CD Reviews

The Apples In Stereo New Magnetic Wonder Simian Records/2007 ♥♥♥♥	The Apples in Stereo are probably the most popular band to emerge from the brilliant Elephant 6 Collective, which has featured such other notables as the Olivia Tremor Control, Beulah, and indie-rock cult favorite, Neutral Milk Hotel. Since their inception, Apples have released five excellent studio albums and Feb. 6 marks the release of their sixth, New Magnetic Wonder. All the elements that make Apples such a wonderful band have returned. Robert Schneider’s gentle voice singing those power-pop lyrics, could make almost any listener smile, as he sings about being played for a fool. Schneider is accompanied by beautiful guitar lines that accentuate the “new-psychedelia” sound that has made the Apples in Stereo so popular. While their sound remains true to when they first began, there have definitely been new elements introduced on this album. One of particular interest is the use of a synthesized voice, something that I would associate more with ELO than the Apples in Stereo. It does, however, work wonderfully. The Apples in Stereo have always been quirky and quite possibly one of the happiest-sounding bands one could possibly listen to — but somehow, with the use of the synthesized voice, they manage to add a completely new level of quirkiness to their music. I wouldn’t quite say that New Magnetic Wonder is “edgier” than the rest of their material, but as the Apples in Stereo have progressed, they’ve definitely incorporated catchier, rock-driven guitar riffs. It doesn’t make them sound tougher, but it does help provide substance to their warm, fluffy exterior. Because of this constant “tweaking” of their sound, they’ve been able to build from a very solid base into a band that has led the way and, for that matter, are still leading the way in a genre graced with a wide array of subtly brilliant bands. Timothy Brown, Staff
Busdriver Road Kill Overcoat Epitaph/2007 ♥♥♥♥	Busdriver is a hip-hop artist, but not in the typical, mainstream sense; it would be unfair to compare him to someone like Snoop Dogg, Jay-Z or any other hip-hop giant. Busdriver is considered to be an abstract hip-hop artist. Abstract hip hop, or abstract rap, differs greatly from other hip hop sub-genres, especially lyrically. For instance, while gangsta rap is narrowly focused on different aspects of gang life and the conditions and attitudes at work in poor urban neighborhoods, abstract rap has a vast and almost endless lyrical range. Anyone interested in exploring this sub-genre further would do well to check out one of the more prominent abstract rap labels, Anticon. Otherwise, Busdriver might be a good place to start. Busdriver is signed to Epitaph Records, which is arguably a “punk” label that doesn’t house very many good punk bands. If anything, it should be considered more of a pop-punk label. In any case, Epitaph Records have begun branching out, pulling in artists from different genres, such as the Locust (a noise-rock/math-rock band), and Atmosphere (another hip hop group). Busdriver himself might be known to you indie-rockers out there: he appeared on Islands album Return to the Sea on the song “Where There’s a Will, There’s a Whalebone.” His recently released album, Road Kill Overcoat, is highly enjoyable and full of beautiful, surrealistic vocals that flow along beats both groovy and powerful. Though there is a lot of diversity on Road Kill Overcoat, the album manages to remain cohesive; it doesn’t sound like a compilation. It is a coherent album that doesn’t waver from its goal of taking the listener on a trip through the fantastic, the absurd, and the beautiful. The final result is an album that might help bring this sub-genre out of the shadows and into forefront of hip hop. Timothy Brown, Staff
The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus Don’t You Fake It Virgin/2006 ♥♥♥	Part punk, part rock, yet it isn’t really punk-rock. Sporting a mix of roaring guitars, blood-pumping drums, and a soft piano, Don’t You Fake It is more about the scorn felt by an ex-lover than the longing for someone lost. The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus (what the fuck does that even mean?) have achieved success with the radio hit “Face Down.” On that track, singer Ronnie Winter cautiously warns his exgirlfriend’s new lover: “A new life she has found/She will tell you that she has had enough.” Winter sounds almost excited when he cries out: “Do you feel like a man/When you push her around,” and “Face down in the dirt/She says this doesn’t hurt,” demonstrating his bitterness and the satisfaction that he feels knowing that she is suffering as he did. Don’t You Fake It embarks on a lyrical style filled with resentment and a distaste for relationships that’s pronounced enough to mark it as different from many other modern alternative rock bands. Pain and sorrow is expressed as anger and hatred, which makes for an emotionally visceral listening experience. On “Cat and Mouse” the band’s use of piano alongside lyrics like “picture perfect fading smiles” and “you said you would die for me!” only emphasizes this fact. The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus deliver a solid punk-rockish album with thought-provoking subject matter that’s worth hearing. Cory Anderson, Volunteer Staff
The Thermals The Body, The Blood, The Machine Sub Pop/2006 ♥♥♥½	The self-described “post-pop-punk” sound featured on the Thermals’ wickedly wild guitar-infused album is a totally rockin’ combination. On vocals and guitar, Hutch Harris leads the band with a free-loving attitude and a firm political stance that could be rivalled only by Matt Good. With the fury and passion they demonstrate throughout The Body, The Blood, The Machine, these college rockers come across as a band best heard live. Although the album is lacking in depth and variety in its content, every track is worth cranking up the volume for. Despite this, there is something of an annoyance in the repetitive bass lines (most notable on the album’s opener “Here’s Your Future”), which often fail to develop and are too similar to one another. Interestingly enough, Harris, alongside Kathy Foster, are the sole musicians at work on the album, playing as they do a mix of bass, guitars, vocals, drums, keyboards, and organs. A consistent theme throughout the album is the hope of overcoming the stagnancy and confusion of their lives and determining just how to get where they want to go. The Body, The Blood, The Machine showcases the Thermals’ lively rock sound, which will likely be a mainstay on college radio stations for a long time to come. Cory Anderson, Volunteer Staff
Clipse Hell Hath No Fury Re-Up Gang/Star Trak/2006 ♥♥♥♥♥	When Pusha T spits “No serum can cure, all the pain I’ve endured/From crack to rap, to back to sellin’ it pure,” on Hell Hath No Fury, you can feel the anger and desperation. It has been a frustrating few years for the Thornton brothers, Gene (Malice) and Terrence (Pusha T), better known as Clipse. Due to record-label drama and a series of litigations, it took over three years for Clipse to get their sophomore album released. The duo were obviously busy at work during their years in musical purgatory, as they have created a lean, menacing, cinematic album that is intensely affecting. The brothers are dazzling, lyrically painting an occasionally glamorous but largely ominous tale. They are complemented by the sinister and spare production of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo (the Neptunes), who create a sonically irregular atmosphere that perfectly matches the threatening mood of Malice and Pusha’s rhymes. On the gothic “Keys Open Doors,” backed by disconcerting synths and an unsteady rhythm, Clipse relates “this is my ghetto story/Like Cham, Ice-P is the Don Dotta/Open the Frigidaire, 25 to life in here/So much white you might think ya Holy Christ is near.” Another highlight is the claustrophobic “Chinese New Year,” in which the sporadic, eccentric instrumentals build the tension while Clipse threatens “judging by my steel I got something to do here/Give up the money or the angel cries two tears.” On the closing track, “Nightmares,” Clipse get reflective: “They be thinking nice car, nice crib/I be thinking, how long will these niggaz let me live . . . Holla if you hear me, tears flowing sincerely/Check up on my block, weekly, my health, yearly.” The song, like the album as a whole, recounts a hopeless war and the story of two souls being lost in the process. Ajitpaul Mangat, Volunteer Staff
The Beatles LOVE Capital Records / Apple/2006 ♥♥	Ever since MP3 became a popular vehicle for listening to music, the mash-up — melding songs together — has become an extremely popular form of expression in the musical underground. As with any novel movement it was just a matter of time before a major record label decided it could exploit the trend for big profit. Using the easy-tounderstand formula “Beatles = $$$,” Capital/Apple records have done just that with the release of LOVE, a muddled, sloppy and ultimately unnecessary mash-up of the Beatles’ cherished back-catalogue. Some of the supposed mash-ups on the album are not mash-ups at all, such as leading with the first few bars of “Blackbird” before segueing into “Yesterday” without any innovation of either, or including popular tracks like “Get Back,” “A Day In The Life,” and “Hey Jude,” and keeping them perceptibly the same. One also wonders about the purpose of transforming “I Am the Walrus” and “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds,” when they were so thoroughly and impeccably produced in their original forms. LOVE is not, however, without its standout moments: “Drive My Car/The Word/What You’re Doing” is a beautiful amalgamation of those tracks, dashed with trumpets from “Savoy Truffle”; “Gnik Nus” contains a stunning a capella “Sun King” sung backwards; and the overlaying of the closing bars of “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite” with the coda of “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” is a stroke of genius. Sadly, those tracks stand out as exceptions, representing the few songs that are fully realized on the album. Had the rest of the album been as well-crafted, experimental and daring as those tracks, it could have been a striking creation, but in its current form LOVE is hard to like and even harder to love. Ajitpaul Mangat, Volunteer Staff