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Joan of Arc: Flowers<\/i>\nPolyvinyl Records, 2009<\/b><\/p>\n
Joan of Arc: Flowers<\/i>
\nPolyvinyl Records, 2009<\/b><\/p>\n
Legendary Chicago scenesters, Joan of Arc, have just released Flowers, their latest CD. Amazingly it is another brilliant, innovative and unique (which goes without saying) album. <\/p>\n
In 2007 JOA put out Boo! Human an equally great CD that they had no trouble following-up. That album, Boo! Human, was chock full of what seems like contrived, well-thought out, wry songs, but in reality Tim and company, the revolving door that is Joan of Arc and probably one of the things that has kept at least the name alive all this time, for Joan of Arc has released a LOT of CDs. <\/p>\n
In the incarnation for Flowers, Joan of Arc, this time around, consists of frontman and songwriter Tim Kinsella as well as Cale Parks, Sam Zurick and Tim\u2019s brother Mike, aka Owen, playing drums on at least many of the tunes and doing a damn good job of it too. <\/p>\n
This new release, Flowers, has been noted in some areas as being a little more coherent than its predecessor, Boo! Human, but to anyone who has heard some of their past, more experimental recordings such as Dick Cheney, Joan of Arc & Mark Twain, The Intelligent Design of Joan of Arc and the studio album (it\u2019s not \u201clive\u201d): Live in Chicago: 1999, which Flowers seems to drift back towards since the more \u201cstructured\u201d Boo! Human, in 2007, which, while still very unique and not at all following any formula but what happened to be in Tim\u2019s head, which can vary wildly. <\/p>\n
Yes, Flowers has a more experimental feel and a slowed down pace as well, that departs from their previous disc. Nonetheless, there are great songs on this album, in fact, it\u2019s another JOA CD that is perfect for listening to from beginning to end, never getting tired or stale. The same goes for the solo work of both Owen and Cale Parks, who have both had some excellent solo albums that they did completely on their own, Owen, in his boyhood bedroom. <\/p>\n
Songs that stick out, as far as being more \u201cstructured\u201d, hence more easy to get in your head, are, for one, the super-catchy \u201cExplain Yourselves Part 2\u201d, the opening cut, mellow and performed with only singing and synthesizer, \u201cFogbow\u201d, the penultimate song, \u201cLife Sentence\/Twisted Ladder\u201d and the closing cut, \u201cThe Sun Rose\u201d, which, if you listen closely, is an acoustic guitar solo that does some sly finger-picking, playing variations on the theme of the opening cut, the aforementioned \u201cFogbow\u201d, which was exclusively done with synth. From beginning to end you discover lots of diverse ways to express oneself and some damn catchy hooks! <\/p>\n
– KM<\/p>\n
::: <\/p>\n
Trespassers William: The Natural Order of Things<\/i> (EP)
\nGizeh Records<\/b> – release date: 6\/08\/09<\/p>\n
Relatively new as a duo, Trespassers William have just released their second CD, this one an EP, entitled The Natural Order of Things, the follow-up to their debut, Different Stars, which was released on Bella Union Records, which makes The Natural Order of Things their debut for Gizeh, an indie label, based in Leeds, England, UK. <\/p>\n
If there is any flaw one can point to about this CD it\u2019s that it is too short! It only has five songs on it, leaving one wanting more when it\u2019s over. <\/p>\n
The music is a warm, glowing balm with bold beats: bare boned, white knuckle drumming, keeping a perfect beat as well as providing an anchor, a center of gravity. Over the primitive drumming is everything from sitars to synths, guitars, bass, etc, but mostly it is the voice of Anna-Lynne Williams; not in an overwhelming, loud way but because the mixer turned up her microphone louder, bringing her vocals into the forefront, becoming part of the music, not just accompanying instruments. <\/p>\n
Anna-Lynne\u2019s is a powerful voice, one able to enunciate and vocalize symbiotically and one that doesn\u2019t get lost, overtaken by loud guitars or sampled noises, etc. Musically, one couldn\u2019t ask for a better partner in Matt Brown, Anna-Lynne\u2019s her perfect match in a musical way: Brown puts together these beautiful soundscapes and Anna-Lynne fills them in with extra vivid colors: soft pink pastels and neon lime greens. <\/p>\n
Together they put together an angelic album: ethereal yet earthy and elegant; Matt Brown\u2019s magical musical machinations and Anna-Lynne\u2019s beautiful vocal musings have combined to produce something that will take the listener on a transcendental journey just lying on a divan with this on the stereo. <\/p>\n
Sometime around the fall of this year Trespassers William will head to Europe to play a few gigs and then eventually they\u2019ll make their way over to the US for some select dates (don\u2019t forget Southern California!) which will probably be late in 2009 or early next year. For more information on the band, check out their website at: trespasserswilliam.com<\/a> or, for more information on Gizeh Records, go to gizehrecords.com<\/a> – you can also find MySpace pages for both band and label.<\/p>\n – KM<\/p>\n worriedaboutsatan: Arrivals<\/i> After releasing two EPs in their own, \u201cDIY\u201d style, entitled EP01 and EP02, the duo, worriedaboutsatan, made up of two Brits: long-time friends, Gavin Miller and Tom Ragsdale were snatched up by the UK\u2019s Gizeh Records and it was for them that this dynamic duo recorded what was to become their full-length debut: Arrivals, a CD made up of 11 songs that go into one another without any stopping, just segueing right into the next tune. This works quite well, as there is no pop songs on this record, no three \u00bd minute little slice that one can cut out and play like so much laundry soap or French fries on your average commercial radio station. Go away radio, you\u2019re anachronistic. People who can think for themselves don\u2019t need to be told what is \u201chip\u201d or \u201ccool\u201d, I would like to think that people go out and buy stuff that they really enjoy, not something as an accessory (but then that\u2019d mean that Hannah Montana and Britney Spears really do have an appeal, limited though it may be to pre-teens, not yet exposed to drugs and DIY bands at cool clubs). For that, just stop listening to the radio. I haven\u2019t listened to the radio for 9 years or so now and I don\u2019t have any problem with finding new stuff to listen to not to mention all the great stuff that\u2019s been made or composed in the last 400 years or so.<\/p>\n On Arrivals, worriedaboutsatan make a bold debut, they don\u2019t sound hesitant or unsure. There is a seeming place that they want to take their sound and it shows by the structure of the songs and the continuity of the music on the CD, the way the tracks were laid down.<\/p>\n Track seven, \u201cHistory is Made at Night\u201d is a minimalistic jaunt that has this infectious hook\/groove through it. While it\u2019s repetitious, it is so in a cool, entrancing way. For a time the same beeps are looped over and over then in a progressive way, a fluid organ sound insinuates itself into the minimal beeps and drum machine sequence. After the wave of atmospheric ephemera rushes over everything, it just as magically wanes away, leaving in its wake a quiet wake of guitars providing a tinny melody above and over a windy synth machine. Before you know it, you\u2019re in the middle of \u201cYour In My Thoughts\u201d, the next song, seamlessly born from the previous track. Track number eight, \u201cYou\u2019re In My Thoughts\u201d, starts off with a crackling beat, intricate percussion: two spoons being deftly manipulated, really coming to the foreground until it\u2019s then weaved in with more drum machine programming. <\/p>\n Track 10, \u201cAll Things But You Are Silent\u201d, is a tune with the imagery of a generic urban downtown setting, late at night, when streets are deserted and the lack of any people, of traffic or of anything lighted up or moving give the empty streets this look of pre-fabrication, as if it were merely a Hollywood movie set. It\u2019s weird. So the song starts out and for about the first four or so minutes it flows with an eerily slow and minimalistic soft velvety wave of quiet stirrings, a tinkering of a bass guitar, noodling around the neck with bubbles of anchorable melody. Things get wound up some toward the end, edging it up about \u00be of the way through and then coming back to the way it began, back to the slow, quiet peace that was the gist of the theme of the tune. <\/p>\n The title track, song number eleven has this plaintive, wailing, sobbing guitar with just enough distortion to provide a bit of fashionable feedback (just a touch, mind you, not Jesus & Mary Chain-style feedback. But underneath is a lush, fluidity of constancy; waves of synthesizers that anchor the wandering, crying guitar. <\/p>\n The last two cuts are just \u201cedits\u201d of previous tunes: songs 12 and 13 are \u201cedits\u201d of \u201cYou\u2019re In My Thoughts\u201d and \u201cEvil Dogs\u201d, respectively. I, myself, could never understand the need to put extra takes, re-mixes or \u201cedits\u201d on CDs, something I\u2019ve always found to be repetitive and not needed. I guess, one could justify it by saying that it allows the listener the choice between two versions, or if one really likes it, they can hear it twice in one album, mixed two different ways. <\/p>\n Here\u2019s hoping that with Arrivals, worriedaboutsatan will be sticking around a while and wracking their brains to follow this up with something brave and new in the near future. Until then\u2026 -KM <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" New Music Reviews report my Kent Manthie Joan of Arc: Flowers Polyvinyl Records, 2009 Legendary Chicago scenesters, Joan of Arc, have just released Flowers, their latest CD. Amazingly it is another brilliant, innovative and unique (which goes without saying) album. In 2007 JOA put out Boo! Human an equally great CD that they had no trouble following-up. That album, Boo! […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[573,577],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-926","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-music","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4166,"url":"http:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/2011\/03\/18\/joan-of-arcs-new-cd\/","url_meta":{"origin":926,"position":0},"title":"CD review: Life Like by Joan of Arc","author":"Kent","date":"March 18, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Joan of Arc Life Like Polyvinyl Records 2011 www.polyvinylrecords.com www.joanfrc.com Reviewed by Kent Manthie It\u2019s been 14 years so far and still the brilliant revolving-door- \u201ccollective\u201d known as Joan of Arc are still making awe-inspiring CDs. The new one, entitled Life Like is a bit more cohesive, with a more\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "music"","block_context":{"text":"music","link":"http:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/category\/music\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/reviewermag.com\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/lifelike-cd-cover-150x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5821,"url":"http:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/2011\/12\/06\/a-refreshing-blast-of-mellow-music\/","url_meta":{"origin":926,"position":1},"title":"A Refreshing Blast of Mellow Music","author":"Kent","date":"December 6, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Victor Villarreal Invisible Cinema Joyful Noise Records, 2011 Tweet Review by Kent Manthie This, the new solo CD from Victor Villarreal, guitarist extraordinaire, Invisible Cinema, is a real departure from his appearance on the latest Joan of Arc CD, Life Like, on which he appears as one of the twin\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "archive"","block_context":{"text":"archive","link":"http:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/category\/archive\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/reviewermag.com\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Invisible-Cinema-CD-cover.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5412,"url":"http:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/2011\/10\/20\/owen-is-back-better-than-ever\/","url_meta":{"origin":926,"position":2},"title":"OWEN is Back & Better than ever!!!","author":"Kent","date":"October 20, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"OwenTweet Ghost Town Polyvinyl Records, 2011 www.polyvinylrecords.com Reviewed by Kent Manthie The new CD by Chicago\u2019s Owen, Ghost Town will prove to people that Mike Kinsella is not just a small-time nobody, but a great talent that deserves a bigger audience. 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More oriented toward hippie groovin\u2019, folkified, laid back mellowness, Exile, their newest release has some interesting routes less traveled in the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "music"","block_context":{"text":"music","link":"http:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/category\/music\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4737,"url":"http:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/2011\/05\/19\/best-show-of-the-year\/","url_meta":{"origin":926,"position":4},"title":"Best Show of the Year!!!","author":"Kent","date":"May 19, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Joan of Arc @ The Casbah, San Diego 5\/16\/11 Review by Kent ManthieOn Monday, May 16th a select few lucky San Diegans were honored to be present at a blissful show: the amazing Chicago outfit Joan of Arc played an outrageous, stupendous and awesome show at the Casbah. Opening up\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "archive"","block_context":{"text":"archive","link":"http:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/category\/archive\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/reviewermag.com\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/SANY00732-150x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4135,"url":"http:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/2011\/03\/17\/owens-new-cd-single\/","url_meta":{"origin":926,"position":5},"title":"Owen’s new CD-single","author":"Kent","date":"March 17, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Owen: O, Evelyn Polyvinyl Records, 2011 www.polyvinylrecords.com www.owen.com Reviewed by Kent Manthie Mike Kinsella is a busy guy - he is a brilliant songwriter, a great drummer and a clever guitar player. 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\nGizeh Records<\/b><\/p>\n