High Bias aural fixations
November 3, 2002

A TRIGGERING MYTH
Forgiving Eden
(The Laser's Edge)
Forgiving Eden, the fifth album from Virginia's A Triggering Myth, consists of one 43-minute composition, but don't think we're in Thick As a Brick territory. For one thing, the music is entirely instrumental, so there isn't a pretentious, impenetrable storyline to deal with. For another, keyboardists/composers Rick Eddy and Tim Drumheller draw on such a variety of musics to create their progressive rock that the record never becomes boring. Jazz fusion, contemporary classical music and touches of various ethnic musics inform the melodies as much as traditional prog, with dramatic swells, airy filigrees and warm keyboard fills enhancing the tunes themselves. Also on hand are guitarist Scott McGill and drummer Vic Stevens from the technically advanced fusion trio McGill Manring Stevens; both musicians perform with a taste and reserve they don't often exhibit in their own group. The duo and their guests keep the presentation interesting by being always on the move, never standing still long enough for the listener to get bored; it's a testament to the composition as much as the performance. Forgiving Eden is serious music that never becomes ponderous. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: the Underground Railroad, Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso, Djam Karet

BAD WIZARD
Sophisticated Mouth
(Tee Pee)
It's no secret that, if you live in the United States, things are rotten these days. The economy sucks rocks. Unemployment is rampant. Corporations overpay their executives, finding the money by hiring out non-executive tasks to workers in other countries. America is about to become embroiled in a nasty military action against Iraq, despite its links to recent terrorist activities being tenuous at best. Our so-called elected officials seem to not give an airborne primate copulation about the needs of the public that supposedly put them there. International opinion of the States is at an all-time low, destined to sink further. It's difficult to have any faith in the future.

Yet, somehow, when Bad Wizard's Sophisticated Mouth is blasting from the speakers, none of that seems to matter much. The New York-based quintet's second platter doesn't advocate world peace or present creative solutions to pressing social problems. It just rocks its ass off. Guitarists Eddie and Tina slam out punked-out, scuzz-fucked classic rock licks while bassist Pat and drummer Ron keep the rhythms savage and swinging and guest keyboardist Fat Bobby adds atonal organ licks. Singer Curtis's boozy yowl may be damn near unintelligible, but it's the feeling of good times and freedom he gets across that matters. Brutal rockers like "Hurricane," "Whoo!" and "Needle 2 Groove" don't have much on their minds outside of burning up that fire inside as fast as possible. The hostile horniness of "Black Cherry" and the feral choogling of "Champagne Boogie" forego any navel contemplation for crotch-grabbin', Les Paul-pickin', nymphet-violatin' rock & roll frenzy. Sophisticated Mouth won't cure your ills, solve your problems or give you your life back. But for its half-hour running time it will put a smile on your face and a crick in your wrist from air guitar. Which is what great rock & roll is supposed to do. "Loosen Up!" Bad Wizard cries, and when it's in full wail, it's impossible not to comply. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: Nashville Pussy, the Four Horsemen, Motörhead

ANTON BARBEAU
Will Ant For Frond
(Anton Barbeau)
Earlier this year, Sacramento songwriting treasure Anton Barbeau trekked over to England to record an album with the Bevis Frond as his backing band. (The Frond's Nick Saloman is a huge fan.) That album won't be out for a while yet, but in order to pay for it Barbeau assembled a clutch of demos of those songs and others to compile Will Ant For Frond, a limited-edition fundraising disk intended to help pay for the trip. It would be unkind to go into too much detail about the songs, as they will appear in more produced form later on. Suffice it to say that tunes like "King of Missouri," "Sweet Creature What's Your Name" (the low fi production of which makes it sound like a vintage Frond track) and "The Clothes I Want to Wear" are among his best, and the (mostly) acoustic versions of "Check's in the Mail" and his classic "Octagon" are damn near perfect as is. As a bonus Barbeau also includes a batch of home-recorded covers, including a loving deconstruction of Prince's "Purple Rain," a goofy version on XTC's "The Man Who Murdered Love," a ELO-like technopop run through Bob Dylan's "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight" and reasonably faithful takes on the Beatles' "Cry Baby Cry" and "Norwegian Wood." He also covers himself, inviting Game Theory/Loud Family leader Scott Miller (another fan) to duet on his own "Third Eye" and doing a Negativland-like tape splicerama on his "The Banana Song," here listed as "Revolution 9." While hardly essential for neophytes to the Barbeau oeuvre, Will Ant For Frond is a must-have item for his fans.

Will Ant For Frond is limited to a mere 100 copies and is available through 125 Records. It's going fast, so don't delay. Michael Toland

For fans of: Stew, XTC, Robyn Hitchcock

JAMIE CLARKE'S PERFECT
Nobody is Perfect
(SPV)
Guitarist/songwriter Jamie Clarke was one of the musicians brought in a few years ago to replace singer/songwriter Shane MacGowan, guitarist Philip Chevron and multi-instrumentalist Terry Woods in the Pogues, appearing on the Pogue Mahone album and its subsequent tour. He wisely escaped that no-win situation (as did his fellow ringer James McNally, who became a major figure in the Afro-Celt Sound System) and has reappeared as the leader of his own band, Jamie Clarke's Perfect on Nobody is Perfect. Perfect attempts to follow the basic Pogues formula of rocking up British folk music, though Clarke's originals ("Temptress," the polkaesque "Mad World," "Best Thing") come across more as acoustic rock songs given a Celtic flavor than updates of British tradition. The horse-riding anthem "Ride On" owes more to Michael Martin Murphy than to Richard Thompson. More interesting are the album's covers. Besides an instrumental version of the Pogues' "Turkish Song of the Damned," which shows off the lyrical skills of accordionist Pedja Zaric, the album includes fairly straightforward takes on two unabashed pop songs: the Flamin Groovies' "Shake Some Action" and the Kinks' "Sunny Afternoon." The straightforward melodies gain new life by being played on squeezebox and guitar, with Clarke's hard-living rasp leading the way. Nobody is Perfect is hardly an essential item, but it's not a bad way to pass the time if you're a fan of folked-up singer/songwriter rock. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: Flogging Molly, the Pogues, Black 47

RICH MCCULLEY
If Faith Doesn't Matter
(Rich McCulley)
California's Rich McCulley navigates the rich space between power pop and roots rock on his latest record If Faith Doesn't Matter. Marrying catchy melodies to straightforward arrangements, McCulley makes classic-sounding rock & roll without making any obvious nods to anyone else. Cuts like "Nothin' to Say," "Unwound" and "Say Bye-Bye" cut to the chase, both instrumentally and emotionally; the pedal steel-like slide guitars support McCulley's gritty vocals. "Fight It" and "Only Fool" kick up nice clouds of dust, while "Please Sing Along" and "You're So High" give plaintive a good name. McCulley's music is about as unpretentious as one can get, never indulging in clever wordplay for the sake of it or inserting musical quotes just to show off his influences, and he clearly loves his work. The album may be titled If Faith Doesn't Matter, but to him it definitely does. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: Mike Rosenthal, the Wallflowers, Mike Viola

STOA
Zal
(Alice In…)
Though the record comes to America through the auspices of contemporary Gothic/ethereal label Projekt, Zal, the latest album by Germany's Stoa, is more of a modern classical record than anything associated with pop. Composer/keyboardist O. Parusel sets poetry by James Joyce, William Blake, Rilke and even Shakespeare to baroque tunes augmented by strings and oboe, while Antje Buchheiser handles the multi-language vocals. Parusel's careful melodies tastefully touch each emotional button—even when you can't understand the language being sung, the overall tone of melancholy and regret comes through unimpeded. Buchheiser stops short of opera, but otherwise her trained voice moans and croons as if she was pouring out her darkest feelings in the comfort of a private concert hall. "Alone" (adapted from Joyce), "Ariel's Song" (libretto courtesy William Shakespeare) and "I Wish You Could Smile" (written by black tape for a blue girl leader/Projekt grand poobah Sam Rosenthal) evoke sadness without indulging in Grand Guignol theatrics, no mean feat. Even the instrumentals "I Held the Moon" and "Winter" conjure feelings of longing and regret. Zal must mean "sadly beautiful." Michael Toland

For fans of: black tape for a blue girl, Rachel's, Philip Glass

YAKUZA
Way of the Dead
(Century Media)
Bizarrely eclectic avant thrash quartet Yakuza is like an extreme metal band processed through Chicago's post rock scene, which is in fact the fertile swamp from which the combo oozes. Death metal, hardcore, free jazz, psychedelia and its hometown's atmospheric, experimental indie rock freely mix 'n' match on the group's sophomore record Way of the Dead. Guitarist Eric Plonka smashes his ultra-distorted riffs as if he was killing roaches with Thor's hammer, ripping furious power chords from his ax's very breast one moment ("Yama," "T.M.S."), then gently caressing its fevered brow the next ("Signal 2.42"). Drummer James Staffel and bassist Eric Clark flail away at their respective instruments, turning on a dime for a precision mosh part or laying back for a soothing dark metal groove. Frontperson Bruce Lamon screams, shrieks, growls, roars, croons, mutters and, oh yes, sings as if he's trying to let every emotion in his body out at once. The moody, threatening "Chicago Typewriter" and the explosive, violent "Vergasso" encompass the band's diverse takes on musical brutality, with both sounding completely uncontrived and natural. Special guest saxist Ken Vandermark, a leading light of Chi-town's avant jazz scene, enlivens the already lively "Obscurity." Rather than end the LP with a boom, however, Yakuza instead takes us out with "01000011110011," a long (over 40 minutes, which means the other seven songs go by in less than 30), sedate instrumental that concentrates on Lamon's lyrical sax lines and Plonka's restrained jazz noodling. Despite its quiet nature, it's a ballsy way to end such an aggressive album. The presence of many familiar elements keeps Yakuza from being quite as avant garde as it wants to be, but the band still creates noise in ways no one else is. Way of the Dead is an extremely promising step forward. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: Cleansing-era Prong, System of a Down, Candiria

Copyright © 2002 High Bias