Blonde Redhead
Misery Is a Butterfly
4ad Records
Isn’t it nice when an “avant-garde” band can actually write good songs? Rarely does an artist produce an album that’s fantastically alien to the rest of the rockin’ world. That’s the definition of a great band. That’s the damn Blonde Redhead. Same goes for Eno and Bowie.
More comparable is the lesser known contemporaries of Three Mile Pilot, the familiar-sounding Sonic Youth, and of course, Radiohead. On the other end of the pop music are Weezer and Coldplay – good songwriters with little imagination.
Beautiful leading lady, Kazu Makino, was thrown from a horse in 2002. That’s fucked, and it’s the reason why you haven’t heard from the trio in the nearly four years since Melody of a Certain Damaged Lemons. The month-old Misery Is a Butterfly could double as a James Bond soundtrack were it not for all the advertised misery. Luckily, this is lavish and beautiful misery, not that sad shit-sack whining you hear all over the airwaves. Misery is one of the best of the year so far, the kind of album the kids can’t wait for to come out.
Bonny “Prince” Billy
Greatest Palace Music
Drag City
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While it takes a tasty set of testes to cover yourself, Will Oldham (Bonny “Prince” Billy, Palace Music) missed the Ohio River Boat on this one. I’ve longed for him to return to his darker gospel rock that he built his revered career on, but I didn’t have this in mind.
My woman said it best when she popped this country western bitch out of the player all like, “My dad would like this.” I was just gonna sell it back to the record store, but now I’ve got a taker. Thanks Will, for getting me in good with Pops.
CocoRosie
La Maison de Mon Reve
Touch and Go
This messy little pop album could only have been the work of women. The whole thing flows together like an old photo album. The ramshackle beats seem to create themselves, and the vocals are stunningly creative.
With a sound so simple that it makes Chan Marshall look like Les Claypool, CocoRosie offer up their hearts while posing the important question, “Why does sugarcane taste so good?” If that weren’t enough, the sisters tell someone (maybe one another), “You remind me of baseball.”
I love it. If you’re a girl, or a man aware of his sensitive and tiny ear bones, you’ll love it too.
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