Ballboy
All The Records On The Radio Are Shite CD
SL.
by Keith Mclachlan.
April 28, 2002.
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Ballboy have a way with a title and, fortunately for
them, with a song as well which spares them the rod
often applied to bands like the Beta Band. Ballboy
seem the less effortless, harder working cousins of
Belle and Sebastian who they believing themselves
betters and believe their kin aspire to their level of
feyness actually wish they were the Wedding Present
instead. Gordon Macintyre seems more than willing to
brandish his opinions in a brash, literate manner
allowing a love song to double as commentary on
current popular music even though he is surely to be
lambasted as being some sort of culutral luddite or
elitist out of touch vagrant who can't appreciate the
genius of the Neptunes due to his own overarching
conservatism. But not all music is created for the
same purpose. All of this R'n'B that so tittilates
the ironic hipsters is somewhat reminiscent of the
rush back in the mid 90s between Intel and AMD to
create faster and faster chips for the same set of
plodding instructions (see bloated or see Microsoft)
the technological revolution lacked the spark of
innovation and so computers today do roughly the same
as 20 years ago and so too then a good deal of current
popular music has downplayed the importance of melody
and songs choosing instead to worship the beat which
is the current metaphor for technological progress.
But it seems making a beat that moves one physically
is much more elementary than creating a melody that
moves the heart, sure some will chime in on the
obviousness of the e minor chord changes, but Ballboy
move me and whether it be the frantic tromblone blasts
that thrill or the all too predictable pauses in the
title track that provide short moments of elation or
the pathetic self-loathing in the final number that
cause the reluctant among us to relate. Ballboy are
smart and they do not pander and they write
wonderfully catchy songs that deserve all the praise
they receive from terminally unhip sources such as
John Peel.
Ballboy
Club Anthems CD
by Keith Mclachlan.
November 17, 2001.
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Sadly, it does go a bit Looper in places. And in
those silly places one is compelled to ask-- are the
charms of a scottish brogue really sufficient to carry
the art/lack of art spoken word to new heights? No.
But the spoken word bits here are at least somewhat
entertaining even if they too focus a bit on Elvis
Presley. Bands should really think before they write
songs about Elvis I have yet to hear a decent
Elvis-reference in a pop song yet, well I lie cause U2
had a glorious song about Elvis on 'The Unforgettable
Fire' didn't they? I think they did. But Ballboy
can't manage to pull off the same trick, maybe that is
because those songs that reference EP were b-sides
because most of the other songs here are fantastic.
They have some of the best songtitles in recent
history and 'Donald in the Bushes with a Bag of Glue'
is probably their best title and best song. I am
assuming this was the debut single as it is the first
track and this is a compilation of singles, it comes
off a bit Belle and Sebastian, a bit power-pop and
actually reminds me a bit of the BMX Bandits as well
with the lyrical goofiness mixed with that perfect pop
bizness. There are couple more upbeat numbers such as
this and the aforementioned spoken wordy bits which
though unlikely to hold up on further listenings are
at least accompanied by some excellently beautiful
music, and then the rest of the record is mostly
hushed acoustic balladry which really doesn't come off
Murdoch-y at all. They have a clean, folk sound that
lacks any real sort of swing but always seems to come
out gorgeous. Can't wait til they make an album
proper then.
Bark Psychosis
Game Over CD
3rd Stone.
by Keith McLachlan.
December 28, 1997.
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This is the second review I have
written for this record, but I think this one is truer to my real feelings
on the matter than the pass I gave them in my first attempt. There is
absolutely no point to the release of this record. Most of the songs on
here have previously been released, not as rare b-sides or collectibles
but on other Bark Psychosis Lps. To repackage songs like 'I Know',
'ManMan' and 'Street Scene' seems not only redundant but fraudulent.
Take my advice, Bark Psychosis were an absolutely brilliant band, and this record displays that but get their Lp 'Hex' and the compilation 'Independency' instead, one should be readily available and the other was recently repressed. The unreleased songs on 'Game Over' are not worth the price and you can probably find a better deal if you search out the singles from 'Hex' on your own. This release is a money grab by their despicable record company, don't be fooled.
the Barry Gemso Experience
Ski Lodge Serenade CD
Siesta. Siesta 102.
by Keith McLachlan.
July 25, 1999.
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It must be a bit like when Jesus Christ told Demi Moore in 'The
Seventh Sign' that the guf is empty and there are no more souls and so
the world is gonna end before you get those fancy breast implants for
this is the third band that I know of that uses the name of the main
guy in the band (is there really a Barry Gemso???) and then adds
experience after the name. There is the Clint Boom Experience, the
Rodney Allen Experience and now Barry gets in on the act. Does this
mean I should get breast implants soon because the Y2K thing really
will mean death by toaster for half of the population? It seems to be
a trend and it seems a movement revolving around guys from defunct and
insignificant bands. Yeah, that's right, Monochrome Set were
insignificant, I don't care what anyone says. Every time I get told
what a seminal act they were I reply yeah but did you actually like
them? It is a bit like the Fall. Everyone thinks they are so
important but the actual product was not all that interesting.
So Barry has left the Set and formed a few projects. He was on the super fabulous Scarlet's Well record and here that same sound and charm is continued. It seems these days it is Bid who is defining Siesta Records sound and Barry being a former compatriot has picked up the leader line from Bid and created a completely cheery and breezy record that again owes a lot to bands like the Osmonds, Free Design and the Cowsills. There are multi-tracked vocals, orchestral splashes, fairy tale like stories written into the lyrics and an innocence that is extraordinarily fey and twee but performed with such panache that it is hardly sickening and simply brilliant. Siesta has released five records this year and each and every one is fantastic, and bravo to them for making their vinyl releases nice and heavyweight so they will stand up to the constant wear that my playing them over and over will surely expose these records to.
Bart And Friends
10 Songs About Cars And Girls CD
Drive-In. drive24.
by Keith McLachlan.
November 12, 1998.
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Apparently there is a lone
paleontologist who by virtue of the placement of one cusp on one tooth has
begun making claims that marsupials in Australia did not develop and
flourish in Australia because of lack of competition due to isolation from
the more efficient mammals but that in fact Marsupials out-competed we
mammals because of their unique adapatability to the climate down under.
In a similar circumstance most people write off Australian music as a barren land of dull Midnight Oils and Inxs' with Men at Work. But Bart Miaow and his superfamous friends from the Sugargliders err the Steinbecks and other places down under have made a nice little batch of tunes over a gestation period of two years to help dispel even that but comforting bit of conventional wisdom.
Like I have said before, my Christmas wish every year is for Bart to sing most of the songs in Cat's Miaow and while I will admit that recent Miaow and Hydroplane releases have warmed me to Kerrie's voice a bit more, this record (though not all the vocals are by Bartholemew) reinforces my belief that he is a swell singer.
The first ten songs are by the friends and they have a hodgepodge of instrumentation, voices and are jangly, jumpy and groovy. Then comes like 400 Cat's Miaow out-takes to fill out the rest of the cd, some cover versions that might seem regrettable now especially 'A Day In A Life,' which of course is perfect in the original so why anyone would try to cover it is beyond me, and a Magnetic Fields cover that works much better.
The Cat's Miaow are improving greatly I think and this cd proves it, well half of it does, the other half just proves that it is too soon to write Australia off.
Alec Bathgate
Gold Lame CD
Flying Nun. fnn 353.
by Keith McLachlan.
December 26, 1996.
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For years the nearly silent half of the magnificent Tall Dwarfs, Alec
has stepped from the shadow of his more famous cohort Chris Knox and
created a charming little jangler of an album. Alec is the only
member of the Dwarfs that can actually play so you learn that he is
the architect of the Dwarfs wonderful hooks as this comes off sounding
like a record of Alec's out-takes from Tall Dwarf sessions. Mostly
acoustic and winsome, Alec does get louder on tracks like "Your Heavy
Dream Won't Fly" which has the best harmony vocals I've heard since,
uh, whenever, and "Happy Hound" which ends in a crazy instrumental
freakout. But mostly the songs are sweet, intelligent and dizzyingly
melodic. A treat.