Titus Andronicus-The Monitor: If the Pogues had grown up in New Jersey and if Bright Eyes were fronting this band, this is what you'd have. (especially if time meant nothing and they were fed on a diet of B.S. and Paul Westerberg.) I like it well enough, but i wouldn't want to go to the prom with it.
Hold Steady-Heaven is Whenever: Craig Finn sings. Franz Nicolay, and his swirling piano fills, has left the band. The band is older, wiser (maybe), and a little more removed (economically, philosophically, and in status) from the characters about which they write (and they don't so much write about characters this time, much more---but really less---meta this time out). Nothing really jumps out at me here ("The Sweet Part of the City" is the closest to a compulsive listen for me and not even really). Don't hate it, just don't love it like i did Separation and Boys and Girls. Two shrugs in a row now. Albums won't save you, but maybe the b sides will.
Broken Social Scene-Forgiveness Rock: Just get it and listen. Only quibble would be more Feist, but i know on which side of the bread the butter lay.
The New Pornographers-Together: If the NPs are Fleetwood Mac, this is definitely their Mirage. I dentifiable and serviceable, but mostly forgettable. Lindsey (A.C. Newman) tries his best but used his best stuff on his solo work. Stevie (Neko) is in the band, but too busy with her solo career to really step forward and own anything (and definitely becoming a stereotype), and Ms. Perfect (Destroyer) is pretty much stuck in a holding pattern (weirly though, Bejar's songs usually seemed out of place on the NPs albums, here, they are much more homogenous to the mix, but unfortunately, kinda boring as well). Here's hoping for some drug fueled break ups before the next one.
Hole-Nobdy's Daughter: I keep waiting for Courtney Love to have a Marianne Faithfull-like transformation(god knows her voice is 73.2% of the way there) and dazzle us all with some soulful, powerful revaltory work. Or barring that, I would wish she would at least buy a vowel, solve the puzzle and move onto the bonus round in life. But no. Ms. Hole stick to her rut and insists that it's 1996. I guess there's nothing wrong with being stuck in the past, especially if you have no better option (and as long as you know the returns are going to exponentially diminish each time out). And there are a couple moments here that recall those days (Pacific Coast Highway and Samantha) for those that want that kind of thing. For the rest of us, this isn't any kind of necessary.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Where It All Went Wrong (Part One)
Listened to the new Kate Nash cd (My Best Friend Is You) last week. I enjoyed Made of Bricks, with its smart and smart alecky pop chops, and was pretty curious to see what she would do this time around. I can definitively say I don't like the new one. Oh sure, i appreciate that she pushes the rap and riot girrrrl thing more, but the thing is, she's totally unconvincing at it, even bad (very bad) at it. And the songs suck (not even thinking she's written any fun lily allen like songs on this one. Not gonna say i'm bummed cos i wasn't lighting a candle for her, but i think her commercial days (if she had such aspirations) are over.
got me thinking of other pop music suicides and where it all went wrong (and feel free to add your own):
MGMT: Oracular Spectacular was a bit overrated, but the singles Kids and Time to Pretend are genius. So why does Congratulations suck so much? Drugs? Replacements syndrome? Dunno, but, i won't be holding my breaf for the next one.
Tracy Chapman- Hard to tell exactly where this happened cos the debut was so good and Crossroads was also excellent, albeit a bit of a carbon copy. But i'm gonna lay the blame on Matter of the Heart. Her earnestness exceeded her experience.
Sinead O' Connor: You knew she had to be here right? Am I Not Your Girl? in 1992, right after I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got (still one of my personal faves, btw) A covers album of standards for the burgeoning indie girl? Not sure that would fly today (even Jenny Lewis didn't try that), it sure didn't fly then. and it's kind of awful to listen too. love her voice, but it's not the right voice for these songs, and the throwback production doesn't work as homage nor irony.
Smashing Pumpkins: I love Adore (and that outdoor show on the block e parking lot was pretty special), but that was the end for them. (i could be generous and blame the Batman & Robin song, but that would be wrong). I guess we'll never know what James and D'arcy didn't do in the band (rage muse perhaps?), but when they were gone, so was the band. (I don't buy that Jimmy Chamberlin crap. He's not nearly the muse Billy liked to think he was.)
Wilco: A Ghost is Born. And a band dies a little bit (and a lot more on SkyBlueSky). Argue about Jay Bennett all you like, but the band has been crap ever since Jeff kicked him out of the band. (and they can sell all the records they like and sell out all the shows they like, but we know, we know)
Jay Farrar: Turnabout is fair play here. There's really been no point in resurrecting Son Volt. They aren't doing anything Jay didn't do with Son Volt Mark I. I blame the Sebastopol album, which seemed like a response to the wild success of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot ("see, I can weird it up too?". I kinda like it, but it isn't YHF. no where close. and who the hell is Jay Farrar? Why kill the band you made your (second) name with, son?
Weezer: jeez. i might try to piss off all the backpack kids and say it happened with Pinkerton, but i'm gonna grant a dispensation on something i don't understand and say Make Believe is were it all went so horribly horribly wrong. the nerd at the playboy mansion? no.
Decemberists: Hazards of Love. Jury still out, cos they could blow me away with the next one. but sheesh; I hate this album. i could barely get through it onces, but made myself listen again just so i could be sure. sure that it's the worst heavy metal indie progressive rock symphony ever! i could easily see this as being something from which they never recover.
Radiohead: this is probably an act against god (and probably belongs in another post) but to paraphrase my aggravation guru, tiny kornheiser, "Kid A stinks." Granted, i'm glad that this isn't Still Got the Bends or Really Really Good Computer disaffected guitar rock (you can always go back to that in 10 years when you really need a hit....like U2), and that you are willing to take a chance. And it's not so much that there aren't any songs (eno did that for years and it never bothered me), or that too many people talk about how original this is (and if you've listened to music for more than 4 years you know how derivative this is) or the fact that the second half (where there are some songs) is incredibly boring. No, what really makes this disc stink, is that every kid over the age of 25 and under the age of 35 (yes, mr. superfan, i'm talking to you) thinks this is the bomb, their generation's grand statement, and use it at their touchstone. Well, i gotta tell ya, big statements aren't age specific (see beatles, see stones, see even the bends) and this disc has got nothin' to say. Nothin'!
got me thinking of other pop music suicides and where it all went wrong (and feel free to add your own):
MGMT: Oracular Spectacular was a bit overrated, but the singles Kids and Time to Pretend are genius. So why does Congratulations suck so much? Drugs? Replacements syndrome? Dunno, but, i won't be holding my breaf for the next one.
Tracy Chapman- Hard to tell exactly where this happened cos the debut was so good and Crossroads was also excellent, albeit a bit of a carbon copy. But i'm gonna lay the blame on Matter of the Heart. Her earnestness exceeded her experience.
Sinead O' Connor: You knew she had to be here right? Am I Not Your Girl? in 1992, right after I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got (still one of my personal faves, btw) A covers album of standards for the burgeoning indie girl? Not sure that would fly today (even Jenny Lewis didn't try that), it sure didn't fly then. and it's kind of awful to listen too. love her voice, but it's not the right voice for these songs, and the throwback production doesn't work as homage nor irony.
Smashing Pumpkins: I love Adore (and that outdoor show on the block e parking lot was pretty special), but that was the end for them. (i could be generous and blame the Batman & Robin song, but that would be wrong). I guess we'll never know what James and D'arcy didn't do in the band (rage muse perhaps?), but when they were gone, so was the band. (I don't buy that Jimmy Chamberlin crap. He's not nearly the muse Billy liked to think he was.)
Wilco: A Ghost is Born. And a band dies a little bit (and a lot more on SkyBlueSky). Argue about Jay Bennett all you like, but the band has been crap ever since Jeff kicked him out of the band. (and they can sell all the records they like and sell out all the shows they like, but we know, we know)
Jay Farrar: Turnabout is fair play here. There's really been no point in resurrecting Son Volt. They aren't doing anything Jay didn't do with Son Volt Mark I. I blame the Sebastopol album, which seemed like a response to the wild success of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot ("see, I can weird it up too?". I kinda like it, but it isn't YHF. no where close. and who the hell is Jay Farrar? Why kill the band you made your (second) name with, son?
Weezer: jeez. i might try to piss off all the backpack kids and say it happened with Pinkerton, but i'm gonna grant a dispensation on something i don't understand and say Make Believe is were it all went so horribly horribly wrong. the nerd at the playboy mansion? no.
Decemberists: Hazards of Love. Jury still out, cos they could blow me away with the next one. but sheesh; I hate this album. i could barely get through it onces, but made myself listen again just so i could be sure. sure that it's the worst heavy metal indie progressive rock symphony ever! i could easily see this as being something from which they never recover.
Radiohead: this is probably an act against god (and probably belongs in another post) but to paraphrase my aggravation guru, tiny kornheiser, "Kid A stinks." Granted, i'm glad that this isn't Still Got the Bends or Really Really Good Computer disaffected guitar rock (you can always go back to that in 10 years when you really need a hit....like U2), and that you are willing to take a chance. And it's not so much that there aren't any songs (eno did that for years and it never bothered me), or that too many people talk about how original this is (and if you've listened to music for more than 4 years you know how derivative this is) or the fact that the second half (where there are some songs) is incredibly boring. No, what really makes this disc stink, is that every kid over the age of 25 and under the age of 35 (yes, mr. superfan, i'm talking to you) thinks this is the bomb, their generation's grand statement, and use it at their touchstone. Well, i gotta tell ya, big statements aren't age specific (see beatles, see stones, see even the bends) and this disc has got nothin' to say. Nothin'!
Dog Something (or it’s all in how you look at it)
Fine Line (Yuck) April 17, 2010
No, i didn’t make a set list for this one either. I didn’t make that potential resolution until yesterday (whenever yesterday is). And although i’ve listened to Shame, Shame and (especially) Fate a bunch of times, I’ve long since quit scouring the liner notes and I don’t really look at song titles. So even if I was writing down songs, my list would pretty much consist of 1) that black eye song, 2) the doot doot song, 3) song four on the 5th album, or the songs that sounds just like the beatles or the band (25% of their work). So i dunno what good that list would be to anyone. However, my intrepid concert companion (who is much more detail oriented that i) assures me that they played all of Shame, Shame (including two of the three bonus tracks floating around, “What a Strange Day” and “On Man”) and a bunch of Fate (still my favorite), with perhaps 3 songs from the various previous 3 albums (I recognized one of the We All Belong tunes….song 5?).
List be damned anyway, all I need to say was that this was a smoking good show!
Love the band on album (or cd or download per your particular wont), but live, they are way more muscular sounding, rocking the heck out of the somewhat low key recorded tunes (especially on the Shame, Shame tracks). As I’ve probably mentioned, I’m not really fond of the audience singalong, but Toby Leaman come out of the gate a little hoarse. The audience participation in this case was a pleasant boost to his vocals. (his vox improved during the course of the show.) I’m a little more partial to the vocals of co-singer Scott McMicken, who always sounds a little wobbly and rough around the edges (band reference for sure), but his vocals were stellar throughout. And of course, being the seasoned road warriors they are, the band sounded fantastic. Lots of dynamics, nice musical touches, and even though the production backed off the layered sound of the recordings, there was texture aplenty to be heard. The band were great showmen, very energetic (the term precise pogoing comes to mind), charismatic (not thinking the lead singer is as attractive as someone else does, but he’s definitely attention grabbing) and powerful with lots of interplay between band members. They are almost a jam band that doesn’t bore the audience with a lot of long and pointless jams (yes, DMB, I mean you and your anonymous spawn) And entertain the audience they definitely did. They had the crowd going from the first track (song on from the new one) and pretty much didn’t let up through the end of the extended encore. And I didn’t get nearly trampled during the encore (hooray).
Great show, definitely a band to catch (and I’m kicking myself for not catching the record store day show)
No, i didn’t make a set list for this one either. I didn’t make that potential resolution until yesterday (whenever yesterday is). And although i’ve listened to Shame, Shame and (especially) Fate a bunch of times, I’ve long since quit scouring the liner notes and I don’t really look at song titles. So even if I was writing down songs, my list would pretty much consist of 1) that black eye song, 2) the doot doot song, 3) song four on the 5th album, or the songs that sounds just like the beatles or the band (25% of their work). So i dunno what good that list would be to anyone. However, my intrepid concert companion (who is much more detail oriented that i) assures me that they played all of Shame, Shame (including two of the three bonus tracks floating around, “What a Strange Day” and “On Man”) and a bunch of Fate (still my favorite), with perhaps 3 songs from the various previous 3 albums (I recognized one of the We All Belong tunes….song 5?).
List be damned anyway, all I need to say was that this was a smoking good show!
Love the band on album (or cd or download per your particular wont), but live, they are way more muscular sounding, rocking the heck out of the somewhat low key recorded tunes (especially on the Shame, Shame tracks). As I’ve probably mentioned, I’m not really fond of the audience singalong, but Toby Leaman come out of the gate a little hoarse. The audience participation in this case was a pleasant boost to his vocals. (his vox improved during the course of the show.) I’m a little more partial to the vocals of co-singer Scott McMicken, who always sounds a little wobbly and rough around the edges (band reference for sure), but his vocals were stellar throughout. And of course, being the seasoned road warriors they are, the band sounded fantastic. Lots of dynamics, nice musical touches, and even though the production backed off the layered sound of the recordings, there was texture aplenty to be heard. The band were great showmen, very energetic (the term precise pogoing comes to mind), charismatic (not thinking the lead singer is as attractive as someone else does, but he’s definitely attention grabbing) and powerful with lots of interplay between band members. They are almost a jam band that doesn’t bore the audience with a lot of long and pointless jams (yes, DMB, I mean you and your anonymous spawn) And entertain the audience they definitely did. They had the crowd going from the first track (song on from the new one) and pretty much didn’t let up through the end of the extended encore. And I didn’t get nearly trampled during the encore (hooray).
Great show, definitely a band to catch (and I’m kicking myself for not catching the record store day show)
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Say Yea!
"you're stuck in my mind, all the time"
incredible stage presence for the band (lead singer has this harry connick jr look, crossed with a bryan ferry aura to him) cool stage setup (very kraftwerk), neat lighting, great songlist and tight set (pretty much everything you'd ask for, with nice pacing), band is very good (i really loved the dual drumming), good crowd (very packed, thank goodness for the wall). great show.
incredible stage presence for the band (lead singer has this harry connick jr look, crossed with a bryan ferry aura to him) cool stage setup (very kraftwerk), neat lighting, great songlist and tight set (pretty much everything you'd ask for, with nice pacing), band is very good (i really loved the dual drumming), good crowd (very packed, thank goodness for the wall). great show.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Atmosphere v. Korgis
Just listening to the first Korgis album in the car tonight. Realized that Atmosphere totally lifts the hook from "Young N Russian" for their song "You" (from When Life Gives You Lemons....") Should have noticed that ages ago. Check your hard drive and tell me what you think.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Funfarlo
Cedar Cultural Center, April 6, 2010
i’m a fan o’ farlo. nothing much more to be said to it. their boozy, street busker anthem stuff hit my sweet spot upon first listen of Reservoir (i liken them to a less ambitious Arcade Fire- in only the best way), and improved with each subsequent listen. so to say, i was looking forward to a return live engagement would be putting it mildly. And they did not disappoint. They were charming, energetic and relaxed (lead singer Simon Balthazer maybe a little too low key) playing to the crowd and themselves with nary a sign of rock act arrogance (see JC two nights subsequent). Playing most of Reservoir, a couple new tunes (something about Simon’s hometown in Sweden and a rather longish work in progress about a street preacher) and an old tune made new by Record Store Day (“You Are One...”), they did a nice job with the song selection, mixing in some of the slower more dramatic songs with the upbeat fare (truly, i promise to start keeping a set list for shows). They kept the momentum going, but also gave themselves room to play with moods and texture, much to the crowds’ entertainment. And of course, they had the crowd at the Cedar bopping along to "Harold T Wilkins", just short of actual pogo-ing craziness. Nice show and a nice start for a band that is definitely deserves your attention. (and i wasn’t the oldest person there by a long shot, which is always nice)
Opening acts deserve a little mention too:
Robert Francis perked up my ears with his rootsy rock songs. Nothing new in the style department, but the songwriting overcomes the influences and "Junebug" and "Nightfall" definitely stood out for me during his set.
Lawrence Arabia’s "Apple Pie Bed" has been in heavy rotation since the show, and a couple others from Chant Darling might follow. Course, i love beatlesque pop, so no surprise there, but he does it well. but seriously, where did the Prime Minister’s come from? why do they look so familiar? Am i so obsessed with the EF clerks?
i’m a fan o’ farlo. nothing much more to be said to it. their boozy, street busker anthem stuff hit my sweet spot upon first listen of Reservoir (i liken them to a less ambitious Arcade Fire- in only the best way), and improved with each subsequent listen. so to say, i was looking forward to a return live engagement would be putting it mildly. And they did not disappoint. They were charming, energetic and relaxed (lead singer Simon Balthazer maybe a little too low key) playing to the crowd and themselves with nary a sign of rock act arrogance (see JC two nights subsequent). Playing most of Reservoir, a couple new tunes (something about Simon’s hometown in Sweden and a rather longish work in progress about a street preacher) and an old tune made new by Record Store Day (“You Are One...”), they did a nice job with the song selection, mixing in some of the slower more dramatic songs with the upbeat fare (truly, i promise to start keeping a set list for shows). They kept the momentum going, but also gave themselves room to play with moods and texture, much to the crowds’ entertainment. And of course, they had the crowd at the Cedar bopping along to "Harold T Wilkins", just short of actual pogo-ing craziness. Nice show and a nice start for a band that is definitely deserves your attention. (and i wasn’t the oldest person there by a long shot, which is always nice)
Opening acts deserve a little mention too:
Robert Francis perked up my ears with his rootsy rock songs. Nothing new in the style department, but the songwriting overcomes the influences and "Junebug" and "Nightfall" definitely stood out for me during his set.
Lawrence Arabia’s "Apple Pie Bed" has been in heavy rotation since the show, and a couple others from Chant Darling might follow. Course, i love beatlesque pop, so no surprise there, but he does it well. but seriously, where did the Prime Minister’s come from? why do they look so familiar? Am i so obsessed with the EF clerks?
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