TerryB's MixTape

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Spoon - Transference

noreply@blogger.com (TerryB_VT) — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 19:46:00 +0000

Two things make a Spoon record great. Second of these is Britt Daniel’s songwriting, which is generally full of great hooks, both lyrical and musical. Songs like “Sister Jack”, “Don’t Make Me a Target,” and “You Got Your Cherry Bomb” don’t need any bullshit to make them solid, they just stand on their own. But the first thing that’s great about this band is drummer Jim Eno’s impeccable talent, a timekeeper with this mysterious groove who always seems just a whisker behind the beat, lending an immediacy to the songs. Those drums have also been remarkably well-recorded, such that I can visualize the stick cracking the head with every midtempo beat. Unfortunately the band screws up both of these factors on their latest release, Transference.

The LP starts off with a grooveless dirge, “Before Destruction”, which displays the raw aesthetic sought on the record as a whole. I’m okay with somewhat lo-fi recording, hell I love classic Guided by Voices, but when a band at Spoon’s level of professionalism adopts it, the statement is a little concerning. The following tune, “Is Love Forever?”, has a decent groove, lyrically and musically. Unfortunately there’s an unnerving phased drum snap which reeks too much of gimmicky David-Fridman/Flaming Lips bullshit, when the washed, echoed vocal track kicks in, my fears are realized: these guys are trying to make an Indie/Artie record rather than a Rock record. “Mystery Zone” comes next with a decent, B-grade Spoon groove that’s making me question my doubts. Maybe this record will turn around? No, because “Who Makes Your Money” starts with a phased keyboard riff that could have carried the tune if it weren’t all fucked with, then the chorus comes in with more of that same echoey phasey shit. Nice bass line in there, though. The final cut on side A (yeah, I got this on vinyl, so for 20 clams I'm entitled to an opinion), “Written in Reverse,” gives a little taste of that Spoon groove I was looking for, with a heartfelt vocal, nice little harmony touches, and a killer bridge leading to a decent breakdown, false stop, and wrapup. Okay Britt, whatcha got for side 2?

“I Saw the Light” kicks it off in good style, a slow burner with nice build and song dynamics. This ‘raw’ production is starting to annoy me though, as I seem to be hearing a bit too much clipped distortion. C’mon boys, you’re too good to follow along with the distorto production trend! Just when it sounds really crap, they shift into a nice drawn out march to the finish, but unfortunately the breakdown/solo at the end is a phasey minute of “brum, brum, brum, brum” followed by a crazy distorted (er, digitally clipped) “bumbumbumbumbum…” that thankfully just ends to stop the song. Stop it now! But as they say on late night TV, There’s More! “Trouble Comes Running,” a Faces-style rocker, sounds absolutely atrocious, all tinny and clipped. What’s worse, this has the best vocal hook and harmony so far on the record. These guys are starting to remind me of the smart girl who acts like an idiot bimbo to impress the boys. You’re too good for this shit! Stop, please! And stop they do, only to shift into full piano ballad mode on “Goodnight Laura.” The sound isn’t bad, but the song is pretty much a ripoff of “Golden Slumber” from Abbey Road. “Out Go the Lights” comes back in with one of those great-sounding hanging snare grooves, a typical mid-tempo Spoon tune. Nice sound on this one, they must have recorded it on a good day, or before they heard the latest Flaming Lips record. The little echoey touches are nice and not overdone here, which makes me admire how post YHF Wilco has been able to integrate the ubiquitous laptop blips without them talking over. Boom bap, Boom bap; in kicks “Got Nuffin”, the leaked singleish money track. Nice rocker there with a well-used phased guitar lead and tinkly key accents. The record finishes with “Nobody Gets Me But You”, another marching song, with that fucked-up distorto drum sound and another nice bassline.

Conclusion: it’s great they picked up a consistent bass man, whose prominence is welcome. Obviously I can’t stand the distorted production crap, and given that this is the first record they have produced themselves, the blame all falls in their lap. After so many great records, I guess I expected more from these guys. Still, it’s a Spoon record, not Tapes n’ Tapes, so even their crap gets 3.5 stars.

Top 10 albums for 2009

noreply@blogger.com (TerryB_VT) — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 15:55:00 +0000

I’m a formerly run-of-the-mill music consumer who still needs to get his pop fix via a physical album/cd/whatever. I tend to acquire 50+ albums a year from all sorts of sources and eras, so my annual highlights only reflect what I picked up that year, with a mix of old (but new-to-me) and new releases. I also lean more towards vinyl than CD or download releases, so my acquisitions tend to skew in that direction. Sound quality, especially in the mastering process, also is pretty important to me, and tends to lead me away from a lot of hyper-compressed indie releases (Flaming Lips and anything else touched by David Friddman, I’m looking at you.) That said, here’s my little list:

Voivod, Nothingface. I remember a tour ad for these Montreal metalers in the back of some mag back in the 80’s with Soundgarden and Faith No More supporting. I picked up some early, crappy quality, pre-greatness ‘albums’ on eMusic some 10 years ago but didn’t pay much attention to their generic thrash. This mid-period classic, however, is the shit- think Pink Floyd and Rush meet 80’s Metallica and some SciFi lyrics/mythology and this is just amazing metal. Easily my best find in 2009.

Killing Joke, Killing Joke. Strange as it may seem, this dumb hick farmboy from Orange County, VT (me) once was big into Industrial; the whole Wax Trax!/Chicago/Europe thump and clang ‘dance’ scene. While that stuff from the late 80’s-early 90’s has not aged gracefully, this groundbreaker from 1980 is simply stunning; think of it as post-punk proto-industrial metal with a solid, organic groove. Vinyl score from Burlington Records, certainly not expecting to see that.

Dinosaur Jr., Farm. Like many folks from my generation, DJ are considered a pretty solid act in my world, discounting of course their mid-late 90’s crap. After last year’s unexpected and solid reunion, this release proves the boys can still rock as well as they did in their late 80’s prime.Awesome album cover, btw.

Neko Case, Middle Cyclone. Call me a fanboy, but I just love NC. Sure, the new one has upped the pop quotient, but is that such a bad thing? And given the pile of poo nominated for Grammy’s this year (especially see the album of the year category), it’s great that someone of her talent is recognized by the powers-that-were.

Booker T, Potato Hole. Great set from the king of instrumental soul with solid backing from the do-no-wrong Drive-By Truckers. Side note- when the hell are DBT coming to this town?

Fleet Foxes, Fleet Foxes. Yeah, FF are so 2008, but I’m behind the curve on these cool indie-rock things nowadays. Besides, I wait until I see everyone else’s ‘best-of’ lists before getting too excited about the flavor of the week. Anyway, picked this LP up at PP and boy is it worth the hype. I guess I’ll have to write about Grizzly Bear in 2010??

Robyn Hitchcock, I Wanna Go Backwards Box Set. Another oldie (from 80’s, reissued in 2006?), but a killer set from this crown prince of pop psychedelia. I have a good number of RH and the Egyptians records which feature more fleshed out (i.e. electric) weirdo pop, often brilliant, so I have no need for the second set, Groovy Decay. This material from both pre- and post-Egyptians is essential. To hell with the Beatles remasters, this is what the music world needs more of. Yep Roc Records.

Tiger Trap, Tiger Trap. Slightly twee girly punky-pop from the mid-90’s. Vinyl copies are pretty hard to find and at times pricey, I’ve seen up to $50. Picked this off a random eBay auction for $15, sealed.

The Go-Betweens, Oceans Apart. Picked this LP up straight from Yep Roc Records when they were having a $5 vinyl sale. What little bit I’ve heard from these late Aussie indie-poppers is just great. I love the bouncy opening cut, “Here Comes a City.”

Pearl Jam. As a child of the 80’s-early 90’s, I’ll always have a spot for these guys in the rotation. Countless hours were spent bombed out and bombing around in the (Che)Vette with Ten cranked, but I recognize that they are certainly not cultural icons. They play rock and roll, nothing more nothing less, and continue to do a great job at it. So in 2009 I picked up the Ten LP rerelease with the new Brendan O’Brien remix that really does add a ‘sparkle’ to the record. Also got Backspacer on LP, and I give “The Fixer” a vote as pop single of the year. Finally saw VS. on cd and picked it up, only copy I’ve ever had is a Memorex tape dupe. I might say that they’ve never bettered that one.

Wicked deals at Yeproc

noreply@blogger.com (TerryB_VT) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 09:52:00 +0000

I'm breaking my resolution to only buy my music locally only because this deal is too good to pass up, and it goes straight to the label/artist. Guilt and warm and fuzzies aside, this is awesome, a bunch of cds from Yeproc for $5 each. Load up on some Sadies, Chris Stamey, Chuck Prophet, Minus 5, Robyn Hitchcock, and whatever just looks good that you haven't yet discovered, this shit is cheap! They had the same deal on a smaller selection of lps a couple of weeks ago. The deal only llasts through October 16.

Bad News for Music Lovers: Rhino Records Gutted by Layoffs

noreply@blogger.com (TerryB_VT) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 11:31:00 +0000

Yesterday's announcement that Warner Music Group will be laying off 30-40 employees of Rhino Records marks another sad day for modern-day music lovers who still buy physical product (you know, cd's and records). Rhino has from the outset been a premier reissue and compilation label, and many of their sets simply define genres for the discerning consumer. Some of their modern/punk/indie sets including No Thanks! The ’70s Punk Rebellion, Left of the Dial: Dispatches from the ’80s Underground, A Life Less Lived: The Gothic Box and The Brit Box: U.K. Indie, Shoegaze and Britpop Gems of the Last Millennium are no-brainers in an essential music collection; their other genre sets are also not to be missed (but I couldn't find an easy link to copy like those above). Put simnply, this sucks.
It appears that they are going out with one of the best and most anticipated box sets in recent times, Big Star: Keep and Eye on the Sky. Buy some freakin' real music, will ya', and keep this music industry (the parts that don't suck) alive.

TB

Nice finds at Riverwalk

noreply@blogger.com (TerryB_VT) — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 01:34:00 +0000

I admit that I haven't always given Riverwalk Records the credit they're due. I like to check out new music, and I'm partial to Pure Pop's selection in that department. I've also wrongly given RWR the assumption that their selection is just more and more and more classic rock, even though I nearly always pick something up when I stop in. This week:

Husker Du, Flip Your Wig: I saw this in the window the other day and it brought me in. Absolutely stunning power pop punk, five stars no question. I think it's still in print from SST.

Voivod, Nothingface: Have a little of their stuff, but this along with their other mid-late 80's albums have been on my list. Imagine Rush, Metallica, and Pink Floyd in a blender, but is a good way. I needledropped this one and the sound, especialy the punch of the drums, is just awesome.

Traveling Wilbury's, Volume 1: This is just a great record. Hardly groundbreaking, just good pop/rock. It's a little hard to find, but old copies have come down in price since Rhino rereleased their stuff a few years ago.

Yo La Tengo: I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One LP

noreply@blogger.com (TerryB_VT) — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 01:22:00 +0000

Fuckin' love this record...finally. I got this as a crappy 128k mp3
from emusic almost ten years ago and have wanted the record (that's
vinyl) since. Too bad it fetches upwards of $50 or more on eBay. So
when I see Matador re-released it, I hopped down to Pure Pop to pick
mine up for 25 clams. I almost downloaded the 320k mp3's that came with
it but as I was lookinh on the hard drive I noticed my copy was a
full-res flac file. Oh yeah...I bought this on cdat a garage sale for
$1 last summer. Oh well, this is worth having in multiple (good)
formats,and worth supporting at retail value.

It's like a love song to pop music; so varied, yet cohesive. The
couplet of 'Stockholm Syndrome' and 'Autumn Sweater' (record 1, side 2)
still gives me the feelies.

I'll give someone the download code that came with my record since I
don't need it. Only hitch is you have to buy at least one more YLT
cd/record at an independent music store, no itunes, no cheating. Maybe
pick up a killer Kinks record while you're at it?

Catching up with MMJ on ACL from DVR.

noreply@blogger.com (TerryB_VT) — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 01:35:00 +0000

At first I wasn't sure about 'Evil Urges' but in this live setting especially I dig the 70's pop / Shuggie Otis blues-soul they bring to their indie jam schtick.

Jay Bennett, R.I.P.

noreply@blogger.com (TerryB_VT) — Fri, 29 May 2009 12:33:00 +0000

Jay Bennett, ex-Wilco, has been dead for days now. It's kinda shaken me up a tad. I admit to minimizing his impact on Wilco's music in the past, as I wrote a year ago in this music forum thread:
Been a fan since Being There, wasn't too into A.M (or Uncle Tupelo for that matter, whose final tour I caught). Bennett was a great addition to the band as a sideman and production assistant. Left to his own devices he puts too much crap into the mix, as is evident on his unlistenable solo albums. Palace at 4 AM is brilliant, but consider that it was done again with a collaborator (Edward Burch) and with some co-writes from Tweedy. As for the live band, I've seen every tour since BT, and none have disappointed. However, since cleaning up Tweedy has taken on a more relaxed, affable stage presence, and the latest outfit does the best ensemble/jam thing of any. Any time I saw them with Bennett he acted like the superior rock-star prick, spotlight stage left, thank you.

I'm a big Wilco fan, they may rank second only to the Kinks as my top act ever. I've been revisiting the Bennett-era albums, not that I don't play them anyway, but in particular this week. Just now I popped on their first post-Bennett release, A Ghost is Born, which gives a better assessment of what he brought to the party when you don;t hear his contributions. Simply put, the man was a musical master, a pop architect. It is undeniable that his contributions to Wilco took them from pretty-good alt-country territory to best band going right now. Yes, he was a little ADD in his approach, and may have cluttered things up a bit when left to his own devices. He may have been hard to deal with...so can Tweedy be. None of that overshadows his impact on some of the greatest records recorded in the past twenty years. And Jay's solo/collaborative record with Edward Burch (Palace at 4 AM) is a lost pop masterpiece.
Cause of death is still unknown, but anyone dying at 45 is a shame. Live every day as if it were your last, one day it will be. And try to make nice with those you have loved, because one day you may not be able to say "I'm Sorry".

An Outtake from I am Trying to Break Your Heart, Jay's tune "Cars Can't Escape":

The Jay composition "My Darling" from Session at W. 54th:

Jay's contributions the Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

21 Reasons Why Jay Bennett Should be Back in Wilco

R.I.P. Jay.....

Thinking Outside The Box Store

noreply@blogger.com (TerryB_VT) — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 12:27:00 +0000

From Magnet, 2006:

"So you’re leafing through the ads in the Sunday paper and what to your wondering eyes should appear but the new Cat Power CD for $7.99. At Best Buy. This, you figure, is a great thing. Cheaper than iTunes, way cheaper than the $12.99 they’ll probably be charging at the local record store. And look: You can pick up Broken Social Scene, the Arcade Fire and a couple other titles at the same ridiculous price. It’s almost free, and therein, gentle indie rockers, lies the problem......"

Read it all here, then go out and buy a record from the locals.

Record Store Day

noreply@blogger.com (TerryB_VT) — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 09:20:00 +0000

April 18. This annual event will take place at your local independent record store. Lots of promos and exclusives and just a good reason to support these guys in down times. C'mon folks, how about picking up a real, tangible album (or cd) rather than send all your cash to Itunes or worse??

http://www.recordstoreday.com

John Mellencamp on the state of the music 'industry'

noreply@blogger.com (TerryB_VT) — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 19:31:00 +0000

From Huffington Post (also on his website)

Over the last few years, we have all witnessed the decline of the music business, highlighted by finger-pointing and blame directed against record companies, artists, internet file sharing and any other theories for which a case could be made. We've read and heard about the "good old days" and how things used to be. People remember when music existed as an art that motivated social movements. Artists and their music flourished in back alleys, taverns and barns until, in some cases, a popular groundswell propelled it far and wide. These days, that possibility no longer seems to exist. After 35 years as an artist in the recording business, I feel somehow compelled, not inspired, to stand up for our fellow artists and tell that side of the story as I perceive it. Had the industry not been decimated by a lack of vision caused by corporate bean counters obsessed with the bottom line, musicians would have been able to stick with creating music rather than trying to market it as well.....

Read the whole piece

The Amazing Saving Grace of Neko Case

noreply@blogger.com (TerryB_VT) — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 01:48:00 +0000

I tend to be a year behind all the cool trends, and I like it that way. I tend to peruse end of year best-of lists and use them to get the music I missed. It's a good strategy; the fluff may get sorted out a bit better, some records may be available in the used bin or finally on vinyl. As I was going over this Hype Machine Music Blog Zeitgeist list of the best of 2008, I was amazed with not only the shittiness of a lot of it, but that this is what the kids think was the best of the year. This blog polls other music blogs for their best-of's, so it's weighted towards techie/hipster stuff that the smart white kids listen to. Now there is some great music on their; Drive-By Truckers' Brighter Than Creation's Dark, Sun Kil Moon's April, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds' Dig!!! Lazarus Dig, and Deerhunter's Microcastle come to mind. But a lot of this stuff is crap, blippy disco-dance fluff recorded and mastered with that terrible compressed and tipped fizzy-treble sound. Come on... MGMT? Cut Copy? M83? Hot Chip? This shit is the best of the year?

Along comes this week a little salvation in this world of shit, Neko Case's latest Middle Cyclone. Miss Case is this amazing singer, great songwriter, and just plain wonderful artist. Call her thing alt-country if you want but her sound is way more varied than the usual twangers, and her involvement as singer with the New Pornographers, not to mention her old punk n' twang days with cub, Maow, and others gives her hipster cachet. This latest album is easily her best, taking the lush, orchestral sounds of her recent releases and finally putting them to slightly less abstract songs that dodge around and demand interpretation while offering a touchstone to start from. Listen to her rather oblique yet excellent last album Fox Confessor... and you'll get my drift.

There are enough full/'professional' reviews out there ( here, here, here, and here to start) that I won't waste anyone's time with my own. Suffice to say though that this record starts off (in March no less) 2009 on a great foot. The music is great, the songs are great, and that voice...that voice.

Here's an excellent interview from the NY Times on the making of the album and all, and one from NPR. Since she's apparently moved to Vermont, I think I'll hit her up to sing at my summer barbecue for all the free cider she wants.

Obama's Secret Record Collection

noreply@blogger.com (TerryB_VT) — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 17:10:00 +0000

from Rolling Stone....

When Barack Obama moved into the White House on January 20th, he gained access to five chefs, a private bowling alley — and a killer collection of classic LPs. Stored in the basement of the executive mansion is the official White House Record Library: several hundred LPs that include landmark albums in rock (Led Zeppelin IV, the Rolling Stones' Let It Bleed), punk (the Ramones' Rocket to Russia, the Sex Pistols' Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols), cult classics (Captain Beefheart's Trout Mask Replica, the Flying Burrito Brothers' The Gilded Palace of Sin) and disco. Not to mention records by Santana, Neil Young, Talking Heads, Isaac Hayes, Elton John, the Cars and Barry Manilow.

During the waning days of the Nixon administration, the RIAA, the record companies' trade group, decided the library should include sound recordings as well as books. In 1973, the organization donated close to 2,000 LPs. The bad news: The selection was dominated by the likes of Pat Boone, the Carpenters and John Denver. In 1979, legendary producer John Hammond convened a new commission to update the list for the hipper Carter administration. "They felt they needed to redress some of the oversights that might have taken place the first time around," says Boston music critic and author Bob Blumenthal, who was put in charge of adding 200 rock records to the library.

At the commission's first meeting, Blumenthal brought up Randy Newman's thorny dissection of Southern culture, Good Old Boys, to determine what restrictions the panel might face. "That was exhibit A," Blumenthal says. "And I was told, 'Oh, the president loves that album! Go ahead!' " So Blumenthal and his advisers — including Paul Nelson, then Rolling Stone's reviews editor — compiled a list to reflect "diversity in what was going on in popular music." They picked the Kinks' Arthur for its "theme of empire," and Blumenthal snuck in favorites like David Bowie's Hunky Dory.

On January 13th, 1981, the LPs — each in a sleeve with a presidential seal — were presented to Jimmy Carter at a White House ceremony. But the collection — placed in a hallway near the third-floor listening room, complete with a sound system — didn't remain upstairs long. When Ronald Reagan took office that year, the LPs were moved to the basement. Depending on the source, the reason was Nancy Reagan's distaste for shelves of vinyl, or the edgy choices themselves. A spokesman for Obama said it was too early to comment on whether the president would revive the library. But Obama may be pleased to learn that at least a few of his favorite albums — Bob Dylan's Blood on the Tracks, Bruce Springsteen's Born to Run — are there if he wants them on pristine slabs of vinyl.

[From Issue 1071 — February 5, 2009]

2008 Recap, #1 Music Together Now!

noreply@blogger.com (TerryB_VT) — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 12:33:00 +0000

By far my favorite musical moments this year came from the Music Together class that we enrolled Alice in. Every Saturday morning we head over to the All Together Now compound in East Montpelier and sing and dance around with other kiddos and parents. It's been such a joy to watch Alice open up, have fun, and sing along, and I expect we'll keep up with the program for some time. Anyone with kiddos ought to check it out.

2008 Recap- #2 Ray Davies

noreply@blogger.com (TerryB_VT) — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 12:12:00 +0000

Okay, I'll finish my 2008 list and put it to bed.

#2- Ray Davies, Working Man's Cafe and 12/11/08 at Higher Ground:

Everyone should know I'm a big Kinks fan, from back when I started listening to music. And even though I missed out on the boys from about 1993-2000 (funny how that coincides with my 'wasted youth' years), they are now again in major rotation in my life. Ray put out arguably one of his best records since the early 80's last spring, Working Man's Cafe. Another wistful look back like Village Green a bit, with his solid publican attitude. Ray also wrote some great stuff reflecting on life itself, particularly "Morphine Song" which deals with his recovery after being shot by a mugger in New Orleans maybe five years ago. In general, a really solid record.
So when I see Ray is making a rare Vermont stop on his short winter tour, I was pretty psyched. I hadn't seen Ray since '91 or '92, missing his local/regional stops while I was in my twenties. In spite of the show's promotion and a really shitty snow/ice storm that night, he nearly packed the house. Starting the set as an acoustic duo, he pulled out some killer material, reaching back to the Kinks' Golden Years for tracks like "I Need You", "I'm Not Like Everybody Else", and "See My Friends", among others. As his touring band members trickled out on stage song-by sonhg the intimate duo morphed into a full band and filed the set with selections from the new albums (including tracks off 2005's Other People's Lives) mixed with older classics. "Celluloid Heroes" was performed so well I damn near weeped, and the only bugger I had was that they could have dropped "Apeman" and pulled out "Shangri-La" which has been played at some other shows on the tour. All in all, a great night and one of my top ten shows ever.

Set List

MissN' Cider

noreply@blogger.com (TerryB_VT) — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 01:56:00 +0000

Pretty creative, I gotta say...

Ron Asheton, RIP

noreply@blogger.com (TerryB_VT) — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 13:21:00 +0000

Stooges massively influential guitarist Ron Asheton found dead.

Sad stuff....

2008 Recap...British Pop

noreply@blogger.com (TerryB_VT) — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 21:45:00 +0000

So I've been doing this recap thing, not really a 'top 10 list' since there's more than ten things and I haven't really ordered them. Well now I'll start the numbering....

3) Yeah, three. There's a bunch more stuff before in my more recent posts that could be called 11 or so through 4. But this is where I rank them. I'm lumping two discovery into one post since it's really the vein of music I'm talking about here, rawky british pop. Sort of.

I first heard the Kooks on XM and was pretty caught by their retro-now sound. Didn't know anything about them, but their hooky guitar pop caught me and I had to remind myself to check them out. This was a year ago, maybe two. I guess they sold a shitload of that first record, which I have yet to hear save for that one radio song I can't remember now. So they put out a record this year called Konk. As in Ray Davies/the Kinks studio. That says a lot, and I picked it up. It is what it is, decpetively simple four guys-with-guitars pop. They don't annoy me like the Strokes, who seem to have no soul. Anyway, this is a killer record, with memorable yet disposable hooks. Love it. Get it on vinyl and like me, 'clean' it on your homemade record vacuum before recording it to digital. That way the super glue residue on the vacuum wand will scuff up the last 1/2 inch of grooves and give the recording that old time scratchy sound.

Locksley, Don't Make Me Wait. These guys aren't British, they're kids from Wisconsin now in uber-hip Brooklyn. They opened on Ray Davies short winter tour last month. Their cd is a bitch to find since they're unsigned, but I guess they have some licemsing deal with MTV and maybe some commercials. They're album is totally fucking derivative and killer. They sound like the Small Faces and the Beatles (pre 1966). They're nice kids. They'll make you dance around the room. Preview the record here, then buy it.

Music and Culture

noreply@blogger.com (TerryB_VT) — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 19:28:00 +0000

I went to First Night Montpelier last night with the family, mainly so Alice could dance. As usual at this event there are a ton of performances throughout the afternoon, many focused on non-Western music, for lack of a better term. Last year Alice surprised us when she broke out into a wicked hoe-down during a Klezmer performance, so we headed to see the same folks again this year to start the afternoon off. While Alice didn't bust out as much as last year, due probably to being a bit tired from her recent nap and a venue change to a fluorescent-lit room and all, I couldn't help but appreciate the scene we were taking in. Here was a group of Vermont-transplanted Jews keeping alive their musical, linguistic, and cultural history with an art form that has been passed down all the way back from the home land, or Eastern Europe anyway, for centuries. Some audience members were totally into it, doing that Jewish line dancing thing and all, and a tiny little cultural center popped up for a moment. Considering that Orange County where I grew up is 1/2 hour and fifty years behind Montpelier, it was good to see this. So that got me thinking what music I should be listening to, performing, or otherwise spreading to keep my seven-generation Central Vermont Yankee culture alive.
I can say that music wasn't huge in my upbringing, at least 'traditional' music. My grandmother would tell stories of 'kitchen junkets' back in her youth, when a designated family up on West Hill (or South or East Hill in Williamstown and Brookfield, respectively) would invite everyone over on a Saturday night, clear out the kitchen, and hoe down to fiddle music. I certainly don't carry this tradition on, and it seems the only ones who do are hippies who co-opted contra dancing and old folks who put on museum shows.
So we left the show to see a guy who blows bubbles and get something to eat, then made our way over to see 35th Parallel. Here's an outfit that throws my earlier thinking on its head, two Americans, one Jewish I presume (not that it matters but it plays into the above reference of maintaining one's culture through their music), that specialize in multiple world music styles: "35th Parallel's name comes from the latitude line intersecting the regions that inspire their music - the Middle East, North India, North Africa, the Mediterranean, and the United States." These guys pull bits of culture from all over the world and meld it together into their own art form that respects its influences while creating a new sense of wonder regarding non-Western music, culture, and thought.
So now my hypothesis was getting all screwy, and we went home. After dropping off Alice and Julie I shot up to Hardwick to see my brother's band, Dog House Roses play a rare gig at Claire's. These guys play rock music, well-rooted in the 4/4 Western (not Country-Western) aesthetic. No tablas, bouzoukis, fiddles, or dance callers. I then realized that this music, while it seems 'simpler' than all that other fancy stuff, is a legitimate, traditional form for Americans and even Western Europeans from the latter half of the 20th century and beyond. It certainly evolves, as do all traditional art forms, and it steals from others, but in the end it is as important as Raga, Jazz, Klezmer, or whatever.
Now I can appreciate the The Kinks, or The Stooges, or Built to Spill, or Alejandro Escovedo, or Sun Kil Moon, or whatever and know that it is simply the tradition of music that is being carried on. I don't have to worry that I'm not saving my culture from fading away, because my culture and its art evolves with the times while still keeping its distinct identity (those contra dancers still kick up a mean show). And what is really fascinating and deserves it own analysis someday is how we as a species have always sought melodic/harmonic sounds to integrate into our lives. I guess any music therefore maintains Human Culture in that regard.

Oh what the hell am I babbling about, I've been listening to the Misfits all week.

TB

2008 Recap, Chinese Democracy

noreply@blogger.com (TerryB_VT) — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 19:14:00 +0000

I was in Best Buy back in November buying Julie that ubiquitous electronic for wives this year, the Car GPS, when I saw this on the racks. I sort of knew it was coming out but haven't paid much attention, and haven't been tempted to listen to the 'leaks' that have popped up over the years.
The backstory needs little retelling; paranoid whacko Axl holes up for 17 years with gazillions of money to make an album with no consistent band, producer, or even songwriter it seems. When it finally sees the light of day everyone is expected to either laud it unquestionably or pan it automatically. I figure I'll judge it on its own merits.
On first listen I thought, "Holy Shit, this is good!" On second lisetn, too. Amazing, earth-shattering, anything even close to Appetite for Destruction? Hell no. But this sounds like a logical followup to Use Your Illusion. It's basic hard rock with Axl's 'you against me' lyrics and obvious contribution, sound and song-wise, from Robin Fink (Nine Inch Nails) and Buickethead, who plays some pretty solid and even Slash-like solos.
Most amazingly this record isn't overly compressed like so many nowadays, and just plain sounds good. Turn it up, especially on "Better," "Street of Dreams,", and "There was a Time."

TB

Misfits Box Set...

noreply@blogger.com (TerryB_VT) — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 19:37:00 +0000

I'm taking a break from the 'best of '08' thing, although I guess this would count, so I guess I'm not. I've had this little 'wishlist' on my site far awhile, so long it's outdated and Julie thinks a little tacky, like I'm begging for shit. Since I don't really update it I thought I had de-linked it from the site. So what do I fond from my wonderful wife under the tree this morning but a little item I had placed on there, The Misfits' Box Set. I secretly was thinking I might buy this for myself this Christmas but wasn't sure how to do it and stick to my 'buy local' resolution. And here it is, staring right at me...about the last thing I expected to get from Julie.
This set compiles four discs, about 100 songs, from the bands whole punk-fuckin' rock career. I haven't heard the Misfits since high school, when I borrowed Jason Goodrich's copy of Walk Among Us and eventually got my own. I loved that horror-rock stuff, brilliantly simple and crass comic book lyrics blasted over rudimentarily simple (in the best way, think Ramones here) three-chord punk. What makes this music is Glenn Danzig's amazingly tuneful/melodic/powerful voice. I doubt it was multitracked in the recordings but he has some amazing way of harmonizing with himself in real time. I had most of my cassettes swiped from my car in my senior year of high school, so it's been 17 years since I've popped this on. I just pulled a workout to Disc One, and this shit hasn't lost anything. Highly recommended.

Oh go
Possession of the mind is a terrible thing
Its a transformation with an urge to kill
Not the body of a man from earth
Not the face of the one you love, cause

Well, I turned into a martian
Woah oh oh
I cant even recall my name
Woah oh oh
Times I never hardly sleep at night
Woah oh oh
Well, I turned into a martian today

I walk down city streets
On an unsuspecting human world
Inhuman in your midst
This world is mine to own, cause

Well, I turned into a martian
Woah oh oh
Well, I cant even recall my name
Woah oh oh
Times I never hardly sleep at night
Woah oh oh
Well, I turned into a martian today

Go go

Well, I turned into a martian
Woah oh oh
Well, I cant even recall my name
Woah oh oh
Times I never hardly sleep at night
Woah oh oh
Turned into a martian
Woah oh oh
Cant even recall my name
Oh, wont you tell me what the fuck is my name, martian
Woah oh oh
Woah oh oh

More 2008 tunes

noreply@blogger.com (TerryB_VT) — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 21:00:00 +0000

Here's some more stuff that I listened to this year:

Equipment, two items of note:
I picked up this fancy car stereo, a JVC KD-PDR80 this summer that plays mp3s right off a USB flash drive. High fidelity? Hardly, but neither is the listening environment in my eight year-old civic. Convenience? Amazing, I can fit some 40-50 albums in high-rate (VBR-0, roughly 200kbps) form on a 4 gig drive. No more shuffling cd's in the car, and I can listen to a lot of older stuff easily without feeling like I'm wasting a cd-r. If only it used SD memory (so I didn't have a thumb drive sticking out of the dash) and played flac files. Ohwell, it's pretty sweet anyway.

I have this old turntable, a Dual 506, that has this ultralight tonearm that's fussy about cartridge mating. The Ortofon OM series is preferred, but they are becoming discontinued and you really want a higher-level stylus (OM 20 or greater, starting at $100 for the stylus) alone to make it sing. I've had a cheapo OM-3e on here since I got it, but the kind folks at Audiokarma.org gave me this little tip. There's this cat on eBay selling these new old stock 'Digitrac 200 NE' cartridges for $20 including shipping. Turns out they were an OEM Ortofon 20 from the 80's that had a crappy motor setup, so most of them are missing a channel. Turns out the stylus is a nude elliptical, grey market vesrion of the OM-20. So for $20 and using the old OM body I had, I have a $180 cartridge that takes this 'table to another level. I've got it set up in the den/workout room and actually put more hours on it than my main rig, a Music Hall mmf-5. No inner groove distortion, smooth highs, solid lows, and decent midrange. Amazing.

Dave Holland Quintet- Burned a bunch of his stuff from a buddy of mine (I know, bad, BAD). This guy is a hell of a jazz bassist and composer but even better bandleader. All these recordings (late 80's to mid 90's stuff) feature player that just fucking rip that shit up. This is rocking jazz, but definitely not jazz-rock. Killer stuff.

Delta Spirit- My Brother and I went to finally catch the Old 97's back in October. Too bad they sucked. They just didn't want to be there, acting and playing all aloof, guitarist out of tune, slack solos, no energy. We were right in front of the stage so I could see the
setlist, which was shrinking with every song change. So they ended the show early and bro got us into the show in Higher Ground's smaller room. This place was packed with college kids, and this band Dr. Dog was playing. I've seen the name around, figured they were some jam band crap. Their 'look' was pretty horrible; fedoras, Ray Bans, white shirts and skinny ties. Why do these kids born in the 80's (90's?) feel a need to relive that era that they never really knew? Anyway, I soon learned that if you shut your eyes and listen to the music that these kids played some killer indie pop, sort of a Guided by Voices by way of Apples in Stereo/Elephant 6 sort of thing. Checking out the merch table I saw this record by Delta Spirit, who I heard of in a promo email from Pure Pop. I guess they had opened for these Dog kids (horrible name, horrible).
Plopping that platter on at work the next day I was amazed. This was rootsy, Americana-sort of folky rock, with great songs. Turns out the members used to be in some up and coming emo outfit but smartened up and moved to the back porch. So to sum it up, bro and I went to the
wrong show that night, and this is easily one of my top 3 records this year.

The National- Okay, sometimes I'm late to the party. I often make new music choices based on 'best-of' lists from the previous year. I kept seeing The National's Boxer listed for 2007, so picked it up along with its predecessor Alligator. While I prefer the earlier record, I really dig these guys in general. Really downbeat stuff with somewhat complex/mid-tempo instrumentation, right up a Wilco fan's alley.

2008 recap, first post

noreply@blogger.com (TerryB_VT) — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 01:57:00 +0000

Yeah, I don't write here too much, and often when I do it's not much of
note. Oh well...here's my little recap of tunes I was interested in in
2008, as well as some sidenotes:

Pure Pop : I love this place, and support it
whenever I can. Great but smallish selection of new records, and these
guys make their picks so well it's like a snapshot of my dream
collection at any one time. Classic hip college town shop with way cool
disaffected clerks and grating tunes playing just a half-notch too loud.
Since my 2008 New Year's resolution was to buy my music locally, I went
here a little more often than previous, and they tend to get my business
over other Vermont shops.

Metal: Neither of these came from Pure Pop; 1) I loved my rediscovery of
these shitty low-rate MP3's I bought back in '00 or '01 of Sacred Reich
and Mercyful Fate. Killer metal, the latter is pretty proggy/heady
stuff while SR are just straight up thrash, nothing pretty. 2) I've been
digging those Warner reissues of the first four Metallica records. Some
people bitch about the sound quality, but it's friggin' thrash metal,
people. For fifteen clams you get a really good copy of some classic
shit. Bought mine at Exile on Main Street in Barre. Given their rockin'
blue-collar roots it only seems right.

Sun Kil Moon, Ghosts of the Great Highway. I went to a garage sale
this spring and got a bunch of pretty mellow but slightly left-field
stuff; Nick Drake, Jem, Kings of Convenience, Ray Lamontagne (blah...).
This record was to best of the bunch. "Carry Me Ohio" rattles around
the dusty corners of my head a lot. Spooky, shattered Americana from an
artist (Mark Kozelek) I need to learn more about.

Alejandro Escovedo, Real Animal. I've dug this guy for a long time,
and got a chance to catch him last November at a corner bar in Austin.
He played a bunch of the songs that would come out on this record, and
their strength lies in that they sounded like classics then, and again
on first listen to this. Al is at the top of his game right now; just a
solid rock-oriented songwriter with wisdom to offer. Not as deep at
Boxing Mirror but after that reflection on near-death it's good to let
down and boogie a bit.

More to come.......

WBKM...what the f@#?

noreply@blogger.com (TerryB_VT) — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 19:24:00 +0000

Ray Davies is coming to town tonight. Yes, the leader of the Kinks, my all-time favorite band. This is going to be pretty killer. What's the problem? The show is being put on by WBKM, and internet-only station based out of Burlington. Click the link to see their really bad website. Just don't click on the 'listen now' icon lest it totally fuck up your browser as it did mine, after installing the crap plugin required. If you're an internet-only station, don't make it hard to listen to your streams you friggin idiots.
Apparently tickets haven't been moving too quick, no shit, these guys have done pretty much zero promotion on it, and their on-air promos go out to a tiny listenership. They have tried hardballing local media outlets for a shot at an interview with Ray, when in the end they couldn't even get him into their studios for an on-air. I actually listened to The Point on my ride in to see if they were running promos, but of course not; it's not their show and WBKM isn't smart enough to buy time to promote on the station that actually matches both the target audience and the quantity of customers needed to pull this off. With the expected snowstorm the Point was actually encouraging people to stay home tonight and watch Christmas Cartoons rather than go to this pretty amazing show. Unfortunately this will leave a bad taste in Ray's management's mouth and we'll be lucky to see him set foot in Burlington again.
I expect that WBKM will have a hard time covering Ray's guarantee and can only hope that it bankrupts them out of business. Thanks for getting Ray to town, but no thanks for the botched promo of the gig, you tools.