AUDIO SHAKEDOWN - Volume 11

Greetings, dear readers and welcome once again to the one and only Audio Shakedown. It's been a while since the last installment and I've been gathering bits of writing here and there as time has passed, so there's no real theme to the group other than that I've been cramming them all into my head with furious abandon over the past month or two. Listen, read, and enjoy.

Tom Waits - Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers, and Bastards - Tom Waits is an American treasure as incredible and irreplaceable as the Grand Canyon, and if you listen to the 56 songs that comprise the Orphans collection, you'll have a reasonable idea why. The Brawlers disc contains Mr. Waits' careening rock and roll and primal blues stomp, and for my money probably edges out the other two discs, as great as they are. Bawlers contains love songs and assorted weepers, which when done by Tom Waits are potent indeed. Many musicians have a rock side and a ballad side, and most collections could stop there, but Waits is no ordinary musician, so the Bastards disc is necessary, as it showcases his love of oddball spoken word, shambling beat poetry, and bizarre raconteurship. Considering his career spans four decades now, Orphans is not an accurate picture of his entire oeuvre, but it is a fascinating glimpse into a musical mind like no other.

Jerry Lee Lewis - Jerry Rocks - Everyone knows the amazing rock and roll sides that the Killer released on the Sun label in the fifties, but when a compilation of his work is released, it always splits the running time between the piano-burning rockers and the somewhat homogenous country material he released around the same time (Sorry, die-hard Lewis fans, but it's true, if you skip through his country weepers, you hear the exact same four note walkup to the opening chord over and over again, and the rest of those songs usually fare no better where originality is concerned.) But this Bear Family Records collection dispenses with the downtempo business and gives you all the rockers, including some material that rarely shows up on comps. There are some great covers, all the originals you know and love, and even some upbeat country numbers. I'd been looking for a compilation like this for some time, and it definitely delivers.

Voodoo Blues - The Devil Within - A while back I thought, "It seems like there should be a collection of older blues songs about the influence of voodoo and folk magic on black culture in the south." Thirty seconds later, a Google search confirmed my genius. There are a few of them, actually, but this two-disc collection seems to be the most enjoyable. It has a nice balance of material, from the older, creepier material (Robert Johnson, Sam Hopkins, Skip James), to the newer, more tongue-in-cheek sorts of songs, (Howlin' Wolf, Screamin' Jay Hawkins). The range of approaches to the subject matter is beneficial, since a narrow focus on both style and theme could easily render the proceedings overly homogenous, a trap that some of the other collections in this vein fall into.

Them - Them - People frequently overlook Them when remembering great mid-60's bands, but it's fascinating to hear Van Morrison in his rock and roll wild man days. On their self-titled debut, the band occupy the space (both temporally and sonically) between Howlin' Wolf-style Chicago blues and The Stooges' down and dirty ruckus, which frequently ends up sounding similar to the Rolling Stones, an equation that makes musical sense, really. This album is really a perfect status report of mid-decade rock and roll, from the organ heavy "I'm Gonna Dress in Black" that gives The Animals' "House of the Rising Sun" a run for its money, to the incomparable ode to sex "Gloria," which has been covered by everyone from The Doors to Patti Smith. There's no reason this album shouldn't be talked about with the same reverence as Aftermath, Animalisms, or The Kink Kontroversy.

Toad the Wet Sprocket - Dulcinea - It's easy to lose sight of Toad the Wet Sprocket, a statement that was true even in the mid-90's. 1994 was a banner year for musical sadness, but Toad the Wet Sprocket tended to be drowned out by their more histrionic peers in alternative rock. The band's gimmick was that they had no gimmick (other than the band name, which they pulled from an old Monty Python sketch, though that is neither here nor there where their music is concerned). They played well, but had no showiness about them. They weren't the loudest or fastest, or even most miserable. In fact, compared to the wailings of other bands at the time, the glum nature of these songs seems composed and almost elegant. Toad's strong point is that they know their way around a melody, and they crafted solid songs to support them, as is evident here on Dulcinea. It didn't necessarily make them the most newsworthy band, but it did result in several albums worth of great music. Sometimes I need nothing more than their jangly guitars and Glen Phillips' fragile voice, bolstered by the harmonies that frequently crop up behind it in their songs.

Carousell - Black Swallow and Other Songs - Carousell is one of the many guises (A Broken Consort, Riftmusic, *AR, etc.) of Richard Skelton, a UK-based composer of beautiful droning songs made primarily with bowed strings of various sorts. With each new appellation, Skelton displays a different focus on his signature sound, and with that in mind, it appears that Carousell is his most conventional version yet, since there's identifiable notes and very nearly a discernible rhythm to some of the proceedings, unlike earlier recordings. The instrumentation is more diverse as well, including piano, strings both bowed and plucked, what sounds like field recordings, and the occasional whispery, wordless voice, courtesy of wife Autumn Richardson. This record is gorgeous, and while it does cleave closely to his established atmosphere of arboreal melancholy, the compositions here are more lush than his usually spare (though equally compelling) style. The result is a collection of soundscapes that manage to be both earthy and ethereal at once, like being able to touch a memory. This is not a record for everyone (a fact Skelton must understand, since the initial run of discs was limited to 100), and so much the better, because it can live like a secret with those who understand its value.

I'll end this one with a film recommendation (it's musically based, so I think it falls under our focus here). The new Mudhoney documentary I'm Now is an excellent look at a band that's too often forgotten when people talk about early 90's grunge. They outlasted pretty much everyone, even through drug addiction and changing styles, and it's great to be able to hear all of the original members tell the story as they lived it.

AUDIO SHAKEDOWN - Volume 10

Here we are at the tenth installment of the Audio Shakedown, or Shakedown X, if you prefer a more dramatic branding. My brain has been all over the place lately, so there's a good mix of stuff in here, though I have been spending a lot of time with some of the records from the first wave of NYC punk rock, which factors in a bit in this Shakedown. So without further ado, here's what I've been digging lately:

Black Sabbath - 13 - All the fans waiting for this record for the past year have had quite a ride. The initial excitement about a new album from the original Sabbath lineup was dampened by news of Tony Iommi's health issues and the departure of Bill Ward from the project (initially it was a "contract dispute," but later statements by Ozzy indicate that Ward's playing just wasn't up to par anymore). Then came the puzzling news that Ward's replacement was Brad Wilk from Rage Against the Machine, despite the fact that there exists a legion of drummers already playing in the Sabbath style out there in doom and sludge bands across the world. No one was sure what to expect, but the record is out and the results are in: Sabbath still rules. Producer Rick Rubin got this one just right, with the unmistakable feel of classic Black Sabbath intact, though the individual members show that they've been busy in the interim. Geezer's bass tone is thunderous, Tony's still at the top of his game, and Ozzy's vocals are great. Brad Wilk performs admirably, though if you really listen you can tell there are places where Wilk sticks with a straight ahead stomp where Ward might've made it swing a bit, but that's a non-issue, as it never becomes distracting. In the end it turns out there was no cause for concern; giants still walk the earth, and 13 is an album that Sabbath can be proud of. 

Miles Davis - Kind of Blue - Usually when something finds a massive audience, it's because it's a piece of lowest common denominator mush. But Kind of Blue is one of those very rare artifacts of human culture, an album whose appeal is so universal that they may as well just issue everyone on Earth a copy with their birth certificates. There is something built into the modal structure of the chords and leads that speaks to a deeper part of our brains. It's an ineffable alchemy, and one of the very few records where I feel pretty confident saying that if you can't find anything to enjoy here, there is something wrong with you.

Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers - L.A.M.F. - Despite the cachet that the New York Dolls carried in their namesake city, it's odd that the Heartbreakers' debuted to the sound of crickets initially, though the collapse of their label and their unceasing drug habits probably had something to do with it. At any rate, L.A.M.F. gradually grew through "cult status" to "essential album," which is really where it belongs, among the big names of the CBGB scene in late 70's New York. The album is trashy and raw, dealing mostly with drugs and sex, and carried the essence of the burgeoning punk rock aesthetic, thanks to members Johnny Thunders and Jerry Nolan, both of the New York Dolls, and Richard Hell, who had just left another early punk titan, Television. By the way, don't bother with the "revisited" edition of this album, with its cleaned-up production.  It's much better in its raw original form, as dirty and dangerous as the city that spawned it. 

Deafheaven - Sunbather - Sunbather is a novel brew of arty post-rock à la Godspeed or Mogwai blended with smile-free black metal, a bold move considering how unforgiving some black metal fans can be about violations of traditionalism. Deafheaven's enjoyable first record was done in a similar vein, and their mixed approach really upset the metal purists, which I always find amusing. But Sunbather, their sophomore release, represents a phenomenon that I enjoy even more: it's so good that even the purists have had to give them credit, despite their stylistic objections. Sunbather maintains an interesting atmosphere throughout, as they borrow black metal techniques but somehow manage to leave behind the icy feel that they usually evoke, instead using the same tremolo picking and minor key melodies to bring some sun into their expansive yet introspective compositions.

Patti Smith Group - Easter - Horses was the breakout album, and it's definitely excellent, but if you're looking for something with more fully realized songs, it's probably a good idea to reach for Easter. Not that Easter lacks Patti's spoken word performance, but it's where the band becomes skilled enough at their craft that they feel confident being more musical than textural. The best known track is of course "Because the Night," Smith's collaboration with Bruce Springsteen (whose influence on the track is obvious), but there are great songs all over the record. The eerie, ritualistic "Ghost Dance" is a particular favorite of mine, as is "Godspeed" a non-LP track that was included on later pressings. The religious imagery that Smith plays with over the course of the album works surprisingly well; its use is direct but not blunt. This is a diverse, challenging listen that stands as one of Smith's greatest statements.    

Motorpsycho - Little Lucid Moments - This record sounds like an extradimensional intelligence has assembled a metal band, a punk band, and a prog band, and then manipulated their minds and bodies in order to play them like an arcane puppet orchestra to attempt to communicate some vital information. The songs are twenty plus minutes long, and different sections sound like they're from different albums (some sections sound like they're made by a different species), yet there seems to be an overall sensibility knitting it all together into a cohesive whole. I feel like if I could just listen a little harder to this music, the chords would restructure themselves into instructions on how to leave this planet and join a waiting cadre of elite galactic scholars. And honestly, if none of this sounds remotely interesting to you, I'm not sure why we're even talking here.

AUDIO SHAKEDOWN - Volume 9

In this edition of the Shakedown, I'm taking the opportunity to catch up on some new (and new-ish) releases. There's been a lot of good stuff coming out, but I've been so obsessed by older music lately that I've ignored some of it for a while, an oversight which I will now rectify.

Coliseum - Sister Faith - It doesn't seem like ten years ago that I was asked to review Coliseum's self-titled debut, but I find that I enjoy their brand of messy, wild, gruff-voiced punk as much as ever on their fourth LP, Sister Faith. At the beginning of their career, their sound was nearly off the rails, like the song might fly apart at any moment and it was only momentum that kept it all together. Even though they've tightened everything up a bit on their newer releases, the feeling is still there in the throaty distortion, heavy bass, and powerful drumming.

Queens of the Stone Age - ...Like Clockwork - I don't agree with those who say that this is the greatest extant rock band on earth, and I'm going to be honest with you, this is the first album by QOTSA that I've found listenable since Songs for the Deaf. All the stuff in between was too unfocused and dependent on Homme's falsetto singing for me to find enjoyable. Make no mistake, though, ...Like Clockwork doesn't really sound anything like Songs for the Deaf. Homme and company have found a new approach here that borrows more from Bowie circa Aladdin Sane than you might expect, especially on the second half of the record. There are of course the much-touted guest stars, but if they hadn't been so discussed in the pre-release press, you'd probably never know they were there. This album was dangerously over-hyped, but nevertheless manages to be a surprisingly interesting release.

Alice in Chains - The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here- I was pleasantly surprised by 2009's Black Gives Way to Blue, despite being all too willing to can it for its obvious lack of Layne Staley. That album was a reminder that Jerry Cantrell was always Alice's main composer, and was responsible for more of the band's essence than perhaps anyone else in the band. It was also a display of the admirable talents of William DuVall, who stepped in as lead singer to take the vacant spot once filled by one of the most recognizable voices in modern rock music, and ably did a job that can't have been easy. So the comeback provided some quality material, and there's more where that came from on The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here. There may not be any big surprises on the album, but the grinding distortion, phrygian-laced lead work, and vocal harmonies that we all know and love are firmly in place. Layne Staley's voice and lyrics, both of them surprisingly elegant and a little bit venomous, will always be missed, but this new incarnation of AiC has the goods and is worth a listen.

Fauna - Avifauna - Black metal is one of those gut-reaction genres, where no amount of persuasion  will convince a person that it's their thing if it isn't. It's like they're physiologically unable to tolerate the sound. That being said, I'm going to tell you how good this black metal record is. Avifauna is Fauna's third LP, and probably their best so far. There are two short interlude tracks sandwiched between three massive epics, ranging from thirty to seventeen minutes. Fauna is one of the tentpole bands of the so-called Cascadian Black Metal scene, and this album is very representative of the sound: long tracks filled with an atmospheric, majestic black metal devoted to natural and pagan themes (Avifauna starts with a minute and a half of birdsong), sprinkled liberally with quiet, moody acoustic passages. Avifauna also plays with drone elements without becoming boring and experiments with strings without sounding lamely "symphonic." It's a beautiful record, if you can handle it.

October Falls - The Plague of a Coming Age - October Falls' previous releases populate a spectrum ranging from minimalist moody folk to rasping black metal whose nature-loving sympathies lay near to the aforementioned Cascadian Black Metal scene (though October Falls hails from Finland). On The Plague of a Coming Age, they've moved out of that more minimalist sound into a much more lush, and maybe even accessible, style of arrangement, experimenting with clean vocals and fuller drum sounds. The black metal style is still present, but it's been augmented by some adventurous techniques (more than one guitar tone!), and a more midtempo feel, a bit like early Opeth. This is a risky move, as black metal fans tend to be pretty unforgiving of change, but this release represents a largely successful experiment. I can't say I wasn't hoping for another album in the vein of their fantastic record The Womb of Primordial Nature, but I can safely say that this record will find a place for itself in my listening nonetheless.

Kylesa - Ultraviolet - Kylesa returns with another dose of their signature brand of sludgy noise tinged with psychedelia. I've been increasingly impressed with this band's output as their career has progressed, and this is another strong release from them. They haven't changed too much about their sound since 2010's Spiral Shadows, but I admire their willingness to pull back from an all-out sonic blast to provide some shading and nuance. Philip Cope delivers a good vocal performance as usual, but it's Laura Pleasants' vocals that are the star of the show for me. The guitar work is dirty and driving with some nice winding psychedelic flourishes throughout, and the dual drummers and sturdy bass provide a more than ample framework for it all. Kylesa seem to know what they're good at and deliver it, but retain their motivation to try out a few new tricks as well. It's a process that ensures reliability as well as relevance.

AUDIO SHAKEDOWN - Volume 8

At long last summer is upon us. After trying to medicate myself through the dismal late winters and rainy springs with some warm weather music therapy, my listening seems to get looser once it's actually warmer out. Instead of focusing on one particular time or theme, I tend to just chase down whatever sound I want to hear at any given time. With that said, here's some of the things I've been enjoying lately. 

R.E.M. - Green - It's easy to forget that this was the first time that many people heard R.E.M., as this was their major label debut. Led by the single "Orange Crush," Green would find its way out into a much wider audience than IRS Records could ever have given them, and cemented the bands place in the annals of alt-rock history, but what a strange record to plant your flag with. It's not surprising that irony-dripping pop numbers like "Stand" or "Pop Song 89" would also come out as singles, because in 1988 it was easier to lead with that smirking irony than the open-heart vulnerability of tracks like "You Are The Everything" or "I Remember California." Green also finds the band branching out musically with mandolin, cello, accordion, and lap steel guitar, adding a lush sound to their bruised and arty rock. Green is stronger than many critics are willing to admit, and remains an oddly affecting snapshot of a band poised on the edge of stardom.

Todd Rundgren - Something/Anything - I have listened to a LOT of music, and still there are sounds on this double album that I've never heard anywhere else. Rundgren is in full "pop songcraft wizard" mode on this record, and the attention to detail is staggering. It takes a while for it to appear, because the songs are so direct and deceptively simple in places, but there are whole tiny environments built inside these tracks. I admit that it took me a while to respect this record; parts of it may sound dated at first, or schmaltzy, or overly poppy, but let it sink in and you'll see what's really there. 

Björk - Homogenic - For the longest time I was not a fan of Björk, but for the past couple of years, her work has been creeping into my listening habits bit by bit. Her albums are extrememly varied, and though I have a certain respect and use for each of them, Homogenic is the album that I turn to most often. It's bolder than the whispering Vespertine, more direct than Medulla or the recent Biophilia, and emotionally weightier than Debut. Homogenic seems to play to Björk's strengths in a specific way where other albums sometimes sacrifice that essential feeling to further their concepts.  It's a challenging, engaging record, and I'm glad it finally found a place in my brain.

Lemonheads - It's a Shame About Ray - Every time I listen to this record, I'm struck by how successfully Evan Dando mixed the acoustic and electric guitars. It's a small touch, but it gives it a much more intimate, personal feel compared to the prickly, aggressive guitar work of his peers at the time. The fact that the record is filed with simple, catchy songs and flies by in under half an hour no doubt accentuates that friendly quality. Dando's tales about outcasts' and losers' everyday tribulations makes it seem like a bunch of songs that your buddy recorded that turned out to be surprisingly good.

Deftones - White Pony - This album came out just as I was graduating high school, and it still positively glows with the weird energies of summer for me. This is the Deftones' most powerful statement, a record that knit all their abilities as musicians together and injected it with a surprising amount of art and grace. The imagery can be dark, but it remains nuanced; the Deftones found a way to temper their already successful aggression with their artsier side, and it really boosted them up off the plateau created by their first two releases. They managed to find a dynamism that no one really expected, and they use it to pull the listener into the album's own world. For me, White Pony succeeds at everything it attempts, and I can't think of anything that would really improve upon it.

Mazzy Star - So Tonight That I Might See - The perfect soundtrack for a gentle descent, Mazzy Star were an intersection of sorts between 90's alt-rock sensibility, gothic spookiness, and folky acid haze. The drifting guitar work wraps you in purple velvet and smoke rings while the somnolent vocals of Hope Sandoval do weird things to your head. "Fade Into You" remains their most well-remembered statement, and with good reason, but highlights abound on this record. "Mary of Silence" revels in dark acid rock, "Wasted" is the blues on downers, and "Bells Ring" delivers a head-nodding shuffle with Sandoval's voice sounding both close-miked yet far away. These are lullabies for the weird kids, and there have been few bands that have done it as well. 

As a public service to music lovers, I'd like to take this opportunity to point people toward Archive.org's Live Music Archive. It's a vast collection of bootlegged concerts provided in lossless or mp3 format for free streaming and download. I like the way they've set this up, as everything is given away for free, so there's no shady profit being made off of other people's work, and the only bands that go up in the archive are bands that have sent the site official word that they're okay with recorded concert trading. And even though it consists only of bands that give their approval, you might be surprised at who is cool with the idea. There are almost a thousand shows by the Smashing Pumpkins up for download, a well as shows by Hum, Soul Coughing, Cracker, Elliott Smith, Against Me! and thousands more. So check it out, and if you have any bootlegs that might be worthy additions, see about uploading them. The more that go up, the better the archive.

AUDIO SHAKEDOWN: Volume 7

Rock and roll history has a logical flow to it, and I find that once I get into the groove of a certain era, after a while my brain just naturally starts to crave what came next. You may remember that the last Shakedown found me delving into the psychedelic music of the late 1960's and the later bands that went back to explore the sound, but now lately I find my brain sliding toward the sounds of the early Seventies. Rock and roll was moving away from psychedelia toward straight-up bluesy hard rock. So as you might expect, I've been neck deep in great music from bands of the early Seventies as well as the more modern artists who are still mining those same rich veins of wild, mustachioed rock and roll glory, and I've also been taking a look backwards at some of the artists who helped create the sound.

Graveyard - Hisingen Blues - Not many people know this, but a few years back, a time rift opened up over Sweden, and now the temporally afflicted country is a hotbed of 70's retro-rock revivalism. The Gothenburg based band Graveyard have emerged as one of the more artistically successful bands of the scene. Everything you'd expect is here, heavy blues-based rock, touches of metallic riffing, vintage recording techniques... but the way they put it all together is something special. The guitars have the kind of crunch that comes from high-gain amps instead of boutique guitar effects, and Joakim Nilsson's voice, with its slight Swedish accent on the English lyrics, is expressive and forceful. Revivalism is an odd thing, as it short-circuits any debate about originality. It sounds like it does because they want it to, so don't try to place it in any sort of context. Just put it on and let the music speak for itself, because inasmuch as this album does exactly what it sets out to do, it is very nearly perfect.

Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - Blood Lust - It strikes me that "dark side of the psychedelic era" is a very narrow space, historically speaking, to draw inspiration from. I mean, you're really just pulling from the vibe of the last half 1969, when the drugs have gone sideways on everyone, the Hell's Angels are stabbing people at Altamont, and the Manson family is stalking the streets of Los Angeles. But Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats have crafted two albums with this very concept at the heart of the music, and it seems to be working out well for them. The stronger of the two releases is 2011's Blood Lust, where a garage rock blast carries with it the tattered, sickly shreds of psychedelia. This record has a druggy nihilism woven into it that mashes LSD-exploitation film and Hammer horror film imagery together, making it sound like a party where the guests are all just trying to make it through the night alive.

Lightnin' Hopkins - Lightnin' and the Blues - When you think of slow, smoky electric blues, chances are you're channeling the sound of Lightnin' Hopkins, and this collection is one of his best. Unlike many early electric blues collections, the sound quality is impeccable on this disc, allowing the listener to hear every little bend and vibrato on Hopkins' guitar, and his worn-leather voice settles right over top of the mix. Hopkins was a master of blues economy, and could do more with three or four notes than most players can do with an entire scale. He was a major figure in the definition of the vocabulary of electric blues, and these songs are the bricks that later rock and rollers would build their empires from. It's gratifying to hear that they've lost none of their charm in the intervening years.

Dust - Dust - In the early Seventies, heavy metal (or what would classify as such at the time) was dominated by British bands: Black Sabbbath, Led Zeppelin, etc., but there were a few American groups beginning to throw their hat into the ring. One of the more interesting, if not the most well-remembered, was Dust. Their self-titled debut is chock full of heavy, riff-laden blues rock, and it's played with authority. The guitar work rivals the heavy-hitters of the time, and there's some pretty agile drumming by Marc Bell, who would later in the Seventies take on the name Marky Ramone, and be known for much simpler drumming. It's fascinating to hear him putting so much more detail into his music here, especially the busy cymbal work.

Free - Fire and Water - I really enjoy that even though Free's sound is undoubtedly of a piece with other Seventies hard rock staples, their focus is not the electric guitar. It may be present in their songs, but it's not necessarily what's in the spotlight. Most of the time, that honor belongs to Paul Rodger's soulful vocals, and with good reason. The songs seem built on a framework of drums and vocals, with the other instruments adding color and texture to the sound. Because the guitars aren't cranked, Fire and Water has a more mellow groove to it than many of their contemporaries. Great for driving around aimlessly on a sunny day, or at least imagining you live in a parallel world where that activity didn't become prohibitively expensive.

Tinariwen - Tassili -  It seems like every Shakedown has a general theme, but there's always one outlier record that I've been listening to lately for whatever reason. This time out, it's Tinariwen, a band with an unmatchable biography (it's too long to do it justice here, but to read their bizarre and incredible story, check here). Tinariwen are a group of nomadic Tuareg musicians from the Saharan desert who play a wholly unique kind of music. The sounds of their native North Africa are certainly present, as well as certain American rock sensibilities, but most fascinatingly, you can hear the influence of the blues, or more accurately, the African music that serves as an ancestor to the blues. Whatever specific sounds inspire them, the quality and passion of the music is indisputable. So carefully are their lives woven into their music that you can hear the sand and heat in their songs even without being told where they hail from, especially on this album, where they switch from their usual electric guitars to acoustic, providing a sound that's as dry as Saharan dust. Considering the struggles and tragedies they've had to endure in their career as a band, it's all but certain that you don't know anyone who loves music as much as Tinariwen.

AUDIO SHAKEDOWN: Volume 6

     Turn off your mind, relax, and float downstream with this edition of the Audio Shakedown, because the warmer weather has finally thawed my freezer-burned brain and made me want sunshiny psychedelic music by the bucketful. I've been making my way through psychedelia from the mid-60's, of course, but also wandering around the neo-psych movement from ten/fifteen years ago as well. So pull up a beanbag chair, light some incense, and get in on the swirling orange groove I have cooking here.

Lamp of the Universe - Acid Mantra - Lamp of the Universe is a one-man spacy psychedelic folk project from New Zealand. Multi-instrumentalist Craig Williamson uses guitars, sitars, hand drums, a single gentle voice, and other assorted noisemakers to create long cosmic odysseys that meander and drift with a pleasant breeziness. Brevity is not really a concern here, nor is song structure. This will not get the party started, but if you need a record for long afternoons spent drifting in and out of sleep, this has exactly what you need.

Earthless - Rhythms from a Cosmic Sky - Heavy instrumental psychedelia band Earthless does their best to turn your brain to goo, and comes very close to succeeding. The album consists of three long tracks of winding, molten guitar freakouts, but what's surprising is how listenable they make it, which you can credit to the rhythm section, really. Without their consistent groove, the guitar would be just so much noodling. Technically, I suppose most people will still find this to be so much noodling, but for those in the market for a mind-bending guitar workout, this is really quite brilliant.

The Spacious Mind - The Mind of a Brother - The Spacious Mind have gone through a lot of stylistic changes in their decade-plus career, from druggy folk to ambient instrumental, but this record finds them working firmly in a heavy psychedelic vein. They've got the tricks and treats of 1967 down, but they've put their own millennial spin on it. The trouble with modern psych acts is that they're playing with a style nearly forty years old now, so there can be a feeling of having heard it all before, but The Spacious Mind really pay attention to the way they manage the build and release of their songs. They're quite long, but never seem to overstay their welcome.

The Doors - L.A. Woman - This one is tied up there with The Doors' debut as their most consistent release. From the sleazy rock and roll of "The Changeling" to the low blues shuffle of "Cars Hiss By My Window" to the steamy menace of "Riders on the Storm," every track on this album is a winner. It shows their keen awareness of their musical roots while letting them display the stylistic eccentricities that made them so original. The band is in top form, and Morrison's voice has taken on a huskier tone that fits the music well, even though that was probably acquired from the hard living that occurred over the tumultuous years of their career. An absolute classic.

Blue Cheer - Vincebus Eruptum - Before I ever heard the Grateful Dead's actual material, I knew of them by reputation only. Unhinged LSD parties with wild, trippy music playing at top volume to blow your mind out of your head, that sort of thing... but when I actually heard the Dead I was disappointed. I was told to expect hallucinogenic rock euphoria, and instead I got slightly tipsy bluegrass. The point of all this is that Blue Cheer's first album sounds like what I wanted the Grateful Dead to sound like. For its time, this album was an overwhelming sonic titan, as it eschewed the acoustic folk business for cranked up amplifiers. Blown-out distortion and sludgy blues riffs given the San Francisco acid treatment, dirty bass, and pummeling drums...this is the sensory overload I was expecting.

Counting Crows - Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings - This is a departure from the psychedelic theme, I admit, but I have spent some quality time with this record lately, and for good reason. This album is comprised of two parts, "Saturday Nights," where the band delves into tension and sin, and "Sunday Mornings," the subsequent exploration of memory and redemption. The first half of the record is what I'm mostly concerned with here, because the Saturday night side boasts some of the strongest songs that the band has yet produced, and after that, the gentler Sunday morning half seems to lag a little by comparison. But "Saturday Nights" is more than worth your time, as Duritz and company push their way through six tracks whose stories range between hard-edged, lonely New York and the deserts of the west, brimming with violence and anxiety. It's a miniature travelogue of the astral America, the one we all live in, but frequently forget to see.

AUDIO SHAKEDOWN - Volume 5

Every time I wear headphones people are always talking at me, but they never seem to ask the only question I actually want to hear: "What are you listening to?" So welcome to the fifth chapter of the Audio Shakedown, my ongoing quest to answer the unasked question. I've spent a lot of time with these records recently, and what follows is my explanation of why you should as well.

Mudhoney - Vanishing Point - Grouchy, funny, swaggering, veering wildly out of control... It must be a new Mudhoney record, and the world is a better place because it exists. This is a very direct outing with bright, punchy production and no time for much subtlety, which plays to Mudhoney's strengths. Much of the record displays a Stooges-style groove and singer Mark Arm is in fine form throughout. If you need a straight-ahead rock and roll album, look no further.

13th Floor Elevators - Easter Everywhere - Their debut record, The Psychedelic Sounds Of... is more well-known, but the follow-up release Easter Everywhere is the stronger of the two overall, even though there's not a song that reaches the heights of "You're Gonna Miss Me." Roky Erikson and company combine some wild psychedelia with quieter moments and come up with a winner, even doing a swirling cover of Bob Dylan's "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue."

Clutch - Earth Rocker - Clutch are back, and they're revved up even more than usual. Album opener "Earth Rocker" is a paean to worshiping loud guitars and doing it live on stage, which is just a literal retelling of their career, which can now be measured in decades. Their last record was a bit slower and more subdued that one might've expected, but they're running on every last cylinder here; the tempos are quicker and the band is almost jumping out of the speakers. Whatever has Clutch so energized, let's hope they stick with it.

Soul Coughing - Ruby Vroom - Sometimes you just have to go back and hit play on Mike Doughty's first long player of "deep slacker jazz." You have to feel those crisp, mellow beats covered with samples both wacky and orchestral, all topped with Doughty's hyperliterate stream-of-consciousness raps. His is a voice so distinct that you could play thirty 90's records at the same time and still pick him out of the crowd. Songs like "True Dreams of Wichita" show an off-beat sensitivity, and for some premium brain-melting weirdness, give a listen to "Bus to Beelezebub," whose nonsensical lyrics rub shoulders with a looped sample of "Powerhouse," which most people know only as "that cartoon factory music."

Various Artists - Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era - In 1972, Jac Holzman (founder of Elektra Records) and Lenny Kaye (later a guitarist for Patti Smith) put together a double-LP collection of mid-1960's garage rock, which was later expanded to a four-cd set in 1998. The four-disc set is worth it, as it represents a nearly exhaustive account of the garage rock explosion of the 60's and contains the early seeds of punk rock. Sure, with four discs of material, there are some goofy novelty numbers, but the great-to-silly ratio is actually quite admirable in this collection.

Van Morrison - Astral Weeks - Some bands chase down sounds that are so unique that they become a genre unto themselves, like "Primus" and "Bjork." Van Morrison's record Astral Weeks just might qualify for the same recognition at the album level. Any classification you can think up will fall short of describing the music on display in these eight songs. It dips into soul, jazz, folk, and more, all mixed up with a mysterious and plaintive Celtic sensibility. 

AUDIO SHAKEDOWN - Volume 4

This edition of the Audio Shakedown comes to you from the depths of disease, for I have been ill, dear readers. My health lasted longer than anyone I know, but this winter will not relent, and I finally succumbed. Between bouts of delirium, I have managed to listen to some good music and formulate opinions thereupon, which I have laid out for you below at great expense to my aching, fevered brain. Enjoy, and may winter die a quick and agonizing death.

Traindodge - On a Lake of Dead Trees - Traindodge seems to occupy the space where Fugazi and the Deftones overlap. I'll let you read that sentence again before continuing. Barked post-hardcore vocals over cerebral rhythms and atmospheric heaviness. Music nerds will notice this record has a very specific sound that could only have come from the two or three years that started off this century, after rock music disappeared from the mainstream again, but before indie rock's muscles atrophied.

Shiner - The Egg - Their last and finest record, The Egg is where Shiner took everything they'd learned about both accessibility and obfuscation from their three previous releases and bolted it all together into a challenging, satisfying listen. There's a little bit of everything here, big guitar rock, electronic experimentalism, straightforward melodies, and mystifying soundscapes. Difficult to explain but hard to forget, The Egg is a little-known treasure.

KMFDM - Kunst - Look, this is KMFDM's eighteenth album. If you're not already on board, you've missed the boat. This release is, like all their post-reunion albums, a bit uneven and maybe a little overly familiar, but it's always nice to get a dose of their self-referential, less-than-serious take on heavy industrial. KMFDM is nearly as old as I am, and it's hard to imagine living in a world without them.

The Reatards - Teenage Hate - Jay Reatard, man of a million bands, may have gone on to greater notoriety with his later work, but to my mind, it's 1998's Teenage Hate that remains the most satisfying of his efforts. The first thing you notice about it is that it sounds pretty terrible, even for a punk rock record. There are very few rules of music recording and production that this album leaves unbroken, and yet the weird, trashy charm of the record comes through unobscured. If you can learn to accept the awful production quality, it becomes obvious that the wild, passionate punk gems found here just wouldn't be as good without it.

Toadies - Play.Rock.Music. - The Toadies should have been able to ride the success of their two hit singles "Possum Kingdom" and "I Come From The Water" straight into an equally successful second album, but Interscope rejected their follow-up to Rubberneck, and they lost momentum as the alternative boom faded at the end of the millennium. (Sidenote: that rejected follow up has circulated on the internet for years in various forms, and those Interscope suits dropped the ball, as it would've made a fine sophomore album) Nevertheless, the Toadies continued on to release several quality albums on a smaller scale as something of a cult band. The most recent of these is 2012's Play.Rock.Music., which once again proves that we shouldn't have taken our eye off of them.

Soundgarden - King Animal - I've been giving this record a lot of attention lately because I'm seeing Soundgarden live soon, but even if that's not true for you, this is still a record that deserves a lot of attention. Upon hearing of their reunion, I figured Cornell's voice would be the weak point of the deal. I mean, it'd been sixteen years since he'd sung the Soundgarden stuff, and there's a real physiological reason that even Robert Plant doesn't hit those high wailing notes these days. But Cornell pulls it off with aplomb, as does the rest of the band, sounding for all the world like it could still be the late 90's. The distinct sound of Kim Thayil's guitar has been missing in the world for far too long, and it's supremely gratifying to hear that the strange tensions and releases particular to Soundgarden's style of writing are still here in all their glory.

AUDIO SHAKEDOWN - Volume 3

Welcome one and all to the third installment of the Audio Shakedown, where a guy you don't know rambles on about records you might not even care about! This time around I've been stuck in the Nineties, a place I find myself quite often, musically speaking. I've been digging through my archives and listening to some forgotten classics, some oddball treasures, and some enjoyable new tricks by alternative rock's old dogs.

Hum - You'd Prefer an Astronaut and Downward is Heavenward - The very definition of a cult band, Midwestern spacey rock band Hum only released two notable albums, and just about anyone who remembers them loves them. On their earlier release You'd Prefer an Astronaut, you can hear Hum building an entirely different way of looking at the standard alterna-rock idiom, simultaneously chilling the sound with chorus and phaser and warming it with thick, blanketing distortion, while Matt Talbot found a way to inject a very human soul into his deadpan vocals. (Guitar nerd sidebar: For as amazing as the guitar tones are on Hum's albums, their guitar rigs were surprisingly simple. I'll take a few pieces of good gear over a giant complicated setup any day.) As strong as ...Astronaut was, it was on Downward is Heavenward that the Hum method crystallized into a masterful representation of what they were about as a band. Every ingredient in the sound is fine-tuned and plays off of everything else to form something very nearly perfect.

Meat Puppets - Lollipop - The newest release from the reformed Puppets finds them in fine form. Lollipop displays the band moving into new and interesting territories without ever sounding like anyone but the Meat Puppets. The trademarks are all still present, but the band sounds relaxed, like they're enjoying themselves making their own special brand of low-key, fuzzy rock. This is a great record to put on while you lay on your bedroom floor in a sunbeam and stare at the ceiling. (I realize that this is the second appearance by the Meat Puppets in the Shakedown, but I've been listening to them a lot in preparation for the upcoming show I will be attending. The next volume will be Meat Puppets-free, I assure you.)

Primus - Green Naugahyde - This is also a newer release from a beloved 90's institution. You know what you're going to get from Primus, mind-blowing musicianship, whacked-out sounds, and the bizarre humor and insight of Les Claypool, and Primus delivers all of that on Green Naugahyde. It's clear that Claypool brought some weird new tricks from his time away from Primus, and maybe a more meandering, jammy vibe, but if you dug Primus before, there's no reason not to check out this album.

Tad - Inhaler - There was a time in the (very) early 90's when people felt that something was about to happen in Seattle. Their music was getting noticed and it was only a matter of time before one of their noisy, heavy rock bands was going to make it big. At the time, many wondered whether it would be local heroes Tad, or those weird kids from Aberdeen calling themselves Nirvana. Destiny made its choice and Nirvana exploded, leaving Tad Doyle and mates to remain a footnote in rock and roll history, but listen to 1993's Inhaler and see just how good their footnote really is. It's got everything a great grunge album needs; it's catchy and heavy and the production by J. Mascis emphasizes their strengths. A shame that Tad had to find out just how fickle a mistress destiny really is.

Buffalo Tom - Let Me Come Over - Buffalo Tom's third album Let Me Come Over was their first without J. Mascis producing (yeah, he was busy in the 90's), and consequently, the first time they were considered anything other than Dinosaur Jr. clones. This record was a big shift for the band; they turned down the gain on the guitars a bit, introduced a little country twang, and stepped up the emotion in the lyrics and delivery. All the changes paid off, because the record turned out to be their strongest to that point and the standard against which all of their later albums were measured (though some of their later albums do give this one a run for its money quality-wise).

As I wrap up this edition of the Audio Shakedown, I will leave you with a disturbing thought I had while stuck in this 90's rock phase. We are now further away, temporally speaking, from Nirvana's Nevermind than Nevermind was from Led Zeppelin's IV. I find the idea that kids today probably think that Nevermind is as mysteriously historic as I found IV in the 90's a chilling notion.

AUDIO SHAKEDOWN - Volume 2

Buckle up for Volume Two of the by now world-famous (shut up) Audio Shakedown, where I give you a glimpse into what's been pumping through my headphones lately. This installment is a bit of a mixed bag even though my brain is still busy maintaining the delusion that it's summer outside. Nevertheless, open your head, peruse the musical quality below, and let it do stuff to you.


Thulsa Doom - The Seats Are Soft, But The Helmet Is Way Too Tight - Norwegian stoner rock band Thulsa Doom has managed to stand out from the crowd of fuzzed-out retro rockers with the help of some quirky songwriting and excellent vocals from singer Papa Doom, and while they've released three LP's, it's their debut that always jumps to my mind. Maybe it's the nasty, speaker-melting bass tone that does it.


Witchcraft - Legend - It would be easy to label Witchcraft stoner metal as well, and it's near impossible to read a review about Witchcraft without seeing the name Black Sabbath (though it's Pentagram that they more accurately resemble), but while many stoner rock bands give lip service to Seventies sounds, Witchcraft actually takes the "retro" thing to the next level. Brilliant guitar work, a singer who can actually sing, and fascinating production choices make this record, their latest, something of a feast for anyone who enjoys the sounds of hard rock and metal in its primordial age.


Santeria - Year of the Knife - Santeria are incomparable, in that I can think of no one to compare them to. They sound like nothing so much as the deep south itself. Bluesy and soulful, shot through with dirty rock and roll and touches of latin flavor here and there as well. If the linked track even kind of grabs you, definitely check out more. Their stuff is widely varied, musically speaking, but still of a consistent quality. In addition, their singer, Brother Dege Legg, has released solo material consisting mostly of some impressive dobro playing and his amazing voice.


Blackroc - Blackroc - I'm not sure why hip-hop seems to so often eschew live instrumentation in favor of electronic beats, because when it works, it works really well. For some reason I didn't hear about this collaboration between the Black Keys and a number of high profile hip-hop artists until well after it happened, but it does have a certain nocturnal charm to it. In the linked track, "Ain't Nothing Like You," Mos Def displays some singing chops while Jim Jones handles the verses.


New Bomb Turks - Destroy Oh Boy! - Does anyone remember when punk rock made you want to drive really fast and set things on fire and throw them off of buildings? Well I do. I like my punk rock dirty, loud, and filled with mayhem. It should sound like it's doing 200 miles an hour and barely on the rails. And if possible, it should also retain a sense of intelligence as well. That may sound like a tall order, if not downright contradictory, but not for the New Bomb Turks. Clever wordplay, interesting lyrical perspective, and best of all, speedy, filthy hijinks abound here on my favorite of their albums.


Meat Puppets - Too High To Die - A total classic from a long-running, but frequently overlooked band. The Meat Puppets of course began in the 80's, but this 1994 album is perhaps what they're most remembered for. On this record they smooth off some of the weirder edges from their earlier work and boost the fuzz to create something that lies on the edges of grunge, country, and psychedelia, and works better than it probably should. This album contains their best-known song "Backwater," but I've linked the stranger, speedier "We Don't Exist."

AUDIO SHAKEDOWN - Volume 1

Dear readers, I'll be honest with you. I spent the last year writing thought-out, competent reviews for the new albums I found especially noteworthy, and it has burned me out. Plus, only writing about the newest releases left out all the great older albums I was listening to that you might not be aware of. With these factors in mind I'd like to try something new and give you a rapid-fire rundown of what I've been listening to the most lately. I'll tell you a little about each album and provide some links for listening.

I tend to listen to music in themes and genres that sort of phase in and out as my mood dictates, and right now I've been trying to escape the winter doldrums. It's cold and grim outside and I want something different, so I've been feeding my head with music that sounds like sunshine to me. Here's what's been playing in my headphones lately; click the band name to hear a representative track from each:

Golden Void - Golden Void - I vote this album the "Best Record of 1973 That Was Actually Released in 2012." Seriously, everything about this record makes you think of late-stage psychedelia when it was being mixed up with big 70's rock, right down to the warm analog production. Golden Void is actually a supergroup of sorts, being comprised of members of Earthless and Assemble Head In Sunburst Sound, along with assorted other friends. Stellar guitar sounds all over this record and it all meshes together to create a satisfying album with a ton of replay value.

Indian Handcrafts - Civil Disobedience for Losers - Fun stoner rock mixed with a little early 80's hardcore action for maximum enjoyment. Indian Handcrafts is actually a duo, with a drummer and a singer playing a downtuned guitar to cover the bass. They pull out a lot of neat little tricks to fill out the sound, from performance to recording, and it works well, especially the clever but judicious use of the whammy pedal on the guitar.

Samsara Blues Experiment - Long Distance Trip - Sprawling, cosmic, guitar-driven psychedelia. The songs are ten minutes long and only have like eight lines of lyrics. Huge, mindbending solo work is the order of the day here, and they do not disappoint. Within minutes, long ropes of pentatonic scales will fill your room like incense smoke. Lay down, close your eyes, and take it in.

Truckfighters - Mania - I really dug Truckfighters' self-titled debut, but have just now gotten around to hearing their latest, and was surprised to hear the difference. They began as a very enjoyable, if slightly standard, Swedish stoner metal band, but on Mania, they've really added a lot of songwriting twists and melodic structure to their songs that leans toward the proggy/psychedelic. It sounds like they've been working hard, and the results make for a great listen.

Derrick Morgan - Moon Hop 1960-1969 - Jamaican ska and reggae from the 1960's. This 2 CD collection is a classic, and if you enjoy Jamaican music at all, you need to get this. Morgan has a beautiful voice, and his songs in the 60's helped define the musical vocabulary of reggae, ska, and rocksteady.

Toots and the Maytals - Very Best Of (Polygram) - Another legendary reggae/ska group, Toots and the Maytals feature the soulful vocals of frontman Toots Hibbert (who also wins the Awesome Name award). Even if you've never purposely listened to the Maytals, you've still heard their songs somewhere, and most people would recognize some form of their classic song "Pressure Drop," which was featured on the soundtrack to "The Harder They Come" and has been covered by the likes of The Clash, The Oppressed, and The Specials.