Crazy Talk!

In case our single remaining reader is wondering...

I am most def going to see Bon Iver and Bowerbirds at Space Gallery, July 25. Returning to Portland, ME to find a show as enticing a this gives me great hope that my sheltered little city might be tipping national. If you haven't heard either of these bands, I highly recommend a listen, however casual.

Monday MP3's

Thought I'd take a minute to link up some quality mp3's to help you through Monday (a very dreary one at that, here in the Bay). Three from fabulous Worker's Institute and a bonus Sub Pop offering. Enjoy!

Loney, Dear - I Am John (Sub Pop)

Peter and the Wolf - Safe Travels (Worker's Institute)

My Latest Novel - The Reputation of Ross Francis (Worker's Institute)

Amina - Hemipode (Worker's Institute)

Podcast: Noise Pop 2007

San Francisco's Noise Pop festival is coming up this weekend.  Tune into our podcast to hear CrazyTalk's picks of great shows, featuring the bands Annuals, Midlake and dios malos.

Download NoisePopPodcast.mp3

The Year in Review: List Season

I picked up the new Bay Guardian yesterday to find that list season has officially begun. Yes, their Top Ten this and thats are hot off the press, and I am justly inspired to add my three cents to the debate. To qualify, the Bay Guardian is a place I would love to work and to which I have applied to be a Cultural Editor...it's full of independent-minded pavement pounders who seem to cover every cool occurrence in a city that counts such by the second. This includes, it seems, everything from a truly great Army of Whores show, to the purchase of an exquisite pair of vintage jeans by somebody you've never heard of at a store that exists in someone's garage, but only for two hours every third Sunday. Pretense aside, it is a top-notch city paper that covers local bands better than the rest and maintains a database of local nude beaches.

My lists in the past have followed a strict top to bottom ranking format that I wish to overhaul this year. Why? Because this year I dropped the ball on paying close attention to new releases. After SXSW in March, I enjoyed about a month of firedupedness during which I bought and/or listened to the finest finds with rapt attention. In June, I headed for the desert to read poetry and study Chicano lit and basically cut myself off from the world of the new for two months. The fall has been similar in terms of feeling cut off, but in my new town, it's the inescapable newness of all things that is debilitating. Frankly, I'm taking comfort in what I know now...like that kid in everyone's kindergarten class who koala beared onto mommy's leg on the first day of school.

So hate on my list if my choices are safe and sound similar to what I've thrown out before. Make your own list if you wish (hint, hint)...but please know that the more comfortable I feel in my new town, the stranger my tastes are bound to become.

Albums of the year:

Band of Horses: Everything All the Time

According to my iTunes play counter, I have listened to three tracks from this album over 60 times since I bought this in April.  "Our Swords,"  "Great Salt Lake," and "St. Augustine" are like comfort food, like great garlic mashed potatoes; I can listen to any of the three at any time of day in any place and enjoy them as much as the previous play. Band of Horses should patent their vocal effect (maybe it's just a load of reverb)...it's Jim James in an echo chamber...it's familiar, but haunting...it's painfully addictive.

Beirut: Gulag Orkestar

If somebody had told me at the start of the year that I'd fall in love with a klezmer influenced experiment, complete with horns, waifish, ragged vocals, and generally bizzaro orchestration, I'd have been all "Vat kind of Mishegas is that?" Give "Prenzlauerburg" a listen and see if some old-timey Eastern Euro futz is worth the tsimmes.

Midlake: The Trials of Van Occupanther

Thanks to Howie for turning me on to Midlake; they've made my fall. This band sounds like an amalgamation of some personal faves of the past...I hear Magnetic Fields, Travis, The Cure, Queen, good Steely Dan, even Billy Breathes era Phish. This band is too talented for their own good. They seem to fit so much into each track that it becomes a burden to plow through the whole album at once. But pick a track or two at a time you'll marvel at their knack for hooks and ladders.

Voxtrot: Three EP's

Why do they tease with this slow EP syrup? I've written about how much I love their stuff too many times already to explain this pick away, but those who haven't caught on yet, shame on you and yours. Not really, I just wanted to fit 'you and yours' into this holiday post.



Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltzin: Broom

What would a year-end list of mine be without at least one artist shamefully channeling the Beach Boys? This is pop hook magic; a great Christmas gift to tide loved ones over until The Shins finally reenter the kingdom Pop.  Think Weezer, Irving, and, yes, the fearsome foursome.

The Silent League: Seaside Sessions

Okay, this is a 2005 release which is cheating, but I love this little 5 track job too much to leave it off. It's sappy and sweet and anthemic...enough to make Cam vomit syrup. But I needed this when my brain was under attack in New Mexico.

Kite Flying Society: Where is the Glow?

As much as I liked The Boy Least Likely To in person, I think their album was a tough listen all the way through. KFS's album is a more user friendly cousin...peppy and harmonious in all the same ways, but with fewer songs to skip. "6000 Shipwrecks" was my MySpace theme song for a few months...very catchy. If you ever find yourself pining for the lollipop simplicity of The Monkees, lick away.

The Elected: Sun,Sun,Sun

I overplayed this one, but I was full-on obsessed with the first 8 tracks of this album Feb-May. Fine, you don't like Blake Sennett's mousy rasp, and you think the songs are derivative, but some of the lyrics on this album are straight up brilliant. I remember BC yelping with glee and scribbling furiously in his notebook when "I heard that we could be fulfilled, like fireflies in a steel mill..." came out at their SXSW show...and Ben is no fair weather simile fan.

Field Music: Field Music

This pick took me months to appreciate. I was annoyed to no end by the quick rhythmic changes on this album. It seemed that just when a melody was firmly established in a given track, it would be abruptly cut, or the song would do a u-turn. When those quick licks started to become familiar and expected, I started to get it. This album is all over the freakin place, but I love it pieces.

Mates of State: Bring It Back

Can't quite find the words...too amazing.

Others:
Islands: Return to the Sea
Flaming Lips: At War with the Mystics
Page France: Hello, Dear Wind
The Decemberists: The Crane Wife

Disappointed with:
French Kicks
Golden Smog
The Long Winters

That's that...bring on '07.

Totally Pretentious Hipster Wear Gets Its Due

Soft-core ad pusher American Apparel finally gets trashed for being totally useless. In the long history of hipster fashion brainwashing, AA has to be the most egregious offender...Hush Puppies, you may breathe easier. Read Harvard Crimson writer Rebecca Harrington's hilarious rant.

This Is How We Roll in NE...Seriously

We may be vanilla, but our labs are chocolate.

June Playlist

So I've been in hiding for a month or so, trying to wrap up skool and coach a team of racket-wielding young ladies to state championship glory, so apologies for the lack of activity.  Here are a few things I am enjoying currently:

French quintet Syd Matters has a new album which I will buy and enjoy. Think Simon and Garfunkel with an Air-y ambiance. Seems fitting for a late afternoon glass on a back porch.

I enjoy the new Field Music as well.  This album takes a bit of getting used to...lots of rhythm changes and broken melodies, but catchy and British and likeable. Maybe Of Montreal for comparison? Lots of sunny Cali harmonies.

Also try Nashville's The Bees (US), evidently forced to be patriotic by another band (of bees) from the UK.  Seems the most unnessesary name change since Dio sued Dios. Moniker aside, this is catchy and will fit into your playlist among Ben Folds and Fruit Bats.

Lastly, try These United States on for size. A mix of rusty pop and folk that's a pleasing listen. I'm pretty sure I sat next to their guitarist, Mark, on a plane to Austin in March, so I'm glad to prop them here on our modest blog. Also cool that their abbreviated name is a greek hero.

I just can't get you out of my head...

I am officially giddy.  And I mean the same giddy as when I sat in seventh grade science and felt my heart race when lovely Lauren Cantner looked my way.  That giggly, childish, no control over my usually coordinated limbs kind of adrenaline-laced giddiness that might induce this average white boy to dance, dizzyied and intoxicated. I can't seem to rid my head of Voxtrot's 'The Start of Something' and I'm starting to wonder when I ever will. 

I first heard this track live in Austin at the Diesel Party.  I watched the scene in awe as the usually manequin-like shoulders,hips and supportive stems of the hipster attendees began to twitch at its outset, and I had to rub my eyes more than twice as some of the more brazen listeners morphed head-bobbing into full-on leaping and bounding as though the floor of the dance hall were suddenly tramplofied (that's a new word. TM)

Respekt, misspelled intentially in my book to exaggerate its worth, is gained not when musicians can shock an audience OUT of their element, but instead when they are able to amplify the expected atmosphere of a show to an unexpected degree.  To me, it's far easier to wow a crowd with discomfort (see Marilyn Manson/ Henry Rollins) than to awe them with something so purely refined and intoxicating that they quite literally jump out of their shoes.

The latter took place in front my own eyes at that Elks lodge in Austin (or German beer hall or whatever it was) to such a degree that I literally started laughing uncontrollably and turned to everyone in my immediate vicinity to confirm that they too were witnessing something out of the ordinary. Indie kids don't dance...unless someone throws on 'Slippery When Wet' in a hilarious yet sophisticated gesture of music snobbery. Then and only then might they slightly bob their heads in appreciation.

But these kids were full on rockin' to Voxtrot! This was gimmick-free enthusiasm (sorry Lips) elicited by a band that few in the audience had ever heard.  When does that happen in this day and age? Didn't the nineties kill rock's sense of fun? Aren't we supposed to cross our arms and stare at our shoes in some sort of intellectual ponderance as our favorite band performs?

"NAY!!" say Voxtrot and their growing following. "Shed your inhibitions and your Buddy Holly glasses! Your wallet chain will keep your $6 in ones in your pocket while you bounce to our infectous rhythm. No one is watching. Leave our show sweaty and satisfied, and then go ye forth and spread the gospel of the movers and shakers!"

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$5 Playlist: AG's iPod Can't Shake These Tracks

We began this Crazy Talk! ride with the intention of sharing our auditory predilections with those friends (and strangers) too far across country to converse with on a regular basis.  We were (and in most cases, still are) poor, and there is no way we can afford the outrageous $1.40 or so that it takes to send a mix to the opposite coast, much less call long-d. So let me be the second or third to offer this solution (in hopes that it might actually catch on this time):
1) Go now to your iTunes 'brary,
2) Find five songs that you assume others in blog-land might not have heard but would enjoy (even randoms from favorite albums/artists of yore),
3) Offer to the world a 20-30 minute intro to your personal soundtrack of the day/week/month.

I'm hoping that this may, in fact, help to revive the SIKH column that graced our pages last summer and fall--with a twist.

My first playlist:

1) Trains to Brazil : Guillemots
2) Long Haul : Voxtrot
3) A Track and A Train : Shout Out Louds
4) The Loving Sounds of Static : Mobius Band
5) The Great Salt Lake : Band of Horses

News: French Kicks Unveil New Album Details

Brooklyn-based French Kicks have announced a few details about their upcoming album release through Startime. According to their site, the album, titled 'Two Thousand', is slated to be released in July and is desribed as follows:

"There are things you'll hear on this one that you won't find on any other french kicks record, some things you won't find on any other record period, and also some familiar french kicks family sounds. We think it's a real good listen."

Considering the record prior, 2004's Trial of the Century (an AG top ten pick that year, thanks cam), the anticipation here at CT is heavy. The team was hypnotized by their 2005 SXSW performance at Buffalo Billiards, so a live viewing in a intimate venue near you is highly recommended. Will anybody complain if they 're spitting tracks like this? Below are some spring tour dates...more to follow in summer:

4/11/06 Baltimore, MD @ Sonar (All Ages)
4/12/06 State College, PA @ Darkhorse Tavern (21+)
4/14/06 Washington DC@ 9:30 Club (w/ Ladytron)
4/15/06 New York, NY @ Irving Plaza (w/ Ladytron)
4/16/06 Philadelphia, PA @ TLA (w/ Ladytron)
4/17/06 Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club (w/ Ladytron)

SXSW 2006: Blogger's Ball

To say that SXSW was a defining moment in the year of our burgeoning blog is a heavy understatement.  With confidence and karma on our side, seven of Crazy Talk!’s contributors laid health and sanity on the line to inspire you, our readers, to perhaps come to know a favorite artist a bit better by way of a candid interview or to make your next album purchase more informed.  With a wile that would have inspired even the most crafty coyotes, our seven member squad of aficionados used any means necessary to see the shows that needed to be seen and to chat with the movers and shakers of the week.  Just scroll through the list of Podcasts below: Brit Daniel? Rogue Wave? WMMF? Voxtrot? These are some of the most sought after artists of the entire festival! But we managed casual conversation with the lot. Oh, and did we mention that only three out of seven of us bought badges?

Call it counterproductive, but I’m here to officially call the SXSW badge system the biggest scam on the planet.  Need to see Morrissey? Beastie Boys?  Lyle Lovett? Sure I do, when they come to my city as part of a national tour. But are they who SXSW is about? Heck no. SXSW is a buzz maker, a festival of speculation during which the industry’s finest (we hope) have an opportunity to sample the latest buffet of up-and-comers and respond to them.  Certainly there are sub-categories at work beyond the big and small fish, and by no means does Nickel Creek, My Chemical Romance or The Wallflowers detract from the festival (hell, I’m glad they’re able to cut down the crowds at the showcases I’d like to see by lining their devoted lemmings a few times around the block at the bigger venues).  The festival is not for them though.  It’s for me and you and your friend who you’ve told about ‘The Boy Least Likely To’ and who you’re maybe trying to impress.  Should we have to pay $500 to enjoy ourselves and impress our friends? I think not.

On Friday, we carried buffet trays into a show and stayed.  That night, we employed the rotating ‘plus one/re-entry’ method to enter a private party/brawl scene.  Later still, we used the “Plus one? No, plus six…” method to confound a lovely door-keep into submission.  And the “we’re here for an interview with [random name you make up on the spot] who plays in [The Fortuitous Robots or some such odd moniker]” line is a slayer as well. And who can forget planning ahead…that works too.  $500? I spent less to fly to the event, eat, and stay in Austin for four days than what many paid to see Rhett Miller.  Next year, though the badges do give you a stellar look of belonging and access to that one event at the conference you’re just dying to see (aka. Neil), I’m flying naked again and ordering up the biggie sized Jamba Juice without hez…unless, course, a label wants to send a few passes our way.  It’s always nice to look official, but the CT team done fine without ‘em.

My final tally (in order of appearance): Aloha, What Made Milwaukee Famous, Rogue Wave (twice), Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, The Boy Least Likely To, Voxtrot, Editors, The Appleseed Cast, Blues Brother Castro, This Moment in Black History, The Elected (twice), Earlimart, The Duke Spirit, Band of Horses, White Whale, Annie Hayden, The Essex Green, Superchunk, Camera Obscura, Robert Pollard (Guided By Voices)

Thanks for an amazing few days Austin!

Take Your Medicine

It's 45 degrees and raining in New England on this February Friday, and there is nothing I can do but let my mood fall right in line with the oppressive melancholy of the scene outside of my classroom window. Nowhere else pulls off the greys and browns like New England during a thaw, except maybe our namesake isle across the pond. Point is, I am in dire need of relief from this winter of mud and five o'clock sunsets. Music will have to be my savior, but I'm in no mood for rock n' roll.

Luckily, in the mindset matching department, I have been alerted of a new release from one of my favorite artists, Eef Barzelay (aka. the Clem Snide lead singer/wunderkind). For those of you unfamiliar, Clem Snide, a Brooklyn based foursome, are one of the most dependable independent bands of the last decade. Their early albums were fun-loving and ironic, laid out beautifully and candidly in Barzelay's earnest, trembling tenor. 'Your Favorite Music' and 'The Ghosts of Fashion' are must haves, with tracks like 'I Love the Unknown,' 'Don't Be Afraid of Your Anger,' and 'Long Lost Twin' solidifying their niche as poet laureates for the confounded 20-something crowd. Though their bite has been dulled in their more recent efforts by a more romantic approach (see 'Soft Spot'), they continue to contribute albums that are well worth the price.

Barzelay's solo effort, 'Bitter Honey,' is the first of its kind that I know of. Almost every Clem Snide album features a track or two of stranded guitar and vocals, but the band is better known for its creative din of muted horns and banjos played with cello bows. From what I've heard, this album finds Barzelay alone and exposed with only his acoustic guitar for support. His unique voice wallows within a sullen, lonesome range that bleeds honesty and adeptly captures the grey landscape of a midwinter scene. I get the feeling that if I saw these tracks live on a day like today, I would gladly burst into tears.

For folks seeking midwinter medicine of the rueful, lonely sort, this might be your opportunity to injest a healthy dose. Sometimes, a stubborn melancholy can only be treated by indulging its own necessity; too much sun is no good for an honest soul.

In stores 2/21

Kentucky, DC, and Boston will see him soon.  West Coast in April.

Radio Cure

Be sure to catch Of Montreal on Morning Becomes Eclectic at, or any time after, 11:20am PT today here.  Crazy Talk! is hoping to catch up with this Athens, GA conglomerate at SXSW in March, so Mr. Harcourt better not steal all of the good questions. Should be a fine show.

Throwback

While you city folk were out last weekend in your vintage tees and your trendy, thick-framed glasses, watching some disaffected bard who looks something like you minus the shower you took this morning, I was in Northern Maine, sporting a corderoy/flannel ensemble of some sort, a PBR tall-boy in hand, relishing in the experience of a solid jam-band throwback show. It had been ten years since I had last seen Big Head Todd and the Monsters, the Colorado trio once somewhat famous in crunchy high-schools nationwide for their hits 'Bittersweet' and 'Broken Hearted Savior.'

The crowd was an eclectic mix of burly locals, chugging Miller Light from those lame 'yard-of-ale' plastic commerative cups, and a good number of cooler-than-thou snow junkies proudly displaying their hat-hair after a long day of 'ripping up the steeps, maan.' And there were certainly the gratuitous bearded noodlers here and there as well, doing their best impression of those freaky air-sock beings that you see outside of auto malls. The booze and bud intake was definitely at a fever pitch for these folks, but this was a fairly civilized group in general.

Actually, wait, scratch that...I definitely saw a member of the Miller crowd flash the band.

Big Head Todd, aka. Todd Park Mohr, and his duo of Monsters played a set of oldies that leaned heavily on the Midnight Radio and Sister Sweetly albums of the early 90's. A few tracks that I hadn't heard in years really caught my attention, namely 'It's Alright,' and a 'Monument in Green/Please Don't Tell Her' mix that spanned a good fifteen minutes. Truth is, Mr. Mohr can really throw together a gratifying guitar solo: well timed, gradual, and building at an appropriate pace, they always seem to deliver the goods at the pinnacle moment. The band leans heavily on this fact, but unlike the true noodlers of the jam-band genre, BHT do not bury their tracks under the solos. Most of their songs could stand alone without them. They write down to earth, intelligent lyrics (or at least they did fifteen years ago) and the loose sound built to support them is both catchy and fulfilling. Honestly, having revisited 'Midnight Radio' following the show, I would hesitate to say that BHT are indeed a jam-band at all. That is just a damn-fine rock band, one I would heartily recommend to those who attended the stray high school that missed them.

Ok, so I quit on this band after two or three albums beacause the production began to dominate otherwise decent songwriting, but in the midst of a crowd of a thousand Northern New England hooligans, I rediscovered a bit of music thrown to the wayside years ago.

'Midnight Radio' is now back on my playlist, and I couldn't be happier.

On the Itinerary

With SXSW on the horizon, I am about to begin the grueling task of sorting through the outrageous list of bands to find the few shows that I'll be able to attend.  I was pleasantly suprised to see The Long Winters on the docket, figuring that they may have disbanded after two spectacular albums in 2001 and 2003.  I was able to see them in Arlington, VA at Iota in the fall of 2003 and nearly burned a whole in their stellar album, 'When I Pretend to Fall' in the months following.

The album sported an outrageous cast of supporters including Peter Buck (REM) and Scott McCaughey (The Minus 5) as musicians, and Ken Stringfellow (Posies) and Chris Walla (Death Cab) as producers.  I have no idea how this Barsuk all-star team failed to gain more publicity for the album.  The fact that the Iota club was nearly empty for the show on a Friday night should have given me some clue that the marketing of the band wasn't, evidently, a priority. 

The band will be kicking out a full-length album in 2006, according to the Barsuk website.  In the meantime, they have fed us a teaser in the form of a stellar EP, 'Ultimatum.' The title track is available here.  Lead singer/songwriter John Roderick melds his scratchy vocals and his gift for poetic remark in the form of catchy, but not overly redundant melodies. Some have lush string arrangements as backing, while others appear raw and deliberate. 

I am itching for a chance to see these songs performed live, so pencil them in to your SXSW schedule if you like what you hear.  Not all of you though...I'm too cheap to buy a badge, and I don't want to have to fight you in line.
jkbff (smily face) (heart)

So This is the New Year

It's been a slow couple of weeks here at Crazy Talk!, due to the fact that our contributers are mostly students or teachers or dads or have recently become engaged to one another. These things all require major family time and/or vacations unavailable to the common working stiffs of the world. Big congratulations to Ben and Erin, Carl and Michelena, and Oliver and Ellen on their upcoming commitment to monogamy from the CT readers and writers!

Anyway, it's 2006 and CT is officially one year old. After a year of steady growth, we are ready to turn our hipster radar up to eleven and find for you, our dear readers, some more hidden morsels of music that might have escaped your gaze while threading the aisles of your favorite record store. It looks as though we will yet again send a scouting party down to Austin in March for South by Southwest, which will definitely bring some more tasty interviews and show reviews to your screens. By summer, we should be showered with a number of anticipated releases from our favorite bands, some chronicled in previous posts below. By all accounts, Crazy Talk! will be recharged for your viewing pleasure in the coming days and we'll be back in business (or at least avoiding the business of learning, teaching, parenting, or engaged-ing-ing aka. wedding planning.)

Peas,
The Crazy Talk Staff.

New Album: Infinitely More Modest

The new Sun Kil Moon, 'Tiny Cities,' is out November 1st, and Mr. Kozelek is up to his old tricks.  This album again reinterprets the songs of a single artist, but instead of AC/DC or John D., they have injected their brand of foggy sedative into the work of Modest Mouse. And what a tracklist it is...

Drooool.

Hype Realized

At a time when my instinct reminds me to avoid bands prowling the music landscape shouldered with the heavy baggage of the media 'hype machine,' I am pleased to report on one whose back has survived unscathed.  What began as a solo project for lead singer Zach Rogue, Rogue Wave, now a full four-piece ensemble from San Francisco, has lived up to heavy expectation with their most recent effort 'Descended Like Vultures.'  After signing with Sub Pop for their first full length release, 'Out of the Shadow,' the heap of attention that comes with such a contract seemed to bury the end result.  The album was a solid first effort, strong in melody but lacking the dark moments that give an album depth.  Given the title, perhaps that was the point.

Tuesday's new release is a giant step forward in terms of its complexity and weight.  The base of California pop melodies still serve as the sugary frosting throughout, but the layers beneath make this a wholly satisfying album.  Tracks such as 'Publish My Love' and 'Catform' will remind listeners of stronger tracks from Ambulance Ltd., or, dare I say it, The Shins. A shining moment is the driven single, '10:1,' which is an obvious nod to The Pixies.  The easy listen of this effort is the drifting, somber track 'California,' which blends elements of Nick Drake and Mark Kozelek masterfully.  The fact that the track will no doubt have its day during a tearful parting on The OC doesn't bother me a lick.  Okay it does, but what can I do about it?  (see Daimian's rant below)

Listen. Respond.

ps. Rogue Wave also appears on the 'Stubbs the Zombie' soundtrack with Death Cab, The Walkmen, BK, Cake, The Flaming Lips, Milton Mapes, etc.  They cover Buddy Holly.  This, I recommend with hesitation.

Vinter's Blend

Q: Has there been a finer simple melody written this year than the collaborative effort by Calexico and Sam Beam, "History of Lovers," on their new EP?

A: Not a chance. Pedal steel, horns, and vocal harmonies that remind me to dust off my CSNY records...a late summer gem! 

Oh yeah, and the other tracks aren't half bad either.

MMJ Teaser

My Morning Jacket released a choice new track, 'Off the Record,' here to give us a taste of their upcoming (Oct. 4) release "Z"...great new sound if you ask me.

Pitchfork + Ryan Adams = Must Read

The strained relationship between Pitchfork and Ryan Adams gets a third installment this week in the form of another entertaining interview. Here's an excerpt:

Adams: I don't want to play the same set list every night. So we change the set list every night, and it makes for a different show every time. Some people are really stoked that it changes a lot. And then there are regular, disgruntled, douchebag people. I don't really give a fuck about those people, though. I'm not running for governor! Like so what, you didn't like it, so what, big fucking deal! I don't like Apple Jacks, but I bought three boxes. And I kept trying to like them, but I don't like them. I don't even like milk! So fucking what. Boo hoo.

Pitchfork: Good attitude.

Read on here.

Album Review: Sufjan Stevens' Latest Delicacy

I don't quite know where to begin when describing Sufjan Stevens' new album Illinois, because I don't think I'll be able to fully get my brain around it until this time next year.  Let me start by saying that this is the biggest, most ambitious, most majestic, soaring, lush, and intelligent hour and twenty-something minutes of music I have heard since The Flaming Lips' Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots.  And in all of the ways that Yoshimi stretched too far into the fantasy realm with its frivolous themes, Illinois remains a brave tribute to all of the many intricacies of a real place and real people, namely the album's namesake state and its variety of characters past and present.  The stories here are of presidents, serial killers, bustling cities, small towns, Native American battles, floods, and UFO sightings.  Included are the celebrated moments and figures, as well as the low points and outcasts. 

Let me say this again...this album is astounding in its ambition.  When Stevens embarked on his quest to document all fifty states through concept albums, who could have guessed that he would produce something of this magnitude with only his second effort.  To all of you who are already keen on Stevens' ambitious task and own the first installment, Michigan, I can tell you that like the results of this years' NCAA b-ball contests, the competition between the two is never in question when paired in the competative arena. 

To describe such a varied concept album is nearly impossible.  Illinois sounds like a soundtrack, as it should, but it is not a neatly boxed set of similar songs from similar genre.  My only context for comparison is a Wes Anderson film score, in which the off-beat orchestral stylings of Mark Mothersbaugh are offset by the hard hitting rock hits of Bowie, Jagger, and The Who, which are again, in turn, tempered by emotive folk tunes from Cat Stevens or Chad and Jeremy.  Who could predict that such an album might even be listenable, much less successful.  But like the soundtrack for Rushmore, easily my personal favorite movie soundtrack, Illinois miraculously succeeds as it twists and turns through rich orchestra, sullen folk, and intricate baroque pop numbers.

As a disclaimer, I won't say that this album is catchy, necessarily.  This one requires time and effort to reach full effect. I doubt you'll be playing this record on repeat or learning the guitar tab for 'The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades is Out to Get Us', but like the complex pallette of a fine bottle of wine or a succulant dish, you will be equally satisfied with each listen to such tracks.  Okay, that sounds pedantic as hell, but just roll with it, if you will...In the same way that a delicacy is best lauded by the salivatory reponse it induces, so too will such a rich and varied musical text as this be defined by the listeners' tongue-tied response.
 

This is, bar-none, the album of the year thusfar.  There is no record that comes to mind that is even in the same realm in terms of its ambition or variety.  Scold me for overselling this one if you think I've gone too far in my praise, but come at me with guns blazing before you try and cut this one down to anything less than spectacular.

Live Music: Wilco and My Morning Jacket in the Arena

We often talk about Wilco here on our news forum as though they can do no wrong. I'll be the first to admit that when some big news about the band pops, or some live show is announced in my area, I'm as much of a giddy little schoolgirl as anyone else. Well, I am here today to try to impartially review their recent show at Agganis Arena in Boston, and though our loyal readers may scoff at such a concept, I assure you that I attended this concert with a purposeful eye for its shortcomings and have cataloged a few I feel are worth mentioning.

To start, I should let you know that I attended this concert alone and was free from all sensation-enriching chemicals that may have in some way distorted my image of previous Wilco shows (most notably, that one at DAR Constitution Hall a few summers back).  Second, you should be informed that the venue was a giant, brand new hockey arena on the BU campus with roughly 5,000-10,000 seats that created a rocho effect (that's rock-echo for you novices) that Whitesnake would have found "bangin'."  I have a penchant for intimacy when attending concerts, and walking alone and sober into this monstrosity threw me off even before the lights went down.

My Morning Jacket was first on the bill and having only seen them play the 9:30 Club in D.C., I was excited to hear them in an arena setting.  I wouldn't say the same for most bands, but MMJ have the guitar sound and the frenzied hair whipping action that can really get an arena crowd into a frenzy.  Their set consisted of 8-10 classics from At Dawn and It Still Moves including 'Mahgeetah', 'One Big Holiday', 'Golden', and 'Lowdown', all succeeding admirably as they broke down into bounce off the roof jam sessions (except for the peaceful Golden, though it was pure in it's own right.)  The lack of rarities in the set was no surprise, given their 45 minute time slot, and the audience seemed impressed with what they heard.  I loved the set, even after realizing somewhere amid the frenzied guitar dual in one of their early numbers, that they sounded a whole lot like Stillwater rockin' 'Feverdog' in Almost Famous. But hey, let's be honest, Stillwater had Mark Kozelek and Jason Lee, so there's no shame in that.

Wilco opened their set with one of my favorite Mermaid Avenue tracks, 'Airline to Heaven,' spruced up nicely with some guitar and pedal steel work by Nels Cline and Pat Sansone.  In my opinion, it was the high point of their set.  From there, Wilco pandered and plodded through crowd-pleaser after crowd-pleaser performed in virtually the same order as the two shows I attended last summer:

1. Airline To Heaven
2. I'm The Man Who Loves You   
3. A Shot In The Arm   
4. Hell Is Chrome   
5. Handshake Drugs   
6. Company In My Back   
7. I Am Trying To Break Your Heart   
8. Heavy Metal Drummer   
9. Muzzle Of Bees   
10. At Least That's What You Said   
11. Jesus, Etc.   
12. Theologians   
13. I'm Always In Love   
14. Sunken Treasure      
15. Spiders (Kidsmoke)   

Encore 1:
16. Misunderstood   
17. War On War   
18. The Late Greats   
19. Kingpin    

Encore 2:
20. Hummingbird   
21. I'm A Wheel   
22. Outtasite (Outta Mind)   
23. I Shall Be Released (dylan)

The set made me question whether it's even worth seeing a band that you love more than once every few years. The idea of having a new interaction with the personalities in the band during subsequent concerts is appealing, but can you really have a new experience with the music if the same songs are played in the same way in the same order every time?  I was wishing I was one of the first-timers in the crowd.

The other glaring sore spot in my  experience was the band's inability to fill the arena space adequately throughout their entire set.  Whether they like it or not, Wilco's catalog is not built to blow away a crowd...they traded in Jay Bennett remember? I certainly don't want to suggest that it was a bad move on their part (in fact I think they have only become a truly important band since he was removed from the equation), but to play a successful full-arena set, they basically need to dust off their oldies. Play me 'Casino Queen,' 'I Got You,' 'Monday,' and 'I Must Be High,' in place of 'Sunken Treasure,' 'Muzzle of Bees,' and mellow Dylan covers...I'm in an arena for God's sake, and there's a shot people will take their clothes off if the energy stays up! Okay, so maybe not at a Wilco show, but the teenie-boppers in the arena still want to rock. That awkward sit down or stand up look being passed around doesn't belong at a true stadium ROK show.

As one post on Boston's Noise Forum cited: "Wilco trying to communicate with an arena audience is like something very very small fighting something very very large and strong."  I agree completely, and that's why I'm planning to let the Wilco live experience rest for a year or two.  If Jeff Tweedy gets back on the road solo, or perhaps Golden Smog puts a tour together, I'll be there in a heartbeat. For the moment though, I'm through with the same show on repeat and the larger venues.  They need to pay their bills, sure, but they should be wary of playing bigger on every tour.

Please feel free to comment, especially if you were at the show in Boston or have seen any of the current tour.

New Music: Party Like It's 1965

When I first started collecting records a few years back, my first large take came from the offerings provided by a few local thrift stores. These were albums that I was sure I should have: Elton John, The Beatles, Stones, Kinks, Simon and Garfunkle, etc.  I thought, 'Why should I even have a record collection if I don't pay homage to the roots of my favorite music?'  Of course, I was scolded by the audiophile owner of the local record shop, who insisted that I was crazy to allow my cartridge to succumb to the muck entrenched in the grooves of these dusty relics, and that I'd be better served buying his newly remastered, 180 gram, needle sharpening version for $40.  Since I didn't (and probably never will) own a table, receiver, or speakers that would know the difference, I quickly stocked my shelves with about fifty albums of need-to-own sixties pop-rock for next to nothing...and have never really istened to any of them.

The sixties for me seem like THE romantic era of rock and roll.  This was the decade that started with teens driving their roadsters off of 'dead man's curve' in a blaze of glory, and ended with the same teens soaring over the same small town on a pink and orange cloud in the midst of an acid induced psych-trip.  The Monkees and Beach Boys became The Who and The White Album in one grand romantic gesture of electric progress.  So why, I ask, is this decade ignored by the current cadre of artists who seem bent on reviving the 70's and 80's in their music?  Are the sixties overexposed by oldies radio, or are current influence nodders too afraid to tread in the steps of rock and roll giants?