These Beets Grow on Good Vibes

I bought some doozies on friday for the bi-weekly beets section of this journal. As I was planning a trip up to London in projected snow sqawl weather it was imperative that a few new albums be bought so that the 6.5 hour trip (Toronto to London should only take two hours; thank you toppled beer tanker) fly by as fast as any six and a half hour trip can.

I think I will send out a few little reviews with this weeks picks as for many these may be obscure and to a few they will be sooooo last week.
Animal Collective - Feels

The newly released Feels is another beat up my new favoured genre of fusion music. I like the fusion genre simply because it mixes every pastiche inspired medly or musicians into one lumped sum of songs. To fusion music is everything from the orchestral sound of Broken Social Scene to the North American take on reggae from Bedouin Soundclash. Animal Collective falls into this world, and provides another aural escape with to the popular ear will be considered splintered, unstructured, and in other words deliciously soundrighteous. Here is a brief excerpt from the review featured on pitchfork.

"Animal Collective sound for the first time like what they've always been to detractors with more outré tastes: an indie rock band. The songs proceed with a logic that has more to do with the early experiments of Mercury Rev than say, Sebadoh, but where Animal Collective previously sounded as if they were working according to an unusual set of rules, the first half of Feels exists in relationship to music history, and not just any music history, but rock" (Mark Richardson, Oct' 05).

Sound Directions - The Funky Side of Life/ Produced by Madlib.

The best thing about shopping at Soundscapes on College street right near Clinton, is that not only to the featured albums of the month have pitchfork reviews posted beside their display, and not only do they have listening stations with a policy to help you hear before you buy, but the staff is also so intriguingly creative in their own personal reviews of their staff's choice wall that it is almost as entertaning to hear them cook up an on the spot review as it is to listen to the album.

I picked up Sound Directions because of my love for anything funky, and turned to ask the "should of been in the cast for high fidelity" staff what they thought of the album. This is what I heard.

" Its like DJ Shadow, without the organ, except sometimes they bring in the organ, but it is used as a harsh break from the other bass dominant mixes on the track. Its hiphop mixing fresh, with some jazz, good beats and vibes to last the whole way through."

Why thank you, I say, that was most obviously a sales pitch winner if I've ever heard one.

Heres a brief biography excerpt on Madlib from championsound.com

"Armed with an SP-1200 sampler and several identities, Madlib has built a collection of beats, records, and unreleased tracks that is already becoming impossible to archive. Beginning in the early 1990's in Oxnard, CA, Madlib's distinctive crate-dug production has formed the basis of LPs for Lootpack, Quasimoto, and Yesterdays New Quintet. And that's just the Stones Throw stuff. Somehow he's also found time for the other labels doing remixes or guest recordings for the likes of Bilal, Zero 7, Glenn Lewis, Beastie Boys, The Liks, Xzibit, Dilated Peoples, Planet Asia, King Britt, Jay Dilla, and Blue Note Records. "

Kate Bush - Aerial

When I was in my last couple years of undergrad studies at Western, I engaged in a lot of sound art classes. I loved the idea of playing with samples, and inspiring projects out of concepts that would produce incredibly special meanings to myself over any listener. When I listen to Kate Bush's new album called aerial I feel as though I am sitting in my sound art class ready for an arts critique to follow every track.

The only thing is with Kate Bush, any critique becomes a compliment because this girl could sing hungry ecstasy heads to sleep with her compilation of traditional instruments, unique nature inspired samples, and british voice from heaven. Yum--MY oh my is this album a dream for anyone looking to do exactly that. Its a perfect lullaby and that kind of music that makes you escape to personal thoughts, thanks to the symphony of background noise it creates. Artsy or not, listen to Kate Bush, she's the most beautiful woman I've NEVER seen.

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Before I stop this free playlist creator, I should also tell you about two other great musical acts I heard this weekend.

I was very fortunate to be blessed with what I believe to be one of the first public copies of Hey! Death? by amazing artist, muscian, and flattering human bullet in latex Cameron Michael Murray. Its handing to me was a secret and I am not to spoil its release, but it too is a Yummy Beet meal and if you can find it, take a listen. Cam you sound like an angel in heat. Heavenly Sexy. Also I was able to listen to Miss Paige's good friends band the Coast this weekend. While the whole evening was quite the haze, I do believe they were really good, and in between my and Paige's random kissathon in the middle of the dance floor, I do believe I told the band their deserved compliments. You never can be too sure what is happening when Paige has locked you into her drunken tongue grip.
Now those were some sexy beets.

posted by mr. tomas ubik @ Monday, December 05, 2005