Q
Bonnie 'Prince' Billy/ Matt Sweeney Superwolf
Drag City
As the insert indicates, these fellows are all about educating the youth on the isolating tendencies of hashish and thusly promoting the healthy consumption of alcohol for the betterment of society. Annoying rhetoric aside, Bonnie
at times, Sweeney and Oldham find ways to take advantage of each other's quirks to spark a warm, folklore-toned dialogue about hanging on to what they have
"Prince" Billy (aka Will Oldham) and Matt Sweeney (Zwan, Guided By Voices) come together for the first time on Super-wolf, with Sweeny handling the guitars and other instrumentation as the Prince mounts his rough-edged voice up against our ears. In true Oldham fashion, the production is extra lo-fi, drawing us close enough to feel their bellies shake as they belt out an intimate message that wanders comfortably through a variety of mood swings.
Though they stumble over one another
found in the friendship of song. There is a particular void that begins to unravel as the record progresses, feeling deliberately sparse and somewhat unfinished. At the same time though, there is a cameraderie that forms between these two artists that is bizarre enough to hold things
together and even inspire some binge drinking. There is a certain amount of flexibility that must be granted to any of Oldham's records, and this new experiment may take more than any of his previous projects.
Try if you like: Grateful Dead, Iron and Wine, Neil Young
Grade: B
—Ryan McBee
El Pus
Hoodlum Rock (Vol.1:
The Bogard)
Atlanta has been the home to hip-hop legends such as Jermaine Dupri, Ludacris and Usher. But it was not until recently that a hip-hop inspired quintet by the name of El Pus (pronounced "el poose") broke rank to produce a rock album.
El Pus is not your Kid Rock or Limp Bizkit, or whatever bands you may have conjured from the description of their style; they have talent. Their lyrics are well thought out and written with a driving force behind them. The first single, "Suburb Thuggin'," is a somewhat humorous look at the suburban youth and the way they may dress and act. And with lyrics such as, "You ain't really never seen no gangster shit cause if you did you'd be pissin' yourself," their outlook on much of suburbia becomes quite
apparent. This track also stands apart more than any others because the music and vocal style on it is all rock, not an
accurate representation of the entire album but a great track none the less.
The album has no set style being either hip-hop or rock nor is it an even divide. The songs vary from track to track and even within a single track the listener will experience a guitar riff quickly followed by the delivery of hip-hop lyrics.
Their delivery though is not rough like one associates with rap, they have a style that is more reflective of The Roots.
The album is a refreshing take on hip-hop and rock, which on many occasions the strength of one is often the weakness of the other. With good hip-hop style lyrics and unique rock music El Pus offers a new take on both styles of music which should be welcomed with open arms.
Grade: A
—Jonathan Millstein
LISTEN
Bright Eyes I'm Wide Awake,It's Morning
Since 2002's magnum opus LIFTED or The
The Story is in the Soil, Bright Eyes front-man Conor Oberst has been somewhat of a media darling, labeled (perhaps prematurely) as "Indie-rock's boy genius" and "Voice of his generation." With the release of two new Bright Eyes full-lengths last month, whatever questions linger around those
loaded and messianic labels should be answered, for better or worse.
Of the two albums, the acoustic, country-tinged I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning more closely resembles Bright Eyes' traditional sound, far removed from the electronic, beat-driven "experimentation" of its counterpart, Digital Ash in a Digital Urn. Unlike the folk opera LIFTED however, I'm Wide Awake eschews the gaudy strings and run-on mini-dramas that made that album a 73-minute mountain; in their place are tightly constructed country-pop one-offs. To augment the album's Americana zeal, Oberst enlisted numerous A-list guests: pedal steel wizard, producer and frequent Bright Eyes collaborator Mike Mogis, as well as Norah Jones' songwriter Jesse Harris, appear instrumentally. My Morning
Jacket's Jim James and country legend Emmylou Harris add vocal support to a number of tracks.
The album's strongest tracks are a pair of unruly exercises; Mogis' pedal steel threatens to spin out of orbit on "Another
Travelin' Song" as Emmy- lou yelps near the exit like a cat in heat. The album's finale, "Road to Joy," is also its best: a socially aware, politically incensed re-working of Beethoven's Ninth (though Ludwig probably never sang "Let's fuck it up boys/Make some noise!" as passionately as Oberst.)
The album stumbles briefly on the desultorily over-indulgent tracks "Lua" (briefly Billboard's #1 single) and "Landlocked Blues," a track that was perfect in 2003 when Oberst released it as "One Foot in Front of the Other." Minor impropriety aside, I'm Wide Awake It's Morning is Bright Eyes' strongest release to date, and one that does nothing to disparage Oberst's title of "Indie-rock man of the hour."
Grade: A-
Try it if you like: Ryan Adams, Ben Kweller
—Dave Ruigh