Robert's Record Reviews
I've accumulated a pretty big record/cd collection and, from time to time, I used to write reviews of the latest additions to my collection. Lately, I haven't bought much music. That whole "you turn 30 and buying CDs doesn't seem to be that important" thing hit me. Lately, I have been working my way back through my collection and trying to listen to everything again and put down my thoughts here.
I also have an alternate cover view of this page too.
| Album Title | Artist |
Rating |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Tube City! The Best of the Trashmen! | Trashmen, The | 9/10 | The Trashmen were a standout band from the surf era known mostly for their hit, "Surfin' Bird." That single captures much of... more |
| Sport Fishin' - The Lure of the Bait, The Luck of the Hook | Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet | 9/10 | The final Shadowy Men album sounds much better than its predecessors thanks mostly to Albini's roomy recording style. However,... more |
| Days Away | Nonagon | 9/10 | As you may know, I play bass in a band called Nonagon. Well, it turns out we weren't as clever as we thought we were when we... more |
| Strays | Wire | 9/10 | I got this CD as a bonus from ordering Red Barked Tree directly from Wire mail order. The disc opens with re-... more |
| Sing and Play the Three Doctors and Other Sounds of Today | Zip Code Rapists | 9/10 | Before Gregg Turkington was creating anti-comedy as Neil Hamburger, he was, along with guitarist John Singer, creating anti-... more |
| Tossing Seeds (89-91) | Superchunk | 9/10 | This is the first of several singles comps Superchunk released over the years. Lots of covers and a few alternate versions of... more |
| Two Nuns and a Pack Mule | Rapeman | 9/10 | There's still quite a bit of Big Black's sound in this Albini follow up project. The guitar (there's only one this time around... more |
| Project Infinity | Man... or Astroman? | 9/10 | Another good release with slightly better production quality than their previous Estrus recordings. |
| The Great Lost Trashmen Album! | Trashmen, The | 9/10 | Another fine collection of Trashmen recordings. Not much to add here except that these were all previously unreleased and there... more |
| Sandoz in Dub: Chapter Two / Extra Time (Under the Stones) | Sandoz | 9/10 | It looks like these days Richard H. Kirk is only releasing his music via iTunes. Personally, I prefer the way Amazon handles... more |
| The Curse of La Lloroña | Monarchs, The | 9/10 | The Monarchs were a 90s garage band from Michigan for which I have always had a big soft spot. Their LP, Et Vincere et... more |
| 1984 (For the Love of Big Brother) | Eurythmics | 9/10 | Although technically speaking this is a soundtrack, I don't think any of these songs made it into the film 1984. That'... more |
| Apocalypse Now | Coppola, Carmine and Francis Coppola | 9/10 | Not so much a soundtrack as it is an abridged version of the movie that you can listen along with, the double CD Apocalypse... more |
| Stop, Rock, and Roll | Drags, The | 9/10 | This debut full-lengther from Tucson's the Drags clocks in at under 20 minutes. But this LP offers more in that scant amount of... more |
| The Horror Films Collections, Volume 2 | Various Artists | 9/10 | This compilation covers Italian films from the early Seventies all the way to 1991's Hobgoblin and features... more |
| Obento Alternative | DS i Love You | 9/10 | DS i Love You is actually one man, Kanji Honma, a Nintendo DSi and the excellent Korg DS cartridge. Given that credo, you might... more |
| Reckless Nights and Turkish Twilights | Raymond Scott | 9/10 | In the past, most people's introduction to Raymond Scott came when some hipster nerd told them that the music from Looney... more |
| 1000 Hurts | Shellac | 9/10 | When this came out it felt like a return to form for Shellac. It opens with the fantastic "Prayer to God" which, upon first... more |
| Sympathy Sessions | Oblivians | 9/10 | This CD compiles all the Oblivians' Sympathy for the Record Industry records on one CD. There are quite a few "hits" here... more |
| Elvis Presley | Elvis Presley | 9/10 | This is so much better than the overrated Clash album that stole its cover design. I think people forget just how raw and... more |
| Instruments of Terror | Laika and the Cosmonauts | 9/10 | Some of the best 90s surf revival music you can find. On par with The Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet with lots of organ mixed... more |
| Knight Vision: Hymns for the Invisible Church | Knights of the New Crusade, The | 9/10 | This is what happens when you give up on new music. You stop paying attention to music press and new releases and then great... more |
| Death by Unga Bunga!! | Mummies, The | 9/10 | The final gasp from the kings of Budget Rock, The Mummies! This is their only legimately released CD and is yet another... more |
| An Invitation to Planet Mace | Untamed Youth | 9/10 | This is the long awaited new release from these kings of Jethro Rock™ And this is one of their best records to date. Along with... more |
| Extra Width | Jon Spencer Blues Explosion | 9/10 | The Blues Explosion (at least on these earlier recordings) occupies a nice space between the raw, rootsy rock of bands like the... more |
| Doolittle | Pixies | 9/10 | Like most non-hipsters in the late eighties, this was my introduction to the Pixies. I think majority of people consider this... more |
| Killing Joke (2003) | Killing Joke | 9/10 | Killing Joke proves they can still crank up the angst on yet another "comeback" album. There's no innovation here, but the... more |
| 96 Tears | Question Mark and the Mysterians | 9/10 | This is a recent reissue of the 1966 album of the same name. This is an excellent collection of great 60's garage tunes by... more |
| The Greatest Gift | Scratch Acid | 9/10 | I discovered Scratch Acid after becoming a The Jesus Lizard worshiper. At the time I remember thinking, despite have 50% of the... more |
| Youth Runs Wild | Untamed Youth | 9/10 | This is the follow-up to Planet Mace and continues much along the same lines. They rely a bit less on originals this time. U.Y... more |
| Wilful Days | Killing Joke | 9/10 | A great collection of singles and extended mixes from the EG years. I had a few of these on 7" vinyl and it was nice to get... more |
| Liar | Jesus Lizard, The | 9/10 | Goat laid the ground rules for the Jesus Lizard's sound and Liar solidified it into a formula. It's a swell formula indeed, but... more |
| Elvis Double Features: Viva Las Vegas / Roustabout | Elvis Presley | 9/10 | Another great two movie compilation from The King. Everyone knows how great "Viva Las Vegas" is, but track two, "If You Think I... more |
| Replicas | Tubeway Army | 9/10 | After having owned and loved The Pleasure Principle for years, I finally expanded my Gary Numan collection with this... more |
| As Above, So Below | POLES, tHE | 9/10 | The capitalization challenged tHE POLES are one of the few bands that Nonagon has played with that I actually really like. This... more |
| Lolita | Nelson Riddle | 9/10 | Although a couple of the pieces on this soundtrack recording sound like they came straight from The Donna Reed Show,... more |
| Absolute Polysics | Polysics | 9/10 | Absolute Polysics is Polysics at their spazziest. It was pretty jarring a first but I have come to like this record... more |
| Twelve Winds | POLES, tHE | 9/10 | Twelve Winds is much like their As Above, So Below EP but with more songs! (They must have learned from the... more |
| Presenting Jackie and the Cedrics | Jackie and the Cedrics | 9/10 | Jackie and the Cedrics are a surf revival band hailing from Japan. In addition to Jackie's trademark hyperactive drumming,... more |
| Il Gatto A Nove Code | Ennio Morricone | 9/10 | With the exception of the title song, "Ninna Nanna In Blu," all of the tracks on this CD are solid Morricone thriller ambiance... more |