Custer died for your sins/The meaning of Lambrakis

Sarcastic Realism! BIA bashing! Amazing Production! Collectively we can only take small steps! Written and recorded by The Hobbits front man Jimmy Curtiss - mostly in evidence by the absolutely perfect drum sound - and taken apart by Floyd Westerman's right-on bite. From 1969 - I would like to think that this was the spark that took the rock.

Floyd Westerman - Task Force

Greece: a case of neocolonialism
Counterrevolution: the Greek example
Democratic or socialist revolution in Greece?
Greece: the meaning of the November uprising
Greece in the Dark
The Usable Past: Greek Metahistories
Greece under Military Rule


Mike Theodorakis - To Palokari Echi Kaimo

Prologue (Things I really care about)

The Barcelona Pavillion - I Hate The Dogs

Michael Brown Amputee

I was always intrigued by the band Hello People because they actively included a stylist as a member. I though they would sound like:

Cherry People - Imagination

That is not the case. Even Cherry People rarely sound like that. Usually, Cherry People have the "MGM Boston" sound (thanks to Tim for teaching me how to describe late 60's American music that I hate in only two words) although they occasionally throw in a tinge of psychedelia (above) or some brass-free pop with terrible lyrics and excellent arrangement (below).

Cherry People - Mr Hyde

And sometimes it hits, but that's not to say that everything else won't be forgotten.

Ohio Express - She's Not Coming Home

aesthetic crisis:

This is the most normal of all things. This is the mediocrity that I celebrate and share with no one. When it comes to these two bands, I am a completist, and yet they are never the recommendation, the connection or the trump.
For my plain life, I can only hope for as much.



Masters of the Hemisphere - Local Government


Ashtray Boy - Late Nite Mating Dance


later: apologetic multiple posts, new (?) music, late 60s forgotten mainstream garbage, more evidence we fucked things up - all with healthy doses of the wonderful mediocrity you are hearing now!!

Everything Happens When Nobody's There

I'm happy to report that Saturday's Destroyer show Lee's Palace exceeded all expectations. Over the dozen or so times I've seen the band, it has been kind of a hit and miss affair ranging between ecstatically amazing and awkwardly painful. The new band, though, is easily the best that they've yet put together and Dan Bejar seemed, for the first time, relatively comfortable with his place as rock and roll frontman. There was none of the distance between singer and audience that he sometimes seems to erect over the course of the show, and even the non-Destroyer fans I went with were duly impressed. Overall, I fully agree with the Zoilus interpretation of events, so I recommend that you go read them. And, to my great surprise, I actually really liked Magnolia Electric Co. which was kind of a nice bonus.

Cub - Nicolas Bragg
I think we've posted enough Destroyer songs here in the past few months that you get point. So, instead, I'll post this awesomely catchy Cub song (is there any other kind?) as a tribute to the Destroyer backup band, particularly guitarist Nicolas Bragg who I'm pretty sure is the namesake of the song. If you want an actually good Destroyer post, go check out Dan at Said the Gramophone's video rendition of European Oils. As is the tendency at STG, he's putting all of us MP3 bloggers to shame.
[buy]

Magnolia Electric Co. - Even the Dark Don't Hide It
This song is the equivalent of comfort food: it's an indie rock ice cream cone, a classic rock poutine. It's not breaking any exciting musical barriers or encouraging you to go out and start a band, but it's also free of all taint of badness - or, if you want, filled with all taint of goodness (but not in a gross way). Everything that you want in a crunchy, guitar driven country rock song is here in abundance, but never excessively so. Or, put more succinctly, I'll probably listen to this song alone more than I'll ever listen to all of the Animal Collective songs put together.
[buy]

Hold On!

I'm so tired. This week must end soon.

Neko Case – Hold On, Hold On
I still haven't bought the new Neko Case album yet, but every song I've heard is absolutely beautiful. I saw her performing this particular song on Jay Leno and it blew me away how powerful her presence is. It's like her voice is 20 metres tall and her stone-faced stare could levitate audience members at will. I still can't get over how she went from playing in Lookout/Mint! pop-punk band Maow to being this immortal country singer. Not to slag Maow (see, Ms. Lefevre [mp3]) but it just strikes me as a pretty jarring change.
[buy: Neko Case/Maow]

Tom Waits – Hold On
In the tradition of Tom Waits sentimental, small-town-in-middle-America balladry that I should be much more skeptical of than I am, this song bears the distinction of converting my father to the genius of Tom Waits. Sure, he still looks kind of off-put when the screeching voice, kitchen sink percussion, marching band songs come on, but a partial conversion is enough for now.
[buy]

Edith Frost - On Hold
In the tradition of codeine halucination induced heartbreak ballads that I should be more skeptical of than I am, this song bears the distinction of being an uncannily accurate description of how I felt for most of July 1998.
[download album]

Portisheads

As much as I'm inclined to rail against the annoyingness of Myspace and the very concept of "social networking", I can't deny that Myspace has led me to some very good songs on more than one occasion. But while I won't deny that it's helped to foster a greater openness for bands to post new songs for their fans, which is undeniably good, I stand behind my stance that it's easily the most irritating possible venue for doing so.

Anyway, these two songs are by Amber and Josh from Black Mountain who seem be be challenging the Pink Mountaintops as the best Black Mountain side project. I found them on their Myspace page which you can take a look at here, if you're into that sort of thing.

Amber and Josh - Breathe
Amber and Josh - Take Me Back

I've been thinking a lot lately about Portishead: in part wondering when they'll finally put out a new album but moreso reflecting on how nobody has even come close to matching what they did so unbelievably well on their self titled album (and to a lesser extent on their debut, Dummy). My uninformed contention is that, better than anyone else before or since, they adapted blues and soul music to the possibilities of electronic and sample based instrumentation. But they were doing something else, as well. The above two songs immediately made me think of Portishead because they capture the sort of understated depth that makes Portishead's songs so affecting. In both songs, simple and repetitive keyboard, guitar or bass lines provide the texture around which Amber's voice weaves much more complex and rich melodies. But beneath it all, there's plenty of space: quiet moments in which the listener is able to let the vocals and instruments resonate. Perhaps even more than a Portishead song, though, the spareness of the sound in both of these songs gives them the kind of immediacy that is characteristic of my favourite blues recordings.

*****

But Portishead was about more that just the blues (in the loose sense in which I'm talking about the genre). If Amber and Josh are the understated blues end of the Portishead spectrum, these next two songs represent the other more bombastic soul singer that Beth Gibbons sometimes channels.

Bettye Lavette - Let Me Down Easy
Bettye Lavette - You'll Never Change

The same feelings of lost love, betrayal and loneliness that Amber is singing so delicately about are transformed into powerful, sexually charged and a little bit angry equivalents in Bettye Lavette's able hands. I have so little experience with this genre of music that all I can say is that these two songs make me want to devote the next two months to amassing a collection of motown and soul records.
[Bettye Lavette at Anti Records]

Real New Fall Heads Roll

In case you haven't noticed, the last two albums by the Fall have both been near masterpieces. Where was Fall Heads Roll on all the 2005 year end best of lists? Who do you people (myself included) think you are? I guess when you put out more than one album a year for twenty-some-odd years people have a right to be a bit sceptical but, trust me, these two albums are the real shit. And Mark E. Smith has easily put together the best Fall backup band in almost two decades.

The Fall - Ride Away
If you didn't know better, I bet you could mistake this for a recording of your favourite drunken uncle ad-libbing Karaoke songs at your sister's wedding because he's too sauced to read the prompter. You could probably imagine him brilliantly roasting the entire extended family while he bobs around the stage, spilling scotch all over his ill-fitting suit, and while the wedding party continues their annoying conga-line, oblivious to how much better this song is than all of the oldies that have been playing all night.

But you do know better. It's Mark E. Smith singing and he's an angry genius. While his slurred delivery makes this sound effortless it's, like most good Fall songs, built on the kind of lyrics that are carefully crafted to sound like stream-of-consciousness improvisation. While maybe the song goes on for 1 or 2 minutes too long, the jaunty bass line, the ska-like guitars, and the high-pitch synth interludes are near perfect in my humble opinion.
[Buy Fall Heads Roll]

The Fall - Portugal Tour (alt. v)
Mark E. Smith is a notoriously difficult man, so it's pretty hilarious for him to write a song like this. From what I can gather, it seems to be just excerpts from letters the band received from an angry booking agent as ingeniously read by the band members atop some quality grinding guitars and the repetition of the phrase "for the record". While I think it speaks for itself, it's even more funny when you look at it in print so here's some excerpts.

"You were abusive/way beyond what anyone would reasonably have to deal with."
"Both myself and the crew were subjected to verbal and physical abuse."
"Words fail me at how offensive a human being you are."
"You never actually did the interview/it will have a negative impact on you and your band."
"This is becoming unbearable."

[Buy The Real New Fall LP]

Seagull is on the Rise

Reissues are usually stupid. Bands tack on two or three extra songs (that in all likelihood were left off the album for good reason) and then expect their fans to shell out money for an album that they already own.

Fortunately for us, Frog Eyes and Absolutely Kosher have an entirely different approach to reissues and, instead of one or two extra songs, they're appending entire unreleased albums onto the reissues of The Golden River and The Bloody Hand. And, more importantly, instead of tacking on mediocre songs, they've included a batch that easily stand up to those on the reissued albums. As Pitchfork recently reported, The Golden River will include the unreleased Blue Pine album Seagull is on the Rise while The Bloody Hand will include an album's worth of songs from the Emboldened Navigator 7" sessions with Spencer Krug of Wolf Parade/Sunset Rubdown on keys.

For whatever reason - although probably because he is a well connected and universally loved man - Jay has had the latter unreleased album for a few years, meaning that I've had plenty of time to enjoy it and maintain my 'scene cred' by telling other people that I have a copy. And now that it's seeing official release, I don't feel so bad about posting a few songs.

Frog Eyes - Spencer's Song for Carey to Officially Sing
Frog Eyes - A Latex Ice Age (alternate version)

Krug's keyboards really add something different to these recordings. There's a more conventional, less-carnivalesque feel to them meaning that the keyboards seem to act more as a counterpoint to Mercer's frenzied vocal delivery than they usually do on the official recordings. It makes me all the more excited for the rumoured Mercer/Krug/Bejar project, Thunder Cloud. (Note: I'm not sure about the title of the first song, but my copy seems to be in the order that the Pitchfork article gives for the songs.)

I also highly recommend checking out the recent Carey Mercer Phoning-It-In session on WMBR. He talks about the Thunder Cloud project and sings sweetly into the phone from his kitchen.

Veins Explode

The Paper Cranes - I'll Love You until My Veins Explode
In a nation of handclaps, dancing, and sad boys this song would be the undisputed "president for life". Those not bobbing their heads in unison will be forced by edict to sing along with the chorus at top volume. And, most importantly, all incidence of broken hearts and exploding veins will be documented in excruciating detail for the epic film version of the song, starring Robert Smith and Morrissey. [You may remember me posting a demo version of this song in the fall. The studio recorded self-titled EP easily meets or exceeds all expectations, so you should go buy it at Insound. Also check out a few more songs at the Paper Cranes' Myspace page]

Minimum Chips - Goodbye
This song is part of a larger utopian scheme for a future world occupied by short dresses and bobbed haircuts. It is a manifesto for dancing in slow motion (but not slow dancing!) and for making movies only using soft focus and scenes at sunset. It is a call for electronic music that robots can't help but hate. [In a stroke of genius, Minimum Chips has posted their entire discography online as free mp3 downloads. The new album Kitchen Tea Thankyou is the outstanding follow up to Emperor Tomato Ketchup that Stereolab never made, and is easily my most listened to album over the past few weeks. Go! Enjoy!]

Um...

Sorry to those who saw some mystery posts from March 2005 on their RSS feed. Sometimes blogger likes to destroy our blog and replace it with craziness.

Deep Sweet and Bitter

I hated both of these bands in high school. Right now, I can picture my highschool self circa grade 9 calling my current self a fag for even listening to them. (My highschool self was a total dick.)

Beat Happening - Hot Chocolate Boy
In a continuum of Beat Happening song themes that ranges roughly from 'songs about sex' to 'songs about food', this fits somewhere around 'songs about food that are really about sex'. In a continuum of awesome pop punk songs, this song is somewhere between 'Linda Blair' and 'Bikeage'.
[buy Dreamy]

The Magnetic Fields - Save a Secret for the Moon
In high school Magnetic Fields were the worst. They were even worse than "British Music" or Courtney Love. In a computer lab during journalism class I remember listening to this album and losing a little bit of respect for my friend that leant it to me. In hindsight, I now realize that I was totally humourless/emotionless and that this song alone could have saved me from years of "prog" and bad girlfriends. My favourite line: "I know all the saddest people/most of them are dead now."
[buy Get Lost]

Colonel Jefferey Pumpernickel

The "concept album" is usually a frightening thing. The very idea brings to mind bloated rock behemoths in the sagging late stages of their career, spewing mediocre music in all directions. Such an album can only be the grotesque offspring of record company largesse and stratospheric egos, right?

To my surprise and delight, someone named Chris Slusarenko decided in 2001 to put out an all-star, indie-rock "concept album" based on a what seems to be a vague outline for a story about (I think) a civil war between animals and robots fought underwater, and some colonel who may or may not be a robot, but who has some severe allergies and there's also some kind of caterpillar theme and whore/wife motif. But the music! Somehow, someone managed to convince fifteen different bands - including Guided By Voices, Stephen Malkmus, Quasi, Mary Timony, Howe Gelb, The Minus 5, Sentridoh, Grandaddy, the Black Heart Procession, and Weird War - to write songs based on the sketchy narrative, most of which are surprisingly awesome (although there are some stinkers). And the liner notes include art by Joe Sacco, Jim Woodring, Adrian Tomine, Kim Deitch, and Peter Bagge!

As a "concept album", it actually holds together better than you would expect precisely because the concept is total nonsense while, at the same time, absurdly endearing. The songs range from rocking war ballads, robot psychedelic techno (Stephen Malkmus!), to straight up guitar and voice blues. In the liner notes, Richard Meltzer sums up the results quite well.

Col. Jeff Pump... is a whale of an object -- a veritable shitload (pardon my French) of sonic 00-poo-pa-dooo w/ lyrics... 69:04, folks! That's 7:41 longer than Tommy, and only five seconds shorter than Hey Bobo! by the Wolverhampton punk duo Cretin Masturbating in a Teaspoon.

So, for the songs. These two aren't necessarily representative of the range of the album, but they are decidedly representative of the quality of the songs. Grandaddy sings of lost loves and death, Quasi of war and robots.

Quasi - Which side are you on, Colonel?

Grandaddy - L.F.O

I'm pretty sure that you can still get copies of the album at the Off Records website. I recommend that you do.

[Note: Edited for hyperbole]