I'm an English professor in Fresno, California, where I live with my yokefellow John and our dog Wilbur.
I suppose I should say something about my blog's name: I do realize that the toy you all knew and loved as a child is, in fact, a wiffle ball (no h), but my moniker--Captain Whiffle--is actually the name of a character from an 18th-century English novel. (Ten points if you can name which one.) So, just imagine if this guy threw a party: it would be a Whiffle Ball--kind of like my blog!
Evening Eclectic Review: The xx
The xx's debut album is the perfect soundtrack for transitioning from hot to cool temperatures. The icy atmospherics and spare, reverb-drenched guitar lines are tempered by the warm, rich vocals of Romy Madley Croft and Oliver Sim, who complement one another beautifully on most of these tracks. Underpinning their lyrics are synth beats, clap tracks, and drum machines that recall Goth classics by The Cure and Bauhaus, and yet the beats and vocals are clearly inspired by more recent R&B artists like Aaliyah and Rihanna. The resulting fusion is trip-hop meets synth-pop, and yet the dark and moody ambiance also draws on the current hyperdub scene in Britain. Fans of The Gossip, Tricky, Violator-era Depeche Mode, and Portishead should check out this London quartet's promising debut; standout tracks include "Shelter," "Crystalised," "Islands," and "Basic Space." - DJ Prof
Evening Eclectic CD Spotlight: Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, You Are the Destroyer?
Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? is Of Montreal's latest and darkest album to date. The work is essentially a solo effort from the band's prolific songwriter and front man Kevin Barnes, who provides us with poppy but pained self-revelations throughout. Apparently the opening line to "A Sentence of Sorts in Kongsvinger" is true: "I spent the winter on the verge of a total breakdown while living in Norway," and the song captures both a beautiful Scandinavian snowscape and Barnes's efforts to keep himself and his family together. The album's epic "The Past Is a Grotesque Animal" is a jaw-dropping 11+ minutes' worth of sublime self-flagellation, whose sonic sensibility steers the band away from The Beach Boys (to whom they are often compared) and toward the grim and gritty jams of Yo La Tengo. Barnes's lyrics are both personal and literate (he references Georges Bataille's The Story of the Eye) ensuring that his brand of psychedelia is also psychotic. Other album standouts include "Heimdalsgate Like a Promtethean Curse," "Bunny Ain't No Kind of Rider," and "She's a Rejecter." - DJ Prof
Evening Eclectic CD Spotlight: Subtle - For Hero: For Fool
Subtle's For Hero: For Fool could just as suitably have been titled Dung, Guts, and Blood. Lyricist Doseone conjures forth a dark and gruesome world where people are "carefully combing their own eager entrails" ("Midas Gutz") or lay "prostrate, chipping salt" from their lips ("Nomanisisland"). "The Mercury Craze" asks "what would you give to get your hands on the latest most luxurious blood?" while "Middleclass Stomp" is littered with glass eyes, seed-encrusted teeth, and "a sturdy bag of sperm." The lyrics are cryptic, but the morbid obsession with the body is clear. Musically, the songs are nearly as oblique; they may just be the best mash-ups that aren't. "The Mercury Craze" quotes the bass line for "Feel Good, Inc.," and then out-Gorillaz the Gorillaz; throughout, the beats are funky and danceable. Meanwhile the vocals are at once strange and sexy, ranging from deep gutturals to eerie falsettos. Other standout tracks include "A Tale of Apes" Parts I and II. And don't miss the endearingly creepy video for "The Mercury Craze." - DJ Prof
I'm an English professor in Fresno, California, where I live with my yokefellow John and our dog Wilbur.
The xx's debut album is the perfect soundtrack for transitioning from hot to cool temperatures. The icy atmospherics and spare, reverb-drenched guitar lines are tempered by the warm, rich vocals of Romy Madley Croft and Oliver Sim, who complement one another beautifully on most of these tracks. Underpinning their lyrics are synth beats, clap tracks, and drum machines that recall Goth classics by The Cure and Bauhaus, and yet the beats and vocals are clearly inspired by more recent R&B artists like Aaliyah and Rihanna. The resulting fusion is trip-hop meets synth-pop, and yet the dark and moody ambiance also draws on the current hyperdub scene in Britain. Fans of The Gossip, Tricky, Violator-era Depeche Mode, and Portishead should check out this London quartet's promising debut; standout tracks include "Shelter," "Crystalised," "Islands," and "Basic Space." - DJ Prof
Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? is Of Montreal's latest and darkest album to date. The work is essentially a solo effort from the band's prolific songwriter and front man Kevin Barnes, who provides us with poppy but pained self-revelations throughout. Apparently the opening line to "A Sentence of Sorts in Kongsvinger" is true: "I spent the winter on the verge of a total breakdown while living in Norway," and the song captures both a beautiful Scandinavian snowscape and Barnes's efforts to keep himself and his family together. The album's epic "The Past Is a Grotesque Animal" is a jaw-dropping 11+ minutes' worth of sublime self-flagellation, whose sonic sensibility steers the band away from The Beach Boys (to whom they are often compared) and toward the grim and gritty jams of Yo La Tengo. Barnes's lyrics are both personal and literate (he references Georges Bataille's The Story of the Eye) ensuring that his brand of psychedelia is also psychotic. Other album standouts include "Heimdalsgate Like a Promtethean Curse," "Bunny Ain't No Kind of Rider," and "She's a Rejecter." - DJ Prof
Subtle's For Hero: For Fool could just as suitably have been titled Dung, Guts, and Blood. Lyricist Doseone conjures forth a dark and gruesome world where people are "carefully combing their own eager entrails" ("Midas Gutz") or lay "prostrate, chipping salt" from their lips ("Nomanisisland"). "The Mercury Craze" asks "what would you give to get your hands on the latest most luxurious blood?" while "Middleclass Stomp" is littered with glass eyes, seed-encrusted teeth, and "a sturdy bag of sperm." The lyrics are cryptic, but the morbid obsession with the body is clear. Musically, the songs are nearly as oblique; they may just be the best mash-ups that aren't. "The Mercury Craze" quotes the bass line for "Feel Good, Inc.," and then out-Gorillaz the Gorillaz; throughout, the beats are funky and danceable. Meanwhile the vocals are at once strange and sexy, ranging from deep gutturals to eerie falsettos. Other standout tracks include "A Tale of Apes" Parts I and II. And don't miss the endearingly creepy video for "The Mercury Craze." - DJ Prof