Archive for 2007

Misha “Crystal In Love” – It’s a bit counter-intuitive, but it seems like falsetto vocals have been slowly colonized by a macho yet passive-aggressive element — your Chris Martins, your Dave Matthews — and as a result, it has become a signifier of THE NARCISSISTIC HURT THAT DUDES FEEL. It doesn’t exactly ruin the technique across the board — it’s not exactly difficult to differentiate the merits of Keane and Radiohead, you know? — but it does make me a bit suspicious of young guys who adopt the style.

Misha’s John Chao stays within my personal falsetto comfort zone on this song: Drag camp, disco glamor, ethereal crooning, and R&B affectation. When the chorus kicks in, Chao sounds as though he’s trying to transform himself into a woman through sheer force of will. Not just any woman, mind you: I think he’s specifically attempting to morph into Alison Goldfrapp! (Click here to pre-order it from Amazon.)

Karl Blau “Kill The Messenger” – Karl Blau’s latest project sets the lyrics of his former D+ bandmate Bret Lunsford to radically new arrangements, but to be honest, I can’t really appreciate whatever changes were made since I’ve only ever heard maybe three D+ songs tops, and only one of them appears on Blau’s record. I mean, it’s obvious enough — D+ was essentially a rock band, and the sound of Dance Positive is heavily indebted to funk and reggae. The way he altered his ex-partner’s songs is ultimately irrelevant to my enjoyment of the record, which mostly comes from its understated vocals, super mellow grooves, and the way the album’s slightly washed-out production leaves its bottom end feeling exceptionally cozy and warm. (Click here to buy it from Marriage Records.)

Elsewhere: Do you like broccoli? Do you like cool British cartoonists? How about t-shirts? If you said “yes” to all three questions, or even just the first and third, you ought to head over to Threadless and vote for this t-shirt designed by my pal John Cei Douglas.

Ulrich Schnauss “Stars” – When I studied photography in college, I would often think of music in photographic terms, and vice versa. That said, I don’t remember ever relating depth of field to musical composition, which is actually sorta funny given how many artists intentionally simulate that sensation in their recorded work. Ulrich Schnauss’ “Stars” is an exaggerated example of this. All of the elements in its arrangement seem to be miles apart, with some sounds deliberately foregrounded while others are out of focus and blurred. The song implies a staggering scale, and plays out like the musical equivalent of a widescreen panorama. (Click here to pre-order it from Boomkat.)

Elsewhere: My new Hit Refresh column is up on the ASAP site with mp3s from Lavender Diamond, Marnie Stern, and Gui Boratto.

Also: In the wake of my R.E.M. project, a new wave of music blogs are focusing on writing about every song in a single artist’s discography. So far we’ve got Hyper-Ballads (Björk), Emotional Karaoke (Mountain Goats), More Words About Music and Songs (Talking Heads), My Impression Now (Guided By Voices), Fragments of a Cale Season (John Cale), Too Many Words, Too Many Words (Low), I Got A Message For You (Robyn Hitchcock), More Than Ten (Pearl Jam), and Fridgebuzz, which is the first of what I assume will be at least 15 blogs dissecting the Radiohead catalog.

And: Which celebrity, who recently made the cover of People’s 100 Most Beautiful People, likes to remind you of that fact while you’re having sex with her?

Wilco “Walken” – Despite the fact that Wilco has always been a vehicle for Jeff Tweedy’s songs and that the new record is apparently more of a collaborative effort than the band’s last two albums, more of Sky Blue Sky has a distinct solo-album vibe. It’s mellow, quiet, and a lot of the songs seem to be deliberately minor in comparison to the far more ambitious material on Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and A Ghost Is Born. This isn’t a crippling problem — at least half of the tracks are low-key gems that show of the band’s skill at building songs around inspired guitar solos — but it most certainly makes Sky Blue Sky the sort of record that needs a follow-up to provide the listener with a sense of context and direction. Is it a detour, or a new direction? It’s hard to say.

I’ve been meaning to write about “Walken” since it first popped up as a solo acoustic recording a year or so back. I’m glad that I held out for a studio recording. The full band arrangement highlights rather than crowds out Tweedy’s seemingly effortless melodies, and the production is light, sunny, and has a great bounce to its beat. Even though he’s built his reputation on crushingly sad songs, Tweedy really shines on the numbers that express a hesitant enthusiasm for love — “I’m Always In Love” and “I’m The Man Who Loves” you are the obvious precursors, but “Walken” is far less neurotic and more matter-of-fact. It’s not a song for new love, or troubled love, or a dying love. It’s for the people who’ve been together for ages, and keep remembering why their relationship works. I don’t know if the love expressed is unconditional, but it’s certainly not something that’s going to fade away any time soon. (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)

Elsewhere: Gilmore Girls ended its seven season run last night, and I’m not going to lie to you — I got a little teary at the end. Here’s a brief article for the Associated Press about the end of the series that I filed two weeks ago. It was written very quickly on short notice and it’s not everything I wish it could’ve been, but it’s nice enough. I’m not really sure why I started watching the show — I kinda stumbled into the first episode by chance, and I suspect that I only stuck with it because Lauren Graham is super hot, but man, I am so glad that I did. Even if the first half of its final seasom was very painful to watch, Gilmore Girls is one of my all-time favorite television programs and I’m going to miss it a lot.

Also: Stosh “Piz” Piznarski has his first album review up on Pitchfork today.

LCD Soundsystem @ Webster Hall 5/14/2007
Us V Them / Daft Punk Is Playing At My House / Time To Get Away / North American Scum / All My Friends / Get Innocuous! / Tribulations / Movement / Yeah // Someone Great / Watch The Tapes / New York, I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down

LCD Soundsystem “Get Innocuous!” – I’ve seen a lot of good live acts since 1995, but very few of them are in the same league as LCD Soundsystem. This was certainly the best show I’ve seen the band play — from start to finish, just relentless perfection. I’m afraid that I’m still too overwhelmed to describe it in any useful, thoughtful way.

I can tell you that last night’s performances of “North American Scum” and “Yeah” immediately rank among the most completely thrilling concert experiences of my life. I was totally lost within those songs. I felt totally alive.

I can tell you that my appreciation of “Time To Get Away” and “Watch The Tapes” has skyrocketed after having seen them played live. They both seem kinda minor on the album alongside the big epics, but they shine in the context of a concert.

I can tell you that even though “All My Friends” and “Someone Great” may be two of the most sublime songs to be released in this decade, the show was so excellent that they could’ve skipped them both and it wouldn’t have mattered very much.

I can tell you that LCD Soundsystem fans, or at least the ones in the front half of the room, are total fucking maniacs and I love them for it.

I can tell you that James Murphy has become a very good singer; he’s really put in the work. He has developed this great, controlled charisma — he’s not hamming it up, but he’s definitely putting on a show. The entire group is like that too; they hit this very rare sweet spot between session-player precision and “band of friends” comradery.

I can tell you that whenever my mind wandered (which was very rare), I just kept thinking “Why can’t this be normal? Why can’t everyone bring it like this? How long will it take before people start to learn from James Murphy and his bandmates?” At first I thought Nancy Whang’s vocal hook in “Get Innocuous!” was sarcastic, but maybe it’s actually a challenge to other musicians: “We can normalize / don’t it make you feel alive?” (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)

Yacht “Platinum” – Yacht was the opening act, and he put on a fun, silly show that actually gained something from earning the intense disdain of some of the macho jock types in the room. My friend kinda nailed it: Yacht is like Andrew WK if he was from Portland and never heard a guitar, went to the gym, or ate meat. (I don’t know whether or not Yacht eats meat, but he totally seems like a vegan to me.) He’s all about the good vibes and encouraging self-improvement via self-belief (“if you say it out loud, you can make it happen”), and the music is mostly cute and catchy even when he’s overworking his smirk or seeming as though he’s just setting passages from The Secret to fake Timbaland beats. (Click here to buy it from Marriage Records.)

Sloan @ Southpaw 5/11/2007
Flying High Again / Who Taught You To Live Like That? / Someone I Can Be True With / Ill Placed Trust / G Turns To D / The Lines You Amend / Fading Into Obscurity / Golden Eyes / Love Is All Around / Living With The Masses / HFXNSHC / Blackout / Money City Maniacs / Don’t You Believe A Word / Set In Motion / I Understand / You Know What it’s About / Chester The Molester / I Can’t Sleep / People Of The Sky / Something’s Wrong / I Gotta Try / Everything You’ve Done Wrong / Before The End Of The Race / Ana Lucia / The Good In Everyone / Another Way I Could Do It // Deeper Than Beauty / 500 Up / She Says What She Means

Sloan “Someone I Can Be True With” / “Right Or Wrong” / “Something’s Wrong” – When I saw Sloan play here in January, I left wondering what it was about their set that felt so familiar and comforting, and I think I figured it out on Friday night: A Sloan gig is essentially the same as a Guided By Voices gig, but without the cult of personality, fewer songs, a more competent band, and a bit less over-the-top drunkenness on and off the stage. Okay, that’s actually a lot of differences, but the key similarity is that they are/were both groups comprised of down-to-earth indie rock lifers who want nothing more than to play a marathon of super catchy tunes for an audience eager to sing along, bop around to the upbeat numbers, and buy into the band’s underdog mythology. (Click here to buy it from Yep Roc.)

Sloan “Money City Maniacs” – Whereas GBV always had the “these songs should be hits, man!” thing going for them, Sloan borrows a page from American Britpop appreciation by having loads of actual hits….in Canada. Whenever the band launches into one of their old singles, the audience flips out as if they are collectively attempting to will “Money City Maniacs” and “The Lines You Amend” into retroactive American smashes. But nope, sorry, we never had a rock radio hit in 1998 with a chorus as maddeningly catchy as “and the joke is / when he awoke his / body was covered / in coke fizz.” Maybe that was for the better, though — I’m not kidding when I say “maddening,” “Money City Maniacs” will get stuck in your head for hours days weeks months LIFE. (Click here to buy Navy Blues used (it’s currently out of print in the US), or here to buy the singles collection A-Sides Win, both via Amazon. I recommend Navy Blues.)

Elsewhere: Chris Conroy has created the very best LOLCorgs on the internet.

Differnet “Patterns of Parklands” – Most of the tension in Differnet’s new single comes from the way it seems to continuously rise up as the world bears down upon it — the sky is falling, the ceiling is collapsing, the foot of God is stomping down upon our heads. Is this a feeling of defiance, or is it just rushing into doom? There’s a distinct sci-fi aesthetic in this track, and so it also feels a bit like being buried alive in the debris of some futuristic super-city. (Click here to buy it from Beatport.)

Elsewhere: My new Hit Refresh column is up on the ASAP site with mp3s from Sarolta Zalatnay, The Hellers, and the Hide And Seek compilation.

Also: Bryan Charles on Gwen Stefani’s “The Sweet Escape,” Mike Barthel on Ugly Betty, the Hamburglar, West Side Story, and other stuff, Andrew WK is nuts/loves nuts, and um, here’s a bunch of guys listening to Pretty Ricky and humping…something…but DEFINITELY NOT EACH OTHER.

I did something with Björk‘s new album Volta that I haven’t done in a long time: I didn’t download a leaked copy or receive an advance cd, and I bought it the day it came out in a record store. I did that for three reasons:

1) Novelty and nostalgia. I still buy cds here and there, but it’s been quite a while since I purchased one without being extremely well acquainted with its contents. In fact, Björk’s 2001 album Vespertine was among the last that I experienced without knowing exactly what I was getting into. I suspect that my disappointment with that record had a lot to do with feeling burned by my monetary investment — for the longest time, I only really liked “Hidden Place,” “Unison,” and “Cocoon,” but I’ve recently discovered that I do enjoy at least three or four others from that album, and hey, Medulla isn’t so bad either. It’s my fault, really — I was being arrogant and stubborn, and I made no effort to meet her halfway when it became clear that she wasn’t going to give me exactly what I wanted.

2) It didn’t leak in full until very late in the game. I can hold out for a couple weeks, but ultimately, my will is not very strong.

3) I was thoroughly wowed by the songs I heard in advance of its release. Since I wasn’t very into Medulla or Vespertine, my expectations were fairly low — all I was hope for was at least a couple good upbeat dancey numbers. My wish was granted immediately: “Earth Intruders” rekindled my faith in her and prompted me to reexamine the previous two albums, and “Innocence” surpassed my wildest dreams by being more or less EXACTLY what I’ve been wanting from her for all this time. “Wanderlust” didn’t leave a strong first impression when I saw her perform it on Saturday Night Live, but the youtube clip of the aggressive electro-punk number “Declare Independence” from Coachella kinda blew my mind.

Now that I have the record and have been listening to it for a couple days, I’m fairly certain that those are the four best cuts on Volta, but I’m not at all disappointed about that. How could I be? Those four songs are brilliant, and some of the best material that anyone has released this year. The other selections aren’t bad, either — “Vertebrae By Vertebrae” and “I Know Who You Are” have their charm, and I’m learning to appreciate “The Dull Flame Of Desire” and “My Juvenile” despite the mildly aggravating presence of Antony Hegarty. Volta may not be on the same level of consistent greatness as Debut, Post, or Homogenic, but it’s a strong piece of work, and a welcome return to eclecticism after two albums that were weakened somewhat by their adherence to gimmicky high concepts.

Björk “Innocence” – As I mentioned earlier, “Innocence” is the song I’ve been wanting from Björk for a long time now, and I suppose what I mean is that musically and lyrically, it is basically the third part of a trilogy which also includes my two favorite tracks in her discography, “Big Time Sensuality” and “Alarm Call.” This is the Björk that I love the most: Upbeat, courageous, optimistic, and in full control of her neuroses. “Big Time Sensuality” confronts the future with enthusiasm, “Alarm Call” is defiantly unafraid of the world and its inhabitants, and “Innocence” conquers fear by embracing its thrill. The message is essentially the same in each song, but her authority increases as she goes along — “Big Time Sensuality” is a youthful song about faith and risk, and “Innocence” has the perspective to understand the mechanics of overcoming anxiety. Whereas her declarations in “Alarm Call” seem like surprising self-revelations, her words in “Innocence” seem directed outside of herself, as a bit of advice for the listener. It’s Björk in life coach mode: “neurosis only attaches itself to fertile ground where it can flourish;” “fear is a powerful drug — overcome it and you think you can do anything!;” “fear of losing energy is draining.” The best thing is that she’s absolutely correct, and though she is extraordinarily hopeful in her encouragement, she doesn’t lose sight of the immense difficulty and painful work involved in fighting our worst impulses. (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)

Scout Niblett “Dinosaur Egg” – The most consistently inspired and entertaining part of DC Comics’ otherwise erratic weekly series 52 was a subplot written by Grant Morrison in which most of the mad scientists in the DC Universe are held captive on Oolong Island by the enormous egg-shaped “mutant flesh machine” Chang Tzu. They aren’t exactly prisoners — it’s an island paradise, and they are all “given an unlimited budget and encouraged to let their imaginations run wild on the finest mind-expanding narcotics available to man.” The scientists are, as another character describes them, “groping, stumbling, self-conscious man-boys…autistic midget savants.” They aren’t exactly evil, but they are all twisted by their enormous egos and total lack of social grace.

Scout Niblett’s “Dinosaur Egg” sounds as though it is being sung from the perspective of one of these cowardly, emotionally damaged creeps. Niblett’s character impatiently demands a dinosaur egg to hatch, bosses around her robot slave, and calls upon a “tortured spirit” to help her frighten her guests at some sort of bizarre social gathering. (I kinda get the impression that the “guests” will all be there under duress.) The music is stark and fragile like an old school Cat Power tune, and Niblett manages to express her character’s petulance, insecurity, and impotent rage in a way that’s at least somewhat sympathetic. (Click here to buy it from Amazon UK.)

Gui Boratto “Beautiful Life” – This is another fine example of a song with lyrics that simply offer a subtitle for the feeling expressed by the music — “what a beautiful life, what a beautiful life, what a beautiful life.” Boratto’s track simulates and stimulates a state of calm bliss that feels almost unnatural. The beat snaps with just enough aggression to trigger physical movement, but it mostly just guides us through a succession of keyboard hooks that wash over the listener like cool waves of pleasure. (Click here to buy it from Amp Camp.)

Arcade Fire @ United Palace, 5/7/2007
Black Mirror / No Cars Go / Laika / Haiti / Black Wave/Bad Vibrations / Neon Bible / Windowsill / The Well & The Lighthouse / Ocean Of Noise / Keep The Car Running / Antichrist Television Blues / Power Out / Rebellion (Lies) // Tunnels / Intervention

I’m not crazy about the United Palace. For one thing, the acoustics leave a lot to be desired, and the band was never loud enough. I realize that the volume thing may be an Arcade Fire issue — they have a bazillion instruments going all at once, and the sound people are clearly making an effort to balance it out so that the more delicate instruments can be heard with some detail. Sarah Neufeld may disagree with me on this, but I think that’s ultimately a bad idea. At least half of the reason why we go to see live shows is to hear the music really loud, so that we can FEEL the music vibrate through our bodies and enjoy a physical sensation that we can’t get from playing the records at home unless we happen to have extremely forgiving and/or passive neighbors. The mix and the acoustics of the room flattered slow, quiet numbers like “Neon Bible” and “Ocean of Noise,” but the majority of the set focused on the driving, enormous rock songs that are the band’s specialty, and something was lost.

Maybe it was because I was so far in the back? My other issue with the United Palace is that I resent the fact that I bought my tickets within 40 seconds of them being put on sale, and yet I was still stuck in the last row of the highest balcony, and the people who bought the tickets released on the day of show got to be in the front. How on earth is that fair to anyone? Shouldn’t the worst seats be reserved for the day-of-show tickets?

The venue is surprisingly large, relatively well managed, and ridiculously ornate, but it lacks the charm and exceptional sound quality of the fairly similar Landmark Loews Theatre in Jersey City. I’m more than a little ambivalent about the prospect of the place becoming the go-to venue for medium-large acts in NYC for the foreseeable future, but I suppose that it might be a nice thing for Columbia students or people in Washington Heights.

Arcade Fire “The Well & The Lighthouse” (Live @ Judson Memorial Church 2/17/2007) – Anyway, the Arcade Fire, right. They played a show. It was a good show — I think. They definitely played good songs, and it seemed like they did a pretty nice job of it. I was definitely really into that stretch in the middle from “The Well & The Lighthouse” on through “Antichrist Television Blues.” Like I said, I felt a bit removed from the performance. I’ve been much further away from the stage and felt more physically engaged, so I’m not going to blame my proximity. There was something kinda odd about my vantage point — I was peering down over them from an angle that somehow flattened everything so that it looked sorta like a puppet show. Everyone on the stage looked like tiny toy replicas of themselves. That skewed perspective benefited “The Well & The Lighthouse,” a song that sounds as though it should smell like a musty old book, and seems exceptionally well suited to being played in miniature on an fancy, old timey stage. Just as when I saw the band back in February, the slow, elegant fade out at the end of that number was the single loveliest moment of their show, though this time the audience started clapping a bit too early. (Click here to get the full Judson Memorial Church show from NPR and here to buy Arcade Fire music from Merge.)

Barry St. John “Turn On Your Light” – Barry St John belts out every line of this peppy bit of late 60s Glaswegian “Northern Soul” as though she’s trying to slap us in the face with the sound of her voice. The song is overwhelmingly upbeat and assertive to the point that it’s shouting out its own negativity — “you treat me so bad, but honey, it’s alright” — and creating a positive outcome by sheer force of will. (Click here to buy it from Soundlink.)

Paul Haig “Runnin’ Away” – Paul Haig’s 1982 version of Sly and the Family Stone’s “Runnin’ Away” has a slightly kitschy charm to it without pushing too far into obnoxious novelty or cheap irony. It’s a very smart song selection — though most Sly songs require a certain fire and passion, the clipped and somewhat deadpan delivery of the original lends itself well to being covered by post-punkers. That said, the reason Haig’s arrangement works mainly comes down to the way he transposed Sly’s brass hooks to a colorful synthesizer tone that sounds cut-rate, shoddy, and inexplicably comforting. (Click here buy it from CD Wow.)

Elsewhere: This will probably make absolutely no sense if you did not read 52, but the final entry of The Diary of Ralph Dibny is a classic, and definitely one of the best things you’ll find anywhere on the internet this week.

Life Without Buildings “Liberty Feelup (Live)” – Life Without Buildings recorded a fantastic and distinct album, toured a little bit, and split up all in the span of a couple years at the beginning of this decade. They quit while they were ahead and can claim a spotless legacy, and while that’s quite cool and sorta romantic, it’s incredibly frustrating just the same. There’s a certain magic to the sound of Life Without Buildings’ music, but there’s no good reason for the audience, much less the band themselves, to imagine that they weren’t capable of topping or at least matching that sort of inspiration. As a fan/consumer, it’s awfully convenient when an artist’s body of work is a one-stop-shopping deal, but how do we know when we couldn’t have it so much better? Why are we all so frightened of the valleys that accompany the peaks of the creative process?

“Liberty Feelup” (or as Sue Tompkins speak-sings it, “Liberty Feeeeelup”) is the one “new” song on the band’s forthcoming live album, and it’s so good that it breaks my heart all over again. It sticks to the basic formula of Any Other City, but it doesn’t seem at all like they were lacking in ideas. If anything, it suggests that they abandoned their brilliant personal style a bit too soon. Tompkins still seems as though she’s communicating the breadth of the human experience with every cryptic, repeated line, and the music ebbs and flows with their characteristic blend of serenity and urgency. Like the rest of their work, the song sounds tossed off but incredibly passionate and brave as Tompkins seems to stare down the inevitabilities of life and death while grinning like a loon. (Click here for the official Life Without Buildings site.)

Au Revoir Simone @ Webster Hall 5/2/2007
Sad Song / A Violet Yet Flammable World / Dark Halls / Fallen Snow / Through The Backyards / Lark / The Way To There

I have not been entirely forthcoming about this in the past, but if I’m going to mention Au Revoir Simone on this site, you ought to know that Heather, one of the band’s three members, has been one of my closest friends for nearly a decade now. As a result, it’s sort of impossible for me to hear their music without feeling incredibly proud of what she’s accomplished with her band mates in the past two years. I’m reasonably certain that I’d be a fan of the group whether I knew them or not, but you know, it’s kinda hard to describe just how cool it is to see someone you’ve known and loved for so long finally find herself as an artist and then go on to become internationally famous for her work. It’s not just Heather — her partners Annie and Erika are two of the loveliest women you could ever hope to meet, and watching them evolve as musicians and performers has been just as inspiring.

Au Revoir Simone “Stars” – I’ve had a copy of “Stars” for quite a while now, and for a lot of that time, it was kinda driving me crazy that I couldn’t share it with all of you. Then the album leaked, and it was released in Europe, and though I had permission to post it, I kinda froze up because I don’t know how to write about this music in an honest way without being sappy and sentimental. In fairness, it’s kind of a sappy, sentimental song — it’s essentially about the sort of intense fascination and excitement you feel when you meet someone new and inspiring. It works very well as a love or crush song, but it was written about platonic friendship, and that’s a lot to do with why the tune has this wonderful innocent quality.

“Stars” has a gorgeous, sparkling arrangement and one of the catchiest melodies of anything I’ve heard this year, but I suspect that it’s my favorite of their songs because it’s the one that is the most Heather-ish. She’s the primary author of this particular track, and whether she intended it or not, it sums up so much of what is great about her — the wide-eyed enthusiasm, the intellectual curiosity (it might help to hear this song with the knowledge that she studies astrophysics at Columbia), the suburban roots, the romanticism, the mix of self-possession and unapologetic girlishness. Seriously, I just can’t hear it without feeling sappy. I wish that all of you had songs written by your friends that could remind you just why you like them so much in the first place. (Click here to buy it from Insound.)

Peter, Bjorn & John @ Webster Hall 5/2/2007
Roll The Credits / Let’s Call It Off / See Through / The Chills / Start To Melt / Amsterdam / Paris 2004 / Tailormade / Young Folks (with Heather D’Angelo) / Objects Of My Affection / Up Against The Wall // Poor Cow / Far Away, By My Side / Teen Love

One more thing to be proud of: Heather sang Victoria Bergsman’s part in “Young Folks” with Peter, Bjorn and John last night, and she did a rather fantastic job of it. She went from obsessing over the song on tour to singing it every night with the band a few months later. There’s no denying it: She has a very charmed life. You don’t know the half of it!

Peter, Bjorn & John “Up Against The Wall” – Oh, and yeah, Peter, Bjorn and John played a show too! Though it wasn’t the exciting experience that I had when I saw them at the Mercury Lounge back in January, it was certainly a solid and entertaining gig. Peter dialed down his charisma a bit for this show, but he was still very magnetic and amiable throughout the performance. Aside from “Young Folks,” the highlight of the set was an extended version of “Up Against The Wall” that kept going through at least three false starts before finally ending with just Peter strumming his guitar and plaintively singing the title. A PB&J concert album might be a bit redundant, but they really ought to release a live recording of this particular number. (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)

Elsewhere: My new Hit Refresh column is up on the ASAP site with mp3s from Wild Beasts, Lucky Soul, and Good Shoes.

Matthew Dear “Don and Sherri” – Am I crazy, or does this song include a small sample from Kylie Minogue’s “Come Into My World”? I honestly have no idea — the promo packaging does not include any detailed songwriting credits, and so I’m not sure whether or not the suspiciously familiar keyboard pulse is lifted directly from her song, or is just rather similar in tone and attack. Aside from that bit, “Don and Sherri” isn’t much like a Kylie tune at all. Whereas her material tends to move on to a huge, glorious hook and/or a grand release, Matthew Dear’s song is stuck in a paranoid, frustrated groove that presumably extends well beyond the point where the track fades out. (Click here to pre-order it from Ghostly International.)

DJ Blaqstarr featuring Rye Rye “Shake It To The Ground (Pistol Pete Remix)” – Though it’s not quite as intense and mindblowing as his Clipse remix, Pistol Pete’s latest track continues to push in an electro direction that’s one part cheesy and three parts awesome. Pete’s arrangement fleshes out Blaqstarr’s song without totally betraying the stark beauty of the original version, which was so focused on Rye Rye’s rap that it sounded almost like a glorified a cappella. Rye Rye is still front and center in the mix, but she’s carried along by a track that emphasizes and accentuates her hooks rather than just prop them up. (Click here for Pistol Pete’s MySpace page.)

Elsewhere: Fast Hugs on the weirdness of Natasha Bedingfield, Cokane’s Bloggery revisits the denim rock jacket, and Ruined Music returns from a brief hiatus.

Electrelane “To The East” – Electrelane’s Verity Susman has a fairly limited vocal range, but she has a wonderful knack for communicating a specific sort of restrained, self-possessed yearning that is an ideal complement to the controlled tension of her band’s compositions. The best Electrelane songs walk up to edge of huge emotional revelations without diving into them, as though simply admitting to potent feelings is the same as freely expressing them. Susman’s voice is level and rational even as she peers over that edge, but she’s never lacking a certain warmth and humanity. (Click here to buy it from Insound.)

Montag “Mechanical Kids” – It’s very difficult not to hear this song as being much more than a peevish slap on the conformity of young people, but there’s an optimistic tone to the music that keeps the composition from feeling too mean-spirited, smug, or judgmental. The song conveys a strong sense of naive wonder and a cheerful disconnection from reality, especially as the live drums kick in halfway through the cut and the tune drifts off into a merry reverie. (Click here to pre-order it from Amazon.)

Elsewhere: Here’s an essay I wrote for ArtistDirect about why I totally despise the expanded “Deluxe” version of Beyonce’s B’Day.

Yo La Tengo @ Webster Hall 4/29/2007
I Feel Like Going Home / From A Motel 6 / Pass The Hatchet, I Think I’m Goodkind / The Last Days Of Disco / The Room Got Heavy / The Weakest Part / Beanbag Chair / Mr. Tough / Song For Mahila / Don’t Say A Word (Hot Chicken #2) / Sugarcube / Styles Of The Times / Big Day Coming / Watch Out For Me Ronnie / The Story Of Yo La Tango // The Race Is On Again / Dreaming / Tom Courtenay (Georgia version) /// Gates Of Steel / My Little Corner Of The World

You might not get this from just glancing at the setlist, but this was a looooooong show; a little bit over two hours. It was a fairly typical Yo La Tengo show: mostly songs from the new album, a smattering of delicate quiet tunes, a handful of extremely noisy jams, a few old “hits” to get the old school fans pumped up every 30 minutes or so. Oh, and this may come as a shock, but they also played some OBSCURE COVERS! Pretty wild, I know.

Yo La Tengo “The Room Got Heavy” – Despite the fact that the show included “From A Motel 6,” “The Last Days of Disco,” and epic, intense performances of both “The Story of Yo La Tango” and “Pass The Hatchet, I Think I’m Goodkind,” the clear highlight of the night was the moody and densely rhythmic “The Room Got Heavy.” As on the album, the arrangement is limited to two overdriven organs played by Ira Kaplan and a storm of percussion performed by Georgia Hubley on her drum kit and James McNew on a set of bongos. Basically, it sounds a bit like the Silver Apples if their homemade synthesizers got replaced by the organ at a baseball stadium. The sound of the piece is very effective in mirroring its lyrical themes — it feels claustrophobic, humid, and slightly vertiginous, and even when the tension breaks near the end, it’s only a minor relief. (Click here to buy it from Insound)

Also: If you were curious, this is what I played when I DJ’d the other night. It’s a big if, I know, but I think this one came out pretty well.

Justice “D.A.N.C.E.” / LCD Soundsystem “North American Scum” / Sissy Wish “Yayaya” / Pleasure “Out Of Love” / Of Montreal “A Sentence Of Sorts In Kongsvinger” / Annie “Me Plus One” / Kylie Minogue “Sweet Music” / Muscles “Chocolate, Raspberry, Lemon and Lime” / Gameboy/Gamegirl “Sweaty Wet/Dirty Damp” / Spektrum “Don’t Be Shy” / Robyn “Konichiwa Bitches” / Junior Senior “Take Your Time” / Scissor Sisters “Paul McCartney” / Beyonce “Get Me Bodied” / Mark Ronson “Pretty Green” / Bjork “Earth Intruders” / Mochipet “Justin Timberlakecore” / Clipse “Wamp Wamp (Pistol Pete Mix)” / Yelle “Je Veux Te Voir”

Deerhunter @ Mercury Lounge 4/26/2007
(drone) / Cryptograms / (drone) / Wash Off / Dr. Glass / Fluorescent Grey / Spring Hall Convert / Hazel Street / Octet (with vocals) / Strange Lights

Deerhunter “Cryptograms” – Deerhunter’s album Cryptograms has one of the more fascinating sequences in recent memory. Side A alternates between ethereal drones and intense Kraut-punk-shoegazer hybrids before culminating in a cut that seamlessly combines both extremes, and Side B is mostly comprised of songs that sound like they might have been one of the last few tracks on a CMJ New Music Monthly cd back in the early 90s. (Surely I’m not the only one who has noticed that “Strange Lights” sounds a LOT like Guided By Voices circa Alien Lanes.) Whereas Cryptograms wanders around in search of itself, the new Fluorescent Grey EP follows a tight, deliberate trajectory that begins with a state of eerie calmness and ends with a headlong rush into oblivion. It’s a more focused recording, and does more to establish the band’s identity than its eclectic predecessor.

Actually, that’s not quite right. If you want to get an accurate sense of who Deerhunter are, you kinda have to see them play live. The band nail their dynamics in live performance, but they also have an appealing looseness to their interaction that adds a sense of unpredictability to their set. It’s not a shock that the songs from the EP work just as well with the piano parts transposed to guitar, but it is somewhat surprising that the sort of beatless drones that drag on Cryptograms‘ momentum are actually quite compelling in person.

The band themselves have a curious dynamic — the bassist and guitarist on the right side of the stage are both a bit silly and playful, but the singer Bradford Cox is severe, creepy, and theatrical. Cox is very tall and extremely skinny, and he spent most of the show with his face smeared with fake blood and dressed in a white babydoll dress, like a giant undead grandma. He seemed like something David Bowie might have come up with during his coke psychosis phase, and some patient handler would have had to explain to him “No, David, you can’t elongate your body and eliminate all of your fat and muscle mass.” It was hard not to watch him; he seemed totally unreal. (Click here to buy it from AmpCamp.)

Pterodactyl @ Mercury Lounge 4/26/2007
Safe Like A Train / Ask Me Nicely / I Can See A River / Astros / Verbal / Three Succeed / Esses / New / Polio

Pterodactyl “Three Succeed” – It occurred to me about a week ago that the sort of shrieking guitar noises that the band Pterodactyl makes actually come close to the sounds we commonly associate with pterodactyls from cartoons and movies. The group recreate their melodic noise-punk songs very effectively in person, or at least well enough to leave my ears ringing twelve hours later. Though watching them play demystified their playing somewhat by revealing their techniques (ah, that sound in “Three Succeed” is made by sticking a drumstick under the strings above the pickups on the bass, okay…), it’s always a thrill to see a band manhandle their instruments in a way that it seems like there is no way they are actually playing them, and yet very specific sounds are produced. (Click here to pre-order it from Cardboard Records.)

First Nation played a set of what seemed to be entirely new material between Pterodactyl and Deerhunter. I’d never seen First Nation before last night, and so I didn’t really know what to expect; I just knew that I liked a couple songs from their first record. I was pretty down with the first three or four songs, but then their set just kept going and going, and the things that worked well at the start became very grating. They make the best of their technical limitations by settling into simple, mesmerizing rhythms and melodies, but not every song was strong enough to compensate for their flaws as musicians. They are definitely on the right track, though.

Also: Kinda last minute, but I’m DJing with LadyByrd at the Lotus Lounge on Clinton and Stanton tonight.

Dizzee Rascal “Sirens” – Most people are comparing the first single from Dizzee Rascal’s third album to Jay-Z’s “99 Problems,” and though there’s some really obvious similarities in both its style and substance, but the track actually reminds me more of the nihilistic scorched earth noise of Primal Scream’s XTRMNTR. At some points the guitar stabs venture in Nu-Metal territory, but for the most part, they sound more like short, abstracted clangs that complement the incessant clatter of a ride cymbal. Compared to most previous Dizzee tracks, it’s fairly straightforward and conservative, but his extremely distinct voice and flow keeps the song fresh and slightly off-kilter. (Click here for the official Dizzee Rascal MySpace page.)

Mochipet “Justin Timberlakecore” – The one thing that Mochipet doesn’t do to Justin Timberlake’s “My Love” is mutilate it beyond all recognition, and that’s what makes it so creepy and effective. The song is still there, but its shape is mutated drastically, and even the most traditionally attractive elements of Timbaland’s track are pushed to nearly grotesque extremes. Mochipet’s track is essentially a restless, deformed electro-rap freak that alternates between stomping around like a dinosaur, skittering about like an insect, and slithering like a serpent. (Click here to buy it from Daly City.)

Elsewhere: My new Hit Refresh column is up on the ASAP site with mp3s from !!!, The Rosebuds, and Khan.

Sissy Wish “Float” – “Float” seems to fall into the emotional space that comes just before a moment of clarity and relaxation, and not too long after a major crisis. It’s exciting and refreshing, but really, it’s just a prelude to something more profound. The music expresses the song’s emotional narrative more effectively than the lyrics, which mostly just offer advice and reassuring words. The verses are supported by a spare, slightly nervous electronic groove, but as the song shifts into its chorus, the song is carried by a more confident beat. The track’s most glorious moment comes following a breakdown towards the end — the beat comes down stronger than ever, and Siri ålberg’s voice doubles up and overlaps its melodies before returning to the song’s stunning yet understated chorus. (Click here for the official Sissy Wish site.)

Wild Beasts “Through Dark Night” – “Through Dark Night” may not be as immediately flooring as the Wild Beasts’ previous single “Brave Bulging Buoyant Clairvoyants”, but its low key arrangement and shimmering guitar parts highlight the prettiest aspects of Hayden Norman Thorpe’s incredibly weird singing voice. Thorpe still sounds a bit like Scooby Doo at some points, but the balance is shifted in favor of his lovely falsetto, and the contrast between the masculine and feminine qualities of his voice is less jarring and extreme. Whereas “Brave Bulging Buoyant Clairvoyants” went for exotic thrills, “Through Dark Night” settles for subtle beauty. (Click here to buy it from Bad Sneakers.)

Spoon @ Bowery Ballroom, 4/23/2007
Don’t You Evah / My Mathematical Mind / Stay Don’t Go / The Fitted Shirt / The Delicate Place / Rhthm and Soul / The Beast and Dragon, Adored / Me and the Bean / I Turn My Camera On / Don’t Make Me A Target / Paper Tiger / Everything Hits At Once / The Way We Get By / Eddie’s Ragga / Vittorio E / They Never Got You / I Summon You / Jonothon Fisk // Black Like Me / Someone Something / The Two Sides of Monsieur Valentine / Mountain To Sound

Spoon “Paper Tiger” (Live @ SXSW 2002) –

Small Stakes Ensure You The Minimum Blues: It’s a nice change of pace to see a show that I know will be satisfying and engaging no matter what the band plays. I get caught up in expectations and little wishes to hear certain songs so often, and it makes it so that little things like, say, Jarvis not playing “Black Magic,” can taint an otherwise fantastic gig in my memory. This isn’t to say that there aren’t some unlikely Spoon songs I would’ve loved to have heard last night (“No You’re Not” and “Advance Cassette” both immediately spring to mind) but I didn’t really have my hopes up. My friends definitely got their wishes, though. “Mountain To Sound” for the longterm fan, “Stay Don’t Go” and a solid selection of classics from the last three albums for the relative newcomer.

Something To Look Forward To: Five new songs were played, and I heard three of them for the very first time last night. I’m not really sure what to say about them just yet. They were all fine, but I think I need to wait to hear the studio recordings to make any sort of judgment. At face value, the new stuff isn’t a dramatic departure from what they’ve been doing in this decade, but there is a subtle difference, and I think Jessica Hopper was pretty much on the money with this observation from her early impressions of the finished album: “Static in its melancholy, negotiates a small space well.”

I Summon My Love Back To Me: Just as I had noticed at the Pitchfork festival last July, “I Summon You” has become a clear fan favorite, and though it was never released as a single, it is greeted by the audience as if it were a huge radio hit. This isn’t exactly mystifying — it’s a gorgeous and touching song, and its sentiment is rather ideal for mix tapes and whatnot. My personal favorite, “The Beast and Dragon, Adored,” gets a similarly strong response, though the big hit from Gimme Fiction “I Turn My Camera On” seemed to get shrugged off by a good chunk of the audience. In fairness, it was kind of a so-so performance of that song, and the crowd was ridiculously stiff for almost all of the funky and/or up-tempo numbers. This might just be a Bowery Ballroom thing — people are almost always quite sedate at that venue for some reason, even when people are there to see things like LCD Soundsystem. People always bitch about chilly NYC audiences, but I don’t know, maybe it’s got more to do with the vibe of the physical space sometimes.

(Click here to buy all kinds of Spoon stuff from Merge.)

Jarvis Cocker @ Webster Hall, 4/22/2007
Fat Children / Don’t Let Him Waste Your Time / Heavy Weather / One Man Show / I Will Kill Again / From Auschwitz To Ipswich / Tonite / Big Julie / Disney Time / Big Stuff / Running The World // Heaven (Talking Heads) / Paranoid (Black Sabbath)

Jarvis Cocker “One Man Show” – Before last night, Jarvis Cocker had not played a show in either New York City or the United States in general since Pulp played the Hammerstein Ballroom in June of 1998. (I was there; it was awesome.) The band only played five shows in all of North America on that mini-tour, and two of them were not full sets — they performed at the Tibetan Freedom Concert and opened an impromptu Radiohead gig at the 9:30 Club. (I was also there; it was well beyond awesome.) Most American Pulp fans have never actually seen the band live, and so as you can imagine, the audience was rather starved for the Jarv (err, starved for Cocker?) and responded to his set with great enthusiasm.

Cocker was in fine form, and gave a performance worthy of the crowd’s intense adulation. Aside from the covers in the encore, Cocker and his band were focused entirely on his latest material (though he skipped “Black Magic,” gah!), and though the audience was very excited to hear those songs, I can only imagine just how wild it would have been if he’d actually thrown in a few Pulp hits. As it was, the set felt a bit like a Pulp show in both tone and presentation, with strong new compositions standing in for familiar hits — “Heavy Weather” a rough analog for “Sorted For E’s and Wizz;” “Running The World” an updated version of “Common People;” “Big Julie” and the excellent b-side “One Man Show” are both anthemic ballads in the tradition of “Underwear” and “Help The Aged.” (Click here to buy it from Amazon UK.)

The Dirty Projectors “Imagine It” – I didn’t realize that the Dirty Projectors were opening up this show until I got to the venue. I’d been wanting to see them for quite some time, and so it was a lovely surprise. Even better, their set was sort of astounding. I’m not exaggerating at all when I say I spent a fair chunk of their performance making “wow” faces as they either took their songs in brilliant, unexpected directions, or seamlessly played tricky, imaginative arrangements. I’m also not exaggerating when I say that I’ve never heard a band sound like they did last night, which is especially exciting given that compared to previous incarnations of the group, the instrumental line-up was rather conventional — three voices, two guitars, bass, drums, sampler. The women in the group provided gorgeous harmonies in addition to their instrumental contributions, and composer/guitarist Dave Longstreth sang most of the lead parts in a voice that careened between moments of straightforward beauty and intentionally grotesque crooning.

Those of you downloading this mp3 should keep in mind that even though they did play this song in their set, the live version was much different and vastly superior. I can only hope that Longstreth records an album with this line-up, and that it comes out very soon. People need to hear this. Minds have got to be boggled. (Click here to buy it from Insound.)

Elsewhere: Inspired by my R.E.M. blog, Phil Reed has decided to start a site with the same format covering every Talking Heads track. Good luck, Phil!

Also: Brandon Stosuy’s interview with Bjork on Pitchfork is fantastic.