs you would actively have heard before, albeit in a different form: “Straight A’s” and “Short Songs” appearing as different mixes on Give Me Convenience Or Give Me Death.)
Read the rest of Dead Kennedys - Live at the Deaf Club review
Belvedere Jehosophat - Friday, August 26, 2005
for Captain Dan
I'm guessing you've either heard of Buck 65 or you haven't. (Yes, I realise that this is an obvious thing to state given the mutual exclusivity of the options, but indulge me, please.)
Read the rest of Buck 65 - Secret House Against the World review
Belvedere Jehosophat - Thursday, August 11, 2005
Squarepusher is Tom Jenkinson - Tom Jenkinson is Squarepusher
The CD has a certain structure, which runs, vaguely: song – interlude – song – interlude – song – etc, etc.
Read the rest of Squarepusher - Ultravisitor review
Belvedere Jehosophat - Monday, August 8, 2005
The Devastations sound like Nick Cave, and there's really no escaping the comparison.
I’ve played the record for several different people now and the verdict has always come back Nick Cave – save for one friend in America who claimed that he heard a mix of Nick Cave and Johnny Cash.
Read the rest of The Devastations - The Devastations review
Belvedere Jehosophat - Thursday, August 4, 2005
It is somewhat absurd to think that you could somehow squeeze and adequately represent the 18-odd years that Yo La Tengo have been making music onto a two CD, 26 song collection.
Arguably, the period between and including Painful and And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-out was Yo La Tengo’s best, and if you own any of these CDs you’ll know that three songs taken from each hardly constitutes as a thorough indication of just how indispensable those albums actually are.
Belvedere Jehosophat - Monday, August 1, 2005
Not to suggest that Conflict's debut, It's Time to See Who's Who, wasn't a good album — it is, in fact, one of punk's finest debuts — but their following record, Increase the Pressure, showed such a gigantic stride forward that it's difficult to imagine that the same band was responsible.
In the almost two years that separated both records Conflict slowed down slightly, became better musicians and learned how to write songs that were catchy and easily discernable from one another yet still contained the raw anger and energy of good punk music.
Read the rest of Conflict - Increase the Pressure review
Belvedere Jehosophat - Tuesday, July 19, 2005
Excluding the first track which is a mostly-instrumental reverse-reprise of the last track and a tiny 22-second interlude Run Come Save Me is still pretty short for an album that spans fifteen tracks. Coming and going in 55-odd minutes it never outstays its welcome, which is something of a relief because, talented as Roots Manuva may be, it is often difficult and rare for a single MC to keep a listener interested for too long.
The single is obviously “Witness (1 Hope),” and rightly so as this song is an absolute monster with a beat that’s built for nodding.
Read the rest of Roots Manuva - Run Come Save Me review
Belvedere Jehosophat - Thursday, July 14, 2005
There's an interesting history to (the original) Black Mamba Serums: it was due for release in 2001 – September 11, 2001, to be precise – when it was pulled just before the release date for unknown reasons and where it subsequently remained unreleased for more obvious ones.
It since kicked around for a few years during which time Bigg Jus reworked some of the songs, added bits, subtracted bits, and ultimately crafted Black Mamba Serums v2.0, which, at a concise 53-minutes, is everything that hip hop threatened it could be.
Read the rest of Bigg Jus - Black Mamba Serums V2.0 review
Belvedere Jehosophat - Sunday, July 10, 2005
Recorded on the 14th of October 1987 at the Cabaret Metro in Chicago, Hold That Tiger is one of the best concerts committed to tape.
The majority of the songs are from the Sister album with a few taken from its predecessor, EVOL, and one from the EP, Kill Yr. Idols. As this was an especially fertile period in Sonic Youth’s development – indeed Sister is arguably Sonic Youth’s best album – the setlist here is, as you can imagine, pretty impressive.
Read the rest of Sonic Youth - Hold That Tiger (live) review
Jimmy Weasel - Monday, July 4, 2005
The Album artwork is the first thing to strike. Like the cover of Lynch's Eraserhead, only with less hair and more Photoshop filters. It's a man looking downward and horrified. But no-one knows at what. The contents of the album? The person struggling to open the heavily taped envelope? Topsoil erosion? It's a mystery. As are he qualifications of this "Dr Phibes". Please, Herr Doctor, Why must I take off my clothes each time I come in for a checkup? You're a dentist...
There are 10 tracks on this particular album lasting 67 minutes. So each song lasts an average of 6 minutes and 42 seconds. The songs deviate though - far from the norm in so many ways. Far from being an expert in this particular genre of music known as Techno, it's a far cry from the total bollocks they play in the gym or the 'urban' clothing stores. It's also not exactly what The Wikipedia would define either. It has a laidback feel to it all, where the rhythm is slowly constant and developing to a busier, yet never frenzied pace. There's a lot of 'build' in each of the tracks, and just as a pattern emerges as recognisable, something is changed which bends the shape of the song.
Read the rest of G6PD Records Presents: Dr Phibes & His Clockwork Orchestra review
Belvedere Jehosophat - Sunday, July 3, 2005
Oscillons from the Anti-Sun is an extremely generous box set from Stereolab; it contains three CDs, one DVD, and, in lieu of a booklet, a series of stickers with pictures of the covers of the EPs and singles from which the songs were taken.
Material for the three CDs – 35 tracks in all – was compiled from the various European EPs and singles that Stereolab released over the course of eight years. As per usual for any Stereolab release all of the music here is of an exceptionally high quality and, arguably, makes for essential listening.
Read the rest of Stereolab - Oscillons from the Anti-Sun review
Belvedere Jehosophat - Sunday, July 3, 2005
The first thing that comes to mind when you listen to Bird Blobs is – well, actually the first thing that comes to mind is how the introduction to the first song sounds kinda like a slower version of the introduction to the Dead Kennedys’ “Religious Vomit.” So much so in fact that when I first heard it the first thing that popped into my mind was “All religions make me wanna throw up/All religions make me sick,” but, you know, slower.
But, anyhow, the first thing that comes to mind when you listen to Bird Blobs is how the vocals are so downright bizarre that the lyrics, for the most part, are unintelligible. In fact, I really can’t think of any other artist with whom one could compare the vocals.
Read the rest of Bird Blobs - Bird Blobs review
Belvedere Jehosophat - Monday, June 27, 2005
Bringing together a generous 17 tracks A Ruff Guide is an excellent introduction to the early years of this talented and seminal artist.
This is a headphones album all the way and it's only through close listening that one can take in the intricacies of the beats and the whispered, claustrophobic feel that made Tricky a sensation in the mid-90s.
Read the rest of Tricky: A Ruff Guide review
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