→ March 1, 2016
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February 2016 music update.

I wrote up my thoughts on the Ian Desmond contract for Insiders. I also have a recap of this year’s new boardgame offerings at Toyfair over at Paste.

Not a great month for new music, although we did get the School of Seven Bells album, a comeback from Lush, an amazing new single from FKA Twigs, and two extreme metal tracks worth including.

The Jezabels – Come Alive. An Australian act that’s been around since 2007, the Jezabels create serious drama with the steady crescendo and bombastic finish to “Come Alive,” the lead single from their just-released third album Synthia. Unfortunately, the group just had to cancel their 2016 tour as their keyboardist undergoes urgent treatment for ovarian cancer, which does not sound good at all.

Lush – Out of Control. I loved Lush’s music back in the mid-1990s, especially when they transitioned from shoegaze to more straight-up Britpop with “Ladykillers” and “Single Girl” before disbanding. They reformed last year and have gone back to the sound that first put them on the map in the early 1990s, with the sort of shimmering, fuzzy guitar lines that got them lumped in with Ride, Swervedriver, and MBV. Lush was always a little more pop-informed than those other acts – perhaps a function of having a lead singer with a pretty voice that didn’t pair well with the waves of distortion that characterize true shoegaze.

FKA twigs – Good to Love. I was not a fan of FKA Twigs’ first full-length album, with praise that seemed more about who she was than about the quality of her music, but this is a remarkable song, showing off her voice and her vocal restraint, in a sparsely arranged ballad that’s radiates emotion.

Grace Mitchell – White Iverson. I’d never heard of Mitchell or this song before last week, and I’m only half pleased about this, because I went back and heard the original song, by yet another white pseudo-rapper appropriating black culture for profit, and it is truly atrocious. Mitchell’s cover turns it into a sinuous trip-hop track that suffers only for the ridiculousness of its lyrics.

Animal Collective – Golden Gal. Animal Collective got a little less weird on their new album, Painting With, which is why 1) I’ve listed two of its songs on monthly playlists and 2) you’re hearing their songs on the radio a little more than ever. Weird and experimental is great, but I’m not going to want to listen to it repeatedly if there isn’t some kind of hook.

Clairity – Don’t Panic. Another cover, this of one of the better yet less-known songs from Coldplay’s debut album, Parachutes. (For those of you rolling your eyes because you think of Coldplay as the atrocious pop band they are now, I promise, they weren’t always like this.) I love the new arrangement, but can’t fathom Claire Wilkinson’s bizarre pronunciation of the long ‘o’ sound throughout the track.

Bleached – Wednesday Night Melody. I always get a little Joan Jett vibe out of this trio, with big, simple riffs, although Jett’s stuff didn’t have the surfer vibe that informs a lot of Bleached’s music.

Bear Hands – 2 AM. You know, they’re right: Nothing good happens past 2 a.m.

Astronautalis – Papillion. And right on cue, here’s a white rapper, although the appeal of this song is the spacey music rather than the rhyming, where Astronautalis boasts good rhythm but generic lyrics.

Wild Nothing – Life of Pause. I’m a little disappointed in Wild Nothing’s latest album after the huge success of Nocturne, as he seems to be taking fewer risks and chasing more ’70s soft-rock sounds (when he isn’t ripping off Talk Talk as he did on the first single). This was probably my second-favorite track on the record.

Minor Victories – A Hundred Ropes. Is it a supergroup if the members come from groups that aren’t very popular in their own right? With members from Editors, Mogwai, and Slowdive, the band’s lead single sounds … well, a lot like what you’d get if you mixed Editors, Mogwai, and Slowdive. It’s good, though.

Spirit Animal – World War IV (To the Floor). If you’ve heard “Regular World,” which is way too douchebro for me to tolerate for more than a few seconds, put it out of your minds and listen to the rest of their EP, which is far less sneering and childish and brings some better riffs that bring in a few elements of funk to a hard-rock foundation.

Run River North – Pretender. The Korean-American sextet seems to have ditched the soft folk-rock style of their debut album for electric guitars and angry lyrics, perhaps not to the better, as the strongest appeal of their debut album was the harmonies that brought one or both of the two female members into the vocals.

Kero Kero Bonito – Lipslap. Their 2015 song “Picture This” should have been a huge crossover pop hit, but never caught on, so it appears the group has now gone back to their previous style, a little harder-edged J-pop with lead singer Sarah Midori Perry rapping in Japanese and English.

White Lung – Hungry. The lead single from this punk band’s upcoming album Paradise marks a big step forward in songwriting from their previous efforts, which resembled early punk rock in their semi-controlled anarchy. This is still hard-edged, but it’s also a pop song with a clearly identifiable hook, and puts Paradise on the list of albums to look forward to this spring.

School Of Seven Bells – This Is Our Time. The emotional closer to SVIIB, which I reviewed here last week.

Omnium Gatherum – Skyline. It’s been a while since I included any metal tracks on a monthly playlist, but this time we have two. This Finnish melodic death metal band employs growled vocals, but the tempo isn’t as extreme as straight-up death metal and you can pick out individual guitar lines (sometimes rather intricate) and even understand the occasional word or two. Their newest album, Grey Heavens, is a good example of the Finnish flavor of MDM, with fretwork that wouldn’t be out of place in more commercial songs.

Entombed A.D. – The Winner Has Lost. The progenitors of the death-n-roll subgenre are back, sort of, with their second album under their slightly revised name. (Hey, anything’s better than Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe.) The newish band’s sound is definitely a little heavier and less bluesy than Wolverine Blues, but the tradeoff is substantially better production values and cleaner guitar riffs, similar to what they brought on 2014’s Back to the Front.

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→ October 6, 2010
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Music update for October.

As always, these are just songs I’ve been listening to lately, or recently heard for the first time, and may not actually be new songs.

“Boy” – Ra Ra Riot (video)

Unusual to see a pop band combining synths, heavy bass, and actual string instruments, and the approach is a little hit or miss, but works well on “Boy,” which combines an unconventional structure, an active bass line, and a vocal that sounds like Morrissey trying to go up an octave for a whole that exceeds the sum of its parts. Their second single, “Too Dramatic,” veers a little too far into Erasure territory for me, but “Boy” has just enough muscle from that bass line to avoid that fate. (Speaking of Erasure, Yeasayer’s “O.N.E.” does have a lot of Vince Clarke in it, fun for a few nostalgic listens but without great staying power.)

“Standing Next To Me” – Last Shadow Puppets (video)

There’s a pretty strong ’60s vibe to this song, from the chamber-pop arrangement in the background to the paired male vocals. I guess I really like Alex Turner’s work; I heard the song without realizing that it was the side project of the Arctic Monkeys’ lead singer. It’s impressive to hear something so clean and melodic from Turner, better known for the more aggressive (but still hook-laden) music from the Monkeys’ first two albums.

“Blue Blood Blues” – Dead Weather (video)

Speaking of side projects, here’s Jack White’s heavy, grungy blues-rock act Dead Weather, now on their second album. It’s reminiscent of early Zeppelin, or some of the album tracks from later in their career, the kind of music I think Jimmy Page always wanted to play but that was subjugated to more commercial considerations. (I mean, “Fool in the Rain” is an all-time classic, but doesn’t sound much like Led Zeppelin.) Anyway, “Blue Blood Blues” has the sort of huge guitar riffs I expect from White’s heavier work, except that I’m pretty sure he plays drums on the track. Go figure.

I feel like side projects and similar collaborations have finally come back in vogue after twenty-plus years where they were absent from the music scene, presumably for legal reasons. (If something sucks in the entertainment world, blame the lawyers. It’s probably their fault.) I’m hearing more groups like these last two and more covers of contemporary songs, both things that were fairly common in the late ’60s and early ’70s and led to a fairly fertile period in American and British rock music. I hope it doesn’t fall out of fashion again, and that the barristers don’t catch on to what’s happening.

“Islands” – the xx (video)

So I got this album right after the xx won the Mercury Prize, and even if I can get past the extremely muted production, I just don’t see this music as worthy of such a high honor. It’s minimalist, but that’s been done before, and done better. It’s despairing and even lonely, but that’s been done before, and done better. It’s not bad music, certainly better than 90% of what’s out there, but I don’t hear anything wildly new or inventive here. “Islands” is the standout track to me, the one I’d choose to listen to again, with more texture than most of the songs on the album, and it has one of the most inventive videos I’ve seen in ages.

“The Mighty Sparrow” – Ted Leo & the Pharmacists (video)

Grabs you right from the opening line – “When the cafe doors exploded” – and … well, it does sort of let go in the middle, but the song is short and punchy with a driving drum-and-bass line that keeps the energy level up. You can hear some influence from early punk stalwarts Fugazi and Minor Threat. It wouldn’t hurt ol’ Teddy to try some new clothing stores, though.

“Barricade” – Interpol (video)

A real disappointment; I liked a lot of Interpol’s earlier singles, especially “Slow Hands,” which drove them as deep into Joy Division territory as any band has gone, but “Barricade” feels choppy and discordant where their best singles have all been surprisingly melodic under the histrionic vocal style.

“Chelsea Dagger” – Fratellis (video)

Released in 2006, the year that was something of a black hole for my music awareness, this is the sort of snotty uptempo British rock song of which I can’t seem to get enough, and reminds me strongly of Harvey Danger’s “Flagpole Sitta.” Apparently “Chelsea Dagger” has become a popular song at football (i.e., soccer) matches across Europe, which makes sense since it has the feel of a modern drinking song. I’m not sure why the lead singer is trying to look like Jack White in the video, though.

“Where I’m Going” – Cut Copy

This is straight-up early Britpop, done over by a popular Australian group who must have been raised on Blur, James, and Belle & Sebastian. I didn’t stand a chance against this one. You can get the track for free if you click on the link in the song title, or just click here.

“A More Perfect Union” – Titus Andronicus (video)

The video edit runs just 3:35, but at seven minutes the album version eventually devolves into a bloated mess. The beginning has some brilliant lyrics combining references to baseball, New England geography, and popular music, mentioning the Fung Wah bus and including lines like “And when I stand tonight, ‘neath the lights of the Fenway/Will I not yell like hell for the glory of the Newark Bears?” and “And I never let the Merritt Parkway magnetize me no more.” The song leads off their newest album, The Monitor, which I found absolutely wearing for its unrelenting cynicism. Yes, I said that.

“Old Fangs” – Black Mountain (video)

I joked on Twitter that this song reminded me of when I was at Woodstock, and at least two followers asked me if I was indeed there. (The answer is no, for what I presume is an obvious reason.) It’s psychedelic rock but in the context of heavy stoner rock; any song with a Hammond organ is going to bring late ’60s/early ’70s psychedlia to mind. It also pulls the trick of sounding much longer than it is, perhaps the result of my mind being trained to think of songs in this vein lasting a good 12 to 15 minutes.

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→ March 17, 2009
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Forgotten songs, part one.

This may or may not be a recurring feature here: songs I really like and never stopped liking but that, for one reason or another, were never huge hits in their times and have since been gathering dust on the music world’s shelves. I haven’t listed anything too obscure – I think everything here received radio airplay in the U.S. – and most are available for download via amazon.com. I started out with a list of over twenty candidates but pared it down to something more manageable. If you’ve got a forgotten classic of your own to nominate, throw it in the comments alongside your adulation of these tracks.

Love Spit Love – “Am I Wrong” (video)

I hated the Psychedelic Furs while they were peaking – I think it was because the name was too weird; my music preferences during childhood were often predicated on ridiculous things like that – only to discover afterwards that they produced some pretty amazing stuff. Half the band re-formed as Love Spit Love, who had a minor hit with this atmospheric, melancholy ballad. They’re probably better known now for their cover of the Smiths’ “How Soon is Now,” which became the theme song for the TV show Charmed, but that’s a perfunctory money-grab compared to “Am I Wrong.”

Moloko – “Fun For Me” (video)

I first heard this on WFNX in 1997 when it was playing as my alarm went off one morning, and despite not hearing it again for years, I remembered enough of the lyrics to track it down during what one might call the Napster era. It sticks in your head like treacle – and I know it’s not just my head, because everyone for whom I’ve played this song hasn’t just loved it, but become a little obsessed with it, regardless of what type(s) of music they typically liked. Which makes some sense, since I’m not sure how you could assign any genre to “Fun for Me.” But perhaps that’s why it never become any sort of hit in the U.S., given our tendency toward narrowcasting even on mainstream radio stations.

Pigeonhed feat. Lo Fidelity All-Stars – “Battleflag” (video)

I first heard this during my summer in Seattle in 1998 while pulling into the parking lot of the Safeway on Queen Anne Ave., and I sat in the car until the damn thing was over because I was riveted to the seat. It’s sort of like Prince meets … well, some other side of Prince, yet the end product doesn’t really sound that much like Prince but more like something by a couple of guys who really like Prince but also like overdubs and drum/bass samples and that ubiquitous handclap. There are a couple of versions around, but the best remix is the one found on MTV’s AMP 2.

Susanna Hoffs – “All I Want” (video)

Susanna Hoffs turned 50 in January, which I find horrifying, since I doubt I had a bigger crush on any celebrity during my formative years. I’m pleased, however, to discover that she still looks damn good. Hoffs released two solo albums in the 1990s between the Bangles’ breakup and inevitable reunion, neither of which did much on the charts, but her second effort included a fantastic cover of the Lightning Seeds’ “All I Want,” taking out the twee and turning into more of a folk-rock song. Sadly, the album is out of print and isn’t available for download. (Why wouldn’t a record label just push all of its songs out as mp3s? Is there some hidden cost of which I’m unaware? I imagine it would just be free revenue every time a song sells. And why post the video on Youtube if you don’t intend to sell the song?)

Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth – “They Reminisce Over You” (video)

As far as I’m concerned, the Bad Boy era killed hip-hop after an incredibly prolific decade of high-quality hip-hop songs, from the Golden Age of Rap coming out of New York to the short-lived jazz-rap movement (Digable Planets, anyone?) to southern California G-Funk in the early ’90s. (Warren G doesn’t qualify, sorry.) Producer Pete Rock was part of the jazz-rap movement, sticking with jazz and jazzy samples and lots of horn solos behind the, uh, smooth rhymes of C.L. Smooth. “T.R.O.Y.,” named as an homage to the late Troy Dixon of Heavy D and the Boyz, was easily their finest moment, built on a bass/horn riff from jazz saxophonist Tom Scott with fluid lyrics from C.L. Smooth.

Stone Roses – “Love Spreads” (video)

The opening 30 seconds constitute my main ring tone. If you like great guitar riffs, the entire album from which “Love Spreads” comes (Second Coming) will be right up your alley; guitarist John Squire wrote some enormous hooks and fills just about every available space with memorable licks. I still have no idea why this song, the first single from Second Coming, wasn’t at least a huge hit on “mainstream rock” stations, given the big guitar sounds and the catchy ad-infinitum chorus at the end. Also recommended: The Stone Roses’ guitarist’s post-breakup project, Seahorses, recorded one incredible song called “Love is the Law” (video) featuring awesome guitar work and the priceless line “Strap-on Sally/Chased us down the alley/We feared for our behinds.” Incidentally, the Stone Roses are going on tour this summer after more than a decade of “when hell freezes over” responses to reunion rumors.

Mansun – “Wide Open Space” (video – live version)

“Wide Open Spaces” garnered some modern-rock and mainstream-rock radio play when the album came out in 1996, but nothing else from the album broke through and their follow-up work wasn’t very good at all. (Incidentally, the album’s opening track, “The Chad Who Loved Me,” should have been all over the place in the fall of 2000, right?) There’s a lot of ’70s epic/arena rock to this song, but with this great underlying tension from that repeated two-note guitar riff. “Wide Open Spaces” would also rate highly on my list of “Songs I wish I had the range to sing.” Even solo, in the car, it’s a stretch.

Monster Magnet – “Negasonic Teenage Warhead” (video)

I know, they were completely ridiculous, a pastiche of stoner rock, New Wave of British Heavy Metal, and even a little bit of glam thrown in, but before the bombastic (if catchy) “Space Lord,” Monster Magnet threw down this straight-out rocker that will have you shouting “I will deny you!” for days. I wonder how much singer/songwriter Dave Wyndorf thinks he owes to Guns N Roses or White Zombie. It’s one of sleaze rock’s finest hours – or four-and-a-half minutes.

Catherine Wheel – “Waydown” (video)

This song wasn’t a great example of the Catherine Wheel’s music – “Black Metallic” and “Heal 2” are probably their signature songs – but it’s easily my favorite song by the group, still bringing that faint My Bloody Valentine influence to a much more polished finished product. The music is all energy and tension even as the lyrics describe a rapid, willful descent. It wasn’t quite grunge enough for its era but was harder and heavier than the hair-metal that grunge replaced.

Peter Murphy – “Cuts You Up” (video)

Murphy was the lead singer of the goth/arthouse band Bauhaus, which spawned the better-known Love and Rockets after its breakup. While “Cuts You Up” didn’t reach the commercial heights of L&R’s “So Alive,” it’s a seductive hook-laden Roxy Music-esque track that’s almost too sophisticated for its own commercial ambitions. Murphy tried to recreate the formula with “The Sweetest Drop” on his next album, but missed the mark somewhat painfully.

Say Trickle – “It Doesn’t Count” (video)

I know I promised nothing too obscure, but I’m making an exception to my own rule for this little-known British pop/rock band that sort of got caught between the Madchester craze in the early ’90s and the Britpop revival of a few years later. If they had a hit, this was it, although it just scraped the lower reaches of the modern rock charts and didn’t chart at all on Billboard‘s Hot 100. Unfortunately, Say Trickle’s only record is long out of print, but at least the video survives on Youtube.

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→ July 21, 2008
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Klaxons cover.

So one of my Facebook friends linked to The Klaxons’ cover of “No Diggity” (surprisingly faithful, but then again, why mess with perfection?) and I ended up finding this version of “Golden Skans,” by the Kaiser Chiefs, one of my favorite new bands of the last few years covering one of my favorite songs of the last year.

And from the annals of misheard lyrics: For years, my wife would sing the lyrics to the first song as, “I like the way you work it/Yo diggity.”

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