The Daily Sabbatical
Music, Books, and Assorted Maunderings

Several years ago I was so excited about these guys.  Liela Moss has such a cool, through the cigarette fog voice, and the band seemed to have the Velvet Undergroung drive down pat.  They never really lived up to the potential their first two eps showed, however, and the new(ish) album only disappoints further.  I mean, all the pieces are there, and some of the songs still have the right energy, but most of the time The DS just comes off sounding like a poor man's Metric. Without a doubt these guys sound best when… Read More

Some bloggers whinge and grouse (and gripe and whine) about year-end lists, calling them juvenile, obsessed with rank and order, and arbitrary.  To these critics, a  response in the classical argument form of tu quoque:  you write music reviews, jackass.  I, for one, find the year end lists an excellent source of new music, they help me to find the reviewers whose taste most clearly matches mine, and compiling my own gives me a chance to see the forest of the year's musical offerings by closely examining the trees.  I'm almost always surprised at how good a year it turned out to be.  This year was no exception. (Note:  Eric at… Read More

One of the only good things about grading is that it's the type of work I can do while listening to music.  (The same errors get pretty easy to spot.)  Keeping that in mind, I made several purchases yesterday.  Most of them consist of new stuff which I haven't fully digested yet, but one deserves mentioning immediately: Neil Young's 1971 Massey Hall concert, released last year.  I'm a pretty big Neil fan, but anyone with ears has to like this record.  The recording quality is just outstanding--I… Read More

I have a lot of admiration for Nick Thorburn, the guy behind Islands, The Unicorns, and several other projects.  He knows how to write a song, has a beautiful voice, and obviously has energy to spare.  Nevertheless, I never really grow attached to his albums.  Moody Motorcycle--a collaborative product of Thorburn and Jim Guthrie under the moniker Human Highway--is no exception.  I fall in love with songs for a moment and then kind of move on.  Nevertheless, I do fall in… Read More

If you have nightmares where you are pursued along the wharf with calliope music fluting your doom in the background, this album probably isn't for you.  If you like the idea of Danny Elfman collaborating with The Clientele, however, listen up.  Misophone is a production of two guys from Bristol who are apparently cranking out songs left and right.  This is supposedly their thirteenth (or fourteenth?) album, though its only the second I find evidence of.  Whatever.  These guys have a flair for the… Read More

Fans of Field Music take note: the Brewis brothers are pursuing separate projects that are easily as good as recent FM output.  The Week That Was is lead by Peter Brewis, and it has a sort of 80s epic feel that reminds me at times of Tears for Fears and the early Peter Gabriel/Genesis.  For those who are cringing: stop!  TWTW is no mere repeat and they don't deserve to be simply lumped in with the wave of 80s revivalists. If you don't like the sort of scenic rock driven by keyboards and minor keys, you can probably leave these guys… Read More

Back when I was a Providence boy, I went to see quite a few Stringbuilder/Purple Ivy Shadows shows, and even bought a few albums.  So, you'd think I would be a little quicker recognizing the elements of these bands in Death Vessel.  Instead, I went the first listen and a half thinking the vocals were sung by a woman and was mystified to discover that woman's name was Joel Thibodeau. The confusion now all cleared up, and I have my bearings. The girlish sounding Thibodeau is the singer/songwriting force behind the… Read More

This album has absolutely knocked my shit out. I've enjoyed previous Made Out of Babies efforts as a sort of a loud novelty, admiring their punk commitment, but I was unprepared for The Ruiner. Reminiscent of Silverfish, Daisy Chainsaw, and some of the Amphetamine Reptile bands of the 90s, MOB comes in with a pummeling bass and layers of guitar sounds that make me want to punch holes in my walls. Julie Christmas, the band's vocalist, sounds like a damaged Bjork screaming (right on pitch, mind you) over the band's screwy hooks and… Read More

Six years ago The Notwist released Neon Golden, the best album of that year. Mixing beautiful songs with glitchy beats, they beat The Postal Service to the punch and, in my opinion, their songs have remained fresh while those of Gibbard and Tamborello have faded. A good part of the reason is that The Notwist uses guitars to excellent effect, both in establishing rhythm and in supplementing the melody. This summer sees the band return with more of what makes them great. Markus Acher’s… Read More

If you're going to name a band after a celebrity, you couldn't do any better than Abe Vigoda.  After all, it was Barzini all along.  AV has generated a goodish amount of buzz with the releast of "Skeleton," their second release, and touring with fellow Los Angelenoids No Age has raised their profile even further.  It was hearing about their live show--hearing that it blew No Age off the Stage--that led me to check out the album.  My judgment, in the end, is that I wish I'd seen them live.  Not that the album is bad. … Read More