Archive for 2005

No Matter How Well Done Or Rare

My DJ set @ Scenic 10/26/2005
Spektrum “May Day” / Cristina “Mamma Mia” / Ludus “Breaking The Rules” / Dolly Parton “Baby I’m Burning” / Klaus Nomi “After The Fall” / Rachel Stevens “I Said Never Again (But Here We Are)” / Papas Fritas “Sing About Me” / Lo-Fi-FNK “Unighted” / United State of Electronica “La Discoteca” / Erasure “Stop” / Robyn “Konichiwa Bitches” / Junior Senior “Take My Time” / Out Hud “It’s For You” / Gene Serene & John Downfall “U Want Me” / Ladytron “Destroy Everything You Touch” / Kelly Clarkson “Since U Been Gone (Jason Nevins Dance Edit)” / Hollertronix “Tippin’ Toxic” / Girls Aloud “Biology” / Gold Chains “Rock The Parti”

Klaus Nomi “After The Fall” – This is certainly one of the more optimistic songs about an impending Apocalypse. Taking off from his previous hit about nuclear annihilation, “Total Eclipse” (both songs were written by Kristian Hoffman), Nomi sings reassuringly about the bright side of doomsday, insisting that the surviving freaks can build a better world upon the ashes of civilization. The verses sound quite a bit like early B52s, but once Nomi kicks into the soaring chorus, he reveals an operatic range far beyond Fred Schneider’s reach. Unquestionably, this is exotic glam pop at its best. (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)

Papas Fritas “Sing About Me” – How can I possibly resist a song so relentlessly joyous, casually self-confident, and unapologetically vain? There’s so many songs about girls out there, but this is the only one that I know of about a girl demanding to have songs written about her. With its unyielding pace and insistent beat, the music sounds like nothing so much as the girl willing her romantic fantasies into existence. (Click here to buy it from Insound.)

It Feels Funny In My Tummy

Noblesse Oblige “Daddy (Don’t Touch Me There)” – Incestuous child abuse isn’t a common topic for dance music, but I suppose this works if you’ve really got some heavy issues to work through on the dancefloor or just have a very wicked sense of humor. It’s not as though this is some kind of euphoric happy hardcore track – there’s certainly an undertow of dread in the music itself – but there’s a creepy incongruity to this song that is hard to ignore, and I am certain that makes the piece a success in terms of its author’s intentions. (Click here for the official Noblesse Oblige site.)

Consequence (featuring Mike Jones) “Been Robbed” – Though I never posted it here (mainly because it’s on one of the year’s top selling albums), Kanye West’s “Gone” is easily one of my favorite tracks from 2005. There’s a lot to love in that song, but among its many highlights is the verse by Consequence, a somewhat blandly named MC who raps like a lighter, more graceful version of Kanye. He continues to show promise on this mix tape cut with Mike Jones (Who?) (MIKE JONES!), though his flow isn’t dramatically different from his lines on “Gone.” As for Mike Jones (Who?), he’s (MIKE JONES!!!) just one of those guys who can add a lot to any track just by showing up. (Click here to buy it from All Mix Tapes.)

The Beat Gets Closer

Girls Aloud “Biology” – If only the American pop market would allow for this sort of bizarro assertive hyper-pop. Every great Girls Aloud single is overflowing with energy to the point of seeming entirely restless and fidgety, as though the girls are hopped on megadoses of caffeine and are overeager to get to the next hook or wtf?-inducing lyric. (“We’re gift-wrapped kitty cats” from “Love Machine” is the all-time best, but this song’s cappuccino tangent is a pretty solid nonsequitor.) In their own way, they are like the Ramones of UK girl pop groups. (Just go with me on this.) (Click here to pre-order it from Amazon UK.)

It Runs Like A Cheetah, Jerk

Kelley Polar “My Beauty In The Moon” – This track achieves an amazing balance that I don’t believe I’ve ever encountered before – stunning, immaculate beauty mixed with a distinct feeling of anxiety and discomfort. It feels so wonderfully alien and enigmatic, as though it’s a gorgeous sound that we were never meant to hear. It’s romantic and soothing, but also sort of terrifying. (Click here to pre-order it from Environ Records.)

Tom Scharpling & Jon Wurster “The Jock Squad” – In this recent Best Show On WFMU instant classic, Tom deals with Horse, a representative of Radio Hut’s new in-house computer repair specialist center who has called in to let him know that his computer has been washed out and is ready to be picked up at the store. Unfortunately for Tom, Horse and the Jock Squad combine all the arrogance of a tech geek with the raw aggression of a jock on a steroid rampage. (Click here for the Best Show On WFMU Archives, here for Friends Of Tom, and here for Stereolaffs.)

Also: Au Revoir Simone fans in the UK should take note – they are playing their first set of shows in Great Britain this week, starting off with a gig at the Dublin Castle in London tomorrow evening. Information about specific performances can be found on their site, along with two mp3s which have both been featured on Fluxblog in the past. If you live in Scotland or Sweden, keep your eyes open because there is a strong chance that they will play a show on short notice in your area while they are in Europe.

Elsewhere: PopText relaunched yesterday with a brand new look and a track from The Veronicas.

Who Gives A Damn About The Prophets Of Tesco?

Franz Ferdinand “The Fallen” – It’s a good thing that I have a site like this so that I can shed some light on obscure artists such as Franz Ferdinand, U2, and Fiona Apple. Who knows how you might find out about these hidden gems any other way, right? (I kid, Sony and Interscope!) My feeling for Franz Ferdinand has been consistently lukewarm in spite of some sharp singles, but this is the first song in their catalog that I can say that I love without hesitation or qualification. Though twitchy funk is their bread and butter, I definitely prefer them with their Franz-o-meter set to Ultra-Jaunt, which makes them sound vaguely like late period Grant Lee Buffalo decked out in Dior. (Trust me on this, or check the used bins for a copy of Jubilee.) The lyrics conflating Jesus H. Christ and Tyler Durden only sweeten the deal, really. Nicely done, boys. (Click here to buy it from Insound.)

Jarvis Cocker “This Is The Night” – Jarvis Cocker and Harry Potter are an inspired match, and it’s not just due to the obvious resemblence. Thumbs up to whoever it was at J.K. Rowling Inc. that tapped him (and some members of Radiohead) for this soundtrack. The lyrics seems to be sung from Harry’s perspective, but I prefer to think of it as being a song that Harry would deeply relate to (you know, one of those songs where every single line seems to directly refer to something going on in your life) and play on repeat while moping around the Hogwarts campus. (Click here to pre-order it from Amazon.)

I’m Getting Married To The Music

Masha Qrella “My Day” – Ah, poor underrated Masha Qrella. Unsolved Remained is too chilly and remote for AAA, too guitar-centric for ambient fans, and not nearly tuneless enough for the freak folk crowd. It’s an album full of songs more appropriate as a soundtrack to a field of melting snow rather than an accompaniment to lattes and wi-fi. Oh misfit album, I love you so. (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)

Kevin Blechdom “What You Wanna Believe” – Also sadly overlooked, but less surprisingly so given its intense weirdness, is Kevin Blechdom’s concept album Eat My Heart Out. The record is a bizarro bipolar off-off-off-off-off-Broadway one-woman-show documenting the singer’s seemingly insurmountable neuroses following a bitter break-up. There are many “confessional” records out there, but few that sound as much like the product of a particularly grueling therapy session, much less homemade musical theatre. Blechdom rapidly cycles through her emotions and rationalizations, sometimes hitting upon moments of clarity, but more often settling into shame, self-flagellation and intense self-loathing. (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)

Illusions Cause Confusion In Our Big Red Bleeding Hearts

Tiger Tunes “Pancake America” – It’s amazing how well this lyrical narrative holds up, though it comes off as a stream of nonsequitors at first: Lovesick guy goes on a mescaline trip, travels to America, has trouble with insomnia, takes some more drugs and freaks out a bit, admits to himself that he wants his ex back for “comfort and sex,” and decides to try to work it out and make some pancakes. Not just any pancakes, mind you – these flapjacks are made of love. (Also, they are made in America, which I suppose is kinda special if you live in Denmark.) It all makes intuitive sense to me, anyway. (Click here for the official Tiger Tunes website.)

The Double “What Sound It Makes The Thunder?” – The majority of the songs on The Double’s first album for Matador are not far off from what passes for mainstream-ish indie rock in this era – vague hints of new wave, atmospheric keyboards, and thin but polite vocals singing jaunty if not particularly memorable melodies that wouldn’t seem out of place on the KEXPs of the world. It’s decent stuff, but it doesn’t move me like this song, which is more in line with the raw, shambling indie of my 90s youth. This track sounds like Chavez barely holding it together after a weekend bender but still managing to hammer out a huge riff that drags the rest of the song down into its powerful undertow. (Click here to buy it from Insound.)

Welcome To The Prime Of Your Life

The Fiery Furnaces @ The Town Hall, 10/14/2005
I’m Gonna Run / Crystal Clear / Straight Street – Tropical Iceland / Quay Cur / Does It Remind You Of When? (brief instrumental intro) / The Garfield El / The Wayward Granddaughter / A Candymaker’s Knife In My Handbag / Forty Eight Twenty Three Twenty-Second Street / Guns Under The Counter / Seven Silver Curses / Slavin’ Away / Rehearsing My Choir / Does It Remind You Of When? (brief instrumental outro) / Bow Wow / My Dog Was Lost But Now He’s Found / Up In The North / Asthma Attack / Evergreen / Chris Michaels // Chief Inspector Blancheflower / Blueberry Boat / Two Fat Feet

The Fiery Furnaces “The Wayward Granddaughter” – This was sort of a middling Furnaces show. The highlights – a thrilling start-to-finish version of “Chris Michaels,” the return of “Crystal Clear,” the reworked versions of the first three songs from the new record and especially “Slavin’ Away,” Matt’s hilarious Bob Dylan impression on the first section of the stripped-down “Chief Inspector Blancheflower” – were all very inspired, but too much of the show was muddy and awkward. This is most obviously due to the new rhythm section (former Sebadoh bassist Jason Loewenstein and Bob Dimico), who favored thick distorted basslines and overly busy drum fills to the point that it crowded out the songs. This was especially ineffective for the latter half of the Rehearsing My Choir songs – Eleanor’s spoken vocals were mostly obscured or rendered entirely unintelligable. I just wish the band would feel confident enough to slow things down and embrace nuance in a live setting. The Eleanor-and-Matt-only versions of “Chief Inspector Blancheflower” and “Blueberry Boat” in the encore were a welcome change of pace, and far better suited to a sit down venue like the Town Hall.

Some notes for Furnaces fanboys: Eleanor played guitar for the majority of this set, and Matt mostly played keyboards. The only medley in the set was “Straight Street” into “Tropical Iceland,” everything else was played as an invidual track. Both songs were rather radically altered, and Matt sang the “we’ll meet in Christiania next summer…” verse of “Tropical Iceland.” “Quay Cur” was more or less played straight through, though Eleanor sang all of Matt’s parts. “Chief Inspector Blancheflower” cut off on the line “I was going to stay with my young brother Michael,” and “Blueberry Boat” was just a fragment with the main verses, as per usual. Matt sang some of the Olga Sarantos parts for the Rehearsing My Choir songs, but most of her parts were omitted from the live versions. Of those songs, I’d be happy to see “Slavin’ Away,” “Garfield El,” and “The Wayward Granddaughter” stick around in future sets, though they would be wise to never play the songs from the middle of the album ever again, especially “Guns Under The Counter.”

Also, I’d be very happy if Matt sang more in the shows and on the albums. There’s plenty of him on Blueberry Boat, of course, but it seems that the tendency overall is to defer vocals to Eleanor, which isn’t a horrible idea since she is so gifted and charismatic, but I certainly feel that his voice and persona is just as compelling. (Click here to pre-order it from Insound.)

The Childballads “White Chocolate Tea (aka The Onion Domes of Tallahassee)” – Former Jonathan Fire Eater frontman Stewart Lupton has been an enigma to me for so long that finally getting to see him perform was slightly surreal, since he was more like a mythical creature in my mind rather than an extremely thin grad student in a plaid shirt strumming a vintage acoustic guitar. Lupton is a tremendously magnetic character onstage, blurring the line separating strung-out crackpot and jovial poet, and generally coming off like the most charming dinner party guest imaginable. Lupton’s new songs are clearly indebted to early Bob Dylan, and he was not shy about inviting that comparison as he invoked the man twice during his stage banter and seemed genuinely elated to be playing in a venue that figured so prominently in Dylan’s early history. His band (which includes Judah Bauer of the Blues Explosion) is very strong, especially singer/multi-instrumentalist Betsy Wright, who is an ideal foil for Lupton with her soulful drawl and stunning appearance. Seriously, this Childballads record can’t come out quickly enough – I’m already figuring it to be one of next year’s best releases. (If you’re involved with the band, please drop me a line!) (Click here for the official Childballads site.)

My DJ set @ Cake Shop 10/15/2005:

Spektrum “May Day” / Cristina “Mamma Mia” / Ludus “Breaking The Rules” / Dolly Parton “Baby I’m Burning” / The White Stripes “My Doorbell” / Hank “Ferox” / Hollertronix “Tippin’ Toxic” / Helen Love “Debbie Loves Joey” / Queens of Noize “Indie Boys (Don’t Deserve It)” / Le Tigre “Deceptacon” / Rinocerose “Bitch” / Robyn “Konichiwa Bitches” / Junior Senior “Take My Time” / Bjork “Big Time Sensuality” / Maxi Geil! & Playcolt “Making Love In The Sunshine” / Ladytron “Destroy Everything You Touch” / United State of Electronica “It Is On!!!”

Dolly Parton “Baby I’m Burning” – Thanks to everyone who came out to this party, especially the people who came up and said hi to me while I was on. I’m sorry if I was a bit abrupt, I was trying not to screw up any transitions. I felt that this set went pretty well, and that there was a good energy in the room. Since this was an Indie Pop party, that is mostly what I played, though I never got the impression that people wanted to kill me when I played the more disco-ish stuff, much less the Mike Jones/Britney Spears mash-up, which I had been vaguely worried about. I was glad to finally play some of these songs out, particularly the first four songs, which flow together beautifully. Someone came up to me while this Dolly Parton song and asked if it was Huey Lewis, which I find sort of funny and puzzling, especially since the track was pitched up a bit. (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)

This Boy’s Life Among The Electrical Lights

The New Pornographers @ Webster Hall 10/13/2005
Twin Cinema / Use It / Three or Four / Mass Romantic / Jackie Dressed In Cobras / These Are The Fables / The Bleeding Heart Show / Testament To Youth In Verse / The Laws Have Changed / The Fake Headlines / It’s Only Divine Right / Stacked Crooked / All For Swinging You Around / The Body Says No / Sing Me Spanish Techno // Streets Of Fire / Slow Descent Into Alcoholism / Electric Version /// Execution Day / Letter From An Occupant

The New Pornographers “These Are The Fables” – When am I ever going to learn to be a normal person and not keep tabs on band’s setlists before I see them live, thus leading to an inevitable reaction of “that was good, but we kinda got shafted in terms of song selection compared to ______”?

Though this was certainly not the most fun I’ve ever had at a New Pornographers show, it was undoubtedly the finest performance by the band that I have witnessed, mostly thanks to an inflated line-up featuring every member of the band aside from the elusive Nora O’Connor. The band took full advantage of the situation, giving extra strength to the harmonies on “Three Or Four” (they totally nailed that middle eight) and the rounds at the end of “Testament To Youth In Verse,” and giving “The Laws Have Changed” the sort of punch that it can sometimes lack in a live setting.

Predictably, “Sing Me Spanish Techno” was a highlight of the set, and though it satisfied my desire to hear the song with more prominent backing vocals from Neko Case, it ended up reinforcing my recent realization that the song makes more thematic sense when sung by a single voice, and of the vocalists in the band, good-natured, affable Carl Newman is the best choice. Neko would give the song too much confidence; Kathryn would make it seem too fragile; and Dan Bejar’s voice can’t help but seem cynical and sarcastic, which is all wrong for a song that switches from the character earnestly declaring “I won’t let this happen to you” to castigating himself for refusing his call and being punished by the passing of time.

Of the five songs peformed last night that I’ve never seen played live (sob, no “Jessica Numbers” or “Bones Of An Idol” for me!), “These Are The Fables” shined the brightest, fully realizing its Andrew Lloyd Webber-ness with a modified arrangement that gave plenty of space for Neko’s gorgeous voice, but added extra emphasis to the bombastic bits. The first time the rest of the band joined in and sang the words “my street!” in unison, I had to laugh to myself, because they were seriously *this close* to throwing out some jazz hands. Needless to say, t was a great moment. (Click here to buy it from Insound.)

Destroyer @ Webster Hall 10/13/2005
Queen of Languages / I Want This Cyclops / No Cease Fires / To The Heart Of The Sun On The Back Of The Vulture, I’ll Go / Streethawk I / Beggars Might Ride / The Sublimation Hour / Farrar, Straus & Giroux / The Very Modern Dance

Destroyer “To The Heart Of The Sun On The Back Of A Vulture, I’ll Go” – I hadn’t listened to any of Destroyer’s records in the past year or two, mainly due to my extremely poor reaction to the Your Blues album, but after seeing Bejar perform his songs last night, I think I’ve made a huge mistake. Though their set was not devoid of lagging, the quality was generally high, and I was moved to scribble down key lyrics from some songs in the hope of finding them later. For this song, I jotted down the words “throw yourself away, don’t save yourself.” (Click here to buy it from Insound.)

Immaculate Machine “Broken Ship” – Immaculate Machine (Kathryn Calder’s regular band) were very enjoyable, but it seems clear to me that they are still very young and maybe a few years away from finding their voice. At their best, they seem like a hyperactive version of Suddenly, Tammy! (maybe it’s just her voice and cadence) backed by a drummer who would be a far better candidate for the lead role in an Iggy Pop than Elijah Wood. (Seriously, who makes a casting decision like that?) Incidentally, Calder made a rather dramatic costume change between sets, starting off in very casual indie-girl attire, but returning with the New Pornographers in a flowing baby blue gown that made her look like some kind of mystical space princess. It’s a good look for her! (Click here to buy it from Maple Music.)

Who Do You Love When The Dancefloor Calls?

Maxi Geil! & Playcolt @ Pianos 10/12/2005
Here Comes Maxi / Teenage Extreme / That’s How The Story Goes / Sunday Morning / Paying For Something New / You Can’t Kill Us Man / The Love I Lose / Making Love In The Sunshine / Please Remember Me

Maxi Geil! & Playcolt “Making Love In The Sunshine” – Yet another hot show from Maxi Geil & Playcolt. Seriously, you’re all missing out. As good as the studio recordings are, the songs come alive with greater intensity, theatricality, and raw sexuality on the stage, and I am certain that many of you who may be on the fence about this band would be converted if you only just came out to one of their shows. This particular show was in celebration of the band’s new limited edition picture disc featuring “That’s How The Story Goes” and “Making Love In The Sunshine,” so it was appropriate that those two songs were the highlights of the set, along with an urgent and instantly catchy new song called “You Can’t Kill Us Man,” which seems to be a sort of lament for the weakness of the left in America. (Click here to buy it from the official Maxi Geil site.)

Harald ‘Sack’ Ziegler “Bungalow” – I don’t speak German at all, but I’m reasonably certain that this song is in favor of bungalows. Either that, or it’s extremely ironic. There’s something lovely and exotic about this track, especially when Ziegler hits those high notes. It’s strange enough that my roommate walked in while it was on and had to ask “what kind of music is this?” I guess the answer would have to be “DIY quasi-Dadaist German new wave from the 80s,” though it seems somewhat plausible that this could be the indigenous folk music of the moon village in the original German version of Münchhausen. (Click here for the official Harald “Sack” Ziegler site.)

How Can I Describe A Place So Dark That Life Has Lost Its Face?

Beastellabeast “Clean On The Dirty” – All I know about Beastellabeast is that they are a duo from London, and they put out a 7″ single on Horseglue Records. This song is not from that single. I have no idea what this song is from, actually. The one thing I know is that I’m a sucker for a song that sounds like The Kills dressing up like The Slits for Halloween. (Click here for Beastellabeast’s label’s site, although it is totally uninformative.)

Cobra Killer & Kapajkos “Heavy Rotation” – Cobra Killer unplugged? Ah, not realllllllly, but an album that recasts their back catalogue with Eastern European-style folk arrangements is about as close as they are likely to get. Overall, the songs are much less harsh and leaden, and gain quite a bit from an added jauntiness. Very clever. (Click here to buy it from Boomkat.)

We All Know We Died

Celebration “China” – Video treatment: Everything in the clip is shot from the perspective of some unknown person. We begin by shuffling up a cramped escalator from underground and stepping out into the light. It’s a cold, grey day in an urban environment. (I’m picturing the Upper West Side around Lincoln Center.) The camera shifts rapidly, as though the character’s eyes are darting around nervously. We dodge pedestrians and oncoming traffic, and duck into corners and shops as though we’re trying to lose someone. It begins to rain. We move faster, knocking into someone and rudely rushing onward. As if to settle a karmic balance, we trip over and fall. It’s raining harder now. We try to cross the street, nervously waiting for the cars to stop. Finally, we make it across the street, and back down into another escalator, fading to black as we go down. (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)

Vivi Bach & Dietmar Schonherr “Molotow Cocktail Party” – Bach and Schonherr were the hosts of a controversial German television program in the late 60s famous for nearly drowning an entire family is a staged car accident but nevertheless managed to score a chart hit with this bizarre, cheerfully arranged single endorsing radical leftist politics and terrorist tactics. It’s a pretty fascinating relic from the era, to say the least. (Click here to buy it from Marina.)

From The Cradle To The Grave

United State of Electronica @ The Knitting Factory 10/7/2005
Open Your Eyes / Emerald City / Tired Of Funkin’ Around / Taking It All The Way / Party People / Dance With Me / Ready To Go / There’s Always Music / It Is On!!! // Vamos A La Playa

United State of Electronica “Party People (Live)” – Though this performance lacked some of the intimacy and urgency of the set that I saw the band perform at the Gigantic store back in 2004, it’s difficult to really hold that against this perfectly fun show. The crowd seemed evenly mixed between extremely enthusiastic USE veterans and first-timers, which is more or less exactly what I wanted – it’s exciting to see people converted before your eyes, and the superfans go a long way towards getting the entire room moving. The band is just as adorable as ever, seeming more and more like a group of cartoon characters as time goes on. With any luck, their own Japanese animated series will be debuting sometime in 2007. (Click here to buy it from the USE store.)

U2 @ Madison Square Garden 10/8/2005
City of Blinding Lights / Vertigo / Elevation / I Will Follow / All I Want Is You / Beautiful Day / Miracle Drug / Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own / Love And Peace Or Else / Sunday Bloody Sunday / Bullet The Blue Sky / Miss Sarajevo / Pride (In The Name Of Love) / Where The Streets Have No Name / One (w/ Mary J. Blige!) // The First Time / Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses / With Or Without You /// All Because Of You / Fast Cars / Original Of The Species / “40”

U2 “All I Want Is You (Live in Dublin, 2001)” – On Saturday afternoon, I was prepared to write up a review for this show that would mainly consist of me complaining about the fact that U2 cut nearly every song that I was excited about from their set just in time for my show. Though I’m still a little bitter about the lack of “Zoo Station” and “The Fly,” I cannot possibly complain about a setlist that included the “Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses,” “The First Time,” “Miss Sarajevo” (absolutely beautiful, Bono sings the Luciano Pavarotti part himself!), “One” with Mary J. Blige, and my #2 Most Wanted U2 Live Song, “All I Want Is You.” (#1 is “Ultraviolet (Light My Way),” which hasn’t been played live since 1992.)

This was certainly the best of the large scale U2 shows that I’ve seen, but that’s not hard given that this show was up against two Popmart shows viewed from the cheap seats in Giants Stadium (a place where concerts should never be performed), and a show in Albany on the Elevation tour where Bono was so sick he could barely sing. On the Elevation 2001: U2 Live In Boston dvd, Bono speaks about that show, and how the audience there “lifted him up,” and frankly, that’s got to be a lot of bullshit since compared to this passionate MSG crowd, the people in the Pepsi Arena were largely indifferent and mostly concerned with getting up for pretzels and hot dogs during the new songs and chatting loudly through a pretty acoustic version of “Stay (Faraway, So Close!)” This audience was the real deal, the sort of U2 crowd I’ve seen in live footage and read about in reviews. They were so loud at the start that they nearly drowned out the intro of “City of Blinding Lights.” These were people who knew that “Wake Up” by The Arcade Fire is always the song just before the band hits the stage, and got up en masse and sang along and pumped their fists for it too because they were just that psyched. (Also, the song really lends itself to that sort of venue.)

Also, though it’s extremely unlikely that anyone in the U2 inner circle will ever read this, I want to make this plea: U2, please stop playing “Bullet The Blue Sky.” I’ve seen and heard many excellent versions of this song from over the years, but at this point, it’s just tired and predictable. You’ve played it a pretty much every full show since 1987, and it shows. The version from Saturday night was lifeless and rote, and you didn’t even bother to make it a big set piece as you have on previous tours. It’s not that big of a hit, so people would not be heartbroken if you skipped it. Bench the song for a while, or only play it when the inspiration is on. Please do not diminish the potency of one of your most powerful songs, especially when you could be playing so many other great songs in its place. I know that I’m not alone in feeling this way! (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)

Here Comes The Cool Air, The Light Chill Of The Fall

X-Press 2 (featuring Kurt Wagner) “Give It” – Lambchop’s Kurt Wagner (as opposed to Kurt Wagner of the X-Men, the X- prefix here is a bit misleading if you’re a comics nerd) is surprisingly well suited to this gospel-house track, speak-singing his way through verses about the onset of the autumn like a preacher who is more concerned with getting a chance to wear his favorite sweater again after months of summery heat rather than matters of a spiritual nature. (Click here to buy it from Juno.)

Goldie Lookin’ Chain “Your Missus Is A Nutter” – Wow, Goldie Lookin’ Chain have improved! I could barely stand that first record. It seems as though they are jockeying to position themselves as a goofier, more cartoonishly laddish version of The Streets, and good for them, since that’s a pretty sensible career path for them to follow. In this episode, the group chastise a friend for his binge-drinking girlfriend, a woman who is less “Girls Gone Wild” and more “Girl Gone Feral” whenever she’s out at the pub. It’s a bit troubling that their concern is less for her well-being than for the preservation of their own macho masculinity, but I suppose it’s just an accurate self-portrait or parody. (Click here to buy it from Amazon UK.)

One Time Per Minute Is Enough For Me

Metric @ Bowery Ballroom 10/5/2005
Empty / Succexy / The List / Monster Hospital / Ending Start / Poster of a Girl / Glass Ceiling / Patriarch on a Vespa / Handshakes / Calculation Theme / Combat Baby / Live It Out // Too Little, Too Late / Hustle Rose / Dead Disco

Metric “Empty” – Though the band omitted what I believe to be their two best songs from the setlist (“Police and the Private,” “Wet Blanket”), Metric delivered a tight, surprisingly theatrical show last night. I’m particularly fond of Emily Haines’ (presumably) choreographed gestures, which often added a touch of wry humor to the deliverary of lyrics that are often laced with bitter sarcasm that runs the risk of being misunderstood. Sometimes her moves were amusingly literal, as when she jerked her head from side to side while singing the words “shake your head, it’s empty” like a robot with a swivel head attempting to headbang. The audience seemed mostly unfamiliar with the new songs that dominated the set, but predictably perked up for the songs from Old World Underground, Where Are You Now, especially “Hustle Rose” and “Combat Baby.” (Click here to buy it from Insound.)

Peter Bjorn and John “Money” – Any guesses as to why this song is called “Money”? I’ve got no idea. I’m more fixated on the lyrical shift that happens in the second verse, which goes from a guy advising someone to “let go of prejudice, let go of cleverness, and open up your heart” just before letting it slip that he loves to see them crumble and cry. Obviously, those are not mutually exclusive feelings nor even entirely unconnected thoughts, but I like to think that the character is being a bit of a dick, and just doesn’t care about the hypocrisy at all.
(Click here to buy it from Parasol.)

I don’t normally do this here, but I strongly recommend that anyone in the NYC area do whatever they can to make it to the United State of Electronica show at the Knitting Factory on Friday. Also, Maxi Geil & Playcolt will be playing a party to celebrate the release of their new 12″ single at Piano’s on Wednesday evening. (There will be an open bar!) Both bands are amazing live, so you really shouldn’t miss this opportunity, especially since USE rarely performs on the east coast.

What’s Coming Is Already On Its Way

Fiona Apple “Red Red Red” – 10.0, *****, A+, two thumbs waaaaaaaaaaaaaay up. I don’t care what your rating system is, I just know that whatever it is, the officially released version of Extraordinary Machine is the one record that I’ve heard this year that deserves the top ranking, and believe you me, I’ve heard a LOT of music in 2005. Many will romanticize the original Jon Brion production, but I maintain that the Mike Elizondo versions are uniformly superior, lending a greater range of color and dynamics to an already-excellent batch of songs that would have been among the best records of the year either way. Whereas Brion was content to throw a string arrangement on a song and call it a day, Apple and Elizondo maximized the potential of each selection, crafting a collection of compelling invidual works rather than let the songs blend together in a coffee shop wallpaper AAA haze. For example, whereas the demo version of “Not About Love” featured a Brion-by-numbers string counter melody, the final take is simplified considerably, with the dramatic emphasis shifted from string bombast to bustling percussion by ?uestlove of the Roots, resulting in a nimble track that mirrors the manic disposition of the song and its lyrics.

For the most part, the songs have remained fairly similar in tone in spite of the new arrangements. “Red Red Red,” my favorite song from the original version, is the notable exception as it takes on a very different personality. Entertainment Weekly’s David Browne accurately noted in his review that the new version comes off as being more thoughtful, as though the intensity of the Brion recording had worn away through the perspective of time, allowing the singer to come to terms with the song’s subject. I have trouble picking a favorite between the two versions – there’s something to be said for the strident urgency of the original, but the burned resignation of the final track rings very true. I’m glad to have them both as a set of emotional bookends for the entire project. (Click here to buy the regular version of Extraordinary Machine, and here to buy the Dualdisc version, which contains some excellent live footage on the dvd including two unreleased covers and a bluegrass-y version of “Fast As You Can” with Nickel Creek.)

Shrag “Pregnancy Scene” – At long last, we have some new material from Brighton’s Shrag, whom some of you will remember from the instant-classic one-off single “Punk Grammar” from over a year ago. The grand tally of Shrag songs is barely up to a handful at this point, but you’ll be glad to know that their quality control is on lock. “Pregnancy Scene” sounds like Huggy Bear knicking The Fall’s “Theme From Sparta FC,” which if you know me well roughly translates to “OMG IT RULES IT RULES IT RULES!” (Click here for Shrag’s MySpace page.)

Coming In And Out Of Style

Hey Willpower “Hundredaire” – Though it breaks my heart to learn that Imperial Teen are on a (possibly permanent) hiatus, it’s fantastic to get some new music from co-frontman Will Schwartz. Hey Willpower finds Schwartz indulging in Har Mar-ish modern electronic pop and white-guy r&b, but with considerably less kitsch than one might expect. Writing about sex is nothing new to Schwartz, so the guy isn’t trying to push the envelope in that regard. Instead, the songs seem to flow from an obvious love of contemporary pop and the freedom to arrange his songs outside the context of an indie rock band. “Hundredaire” rates among Schwartz’s very best work, a conflicted lament for a fading love set to a simple, mellow keyboard figure and rich backing vocals. (Click here to buy it from Cochon Records.)

B For Brontosaurus “Who Will Sail My Ship Ashore?” – Three young people sing a sweet, if slightly goofy, song of friendship and devotion. B Is For Brontosaurus is surprisingly versatile for a brand new band, veering from this sort of Bible-camp folk tune to a caustic girl-punk number and a couple upbeat Jonathan Richman-style singalongs within the span of their first demo. (Click here for B For Brontosaurus’ MySpace page.)

Love Is All “Motorboat” – Fluxblog exclusive! This exuberant Kim Fowley/Jimmy Jukebox cover is an outtake from Love Is All’s forthcoming debut LP, which should be out sometime in November on the What’s Your Rupture? label. If this is the sort of thing that they would cut (cover or not), then my hopes are even higher for the full length. (Click here for the What’s Your Rupture label page.)

We Came To Visit And Never Went Away

Hank Collective @ Sin-E, 10/2/2005
Carving Beef On Weck / The Stomp of Sloth / Sure Footed / Blame Pt 1 / Harley Tat / Exclusive Plot / Family Business / Lakeshore Report Diluted: Sources / Rumours Dogged Us / Tear Drops / I Was A Cop ’til He Busted Me / Mountain Wood / Whatever Happened to the Forster Appeal? / Heswal Diesel / Brumers Adder / Smoke Jumper

Hank Collective “Ferox” – Hank is a lanky man with a deep voice who stabs at his guitar with exaggerated straight vertical strokes and stands to the far left of the stage, deferring most of the attention to his band of merry women. A bass player who dabbles in piano lingers to the far right, a drummer sits in the back, and a row of three giddy helium-voiced girls in white “I Sing For Hank” t-shirts take center stage, singing, smiling, and shimmying when necessary. (It is necessary about 85% of the time.) The band is cheerful, shambling and charmingly odd, playing as though their enthusiasm was their main instrument, and the guitar, bass, and percussion were just there to prop up their lovely melodies. The band skipped my three favorite songs from How To Prosper In The Coming Bad Years (“God Slick, ” “Ferox,” “Defreeze & Top Gal”), but that hardly mattered, as they nailed selections from their two lps, and ran through several immediately loveable new tunes. (The setlist is from the stage, by the way.) Unfortunately, the Hank Collective made their NYC debut to a sparsely populated room, but hopefully they can draw a larger crowd here and elsewhere before too long. You all owe it to yourselves, really. (Click here to buy it from the Hank Collective.)

Orgasmic Explosion Of Love

Unknown artist, song-poem “Virgin Child of the Universe” – Song-poems are the product of a peculiar sub-industry that quietly thrived in the ’60s up through the early ’80s or so. Basically, there were a few companies who would offer people the chance to have session musicians transform their poetry into pop songs. The results can be very bizarre – remember, a lot of people don’t exactly write poetry with an ear for melody, and that a lot of the people who would respond to something like this were a bit…eccentric. Many of the products are predictably drab, tossed-off things, but there are some song-poems, such as this one, that manage to fill out a lovely melody with lyrics that reach a level of head-scratching wtf?-ness that is truly sublime. You’ve got to hand it to this session singer – she is capable of not just finessing this obtuse ramble into an appealing melody, but also sell the song’s cosmic lyrics about a child born out of wedlock with soulful conviction. (Click here to buy it from the Key Of Z website.)

The Residents “Burn, Baby, Burn” – This selection is sung from the perspective of the daughter of Jephthah from the Old Testament, who is about to be sacrificed to God, who will in turn grant her father, a general, military victory. God digs her daddy, you see. As she patiently waits to be burned alive, she makes a keen observation: “I’m ready to die, but it seems to be odd / that bleeding is better than breathing to God.” (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)

I’ve Got The Internet Going Nuts

Hollertronix “Tippin’ Toxic (Mike Jones & Paul Wall Vs. Britney Spears)” – What’s more hypnotizing, the shrieking strings and 007 guitars of Britney’s “Toxic,” or the mic presence of Mike Jones, a man capable of transforming the most average, forgettable name imaginable into an infectious lyrical hook through sheer force of will? Like the best bootleg mixes, “Tippin’ Toxic” mates two songs that are unstoppable on their own into a hybrid that would seem entirely natural as a unique composition if you had never heard its distinct components. Sure, there may not be any “devil cups” to sip from, Slim Thug, or brain-melting screwed keyboards in this version, but the brisker tempo is arguably a better fit for Paul Wall’s verse and adds more bite to Jones’ key lines. (Click here to buy it from Underground Hip Hop.)