Música: Dream Pop/Shoegaze/Alternative Pop Rock/Noise Pop

Comentário AM:

Isn't Anything was good enough to inspire an entire scene of My Bloody Valentine soundalikes, but Loveless' greatness proved that the band was inimitable. After two painstaking years in the studio and nearly bankrupting their label Creation in the process, the group emerged with their masterpiece, which fulfilled all of the promise of their previous albums. If Isn't Anything was the Valentines' sonic blueprint, then Loveless saw those plans fleshed out, in the most literal sense: "Loomer," "What You Want," and "To Here Knows When"'s arrangements are so lush, they're practically tangible. With its voluptuous yet ethereal melodies and arrangements, Loveless intimates sensuality and sexuality instead of stating them explicitly; Kevin Shields and Bilinda Butcher's vocals meld perfectly with the trippy sonics around them, suggesting druggy sex or sexy drugs. From the commanding "Only Shallow" and "Come in Alone" to breathy reflections like "Sometimes" and "Blown a Wish," the album balances complexity and immediately memorable pop melodies with remarkable self-assurance, given its difficult creation. But Loveless doesn't just perfect the group's approach, it also hints at their continuing growth: "Soon" fuses the Valentines' roaring guitars with a dance-inspired beat, while the symphonic interlude "Touched" suggests an updated take on Fripp and Eno's pioneering guitar/electronics experiments. These glimpses into the band's evolution make Shields' difficulty in delivering a follow-up to Loveless even more frustrating, but completely understandable — the album's perfection sounded shoegazing's death-knell and raised expectations for the next My Bloody Valentine album to unreasonably high levels. Though Shields' collaborations with Yo La Tengo, Primal Scream, J Mascis, and others were often rewarding, they were no match for Loveless. However, as My Bloody Valentine fans — and, apparently, Shields himself — will attest, nothing is.

5

My Bloody Valentine - Loveless [1991] [DEX UPDATED]

Música: Experimental Post Rock/Experimental Ambient

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Hex is an album of controversies, entire soundscapes built on nuances and changes, seemingly a testimony that nothing can last. Built on a bed of electronic sound and rounded off with acoustic pianos and percussion, each song unfolds slowly, allowing one to savour each and every moment. A lone piano melody starts off 'The Loom', which is then joined by gentle violins and percussion, then climaxes with bass and Graham Sutton's vocals to melt away into synthesizers and drums that slowly wind down to the end. Screeching, howling electric guitar and tinkling piano play off each other on 'Fingerspit'. 'Eyes and Smiles', the best song on the album, is built on beautiful synthesizer melodies and gently tinkling cymbals, which rise and fall with the vocals and work their way to a climatic ending around Sutton screaming that 'you've got to go on.' To end the album, 'Pendulum Man' is a quiet, meditative, and immensely beautiful synthesizer piece. The other songs are all excellent as well, giving a well-rounded album that is beautiful and immersing, leaving one aching for more... The release of Codename:Dustsucker marks the return of Bark Psychosis after a 10 year retreat into virtual obscurity. The album itself sounds a bit more guitar-oriented than Hex did, but isn't really guitar driven. A couple of the tracks sound like David Lynch-like soundtracks meets Mezzanine-era Massive Attack. Overall, it's probably just as good as Hex. This is definitely music to listen to in the dark. Longtime fans of BP shouldn't be dissapointed (undoubtedly, a few who expect "Hex 2" will be.) Standout tracks are "From What Is Said To When It's Read", "INQB8TR" and "400 Winters."

4.5

Bark Psychosis - Hex [1994] [DEX UPDATED]

Bark Psychosis - Codename: Dustsucker [2004] [DEX...DOWN]

Música: Underground Rap/Dirty Rap/Party Rap/Neo Electro

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Spank Rock appear to revel in contradictions. Rapper Naeem Juwan and production phenom XXXChange (Alex Epton) are an American group who record for the British flag-waving label Big Dada, they're the only underground rappers to talk about sex more often and more explicitly than Black Eyed Peas, and their tracks accept the limitations of old-school rap and bass music, but boast an agility that makes them sound positively post-millennial. Sex is all over this record, appearing on nearly every track, from the "ass-shaking competition champ" in "Back Yard Betty" to the 50 Cent-style partying going on during "Coke & Wet." Virtually every track — notable exception: "Rick Rubin" — either references or focuses in on what you learn in anatomy and apply in life. Juwan may sound like a juvenile Q-Tip (minus the abstract rapping), but he's one of the brightest young American talents of the mid-2000s, using his voice in delightful ways (some helped along by post-production). Meanwhile, on the production end, XXXChange concocts a series of deep bass hits, digital claps, and the occasional cougar scream to recall the type of stark, echoing productions and drum programming rarely heard since the mid-'80s. It's all performed so perfectly, and informed so well by Juwan's lyrical finesse, that the vintage feel never seems like a crutch. Best of all is "Bump," where first Juwan takes a few minutes for a speed rap, then guest Amanda Blank enters halfway through, initially giving one of her stiffest Roxanne Shanté impressions but, in a heartbeat, shifting into a higher gear like a sports car blowing away the competition.

4.5

Spank Rock - YoYoYoYoYo [2006]

Música: Alternative Metal/Heavy Metal

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Ascendancy, the group's second album and their first on Roadrunner Records, is filled with carefully crafted songs that surge with energy, passion and originality. Like their solid 2003 debut Ember to Inferno, Ascendancy is rooted in '80s and '90s thrash, recalling the glory days of Metallica, Slayer, Pantera, and Testament. But the new disc doesn't stop there, incorporating aspects of melodic death metal and even prog-rock. Twin guitar harmonies and point/counterpoint dynamics abound, twisting around vocals that alternate from melodic and pained to caustic and full of rage. "We had so much more to work with this time," says guitarist and lead vocalist Matt Heafy of the Jason Suecof-produced disc. "I had great guitar sounds, Travis [Smith, drums] is playing like a machine, and the vocals are so much more multi-dimensional." While the first album, lyrically, addressed romantic disillusionment and child abuse, this time the songs confront spousal abuse, suicide, depression, tyranny and freedom of speech. However, even at his most poignant, Heafy prefers expressing gut emotion to preaching. "I've found that when you have a negative aspect in your life, you can find so much negativity in other people's lives around you, and in the world. For me, it's good to write about the negativity to get some of it out of my system."

4

Trivium - Ascendancy [2005] [DEX UPDATED]

Música: Satire/Stand Up Comedy/Political Comedy

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Rant in E-Minor is the comedy equivalent of an Ingmar Bergman film. This posthumously released CD is so brutal, bitter, pessimistic, and honest that it is a very difficult task indeed to listen to it. Recorded most likely while he was going through chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer in 1993, Bill Hicks must have sensed the end was near for him. Like John Coltrane's wailing saxophone on "Interstellar Space," Rant in E-Minor seems to exorcise the burden of life from Hicks' body, while simultaneously reaching a level of passionate intensity rarely matched. That being said, Hicks spits out words like shards of glass, bound to lacerate anybody in his audience. While some may laugh, his bits about Jay Leno ("Artistic Roll Call"), Jesse Helms ("Deficit"), and Rush Limbaugh are sadistically cruel. His bleak notions include totalitarian world rule ("The Elite") and the loss of artistic integrity in American pop culture ("Fevered Egos"). Anybody who is anti-abortion, Catholic, or Republican is bound to be offended by this spitefully honest and slanted material. In listening to this disc, you will laugh as Hicks takes comedy to its most extreme boundaries, but you will also be saddened at the lack of optimism in his life at the time it was cut short. While listening to this man, who was so filled with bitterness, loneliness, and pessimism, one must realize that he was quite unlike any other comedian, because night after night he unleashed his convincing, but idealistic vision of the world on his audience. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem that he ever got to live in it. Rest in Peace... Bill.

5

Bill Hicks - Rant in E-Minor (Live) [1997] [DEX UPDATED... AGAIN & AGAIN]

Música: Goth Rock/Goth Metal/Alternative Pop Rock

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After forming in Finland in 1995, H.I.M. (or His Infernal Majesty) set out on the path of goth forebears like Sisters of Mercy and the Mission UK. Vocalist and songwriter Ville Hermanni Valo was the band's founding member, alongside bassist Migé Amour, guitarist Lily Lazer, drummer Mikka Karppinen (aka Gas Lipstick), and keyboardist Zoltan Pluto. The 1996 EP666 Ways to Love was the group's first recording, and it did quite well in Scandinavia. One year later, Greatest Love Songs, Vol. 666 solidified their cult status throughout the region; it featured a cover of Chris Isaak's "Wicked Game."  And Love Said No... Love, death, and more love. HIM is flawless in this collection. This CD encompasses the epitome of Goth romance. I have two copies. One for my car and one for home. It's extremely difficult to pick a favorite track or two but if I must...they would be "Join Me" and the amazing cover of Chris Isaac's "Wicked Game". The lyrics to this whole collection are simultaneously creative, beautiful, and dark. The music passionate and crisp. Highly recommended for anyone who appreciates the pleasure and pain of both love and death.

4.5

H.I.M. - Greatest Lovesongs, Vol. 666 [1997] [DEX UPDATED]

H.I.M. - And Love Said No: Greatest Hits 1997-2004 [2004] [DEX UPDATED... AGAIN]

Música: Alternative Pop Rock/Punk Revival

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The Bronx's self-titled debut is a beautifully violent exhibition of pure punk rock. No pogo-pouncing guitar licks or aggro-happy vocals fit the ambitious agenda of this SoCal four-piece, nor do they hold the pretense held by most post-grunge rock kids. The Bronx are dead serious with their craft; they're uncompromising without being disconcerting, allowing this powerhouse release to make an impression. Sure, criticizing the America's conservative value system may be more than overdone, but if you're able to say something new, it's relevant and that's exactly what makes The Bronx an interesting first album. Themes of direction and rejection carry this manic, red-hot cardinal set with producer Gilby Clarke at the helm. As soon as "Heart Attack American" kicks things off, the Bronx immediately blast you with a Stooges-meets-Fugazi jolt. Matt Caughthran's vocals are not only a frenzied mess, but they're scathingly convincing. Joby J. Ford (guitar), James Tweedy (bass), and Jorma Vik (drums) make for a sharp backup section, and songs like "White Tar" and "Notice of Eviction" thrive on the band's personal revolt against what's mediocre and typically popularized. In classic punk style, The Bronx rage against the machine just enough to irk you — and it's never felt so good.

4.5

The Bronx - The Bronx [2003] [DEX UPDATED]

Música: Hardcore Rap

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Lethal begins this CD with one of the maddest beats ever used for House of Pain, "Legend". Everlast rips it on this track, making it more than perfect, something addictive that will blow you away and leave you sitting there for hours. The Lethal Dose Remix version of Legend is a fairly decent track, slightly inferior to the first track, yet enjoyable nonetheless. House of Pain once again drags in Diamond D to make a remix of another great House of Pain track, "Word Is Bond" from the Same As It Ever Was album. The track is made perfect, despite the slight repetition of the beat. Everlast then gets into the next track deeply, when he lays his vocals on the guitar riffs of Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Under The Bridge", a mix that nobody would have ever guessed could go together and sound so good, and so perfect, almost making the album version sounding inferior. Lethal then wraps the album up with the remix intrumental of Word Is Bond, another very decent track, vocals or no vocals. House of Pain just shows us that they are still kickin'it.

4

House Of Pain - Legend/Word Is Bond [1994] [DEX...DOWN]

Música: Jazz Rock/Soft Pop Rock

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According to Billboard chart statistics, Chicago is second only to the Beach Boys as the most successful American rock band of all time, in terms of both albums and singles. Judged by album sales, the band does not rank quite so high, but it is still among the Top Ten best-selling U.S. groups ever. If such statements of fact surprise, that's because Chicago has been singularly underrated since the beginning of its long career, both because of its musical ambitions (to the musicians, rock is only one of several styles of music to be used and blended, along with classical, jazz, R&B, and pop) and because of its refusal to emphasize celebrity over the music. The result has been that fundamentalist rock critics have consistently failed to appreciate its music and that its media profile has always been low. At the same time, however, Chicago has succeeded in the ways it intended to. From the beginning of its emergence as a national act, it has been able to fill arenas with satisfied fans. And beyond the impressive sales and chart statistics, its music has endured, played constantly on the radio and instantly familiar to tens of millions. Chicago Transit Authority, released in April 1969, debuted on the charts in May as the band began touring nationally. By July, the album had reached the Top 20, without benefit of a hit single. It had been taken up by the free-form FM rock stations and become an underground hit. It was certified gold by the end of the year and eventually went on to sell more than two million copies. To Guercio's surprise, he was contacted by the real Chicago Transit Authority, which objected to the band's use of the name; he responded by shortening the name to simply "Chicago." When he and the group finished the second album (another double) for release at the start of 1970, it was called Chicago, though it has since become known as Chicago II. It vaulted into the Top Ten in its second week on the Billboard chart, even before its first single, "Make Me Smile," hit the Hot 100. The single was an excerpt from a musical suite, and the band at first objected to the editing considered necessary to prepare it for AM radio play. But it went on to reach the Top Ten.

5

Chicago - Chicago Transit Authority [1969]

Chicago - Chicago II [1970]

Música: Album Rock/Alternative Pop Rock/Blues Rock

Comentário AM:

Continuum is about as apt a title as it gets for John Mayer's third studio disc. Every element, from the peerless guitar playing to the plainspoken poetry of the lyrics to the breathy-sincere singing, makes a return from previous efforts. But to weakly pronounce this another worthwhile effort from an artist the world has come to expect a whole lot from and then call it a day would be no minor misdeed, because it's also the best, boldest disc he's ever made. Taking maturity as a theme throughout, Mayer tackles a batch of adulthood's bogeymen: indifference on the uptempo chart-climber "Waiting for the World to Change," aging on the melancholy-sweet "Stop This Train," and emotional trainwreckage on the big-rocking "In Repair." That's not to suggest he's turned overly introspective--check the Jimi Hendrix cover "Bold As Love," where he hits one home for guitarists who've been living in the shadow of legend everywhere, and the hard-charging "Belief," which benefits from a mesmerizing, liquid groove. Continuum may be the third in a series, but a creative cop-out this is not; Mayer is his generation's musical superman--powerful, unassailable, and magnetic. Hand that man a cape.

5

John Mayer - Continuum [2006] [DEX UPDATED... AGAIN & AGAIN & AGAIN !!!!]