http://www.blurt-online.com/reviews/ CD Reviews from Blurt en-us Wed, 16 May 2012 18:07:09 GMT http://blurt-online.com/reviews/view/3829/ (Ribbon Music)   www.ribbonmusic.com   At one juncture in their long career arc, it was waxed that no one has "sold out" to greater affect than Sonic Youth. The same postulation can be applied to the trajectory New York's Black Dice has traversed since its onset back in the late ‘90s. As hardcore disciples, Black Dice's early efforts were noise-bathed ]]> Wed, 16 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://blurt-online.com/reviews/view/3829/ http://blurt-online.com/reviews/view/3830/ (Columbia)   www.columbiarecords.com   Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny fared poorly in theaters, but rebounded on DVD and the midnight movie circuit. Tenacious D addresses this on their loosely conceptual third album where, post-bomb, Jack Black has ditched longtime partner Kyle Gass to go full-on Hollywood a-hole. This plays out only on the telltale ti ]]> Wed, 16 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://blurt-online.com/reviews/view/3830/ http://blurt-online.com/reviews/view/3831/ (Mother West)   www.motherwest.com   I recently had told a friend, who knows DeRosa, that the guy looks like Danzig, to which my pal laughed and said he needed to tell him (he also referred to him as "a real solid dude, a great guy").  As it turns out, DeRosa was born in Lodi, NJ, where Danzig began The Misfits, but was raised in the Jersey Shore town ]]> Wed, 16 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://blurt-online.com/reviews/view/3831/ http://blurt-online.com/reviews/view/3827/ (Alive)   www.alive-totalenergy.com   There is a Bomb in Gilead, the first solo record from former Dexateen Lee Bains III, doesn't travel far afield from the sounds made by his ex-band: country-flavored, punk-infused, bar-band rock & roll, with a proudly Southern flavor. That said, Bains favors the early ‘70s influence of that sound most strongly, ]]> Tue, 15 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://blurt-online.com/reviews/view/3827/ http://blurt-online.com/reviews/view/3828/ (Woodsist)   www.woodsist.com/    Longtime musical partners, and multi-instrumentalists Matt Valentine and Erica Elders, over the last decade have cranked out more than 33 albums. Some, simply playing as a duo, others playing with assembled groups with such monikers as The Medicine Show, The Golden Road and the Bummer Road.  J Mascis regularly si ]]> Tue, 15 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://blurt-online.com/reviews/view/3828/ http://blurt-online.com/reviews/view/3824/ (Thirty Tigers)   www.turmpiketroubadours.com)   Three albums on, the Turnpike Troubadours have evolved from the hard-bitten road warriors their handle implies into a band of musical journeymen of a distinctly blue-collar variety. Rousing fiddle-fueled hoedowns find their place alongside tears-in-the beer balladry and the kind of weary laments that their co ]]> Mon, 14 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://blurt-online.com/reviews/view/3824/ http://blurt-online.com/reviews/view/3825/ (self-released) www.joepugmusic.com   Given the fact that he's always been an indie operator, it's likely that Joe Pug's recognition will continue to come slowly and only in increments at that. On the other hand, that's the only reason why Pug shouldn't catch on quicker. His latest, The Great Despiser, should - despite a title to the contrary - provoke a love fe ]]> Mon, 14 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://blurt-online.com/reviews/view/3825/ http://blurt-online.com/reviews/view/3826/ (Readymade)   www.readymaderecords.com   After exploring country music (well, to a certain extent) on 2009's My Old, Familiar Friend, power pop maestro Brendan Benson returns to his roots on What Kind of World. Almost literally-not only does Benson's fifth full-length boast the same high degree of craft we've come to expect from the Detroit-bred/Nashville-b ]]> Mon, 14 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://blurt-online.com/reviews/view/3826/ http://blurt-online.com/reviews/view/3821/ (Rock Candy)   www.rockcandyrecords.com   One of the great lost treasures of ‘80s rock, Whatever Happened to Fun..., the debut LP by one-and-done L.A. quartet Candy, finally gets a proper reissue after nearly 30 years of obscurity. At first glance, this might seem like a waste of time - the cover alone, showing a gang of young men with an image somewh ]]> Fri, 11 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://blurt-online.com/reviews/view/3821/ http://blurt-online.com/reviews/view/3822/ (Now-Again)   www.nowagainrecords.com   Ten years in the compiling by the savvy archivists at Now-Again, Soul Cal collects fifteen ultra-rare tracks recorded between 1971 and 1982 that shows vintage soul and funk's progression towards disco, sometimes splitting the difference between the two. It's packaged with a 5 ½" x 8" 80-page book that details a ]]> Fri, 11 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://blurt-online.com/reviews/view/3822/ http://blurt-online.com/reviews/view/3823/ (Capitol/Culture Factory USA)   www.culturefactoryusa.com   When Willy DeVille died in 2009, there was an outpouring of grief from his diehard fans, but otherwise the event was barely a bump in an American pop culture landscape that seems to revel in celebrity deaths. (In Europe, where he was always more popular, it was likely bigger news.) It didn't help th ]]> Fri, 11 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://blurt-online.com/reviews/view/3823/ http://blurt-online.com/reviews/view/3818/ (ATO Records)   www.atorecords.com   Maybe as we near the Mayan Armageddon we'll find a bigger audience and general appreciation for the death-preoccupations of musicians like Lindsay Fuller. On You, Anniversary, her first release for Dave Matthews' ATO label and third overall, the Alabama-raised Seattle native shoots for the same dark poetic fires that make ]]> Thu, 10 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://blurt-online.com/reviews/view/3818/ http://blurt-online.com/reviews/view/3819/ (self released)   www.myspace.com/wearekingofprussia   I thought that this band, like many others, was going to be one of those that came and went. A one hit wonder if you will. They released a fine debut on Kindercore back in 2007 then ....nothing. Not a peep. At that time Kindercore label had been dormant for a few year so I thought that it was going to ]]> Thu, 10 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://blurt-online.com/reviews/view/3819/ http://blurt-online.com/reviews/view/3820/ (Matinee)   www.matineerecordings.com   ...and the pop hits keep coming from the Matinee label.  After a few EPs (Who's in Your Dreams and Picture Perfect as well as the "Stop, Look and Listen" 7"; the title tracks of the latter two are included here) Strawberry Whiplash's debut full-length is finally here. The band is the Scottish duo of Lawrence " ]]> Thu, 10 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://blurt-online.com/reviews/view/3820/ http://blurt-online.com/reviews/view/3816/ (2nd Story Sound)   www.2ndstorysoundrecords.com   Loudon Wainwright III has never been one to shy away from his personal missteps and tragedies. Hell, he's managed to create a career out of them.   And Older Than My Old Man Now, his latest, is certainly no exception. On songs like "The Here and Now," "In C," "All in a Family"... actually it's proba ]]> Wed, 09 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://blurt-online.com/reviews/view/3816/ http://blurt-online.com/reviews/view/3817/ (United for Opportunity)   www.UFOmusic.com   New England's Caravan of Thieves aren't your ordinary band of wayfarers, although the sound often suggests that in another life they could have been a roaming band of gypsies, musically-speaking anyway. That's a credit to the husband and wife team of Fuzz and Carrie Sangiovanni, who head up this colorf ]]> Wed, 09 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://blurt-online.com/reviews/view/3817/ http://blurt-online.com/reviews/view/3813/ (Vanguard)   www.vanguardrecords.com   Over the course of his career, Greg Laswell's been prone to favor nocturnal laments, twilight rhapsodies both mournful and melancholy. Landline follows suit, but even in the midst of the dark desire, Laswell manages to soar through music that's majestic as well as meditative. Happily then, he manages to do so in a way t ]]> Tue, 08 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://blurt-online.com/reviews/view/3813/ http://blurt-online.com/reviews/view/3814/ (Fire)   www.firerecords.com   Thoughts on "Macaroni," "Greeed," "Can't Stop the War," "Gov't"? To formats that are yanked from Hip Hop, R&B, Punk, Funk, Pop, and Experimental genres? A musician can make sounds that are genius incarnate. But if he or she can't make those sounds ear-friendly, that musician's output will tend to dwell in a sort of vacuum, ]]> Tue, 08 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://blurt-online.com/reviews/view/3814/ http://blurt-online.com/reviews/view/3815/ (Acetate)   www.acetate.com   When the Hangmen first hit the Los Angeles music scene in the late ‘80s, the long-haired quartet was mistaken for a hair metal act and unfortunately marketed as such by Capitol Records. When the rootsy grit-rockers on the band's self-titled LP didn't give mousse-abused Sunset Strip rats any thrills, the Hangmen were dropp ]]> Tue, 08 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://blurt-online.com/reviews/view/3815/ http://blurt-online.com/reviews/view/3810/ (Sundazed)   www.sundazed.com   Back in the primordial stew that was mid-to-late 1960s era rock 'n' roll, record label execs were literally clueless about the music, and were just as likely to chase trends as they were to discover new talent. With their collective ears to the ground, they listened for the buzz, and in 1966 and '67, nowhere was the howling ]]> Mon, 07 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://blurt-online.com/reviews/view/3810/