CD Reviews

Rise Against
The Sufferer & the Witness
Geffen Records/ 2006
♥♥♥

cory Anderson

Rise Against’s latest album is loud and intense as they exploit the typical topics of teenage rebellion. Unfortunately, the band comes across as stagy and melodramatic in their track “The Approaching Curve,” which is their prosaic attempt at exploring teen suicide. A narrator speaking in monotone recants the tale of a lonely girl who chooses death over life by driving her vehicle over a steep cliff. The first single, “Ready To Fall” continues to unimaginatively rebel against society, with idle threats such as: “don’t look down, take a step now/I’m standing on the rooftop/ready to fall.”

The album consistently provides the listener with enough roaring guitars, boisterous vocals and a throbbing drumbeat to make it worth cranking up the stereo. “Prayer of the Refugee” and “Drones” both showcase the hectic sounds of the frenzied and furious bash of drumsticks from double-drumming. In terms of sound, the band’s intensity is thrilling and worth listening to, but they are uncreative in their content when they approach subjects such as teen suicide that other bands of the genre have previously dealt with. Not only do Rise Against believe that they are both astonishing and majestic with their lyrics, but they even provide quotes and recommendations in their liner notes for what they feel are the best-written books to read.

The Hummers
Modern Entrance
Sisyphus Records/ 2006
♥♥½

Laura Blakley

I can dig it. I’m hip, I’m down, I’m with it. I’m also just a little bit bored. After a 3-year hiatus the Hummers have released Mondern Entrance, their fifth CD.

The couple of tracks sound kind of like something Fatboy Slim might have done, with tight little drum beats and even include the non-verbal vocal grunts that can so easily be looped. It’s bright and fun and a little funky before it kind of melds into a Gorillaz-esque groove. Now it’s got an urban feel, a slower tempo, and makes me wait, thinking that any minute now, they’re going to add that awesome vocal track on top of this background music, and that will tie the whole thing together. Instead, this album just keeps you waiting for something to make it seem finished. The Hummers have a comfort and chemistry in their music, but I wish they’d added just a little something more.

While I can’t really find anything obviously wrong with the CD, and in fact most of the time really enjoy it, I can imagine putting this on at a party mostly as background music. Unless you’ve got really hardcore DJ wannabe friends in the house, no one is going to shout out “Hey you guys! Stop everything and listen to this song!”

Arise and Ruin
The Fear of
EMI Recordings/ 2006
♥♥♥

Kyle Phillips

Ladies and gentlemen, it appears that another hardcore/metal band has surfaced from the over-crowded scene in Ontario. Arise and Ruin follow in the footsteps of already popular bands like Silverstein, Alexisonfire, Boys Night Out, etc. and are trying to break through the scene. The growling vocals by Ryan Bauchman, backed by double bass metal breakdowns, offer a much edgier sound than the aforementioned bands, which is quite a relief.

My favourite track is “Night Shifts,” which provides the perfect combination of fast-paced metal and intense hardcore breakdowns. The CD is only five songs, and three videos for your computer. Two videos are for the song “In Life,” which doesn’t strike me as their strongest material. With the exception of a great hardcore breakdown in the middle, it’s a pretty weak track.

“Rex Butcher,” the third video, was a good choice as its a great song that really showcases the band’s song writing skills. Having said that, I was disappointed with a track or two, and the songs chosen for the videos, but for a debut EP it has a lot of promise. I look forward to hearing a full-length to see what these guys really have.

Bob Dylan
Modern Times
Sony/ 2006
♥♥♥♥½

Ajitpaul Mangat

Modern Times, 65-year-old Bob Dylan’s 31st studio album, continues the musical legend’s most recent renaissance. Beginning with the release of the stellar Time Out Of Mind in 1997 and continuing with the equally exceptional Love and Theft in 2001, Modern Times surpasses even those brilliant albums.

Modern Times’ title is a bit of a misnomer, as the album flouts modern, contemporary sounds, instead producing music more akin to the timeless compositions Dylan and his contemporaries were creating when rock ‘n’ roll was inchoate. This is obvious immediately as the rockabilly opener “Thunder on the Mountain” conjures up images of Carl Perkins and Chuck Berry. Dylan doesn’t stop there with the reminiscing, as many of the album’s tracks echo Dylan’s past heroes whether it be Muddy Waters on “Rollin’ and Tumbin’” or Slim Harpo on “Someday Baby.”

Amidst this nostalgia Dylan seems as defiant and lively as ever, choosing to focus more on matters like love and life rather than mortality. On “Nettie Moore” he poetically serenades a lover: “When you’re around me/All my grief gives way/A lifetime with you is like some heavenly day/Everything I’ve ever known to be right has been proven wrong.” Of course Dylan also has much to say about the state of the world. The most affecting such track is “The Levee’s Gonna Break” which slyly denounces avarice and authority without beating it over our head; when Dylan sings “If it keep on rainin’, the levee gonna break,” his feelings are obvious.

“Spirit on the Water” finds a truculent Dylan challenging a foe, “You think I’m over the hill/You think I’m past my prime/Let me see what you got/We can have a whoppin’ good time.” After hearing Modern Times this adversary would be best advised to forgo that clash.

Various
Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Man –
Motion Picture Soundtrack Universal Music/ 2006
♥♥♥½

Evan Johnson

The soundtrack to Liam Lunson’s concert-film consists of fifteen live cover versions of Leonard Cohen songs from a number of artists who like to think they’ve been influenced by the old poet/songwriter/novelist/monk. About half of the songs work, and the rest just plain don’t (for the desperately devoted Cohen fan).

“Suzanne” is recast as a new-age gallop, somewhere between Belle and Sebastian and the Penguin Café Orchestra, if there is such a place, but Nick Cave’s vocal performance is both restrained (by Cave’s standards) and expressive, backed as it is by the mellowing voices of Julie Christensen and Perla Batalla. Antony’s (of Antony and the Johnsons) version of “If It Be Your Will” is stunningly good, as Antony’s performance tends to be, and is perhaps the highlight of the album.

Other highlights include both Martha Wainwright cuts (“Tower of Song” and “the Traitor”), Jarvis Cocker’s witty elocution on “I Can’t Forget”, and Rufus Wainwright’s “Chelsea Hotel No. 2.” There’s also Cohen himself, singing “Tower of Song” with U2 as his backing band. Cohen’s voice is as powerful as ever, deep and raspy as it’s grown, and he’s still able make a lyric like “I was born like this/I had no choice/born with the gift of a golden voice” both hilarious and potently true.

On a topical note, I should mention that Mel Gibson has a producer credit on both the film and the soundtrack. To take a line from Cohen himself: “Even damnation is poisoned with rainbows.”

Hellogoodbye
Zombies! Aliens! Vampires! Dinosaurs!
Drive Thru Records/ 2006
♥♥♥♥

Kyle Phillips

For as long as I can remember I have listened to “punk” music (define it however you like), but now that the whole pop-punk phase seems to be ending, I’ve found that bands have either turned screamo/hardcore or keyboard/electronic pop-rock. Hellogoodbye is a perfect example of the latter. Similar to popular bands like Motion City Soundtrack, and the All-American Rejects, Hellogoodbye puts a spin on pop-punk by adding dance-worthy keyboards. Similarities aside, Hellogoodbye experiments with electronic synth both instrumentally and vocally. It is unique and very catchy, especially on songs like “Here (in your arms)” where the vocals in the chorus sound similar to, dare I say, Cher’s “Believe.”

This pop-synth mix really banks on the popularity of the ’80s sound coming back and is noticeable on many tracks such as opener “All of your love,” and “Figures A and B (means you and me).” Personally I can’t listen through an entire poppy disc, so tracks “Oh, it is love,” and “Baby, it’s fact” are personally a great touch slowing the beat down and providing an almost Jack Johnson feel. The only downside is that pop punk’s expected cheesy vocals get irritating when they are over-used. That aside, mixing pop-punk, keyboards, synthesized instrumentals, and distorted vocals really works well for Hellogoodbye and I would strongly suggest taking a listen if any of that interests you.