Guest Review by Keith Spencer
Keith Spencer is a young musician and composer who has been studying with John Nemerovski for four years on keyboard, guitar, and music theory. Keith is an astute follower of the progressive “alt” music scene. We hope you appreciate his insights into the following two independent label CDs.
Boas – Mansion (2002)
ASIN: B00006J3SX
Review by Keith Spencer
After only a brief listen to Boas’ first full-length release, it becomes apparent that there may be another reason for choosing to entitle the album “Mansion.”
The actual reason is that “Mansion” was formerly the name of Chicago-based Boas. The band’s name was changed about the time of the release of this CD.
However, the name for this aptly-titled “Mansion” could have come from the haunted-sounding music that Boas have managed to create. John Paul Klos’ voice is somewhere between Neil Young and Thom Yorke, and Klos uses it to recreate a sound you would have thought was worn out a few decades back. These vocals creep along eerily on tracks like “Ghetto Pond,” giving a sense of foreboding that one may find similar to a visit to a haunted mansion in broad daylight.
But enough with the fractured analogies. Boas’ newest full-length disc, in addition to having that haunted-nostalgia-post-rock sound, is a brilliant example of how previously uncombined genres can come together to create an amazing amalgam of sound that can hardly be defined.
With a list of obvious influences ranging from Classic Rock to Gospel, Boas has created a nostalgic, old-sounding feel to this record. Rattlesnake-like maracas course through thoughtful guitar-plucking on “Ghetto Pond,” before a barrage of leaden, steady handclaps begins. On “Get Up, Crippled Wife,” a muffled organ plays dusty chords through piercing vocals. It’s enough to make you wonder if at least one band member has been locked up in a basement somewhere since the 1940s.
While this latest Boas album may lack the hooks and intense emotional sound of many modern artists listeners have grown to expect in recent years, Boas instead choose to do the exact opposite: slow, syncopated drumbeats, thoughtful melodies and lyrics and careful production combine to give Boas a much-less-than-modern feel. Indeed, this is precisely the type of music that the average hyperactive teen pop diva would be unable to handle or comprehend; a slow, quiet rhythm and old-timey feel permeates throughout the whole album, as if it were straight out of Grandpappy’s record collection.
This flawless execution of such an intriguing sound can be attributed to founding member/drummer/producer Graeme Gibson, who obviously planned out every aspect of the album during its production. The result is 40 minutes of nostalgic, post-apocalyptic
slow-rock.
Boas’ distinct sound has not gone unnoticed. Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy recently picked Boas to tour with Wilco. On some of Boas’ songs, the Wilco influence couldn’t be more obvious; “For Sheriff Allison” and “Domino Oz” sound as if they could have come straight out of the B-sides for Wilco’s “Being There.”
“Mansion” is not without its faults, the main one being listenability. If “Mansion” had slightly more replayability, Boas could have a potential breakthrough on their hands. The haunting lack of hooks is what will undoubtedly prevent modern critics from naming this album one of the year’s best. Unfortunately, “Mansion” may be one of those albums doomed to spend only a few weeks in a CD player before an extensive shelf-life; despite being so intriguing at first, the sound is so unusual that its appeal is quite limited. Nonetheless, Boas are poised in such a position that I have great expectations for their second album.
Califone – Quicksand/Cradlesnakes
ASIN: B00008BL4Z
Reviewed by Keith Spencer
“Quicksand/Cradlesnakes” is almost the type of music you could imagine hearing while traveling via boxcar through the Midwest. I say almost because, were it not for Califone’s genre-bending musicianship, this would simply be another above-average alt-country record. Still, the rugged country sound of this album is certainly music you’d expect to hear while watching wheat fields and barns fly by.
Califone has done more than create a figurative feeling of nostalgia for the Midwest on their latest CD. Throughout the course of the disc, you can also expect to hear a variety of genres and influences fly by. Although the album has a distinct folk rock theme to it, a wide variety of other musical genres becomes distinctive via their music. Through the fuzz of analog distortion, post-rock guitars and even a hint of Caribbean drumbeats, Califone never chooses to stick to any particular genre.
“Quicksand/Cradlesnakes” manages to come together to make a very strong presentation as a whole. While Califone may not find themselves to be tied to a distinct genre, all their songs have a similar feel: calm, smooth vocals and lazy guitars, buried upon any number of layers of electronics or strings.
After a brief instrumental intro track that sounds like it could have been a warm-up session, the album begins with “Horoscopic Amputation Honey,” a piano-laden ballad with Tim Rutili’s melodic voice chanting gentle advice (Grate your sins into its mane/and take it to the county line). The sometimes-bluesy melodies of Rutili’s distant vocals float through a background of electronic dissonance and pianos. The only track in which Rutili’s voice is not effectively used to its full extent is on “Your Golden Ass,” a song which sounds as though it would have been better off done by the Pixies.
The majority of the music is well-executed, catchy Alt-Country. Lazy country-style guitars, slow drumbeats (if any) and a few string instruments are thrown in for good measure. Califone tries hard to avoid the raw-sounding guitar hooks and bends that have worked so well for modern rock groups, and for obvious reasons. This style of smooth guitar picking sounds much better with maximum clarity.
Califone tries to breaks new ground by going where no group has gone before through a soft and discreet approach to instrumentation. The simplicity of Califone’s music coupled with their use of electronics creates a slightly more intriguing sound than most Alt-Country.
Califone’s genre dissolving in itself is nothing new. Modern indie and post-rock musicians have been deconstructing music for years in an attempt to sound artsy. The use of quirky electronic blips and funky drumbeats on some alienated tracks don’t always work well, and I’m afraid such techniques have been far overused in recent years. Califone succeeds in not subjecting the listener to very much of it.
While this style of music is admittedly nothing new, Tim Rutili’s sometimes hoarse, but smooth vocals give it a much more hearty feel. Rutili has the gruff voice of someone who may have smoked for a few years of his life, judging by his soft, calm manner of singing. Carefully planned instrumentation gives the album a certain heartfelt edge, one that could not be created through any other vocalist. It is the distinct vocals, coupled with the lazy, Wilco-esque guitarwork that gives this album a very emotional and heartfelt distinction, rather than the strange indie deconstructionist sound some musicians prefer.
Keith Spencer, edited by John Nemerovski
Graeme Gibson (co-founder of Boas and engineer for “Quicksand/Cradlesnakes” tells MyMac.com:
Our “Mansion” cd’s were already pressed and packaged and we couldn’t release them under the name “Mansion,” so we changed our name to Boas and had to put stickers on the shrink wrapped cd’s that say “Mansion, the debut release by Boas.”
Neither of these records is able to be cracked in the first three listens. You have to go beyond that before it happens.
I urge anyone to not use the term “alt-country” because it makes me think of Weezer playing country music, alt-country.
Califone is not a breakthrough band. They have a steady fan base that’s in it for the long haul. Live they are a different band. They will play their asses off for hours (though it would go unnoticed cause they are sitting down the whole time). They are a very visual band (with films not costumes or skits), but to know Califone one must know of the past.
These aren’t kids, they know what they are doing. Before there was Califone there was Red Red Meat, and before that there was Joe’s Kitchen. I suggest you see what that’s all about first.
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