She and Him – Volume One (Merge)
Yes much has been made of this release because it’s a collaboration between the actress ZOOEY DESCHANEL and M. WARD. However, this is much more Zooey’s record than Ward’s and that’s because she not only sings lead on all of the songs, but she wrote all but two of them (the covers of SMOKEY ROBINSON AND THE MIRACLES’ “You Really Got a Hold on Me” and THE BEATLES’ “I Should Have Known Better”) as well. Ward’s production, however, is important in that it successfully mimics both the “sunshine pop” and early ‘70s country-tinged soft-rock sounds of LA during that time period without sounding retro. Zooey is no dilettante, as her soaring LINDA RONSTADT-ish voice and penchant for hooks (especially on the single “Why Do You Let Me Stay Here”) proves. All in all, this goes down like a nice glass of iced tea on a summer day and I imagine that I’ll be spinning it more and more as the weather gets warmer here.
The Raveonettes – Chain Gang of Love (Columbia)
I loved this record when it came out in the fall of 2003 and it was one of my favorites of that year, but I hadn’t listened to it in years before yesterday morning, when I put it on to get ready for their set at World Cafe Live (see item #5 below). I’m happy to report that not only has it held up quite well in that time period, but I’m beginning to think that it may rank up there with some of the finest indie-rock releases of the past 5 years as well. This album is simply perfect from start to finish. Ignore the JESUS AND MARY CHAIN comparisons, though they’re understandable. The brothers Reid, for all of their influence on noise-pop and shoegaze, didn’t invent this template of applying ‘50s and ‘60s rock and roll and girl-group song structures to oodles of noise and distortion. Furthermore, an important difference is the generally upbeat nature of this recording (as compared to other sadder and darker sounding bands who have tried this template), even when the heartbroken lyrics don’t match the effervescent nature of the music. It’s got more hooks than a tackle-box and if you’re not moved by songs like “Love Can Destroy Everything” (the record’s one ballad, which I think is as good of a tear-jerker as anything by their hero BUDDY HOLLY), then you should check your pulse. Far superior to their debut EP Whip It On and their later records (including this year’s fine but nowhere near as good Lust Lust Lust), this is truly the only thing you need by them.
Beach House – Devotion (Car Park)
This is slowly becoming one of my favorites of the year so far. Although sound-wise it’s almost identical to their debut, the songs are more memorable and the production is greatly improved as well. It’s like they’ve come out of their shell a bit. To my ears, they recall the female-fronted dream-pop haze of MAZZY STAR or even COCTEAU TWINS or perhaps early LUSH, so it’a amazing that they’re not on 4AD.
Portishead – Third (Island)
I’m happy to report that after more than 10 years, Portishead is back and it’s almost like they never left. This feels like a natural follow-up to their underrated self-titled effort from 1997, but they somehow manage to avoid the trap of sounding dated, as so many of their trip-hop contemporaries now do. Then again, along with the first records by the equally great MASSIVE ATTACK (also from Bristol, England) and their associate TRICKY (who was in THE WILD BUNCH with several Massive Attack members and was an early member of that outfit as well), they invented this stuff and they’ve always been one step ahead of their followers anyway.
The Raveonettes – World Cafe Live (Philadelphia, PA) – March 28, 2008
A nice, short (half-hour) Free at Noon set where guitarists and vocalists SUNE ROSE-WAGNER and SHARIN FOO sat down (which was weird, though the drummer played standing up) and they played about half of their new album Lust Lust Lust. The songs from the new album follow in the footsteps of 2005’s Pretty in Black in that the tempos are much slower than on the frantic Whip It On EP or 2003’s Chain Gang of Love (their masterpiece_). However, the pace is picked up a little (especially on the first single “Dead Sound”) and the “Be My Baby” drumbeat features prominently on many of the tracks. Still, it feels more like early ‘90s shoegaze (think of LUSH) than the adrenaline headrush of their earlier work.
R.E.M. – “Supernatural Superserious”
I haven’t heard their new album Accelerate yet, but I hope it’s as much of a winner as this single is. This song won’t make anyone forget Murmur or Life’s Rich Pageant, but it still feels like the freshest thing they’ve done in over a decade. I’ve seen comparisons to Document and Green, but honestly to my ears it sounds more like a song that could’ve been on Monster (not a bad thing).
Loud Fast Rules podcast
I listen to this fantastic, punk and hardcore oriented radio show on BreakThru Radio weekly. Fortunately, though, the playlist isn’t limited to just those genres. Post-punk, krautrock, art-rock and glam figure heavily in the playlists as well. This past week’s episode focused on the roots of punk, so songs like CAN’s “Outside the Door”, FAUST’s “The Sad Skinhead” and BRIAN ENO’s “Blank Frank” were played alongside X-RAY SPEX’s “Obsessed with You” and TELEVISION’s “Friction”. To listen to the most recent episode, click here
New Horizons radio show
COLIN SANDERSON’s show features free jazz, experimental, noise and other assorted weirdness every week on Sundays between 5 and 7 PM and on Mondays between 2 and 3 PM. It can be streamed live during those times here.
Social Distortion – 1980 demo (no label)
Of these four songs, all of them ended up being on their landmark 1982 debut Mommy’s Little Monster (one of my all-time favorites), though this early version of “Telling Them” is called “Smash the Glass”. All of this stuff is really raw and sounds like it was recorded on a four-track, but the signature sound is already there. You can read more about it and download it here.
Caribou with Fuck Buttons- Johnny Brenda’s (Philadelphia, PA) – March 29, 2008
A brilliant set by Caribou that was even more psychedelic, mind-blowing and full of dual-drumming as good as THE FALL or BUTTHOLE SURFERS in their respective primes, all at my favorite club? Yes please. The openers make up for their terrible name by being one of the few laptop noise outfits (like BLACK DICE) who are as engaging live, if not more so, than on record.
