Why you still up in the hood?
Get the fuzz off my buzz
various artists
"In these uncertain times, we can never be too safe. So watch your back, lock your door, light one up, and get ready to rock your ass like you never have before."
That advice comes to us from this album's intro track (spoken by a fellow calling himself Smelley Kelley) and it should give you a pretty good idea of the aesthetic territory this album inhabits. Clocking in at a slim thirty-five minutes, Keep the Fuzz off My Buzz was originally released as a limited-edition 12-inch to accompany a small tour of the Midwest in 2004. Here -- two years later for some unexplained reason -- that original recording has been reissued on CD, along with a DVD containing a tour documentary, photos, and previously unreleased music.
Though there's a strong focus on drug use, this ain't your parents' psychadelia. The four acts featured here -- William Elliot Whitmore, Paradise Island, FT (The Shadow Government), and Let's Be Active -- serve up a remarkably fresh sonic menu: loopy, messy, folky, wacky, rad -- earnestly delivered, but never taking itself too seriously. Above all, this music is fun. No artsy pretense, no "difficult" tracks, no extended solos. It's the kind of weirdness that puts you in a good mood.
That said, the record is a pretty heterogeneous mix. Let's take it one track at a time: First, the aforementioned Smelley Kelley intro. Next, Paradise Island with a pulsing, danceable loop behind a mantra-like incantation of the words "I feed the machine" with a couple noodly bridges thrown in for good measure. Then a sparse synth-and-vocal Paradise Island track, this one titled "Cosmic Deceiver." Next is a short skit, consisting of the following: "Pizza, pizza, gimme free pizza. If you ever meet me, gimme free pizza. Gimme gimme free pizza. Gimme. Pizza." The next track, "I'm building me a home," features William Elliot Whitmore's deep, soulful singing over a lazy synthesized beat with banjo accompaniment. It's as anthemic as this collection gets -- certainly the high point of Keep the Fuzz off My Buzz. Then an echoey skit track consisting of someone talking about a D&D; convention and breaking into laughter. After that, FT (The Shadow Government) offer a meditative soundscape of upbeat synth loops accompanied by wind-like sounds and distorted, filtered noises. Next, an extended track by Let's Be Active: a sitar loop, a loop of a man singing "Live 'til you die," and a series of antique recordings of people discussing the San Francisco drug scene. FT (The Shadow Government) are next, with a rock-oriented instrumental track. Then another skit -- this one consisting of someone relating a laundry list of bodily injuries he's sustained. Next, a William Elliot Whitmore song titled "Farther Along" that would fit just as well on the O Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack, followed by a repeat of the "Gimme free pizza" track from earlier. After this there are two stripped-down folky rock songs by Paradise Island and an outro from Smelley Kelley.
At this point you've probably come to a conclusion as to whether you would find this compilation appealing. It's raw. It's immediate. At times it's amateurish. Frankly, a big part of the thrill of the record is the fact that it exists in the first place. So watch your back, lock your door, light one up, and get ready to rock your ass like you never have before.
-- Steve McLaughlin
Ganging up on the sun
guster
You've got to admit, there really is something inexplicably charming about Guster and their new album, Ganging Up on the Sun. On one level, the band resembles the resurgence of alt-rock in the post-Garden State Generation. Like most alternative bands, narrative is not the exactly the forte of Guster; most of the time, the lyrics don't make sense, and at other times, are too laughable to take seriously (case in point: "We're not sentimental/We're just oil-filled machines" Deep, man.) And the way that vocalists Ryan Miller and Adam Gardner croon their way across certain guitar riffs might make you wonder whether Guster is like any another XYZ alt band.
Guster defies expectation, however, by infusing their lyrics with truly novel instrumentation that imbues their music with both energy and relevance. The opening chords of "The Captain" erupt in a sort of rockabilly banjo picking, maracas and yes, sleigh bells, which Miller deftly traces with his smooth libretto. Gone is the moping and whining sentiment of indie-rock, but instead, the vibrancy that seems to indicate that the band genuinely enjoys playing their own music. Even the tracks that convey weighty sorrow or angst seem mature in their use of swelling woodwinds or percussion such as bongos. The first track, "Lightning Rod," stands as a shining example of what high production values and musical experimentation can do to an above-average indie tune.
Some may argue that Ganging Up on the Sun is more mainstream than Guster's previous releases, with more pop and less of the band's traditional sound. Despite the naysayers, however, Guster's latest release is more than just the run-of-the-mill indie release. Although the album is lacking in some aspects, Ganging Up on the Sun provides an enjoyable and fascinating look into one of rock's most promising groups.
