An Album A Day

The Best Albums of 2007

2008-01-21T09:15:00.000-05:00

I can't believe what a slacker I am. My most sincere apology to you if you have actually taken a peek at this during the last couple of months and have been disappointed to find no post.

I'd like to share some of my favorite records of 2007. The question is, how many to list? Let's make it the top 23 of 2007...

23. Crowded House, Time on Earth Perhaps a sentimental selection, but a few of the tracks are great.

22. The Apples in Stereo, New Magnetic Wonder An excellent record of alterna-pop that sounds truly sincere.

21. Shout Out Louds, Our Ill Wills Swedish! I love it for the influence of 80's new wave dance that I hear.

20. The Six Parts Seven, Casually Smashed to Pieces Really good instrumental rock music. A lot of instrumental rock focuses on rhythm, but the Six Parts Seven write good melodies as well.

19. Apostle of Hustle, National Anthem of Nowhere I love Broken Social Scene. Andrew Whiteman's side project is great as well.

18. Architecture in Helsinki, Places Like This A really fun album.

17. Elliott Smith, New Moon If Tupac can do it, then so can Elliott. I would love to see a thousand more posthumous releases from this genius. A two disc set with lots of great stuff.

16. Bright Eyes, Cassadaga Conor Oberst adds a little more country to his folk sound for this record.

15. Kevin Drew, Spirit If... Again, I love Broken Social Scene, and this could easily be a BSS release I think.

14. Andrew Bird, Armchair Apocrypha This guy is great. Trained on the violin, his songs feature strings heavily, which I love. Also, he can whistle like I dream about.

13. The New Pornographers, Challengers I like AC Newman's voice.

12. Modest Mouse, We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank Not quite as good as two albums ago, and not quite as successful as last album, but still a good record.

11. Of Montreal, Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? Of Montreal is now one of my favorite bands. Kevin Barnes writes songs that I can feel.

10. Wilco, Sky Blue Sky I was a tiny bit disappointed to find Wilco songs in every Volkswagon commercial on tv, but Tweedy's lyrics still make me smile. Why shouldn't he make as much money as he can? And his electric guitar playing is a lot better on this one.

9. Michael Penn, Palms & Runes, Tarot & Tea: A Michael Penn Collection Is it fair to include a greatest hits collection? It's my list, so I'll allow it. A few tracks are new versions, so that's good. Including my favorite, "Bunker Hill." I love that song! "New Myth" was the reason I learned to play the guitar.

8. Band of Horses, Cease to Begin A great second record. I expected it not to be as good as their first album, but it's better.

7. Arctic Monkeys, Favourite Worst Nightmare Another fun one. Hard to listen to this band without tapping something. I like tapping my hands on the steering wheel while I drive.

6. Robert Pollard, Coast to Coast Carpet of Love As usual, Pollard released a bunch of stuff this year, and a live GBV album. I think he's great.

5. Spoon, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga That's right, five ga's. A good record. I really like the tunes with horns.

4. Okkervil River, The Stage Names Sadly, I purchased this record too late to make it onto my Best of 2007 compilation, but it makes it into the top five of the year. A great record with lyrics that remind me of Jeff Mangum and Neutral Milk Hotel.

3. Iron & Wine The Shepherd's Dog This record is a giant leap for Sam Beam and Iron & Wine. More electric sound than ever and a more diverse collection of musical styles. But it still retains the honesty of earlier records.

2. The Shins, Wincing the Night Away This might have been the record that I was most looking forward to this year. Not a disappointment. Great record.

1. The Avett Brothers, Emotionalism Just a wonderful album. It feels like one of the most honest records I've ever purchased. When these guys sing about love, I really believe in it. They have a unique sound and energy that comes across when I listen to the record. I love it.

Guided By Voices' Alien Lanes

2007-11-04T12:51:00.000-05:00

No posts in the entire month of October? So sorry. I've been a little busy I guess. Planning lessons and grading assignments. I should just quit my job so I can concentrate on my blog. Or at least change the name to An Album Whenever I Feel Like It.

My challenge for today's entry was to select a band of cokeheads. I don't know if I have anything that really fits in that category. I briefly considered a Black Sabbath album. (Isn't "Snowblind" about cocaine?) I thought about it and couldn't come up with anything good. (Sorry, Anna.) Instead I relied on the old random number method and I came up with a Guided By Voices album. I think it's an appropriate substitution. At shows they certainly drink a lot harder than any band I've ever seen. More about that later.

Alien Lanes was the first GBV album I bought. I got it in 1996 or 1997, a year or so after it came out in 1995. It was another record that had a big impact on me. I remember hearing it for the first time and being blown away. I thought, "Why isn't everyone making music like this?" It was probably this record that cultivated my interest in lo-fi sound and independent music.

A very quick Guided By Voices background: GBV formed in Dayton, Ohio in the early 80's. The band went through a number of lineup changes before finally dissolving in 2004. The constant in GBV was frontman Robert Pollard. (Whose new solo album by the way should be in my hands shortly. My record store had to order it for me.) The lineup for this record is often called the classic lineup. It features Tobin Sprout, I think Pollard's songwriting foil. (If this lineup had lasted, they would be a new Lennon/McCartney.) Most GBV albums are all Pollard, but this one has a few Tobin Sprout songs. Although Bee Thousand was distributed by Matador Records, this was the first album they recorded after signing with Matador. They're known for their use of lo-fi sound and their prolific output.

This one has to be my favorite GBV record. It has nostalgic value for being my first GBV record, and the songs are phenomenal. There isn't a single song I want to skip. Most of them are only between one and two minutes in length. And despite their brevity, they get stuck in your head because they're so catchy. Pop gems. A lot of the songs end really abruptly and you're rocketed off into the next tune before you even realize it's happening. The pop melody structure is complemented by some bizarre lyrics. All of it fits together to make an album that really appeals to me.

I don't even want to get into a song by song analysis. There are 28 tracks on it! I can't even concentrate on the ones I like because I like them all! Instead, I want to tell a couple of related stories.

I saw GBV at the TLA on South Street in Philadelphia. One of the best shows I have ever seen. EVER. I remember thinking that they put on a real rock and roll show. They were drinking so much beer the whole night. They had a cooler full of bottles on stage with them and it seemed like Pollard opened a new one between every song. He would tilt his head back and drain the bottle and then throw it up in the air back over his head. There must have been a dozen broken beer bottles littering the back of the stage. The bass player kept lighting new cigarettes between songs and dangling them from his lips while he played. They even passed around what I thought was a joint and a bottle of tequila during the show. Halfway through the show Pollard is staggering around the stage while he's singing. Between songs he was slurring whatever he was saying. I remember that a couple of times he counted off the next tune by saying the title and it made me laugh out loud. "This next tune is called one, two, Hot, Freaks!" At the end of the night he dragged the cooler to the front of the stage and started passing out bottles to the people in front. And I'm pretty sure he didn't ask any of them for ID.

Since this was the first GBV album I bought, the first track was the first GBV song I ever heard, and I knew as soon as I heard it that I was going to love the album and the band. The first track is called "A Salty Salute." It ends with the line "The club is open." repeated a couple of times. If I recall correctly, that night I saw them at the TLA they had a neon sign hanging on the back of the stage that read, "The club is open." (If they didn't, they should have.) And I believe it was the first song they played. It is a perfect tune to open a show. Of course I was terribly sad when Pollard announced he would be disbanding Guided By Voices in 2004. But since he is still putting out solo records at a pretty quick pace, and most of it is pretty good, I've been OK. And I'm always holding out hope for a reunion. Check out this clip of an impromptu performance of "A Salty Salute" at an outdoor picnic in Ohio. Pollard has a beer in one hand and a wiffle ball bat in the other! How psyched would I be if I was at a picnic and Robert Pollard was there? And then he played a bunch of GBV songs? I would crap my pants. I have no idea who the jokers are that he's playing with, but they do a fine job. What makes it so great is the crowd singing along and Pollard directing them with the wiffle ball bat.

Loose Fur's Born Again in the USA

2007-09-17T20:36:00.000-04:00

Loose Fur is an offshoot of Wilco. In 2000, Jeff Tweedy was invited to perform at the Noise Pop Festival in Chicago with any collaborator of his choice. He wanted to play with Jim O'Rourke, a one time member of Sonic Youth. O'Rourke invited percussionist Glenn Kotche to the sessions in preparation for the festival, and the three recorded music for what would be Loose Fur's self-titled first album, a six song ep. Tweedy's experience with these musicians had a tremendous impact on Wilco. Drummer Ken Coomer was replaced by Kotche and O'Rourke was asked to mix the tracks on Wilco's phenomenal album Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. Kotche is still a full time member of Wilco and O'Rourke continues to contribute.

Born Again is the second Loose Fur release. Tweedy's collaboration with O'Rourke and Kotche has had a tremendous impact on his songwriting. That impact is illustrated on this album.

I think the primary change in Tweedy's songwriting is that it now seems to focus on a seed that grows into a song, often in random growth patterns, rather than on writing to fill in the traditional skeleton of a song structure. Songs on the first several Wilco albums were for the most part conventional verse-chorus-bridge structures. (Not that this is a bad thing. I love those songs just as much as what Wilco is doing now. Being There is one of the finest albums I've ever purchased, and Summer Teeth is amazing as well.) These songs feature sounds that are not designed to fit together in a traditional sense. They're not just guitars strumming chords while the bass plays a line centered on the root of the chord. Instead, the instruments play separate parts that twirl about each other, like branches growing from a root. Guitar parts and bass parts harmonize and interact. The drums often play in time with the melody, not just an accompanying beat. And the lyrics also seem to grow from imagery rather than storytelling.

The track "Wreckroom" opens with piano, bass, and drum that seem to surge against each other. The lyrics fit between phrases of music, only vaguely resembling a verse structure. There is a very nice instrumental bridge that flirts with sounding like a jam band. Tweedy's bass offers a repetitive groove against which a guitar line grows in octaves. It builds until the guitar, bass, and drum all dissolve in a crash. A guitar riff and a beat emerges from the crash, but is quickly swallowed again. This noise and resolution contrast eventually fades into a droning instrumental outro that is almost four minutes long. It's a very nice tune.

On the album's opener, "Hey Chicken," Tweedy plays electric guitar. I used to hate his electric guitar, but it really has grown on me. It has a really nice distorted sound on this track. The guitar part rocks back and forth between longer classic riffs and staccato phrases that are matched by the bass and drums. Kotche does a really great job of drumming to both maintain a beat and to play with the melody.

"The Ruling Class" is one of my favorite tracks on the record. It has funny lyrics about Jesus Christ returning to a modern world. O'Rourke plays a great electric guitar part against Tweedy's acoustic strumming. He also plays the bass in this tune with a really groovy bounce.

I generally like the tunes that Tweedy sings better, but O'Rourke does an excellent job with "Answers to Your Questions." This is a really good song. The pretty guitar part and sparse percussion and xylophone juxtapose with dark lyrics.

The Olivia Tremor Control's Music from the Unrealized Film Script, DUSK AT CUBIST CASTLE

2007-09-14T08:12:00.000-04:00

The Olivia Tremor Control is another band in the Elephant 6 collective, which I discussed in the Of Montreal entry. I'll give a little more detail on that here.

Apparently the first three founding groups of the Elephant 6 collective included the Apples in Stereo, the Olivia Tremor Control, and Neutral Milk Hotel. Of Montreal and other bands became affiliated with the collective later. Founders Robert Schneider of the Apples in Stereo, Bill Doss and Will Cullen Hart of the Olivia Tremor Control, and Jeff Mangum of Neutral Milk Hotel, were childhood friends. Schneider started the Elephant 6 Record Label to release the Apples in Stereo's first record. The Olivia Tremor Control's first record, under the name Synthetic Flying Machine, was the second E6 release. Eventually, the label dissolved. Groups on the label went on to sign with major labels. Now the term Elephant 6 just refers to the group of bands and artists that frequently collaborate. The last Apples in Stereo record, 2007's New Magnetic Wonder, features all of the founding E6 members.

Now for this band and record in particular. The Olivia Tremor Control, OTC, blends experimental sounds with pop music. Traditional guitar and vocal harmony arrangements are offset by tape loops and electronic sound. The songwriting is also an amalgam of traditional and experimental styles. The songs on this record include two to three minute pop gems as well as bizarre compositions ranging from 24 seconds to ten minutes. (The short poppy songs remind me of Guided By Voices. They can cram a lot of hook into such a short tune. And as soon as you find yourself getting into the song, it ends and they're on to the next. It's almost like musical ADD) The beauty of independent music like this is you can hear that these guys had unrestrained creative power. The mixture of incongruous sounds makes the band defy categorization. I don't think a major label would allow such ambiguity. The band's two primary members brought these conflicting sounds together, and their projects since the end of OTC illustrate the difference as well. Hart, the more experimental of the two, continues in the group Circulatory System. Doss, the pop half of the group, makes music with the Sunshine Fix.

The record opens with a handful of songs leaning more toward the pop sound. However, the opening track features tape loops running back and forth intertwined with the song's straightforward rock skeleton. The second track is a one minute instrumental. When the third track arrives, you can tell this band knows how to make a pop song. "Jumping Fences" is driven by a sunny bass line and fantastic chorus of vocal harmonies and counter melodies. The vocal harmony showcase continues into the next songs, "Define a Transparent Dream" and "No Growing (Exegesis)." The two songs almost blend together, connected by a tape loop that moves back and forth from left to right speaker. (Headphones again!) "No Growing" might be my favorite track on the record. The song intros with a guitar and bass riff that is simple and classic. The acoustic guitar enters with a sound so familiar that it gives the song a comfortable feel. The vocals border on Beach Boys precision. The chorus is punctuated with a fantastic horn part. It's just a great pop song. The pop focus continues through the first eleven tunes on the album. I also really like "Memories of Jacqueline 1906" in this part of the album. This song is a perfect snapshot of the OTC sound. It's a two minute song. The first minute is guitar and double-tracked vocal pop, and the second minute is a wild noisy fade that starts with slightly dissonant kazoos and melds into tape loops of varying speed and effects.

Sandwiched in the middle of the album are ten tracks that are all titled "Green Typewriters." This is where it gets a little more unusual. There are still a few song nuggets, but for the most part this section of the record focuses on experimental sound. At the end of the first of these ten tracks you hear the sound of typewriter levers striking paper and the bell of the carriage return moving the typist to the next line. One of the tracks features tapes of voices playing at different speeds. The primary voice is slow and deep, while other voices playing faster make a sort of backing track. Near the end of this section is a track almost ten minutes long consisting of noise.

The band returns to the pop sound to close out the album. There are a handful of catchy tunes here. The very short "I Can Smell the Leaves," just shy of two minutes, is nice. There's one more noisy track, the title tune "Dusk at Cubist Castle." It has a nugget of lyrics in the middle surrounded by loops of sound. The last track, "NYC-25," is another very good pop song. The guitar and bass mirror each other on a groove that pushes the song's beat. The vocal harmonies are sweet on the chorus.

I think this is a very good album. It's perfect for someone who wants to listen to something unusual but is not ready to go into the deep end of the experimental sound pool.

Huffamoose's We've Been Had Again

2007-09-13T07:36:00.000-04:00

If you've never heard of Huffamoose, I am not surprised. They are a band from here in Philadelphia. At one time they were poised on the brink of getting national attention. They played Woodstock '94 as an unsigned band. It led to their signing with Interscope Records, and the national release of this album. While touring to support this record, the band ultimately dissolved. I would bet they were struggling to wrap their minds around the fact that they were about to "make it," and to stay the same normal guys they were before making it. Of course, I don't know the guys. I'm just trying to imagine myself in the same situation. Most of the guys are still playing the Philadelphia area.

According to the liner notes, most of this record was recorded at Chill Factor Studios in lovely Ardmore, PA. Right around the corner from where I used to live next to what used to be Annie's. I miss that place.

This is a good album. Really accessible pop music that's much more complex than pop music. There are tangible jazz influences in the lead guitar work. Kevin Hanson and Craig Elkins write smart lyrics.

The first track, "Wait," did get national radio play. It's a great tune. The verses are just unusual enough to contrast with the anthem feel of the chorus.

The songs "Enigmatic" and "Snapshot Family" are also very impressive. Powerful guitar sounds.

But two songs really stand out on the record. They are so beautiful. First, "Buy You a Ring." This is a very interesting love song. It manages to combine a very grown-up view of love with the adolescent feeling of a powerful crush. The song opens with the singer admitting to being in love. Again. He also admits, however, to apprehension.

but this is nothing like I thought it would be
I'm scared all the time
I'm afraid I'm gonna hurt you
I've gotta pay somehow but it couldn't happen to me now

This verse illustrates the childish innocence that makes true love so wonderful.

I wanna be in fifth grade again
I wanna worry about poison ivy
I wanna worry about getting beat up after school
I wanna send you a note

I really love the chorus. Simple and pure.

I wanna buy you a ring
maybe I'll make it myself
do you like rubies and diamonds and emeralds and gold and silver?
I wanna build you a mansion
maybe we'll live in a castle with servants and a pool

My favorite track on the record is "James." It's really a wonderful piece of songwriting. The music is an incredible balance of simplicity and technical playing prowess. Between lyrics the electric guitar plays licks that blend jazz with the pop feel of the song. The lyrics are amazing. I am terribly impressed by Elkins' ability to write a beautiful song from a woman's point of view. (When I bought this album, I was still in my original band Lo-Fi Genius. I was so inspired by this song that I tried to write one myself from a woman's point of view, "Not Like the Other Girls." But I couldn't get it to be beautiful, so I had to settle for making it amusing.) The first verse and chorus describe developing infatuation.

cause James is a freedom fighter and he lives for the moment
his parents are hippies and he sees everything through a rainbow
he's never unhappy cause he never wears a watch
he lives on his mountain bike and he sees beauty in everyone

James says he's gonna change the world
James says that I am his flower girl
and James and I we're gonna make a difference
just wait and see we're gonna set the world free

It's a lovely sentiment. Young and innocent. But in the next verse and the bridge the couple are older. And love gets harder.

it's two years later now and we're both out of college
and we've decided to love one another for eternity
I've got a good job but James says no one understands him
he's an artist and he needs time to find out what that means

he answers to a higher calling
the moon and the sun and the stars are falling
through his time and his space
and I am lucky to be part of it all
he is bigger than life he sees things he knows things
he is not like you and me

I find the feeling of this song so easy to relate to. It's a similar theme as in "Buy You a Ring." There are two halves of love, young and old. Finding love, and falling in love, is young. It's easy. But maintaining love is old. It's hard work sometimes. I really like the line, "we've decided to love one another for eternity." As if it's something you just decide to do.

The last verse is bitter sweet.

James finally found a steady job and now we're gonna settle down
he still loves his music but he knows where his priorities lie
he stepped on his dreams so many times
and wore out the path he needed to take
to find the life he thought would just happen to him
like the changing of a season

This is terribly sad. Did James sacrifice his dreams for the sake of priorities? Perhaps it's a matter of perspective. Though dreams may die, that does not necessarily leave you dreamless. Rather, dreams may be replaced by new ones. What dream is better than love? Must we all make sacrifices for love? Like I said, terribly sad.

Denison Witmer's Live

2007-09-09T08:47:00.000-04:00

With the start of the school year, I have found myself unable to write reviews for several days. (As you can no doubt see for yourself.) Perhaps it will be a struggle to keep up all year. Or maybe it's just that the first few days have required a little more time for adjustment. Either way, I'll do what I can to keep putting albums up here. I don't think I'm really letting anyone down because I seriously doubt anyone is reading this. In any case...

Today's entry will be very easy, which is nice. I don't have too much to say about this record. It's very nice, very relaxed. It doesn't demand a lot of attention. Background music.

I started to listen to Denison Witmer during my years working for Tower Records. A coworker told me he thought I might like it based on other things I had purchased. He told me it was very quiet and really nice to listen to at night when going to sleep. So I purchased Are You a Dreamer?, his 2005 release. And I did like it. His music is quiet and relaxing. It's modern folk music. I would compare him to Paul Simon. If you like Simon, or Cat Stevens, or maybe Nick Drake, I would suggest you check this guy out. Of course, he probably won't be very easy to find. I don't think he has a lot of national support. Perhaps a bit more in the PA area. He's from Lancaster, PA. In fact, in the liner notes of this album he calls The Fire, a Philadelphia venue, his "neighborhood hangout." Let's look at this album.

Obviously, it's a live record. It features performances from a handful of places, several in PA, a few in Michigan and Canada. His songwriting is solid. It stands out in the bare context of these versions. Most of them are just acoustic guitar and voice. His playing and singing are both very nice. The tracks that feature guests are the ones that really stand out to me. On a few of the tracks, he is backed by The Six Parts Seven, another band that I really enjoy. (Their last album, Casually Smashed to Pieces, is absolutely phenomenal and I hope to get them on this blog in the future.) In particular, the lap steel guitar of James Matthew Haas. It's absolutely beautiful. (I think I talked about my developing interest in the pedal steel guitar before. In the Rebuild The Wall entry. In the song "Teach Your Children" there's a pedal steel right after the last bridge before the outro. That one note is so perfect.)

Also interesting about this record are the two covers he includes. He plays a version of Neil Young's "Birds" which is very nice. He also offers a cover of the Big Star song, "Thirteen." (I also have to get Big Star on this blog. Their story fascinates me. It's odd that this album came up randomly, because I almost decided to skip the random selection and to do a different album that also includes a cover of this song, Elliott Smith's posthumous New Moon. Smith often played "Thirteen" at live shows. That's what fascinates me so much about Big Star, that a band with very little success came to be so influential.) This song is so beautiful. It really captures a feeling. Every time I listen to it I remember the feeling of being young and having a powerful crush on someone.

Like I said, if you like solo Paul Simon records, I recommend that you give Denison Witmer a try.

R.E.M. In The Attic

2007-09-04T20:51:00.000-04:00

I warned that I would be away for the weekend!

Today's record should be an easy one. Nice and quick, which is nice because I have to get to bed early. I'm back at work again. Another school year has started. Hopefully, I will be able to keep up with the blog in spite of actually having to go to my job, but just in case I thought I should get a warning out there. (Not that anyone besides me is reading this.)

So I guess I'll have to give a bit of background to this album. Not for the sake of explaining R.E.M. of course, just this record. If I have to explain R.E.M. to you, I think you should stop reading my blog.

In any case, here is the story. R.E.M. formed in the early 80's. They signed with I.R.S. Records. and released the EP Chronic Town in 1982 and their debut album Murmur in 1983. The band built a reputation during the I.R.S. years and obtained great success on college radio. Commercial success came with the album Document, which featured the hits "The One I Love," and "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)." Following this album's success, R.E.M. left I.R.S. records and signed with Warner Brothers Records. In 1988, I.R.S. released a collection of singles and b-sides called Eponymous, and R.E.M. released their first major label record, Green. I could go on with the R.E.M. story from here, but that's not important to this entry. (Except to say I really like the early years with Warner Bros.) What is important is that when I.R.S. Records folded, E.M.I.-Capitol obtained its catalogue. E.M.I. released this record in 1997 without R.E.M.'s permission. For this reason, most don't consider this an R.E.M. album. But it has some nice stuff on it, and it came up in the random number lottery today, so I'll include it here.

This record includes different mixes of the songs "Finest Worksong," "Gardening At Night," and "Can't Get There From Here." Fair stuff.

There are a number of live tracks that are pretty nice. A great version of "Driver 8." I didn't even believe it was live until the end of the song. "Disturbance At the Heron House" is one of my favorites. The live track, "Maps and Legends," includes classic R.E.M. jangly guitar sound...a very nice 12-string accompaniment to Stipe's vocal. "Just a Touch" is a live recording, but it's not a performance. It's live in studio. Their early hit, "The One I Love," is live and acoustic, slow and bare. Nothing like the slick, produced hit that earned them their first commercial success. The album closes with an interesting live medley of "Time After Time," "Red Rain," and "So. Central Rain."

It's the covers like the ones included in the medley that drew my attention. I generally stay away from "greatest hits" collections. I prefer the original album package including the songs put together by the band. And if I had been aware of R.E.M.'s ignorance to this collection, I probably would have avoided buying it as a way of showing my support to the artists. But these covers may have made it too hard to pass up. In addition to the two covers in this medley, we get treated to several other intriguing gems. There's a cover of Aerosmith's "Toys in the Attic." Pretty good. "Last Date" is an instrumental written by Floyd Cramer. This is a very good cover of a beautiful song. Floyd Cramer was a Nashville pianist, a studio musician for the most part. He's on a lot of big records. But this song earned him a number two hit and includes some revolutionary piano playing for the year 1960. I'm not sure who's playing the piano on this recording, I would guess Mike Mills, but it's really good. As is Peter Buck's guitar. "Crazy" is a song by another Athens, Georgia band Pylon. (When Rolling Stone called R.E.M. America's best band in 1987, drummer Bill Berry said they weren't America's best band, Pylon was.) My absolute favorite is the cover of "Dream (All I Have to Do)." The way that Stipe and Mills interpret the harmonies of the Everly Brothers is very nice. It seems very earnest. It's not just musicians doing a song they're interested in having fun with. They want to do the song well.

This is a decent collection. There are a handful of unusual tracks. But if you're looking for an R.E.M. album and you really want their "greatest hits," let me suggest you look at one of the other collections that have come out since this one.

Sloan's Between the Bridges

2007-08-30T10:45:00.000-04:00

This is a phenomenal album. Sloan is a band that everyone should check out because I think very few people know about them but they have a sound that would appeal to so many. I can't believe they're not a huge band. At least not here in America. They're a Canadian band and they have a little more success in Canada. Sometimes I think about moving to Canada. They really seem to know a bit more than we do up there about how to be better humans.

I am SO pleased about discovering this band. I saw them open up for Guided By Voices at the TLA in Philly several years ago. I can't remember the year. But it must have been around 1999 based on the albums that I went on to purchase. Their sound was so tight. It was pop so infectious that I went looking for Sloan records the very next day. (I've discovered so many bands that I like as opening acts. Sloan with GBV, the Elected opening for Supergrass I think, House of Freaks opening for the Bangles. Yes. I went to see the Bangles when I was in high school.) I first found their live album 4 Nights at the Palais Royale. I couldn't believe the audience reaction captured on this live album. I liked it so much , I looked for more. This one, Between the Bridges, was purchased soon after.

The title is a reference to the band's hometown of Halifax, with its two major bridges. It's a kind of concept album. Many of the tracks run together. (Which made using it for mixes difficult back when I was still mix-making on tape.) I guess it tells a kind of autobiographical story of being Canadian, being in a band, and playing shows trying to make it. The chorus in the album's opener, "The N.S.," begins:

But if you think that it's cold when you're swimming in the ocean
It's hard to believe you're a Nova Scotian boy

Clearly about being Canadian. I used to think the N.S. in the title referred to Nova Scotia, but apparently it's the nickname of a mental hospital in Halifax. I like this song because of the tempo changes between verse and chorus. When you hear the intro and the first verse, you think the song is slow and sad. I remember thinking I didn't care for it too much the first time I heard it. But when the chorus speeds up, you can hear it's a pop song. Grand piano chords, rock guitar licks, thick vocal harmonies, and a tight drum beat that intertwines with the melody nicely. I like this song a lot.

The album flows directly into the next song, and the next. The second track, "So Beyond Me," is a classic two-guitar rocker. It also features really good vocal harmony. The drum beat continues right through the end of this one to the intro of the next, "Don't You Believe a Word." This one is softer, with a really good piano base. But not a ballad. Even the longer phrases of the chorus are punctuated by a rhythmic bounce that threatens to speed up the song at any moment.

"Sensory Deprivation" is a great song. Another classic guitar riff. I hear an homage to the Police in between lines of the second verse. A guitar riff that reminds me of "Synchronicity." I read that Sloan played with the Police in Canada on their tour.

I also really like "Waiting for Slow Songs." It's a story I can relate to. It seems to be about the singer at a party when a girl he likes arrives. He's waiting for slow songs so he can dance with the girl, but she's waiting for her ride to pick her up to leave. I like the chorus a lot.

But you write the saddest song
Turn around and make it a singalong
The heart scratch melody
Means there's more than this for you and me

"Losing California" is yet another great rocker on this record. Another classic electric guitar riff with rests in all the right places. And more perfect vocal harmony on the chorus. This was apparently a big hit in Canada.

My favorite is "The Marquee and the Moon." The lyrics are poetry. And it has such a perfect bridge. I absolutely love the way the words marquee and moon are reversed at the end of the bridge. And using the word onomatopoeia? The logistics of phrasing that many syllables into the melody! I'm going to give all of the lyrics for this one.

Cabaret license
I haven't been by since
It goes against all that I've learned
But it seems that the tables have turned

But could we have stopped it
We all get co-opted
To some kind of system it seems
But they can't take away, can't take away all our dreams

Like the one where I'm in a balloon
Floating above I can see the marquee and the moon
The monkey, the dog and Neptune

They're all in good spirits
I'm happy to hear it
But haven't the sweetest idea
To me buzz is onomatopoeia

Will something be happening soon
To settle the difference between the marquee and the moon
They're passing the torch, knife and spoon

And so it goes
I guess there are those
Who want to get out like me
Yeah

Their clientele
Can go to hell
If they want to get in for free
But hell ain't a bad place to be
Yeah

Am I any different than either the moon or marquee
Oh, not a lot if you ask me

Cabaret license
I've been coming by since
The action continued past two
Before this what did we used to do

A very close second is the album's closer, "Delivering Maybes." They use a nice electric piano sound on a lot of songs, and you can hear it in the intro to this one. It reminds me of the piano in Queen's "You're My Best Friend." I love the lyrics of this one as well. I like the wordplay of interchanging "delivering babies" and "delivering maybes." This one combines all of the things I like about Sloan in one song. The piano sound, great guitar work, vocal harmonies and counter melodies, a killer bridge with a change in feel. Just a great close to a great album.

Like I said, I really wish more people knew about this band. Maybe after reading this you'll decide to check them out. I highly recommend this album.

Various Artists If I Were A Carpenter tribute album

2007-08-29T08:38:00.000-04:00

After yesterday's marathon session with Pet Sounds, I needed a throwaway day. This one came up randomly. It should be quick and painless. Although I can see myself getting caught up in doing a tribute album. The temptation is there to talk about each artist featured. But I think I can avoid that for this one.

Of course, can I assume that you are familiar with the Carpenters? A quick review... The Carpenters were brother and sister Richard and Karen Carpenter. They enjoyed a great deal of success with AM/soft rock hits in the 70's. Of course, Karen died in 1983 just short of her 33rd birthday after battling anorexia. They had several hits in their productive years, and they're well represented on this record.

First, American Music Club offers a version of "Goodbye To Love." Fair.

The second track is one of my favorites. Shonen Knife performing "Top Of The World." I actually like the original song and this version. A Japanese girl group powering through this tune with crunchy guitar. It almost sounds punk. This group is a kind of sweetheart of the alternative rock scene.

Sonic Youth's cover of "Superstar" is great. Everyone knows this song. Even if you think you don't, you'll recognize it when you hear it. If you've seen Tommy Boy, I love the scene where Farley and Spade sing this song in tears while driving. Thurston Moore's hushed singing during the verses of this cover is great. In the line, "Loneliness is such a sad affair," you can hear the whistle of his tongue against his teeth during the s sound at the end of loneliness.

Next is "(They Long To Be) Close To You" by the Cranberries. I never cared for this song too much. Or the Cranberries. It's fair at best.

The Dutch band Bettie Serveert does "For All We Know." I like this song a lot. I've never heard anything else from this band, but I think the female vocalist's voice is pretty good. It sounds rich and breathy on this track.

Dishwalla covers "It's Going To Take Some Time." I like this one as well. During the verses it has a nice funky bass line where the notes are extra round, accompanied by a wah-wah guitar. During the choruses the distorted guitar sound is really nice as well. I also liked their hit, "Counting Blue Cars."

Sheryl Crow plays a cover of "Solitaire." Yawn. You know I loved her early song, "Leaving Las Vegas." I still love it. But when she got huge after "All I Wanna Do," I tuned out. I didn't like that song. She may have avoided the curse of the best new artist Grammy, but I'm done with her.

"Hurting Each Other" is played by Johnette Napolitano with Marc Moreland on guitars. I didn't recognize her name, but she was the singer in Concrete Blonde. They had a hit with the song "Joey." Her voice is great, but this cover is forgettable.

Redd Kross does "Yesterday Once More." I've never heard anything else by this band, but I like the singer's voice. Apparently their first gig was opening for Black Flag. Impressive. I like this cover.

"Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft," by Babes In Toyland is next. This is a great song. Not really a Carpenters song, though. This is a cover of a cover. The original was done by a band called Klaatu. The Carpenters version was a bigger hit than the original, however. Babes In Toyland is an all girl group on the edge of punk rock. Apparently this song is based on the story of "World Contact Day," on which members of the International Flying Saucer Bureau were collectively supposed to contact space travellers telepathically with a message that began with the words, "Calling occupants of interplanetary craft." Bizarre. But how can we know it doesn't work if we don't try it? This cover is good.

Cracker records a version of "Rainy Days And Mondays." I don't like it.

Matthew Sweet plays "Let Me Be The One." I've already documented my affection for Matthew Sweet in this blog. This song was a bad choice. Richard Carpenter actually plays and sings on this one.

Next is "Bless the Beasts and Children," by 4 Non Blondes. These ladies are frightening. I didn't like their hit, "What's Up," and I don't care for this cover. Linda Perry has a very powerful voice, which seems to be the only justifiable reason for this band's existence.

Grant Lee Buffalo finishes off the disc with "We've Only Just Begun." Another yawner.

I dig tribute albums, mostly because I like to collect cover songs. This one is ok. Just ok.

The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds

2007-08-28T09:19:00.000-04:00

Does the world really need more praise for this album? I don't think so. But I'm going to write this anyway.

I'm pretty sure everyone is familiar with how influential this album has been. It's been on just about every top album list ever made. And rightfully so. It's funny the way creative one-upmanship can work. (One-upmanship? I hate myself.) Brian Wilson hears the Beatles' Rubber Soul and feels compelled to write an album as good. Pet Sounds is the result. Paul McCartney hears Pet Sounds and the Beatles make Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Those three might very well be the best three albums ever made. (Sgt. Pepper #1, Pet Sounds #2, and Rubber Soul #5 on the Rolling Stone top 500 albums of all time list) Paul McCartney has been quoted as saying, "I've often played Pet Sounds and cried." (It makes me feel better that there is someone else who cries when listening to music. Especially if that someone is Paul McCartney. I'm embarrassed to admit that I've already cried twice while listening to the record and writing this.)

I could go on and on about the story of this record, and Brian Wilson in particular. Really. I'll try to keep it relatively brief. Brian Wilson's history of mental illness and chemical dependency is pretty well documented. He stopped touring with the band over anxiety issues and focused on writing in the mid 60's. He wrote most of the material for this album in 1965 and 1966 with lyricist Tony Asher. He recorded basic tracks for the album in early 1966 while the live version of the Beach Boys (originally featuring Glenn Campbell in Brian Wilson's place, but by this point it was Bruce Johnston) was touring in Hawaii and Japan. They returned to find an album with a new sound well under way. (Much to the chagrin of many who didn't want the band to abandon the signature sunshine fun sound.) Wilson meticulously directed the recording of the music in three of Los Angeles' best recording studios using monster session musicians like Barney Kessell, Carol Kaye, and Hal Blaine. He mixed the music tracks together onto one track of an 8-track recorder, usually reserving six of the other seven tracks for the voices of the band and the eighth track for extras.

I'm currently listening to the mono version of the album that was included with the 1997 box set The Pet Sounds Sessions. This box set provides outtakes that show Wilson interacting with musicians during the recording of the music tracks. These outtakes illustrate Wilson's meticulous and demanding approach to recording. It also has tracks of the songs isolating the vocals. I really enjoy listening to these tracks. Almost as much as I enjoy listening to the finished product! Wilson mixed the final versions of these songs into mono. I've read a couple of different reasons for this. (I'm searching through the materials that came with the box set for a verifiable reason, but I can't find it. It came with two booklets, one is more than 120 pages! Can't read it all now.) The most believable reason is that by mixing it into mono, Wilson completely controlled the final sound that reached the listener. It removes the variables of speaker placement, balance controls, and the quality of the system playing the record. Another reason could be that most of the systems the general public used in the mid 60's were not stereo systems. Also, Wilson is apparently deaf in his right ear.

Let me talk about some personal reactions to tracks on the album. (I know. This is getting long.) When I was a kid, my sister and I used to listen to my father's vinyl version of this record. (Sadly, I think my sister and I caused a great deal of damage to my father's vinyl collection. I was too young to understand how important a music collection could be. If someone treated my cd's the way that my sister and I treated his records, I'd be pissed. We used to take them outside and play them on a portable record player next to our swing-set. We'd leave vinyl laying around in the sun while we played!) "Sloop John B" was our favorite. It really feels like a kid song. I get chills from the a capella break at the bridge.

"God Only Knows" is an absolutely beautiful song. Such an honest love song. I mean, opening a love song with the line "I may not always love you?" Really? And yet the song is still dripping with love. (Ha. Dripping with love sounds so dirty!) That takes songwriting balls. Apparently Wilson was never satisfied with the way the instrumental bridge sounded until one of the musicians suggested they play it staccato, which is what was finally used. I really love the way the french horn sounds in the intro, and the way that same phrase is traded back and forth between the vocals and the french horn in the outro. I've read that this was one of the first, if not the first pop song to use the word "God." The idea that such a thing would be controversial seems so foreign to me. But the fact that it was controversial, and that he did it anyway, adds to the song's power.

"Wouldn't It Be Nice" is the first track of the record. I think the way that the track opens with Barney Kessel's bare musical line, ended by one crisp snare drum and bass drum hit, before the instruments and Wilson's voice take over and the track speeds up, is perfect. That single drum beat is like a starter's gun from which this album sprints away. Also, the spirit of the song is so wonderful. It's a youthful spirit. It's the blissfully ignorant way that youth will always yearn to be older and to do what it wants. I felt that way too. I think most of us did. And now I wish I could go back. Again, I think most of us do.

I'm getting caught up in reading the booklets and this is turning into a very, very long blog session. I think I started writing three hours ago! There's a part of me that wants to keep reading and listening, but I want to get this wrapped up before I get too tired to finish. So one more song, "You Still Believe In Me." My favorite. I've probably listened to this one two dozen times while I've been reading and writing. The intro to the song sounds completely separate from the main part. And it probably is a piece of a different session tracked onto the beginning. It's a hummed phrase accompanied by what I thought was a tack piano. A tack piano is made by putting tacks or nails into the hammers of a regular piano so that when a key is played, the hammer both plucks and rings the string. But I read somewhere in the notes (and now I can't find where and it's upsetting me) that it was actually done with people in the piano plucking the strings while someone played it from outside. That opening phrase is repeated throughout the song so many times in a couple different ways. It's played on a piano during the verses. And at the end of the chorus, "I want to cry," the voices repeat it a number of times. This song really achieves a perfect balance. The lyrics about the singer knowing he has let his lover down so many times, but still she rewards him with love, are very mature.

Every time we break up, you bring back your love to me.
And after all I've done to you, how can it be you still believe in me?

And yet the music remains so childlike and innocent. A bicycle bell rings during the chorus, and a bicycle horn trumpets during the outro. In fact, this song was originally titled, "In My Childhood." But what really gets me is near the end, when the repeated phrase from the intro is developed into the most beautiful vocal arrangement. At the end of the chorus Wilson stretches the word "cry" into the phrase a couple of times with a single voice. Once high and sweet, then once lower and quieter. I don't know who sings each part. And then all of the voices take over with a counter-melody that demands to be described as heavenly. I can't help but think that I want to cry also. A clarinet, or a bass clarinet, holds a note while the phrase slows and trails off. That could end the song nicely, but the phrase returns and is repeated twice more while the song fades. It's just wonderful. A perfect song.

Like I said, I could go on and on. You're probably getting the impression that I'm a huge Beach Boys fan. But that's really not true. This album is amazing. But early songs, the surfing-centric years, aren't that great. They're fun songs, but I don't feel the need to own them. I don't have any other Beach Boys albums besides this one. And later Beach Boys? "Kokomo?" I don't want to foul the love I have for this album by even discussing that song.

Let me offer another quote from McCartney to finish this off. He gave each of his kids a copy of Pet Sounds. (You'd think he has the pull to get Brian Wilson himself to perform it for each of his kids in person! Ha.) But seriously, he says, "I figure no one is educated musically 'til they've heard that album." I must agree.

The Feelies' Crazy Rhythms

2007-08-27T08:24:00.000-04:00

Ok, so I took a couple of days off. I had a busy weekend. And get used to it because I'm going to be away next weekend as well.

Today's record is soooo old. 27 years. 1980. It's hard to believe that I'm thinking about how long ago 1980 was.

The Feelies formed in New Jersey in the late 70's. Glenn Mercer and Bill Million are the core members. Dave Weckerman was in an original lineup with a different name, and later became a full time member, but he was not in the group for 1980's Crazy Rhythms, their first album.

Crazy Rhythms is such an appropriate title for this album, because the rhythms of the songs are the focal point of the record, and they are often unusual. On many tracks, Million's and Mercer's guitars play counter-rhythms that battle from the left and right speakers. (Again, this stands out nicely when you listen in headphones.) These rhythms are often frenetic and make the songs gallop, seeming to pick up speed at times. The array of percussion sounds sprinkled around the record complement the guitars nicely. Sleigh bells, shakers, woodblocks, maracas, castanets...auxiliary percussion sounds are compounding the "crazy rhythms" all over the album. In one song, in fact, Mercer is credited as playing a coat rack.

This album is a really interesting snapshot of the music world in the early 80's. The post-punk sound that is about to become new wave. Although the Feelies were not exactly well known, this album was quite influential. It was listed in Rolling Stone magazine's 1990 list of 100 top albums of the 1980's. Number 49. R.E.M. lists them as an influence. (Actually I guess that's probably not a surprise.)

A notable feature of this cd is the inclusion of two good cover songs. They do a great job with the Beatles' "Everybody's Got Something To Hide (Except Me and My Monkey)." Also included is "Paint It Black" by the Rolling Stones. This cover is pretty much straight up, and was not included on the original record. I own a later issue of the album on cd that includes this song performed by a newer Feelies lineup in which Million and Mercer are joined by Weckerman, Brenda Suater, and Stanley Demeski. It was not recorded during the original sessions for the album. This is the regular lineup that recorded most of the Feelies' albums. There was a 6 year gap between Crazy Rhythms and the other three Feelies albums that were released in the late 80's and early 90's featuring the regular lineup.

I was excited to read that Glenn Mercer released a solo album in June of this year. I haven't found it yet, but it's on my list.

Skinny Puppy's Too Dark Park

2007-08-24T08:59:00.000-04:00

This is bizarre, but this yet another example of the influence of David Oberdoester. I should really call him up and tell him what an impact he's had on my musical tastes.

So what can I say about Skinny Puppy? I don't think I could possibly introduce anyone to Skinny Puppy. If it is something you would like, then you would certainly already know about them. If you haven't heard of Skinny Puppy, I would bet you're not going to like it.

Skinny Puppy is a Canadian industrial act. I went through a minor industrial phase under the influence of Oberdoester. And by minor, I mean only two acts, Skinny Puppy and Throbbing Gristle. Three if you count Ministry. But I would say that Ministry is on the most accessible side of the industrial spectrum. Throbbing Gristle on the other end. Skinny Puppy is about in the middle. Some of their work is acceptable and some of it is pretty far out there.

So the industrial sound, and Skinny Puppy's sound, is marked by the often experimental use of electronic sounds for music. It also features prominent drum beats, often electronic drum sounds. Skinny Puppy mixes drum machine sounds with conventional percussion sounds. And by conventional percussion sounds, I pretty much mean banging on things. The voice of Kevin Ogilvie, listed in album credits as Nivek Ogre, is a key part of the Skinny Puppy sound. It is often more spoken word style than singing, soaked in effects that distort and echo its sound, and it comes off as a stream of consciousness rant more than lyrics. But they are lyrics nonetheless. And they have a point. They are often political, targeting animal abuse, environmental destruction, corrupt administration, and mainstream ignorance. But I think my favorite part of industrial music, and Skinny Puppy in particular, is the sampling. From sampling music to throwing in odd clips of people speaking, it really appeals to me. (My favorite SP song features a sample from a Bugs Bunny cartoon. It's so great.)

The first track on this record, "Convulsion," is a perfect example. The song opens with sound oscillating back and forth between left and right speakers. (This really stands out when you listen in headphones, which I like to do when I'm researching for this blog. Headphones reveal the sound as clear as it can possibly be. It's always been my favorite way to listen to music.) It is electronic percussion sounds and noise. Then a sample. "He's seeing monsters. He's losing his mind and he feels it going." Ogre's lyrics are typically distorted. Although Skinny Puppy songs don't really have a conventional verse-chorus structure, what I would call the chorus of this song is Ogre's scream of, "Hate disease." I call it the chorus only because he repeats it a few times. At the end of the song, a scream echoes behind another sample of the same voice from the beginning, this time saying, "He is intensely, extremely, terribly uncomfortable."

The next couple of tracks, "Tormentor" and "Spasmolytic," lean more toward the techno side of industrial. Both feature a more recognizable rhythm that is almost dance-able. "Spasmolytic" lyrics appear to be about drug addiction. The chorus, again what I would call the chorus only because it's repeated, is, "Kicking the habit." Here's a glimpse at Ogre's stream of consciousness style:

Making time in a low rent highrise
no place to go downtown crushing crucifixion
particles aching harmful descent take a shot and hide
subway slam dance stale mattress slow throb bloating

These lyrics come from the liner notes. By simply listening, some of the lyrics are indecipherable because of the distorting effects.

The environmental theme appears several times on this record in songs like "Shoreline Poison" and "Nature's Revenge." And my favorite on the record, "Morpheus Laughing," which opens with the line, "An extreme solution no fossil fuel mimicking exhaust..." Ogre's voice is great on this one. The metallic percussion noises clearly illustrate the influence that SP had on Nine Inch Nails. Oh, I forgot about them earlier. I guess that's a fourth industrial band in my collection. But NIN is even farther to the popular side of the industrial spectrum. I have to admit that turns me away. The music snob in me.

The Beautiful South's Welcome to the Beautiful South

2007-08-23T09:49:00.000-04:00

Oh, the Beautiful South. (A tear rolls down my cheek while the Rocky theme plays very slowly in the background.) I love this band. In a list of bands with the greatest frequency in my collection, the Beautiful South is very near the top. (Tied for second to be exact. Guided by Voices and Phish tie for first with 17 cd's each. The Beautiful South ties with Modest Mouse at 11. Three bands come in at a very close third...Built To Spill, Of Montreal, and R.E.M. each have ten cd's in my collection. Wow. Those seven bands combine to account for 86 of my cd's.)

Sadly, the Beautiful South will not have a chance to take over the number one spot because they announced their breakup this year. What a horrible tragedy. Paul Heaton writes such fantastic songs that often appeal to my love for sad subject matter juxtaposed with a pop melody. I might be weird...scratch that, I am DEFINITELY weird, but I get so sad when I think about music that won't be made again. (Are you listening to me Jeff Mangum?)

The Beautiful South was formed in the late 80's by Paul Heaton and Dave Hemingway of the Housemartins, an 80's alternabrit band that I also love. (Did I just make up that word? Or have I read it somewhere else? I'll take the credit for it if everyone starts using it.) Heaton and Hemingway were joined by female vocalist Briana Corrigan to make a trio of lead vocalists that share time. The female presence is so important because so many of Heaton's songs involve the traded jabs of male and female lovers sparring. More on this later. Corrigan was later replaced by Jacqui Abbott. Abbott was in turn replaced by Alison Wheeler.

I have a thing for unusual voices, distinctive voices. Heaton's voice is a perfect example. (Even my mother recognized that his voice is the lead in both the Beautiful South and the Housemartins before that.) My girlfriend hates his voice. Which is too bad because since this cd was randomly selected, I now feel like listening to the Beautiful South and the Housemartins all night. And I will. But about Heaton's voice...I'm not sure if I can pinpoint what makes it distinctive. Nasally? Definitely English. And I like Dave Hemingway's voice too. But I really like the way he sings in harmony with Heaton. I generally don't care for any of the three female voices when they are the lead, unless they are singing a lead duet with Paul Heaton. OK, it's painfully obvious. I love Paul Heaton.

Oh man, I can tell this is going to be a long one. I haven't even started talking about the tracks yet! And I have a couple of interesting (interesting in my opinion at least) related thoughts for after that!

The first track was my introduction to Heaton and his music. Again, credit goes to David Oberdoester. He introduced me to them when I worked with him at Dorney Park. "Song For Whoever" is about a songwriter professing his love for seemingly every girl he meets. One of my favorite songs ever. Hemingway sings lead for most of the song. He starts with the line, "I love you from the bottom of my pencil case." I love that lyric. Heaton joins with great harmony later in the song. The prechorus stands in contrast to the chorus:

Cheap, never cheap
I'll sing you songs till you're asleep
When you've gone upstairs I'll creep
And write it all down

Sounds like a typical love song. But then the chorus:

Oh Shirley, Oh Deborah, Oh Julie, Oh Jane
I wrote so many songs about you
I forget your name
Jennifer, Alison, Phillipa, Sue, Deborah, Annabel, too
I forget your name

One of the reasons my girlfriend hates this band is because of the name Phillipa. Every time she hears this song she talks about it being not a real name. I think she's particularly angry because her name immediately follows.

Heaton sings lead in the coda, where it appears that the singer's latest girlfriend gets revenge.

So let me talk about Mary, a sad story
Turned her grief into glory
Late at night by the typewriter light
She ripped his ribbon to shreds

"I'll Sail This Ship Alone" features a very nice piano part and Heaton's singing. My college roommate Matt Hayes also developed a hatred for the Beautiful South because of this one. He sings "I'll sail this ship alone" thirteen times and for some reason that really made Matt angry.

"You Keep It All In" is also one of my favorite tracks. It features a style common to my favorite Beautiful South songs, male and female voices alternating lines and illustrating opposing views. The female sings:

You know your problem
You keep it all in
You know your problem
You keep it all in

And the male answers:

That's right
The conversation we had last night
When all I wanted to do was knife you in the heart
I kept it all in

What a great lyric. I totally relate to it. How many times have I wanted to knife my own girlfriend in the heart? Just kidding. Sort of.

The next track is just as dark and I like it just as much, "Woman in the Wall." I'm going to have to let the lyrics speak for themselves.

He was just a social drinker but social every night
He enjoyed a pint or two or three or four
She was just a silent thinker, silent every night
He'd enjoyed the thought of killing her before

Well he was very rarely drunk but very rarely sober
And he didn't think the problem was his drink
But he only knew his problem when he knocked her over
And when the rotting flesh began to stink

Cry freedom for the woman in the wall
Cry freedom for she has no voice at all
I hear her voice all day all night
I hear her voice from deep within the wall
Made a cross from knitting needles
Made a grave from Hoover bags
Especially for the woman in the wall

I have a good live version of this song. At the end the band transitions almost seamlessly into "You Should Be Dancing" by the Bee Gees. I love it.

But my absolute favorite, the best track, definitely "Love Is..." This song has it all. It opens with a slow strong bass and guitar arpeggio on a chord structure reminiscent of 50's love songs (Earth Angel?) Hemingway sings the lead in the verse:

Ooh you care, you really really care
From the first 12" I made to the color of my underwear
Ooh you know, you really really know
Inside, outside in, from head to toe

Heaton provides high harmony halfway through and into the prechorus:

But where were you in the colder days?
I'd like to know, I'd like to know
And where will you be in years to come?
I'd like to know, I'd like to know

Horns rock back and forth and build in the background during the chorus:

So don't beg and don't plead
You can't have the heart you made bleed
You're in love with fame
So whilst we love please don't scream my name

The horns hint at a great line while the singers repeat "Don't scream my name." But the horn part fades almost as quickly as it came and you get the feeling that the singer really does want his name screamed.

I love this lyric from the second verse:

I remember your face the dance was slow
"Easy" by the Commodores and you said no

After the second chorus the guitar strum becomes more insistent over the bass line. Heaton repeats this bridge while the horns gradually sway and build:

So here's an invitation to this caring nation
25 years from now will you come to my cremation
Sherry or beer, family and friends
Will you be there? Will you be there?
No fame, no fortune, no name in lights
Will you be there? Will you be there?

Then the horns erupt into the part only hinted at in the end of each chorus and the song takes off in double time. Heaton offers a nod to the Beatles with this outro:

She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah

Which morphs into:

She loves me, yeah, yeah, yeah

and finally:

I love me, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Like I said, it has it all. Interesting lyrics, great horns, and a Beatles tribute.

I warned you this would be long. And I'm not finished yet! A couple of related stories.

I really like the cover of this record, shown above. You may have read in an earlier post about how I love having the entire package of an album, artwork included. But apparently the store Woolworth's didn't care for this cover. And not because the woman has a gun in her mouth, but because the guy is smoking! Can you believe it? The alternate cover shown here was offered in place of the controversial smoker cover. I guess Woolworth's prefers the speed of a gunshot to the drawn out dangers of smoking. Cute and snuggly stuffed toys are even better.

Also, the first time I saw the Beautiful South live it was at this really stupid radio station event her in Philly. I think it was called the "Feztival" or something like that. Can't remember what station it was but there were a number of main acts. The Beautiful South were on a side stage. At the event there was a booth where artists would go to offer autographs to fans willing to wait around. They didn't go to this booth, but they did talk to fans at the side of the side stage. Like an idiot, I was too shy to force my way in for Heaton's signature. One of my biggest regrets.

The Minus 5, self-titled, known as The Gun Album

2007-08-22T11:33:00.000-04:00

The Minus 5 is another shifting lineup group fronted by multi-instrumentalist Scott McCaughey. McCaughey is probably best known as being the fifth member of R.E.M. (Kind of like the fifth Beatle.) He has played on tours with R.E.M. and also appeared on recordings. Peter Buck, R.E.M.'s full time guitarist, appears on most Minus 5 records, including this one.

Minus 5 recording sessions come pretty close to my fantasy lineup of musicians. As if Peter Buck wasn't enough, this recording features members of my favorite bands. Jeff Tweedy, John Stirratt, Glenn Kotche, and Mike Jorgensen of Wilco. Colin Meloy and John Moen of the Decemberists. Sean Nelson of Harvey Danger. (OK, maybe Harvey Danger isn't one of my favorite bands. But I can't deny that I like the song "Flagpole Sitta.")

The two tracks recorded with Wilco are "With a Gun" and "Hotel Senator." Both tracks are excellent. "Hotel Senator" features backing vocals from the Wilco guys and guitar sounds that remind me of Wilco's A Ghost Is Born. I really like McCaughey's lyrics in "With a Gun." Particularly the bridge:

Every day when I feel this way,
I need somebody to say it's o.k.
Shoot some holes in my crow-black sky,
saying life doesn't really half-suck most of the time.

My favorite track is "Cemetery Row." McCaughey handles most of the lead vocals, but Colin Meloy of the Decemberists sings lead on this one. He really does an excellent job. (I guess I like any song that Meloy sings.) From the way he phrases lyrics like "Life is wearing thin by general consensus." by making "general" a two-syllable word, to the way he puts longing into the chorus "Cemetery Row is not such a bad place, don't you want to go?" with a hint of vibrato in his voice. I don't know who plays the pedal-steel guitar on this track, but it's great. I can't believe how I've come to love the sound of a pedal-steel.

McCaughey has a lot of other great lyrics on this record. Another track I really like is "My Life As a Creep." Check out the first verse:

Ask me for a moment to reflect,
and I will tell you where I was when it went down.
Show me where the lines can reconnect,
and I will parallelogram you to the ground.

Parallelogram as a verb? How could I not love that?

I also really like the chorus of the first track, "This Rifle Called Goodbye."

I never meant to lie.
This rifle called Goodbye
is all that I can shoulder anymore.
I never meant to lie.
This rifle called Goodbye
is colder than the one I held before.

This is a very good album that sadly won't get a lot of popular attention. But I think McCaughey isn't bothered too much by this lack of popularity. In fact, I think he's proud of it. Check out this McCaughey quote written about the band The Mendoza Line.

In the world of popular music, there is a McCaughey line, a line that is tightroped by the many thousands of bands who enjoy careers mired in mediocrity, hopelessly striving for the big year, the big (base) hit, that will distinguish them amidst the also-rans and give them a less ignominious chalkmark in history. I happen to be proud to be forever associated with that gaggle of groups which toil remorselessly in bullet-ridden, rusting vans, in beer-fetid caveholes with blown monitors and two drink tix...

Yes, he's proud of avoiding widespread popularity. I guess in the same way that I'm proud of having obscure McCaughey line bands in my collection.

Red House Painters' Ocean Beach

2007-08-21T08:13:00.000-04:00

Mark Kozelek is the frontman of Red House Painters. I guess it's pretty much his show. But there is a lineup that has followed him from the Red House Painters days to his current project, Sun Kil Moon. In fact, in an interview with The Onion, Kozelek admitted that Sun Kil Moon is pretty much the Red House Painters with a new name.

This album was the band's fourth. It marked the transition to the sound that Kozelek and Sun Kil Moon still use today, more of a folk sound featuring acoustic instrumentation and Kozelek's breathy voice soaked in reverb and mixed well in front of the music.

I guess I don't have a lot to say about this record. I think it's good background music. It would be good to play at a small party. The slow tempos and primarily quiet arrangements wouldn't interrupt conversation, but occasionally an interesting rhythm or lyric might catch someone's attention enough to stop and ask, "Hey, what is this we're listening to?" I think it would appeal to fans of Nick Drake, or Elliott Smith.

My primary interest in Kozelek is my desire to collect interesting cover versions. He has recorded many bizarre covers with Red House Painters and his current band. In fact, Sun Kil Moon's last album, Tiny Cities, was all covers of Modest Mouse songs. He has also done an album of all AC/DC covers released as a solo album. His covers are for the most part dramatically slowed down acoustic arrangements, much like the songs he writes.

Built To Spill's The Normal Years

2007-08-20T14:03:00.000-04:00

Built To Spill has been one of my favorite bands for years. It's very interesting how I've come to discover different bands and how these bands have shared connections of which I was not even aware. I'll outline the links in the chain that led me to Built To Spill.

In college, my friend Jim Gilchrist introduced me to the Barenaked Ladies. Shortly after college, someone recommended that if I liked Barenaked Ladies, I would probably like the Ben Folds Five. So I checked them out, and I liked them a lot. After a couple of records, Ben Folds Five releases a b-sides and singles compilation that contained a live cover of the Built To Spill song "Twin Falls." The liner notes read, "This song is beautiful and at the time we'd have been happy to be a Built To Spill cover band..." I had never heard of Built To Spill before this. So I immediately went out looking for Built To Spill records. I found and purchased There's Nothing Wrong With Love. It ranks as one of the most important records that I ever bought. There are a few albums that I can vividly remember buying and listening to for the first time because they immediately made an impact on me. There's Nothing Wrong With Love is one of them. (Wilco's Being There, In The Aeroplane Over The Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel are two others.) I knew the first time I listened to There's Nothing Wrong With Love that I would have to buy every Built To Spill record I could find.

Hard to believe that Barenaked Ladies could lead to Built To Spill, but there it is.

Built To Spill was started in the early nineties by Doug Martsch. His original intent was to feature a different lineup of the band on each record, but their have been basically a few repeat members floating in and out over the years, people gradually being adopted into the permanent lineup. The first two albums, Ultimate Alternative Wavers and the previously gushed about There's Nothing Wrong With Love, featured different players. Subsequent albums, however, find the same players from the first two reappearing. This one, The Normal Years, was the band's third album. It was released in 1996. It is a collection of singles and tunes that were included on other compilations. The songs were recorded between 1992 and 1995, before and during the recording of the first two albums. They provide an interesting look at the band's development.

Here's how I would describe the Built To Spill sound. Frontman Doug Martsch has a nostalgic love for classic rock guitar as played by a loud bar band. He uses that sound as a guide when writing Built To Spill songs. They're not classic rock songs, but you can hear the influence. They're alternative indie rock songs with a classic rock tinge. He uses guitars playing counter-melodies and parts that wind around each other. Sometimes they remind me of Allman Brothers guitar, but not so melodic. And certainly not jam-centric.

The songs on this album are lo-fidelity gems. They could just as easily be recorded on some good equipment in someone's basement. The third track, "Car," is an early version of a song that appeared on There's Nothing Wrong With Love. This version is not nearly as clean as what appears on the album. When the song opens, you can hear the squeak of the guitar amplifier's reverb spring. Martsch's vocal is double tracked, but the two tracks don't always match up perfectly. I like this lo-fi quality a lot. The next track was written by Daniel Johnston, "Some Things Last a Long Time." You have to listen to some Daniel Johnston songs. No one, I repeat NO ONE is more honest in songwriting and singing than Daniel Johnston.

One of my favorite tracks is "Joyride." It has a great chorus.

Love is just a joyride.
Drink a lot of beer and climb inside.
Lay your foot down on the gas.
Leave it there until you crash.

Another good one is "Still Flat." I think I like it because of the trombone part during the chorus. One of the repeat members in BTS is Brett Netson. Brett Netson is the frontman of the group Caustic Resin. Apparently "Still Flat" is Built To Spill and Caustic Resin together. (The two bands also combined to record an EXCELLENT ep for the Up Records label, which was released with two different cover photos, kind of like the Beatles' Yesterday...and Today. I have the rarer original cover. Probably not worth as much as the Beatles' butcher cover.)

I saw a really good Built To Spill show in Philadelphia at the Troc years ago. It was interesting because after the opening act, Doug Martsch and the rest of the band came out to set up their own equipment. No tech guys? Then during the show, they played an hysterical version of Ozzy Osbourne's "Mr. Crowley." I loved it.

The National's Boxer

2007-08-19T08:28:00.000-04:00

More Brooklyn music!

The National is another band based in Brooklyn. It is a five-piece made up of songwriter and singer Matt Berninger and two pairs of brothers...Aaron and Bryce Dessner, and Bryan and Scott Devendorf.

The band's first two albums were released on a label founded by the Dessner brothers. Their first big success came on the third album Alligator put out on the Beggars Banquet Records label in 2005. This album earned a spot on several "Album of the Year" lists.

Boxer, released in May of this year, is a little bit of a let down after Alligator. I think they have mastered the sound they want to make for this album, but the songs they wrote for Alligator were much better. The melodies on that album were more upbeat and catchy. This record features more slow-paced tunes.

The band's sound centers on Berninger's baritone voice. It is thick and demands your attention. The song "Start a War" stands out to me. In the first verse, his voice is mixed more in front of the music, and its depth is particularly striking. The lyric sums up how I feel about this album:

We expected something, something better than before. We expected something more
Do you really think you can just put it in a safe behind a painting, lock it up and leave
Do you really think you can just put it in a safe behind a painting, lock it up and leave
Walk away now and you're gonna start a war

There is the promise of something better all over this album. Many of the songs drone insistently...seeming to build tension that I expect to be released in a grand melody. But that melody never breaks through.

Of course, I don't want to say the album is bad. There are many bright spots. Berninger writes several amazing lines that jump out at me. The repeated outro in "Slow Show" is one.

You know I dreamed about you
for twenty-nine years before I saw you
You know I dreamed about you
I missed you for twenty-nine years

It's the idea that you can miss something before you even find it that resonates with me. That perfectly describes the mild depression that you can't quite explain...when you're sad but you're not sure why. It's because you're missing something, some fulfillment. When you do find it, you can look back and say, "Oh, that's what I was missing." I guess we all just have to hope that we eventually do find it.

The lyrics in this verse from "Ada" personifying the lake are really interesting.

Ada put the sounds of your house in a song
try to be speechless for a minute
If you think you're gonna faint go out in the hallway
Let them all have your neck
Ada don't stay in the lake too long
it lives alone and it barely knows you
It'll have a nervous breakdown and fall
into a thousand pieces around you

This track also features guest Sufjan Stevens on piano.

It's not very often that I feel compelled to comment on drumming, but this is also a nice feature of this record. The drums are more than just the skeleton beat around which the songs are built. The drummer stands out and in places plays an integral role in the melody. Sometimes the drums in a song are simply the wheels turning, moving the song along. Here, they are the pistons pumping in the engine, driving the songs and demanding that the other instruments keep up.

If you find yourself interested in the National, intrigued by my description of Berninger's voice or the samples of lyrics offered here, let me suggest that you start with Alligator. Then if you find yourself enjoying the band, you can check out this one and decide for yourself.

Rogue Wave's Out of the Shadow

2007-08-18T07:58:00.001-04:00

Out of the Shadow was the first album from California pop band Rogue Wave. It was originally released in 2003 privately and then re-released in 2004 when they joined the Sub Pop label. They released a second album on Sub Pop, Descended Like Vultures. Their third album is set for release in September of this year on Jack Johnson's label, Brushfire Records. Although they've enjoyed some widespread attention as I will discuss in a moment, I would still label this band as about to break. I think the change in record label will be a big part of this. I expect the new record will find them more comfortable in the sound they create and will hopefully be their biggest success so far. Of course, I don't want to build up my expectations too high. I've been disappointed before by records because of this. My apologies to Wilco's last two albums.

Rogue Wave is probably better known for the song "Eyes," as featured in movies and on television. It's an absolutely beautiful song. You may have heard it in the Ryan Reynolds movie Just Friends. (Which was hysterical, by the way.) Or perhaps you are part of the 95% of the country that watched Heroes. (I think I would like that show. I just couldn't find the time to get into it and then I felt like I missed the boat. I've had to listen to the guys in my band talk about what an amazing show it is. I suppose that in this era of television-show-DVD-entire-season box sets I will be able to see it at some point.)

Wait. I'm supposed to be talking about this album. Songwriter Zack Rogue (not his real name) offers up some pop gems on this record that feature the bands sugary vocals and playful instrumentation. The acoustic guitar on these tracks stands out for its brightness. In the opening of the second track, "Nourishment Nation," it plays a surging progression with a toy piano/xylophone sound floating above it. On the third track, it is more subdued as a beautifully picked background to some very nice vocal harmonies while synthesized whistles and noises fill in some gaps. My favorite track is "Postage Stamp World." The lyrics tell a story that is sad, yet a bit funny at the same time.

ever since mom walked out,
sis and I can get no sleep.
since then dad's brought home 13 redheads,
a blonde and brunette and a sheep.

I still can't decide, however, if the lyrics are clever or a bit juvenile. For example, look at the chorus.

of this postage stamp world
you get what you want.
in this postage stamp world
you can all get in line
and lick my behind.

Lick my behind? I don't know.

They've toured with the Shins, and I would say they have a very similar sound and vibe.

One last non-album thought. Rogue Wave contributed a song to the soundtrack for the video game Stubbs the Zombie. (I can't believe I'm seriously discussing the soundtrack to a video game.) The soundtrack is a collection of 50's era pop songs by some great indie acts. Rogue Wave's song is "Everyday" by Buddy Holly. I mention it for two reasons. One, I love Buddy Holly. And two, their version is in 3/4 time! It's so good.

Akron/Family & Angels of Light, self-titled

2007-08-17T08:14:00.001-04:00

I'm very excited, because this is an obscure one. Ok, I'll admit I cheated. We're back to shelf 1 for today's album. This shelf was randomly selected. But the position number that was randomly picked was number 8, and I really didn't feel like doing a Ryan Adams record. I noticed this one just a couple of spots away. And since my good friend Anna told me she was looking forward to something unusual, I thought I would put this one up.

What we have here is actually two bands on one album. The first seven tracks on the cd are by Akron/Family. I'm not crazy about that name. The next five tracks are by Angels of Light. But most of the members of Angels of Light on this record are Akron/Family. I'll try to explain.

Akron/Family is a Brooklyn-based band. They are a four piece. I would classify them as experimental folk. I usually try to avoid using labels like that, but when you're writing about something it's pretty much necessary isn't it? It's not straight-forward rock. The sounds they create with their instruments are not typical guitar and drum sounds. They're not writing typical verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus structures. At the same time, they're accessible. They're not going to push anyone away with their oddity. I like the way all group members sing. They achieve some interesting harmonies.

Angels of Light is primarily one guy, Michael Gira. Michael Gira was a founder of the band Swans in 1982. Swans is a difficult group to pin down. I guess I like the term noise rock best. Post-industrial sounds too pretentious. Their early performances were known for being unbearably loud. Early recordings were marked by hypnotic repetitive sounds. Gradually, the recordings became more melodic when keyboardist/vocalist Jarboe joined the band. After the disbanding of Swans, Gira began Angels of Light. For various recordings, he has used many different NYC musicians. But for the last couple of recordings, his backing band has been Akron/Family.

So that's how the two bands make really one band, and one cd. Let's take a look at some of the tracks.

You have to be patient when you're trying to accept new music. Some unusual sounds can be difficult to handle at first. On this record, the first track "Awake" is a little deceptive. It opens with a benign guitar part. When it's joined by a multi-note bass part, you might begin to suspect that something unusual is going on. Then you're reassured by a nice four-part harmony vocal. Relax. You've heard this before. Suddenly, the music flows with no gap into the second track, "Moment," with a crash of noise...feedback, wild discordant notes, the drummer's arms flailing. We've been tricked! This isn't music. It's weird. But if you can ride it out, you're rewarded with melody. When the melody bursts through the noise it features really nice guitar harmonics and an unusual rhythm. The four-part harmony returns, but this isn't regular harmony. The harmonies aren't just sung. They're shouted. Even hooted. Between lines are grunts and moans. The rest of Akron/Family's portion of this record is similar. Experimental noise mixed deftly with melodies made catchy by vocal harmony. My two favorite tracks in this section, "Future Myth" and "Raising the Sparks," feature sections that have a shout/sing-a-long feel to them.

The Angels of Light portion of the album begins with a cover of a Bob Dylan song, "I Pity the Poor Immigrant." Gira's voice is deep and rich. Akron/Family enrich the second verse with their harmonies. Gira's baritone is the primary feature of the second part of the record. It really stands out on the track "One for Hope." I generally prefer the Akron/Family songs, but these aren't bad. You can hear that Gira still uses hypnotic repetitive noise on a couple of tracks.

If you're looking for something off of the beaten path, I think this record is a good one.

Handsome Boy Modeling School's White People

2007-08-16T08:50:00.001-04:00

I don't own a lot of hip-hop. Almost none to be honest. The few albums I do own, however, are pretty interesting. This one certainly is.

Handsome Boy Modeling School is the collaboration of producers Prince Paul and Dan the Automator. They're both involved with so many projects. I won't bother to list any other than my favorites...Dan the Automator produced the Blues Explosion album Acme, one of my favorite records. Prince Paul was a judge on VH1's White Rapper Show. Yes, I watched every episode. I still can't believe $hamrock won! It was because of this show that I decided to incorporate a dollar sign in my own name. For months, my students called me Mr. Blo$e. This is their second album from 2004.

Prince Paul is reportedly the inventor of the hip-hop skit, featured between songs on so many hip-hop albums. The skits on this record are hysterical. Father Guido Sarducci opens and closes the record. Tim Meadows appears as his Ladies' Man character. In one skit he talks about how the Handsome Boy Modeling School has helped his approach to women to mature. He says, "I used to look at a woman's chestal area first." Hysterical.

One of the interesting things about hip-hop is how collaborations on records are so common. Almost every track on these records ends with "featuring..." or "with..." There are lots of interesting guests on this one. And not just rappers. Mike Patton (of Faith No More and about 2,076 other groups since then), Jack Johnson, Cat Power (Chan Marshall, whose record The Greatest was one of the best of last year), the Mars Volta, John Oates. Yes, THAT John Oates. I guess Daryl Hall was too busy. (The track he's on, by the way, sounds like it could just as easily fit on a Hall & Oates record. It's that good.)

Here's an oddity. One of my favorite tracks is "Rock and Roll (Could Never Hip Hop Like This) Part 2." It features Mike Shinoda and Chester Bennington of Linkin Park. I f-ing HATE Linkin Park. But I still like this song. It features a great classical music sample. That's pretty common for Dan the Automator.

There's a lot of good stuff on this record.

Luther Wright & The Wrongs' Rebuild the Wall

2007-08-15T07:01:00.000-04:00

Today's random shelf is the last one of the main collection. (I have a separate shelf for jazz and classical albums. That's shelf 20. This one is shelf 19.) This could have been trouble because this shelf also contains the various artist collections. I'm not quite satisfied with the placement of various artist albums. For example, I've alphabetized the Office Space soundtrack in the O section. Other soundtracks are also mixed into the other shelves. But I put things like the World Cafe cd's at the end on this shelf. Maybe someday I'll come up with another method. But about this album...

Luther Wright & The Wrongs are a Canadian alternative country band. This is a bluegrass imagining of The Wall. Yes, you read that correctly. You might be surprised to learn that I have quite a soft spot for bluegrass. I also have bluegrass tributes to R.E.M. and Phish. Not to mention a couple of Flatt & Scruggs collections. Someday I would like to get myself a banjo and/or a mandolin. I like the sound of these instruments. And I like the happy feeling of most bluegrass music. And I'm always impressed by the skill of bluegrass musicians. On my best days, I'm a mediocre guitarist. When I hear a banjo picked at the speed that these guys achieve, it blows me away.

Again, this is an excellent example of an album that is a piece of art as a whole. Of course I'm assuming you're all familiar with The Wall. (If you're not, perhaps you should stop reading this now. Seriously.) I bought this mainly for the novelty. But surprisingly, it stayed in my cd player for a long time after I bought it. It really impressed me. A lot of the tunes really work in the bluegrass setting. For example, "Young Lust," a steady-paced rocker as performed by Pink Floyd, bounces on this version with down-home guitars. The sweeping intro chords of "In the Flesh?" and its reprise "In the Flesh" are played on pedal steel here.

The classic song from this album, "Another Brick In The Wall Part 2," is good. The bass line is relatively unchanged in this version. The notes are the same, but the feel is more bouncy than groovy. A pedal steel covers Gilmour's electric wails in the intro, and a fiddle handles the guitar solo in the middle. Instead of funky strumming throughout the song, we get a banjo picked steadily. I will admit, however, that the outro is a bit corny. In place of the teacher warning the students that they won't get any pudding, a ranch foreman asserts that everyone better eat their chicken. And the din of students is replaced by cow moos and chicken squawks.

Every part of the album is altered to fit this version's feel. Pink's phone call to his wife that gets answered by her lover is marked by southern drawls and the sound of a hoedown in the background. When Pink brings home the groupie, she says that his place is like a barn. The sound of a chainsaw is used during a transition in one place. Look at the cover, where bricks have been replaced by hay bales. I find it quite interesting.

A related story...while living in the Binn during college, Matt Hayes and I once or twice moved the tv out onto the porch to watch movies. One night, we played a drinking game to the film The Wall on the porch. It has only two rules. Drink every time you see a hammer. Finish your beer when you see Pink watching a television in a field.

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones' Let's Face It

2007-08-13T08:24:00.001-04:00

This should be an easy one. Short and to the point.

I wouldn't say that I'm a huge Bosstones fan. I have a few ep's, this album, and a live album that's pretty decent. But I don't remember seeking these albums out. They just kind of found there way onto my shelves. (No I didn't steal them.) I've never seen them live and I don't know a lot about them. I think of them as musical popcorn. Popcorn is a good movie snack because you can keep eating it without giving it too much thought. Your hand can move popcorn from bag to mouth while you devote your attention to the movie. This record is a lot like that. Now don't get me wrong...I'm not saying that it's bad. Quite the opposite. I like it a lot. Even though you may be concentrating on something else, say for example paying bills (not that I was doing that when I put this record on. hypothetically speaking.), you find yourself tapping your toe along to the music without even realizing it. That's the ska influence. I went through a minor ska phase. And by minor, I mean one or two records. The characteristic sound of ska, that guitar on the upbeat, makes me bounce a little bit. That's nice.

What gives the Bosstones their power is the hardcore influence that combines with the ska. The way that ska verses transition into hardcore choruses with distorted guitars chunking and cymbals crashing. Dicky Barrett's distinctive voice singing and growling at the same time.

This album was easily their biggest commercial success. The single "The Impression That I Get" was a big hit and I like that tune a lot. I can't imagine anyone hearing it and not recognizing it. It was huge in the mid to late 90's. My favorite track, "The Rascal King," was a smaller hit but a hit nonetheless. (A band that I was in, Suburban Legend, performed both songs during shows.) The album also has a lot of good deep cuts. "Another Drinkin' Song" is great. A great lyric:

What you call the disease,
I call the remedy.
What you're callin' the cause,
I call the cure.

The last track is also really good, "1-2-8." The hardcore influence is really strong on this one. It grabs you at the opening guitar. Dicky winds up each verse with his guttural vocals and backing shouts from the guys in the band. (Don't they have a dude in the band who just dances on stage and shouts? He's a ska-core Flavor Flav. Can somebody help me out with this one? Is his primary purpose to wear plaid? If you know more about this, please leave a comment.) Then the tension of the verse releases with a really catchy ska chorus. Now that I think about it, this might be my favorite track.

Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs Under the Covers Vol. 1

2007-08-12T08:20:00.000-04:00

I fear this one is going to be a bit lengthy, so prepare yourself.

I thought I finally ran out of luck when this cd came up. In fact, I thought about using my power of veto to select a different one. But I didn't want to deviate from the plan so early in this project. So I went ahead with it. Then I ran into a problem. For some reason my cd drive wouldn't read the disc. I almost gave up on it a second time. Instead I took a pencil and notebook and listened to the cd on my stereo, taking notes so I could come back and write. Perhaps it was this different approach that led to such a lengthy response.

I picked this cd up because I love both Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs. Matthew Sweet's Girlfriend came out when I was in college. I loved that album and it has a lot of nostalgic value. In fact, I saw Matthew Sweet at Villanova in the Jake Nevin Fieldhouse. Horrible sound! Of course, I was completely in love with Susanna Hoffs when I was in high school. I danced with Annmarie Tobia in tenth grade to "Eternal Flame" by the Bangles. I thought I was going to pass out from joy! But enough background...on to the cd.

This is an album of covers of songs from the 1960's. They did a really good job of mixing together easily recognized classics with some obscure tunes that showcase their talents nicely. Their talents being Hoffs' amazingly lush vocal, Sweet's classic rock guitar riff mastery, and the way their voices blend together to make exquisite harmonies. Let's look at the tracks.

1. "I See the Rain" by the Marmalade. I had never heard of this song or the band before. Nice track to open the record with because it immediately shows what the combination of their voices can do.

2. "And Your Bird Can Sing" by the Beatles. This is one of my favorite Beatles songs. I always loved the chorus guitar part. They manage to reproduce that part very nicely while still making the song fresh and more of their own interpretation.

3. "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" by Bob Dylan. Although this song features more beautiful harmonies, I prefer Dylan's bare acoustic accompaniment to the instrumentation they've added for this version. I can feel Dylan's version. I only listen to this one.

4. "Who Knows Where the Time Goes" by Fairport Convention. I don't know a lot about Fairport Convention. It's a group with a lot of history. Changing lineups and tragedy (a fatal car accident). This song is a nice showcase for Hoffs' voice.

5. "Cinnamon Girl" by Neil Young & Crazy Horse. When Matthew Sweet plays the opening guitar riff for this song, I can hear the sound of the opening to his solo hit "Sick of Myself" hidden inside of it. I never really cared for this song. I mean "Cinnamon Girl." When I hear the eponymous guitar riff the first few times, it's rocking, but a verse later I am tired of it.

6. "Alone Again Or" by Love. I don't know this song or a lot about the band Love. It's fair. It has a nice acoustic guitar part with a Spanish feel.

7. "The Warmth of the Sun" by the Beach Boys. The complementary voices of Hoffs and Sweet make a Beach Boys tune a must for this record. This is a good lesser known choice.

8. "Different Drum" by the Stone Poneys. Michael Nesmith is a tool, but he wrote a really good tune with this one. (Perhaps you've read my feelings about a Talking Heads reunion in this blog. In contrast, the fact that Nesmith wouldn't participate in a Monkees reunion angered me. But I was so young then.) This is another excellent showcase for Hoffs' voice. When she sings the line, "I'm not in the market for a boy who wants to love only me," my heart breaks like it did that night night I danced with Annmarie Tobia.

9. "The Kids Are Alright" by the Who. A forgettable cover. Not even their harmonies can save this one.

10. "Sunday Morning" by the Velvet Underground. How can Lou Reed come up with such great tunes and so much oddity at the same time? This is a nice song. I like the way that pedal steel guitar and feedback swirl in the background.

11. "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere" by Neil Young & Crazy Horse. In contrast to "Cinnamon Girl," I love this song. While the former features a classic rock electric guitar riff, the original version of this song had a more country rock down-home feel. Unfortunately, this cover leans to the classic rock side. This is another cover that I just hear. I don't get inside of it. Although these harmonies are sweeter than what Crazy Horse managed, I'll take Neil's lead vocal over this one.

12. "Care of Cell #44" by the Zombies. Although I'm familiar with the Zombies' hits, I didn't know this tune. The lyrics are a letter by the singer to her lover in prison. The chorus has a really nice a cappella beginning, and a plaintive wail by Hoffs on the line, "Feels so good you're coming home soon."

13. "Monday, Monday" by the Mamas and the Papas. The Mamas and the Papas are my karaoke standard. This song or "California Dreamin'." Another good choice to fit their harmonies.

14. "She May Call You Up Tonight" by the Left Banke. I don't know the song or the original artist. Only a fair track.

15. "Run to Me" by the Bee Gees. It's unfortunate that the Bee Gees' vast talent and library are overshadowed by the whole disco thing. They have so many good songs. And this is one.

Bonus Track: "On the Way Home" by Buffalo Springfield...written by Neil Young. A third Neil Young tune? This song was bundled to the cd on a separate cd. A cd with one song on it. What a waste. Must have been a hit to the profit of the release, right? I recently purchased Neil Young's Live at Massey Hall '71 which contains this tune. It's interesting to compare this cover with the Young's bare acoustic live performance.

Sixteen tunes. A couple of stinkers. Mostly good. Worth a look if you have an interest in songs of this era, Matthew Sweet, Susanna Hoffs, or any of the three.

Arcade Fire's Neon Bible

2007-08-12T07:33:00.000-04:00

I got lucky again! This random number process is working out well so far. When I randomly selected shelf number 1, I worried. I could have ended up with a really bad album. (For some reason, I have a bunch of crappy bands that start with the letter A.) Luckily, the 30th cd on this shelf is the Arcade Fire's second album, Neon Bible, released in March of 2007.

One reason I love Arcade Fire is their use of a variety of instruments. It's not just the standard guitar-based rock sound. Both of their albums prominently feature the sound of strings. Violin and cello...I love the sound of a cello! (I've asserted to my girlfriend that if we ever do have a child, he or she will learn to play the cello to accompany me on guitar.) Also present are the sounds of accordions, organs, brass, and choir voices. The organ is particularly impressive on "Intervention." I really like the grand arrangements that are present on this album. Track six, "Ocean of Noise," has a pretty basic rock bass line combined with a beautifully flowing line of strings and brass. And this lyric:

In an ocean of noise
I first heard your voice
Now who here among us
Still believes in choice?
Not I!

One of my favorite tracks is "No Cars Go." A really simple lyric. I like the way husband and wife Win Butler and Regine Chassagne sing together on this one. Another favorite is "Keep the Car Running."

I have to deviate from talking about this album in particular because this is so beautiful that I simply must share it. I've never seen the Arcade Fire live, but I would love to. I don't know if this is a regular practice for the group or if it was a one time deal, but after a concert in London's Porchester Hall, the group moved to the back of the venue to play a song. To treat the people at the back of the hall and not close to the stage? I don't know.

This song, "Wake Up," is from the first album, Funeral. You'll note that when Win Butler joins the group, he suggests they move down the stairs to play. Someone who I assume is a member of the venue's staff tries to stop them. While Win strums the opening chords of the song, he's urging people to come down the stairs. I'll sheepishly admit this...when the crowd starts to sing I cry. It's so wonderful. It makes me think that if we could just isolate the feeling of this crowd and spread it to everyone, the world would be ok. (Of course, the crowd sort of messes up the second half of the song. What does that mean?)

Of Montreal's The Sunlandic Twins

2007-08-10T10:16:00.000-04:00

I really like Of Montreal. It's a quirky group. I can't quite decide if I would like to refer to this band as a group or as one person. Kevin Barnes is the creative force of the group, and he plays a lot of the instruments himself on the recordings. So do I call Of Montreal him or them? Who knows...I'll probably do both.

This band is interesting because the chronological collection of albums really illustrates the development of the group. From first recording to last, you can mark the changes from narrative songs with a tin pan alley feel to them to the more electronic pop song structures on the most recent albums. The Sunlandic Twins is not the newest release, but second newest from April of 2005.

The layered vocals of Kevin Barnes is a trademark sound of the group. I don't know if he achieves this effect with multiple tracks of his voice or if he synthesizes the sound in some way. I really love the sound. It's all over this album.

Another frequently heard characteristic is the way he sets gloomy lyrics to bright pop melodies. Take for example the first track, "Requiem for O.M.M.2" The story of the demise of some kind of relationship is told to a very catchy tune with guitar chords strummed on upbeats that bounce along. I would love to know who or what O.M.M.2 is.

I remember feeling like a ship
whose captain was too drunk to steer
and you watched as I was sinking
waving sadly from the pier

I never ever stop wondering
Wondering if you still think of us
I don't need a photograph
cause you've never left my mind
No you've never left my mind

It's such a burden to carry 'round
the vestiges of dead dreams
and I don't want to make a wake out of my life
I just had to let you go

The second track is similar. "I Was Never Young."

But you you have a mind full of a wonderment I'll never find
Cause I was never young

This lyric is accompanied by a trumpet part that makes toes tap. And the song ends with this cheery statement.

Ever since I was a kid I've been a brutal basket cast
Ever since I was a kid I've been a brooding basket case

You'll probably recognize the tune of "Wraith Pinned to the Mist and Other Games" as used in the ad campaigns for Outback Steakhouse. The lyric, "Let's pretend we don't exist. Let's pretend we're in Antarctica." is changed to "Let's go Outback tonight. Life will still be there tomorrow." for the commercials. I groaned in disgust the first time I heard it. But I have a different feeling about it now. Why shouldn't he make money from what he's created? It can only provide him with the comfort to create more of what I want to hear, right? Plus, commercials have become the medium through which lesser known music can reach larger audiences. I would bet the number of people who can recognize the Outback jingle is greater than the number of fans of Of Montreal.

The album was originally released with a four-song bonus e.p. included. Five songs on vinyl. I think these songs are just as good as any cut on the album.

I discovered Of Montreal while reading about Neutral Milk Hotel and other groups in the Elephant Six collective of groups. There are a number of groups connected to the Elephant Six framework that I love...Neutral Milk Hotel, Of Montreal, the Apples in Stereo, the Olivia Tremor Control. I'm sure the other groups will find a way onto this blog soon enough.

Jethro Tull's Thick as a Brick

2007-08-10T08:02:00.000-04:00

Released in 1972, this was Jethro Tull's first album to reach number 1 in the US. A concept album that consists of one song, "Thick as a Brick," split up onto the two sides of the record. This illustrates my love for the album as an entire creation rather than a collection of songs.

The album opens with an acoustic guitar part that reoccurs several times throughout the album as a theme. Wild instrumentation instrumentation fills the 44 minutes of the song creating what really feels like a classical composition. Organ that at times swirls and other times thunders. Guitars that play both intricate lines and thick chords. Of course, there's Ian Anderson's flute. I always thought that this flutist started a band and showcased his flute in the band's songs. Not true! Anderson started his first band in 1963, but didn't learn to play the flute until roughly 1967. Of course, this was before Tull's first album. But still, it wasn't a flutist starting a rock band, it was a rock musician learning to play the flute. At the end of the album, the acoustic guitar that opened the song returns and a verse is repeated from the early lyrics that I really enjoy.

So you ride yourselves over the fields
and you make all your animal deals
and your wise men don't know how it feels
to be thick as a brick.

I'm not really a prog rock fan. I don't own any Yes albums. I can listen to them every once in a while. I didn't really like early Genesis. (I guess mid 80's? I liked "That's All." I do remember that I bought Invisible Touch for my father one year for father's day. "Land of Confusion" was on that record. Two words...puppet video) But this definitely fits into the prog rock category. If you like radio-friendly three minute songs, then this is not for you.

One last thought...I went through a minor heavy metal phase when I was in high school. I remember when Metallica's ...And Justice for All lost out on the best hard rock Grammy to Jethro Tull. I was pissed.

Ok, I lied. One more thought...apparently some dude from the Chicago Sun-Times reviewed the album The Crane Wife by the Decemberists (In my opinion, the best album of 2006.) calling it, "the best Jethro Tull album since Heavy Horses." Funny. I can't wait to put a Decemberists album on this blog!

An Introduction Of Sorts

2007-08-09T21:13:00.000-04:00

Inspired by the blog of a friend (Thanks, Anna!), I have decided to create one of my own. I will select one album a day, listen to it, and write what I think. I know what you're thinking...does anyone really call them albums anymore? I do. I still love the album format. I wish cd's came with two sides! There's an enormous group of people out there who can't appreciate the sentence, "When it comes down to making out, whenever possible, put on side one of Led Zeppelin IV." The production of an album as an entire work and not just a collection of songs is very important to me. And I must own them. No downloading. Sure, you members of the i-generation will download individual songs at will. Why buy an entire album and put up with the songs I don't like when I can just download the one song I do? Well not me! Give me four bad songs to sit through until I get to the payoff of the great track! I need to hold the physical artifact in my hand while I'm listening to it. I need to look at the cover. I need to read the liner notes! What can I say...I'm a collector.

Now, how will I select the album? That's a good question. I could just pick one at random from the collection. Although I have my doubts that I would achieve any true randomness. That is, my collection is alphabetized. (Of course it is. Don't act like you don't alphabetize!) So I know when my hand is in the G area and I will probably select a Guided By Voices record. I could just decide to pick whatever album I want, but I want to try to avoid picking only my favorites. I could get out my Dungeons & Dragons paraphernalia an devise a method using a twenty-sided die to select a cd at random. (I'm just kidding. I don't have a twenty-sided die. Anymore.) That's probably what I will do. I will use a random number generator, or as I like to call them, RNG, to pick a shelf and a position on that shelf. And there you go. But I will reserve the right to make overriding decisions as necessary. For example, I don't want to do the same album twice. And maybe someday I will have bought a new album that I simply must do right away.

And now for album number 1.

Wow! An interesting choice. I haven't listened to this record in a long time. Shelf number 4, position number 19. David Byrne's Uh-Oh.

This is a perfect example of my album obsession. This is one of the records that I bought for just one song. Let me tell you the story...back in the days of mix-tapes (does anyone remember mix-tapes?) I loved to trade with friends. Yes, I will admit to making a few mix-tapes for girls. They never worked. But I digress. One of the true masters of mix-tape-ology is my friend Dave Oberdoester. I worked with him for a couple of summers at Dorney Park in Allentown, PA. I have lost contact with Dave, which is truly sad, but years ago he made me a mix-tape with the song "Twistin' in the Wind" from this album. I loved that song! At some point, that mix-tape disappeared. Probably one of the tapes stolen from my car when it was broken into. Anyway, the tape was gone but I remembered that David Byrne song. I must have stumbled upon this album at Repo Records in Bryn Mawr, or Plastic Fantastic in Ardmore. I'm not sure which one, but it seems clear to me that I bought this cd used. I can tell by the state of the plastic. And there's a sticky residue where a small rectangular price sticker used to be. Definitely a Repo or Plastic Fantastic purchase. I can almost remember picking it up and hoping to find "Twistin' in the Wind" on the back. So I purchased this album just for one song. Years later, I got a mix-tape from another good mixologist, Kate Tobia. I was surprised to see a different song from this album on her mix! "Now I'm Your Mom."

I don't want to say that the rest of the cd is a disappointment. But I was a bit disappointed upon listening to it for the first time. It took me a couple of listens to grow to appreciate it more. This happens a lot. There is a strong presence of world music sounds. (I don't know a lot about the Talking Heads. Wish I did. But I suspect that Byrne's desire to explore music like this played a part in the deterioration of the group.) There's a really nice dose of horns sprinkled all over the album. I'm a sucker for good horn parts. Nice baritone sax, trombone. Is that a clarinet solo? Pretty rare in rock music. (Supertramp's "Breakfast in America." I think a Soul Coughing song..."Blue-Eyed Devil?" I recently heard a song called "Ray Took a Slug in the Leg" with a nice clarinet part.) A lot of bouncy staccato bass parts. But let me concentrate on the reason I purchased the record, "Twistin' in the Wind." Track number 7. The first lyric comes in with one of those Byrne groans that rolls right into the words. Sounds like "Burning Down the House. " The song modulates through a couple of keys. I hear a song about the decline of civility and decency. Take this verse:

Now Washington, DC's
A funny little town
The further you look into it
The further things stick out

Or this one:

Now Harry's got a gun
And he just turned fourteen
He dresses like a gangster
And he's livin' on the street

And in response to this decline, the rise of apathy.

My daddy fell in love
Down at the factory
And me, I like to sit around
Get high, and watch TV

The song ends very abruptly with the lines,

It's time to say goodbye
It's time to say goodnight
Whoever is the last one out
Well, please turn out the light

Driving home the theme of apathy.

I recently saw an interview with Talking Heads members Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth. I'm sure it was on VH1. (I'm troubled by how much I find myself watching VH1.) Frantz asserted that Byrne is the only member opposed to a Talking Heads reunion. Although I would probably jump at the chance to seed them myself, I have to admit I respect that. But Van Halen touring with Diamond Dave? I'm all over that. I can only pray that they will make it halfway through the tour!