Friday, September 17, 2010

Review: From the Land of Ice & Snow


(Disclaimer: The Embarrassment, seen above embarrassing themselves in 1982, are not a part of this project.)

Initial reports indicate that Robert Plant's new album is excellent. I've been too busy listening to From the Land of Ice & Snow to check out Band of Joy.

The new benefit album contains two hours and forty-five minutes of Led Zeppelin covers by indie rock acts from the Pacific Northwest. It works more often than not. And that's no small thing. Check out the otherwise excellent The Embarrassment butchering "Immigrant Song" above. (And don't miss the amazing dancing.) Here are quick takes on a few representative selections:

Good Times:
Rebecca Gates & The Consortium- "Four Sticks" Nifty.
Lana Rebel- "Black Dog" Cool country blues.
Lackthereof- "Heartbreaker" A brutal beatdown.
Kelly Blair Bauman- "Stairway To Heaven" In a minor miracle, this languid version actually works.
Wineland- "Hey Hey What Can I Do" Solid.
M Ward- "Bron-Yr-Aur" The biggest name on the project plays it straight.

Bad Times:
Pellet Gun- "Rock and Roll" Irony doesn't work.
Kaia- "Fool In the Rain" Insufferable.
Knock Knock- "Moby Dick" Resembles a collaboration between Ken Nordine and John Zorn.
Parks & Recreation- "All My Love" Sounds like Jack Bruce fronting The Decemberists. (Not a compliment.)

Even these failures are fascinating. I look forward to tormenting delighting friends with From the Land of Ice & Snow for the remainder of 2010. After all, "it's been a long time..."

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I like Leon Russell. I love Knuckleheads. Here's my review of last night's show.

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Reach made a video for "Radio Love".

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Nab the free new six-song EP by John Vanderslice here. I'm glad I did.

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Soca star Arrow has died. (Tip via BGO.)

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Kansas City Click: "Debaser"! The Pixies return to The Uptown on Friday.

The Phoenix, the jazz-ish downtown establishment, holds a "block party" Saturday.

Shonen Knife plays the Record Bar on Sunday.

4 comments:

Don't Need Anything said...

so now i gotta get the tribute album.

and the band of joy album is fantastic. at work we put on the new clapton, the new santana and band of joy and easily the band of joy blew the other two away.

Happy In Bag said...

If you play that stuff at work, DNA, then you will definitely have fun with this tribute album.

Let me know if you're going to the Shonen Knife show on Sunday.

Don't Need Anything said...

nope i wont be there. my wife is 39 1/2 weeks preggo so i wont be at any shows for a while :)

Happy In Bag said...

Congrats! I once escorted a very pregnant woman to the Grand Emporium. The late George Meyers assessed the situation and asked that we leave.