Low: Deeply distressed that Kevin Garnett may leave the Minnesota Timberwolves

APRIL 2007

Kieran Hebden and Steve Reid Tongues ITUNES MYSPACE Sampling maestro and eclectic drummer bounce ideas

This duo’s third release showcases skittering electronics framed by grounded, dynamic percussion, in ten brief, impressionistic tracks, all recorded live. Hebden, of Four Tet and Fridge, has always embraced jazz’s combative attitudes toward rhythm and melody, and here, with multiple samplers and guitar, he yields dense sounds both roiling and serene; while Reid, who played with Miles Davis and, um, Supertramp, adds scattershot rolls or tight backbeats. “Our Time” matches ambient Buddhist-temple bells with harp runs and metronomic drumming, while the tinny beeps and disco beats on “Rhythm Dance” summon a Martian post-punk groove. GABE BO YLAN

 

Idlewild Make Another World ITUNES MYSPACE Underachieving Scots furiously spin their U2-loving wheels Six albums on, the earnest men of Idlewild are still acting like nervous rookies, unleashing busy guitars in a frantic attempt to emulate U2’s cathedral grandeur; sadly, the noisy production does nothing to hide

 

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their thin songwriting. At his most expressive, singer Roddy Woomble echoes Morrissey’s mix of languor and passion, but too often he is an impotent voice struggling to cut through the clutter. JON YOUNG

 

J Dilla
Ruff Draft
ITUNES MYSPACE
Enigmatic hip-hop great in
a more hard-edged mood
The late producer/rapper
James “J Dilla” Yancey had his
signature sound: thick drums,
expertly placed samples, and
melodic keyboards (think A
Tribe Called Quest’s “1nce
Again”). But on Ruff Draft,
those sounds aren’t so warm
and fuzzy. “Nothing Like This”
is all abrasive guitars and
hammering drums, while
“Reckless Driving” is nearly as
aggressive. And though Dilla’s
rapping is never more than
competent, Ruff Draft is still a
platform for the versatility of
his eccentric genius. THOMAS
GOLIANOPOULOS

 

The Locust
New Erections ⁵
ITUNES MYSPACE
Strange men in green insect
outfits are back to get you
Though they’ve been a turd in
the Warped punch bowl since
1994, San Diego synth-grind
iconoclasts the Locust have
finally gotten around to irritat-
ing the rest of the planet. And as

Low
Drums and Guns ⁵
ITUNES MYSPACE
Formerly subtle Minnesota trio
continue bombastic evolution
On their overtly political ninth
studio album, Low resume their
trek into the brazen rock experi-
mentation that marked 2005’s
The Great Destroyer. On tracks
like “Belarus” and “Take Your
Time,” producer Dave Fridmann
again breaks out his Flaming
Lips–colored pixie dust—looped
vocals, string samples, drum
machines—but minus solid
songwriting, they’re just Oz-like
trappings. The minimal hooks
and melodies of the band’s
slow-core period were palpable
without elaboration. Here, the
production is as overwrought as
the antiwar themes. J. NIIMI

 

with 2003’s Plague Soundscapes,
they sound more relevant
and confrontational than
upstarts ten years their junior.
Simultaneously discombobulat-
ing and Swiss-watch precise,
New Erections spikes and
short-circuits with electronic
hiccups that’d make a computer
programmer’s brain itch. It also
marks the Locust’s first major
creative leap in years: employ-
ing jarring edits and logic-defy-
ing changes that lean more
toward Digital Hardcore than
hardcore punk. AARON BURGESS

Memphis
A Little Place in the
Wilderness ⁵
ITUNES MYSPACE
Canadian indie side project
shines, stumbles, pouts
Wilderness proves that no
matter the setting, Stars
frontman Torquil Campbell
can effortlessly pen literate,
melodically affecting pop tunes
that sound like soap operas for
postcollegiate bohos. But with-
out Stars covocalist Amy Millan
to kick him in the ass, plodders
like “The Night Watchmen” find
Campbell crossing over from
melancholy to mopey. Still,
there’s plenty here that would

Maria Taylor: She is trying to break your heart, so prepare accordingly.

go well with some absinthe and Rimbaud. DAVID MARCHESE

 

Ozomatli
Don’t Mess With the
Dragon
ITUNES MYSPACE
Longtime Angeleno progressives
decide to get retarded in here
No doubt inspired by the mas-
sive success of the Black Eyed
Peas (their former peers in
Los Angeles’ ’90s anti- gang-
sta rap underground), these
proudly multicultural groove
merchants downplay the hip-
hop boom-bap on their fourth
studio disc, in favor of busy
pop jams that mirror the over-
stimulation of 21st-century
city life. And though they’re
much beloved by brainy activ-
ist types, Ozomatli are no
highbrows: “After Party” cribs
the vocal melody from Deniece
Williams’ “Let’s Hear It for
the Boy.” MIKAEL WOOD

 

Palomar
All Things, Forests
⁵
ITUNES MYSPACE
Sad ladies build a Brooklyn
tenement wall of sound
Like the Bangles with a death
wish, this indie-rock girl gang
(and a token guy) begin their
fourth CD with Shangri-Las
harmonies on a song about
being buried. And though
they aren’t afraid anymore of
sounding bigger than four kids
in a rented room, singer Rachel
Warren still comes off as disen-
chanted. “The best times / We
were dead drunk with multiple
visions,” she intones on a song
about time’s lamentable pas-
sage, suggesting nostalgia is as
good an excuse to rock as it is
to wallow. WILL HERMES

 

Panda Bear
Person Pitch
ITUNES MYSPACE
Animal Collectivist creates his
own elaborate pet sounds
Steeped in ’60s-style harmony
and post-rock noise, Panda
Bear’s third release deftly
mashes up traces of the Beach
Boys with digital burbles, eleva-
tor chimes, and something that
sounds like bubble wrap being
popped. “Bros” throws brass
and more electronics into the
mix, beginning as a sweetly
melancholy riff on “Sloop John
B” and winding down with
goofy Dating Game horns and
Atari fuzz. Somehow, these con-

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