Anyone who knows me knows that Los Angeles' Warpaint is one of my favorite bands to come out of this decade. I have loved everything they have done so far. I have previously reviewed their first EP and second album, and you can read about it here. Not only that, they are a favorite in my household. My 14 year-old daughter loves them and plays them in the bathroom or asks me to play them in the car.
So naturally, we were excited for their third album, "Heads Up", to come out.
When samples came out on YouTube, at first I was a little taken aback. One of the things that I liked about this band is how moody and dark their music is. This one seemed more upbeat and poppy. In fact, many of the comments online seemed to indicate that many fans felt this way. The band seemed more saccharine and commercially viable with their new sound.
But after downloading the album and giving it a listen, I have changed my mind. This album is a demonstration that they are growing as artists. Yes, it is less acoustic and more drum driven with many electronic elements. But this is really the time for drummer Stella Mozgawa to shine. Her complex rhythms really drive this record forward with Jenny Lee's bass in tow. Theresa Wayman's guitar scintillates in the backgroud and gives the album the group's signature ethereal dream pop sound. Emily Kokal's sweet voice drips like honey over every song, but, as usual, every member contributes to the vocals giving many songs a Bangles feel, or - dare I say it - like Bananarama.
Heads Up
The album starts out with "White Out", which is my daughter's favorite song, an exercise in minimalism, a drum beat, a banjo-sounding guitar, and vocal harmonies. A few songs have a trip-hop feel like "By Your Side", "Don't Wanna", and "Dre", a tribute to the rapper. "New Song" is the main single off the album, and, boy, is it catchy, having kind of a Duran Duran feel, Jenny Lee's bass line resembling something played intricately by John Taylor. I had one friend compare this song to New Order. I have to say - Jenny Lee is one of the best bassists out there. I love just watching her fingers move across the fretboard on their videos. :"The Stall" and "So Good" are great pop songs. "Don't Let Go" has a Pink Floyd vibe. The title track "Heads Up" is one of my favorite songs on here with its driving drum and bass pulse offset by Wayman's watery guitar playing. "Above Control" heavily uses electronica but has every bit of the otherwordly atmosphere that this band is known for, along with '60s-style vocals. The album finishes off with an acoustic number, "Today Dear", that hales back to the sound of their first EP.
Man, I can't rave enough about this album... or should I say woman. This album is one of the best to come out this year. I don't understand why these guys are not more huge. But it would be definitely worth your while to check it out. They have shown that they can stretch beyond expectations as musicians and songwriters. Do yourself a favor and check out Warpaint.
Over the past five decades, Neil Young has been in the spotlight one way or another, whether through his music or political activism. Just last week, he was in the news for his protest of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) in North Dakota, along with Willie Nelson.
Neil Young has been part of my life musically since the my teenage years in the late '80s. He seemed to have a particular appeal to the kids of my generation, even though he was an icon from the '60s. Over the years, I have owned recorded versions of his music in various forms whether it is his work with Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young (CSNY) or with Crazy Horse. I have owned copies of "After the Gold Rush", "Harvest", "Decade", "Freedom", and "Harvest Moon". I also owned "The Bridge" - a tribute album released in 1989 with covers by Pixies, Dinosaur Jr., Sonic Youth, and Psychic TV. So I think it is safe to say that I am a fan and have been for over thirty years. But I realized that, in the present, I have no music by Neil Young. So, I downloaded a collection simply called "Greatest Hits" with selections spanning his solo career, his time with CSNY and Crazy Horse, missing only a sample from his days with Buffalo Springfield.
I have a chance to see Neil live back in 1997. For my job, I had traveled down to Phoenix for training, and my wife was out of town visiting family. So I bought tickets to that year's H.O.R.D.E. Festival, where Crazy Horse was headlining. I opted for the Desert Sky Pavilion's general admission tickets, which were cheaper than reserved seating, which was a mistake. Reserved seating was in the shade, and general admission was in the hot July sun. Everyone was scantily clad in the heat, the girls all in bikini tops. I was the only Mormon fundamentalist there, dressed in garments and long-sleeved shirt. I only survived by downing glass after glass of expensive Coffee Plantation lemonade. I spent the day on the grass watching Toad the Wet Sprocket. Sky Cries Mary, Leftover Salmon, Ben Fold Five, Big Head Todd & the Monsters, Morphine, Primus, and many others.
Neil Young in his younger years
At one point during the day, I wandered to one of the tents. and Neil Young happened to come in wearing shorts, a white tee and a baseball cap, carrying his acoustic guitar. He put on a show for an intimate crowd, playing well-known songs like "Southern Man", "Heart of Gold", "Ohio", "Old Man", and "The Needle & the Damage Done". It was still one of the best live musical experiences I have ever had. There was even a moment where Neil looked right at me. I was standing only about ten feet away from him. He was probably wondering why in the hell I was wearing long sleeves in the middle of summer.
At night, Crazy Horse put on a crazy show, doing songs like "Cinnamon Girl", "Cowgirl in the Sand", and "Down By the River". It was still 105 degrees when I left the venue after midnight.
All of those songs and more are found on this collection, which is really a walk down memory lane for me.
Willie Nelson and Neil Young at Standing Rock protests
Not only has Neil been a presence musically in recent years - jamming with the likes of Pearl Jam, R.E.M., and Red Hot Chili Peppers - but he has been a force for social change, which is something that I admire about him. From his war protest songs in the '60s to speaking out against blatant materialism in the '80s ("This Note's For You"). When the Berlin Wall came down in 1989, "Rockin' In the Free World" was the unofficial anthem of that event. And into our modern day, he has written songs in protest to our illegal wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He has used his warbling voice to speak out against injustice.
And in recent days, he met with tribal leaders at the protest site in Standing Rock to speak out against the corporate greed of DAPL with its government thugs backing them up, exploiting once again our native peoples and their land. This is a cause I feel strongly about. I encourage you to learn more about this and do something about it. Take Neil's example. Keep on rocking, Neil!
"I basically went to art school to start a band," said Joe Newman, lead singer and guitarist of the British art rock band, alt-J, of the project he started with fellow bandmates at Leeds University,
For this review, I looked at "This Is All Yours", their sophomore effort.
alt-J is your quintessential millennial band, from a technological era where musicians no longer need to rely on music studios, producers, or even traditional musical instruments to make music. Nowadays, you can do it right from your laptop, composing from your bedroom scores that rival anything that professional bands have accomplished in studios over the last several decades. It has revolutionized music. This describes alt-J and their sound. Along with this creative, DIY ethic comes a liberation from form and restrictions. alt-J's music does not follow any particular song format - verse-chorus-verse-chorus. Their songs are stream-of -consciousness explorations of ADD-driven whimsy and intrinsically subjective fancy. Not limited to one genre, their music is a melange of folk, trip hop, blues, classical, dubstep, and other forms of electronica. Whatever suits their mood. The result is a stunning mind-trip, a paradoxical trip to the dark side of the moon on a neon spaceship.
This Is All Yours
For instance, the song "Choice Kingdom" does not rely on traditional vocals. The band favors a use of vocal loops, and in this song, the words are sung only one syllable at a time so that the message is diminished in favor of the voice as an instrument rather than the conveyance of a message. But alt-J does put across a message, although couched in artsy obscurity, James Joyce style, like their lyric in the Nara Trilogy - "Arrival in Nara", "Nara", and "Leaving Nara". These three songs talk of a gay love affair in Nara, Japan. They feature the repetition of the words: "Hallelujah, Bovay, Alabama". Nonsensical at first appearance. But this references one of the founders of the Republican Party and a region known to not be friendly towards the gay community.
Musically, they flaunt their free-spirit, their refusal to be classified - everything from the '60s blues rock of "Left Hand Free" to the Bright Eyes-like folk of "Warm Foothills" with its unknown female accompanist. From one moment, they can go from chamber orchestra to synthpop to using medieval vocal arrangements. Like "Pusher", with its remarkable Fleet Foxes vibe. My favorite tracks are "Every Other Freckle", which runs the gamut, using a dubstep bass over tribal rhythms and layers of vocals, and there is "The Gospel of John Hurt", a mellow trip hop beat with robotic vocals singing about the alien bursting out of John Hurt's chest in the movie Alien.
This band has been amazingly humble and surprised at their contribution to the music world. But what the world needed was artists to think outside of the proverbial box and redefine what music means to us in the digital age. And this description fits the music of alt-J. They break cliches and shatter norms. They are iconoclasts, and you are going to have to go and do some thinking after listening to this one.
They have been around for more than thirteen years. They have released five albums. But Scottish band, Frightened Rabbit, are fairly new to me. Previous to downloading their fifth album, "Painting of a Panic Attack", I think I had maybe heard only one song by them before. So their music is pretty new to me.
When I started researching this album, which was released earlier this year, I saw that it was produced by Aaron Dessner, who is the principal songwriter for The National. Immediately, from the first listen, I could see similarities. In content, both bands have dark, brooding lyrics, almost of a confessional nature. Musically, both bands favor a mix of melodic compositions and layered atmospherics.
It took me several listens before this album did anything for me. But once the album started to grow on me, I was reluctant to write a review. I was falling in love with this record, and I wanted to linger on it for a while.
The music is rich and textured, although muted, like on the album opener, "Death Dream", which starts out with a piano and ambient noises and Scott Hutchison's subdued falsetto. The song keeps building in crescendo - no percussion, but unfolding new instruments, including a horn section, but all blended indistinguishably together while Hutchison keens mysteriously, "You died in your sleep last night."
In "Get Out", the percussion appears, although coquettishly, over a song that lingers between Joy Division and Echo & the Bunnymen until the chorus launches and soars into a dream pop flourish that would make fellow Scotsmen, Cocteau Twins, proud. "I Wish I Was Sober" pairs a piano with Hutchison's poignant lyrics, sung in his unmistakable lilting, Scottish burr. They have a lot of pure pop moments on here like "Woke Up Hurting", the rousing "Break", and "Lump Street", They also have plenty of sensitive displays like "Little Dream", "400 Bones", and "Die Like a Rich Boy". Every time my wife hears "Still Wants To Be Here", she thinks it's Blue October. My favorite song is definitely "An Otherwise Disappointing Life", which represents the best elements of this band - somber lyrics, dreamy textures, and blazing pop rock. This song is haunting and will stay with me for a long time.
I'm glad to have found this band. I have an entire catalog to look forward to, as well as future releases. However, Hutchison has recently made some cryptic tweets that call the future of the band into question. Given the tortured nature of the lyrics, it is not to see why. One can hope, in spite of this, that Frightened Rabbit will not scare off easily.
Just last week, the world lost renowned artist, Leonard Cohen, to cancer. He was 82 years old. Originally from Canada, he was a prolific literary writer, having published numerous volumes of poetry, as well as two novels, and an established singer-songwriter with 14 albums under his belt, including "You Want It Darker", released just days before his death.
There is no way to quantify the sense of lost I felt at the passing of Cohen. His music meant so much to me as a young man.
In 2005, at the age of 35, I made my first trek to Manhattan - around the same age that Cohen moved to New York City to start his music career. I went with my old friend and music guru, Matt. We spent a long weekend walking up and down the island, checking out eateries in Mid-town, scouring vinyl shops in the East Village. We took a detour through the trash-strewn 23rd Street until we came to the dilapidated, red-brick building that is Chelsea Hotel.
"Do you know what's gone on in there?" Matt inquired knowingly.
"Other than Leonard Cohen getting head on an unmade bed?" I said.
"This is where rock stars come to die," Matt grinned.
Me and Matt, Chelsea Hotel, 2005
The Chelsea has been the hangout spot for artists for over a century. Dylan Thomas died of pneumonia there. Arthur C. Clarke wrote "2001: A Space Odyssey" there. Jack Kerouac wrote "On the Road" there. Sid Vicious fatally stabbed Nancy Spungen there.
And for a time, in 1968, Leonard Cohen lived there, writing about the sexual encounter I referred to in the 1974 song, "Chelsea Hotel No. 2". One particular night, after having limited success on his debut album, Cohen went for a walk to clear his head and met an up and coming Janis Joplin in the elevator. After striking up a conversation with her, she revealed that she was looking for Kris Kristofferson, and Cohen lied and said that he was Kristofferson. This lead to one-night stand that Cohen immortalized in the song. His talent was to take the perverse and mundane and turn it into something lyrical and beautiful.
"I remember you well in the Chelsea Hotel
You were famous, your heart was a legend
You told me again you preferred handsome men
But for me you would make an exception.
And clenching your fist for the ones like us
Who are the figures of beauty
You fixed yourself, you said, "Well, never mind
We are ugly but we have the music."
It was Matt who introduced me to the music of Leonard Cohen back in 1990. He put a few songs on a mix tape, along with songs by Dinosaur Jr., Prong, and Led Zepplin. I fell in love with the songs and soon bought the 1975 collection, "The Best of Leonard Cohen", which has selections from his first four albums. I still have it, still listen to it. When I think of Leonard Cohen, I think of these songs. To me, he represented the artistic and unconventional side of the '60s - willing to make art on his own merit rather than giving in to anything mainstream.
In 1994, my brother sent me a copy of "Grace" by Jeff Buckley, which, to me, was an instant classic. Right away, I noticed an angelic cover of Cohen's "Hallelujah", which is perhaps one of the most beautiful songs ever recorded. The first time I listened to it, I had chills go up and down my spine. Not just at the exquisiteness of the music, but the fact that Buckley - someone around my age - was covering a Cohen song. I remember gushing about it to my brother, and I remember my brother not really caring. But to me, it was a vindication of all of the underground music that I held dear.
Cohen in the '60s
I noticed right away that the Cohen original and the Buckley version have different verses. I always wondered about that. So I did a bit of research on that. John Cale did the first cover, and he noticed that the song was different every time Cohen performed the song live. So he wrote to Cohen and asked for the lyrics. Cohen sent him fifteen pages of lyrics. Over the years, artists have been known to mix and match verses, depending on how they want to make the song.
In recent years, I have an even larger collection of Cohen's music -a sprawling double CD set called "The Essential Leonard Cohen" that is a more comprehensive collection of Cohen's music. It has all of my favorites like "Suzanne", "So Long, Marianne", "Bird On a Wire", "Who By Fire?", and, my absolute favorite, "Famous Blue Raincoat". But it also has many of his songs from the '80s that I was not familiar with - like "Ain't No Cure For Love", "Take This Waltz", and "Dance Me To the End of Love". In many of these songs, he eschewed the minimalist, folk instrumentation I was used to in favor of glitzy, cheesy, '80s synthesizers. Nevertheless, the songs are still good. They still have Cohen's deep, silky voice, and his penchant for penning haunting melodies, as well as his profound, poetic words.
After learning of his death, that night, my wife and I sat down and listened to his music. I asked her if he reminded her of other New York folk artists like Simon & Garfunkel or Bob Dylan. A little, she said, but she saw more of an influence on Neil Diamond's music.
"He kind of reminds me of those French singers you like," she said, referring to Serge Gainsbourg and Jacques Brel. She is not wrong. They come from the same era. As I listened to him, I was surprised to see his influence on Nick Cave, something I didn't expect.
His death came as such a shock and at such a tumultuous time, the news being released after Election Day, when this nation was in the grips of the worst election in history. It almost seemed as if God was punishing us by taking one of our brightest stars. That was another thing I liked about Cohen was his devotion to God. His songs are full of sexual innuendos, and some of them quite dirty. Yet he never allowed this to alter his faith. All of these things are part of the human experience. He was part saint, part whore. Kind of like me.
Back in the day, the official magazine of Tower Records - Pulse - had a section called "The Desert Island Top 10". The premise is - if you were stranded on a desert island, but had the option of taking ten of anything, what would you take? For the Halloween season, for this post, I will select my Top 10 favorite gothic songs of all time, in no particular order. Yes, I cut my teeth on '80s gothic. Wore the black lipstick, the guyliner and sported the obligatory black, read the Anne Rice chronicles. These are the songs I would die for. Prepared to be spooked! Tell me your favorite songs in the comments section!
1. Christian Death "Figurative Theater"(1982) - As a teen, there was nothing more shocking than L.A. deathrock band, Christian Death, and singer, Rozz Williams, who was occasionally known to wear dead cats as part of his scene's morbid couture. "In the shallow holes of a thousand eyes..." start the lyrics to a song that I copied onto notebooks as an angst-ridden teen, the words seemingly matching the black mood I felt. The violent drumbeat and lurching guitar set to Rozz's droning voice, all of it churning together and frothing to a spitting intensity. It sounded forbidden then. It kind of sounds dated now, although it is easy to see the influence they have had on music through the decades. It was still a sad day in 1998 when Rozz Williams committed suicide, finally giving into the darkness. Rozz was no poseur. He truly walked in the darkness.
2. 45 Grave "Evil" (1983)- "Music that Christians don't have to play backwards," says the announcer in the video below. And that description fits yet another California deathrock band, 45 Grave. This band was always really fun, a clever mixture of '60s surf rock, punk, and horror, they had a stage presence that was as much a part of their performance as their music, fronted by sinister frontwoman, Dinah Cancer, looking like something out of The Addams Family. Although "Evil" sounds like it could be the opening theme from The Munsters, except with Cancer growling her condemnations of, "You're evil!". "Sleep In Safety" was an important album to me in my preteen years and remains, all these decades later, the perfect Halloween album.
3. Tamaryn "Softcore" (2016) - Kiwi artist, Tamaryn, now on tour with Lush, is one of the newer artists at the forefront of the shoegaze revival, but she is known to veer into darker directions, like this gothic gem. The song is off this year's album, and the video here is off of this year's live KEXP performance. Amped-up drums and a caustic bass line sounding like something right out of Sisters of Mercy, Tamaryn's haunted moaning, and guitars screeching, whispered samples, everything coalescing and blending into something that resembles a fevered pitch - something at once beautiful, disturbing, and cool af. Tamaryn is a new artist that you should definitely check out. I will be reviewing her entire new album soon.
4. Xmal Deutschland "Polarlicht" (1986) - An oft forgotten German act, they signed to the prestigious 4AD label who was responsible for releasing much of the gothic bands of the '80s. This song made in onto a mix cassette tape I had as a teen, and I soon had a chance to explore more of their music. The song is mournful and dreamy with Anja Huwe's powerful voice soaring above the landscape, but don't expect to understand it unless you speak German, Sadly, this band never made it out of the '80s, but their impact on gothic and darkwave is undeniable. Any true fan of the genre can tell you about Xmal Deutschland.
5. Cocteau Twins "Garlands" (1982) - Ah, which one of my collections would be complete without Cocteau Twins? This song is off of their debut album. They were a new band out of Grangemouth, Scotland, and this is the only album to feature Will Heggie as a member with his heavy bass guitar. He would soon leave to form proto-shoegaze band, Lowlife. His departure would allow them to explore the more ethereal experiments that they are known for. But this album? Straight up gothic. Heggie's bass chords dominate. Robin Guthrie scratches out spooky noises on his guitar, admitting only later that he only did this because he really didn't know how to play. Elizabeth Fraser's wavering voice offers the names of pretty flowers in a way that they evoke wrongness rather than beauty. This whole album is a classic and one that I listen to several times a year.
6. Modern English "16 Days" (1981) - When people think of Modern English, they think of MTV, '80s one-hit wonders, and their one big hit, "I Melt With You", a happy-go-lucky love tune. They don't think of a gothic band, and, yet, their first album was just that. The song starts out with eerie guitar effects that only grow more nightmarish as the song progresses, followed by samples extolling the horrors of the Cold War era. The bass line is earth-shattering, and Robbie Grey spits out his lyrics in a post-punk fury. Then the song ends in a wash of futile noise and chaos. This Mortal Coil would later cover this song as their very first single, with Liz Fraser from Cocteau Twins and Gordon Sharp from Cindytalk, another great goth band, on vocals.
7. Bauhaus "She's In Parties" (1983) - No goth collection would be complete without Bauhaus? But whereas most might expect me to include the ubiquitous and Halloween-friendly "Bela Lugosi's Dead", the goth anthem, no, I am including this selection instead - the final single from their final album for more than twenty years. These guys created this sound, created this genre. Peter Murphy's vocals are savage, contrasting Daniel Ash's soft background pining. The harmonica seems out of place, and yet Bauhaus offers one last stark masterpiece before venturing into different projects. Believe me - Tones On Tail or Love & Rockets would have made it onto this list had I not already covered these bands extensively.
8. Dead Can Dance - "De Profundis (Out of the Depths of Sorrow)" (1985) - The very first time I heard Dead Can Dance was this song. It was a life-changing experience. I was blown away. I never knew pop music could be so... panoramic. The song goes from silence and explodes into an orchestral swathe so huge that you can't help see images, and then Lisa Gerrard's voice crashes like a hurricane against a mountainside, singing, not in words, but pure emotion. Then the song unravels with a single male singing a wordless Gregorian chant alongside the peals of a bell that sound not so much monastic as pagan. Dead Can Dance defy classification, but it was the goths who loved them first.
9. Sisters of Mercy "Black Planet" (1985) - The album this song came from became so definitively known as "goth" that everyone that came afterwards tried to imitate this sound - even Andrew Eldritch. By the way, this is my favorite lineup of the Sisters, which includes the creative force of Wayne Hussey and Craig Adams, who went on to form The Mission UK right after this album. In this song, Hussey's guitars are crystal clear with the Celtic lilt that he is known for, and Eldritch sings in that wavering, spooky bass that would be imitated by goths forever after.
10. The Cure "Lullaby" (1989) - I had a hard time picking the last band, because there are so many goth artists that I love. But I had to ultimately settle on the most Halloweeny of songs. The Cure had developed the reputation of being dark and gothic, but, in truth, by the time "Disintegration" came along, the band had veered into some very un-gothic territories involving caterpillars, love cats, being hot hot hot, and kisses. Imagine Robert Smith prancing around in a huge teddy bear suit. It was enough to make me shake my head. But with this song - and accompanying creepy video - The Cure went dark and gothic again. Maybe even more gothic than they had previously been. All of the black-clad minions breathed a sigh of relief. Smith sings about being eaten in his bed by a thousand shivering holes all set to the rhythm of pizzicato violins. The song was nightmarish and troubling, and the band redeemed the genre to live for another Halloween.
When I heard that AJJ was releasing their sixth studio album, "The Bible 2", I figured that I had better check them out. After all, they are from Phoenix, in my home state, and I have never heard of them!
Maybe because they recently changed their name. They were once known as Andrew Jackson Jihad. In a statement, singer, songwriter and guitarist, Sean Bonnette, said, "1) We are not Muslims, and as such, it is disrespectful and irresponsible for us to use the word jihad in our name. 2) We no longer wish to be a living reminder of president Andrew Jackson. Interesting historical figure as he was, he was an odious person and our fascination with him has grown stale." Most of the fans were already simplifying their name to AJJ anyway.
To familiarize myself with their music, I first checked out their second album, "People Who Can Eat People Are the Luckiest People in the World". Now, if this album title sounds like something Modest Mouse would use, well the music sounds a bit like it, too. Branded as folk punk, it has heavy use of stand-up bass, acoustic guitars, mandolins, and horns,with bitingly sarcastic lyrics in a voice that resemble's Isaac Brock's Neil Young-like warble, a lot like Modest Mouse. But AJJ takes it to the next level. This really is punk rock - played on folk, acoustic instruments - and I love it! There is no way to describe how much I love this album. How can these guys be from Arizona and I have never heard of them? I mean, the mixture of folk and punk is not new, although usually Irish, The Pogues, Flogging Molly, or even Mumford & Sons. It's not even new to Arizona. People who have seen Meat Puppets live know that they mix folk and country with punk. But no one does it with flourish like AJJ. A word of caution - there is a frequent dropping of F Bombs on this record, so it may not be safe for the whole family. My wife's observations is that she likes the music, but not the words. And not just the harsh language, but the utter caustic nature of the lyrics. Which is, of course, one of the things that I love the most.
The album starts with "Rejoice", a galloping acoustic tribute to God's awesome qualities. "His eyes are big X's". Songs like "Survival Song" and "Bad Bad Things" combine smart lyrics with acoustic guitars set to a hummingbird pace. These guys have to be great live. "No More Tears" and "Bells & Whistles" are definitely drinking songs and would fit right in an Irish pubs. "Randy's House" has some beautiful temp shifts, along with a horn section. "A Song Dedicated to the Memory of Stormy the Rabbit" is a burlesque waltz that could have been done by Dresden Dolls. "People II: The Reckoning" is probably my favorite song, combining hauntingly beautiful music with lyrics like:
"There's a rapist and a Nazi living in our tiny hearts
Child pornographers and cannibals, and politicians, too
There's someone in your heart waiting to fucking strangle you"
And then the song merges into a tribute to Simon & Garfunkel. The album finishes out with the eerie whistling of "Personal Space Invader" and the very Irish "People".
"The Bible 2", released in August of this year, took a radical shift in that the band ditched their folk instruments in favor electric guitars and a harder sound. Right away, I have to say that I liked the folk punk thing. That is my only complaint. Their previous endeavor was much more original and left a greater impression. There is a shortage of originality in this world, and the last thing we need is another Green Day or Weezer. There, I said it. I can now move past my only mean comment and say - this is not a bad album. In fact, it is a really good album. It is just nowhere as good as the "People Who Eat Other People..." album. The same ingenious and acrimonious lyrics are there, only set to a more traditional rock format, kind of like a Descendent's album.
The new change is evident on "Cody's Theme", the album opener, with its grungy guitars, but the band's penchant for telling stories is still there. "Golden Eagle" is an edgy '70s rock basher. "Junkie Church" is one of my favorites, simmering down to an acoustic number with sardonic lyrics like:
"Last time I tried to go to sleep
My mind expanded in an air balloon of words
A thousand conversations with your disembodied voice
In a cacophony of adjectives and verbs air balloon"
"American Garbage" is a great song that kind of has a late '70s new wave vibe, and "No More Shame, No More Fear, No More Dread" is a piano ballad that is almost profound. "Goodbye, Oh Goodbye" has a video that truly endears this band to me, and I have included it below. It is a deeply funny parody of the complex videos by OK Go. Some songs - like "White Worms" and "My Brain Is a Human Body" make me feeling like I am listening to They Might Be Giants sometimes, but then they go all punk on us again on songs like "Terrifyer". Songs like "Small Red Boy", set to an orchestra with dadaist words, make this band truly great, and the album finishes with a short acoustic number called "When I'm a Dead Boy".
I have a friend who despises when people whine that there is no good music around nowadays. He urges people to check out their local music scenes, and they might actually find something that tickles their proverbial fancy. Go out and explore what's around you. You don't need to go to a huge arena. You could check out the local bar in your area. In my case, I could have gone to the Crescent Ballroom in Phoenix - just three hours away from my house - to discover the pleasurable music of AJJ - two different, yet two very pleasing albums. Often, the very best surprises are hidden close by. I will definitely be checking out AJJ, the band formerly known as Andrew Jackson Jihad, live someday in the future.
I have to admit - I was really excited about this month's big new release, which was "Three", the third release by New York band, Phantogram.
If you have followed my blog, you know that this band is not new to me. I covered their self-titled EP back in 2013, and their album, "Voices", was my favorite record of 2014.
It took me a few listens to get used to the new album, because the band definitely takes a few new directions. But it quickly grew on me. First of all, "Voices" had music on it that was previously released on EPs, so their wasn't a lot of cohesiveness to the songs, kind of like they were mixed and matched. By contrast, "Three" feels more conceptual, many of the songs having elements that cause these songs to flow together better.
Next, the band has greatly stripped down their sound. It's no longer swirly and meshes of celestial noise twined together with crazy rhythms. There are certainly still elements of synthpop and dream pop there, but they are dampened and toned down to create an innovative pop album that has merits in its own rights. For instance, the main single, "You Don't Get Me Anymore" is basically stripped down to a funky drumbeat, a throbbing bass synth, and Sara Barthel's sweet voice, and yet it works. And this is the feel that the whole album has.
"Funeral Pyre" starts out the record with a discordant synth beat staggering around the reverb of Barthel's voice, nearly drowning out Josh Carter's flitting guitar. "Same Old Blues" has a disco beat with samples of a gospel choir with Barthel's layered vocals sounding surprisingly like a Sheryl Crow song. "Cruel World" starts with a piano and adds on an off-filter, staggered witch house-style beat with more gospel samples, and the song adds on delicious layers after that. This whole album really has a more of a soulful sentiment. Carter takes vocal duties on "Barking Dog", which combines a chamber orchestra with electronic elements. "You're Mine" is probably my favorite song with both Barthel and Carter trading verses to a simple synth beat, just like the other songs, but, halfway through the song, as it builds, the song explodes into a wall of noise that shows that the band is true to their ethereal dream pop roots. "Answer" is another tripped-out piano ballad, like a record skipping. "Run Run Blood" is a feverish, psychedelic piece that does not seem to fit on the album, or does it? "Destroyer" goes all gentle and pensive on us, and "Calling All" finishes out the album, another one of my favorite tunes combining a groovy beat with vocal acrobatics, Barthel singing lyrics like, "We've all got a little ho in us."
Phantogram is really coming into their own. This release feels more confident, like they are trying to sound more like themselves and less like the many of the influences (most of them from the '80s) that they have cited. With "Three", they have cemented their place as one of my favorite bands.
When I was young, I always prided myself on being up on music, and then, in 1990, I moved to Salt Lake City to go to college. It was like moving into a musical black hole.
Utah is not like that now, home to bands like Neon Trees, The Used, and Joshua James. But back then, it was always three years behind. They had an alternative radio station, X96, but they were playing stuff like The Smiths, Depeche Mode, and The Cure. As appealing as that sounds now, in 1990, that stuff was sooo 1987.
Now, I realize that Phoenix is no cultural mecca, but, in the days before internet, perhaps its proximity to Los Angeles made music a little more accessible. It was home to Meat Puppets, Gin Blossoms, and a healthy punk and metal scene that included JFA, Junior Achievement, Mighty Sphincter, Sacred Reich, and Pedifile. Not to mention an awesome alternative radio station, KUKQ, with its iconic deejay, Jonathan L, who organized the very first alternative festival, Q-Fest, before Lollapalooza was even dreamed of - right there in Arizona.
On Christmas Break, I went home to Arizona, and it was like coming up for water. I went to my friend Steve's house, armed with a stack of blank cassettes to record any new music he might have. One of those bands was Lush, a British band on the prestigious 4AD label. The album was the compilation, "Gala". Armed with new music, I went back to Utah and listened to these cassettes - a lot. I was a college student, so I did a lot of walking and riding the bus with enormous headphones always on my head.
Gala
Apart from the colorful album cover by Vaughan Oliver and 23 Envelope, I noticed that Miki Berenyi's overdubbed vocals reminded me of Elizabeth Fraser's from Cocteau Twins - not a surprise coming from a 4AD band - except that the music, while still swirly and ethereal, was hard and biting, not like Cocteau Twins. Lush, for me, was part of the next-gen lineup of musicians for the label. In the '80s, it had been Cocteau Twins,Dead Can Dance, Throwing Muses, and ending out the decade with The Pixies. Lush, for me, represented the newness of the '90s, music that was unfamiliar to me. Since being back from Utah, when it came to being familiar with the music world, I felt, for the first time, being out of my element, out of touch - a feeling I have felt often since in my many years.
Back then, no one knew to call it "shoegaze", although that's what it would be called eventually. To me, it was swirly, watery music like Cocteau Twins, with a vocalist whose lilt was like Liz Fraser's, except pushed into the background - it was like that, except that it was harder, had an edge. No one knew what shoegaze was back then, except that it is easier to see how things progressed and were influenced - all from the perspective of looking back in time.
At the end of 1990, 4AD wanted to introduce an American audience to the music of Lush, and so they released "Gala", which was essentially a collection of the three EPs that the band had released previously in the UK. As a result, the groups of songs on this collection have a very different sound - different EPs, different producers, different feels.
The first EP was 1989's "Scar", produced by Jon Fryer, of This Mortal Coil fame. The first album is raw and unvarnished, much like My Bloody Valentine's first album, "Isn't Anything". This includes "Bitter", a dead ringer for The Smiths - the machine-like drumming, the fierce strumming just like Johnny Marr's, and Berenyi doing her best female Morrissey. "Second Sight" is one of my favorite Lush songs, because it goes through several tempo changes - starting out billowing like My Bloody Valentine, picking up tempo like Throwing Muses with a punk gallop that would make David Narcizo proud with tremulous vocals emulating Kristin Hersh, and then devolving into chaotic noise like Sonic Youth. "Etheriel" lives up to its name, and "Baby Talk" has rubbery guitar leads over a pounding bassline. There are two versions of "Thoughtforms" - one soaring and the other clear and muted, as well as two version of "Scarlet", one an extended play.
In 1990, their second EP was "Mad Love", which are the songs that I perhaps know this band best for. One thing that I didn't know was that this collection of songs was produced by Robin Guthrie of Cocteau Twins. This surprised me, because I had always just assumed that Guthrie had unwittingly influenced the shoegaze movement from afar, but here he actively produces a record that defines the sound. The songs here are clearer and uninhibited. If they resemble Cocteau Twins, then it is mainly from the early era where Cocteau had a more primal, less ethereal, sound, like the 1983 John Peel Sessions or on the EP "Peppermint Pig". "De-Luxe" is arguably the most recognizable song by the band with its guitar hooks swathed in reverb, and Berenyi doing her vocal acrobatics. "Leaves Me Cold" is perhaps one of my favorite songs with the guitars turned down to a gothic chill and Merenyi's vocals descending into dark scales, a strong bass ascending over the screeching guitars. "Downer" is the perfect shoegaze song - aggressive and hard with angelic harmonies offering a musical contradiction.
The songs from their third EP, "Sweetness and Light", are perhaps the most uninteresting as the band seems to settle into what people would think shoegaze sounds like. The songs - the title track, "Sweetness and Light", "Sunbathing" and "Breeze" - drift like dandelion chaff on a summer wind, coalescing and swirling, the flitting guitars nearly distinguishable from the hushed vocals. They are good songs, but not nearly as unbridled and throaty as the other songs. There is also a lovely cover of "Hey Hey Helen" by ABBA, which sounds as if it by done by Sex Pistols fronted by Kate Bush - in other words, sublime.
After taking a nearly twenty-year break, Lush reunited last year, releasing a brand new EP earlier this year (that I might have to review), as well as embarking on a tour with newer shoegaze artist, Tamaryn (whom I will review soon). It pleases me that this band got back together, as they were so important to me in my youth, being at the front of a genre that is still my preferred style of music. Now, if we can only get Cocteau Twins to reunite...
It started out with a cowboy, straddling a bull, waiting for the gate to open, and, when it did, the bull burst out onto the rodeo grounds, in slow motion, with the cowboy struggling to hang on. It was set to this music.
The song had a slow, trip hop beat with a faint Indian sitar, and the lyrics were a hoarse whisper:
"So take this night
Wrap it around me like a sheet
I know I'm not forgiven
But I need a place to sleep
So take this night
Lay me down on the street
I know I'm not forgiven
But I hope that I'll be given
Some peace"
The vocal harmonies on the chorus were so haunting that I had to know what the song was.
The TV show was "House M.D.", and I was binge watching several seasons. The scene I describe above was the opening sequence of one of the episodes. I heard this haunting song and liked it right away. I Googled it, and the song was "This Night" by Black Lab.
Now, I had never heard of Black Lab before, but apparent they have put out five albums since the late '90s. In fact, they have a fairly recent release, but the song I was looking for was off of the 2007 album, "Passion Leaves a Trace" (which has one of the sexiest album covers ever).
I downloaded the whole album, but I was kind of disappointed. Not all of the album was haunting and ethereal trip hop like "This Night". No, they are radio-friendly, post-grunge rock, kind of like Switchfoot or Daughtry. No, not Nickelback, because Black Lab is actually good. They are the kind of rock that was pretty popular in the last decade. Which is not my style of music at all.
One thing I like about this band is that all of their albums since 2005 have been self-released since Geffen dropped them, and they have relied on their fans, podcasts, and bloggers to carry them forward. In fact, one of the songs on this album, a sweet ballad called "Mine Again" hit the charts due to a campaign called Bum Rush the Charts.
Even if not all of the songs are "This Night", there are some really excellent songs on here. "Ghost In Your Mind" is a shimmering piece with a really catchy vocal hook. "Gone" has some strobe effects on the guitar along with a steady, pulsing bass line that turns out quite pleasant. "Weightless" is another slow tempo gem that veers into trip hop territory again. "Broken Heart" turns it up to 11 in a simmering jam. "Sun and Moon" is one of my favorite tracks with its electronic beat and jabbing guitars, offset by the falsetto chorus. "The Window" finishes out the album with a hushed, smoky dream pop piece.
I'm not going to say that this album is bad. Neither am I going to say that I should have just downloaded "This Night" instead of the whole album. It's not a bad album. But "This Night" is the only song thus far that has made it onto my CD mixes.
On October 4th, we lost singer Caroline Crawley after a long illness. She was one of the lead singers of the '80s baroque pop band, Shelleyan Orphan, and, in 1991, she was one of the artists who performed with This Mortal Coil on their album, "Blood". Since her voice was so important to me growing up, I thought that I would pen a little tribute to her. She was only 53 years-old.
Although they had been around in the UK for some time, Shelleyan Orphan didn't release an album in the United States until 1988. I was aware of who they were. Those of us into alternative music back then kept our eyes on all things British. I remember a girl that I went to school with who was really into Shelleyan Orphan. She was kind of a flighty girl, lost in her own imagination all the time, and I remember that Shelleyan Orphan seemed to fit into this. They were like the Jane Austen of alternative music.
Caroline Crawley really came into my radar in 1991 when Ivo Watts-Russell, founder of the prestigious 4AD label asked Caroline to join This Mortal Coil, one of my favorite supergroups, for their album, "Blood". Caroline's emotional and quavering voice figured prominently on some of the songs like "The Lacemaker". Since This Mortal Coil is known for doing covers, Caroline performed striking renditions of "Mr. Somewhere" by The Apartments, "Late Night" by Syd Barrett, and "Help Me Lift You Up" by Mary Margaret O'Hara.
Sometime in 1992, I was a newlywed, and my wife and I went to a flea market at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City. One table had a bunch of CDs for sale, and there were several damaged copies of "Helleborine', the 1987 release by Shelleyan Orphan. I bought three of them for about $2 each, gave two of them away. Since I didn't have many CDs, this CD became much listened to in my household. To this day, it reminds me of the early days of my marriage.
Caroline Crawley
The thing that I always loved about it was how free and unfettered it sound, not bound by any traditional conventions of pop music. An acoustic guitar. Oboes. Violins and cellos. Jem Tayle's falsetto, and Caroline's sweet, tender voice. Simple and happy songs. It was the perfect record for newlyweds. Upon learning of Caroline's passing, I dusted off the album and listened to it again. It still sounds good after all these years. My favorites are "Southern Bess (A Field Holler)", "Anatomy of Love", "Jeremiah", and my all-time favorite, "Blue Black Grape". The songs are sweet and cloying like pollen in the summer.
The world is a poorer place without Caroline Crawley and her voice. I don't know much about her personally, or what caused her death. But this sweet voice figured so prominently when I was growing up, it is indelibly a part of me. I truly mourned when I heard that she had passed. Of you have never heard of her, please take some time to familiarize yourself with her music before the winds of time erase it.
Daughter is one of the newer band to join the ranks of the 4AD label, and, given their atmospheric, moody music, it is easy to see why. Just like This Mortal Coil and others on the same label, they make sweeping and commanding textures of sounds. But what sets them apart are the very human lyrics penned by singer, Elena Tonra. It is a an interesting juxtaposition to combine these almost magical and ethereal tones with lyrics that seem almost mundane.
Take the lyrics to the song "Alone/ With You". Set to a hypnotic, strobe-like trip hop beat to words like:
"I hate living with you
I should get a dog or something
I hate walking with you
Talking to myself is boring conversation
You and I were once friends
Now you're only an acquaintance"
But that is the genius of this band. They take otherwordly dream pop and combine them with completely relatable lyrics.
Based out of London, Tonra was a solo performer when she met Swiss musician, Igor Haefeli, and, along with Remi Aguilella, formed the band Daughter. "Not To Disappear", released earlier this year, is their second effort, and what an effort. Part of the success of their efforts is that Tonra and Haefeli are able to keep their private relationship separate from their professional careers. Especially when it comes to Tonra's intensely personal lyrics. Tonra told the Irish Examiner, "Igor doesn’t question my lyrics. He regards what we do as an art form. He certainly doesn’t try to rewrite my words. I never tell anyone what my songs are about, not even him. I feel they are direct enough, anyway. They aren’t especially obscure"
Not To Disappear
The album starts with "New Ways" that starts with placid tones with Tonra's gentle voice wavering across the landscape, and then it starts adding layer upon layer, like a tide rolling in until the surf is crashing onto the rocks with such intensity. "Numbers" continues with the chimerical energy, and "Doing the Right Thing" will make you weep. One of my favorite tracks, it strips down each component to its own element. A voice set to a lonely synth, a voice set only to a bass guitar. Separating each part creates a dreamy, gestalten feel to the music. "How", by contrast, smears all of the instruments together to make a shoegazey, melange of noise. "No Care" combines a bass guitar with a drum & bass rhythm, and Tonra belts out the lyrics angrily. "Fossa" starts out singular yet ends in a jumbled swath of noise.
I have always appreciated 4AD for picking music that is outside of the norm, music that has artistic merit rather than commercial value. This is definitely the case with Daughter. Their combination of ethereal with real makes them a legitimate choice for new music. I high recommend this album. This is some of the most moving and beautiful music that you will ever hear. I can't wait to see what they do next.
