The Altrok Listener
Music that matters made matter-er
by Bill Stella

Blue Van, The - Revelation Of Love - The Art Of Rolling
The lyric begins: "I'm falling back to you," a fresh cliché (my favorite kind), the kind of small change in a common phrase that yields big results. If a writer is lucky, s/he gets to come up with one really good fresh cliché in their career. I don't know which member of The Blue Van came up with it (I don't own the album; I just hear it on Altrok; 30 minutes of research, and no review I could find mentions who writes The Blue Van's songs). Maybe it's lead signer Steffen Westlake, but the band got to set it to a yearning melody, over a damn-good rockin' accompaniment. Lucky bastards. PS: Drumming this good used to motivate other bands to try to steal the drummer for their own, or at least borrow a cup of their sugar.
 
Art Brut - Modern Art - Bang Bang Rock And Roll
"Modern Art makes me want to rock out / There's something about that blue ... / Sweet Jesus! ... / " With in-the-moment excited, breathlessly delivered lyrics like those, plus a close encounter with a Matisse in the Pompidou Museum, and the entire rant ends with a howl – Gotta love it.
 
Fischerspooner - Just Let Go - Odyssey
Anyone wanna join me in a disk-crashing bounce around the 'puter desk? "Just Let Go" is a song I'd venture onto a dance floor and risk looking stupid for. No higher compliment possible. Rubbery, bloopy, tweaky synths rarely make good time with me; exceptional dance songs with rubbery, bloopy, tweaky synths and irresistable hooks make everything my ears object to seem irrelevant. Just Let Go and Dance, you crazy ufkcer's, Dance! (Any takers?)
 
Scott Free – John Loves Paul – They Call Me Mr. Free
"They Call Me Mr. Free" is one of the best albums of 2005. And it's very, very Gay. Yes, in "John Loves Paul", Scott fantasizes aloud about What Might Have Been for the Beatles were things to turn out all right (vs. all white), fulfilling fantasies many of us indulged in as naïve suburba-hippies for peace, love and music. In the process, he means to have the premier songwriting team of the sixties jump over the brotherly-love barrier, and put themselves in each others arms. Fade to black, annnnnd – scene. (Was it good for *you*?) 2-minute samples of every song on the album at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/scottfree3
 

 

©2005 Bill Stella