Matthew Berlyant’s Top Ten — September 21

by Matthew Berlyant
21 September 2008

New Releases

There have been a lot of worthwhile and interesting new releases lately, so I thought I’d list 10 of them here. Other than the absolutely brilliant new FUJIYA AND MIYAGI album and a few others that were covered in last week’s list as well (BRIAN WILSON as well as the AMY RIGBY/WRECKLESS ERIC disc), I haven’t had a chance to spend too much time with any of them yet, so these are more first or initial impressions than anything else. It’ll be interesting to see how much I’m liking each of these releases by the end of the year.

1. Fujiya and Miyagi – Lightbulbs (Tirk/Deaf, Dumb & Blind)

   I liked their debut Transparent Things, but their second album really ups the ante. This is highly infectious, danceable music in the vein of some of the stuff on DFA. The first track, “Knickerbocker”, nods to NEU!, as do some of the others, but I also hear KRAFTWERK and early ‘80s electro in the mix as well. If they keep putting out records this good, they could be to this decade what STEREOLAB were in the ‘90s.

2. Fucked Up – The Chemistry of Common Life (Matador)

   Their 1st full-length for the indie giant Matador, hot on the heels on the “Year of the Pig” EP (originally released on What’s Your Rupture and then reissued on Matador), is another winner that follows closely from where 2006’s double Lp opus Hidden World left off. At 11 songs and 52 minutes, it’s a bit less rambling and the songs (on average, at least) a bit shorter than on Hidden World, but the opener “Son the Father” and the closing title track embody their epic prog-punk.

3. TV on the Radio – Dear Science, (Interscope)

   I was worried that this would suck from first hearing a track which features TUNDE ADEBIMPE rapping. I still think that’s one of the weaker tracks on this album, but it works much better in the context of said album than on its own. There’s no absolutely jaw-dropping individual track on here like “Wolf Like Me” from their 2006 album Return to Cookie Mountain, but overall this album nicely picks up where its predecessor left off. If there are any changes, the gospel and doo-wop inflections that characterized their debut Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes have made a comeback, but they’ve also incorporated late ‘70s/early ‘80s electro-funk ala MICHAEL JACKSON’s Off the Wall (really) into the mix. Still, make no mistake. This is pure, late ‘70s DAVID BOWIE and BRIAN ENO inspired art-rock, but tweaked for the new millenium.

4. The Dears – Missiles (Dangerbird)

   Singer/guitarist MURRAY LIGHTBURN and his wife and keyboard player NATALIA YANCHUK are the only ones who remain of the lineup that recorded and toured for the excellent and career-defining albums No Cities Left (2004) and Gang of Losers (2006). Fortunately, even though the band is completely different, the sound hasn’t changed much. Time will tell if I’ll end up digging this one as much as their last few albums, but I’m enjoying it thus far.

5. KatJon Band – KatJon Band (Carrot Top)

   As the name implies, KatJon Band is KAT, the drummer from Dutch punk legends THE EX and JON LANGFORD from the equally legendary MEKONS. This album is a corker, full of the righteous political anger set to repetitive, hypnotic post-punk that you would hope for and expect from this combo.

6. Jenny Lewis – Acid Tongue (Warner Brothers)

   Her second solo album, featuring guests ranging from ELVIS COSTELLO (on the song “Carpetbaggers”) to CHRIS ROBINSON of THE BLACK CROWES, is a decidedly more raucous affair than the hushed tones of 2006’s folk, country and soul influenced Rabbit Fur Coat. Make no mistake, though. It’s still very much rooted in the early ‘70s singer-songwriter tradition, but it’s just louder and more rock-oriented. Way different and better than RILO KILEY’s last album, it’s also quite good and consistent.

7. For Against – Shade Side Sunny Side (Words on Music)

   Although they’ve long been a Big Takeover favorite, the only other record I’ve ever heard by this band is their debut Echelons, which was reissued in 2004 on the excellent Words on Music label (which also put this out). Although it’s more than 20 years since that record and a comparison may be unfair, I like this one much more. It’s more developed, the playing is better and the end result more satisfying. Now to get the albums in between that I’ve missed out on…

8. Brian Wilson – That Lucky Old Sun (Rhino)

   Brian’s first studio album since 2004 (when he released both the excellent Smile re-recording and the abysmal Gettin’ In Over My Head) is also (with the exception of Smile) by far his finest work since the never-released but excellent (and totally underrated) 1991 album Sweet Insanity.

   It’s essentially a continuation of where Smile left off, except concentrating on California and specifically his hometown of Los Angeles instead of the journey that the pioneers undertook to head out west. VAN DYKE PARKS contributes some lyrics here and Brian recites a verse in Spanish at one point and while it’s a bit awkward, this disc is a thing of total beauty otherwise. Sure there’s obvious elements of nostalgia on songs like “Forever She’ll Be My Surfer Girl” and references to his troubled past on songs like the wonderful “Oxygen to the Brain”, but as a major Beach Boys fan, it’s extremely moving for me to hear him come to terms with that past. Others will dismiss this as cheap nostalgia, but my guess is that the real fans will love it.

9. Wreckless Eric and Amy Rigby – Wreckless Eric and Amy Rigby (Stiff)

   Eric and Amy are a married couple who live in France, so it’s natural that they would record an album together and on Eric’s former label Stiff no less. It’s not what one would expect from either of them. Instead it’s an organ-heavy, mellow drone fest that’s heavily indebted to THE VELVET UNDERGROUND’s self-titled third album and even to some of YO LA TENGO’s more recent work (I hear elements of 2003’s Summer Sun on some of these tracks). The second track “Astrovan” even almost sounds like SYD BARRETT-era PINK FLOYD at times! Amy’s funny but biting lyrics come to the fore on songs like “Men in Sandals” as well.

10. Stereolab – Chemical Chords (4AD)

    I like this one a bit more than 2004’s Margerine Eclipse and 2006’s Fab Four Suture. It gets a bit samey in the middle and it all tends to blend together, but at this point you pretty much know what to expect from Stereolab.