Bars & Guitars

It's Been a while...

2007-06-27T23:46:00.000-07:00

hasn't it. Let's see April 3rd was my last post and today is June 27th that means the last time I posted, in internet years, was 2,569 years ago. A good friend convinced me that people actually read this thing and that, perhaps, they deserve some degree of explication. So here I am. I don't think that this means the posts will start flowing again, it just means that maybe I need to get this off my chest.

I'm having a tough time right now. I've been having a tough time for quite a few months. I'm struggling. My job/business is fine. I have a wonderful daughter. But at some point over the last 4 years I really lost touch with someone who is really important to me. It's been a challenging stare into the mirror of late. I've learned a lot and I'm not happy with much of it. At the same time I'm quite aware that what's happened in my life is a 50/50 proposition. Nothing gets as fucked up as it is now without two people willingly jogging down the sweet sweet path of self destruction.

You can probably hear me editing myself as you read this. I have no interest right now in washing my dirty laundry public. Trust me, there are all sorts of folks in all manner of corners of the internet (also known as the www and "the web") who would love to sink their teeth into my story. They can't have it. At least not right now. At least not until I've reached the other side of all this. Until then I will be intentionally vague and you'll just have to deal.

So what's this horse shit got to do with music? Well, it does and it doesn't. One thing I discovered about myself is that I'm really good at hiding from things. I hid from my deep inner heart, that place of maximum vulnerability where you're really alive, by pretending that it didn't exist. I used drugs, sex, and, yes, rock n' roll to assist my delusion. The first two should be obvious, the third not so much. I got to a point where my obsessive blog reading, downloading, unmanageable levels of consumption (I swear I've downloaded stuff like, a year and a half ago from emusic that I haven't even listened to yet, ), self imposed guilt about posting, mental gymnastics regarding my supposed self-importance in this self-important obsessed Music World 2.0 game we're all playing, that you're playing right now. It all just got to a point where it seemed like I was obsessing on something because it was a distraction from what was really going on in my head and my heart. I was ignoring things that were orders of magnitude more important than whatever my next post was going to be and how many hits I was getting.

Maybe it's just me. Maybe I'm the kind of guy that gets carried away. Maybe everyone else out there reading Pitchfork and Stylus and Brooklyn Vegan and trying to find obscure Arcade Fire tracks is normal and I'm not. I'm happy to take that criticism because ultimately the finger I'm pointing only points at me and at my life. For now I'm desperately trying to find perspective. I'm trying hard to get through what has been and will continue to be the most difficult time of my life. It all will pass one way or another and then I'll wake up one day hear a song and think "that's just plain and simple a great tune, other people need to hear it". I'll post something on that day. Otherwise, thanks for your thoughts (if you're thinking about some random guy you don't know with some very unspecified life issues) and for reading. And thanks for asking about me. That's really meant a lot.

Peace,

Pete

Fountains of Wayne on Pitchfork...

2007-04-03T13:15:00.000-07:00

This 3.0 review of Fountains of Wayne's Traffic And Weather is thoroughly misguided that it provoked me to write. I'd like to ask pitchfork to please stop intellectualizing music until there's nothing left but bland ideas that the band, in all likelihood, didn't even intend. It's just this attitude that leads indie rock shows to be hands jammed in pockets nerd fests. God forbid you shake your ass or yell something stupid like, "it's time to rock, motherfucker!!" That would break that aura of uber cool that so many spend so much time cultivating.

Traffic And Weather isn't high art. It is a collection of great pop songs full of hook and wry lyricism. Sit back, enjoy, roll the windows down and stop thinking to fucking much.

Man, thank God that Christgau got it right

WOW!!!....

2007-04-03T08:45:00.000-07:00

Have you seen this? Brilliant and odd.

OH MY GOD...

2007-03-28T13:15:00.000-07:00

The best part is that the narrator gets as fired up to yell, "UFO Porno!!!", as the Spanish language announcers for soccer games are about yelling, "GOAL!!"

Assorted Musicoloy & Pernicious Apologizing...

2007-03-27T10:37:00.000-07:00

The old up keep of the blog has been lacking lately, but I've been feeling a bit beaten down. Work is busy as a beaver in the redwoods which is a blessing and a curse, the personal life is mangled at best and is naturally draining emotionally, physically. Everything (= life) makes the management of a music blog rather low on the priority scale. I did manage to catch a show last week at The Hotel Utah. It was the wonderous Our Lady of the Highway with the much blogged about (I'm guilty here because I think he's great) Adam Arcuragi and a Washington Dc area band called These United States. A really great bill. All the bands produced some really stunning music. The highlight was during Arcuragi's set when he was backed by the other bands on his final song. It was clear there was a real affection between all the players. This heartfelt camaraderie produced such an effusive outbreak of music that as the whole gang leaned into Arcuragi's chorus of "oh lord, come and take me home" I swear the room was filled with a light the color of rose. An excellent night of music. Catch Arcuragi if you're able he puts on an excellent show and is touring all over the place at the moment.

I was unfamiliar with These United States but was suitably impressed with their country inflected take on 70's AM rock. Oft times gentle and melancholy, other times more forceful and insistent in their melodies. They're like a hoedown held at on AA meeting or a barn dance in a decrepit urban warehouse or a shindig with slide guitars on a sinking boat.

some songs from These United States:

The Business

Kings And Aces

A written word...

2007-03-21T10:20:00.000-07:00

Watching Young Couples with an Old Girlfriend On Sunday Morning

How mild these young men seem to me now
with their baggy shorts and clouds of musk, as if younger brothers of the
women they escort in tight black leather, bangs and tattoos, cute little
toughies, so Louise Brooks annealed

in MTV, headed off for huevos rancheros
and the Sunday Times at some chic, crowded dive. I don't recall it at all this
way, do you ? How sweetly complected and confident they look, their faces
unclouded by the rages

and abandoned, tearful couplings of the night before, the drunkenness, beast savor and
remorse. Or do I recoil from their youthfulness and health ? Oh, not recoil, just fail to see
ourselves. And yet, this tenderness between us that remains

was mortared first with something dark, something feral, we still refuse, we still refuse to name.

-by August Kleinzahler

Have Fun, I'm not...

2007-03-19T11:40:00.000-07:00

Junior Senior. It helps sometimes.

Today, some reading...

2007-03-14T11:24:00.000-07:00

Everybody and their Uncle Hank has something to say about file sharing and its link to the demise or resurgence of music today. Personally, I usually ignore all articles because I'm just sick of hearing about it. But today I read a piece on file sharing by Okkervil River's Will Sheff. I've interviewed Sheff and like him. It goes without saying that I think Okkervil is one of the finest bands playing today. So this one I read. It's well thought out and touches many of the points, concerning both the state of music and the necessary evil of file sharing, that I find myself pondering to some degree. I've included the link and the text.

The Link

The Text:

Over the nine-odd years that we in Okkervil River have been trying to
make a living playing music, I've developed a kind of love/hate
relationship with the world of file-sharing. The first good job I ever
had was at the website Audiogalaxy.com, where I drew a respectable
salary for writing music reviews and editorials as a kind of
not-very-convincing camouflage for what was at the time one of the
world's largest file-sharing networks. At the time, my attitude about
file-sharing was that it didn't particularly hurt artists – most of
whom were being ripped off by their labels anyway (it's a little known
fact that very few musicians actually make any money off of record
sales) – rather, it helped spread the word about their music to people
who, if they liked it enough, would buy the CD. I felt that the party
who genuinely had cause to be frightened of file-sharing weren't the
tiny little indie bands but the colossal major labels; if you put out
a Britney Spears CD with only one good song on it, I figured, people
would just steal the one song and no one would buy the CD. When
feeling grand – usually after one or two of the free 20 oz. Mountain
Dews available in our office kitchen fridge and a few rounds at the
Nerf hoop – I'd imagine a new and digitally reinvigorated world in
which sales of major-label behemoths like Britney and Creed would
plummet, in which major labels would topple, in which culture would be
reinvented as a kind of meritocracy where anyone with artistic
ambitions could draw a decent living by setting up a PayPal tip-jar on
their little corner of the internet. Don't laugh – you thought that, too.

About a year later, the RIAA finally came gunning for Audiogalaxy and
shut us down. The dot-com crash hit, and everyone started wondering
where the money was. I was taken into the special room at my offices –
the one with the big, soft leatherette couches, the one reserved for
hiring and firing – and fired. I loaded a box with my belongings and a
pair of stolen Sony headphones and drove home from the gutted
Audiogalaxy offices. A couple of weeks later I cast my lot with
Okkervil River, and I headed out on my first major tour. I've spent
more than half of the intervening five years on the road. After tour
upon tour of paying more for gas than we were making at the shows, of
skipping meals, of asking people in the sparse crowds we drew if any
of them had available floor space where we could spend the night, I've
finally managed to make it pay enough so that I draw roughly the same
salary as a clerk at a 7-11. I use that comparison solely
descriptively, as I couldn't be possibly be happier to be making a
living doing what I love. At the same time, with no health insurance
and no house and no idea how long my "music career" will last, it's
kind of become everything I have. I try to use that fact as reason to
throw all of my energy and my care into every single thing that I do;
as a result, my attitude about file-sharing has become more
complicated now that it has a direct impact on my life.

I'm not sure if file-sharing impacts our sales enough for it to hurt
us. Sometimes I suspect that it does – other times I'm glad people get
a chance to be exposed to our music. I do know that there's a
subscription-based service called Sound Scan that all industry
professionals – labels, booking agents, promoters, publicists – look
at regularly. Sound Scan estimates how many records you've sold in
stores and over the internet, and it is used to determine how "big"
you are. If you're angling to have the opening slot on a lucrative
tour or trying to get signed to a new label and someone takes a look
at your Sound Scan numbers and doesn't like them, it's over. That's an
aspect of file-sharing that I'm not sure people take into account. In
any case, I honestly don't care quite as much about the commercial
implications of file-sharing because they're basically out of my
control and I guess that inside I still do take the view that
file-sharing can be radically empowering to fans and that I can trust
those same fans to buy the records.

My real concerns with file-sharing are primarily aesthetic.

There's a story by Jorge Luís Borges called "The Library of Babel." It
describes a fantastical library composed of an apparently infinite
number of identical rooms. Each room contains 1,050 books. Printed on
the pages are words whose lettering and order are apparently random.
Because the library is complete, among the gibberish it also contains
every book that is possible, every book that could ever be written. It
also contains every imaginable variation of every book possible,
whether that variation is off by thousands of letters or by a single
comma. Borges adds that it must contain, somewhere, a book that
explains the meaning and origin of the library itself – just as it
contains thousands of variations of that book, true and false. He
writes, "When it was proclaimed that the Library contained all books,
the first impression was one of extravagant happiness. All men felt
themselves to be the masters of an intact and secret treasure…As was
natural, this inordinate hope was followed by an excessive depression."

The internet – with its glut not only of information but of
misinformation, and of information that is only slightly correct, or
only slightly incorrect – fills me with this same weird mixture of
happiness and depression. I sometimes feel drowned in information,
deadened by it. How many hundreds of bored hours have you spent
mechanically poring through web pages not knowing what you're looking
for, or knowing what you're looking for but not feeling satisfied when
you find it? You hunger but you're not filled. Everything is freely
available on the internet, and is accordingly made inestimably
valuable and utterly value-less.

When I was a kid, I'd listen to the same records over and over and
over again, as if I was under a spell. The record would end and I'd
flip it over again, doing absolutely nothing, letting the music wash
over me. My favorite record albums become like a totem for me, their
big fat beautiful gatefolds worked as a shield against the loud,
crashing, crushing world. I would have laid down my life and died in
defense of a record like Tonight's the Night or Astral Weeks. I felt
that those records had, in some ways, saved my life. These days, with
all the choice in the world, it's hard for me find the attention span
for a single album. I put my iPod on shuffle and skip impatiently to
the next song before each one's over. I don't even know what I'm
looking for.

Because my work is the most important thing in the world to me, I
sometimes feel uncomfortable about it existing freely in the digital
Library of Babel, these songs that I worked so hard writing and
revising and rehearsing and recording and mixing (and re-mixing) and
mastering (and re-mastering) shucked off the album and thrown up on
the internet in hissy and brittle low-resolution versions with no kind
of sequence or order, mixed in with odd leaked tracks and some sub-par
live versions. In a world overstuffed with stimuli and choking on
information, I feel like a musical album should have a kind of purity
and a kind of wholeness, that every aspect of an album – from the
sequencing to the artwork even down to the typesetting – should feels
labored over and loved, and that the finished product should feel like
a gift.

At the same time, I am a very ardent supporter of the way in which the
internet empowers fans. I truly believe that the internet allows fans
to connect with and participate in art in a way that's far more
meaningful than it's been for decades, in a way that's more akin to
the way folk music worked in the 1920's and for hundreds of years
beforehand. Anyone who has ever been to a perfect rock show by their
favorite band in a small venue can testify to the circuit of energy
that is created at those shows between the audience and the band, to
the way that energy washes up onstage from the crowd and is radiated
back out again from the performers, to the way that it becomes less
about an artist and an audience and it becomes entirely about a
singular unrepeatable shared moment between a group of people. That's
why I go to shows, and that's why I play music myself.

By the same token, those same great shows don't always sound the same
when you run a line out from the soundboard into a minidisk player and
put it up online. For one thing, soundboard tapes are notoriously bad;
everything that's supposed to resonate through the air – like drums
and amps – gets lost, while everything that's miked or going direct
sounds dry and ten times louder. Similarly, all those other ineffable
things that resonate through the air – those things that are the
reason we go to rock shows in the first place – simply can't be
captured through a line-out on a soundboard. I've heard a lot of the
Okkervil bootlegs out there; some of them sound great and some of them
make me wince. I don't mind that they're out there and I encourage
bootlegging, but sometimes it's painful for me to contemplate how
there are hours and hours of terrible-sounding Okkervil River music
readily available on the internet.

We're going on tour again in the fall and we'll probably be playing
some new songs. I love sharing new songs and refining them live in
front of people. However, I'm going to save some of the new songs for
our next recording session – in spite of the fact that we could use
the rehearsal – for the simple reason that I don't want them to be
heard first in versions that are inferior because we're still working
through them and they're poorly from soundboards. I'm not at all
asking that you don't record and share shows; rather, I myself am
going to try to choose some songs that I'm okay having shared in early
versions.

Just as long as when the album comes out you don't do that thing on
the message board where you go, "hrumph, I much prefer the earlier
version better, by the way. I find so much more pure the version from
Madison where Will's guitar is out of tune and he's so wasted that he
forgets half the words and then apologizes and starts the song over.
And then he forgets them again." --

Manchester Orchestra...

2007-03-09T10:16:00.000-08:00

I'm blown away. At last a record that grabs my attention and holds it. I've listened to Manchester Orchestra's I'm Like A Virgin Losing A Child incessantly for the last week.

First things first: Manchester Orchestra is from Atlanta, GA. And their kids. By kids I mean they're all around 19 or so, kids to a man of my advanced age. That youthful energy is palpable on I'm Like A Virgin Losing A Child, it infuses the record with purpose in a way. It's most certainly a musical statement produced by the passions of youth. There are odes to broken hearts and weightier issues of deceased parents, real heart on the sleeve stuff that might make you want to hurl accusations like "emo" at the band, but don't be too hasty. There's something far more imaginitive and inventive going on than your garden variety cookie cutter emo rock schlock here. Does it not rock? Why yes it does rock. Does it not get quiet and emotional? Why yes it does get quiet and introspective. But the album does both these things in unexpected ways, or at least in ways as unexpected as you can get within the confines of rock and pop songs. It's emo with imagination, emo that resents the tag and wants you to show you why. It's The Weakerthans without the politics. The Shins with no shine and more guts.

I'll admit that at times it's totally overblown. But that's what youth does, youth makes big weighty pronoucements and acts like it knows everything. When you get older you realize that you didn't know everything at 20 or 21 or even 25, and there's a hell of a lot more subtlety and hair splitting in the world than you realized. But that kind of stuff comes later in life, right now for Manchester Orchestra life is an open wound that bleeds music. It sounds pretty killer.

1 from I'm Like A Virgin Losing A Child:

The Neighborhood Is Bleeding

Stories...

2007-03-08T14:11:00.000-08:00

I like to write. I'm not particularly adept at it and spend too little time editing (especially here) but I get an emotional satisfaction from simply trying to move an idea from my head to the page. I'm not good at opening myself up emotionally, I could go on and on about why I think that is but at the end of the day, that's simply who am I. Some people are very good at living as an open wound, vulnerable and giving of their emotional selves. This is good, I think. It certainly takes a lot of the difficulty out of managing personal relationships. It's easier to deal with an open book then a brick wall.

Ok where am I going with this. While this is obviously a completely non-music related post it is about the only other thing as engaging as music. That thing, for me, is stories. The act of telling others about parts of our lives, bits and pieces that are funny, sad, scary, unsettling, uncomfortable, is such a basic human connection that I think we forget that it is incredibly freeing and empowering.

Now for the part with the link. If you live in NYC maybe you're already familiar with The Moth, a not-for-profit storytelling organization, I just recently got wind of it and think that's pretty fucking cool.

If you have time during your day listen to some of the stories on the site. When you're done write something down, or better tell it to someone else.

Stories told at The Moth

The Rosebuds...

2007-03-06T09:07:00.000-08:00

The Rosebuds got my attention with Birds Make Good Neighbors which was a pretty compelling mix of reverb drenched pop songs that mixed bittersweet lyrics with boy/girl harmonies. It was damn good.

On April 10 Merge Records will release The Rosebuds' Night Of The Furies, an album inspired by the mythological creatures. In fact to a large degree the lyrical content of Night of the Furies is a recounting of the "furies" myth. Now if you recall from your freshman Greek 101 class the Furies were three monsterous women charged with keeping everyone in line. The punished all those that violated sensible societal codes like, you dont' kill your mom or dad, be nice to strangers, keep your word, etc. The Rosebuds inject this myth with a classic love story that acts as a structure for the bands' exploration of romantic tension, love and betrayal. According to the band there is a narrative arc through the album's nine songs. I can't recount the story as yet, but a few more listens...

The most arresting thing about Night of the Furies is the Rosebuds new attachment to beat and bass. In many aspects this a dance record begging for additional remixing by James Murphy or Diplo. The beats run deep in a way the Birds Make Good Neighbors only hinted at. A song like "Get Up Get Out" is straight up disco, and that's not a bad thing. There's still pleny of hook and melody, particularly in keyboard runs and synth licks. The guitar is just a layer this time around, supporting the songs, usually buried below the surface of the mix, popping up now and again with ringing chime, but the muscle of the melody is left to the vocals and the keyboards.

It's an excellent effort that separates itself from the band's earlier work not in the interest of simply being different or contrarian, but in a logical exploration of where they can push their talents.

from Night of the Furies:

Cemetery Lawns

Bill Callahan...

2007-03-02T13:45:00.000-08:00

In April Drag City will release the first solo album by Bill Callahan entitled Woke On A Whaleheart. You may only know Mr. Callahan from his day job which is being the primary mover and songwriter for Smog. This of course begs the question, why a "solo" record and not another Smog record. This is splitting hairs which need not be split, especially when Woke On A Whaleheart is no less then some of Callahan's most dramatic and wonderful work yet.

Callahan, no matter what guise he's playing under, has always been brave enough to follow his muse no matter where it might lead him. Fortunately, he's always had the artistic freedom to explore genre, to find a voice, and to develop artistically. This is a rarity in today's music world. If Woke On A Whaleheart is where all the experimentation has lead, then there should be an insistence that musicians once again be allowed to fully engage in their craft unhindered by the petty demands of the market.

Callahan's body of work should be should be an American treasure in the same way that Raymond Carver's short stories should be lauded as one of finest cultural jewels, uniquely American and powerfully aware of its environment. It is in this sense, one of cultural value, that Woke On A Whaleheart takes on an aura of an artistic high water mark for Callahan.

As on all of Callahan's projects his deep baritone and it's languorous delivery anchor each song. The songs feel expansive musically, touching on gospel, country, rock, each song filled with subtle changes and slowly building layers. The album is near impossible to pigeonhole as a genre. It simply seems stamped as American, a look both backward and forward at our cultural tectonics and the slowly evolving chasms and collisions that make it fascinating.

Lyrically, again much like Ray Carver, Callahan understands the power of simply placing a word within a sentence, a lyric, a line. He's a master of brevity and the power that it can wield when used correctly. So much is said in small moments, carefully crafted. Unlike Carver Callahan doesn't have a particular affection for the suburban relationships that Carver seemed near obsessed with chronicling in their various states of disrepair and disintegration. The world of Woke On A Whaleheart is more pastoral, as if he's embodying a small town's pace and attitude.

It's an excellent album that only gets better with each listen.

1 song from Woke On A Whaleheart:

Sycamore

basically Modest Mouse...

2007-02-27T14:54:00.000-08:00

I like Modest Mouse OK, my wife really likes them a lot. I enjoyed the last record even when "Float On" became as prevalent as Salvation Army bells around Christmas. I must say the new single from the upcoming We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank is kinda killer. In order for you to enjoy the clever and witty video that accompanies the song I'm linking to MTV's Subterranean Blog because they got it. I don't endorse MTV in general but I totally geeked on Subterranean when it was called 120 Minutes. In fact I think I'd have to cite 120 Minutes as a major influence in my youthful move away from Bruce Springsteen and Men At Work and towards Madness, The Specials, and Squirell Bait. OK, I've assuaged my misguided guilt to some degree. Now follow the link because the video has a maritime theme and I love the sea.

The Broken Family Band...

2007-02-26T13:09:00.000-08:00

The Broken Family Band are a group of cheeky brits doing their damnedest to tackle to uniquely American idiom of countrified rock. They do a pretty good job. Of course it's far from authentic, but the very notion of authentic in today's musically global world gets progressively more and more laughable with each passing day that I wonder why I even mentioned it. The Broken Family Band plays a brand of country rock very similar to what The Dying Californian does. It's a slight twang generously coated with indie rock guitars and a grand melody. There's nothing terribly ground breaking here, but when it's done well it's very satisfying. The video for the song "It's All Over" is an example of "done well". It's got the slow build to crashing crescendo, a slow tightening of tensions that's as good as a well executed hand job. The video itself is a pretty entertaining construct. The visuals are taken from a silent movie in which two complete strangers were asked to sit in a room and stare at each other without speaking for an hour.

Enjoy.

Pink Nasty...

2007-02-23T16:20:00.000-08:00

Sorry but I've beens skiing. Now I'm back all limbs in tact. Have you heard any of the new Pink Nasty Mold The Gold? Very good record. You'll be surprised. Here's something to watch and listen to:

New Pernice Video...

2007-02-20T11:16:00.000-08:00

Super low budget for a great song.

Malajube...

2007-02-20T08:35:00.000-08:00

Malajube got some critical love last year for their album Trompe-L'Oeil but never reached the buzzy heights of, say, Arcade Fire or Broken Social Scene to name just two of the many Canadian bands that have been owning the indie scene during the last three years. It's too bad that Malajube hasn't gotten the same attention because they're easily as good if not better than many of the buzziest or the buzzy buzz buzz bands. Maybe it's because they sing in French. I know that probably puts off must indie rock kids like subtitles in movies put off 12 year olds. But give Malajube a listen and a chance and they'll blow your socks off. You'll find yourself thinking why didn't I hear about these guys last year? Oh wait they're not singing in English. That puts me off. It all makes sense now. But it's so good. I must continue to listen, put aside petty intellectual arguments about the need to understand the lyrics to get the full effect. Must get French to English dictionary.

Some videos from Malajube:

Montreal -40

Pate Filo

Fille a Plumes

Le Metronome

Shipwreck...

2007-02-14T14:22:00.000-08:00

Shipwreck, which is a fairly straight forward rock outfit that turns it up and shakes some ass at ya should not be confused with this band called Shipwreck who are, I'm sure, very nice young men and women but are Jesus obsessed and for a variety of reasons I just can't go there. I don't like the policies and couldn't work for that company. Anyway Shipwreck the secular. Now this band I can get behind: muscular guitar work, palpable passion, a little new wave kitsch, those mysterious elements that make rock and roll, it's all there. They're also keen on releasing lots of EPS, I like that, fits my attention span.

Lots of music from Shipwreck:

point yourself here for the complete list

A couple of highlights:

A Walk In The Woods

Orpan

Track A Tiger...

2007-02-13T08:31:00.000-08:00

Ok, I think I'm more or less recovered from my bout with the plague. Appetite returning, strength back up, feeling human again. Very nice.

Today's catchy diddy comes via Track A Tiger which doesn't win point for best band name but does charm with a jangly indie rock sound that's sweetened up nicely with boy/girl harmonies. The band sounds very tight, very together, well rehearsed and in possession of some really good melodies. The songs make me think of Trembling Blue Stars and Slow Dazzle. This particular track, notable for the reverb laden guitar line, sounds like a touch of summer to me. Something we're all in need of at this mid-winter juncture.

Track A Tiger - All These Accidents

Death has become me...

2007-02-07T14:06:00.000-08:00

not really it just feels like it. I've been felled by some terrible bird/porcupine flu combo. Trust me it sucks. I don't ever get sick. I think the last time was like six years ago, which means I should amend my prior statement to "I only get sick every six years". But I do it right. Fever, chills, the whole nine yards. I think I'm getting better.

Now it's been both a blessing and a curse that my 7 year old daughter has been sick at the same time as me. I now have seen every episode of Spongebob Squarepants (that could construed as either a blessing or a curse), I actually like a show called Avatar, and may stick my foot in a garbage disposable in order to get out of ever watching another episode of Jimmy Neutron. One cool thing I did discover was a show called Jack's Big Music Show. It's a kids music show hosted by a couple of puppets (I think they're dogs) who sing catchy songs about their various predicaments and plans. Very entertaining. But the really cool thing are the short videos and guest stars the creators have throughout the show. Very catchy pop songs that make sick kids and dads happy. And then, get this, I find that Andrew Bird guested on the show as Dr. Stringz and performed one of the catchiest songs ever. Here it is:

Just fantastic. Makes me even hungrier for the new Bird record. Ok. That's about all I can manage.

Racing Paper Planes...

2007-02-03T17:32:00.000-08:00

If Tract Records isn't on your radar you should really make it a habit to check the site regularly or to get on their email list. They've got a quality roster and do some pretty cool things with their 4 way split EPs that I mentioned a week or so ago. Much like Turn Records, another small label favorite, Tract Records is clearly in it to fight the good fight. By that I mean to champion music they believe in, create community, and hopefully break even.

Here's the latest singles from the folks at Tract:

Racing Paper Planes - In Company of Ghosts.

Oh My but it's just getting silly...

2007-02-01T10:34:00.000-08:00

No tunes today. But some interesting things to think about.

Thing #1. Ok, so does anyone else think that perhaps the Boston Police Department has gone just a little bit over the top on the whole guerilla marketing campaign mistaken for a bomb thing? I suppose I understand on some level why it might cause a panic, but the official reaction to this whole thing is totally absurd. Some choice words: the stunt was "outrageous" (The Mayor), "unconscionable" (Police commissioner), "a product of corporate greed" (The Mayor again). But here's my personal favorite: from US Assistant Attorney General John Grossman, "Assistant Attorney General John Grossman called the light boards "bomblike" devices and said that if they had been explosive they could have damaged infrastructure and transportation in the city." Hey guess what John? My car could be a "bomb like" device except that it's not. So, John, what's a "bomblike" device? Maybe something with a battery and wires and lights? Uh oh, don't set down your PSP on the subway. And those blinky lights on bicycles? Fuck me you terrorist bikers, your evil reign must end right now.

Of course all this simply means that the guerilla marketing campaign was a huge fucking smashing success. Now everyone know what a Mooninite is and at least some of them will watch the show.

So the guys who put up the lighted Mooninites are being cited for "placing a hoax device that causes panic". Well, it wasn't a hoax and the people who caused the panic were our valued officials. It just goes to show you what a little creativity and imagination will get you these days. In other interesting news a Super Bowl advertiser has pulled their ad from the game broadcast due to the fact that they feared it might cause panic. The ad involved a simulated alien invasion. I'm just kidding.

In order to keep this thing music related you guys need to check out iConcertCal. It's an add on to iTunes that searches your music library, compares it to a concert touring schedule and then gives you a calendar of when bands in your iTunes will be playing in your town. Pretty cool.

iConcertCal

The Basement...

2007-01-30T10:49:00.000-08:00

The Basement makes some straight up toe tapping music. They're from Ireland so inevitably will garner comparisons to Hothouse Flowers and Van Morrison as well as requisite mentions that point towards early U2 and Dylan Thomas. But really they just play a fun brand of blue eyed soul that leans just a little towards pickin' and grinnin' Americana. They're pushing a 5 song EP called The Basement EP on Zealous Records with a full length due in the "spring" (that's nebulous label talk for "we're not sure").

Here's the video for their very catchy song Do You Think You're Moving On

As well as one for I Just Caught A Face

Berg Sans Nipple...

2007-01-29T13:59:00.000-08:00

More weird and good from our friends at Team Love. I don't know squat about Berg Sans Nipple aside from what my ears have told me. And they've told me that Berg Sans Nipple projects an odd confluence of electronica, percussion, rock and pop that ends up soundinng like Apostle of Hustle on mushrooms playing in a vineyard of Pinot Noir grapes. I think they're french. They've got an EP called Along The Quai that came out on Jan. 23rd and seems to possess the ability to light a fire of buzz on par with Funeral if given the chance. Good odd stuff, takes a few listens to digest but then blossoms into a full fledged jaw dropper.

1 from Along The Quai:

Mystic Song

The Broken West...

2007-01-26T15:35:00.000-08:00

I may be hopping on the band wagon here (I haven't really checked to see how many other "alternative media outlets" have talked about these guys) but damn this new record from The Broken West is good. It's called I Can't Go On I'll Go On and is as fine an example of power pop sweetness as I've heard in awhile. I've gotta go all the way back to The California Oranges Souvenirs to remember a record with such a consistent ability to make my cynical ass grin.

Here's a Broken West video:

Have a good weekend. Hey look, it's raining in San Francisco. "bout time.

Creeping Weeds...

2007-01-24T10:24:00.000-08:00

Ok, so there's this band called Creeping Weeds that sent me their CD. Actually they emailed me and asked if they could send it to me, I said yes. Usually that's where these little interlocutions stop because I end up listening to the first track of the CD, skip through the rest of the tracks and decide that Pro Tools and My Space were the worst things to ever happen to music. But Creeping Weeds' CD We Are All Part of a Dream You Are Having actually shows a degree of professionalism and dedication to craft that many bands with rehearsal spaces can only dream of. Customarily I like to spend at least a week with a CD before I consider posting about it as I try to stay true to my mantra of "music I like and music I think other people should like". I diligently try to avoid simply cutting and pasting the vast number of links that are emailed to me every day by a variety of labels and publicists who are, I believe, very good people trying to do their job. I like to believe in the music, feel a little moved by it, be convinced that there's something special going on in a song. But there are a couple of songs on We Are All Part of a Dream You Are Having that I have found to be immediately affecting. And that's good. Creeping Weeds wear their influences on their collective sleeves (or at least on the sleeve of primary songwriter Pete Stewart) and those influences are classic indie rock. I'm talking about Pavement primarily, Modest Mouse, Shins (my jury is still out on the new record)and the like. The band has done a good of synthesizing said influences into something that is at the least notable for the fine effort they have made to be true to those influences. It's not a completely original undertaking but it's a fine place for a talented young band to begin. Does it require some polish? Sure, I could do without the noodling of the 7 minute plus "Derelict", but then they come back with the schizophrenically charming "Our Country Home" which is as all over the place as my youngest nephew after 2 Cokes and a box of Zots. There are good heartfelt songs here. Sometimes a little sincerity goes along way with me.

my 2 favorite songs from We Are All Part of a Dream You Are Having:

The Desert

Wired Shut

If you live in in the city that no longer has Allen Iverson (and I spent alot of time there in college so I have opinions) Creeping Weeds CD release party is on Jan. 26th @ 1201 N. Frankford Ave.

The Woes...

2007-01-22T14:03:00.000-08:00

I can't believe that it was nearly three years ago that I wrote about The Woes and their fantastic EP Coalmine for Stylus Magazine. Since that time it seems that Osei Essed and company have been busy refining their banjo laced delta blues brand of soul. It's a magical music and as odd as that reference sounds I really believe it to be true. The magic lies in Essed's voice. There are plenty of other singers to draw comparisons to, say Tom Waits or Nick Cave, but ultimately Essed's voice is so unique and so powerful that he owns every song he sings completely. The music of The Woes varies from a slow moving funereal dirge to upbeat boot stompers that sound like a distant cousin to Lightin' Hopkins. The songs are full of banjos, organs, guitars, varieties of percussion, and that expressive baritone of a voice. The Woes are completely outside of what I tend to listen to and also exactly what I love, that's magic.

Go to The Woes My Space Page and listen to the songs there, if you're not moved to some degree you're dead. Stone cold grey, know wha' I'm sayin'? I find the music that Essed and The Woes produces to be unclassifiable, a unique listening treasure that both lives within and transcends their influences. This hyperbole is over the top even for me, but it's special and that's in short supply these days.

1 song from The Woes 2006 That Coke Oven March:

The Best Is Yet To Come

The Strugglers still get me...

2007-01-18T15:34:00.000-08:00

The more I listen to the The Strugglers 2005 album You Win the more I love it. For whatever reasons it's been on heavy rotation for the last two weeks, so despite the fact that posted about them in June of last year. Honestly though that's the best kind of record, isn't it? The kind you find and enjoy, that get lost in the shuffle of listening, only to be rediscovered and enjoyed even more than the first time around. Even better is the the news that The Strugglers have about completed their next album The Latest Rights. No word on when it's be out, but I wait eagerly.

From the excellent You Win:

The Rejection Letter.

Also of note regarding The Strugglers, mostly because it's more recent news and doesn't make that post a complete redundancy, is a split CD EP that they released on Tract Records called If We Were Ghosts. It's a pretty cool deal where Tract Records does a four way split series (four bands each doing a couple of songs), home spun art work, collectable, very cool, very un digital which is nice. If We Were Ghosts brings together The Strugglers, Pink Nasty, The Black Swans and Virginia Reel. There are MP3 samples on the site. This is the kind of thing worth owning, reminds me aesthetically of the Dark Beloved Cloud singles club. Very nice.

Also recently noticed that UnBunny quietly put out a little EP called Typist like a year ago. I'm a big fan of Jared/Unbunny and have no excuse as to why this one slipped by, aside from the obvious fact that I have a life and can't possibly be expected to keep up on every single dingle thing that every indie singer/songwriter out there is doing. You can listen to the "X" from Typist at the Unbunny myspace page.

That's it for me this week. I'm going to go fall down in the snow this weekend. Hopefully all limbs will remain attached.

Great Northern...

2007-01-16T15:56:00.000-08:00

Here's a little nugget from the good folks at Eenie Meenie. The band is Great Northern and if you live on the West Coast you may have a chance to catch them. First it's LA, then they play here in San Francisco on Jan. 21st, then up to Portland and Seattle. You can check the dates on their site.

Otherwise it's really cold here and I'm tired because I had insomnia last night. Maybe I need a new mattress. Maybe I should keep myself under some semblance of control on the weekends. Maybe I need arch supports.

from Great Northern:

Low Is A Height

A kind of squealchy brooding number that's all about the beautiful vocal harmonies.

Centromatic Video...

2007-01-15T14:54:00.000-08:00

Centro-matic's Fort Recovery was one of my favorite albums of last year. I found a video for their song "Triggers And Trash Heaps". It's good. Enjoy.

Sparrow House...

2007-01-11T09:48:00.000-08:00

I forgot what cold is like. Despite having grown up on the east coast (and north of the Mason Dixon line at that) I've been thoroughly Californicated. Currently in No Cal we're experiencing a cold snap. We're talking mornings in the 20's or 30's days in the upper 40's. Now if you're reading this in Canada or Germany or Maine you're thinking to yourself "pussy". But it's been years since I've felt a chill like this. Tomorrow morning I'll get on my bike to ride to work and it's going to be like 6 degrees. I'm mentally unprepared.

So I've been warming the cockles (what the hell are those) of my heart with the delicious melodies of Sparrow House. Sparrow House is the work of Jared Van Fleet whose full time gig is playing in the also excellent Voxtrot. While Voxtrot is pretty rocking semi-new wave, full of upbeat songs and a jangle worthy of Johnny Marr, Sparrow House is an introspective affair closer to Iron & Wine's The Creek Drank The Cradle. Hell I'll even give you the classic folk of Simon & Garfunkel and mean it. Sparrow House is pimping an EP called Falls right now, six songs of mellow carefully plucked songs that are fleshed out with light percussion and the doubling of the vocal track. Van Fleet is working alone here so there's a certain lo-fi bedroom quality to the recording that only adds to the charm of the EP. It's excellent cold weather music, makes you want to hole up with a warm cocktail, a turtleneck, and your best sweety. You know, stay under the covers and make some love because sex anywhere else in the house is unfathomable since it's like 12 even with the furnace burning half the natural gas in Prudhoe Bay.

Order the EP on the website. Listen to additional songs over here. For a side project you're going to find the quality of these songs to be excellent. Try "Foxes (sighing like a furnace)".

from Falls:

When I Am Gone

The Woods...

2007-01-09T09:00:00.000-08:00

Hey guess what? Macworld starts today in San Francisco! Yeah! Are you fucking kidding me? I love my iPod, okay? But there's nowhere to park for the next 4 days and even when you're on your bike you've got to avoid 4th and Howard like the fucking plague because you never know when some sweet tech geek is going to walk in front of you because he's (and it's always a he) busy masturbating with his iFoozle. Yeah Macworld! Yick.

So the perfect antidote to the tech implosion occurring 5 blocks from me? Why it's lofi freak folk, of course. And who better to give us some of that back woods strum and weird then The Woods. They have a record called At Rear House coming out on Shrimper in about 2 weeks. It's a seriously odd but often catchy slice of lofi back woods americana. At its best the record recalls The Baptist Generals fabulous "Going Back Song" or Akron/Family or a well twisted Carpenters. At other times the record is a droning reverberating, breathing, cacophony of dog barks, feedback and the occassional scream, that never really arrives anywhere. But when it all comes together, as on songs like "Don't Pass On Me" and "Night Creature", you can actually believe that birds can read our thoughts and rocks have souls and trees lead secret lives we never see.

from The Woods forthcoming At Rear House:

Don't Pass On Me

Flog me for I have erred...

2007-01-05T12:52:00.000-08:00

It seems that in this recent post I erroneously attributed the song to Christian Kiefer. While Mr. Kiefer does have a record coming out on Undertow Records called Dogs And Donkeys that involves Nels Cline and Mimi Parker of Low and that I'd really love to hear (hint, hint), it seems that the song I posted really belongs to a band called The Artificial Hearts. The main (only?) member of said band is also named Christian. Go figure. However I do have to point out that Undertow has the song attributed to Christian Kiefer on his Undertow artist page. Therefore I can successfully pass the blame onto someone else confirming that I am indeed an American. So here's the correct attribution:

from The Artificial Hearts Heavy Rock:

Building A Rocketship

Check out more songs over at Artificial Hearts MySpace page

Apologies to Christian Kiefer and thanks as well to him for pointing out my error. I'm just trying to keep us "new media" on the up and up.

Keep up with Christian Kiefer and his excellent podcasts right about here.

Amy Millan + a welcome return...

2007-01-04T09:37:00.000-08:00

Boy did I get a surprise when I checked the mailbox yesterday. No, the neighbors hadn't put another rat in there (those crazies know how to party let me tell ya). It was two new eps via the fabulous Dark Beloved Cloud Singles Club. If you've never heard of DBC it's well worth a look since membership in the club is free. All you have to do is provide them with six pieces of art that will end up being covers for other peoples singles and you're in. Very cool. In addition to more mainstream offerings like Ida they also get deep into the nooks and crannies. The eps I received yesterday were from The Nanobot Auxiliary Ballet and the Museum of Modern Insect Art and The In And Out. Both very different and both very cool. If you can't or don't want to join I highly recommend purchasing from these good people.

I've also been digging Honey From The Tomb by Amy Millan out now on Arts and Crafts. It's a country tinged set of folk pop from the voice that makes Stars "Ageless Beauty" so frickin' sexy. It's solid, maybe unspectacular, but very enjoyable record. Think Jennny Watson without twins or Jenny Toomey without the Burt Bacharach obsession.

There's an excellent interview/performance from Ms. Millan over on KCRW that was recorded on Dec. 7th.

Here's a video from Amy Millan:

Skinny Boy

Bishop Allen...

2007-01-03T11:43:00.000-08:00

IF you weren't paying attention last year then you missed one of the most musically satisfying projects in Bishop Allen's EP a month excursion. By "excursion" I don't mean an actual trip but more of a mental release or a process by which we are taken from one place (in this case the boring mundanity of our everyday working lives) to another (the pleasing jangle of well written pop songs offered very affordably), don't be so literal. Jeez.

These two songs are from the last two months of 2006, that would be November and December. Duh.

Calendar - Decemeber EP

Tea for Two - November EP

2007-01-02T14:30:00.000-08:00

if you've got some time why not play the album quiz. Let me know how you do. I pretty much sucked.

new Apostle of Hustle...

2007-01-02T10:03:00.000-08:00

Starting the year with a lazy post, since I imagine any reader of music blogs worth their salt has already heard this. But it's got a couple of worthy things going for it: 1) it's a great song, 2) it's from Apostle of Hustle which gave us the outstanding Folkloric Feel which eclipsed, in my opinion, labelmates, and sharer of band members, Broken Social Scene's You Forgot It in People.

The new song is dynamic build up that lays the slowly developing melody on a bed of bouncing drums. It reminds me of early Genesis for some reason and I do intend that as a compliment.

The new A of H record National Anthem of Nowhere comes out on Feb. 6th and, if "My Sword Hand's Anger" is any indication, it should be a killer.

from the forthcoming album:

My Sword Hand's Anger

Happy New Year!!

2006-12-31T18:25:00.000-08:00

Best Wishes for 2007 friends. Regularly posting again next week. Right now I'm going to get silly drunk and make fun of people I don't know. Be safe.

Top Ten...

2006-12-22T09:36:00.000-08:00

Okay friends, here it is. The Bars & Guitars best of 2006. There almost seemed to be a glut of well done music this year which has made the list creation a chore. That should be a pleasure not a pain, but I don't think anything shined particularly brightly this year. Does that imply lots and lots of dim stars?

1) M. Ward - Post War

2) Cat Power - The Greatest

3) The Hold Steady - Boys And Girls In America

4) The Decemberists - The Crane Wife

5) Sunset Rubdown - Shut Up I Am Dreaming

6) Centro-Matic - Fort Recovery

7) Enablers - Output Negative Space

8) Destroyer - Destroyer's Rubies

9) DFA Remixes Chapter 1 - Various Artists

10) Midlake - The Trials of Van Occupanther

Honorable Mentions:

Death Ships - Seeds of Devastation
Owen - At Home With Owen
Portastatic - Be Still Please
Richard Buckner - Meadow
Honeycut - The Day I Turned To Glass
Bonnie "Prince" Billy - The Letting Go

I hope everyone has a great Christmas, a great holiday, stays safe, has fun, wears condoms, buckles their seatbelts, doesn't mix beer and wine, believes it's better to give than receive, hugs their kids, hugs their parents, goes for a bike ride, thinks good thoughts for the service men and women stuck in Iraq and Afghanistan, my best to all of you. I'll shout at you next week.

P

The obligatory Christmas style music:

Sufjan Stevens - Count Thou Font of Every Blessing - this an .mp4 so download only most likely.

Bonnie "Prince" Billy - Love Comes To Me. Maybe not so Christmas-y but it sure is pretty.

The Quiet Have A Voice...

2006-12-20T13:39:00.000-08:00

That would be a great name for a band, but instead it's just the post title. And don't get any ideas, if I ever learn to play an instrument with any kind of proficiency I got dibs on the name.

Instead the post title refers to some folky singer/songwriter stuff I've dug up while browsing year end lists and such. I like these songs, they're pretty, gentle, intelligent, good listening.

Just another way to pass the day.

from David Macleod's Strange Biology:

One By One

Books About The Past

from Christian Kiefer's 2007 Undertow release Dogs & Donkeys (this one ain't so quiet):

Building A Rocketship

Owen...

2006-12-19T14:32:00.000-08:00

I am such a sucker for Owen's heart on the sleeve songs of love and break up. Every since I heard the song "In The Morning Before Work", I've been hooked. Sure it's emo without the bite, but Mike Kinsella (who is in fact %100 Owen) isn't trying to hop a craze or bite someone's style. He just wants to write pretty minor chord songs and emote with his half talk half sing voice that seems to issue quietly from him like air from the end of an antique bellows.

Well, Owen has released a new one on Polyvinyl called At Home With Owen. It's part and parcel with the rest of his catalog, there isn't a lot of daring here but he's gotten so good with his songwriting that's it's hard not to be charmed this record. If you're already a fan you'll be quite happy with this release. If you're just getting a look some of Kinsella's best work is here. Check his cover for VU's "Femme Fatale".

There's an additional MP3 on the polyvinyl page, but I've post my fave track from the album.

From At Home With Owen:

Windows And Doors

new Trainwreck Riders video...

2006-12-18T16:35:00.000-08:00

A really well done video for a great song "Christmas Time Blues":

Holy Shit...I laughed 'til I cried...

2006-12-18T10:14:00.000-08:00

And about pissed myself as well. Every fine ho on my list is getting dick in a box this year. Yeah.

Remember This?

2006-12-15T14:01:00.000-08:00

Such a great song and such a cool video

Super XX Man...

2006-12-14T17:28:00.000-08:00

I've posted about Super XX Man before. In fact, I think it was just a few a months ago. But he released a new record last month on Hush Records called A Better Place and you can tell from its sound that things are a bit different in the super xx life. The big change is that Mr. Man is now a daddy. Believe me, I know how that rearranges the world view, and you can really hear it in these songs. Where as his last record X had a world view that was if not sinister than certainly cynical, odd jabs of discontentment that seemed aimed at his little woman, the new record seems very settled both lyrically and musically. The record is far more "folk" than X, less pop and minor chord storytelling. It definitely feels more of the bedroom lo-fi singer-songwriter variety. This style fits these songs well. When Mr. Man reveals his worries about bringing his child into a world both confused and uncertain, those sentiments are bouyed by a deceptively simple and very pretty melody. And Mr. Man (that's Scott Garred by the by) certainly knows his way around a melody. It's a good record: hopeful, wide eyed and a little wary.

1 song from A Better Place:

Rain Keeps Falling

P.G. Six

2006-12-12T08:55:00.000-08:00

P.G. Six is Pat Gubler and he's got a record forthcoming on Drag City. I received it in the US Post just a few days ago. In fact a few hours before I left for a weekend in the Sierra Foothills. I brough the CD with me knowing nothing about it, expecting nothing of it. I do, however, have a basic admiration for the Drag City label and faith that they wouldn't sign a band or a person that sucked ass. My faith is well placed.

P.G. Six is often clumped into the "freak folk" scene. I suppose that category includes everyone from Devandra Branhead to Akron/Family and just about everything else that can be squeezed into the ever expanding Hefty bag that "freak folk" now implies. I mean, "Freak Folk"? Fuck. Gotta come up with something better. P.G. Six's forthcoming record Slightly Sorry certainly has a folk bent. But it's a classic-rock folk bent, it sounds dated and I mean that in a good way. It sounds wise, worldly, filled with something important, something deserving of your attention. Gubler is a trained musician but his music doesn't sound obsessive or overly polished, instead it's filled with risk taking and experimentation.

What's it sound like? It sounds like Gordon Lightfoot channeled by Will Oldham. It sounds like early Neil Young being chaffeured around 1960's era Haight Ashbury by Conor Oberst with Steve Earle acting as security. It's willow thin then suddenly fat with organ fills. It's a lonely voice then suddenly a chorus of harmony.

I had spent the better part of a long car ride listening to Slightly Sorry trying to figure it out. Playing detective with its notes, until I finally gave up and just listened. When we arrived in the little town of Dorrington the snow started to fall. The first real snow of winter, a blessing in a town starving for skiers to trail their dollars through the small bars and restaurants like tin cans behind a wedding motorcade. It had been years since last I watched snow falling through the yellow cone of a streetlight, dust in a sunbeam, bugs after the sweet white light, silence in all that motion.

from Slightly Sorry:

Bless These Blues

Lots more of his music here

Trainwreck Riders...

2006-12-08T09:43:00.000-08:00

I've been listening to Trainwreck Riders album Lonely Road Revival a lot lately. It's good, if a bit ragged, passionate alt-country-ish rock. Reminds me of common touch stones like Uncle Tupelo but also more classic rock stuff like CCR, Allman Brothers and even Hank Williams. Fun record that I do recommend.

2 videos from Trainwreck Riders:

Slow Motion Cowboy

Ol Timey Feelin

Death Ships...

2006-12-06T09:56:00.000-08:00

These guys just slipped by me. No other explanation. Death Ships 2006 release Seeds Of Destruction came out in August of this year and I missed it. Just recently the record was brought to my attention as worthy of my consideration (picture me surrounded by CDs with my nose in the air acting all snooty). Here's the bio:

Setting sail from the landlocked environs of Iowa City, Iowa, Death Ships are not what you’d expect. Rather than a band full of heshers, overrun with long flowing locks, cranking out screeching metal from Marshall full stacks, the bands sound eschews this notion by mixing up elements of rock, folk, pop, and alt country. Started as a solo project by lead singer and guitarist, Dan Maloney, in 2001, Death Ships now has a full crew, and is presently promoting their upcoming release, “Seeds of Devastation,” to be officially released Sept. 5th, 2006 on Faithful Anchor Music. This new release builds on the momentum the band has established from playing with the likes of The Decemberists, Pinback, Tapes n’ Tapes, Low, Jets to Brazil, and Sound Team, as well as playing frequently at such Chicago ports of call as Schubas and The Empty Bottle. The record also comes on the heels of earlier success with their single, “Thelma Lou,” specifically chosen and released by Deep Elm Records as part of their “This is Indie Rock” compilation series, and which debuted at Number One on University of Iowa’s college radio station, KRUI. Lauded by both press and blogs alike, Death Ships were declared in the May 2006 issue of Alternative Press magazine as “Unsigned Band of the Month.” “Seeds of Devastation” was recorded with crunk hip-hop/rock impresario, and old friend, Matt Malpass (Young Bloodz, Lil Jon, Juvenile), in the summer of 2005 in Atlanta, capturing all the songs in a week. The band is now prepping for smooth sailing on the road for the rest of 2006.

If I had to point fingers at similar bands I guess I'd be forced to indicate some similarities to Wilco, Okkervil River, Minus Story, Matt Pond PA, Frog Holler. But Death Ships most certainly has their own sound. It's a sound that's most easily identified as guitar based pop but the band has a really good way with their dynamics, letting the songs float, sink, rise, go from ebb to crescendo, all with a well crafted grace. It's really good and is deserving of making some Top 10 lists. I wish I'd caught it earlier, I've already cast some votes.

a song from the previously mentioned "This Is Indie Rock" compilation:

Thelma Lou

When you're done listening to the mp3 go to Death Ships site and listen to "The City Never Sleeps" via their media player, great song.

Here's cool stuff...

2006-12-05T08:56:00.000-08:00

Obviously I'm currently totally out of ideas for post titles.

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Also check out the sweet indie rock with a pretty voice stylings of San Francisco's Finest Dearest:

Sleep Until The Weekend

Idaho

These guys have a 2 song EP available on eMusic right now that's well worth the downloads.

For those waiting on mixes from me it won't be long, my laptop died losing addresses and the playlist but now it's cured so they'll be in the mail shortly.

Patrick Watson...

2006-11-30T09:36:00.000-08:00

More songwriting excellence from the great country to our north. I believe that Patrick Watson is from Montreal and if you buy into the idea that that city produces a specific sound (i.e. the recorded output of Arcade Fire, Wolf Parade, etc.) then Watson is part and parccel of that aesthetic. His songs are big epic sweeping things that unfold slowly as they metaphorize from small innocent kernels of struggline notes into brooding enveloping sweeping winged birds of prey. But nice. He sounds at times a bit like Chris Martin but don't hold that against him, the songs are excellent. He's one to watch in 2007.

2 songs from Mr. Watson:

Luscious Life

Giver

Sometree...

2006-11-28T09:31:00.000-08:00

What's .de stand for? I think it's Denmark. I may be coming off like an ignorant American but I'm really not sure. My other stab would be...hmm I'm not even sure. I think it's Denmark. So, therefore, for the purposes of this post I'm going to tell you that Sometree is from Denmark and I'm sure someone will gleefully correct me if I'm wrong. Whatever the land of origin may be the soil certainly seems to grow strong guitar pop. Sometree has a dark edge that reminds me for some reason of The Blue Nile (which is a band about as far away from guitar based pop as I can conjure). I think it's the swirling lilt of the vocals, maybe the way the melody floats on a bed of rhythm guitar. Good song.

from the 2006 album Bending The Willows:

Hands And Arrows

Thanksgiving Special...

2006-11-22T15:39:00.000-08:00

Well this new blogger interface pretty much sucks. Thanks google. Despite my usual warm reception to the array of Google applications I've now tried to post to Bars & Guitars 3 times and have lost the post each time. Believe me when I say that what I wrote last time was really witty and endearing and you would've loved it had it not been cast out into the hard cold barren tundra of lost bytes.

I believe I started with some lame excuses about my not having posted for awhile. Trust me when I say that the excuses were lame, but more or less they were as follows:

1) work busy
2) Birthday Party = very much bad headache and inability to do much more than breathe for about 48 hours. I now understand why all that stuff is illegal, though the hot tub was fun.

So I feel sufficiently guilty about my lack of posts that I'm prepared to offer you, my valuable reader, this offer. Here's a track list of a CD I recently used as a participant in the In ternational Mixtape Project, it's weird and disparate but it works (trust me):

Neu! - Fur Immer
Supervitesse - Mahogany
The Loving Sounds of Static (Junior Boys Remix) - The Mobius Band
Tough Kid - Honeycut
Al Green - Dr. Octagon
Missing Pieces - Voxtrot
Sour Shores - Portastatic
Grun Grun - Willard Grant Conspiracy + Telefunk
Western Biographic - Bound Stems
Landlord - Oakley Hall
Benson Harbor Blues - The Fiery Furnances
Another Excuse (DFA Remix) - Soulwax

It's oddball, but it works.

The first 10 people to email me their addresses will get a copy of the mix CD. I'll also throw something random into the envelope. I can't promise anything good or, really, anything completely hygienic, but it will at least be interesting.

So there you have it. Have a great Thanksgiving.

Friday Fun...

2006-11-17T12:31:00.000-08:00

I don't know if dude is a bad ass rapper or an amazing mimc or both:

The Bicycles...

2006-11-16T10:03:00.000-08:00

The goddamn Canadians need to relax with all the high quality pop music. I mean it's a subversive invasion of head nodding guitar theatrics, hand grenades of melody and high altitude strafings of harmony. The latest band to assault my ears is The Bicycles. I believe they're from Toronto, but it's all the same to me once you get north of Michigan. I think of The Bicycles as a hybrid of Architecture in Helsinki, Belle & Sebastian, and Zoloft. It's all about pop songs on MDMA, harmonies after a whippet, a summer day on a bicycle, holding the hand of your best girl or boy while hiding from a rain shower. Jangly and delicious it makes my sack relax. Let the pop waves run over you. The Bicycles album is The Good, The Bad and The Cuddly and can difficult to locate stateside. A recent resource I've been using to get the good stuff from north of Minnesota is Zunior, check it out.

3 songs from the fun loving Bicycles:

Paris Be Mine

Gotta Get Out

I Know We Have To Be Apart

Panda Riot...

2006-11-14T10:07:00.000-08:00

Okay, so lots of people send me links to their music. Sometimes that's really cool and sometimes it's a burden. I mean who am I to judge the quality of you squawking? So in truth most of the time I don't even bother listening. I don't have enough time or patience to sort through it all and, frankly, I'm not trying to be Joe Music Blogger and I don't want to be invited on Zune press junket or make money from advertising or make money selling links or songs or anything. I just want to tell you, dear reader, about the music I like and why and get some free Cds out of the deal. My aspirations are low. I already have a life.

So don't ask me why I clicked on the links in the email from Panda Riot. I don't know why I did because I don't like the name and the website comes up all funky in my browser with sentences running all over themselves causing me to squint and rub my eyes and wonder if I'm having the syntactical equivalent of an acid flashback. But click I did and the results of that lone click are pretty good. I'd describe Panda Riot as being of the shoe gaze family: what sounds to me like programmed beats, layers of fuzz heavy guitars, lilting lovely female vocals.

Check out: She Dares All Things

It's good enough to make me wonder how many good songs I've sent to the trash without knowing it.

Voxtrot...

2006-11-13T09:46:00.000-08:00

I've been in hiding at least that's what I call a four day bender to celebrate the recent realignment of our country from red faced anger, fear mongering and divisiveness to a more moderate form of corporate profiteering and me-first-ism. But anyway I'm back and aside from a few scratches and bruises that I don't remember getting I'm ready to talk about music. Today I'll talk about new wave music and how Voxtrot does such a good mimicry of "Fire In Cairo", "Killing An Arab" era Cure. It's wide eyed brighly produced recollections of music that's fallen out of favor. Voxtrot plays what I would call a feel good brand of mope pop in vein of Belle & Sebastion, The Smiths, The Cure. A mix of jangly guitars, light keyboards and slightly out of key vocals that carry a certain charm. It's good listening just like Hormel Chili is good eatin'.

1 song from Voxtrot's 2005 Raised By Wolves EP:

Missing Pieces

All Voxtrot's output is available on iTunes. If you're so inclined.

Vote Today...

2006-11-07T11:39:00.000-08:00

Do what's right. Vote your conscience, not your pocket book or your biases. Vote with a clear head and good reason. Remove your blinders and strip bare the illusions that have been perpetrated upon all of us for too many years. Take control of this hurtling fevered train, coax it to a reasoned throttle. Let's make this country true and hopeful again.

Go to The Dust Congress and watch the video.

Here we go. We'll listen to music tomorrow.

Oakley Hall...

2006-11-03T12:58:00.000-08:00

Oakley Hall's recent record (their 2nd) Second Guessing is just flat out good. It took me awhile to really appreciate but it's good. Listening to it on the ferry today (yes, I ride a ferry to work) I was struck by how unfair it is that they're overshadowed by the Drive By Truckers or even by My Morning Jacket because they're every lick as good. This record has been flat out slept on by too many hipsters and even too many lovers of the alt country. Ignore it no more my friends, embrace it, live it, listen to it.

Here's my favorite:

Landlord

It Just Made Me Smile...

2006-11-01T15:20:00.000-08:00

when most I needed it:

Mahogany...

2006-10-31T09:09:00.000-08:00

Perhaps, as a lad or lass, you were one of those folks who ate, slept and breathed shoegazer dream rock. You worshipped Kevin Shields and believed that My Bloddy Valentine was the logical culmination of hundreds of years of music refinement. I was not one of those people. I had an appreciation for the shoegaze but never dove in quite as deep as some of my friends. There are of course many descendants of the shoegaze empire currently playing out, including but not limited to Daysleeper, Ester Drang, Amusement Parks on Fire, Bethany Curve. For whatever reasons (I imagine a love for the sound is high on the list) Darla Records seems to be a home to whatever remnants of the glory days of shoegaze remain. In particular Darla is home to Robin Guthrie guitarist and producer for showgaze pioneers Cocteau Twins and arguably the man that helped to launch MBV, Slowdive, Ride. Guthrie's currently working on the instrumental tip but you can still hear the chiming looped guitar chords and atmospheric keyboards that defined the Cocteau Twins.

But what's got my attention today is the new disc that arrived in the mail from Darla Record's Mahogany called Connectivity!. Is it shoegaze? I guess. That's certainly the direction the press wants to push you. There are many aspects of the record that fit the profile from the looped guitars, steady almost New Order like percussion and beat, drum machines, keyboard washes, breathy vocals, swirling panache of melody and drone, lots of layers of fuzz and cream, it's all there. But Mahogany is also just rock and roll, plain old music made to make you nod your head. While I'm always trying to shed the labels that bands (more often record labels) feel the need to apply it is sometimes necessary to simply acknowledge that a band can work so deeply within the confines of their influences that they come to embody the sound completely. Such is Mahogany. If you like shoegazer rock, you like Mahogany.

1 song from disc 2 of Connectivity:

Supervitesse (extended mix)

It's Friday Random...

2006-10-27T15:01:00.000-07:00

I need theme music. I know I hear it in my head when I type "friday random", it's kind of a cross between circus clown music, an organ grinder, and The Decemberists. Wait, is there a difference?

If you are at all like me then you need to be visiting DJ Shir Khan's site regularly. There's plenty of interesting stuff to look at, but in his download section he's got sets saved as long (usually about 90minutes) mp3s. And dude can work the wheels. This is but shaking good time DJ sets, innovative, interesting, rocking. Now in reference to that "if you're like me" statement I mean if you like to drink too many Budweisers every now and then and wear your boxers on the outside of your pants and shake it like a white girl on Dance Party USA, then perhaps we have something in common. However, when I'm making an ass out of myself I'm still discriminating in my tunes. DJ Shirkhan sets can rock the house party but good. Check out some of the downloads, "Ghostride" is particularly good.

On to more serious biz. I just finished Cormac McCarthy's most recent The Road. Now I'll preface this by saying that I'm a huge Mccarthy fan. The Border Trilogy is fantastic and I don't think I've ever been as creeped out by a book as I was while reading Blood Meridian. But The Road just blew me away. It's heartbreakingly sad, desolate, crushing and ultimately redemptive. I'm a sucker for a father son story, I'll admit that. But the emotional resonance of the book isn't due solely to my personal baggage. This is was an engrossing, captivating read that I recommend to everyone.

Have a good weekend. Keep your underwear on the inside, unless, you know, you don't.

In The Fishtank...

2006-10-25T12:42:00.000-07:00

The In The Fishtank Seriers isn't always succesful but it's always interesting. As they say themselves: In The Fishtank is an ever ongoing project of Konkurrent, independent music distributor in the Netherlands. In this collection Konkurrent invites musicians to whom they feel strongly related to record. They are given two days studio time and freedom to do whatever they like musically.The Fishtank offers a space for expression and experimentation, results may vary but are always surprising.

Of late I've been listening at least twice a day to 2001's In The Fishtank release #8. This release brings together The Willard Grant Conspiracy and German electronica band Telefunk. What ended up recorded and released as #8 is In The Fishtank at its best and most unexpected. I mean, really, it could have been a train wreck. Two bands with very disparate approaches to music thrown together in a digital vs. analog, organic vs. electronic, steel cage match. But it all worked out. It certainly sounds as if WGC took the lead and Telefunk was contented to lay low with some mild sampler and beat additions. But the more you listen the more you realize that both bands yielded one to the other to create a sweet ebb and flow. What's especially sweet is the layering of WGC singer Robert's deep baritone with the light jazzy touch of Telefunk's female lead. I've really been enjoying this EP.

1 from In The Fishtank #8:

Cuckoo

Brief Update & LCD goes Nike...

2006-10-23T08:34:00.000-07:00

Received a brief enlightening regarding my previous post on The Last Town Chorus:

1) Their record is available in Europe right now. So if you're reading this across the pond, go purchase now. Also my man Dave Douglas is drumming in Europe right now with the always excellent John Vanderslice so go check him out and tell him P Funk said we can't wait until you get back because it's really busy.

2) The Last Town Chorus hails from Brooklyn not the UK as I mentioned. Although Brooklyn may as well be the UK as far as my life is concerned.

OK. Record set straight.

Have you checked out LCD Soundsystem's 45:33 track on iTunes. It's a mix that James Murphy did at the behest of Nike, the idea being to come up with a work out specific tune that starts you out slow, peaks then brings you down soft. There are probably people yelling "sell out" at Murphy right now, but it's a great song. When the track hits it stride (I'd say from about 15:00 to 27:00) it just kills. Whether you should throw rotten fruit at Murphy for taking Nike's money is not for me to say. When reading the notes that accompany the song, he sure sounds sincere in his desire to execute his task in the most entertaining and work out appropriate manner. The really cool thing about the track is that it's not "thump thump thump" house music like you hear at Gold's Gym on Division St. It's much more disco and a soulful disco at that mixed with some jazz piano. Shit's good. Hard to post any of it for obvious reasons. But check it out on iTunes.

Last Town Chorus video...

2006-10-19T08:49:00.000-07:00

Not to long ago I posted an absolutely gorgeous cover of David Bowie's Modern Love by The Last Town Chorus, a fine British alt-country band on V2. I've been waiting patiently for their second record to come out, unfortunately it won't see state side release until March of 2007. But here's a video of the band playing live that's really quite lovely:

Last Town Chorus on Artists Den

The band brings to mind Hem, Maria Mckee, even Mazzy Star.

Denison Witmer...

2006-10-18T08:33:00.000-07:00

So nice to have a few quiet moments this AM before I throw myself back into my long day of computer screens, phone calls, no lunch break, long hours. Sometimes events simply conspire against you and you've gotta go with the flow. At work I'm currently very short handed necessitating my long days and lonely hours. Just as an example: within two weeks of one another one guy fell of his mountain bike in the Marin Headlands and shattered his collarbone (not broke, I mean seriously like shattered it in three pieces) and another fella got his foot run over by a truck. I mean, what the fuck. Of course all that coincided nicely with a two week vacation another 3rd guy had planned for months. What are you gonna do?

So enough of my bitching and moaning. So finally this AM I have a few minutes. I don't have to be up at the crack of dawn to get to work. But I did have to get my daughter out of bed and motivated to go to school, which is a large challenge because she's my daughter and we both share a serious love of sleep. So this AM I try a little music to get her going. No, I did not opt for my old Minor Threat record. Nor did I use Squirell Bait's first album. I went the mellow route. I started out with Gillian Welch's Time (The Revelator) which seemed to have a minor affect (I certainly enjoyed it). Then I tried a little bit of Denison Witmer's July released album Are You A Dreamer?, the implication being pretty stark obvious. That at least got her up and into the shower and for that I owe Denison a post.

Are You A Dreamer is a mellow singer/songwriter vibe, acoustic guitar gently picked, excellent lyrics and a voice that if it wasn't tucked into these songs you'd find to be utterly unremarkable. But in his songs it works. You should be thinking Elliott Smith, Bloomed era Buckner without the pipes, a male Aimee Mann. Excellent AM music and pretty damn good as well for wooing the one whose pants you wish to enter.

from 2002's Philadelphia Songs:

Leaving Philadelphia (Arriving Seattle)

from Are You A Dreamer:

Are You A Dreamer

Monster Movie...

2006-10-13T12:51:00.000-07:00

Monster Movie gets props for no other reason than that they were once in Slowdive, and that's cool. I remember when I got Monster Movie's first EP in 2001 because my friend had burned it for me onto a reformatted AOL sign up disc, you know the one's that littered the mail for years. Certainly on that first EP and even the following album Last Night Something Happened the fruit didn't fall too far from the Slowdive tree.

Now here I am in 2006 listening to All Lost the newest from Monster Movie. First off, excellent art work by Will Schaff. Second off this record kinda makes my head hurt, and not because it's loud or has weird subsonic tones that you don't know you're hearing. It's because there's so much genre jumping that the second I get to head nodding and digging what's going on the rug is pulled out from under me. That's usually not a problem, but what is is that there's not only genre jumping but a definite unpredictability in song quality. I sound like a shitty ass critic here but the record opens with 5 great songs and then drops "Driving Through The Red Lights" with its synth handclaps and lack of melody. Whatever, I guess I'm being a nitpicky bugger because really it's a decent record. I just have to make a playlist of the album with only the tracks I like, which is a bit obnoxious but...

1 song from All Lost:

Vanishing Act

Swallow And Swallows...

2006-10-12T10:39:00.000-07:00

Swallow And Swallows is a side project of Dominic East of Our Lady Of The Highway. Less pop/americana than his regular out fit, Swallow And Swallows is a melancholy journey through heartbreak and emotional bitterness. There aren't very many upbeat moments on the record (released through Fogsnob Records here in SF) either musically or lyrically. East has always had a way with heartache and his lyrics show his preoccupation with boys and girls and the myriad ways that they can and do hurt one another. Unlike Our Lady of the Highway Swallow And Swallows shows a strong penchant for electronic bleeps and blips, snyths and drum programming. It's a refreshingly different setting for his lyrics to live within.

1 song from Swallow And Swallows:

Firesign

Not Music Related...

2006-10-10T14:46:00.000-07:00

This story from the NY Times isn't music related but is so intense and engrossing that I had to post the link. You may have to register for a free account to get access, but the few moments it takes is well worth it.

What's Happening To The Elephants?

Signer...

2006-10-10T12:25:00.000-07:00

There's some very good stuff over at Carpark that ranges from Indie Electronica to ambient noise to straight up cut and splice beat heavy doses. I don't usually go in for such music, but there's something weird and wonderful both precious and peculiar about what Signer does. Kind of droney abstract approaches to physical space, if that makes sense at all. I've found headphones to be the best/most satisfying approach here, though the videos seem to add even more texture.

2 videos from Signer:

I Was Dressed As The Ant, You Were Dressed Up As A Beehive

Hurricane or Sunshine

Bound Stems...

2006-10-06T11:17:00.000-07:00

Quick post because work is busy today and I can't create as much fuck off time as I'd like, I know I know it's rough.

Bound Stems just played San Francisco and have been garnering some pretty impressive accolades for their newest Appreciation Night. Like the website says "pretty/complex/music". Of course you can use the "pretty" as an adjective or adverb and it works either way. Good solid well played rock.

2 from Appreciation Night:

Andover

Western Biographic

2 from The Logic of Building The Body Plan:

Wake Up, Ma and Pa Are Gone

My Kingdom For A Trundle Bed

Have a great weekend.

Honeycut...

2006-10-05T09:18:00.000-07:00

Oh c'mon you indie rock fuckers. You know you like to dance, you're just so confused about how to be cool and dance. At first it was The Rapture and that was cool until it wasn't and anyway didn't it feel a little too much like you were at a rave. Franz Ferdinand worked for a while. You could dance awkwardly to "This Fire" because the song was kind of awkward. Then there was "Crazy" which was fun, but before long Gnarls Barkley wasn't very cool because every car that drove past you was playing it. But let's be honest here: it takes alot for you to take of the trucker hat, get off the track bike, put down the PBR and really shake your ass like a little girl alone in her room.

I may have the antidote.

SF Bay Area singer/songwriter type Bart Davenport has teemed with a drummer who plays the beats by tapping on some Tascam deal, a serious R&B hold down the bottom type bass player and a keyboardist who's got serious moves to form Honeycut. Think Gnarls Barkley blended with some DJ Shadow and Tommy Guerrero (in fact Honeycut is on Shadow's Quannum) and sprinkled with a touch of The Clash and a shake of JT (scandalous I know).

Album's bumpin' and I promise you it's OK to dance, even if it's just you and your mirror.

1 from Honeycut's The Day I Turned To Glass:

Tough Kid

Grudge Fuck vs. Grudge Fuck...

2006-10-03T08:07:00.000-07:00

A lot of good records come out today: The Crane Wife, Boys And Girls In America, and The Pernice Brothers Live A Little. For most indie rock types the first two records will probably command most of their attention as they mull over their best of 2006 lists. I'm certainly not trying to denigrate either release from The Hold Steady or The Decemberists as I think they're both pretty phenomenal (I've got tix for The Decemberists here in SF on Oct. 20th, it'll be my daughters first show), but to overlook Live A Little today would be both tragic and typical. Simply put Joe Pernice and company have made their most consistent, beautiful, sonically interesting record since The Scud Mountain Boys Massachusets.

If you're offended by gushing you should probably look away. Live A Little is bolstered by a couple of things:

1) JP's songwriting is at its best. He's always good but this time there's a joy that's been absent for awhile. Maybe it's being a new dad but his lyrical outlook is sharper, wittier. more literary and a bit more upbeat. Don't worry though there's still plenty of heartbreak and at least one vivisection.

2) Production. For Live A Little producer Michael Deming is reunited with JP. Deming worked with The Scud Mountain Boys and produced Overcome By Happiness (which until now was probably Pernice Brothers' best record). The sound is full and rich, filled with piano and strings and some horns but never overwhelming never sappy, never lush for the sake of having a budget that allows you to make it so.

3) The Band. The boys are tight as hell, in particular Peyton Pinkerton's guitar work is sterling. Deming has pulled out the best of all the players.

There are so many highlights on this record that for really only the 2nd time this year (the first being M. Ward's Post War) I listened to the entire record and immediately went back to track 1 and started over again. For the terminally cynical this is huge.

The songs just sound so good on Live A Little. Whether it's the string section on one song or the sax on another or the organ that fills out a lot of the songs, it just sounds so rich. I know I keep harping on this but it's an issue I've had with past Pernice Brothers records. It's almost as if the producer was at times scared of overwhelming Joe's fragile vocals, but there's no such fear here. Deming builds the songs into thick crescendoes pushing Joe to sing hard or be lost.

The songs have a pop rock feel that's rooted in FM radio hits of the late 70's. As I listened to Live A Little I couldn't help but think of 10cc and Al Stewart. That's intended to be a %100 compliment. Pernice Brothers have vastly outdone Midlake's Van Occupanther as homage to classic pop songwriting.

This record is just outstanding. Get it.

So now to the post title. One of the only questionable aspects of Live A Little was, in my opinion, Joe's decision to rerecord the Scud Mountain Boys fabulous "Grudge Fuck" as "Grudge F*** 2006". This time around it's full of lush strings and a credibly strong cresendoe though a lot of the tragedy and desperation is sucked out of the song with the new production. I'll let you decide for yourself.

From Scud Mountain Boys Massachusets:

Grudge Fuck

From The Pernice Brothers Live A Little:

Grudge F*** 2006

The Stills...

2006-10-02T09:19:00.000-07:00

In the short course of two albums and various EPs The Stills have done their share of polarizing. Those fans that loved 2003's Logic Will Break Your Heart (an album in which the band was constantly compared to Interpol) seem to view this year's Without Feathers as a sell out of enormous proportions. My view is not so harsh. I do imagine that the change in sound was due in part to the constant Interpol comparisons, but I see the reaction as a healthy one. I also love a good pop tune and for many that seems to be The Stills greatest sin on Without Feathers: they're too accessible, too "Coldplay", too not what they used to be. I can understand the sentiment but the bottom line is that the songs are either decent or they're not. Are The Stills on Without Feathers the same Stills the made Logic Will Break Your Heart? Clearly not, but what remains are lot of catchy, hooky, literate songs. Groundbreaking? Hell no. Fun? Yes.

The Stills come to San Francisco's The Independent on October 5th (that's this Thursday). Check 'em out.

1 songs from Without Feathers:

Helicopters

Channels...

2006-09-29T12:43:00.000-07:00

Channels straight up hits it hard; rocks, know what I'm sayin'. Channels is a three pieces set up fronted by J. Robbins who you may remember from Jawbox another band that hit it pretty hard. Channels' Waiting For The Next End is a loud shard of guitar noise that always seem to assemble itself into a tuneful melodic final product. I would expect nothing less from J. Robbins. Of particular interest on this record are a) the decidedly political lyrics that don't beat you over the head but nuddge and allude and b) the additional female vocals of Robbins' wife Janet Morgan that temper the rought edges just right.

I've only listened to this about 4 times thus far but find myself mighty impressed. Frankly, I don't know how this one snuck by me. I'm a huge Jawbox fan and a DC native at that. I might be a little late to this party but I know that this record deserves far better than the 6.6 that Pitchbitch gave it. Waiting For The Next End is full of hooks, loudness, noise, rock, melody, sincerity, beauty:

$99.99

Today's political note: With the impending passage of the terrorist detainee act the political powers of our country, both those that conpsired to pass this legislation and those that stood by and watched due to election year paralysis, have officially took down its pants and shat on everything that our forefathers (and I mean anyone from 1776 to Vietnam Vet) fought to preserve.

Have a great weekend.

Van Occupanther Videos...

2006-09-27T13:36:00.000-07:00

Bella Union is releasing a bunch of Midlake videos every week or so, or at least that's how I understand it. Midlake Videos

Bettie Serveert...

2006-09-26T09:34:00.000-07:00

Bettie Serveert is an indie rock band that, much like the Energizer bunny, just keeps going. They've been up and they've been down, they've had good records and mediocre ones, but no matter what you can't deny that they've stayed true to their sound and soldiered on. This year they released Bare Stripped Naked which is as the title implys a quiet acoustic affair that lets the songs sit front center with a special spotlight on the lush vocals of Carol van Dyk. Two of the songs are reworked versions of songs on earlier records and the rest is new material. It's an interesting context for these songs as I've always experienced Bettie Serveert as an upbeat rock band with plenty of attitude. Sure the songs have been melodic and Van Dyk's vocals make them pretty, but the songs always seemed closer to post punk in attitude than mainstream. Anyway, long story short is this: the record is very good, a different tone for a band that deserves a larger audience and has earned its right to play with their sound. The album also contains one of the best songs of the year. You'll like it and it should make you want to buy/download the record:

Hell = Other People

In what is becoming a regularity here at Bars & Guitars I'd like to give a huge shout out to Keith Olbermann who is quickly becoming the lone voice of reason, justice and straight talk in a country whose media failed the people long long ago. If you believe that Bill Clinton was wrong in his reaction to Chris Wallace's interview then I fear you are lost, lost to the fog, delusion, and heart stopping feats of ignominy that have so regularly been splashed across the face of our nation since this administration took power. I personally lay awake last night wondering why Clinton didn't go across the table for Wallace or glass him with his coffee mug. I would've thought it justified.

Paul Basile...

2006-09-25T09:41:00.000-07:00

I was given the heads up about Paul Basile from my friend Grey who can be, at times though rarely, a pretty hip guy. Paul had contacted Grey on Myspace about being "friends". Grey actually went and listened to his music, where as I always start with the best intentions of doing just that and then never do. But thanks to Grey's prompting I actually made the long cyber journey over to Basile's Myspace page and listened. Basile has the whole acoustic singer/songwriter deal going but instead of sounding absolutely run of the mill he instead evokes early Richard Buckner, Nick Drake, some Violent Femmes. He's got a thin voice that compliments his lyrics well (I immediately latched onto his line about "being up for days" as I had a late night on Saturday/Sunday and at my advanced age it takes approximately two and a half months to recover from 1 long night).

Basile is streaming a number of songs from his website. I like these:

Further North

Down And Out

In a non-music but decidedly political aside I'd like to encourage everyone to check out Iraq For Sale. It's a documentary on the privatization of the war in Iraq, how it puts our soldiers in jeopardy, wastes billions of our tax dollars, and lines the pockets of the administration's cronys.

Friday Random...

2006-09-22T08:35:00.000-07:00

2 posts in like, what, six days? I know, I know I'm out of touch with the people, up here in my ivory castle occasionally tossing scraps of scribbled on Post-It notes down to the waiting throngs. But how long will they wait? Well hopefully until the always fun and completely unpredictable zaniness of the friday random. That'll placate the masses for sure, a bunch of links to feed the ADD minds of the current listening populace who will surely forgive and forget any of my transgressions, real or imagined, incurred in absentia.

While my listening ear has been decidedly distracted lately a good single will always perk me right up. I've got two of those for you. The first is by a band called Duplomacy. I heard a song called Remember This playing on the XM radio the other day and it totally sucked me in. It's a slowly unfolding slice of dream pop that doesn't ask much from you, but washes over so pleasantly in a head nodding kind of way. The album All These Long Drives (ironic that I first heard it in the cary, huh? I so love irony) is part and parcel to "Remember This": dreamy, sleepy, jangly, kind of a slow-core-Galaxy-500ish-lullaby-swirly-romantic thing.

The other single that's been making me smile is the new one from Portastatic. They've put out a nice little 4 song internet only EP to promote their October release Be Still Please. On said EP is a song called Sour Shores and is as good as any piece of driving guitar pop that Mac McCaughan has written. Good stuff.

There's some other good stuff out there that you really should check out:

White Whale's WW1 is excellent.

M. Ward's Post War has a good shot at being the best record of the year.

The new Hold Steady is going to be great from the 5 songs I've heard, but I won't post anything because Craig Finn might get mad at me.

The soon to be released Pernice Brothers album is going to be excellent. And stop calling it "chamber pop". I hate that term, what the fuck does that mean. Though I must admit to being baffled by why Joe would want to rerecord "Grudge Fuck" which was an amazing song on Massachusets. It's like, why remake Titanic or The Omen? They were great as is. Just for the sake of adding strings isn't a good enough reason. But still, it's Joe Pernice so he gets a pass.

Have a good weekend.

The Evens...

2006-09-19T12:00:00.000-07:00

Man, I've been a lazy blogger. Wait, is there another kind of blogger? I kid. It's just been so busy at work that I've either a) had no time to post or b) when I do have time I absolutely have no desire to look at a computer screen and type on a computer keyboard. The other negative to being busy is that my musical intake gets limited. I've been listening to new Mountain Goats, a couple of tracks I finagled from the new Hold Steady (very good), the new Bettie Serveert (on the fence) and the untitled new record from The Dying Californian (pretty rippin'). Nothing an avid reader of this small smug salon wouldn't be at least passingly familiar with (TDC aside) and have read about 40 posts on other blogs. So I'll steer clear of boring you.

Instead by way of my friend Dom East I've been listening to an older record by the The Evens from 2004. If you haven't dug your teeth into this as yet I do recommend. It's a moody stripped down type of deal with just guitar, drums and voice. I must say that I've never really thought of Ian MacKaye (Fugazi) as a singer so much as a vocal stylist who does the best with what he's got. But he's really very expressive on this record and melds well with Amy Farina. They find a nice spot in their range that creates their own unique boy/girl harmony type thing (actual musical term).

Sorry for the long delay between posts, but life happens like that.

1 from The Evens:

You Won't Feel A Thing

Jeremy Enigk...

2006-09-14T09:02:00.000-07:00

In the not too distant future Jeremy Enigk will have a new record out. It will be called World Waits and I think it will be quite good. Here are 2 songs in the way of preview:

Been Here Before

River To Sea

As the folks over at the Pernice Brothers are want to do, there's a very funny film of Joe Pernice signing advance copies of the new record. The best line is his mumbled, "this is like a temp job". Check it out right about HERE

Word.

Richard Buckner...

2006-09-13T10:30:00.000-07:00

Well, Meadow came out yesterday. Did you notice? There was certainly a time in my life when anything that Richard Buckner did was greeted by my doing a kind of odd little jig across my living room. I guess not to much anymore. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to disparage Meadow which is a pretty fine, if a little uninspired, album. It's the feeling that Buck's phoning it in a little or maybe it's that he's a little too self conscious of those heady early years when he made such a large splash across the alt-country scene. As with Dents And Shells Meadow is chock full of perfectly acceptable mid tempo acoustic rock numbers. There's still little of the folkier picking and strumming and psuedo-appalachian yodelling that characterizes his best work. But the real bummer for me is that once again Buckner buries his lyrics. So many of his lines are buried in a furrowed mumble or under questionable production. It's too bad because his lyrics are meant to be appreciated, mulled over, considered. I don't like it when I sound as if I'm pigeonholing an artist into a certain style, especially a style that was developed when said artist was younger. But Buckner's devolution from a folksy troubadour of the broken hearted to his current incarnation as a purveyor of a slightly bland acoustic-rock is to bad.

But Meadow specifically. In truth if this record appeared on your doorstep out of the blue without the baggage of Richard Buckner's fine back catalog, you'd be pleased with the offering. The songs have a certain sameness to them but they're fine songs. With the exception of the album closer "The Tether and The Tie" and "Mile" the songs all have the same mid-tempo pacing. While this tends to give the record a rather monochromatic feel, it's easy to find a least a couple of tracks that are mix worthy or easy to rock in the car.

I still maintain that Buckner's best effort of his more recent output is his collaboration with Jon Langford Sir Dark Invader vs. The Fanglord.

For most Meadow would be a reasonable achievement for Buckner it's merely par for his current course.

My favorite track off of Meadow:

Mile

Pacific Ocean Fire...

2006-09-11T12:26:00.000-07:00

Pacific Ocean Fire's new record From The Station To The Church We Are Under The Same Stars is out now. I've always been a bit wary of Americana rock music via the British, but POF has convinced me for the second time that it's not about geography but about something a bit more whimsical like "feeling" or "heart".

Downloads can be found at their myspace site. Sorry about the lazy linkage but work's a bit too busy today for me to upload tracks to my usual location. The songs are all good and all inhabit a territory of rootsy rock music tempered by a very british guitar focused grandiosity. I know that's an awkward description but after thinking about it for awhile I couldn't come up with something that invokes their sound more precisely. I'm thinking about a sound that mixes equal parts Uncle Tupelo, Farmer Not So John, early Marah, Gram Parsons' Hot Burrito #1 with Oasis, Snow Patrol, Ride, Lush, Blur, etc. It sounds odd but POF really makes it work and makes it uniquely their own. Give it a listen

The Harbours...

2006-09-07T11:21:00.000-07:00

Dishing out some of the local love for SF band The Harbours. How to describe these guys without sounding disparaging? They're not breaking any new ground in the rock and roll world, they're just doing what they do really, really well. They play and smooth talking kind of Americana. Something that can easily be likened to Tom Petty, maybe the Counting Crows' best moments but with a singer that can sing, you know, folk rock with a swagger. The singer, by the way, alternately reminds me of Gordon Lightfoot and the guy from America. In my opinion neither of those comparisons is in the least bit negative, not even a little. They're actually quite complimentary in the funny little world I spend a lot of time in. The record is Second Story Maker on Stab City Records. You'll hear everything from the Beatles to the Jayhawks to Golden Smog in their songs. This record is a reall grower, keep listening it keeps getting better. Big ups to the Mission District!

from Second Story Maker:

Not The Same

Keep Your Days

In other news I continue to be baffled by Joanna Newsom's new disc Ys. It surely has something to do with the fact that I had a tough time getting into the Milkmaid's Mender Pony Show Sunrise or whatever it was called. Her voice is interesting and her lyrics fantastical but it just never penetrated my cynical ears. You'd think I'd have even more issues with a disc that's 5 songs covering almost an hour, the first song clocking in a like 13 minutes. I'm making a concerted effort to stick with Ys because something about it screams "this is important, understand this" but that takes some of the fun out of it. I'll keep trying.

Shinobu...

2006-09-06T10:13:00.000-07:00

Shinobu is one of those rare bands that send me stuff that I actually like. I try to think of myself as a fairly discerning listener, though I readily acknowledge that I'm often full of shit, which often means that I'm listening to albums the first time through with an overtly critical ear. What I mean is that often I'm initially listening from a position of suspicion. I'm like, what crap are you trying to put over on my ears, bitch? This can put unsolicited band submissions at a distinct disadvantage over the music that I'm legitimately excited about. Shinobu is different. Not that it's perfect, but they have something special. At least part of that specialness lies in the ragged youthfulness of their album Worstward, Ho!, set to come out later this month on Asian Man Records. I've found that people who write about Shinobu try to make a connection that traces a line from Jawbreaker to The Weakerthans, lumping them in with a post-punk lineage that perhaps relies a bit too much on their perceived influence's dissonant boom.

For me Shinobu is a logical flowering of the the noise that Pavement did such a good job of making or what The Replacements would've sounded like if Westerberg had refused to grow up. I'll concede the Weakerthans because that band is particularly good with a melody and much of what makes Shinobu so arresting is their melodicism. When Shinobu is on, as they are on songs like "Not Gonna Happen" "Boourns" and "Regular Love Triangle", the songs seem held together by little more than chewing gum, sweat and a good hook. The tension makes the songs exciting. I like that.

As I said the album isn't perfect. By pusing the album to 14 songs they've violated one of my primary edicts of: make me love you then get the fuck off the stage. They stay a bit too long. I could also do without the extended noodling of the six and a half minute "Hail, Hail, The Executioner", I'd rather not be forced to listen to band practice. Small complaints really given the strengths of the finer songs.

2 songs from Worstward, Ho!:

Boourns

Can Dialectics Break Bricks?

Russian Circles...

2006-09-05T10:45:00.000-07:00

I've been sitting on this Russian Circles record Enter for entirely too long. I finally got around to writing the review for Pop Matters last week and really regretted dragging my feet for so long. I think I was initially intimidated by the fact that the band plays instrumental rock. I often find that I have a hard time wrapping my head around instrumental music because a) I'm not a musician and b) it often lacks the hook or signature that I usually use to access a band's style. But really those are lazy excuses. So on a long drive before the Labor Weekend I put Enter (released on Flame Shovel Records) into the car CD player and let it rock me. It's unfortunate that instrumental rock music is thought of as less accessible than music with a vocalist and lyrics. Simply put Enter is a powerful record. It's heavy and loud, full of moments of metal, hardcore, indie rock, punk and spiraling slightly psych passages. It's varied and dynamically arresting, often traveling from moments of quiet simplicity to a raging barrage of guitar squal freak out. It was a great record for a long drive. It may not have vocals but the songs do speak. It's a strong record that deserves more attention than it's gotten.

2 songs from Enter:

Carpe

Death Rides A Horse

Persephone's Bees...

2006-08-31T10:48:00.000-07:00

I've really unfairly ignored this record. San Francisco's Persephone's Bees major label debut Notes From The Underground is a bit hit or miss for me to endorse it with my usual exuberant verbiage. But it does have a couple of songs (notable "Nice Day", "Paper Plane") that are so full of summer yee-haw and breast baring seductiveness that I've gotta give it some props before the summer breast baring season is over.

Like most I'm a bit wary when a beloved local band makes the big jump to the majors. Such moves are almost always accompanied by cries of "sell out" which are, frequently, justified. Fortunately, San Francisco's Persephone's Bees has hardly changed their quirky musical stance for their Columbia Records debut. Still in place is the band's excellent way with a hook and, of course, the silky voice of lead singer Angelina Moysov. Notes From The Underground, while decidedly more polished and produced than other efforts by the band, is still musically schizophrenic in the best way. The band runs from power pop ("Paper Plane") to uber-catchy sugar pop ("Nice Day") to surf guitar tempered by psychedelic keyboards on a song sung in Russian ("Muzika Dyla Fil'ma"). Wherever the band goes there's little doubt that the star of the show is Moysov's beautiful and, well, sexy voice. She's the element that often turns average songs into special ones. When she really pushes her voice on songs like "Queen's Night Out" she sounds a bit like vintage Grace Slick. Perhaps the ultimate disappointment with Notes From The Underground is its lack of adventure. Moysov's voice can't raise all the songs here beyond their simple pop rock structure, that's surely part of the bargain that comes with moving to a major. Still you can't deny the simple sugar coated pleasure of a song like "Nice Day".

1 song from Notes From The Underground:

Nice Day. I think this has been getting some MTV play. Just saying.

In a rare political moment here at Bars And Guitars I'd like to point you to Keith Olberman's (a talking head yes, but one that's screwed on with a bit more lock-tite than most) response to Donald Rumsfeld's recent sniveling rat faced attempt at rewriting history while essentially calling the sensible open minded and necessary debate about the direction our country is heading unpatriotic.

If I don't see ya, have a killer Labor Day.

New Pernice Brothers streaming...

2006-08-30T09:31:00.000-07:00

Still on cloud 9 with the Warriors hire of Don Nelson but I still have time for you, dear reader. The Pernice Brothers are streaming 3 songs from the forthcoming album Live A Little. All three are, predictably, excellent. The songs sound bigger, more expansive, less introverted (excuse me personification of recorded music). If nothing else Joe has expanded the band's sound with strings and horns in addition to his consistently excellent lyrical acumen. I recommend pre ordering the album because, just like Discover A Lovelier You, they kick you a sweet bonus CD of early mixes and demos. Check it.

Continuous Peasant + Basketball...

2006-08-29T10:40:00.000-07:00

First and most importantly is today's annoucement that my beleagured and downtrodden Golden State Warriors have fired Mike Montgomery and seem poised to bring back Don Nelson to coach the W's. This is news being greeted with elation in Warrior Land and indeed it should be. While Montgomery was a good X's and O's type coach he lacked the respect of his players that's crucial to success in the NBA. It's widely believed that Baron Davis walked all over Montgomery much to the detriment of both individuals and the team. In Nelson we'll get a true motivator but also, more importantly, one with a clear vision of what the team can accomplish. You can count on the fact that this vision will jibe with the talents of the players as opposed to trying the old square peg round hole philosophy that everyone from Montgomery to Musselman tried to impose. It's a good day in Warrior Land my friends.

On the musical end of life I give you Continuous Peasant, a Bay Area band treading in the waters of a raw Americana. They'll be opening up for The Silver Jews in a couple of weeks, and if that isn't a high profile indie rock gig I don't know what is.

Here's one song to check out:

Less Mysognist

Citizens Here And Abroad...

2006-08-25T14:37:00.000-07:00

You've gotta keep an eye on the Turn Records site if for no other reason than the consistent quality of their releases. But also because the good folks there regularly add downloadable content to their site which is always of excellent quality. The newest addition to the Turn roster is Citizens Here And Abroad of which this is written because I'm a lazy tosser:

When SF band Secardora called it quits Adrienne and Dan decided it was time for a break from the music scene. But they had just moved across the street from Chris W., drummer for one of SF's most popular indie bands, Dealership [pre- Action/Adventure]. W welcomed them to the neighborhood by suggesting that he drum to a few songs they'd written. Soon after Chris G., also of Dealership, joined in the experiment to see what mixing the sweet pop of Dealership with the dark rock of Secadora might create.

What emerged were the pensive indie rock stylings of Citizens Here And Abroad. Sweeping soundscapes and brooding harmonies that are impossible to get out of your head. The band quickly recorded the critically acclaimed record, 'Ghosts Of Tables and Chairs' (Omnibus) and toured the US and Europe. During that time they played shows with a host of indie who's who including The Arcade Fire, The Decemberists, British Sea Power, Film School, and Rogue Wave, while their outstanding music videos played on MTV2, FuseTV, and MTV Europe and 'Appearances' was featured on the TV show The OC.

Citizens' new album, 'Waving, Not Drowning,' is about decisions, deliberations, and taking chances. The dramatic peaks and valleys of each song build into a frenzy and then peel away like onion skin, revealing things that are ususally whispered, if they are spoken at all.

Waving, Not Drowning is Citizens Here And Abroad's sophomore album, their first for Turn Records.

------------------------

What struck me initially about CHAA were the Boy/Girl harmonies: really tight and expressive. The band's sound has a certain menace to it, a dark guitar sound that broods and haunts the songs. The band also works a nice sonic dynamic in that the songs have an aural ebb and flow, soft loud, up and down palette that I like. Another good signing for Turn.

from Waving, Not Drowning:

Accelerator

Secret

A cool video for their song You Drive And We'll Listen To Music should be viewed with something like relish. Caution with the semantics there. I'm using the word relish as in: to enjoy thoroughly and completely. Please don't think I'm implying this video must be watched while you're eating relish of any kind (pickle based or the more adventurous mango varieties) or, for that matter, wearing it in some odd but perhaps interesting way.

Have a good weekend.

Varied And Various...

2006-08-24T14:00:00.000-07:00

Some bits and bobs, a meat and kidney pie and bob's your uncle. It's like the British speak a different language, in'nt? I will most likely spare you my blinding wit and instead point you to some cool as shit:

A very cool video of South San Gabriel playing in an elevator. Be patient the download is a bit slow but it's coming from like Bangladesh or at least New Zealand and that's so very far away. They play 2 songs in an elevator while confused folk come and go. It's neat.

Mark Eitzel will be making an appearance at SF's Noise Pop Festival with a new band in tow, or at least a new name:

NOISEPOP PROUDLY PRESENTS

MARK EITZEL and All the Lost Anchors of the Pacific

August 26 - San Francisco, CA
Swedish American Hall

with very special guest: JESSE DENATALE

This message was posted on the Undertow Records site:

MARK EITZEL and All the Lost Anchors of the Pacific
August 26 - San Francisco, CA
Swedish American Hall

I am doing a show at the Swedish American Hall and as it is my first
solo show in San Francisco in 2 years I wanted to to do something
special. The newer songs I am writing all require backround harmonies
so I hired Dan Carr (from Court and Spark) and his wife Jen (celebrity
hairdresser and trained singer) to make spooky haunting vocal
harmonies. I am trying to play all the new songs I can - just to get
them done! I hate to promote myself so this is kind of hard - but I am
genuinely excited to be playing the Swedish American - and to do these
new songs with these people. The band might be expanded a little more
but I don't know yet who will be in it. Also on the Bill is the GREAT
songwriter Jesse DeNatale. So it is going to be a beautiful Saturday night, I think...

I believe that's this weekend. So you're on notice, eh?

The new album from Michael Zapruder's Rain of Frogs entitled New Ways of Letting Go is quite good in that Beatlesesque way that Zapruder has of spinning out a song:

3 from Zapruder's new album:

The Alchemist

Haymaker Market

Sheperds Purse

Super XX Man...

2006-08-22T10:17:00.000-07:00

Super XX Man is Scott Garred. It's as simple as that. Hailing from Oregon with a keyboard, ukele, guitar, and wife (at least I think she's his wife) in tow Super XX Man will roll into San Francisco's Rock-It Room on August. 27th. Unfortunately he probably won't be greeted by a screaming throng of music loving fans who obsess over his clever word play and gentle way with melody. Garred was a founding member and principle songwriter in the late great Silver Scooter, a band that produced consistently excellent guitar pop.

In the guise of Super XX Man Garred, a music therapist by vocation, creates gentle acoustic compositions that have an underlying tinge of emotional subversion. What else do you make of a lyrical statement like "and I don't want to be married" sung over a gentle acoustic guitar and a keyboard played by his wife? While Silver Scooter was a more rocking rollicking affair, Garred approach with Super XX Man is decidedly more low key. Don't be fooled into thinking that by turning the volume down Garred has lost a lick of his talent with a melody or lyric, he's simply asking the listener to pay a little more attention. Super XX Man is currently pushing X (that's like 10 not, you know, the letter, duh). Check out Garred and company in San Francisco at The Rock It Room on the 27th if you're local. Otherwise check out the tunes. Very good.

from Super XX Man's X:

Garage Apartment

from Silver Scooter's The Blue Law:

Black Stars

Friday Random...

2006-08-18T13:59:00.000-07:00

Don't you just love the friday random? It's kinda like going through your halloween candy bag at the end of the night and not knowing if you've got a bunch of those killer single serving Twix bars or a soggy paper bag full of old Reach Around Amos' famous lettuce and butterscotch cookies.

I think I've got Twix for ya:

new Tim Easton track Jesus Protect Me From Your Followers

These folks have made a cool video for a song from Enablers fabulous Outlook Negative Space

Have a good weekend.

Kinsella Brothers..

2006-08-17T12:37:00.000-07:00

Here's a really great interview with the brothers Kinsella, Mike and Tim. If you're familiar with any of their myriad bands (Joan of Arc, Cap n' Jazz, Owen, etc.) you'll find this interview both enlightening and entertaining:

from Chicago Public Radio

The Magic Magicians...

2006-08-17T10:33:00.000-07:00

Word on the street, or at least in my house, is that my wife either dated or had a crush on drummer Joe Plummer during high school. They both grew up, or at least spent some high school years, in Mariposa, Ca. Both have gone on to great things. My wife wisely married me and, wisely again, bore my wee daughter. Mr. Plummer, in a far less illustrious career move, went on to drum for Modest Mouse and, currently, The Black Heart Procession, both fine bands. But like all good indie rock players Joe has a side project. It's really quite good and rather distinct from his day job. The Magic Magicians is Joe's project with John Atkins of 764-HERO. The MM's are a ragged throwback to the kind of melodic hard rock (I hesitate to use the word punk) that recalls Husker Du, early 'Mats and the like but with more drama. The band's last release was in 2001 though I'm told they are still active.

2 songs from The Magic Magicians:

Cascade Express

I'm On Your Side

Sarah Cracknell...

2006-08-15T11:54:00.000-07:00

Yes, I'm reaching back a few years here (I seem to be going through a kind of music of my bygone days phase, maybe it's the summer cold I have), but sometimes the lite house music sung by the pretty girl just as summer is winding down feels nice. So I've been working Sarah Cracknell's Kelly's Locker a good bit lately. That album is honey sweet and probably bad for you if you induldge too often but a lot of fun. If you're a fan of Saint Etienne then I'm sure you're already familiar with Sarah's work at her day job. I'm also intrigued by the obsessive fan like this guy over here. Well, I guess if you've gotta be obsessed over someone you could do worse.

1 song from the 2000 release Kelly's Locker:

How Far

Dreams So Real...

2006-08-11T14:24:00.000-07:00

This is why I love love eBay. Some would say that what I'm about to describe is an extension of The Long Tail by virtue of the public marketplace of discarded goods. Whatever. I just love the fact that I can find music that I liked at one time, that is now hopelessly out of print, purchase it and once again enjoy it. Granted I'm not doing it stoned in my dorm room anymore, but I must say I'm just as pleased with what I've found on eBay as I was when I was an 18 year old new waver with ridiculously dyed hair. I'm relatively new to this whole eBay thing but in the last few months I've bought 2 bowling balls, The Connells One Simple Word (long out of print) and Dream So Real's Rough Night In Jericho. Dreams So Real dove tailed quite nicely with my REM obsession as they were also an Athens band and plyed that same jangly territory. But much more than REM Dreams So Real went for the big anthemic choruses, soaring, overwrought, a little cheesy, fun to sing along to choruses. That epic sweeping sound was definitely a weakness of mine, it's possible all the hair bleach was affecting my hearing. Unfortunately Dreams So Real never made the big time and faded into relative obscurity after a few records which received tepid critical praise and a smattering of a devoted following.

I was quite happy when I won Rough Night In Jericho on eBay for about $12 including shipping, which I'm sure was less then I paid for it at Kemp Mill Records at White Flint Plaza in 1988. I'd been obsessing on the song "California", humming the chorus over and over for some odd reason, but honestly I couldn't remember the name of the band. But it just goes to show you that the internet has made even the slightest of notions achievable as just googling the lyrics of the chorus eventually led me to Dreams So Real.

Evidently, lead singer Barry Marler now works in the biochemistry department at the University of Georgia, thus dispelling the notion that rock n' roll eats your brain. Told ya, Grandma.

If you've made it this far you will be rewarded with songs. Please enjoy the final result of my brief obsession:

from Dream So Real's 1988 album Rough Night In Jericho:

California

Rough Night In Jericho

Tommy Keene...

2006-08-10T15:02:00.000-07:00

I grew up with Tommy Keene. He's a native of DC as I am and I used to see him at all the "cool" shows at the 9:30 club. Fairly early in his carer Tommy set the bar high for himself with Songs from the Film and the EP Run Now. He struggled to reach those heights throughout the rest of his career as he seemed to put more work into his gigs as a guitarist for Paul Westerberg, Velvet Crush and more recently Robert Pollard. The last few of Tommy's records left me feeling a bit let down. After picking up his newest Crashing The Ether I must say that he's back and better than ever. Crashing The Ether is full of the guitar pop anthems that one time were Keene's stock in trade. Each song jangles and rocks in equal parts bringing back memories of everything from The Replacements to Grant Lee Buffalo to The Connells. This is a record with the bar for songwriting set pretty frickin' high.

1 song from Crashing The Ether:

Wishing

Golden Smog...

2006-08-08T12:12:00.000-07:00

Before I discuss the virtues of the new Golden Smog record let me freely comment on an event I went to this past weekend. It was an art exhibit in SF at a performance space called Mighty that I believe I've been to before but was probably all crazy on pills or something at the time so I'm not completely sure. Anyway, Mighty hosted an art/music show called Sneaker Pimp. The art part of the show comprised various artists (mostly graf but some traditional) taking a sneaker and making it their own. There were a lot of sneakers there that artists had gone at with various levels of abandon. Some of the artists treated the shoe like the ceiling of Sistine Chapel while others more like the cover of their 5th grade Trapper Keeper. Generally cool. On the music side there were two main DJs: Kid Koala and Dan The Automator. Kid Koala was, straight up, a bad ass. Just excellent hip hop DJ with a flair and style all his own who clearly enjoyed getting feedback from the crowd. Now, as near as I can tell, Dan The Automator is now like the Target of DJs. He's a brand and not a DJ. He spun for about 10 minutes then seceded the decks to an underling who played for the next hour while Danny Boy walked around on the stage saying stupid shit into his microphone. He can obviously spin and produce but, my man, you are no MC. It kinda sucked. Maybe there was a good reason for it, maybe his crossfader finger was hurt or something. Anyway, if you're in SF and the Sneaker Pimp show is still up at Mighty check it out, the art is a first class reflection of the hip hop style.

Golden Smog's Another Fine Day is another fine album by the semi-super group. As you might expect there's a bit less Tweedy this go around, though his contributions are excellent. The record is dominated by the voice of Gary Louris, and that's okay. The record is more classic rock than country rock and is, I'd say, a couple songs too long at 15. But it's a good listen and will carry you through these last dog days of summer.

1 song from Another Fine Day:

I Can

Friday Random...

2006-08-04T13:53:00.000-07:00

Ahoy, mateys. Made it to the end of another week and that's good enough for a couple of giggles. If you haven't seen this it's certainly worth a watch. The is Ok Go and the song is "Here It Goes Again". The song is a pretty great dose of of uptempo power pop that recalls equals Fountains of Wayne and The Cars. But what makes this song extra special is the video. A feat of choreography not seen since the hey day of Paula Abdul. The video alone should make you want to buy the album.

Please enjoy:

Ok Go's Here It Goes Again

Have a good weekend.

The Meadows...

2006-08-03T09:35:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the delay, I've been away. But it's not like I'm getting paid to do this or anything. Sometimes you gotta do what needs to be done. Not that I haven't been thinking of you, I have. It's a little known fact that I get dizzy at the beginning of a new month and have to lie down for a few days. Couple that with being so close to sea level and it's a wonder I haven't simply sat down on the couch to watch reruns of What's Happening (love the crazy dance that Rerun does) and not gotten up. Then I spend a bunch of unproductive time wondering how people end up trying to sell stuffed mooses (meese?) on Craiglist for $300. Who's out there browsing for used taxidermy? I mean if you need to have a stuffed moose head in your house at least have the fucking good sense to go shoot it yourself.

So obviously you can understand my lack of posts.

But I'm here today with some excellent power pop from The Meadows. I used to work with one of these guys when he lived in SF. He's long gone to LaLa land but he and his partner in songwriting are still cranking out seriously infectious songs. This is just fun to listen to, great soaring choruses, powerful melodies. They're like a less dour, less British, more guitar version of Coldplay. I've really been enjoying the record.

1 song from The Meadows:

Younger Yesterday