We are now at http://themusicologists.com/
It's been a nice run, but we needed a new look, more functionality, etc. Thanks to Spencer Perry for the concept and site design.
Sayonara, blogspot.
Click this link or cut and paste the above one into your browser.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Much Respect to Fleet Foxes...
I just pulled this post off of Fleet Foxes' MySpace blog- it pretty much sums up our mission statement, too...
Labels
Hullo!So, I went to the (truly insane and heart-swelling) Dept of Eagles show at Neumo's tonight (sang along and bought a Tee) and a couple people said something about hearing we signed to Virgin Records and they are reissuing a "special edition" of the CD LP. This is false. I think a Seattle Weekly blog post started this fire, which I will now extinguish, with this statement - "Fleet Foxes will never, ever, under no circumstances, from now until the world chokes on gas fumes, sign to a major label. This includes all subsidiaries or permutations thereunder. Till we die."
I just don't see the point. Most major labels seem anti-music. We've pursued no such deal with Virgin (or been pursued to my knowledge, I think it was just a bit of news they reported) and would be idiots to be unhappy with our fam of label folks. It is true though that all copies of the CD LP will now include a free copy of the EP (like it is currently with the vinyl), but that's not a "special limited edition," it'll be that way in perpetuity, no extra cost or packaging change.
That's all! Also I cut all my hair off.
Robin
NEXT MORNING POST SCRIPT: Just to clarify a bit. I wrote the above just to clear up a rumor - if nobody was saying we'd signed to a major, I wouldn't write anything about major labels, we'd just continue on with life as normal - I don't mean to color the music with HellaPunkAsFuck type ideological stuff. It's true that Warner has a 49% interest in Sub Pop, and that Bella Union is distributed by Universal in the UK. Distribution seems to me a pretty mechanical business arrangement ("Put our records on your truck, we will give you some money for gas, thanks"), and that deal only went down when the independent distributor in the UK went bankrupt putting all these indie labels in jeopardy. Neither label has any obligation to nor reports in any way to the shareholders of those large corporations and thus their business decisions aren't nearly as cynical. Every independent label interested in surviving has some innocuous business arrangement with a larger entity - in my opinion that doesn't change the spirit of small organizations or dilute the good intentions of independent labels. As a band I guess we try to make choices based on what we feel comfortable with, not what could bring us the most success, and I feel very comfortable calling Bella Union and Sub Pop independent labels, just as we feel comfortable when we say no to using music in advertising (though we did let World Wildlife Fund use White Winter Hymnal for an ad in Australia, because WWF is kewl).
My perspective is that if we make choices we feel good about intrinsically, it all comes out in the wash, and you'll all know what kind of band we are or are not, for better or worse! As a kid / teen, I'd get bent out of shape when my favorite bands did things that seemed motivated more by money than by art or seemed to not be honoring the core group of listeners that got them to where they were. But I'd be even more stoked on a band when they did well on their own terms. So, every time someone says something like "half a million bucks to appear at the Republican National Convention playing Mykonos BUT you have to say "McCain, Yo!" instead of "Mykonos" and work in something about drill baby drill" I think back to my young self and if he'd be into that. And then say no.
Sorry to get into all this stuff.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Best of January...
So yeah- before you get a chance to send a comment or an e-mail my way, let me interject with the standard "no, we didn't forget it..."; just in case you're wondering where the new album reviews are. They're here, they're just encapsulized. Bear with us as we're trying to prepare for the big switch over to our all-new website (New and improved! With a legitimate domain name! No more blogspot!) which launches all over your internets on Sunday, February 1st.
Franz Ferdinand - Tonight: Franz Ferdinand (Domino Records, released 1/27/09)
Sexy in a nerdy sort of way because on the one hand you have Alex Kapranos' Scottish pub-rock-croon over familiar yet odd, angular post-punk guitar chords and then on the other hand there are all these seemingly out-of-place 8-bit beeps and blips that show up (like the ones used in various old-school video games; the track Live Alone sounds like one of the radio stations you can choose to blast in your Ferrari Testarossa in that Sega game OutRun, circa 1986) which should work as the requisite antithesis for trying to get laid. The excursions of the newly discovered synthesizer are abound as Franz explore dub and electronica; but also keeping the old formula they're known for: groovy sing-along dancefloor bangers. Since this is FF's "night" album, most of the album is an up-tempo affair with hand-claps, drummy freak-outs, stomp-alongs; it shuffles and stutters, stops and starts and eventually drives the point home. Getting weird with the extended acid-house instrumental during the last four minutes of the re-worked Lucid Dreams, the stripped-down acoustic bareness of Katherine Kiss Me, and Ulysses; cribbing its style from the deep space dub echo chamber. There's also the classic formula revisited on tracks that sound exactly as Franz should; Turn It On and What She Came For. I'm recommending this album- if you're already a fan of Franz Ferdinand you might be slightly disappointed, if you're new to the boys from Glasgow- it'll be exciting.
Live Alone - Franz Ferdinand
Katherine Kiss Me - Franz Ferdinand
Andrew Bird - Noble Beast (Fat Possum Records; released 1/20/09)
Andrew Bird is a big fan of life; both in an intra-personal aspect and on a molecular level. Continuing on a concept from his three previous records of breaking the biological constraints of life down to its basest parts- the album is again rife with the imagery of elemental vocabulary like calcium mines, radiolarians (some type of protozoic life form that produces intricate skeletal systems), sea anenomes, etc.- it's as if you need your old bio textbook to read his lyric sheets. I'm going to go ahead and start calling him Dr. Bird, he's probably the most cerebral songwriter around these days; and I can't quite call his music "pop", being that he's a classically trained violinist his music veers closer towards a baroque sentiment- imagine pop music of the late 1700s set to brainiac post-Ph.D lyricism. But the musicianship coupled with the uber-intelligentsia slant makes for repeated interested listens; highlights include Oh No, Masterswarm, Not A Robot, But A Ghost, and the hands-down best piece of music on the entire record appears after the 2:15 mark of Anonanimal- it's actually one of the nicest breakdowns in a song I've heard in a while. But then again, Dr. Bird can write some really fine melodies; so it's completely expected.
Anonanimal - Andrew Bird
Masterswarm - Andrew Bird
More albums I missed from 2008 that I've been rocking heavily this past month:
Deerhoof - Offend Maggie (Kill Rock Stars Records; released October 7th, 2008)
You know, I'm half on the fence with Deerhoof, half-off; I loved Reveille and The Runners Four (but not at first), sort of panned Friend Opportunity and was stand-offish about their latest. Eventually I grew to like all these albums after forgetting about them and revisiting them sometime later- it's like I can't get into it right away, it takes a bunch of listens before I get hooked in. I listened to Offend Maggie a few times back in October and let it sit on the shelf until about two weeks ago; now I get it- it's got bigger guitars, less freaky, more restrained. Each album is less a continuation of the last than a re-invention towards something slightly different, but still essentially Deerhoof-esque.
Offend Maggie - Deerhoof
Paavoharju - Laulu Laakson Kukista (Fonal Records; released July 22nd, 2008)
This record would've made my top five, easily- that is if I actually listened to it before I made my flawed and (now) out-dated list, actually there's about 6 or 7 albums I would've slipped in my top twenty that I didn;t get a chance to hear until after the new year, but alas; no need complaining when there's such sweetly ethereal music like Paavoharju out there. Ambient dream folk electronica from the far reaches of Finland; I have to say this is as fine a record I've heard in the last decade; there's nothing to compare it to because there's nothing else that I've heard that sounds even remotely like this.
Uskallan - Paavoharju
The Bug - London Zoo (Ninja Tune Records; released July 7th, 2008)
I've somewhat maligned the entire genre of dubstep, however this is not only listenable, it's ridiculously enjoyable. It's closer to "darkwave" dancehall, if such a thing exists (probably not) but it's way better than any other dubstep I've heard. No wonder this ended up in so many top ten lists at the end of last year- it's a great record.
Judgement ft.Ricky Ranking - The Bug
Heavy Anticipation for February:
Nathan Williams' Wavves project has a follow up LP entitled Wavvves due out February 3rd from De Stijl Records, listen to So Bored.
So Bored - Wavves
Dark Was The Night Compilation, due out February 17th from 4AD Records; here's The Decemberists' offering:
Sleepless - The Decemberists
Morrissey's Years Of Refusal, due out February 17th from Attack/Lost Highway Records
No-One Can Hold A Candle To You - Morrissey
Abe Vigoda's Reviver EP, due out Feb. 17th from Post Present Medium Records; here's a taste:
Dont Lie - Abe Vigoda
Zach Condon has releases scheduled on Feb. 17th from two separate projects: his well-known day job Beirut with the March Of The Zapotec EP and his electronic side-project Realpeople's Holland EP
The Akara - Beirut
No Dice - Beirut
Black Lips' new record, 200 Million Thousand; out Feb. 24th from Vice Records; have a listen:
Starting Over - Black Lips
See you later...
Franz Ferdinand - Tonight: Franz Ferdinand (Domino Records, released 1/27/09)
Sexy in a nerdy sort of way because on the one hand you have Alex Kapranos' Scottish pub-rock-croon over familiar yet odd, angular post-punk guitar chords and then on the other hand there are all these seemingly out-of-place 8-bit beeps and blips that show up (like the ones used in various old-school video games; the track Live Alone sounds like one of the radio stations you can choose to blast in your Ferrari Testarossa in that Sega game OutRun, circa 1986) which should work as the requisite antithesis for trying to get laid. The excursions of the newly discovered synthesizer are abound as Franz explore dub and electronica; but also keeping the old formula they're known for: groovy sing-along dancefloor bangers. Since this is FF's "night" album, most of the album is an up-tempo affair with hand-claps, drummy freak-outs, stomp-alongs; it shuffles and stutters, stops and starts and eventually drives the point home. Getting weird with the extended acid-house instrumental during the last four minutes of the re-worked Lucid Dreams, the stripped-down acoustic bareness of Katherine Kiss Me, and Ulysses; cribbing its style from the deep space dub echo chamber. There's also the classic formula revisited on tracks that sound exactly as Franz should; Turn It On and What She Came For. I'm recommending this album- if you're already a fan of Franz Ferdinand you might be slightly disappointed, if you're new to the boys from Glasgow- it'll be exciting.
Live Alone - Franz Ferdinand
Katherine Kiss Me - Franz Ferdinand
Andrew Bird - Noble Beast (Fat Possum Records; released 1/20/09)
Andrew Bird is a big fan of life; both in an intra-personal aspect and on a molecular level. Continuing on a concept from his three previous records of breaking the biological constraints of life down to its basest parts- the album is again rife with the imagery of elemental vocabulary like calcium mines, radiolarians (some type of protozoic life form that produces intricate skeletal systems), sea anenomes, etc.- it's as if you need your old bio textbook to read his lyric sheets. I'm going to go ahead and start calling him Dr. Bird, he's probably the most cerebral songwriter around these days; and I can't quite call his music "pop", being that he's a classically trained violinist his music veers closer towards a baroque sentiment- imagine pop music of the late 1700s set to brainiac post-Ph.D lyricism. But the musicianship coupled with the uber-intelligentsia slant makes for repeated interested listens; highlights include Oh No, Masterswarm, Not A Robot, But A Ghost, and the hands-down best piece of music on the entire record appears after the 2:15 mark of Anonanimal- it's actually one of the nicest breakdowns in a song I've heard in a while. But then again, Dr. Bird can write some really fine melodies; so it's completely expected.
Anonanimal - Andrew Bird
Masterswarm - Andrew Bird
More albums I missed from 2008 that I've been rocking heavily this past month:
Deerhoof - Offend Maggie (Kill Rock Stars Records; released October 7th, 2008)
You know, I'm half on the fence with Deerhoof, half-off; I loved Reveille and The Runners Four (but not at first), sort of panned Friend Opportunity and was stand-offish about their latest. Eventually I grew to like all these albums after forgetting about them and revisiting them sometime later- it's like I can't get into it right away, it takes a bunch of listens before I get hooked in. I listened to Offend Maggie a few times back in October and let it sit on the shelf until about two weeks ago; now I get it- it's got bigger guitars, less freaky, more restrained. Each album is less a continuation of the last than a re-invention towards something slightly different, but still essentially Deerhoof-esque.
Offend Maggie - Deerhoof
Paavoharju - Laulu Laakson Kukista (Fonal Records; released July 22nd, 2008)
This record would've made my top five, easily- that is if I actually listened to it before I made my flawed and (now) out-dated list, actually there's about 6 or 7 albums I would've slipped in my top twenty that I didn;t get a chance to hear until after the new year, but alas; no need complaining when there's such sweetly ethereal music like Paavoharju out there. Ambient dream folk electronica from the far reaches of Finland; I have to say this is as fine a record I've heard in the last decade; there's nothing to compare it to because there's nothing else that I've heard that sounds even remotely like this.
Uskallan - Paavoharju
The Bug - London Zoo (Ninja Tune Records; released July 7th, 2008)
I've somewhat maligned the entire genre of dubstep, however this is not only listenable, it's ridiculously enjoyable. It's closer to "darkwave" dancehall, if such a thing exists (probably not) but it's way better than any other dubstep I've heard. No wonder this ended up in so many top ten lists at the end of last year- it's a great record.
Judgement ft.Ricky Ranking - The Bug
Heavy Anticipation for February:
Nathan Williams' Wavves project has a follow up LP entitled Wavvves due out February 3rd from De Stijl Records, listen to So Bored.
So Bored - Wavves
Dark Was The Night Compilation, due out February 17th from 4AD Records; here's The Decemberists' offering:
Sleepless - The Decemberists
Morrissey's Years Of Refusal, due out February 17th from Attack/Lost Highway Records
No-One Can Hold A Candle To You - Morrissey
Abe Vigoda's Reviver EP, due out Feb. 17th from Post Present Medium Records; here's a taste:
Dont Lie - Abe Vigoda
Zach Condon has releases scheduled on Feb. 17th from two separate projects: his well-known day job Beirut with the March Of The Zapotec EP and his electronic side-project Realpeople's Holland EP
The Akara - Beirut
No Dice - Beirut
Black Lips' new record, 200 Million Thousand; out Feb. 24th from Vice Records; have a listen:
Starting Over - Black Lips
See you later...
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Dirty Projectors + David Byrne...
Dirty Projectors & David Byrne - Knotty Pine (from upcoming "Dark Was The Night" Compilation; 4AD Records, February 17th)
Knotty Pine - Dirty Projectors + David Byrne
Knotty Pine - Dirty Projectors + David Byrne
Monday, January 19, 2009
Bon Iver's Blood Bank EP...
Bon Iver - Blood Bank EP (Jagjaguwar Records; released January 20th, 2009)
Wisconsin-born and French-named Bon Iver is back with a much less whispered affair, I think Justin Vernon has really found his voice and has gained a ton of confidence, rounding out his sound by adding more instrumentation on this four song affair. I don't know if I need to make any apologies for my exclusion of Mr. Vernon's For Emma, Forever Ago album off of last year's top 20 list; I'll re-iterate again that (to me) it's an '07 release- so that's where it ended up. I played that record a lot over the ultra-cold trip back east that winter and something clicked in me; that's exactly what that album was trying to convey- warmth. Recorded in a remote cabin in the Wisconsin woods the previous winter, it's no wonder it has that feel to it.
Blood Bank is a step past that- it definitely has a more intense warmth to it, like a refined and steady glow or a toastiness like you've been in from the cold for a while; cup of hot chocolate, wool socks up by the hearth- that's what it feels like to me. The title track was a throwaway from the last album, and I can see why it didn't work. Where the majority of those tracks were just Vernon with falsetto-whispered vocals/guitars/foot stomps/hurdy gurdys/cold winter winds/ethereal magic, this song is much sparser and stripped down, it doesn't need to blow into its cupped hands for warmth; it already emanates heat from within.
And there's no chorus or bridge- it's just a progression over and over as Bon Iver relates a story of donating blood, where sustenance can be gathered afterwards in the form of juice boxes, cookies and a make-out session in the parking lot. That'd certainly do it for me... Beach Baby has a lovely little pedal steel guitar line towards the back of the track; again- "beach" denotes warmth, etc. Clearly this is foretelling of Bon Iver's direction with his new material, obviously he's going to do a "summer" album. After Animal Collective's Merriweather Post Pavilion, this may just be the year of the "summer jam"...
Babys is a piano-laced track that builds towards a bridge section, then barrels on to a crescendo of a release- it's basically a two-note cycle over and over with double-tracked vocals and a heartily strummed acoustic guitar into a flaccid coda. The final track, Woods gets on the auto-tune bandwagon; but strangely; it works- a lot like that Imogen Heap track (Hide And Seek) from a few years ago, endearing instead of annoying.
So there's your pre-cursor to Bon Iver's much anticipated second full-length album, I'm thinking it'll get great reviews again, so let this serve as one of the first...
Wisconsin, iTunes bonus track from For Emma, Forever Ago:
Wisconsin - Bon Iver
Wisconsin-born and French-named Bon Iver is back with a much less whispered affair, I think Justin Vernon has really found his voice and has gained a ton of confidence, rounding out his sound by adding more instrumentation on this four song affair. I don't know if I need to make any apologies for my exclusion of Mr. Vernon's For Emma, Forever Ago album off of last year's top 20 list; I'll re-iterate again that (to me) it's an '07 release- so that's where it ended up. I played that record a lot over the ultra-cold trip back east that winter and something clicked in me; that's exactly what that album was trying to convey- warmth. Recorded in a remote cabin in the Wisconsin woods the previous winter, it's no wonder it has that feel to it.
Blood Bank is a step past that- it definitely has a more intense warmth to it, like a refined and steady glow or a toastiness like you've been in from the cold for a while; cup of hot chocolate, wool socks up by the hearth- that's what it feels like to me. The title track was a throwaway from the last album, and I can see why it didn't work. Where the majority of those tracks were just Vernon with falsetto-whispered vocals/guitars/foot stomps/hurdy gurdys/cold winter winds/ethereal magic, this song is much sparser and stripped down, it doesn't need to blow into its cupped hands for warmth; it already emanates heat from within.
And there's no chorus or bridge- it's just a progression over and over as Bon Iver relates a story of donating blood, where sustenance can be gathered afterwards in the form of juice boxes, cookies and a make-out session in the parking lot. That'd certainly do it for me... Beach Baby has a lovely little pedal steel guitar line towards the back of the track; again- "beach" denotes warmth, etc. Clearly this is foretelling of Bon Iver's direction with his new material, obviously he's going to do a "summer" album. After Animal Collective's Merriweather Post Pavilion, this may just be the year of the "summer jam"...
Babys is a piano-laced track that builds towards a bridge section, then barrels on to a crescendo of a release- it's basically a two-note cycle over and over with double-tracked vocals and a heartily strummed acoustic guitar into a flaccid coda. The final track, Woods gets on the auto-tune bandwagon; but strangely; it works- a lot like that Imogen Heap track (Hide And Seek) from a few years ago, endearing instead of annoying.
So there's your pre-cursor to Bon Iver's much anticipated second full-length album, I'm thinking it'll get great reviews again, so let this serve as one of the first...
Wisconsin, iTunes bonus track from For Emma, Forever Ago:
Wisconsin - Bon Iver
Friday, January 16, 2009
WAVVES vs NODZZZ...
Wavves - Wavves (Woodsist Records; released September 30th, 2008)
Nodzzz - Nodzzz (What's Your Rupture? Records; released November 18th, 2008)
Disclaimer: The numbers within the parentheses are indeed footnotes; I went kinda crazy with them.
The author is asking you if you can remember back to the beginning of this century when every garage-rock revival band that broke through was appointed that overwrought tag "the next big thing"? So whatever happened to The Mooney Suzuki?(1) Oh, they're out there somewhere, as are The Detroit Cobras and The Hives (both put out albums in '07, which is like a million fucking years ago in internet time) and Division Of Laura Lee (I got one of their albums on a whim years ago; I wish they were dead).(2) But Hot Snakes and The Libertines; who were actually listenable have sadly come and gone, and the vastly over-rated Kings Of Leon(3) still get to make records. Of course The White Stripes and The Strokes are still alive and richer than ever, but my tastes have bent away from them as they've outgrown their grittier sounding stuff and moved towards a more polished aesthetic. Plus, where do you draw the line between garage rock and garage punk? Where do Black Lips and Jay Reatard fall in here? Vivian Girls?
And oh yeah, I fucking hate Times New Viking(4).
Anyway, I digress- I try to steer clear of genre-specific shit anyway, it's better when it has a slash in it somewhere, like lo-fi/noise pop/garage punk.(5)
Enter Wavves; San Diego native Nathan Williams' bedroom recorded freak-fuzz project that references both goth and darkwave; re-writing the above triple-monikered genre's accepted influences and altering them as he sees fit. He's a one man band who draws from such far-ranging acts as The Beach Boys and Portland's Wipers, so think of him as a sort of sand-covered gutter punk, but only in sound. It's an absolute sonic mess that works for me, like an aurally-inspired toothache that I don't mind having; I'll get it taken care of whenever my health insurance kicks in...(6)
Stand-out tracks include Wavves, Side Yr On, Beach Goth and Teenage Super Party. Follow-up LP comes out February 3rd on Fat Possum Records and is ingeniously titled Wavvves (three V's this time...).
Heading up to Nor-Cal to the city of San Mateo(7) (situated between San Francisco and Palo Alto) we have (another) lo-fi/noise/garage act calling themselves Nodzzz. Not to be outdone in the consonant war, they also have consecutive consonants. Nodzzz, interestingly enough, would not be able to play their own name in a game of Scrabble. But these three endearingly nerdy dudes make really catchy, fun, four-tracked Tascam MKII garage-pop, ten songs in less than sixteen minutes, total fucking radness. Imagine Weezer having only like 30 bucks and one guitar to record their debut album- it's that sticky, it'll stick to your ears like used condoms stick to the insides of a drunken sorority girl's jeans.(8)
Is She There?, In The City (Contact High), Losing My Accent and I Can't Wait are the key tracks here.
Footnotes:
(1) - How can you name your band after the first two singers of Can and still totally suck? I was in either Sam Goody or F.Y.E. about 8 years ago and they had those "listening booth" thingys where you can put headphones on and listen to it- anyway, The Mooney Suzuki fucking suck, mostly because of their name, it's like fucking blashphemy to a music geek. I was expecting some super-funky krautrock-type shit and it was this shitty guitar jerk-off of a mess. I was on a ton of drugs back then, too- I'm really surprised I didn't like it.
(2) - These guys were on Epitath and my room-mate at the time was into all their bands and always bought their sampler records and all that shit, we even had a Division Of Laura Lee sticker on our coffee table. If I ever meet a chick name Laura Lee, I'm going to spit in her face.
(3) - Some dude a little while ago tried to tell me that Kings Of Leon was the best band I've never heard of. I had to correct his obvious error (I've heard everything) with "they are the worst band I wish I've never heard of the most".
(4) - You can try to be lo-fi on purpose to hide the fact that you can't play or sing.
(5) - Worst genre combination ever: UK garage/grime/dub-step. And anyone who knows me knows how much I love dub reggae; I used to drunkenly request it to folkish singer-songwriter types at open mic sets. However; dub-step is a freaking abomination. I wish that fad would hurry up and pass- thanks a lot, Pitchfork.
(6) - I have health insurance, I'm just afraid of dentists.
(7) - I hear they have a good skatepark there!
(8) - I don't even know what this means.
Nodzzz - Nodzzz (What's Your Rupture? Records; released November 18th, 2008)
Disclaimer: The numbers within the parentheses are indeed footnotes; I went kinda crazy with them.
The author is asking you if you can remember back to the beginning of this century when every garage-rock revival band that broke through was appointed that overwrought tag "the next big thing"? So whatever happened to The Mooney Suzuki?(1) Oh, they're out there somewhere, as are The Detroit Cobras and The Hives (both put out albums in '07, which is like a million fucking years ago in internet time) and Division Of Laura Lee (I got one of their albums on a whim years ago; I wish they were dead).(2) But Hot Snakes and The Libertines; who were actually listenable have sadly come and gone, and the vastly over-rated Kings Of Leon(3) still get to make records. Of course The White Stripes and The Strokes are still alive and richer than ever, but my tastes have bent away from them as they've outgrown their grittier sounding stuff and moved towards a more polished aesthetic. Plus, where do you draw the line between garage rock and garage punk? Where do Black Lips and Jay Reatard fall in here? Vivian Girls?
And oh yeah, I fucking hate Times New Viking(4).
Anyway, I digress- I try to steer clear of genre-specific shit anyway, it's better when it has a slash in it somewhere, like lo-fi/noise pop/garage punk.(5)
Enter Wavves; San Diego native Nathan Williams' bedroom recorded freak-fuzz project that references both goth and darkwave; re-writing the above triple-monikered genre's accepted influences and altering them as he sees fit. He's a one man band who draws from such far-ranging acts as The Beach Boys and Portland's Wipers, so think of him as a sort of sand-covered gutter punk, but only in sound. It's an absolute sonic mess that works for me, like an aurally-inspired toothache that I don't mind having; I'll get it taken care of whenever my health insurance kicks in...(6)
Stand-out tracks include Wavves, Side Yr On, Beach Goth and Teenage Super Party. Follow-up LP comes out February 3rd on Fat Possum Records and is ingeniously titled Wavvves (three V's this time...).
 | Wavves - Wavves |  |
 | ||
 | Found at skreemr.com |  |
| Wavves - Side Yr On | |
| | ||
| Found at skreemr.com | |
Heading up to Nor-Cal to the city of San Mateo(7) (situated between San Francisco and Palo Alto) we have (another) lo-fi/noise/garage act calling themselves Nodzzz. Not to be outdone in the consonant war, they also have consecutive consonants. Nodzzz, interestingly enough, would not be able to play their own name in a game of Scrabble. But these three endearingly nerdy dudes make really catchy, fun, four-tracked Tascam MKII garage-pop, ten songs in less than sixteen minutes, total fucking radness. Imagine Weezer having only like 30 bucks and one guitar to record their debut album- it's that sticky, it'll stick to your ears like used condoms stick to the insides of a drunken sorority girl's jeans.(8)
Is She There?, In The City (Contact High), Losing My Accent and I Can't Wait are the key tracks here.
| Nodzzz - Is She There | |
| | ||
| Found at skreemr.com | |
| Nodzzz - In the City (Contact High) | |
| | ||
| Found at skreemr.com | |
Footnotes:
(1) - How can you name your band after the first two singers of Can and still totally suck? I was in either Sam Goody or F.Y.E. about 8 years ago and they had those "listening booth" thingys where you can put headphones on and listen to it- anyway, The Mooney Suzuki fucking suck, mostly because of their name, it's like fucking blashphemy to a music geek. I was expecting some super-funky krautrock-type shit and it was this shitty guitar jerk-off of a mess. I was on a ton of drugs back then, too- I'm really surprised I didn't like it.
(2) - These guys were on Epitath and my room-mate at the time was into all their bands and always bought their sampler records and all that shit, we even had a Division Of Laura Lee sticker on our coffee table. If I ever meet a chick name Laura Lee, I'm going to spit in her face.
(3) - Some dude a little while ago tried to tell me that Kings Of Leon was the best band I've never heard of. I had to correct his obvious error (I've heard everything) with "they are the worst band I wish I've never heard of the most".
(4) - You can try to be lo-fi on purpose to hide the fact that you can't play or sing.
(5) - Worst genre combination ever: UK garage/grime/dub-step. And anyone who knows me knows how much I love dub reggae; I used to drunkenly request it to folkish singer-songwriter types at open mic sets. However; dub-step is a freaking abomination. I wish that fad would hurry up and pass- thanks a lot, Pitchfork.
(6) - I have health insurance, I'm just afraid of dentists.
(7) - I hear they have a good skatepark there!
(8) - I don't even know what this means.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
The Decemberists' The Rake's Song...
There's a new Decemberists' track from the forthcoming Hazards Of Love album, called The Rake's Song .
Click the link and check it out. First thoughts: it's a heavy and proggy deep-ass groove.
Oh, and "wow"....
Click the link and check it out. First thoughts: it's a heavy and proggy deep-ass groove.
Oh, and "wow"....
Tiny Echoes...
Tiny Echoes – Dereliction (self-released; 
Here’s an e-mail I got back in May and didn’t read until three weeks ago:
Hi Jimmy,
Not sure if you even take music submissions from unsigned folk, but I thought I'd fire a link your way anyway. I've just finished an album which I have uploaded here. If you get a chance sometime, I'd really appreciate it if you could give it a listen and let me know what you think. It's not long, just over half an hour. Sort of folk-rock, I suppose. I don't really like bios, so I don't have one. But I'm from
Thanks!!!
First off, I’m a douche for not seeing this e-mail like seven months ago. Secondly- he’s released an EP since this album, so I’m going to review that too, just to make up for how shitty of a person I can be.
So I followed the download link and I’m listening to it and I’m completely blown away; seriously- you made this in your bedroom? This is an amazing record. You’re only twenty years old? You’ve got more talent now than all the bands on the Billboard Top whatever list. I see your influences all over this album; you’ve properly channeled each and every one without misappropriating them. I’m wishing I had the last seven months to cozy up to this; it’d definitely be on my Top 20 list.
Let’s see now,
And there are traces of that devastation in your music- however subtle your delivery is, the impression you make is laid right down the middle of me like a tire mark, I feel like I’ve been thrown under the wheel of a car driven by its' ghost- slow-moving, haunting and fragile yet densely layered with these phenomenal orchestral string sections- from start to back it’s an album as an actual event; a fully realized and accomplished record that plays end-to-end.
The album begins with the atmospheric No History; just a repeated arpeggio on an ancient sounding guitar, I think I can hear it fret-out a few times- which is why I’ve always had a special fondness in my heart for this type of lo-fi bedroom recording. The stellar Oceans Of Ash is stark and jagged; a distorted buzz-saw guitar inserted into the mix at just the perfect level cuts a serrated path into my ears, any louder and it may have affected the overall tone of the song, rendering it grunge-worthy. But it serves as a foil to contradict the soft acoustics; like a wall of sound that’s completely unobtrusive as a backdrop, segueing back into a far-away sounding freak-out jam that, again, fits perfectly.
Everywhere At Once has the finest lyrical couplets on the record: "I disconnect the telephone, there's no one else I wanna hear speak / 'cause I remember how you told me once that talk was so cheap / it hurts to say it but I feel like I should explain / that I'd run home on broken legs just to speak to you again... all those lonely nights when the stars are too far to see / it's like you're everywhere at once, all around me..."
Then there's Where Did The Night Go?, another excellent track; a slow-moving torch song that sounds like a neglected carousel wheel begging to be oiled. Sparse and booming drums move the song along, although they appear muddy in the mix - which works exactly as it's supposed to for the song to develop, and again there's the distorted buzz-saw guitar towards the end- I can't get over how well it sounds when it really shouldn't. The album's production, whatever was used- I'm thinking a Tascam 8-track (?) is absolutely perfect; capturing the vibe with precision.
A Forgotten Lie is the next track, and again; another solid attempt at harnessing the ambiance- both sweet and creepy. There are ghosts as well as angels in your music, Stephen. And Their Voices is the easiest song to pigeon-hole into a genre, it's a somber as well as emotive alt-country ditty. Double-tracked vocals, hand drummed percussion, subtle synth-strings and an acoustic guitar is all that’s needed here to convey the point.
The album’s coup de grace would be the finale, Into Oblivion. All I can say is wow. I love when an album leaves on a high-point, leaving the listener begging for more- with its faintly layered orchestrations, the finely woven loud-soft-loud/verse-chorus-bridge interplay and that distorted wall of sound re-appearing once again, it’s a skillful display of both songwriting and production I’ve heard on a self-recorded album since ______. (I promised myself I would write this review without making any comparisons, so listen for yourself and you draw your own conclusions…)
I'm noticing that I've used a lot of adjectives in this review; so I'll try to sum it up with this glowing recommendation- if you like melancholic, heart-felt, lo-fi acoustic folk-rock, this is a pretty awesome example of how it should be done.
Desolation EP (self-released; November 28th, 2008)
This EP acts as a four-song component piece, released shortly after the completion the Dereliction album, and it’s a much more polished and refined offering. The maturation of Tiny Echoes’ sound offers promise, although he hints on his blog that he’s going to go in a different direction (white-boy rap? Hopefully he’s joking- stick to what works, please!)
The third track (and centerpiece to the EP); Hospital Bed, is another song that employs Tiny Echoes' "wall of sound" technique, building to a huge crescendo at around the five-minute mark and holding you there for almost a solid minute until he brings you down into a beautiful bells-and-string break and then lifting you back into the crashing waves of drums and strings and guitars- it's a seven-and-a-half minute jam that held my attention throughout, imploring repeated listens.
I wish I discovered these records earlier, and to think that they were waiting for me in my inbox- I used to brag that I never checked my e-mail. Yeah, those days are over...
To hear his music and download his albums for free, go to
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Will Oldham Strikes Again...
...another Bonnie "Prince" Billy album; Beware, due out March 17th from Drag City Records. Here's a brand new song (You Can't Hurt Me Now), live and in-studio with WNYC's Soundcheck program. Will always gives a great interview- so understated and eloquent, for such a giant talent he's really a pretty accessible and down-to-earth guy. He waxes poetic on his alter-ego, his acting career and the flattery of having his music covered by the likes of Johnny Cash as well as traditional Scottish folk singers. He also sticks around to give a fantastic rendition of The Brute Choir from 1995's Viva Last Blues under his old moniker Palace Music.
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