Not So Live Music

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.

Queens of the Stone Age - Songs for the Deaf

Belvedere Jehosophat - Monday, December 8, 2003

Take Two:
I bought this CD because I had been impressed by what I’d heard on a copy that a friend had given me – despite it’s backwards track listing and the inclusion of Screaming Jay Hawkins’ Fur Burger.

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The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots

Belvedere Jehosophat - Monday, November 24, 2003

I bought a ticket to the Big Day Out specifically out of fear of The Flaming Lips not doing a sideshow of their own — knowing, incidentally, that there's a 99% chance that they will.
Who would have known that, with Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, The Flaming Lips could have matched the poignancy and utter beauty of The Soft Bulletin?

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Aesop Rock - Bazooka Tooth

Belvedere Jehosophat - Monday, November 17, 2003

If I'd been given a chance to listen to this CD before I bought it— (the listening post at HMV was broken) —then chances are I wouldn't have.
I'm all for artistic progression, mainly because I realise that taking chances and occasionally fucking up—hello, Roots—is better than releasing the same brilliant album over and over and over again—I'm looking at you Jurassic 5.

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Bloodhound Gang DVD: One Fierce Beer Run

Jimmy Weasel - Sunday, November 9, 2003

Who knows what to expect from Bloodhound Gang? Nobody. Not even The Shadow. What we have here is a pile of film clips from the Beer Coaster album, with a great many brain rotting minutes of rock star behaviour in between.
It’s poorly lit, worded & filmed. Comical in parts but a great effort to watch the whole shebang. The antics between the clips are so boorish that it makes watching the entire music production in one sitting doubtful.

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The Flaming Lips - The Soft Bulletin

Belvedere Jehosophat - Thursday, October 30, 2003

The cover of Ween's White Pepper is predominately white, which, for the longest time, gave me the unshakable feeling that the songs contained therein where themselves predominately white.
For the longest time, that album sounded bland, and it wasn't until, after a few weeks of listening, I was able to discard those misconceptions and allow the nuances in the songs to paint their own palette and speak for themselves. I mention this only because the cover art of The Soft Bulletin is predominately blue and yellow and I can't shake the feeling that the music has only those two dimensions.
As such this review is a few weeks too early.

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PRIMUS - animals should not try to act like people (new audio material)

Jimmy Weasel - Tuesday, October 14, 2003

Returning with the original (Tim Alexander), Primus have released some brand new audio material to coincide with and accompany the DVD release.
This was ordered weeks ago, and it was with dismay that I found out local retailers (maybe one or two) were offering it to the general public the day of release, which was the same day mine would be shipped. So it's 7 days later, and I'm wallowing in this musical craziness that I've come to know from Primus. As yet, I've not had time to thoroughly scope out the entire DVD to render a just review; only sat down withe the audio component, some fat headphones and a glass of vodka and ice to let the music wash over me and tell me what to write.

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The Coup - Steal This Double Album

Belvedere Jehosophat - Thursday, September 25, 2003

I once watched an episode of Home and Away, the story-line of which involved a young lady working in a diner who, unable to do the small sums necessary to the running of said establishments, caused both irritation to her short-changed customers and consternation to her union-bound boss.
A solution was found in the form of a cheap calculator, allowing the young lady to sum whatever sums needed summing. It's just a trick, just an indoctrination scheme.

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Edan - Primitive Plus

Belvedere Jehosophat - Sunday, September 14, 2003

Five minutes after I had told my friends that I had run out of CDs to buy I was shelling out 30-something bucks to get Primitive Plus by Edan.
I bought this particular CD for two reasons; 1) Edan produces and has produced quite a few Mr. Lif tracks, and, 2) the CD cover art is littered with robots. There are, like, four in total. Incidentally.

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Sheol by Naglfar

Jimmy Weasel - Saturday, September 13, 2003

This album was released ages ago, probably in March, but due to apathy both on my part, and on local distributors, it's only recently fallen into my lap. Released under the "New Hawen" label, Naglfar falls into the category of Swedish Metal.
The mention of such a genre will no doubt cause many folks to stop reading, but that's ok with me. Swedish Metal isn't everyone's cup of tea.

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Mr. Lif - Enters the Colossus

Belvedere Jehosophat - Sunday, September 7, 2003

I bought this EP on the same day that I bought the Stereolab album. The person who sold me this CD was black.
There are eight songs in toto, including the obligatory hidden track, and the EP lasts about 31 minutes. Insight, paWl, Fakts One, Lif and El-P take care of the production duties, providing freewheeling — if in fact I can once again use terms like 'freewheeling' — old school beats.

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Mr. Lif - Emergency Rations

Belvedere Jehosophat - Tuesday, September 2, 2003

I bought this EP on the same day that I bought the Aesop Rock album. The person who sold me this CD didn't seem to want to be black.
There are seven songs in toto, excluding the obligatory hip hop intro, and the EP lasts about 28 minutes. Edan, Fakts One, Lif and El-P take care of the production duties, providing freewheeling—if in fact I can use terms like ‘freewheeling' —old school beats.

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Aesop Rock - Labor Days

Belvedere Jehosophat - Monday, September 1, 2003

I first heard Aesop Rock when he and M.F. Doom both rhymed over a Prefuse 73 track on the Vocal Studies and Uprock Narratives album. I was intrigued by both rappers and was determined to track down an album by either.
Reviews were read and samples were heard and I decided that an Aesop Rock album could make me very happy.

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