eMusic Features

Six Degrees of Can’s Tago Mago

By Michelangelo Matos, eMusic Contributor

It used to be easier to pretend that an album was its own perfectly self-contained artifact. The great records certainly feel that way. But albums are more permeable than solid, their motivations, executions and inspirations informed by, and often stolen from, their peers and forbearers. It all sounds awfully formal, but it's not. It's the very nature of music — of art, even. The Six Degrees features examine the relationships between classic records and five… more »

11.23.09 Spotlight 0

eMusic Yearbook: 2002

By Michelangelo Matos, eMusic Contributor

Maybe it's a coincidence that three fabulous and endlessly eclectic DJ mix-CDs - John Peel's FabricLive 07, 2 Many DJ's As Heard on Radio Soulwax Pt. 2, and DJ /rupture's Minesweeper Suite - all came out in 2002. But it sure didn't feel that way at the time. Of course, eclectic DJ mixes were nothing new; they'd been a standard from at least 1995, when Coldcut released 70 Minutes of Madness. But 2002 was a… more »

08.14.09 Icon 0

Icon: The Fall

By Douglas Wolk, eMusic Contributor

Roughly 75 people have been members of the Fall over the last three decades or so, but only one of them has been in every lineup: inimitable vocalist/lyricist/ranter Mark E. Smith, whose singular and monomaniacal vision drives the band. Smith's a bristling, hyperliterate, deeply eccentric presence, with a thick Manchester accent and a permanent scowl directed at a world that can't keep up with him; he's also got an ear for a riff like nobody's… more »

04.02.09 Spotlight 0

An Introduction to the Monks

By Douglas Wolk, eMusic Contributor

Imagine this scenario. You're in a club somewhere in Germany, watching the crudest, funniest garage-rock band you've ever seen. They're wearing monastic robes and nooses around their necks; they've shaved their heads into tonsures. One of them is playing a banjo, with which the PA system is ill-equipped to deal. The drummer's technique is pleasingly caveman-like. The guitar player is blitzing the crowd with feedback. The singer is gibbering like a lunatic, screaming "DO YOU… more »

They Say All Music Guide

Returning to the indie label world with a bang, the Fall unleashed a winner and a half with Infotainment Scan, one of the band’s most playful yet sharp-edged releases. The choice of covers alone gives a sense of where Smith’s head was at — tackling Lee Perry’s “Why Are People Grudgeful?” is one tall order to start with, while a cover of the novelty tripe “I’m Going to Spain” is just silly fun (even if the guitar does sound like early Cure!). Even more astounding, though, is what the band does to the Sister Sledge disco classic “Lost in Music” — nobody will ever mistake Smith’s singing for that of the threesome, but the band’s overall performance is an honest-to-god tribute to the tight but full Chic Organization sound. Craig Scanlon throws in some scratchy work around the edges, but otherwise the group takes it as it is and does a great job. As for the originals, Smith and crew are in fine form once again, Scanlon, Steve Hanley, Dave Bush, and Simon Wolstencroft once again a dynamic, inventive unit. After the explicitly techno nods of the recent past, Infotainment balances that off with more straight-ahead rock, though with Wolstencroft’s strong, sharp drumming still setting a brisk, danceable pace while Scanlon whips up his usual brand of tight, memorable riffing and Bush adds subtle textures and catchy melodies. One of the best numbers is the explicitly Gary Glitter-styled romp “Glam-Racket,” a great shout-along, while the beat-crazy “A Past Gone Mad” wins for this line alone: “And if I ever end up like U2/slit my throat with a garden vegetable.” “The League of Bald Headed Men” also deserves note, as does another strong motorik-inspired number, “It’s a Curse.” Best song title of the bunch? “Paranoia Man in Cheap Shit Room,” with a high-strung and aggressive arrangement to boot. – Ned Raggett