Swizzle Stick

Stan Ridgway Neon Mirage (A440 Records)Stan Ridgway’s unique singing style first gained fans during his time as frontman for Wall of Voodoo, but it wasn’t until the band broke up and he took center stage that his true vision could come through. He follows in the tradition of American troubadours before him like Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan (in fact, he covers Dylan’s “Lenny Bruce” on Neon Mirage), but he hasn’t forgotten the synthesizer experiments of Wall of Voodoo, or his long-time fascination with movie soundtracks.His new album (the first in six years) finds Ridgway mining some dark emotions, inspired by the loss of several friends and family members in the time since 2004′s Snakebite. It starts off with “Big Green Tree,” which features traditional folk instrumentation. The third track, “Desert of Dreams,” features jaunty jazz horns, which segues into the beautiful “Halfway There”a critical favorite. Ridgway’s neo-cowboy-drawl never seems defeated, but his emotional investment is evident. No one would mistake these songs for manufactured radio hitsthey’re too honest, and too unique. The rest of the album is just as surprising. Read the rest of this entry »

Ondine (dir. Neil Jordan, 2009)This subtle Irish fantasy starts with a simple, albeit unexpected, framework: a compassionate fisherman named Syracuse (a career-high Colin Farrell) pulls a young woman (Alicja Bachleda) up in his net. She can’t remember anything, but calls herself Ondine, after the 1811 French novel in which a water spirit falls in love with a knight. The mystery of Ondine’s identity, and her seemingly magical powers to call fish into their nets, provides the main crux of the story. Until the very end, you’re not sure what the film’s genre is. If it’s a drama, then it’s a very surreal and beautiful one. If it’s a fantasy, then it’s a dark and sensual one that’s not certain to have a happy ending.Over the film’s foundation, it builds layer upon layer of weight and relationships. Alison Barry plays Syracuse’s daughter, struggling from kidney failure, who becomes convinced that Ondine is a selkie straight out of Celtic myth. Syracuse’s ex-wife Maura (Dervla Kirwan) blames him for their present troubles, and seeks refuge in alcohol and a grizzled musician. Meanwhile, Syracuse tries to atone for his past sins (including some hilarious sequences with a village priest played by Stephen Rea) and avoid making any new ones, despite the undeniable attraction he feels to the beautiful Ondine. Read the rest of this entry »

Picking a name can be a make-or-break deal for a band. Some names just don’t have the right ring to them, while others don’t convey the band’s personality clearly enough. Animal names have been a popular choice for bands from a variety of genreshere are three wildly different bands with recent releases.

• Deerhunter The band’s new album Halcyon Digest (their fourth full-length and their first exclusively on the 4AD label) shows the experimental group at new heights. The title refers to a fascination with memory and sees the post-punkers integrating nostalgic musical touches to eras past. Read the rest of this entry »

The Creepshow They All Fall Down (Stomp Records)For those who are unfamiliar with the Toronto psychobilly group The Creepshow, here’s a quick introduction. While touring in Europe for their 2006 debut, Sell Your Soul, the band stopped for what they thought were cops in Spain. Instead, the “cops” stole their equipment (and pretty much everything else). Instead of booking the next ride home, the band rallied and finished the tourall five weeks worth. That same tenacity and dedication led to the Creepshow being the first Canadian band to sign with Cali punk label Hellcat Records (current home of Rancid). The band’s new album They All Fall Down shows off the band at its best: varied, incisive, and deeply personal while simultaneously seeming universal.Like many psychobilly groups, The Creepshow has some horror-themed songs, and the examples on this album don’t disappoint. The title track is a fast-paced rocker based around a cheerfully nihilistic end-of-the-world scenario, while the foot-tapping “You’ll Come Crawling” envisions a relationship gone terribly wrong. However, the latter song also shows off the emotional notes that singer Sarah “Sin” Blackwood can hit with her punk snarl. Accompanied by Sean Sickboy Mcnab, Matt Pomade Gee, and Reverend McGinty, the group continually goes in directions you wouldn’t expect. Notably, the ballad “Sleep Tight” shows off the band’s pop chops, as Blackwood narrates another bad relationship while channeling a raging Nancy Sinatra.Fans of female-fronted rock and horror punks alike will find much to enjoy in the Creepshow’s latest effort. The album hits American record stores tomorrow, October 5.

RCRDLBL.com offers musicians a unique outlet to advertise their new effortsfree downloads of singles, remixes, and otherwise unreleased tracks. The songs are all free, so there’s nothing to lose in trying out an unknown artist, but it’s still worth it to know which tracks to head for first.

• Tim Kasher “I’m Afraid I’m Gonna Die Here”: The former frontman of Cursive has never been particularly bright, but you wouldn’t know it from the horn section of his new solo single. That is, until you listen to the lyrics: “I wrote my autobit/reduced to one sentence/Timothy was a sensible citizen/who cast aside his starving eyes for his very own slice of American pie.” There it is!
• Heavy Hawaii “Teen Angel”: Where Kasher’s sunny beats hide dark lyrics, the lyrics of “Teen Angel” are almost woefully traditional, hearkening back to the sunny themes of ’60s pop. That makes the contrast of the psychedelic instrumentation and eerie backing vocals resonate even stronger, making for a summer jam cloaked in fall ambiance. Read the rest of this entry »