Miss me?

Not likely, since I don't think anyone ever read this blog in the first place. I'm going to make another attempt at this blogging thing. (Ew. 'Blogging'. Not fond of the word at all. It's like the 'panties' of web terminology.)

Look forward to more music reviews, music musings, and moderately entertaining bullshit.

MyCrack attack:

I've been adding a bunch of bands on mycrack today because I'm A) not interested in listening to anything I have on hand, and B) am horribly out of touch.

I just now got around to listening to Red Sparowes, a band that Wardell recommended to me forever ago. It's like the music of Explosions In The Sky as played by the Cure, with little bits of GYBE! thrown in just for kicks. (I just noticed a little guitar part toward the end of the song "A Message of Avarice Rained" that sounds a bit like the outro to a Quicksand song...)

Also, Sparowes tourmates Russian Circles sound pretty killer. I'm sure they're sick of being called math rock, but if it walks like a duck, sounds like a duck, and is a two-piece instrumental band that plays in odd meter like a duck, then...well, you know.

Another band who's name I've heard but ignored is Tilly and the Wall. I want to hate this band. I think I might hate this band. But I have a feeling that it's going to turn out like El Perro Del Mar turned out - it'll be too cute for me to stand, and make me angry and all Hulksmashy (because that's what twee does to me), but then I'll listen to it more and think it's the greatest thing since Tiny Tim.

Murder By Death: Nick by Cave. Bet they're sick of that too. In any case, it's pretty rockin' country Gothic (no, not like Fields of the Nephilim).

One last one: General Surgery. It's death metal. Or goregrind. All these fucking subgenres of metal confuse the shit out of me. And if you get any of these bands confused and put them in the wrong subgenre, they're liable to sacrifice you to Odin and then eat your liver with fava beans and a nice Chianti. Anyway - General Surgery plays what I think is death metal, with the vocals pitched down an octave so it sounds like the sound your guts make after eating at Taco Bell. It's pretty sweet.

The slack attack continues...

My laptop is still busted, and my secret wellspring of new music dried up. So for now I will tell you about my current musical excursions:

American School of Warsaw: has been on hiatus for a couple of months. We will start rehearsing again soon, and will be recording an EP in April at Jupiter Studios with Jon Ervie. Plan on hearing some new sounds out of this old dog. (ASOWs first show was just over six years ago. Can you beleive it? Yes? Well, ok then.)

Key Note Speaker: is doing preproduction for a new record. We've been playing as a three piece as of late, occasionally augmented by our pal Leif Dalan on the keys. We hope to enter the studio (probably with Endino again) in late spring or summer.

Kate Tucker & The Sons of Sweden: have brought me on board as their touring bassist. BJ Meyers, who normally provides low end for the Swedes, has other comitments that prevent him from going on the road, so that's where I come in. We'll be playing a showcase at this year's SXSW in Austin, and I may be joining them for some gigs in New York in May.

Mi amiga Clarita and I also have started a group. We made our debut a few weeks ago at a birthday party for a dog. We haven't settled on a name yet, and are probably going to need a real singer, as I was told that I sing like a Muppet.

I haven't forgotten you, Detritus.

No, in fact you keep staring me in the face, seeming to say "don't you love me anymore?" Of course I do.

My laptop is still busted (mostly due to my own laziness). I've been on vacation, and now it's the holidays and shit. I promise to get back in the saddle again. For reals.

Hilly Krystal, dead at 75

R.I.P. Hilly Krystal

Hipster Olympics

This is beyond awesome, and it's applicable to places besides Williamsburg.



(thanks to Ingo for this)

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Now playing: Rachel's - Tea Merchants
via FoxyTunes

new Rilo Kiley

Looks like Jenny Lewis, et al. went and wrote a disco record. I'm only about halfway through it and so far it's my favorite thing of theirs I've heard. I can't tell how much influence Warner money has had yet - the title track is a little glossy sounding, and there are shades of...Fleetwood Mac, mabe? But still! It's got a funky beat, and I can dance to it.

I'm hearing some vocal harmonies that are a bit reminiscent of the Watson Twins' contribution to Jenny Lewis' terrific solo record, but outside of that, this is a very different beast.

"The Moneymaker" is the first single, but you'll probably be able to steal that from somewhere else on the internests, so take this one instead:

Rilo Kiley - "Close Call" [5.2mb]

edit: watch the video for "The Moneymaker". It's got porn starlets in it.

covers

I've spent the better part of the last two days listening to Regina Spektor's cover of Madonna's clunker of a single "Love Profusion". Now, I love love love Regina, and I am ambivalent, if not downright hostile, toward Madonna. But I've found that there are several instances of artists making something more out of the source material at hand.

Sure, it's all subjective and crap, but sometimes these covers have led me to explore the original group's catalog. Sometimes I end up getting into the original artist, and sometimes not.

Cases in point:

• Joel RL Phelps - most of the Inland Empires EP (featuring songs by Iris DeMent, Townes Van Zandt, the Go-Betweens, others). I love this record. I bought Iris DeMent's My Life because of it, and did not like it one bit. I think it was the production moreso than the songs themselves that I didn't care for, but still - I sold the CD. Same goes for the Go-Betweens. I'd actually given them a shot a few years before the Phelps disc came out at the behest of both a girl I was dating, and Tim Cook. I was, and am still, distinctly meh about them.
• Silkworm - "The Chain" (Fleetwood Mac). I remember hating Fleetwood Mac as a kid. I thought their music was pure schlock (except for "Tusk" with all the marching band shit going on). But after listening to SKWM's version about a hundred times, I decided I at least liked the original.
• Shannon Wright - "I Started A Joke" (Bee Gees). I first heard this when I worked for KCMU/KEXP. I got a copy of Shannon's Perishable Goods EP for review, and having already been a fan, I pushed to get this some airplay. Sometime after this came out, I asked her after a show if she knew where I could get a copy for myself. (Before you ask: I didn't have a computer back then, so I couldn't just burn it.) She basically said "Good luck." About the Bee Gees? I own the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack on vinyl.
• Bauhaus - "Ziggy Stardust" (David Bowie). I've never had a problem with Bowie. I like Bowie. I just happen to like Bauhaus' take on "Ziggy" more than Bowie's.

Those are just a couple of examples. Hip-hop led me to soul, funk, and R&B, and covers lead me to...Fleetwood Mac. Or even Madonna.

The performance this track is culled from took place at the 2005 New York Jewish Music festival. It was kind of a tongue-in-cheek song selection, considering Madge's questionable Jewishness. Regina totally makes this song her own though, and I will keep enjoying it, despite myself.

Regina Spektor - "Love Profusion" (live at the 2005 New York Jewish Festival) [7.1mb]

Cake Like

Kerri Kenney (from Cake Like/The State/Reno 911)'s dad was the voice of Lion-O from Thundercats. Who knew?

Cake Like was a great, totally underappreciated band. Their first album, Delicious, was put out by John Zorn's Japanese affiliate Avant. It's not as strong as their sophomore disc Bruiser Queen, which is the first of their recordings I purchased. It's also one of the first releases from Neil Young's Vapor imprint, as well as one of the first HDCD-format compact discs*. I saw them on the Conan O'Brien show and was blown away by their combination of weirdness and pop sensibility. Kenney's flat vocal delivery and their rudimentary playing could have made for a boring listening experience in clumsier hands, but their sense of humor and clever songwriting made Bruiser Queen one of my favorite records of the late 90s.

Their third disc, Goodbye, So What, wasn't quite as good as Bruiser Queen, but still had some rockers on it - namely "Dead To Me", which lyrics supply the title of the album, and became a mixtape favorite of mine.

Below is the video for their "hit" (perhaps only) single, "Lorraine's Car" from Bruiser Queen.




*don't ask me why I remember shit like this. I can't help it. It's part of the reason I have a music blog.

Max Roach

R.I.P. Max Roach