edit: When I refer to "birthdays & relatives," I'm talking about an actual birthday party and actual visiting relatives, I realize now that "birthdays & relatives" sounds like a Party Party Partners band that, for all I know, might actually be playing the festival.
I'm too tired to put these thoughts into any coherent kind of narrative. If you want real journalism, you can go read the Flagpole, right? So in no apparent order.
The New Sound of Numbers is back, and as good as they've ever been. New bassist Jeff Tobias adds a melodicism to the ping-pong two-chord song structure that has sent their music into an almost dub/reggae direction. I've got one mild criticism, but we'll save it for the end because it's bigger than this band.
There's something that comes across in Supercluster's live show that I still can't find on their album. More raw passion, or something like that. Or maybe they were just in that kind of mood Thursday night. I've certainly never seen Jason NeSmith abuse his guitar like that before. More on them later too.
Tunabunny played the same song for a half-hour. And it wasn't the "outer space" song they put out last year. Apparently, it was an Andy Kaufman cover. The bass player guy told me afterwards that the guy from their label made them do it. Let me get this straight, a label person told them to do this for 30 minutes?
The world is truly a strange place.
Moving on, either Eureka, California wrote a bunch of new songs, or changing drummers had a bigger impact than any of us could have expected. What used to sound like a vaguely 90's alt-rock-pop riff-driven smorgasboard now sounds infinitely leaner and poppier. Anyway, I enjoyed it.
Big Eyed Beans From Venus plays Captain Beefheart songs that sound as good as the originals. There can be no higher compliment.
As for the rest of the festival, whoever decided to schedule this thing for the busiest weekend of my year is a dumbass. I was able to make it out to ESG last night (they sounded like ESG, it was good), but missed most of the afternoon shows I wanted to see (birthdays & relatives), and will miss most of tonight's show due to work. I can only hope that future festivals will have the foresight & consideration to call me before choosing their dates.
So to my last point. I think it's great that some people in Athens like to have at least 6 people in their band. But I don't understand why every single person in the band has to constantly be playing their instrument all of the time. Aside from the fact that the music occasionally ends up blending into a giant mush, it fails to take advantage of the full capabilities of a large-piece band. To me, it just sounds lazy. Everyone come up with a part and then we'll just wing it. It'd be so great if say, heading into the second verse, the singer was backed by just the violin and the non-drummer percussionists, and then halfway through the rest of the band came crashing in. It would be so much more dramatic. Or just horns and guitar during the bridge. It could be beautiful. I'm not asking for Burt Bacharach;
I just think a little bit of craft might go a long way. Fuck, even Miles Davis knew enough to stop playing once in a while.
I don't know who started this shit. Dark Meat, probably. But Supercluster and The New Sound of Numbers are guilty of this as well, and they're all smart enough as musicians and people to do better than just settling for a wall of sound.
Parting thought. If you leave a comment on this article saying anything along the lines of, "So you're saying all music has to be arranged and controlled?" or "Who says music has to be dramatic to be effective?" or "How do you define craft?" I am not going to be holding back in my future comments, and I will probably make you cry.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Thursday, October 21, 2010
RIPARIUP
Well, here's an article that says more about The Slits than I ever could.
http://popanthropology.blogspot.com/2009/12/reclaiming-slits.html
Everyone talks about the album "Cut" when they talk about The Slits, and yeah, it's great. But if you ever get the chance, check out the sessions they recorded for John Peel, back when Palmolive was still the drummer.
No one's made music like this before or since. Respect is due.
http://popanthropology.blogspot.com/2009/12/reclaiming-slits.html
Everyone talks about the album "Cut" when they talk about The Slits, and yeah, it's great. But if you ever get the chance, check out the sessions they recorded for John Peel, back when Palmolive was still the drummer.
No one's made music like this before or since. Respect is due.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Outside The Loop - Gordon Voidwell
This song is probably going to get a lot more popular.
Let's not kid ourselves; this is little more than disposable pop music. Which is another way of saying that it's colorful, fun, and will make you smile for a couple of weeks until you get sick of it and decide that you never want to hear it again. What's interesting is how much it resembles Reptar. That's not to accuse either one of ripping anyone off. It's just a sound that's very prevalent these days, especially on top-40 radio.
More importantly, it's the similarities between the two artists that magnifies their differences, and helps us to better understand them.
Gordon Voidwell fills his party song with insights into the world of overprivileged elites, rhymes 'ivory towers' with 'big-sized endowments,' and stops you in your tracks as you wonder whether he's celebrating this world, mocking it, or getting ready to destroy it from the inside. It's the difference between observing the world and merely existing in one. And it's a difference that the local group has yet to learn.
And while we're on the subject, Gordon is also a better dancer, as well as a more charismatic frontman.
Let's not kid ourselves; this is little more than disposable pop music. Which is another way of saying that it's colorful, fun, and will make you smile for a couple of weeks until you get sick of it and decide that you never want to hear it again. What's interesting is how much it resembles Reptar. That's not to accuse either one of ripping anyone off. It's just a sound that's very prevalent these days, especially on top-40 radio.
More importantly, it's the similarities between the two artists that magnifies their differences, and helps us to better understand them.
Gordon Voidwell fills his party song with insights into the world of overprivileged elites, rhymes 'ivory towers' with 'big-sized endowments,' and stops you in your tracks as you wonder whether he's celebrating this world, mocking it, or getting ready to destroy it from the inside. It's the difference between observing the world and merely existing in one. And it's a difference that the local group has yet to learn.
And while we're on the subject, Gordon is also a better dancer, as well as a more charismatic frontman.
Outside The Loop - Lady Gaga and Yoko Ono
The world's biggest pop star sings a Yoko Ono song with Yoko. And that can only be a good thing. I could write 2500 words on Gaga, but for the sake of space let's just say: music = pretty good for top-40, performance = bloodthristy & captivating).
I know to most of the world she's nothing more than a punchline--actually, I suppose that applies to both of them--but for my money, Yoko Ono is one of the most creative, interesting, and (here's a word that seems to pop up a lot these days) experimental artists in the history of music. In fact, after attending the recent AUX show at Little Kings, I walked away disappointed in a couple of things. First, the lack of female representation in general (3 non-singers out of the 42 performers), and secondly that somewhere along the line it was decided that, as it pertains to female vocalists, a slow dull moan that sounds a-little-sexual-but-maybe-also-a-little-constipated constitutes 'experimental.' Nobody, it seemed, was familiar with Yoko Ono--or even James Brown, for that matter. (As always, the lovely and amazing Vanessa Hay is exempt from this criticism).
Here's a song by a woman in her 70's. It came out early last year.
And here's a song she made shortly after she saw her husband shot and murdered. (1981, in case you're not good with the math).
There's plently of stuff, both wilder and more beautiful, where this came from. Go find it if you're interested.
More Yoko thoughts:
1) My favorite Beatle-related album of all time is John Lennon's Plastic Ono Band. Her influence is all over it.
2) At the time he met her, John Lennon was an abusive asshole, to his wife, his son, his bandmates, pretty much everyone he came in contact with. It is a testament to Yoko Ono's strength, patience, and love, that he was significantly less of an asshole at the time of his death.
3) If Jordan Stepp is reading this, she would probably be interested to know that Cindy Wilson and Kate Pierson were hugely influenced by Yoko Ono. You can trace a direct line from Yoko's early stuff to the vocals in Rock Lobster, to say nothing of Give Me Back My Man.
More AUX thoughts:
1) Jeff Tobias offering to let anyone in the audience play his saxophone, provided 'they had never played saxophone before' absolutely embodied everything I think that experimental (the temptation to put it in quotes every time I write it is strong, but I resist) music should be.
2) Each of the drummers were fantastic.
3) It might be fun next time to mandate than 1/3 of the performers shouldn't know how to play their instrument.
4) It might be fun to see more than a couple of people actually look like they're having fun. The atmosphere fell somewhere between a library and a professor's den.
5) There would appear to be a direct correlation between the volume of a performer's amplifier and the number of masturbatory gestures they make on their instrument.
6) I don't know how much of it was rehearsed, but if all felt very safe. If we're not going to see performers taking risks, then what's the point of going to see experimental music in the first place?
7) I left about 2/3 of the way through. So my opinions are based on that. I intended to go back, but just didn't feel like it. Such is the freedom that comes with having no boss and no career ambitions.
Which brings us back to one of this article's subjects--Lady Gaga--and a question. When the most successful pop star in the world is more 'experimental' (I couldn't resist) than the avant-garde, does that reflect poorly on the avant-garde? Or does it mean that we might have, in Lady Gaga, a performer worth watching because we don't know what she'll do next?
That last question was rhetorical by the way.
I know to most of the world she's nothing more than a punchline--actually, I suppose that applies to both of them--but for my money, Yoko Ono is one of the most creative, interesting, and (here's a word that seems to pop up a lot these days) experimental artists in the history of music. In fact, after attending the recent AUX show at Little Kings, I walked away disappointed in a couple of things. First, the lack of female representation in general (3 non-singers out of the 42 performers), and secondly that somewhere along the line it was decided that, as it pertains to female vocalists, a slow dull moan that sounds a-little-sexual-but-maybe-also-a-little-constipated constitutes 'experimental.' Nobody, it seemed, was familiar with Yoko Ono--or even James Brown, for that matter. (As always, the lovely and amazing Vanessa Hay is exempt from this criticism).
Here's a song by a woman in her 70's. It came out early last year.
And here's a song she made shortly after she saw her husband shot and murdered. (1981, in case you're not good with the math).
There's plently of stuff, both wilder and more beautiful, where this came from. Go find it if you're interested.
More Yoko thoughts:
1) My favorite Beatle-related album of all time is John Lennon's Plastic Ono Band. Her influence is all over it.
2) At the time he met her, John Lennon was an abusive asshole, to his wife, his son, his bandmates, pretty much everyone he came in contact with. It is a testament to Yoko Ono's strength, patience, and love, that he was significantly less of an asshole at the time of his death.
3) If Jordan Stepp is reading this, she would probably be interested to know that Cindy Wilson and Kate Pierson were hugely influenced by Yoko Ono. You can trace a direct line from Yoko's early stuff to the vocals in Rock Lobster, to say nothing of Give Me Back My Man.
More AUX thoughts:
1) Jeff Tobias offering to let anyone in the audience play his saxophone, provided 'they had never played saxophone before' absolutely embodied everything I think that experimental (the temptation to put it in quotes every time I write it is strong, but I resist) music should be.
2) Each of the drummers were fantastic.
3) It might be fun next time to mandate than 1/3 of the performers shouldn't know how to play their instrument.
4) It might be fun to see more than a couple of people actually look like they're having fun. The atmosphere fell somewhere between a library and a professor's den.
5) There would appear to be a direct correlation between the volume of a performer's amplifier and the number of masturbatory gestures they make on their instrument.
6) I don't know how much of it was rehearsed, but if all felt very safe. If we're not going to see performers taking risks, then what's the point of going to see experimental music in the first place?
7) I left about 2/3 of the way through. So my opinions are based on that. I intended to go back, but just didn't feel like it. Such is the freedom that comes with having no boss and no career ambitions.
Which brings us back to one of this article's subjects--Lady Gaga--and a question. When the most successful pop star in the world is more 'experimental' (I couldn't resist) than the avant-garde, does that reflect poorly on the avant-garde? Or does it mean that we might have, in Lady Gaga, a performer worth watching because we don't know what she'll do next?
That last question was rhetorical by the way.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Dead Confederate Wants To Sell You A Taco!
You won't find the boys of Dead Confederate bragging about it on their website, but Taco Bell is "really excited to have Dead Confederate back in the Feed The Beat program". DC's new album "is in heavy rotation at the Taco Bell offices!" (their exclamation point, not mine). What's this all about, you ask?
From Taco Bell's Feed The Beat website:
For five consecutive years, Taco Bell® and its Feed the Beat® program have provided a total of 365 music artists/bands with $500 in Taco Bell Bucks. Touring music artists can relate to eating on the road and Taco Bell wants to help by picking up their post-show late-night dinner tabs so they can focus on their true passion: music.
Next time anyone in town (particularly their manager) tells you how big Dead Confederate is getting, ask yourself this question: How well can a band be doing when it prostitutes itself for $500 worth of tacos?
Though, like the band itself, most Taco Bell food is made out of grungy leftovers from the early 90's. (Aside from the Crunch Wrap Supreme, which is awesomely delicious).
Also, if the press release for your new album, Sugar, is going to mention Bob Mould--and DC's does, along with (in order) Dinosaur Jr, Meat Puppets, Sonic Youth, The Hold Steady, Smashing Pumpkins, The Walkmen, Radiohead, Led Zeppelin, The Whigs, Dandy Warhols, and Brian Jonestown Massacre--you should probably be aware that Bob Mould was in a band called Sugar. It was great; David Barbe played bass in it.
Anyway, here's a link to a free download of DC's ironically titled "Giving It All Away,' courtesy of Taco Bell and Feed The Beat.
www.feedthebeat.com/freebies/dead-confederate-free-mp3-download/
From Taco Bell's Feed The Beat website:
For five consecutive years, Taco Bell® and its Feed the Beat® program have provided a total of 365 music artists/bands with $500 in Taco Bell Bucks. Touring music artists can relate to eating on the road and Taco Bell wants to help by picking up their post-show late-night dinner tabs so they can focus on their true passion: music.
Next time anyone in town (particularly their manager) tells you how big Dead Confederate is getting, ask yourself this question: How well can a band be doing when it prostitutes itself for $500 worth of tacos?
Though, like the band itself, most Taco Bell food is made out of grungy leftovers from the early 90's. (Aside from the Crunch Wrap Supreme, which is awesomely delicious).
Also, if the press release for your new album, Sugar, is going to mention Bob Mould--and DC's does, along with (in order) Dinosaur Jr, Meat Puppets, Sonic Youth, The Hold Steady, Smashing Pumpkins, The Walkmen, Radiohead, Led Zeppelin, The Whigs, Dandy Warhols, and Brian Jonestown Massacre--you should probably be aware that Bob Mould was in a band called Sugar. It was great; David Barbe played bass in it.
Anyway, here's a link to a free download of DC's ironically titled "Giving It All Away,' courtesy of Taco Bell and Feed The Beat.
www.feedthebeat.com/freebies/dead-confederate-free-mp3-download/
Allison Weiss Revisited
This blog ran into some controversy a while back when it ran a critical assessment of Allison Weiss' music. I haven't heard any of her music lately, but this video is heartfelt, sincere, and beautiful.
When I first heard this video existed, I immediately rolled my eyes and rattled off a half-dozen cynical opinions. Then I actually watched the video and choked on every single one of them. This video contains every bit of the rawness, passion, and guts that I was unable to find in her music a year ago. Much respect is due to Ms. Weiss for having the courage to put something like this out there. If this video is any indication, her next project will definitely be worth checking out.
When I first heard this video existed, I immediately rolled my eyes and rattled off a half-dozen cynical opinions. Then I actually watched the video and choked on every single one of them. This video contains every bit of the rawness, passion, and guts that I was unable to find in her music a year ago. Much respect is due to Ms. Weiss for having the courage to put something like this out there. If this video is any indication, her next project will definitely be worth checking out.
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Nuci's Space does wonderful work...
...and this is one way to help them. There's a band--although 'recording project' might be more accurate--called Emergent Heart.
They may have decided to call their new EP 'One' because it's their favorite U2 song, but they probably did it because it's their first release. It's available for download at http://www.emergentheart.com/. It's tuneful and nice in that smooth indie rock way that all the kids seem to love these days, in touch with its feelings, sincere, sensitive, etc. Kind of like The Antlers, Real Estate, Broken Social Scene, Telekenesis, that kind of thing. And it's every bit as good as the rest of that stuff is.
Still, I probably wouldn't be mentioning it at all if the proceeds weren't going to Nuci's Space. Go visit http://www.nuci.org/ if you haven't heard of it. This blog can get a little negative sometimes, what with all the fevered egos in this town competing for one's attention, but Nuci's Space is something that every Athenian should be proud of. Very few people start playing music (or writing about it for that matter) because they are socially well-adjusted and have excellent coping mechanisms for dealing with the world around them. Thank god for all of us that a place like Nuci's Space exists.
A callous attempt on the part of an unknown band to draw attention to itself by aligning itself with a music-related charity loved by thousands? That's one way to look at it, if you're feeling cynical. But I'm not, and any money that goes to Nuci's Space is money that is going to do good things.
Besdies, one of the guys in the group said I was 'smart' when he asked me to write about this. See, Athens musicians, I'm as much as a sucker for praise and attention as the rest of you! The Athens Music Express e-mail address really works! (Just be grateful I didn't take up Misfortune 500 on their request to come see them play--dry ice triggers my asthma).
(Gratuitous and unnecessary use of exclamation points at the end of the article used by kind permission of the owner, Flagpole Editor Michelle Gilzenstern).
They may have decided to call their new EP 'One' because it's their favorite U2 song, but they probably did it because it's their first release. It's available for download at http://www.emergentheart.com/. It's tuneful and nice in that smooth indie rock way that all the kids seem to love these days, in touch with its feelings, sincere, sensitive, etc. Kind of like The Antlers, Real Estate, Broken Social Scene, Telekenesis, that kind of thing. And it's every bit as good as the rest of that stuff is.
Still, I probably wouldn't be mentioning it at all if the proceeds weren't going to Nuci's Space. Go visit http://www.nuci.org/ if you haven't heard of it. This blog can get a little negative sometimes, what with all the fevered egos in this town competing for one's attention, but Nuci's Space is something that every Athenian should be proud of. Very few people start playing music (or writing about it for that matter) because they are socially well-adjusted and have excellent coping mechanisms for dealing with the world around them. Thank god for all of us that a place like Nuci's Space exists.
A callous attempt on the part of an unknown band to draw attention to itself by aligning itself with a music-related charity loved by thousands? That's one way to look at it, if you're feeling cynical. But I'm not, and any money that goes to Nuci's Space is money that is going to do good things.
Besdies, one of the guys in the group said I was 'smart' when he asked me to write about this. See, Athens musicians, I'm as much as a sucker for praise and attention as the rest of you! The Athens Music Express e-mail address really works! (Just be grateful I didn't take up Misfortune 500 on their request to come see them play--dry ice triggers my asthma).
(Gratuitous and unnecessary use of exclamation points at the end of the article used by kind permission of the owner, Flagpole Editor Michelle Gilzenstern).
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