Aaron Freeman
Marvelous Clouds
Partisan (2012)
Rolling Stone didn’t do Aaron Freeman any favors in running their interview that announces the end of Ween before I got my hands on this record. Now, besides having to overcome the shadow cast by his band, it also has to overcome being the record that broke up Ween. Anyway, Freeman has been making music since the early 1980s and he knows his way around the soundboard. That doesn’t change even if he’s no longer using the Gene Ween moniker or teaming up with Deaner.Marvelous Clouds isn’t really a departure. The record, consisting of thirteen Rod McKuen songs, fits a common tone used by Ween for years: atmospheric, moody music, suited to a dark corner but overlooked by a warped, sunny veneer. Despite the fact that these aren’t originals and that Freeman is issuing a solo record, there is a familiar element. Still, McKuen’s mark here is larger than Freeman’s, and the record comes across more as kitschy 1960s pop than as tongue-in-cheek…well, whatever that thing was that Ween did so well. At its best, it’s creepy ‘60s pop run through a druggy strainer, falling somewhere between Quebec and The Mollusk. At its worst, it’s hokey ‘60s pop—a product that … Read more
Various Artists
Dan Andriano/Brendan Kelly - European Vacation
Red Scare Industries (2012)
To coincide with their romp across Europe, the split 7” from Brendan Kelly And The Wandering Birds and Dan Andriano … Read more
Anthony Raneri
New Cathedrals EP
Gumshoe (2012)
While he’s best known as the front man for Long Island pop-punk juggernauts Bayside, Anthony Raneri has been making a … Read more
