Category: Power Pop Review

Sean O’Hagan continues to develop his Brian Wilson-lite style. “Can Cladders” is the sixth LP from the High Llamas and it has some female vocals similar to 2003’s “Beet Maize and Corn”. The lush, orchestral swirls make for pleasant pastoral listening, alot like Sondre Lerche’s recent efforts. O’Hagan’s vocals seem to flow into songs and sounds great on “Winter’s Day”. I have to say no one today uses a Banjo and Harp for better melodic effect than him. I would call this a return to proper form, without all the electronic noodling that plagued 1998’s “Cold and Bouncy”and 1999’s “Snowbug”. The album doen’t quite reach the highs of earlier efforts, and often repeating sections of the melodic choruses can get a bit tiresome. But aside from that this is a solid release that will please most fans and let’s others know there’s still a place in the public consciousness for baroque, string-laden orchestral pop. Listen to “Old Spring Town” to hear one of the album’s high points. It’s for sale on emusic and you can also visit the High Llamas Web Site and lots of other places.

Listen to “Bacaroo”

Listen to “The Old Spring Town”

Listen to “Sailing Bells”

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 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”

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!

Bravo Johnson falls into a Tom Petty-styled Americana Pop vein. His album “Aimlessly Drifting” features awesome guitar work, much like Joe Walsh and the already mentioned Mr. Petty. We can stretch the term power pop here, because it still has great melody and hooks that won’t quit. Alot like early Joe Walsh LPs, the vocals take a bit of a backseat to the guitarwork and occassional organ. It makes for very pleasant listening in any case, although many of the ten tracks on the album could use a bit of trim, most being over 4 minutes long and the epic track “Change Your Ways” which sounds like a Carlos Santana-rip on “Evil Ways” clocking in at a whopping 8:17 . This jamming style is great in concert, but a bit heavy for a studio album. This is the reason I stopped listening to the Doors back in Jr. High School. Overall the album is a strong one with mass appeal. Best of all you can hear the entire album streaming on Bravo’s website. You can purchase the CD at NotLame for a mere ten bucks! Very nice.