Why?  - Alopecia

Yoni Wolf titled Why’s third album Alopecia. If you do a google images search you’re in for a surprise. Not necessarily a pleasant one, but a surprise. Alopecia continues to deliver the unexpected track after track.

I first heard of Why? on a Silver Jews touring bill and figured they were worth checking out. Later I made sense of the SJ lyric ‘all my favourite singers can’t sing’. Wolf doesn’t disappoint, taking us through talk/rap, boy-band croon and irony-laden melodies with little idea that his voice is so ’distinctive’.

The lyrics are simply sensational. Linguistic agility, a trait common to white rappers, is made to seem trite, a bone tossed effortlessly to his homeys. ‘I picked a fight on dyke night…and blew kisses to disinterested bitches’is delivered with sleepy disdain in a stream of consciousness confessional on ‘Good Friday’, and the sound of loose change rattling will be changed for evermore on ‘The Hollows’.

Why? hold your attention throughout the 14 tracks on ‘Alopecia’, saving some of the best tracks for the final quarter, as if to repay your commitment. If Conor Oberst fronted They Might Be Giants without the novelty rock, you’d get close to a tribute band for Why?

THINK: Bright Eyes meets TMBG sans gags
READ: Why’s Bio and myspace
WATCH: The Hollows
BUY: Alopecia from Anticon

I may have mentioned (in every post of late) that I was a little distracted in March. Well, truth be told I did tinker around sonically and put together a mix for a friends house warming party.

The aim was to make a party mix that indie kids would like. I reckon that it’s a little dark, but I’ve had some positive feed back from it so I thought I’d share it.

Be warned, ‘Triplejaysus mix for Susie’ is in the region of 85 MB, running about 90 minutes long. If your bandwidth can spare it, I’d love to know what you think. G

So I’ve dropped off the radar a little during March for whatever reason, (Answers on a postcard to: ) but Radiohead certainly haven’t. Didn’t they care my parents travelled 17 thousand km to see me? Evidently not. Is a matter of fact they waited ’til my attention was elsewhere to become busy little oxford beavers.

They played a concert to 312 competition winners broadcast on BBC2. You can get the mp3’s here.

They announced a remix competition for ‘Nude‘. The individual ’stems’ are available on iTunes now for 99c a pop.

They announced a video competition two days after trent announced his. But theirs is worth $10k!

They announced a social networking site - I kid (a) you not.  Check it out!

Raconteurs - Consolers of the Lonely

The Raconteurs return with sophmore ‘Consolers’. There is so much to say about this ‘difficult second album’, the first that they made it sound so easy. Recorded and on shelves in less than a month, ‘Consoler’ is being cited as a departure from their sound. I disagree. (Hey, it’s my page!)

There is a level of confidence in one another and thier own abilities that’s very evident. Shared vocal duties, oft with call and responce choruses, spiralling guitar solos and horns, banjos, fiddle and strings to boot.

The second point I must mention is that Jack White championed lo fi not long ago. The White Stripes recorded on 4 track, yet ‘Consolers’ is almost a homage to the recording studio.

Finally, to what it sounds like. ‘Consolers’ is blues fused rock. By that I mean ‘alt- country psycho-billy hoe-down darn-tootin’ rock, with the influences of Zepplin, Deep Purple and Johnny Cash firmly on it’s sleeve notes. 

I chose ‘Top Yourself’ because it illustrates The Raconteurs stripped back ease, bristling lyrics and Zepplin influences. ‘Carolina Drama’ is my favourite track on the album, a shaggy dog ballad about a murderuous milkman and a red head mourning the death of a no-good priest.

THINK: Blues Rock vehicle for the guitar solos of the year!
READ: Their super cool circa ‘82 website
WATCH: Salute your solution Vid
BUY: ‘Consolers’ is available directly from READ

26_Borrowed Beats - April 08 Edition - Class of 2007

Happy Leap Year Folks!
In celebration, we’ve leapt March entirely!
Welcome to the April 08 Edition of Borrowed Beats!
In an attempt to show I’m less afraid of a pun than a woolf, I’ve titled this one ‘The Class of 2007′.
Unlike the 2006 round up ( here ) , there should be few surprises this time, because I’ve _weviewed almost all the contenders.
So sit back and enjoy tracks from the top ten triplejaysus albums of 2007.

G