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January 31, 2007
Retrohump - Reunion Rock
Retrohump genie, who else will catch reunionitis in 2007?
SMASHING PUMPKINS
Smashing Pumpkins - "Cherub Rock" (acoustic)
Before Billy Corgan's dome doubled as a mirror, before Jimmy Chamberlin's overdose, before Melissa Auf Der Maur replaced D'Arcy as the hot bassist and certainly before James Iha became chummy with the Misshapes crowd, a band called Smashing Pumpkins existed as peers to the alt-rock revolution of the early 1990s. Possibly because of the de rigueur trends of those days they recorded this acoustic version of the rifftastic Cherub Rock.
VAN HALEN
Van Halen - "You Really Got Me" Live in Montreal
These days an outburst towards an (alleged) "stupid motherfucker right down front shooting water at me" might be laughed off as either A) self parody, or B) hilarity in such lack of self-awareness. But in 1984, when Van Halen ruled the (then massive) stages of rock, Diamond Dave meant it and probably did fuck that dude's girlfriend. The screechingly awful sound quality of the Kink's classic is the toll you must pay for the profanity payoff.
Van Halen - "Panama" Live in Toronto 1988
Double D climbing into a floating boxing ring and prancing about in a matador outfit. Ladies and gentlemen, you can't make this stuff up. Nor can you underestimate the amount of cocaine that must have been consumed during the production meetings.
Producer: "Let me get this straight, you want a both a boxing ring and giant surfboard hovering over the crowd?"
David Lee Roth: "YEAH I WANT TO SYMBOLICALLY SPAR WITH THE CROWD BEFORE I BLOW THEIR MINDS BY CARVING THROUGH A HUMAN SEA BABY! YEAH, DIAMOND DAVE HERE ROCKING IT!"
THE POLICE
The Police - "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da" Beat Club, 1979
You've heard the Police hits so many times that listening with fresh ears is an impossibility. What if I told you that in 1979 very few people outside of Jamaica knew what reggae was, let alone what it sounded like, would it change things? Not biting eh,...ok. If I described a night in which the always cool as a cucumber, lute loving Sting had it in for a particularly dastardly French heckler would you watch? Rated 'R' for language and loogie missile violence. You think Sting fucked his girlfriend?
RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE
Rage Against the Machine - "Kick Out The Jams" DNC Protest, 2000
This was a free concert outside the Staples Center in Los Angeles during the 2000 Democratic National Convention. Like so many displays of protest these days (counting 2000 as these days) much of what goes on comes off looking like a half-assed retread of history. The MC5 cover solidifies this. Sigh.
Here is the real deal.
Posted by Merry Swankster at 12:29 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Pax Discona
Disco's 00's resuscitation is complete at this point, with LCD Soundsystem's 45:33 taking the form on unapologetically without adding hipster friendly rants or rock album touchstones. We've been handheld on our journey of shiny acceptance by French robots, sideways haircut types, and Murph himself. We've been nursed through ZE records compilations and Moroder re-evaluations until we found our strength. Now here we are, ready for the disco, ready for the next step, ready to dive into all the next level shit we'd been ignoring.
Here, in a puff of smoke, with barely any explanation, appears exactly what we never knew we needed...
The newly available 28 After by the Black Devil Disco Club is a total question mark. No one's really sure who made it, or when. The Chemical Brothers and Aphex Twin are involved in unearthing it somehow, but since almost no one else had any clue where they got it, some have assumed that the '70's France birth date was all an elaborate ruse. A recent Pitchfork review does a decent job of outlining the guessing game, but the best way to be totally confused is to dive into some snippets...
Black Devil Disco Club - "I Regret the Flower Power"
Starting with what sounds like an air raid siren on too much cough syrup and then coming on strong with that mustachioed Italo disco sound we all love, this track demands attention. Processed string sounds swell up, signaling the entrance of an obviously French singer whose monotone delivery is tastefully surrounded by a level of Martin Hannett-like production space. From his recording cave, Frenchie laments the Flower Power, and its love-y dove-y bullshit. Whether this notion comes from a hippie hating 70's recording cave, or a Devandra Banhart hating modern recording cave, it's easy to hop on board. Just then, when you're ready to pencil this into a mixtape for all your humorless post-punk pals, intrudes this unholy scatting, the likes of which I can only compare to something awful like the Manhattan Transfer, a high school jazz choir, or maybe an industrious muppet. It's still weird and spaced out though, married to the sleazy electro throb and bongo combination. The juxtaposition is just so flippin' bizarre that you're inclined to let it slide. Soon, the echoed Franco hippie regretter comes back, and all is forgiven.
Really though, you could ignore the vocal and get lost in the margins of the track for ages, just noting the variety of synth tones the mysterious producers throw at you. High-pitched and fast paced squiggling here, regal pseudo-Eastern theme there, odd gastro intestinal blasts throughout. This is suited as much for a pot fogged basement as it is for a coke fueled dancefloor.
Black Devil Disco Club - "Constantly No Respect"
This is the real mind blower as far as I'm concerned. It starts typically enough, though adding a steady metronome beat to the bongomania is appreciated. Almost immediately comes this insanely fast synth pattern that, if played by human hands, must be the result of some kind of banned horse amphetamine. The rest of the track is pretty awesome, all floating vocals and shifting rythyms. You're not just marking time waiting for the hyperactive keys to come back, but then they do, and...oh shit. It's like ten minutes after the singularity (when artificial intelligence surpasses our own) the computers, instead of unleashing fiery death, decide to go the club and get laid. Which is still pretty creepy and all, but infinitely preferable to tripping over Terminators.
// Black Devil Disco Club 28 Later buy
Posted by Jeff Klingman at 10:10 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 30, 2007
Donahue on New York Hardcore Scene
I've always been confused by Hardcore. This Donahue clip doesn't help (via).
NYHC on Donahue 1986
Another score from the dumpster diving Youtubers. I think I have a burgeoning fetish: vintage videos of punks doing what they do best. These people might be your parents!
Posted by Merry Swankster at 01:05 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Obscurer Than Thou: Volcano Sunset
by David Klein
“I wanna make the whole world grow/Just like Barry Man-i-low”
A thousand pardons for my long absence from MS, but I have been attending an Obscurity Summit held in…oh, you probably never heard of it, but anyway, keynote speakers included Willie Alexander (Lou Reed’s replacement in the Velvet Underground); Deerfrance, backup vocalist (on one track) on Tom Verlaine’s first solo record, and Leif Bondarenko, drummer/accordionist for the Alabama-based jangle-pop quartet The Primitons. In the midst of a fascinating presentation on Norwegian power trios of late 1966, I was reminded that I had yet to delve into what I consider the Volcano Suns ultimate bucolic, bombastic moment in the sun, so I jumped on my scooter (vintage Mattell) and raced home. And then, just as Kool Moe Dee does in a similar situation, I go to work.
On Bumper Crop (1987), the band’s third release, drummer/bandleader Peter Prescott took a firmer hold of the reins, doing most of the songwriting himself this time, and opting for a more unified sonic approach. Overall it’s several notches more melodic than the skronked-out sprawl of their previous full-length release, All Night Lotus Party, and more in line with the terse, chugging riffs of the stopgap “Sea Cruise” single (rhapsodized over in a previous column). Not that the sense of sprawl, of glorious messiness, is gone. As the liner notes indicate, the record was very much a haphazard affair, but like a bevy of ocelots in a thatched satchel, it somehow hangs together.
the Volcano Suns - “Bumper Crop”
So much to love about a song that starts off saluting a piece of farm equipment, “on a job well done.” From the all-over-the-fretboard opening salvo, “Bumper Crop” pulls over long enough to yank you into the car and takes you on a sweaty drunken joyride, and the hysteria keeps building until you almost can almost feel the amphetamines, taste the homemade firewater, smell the barn. The whole thing keeps threatening to fall apart, and eventually it does, only to get back to its crazed feet and keep charging ahead until the whole thing, piano and all, seems to run headlong off a cliff somewhere. Just like every perfect song. Why the soybean growers of America haven’t decided to make a play for public recognition, with this as their theme song, I don’t know.
the Volcano Suns - “Peel Out”
I know what you’re thinking. “Bumper Crop” lacked pep. Well, here’s a paean to speed that should appeal to the closet NASCAR fans who frequent this site. The singer doesn’t just want to be the fastest man alive, he also wants to get far, far away from his present surroundings, to a place where the scenery is always blurred. But if he can’t get there, he’ll settle for being the fastest.
“It’s not to make pedestrians look / It’s not for the record book
It’s all about a little thing I call velocity.”
the Volcano Suns - "Needles in the Camel’s Eye"
(Brian Eno cover, Boston, MA 1989)
There haven’t been too many great versions of Eno songs. Maybe they’re a bit intimidating to try to improve on. Ultravox did a nifty “Kings Lead Hat,” and I’m told Don Ho’s “Mother Whale Eyeless” was surprisingly poignant, but not many smokin’ Eno covers leap to mind. Leave it to the Volcano Suns to come through with one that can actually stand shoulder to epaulet-emblazoned shoulder with Mr E. himself. Here it is then, from 1989’s Thing of Beauty (the Suns’ penultimate release): a song that begs to be shouted, covered by the epoch’s preeminent shouting outfit. Surprisingly faithful to the original, the Suns nevertheless grab the song by the horns and remove all vestiges of glam (try to imagine a man in overalls roughly wiping away a bull’s mascara) before completely filtering it through their own sound and sensibility, and making it their own.
Previously: Obscurer Than Thous of Christmas Past...
Posted by Jeff Klingman at 09:10 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
January 29, 2007
Love is All video - "Ageing Had Never Been His Friend"
Damn these irresistible Swedes, with their goofball videos and charming off spellings. There's nothing you can do to stop them. You just have to sit there and be delighted.
I'm sorry...
Love is All - "Ageing Had Never Been His Friend"
// Love is All - Nine Times That Same Song buy
Posted by Jeff Klingman at 07:58 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Neon Lights: the Revenge!!
So, I've hinted before and the information is casually lounging around on our MySpace page for all to see, but I've decided to make an honest woman of you and do this thing right...
That's right, d and I are bringing you another Neon Lights show on Saturday, February 17th nestled deep inside the Delancey's chandeliered belly. We'll be celebrating the February 13th release of Scribble Mural Comic Journal, the swell new album by our Philly valentines A Sunny Day in Glasgow. It'll be their one and only New York City appearance for the near future, which should be enough for you cynics. Of course, that's not all...
The line-up:
A Sunny Day in Glasgow
"A Mundane Phone Call to Jack Parsons" (mp3)
Apache Beat
"Tropics" (streaming audio @ Dazed Digital)
the Muggabears
"I'm Coming True" (mp3)
Please Dept.
"Sailor's Mouth" (mp3)
Need more?
What if I told you that filling in the gaps in our fine bill will be the DJ stylings of everyone's favorite New York via Austin socialite transplants, the Rich Girls are Weeping? The Rich Girls have been setting Texan asses to shake for many moons now, but have yet to be unleashed on the unsuspecting LES populace...until now! (The dynamic duo's Cindy Hotpoint is also responsible for our charming poster, by the way.)
Then, as you are dizzy and confused by the grandeur of what has come before, you'll be hit square in the eyes by a DJ set from every blogs favorite performer/ re-mixer extraordinaire, Cassettes Won't Listen. I know you'll be dancing at that point, due in no small part to the always thrilling/terrifying prospect of near continual drink specials.
Basically, it'll be ridiculously fun. Just like the last one. A pattern emerges...
There will be much more to say about the show and its performers in the weeks to come, all aspects given the trademark overkill you know and endure. For now, file it away and anticipate. If your excitement demands immediate action, go and befriend us on MySpace, send a couple frenzied e-mails to your pals, and chill out. It'll be here soon...
P.S. I know you didn't get Arcade Fire tickets so that's no excuse.
Posted by Jeff Klingman at 11:05 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 26, 2007
Bewitched by Bextor
Loosening up on a Friday after a busy week, I've decided to step out of my art rock spiderhole to bring you a less predictable object of my affection...
Sophie Ellis Bextor - "Murder on the Dancefloor"
When I was living in London in 2001, this song was second only to Kylie in the can't get it the fuck out of my head department. Piped out of every corner of not-so-cool Britannia, and on constant rotation on the myriad Saturday morning teen pop shows that our squatter quality flat's TV could receive, I would know every word by heart even if I didn't thoroughly enjoy it. Musically, it's pretty middle of the road, a thin disco-lite track punctuated with ball-less guitar squiggles that wouldn't be out of place as incidental music from a 90210 episode. But, the thing is that the backing track mainly gets out of the way, making room for her posh, enunciated delivery that is actually quite distinctive. It's not easy to roll those, "I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know"'s off the tongue so effortlessly. Also, there's something about those casual "goddamn"s that needlessly pepper the song. She slips them in pretty non-chalantly, but just the cadence of the word goddamn in any context sounds as if it automatically comes with an exclamation point. Goddamn would probably get an FCC fine in the States that no pop chart producer would risk, but it defiitely ups the sing-along quotient considerably.
But beware boys, belting out the "Heeeeeey" part WILL turn you gay, no matter the insincerity of Donnie Davies.
Sophie Ellis Bextor - "Murder on the Dance Floor"
This was what won my superficial heart, though. I think the impish charm on display in this clip is clearly evident. The title is literally interpreted to a lame degree, with Ms. Bextor using shady maneuvers and impeccable bone structure to win a dance contest. She mugs it up good, smirking through the motions in an adorable Rory Gilmore manner. My favorite thing about it though, is how the production values just seem slightly off, slightly cheaper than you'd think a smash hit song would deserve, and on a slightly different film stock that doesn't quite look right. It's as if it weren't made for MTV, but specifically for MTV UK. The college video department skit quality is what makes it really shine.
So, why do I still listen to it on my iPod, sans visual?
I think it's the "goddamn"s...
Sophie Ellis Bextor - "Catch You"
I think we can all agree that this is technically a better backing track, although you could argue that the vocal delivery is a bit more generic and processed. Lyrically, it's a "One Way or Another" retread, updated with an eye towards the modern ("cell phone") and the non-sensical ("coffee spoon"). But as far as the song goes its pretty sleek and enjoyable, never slowing down for more than a few seconds of atmospherica before going back to the grungy electro pulse. The cheese factor is still there a bit, but this is the high quality imported stuff.
Sophie Ellis Bextor - "Catch You"
As to the video, it definitely reeks of cash. The film stock is perfume ad glossy, the location picturesque, the gowns on loan. But Sophie sort of looks like an alien. She's gaunt not girlish, which ruins it for me a bit. That's a totally irrelevent gripe, as the song is dead catchy and already a hit in Europe (though it'll never be one here). Thankfully, it's still kind of goofy. Who is she chasing, anyway?
Mainly, I'm just glad the Britain specific pop star who's so specifically wrapped up in my memory of a time and place is doing alright for herself. I guess that's not very analytical, but what are you going to do? Musical affinity can't always be contained...
// Sophie Ellis Bextor - Read My Lips buy
Posted by Jeff Klingman at 10:40 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
January 25, 2007
MMM MMM MMM MMM
A few weeks back Nayio Media announced that they were unveiling a free internet humming -based search tool in the US. Using this search, one could hum a few bars from that song that has been driving them crazy and then have the database search Napster for the song much like Google.
Users must be fairly warned that if they hum the Crash Test Dummies’ “MMM MMM MMM MMM” song into the search engine then the system will short circuit, self destruct, and the earth will open up and swallow Silicon Valley whole.
you were warned!
Yes, I must confess that I posted this information solely for the Crash Test Dummies joke but even so, this technology could have been very useful in solving the mystery of the song in the Paperwork Forest Visa Commercial. Turns out the song that no one really knows the name of is not yet fully a song but was made by Christopher Fiazi.
Posted by Yonah Korngold at 04:52 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Donnie Davies gets the Internets in a twist
Tuesday's controversial post on the Love God's Way Ministries "gay bands" list appears to be an elaborate hoax. Joe from Joe. My. Blog. sniffed around enough to discover Donnie Davies is really the "very successful commercial actor with some television and film credits peppered within his career," Todd Quillen.
Theories abound on why anyone would go through so much trouble pulling an elaborate stunt. I suppose Quillen subscribes to the school of thought that there is no such thing as bad publicity. Let's see how it works out for him.
My favorite: "Donnie Davies is a kidder and an asshole."
UPDATE: 1/29/2007, 4:35 PM ET
Joe.My.God debunks a debunking only to reveal that Todd Quillen is not Donnie Davies. Proper credit should go to the actor Joey Oglesby. We've already moved on, but you can read about it here.
Posted by Merry Swankster at 12:58 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
Camera Obscura - Live @ Warsaw, Brooklyn, NY - 1.24.2007
Camera Obscura - Let's Get Out of This Country
Camera Obscura - If Looks Could Kill
Last night marked Camera Obscura's fourth visit to New York...but their very first stopover in Brooklyn.
Evidently, not everyone was happy about the decision to play Billysburg’s Polish National Home.
“We got a very angry email today from a gentleman in Manhattan," remarked guitarist Kenny McKeeve. "It seems he was a little upset that he had to leave Manhattan to go to Brooklyn for the show."
It was an affront that got Tracyanne McCampbell (wide-eyed, bowl-cut, costumed in margaric polyester) storming, "Fuck that. Why not commute? Fuck." And then, in response to a facetious crowd's tsk-tsks and finger wagging, the smallest shrug, a cupped hand over her pretty mouth and the confession that her foul language must be a result of "all that Polish vodka.”
But inspite of high-proof potato vodka and pierogis, which left the band confiding that they all felt “a little sick,” the gig was still what my new pal Aleksander might call a “przypływ energii” (burst of energy).
A hand-clapping, foot-tapping set list included “Lemon Juice and Paper Cuts,” the Sheena Easton cover “Modern Girl” and, of course, the inextractable earworm “Let’s Get Out of This Country,” over which Ms. McCampbell scatted (most unbelievably) Paul Simon’s “You Can Call Me Al.”
After the jump you’ll find more Glaswegian eye candy…
CAMERA OBSCURA'S NORTH AMERICAN TOUR DATES:
Jan 26 - Northampton, MA - Pearl Street
Jan 27 - Boston, MA - Paradise Rock Club
Jan 29 - Montreal, QC - La Sala Rossa
Jan 30 - Ottowa, ON - Barrymore's Music Hall
Jan 31 - Toronto, ON - Opera House
Feb 1 - Ann Arbor, MI - Blind Pig
Feb 2 - Kalamazoo, MI - Kraftbrau Brewery
Feb 3 - Chicago, IL - Logan Square Auditorium
Feb 5 - Columbia, MO - The Blue Note
Feb 6 - Kansas City, KS - The Record Bar
Feb 8 - Denver, CO - The Bluebird Theater
Feb 10 - Mexico City - Polyforum Siquerios
Feb 12 - Seattle, WA - Neumos
Feb 13 - Vancouver, BC - Richard's on Richard's
Feb 14 - Portland, OR - Wonder Ballroom
Feb 16 - San Francisco, CA - Bimbo's
Feb 17 - Los Angeles, CA - El Ray Theatre
// Camera Obscura - Let's Get Out of This Country - Buy.
// Camera Obscura - Site.
// Camera Obscura - Myspace.
Posted by Koren Zailckas at 09:00 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
January 24, 2007
Retrohump - Jesus and Mary Chain
Clairvoyance exposed! If all it takes to get bands back together is a random wishlist blog post, we'd have done a whole lot more of these. Jesus & Mary Chain retrohumped. Because the Rage videos weren't as grainy as we like.
1987 Interview with Jim Reid
This short interview provides some nice philosophical background on the ideals behind Jesus and Mary Chain. Good for J&MC noobs (um..present). Jim Reid stares at the carpet and opens up frank discussion regarding the band being "foremost a pop group" and their music "another form of the blues." Reid drowns even the faintest sign of snotty demeanor in a fascinating exchange on Punk's influence on the band. Flipping the eagerly feasted, establishment-questioning roots with a self-aware, postpunk disillusionment.
The Jesus and Mary Chain - "April Skies" Top of the Pops (1987)
If the Beach Boys and Velvet Underground had a child, that child would be this song.
The Jesus and Mary Chain - "Just Like Honey"
Video director recreates white noise with film. Minimalist art direction provides little visual compliments to the words of this song, thus leaving the cunnilingus debate unsettled. I'm going to make up a new myth: The real meaning was known only by Bill Murray until he whispered it to Scarlett Johansson in the final scene of Lost in Translation. Incredibly lame until I tell you Murray was a childhood friend of the Reid brothers (not true).
The Jesus and Mary Chain - "In a Hole"
Teetering on the edge of implosive disaster, until it finally gives.
The Jesus and Mary Chain - North London Polytechnic Riot
Part of me wants to throw this clip into the silly British press pile to ferment along with old NMEs. Ballsy, scandal-fishing questioning such as, "You've been described variously as the best new band.., and also the worst," end up providing comic relief however. English Punks and a sweet riot seal the deal.
Posted by Merry Swankster at 09:30 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
January 23, 2007
These bands will make you gay
Taking a misguided page from the 'music approved by conservatives' files comes this debacle from the "Love God's Way Ministries (via Idolator).
"One of the most dangerous ways homosexuality invades family life is through popular music. Parents should keep careful watch over their children's listening habits, especially in this Internet Age of MP3 piracy."Bands to watch out for
The Spores
Scissor Sisters
Rufus Wainwright
Merzbau
Ravi Shankar
Wilco
Bjork
Tech N9ne
Ghostface Killah
Bobby Conn
Morton Subotnik
Cole Porter
The String Cheese Incident
Eagles of Death Metal
Polyphonic Spree
The Faint
Interpol
Tegan and Sara
Erasure
Le Tigre
The Gossip
The Doors
Phish
Queen
The Strokes
Sufjan Stevens
Morrissey
The Pet Shop Boys
Metallica
Judas Priest
The Village People
The Secret Handshake
The Rolling Stones
David Bowie
Frankie Goes to Hollywood
Man or Astroman
Richard Cheese
Jay-Z
Depeche Mode
Kansas
Ani DiFranco
Fischerspooner
John Mayer
The Indigo Girls
Velvet Underground
If you've already caught the Gay, the crazies offer hope:
"The bottom line - you shouldn't be gay! You can lead a life of fulfillment and happiness as God intended, a life far better than what your Gay life has offered."
Previously:
YFLMD* - Youth Fight, Love Marriage Defense?
Conservative songs, redux
Posted by Merry Swankster at 04:09 PM | Comments (16) | TrackBack
the Beatles and Philosophy: Book Review
Adopted Texan and MS pal Randall Monty drops in once again to prove that we're not a bunch of emotionally stunted dolts who only read in two sentence bursts about bands on the internet. Sometimes we manage hundreds of sentences. On paper. In a row. Alright, they're still about bands, but we're smart dammit! Anyway...
The Beatles and Philosophy: A Review
by Randall Monty
A quick Amazon.com search gives us some 22,000+ different books about the Fab Four, 273 of which fall under the “Gay and Lesbian” grouping and 435 categorized under “Science Fiction and Fantasy”. Included in this massive list is the Beatles and Philosophy: Nothing You Can Think That Can’t Be Thunk, one of Open Court’s newest additions to its ambitious-yet-ultimately-insatiable Pop Culture and Philosophy series.
Following the form of the series, this volume employs roughly 20 different writers, academics and, yes, philosophers, that address the titular topic from an allegedly philosophical perspective. However, rather than fully utilize the Beatles’ work as a vehicle for philosophical thought, most of the authors take an, “Aww, shucks, I sure do love the Beatles” approach to their essays. This is not to say they are poorly written or underdeveloped – they aren’t. My primary complaint with the PC&P series, and the Beatles edition in particular, is the collective writers’ trepidation; only one or two of the bunch will ever fully challenge the legitimacy of the selected artifact. Instead, the bulk of the writers tend to either focus too much, or not enough, on the subject. In this sense, most of the essays become about the Beatles or philosophy.
Furthermore, most of the writers take the most obvious approaches to the task at hand, as the same tracks and stories are repeatedly mentioned. (I don’t know how may times I need to be told that John Lennon didn’t like the Maharishi. Apparently: a lot.) Even though the Beatles released over twenty albums between the years 1963 and 1970, (which are neatly catalogued, along with a list of the band’s cover songs, as an appendix of this book), and even though each article mentions many different songs, most of the writers contained within this text focus on only a small handful of the group’s tracks. If judging solely on number of mentions, the Beatles songs most suitable for philosophical discussion are as follows: “Across the Universe”, “All You Need is Love”, “A Day in the Life”, “Eleanor Rigby”, “Help”, “I Am the Walrus”, “I Me Mine”, “The Inner Light” (which I hardly know), “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds”, “Nowhere Man” (#1, by far), “Piggies”, “Rain”, the various incarnations of “Revolution”, “She’s Leaving Home”, “Strawberry Fields Forever”, “Tomorrow Never Knows”, “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”, “Within You Without You”. While these tracks would make one heck of a greatest hits album, it would have made for a better read if the collective writers had shown a bit more variety in their approaches. Unfortunately, this lack of daring and critical chutzpah has become a disappointing hallmark of this (conceptually fantastic) series.
the Beatles - "Across the Universe"
the Beatles - "Nowhere Man"
It's not all fluff, thankfully. There are a few essay contained within that are certainly usable in a college syllabus, such as the two that comprise chapter VIII, “Zarathustra’s Silver Hammer: The Beatles and Nietzsche”. And while the connection made by Steven Baur in his piece “You Say You Want a Revolution: The Beatles and Marx” (chapter IV) is by no means a stretch (after all, Marx does make an appearance on Beatles album cover), the author manages to simultaneously remain focused on the two separate subjects over the entire course of the argument. Take, for instance, Baur’s analysis of the Beatles’ second album of 1964:
[T]he demand that the Beatles ceaselessly produce ever more commodities further alienated them from their work and forced them to put out a record that bears less of their imprint than anything they had previously done … Perhaps recognizing the extent which they were being exploited to accommodate the marketing frenzy that accompanied Beatlemania, the band called the album Beatles for Sale. (97)
The Marx reference in this passage is quite obvious, and rather than take a few lyrics out of context (as most of the other authors do), Baur points to a specific instance where Marx’s philosophy is applicable to the Beatles.
John Lennon has been repeatedly cited as denouncing the notion that the Beatles’ lyrics possess any sort of deeper, or even philosophical, meanings. He made such frequent proclamations not only to prove his point about avoiding unnecessary hero worship, but also, likely, to play it safe and avoid having his work held up to any real critical scrutiny. That is a fine position for a musician to take, but why did the contributing writers of The Beatles and Philosophy have to hide the same way?
// the Beatles and Philosophy - buy
Posted by Jeff Klingman at 01:50 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
MS Pick - Looker
When I first arrived at Merry Swankster, here's what I found in my welcome basket: my new email account (the password was not quite "vaginamusic," but trust me, it's something close); mp3s (including Ricky Wilde's astronomically rad "I Am an Astronaut"); and a list of pre-approved euphemisms I could use to describe Kate Jackson. (Among them, "sex pottery," an "enchanting" "star," “an eyeball magnet.”) Oh boys, somewhere in Sheffield, there's a restraining order with your names on it.
Gentlemen, I know you prefer "Blondes." That much is very well documented. But I also know how hard transatlantic admiration can be. So today, I give you a new (local) hobby. Something to fill the void until the Long Blonde's next U.S. tour...
Today, my red-blooded American men, I present you with Looker.
Alphabetization may be to blame for the forthcoming comparison. My iTunes library stashes Looker's new album Born Too Late directly on the kitten heels of the Long Blonde's Someone to Drive You Home. And by the second time "Weekend Without Makeup" rippled into "Serenade Stare," it dawned on me: this girl-led quartet might be NYC's just-as-pretty, slightly-more-gritty version of your collective fixation.
Now, please don't get me wrong. Recorded and mixed in eight days at Brooklyn's Headgear Studios, BTL doesn't sound half as sheeny as STDYH. But golly knows, the same influences are at work here. And the album's most memorable tracks, “Gregory” and “Tickle My Spine,” don't lack for dance, or prance, or guitar-propelled tongue-in-cheekiness.
Born Too Late even offers its own "Once and Never Again"-esque advice to a younger generation of boy-bait. On "Hey Kids," bassist Rachel Smith and guitarists Boshra AlSaadi and Nicole Greco mewl: "hey kids, you're talkin' bold and wild / you're a one-man's love, you're a poster child." And frankly, they take admonition a single step further than your bird Jackson dares. The track culminates with what might be penultimate advice about the male species: “They like it when you kick ‘em real hard.”
But is Looker "sex pottery?"
Well, going on press photos, their name seems to suit them. Therefore, if you decide to head down to the Annex tomorrow night, I'll advise you to keep your distance to 100-uncreepy-feet. Just as, you know, a precautionary measure. (Jeff, this means you in particular.)
LOOKER TOUR DATES:
Jan 24 - New York, NY - The Annex
Feb 2 - Pittsburgh, PA - Rock Room
Feb 24 - Northampton, MA - Smith College
// Looker - Born Too Late - Buy.
// Looker - Site.
// Looker - Myspace.
Posted by Koren Zailckas at 05:00 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
January 22, 2007
Coachella Lineup Announced
The obvious headline is that Rage is reuniting for what appears to be a one-off show, but the real meat and potatoes of the festival announcement takes a few days to digest and unravel. Before Woodstock '99 jokes swarm in from the hater vulture nests (see inclusion of the Chili Peppers as headliners on the loaded second day), remember that Coachella is rarely about the headliners.
Posted by Merry Swankster at 04:00 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Handsome Furs Cover Liars, Remain Elusive
There's still almost no information available on Handsome Furs, Dan Boeckner's Wolf Parade side project. The two man band, comprised of Dan and his soon to be wife Alexei, have been sitting on a Sub Pop record deal for the better part of a year and so far have naught but one moderately circulated demo and a string of Canadian tour dates to their name. The lovebirds did stealthily make it to a festival appearance in Scandinavia, as well as opening a Modest Mouse show or two in 2006, but were otherwise incognito. Any helpful information such as a release date, a tracklist, or any plans for a US tour is completely non-existent. The Sub Pop site's got nothing. There's not even a MySpace page. The nerve!
So, it was an extremely welcome surprise when fledgling Canad-indie site, Snake's Got a Blog, coughed up this excellent recording from a live date in Ottawa. Their second excellent Wolf Parade related find in as many weeks, by the way.
The band tackles one of last year's top songs, Liars' "the Other Side of Mt. Heart Attack" (aka the sweet one off of Drum's Not Dead, aka # 5 on my Idolator ballot). As always, heart is securely tacked on sleeve...
Handsome Furs - "the Other Side of Mt. Heart Attack"
(Liars cover, live in Ottawa)
Liars' version of this song is practically weightless, built on nothing but cascading falsetto and an occasional water droplet synth tone. In the context of Drum's Not Dead its heavenly sighing is perfect, the absence of percussion setting it apart from the domineering beats that it follows. It's as if the title Drum character got tired of fighting to prove his existence, and decides that passing away to a sweet afterlife might not be so bad after all.
Handsome Furs' version is less idealized, more of this Earth. The gentle "ahh-ahh"'ing is replaced with fuzzy guitar downstrokes. Without an album context to deal with, a steady drum machine heartbeat is a welcome addition. Towards the song's end, as DB starts improvising on the minimal lyric sheet, a distorted mic delivers some emotional crack up in place of the original's tranquility. Where Angus Andrew's pretty singing felt even-keel or maybe slightly matter of fact, Boeckner's bloody croak is meant to convince. As the feedback bursts around him, his deep chested yelps suggest the image of an anorectic Brando, ripping his shirt in the rain, screaming up at the balcony in a hipster Streetcar. "I Caaaan always be found! I can Alwaaaays be Fo-ow-ound!!" There's a tortured quality here that lends the words a much different color.
It's really a great take on an already classic song, that makes the lack of any timetable for the release of any original Furs material all the more frustrating. You'll know when we do...
Bonus:
Handsome Furs - "Dumb Animals"
Posted by Jeff Klingman at 09:30 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
January 21, 2007
The shillest - get your online study on
Online college University of Phoenix has, out of nowhere, become a marketing juggernaut - probably the only college to purchase national TV advertising outside of college sporting events and certainly the only university to pay sponsorship rights for an NFL stadium.
The ad, pretty nondescript and sadly not online, harnesses the feel-good buzz of The New Pornographers' Bleeding Heart Show. Obviously, UoPh administrators are MS.com readers - check my review in 2005's best of list.
As with pretty much every NPG song, you know it's only time before the pace picks up, and it does with a rapid build-up and, damn, if some teen movie doesn't pick this end part up for some graduation ceremony montage
I cannot find the ad online, so you will have make do with a picture of a computer and the mp3.
The New Pornographers - Bleeding Heart Show
Posted by Keith O'Brien at 01:10 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
January 19, 2007
A Sunny Day in Glasgow - "Watery"
A Sunny Day in Glasgow got alot of space on this site last year on the strength of their odd and appealing Best Summer Ever EP. You'll be hearing even more of them now with their debut full length Scribble Mural Comic Journal shined and ready for its February 14th release from Notenuf Records. The new material follows the same general blueprint as the now out of print EP, and envelops three of its songs. Ben Daniels veers more into electronic textures on the album, pairing his sister's lilting voices with blips that remind you of a time when it seemed like Aphex Twin's ambient work was the future of...something. Exclusionary guitar fans can rest easy knowing the axe its still the white noise generator of choice.
Still extremely pretty, still basically inscrutable.
We've splendidly roped the Daniels clan into celebrating the record's release with us at the Delancey on February 17th, making their only New York appearance at the next Neon Lights show. Now is not the time to talk of that however. That time will be in two or three weeks. You'll know when it has started.
For now, a taste of the new record...
A Sunny Day in Glasgow - "Watery (Drowning is Just Another Word for Being Buried Alive Under Water)"
The melody from this song is what's going to stay with you, even if it's gauzy, muffled sweetness will result more in perpetual unconscious whistling than a sing-along. Given the song's grimly accurate title it seems a bit easy to claim that the sonics feel submerged, but there is something coming between the clearly pretty singing of the Daniels sisters and the listener's ear. Water's as good a guess as any. It's strange because you feel like you can crack it with a closer listen, that the girls are making perfect sense if only you could somehow squint your ears a little and bring their words, alternating and overlapping, into clearer focus. So you lean into it, and try to brush away the undulating guitar washes that hang in stasis around the edges. Every so often, the hint of a drum surge acts as encouragement, tricking you into thinking you're on the right track. But, when you get to the end without capturing any elusive concrete meaning, it occurs to you that maybe pure melody was the point all along, and any obscuring elements were really protecting you from torturing yourself with deeper analysis. That's when you realize the tune has taken up position in your mind with no plans to leave. Then your whistling starts, like you've got no choice at all...
Cracker's United is a "Watery..." fan also, and Fluxblog had another song from the album here this week.
Pre-order Scribble Mural Comic Journal here
Previously: An interview with ASDIG's Ben Daniels...
// A Sunny Day in Glasgow - website
// A Sunny Day in Glasgow - MySpace
Posted by Jeff Klingman at 01:15 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Video of Daft Punk @ Coachella
For the MS.com year end recap we didn't do a Best Shows of 2006. The ranking of albums was painful enough and the thought of comparing snapshots of bands in the live setting that one of us happened to check out doesn't seem fair, or all that helpful. My cynical nature overwhelms any informative tidbits those kinds of lists may have by filling me with thoughts of blowhardness towards the author. They sorta reek of show offy-ness. Way too many variables outside the control of the musicians exist to provide fairness to such a ludicrous list, at least that’s my thought on the subject.
However, I fully understand the drawing power that nicely put together lists have on the reading public so I won't dwell on this further. If you disagree with me that is fine. I suggest immediately subscribing to SPIN as they are fond of lists. They suck pretty bad but for $10 a year you get what you pay for. We're still not going to publish one, but if I was asked, say on the street by a stranger, or a friend at a party who just found out I write for a music blog what my favorite show of 2006 was I would not hesitate in answering: Daft Punk's performance at Coachella.
You could read all about why I thought so in my review here. Then head to Urb's website to see the entire video of the performance culled from expertly edited clips of concertgoers video footage. Pretty excellent way to get my morning started (via BV).
Previously:
Sans teleporter, Merry Swankster's actual Coachella Setlist | Day 1 recap
Coachella 2007 Dates Set | Expanding to 3 days
Posted by Merry Swankster at 12:15 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Criminally, critically underrated: Have Black Sheep N.E. Pull?
When citing the Native Tongues family, no group gets the shorter shrift than Black Sheep. Perhaps this designation is merited, when considering the output of the others (plentiful: De La Soul and Tribe Called Quest; significant: Jungle Brothers).
Black Sheep, on the other hand, had two albums in the 90s - the criminally, critically underrated Wolf in Sheep's Clothing and the forgotten Non-Fiction.
What united members of the Native Tongues family was a mutual self-assured, laid-back attitude in their rhymes and a snare-focused, jazzy undertone score. Leaving Jungle Brothers aside (as I don't see them fitting perfectly into the triumvirate of De La, Tribe, and Black Sheep), the differences were in their approaches.
De La pushed abstract poetry, Tribe pushed the-things-I-see-on-the-highway game, and Black Sheep focused on the real (note: not the nebulous "keeping it real" of today).
MC Dres, a chill dude's chill dude, steered nearly all of the lyrical matter towards the pulling of women through boasts and wit. Thanks to the vapid rap commentaries of today, whereby dead ugly hip-hop stars film videos with rented money and vixens looking like denial of sex would cause an embolism, all the while taking their ability to attracting women as a given (thanks, PrimeTime, for your matter of fact explanation), Black Sheep's effort to show the work is appreciated.
Of course, anyone who went to secondary school in the 90s or has attended a wedding (i.e. humanity) is well aware of The Choice is Yours, the ubiquitous "Engine, Engine, Number 9" song. And dedicated elephant viewers of Yo! MTV Raps' nascent programs will remember the oft-played Flavor of the Month.
But, for my money, the standout track on a very solid album is Similak Child, which rides a loop of sparse guitar and dogs barking into the familiar minimalistic jazzy flow.
// Black Sheep- Wolf in Sheep's Clothing
Posted by Keith O'Brien at 09:18 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 17, 2007
Retrohump Day - the Raincoats
You Tube rewards persistence. You can look and look and look for a magic piece of footage for months, and just when you've given up hope or completely forgotten about your quest, BLAM!
So, when I saw this Idolator post yesterday pleading for the re-re-release of the Raincoats catalog, it was all the reminder needed to get back on the hunt for the band's elusive footage. It would be a stretch to say I was handsomely rewarded, but these two versions of "Fairytale in the Supermarket" have a rakish charm.
the Raincoats - "Fairytale in the Supermarket"
( in the Rough Trade studios 1979, from Southbank '79)
Of course, the preference is to see the artists during the time they were actually making the beloved music, so this short snippet of the 'coats in the Rough Trade studios is delightful if not complete. They look a little crammed in there and seeing the violin art scratches getting done in such close quarters just adds to the DIY legend. I also like how the crawling lyric scroll ends up being kind of confusing by starting out late and then getting way ahead of itself. Inept production values are charming. This is labeled as being a clip from a BBC documentary about the Rough Trade label called Southbank '79. That title is too obscure for both imdb and allmovie.com, and now I'm absolutely panting to see it. Any obscurist out there who can enlighten me as to what other riches might be contained within?
Oh, and I get that this is clearly not the point of the Raincoats, nor their actual appeal, but their drummer, Palmolive, who was also in the Slits, is kind of adorable. I'm a bad person. Love her for her rambunctuous drum fills, and not just her pig tails, I urge you...
the Raincoats - "Fairytale in the Supermarket" (1993)
This clip, directed by prime 'coat Gina Birch, was created for the '93 re-issue of the band's albums that was famously a result of some Kurt Cobain arm twisting with the Geffen brass. Gina (whose directing prowess was last seen in the Long Blondes video for "Weekend Without Makeup") achieves a ramshackle quality that both equals the song's wobbly sonics and wouldn't have looked out of place in the midst of an 120 Minutes episode from the time. The best part is the end, when the three little girls that have been skipping around the clip all start pounding on the drums. Probably the perfect visual for the chaotic, carefree charm of the band's music.
Since you've now heard it twice, and it's lodged its way into your brain stem, I mercifully deliver the mp3...
MP3 - the Raincoats - "Fairytale in the Supermarket"
...and for the big spenders...
// the Raincoats - the Raincoats buy
P.S. In a word to the wise, sure to annoy non New Yorkers, I've seen the whole Raincoats catalog in the import section of the Times Square Virgin Megastore for like 15 bucks...
Posted by Jeff Klingman at 12:30 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 16, 2007
Anorak Christmas pleases past the holidays
Some recent buzz about this low-impact, seemingly straight-out-of-'83 album Disco Romance by Sally Shapiro.
As if early Madonna had a twin sister who found her airs bullshit, Shapiro seemingly sleepwalks through most of the album. This is the type of stuff that can underwhelm, and most of the tracks fail to elicit a major initial reaction. The songs almost seem like castoffs from the Rad soundtrack. But I wouldn't be surprised if it grows on me.
And, certainly, Anorak Christmas is not going to knock anyone down the first listen, but the hushed tone and layered textures - constant shifting of rhythm while maintaining melodic consistency -- helps it stand way above the fray.
Sally Shapiro - Anorak Christmas
// Sally Shapiro Web site
// Sally Shapiro - Disco Romance
Posted by Keith O'Brien at 09:18 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 15, 2007
Live Wire
When Wire's own Pink Flag label released long awaited live footage of the band in DVD form on 2004's Wire: On the Box 1979, I was too thrilled to even consider that there might be more to come. So it was an extremely welcome surprise to behold the mammoth document that is the newly minted Live @ the Roxy / Live @ the CBGB Theatre double CD. The first disc's 34 tracks are made of two nearly identical setlists from Wire's inclusion in a London punk festival that gave the band its first big break. The second disc is taken from a New York City radio broadcast of the group's first US gig, at the newly-defunct 'GB's. While we can only hope the vaults are excavated even further, there's now at least one document from each of the three years which produced those undeniable first three records.
Some fun size tastes...
Wire - "Glad All Over"
(Dave Clark Five cover, Live @ the Roxy, London, UK. April 1st, 1977)
Wire handles this 60's garage rock standard more reverentially then they did with later versions of their own compositions. The main difference is that Colin Newman's petulant vocals make it impossible to hear this as a straight froward proclamation of joy. Maybe a sarcastic comment on the band's prospects at the time? You can hear for yourself the level of enthusiasm the band gets from the Roxy crowd at the end of their bill opening set.
Wire - "TV"
(Live @ the Roxy, London, UK. April 2nd, 1977)
Although they made a resounding thud in popular opinion, the Roxy staff were a bit more forward thinking. For the second night of the festival, the kids played third from the bottom to an only marginally less indifferent crowd. Two tracks from the concert ended up on a record called the Roxy London WC2 that cracked the Brit top twenty in punk's heyday, and had a direct result on getting the band a proper record deal. From that second night is this track, one of the few that didn't end up on Pink Flag. Typically basic, but catchy for the 1:17 seconds it's allowed to live and with a few seconds that lean on just a jogging bassline rather than a full blown sprinting assault. Not as structurally interesting as the new material that would eventually be regarded as timeless classics, but a pretty cool start point.
Wire - "I am the Fly"
(Live @ CBGB's, NYC 1978)
The highlight of the the second disc's radio recording is "I am the Fly," which would eventually be released as a single from their just recorded Chairs Missing album. Hard to believe, but the guitar sounds are even more annoying here than they are on record, more willing to commit to the insect buzzing of the song's subject matter. The lyric reading is less deliberate and stilted, which is actually a bad thing, taking away from the weird precision of the original. You also miss the collective power of the sing along that develops on the album, but it isn't a dealbreaker. The will to wrap what is essentially an infectious pop song in such an abrasive package remains impressive.
Wire - "Blessed State"
(Live on Rockapalast, German Television, 1979)
Overshadowed by the Wire: On the Box DVD is the accompanying recording of the TV special's live performance, which is invaluable for the sound quality a television studio (with a yet another audience full of deaf mutes) can provide. Perhaps a little fuller sounding than the brittle studio track, this version is what really awakened me to one of the seminal Wire songs, missed somehow in a billion 154 listens. Graham Lewis tackles the vocals in this Bruce Gilbert penned krautrock number, and his booming low register has a deadpan authority that suits the song better than Colin's perma-sneer might have. Although the live rendition loses a bit of intricate guitar interplay from the album cut, it more than compensates with late overlapping vocals from both Lewis and Newman that push the song from good to spectacular. The motorik rhythm section is untouched from version to version, with good reason.
Previously: Footage from the Rockpalast DVD was examined in a previous Retrohump Day entry...
// Wire - Live @ the Roxy / Live @ the CBGB Theatre buy
// Wire - Wire on the Box: 1979 buy
Posted by Jeff Klingman at 02:30 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
January 14, 2007
The shillest - will consumers see the irony from such great heights?
I'm a little late to this game, but much snarky ado about the Postal Service licensing a song to a new UPS campaign. Ardent students of indie rock/marketing symbiosis already know that the Postal Service and the USPS had a dust up in the past over the bands name. Settlement included the Postal Service helping the USPS with promotional efforts. USPS.com now sells Postal Service recordings. That alone proves the shillest's worth.
Apologies for failing to provide a YouTube clip so early into the campaign (It will show up eventually). Here's the thing - UPS may take its share of snark from people like us, but, how many Joe Sixpacks will hear the Postal Service and make that connection? One in six? Fifteen? Thirty-three thousand? (Apologies redux in advance for the following comparison) Pretty much every song from the Such Great Heights, like Moby's Play, have the right mix of accessibility, pathos, and mood that makes marketers salivate. Kudos, I guess, to United Parcel Service for not worrying about what 6,000 bloggers will write.
Elsewhere
Band: Go Team! (voiceover: Kevin Spacey, apparently)
Song: Huddle Formation
Car: Honda Civic
Posted by Keith O'Brien at 08:30 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
January 11, 2007
Sunset Rubdown - "Winged / Wicked Things", Live Video
This is, for YouTube, some relatively high quality live footage. Spencer Krug and company tear through a number that didn't make it onto my favorite album of the year, but rules regardless. It looks like they're playing somebody's rec room...
Sunset Rubdown - "Winged/ Wicked Things"
Live @ Lenny's Bar, Atlanta, GA
(with thanks to Snake's Got a Blog, who apparently love Sun Rub even more than I do...)
Sunset Rubdown - "Winged / Wicked Things"
(from the Daytrotter.com session)
// Sunset Rubdown - Shut Up, I am Dreaming buy
Posted by Jeff Klingman at 07:11 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Orphaned Songs
This post is cobbled together from songs that I've been enjoying, but didn't want to devote an entire post to, because they were too old, or well tread, or weird, or obscure. But dammit if this squad of lovable misfts won't overcome early adversity to win the league volleyball title anyway! They have way more heart than those rotten jerks from that rich prep school...
Poni Hoax - "Budapest"
For all the '06 lists that I read, and I believe the number was somewhere just shy of 2 billion, I felt like I didn't really make any great discoveries. Just stuff I already knew if I liked or loathed. Maybe that's because this is the first year in which I was blogging (and paying the scrutinizing attention that blogging entails) from end to end. It was a sadly empty experience nonetheless. I'll have to hang my hat on this, the one that was posted all over the place, and still got away from me. That was probably because any accurate descriptions of it made use of some synonym for "French goth techno thrash rock". That sounds brilliant to me now in retrospect, but might have caused an involuntary eye glaze in the moment.
I love this dearly, from its homemade Moroder throb to its dramatic string flourishes. The sense of specific geographical place and quickly building angst give it a wide-screen paranoid conspiracy thriller feel (if that makes any sense to anyone but me). I also appreciate that when guest vocalist Olga Koublaki collapses in frustrated screaming, the backing track loses its cool right along with her, disrupting the flow with ugly guitar pounding before pulling it back together.
This might all be old news to you hip devils, but for me it was like taking the Christmas tree to the curb and having an unopened present fall out.
// Poni Hoax - MySpace
// Poni Hoax -Poni Hoax buy
Delmontes - "Ga Ga"
Think you're up on Scottish Post Punk from the early eighties? So did I man, so did I. This illusion was crushed by the more than exhaustive (and goofily named) Kilt by Death: the Sound of Old Scotland compilation. Featuring a ridiculous 87 tracks by 83 Scots bands just from the years 1977-84, it humbles those of us who felt pretty hip for digging old Postcard Records singles. I'm not going to pretend that I've come any where near absorbing this stuff in its entirety, but I have isolated a couple highlights and, as an mp3 blog, we are definitely in the isolated highlights business.
The Delmontes only ever officially released two singles on Rational Records in 1980, but this one should have greenlit a longer run. Possessing an arch, detached female vocal similar to the Young Marble Giants, it's made much warmer by runaway bassline and the always pants removing charm of cheap synths played well.
// Kilt by Death: the Sound of Old Scotland buy
Rusty Santos - "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun"
Rusty Santos has been involved behind the boards on a slew of good records lately including work with the Animal Collective, Ariel Pink (and his sadly ignored Holy Shit project), First Nation, Gang Gang Dance, Panda Bear, and Beach House. His own work is usually in the weird as hell folk-y mode but like his pal Mr. Pink there are pop morsels buried throughout the oddlands.
This Cyndi Lauper cover was posted as a MySpace freebie, and sees Rusty taking a bitchy camp persona. As a dyed in the wool Eno devotee, that's clearly my preferred guise for ubiquitous sonic magicians once unleashed. Acoustic guitar strum is echoed out and put on loop, adding sincerely catchy textures to the petulant vocals. I especially dig the breathy grunting beatbox bridge. Not too much to dissect I guess, but a fun little diversion from a guy who really knows his shit.
// Rusty Santos - MySpace
// Rusty Santos - Eternity Spans buy
Beirut - "Scenic World" (Lon Gisland EP version)
It took awhile for Beirut the band (as opposed to Beirut the recording project) to crack the bedroom synthpop of "Scenic World" from Gulag Orkestar. Recast with the usual old world flourishes the spirit of the song is better served. About retreating to an idealized fantasy world, the old version captured the smallness of the boy not the large scope of the daydream. It's the difference between looking at a golden sunset in a Viewmaster or leaning out the window to see it in person.
// Beirut - MySpace
// Beirut - Lon Gisland EP buy
Also:
My review of this song was up yesterday on the Prefix blog (which you should really be checking obsessively), but since I secretly love you the best, here's the mp3
Prinzhorn Dance School - "You are the Space Invader"
// Prinzhorn Dance School - website
Posted by Jeff Klingman at 01:05 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 10, 2007
Retrohump Day - Dusty Springfield
This week, Pitchfork taunted us with a review of an amazing looking Dusty Springfield compilation that is only available in the States in non-tangible eMusic form. I'm sure that most people are fine with that arrangement at this point, and us trainspotting grumps who like to read liner notes for kicks will have to bite our tongues. In order to provide something for my fellow awkward shut ins to gawk at, we dive into the ghosts of Springfield past. I'm not gonna put up "Son of a Preacher Man", just because of post Pulp Fiction burnout, but its obviously still terrific.
Dusty Springfield - "I Only Want to Be With You"
Hard to believe that Dusty was a timid folk-y before this. Her voice is so big and clear that it sort of busts from the seems of the backing track. You'd need a live orchestra to even try to keep up. Still one of my favorite voices ever, I think. When it was announced that Chan Marshall was going into the studio with the Southern session players, it immediately triggered alot of Dusty goes to Memphis comparisons. Although I love Cat Power's voice, she never really held a candle to Ms. Springfield.
Dusty Springfield - "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me"
As I detailed previously in regards to "Wishin' and Hopin' " , the lyrics of Dusty Springfield songs are actually kind of troubling when investigated from a modern point of view. Take this;
"You don't have to say you love me/ Just be close at hand / You dont have to stay forever/ I will understand/ Believe me, believe me/ I can't help but love you/ But believe me/ I'll never tie you down"
What kind of crazy male fantasy shit is that? Say what you want about the respective quality of the different era's pop music , but I don't think a male songwriting squad would dream of putting those sort of words in a current starlet's mouth, and those writing their own material would never choose to be portrayed as such a doormat. Beyonce would NOT stand for that mess!
She may be no feminist icon, but Dusty sells the desperation so well that it's still a goosebump trigger for sure. Her total dependence makes the song's narrative seem even sadder now, cutting deeper than a simple heartbreak song, and becoming a detail of emotional abuse.
Dusty Springfield - "Spooky"
One of the (few) problems with YouTube is that sometimes it can completely isolate footage from any sort of context and result in some serious confusion. This clip must come from some sort of television special that would have probably explained the giant Gary Numan lightbox Dusty is sitting in, and why it's only used for a split second at the song's beginning. As it is, the only visual adornment this performance of "Spooky" gets is an occasional flutter of the hands. Also, why is she sitting on a spotlight? Really baffling.
The performance itself, which is most likely a lip sync, is still hard to knock. You have to wonder what kind of emotions a songwriter goes through when their song achieves greater fame in the hands of another singer. Classics IV record