The Severed Cortex

Nancy bought me several CD's for Christmas which didn't come in until mid-late January. None of them are of overly special note and are a testament as to why you should periodically update your Amazon wish list if you want music that wasn't released several years ago. They are all good, in my opinion, it's just that music priorities change for me and I lean towards the new stuff.

• Motorcade of Generosity (Cake) - I pretty much own everything in their catalog except for this one and maybe one other. I've always been a fan of these guys mostly because of their tongue and cheek lyrics, but especially because they have a trumpet player. This release was the one that started it all for them with Rock 'n' Roll Lifestyle. Pretty much this one sounds like every other Cake CD, but it is a tad rougher production wise and the band doesn't sound all that polished. I guess one could argue that this is a band that will never attain 'polished' status. I've always thought of Cake as a band where the sum of its parts are greater than any of the individual musicians abilities and this release reinforces that mentality more than any of the others that I own. They have plenty of camp and soul and to me that more than makes up for any lack of musicianship. Of course I say that because I suck as a musician.
• Theives (Shearwater) - This is one of those CD's that I have to be in the right frame of mind. If you're depressed, this is not something you really want to listen to because it will put you over the edge. They aren't near as good as others in this genre ... Iron & Wine, The Decemberists, Calexico ... but they do have some appeal.
  
• Revive (Steadman) - This one was surprisingly better than I thought it would be. Steadman writes complex songs that seem far removed from what I would consider to be pop music. And yet, they still sound fairly poppy like Oasis. Unique and highly recommended.
  
• Good Grief (James Apollo) - James Apollo is a Lyle Lovett wannabe. Hey, there are certainly worse singer songwriters one can try to imitate. It's just that James Apollo is no Lyle Lovett. There's some good stuff on this release, most notably Three Birds and Libertyville, but there's a lot of mediocre stuff too. Libertyville sounds a lot like early John Cougar Mellancamp and although it isn't listed in the liner notes, it sounds like there is a theremin player. This isn't a bad CD, but it's probably one that you can pass on.
  
• High Expectations/Low Results (The Faunts) - When you add the words 'Low Results' in your album title, you're asking yourself for trouble. I listen to a lot of trance and ambient music while I'm coding. For me, it provides constant background from the deafening silence. (Or if I'm at work, the deafening noise) I can't read and listen to music with lyrics (or have the TV on) and this type of music fits those situations for me. However, this release from The Faunts isn't really trance or ambient, and it does have some lyrics. For me, it still falls into that general category though because it's got a lot of shimmery noises and low hums. Unless you need some ambient music in your life, this will be one for you to skip.
• Ferment (Catherine Wheel) - What can you say about this CD that hasn't already been said? I had a copy of this way back in the early nineties and someone stole it. Maybe I'm too harsh there. It's possible that I let someone borrow it and they never returned it; that still sort of sounds like stealing to me. This is a very highly regarded release from critics and I'd have to agree with them. I know a lot of people who don't even like this genre of music and own this CD. I hate the term shoegazer because it sounds so negative, but if I had to lump it into a category that's where I'd put it. I love the music of Silversun Pickups, but Catherine Wheel
  did it long before they did.