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May 23, 2006
"Newsies" is my favorite musical starring Christian Bale [updated]
When Catbirdseat originally pointed it out, I really should have mentioned it here too, since I was quite impressed- it's the only place I know that endorses both George Saunders and Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin in equal measure: Daytrotter. Excellent writing, nice design, essay contests, and specially recorded songs- doesn't get much better. Go check out their SSLYBY post (which has three alternate arrangements of "Broom" songs, and one brand new song, 'Modern Mystery').
I heard 'Solar System' the other day for the first time in a long time, by chance, and I'm pretty sure that this song, of all Phil Elverum's recorded output thus far, is my favorite. The blast of static in the beginning, the slow, dry way the guitar is strummed, the subdued back-up vocals, the panting noises, the washes of wind/water sounds that Phil ushers in when he sings 'let the flash flood begin'- all of it's amazing, but what really makes this song for me are these lines: "I know you're out there/your vultures in trees/I know you're out there/you're lanterns on lakes/I know you're out there/your soccer balls on knees/through your skirt I see/your legs gracefully", that's the kernel of the song to me, the whole story. Anyway, every time I talk about Microphones/Mt. Eerie, I feel compelled to post an excerpt from Matt's wonderful essay on the subject (which you can read in its entirety right here):
"...it's almost like Elv(e)rum has uncovered some kind of phenomenological lingua franca with which to express each and every experiential nuance.
What makes The Microphones records so extraordinary is the unity of purpose towards which each and every aspect of their construction seems directed. Not only does Elv(e)rum write lyrics that get to the core of what it's like to be an experiencing thing, every nuance of his production begs to be listened to on headphones. In so doing, the listener becomes the medium. This gives the sounds an immediacy that reinforces and is reinforced by the lyrical content.
Further, Elv(e)rum's insistence on using acoustic methods to get certain sounds (e.g. putting microphones in boxes to get the right kind of muffle) gives every note, thud, or drone the essence of having been made by a body. This creates a seamless continuum between the intent of the musician, the acoustics of production, the psychoacoustics of listener perception, and finally the listener's emotional/visceral response."
--Check out this amazing little tidbit brought up in the comments by dekadetia:
"A fantastic song I haven't heard in a few years, thanks for reminding me of it. Did you know it's based on the Little Wings song "Fall Flood"? Kyle Field and Phil Elvrum have developed a habit of "responding to" each other's songs. Microphones' "Lanterns", for example, was a response to Little Wings' "What Wonder?", (I think that's right, anyway), and Little Wings' "Uh Oh, It's Morning Time Again" was based on a dream Elvrum had, was subsequently re-recorded by Elvrum as "Ut Oh! It's Mourningtime Again", and then recomposed again by Field as "Uh Oh, It's Uh Oh Time Again", "about how we keep re-doing the songs" (Elvrum, "Singers" liner notes).
Conveniently, there's an mp3 of "Fall Flood" at Puritan Blister right now, so you can hear it for yourselves. Link:
http://puritanb.blogspot.com/2006/05/waterslide-sobriety.html"
Thanks, Dekadetia!
Posted by Kevin at 12:03 AM | Comments (0)
May 22, 2006
Circe: such a temptress, but such a poor cook.
A little background on this one: when I first started writing Molars, I desperately wanted to do a theme week based around Steely Dan. I figured it'd be pretty boring if it was just me writing, so I tried to find some other Dan aficianados to contribute. At one point, I had a few other mp3bloggers lined up, but the whole thing kind of fizzled when no one actually sent in their entries, etc. My own fault, probably. Anyway, the following is something I had written two years ago (for something else entirely, that also never materialized)- I found it recently, and thought it might be fun to put it up here, as a sort of one-day version of what I had originally intended. Not great writing (a little maudlin), but it's passable...
Steely Dan - Reelin' In The Years
In the brisk year after I proposed (unsuccessfully) to several dark-haired girls in my sixth grade class, but before I (voluntarily) trundled myself off to boarding school, I became utterly infatuated with Steely Dan. Like many things that happened to me when I was 12, this was an accident. My uncle had given "A Decade of Steely Dan", a sort of greatest hits retrospective, to my dad as a birthday present, and my dad, with his customary unbridled enthusiasm for gifts, had given the Dan a three week tenure on the family stereo (eclipsing the previous record of two weeks, held by Steve Winwood and his album "Refugees of the Heart", which if my mom had had her way, would have somehow melted itself into the CD player).
I'm sure everyone has experienced the odd sensation of being slowly won over by music, especially music that, upon first listen, you sort of hate with ruthless and irrational passion. Steely Dan, to my young ears, sounded almost alien: clean, crisp production, with freakishly tight, airless rhythm tracks, and lyrics that reminded me of nothing so much as wandering around family reunions or company picnics late at night, all sugared-up on soda, watching my parents drink, laugh, and have conversations that made little sense to, and had nothing to do with, me. Steely Dan's music felt like something off-limits, adult, vaguely debauched, and ridiculously weird- all of which made me dislike and want to understand it at the same time.
I sat myself down in front of our family stereo system, which, because of its advanced technology, occupied about nine cubic yards of the living room, and listened. I memorized the lyrics, learned the bluesy breakdowns, all snary with guitar solos, and hummed along with sax and brass. I can't say it helped me understand the songs any better, but I enjoyed them more, and even went so far as to try to expose my friends to this new music. They all listened mostly to Marky Mark and MC Hammer at the time, and after I played them Steely Dan, they regarded me as either brainwashed, stoned, or both. So, due to peer pressure, Steely Dan was left by the wayside. The only other interaction I had with their music prior to adulthood was when I heard "My Old School" playing on the radio, on my way down to move-in for my freshman year of college, and realized that my future alma mater was mentioned in the first chorus. It seemed to augur good things, but I almost immediately forgot about it.
Thankfully though, the summer after graduation, I found myself in a tight spot, and despite my extreme negligence towards their music in the preceding few years, Steely Dan provided me with a song that was uncannily appropriate. Long story, but basically my then-girlfriend had suddenly and violently turned into something more akin to the Operation game: she was hostile, all of our interactions were intensely nerve-wracking, and she sort of buzzed angrily when I touched her. The breakup was inevitable, and it came swiftly. She told me she had been cheating on me, had never really been in love with me, and wanted her pet goldfish back. I accepted the first two statements, but resolved to abduct her fish back to Pennsylvania with me, no matter what.
The following night, I packed up my stuff, gassed up my car, and went over to where she was staying to see her one more time before I left. I asked her for one last kiss, and, after a few oaths and epithets, got a little peck on the cheek. I jumped back in my car, and turned the key. The radio came on, one of the local classic rock stations, and Elliott Randall's incandescent first riff from Steely Dan's "Reelin' in the Years" came riding out of the speakers, carving up the air around me. It was perfect. I pulled out of the parking lot, with the girl's long, restive legs in my sideview mirror, and the sharp-edged groove of the song ringing out loudly into the hot air. At the time, I thought that the song had been there, on the radio, waiting for me; it fit the situation too well for it to be coincidence. "Reelin' in the Years" is music formed by the intersection of nostalgic regret and a kind of sweetly resigned disappointment, and that was exactly where I found myself at the time. I wanted to leave my mistakes behind me, and the best way to do that, it seemed, was to ride the feeling of that song all the way home- with the windows down and with a stolen, frightened goldfish, swimming anxiously in its bowl, strapped into the passenger's seat. The fish died, from the shock I think, somewhere near Havre de Grace.
['Reelin' In the Years' is from "Can't Buy A Thril", which you can buy here, and 'My Old School' is from "Countdown to Ecstasy", which you can buy right here]
Posted by Kevin at 12:33 AM | Comments (0)
May 17, 2006
when pity turnes into genuine affection
Avey Tare and Kria Brekken - Untitled 5 (Live at the Stone)
Avey Tare and Kria Brekken played a tiny show at the Stone in the middle of last month: brand new songs, mostly acoustic guitar with some piano accents, sweet and laidback. Kria Brekken is another (stage) name for Kristin Anna from Mum (she's credited on "Feels" as 'Doctess'), and to revisit a topic that Sean StG brought up the other day, she has a singing voice that reminds me of Joanna Newsom, in some respects- Kria's voice is bright and pretty but whispery, and has a strange edge to it, a kind of sharp way of pronouncing certain letters and words that I think might have more to do with her natural accent than with any kind of affectation in her vocal style. Listen, in the second verse, when she sings, "there are stars in our water/there is night all around/I take a sip and it tingles/you take a sip and you smile/then we dance around", while Avey Tare provides some complementary toe-tapping and wild hums that unfurl into tongue-twisted non-words. I really enjoy the songs that these two performed together because they seem so casual and effortless (like much of what Animal Collective does) and Kria's voice really provides such a nice contrast to Dave's- I hope they manage to record this stuff sometime in the near future (if they do, I guess look for it on Fat Cat).
This recording (which is just about studio quality anyway) comes courtesy of Bryan from Alias Pail. Bryan runs a beautifully designed and extremely well-written website, and has made a number of fantastic recordings of Animal Collective shows in the past. You can check out his original post about the Avey Tare + Kria Brekken show right here, watch some video clips he made, and listen to the concert in its entirety (the rest of it is just as good and includes an amazing cover they did of Christopher Smither's 'I've Got Mine', from his "Don't It Drag On" album). Go check it out.
Posted by Kevin at 12:42 PM | Comments (0)
May 16, 2006
lime-lined honeymildew daydreams [updated]
The smallest show I've ever been to took place last Monday night, in someone's cool, dusty basement, where I stood with about 10 other people, bracketed by a sheaf of loose drywall and a mysterious bottle of Wesson cooking oil, drank free beer, and watched Excepter build their one hour set with sticky beats, shaken smoke, moans, claps, clangs, mbira solos, and a passion for making something new, collaborative, and exciting.
Turned out the planned venue for the show had fallen through, so a friend of a friend (of the band) had offered to let the band play at the house- when I walked in, there was a guy sitting on a gray couch playing video games, told me the band was still setting up downstairs. The flyer on Excepter's website had said $5, but no one ever asked for money, and in fact the main tenants of the house were giving away free beer, liquor, and blended energy/malt beverages. People hunkered down in the basement and drank while Jon spun some records for an hour or so, then JFR, Dan and Nathan ambled downstairs and started adjusting their machines.
Excepter these days seem like they're definitely more beat-focused than they ever were with Calder and Caitlin, that press release for "Self Destruction" wasn't too far off the mark (house records + Xenakis was the formula I think) from where they are now, and during the show they spun out some hard, percussive grooves- unexpectedly though, these constructions (accretions of pounding, airless beats, ribbony synthesizer passages perforated by sharp, utilitarian other-synth notes, JFR and Jon's gentle, wordless lamentations and wandering growls) more often than not tapered off into unexpectedly pretty sections of glittering, dark introspection, where the band slowed down a little and let everything just kind of run its course (there was a particular song where JFR was playing quickly plucked notes on an mbira along with a high-strung, glassy keyboard loop and it just fit together so well). That's where Excepter really set themselves apart- in those hairpin turns, when some elements are eroded away and subtly replaced by others (or not), in the kind of cobwebby corners they inhabit in their songs.
JFR mentioned a while back that the roots of what became "Alternation", which comes out on 5RC on July 25th, can be heard in Streams 19 and 09 (the record was originally going to come out last fall, I think), and represents some of their dancier stuff- you can check out live videos of some "Alternation" tracks ('Lypse' and 'If I Were You') over on the band's separate music site.
Also, the band was selling a CD-R (rough mix) of an album they'll be releasing next fall, and it's got some amazing stuff on it- if anyone wants to hear the meanest beat that Excepter's ever made, express your interest in the comments I'm posting it (for a little while) anyway.
'Targets' is the real name of the song, per JFR, and it'll be on a release that the band's doing with Fuck It Tapes in the fall. This track though is a jawbreaker- that beat is police sirens and broken factory windows, and someone tied up in a damp furnace room, banging out an SOS on steampipes. This track just sweats outs a very purpose-driven/not-to-be-fucked-with vibe, and I love every second of it. Try it out.
[P.S. check out the Excepter + Leb-Laze split on Hoss Records, it's good]
Posted by Kevin at 12:18 AM | Comments (0)
May 08, 2006
onion domes of tallahassee, what happened?
Looking over the past couple months in the archives, this place has become both joyless and song-poor. I only put up 7 or so tracks in March, and 5(!) in April, good god. I will rectify that, I promise. Upcoming this week (on Friday hopefully): Orillia Opry, an Animal Collective-related song, and maybe a recap from the Excepter show (taking place tomorrow night- details here for the Philly show specifically, and here for the tour; check out their nice new website). Good stuff.
Those of you who have been reading the site since the very beginning (i.e. my little brothers, Matt Greenideas) know that I've written a decent amount about the Impossibles and the post-breakup careers of their lead songwriters, Rory Allen Phillips and Gabe Hascall- in fact, Rory's older new band, Nineteen Ninety-Now (I liked it, but I'm kinda glad he ditched that name) was the subject of the second post I ever did, back when I had only a passable knowledge of the English language, and could barely work a keyboard. Anyway, here is my brief history of Rory and Gabe: (pts. 1, 2, 3, 4).
This is all just to preface the fact that Rory has formed a new band, called Rory and the Artificial Heart, and will be releasing both the "End Prohibition" mixtape (compilation of all the songs he's written and recorded from 2000-2005), and a new album, recorded with the band, called "Social Studies/Computer Literacy" (due some time in the near future). The band is playing their first official show on June 10th at Emo's. Here are two tracks from the mixtape:
Rory Allen Phillips - Love Won't Be Enough (wrote about it in pt. 1, above)
Rory Allen Phillips - 10 Start Program (wrote about it in pt. 3, above)
Anyway, some more good news- Craig, the bass player from the Impossibles, is one of the members of the Artificial Heart, tackling bass duties once again (dude's pretty amazing). Gabe is still unaccounted for, although apparently he played a solo show in Austin in February some time- maybe he'll put out something soon.
So, you can order the 10 track mixtape right here (cheap, like $10), and listen to some of the songs from the forthcoming LP right here. V. exciting.
Posted by Kevin at 12:40 AM | Comments (0)
May 05, 2006
ablative case has been such a hassle lately
Last year, one of my favorite blogs, Jeff Johnson's (hilarious) Fitted Sweats had a feature where David Berman would answer questions submitted by readers. As far as I can remember, there were only four questions, but they were amazing (and deserve more attention). I was reminded of this the other day when I dined at Friendly's for the first time in 16 years and saw their dessert menu which was emblazoned with the word INDULGENCE (all caps, white letters):
Week One
Why do some adults speak of dessert in a mock-naughty tone that's usually reserved for sex? -- Wanda, Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota.
David's Answer: Yes, you'll never hear people talk about appetizers in those terms.Sweet Adultery Eggrolls or whatever. I think this contribution to closing remarks, is purely the work of women 50 and older who do not work. No longer able to bear children, they themselves, in post-prandial hallucinations dream up the cake canyons and sweater covered hills that cause the planet where dessert turns people on. (original)
Week Two
This week's question: If Jesus were living now, in our modern times, do you think he would dress the same as he did back then or would he have a little different look? Do you think people might be freaked out if he had a goatee?
David's Answer: Would he have caught Eric Claptons's little boy w hen he fell out that window, that window to the Unplugged session career revival, the grammies, and afterward? In a fix could Jesus get down on all fours in a parking lot and turn himself into a negligible compact car, thus avoiding capture?
Wo uld he idly drive himslef to the cape and help an embittered shrimpboat captain perform euthanasia on a Canadian ketchup baron in rough international waters? The answers to these questions is "yes." (original)
Week Three (this was the one I submitted)
Dear David, What if airplanes ran on juice instead of various grades of petroleum distillate?
David's Answer:Then those juice boxes with the little straws would become Hi-C molotov cocktails in the hands of bad children. Vitamin C for catastrophe. (original)
Week Four
Can self-congratulatory oppositional work actually provoke the power structures (from thought to State) to self-destruct or at least realign in subtleties too precious for a quotidian consciousness?
David's Answer: If by "self-congratulatory oppositional work" you mean "the Flaming Lips," and if by, "provoke the power structures," you mean "Will not go away," and if "subltelties too precious" stands for "Why won't they go the fuck away?"-then yes. (original, with Kenny Chesny preface)
Posted by Kevin at 12:48 AM | Comments (0)