Archive for 2005

Listening Too Long To One Song

The New Pornographers @ Prospect Park Bandshell 6/25/2005
It’s Only Divine Right / Graceland / Use It / From Blown Speakers / The Bleeding Heart Show / Jackie / Mass Romantic / The Electric Version / Testament To Youth In Verse / Star Bodies / The Laws Have Changed / Sing Me Spanish Techno / The Body Says No / Twin Cinema / The Fake Headlines / All For Swinging You Around / Slow Descent Into Alcoholism / Letter From An Occupant

This was a perfectly fine show, but I’m spoiled by having attended two particularly memorable New Pornographers shows in the past that the band would have a hard time trying to top. This show is notable mainly for the absence of Neko Case. Carl Newman’s niece Kathryn Calder played keyboards and subbed in on all of the parts ordinarily sung by Neko and generally did a pretty good job. The sound of Calder’s voice was often remarkably similar to that of Case, but she lacked the power and presence that makes Neko’s performances on Newman’s songs so magnetic and compelling. Calder charmed her way through “Mass Romantic,” “All For Swinging You Around,” and “Letter From An Occupant,” but couldn’t quite muster the vocal authority necessary to really sell Neko’s parts on “The Laws Have Changed.” Still, you’ve got to hand it to her – she’s very young and dealt with the pressure of filling in for an established powerhouse in front of a large audience with admirable grace.

The New Pornographers “Sing Me Spanish Techno” – The band generally seemed underrehearsed while performing the new songs, with the exception of “Sing Me Spanish Techno,” which seemed just a little bit more vibrant and energetic than the studio recording. The song is beautifully constructed and the melodies are lovely, though I do wish that Newman had Neko sing lead on the the verses in order to give that part of the song an extra boost and to place more emphasis on the chorus.

I’m still growing into Twin Cinema, to be honest. Whereas the first two New Pornographers albums feel like relentlessly catchy greatest hits compilations, the new record is more of an old fashioned classic rock album with relatively few obvious “hits”, but a greater sense of narrative and musical cohesion. It took me several listens to adjust to the shift in emphasis, but getting to know the new material has been a mostly rewarding experience, especially when it comes to the album’s centerpiece, a gorgeous Neko-sung ballad titled “These Are The Fables” that I’m planning on giving a proper, thoughtful review at some later date.

Though the sound of the band has not actually changed in any sort of dramatic way, the brilliant, energetic title track is the only song from Twin Cinema that I think would have made much sense on Mass Romantic or Electric Version. Even still, there’s a potency and exuberance on even the most low key tracks that set the band apart from most anyone that would commonly be considered to be their contemporaries in the genre of power pop. (Click here to pre-order Twin Cinema from Insound.)

Sleater-Kinney @ Roseland Ballroom, 6/23/2005
The Fox / Wilderness / One More Hour / Rollercoaster / Light Rail Coyote / Modern Girl / Sympathy / Everything / What’s Mine Is Yours / Steep Air / Far Away / Jumpers / Let’s Call It Love / Entertain // Oh! / I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight / Step Aside / Words + Guitar /// Mother / Dig Me Out

After a ten minute instrumental section that largely abandoned their distinctive guitar style in favor of a string of amateur-level stoner rock jamming cliches, Sleater-Kinney segued into the lead single from their new album, which announces that they are not here to entertain. Well, jeez, no kidding!

This isn’t to say that I didn’t have a good time. In fact, the set up through “What’s Mine Is Yours” was stellar, and last night’s version of “Sympathy” could very well be best performance of an individual song that I’ve ever seen the band play (and this was my eleventh S-K show since 1997!) This was just a very, very frustrating show. I can’t say that I wasn’t deeply disappointed that the band chose not to include songs from more than half of their catalog, even though I know that they have in virtually every other city on their current tour. Okay, fine. I can deal with some incredibly poor song selections, too. Enough people seemed to really dig “Far Away” even though I think it’s easily one of the five worst songs that they’ve ever put on an LP. But more than anything, it just seemed that the band is very confused about their strengths, and are at times pushing in a direction that does not flatter them well in a live setting.

Sleater-Kinney “Wilderness”– So let’s get this straight. The gorgeous, highly composed instrumental passage in “Wilderness” that takes the song in an unexpected direction and implies some sort of epic journey in under 40 seconds is unquestionably one of the best things they’ve ever written. Brief noise jams, as in “What’s Mine Is Yours” are pretty awesome, and they should keep it up. (That bit when Corin comes back in after Carrie goes bonkers with the feedback is totally classic.) Drawn out guitar solos (especially those improvised live on stage) are simply not their strong suit, despite Carrie Brownstein’s “guitar hero” reputation, which she earned more for her creativity within her limitations than any kind of reverent embrace of established rock signifiers. I admire the effort, and I definitely believe that they were having a great time playing the end of “Let’s Call It Love,” but I know that I’m not the only one who was just waiting for them to move on to the next song.

I’ve put off posting “Wilderness” for over five months. At first it was out of consideration to the band and Sub Pop, who were understandably uncomfortable with the record leaking several months before its proper release, and once the record did make it to the stores, I didn’t want to get lost in the avalanche of press. I’m glad that I waited it out, because my inititial impression of the record has changed rather significantly, and had I posted the song back in February, it would’ve just been a lot of excitement and hyperbole. For the first month or two, The Woods seemed like a bold departure for the band, but as time goes on, I’m not sure what gave me that impression aside from the gut-kicking loudness of “The Fox” and some other studio tricks courtesy of David Fridmann. Once that novelty wears off, all that’s left are the songs themselves, which ranges from some of the best material of their career (the first four tracks and “Rollercoaster”) to listenable but unremarkable duds (the final three songs.) Back in May I had a minor epiphany while listening to the album – it was probably only a surprise to me that The Woods was good and interesting because One Beat was so terribly uneven and uninspiring.

I would imagine that the level of excitement one has for Sleater-Kinney’s current direction is somewhat dependent upon how invested they are in 70s-era rock signifiers, and how much you enjoy seeing a band that had previously avoided cliches submit to them with enthusiasm. It’s not as though the band is swallowed whole by their influences – their identity is too potent to be drowned out by much of anything, and there’s an undeniable S-Kness to every song on The Woods. But it’s very rich for a group that is slamming popular retro bands in their current single to make a record that borrows so heavily from Led Zeppelin and stoner metal. 1984 and 1972 bore Sleater-Kinney, but apparently 1969 is a source of endless excitement for them. Feh, glass houses and all that. It’s great to see them all fired up after all this time, but my hope that they will one day return to the relative nuance of The Hot Rock is beginning to seem like something that will never come to pass.

Richard & Linda Thompson “I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight” – Then again, by performing a pretty straightforward cover of this Richard & Linda Thompson song, it could be a sign that they will come back around. It was lovely to hear them play something with a tight arrangement and a clean guitar tone after all of that rawking and jamming. Subtlety is not their enemy. I just wish that they would understand that. I suspect that the band is more influenced by audience reaction than they ever let on, and that they push the bombast live because their (generally punky) fans usually sit around bored and glassy-eyed whenever they play anything remotely delicate. Just going on the response to last night’s covers, the chances of The Hot Rock II happening any time soon are almost nil – most of the room was entirely indifferent to “Bright Lights,” while the kinda obnoxious cover of Danzig’s “Mother” yielded spirited dancing and excited applause. (Click here to buy all but the first two Sleater-Kinney albums from Sub Pop, and here to buy the Richard & Linda Thompson record from Amazon.)

Cristina “The Lie of Love” – Perhaps the most remarkable thing about this song is how as it details in rather blunt language the ennui and inertia that has set into its characters’ loveless marriage, the music avoids feeling excessively melancholy or melodramatic. Instead, it affects a state of pensive resignation rather like what I imagine the characters themselves would be feeling as they drift further apart while refusing to break it off completely. (Click here to buy it from Ze Records.)

Mini-Pops “Cruel Summer” – Long before there was Kidz Bop, the rotating cast of children in the Mini-Pops sang covers of contemporary pop songs, yielding hit records in the UK and Canada in the early 80s. From what I have heard, the Mini-Pops generally lack the surreal wtf-ness of Kidz Bop – the lyrics of the songs are generally age-appropriate, there are no adult singers, individual kids sing the leads, and there no huge choruses of extremely excited children belting out the choruses – but there’s a certain charm to their recordings all the same, akin to seeing a really good, high-budget talent show at an elementary school. This version of Bananarama’s “Cruel Summer” is all the more amusing to me in light of this news story from yesterday. (Click here for a rather informative Mini-Pops fan site.)

Let’s Keep Things Very Simple Today, Okay?

The Seal Cub Clubbing Club “Chase Scene” – Anxious British new wavers with hilarious name play the Grand Old Opry; audience trade their cowboy hats for asymmetrical haircuts. (Click here to visit the Seal Cub Clubbing Club’s official website.)

Brakes “Heard About Your Band” – Anxious British indie punks dis an obnoxious, name-dropping careerist who chats up his band with them between sets at a Liars show. Kiss off comes in the form of a spirited “whatever, dude!” in a mock American accent. (Click here to visit the Brakes website.)

When Your Loneliness Is Cooking

Goldfrapp “Ooh La La” (Removed 6/24) – The first single from Goldfrapp’s forthcoming Supernature LP does not stray too far from the sound of their previous album, but rather builds on the foundation of songs like “Strict Machine” and “Train.” Or more specifically, the remixes of those songs – this is a lot more like the Ewan Pearson mix of “Train” than anything else. Good for them. This is rather exciting; I’m very much looking forward to hearing the full album. (Click here to visit the official Goldfrapp site.)

Drexel “Monolithic Beast” – Dayton, Ohio’s Drexel is truly one of a kind. Tom Waits is the most reasonable touchstone, but there’s a severity to their whimsical flamboyance that makes Waits seem almost mundane in comparison. “Monolithic Beast” starts out as a soulful lounge ballad in deep space, but eventually transforms into something roughly akin to lo-fi show tune. The band is an acquired taste, but totally worth the effort. (Click here to visit the Drexel Myspace page or buy it from the band by emailing mutantauctions @ yahoo.com)

Batman Begins – One of the great strengths of Batman as a character is his incredible versatility. Over the past seven decades, several hundred writers, artists, and filmmakers have used the character in a myriad of ways, ranging from the relentlessly grim and “realistic” stories that came mostly in the wake of Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns to the most absurd camp imaginable (trust me, the Adam West tv series has nothing on the most outlandish stuff DC put out in the Silver Age.) Batman Begins errs on the side of the grim, but it’s probably more accurate to claim that the film succeeds in capturing the immutable essence of the character and his mythos. There’s nothing wrong with wacky Batman stories, but the timing is right to reestablish the central themes of the Batman mythology, and leave the pop art to the Marvel franchises. In contrast to other recent films based on famous superheroes, Batman Begins is almost entirely devoid of irony and selfdeprecation, and it’s all the better for it. The film takes its mythology and subtext very seriously, and commits itself to being something more thoughtful and fulfilling than a standard popcorn movie without ever surrendering to humorlessness. I’m very fond of its structure, particularly in how it gradually reveals the insidious corruption on nearly every level of Gotham City over the course of the first two acts. The film makes a point of showing that Batman isn’t up against one crazy villain in a costume, but rather fighting a futile war against a sick system with only a handful of allies. Batman Begins grapples with idealism and complicity in corrupt institutions like a flamboyant, crowd-pleasing version of The Wire.

A Genuine Boy With A Guilty Smile

Sons & Daughters “Taste The Last Girl” – Out of all the songs that I know, “Big Mouth Strikes Again” is the one most similar to this track, and I don’t bring this up because I’m trying to dismiss it or suggest that there isn’t much more to it than that. I mention it because I’m impressed – out of all the Smiths songs that get rewritten or straight-up regurgitated, that’s pretty much never one of them, even though (or maybe because) it’s one of the best and most distinct songs that band ever wrote. Still, I actually kind of doubt that the band was even going for “Big Mouth Strikes Again.” The resemblence actually seems rather accidental, as though both bands were aiming for the same quasi-rockabilly target and missed for the same reasons (namely, overwhelming Britishness). (Click here to buy it from Domino.)

Geiger “Cocain-E” – There’s a strange thing going on in this track, and though it’s not quite unique, it’s worth mentioning. There’s this undeniable disco groove, yeah? Play it loud enough, and it’s hard to resist on a purely physical level. But everything else about it is so mellow and relaxing to the point that it actually makes me want to lie down and take a nap. It’s a little confusing, but it’s a great effect, totally easygoing and pleasant, like hitting the dancefloor in the most comfortable silk pajamas ever. (Click here to buy it from Juno.)

Also: If anyone reading this is able and willing to hook me up with the most recent season of the new Dr. Who on cd-r/dvd, please drop me a line. I’d really like to see it, but I just don’t have the energy/space on my laptop to deal with bittorrent right now, and who knows when this will ever air on BBC America or be available on dvd in the US.

Close Your Eyes And Count To Ten

Feist “Inside & Out (Ewan Pearson & Al Usher Dub)” – I wonder if the Beegees had to get a royalty for this track. It’s ostensibly a remix of Feist covering one of their songs, but Pearson and Usher’s final product seems to have no relationship with that recording whatsoever, unless I’m missing some subtle little thing only a trained musician or musicologist could pick up on. Pearson and Usher do some amazing things with the vocal samples in this track, implying an incredible amount of emotional detail from otherwise unintelligible vocal fragments. It’s all hopeful anticipation and subtle sexuality, and it feels like someone’s interior world expanding outward into reality. (Click here to buy it from Juno.)

Crossover “Apples On A Stick” – The lyrics of this track come off like a string of silly inside jokes, but even the most ridiculous lines seem sexy and compelling to me. [Err, as it turns out these are traditional jump rope rhymes…] Maybe it’s the bass and the beats. It could be the aura of mystery. It’s probably just because I’m a sucker for this girl’s voice every single time. (Click here to buy it from Juno.)

Alarmed By The Seduction

Squeeze “Tempted (Alternate Version)” – Before Elvis Costello and Roger Bechirian took over the production duties for the album East Side Story, Dave Edmunds recorded this version of what would become Squeeze’s most famous song with co-writer and regular frontman Glenn Tilbrook on lead vocals. For some reason the band was unhappy with this simple, upbeat recording and went on to record the version that everyone knows with a lite soul arrangement and their keyboard player at the time, Paul Carack, on lead vocals with Tilbrook relegated to singing back up and a shared verse with Costello. I suspect that a lot of Squeeze’s eventual commercial failure and general lack of legacy in the critical world stems from this bait-and-switch. It’s never a good thing when your biggest hit sounds nothing like the rest of your catalog, especially if said hit hasn’t aged very well because cheesy 80s blue eyed soul isn’t exactly the hippest genre going. Like a lot of Squeeze’s early music, this version of “Tempted” has actually aged rather well, and it clearly benefits from the faster pace and Tilbrook’s charming McCartney-esque phrasing. Still, it’s hard to argue with results – even though the song is equally catchy on either version it seems unlikely that this recording would have had the same kind of crossover success. Honestly, I never had any big problem with the hit version until I heard this take, but then I also didn’t realize that it was the same band that did “Pulling Mussels (From The Shell)” until about 20 years after it was released. In this context, the hit just sounds like a bad cover version that happens to feature the original songwriters in a supporting role. It makes me wonder if more of my favorite pop bands could have massive hits with their songs if only they changed every single thing about the way they are recorded and performed. How many great acts would do much better commercially if their identity was wiped out completely? (Click here to buy it from Amazon UK.)

Hooray The Blues Of Everyone

Interpol @ Jones Beach Theater 6/14/2005
Next Exit / Slow Hands / Say Hello to the Angels / Narc / Not Even Jail / Leif Erikson / Evil / Take You On A Cruise / Obstacle 1 / PDA

Pixies @ Jones Beach Theater 6/14/2005
Is She Weird? / Subbacultcha / Dead / Wave of Mutilation / I Bleed / Broken Face / Monkey Gone To Heaven / No. 13 Baby / In Heaven / Where Is My Mind? / La La Love You / Nimrod’s Son / Mr. Grieves / The Holiday Song / Vamos / Here Comes Your Man / Bone Machine / Stormy Weather / The Sad Punk / Something Against You / Isla De Encanta / Allison / Cactus / Gouge Away / Tame / Debaser / Hey / Gigantic // Caribou

Unfortunately, I missed LCD Soundsystem’s set. I’m not very happy about this, but it was beyond my control and certainly not my fault. I have seen them before and will definitely see them again, so it’s no great tragedy, though I’m told that they’ve recently added “Disco Infiltrator” and a Carl Craig cover to their setlist, so if I missed that, it really sucks.

It’s becoming apparent that Interpol are getting bored by playing the 20 songs in their repertoire. Their performance often felt a bit rote, and several of the songs were padded out with devices like bass drone intros and drum solos that were obviously added to keep the songs interesting for the band. Interpol began their set at dusk, and it was not completely dark until “Evil” (clearly their big hit based on audience response). I don’t think it was any coincidence that their set got better as the sun went down – I suspect that they may actually draw their power from the night. The best thing about Interpol’s set was looking around and watching little pockets of people dancing. There was one girl off to the side who was doing that hippy twirl dance, and this really skinny dude in a tank top in front of me who was doing some variation on the Axl Rose snake shimmy. Very charming, yes, but neither of these people had anything on the group of three (presumably teenage or young college age) girls in matching white homemade “Not As Cool As Kim Deal” t-shirts who did girly bedroom dances for every single song in Interpol and the Pixies’ sets. You know what kind of dances I’m talking about – it’s all in the neck, shoulders, and arms, with frequent hair twirls and vaguely awkward (but cute!) hip movements. Their intense, unironic enthusiasm was so endearing; I wish that they would come to every show that I see.

Apartment “Everyone Thinks I’m Paranoid” – It’s too bad that Interpol didn’t play this song last night. Sure, it’s not theirs, but it definitely sounds like it could be. In fact, if this was in the set, it would’ve been one of the three or four best songs. I mean no disrespect to Apartment at all – I certainly like this guy’s voice a lot more, and they are obviously a pretty good band, but the resemblence is too strong not to note. It’s a very specific thing, and it goes beyond shared influences – I certainly wouldn’t say that this song sounds all that much like Joy Division, for example. I’m speaking from the part of me that wishes that loads of 80s UK rock hits (like, say, “Melt With You,” “Always Something There To Remind Me,” “The Promise,” “Something About You,” and “Head Over Heels”) were all by the same band, if just as a matter of convenience. (Click here to buy it from Amazon UK.)

There isn’t a lot to say about the Pixies, actually. I would rate this show a bit higher than the Hammerstein show that I saw this past December, but really, they were both about equally awesome, though I think Black Francis’ vocals may have been stronger last night. Really, there’s not a lot of room for them to go wrong with their body of work and musical chemistry, though in both cases I would have happy to have heard a bit more from Bossanova and Trompe Le Monde. I got a few really good selections from those records last night, and I was thrilled to hear them, but I was pretty let down to see that I was probably the only person in the entire amphitheatre who was totally psyched to hear them play “The Sad Punk” and “Stormy Weather,” so it was a lonely sort of joy. I just don’t get it – people were acting as though they’ve never even heard those songs before, but then flipping out to “Isla De Encanta.” That song is alright, but c’mon, it’s no “The Sad Punk.” At least a few people seemed to get into “Allison,” which was the song I had wanted to hear the most aside from “Planet of Sound.”

The Sound Of Guitars Never Meant Anything To Me Before You

Tiefschwarz featuring Matty Safer “Warning Siren” – I mean this in the best possible way, but this really doesn’t sound much different from what I’d expect from Safer’s full-time band, The Rapture. If this song had ended up on the next Rapture record, I think pretty much everyone would be thrilled – it sticks to the strengths of songs like “Sister Savior” (particularly the DFA remix) and “I Need Your Love,” while pushing the music a bit further into full-on electronic dance music. Maybe I’ve only been hearing the wrong Tiefschwarz singles and remixes for the past couple years, but this strikes me as a far more subtle and less overbearing track than what I’m used to hearing from them. The intensity builds up as the song progresses, but I’m most fond of the keyboard part on the intro before the bass and guitars enter the mix. (Click here for more info from Fine Records.)

The Nanobot Auxiliary Ballet… “More” – I’ll be a bit of a pedant and note that this is actually credited to The Nanobot Auxiliary Ballet and Insect Art with the Office of Woodland Security, and the Evil House of Handshakes, Present: Tylenolandadida – the Deadly Ballerina – Featuring: Thechillbotslider, Thepushbuttonmaster, and the Whitehotfunkbot – and Introducing: The Doodads of Doom and the Recipe Box of Spells. With a name like that, it’s really not so surprising that they would end up singing the mantra “more is not what I need more of” over a fairly minimal electro track. You’ve got to get your balance somewhere, right? (Click here to buy/acquire it from Dark Beloved Cloud.)

These Foolish Hearts Keep On Pumping

Maxi Geil & Playcolt @ Tonic 6/12/2005
Here Comes Maxi / A Message To My Audience / Teenage Extreme / That’s How The Story Goes… / Paying For Something New / Sunday Morning / The Love I Lose / Artist’s Lament / Making Love in the Sunshine

Maxi Geil & Playcolt “That’s How The Story Goes…” – The first two Maxi Geil shows that I attended were at Joe’s Pub (if you’ve never been, it’s this very posh seated club with flawless sound and very expensive drinks) and an auditorium at the Museum of Modern Art, so it was a pleasant change of pace to see them play in a proper rock club environment. It seems that the band conciously tailor their sound to suit the space where they are playing – the Joe’s Pub set came off like an arena show being played for thirty people, and the MoMA set included a cellist and a sax player, so it had this classy vibe that certainly made sense for the venue. This show was raw and dirty, with the band placing a heavy emphasis on the disco aspects of the songs and inspiring a crowd made up mainly of Britpop fans who had never heard them before to dance and move. (A minor success in and of itself, really.) The band, and most certainly Maxi himself, project an aura of total confidence and control, and generally seem more like seasoned road veterans rather than a largely unknown group who only occasionally play out.

“That’s How The Story Goes…” has been a highlight of the band’s recent shows and is being released as a non-album single by the end of the summer, backed up by the dance rock sequel to “Now The Music Stops” from the first album, “Making Love in the Sunshine” (key lyric: “this kind of love is like Das Kapital / I often quote it / know who wrote it / never read it all”). “That’s How The Story Goes…” captures all of the romance and bombast of the debut album in one song, starting off as a gentle new wave ballad before effortlessly transitioning into a smooth glam-disco number with a breakdown that easily ranks among the best pop moments of 2005.

British readers should note that Maxi Geil & Playcolt will be playing their first two European shows in London on June 24th and 25th. (More info.) You really should not miss this. (Click here for the official Maxi Geil & Playcolt site.)

Dragonette “Competition” – Ah, poor Dragonette – they’ve written the perfect single for an imaginary radio format that is just as sympathetic to glammy Scissor Sisters-ish rock as it is to modern r&b chart pop. It could work with Top 40 or VH1, but still, it’s a close call. I’d really rather live in a world where this is an actual pop hit. (Click here for the Dragonette website.)

Elsewhere: Today is my final day filling in on Stereogum.

I Need A Mind To Blow

Art Brut “Good Weekend” – I don’t know why, but the first few Art Brut singles didn’t immediately work for me, but since I’ve heard the full album I just wonder what the hell I was thinking. “Good Weekend” is the song that sold the band for me, mainly because I don’t believe that I’ve ever heard any other band totally nail the vain enthusiasm at the core of a dude bragging about having a new girlfriend before, much less capture that feeling with such vivid intensity. The vocalist speak-sings in a thick British accent like a bubblegum version of Mark E Smith, and sells crucial lines like “I’ve seen her naked, TWICE!” with a stunning degree of commitment and urgency. As for the lusty lyrics, Louis XIV really ought to be taking notes – this is how it’s done. Less smarm, more vulnerable charm, thank you. (Click here to buy it from Fierce Panda.)

Catlow “Iamloved” – There’s no getting around this song’s obvious resemblence to Goldfrapp’s “Train,” but really, if we’re going to have so many lousy clones of far lesser songs, I really don’t mind having some really well executed variations on music that actually rules. Surely we all have a LOT more sexy vampy shufflepop numbers to write before that style is even remotely as ubiquitous as, say, garage rockers, faux-Dylan troubadour crap, post-Green Day pop-punk, or anything involving heavy metal. (Click here to buy it from Boompa.)

Elsewhere: I am filling for Scott on Stereogum while he’s off at the Bonnaroo festival. Yesterday I posted a bunch of links to mp3s from around the web, and today I’ll be putting up a bunch of my own mp3 selections (R.E.M., Doleful Lions, Styrofoam & Sarah Shannon, Iron Hero) and assorted links.

Bringing About The Apocalypse Is Not Considered Cool

Spoon @ Webster Hall 6/8/2005
The Beast and Dragon, Adored / The Two Sides of Monsieur Valentine / Someone Something / Lines in the Suit / Sister Jack / The Delicate Place / The Fitted Shirt / Anything You Want / Back to the Life / Paper Tiger / Small Stakes / Everything Hits At Once / I Turn My Camera On / I Summon You / The Infinite Pet / The Way We Get By / Me and the Bean / My Mathematical Mind // Metal Detektor / Take A Walk / Jonathon Fisk

Spoon “My Mathematical Mind (Live @ Austin 1/9/2005)” – I’ve been trying to figure out what I like so much about Spoon, or even just find a way to reduce my thoughts down to a pithy line or two that scratches the surface, and the one adjective that I keep coming back to is “classy.” And oh my God, I don’t even really know what that is supposed to mean, other than that it implies impeccable taste and timeless elegance, both of which certainly apply to the band since Girls Can Tell. I often wish that there was a band that felt like Joe Jackson’s “Steppin’ Out” all of the time, and I’m beginning to realize that Spoon come rather close to that ideal, but with added elements of Motown, Squeeze, The Clash, and late period Beatles. Some musicians may make a play at sophistication and meticulous craft, but Spoon achieve that end without seeming as though they are expending a great deal of effort in pursuit of their goals. The band are obvious perfectionists, but the art itself is seamlessly constructed and concerned mainly with evoking an emotional response and an immediate physical reaction.

The band was in top form last night, playing from a perfectly selected setlist that emphasized the best material (barring maybe three or four songs) from their past three albums with a focus and intensity that matched, and in some cases surpassed, the studio performances. It’s fairly common for rock bands to improve on their material in a live setting, but it is particularly impressive that Spoon can do this given that their self-produced albums are (with the possible exception of some Steve Albini productions) the best sounding rock records being made in the world today. The urgency and soul of those recordings is no fluke; the band clearly track most of the music on the albums live in the studio. For some reason, I had convinced myself that the crisp, visceral sound of the percussion on the albums was the result of clever studio micing (and yeah, it kinda is), but it translated perfectly live, in part due to some more intelligent mic placement, but mostly because of the raw talent of Jim Eno.

“My Mathematical Mind” was a highlight of the show, and is arguably the best song from the new album. The song is built around a portentous groove anchored by a tense piano figure. At some moments, the song seems to flirt with the notion of release, but the band never give in to the impulse, instead letting the song continue to escalate until it eventually collapses into itself. (Click here to buy this live recording on a charity album benefiting tsunami victims, and here to buy the studio version.)

Elsewhere: Here’s an excellent review of Gimme Fiction by Jessica Hopper.

It’s The Old Fruit That Makes Wine

Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks @ Irving Plaza 6/7/2005
Mama / Pencil Rot / Water and a Seat / Loud Cloud Crowd / No More Shoes / Dynamic Calories / I’ve Hardly Been / Freeze the Saints / Dark Wave / It Kills / Jenny and the Ess Dog / Grace / Baby C’mon / Carl the Clod // Malediction / (John Moen sings some song, I have no idea)

Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks “Grace (Live @ Sonic Boom, 5/24/2005)” – Though I suspect my feelings have something to with not having seen him play since 2003 (absence makes the heart grow fonder, etc), I’m reasonably certain that this was the best show I’ve ever seen SM play with the Jicks. A lot of it had to do with the band seeming more confident in their identity than ever before, and playing to their strengths (chops, improvisation, sardonic banter) rather than keeping it loose and goofy like Pavement. John Moen was particularly great, providing crisp, powerful drumming that energized the songs and sparked some impressive improvised jams in “No More Shoes,” “It Kills,” and “Carl the Clod.” The guy did amazing work with the songs from Face The Truth, adding fills to “Pencil Rot” and “Baby C’mon” that made the album versions seem static in comparison, and a brisk dynamic shift from verse to chorus in “Loud Cloud Crowd” that would have made the song an obvious single if it had been recorded that way. Despite his MVP status during the rest of the gig, the show’s only misstep was when Moen switched to guitar and vocals for the final song of the night. It’s not the first time I’ve seen him do this at a Jicks show, but in this particular set it was a terrible anticlimax, and would have come off a lot better if it had been anything other than the finale.

Stephen Malkmus “Carl the Clod (Live @ Buenos Aires 10/23/2004)” – One of the show’s obvious highlights was the inclusion of a full band version of “Carl the Clod,” a lovely little song that was written for Face The Truth but was not finished in time for its release and will likely turn up on the next album. (Ditto for “Grace,” by the way.) The song is considerably perkier in the band arrangement, and sounds almost like Thin Lizzy towards the end before the outro jam kicks in. (You can’t buy copies of either of these songs, but you can download different recordings of them and other rare Malkmus goodies here.)

PS: Stephen wore a grey t-shirt with the word ‘Malktastic’ on the back.

For Hours and Hours and Hours

Armand Van Helden (featuring Spalding Rockwell) “Jenny” – Though Armand Van Helden’s previous collaboration with Spalding Rockwell was a euphoric electropop single, this new track is more like high energy goth disco. The vocals on the verses are spooky and vacant like A Certain Ratio and the snarled choruses are reminiscent of Garbage, but that’s all just a lead up to a gorgeous breakdown that sounds like it could be the Suicide Girls version of the Go-Gos. (Click here for more about the new Armand Van Helden album at the Southern Fried Records site.)

Neil Hamburger – excerpt from “Great Moments at Di Pressa’s Pizza House” – The latest Neil Hamburger album embraces the mockumentary format and moves away from the stand-up comedy routine established on previous releases. The premise of the record is that Neil is narrating an audio documentary about the pizza parlor where he has been a featured attraction for several years, and most of humor is derived from the characters’ po-faced seriousness regarding ridiculous details and the escalation of their desperation and misfortune. The jokes often hit their mark, but the project seems rather misguided and overly obvious. The mockumentary format is being done to death lately, and the overwhelming majority of them (including this record) are extremely formulaic. Most actors take on the familiar cadences of the characters from Christopher Guest’s movies; often mistaking dry delivery and an air of delusion for actual punchlines. There is almost always a casual contempt for the characters that reveals little more than the creators’ own glib misanthropy. Thanks to some inspired moments of absurdity, Great Moments at Di Pressa’s Pizza House is above average, but it suffers in comparison to the nuanced dark comedy on older Neil Hamburger records like Left For Dead In Malaysia and Laugh Out Lord. (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)

It’s So Much Better Now

Basement Jaxx “U Don’t Know Me (Jaxx Houz Club Mix)” – The version of “U Don’t Know Me” on Basement Jaxx’s singles compilation seems so lethargic compared to this hyperkinetic remix. The melody and structure was all right there, but it lacked the visceral power of this mix, which seems to be overflowing with physical energy and raw sexuality like all of the best Jaxx tracks. There’s not a lot more to say about it, though. It’s pretty much a force of nature. (Click here to buy it from Amazon and here to see the very amusing music video.)

John Vanderslice “crc7173, Affectionately” – Hammond B-3 organs can be so tricky. The sound of the instrument can be lovely and wonderfully effective, but if you’re going to use them on a mid-tempo rock ballad, you’ve got to accept that on some level, you’re going to sound like The Wallflowers, Counting Crows or any number of similar cheesy 90s bands who have used the instrument as a signifier for mild country and/or gospel flavor. John Vanderslice manages to keep the comforting sound of the organ without dipping too heavily into nostalgia, and keep the arrangement spare and sparkly enough to avoid sounding soggy or particularly nostalgic. (Click here to pre-order it from Barsuk.)

It Drove Me Mad In A Good Way

Chad VanGaalen “Chronograph #1” – Most of this song passes by in a slo-mo haze, as though the narrator is attempting to force time to stand still through sheer force of will. VanGaalen maintains the effect for a few verses, pushing his voice to its physcial limits with a tremulous falsetto and extending a moment of sentimental nostalgia until he seems to shrug it off and shifts into a gentle instrumental outro. (Click here to visit the Chad VanGaalen page at the Flemish Eye Records site. The album will be released domestically in August on Sub Pop.)

Cocorosie “Noah’s Ark” – This seems to be Cocorosie’s version of a modern pop song, at least in the sense that it has a strong, steady 4/4 beat and an obvious, catchy chorus. The conventional structure suits them well by grounding their old-timey affectations in something more immediate and accessable, thus placing the emphasis on the gorgeous melodies rather than distracting the listener with stylistic excess. (Click here to pre-order it from No Karma.)

When Fantasies Are Bad They Are Humiliating

Brian Eno “This” – Brian Eno is like the Mr. Spock of pop music. His voice can convey a sort of inhuman lucidity and aloofness, as though he’s found a way to separate his intellect from his emotions without sacrificing his soul. Given his inclination to create ambient music, it is not so surprising that he would go so long without recording his voice (the most recent Eno vocal track that I am aware of is “A Different Kind of Blue” from his Passengers album with U2 in 1995), but it’s certainly a welcome return. Several of the songs on his new record are clearly influenced by gospel music, but the passion and ardor essential to that genre is filtered through Eno’s aesthetics, resulting in something quite different. “This” retains the spirituality of gospel but shifts the scale of the sentiment from the conventional emphatic declaration of faith to a smaller, more personal epiphany. (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)

The Rogers Sisters “Les Fantaisies Sont Bien” – On their new single, the Rogers Sisters revisit a long lost pop tradition: translating a song into another language and rerecording it to meet the economic and cultural demands of another country. However, unless the band is massively popular in France and I just don’t know about it, it seems clear that this alternate take on “Fantasies Are Nice” was recorded entirely for artistic purposes rather than made to satisfy the demands of the French marketplace. It’s difficult to suss out just why they would choose to record this particular song au francais, but the result is very entertaining. The vocals seem brattier and more perverse, and the music somehow feels twice as spazzy without being noticeably different from the backing track on the original recording. (Click here to buy it from Troubleman United.)

Your Beautiful Body Filling Up With Water

Electric Six “Jimmy Carter” – At first, this song seemed like a silly joke, but the longer I live with it, the more it seems deadly serious. After the initial novelty of a grunge ballad filled with strange references to the Backstreet Boys, gory celebrity deaths, electric underwear, and former American presidents wears off, the emotional resonance kicks in. The refrain “this is who you are” carries the most dramatic weight; implying the tragic, undeniable notion that we are all shaped by our absurd culture of celebrities, politicians, inescapable surveillance, consumer novelties, and the constant vague threat of random violence and atomic annihilation. It’s essentially a song about powerlessness, and the realization that you owe so much of who you think you are to a collection of cultural factors that seem so stupid, random, and meaningless when considered in abstract terms. But this is who we are, and we can be made to feel weepy when the singer turns the catchphrase “Backstreet’s back, alright” into a mournful lament by placing it in the context of sentimental nostalgia because even if you never cared about the Backstreet Boys, it’s at least a reference point we can all understand. Sometimes that’s all you need to feel less alone. (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)

Tom Scharpling & Jon Wurster “Timmy von Trimble” – This is a selection from the forthcoming Hippy Justice: The Best of the Best Show On WFMU Vol. 3, a collection of fairly recent radio call-in skits by Scharpling & Wurster chronicling what I consider to be an experimental period for the duo. The basic elements of their comedy remains the same – ie, good guy Tom struggles to remain civil while dealing with one of Jon’s selfish, deluded, opportunistic, and hateful characters – but some of the bits on this compilation find them trying out new ways of framing their comedy routines. On “Kid eBay,” moments of extreme absurdity punctuate an otherwise mundane conversation about rare collectables; “Old Skull” and “Rock n’ Roll Car Dealership” integrate real-life characters into the show’s elaborate mythology; and “Hippy Johnny” and “Timmy von Trimble” both start out with seemingly sympathetic characters who reveal themselves to be utterly despicable over the course of a phone call. The latter is quite possibly the most surreal bit to ever air on the program, starting out with an entirely unbelievable premise that is eventually trumped by the disturbing turn the conversation takes once we get to know little Timmy. (Please note that the sound quality on this mp3 is fairly low because I wanted to keep the file size small and manageable. The sound on the actual cd is much better than this.) (Click here for the official Scharpling & Wurster site and here for the Best Show On WFMU archives.)

All Your Pretty Faces Are Smiling At Me

Kevin Blechdom “Invisible ROCK” – Kevin Blechdom’s new album Eat My Heart Out sounds like an off-off-off broadway one woman show marrying cheesy, homemade electropop showtunes with a startling personal narrative dealing with clinical depression and crippling self-awareness. Though the music is often awash in a sea of extreme irony, the lyrics are grounded and highly relatable, most of them detailing Blechdom’s struggle to overcome her issues. Though most music on the topic of depression wallows in sorrow and self-pity, Blechdom has written an admirable set of self-help anthems. (Click here to buy it from Boomkat.)

Richard Reagh & wwnb2 “Friends” – Richard Reagh’s music is like a peculiar cross between Built To Spill at their most mellow and the fractured, amorphous laptop compositions of Joan Of Arc and The Dirty Projectors. As Reagh attempts to repair a rift in a relationship that appears to be on the verge of total collapse in the lyrics, the arrangement seems to reflect his emotional state by feeling hollow, passive, and vaguely tense. (Click here to visit the official Richard Reagh site.)