June 12, 2005
The Cure reissues
Rhino has released reissues of The Cure's "Seventeen Seconds", "Faith", and "Pornography". Each releases features the original album remastered on one CD with home demos, studio out-takes, and live recordings on the second CD. Needless to say I snapped them up. The bonus material on "Pornography" is outstanding. The home demos have cleaned up nicely and it feels as though your sitting on a practice session complete with the poor drum sound and miscellaneous rattling one gets while recording in a practice space. The stand out track across all three though is the studio out take of "Primary" from "Faith". The pace is slowed down, the echo on the voice increased, and there is a keyboard part that mimics the bass but adds a nifty melody. It sound down right cheery next to the final recording. It could have been a hit in its own right and it is well worth the price of admission.
My favorite tracks on "Pornography" are "All Mine", a sliver of which is found in the "Standing on the Beach" video release, and "Temptation 2" which acts to bridge the gap from "Faith" to this record. In fact, hearing the home demos and knowing that they sought out the producer of the Psychedelic Fur's "Talk Talk Talk" for the drum sound helps one understand how "Pornography" developed. For me it explains the why and where for of a critical part of the band's career. Oh, and some significant drug abuse I suppose adds an element here and there but, the impact is hard to quantify.
The fidelity of the live material across all three CDs is surprisingly good considering they were not the major act they are today. The band obviously had someone tending to the archives from the start. The liner notes add some interesting tidbits that I wasn't aware of (or perhaps have forgotten since I haven't been an expert on the band since I was 18). Robert Smith recorded the demos for "Seventeen Seconds" using only the family's organ and his guitar, plugging the guitar directly into the organ and using the built in drum machine. That's one way to go minimal.
All in all I'd say these releases are worth the cost if you are a fan, don't own these fabulous records already, or want to hear some more from a brilliant period in a seminal band's career.
Posted by human_companion at 12:26 PM | Comments (2)
March 28, 2005
Too much sympathy
SF Weekly ran a piece last week detailing what it takes to release yourself some indie rock. "No Sympathy for the Demo" is a primer for how to take your music to the masses. While the article is full of solid advice I found it a bit too optimistic. Chances are you cannot afford to have your music heard. Even if you are willing to deal with the credit card debt you need to hope that one of the ten or less CDs that someone purchases this year is going to be yours. Well, I'm doing my part by regularly forking over a chunk of my paycheck to Amoeba but it's not exactly balancing out the numbers.
Posted by human_companion at 09:57 PM | Comments (0)
March 21, 2005
The Letters of Gary Benchley, Rock Star
The Morning News is running an interesting series of letters entitled: The Letters of Gary Benchley, Rock Star. Mr. Benchley writes about what it is like to try and find a label, recording for the first time, Oblique Strategies, fantasizing about Cat Power, speaking with Wayne Coyne, and receiving head as payment for rent. Some (all?) of this is fiction and it is difficult to know what to believe and what not to but that is clearly part of the fun. I could share some stories about housing band mates in closets but every band has similar stories and mostly they are only amusing to those who were present. And then they already know those stories.
Posted by human_companion at 10:45 PM | Comments (0)
March 13, 2005
New chickfactor online
Gail has posted the latest issue of Chickfactor online. If you are not familiar with Chickfactor well then I don't particularly know where to start but, safe to say you should get familiar. If you like relatively obscure artists writing about other relatively obscure artists or want to know what the indie guys and gals think is shit hot at the moment then Chickfactor is the place. Gail is super cool and you'd be lucky to know her.
Anyway, this online issue (the internet is the zine of the naughts so don't sweat it) features a boat-load of music reviews from Daniel Handler. Mr. Handler had K. and I rolling when we saw him here interviewing Mr. Eggers. Here is a sampling of the lines that I appreciated:
- "if you like your ambient music busy and nonelectronic—that is, if you don't like ambient music—you might like this."
- "oh ms. lennox, dear me, dear me, dear me."
- "even gloomy mr. snicket wishes that the divine comedy would slap these chaps across the face with a velvet glove, drag them over to the stereo and play them some otis redding."
It is hard to do the funniest reviews justice with just a small quote but, you get the idea. I haven't enjoyed a guest contributor (let's hope he does more) so much since Stephin Merritt's one line review of the horrible 90's band S*M*A*S*H: "S*H*I*T sandwich.". Priceless.
Posted by human_companion at 09:51 PM | Comments (0)
February 27, 2005
The Fearless Freaks: Flaming Lips documentary
"My Life with the Fearless Freaks" is a new documentary by Bradley Beesley about the Flaming Lips which was screened for the first time at the Castro Theater as a part of the Noise Pop festival currently underway here in San Francisco. Beesley grew up around the Flaming Lips, has helped create some of their music videos, and is acting as Director of Photography on Wayne Coyne's "Christmas on Mars" movie. Beesley has access to family members, amazing archival footage shot by one of Wayne's many brothers and lone sister (it was difficult to keep count of the brothers, I think there are 5 or 6), and intensely personal moments.
Beesley answered questions after the screening and was understandably a bit apprehensive since this was the first time he had seen it with an audience larger than three people. He has nothing to worry about as the film will please Lips fans and indoctrinate those new to the band. While the film is a little long, this is a band with a lot of history to cover and one that has done many notable things. Sadly, there are a few moments that are not captured but Beesley wanted to focus more on the Lips recounting fascinating epiphanies more than the band's recorded output. He is wise to have done that because the two most outstanding scenes have little to do with the band and more to do with the shape of the lives of Wayne, Stephen, and Michael.
The first outstanding, and hilarious, scene has Wayne Coyne reenacting a robbery he endured as a teen while working at the Long John Silver's where he was employed for eleven years. The reenactment takes place in a Vietnamese restaurant that now inhabits the former LJS building. Wayne enlists what appear to be the owner's children to play the essential roles of cashier and Wayne himself. Wayne plays the robbers complete with swearing. Maybe the young Vietnamese kids don't understand certain more colorful English that well. Either way it is side-splitting and even though Wayne is only coercing children it is plan to see that he is a master persuader. People go along with his plans.
The second remarkable scene is an appropriately bleak look at drug addiction. Stephen Drodz was at the tail end of a 5 year long heroin addiction during the recording of "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots". Beesley captures Drodz discussing his addiction, how it is actively ruining his life, and then stays on him as he cooks up, turns away briefly as he shoots up (it takes him some time to find a vein), and then continues as he describes the resulting high. Drodz's family has a history of suicide and to hear Coyne and Drodz candidly talking about the possibility of Drodz not being alive in the near future.
Drodz has done an impressive job of hiding his suffering during the band's recent success. It is heart wrenching footage and while some will find it difficult to watch it is certainly going to set the documentary apart from other band bios. It is rare to find a documentary about a significant band that has so much insight into what has made them tick as a band and as people.
There were a few omissions that I wish could have been handled. First, I would have liked to hear more about the band's shifts in direction. From the psychedelic noise rock of the early years came a the first shift towards a more approachable sound with "Hit to Death in the Future Head". This record isn't really mentioned and the turning point that is highlighted is the success of the "She Don't Use Jelly" single. While it is undeniably true that the single catapulted the Lips in front of new fans their sound had already evolved with their previous record.
Secondly, it would have been great to see the band recording in the studio and some discussion of how they put together their recent symphonic releases. As a musician I find the process of recording endlessly fascinating. I have to admit I'm being a bit selfish and perhaps such information would be better suited to a run down by Dave Friedman in an internet article (have to go looking back through my Tape Op magazines).
Finally, the concerts the Lips performed where audience members were given walkman FM radios so they could listen in to a broadcast of the live performance were not mentioned in the film. Thankfully there is footage of the more significant happenings that Wayne orchestrated leading up to the Zaireeka 4-cd set.
These are minor detractions to an otherwise fantastic film. Beesley has done a great service to Lips fans everywhere. "Fearless Freaks" is to be released on DVD in March by Shout Factory. It will also be showing at various film and music festivals. If you get a chance to see it, take that chance. You won't be disappointed.
Posted by human_companion at 12:24 PM | Comments (0)
February 13, 2005
This one is not like the others
RanjaniG posted a few days back on Cool Hunting about M.I.A.'s Galang video. Good on him. Mike turned me on to M.I.A., who is not the only female M.I.A. around nor the only MIA in history. Popular name, no? But this M.I.A. is not like the others.
Ranjani is dead on with his critique of her music. It has all of the potential of World Music and the production values of modern hip-hip and electronic music (ok, electro) with none of the baggage of any of those genres. The truly innovative tracks have this trait. The first listen and it sounds totally new. A few more listens and you can pick out the elements but they haven't been concocted like this before. Usually makes you regret not thinking of it yourself.
The video is excellent. I'm mean, come on, grass covered tanks! And those outfits. My.
I'm sure Simon Reynolds and crew went crazy for this but unfortunately, no search on ye' old bliss out blog. That is a shame because every time I go there it opens my head up.
Anyway, you can check out the video at xlrecordings. I'd about shit myself if I saw this on M.T.V. In fact, while I was home sick on and off for the past two weeks I tried to find a video music channel. Apparently even MTV2 is no longer for videos. What the hell is wrong with those people? And where is the upstart video channel to knock things into order?
Posted by human_companion at 09:36 AM | Comments (0)
January 22, 2005
My favorite music from 2004
French Kicks - "Trial of the Century" (Star Time). By far the cd that I listened to and recommended the most. I think the term "hitting and sticking" applies here. I heard the single "One more time" on
Wilco - "A Ghost is Born" (Nonesuch). This record and this band played particular significance in my life this year because it was the only record I could really tolerate after hearing that my friend had taken his own life. In particular, "Company In My Back" was the soundtrack of the day as I drove down to a friend's wedding near Aptos and then back up to SF for a post-wake party. An emotional roller-coster not unlike that of "A Ghost is Born". There are some dark moments, some reflection, some positive light ("Wishful Thinking", okay a little obvious), some rave-ups ("I'm a Wheel" sounds like the Replacements, a band Wilco have covered in the past) and some Krautrock. I mixed "Spiders" with Loop's cover of Can's "Mother Sky" when I spun at ESL in August. A pox on anyone who dismissed this record as unworthy.
Loscil - "First Narrows" (Kranky). This CD was one of the first things I wrote about. I still put it on while riding the train to drown out the incessant cell phone conversations with some lovely drones of my own selection. It is furniture music of the highest order. It resonates. Also, the sharpest looking packaging of the year.
Akufen - "Fabric 17" (fabriclondon). I subscribed to the Fabric releases because they cost an arm and a leg here in the States and there were a string of them that were breaking the bank. This was the release that got me to pony up. Not as satisfying as an Akufen album but the Montreal native comes through again. The stand out is his management of Senor Coconut's version of "Smoke on the Water" with The Rip Off Artist's "Little Tiny Eight Inch Jack". Proving that not only is he a clicks and cuts god but he's got a great sense of humor.
Rough Trade - "Indiecomp" (EMI Intl.). This brought back floods of memories, mostly good. If there is a compilation that adequately captures the music of "my youth" then this is pretty close. At least it is the music I was introduced to by one Mike Schulman, bless him. This put me right back in Mike's apartment on Belmont Rd. in DC where I'd walk 2 miles most Friday's to drink a lot of beer and listen to a ton of records. This stuff combined with the U.K. shoe-gaze explosion threw me into the indie-pop band scene. If it doesn't make you want to start a band then you are dead from the neck up and no friend of mine. Plus, now I own This Poison's "Poised Over the Pause Button" on CD! I can finally give the vinyl a rest. It's that sorta comp. If you look at the track list and you don't recognize anything then you should definitely buy it. Granted there are one or two odd inclusions but that's what the forward button is for.
Weather Prophets - "Blue Skies & Freeride - Best of the Creation Years" (Cherry Red). While I am reminiscing I would be remiss if I didn't mention how happy I was that Cherry Red released this compilation. Weather Prophets are one of those bands that I really wanted to like but was too young to get. I've clutched the "Naked as the Day You Were Born" 7" to my heart for years after seeing the video on the Creation singles comp in the early '90s. But when I hear their material now it sinks in a bit deeper. My pal Ron Harrity's new band Harpswell sound could be influenced by the Weather Prophets. Could be rabbit.
Echo and the Bunnymen - Ocean Rain (Warner Bros.). Continuing down reissue/nostalgia lane there is this gem re-mastered in new glory. The reissues of the Bunnymen material are precious. The reissues of the Cocteau Twins material is also quite splendid but doesn't quite have the impact on me now that the Bunnymen do. I literally had forgotten how great with a capital G they are. "Villiers Terrace" was an anthem this year. I played the shit out of all the reissues. There simply are not bands this fucking good anymore. Period. Shut up and don't argue.
Swayzak - "Loops from the Bergerie" (Studio K7). This record is on the right side of the "indie-electronic" fence. If there is a right side to be on. It's not really indie but my point being that fans of The Postal Service, and they are legion, would probably like this record. Or not. Maybe too cool and detached for them. Certainly more mature. Anyway, I saw them live and their singer really does make a great focal point. All stoic and brooding. Fantastic. The stand outs are the first two tracks so if you can't get into this one then maybe you should just stop trying so hard to be hip. They had Matthew Dear in support when I saw them but they've also had my mates Chessie in tow before so they ought to be applauded for picking the right folks to have tag along. Plus, how can you not love laptops through analog guitar pedals. Tight.
Interpol - Antics (Matador). Interpol are the new Ropers and I like the Ropers quite a lot. So if I can't have the Ropers I'll take what I can get. Done. Next!
Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand (Sony). Sorry, guilty pleasure. I can't fathom how they took over the world but for a brief time I quite enjoyed this record. Saw them live on my b-day and it wasn't all bad. I did feel like I was in college but I wondered what the hell the other 300 hundred people were doing there. I guess this is what the New Wave hath brought. Seriously though, the dada, bauhaus, and Russian inspired typography elements of their "Take me out" video can hardly be poo-poohed. These guys are art-fags in skinny ties. Too pretty to be tough and too sharp to be pretty. They either bought a Wire, Wedding Present or Joseph K record along the way or have an older brother who did and it's turned out okay for them. And us.
Best singles of 2004
- iTunes iMix. Unfortunately, iTunes only has 13 of the 22 tracks I marked as my favorites. I find that disheartening as it is not like I picked super obscure artists or tracks. How long is it going to take Apple to improve their music store collection? Hard to complain with Apple overall this year though. Anyway here is the list, some with comments.
- Matthew Dear - "Dog Days" from "Leave Luck to Heaven" (Ghostly): This came out in December of '03 but I'm letting it slide. It was all over the lists collected in Grooves magazine.
- Ricardo Villalobos - "Easy Lee" from "Alcachofa" (Playhouse): Okay, this also came out in '03 and in fact it was featured on Michael Mayer's "Fabric 13" DJ release which was . . . also released in '03 (Nov). I don't care. Outstanding track. Really gets stuck in your head. Such a lugubrious pace too but, no matter. I look forward to Villalobos' Fabric release with unabashed lust.
- Andy Partridge - "I Wonder Why the Wonderfalls - Theme from Wonderfalls": This was an exclusive to the iTunes Music Store. You can still get. Yes, that Andy Partridge. Yes, I actually like it. Fuck off. I'm allowed to smile and like poppy fluff. It is really interestingly constructed. Which apparently this band Phoenix are as well but, I'm not quite there with them. But Andy, heck, he's an old pal.
- Camping - "Fotographie" from "Suburban Shore" (Plug Research): Camping is two parts Chessie and one part German samba song-crafter. It is quite the concoction. Knowing Stephen like I do it is no surprise that he ended up in this collaboration. This track is the stand out from a very chill and enjoyable record. If you like to relax you'll enjoy this.
- Seu Jorge - "Life on Mars?" from "The Life Aquatic Soundtrack": Jorge performs a number of David Bowie tracks in Portuguese and performs them live in the movie and the soundtrack delivers all of tracks. Really not to be missed. This reminded me that those Bowie tracks are well crafted but the performances are so heartfelt and brilliant that it's really Jorge's show.
- Kaito - "Tomorrow" (Superpitcher remix) from "Kompakt 100.1" (Kompakt).
- The Concretes - "Say Something New" from "The Concretes".
- The Clientele - "Impossible" from "Ariadne EP".
- This Poison! - "Posied Over the Pause Button" from "Rough Trade Indiecomp" (EMI Intl).
- Richard Villalobos - "Dexter" (2 Lone Swordsmen Mix) from "Fabric 19 - Andrew Weatherall" (Fabriclondon).
- Harpswell Sound - "Diverted" from "Skylight" (Peapod).
- Brian Wilson - "Vega-Tables" from "Smile".
Honorable metion
- Two close friends of mine released records that I have really enjoyed this past year and I would be remiss in not mentioning them. I should put them right on the list but I don't want it to appear as though they are just there because they are my friends. So I'll single them out here because that will be less weird. Great plan. Anyway, these CDs might be hard to come by so I also didn't want to dangle a carrot out there just to make myself look cool. I can't help it that my friends are talented. Enough excuses.
- First, is Baltimore, MD's Sharky and their "Mousam Lake Sessions" CDR release. Rob Goldrick is one half of Nord Express. The other half, Ron Harrity, produced and engineered this relase. Sei Peterson is a former member of Plow. Both of those bands have their influence on Sharky (duh) but the sum of the parts . . . you get the idea. They've got the pedigree. Unfortunately, I fear Sharky is no more but while it lasted there were some Wedding Present inspired tunes that had me wishing I was on the left coast. Yes, AGAIN.
- Secondly we have Portland, ME's Hapswell Sound and their "Port" CDR release. This is again Ron Harrity and mates, a component in Grappa and designer of my record label's logo (have I mentioned that enough yet? I do love me that logo.). I didn't due their current release "Skylight" justice in my last post. Harpswell have the alt-country vibe but it's more quiet serenity than country. Oh they can rock out a bit mind you but the feeling is very Sunday morning coffee. And I do like a bit of this with my coffee.
Disclaimer: I've linked all of these releases to amazon.com out of laziness which is horrifically lame on my part. Running an independent music label I am all too aware of how undervalued independence is, especially in the music industry. So, please make an effort to purchase these releases from your local music store. Or online try ToneVendor or Other Music.
Posted by human_companion at 03:36 PM | Comments (0)
October 24, 2004
Interpol, the new Ropers
I am increasingly convinced that Interpol is just Matador making up for passing by the Ropers. If you like Interpol you owe it to yourself to seek out the Roper's releases on Slumberland. What can you expect? Interpol about 10 years earlier.
I think the main connection between the Ropers and Interpol is the vocal delivery. The Ropers' Doug Bailey is one of the best, unheralded non-singers. One day I'll provide a disertation on the non-singer theory developed by one Dan Searing but, here is a brief.
The non-singer is not someone who lacks the ability to sing. The non-singer simply sounds great whether they are trying to sing or not. Often the non-singer will bend the notes and thus the rules a bit in their favor singing in key, out of key and nearly in-key. The point is fans of the non-singer don't mind because the vocal delivery and performance is so captivating. Generally the non-singer picks a range they are comfortable with and sticks to it. Thus they manage to get a lot of milage through inflection and eschew vocal "dynamics". The polar opposite of the non-singer is the vocal acrobatics of Mariah Carrey and her ilk.
Perhaps some examples would help to elucidate my point. Lou Reed is a non-singer. Ian Curtis is a non-singer. Lawrence, of Felt, is in the Reed mold of non-singer. Thom Yorke to some extent is a non-singer in that he does more growling than singing and he certainly likes to linger around a note without every necessarily visiting it spot on. The singing through clenched teeth mode is a distinguishing characteristic of the non-singer best exemplified by Richard Butler of the Psychedelic Furs. Besides Butler, my favorite non-singer is Mark Dumais of Crash (a band that featured Kurt Ralsky pre-Ultra Vivid Scene). He swoons through the song with complete license to be as out of tune as he wants and his vocal performances are the most endearing element of Crash.
None of this is to say that non-singers cannot sing. I want to be perfectly clear on this. Everyone I mentioned can absolutely sing. The non-singer is merley a description of their singing style. No one in their right mind would try to claim that Radiohead's Thom Yorke can't sing. The inflammatory non-singer moniker was choosen to elicit a response certainly but mainly it helps to differentiate these artists from the machines that generate the glut of mainstream pop. The non-singer puts the emphasis on heart-felt delivery over the desire to hit every note perfectly.
I've left out some obvious non-singers (Bob Dylan, Frank Sinatra) because their impact on the indie pop music scene is not as dramatic as the artists I've mentioned above. All of this explanation leads to this point: the comparisions of Interpol lead singer Paul Banks to Joy Division's Ian Curtis are largely due to the non-singer element.
Interpol are certainly not as sparse or as overtly negative as Joy Division. In fact, their mix of minimal post-punk guitar work with interesting interplay, their dynamic song structures and melodies all remind me of . . . well, the Ropers.
Anyway, get on it. Interpol are the new Ropers.
Posted by human_companion at 10:38 AM | Comments (0)