The Digital Divide---music, CDs, and concert reviews. Nolan's Pop Culture Review #112

Now in our third calendar year
PCR #112 (Vol. 3, No. 20). This edition is for the week of May 13--19, 2002.

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La Floridiana
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2001
2000
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Indie rock's elder statesmen Sonic Youth will release Murray Street on July 26. It was recorded with their new official fifth member, Jim O'Rourke. It has been described as less experimental than 2000's NYC Ghosts and Flowers and sounds like a weird mutation of classic rock. Thurston Moore states that it is more song-oriented than previous releases.
   Has the band discovered that chords in tune have melody? Will Kim Gordon turn down the fuzz on her bass? Stay tuned!!!!!!
   In other Sonic Youth news, the first piece of their stolen equipment, a guitar, was found by a fan on e-Bay. The band's old equipment with which they recorded half dozen of the past 2 decade's finest albums were stolen from their van in Los Angles in 1999.
The track listing for Murray Street is as follows:     1. The Empty Page
    2. Disconnection Notice
    3. Rain on Tin
    4. Karen Revisited
    5. Radical Adults Lick Godhead Style
    6. Plastic Sun
    7. Sympathy For The Strawberry
The Flaming Lips follow up their 1999 classic The Soft Bulletin this year with Yoshimi vs. the Pink Robots. Yoshimi vs.... is a concept album about a fictional character's possibly hallucinatory battle with an evil enemy. Like always, the Lips live up to their hype of sheer wackiness. Yoshimi vs. the Pink Robots will be released to a confused public sometime in June or July. I, meanwhile , will go battle my own hallucinatory enemy.
Concert fans will be disappointed to hear that Lolapolooza will not be held this summer once again, but instead it is slated for 2003. Festival organizer Perry Farrell says that he needs to work on it more to make it the presentation it should be instead of rushing it. Meanwhile, Farrell and his band, Jane's Addiction, are in the studio recording a follow-up to their 1991 album. At this point it's more of a comeback than a follow-up.
Low announced that they have mixed their new album and it will be due later this year. Their last release was last year's Things We Lost In The Fire. Their folk sound and soft crooning vocals helped make a scene in Britain last year, but unfortunately, never caught on in the states.
The Breeders have canceled the release of their first single off their new album. The track, "Huffer", will be shelved for a release date for later this year.
Modern guitar god and Built To Spill frontman Doug Martsch is releasing his first solo album in September. It was recorded two years ago and is in a blues tone so don't expect any guitar heroics on this one. The title is Now You Know. Martsch also said that Built To Spill will be back in the studio this fall.
Right off their most recent masterpeice, Wilco is already planning the follow up to Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. The band has been recording abstract instrumentals which are planned for an album titled Decibels Per Minute. Jeff Tweedy describes the album's second half as a cross between Sonic Youth and Ummagumma-era Pink Floyd. Tweedy, however, says that he has no release date planned for the album.
Grunge's only surving band (face it, STP might as well be dead) Pearl Jam have finished recording their new album. The album so far has no title or release date set. The band's highly-anticipated b-sides/rarities collection will likely be pushed back.
Sleater-Kinney's new album, their sixth, will be released in August. Titled One Beat, the new album threatens to be more experimental. Bassist Carrie Brownstein stated, "People have told us the new stuff is weird, and that's a compliment to us." One Beat is produced by John Goodmanson who also produced their 1999 album All Hands On The Bad One. One track on the new album breaks the mold as it is the first time on a Sleater-Kinney song that a male vocalist is featured. The male vocalist happens to be, by the way, Stephen Trask, composer of Hedwig and the Angry Inch.
SpinArt are releasing perhaps the most coveted artifact of alt-rock, The Pixies 1987 demo tape known simply as "Purple Tape". It was this single demo tape that convinced 4AD's Ivo Watts-Russell to sign the band and thereby giving birth to countless imitators in later years such as Nirvana. Eight tracks off of the demo tape became The Pixies first release Come On Pilgrim in 1987, the rest will finally see the light day on July 9th. There is a god and I know he likes to rock.
The Notwist: Neon Golden
Germany's The Notwist up until this album were simply known as a metal band that occasionally added techno-beats to their sound. Other than that they went pretty much unnoticed, Europe's answer to Trent Reznor's Nine Inch Nails. Somewhere along the way though, they must have discovered their creative spark because, to put it simply, their new album Neon Golden speaks the exclusive language of genius. On each listen you are rewarded with a new surprise. The sound of the album reminds one of National Skyline yet only if they were fronted by Brian Eno. That's not to say that The Notwist have released an album of gorgeous sonic landscapes with no depth and devoid of lyrics. In fact Eno probably would have ruined this record. The album evokes emotional response like no other in recent memory. Sonic landscapes it has, but rather in the form of emotive delivery. When the singer , Markus Archer, croons the line "Leave me paralyzed, love" we don't just understand or relate to his lyrics but we feel it. It's this kind of juxtaposition between lyrics and music that is rarely heard on glossy studio albums these days. Sure emo-bands try it, but how many really succeed? Well, Weezer used to. But The Notwist's music is far more literate than any 3-chord punk. There is in fact barely any guitars to be heard. Well, at least recognized, that is. When you do hear a string instrument it is a plucking banjo against bleeps or a highly synthesized guitar riff that leaves you wondering if that's a keyboard or the real thing. The album is loaded with pops and techno-bleeps but unlike Radiohead, The Notwist manage to relate them to the song. There is no sonic gimmick on this album, folks. The vocals float in and out like a hypnotic epiphany leaving the listner in...well, heaven. It's a shame that most won't hear this album as it's only available as an import so far, because though it's highbrow it's also damn great music that isn't inaccessible.
Neon Golden is a classic, a blueprint, the record that Radiohead would have pimped their moms to have released. Maybe the great Radiohead should bow down now because as The Notwist puts it in their song "One With The Freaks", "everything looks much bigger on your knees, on your knees" "have you ever been honest?". Thom Yorke and company have a lot to live up to if they expect to beat out The Notwist.
In short, the best album of the year so far. And all that from an ex-Euro metal band. Go figure.

Pulp: We Love Life
Right off the bat after reading the title you get the impression that this is going to be an uplifting record. Well, it's not exactly "Shiny Happy People" but it is lighter in tone than Pulp's previous effort, This Is Hardcore. Before that slice of Brit-pop depression Jarvis Cocker and Co. gave us 1995's Different Class, a classic pop statement on Britain's class obsession. This time around Cocker drops the politico talk and instead gives us pure pop songs and even some rock.
It starts off with "Weeds" and "Weeds II (origin of the species)" which are sort of electronic experiments. Well, at least for Pulp. Then we get "The Night Minnie Temperely Died", a sort of glam-rock ode to Bowie. The album really kicks off though with "Trees" a track that screams Brian Wilson-masturbation-fantasy. After the lush "Trees" we get "Wickerman", not an homage to that film, but instead an eerie spoken-word anecdote about a brown river underneath England. The album gets a little slow in the middle but never manages to bore. Towards the end we get a song that can only be described as Phil Spector's aborted love-child, "Bad Cover Version", where Cocker pouts about how rebound dating is "like Planet of the Apes on T.V." and "Tom and Jerry when both of them could talk," all while Carol King strings and bells wash out your speakers. The album's closer, "Sunrise" however, is the real gem as it ends with an extended soaring guitar solo worthy of Boston and a drum loop that would shame Bonham. Pulp have returned and, hopefully, so has Brit-pop.
Let's just hope Blur and Oasis don't screw it up for everybody.

This issue's contents of "The Digital Divide" was composed in its entirety, and is ©2002 by, Terence Nuzum. Webpage design and all graphics herein, except where otherwise noted, are creations of Nolan B. Canova. All contents of Nolan's Pop Culture Review are ©2002 by Nolan B. Canova.


Frontpage La Floridiana Deadguy's Dementia Matt's Rail Blank Thoughts Mike's Rant PCR Archives 2002 2001 2000 Crazed Fanboy home PCR 2002 Home

Indie rock's elder statesmen Sonic Youth will release Murray Street on July 26. It was recorded with their new official fifth member, Jim O'Rourke. It has been described as less experimental than 2000's NYC Ghosts and Flowers and sounds like a weird mutation of classic rock. Thurston Moore states that it is more song-oriented than previous releases. Has the band discovered that chords in tune have melody? Will Kim Gordon turn down the fuzz on her bass? Stay tuned!!!!!! In other Sonic Youth news, the first piece of their stolen equipment, a guitar, was found by a fan on e-Bay. The band's old equipment with which they recorded half dozen of the past 2 decade's finest albums were stolen from their van in Los Angles in 1999. *The track listing for Murray Street* is as follows: 1. The Empty Page 2. Disconnection Notice 3. Rain on Tin 4. Karen Revisited 5. Radical Adults Lick Godhead Style 6. Plastic Sun 7. Sympathy For The Strawberry The Flaming Lips** follow up their 1999 classic The Soft Bulletin this year with Yoshimi vs. the Pink Robots. Yoshimi vs.... is a concept album about a fictional character's possibly hallucinatory battle with an evil enemy. Like always, the Lips live up to their hype of sheer wackiness. Yoshimi vs. the Pink Robots will be released to a confused public sometime in June or July. I, meanwhile , will go battle my own hallucinatory enemy. Concert fans will be disappointed to hear that Lolapolooza will not be held this summer once again, but instead it is slated for 2003. Festival organizer Perry Farrell says that he needs to work on it more to make it the presentation it should be instead of rushing it. Meanwhile, Farrell and his band, Jane's Addiction, are in the studio recording a follow-up to their 1991 album. At this point it's more of a comeback than a follow-up. Low announced that they have mixed their new album and it will be due later this year. Their last release was last year's Things We Lost In The Fire. Their folk sound and soft crooning vocals helped make a scene in Britain last year, but unfortunately, never caught on in the states. The Breeders have canceled the release of their first single off their new album. The track, "Huffer", will be shelved for a release date for later this year. Modern guitar god and Built To Spill frontman Doug Martsch is releasing his first solo album in September. It was recorded two years ago and is in a blues tone so don't expect any guitar heroics on this one. The title is Now You Know. Martsch also said that Built To Spill will be back in the studio this fall. Right off their most recent masterpeice, Wilco is already planning the follow up to Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. The band has been recording abstract instrumentals which are planned for an album titled Decibels Per Minute. Jeff Tweedy describes the album's second half as a cross between Sonic Youth and Ummagumma-era Pink Floyd. Tweedy, however, says that he has no release date planned for the album. Grunge's only surving band (face it, STP might as well be dead) Pearl Jam have finished recording their new album. The album so far has no title or release date set. The band's highly-anticipated b-sides/rarities collection will likely be pushed back. Sleater-Kinney's new album, their sixth, will be released in August. Titled One Beat, the new album threatens to be more experimental. Bassist Carrie Brownstein stated, "People have told us the new stuff is weird, and that's a compliment to us." One Beat is produced by John Goodmanson who also produced their 1999 album All Hands On The Bad One. One track on the new album breaks the mold as it is the first time on a Sleater-Kinney song that a male vocalist is featured. The male vocalist happens to be, by the way, Stephen Trask, composer of Hedwig and the Angry Inch. SpinArt are releasing perhaps the most coveted artifact of alt-rock, The Pixies 1987 demo tape known simply as "Purple Tape". It was this single demo tape that convinced 4AD's Ivo Watts-Russell to sign the band and thereby giving birth to countless imitators in later years such as Nirvana. Eight tracks off of the demo tape became The Pixies first release Come On Pilgrim in 1987, the rest will finally see the light day on July 9th. There is a god and I know he likes to rock.		The Notwist: Neon Golden Germany's The Notwist up until this album were simply known as a metal band that occasionally added techno-beats to their sound. Other than that they went pretty much unnoticed, Europe's answer to Trent Reznor's Nine Inch Nails. Somewhere along the way though, they must have discovered their creative spark because, to put it simply, their new album Neon Golden speaks the exclusive language of genius. On each listen you are rewarded with a new surprise. The sound of the album reminds one of National Skyline yet only if they were fronted by Brian Eno. That's not to say that The Notwist have released an album of gorgeous sonic landscapes with no depth and devoid of lyrics. In fact Eno probably would have ruined this record. The album evokes emotional response like no other in recent memory. Sonic landscapes it has, but rather in the form of emotive delivery. When the singer , Markus Archer, croons the line "Leave me paralyzed, love" we don't just understand or relate to his lyrics but we feel it. It's this kind of juxtaposition between lyrics and music that is rarely heard on glossy studio albums these days. Sure emo-bands try it, but how many really succeed? Well, Weezer used to. But The Notwist's music is far more literate than any 3-chord punk. There is in fact barely any guitars to be heard. Well, at least recognized, that is. When you do hear a string instrument it is a plucking banjo against bleeps or a highly synthesized guitar riff that leaves you wondering if that's a keyboard or the real thing. The album is loaded with pops and techno-bleeps but unlike Radiohead, The Notwist manage to relate them to the song. There is no sonic gimmick on this album, folks. The vocals float in and out like a hypnotic epiphany leaving the listner in...well, heaven. It's a shame that most won't hear this album as it's only available as an import so far, because though it's highbrow it's also damn great music that isn't inaccessible. Neon Golden is a classic, a blueprint, the record that Radiohead would have pimped their moms to have released. Maybe the great Radiohead should bow down now because as The Notwist puts it in their song "One With The Freaks", "everything looks much bigger on your knees, on your knees" "have you ever been honest?". Thom Yorke and company have a lot to live up to if they expect to beat out The Notwist. In short, the best album of the year so far. And all that from an ex-Euro metal band. Go figure. Pulp: We Love Life Right off the bat after reading the title you get the impression that this is going to be an uplifting record. Well, it's not exactly "Shiny Happy People" but it is lighter in tone than Pulp's previous effort, This Is Hardcore. Before that slice of Brit-pop depression Jarvis Cocker and Co. gave us 1995's Different Class, a classic pop statement on Britain's class obsession. This time around Cocker drops the politico talk and instead gives us pure pop songs and even some rock. It starts off with "Weeds" and "Weeds II (origin of the species)" which are sort of electronic experiments. Well, at least for Pulp. Then we get "The Night Minnie Temperely Died", a sort of glam-rock ode to Bowie. The album really kicks off though with "Trees" a track that screams Brian Wilson-masturbation-fantasy. After the lush "Trees" we get "Wickerman", not an homage to that film, but instead an eerie spoken-word anecdote about a brown river underneath England. The album gets a little slow in the middle but never manages to bore. Towards the end we get a song that can only be described as Phil Spector's aborted love-child, "Bad Cover Version", where Cocker pouts about how rebound dating is "like Planet of the Apes on T.V." and "Tom and Jerry when both of them could talk," all while Carol King strings and bells wash out your speakers. The album's closer, "Sunrise" however, is the real gem as it ends with an extended soaring guitar solo worthy of Boston and a drum loop that would shame Bonham. Pulp have returned and, hopefully, so has Brit-pop. Let's just hope Blur and Oasis don't screw it up for everybody. This issue's contents of "The Digital Divide" was composed in its entirety, and is ©2002 by, Terence Nuzum. Webpage design and all graphics herein, except where otherwise noted, are creations of Nolan B. Canova. All contents of Nolan's Pop Culture Review are ©2002 by Nolan B. Canova.