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Conor Oberst
Ruminations
Conor Oberst has always made a
lot from a little, even as the dark
cloud conducting the energy of
fellow groups Bright Eyes and
Desaparecidos, so what does
Ruminations
, on which Oberst’s
only bandmates are the proverbial
guitar and pen, have to prove?
Nothing less than that Oberst
maintains the self-destructive
relationship with pain that made
him such an attractive anti-hero.
Pouring out of him following
a troubled period that saw
him return home to Omaha,
Ruminations
is Oberst at his
starkest and most devastating. It’s
an enervating document of fear
and longing; proof that Oberst is
still the king of personal sorrow.
(Nonesuch/Warner)
Jake Cleland
visit
stack.net.au18
jbhifi.com.auOCTOBER
2016
MUSIC
REVIEWS
Dillinger Escape Plan
Dissociation
Having teased this album as the final
full-length before a break up (smooth
move!) Dillinger Escape Plan are
aiming to go out with a bang. And
when a band as progressive as
Dillinger promise the offering to
be their most adventurous to date
and employ Converge’s Kurt Ballou
to mix, you know you’re in for a
mind-melter.
Dissociation
mostly
delivers in every direction.
Fugue
is
an intriguing nod to an electronica
avenue the band may very well have
journeyed down should they have
continued their aural adventures.
If this is indeed their final hurrah,
then they can rest assured they’ve
departed on a frenzied and furious
note. No less intriguing than they
day they exploded onto the scene
with
Calculating Infinity
. Bravo.
(CookingVinyl) Emily Kelly
Jack White
Jack White Acoustic Recordings 1998 - 2016
Dylan with better hair and swagger – kinda like the
other Beatle/Stone/(insert extremely talented artist
of yesteryear here) whom parents warned their
daughters about, Jack White is indeed one cool cat.
When he’s not trying to put a 3D pianola roll on the
moon from his Nashville ye-olde-gadget compound,
he’s pumping out original, deep and engaging music with a performance
ability no one can contest. Here’re 18 years of him unplugged, as it were.
Stuff you know, stuff you don’t – stuff he found under the bed, stuff
that perhaps should stay ‘lost’– but for the majority, this is a stunning
testament to his creative urges and sheer talent spread over 26 tracks
spanning White Stripes thru to solo. Simplistic genius on
Forever For Her
,
tear-jerking poetry on
Ugly As I Seem
, or
Top Yourself
with an intoxicating
bluegrass immersion where if you squint just right you'll feel yourself
floating down an Appalachian voodoo swamp. He’s a genius – and the
bastard knows it.
(Third Man/Remote Control) Chris Murray
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