Monday, June 18, 2007

(( RECOMMENDED: NEW RELEASES )) Jennifer Gentle & Bumps

JENNIFER GENTLE The Midnight Room CD
"Sub Pop's Italian psychedelic avant-pop explorers are back! Marco Fasolo wrote, performed and produced the entire new album alone in his Ectoplasmic Studio, a rambling old house lost in the foggy plains of Northern Italy, infamous for its previous owner’s suicide by rifle.

And, perhaps fittingly, the new record pulses with a nocturnal, feverish, hallucinatory emotional atmosphere, making for a truly unique aural experience. Informed by a deep love for American ‘50s rock ‘n’ roll and European musicians like Nino Rota and Kurt Weill, The Midnight Room is by far the most personal Jennifer Gentle album to date. Focusing on the possibilities of the quintessential rock combo (two guitars, bass and drums) and enriched by swirling keyboard touches, Marco created an album that feels like music from some forgotten amusement park at midnight. The Midnight Room marries the intensity of primitive rock ‘n’ roll with a renewed taste for a certain kind of typically Italian melody—albeit deconstructed, shattered and broken into tiny little bits. Think of Link Wray, Krysztof Komeda and Federico Fellini rolled into one short, dense, cryptic tour de force. And then think again."


BUMPS Bumps CD
"The three percussion experts behind the seminal indie rock/post rock band Tortoise showcase their rhythmical prowess, coming together for this self-titled concept break beat record entitled Bumps.

One of indie rock’s most in-demand master producers of the last decade, Tortoise’s producer/
drummer/vibes player John McEntire has worked with a staggering number of artists as engineer, producer and remixer. With Bumps, he lends his talents toward pushing the boundaries of a typical break beat record, fusing influences from funk, Brazilian, Latin and Afrobeat music."