May 25, 2006

Zombi Surface To Air [4/5] While there’s good reason to distrust hyperbole, sometimes nothing else works: There is no other band on the planet right now that sounds like Zombi. Thirty-some odd years ago–which is around the time this Chicago/Pittsburgh duo’s synthesizer tone first came into vogue–there was Tangerine Dream; and, if you’re a fan...

Hank Williams III Straight To Hell [2/5] Hank Williams III, who divides his time between honky-tonkin’ and thrashing with Superjoint Ritual, hasn’t put out a country record in three years. It’s too bad he’s only written three genuinely good songs in the interval: “The Pills I Took,” “My Drinkin’ Problem” and “Angel Of Sin.” The...

The Streets The Hardest Way To Make An Easy Living [4/5] Thanks to sublime storytelling and unironic sentimentality, the Streets’ sophomore album, A Grand Don’t Come For Free, was a star-making record for idiosyncratic British MC Mike Skinner, and this after-party, a ridiculously candid study of decadence and regret, is a jazz, too. “This time...

Spank Rock YoYoYoYoYo [4/5] You’ll be reading a lot about Spank Rock in the style bibles and hipster rags–and probably even in highbrow publications like The Wire. And while that’s a remarkable feat for any new artist tipped for Next Big Thingdom, it’s also indicative of Spank Rock’s rare ability to mesh both mainstream rap’s...

Sao Paulo Underground Sauna: Um, Dois, Tres [4/5] Post-rock/avant-jazz dynamo Rob Mazurek has left Chicago’s febrile music scene for Brazil, but he’s not slowed his prodigious creative output. Following Chicago Underground Duo’s riveting, Morricone-on-downers CD In Praise Of Shadows and Mandarin Movie’s mind-blowing noise-jazz bomb, he and percussionist/electronics specialist Mauricio Takara drop their gripping debut...

Mono You Are There [5/5] Despite the relative success of bands like Mogwai and Pelican, there’s still a certain stigma attached to instrumental music–and with good reason. While often technically impressive, many bands have trouble keeping listeners engaged for an album’s length without having a narrator to guide them along, though there are exceptions–among the...

Mr. Nogatco AKA Kool Keith Nogatco Rd. [4/5] In most cases, rap legends either disappear from the planet or try to change their sound to fit the modern landscape. Kool Keith manages to escape both situations. He’s still as groundbreaking today as he was in Ultramagnetic MCs, Dr. Octagon or any of his various other...

Year Future First World Fever [4/5] What Year Future frontman Sonny Kay lacks in vocal prowess–his high-pitched, tonally kamikaze yell is an acquired taste–he makes up for in persistence; and while internal tension may have killed Kay’s seminal proto-screamo bands Angel Hair and the VSS, it seems to be the life’s blood of his current...

U.S. Bombs We Are The Problem [4/5] Not only are U.S. Bombs–especially frontman Duane Peters, who also heads up the equally rad Duane Peters Gunfight and Die Hunns–keeping “real” punk alive simply by existing; they’re consistently releasing albums that are quality from front to back. And, barring the unsavory “Just Like You,” We Are The...