Album Reviews in 30 seconds oR less • bY bill cHeneveRT
Kylie Minogue
Sting
Hanson
Skinny Friedman
Aphrodite
Symphonicities
Shout It Out
(EMI Records)
(UMG Recordings)
(3CG Records)
Hundred Dollar Salad EP
SoundS LiKe: At last,
SoundS LiKe: The Eng-
SoundS LiKe: Oklahoma boy-girls get older and settle into a soft rock niche. Some of these have solid craft and execution, but most are sooo vanilla. Free ASSociAtion: Say what you will, Middle of Nowhere was a sick record in 1997! For FAnS oF: One Republic, Five for Fighting, Jonas Brothers.
a sustainable crop of dancefloor gems from the Aussie whose “All The Lovers” is as good as the record—beat-heavy, ecstatic, simple and joyous.
Free ASSociAtion:
She’s no opera singer, but she can make a damn fine pop song. For FAnS oF: Cher, ABBA, Annie, Olivia Newton-John, vodka.
lish legend employs New York and London philharmonics to back his songs from Police days to now, and it’s not as terrible as it could be.
Free ASSociAtion:
“Roxanne” sucks bad; still better than that horrifying Xmas record. For FAnS oF: Don Henley, Elton John, Billy Joel, pretense.
(Young Robots)
danger Mouse and Sparklehorse
Sia
MiA
Big Boi
Dark Night of the Soul
We Are Born
/\/\/\Y/\
(Monkey Puzzle/JIVE)
(N.E.E.T. Recordings/XL)
SoundS LiKe: The Auss-
SoundS LiKe: Her third
Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty
(DNOTS/Capitol)
SoundS LiKe: Philly
SoundS LiKe: Sparkle-
DJ’s funky-as-hell house, dancehall and dubstep collection of three new songs and three remixes from Sammy Bananas and DJ Apt One.
horse is the late Mark Linkous and, obvs, Mr. Mouse is the Gnarls Barkley/Beck producer, and here’s a muddled super-guest star record.
Free ASSociAtion:
Free ASSociAtion:
Think you don’t like house or dance music? Try to hate on this. For FAnS oF: Hercules and Love Affair, Juan MacLean, UNKLE, disco.
James Mercer! Iggy Pop! Julian Casablancas! David Lynch! Enough. For FAnS oF: Traffic, messy bedrooms, banana splits, super sizing.
ie/UK songwriter leaves behind the nap-inducing, sad-sack jazzy vocals of the past and gives a big ole bear hug to dancefriendly diva anthems.
Free ASSociAtion:
These are some stunning, funky times 10 dance tracks. Dayumn. For FAnS oF: Zero 7, Beth Ditto, Beth Orton, Nelly Furtado, reinventions.
Fill in the Blanks with... Justin Hallman of Do You Need the Service
Free ASSociAtion:
Speakerboxxx was gonna be tough to live up to, but he KILLS it! For FAnS oF: Curtis Mayfield meets Cee-Lo, Goodie Mob, crunkness.
EASIEST GAME EVER!
Rush + Steven Adler
Do You Need the Service
don’t sing a lot’ or ‘Man, their drummer makes me uncomfortable ... but I like it.” To be truly unique ... ”you can’t worry about the uniqueness of the end result. Follow your instincts, keep your blinders on, and you will end up with something special. It might not be good, but it will be yours. If you want to know how to be unique and good, I’m sorry ... we don’t need the competition.” Vocals and lyrics are overrated ... ”when you’ve been around a while, and you’ve boiled all your ideals and notions of music down to their purest element, you understand two things. 1.) You play music to get the ladies. 2.) Nothing gets the ladies faster than four married guys in their 30s playing instrumental rock. It’s like catnip ... for ladies.”
The thing that makes us most proud about being a part of Philadelphia’s vibrant music scene is ... ”being part of a community that is largely made up of bands/artists that don’t necessarily need to be famous. People here make the music they want because they have the freedom to do it. Anything you want to put together here is supported and, to a large extent, appreciated. At least by three or four people. And in true Philly fashion, that sounded bitter. It’s not. That, and the community of players is amazing. People in Philadelphia play music to play music. And to get ladies.” Don’t get it twisted ... ”we’re not a jazz, a jam, or a math band. Though we obviously appreciate our musician fans, we aspire to offer something broader in its appeal.” But seriously ... ”you should buy your tickets early by visiting the Johnny Brenda’s website.”
Sat., July 24, 8pm. $10. With Photon Band + Grimace Federation. Johnny Brenda’s, 1201 N. Frankford Ave. johnnybrendas.com
Answers: 1. Rush 2. Adler 3. Rush 4. Adler 5. Adler 6. Rush 7. Rush 8. Adler 9. Adler/one-third of Rush 10. Adler 11. Rush 12. Rush Rush perform Wed., July 21, 7:30pm. $35 $150. Susquehanna Bank Center, 1 Harbour Blvd., Camden, N.J. 856.365.1300. livenation.com Adler’s Appetite perform Tues., July 27, 8pm. $15. With Anchored + Razorblade Skin. Millcreek Tavern, 4200 Chester Ave. 215.222.9194. millcreektavernphilly.com
31
Album of the year so far is definitely ... ”Dr. Dog’s Shame, Shame. Despite the band falling victim yet again to its crutches of
et’s play the Easiest Game Ever! Are the L following facts about the band Rush or former Guns N’ Roses drummer Steven Adler? 1. One of the biggest selling bands of all time. 2. Has suffered two druginduced strokes. 3. From Canada. 4. Is in new project called “Adler’s Appetite.” 5. Playing West Philly’s Millcreek Tavern this week. 6. Playing Susquehanna Bank Center this week. 7. Will be playing their smash hit album Moving Pictures in its entirety. 8. Has appeared on Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew. 9. Jewish. 10. Icelandic. 11. Song titles include “The Necromancer,” “The Fountain of Lamenth,” “By-Tor and the Snow Dog.” 12. First single was a Buddy Holly cover.
•
We hate it when people describe us as ... ”eye candy. Yes, this is part of it, but there is a lot more to us. We’re great lovers, too.”
There’s no doubt about the fact that ... ”people who come to our album release this Saturday at Johnny Brenda’s will receive a free download copy of our album, get promptly rocked upon by three great Philadelphia bands, and Johnny Brenda’s Cubano sandwich—if you’re so inclined—is delicious.”
Rush
Ja n u a r y 2 1- 2 7, 2 01 0
The first impression people get of our group after seeing us is ... ”’Boy, they sure
Hype and production’s only gonna get you so far, sister. For FAnS oF: Peaches, Lady Sovereign, Amanda Blank, truffle fries.
SoundS LiKe: “Shutterbugg” is just the tip of the Escalade. This is a dense, funky album of potent hip-hop with excellent guest spots from Janelle Monae and T.I.
P H I L A D E L P H I A W E E K LY
Far be it for me to ... ”tell you how to live. So I’ll tell you how not to live: don’t do anything this Saturday, the 24th of July, that doesn’t include being at Johnny Brenda’s between 8 p.m. and 12:30 a.m. with a drink in your hand, plenty of one dollar bills handy for our drummer (you’ll know where to put them,) and the simple need to enjoy yourself while not bothering people.”
Free ASSociAtion:
(Def Jam)
‘words’ and ‘voice-using,’ this is a nice step forward for the band. I’ve always said, ‘Dr. Dog is just an instrumental album away from being amazing.’ If you know me, you’ve heard me say that.”
S A R A H S TO L FA
ou’re forgiven if the phrase “instrumental Y prog” turns you off. The genre does have a reputation for being deadly self-serious, and almost revels in how far up its own ass it can be. But the guys in Do You Need the Service manage to play it—with Krautrock, new wave and post-punk flourishes— while avoiding its pitfalls. We hear a little Morphine mixed with King Crimson’s Red. What’s more, the band have a great sense of humor. That’s clearly evident on their website (doyouneedtheservice.com) which is packed with murderous looking clowns asking if you can keep a clown secret (the most serious of all secrets!) and knife fighting monkeys wearing top hats. The guys release their excellent lyric-free debut, Hurl Myself Toward Victory, this week at Johnny Brenda’s. We caught up with DYNtS bassist Justin Hallman, who, along with drummer Mark Sconyers, started the band, adding Michael Tramontana (baritone and tenor sax) and Timothy Day (synths, guitar, Rhodes) later to fill it out—to play a little “Fill in the Blanks,” where his good humor is on full display. (For the ladies, no doubt.) (Brian McManus)
sure is full of worldly bleeps, noises, scratchy rhythms and beats, but most disturbing is that we realize that she can’t really sing or rap well.
W W W. P H I L A D E L P H I A W E E K LY. C O M
On The Record