Category Archives: Uncategorized

Uncategorized

5th Of July 2013 Update

5th Of July 2013 Update of New and Key Restocked Items + Reviews
at Redscroll Records

LPs & 12″s
______________________
Aguayo, Matias    “The Visitor” (180 Gram Gatefold 2LP + 2CD)
Austra    “Olympia” (2LP + D/L)
Brtsh Knights    “If I Was To / Hazed”
Caspian    “The Four Trees”
Close    “My Way (Feat. Joe Dukie)”
Clouds    “Ghost Systems Rave” (+ D/L)
Coffins    “The Fleshland” (2LP Gatefold)
Coldfish    “The Orphans” (2LP)
Coltrane, John    “Ole Coltrane” (180 Gram”
Congo Natty    “Jungle Revolution” (2LP + D/L)
Cvlts    “Realiser”
Davis, Miles    “Kind Of Blue” (Collector’s Edition 180 Gram)
Dead Ghosts    “Can’t Get No” (+ D/L)
Disclosure    “You & Me (Feat. Eliza Doolittle)”
Djin Aquarian And Plastic Crimewave Sound    “Save The World”
Drumm, Kevin    “Imperial Distortion” (3LP Remastered)
Durerstuben    “Sheets Of Rane”
Felt    “Felt” (180 Gram)
Floorplan    “Paradise” (+ CD)
Gibson, Daughn    “Me Moan” (+ D/L)
Heiroglyphic Being    “The Electronic Belt” (Yellow)
Hunter, James Six, The (The James Hunter Six)    “Minute By Minute” (+ D/L)
Jones, Spencer P.     “Spencer P. Jones And The Nothing Butts”
Lake Superior     “Steam Engine” (+ D/L)
Lightnin’ Slim    “High & Low Down”
Lord Dying    “Summon The Faithless”
Lustmord    “The Word As Power” (2LP Gatefold)
Modeselektor / Sound Pellegrino Thermal Team    “Negativity –  Bambounou Remix ”
Night Plane    “Heartbeat EP”
Nsound    “INSIDEout”
Nymph    “New Millennium Prayer” (+ D/L)
Palm Highway Chase (Palm /|\ Highway Chase)    “Escape From New York”
Part Time    “PDA” (Ltd. Ed. /1,000 + D/L)
Phillips, Esther    “From A Whisper To A Scream”
Power, Ryan    “Identity Picks” (NNA060)
Pretty Lights    “A Color Map Of The Sun” (2LP Deluxe Book Edition)
Randomer    “Ruffa / No Hook”
Rank / Xerox    “Rank / Xerox”
Raw Spitt    “Raw Spitt” (1970 Southern Soul Remaster; Charlie Whitehead)
Rodhad    “Spomeniks E.P.”
Sacrilege    “Thoughts Are But Dreams Till Their Effects Are Tried.” (1985 Demos; NYHC)
Safety Scissors    “In A Manner Of Sleeping” (+ CD)
Staples, Mavis    “Time Waits For No One” (Cut Out Warehouse Find)
TC Studio    “Lips Break EP”
Thundercat    “Apocalypse” (2LP Gatefold + D/L)
Tiger & Woods    “Golden Bear EP”
Timberlake, Justin    “Futuresex/Lovesounds” (2LP Gatefold)
Tricky    “False Idols” (2LP Gatefold + CD)
Tuluum Shimmering    “Ulau Tau Spirit Of Sun”
Twin Peaks    “Sunken” (+ D/L)
Various    “50 Weapons Of Choice #30-39” (Anstam, Marcel Dettmann, Atoms For Peace, Cosmin TRG…)
Various    “Mystic Sounds From India: Lost Field Recordings, 1968-79” (Ltd. Ed.)
Various    “¡Saoco! Vol. 2 Bomba, Plena And The Roots Of Salsa In Puerto Rico 1955-1967”
Various    “Mystic Sounds From Afrika: Lost Field Recordings 1960-1973” (Ltd. Ed. /1000)
Vian, Patrick    “Bruits Et Temps Analogues”
Wolf Eyes    “No Answer – Lower Floors”
Xiphiidae    “Quaking Myth”
Xiphiidae    “Pass Hidingly Seek”
Young, Nate     “Blinding Confusion” (Regression; NNA059)

7″s
______________________
Big Star    “Live Tribute To Alex Chilton” (With John Davis)
Emma    “Jahovia”

CDs
______________________
AP Musik    “MU3”
Coffins    “The Fleshland”
Editors    “The Weight Of Your Love” (2CD)
Lake Superior    “Steam Engine”
Lord Dying    “Summon The Faithless”
Sutekh Hexen / Andrew Liles    “Breed In Me The Darkness; The Second Coming Mixes By Andrew Liles”
Thundercat    “Apocalypse”
Unkind    “Pelon Juuret”

Reviews
_____________________

Vessel Order Of Noise (Tri Angle)
vessel orderofnoise_300x300
Sebastian Gainsborough is a 22-year-old from Bristol, England who’s a member of an abstract electronic collective called Young Echo, which hosts an online broadcast showcasing all sorts of underground styles. After recently introducing his music to the world via several 12-inches, Gainsborough’s debut full-length explores a very textural, shadowy style of techno. Using little more than an array of cold, glitchy electronic sounds set to pulsating beats, this album builds a sensual soundscape for a spooky, post-apocalyptic cyber world. For example, “Stillborn Dub” uses a minimal beat with a resonant metallic clang for its shifting layers of haunting voices and slithering electronics, and “Silten” evolves from a murky, groaning cavern crawl to a pretty gorgeous-sounding tower of synth.  “Court Of Lions” makes for a very strange “dance” song, juxtaposing an infectious beat against mournful electronic ghost wailing, drifting into rich organ-like synth halfway through.
[Reviewer: Mark]

Zomby With Love (4AD)
Zomby-With-Love 300x300
Zomby with a “y” (which is how I end up referring to this project pretty much always because of the proliferation of projects with similar names) is a pretty prolific project with an output covering a wide range of sub-genres in the electronic/dance umbrella. This particular release is the longest of Zomby’s yet (2CDs/3LPs/33 tracks worth of sound). It’s all cohesive though which is the most astounding thing to me. It doesn’t lean on past material that achieved any positive acclaim. It’s closest ally would definitely be “Where Were U In ’92,” but whereas that one was straight up nostalgia and rave for rave’s sake (that isn’t a negative attribute to be clear) this’n is the result of having lived that lifestyle and then with a weary mind making an album for pure head bobbing listening pleasure.
[Reviewer: Rick]

As ever, if you’re viewing from a non-drivable distance please check what we have for sale (these titles and more) at http://www.discogs.com/seller/Redscroll

Uncategorized

Wednesday Weekly Video Volume 11


Wednesday Weekly Video Volume 11
(If you’re seeing this on our home webpage [redscrollrecords.com] you’re going to want to press the “Read More” link on the bottom to view the videos.)

In 2009, I was lucky enough to see Heaven & Hell (aka Dio-era Black Sabbath) just down the road from here at the Oakdale Theatre. The live show was awesome and “The Devil You Know” was one of my favorite albums to come out that year. It’s crazy to me that Dio’s voice sounded that good live and they were writing such killer music well into their 60s (50s for Appice)! RIP RONNIE JAMES DIO. (Josh)

A divisive project that paired down to just one member over its beginning years (who only feeds into the divisiveness by being cryptic or straight up not answering direct questions). This is from a few years back in NYC when D.I.J. had established itself as an experimental folk project/neofolk (in the beginning it wasn’t so much). And here’s a recent interview with Douglas P.: http://www.mishkanyc.com/death-in-june-interview

Brit pop infused with some tribal industrial percussion and adventurous instrumentation. A friend turned me onto these guys a couple years back and I immediately devoured (through my ear holes) their entire catalog (not that it’s all that intimidating) multiple times before listening to anything else (at least in my own free time as I’m sure the store had many different things playing). (Rick)

In 2009, Trent Reznor announced that Nine Inch Nails would play a series of shows billed as their farewell to live performance, which included several dates in New York. We had the opportunity to catch one of the shows at Terminal 5, which featured Peter Murphy (of Bauhaus) as a surprise upside-down guest on “Reptile” & came out again to sing “Dead Souls” (orig. by Joy Division) as part of their 6 song encore.

Into Another is playing a couple shows in NYC next month (one at Saint Vitus Bar and one for the Revelation Records 25th Anniversary). They just recently released this video they made some years back. Groove.

HydraHead Records called it a day today (announcement here: http://www.hydraheadlines.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-imminent-demise-of-hydra-head.html ). They’ve put out a lot of great music for the past 20 years and a lot of that was far under-appreciated (at the time and now). Included in that umbrella is Discordance Axis – a seminal grind band that continues to inspire.

Pallbearer is currently on the East Coast doing a few gigs in support of their most recent album “Sorrow And Extinction,” which was just released on LP by 20 Buck Spin. Here’s a video of one of their songs from the show last night in NYC. Slow & Doomy. (Sean)

We post these videos daily on Facebook.com/Redscroll. Please “Like” that page if you are on FB. If you aren’t on Facebook then these are here for you – posted weekly. Music is so extremely important and good. 
Uncategorized

27th Of July 2012 Update

27th Of July 2012 Update of New and Key Restocked Items + Reviews
at Redscroll Records

LPs & 12″s
______________________
Beach Boys, The    “That’s Why God Made The Radio”
Beatles, The    “Help!” (Fan Club Edition, Italian Cover)
Blur    “Parklife” (Fan Club)
Blur    “Leisure” (180 Gram, +D/L)
Blur    “The Great Escape” (2LP, 180 Gram, +D/L)
Blur    “Think Tank” (2LP, 180 Gram, +D/L)
Blur    “Parklife” (2LP, 180 Gram, +D/L)
Blur    “Modern Life Is Rubbish” (2LP, 180 Gram, +D/L)
Blur    “Blur” (2LP, 180 Gram, +D/L)
Blur    “13” (2LP, 180 Gram, +D/L)
Bukowski, Charles    “Reads His Poetry” (Live 1972)
Family Band    “Grace & Lies”
Far Out        “Nihonjin” (180 Gram, Gatefold)
Foxygen        “Take The Kids Off Broadway” (+D/L)
Gas Chamber    “Gas Chamber”
Kadavar        “Kadavar”
Mission Of Burma    “Unsound”
Monster Magnet        “Superjudge” (2LP, Gatefold)
Monster Magnet        “Dopes To Infinity” (2LP, Gatefold)
Nachtmystium        “Silencing Machine” (Gatefold)
Nirvana    “Smells Like… Cover Versions!” (Fan Club)
Pink Floyd    “How Shall We Sing In A Foreign Land?: Southampton 1972” (Fan Club)
Pink Floyd    “Ummagumma Live Outtakes” (Fan Club)
Potty Mouth    “Sun Damage”
Rolling Stones, The    “Play Chuck Berry” (Fan Club)
Rolling Stones, The    “From Hillside To Woodstock” (Fan Club)
Saddest Landscape, The    “You Will Not Survive This”
Slaves, The    “Spirits Of The Sun”
Slug Guts    “Playin’ In Time With The Deadbeat” (+D/L)
Three Mile Pilot    “Maps” (/1000, +D/L)
Undergand    “The Mother Of Armageddon”
Used, The    “In Love And Death”
Verse    “Bitter Clarity, Uncommon Grace”
Waits, Tom    “Bone Machine” (Fan Club)
Waits, Tom    “Rain Dogs” (Fan Club)
Wild Belle    “Keep You”
Woods, Peter J.        “Songs For Nothing”
Zebras / E=MC Hammer    “Parasitic Clones Under The Strong Arm Of The Robotic Machine”

Hip-Hop 12″s & LPs
______________________
Aesop Rock    “Skelethon” (2LP, Gatefold)

Electronic 12″s & LPs
______________________
Blunt, Dean & Inga Copeland (Hype Williams)    “Black Is Beautiful”
Bronze Age    “Antiquated Futurism”
Christian Cosmos    “Enthronement By God As The First-Born Of The Dead”
Cinematic Orchestra, The    “In Motion #1” (Dorian Concept, Tom Chant, Grey Reverend, Austin Peralta) (2LP, Gatefold)
Cooly G    “Playin’ Me” (2LP)
Huckaby, Mike    “The Tresor EP”
J:Kenzo    “Invaderz”
Lego Feet    “Lego Feet” (2LP)
Team Doyobi    “Digital Music 1”
             

7″s
______________________
A Great Big Pile Of Leaves    “Vol. 3 Of The Making Moves Series”
Anasazi    “I Saw The Witch Cry”
Bad Advice    “Do Not Resuscitate”
Big Kids / Koalacaust    “Big Kids / Koalacaust”
Drug Church    “Drug Church”
End Of A Year / Red Tape Parade    “End Of A Year / Red Tape Parade”
End Of A Year / Three Fifteen    “End Of A Year / Three Fifteen Split”
Genders    “Genders”
Hounds Of Hate    “No Redemption”
Joyce Manor / Big Kids    “Joyce Manor / Big Kids”
Noveller Wolf    “Hair Tapes / Redgrave”
Off With Their Heads / Discharge    “Never Run / Legacy You Left Behind”
Phoned Nil Trio    “Phoned Nil Trio” (7″ + CD + Cassette)
Self Defense Family / Fires    “Self Defense Family / Fires”
Woods, Peter J.     “Failure From Both Ends”
Woods, Peter J. / Ice Volt    “Filth Ridden Existence / Howling Corpse”

CDs Non-Rock
______________________
Off Love    “My Love For You… Probably Love”

Reviews
______________________
Luke Temple – Don’t Act Like You Don’t Care
(Western Vinyl)


Also known for performing under the moniker Here We Go Magic, Temple is a Salem, Massachusetts-born singer-songwriter/guitarist who creates both colorful visual art and acoustic folk-pop. He’s clearly experienced with both his instrument and falsetto voice, whether he’s backed by up to five other musicians (synth, piano, drums, etc.) mostly in the first half, or his more reserved, primarily-solo ballads on the second half. The lo-fi, rustic sound fits excellently: I enjoyed the energy that the album kicks off with, particularly the fun, jingling bell-driven “In The Open” and celebratory, country-tinged centerpiece “Ophelia.” One of his most unique moments is with “You Belong To Heaven;” a romantic ballad that, in addition to his guitar and thoughtful-sounding voice, uses a light, nuanced piano and faint recording hiss that helps him sound strikingly like an early crooner.

Uncategorized

Wednesday Weekly Video Volume 4

Wednesday Weekly Video Volume 4

Have you ever had to talk a friend out of dancing with his mom to this song at his wedding? I have!
These Brooklyn (by way of Florida) post punkers first put this song out in 2010 (7″ on Slumberland) and it then appeared on their full length the following year (also on Slumberland and followed by an EP on Sacred Bones Records). Solid Joy Division channeling.
Pantera rules. We just got reissues in for “Reinventing The Steel”, “The Great Southern Trendkill” & “Official Live:101 Proof”. RIP Dimebag.
Two years before this At The Gates performance, the singer’s other band, Disfear played at the American Legion down the street from here with Stabyou… & Phobia. That show was great too, but I don’t think anyone taped it.
Full Of Hell was one of the most impressive hardcore bands I saw live in the last year. The noise elements are great buildups for the brutally fast, hardcore assault these guys unleash.  
Bad Brains are one of the most important bands in rock history. Please take an hour sometime in the near future and watch this video in it’s entirety. It’s crazy to me that this took place years before I was even born.
In the early 2000’s when “screamo” was exploding, Alone Records was releasing many of the more popular bands in the genre, Usurp Synapse, Jeromes Dream, Joshua Fit For Battle, etc… Of those, The Saddest Landscape is the only band that has forged ahead, crafting new music and gaining a world-wide fan base. In 2012 they released, “After The Lights” on Topshelf Records. This video is for the first song off that album, “In Love With The Sound”.
Uncategorized

20th Of July 2012 Update

13th Of July 2012 Update of New and Key Restocked Items + Reviews
at Redscroll Records

LPs & 12″s
______________________
 

Antediluvian / Adversarial “Antediluvian / Adversarial” (+ Poster)
Antlers, The “Undersea” (+CD)
Armour “Armour” (Gatefold)
Aura Noir “Out To Die”
Axegrinder “The Rise Of The Serpent Men” (Gatefold)
Axeman (Axe Man) “Arrive”
Beachwood Sparks “The Tarnished Gold” (2LP, Gatefold, +D/L)
Black Twig Pickers, The “Whompyjawed”
Blood Diamonds “Phone Sex”
Bomb, The “The Challenger” (+ D/L)
Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy “Now Here’s My Plan”
Burning Love “Rotten Thing To Say”
Cancer Kids, The “The Possible Dream”
Dark Tranquility “Yesterworlds” (Gatefold)
Davis, Miles “Agharta” (2LP, 180 Gram, Gatefold)
D’Eon “D’Eon” (Gatefold, 2LP)
Dolorvotre “Dolorvotre”
Emerson, Donnie & Joe “Dreamin’ Wild” (Gatefold, 2LP, +D/L)
Epsilons “Killed ‘Em Deader’n A Six Card Poker Hand”
Fostercare “Altered Creature” (+D/L)
Gaslight Anthem, The “Handwritten”(Gatefold, 180 Gram)
Ghostlimb “Confluence” (+ D/L)
Glacial “On Jones Beach” (+D/L)
Hard Corps “Clean Tables Have To Be Burnt”
Hellvetron “Death Scroll Of Seven Hells And Its Infernal Majesties” (Red Vinyl)
High Spirits “Another Night”
Ignivomous “Contragenesis” (Gatefold)
Jeff The Brotherhood “Hypnotic Nights” (Gatefold, +CD)
Jerusalem “Jerusalem” (Reissue Of 1972 Classic)
KidCrash “Naps”
Lundvall, Tor “The Shipyard”
Martire “Brutal Legions Of The Apocalypse” (Gatefold)
Mercyful Fate “Denying Christ In Holland” (Unofficial 4LP Box Set)
Micachu And The Shapes “Never” (+D/L)
Necros Christos “Doom Of The Occvlt” (Gatefold 2LP)
Necrovation “Necrovation”
Neon Blud “Discotheque Deathbed”
No “Can You Dig It?” (+D/L)
Odz Manouk “Odz Manouk”
Oi Polloi “Duisg!”
Om “Advaitic Songs” (2LP)
Orcustus “Orcustus” (Gatefold)
Outer Space “II”
Pantera “Official Live: 101 Proof” (2LP, 180 Gram, Gatefold)
Pantera “The Great Southern Trendkill” (2LP, 180 Gram, Gatefold)
Pantera “Reinventing The Steel” (180 Gram, Gateefold)
Passion Pit “Gossamer” (2LP, Gatefold, +CD)
Pink’s Haunted Graffiti, Ariel “Baby”
Purity Ring “Shrines” (+D/L)
Pyramids With Wraiths “Magpie & Raven” (+D/L)
Rotting Christ “Passage To Arcturo” (Gatefold)
Sadier, Laetitia “Silencio”
Smith, Patti “Banga” (2LP)
Stetson, Colin “New History Warfare Volume 1” (Gatefold)
Taxpayers, The “God, Forgive These Bastards: Songs From The Forgotten Life Of Henry Turner”
Thin Lizzy “Thin Lizzy” (Gatefold)
Tortoise “Tortoise”
Umberto “Welcome To The Chillzone”
Various Artists “Bippp: French Synth-Wave 1978/85” 
Villains “Road To Ruin”
Wasteland “Wasteland”
Weak Teeth “What A Plague You Are” (+D/L)
White Hills “Live At Roadburn 2011” (Gatefold)
White Zombie “Astro-Creep: 2000” (180 Gram)
Wisdom In Chains “The Missing Links”
Witchfynde “Royal William Live Sacrifice”
Wounded Kings, The “Embrace Of The Narrow House” (Gatefold)
Wreckage “From Experiments To Extinction” (Unofficial)
Young Moon “Navigated Like The Swan” (+D/L)

Hip-Hop 12″s & LPs
______________________

Dark Time Sunshine “Anx”
Pharcyde, The “Bizarre Ride II: The Pharcyde Instrumentals”

Electronic 12″s & LPs
______________________
 

214 “Fuzzy Leash EP”
AltarBoy “Lazy Ass”
Ancient Astronauts “Orion Nebula Remixes”
Andres, Dez “As We Rock On”
Astro, Glenn & IMYRMIND “KDIM EP”
Bok Bok “Southside Remixes”
Bolivar, Pablo “The Spark EP” (12″ + 10″)
Der Zyklus / Albert Van Abbe “Von Neumann Replicator / Von Neumann Machine”
dOP “Kisses”
Elitechnique “Intrustion” (+D/L)
Exaltics, The “Node EP”
Four Tet “128 Harps”
Gill, Mike / Robert Owens “Midst Of The Moment / I’ll Be Your Friend”
Grasscut “Unearth” (+D/L)”
Helix “Stacks Riddim”
Illum Sphere “Remixed”
Invisible, The “Rispa” (Gatefold, 2LP, +D/L)
Johnwaynes “I Can See You”
Kid Machine “Replicants EP”
Leeon  “A New Chapter”
Lil Silva “Club Constructions Vol. 2”
Linzatti, Staffan “Through The Looking-Glass”
Moodyman  “Why Do U Feel”
Notion “Digits EP”
Old Apparatus “Derren EP”
Orihasam, Imugem “Exude”
Paleman “All Good EP”
Parish, Theo / Craig Huckaby / Pirahnahead “Black Music / Child Of The Sun / Squirrel”
Parish, Theo / The Green Pickles “Seasons Of My Life / Feed Back”
Parrish, Theo “Mustang 1”
Prince “Dance 4 Me”
Rumah & Progression “Chance Meeting”
Scott, Patrice “Beyond Deep”
Sei A “You Can Bring EP”
Strand “Slam Funk!”
Third Side “Unity Remixes”
Tnght (Hudson Mohawke X Lunice) “Tnght”
Two Armadillos “Golden Age Thinking Part 3 Of 3”
Vunk, David “Bowie E.P.”
Walk The Dog / Pal Joey “I Can’t”      

10″s
______________________ 

Blu & Exile “Maybe One Day EP”
Damu The Fudgemunk “Union Remixe Instrumentals”
Greene, Jacques “Greene 01”
PCM (Pulse Code Modulator) “Akuro / Sakura Serrulata” 

7″s
______________________

Anne “Power Exchange”
Black Dice “Rodriguez”
Blood Buddies “Blood Buddies”
Confines “Mediocrity Rules / Mission Creep”
Confront “The Curtain Of An Intense Attack”
Dicks, The “Hate The Police”
Salvation “House Of The Beating Hell”
Six Organs Of Admittance “Parsons Blues”
Twerps “I’m Stupid” (PRGNT / Upside Down)
VMW “How Do You Fill A Hole?”

CDs Rock
______________________

Antaeus “Blood Libels”
Baroness “Yellow & Green” (2CD)
Bunkur “Bludgeon”
Cauchemar “La Vierge Noire”
Conqueror “War.Cult.Supremacy” (2CD)
Coven “Worship New Gods”
Cultes Des Ghoules “Spectres Over Transylvania”
Dark Ages “Twilight Of Europe”
Death SS “All The Colors Of The Dark: The Very Best Of Death SS” (2xCD; First 1000 With Poster)
Deathspell Omega “Paracletus”
Devil’s Blood, The “The Time Of No Time Evermore” (Digibook Deluxe Ed.)
Dodsengel “Visionary”
Dolorvotre “Dolorvotre”
Faustcoven “Hellfire And Funeral Bells”
Funeral Mist “Maranatha”
Funeral Mist “Devilry”
Knelt Rote “Insignificance”
Lurker Of Challice “Lurker Of Challice”
Martire “Brutal Legions Of The Apocalypse”
Necros Christos “Doom Of The Occult”
Necros Christos “Trivne Impvrity Rites”
Odz Manouk “Odz Manouk”
Ofermod “Tiamtu”
Prosanctus Inferi “Red Streams Of Flesh”
Purity Ring “Shrines”
Rotting Christ “Non Serviam”
Sabbat “Sabbatrinity” (Red Cover)
Secrets Of The Moon “Antithesis”
Skitliv “Amfetamin” 
Superchrist “Headbanger”
TeitanBlood “Seven Chalices”
Tukaaria “Raw To The Rapine” (DVD Size Digipak)
Twin Shadow “Confess”
Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats “Blood Lust”

CDs Non-Rock
______________________

Alchemist, The “Russian Roulette”
Big Easy Express  (Blu Ray + DVD Combo Pack)
Black Howling “This Rain Is The Weeping Of Forefathers”
Caina “Will Over Worlds”
Caina / White Medal “Caina / White Medal”
Grimes “Geidi Primes”
Jae, Jeremiah “Raw Money Raps”
Our Love Will Destroy The World “Thousands Raised To The Sixth” (2CD)
Valley Of Fear “Valley Of Fear”
Various Artists “From Champaign To Chicago” 

Reviews
______________________
 

Willis Earl Beal – Acousmatic Sorcery
(XL Recordings)

In addition to obviously sharing a word in each name, it’s easy to draw comparisons between Beal and the late Wesley Willis: both are warm-natured, creative personalities from Chicago, where they never let their especially low-income realities get in the way of their music and art (Beal even openly shares his address and phone number for anyone who wants a drawing made or a song sung for him or her.) With pretty much just his bellowing voice and a few found objects (a standard-sounding acoustic guitar, something that sounds like a tweaked music box, some unidentified clinking and clanking items, etc.,) Beal has created an endearing sound that’d only be ruined if it were polished. He proves his versatility with several styles such as gritty blues crooning (“Take Me Away”) and ambitious, thoughtful rapping (“Ghost Robot.”) He shines the brightest, however, on his intimate acoustic ballads: his personal, calmly delivered lyrics on tracks like “Evening’s Kiss” and “Monotony” really do sound like they’re coming straight from the heart.

Tanlines – Mixed Emotions
(True Panther Sounds)
I’ve always enjoyed the comfortable, lush sounds of 80s synth-pop, so this Brooklyn duo’s summery, danceable tunes feel right at home for me. It’s no surprise that they cite their childhood bands (such as New Order) as influences, with the result sounding like a fresh, organic take on the style. Vocalist-guitarist-keyboardist Eric Emm’s solid baritone stands out: he developed a more natural, spirited and thoughtful technique after he and Jesse Cohen (drums, keyboards, bass) were evicted from their studio. It’s fitting to hear such a voice in tracks like the tidal ambience-washed opener “Brothers” and the island-flavored “Yes Way” and “Real Life,” the latter of which has the happy synth buoying a steel drum rhythm. The most dream-like track “Abby” drifts through a synthesized nebula with its interestingly repeated lyrics (“I don’t want to do any more than you / even though I fall behind…”)