Wednesday, December 15, 2010

STUFFS reviews

Here are a few nice reviews of the STUFFS LP.


V/A "Stuffs Vol. 1 " comp LP
Oslo's Compost Modern Art with an international extravaganza of a comp, featuring some pretty hip acts (and a couple unknowns) mainly from the US and France with a couple of random Euros as well. Mostly unreleased cuts, let's try and grade this thing out...Side One: Matt K. Shrugg with a Pizzas-esque speeder, Ty Segall and a bounding garage-siker, Agent Ribbons (Austin,TX) do a very very nice garagey girl-group number, Sic Alps mail it in for yet another comp with a sloppy noise cut, When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth sound a fuck of a lot like Mayyors (which isn't bad), Bipolar Bear prove they sound as bad as their name implies with a boring synth-gurgler, Sneakers do a falsetto-voxed New Wave indie-pop cut that's equal parts irritating and catchy. Side One Score: 4.5 out of 7. Side Two: Dictaphone serve a killer Cheveu/Teasers hybrid (that also appears on their LP), De La Cave do some video gamey synth that reminds me of a female voiced Digital Leather ("Black Flowers" in particular...there's quite a resemblance), Cheveu offer up a riveting synth/guitar spy theme instrumental, Crash Normal make a deathdrone synthstrumental, Feeling of Love's track is actually pretty poppy, Bungalow Ranchstyle (Oslo) play aggro-wave, and Don Vito do deconstructed noise rock. Side Two Score: 4 out of 7. Total Comp Score: 8.5 out of 14, which is somewhere around 65% choice cuts. Which isn't that shabby for the comp game these days. Best Cut: I'm going to say it's a tie between Cheveu and Dictaphone. France fares very well as a whole on this LP. Worst Cut: Bipolar Bear or Don Vito. Best "Unknown" Act: Agent Ribbons. I'll give bonus points for sleek gatefold packaging and exceptional art design, with a small bit of art from each band inside and a clever tracklisting concept. Scum stats: 750 copies.(RK)


From Still Single:

"I’ll take this over the Hozac dumpers any day; this sort of panic is much more my speed – a new import collection of a “state of scene” for bands with a little more ambition to go with their violence. Side A collects the mostly West Coast-based American contributions (When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth, Sneakers, Matt K. Shrugg, Ty Segall, Bipolar Bear, Agent Ribbons and Sic Alps), almost all of which turn in quality material. Since it’s a comp, you half-expect throwaways, and since it’s Sic Alps, you know they’re the ones who send in two minutes of electrified/contact mic’d dick-helmet touch, but the manic Sneakers and Matt K. Shrugg tracks make up for any shortcomings, and the rest fall in place. Side B focuses its attention on France, with contributions by the Dictaphone, De La Cave, Cheveu, Crash Normal, the Feeling of Love, Don Vito and Bungalow Ranchstyle. Only Don Vito and De La Cave scrape the bottom of Sic Alps’ shoes and consider it something. Everyone else here performs at a moderate-to-high level, and we’re presented with a reasonable survey of a specific and exciting time for lo-fi/DIY or die music. Glad this exists! Gatefold sleeve, 750 copies. (http://www.myspace.com/compostmodernart) (Doug Mosurock)"

From Permanent Records in Chicago:

"About a year ago Compost Modern Art Recordings wrote us asking about putting a Sneakers track on a compilation LP. We were happy to oblige the label and we put them in touch with Sneakers. It's been a long time coming, but the LP is finally here, the jacket is a gatefold, and the line-up is incredible. Here's the list: Cheveu, Bipolar Bear, Agent Ribbons, Don Vito, Crash Normal, Sneakers, The Dictaphone, Bungalow Ranchstyle, Ty Segall, When Dinosaurs Ruled The Earth, The Feeling of Love, Sic Alps, De La Cave, and Matt K. Shrugg. We've featured records by nearly all of the bands included here in previous updates and we can honestly say that there isn't a throwaway jam on this slab. One of the best comps of the year! It's recommended for newbs looking to get into some of this stuff and weird punk veterans alike!"


"Usually compilations fall flat because the person putting them together just throws some toss-off songs together, sticks a nice price on it and calls it a day. Then there are those comps that rise above the rest; we all know of incredible compilations that have helped shape a genre or, at the very least, have been thoughtfully curated. This one, featuring a slew of songs from lo-fi and noisy pop artists, does in fact rise above most others. Even if it’s not your favorite style of music. Stuffs does an excellent job of showcasing some standouts in a somewhat drowning style of music. On a small label from Oslo, Norway, Stuffs includes mostly French and American bands signing on with mostly unreleased songs. The artist list includes CRASH NORMAL, TY SEGALL, the FEELING OF LOVE, the DICTAPHONE, and SIC ALPS to name a few, and these aren’t a bunch of sloppy whatever tracks. It’s good, and put together with thought and care­—including the packaging, which is very nice with a gatefold sleeve. (AL)"

And one in french!
http://etrangeressac.wordpress.com/

Il y a des éclipses aussi en Norvège. En voilà une bien belle, scrutée par le label Compost Modern Art d’Oslo. Les groupes When dinosaurs ruled the earth et Sneakers ouvrent fort bien la scène, avec fracas et conviction. Bien vite on tombe sur un roulé boulé de Ty Segall puis sur la pop clair-obscur d’Agent Ribbons. Bipolar Bear fascine de minimalisme bruitiste avant de laisser place aux fulgurantes exactions anihilatrices d’un Sic Alps total. Le Dictaphone de Tours fait des merveilles en ouverture de face B suivi par De La Cave aux charmes électroniques et nordiques. Cheveu cultive le mystère d’une fête foraine dans le grand nulle part sur un instrumental. Et un grand huit lunaire de Crash Normal avant le nouveau tour-de-force de Feeling of Love, télépathie supersonique sur des rivières de feu.Fin de B tout en noise avec notamment la déstructuration post-hiver de Don Vito déchaînés.

See? I'm not lying when I said it was good.
Listen for it on WFMU, KEXP, KDVS, KXLU, Radio Nova and other good stations where it's been getting airplay:)