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(02/26/10 12:00am)
It's not every day that one comes across a compilation of blues music spanning back to the 1940s. Classic Appalachian Blues is a collection of relatively unknown blues works from an area not typically known for the genre. Though the popular conception is that Appalachia primarily features country music to the general exclusion of African-American musical styles, Classic Appalachian Blues shows that this is not the case.The album features a great variety of blues expressions and instrumentation by harmonica, bass guitar, piano, fiddle, mandolin and, of course, guitar. This guitar differs from standard blues style and adopts a faster tempo. The music in general is more fast-paced than traditional blues and lends itself well to the numerous harmonica/guitar duets featured in several of the songs, such as Sticks McGhee's "My Baby's Gone." The album features much softer, more melodic tones than I anticipated, and would make great background music for parties.
(12/04/09 12:00am)
Noise and distortion are two genres that, admittedly, get played quite a bit at KTRU. Much of the noise that we play over the air is styled in traditional explosive noises and ambient soundscapes, but it's always a pleasant surprise when something takes the traditional form of a genre that itself is not traditional (noise) and bends it to loosely follow the conventions of one that is (pop). Hexlove's Es Noonar Covencha is one such musical funfest.Hexlove is the project of Zac Nelson, who has been featured in bands such as Who's Your Favorite Son, God? and Prints. Nelson's non-Hexlove work has leaned primarily towards the more conventional indie-rock side, so Hexlove comes as a bit of a surprise to those familiar with his work.
(10/02/09 12:00am)
BackPorch Revolution is a small label that focuses on ambient noise, drone, electronic and experimental music from New Orleans. One of its most important releases was the compilation album Proud To Swim Home: A Backporch Revolution Compilation for New Orleans, produced to aid New Orleans in recovery after Hurricane Katrina.One of the most interesting artists from this label is Mike Karnowski. Otherwise known as DJ Potpie, Karnowski specializes in chaotic mixes of instruments, like a sine wave generator, turntables, low-fi samplers, theremin, guitars and toy organs - basically anything that he can use to extract a sound.
(09/18/09 12:00am)
When Sublime Frequencies burst onto the scene with the first volume of Thai Pop Spectacular two years ago, it faced a challenge, as historical Thai music was frequently overlooked. Fortunately, its refreshing insight into a vibrant and rich recording industry was a welcome addition to music libraries everywhere.The album featured a great mix of local styles, jazz and pop that melded together eclectic musical influences from surf, funk and disco. It was an exciting piece of history with a seemingly universal appeal.
(04/10/09 12:00am)
Every week at KTRU, eager DJs write out short reviews of music's cutting-edge albums. KTRU's Music Department uses these reviews to judge the quality of the albums it receives and to provide information for the DJs who play them. Each week, a DJ polishes one of these reviews so that KTRU's riches can shine for the larger Rice community.Hailing from Baytown, Texas, Ghost Mountain is an up-and-coming duo that plays a nice little mix of electro-pop that is quite reminiscent of MGMT, with influences from of Montreal, YACHT and other bands. Ghost Mountain has a certain quality to their music that makes it feel exuberant and alive, which is more than evident in its new Siamese Sailboats.
(03/27/09 12:00am)
Every week at KTRU, eager DJs scribble out short reviews of music's cutting-edge albums. KTRU's Music Department uses these reviews to judge the quality of the albums it receives and to provide information for the DJs who play them. Each week, a DJ polishes one of these reviews so that KTRU's riches can shine for the larger Rice community.Graham Lambkin and Jason Lescalleet are two creative forces that have been working together to create something amazing, but in order describe the phantasmagoric depictions created by The Breadwinner, one has to first understand its roots.
(03/20/09 12:00am)
Every week at KTRU, eager DJs scribble out short reviews of music's cutting-edge albums. KTRU's Music Department uses these reviews to judge the quality of the albums it receives and to provide information for the DJs who play them. Each week, a DJ polishes one of these reviews so that KTRU's riches can shine for the larger Rice community. Jack Rose's dual album is a compilation of some excellent bluegrass-folksy-bluesy music that provides interesting insight into the experimentations of an artist that is sure to catch your ear. He takes a combination of old and new and blends the two to form something that borders on growing into a wholly new style that is both enjoyable and soothing to listen to.
(03/13/09 12:00am)
When a small waif of an album, or rather half-CD, marked with only "Bishonen Idolpop Genocaust," found its way into the KTRU station, most people did not know what to make of it. The album had the design of a robot and the sound of something that, to the normal ear, would be pure madness. For some time the fate of the album was thrown in the air as the music was so foreign that it seemed everyone was simply afraid of it.Bishonen Idolpop Genocaust hails from Huntsville, Texas, and plays a style of synth electronic music that is reminiscent of old eight-bit video games, so long as they had a high-pitched screaming vocalist accompaniment in Japanese. The native Texan group identifies itself as "Electro/IDM/J-Pop," and the members certainly utilize their identified range to the fullest extent.
(01/16/09 12:00am)
The compilation Bollywood Steel Guitar, on the Sublime Frequencies label, is an engaging collection of some of the best Indian steel guitar pop music from 1962-'86. The album contains 21 tracks collected by Stuart Ellis and features such greats as Van Shipley, Kazi Aniruddha and Charanjit Singh in their finest moments performing for Bollywood film soundtracks.The music featured on Bollywood Steel Guitar is highly evocative. Each artist's individual style brings to mind the setting of their respective movies without the need for a visual aid, a feat that few modern movie soundtracks can accomplish on their own.
(01/09/09 12:00am)
Poetry on Record features a diverse collection of poetry on four discs chock full of readings by the poets themselves. The poetry ranges from incomplete fragments to complete works.The different poets' presentations range from flat to enthralling. The exceptional tracks of the album have the power to bring the artists' poetry to life and give the listener a detailed portrait of the poet.
(12/05/08 12:00am)
Radio Myanmar (Burma) opens a door to sounds that are not often heard in this part of the world.The album's assortment of radio recordings from Yangon, Myanmar, from the spring of 2007, as well as tracks from 1994 through 2002, showcase Sublime Frequencies' signature style of interspersing "legitimate" recordings with soundscapes, ambient noise and radio-swill interludes. The album presents a broad spectrum of programming from the Burmese state-controlled radio station: Myanmar's Voice.
(11/21/08 12:00am)
Brooklyn art-noise quintet Gang Gang Dance has for some time straddled the lines between tribal Afro-punk jams and a more subtle, experimental sound bordering on noise. The group's 2005 release God's Money cataloged the beat-centric focus of the quintet at its most fervent and remains an enjoyable album to this day. GGD's past three releases, consisting of two EPs (Hillulah in 2005 and RAWWAR in 2007) and a full-length album (Retina Riddim in 2007), revisit the experimental roots of the ensemble.Their newest release, Saint Dymphna, brings Gang Gang Dance full circle, facing dance-pop and experimental head-on and melding the elements of each genre seamlessly, with a lean toward the dance-y side.
