- Take a look at the White Stripes on the last Conan performance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ijh3sUu7kEc
I think adorable is the word I'm looking for here. I don't think Meg even knows how to play guitar. I love it.
- I bought the new Robyn Hitchcock album, Goodnight Oslo. The arrangements are more fun on the second half of the record, particularly the soul ballad "TLC" and the horn/banjo combo in "Up To Our Nex". However, you first have to get through the pure stupidity of "Saturday Groovers" to get to these tracks. This album is like a combination of Scott Walker 4 and REM's Out Of Time but with grating nasally vocals. Its a fun listen if you are really into British pop - otherwise, skip it.
(If you do hear this record, tell me if this guy reminds you of the singer of that horrible Christmas song on the movie Love, Actually. I'm not kidding.)
- I think I fixed the new Bruce Springsteen album. Put it on your iPod and delete "Outlaw Pete", "Queen Of The Supermarket", "Good Eye", and "Surprise, Surprise". Make the title track the opener and put "The Wrestler" in the middle. Now you have a good album. If this weren't the digital age, this album would have remained a complete trainwreck.
- Rolling Stone gave the new U2 album 5 stars! Oh wait, they gave the new Springsteen album 5 stars. Maybe they can redeem themselves. I'll let you know next week.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Morrissey's "Years Of Refusal"
When you see song titles like "Something Is Squeezing My Skull" and "It's Not Your Birthday Anymore", it can only be one person. Long titles, whining, and self-pity humor can only mean one thing -Morrissey is back!
After a great run of albums in the early 90s, he disappeared for almost a decade before returning with the excellent You Are The Quarry, which actually went a little under recognized due to the stellar year 2004 was. Now he's given us three albums in five years (prolific for him), and instead of trying anything fancy in production or songwriting this time, he gives us his hardest rock album since Your Arsenal.
They pound through the first few tracks so fast you don't really catch on to the melodies or the lyrics, which has made me want to play this album several times. "I'm Trying To Throw My Arms Around Paris" is the first break from this - this soaring jangle-pop could be one of the year's best singles. He really should have made it last more than two and a half minutes.
The mariachi touches to "When I Last Spoke To Carol" and the dark orchestrations of "You Were Good In Your Time" give the second half a good variety, the later of which goes into a Scott Walker-esque dirge for the last minute (random...). This isn't as strong of an album as his 90s masterpieces Your Arsenal and Vauxhall & I, but it's a great addition to his catalog and probably the most significant release of February.
After a great run of albums in the early 90s, he disappeared for almost a decade before returning with the excellent You Are The Quarry, which actually went a little under recognized due to the stellar year 2004 was. Now he's given us three albums in five years (prolific for him), and instead of trying anything fancy in production or songwriting this time, he gives us his hardest rock album since Your Arsenal.
They pound through the first few tracks so fast you don't really catch on to the melodies or the lyrics, which has made me want to play this album several times. "I'm Trying To Throw My Arms Around Paris" is the first break from this - this soaring jangle-pop could be one of the year's best singles. He really should have made it last more than two and a half minutes.
The mariachi touches to "When I Last Spoke To Carol" and the dark orchestrations of "You Were Good In Your Time" give the second half a good variety, the later of which goes into a Scott Walker-esque dirge for the last minute (random...). This isn't as strong of an album as his 90s masterpieces Your Arsenal and Vauxhall & I, but it's a great addition to his catalog and probably the most significant release of February.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Dark Was The Night
Aaron and Bryce Dressner released the Dark Was The Night compilation this week, which includes what several publications have referred to as the "who's who in indie rock". Here are a couple highlights:
"Train Song" by Ben Gibbard and Feist - Ben can harmonize? Really? Why doesn't he try to do this in a few Death Cab For Cutie songs? Maybe he'll try this on their next record...
"Brackett, WI" by Bon Iver - Beautiful, soft, hypnotic - Sufjan Stevens better put out an album before this guy replaces him.
"So Far Around The Bend" by The National - Reminds me of a more upbeat "Karen", but more catchy. I can't wait to hear another record from them.
"Feeling Good" by My Brightest Diamond - Soulful in a creepy Portishead way. I love that indie rock has recently discovered soul music.
"I Was Young When I Left Home" by Antony and Bryce Dressner - Amazingly, Antony singing Bob Dylan has worked twice now. I couldn't have called that one.
"Big Red Machine" by Aaron Dressner and Justin Vernon - The highlight of this album. A must hear worthy of Boxer or For Emma, Forever Ago. If Bon Iver shows up on the next National album, I'm buying ten copies.
"You Are The Blood" by Sufjan Stevens - What is going on here? This is the strangest thing he has recorded since his Enjoy Your Rabbit album. Interesting, but I hope he doesn't do an entire album like this.
"El Caporal" by My Morning Jacket - Flowing southern rock that drives on a saxophone hook. This is infinitely better than anything on their last record.
"With A Girl Like You" by David Sitek - Droning techno meets bouncy pop. Give us a solo album, Dave.
...and I didn't even mention new tracks by Spoon or the Arcade Fire. This compilation goes for $16 bucks for 32 songs on iTunes. It has a few duds: the Decemberists go nowhere for 8 minutes and David Byrne and the Dirty Projectors make an irritating combo. However, for that price, you can edit it and find some real gems here.
Plus, proceeds go to HIV research. You get some great songs, some great artists get some new material out there, and a charity gets a few bucks. What's not to love?
"Train Song" by Ben Gibbard and Feist - Ben can harmonize? Really? Why doesn't he try to do this in a few Death Cab For Cutie songs? Maybe he'll try this on their next record...
"Brackett, WI" by Bon Iver - Beautiful, soft, hypnotic - Sufjan Stevens better put out an album before this guy replaces him.
"So Far Around The Bend" by The National - Reminds me of a more upbeat "Karen", but more catchy. I can't wait to hear another record from them.
"Feeling Good" by My Brightest Diamond - Soulful in a creepy Portishead way. I love that indie rock has recently discovered soul music.
"I Was Young When I Left Home" by Antony and Bryce Dressner - Amazingly, Antony singing Bob Dylan has worked twice now. I couldn't have called that one.
"Big Red Machine" by Aaron Dressner and Justin Vernon - The highlight of this album. A must hear worthy of Boxer or For Emma, Forever Ago. If Bon Iver shows up on the next National album, I'm buying ten copies.
"You Are The Blood" by Sufjan Stevens - What is going on here? This is the strangest thing he has recorded since his Enjoy Your Rabbit album. Interesting, but I hope he doesn't do an entire album like this.
"El Caporal" by My Morning Jacket - Flowing southern rock that drives on a saxophone hook. This is infinitely better than anything on their last record.
"With A Girl Like You" by David Sitek - Droning techno meets bouncy pop. Give us a solo album, Dave.
...and I didn't even mention new tracks by Spoon or the Arcade Fire. This compilation goes for $16 bucks for 32 songs on iTunes. It has a few duds: the Decemberists go nowhere for 8 minutes and David Byrne and the Dirty Projectors make an irritating combo. However, for that price, you can edit it and find some real gems here.
Plus, proceeds go to HIV research. You get some great songs, some great artists get some new material out there, and a charity gets a few bucks. What's not to love?
Sunday, February 15, 2009
White Stripes
I recently read an article on Pitchfork.com about how Jack and Meg are playing together again and planning a new record and tour this year. Ever since I read that, I have been on a White Stripes kick where they are almost the only band I've listened to for about three days. Since they have never done a bad record and they are unquestionably my favorite band of this decade, it isn't hard for me to do that. Here's a quick overview of their six albums:
White Stripes: A fun debut that sounds like it is completely written on the spot - Jack blazes through 17 tunes in 44 minutes. Although his songwriting doesn't really shine yet, his demonic guitar playing and sense of the blues sure do on "Jimmy The Exploder" and "Screwdriver". This also has some of his best covers: check out his angry scream-through of Robert Johnson's "Stop Breaking Down". Good album, and he was only getting started.
De Stijl: Jack is starting to discover catchy choruses, particularly on the hilarious "You're Pretty Good Looking (For A Girl)". Also, the country and folk flourishes are starting to creep in, making "Apple Blossom" and "Your Southern Can Is Mine" nice surprises among the heavy blues/punk tracks. Already, it's clear they aren't a one-trick pony.
White Blood Cells: "Fell In Love With A Girl" and "Dead Leaves And The Dirty Ground" hit the radio and now the world knows them. Then Jack throws two curve ball singles: "Hotel Yorba" invokes Johnny Cash and "We're Going To Be Friends" is the first of Jack's many brilliant acoustic folk songs. On "Little Room", he prematurely sings about hating fame, which just furthers my claim that they are this decade's Nirvana. Their first masterpiece.
Elephant: We knew they could do a lot, but we had no idea they could go this far. They make brilliant use of 1960's recording technology as Jack's ferocity, musicianship, and songwriting peak. "Black Math" and "Hardest Button To Button" are new punk standards while "Seven Nation Army" takes over the radio again with it's bouncy bass rhythm. The middle of the album has his most charming ballads before he flexes his guitar muscles on "Ball & Biscuit" - seven minutes of horny electric blues. This is one of the landmarks albums of this century.
Get Behind Me Satan: The first three tracks of this album incited one of the biggest collective "WTFs" of music history. The proto-metal of "Blue Orchid", the creepy marimba ballad "The Nurse", and the piano-pop "My Doorbell" could easily be the work of three different bands. Every crazy idea Jack had went on this album, making it their most creative album and their third straight masterpiece. Jack spends more time on the piano than the guitar, which gives us gorgeous ballads like "White Moon" and "I'm Lonely (But I Ain't That Lonely Yet)". He does take on the guitar and a fire-and-brimstone preacher persona for "Red Rain", just to prove once again that he can do anything.
Icky Thump: Mostly a return to garage blues, with a few surprises thrown in. The two bagpipe tracks feel tacked on, but the trumpet in "Conquest" is a fun touch. The slow burner "300 MPH Torrential Outpour Blues" is a highlight of guitar soloing and Jack's vocal dynamics. A good album, but it feels like a letdown only because of the quality of the previous three.
So in short, the world needs this band.
White Stripes: A fun debut that sounds like it is completely written on the spot - Jack blazes through 17 tunes in 44 minutes. Although his songwriting doesn't really shine yet, his demonic guitar playing and sense of the blues sure do on "Jimmy The Exploder" and "Screwdriver". This also has some of his best covers: check out his angry scream-through of Robert Johnson's "Stop Breaking Down". Good album, and he was only getting started.
De Stijl: Jack is starting to discover catchy choruses, particularly on the hilarious "You're Pretty Good Looking (For A Girl)". Also, the country and folk flourishes are starting to creep in, making "Apple Blossom" and "Your Southern Can Is Mine" nice surprises among the heavy blues/punk tracks. Already, it's clear they aren't a one-trick pony.
White Blood Cells: "Fell In Love With A Girl" and "Dead Leaves And The Dirty Ground" hit the radio and now the world knows them. Then Jack throws two curve ball singles: "Hotel Yorba" invokes Johnny Cash and "We're Going To Be Friends" is the first of Jack's many brilliant acoustic folk songs. On "Little Room", he prematurely sings about hating fame, which just furthers my claim that they are this decade's Nirvana. Their first masterpiece.
Elephant: We knew they could do a lot, but we had no idea they could go this far. They make brilliant use of 1960's recording technology as Jack's ferocity, musicianship, and songwriting peak. "Black Math" and "Hardest Button To Button" are new punk standards while "Seven Nation Army" takes over the radio again with it's bouncy bass rhythm. The middle of the album has his most charming ballads before he flexes his guitar muscles on "Ball & Biscuit" - seven minutes of horny electric blues. This is one of the landmarks albums of this century.
Get Behind Me Satan: The first three tracks of this album incited one of the biggest collective "WTFs" of music history. The proto-metal of "Blue Orchid", the creepy marimba ballad "The Nurse", and the piano-pop "My Doorbell" could easily be the work of three different bands. Every crazy idea Jack had went on this album, making it their most creative album and their third straight masterpiece. Jack spends more time on the piano than the guitar, which gives us gorgeous ballads like "White Moon" and "I'm Lonely (But I Ain't That Lonely Yet)". He does take on the guitar and a fire-and-brimstone preacher persona for "Red Rain", just to prove once again that he can do anything.
Icky Thump: Mostly a return to garage blues, with a few surprises thrown in. The two bagpipe tracks feel tacked on, but the trumpet in "Conquest" is a fun touch. The slow burner "300 MPH Torrential Outpour Blues" is a highlight of guitar soloing and Jack's vocal dynamics. A good album, but it feels like a letdown only because of the quality of the previous three.
So in short, the world needs this band.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Found It!
Radiohead's "15 Step" at the Grammys!
http://www.dailymotion.com/search/grammy%252Bperformance/video/x8b5rp_radiohead-15-step_shortfilms
http://www.dailymotion.com/search/grammy%252Bperformance/video/x8b5rp_radiohead-15-step_shortfilms
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
The Grammys
Am I pissed that Robert Plant won over Coldplay and Radiohead? Yes, of course I am. However, Sunday night gave us possibly the two greatest performances in the history of the Grammys. Watch these fast before the TV network blocks them from youtube:
Coldplay plays "Lost" and "Viva La Vida"; can Jay-Z wander into anybody's song he wants too?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qReT6C2fu_U&ytsession=Q21yRkjaaiEqoeAaA_z7uDo49WfCEMR4ikxCCe9Our8yxLkovnV3nafSII8sfmoIsU5tW5adHplNrl0gpN1rreY-am-wNux6LlMAPZJdAXcSj_5pYRUqmBDaEryO2OPxCa94Lx-RFigRQjKR2-JtQ9WrHnwYIrpuZOEtpMTca9wAEuk19yy_j53oi2ZTrmR3QxqRYwNhdMhY11LV-oOHdfeAMhHFUYOtluG5M6jpw26i5dj95fq62IckIyl2qcKWFVKqZI2XDEhBxkNSAYgGXaycpJ8d1bYknIr-PjoQou8
Radiohead and the USC marching band play "15 step"; great intro by Gwynth Paltrow:
(Damn it all - they already blocked it - this is definitely worthwhile if you can find it. Sorry.)
Coldplay plays "Lost" and "Viva La Vida"; can Jay-Z wander into anybody's song he wants too?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qReT6C2fu_U&ytsession=Q21yRkjaaiEqoeAaA_z7uDo49WfCEMR4ikxCCe9Our8yxLkovnV3nafSII8sfmoIsU5tW5adHplNrl0gpN1rreY-am-wNux6LlMAPZJdAXcSj_5pYRUqmBDaEryO2OPxCa94Lx-RFigRQjKR2-JtQ9WrHnwYIrpuZOEtpMTca9wAEuk19yy_j53oi2ZTrmR3QxqRYwNhdMhY11LV-oOHdfeAMhHFUYOtluG5M6jpw26i5dj95fq62IckIyl2qcKWFVKqZI2XDEhBxkNSAYgGXaycpJ8d1bYknIr-PjoQou8
Radiohead and the USC marching band play "15 step"; great intro by Gwynth Paltrow:
(Damn it all - they already blocked it - this is definitely worthwhile if you can find it. Sorry.)
Sunday, February 8, 2009
This weekend in music
On Friday, I saw Buddy Guy and B.B. King play in Orlando. Brilliant show. Here's just a few things I loved about it:
- Buddy Guy and B.B. King are 72 and 83, respectively. Listening to them sing about having sex with 19 year old girls is hilarious enough. Watching Buddy Guy walk out into the crowd during a song and actually hit on a girl who didn't look a day over 14 - that's on another level. Poor girl. She's probably going need therapy now. I bet she was only in Orlando to go to Disney World.
- Speaking of Orlando - after you spend a few evenings there watching old people get drunk and dance like idiots, that city becomes kind of charming. I think I love Orlando. What is wrong with me?
- I love B.B. because of consistency-he sang in the same tone whether he was singing about death ("See That My Grave Is Kept Clean"), love ("You Are My Sunshine"), or Viagra (he really did write a song about this). Sometime, his improved rhythmic stories went on for 15 minutes - he could have just as easily been a comedian.
Yesterday, TV On The Radio played Saturday Night Live. I love the acts they are booking for this season, but you have to suffer through an hour of bad comedy to see two songs. I was out and I missed it and I can't find these performances on the web, so please help me find them if you see them.
The Grammys are tonight. This means I will probably blog sometime this week complaining about who didn't win Grammys this year. For now, I'll just complain about the nominations:
- This was the best year I can remember for debut records: Fleet Foxes, Bon Iver, MGMT, Santogold, Vampire Weekend.... none of these even get nominated for Best New Artist? Duffy and Adele are better than any of these - really?
- Most years, I actually enjoy the Best Alternative Music Album award - this year the nominees are Gnarls Barkley, Beck, Death Cab For Cutie, My Morning Jacket, and Radiohead. With the exception of Radiohead, didn't they miss all of these other ones by a few years? Didn't they all do far superior albums a few years ago? Where is Nick Cave and TV On The Radio?
- I really can't complain too much about Album Of The Year. I'll be happy no matter who wins. That is, unless Robert Plant and Alison Krauss win. Please don't award another irrelevant album by an aging icon. Giving it to Herbie Hancock last year was embarrassing enough.
- Buddy Guy and B.B. King are 72 and 83, respectively. Listening to them sing about having sex with 19 year old girls is hilarious enough. Watching Buddy Guy walk out into the crowd during a song and actually hit on a girl who didn't look a day over 14 - that's on another level. Poor girl. She's probably going need therapy now. I bet she was only in Orlando to go to Disney World.
- Speaking of Orlando - after you spend a few evenings there watching old people get drunk and dance like idiots, that city becomes kind of charming. I think I love Orlando. What is wrong with me?
- I love B.B. because of consistency-he sang in the same tone whether he was singing about death ("See That My Grave Is Kept Clean"), love ("You Are My Sunshine"), or Viagra (he really did write a song about this). Sometime, his improved rhythmic stories went on for 15 minutes - he could have just as easily been a comedian.
Yesterday, TV On The Radio played Saturday Night Live. I love the acts they are booking for this season, but you have to suffer through an hour of bad comedy to see two songs. I was out and I missed it and I can't find these performances on the web, so please help me find them if you see them.
The Grammys are tonight. This means I will probably blog sometime this week complaining about who didn't win Grammys this year. For now, I'll just complain about the nominations:
- This was the best year I can remember for debut records: Fleet Foxes, Bon Iver, MGMT, Santogold, Vampire Weekend.... none of these even get nominated for Best New Artist? Duffy and Adele are better than any of these - really?
- Most years, I actually enjoy the Best Alternative Music Album award - this year the nominees are Gnarls Barkley, Beck, Death Cab For Cutie, My Morning Jacket, and Radiohead. With the exception of Radiohead, didn't they miss all of these other ones by a few years? Didn't they all do far superior albums a few years ago? Where is Nick Cave and TV On The Radio?
- I really can't complain too much about Album Of The Year. I'll be happy no matter who wins. That is, unless Robert Plant and Alison Krauss win. Please don't award another irrelevant album by an aging icon. Giving it to Herbie Hancock last year was embarrassing enough.
Monday, February 2, 2009
A few random notes...
- This has been an odd month for Bruce Springsteen. On one hand, he won a Golden Globe and got more publicity than any 59 year old musician probably ever has. On the other hand, he was snubbed out of an Oscar nomination, he made a deal with Wal-mart that he immediately apologized to his fans for, and he put out a sub-par album.
Fortunately, he topped it off with an inspiring Super Bowl performance. He made us forget about that album with wild, reckless versions of "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" and "Born To Run". Then he made "Working On A Dream" ten times as soulful as it was on record - the gospel choir definitely helped. They closed with a loose, hilarious version of "Glory Days" where he followed rule number one of playing halftime shows: don't take yourself seriously - this is a football game (take note of this for next time, Bono). Bruce's acrobatics were ridiculous - I'm trying to figure out how to do that knee-drop maneuver he did at the beginning of "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out". I'm a 26 year old in good shape and I can't pull that off. Beautiful show, guys.
- A couple of years ago, my little sister told me that Bruce could crap on a CD and Rolling Stone would give it five stars. Thank you, RS, for proving her right on this one. Meanwhile, they write two sentences on the Animal Collective and give it 3.5 stars. Way to alienate young listeners, guys. Does anybody under the age of 50 read or write for this magazine? Why don't you just admit you don't understand modern music and move on?
- Speaking of Animal Collective, check out their excellent interview with Bob Bollen on the All Songs Considered podcast. I enjoyed hearing them confront the idea of being "artists" versus being "musicians" - good discussion. By the way, Merriweather Post Pavilion is one of the ten greatest albums of this decade. That's my claim and I'm sticking to it. Get this album now.
- February 2009 seems to be the slow month that January typically is in other years. M. Ward has a new record on the 17th, but that's about it for new releases. Neko Case and U2 have new records March 3rd, but it is going to be a slow month.
Fortunately, he topped it off with an inspiring Super Bowl performance. He made us forget about that album with wild, reckless versions of "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" and "Born To Run". Then he made "Working On A Dream" ten times as soulful as it was on record - the gospel choir definitely helped. They closed with a loose, hilarious version of "Glory Days" where he followed rule number one of playing halftime shows: don't take yourself seriously - this is a football game (take note of this for next time, Bono). Bruce's acrobatics were ridiculous - I'm trying to figure out how to do that knee-drop maneuver he did at the beginning of "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out". I'm a 26 year old in good shape and I can't pull that off. Beautiful show, guys.
- A couple of years ago, my little sister told me that Bruce could crap on a CD and Rolling Stone would give it five stars. Thank you, RS, for proving her right on this one. Meanwhile, they write two sentences on the Animal Collective and give it 3.5 stars. Way to alienate young listeners, guys. Does anybody under the age of 50 read or write for this magazine? Why don't you just admit you don't understand modern music and move on?
- Speaking of Animal Collective, check out their excellent interview with Bob Bollen on the All Songs Considered podcast. I enjoyed hearing them confront the idea of being "artists" versus being "musicians" - good discussion. By the way, Merriweather Post Pavilion is one of the ten greatest albums of this decade. That's my claim and I'm sticking to it. Get this album now.
- February 2009 seems to be the slow month that January typically is in other years. M. Ward has a new record on the 17th, but that's about it for new releases. Neko Case and U2 have new records March 3rd, but it is going to be a slow month.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)