Badwill Ambassadors
TKO/Scarey Records
A-
One of the best bar rock bands ever. Their early albums are better, but isn’t that always the case? Rockin’, kick-ass, beer-drinking music by long-haired southern drunk punks. —DG Mayoral
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The world gets you down, The Man stomps his boot on your face, and you see your bleeding heart set fire in the street. You need to hear this record. It’s something almost unthinkable these days: rock’n’soul music that stands up against Aretha Franklin and the MC5. Singer Lisa Kekaula rips herself apart, wailing like a gospel banshee over the band’s Motor City racket, and the combination feels so right, it’s hard to believe you haven’t been hearing it your whole life. You like the Gossip, the White Stripes or the Stooges? You need to hear this record. —Adam Beales
The BellRays play the Doug Fir in Portland March 29 and Seattle’s Crocodile CafÈ March 31..
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On this album, Sea and Cake guitarist Archer Prewitt has recorded some of the dreamiest folk pop ever heard; think whimsy, kite flying and making love in the sunshine. It’s a fine line Prewitt walks between beauty and kitsch, but trust me, he never steps one toe over it. Paul Simon and Cat Stevens fans have found a new torchbearer. —Nathan Walker
Begborrowsteal
Ramp Recordings
C
Count Bass D’s new album indulges in all things underground. The beats are laid down in stream-of-consciousness fashion; old television themes are put next to jazz standards, seemingly unworkable, but strangely coherent. The problem is the intermittent vocals, which cop from both MF Doom and Black Thought, without the former’s cleverness or the latter’s flow. There are no hooks and nothing sticky about the words. Sonic wallpaper while you’re packing a bowl? Count Bass D’s got you covered. -Tyson Lynn
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The Bay City Rollers meet Radiohead is perhaps the best way to describe the unique sound of this band. Delays are a Brit Pop quartet that relies heavily on luxurious harmonies that liquefy into a delicious cocktail of sound. Just below the cascading voices, the group blends catchy riffs and gentle strumming with synthetic overlays. Singer Greg Gilbert croons his way through each track with an unusually high falsetto. Lyrically introspective, the Sussex quartet composes heartbreaking songs of loves lost and missed opportunities. “Faded Seaside Glamour” is pop conscious but experimental enough to keep them on college radio. -Tony Engelhart
Wandering Stranger
Fat Possum
C+
Guy Blakeslee (AKA Entrance) has a unique approach to the blues. While he is highly influenced by the likes of Robert Johnson and Skip James, he is equally akin to Dylan, the Velvet Underground and T-Rex. Like his debut, “Wandering Stranger” echoes the Delta with very little percussion. Recorded live in the studio, the album has an exceptionally personal feel. While it would be easy to lump Entrance in with other blues revivalist such as the Black Keys or 20 Miles, don’t. Guy Blakeslee stays closer to the roots with a pure and authentic appreciation. -TE
Factums
Self-Released
B
These local boys have made a record in 20 short atmospheric bursts-layered low-fi bass that wavers from crisp boom to deep cast-iron fuzz, free jazz guitar funk minimalism, and muted raspy voices floating in static. Cold electric pulses and apocryphal drum grooves happen at intervals, the whole shebang sounding like sassy industrial roadhouse blues heard from a table at the back of a nuclear submarine. -Timothy Schofield
Blessed Black Wings
Relapse Records
A-
Ye olde black metal (as in pre-Norwegian face paint) forged in the molten eruptions of Mt. Doom, AKA the Bay Area. Beckoning obvious Motorhead/Melvins comparisons, ex-Sleep front man Matt Pike summons the Hessian ancestors for some straight barbaric riff-mongering over bass lines thick with the aroma of torch-wielding witch hunters. Des Kensel is the only drummer credited, but surely such wraithlike thunder must come from an entire corps. They rip Celtic Frost and Venom covers live. Music to kiss goats to. -Wendy Colton
Valende
Sub Pop
C+
I can’t say I’ve ever heard anything like Jennifer Gentle before. On their third full-length, the Italian duo sound like an unholy alliance between T-Rex, Animal Collective, Pianosaurus... and Ornette Coleman. While Marco and Alessio favor offbeat instrumentation, like harmonium, glockenspiel and kazoo, they can also crank up the volume, free jazz-style, when the mood hits. Marco’s vocals, meanwhile, sound like Marc Bolan on 45rpm or Alvin the Chipmunk on acid. I don’t hate this album by any means-the originality behind it is hard to deny-but it’s just too weird for me to love. -Kathleen C Fennessy
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Seductive, luscious and delicious, the Kills’ follow-up to their “Keep on Your Mean Side” furthers the duo’s ability to create atmospheric, blues-tinged music. From “Love is a Deserter” (which recalls the heady days of “Sister”-era Sonic Youth) to the latest single “The Good Ones,” each track grows and growls with a sense of something sweetly sinister. You can imagine the dirty alleyways and cigarette-stained bars where the Kills must have found these songs. “No Wow” should surely top your best of list at the end of the year. -De Kwok
The Kills play Seattle’s Crocodile CafÈ March 25 and Portland’s Doug Fir March 27.
'64 - '95
XL Recordings
D+
Too many repetitive, boring beats, blaring guitars and uninteresting production techniques. This album sounds like all of the rejected elements of ‘90s Prodigy or Chemical Brothers: very conventional and not at all progressive. It’s too bad, because these guys seemed like the ones to look out for a few years ago. A couple of decent samples and a disco riff or two save this from being a complete failure. Better luck next time. -Kristopher Monroe
Before the Dawn Heals Us
Mute
B+
Perhaps it’s the gorgeous landscape that makes the French masters of creating gorgeous, melodramatic music. Like Air, M83’s latest CD is a cathedral of sound filled with sweeping electronic strings and mournful voices. But unlike the “Sexy Boy” duo, M83 seems less concerned with making pop music than creating atmosphere through noise. The best songs here-“Don’t Save Us from the Flames,” “Teen Angst” and “Lower Your Eyelids to Die With the Sun”-exude a creepy vibe. “BTDHU” is the soundtrack to a very lovely nightmare. -Grady Nakita
M83 performs at Seattle's Chop Suey on April 26 and at Holocene in Portland on April 27.
A Few Steps More
Too Pure
B-
Perhaps it’s the gorgeous landscape that makes the French masters of creating gorgeous, melodramatic music. Like Air, M83’s latest CD is a cathedral of sound filled with sweeping electronic strings and mournful voices. But unlike the “Sexy Boy” duo, M83 seems less concerned with making pop music than creating atmosphere through noise. The best songs here-“Don’t Save Us from the Flames,” “Teen Angst” and “Lower Your Eyelids to Die With the Sun”-exude a creepy vibe. “BTDHU” is the soundtrack to a very lovely nightmare. -GN
These Things We Say
Fish the Cat
A
This is the fourth album to come from this raucous Seattle quintet, and by far their best. These are truly a complete band’s songs with guitar all over the place, peppering each one with everything from surfer licks to heavy riffs, while the rhythms saunter with the cool bombast of one who carries a big stick. My only problem is that it’s just over 30 minutes of rock. This means I’ve listened the crap out of it. Over and over. With these short records, it’s easy to get suckered into repeat listens for days. Beware. -ST
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Nagisa Ni Te prove that a good pop song is universal. Written and sung in Japanese, these songs are simultaneously intimately familiar and insanely alien. Translations are provided but they read, perhaps purposefully, like bad dubs, approximating emotions but not capturing them. That’s why you should skip the words altogether and enjoy the strange warmth of finely crafted songs, the serpentine paths of guitar, distortion, and the crafty cradling coos of a record 20 years in the making. -TL
Nomo
Ypsilanti
A
Who in the world would have thought one of the tightest bunch of Fela-inspired funk would have come out of Ypsilanti, MI? This hip-shaking crew of something like 17 musicians has cut a set of songs that is guaranteed to bring your next house party to a frenzy. Things take a step back when Jamie Register takes the mic but the grooves are so deep and heavy that you quickly overlook the unnecessary vocal work. —Robert Ham
Always With Wings
Loveless Records
B+
The pugilist in me wants to train to this album. Whether it be for the ring or the mean streets, these songs are for kicking ass. All 12 rounds on this full-length are relentless, heavyweight hitters that come at your ears with teeth like Mike Tyson. The guitar lines are straight power jabs with the feverish drums keeping a constant barrage of body blows. The combination proves to be powerful and subjugates the listener to the ropes where a 40-minute beating ensues. It’s the kind of punishment that you not only take, but you will want more. -ST
Set Yourself on Fire
Arts and Crafts Records
A+
What if I told you that Stars is one of the things that makes me believe in God? If I say I know exactly what Amy Millan means when she sings “We will always be a light”? If I explain how the lyrics and instruments and the way they sing are all saying the same thing: hope, love, joy, and peace? Would you buy “Set Yourself on Fire” and drown in the shimmering sound of bliss? Or would you skip this review and keep listening to boring ol’ rock‘n’roll? -Joel Hartse
Stars play live at Seattle’s Nuemo’s April 2.
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I’ve never been a Styrofoam fan—the packing material, that is—but Arne Van Petegem is all right by me. For his fourth recording, the Belgian artist has teamed up with his favorite vocalists: Ben Gibbard (Death Cab for Cutie), Markus Acher (The Notwist), Valerie Trebeljahr (Lali Puna) and Andrew Kenny (American Analog Set). He sings on a few tracks, as well. The results should please fans of the Postal Service, in particular, although I have mixed feelings about hip hop-oriented track “Misguided,” featuring Alias. That said, “Couches in Alleys” is my new favorite Ben Gibbard song. -KCF
The Skin of Light
Self-Relased
B+
This Invitation was a nice mellow surprise in the same vein as Sigur Ros. I listened to it everyday at work and didn’t get sick of it. It’s velvety soft music you can have a nice slow fuck to. Quaalude anyone? -- DGM
Worst CD of the Month
Handjob
Community
X
You ever know that obnoxious fey guy in school who could play guitar and sort of carry a tune, which was enough to have all the girls you liked follow him around like the rats of Hamelin? Well, he made a CD and, boy howdy, does it suck. Too bad he’s probably still getting laid more than you and me. Sigh.... —RH