I've been blessed in this life...if for nothing else than to have the opportunity to help finance a few releases by some of my musical heroes, and Bill Doss of The Olivia Tremor Control is no exception.
I stopped by the Wicker Park Fest on Saturday to see Omaha's Cursive, who have been touring in support of their latest album, I AM GEMINI, released in February. It was a nice feeling to finally to add them to my "seen it" list. I remember trying to see The Good Life (Tim Kasher's side project) at the Do-Division Street Fest two years ago, but that ended in failure and I was not 21 yet for the 21+ Subterranean show on January 1st 2011. Needless to say, I was very satisfied with the show.
Photo courtesy of Matt Marten
In typical fashion of my back luck seeing Tim Kasher and company, my friend and I missed the blue-line, separating ourselves from the rest of our group. After being reunited, we proceeded to make our way to the front. After a slight altercation between our group and a group of moshers, Cursive got to the stage and opened abruptly with "The Martyr." Other than Tim's intermittent yelps acting as a transition between songs, he did not speak a considerable amount between songs, focusing mostly on playing through their set. The set featured a down-tempo version of "The Recluse" which fit the mood of the song very well and closed with a song many were equally shocked as delighted to hear, "Sink to the Beat."
The set was a great mixture of mostly Domestica and the Ugly Organ with side portions of The Burst and Bloom, Happy Hollow, Mama, I'm Swollen, and I AM GEMINI. The band (Matt Maginn (bass), Ted Stevens (guitar, backing vocals), Cully Symington (drums), and Patrick Newberry (multi-instrumentalist)) sounded amazing. Mostly notable, they were precisely solid rhythmically despite many drawn out pauses by somewhat vocally unpredictable singer/guitarist Tim Kasher. Cursive will be touring with Minus the Bear starting this September.
Any fans of Bear vs. Shark, Braid, Cymbals Eat Guitars, or The Dismemberment Plan should definitely check out Cursive if given the opportunity.
The Antlers "Undersea" LP
At The Drive-In "In/Casino/Out" LP
Bitch Prefect "Big Time" LP
Divine Fits (members of Spoon/Wolf Parade) "My Love Is Real" 7''
Gary War "Jared's Lot" CD
Golden Pelican "Hard Head" 7"
Home Blitz "Frozen Track" 12''
Hungry Ghost "S/T" LP
Junk Culture "Wild Quiet" CD
Chris Lee "Bury The Kings" LP
Max Block "Air Ache In The Belly Of The Leech" LP
John Maus "A Collection of Rarities & Prev. Unreleased Material" CD/LP
Melody's Echo Chamber (Tame Impala-related project) "S/T" 7''
The Midnight Ghost Train "Buffalo" LP/CD
Outer Space "II" LP
The Smiths "Hatful of Hollow" LP
Spectre Folk "Ancient Storm" LP
Terrible Truths "Lift Weights" 7"
Christopher Willits & Ryuichi Sakamoto "Ancient Future" LP/CD
Check out this video (made by former CTD-er Katie Kapuza) for "The Old Man & The Bird" by Megan Reilly, from her LP/CDThe Well, premiering on IFC.com this week.
Holy cow, dudes! We had an amazing time last night with round IV of Creative Control. As always the stand up and sketch comedy was solid all the way through. The Puterbaugh Sisters came out as The Puter"bro" Sisters and called us all sluts, The Telethon embarked for Slut Harbor, there were some other jokes about sluts, our host, Joe McAdam readily ceded the stage to crazy people several times, and then, oh my god, and then The Orwells came out and punched us all in the face and made everyone feel very, very old and uncool. Seriously, where do these kids get off being so young and so awesome? It's NOT fair. I had to take lots of Mylanta with Alka Seltzer just to get over it.
The Orwells first record "Remember When" is out on Tuesday. We highly recommend you pick it up.
It's the last Friday of the month and you KNOW what that means, we've got Creative Control at saki tonight! This month's show features comedy from Adam Burke, Mike Sheehan, CJ Toledano, Anthony McBrien, The Puterbaugh Sisters, The Telethon, and Joe McAdam, as well as music from The Orwells!
Tomorrow we've got an in-store with Kansas' The Midnight Ghost Train, who just dropped a new record on Karate Body. "Buffalo" is hard-hitting stoner rock and we haven't heard these ol' walls shake for some time now. Come on out and see if the building holds up! Show starts at 4.
Then on Sunday we have an Epitonic saki Session w/ Rebecca Gates. Rebecca was a founding member of the Spinanes & her new album w/ Rebecca Gates & The Consortium features members of Califone, Godspeed You Black Emperor, Iron & Wine, Tortoise, The Decemberists, Eleventh Dream Day & Wild Flag. "The Float" is Rebecca's first album in the past 11 years! She must have been keeping a lot of good stuff in all those year, because this album is fantastic!
So, we've got your weekend pretty much booked up over here.... see you tonight, and tomorrow, and the day after!
I hear this quite often from a bunch of my music-loving friends - and that music "just isn't what it used to be" and I can't deny that thought hasn't crossed my mind sometimes. According to this study from Spain, article taken from Reuters, pop music is "too loud and sounds all the same"
Here is a sample from the article:
A team led by artificial intelligence specialist Joan Serra at the Spanish National Research Council ran music from the last 50 years through some complex algorithms and found that pop songs have become intrinsically louder and more bland in terms of the chords, melodies and types of sound used.
"We found evidence of a progressive homogenization of the musical discourse," Serra told Reuters. "In particular, we obtained numerical indicators that the diversity of transitions between note combinations - roughly speaking chords plus melodies - has consistently diminished in the last 50 years."
So no, perhaps you're not just getting older or crabbier. Pop music just isn't what it used to be. (
One of our more astute employees noticed this morning that we're at 1,494 Facebook likes. We need 6 more to get to 1,500 (do the math folks)! If you're that lucky #1,500 we've got a $10 gift certificate with your name on it, or whatever alias you're using on Facebook... Either way, if you're #1,500 we want to say thank you! We also want to thank #'s 1-1,499, but we can't give everyone a gift certificate. Don't be unreasonable,
guys!
The pretrial hearings in the case of Pussy Riot, a Russian female punk band, are held behind closed doors in a Moscow court. Police have cordoned off not only the courthouse itself but also the street outside to keep the band’s supporters from even coming close to the building. Any attempt to hold a sign or chant is stopped; policemen grab the offenders and throw them into avtozaks (police buses). The three band members, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, twenty-three; Maria Alekhina, twenty-four; and Ekaterina Samutsevich, twenty-nine—Nadia, Masha, and Katya—are being prosecuted for an unsanctioned “punk-prayer” called “Our Lady, chase Putin out.” The women managed to perform for about thirty seconds in the Moscow Christ the Savior Cathedral before the church’s security guards kicked them out. A music video using the footage shot in the cathedral was distributed on the Web. For that, the three women have been kept in pretrial detention since March; on Friday last week, the judge extended their incarceration for six more months, and yesterday their trial was scheduled for July 30th. They are facing up to seven years in prison.
Everyone has that one album. An album where everything falls right in line with your specific aesthetics of music. Considering next month will mark a decade since its release, I feel it is important to revisit my favorite album. What is my favorite album, you ask?
Interpol's Turn on the Bright Lights (2002/Matador)
Turn on the Bright Lights, an album that is a rush of reverb, pulsating octave jumps from bassist, Carlos Dengler, and a strong percussive bed built by drummer Sam Fogarino, tells stories of growing old, lost loves, new loves, and depravity all within the hazy backdrop of New York.
The album commences with "Untitled," a lush piece opening with Daniel Kessler's lonely guitar, later dilating into a full arrangement for singer/guitarist, Paul Banks, to break into the song with the opening lyrics "Surprise, sometimes I'll come around." It sets the tone of the album as it diminishes into "Obstacle 1."
Arguably their most popular song and rightfully so, "Obstacle 1" displays the band at their most musically intriguing. The song is drenched in the syncopation of Daniel Kessler's and Paul Banks' call-response guitar riffs, peppered with the precision of Sam Fogarino's drumming and Carlos Dengler's playful, elastic bassline woven tightly between the guitars. The album is one of the albums for bass guitar. Surely any bass player cannot help be swayed by the basslines that Carlos Dengler has crafted.
Once this duel attack of guitars halts, the slower-tempo of "NYC," named after where the Brooklyn band is based, enters with the statement of "the subway is a porno and the pavements are a mess" and the powerful conclusion that "it's up to me now, turn on the bright lights," the name sake of the record. This shows one of the more uplifting moments of the albums, which can, at times, seem downright dreary.
The following track, "PDA," is a song that had been in Interpol's repertoire before the turn of the century and featured much similarity to the uptempo style featured on "Obstacle 1" and the proceeding track "Say Hello to the Angels." The song's true shining moment is the breathtaking back-half which is predominantly a beautifully crafted instrumental. "Say Hello to the Angels" is as smooth as Banks pick up line, "1,2,3. Do me." One of the more rhythmic cuts on the album, it does not stay in one place for long and continues to shift until it is cut off by a chord tinged in feedback.
"Hands Away" greatly slows down the album from the dance-punk a la Interpol that is"Say Hello to the Angels" and sets you up for "the rest of Turn on the Bright Lights which becomes increasingly less formulaic and much more adventurous, extended songs; shying away from verse, chorus, verse song structure. "Hands Away," one of the more sparse tracks on the album, is chilling. Atmospheric and filled with remorse and ponder in the voice of Banks asks he simply questions "what happened?"
My favorite song on the album, possibly ever, "Obstacle 2," an ode to waiting for love, toasting to the snow and making sure to not waste wine. The chorus "I will stand by all this drinking if it helps me through these days..." is hauntingly backed by the lyrics "Take my love in real small doses."
Emotional center piece, "Stella Was a Diver and She Was Always Down" revolves around the tale of Stella, a woman who has truly "broken away" from her normal life. The climax of Paul Bank's declarative statement "Stella! I love you!" (See Marlon Brando in 1951's A Streetcar Named Desire).
"Roland" was also an earlier song and punkier by nature featured the incredible run-ons of "my best friend's a butcher, he has sixteen knives. He carries them all over the town, at least he tries. Oh, look it stopped snowing." What? I'm not sure what that means either, but Mr. Banks often ambiguous lyrics make it that much rewarding to decipher, making the album's replay value incredibly high.
"The New" features an elegant bass line juxtaposed with the droning guitars of Kessler and Banks. One of the more straightforward songs on the album "I can't pretend, I need to defend some part of me from you, I know I've spent some time lying" acts as an honest declaration of love as well as repression.This song can be seen as an inner-monologue of the protagonist's past as well as present while analyzing the new life ahead with his love interest. The lyrics "You're looking alright tonight, I think we should go..." bridge the gap and bring the listener from "The New" to the closer of Turn on the Bright Lights.
The closer, "Leif Erikson" becomes the response to of the protagonist's thoughts in "The New." His love interest "feels that my sentimental side should be held with kids gloves" showing the stark emotional capacities between the two lovers. The ending of the album ends on the captivating line "she says brief things, her love's a pony, my love's subliminal."
So there it is. My favorite album. I hope, if anything, this has inspired you to check it out if you have not already or made you want to revisit the album. Turn on the Bright Lights was the album that changed my life. Keep in mind, some of these comments on songs were just my interpretations so they should not affect any way that you digest this amazing album.
Black Twig Pickers - Whampyjawed LP
Blood Diamonds feat. Grimes - Phone Sex 12"
Bonnie Prince Billy - Now Here's My Plan CD & LP
Sugar - Copper Blue/Beaster deluxe CD & LP
Sugar - File Under: Easy Listening deluxe CD & LP
Harold Budd - In The Mist LP
V/A - Country Funk 69-75 CD
Eternal Summers - Correct Behavior CD & LP
Family Band - Grace & Lies CD
Fang Island - Major CD
Fiery Furnaces - I'm Going Away LP
Golden Retriever - Occupied With The Unspoken CD & LP
Purity Ring - Shrines CD & LP
Panoramic & True - Wonderlust
Yawn - Open Season LP
Om - Advaitic Songs CD & LP
Laetitia Sadier - Silencio CD & LP
Micachu & The Shapes - Never LP
Ice Choir - Afar LP
Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Americana LP
Passion Pit - Gossamer CD
Tortoise - S/T LP
Pillars & Tongues - If Travel Is Asked Of Me cassette
Six Organs of Admittance - Parsons' Blues 7"
This gem along with new records from Puffy Areolas, the Liminanas, and Peoples Temple are due August 8th. We can't wait. What a killer round of releases from the ever-awesome HoZac records.
Garage punk veteran King Louie Bankston and his Missing Monuments have leaked a track from their upcoming HoZac Records 7”, and this one is a heck of a jam. The rough and raunchy Tom Petty/Paul Collins-style power pop of their debut LP Painted White (Douchemaster, 2011) took awhile to sink in, but “Another Girl” is a much more direct and punk-influenced track, heavily reminiscent of classic acts like Pointed Sticks and the Undertones.
Don't miss Speck Mountain's set in support of thier upcoming new release on Carrot Top, as well as all the other amazing bands playing the festival, including Disappears, Nomo, In Tall Buildings, Loyal Divide, Shannon Hayden, The Mutts, This Is Cinema, Cains & Abels, Del Rey, Unicycle Loves You, My Gold Mask & more!
Saki will also have a vendor table where you can pick up CDs and LPs from the artists playing the festival, as well as some othe curated picks from saki's shelves. Stop by and say hi!
Mick Collins, Dirtbombs front-man and 1/3 of the legendary garage punk combo The Gories, delivers a list of 10 records that had a pivotal role in shaping his band.
Here are some of my favorite moments:
6. The Cramps - Smell Of Female When I was in college, There was one, count it, ONE goth girl on the whole campus. She was a regular listener to my show on the campus radio station, and when her friends found out I was black, they thought it would be really funny if they got the two of us together (yay, smalltown America). Well, to their dismay no hijinks ensued, but we did hit it off platonically. I was a regular customer of Greenworld Distribution (later known as Engima Records) and she used to get records from God only knows where. Anyway, we used to hang out and play records all the time, and one day she pulled this out of a mailing envelope. I’d only heard a couple of Cramps singles at the time, but she hadn’t heard them at all, and only got the record because someone told her they sounded like Alien Sex Fiend. She was very angry after she put it on the turntable, but *I* had just heard one of the greatest rock ‘n’ roll records of my young life. The one-two punch of "Thee Most Exalted Potentate Of Love" and "You Got Good Taste" left a mark on my soul that I’ve been trying to live up to ever since.
1. Mission Of Burma - Vs. and Forget You will forgive me for listing two LPs, but the absolute truth of the matter is that there wouldn’t BE a Dirtbombs without Mission Of Burma. The first time I heard "Trem Two" (on the radio, no less; Detroit was awesome like that in 1982), I knew I was hearing something great. Hearing the whole LP of Vs. for the first time was like reaching a mountaintop, and realizing there are other, higher mountains; a strange sensation of "Wow, *anything* is possible." Later, I can recall listening to "Hunt Again" on "Forget" and thinking "Goddamn, I wanna be in a band that sounds like THAT!!" While I can’t say Mission Of Burma is responsible for me picking up a guitar, I can unequivocally state they are responsible for the band that became the Dirtbombs. It is a sad irony of my life that I’ve never seen Mission Of Burma live: every time they’ve toured, I’ve also been on tour.
7. Black Flag - Damaged I should have to say something about this one? Really?
Read the full list at dustedmagazin.com and check out the archives that go all the way back to July 2002.
I had many options on what to write this week. In fact, too many options. So I'm just going to cover them all. It has truly been a great week in music. Four albums have been released over this past week that, I feel, have exceeded all expectations and have much lived up to their hype. I will be going over The Dirty Projector's Swing Lo Magellan, Frank Ocean's Channel Orange, Azealia Banks' Fantasea, and Passion Pit's Gossamer, as well as previewing Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti's forthcoming album, Mature Themes, due this August.
1. Dirty Projectors - Swing Lo Magellan
The newest album from David Longstreth and Company is easily their most accessible to date. Swing Lo Magellan features exceptional guitar playing, an emphasis on handclaps (or just rhythm in general), and expansive vocal range that they are often noted for. This album is the last place I would have expected them to travel to after 2009's Bitte Orca, but then again, I said the same thing after listening to the that album after 2007's Rise Above. The unexpectedness that I get with every release is the reason why I love this band. Some immediate standouts for me were: "Dance For You," "See What She's Seeing," "Swing Lo Magellan, and "Just From Chevron."
2. Frank Ocean - Channel Orange
Odd Future affiliate had a lot prove with Channel Orange. In the past month and a half he has released the sprawling ten minute track "Pyramids" featuring John Mayer and received much praise from a letter he released on his Tumblr regarding his sexuality which he followed with his performance of "Bad Religion" on Live On Jimmy Fallon last Monday. Channel Orange can be streamed on Frank Ocean's Tumblr. The album has similar subject matter to Nostalgia, Ultra, such as his references to retro gaming (the opener "Start" contains a sample of the opening sounds of a Playstation One). But the difference between the two albums is his focus. There is not one song that drags on or overstays its welcome. Frank Ocean has grown into quite the storyteller, containing much more ambiguity and strength in his songwriting. Some standouts are "Thinking About You," "Crack Rock," "Pyramids," "Lost," and "Pink Matter" featuring two standout verses by Andre 3000.
3. Azealia Banks - Fantasea
I feel that I talk about Azealia Banks a little too much. This must be the third time that I have mentioned her in one of my posts, but I can't help this considering her continuous release schedule and the overall quality of the bulk of her songs. Fantasea, her newest mix-tape is available for free download. Some tracks to check out are "US," "Luxury," "Esta Noche," and "Jumanji." Her third and final release of the calendar year, Broke With Expensive Taste, is scheduled to come out this fall.
4. Passion Pit - Gossamer
Passion Pit's second full length album, Gossamer, is set for release on the 24th, but can be streamed on NRP now. I would say this album is stronger than their great first full length Manners from 2009. The sticky-sweet poppy element is still present, so it is not a large deviation away from the Passion Pit formula, but it is a little more varied due to the album's glitchy textures, probably best exemplified on "I'll Be Alright." Michael Angelakos' falsetto (which is usually the obstacle when I talk to people about Passion Pit) is stronger and better than ever, in my opinion. Tracks to check out: "I'll Be Alright," "Constant Conversations," "Cry Like A Ghost," and the closer "Where We Belong."
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Only In My Dreams (Single)
The last thing that I was excited for this week was the new Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti song "Only In My Dreams" which can be downloaded on 4AD's website. So far, there have been two tracks released, the other one being the Donnie and Joe Emerson cover "Baby," from Mature Themes, their newest album. It is scheduled for release on August 20th. Before Today was an incredible album and Mature Themes has a lot of expectations to live up to, but if any of the aforementioned artists have proved, this seems to be a good time to do so.
My brother and I have just added a new mix to our Fear Of Music site. It's a bit different from some of the other mixes we've done, which are mostly techno and house. This mix focuses predominantly on music from the 70's and 80's, with some surprises thrown in along the way. If you enjoy this mix, be sure to check the others on the site -- all are available to download as high-quality mp3's, and tracklistings are available for all of them. Thanks for listening!!! http://fearofmusic.org/XXVI/
Friends "Manifest!" LP
Future Islands/Ed Schrader's Music Beat "Split" 7''
Getatchew Mekuria & The Ex & Friends "Y'Anbessaw Tezeta" CD
Karl Hendricks Trio "The Adult Section" LP
Jeff The Brotherhood "Hypnotic Nights" LP
Mungolian Jetset "Smells Like Gasoline" 12''
Tar "Feel This/Hell's Bells" 7''
Timmy's Organism "Raw Sewage Roq" CD/LP
V/A "Buttons: From Champaign To Chicago" CD/LP (Numero Group compilation)
V/A "Buttons: Starter Kit" LP (Numero Group compilation)
Bobby Gallivan, Matt Holland, Janie Porche, Dan Radzicki and Jesse Woghin are Like Pioneers.
Rachel Angres doesn't work at saki, but we're lucky to call her a friend. Rachel caught up with Like Pioneers while on tour to ask them a few questions before they stop at saki for an Epitonic saki Session this weekend! With little spare time and spotty wi-fi access, she managed to squeeze some crucial information out of this Chicago based five-piece...
Who would you tour with if you had to choose between Bowie, Prince, T Rex?
We had a pretty lengthy discussion about this in the van. Based on that one episode of the Chapelle show, we know that Prince can make killer pancakes and has a silky jumpshot. We’re a little worried that David Bowie would be a jerk, and/or try to touch us in our downs-there.
Why “Oh, Magic?” Anything magical happen to inspire the album?
“If 'Piecemeal' was technically our first album, then 'Oh, Magic' should be considered our first album as a band. It is the document of a year spent collectively dirtying a clean slate”
Tell 'Em, Ghost from Liz Parrott Radzicki on Vimeo. What makes you want to wake up every morning? Our resident neuroscientist suggests that it’s circadian rhythms. Also cheesy breakfast skillets.
Who would do the soundtrack of your bio-pic? Van Gelous did the Blade Runner soundtrack, but we would also go for a series of John Williams smashups.
What are some rituals, mantras or exercises you do to prepare for a show? If there’s one thing we all do right before a show, it’s empty our pockets. Matt does some stretches and Dan checks the batteries. Bobby usually writes the set list and then Janie loses hers. We drink a lot of orange Gatorade; no one runs any suicide sprints.
What is more important, music or plumbing? I mean, the only answer is plumbing. A few years ago this was proven true when we played a SXSW show in a puddle of raw sewage.
