What's a Listening Log? Well, the idea is quite simple. It's a weekly segment that consolidates all the mini-reviews Dozens Of Donuts has given on RateYourMusic over the past week, split between the Past and Present. A straightforward grading scale has been put in place, ranging from A+ to F-, with C acting as the baseline average. There is no set amount of reviews per week, just however many I get around to reviewing. And don't expect week-of reviews. I wait one month - with at least three listens under my belt - before I rate and review an album. Enjoy!
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1997 | Space Rock | Listen
A HEADLONG EXPEDITION ON THE BACK OF A TRUSTY STEED
At this point in their career, Quickspace had already proven themselves capable of innocuous Noise Pop with extended Krautrock flair, seen on their self-titled debut. This stood in contrast to Superplus, their debut EP spearheaded by the mammoth, 14-minute odyssey 'Superplus.' The Precious Mountain returns to that Jam Band-style Rock, finally separating these extended passages from the more concise album material (something they failed to do as Th' Faith Healers). It's more fun this, as prodigious pieces can be ingested better as bite-sized helpings.
Of course, 'The Precious Mountain' receives all the praise and for good reason, maneuvering around rhythmic Krautrock with a sort of stockade, Western panache. The branching peril brought on by the 'hook' (signaled by a simple chant and raucous guitars) are a delight that falls in line with a horse opera. 'Ennios Blues' continues this theme with tighter restraint, highlighting the harmonica playing and underlying groove. It's all action and no subtlety, which is an excellent way to closer the EP. Honestly, perhaps contradictory to my previous statement, I wouldn't have been opposed to an LP of strict Western grandiose pleasure.
C+
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For no sane artist would put 17 near-identical Noise Pop tracks on a single record if they didn't, despite the contradiction Munki's end tells us. Here, The Jesus & Mary Chain's well has run dry. By 1998, the decade in Rock had moved on from the wall of sound to a more refined, conservative approach. In terms of the structuring on Munki, the brotherly duo follows standard practice and protocol, going the safe route of Alternative Rock, while simultaneously trying to make hard-nosed, early 90's Rock. The soft/hard dynamic instituted by the Pixies, popularized by Nirvana, make a consistent approach on songs like 'Perfume,' 'Virtually Unreal,' and 'Man On The Moon,' but come up short in execution thanks to the overwhelming, guitar-oriented ataxia found on every other track.
That being said, this far into their career, The Jesus & Mary Chain's knack for supple hooks that ride the wave of 90's nostalgia can't be understated. Many of the tracks, especially in the superior first half, are carried solely by their intoxicating choruses. Namely 'Stardust Remedy,' 'Fizzy,' and 'Moe Tucker,' with kudos to mid-album spark 'Supertramp.' I also enjoy 'Black,' and am surprised that it hasn't receive the praise of 'Cracking Up' for essentially doing that same dark, inborn Garage Rock better. Sounds plucked from the early 2010's with names like Kurt Vile, Ty Segall, and even Car Seat Headrest coming to mind.
C
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2005 | Alternative Rock | Listen
FEIGNING MASCULINITY WHEN SCANT ROMANCE GOT YOU DOWN
Not only did six years elapse between dEUS' marvelous Ideal Crash and 2005's Pocket Revolution, but the band themselves underwent major reconstruction too. Yet had one not investigated that division Pocket Revolution certainly wouldn't have provided any tips. Right from the get-go on the swelling 'Bad Timing,' dEUS feels like the same cohesive unit that commandeered European Alternative Rock in the 90's. dEUS' staples, like Tom Barman's knack for larger-than-life hooks, the impeccable sound design, and compositions that take the guitar/drum tandem to their absolute limit, are all featured prominently on Pocket Revolution. Best of all, while it doesn't reach the band's crowning achievement (In A Bar, Under The Sea), the LP's intended incongruity helps dEUS, ever so slightly, return to that mindset of decorative Alternative Rock that doesn't rest on tired schemes for attention.
Four behemoths dot the record's landscape, including 'Bad Timing,' 'Pocket Revolution,' 'Cold Sun Of Circumstance,' and 'Sun Ra.' Each, despite ending in the same euphoric cacophony (sans 'Cold Sun's' appreciative twist towards Alt Country), all travel to that destination by different means. 'Pocket Revolution' is my favorite, for one can hardly go wrong with a powerful call-and-response coda. But 'Cold Sun Of Circumstance' comes in a close second for its faux Boogie Rock that's packed with volatility and tomfoolery. Basically, Tom Barman is a master of the Alternative Rock hook, and the satisfying riffs and drum fills that surround them make their appearance all the more rewarding. Especially when mid-tempo ruminations like '7 Days, 7 Weeks' and 'Nothing Really Ends' gives Pocket Revolution the versatility it needs to be appreciated from all angles.
For me, only 'Real Sugar' falters in execution, subjecting itself to that same, melodic Jazz Rock as the aforementioned cuts, but this time around it's poorly placed amongst two colossal entities. Therefore, consistency once again can be attributed to dEUS, a band that somehow managed to synthesize a proper follow-up to Ideal Crash despite two disparate bands forming the whole.
B
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2015 | Noise Rock | Listen
HELLBENT CAMARADERIE IN MAD MAX'S GAS TOWN
Technically speaking, Girl Band doesn't do anything new with Noise Rock on their debut Holding Hands With Jamie. But that means nothing when the passion and intensity is as fervent as a maniac committing self-immolation. Take the filth and moxie of early peak Liars and incorporate the penetrating dissonance of No Wave artists like The Pop Group, Swell Maps, and first generation Swans. Holding Hands With Jamie turns two ugly, antithetical art forms into a beautiful blunderbuss of pent-up machismo. The Lo-Fi, garage aesthetic is treated with such candor, as dull percussion ('In Plastic'), monotonal guitars ('Umbongo'), and clangorous Noise ('Paul') obliterate the eardrums with their blatant pragmatism. Girl Band turn the tuneless around them into products to be orchestrated. Hell, 'The Last Riddler' and 'Texting An Alien' sound exactly like the muffled sound of a band far in the recesses of a dingy, back-alley bar.
In spite of this upcoming statement the point should be reiterated; Holding Hands With Jamie is a blast from start to finish. It does, however, only have three remarkable standouts. 'Pears For Lunch,' 'Paul,' and 'Fucking Butter.' The rest are there to surround Girl Band's adderall-ridden epics. All three of those are some of the best modern Noise Rock you'll hear, constantly evolving - or devolving - into the muck and subterfuge of mindless savagery. While 'Paul's' the monster domineering the center of Holding Hands With Jamie, 'Fucking Butter' deserves acclaim for its inversion of all that is holy about music. Take the stems apart and 'Fucking Butter' is an inharmonious mess of sheer, out-of-tune amateurism. But the clever handling of such hammy raunch, mixed with Dara Kiely's heedless breakdown (culminating in the legendary "Nutella, Nutella, Nutella, No tell her" coda), rises 'Fucking Butter' out of the gutter and into the greatness.
B
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1988 | Film Score | Listen
WORLD WAR IV FOUGHT WITH STICKS AND STONES
Much of the acclaim derived from Katsuhiro Otomo's dystopian anime Akira lies on the soundtrack, scored entirely by Geinoh Yamashirogumi following their genre-bending breakout Ecophony Rinne. The interesting part, as many know, with Symphonic Suite AKIRA is that its creation came before animation for the movie even began, which meant the events of Akira followed the music and not the other way around. That much is evident, though not all that surprising given Ecophony Rinne has a strong Film Score vibe that relies uses vocals only as an instrument, features an ebb and flow pace, and sternly commits to a grounded aesthetic.
Symphonic Suite AKIRA follows that same structure with slightly more accentuated personality on account of the plot - and more importantly, characters - being laid out beforehand. The recklessness of 'Battle Against Clown,' the capricious psychosis of 'Tetsuo,' and the supernatural cloning of 'Dolls' Polyphony' wouldn't exist without the groundwork laid flat by Otomo. Musically, Geinoh Yamashirogumi hardly changed their style and for the better, as their brand of mythical Tribal Ambient works swimmingly in making a social commentary on a post-apocalyptic future world where technology may be grand, but human savagery remains primeval. Unfortunately there are some duds in the latter half that mares the pacing of Symphonic Suite AKIRA, namely 'Illusion' which drags for far too long with the lack of ideas it fosters, and 'Exodus From The Underground Fortress,' which sticks out like a sore thumb due to its insistence on lame 80's cliches (that guitar is B-A-D) that sound as far from Tribal and Cyberpunk as possible.
C
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