Powerpopholic

Fugu "Fugu-1"

March 10, 2007July 6, 2024 powerpopaholic

This was an album that slipped through the cracks for me. If you are a French band named after a Japansese pufferfish, then you play great baroque power pop right? Fugu is led by singer, composer, and multi-instrumentalist Mehdi Zannad, and has worked with Stereolab, Saint Etienne and Tahiti 80. For this 2001 release, “Fugu-1” Mehdi called on the talents of over 25 players, including strings, a horn section and countless other instrumental effects in a manner fitting a Brian Wilson or George Martin. The harmonies are flawless and are on par with The Winnerys. The lush melodies and gorgeous arrangements are not to be missed. In fact he outdoes Sean O’Hagen’s early work with the High Llamas (FYI: A new High Llamas album is out and a review is coming soon). He also has a new album out I also hope to review soon called “As Found”. Listen to tracks here and here at MySpace and visit his website for more info. You can pick up this first album at e-music

Listen to “Meanwhile”

A Brief Intermission and correction

March 9, 2007April 1, 2018 powerpopaholic

There is a first time to everything and I have modified my rating of Bryan Scary “The Shedding Tears” from a 7 to a 9. Normally I would never do this, but this album has continued to grow on me and get better with each listen. It will also make my top 10 for 2007. It is also finally available on Not Lame Recordings for those without an emusic account.

I wanted to take a brief moment to write about a very controversial movie I saw last night. I rented Terry Gilliam’s Tideland. Gilliam has always been one of my favorite filmmakers and I always rush to see his work. Unfortunately Tideland for me was a painfully bad movie and a missed opportunity. On the DVD intro, Gilliam readily admits that most people will be offended by it and most critics either love it or hate it. I won’t say I hate this film, because there are flashes of Gilliam magic in it. But alot like The Brothers Grimm, much of the storytelling is erratic and the “message” does not come through. Gilliam’s love of details and minutia goes out of control on the screenplay for Tideland, effectively rendering the film tedious. The gruesome aspects of the movie are handled well and I actually expected something much worse. I found the same theme and fantasy motif much better done last year on Pan’s Labyrinth. Alot like Brian Wilson, it looks like Gilliam’s best work is behind him and a new generation of filmmakers are taking the lead in fantasy films these days. I took enough time to rant about non-musical stuff so, more music reviews will be posted tomorrow. Back to your regularly scheduled program!

The Migrators "Goodbye Uncle"

March 9, 2007July 6, 2024 powerpopaholic 2 Comments

The Migrators are truly a international band. They formed in China, it’s members are from Italy and Belgrade and they have a love of alternative pop music. Written in 1999 “Goodbye Uncle” is a rock opera with many influences and styles. Primarily it’s part Pink Floyd “The Wall” meets ‘Til Tuesday with a splash of The Jam thrown in. I will not get into the story so much, as it needs to be experienced with the music. Some tracks here are stronger than others. I like the “The Paradox” a good new wave slice of pop with synths. “Shiny Kids” is also a good tune that recalls early Kate Bush. Some of the tunes suffer under the weight of lots of narrative. The song “Long End” resembles Elastica’s “Connection” a bit but, my favorite is an instrumental called “Vector” with it’s grand guitar playing and driving beat. There are enough good songs here and if you like synth in your pop, this fits the bill. The CD comes with a beautiful color booklet and 19 tracks. It’s for sale at CD Baby

Listen to “Vector”

Richard X. Heyman "Actual Sighs"

March 5, 2007July 6, 2024 powerpopaholic

If there is anything in this world that can be labeled a “sure thing” it’s a Richard X. Heyman album. He consistently makes great albums and this new one is no exception. “Actual Sighs” is a revisit to an earlier time in Heyman’s career. Heyman’s debut from 1986 was called Actual Size. With this new recording, he re-works the original six songs and adds about 14 more in addition! Lots of great guitar are all over this album. Some of my favorites here are the Beatlesque “Mr. Murphy’s Son” and the rolling chourses on “In a Boxcar.” He also jumps out in a few new directions with “Twelve Bars and I still have the blues” an autobiographical bar-band styled blues rocker. “Written all over my face” is another ballad gem that has some killer hooks. And with twenty songs, you get lots killer tracks! The proof of Heyman’s greatness is that the tracks written in 1986 still sound awesome and not out of date. “Hoosier” is a great song in the RXH style that stands the test of time. If you haven’t listened to his stuff yet, this is a perfect time. It’s for sale at Not Lame and CD Baby and hear some on his myspace page!

I also got the opportunity to interview Richard in the new Powerpopaholic Interview Pages also is a link to other interviews as well, including The Shoes, Jeff Murphy, who I reviewed last week.

The BMX Bandits "Wonderful World"

March 1, 2007March 1, 2007 powerpopaholic

Just another cool pop band I wanted to hear today. Listen to some nice stuff on the BMX Bandits Myspace page. Stay tuned — some big things are coming to the powerpopaholic.com later this week!