Music Reviews – Issue #76

Cass McCombs – Humor Risk

Known for taking anarchy to his own terms, Cass McCombs’ newest album Humor Risk is the storytelling after the storm. His lyrically driven style ascends with an airy, streamlined musicality to reveal the artist in a state of well-found retrospect. In comparison to McCombs earlier 2011 release, Wit’s End, the album takes a rosier disposition: the dusty strums of “Robin Egg Blue” or the moveable rhythms in “The Same Thing”. Slow haunts of tracks like “Every Man His Chimera” and “Mariah” provide a detached dose of tragic narrative. A collection of songs that, perhaps, takes McCombs to a more mainstream terrain, Humor Risk is an honest rendering by a voice comparable to some of music history’s best storytellers.

- Laura Phillips

Devon Williams – Euphoria

Devon Williams couldn’t have titled his latest full length with any more accuracy. From the first track “Revelations”, the listener is immediately swept into a world where raindrops are glockenspiel notes and the rainbows that follow sweep overhead with three part string sections. Devon Williams has been receiving that blessed kiss of approval from not only critics, but several noteworthy artists. If your name is on the lips of fans, critics, and fellow musicians, you’d better pucker up and be prepared to get mono.

- Trevor Risk

Justice – Audio, Video, Disco

In a recent interview Xavier de Rosnay stated “We don’t feel like we are making rock and roll anyway, or what rock and roll is in 2011.” Hey guys, have you listened to your record?  The song “Canon” is essentially classic metal riffs smothered in every electronic gadget they have collected over the last eight years.  It was like they were crushing beers listening to Maiden as they were writing the ascending, epic, and triumphant scales.  A cameo by a nutless Deaner of Fubar would have been the perfect soprano vocal topper. The majority of the record is filler that sounds like a “no guts no glory” movie score with a couple killer harmonies. I think Justice has insane talent when it comes to re-mixing and may just be one of the best of this decade. That said, this record comes off like it was created to prove that these two can make their own music rather than just supe up tracks by other artists. The problem with that is there are teenagers logging twelve hour days in front of their Macs, using every plug-in they could hack to create music of the same caliber.

- Adrienne Pady

Shiny Disco Club – Millenium Disco Vol. 2

It’s pretty cool when you can refer to a record label in the same way you anticipate a release from your favorite band. I was expecting Shiny Disco Club’s Millenium Disco Vol. 1 to be a one-off but jumped at the news of Vol. 2. This compilation gleams with artists like nu-disco wonder-kid Louis La Roche, Go Go Bizkitt, and Kartell. La Roche’s “Fake Tan” splashes into a bright guitar, rolling bass, and congas that tease you to throw a beach party in the middle of autumn. Cherokee’s “Do It Again” laces a wicked horn section and a clever vocal sample sent with a kick drum through your chest. Shiny Disco Club compiles the best of soul, disco, funk, and house and if you tried to make it any shinier, you’d burn your retinas out and set your iPod and ears on fire.

- Phil David