Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /home/expspain/public_html/cherubrecords.com/exchange/index.php on line 34
Warning: array_flip() [function.array-flip]: The argument should be an array in /home/expspain/public_html/cherubrecords.com/exchange/index.php on line 40 Myspace.com >> Articles catalogue
Like any respectable city with its share of colleges, Richmond, Virginia is full of young men and young women who feel the need to express themselves through song. They start bands, some better than others, play clubs and record things. This is where the local DYI label comes in; it's run by everyone's friend and more than willing to press hundreds of CDRs or send out that mainstay of indie labeldom, the compilation.
Comp V2 is better than most of its kind, thanks to the fact that some of the tracks here are really damn good. Kids Techno's "Maximillian Cohen" is a brief whoosh of acid-techno halfway between Boards of Canada and My Bloody Valentine, an exotic respite from the guitar-driven raggedness of the rest of the disc. Among the rockers here, Forget Cassettes' "Ms. Rhythm and Blues" and A New Dawn Fades' "Inject" are highlights -- the first a girl-screech anthem, the second an ungainly mass of downer space-rock.
Most of the glue that holds this disc together isn't necessarily filler, either. Pick at random and the worst you'll get is badly produced but enigmatic and alive indie-boy rock -- a good sign for Cherub, since many of these home-pressed comps are badly produced and utterly pulseless.
www.splendidezine.com - Matt Pierce
----------------------------------
ANDF "I SEE THE NIGHTBIRDS" SINGLE:
Wasn't it just a couple of months ago that I reviewed the previous A New Dawns Fades album? Yes it was, but that's not important. These guys are fine instrumental rockers, and I'm happy to hear their new material. In fact, I'm even disappointed that there's not more of it: the disc sent to LOTD is only two songs at four minutes apiece. The first track, "I See the Nightbirds," comes as a surprise to me. Gone are the driving guitar riffs and pounding drum assaults of Sounds Pressed into Texture. In their stead are peaceful clean electrics and altogether more subtle drum work. The pastoral beginnings of the song give way to a melodic soundscape with a somewhat sinister undertone. These are some lyrical post-rockish atmospherics for a song with so few instruments.
The second song, "That Old Fashioned Heat," changes things up a bit with some mild distortion and lots of guitar feedback-induced ambience. The percussion on this one is very nice as well; it really stands out against the wall of distorted guitars. Overall, this album makes quite a statement in a miniscule amount of time. A New Dawn Fades is really shaping up to be a quality genre-bending instrumental rock group.
Left off the Dial - Alex Baia
----------------------------------
KIDS TECHNO GREATEST HITS / COWBOY EP:
Combine cheap color copy covers, equally cheap black magic marker-labeled CD-Rs, goofy speeded up/down vocals, four track sampling, cheesy keyboards, strummed reverb-ed-ed-ed-ed-ed... guitar psychedelia and a healthy disrespect for copyright law, and you have the latest D.I.Y. assault on the mass consumer corporate world. I like the shamelessly juvenile humor (several prank calls where chain store clerks are asked if they have Kids Techno music). I like the mix of genres (from techno to indie rock to rap). I like the irreverent odes to pop culture (the several mixes of "Cowboy" confirm the Beef Council's tag line, 'Beef- Its what's for dinner,' while "Tribute to Wesley Willis" shows love for retarded rocker Wesley Willis). But most of all I like this local entity because it reminds me of when Eerie Materials (Kingdom Scum, Everything Eats The Squirrels, The Popsicle Melts, etc.) based their 4-track empire in an undeserving, early '90's Richmond. Get either of these to amuse and/or annoy your CD-collecting, audiophile music snob friends for the holidays. You may or may not have heard this type of thing before, but it is good fun regardless.
Thanks for adding me as a friend! Hope I get a chance to see you play out sometime! You can check out my husband's band if you would like: Divided By Three
Have a great weekend!
Hugs,
Phaedra
