Archive for 2005

A Future Uncertain, Where Anything Can Happen

Stephen Malkmus "Malediction" - There were many songs from 2005 that I related to on a lyrical level for one reason or another, but none of them quite as much as "Malediction," which touches on the major themes from my personal life over the course of the year with a rather startling degree of specificity. It's funny, who would have ever pegged Stephen Malkmus to be such an effective life coach? Face The Truth was full of lots of good advice on dealing with the mundane details of life with maturity and grace, like an indie pop self-help album without ever being remotely lame or trite. At this point, he's been my favorite songwriter for so long that it's easy for me to take his new work for granted, but it's songs like this that serve as a reminder that he's never lost the ability to make wonderful music that seems as much like the soundtrack to my inner life as he did when I was fourteen. (Click here to buy it from Matador.)

Charlotte Hatherley "Stop" - This is a song about the future, and the thrill and terror that comes from not knowing what's just ahead of you. In print, the lyrics seem obtuse and vaguely negative, but set to this enormous wall of post-grunge riffery and delivered in a dry, matter of fact tone of voice, there's an overall effect of serenity in the midst of chaos. There are plenty of good reasons to be worried about the future, but that should never be an excuse to retreat from it. The best thing about the future is that we have some degree of control over it, which is only true of the past if you're capable of changing other people's understanding of it. I have a good feeling about 2006, not just for me, but for everyone. I'm not a religious or mystical person at all, but nevertheless, this song is my little prayer for you in the coming year. (Click here to buy it from Double Dragon.)

Lee Moore "Boweavil" - If anyone should ask you who it was who gave you these songs, tell 'em it was the Fluxblog - 2005's done been here and gone! I'm no longer looking for a home, but I'm still looking for a home. (Click here to buy it from Dust-to-Digital.)

You Could Surely Try To Be More Alive

White Circle Crime Club "I'm Going To Expose You" - Aside from the bits of incoherant punky shouting, this is almost a dead ringer for Sonic Youth circa 1987, approaching the same sort of blown-out black and white sci-fi cityscape that Thurston et al evoked on Sister (aka my favorite SY album.) There's one patch in particular (from about 4:21 through 4:50 or so) that I think might actually be directly lifted from an Sonic Youth record, though I can't quite place it. (Click here to buy it from Conspiracy Records.)

Mates of State "Fraud in the '80s" - Poor Mates of State - they'd be crazy for the duo to not to perform this song live since it's probably the best song they've ever written, but if they do so, there's just no way they could pull it off without a) some major cheats with pre-recorded parts (ie, most of the arrangement) b) additional players onstage c) totally overhauling the arrangement and potentially sacrificing much of the song's appeal. But either way, there's a lot to love in this studio version, from the specific tone of the overdriven keyboards to the gorgeous self-harmonization to the verses, which sound a bit like a perky version of Mary Timony. (Click here to pre-order it from Barsuk.)

The Things You Said, Forgotten

The M's "Trucker Speed" - The first few minutes of "Trucker Speed" is impressive enough with its bustling rhythms and scorched guitar tones, but it's all just a prelude to an inspired outro in which the "winter heat" of the psychedelic fuzz duels with the "summer snow" of a melodramatic string section. I'm pretty sure that the strings win in the end. (Click here for The M's official site. Click here to buy tickets to see The M's on a bill with Rogue Wave and The New Pornographers on New Year's Eve in Chicago.)

Ms. John Soda "Nº One" - I propose an alternate title: "Can't Get 'Bull in the Heather' Out Of My Head." Well, the "Bull in the Heather" bit is a stretch, but it's a little like being in a car with a person who hasn't heard the song since it was on 120 Minutes in 1994 trying to remember how it goes while Kylie plays in the background. (Click here for the official Ms. John Soda site.)

Expose The Part Of It All

Robert Pollard "The Right Thing" - The first minute or so of "The Right Thing" is the ultimate Pollard demo castoff - a promising snippet of melody lost in a poorly recorded mess of unsure guitar playing and awful singing. If you're familiar with Pollard's extended catalog, you've most certainly come across a few of these and wanted to shout at him "FINISH THE SONG! YOU CAN SING AND PLAY BETTER THAN THIS!" And for once, he actually does, shifting into a proper full band arrangement after a solid minute of flailing for notes that aren't necessarily out of his reach. It's not the first time he's juxtaposed a raw demo and a full studio recording in the same track, but as far as I can remember, it's the most successful he's ever been at being meta about his process while also providing an interesting dynamic that suited a song. (Click here to buy it from Merge Records.)

Also: Would anyone be willing to hook me up with the Doctor Who Christmas special? I simply do not have enough space on my laptop to get it via bittorrent, and I'm very eager to see David Tennant in the role.

Is This The Yule Tide?

Pledge Drive (featuring One Of Each) "Christmas Rhapsody" - It wouldn't be Christmastime on Fluxblog without breaking out this old chestnut! This Christmas themed adaptation of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" goes a step beyond parody - it's amazingly faithful to the original recording, and performed with a straight faced earnestness and professionalism that is both admirable and totally bonkers. (Click here for the official Pledge Drive site.)

Ed Shepp "Scenes From A Life: A Lonely Christmas" - Christmas may be a lovely time for many people, but being forced to bask in the glow of other's joy and togetherness can drag less fortunate people down into the darkest depths of despair. In this clip, WMFU radio personality Ed Shepp tells the story of the most miserable Christmas of his life. (Click here for Ed Shepp's blog and here for the Ed Shepp Radio Experiment archives.)

It Makes You Forget What It Means To Be Free

Patton Oswalt "My Christmas Memory" - The best Comedian of Comedy shares a Christmas memory from his youth involving Alvin and the Chipmunks. There's really not a lot more I can say without wrecking the bit for you. However, you might want to avoid the "mash-up" version made by a fan that has recently been posted on Oswalt's site - it's overly literal and omits the funniest part of the routine, and that's all before the beats come in. Yikes. (Click here to buy it from Patton Oswalt.)

Islands "Swans (Life After Death)" - At nearly ten minutes, this song feels like it's stuck in some sort of eternal homestretch. It's restless and eager, but never quite where it wants to be as it pushes onward towards some vague horizon. Unsurprisingly, the lyrics seem to be a meditation on mortality. (Click here for the Rough Trade site.)

Born In A Manger, Humble And Low

Cotton Top Mountain Sanctified Singers "Christ Was Born On Christmas Morn" - I try not to revisit the same record too frequently, but how can I resist putting up another track from Dust To Digital's wonderful Where Will You Be Christmas Day compilation? It's a goldmine of vintage Christmas music, plain and simple. This jaunty singalong dates back to 1929, and features a charismatic lead vocal performance from Frankie "Half Pint" Jaxon, a lovely cooing backing vocal, and an inspired instrumental section played on the cornet. (Click here to buy it from Dust To Digital.)

Richard Reagh "No One Really Wants To" - This isn't Christmas music, but it's most certainly music for the winter, which officially begins today in spite of the weather being pretty damn cold for the past several weeks. Reagh captures a very specific gradation of melancholy on this track, lingering aimlessly in a zone where doubt, resignation, blankness, lethargy, and lovesickness mingle to create a general seasonal malaise. It's not a fun track, but it's very pretty. (Click here for the official Richard Reagh site.)

Vibrant But Somehow Virulent

Cadence Weapon "Vicarious" - Fluxblog kicked off 2005 with a cut from Cadence Weapon's first self-distributed mixtape, and now as the year is winding down, I've got a song from his first proper LP on the Upper Class label. Rollie's flow is as strong as ever, but the main attraction here is his broken game console production aesthetic, heavy with synths that are like the musical equivalent of bright neon lights burning holes in your retinas. (Click here to buy it from Upper Class.)

Spinvis "Ik Wil Alleen Maar Zwemmen" - This was going to get the "Video Treatment Day" treatment, but then I realized it would just be easier to leave the instructions "splice together random footage from Wes Anderson's last three movies" to get the proper result. Maybe if there was a way to scramble it all together, like have Max Fischer riding around in Eli Cash's car wearing a Team Zissou uniform or something. That'd be neat. (Click here to buy it from the Spinvis official site.)

It Feels Almost Like A Holiday

Wir Sind Helden "Nur Ein Wort" -

my problem with German pop
is that I can't sing along
the words melt into formless sounds
and no concepts emerge

to help me to enjoy this pretty song
even more than I already do
I have written these new words
as a rough phonetic guide

it is somewhat ridiculous, I know
I've already botched the meter
but it's okay, it keeps the pace
I'm allowed some poetic license

these new lyrics to the song
they help me to sing along
my silly English lyrics for a
German catchy indie pop song

this sounds like Sleeper and Nena
“99 Luftballons,” kinda
it's good for dancing, a new wave beat
it makes you sway from side to side

and in the second verse
she sounds so smitten but I read
the English translation and
and it seems that she's desperate and heartbroken

this bridge feels so familiar, I can't help but like it
Wir Sind Helden is big in Austria and Germany
not hard to understand why

with English lyrics to the song
Americans could sing along
the more I hear it, the more I love
this catchy German indie pop song

(Click here for the official Wir Sind Helden site and here to buy it from Amazon Germany.)

Morane "Living On A Traffic Island" - The summer is long gone at this point, but there is no reason to shun a perfect summery pop tune, especially when its central theme - finding tranquility in the midst of frantic movement - is particularly relevant at this time of the year. The music is perfectly suited to the lyrics, evoking easy going Brazillian pop while communicating the jittery restlessness of someone who is throughly rattled by the rush of the city. (Click here to buy it from Juno.)

Real Unprofessional, Like Them Eskimos

If you were wondering, I was in Missouri. If you're now wondering why I was in Missouri, here's at least 75% of the reason:

Kanye West @ Savvis Center, St. Louis, MO 12/14/2005
Diamonds of Sierra Leone / The New Workout Plan / Touch The Sky / Heard 'Em Say / Get 'Em High / All Falls Down / Slow Jamz / Through The Wire / Jesus Walks / Gold Digger

Kanye West "Late" - As you can see, this song was not in the setlist, but I can't imagine that any of you haven't heard the songs that were, even if you never bought the albums or listened to them intentionally.

A proper Kanye West/U2 bill surely would have drawn an interesting mix of fans, but this was a regular support slot for Kanye, announced long after tickets were sold out and as such, the audience was entirely comprised of U2 fans. Lucky for him, the people close to the stage in the ellipse area went wild for him, but the reception around the arena ran hot and cold, with many rockist jackasses booing him while he was onstage and later on, when Bono expressed how happy he was to share a stage with the guy.

The performance itself was an awkward mix of expert showmanship and good ideas not quite gelling as they should. He was backed by a DJ and a full string section, but the mix was horrible throughout the set, mainly resulting in the bass drowning out West's vocals and the more nuanced parts of the string arrangements. With only a few exceptions, the songs were played in abrupt bits and pieces, rarely with any sort of graceful ending. However, many of the songs did come off well - the string interpolation of the musical hook in "Heard 'Em Say" was gorgeous, "All Falls Down" seemed particularly well rehearsed, and "Jesus Walks" came across as the sort of arena anthem it ought to be.

The most exciting and memorable thing about this set was Kanye himself, and the sheer magnitude of his charisma. Unlike other U2 opening acts, West took full advantage of their ellipse stage design, jogging along the runway and working it just as well, if not better than Bono himself. The guy is a total natural, and definitely needs to tour more often. If he starts headlining stadiums himself, he really ought to consider stealing that ellipse concept. Really, anyone playing a room that size should. (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)

U2 @ Savvis Center, St. Louis, MO 12/14/2005
City of Blinding Lights / Vertigo / Elevation / Gloria / I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For - In A Little While / Beautiful Day / Original of the Species / Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own / Love and Peace Or Else / Sunday Bloody Sunday / Bullet the Blue Sky / Miss Sarajevo / Pride (In the Name of Love) / Where The Streets Have No Name / One // Until the End of the World / Mysterious Ways / With Or Without You /// Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of / Instant Karma / Yahweh / 40

U2 "Love and Peace Or Else (Live in Chicago 5/9/2005)" - Oh yeah, U2 played as well. This was my seventh U2 show (though two of them were not full concerts - Tibetan Freedom Concert 1997, and that show in Brooklyn from last year), and I'm pretty sure that in terms of performance, this was the best that I've seen them. Bono's voice was very on, and he took full advantage of this by going for every vocal flourish that might not be within his reach on a regular night. I was pleased to see a show with a somewhat different running order from the one I caught at Madison Square Garden back in October. I was particularly pleased to see them play "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" (which I haven't witnessed since Popmart) and "Mysterious Ways," which I've seen four times before, but this was easily the best of the five.

"Love and Peace Or Else" was far better in St. Louis than in the 10/8/2005 MSG set, as was the rest of the so-called 'heart of darkness' mini-set that also includes "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and "Bullet The Blue Sky." Though I quite enjoy "Love and Peace," this is by far the weakest part of the Vertigo tour - for one thing, these three songs in a row feels more than a little redundant on a musical level, but more than that, there are very troubling political implications in the repurposing of the latter two songs that Chris Conroy discussed in his incomplete review of the tour:

But every night, when "Sunday Bloody Sunday" begins, I check out of the concert completely...It all comes down to a lack of meaning. I feel very strongly that any and all political and social impact that the righteous idealism of "Sunday Bloody Sunday" represents has been leeched out of the song by decades of overexposure. It's been cast and recast to stand in for so many conflicts that it's just not saying anything specific about anything that matters...Shouting "This is your song now!" is even more of an insult; it's giving the audience free rein to wear the cloak of righteousness for five minutes, to pretend that they Really Care and that Violence Is Wrong, before they return to the world where it's OK to say things like "I think we should just bomb the hell out of all of 'em" and be greeted by serious nods and murmured assent. When R.E.M. say "This is your song now!" before singing "Losing My Religion," it's a different scenario; both songs are overplayed popular hits, but one is, at heart, a pop song about personal emotions, and the other is much more outward-looking and focused on something that is obviously not universal: disgust at armed conflict.

"Bullet The Blue Sky" suffers from pretty much the exact same identity crisis. It's been played on every tour since it was written, largely because the band don't have any other songs in their catalogue that will allow them to show off bruising hard-rock chops. It, too, is a profoundly anti-violent song -- it was written in disgust at how the American military was used to subjugate dissent in Central America -- but every time it gets trotted out, Bono desperately tries to make it new and relevant by pointing it at some other conflict. On the Elevation tour, he came the closest he's come to successfully making it matter again, turning it into a sharp attack on gun violence with a hammy-but-haunting riff on the murder of John Lennon by Mark Chapman. Seeing that song shoved down America's throat when it was played on the first leg of Elevation was remarkable: here was a band that actually did have the balls to say something that large segments of the audience might not like; here was a band who wrote songs that represented their ideals, and performed them with conviction. But after September 11th, the band dropped that level of interpretation from the song, and hearing it played in New York City became a disturbing experience: inside the arena, it felt like the audience was taking the song up as a battle cry, as a "we want revenge" violence fantasy, losing themselves in the brutality of the music and not in its lyrics of condemnation for the exercise of force.

On the Vertigo tour, "Bullet The Blue Sky" has become spectacularly muddled. It's obviously impossible to sing a song about the American military abroad in this climate without having that song be about the Iraq war, and Bono knows it; he's been incorporating "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" into the lyric, and suddenly the song becomes bizarrely, schizophrenically, pro-soldier -- at last night's show, Bono quite literally dedicated the song to "the brave men and women of the United States Military." How are we supposed to take that? Obviously conflicts like the Iraq war can produce a difficult line to straddle -- it's virtually impossible to respect what the soldiers are being required to do, but it's impossible not to respect the impulse to serve one's country in the name of idealism. A song about hating the sin but loving the sinner could definitely be a rich gold mine for the band to explore, but "Bullet The Blue Sky" is not that song. "Bullet The Blue Sky" is a song of condemnation, of outrage. How the hell are we to take this confused, empty version?

I definitely agree with Chris on this score, and came into the show on Wednesday night with some strong bias against this segment, but at least this time around it didn't feel as though the band was sleepwalking through "Bullet the Blue Sky" - it actually did have some power to it. This doesn't change the fact that I'd very much like to never see the song played live again in my life. (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)