Moroni's Top 15 Albums of 2021

 2021 may not have been so great in some respects (we lost Betty White on the last day), but in terms of music, it was a stellar year.  Here are my top picks:

15. Actors "Acts of Worship" - I discovered this band from their very active social media campaign, and I am glad I did.  Neatly packaged with a chic look and sound with awesome videos to boot.  Hailing out of Vancouver, BC, this band blends a danceable mix of darkwave, gothic rock, and post-punk. And it works. Very catchy music, plenty of hooks, and some very '80s sounding new wave grooves. Worth the listen.  My favorite picks are "Love U More" and "Like Suicide".

14. Various Artists "Bills & Aches & Blues (40 Years of 4AD) - My feelings about the prestigious 4AD label are mixed. They signed and produced some of the greatest artists of the last 40 years. It used to be a watermark for quality. Now, they seem to sign just about anybody - not all of them good.

On this album, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the label, they have current artists covering past songs of other 4AD artists. Some of it is excellent - US Girls covering The Birthday Party, Dry Cleaning covering Grimes, Sohn doing a version of "Song to the Siren", Breeders doing His Name Is Alive, and my favorite, Future Islands covering Colourbox. Some of it is annoying like a version of The Breeders' "Cannonball" by Tune-Yards. And some of it is just plain weird like an ambient piano version of Pixies' "Gigantic" by Bing and Ruth.

Whatever the case, it's a fitting tribute to what is arguably the greatest record label of all time.

13. Emma Ruth Rundle "Engine of Hell" - With her blend of folk, gothic rock, and sludge metal, Emma Ruth Rundle is one of my favorite artists of the last decade. She was on my end-of-the-year list for 2020 for her sizzling compliation with metal artists, Thou. For her fifth album, she unplugs and goes acoustic for a haunting and deeply confessional album. This will never be my favorite of her records, but it is still very good and a testament of what a good songwriter she is. The album's strong point is "Citadel" with its acoustic guitar and fiddle - very haunting. Can't wait to see what she does next.

12. Lost Horizons "In Quiet Moments" - In 1997, Cocteau Twins created their own record label, to release their own material - Bella Union. A year later, the band imploded, and creative control of the label fell solely to Simon Raymonde, Cocteau Twins' bassist and keyboardist. Over the course of more than two decades, he signed such prolific acts as Fleet Foxes, Explosions in the Sky, and Beach House.

For this project, Raymonde teams with Richie Thomas from legendary '80s proto-dreampop band Dif Juz to create an understated yet scintillating dreampop masterpiece. As I listened to this album this morning, my wife remarked that it sounded very Cocteau Twins-ish ("Every Beat That Passed"). And yet every song is different - from dark cabaret, '60s-influenced R&B, to subdued pop, because, like This Mortal Coil, every song is a different collaboration from Bella Union's roster of artists. Midlake's Tim Smith, Marissa Nadler, and Karen Peris of Innocence Mission (!!).

The result is a diversified yet dreamy album.

11. A Place To Bury Strangers "Hologram" - A Place To Bury Strangers - The Loudest Band in NYC - is back with a new EP with their trademark brand of psychotic and psychedelic melee of noise, fuzz, distortion, reverb, and feedback. They are the most original shoegaze band out there. This would have scored way higher on my list, except that it is only an EP and not a full album.

The selection down below - "Playing the Part" is one of their mellowest - sounds a bit like The Feelies.

10. Turnstile "GLOW ON" - I've been listening to the new Turnstile album. I'm not new to this band. I have their 2018 sophomore release, but the new album is being mentioned on several AOTY lists, so I decided to give it a listen.

Turnstile is to hardcore punk as Sturgill Simpson is to country music - hardcore punk, yes, but so much more. They blend in so many other different genres that it's hard to classify them - funk, R&B, post-punk, shoegaze, etc. Sometimes they sound like Jane's Addiction, sometimes like The Police. Every song is eclectic and wildly different.

You're either going to love them or hate them. I can't get past a statement my friend said: "Imagine Dragons for hardcore kids". LOL It's funny. because it's true! Someone once referred to them as "dreamcore". I really like it, though.

Not for hardcore purists...

9. Mogwai "As Love Continues" - In the first week of its release, the 10th album from Scottish post-rock pioneers, Mogwai, went #1 on the UK Album Charts. It surprised everyone that a post-rock album, mostly instrumental, would chart that high - surprising even the band. Swirling and expansive, this album is truly cinematic.

"Richie Sacramento" is the main single and standout track, one of the few songs that actually has vocals.

8. Kælan Milka "Undir Köldum Nordurljósum" - Iceland produces the best music, and darkwave trio, Kælan Mikla are no exception. They spent 2019 touring with French blackgaze group, Alcest, even though the bands are wildly different. On the new album, they collaborate on a song, and the result is haunting, although it is the only shoegaze song on here. There are talks of both bands touring in the new year.

Perfect for the Halloween season - dark and spooky. It's blend of synthwave and goth makes it a good choice for those who like Skinny Puppy, Nine Inch Nails, Clan of Xymox, or Drab Majesty.

7. King Woman "Celestial Blues" - Kristina Esfandiari is a diversified artist, involved in many musical projects and genres. From rap (Dalmatian), industrial drone (NIGHTCRWLR), shoegaze (Whirr, Miserable), and doom metal (King Woman). For her second album as King Woman, she goes dark and grinding - like Black Sabbath's little sister. Esfandiari is one of the new generation of female performers of dark and heavy music, along with Emma Ruth Rundle and Chelsea Wolfe. Heavy, sludgy, and doomy, but not quite metal. Dark and sinister, but not quite goth. Ambient and ethereal, but not quite shoegaze. But having qualities of all of these genres. She is so great! She is definitely in my top 10 artists. I can't believe she's not more well known!

6. Lingua Ignota "Sinner Get Ready" - There is certainly no way to describe this album, except to say that it is the most ambitious and artistic musical project in the last 10 years. It's like watching a Broadway musical, except by Bertolt Brecht or David Lynch. Languid, dreamy, nightmarish, disturbing. moving, unsettling. The album documents her love/hate with religion. Operatic and almost classical, this dark album is a masterpiece. She moves seamlessly from classical to goth to industrial. There is no way to classify this album.

It reminds me of the time when a friend tried to introduce me to the music of Diamanda Galas and I wasn't ready for it. This album is purely transcendent.

You may never hear of this artist again, but the level of artistry in this effort is frightening and almost perfect.

5. Slow Crush "Hush" - A journalist recently described shoegaze music as listening to a mermaid fall into a black hole. This description fits the music of Belgian band, Slow Crush, as does their name. They are at once feathery and diaphanous, like lace blowing in the wind, but also soul crushing and heavy. They are one of my favorite new bands of the new wave of shoegaze artists, like in the last 2 years.

I also had a friend describe shoegaze music as "ambient grunge", and there could be no better description for Slow Crush. You are on the verge of being buried under an avalanche of ethereal reverb and fuzz, and you are either dying happy or incredibly sad.

4. Beachy Head "Beachy Head" - During the lockdown, Christian Savill, the guitarist of Slowdive, recorded some rough demos at home of music he wrote. At the soonest opportunity, he got his friends to go into the studio and record with him. Rachel Goswell of Slowdive, Ryan Graveface of Casket Girls, Steve Clarke of The Soft Cavalry, and Matt Duckworth of Flaming Lips. The result was a shoegaze supergroup and an incredible album. Not many good things came out of the Covid lockdown, but this album was one of those.

3. Dinosaur Jr. "Sweep It Into Space" - After 37 years and 12 albums, J. Mascis, Lou Barlow, and Murph - the kings of noise rock - are still cranking out catchy, hard-hitting songs. This entire album rocks, guitar driven and full of hooks. May they be around another 37 years!

There is not a bad song on this album!

2. Deafheaven "Infinite Granite" - Deafheaven helped create the "blackgaze" genre - an unholy mix of black metal, shoegaze, and post-rock. For their newest album, they pulled the plug on the black metal part and went straight shoegaze, their first album with clean vocals. The result is completely heart-crushing, in a good way. Even diehard metal fans, even if they didn't completely agree with the change, thought this record was good.

I'm no stranger to death metal and its shrieked vocals. However, I have always thought that the lead singer's voice is a little much. Imagine the most haunting, diaphanous shoegaze music set to a guy screaming like two bobcats trapped in a trash can. So, the newer clean vocals are a pleasant change to me.

1. Low " Hey What" - I don't get exposed to a lot of hype, because I live off grid in the middle of nowhere. Even at that, I am kind of an indie music connoisseur. It's rare that bands pass under my radar, especially if they have released 13 albums over the course of almost four decades. And yet I had never heard of Low before this album.

Low are a married Mormon couple from Minnesota who make what is termed "slowcore", and yet it is impossible to describe their music. Ambient, abstract, hypnotic, it is amazing to find a group who has been around this long and still making such artistic music. Warning: some of their stroboscopic rhythms made my daughter feel carsick while listening to this in the car.

The fact that they are Mormon is significant to me, especially when several Mormon tropes are recognizable in their lyrics.

I need to explore their back catalog to see if their other albums are as intense. But for now, I can't get past this one.

Happy New Year 2022!

Feel It In My Gut: Belly's First Amazing Album in 23 Years

Belly - now

One winter day in early 1993, I stopped by Graywhale CD on the way home from work, as I was likely to do.  Some people go to bars; I went to the record shops.  As I browsed through the music selection, I listened to the music drifting over the speakers.  I didn't recognize it, but it was sweet and haunting and edgy all at once.  I went up to the record store clerk and asked, "What is this playing?  It sounds kind of like Throwing Muses."

The clerk looked at me like I was stupid, as record store employees are wont to do and said, "This is Belly."

In spite of my wounded pride, I bought their debut CD "Star" in silence.  I was no stranger to the music of Tanya Donelly, after all.  I may have been 23 and married, but I had a musical history.  I had owned "Chains Changed" on vinyl, the first Throwing Muses release on 4AD, at age 17, when I was the only person I knew who had heard their music.  I had seen Throwing Muses open up for New Order in 1989.  New Order pushed buttons; Throwing Muses was three girls and one guy, none of them barely over 5 feet, and they rocked the amphitheater.  I had met Tanya Donelly at Zia Records in Tempe, Arizona earlier that day.

I took "Star" home and gave it a listen with my wife.  Little did I know that this record would become one of my favorite records of all time, but definitely in my Top 10 for the whole decade of the '90s.  It seemed to define the '90s.

Tanya Donelly had always been a powerhouse in Throwing Muses.  Her stepsister, Kristin Hersh, had always written songs that were angry and ironic, eschewing traditional songwriting, while Donelly had written towering pop songs laden with hooks, as in the song "Not Too Soon".  This provided an integral balance to the band.

Belly - then

In 1990, Donelly formed the band The Breeders with Pixies' alumna and fellow New England rocker, Kim Deal.  Their debut release, "Pod", was a masterpiece of simple yet driven pop.  As the story goes, "Pod" was material written for the band by Deal.  The second album was to feature material written by Donelly.  For whatever reason, this did not work out, and Donelly left The Breeders, and the material she had written for the second album became the source for Belly's first album.

"Star" was an instant hit.  Anyone who was alive and paid attention saw that the singles "Feed the Tree" and "Gepetto" got regular airplay on MTV and alternative radio.  But the album - especially in retrospect - was much more than that.  It was dark and unsettling at the same time as it was sweet and saccharine.  Droney guitar riffs were offset by Donelly's Snow White voice, sounding like music that might be written by the creepy twins in "The Shining".  In other words, this album is beautiful, manifested in songs like "Angel", "Dusted", and "Low Red Moon", songs that still get heavy rotation in my collection.

Belly's second effort was a 1995 release called "King".  My wife and I loved it.  At the end of 1995, we moved off-grid, and this was one of the few CDs we took with us.  Not as brooding as "Star", it still contained the same effervescent pop riffs and catchy hooks that the previous album did.  It's still one of our favorite records, songs like "Red", "Silverfish", "Super-Connected", and "Now They'll Sleep" still have deep meaning to us, and some of our kids grew up listening to this music.  I guess not everyone felt the same way about it.  In the epoch of grunge, ironically, Belly was not mainstream enough, and Belly broke up soon after.  Not that my wife and I knew.  We were in our bubble in the desert and heard nothing about that until years later. In the interim, Donelly has been prolific and has released a whole collection of solo material, but that body of work is unfamiliar to me.

With revival of all things '90s, it was high time that Belly come together again - after all, their sound is again the "in sound".  Words can't express how excited I was to find out that a new album was coming.  The first thing I did last Friday morning, when I woke up, was the download the new release, "Dove".  And I have been listening ever since!

First of all, for people who are expecting "Star", don't get your hopes up.  Almost three decades have passed between the first album and the latest album.  It has been 23 years since "King".  With so much time gone by, of course Donelly will have changes as an artist.  She has had a lifetime of experiences since then, and she has always been a very honest artist.  Perhaps that is the strength of this band - they refuse to churn out a rehash of the same material.  Every album is a different beast, and that is a good thing.

"Dove" shows a tempered Donelly, not quite so angst-driven or moody.  The songs here scintillate, showing that she has not diminished as a song-writer.  "Mine" starts off the collection with as many hooks as anything she has ever written.  Other favorites include the infectious "Shiny One", as well as "Human Child" with a celestial bridge that separates this song from the others.  Some of Throwing Muses' strongest points where their occasional forays into country music, and "Artifact" doe's just that with amazing aplomb.  My favorite track is "Army of Clay"with its frantic intensity.  The album finishes off with an acoustic hidden tack called "Starryeyed" which demonstrates how Donelly uses her vocal range to create a wave of nostalgia.  And for a moment, I am swept through the decades since I was 17 years-old and have been on a musical journey with this woman since then.  And I am grateful for the ride.

The twenty-three year wait was worth it.  This whole album will be with me for a long time.  I recommend that you get caught up in this swoon with me as well.

Daughter Makes Dreamy Music Set To Real Lyrics

Daughter

Daughter is one of the newer band to join the ranks of the 4AD label, and, given their atmospheric, moody music, it is easy to see why.  Just like This Mortal Coil and others on the same label, they make sweeping and commanding textures of sounds.  But what sets them apart are the very human lyrics penned by singer, Elena Tonra.  It is a an interesting juxtaposition to combine these almost magical and ethereal tones with lyrics that seem almost mundane.

Take the lyrics to the song "Alone/ With You".  Set to a hypnotic, strobe-like trip hop beat to words like:

"I hate living with you

I should get a dog or something

I hate walking with you

Talking to myself is boring conversation

You and I were once friends

Now you're only an acquaintance"

But that is the genius of this band.  They take otherwordly dream pop and combine them with completely relatable lyrics.

Based out of London, Tonra was a solo performer when she met Swiss musician, Igor Haefeli, and, along with Remi Aguilella, formed the band Daughter.  "Not To Disappear", released earlier this year, is their second effort, and what an effort.  Part of the success of their efforts is that Tonra and Haefeli are able to keep their private relationship separate from their professional careers.  Especially when it comes to Tonra's intensely personal lyrics.  Tonra told the Irish Examiner, "Igor doesn’t question my lyrics. He regards what we do as an art form. He certainly doesn’t try to rewrite my words. I never tell anyone what my songs are about, not even him. I feel they are direct enough, anyway. They aren’t especially obscure"

Not To Disappear

The album starts with "New Ways" that starts with placid tones with Tonra's gentle voice wavering across the landscape, and then it starts adding layer upon layer, like a tide rolling in until the surf is crashing onto the rocks with such intensity.  "Numbers" continues with the chimerical energy, and "Doing the Right Thing" will make you weep.  One of my favorite tracks, it strips down each component to its own element.  A voice set to a lonely synth, a voice set only to a bass guitar.  Separating each part creates a dreamy, gestalten feel to the music.  "How", by contrast, smears all of the instruments together to make a shoegazey, melange of noise.  "No Care" combines a bass guitar with a drum & bass rhythm, and Tonra belts out the lyrics angrily.  "Fossa" starts out singular yet ends in a jumbled swath of noise.

I have always appreciated 4AD for picking music that is outside of the norm, music that has artistic merit rather than commercial value.  This is definitely the case with Daughter.  Their combination of ethereal with real makes them a legitimate choice for new music.  I high recommend this album.  This is some of the most moving and beautiful music that you will ever hear.  I can't wait to see what they do next.

This Mortal Coil's "Dust & Guitars" Makes Life Worth It

This Mortal Coil's "Dust & Guitars"

A couple of years ago, This Mortal Coil released a box set of their three albums, released mostly in the '80s, along with a "greatest hits" type compilation, "Dust & Guitars", taking selections from their library and digitally remastering them in HD.

For those of you who don't know, This Mortal Coil is the pet project of Ivo Watts-Russell, founder of the prestigious British record label, 4AD, and John Fryer.  The project was used to showcase musicians from the label's line-up.  Usually, they did covers of songs from the '60s and '70s that influenced Watts-Russell, as well as original pieces.

It is hard to describe This Mortal Coil, or to place them in a genre.  This is definitely mood music.  The songs are all laced together by samples, orchestra arrangements, and electronica to form a stream of consciousness, dreamy texture and sonic landscapes.

And to listen to this - remastered in HD - divine!  One of my chief complaints about 4AD's early releases are poor production quality.  To listen to these sings enhanced by technology is nothing short of miraculous.  This is the way they were meant to be heard.

My only complaint about this particular collection - these albums were conceptual.  It's really hard to listen to a song on its own without the rest of the pieces that stand with it.  This is one of the reasons that I rarely add TMC songs to my playlists.  I don't like to separate these songs.

The compilation starts with bit of a rarity.  The very first This Mortal Coil release was a cover of Modern English's "Sixteen Days" and "Gathering Dust."  Watts-Russell would frequently cover at least one song from his label's catalog, and Modern English was one of the first bands to sign on 4AD.  For those who remember Modern English as the happy-go-lucky one-hit-wonder that sang "I'll Melt With You" might be surprised at the darkly gothic selection that was reflective of their early music.  This is old school gothic - sung by Elizabeth Fraser and performed by Robin Guthrie, both of Cocteau Twins, with Gordon Sharp of Cindytalk performing background vocals.  All driven by a drum beat a la "Bela Lugosi's Dead" (also an early 4AD release).

Ivo Watts-Russel, founder of 4AD and This Mortal Coil

"Song To the Siren" is also here - arguably one of This Mortal Coil's most famous releases - also with Liz Fraser and Robin Guthrie performing this cover of Tim Buckley's classic, a hint of the future relationship Fraser would have with Buckley's equally talented son, Jeff.

Other selections from "It'll End in Tears" are "Kangaroo" and the title track from that record - both sung by Gordon Sharp and dominated by piano and string arrangements.  The pieces from "Filigree & Shadow" include "Drugs", a Talking Heads cover, a revamped version of "Thais (Bird of Paradise)", and my favorite, "Come Here My Love", a Van Morrison cover, a tidal wave of samples. keyboards, and Allison Limerick's vocals that evoke that dream-like feel of their music that I have come to love.

There is also an unreleased track called "We Never Danced" and surprisingly no selections from their final album, "Blood".  There is, however, "Acid, Bitter, and Sad", taken from the "Lonely Is An Eyesore" compilation.  This song starts out with wind chimes and drums, and fades into a liquid keyboard and Allison Limerick's voice.  Limerick is a regular fixture on all of TMC's albums.

This compilation is a good way to become familiar with This Mortal Coil's music.  Turn down the lights.  Turn on the lava lamp.  Let these sounds wash over you...

Celestial Punks: A Retro Review of Cocteau Twins' "Head Over Heels"

Cocteau Twins in 1983

In late 1986, I got up early one morning to get ready for high school.  A moody teenager, most of my wardrobe consisted of black, and I would use copious amounts of gel and hairspray to make my hair stand on end.  That morning, while I got ready, I put "The Pink Opaque" on the record player.  This was a collection of Cocteau Twin's work from the early '80s.

It was the perfect music to me, at that time.  It was ethereal and magical, marked by Robin Guthrie's layered and textured guitar and Elizabeth Frasier's dulcid voice singing nonsense words.  Their music transcended description.  They weren't really rock, and they weren't really pop.  It was kind of hard to figure out what kind of music they were.  They were in a class all by themselves.

After I finished getting ready, I left the house with my books, and I didn't get very far from the house when I realized that I had left the record player on.  I went back into the house to find my older brother, Tony, squatting in front of the speaker, listening to "Musette And Drums" playing.  I froze.  Tony was a devout metalhead and took occasion to make fun of my musical tastes.

"Musette And Drums" - a selection off of Cocteau Twin's second album, "Head Over Heels" - starts out with the drum machine pounding a heavy waltz.  Guthrie's distorted guitars sway back and forth like a dark ballerina dancing to Frasier's plaintive wails.  During the chorus, Frasier pleads desperately, accented by a low keyboard.  The song finishes with an odd guitar solo - Frasier scratching on his guitar to make the howls of a ghost.

Tony sat squatting in front of the speaker while I was suspended, motionless, awaiting his verdict.  After a moment, he looked at me and said, "Not bad.  They need to clean up their sound a bit."

My heart soared with exultation.  I felt like I was finally vindicated in my love for this band.  A couple of years later, Tony would be just as excited about their fifth studio album, "Blue Bell Knoll".

Tony's description of "Musette And Drums" was accurate.  A beautiful wall of sound with messy production  value.

Back in the day, I owned every single Cocteau Twins release - either on cassette or vinyl.  Now, I own almost every release digitally remastered.  However, "Head Over Heels" was always my least favorite Cocteau Twins album.  I always loved their hardcore gothic on 1982's "Garlands", and I loved their Classical Greek weirdness on 1984's "Treasure".  But you could really tell that they were trying to find their sound on 1983's "Head Over Heels".  It wasn't until recently that I realized that I had absolutely no digital copy of "Musette And Drums".  So I decided to download "Head Over Heels".  Now, it has become one of my favorite Cocteau releases.

By 1983, Cocteau Twins had released one album and a few EPs that were most definitely spooky and gothic, dominated by Will Heggie's heavy bass guitar.  Then he left the band, and, for a while, before they accumulated keyboardist Simon Raymonde, it was just Guthrie and Frasier, left to develop their own sound.  They did a lot of experimentation, using a lot of jazz, even with a saxophone.  At the time, I didn't like it.  To me, it just didn't sound like the Cocteau Twins I was used to.

But listening to it today, it has a dreamy quality and a sense of trying to break out of the bonds of traditional pop music.  The album begins with "When Mama Was Moth", probably the most gothic song on the album.  The drums beat out an uneven rhythm like a heart in cardiac arrest, followed by a keyboard plinking out a mystic music box melody.  Frasier's voice billows over it all until the music suddenly seizes leaving only Frasier to scream, "Mother etching" or "Mother retching."  It's hard to to understand exactly what she is saying, and that is the beauty of it.

The next song is a beautiful number called "Five Ten Fiftyfold" dominated by a Heggie-style bass and saxaphone.  Frasier's vocals, while powerful, seem to be a background instrument like an echo crashing on the mountainside.  "Sugar Hiccup" is a well-known Cocteau song, and it is here that Guthrie is learning to use his guitar to create monstrous landscapes of sound.  Other songs of note are "In Our Angelhood", "In the Gold Dust Rush", and "My Love Paramour".  The album finishes out perfectly with "Musette And Drums".

It has been nice to rediscover this album.  The way I have always viewed Cocteau Twins - they spent the better part of a decade trying to find their sound, pushing into new territories, paving the way for other musicians to imitate.  Then it seems that once they had found themselves, we lost them.  I am praying for a miracle, for my celestial punks to return.

Moroni's Review of The National's "Trouble Will Find Me"

The National

About a month ago, I have never heard of The National.  Never mind that "Trouble Will Find Me" is their sixth studio album.  I was browsing through NME's "500 Greatest Albums of All Time", and The National had two albums on the list.  I noticed that they were a 4AD album, which you may know is my favorite label, home to Cocteau Twins, Dead Can Dance, Clan of Xymox, Pixies, Bon Iver, TV On The Radio, and Iron & Wine.  I had to check it out.  Boy, am I glad that I did.

Like most 4AD bands, this record has an ethereal, atmospheric quality about it.  The guitars and percussion are subdued and tantalyzing, textured frequently with keyboards and strings.  Matt Berninger's voice is rich and deep like Ian Curtis from Joy Division or Andrew Gray from Wolfgang Press.  The songs also have a story-like aspect to them, like Nick Cave's songs.  They also remind me a bit of The Connells or The Airborne Toxic Event.  This album has a pleasant dreamlike and hazy quality to it.  It is already one of my favorites.

The album starts muted with the opening track, "I Should Live in Salt", with an acoustic guitar and soft oboe.  By the time song ends in a dim guitar solo, you are hooked.  "Demons" is one of my favorite tracks, a confession in Berringer's sultry bass-baritone.  "Fireproof", "Sea of Love", "Heavenfaced", and "I Need My Girl" are all haunting melodies and count as the best songs on the record.  "Graceless" is dominated by the bass guitar.

I can't believe it took this band six albums before I finally came late onto the scene and discovered them.  I have been ranting and raving about this album all week on Facebook.  Of course, I think in a matter of weeks, this band will explode onto the scene as they have a song on the new "Hunger Games"  movie.  But you should definitely hop onto the proverbial bandwagon before that happens.  Right now, while you can say you "heard of them back then."

Moroni's Review of Purity Ring's "Shrines"

My grandfather was from Mexico, and his favorite kind of music was a brass music called banda sinaloense. This kind of polka music was loud, brash, and discordant.  My dad told me that Mexican men liked to listen to this music when they are very drunk.  When I listened to it, I could see why.  The music sounded like a drunk man lurching down the street, barely able to keep on his feet, and yet not falling.

What does banda sinaloense have to do with Purity Ring's debut album "Shrines"?

Well, first of all, I will tell you what this band is.  They are an electronic duo from Edmonton, Alberta.  They were signed to the prestigious 4AD label (which included Cocteau Twins and Dead Can Dance, and whom I recently posted about here).

So, this is not a very conventional electronic band.  Their rhythm is very discordant.  There is no beat in the normal sense.  It is staggered and severed is several places.  There is no pulse where you are expecting one, and beats fill what you think will be empty spaces.  This is not the " boom boom boom" of club techno.  But you know what?  It works!

The music is slow and languid, like a slow jam on an acid trip.  (Sometimes it is just a bit plain slow-moving.)  And the same concept flows through every song from start to finish, each song blending into the next, making this a wonderful, dark ambient experiment.  The cement that hold it all together is Megan James' breathy, dreamy vocals.  It took several listens, but I see this album becoming one of my favorites.  Never has trip-hoppy music been so compelling since Mono in the '90s.

I am usually not a "lyric person", but James' lyrics are so stark and vivid and beautiful that you can't help but take note.  It's like poetry.  For instance, this selection from "Obedear":

I came down over the sleeping mountains

Where our white tones plunged

Into the weeping shelter

Tear our skin up out from the bottom

Leaves our ankles bare

Don't just wander back and forth and leave it

Build it into

Pinnacles and shrines

Of some,

Some ghastly predicament in mind

You'll find

Leaves us plastered to a bed of hairs

We'll be all coiled up near the bottom

With my chest, unbare it

Obedear, the sky is low

Gather up its harm and gods

With grateful arms

Obedear, the sky is low

Gather up its harm and gods

With grateful arms

It is hard to pinpoint which songs are my favorite, because they all kind of sound the same.  Songs that stand out are "Fineshrine", "Amenamy", "Obedear", and "Lofticries".  (I know - unusual, yet pleasant song titles.)  My favorite song, by far,  is "Belispeak".  They have also released a single called "Belispeak II", which is essentially a reprisal of the song with rapper Danny Brown.  It's great.

There is nothing mainstream about this album, but it is a jewel.  If you like electronica, and if you like original music, then check this selection out.  It is worth it.

Moroni's Retro-Review of "Lonely Is An Eyesore"

It was 1987, and, in my 17 year-old opinion, the best record label in the universe was 4AD.

This was the label that had given us such great acts in the early '80s as Bauhaus, Modern English, the Birthday Party, and Lydia Lunch.  Today, they continue to amaze with acts such as Iron & Wine, TV On the Radio, Bon Iver, and Purity Ring.

In 1987, it was Cocteau Twins, This Mortal Coil, Dead Can Dance, as well as new acts, the Pixies and Throwing Muses (both out of Boston).

As a promotion of their music, the British label put out a compilation that showcased their best bands.  I think I made a special trip to Tower Records in Tempe, Arizona to buy it.  The LP came in a really nice case complete with a booklet with photographs and articles of each band, produced by 23 Envelope - 4AD's visual department.  I treasured this LP.  They also released the album on VHS, also produced by 23 Envelope, with each video shot in grainy black and white - very artsy.  I no longer have the LP, but I still have the VHS cassette.  I wanted to add it to my collection, and so I decided to download this treasure digitally. Of course, I decided to review it.

Now that many years have passed since I first bought this album (26!), it is easy to see how much influence that Ivo Watts-Russel, the iconoclastic founder of the 4AD label, had over his musicians.  Just like the videos, the music all has common aspects.  This makes for a great concept album, envisioned by each of the different artists.

The first song is a a rowdy tune by Colourbox, an electronic outfit.  The song, "Hot Doggie", has a dance beat and rocking guitar layered beneath a barrage of samples - most of them from movies like "Evil Dead" and "The Last Starfighter".  Colourbox created a hit that same year under the name M/A/R/S called "Pump Up the Volume".  You may have heard of it.  (It was also a 4AD release.)

The second song is "Acid, Bitter, and Sad" by This Mortal Coil - one of my favorite bands of all time.  This Mortal Coil, however, is not really a band.  It is a project concocted by  4AD executives Ivo Watts-Russel and John Fryer, who both serve as musicians.  This Mortal Coil would typically do cover songs from late '60s and early '70s acts like Tim Buckley, and each song would consist of a series of guest musicians, most of them from the 4AD catalog.  They released three albums, and I would highly recommend them to anyone.  "Acid, Bitter, and Sad" is a typical example of This Mortal Coil's music - dreamy and ethereal.  It starts out with wind chimes and soft electronic music with vocals provided by '90s house music artist Alison Limerick, her voice run through an early equivalent of AutoTune.  Then the song build up to an orchestral crescendo.  A very nice song.

Track #3 is  "Cut the Tree" by Wolfgang Press, also one of my favorite '80s bands.  The song is very slow-paced and was always reminiscent of "Wrapped Around Your Finger" by the Police.  Except that the vocals provided by Michael Allen (who sport white dreadlocks in the video) are deep, typical of most gothic bands of this era, and sets the song apart, along with its stark lyrics.

The next song is "Fish" by Throwing Muses, and the title "Lonely is an Eyesore" comes from the lyrics of this Boston quartet.  They were fresh and young at the time they were signed to 4AD, formed by step-sisters Kirstin Hersh and Tanya Donelly (who went on to co-found the Breeders with Pixies' bassist Kim Deal, also a 4AD act.)  I had the chance of meeting and seeing Throwing Muses live in 1989.  They opened up for New Order, and the thing that struck me - this band was fronted by three women that scarcely stood above five feet, and they rocked.  This song - driven by its staccato drum beat and Hersh's wailing vocals - is no different.  The album contains a studio version of this song, but the video is a messier impromptu version of the song that captures some of their live energy.

This is followed by "Frontier" by Dead Can Dance.  Many may not know that this legendary set of musicians started out in the punk communes of Melbourne, Australia in the late '70s.  They would assemble and make music on whatever implement they could find - pots or pans.  On their self-titled debut album released in 1984, Dead Can Dance released a studio version of this song.  But on this compilation, it's the version of this song from their demo, which was made in one take with Lisa Gerrard making up her nonsensical lyrics on the spot.  The interesting thing about this song - the instrumentation consists of them banging on metal drums filled with water, true to their roots.

Cocteau Twins - anyone who know me knows that this band (whom I was fortunate to see live in 1994, shortly before their breakup) is one of my favorite bands.  This is a band that has gone through many phases - from spooky gothic in the early '80s, to the ancient Greek of "Treasure" to the liquidy chimes of "Victorialand".  This song - "Crushed" - was from their "Love's Easy Tears" phase.  It is scintillating jangle pop.  Liz Fraser's vocals are resplendent.  The best description that I have ever heard of Robin Guthrie's guitars is "feather-light guitars that sound like anything but guitars".  Their music is so unique and has always withstood classification.  This song is a jeweel.

Dij Juz is a band that I still know little about, but I always enjoyed their song "No Motion", which is an instrumental that seems to have strong jazz roots.  A guitar driven song, it starts out with a strong bass line and a watery guitar, and they it splashes into its climax.

Clan of Xymox was one of my favorite bands.  Their first few albums still are favorites of mine.  I used to describe them to people in the '80s as "dance goth".  Eventually, they became a parody of the gothic image people have of them.  I look at their live videos now and laugh at the black lace and poofy hair.  But at their core, they were really good songwriters, especially on this catchy tune "Muscoviet Mosquito".  At the time, it was rare to combine acoustic guitar with electronic dance music, but that was Xymox's signature.  The infectious rhythm is carried by Anke Wolbert's rapid fire guitar strumming, and Ronny Moorings wailing vocals.  In fact, now that I think of it, I only liked Xymox as long as Anke Wolbert and Pieter Nooten were involved.  Once they left, I lost interest.

This compilation is completed with "The Protagonist" by Dead Can Dance.  At the time, DCD always stated that they wished to write soundtracks, and, since then, their music has graced several soundtracks (Heat, The Myst, ect.), and Lisa Gerrard has gone on to score several films (Gladiator, Whale Rider, etc.)  This piece feels like it could be from a movie - grandiose and epic.  It is an instrumental complete with a full orchestra.  The brass section is particularly moving, along with an excellent oboe solo halfway through the song.  The song ends with a crashing finale, and diminishes away with chimes.

This album is a must-have for aficianados of 4AD's music, and it is a good intro to those curious about the artsy side of music in the '80s.

Moroni's Retro-Review of Pixies' "Doolittle"

Ever since I started this, I had it in mind that I would review older albums that are important to me.  Now that I am sitting at home, convalescing from ankle surgery, now is as good a time as any.

The first thing I should say about the Pixies' sophomore album, "Doolittle", is that, to me, it is the greatest American rock album ever made.

It came out in 1989, and it was the perfect soundtrack for what was the funnest year of my life.  I was  19, had a job, had a car, had some cash in my pocket.  I was taking college classes, but not really serious.  My nights were full of partying, nightclubs, weekend trips to places like Sedona or Yuma.  And "Doolittle" was always in my tape deck.

The first time I heard of the Pixies was in a record shop in Austin, Texas in 1987.  I picked up a copy of their EP, "Come On, Pilgrim".  It was released by prestigious record label, 4AD.  So I had high expectations.  I expected the dreamy sound of other 4AD label mates, like Cocteau Twins, Dead Can Dance, or Clan of Xymox.  Instead, it was loud and rude, a cacophony of noise.  I was a little taken aback by it.  So much so that when their first LP, "Surfer Rosa" came out, I ignored it.  It wasn't until later that I got into it.

When "Doolittle" came out in 1989, I decided to give it a chance, because of a review that I read.  Lydia Lunch, the punk queen, said that the Pixies were the nerdiest punk music she had ever listened to.  I decided to give them another shot.  I'm glad I did.

The Pixies emerged from Boston in the mid 1980s in a small movement of alternative music that many were calling the "Boston Sound" and included Throwing Muses.  They were marked Kim Deal's strong basslines, discordant guitars by Joey Santiago (whom I seriously regard as one of Rock's best guitarists), David Lovering's infectious drumbeats, and Black Francis's screeching vocals and bizarre lyrics, with Kim Deal's soct background vocals.

The Pixies were said to have created the progressive sound of soft verses and explosive choruses that seemed to dominate much of the '90s.  Kurt Cobain once said that - when he wrote "Smells Like Teen Spirit" - that he was trying to rip off the Pixies.  In fact, their sound holds up rather well today, even 24 years later.  It is also said that not many people bought Pixies' albums, but everyone that did started a band.  They have influenced many bands - Pavement, Weezer, the Strokes, Ok Go, etc.  "Kissing Families" by Silversun Pickups sounds like it could be a Pixies' song.  Even Bono has said that the Pixies were America's best rock band.

So how does the greatest American rock album start?

With a sweet little pop jangle called "Debaser".  But as soon as the lyrics start, Black Francis is screaming about watching a surrealist film by Salvador Dali and Luis Bunel called "Un chien andalou".  Francis is screaming lyrics like, "Girl so groovy" and "Slicing up eyeballs."  By the time you hear the lyrics, you know that this isn't just some pop album.

The second song is "Tame".  It starts with a catchy beat and a heavy bass melody.  Francis starts whispering lyrics like, "Hips like Cinderella."  By the time you get the chorus, Francis is screaming, "Tame!" and the guitars explode like fireworks on the 4th of July.  The song ends with a very odd harmony of Francis and Deal gasping together.

"Wave of Mutilation" is a very catchy song, typical of the Boston Sound.  It contains a common theme of nautical terms and a concern for the environment that seems prevalent on this album.

I have tried to introduce Pixies to many people.  Sometimes I fail to get people to appreciate them like I do.  When I played "I Bleed" to my wife Martha, she could not get past the out-of-tune singing of Francis.  Never mind that it is deliberate.  Never mind that it is ironic.  Never mind that Satiago's rhythm guitar is genius in this song.  It's discordant.  Which is why I like it.

However, Martha does like the Sixties vibe of the mellow "Here Comes Your Man".  Everyone does.  I guess this is the song people think of when they think of the Pixies.  This, or the other single "Monkey Gone to Heaven".

However I think of the jazzy cabaret of "Mr. Grieves",  the bone-breaking punk of "Crackity Jones", the spaghetti Western of "Silver", the bad Spanish of "No. 13", or the wistful screaming of "Hey".  The album finishes out with the insistent jamming of "Gouge Away".

In other words, this album is perfect.  Every song is good, and, for 24 years, I have listened to this album and never got sick of it.  Not once.

In their heydey, Pixies' played in clubs.  Since they reunited, they play to sold-out stadiums, a testament to their influence.

So, if you have never heard the greatest rock album ever made, you are missing out and should check it out.