The Rubber Room column is a weekly look at recent and notable releases that don’t fall into the rubric of traditional reviewed material—namely 7”’s, 12”’s, 3” CDs, EPs, cassette-only, DVDs and MP3-only releases.

White Magic/American Analog Set
Songs of Hurt and Healing
[Ouch!, 2005]

The Concept: Tylenol brings you exclusive music (two EP’s together, free on 1 disc, if you can find it) by obscure indie bands. And that’s great! Beats ass over making you look through racks for discs labeled “as featured in the Volkswagon ad.” At least this is a) free with enough online purchase. b) not available on a label sampler. And c) genuinely unique to the market. Its cover art is both beautiful and cheesy, right down to the “Brought to you by TYLENOL” on the back. Follow the link above, and you’ll get to an AAS interview, as well as the means of obtaining this goodie. My only critical question: given how down this music is, is it really meant to sell Tylenol, or is it trying to get part of Vicodin’s illegitimate online business moved over to Tylenol 3?

American Analog Set: Two of the songs are authentically exclusive. “The Postman” is actually an improvement on the original from Know by Heart. It adds a rhythmic bounce and a vocal subtlety that moves it toward real samba, as opposed to being merely referential. This liveliness makes ‘ep1’ of the disc work; if all three tracks had been as somnolent as 1 and 3, it’d be a bit too adrift. “Immaculate Heart” starts well, with a fairly strong beat and multitracked vocals, a good melodic progression, and a prettily cyclical structure. Like “Play Hurt”(strictly vocal and piano), though, it sounds like a study for a much more solid song. But, early versions are often more cake, with the finished ones providing the icing—soon, perhaps!

White Magic: “Day”, “Twilight”, “Night”. OK, then, their day is perhaps your deeply Coiled nightmare, and it’s all downhill from there… Or, maybe the cymbal crashes, piano jags and multi-tracked, high-pitched vocals are what your morning’s all about. It’s rather like Animal Collective with most of the rhythm removed, and all of the languor left intact—if languor can be taut and painful… Somehow, it runs from predawn right into the gloaming, with a much richer piano, string and vocal combination. They’ve skipped the noonday heat, and headed into a more dusky feel; less cacophonous, more diaphanous—steamier; more mysterious. At last, “Night” breaks this ‘ep2’ out of its torpor, with some more solidly rhythmic piano work, and vocals that verge on the comprehensible. Perhaps the pagans have moved on from Tantric to more urgent sex? Nevermind that, it’s still an effort…

Using music this close to pure pain as an ad campaign for a major league pharmaceutical is bizarre enough. Deploying it as a means of gaining indie cred is even odder. But, commercial esthetics aside, it’s really a rather brilliant move on the part of all involved.
[Dan Miron]

Tarentel
Paper White
Big Black Square
[Temporary Residence, 2005]

In the wake of last year’s We Move Through Weather, Tarentel get back in the thick of it quickly with these two EP releases. But EPs? Well, Paper White barely fits the description at a decent sized twenty-five minutes, but Big Black Squares doesn’t even come close at forty-three. The latter moves along at a nice clip throughout, ebbing and flowing to modest climaxes, but never really going anywhere of intense appeal. The former, however, cuts the track times down and sees the band doing a bit of exploring inside the realms of practical reality. Meandering just the same at times, it’s still clear that a focused Tarentel is a much more vital and powerful one.
[Todd Burns]

The Raveonettes
A Touch of Black

Released as a promo-only EP to college radio stations, A Touch of Black precedes the Rave’s third LP and the lead single by some time. Not that I thought I’d care about that much either way. I’ve got nothing but time for the Raveonettes considering their first two albums did little to nothing for me. That’s why it was a surprise to hear their Buddy Holly cover infused with a sense of melancholy and Joy Divison moodiness, a song called “Railroad Tracks” sound more like sad-sack indie-country, and “I Wanna Be Taken”—easily the group’s most danceable tune. For those already wary of the group, the upcoming single might be a place to take another chance.
[Todd Burns]

Alex Under
Las Bicicletas son para el verano
[Trapez, 2004]

Say what you want about the gimmick of micro-sampling. When it’s done well and there’s a hot beat over it, there’s not much better. The title track here is a great example, utilizing miniature samples of all sorts to create an incredibly satisfying big picture. It starts to go slightly astray on “El Verano,” mainly due to the presence of an undergirding sample that does little to advance the track melodically or rhythmically. “Las Biciletas” leaves the whole thing unresolved coming down somewhere between the two, making this one a coin-flip in terms of whether to purchase it or not.
[Todd Burns]

Gabriel Ananda
Heizkissen / Tropophonie
[Platzhirsch, 2004]

There’s no such hemming and hawing with Gabriel Ananda’s deep-house excursion. “Heizkissen” is all roiling bass and pounding drums with synth stabs that seemingly emerge from the ether to shock you into submission, while “Tropophonie” is a bit dubbier and more measured, and comes off as an older and more mature cousin to the boundless energy of “Heizkissen.” This one is a toss-up as to which side you’ll want to put on first.
[Todd Burns]