Local CD Reviews
Issue 231 / March 2008 More from this Issue
Accidente
Exotic Payday
Exigent
Street: 2.23
Accidente = The Melvins + FoR + The Fall (for wry nonchalance)
Exotic Payday sounds like a moon-shined Paul Bunyan careening around the lumberyard with a hatchet recently sharpened on the ol' whetstone-in other words, heavy, ungainly and dangerous. Is it wrong for me to think Mr. Peter Makowski is just cuter than ever as he gargles, spits, retches, spews rabies-laden saliva and shreds his throat into Austin pork barbecue to get across his tongue-in-cheek, sarcastic, red-hot-burning angst? Guitars sound like jagged peaks and valleys on the bar graph of a company in constant, alarming flux. Drums'll crush your skull in, scrape out your brain and eat corn chowder out of the bone bowl that's left. Lyrical approach is about as cleverly cryptic and primal as pornography for the blind. They're mathy, sure, but they're also smoking horse dung in the back of the geometry room in full view of the teacher. (Burt's: 02.23) Rebecca Vernon
Aye Aye
Saint Delay and the Golden God
A. Star
Street: 01.19
Aye Aye = Early Beck + Navigator + Mushman
Salt Lake has been overrun lately by blues-influenced, mostly acoustic musicians-a visit to any coffee shop on gallery stroll will confirm this. It makes it that much more refreshing to find someone who experiments with the genre and successfully turns it on its ear. Aye Aye does just exactly this. Playing slightly twisted and bluesy guitar-based songs with an almost flamenco twang, the band (mostly Andrew Alba) work through eleven stellar songs in just under 45 minutes. Sometimes the tracks are reminiscent of the more unpolished folk style present on the earliest Beck recordings, but for the most part Aye Aye goes off in their own direction. And while not every listener will revel in the eclectic mix of odd instruments and percussion, the end result is some of the most sincere psych-folk being produced locally. Another solid release on Utah-based A. Star Recordings, the same people who brought you Hew Mun, Stag Hare and The Tenants of Balthazar's Castle. James Bennett
The Black Hens
Albuquerque
BearTalk
Street: 1.08
The Black Hens = Band of Annuals + the byrds + Rilo Kiley on Lunesta
The Black Hens started as a fluke; a thrown together project birthed from a one-off jam session with SLC folk powerhouses: Glade, David Williams, Band of Annuals members jeremi Hanson and Brent Dreiling while in you guessed it, Albuquerque. Over the course of three long days, The Black Hens officially formed, played a gig at Launch Pad and recorded their debut release with the help of New Mexico friends, Jeffrey Richards (Hazeldine, Vic Chesnutt, Nels Andrews,Neutral Milk Hotel) & Chris Kitchen (Brightcarvers). Together they create a gentle (yet rockin'), feel-good sound just twangy enough to add the "-country" after "alt." The buttery male/female backup harmonies on all six tracks are contagious. Fans of David Williams' solo work will be pleased to hear an alternate version of "Summer" included on this release. (nobrow: 03.18) Sasha Kent
Knifeshow
Here Until It's Gone
Knifeshow
Street: 03.11
Knifeshow = cool indie ambient rock
I was pleasantly surprised when I popped in Knifeshow's blue sounding album Here Until It's Gone. The first thing that caught my attention was Brent Anderson's falsetto vocals. His voice sounds like a cross between Jeff Buckley and Muse front man Matthew Bellamy. Maybe those two are secretly his parents and he just doesn't know yet. The instrumentation on the album is captivating especially on track five "Not Quite Cancer". Knifeshow is haunting like if the band Elliott were to sneak into your room and watch you sleep. This album reminds me a lot of Radiohead's The Bends but more depressing. Maybe if these guys stay together they can make a bunch of weird electronic concept albums like Radiohead then totally screw all the record labels and put their music out for free. Check these guys out if you're down with listening to moody, dynamic and atmospheric music. Jon Robertson
Exotic Payday
Exigent
Street: 2.23
Accidente = The Melvins + FoR + The Fall (for wry nonchalance)
Exotic Payday sounds like a moon-shined Paul Bunyan careening around the lumberyard with a hatchet recently sharpened on the ol' whetstone-in other words, heavy, ungainly and dangerous. Is it wrong for me to think Mr. Peter Makowski is just cuter than ever as he gargles, spits, retches, spews rabies-laden saliva and shreds his throat into Austin pork barbecue to get across his tongue-in-cheek, sarcastic, red-hot-burning angst? Guitars sound like jagged peaks and valleys on the bar graph of a company in constant, alarming flux. Drums'll crush your skull in, scrape out your brain and eat corn chowder out of the bone bowl that's left. Lyrical approach is about as cleverly cryptic and primal as pornography for the blind. They're mathy, sure, but they're also smoking horse dung in the back of the geometry room in full view of the teacher. (Burt's: 02.23) Rebecca Vernon
Aye Aye
Saint Delay and the Golden God
A. Star
Street: 01.19
Aye Aye = Early Beck + Navigator + Mushman
Salt Lake has been overrun lately by blues-influenced, mostly acoustic musicians-a visit to any coffee shop on gallery stroll will confirm this. It makes it that much more refreshing to find someone who experiments with the genre and successfully turns it on its ear. Aye Aye does just exactly this. Playing slightly twisted and bluesy guitar-based songs with an almost flamenco twang, the band (mostly Andrew Alba) work through eleven stellar songs in just under 45 minutes. Sometimes the tracks are reminiscent of the more unpolished folk style present on the earliest Beck recordings, but for the most part Aye Aye goes off in their own direction. And while not every listener will revel in the eclectic mix of odd instruments and percussion, the end result is some of the most sincere psych-folk being produced locally. Another solid release on Utah-based A. Star Recordings, the same people who brought you Hew Mun, Stag Hare and The Tenants of Balthazar's Castle. James Bennett
The Black Hens
Albuquerque
BearTalk
Street: 1.08
The Black Hens = Band of Annuals + the byrds + Rilo Kiley on Lunesta
The Black Hens started as a fluke; a thrown together project birthed from a one-off jam session with SLC folk powerhouses: Glade, David Williams, Band of Annuals members jeremi Hanson and Brent Dreiling while in you guessed it, Albuquerque. Over the course of three long days, The Black Hens officially formed, played a gig at Launch Pad and recorded their debut release with the help of New Mexico friends, Jeffrey Richards (Hazeldine, Vic Chesnutt, Nels Andrews,Neutral Milk Hotel) & Chris Kitchen (Brightcarvers). Together they create a gentle (yet rockin'), feel-good sound just twangy enough to add the "-country" after "alt." The buttery male/female backup harmonies on all six tracks are contagious. Fans of David Williams' solo work will be pleased to hear an alternate version of "Summer" included on this release. (nobrow: 03.18) Sasha Kent
Knifeshow
Here Until It's Gone
Knifeshow
Street: 03.11
Knifeshow = cool indie ambient rock
I was pleasantly surprised when I popped in Knifeshow's blue sounding album Here Until It's Gone. The first thing that caught my attention was Brent Anderson's falsetto vocals. His voice sounds like a cross between Jeff Buckley and Muse front man Matthew Bellamy. Maybe those two are secretly his parents and he just doesn't know yet. The instrumentation on the album is captivating especially on track five "Not Quite Cancer". Knifeshow is haunting like if the band Elliott were to sneak into your room and watch you sleep. This album reminds me a lot of Radiohead's The Bends but more depressing. Maybe if these guys stay together they can make a bunch of weird electronic concept albums like Radiohead then totally screw all the record labels and put their music out for free. Check these guys out if you're down with listening to moody, dynamic and atmospheric music. Jon Robertson
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