Anti [Enhanced]

1. Random Noize Musick

2. Substrom

3. Anti

4. R. Ror

5. Dual Kanal

6. Erloesung Durch Strom

7. R. Rorizm

8. Leichtes Kratzen

9. Varlokoppler

10. Zero

11. Die Nichtigkeit des Seins

Anti,T. Raumschmiere,Hefty Records,Dance Music,Experimental Techno,Pop,Rock/Pop

Average customer rating: We'll never turn back Mavis Staples rules quafable but not transcendent Yes and no Passion and soul

We'll Never Turn Back Mavis Staples Manufacturer: Anti ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Blues | Styles | Music Traditional Blues | Blues | Styles | Music Gospel | Christian & Gospel | Styles | Music General | R&B | Styles | Music General | Soul | R&B | Styles | Music Similar Items: West My Name Is Buddy Twelve The Sermon On Exposition Blvd. [Deluxe Limited Edition --- includes 5.1 SACD version and 40 minute DVD of making the record] Sky Blue Sky ASIN: B000MR8SZU Release Date: 2007-04-24

Tracks:

1. Down In Mississippi
2. Eyes On The Prize
3. We Shall Not Be Moved
4. In The Mississippi River
5. On My Way
6. This Little Light
7. 99 And 1/2
8. My Own Eyes
9. Turn Me Around
10. We'Ll Never Turn Back
11. I'Ll Be Rested
12. Jesus Is On The Main Line

Amazon.com

As musical activists in the 1960s civil rights movement, the Staple Singers were powerful voices for equality and change. And more than 40 years after Pops's daughter Mavis spent a night in a West Memphis, Arkansas, jail at the behest of a racist cop, she still remembers the terror of the experience, as well as the counsel of Dr. Martin Luther King. That episode is at the centerpiece of "My Own Eyes," one of the most moving offerings on this collection of songs of racial struggle in the '50s and '60s, produced by guitarist Ry Cooder and featuring backing from the original Freedom Singers and Ladysmith Black Mambazo. Throughout, the album proves both emotionally chilling and spiritually uplifting. On J.B. Lenoir's "Down in Mississippi" and Marshall Jones's "In the Mississippi River," for example, Cooder makes fine use of pounding percussion and snaky electric guitar to capture the danger and fear inherent in the Deep South at the time, while the title song and "Jesus Is on the Main Line" draw on gospel and the traditional framework of church hymns to promise positive solutions. Staples, who adlibs on several cuts, connecting the injustice of yesterday to the continuing marginalization of blacks in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, remains a remarkable performer, employing a throaty sensuality that rises from a deep well of tremulous emotion. If her album is musically uneven at times, her artistry and strength continue to shine as undimmed beacons. --Alanna Nash

More from Mavis and the Staple Singers

Have a Little Faith	A Piece of the Action	Only for the Lonely
The Best of the Staple Singers	Great Day	The Staple Singers: Greatest Hits

Album Description

From the liner notes, by John Lewis:

When I listen to this music, it takes me back. It takes me back to the red clay hills of Georgia, to the Black Belt of Alabama, and the Delta of Mississippi. It takes me back to the moans and groans and pains of an oppressed people yearning for freedom. It takes me back to the time when hundreds and thousands of us decided we were "sick and tired of being sick and tired," as Fannie Lou Hamer said. It takes me back to the days when ordinary people inspired by a dream decided to quench our hunger and thirst for justice in the fountains of mercy and love.

Back then, some people thought legalized segregation in America would never come to an end. But those of us in the Civil Rights Movement were inspired by a higher calling. And even if it cost us our very lives, "we weren't gone to let nobody turn us `round". We believed that the action of peace, the way of non-violence, and the power of love could overcome our oppression and remind our oppressors of their own humanity. Through the power of this faith our nation witnessed a non-violent revolution of values, a revolution of ideas that changed America forever.

The music you are listening to right now was the soul of that revolution. It was this music that gave us hope when it seemed like all hope was gone. It was the heartbeat of this music and its steady, reassuring message that bound us together as one solid force. So when we were beaten, arrested and jailed; when we stood together on picket lines or marched through the streets of the Deep South; when we faced the guns drawn, the billy clubs and the bullwhips raised; when we were teargassed, trampled by horses, or scattered by fire hoses, it was these songs that lifted us and pushed us to a higher place.

It is my hope that when you hear Mavis Staples, when you hear the Freedom Singers, and the other artists on this CD, that you too will be inspired. I hope this music will help you find the courage to stand up, speak up, and speak out and answer the call of your own conscience. It is my hope that this music will help you see what ordinary people with extraordinary vision can do when they decide they will never turn back.

Rep. John Lewis

Customer Reviews:

We'll never turn back.......2007-07-05

I enjoyed this cd very much. I had listened to the Staples singers years ago and was glad to see Mavis recording again.

Mavis Staples rules.......2007-06-28

This is one fantastic recording. Mavis has a magnificent voice . . . perfect for the songs and full of depth and determination. The musicians notably ry cooder and back up singers are up to the task as well. Mavis let her light shine brightly!!

quafable but not transcendent.......2007-06-27

This is a solid album, similar in tone to the recent retreads by the Blind Boys of Alabama and John Hammond. The historical and emotional baggage it carries help one to listen with a sympathetic ear, and perhaps lend it more pathos than is earned strictly on aesthetic merits.

Yes and no.......2007-06-27

A tribute to the legacy of the Civil Rights movement and the Staple Singers themselves. Doesn't really live up to the hype, though. Mavis has still got the drive and passion, but her voice doesn't have the range and nuance.

Passion and soul.......2007-06-26

Mavis Staples sings with passion and true soul the songs of the Civil Rights movement on "We'll Never Turn Back". The CD has all the sounds of a great Ry Cooder CD too because he did arrangements of many of the songs and he plays on them too. This CD's version of "This Little Light of Mine" shows what can be done respectfully to bring a whole new sound to an old song. This CD really deserves 5 stars.

Average customer rating: AMAZING!! She is good Emotion, intellect, attitude, and talent to spare. Fantastically Happy and Moving Long time coming,,,

Little Voice Sara Bareilles Manufacturer: Epic ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Contemporary Folk | Folk | Styles | Music Alternative Folk | Contemporary Folk | Folk | Styles | Music Singer-Songwriters | Contemporary Folk | Folk | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music Similar Items: Coco One Cell In the Sea My December The Reminder Wild Hope ASIN: B000R7I3LY Release Date: 2007-07-03

Tracks:

1. Love Song
2. Vegas
3. Bottle It Up
4. One Sweet Love
5. Come Round Soon
6. Morningside
7. Between the Lines
8. Love on the Rocks
9. City
10. Many the Miles
11. Fairytale
12. Gravity

Amazon.com

For many listeners, Little Voice will be their first exposure to this soulful singer/songwriter, but it's actually Sara Bareilles' second record. Her first, the self-released Careful Confessions, led to a deal with Epic. Since then, Bareilles has opened for Marc Broussard and Maroon 5. She's also become a bonafide soundtrack queen with tracks featured in female-centric films Girl Play, Loving Annabelle, and Monster-in-Law. As with her out-of-print debut, the UCLA grad wrote every song on her first major label recording (Little Voice features re-worked versions of several demo numbers). Like the portrait on the back of the CD--Bareilles in strappy black dress and lace-free high-tops--the piano-playing chanteuse combines the sweet with the scruffy. While her jazzy pop melodies are radio-ready, her relationship-oriented lyrics can be unexpectedly salty ("Bottle Up" and "Come Round Soon" wouldn't pass FCC muster). A little profanity here and there, however, doesn't indicate tough-girl attitude--Amy Winehouse can rest easy--so much as a desire to express herself freely. As Bareilles explains in "Love Song," "I'm trying to let you hear me as I am." (Not surprisingly, her degree is in communications.) Fans of Sarah McLachlan and Alicia Keyes will find much to like here. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Customer Reviews:

AMAZING!!.......2007-07-18

That is all that can be said for Sara Bareilles' "little voice" although when it comes to Sara neither her voice nor her talent is little. She is a Fiona Apple meets Sarah Mclachlan and add a dash of kelly clarkson (wierd combination right?) That works so well. With catchy lyrics and songs you want to dance in your swivel chair at work for, Sara Bareilles has made a huge acheivement and a even bigger impression on the Music world!

She is good.......2007-07-18

I was net-surfing for a CD I would like to buy on Amazon, and 5 stars customer reviews cought my attention. I listened all free-sample songs and felt in love with her album. Next day I rushed to a CD store and bought this album. I can tell you all that I love every single of her song in the album "Little Voice". She is so talented artist. Lyrics and sounds perfectly harmonized and made each song so cool. She will not make all of you disappointed. Strongly recommended!

Emotion, intellect, attitude, and talent to spare........2007-07-17

This album shows Sara Bareilles to be one of the great storytellers of her generation of singer/songwriters. Her lyrics are universally accessible without being trite, innovative without being inane. She weaves beautiful yarns that display emotions from anger to excitement to peace to fantasy all with an overtone of hope and positive energy. Songs like "Love Song" and "Many the Miles" may make you want to dance while "Between the Lines" and "Come Round Soon" may break your heart, but all of it is uplifting, smart, and multilayered enough in lyrical and musical content that you can listen again and again, always finding new things to appreciate.

As many probably know, some of the songs on this album were featured on her earlier independent relase, Careful Confessions. I hesitate to compare the versions on Little Voice to those earlier takes, simply because I think the aesthetic is different and each version of each song seems to function in its own way. I loved the stripped down, piano-only "Love Song", and yet I think this new arrangement is tasteful and interesting and fits perfectly on the new album. The same goes for her long-time favorite "Gravity" -- I fell in love with this song in the form it took on Careful Confessions, and yet I view the new arrangement with strings here as the form this song was always meant to take, at its best. The only track I'm not crazy about is "Fairytale" -- I think the simple story of this song was better matched by the keyboard-only accompaniment from the earlier recording. But it's a small quibble on a big album from a BIG new voice in music.

Meanwhile, the songs that were NOT released in another form earlier are, with few exceptions, my favorites. "Vegas" is playful and cool, "Morningside" is full of rhythmic dynamism and attitude, "Many the Miles" lilts and grooves and invites you to sing right along.

If there is any justice or taste in the world, this woman will be a hit.

Fantastically Happy and Moving.......2007-07-14

As a music fan of all different Genres, I discovered this CD from a friend who heard it was the next Vanessa Carlton. Being a fan, I ventured a listen. She has a unique style that is full of warm vocals,with a piano accompanying her as she takes you through a journey of music. I personally love the CD, and can't wait for a follow up. My favorite songs songs on the CD are "Love Song" and "Gravity." If you are fan of incredible songwriting, as well good someone who really can show off their music, This CD is just for you!

Long time coming,,,.......2007-07-13

Sara has had the talent for many years to create someting like this, and the recording lables are behind the times as far as signing Sara is concerned. Someone as creative and talented as Sara should have had an album out 5 years ago. Never mind the delay in release, this album is the jackpot in up coming artists. The voice, the lyrics, the rhythm and the feeling all mesh into twelve tracks called "Little Voice". This album is a must have for those of you who like jazz piano, strong powerful female voices, and music you can listen to over and over without it ever getting old.

Average customer rating: Sweet, Surprising and Happy She sounds like a little chirpy bird annoying at first but then she grows on you Regina has a Beautiful Voice, Insteresting Songs, and Instrumental Talents too Some good, some bad...

Begin to Hope Regina Spektor Manufacturer: Sire ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Singer-Songwriters | Pop | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Alternative Folk | Contemporary Folk | Folk | Styles | Music Pop | Styles | Blowout Music | Stores | Music Rock | Styles | Blowout Music | Stores | Music Alternative Rock | Styles | Blowout Music | Stores | Music All Blowout Music | Blowout Music | Stores | Music More Titles at Least 25% Off | Blowout Music | Stores | Music Similar Items: Soviet Kitsch The Crane Wife Not Too Late The Reminder Alright, Still ASIN: B000FFJ80I Release Date: 2006-06-13

Tracks:

1. Fidelity
2. Better
3. Samson
4. On The Radio
5. Field Below
6. Hotel Song
7. Apres Moi
8. 20 Years Of Snow
9. That Time
10. Edit
11. Lady
12. Summer In The City

Amazon.com

The style known as "anti-folk," as realized by practitioners like Ani DiFranco and Billy Bragg, is derived from a punk aesthetic, and thus tends to be spare and confrontational. But while Regina Spektor's music is anti-folk in the way it subverts the traditional coffeehouse vibe, it's less interested in rebellion and more concerned with the joy of eccentricity, melody and surprise. Begin To Hope is full of surprises, and like her promising major label debut Soviet Kitsch, it displays an easy facility with song structure that enables her to go in different--sometimes wildly off-the-wall--directions without sounding scattered. Classically trained on the piano, she's been compared to Tori Amos, but her music isn't as delicate or precious. Fiona Apple comes up as well, but just because neither fits in the usual female singer/songwriter cookie cutter mold doesn't mean they sound the same. Her voice is actually the primary attraction, cracking and loopy on would-be lullabies like "On The Radio" and "Field Below," then punchy and cute on "Hotel Room." But the music, if understated in the mix next to her vocals, makes an impression as well, breaking in with twisty piano arpeggios ("20 Years of Snow") and occasional touches of electronica. It's a consistently intelligent and daring record, yet remains enormously listenable--a neat trick for anti-folk, or any other genre of music for that matter. -Matthew Cooke

Album Description

Regina Spektor's last album, 2004's Soviet Kitsch, garnered praise from Time, Rolling Stone, Spin, Vanity Fair, The New York Times and many others. But this Russian-born, Bronx-bred singer-songwriter-pianist, who emerged from the NYC café circuit, continues to expand her vision. On Begin To Hope, produced by David Kahne (The Strokes, Sublime, Sugar Ray), she broadens here palette with electric guitar, drum machines and seductive electronic loops, finding new canvases for her provocative vocal style. Hope for pop has arrived with Regina Spektor.

Customer Reviews:

Sweet, Surprising and Happy.......2007-07-27

If you're in the mood for something a little different,
If you want some music that makes you feel good,
If you like an album you can play straight multiple times,
If you like female vocals,
Regina's Begin to Hope is for you.

She sounds like a little chirpy bird.......2007-07-17

My friend recommented her to me. I heard her single Fidelity before and thought it nice then forgot about it. Just on impulse, I grabbed her cd from my friend's car and decided to give it a listen today. Glad I did, I just love it and gushed to my friend and he sent me more of her songs. I love her even more. Regina has such a unique style both on melody and lyrics. It's hard to put in words, you just have to listen to her. Give her a try. I'm going to get all her albums.

annoying at first but then she grows on you.......2007-06-30

Regina Spector recieved radio play at the station I listen to as well as having a short article in Newsweek. I purchased her CD based on these things . The first few listens of her CD annoyed me. There were too many "clever hooks" that she does with her voice. But, after about 10 listens, her music started to grow on me. Like alot of young artists, she brings a fresh perspective on perpetual themes but also has themes that are unusual. She plays the piano very well and her voice is clear and strong. I don't know if I will want to listen to her CD 5 years from now when it's lost the novelty but it's a good start for a young artist.

Regina has a Beautiful Voice, Insteresting Songs, and Instrumental Talents too.......2007-06-26

By chance, I clicked on one video on Youtube that played a very pretty song. After googling a few words from the song, I came up with the name Regina Spektor. Amazon was where I discovered Regina's album, Begin to Hope. Her songs are quirky and her voice is very sweet and unique. She really has a wide range of sounds that she can make with her vocal cords. Her voice is very lovely. She can play the piano, write songs, and make harmonious sounds with her vocal cords or instruments. I don't know the exact meaning of her song "Fidelity," but Spektor's voice vibrates with energy, beauty, and youth. Some songs are like an addictive drug. Fidelity" is one such song; I can listen to this song many times without getting bored. Spektor has such a refreshing sound compared to the more popular pop singers. This is a wonderful album that I purchased from Amazon after learning about Regina Spektor.

Some good, some bad..........2007-06-24

This cd has a few AWESOME songs on it. It also has a few AWFUL songs on it. First and foremost, I HATE any kind of drug reference, and had I known there would be some on this cd, I would have passed on it. So, with that said, I enjoyed the first 4 songs or so, and didn't like the rest. Very unique voice, great talent, but I think she needs someone to take her under their wing and help get her going with some good stuff that doesn't involve any drugs. We just don't need it. Call Mutt Lange. Maybe he can give you a clean boost to get those few great song hooks into the charts. Can I get my money back and just buy the first two songs?

Average customer rating: The Frames Rock! The Man has a great voice Disappointing A truly wonderful album Don't pass this one up!!!!!!!

The Cost The Frames Manufacturer: Anti ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Indie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Britain | British Isles | Europe | International | Styles | Music Ireland | British Isles | Europe | International | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music Similar Items: Once Fitzcarraldo Burn the Maps Set List The Reminder ASIN: B000M06K98 Release Date: 2007-02-20

Tracks:

1. Song For Someone
2. Falling Slowly
3. People Get Ready
4. Rise
5. When Your Mind's Made Up
6. Sad Songs
7. The Cost
8. True
9. The Side You Never Get To See
10. Bad Bone

Amazon.com

You're three tracks into The Cost before you find a song, "The Rise," that opens with anything but singer Glen Hansard's voice as the first thing you hear. The beauty is, you're waiting for the voice, with its hints of Cat Stevens's tonality and its utterly distinct Irish lift. It's Hansard that provides the Frames with such a rising vibe, the sense of a band always lifting off, pressed higher by Colm Mac An Iomaire's violin. Mac An Iomaire's strings slip and slide in the thickets of guitar, playing exceptional cat and mouse both when the guitars are clear and crisp and when they're crashing furiously. The Frames wouldn't claim to write epic tunes, but over and over the songs build toward ecstatic sonic events. Witness the hushed open to "People Get Ready" how it morphs into a violin and guitar-grit blast of wind-blown energy or the distortion-scoured hum behind Hansard's lone voice on "True" launching a languorous, piano-driven backdrop as the singer lets loose a first-class yowl--the stuff of anguished beauty. --Andrew Bartlett

Customer Reviews:

The Frames Rock!.......2007-06-27

This is a great CD--great band. Some of the songs are in the movie "Once", a film where Glen Hansard finally gets his due and Carney shows his brilliance-- I saw Mr. Hansard in Chicago on a solo-tour and I've never heard a better version of Raglan Road, but also on the flip side what Aaron Copeland calls "good healthy dissonance."

The Man has a great voice.......2007-06-26

I actually saw the movie "Once" this evening and rushed to the store before it closed to by the soundtrack...since that was not available I picked up The Cost and played the album over twice on the drive home.

Disappointing.......2007-03-30

Mostly ballads, The Cost seems like a Glen Hansard solo album. But that's not really the disappointment here; few of the ballads present anything unique or musically compelling. Yes, Glen has a lovely voice and conveys great empathy, sincerity and beauty. But the songs themselves get too monotonous after a while.

A truly wonderful album.......2007-03-16

There is no question that the Frames are a quality band. The problem in the past has been that they frequently release albums that do not represent their best work. I first learned of them through a truly great album by the title FITZCARRALDO (named for the Werner Herzog film about an Irishman named Fitzgerald--Fitzcarraldo was how the locals transformed it--who had the insane dream of building an opera house in the middle of the Amazon). After several albums either somewhat or considerably below the high standards set by FITZCARRALDO, they have released a new album, THE COST, that is very nearly as great as that one. Truth be told, there is very little to separate the two in quality. I think the earlier album has a bit more of an edge. So may prefer the slightly softer contours of this newer album. But I will insist that anyone who loves this album will love equally the other, while fans of the earlier album will be delighted to find the band completely back in form. What is amazing is that it took them so long. FITZCARRALDO was released in 1996, while this one is a 2007 effort. Whatever the cause of their return, I am ecstatic that they are back.

I don't want to get into the debate about whether The Frames or U2 is the better back. Both are Irish, which is what invites the comparison. I will say that I rarely listen to U2, while I have frequently listened to one or another Frames album. I personally far prefer Glen Hansard as a vocalist to Bono. While Hansard lacks Bono's range and power, he has a subtlety and soulfulness that Bono lacks. He possesses some of the soulfulness of the greatest of all Irish rock vocalists, Van Morrison, though I wouldn't make the silly claim that he is on Morrison's level as a singer (for that matter, who is?).

The word on the Frames is that they are a mediocre studio band but an astonishing live band (I unfortunately have never heard them live), a distinction they hold with other great live acts. The Feelies, for instance, was one of the best bands in the world on a stage, but never recorded an album that matched their energy onstage (I did manage to see them live and can vouch for the excellence as a live act). The strategy on this album was to record the songs in very little time in the studio, hopefully to maintain some of the power of their stage performances. Whatever the reason, this isn't at all the same band that sometimes can sound a tad bland in a studio recording. The result is a great disc that might remind some of the Tindersticks at their best, but with far more emotion than that band ever exuded. And while there is some great playing on the recording, the engineers keep Hansard's incredible voice front and center.

This is a disc of many highpoints, but for me the best part might be the back-to-back gems "Sad Songs," which sounds like it could be a Top Forty hit, and the title track "The Cost." The former driven by wonderful hooks and infectious melodies, one of those songs that is so lovely that you love it almost on the first listen. "The Cost" is far more minimalistic, almost a duet between distorted guitar and Hansard, with just enough percussion to remind you that the drummer is still there. The song, like other cuts on the album, could easily slip over into bathos, but they keep the touch just right. Another cut I keep going back to is the opening one, "Song for Someone," but I love listening to the way that Hansard sings the chorus of the next cut, "Falling Slowly," nearly as much. But the next song, "People Get Ready," might be, if I were pressed to acknowledge a favorite, the one I like most on the disc. But there really are no bad cuts on the album, making it one of those albums you listen to repeatedly with tremendous joy.

While the Frames have not always been this good on record, they have been at least this good once before. Maybe they have turned a corner and this represents what they will do from here on out. But even if this is a one-time thing, this is a disc that anyone who loves great indie rock needs to own. Both THE COST and FITZCARRALDO belong in any decent musical library.

Don't pass this one up!!!!!!!.......2007-03-15

Never haveing heard of The Frames, I read a very good review of "The Cost" and ordered it. I am so glad I did. I put it in my cd player 2 weeks ago and I've listened to the whole cd about 10 times. If you buy music to listen to all of the songs on the cd, you'll especially like this one as EVERY song is great. As I said above, don't pass this one up. You will be forever gratefull that you got it!

Average customer rating: Beautiful Neko Case - Amazing Voice, Lyrics and Sound Doesn't live up to billing Doesn't even come close to Blacklisted Excellent.

Fox Confessor Brings the Flood Neko Case Manufacturer: Anti ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Indie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Alt-Country & Americana | Country | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music Adult Alternative | Pop | Styles | Music Similar Items: Blacklisted The Crane Wife Furnace Room Lullaby West All the Roadrunning ASIN: B000CS4L1E Release Date: 2006-03-07

Tracks:

1. Margaret vs. Pauline
2. Star Witness
3. Hold On, Hold On
4. A Widow's Toast
5. That Teenage Feeling
6. Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
7. John Saw That Number
8. Dirty Knife
9. Lion's Jaws
10. Maybe Sparrow
11. At Last
12. The Needle Has Landed

Amazon.com

Nine seconds into her first studio album since 2002's Blacklisted, and there it is. You can't miss it. The voice. Instantly recognizable and uniquely commanding, it has been uniformly overlooked by the masses and beloved by those who have caught on. And, believe it or not, it gets even better, whether Neko Case is warbling like a porch-swing neighbor to Loretta Lynn ("Margaret vs. Paulene," "John Saw That Number"), pontificating from the spiritual pulpit of Etta James ("Lion's Jaws," "Maybe Sparrow"), or unleashing the high-octane zeal of a power-pop spitfire ("Hold On Hold On," "The Needle Has Landed"). Her uncanny, often eccentric lyrics have always been delivered with an inherent passion behind the impulse, but rarely have they approached the boldness of these dozen--many of which were inspired by generations of tales from her Ukrainian ancestors. As usual, Case's industry running buddies collaborate to make the sounds behind her, from Calexico to Howe Gelb of Giant Sand to the Band's renowned Garth Hudson. Still, it all comes back to the voice, that serenading urgency that asks in the title song, "How can people not know what beauty this is?" Yes, there are some to ask, how not? --Scott Holter

More from Neko Case

Furnace Room Lullaby	Blacklisted	The Tigers Have Spoken
Live from Austin, Texas	Electric Version, the New Pornographers featuring Neko Case	Twin Cinema, the New Pornographers featuring Neko Case

Album Description

Neko is a major poet by any standard, a songwriter less interested perhaps in traditional narrative form than in distilling a pure moment of time. She claims no genre, nor utilizes any classic formula for her songs and singing. More than anything she thrives in the spaces in between her music. After two years in the making, "Fox Confessor Brings The Flood" is in many ways the sum total of her journey.

Customer Reviews:

Beautiful.......2007-07-28

I'll keep it short. Never hering Neko Case before, I took the jump and bought this cd. I was blown away. I have been listening to it for months now and I think she has the most beautiful female voice I have ever heard. The lyrics are a bit abstract but she could sing pages out of the phone book and I would buy her music. Because of this cd I bought a New Pornographers cd but the only songs I can listen to on it are hers (and occasionally Dan Bejar's). A truly wonderful singer.

Neko Case - Amazing Voice, Lyrics and Sound.......2007-06-28

Though this album is a smidge over 35 minutes long, it is such a good listen. She could have recorded this album with only the lyrics and vocals alone.

Doesn't live up to billing.......2007-06-20

I heard "Hold On, Hold On" and read the rave reviews, so I got it. Unfortunately, I discovered the reviews are unwarranted.

Yes, she has an incredible voice, but her caterwauling on some of the cuts is just too much. The instrumentalists are adept, but they can't make up for the mediocre songwriting.

Take the obscure lyrics. Perhaps they resonate with the songwriter, but they do nothing for me. Instead of coming off as mysterious or enigmatic, they simply fail to connect on any level.

Then there are the tunes. At best they are forgettable, at worst, supremely annoying.

Perhaps "Hold On" is worth buying the CD for. If not, I would recommend carefully listening to all the snippets before making your decision.

Doesn't even come close to Blacklisted.......2007-06-19

Blacklisted is in a league of it's own. If you like the more twangy country sound that Neko had on her first few cd's, the you might like this. I prefer the darker, haunting, sometimes jazzy sound on Blacklisted, and this just doesn't do a whole lot for me.

Excellent........2007-06-14

Hauntingly refreshing in todays world of crappy rock and pop music, Neko Case is something that floats up from the bottom of that barrel. It has a southern taste in it's sound but I certainly wouldn't call it country. Very relaxing music that just lets your mind unwind, whether your driving in your car or messin' around at home. I would call this music slow, mood music with a southern haunting feel to it...with drop tuned guitars and slow rhythms that relaxes a person instantly.

Average customer rating: soviet kitsch album shut up and play Great CD The girl can sing!! Respekt Her

Soviet Kitsch Regina Spektor Manufacturer: Sire ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Singer-Songwriters | Pop | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Alternative Folk | Contemporary Folk | Folk | Styles | Music 4-for-3 Pop | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music 4-for-3 Rock | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music 4-for-3 All Music | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music Similar Items: Begin to Hope Begin to Hope Us On the Radio Mary Ann Meets the Gravediggers and Other Short Stories (CD & Region 2 DVD) ASIN: B0002XEDXU Release Date: 2004-09-21

Tracks:

1. Ode to Divorce
2. Poor Little Rich Boy
3. Carbon Monoxide
4. Flowers
5. Us
6. Sailor Song
7. ***
8. Your Honor
9. Ghost of Corporate Future
10. Chemo Limo
11. Somedays

Customer Reviews:

soviet kitsch album.......2007-07-30

received in a timely fashion, great condition, thought it was going to be in a hard case, but the soft envelope works fine too

shut up and play.......2007-07-26

I bought it after seeing cbs sunday morning program highlighting her career. Hopefully it was repeat, her repeated use of profanity is disappointing. The CD needs a label warning about the lyrics. I played it for a week in the car during my daily commute to work, hoping I would find something worth keeping. Her piano playing is very good.

Great CD.......2007-07-19

This is a grat CD for New or existing Regina Spektor fans, the only thing I do recomend that you check is if the cd come in a cd case, or one of those flimsy cardboard sleves, it may or may not cost you more, but if you are an avid CD colector such as myself, I sujest taking the time to make that specification.

The girl can sing!!.......2007-07-05

This is, as far as I know, her first recordings, and the songs deal with many not so pleasant topics, but she has a way of pulling the matter together which is unique and surprising interesting to listen to and not depressing in the least. Also she is not your typical singer songwriter in that the tempo and phrasing of her songs change in ways that could be very distressing but she is able to make it work.

Respekt Her.......2007-07-02

I love Regina Spektor. Her more popular album is the more recent Begin to Hope, but Soviet Kitsch is equal in quality, however I believe it is a little more abstract and random with less synthesized beats. Regina is uniquely her own. It would be lazy to compare her to Tori Amos or Bjork. Okay so Tori and Regina both have pianos and are female. Regina's songs are uncomplicated musically and have a wry humor or wit in songs such as Ghost of a Corporate Future. Her lyrics are out there, but not so filled with metaphor and hidden meanings like Tori. She writes humorous, fun, witty and wisdom filled songs.

Average customer rating: Quantity over quality i assume 5 stars is appropriate Absolute Favorite Singer! It's Tom Waits, and therefore excellent Why did I wait so long before buying this CD?

Orphans [Fold-out Digipak with 24-page booklet] Tom Waits Manufacturer: ANTI ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Urban Folk | New Wave & Post-Punk | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Experimental Rock | Rock | Alternative Styles | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music General | Pop | Styles | Music Singer-Songwriters | Pop | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Poetry | Poetry, Spoken Word & Interviews | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music General | Pop | Box Sets | Stores | Music Similar Items: Modern Times West The Road to Escondido Not Too Late Real Gone ASIN: B000L43AN4 Release Date: 2006-12-05

Tracks:

1. Lie To Me
2. LowDown
3. 2:19
4. Fish In The Jailhouse
5. Bottom Of The World
6. Lucinda
7. Ain't Goin' Down To The Well
8. Lord I've Been Changed
9. Puttin' On The Dog
10. Road To Peace
11. All The Time
12. The Return Of Jackie and Judy
13. Walk Away
14. Sea Of Love
15. Buzz Fledderjohn
16. Rains On Me

Tracks:

1. Bend Down The Branches
2. You Can Never Hold Back Spring
3. Long Way Home
4. Widow's Grove
5. Little Drop Of Poison
6. Shiny Things
7. World Keeps Turning
8. Tell It To Me
9. Never Let Go
10. Fannin Street
11. Little Man
12. It's Over
13. If I Have To Go
14. Goodnight Irene
15. The Fall Of Troy
16. Take Care Of All My Children
17. Down There By The Train
18. Danny Says
19. Jayne's Blue Wish
20. Young At Heart

Tracks:

1. What Keeps Mankind Alive
2. Children's Story
3. Heigh Ho
4. Army Ants
5. Books Of Moses
6. Bone Chain
7. Two Sisters
8. First Kiss
9. Dog Door
10. Redrum
11. Nirvana
12. Home I'll Never Be
13. Poor Little Lamb
14. Altar Boy
15. The Pontiac
16. Spidey's Wild Ride
17. King Kong
18. On The Road

Amazon.com

With these astounding 54 songs (plus two bonus tracks) Tom Waits has added a vital new work to his catalog. The title, Orphans, refers to the songs either being from a range of outside projects, various impulses, and whims, or simply not having found a place on the albums for which they were intended. While that scenario has constituted a stopgap measure for lesser artists, this set stands alongside Waits's finest work. He has shaped it into three separate discs, each one separately titled after the prevailing character of its tracks and playing with its own mood and dramatic arc. Brawlers favors raucousness and uptempo grinds and grooves, while Bawlers showcases balladry and the more overtly poetic. Bastards is a funhouse of angular characters, spiky anecdotes, shaggy dogs, and even a Kurt Weill cover. The set offers everything from the amped-up rockabilly hiccuping of "Lie to Me" to the breathtaking perfection of "Shiny Things," and from the outraged political reporting of "Road to Peace" to the closing-time lament of "Little Man." --David Greenberger

Description

The three disc set is packaged in a fold-out digipak with a beautifully designed 24-page booklet, including neverbefore-seen Waits' photographs.

Customer Reviews:

Quantity over quality.......2007-05-20

A bit disappointing. As usual with Tom Waits, some of the tracks are great -- Lucinda and Goodnight Irene are standouts. But too many, while not bad, are kinda ho-hum. With editing, this would have made a better 2-disc set, or a really good single CD.

i assume 5 stars is appropriate.......2007-05-10

I bought this CD a couple of weeks ago, but haven't heard it. My husband immediately took it from me & hasn't given it back. "Oh, I keep forgetting it at work." He said it's great. Based on that & the other reviews, I'm giving it a 5 star rating anyway. :)

I plan on getting it by this weekend or going out to buy my own copy.

Absolute Favorite Singer!.......2007-05-04

I bought this the second I found out it was available for my husband who is a HUGE Waits fan. A gotta have!

It's Tom Waits, and therefore excellent.......2007-04-06

Nobody does grizzled and world-weary quite like Tom Waits, and coming off 2004's incredible Real Gone, the mammoth three-disc collection Orphans is yet more proof of his bizarre genius. Even putting aside the abundance of great music it contains, it is, if nothing else, a fitting tribute to Waits's persistently uncommercial, marketing-be-damned approach to his music. Comprised of a whopping 54 songs (both Waits originals and covers) and clocking in at about three hours, Orphans is vintage Waits from beginning to end-unvarnished, unconventional, and uncompromising. Given the enormous amount of variety to be found here, everyone's going to have their personal favorites, but whichever tracks one prefers there's no denying that Orphans makes the perfect testament to Waits's endless creativity, stinging wit and gritty, PhD-in-life sensibility.

Waits has long been a a man of many personas-demented carnival barker, old testament prophet, Jesus freak, depression-era bluesman-and even more than his more traditional albums Orphans shows off his chameleonic nature to the fullest extent. With its ample available space, Orphans allows Waits to induldge in genre exercises ranging from rockabilly (Lie To Me); to baroque pop (Little Drop of Poison); to swamp blues (Buzz Fledderjohn); to gospel (Lord I've been changed) without ever sounding like just an imitator of his varied influences. That said, Waits is still at his best when he dwells in a musical territory all his own, be it noisy, free-form experimentation or more reflective, sparsely instrumented balladry.

Each disc brings with its own unique feel, with the first one feeling the most like a proper Waits album in the vein of such all-encompassing classics as Rain Dogs and Bone Machine. Waits gets his classic-rock fix taken are of early with the scorching Low Down, whose big, brash guitar riffs wouldn't sound out of place in the '60's. The clamorous percussion and dizzying time signatures of Fish in the Jailhouse should please fans of Waits's more eccentric side, or just those like this writer who crave something abrasive and weird. Providing a sharp contrast to these tunes, but still very much in line with Waits's overall approach, are the downcast resignation of the bluesy, guitar-driven Road to Piece (a seven-minute examination of the conflict in Israel) and the closing lament of Rains on Me.

The ballad-heavy second disc, while occasionally a tad forgettable, is still home to some of the most brilliant material of Waits's career. The triumphant Take Care of All of My Children is driven by a stirring, martial drum beat, while the following Down There by the Train manages to expertly combine sadness, regret, and hope through Waits's singularly poetic lyrical imagery ("There's no eye for an eye/There's no tooth for a tooth/I saw Judas Iscariot carryin' John Wilkes Booth"-brilliant). In somewhat of a curveball for Waits, Never Let Go is inspiring and poignant in its straightforward message of devotion. There's also a great, booze-sodden lament in Goodnight Irene, which finds Waits's nicotine-stained voice at its most raw and unhinged.

The third disc is a nod to every side of the schizophrenic last two decades of Waits's career, with unstructured noise explorations (the mutant jazz-blues-rock workout Heigh Ho is hard-edged and ominous even for Waits) to a slew of spoken-word pieces to some more tender ballads. Waits starts off the disc by breaking out his classic rasp on the delightfully malevolent What Keeps Mankind Alive, and backs himself up with some inspired vocal beat-boxing on the Spidey's Wild Ride and King Kong. The latter track is especially interesting, with Waits's pained wail augmented by some ear-piercing guitar squeals and a subterranean bass line as he declaims the tragic story of, well, King Kong, with all the gravity of a character delivering the closing monologue of a Shakespearean tragedy.

Why did I wait so long before buying this CD?.......2007-03-24

I've been aware of Tom Waits for many years and have purchased a few of his more popular songs online. However, this is the first album of his that I've bought. My criteria for album purchases is that the album price must be competitive with the sum of the download prices for all the songs that appeal to me when reviewing samples. I was not disappointed and will likely go back and buy some of his older albums.

For me, 4 stars is about as good as it gets because I reserve the 5 for perfection. The biggest negative for me was the lack of lyrics in the the lower cost edition.

Average customer rating: Real Country Music. Spine tingling Great Album wagonmaster wagonmaster

Wagonmaster Porter Wagoner Manufacturer: ANTI ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Country | Styles | Music General | Traditional Country | Country | Styles | Music Similar Items: Compadres: An Anthology of Duets Rubber Room: The Haunting Poetic Songs of Porter Wagoner 1966-1977 Anchored in Love: A Tribute To June Carter Cash Last of the Breed Standard Songs for Average People ASIN: B000OQF37A Release Date: 2007-06-05

Tracks:

1. Wagonmaster (part 1)
2. Be A Little Quieter
3. Who Knows Right From Wrong
4. Albert Erving
5. A Place To Hang My Hat
6. Eleven Cent Cotton
7. My Many Hurried Southern Trips
8. Committed To Parkview
9. The Agony Of Waiting
10. Buck and The Boys
11. A Fool Like Me
12. The Late Love of Mine
13. Hot Wired
14. Brother Harold Dee
15. Satan's River
16. Wagonmaster Reprise
17. Porter and Marty (Men WithBroken Hearts/I Heard ThatLonesome Whistle Blow)

Amazon.com

One of the major problems with modern country revolves around the fact that--save George Jones, Merle Haggard, and Loretta Lynn--almost all the characters who poured the foundation for post-World War II hillbilly culture are dead or no longer recording. Which brings us to the miracle of Porter Wagoner's new album, Wagonmaster, produced by Marty Stuart. Wagoner, who kept his corn-yellow pompadour piled high, wide, and handsome, was as wild as Johnny Cash in his prime, but hid most of his sins behind his smooth, pitch-man persona. You can hear it in the music all along the way, though, particularly in the weird "Rubber Room" era of the '60s and '70s. Now nearly 80, Wagoner--the man who brought James Brown to the Grand Ole Opry--is still as theatrical and out-there as ever, even if his once-strong and well-modulated baritone has crumbled to a husk. Stuart, who loved Porter's old syndicated TV show, frames the album with an opening and close that recalls those halcyon days, a Mac Magaha-style fiddle dancing behind it all. In between, the thin man from West Plains, Missouri, moves through a riveting collection of Southern Gothic numbers, starting with "Be a Little Quieter," in which a man is so haunted by memories of his lover that he imagines her walking the halls, taking a bath, ratting the pots and pans. But that's kids' stuff compared to "Committed to Parkview," which Cash sent to Wagoner nearly 25 years ago on learning they'd both spent time in the Nashville mental hospital/drug treatment center. Wagoner opens his spoken-word introduction as if he's playing for laughs, but quickly turns poignant, and the bloodletting hardly lets up: Running through the album are a couple of Bible beaters ("Brother Harold Dee," "Satan's River"), a reprise of "My Many Hurried Southern Trips" (a song about a bus driver's slice-of-life that Wagoner wrote with former singing partner Dolly Parton), and an affecting word portrait of a man from Wagoner's childhood ("Albert Erving") who was so isolated and loveless that he conjured an imaginary companion. Wagoner takes time for a quickie instrumental tribute to his old banjo sidekick Buck Trent, but he's too mired in pathos to highlight the humor in Shawn Camp's "Hotwired." Yet who's to quibble? Much of this is wonderfully creepy ("The Late Love of Mine") and underscored with the kind of weepy pedal steel that fell out of favor when Nashville set its sights on crossover gold. Stuart, his own generation's premier hillbilly throwback, deserves kudos for getting this to the marketplace. And Wagoner, virtually forgotten after Dolly moved on, is to be revered for hanging in there when so many rhinestoned rednecks who put the "path" in Music City's patented brand of pathology chose to check out. --Alanna Nash

Album Description

In a world where the term is overused, Porter Wagoner is a true legend. He kicked out hard-hitting honky-tonk anthems in the 50s; pioneered music television with the amazingly long-running "Porter Wagoner Show" 1960-1980, where he discovered Dolly Parton; started the Nudie suit craze; influenced everyone from Johnny Cash and Dwight Yoakam to the Byrds & Gram Parsons; and recorded seminal concept albums in the early 70s, populated with the lonely, addicted, and mentally ill, capturing the imagination of nascent punks like Alex Chilton with songs like "The Rubber Room." Last year, Marty Stuart, longtime Johnny Cash sideman and torchbearer of traditional country music, approached his longtime hero with an unrecorded song Johnny Cash had written for Porter, called "Committed to Parkview." In the tradition of Porter's haunted ballads, "Committed to Parkview" is the first-person account of a tenant of Nashville's legendary sanitorium, listening in on the tormented cries of his fellow inmates. Porter and Marty decided to build an album, Wagonmaster, around the song, revisiting the classic feel of his chilling concept albums, interwoven with stomping barroom honkytonk that rides with the best of Hank Williams and Ernest Tubb. The results are magnificent, a record of raw beauty capturing a proud, ragged man looking back unflinchingly at his life. At 79, and celebrating his 50th anniversary at the Grand Ole Opry, Porter has never been more vibrant and relevant.

Customer Reviews:

Real Country Music........2007-07-30

If you don't know what real traditional country music is, buy this album and you will know after listening to it. Each track is a sample of what used to be country music. The stuff you hear called country on the radio today is not country music, this album is. If you are a real country music fan you will be delighted with Wagonmaster.

Spine tingling.......2007-07-24

This CD plumbs the depths of human emotion like the deepest blues of Son House. Porter Wagoner's singing on this CD is so authentic that it's frightening. He's truly looking into the abyss of shame, mental illness, and death. If you're a Porter Wagoner fan this is a CD to be treasured. If you're a casual country music fan this CD will make you aware of what real country music is capable of conveying.

Great Album.......2007-07-20

Truly a great album! However, while I enjoyed his version of "Parkview" it still can't hold a candle to the original recording by Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson on the first Highwayman album.

wagonmaster.......2007-07-13

I loved this cd all of the songs on it were new and very original. I liked the song "albert Erving" and the story he told about knowing that man. I also really liked the song 'the agony of waiting'. This cd was different from so many cds and I liked it for that reason.

wagonmaster .......2007-07-12

porter wagner is 79 years making this new CD ...I think the music and songs on it are wonderful....I really enjoyed listening to it...Country music fans its a must...

Average customer rating: Get It On An Explosion in Angst A Welcome Departure An Entertaining Departure energetic

Grinderman Grinderman (featuring Nick Cave) Manufacturer: ANTI- ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Garage Rock | Rock | Alternative Styles | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music Similar Items: Abattoir Blues Tour (2CD+2DVD) Icky Thump The Weirdness Jarvis Sound of Silver ASIN: B000MX7YUE Release Date: 2007-04-10

Tracks:

1. Get It On
2. No Pussy Blues
3. Electric Alice
4. Grinderman
5. Depth Charge Ethel
6. Go Tell The Women
7. (I Don't Need You To) Set Me Free
8. Honey Bee (Lets Fly To Mars)
9. Man In The Moon
10. When My Love Comes Down
11. Love Bomb

From Amazon.co.uk

Grinderman is the sound of indie rock legends growing old disgracefully, and that is by no means a criticism. From the opening rant of "Get It On," this is an album with all the menace of an angry drunk, dripping with anger and testosterone (as the surfeit of facial hair in the band's interior photo will attest). It could even be the sound of Nick Cave's midlife crisis, but it doesn't matter, because Grinderman rocks. It's the sound of four musicians having a grand time, turning the volume up to 11 and really cutting loose. For that reason, it's the more upbeat tracks here that are probably the best: "Honey Bee (Let's Fly to Mars)" with its driving electric organ, the primal urgency of "Depth Charge Ethel," and the strutting album closer "Love Bomb." After all the po-faced seriousness he's displayed in recent years, it's good to know that Cave has rediscovered his sense of humour: "I cleaned the sheets on my bed, I combed the hairs across my head, I sucked in my gut and still she said, 'I don't want to,'" he sings on "No Pussy Blues," with his tongue firmly in cheek (amongst other places). Simply put, Grinderman is a hoot. --Ted Kord

Album Description

The story of Grinderman begins within the working processes of another band: Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds. At the start of 2004, when Nick Cave took a small team of Bad Seeds members -- violinist Warren Ellis, bassist Martyn Casey and drummer Jim Sclavunos -- off to the tiny Misère studio in Paris for a songwriting session, they effectively established a new band. The small combo configuration of Nick, Warren, Marty and Jim had its public debut in a showcase performance to promote the Bad Seeds Nocturama album; the foursome continued working in this streamlined format, getting together frequently for Nick Cave "solo" tours. Born of babbling lyrics hatched from Bosch eggshells in the Hyde-bound apocalyptic margins of the Cave brain, the Grinderman sound is an instinctual yawlp that also resurrects the demons of each musician's past: the trashcan proselytising of Birthday Party -era Nick; Sclavunos' late 70s New York no-wave noise wisdom; Martyn Casey's ominous Triffids bass reverb; plus Ellis' avant-garde soundtrack work and his teenage love of Black Sabbath. Destination: Out! Grinderman sound different from everyone, including themselves. As Memphis Slim put it back in 1941, "While everything is quiet and easy/ Mr. Grinder can have his way." It's a new day. God help you all.

Customer Reviews:

Get It On.......2007-07-22

Nick Cave is in an unfortunate position; his past accomplishments were so great that anything he does now that isn't stellar is a letdown. His work with The Birthday Party is essential, and his catalogue with Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds is monumental. So what happens when Cave starts a "new" band like Grinderman? He risks disappointment.

Grinderman is not a far step from Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds. Which, considering the personnel, is not surprising. Each member of Grinderman has also worked as a Bad Seed and some of these tracks that appear on this self-titled debut could easily be reworked for the next Bad Seeds release. "I Don't Need You (To Set Me Free)" and "Man in the Moon", for example, both unfold in a shape and style similar to past Bad Seed songs.

Still, in spite of the shared elements, Grinderman is somewhat distinct from the group's other band. It is rougher, it is more disheveled, and it is less compromising. The guitar playing, or rather, the lack of guitar playing is particularly messy. Nick Cave plays the instrument himself and he is far from a virtuoso. Every pluck reinforces this. His playing is awkward and clumsy. And yet, his crude fingers also give this band added personality.

Take "No Pussy Blues", the album's first single, for instance. It begins with a driving bassline and steady, banging beats and then erupts with a spill of loud, confrontational guitar. The gawky instrumentation works well. When Cave starts to sing, his charismatic voice carries the track even further. "No Pussy Blues" is peppered with his rugged sarcasm. Lyrically, the song deals with failed sexual advances and the resulting frustrations. "I sent her every type of flower / I played her a guitar by the hour / I patted her revolting little Chihuahua / But still she just didn't want to". Every syllable is delivered with a tongue-in-cheek dark humor and smirking wry attitude.

"No Pussy Blues" is fast. It is propelled by its quick tempo, and other tracks follow a similar path. The raw excellence of "Get It On", the driving fun of "Depth Charge Ethel", the bending wines of "Honey Bee (Let's Fly to Mars)", and rocking simplicity of "Love Bomb" all tumble forward on a throbbing bass and smacking rhythm.

Not every track relies on speed, however. "Electric Alice", which is one of the album's highlights, squirms along Warren Ellis's distorted violin strings. Voice and organ alternate their places at the song's forefront while bass and drums circle and contain the music. The song wanders and meanders blindly through psychedelic ambience.

Grinderman revisits the gritty attitude that Cave had in the 1980s, but misses the elegance. The music of Grinderman is often muddied and at least half of their songs shimmy along a sloppy path. Like an oil stain on the floor of a dirty garage, Grinderman is thick, dark, and ugly.

An Explosion in Angst.......2007-07-10

This one's for all the angry, frustrated, aggrieved souls who, knowing slightly better than to act on impulse and commit some egregious violation of either the legal or moral sort (preferably both at once), just need a good splash of hard rock and roll for cleansing. This is my first introduction to Nick Cave, and dare I say I'm all tingly with adrenaline after listening to `Grinderman'. For me, it's a nearly perfect melding of Iggy Pop and Tom Waits, where punk meets dark, folky blues. This is a loud and commanding record. Other reviewers have used the words vitriolic, raw, primal, vicious, and seething...and rightly so. That about says it all, but the newbie like myself might get caught into thinking that this is a one-dimensional album. Not so. Looking more deeply, there is ominous substance here. It evokes the creepy feeling that this is what you'll feel when you finally surrender your youth. All that angst and fury released into a gratifying but nevertheless pointless display of over-indulgent self-expression. But what Cave and Co. do is soak it all in, bask in one's powerlessness and thereby getting all the more pissed off. The result then, is an explosion of some awfully good and therapeutic rock. My favorites are: `Get it on', `No Pussy Blues', `Go Tell..', `Honey Bee', and especially `Love Bomb'. This is Rock and Roll with no consequence. We need more of this.

A Welcome Departure.......2007-06-21

As much as I like the Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, their sound was getting to be a bit repetitous at times (to me, at least). It was about time for a new direction and Grinderman delivers. A few of the songs don't wear well (eg. no pussy blues), but several are sure to become classics in the Nick Cave musical archive. I would have given this release 5 stars, but I think that there is room for improvement. By the way...great guitar work from the man himself.

An Entertaining Departure.......2007-06-14

Knowing well the music of Nick Cave, when I saw the lewdly postured monkey on the cover of Grinderman, I knew I was in for an entertaining departure from his recent musical path. I had heard all the hype that preceded its release, but when I first heard it, it sounded very different from what I was led to expect.

I agree with the reviewer who said that one must listen many times to any album by Nick Cave before making a decision on its quality. His talent is so deep, and his writing often so complex, that his work rarely reveals itself fully on first listen. Much of the music press ballyhooed Grinderman as a return to the days of the Birthday Party. The song No Pussy Blues was widely touted as one of Cave's greatest. I think the press was wrong on both counts.

First of all, while Grinderman is raw and primal, it is hardly a return to the unstructured sound of the Birthday Party. Grinderman may be rough, but it is definitely not the sound of a bunch of musicians trying to establish their niche. Its the sound of a bunch of seasoned musicians having a blast! As for No Pussy Blues, I think it is one of the weaker songs on the CD even though the title may have been a draw for some. Cave seemed to be really stretching to make the lyrics fit, but in the end it sounds so desperate and unromantic that there's no wonder that he's got the "no pussy blues".

There are some great songs here as well. I like Electric Alice; Depth Charge Ethel with its sound sometimes evocative of Deep Purple's Machine Head days; (I Don't Need You To) Set Me Free; When My Love Comes Down; and what I think is the album's best song, the hard-driving Love Bomb.

Because Cave has made so many albums superior to this, I can't possibly tag Grinderman with five stars. But it still is worth owning if you are a fan of Nick Cave on any level or you just like your music raw and rowdy. I'll certainly be playing it whenever the mood so demands.

energetic.......2007-05-29

An energetic return to Nick Cave's early styles, akin the old Birthday Party work.

Average customer rating: Best music to emerge fromt he Iraq War No one will replace Bob Marley, but Franti comes close The best hip-hop hippie protest and dance music out there! It's not often... Great! Great! Great!!!

Yell Fire! Michael Franti and Spearhead Manufacturer: Anti ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music General | Rap & Hip-Hop | Styles | Music Experimental Rap | Rap & Hip-Hop | Styles | Music Pop Rap | Rap & Hip-Hop | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music Similar Items: I Know I'm Not Alone Everyone Deserves Music Songs From the Front Porch: An Acoustic Collection Stay Human Home ASIN: B000FMGTX0 Release Date: 2006-07-25

Tracks:

1. Time To Go Home
2. Yell Fire
3. I Know Im Not Alone
4. East To The West
5. Sweet Little Lies
6. Hello Bonjour
7. One Step Closer To You
8. Hey Now Now
9. Everybody Ona Move
10. See You In The Light
11. Light Up Ya Lighter
12. What I've Seen
13. Tolerance
14. Is Love Enough?

Amazon.com

One thing you know you'll get from Franti and Spearhead is a certain kind of crystal clarity--on the production, musicianship, and, of course, in the righteous political message. Released two years after Franti traveled by himself to war-ravaged Baghdad, Gaza Strip, and the West Bank, each of these songs deals with the human cost of war poignantly and pointedly. The lyrics may seem simplistic when removed from the songs--"Those who start wars never fight them/And those who fight wars never like them" and "The F15 is a homicide bomber"--but very few artists have the honesty and balls that Franti does. Bless him for that. Spearhead might lose credibility with some by tying Peter Tosh's chant to "legalize it" to their call for revolution, but those folks are not in the target demographic, anyway. Those who are will thoroughly dig this. From the jam band accents of "Time to Go Home" to the reggae of "Light Up Ya Lighter" to the U2-ish ballad "I Know I'm Not Alone," it's easily Franti's best album yet. --Mike McGonigal

Description

In 2004, Franti and his team traveled to the core of the red-zoned, war torn neighborhoods of Baghdad, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip with his guitar, video cameras, and the intent to experience first hand the human cost of war. Out of this journey, he created a compelling documentary ("I Know I'm Not Alone") and a searing, reflective album of original songs. "Yell Fire!" is his most compelling, engaged collection of songs, fired by a fury at the injustice of war, and a rediscovery of the love and community that supports those doing the fighting. It embraces reggae, blues, folk, hip-hop, and the anthemic politics of rock artists like U2 and Springsteen. With massive grooves and soaring choruses, Franti and Spearhead have produced an album to inspire and ignite.

More from Michael Franti

I Know I'm Not Alone (DVD), Directed by Michael Franti	Stay Human, Michael Franti and Spearhead	Everyone Deserves Music, Michael Franti and Spearhead
Songs from the Front Porch: An Acoustic Collection, Michael Franti	Love Kamikaze: The Lost Sex Singles & Collectors' Remixes, Michael Franti,	Live in Sydney, Michael Franti and Spearhead

Customer Reviews:

Best music to emerge fromt he Iraq War.......2007-07-13

Michael Franti is a dedicated musician and person. If you get a chance to see him live, don't miss him. Yell Fire! does not quite capture the power of his live concerts, but comes very close. The songs on Yell Fire! capture his love of humanity and sardonic commentary on the war. A few of his songs sound like covers of U2 songs, but if you are going to cover a band, you could do worse than U2. Franti's music is based in reggae, but offers a broad variety of music that is quite good.

No one will replace Bob Marley, but Franti comes close.......2007-07-09

i purchased the Yell Fire album about 3months ago i find i keep going back to listen to it again and again as it has the certain magic of a charismatic communicator that can give you both so much spirituality and outrage in a riveting mix.
The voice, the intensity, the knowing you are listening to the real thing, and nothing phony, knowing that love and outrage can co-exist, which brings immediately to mind the last word of the album "Co-Existence".
Michael Franti has been just below the radar for some years now but i feel his "Yell Fire" album will make more and more aware the gift this man has.
i have never seen him perform, but i can imagine him at 6'6" and ean and with dred-locks makes for a fine stage persona as he moves to the beat.
One wanting fine writing and beat from a man with a message that needs be heard, this is THE ALBUM, it is a must.
For those of neo-conservative bent or merely think they be good citizens of good country that is bringing democracy to the world, don't buy this album, you would despise it as you are what he is OUTRAGED at.
As Franti sings "The revolution, it will come without warning", i simply think "yes".
i am glad we have at a superb talent such as Franti to stand up and sing out his heart, a great album is this "Yell Fire". Max90

The best hip-hop hippie protest and dance music out there!.......2007-06-11

After some of their sublime recent efforts, I was ready for a letdown, but this CD just keeps giving and giving. Yell Fire is an absolute rocker and shows Michael isn't ready to back down from laying the truth out there. Many other great social consciousness and peace music tracks on there ('It's time to come home,' 'East to the West', 'Hello Hello', ...). Also my 14 month old daughter loves to dance to tracks 8 and 9!

Michael's leading the love revolution. When I saw him in Tucson last year it was one of the greatest performances I've seen. The most amazing things was his total confidence in himself which seems to have led him into a position of being totally selfless in his sharing.

It's not often..........2007-05-30

... I hear a record so emotionally powerful that it moves me to tears. This is an extraordinary record.

Great! Great! Great!!!.......2007-05-19

I am not usually a "reggae" fan, but this album is great. It has a timely message of waking up about war and it sure wakes up the listener. My husband asked me if I had worn the grooves off the CD yet. He (the old time country music fan) is even singing along with a couple songs. I would gladly give this album as a gift to anyone one I know. In fact, I have been spreading the word about this album to anyone who will listen.

Album Review:

1. Archies Party
2. Arena [Import]
3. Audio Royal
4. Audioworks [Import]
5. Avalon
6. Barramundi, Vol. 4: Together [Import]
7. Born in Africa [Import]
8. Collage 6: Uplifters
9. DJ Hype Presents: Drum & Bass Explosion [Import]
10. DJ Masters [Import]

Album Review

album review

Album Review

I Will Survive [Import]

Rubinstein Collection, Vol. 17 [Box set]

Night Music 4

Music CD: Whatever the Weather [Import]

Ost [Import]

Never World [Import]

Selected Works: 1972-1999 [Box set]

Purple (+1 Bonus Track)

Musique & Cinema Du Monde [Import]

Peace [Import]

Palo Alto: 1949-1960

Medio Vivir

More Beats + Pieces [CD-single] [Enhanced] [Import]

Piano Favourites

The Freedom Sessions [EP] [ENHANCED CD]