Archive for November, 2004

I Want The World And I Want It Now - Can That Be Arranged For Me Somehow?

Kiiiii! "Brown Girl In The Ring" - This is a peculiar and mesmerizing adaptation of an old Jamaican folk song best known outside of folk circles for being covered by Boney M. Strangely, I did not notice that there were no other sounds aside from vocals and percussion in this song until at least the sixth time that I heard it. I know very little about Kiiiiii!, other than that they are two women from Japan who, according to their website, love Michael Jackson, Queen, Rage Against The Machine, Neu!, Rocko's Modern Life, cosmetic products, spaghetti, and the Olsen twins. (Click here to visit the official Kiiiiii! website.)

Maxi Geil & Playcolt @ Joe's Pub 11/29/2004
Here Comes Maxi.../ A Message To My Audience / Teenage Extreme / Strange Sensation / That's How The Story... / Sunday Morning / Paying For Something New / The Love I Lose / Artist's Lament / Please Remember Me // Saturday Night

Maxi Geil & Playcolt "Please Remember Me" - Maxi Geil and Playcolt should not be playing in small rooms to audiences made up mainly of friends and acquintances. It's a great privilege to see them in that context, but it's not at all appropriate. In a better world, they would be headlining one of those huge European festivals that seem to draw out one third of the population of whatever country is hosting the show. They should be in arenas. Or at least the Hammerstein Ballroom.

Guy Richards Smit is a natural performer, with a stage presence that falls somewhere on the rock star spectrum between David Byrne and Jarvis Cocker, with a bit of post-Monster Michael Stipe spazzy dancing thrown in for good measure. I never made the connection to David Byrne and the Talking Heads before seeing the band live, but they are an obvious antecedent in the sense that both Smit and Byrne are very successful in presenting art world ideas in the context of pop music rather than just being another inaccessable "arty" band.

This is a world-class pop band, and I find it endlessly frustrating that they end up consigned to the art world ghetto while far less engaging indie rock artists (have a guess) get all the attention and praise. I'm very bitter about this. Fuck you, emo world. You don't know what you are missing. (Click here to buy it from the official Maxi Geil website. Click here for my interview with Guy Richards Smit aka Maxi Geil.)

Oh My God, You Can Change!

Gwen Stefani "Luxurious" - It's probably not a coincidence that every negative review of Love Angel Music Baby that I've read has been written by a man. Though they never come out and actually say it, I think that the major problem that people have with this record is that it is intensely girly in a way that most people are conditioned to distrust. The music itself is a rockist's nightmare; a collection of bright, shiny songs produced by big name producers, heavy on slow jams and dance pop. The album's lyrics are fixated on money, high fashion, and the accoutrements of vast wealth to a degree rarely found outside of hip hop and contemporary r&b.

In other words, Gwen Stefani is playing the Veronica/Cordelia Chase role, whereas most music critics (who are predominately dorky whitebread Archie/Xander Harris types) would very much prefer their pop stars to be more like Betty or Willow Rosenberg - outwardly insecure, working class, girl-next-door types who are non-threatening, nerdy, and maybe just a little bit gay. Invariably, we are led to think of the Cordys and the Veronicas of the world as being nothing more than vain and shallow, and we write off their assertive, forthright nature as being just a by-product of their flaws. Ultimately we dislike the Cordy/Veronica type not because of their faults but for how they make us feel - insecure, inadequate, emasculated. We fear their judgement, so we shut them out of our lives as a preemptive strike.

The thing is, if you pay attention to the lyrics on the album, and on "Luxurious" in particular, it's pretty clear that Gwen is a Willow/Betty type in Cordy/Veronica drag. She may be seduced by luxury and couture, but she never seems as though she feels entitled to those things. This record is just as much about high-end living as it is about the work ethic required for working class girls to attain (and maintain) that privilege. There's a lot of rationalization going on here - she justifies this lifestyle as being the "payback" for "working so hard." She has to convince herself that she deserves this. This is a song about wealth from the perspective of someone who is accutely aware of the price of everything in the room.

It's notable that "Luxurious" has the audacity to be built around a sample from the Isley Brothers' "Between The Sheets," the basis for the Notorious B.I.G.'s "Big Poppa," a song which has become musical shorthand for nouveau-riche pop star decadence. The ubiquity of the sample is not an accident - she's deliberately using both of those songs as a reference point, almost as though they are the soundtrack to her song rather than the accompaniment.

Honestly, I'm not sure why I'm so surprised by a lot of the negative reaction to this album. I'm pretty familiar with the biases of most critics, and this record seems as though it was designed to aggravate most of them. I'm most amused by David Browne's review in Entertainment Weekly, in which he compares the album to a "magalog you can dance to" (yeah, cos fashion is for yucky girls and dancing is ewwww gross) and launches into a bizarre diatribe against the 80s:


Travis Morrison "Change" - Poor Travis Morrison. The dude goes out and makes the best record of his career by a million miles (let's face it, the Dismemberment Plan weren't that hot aside from "A Life Of Possibilities," "Memory Machine," "Sentimental Man," and "Ellen & Ben"), and he ends up stuck with the typical "how dare you break up my favorite indie rock band and go solo!" backlash and a 0.0 review from Pitchfork. But really, any 0.0 review from Pitchfork should be worn as a badge of honor - if you can inspire that kind of reactionary bile from the indie orthodoxy, you clearly must be doing something interesting. In Morrison's case, he a) got poppier b) got funnier and c) became more political without becoming strident or abstract. His lyrics have a conversational, personal-essay quality which I find very entertaining and engaging (it almost seems like a good blog set to music), but I suspect that is the root of most of the haters' disdain.

The common complaint about Travistan is that it's indulgent, but I don't think that's really the problem. It's more that these songs aren't necessarily intended to last forever - many of them are highly specific, and no doubt, this record will sound very dated in a decade or so. But who cares? Too many people are hung up on music being timeless, when the records which belong to a specific time and place end up being more fascinating down the road. Music is not like consumer goods. You might buy a washing machine with the hope that it will last for a very long time, but it's misguided to think that art should be the same way. Art and music is all about communication and pleasure, and it's important to accept that those things can be very ephemeral. That said, these songs aren't going to stop being catchy. Most of the ideas and opinions expressed of this record aren't ever going to stop being valid. "Change" is never going to stop being good advice. (Click here to buy it from Insound.)

Also: Maxi Geil is playing a show tonight at Joe's Pub in Manhattan. Highly recommended. It's only $10 at the door, so if you don't have plans, you really ought to come out for this.

I'm Just A Shot Away From You

For those of you who were interested, this is what I played last night. We had to change the schedule at the last minute, so I ended up playing one long set instead of two shorter sets.

Annie "Chewing Gum" / Lo Fi FNK "Unighted" / Futon "Gay Boy" / Plus-Tech Squeeze Box "The Martin Show!!" / Superthriller "Ahjustwannadance" / Cristina "What's A Girl To Do?" / Cousin Cole "Yeah Me Out" / The Knife "Heartbeats" / Fox "Sssingle Bed"/M.I.A. "URAQT (Diplo Mix)"/ Fox & Wolf "Youth Alcoholic" / United State Of Electronica "La Discoteca" / The Go Team "The Power Is On" / Kylie & Scissor Sisters "I Know" / Johnny Boy "You Are The Generation...(remix)" / Morningwood "Take Off Your Clothes" / Erasure "Stop" / David Wrench "World War IV" / Mousse T "Is It Cos I'm Cool?" / X-Wife "Rockin' Rio" / Dizzee Rascal "Stand Up Tall" / Plastic Operator "Folder" / ESG "My Love For You" / Puffy "Asia No Junshin (Malcolm McLaren mix)" / Smash TV "Queen Of Man" / Bugz In The Attic "Booty (La La)" / Ce'cile "Hot Like We" / Freeform Five "Electromagnetic" / Heloise & The Savoir Faire Dancers "Odyle" / Gene Serene "Electric Dreams" / Girls Aloud "Love Machine" / Primal Scream "Shoot Speed/Kill Lights"

It was a pretty good crowd given that it was a weekday night just before a major holiday. I totally understand why a lot of folks couldn't make it out - hopefully I can get some kind of full-on dance party/event going in the near future that will work out for everyone. (If you've got something in mind, please send me an email.) Thanks to everyone who came out, I really appreciate it.

Cousin Cole "Yeah Me Out" - In case you were wondering what this was on the playlist, it's the year's biggest crunk-pop and dance-rock hits fused together far more seamlessly than one might reasonably expect. You know which songs I'm talking about. I don't need to spell this out for you. I only feel lukewarm about these songs individually, but hearing them both weave in and out of one another and merge together is a bit of a thrill. (Click here to visit Cousin Cole's website.)

There will be no post tomorrow, since it will be Thanksgiving here in the United States. There might be something on Friday, but I'm not sure. Things will definitely be back to normal on Monday. It's been a busy week, and I haven't had a lot of time to go through the new records that I have or seek out anything new. I hope that you understand. Enjoy your turkey/tofurkey/frantic Christmas shopping.

Oh You Look So Beautiful Tonight



10:00 Stereogum
11:00 Fluxblog (pop set)
12:00 Stereogum
1:15 Fluxblog (disco meltdown)

U2 @ Empire Fulton Ferry State Park, Brooklyn 11/22/2004

Vertigo / All Because Of You / Miracle Drug / Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own / City Of Blinding Lights / Original Of The Species / She's A Mystery To Me / Beautiful Day / I Will Follow // Out Of Control / Vertigo

For a full, detailed review of the show, I recommend checking out Chris Conroy's post on U2log. (For photos, you should check out Brooklyn Vegan.) It was quite a spectacle, and most definitely worth the four hour wait. It was great to be within 20 feet of the stage at a U2 show for a change, and even better to be surrounded by highly enthusiastic U2 fanatics. Normally, I end up in the cheap seats next to the bored 40somethings who clap for "Pride" and "Where The Streets Have No Name" and run off for hot dogs and beer through the rest of the set.

Also: Fiery Furnaces fans should note that Eppy has posted his analyses of "Chief Inspector Blancheflower" and "Spaniolated."

I Thought Something Good Could Be Starting

The Blow "Hey Boy" - This would be a #1 single in an alternate universe where Olympia, Washington is the center of the R&B universe. (Which, I imagine, might be some people's idea of hell on earth, and I'm not inclined to disagree.) Still, this is a lovely twee pop song set to a drum track which I think is meant to imply a spare Neptunes beat or something like that Lumidee hit from last year, though it actually ends up sounding a bit more dated than that. I'd hate to sound as though I'm damning this tune with faint praise - I really do love this song. (Click here to buy it from K Records.)

White Hole "Piano Again" - Video treatment: A clunky, Star Wars droid-like robot sits at a piano, playing the keys with its spindly little robot appendages and "singing" the lead synth line. Other robots join in, playing the other parts as they enter the arrangement. Ideally, these would be real robots, very similar to the Captured By Robots! set up. (Click here to buy it from Kitty-Yo.)

X-Wife @ Rothko 11/19/2004

The Sound of You / New Old City / Fall / Hot Shot / Eno / Second Best / Feel Connected / Clinic / Action Plan / Taking Control

If you're in the NYC area and didn't see X-Wife this weekend, you really missed out. I caught the set at Rothko on Friday, and they were extremely impressive, playing to a small crowd of thirty as though they were rocking Madison Square Garden. They played almost everything from the album (though no "Rockin' Rio," since they were missing the keyboard for that number) plus a few very promising new songs. They have one last show in NYC before they head back to Portugal - Wednesday at Piano's at 7:30. You won't regret it.

Big Word Girls With Secret Codes

Haunted House "Dramatic Beachouse" - Have you ever been right next to someone listening to music on very loud headphones, and the sound bleeds out so that you can hear the music, but only the high end is audible? For some strange reason, Haunted House recorded their entire album to sound a bit like that; obscuring their catchy, jaunty little songs by turning the treble waaaaaaaay up and nearly eliminating the bass altogether. It's a bit offputting, but the results have a unique charm. The record reminds me a bit of Andrew WK and his attempts to make all of the sounds on his records seem as though they are all coming from a single source rather than a variety of instruments. There's a similar intensity and focus here, as well as a shared love of rapid-attack piano plinking. (Click here to buy it from Adonis Music.)

Elsewhere: In today's Utopia Burns column on Stylus Magazine's Stypod blog, Todd Burns takes an Ira Glass-esque approach to mp3 blogging - he talks over the songs, commenting on the sounds as they happen. It's a pretty intriguing experiment, and I think he kinda pulls it off. It's a bit like sitting in on a very cool college lecture.

Also Elsewhere: Please don't sleep on The International House Of Pussy. Anfunny is one of my top tipsters, directly responsible for hooking me up with some of the very best songs that have appeared on this site in 2004. At the moment, he has assembled a compilation of rare disco and pop songs from the late 70s and early 80s, including some excellent tracks by Noel, Brix Smith, and Miss Piggy, plus a Cristina song that I've been obsessed with for the past two weeks.

Not Buildings And Numbers

Klang "Help Is On It's Way" - Video treatment: The screen starts out entirely white. Soon we realize that the camera is scanning over a field of snow, gradually revealing more detail and visual elements as the moments pass. Time moves rapidly, though the images barely change, though more elements are introduced as the film progresses (trees, houses, people - all from a distance.) The light dims as the day passes, and as the video concludes, it is night. (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)

Eugene Mirman "Fleet" - It's a bit difficult to set up a comedy routine in the same way that I would write about a song. I don't want to give away any of the jokes, or explain to you why you should think it's funny. Comedy doesn't really work that way. In this bit from his new cd/dvd, Eugene Mirman tells a story about being fucked over by Fleet bank, complete with a recording of his conversation with a Fleet representative and his angry, absurd letter in response. There's something about Mirman's voice and inflections that I really love, especially when he sounds mock-incredulous and accusatory. (Click here to buy it from Suicide Squeeze.)

Also: If any of you can either a) fix one of the old Livejournal feeds so that it now syndicates from http://www.fluxblog.org/atom.xml or b) set up a brand new one, please let me know.

And: Just an FYI, but it's profoundly uncool to leave a message in my comments box claiming that a friend of mine has died suddenly when they have not. That's just tasteless and cruel. Seriously, "Chad": Fuck off.

I'm Fascinated By Your Rhythm

Portobella "Vive La Difference" - Much like "Some Girls" and "Heartbeats," this song occupies the the middle distance between the arena and the dancefloor, combining a solid groove and an anthemic chorus so irresistable that it nearly overloads your pleasure centers. There have been a lot of bands that have attempted to pull off a song like this, but I think that Portobella absolutely nails it. Though this does not officially come out until 2005, this is definitely one of my favorite songs of the year. (Click here to visit the official Portobella site.)

Stephen Malkmus "Malediction (live in Buenos Aires, 10/23/2004)" - As another Malkmus album cycle begins, Fluxblog shall inevitably become a part-time Jicks fansite. I can't help it. This selection is taken from SM's recent solo (ie, no Jicks) show in Buenos Aires where he debuted a few new Jicks songs in addition to playing at least one song from every LP he's ever made. (Westing doesn't count, it's a compilation.) "Malediction" is apparently a lock for the forthcoming album, and that's a good thing. Like the best latter-day Malkmus material, it has a gentle, relaxed melody and surprisingly straightforward lyrics. I'm not entirely clear whether this song is being addressed to himself or another person, but either way, there's some good advice in these lyrics. Maybe this is going to be his "motivational speaker" album.

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We're On A Mission To Rock And Roll

Justus Boyz "Uh-Oh" - In a lot of ways, all the context you really need for this song is supplied by the cover of the Justus Boyz album. This is camp, but it's very earnest camp. This is synthpop so light and fey that it makes Erasure seem like a bunch of street thugs. This may end up being your "guilty pleasure," but I am unashamed., and neither are the Justus Boyz. It takes some real courage and conviction to make music like this when virtually everyone is conditioned to think of this kind of pop as being painfully uncool, and your target demo doesn't even know who you are because you don't have Girls Aloud or Justin Timberlake's promotional budget. (Click here to buy it from Amazon. Click here to read an interview with the Justus Boyz on Arjan Writes.)

X-Wife "Rockin' Rio" - After months of waiting, X-Wife is finally making its live American debut in NYC this weekend, playing shows at Rothko on Friday and Sin-E on Sunday. It should be very interesting to see how they pull off their live show, given that they get a pretty huge playing-to-the-cheap-seats sound on record without the benefit of a live drummer. Feeding The Machine is easily one of the best, most slept-on rock records of the year, and hopefully these NYC shows will attract enough attention to at least get a domestic release for the album. (Click here to buy it from the official X-Wife site.)

I Guess Intuition Has Spoken

Freaks "The Creeps (You Are Giving Me)" - That's a pretty accurate title for this song. Lyrically, the song seems to be about being stalked, but even if it was an instrumental, the title would work given the eerie, somewhat pervy electro-funk sound of the track. If you're not immediately into this song, I'd recommend giving it a few more chances - I didn't realize how much I liked this song until the fifth time that I heard it. (Click here to buy it from Amazon UK.)

Detroit Cobras "Mean Man" - Maybe it's a reaction to the overabundance of scuzzy faux-garage rockers who've copped their shtick in the past few years, or it could be the logical arc of their career, but either way, hats off to The Detroit Cobras for adding several coats of poppy gloss to their new album. It suits them well. Lo-fi Nuggets wannabes are a dime a dozen, but there aren't nearly enough bands that sound like The Pretenders fucking the J Geils Band. (Click here to buy it from Rough Trade.)

Ol' Dirty Bastard "Brooklyn Zoo (live in San Bernardino, 2004)" - John has already said just about everything that I wanted to say about Ol' Dirty Bastard over at The Tofu Hut with a greater eloquence than I could probably pull off, so I'm going to keep this brief. A lot of people throw around the word "genius," but I think that ODB actually was one. There has never been another performer even remotely like him in any genre, and I don't think that it could be possible to replicate his unique style, charisma, and skills. I think that there are a lot of casual listeners who have written him off as a ridiculous cartoon character, but anyone who has ever seriously listened to his music and lyrics would be keenly aware of the strange, compelling mixture of rage, desperation, wit, intelligence, uninhibited lust, and madness that informed all of his recorded work. ODB was clearly and unfortunately mentally ill, but that insanity was key to his art - at his most unhinged, we could see a reflection of the creepiest, darkest corners of our ids. He revelled in the stuff that we all attempt to keep hidden. For a person who spent a sizeable chunk of his life locked away, ODB was a very free man.

This recording of "Brooklyn Zoo" is from Ol' Dirty Bastard's final live performance with the Wu-Tang Clan earlier this year, which is now available on cd and dvd. He spent most of the show calmly sitting on top of a monitor sipping from a water bottle, looking very serene and childlike until he'd get up and instantly shift into full-on ODB mode to drop a verse or engage in some bizarre stage banter. He was there in the moment, but he seemed removed and aloof. Maybe he was drugged. Maybe he was tired. Maybe that's what he was like all of the time. (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)