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I got to see the Decemberists play "The Tain" as their encore live. I already had the EP, and I was lukewarm about it before seeing them play it live. After seeing them play it, I loved it. It is almost a song that has to be experienced live. It is so large and massive it is hard to listen to on a recording, at least for me. In concert it showed me all sorts of things I had never noticed before, like the connection to Led Zeppelin in parts of the song. I could really see that whole Prog Rock aspect of the song. Seeing "The Tain" live showed me how the Decemeberists prided themselves on being performers. I am happy that I had the chance to see this. Listen: The Decemberists >> "The Tain" |
Showing posts with label 2004. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2004. Show all posts
Friday, September 11, 2009
2004 : 47 "The Tain" by The Decemberists
2004 : 46 "Decay2 [Nihil's Maw]" by Sunn O)))
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I wanted to end my 2004 write-ups with something big, and what could be "bigger" than the sound produced by drone-metal overlords Sunn O)))?  Their signature technique—play loud chords at dirge speed and through an unholy heap of amps—is nothing if not ably monolithic, but they're more interesting when they experiment with alternative routes to hugeness, as they do on their near-perfect 2004 album White 2. That album's closing track, "Decay2 [Nihil's Maw]," features some guitar, to be sure, but it's far more interested in the other sounds in its palette: the terrifying keenings, the yawning groans. In fact, the first sound identifiable as a guitar only arrives once the E-Bow kicks in around minute five, and by then we're well on our way, vertiginously descending into the vastest of hells. Listen: Sunn O))) >> "Decay2 [Nihil's Maw]" (excerpt) |
2004 : 45 "Company In My Back" by Wilco
I you ask me what "Company in My Back" is about, I cannot tell you. I cannot make sense of these lyrics for you. I cannot tell you a story that this song contains. I can tell you that this song reminds me of a specific moment in 2005. When I hear it I think about a date I got through Live Journal, a second date I got because of my CD collection, a baseball game in Oakland, a traffic jam on the way home, and taking a chance with a woman. This song played while I was with that woman. That relationship is over, but I am changed because of it. I would say changed for the better. Without that moment, I doubt my life would be what it is today. I am at the point in my life when I can think of that relationship and see only the good things. I hope that when she looks back now she only sees the good things too. Listen: Wilco >> "Company In My Back" |
Thursday, September 10, 2009
2004 : 43 "Burntwood" by Deathprod
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2004 saw the release of a great four-album box set from Rune Grammofon producer Helge Sten, who records under the name "Deathprod." As the moniker suggests, this is music intended to be disquieting: it's mostly monochromatic Norwegian drone, made by grim electronic devices, raggedy violin, and some process of in-studio desecration that Sten refers to as the "audio virus" procedure. Even an adventurous listener might regard the prospect of four discs of this material with some degree of trepidation—but there are real rewards to be had here. Specifically, I'd point to the first four tracks on the Imaginary Songs From Tristan de Cunha disc, a suite of songs posing as field recordings from the remotest place on earth. Weathered and weird, the resulting tunes are finely imagined: they're recognizable as sounds produced by humans but they're alien enough that they can't be associated any existing genre of "music" ("world" or otherwise). Ultimately, they join the short list of great fake-ethnomusicology gags from this decade (a list that only contains one other item: the hilariously phony music that ran over the closing credits of Borat). Listen: Deathprod >> "Burntwood" |
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
2004 : 42 "How We Know" by The Thermals
"How We Know" is one of those infectious songs that can get stuck in your head very easily. Giving it a careful listen, however, I realize that it's probably not one of the greatest songs ever. The lyrics fill in as repetitive space holders for the throbbing beat, occasionally erupting into what feels like a jam session. There's nothing earth-shattering about this, but goddamn, it's a great song to rock out to from time to time. Hutch Harris' voice is perfect for this, and the rock-out parts sound much bigger than a trio would normally sound. One of the heavy criticisms of mainstream pop is that it's mindless and packaged to sound the same. A song like "How We Know" shows that indie rock can also have its share of mindless jams. Every genre has its share of music that simply boils down to "fun," and this song is no exception. The Thermals have written better songs, but this one always puts me in a good mood. Listen: The Thermals >> "How We Know" |
2004 : 41 "Zeplin Song" by Courtney Love
I will admit that buying Courtney Love's American Sweetheart was a little bit of schadenfreude. It had some bad reviews, so bad I just wanted to hear if they were telling the truth. After years of her life falling apart, I wanted to see if I could hear it in her album. I wanted to know how bad it could be. I was disappointed. I was disappointed because it was not bad, but it was not good. I loved those Hole albums. Live Through This is one of my top ten albums of the 90s and I loved Celebrity Skin also. I wanted it to be better or worse than it was. That being said, Courtney hit out of the park with "Zeplin Song." Yes, I am tried of Led Zeppelin. I am tired that I still get told how great they were. I just want it to stop. No More Led Zep Please. Yeah, she got this one right.
Listen: Courtney Love >> "Zeplin Song" |
2004 : 40 "America's Most Blunted" by Madvillain
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"They" say that every album has a particular drug that serves as the perfect accompaniment, accenting certain elements of the music in the same way that wine embellishes certain elements of a good meal. It's not hard to imagine examples: the twinkling polygons evoked in the mind when one listens to Aphex Twin probably look more vivid on Ecstasy, and I might understand the appeal of classic Rolling Stones more thoroughly if I were loaded on cheap beer. The quintessential example, of course, is marijuana, which has been involved in the production of so much music that one might reasonably feel the need to smoke up occasionally just to figure out what the hell is going on. Madvillainy, a 2004 album produced by the duo of hip hop producer Madlib and rapper MF Doom, is a prime example of an album that might benefit from the completion of this prerequisite: its cluttered yet warm production, lyrical obtuseness, unpredictable samples (including pontifications on time from Sun Ra), even its juvenile digressions and unfinished quality, all speak clearest to the mindset of somebody who is nicely toasted. So by the time we reach track six, "America's Most Blunted," the Madvillain dudes are pretty much double underscoring something that is dead obvious to begin with. But I'll be damned if every single second of it isn't pure delight. Listen: Madvillain >> "America's Most Blunted" |
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
2004 : 39 "Game VI" by Motion Trio
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In 2000, the announcer of Krakow's prestigious Penderecki International Competition of Contemporary Music asked the members of Motion Trio, jokingly, if they were on their way to perform at a wedding party. This makes perfect sense if you know that Motion Trio is an accordion trio. Well, this accordion trio proceeded to take the "Grand Prix" in the competition and, in the process, establish the accordion as a serious instrument for 21st century composition, one for much more than weddings, ethnic food festivals, and reliving the Eastern Europe of 65 years ago. As the group;s primary composer Janusz Wojtarowicz puts it, "Accordion traditionalists have run out of ideas, and it is our goal to extract notes from the accordion which have never been heard before...." Using the bellows, keys, and buttons in triplicate, Motion Trio does just that on Live in Vienna. Surprising sounds abound—from didgeridoo-ish lower register rumbling to sweet sustained notes reminiscent of the conch. The most engaging way the trio (the other members are Pawel Baranek and Marcin Galazyn) expands the possibilities for the accordion is by layering timbres and repeating motifs—much as we hear in contemporary electronic music—in pieces that consistently highlight the "in motion" properties of the bellows-propelled instrument. Imagine buzzing along in a slight European coupe through a countryside of winding, narrow roads, past picture-perfect little doppelganger towns, and you have a sense of the energy of this music. Great stuff for a Sunday drive, one a little on the dangerous side and with some fine vistas. And in Bavaria, of course! Occasionally, the trio builds tension in predictable ways—think of a jam band "surprising" you with yet another full-step rise on a terraced ascent, or a Hollywood movie's soundtrack kicking into overdrive (mostly by just getting louder) during some climactic battle. But this is a minor gripe. These guys are oddball and ambitious and a lot of fun. If you've ever looked at the zillion buttons and keys on an accordion and wondered what peculiar sounds might be squeezed out of that squeezebox, please check out Live in Vienna. The track here is "Game VI." Listen: Motion Trio >> "Game VI" |
2004 : 38 "Giga Dance" by Deerhoof
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I tend to see things in bad sci-fi terminology; so when I say this song would be great theme music for a villain, take it with a grain of salt. Deerhoof is very often loud and noisy, but rarely as HEAVY as this. This music makes me wanna walk around like a tornado, kicking garbage up and down the street, like I should go to a bar and poison the drinks. If I ever get the chance to tie damsels in distress to railroad tracks while twirling my mustache, this will be my exit music as I'm kicking the hero in the throat. Not music for a bad mood per se, but for a mood to act rotten accordingly. Listen: Deerhoof >> "Giga Dance" |
2004 : 37 "Exeter Ending" by Food
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I was introduced to this track by the poet (and Aught Music contributor) Eric Burger at one of our "listening parties," and I've been forever grateful. Eric and I both have an interest in the "moves" that pieces of artwork can make, especially those slippery artworks that change from one shape to another. Jazz and improvised musics are great for this purpose, and if asked to produce an example I might point to this piece from Norwegian quartet Food. For its first few minutes it sounds like a soundtrack to the Mesozoic Era: all primordial slime and calls from weird insects. But a few minutes in it's found its way into a strange metallic groove: it's as though a band of automata have emerged from the swamp to thrill the dawning world with funky robotic jazz. And then in its final moments it transforms again, into some kind of squawking contraption: the automata folding up and lifting off into space, perhaps. Watching this piece "move" from the uber-primal to the weirdly futuristic, makes it feel a little bit like you've just spent seven minutes looking out the window of a very nicely designed time machine. Listen: Food >> "Exeter Ending" |
Monday, September 7, 2009
2004 : 36 "Where Is the Line" by Bjork
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Before Bjork released Medulla, I used to joke with my friends about starting a techo-pella band. The idea was that we would be creating all the sounds and loops with our voice. While we were joking about this, Bjork was doing it. I am happy that the idea was out in the world instead of just in my little world. The song "Where Is the Line" is perfect for the project. The lyrics are simple, but this is a case of simplicity being the best. The song can be personal or it can be about an artist's ideas. Where is the line in music? Where do you put this song? Is genre important or not? What will you think of this song? What can be done with just a voice? There are lines all over the place and Bjork does a great job playing with those lines. Listen: Bjork >> "Where Is The Line" |
2004 : 35 "King's Crossing" by Elliott Smith
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Is it afterlife with which we begin? A buzz to chords a-coming: manic, inexorable. In "King's Crossing" Elliott Smith tells us he took his own insides out; we know he died from two stab wounds. Getting to being carried away. A fuck you from the anyway I already have. I don't want to talk about it any more. Listen: Elliott Smith >> "King's Crossing" |
Sunday, September 6, 2009
2004 : 34 "Wake Up" by the Arcade Fire
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This band reminds me of Radiohead, in that there was a time before I heard this album and it was very different from the times ever since then. I had been reading a lot about bands like Linkin Park and Korn and this was the reassurance I needed that music could still make sense to me. I didn't want to be old, prim and square; I wanted to rock out to Arcade Fire and let it fill me with what I think of as an upending nostalgia for the present. Listen: Arcade Fire >> "Wake Up" |
2004 : 33 "27 Jennifers" by Mike Doughty
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In the 80's, it seemed like every other girl I met was named Jennifer. They seemed to be all over my life, especially when I started dating. There was my next door neighbor, the second girl I dated, the girl with the locker next to mine, the girl who I tried out for the musical because I had a crush on her, the girl who thought I had no class, the girl who rejected me, the girl who took me to her senior prom, the girl who had a crush on me but wouldn't say anything to me, the girl who used to flirt with me to make my girlfriend mad, and the girl who I had a crush on because of letters she wrote. That list still seems to be light. I remember telling Jeremy that we should write a song about all of them. The song "27 Jennifers" seems to be that song that Jeremy and I talked about. The first time I heard this song I was walking across the Golden Gate Bridge on my birthday. I was amazed how perfect this song was for me. Listen: Mike Doughty >> "27 Jennifers" |
2004 : 32 "Soulful Shade Of Blue" by Neko Case (covering Buffy Saint-Marie)
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Case is one of those rare artists who can blend original material and cover songs effortlessly, with said cover songs working more as homages than new interpretations. Given her status as one of the best live performers of today, "Soulful Shade Of Blue" works on all of these levels. It's a very simple, almost quaint tale of lost love and redemption.
Originally recorded by Buffy Saint-Marie, Case sings "Soulful Shade Of Blue" in a virtually identical arrangement, albeit with backup vocals and at a faster pace. Case's own songs are complex, metaphor-laden looks at love and life in both urban and rural settings, and this cover feels like a minimalist version of her own material. It's intentionally old-fashioned, catchy, and highlights the amazing legacy of Canada's musical history. I've seen Case perform this song twice, and it has always been one of her best staples. Everything that she stands for can be found in these two and a half minutes. Listen: Neko Case >> "Soulful Shade of Blue" |
Saturday, September 5, 2009
2004 : 31 "The Barfruit Blues" by The Hold Steady
When I heard the first Hold Steady album, Almost Killed Me, I could tell this guy was almost my age. It turns out that Craig Finn is 10 months older than me. It was strange, because by the age of 32, most of the new bands I was listening to were younger than me. So it was odd to here a new band that was older than me. Maybe it is because the lead singer is my age, but the Hold Steady album really spoke to me. This made my ears ring right away. I could hear the Replacements, Husker Du, Bruce Springsteen, and Dinosaur Jr in the band's CD collection. I can imagine that their iTunes looks like my iTunes. The songs found their way to my headphones all the time. There is part of me that things that the Hold Steady songs are describing an alternate universe version of my life. Maybe on Earth-17551 I am living out the lyrics of a the Hold Steady song. I am hanging in a bar every night knowing what the scene is all about. Listen: The Hold Steady >> "The Barfruit Blues" |
2004 : 30 "We All Know" by Devendra Banhart
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So 2004 brought us a bunch of records from personalities who seemed like a cast of characters emerging from some mouldering storybook universe: Joanna Newsom's wizened elf-princess, CocoRosie's creepy quasi-Victorian ghost sisters, and Devendra Banhart's lusty, bearded... gnome? Respective roles aside, one thing that's immediately apparent as soon as any of them open their mouths is that all of them, in their own ways, are staking out some piece of territory halfway between babbling child and croaking elder-thing, and none of them are doing this by way of settling in the middle-ground of conventional adulthood. This approach was certain to annoy anyone with a low tolerance for quirk, but I've always had a strong attraction to High Weirdness, and consequently I think Newsom's Milk-Eyed Mender, CocoRosie's La Maison De Mon Reve, and Banhart's pair of 2004 albums (Rejoicing in the Hands and Nino Rojo) are four of the greatest albums of the decade. Each of them have their own strengths: Newsom's album is the one with the most lyrical complexity and metric inventiveness, and CocoRosie's is the one most willing to engage with the actual musical present (via the use of drum machines and electronic toys). But the two from Banhart remain my favorites of the group, in part because of the sheer hook-y goodness of the song-writing, and in part because the world-view Banhart puts forth is the one that most closely resembles what I like to think of as my own. On these two discs, the world is repeatedly presented as fundamentally polymorphous, mutable, erotic, holy, and joyous—check out, for instance, the track "We All Know," one track which comes pretty close to hitting each of those points.
Listen: Devendra Banhart >> "We All Know" |
2004 : 29 "Omie Wise" by Tim Eriksen
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For my second track of 2004 I've picked "Omie Wise," a banjo-driven narrative murder ballad from one of my favorite folk musicians, Tim Eriksen. This song is an unadorned, live recording of banjo and vocals, from the album Every Sound Below. Both of Eriksen's solo albums have been recorded in this honest one-take, one-mic fashion that I find very compelling. "Omie Wise" is a haunting tale, made even more so to me by the expressive playing and uniquely powerful sustained notes in the vocal line. There is a particular bended-note in the banjo riff that I just find chilling each time it comes round. If you happen to check out Eriksen's site you can listen to all of his songs for free including his band's "Cordelia's Dad" and "Zabe I Babe," both of which I highly recommend. Listen: Tim Eriksen >> "Omie Wise" |
Friday, September 4, 2009
2004 : 28 "Going Underground" by I Am The World Trade Center
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Every once in a while I like a song that I do not expect to like. "Going Underground" is one of those songs. I remember playing this song at a party when it was my turn to DJ. The host said that did not expect me to like this song. They thought it was too dance-ish and electronic for me. That comment did not surprise me. "Going Underground" is not in my usual wheel-house. I am not sure what is going on here. Did I change? Is I Am The World Trade Center doing something different, or is this song close to other songs? In other words: Did the world change or did I? I am not sure how answer that. Yes, my taste has changed over the last 10 years. I have been exposed to music that I did not expect. But there is something about "Going Underground" that I was not hearing before. I think that electronic music has moved to the center. So what do you think, did the world change or did I? Listen: I Am The World Trade Center >> "Going Underground" |
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