Written by Lauren Asinsen

Back in 2006, The Matches were poised to be the next big thing. This four-piece from Oakland became so swept up in the buzz around their own band that even they thought their sophomore album, Decomposer, would go gold. Unfortunately, while Decomposer was loved by critics and their fans, it failed to climb the Billboard charts.

Decomposer’s lack of sales was a blow to the band’s self-esteem, and they seriously considered whether they should continue to play music. But rather than let this hurdle, the band persevered and began recording their third record, A Band in Hope.

Not wanting to create another Decomposer, the band threw out most of the material they had planned to record for A Band in Hope and started from scratch. So while Decomposer sounds like a bratty young punk on Ritalin, A Band in Hope comes off as its matured, sophisticated older brother. He still has the angst but is a little more jaded and a bit wiser.

Their first single, “Wake the Sun,” sounds nothing like their previous efforts. Laced with buzzing choruses, this folky rock number is a bittersweet tale about the struggle to remain optimistic in the face of adversity. A more melancholy track, “From 24 C,” is reminiscent of the ’80’s new-wave group Depeche Mode. It has tons of hipster style without the arrogant attitude that plagues bands from Brooklyn. With a charming voice that often turns into mere whispers, Harris cunningly draws the listener into his story of obsession and heartbreak. As you hear him sing “I’m in your lobby, your elevator/I’m on your floor, the second floor/I can hear you now/With my ear pressed to the paint,” you almost feel like you’re right there beside Harris, witnessing his pain as he pleads to his ex-lover’s soul with every ounce of his breath.

Yet it’s not to say that The Matches have completely lost its adolescent sense of humor. In “Yankee in a Chip Shop,” The Matches deliver a wacky, uplifting tune about getting lost in London. In the spirit of ’77 punk-rock bands, lead singer Shawn Harris screams about “pulling” girls off their cell phones and telling boys to keep their “gene pools” to themselves.

But in the end, the album seems to be missing something. It could be that they still like to use numerous producers who help them concoct an album full of mismatched songs (pop punk, screamo, glam rock, and folk, to name a few genres they fall into). It would have been better if they had worked with just one or two producers who pushed them in the right direction and helped them find their own identity as a band, because it still seems like they haven’t found their true selves.

By Loraine Ho

I clambered up the stairs as rapid-fire bass riffs and guttural screams filled Anna Bannana’s. The bouncer marked me with the obligatory “under-21” black X marks on the backs of my hands.

All of this seemed routine, except for where my entry fee went that night. The Sex Abuse Treatment Center collected the proceeds from the [respect] show, to help abuse victims receive free counseling and medical care.

“Sexual violence is often shrouded in secrecy,” said Rachel Block, a representative of the Sex Abuse Treatment Center. Her co-workers sat near the stage bringing this problem to light by handing out free pamphlets, pens and stickers, all marked with the resounding theme—respect.

Staff members of the Sex Abuse Treatment Center pose.

Local rock bands O’D’M, Ciot’s B.F.F., Arson Recoil, The Malcognitas, A Hollow Union, and The 86 List provided a wall-shattering soundscape for the entire evening.

Block took to the mic in between sets, to describe the 600 men and women her organization sees every year. “Sexual violence does not discriminate. We provide counseling and a 24-hour hotline,” she detailed. Block also described their special section of ER at Kapi‘olani Medical Center, which is used to provide victims with forensic tests after rape.

Jennifer Mitchell, another SATC staff member, described how A Hollow Union initially approached them about hosting a benefit concert. This effort garnered the band attention from Midweek to KGMB9 News. In past interviews, lead singer Mike Higa and band manager Lee Miyashiro referred to personal experiences that made them empathetic to the SATC cause.

Higa and Miyashiro of A Hollow Union

While rock shows and awareness education may seem like an unlikely duo, they shouldn’t. If the high-energy success of the [respect] benefit is any indication, hopefully music fans will see more of these altruistic collaborations in the future.

The Sex Abuse Treatment Center’s 24-Hour Crisis Hotline can be reached at: 808 524-7273

By Matthew Ishitani

Former Ash guitarist Charlotte Hatherley released her second solo album “Deep Blue” in March 2007.

Going from “Grey” to “Blue”

Charlotte Hatherley is one of the great “under the radar” talents of this generation. A guitarist first and a singer second, Hatherley recorded her second solo album “The Deep Blue” last year. While the playlist is marred by slower tracks, the loud and swift standouts of the album are effective enough to maintain her Alternative Rock roots. As the title implies, “Deep Blue” is a dive into the unknown. Previously a guitarist for the Northern Irish rock band Ash, Hatherely split from the group in 2006, and began working on “Deep Blue,” a gamble that would either sink or swim.

While Hatherely was on the road touring with Ash, she began writing and recording her own tracks. The resulting album released in 2004, titled “Grey Will Fade,” showed a different side of Hatherley. “Deep Blue” strives to provide a more complex level of music than “Grey Will Fade”– not that her taste wasn’t interesting from the start. The slower tracks like “Again” are slightly reminiscent of her work with Ash (from 1997-2006), providing a Dream-pop edge.

“Behave” is from another planet all together. It stays heavy with complex chords that are at once cleverly consistent and somewhat overwhelming. The track even received a glowing review from David Bowie himself, whom Hatherely calls one of her heroes.
“I Want You To Know” and “Very Young” remind me of the fastest tracks on a Sahara Hotnights album and as lyrically defiant, while “Love’s Young Dream” channels the might of Shirley Manson from Garbage.

It isn’t enough to say “Blue” is not ashamed of its influences. Odes to Sonic Youth and the Breeders are rampant throughout. Critics have already assigned a tribute to award-winning Bond-film composer John Barry in Hatherley’s mysterious instrumental “Cousteau.” Hatherely also attributes some of her influences to Kate Bush, David Bowie, and Scott Walker. While “Blue” is a lot stronger in guitar-play than lyrics, such results are to be expected with the talented guitarist’s newfound independence. The mix Hatherley puts together proves that she can stand on her own, and possibly surpass her origins.

Hatherely is currently working on her third album, to be released at the end of 2008 on her own label, Little Sister Records. For more about her, check out her website at http://www.charlottehatherley.com/.

By Contributing Writer Eric Cordeiro

The Magnetic Fields have just released their eighth record, Distortion, on Nonesuch Records.  Over the last 15 years, the primary songwriter, Stephen Merritt has lyrically explored love and loss with clever and terrifying results. This record is one of their best and yet I can’t fucking stand it.

Stephen Merritt is actually tackling this record using Psychocandy by The Jesus and Mary Chain as reference point. Psychocandy exemplified the best marriage between pop melody and intentional dissonance and in my opinionshould be taught in schools as the blueprint for best debut record in rock history. Merritt declared it as the last great achievement in music production and took that as his lead to make a record steeped in fuzz.Distortion is not just a clever name.

Merritt’s trademark elements are all present here.  Lyrical cleverness, delivered with Merritt’s deadpan drone trading songs with playful female vocals, all on top of pretty melodies. Like a photographer smudging the edges of a lens, the hum of feedback adds a dimension that has not been present in past releases. Merritt’s voice is more powerful surrounded by the warm buzz.

In fact everything is much stronger with the frayed edges. The Magnetic Fields are great at singing songs that make you happy for all the wrong reasons. Without looking back, Distortion gives us anthemic rock songs about ménage a trois (“Three Way”) and ironical “fuck you” love songs (“Too Drunk to Dream”). A pop song that encourages alcoholism to cope after a bad relationship can be a little difficult to listen to repeatedly, but Merritt has no problem using his vulnerability to illustrate the individual’s own fears and desires. It is this same quality that makes it so difficult to love him and his band.

To his credit, Merritt and company have always delivered quality with a different modus operandi, spoiling their fans in the process.  We expect this high quality from him, yet we feel that something this good must not be real. We end up asking questions that should never be asked of any artist.  Why should we fall in love with you when we don’t know what you want? Can you ever be sure that the relationship will be worth it?  Merritt asks a lot from his listeners. If we are willing to follow Merritt to that place, why does it feel like we will find ourselves alone the next morning? Like the boy everyone was warned about, you wish you could take him home to meet your parents.

But it is unfair to hold Merritt and company responsible for our own insecurities. These are only pop songs; some of the best to be released this year. They just happen to remind us why it was better to love and lose than to never have loved at all.

Spoon, “Everything Hits At Once”

The hangover has started. You need something just soft enough to be mellow but assertive enough to be considered quality music. Enter Spoon, with just the right level of emoting, a great keyboard piece in the middle, and the perfect drum beat to keep your pounding head from exploding and spilling all the brain matter that stews about in ethyl-laced botulism.

The Zombies, “Gotta Get a Hold of Myself”

Your motor functions shot and your communication skills bordering on either Paula Abdul (irreparable slut) or Magoo’s patron (ingratiating cock), you decide that the best thing to do is to at least make an effort to fully wake up and look for your car. You’ll lose your mind if you keep on acting this way. You can’t lie down and die.

Cat Power, “Hate”

Okay, you’ve gotten a hold of yourself. Now, you realize what a complete wastoid you’ve been for the last few hours. It makes you kind of self-loathing and suicidal.

Chan Marshall knows your pain. Even totally cute songstresses have moments of weakness, and she can relate to your guilty conscience. Then again, she wrote “He War” and you didn’t, so don’t go feeling real on us just yet. Asshole.

The Flaming Lips, “The Flight Test”

To fight or not to fight? It’s all a mystery. It gets even more mysterious when one has a headache that apparently starts rubbing off on anyone within arms-length. What looks like unnecessary and potentially fatal combat to the average, sober person seems like a perfect opportunity to display one’s worldly value to someone whose vision hasn’t even stabilized. The Flaming Lips will hopefully coax you out of that bad decision.

Belle & Sebastian, “Get Me Away From Here I’m Dying”

Whether you decide to raise your fists or not, you will start to feel terrible. This song won’t exactly help you, but it’s just upbeat enough to be distracting from the world of agony you are facing.

Neko Case, “The Needle Has Landed”

As with many Neko Case songs, this one has an ambiguous theme, but you don’t really need to think too deeply as her voice is as Lucinda Williams as ever and the music would do any country-folk Joe or Jane proud. Drunk or sober, how can anyone resist that outro?

Silver Jews, “I’m Getting Back Into Getting Into You”

We’ve all done it. You’ve had a few too many, you pull your cell-phone out, and you dial the person you’ve been trying to get with but were too scared to talk to sober. Unfortunately, when you drunk-dial, the come-on isn’t very … articulate.

Listen to Dave Berman. That groggy cadence just screams “hungover,” but the achingly honest way he admits affection toward his would-be lover should be your model for post-drunk-dial apology.

Yo La Tengo, “Mr. Tough”

While pretty much any song from the best Hoboken Jew mixtape/album-making trio in the world would suffice, “Mr. Tough” sounds totally Marvin Gaye. While I should add a Gaye song on this list, his dad blew him away for substance abuse, and anyone with a playlist handy for an expectant hangover doesn’t want to be thinking of their crazy parents discovering their habits.

Plus, a groovy piano-driven tune right after two Country tracks will feel like a nice cup of coffee.

The Velvet Underground, “Cool It Down”

There comes a point in every hangover that listening to The Velvet Underground starts becoming a necessity. Whether it be the fuzzed-out production or Lou Reed’s nasal cry of self-pity, the inner drunkard in everyone can appreciate the general feeling one gets from The Velvet Underground. Look no further than this singles track for the right balance of hard feelings and soft deliveries.

The Walkmen, “My Old Man”

While we’re riding high on the wave of excess, The Walkmen are a pretty loud, yet pretty relatable band on a bad day. Who knew that so much thrashing, pounding, and screaming could provide so much catharsis for someone with a splitting headache?

Kings of Convenience, “Failure”

Now that catharsis has hit, one needs to reflect on their drinking and post-drinking experience. And what better way to celebrate the avoidance of spiritual (and organ) failure than with this totally smooth, totally inspiring track? Ah, Europeans.

Sparklehorse, “See the Light”

Definitely not the best track on their latest album, but you’re probably really tired and you need a lullaby. Man, that riff is pure hypnotic magic. Have a nice sleep and make sure you don’t shit the bed.

By Sean Gould

“Shit-kicking electropunk” according to the Minty Fresh website. I call it, “Ass-kicking-proto-space-punk”. No matter. Get your kicks here. Record company Minty Fresh, has, for a limited time, released an EP of Prototypes’ album Je Ne Te Connais Pas, and the music is so good it’s the biggest French conspiracy since the Day of the Jackal. Je Ne Te Connais Pas— what this means, I don’t know myself. I do know that on Tuesday I downloaded this EP and on Wednesday I ordered every type of ass-kicking the Parisian Prototypes have ever recorded.

The music isn’t ass kicking in a brutal way. It isn’t angry, nor heavy sounding, but it has bite like a big poodle with robot jaws. Up beat, chic, ready to leave a mark, and cool as hell. There is nothing vague and ambient about this CD. Every song encourages continual movement. New wave party movement. Stephan Bodin provides a steady rich and rhythmic background of grinds and beeps with the synths and bass, while guitarist François Marche provides catchy tune-age with the guitar. Isabelle Le Doussal provides vocals.

The title track, “Je Ne Te Connais Pas,” sets up the groove with super distorted sythns, drums, guitars and a clap track. Plus there are the vocals of “Bubble Star”. Doussal sings in the most commanding French I have ever heard. I don’t know what she is saying but it sounds good. I think it is secret French messages to my girlfriend.

The second song, “Un Gars Fragile,” is pure refined eighties-style techno plus clap track, with all the cheese left twenty years behind. The first five seconds are pure astro cool. Then the super-drive kicks in. Highlights include the guitar bit at 2:30 into the song, where strings and digits harmonize beautifully before recommencing into the steady pulse of an electronic craze. So-and-so sings on this one, and I swear I hear him telling me to run beneath stratospherically high synth noodlings.

“De’cider” is the darkest track on the album. The vocal part alternates between terse spoken verses and a sung chanty chorus. The song bounces from post-apocolyptic disco to post-apocolyptic tense. The bass thumps on like a heart beat, while some damsel walks down a dark post-apocolyptic alley full of robot thugs, only to kick their asses at the end.

The new wave beating lets up on the fourth song, “Boxe”, and drum machine, the synth, and a guitar conspire to give the listener a beautiful repose. Pretty as it is, “Boxe” is tragically short, and the beating promptly resumes.

The coup de grace comes with the EP’s final gem, “Exister.” The beat is pronounced. It is pronounced B, E, A, T. Beat. The bass lays down some fresh, minty fresh, bass-age. This one is as fun as the rest, from the metallic clap track to the phased drones, from the woo hoo’s to the funky guitar up-strokes. There is a very special moment of crystal exquisiteness in this song that should catch your ear. You’ll know it when you hear it.

Drink coffee, run around town singing in a language you might not understand, and listen to the Prototypes.

By Sean Gould

I lived with a poet once. His name was ee cummings and he was weird, so I 86′d him and got a music critic robot instead. When I asked my robot what it thought of Harvey Danger’s return rock album, Little By Little, the robot went, “bah, bah, beep, bah.” At first I had to agree, but after giving the album some time I would say the album is more bah, beep, beep, beep.

Little By Little (available for download here) is the 2005 internet release by the Seattle quartet. The songs are solid, and there are some good moments in most of them. Consequently, the band has been picked up by Barsuk records. At their core, Harvey Danger is a four piece rock band, with guitar, bass, drums, and vocals. At times, such as “Cream and Bastards Rise,” they stick pretty close the rock format. The album also includes a bunch of bars on the ivories, as well as some viola, cello, and french horn parts on the song “What You Live By.” While the instrumentation creates nice textures, at other times things get a bit awkward. For instance, the song “Moral Centralia” features a piano and bell combination that sounds like the beginning of a Christmas carol.

The songs are deceptively simple and often campy. At first listening the band seems to stay on the safe side of the creative boundary that marks the beginning of something great, or even very interesting. Before the songs grow on you (and they probably will) they only seem neat and nice, but not much more. The songs all sound familiar, and are all very radio friendly. Some songs, such as “Happiness Writes White,” makes you want to bob your head like an idiot then puke. American Piesoundtrack anyone? However, after a bit of listening the cheese becomes the exception, not the rule. To quote vocalist Sean Nelson’s own lyric, “you don’t have to be a genius, but it helps to.”

Little By Little presents strong and economical musical composition. After hearing the album about eight times I began to enjoy the youthful tunes. The melodies are often catchy, as with “Cream and Bastards Rise.” At other moments Harvey Danger’s strength lies in the harmonies created by the band, led by Nelson. “What You Live By” was the first song on the album I warmed up to. The melody is great. The chords are pretty, and there are some neat build-ups in a few parts. “War Buddies” is similar. The song mirrors my experience with the album; it starts rocky–the first time Nelson sings “buddies” and rhymes it with “muddies” I blew a fuse–but by the time the tanks hit Warsaw I was into it. Overall this band has more to offer than it costs. The album really is worth checking out.

www.harveydanger.com

HONOLULU (October 18, 2006)-The Honolulu Chamber Music Series (HCMS) will present its second concert of the season, the Grammy award-winning Ying Quartet, on Saturday, November 11, at 7:30 p.m. in the intimate Orvis Auditorium on the grounds of the UH Manoa campus. HCMS will host a free, informal discussion with the artists prior to the concert, at 6:30 p.m. in the UH Music Bldg., Rm. 36.

Timothy Ying (violin), Janet Ying (violin), Phillip Ying (viola) and David Ying (cello) make up the all-sibling quartet. Now in its second decade, the Ying Quartet continues to develop ways of making artistic and creative expression an essential part of everyday life. Natives of Chicago, the Ying siblings began their career as an ensemble in 1992 in the farm town of Jesup, Iowa (population 2000) as the first recipients of a National Endowment for the Arts grant to support chamber music in rural America. The Ying Quartet participated fully in the community, performing on countless occasions for audiences of six to 600 people in a residency so successful that it was widely chronicled in both the national and international media, including features in the New York Times and on CBS Sunday Morning.

Winners of the 2006 Grammy Award for “Best Classical Crossover” (for an album with the Turtle Island String Quartet), they are also embracing an Asian perspective on Western classical music with their program offering entitled “Dim Sum.”

The full “dim sum menu” for the Ying’s Honolulu concert is as follows:

* Mozart: K. 458

* A Musical Dim Sum: a selection of Chinese-American works

* Smetana No. 1

“The brilliant ensemble dished out musical morsels from contemporary Chinese American composers…the music spoke of a shared, artful ability to meld traditional Chinese and Western sounds,” said The Washington Post of a recent concert.

The Ying Quartet won recognition for its exceptional musical qualities when it was honored with the 1993 Naumburg Chamber Music Award. In the years since, the Yings have established an international reputation for excellence in performance with appearances in virutually every major American city. The Quartet’s 2004-2005 season included five concerts in New York City, four at Harvard University, and concerts in Anchorage, Atlanta, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Salt Lake City. Its numerous festival appearances include Tanglewood, Aspen, Skaneateles and San Miguel; international touring has taken the Quartet to Europe, Canada, Mexico, Australia, Japan and Taiwan.

Single tickets are $35 ($20 students and Honolulu Symphony musicians) and are on sale now. They are available online at

www.etickethawaii.com, by phone at 483-7123 (Aloha Stadium charge line) or at any UH Ticket Outlet (University of Hawaii at Manoa Campus Center, Rainbowtique, Windward Community College OCET Office, Stan Sheriff Center). Service charges apply. Tickets may also be purchased (if available) at the Orvis Auditorium Box Office before each concert beginning one hour before curtain.

The HCMS 2006-2007 season is presented in partnership with theOutreach College and the Music Department of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and the Arthur and Mae Orvis Foundation.

Founded in 1955, HCMS is dedicated to bringing world-class chamber music to Honolulu. As a result of bringing these fine artists to the Islands as part of its series, presenting organizations elsewhere in Hawaii are often able to host additional concerts in their communities, allowing extended tours to Hawaii that otherwise would not be possible. HCMS has presented nearly 300 concerts by the world’s top ensembles, including the Borodin and Beaux Arts Piano Trios, the Cleveland, Guarneri, Juilliard, Takacs and Tokyo Quartets, and a variety of mixed ensembles, from wind quintets to early and modern music ensembles. Part of HCMS’s mission is also to present the human voice in a chamber setting, and thanks to a generous grant from the Orvis Foundation, one concert on each season will be dedicated to vocal art.

By Sean Gould

From the Sounds Inside, by John Frusciante, is another testament to the brilliance of the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ guitar player. The album is available for download here.

Created in 2001 around the same time as To Record Only Water For Ten Days, From the Sounds Inside shares the same bare style, and a few of the same songs. The album features Frusciante on vocals, guitar, synthesizer, and drum machine.

Frusciante’s voice is rough, especially when he goes into an almost piercing falsetto. His melodies are compressed yet emotional; his unique singing complements the stark instrumental parts. Frusciante’s clean guitar work is beautifully simplistic and somewhat cold, like rain on the ocean somewhere where rain on the ocean is not warm, but cold.

The synthesizer is an important instrument in for this album, yet it is used in such an unobtrusive way that even the most ardent ludite should find the use of electronics appealing. Even if you dislike any musical technology beyond gut strings, the use of the electronics in the album will testify to their belonging beside Frusciante’s voice and guitar work. The primitive synth sounds match Frusciante’s vocals and guitar style, creating cool depths of texture.

While the album is mellow, it is too charged to be called laconic. The songs created a lot of empty space around the sounds which add to their energy and Apollonic beauty.