Re: Music round-up

You know the drill - Whatcha listenin to? Preach to me, maybe I'll join your movement...

The latest Porcupine Tree album The Incident is spinning as I type, but that's mainly because I'm (finally!) going to see them next week.

I'm also listening to Canadian singer/songwriter Art Bergmann a lot, prepping for a TP entry (that I promised, what, a year ago?). His album Sexual Roulette is a stormer, if you can find it.

Outside of the more practical stuff (which I nonetheless love), I've been listening a lot to some of those late 70s albums that were associated with punk and new wave, but don't really seem part of the movement: Tom Robinson Band's Power in the Darkness, Dead Fingers Talk's Storm the Reality Studios...Plus, the Wanderers' Only Lovers Left Alive, Doll By Doll's Gypsy Blood, the Rich Kids' Ghosts of Princes in Towers. All of which I was turned on to by TP.

Plus I've been listening to compilations from Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels and the Rationals.

Oh, and Be-Bop Deluxe.

Let's Wrestle - a great melding of Supergrass and Arctic Monkeys

Dum Dum Girls - raw rock that sounds like a slightly more polished Vivian Girls, with that old goat Richard Gottehrer proving he still knows how to bring out the best in girl-fronted bands, even with 21st century aesthetics

Tindersticks - the new album is as worthwhile as everything they've done, great dark pop in the neighborhood of Nick Cave, Scott Walker and Leonard Cohen

Fredrik - moody wintry soundscapes from some Scandinavians, with some undeniable pop hooks buried in the murk

Class Actress - some of the better synth-pop I've heard in a while

Ortolan - another family of church going folk-pop weirdos discovered by Daniel Smith. Nowhere near as off-kilter as Smith's own Danielson, but still off the beaten path

Glad you asked. Well, there's The Lie, by Moy (aka Dogs Die in Hot Cars guitarist/lead singer Craig Macintosh)...he's obviously messing around on a lot of these tracks, but there are some real knockout tracks ("Don't Turn Back" and "Just a Kiss"). You can listn to the whole thing (with videos!) at his website: [www.madebymoy.com]

The new Bettie Serveert (Pharmacy of Love) isn't exactly reinventing the wheel or anything, but it's pretty top-notch from start to finish, and the type of album that I love to listen to during spring's first couple of warm weeks.

Two Thousand and Ten Injuries - Love is All...I'm a sucker for squawky vocals and saxophones. This is another one that suits the change of seasons. "The Birds Were Singing With All Their Might" is currently the front-runner for my favorite song of 2010.

I originally found out about Drink Up Buttercup because they're down with Free Energy, who they are going on tour with in a couple of months. The two bands aren't very similar, though. Drink Up Buttercup's Born and Thrown on a Hook is refreshing, stupid psychedelic pop. They even ended up getting Andrew WK to do a remix of "Even Think" for no good reason.

As far as old stuff, I've been on a steady diet of reissues and rediscoveries from The Method Actors, Black Tambourine, The Three O'Clock and The Plimsouls...and I'd be remiss if I left out this noteworthy labor of love:
[neworder-recycle.blogspot.com]

The new Robyn Hitchcock. Not bad (none of his stuff ever is), but so far, not likely to keep me coming back for more, the way his best stuff does.

The Flaming Lips' Embryonic. The more I listen to this band, the more I like 'em.

Them Crooked Vultures. Seeing them next week.

Silversun Pickups' Carnavas. I found a cheap copy of this a few weeks ago, and since I was planning to see the band open for Muse, I grabbed it. Overall, they're kind of a poor man's MBV. (The Muse concert got postponed, because a storm in the Rockies prevented the band from making it to Denver from their previous night's gig in Salt Lake City.)

Gary Myrick & the Figures. Their two albums were finally issued on CD and download by Wounded Bird. Classics, IMO.

Two Hendrix reissues, Valleys of Neptune and South Saturn Delta.

How is Valleys of Neptune? I've been skeptical since so much of it seems to just be alternates of his standards, but if the alternates are different enough or the unreleased stuff is good enough, that would make it worth it to me. I quite like South Saturn Delta.

I've had a hankering for those Gary Myrick reissues myself. I wasn't clued into him back in the day, but what I've heard from that era I like.

We hosted Them Crooked Vultures here for an episode of ACL last year. Nice, solid, chewy, meat-and-potatoes hard rock. I don't know if I'll still listen to that record in 10 years' time (or even a couple years' time), but it's scratching a certain itch right now, that's for sure.

If you like TCV, you might give a shot to one of their recent opening acts: a New York power trio called the Brought Low. They've got a great new record coming out (unimaginatively titled 3rd). They're one of the many neo-classic hard rock bands that seem so voluminous right now, but they write actual songs, not just riffs.

I wrote a review of Propellor Time during my initial listen that I am suppressing with Vatican-like ferocity due to the overall caustic tone and negative reaction that resulted. Some of that is leaking out into this post, however. I concede that. As a longtime fan of Mr. Hitchcock's music, it was not easy to look over the review and see how basically nothing on that effort demanded anything more than a polite dismissal. How embarrassing!

In fact, I'm going to go so far as to state that the entire Venus 3 project has been a complete waste of my time. Something about the musical DNA involved has given birth to a band that is way feebler than it has any right to be. It might have looked good on paper and it might be a ton of fun for those directly involved ... but the music has been strictly MOR. I expect more from our Robyn!

It's like letters from an old friend who hasn't had anything important to say for a long time. Still nice to hear from them … but at what point do you stop opening the damned letters?

Actually, now that Jermoe mentions it, Silversun Pickups is more of a poor man's Bettie Serveert.

I love Hendrix, but I'm not a relentless completist, so half of the 12 tracks on Valleys of Neptune are new to me. (Seven out of 12, actually, if you include Jimi's version of "Sunshine of Your Love.") Of the remaining five, I like the versions of "Stone Free," "Lover Man" and "Hear My Train a-Comin'" a lot. The versions of "Fire" and "Red House" on this CD sound like demos (which they probably are).

I wanted to, but never got around to sharing my favorite album of 2009 here, so I'm glad this thread got started because it gives me that opportunity now.

Hands down, my favorite album of the past year, one I can't stop playing still, is Henry Priestman's "The Chronicles of Modern Life." He has TP credentials; among them, he was in the new wave band "The Yachts." .

A few months back, someone wrote about Colin Hay, and how his music is, and I'm paraphrasing here, reflective of his life as a middle-aged man. And while I still like to crank it up to 11, this album is more in that Colin Hay vein.

"Chronicles" draws from rock, pop, folks and country and while I think Priestman has a pretty average voice, the melodies are strong. But for me, what really makes the album shine is the lyrics.

When I first got the album I was listening to it while doing chores or whatever around the house, half paying attention, and all of a sudden this jumped out at me, "I'm the same age that my father was when I first thought he was old."

I started paying closer attention and found the whole album had that kind of honesty, the kind of lyrics that spoke to me about where my life is now.

If you are into that kind of listening experience, I can't recommend this album enough. And, eventually, I'm going to get around to listening to some Colin Hay.

Jay

All of this talk about "new" Hendrix titles has sends me flying back to what Peter Saville said about the Joy Division catalog in that recent film documentary. He pointed out that there are really just those two studio albums and ... "the rest is merchandising."

How long can "new" Hendrix titles continue to be released? I suppose "as long as they continue to sell" is the only realistic answer.

...

I find it is perfectly adequate to have the 3 original Experience records, The Cry of Love, Band of Gypsies volume 1, and one other live album (WInterland, or take your pick)

I only own the debut Experience album and that BBC double CD, which I only really bought for the "Lulu" material. Hah!

The dear babe I've been spending my time with is strictly a popular R&B/Hip-Hop fan. Most of it does nothing for me, but I've discovered I like most Anastacia, and Melanie Fiona.

I'm as shocked as anyone to find I prefer the girlier side of "Urban."



Post Edited (04-14-10 00:37)

I always liked Anastacia, but I'm a sucker for girls with glasses so I was predisposed to anyway. But she's actually not too bad musically, either.

Hey Breno, where is the best place to start with Tindersticks?

If you like stuff in the Nick Cave/Scott Walker (60s era, not the truly weird stuff he's up to nowadays) vein, you could probably plunge in anywhere.

Actually, the most accurate description I could think of for them would be the Red House Painters fronted by Bryan Ferry suffering from sleep deprivation, with an occasional orchestra dropping by.

But as far as recommendations, my favorite albums would be Can Our Love..., which has the great "People Keep Comin' Around", or either of their first two albums, both self-titled.

The new one, Falling Down a Mountain, would be a pretty good jumping on point, too. It's pretty strong and is representational of most of what makes the band worthwhile. It also features a rare appearance by Mary Margaret O'Hara, but unfortunately the song she appears on - "Peanuts" - is one of the dumbest songs the band has ever recorded.



Post Edited (04-14-10 11:40)

My favorite Tindersticks albums are called Boxer and Alligator. They seem to have hired a better drummer for those two.

Yes, I'm quite looking forward to The Tindersticks new one, High Violet, due May 11 (whatta website):

[www.highviolet.com]

Ha! How had I never noticed the similarity between the Tindersticks and the National before? Pretty damn obvious now that it's been pointed out.

Ah well, I'm a fan of both bands, so that's good.

A few months ago I saw a raging Youtube debate about how much the National had ripped off Joy Division, between which - aside from a similar hangdog outlook on life - I see no similarities at all. But oh well, that's what I get for reading a comments thread on Youtube. The only bigger waste of time is getting bogged down in one of the countless "Actor/Actress X looks like..." comment threads on IMDB.

i'm still stuck in the garage but not really trying to get out as long as invasion era stomp & psychedelia is being slid under the door for nourishment.
at this point in time my needs are simple, occasionally i'll get a fresh scrap thrown my way (i.e. the FRATELLI's) and thats certainly always a treat.

True, he likes the Breeders, thinks Green Day's pretty swell,
but what about the Bartlebees and Neutral Milk Hotel?

HBK,
what you just said makes me wish i could lasso that '07 bonzo dog 'Gorilla' cd.

Thanks, jcakp - I'm looking forward to In The Aeroplane coming in at the library. One thing that has struck me from Avery Island is how much Mangum seems to be indebted to Chris Knox. His decision to come out of his cave for that Knox tribute makes a lot more sense now, as there are times when he's a dead ringer for Knox. Which is not a bad thing to be....

The Tindersticks self titled album (they're getting fitted for suits on the cover) is bloody great. I also listened to Curtains just a couple of days ago and thought I hadn't realised how good it was as well.
I'm actually hearing whispers about them coming out here which would be nice.

After all this Tindersticks discussion, I got a couple from the library (2nd self-titled and Can Our Love). Gotta say it ain't grabbing me yet, but I'll keep trying.

On the other hand, as mentioned in another thread a few weeks ago, I also decided to finally listen to some of the Athens music I missed out on after I departed. So I've gotten a Neutral Milk Hotel disc (On Avery Island, I've got In The Aeroplane on hold) and an Olivia Tremor Control disc (Dusk at Cubist Castle). I've only listened to the NMH once and it seemed pretty good, but I've had some more time with the OTC album and am digging it a lot more than I expected to.

rhett -
'avery island' only makes sense after you hear 'aeroplane', and even then only to a certain extent. i'm one of those people that worship mr magnum (and have done so for ten years now - i put 'aeroplane' on immediately after both of my children were born, in the delivery room, and will do the same with my third child, which will be here in about 8 months - after all of the confusion surrounding the birth process i can't think of anything better for a child to hear than that record), but i still haven't figured out 'avery island'.

also, 'can our love' and neutral milk... throw in cale's 'paris 1919' and some big star (and some 'substances') and you're reliving my junior year of college... enjoy!

Gordon Bok - Another Land Made of Water. Spoken word and sea shanties detailing life on the coast of Maine. The narrator wants to join the throng of "sea people" so he can share their songs.

Quote

I got a couple from the library

Aside from a very few titles actually purchased, I've been getting my fix at the local public library. It's mostly been jazz ... (I know ... jazz schmazz) ... and a lot of it has been a complete waste of time.

Mel Torme? The only thing I have to say about A Prelude To A Kiss is that it looks like Mel kisses with his arms outstretched and his mouth wide open. Chicks really dig that, I hear. Give me Sinatra any day.

On the plus side, I did stumble across the late Blossom Dearie in this same library's collection. And the Nina Simone CD was killer. But then, you knew that already. Her version of "I Put A Spell On You" is perhaps the creepiest take ever. She really bloodies the chorus up in a merciless fashion. Strictly gritted teeth. Yikes!

...

Other than that, as far as new stuff goes, my orbit is somewhere just this side of Pluto's. And Pluto isn't even a planet anymore. But you knew that already.

I did hear (but did not buy - but am going to buy) a CD by a band called Dr. Dog the other day at the local record store. It was the most spot-on Bowie ripoff I've ever heard ... by an American band ... working in this decade. It was so funny it provoked open laughter from me.

...

Otherwise, I've just been haunting my old Syd Barrett titles. I could listen to them a million times in a row. Oh, wait ...

A couple of disks I'm covering that have really impressed me, both due to remarkable songwriting:

Flashbacks by the Lodger, a Leeds trio that's blatantly in the early 80s Aztec Camera/Orange Juice/etc. camp of bittersweet guitar pop. These guys are really, really good, not only because they sound good, but because the leader Ben Siddall is an excellent writer.

What We Lost in the Fire We Gained in the Flood by the Mynahbirds, who are on Saddle Creek, but don't let that tell you anything. This is more along the lines of Laura Nyro, Harry Nilsson, even Dusty Springfield - soulful pop music led by an extraordinarily talented young writer named Laura Burhenn. This is what Norah Jones might sound like if she could be bothered to show any interest in her own music.

By coincidence, both albums make very effective use of horns, though neither sounds anything like the other.