#509 Oneohtrix Point Never - Replica

I admit it, when I first heard this I went "what IS this?", in a good way. This was when some very stoned artist friends-of-friends put on the recod, and the setting helped make it otherworldly. This is loopy ambient sludge with roots in instrumental hip hop, but pushed to genuinely new places, as samples are stretched through unknown dimensions and turned into physical-feeling sounds and a balance of space and tension and negative space and release is erected. That said, I can't quite chill out to it, and I can't see what else its good for. I'll bet there's a drug where this album is ideal as a companion. But unless you find it, its a brilliant curiosity that I wouldn't necessarily recommend putting on, ever 3.5/5

Though I'll be this would make a killer soundtrack, its Angelo Badalamenti squared.

#508 Gorillaz - The Fall

Well, it sounds like what it is: an album Damon produced on his laptop while on tour, meaning that its pretty minimal, not fully fleshed out, and lacking any of the party punch that helped counterbalance The Gorillaz more ethereal side on their "real" albums. It has some spacey appeal as a road album, maybe like a (way) less-minimal version of KLM's Chill Out (spoiler alert), but there's not a lot of meat on the bones here 2.5/5

#507 Kid Koala - Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

What Endtroducing would sound like if DJ Shadow was a turntablist really proud of his scratching skills. Which is to say, if you're into really assertive scratching and old-school, old-tools instrumental hip hop, you'll find a lot to like here. But if you're looking for something with atmosphere and feel, all that showmanship is going to get in the way. Its a bit like really weird jazz: if you're someone who does it, or is a serious aficionado, you're probably in heaven. Otherwise, it probably just sounds like noise. Count me in the latter camp - I'm positive this is very impressive, but its not good for listening to 1.5/5

#506 Hefner - The Fidelity Wars

Clever, ultimately uninspiring indie rock. Full of Okkerville swooping and swooning, its got lots of interesting production tricks, some country soul, and some structural kinks, but at the end of the day you have a reedy, grasping voice neck deep in longing, a voice that's best suited for people with some things they want to torture themselves over in a darkened bedroom. There was a time when that was me, but I'm too old for that shit these days. Those looking for a novel approach to heartstring stretching might find a lot to like here 2/5

#505 Gilberto Gil - Gilberto Gil (Frevo Rasgado)

Have I mentioned lately how much I love Tropicalia? And Gil might be my favorite of the lot. Here with Os Mutantes he swoops and swoons and bends, whipping between smooth and manic and gorgeous and noisy like a tree in a refreshing typhoon. Expert musicianship abound, the hooks are excellent, and if you've never heard anything from the era it's a pretty good place to start: not as croony boring as Caetano, not quite as spastic as Cérebro Eletrônico. 4.5/5

#504 Nation of Ulysses - 13 Point Program to Destroy America

Well, I pushed myself pretty hard to get to that 500 mark, and I guess I burned out a little. The good news is, I've still been tracking new listens. The bad news is, its now September 24th and I'm now about 80 reviews behind. Yikes.

(Post dates correspond to date listened, not reviewed)

Part of the problem is the burden of the review: I was trying to write actual reviews of actual substance, and that's pretty tough when you're a) working for an album or so a day b) sometimes only giving them a single listen c) juggling actual jobs and lives. I'm not in college anymore here! Remember all the free time?

So I'm just going to bust through these - I guess its another experiment in ways to write about music.

The goal will be to tell you what you need to know in as few words as possible. At least until I change my mind again. And this is about to get buried in dozens of tiny reviews anyway, and will be read by no one.

Onward!

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Thrashy stompy fast punk that bridges the gap between enraged sneeriness of The Dead Kennedys and the slightly more artful, whinier, proto-emo, post-hardcore sound of band like DC-mates Fugazi, or heck, outright indie bands like The Dismemberment Plan and Modest Mouse.

The guitars are The Fall tinyfoil, the vocals strained and desperate, demanding more than commanding.

It's hooky at times, but the moment has perhaps passed: you might be better served listening to something earlier and harder or later and more tuneful.

3.5/5