Claire Ashton

Bjork (9/17/2007)

admin — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 11:02:00 +0000

Atlanta, Georgia

There’s no denying that after all of these years Bjork’s fans still think she’s the hottest thing since sliced bread. I attended her live performance at The Fox Theatre last night, and I left with the overwhelming feeling that despite chatter about the music industry going down the toilet, there are still certain performers who are impacting their audience and deeply defying the present state of things. Surprisingly enough, the crowd ranged from indie hipsters to parents with young children; everybody standing the entire time and dancing in unison.

In expected Bjork fashion, the show was a visual smorgasbord, complete with oversized banners of woodland creatures, flat-screen TVs visualizing the electronic antics taking place on stage, flames and lasers, confetti falling from the rafters and Bjork in a flowing pink and white dress. An entirely female children’s choir on risers to the right proved to be one of the most entertaining aspects of the live performance, outside of Bjork herself. These girls were talented beyond their years, morphing from role to role: an angelic choir, a full-fledged brass section and a stationary dance troupe.

All visuals aside, Bjork’s voice is sumptuous and solid, and she seems like she’s having the time of her life performing, which is probably why there wasn’t an empty seat in the house. Her beat-heavy, slightly dissonant style remains artfully unique, setting her apart from most of the cookie-cutter bands infiltrating the music scene today.

Written by: Claire Ashton, October 1st 2007

Inventions for the New Season

admin — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 20:15:00 +0000

By Maserati

Temporary Residence

For the last decade Athens, Georgia has been a hotbed for bands that stray away from highly stylized music in favor of showcasing their art outside the boundaries of conformity. The psychedelic instrumentalists in Maserati exemplify this mindset with a unique brand of music they call “Pink Floyd for hipsters” and “stoner rock for the working man.” Seven years since their conception, the quartet who bucks the idea of having a vocalist, is back on the scene with a new full length album, Inventions for the New Season, released in the states on Temporary Residence.

Chock full of beat-heavy instrumentals, Inventions comes across as highly experimental without being overtly eclectic. To highlight one specific track on Inventions would underestimate its assumed purpose, as this concept album invokes an elevated emotional state that’s best attained by listening from start to finish. Maserati uses basic instrumentation (guitars, drums, bass) in place of the bells and whistles incorporated into most of today’s production to create lengthy songs (often 7-9 minutes) that are fundamentally primitive. While Inventions might not make it into your iPod playlist for your commute to work, it is a “place and purpose” album that very well may provide the soundtrack to your next house party or substance-induced journey.

Written by: Claire Ashton, August 1st 2007

We Belong To the Staggering Evening

admin — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 18:52:00 +0000

By The Ike Reilly Assassination

Ike Reilly’s charm lies in the fact that he asks for salvation quite frequently, knowing damned well that he has no intention of repenting. The devilish genius behind the pop-sensible major label release, Salesmen and Racists _(among a slew of others titles), is back in the saddle with the independent, roadhouse-ready _We Belong To The Staggering Evening. Most of the bluesy, lo-fi songs on Staggering Evening abide by the old “sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll” cliché, with the addition of under-age girls, lambasting the government, making light of religion, occasional drug-induced fist fights and trips to Mexico.

If you’re prone to getting your panties in a wad when people speak out against your cause, Staggering Evening _must be exempt from your scrutiny simply because Reilly unapologetically spares nobody’s feelings in the songwriting, including his own. In the saloon sing-along “Valentines Day in Juarez,” Reilly knocks himself with the line, “Yesterday I swallowed. Today I choked,” while in the campy track “I Hear The Train” he takes a stab at Evangelicals with the line, “Tell your minister he looks real cute in his Lutheran suit.” Album highlights include the foot-stomping, opening track “8 More Days Til The 4th Of July”, the single “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling” and the gritty “It’s Hard To Make Love To An American”. Simply put, _Staggering Evening depicts a world where women are just as risqué as men (if not more so), and where the most debated issues of our time are lightheartedly taken with a grain of salt.

Written by: Claire Ashton, July 20th 2007

Destroy Me I’m Yours

admin — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 01:00:00 +0000

By Shellshag

Starcleaner Records

Move over Sid and Nancy. Free form rock is the new black and Brooklyn, New York do-gooders Jen and Johnny from Shellshag are the ultimate musical couple. Years ago while performing in separate bands, they were involved with a public arts warehouse and living experiment in San Francisco called Starcleaners. Fast forward to present day, where Starcleaners has become a haven for the artistic community, releasing limited edition music including Shellshag’s first full-length album, Destroy Me I’m Yours. For a band that has performed at buzz-festivals like CMJ and SxSW and boasts a high-energy live show, there really isn’t anything lost in translation on this recording.

Released on 12” vinyl with a CD included for those who refuse to part with their iTunes, Destroy Me I’m Yours encompasses all of the garage-rock glory of the duo’s influences, Sonic Youth and Pavement. For what this release lacks in instrumental complexity due to the pair’s duo status (think White Stripes and Jucifer), they make up in personality and execution. Guitarist, Johnny tends to take the microphone on the album’s grinding sludge-punk tracks like “Shut Up” and “123,” while drummer Jen steps forward on minimal, pubescent sloppy-pop numbers like “Magnet” and “Make Love.” Charmingly off-key and occasionally spastic, Destroy Me I’m Yours will motivate you to drop by your local indie dive bar to see Shellshag in action.

Written by: Claire Ashton, July 1st 2007

Split Lips, Winning Hips, A Shiner

admin — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 03:07:00 +0000

By Shapes and Sizes

Asthmatic Kitty Records

The self-proclaimed neat-freaks in Victoria, British Columbia-based quartet Shapes and Sizes have crafted a genre defying sophomore album that begs you to rethink the way that you listen to music. Split Lips, Winning Hips, A Shiner is a perfectly whimsical combination of lowbrow tartiness and heartfelt emotional awareness.

Released on Sufjan Stephen’s label, Asthmatic Kitty Records, Split Lips is already eligible for a Quebec Independent Music Award. Lead vocalists Caila Thompson-Hannant and Rory Seydel color outside the lines of what is traditionally considered masculine and feminine with their often sugary sweet vocals melding together so flawlessly in some songs that you almost forget both genders are at play. To say this album is all over the map would be an understatement, but that proves to be both its greatest strength and weakness. The vocal experimentation on “Highlife (I Had Been Duped)” exemplifies Split Lips, with Thompson-Hannant coercing the listener into the song with her slightly off-key poppy ramblings followed by orgasmic screams and a makeshift bar-room sing-along followed by what vocally sounds like a nervous breakdown. The emotionally vulnerable track “The Taste In My Mouth” makes a socially poignant statement about domestic abuse, while the track “The Horse’s Mouthy Mouth” deals with nothing more than, “generally fucking shit up.” Split Lips is refreshingly avant garde in a manner that is so intellectually taxing that it requires your undivided attention.

Written by: Claire Ashton, June 15th 2007

Live and Learn

admin — Sat, 05 May 2007 02:19:00 +0000

By House of Fools

Drive Thru Records

Drive Thru Records appears to have taken a gamble on House of Fools and won. The Greensboro, NC sextet - recently on tour with Brand New - is quite a departure from the label’s notoriously pop-punk roster. Following their eponymous 2006 EP, House of Fools released their first full-length album, Live and Learn. The 15-track compilation, including hidden track “Blame You,” runs the gamut between indie and rock with ethereal layered guitars (a la Jimmy Eat World), eclectic yet pop-sensible instrumentation (think horns, banjo, accordion and shredding guitar solos), and retro vocals reminiscent of The Beach Boys.

Live and Learn might not reel you in on the first spin because it’s a conceptual album that requires further commitment, but if you’re willing to live with it for a few days, it’s bound to take up permanent residency in your stereo. Lead vocalist Josh King has such a bittersweet and demanding voice that he really sells lines like, “I’m coming to claim what I consider mine, even if we all go down . . . I want to get my gun to prove how much I love you.” This is a really good body of work, but the mid-tempo songs tend to resonate most. High points are title track “Live and Learn” and “What Are We Supposed To Do.” Produced by Walt Vincent, this album focuses on the topic of male sensitivity, weakness and desire that’s packaged in such an overwhelmingly epic way that is anything but emo-passé.

Written by: Claire Ashton, May 4th 2007

Living with the Living

admin — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 18:00:00 +0000

By Ted Leo and the Pharmacists

Touch and Go

In a day where so many previously non-political artists are taking a stance to assure themselves a Grammy nod, Ted Leo’s refreshingly authentic social commentary shines through in his music just as much as it has for the past decade. The strict vegan, along with his band The Pharmacists, released his fifth full length studio album, [Living with the Living](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000MQ55DO?ie=UTF8&tag=feminrevie-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000MQ55DO).

Produced by Fugazi drummer Brendan Canty, Living with the Living proves to be a Molotov cocktail of explosive blues-tinged punk mixed with light-hearted summer sounds and even reggae. The latest effort by the D.C.-based trio envelopes an instrumentally experimental complexity with a lyrical simplicity that combine for a well-rounded compilation of songs. The album’s most memorable tracks are heavily stacked mid-album and surprisingly embody more of Leo’s social views than his political agenda.

The endearing “A Bottle of Buckie” is a stand-out track that shows sometimes you need nothing more than a good friend and a bottle of cheap Buckfast wine. Leo comforts the listener with this laid back track only to black their eye with the next. The garage-metal antics of “Bomb. Repeat. Bomb.” combine with both spoken word and chanting group vocals to create a track that is so politically fierce that you might be inclined to turn off Living with the Living and initiate change.

Written by: Claire Ashton, April 21st 2007