The Rice Thresher, Vol. 95, No. 16, Ed. 1 Friday, January 18, 2008 Page: 26 of 28
twenty eight pages : ill. ; page 19 x 15 in.View a full description of this newspaper.
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RICE RADIO FOLIO
ALBUM REVIEWS
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SPRING 2008
Artist: Various Artists
Title: Black Mirror: Reflections in Global Musics
1918-1955
Label: Dust to Digital
By Nick Schlossman
This is a 24-track album of musical snapshots from over 20
nations. Each track has been pulled from crumbling 78 RPM
records produced between 1918 and 1955 (now an obsolete
format, replaced by 45 and 33.3 RPM vinyl) and cleaned to a sparkle.
Music store owner, musician, and writer Ian Nagoski takes you by the hand to visit
some of his favorite sounds from around the world, from intense Serbian nationalist epic
poetry to droning, otherworldly Buddhist prayer, to upbeat, pre-independence Cameroo-
nian rumba. Only a small handful of the tracks have been re-released since their original
pressings to vinyl in the first half of the 20th century, making for an eclectic collection
of rarities and exotica.
On the album you will find one of the first commercial recordings of gamelan music
(while the original recording flopped in the 1920s, gamelan has gone on to become a
"world music" cliche), as well as a very strange and wonderful portion of Chinese opera
and a 10-year-old Scandinavian boy singing.
The album does not have an organizing idea or generic, targeted sound like the
Putumayo World compilations you find in airport gift shops and finer grocery stores. It
is an all too brief foray into unknown world music, with Nagoski there to point out his
favorites.
The liner notes are invaluable and attempt to situate each song in terms of its com-
positional background, and why it was recorded. The album also provides a glance at
the first several decades of an infant but growing recording industry.
Listeners will be excited by how difficult it is to pinpoint what part of the world each
song comes from without checking the track listing, and many share a peculiarly mys-
terious, haunting quality. It is indeed a black mirror, a murky, distorted reflection of a
bygone world, the influences behind much of the music untraceable.
The album is conveniently available, tax exempt, for $15 from Dust to Digital's website.
It comes highly recommended.
Artist: James Blackshaw
Title: The Cloud of Unknowing
Label: Tompkins Square
By Sam Barrett
At a time when contemporary artists use a lot to say very
little, James Blackshaw's The Cloud of Unknowing is infinitely
refreshing: armed almost solely with a 12-string acoustic guitar,
he crafts elegant musical landscapes that even some of the
most ornate instrumentation couldn't hope to capture—all at
the tender age of 25. Yet the album is never intimidating or overwhelming for the casual
listener; it finds a perfect balance between experimentation and accessibility that it
maintains throughout.
The four major tracks on The Cloud of Unknowing share the same narrative structure.
First, Blackshaw introduces a skillfully articulated idea, and then—through absolutely
frantic finger picking —mutates it into its new but altogether fitting conclusion. This
transformation is fascinating to hear; literally thousands of distinct notes barrage the
listener's ear as the track revises itself. These highly detailed lines never lose focus,
however; there is clear purpose to the way Blackshaw plays.
Because the album is so sparse, the added glockenspiel and violin on "Running to
the Ghost" provide unexpected counterweight to the guitar's intricate melody. Yet they
are never out of place; they merely provide emphasis for the song's relentless progres-
sion. Later, on the album's 15-plus-minute closer "Stained Glass Window," Blackshaw's
picking is in its freest and most contemplative form, meandering until it finally takes
shape and moves resolutely toward its stunning conclusion. Just as the track seems to
be climaxing, dissonance sets in, and the listener is brought back down from perhaps
the record's most serene moment.
It is these moments that stand as a testament to how powerful Blackshaw's new
album really is. The fact that it is composed on a traditionally limited medium is of no
importance—the album is a unique and wholly engaging listening experience.
Artist: The 1900s
Title: Cold & Kind
Label: Parasol
By Rose Cahalan
"The 1960s" might be a more fitting name for this seven-
piece Chicago band, because its utterly infectious debut
Cold & Kind is seasoned with an ample dose of gentle '60s
psych-pop —think of a slightly less corny, more substantial
Fleetwood Mac with a touch of Belle & Sebastian silliness. The opening track "No Delay"
builds nicely, albeit a bit predictably, from a simple piano line into a lush mix of vocals and
strings, but the album really starts to shine with "Georgia," a shuffling, absurdly catchy
little number that foregrounds The 1900s' greatest strength: incredible vocal harmonies.
The almost choral blend of Caroline Donovan's reedy soprano, Jeanine O'Toole's bluesy
alto, and Edward Anderson's rough-around-the-edges rasp is so good that it'll send a
shiver down your spine. The rest of the album (with the exception of the random 50-
second woodwind interlude "When We Lay Down") consistently delivers upbeat melodies
that are always poppy without getting too sweet.
Some might file this lighthearted band away under that pleasant but not terribly inter-
esting category of "twee" and write it off as innocuous hipster fluff. But there's a subtlety
here that would be easy to miss: the weird tension between bright, jangly music and
darker lyrics. In the title track, which defies characterization by interweaving touches of
country and folk with standard driving guitars, O'Toole reveals that she is "cold and kind
and filled with hate," but she sounds so darn happy about it. It's the same story with "City
Water," which contrasts downright angsty lyrics with lots of plucky arpeggios. Still, I'm
impressed by the way the album as a whole manages to be so extremely orchestrated
and lush (lots of tambourine, violin, and gorgeous interplays between shifting basslines
and vocals) without overindulging. "Two Ways," a great folksy track that melds rollick-
ing fun with wistful yearning a la Iron & Wine (whom The 1900s has opened for on tour),
exemplifies this fine balance.
Cold & Kind proves that The 1900s has two crucial ingredients for an even better
sophomore album: a signature sound that blends '60s pop and folk with slightly bluesy
harmonies, and an ability to craft songs that are just plain catchy. With their next effort
they'll either further refine their sound by adding even more sonic layers, or sink into
that dangerous territory of glossy overproduction by burying genuine emotion under a
saccharine veneer of a bland commercialized "indie" sound. I can only hope they choose
the former path. Overall, this is a nice little secret of an album, so check it out.
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Artist: Little Brother
Title: Get Back
Label: ABB
By Devin Naquin
Unfortunately, many deserving rappers get glossed over
in both the mainstream rap and indie hip-hop circuits. These
artists get ignored in "the game" because they don't have the
publicity backing of Interscope or Jive, and they get passed on
by the indie hip-hop elite because they aren't "conscientious"
enough in their verses.
Little Brother is one of those perennially forgotten. Since the inception of the group
by rappers Phonte and Rapper Big Pooh and producer 9th Wonder in North Carolina
in 2001, Little Brother has run the gamut of the small-town hip-hop crew. Their first full
length album The Listening released in 2003 was a surprise underground sensation but
went relatively unnoticed until Jay-Z enlisted 9th Wonder to produce "Threat" on The
Black Album. Jay-Z's notoriety and a subsequent national tour with Oakland hip-hop crew
Hieroglyphics pushed Little Brother to ink a major label deal with Atlantic. The group's
sophomore effort The Minstrel Show released in 2005 reaped the rewards of the Atlantic
promotions behemoth with both critical acclaim and a glimpse on the Billboard charts.
However, the waters since then have been murky.
Released October 23 2007, Little Brother's third album Get Back is the result of several
drastic changes. The group has split with 9th Wonder, thereby pulling in various known
and unknown producers including lllmind, Khrysis, and Hi-Tek for the album. However,
there remains one track produced by 9th Wonder—"Breakin' My Heart", the shining star
track of the album featuring the self-proclaimed "best rapper alive" Lil Wayne. As if a
change in personnel weren't enough, Little Brother has also opted to go independent
on this release and bid farewell to Atlantic. Likewise, any headway Atlantic was making
in pushing the group onto mainstream media has lost momentum, leaving the group to
remain relatively unknown.
Get Back then is an attempt at answering the fundamental question of groups like Little
Brother: Who are we rapping for and why? With popular rap culture and the independent
art chic so diametrically opposed, an artist is forced to choose sides, but what do you
do when your work lies somewhere in between? After a stint at testing the mainstream
waters, Little Brother is finally trying to answer this question. In "Can't Win For Losing",
Phonte summarizes the group's thoughts and ultimately comes to the conclusion that
"now I'm back on my shit/'Cause me and my team gon' make do what it do/had a long
hard talk with my nigga Jazzy Jeff/He said, 'Fuck 'em 'te, do it for you!"' This realization
sets the stage for the rest of Get Back—a manifesto for the new midstream hip-hop
existential crisis.
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Artist: Fatal Flying Guilloteens
Title: Quantum Fucking
Label: French Kiss
By Ian Wells
Eleven years after starting as a one-off gag act, the Fatal
Flying Guilloteens have been featured in Vice, Pitchfork, and
even Spin, cementing them as the kings of Houston's under-
estimated punk demographic. Their third full-length, released
on French Kiss (Les Savy Fav. Thunderbirds are Now!), is their
most polished to date (perhaps cleanly recorded is a better way to say it), absent of the
fuzz of their previous albums but still just as dangerous and raw as their infamous live
shows. Each track is a riot, driven not so much by the drums as the screaming, grinding
guitars —this isn't power-chord punk; each song is all over the fretboard. The Guilloteens
(with Something Fierce, and in the vein of Pain Teens and Sad Pygmy) are keeping gut-
ter-punk alive in this city. Highly recommended.
Artist: Noiseshaper
Title: Real to Reel
Label: Miracle Sounds
By Scottie McDonald
Noiseshaper's Real to Reel is by far Rice Radio Reggae's
2007 album of the year. Real to Reel has the feel of a traditional
Dub disc, yet one that is sprinkled throughout with flavorful
vocals —all of the 16 tracks feature electro Dub-style mixes,
and most include guest singer, sing-jay or deejay vocals.
A number of the tracks are re-mixes from previously-released Noiseshaper albums
and, while the original mix might be considered preferable, having all these tracks on
one CD strengthens its content. The two 'non-Noiseshaper' tracks, the opening Sly &
Robbie track featuring Beans & Hawkman's vocals (remixed by Noiseshaper, of course)
and a remix which follows of Ari Up's "Me Done" from her Dread More Den Dead album,
are fun listens also done well.
Real to Reel is the debut release for Miracle Sounds (.com), the US extension of the
astonishing EU (predominantly Dub) label, Echo Beach. Readers can hear excerpts from
Noiseshaper CDs at www.noiseshaper.net. Real to Reel continues its rotation on Rice
Radio Reggae Wednesday afternoons, 5:00 to 7:00 p.m., where we spin eclectic mixes
that underscore the multifaceted nature of reggae. Advance requests can be emailed
to reggae@ktru.org or anytime via 'e-quest' at www.ktru.org.
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Whitfield, Stephen. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 95, No. 16, Ed. 1 Friday, January 18, 2008, newspaper, January 18, 2008; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth443186/m1/26/: accessed June 22, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.