Oh hey everybody, it's me! Remember me, the guy who used to regularly update his blogs with rants and raves about all kinds of stuff? Yeah, I sort of remember that guy, too. Well, for the moment he's been replaced by the dude who frets because it feels like ever since he decided six years ago to chase this silly dream of being a full-time writer, his life has gone down the shitter. Sure, there have been some amazingly wonderful moments, but for the most part I've been making one bad decision after another in my professional life.
I don't know why I suddenly feel the urge to bitch about it here, but I do. I sort of bottomed out freelancing last year, and I don't really have the energy to start back up. I am sick of halfheartedly pitching articles and waiting for some sort of magic blessing to touch me upon the head to say hey motherfucker, you're pretty good! Here's a salary! so instead I sit here and fret. I've considered (and even attempted) going back to school, but I hate that also. I don't know if I can figure it out right now. I wouldn't even know where to begin to figure it out. All I know is that I'm apparently good at this stuff, and would like to get into more adventures. Who knows if I can actually do that, but it's pretty to think that I'd be able to work somewhere and churn out stuff like my Troy Davis piece routinely.
I guess I wanted to write all of this down because it's been on my mind lately, and I've really been spinning my wheels for the past four years. I don't know if I'll ever figure it all out; but until I do the readers of this blog can enjoy some low-quality record reviews that I use to justify this blog as well as get free concert tickets. Enjoy!
M. Ward – A Wasteland Companion I've loved M Ward for a long time. I love the sound of his records – somewhere between the dusty pops and cracks of a Smithsonian Folkways reissue and some sensitive boy singer/songwriter – I love the whisper of his voice that is simultaneously singing high notes and low notes and I love his fingerstyle guitar, which is full of little odes to other guitar players; George Harrison, Willie Nelson and tons of other dudes whose names escape me at the moment. I'm an unabashed M Ward fan and not even his musical dalliances with everyone's favorite pretty-girl-marketing-herself-as-a-geek-to-establish-a-niche Zooey Deschanel.
A Wasteland Companion is a return-to-awesome for Ward. It wasn't that his last album, Hold Time, was bad so much as it felt too polished compared to his earlier records. A Wasteland Companion recaptures the warm, off-the-cuff feeling of Post-War and the songs are just better. "Primitive Girl" is the pop song that Ward should've sold to Budweiser instead of "Never Had Nobody Like You" and "Mockingbird" feels like something off of "Transfiguration of Vincent". To put it simply, A Wasteland Companion is the best collection of music M. Ward has created since 2006. It's good stuff, people.
Now that the praise is out of the way, I don't understand his fascination with Zooey Deschanel's oversinging. I get that she can stay on key, and that is a pretty important thing, but I don't understand why Ward insists upon subjecting his fans to her voice. She sounds like every girl in every karaoke bar singing that "oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes-Benz" tune at one A.M. – we get it honey, you're drunk, you're dad said you were talented and now you just wanna get fucked. I don't know for sure if Ms. Deschanel is drunk or her desire to be fucked, but I do know that is the emotion that her voice brings out in me.
But if you can ignore her, check out A Wasteland Companion. It's a hell of a record that isn't trying to be a revolutionary moment in music. In a lot of ways, it feels like a tribute to sixties AM radio, and that is just wonderful.
Joan Osborne – Bring It On Home Hey, it's Joan Osborne! You know, the curly-haired girl with the huge nose ring that begged the question "What if God Was One of Us?" back in the 90s? Well, the hair is straight and the nose ring is gone, but her voice is still there.
Joan has one hell of a voice and it's sad that her one hit song didn't really showcase that. Instead, she was all soft-spoken and Lillith Fair-y because that was what happened to female singers then. But anyone who saw her perform in Standing in the Shadows of Motown or has seen her perform live knows what a big and wonderful voice Osborne possesses. A few years ago my wife and I saw her perform at the Warren Haynes Christmas Jam in Asheville, NC and we were blown away at her singing.
On Bring It On Home, Osborne's seventh album, listeners are treated with hearing Osborne flexing her vocal chops over a set of blues covers, and her voice is absolutely perfect for this collection of juke joint-inspired tunes.
Osborne's voice is all over this. It's husky and she sounds like one of those three-hundred pound black mamas that look like Della Reese and fuck like Jenna Jameson. But as good as her voice sounds, everything else about this album is just wrong. The production just feels off. They have taken Osborne's great voice and paired it with great playing, but everything about this album feels like something that should be playing over the speakers at a Barnes and Noble. It's bland Adult Contemporary music for people who have lost all the will to live.
I feel bad writing that, because I think Osborne sings the shit out of the songs that have been selected. But it's just too polished, too thought-out, too clean-feeling for it to have the visceral impact that her singing should. When I saw Osborne life, her voice gave me chills. On Bring It on Home her voice gives me the same chills, but the bland presentation and production just holds everything back.
Willis Earl Bearl – Acousmatic Sorcery Here's a strange record that landed in my inbox. Apparently, and I don't know this for a fact, but this guy tried out for that X Factor show, and is now producing some strange and folkie anti-folk music (think Sebadoh's The Freed Weed as a good example of this).
I don't know and I don't particularly care about Bearl's past, but what I do know is that this is half of a good album. There are bits and pieces of Acousmatic Sorcery that are just jaw-droppingly brilliant. Bearl is part shouting bluesman, part dope-smoking acoustic strummer, part crazy Jandek-like drone specialist and it's neat to hear it colliding into a record that is alternately great to hear and at times annoying.
Bearl has a great a voice, and I'm interesting in hearing more work from him. It's interesting that an album with this sort of low-fi aesthetic was released in 2012 by a bigger label. In an age where every asshole has a Pro-Tools set-up in their apartment, that Bearl has released an album that sounds like it came from a dubbed cassette. It's a refreshing sound that feels warmer than most of the thing's I've heard lately.
If this review can be considered a boxing match, then let's say that this is a no-contest. I like this album, but I'm not sure how enthusiastic I am about it. I think it's worth a few listens. It may grow on you after a few listens, or it may just turn to shit in your ears. I'm not sure, because I'm not sure which way it's going to go for me. Definitely one of the more interesting releases of the year, however.
The Hudson Branch – World Kid The Hudson Branch are from Chicago, which used to mean something to me. It meant that their music would be covered with a thin gauzy layer of synths, deeper than deep bass guitars playing interesting and meandering basslines, and drums that were less likely to providing the foundation for the music and more often adding atmosphere to the song. It meant that John McEntire was involved somehow and everything was going to get Sea and Cake-y. Somewhere along the way I lost track of music like this, and then The Hudson Branch ended up in my inbox.
World Kid is a lot like those Thrill Jockey albums of yore, full of atmospheric sounds of yore, but with something unexpected (to me at least): decent vocals. There are nine songs on this album, but none of them feel like a standout pop song, instead they are all little mantras. Sort of nice-sounding audio happenings that you will claim to like but barely notice as they are happening on your speakers. I listened to this album three times before writing this, and every time it sounded fresh and new in my speakers. I don't think that's because it's a stunning album so much as it's so pleasant sounding that I stop paying attention to it.
There are plenty of good-to-great moments on World Kid, but the overall thing is the whole collection of songs. It's a nice listen. It's pleasant. It doesn't suck. Those superlatives alongside my description of the music just sort of melting into my ears and running out without attaching itself to my brain and subconscious may not sound like the best sort of album to listen to, but trust me, The Hudson Branch have crafted a decent album. I just wish at some point it had some teeth. It feels like Steely Dan without the sardonic lyrics.
Dragonforce – The Power Within Hell yes. If you haven't heard Dragonforce, go listen to them. They sound like you imagine every eighties metal band should sound; crazy fast guitars, galloping bass lines, high pitched vocals, and fantasy and sci-fi lyrical themes colliding with self-affirmations. This is stuff is epic, but then again it was written to be epic, so this is hardly a groundbreaking assessment.
I guess it's a taste thing, but I totally dig Dragonforce. What they do feels like Iron Maiden, and Iron Maiden were sort of an anomaly in metal; they didn't sound like Sabbath and they didn't sound like Halen, they were their own scene. Dragonforce do a great job of aping that without venturing into some sort of Lenny Kravitz territory. They get damn close sometimes, but thankfully they never cross over into super derivative self-parody zone.
Musically, The Power Within is ruled by huge and fast guitar playing. Yes, metal with crazy lead guitars, but after listening to the same shitty indie pop that these publicists keep sending me, it's fucking worthwhile to hear a metal band playing these big Wagner-like sweeps and feel that hyperactive thud of a double bass petal, and plus if you don't think that whammy bars doing dives are fun, then you might be an asshole who hates erections – even your own.
I think people should listen to this record once, if only to appreciate how much musicianship and arranging went into crafting these songs. Everything is so orchestrated and precisely played that it just works.
I don't know where Dragonforce stands in the scheme of things in metal. I don't know how other metal fans see them, but I like what they do. I missed out on Iron Maiden, but Dragonforce is here to entertain me with lightning-fast lead guitars and lyrics about castles and dreams.
Oberhofer – Time Capsules II Brooklyn band Oberhofer are really grating. Here we have a band attempting to assimilate a lot of influences – indie rock, Pet Sounds-era Beach Boys, Randy Newman and loads of other stuff into some sort of big, heartfelt statement about love or something like it. Man, it'd be amazing if it worked, but it doesn't.
I could list the reasons why this album falls short of the lofty goals in the songwriting, but it'd almost be a waste of time. This is the sort of record that I don't get and probably never will. I hated just about everything about Time Capsules II and I don't see myself, after three listens, being able to put together a constructive argument as to why I didn't like the album. Maybe that says something about the music encoded on the mp3s, maybe it says something about my writing ability, I'm not sure. If you are an Oberhofer fan and like this album, congratulations, I'm glad that you found something in it that I obviously missed. I just couldn't warm up to this record if I was cremated with it.
Dr. John – Locked Down Here's a credibility killer; I know exactly three things about Dr. John. The first is that the Bonnaroo festival is named after one of his albums, the second is that he does the jingle for Popeye's Chicken ("Louisiana faaaaaaast!"), and finally that Patton Oswalt does a funny impression of him ("one time there was this alligator who wears a hat with some meat on it"), so I was nervous when I received a copy of his latest album, Locked Down. I went to listening to Bonnaroo naming, chicken singing, meat hat guy just knowing those things and not really caring about his "legendary" status. If anyone stays around long enough, people will call them a legend eventually.
Then I heard that Locked Down was going to be produced by Dan Auerbach from The Black Keys. I am not a Black Keys fan. I think that there are a lot of other acts that do what they do a lot better, but I was willing to put that aside and listen to this album. I was worried at first that this album was doomed from the onset; the meat hat guy and the band that I don't like teaming up! How could this not result in a negative review?
Well, because Locked Down is a pretty fucking fun record.
First off, every song on this album swings. It has a nasty, hip-shaking sound that makes me not want to sit down in this office chair in front of my computer. There are horns, Hammond organs and fun slide guitars. There are samples and funky drumming. There are hoots and hollers and it all fits together in a big greasy album that is an absolute goddamn joy to listen to. Dr. John sounds like Rolf the Dog singing in a strip club. Dr. John sounds like Anthony-Michael Hall when he's drunk in Weird Science, and I fucking love it.
Records by guys in their seventies aren't supposed to be good. They are supposed to be merely okay. We smile and nod and say well isn't that cute when they turn into a self-parody or start covering Soundgarden songs to remind the kids about why they matter. But Dr. John has made a greasy, stanky and skanky album that I love. Good job, you old fuck.
Bert Jansch – Sweet Sweet Music For those of you who aren't aware of the late Bert Jansch, you're really missing out. Jansch is an amazing Scottish guitar player who died in October of 2011. With a career that spanned almost 45 years, there is a lot of stuff to cover, but the big thing to remember is that he was a big mover and shaker in British Folk music. The guy is an awesome musician and despite being known as a folkie, his music always feels like something from another place in time – not the goateed, open chord strummers in a coffeehouse like most people imagine when they think of folk music.
Sweet Sweet Music, recorded in 2006, is a great testament to the hypnotic and awesome qualities of Mr. Jansch's music. The guitar playing, primarily fingerstyle and acoustic, is amazing. Jansch's singing is a bit rough; it takes a while to get used to his thick accent and his phlegmy, full-throated voice, but once you get into it, it's quite nice.
Bert Jansch is someone whose music I've heard on compilations, mix CDs and the odd YouTube video sent my way by friends, so as a proper introduction, Sweet Sweet Music is quite nice and works great as a beginner's guide of sorts. I highly recommend checking this out.
Macy Gray – Covered Let's begin with this caveat: I like Macy Gray's voice. I know that it's a bit of a polarizing thing, but I can't help it. I think that her 1999 single "I Try" is a perfect song. I just love it and even know how to play it on guitar. I'm sure that will cause me to lose credibility with some, but I don't care. Granted, I haven't paid attention to Gray's career post-"I Try", but I'll always consider listening to her music, simply because of that one single. So when a digital copy of her latest album, Covered, landed in my inbox I was a bit curious. I've listened to this album three or four times now, and I'm here to tell anyone who might be intrigued by the idea of Gray singing songs by the Eurythmics, Radiohead, Metallica and the Arcade Fire to avoid this CD at all costs.
I'm all for experimenting. I'm a big fan of artists trying new things and failing spectacularly, because sometimes there are some genuinely inspired things happened that turn into hackneyed and unlistenable songs. But Covered is not one of those things. Gray (and her producers) has taken songs that are singularly identified with artists and re-made them. The music is cringe-worthy at best and sometimes a hell of a lot worse.
It's a shame that at this stage in her career, Gray is reduced to cranking out albums like this, but I guess a good voice will only carry someone so far. For shame.
fIREHOSE – lowFLOWs (The Columbia Anthology '91-'93) The 90s are back, and there's no better example of this than the deluge of reunion tours, greatest hits albums and first-albums-in-a-decade that have hit in the last year or so. Sometimes it's a horrendously bad thing (see the recent Candlebox reunion) and sometimes it's a welcome thing, like this anthology and reunion tour from Mike Watt and George Hurley's post-Minutemen band, fIREHOSE.
lowFLOWs (The Columbia Anthology '91-'93) collects fIREHOSE's two excellent major label albums (Flyin' the Flannel and Mr. Machinery Operator) and a much sought after EP (Live Totem Pole EP) into one nice double CD set. This review should really end here. Two great albums and one amazing live EP into a convenient set should result in a great review, but I guess some sort of journalistic whatever means that I have to explain why that is so, so here goes. Before I screw this up, let me just say go buy the damn album.
I loved The Minutemen. I like that their songs were always quick bursts of fury about tons of things: Reagan foreign policy, cars, Marxism and tons of other things. They did this, and played it atop a chaotic and constantly shifting beat. If anything, they were a punk rock version of Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band. Then, after D. Boon died in a car crash the surviving members found a guy, ed fROMOHIO, and forged a new identity as the Minutemen. Sometimes they felt like a clone of the Minutemen, but most of the time they sounded like fIREHOSE. If anything they were a more accessible version of what the Minutemen were doing, and that doesn't mean dumbed down. fIREHOSE are a great, fun and energetic rock band. All over this anthology, it's displayed. The music is complicated, funky and always fun. But for me, the real star of this re-release is the inclusion of the Totem Pole EP.
For a long time, the Totem Pole EP was a used CD bin treasure. I have personally bought three different copies of the thing, loaned them out to people and never had them returned because it is so damn good. The covers that is contains: songs by Blue Oyster Cult, Public Enemy, the Butthole Surfer, Superchunk and Wire, are testaments to fIREHOSE's musical versatility and energy. Seriously, this EP is worth the twenty bucks you'll drop on the set, I guarantee.
People really overlook the power and awesomeness of fIREHOSE. But for a brief, pre-Nirvana period, they were right up there with Sonic Youth and Black Flag as standard bearers of the American Underground.
