Required Listen: Angel Olsen
Weekly Tape Deck, Altered Zones, and Yours Truly have stumbled upon a wonderful find in the Chicago folk whisperer Angel Olsen. The few tracks I've heard have a classic folk feel that's jam-packed with personality from Olsen. Like all great folk music, Olsen's voice is the focus as her electrifying crooning wraps around the spine of her softly strummed acoustic guitar. What's impressive is how Olsen is just as moving in her moments of whispering as she is when all out singing. Olsen has a deep understanding of who she is as a singer, songwriter, and artists. Her music, while drenched with emoting, is steady and cleared headed with a distinct vision. Angel Olsen has the potential and talent to place her name along side some of the greatest folk musicians. Only time will tell, but after hearing her small amount of material, I'm fairly confident she's on her way to greatness.
Bathetic Records has a WLFY Important Wax recommended six song 12" vinyl from Angel Olsen.
REVIEW: Nerves Junior - "As Bright As Your Night Light"
Nerves Junior - "As Bright As Your Night Light"
Release Date: Sept 6th, 2011
Label: SonaBlast Records
In 2000, Radiohead showed us the future in musical form with
their album Kid A. From the textures of each song to the imagery conjured up
from the lyrics, the album somehow felt otherworldly. There simply wasn’t
anything else like it at the time, and, amazingly enough, in the years that
followed, there still wasn’t anything
like it. Sure, Radiohead
influenced a slew of bands in the following years, but to this day there isn’t
a single album out there that sounds quite like Kid A.
Now, I’m not saying the debut LP from Louisville’s Nerves
Junior sounds anything like Kid A or is nearly as influential, but it’s the
first record since Kid A that fills a void I didn’t know existed until hearing
the album. Like Kid A, As Bright As Your Night Light takes the listener to a
world of sound that’s completely unfamiliar. And, much like the geography of
Kid A, it’s a world you can’t help but want to explore. There are moments on As Bright As Your
Night Light where you hear the influences of hundreds of bands, but the complete
album is a unique masterpiece in itself that introduces the authors as
innovators, visionaries, and the creators of a future sound.
Describing the overall sound on As Bright is a complicated
task. The structural framework of
each song reflects traditional pop music, but electronics weave in and out of
each track adding an abstract quality that tilts the standard framework
slightly off balance. Guitars
drive each song as the melody drifts confidently into a new thought or sonic
moment.
The opening track “Champagne & Peaches” is a nice palette
cleanser to enter the record. A
bass slowly trots along with lead singer Cory Wayne’s voice floating high
above. Nerves Junior proceeds to
do what they do best: layer new sound over new sound, not a single one feeling
out of place or forced. It’s in
the introduction of these new sonic moments that the listener receives their
biggest reward. Every track plays off of expectation and surprise, never
jolting the listener, but always perking their ears up. By the end of the “Champagne &
Peaches” every layer is working like a cog in an advanced machine, each
necessary for the final product to successfully operate.
Nerves Junior then moves into their dark, bold, and
downright tenacious songs “Swimmers Ear”, “As Bright As Your Night Light”, and
“Nails To Scratch With”. All three
songs feel like Wayne is up in the listeners’ face, eyes connected, refusing to
let go vocally. “Swimmers Ear”
finds the melody bouncing up and down like a thin wooden floor about to
buckle. “As Bright As Your Night
Light” opens with a simple fax machine sounding synth juxtaposed with
thunderous percussion that seems to grow and grow like an out of control
force. “Nails To Scratch With” is
all about the guitar, with a razor cutting set of guitars slowly swirling and
morphing into one of the best moments of the album, an intense, perfect climax
around the 2:35 mark. These songs are audacious, clear evidence that this is a
band that refuses to hide behind the music that came before it, a group of
musical innovators who are lighting all of their influences on fire and not
even turning around to watch them burn.
At this point the listener is exhausted, having being
assaulted by three straight aggressive songs. Most first time bands would continue the assault, but Nerves
Junior shows great maturity and restraint by scaling back their next two tracks
and showing a softer side that is completely unexpected at this point in the
album. Both “In Absentia” and “Get
Left In The Dark” act as reflective moments, allowing drifting electronics and
slowly strummed guitars to conjure up a meditative ambiance. These two tracks don’t play within the
guidelines of time. The songs are
a black hole where a short section can feel like an eternity without ever
becoming tiresome. At the 3:16
mark of “In Absentia” the song drops out and a soft acoustic guitar comes
in. It’s quickly joined by an
echoing electric guitar and washes of electronics, a moment that introduces
Nerves Junior as a band that’s not afraid to teeter on the peak of emotion and
raw beauty. “Get Left In The Dark”
is lead by an acoustic guitar and a slightly optimistic, yet curious vocal
tone. With this track Nerves
Junior strips itself of the previous layers and works within the confines of a
simpler sound. Half way through
“Get Left In The Dark”, violins creep out of the darkness and seem to split
into different forms like dividing amoebas, each one taking a different role in
the soundscape. The wonders of
Nerves Junior are on display with the display of simplicity that somehow feels
classically grand.
“Kale” breaks the quiet trend and is the standout track off
As Bright As Your Night Light. Crafted
by steady handed songwriting, it mixes the best qualities of the six tracks
that appear before. On “Kale”,
Nerves Junior is in complete control, driving the listener toward an explosive
guitar at the 3:12 mark that seems to descend from the heavens. After the climax, Wayne sings softly,
almost a whisper, and delivers a string of sentences that float like smoke, a
large bloom that thins out and disappears. “Luciferin” is Nerves Junior’s last moment of intensity on
As Bright As Your Night Light and they use all four and half minutes building
tension in order to pay off another explosive ending. And just when you think
it can’t emote any more ferociousness, it tops itself, again and again.
As Bright As Your Night Light closes with one of the most
emotionally powerful songs I’ve ever heard. When listening to “Downtown Lament” I always drift away and
think about the eight tracks that came before, my relationship/love for music,
and my place here on earth. That’s
the power of great music. In fact,
the only other closing track that brings me to the same state of mind is
“Motion Picture Soundtrack” off Radiohead’s Kid A. “Downtown Lament” is a
sorrowful song that somehow ends up feeling optimistic. Wayne sings, “Don’t be afraid” over and
over as the song closes. As a
whole, the song conjures up visuals of the apocalypse, complete destruction all
around, but the music within the song acts as a comfort, a passing on into the
unknown, with reassurance that everything will be fine.
Just as Kid A would later define the events and years to
follow its release, As Bright As Your Night Light musically defines the world
now and for the foreseeable future.
The albums that mean the most to me are the ones that re-define how I
experience, visualize, and feel music.
Over the nine tracks, Nerves Junior crafted an album that conjures up a
sonic world unique to them, with a clear vision of how the listener should
explore and receive their artistic creation. For me, As Bright As Your Night Light no longer lives on a
computer, cd, or record. The songs
have crawled through my ears, bloomed inside my mind, and will forever remind
me of the power that music has to surprise, excite, and change the way
listeners look at the world.
SPOTWLFY #005: Early Of Montreal
Last year my brother and I attended what would be my fifteenth Of Montreal live show and sadly, probably my last. Walking into a large warehouse venue, the crowd resembled much more of a rave scene then a setting fit for a band that I had consider one of the more important bands of the late 90's and 2000's. My general snark kicking in, I bet my brother that if he asked twenty people of his choice, what Of Montreal's first album is called, they wouldn't be able to provide the correct answer.
He accepted and began asking around. Smartly he targeted people who wore Of Montreal shirts or appeared to be fans of the band. He was met with the following answers: Hissing Fauna (16), Sunlandic Twins (3), Satanic Panic In The Attic (1). This is neither a fault of the band or their fans, Hissing Fauna was a breakout record for the band exposing themselves to a huge crowd of new listeners.
The problem is, Of Montreal, with their new fan base, has abandoned those who have been obsessing over their records since 1997. Their sound has evolved twice and their earlier material has been completely ignored at the last seven live shows I've attended. Of Montreal should be considered in three movements. One would think you should categorize these movements by line-up changes (they've lost, added, re-added several members throughout the years) or by label changes (Bar/None to Kindercore to Polyvinyl) but I think there are three very distinct movements independent of these obvious changes.
The first movement includes their debut LP, Cherry Peel (1997) to Aldhils Arboretum (2002). During this period they released five studio albums. Full disclosure, this is my favorite movement. These five albums are stripped to the band basics concerning instruments and finds frontman Kevin Barnes exploring heartbreak, abstract storytelling, and displaying humorous wit in the league of Tom Waits and Stephin Merritt. The band name Of Montreal comes from Barnes ending a relationship with a girl from Montreal. The early albums are thematically driven by heartbreak, exploration of sexuality, and employing clever metaphors to re-imagine dried up artistic subject matter. Over the five albums, the band explored new sounds and toyed with abstraction without ever losing their unique vision that made them auteurs of the indie music world.
The second movement includes Satanic Panic In The Attic, Sunlandic Twins, and Hissing Fauna.
Satanic has moments of the old sound but everything is shifted towards a dance feel. I consider this movement the "dance/electronic era". Sunlandic Twins and Hissing Fauna are heavily driven by synthesizers and Hissing Fauna especially goes for the upbeat, feel good, dance jugular. I love all three of these records and Satanic Panic is up there in my top three of their entire discography. The problem I have with this movement is that it lead to the current Of Montreal movement. I was fine with Of Montreal exploring their dance/electronic side and evolving album to album, but I always assumed they would return to their roots since Cherry Peel is their most emotional, artistic, and important record created to date.
Instead the band became the Kevin Barnes show. Barnes had always been the primary songwriter and voice of the band throughout all the lineup changes, but it always felt like Of Montreal was a band on equal footing especially in the first movement mentioned above. On Skeletal Lamping and False Priest, Barnes takes the spotlight and narrows it to his face alone. He creates a character names Georgie Fruit (who is "created" on Hissing Fauna) and basically kills off sexual metaphor. The melodies morphed from electronic dance to cheesy disco and the lyrics became filled with surface level exploration of sex and love and not much more. Everything about False Priest feels incredibly lazy and embarrassed me as a strong support of the band. With this new movement I found myself becoming cautious when discussing Of Montreal. On one hand I consider them one of the best bands of the last two decades and on the other hand they have completely lost my trust with their newer material. When I proclaim my love for Of Montreal, instantly (as displayed at the last Of Montreal show I attended) people think I'm talking about Hissing Fauna to False Priest.
What I'm offering up is a fifteen track early (first movement) Of Montreal playlist. If you've heard every track from the complete Of Montreal discography then this mix is probably not for you. I'm asking that regardless if you have made up your mind about Of Montreal, good or bad, but haven't explored their collection in full, please listen to the playlist. It's impossible to ignore your initial attachment or dislike for a band, so you may enjoy or dislike their second and third movements because that's how you have always known Of Montreal. What's important is to find out what the band started off as and how they treated the music on their first five albums that are generally ignored by the majority of their fan-base. I worked extremely hard on this mix because I want it to be a perfect representation of what made me initially fall in love with Of Montreal. Enjoy.
Note: Spotify did not have their second album, The Bedside Drama, so I added three of their early four track recordings that were later released in 2001.
Flashlight Tag Blog Fundraiser
Hey,
So two nights ago, someone broke into my apartment and stole my computer. It really really sucks, and right now I’m using my roommates computer to do this post.
I should be back up and running by sometime next week.
Thank you for reading. I love you all.
-Tyler (Flashlight Tag)
It's tough enough being a music blogger and spending time running a site without making a cent, no less to have your main source of blogging stolen so it's no longer an option. I've never asked for any WLFY donations to keep this site running, don't do ads, but I'm asking for the first time to help a blogger in need to get back up and running. I know you would do the same for me if my laptop was stolen. If enough people donate whatever they can spare, we can get the wonderful Flashlight Tag back up and running. The guy is the future of blogging, has a great ear and passion for music, and his whole site centers around helping unknown/little known bands that need the exposure. He didn't ask for me to do this, I e-mailed him and asked for his paypal account e-mail, so none of this is solicited. Please spread the word and donate so he can get back to sharing music with his readers.
Please send a donation for a new computer through pay-pal to: absentfever@gmail.com
Albums We Love: Kickball - "Everything is a Miracle Nothing is a Miracle"
In 2007, Kickball, a band from Olympia, WA (I think) released what is easily one of the gems of DIY garage rock from last decade. The circuitous title Everything is a Miracle Nothing is a Miracle is taken from "Pocketknife" -- a rollercoaster, crunchy standout from the album. I came across Kickball while hanging out with some folks in Fayetteville where they had played in their basement. Kickball probably spent most of their careers in basements, going from one place to another, making enough money to get to the next show. It's probably why not much about the band can be confirmed, and a survey of the net leads to a MySpace page and a bandcamp link, which we'll share with you. Evidently Kickball has been out of commission for a while, but that doesn't change the pure beauty of this album. Swinging from dramatic melodies to deep riffs that seem to pierce your ear drums with intensity and emotion the album runs an entire gamut of emotions with musical dexterity that's barely rivaled these days.
All too often with blogs, we get caught up with what's going on now. All too often we look at today when bands like this need to be heard still, need to be kept alive. As my friend Sam once said about his music "All I want to do is live in somebody's iPod." Kickball, you can live on in this blog. It may be a small gesture, but at least its one.
Let Tom Tell You
Is it just me or is he sounding more and more like Nicholson everyday?
Bad as Me comes out on Anti- on Oct. 25. And, no it's not just you, looks like the traffic has taken down Anti- and Tomwaits.com.
REVIEW: Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks - "Mirror Traffic"
Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks - Mirror Traffic
Release Date: August 23, 2011
Record Label: Matador
Like many great songwriters before him, Stephen Malkmus can't stand still. As he did with his previous band, Pavement, each of Malkmus's solo records have been an entire universe in themselves. And while Malkmus continues to pave new territory (pun intended) it's almost impossible to mistake a Malkmus record for anyone else. Ok, lets face it, the man is as close to a musical genius as we have working today. So, is it any wonder that his latest record Mirror Traffic is as enjoyable as they come?
While bands were drawing obfuscated literary illusions and begging you to delve deeper into lyrical meaning, Malkmus became the master of the flip witticism. With the deft linguistic dexterity of an observational comic he employed puns, excessively literal readings, and a cynical cultural reading to mock himself and everything he was doing including the act of making music. Pavement's anthology Quarantine the Past takes its title from such a verbal joust - "You're the kind of girl I like / because you're empty / and I'm empty / and you can never quarantine the past."
Though Malkmus's lyrical hocus-pocus has been the target of his critical laudations, his past albums like 2008's riff-laden Real Emotional Trash emerged as testaments to his musical accumen. Mirror Traffic doesn't rely on jamster solos, but a cunning mix of musical styles from the laid-back nostalgia of "No One Is (As I Are Be)" to the gentle groove of "Brain Gallop" and the spacey tidbit "Jumblegloss." Malkmus's songs have always seemed to belong to their own universe. But, on Mirror Traffic influences start to pop through and like Malkmus's lyrics, they're as eclectic as they come. Songs seem to turn and move on their own time. Like Malkmus's career, it's never the same river, nor the same song twice.
But, if there is one thing that seems to draw this album together it's the confessional aspect. Of course even Malkmus's most confessional sounding songs like "Major Leagues" or "Zurich is Stained" have always been a jumble images intermixed with moments of disarming honesty. What makes this album feel the most personal of Malkmus's catalog is the gentle reigned-in quality of the songs. Malkmus feels almost ready to lay everything clear to us, even if he does it in obscure, difficult ways, it makes it all the more enjoyable to listen to.
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin - "Tape Club"
I'm on my third listen to the new Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin album, "Tape Club", a twenty-six song double record that finds the band sharing over ten years worth of material. They combed over a hundred songs and chose the twenty-six best tracks and without this precursor it would be impossible to tell all these songs weren't written with a single album in mind. "Tape Club" shows off SSLYBY as a group of gentle geniuses, less concerned with flashy moments, rather letting their slow stewing tunes melt into every part of the listeners emotional core. With nine track albums becoming standard procedure, I had to recondition myself to absorb so many songs on one record. In the same way as Joanna Newsom's three record "Have One On Me", "Tape Club" is not something a listener can grasp on first listen. It will take some time with the album, multiple spins, and I miss that about music. The state of the album exists in momentary reactions, a listener can fall in love with a record immediately and move on to the next just as quickly. "Tape Club" is packed to the brim with enjoyable moments and songs, but the true achievement here is the reconditioning of what an album can be and SSLYBY doing so in a way where the album shines from open to close.
"Old Tape" is streaming in full on Bandcamp, available to download for $8, or on special edition 500 maroon vinyl from Polyvinyl.
Track Of The Day: Born Gold - "Alabaster Bodyworlds"
Where most bands change their name due to copyright issues, too many other bands sharing the same name, or lack of goggle ability, Gobble Gobble's switch to Born Gold seems more about transformation rather than necessity. If the new track "Alabaster Bodyworlds" is any indication, the band is not transforming their sound, rather the project known as Gobble Gobble has morphed into something they never expected, the dream of being a full time band has become a reality and while they are Gobble Gobble no more, what that project has accomplished is the prologue to Born Gold.
The band, with their high energy shows and singles that claw out of the headphones and shake every nerves of the listener, have found themselves gathering adoring fans day after day. This is an exciting time for a band that deserves everything that's coming to them. Their first release as Born Gold is a singles compilation and is LIMITED TO 300 copies, exclusively sold on Insound. This is a WLFY highly recommended purchase.
Born Gold Alabaster Bodyworlds
SPOTWLFY MIX #004: Stephen Malkmus & An Incomplete List of My Favorite Stephen Malkmus Lyrics
Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks latest burner, Mirror Traffic, "drops" on Tuesday, so our obvious Spotify mix this week is a quick retrospective of his career and for bonus, I've got some of my favorite lyrics for you to munch on.
2. "Freeze don't move / you've been chosen as an extra / in the movie adaptation / of the sequel to your life" - "Shady Lane"
3. "I've got a heavy coat / it's filled with rocks and sand" - "Summer Babe"
4. "Upstairs Mama's making some crepes, yeah / From a fancy recipe book / To Me the just look like tortillas / Boy, that Mama can cook" - "Mama"
5. "Martha wants Jackie / Jackie wants William / But William wants Leroy / But Leroy is straight" - "Craw Song"
6. "Watch out for the Gypsy children in electric dresses they're insane / I hear they live in crematoriums and smoke your remains" - "You are a Light"
7. "You're the kind of girl I like / Because you're empty / And I'm empty / And you can never quarantine the past" - "Gold Soundz"
Drop your fav. lyrics in the comments
Stephen Malkmus - "Cold Blooded Old Times" (Smog Cover)
And remember, Malkmus and the Jicks have a new record out on Tuesday called Mirror Traffic.
(via YANP)
Nerves Junior Turntable.fm Album Stream
You've heard me rave about the debut LP from Nerves Junior, we've given it the top spot on our top 50 albums of 2011 list, now it's time for you to actually hear the record. WLFY is teaming up with Nerves Junior, Pretty Much Amazing, Listen Before You Buy, and The Decibel Tolls to bring you the opportunity to hear Nerves Junior's debut LP, "As Bright As Your Night Light" for the first time. All five of us will be in the room, playing the album and talking music. I've been wanting to share this record with you for months and now the time has arrived. See you this Sunday (Aug 21st) at 9PM ET/ 6PM PT. We will tweet the exact Turntable.fm room url about an hour before the stream is set to play, so keep an eye out.
Pitchfork At Fifteen: WLFY On Pitchfork
Hank (center) with High Life/ Me (right) on the Korg (2004 Santa Barbara)
I had just settled into the daily routine and newfound
freedom of my first year at college when I read a Pitchfork review that would
change my life. Waking up early,
definitely for an early class and not by choice, I turned on my computer,
checked my e-mail, and as I have for 12 years now, read Pitchfork. I clicked on a colorful album cover
thumbnail with a cloud, rainbow, and lightning bolt and began reading a review
of a band that I had never heard before.
The reviewer was one of my favorites at the time, Eric Carr, and without
having the luxury of a track sample, Carr’s words made me crazed to hear this
record. I skipped class, took the
bus with three transfers to the lone Santa Barbara record store, and picked up
a copy of the reviewed record.
Slapping the CD into my Discman, I sat on the empty bus and proceeded to
listen to it over and over. When I
snapped out of my haze, the bus was at its last stop and I was five miles away
from my destination, stranded. I’m not a stress free guy and under normal
circumstances I would have called a friend to pick me up, yelled at the bus
driver, or shelled out for a cab. Instead, I made my way to the beach and
walked the five miles back to the dorms.
I couldn’t tell you how majestic the ocean was that day, and I’m not
going to poetically (tritely) describe the soft sand at my feet…all I can tell
you is that I played that damn record again and again. I stayed up all night listening to those
thirteen tracks, and while I had always been a fan and student of music, that
night, I fell in love with music.
If you read We Listen For You with any regularity or follow
us on twitter, you know we are constantly griping about Pitchfork and their
content/decision making. Let me
take a few sentences to explain.
Hank and I met in 2004, started WLFY in 2007, and have both been reading
Pitchfork for twelve years. We’ve
often debated who started reading first based off of month, but it’s a fact
that we became everyday readers of Pitchfork in 1999. Our relationship to music exists five years longer with
Pitchfork then it did in real life and it showed in our first conversations
about the art form. Throughout a
normal day I will visit Pitchfork several times depending on breaking news or
new content, but at the very least, doing some math here, I’ve clicked the
Pitchfork link 4,380 times. If I
read two of the five reviews a day (I typically read them all) I would have
read 1,248 reviews. At times I’ve
been so frustrated with the content choices or with the reviews that I would swear
off the site altogether, only to find myself reading all the reviews again the
next day. In that anger, I always
go back to the fact that Pitchfork is unmatched when it’s at its best, and when
it’s at its worst, well, at least I can complain and look forward to better
content in the future.
For years now, anyone who complains about Pitchfork is
either greeted by a “yeah, that site sucks,” or “oh, another person jumping on
the Pitchfork hate bandwagon.” For
me, it’s much more complicated then saying Pitchfork is awful, or trying too
hard to be trendy. My personal
complaints typically evolve out of my own knowledge of the site, attachment,
and taste. William Bowers said
something very important in his must read essay:
Reckon that, in my paranoid haste to not age, I succumbed to a
strange contemporary bias against acknowledging one's past? I don't know if
this is true in your corporeal and virtual circles, but in my admittedly
compromised existence, there's always a gargoyle handy to harp "nostalgia!"
whenever someone recounts a memory, like an insecure partner claiming to have
been cheated on whenever their mate mentions another human being, or a 2004
Republican yelling "flip flopper" whenever someone carefully
reconsiders an ideological or strategic stance. Obviously the denotative and
cognitive gulf between "nostalgia" and "memory" is vast; to
whom should this ever require explanation? Maybe the vampiric way that I
receive a sort of energy from youth culture, or the (in bourgeois terms)
"disreputable" age difference between myself and most of my
homesnakes contributes to why I feel somehow implicated by rhetorically
honoring how long I've haunted the earth.
The fact is, Pitchfork, in an attempt to stay “young,” hired
younger writers and began drmatically shifting its tastes around 2008, and
subsequently made me feel like an aging outsider. With their current taste in music, it’s hard to even imagine
some of my favorite recommendations from the 1999-2005 Pitchfork even getting a
mention, no less a positive one.
One of my biggest complaints rests in the fact that if they supported
the band in those “golden years” they will still appear on the site, but any
new band sounding as if it came out of that time period is negatively reviewed,
or worse, ignored. I understand
that time and tastes change, but good music and the personal experiences that
shape individual taste do not. I
live by the thought that good music is good music regardless of genre, album
cover, band name, or the look of the band. This is where I often feel betrayed. In the past, Pitchfork was always a
melting pot for anything they deemed quality music, but now, it appears a
specific look, sensibility, and sound is paramount concerning new bands/artists
trying to get placement on the site.
I didn’t always agree with every piece of content or album score in
those “golden years” but as each year passes, I finding myself more and more
concerned that Pitchfork is becoming too narrow in its taste and choices of
content. With that said, I’ve talked
to a lot of younger Pitchfork readers who see this new aesthetic and taste as
what they want and in five years they might look back on the present as their
own “golden years.”
Music – and all art, for that matter – is built on outside
experiences, and for thousands of readers Pitchfork informs them on what music
they should select as the soundtrack to these kinds of influential
experiences. For that, love them
or hate them, it makes Pitchfork extremely important, and the weight of such
responsibility should be in the forefront of every Pitchfork writer’s head whenever
they begin a new review.
I’ll end by mentioning that the album that made me fall in
love with music was The Unicorns’ Who Will Cut Our Hair When We’re Gone? Four years later my love for music
based on that Pitchfork review turned into a need to share my own taste with
anyone who would read – hence the creation of WLFY. A year later, our blog had a live video series called “The
Silverlake Steps” where bands/artists would play on a five-foot staircase stage
outside my house. One of those
bands was called Clues, the lead singer of which was Alden Penner, who was one
of the three members of The Unicorns.
As I watched their breathtaking performance on the steps, I thought
about how personal music can be, how important it is in my life, and how I owe
a lot to a website that I often deride.
I might read something on Pitchfork tomorrow that sends me through the
roof and has me foaming at the mouth on twitter. Regardless, I’ll still be there reading all the reviews each
and every day.
Happy 15th Pitchfork, and thanks for helping
create a cynical, yet unabashed lover of music.
Mother Mother - "Baby Don't Dance" (MUSIC VIDEO)
SPOTWLFY MIX #003: "Songs For Space Travel"
Deer Tick Announces New Album/Shares MP3
Deer Tick is set to release their fourth LP, "Divine Providence" (Partisan Records/Oct 25th, 2011). According to the press release, vocal duties will be chopped up between the band and it's their first album recorded in their home state of Rhode Island. Deer Tick has been an exciting band to follow over their previous three albums and both Hank and I are chomping at the bit to hear this new offering. Until then, check out the first cleared single, the album closer, "Miss K":
TRACKLIST:
The Bump
Funny Word
Let's All Go To The Bar
Clownin' Around
Main Street
Chevy Express
Something To Brag About
Walkin Out The Door
Make Believe
Now It's Your Turn
Electric
Miss K.
STREAM: Stephen Malkmus, Stephin Merritt, Active Child, and The Rapture
Neon Indian Announces Limited 7"
List Of Record Stores Carrying The Record
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Track Of The Day: Caveman - "Thankful"
The Hidden Words - "Dis" (Video)
The debut LP from The Hidden Words is called Free Thyself From The Fetters Of This World and is said to be released Autumn of 2011.
The Hidden Words - Dis from Video Marsh on Vimeo.
STACKIN - LAURA NYRO - "THE FIRST SONGS..."
American singer and songwriter Laura Nyro has one of those voices that once you hear it, you'll never forget. Born from Russian Jewish and Italian heritage, her style crafted in the late 60s blended the Brill Building sounds with more complex arrangements all carried by her singular vocal styling which is still as clairvoyant today as it was over 40 years ago.
Nyro's career began early. She sold her first song to Peter, Paul, & Mary and began performing at 18 including an appearance at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival. However, it wasn't until David Geffen took over as her manager and the arrival of her second album Eli and the Thirteen Confession in 1968, New York Tendaberry in 1969, Christmas and the Beads of Sweat in 70, and 1971's Gonna Take a Miracle which was her first album full of only non-originals recorded with Labelle. By the time she retired in 1971, newly married and uncomfortable with celebrity, Nyro was 24. In 1973, Columbia acquired her first album (recorded in 1966) and reissued it as The First Songs.
The marriage wasn't to last, however, and Nyro returned to music in 1976. But, she was always uncomfortable in the spotlight, turning down numerous opportunities to play late-night TV and never filming an official video. Indeed, for all Nyro's success as a singer, her songs were what buoyed her as her songs were turned into hits by Barbara Streisand; the 5th Dimension; Blood, Sweat, & Tears; and Peter, Paul and Mary.
In 1996, Nyro was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Her label, Columbia, with Nyro's input, gathered a two disc set of her best and in 1997 released Stoned Soul Picnic: The Best of Laura Nyro. Nyro lived to see the release and passed on April 8, 1997 at the age of 49. The same disease had taken her mother.
WLFY Track Of The Year (So Far)
While the guitar is the James Dean of the record, Nerves Junior separates themselves with their use of layering electronics that come in and out of each song, texturizing every bit of the soundscapes they create. I was so smitten with "Kale" I e-mailed the band and asked if I could shoot a free music video for the song. After some time they agreed. I hopped on a plane and banged out the video which should be available later this month. Being a music blogger without running ads or making any money, I'm basically a music fan with a blank page to fill. It's bands like Nerves Junior and tracks like "Kale" that remind me why WLFY exists and more importantly, why I love to share music for strangers. As it stands now, "Kale" is my favorite track of 2011 and it's going to be hard to knock it off the top spot.
REVIEW: "Beats, Rhymes, & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest" (Film)
Music Doc Check List:
1. Rare early concert footage? Check!
2. Band fights? Check!
3. Camera there at the right time to CATCH said "Band Fight"? Check!
4. Coming of age tale? Check!
5. The line "We didn't know we were going to be stars"? Check!
6. Cameos? Check!
7. The Ego vs. the Regular Guy? Check!
8. Open-ended opportunity for a new album? Check!
8. Japan? Check!
I'm not implying that there is a formula for a great music documentary, but it does help when certain areas are hit. The new A Tribe Called Quest doc, "Beats, Rhymes, & Life" directed by Michael Rapaport hits all of them. The timing for this doc couldn't be more prescient. As we wait for albums by Kanye & Jay-Z, another record from Dr. Dre, and hip-hop has emerged as one of (if not the) dominant mainstream music forms there seems to be an identity crisis in the rap scene. One that, after watching this doc, you couldn't help but feel could be somewhat healed by A Tribe Called Quest.
The breakup of the group has remained one of the most intriguing in music. And Rapaport does a brilliant job of not taking sides. When Tribe started, NWA was singing "Fuck the Police" on the left coast but the vibe back east was much different. Eccentric, positive, and with far crazier costumes, Tribe, with their like-minded counterparts like Queen Latifah and De La Soul, were preaching dignity and self-respect. The soul was love and a musical experimentation that's unrivaled in hip hop to this day. In fact, this general optimism and love movement (to steal from Tribe's 1999 album title) made the rift in the band between Q-Tip and Phife Dawg harder to understand and more difficult to stomach. The general malaise between the two lasted (lasts?) for over a decade which Rapaport captures with objective clarity. You're never sure what side to take in Beats, Rhymes, & Life and indeed never sure that there's a side that should be taken. As is pointed out, Phife and Q-Tip are like Yin and Yang, constantly opposing but the best when united into a whole. One of the most devastating parts of the film is a backstage interview during the Rock the Bells tour of 2008 when De La Soul is asked "Do you think this is going to be the last Tribe show?" And the brutally honest response is "I hope so."
Coming from Linden & Farmers in the early 90s, Tribe established themselves as pioneers. As Pharrell Williams admits -- "Me, Madlib, J-Dilla, in a way, we're all their children." Or as Common puts it "Tribe introduced me to jazz." Tribe was willing to go further and put more in than anyone else in the rap game. You can't help but feel nostalgic at the early part of this film when the Tribe comes blaring through and the community of artists begin to realize their potential. More than anything, this is where Rapaport succeeds -- in capturing the spirit of an age. Mostly because he gets out of the way and lets the music do the work. The lingering question is: What destroyed this? And while no cause is sought out or given, we're left with the unsettling realization that its a deadly combination of people and time. And while things can be forgiven they can never be the same. The spirit of Tribe can't be recaptured, but we have a document to remember by and that, hopefully, can make us better today than we were yesterday and even better tomorrow.
SPOTWLFY MIX #002 - Songs to Get Out of Your Car with a Shotgun to
Last week on our Spotify Mix, Zach took us through a tour of the Fiery Furnaces. This week, I have something fiery of my own. A few years ago, I was at WordBRIDGE Playwright's Lab (which you should totally donate to) when my buddies Dave White and Mike Vandercook, dropped a pretty enticing mixtape idea -- what songs would you get out of a car with a shotgun to? In honor of them, here's the 2011 version of my mixtape. Enjoy.
MMJ Covers the Zombies
At a Denver instore, Jim James broke out a cover of "Time of the Season" by the Zombies. Like most of James's stuff, it's a little slower, a little spookier, and highlights his fantastic range. And given the beardo's falsetto, it's a cover that sounds right on.
Jim James - "Time of the Season" (via LargeheartedBoy)
RIP Gene McDaniels
Earlier this year we gave McDaniels' album "A Hundred Pounds Of Clay" our Stackin treatment (a profile of records we recommend you picking up from the used bins). McDaniels was one of the best in the early 60's and transitioned into writing some of the biggest hits of the mid and late 60's. In the 70's he released "Headless Heros Of The Apocalypse", a record that spanned almost every genre and proved he could write music in any decade or style. He wrote and performed music in Maine until his death on the 29th. His great talent will be remembered and I thank him for providing some of my favorite music. The special power of his music is perfectly summed up in this video clip of my favorite song of his, "Another Tear Falls".
REVIEW: Fruit Bats - "Tripper"
Fruit Bats - Tripper
Release Date: August 2, 2011
Record Label: Sub Pop
As folk music goes, generally less is more and everything gets better with age. Never has this been more true than on the Fruit Bats new album Tripper. Begun in 1997, the brain behind the operation is Eric Johnson. Their first record Mouthfuls (2003) was a spacey folk-rock record which emerged at the tail end of alt-country as outfits like the equally spaced-out Grandaddy took their unique blend of folk rock to keyboards and computers. While Grandaddy's Software Slump was a trancey space odyssey, Mouthfuls played it close to the vest with pop songs infused with folk instrumentation as well as the blips and bleeps of keyboards. The standout track from that record, "When U Love Somebody," was a poppy cryptic love ballad about decomposition and loving someone, almost literally, to pieces.
Coming back to a band after a prolonged absence is a tricky thing. I bought Mouthfuls back in 2003 and still remember spinning it on my first trip through Kentucky's beautiful Red River Gorge. Tripper sounds almost like a different band altogether, Johnson's nasal delivery notwithstanding. While Mouthfuls felt full of bombast and splendor in big sounds, Tripper is gloriously understated. The songs reveal themselves in the most subtle moments playing with pop sensibility rather than relying on it.
Opener "Tony the Tripper" is a single guitar line with a feedbacked lead over it, playfully wrapping around the melody over and over again. It feels like something that a more surreal M. Ward would write. "Tangie and Ray" sounds like the most straightforward folk-rock song on the record. But, rather than blow you away, Johnson and co. slowly build layers upon one another. The result is a stunningly unpretentious ballad about a couple that, you guessed it, aren't going home again.
Like John Vanderslice's Romanian Names, the Fruit Bats' Tripper is a beautiful headphones album. I'm not talking earbuds, but full on huge headphones. It's a symphony of sounds that seem to creep in all over the place. For these days of long sunlight creeping into autumn, Tripper is a glorious record full of understated folk-pop. Weaving melody upon melody, don't be surprised to find yourself thinking and returning to this album again and again.