Music I Liked And Didn't - 5/6/06 - 5/12/06

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THE KILIMANJARO DARKJAZZ ENSEMBLE: Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble CD (Planet Mu): This duo combines an unique mix of elements to create a release with tracks ranging from loungy, dark, film noir-type soundtrack jazz (material that would sound comfortable on, say, some of John Zorn's, "Filmworks" releases) to bombastic "electrockica" (the highlight being the amazing, "Lobby"!). Not uniformly successful - based on the name, I had hoped for a little more of an organic jazz influence/sound, whereas, in reality, this is mainly jazz (and to a lesser extent, rock) informed electronica - but interesting and certainly worth knowing about. I'm looking forward to seeing how they may develop in the future.

ODAWAS: Vitamin City CD-EP (Birds And Rockets): Liked their recent full-length debut so much that I tracked down their "demo" EP, too. More classic and indie rock informed lo-fi goodness. Sweet!

YOUNG, NEIL: Living With War CD (Reprise): OK, guilty pleasure time. Actually, I'm a little disappointed with this. Given the subject matter, I expected this to be more aggressive and rockin'. Probably would have been better (and more rockin') if Neil had teamed up with Crazy Horse again. They always provide the best support for Neil, IMHO. Instead, this sounds similar to Greendale, only not quite as engaging, at least to these ears, as I actually liked Greendale quite a bit. Still, tracks like, "The Restless Consumer", "Shock And Awe", "Let's Impeach The President", and " Lookin' For A Leader" are pretty solid, especially lyrically.

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SHEARWATER: Palo Santo CD (MSR 040CD): Overwrought pop/rock that didn't work for me.

Coming up

A spate of releases from Boris, the new Espers, and more!