Lost At Sea: My Review of Heather Nova's "300 Days At Sea"

Heather Nova

This is the first time in more than fifteen years that I have purchased a Heather Nova album.  And that is something since her music was so important to me all through the '90s.

In the mid-90s, a plethora of female folk singers emerged.  When I first heard of Heather Nova - along with her breakthrough single "Walk This World" - I remember that I confused her with Jewel, because they both broke onto the scene around the same time.  Who could blame me for my confusion?  Two blonde hippie chicks with guitars.  Now it is laughable that I ever confused them.

Around 1996, my wife and I moved to our Arizona ranch, off grid, with no neighbors for miles.  My older brother, who lived in Salt Lake City, and, hence, had better access to new music than me, sent me a mix tape.  There were some Heather Nova songs on there.  They were raw, angry, and haunting.  This was not Jewel.  My next trip to the city, I bought her sophomore album, "Oyster".  This immediately became one of my favorite albums.  I still consider it one of the best albums of the '90s, if not the best.  What's not to like?  A sandy-haired beauty from Bermuda, singing poignant pieces like "Island", a bittersweet piece with her breathy voice, an acoustic guitar, and a cello.  It was magical.

Over the next several years, I kept up with Heather Nova with her next couple of albums.  But then I lost touch.  She lost much of her audience in the States, but continued to be popular in Europe.  So I decided to check out her newest album, "300 Days At Sea", which came out in 2012.

Right away, I must state that this is a really good album.  But it is not "Oyster".  It lacks the intensity, the rawness, the magic of "Oyster".  "Oyster" will remain one of my favorite albums of all time.  But "300 Days At Sea" will never occupy that slot.  It will never be more than a good listen that I break out every now and then.

Don't get me wrong.  It is a good album.  But how do you top perfection?  There are some really good moments.  The album starts off with a beautiful pop seashell called "Beautiful Ride".  Other notables are "Save a Little Piece of Tomorrow", "Higher Ground", and "Do Something that Scares You".  This album is chock-full of seafaring metaphors in the lyrics, which is appropriate since she grew up on a boat.  The only songs that approach the greatness of "Oyster" are the acoustic pieces "Everything Changes" and "Stay".  These two songs possibly make the entire album worth it.

It is possibly impossible to expect our favorite artists to maintain any level of perfection.  But it is nice to know that I can get lost at sea with a masterpiece, "Oyster".

Happy 35th Birthday, 4AD!!

In 1979, Ivo Watts-Russell left British record label, Beggar's Banquet, and formed a label of his own called 4AD which put out some of the most original and artistic music of the '80s.  Thirty-five years later, it is still producing incredible music and setting trends.  For the 35th anniversary of the label, many blogs have been compiling lists of their favorite moments.  Since 4AD has been an important part of my musical tastes since their label was only six years-old, I decided to post ten of my favorite albums produced by this iconic label.

1.  Wolfgang Press "Standing Up Straight" (1986) - A practically forgotten gem, this band was known to blend gothic and post-punk influences with funk, and, later in their career, electronic funk, having done covers of both Simon & Garfunkel and Aretha Franklin.  Their signature sound was often discordant guitars following danceable rhythms as well as Michael Allen's deep, bellowing voice.  They have left their mark on many modern bands like Modest Mouse.  The signature songs here on their sophomore album are "Hammer the Halo" with its wistful acoustic guitar and morose keyboards with Allen croaking his unintelligible yet poetic lyrics.  The album finishes out with a sweeping orchestral arrangement with Elizabeth Frasier from Cocteau Twins singing background vocals on a track called "I Am the Crime."

2.  TV On the Radio "Dear Science" (2007) - It really wasn't until this Brooklyn band's third album that I started to give them a serious listen, even though I had a friend from Belgium suggest them to me many years earlier.  I admit, I checked them out only when I learned of their 4AD affiliation, and I'm glad that I did.  From first listen, the opening track "Halfway Home" is fast and furious, but with soft, ambient sounds in the background that seemed almost typical of 4AD.  But I loved it.  The gentle ebb tide of sound in "Family Tree" seemed strongly reminiscent of This Mortal Coil.  There are other scintillating gems on here, like the infectious "Dancing Choose", and the ominous "DLZ",  The latter song was featured in "Breaking Bad" in the second season in the moment in the Home Depot parking lot.  I am sure you remember the moment - when Walter White goes from a devoted father to a real drug dealer.  The song was perfect for the moment.

3.  Dead Can Dance - "Dead Can Dance/ Garden of the Arcane Delights" (1984) - Dead Can Dance emerged from the punk scene of the late 1970s in Melbourne, Australia.  Many of the members lived in a type of commune where everyone would get together and make music on whatever they could find - pots, pans, etc.  Once they signed on 4AD and relocated to Great Britain, their sound became grandiose, tribal, and orchestral, sounding like a pagan Renaissance Fair.  But I always go back to their first album - which is sold now in combination with their follow-up EP, "Garden of the Arcane Delights".  Their sound on these recordings are much more stripped down, more gothic, mostly straight up bass-guitar-drums arrangements.  But there hints of more unconventional sounds to come.  For instance, on "Frontier" the band is at its unpolished best using oil drums filled with water for rhythm with Lisa Gerrard wailing nonsensical noises for vocals.  In "Ocean" and "Musica Eternal", Lisa Gerrard moans sadly over her hammered dulcimer to create some of the most haunting songs you will ever hear.

4.  The Breeders "Pod" (1990) - Most people remember The Breeders for their 1993 hit "Cannonball", the anthem of the early '90s alternative scene, but, to me, their first album is much more interesting.  Kim Deal, former bassist for Pixies, formed a side project with Tanya Donelly (whom I had a chance to meet in 1989) of both Throwing Muses and frontwoman for Belly.  What resulted was a minimalist, simple pop masterpiece that is catchy as hell.  To me, "Doe" is the perfect song with Kim Deal's soft voice and Tanya Donelly's driving guitar.  It ,mixes the best of both bands - Pixies and Throwing Muses - evidence that there was indeed a "sound" to come out of Boston, much like Seattle had its own sound.  Other notable songs are "When I Was a Painter" with its fiddle, and "Fortunately Gone" with its stark lyrics.  Tanya Donelly left after this album, and Kim Deal recruited her sister.  Follow-up albums were good, but none of them grabbed me as much as this first one.

5.  Bon Iver "Blood Bank" (2009) - This four-song EP is the perfect example of the diversity that 4AD strives for, every artist usually adept at creating rich musical landscapes.  This EP is also a perfect example of Bon Iver's sound, which could be called folk music, but is much more.  This is mood music, perfect for reading a book in front of a fire on a cold winter morning.  "Babys" with it's hypnotic piano and the quavering alto of Justin Vernon's voice.  In "Woods", it is just digitally layering of his voice into an emotive a capella piece.  (Kanye West eventually sampled the vocals of this song to create his own pop song.)  "Beach Baby", with its acoustic and sliding guitars, is a genuine slice of Americana.  My favorite song is the title track, "Blood Bank".  It is amazing that a man can make such stirring music with limited instruments and his voice.  There is a reason this guy has won a Grammy.  This EP is a perfect example to show why.

6.  Cocteau Twins "Love's Easy Tears" (1986) - Of course, I can't compile a list of 4AD music without including Cocteau Twins, who are my favorite.  By the time they released this, their 9th EP - along with a handful of albums, they were finally discovering their sound, straying away from the gothic of their early days and starting to play with the experimental textures that they had already been playing with.  In truth, this album is markedly influenced by the Phil Spektor jangle pop sound of the 1960s.  And it is through this sound that Cocteau Twins influenced single-handedly influenced the entire shoegaze movement that was born out of fandom.  I never tire of this EP.  Everyone celebrates Elizabeth Frasier's angelic voice - and it shines here - but my favorite is Robin Guthrie's unusual guitar techniques.  One critic once described it as "feather light guitars that sound like anything other than a guitar."  Guthrie makes a sonic wash that rolls right over you.  My favorite track is "Those Eyes, That Mouth" that starts our sweet and jubilant and ends in a wall of noise like a tsunami with Frasier's voice flitting like a sweet bird over the waves.

7.  Throwing Muses "The Real Ramona"  (1991) -  My favorite Throwing Muses album, which may surprise people that I favor it over "House Tornado" or even "Hunkpapa".  Often called the most "pop" of this Boston quartet's releases, it is still as explosive and charming as their other albums.  Emerging from the underground rock scene of the late '80s, Throwing Muses solidified themselves as the darlings of the '90s alternative scene with an album that was catchy with hooks that will ensnare your skin and pull you into the groove.  I had the chance of seeing Throwing Muses about a year before this album.  What struck me was that they were all very short, but they rocked hard and loud.  The reason I like this album is that it catches the essence of their live shows.  The highlights of this album are Tanya Donelly taking over lead vocals from Kristin Hersh on the bubbly "Not Too Soon" and the languid "Two Step" which starts subtle and builds to an amazing crescendo.  Definitely one of my favorite albums.

8.  Clan of Xymox "Clan of Xymox"  (1985)  - This album was perfect for a moody kid with goth tendencies.  At age 16, I used to love to read Anne Rice, and this album was the perfect soundtrack for those novels.  I remember riding on a train to Mazatlan, Mexico as a teenager, listening to these songs on my Walkman, standing between train cars, using the music as a narrative for the subtropical landscape.  My favorite song is "7th Time" with its heavy bass and percussion offset by haunting keyboards and Anka Wolbert's breathy voice.  My favorite songs are always Anka Wolbert's songs.  When legendary BBC deejay John Peel heard "7th Time", he invited them into his studio and dubbed the name "darkwave". Yes, it has a New Wave feel to it, but its arrangements are orchestral, acoustic, and electronic all at the same time, creating moody textures that appealed to me as a teen, and they still speak to me.  Other songs of note are "A Day", "Stumble and Fall", "Cry in the Wind", and "Stranger", every song depressing enough to suit the tastes of an angst-ridden teen.  The remastered digital format includes an additional track - "Muscoviet Musquito" - which is one of the best examples of a Xymox song.

9.  Lush "Mad Love"  (1990) - Lush emerged in the 1990s and was one of the first bands to receive the designation of "shoegaze",along with My Bloody Valentine and Catherine Wheel.  I have explained that shoegaze was so named for it's trendy, artsy musicians who preferred to look at their shoes in contemplation while they played their instruments rather than engage their audience.  It is characterized by soft, sometimes whispered, vocals drowned out by the white noise of swirling blurry guitars.  This EP was my first exposure to Lush,  I was going off to college and listened to this cassette very often.  (I still own the cassette.)  The first time I heard Meriel Barham's vocals, I instantly compared her style to Liz Frasier from Cocteau Twins.  The guitars - with all of their distortion and effects - reminded me of Robin Guthrie.  In fact, Cocteau Twins are the parents of all shoegaze bands.  Yes, a big claim, but prove me wrong.  Notable songs are "De Luxe", "Leaves Me Cold", and "Thoughtforms".

10.  This Mortal Coil "Filigree & Shadow" (1986) - This Mortal Coil was a project formed by 4AD head honcho, Ivo Watts-Russell, along with John Fryer.  The purpose was to showcase various artists from the 4AD catalog.  For instance, this album contains members from Cocteau Twins, Dead Can Dance, Colourbox, Dif Juz, and Wolfgang Press, along with frequently used sessions musicians, Alison Limmerick and Caroline Seaman,  Most of the songs are instrumental, but there are several covers of '60s and '70s psychedelic and folk artists.  There are covers here from Tim Buckley (late father of the late Jeff Buckley), Van Morrison, Wire, and Talking Heads.  This is a great concept album.  It is soft, emotional with innovative engineering that inserts samples and odd sounds, along with repetitive themes, through all of the songs, giving it a feverish, dreamy feel.  There is no one song that stands out, because it is meant to be listened in one sitting.  When I first bought this in 1986, it was a bulky double-album with lots of grainy, artsy, black and white photos provided by 23 Envelope, 4AD's graphic design wing.  I still love this album.  Check out "Come Here My Love" for the perfect example of TMC's ethereal sound.

The Cult of Dum Dum: My Review of Dum Dum Girl's "Too True"

Dum Dum Girls

I love this kind of stuff.  Phil Spector-influenced, '60s-tinged jangle-pop spruced with swirling psychedelia.  Females singers donning beehives, gloves up to the elbow, and dark eyeliner, their voices chiming to the swirling, fetching melody.  Even though it was before my time, I loved that music from the '60s - The Ronettes, The Shangri-Las...  And in the '80s, I liked stuff that was influenced by that era - The Primitives, The Stone Roses, The Jesus & Mary Chain...  The music that Spector produced in the '60s has an admitted influence on the shoegaze music of today.  It has permeated many of the reviews I have done lately like The Head & the Heart, Lucius, Sleigh Bells, and others.  And Dum Dum Girls seem to be the leader of the pack, so to speak.

Coming out of Los Angeles about six years ago, formed by Dee Dee Penny, armed with the same producer of such '60s acts as The Angels and The Strangeloves, as well as Richard Hell, Blondie, and The Raveonettes, Dum Dum Girls belted out three albums and a handful of EPs.  They once had Frankie Rose as a member, whom I have reviewed.

Yes, this is music lost in the past, but you had better pay attention to it.  Because it is relevant and hip.  This is the music that is happening, not the shit currently on the radio.

"Too True" is their third effort, released on the iconic Subpop Records, and what an effort.  It will screw itself into your veins and twist through your frame until you are moving - dancing, tapping your finger, doesn't matter.  Moving is obligatory.  The music has has a smoky, seedy vibe like songs played from the back of a dirty, beer-stained club.  Like something from a Twin Peaks episode.  The sounds are infectious.  These are songs that will stay with you.

My favorite track is the opening track, "Cult of Love", which has found its way onto all of my mix CDs as of late.  Other notables are "Rimbaud Eyes", "Too Good To Be True", "In the Wake of You", "Lost Boys & Girls Club", "Little Minx", and "Trouble Is My Name".

This record is definitely groovy.  Check it out.

Crossing Over: My Review of +++ (Crosses)

Chino Moreno & Shaun Lopez of +++

For clarity, I state up front that the name of this band is the cipher "+++", and you pronounce this as "Crosses".

A great part of my youth in the '80s was spent listening to metal bands like Slayer, Napalm Death, DRI, and others.  In the '90s, it seemed like metal was making an innovative comeback with bands like Korn.  In 1996, I remember sitting in my car in a parking lot in the tiny Arizona town of St. Johns with a Kelly Morales (now the bassist of Arizona metal band, Dead Light Shines).  Kelly was in high school and one of the only other people into obscure metal in this cow town.  In the tape deck was a mix tape sent to me by my brother Tony, another metalhead, living in Utah.  For the first time, we both listed to "Root" by The Deftones.  It blew me away - it's progressive changes from soft to raw, unlike any other thrash band I had heard up to this point.  The aspect that I liked the most was Chino Moreno's voice.  At one instant, his vocals sounding like he was gargling glass shards and bleach, and the next taking on a sultry, breathy "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" vibe.  It was different, but it fit.

Deftones remained a favorite of mine for many years afterwards.  In fact, "Change (In the House of Flies)" remains one of my favorite songs of all time, transcending the metal genre and veering into '80s-style gothic and shoegaze.

That is why I was so excited to learn of Chino's new project, along with longtime friend, Shaun Lopez - a project called cryptically +++, with an album with the same designation.  This would be a departure from Deftone's signature sound and a foray into ambient, trip hop, and witch house (one of my favorite new genres) with Chino's voice as the centerpiece.

I have to admit - the idea of this album is much better than the finished product.  Don't get me wrong.  There are many things that are really good about this album.  I wanted so bad for this album to grab me, to seize me and not let go.  But frankly, I can scarcely get through all fifteen songs in one sitting.

As with most ambient music, this album is better left playing in the background during, say, a dinner party, lightly decorating the background than actively sitting and listening to it.  There are some songs that have already found their way onto all of my mix playlists as of late - like "Bitches Brew" and "The Epilogue",  These are great songs.  The whole album feature's Chino's suave Marilyn Monroe voice, and the beats are hypnotic and mellow.  There are several other good songs like "This Is a Trick", "Trophy", "Nineteen Eighty Seven", and "Prurient".

But ultimately, it has been so long since my last review, because I was trying to give this album a fair chance.  And it was just hard to get through.  Best just download the tracks I mentioned above.

The Best Band in the World - Review of Silversun Pickups' "The Singles Collection"

Silversun Pickups

Is it really time for a greatest hits album??  It seems just like yesterday that I was reviewing Silversun Pickup's third album, "Neck of the Woods".  Do I really need to buy a greatest hits album when I own every album, every EP that this band has released.  Yes.  Yes, I do.  And why?

Because this band is the best band to come out in the last ten years.  No lie.  They are that good.

The pounding basslines of Nikki Monninger, the unrelenting drum beats of Chris Guanloa, all given texture by the eerie keyboards of Joe Lester, all cemented together by the flawless guitar-work of Brian Aubert, who sometimes sings softly in a strangely calming and lilting voice, and then sometimes reverts to screaming with rage.  The darlings of the shoegaze set, this music switches from ethereal and dreamlike in one instant to explosive and raw the next.  These are musician's musicians.  I have spent countless hours on YouTube, watching their live performances, amazed at how technically precise they are, whether in an arena before throngs of fans, or small intimate acoustic sets.  These are musicians who cherish their craft, and they are oh, so good at what they do.

"The Singles Collection" starts aptly with "Kissing Families", one of my favorite songs off of their first EP.  Driven by the rhythm guitar, this song has a haunting cello solo contrasted with the final verse being screamed in a way that would make Pixies' Black Francis proud.  This song was my ringback tone for a long time, at least a year.  The collection then switches to their hits from the first album - the ubiquitous "Lazy Eye", which was my first exposure to this group from California, and the catchy "Well Thought Out Twinkles".

With their second album, they started to find their ground, and the songs represented have the otherwordly, layered sound that they are known from - starting with the angry, plaintive "Panic Switch" to the jubilant "Substitution" to "The Royal We", which I think is one of the greatest pieces ever written.

The collection then bridges to the third album, which contains two of my favorite songs by this group.  "The Pit" with its groovy EDM beat.  The way Aubert combines his spooky guitar strumming in conjunction with Lester's keyboards is delicious.  The song ends on an emotional high with Aubert's expansive falsetto crashing above the other instruments.  "Dots and Dashes (Enough Already)" is probably, hands down, my favorite song by Silversun Pickups.  The lyrics are stark and relevant to my life.  I love how the bass drives us mercilessly though the verses, and how the chorus is pounding.  Then the song dissolves into a wash of shoegaze noise that would make the Cocteau Twins proud.

The only new song on this collection is "Cannibal".  The band continues with their heavy usage of electronica, like they did on their last album.  The beat hits us with one crash after another in accompaniment to distorted guitars, all falling into place and rising in crescendo to a fever pitch, creating a master pop song.

For those who have not been exposed to Silversun Pickups' music, this collection is a good place to start.  My only disappointment is that they included none of the songs from the "Seasick" EP, which in my opinion is some of their strongest work.  Still, this is a good place to start.

Mirror, Mirror, Lucius Is the Coolest One of All

Lucius

So this review follows my recent penchant for mid-'60s inspired pop music.  New York's Lucius follows in this vein, similar to other bands I have reviewed, like The Head & the Heart, except better.  Their debut, "Wildewoman", is a strong introduction into the music community.  Turn on your lava lamps and get your groove on, because this album will find an immovable niche in your brain.

Their ensemble is led by two female singer/ keyboardists - Jess Wolf and Holly Laessig.  The two create some deep vocal harmonies that are, again reminiscent of the '60s.  In their videos, they seem to cash in on this kitsch, wearing their hair and clothing like they did in that era, even dancing like they did then.  Does anyone remember The B-52s?  In the videos, there seems to be a common theme, that each singer is a reflection of the other.  Their resemblance is uncanny, but they way they mirror each other and compliment each other in the music works very well.

This record begins with the title track, "Wildewoman", that recounts the description of some fiery woman, sounding very much like it could be sung by The Everly Brothers.  The second track, the main single called "Turn It Around" sets its groove with some funky keyboards and a clapping rhythm.  Their voices shimmer like light on the water.

Some of the songs take on a bit of the swampy delta blues as in "Go Home" and "Nothing Ordinary".  Some songs are shimmering pop gems like "Hey, Doreen", "Until We Find Love", and "Don't Just Sit There".  Other songs are breathy and subdued, suggestive of Bon Iver or Iron & Wine, like "Monsters" and one of my favorites, "Two Of Us On the Run".  Perhaps the song that stands out the most of all and best reflects this particular set of musicians is "Tempest".  If anything, at least check this out.

I highly recommend Lucius.  If you are looking for something different, something out of the mainstream, then this is the band for you.  It would be better if you wore a beehive while gyrating to their sounds.

Sweet Distortion: Retro Review of "The Jesus & Mary Chain's "Psychocandy"

The Jesus & Mary Chain

After a year or two of moping to sad synthpop like Depeche Mode, in early 1986, I was ready to get back into rock.  I wasn't ready to foray back into metal; I wanted something different.  That's when I came across "Psychocandy" by The Jesus & Mary Chain.  This album was perfect for a kid who spent his lunch money buying used paisley shirts from the thrift shop.  The whole album had a '60s vibes, similar to The Shangri-Las or The Ronettes or any of the stuff Phil Spector was producing back then.  "Psychocandy" was a great album and became one of my favorites.  The vocals were soft and breathy.  The guitars were full of feedback and distortion, creating a foggy and dreamlike feel - dark, depressed, moody.  Perfect for a 16 year-old self-styled poet.

The Jesus & Mary Chain weren't necessarily the first.  There were bands like Felt who had a similar style.   But they certainly were the most influential.  There were many bands who came along who imitated their sound - The Primitives, The Stone Roses, and even Mazzy Star.  The Jesus & Mary Chain laid the whole foundation for the shoegaze scene that would start soon after, an influence that continues into our day.  They entered public consciousness again when their song "Just Like Honey" played during a pivotal scene in the film "Lost in Translation".

I had  not owned this album since back in the day, so I recently downloaded it.  Of course, the whole album is great.  But I seem to be a child that has been spoiled by digital quality.  The production value of the engineering is not so great, making it hard for me to listen to it at times.  Maybe this is petty, but there are some pretty great songs here, and I can't add them to any mixes I make because the recording level is incongruous with other songs I am listening to.  Perhaps this grittiness and messiness was always part of their appeal.  So the album has to stand on its own.

Like I said, there are many great songs here, one barrage of sweet distortion after another, from "The Living End" and "Taste the Floor" to "Never"Understand" and "You Trip Me Up".  Of course, most people remember "Just Like Honey", but my favorite song will be "The Hardest Walk".  It takes me back to my teen years.

There is a new album and a tour.  But honestly, I could not get into The Jesus & Mary Chain beyond their debut album.  It is nice, though, to know that they still blowing out speakers on a stage somewhere.

Talk About Our Generation: Review of Johnny Marr's "The Messenger"

Johnny Marr

Earlier this year, I watched Johnny Marr perform a couple of songs on Jimmy Fallon.  He performed "Generate! Generate!" from his new solo album, and then he did a exquisite rendition of The Smith's "Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want" that made me realize something that I had never considered.  But I will get to that in a moment.

How do I describe what The Smiths meant to me?  I had a friend, Melisa back when I was 16.  There are two people from my youth in the '80s who introduced me to more music than anyone else, and Melisa was one of them.  She always knew who the up and coming musicians were.  She always dressed in black, and my mother used to call her "The Black Widow".  At the end of 1985, she lent me a couple of records on vinyl.  One was The Stranglers.  The other was the eponymous album by The Smiths.  No one else even knew who The Smiths were.  Within a year and a half, "The Queen Is Dead" exploded onto the alternative scene (a term we didn't even know back then.)  "The Queen Is Dead" became our banner - jangle pop guitars delivered by Johnny Marr, and vocals dripping with semi-sarcastic lyrics by the suave Morrissey.  There is no way to describe what this music meant to me as an angst-ridden youth.  It perfectly reflected how I felt and how I viewed life.  And then almost as quickly as they came into my life, they were gone.  They broke up.

MTV's 120 Minutes was filled with Morrissey's solo efforts.  But honestly, none of it ever spoke to me.  I know that there are people that hang on Moz's every word, every drip of sweat from his now-bloated face.  But I have always found his solo stuff pretentious and stuffy.  Morrissey has become an icon, not an artist.

I never heard much about what Johnny Marr was doing until he linked up with one of my favorite bands, Modest Mouse, in 2006.  Now, this was a band that I already liked.  But the album he recorded with them, "We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank", was explosive.  It's hard to explain how much better Marr made Modest Mouse than they were before.  I was sad when he left.

So back to Marr's performance on Jimmy Fallon.  His version of "Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want" was even better than the original, if that is possible.  How do you make the perfect song even better than it was before?  It was then that I realized something - that the true creative genius was Johnny Marr  Yes, Morrissey added a lot.  But it is any wonder that the band collapsed after Marr left in 1987?  He was the spark that made everything work.

And this point is proven again in Johnny Marr's solo album, "The Messenger".

Anyone expecting another Smiths album - leave that notion at the proverbial door.  Sure, there are a few elements, a few moments where it reminds me of The Smiths.  But that is where it ends.  This album gyrates furiously.  It is definitely a guitar-driven rock album, and Marr shows that age and time have not slowed him down at all.  These songs will seize you, stare you in the face, and not let go until you are convinced of their relevance.

The album starts great with "The Right Thing Right" with a pounding beat and heavy bass groove.  The guitar scratches out a danceable cadence.  My wife even points out that Marr has a great voice.  He makes the transition from saw man to front man with ease.  He was born for this.  "I Want the Heartbeat" and "Sun & Moon" go right into a full-frontal attack that would make Deep Purple proud.  My favorite songs are the catchy "European Me", "Generate! Generate!", and the subdued "Say Demesne".  "New Town Velocity" is also one of my preferred songs, maybe because it has a The Church vibe.

I am well pleased with Johnny Marr's solo effort.  He has proven his point.  He is a guitar god.  He is a song-writing genius.  He has everything that made The Smiths great.  Even still, patch your shit up with Morrissey and bring back one last tour with Moz and the gang.  Thanks.

Lazy Summer Music: Review of The Head and the Heart

The Head & the Heart

During the new wave of folk music during the '80s, it was about R.E.M., Suzanne Vega, Indigo Girls, 10,000 Maniacs, and Innocence Mission.  I was very much on board with it.  There has been a resurgence of folk music in recent years - Fleet Foxes, Iron & Wine, Bon Iver, and Mumford & Sons.  Seattle's The Head & the Heart is part of that movement.

Signed to the revered Sub Pop Records, "Let's Be Still" is their second release and is a very good way to be introduced to their music, which is soft and languid.  This is a very beautiful album.  They experiment with lavish vocal harmonies of both male and female voices, using a multitude of instruments, the fiddle, piano, harmonica, and string arrangements.  This album is happy like a stroll down a country road with trees bejeweled with blossoms and sweet pollen in the air.

"Homecoming Heroes" starts of this album with a piano so sweet it's like tasting honey right from the comb.  "Another Story" features a banjo and some vocal arrangements right from the '60s.  Would it be too cliche to use the word "Americana" at this point?  My favorites are the "Springtime" and "Summertime" songs that reflect the best parts of those seasons.  There are many simple, acoustic pieces like "Josh McBride", "10,000 Weight in Gold", and "These Days Are Numbered".  One of the best is the title track, "Let's Be Still", which has received some decent airplay.  It is a good example of what this band is capable of spinning, so catchy even my wife clued in while I was listening.

As the summer comes closer, as I spend time on the porch, lazily trying to cool off, I am sure that I will be listening more often to this gem.  It reminds me of older days, of Shellyan Orphan in the '80s, and more recently of The Hush Sound.  But I am sure I will not soon get them out of my head, and they will find a place in my heart.  *cue laughter*

Voice of an Angel: Review of Jeff Buckley

Jeff Buckley (1966 - 1997)

For this review, I am listening to "Playlist: The Very Best of Jeff Buckley", one of the many posthumous releases following the early and tragic demise of Jeff Buckley, who only saw one album released in his lifetime.  I bought this collection for my daughter in college as a way to introduce her to the music of this extremely talented and very missed artist.

I was introduced to the music of Jeff Buckley in late 1994 by my brother Tony.  I was living in Mesa, Arizona, and he brought me a copy of "Grace".  It was unlike anything I had ever heard.  Sure, there were roots there that were recognized and obvious - Led Zepplin, Queen, Leonard Cohen.  I could even hear the influence of his father, Tim Buckley, who also died at a young age, and whom I had been exposed to when This Mortal Coil covered several of his songs.  And yet this music had a mesmerizing power all of its own.  It was raw, written for its own sake, and Jeff's haunting, angelic voice was enough to steal your breath.  "Grace" became one of my all-time favorites.

A few years later, my wife and I were sitting in a pickup in the parking lot of the small theater of dusty St. Johns, Arizona, listening to the radio, waiting for our movie to start.  The news came on and announced that Jeff Buckley had drowned while swimming in the Mississippi River.  I was devastated, and yet the irony had not escaped me.  It was almost like God had lent such starkly beautiful angels like Tim and Jeff Buckley for a short time to leave their mark on the world, and then he took him away quickly.

The next year, Jeff's mother released "Sketches For My Sweetheart the Drunk".  When Buckley passed away, he was waiting for his band to show up to Memphis to start recording the new album.  He left behind only four-track demos of the songs from the new album.  After his death, the band went into the studio and recorded the music, setting them to the vocal tracks that remained of Jeff's original rough drafts.  I always wanted to love that album, but it never grabbed me.  But I read that even Jeff wasn't satisfied it.  To be fair, one must view it as an unfinished work.  I'm sure that he would have tweaked it and wrestled with it until it was perfect.  That's the kind of artist he was.

This collection is a pretty good starter set for Buckley's music.  There was some well-known selections from "Grace" like "Last Goodbye" and "Grace".  (What??  No "Mojo Pin" or "Lilac Wine"??)  There also a couple of songs from "My Sweetheart the Drunk" like "The Sky Is a Landfill" and "Everybody Here Wants You."

But the true strength of this album are the live tracks.  Most notably is his live version of Leonard Cohen's song - "Hallelujah".  I have loved Leonard Cohen since my teen years.  But I have to admit - Jeff Buckley's version is far superior.  Buckley captures the essence of the original yet injects a tremulous yearning that makes it the beloved classic that it is.  There other familiar tunes performed live like "Love, You Should Have Come Over" and "Dream Brother".

In the early days of his career, Jeff Buckley honed his live skills by performing in small clubs in front of small crowds.  He works best creating intricate landscapes of sound with just his guitar and cascades of his shimmering vibrato.  This is best reflected on the live performance of "The Way Young Lovers Do", which is by far my favorite song on the album.

This collection is a great way to introduce people to the music of Jeff Buckley.  I don't really know what my daughter thought.  But it makes me wish he were alive today.  I would love to see what he would have done with himself.

Robot Rock: Review of Daft Punk's "Random Access Memories"

Daft Punk

When I was an exchange student in Europe, one of the things I discovered was that disco never went out of style in France.  When America was cringing at the boogie fever of the past and listening to R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A., the French were admiring their fashion in the mirrors of discotheques while dancing to modern disco hits.  The French totally embraced house music culture - as evidenced by artists like Dmitri of Paris, Justice, David Guetta, Martin Solveig, and Daft Punk.

Daft Punk have had a long and distinguished career, but I was not exposed to them until Kanye West sampled "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" - a Kraftwerk-esque anthem - back in 2007.  With their fourth album, "Random Access Memories", they are very much in the public consciousness.  After watching their performance of "Get Lucky" at the 2014 Grammy's with Pharrell Williams and Stevie Wonder, their appearance in their trademark robot costumes set the internet abuzz.  My younger kids really believe that they are robots.  The auto-tuned vocals contribute to this illusion.

For an EDM album, there are few computerized bleeps and blips.  There is no dubstep wobble bass.  There are actual guitars and strings.  This album is definitely rooted in '70s disco-inspired house music.  There is enough waka-waka guitars and groovy orchestral arrangements to fill an entire CHiPs episode.  The cool thing about this band - being lost in the '70s, they recruited several '70s icons to help make this record.  Niles Rodgers from Chic plays guitar on several tracks.  They collaborate with Paul Williams, who wrote "We've Only Just Begun" for The Carpenters.  Williams, who co-wrote and sang on the track "Touch", said that, in working with Daft Punk, he felt like he was working with contemporaries.  There is an 8 minute track called "Giorgio by Moroder" that features Giorgio Moroder, an early electronic music pioneer, telling the story of his life set to a moog keyboard.  And, of course, there are several other guest musicians who are modern artists and yet appreciate the vibe of the disco era like Pharrell Williams, who lends vocals to "Get Lucky" and the better song, "Lose Yourself to Dance".

Many of these other disco pieces will have you shaking your bootay, like "Give Life Back to Music", "Fragments of Time", and "Doin' It Right".  There are some delicate songs that are stripped down, sometimes to just piano and robot voice like "The Game of Love", "Beyond", and one of my favorites, "Within".  There is also some electronic weirdness as on "Motherboard" and "Contact".  But my favorite song, the song that makes the whole album worth it is "Instant Crush".  I listen to this song over and over, from The Police-inspired intro to the angelic falsetto provided by Julian Casablancas of The Strokes to the lead guitar, also by Casablancas.  The song is perfect.

This whole album is delicious, proof that EDM has transcended its expectations and stereotypes to create a viable and serious pop album.  I highly recommend it.

Celestial Punks: A Retro Review of Cocteau Twins' "Head Over Heels"

Cocteau Twins in 1983

In late 1986, I got up early one morning to get ready for high school.  A moody teenager, most of my wardrobe consisted of black, and I would use copious amounts of gel and hairspray to make my hair stand on end.  That morning, while I got ready, I put "The Pink Opaque" on the record player.  This was a collection of Cocteau Twin's work from the early '80s.

It was the perfect music to me, at that time.  It was ethereal and magical, marked by Robin Guthrie's layered and textured guitar and Elizabeth Frasier's dulcid voice singing nonsense words.  Their music transcended description.  They weren't really rock, and they weren't really pop.  It was kind of hard to figure out what kind of music they were.  They were in a class all by themselves.

After I finished getting ready, I left the house with my books, and I didn't get very far from the house when I realized that I had left the record player on.  I went back into the house to find my older brother, Tony, squatting in front of the speaker, listening to "Musette And Drums" playing.  I froze.  Tony was a devout metalhead and took occasion to make fun of my musical tastes.

"Musette And Drums" - a selection off of Cocteau Twin's second album, "Head Over Heels" - starts out with the drum machine pounding a heavy waltz.  Guthrie's distorted guitars sway back and forth like a dark ballerina dancing to Frasier's plaintive wails.  During the chorus, Frasier pleads desperately, accented by a low keyboard.  The song finishes with an odd guitar solo - Frasier scratching on his guitar to make the howls of a ghost.

Tony sat squatting in front of the speaker while I was suspended, motionless, awaiting his verdict.  After a moment, he looked at me and said, "Not bad.  They need to clean up their sound a bit."

My heart soared with exultation.  I felt like I was finally vindicated in my love for this band.  A couple of years later, Tony would be just as excited about their fifth studio album, "Blue Bell Knoll".

Tony's description of "Musette And Drums" was accurate.  A beautiful wall of sound with messy production  value.

Back in the day, I owned every single Cocteau Twins release - either on cassette or vinyl.  Now, I own almost every release digitally remastered.  However, "Head Over Heels" was always my least favorite Cocteau Twins album.  I always loved their hardcore gothic on 1982's "Garlands", and I loved their Classical Greek weirdness on 1984's "Treasure".  But you could really tell that they were trying to find their sound on 1983's "Head Over Heels".  It wasn't until recently that I realized that I had absolutely no digital copy of "Musette And Drums".  So I decided to download "Head Over Heels".  Now, it has become one of my favorite Cocteau releases.

By 1983, Cocteau Twins had released one album and a few EPs that were most definitely spooky and gothic, dominated by Will Heggie's heavy bass guitar.  Then he left the band, and, for a while, before they accumulated keyboardist Simon Raymonde, it was just Guthrie and Frasier, left to develop their own sound.  They did a lot of experimentation, using a lot of jazz, even with a saxophone.  At the time, I didn't like it.  To me, it just didn't sound like the Cocteau Twins I was used to.

But listening to it today, it has a dreamy quality and a sense of trying to break out of the bonds of traditional pop music.  The album begins with "When Mama Was Moth", probably the most gothic song on the album.  The drums beat out an uneven rhythm like a heart in cardiac arrest, followed by a keyboard plinking out a mystic music box melody.  Frasier's voice billows over it all until the music suddenly seizes leaving only Frasier to scream, "Mother etching" or "Mother retching."  It's hard to to understand exactly what she is saying, and that is the beauty of it.

The next song is a beautiful number called "Five Ten Fiftyfold" dominated by a Heggie-style bass and saxaphone.  Frasier's vocals, while powerful, seem to be a background instrument like an echo crashing on the mountainside.  "Sugar Hiccup" is a well-known Cocteau song, and it is here that Guthrie is learning to use his guitar to create monstrous landscapes of sound.  Other songs of note are "In Our Angelhood", "In the Gold Dust Rush", and "My Love Paramour".  The album finishes out perfectly with "Musette And Drums".

It has been nice to rediscover this album.  The way I have always viewed Cocteau Twins - they spent the better part of a decade trying to find their sound, pushing into new territories, paving the way for other musicians to imitate.  Then it seems that once they had found themselves, we lost them.  I am praying for a miracle, for my celestial punks to return.

Straight Out of Iceland: Review of Mammut's "Karkari"

Iceland's Mammut

WARNING:  This band is from Iceland, and I do not speak Icelandic.  If you'll notice in my last post, I ommitted the umlauts from "Hukser Du".  I don't know Blogger enough to insert foreign language characters, and the band Mammut uses a ton!

That said, Mammut rocks!

They were recommended by a friend of mine who could be considered more knowledgeable about music than me.  The album that I am reviewing, "Karkari", is actually their sophomore release, issued in 2008.  They came out with an additional album in 2013, but "Karkari" was the only release I could find on Amazon.

I don't know much about the music scene in Iceland, but there is a common thread with all of the music I have heard - the Sugarcubes, Bjork, Sigur Ros, Of Monsters And Men...  All of them have a type of fresh-faced innocence.  Their sound is unsullied by the commercialism and concern for marketability that seems prevalent in the States.  They seem more concerned with making art than creating an image.  The result is that the music seems to come more from the heart.  This is especially true with Mammut.

The album starts with a bang.  Heavy, discordant riffs buzzing feverishly, reminiscent of "Kool Thing" by Sonic Youth or "Sur Tes Pas" by Autour de Lucie.  Then Kata's sweet voice flutters over the arrangement.  The way she sings reminds me of Bjork.  I'm sure the Bjork comparisons were inevitable, seeing that they are both from Iceland.  But it's not coincidental.  There is some Bjork influence there is the way she trills and wails.

The next song is "Giempra", and it is catchy as hell.  Even my wife's ears perked as she heard this.  It is a delicious blend of distorted guitars and a very danceable rhythm.  The album also contains an EDM version of "Giempra" that will make you shake your posterior.

The beat relents a bit for a couple of ballads - "Raudilaekur" and "Dyradottir", but the pace picks up again with the headbanging "Svefnsykt" and "Gun", which could be a Tool song.  Other songs of note are "Eg veit hann kemur fljott" and "Drekasongvar".  The album finishes out with "I leyni", which starts out slow and ominous, finishing out with a wall of white noise that would make Thurston Moore proud, even if he can't speak Icelandic.

I highly recommend this album and can't wait until I can explore their other two albums.  Until then, this album will keep me warm as I dream of Iceland.

Revisiting "Workbook": A Retro-Review of Bob Mould

Promotional of Bob Mould for "Workbook"

In the late '80s, Minneapolis-St. Paul punk band, Husker Du, were definitely part of my repertoire.  "Zen Arcade", "Candy Apple Grey", and "Warehouse" were definitely among the influential but underground selections that dominated an eclectic '80s alternative scene.  I have a memory of watching MTV's 120 Minutes with my brothers, and my father came in and stood and watched a Husker Du video for a moment.  After a moment, he announced that he liked the song.  We all looked up at him in surprise.  This was punk rock, after all.

"For a rock band, they look clean-cut," he said.  This was the '80s, after all, where glam was all the rage.

But this represented the work ethic of their music - while they dressed in jeans and t-shirts, they focused instead on making music that was raw, focused, intense, and intelligent.

In 1988, after a struggle with acohol and drug addiction, as well as a bitter break-up, Husker Du front man, Bob Mould, retreated to the woods in Minnesota to pen a solo album.  Released in 1989, the debut album was entitled "Workbook".

I have written before about the summer of 1989.  It was a magical year for me.  I was nineteen, marginally attended college, had a job, had a pony tail, cash in my pocket, and a car.  I would toss my pillow and toothbrush into my car, and when my mother would ask where I was going, I would respond, "I don't know.  I'll see you in a few days."  Road trips to Yuma and Sedona.  There was definitely a bohemian vibe in the air, and I had the tie-dyed shirts to prove it.  The soundtrack for this era was indelible.  As we would rocket down the interstate in my friend Steve's Chevelle, there was an odd mix of music that shook the speakers.  "Shooting Rubber Bands At the Stars" by Edie Brickell & the New Bohemians, "Hunkpapa" by Throwing Muses, "Doolittle" by Pixies, and "Workbook" by Bob Mould.

Bob Mould now

"Workbook" had all the throaty passion and energy that Bob Mould projected while in Husker Du, but tempered with folk influences, acoustic guitars and strings.  It is said that this album greatly influenced the whole alternative scene of the following decade.  This album was beloved to me.

The problem is - I hadn't heard this album since 1989.  In fact, I had never owned it.  It was Steve's copy that used to regale us on our carefree journeys.  So I decided to download a copy.  Upon listening to it, I was taken aback at first.  It sounded really dated.  Unlike a Sonic Youth album that sounds mostly timeless, this one seemed very stuck in the era that spawned it.  But the more I listened to it, I started remembering and feeling what this album meant to me back then.

The album starts out with a simple acoustic melody called "Sunspots" and then passes into a jam called "Wishing Well", driven by the strumming of an acoustic guitar and a wistful cello.  Then Bob Mould's unique voice wails over the rhythm.  (He sounds like Ozzy.  There, I said it.  I hate saying it, but it's true.)

The main single was a happy tune called "See A Little Light", which really is the anthem for the time period.  My favorite songs are the tortured and confessional "Poison Years" and "Sinners & Their Repentances".  These two songs make the whole album worth it.  But sadly, the years have not been kind on the rest of the album.  It doesn't really grab me.  Honestly, I should not have bothered on downloading the rest of the album and only purchased the songs I have mentioned - with the exception of "Heartbreak a Stranger" and "Brasilia Crossed With Trenton".

In the years since, I have not listened much to Sugar, Bob Mould's other project, or to any of his other solo projects.  But I will always be grateful for the songs on "Workbook", and their influence upon my young adulthood.

Retro-Review: Lowlife's "Permanent Sleep" Is Awake Again

Lowlife

Have you ever liked a band for decades that you didn't even know existed?  I did.

Like everyone, I have had some of my favorite music introduced by someone else.  A friend of mine from the suburbs of Chicago gave me a mix CD back in 1986 that introduced me to music from the prestigious 4AD label that included selections from Cocteau Twins, Dead Can Dance, Clan of Xymox, This Mortal Coil, Felt, and a couple of songs "Permanent Sleep" and "Mother Tongue" that were labeled as by an artist named Will Heggie.  I fell in love with this music and started trying to find out as much as I could about them.

As I have said many times in the past, Cocteau Twins have been one of my favorite bands of all time.  I have loved every phase that they have gone through - from the eerie gothic tones of their first album to the pompuous faux-Greek bacchnalia of "Treasure" to the fluffy effervescence of "Victorialand" to the ambient electronica of their latter days.  The first album, "Garlands", still always has a special place in my heart.  It is a dark album with furious bass strumming and scratchy guitars offset by Elizabeth Frasier's nonsensical caterwauls.

During the course of my investigations, I learned that the bassist on "Garlands" was one Will Heggie, a founding member of Cocteau Twins who left after the first album to, as my friend told me, to pursue a solo career.  I really loved those songs by Will Heggie, but I was never able to find them on record, which wasn't too surprising.  Most of the stuff I listened to back then was either indie or import.  In the golden age before the internet, if you didn't live in a cultural mecca like Chicago or New York, such music was hard to find, and one had to save their pennies for excursions to record stores that specialized in imports.

But even after the advent of online music, I couldn't find anything by Will Heggie, or scarecly even a mention of him beyond his connection to Cocteau Twins.  Lo and behold, just recently, I did a research and learned that Will Heggie did not launch into a solo career like I was led to believe.  Instead, he joined an existing band of fellow Scotsmen and formed the band Lowlife (produced and managed by Brian Guthrie, brother to Cocteau Twin's iconoclastic guitarist, Robin Guthrie).  Lowlife had a long and distinguished career before disbanding in 1997, and I had never even heard about them.  So suddenly, I am able to download the music that was so dear to me.  (I had lost the cassette decades earlier.)

I still have yet to listen to any of the other albums in Lowlife's catalog, but I did download their debut album, "Permanent Sleep".  It is unique to become so captivated by an album that, released in 1986, is 28 years old!  And it stands up fairly well.  It has some markers of the early '80s goth scene of the UK, a bit like Siouxsie & the Banshees or Bauhas, but it has some of the precursors of the shoegaze movement which wouldn't emerge for another few years with bands like Lush or My Bloody Valentine.  In all honesty, this music is shoegaze before any such term existed.

That is me in the middle in 1986.  The cassette on the table is my first exposure to Cocteau Twins and Lowlife.

Yes, Will Heggie definitely took some of the Cocteau Twins sound with him to Lowlife, but, to be fair, he helped create that sound.  It is a well known that Cocteau Twins influenced many bands from the Sundays, Sigur Ros, Bel Canto, Phantogram, to even Coldplay.  But Lowlife can't be numbered as one of those bands, because they emerged right from Cocteau Twins.

As I listen to this music three decades later, it is easy to see the common thread that went through all of these bands - including Lowlife.  The melody is driven by the heavy double bass with the guitars, abstract and minimalist, used only to create atmosphere and a static texture, all held together by a low voice, crashing against all of the other sounds.  This comes right from Joy Division, the band that practically set the whole tone for underground music of the '80s.  I didn't see it then, but I see it now.

Songs of note are "Cowards Way", the title track, "Sometime Something", "Gallery of Shame", and my favorite, "From Side to Side".

If you are interested in innovative '80s music that never hit the mainstream, this this is a good album to check out.  I am surprised that, despite my limited exposure to it that it took me so long to locate.  This is truly a treasure trove.

Latest Vampire Weekend is More Hump Day Than Weekend

Vampire Weekend

Sorry, I took a hiatus, and I have lots of music to review in order to catch up.  My first review is the third album from Vampire Weekend, the collegiate New York band that has been the darling of the indie scene for the last seven years.  And yep, I have kept up with them since they first broke the scene.  My wives made a gift of their eponymous debut for my 38th birthday.  And what a gift.  This catchy album became a favorite with the whole family.  It was highly original and infectious, every single song a groove to get your finger tapping and your head nodding - part Harry Belafonte, equal parts Paul Simon with a smattering of nerdy punk/ ska.  "Mansard Roof", "A-Punk", "I Stand Corrected", a delightful song about a vampire named "Walcott", the reggae rhythm of "The Kids Don't Stand a Chance", the funky beats of "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" and "Campus", and my absolute favorite, "Oxford Comma".  The whole album is iconic to me and will always remind me of this happy time in my life, the kind of happiness that never comes back again.

Speaking of something that never comes back again, the same magic was not quite there on their sophomore album, "Contra".  There are a few great songs on this album, and even a couple of good ones.  But generally, it did not grab me like the first masterpiece.  It seems like once a pop artist establishes a sort of kitsch, it is hard to break out of it.

And so it is with is with their third effort, "Modern Vampires of the City".

This year's Grammy's were a major disappointment - a stupor of commercial glitter.  There were only two bands worth mentioning, and that was The National and Vampire Weekend, both up for the Alternative Album category.  Honestly, I was rooting for The National, because I feel like they have more artistic integrity.  But it was Vampire Weekend that took home the golden statuette.

Don't get me wrong.  It's a pretty good album.  But that is the unfortunate result of having a masterpiece as your first album - you will always be doomed to live in the shadow of your own creation.  The first album was like a feverish jam session in the dorm of some ivy league school for half-naked co-eds.  This album is more like a bloated Paul Simon concert in Central Park.

As a whole, you could play this music in the background, and it is a pretty good listen.  But there are only a couple of songs that seize you.  One being "Step", the only song that I think captures the synergy of their debut.  Other songs of note are the discordant "Hudson", and "Young Lion", which sounds like it was lifted from Bon Iver.

But after a listen, I need to clean my palate with the earlier work of this otherwise brilliant band.  I truly hope that they recapture their muse.