Opposites attract on duo’s new album
Releases find inspiration in everything from horror movie soundtracks to country’s golden era
LA FIN ABSOLUTE DU MONDE: Clarity Amongst the Rubble (Wicked Wonderland Empire/ Gramercy Records)
Vancouver native Cyndy Melano (vocals, piano, orchestration) and husband Jason Myles (bass, guitar, drum programming) are the Oakland avant/metal group with the heavier than Unibroue name La Fin Absolute Du Monde (actually inspired by the John Carpenter flick Cigarette Burns).
Classically trained Melano — now known as Chicky Myles — is a piano and Spanish guitar major, while Jason Myles is clearly a student of the school of layered sludge, computerized click and buzzes and the everrising climactic release.
The blend works quite well on tunes such as Dreams and Disappointment in a Cloud of Hope which creates a claustrophobic sense of gloom without the heavyhanded theatrics one might associate with more fully outed goth-metal crews. For every moment of familiar crunch, there are breaks in the noise that are quite inventive and airy with piano, strings and Melano’s breathy voice.
The primary complaint that can be raised is that, with the exception of the thudding Immaculate Consumption and Lady Vengeance, the songs trend perhaps a tad too much into the same horror film montages (The Paralyzing Feat ... The Panic, The New Girlfriend, Sun Tea). After 13 (naturally) songs, it’s just not scary but kind of annoying.
At the Rickshaw Theatre (liveatrickshaw.com), Thursday April 7.
ROBBIE FULKS: Upland
Stories (Bloodshot)
Long one of the best songwriters in Bloodshot’s well-stocked stable, Fulks really mines an old timey vibe on his latest. Baby Rocked Her Dolly reads like it should be an uptempo ode to the divine Ms. Parton but it is in fact a front porch strummer of a family history written from the view of a reminiscing member hoping to see the kids again before passing on.
Not all is melancholy. The disc is balanced with upbeat modern classics such as Katy Kay and the hilarious Aunt Peg’s New Old Man (She liked his fiddling/No doubt/Like his help on the rural route/And the rest, I don’t wanna thing about/Aunt Peg’s new old man).
For anyone into honest country, this is a fantastic example of all that is good in the genre. Bonus points for the immaculate production too.
TEDDY THOMPSON & KELLY JONES: Little Windows (Cooking Vinyl)
If the shuffling, hand-clap rhythms, cheesy organ and vintage guitar twang of the opening track Never Knew You Loved Me Too 2 doesn’t grab you right away, once Thompson and Jones come in with their incredibly complimentary croons you should be giddy.
If not, this album won’t get any better for you. Because the two are fully into the golden era of country and its go-go offshoots. Both singers have incredibly rich voices and put them to gorgeous work on the tear-jerker acoustic ballad I Thought That We Said Goodbye or the Beale Street Blues of Only Fooling.
Sure, this is inspired by music from a very different era, but I’d love to see the Commodore Ballroom dance floor filled with two-stepping couples spinning along to every pristine piano plink or guitar lick.
Only complaint, and a very minor one, is that they could have added a few more upbeat songs to balance the potent ballads. But there you go.
TENGGER CAVALRY: Mountain Side EP (Metal Hell Records)
There are more forms of heavy folk existing than you can imagine and this spectacularly different Mongolian crew conjure up an Asiatic option to the predominant Viking hordes: Mongol Metal. Fusing traditional instruments, that one-two horseback riding rhythm and plenty of throat singing, Tengger Cavalry are a total delight. Firstly, the throat singing sounds like operatic black death vocals — pure, clean, but so low in the register that your intestines quake when the vocals come in.
And they freaking lay it down too. War Horse is fierce as the Khan’s legions getting ready to conquer the next zip code along the road as is the growling Krutaya Gora. Toss in a few animistic Interludes and the awesome DJ-ready Mountain Side (club remix) and a bunch of bonus tracks and this is one full-length, full-value EP.
Like its full length predecessor, Blood Sacrifice Shaman, this is a Top 10 contender for its genuine uniqueness.