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This issue: Vol. XI, No. 7
(July 2005)
ISSN: 1544-0273
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NEWS AND VIEWS ***************************************

CINDERELLA BAND

A band that doesn't even have an 8x10 promo photo gets its video on MTV. An unsigned band from Wilmington, NC called The Majestic Twelve (http://www.themajestictwelve.com) has MuchMusic from Canada playing the video of its debut single "I Don't Have A Job," and last week, MTV cleared it for upcoming airplay on MTV2 as well. Andy Gesner from Hip Video Promo, who acted as the band's liaison for distribution of the video, says, "Getting a video cleared for airplay by MTV is an extremely hard task, even for bands with major label support. The fact that an unsigned band like The Majestic Twelve has done this is simply phenomenal, and it speaks volumes about how things are changing in the industry." While unsigned bands have had music featured in the background of some MTV original programming, this may be the first time a music video by a band with no music label whatsoever has been added for airplay, outside of specialty programming expressly devoted to unsigned and unknown bands. I have seen the video and it is a hoot, a visual anthem for unemployed amateur musicians that like Planet of the Apes.


HEAR RICKIE LEE FOR FREE

Over a quarter century of Rickie Lee Jones can be heard on the excellent Rhino Records compilation Duchess of Coolsville: An Anthology. The newly remastered material is over three hours of music on three discs, including one full disc of rare and unreleased tracks. This collection serves as the ultimate gateway to an essential artist as well as a real treat for the dedicated fan. The inimitable song stylist is here represented with “Chuck E's In Love”, “Coolsville”, “Makin' Whoopee!” (with Dr. John) and more. Take a listen for yourself thanks to the sampling provided by the Rhino on-line listening party at http://www.rhino.com/fun/listeningparties/79715_PartyPlayer.lasso.

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CALAMITY FOR HANNITY

Taking aim at right-wing pundit Sean Hannity, Kids Against Combs, a political indie rock act from Brooklyn, named its first album Sean Hannity (631) 673 – 8003. Also, the inside cover gives the whereabouts of the Hannity’s home to further add to his grief. An open letter to Sean Hannity appears in the CD Booklet letting Hannity know he is “a thorn in the foot of democracy” and accused Hannity of using “lies, misrepresentation and crude volume tactics to suppress voices of reason.” But, does the album rock? Decide for yourself through a digital advance of the album at http://www.advance.kidsagainstcombs.com.


WAXPLOITATION LAUNCHES 2nd SUDAN CHARITY AUCTION

Items donated by Angelina Jolie, Radiohead, BAM Margera, OutKast and more feature on Waxploitation’s second online auction to assist victims of the “ethnic cleansing” taking place in the African country of Sudan. This is a dire situation that the UN has called one of the worst humanitarian crises the world faces right now. The auction launched on eBay on July 12th at http://www.eBay.com/the_wax_trust includes rare and signed items donated by Eminem, Bjork, Trent Reznor (NIN), Beastie Boys, amongst many others. Over 100 items are auctioned. In May, New York Times estimated up to 400,000 people have been murdered and more than 2 million people have been displaced from their homes by Sudanese government backed militias called the Janjaweed. The genocide is a massive campaign to rid the Darfur region of its African population. The BBC reports that "human rights groups say there has been a systematic campaign of rape, intended to humiliate and punish non-Arab groups...they have killed, raped, maimed, looted and burned down tens of thousands of village homes, displacing hundreds of thousands of people."

ZZZZZ…

Each month I try to find a CD or two sent to me that is perfect audio to drift off to sleep to. This month, it was easy to pick Tantra of Sound: Harmonizer (Spirit Music) by Jonathan and Andi Goldman. The psychotherapist pair created the album of soothing voices and synth sounds for “balancing and aligning both brainwaves and chakras”. Well, my chakras must have really been jumbled, because with this music I slept better than I had since I once calmed my kundalini snake with the warm, liquid sounds of Steven Roach… Another sonic soporific is The Harmless Dust (vector 5/HEADZ) by David Grubbs & Nikos Veliotos. The piano-based music is quiescent and quite calming…


DVD REVIEW ******************************************

Dwarves
Fuck you Up and Get Live
Universal Warning Records/Music Video Distributors

This full-length Dwarves concert is a riot with a hardcore punk soundtrack, but I can tell you from experience is not as off the hook as some of the shows from the late ‘90s were. As a matter of fact, while the 2004 concert from New York is good Dwarves entertainment, the best thing here is the “sextras” of a half-dozen videos. They would get a high breast count for the Joe Bob Briggs report and we get to see a heartbroken voyeur Blag Dahlia in a silver lamé vest. (3.5)


CD REVIEWS ******************************************

Acid King
III
Small Stone Records

From the same sludge-ridden end of the gene pool from whence cometh Black Sabbath and the infamous bowl-loosening brown note, this is a doom rock band for the stoner set with the rare condition of a female vocalist (Lori S.). This band is so far into the low end you need blacklight to read the lyrics. This is the sound of the Devil's own thunder. You have been warned. (4)

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Wevie Stonder
The Wooden Horse Of Troy
Skam Records

The Wooden Horse Of Troy is a weird and wonderful experimental comedy music that merges the surrealist and the absurdist. Made buoyant by the lift of a bubbling trombone, this is what Monty Python records would be like if the comedy troupe were produced by the weird genetic hybrid creation of Kevin Kling crossed with Syd Barrett. This release goes far to prove the truth of the old adage, "Weirdoes are the best value for your entertainment dollar." (4.5)

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Nick Tosches
Fuckthelivingfuckthedead
Les Disques Du Soleil Et De L'acier

This spoken word performance by Nick Tosches illuminates our understanding of the amazing mind that has written such tomes as Hellfire, The Last Opium Den, and The Devil and Sonny Liston. Recalling Selby, Jim Carroll, and a tranquilized Lenny Bruce, Tosches introduces the audience to a world of majestic thoughts, incisive cynicism, rich intelligence. Also fascinating is the individualist's Christianity best exemplified by the insightful "A Cigarette with God" delivered by an avowed paganist. This live event has a beat poetry feel at times but often a refined decadence enhanced by Tosches' ornate vocabulary and the violin of Catherine McRae. A special treat here is the delivery with Patti Smith of her own "Wild Leaves". This Digipack edition includes a 52-page booklet with complete words delivered in English and French. (5)

Miriodor
Parade + Live At NEARfest
Cuneiform Records

This Montreal quartet delivers intricate instrumental pieces of sophisticated post-classical chamber pop. Fans of Prime Time Sublime Orchestra and late-period Zappa will appreciate this music, at times concise and mathy and at other times zany. This double-CD package includes the latest studio album (Parade) together with a live recording from the 2002 NEARfest progressive new music festival. (4.5)

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Present
A Great Inhumane Adventure
Cuneiform Records

This mighty art-rock album consists of five complex and dramatic pieces of more than ten minutes each. This document is from the final performance of the Belgian band's 1998 American tour. The group flung itself into the vast North American continent without financial guarantees, only hoping to find welcoming ears. Let this superb opus be a lesson to all us that missed a chance to experience an awesome set in the tradition of fierce King Crimson and such RIO acts as Univers Zero. Well, Roger Trigaux (guitars/vocals/keyboards) did co-found Univers Zero. This is heavy, but not oppressive, music from the far reaches of the music-sphere where jazz and prog touch extremities. (4.5)

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Captain Bringdown And The Buzzkillers
Feel Good Tunes
Sock Hop

This Texas ska-punk band is a seven-member tour de force. The band's frantic and furious energy makes for lively and dynamic music on this first full-length release. (3)

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Kris Hollis Key
The Return Of Boy Howdy
Stickville Records

From the late '70s to the late '90s, Kris Hollis Key was an owner and producer of first Sunset West Studios (Oklahoma) and the Studio 12 (Hollywood). The music is a lively blend of country rock and rockin' blues that tends more toward Tom Petty then Fabulous Thunderbirds. Responsible for almost all bass, guitar and vocals on this album, Key often throws in some big bass lines right up front that summon to mind a Junior Brown sound. As makes sense from Key's background, this is a very produced, polished album of good songs that would be better loosened up and delivered with more soul. (3.5)


Kiros
Fight The Night
Kiros

This young Canadian trio missed the indie rock boat and is now sonically chasing bottom billing on the Warp Tour before Green Day gets programmed onto classic rock stations and then, finally, the bottom falls out of the alt-rock market. (2)


Peter Ulrich
Enter The Mysterium
City Canyons Records

Ulrich is known as former percussionist for Dead Can Dance, but on this solo release he goes beyond even the rich world of percussion. Along with guests playing recorder, piano, violin, and more, Ulrich himself contributes yang ch'in (hammered dulcimer), Andean wood flute, kazoo (!), and more. He also electronically ornaments the music with keyboard-generated hackbrett (a hammered dulcimer of Bavaria and Austria), shamisen (bamboo flute of the kabuki stage), claves, and more. This rich neo-period parade of sounds is elegantly woven together into delicate, even fragile-sounding sonic tapestry for poetic observations and tales of mystery. Exploring ideas that spring from considering the supernatural, these tiny visions spring from reading of the life of John Dee and exploring such alternative worldviews as Zoroastrianism. (4.5)


Closet Monster
We Rebuilt This City
Underground Operations

I bet, even as I type, the angry anarchists in this feisty ensemble are in their combat boots ready for the when the revolution comes. Music like this makes people shatter large windowpane at Starbucks. (3)


Rory Breaker
The Peep Show
Dino Rock Records

This is so-so indie rock with high, nasal vocals. The best thing about the album is the art theme, which plays on "peep show" as a stage entertainment form, and those molded marshmallow chick concoctions people eat around Easter. My advice is, find this in the store and get a chuckle from the package then move on. (2)


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