Stopped With My Tracks

Being stopped in ones tracks is the bane of the easily surprised that's why I prefer to stop with my tracks. It's a life choice thing, you probably wouldn't understand. Hence I just sit down and listen to a few songs or an album or something. In my humble opinion it is vastly superior to the gut wrenching ache of those stopped in your track moments. But hey, it' just a ride.

It's coming up to six in the evening, I was meant to work but that did not come to fruition. I actually got up at 6.57 this morning, which really bummed me out. To make matters worse I had to lounge about a closed train station for an hour before giving up on the whole thing altogether. So now I am taking the time to stop with my tracks.

Indian Summer were an influential post hardcore band from the San Francisco bay area. There is precious little information available about them easily findable on the interweb. Although apparently they never named any of their songs and the songs have simply assumed the names that fans call them. Legendary for the gravity of the emotional experience one went through at their concerts. I have become particularly fond of Woolworm/Angry Son . It seems to have it all complete with a cathartic and powerful finish.

I listened to it with a friend the other day and whilst discussing it we took a trip down memory lane. It brought us around to Ultimate Spinach, a set of Boston based psych rockers. Their music has that almost buttery feel, lie paint sliding down a wall and oozing together at the base. Fifth Horseman Of The Apocalypse is split into 3 sections each as beguiling, intriguing and enjoyable as the last.

Bon Iver's new album, titled twice, for effect or maybe a subtle hint at some self perceived duality in the Bon Iver set up. Who knows? Title aside, which I really don't like. I can sometimes understand the use of the bands name as a debut album title. That is alright, like a 'hello this is us'. However for a second album, the title; 'Bon Iver, Bon Iver' let me down. It is though a fantastic album it has a certain ambient or soothing quality I love.

Peace

3 Catching This Eye

Morning, evening, night open the links in new tabs.

How is your eye? Mine is fine, 20, as is the other one. I skip and jump across the interweb trying to find something to listen to a number of times any given day. Mid skip and jump the other day I peered down at the screen and saw the big blonde head of Erika M Anderson. She shortens it to EMA when releasing music, which makes googling her a no-go zone, you just get loads of hits for the European Medicines Agency. This all means that when she gets picked up, polished up and handed repetitive dross to record she will have some brand new google friendly moniker. However right now she has released a corker, an absolute stonker of an album; Past Life Martyred Saints.

Pitchfork gave it a pretty good rating, so good that it made their uber cool 'best new music' section. Clipper Johnson (who will be sharing his thoughts on Nicolas Jaar soon) also e-mailed me with a youtube link to the track California.

 Leaving aside how epically cool Erika is behind that lies a brilliant song resplendent with dark lyrics and a strong and booming sound. The runaway tempo of the vocals runs perfectly on a slower treadmill of deep drum beats, deep key chords and a wandering synth line. 

The album as a whole is a powerful experience too, from the echoes of the Fake Plastic Trees bass line (1 minute or so in until it kicks in) present in the opening song; The Grey Ship.

To the impressive vocal harmonizing present on Coda to the six minute closing epic Red Star. As I listen to it and write this the Radiohead comparison jumps out at me again. The drone and synth opening could very easily be that of a song on In Rainbows minus the cymbals maybe. Erika's vocals then take over and she sings of a beautiful boy with green eyes. This is further augmented by the introduction of some gentle guitar interspersed around the song at the perfect time it seems.

I am still only in the very dormant stages of getting to know this album hence the slightly loopy feedback thusfar. She will be back here though!

Catching the other sectors of my eye, and ears of course, this week is Jeremy Messersmith. I have been listening to him quite extensively and am going to see him soon.

July 20th
Hotel Utah
500 4th St
(between Harrison St & Bryant St) 
San Francisco, CA 94107
Neighborhood: SOMA


That is where it as at folks. I'll buy a drink for anyone who actually goes having read this, email me for details, we'll call it a competition! 

Rounding up tonights three is Nicolas Jaar. You will be getting to read a piece about him in the next few days. His unique brand of laid back techno deserves more than this cursory mention. 

So that is that. 

Generic title, writing about The Antlers again.

In a nightmare, I am falling from the ceiling into bed beside you. You're asleep, I'm screaming, shoving you trying to wake you up.And like before you've got no interest in the life you live when you're awake. Your dreams will follow storylines, like fictions you would wake.

I've said it before, and you know what? Hot damnit I shall say it again: THE ANTLERS! I was lucky enough to see them a while back in Chicago. I was given the tickets for my birthday by my girlfriend. I was also urged by a close friend and musician (Clipper Johnson) who you will be hearing from soon to post an immediate review of the gig.

I contemplated running back to my apartment and posting it, like an eager little bear. In the end I decided not to as I was having trouble with bed bugs. I really was, it was terrible. In some ways I am glad I held back with the review of the gig. Of late my page views have showed an alarming dip, I am a bit obsessed with the page views. Sad, I know. So know, just in order to rally against the diminished views I will write a piece so captivating, so fucking eloquent, that it will grab the attention of the world at large.And so concludes my apology for not posting a piece on the gig any sooner.

It was fantastic, truly mind-blowing, spiritual and orgasmic, it really delivered. From the moment we walked in, collected a JD and coke from the bar to the final round of applause it was a breathtaking few hours. Peter and the band took the stage in an unassuming having all been out to fine tune their set-ups. They smacked of a group of guys who cared for their music. They opened with Parantheses, a track from the new album; Burst Apart. In all they played nine from Burst Apart and four from Hospice. I was lucky enough to have listened to Burst Apart extensively and so the emphasis on it was to my liking. I would reason that to the Hospice fan it could have been a let down.

I reckon, personally, as time has gone on, that Burst Apart is a better album in it's entirety than Hospice, even if Hospice, maybe contains the highest points the band has reached. Kettering was played next and it was amazing. Judge for yourself (open in new tab or this page will move to), go on read the rest of it. Silbermans falsetto vocals were the highpoint of the night. It was a great joy to realise he does not need auto tuning or other record company shit.

The next song; No Widows was probably my discovery of the night. Pre-gig I considered it a good album track, not much more. Re-listening to it now brings me back to it's opening bars at the gig. I was immediately transfixed, the echoing melody simply entraps me. 'No shirts to hang or fold, no kids out in the cold,no widows on the wall, no widows on the phone'. The melancholic singing combines with the positive words to create a beautiful contradiction, a true expression of sorrow in joy.

Every Night My Teeth Are Falling Out is one of my stand out tracks from Burst Apart. Sadly not from the gig I was at, the song is undeniably interesting. There is a fantastic scope, and the vocals are again interesting and compelling. 'You and I; divorced but not devoured, every night my teeth are falling out'. The interesting lyrics and equally interesting delivery combine to create a very good song here.

They closed with Wake, THEY CLOSED WITH WAKE, they closed with wake. It was sublime, beautiful and amazing and really good and just fucking great. I have it recorded on my shitty Nokia. I am not going to rave about it here. Just listen to it. Go on buy the album!

The picture above is a picture from the gig and it's taken from roughly where I was standing from what I can tell.

Peace

My Threesome, of remixes.

I feel lazy so I think I am just going to embed three little remixes I have been taken with recently and you can do the analysis or just listen to them maybe, or not. I don't care, I am taking a hard to get approach with this.


First up Nicolas Jaar brings his funky percussion and laid back techno style to an Ellen Allien track from the brilliant album Dust

Next in line is a slowed down, indie'd up take on The Suburbs by Arcade Fire. It slows it down and chills it out, so that it barely resembles the pulsating anthem we thought we knew.

In third place, which I was always told is nothing to be ashamed of is Miami Horrors reworking of Gorillaz Empire Ants. I enjoy it most at the start of an evening of drinking. You might enjoy it in other scenarios, I wouldn't judge.

Thoughts on a postcard or in the comment box

Peace

EXCLUSIVE - Youth Lagoon: E-mail Interview

Following on from the discovery of Youth Lagoon's Soundcloud page. I e-mailed Trevor Powers, the man behind the music, and mooted the idea of an e-mail interview. So here we are, this column is losing it's interview virginity.

1)  Can you tell us a little about yourself and where you are from etc?

    

   My name is Trevor William Powers and I was raised in Boise, ID. I spend a lot of my spare time laying in parks. Or going to shows at a small dive bar called the Neurolux in downtown Boise. 

 

2) What is in the pipeline for Youth Lagoon, new material upcoming etc?

  

      I am going to have my debut album coming out soon..  It will be entitled The Year of Hibernation. I have recently signed with a label and am going to be announcing everything including the release date shortly. 

3) In terms of your music are you trying to create something beautiful or are you trying to tell us something? (basically just is your musical concept aesthetically based or is it a medium of communication for you?

      I would say that my music is definitely something aimed more at myself. I mean that in the way that my music is very personal. A lot of it is built around the anxiety I have struggled with my whole life and turning that into music. Not just my anxiety, but all kinds of things I have spinning around in my mind or memories I am still dealing and struggling with. I realize that if I am honest in my music, other people will be able to relate to it. And I think there is definitely a certain beauty in that. 

4) If you were faced with a two hour car drive with two strangers what two albums would you bring for the journey?

       Ahh soo tough.  At this point, I'd have to say Cass McCombs' "Wit's End" and I'd probably put my buddies TEENS track "Die With You" on repeat..

Once again folks and folkettes you can listen to Youth Lagoon by clicking on this link and I highly recommend you do. Because, you know what? It's fucking fantastic.

Peace

Youth Lagoon

It is a Wednesday, which I generally prefer to Tuesday. Tuesday is in my weighty opine the worst day of the week. I mean one has a real genuine reason to hate Monday as you have to start a whole new week which requires effort. Wednesdays are cool as you are over the hump and nearly there. Tuesday though just gets in the way, I would like to get rid of Tuesdays.

However given that is not likely to happen I might just instead listen to some Youth Lagoon. Hailing from Boise in Idaho, I like to think it is pronounced Boyz-ee, I am not sure though. Trevor Powers is the man behind the music. As of now there are just three songs on the Youth Lagoon Soundcloud.

Montana, Cannons and July, which is of no relation to the celtic power ballad disasterama that is Mundy's July. Youth Lagoon manage to create that dreamy atmospheric sound augmented rather than dominated by some luscious vocalization. The variety of instrumentation too is striking with many any interesting jingle and jangle to be heard, especially around the minute mark of Cannons where there is a lovely soft intro followed by the introduction of a jaunty banjo-esque sound.

Youth Lagoon's July is probably my pick of the bunch, the slow vocal laden introduction just covering a gentle echoing keyboard section is peaceful and atmospheric. It slowly picks up as the keys become more prominent before like the song gracefully takes flight.Once again it is the slow melodic tinkling rhythm that seems to be the strongest part of Youth Lagoon's music that dominates. Haunting almost Antlers-esque vocals drop over the instrumentals and fade as the instrumentation picks up again. The wonderful combination of synth loops, keys and bells continues as the vocals build in both volume and intensity. We are brought back down to earth gently via another gentle soothing keyboard piece as the song ends.

It could be dangerous to make a bold prediction based on three songs alone. But there is no need for such future clamouring when right now there are 3 fantastic songs that will provide a truly terrific 13 minute cigarette break for anybody. Yes, anybody.

Peace

Musings 2: Blonde On Blonde and Blood On The Tracks

They lie next to each other in most people’s I-Tunes or alphabetised record collections. Be the latter, wish I was. They lie next to each other in terms of the object of the albums. They also lie next to each other in terms of legacy and in a word brilliance. Dylan’s two great odes to Sara Dylan; Blonde On Blonde and Blood On The Tracks.

So that ugly question rears its head; which is better? First of all to try and retain some veneer of intelligence let me rephrase the question. Which do you find preferable? Both are truly superb albums BOB being slightly more upbeat whereas BOTT is, as attested by Hank Moody, a sublimely melancholic heart break album.

All sorts of highlights everywhere; the jangling almost Let It Be-esque piano on You’re A Big Girl Now, the howling chorus on Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again’. The opening tracks; Rainy Day Woman and Tangled Up In Blue are damn near inseparable. Charles Cross biography of Jimi Hendrix contains a wonderful anecdote about the first time Hendrix listened to BOB with Linda Keith (then boyfriend of Keith Richards whilst Hendrix was a struggling guitarist in Harlem). It tells further of his first acid trip and his reaction (delight and awe) to the opening track. No such succinct anecdote for Tangled Up In Blue. Although I did hear it on the radio in a doctor’s waiting room in Chicago, not bad really. It made the waiting room a little more entertaining. The only magazines they had were ‘Healthy Pregnancy’ (5 issues) and ‘Disney Life’ (2 issues, the second of which was dire).

The first two big-super-massive stand out songs for me are Visions of Johanna and I Want You on BOB, conversely the only equally impressive song on BOTT is If You See Her, Say Hello. Visions is an awe inspiring song, its epic length never threatens to cheapen its effect. The initial description of long empty nights is so beautifully poignant. Dylan’s voice recalls gently over the snapping cymbals a whole series of images, metaphors and more beautiful images. The drawn out singing of ‘That conquer my mind’ certainly makes me conscious of the effect of his mind being conquered. I Want You is a completely different song, it has a jangle and a swagger to it. The over emphasis of the final word on most lines in the verses and the stress on want in the chorus line is a perfect yet subtle opposite and a nod to Dylan’s mastery of words. My favourite Dylan lyrics, ever and of all time are also in this song, so it sort of has to get a mention from me. ‘And I wait for them to interrupt, me drinking from this broken cup’. I won’t even get into it, it is further down the blog in the piece about Springsteen’s cover of the song. Go on, go find it, the increased page views will tickle me with all seven shades of delight.

My personal decision on the two albums lies with If You See Her Say Hello. Consider the album, devoted to the divorce with Sara Dylan and the suddenly the meaning is clear. It is his closure, the return of the natural good will that is the result of sharing so much happiness with someone. This is the same Sara, the subject of Sara on the album Desire. He recounts to her in that song that he stayed up in the Chelsea Hotel, writing Sad Eyed Lady for (you). Sad Eyed Lady Of The Lowlands, which took up one entire side of the LP on release is another epic love song and showcases the strength of feeling he had for his wife.

I have always felt that it is easier to fall in love than to climb out of the hell hole that follows and so in it’s relatively miniscule length (about 35% as long as Sad Eyed Lady) it manages to do a whole lot more. The pain in BOTT is somehow more appealing to me than the more mirthful BOB, a heartbreak album just somehow means more. I guess the slightly lower profile appeals to me too. Bring up Dylan and most pseudo intellectual muso’s can tell you all about how great Just Like A Woman is, think of that scene in Annie Hall when he goes out for a date with the Rolling Stone journalist. I think it is knowing those first few lines; ‘If you see her say hello, she might be in Tangiers, she let here last early spring, is living there I hear, say for me that I’m alright, though things get kind slow, she might think that I’ve forgotten her, go tell her it isn’t so’. It is all there, the time away from her and his dealing with it. He has gone on to remember her fondly;’ if you get close to her, give her a kiss from me’, and ‘oh whatever makes her happy, I won’t stand in her way’. The sheer emotion contained in this song is indicative of the album as a whole and for that I think it just shades it for me. So there you go, if you like misery, you might prefer Blood On The Tracks!

Peace