weekly impressions on musical releases

fiona apple - Extraordinary Machine v.1: This initial leak is interesting because it was never intended for release, and apparently boasts different arrangements on most all of the tracks. Add on the publicity of protests outside ms. apple's record label for their alledgedly not wanting to release it, and curiosity gets the best of you, even if you're really only familiar with 'criminal'. It's been sitting on my hard drive for a while now, never played.

fiona apple - Extraordinary Machine v.2: However, by the time I got around to comparing it to the retail version released this week, I was bored to tears by both versions which mainly showcase how badly she wishes she was Tori Amos.

the deadly snakes - Porcella: I saw a picture in the newspaper this morning of a 15 foot python that had burst in the middle, due to swallowing a live 6 foot alligator (neither survived). The accompanying article was about how florida wildlife officials were worried about "top-feeders" such as discarded pet pythons, which were becoming all the more prevalant, were messing with the fragile everglades' ecosystem. These Deadly Snakes do not have nearly as profound of an impact on the passe genre of 'garage rock' which they unfortunately find themselves lumped into. But that's not to say that this is a terrible release, because it has at least flown under the radar of the pre-existing 15 minutes of fame bands that give the genre a bad name (i.e. The Vines, the Hives, etc). But I most certainly digress, and if you've bothered to read this far, you might be wondering what this actually sounds like. Well, it starts off garage rock-y, but ends up in an Elvis Costello meets Calexico kind of mess.

brakes - Give Blood: Besides rhyming with the Deadly Snakes, these guys are nuts, and they get right to the point about it - most songs clock in at under 2 minutes, just enough time not to get bored with whatever nonsense they're singing about. Think of it as a heavier version of the Moldy Peaches. Some of the tracks here which first appeared as singles, have been re-done & slighty smoothed out for the album release. Makes you wonder how this crown jewel sounds as if it was both conceived and executed in mere days, while it takes certain afformentioned one hit wonders 6 years to make an un-extraordinary album. Pick of the week - at least it should cover the spread.