6 new ones, 3 ‘80s punk reissue blasts from the past and a wonderful film
I know that this album has gotten a ton of press and critical praise and that it debuted at #2 on the Billboard charts this past week, but as I think it’s the best new album I’ve heard all year so far, I’m mentioning it anyway. In particular, lately I’ve been notcing that not only is WIN BUTLER channeling BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN throughout the course of this record, but furthermore IAN MCCULLOCH of ECHO AND THE BUNNYMEN comes to mind here as well. In fact, this record reminds me a lot of the Bunnymen during their ‘80-’84 glory days. In particular, the booming, acoustic-guitar fueled sound and impassionate singing bring to mind the joys of such anthems as “The Cutter” and “The Back of Love” from 1983’s Porcupine. What’s great about this album, however, is that despite these influences, it feels like it’s fresh and that they’re going new places unlike many of the post-punk revival bands that have come about in recent years. Plus, the beautiful packaging of the deluxe edition looks really pretty on my coffee table.
Somewhere between 1991’s excellent Struck By Lightning and 2001’s dark Deepcut to Nowhere, this record shows Parker retreating away from the rockin’ sound of 2005’s Songs of No Consequence and back towards the more acoustic-flavored, singer-songwriter territory that he’s favored over most of the last two decades. The upside here is that may be the best sounding record of his entire career not in terms of the songs, but in terms of the sound of the record itself. After a few listens, there are no immediate standouts, though the album is full of gems like the extremely BOB DYLAN-esque and politically pertinent “Stick to the Plan” and the over 8-minute “The Other Side”, which may be the longest song GP has ever committed to tape. Other highlights include the opener “I Discovered America”, which details his 1st tour of the U.S. in 1976, and “England’s Latest Clown”, a song that appears to be about PETE DOHERTY. I don’t know how I’ll rate this record in GP’s vast canon, but it’s remarkable that he can make strong, compelling, challenging music year after year at the age of 56 when most of his contemporaries are either long out of music or sitting on their laurels. For my money, he’s the best songwriter of the last 30 years.
I’ve been living with Living with the Living (sorry I couldn’t resist) for a few weeks now before its official release date last week and I’ve come to the conclusion that aside from 2003’s excellent Hearts of Oak, this is on par with Ted Leo’s very best work. Sure it goes on a bit long and it’s a bit front-loaded, not to mention the fact that much of it recalls his 2001 album The Tyranny of Distance, but it doesn’t matter much to me as I think it’s actually a stronger set of sets. “A Bottle of Buckie,” “Colleen” and “Army Bound” are my favorites, but even “Bomb.Repeat.Bomb” (which I initially found awkward and off-putting) is growing on me. I’m really looking forward to seeing him live in a few days.
This bootleg 7” collects the two tracks from a 7” given away at Licorice Pizza locations around the time that Damaged came out in 1981 as part of a promotion put together by SST and Unicorn (a major subsidiary), who initially distributed Damaged before bailing on it when it was labelled as “anti-parent” (the line in “Thirsty and Miserable” about “sneaking into your parents’ liquor cabinet” may have had something to do with that; ha ha). Anyway originally 1000 copies were pressed and it has alternate takes of the Damaged tracks “Thirsty and Miserable” and “Life of Pain” which are even more sneering than the better-known versions (if you can believe that). They were recorded live in San Francisco at Target Studios. In addition, this 7” includes a version of “Spray Paint the Walls” with DEZ CEDENA on vocals. Other songs from this session (which was a demo for Damaged with Dez on vocals that was recorded in 1981) were later released on Everything Went Black, but this one remains unreleased. Of course, it’s great. I recommend this 7” heartily to anyone who likes Black Flag, provided of course that you can find it. In the meantime, though, you can download two of the tracks here.
I’m happy to report that not only did Voxtrot wisely NOT put any of the songs from their 3 great EPs on their debut full-length, but that while the full-length doesn’t quite have the punch of those EPs (especially the first two), it still is a very nice indie-pop album that’ll likely end up in my Top 10 for the year. I just like Voxtrot’s brilliant mix of sweet twee with almost punk-like aggression (kind of like THE WEDDING PRESENT for the 21st century) way too much to be too objective about this, but I will say that this Lp continues with where they were headed on their last EP, the 3-song “Your Biggest Fan”. Thus, it’s a bit heavy on the mellower stuff and some of the songs have pianos, strings and what not. Also, singer RAMESH SRIVASTAVA’s singing is notably milder. Thus, some fans of Voxtrot’s slightly harsher side will inevitably be disappointed. Overall, though, this is a winner.
I’ve been rocking this one for months now because of its early leak, but I’ve gone back to it a lot lately, perhaps because its official release date was this past week. This album has been very widely-praised (and justifiably so) in the usual circles (Pitchfork, et al.), so all I’ll say is that while the entire thing is excellent, the highlights are “All My Friends” (the album’s zenith), the title track and “New York, I Love You”. As a bonus, you can read an excellent interview with LCD main man JAMES MURPHY here.
I’ve been pulling this one a lot recently. The highlights include “Return of the Rat,” “Tragedy”, the title track and “D-7” (which was covered by NIRVANA). Although there are several different versions of this album available (including one on Sub Pop), the best one can be obtained directly from Zeno Records either separately or as part of a 3-CD box set. Either way, you get the original album as well as 11 bonus tracks (including the entire “Alien Boy” EP). This is an absolute classic.
Out of print for a long time and reissued recently by Gern Blandsten, this is a collection of tracks that didn’t make it onto any of this great band’s proper releases. It includes outtakes, instrumental takes of classics such as “Sound on Sound”, lots of alternate takes and compilation tracks like “The Seed” and “History” from Rat Music for Rat People, Vol. 2. Truth be told, this is a great purchase for those who are already fans, but to those who have never heard this band before, I would recommend the two excellent discography CDs The Skinny Elvis and The Fat Elvis before I would recommend picking this up. Nevertheless, fans will find much to like here.
Mutual Appreciation (R)
This excellent film stars director ANDREW BUJALSKI as a character whose girlfriend Ellie (portrayed brilliantly by RACHEL CLIFT) shares an attraction (hence the title) to his best friend Allen (portrayed by the Brooklyn band BISHOP ALLEN’s JUSTIN RICE). Thus, ostensibly the film centers around these characters and is thus a standard issue love triangle plot line. However, there is much, much more going on here. Centered around the vibrant indie-rock scene in Brooklyn that it lovingly satirizes (a few terrific Bishop Allen songs are featured and there’s one scene where Tim performs at North Six), this film also explores the lives of 20-something post-grads trying to realize their dreams in the midst of day jobs, strained and awkward relationships and soaring rents. Thus, these characters feel extremely realistic and will be recognizable to anyone with similar experiences. Inevitably, even if it was given a wider release, this film would be too “slow” for many because of its pace and reliance on conversation between the main characters (in that way reminded me a bit of Clerks, an earlier generation-defining film also shot in black and white). However, for the reasons I listed above, it’s an absolute must-see.
The long-awaited follow-up to 2004’s initially confounding but ultimately triumphant A Ghost is Born finds Wilco taking a step back from the bold and experimental path that they’d previously taken first on 2002’s brilliant Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and then especially on A Ghost is Born, both of which have made them into the U.S. answer to RADIOHEAD both in terms of boldness and in terms of popularity as well. Of course, no one will confuse Wilco with ANIMAL COLLECTIVE, for example, but it’s still remarkable in this day and age to see a band so willing to change to follow its muse from album to album be embraced by an ever-larger audience as the years go by. Perhaps this lineup is solidfying and singer/songwriter JEFF TWEEDY no longer feels that he has anything to prove, but Sky Blue Sky feels like a retreat, though a pleasant and enjoyable one. The most noticable thing about it initially is NELS CLINE’s frankly incredible guitar playing. He’s allowed to let loose on at least 4 or 5 occasions here and his tasty playing makes many of the songs here. Otherwise, this record is entrenched deep into early ‘70s singer/songwriter territory. NEIL YOUNG’s records from this period are a common comparison and not one altogether off, but the feel (if not the sound) remind me a lot of BOB DYLAN’s “retreat” records from the late ‘60s (particularly John Wesley Harding) in its tone and approach. Nevertheless, fans of Wilco will find much to enjoy here, though there are no immediate standouts unlike albums past.
