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.)

I Realize That I Hate The Sound Of Guitars

Fugazi “Target” – This song is ten years old now. When I bought this record, I was sixteen and the lyrics justified a lot of my snobbishness. Now I’m 26, and to a certain extent, this song describes my career. Forcing silence, sucking sound, forced into your conversation. Actually, it’s more like the argument that I’m having in my head every day lately. What is this thing that keeps us from making it, oiling like crime? Morality, pride, fear, laziness? I don’t know, but I swear to God, today’s thread title rings very true in my heart right now, with all the added irony of the fact that this is very much a song with guitars. But guitars as iconography, guitars as cultural shorthand, guitars as artistic crutch – ugh, ugh, ugh. (Click here to buy it from Dischord.)

Sorry to be posting so many one-song entries, and songs that you probably already know. I want to get back to posting good ol’ “Fluxpop” music, but I just can’t seem to find any, and people sure as hell aren’t sending me any.

Their Love Is Only A Fraction Of What I Can Give To You

The White Stripes @ Keyspan Park 9/24/2005
Black Math / Blue Orchid / Dead Leaves & The Dirty Ground – Passive Manipulation – Dead Leaves (reprise) / Jolene / My Doorbell / Cannon – John The Revelator – Passive Manipulation – Screwdriver / The Nurse / Forever For Her (Is Over For Me) / Death Letter / Hotel Yorba / The Hardest Button To Button / I Think I Smell A Rat (Jack integrates a bit of Gwen Stefani’s “Hollaback Girl” – “this shit is bananas, b-a-n-a-n-a-s”) / Walking With A Ghost (Tegan & Sara cover) / Ball & Biscuit (snippet) – Hello Operator / The Union Forever // I’m Lonely (But I Ain’t That Lonely Yet) / Red Rain / In The Cold, Cold Night / Let’s Shake Hands / We’re Going To Be Friends / Little Ghost / Ball & Biscuit (full version) / Seven Nation Army / Boll Weevil

The White Stripes “Forever For Her (Is Over For Me)” – It’s going to be interesting to see how that next Kenny Chesney album turns out, huh? Then we get to know whether Jack White is a bitter drama queen, or if Renee Zellweger is a HORRIBLE SHREW WHO DESTROYS LIVES. Or, ha, a HORRIBLE SHREW WHO DESTROYS THE LIVES OF BITTER DRAMA QUEENS. And if that’s the case, then maybe she should be commended for performing a public service, especially since she has clearly drawn out some perverse extremes in Jack White’s songwriting, as his gallant front crumbles into wounded pride, paranoia, and undiluted spite. It’s sort of compelling to see the guy fall apart emotionally on record at the height of his powers, playing the role of the preening exhibitionist at the precise moment when his audience would most like to be voyeurs.

In terms of setlist, performance, venue and visual presentation (I wish that I had a good picture of their set design, because it’s brilliant), this was by far the best White Stripes show that I’ve seen, though I have to say, the experience was diminished greatly by getting stuck next to the lone patch of violent moshing frat thugs, and then after my friend and I made our retreat from them, a duo of middle-aged morons who would not stop gabbing through the quiet songs in the second set. (The shlubby guidance counsellor-looking dude had to keep telling his Flo-the-waitress-looking date that “I’m Lonely (But I Ain’t That Lonely Yet)” was “like an old blues song,” presumably trying to impress her with his VAST musical knowledge.) I suppose that it’s interesting to see how the band’s fanbase has now extended well beyond that of their mellow, polite indie rock base, but you know what? I don’t care. Rudeness is rudeness is rudeness, and that fist-flailing crazy eyed motherfucker to my right for half of the show had me worrying about getting a stray punch in the eye when I should have been happily bopping along to “My Doorbell.” (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)

I Love You Both, I Love You Both!

Stratageme “Scripts” – Stratageme’s 18 year old mastermind David Vine has a natural gift for blending the dynamics of emocore and laptop electronica, crafting tracks that push and pull between post-grunge guitar tones and shimmering keyboard textures while making the transitions seem organic and logical in a way very few of his peers can manage. Like the best of the band’s material, “Scripts” never stops moving, shifting from section to section like a film cutting from scene to scene, occasionally allowing for pensive pauses before dramatically zooming ahead for intense Sunny Day Real Estate-esque guitar riffs. (Click here for the official Stratageme site.)

Kill Me Tomorrow and Dance Disaster Movement “Beautiful Guns” – This track is relentlessly tense and nervey, like having a splitting headache and a cramped stomach at once. It’s a creepy, uncomfortable song, but it’s very successful at evoking an unwell state. I realize that I’m not making this sound like a very good time, but obviously, not all art is meant to be fun. (Click here to buy it from Tone Vendor.)

Do Your Best To Run Away

Simian “La Breeze” – It’s hardly a shock to see a sticker on the cover of this single proclaiming that it was recently featured in some French tv ad. This is exactly the sort of pop song that doubles nicely as a jingle, as the focus of the entire track is placed on this quick hook that embeds itself in your mind upon first contact and sets up shop there until some stronger strain of song evicts it at a later date. The rest of the song builds up towards that moment of bliss, teasing you with false starts, odd tangents, and bridges that coo “here it comes, here it comes, here it comes!” before dropping you back into the chorus like a rollercoaster suddenly woooshing down the incline. (Click here to buy it from Juno.)

Donna Regina “Little Baby” – If Spiritualized’s Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space was recorded by a woman overcome with maternal love rather than a despondent junkie, I imagine that it would be a lot like this track. Interestingly, both subjects are rather ideally suited to the same musical setting. (Click here to pre-order it from Boomkat.)

Look At You, The Wide-Eyed Ingenue

Liz Phair “Stars and Planets” – Surely Liz Phair’s new album must be Somebody’s Miracle, but I have a hard time imagining who that lucky person could be. Most of the record sounds like Phair slowly backing herself out of the corner she painted herself into on her previous album, clearly making some half-hearted attempt to lure back the people who screamed “0.0!” by ditching the Matrix and toning down the lyrical audacity, but obviously unwilling to make a full retreat from a commercial sound for fear of seeming cowardly. Understandably so – I definitely believe that Phair wanted to make that glossy self-titled album, and though a quick “return to form” would have satisfied critics and her core audience, it would have forever relegated that album to the status of oddity/misstep, and I think she’d rather not have to look like a person who second-guessed the bravest (though maybe not best…) artistic decision she’s ever made.

The songs mainly fall into two categories – aggressively tasteful AAA ballads that are pretty enough but lack the color and gravity of Liz classics like “Perfect World,” “Nashville,” and “Explain It To Me,” and up-tempo rockers with super-clean bar rock arrangements that don’t quite gel with her trademark low monotone cool-girl affectation. This is a problem, since in its own way this record is more alienating than Liz Phair, because there’s not much to offer fans of sparkly pop songs like “Why Can’t I?,” “Extraordinary,” and “Rock Me,” much less the people who adored the Liz of the first three records.

“Stars and Planets” is an obvious highlight from the record, falling someplace between poppy early 90s fare like Belly, Velocity Girl, and Julianna Hatfield, the Sesame Street theme, and John Lennon’s “Instant Karma.” I would’ve loved for all of Somebody’s Miracle to sound as bright and optimistic as this number, but unfortunately the mood of the record comes off about as emotionally neutral as it musically indecisive. Still, that song along with a few others continue to provide me with faith in Phair, and the hope that she’ll come around to figuring it all out before too long. Maybe it’s the next record, it could be two or three down the line. I’m patient, and certainly willing to enjoy the good bits that come along the way. (Click here to pre-order it from Amazon.)

I’ve Made A Tiny Huge Mistake

Giant Drag “YFLMD” – The title is an acronym for “you fuck like my dad.” It’s one of the creepiest kiss-offs I’ve ever heard in a pop song, hands down, though Annie Hardy never actually sings those exact words. The song comes from the same family line as the more aggressive songs from PJ Harvey’s To Bring You My Love, but it’s no cheap knock off. There’s one particularly great lead guitar line that comes after the line “you and your gun…” and before “you’re just like my father” that lingers uncomfortably and makes you feel those ellipses like you’re waiting to get a kick in the face. (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)

Eventually This Future’s Gonna Swallow You

Chad VanGaalen @ Bowery Ballroom, 9/17/2005
I Miss You Like I Miss You / Wind Dogs / Echo Train / Dancing In The Dark / I Wake Up / Blood Machine / After The Afterlife / Clinically Dead / Somewhere I Know There Is Nothing / Graveyard

Chad VanGaalen “Echo Train” – At a time when the shrug and/or cringe-inducing Devendras, Obersts, Iron & Wines, and Sufjans of the world are flourishing, it’s just my luck that the one indie troubadour that I’m fond of is the one who is met with widespread critical indifference and lukewarm sales. I’m out of step with the needs of the indie nation. Or maybe it’s just not the right time for this record. Infiniheart is a lonely, morbid album that sounds like Neil Young shivvering with a 4-track on the tundra. These are not summer jams. This is barely even music for the autumn. But that didn’t matter at the Bowery Ballroom, as a handful of eager fans crowded the front of the stage and Chad played about a third of the record along with some strong new tunes and a lean, spirited cover of Springsteen’s “Dancing In The Dark” that made me recognize the Bruce-isms in the rest of the material for the first time. (Click here to buy it from Sub Pop.)

Holopaw “3-Shy-Cubs” – Holopaw were a pleasant surprise in a live setting. Much of Quit +/Or Fight! is almost too cozy for its own good, even if their clever rhythm section keeps things from getting too hazy and predictable. Led by a charismatic vocalist who looks absolutely nothing at all like how you might guess (picture an older, craggier version of Michael Stipe after a career in the Marines), their songs snapped and popped full of life, even the ones with excessive drowsy lap steel. (Click here to buy it from Sub Pop.)

ALSO: Please go off and read my longform interview with Carl Newman from the New Pornographers. It’s my very first feature for Pitchfork!

Where’s The Damn Elephants?

Sonic Youth “Goo Interview” – In this bizarro promotional recording, a thoroughly baked Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon explain their songs on the Goo album while clips from the record play behind them. The word “interview” is a total misnomer, since it’s just them and they don’t seem to be answering any kind of questions, just providing liner note details in a quasi-poetic sort of way. It’s kind of like what you might get if you dialed up a Sonic Youth phone sex hotline. (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)

Gwen Stefani “Cool (RICHARD X Remix)” – This remix is nothing too radical, it’s just like the song with a new haircut. Richard X plays up the romance and the mid-period Madonna-ness of the original version, but adds an extra layer of coolness, so to speak. The character is cool (okay) with her situation with her ex-boyfriend, but there’s an icy remove, a distance that they’ve both imposed to keep themselves feeling that way. This is much better than the massively disappointing Richard X Photek remix of the same song, by the way. I was so excited for that, but it just seems like he slapped the vocal on top of a weak sub-Bravery punk-funk track without any regard for the dynamics and structure of the a cappella track. (The iTunes music store screwed up the credits, leading to this mix-up. Please fix your mp3 file info accordingly.) (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)

Ice Melting On Jehovah

The Fall “Midnight Aspen” – This track from the forthcoming album Fall Heads Roll finds Mark E. Smith in an uncommonly pensive mood. In fact, it’s one of the few songs in the entire Fall catalog that I would describe as being “soothing.” Smith keeps his vocals sedate and minimal, wisely keeping the emphasis of the track on the melodies of the instrumental, allowing the music to set the scene while his lyrics provide context and detail. (Click here to pre-order it from Amazon.)