Boredoms with Black Pus and Soft Circles- Starlight Ballroom (Philadelphia, PA) – April 2, 2008
A night of “noise noise noise”, in the words of THE DAMNED. After all, isn’t it for heroes while the music’s for zeroes? These bands certainly think so.
Beach House with Papercuts- The Barbary (Philadelphia, PA) – Thursday, April 3, 2008
This show was the virtual antithesis of the previous night’s festivities at the Starlight Ballroom, which showcases the diversity of R5 Production’s bookings. Emerging shoegaze/slo-core/COCTEAU TWINS and MAZZY STAR impersonators (and I mean that in the best way possible) Beach House turned the newly renovated old punk club The Barbary into a very sleepy, dreamy place. Openers Papercuts, when not struggling with sound issues, answered the question of what a poor man’s version of THE DEARS would sound like.
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.
Joe Jackson with Mutlu – Keswick Theater (Glenside, PA) – April 4, 3008
A fantastic concert that fused selections from Joe’s excellent and latest album Rain along with late ‘70s and early ‘80s favorites (albeit with a few surprising choices from 1991’s Laughter and Lust as well), the predictability of the setlist (and the boorish behavior of some audience members) was overshadowed by the excellence of the performances.
Neu! – Neu! 75 (Astralwerks)
I put this on after I found out that KLAUS DINGER passed away on March 21st at the age of 61. RIP Klaus and may you be remembered for the “motorik” beat you invented, without which much of the best music of the last 35 years or so wouldn’t even be possible.
Joni Mitchell – The Hissing of Summer Lawns (Asylum)
Although Court and Spark has always been my favorite Joni album, this album has grown on me a lot over the years. A continuation of the jazz-rock style she’d explored already on Court and Spark, this album goes further into that territory and while the hooks are a lot less obvious, songs like “Edith and the Kingpin” grab you and don’t tend to let go. The lyrics are more bitter than on previous records as well (the most obvious example being “The Boho Dance”), but the aforementioned “Edith and the Kingpin” showed that her gift for character studies was still in full effect as well.
The Sonics – Here are the Sonics (Norton)
One of the best garage rock albums of all-time, this one doesn’t really need more praise. Nevertheless, if you’ve never heard much-covered masterpieces like “Psycho,” “Strychnine” and “The Witch”, seek this one out immediately!
The dB’s – Stands for Decibels (Albion)
Every once in a while, I just need to hear this 1981 power-pop masterpiece along with 1982’s even better Repercussion. Fortunately both are available together along with a few bonus tracks on a 2002 CD put out by the Collectors Choice label.
Nick Drake – Bryter Layter (Hannibal)
Although everyone rightly loves his final album Pink Moon for its desperation and stark, minimalist beauty, I’ve always preferred Nick’s more orchestrated work. “One of These Things First” (along with “Poor Boy”, my favorite song on here) is noteworthy for having been included on the massively popular soundtrack to the 2004 movie Garden State and having more people be exposed to this music is definitely a good thing. Nonetheless, the inclusion of the aforementioned songs as well as “Hazey Jane I” assures this album’s classic status, though it sounds more like something that could’ve been recorded in 1967 than in 1972. Time, of course, has been very kind to it as well as the rest of Drake’s catalog, so those commercial considerations that meant that this record was a flop back when it was released means very little now except that people still discover this music on their own and aren’t sick of it from overexposure on classic rock radio.
The Swimmers – Fighting Trees (Mad Dragon)
One of the best bands here in Philadelphia right now, this is like a combination of the jagged melodies of SPOON circa Girls Can Tell, the lilting grace and unbelievable catchiness of PERNICE BROTHERS and even Summerteeth-era WILCO. Fans of all of those bands will find much to like here, as The Swimmers really stand out in a very overcrowded genre.
