Spoke appears to be more of a sketch pad for musical inspirations rather than a complete project which in turn makes it come across as unassuming and inviting. Calexico is mainly John Convertino and Joey Burns who have recently produced and/or played with many distinguished artists such
...Music Reviews
Our take on the latest music releases, from classic reissues to new artists.
-
MY DAD IS DEAD: Everyone Wants the Honey But Not the Sting
REVIEWED BY Larry Crane
Mark Edwards is sort of a one man band turned band these days. I've got a slew of MDID releases out from years and years before, many recorded at the Beat Farm (RIP) which was a cool studio run by Chris Burgess of Prisonshake. Anyway, this new one was don at Don Depew's 609
... -
TOBIN SPROUT : Moonflower Plastic
REVIEWED BY Larry Crane
I know I also reviewed a Tobin Sprout CD just a few issues back but here's a new one. If leaving the Guided By Voices fold means he'll be able to make more of these little masterpieces then I'm all for his "retirement" from that end of the rock biz. The songs
... -
LENOLA : The Swerving Corpse
REVIEWED BY Larry Crane
This is the second Lenola CD to be reviewed in these pages, and there's a reason why. These boys do everything themselves, from recording on their home 8 track and putting out their own records, this is what is known as a self-made-band. The recording is real fun to listen to, with
... -
THE MARINERNINE : A Little Something From The Weathervane’s Perspective
REVIEWED BY Larry Crane
The Marinernine is a band which contains Brian McTear and Jason Knight, those lovable oafs from the Trip to Athens story from Tape Op #5. I was expecting some sort of rock band thing here but lucky for me I got something completely different. Apparently they recorded various ambient and
... -
SONIC YOUTH : Slaapkamers Met Slagroom
REVIEWED BY Larry Crane
Okay, last issue we ran a review of the previous Sonic Youth CD EP, Anagrama. Here's the corrections to that review: Sonic Youth now have their own 16 track studio. It is manned by Wharton Tiers, an engineer/producer of impeccable credentials. They're recording a
... -
COLIN NEWMAN: Bastard
REVIEWED BY Larry Crane
First of all, Colin Newman was in Wire, and if you don't understand their greatness I pity you. Second of all, most of his solo albums are damn good. Third of all, he's into electronics, as anyone who survived the reunited Wire might have guessed. This is sort of
... -
SUPERETTE : Tiger
REVIEWED BY Larry Crane
Why is it I always dig these New Zealand bands so much? This is David Mulcahy (from the underrated JPS Experience) with his snazzy power trio. Anyway, you've got to love a band that's not afraid to layer the fuckin' reverb on the drums. I mean, huge slabs of reverb
...