Head of Femur head back out on the road, possibly giving their last performances of the “season.” Although, I have a feeling that come late summer there will be plenty of clamor for them to get their asses into a van and drive eastward. In fact, let that clamoring begin right now!
May 15th- Minneapolis, MN @ The Uptown *
May 16th- Chicago, IL @ Schuba’s *
May 17th- Dubuque, IA @ Busted Lift *
May 18th- Iowa City, IA @ Iowa City Yacht Club *
May 20th- Lincoln, NE @ Box Awesome *
May 21th- Omaha, NE @ The Waiting Room *
May 24th- Kansas City, MO @ The Brick
May 25th- Des Moines, IA @ Vaudeville Mews
* with The Heavenly States & Poison Control Center
Tokyo Police Club
Elephant Shell
April 22nd 2008
Saddle Creek
Tokyo Police Club’s new album, Elephant Shell, is everything but the shot of adrenaline that was the band’s explosive debut, A Lesson in Crime.
We were so impressed with A Lesson In Crime, a 6-song EP released about two years ago, that we wanted more of the same. An album about robots taking over Earth, A Lesson In Crime begins with this warison call: “Operator, get me the President of the World!” From there, the listener becomes lost in a 16-minute maelstrom of grinding guitars and synthesized clapping.
Those things are present on Elephant Shell, but the volume has been turned down. The album features a calmer, almost restrained Tokyo Police Club, with front man and chief lyricist David Monks in a much more contemplative mood. “You and your soapy eyes called it off so late at night, but your hands and your heart and your head’s always right,” Monks sings on the song Juno. The album is a slapdash collection of childhood memories. It’s all sprained ankles, kickball games and awkward romantic encounters on schoolyard jungle gyms.
The lyrics are smart; there’s no doubting that. Monks quips on Listen to the Math, “If I am the joke, then you’re the punch line.” We’re just concerned he and his band mates are growing up too fast. It’s not just the lyrics either. The somber sound of a cello heard on the ballad The Harrowing Adventures Of…– while perfect for the song – seems out of character for a group that describes itself on its My Space page as a “swift kick in the pants followed by a raucous dance party.”
Nevertheless, Elephant Shell gets a passing grade. But here’s to hoping Tokyo Police Club shapes up and stops acting their age on the next album.
Other Music
A Lesson in Crime EP- 2006
Smith EP- 2007
Tour
May 12 2008 8:00P @ The Starlite Room Edmonton, Alberta
May 14 2008 8:00P @ The Habitat (SOLD OUT) Kelowna, British Columbia
May 15 2008 8:00P @ Plaza Club Vancouver, British Columbia
May 16 2008 8:00P @ Plaza Club Vancouver, British Columbia
May 17 2008 8:00P @ Sugar Nightclub Victoria, British Columbia
May 18 2008 8:00P @ Neumos Seattle, Washington
May 19 2008 8:00P @ Hawthorne Theatre Portland, Oregon
May 22 2008 8:00P @ Bluebird Theatre Denver, Colorado
May 23 2008 8:00P @ Slowdown Omaha, Nebraska
May 29 2008 8:00P @ Barfly Cambridge
May 30 2008 8:00P @ Bodega Nottingham
May 31 2008 8:00P @ Cockpit Leeds
Jun 1 2008 8:00P @ Night & Day Manchester
Jun 3 2008 8:00P @ Barfly Birmingham
Jun 5 2008 8:00P @ Le Bontanique Brussels
Jun 6 2008 8:00P @ Rock Am Ring Nurburgring
Jun 7 2008 8:00P @ Rock Im Park Zeppelinfeld
Jun 8 2008 8:00P @ La Maroquinerie Paris
Jun 10 2008 8:00P @ King Tuts Glasglow
Jun 11 2008 8:00P @ Other Rooms Newcastle
Jun 12 2008 8:00P @ Academy Oxford
Jun 13 2008 8:00P @ Marquee Hertford
Jun 16 20088:00P @ Digital Brighton
Jun 17 2008 8:00P @ Thekla Bristol
Jun 18 2008 8:00P @ Scala London
Jul 20 2008 8:00P @ Rogers Picnic Toronto, Ontario
Sep 14 2008 12:00P @ Monolith Festival Red Rocks, Colorado
Great Bloomers
Great Bloomers (EP)
May 27th 2008 (iTunes)
Grifter Records
Canada has yet again dipped into the time tested tradition of folk rock. It is a beautiful sight to behold. The blank and too often standard canvass that the folk genre has become has allowed for heaps of redundancy, monotony, and predictability to seep onto record shop shelves everywhere. In the past as now, folk rock shines when musicians recognize this tendency and confront it head on, sometimes resulting, through experimentation, in music that on its face has little resemblance to its initial root. Acts like Pavement, Broken Social Scene, Eagle Seagull, Modest Mouse, The National, and Wilco all share this readiness to experiment beyond the initial structure of verse/chorus. Toronto’s Great Bloomers have endeavored to contribute to this style with the same reflexive perspective.
In less than 20 minutes, the Great Bloomers’ new self titled EP smears their biography thickly. Lyrically this EP serves as a collection of letters, never annoyingly saccharin, yet caught up in nostalgia and idealism. Catching Up opens the disc with an upbeat, high spirited pop track dressed in a symphony of feedback and speckles of unimposing harmonica. Black Rising Fire continues the EP with an awkward melody that seems lifted directly from early 1990’s pop rock, but as the song teeters it transforms into a bass walking Americana jig, which then descends into a choir of feathered voices.
The energy and musicianship of the Great Bloomers is to be commended. A criticism they may have to overcome would involve their flirtation with sing-song simplicity as in the intro to Market of the Night. However every time a song approaches catastrophe they pull it out of the water. The changeups are not schizophrenic; rather they are subtle shifts in pop sensibilities from banality to the road less traveled. This modal awareness is what makes the Great Bloomers a promising troupe. Look for their full length LP coming soon.
Jeff Martin
Shuttlecock- Minotaur Shock Remix
Spoons: Remixes, Collaboration, and Interpretations
Casino Gravity Records
Listen to This!8/9
This remix of Dublin’s own Jeff Martin by the Bristol band Minotaur Shock is freakin’ excellent. The song is called Shuttlecock and will be well received by people into Chicago indie jazz acts like Tortoise, or eclectic instrumentalists like Sufjan Stevens. In fact John McEntire from Tortoise also happens to contribute to the album of Remixes, Collaborations, and Interpretations. This incarnation of Shuttlecock incorporates bells and horns for a multilayered, textural composition, which never sounds cacophonous; although, Minotaur Shock makes clear that chaos could happen at any moment. Minotaur Shock is on 4AD
Jeff Martin is on Casino Gravity Records and a member of the electronic group Halfset. Martin releases a new LP on May 27th and Halfset releases their second album in September. We look forward to reviewing these releases. Heads up, don’t confuse him with the other Jeff Martin from Ireland…the pirate look alike.
Nine Inch Nails
The Slip
May 5th 2008
The Null Corporation
“thank you for your continued and loyal support over the years - this one’s on me”
Following his self-released instrumental album Ghosts I-IV, Trent Reznor comes at us again, this time reaching out to fans registered at nin.com with an album free for download. The Slip is licensed under creative commons law, which encourages people to use material for any non-commercial purpose as long as the product remains available for creative commons use. It comes less than 3 months after Reznor’s instrumental opus and contains many of the same elements as the 36 track Ghosts set.
Where you stand on the argument of which NIN record is the greatest will largely determine your love or languishing of The Slip. If you are a fan of his goth-industrial, Skinny Puppy influenced early work, then this may be entirely too divergent and you may scoff at it saying, “Nails’ early work was way better.” Clearly Pretty Hate Machine and Broken/Fixed have their charm as groundbreakers. Who didn’t find happiness in slavery or god/money absolutely darling concepts?
The Downward Spiral codified Reznor’s place as a musical genius for the masses. Remember when people remarked after a particularly close listening of Closer, “Did you know that Trent Reznor was a classically trained pianist?” as if this somehow justified your purchase of the record without having any track marks. His place as a true Deus de Electronica came with his collaboration with David Bowie on Earthling and his seminal contribution to David Lynch’s Lost Highway soundtrack, Perfect Drug. Nine Inch Nails’ trajectory culminated in a 4 minute video in which Reznor dressed as a young Alister Crowley. The problem? Perfect Drug is Mr. Reznor’s least favorite thing he has ever done. He believed his path thus far had strayed, and change was in order. I’d have to disagree, but hey- dude’s got his opinion.
Years later, NIN released the indubitable double disc The Fragile. Some fans saw this record as a deviation from his earliest work, pussyfooting around the recording room. Rather than drive an intense electro-beat with raging guitars and vocals, many of the songs were caught up in the atmospherics. Lyrics became secondary, if they appeared at all. Jazz chords replete with syncopated dulcimers and xylophonic movements were sandwiched between chart-zingers like Star Fuckers Inc. Reznor’s work was drawn from more than just his cold black heart. He succeeded in sustaining his visionary status without caricaturing himself; a disappointment that he perhaps felt had occurred during his David Lynch experiment.
Then the 2000’s came complete with 8 years of George W. Bush. Big Brother never seemed so domineering. Reznor’s paranoia would never again get the opportunity to enter ears more receptive. With the rise of indie rock though, NIN had an uphill climb in order to remain relevant. We live in a post-rock era now. In some ways this released him from his obligation of showmanship. If NIN was to continue, it would not be by the grace of Marilyn Manson. Though With Teeth and Year Zero might not be his most defining work, they are certainly more mature and in sync with the state of affairs of rock and roll. His style, like that of Lou Reed and Bowie, seemed to morph without penalty. He set the terms and tone of his relevancy.
Reznor, confident in his ability to maintain an audience, released Ghosts I-IV containing 4 volumes, 2 discs, and 36 lyricless tracks. The album has a movie score like quality. With a record devoted solely to environment and subtlety, Reznor was free to commit to something like never before. With The Fragile, the commercial confines required that his instrumental endeavors be sparse. Now having left Universal, Nine Inch Nails could release a straight up art album with no to answer to but his audience. To our delight, he then released a follow up fewer than 3 months later.
The Slip is an aggressive project that assimilates some of the atmosphere of Ghosts I-IV. Typical of his post Fragile releases, the music is much more instrument oriented. Where his early work was composed of blips and distorted thuds of a synthesized and amplified typewriter, The Slip has is constructed of real snares sounds with recognizable guitar tones. Not to say that it doesn’t have its share of electronic beats, the synthesizer is certainly still employed, but any comparison with tracks prior to 1999 will illustrate the marked distinction in direction.
So it really comes down to your favorite chapter in NIN’s catalogue. The Slip is a great record that offers 10 new compositions to an ever increasing legacy. The best quality of this record the live is its studio feel. For all the fuzz and blown out noise it contains, the acoustics of the drums off the studio wall cut through, and Reznor’s vocals sound as if he is only across the room. The Slip is a very under produced album. It states Reznor’s appreciation for his listeners. The Slip is an invitation into the studio, unmitigated by highly compressed and modulated megabytes. Thanks dude…but Perfect Drug wasn’t that bad!
Other Records
Pretty Hate Machine- 1989
Broken/Fixed- 1992
The Downward Spiral- 1994
The Fragile- 1999
With Teeth- 2005
Year Zero- 2007
Ghosts I–IV- 200
The Slip- 2008
The Duke Spirit
Neptune
February 4th 2008
Shangri-La
This British five-piece has influences from all over the place, but their special spark endows their music with a sort of badass fascism. The Duke Spirit’s Neptune is tinged with retro late 80’s/early 90’s British invasion guitar riffs and is speckled with the occasional My Bloody Valentine noise wall and Jesus and Mary Chain backbeat. Even so, their subtle homage does nothing to discount their definition amongst the myriad of chick fronted car wrecks that have plagued so-called indie rock bands for a while now. First off Liela Moss’ voice has a seductive working class quality. She sings about love and loss with equal commitment. But this ain’t no one lady show. The fuzz bass and crunchy guitar make their style incredibly voluminous, cradling Moss’ words. Each part does not compete with the other. The strong personalities within the band do not self destruct.
“When nothing’s fluid, you drink yourself through it”
The solidarity in purpose that The Duke Spirit displays is however tempered and relegated by their inability to transgress multiple contexts. I can’t complain, but what else are they good for besides a good time? At times Liela Moss sounds like Sheila Nicholls with thigh-highs and a neat whiskey. Fortunately, even with all the abundant emotion, The Duke Spirit never attempts to be deeper than an afterthought. Neptune describes a life where two weeks is a million years and problems last only as long as you are consciously able to think them through. This band has toured relentlessly and certainly deserves attention. The Duke Spirit might however be doomed to burn out before they fade away or even worse to transform from an exciting fascination to that drunken bitch that never leaves you alone. But I’ll love them for now.
Other Music
Darling You’re Mean EP- 2003
Roll, Spirit, Roll EP- 2003
Relieve the Distressed EP- 2005
Cuts Across the Land- 2005
Covered in Love EP- 2006
Ex-Voto EP- 2007
Tour
May 7th 2008 @ Conan O’Brien- New York, NY
May 8th 2008 @ Crystal Ballroom- Portland, Oregon
May 10th 2008 @ The Troubadour- Los Angeles More Dates on Myspace
Beach House
Devotion
February 26th 2008
Carpark Records
Beach House’s dreamy pop fills a dim room like a 25 watt bulb. The duo keeps things mysterious and ethereal, and their music balances between heartrending melodies and bitter but sweet ambiances. Brightness is not found in Beach House. While Devotion is yet another album that lacks peaks and valleys, the differential between songs is gauged by its listenablity. Put it in and let it play, again and again. Victoria Legrand’s keyboard emits a variety of quiet and unimposing sounds, as the rhythm, guitar, and vocals are all washed together with the same treatment of deep reverberation, positioning them somewhere cavernous and distant.
In their videos, Beach House visually represents an upbeat caricature of early 70s mainstream bubblegum that served as a precursor to the styles of Studio 54 disco, the commodification of the countercultural movements from the late sixties that led to the more bizarre episodes of The Partridge Family. Their music on the other hand does not sound manufactured. The organic elements that constitute Beach House’s work seem curiously out of step with the visual images. Legrand’s low alto voice has been compared to Mazzy Star and Nico, but in truth there is very little similarity. Beach House is less dynamic than other dream/ether artists likeImmovable Objects, with which songs like Turtle Island have affinity, but there is no denying that Devotion is has plenty of replay value, for what particular song however, I am not sure.
After lengthy discussion and little in the way of certitudes, we know that The Tuss is from England, is on Rephlex, and is very good. Plenty of people from We are the Music Makers, a site dedicated to acid electronica innovators like Richard D. James and Square Pusher, have their opinion as to who The Tuss actually is, and I have certainly had my thoughts on the matter. As I concluded in my article about The Tuss Cult, no matter who The Tuss is, the music deserves to be evaluated on its own merits, rather than some supposed or implied association with a master programmer.
The Confederation Trough EP was actually harder to get than I anticipated. I finally found a copy at Other Music in Manhattan. I noticed that they filed the EP under “Miscellaneous T” instead of Aphex Twin as they had earlier. I am not sure if this speaks to Other Music’s changed opinion on the matter, either way RDJ and Brian Tregaskin both be damned.
Confederation Trough is a great supplement to Rushup Edge, a Tuss LP also released in 2007, but it by no means matches it. Rushup Edge made many top 10 lists last year including Frederick Foxtrott’s with Rushup I Bank 12 serving as a perfect example of its greatness. There is nothing on Confederation Trough that is as smart or intense as what is offered on the LP follow up. The beats are danceable and quasi-accessible enough, but it is a softer, smoother collection more reminiscent of Aphex Twin’s earlier ambient work and his later Analord series.
Being that the collection is rather straight forward, it acts as a prelude to what would soon be released on Rushup Edge. As I mentioned, Confederation Trough is hard to find and can be a bit expensive, costing $10+ for three songs. Fredugolon 6, Alspacka, and Gxi Solo may seem too mundane for those out there who love brainy acid, but they are good tracks that will have an easy time finding their way on to your play list.
Other Records as Other People Aphex Twin
Selected Ambient Works 85-92 (1992)
Selected Ambient Works Volume II (1994)
I Care Because You Do (1995)
Richard D. James (1996)
Come to Daddy (1997)
Windowlicker (1999)
Drukqs (2001)
Analord 10 (2005)
Chosen Lords (2006)
White Hinterland
Phylactery Factory
March 4th 2008
Dead Oceans Records
To succeed in getting their names on the lips of people who give a fuck about music, singer/songwriters of the piano sort, or any sort for that matter, have their work cut out for them. With the reemergence of Beth Orton as a name to drop here and there, or the certainty of Cat Power’s legacy in the annuls of indie music, artists like White Hinterland, aka Casey Dienel, are getting a second look; sometimes a second look they deserve, sometimes not. Every label wants their Chan Marshall, right Dead Oceans?
I found Phylactery Factory in the used music section at Sound Fix. Being that that record came out only a few weeks prior, I was curious as to why it had been returned to the shelf so quickly. Giving the CD a second lease on life, I picked it up and was happily surprised. The piano is often up beat and structured with standard melodies, and songs are given flesh with strings and bass, producing a light euphoric rhythm that provokes a tap of the foot, but requires nothing more.
Casey Dienel’s voice is nice and croonish, belonging to one of the more common styles, reflecting a kinship with Beth Gibbons, Beth Orton, Chan Marshall, and Björk. Phylactery Factory was worth the second look, but even as it is easy going and light in spirit, it suffers as a blatant middle-of-the road record, whose highs and lows are barely perceivable and typical when apparent. There is nothing particularly special about the music other than I like it. I suppose that is as much as any singer/songwriter can ask.
M83
Saturdays = Youth
April 15th 2008
Mute Records
Suburban Chicago never sounded better, or at least no one has released music that so easily could have graced various John Hughes films of the eighties like Anthony Gonzalez, a 26 year old Frenchman who records under the moniker M83, named for the galaxy with the same alphanumerical designation. Saturdays = Youth is his 5th studio record and more than any other seeks to capture the essence of adolescence and the confusion of negotiating love and loneliness. Expanding from shoegaze to stargaze, as his name implies, Gonzalez managed to not merely replicate a style modeled by Tears for Fears, Echo & the Bunnymen, and Flock of Seagulls, but he has retroactively contributed to the bleak genre of gothic pop in a way that is insertive rather than derivative. With modern instruments and production, Gonzalez (re)vitalized a style, giving color and texture to a genre that many feel has been muted by twenty years of impersonation and distillation, killed by retro themed knockoffs and karaoke bars alike. Unfortunately when you formulize everything interesting about eighties europop, too often what is unique and noteworthy is lost. To his credit Anthony Gonzalez has avoided the distillation process and somehow managed to produce a truly great record.
Though Saturdays = Youth is stylistically strong enough to dodge the volleys of accusations levied that M83 lacks originality, in appearance Anthony Gonzalez mimics Matt Johnson, of The The fame, although there is virtually no sonic similarity. M83’s single Couleurs is an easy club track that has the darkness of proto-industrial pop. The sprawling synthesizers and metallic drum beats morph into fat bass pulses and reverberated words.
“Chasing Colors in my fears
I need yourself”
Graveyard Girl recounts the loneliness felt in life and the comfort of contemplating the afterlife. A 15 year old reads poetry to tombstones and hopes others will do the same for her when she has passed. It is a song that underscores the desperation that adolescence sometimes inflicts upon us, the monumental moments of bourgeois concerns and misunderstanding.
“I’m fifteen years old
And I feel it is already too late to live.
Don’t you?”
M83 has produced a record of beautiful design. Saturdays = Youth does not forsake the immaturity so prevalent in youth, rather Gonzalez explores it, hoping to capture the joyfulness in the space between ten and twenty, even when that space is morose and melancholy. Innocence is expressed by our desperation to shed innocence. That’s why we steal cigarettes, fight our fathers, and rip ourselves from the control of social expectations. M83 not only provides the soundscape for such a rebellion, but he resurrects the beauty, purpose, and cause of what is so often looked on in adulthood as regretfully juvenile. Even the mistakes of youth are sacred.
Other Records
M83- 2001
Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts- 2003
Before the Dawn Heals Us- 2005
Digital Shades Volume 1- 2007
Tour
19 Apr 2008 - Camden Crawl - London
25 Apr 2008 - Andrews Lane Theater - Dublin
28 Apr 2008 - Cargo - London
29 Apr 2008 - Maroquinerie - Paris
2 May 2008 - L.E.V Festival - Gijon
3 May 2008 - Ancienne Belgique - Brussels
20 May 2008 - Echoplex - Los Angeles, California
21 May 2008 - Great American Music Hall - San Francisco, California
23 May 2008 - Doug Fir Lounge - Portland, Oregon
24 May 2008 - Richards on Richards - Vancouver
25 May 2008 - Neumos - Seattle
28 May 2008 - Triple Rock Club - Minneapolis
29 May 2008 - Empty Bottle - Chicago, Illinois
30 May 2008 - The Mod Club - Toronto
31 May 2008 - Cabaret Music Hall - Quebec
2 Jun 2008 - Middle East Downstairs - Cambridge, Massachusetts
3 Jun 2008 - Music Hall of Williamsburg - Brooklyn, New York
4 Jun 2008 - Bowery Ballroom - New York
6 Jun 2008 - First Unitarian Church - Philadelphia
7 Jun 2008 - Black Cat - Washington
