When These Ashes Blow Away

Slow Dazzle “Fleur De Lie” – It’s just too hot and muggy lately. This is most certainly not my time of the year, especially given that I’m still living in a place that entirely lacks air conditioning and I have to sleep in an attic that is at least 15°F hotter than it is outside. Recently, I’ve been wondering if my hatred of the summer months is really just a conditional thing, and that if I was in better shape, got out more often, and had a more comfortable home, I’d be all for it. I can understand what some people get out of this time of the year – it’s a good time to be an exhibitionist, sure, but there’s also some romance to it at times, and that’s always been lacking in my own life. “Fleur De Lie” has that sexy summer night sound to it, and it at least supports a pleasant fantasy. With any luck, I might end up having a summer more like this song before too long. (Click here to buy it from Misra.)

Contramano “Checking U” – The name “Contramano” translates to “against the flow,” which is sort of ironic when they makes songs like this which seem to flow with a natural grace and urgency. The percussion is lively and the vocals are spirited, but the star of this show is most certainly the cello, which dominates the arrangement and lends an airiness and elegance to the lead melodies that probably would not have come off if they had played the same parts on the standard electric guitar. (Click here to buy it from Contramano.)

It’s Not Good, But It’s Not Bad Either

Me and You and Everyone We Know – I think that it’s very possible that if I saw this film at a different point in my life (when I was 19 or 20 maybe?), it may have struck an emotional chord with me, or I would have at least been more impressed by its gawky charm. This may seem very facile to the film’s passionate supporters, but I don’t see this movie as being particularly joycore, and I just don’t have room in my life for tweemo cinema at this moment in time. Whereas other people seem to be getting a “everybody deserves to be loved and make real connections with other people” message from the film, all I see is a bunch of characters totally crippled by their neediness and loneliness, who never quite advance beyond that stage in spite of some rather arc-y screenwriting. Is profound emotional immaturity a sort of virtue in Miranda July’s world? Are hugs and let’s-hold-hands togetherness really the answer to everything? As noted by several other critics, July clearly loves her characters too much, and I would suggest that she has a rather misguided affection for her own creations.

Though the film follows an assortment of interconnected characters, the A story follows the painfully awkward romance of July’s character and a recently divorced shoe salesman played by Deadwood‘s John Hawkes. The two lack chemistry entirely, and it’s never quite clear why July takes a liking to him other than that he may be the only available man that she knows, and he has the same propensity for revealing far too much about his interior world at totally inappropriate moments. There are several chunks of dialogue spouted off by these two characters that are just far too precious and over the top for their own good, to the point that I realized about halfway through the film that Batman Begins was actually a more plausible film in spite of Me and You‘s mundane setting. July does better with her supporting characters, particularly with Hawkes’ two young sons, but it’s never enough to make up for the relative ickiness of the leads.

I hate that the film’s ostensible villain is a curator who rejects the shitty, amateurish video art made by July’s character, and that she ultimately includes her in a museum show because July has wheedled her way into it, and the curator has realized how very sad and lonely she is. Oh boo hoo, Miranda! Some people have to reject things in life. Some people have to be critical. And thank God for that! Todd Serencha at The Face Knife absolutely nails this point:

It’s hard for me to take the film seriously philosophically when the world is so twee. Out of “everyone we know,” everyone is a secret snuggler, and I say to that Nay. It would be kind of hell to live in a world where people are spontaneously participating in little art projects or where cuddle parties are liable to break out at the drop of a guard.

Dub Narcotic Sound System featuring Miranda July “Out Of Your Mind” – So yeah, it’s not very shocking that with her combination of starving-artist pretensions, twee sensibility, and yearning for a supportive community, July would have ended up collaborating with Calvin Johnson at some point. That’s just sort of inevitable, right? This isn’t anything new, though – it goes back to 1998. This track will always bring to mind nostalgic thoughts of The Black Cat in Washington, DC, though I am almost entirely certain that the images and “memories” that it evokes aren’t in any way rooted in any actual experiences that I had during my brief time living in that city. But it’s probably better that way, given what a boring, depressive, repressed mess I was back then, and that I don’t remember the other people being that much different. (Click here to buy it from K Records.)

August 8th edit: The comments box discussion for this entry was particularly good, and since Haloscan eventually deletes them for space, here are the best bits of the thread for readers who come by and check this post out via Google in the future. All of the comments credited to Matthew are my own words.

Chalk up one reader who emphatically disagrees. I loved the movie, though I should note that I don’t see it as having “everybody deserves to be loved and make real connections with other people” as one of its themes at all. Though it appears I disagree on several fronts – I never saw the museum curator as a villain (certainly not after the “macaroni” bit, which happens shortly after you meet her), and I think the suggestion that July loves her characters too much is way off-base; she simply doesn’t judge any of them at all (this type of debate is, of course, always at the center of discussion about Solondz’ movies, which this has been compared to in some reviews – does he want to punish his characters? etc.) I related majorly to the idea that in moments of loneliness, we tend to fixate on details and give significance to small gestures (the banana sticker in John Hawkes’ car, the quarter the man hands the kid, the way a shoe fits, etc.)
Fuck, I don’t know, I loved it. Then again, the notion of people spontaneously participating in little art projects sounds excellent to me.
The Fixin’s Bar | 06.28.05 – 2:23 pm | #

Yeah, I wouldn’t say that it was a bad movie, cos I see an incredible power in this film to really make people happy or inspire them, etc. It just meant little to me, and so I only really think about the accumulation of little things that I really hated in the film, because that’s what lingers in my mind.
Matthew | Homepage | 06.28.05 – 2:27 pm | #

At the very least, you had to have loved the initital “back and forth” scene, right?

))((
The Fixin’s Bar | 06.28.05 – 3:56 pm | #

“Is profound emotional immaturity a sort of virtue in Miranda July’s world?”

She’s from Olympia. You do the math.
mike | Homepage | 06.28.05 – 4:04 pm | #

Actually, she is not from Olympia, she is from the Bay and spent a few years in Portland. She has a lot of reverence for everyone’s art and connection through art — she was basically the film arm of Riot Girl, with her DIY film/feminist video chainletter MISS MOVIOLA. Which is applaudable and not cynical. I am not sure why so many people see the neediness as pathetic, or even see neediness so profoundly and are so quick to typify it as negative. I see the film being about being failing and flailing in our humanity, where child sexuality intersects with adult word ( rather than adults scared of sex as the Reader’s J. Rosenbaum called it as), it felt very real – the people I know in my life are p[eculiar and desperate and want to be loved and suffering and showing up at thier crushes work with socks on their ears like Eeyore. They are doing

rabbit rabbit style hex removal by touching banana stickers. I think there is a huge difference between TWEE and PAYING ATTENTION TO DETAIL. Twee means you are not brave, you are sweet and smooshable, you are a Belle and Sebastian obsessive. Miranda’s movie is brave. Any movie that portrays teen sexuality as honestly as it does — rather than salacious OTT rub fantasy ala Thirteen or like Porky’s style virginity loss gigglefest — that cannot be twee. I think maybe people are taking MJuly’s egalitarian love and hope for something wide eyed and naive. The movie dares us to betray our cynicism.

Also, I suggest anyone who liked the movie checked out an art project project that miranda is involved with called learningtoloveyoumore.com
and also seek out MJ’s recent short stories published in Harvard Review and Paris Review — more on the themes of trying to get past yourself to have real connection with the world, and/intersection between adult world and kid world – the gap between.
Jessica Hopper | 06.28.05 – 4:34 pm | #

One thing that I did find really interesting about Me and You is how it presented all of the characters as though they were all the same age, but their age in most cases was something that boxed them in to their roles.

All of my favorite scenes were the ones involving teen sexuality, and I basically agree with Jessica on that score. It’s the adult relationships that bugged me – that’s where the tweeness came in as far as I’m concerned. I don’t think I could ever view neediness as being an attractive or admirable quality, so I think that’s the major point of philosophical departure here.
Matthew | Homepage | 06.28.05 – 4:51 pm | #

So Miranda July is kind of the Eminem of the hideously cute?
Eppy | Homepage | 06.28.05 – 6:08 pm | #

Can you unpack that a bit, Eppy?
Matthew | Homepage | 06.28.05 – 6:25 pm | #

So yr pissed at the movie for treating people precious or for the adults not being adult enough?

To need and to want to be needed – romantically or platonically — is not only one of the fundamental tenets of life, but it’s what about 86% of slow jams/pop-rock/indie-rock/sex-pop/mooney french vocal house etc etc is about. I think it’s such a strange thing to beef with. I mean, granted, on a sociological level, men are goaded to view “need” as weak and not part of their emotional palate, so that might make sense… though Fluxblog comments zone might not be the best place to through down some 80’s style gender essentialism, so pardon if that’s offending yr wild style. Also, re: ‘starving artist pretentions’ — I do not think there was ever pretense or pretend or anything other than tres vrai informed experience. Homegirl was making movies for $11 for years, and doing spoken word remix 12″s with IQU, I really doubt it paid the bills.
Jessica Hopper | 06.28.05 – 6:26 pm | #

“To need and to want to be needed – romantically or platonically — is not only one of the fundamental tenets of life, but it’s what about 86% of slow jams/pop-rock/indie-rock/sex-pop/mooney french vocal house etc etc is about.”

This is true, so my problem with the film is more in its style and execution. There’s nothing wrong with that theme per se (I loved Funny Ha Ha, which certainly dealt with similar things, but with far more subtlety and almost zero preciousness), but I think that July’s articulation of the idea and her apparent conclusions are something I just can’t get with at this point in time.
Matthew | Homepage | 06.28.05 – 6:42 pm | #

Fuck. I thought Hopper had my back until I got to the Belle & Sebastian-obsessive part. Because I loved “M&Y&EWK,” but I’m also one of those B&S freaks.
The Fixin’s Bar | 06.28.05 – 7:06 pm | #

I’ve never even heard of the movie but from the way everyone describes it–both supporters and detractors–it sounds fucking horrible. Makes me want to listen to my Big Black records.
Rich in CLE | 06.29.05 – 2:21 am | #

Er, unpacking: Jessica was making basically a realism argument, i.e. it’s OK that MJ is showing these repulsively cutesy things because friends of Jessica also do these things, which is one of the arguments made to justify Eminem back in the day, as I recall: sure, it’s odious, but it’s an accurate representation of white male underclass rage etc. etc. I guess this interpretation probably runs counter to MJ’s intentions–she was trying to charm people, not throw the terrifying reality of Northwestern cutsiness in their faces–but it’s funny, anyway.

Also, there’s a difference between “needing” and “being needy,” and from what I can see, Matthew’s decrying the latter. Being needy is regarded as a pretty much 100% negative, uber-turnoff amongst my peer group, which I can have show up en masse and vouch for their mixed-gender status etc. if needed.

Also: if anything, it’s the males I know that are needy, not the females! But then I hang around with dorks.

I think if you’re looking for men being masculine and not-weak, you’re barking up the wrong corner of the interweb.
Eppy | Homepage | 06.29.05 – 10:58 am | #

RE: the curator lady. Being from Portland, I recognized her character as so real–there has always been an entrenched artist beef w/ Portland Institute of Contemporary Art’s rigid lack of support for local artists, and their notorious one show a year (or in the case of the Portland Art Museum, the Oregon Biennial). (PICA is getting way better about this.) But it’s not just a Portland thing, it is an incredibly difficult, almost sadistic process for young artists to get into museums, always has been. Did you see the Diane Arbus exhibit at the Met? She pratically had to clean the Guggenheim’s toilet to get in. It was a realistic narrative, and not whiney or fitful at all, whereas it could have been. It was an interesting way to show the artists’ uphill climb for legitimacy, without really villainizing anyone.

It’s not so twee, either– w/miranda’s movie you have to distinguish between infantile and childlike, being willing to accept a kind of newness and openness into your life versus simply getting fetal (p.s. i don’t think the word childlike has neg connotations). Miranda’s movie wasn’t any more breathless, sweet than say Rushmore– its characters were odder actually, in a subtler manner. (I mean, she was stalking the shoe salesman. And it was more about being in the moment than romanticism, even–she started loving him just as her older friend told her he had wasted his life with someone he didn’t love, and mentally you could see she was like, “oh snap, carpe diem”–that was a real turning point in the movie.)

I think neediness is entirely relative. But I am actually curious as to what you would define as “being needy.” I have my own ideas but i would like to know what you think.

Personally I was like, “finally a movie with characters who feel as alienated lonely OCD weird and effed up as I and most people I know feel, but (this is key) never talk about–only these characters don’t end up offing themselves or marrying Richard Gere.” Their neuroses really spoke to that (i.e. Christine obsessively touching the round sticker on her dashboard.) I don’t think Miranda was making a concerted effort to charm people. She has spent the past like 14 yrs talking to all kinds of people about their lives for her art–she’s probably talked to more people than some journalists–and she was trying to present a real story of how real people deal, but put a little magic inside, to maybe manifest the impulses ppl suppress because of cynicism and fear. It was all about being on a limb.

Rich in CLE: you should totally check it out, it is a movie about fucking (kind of). And a guy lights his own h

and on fire.

one more thing, sorry–if you listen to the albums miranda made w/kill rock stars when she was living in oly, they are like the creepiest ever–more david lynch/dr demento. they’re terrific, broken-edged and nothing twee about them.
Julianne Shephard | Homepage | 06.29.05 – 5:46 pm | #

“there has always been an entrenched artist beef w/ Portland Institute of Contemporary Art’s rigid lack of support for local artists, and their notorious one show a year (or in the case of the Portland Art Museum, the Oregon Biennial).”

See, this is kinda the thinking that I hate – that curators of any kind have some kind of obligation to “local artists” regardless of whether or not said local artists are any good or interesting to the curator or something that will draw people and money to the institution. That “but I’m a local artist!” line always seems like a complaint born of entitlement.
Matthew | Homepage | 06.29.05 – 11:41 pm | #

oh i’m with you on that–ppl shouldn’t expect anything SIMPLY cause they’re local, if their work is substandard–i guess i should have clarified that PICA branched off the PAM because of its lack of local support/vision.
Julianne Shephard | Homepage | 06.30.05 – 10:03 am | #

It’s so refreshing to see a negative/constructive criticism about ‘Me And You And Everyone We Know’ – I thought it was poorly executed and thematically trivial. Yet everyone seems to love it – for no real reason apart from it’s universally dull goody-goodyness. There’s another amusing text/review over at this place: http://lost.burnthead.com/index….hp? showimage=27 Anyway, good review.
theguy | 06.30.05 – 12:48 pm | #

I’m 20 and I thought it was a total load of crap. The only highlights were the initial back-and-forth scene, as someone mentioned, and the salesman fitting the old man’s shoes, just because that’s a ridiculous procedure that needed to be committed to film.
Anthony | 06.30.05 – 3:14 pm | #

The part of my review that Matthew chose to excerpt here is mostly tongue-in-cheek; it’s a reflection of my own horror and fear of intimacy, ironically aligning me with some of the characters in July’s movie, because that’s pretty much the theme of the movie. Like Todd Solondz’s movies, July’s film is about the crazy things people do to establish or avoid intimacy, but unlike Solondz, July’s characters have the possibility of redemption. The possibility for growth is explicitly precluded in Solondzville, where as in Julysylvania, things can change in an instant, and you more or less don’t have to try. That’s what makes it twee, beyond the design, the music, etc. Twee is not necessarily a bad thing, but when coupled with the hermetic world of an over-workshopped short story, which is what July’s plot and characters are victim of, it seems to me, creates an ornamental view of life that’s incompatible with any serious feeling.

The comparison to Wes Anderson is apt – Anderson’s films are twee in design and concern, but his characters have explicit, dislikable flaws. He’ll err on the side of making someone unsympathetic (Steve Zissou) whereas July errs on the side of making everyone sympathetic.

That’s not to say that July is a shitty director/writer. The film is very funny, but I don’t think it transcends the indie ghetto from whence it came.
Todd | Homepage | 07.01.05 – 11:34 am | #

It’s funny that someone with such a cloyingly designed/written website would take Miranda July to task for being twee. Look at your logo, dude, and tell me that Fluxblog isn’t all about a desire to be cuddled.
Anonymous | 07.06.05 – 3:25 am | #

Style of Eye featuring Freeda “You Got That” – When they sing “you’ve got the feeling,” I don’t think they necessarily mean that it’s something that you have and that they are acknowledging, but rather something that they are granting you (or unlocking within you) at that moment in the song. It’s like a funky benediction. (Click here to buy it from Tunes.)

Also: I am way behind in checking/sorting through all the mp3s that get sent to the fluxblog @ gmail.com address, so please don’t be offended if it takes me a long time to even get to your email. As you can imagine, I am swamped with mp3s and cds, more and more all the time, and it’s almost impossible for me to be very fair with this while also having a life and working. This goes double for people who write me with link requests. I do not do link exchanges as a rule, but I do check every site and sometimes like them a lot. I will be changing the design and layout of this site sometime in the not-too-distant future, and the links section is either going to be reduced or expanded, I haven’t decided just yet. Either way, I haven’t been tinkering with the existing links bar much recently, except to add a handful of notable sites that I check regularly for one reason or another. Please don’t be offended or discouraged if I don’t link you immediately, or at all. The links are there for my own convenience more than anything else.

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.)