System of a Down
Hypnotize (4.5 stars)
(5 stars for the complete experience: Mesmerize/Hypnotize)
The title track, "Hypnotize," opens with an unanswered question: "Why don't you ask the kids of Tiananmen Square if fashion was the reason why they were there?" It is hard to be provocative in the post-Eminem popular culture, but the lyrics of Daron Malakian and Serj Tankian make an able effort in their own weird way of social commentary, political pontificating, surreal and ugly observations and personal confession.
System of a Down is simply the most intelligent metal band, ever. And, yeah, while being smarter than Rush is a dubious honor easily achieved, the band's main strengths are in its music. This is metal that holds a sophistication even jazz fans could enjoy if not for the fierce and constant intense pound and fury locked into these songs.
The variety of sounds is astonishing. "Vicinity of Obscenity" lands somewhere between Wagner and Frank Zappa, and even that range doesn't explain the funk-guitar break in the middle. It is worth mentioning that Hypnotize joins forces, literally via interconnecting packaging, with predecessor Mezmerize, released back in May to make for the most ambitious release of 2005.
Sun Kil Moon
Tiny Cities (1.5 stars)
Single-act cover albums can be fascinating business, provided the act doing the covering actually does something creative with the material.
That was the case for Pussy Galore's Exile on Main Street, which dragged the Stones' classic through a lo-fi noise gutter. Ditto for Camper Van Beethoven's Tusk, which put an avant twist on Fleetwood Mac's poppy creation. Even Phish's live Halloween "costume" sets expanded on themes only hinted at on Talking Heads and Velvet Underground originals.
Not so for Tiny Cities, the latest project from Sun Kil Moon, a.k.a. former Red House Painters frontman Mark Kozelek. The disc's 11 cuts may have been intended as a tribute to indie-rock stalwarts Modest Mouse, but they ultimately only serve to emasculate the Washington band's sonic blueprint.
Modest Mouse's songs work best when they shift tempos and attitudes, transitioning from creepy buildups to explosive up-tempo assaults. Yet Kozelek opts for a monotonous, feathery approach, one that sucks the life right out of Isaac Brock's idiosyncratic lyrics.
Tiny Cities is the kind of album you might want to spin once or twice for novelty's sake. Once that wears off, you'll probably forget you own it.
Markus Schulz
Without You Near (2.5 stars)
This is Markus Schulz's first release of all original material in two years, and he's helped along with guest appearances from Airwave and Gabriel & Dresden, not to mention Elevation, Departure and Interstate, and vocals by trance diva Carrie Skipper and jazz singer Anita Kelsey.
With all of that help, you'd expect better results. Not to say that Without You Near is bad. Far from it. As a jazz offering, it's top-notch.
"Once Again" and "Never Be the Same" with Skipper are lovely, dreamy songs, perfectly suited for slow writhing on a dance floor someplace warm. Likewise Kelsey's voice on "First Time" and "Traveling Light." And the male vocals on the Coalharbor mix of "Without You Near" are a refreshing draught.
But even for trance, there's something left to be desired in the 13 tracks. The instrumentals are weak and repetitive, and for all of their beauty, Skipper and Kelsey don't have the emotional oomph of, say, Anousheh Khalili on Deep Dish's George Is On.
Given that he had two years to work on it, fans of Schulz's trance and progressive sounds are bound to feel somewhat let down.