August 19, 2003

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  Barbecue Beets EP2

  various artists
  label:: The Agriculture

  Barbecue Beets EP2 is a 4 track EP with one track each from four different artists. It contains songs from the April 2002 CD 'Barbecue Beets: Sunrise on a Rooftop in Brooklyn.', Tracks from that compilation are split between two 12inch EPs released in July 2003.

  Barbecue Beets takes the sound of The Eighteenth Street Lounge out into the streets and rooftops of Brooklyn, and succeeds if your ears are open to go along for the ride.

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  The Esso Trinidad Steelband

  title:: The Esso Trinidad Steelband
  label:: The BRG Records (Birdman )

  The Esso Trinidad Steelband consists of 23 players using hammered out oil drums originally used for Esso petroleum, who used Trinidad ports as docking areas. When the conglomerate learned that this band existed, they decided to sponsor the band to foster positive PR, in a rare example of right thinking by big business. Van Dyke Parks said of the band, "This is the greatest group I've ever had the privilege to produce."

  While the sound of steel drums may overwhelm you as you absorb this disc in one listen, many of the tracks will leave a lasting impression if given the chance.

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  Goldfrapp

  title:: Train (CD2)
  label:: Mute

  Train is the first single from Alison Goldfrapp's second album 'Black Cherry.' There is a CD1 and CD2 version of the single. CD1 has Train plus 2 non-LP B-sides. CD2 has the album version of the track plus 3 remixes.

  I bought this single because of the T. Raumschmiere mix. Like the previous mixes, his mix keeps all the vocals in the song, but makes the electronic beat simpler and more pulsing, kind of like a punk rock electronic.

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  Kaleidoscope

  title:: 1964 - 1967 - the Sidekicks sessions
  label:: Alchemy

  Kaleidoscope: The Sidekicks Sessions collects together a batch of long thought lost acetates all recorded between 1964 - 1967 by an early incarnation of the 1960s British psychedelic band Kaleidoscope when they were still called The Sidekicks and The Keys. The recordings are rough, but the band sounds young and fine, combining together a Stones influenced R&B sound on the early sides with a Pink Floyd meets PF Sloan psychedelic folk rock sound on the later sides.

  Anyone interested in British beat music will hang their heads high when they listen to this cd. Discs like this one remind us of what a great time the 60s were for creativity.

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  Ove-NaXx

  title:: Bullets Form Habikino City H.C.
  label:: Soot

   

  Ove-Naxx is a Japanese artist who dedicates this album "for anybody with pain." That is not to say that this record is a painful listen. The tracks have clipped electronics and broken beats that are configured into timings no human could hope to play, but the feeling is upbeat and energetic, kind of like the euphoria you experience upon entering a new level of a computer game.

  I especially like the solid beat opening track Wasabi Violence and the T. Raumschmiere put through a blender gabba-driven Mirurunin.

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  The Quick

  title:: Untold Rock Stories
  label:: Rev-Ola

  The Quick were Right Place/Wrong Time personified. Appearing on the L.A. scene too late for glitter rock but too soon for punk, they played their crunchy and quirky power pop in a town dominated by bland singer-songwriters and pseudo country pretenders.

  As usual, Rev-Ola has done a top quality job with content and liner notes. A fitting tribute to a band that shoulda been big but for whatever reason disappeared into relative obscurity.