Crazy Talk!

The Helio Sequence - Keep Your Eyes Ahead

I ordered the new Helio Sequence on vinyl when the pre-sale started the other day. While I waited I remembered thinking about how annoying it is to get a vinyl and not be able to easily transfer it to other media. And how, really, can't I just get a free mp3 download when I buy the record? Then, sure enough, Keep Your Eyes Ahead shows up on my doorstep with a sticker on front announcing the inclusion of a coupon for a free mp3 download. How about that? Plus I got all that other cool stuff... SubPop sticker (as always), KYEA sticker, KYEA ahead button, and a CD with some outtakes. I dunno, but that's a package for which I'm more than happy to shell out a few dollars.

I am, when trying to write about music, loathe to attempt a track-by-track review of any sort. I tried it once, and it was awful. I realized that and then realized that the only thing about which I am qualified to write is that which I feel. That often turns into a huge mish-mash of run-on sentences and inside jokes that only I get. Which is fine since I'm only writing for myself. Now, as I attempt to think what I feel, it's impossible for me to get away from the opening cut without saying something. There's really nothing original about the subject matter of Lately, and the song itself is pretty straight forward. If, however, there was a *type* of song that makes me cry, it's this. It's an easy idea to butcher, but this was done beautifully. The production and playing were both crystal clear and razor sharp (as they were throughout the album), and Brandon's voice soared and every word was placed perfectly. Easily one of the most beautifully painful things I've allowed myself to experience in quite some time. There's never an admission that every word of the song is a lie, but you can feel it. It's heavy and, at the same time, promises freedom. If you just put it down on paper. Put it in a song. Making it concrete makes it real, right? But no... no it doesn't. I didn't come away from their show in Charlotte feeling like this song is as amazing as I think it is now. But, really... just fantastic.

So... there's that. I tried to stay with Brandon's vocals, but the words quickly desolved halfway through the 2nd song, and his voice really became another instrument playing its part in a well choreographed tete-a-tete between space and sound. Now I purposefully did not listen to the record on myspace before I had it in hand... there's something about sitting in a room listening to music for the first time; I didn't want to ruin it. But they must have really been proud of these songs b/c they played most of them at the aforementioned show. I'm sure that had some effect on me as the next songs melded together, and I let them wash over me with a mild sense of comfort and familiarity. I'm spastic and fidgety enough that perhaps the highest compliment I can give to anything is that I was able to sit, unmoving, doing nothing else and not wondering what I would be doing next. It was soothing in such a strange way. I could feel the music slowly trying to pull some sort of low-level sadness out of me as it went by. And then Shed Your Love came on. A pretty atypical song for me to enjoy. No drums. Just Brandon picking a guitar and channeling shades of Bob Dylan with some neat production stuff going on in the background. Its placement on the record definitely helped the long, and it really pulls you out of the electronic beep-boops that are so often prevalent in Helio Sequence songs. Highly highly unexpected... both its presence on the record and that I'd actually like it. End Side 1.

Tangent... I'll try to make this quick... I was lucky enough to have been around real musicians a few times during the all-important final step of making an album. Figuring out the tracklist. I may have mentioned this before, but KYEA was done so perfectly that I just had to mention it again. A record has 2 first songs and 2 last songs. What those songs are is important. What if I Want You wasn't the last song on Abbey Road? That's all I'm really going to say about that except that the experience of listening to this album is greatly enhanced by the pause after Shed Your Love. (oh, and there was a big pause in the middle of the theatrical release of Lawrence of Arabia too...)

And there's a pause in the middle of this blog post... So, Side 2. Side 1 got you all good and depressed but not really sure why b/c it mostly sounds poppy and happy, and then they kick you with that last track and follow it up with the title track to open Side 2. The power of the pause. The effect is very mildly jarring as I listen to it now on iTunes... But Keep Your Eyes Ahead is a fantasticly hopeful and forward looking (duh) song. Red All-Stars. That's what it makes me think of. Sadly, it ends in a fade-out. One of those that seems to start fast and then just last a little longer than it should. So there's my one initial complaint about this record. The remaining four songs were all new to me, which was nice. I couldn't help but feeling Beck mixed with Primative Radio Gods on Back to This, which was strange... But both of which are good things. Side 2 kind of did this sin curve thing. Keep Your Eyes Ahead was definitely the highest peak, then we dipped a little for Back to This and then back up just a little for Hallelujah, and it was a great ride. I like Hallelujah a little bit more each time I hear it. There's a lot of noise, and the lyrics got lost very easily. Pretty sure I got the general idea tho. And Brandon's really got a fantastic voice. And then Broken Afternoon. I wasn't completely sure what to make of this. Initially b/c I just knew it was signalling, all too soon, the end of the record. Then b/c, well, where is Benjamin?? And then, why do I keep hearing Bob Dylan and Dan Bern? And, lastly, wtf is this? Dog Faced Boy? (No ophphense) I know it's a sign of weakness to fall into making comparisons, but it's all I've got at this point. The record ends with such an odd little ditty that it leaves me rather confused... As a whole, Keep Your Eyes Ahead holds up better as an album than Love and Distance. Largely b/c L&D played like Cooleyhighharmony with it's divided sides, and KYEA flowed in and out and played much smoother overall. Also the overall production quality is amazing with nothing seeming out of place and everything feeling as though it was meticulously planned and very carefully put together. Aside from that fade-out. My only other complaint? 37 minutes long.

How sad it was that we could not believe And everyone who believes And everyone who believes And they said, "We all said hallelujah" "We all said hallelujah" And everyone moves around with ease And everyone fell right to their knees and then, "We all said hallelujah" "We all said hallelujah" "We don't want answers anyway"

New Band: The Ministry of Love

Those guys over there in that photo.  They're The Ministry of Love.  And, perhaps, the only good thing for which I've used myspace that hasn't landed me in trouble with my girlfriend or the cops.  Or Homeland Security.

I've got a soft spot in what's left of my heart for a pair of fools getting together and trying to make music. read: The Helio Sequence, deadboy and the Elephantmen, and, I suppose, The White Stripes.

One fine evening I found myself clicking a random comment from The Helio Sequence's entry into myspace land... (yes, I'm *that* lame, but at least I didn't do it because their myspace name was LilGirlie16XXX or something.)  Despite their description, what graced my ears was anything but "a lawnmower running over a herd of dolphins."  And I should know... that thing about the cops earlier had nothing to do with LilGirlie16XXX...

Hailing from, where else, Seattle The Ministry of Love are TC Brownell and Aaron Roden - just a couple of guys trying to see what they can do with a room full of musical what-nots.  From the opening riffs of "Your Master Plan" through the admittedly typical closure of "RAD" I was drawn into the experiment on myspace like... hmmm... butter dripping off a hot biscuit?  No... like tears to spilt milk.  Yeah.  Like that.

Shit.  Just to prove how cool this is, I opened a Bass when I walked in the door, realized I had the MoL CD in my hand fresh from the FedUps guy, set the Bass down, came to my computer, listened twice, and starting writing this.  Thank God Scott taught me to use a coozie.

Now.  What was I talking about? ... Right.  These guys.

I know I started this mess out trying to be all googly over two-man bands cuz, like, we're connected, man, but the first thing I thought of while clicking through the myspace song links was a fantastic (although now defunct) band from Louisville called Reading.  (Which I also highly recommend - introduced to me by Mr. Dustin Edge.)  I'm sorry, but I can't really give another comparison as I find the sound of the two to be so very similar.  There's this fantastic clarity of muddeledness (it's a word - look it up) in the sound of the plucked strings that rolls right into the yelly vocals.  All backed by driving and groovy drumbeats.  It speaks to me.  It's music I can understand and the kind of music I'd like to make if I had any talent to go along with my desire.  A little trippy, a little punk rock, a little rock-and-roll.  I might prefer to be stoned if I saw them live, but I'm pretty damned sure it wouldn't be necessary in order to be thoroughly entertained.  And I'd probably prefer to be stoned regardless.  So... take it or leave it.

I am now through listen #5 and Bass #2, and I continue to be drawn into the layers and tightly woven and yet oh so sovereign melodies.  The more I drink, however, the louder iTunes becomes, and the more I expect the crazy lady who lives next to me to start banging on the wall even though it's not even midnight.  wtf.  Soon I'll have to depart from my new found vice. ("Hey you, get off my cloud.  Get off my cloud, you crazy bitch!"  poetry... pure poetry.)  Before I retire my click-klack of the keys for the comforting simple click of the mouse, I should toss in a little more honesty.

Scary.  Yes, I know.

As best I can tell, these couple of guys in their room with their musical what-nots aren't being produced by anybody.  And, even though they're from Seattle, I'm pretty sure Isaac Brock actually had nothing to do with this.  It's just them with, perhaps, a little help from their friends.  I managed to bug them long enough about wanting the record since the myspace songs aren't downloadable that Aaron sent me a nice burned copy complete with hand labeling with a Sharpie whose days were numbered.  But it was a trade.  I got the record provided I told people that this band is rad.  What I didn't tell him was that, if the record sucked, I'd be mailing it back to them mixed into a nice dolphin stew.  It does not, however, suck.  The record is rad.

The Ministry of Love.
"Queens of the Stone age got drunk in a really shitty bar and later got into a fight with The White Stripes and then had a night cap at Pavements house."
The Ministry of Love.  It doesn't suck.

It's rad.

And it's free to try.  Thirty day money back guarantee.

Dustin Edge - A Forest Through the Trees

So.  CrazyTalk.  It still exists.  It's been a while, but now I feel "back."  Seems like all I've done recently is follow Pearl Jam around the globe with a side of Radiohead and haven't had much of interest to say to CrazyTalkers.  But now I do, and I'm really excited about it.  No terrible youtube videos or dates with underaged rap singers tho... just a record.

Here I sit in RJ Gator's after having ordered one beer too many.  Dollar pints are amazing... especially when it's Bass on draft, but having 4 during lunch is probably one too many.  And I left my earphones at home, so I sit here writing this without the benefit of actually hearing this thing about which I'm so excited.  But here goes...

It's been almost two years since I've seen Dustin Edge perform live.  Two years and counting.  But now, finally, some new shit has come to light, man.  Just shy of three weeks until the two year anniversary of the break-up (*ahem* I mean "hiatus") of Cast Iron Filter, Dustin's first solo effort hit the virtual shelves... on CD AND limited edition Vinyl. :)

With 10 tracks clocking in at just under 27 minutes, this new record (A Forest Through the Trees) blows by in a flurry of electronica, punk rock and a touch of emo hanging around an opaque backdrop of alt-country or Americana or whatever the hell people are calling it these days.  And hopefully that's as much as I'll sound like a real music review.

I'm trying to remain unbiased about this, but, to be honest, it's really really difficult. I was lucky enough to see this go from a few random tracks recorded in the living room to 18 nearly complete songs and finally pared back to the 10 that made the cut.  So I'm not completely unbiased.  But I like to think I can tell if something sucks.  One thing that sucked is that there was one song that was pretty good... save for this little guitar lick that, when I heard it, ALWAYS caused me to start singing Shania Twain... "Whose bed have your boots been under?"  That sucked.  Aside from that, no sucking.

As for what actually made it on the record... The opening still confuses me a bit with the pseudo-tribal drums, but that soon passes, the song sucks me in, and I'm there to stay.  It takes a quick look at the lyrics to realize that the album opens with a love song...  The next two songs have the dubious rotating honor of being my favorite song on the album.  "Videomotion" when I'm sober and "The Ideal Citizen" when I'm not.  These two ramp up the energy and tempo of the record considerably and lead into the most raw of the ten tracks...  Once you blast through "Shrieks of Apathy" (everything in its place!) you realize you're driving 25 over and your throat hurts from trying to sing along.  Even though you don't know the words.  All three songs make me want to turn the volume up... even tho I know it doesn't go any louder by the time I finish "Videomotion."

Almost as a response to my irresponsibility, the album segues into a trio of introspective mood songs giving you the chance to come back down and chill a bit.  While the first of the three is definitely my third favorite song on the record and the instrumental is the perfect length for a nice break, the third of these three songs is the only song on the album that I don't particularly care for.  It's not bad, but if there's one I was going to skip, it'd be this one.  So we've got a 90 second instrumental that's bookended by this pair of take-it-easy songs and the whole thing together seems to serve as a bridge between two halves of the album.  Like, remember Cooleyhighharmony and how it had Allegro and Allegretto or something?  mmmm....

This time, instead of that heavy-handed division, A Forest... cranks back up with another 2.5 minute screamer.  Screamer as in that's what I try to do in my car since I can't actually sing.  Even though I don't really know the words.  After the screaming, we're out with another "nice" song taking us into the album closer and the longest song on the record.  With a Velvet Underground or Sonic Youth-ish outro, "Symmetry Pursuit X" lulls you out and lets you down easy. All-in-all, a very very satisfying trip and one that I'm very happy and even proud to have been a minor part of.

Oh.  If you check out the May 16 entry on Dusin's journal page, there's an early version of a track that didn't quite make the cut... I like tagging that one on the end of the record in iTunes... (speaking of, I hear rumours that the album will soon be available on iTunes...)

So now that I've said my inaccurate words and tried to convey some of my excitement... albeit very poorly... I should say that I feel like I've been around this record for too long ton convery my real sense of exciement about it.  There were several delays with artwork and other production issues, so it seems like forever since the thing was actually finished.  I've had it in my hands for months, so I find myself fighting with myself to not sound like I'm writing an advertisement.  This is just a really damned good [first] record, and I hope other people give it a list.  I've missed the atmosphere surrounding Cast Iron Filter, and I've missed the music, but Dustin makes no attempt here to cash in on what he helped create during the CIF stint.  Nor does he make any apologies for going his own direction.  I don't think this is the best Dustin Edge record that will be released, but it's exciting to see someone who's really talented find their own footing and their own voice without, necessarily, being constrained by the "what do my bandmates/fans/potential fans think?" question.

While my excitement for the newness of this record has certainly faded, I still think it's really good music.  And my excitement to see/hear what other people think is at its absolute peak.

I've littered this post with some links... mostly to some places where you can listen for free... here they are one more time if you'd like.  Enjoy!
http://www.myspace.com/dustinedge
http://www.dustinedge.com/listen.htm
http://www.dustinedge.com/read.htm (find the May 16 entry)

Music Review: Pearl Jam's S/T

So... May 2nd is long gone... There's a new Tool album out. It's pretty good. With some amazing artwork ideas. But, you know, it didn't really blow me away as being incredibly new and different and, well, amazing. It's good, but it's not my favorite album to come out this year. Or even on May 2. Turns out that being a member of the Pearl Jam fan club is nice. My record showed up the Saturday prior to the release date. But I didn't get it until I got to work on Monday... still a day ahead of time. And the pre-order version has this sweet hardcover book format thing to it that the general release does not have. And I got a free copy of a show they did NYE '92. Neat.

oh. And first crack at concert tix... but that didn't work out so well... but I still scored some good seats for DC in a couple of weeks. Ah yes... but I did get my fan club tix for the GA show in, you know, Amsterdam. Also neat. And now, it turns out, my boss is going to buy plane tickets for my girlfriend and me. Also neat.

Aren't I supposed to be talking about a record? Well, actually, there is no record as of yet. Even tho Letterman somehow had a copy of the sleeve. That wasn't the new record inside. So, CD, then. We'll talk about that. Perhaps. I was, somewhat, hoping that someone more flowery than me might post about this, but it came to my attention that the Sufjan Stevens crowd just might find Pearl Jam... dare I say... "irrelevent."

From some other blog whose link I have, unfortunately, lost: (and so I paraphrase) "Pearl Jam became irrelevent when Eddie Vedder became too old to climb stuff." Well... that is pretty funny, actually. I wish I would have thought of it. But I wouldn't have meant it.

Another thing that has come to my attention is that damned near everyone that has even a passing interest in music is reviewing this CD. Way to go, Clive. At first, all this promotion caught me off guard... I mean, really... Entertainment Weekly? C'mon, guys... but from that same article Ed was able to shed a little light on the subject for me:

(EW article) "This is all so subjective and in a way self-important, but when you have completely commercially produced acts and artists kind of taking up the space that you used to, then it's like, Do we want to allow ourselves to be pushed out in the mainstream again, to do our part to have it be a real experience? I'm not talking about the young bands that are good, I'm talking about the crap that is an insult to what I think of as good rock & roll. I feel like we have a lot to offer. And so in order to do that, it feels like we're being shot out of a cannon. And that brings those feelings of, Okay, are we going to that same place where we had to climb the barbed wire fence to get the fuck out of there? Being outside of all that is a much more comfortable place to create and to live. So we're searching for that balance. I think I can dig that. And, hey, the album is actually pretty damned good."

But does the Net really need yet another review? I don't think so. Perhaps I can leave you with some feelings instead. (as an aside, the girl next to me just started playing the most goddamn awful song I've heard in quite a while... and I've been hearing it multiple times a day... every day. fuck you, James Blunt.)

Right. Feelings. The first four tracks give me that energetic angsty feeling with which I generally feel like driving. Have you heard World Wide Suicide? Is it possible to have not heard it? Life Wasted, Comatose, and Severed Hand are all right there with it. And, depending on my mood, I can like any one better than the other. Although Life Wasted might resonate most with me - lyrically, anyway. The fifth song, "Marker in the Sand," just might very well be the best song on the album. Despite the presence of Boom Gasper's B3. I am NOT a fan of organs in rock bands.

The Gossard penned "Parachutes" brings the flow of the album down. Far down. And quickly. It's quirky and artsy but sounds way too much like his side band Brad for me. Skip button? Most of the time. Unless I'm, you know, "altered."

Tracks 7-10, however, build for me. I didn't like Unemployable when it was first released as the "B-Side" to WWS. But it's growing on me.

8, musically, pulls me back to the place I was during the beginning of the album. The place I really enjoy being. I haven't spent a lot of time with the lyric sheet yet, but I'm afraid they might be kind of lame. But it still feels good.

And then "Gone." When released on the Christmas single, I was more than a little unsure. But this is one of those songs that starts out slow and unassuming and, by the end, just soars. Gone makes me happy. Like "Given to Fly." Not quite there, but close. And Eddie likes The Who.

Now... tracks 10-13... If this CD WAS a record, I don't think I'm far off in saying that I'd wear Side A out REAL fast while the top of my turntable might see Side B long enough that I could listen to it by putting the record back in the sleeve. (Did anyone catch that? I suck at similes. Or metaphors. Or onomatopoeia. Or whatever.)

It's not all the songs... don't get me wrong. On first listen, Wasted Reprise was a fitting break to what had come before. And "Army Reserve" really does feel heartfelt and meaningful... and, at this point in the record, I'm ready for this. (BANG! Buuzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz... Hah. I'm not so bad at that after all.)

But then we get "Come Back." The song some people are likening to a cross between "Black" and "Yellow Ledbetter." Those people are wrong. It's 5 1/2 minutes of blah. I've heard some pretty good interpretations of the song... almost to the point where I can respect the song without liking it. (Those good interpretations don't include "You've obviously never been dumped.") I don't like it. I just. don't. like. it. I made my own version wherein I chopped out the entire first verse thereby bringing the length to about 3:30. That I can almost handle. As it is, this song kills the re-listenability of this album to me. Where Yield (still their masterpiece) pops in the always amazing "In Hiding", Vs. has "Leash", No Code has "Mankind", and even Riot Act has "Bushleaguer"... this album has a total mood killer. Yeah, I left out Ten, Vitalogy, and Binaural from that list. I had my reasons. I don't listen to Binaural anyway.

Shit. I think I had a point. My point was this... "Inside Job" is a frickin' amazing song, and I think it's a great album closer. But "Come Back"... dammit. If it weren't for this song, Pearl Jam would pretty well hop right up there to 2nd favorite studio behind Yield. As it is, I think it's fighting it out with No Code and Vitalogy for number 3. Since you asked, Vs. is number 2. If only for the opening of Go->Animal.

What else can I say... give the record a spin. Or, if you can't, at least try to find "Marker in the Sand" or "Gone." Most importantly, however, if you've never been to a show, this is the year to do it. The rumors abound that this will be the last big tour, and I don't find that completely unbelievable. Get thee to a show. Or a nunnery. Whatever.

Oh. And back on the Indy scene? www.dustinedge.com New album coming very soon. And no arena tours. And no EW articles. This is the shit. More later. Oh.  And Tool outsold Pearl Jam in week 1 by almost 300,000 copies.  And I have no idea what the title of this post has to do with anything. No one responds to street art anymore. People tend to respond to things like loaded guns in their faces. That and celebrity spokesmodels. -Brian Wood from Channel Zero