Ee Ee Ee Ee Ee Ee Ee Ee Ee Ee Ee Ee Ee Ee Ee Ee Ee Ee Ee Ee Ee

Early Day Miners
All Harm Ends Here
( Secretly Canadian ) 2005

Similar to its sound, slowcore continues plodding along under the radar in a scene full of fast guitars and lively beats. But in the tradition of slowcore, Early Day Miners take their time to build the atmosphere they want the listener to feel.

The opening track, "Errance," turns out to be slightly more upbeat than the other songs on the album, making it a good choice for an opener with its layers of fuzzy guitars and a steady but dense drumbeat, which is reminiscent of darker and less dreamy Ester Drang. The third track, "The Union Trade", begins with a few brief pauses and gradual build-up of shimmering guitars before leading into a mournful tune with lead singer Daniel Burton whispering, "There's one thing I miss / a river that flows / in a town where I'm in / where no one goes." One of the more accessible songs on the album, the fourth track, "Comfort/Guilt" focuses on a character fighting with inner conflicts and having to face the reality of growing old. Taking a break from the droning electric guitars that dominate the album, "The Way We Live Now" is an acoustic song accompanied by violin that continues to effectively create a haunting and melancholy atmosphere for the listener.

Fortunately, Early Day Miners successfully integrated other styles of music - folk, country and even math rock - to add some flavor to their own sound, preventing the record from being too repetitive. Early Day Miners have a good sense of melody, much like The Six Parts Seven, and were able to write an album that was easy on the ears but did not fail to in its goal to create a sense of ghostly sadness.

Extra Credit :: did you know they recorded this at an old church with a 150-year old cemetery nearby? Their tape reels kept getting messed up for no reason while recording and tracking so they had to move elsewhere to get the record done.. .

Joy, keeper of all the music that saddens 06.14.05

Easterly
Easterly
( not lame records [US] / wizzard in vinyl [Japan] ) 2005

"You're not crazy, you're stupid - so blame cupid for one fucked up year."

Wha??? You missed this lost collaboration between Lindsay Buckingham and Matthew Sweet recorded down in Memphis at Ardent Studios? No, this isn't a Sundazed re-issue. We've collectively lost our minds, and for some reason truly great 70's pop ala Big Star is very un-hip in these faked-baked days of new-wave leather and lace. That's what makes the self-titled Easterly record so unbelievably cool. Because (I know we've forgotten this) good pop songs are very cool, they always have been, just ask your mother. It's as if these Portland, Oregon boys crawled out of a cave clutching their tattered copies of Girlfriend and Rumours oblivious to all two chord Joy Division fakery that's still going on (can you believe it's still going on?)

From the opening track "Lover is Fine", it's obvious that Noah Hall can write a melody and hook (remember those?) Andy Douthit's guitar is more than up for the challenge of Hall's songs, pounding out the changes on the pop rave-ups and carefully weaving delicate guitar lines throughout the ballads. Paul Brady hammers out the blue-eyed piano soul on "Getting Back Together". Kerry Kincanon (bass guitar) and Dan Miles (drums) keep it locked down throughout - a very solid rhythm section. Miles sings incredibly well too, adding backing vocals and guitar.

Lyrically, Hall has what it takes to write great pop music - humor, sadness, and fresh, genuine insight into love and regret. He tackles melancholy with just the right amount of brevity and his restrained anger always seems justified. Everything on this record feels right - the honest vocal deliveries, pitch perfect backing harmonies, mellow organs, clean electric guitars, and thick Motown bass. Any sane A&R guy in the 70's would have scooped up Easterly and put them on an arena tour opening for The Raspberries.

Thankfully, Easterly has garnered some much-deserved attention. Not Lame Records in Colorado has this record available online (rumors are that quantities are becoming limited). Wizzard in Vinyl, a Japanese label (the Japanese know their pop by the way), has released the album with four bonus tracks.

Al James 05.05.05

Eel
People People
( Records of the Damned ) 2005

This is a SUgaRy, JapaNeSE pOP BoMb!!!

Eel is the name of the singer and the main decision maker with everything I think, and Sandou does all the programming and guitar stuff along with their friends. This is dance, electronic, pop, noise, fun. One of the funnest album's I've ever heard. Straight through it's so upbeat and enjoyable. Drum machines, lots of looped sounds, synthesizers, guitar, and sugary vocals. Listening to this, it makes you feel like you just ate a whole bag of Halloween candy or something.

The song "People People" sounds like the Smurfs in a recording studio with a whole bunch of meth. Except they knew not to let Brainy Smurf in because they know he would probably just ruin everything. "Wannabe" is my favorite song. Lots of good little bleeps and fun noises, with looped drums. The song "CM" is interesting. It's supposed to be like a commercial but it doesn't really resemble a commercial, to a degree but it's just so interesting. Little short five or so second parts of songs with a break in them and then to another short song. So many things on this track.

Doctors should start prescibing Eel instead of Paxil for kids, that's how good it is - you can't feel sad with this stuff playing. It could probably even get Dick Cheney to do the pogo.

Naoko® 11.16.05

Eighteen Visions
Obsession
( Trustkill; 2004 )

Ladies and Gentlemen ... I present to you one of the most anticipated albums of the year. Eighteen Visions have proven themselves to be one of the most prolific and eclectic hardcore bands of our time. And if this album doesn't prove that, you should definitely start listening to country. Anyone who walks on two feet and says that Eighteen Visions sucks because they started moving towards a more mellow sound can choke and die. One album changed everyone's opinion about this group, that album : Vanity. The album that will change everyone's opinion again : Obsession. 18V have broadened their horizons yet again and created a masterpiece of sound.

Sure this album doesn't have half the intensity that Until The Ink Runs Out had, but not many hardcore albums do. But this record has more emotion behind it than anything else I've heard this year. Each song tells that 18V will be here for a long time.

Music is something that is ever changing and constantly evolving, and so is 18V. For fans of "emo-core", and hardcore alike. You can get in the pit, and spin kick your heart out to a few songs, then go lay down with your girlfriend and cuddle to a few. Or just spin kick her* in the face, whatever your preference. Anyway, this is probably one of the best albums of the year. Fuck what anyone has to say (including myself) go buy it and create your own opinion.

[*sctas does not condone any kind of violence toward women]

ray :: (06.25.04)

El Oso
Whichever Chapter Covers Now
( Contraphonic Music Ltd ) 2005

Milwaukee's El Oso deliver a dose of hook-laiden tunes that'll bring tears of joy to any indie-rocker's sensitive eyes. Their debut release Whichever Chapter Covers Now, is a showcase of the bands skill at constructing catchy, emotive indie that can hang with the best of 'em.

El Oso adds something new to the tried and true indie palette, as elements of emo and punk are evident in many of the songs, especially in the vocal delivery, and care was taken to construct short ambient passages, which help define the mood of the album as an entire piece. Don't read too far into that, though. This is by no means an emo or punk CD, nor is it an ambient CD by any stretch of the imagination. This is a catchy, emotionally wrought collection of tunes, that suggests that the band may be better at algebra than inter-personal relationships, and they realize it. Synths sparkle and dart in and out of the mix, guitars turn from pristine and clear to loud and overdriven, and then back again. And as the album progresses, an atmosphere is created, inviting the listener to stay a while with El Oso.

Standout track "Lions" assures me that El Oso has much to offer in the future. It's a driving, arpeggio-based rocker, with a bass groove to get you moving. And the closing track, "Bury It And Smile", is a thick, mellow lament that leaves you contemplating your existence once the Whichever Chapter Covers Now has ended and the room has gone quiet; Funny how a good song can do that to you.. .

bloody5 07.09.05

Eluvium
Lambent Material
( Temp Res )

e·lu·vi·um /n./ Residual deposits of soil, dust, and rock particles produced by the action of the wind.

The moniker Eluvium is very fitting for the music composed by the Portland-based Matthew Cooper. His first EP titled, Lambent Material, very much reminds me of that abrupt sense of calm, traces of desolate stillness left in the wake of chaos. Cooper sticks to a formula of laid-back repetitiveness and slow, lengthy progressions for basically the entirety of the EP, but this formula often poses a problem - it simply gets boring.

Opening track, "The Unfinished", is a bit of a haze (like much of the record), with wave after wave of violins and guitar, dipping and rising in volume until it slowly dissipates and comes to a stop. In a similar vein, the fourth song, "Zerthis Was A Shivering Human Image", drones on for 15+ minutes as static noises in the background gradually disrupt the sense of ambience. The problems with both of these tracks are the repetitiveness and lack of variation in their composition. The sounds all flow smoothly into each other, but there is a sense of hollowness in the tranquility of the songs. However, the third track, "There Wasn't Anything", is quite the opposite. The simple piano in this piece is steady and delicate, offering a sort of warmth that is missing throughout a good portion of the EP. In fact, "There Wasn't Anything" is a true gem among the monotonous hum of Lambent Material. It is also a sign of more to come, as demonstrated in Cooper's next Eluvium album, An Accidental Memory In The Case Of Death, which consists of more subtle piano tracks.

While Lambent Material is not necessarily bad, it's not engaging enough to sustain my attention for long. Music should be something that people lose themselves in. With this EP, I found myself focusing on the things going on around me, rather than allowing myself to be surrounded by the music. Perhaps this album might be good to fall asleep to.. . or maybe drone just isn't my thing.

joy 02.09.05

The End
Within Dividia
( RELAPSE )

Be afraid... be very afraid, this is not your grandmother's prog-core. This is traditional not-for-a-weakened-heart-or-mind-core... let's face it, though, this style of music seems to be surging with the voluntary sonic onslaughts unleashed by the likes of DEP and the fantastic PsyOpus, and it can be a bit difficult at times to differentiate between them...but, the End do it with a little flair. Besides the fact that their live shows are ablaze with charisma and passion, their studio efforts can, in a sense, convey that very same presence. Reminisce over the first time you heard Transfer Trachea and then immediately disregard it before you listen to Within Dividia. I, at first, couldn't get into the new material due to both the vocalist and the less-complex guitar work... although, after I had distanced myself from the infamous EP, I found myself slowly becoming involved with the new material.

I still have some issues with the new vocalist and his instrumental value with the rest of the music and how it just somehow doesn't seem to compliment the general technicality of the sound. The vocals seem a little raw, a little too natural for the effect-ridden complexity of the other instruments. This, in no way, is meant to insult the overall production value of the disc ...produced by Pierre Remillard (of Misery Index, Cryptopsy, Gorguts fame), the disc maintains the strength of the rhythm section extremely well, it doesn't have that "thrash-metal" quality of sound you've grown accustomed to through most of the aforementioned bands' releases. The lyrics are also unlike those of the EP ...although, the subject matter is fan-fucking-tastic: a concept album devised in an attempt to convey the demented happenings within the walls of the Dividia estate. It's dark... extremely dark. And the only thing better than the subject matter is the artwork. I wouldn't download this album due to that fact alone, I would be missing out on a lot of pertinent information related to the concept at hand. So, you would be well advised to first separate the two eras of the End, only then can your listening experience be uncompromised. I've learned that and am slowly falling in love with this release.

the incredible edible egg :: (02.09.04)

::::: : :::::: ::: :: the end : :

Erase Errata
At Crystal Palace
( troubleman; 2003 )

No, this is not le tigre. These here the irregular equations never evolving of obliterates of the acclaims erase errata. Hey, are these cheetos of life sized in this covers the sleeve? The man of cheetos of murderer. San francisco balances! Between the mood and the donkey of dance yr of this disc of fucking of a dozen the baker 2 tip them meticulous rhythm. Really the childlike ones, all this shit goes out of the city of coast prodigy of the east does not hold any match to this crew of brewers of frousse. Yes, that was a direct success towards the Rapture - fuck off. Jenny Hoyston - are you Jenny Hoyston. Yes! Boulder! I am a Hibou! (to repeat) Etre the house more of conduit Prudent of the work - frightful shit is them the California drivers. My Dana of friend takes the bus. The Chisel Girls travel the Subway.

PARADISES ISLAND!! The trumpets frighten me. I wish that the Fiasco of Flippy would last for at least 12 minutes, this song me receives wets me. These turn of women also a lot. [to repeat] Between the mood and the donkey of dance yr of this ~~fucking~~ the disc of a dozen the baker 2 tip meticulous rhythms. Matter No Medley is more long than 2 minutes. I flew the latter piece: If on the good thing. Yesterday, my mom drove me to educate late only to the grudge me because I went to bed to 9:40 instead of 9:30 harms it before. I said my friend of this, and she wondered me why she has does that. I replied to, "because she is a psycho, that is why!" Agreed, I admit, that was the perfect mounting, but that not mean not that I really needed Assface to say, "Oh, well, I wonder that the one is really the psycho." Especially since it is as the assclown millionth to call me a psycho since I moved myself here. If I said it to close the fuck and the hit in high in the face. It did a comparatively good impact with his cheek and remained red for the remainder of the day. Unfortunately, everyone that knew has just asked for him me, " [Kari], you hit [Assface]? OMG, why you would do does it?" I do not guess this was that bad, especially when a part of them, like my kick donkey, my extreme right, super-intelligent-et-articuler the friend and my the kick donkey, does at random, ben-folds-and-silverchair-loving friend, thought it was funny and well deserved. Hit was him something that
I had wanted to do a little now, and now that I did it, this is very... satisfactory. Of course, now I am to be going to have to treat the horse girl asking the exact same question, but with, "OMG, [stupid, flippy, the voice of preppy] Psycho!"

kaleb :: (01.09.09)

ESPERS
Weed Tree
( Locust Music ) 2005

The Philadelphia-based Espers is a constituent of the "wave" of free-folk (or avant-folk or acid-folk, if you prefer those variants) bands, outfits that apply a DIY/arty/progressive/experimental aesthetic to the wide wonderful, fertile field of Anglo-American folk music. Whereas some f-f practitioners adopt a studied (or genuinely haphazard) amateurish "ain't-we-strange" pose, Espers actually play & sing VERY well, displaying a sense of veneration for the rich history of folk music.

Weed Tree is their "covers" album, which can be an oxymoron in more traditionally-oriented folk circles - nevertheless, this is an exquisite collection of trad songs ("Rosemary Lane," "Black Is The Color"), hard-rockin' proto-metal songs adapted to a plaintive, trad folk approach (Blue Oyster Cult's "Flaming Telepaths"), the can't-put-a-name-on-you (Nico's "Afraid"), and contemporary folk originals ("Blue Mountain" by the elusive US folk semi-legend Michael Hurley). Throughout, Espers (listed by surname, but no credits) perform with the muted fervor and meticulousness of Pentangle (whose Jacqui McShee the female singer of Espers vocally resembles with her lithe, dignified soprano) and Steeleye Span at their best. (They also recall the Incredible String Band, minus their faerie-land preciousness, tho.) On "Dead King," this set's sole band original, they even evoke the spare, modal strains of Middle Eastern/North African folk. Not that they don't push the envelope some - their take on BOC's "Telepaths" concludes with a feverish, feedback-laden freakout (which does ramble a wee bit, alas). Wondrously fine stuff, this.

Mark Keresman 10.14.05

Evergreen Terrace
At Our Worst
( Hand Of Hope; 2004 )

First I say to myself "Holy shit - Evergreen Terrace has a new cd out and I didn't hear about it?" .. . Then I look at the back and realize it's just a release of rare and live tracks. But wait a minute, this is fucking Evergreen Terrace. Anything you get by them WILL be good, it's a new law that just passed. Seriously.

With live versions of Zero, and Please Hammer Don't Hurt Em.. - this album just makes your mouth water and drives you to wait impatiently for their next release. They have developed a defining sound and stage presence that kids flock to see any chance they get, and they deserve all the attention they get. I imagine their next release will be monumental in the world of music ... Expect bigger and better things ... Stay tuned

ray :: (08.27.04)