{"id":749,"date":"2016-07-29T05:05:36","date_gmt":"2016-07-29T09:05:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nickzaino.com\/departmentoftangents\/?p=749"},"modified":"2016-11-09T01:10:54","modified_gmt":"2016-11-09T06:10:54","slug":"new-release-roundup-d-generation-essence-the-silks-joseph-c-smiths-orchestra-camille-harris-and-anthony-atamanuik-and-james-adomian-do-trump-vs-bernie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nickzaino.com\/departmentoftangents\/2016\/07\/29\/new-release-roundup-d-generation-essence-the-silks-joseph-c-smiths-orchestra-camille-harris-and-anthony-atamanuik-and-james-adomian-do-trump-vs-bernie\/","title":{"rendered":"New Release Roundup: D Generation, essence, The Silks, Joseph C Smith&#8217;s Orchestra, Camille Harris, and Anthony Atamanuik and James Adomian Do Trump Vs. Bernie"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>MUSIC<\/strong><br \/>\n1. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.dgeneration.us\/\" target=\"_blank\">D Generation<\/a> \u2013 <em>Nothing Is Anywhere<\/em><br \/>\nIt\u2019s been almost 22 years since D Generation released their eponymous debut album (and almost 22 years since I reviewed that album for my college magazine, one of the first album reviews I ever wrote, thankfully now lost to history).  I listened to a bit of that album in between listens to the new one, <em>Nothing Is Anywhere<\/em>, and I\u2019m happy to report the band is still the same in many good ways, 17 years after they released their third album and split up. They are still scrappy, they still like loud guitars, and they&#8217;re still agitated after all these years. They used to say they didn\u2019t want to \u201csing the graveyard song,\u201d now they\u2019ve got an anthem for the end of the world called \u201cApocalypse Kids.\u201d On that one, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.jessemalin.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Jesse Malin<\/a> sings, \u201cWe are the ones born an endangered species\/Five easy pieces keeping time.\u201d They\u2019re also more tuneful, and there\u2019s a heap of hooks both vocal and musical. For the set always looking for the band that\u2019s going to save rock and roll (it\u2019s fine, though, guys, really), this is an album to hoist a flag to. And to sing with desperate optimism, like Malin does on the closing track, \u201cTomorrow.\u201d Amid the crashing stars and shadows, he sings, \u201cTomorrow is all I have.\u201d  Glad the band woke up again.<br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/A0zYiKI1WZk\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>2. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.essencemusic.com\/site\/\" target=\"_blank\">essence<\/a> \u2013 <em>Black Wings<\/em><br \/>\nIt\u2019s hard to resist the title track to this album, all tenderly chiming mandolins and pastoral lyrics until the wonderfully profane whiplash of the chorus, \u201cYou\u2019re fucked up enough\/I found you, you found me\/All of the pieces fit together perfectly\u2026 You\u2019re fucked up enough for me.\u201d  Even better when you consider essence\u2019s (that\u2019s her real name \u2013 she had hippie parents) last album was called A Dog Named Moo and was directed at kids. Maybe she got tired of singing kids songs and snapped in the other direction, because this album also contains a song called \u201cBullshit,\u201d a resonator-heavy tune that starts with the lines \u201cBullshit\/I don\u2019t believe you\/You say you\u2019re leaving\/But I still see you.\u201d Which is not to say this is a pottymouth album. There\u2019s the more delicate leaving song, \u201cHeaded North,\u201d and a song of ultimate devotion called \u201cFossils.\u201d On that one, essence wins the songwriting prize for taking a metaphor to its absolute zenith. She sings to her lover that she loves them in their human state, then when they\u2019re bones, then when they\u2019re dust and fossils, then when the fossils become oil and then gasoline, then when it\u2019s used in a car, then all used up. \u201cI love you even more than that,\u201d she says. Can\u2019t ask for much more than that. Not everything hits the mark on this album, but there\u2019s a lot to like. And essence can find the twang and tremolo in her voice for a classic country sound or tame that for a smoother delivery, from \u201c9 to 5\u201d to Allison Kraus.<br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/kItgnwf40t0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>3. <a href=\"https:\/\/thesilksmusic.bandcamp.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">The Silks<\/a> \u2013 <em>Turn Me On<\/em><br \/>\nThe first thing that struck me when I heard \u201cAll Day,\u201d the opening track on this Providence, Rhode Island trio\u2019s second album, was that they sounded a bit like Chris Stapleton fronting a garage rock band. Plenty of twang and good energy. A little trippy sometimes with catchy riffs. Some sweet harmonies and vocal melodies over a crunchy guitar sound, and a rhythm section with some bounce. There\u2019s a little bit of Grand Funk lurking in there, too, especially on \u201cLet It Ride.\u201d It sounds like summer music to me.<br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"100%\" height=\"166\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/tracks\/271953636&amp;color=ff5500&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false\"><\/iframe><br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"100%\" height=\"166\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/tracks\/267173111&amp;color=ff5500&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>4. <a href=\"http:\/\/archeophone.com\/catalogue\/joseph-c-smith-orchestra-songs-of-the-night\/\" target=\"_blank\">Joseph C. Smith\u2019s Orchestra<\/a> \u2013 <em>Songs of the Night: Dance Recordings 1916-1925 <\/em><br \/>\nSo maybe you\u2019re a little more serious about Throwback Thursday than your friends. Maybe you read the D Generation review above, got to the part where I wrote it had been 22 years since their first album, and yelled, out loud, \u201cHa!\u201d This might be more your style. I didn\u2019t get a chance to preview the music, but it\u2019s intriguing. It\u2019s the first compilation of Joseph C. Smith\u2019s Orchestra, which was part of the soundtrack for the trending popularity of dance halls 100 years ago. My sense of history here is lacking, but the press release mentions that Smith was the first to record Cole Porter and George Gershwin songs, and was the first to include vocal refrains on dance songs. He also helped people set up their own dance parties at home by laying this stuff down on phonograph records. So if you\u2019re having a little party at your house or apartment this weekend and you turn on the music and dance, maybe say a quick thank you to the guy. You can <a href=\"http:\/\/archeophone.com\/catalogue\/joseph-c-smith-orchestra-songs-of-the-night\/\" target=\"_blank\">sample some of the stuff here<\/a>.<br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ZC31S3lFOlQ\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe> <\/p>\n<p>5. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.camilleharris.net\/\" target=\"_blank\">Camille Harris<\/a> \u2013 <em>Where I Go<\/em><br \/>\nHarris is both a singer and a stand-up comedian, and she has indulged her goofy side on albums past, singing songs like \u201cKindergarten Is for Communists\u201d and \u201cBaby on the Subway.\u201d She even named her 2013 album Silly Jazz. She plays it straight on this EP, though, a sophisticated and modern vocal jazz album. Her voice is nimble and smooth. The arrangements groove.  Give it a spin.<br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/embed.spotify.com\/?uri=spotify%3Aalbum%3A6wXydn8ymuBpLLuIdoAK3o\" width=\"300\" height=\"380\" frameborder=\"0\" allowtransparency=\"true\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>COMEDY <\/strong><br \/>\n1. <a href=\"http:\/\/trumpvsbernie.com\/about\/\" target=\"_blank\">Anthony Atamanuik and James Adomian<\/a> \u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/album\/trump-vs.-bernie-debate-album\/id1137171360?v0=9988&#038;ign-mpt=uo%3D1\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Trump Vs. Bernie: The Debate Album<\/em><\/a><br \/>\nElectoral politics is a tricky subject for comedy. It\u2019s good in the moment, when everyone\u2019s reading the same headlines, but it has a limited shelf life. <a href=\"http:\/\/jamesadomian.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">James Adomian<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TonyAtamanuik?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor\" target=\"_blank\">Anthony Atamanuik<\/a> are great being Bernie and Trump. They\u2019ve got the cadence and the spirit down, and their riffs on this album are timely and hilarious. A lot of the references are very specific, and I\u2019ll be interested to see if this album holds up or if it seems like a keepsake of a different time, like Vaughn Meader\u2019s Kennedy or David Frye\u2019s Nixon. Of course, both comedians have careers established outside of their political impressions, so they won\u2019t depending on this shtick in a year or two. And right now, this is wonderful. In opening remarks, Trump calls \u201cLittle Marco\u201d Rubio the \u201cIndian in the Cupboard\u201d of the primaries. He says he killed everyone in the primaries, adding, \u201cIf I become president, I will kill everyone.\u201d As for Bernie, he says he understands he looks he\u2019s running for president of the Muppets, and that he\u2019s winning the vote amongst people who shop at Whole Foods but feel guilty about shopping at Whole Foods. Bernie hopes to tax micro-aggressions and raise billions from Trump alone, who counters that all of his aggressions are macro. Trump plans to work with an energy company he calls \u201cTriple K\u201d to help the country run on an unlimited resource \u2013 white power. That kind of rhetoric makes it even funnier when Trump chides the crowd for complaining about a nanny state while reporting everything they do on Twitter and periscope or schooling them on how the country was built on free slave labor. For his part, Bernie promises to literally punch the big banks and, if some coins happen to fall out of the bricks, to share them with everyone. To paraphrase Mort Sahl, times have gotten so outrageous they almost impossible to satirize. Who could come up with anything crazier than reality? Atamanuik and Adomian have solved that. This is an absurd and unhinged hour and 16 minutes of comedy, perfectly suited for its time.<br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"100%\" height=\"450\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/tracks\/273506951&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false&amp;visual=true\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Full album<br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/embed.spotify.com\/?uri=spotify%3Aalbum%3A4JWSNDQOKfV2Oa2QE1wTmN\" width=\"300\" height=\"380\" frameborder=\"0\" allowtransparency=\"true\"><\/iframe>    <\/p>\n<p><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>MUSIC 1. D Generation \u2013 Nothing Is Anywhere It\u2019s been almost 22 years since D Generation released their eponymous debut album (and almost&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":750,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,7],"tags":[454,224,452,450,445,457,455,447,451,453,446,449,448,456],"class_list":["post-749","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-comedy","category-music","tag-anthony-atamanuik","tag-bernie-sanders","tag-camille-harris","tag-cole-porter","tag-d-generation","tag-david-frye","tag-donald-trump","tag-essence","tag-george-gershwin","tag-james-adomian","tag-jesse-malin","tag-joseph-c-smiths-orchestra","tag-the-silks","tag-vaughn-meader"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/nickzaino.com\/departmentoftangents\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/new-release-roundup-7-29-2016.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7lGwW-c5","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nickzaino.com\/departmentoftangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/749","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nickzaino.com\/departmentoftangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nickzaino.com\/departmentoftangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nickzaino.com\/departmentoftangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nickzaino.com\/departmentoftangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=749"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/nickzaino.com\/departmentoftangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/749\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1173,"href":"https:\/\/nickzaino.com\/departmentoftangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/749\/revisions\/1173"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nickzaino.com\/departmentoftangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/750"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nickzaino.com\/departmentoftangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nickzaino.com\/departmentoftangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nickzaino.com\/departmentoftangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}