Albums Subtle - Wishingbone
Novillero - The Brindleford Follies
Swell - Too Many Days Without Thinking
Source (purchased/given/borrowed/the wife's): purchased/ purchased/ review copy
Date Purchased: May 3, 2006/2002/1997
Original Review: Too Many Days Without Thinking - "Entertaining, amusing, thought-provoking, psychotic - all describe the music that Swell produces... inventive music that's ultimately been lacking in today's mainstream marked [sic] of mundane and thoughtless copycat crap. The best album I've heard this year!" - The Argus, March 18, 1997.
Thoughts/Memories/ Remembrances:
Wishingbone - Back in the day when I was a hip-hop kid (not that I really ever got into the whole baggy clothes and break-stepping thing) nothing excited me more than a remix album or ep. That same enthusiasm stretched into the realm of electronica, trip hop and other new musics, as, I guess, nothing keeps a song fresh like completely retooling it. The other great thing about remix albums/eps was there tended to be some new b-side material that didn't quite make it to album either seen as out of step with the album's theme or just somewhat incomplete. Wishingbone is in the spirit of a remix album, but more of a half-release, a companion piece to Subtle's first major release A New White. The CD/DVD set (with the DVD containing the 15-minute video spanning three tracks) was acquired and shelved roughly within the same period of time as I recall it not being as engaging as I'd hoped and I'd always meant to spend some time with it and A New White to really hear if and how it does actually compliment it (alas, my consumptive habits have prevented this). Oh, and now it would seem the DVD's gone missing.
Thoughts/Memories/ Remembrances:The Brindleford Follies - At the turn of the century/millennium, Canadian "supergroups" started cropping up, the biggest of which being the New Pornographers in Vancouver and Broken Social Scene in Toronto. It may be a stretch to say but in Winnepeg it's Novillero. In 1999/2000 when they came together it was from the ashes of lounge group Transonic and acts like Duotang and Waking Eyes. When I first heard about Novillero (on CBC Radio, no doubt, a few months after this album's release I recall) I knew I had to seek it out. I was a big Duotang fan and to hear Rod Slaughter sing with more than just bass and drums accompanying him excited me. The album, however, let me down, and I never did fully digest it, leaving it to collect dust until their second album, Aim Right For The Holes In Their Lives, came out in 2005, when I decided to revisit it once again. It didn't compare at all to the powerful and energetic second album, where their sound completely shifted gears, but I found it more listenable than I had remembered.
Thoughts/Memories/ Remembrances:Too Many Days Without Thinking - Unlike the prior two cds mentioned above, I've driven this Swell album -- my first -- into the ground, and still it holds up. I received it as a review comp from Beggar's Banquet in 1997 whilst working at the university newspaper and it instantly made a fan of me. I've been following Swell, perhaps not devotedly, but enthusiastically ever since, collecting all the major back catalogue releases and pouncing on any new albums. Swell is the one band that I've never met another fan of, and it constantly amazes me that nobody I've ever met has heard of them. Their releases come out quietly without much fanfare, and I've yet to be truly disappointed with one. But this album is my perennial favourite, perhaps just because it was my first, but I also think it's their most accessible album, each song something special.
Novillero - The Brindleford Follies
Swell - Too Many Days Without Thinking
Source (purchased/given/borrowed/the wife's): purchased/ purchased/ review copy
Date Purchased: May 3, 2006/2002/1997
Original Review: Too Many Days Without Thinking - "Entertaining, amusing, thought-provoking, psychotic - all describe the music that Swell produces... inventive music that's ultimately been lacking in today's mainstream marked [sic] of mundane and thoughtless copycat crap. The best album I've heard this year!" - The Argus, March 18, 1997.
Thoughts/Memories/ Remembrances:
Wishingbone - Back in the day when I was a hip-hop kid (not that I really ever got into the whole baggy clothes and break-stepping thing) nothing excited me more than a remix album or ep. That same enthusiasm stretched into the realm of electronica, trip hop and other new musics, as, I guess, nothing keeps a song fresh like completely retooling it. The other great thing about remix albums/eps was there tended to be some new b-side material that didn't quite make it to album either seen as out of step with the album's theme or just somewhat incomplete. Wishingbone is in the spirit of a remix album, but more of a half-release, a companion piece to Subtle's first major release A New White. The CD/DVD set (with the DVD containing the 15-minute video spanning three tracks) was acquired and shelved roughly within the same period of time as I recall it not being as engaging as I'd hoped and I'd always meant to spend some time with it and A New White to really hear if and how it does actually compliment it (alas, my consumptive habits have prevented this). Oh, and now it would seem the DVD's gone missing.
Thoughts/Memories/ Remembrances:The Brindleford Follies - At the turn of the century/millennium, Canadian "supergroups" started cropping up, the biggest of which being the New Pornographers in Vancouver and Broken Social Scene in Toronto. It may be a stretch to say but in Winnepeg it's Novillero. In 1999/2000 when they came together it was from the ashes of lounge group Transonic and acts like Duotang and Waking Eyes. When I first heard about Novillero (on CBC Radio, no doubt, a few months after this album's release I recall) I knew I had to seek it out. I was a big Duotang fan and to hear Rod Slaughter sing with more than just bass and drums accompanying him excited me. The album, however, let me down, and I never did fully digest it, leaving it to collect dust until their second album, Aim Right For The Holes In Their Lives, came out in 2005, when I decided to revisit it once again. It didn't compare at all to the powerful and energetic second album, where their sound completely shifted gears, but I found it more listenable than I had remembered.
Thoughts/Memories/ Remembrances:Too Many Days Without Thinking - Unlike the prior two cds mentioned above, I've driven this Swell album -- my first -- into the ground, and still it holds up. I received it as a review comp from Beggar's Banquet in 1997 whilst working at the university newspaper and it instantly made a fan of me. I've been following Swell, perhaps not devotedly, but enthusiastically ever since, collecting all the major back catalogue releases and pouncing on any new albums. Swell is the one band that I've never met another fan of, and it constantly amazes me that nobody I've ever met has heard of them. Their releases come out quietly without much fanfare, and I've yet to be truly disappointed with one. But this album is my perennial favourite, perhaps just because it was my first, but I also think it's their most accessible album, each song something special.
Re-Review: Wishingbone - If I wind up hanging onto this album it will be because I've not yet fully processed the rest of Subtle's existing repertoire. Subtle is a decidedly different band, blending elements of hip hop, jazz, electronic and alternative music but in a much different way than other bands do. I'm not certain whether Subtle's works fit in or stand out from any of the subgenres they embrace. On this remix/extras album the band works with Beck and Mike Patton (probably the most stylistically complimentary of vocal talents you could expect them to work with), flipping around some A New White's track's, turning "Song Meat" into "Swanmeat" and "Swansong Meat", "I Heart LA" into "I <3 LA II", "The Long Vein of the Law" into "The Longvein of the Voice". The remixes and flips are, for the most part, more solemn and darker than their main-album counterparts, making this a haunting and atmospheric accompanying piece. The DVD included feature the extended video animation for "FKO", "The Longvein of the Law" and "Swanmeat", and while visually appealing (stunning use of black and white), the video plays seamlessly across the three songs giving a sense of being detached from the music it's supposed to accentuate.
Re-Review: The Brindleford Follies - I've been listening to this album a lot over the past three weeks... a couple times a day every day (except weekends), fully digesting it like I've not done so before and I have to say it's a really decent album full of some straightforward, poppy, catchy tunes. The lounge act that the band evolved from is still quite prevalent, with xylophone, soft trumpets and a laid back timbre. "Stumble On" is the epitome of the clash between pop and lounge, and it's a swanky little track that doesn't ask much of its audience but to relax and enjoy. The bulk of the album is a low key affair, perhaps mastered too judiciously, as any building audio or powerful vocals actually don't seem to climb and everything sits at the same volume register leaving none of the tracks audibly standing out much from one another. My own prejudices find me enjoying the tracks which spotlight Rod Slaughter's vocal talents (about half of the album) more than the rest, in fact skipping over the tracks where he's not in lead (with the exception of the vox-free "Ambrose, We Need Advice", a swirling 70's, Circus-of-the-Stars-like number with keyboards and horns really guiding the piece to a nice handclap-laden climax. A few of the songs on this album ("The Muse", "Cat Scan", "Stumble On", "Loose Lips Sink Ships") are amongst some of Slaughter's best works but, again, they seem diluted by the less engaging tracks on the album. "Loose Lips.." is an aggressive closing track (the manic build to the end fade-out is perfect) but The Brindleford Follies actually ends with the piano ballad "The Best You Ever Saw" which is proves a dull finale. The song itself is pretty, but uninspired for a closing track. As a album, even after a couple dozen listens, I'm still not invested in th The Brindleford Follies. There are a few songs I'd like to take from it, but even most those I won't really miss if I don't hear them again.
Re-Review: Too Many Days Without Thinking - WIth the fourth album from the San Francisco-based Swell, all sense of their early tape-loop and found sound experimentalism had been abandoned in favour of guitars, bass and drums, although still little straightforward about it. Though Swell initally formed as the duo of David Freel and Sean Kirkpatrick, the membership has been in flux for virtually every album, with Freel the only constant. Here, Swell is a trio, having previously recorded 41 with the same group, there's a perfect sense of familiarity and comfort between the players. The opening bass riff of the laid back "Throw The Wine" evolves into a fuzzed out, layered, driving rock chant that somehow effortlessly segues into the haunting, swirling acoustics of "What I Always Wanted", itself building to its own droning climax of layered vocals, stepped up percussion, and warped tones. It bursts out of its own mesmerizing trance with a paced beep that leads into an energetic guitar riff itself leading to the fuzz-friendly chorus of "Make You Mine". The irreverent songs disguise the brilliance behind Freel's unique production sensibilities. Paired with Kirkpatrick (and later even without him) Freel's songs are rhythmically driven, with the guitars, keys and found sounds brought into it all providing an additional layer to the song, equally competing for your attention and working as a whole. I'm not sure I have a favourite or least favourite song on this album. None of the words sung have particular meaning to me, but I'm completely overwhelmed with a sense of joy every time I listen to it, the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end every time Freel stars singing different lyrics over himself. I love that stuff.
Rating (keep/sell/undecided):
Wishingbone - undecided
The Brindleford Follies - sell
Too Many Days Without Thinking - keep
Subtle have a new album, ExitARM, out May 13, 2008
Novillero have a new album, as yet untitled, out June 10, 2008
Swell released two albums last year under my nose, South of the Rain and Snow, and a collection of unreleased demos and studio outtakes, The Lost Album
Subtle: Swan Meat
Novillero: The Plaguing of An Ex-Comic's Mind (poor quality, live)
Swell: Sunshine Everyday (fan video)
Re-Review: The Brindleford Follies - I've been listening to this album a lot over the past three weeks... a couple times a day every day (except weekends), fully digesting it like I've not done so before and I have to say it's a really decent album full of some straightforward, poppy, catchy tunes. The lounge act that the band evolved from is still quite prevalent, with xylophone, soft trumpets and a laid back timbre. "Stumble On" is the epitome of the clash between pop and lounge, and it's a swanky little track that doesn't ask much of its audience but to relax and enjoy. The bulk of the album is a low key affair, perhaps mastered too judiciously, as any building audio or powerful vocals actually don't seem to climb and everything sits at the same volume register leaving none of the tracks audibly standing out much from one another. My own prejudices find me enjoying the tracks which spotlight Rod Slaughter's vocal talents (about half of the album) more than the rest, in fact skipping over the tracks where he's not in lead (with the exception of the vox-free "Ambrose, We Need Advice", a swirling 70's, Circus-of-the-Stars-like number with keyboards and horns really guiding the piece to a nice handclap-laden climax. A few of the songs on this album ("The Muse", "Cat Scan", "Stumble On", "Loose Lips Sink Ships") are amongst some of Slaughter's best works but, again, they seem diluted by the less engaging tracks on the album. "Loose Lips.." is an aggressive closing track (the manic build to the end fade-out is perfect) but The Brindleford Follies actually ends with the piano ballad "The Best You Ever Saw" which is proves a dull finale. The song itself is pretty, but uninspired for a closing track. As a album, even after a couple dozen listens, I'm still not invested in th The Brindleford Follies. There are a few songs I'd like to take from it, but even most those I won't really miss if I don't hear them again.
Re-Review: Too Many Days Without Thinking - WIth the fourth album from the San Francisco-based Swell, all sense of their early tape-loop and found sound experimentalism had been abandoned in favour of guitars, bass and drums, although still little straightforward about it. Though Swell initally formed as the duo of David Freel and Sean Kirkpatrick, the membership has been in flux for virtually every album, with Freel the only constant. Here, Swell is a trio, having previously recorded 41 with the same group, there's a perfect sense of familiarity and comfort between the players. The opening bass riff of the laid back "Throw The Wine" evolves into a fuzzed out, layered, driving rock chant that somehow effortlessly segues into the haunting, swirling acoustics of "What I Always Wanted", itself building to its own droning climax of layered vocals, stepped up percussion, and warped tones. It bursts out of its own mesmerizing trance with a paced beep that leads into an energetic guitar riff itself leading to the fuzz-friendly chorus of "Make You Mine". The irreverent songs disguise the brilliance behind Freel's unique production sensibilities. Paired with Kirkpatrick (and later even without him) Freel's songs are rhythmically driven, with the guitars, keys and found sounds brought into it all providing an additional layer to the song, equally competing for your attention and working as a whole. I'm not sure I have a favourite or least favourite song on this album. None of the words sung have particular meaning to me, but I'm completely overwhelmed with a sense of joy every time I listen to it, the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end every time Freel stars singing different lyrics over himself. I love that stuff.
Rating (keep/sell/undecided):
Wishingbone - undecided
The Brindleford Follies - sell
Too Many Days Without Thinking - keep
Subtle have a new album, ExitARM, out May 13, 2008
Novillero have a new album, as yet untitled, out June 10, 2008
Swell released two albums last year under my nose, South of the Rain and Snow, and a collection of unreleased demos and studio outtakes, The Lost Album
Subtle: Swan Meat
Novillero: The Plaguing of An Ex-Comic's Mind (poor quality, live)
Swell: Sunshine Everyday (fan video)