Eugene weekly., May 20, 2004, Page 22, Image 22

CD REVIEWS BY LOCAL WRITERS
Rainer Maria, Anyone in Love with You (Already Knows) ,
POLYVINYL RECORDS 2004 .
By Jeffrey Stout
I’d hoped Anyone in Love with You would be an all-out winner. The Midwestern emo (Dashboard
Confessional, Modest Mouse, At the Drive-In, etc.) trio had wowed me with their previous two albums,
Look Now, Look Again and Long Knives Out. The first was a study of volume dynamics and intelligent
lyrics (the first track borrows from a botany text), defining a soft side of emo. On the latter, a more
refined Maria channeled the punk origins of emo and pro-
duced uneven results but still a solid album.
These high points are a cause of slight disappointment in
this live CD/DVD combo. The atmosphere of some of Rainer
Maria’s greatest songs (e.g. “Rise”) is lost when translated to
live performance, and on some tracks recording quality is a
concern, particularly on “Mystery & Misery” and “Rise,”
which are included even though the tracks are culled from
audience mic-recordings. Other tracks do better, coming
from soundboard matrix mixes.
Sound and ambience issues aside, the audio CD is worth-
while due to the great power of the vocal performance and lyri-
cal depth of Caithlin De Marrais. Nowhere is this more visible
(literally) than on the included DVD. A full recording of a 2003
show in Carrboro, N. Carolina, the small room packed with
heartbroken emo boys and girls, surges with raw emotion. Ranging from the elated liberation of “Long
Knives” to the dejected requiem of “Broken Radio,” the crowd is putty in the hands of these three heroes.
As a premature greatest-hits collection or short introduction to Rainer Maria, Anyone in Love with
You excels, but it should never replace the studio works.
John Vanderslice, Cellar Door , BARSUK RECORDS 2004. By Kelley Holmstrom
John Vanderslice’s albums are just that — cohesive works, rather than your common, sloppy amal-
gamation of tunes. Cellar Door is no exception. On Time Travel is Lonely, Vanderslice’s second solo
album, he created a character who’s trapped in Antarctica and loses communication with the outside
world. On Cellar Door, the protagonist’s plight is less clear as he sings about war, family and drugs,
drawing a web of connections among the three.
Vanderslice records at Tiny Telephone, his own studio in San Francisco, and he knows all the tricks.
At first listen, my musician-boyfriend marveled, “He always
has such great drum sounds,” while I notice the beautiful sin-
cere weirdness of the lyrics. No need to choose one or the
other. They intertwine for a satisfying whole.
15-60-75 (The Numbers),
Jimmy Bell’s Still In Town , REISSUED BY HEARTHAN
By Sean Campanella
It’s time to move, brothers and sisters. Climb in your car
and travel back to mid-1970s Cleveland, Ohio, courtesy of
blues innovators The Numbers. Shadow the sidewalk-dealers
and boozers, sleep in the all-night movie theaters, peel off the
greenbacks and jiggle your loose change.
Jimmy Bell’s Still In Town is urban Robert Kidney’s gritty
yet abstract expression of street-lit vitality and finger-snap-
ping determination. Propelled by unflagging guitar and drum, swaggering vocals, blues harp, plenty of
straight-ahead sax and maracas, the momentum builds throughout the album and peaks on the 11-
minute track, “Jimmy Bell.”
The Numbers’ big sound makes for driving-music par excellence and the pace is at times furious,
but always under control. Pure, unbeatable rock-n-roll, both otherworldly and forthright, without
pause or pretense.
The spiritual dimension of Kidney’s story is best exemplified by his confrontation with a heroin
pusher on “Thief.” Boiled down, the Numbers’ message is this: Those who keep moving persevere.
David Thomas of Pere Ubu called Jimmy Bell’s Still In Town “one of the great moments of our culture.”
Recorded live in 1975.
RECORDS/MORPHIUS ARCHIVES 2004.
Sigur Ros, () , MCA RECORDS 2002. By Karman Ratliff
This album is full of beautiful string and keyboard arrangements, topped off by just the right
amount of made-up “Hopelandic” lyrics, crooned by falsetto Jon Thor Birigisson. Titled only as (), the
album gave me a sense of déjà vu, until I realized that Sigur Ros’ second album, A Good Beginning,
was one of Radiohead’s major influences.
Since 1994, this Icelandic quartet has put out three albums, and () provides eight refreshing tracks that
are New Age without ever being garish. Although those with shorter attention spans may need to skip over
track seven — at nearly 13 minutes — this album is definitely one to play in the background anytime.
The Flaming Lips, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots , WARNER BROS 2002. By Tom Hubka
Members of the Flaming Lips knew they had
already released their masterpiece, The Soft
Bulletin, in 1999. So as they recorded their next LP,
they proceeded as any band would: cautiously. On
their 2002 release, Yoshimi Battles the Pink
Robots, the Lips still take plenty of their well-known
musical risks, such as seamlessly combing delicate
acoustic guitar with fuzzy, uncut synth bursts.
Yet Yoshimi does not inspire and impress the
way Bulletin did. The songs, while still well crafted,
are more withheld, as if lead singer and captain-at-
arms Wayne Coyne thought twice about spilling his
guts on two consecutive albums.
The Lips still take us on an epic voyage from an
intimate café-style gig to a futuristic, Japanese sci-fi
movie theater to a lush, symphonic outdoor concert.
Songs such as the upbeat, electric waltz “In The
Morning of the Magicians” and the space-pop ballad
“Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell” are sure to please both new and old fans with their funky, driving bass
lines and Coyne’s roundabout storytelling. The single “Do You Realize??” is the closest the Lips gets to
the limitless genre-mixing that was the genius of Bulletin.
Dealing with subjects like morality and love, “Do You Realize??” is a slow, flourishing, symphonic piece
with the signature synth melodies, electric guitar additions and deafening, distorted, drum resonance for
which they have become well known.
Overall, Yoshimi is a solid, thoughtful accomplishment, employing everything from the Lips’
humorous roots to unrepentant emotions. It may look small standing in the shadow of Bulletin, but
then again, what wouldn’t?
22 MAY 20, 2004