Every Song Is A Comeback

Grizzly Bear - 'Lullabye'

2006-10-03T21:23:00.000-07:00

Things are busy, but they're busy in a good way. Shows I am going to this month:

10/2 - TV on the Radio / Grizzly Bear
10/3 - Sherwood
10/12 - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah / Architecture in Helsinki
10/13 - Sufjan Stevens
10/23 - Matt Pond PA
10/30 - Make Believe

Holy frijoles. Either way, you'll notice that yesterday was the TV on the Radio and Grizzly Bear show, which was nothing short of other-worldly. TVOTR was taping the performance for a tour documentary which made for a very interesting evening. Portland absolutely loves TVOTR. I've never seen a crowd so pleased with a band's performance (perhaps with the exception of the response of the Portland crowd to the Arcade Fire this time last year). At one point guitarist Kyp Malone asked us, "Is this Awesome-town?" Yes, in fact it is. Until these folks make it to your town, ride the high seas of this amazing Grizzly Bear song. 'Lullabye' is one of my favorite songs of the year (the winner currently stands as 'Pull Shapes' by the Pipettes).

Lullabye by Grizzly Bear

'Just a Little Heat' by The Black Keys

2006-09-20T10:39:00.000-07:00

Now is the time of year that we start thinking about what happened to this one and what we're going to do come January. As for me and my house, it'll be back to school much like my current situation. Before I start thinking about anything like that, I need to start thinking about what the best records of this year happened to be. I know currently what will be included if I needed to finish the list now, but there's still plenty of time left for good new ones.

If I had to call it a year right now, you'd better believe the new Black Keys record would make the cut. Believe the hype, don't be a jerk, the Black Keys are better than just about every one of these 'stripped down' outfits that made such a splash a few years ago. The White Stripes are arguably the worst band in popular music grinding out nominal bluesy banality on a semi-annual basis, refusing to spare me from their endless wellspring of outrageously annoying songs void of any soul or meaningful lyrical content. And all this under the reign of some of the most tedious percussion out there. The Black Keys are like bizarro White Stripes doing everything the Stripes do well better and everythign the Stripes do poorly exceedingly well. The speakers ooze with soulful blues licks drenched in the finest guitar tones I've come across all year long. The rhythm section? Superb. The songwriting? Even better. Why settle for less with the cutesy, gimicky garbage presented the listener by the White Stripes?

Out yesterday, the Keys dropped their first record for Nonesuch entitled 'Magic Potion.' Blistering electric guitar, pounding drums and amazing vocals comprise the Keys grittiest, most soulful, coolest, most fun and all around best record to date. Nothing but the hits. Check out 'Just a Little Heat' below.

Just a Little Heat by The Black Keys

Joan of Arc - 'On a Bedsheet in the Breeze on the Roof'

2006-09-09T16:54:00.000-07:00

Well, the madness is finally over. My girl's best friend has thus been married off to a Las Vegas police officer (not as mean as he sounds) and is gone for a time. The whole situation of being involved in DJing the reception and the like made me quite contemplative, which is cool, just exhausting. School is hard, but that's fine too. But that's not why you're here.

In the midst of everything, my life has begun to feel a bit like a Joan of Arc song. I think that it always does, but it depends on which record. The last week has felt like 'Live in Chicago, 1999' and it has since evened out to something a little more manageable like something from 'So Much Staying Alive and Lovelessness'. Life in the Northwest is always a bit chaotic for me seeing as this is not my natural dwelling place, but at times it coalesces into something easier to listen to for the trained ear. It never evens out to the point where it feels like an Owen song, but that's probably why I listen to those records so much: because it's out of longing for something a little more lush. Maybe not lush, but more calculated.

Either way, I've been listening to 'So Much Staying Alive...' which came out on Jade Tree in 2003. Since then, mastermind Tim Kinsella has released a rarities collection ('The Intelligent Design of Joan of Arc') and a new record for Record Label ('Eventually, All at Once') but I can't say that he's topped the album with anything that I've heard him do. The thing is a controlled chaotic world unto itself illustrated by some of the best clean electric guitar tone I've ever heard in my life. Today I'm treating you to 'On a Bedsheet in the Breeze on the Roof' from that record, which I hated the first ten times I heard it but I honestly can't get enough of this guy. Don't believe the hype: Joan of Arc is actually really really good.

On a Bedsheet in the Breeze on the Roof by Joan of Arc

Matt Sweeney & Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - 'Bed Is For Sleeping'

2006-09-05T21:04:00.000-07:00

To you, O faithful reader, wherever you may be: I apologize. It's been a hectic week complete with hospital visits, new releases, an unhealthy obsession with Joan of Arc (band, not historical figure) and the first full week of school. It is about to become even more complicated with the most recent incarnation of my favorite show, Nip/Tuck. Who knew something so trashy could be such an unending source of joy?

Either way, on a completely unrelated note, everything is most certainly for something. I am prompted to think that much of life is figuring out what certain things are actually for (what their function is) and treating them appropriately. I've heard similar conceptual truths manifested in other ways and in other words, but the simplification is satisfying. That is proposition one.

Proposition two is about music rather than life experience. There is a lot of great music out there that is not great simply because of its melodic element but also for its arrangement/instrumentation (while the truly great song can gauge the adequate amounts of each to create a truly expressive piece). There is also great music out there that is great because of its simplicity. While I have tried (quickly) to simplify what comprises much of our daily lives (what function did that statement serve? why am I here? what good is it to listen to this/read this/watch this?), Matt Sweeney and Will Oldham have created a completely beautiful piece of music with nothing but guitar, bass and vocals. Within, the lyrical content explores simple concepts which in turn build on themselves in order to comprise what we perceive to be our lives. Their medium? A very simple three minutes of music. 'Bed Is For Sleeping' is a wonderful song that can be found on the critically acclaimed and fan adored 'Superwolf' album, which I would highly recommend. With that, I leave you. Nip/Tuck on FX at 10pm if you're interested. Who will be the love of Christian Troy's life? Surely it cannot be himself!

Bed Is For Sleeping by Matt Sweeney and Bonnie 'Prince' Billy

Maybe I do want to be a french fry.

2006-08-30T18:28:00.000-07:00

Watch and learn.

The Pipettes - 'Pull Shapes'

2006-08-25T14:27:00.000-07:00

Holy goodness gracious. Every once in a while, pop music can strike an individual such as myself in such a way that it sparks a need to tell everyone about it. When you listen to as much music as I do and share as much as I do, your strong opinions that you feel are so important can be lost because you have already said 'This is the best song I've heard all year' so many times that it becomes completely useless and even annoying to the listener of your stupid comments. This happens to me all the time, which sucks, but at least every once in a while someone gets to hear something that they will really enjoy. I recently played my roommate the Evangelicals record, which is awesome, and he berated me for keeping it from him. Keeping it from him! I just got it a week ago! Am I independent music's keeper?

I have been fortunate enough just hours ago to enjoy one of what I call 'moments of pop perfection'. The Pipettes have recently garnered a lot of press for their new record eloquently titled 'We Are The Pipettes' released last month on Memphis Industries. Rightfully so. The record is full of extremely well-written doo-wop flavored songs by a group of three talented British young women. However, I wouldn't even need the rest of the record if I just had the unbelievable 'Pull Shapes' gracing my collection. It is stunning in every way and stands to become a party staple for my DJ needs over the next several weeks (including a cocktail party and a wedding). Please, if you download one song today, this week, this month, make it 'Pull Shapes' and then get their awesome record. It's very very very good.

Pull Shapes by The Pipettes

Aug 25 - Monsters of Spex Festival Cologne, Germany
Aug 26 - Get Loaded In The Park Cardiff, UK
Aug 27 - Get Loaded In The Park London, UK
Sep 1 - Circolo degli Artisti Rome
Sep 9 - Bestival Festival Isle of Wight, UK
Sep 20 - The Academy Birmingham, UK
Sep 21 - The Junction Cambridge, UK
Sep 22 - Corn Exchange Brighton, UK
Sep 23 - Rescue Rooms Nottingham, UK
Sep 25 - The Academy 3 Manchester, UK
Sep 26 - The Garage Glasgow, Scotland
Sep 28 - Newcastle University Newcastle, UK
Sep 29 - Koko London, UK
Sep 30 - Leadmill Sheffield, UK
Oct 2 - Spring and Airbrake Belfast, Ireland
Oct 3 - TMBC Dublin, Ireland

The Moldy Peaches - 'What Went Wrong'

2006-08-24T13:47:00.000-07:00

Today, I don't have much time to post on this blog since there's a bunch of people at my house and a lot going on before my band plays a show on Saturday and I host a gang of people for the weekend for no good reason other than the fact that they're my friends and they're coming over. First things first, I want to make a major film recommendation: Me and You and Everyone We Know is the best movie I've seen in ages. It prompted some strange conversations as well as some interesting memories as I watched it with my roommate Aaron last night. I went on iTunes and downloaded the Michael Andrews-scored soundtrack which also features a few acts that I love on soundtracks but can't handle in record-sized doses represented by the likes of Cody Chestnutt and Spiritualized. Needless to say, the soundtrack is excellent as I do no usually go out and get the soundtrack for a film on the strength of one viewing of the film regularly. The other occurrences of this phenomenon have been Lost in Translation and The Life Aquatic, both of which have become staples in my listening habits.

Today's post has nothing to do with any of that. I, as I live and breathe, have discovered what is possibly the worst song in the history of earth. The immensely overrated band, The Moldy Peaches, wrote a song called 'What Went Wrong', a lo-lo-lo-fi piece of garbage that was released on their self-titled album. From time to time, a band comes along in independent music that makes serious waves and I cannot for the life of me figure out why. The Moldy Peaches are a truly, madly, deeply horrible band. Why is it that when a band like the Peaches come along and create horrible music that there is a subculture ready to pick it up as 'misunderstood' or 'deeply artistic'? It is a completely nonsensical result. The fuzzed-out sound of 'What Went Wrong' is that of a band trying to make something that maybe rocks, maybe places in the listener in state of dancing tomfoolery, but realistically, the question must be asked: who can have this? Who can stand for the blistering idiocy of some wannabe beat poets who wish they were The Pixies and fail miserably at all that they do? And why, oh why, would anyone willingly listen to this rather than something else?

It transcends comprehension. Or at least my comprehension.

I hope you can listen to the track and join me in my distaste as well as my curious fascination with this horrific band, The Moldy Peaches.

What Went Wrong by The Moldy Peaches

Spoon - 'Sunday Morning, Wednesday Night'

2006-08-23T10:05:00.000-07:00

I'm originally from California and I go to college in Portland, Oregon. Needless to say, I'm usually low on funds; especially for the things I really enjoy that aren't Kettle Chips and beer brewed from the Deschutes river, like live music. I went home last week to visit my family and accomplish a few things before school inevitably starts up again. I have also been blessed with parents who not only care about music, but care about good new current music. I went with my father to see Jason Lytle of Grandaddy fame play a solo acoustic show (which pleasantly included Rusty Miller from the wonderful N. California band, Jackpot) as well as performance by Death Cab For Cutie on their current tour, which was supported by Mates of State and some of my favorite Texans, Spoon.

Spoon played a stunning set including but not limited to: Jonathon Fisk, The Way We Get By (of course, as they wouldn't have gotten out of the venue alive without playing this song), They Never Got You, The Beast and Dragon Adored, and I Turn My Camera On. If you're at all familiar with the recent Spoon catalogue, you know how tremendous it has been since the seminal 'Girls Can Tell' record. However, since that particular record, they have become a more fluid and free-flowing act bringing to life ideas that one could conceive in pop music but rarely tries. I Turn My Camera On is a perfect example. The blue-eyed soul feel of the track is devastating, perfect in any situation though especially in a room alone with plenty of space to get down. The song has two chords that comprise its catchy structure, but: there is no hook. There is only layers. The bands that have made the greatest impact on my listening habits and have taken up extended residence in the Now Playing section of my iPod have been those who have mastered the art of layering tracks. The song will reach a point if the layers are properly constructed where the band will no longer need each layer in a live performance, but the mind of the listener will place the sounds in the actual track as it is being performed. Truly, that is what makes a well-constructed song. Other notables in this area have been the everpresent Arcade Fire as well as Wilco, LCD Soundsytem and Talkdemonic.

If you can catch Spoon, it would be a mistake to miss the performance. As for me and my house, I will see frontman Britt Daniel open for my musical hero, Jeremy Enigk in a couple of weeks. If you live in Portland, join me. Until then.

Sunday Morning, Wednesday Night by Spoon

M. Ward - 'To Go Home'

2006-08-21T12:11:00.000-07:00

I have not always loved M. Ward. I'm not really even sure when the first time I heard him happened to be, but I do remember that it was one of the rare instances in my young life where my father showed me something that I had not previously enjoyed. He brought home the second record Ward made (following the sparsely released 'Duet for Guitars #2') called 'End of Amnesia' to show me since he really enjoyed it and wanted to go see him at a club in San Francisco. I acquiesced, since I liked what I heard though it never really penetrated my listening habits. By this time the 'Transfiguration of Vincent' record had been released and was purchased as well. It was a while before we got 'Duet for Guitars #2'. We bought tickets to see Ward on his current tour, which I unfortunately had to miss due to a skateboarding mishap in which I shattered my ankle into 18 pieces.

Fortunately, Ward came back to San Francisco before I moved up to Portland for college and my father and I were lucky enough to be in attendance. He played mostly material from the 'Transfiguration' record as well as a few choice covers. The performace was enough to motivate an unhealthy addiction to M. Ward's music as in a live setting, the man is not only a stunning guitarist, he is one of the most wonderful sounding acts I have come across. I have been able to see him every time he has come through and the count resides at about 5 or 6 times.

Unrelated to the live tour de force that is M. Ward, he is also a tremendous studio musician and at the end of this month, he stands to release one of my favorite records of the year entitled 'Post-war'. Out August 29th on Merge, Ward has created a record that is as warm as it is engaging. I've decided to post the wonderful track, 'To Go Home'. The song calls great question to all of the depressing drivel being produced by the independent music community by singing about something that is as foreign to the indie community as proper shampoo usage: the joy of being alive. Enjoy.

To Go Home by M. Ward

09.01.2006 Seattle WA Nuemo's
09.02.2006 Vancouver BC Plaza Club
09.05.2006 Minneapolis MN Varsity Theatre
09.06.2006 Omaha NE Scottish Rites Hall
09.07.2006 Milwaukee WI Pabst Theatre
09.08.2006 Chicago IL Metro
09.09.2006 Columbus OH Little Brothers
09.11.2006 Toronto The Mod Club
09.12.2006 Montreal QC La Sala Rossa
09.14.2006 New York NY Webster Hall
09.15.2006 Alexandria VA The Birchmere
09.16.2006 Philadelphia PA Theatre of Living Arts
09.17.2006 Somerville MA Somerville Theatre
09.18.2006 Charlottesville VA Satellite Ballroom w/ Portastatic
09.19.2006 Carrboro NC Cat's Cradle w/ Lambchop & Portastatic
09.20.2006 Nashville TN Belcourt Theatre w/ Portastatic
09.22.2006 Denton TX Hailey's w/ Portastatic
09.23.2006 Austin TX The Parish w/ Portastatic
09.25.2006 Tucson AZ Rialto Theatre
09.26.2006 Tempe AZ The Clubhouse
09.27.2006 San Diego CA San Diego Woman's Club
09.28.2006 Los Angeles CA Henry Fonda
09.29.2006 San Francisco CA The Fillmore
09.30.2006 Portland OR Aladdin Theatre

Jens Lekman

2006-08-20T08:51:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite songwriters in recent memory has been Jens Lekman. A friend from high school and I usually have a tradition whenever we meet back in California for holidays and family functions where we buy each other a record that we feel is either important or has been overlooked by the other, as though owning it will inspire careful listening. A couple of years ago, he bought me Jens Lekman's You Are The Light EP, which I wasn't terribly fond of mostly due to the fact that he didn't explain what was going on with the music. Lekman's songs require a proper preface. When I heard 'You Are The Light' for the first time, it sounded like a television show theme void of any meaning or substance. I have since grown to enjoy the single as a great favorite, if not only for its ridiculous grandeur.

The sample-heavy melodic numbers are all equally odd in their own right. He focuses on the song (much like the Smiths) rather than following a sort of cohesive theme rendering his records pretty uneven. However, the fact that they're uneven simply contributes to their charm. His lyrics are generally very tongue-in-cheek and are at times entirely hilarious. Case in point is the unreleased Christmas single from his October of 2005 US Tour EP, 'Run Away With Me', in which he refers to the song's recipent as a lover of her 'mommy', but 'she's so empty' and as thus is worthy of abandonment this Christmas Eve. To be honest, it sounds to me initially like something that would be played during the thrilling conclusion of Home Alone after the old creepy man saves Macaulay Culkin from Joe Pesci and the other guy. It's a great song that would have been right at home on Lekman's stunning 'Oh You're So Silent Jens' collection of singles, but alas, you receive it here.

Run Away With Me by Jens Lekman

Another music blog.

2006-08-19T10:09:00.000-07:00

I'm Baby and this is my new music blog. I'm very interested in becoming part of the blossoming music blog community and I feel as though I have something to offer in the way of discussion and mp3 contribution. As thus, I begin. I hope you like what you see and hear. Please leave a comment on what you think of what I'm doing and I'll hope to speak with you soon.

To begin, I wanted to share some music from my favorite current songwriter, Mike Kinsella. He goes by Owen and he's on Polyvinyl. This is a new song from his upcoming record out on Polyvinyl November 7 called 'At Home With Owen'. The song is called Bad News and it is also available on the new Polyvinyl sampler that you can buy for 2 bucks or comes free with each purchase. He stands in the vein of the final Red House Painters material with much of his catalogue sounding like a distant cousin of the version of 'Have You Forgotten' that found its way onto the Vanilla Sky sountrack. His voice may be recognized from the old American Football record, a band he fronted many years ago. His material has matured greatly since then and has grown into one of the best arrangers of lush, interesting music over four records since 2001. I hope you like it as I do.

Bad News by Owen