Four-word reviews from CMJ 2010

• Marnie Stern: Mix buries guitar. Crime!
• Dent May: Despite shtick, lyrical songcraft.
• DOM: Garage-rock as vidgame.
• Baths: Falsetto humanizes wobbly chilltronica.
• The Loom: Appalachian garment, angst-y stitching.
• Lucius: Luscious, luminous, lilting lullabies.
• Wild Nothing: Name is half untrue.
• Yo La Tengo: Indie endpoint? Irrelevant: wonderful.
• The swag (not a band): Improved bag, dwindling stuffing.
• Woven Bones: Fun/evil feedback vortex.
• Times New Viking: Faster, chantier, unison-er, better.
• Braids: Patterns enthrall, tinkering offputs.
• David Vandervelde: Leon-ine, hirsute space blooze.
• Phantom Band: Perfect indie choogle + melodica(s).
• Robert Lester Folsom: Belated debut; kinda “Margaritaville.”
• Homeboy Sandman: “Ohhh, freestyle o’ mine.”
• Atomic Tom: Equipped, competent; heard before.
• Shilpa Ray: Sounded fearsome, looked weary.
• Prince Rama: Postpunk tribalism; Ari echoes.
• Shrag: More Ari. (Or Headcoatees?)
• Martina Topley-Bird: Right rasp, soul, sex.
• The Body: Cranial drill volume. Whaaat?
• Oberhofer: Designated marathonners, surfin’ Blood.
• No Joy: Haze — feedback or hair?
• La Sera: Simplicity, but not grace.
• Cloud Nothings: Basement melody liberated, bashingly.
• Viva l’American Death Ray Music: Greasepaint roar, Fall scrape.
• Lower Dens: Slow cloud, affectless cry.
• Cough: “Play slow, die ignorant”?!
• Lia Ices: (Kate + Joanna) / (Arwen − Stevie)
• Kanye West: Can he say no?

CMJ, MJ, obits

I’m covering CMJ like a chicken with his head tweeted off, including the four-word reviews that in the past people seem to have liked, though I haven’t done in a while.

The reason last night was my first out for CMJ instead of Tuesday: my report today on the Michael Jackson movie.

In other news: Alberto Testa, the Italian lyricist who wrote “Quando Quando Quando,” died on Monday at age 82. (Made famous in the U.S. by Pat Boone, in translation; Connie Francis did it in Italian.)

This follows news of the death of singer Carli Boni a few days ago, at 84. She did a lovely Italian version of “Johnny Guitar.”

Four-word reviews from CMJ

Didn’t see quite as many bands as usual this year due to other work, but here are the sniglets I wrote for the Times’ ArtsBeat blog:

• Pattern Is Movement: Lumberjack looks, sensitive ululations.
• Princeton: Aww, indie Lauper cover!
• The Lisps: Peppy co-ed pop candy.
• Women: Four boys, strangled chords.
• Oxford Collapse: Snarling, invigorating punk chants.
• Faunts: Bubbly guitars feel weightless.
• Crystal Stilts: Juxtaposition: gloomy and scrappy.
• Lykke Li: Playful, ingenious Swedish glamazon.
• Hayes Peebles: Li’s opening strummer; sympathize.
• Shugo Tokumaru: Haunting, inviting acoustic virtuosity.
• Audrye Sessions: If Radiohead were emo.
• The Dutchess & the Duke: Wistful folky dirges. Inauthentic.
• Jay Reatard: Punksplosive. Go man go!
• The King Khan & BBQ Show: Garage’s essence, wonderfully deviant.
• Mission of Burma: Postpunk will never die.
• Shout Out Out Out Out Out: Electro Edmontonians embrace excess.
• Growing: Two guitars, such din?
• Holyhail: Hate saying “generic,” but ...
• Psychic Ills: Throbbing drones, migraine-loud.
• Sian Alice Group: Ended with apocalyptic crash.

Extended play:

• The Muslims: One-chord surfers. Gnarly.
• Shock Cinema: Potent, dark, tough; unshocking.
• School of Seven Bells: Feminized MBV, perfectly executed.
  
• Pendulum: Glowstickers, you’re easily pleased.

(Acknowledgments.)

Favorite CMJ blog comment so far

Clicca here.