If this 2006 four-song EP is any indication, San Francisco’s Master/Slave have everything they need to make their upcoming full-length, Scandal, a really great record. But they also have the tools to make it boring. At their best, Master/Slave expertly craft endearing synth-tinged pop songs with hooks for days. At their worst, the band is Casio-gone-monotone–a one-note throwaway artist.
Press Play – Album Reviews
Master/SlaveThe Expensive Tastes ep**1/2
If this 2006 four-song EP is any indication, San Francisco’s Master/Slave have everything they need to make their upcoming full-length, Scandal, a really great record. But they also have the tools to make it boring. At their best, Master/Slave expertly craft endearing synth-tinged pop songs with hooks for days. At their worst, the band is Casio-gone-monotone–a one-note throwaway artist.
Here’s the deal: Everyone uses vintage, ’80s-sound synths and jangly guitars. And everyone is trying to be “danceable.” The trick is taking those sounds and making them memorable or unique. Master/Slave doesn’t. Lilting faux-British vocals are not what you need to set you apart. Judging by this EP, Master/Slave main-dude, Matt Jones, isn’t a master songwriter yet. But he could be.
Master/Slave will play at Kelly’s Olympian on April 10 for $5 and at the Twilight Cafe and Bar on April 11 for free.
–Ed Johnson
Jim NoirJim Noir**
I’ve got nothing against solo artists. Sometimes, there’s nothing better than hearing one person’s unfettered vision of their music.
It just so happens in the case of Jim Noir, an English “singer-songwriter,” his unfettered vision is one of a pile of steaming, overly produced garbage cooking on the side of a New York City street in the dead heat of summer. If sounds were smells, well, you get the idea.
Lots of ethereal “oohs” and “ahhs” punctuate Noir’s self-titled sophomore effort for Barsuk Records. It seems he’s been heavily influenced by 1960s pop music, including the Beach Boys and the Beatles. Other times, Noir takes his cues from the early-nineties grunge heyday. On many songs, his voice is so saturated with static you can’t really tell what it is he’s trying to say.
Part of the problem with singer-songwriters, especially those who play every instrument on their album, as Noir does, is that the work often becomes overly self-indulgent. In Noir’s case, synths, too much reverb and his annoying penchant for retro background vocals are either the beginning of the problem or exactly what draws you into his music.
Some people have partly described Noir’s sound as “electronica,” and I suppose that when viewed in this light, the music becomes more tolerable. Still, this isn’t Radiohead’s Hail to the Thief or Amnesiac, or the latest smash from dance-pop electronica darlings Justice, or even the pretty pop of The Postal Service.
It’s just boring.
–Owen R. Smith
