2005
CAD 2502 - Cass McCombs / Prefection
Released February 07 2005
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Cass McCombs is one of the finest songwriters working in pop today. His songs have compelling dronepop melodies reminiscent of early ‘80s New Zealand indie-rock (the Chills, JPSE, etc.) while vocally he’s capable of the whiney style one associates with "emo," but the boy can also croon like nobody’s business when he wants to. There’s a goofy whimsy to songs like "Bury Mary" that brings to mind Highway 61; other songs recall the moody, decadent pop of Echo and the Bunnymen's Crocodiles or the Cure’s Seventeen Seconds. A lot more money was spent here than on his debut A, but the production's a little too muddy, as if he were trying for the Goth thing now that he’s on 4AD and lives overseas. McCombs has yet to really paint his masterpiece, but he’s a capital-A artiste worthy of full investigation. --Mike McGonigal
CAD 2504 - 50 Foot Wave / Golden Ocean
Released March 07 2005
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50 Foot Wave's plan to produce an EP every nine months is sort of thrown out of whack by Golden Ocean. Roughly nine months after the first release, they instead return with a whole album of songs, three of which are reprised from that disc -- so fans probably see this as a new EP with bonus tracks they already have. (New major-label distribution is likely the reason for the recycled material.) The walloping force heard on the debut turns out to be no fluke; the trio turns it up higher with energy that's even more ill-tempered. From the first note, you're put in a stranglehold that doesn't slacken off until a minute into the third song. In a brief reprieve, the instruments cool off long enough for Kristin Hersh to ask softly, "You know what? You know what? You know what?" Just as you have your ears cocked closer to the speakers, thinking, "No, I don't know what," Hersh screams "Shut the f*ck up!" at the top of her lungs as the instruments blare again, loud enough to drain out anything you might have to say -- or even think of saying -- in response. When performed live, songs like this one have flung more than a few admirers of Hersh's quiet solo albums back onto the street, hands on ears. Even those who know the last three Throwing Muses albums inside-out will think they're hearing everything at double speed and double volume. Hersh's songwriting is as detailed and dynamic as ever, but the intricacies are less apparent when delivered with such heat-seeking power. Power-drilling bassist Bernard Georges (who deserves to be thought of as a dynamo as much as Hersh should gain equal acknowledgment for her guitar sorcery) and drummer Rob Ahlers deserve much credit for aiding their partner in this unexpected direction. The three songs plucked from the first EP are smart choices, especially in the case of lead emphasis track "Clara Bow." It wouldn't be surprising to walk into the Hersh household and see the song's key line, "Bones were made to be broken," on one of those flowery placards that normally say "Bless this mess." - Andy Kellman, All Music Guide
BAD 2509 - Minotaur Shock / Vigo Bay EP
Released May 02 2005
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The release of this limited edition, 12" only EP is the first Minotaur Shock missive to be fired from new home 4AD and acts as a tantalising precursor to his forthcoming album. Just as Kieran Hebdon has firmed his sound up considerably for the new Four Tet album, so Minotaur Shock (aka David Edwards) has ditched the last vestiges of whimsy in favour of a more hard-boiled sound. Opening with the only album track of the EP, 'Vigo's Bay' may still be pastoral in its outlook but Edwards has adopted a more Empedocles outlook, ushering us in with a staccato harpsichord and set of privet breaks. Marbled throughout by some ice-cold machine beats, 'Vigo's Bay' ignores it's namesake, instead delivering a densely structured and wildly effulgent masterclass in lulling electronica. Of the three exclusive tracks, 'This Side of Vigo Bay' probably shines brightest whch, through its diet-electro backing and Dominic Jones vocals, could act as a companion piece to The Moonflowers 'Where Are You?' whilst 'Original Savannah' is clunky, wooden-veneered prestige electonica.
CAD 2508 - The Mountain Goats / The Sunset Tree
Released May 02 2005
John Darnielle is a compulsive writer forever clutching his stomach as songs pour out uncontrollably into whatever recording device is in front of him. What sets him apart from other prolific artists in the indie rock world (Conor Oberst, Ryan Adams, Stephin Merritt) whose records and side projects can't keep up with the flow of their pens is his almost alarming gift for pairing quantity with quality. After dropping the devastating Tallahassee -- a record that followed in gory detail the imagined demise of a Florida couple's marriage -- in 2002, he turned his focus inward, taking an almost autobiographical stance on the follow-up, We Shall All Be Healed, a framework that is applied tenfold on the riveting The Sunset Tree. This is John Cougar Mellencamp's Scarecrow if it were set in southern California and narrated by Charles Bukowski. At the center is Darnielle's abusive stepfather, who slyly receives the album's dedication. He's a drunk, a misguided disciplinarian, and a lousy role model for the young artist who plies away his days in a haze of liquor-fueled misogyny, wistful romanticism, and good old-fashioned teen angst, always aware that each night will end in violence. Darnielle's talent for writing an engaging narrative is matched only by the succinctness of the music behind it. This is especially true on standout cuts like "This Year," a near-perfect snapshot of youthful defiance with its rousing, last-road-trip-ever refrain of "I am gonna make it through this year if it kills me," and "Lion's Teeth," an uncomfortable moment of clarity that looks rage in both eyes without flinching, using a string-laden backbeat to up the suspense. Despite The Sunset Tree's white-knuckle subject matter and salt-in-the-wound imagery, it's surprisingly accessible. It's a gloves-off catharsis occurring in real time for the gifted singer/songwriter, and it leaves a mark on the listener as well. - James Christopher Monger, All Music Guide
CAD 2511 - Minotaur Shock / MaritimeReleased June 13 2005
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On Maritime, Minotaur Shock (aka David Edwards) wanted to combine his loves of the seaside and sleek '80s pop. On paper, this sounds like an almost impossible mix, but the actual results are equally playful and beautiful, and the best work from Edwards yet. While his numerous EPs and 2001 debut album, Chiff-Chaffs & Willow Warblers, had their moments, too often Edwards' music felt overly restrained and too indebted to IDM pioneers such as Boards of Canada and Aphex Twin. Maritime, however, fairly sparkles with personality right from the start: "Muesli"'s whimsical clarinets give way to what sounds like a music box playing a sea shanty, while "(She's In) Drydock Now" pits a mellow but goofy guitar line against breezy '80s synths and flutes. While Minotaur Shock's new sound isn't quite as overtly childlike as that of Mum or the dearly departed Plone, a certain innocence and youthful quality flows through Maritime. "Vigo Bay," "Six Foolish Fishermen," and "Mistaken Tourist" are just a few of the album's charming, lighthearted peaks, all of which show that Edwards' decision to give into his pop leanings was probably the best thing that could happen to his music. Fortunately, though, he doesn't dumb down the intriguing twists and turns of his previous work to make Maritime catchier; "Hilly" is particularly complex, mixing whistling synths, metallic percussion, strummy acoustic guitars, and several glitchy breakdowns into a free-flowing yet subtle standout. The album's second half recalls Edwards' earlier, more subdued style, particularly on the slow-building "Twosley" and "Four Magpies," one of the album's most "folktronica" tracks. Still, these songs -- and Maritime as a whole -- have a much freer, more natural feel than anything Edwards had done before, and this buoyant vibe is contagious. Maritime might be a light, almost frothy album, but that's exactly where its power lies. - Heather Phares, All Music Guide
CT Box2 - Cocteau Twins / Lullabies to Violaine
Released November 21 2005
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Even if it had been available only in a steel box stuffed with thousands of Styrofoam peanuts, Lullabies to Violaine would be a welcomed and indispensable part of Cocteau Twins' discography. In just about every way imaginable, the compilation outdoes the title-less ten-disc singles box released by 4AD in the early '90s. It certainly looks and feels different: the sturdy flip-top box of old housed the singles in individual jewel cases, while this set squishes most of the old contents, and then some, into four discs that are wrapped in a foldout package that seems to be made of an exotic wintertime plant, which is then encased in a rice-paper-like sheath. You'd be wise not to handle the thing more than a couple times. In fact, just to be cautious, you probably shouldn't stare at it too long. Completists might be miffed to discover that it is missing a few things that the old box did contain, such as the 12" mixes of "Peppermint Pig" and "Pearly Dewdrops' Drops," and the four tracks that appeared on a bonus disc. Robin Guthrie also substituted a couple alternate mixes, but as he argued on his weblog, it's not a big deal: "It's a singles and EPs record, all the singles are there, where is the f*cking problem?" (Well, here's one problem: "Millimillenary," a gorgeous track left to languish on the out-of-print The Pink Opaque, shouldn't have been excluded.) The old box covered the 4AD years and therefore held the singles through Heaven or Las Vegas. This one covers the same ground on the first two discs; discs three and four cover the remaining A-sides, B-sides, and EP tracks through Milk & Kisses (secretly the band's third or fourth best album). Since the Cocteaus typically put the same amount of energy into their singles and EPs as their albums, Lullabies to Violaine features a prolific sum of prime material. The sheer breadth of content is a major factor, but the set is, by a wide margin, the best way to hear how this band consistently developed and constantly switched tacks, from punishing and stark, to elegant and dense, and many places between. It also doesn't hurt that the sound is pristine, improving upon whatever murkiness was audible in the initial round of CD issues. You might call all of the content amorphous goop, but the Cocteaus covered a wide range of emotions with a large set of colors, no matter how blurred they were at times. In fact, "The Spangle Maker," with its tidal structure and mixture of dread and bliss, indicates this in less than five minutes. There are 59 tracks in all, and they're not all overflowing with dreamy exotic genius, but they do form the equivalent of six good-to-tremendous stand-alone albums. For the fans who didn't go any deeper than the studio albums, this will be almost exactly like falling in love with the band for the first time. [4AD also split this into two separate volumes.] - Andy Kellman, All Music Guide
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