Some Strange Music Draws Me In...

We had a terrific time last night at the Pritzker Pavilion in Chicago’s Millennium Park for their New Music Monday series; watching the Feelies “wow” an audience of several thousand with their herky-jerk rhythms and soaring choruses that somehow still manage to sound relevant after all the years they’ve been away. I was just a tad too young to have seen them live in their late 80s heyday so last night’s performance was really something special for yours truly; especially after having enjoyed their records for the past fifteen or so years and always imagining that they must have been a pretty searing live unit.

And last night’s show pretty much confirmed this belief due to, after having remained seated for a majority of the show, several twenty-somethings rushed the stage, frantically pogoing to the set’s closer, “Crazy Rhythms,” until a free-for-all ensued with a majority of the pavilion’s attendees following suit and bouncing away to an encore of R.E.M.’s “Carnival of Sorts,” the Feelies own “Fa Ce-La” and “What Goes On” by the Velvet Underground before things got closed out with the Rolling Stones’ “Paint It Black.” Being a bit renowned for their covers versions, I was kinda hoping that the band would pull out this one; their wonderful version of Patti Smith’s “Dancing Barefoot” as it couldn’t have been more appropriate.

Feelies (The) – “Dancing Barefoot” (mp3)

(from the Coyote promo 12”, Away, 1988)

R.I.P. Sky Saxon (1946 - 2009)

A sad day indeed for those of us who bow at the altar of Nugget’s styled garage rock; convinced to this day that bands like Sky Saxon’s fronted, The Seeds, were the real anti-establishment of the 60s than rather, say, the Stones or the Beatles. Described as “weird psychotic blues highlighting Sky’s demented vocal sermonizing,” albums such as The Seeds and A Web of Sounds were huge templates for not only the 70s punk explosion but for much of rock music as well.

"Pushin' Too Hard" is the closest the band came to a national hit, which it was, and was/is forever immortalized on the original Nuggets compilation LP; sitting snuggly between the Shadows of Knight's "Oh Yeah" and the Barbarians' "Moulty." R.I.P. Sky and long may you cavestomp your way through the eternal dance halls in the sky.

The Seeds – “Pushin’ Too Hard” (mp3)

(from the GNP Crescendo Records LP, The Seeds, 1966)

Sky Saxon (1946 - 2009)

There's Just The One and Only Special You...

Though they were virtually ignored (no doubt due to the fact that they hailed from northern England) at the initial onset of the C86 and Twee scenes in the mid-80s, the indie-pop group Friends have soldiered on for almost 25 years; bypassing many of the acts who first made their name by showing up on the famed C86 cassette compilation all those years ago. I always kinda develop a bit of a soft spot for groups like this only because what, besides sheer passion and love, could make a group continue to put out records (and nine very fine records plus six singles and one best of, at that) on a seemingly regular basis for the past twenty-plus years while receiving very little in the way of commercial success and recognition?

And though 2002's Best of Friends adequately chronicled the band’s first six albums, it wasn’t until the release of last year’s Single Friends that all of the group’s singles were compiled all together in one complete package thus displaying their subsequent development as a group. This is indie-guitar pop at its best; the kind that have made current blogger faves’ The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart as well Cats On Fire such a success due no doubt to the shimmering pop chords perfected on by groups such as Friends. And this isn’t even a case of Single Friends being a posthumous release as Friends, now based in London, will release their tenth full length album later on this year. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Friends – “You’ll Never See That Summertime Again” (mp3)

(from the Summerhouse Records CD, Single Friends, 2008)

(SHELFLIFE Records is) Down With The Kids

One of my all time favorite pop songs is Action Painting!’s, “These Things Happen” which clocked in at #28 on the discography of Sarah Records releases. It’s a lovelorn yet very breezy single well-worth seeking out whose heights were sadly, after an exhaustive eBay search of further Action Painting! releases, not to be replicated. That being said, I clutched that 45-inch slab of perfect pop closely to my chest and walked away heartbroken for many, many, many years until being reminded recently thanks to an email from my good friend Matthew Bice of SHELFLIFE Records.

Thanks to Matt’s email, it turns out that Action Painting! singer/guitarist Andy Hitchcock and bassist Kevin House have been busy the past couple of years getting a new project, dubbed Socialist Leisure Party, off the ground which has thus culminated in the release of Tactical POP! for Coffee Cadets, one of SHELFLIFE Records’ beautifully packaged 1000 Series of indie pop releases which we like to call, “da-bomb.” Great stuff that doesn’t stray to far from what labels like Sarah Records as well as Factory Records would’ve put out back in their heyday, a philosophy that SHELFLIFE adamantly attempts to adhere to with all of their releases. Here’s today’s appropriately titled track that perfectly summarizes what you’ll find contained within the rest of Tactical POP!. RECOMMENDED!

Socialist Leisure Party – “Mondayland” (mp3)

(from the SHELFLIFE Records CD/45, Tactical POP! for Coffee Cadets, 2009)

Currently Making Me Bounce Up and Down In My Seat...

…is the new, FREE online EP, Oja Kodar, from Chicago’s The Fake Fictions who I was alerted to by a blurb in this week’s Reader. Peppy, bouncy boy meets girl meets pop meets garage rock that owes more than a few debts to bands like The Clean and The Verlaines, whose "Pyromaniac" is covered on the new EP. After you enchant yourself over and over with my pick below, go here to grab the EP (I mentioned it was FREE, right?) as well as other mp3 goodies.

Fake Fictions – “Complete Debauchery” (mp3)

(from the Comptroller Records EP, Oja Kodar, 2009)

The Path Of Least Resistance

And now for something a little more angular-sounding; the debut album from The Poison Arrows, First Class, And Forever, is probably something of a must for fans of what could be termed the “Chicago Sound.” The band definitely seems to come from a place that favors some of the more classic Chicago punk groups such as Big Black, The Jesus Lizard and The Effigies but there’s also a fair bit of the alt-rock scene from the mid-90s as well with nods towards Silkworm and Girls Against Boys. Music with a bit of a rhythm-heavy sound as the bass lines taking center stage by acting as the foundation that will hold all the guitar melodies and hooks together.

If there any complaints, I suppose that it would be that things perhaps slowly start to digress as the band starts to wind things up on the last couple of songs mainly being that they’re things the album has already covered in its first half. It’s that certain feeling of, “Didn’t we just do this?” That being said, there are still plenty of things I love about this record; mainly being just how well all of the compositions are written with never a wasted space thus making it very easy to be taken with First Class, And Forever only because I think it indicates what could be an exciting career for this Chicago trio. RECOMMENDED.

The Poison Arrows – “Total Beverage” (mp3)

(from the File 13 LP/CD, First Class, And Forever, 2009)

Side Note: WOW! A post every day this week! I have absolutely no idea what prompted this bout of enthusiasm so enjoy it while you can; maybe it’ll carry over into next week.

Lift The Hazy Window For A Moment...

I realize that I just did a rather lengthy posting about Bob Mould but I wanted to elaborate a bit more on his latest solo offering, Life And Times, than the confines of the “Currently Listening To” section of the page would allow. Only because, after spending the better part of a month with the album, I can say with all certainty that, next to the immortal Workbook, Life And Times is Bob’s best solo album to date and one of the best records out of any of his projects, Husker Du and Sugar included.

And I think the reason for that is because, to my ears, all of the material in one way or another faithfully represents each and every aspect of Bob’s musical career and not just Workbook the way many reviews would lead you to believe. I’m also of the opinion that many of the tracks also manage to make the listener anticipate just what it is Bob might do in the future. Hence the title, Life And Times.

Make no mistake, this album takes time. Outside some of the more up tempo rock songs, the album as a whole isn’t gonna jump right out the speakers like Copper Blue did or make the listener go, “What the f%&k?!?!” the way Workbook, after the blitzkrieg attack of Husker Du, did before that. No, if anything, I’d probably compare Life And Times to a soufflé; you don’t want to open the oven door too early or it might fall. You have to give it time to rise and then settle.

One of the other reasons I really like Life And Times is that it doesn’t take itself too seriously as far as the recording and production go. I know that home recording for a musician must be a godsend (lord knows I’d love to work from home a bit here and a bit there when the motivation struck me) but lately, many of Bob’s solo records have come off as a bit too stiff in that they almost sounded too pristine and perfect. There just seemed to be very little room for mistakes which makes me love the fact that he released Life And Times the way he did; warts and all. You can even tell that most of this stuff wasn't labored over endlessly which is a good thing.

There are many songs one could be steered towards; the album’s gorgeous title-track, "The Breach" with it’s breathy vocals, the Husker Du/Sugar-influenced "MM 17," "Wasted World" and "Spiraling Down" as well as the rather wordy "I’m Sorry, Baby, But You Can’t Stand In My Light Anymore." I also would suggest that the song presented below isn’t what one would call a complete representation of the album nor is it an instant pop classic, no. "Lifetime" is a moody little piece with a Twin Peaks-vibe to it that’s probably best played on a brisk fall or winter night, sitting by the window as you gaze upon the late night sky while lamenting over time spent and lost with the ones you love. It also just might be Bob’s most heartbreaking vocal performance ever. HIGHLY, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Bob Mould – “Lifetime” (mp3)

(from the ANTI- Records LP, Life And Times, 2009)

Taking Over The Night & Day...

The new Isis record, Wavering Radiant, is what the kids nowadays like to call “THE MOTHER-F&%KING S#%T!” Yes…this album is really, really good, it really, really rocks and as far as progressive metal albums go (a term I use pretty loosely based on my previously displayed bout of ignorance on the genre), it just might beat out Mastodon’s Crack The Skye later on this year in our Top 10 Favorite Albums of 2009 list that we sometimes like to contemplate a mere 7 months in advance.

Anther reason that I have to use the progressive metal tag loosely is that Isis seems to be deliberately skipping around the pedestals of different genres, opting instead to draw from a variety of influences. While the band cites post-rock groups like The Swans and The Melvins, there are also a whole lot of melodic, atmospheric and almost shoegazery riffs abound in all of the songs; each of which still manages to sit deftly in the “sludge" and "drone-oriented" rock categories. It’d be like if Motorhead, instead of using thrash after thrash after thrash chords in each and every song, opted instead to occasionally incorporate some of those gorgeous chord progressions that Pink Floyd’s Dave Gilmour used to favor a’la “Comfortably Numb” giving many of the songs a rather epic feel to them. Gruff yet absolutely soaring at the same time.

The thing that also gets me is that, for an album with a whole plethora of production techniques as well as unexpected bouts of post-rock trippiness, Wavering Radiant never seems to tire nor bore either itself or the listener; it’s just fun to listen to. This is a big sounding, summer rock record with big-a$$ power chords that should, like Crack The Skye, be totally accessible to fans of all kinds of rock genres. And the vinyl, which I just received in the mail earlier this week, is an absolute thing of beauty. HIGHLY, HIGHLY RECOMMENED!!

Isis – “20 Minutes/40 Years” (mp3)

(from the Ipecac Recordings LP, Wavering Radiant, 2009)

eMusic and Sony, Sittin' In A Tree...

So eMusic has finally managed to go out and snag its first big major label fish. And in many ways, they don’t get much bigger than Sony Music Entertainment. That is correct, starting sometime in July, eMusic subscribers will have access to artists from all of the Sony labels that will include Columbia, Epic, Jive and RCA, if one were to count the “big boys” so to speak, which will cover music that is two years old or older.

According to a press announcement from eMusic, this expansion will add nearly 200,000 tracks to the catalog that’ll give people like you and me the ability to download songs from heavy rollers such as Bruce Springsteen, Michael Jackson, and Miles Davis as well as The Clash and Simon & Garfunkel. All (or most) of your favorite indie artists will still be present; however, groups such as Deerhunter, The Cleaners From Venus and F&%ked Up will now be hobnobbing with acts like the Dixie Chicks, Billy Joel and Yo-Yo Ma. And I’m fine with this, really, as I get the same thing when I walk into Reckless Records here in Chicago and see sleeves for all of that stuff.

My problem with this whole “deal” is the, in their words, “slight” pricing structure change to eMusic’s subscription plans which, for the company’s previous “eMusic plus” tier of 50 downloads for $14.99 per month, dropped 30% from the original number of downloads to 35 while increasing just over 6% from the original price to $15.98. Huh? It gets worse: previously I paid $95.90 per year for 480 tracks (40 tracks per month) which came out to approximately 20 cents per song. Not bad, right? However, eMusic has just informed me that come July 24 my plan will be altered to $95.90 per 180 days for 210 tracks (or $191.80 per year for 420 tracks) which comes out to approximately 46 cents per song. You mean double the price for less number of songs? Really? Double huh??

Now, while I can’t get anything near the 480 tracks per year that I previously got, I could get the same above-mentioned 420 track annual plan for $171.99 but that’s still 41 cents per song, an increase of 21 cents from my original plan that even has someone like me balking a bit at. It’s also worth mentioning that eMusic failed to point out this positive, to-my-wallet, alternative but that’s neither here nor there; they’re a business and the bottom line is they want to make money which is fair enough as it’s up to me, the consumer, to find out how I want to spend my dollars. But as a consumer, I also remember where my dollars stopped going in the early 2000s when prices for new CDs started hitting the $18.98 mark for major label releases, an increase one can’t help but notice the similarities to with eMusic’s newly announced pricing options.

It is also worth noting that eMusic was sorry to retire my current plan but they were confident that I’d find even more music to love amongst the many new additions to their catalog. Maybe, but maybe not as a lot of those catalog additions will be stuff I either already own or wouldn’t want to own. I have those old Byrds’ records on vinyl but that didn’t stop me from buying a couple of the remastered versions that Sony reissued in the late 90s as well as the whole Clash catalog that was rereleased in 2000 as well as the Sex Pistols and Miles Davis. And stuff like Kings of Leon or Alicia Keys doesn’t do it for me. So, for an old timer like me, much of this is too little too late.

Which, as far as the old timer comment goes, brings me to this: why couldn’t eMusic in their relatively reasonable goal to add more major label talent to their roster structure a deal for past long-term, and may I add loyal, subscribers that somewhat resembles something akin to their current plan without trying to royally screw them in the checkbook? For a company that grew 40% in 2008 with revenue of $70 million, this “date” with Sony seems a bit extreme.

I’ll be curious to see how these changes affect eMusic’s current number of subscribers; truthfully, I anticipate a drop in numbers as people will start to seriously check out the competition which might leave eMusic the unenviable task of having to rebuild a core group of subscriptions. Not necessarily a problem one wants when getting into bed with a partner who only cares about the bottom underlying value of who it is that they’re getting into bed with.

As one can imagine, there's been a bit of backlash which can be read about here and here.

Famous Last Words...Again...

Several weeks ago we were treated to some new material from Pitchfork favorites, Deerhunter, whose 5-song EP, Rainwater Cassette Exchange, saw a digital download release on places such as eMusic. The EP will also be given a physical CDEP release on June 9 followed by a vinyl version two weeks later on June 23.

And while fans of the group are already more than aware of front man Brandon Cox’s rather prolific output of new material from frequent time to frequent time, due to the quality of the material I can’t help but wonder if this EP is in anticipation of this rather intriguing bit of news. I’m curious how this schtick will play out and where pray tell it’ll be, should a Chicago date occur…

Here’s my favorite track from the new EP, which gets a, to quote Sound Opinions, “BUY IT” rating once the vinyl is released as I’m a total sucker for that kind of thing.

Deerhunter – “Disappearing Ink” (mp3)

(from the Kranky Records mp3 EP, Rainwater Cassette Exchange, 2009)