Archive for 2007

Dntel and Jenny Lewis “Roll On” – Jimmy Tamborello’s best tracks on the new Dntel album are in a state of continuous flux. The basic structures of the songs tend to be rather simple, but his arrangements constantly add and subtract new electronic textures, marking subtle shifts in emotional tone and subtly enhancing the dynamics of quiet, introspective songs. His collaboration with Jenny Lewis is especially gorgeous and well-composed. Irregular patterns of buzzes, hums, and clicks swirl around her lovely, heart-breaking voice, framing her melody and shadowing the movements of her restless heart. (Click here to buy it from Sub Pop.)

The Rosebuds “I Better Run” – “I Better Run” may sound haunted and paranoid, but even as it rides a stark, nervous groove, it never seems even remotely hysterical. Kelly Crisp’s voice is steady and detached, betraying an icy calm lunacy as her character flees from both the legacy of her doomed family line and the horrors of the world. (Click here to buy it from Merge.)

The Boggs “Melanie in the White Coat” – Last week I wrote an entry on my R.E.M. blog about the way “Welcome to the Occupation” buries a simple folk song beneath booming arena rock rock percussion. The Boggs do a similar thing with “Melanie in the White Coat,” but it is far more bombastic and absurd. The drums are so loud and busy that they drown out almost everything else in the mix. The vocals are audible and carry the melody, but the lyrics about being in awe of a rowdy, intimidating woman named Melanie are mostly mumbled and muttered, as though the singer is terrified that she might hear him. (Click here to pre-order it from Gigantic.)

Ellen Allien – Excerpt from Fabric 34: Larry Heard Presents Mr. White “The Sun Can’t Compare” / Estroe “Driven” – Although Ellen Allien’s entire Fabric mix lingers in a romantic twilight haze, there’s a strong sense that the listener is meant to feel a bit removed from themselves and their desires. Have you ever found yourself in an unspeakably lovely moment only to feel bad that you have no one to share it with? It’s just like that, really. The mix peaks early with this inspired segue from Larry Heard’s melancholy acid house hit “The Sun Can’t Compare” into a moody, low key instrumental by Estroe that sets the tone for the rest of the set. (Click here to buy it from Fabric London.)

Elsewhere: My new Hit Refresh column is up on the ASAP site with mp3s from Panda Bear, Dntel, and Hauschka/Tarwater. The Panda Bear album may be old news to most of you, but I strongly recommend that Hauschka/Tarwater song.

UGK featuring Outkast “International Players’ Anthem” – Andre 3000’s verse on “International Players’ Anthem” may not be the very best of his recent flurry of guest appearances, but it is the one attached to a song that doesn’t totally fall apart immediately after he disappears. (In fairness, the remix of Lloyd’s “You” also features a strong verse by Nas, but the pleasant lite R&B tune with the super-obvious Spandeau Ballet sample separating their verses makes it feel as though you’re being put on hold between rhymes.) It certainly helps that 3000 is in the company of peers — Bun B and Pimp C of UGK may not have the overwhelming charisma of either Andre or Big Boi, but they can hold their own in their company, especially when they are riding a subtly dynamic track composed by Three Six Mafia that shifts its beat to play up the strengths of each rapper. If you can get over the novelty of hearing Andre 3000 rap again, it becomes rather clear that the highlight of the track is actually Big Boi’s verse, which slows down to a screwed crawl and springs back to regular tape speed twice over to great effect. (Click here to pre-order it from Amazon.)

Kathy Diamond “Between The Lines” – Maurice Fulton’s compositions for Mu always evoked a sense of permanent panic and agitation — “the music of the future, provided something terrible happens to all of us,” as I put it back in 2004. His work with Kathy Diamond pushes in the opposite direction with slinky, rhythmic tracks that unfold gently as airy vocals lull the listener into an eerie calmness. It’s chilled out, but also chilling — Fulton can’t help but infuse his music with a feeling of menace and discomfort, and so most of the songs with Diamond feel as though you’re drifting off to sleep only to have a very anxious nightmare. (Click here to pre-order it from Amazon.)

Elsewhere: Here’s a few album reviews that I’ve written recently for Artistdirect: Nine Inch Nails, Avril Lavigne, Macy Gray, Mika, and Tracey Thorn.

Siobhan Donaghy “So You Say” – I didn’t notice it until the third time I heard the song, but the first line of each verse is addressed to a man named Adam. There’s something rather disarming about the way Siobhan Donaghy utters his name — in two quick syllables, she seems wounded, generous, patient, and terminally lovesick. The lyrics are fairly standard “you just dumped me and I can’t deal” stuff, but that tiny bit of specificity changes the feeling of the entire track, making it seem almost uncomfortably small and personal even when it hits its huge Wilson Phillips-as-a-shoegazer-band chorus. (Click here to pre-order it from Amazon UK.)

Hilary Duff “Danger” – If Hilary Duff is correct, and the dude she’s singing about was indeed born in ’74, that would make him about 33 right now. Given that she’s 20 years old, she’s probably not wrong to sense a bit of danger in this pairing — it’s not an outlandish or uncommon age gap, but it is a bit inappropriate. The song is most likely being sung about a handsome teacher, boss, or celebrity, but for some reason the harsh, sleazy Eurodisco sound of the track makes me imagine some filthy creep with the most hideous mustache in the world. Like, a coked-up hipster mutant dripping with 22 strains of VD. The type of guy who would make Terry Richardson (NSFW link!) seem like a classy hunk. I’d like to think that every line of this song is a staggering understatement, and that the former Lizzy McGuire is in for a reallllllllllllllly dark year. (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)

Elsewhere: Tom Ewing on “thrill power,” and Spencer Sloan offers Avril Lavigne a bit of advice.

Of Montreal @ Studio B, 4/14/2007
Suffer For Fashion / Sink The Seine / Cato As A Pun / Heimdalsgate Like A Promethean Curse / Labyrinthian Pomp / She’s A Rejecter / We Were Born The Mutants Again With Leafling / October Is Eternal / I Was A Landscape In Your Dream / I Was Never Young / Rapture Rapes The Muses / Gronlandic Edit / A Sentence Of Sorts In Kongsvinger / The Party’s Crashing Us / Bunny Ain’t No Kind Of Rider / Faberge Falls For Shuggie

Karaoke set: Tonight I’m Going To Rock You Tonight (Landshark) / All Day And All Of The Night (Jesse) / Surrender (Eric #1) / Starman (Mario) / Blister In The Sun (Fluxblog contest winners Beth and Cassidy!) / Rocks Off (Howe) / Sweet Child O Mine (Amy and Keith) / Need You Tonight (Michael Showalter) / More Than A Feeling (Paul Rudd and David Wain) / Raspberry Beret (Monica and Brian Raftery) / Suffragette City (Craig Wedren!) / Dancing Queen (two other guys named Paul and David) / Here Comes Your Man (John and Frederick) / Don’t Stop Believing (Griffin, the Stereogum contest winner) / Don’t Bring Me Down (Bubbles — a pretty girl, not a monkey) / Moonage Daydream (Michael S aka Aquaman, the best of the night, by far!) / The Joker (Brendan) / Ever Fallen In Love? (Eric #2) / Cut Your Hair (another guy called Brian — I’m pretty jealous!) / Hot Blooded (the sound guy)

I’d been under the impression that the karaoke part of the night would come before the proper Of Montreal set, but no, that’s not how it went down. Of Montreal played an abridged version of their regular show, and an hour later, they played about 80 minutes of karaoke rock and roll. The karaoke set was a blast, but it was slightly disappointing to see the band disappear into anonymity following a brilliant performance that accentuated their flamboyant identity. Now, obviously, as a live karaoke band, they had to recede into the background, but that’s not really my complaint. For me, it had more to do with the selections — mainly meat-and-potatoes classic rock radio staples that are all obvious (if extremely unimaginative) karaoke tunes, but force the band to completely obliterate their own (decidedly un-macho) sense of style. I would have preferred it if they had cut back on the shlock rock and included more disco, 80s dance pop, and r&b — you know, stuff like Madonna, George Michael, Michael Jackson, Donna Summer, Janet Jackson, Erasure, Depeche Mode, Cyndi Lauper, Salt N Pepa, Human League, etc. Still obvious karaoke material, but not quite so butch.

Of Montreal “Suffer For Fashion” – The thrill of this show for me was getting up to the front of the stage and flipping out like a teenager for the entire duration of the regular Of Montreal set. I can’t possibly understate how much I love Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? at this point in time — it’s starting to feel as though my life in 2007 is scrambled up and scattered through its songs, and every other day, a different track is speaking to me, or for me. It’s a silly thing, but there’s a certain magic in watching a band perform songs that cut so deeply into your psyche, as though hearing the words and feeling the sounds in close proximity to the performers amplifies the potency of the concepts and the emotions, and singing along within earshot of the singer somehow affirms the meaning of the lyrics for both parties. The Hissing Fauna material is ideal for this sort of exchange, especially on a song like “Suffer For Fashion,” which seeks to transforms its personal crisis into a fun communal experience: “If we’ve got to burn out, let’s do it together, let’s all melt down together!” The truth, humor, and goodwill in that line always hits me hard, and it felt even better when I could hear about 20 other people within a few feet of me shout it out along with Kevin Barnes. Most of Hissing Fauna is focused on the “I,” but it’s very important that the album (and most of the concerts) starts off by emphasizing “we,” “our,” and “us.” (Click here to buy it from Polyvinyl.)

Khan “Favor After Favor” – Do you ever feel like you’re missing out on all the fun? Does that sort of feeling ever lead you to overcompensate in a very grotesque manner? Do you ever wish that your life was like a creepy, decadent David Bowie tune that no one has ever heard before? This song has an answer for each of those questions: Yes, YES!, and YESYESYES!!! (Click here to buy it from Juno.)

Babils “2 = 3” – The most obvious reference point for this would be Radiohead’s “The National Anthem” and Primal Scream’s “Blood Money,” but unlike those songs, the fuzzed-out bass line has no obvious sense of direction. It has momentum, sure, but it’s just swerving around aimlessly in a psychedelic stupor before melting into a puddle of icky black slime. (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)

Elsewhere: My new Hit Refresh column is up on the ASAP site with mp3s from The Field, The Lichens, and Boy In Static.

Lucky Soul “Get Outta Town!” – Whether you’ve been reading this site for five weeks or five years, you’ve probably figured out that there are few things I love more than songs that sound as though their sheet music is just a bunch of exclamation points on a staff. Lucky Soul are hardly attempting to reinvent the wheel when it comes to “Northern Soul” — they lack the postmodern angle of the Pipettes or Amy Winehouse’s cult of personality — but their craft and spirit are enough to catapult their top tunes into the realm of poppy bliss. Ali Howard’s demure voice is light on bombast and chops, but she is capable of expressing the nuances of both overwhelming joy and melodramatic sorrow with charm and grace. (Click here to buy it from Bleep.)

Hauschka / Chica and the Folder “Para Bien (Gingko Tree)” – Chica and the Folder don’t exactly rework or remix Hauschka’s prepared piano piece “Gingko Tree” so much as build a little castle on its foundation. The new version emphasizes the distinct, enchanted sound of the original solo piano arrangement without overstuffing the composition with unnecessary instrumentation. The track feels ever so slightly lost and confused, but there’s no fear in this music, just peacefulness and curiosity. (Click here to buy it from EAR/Rational Music.)

Of Montreal Winners!!!: As it turns out, some people did submit entries for the contest that conformed to the original rules. Apologies to everyone who put in for the raffle, but I’ve decided to honor the folks who put in the extra effort and risked public embarrassment by sending in video clips of themselves.

The first winner is William C., who performed Radiohead’s “Creep” with a thick French accent. If I ever have a Dan Bejar lookalike contest, William will probably win that as well.

The second set of winners are Beth and Cassidy, who sent in this video clip of themselves dancing and goofing around to the tune of Of Montreal’s “Suffer For Fashion.”

Thanks to New York Magazine for the tickets, and to everyone who entered, especially Anna M and Mike S who both certainly deserve honorable mentions for their efforts.

Elsewhere: Behold! Anderson Cooper and “The Unicorn’s Comfort” and The Five Magical Sex Acts of Cory Kennedy.

Kids On TV “Breakdance Hunx (Market Value Mix)” – The same exchange occurs five times over in this song, and with each iteration, its meaning is transformed. What begins as a creepy compliment and some callous advice mutates into hostility and terror as a grim realization sets in: Even if the guy receiving the advice has a very high “market value,” his worth as a human being depreciates the moment he accepts the price tag that has been slapped on his ass. (This isn’t far off from the major theme of The Wire, or at least the way David Simon explains it in interviews.) As his voice grows more panicked, the first guy becomes increasingly predatory and domineering. Even when he’s screaming at the end, his voice is grotesque in its cheeriness, but it’s only sensible that the character representing the most amoral and barbaric aspects of capitalism would affect the glib tone of a voice over from a bad advertisement. (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)

Avril Lavigne “Runaway” – Whereas Avril Lavigne was originally presented as a sympathetic Betty in mall punk clothing, her new album finds her fully transformed into a vain, entitled Veronica. Though it’s a bit more difficult to relate to her new music, it’s hard to deny the alpha girl thrillpower of “Girlfriend” and “The Best Damn Thing” — sometimes it’s just more fun to root for the villain, you know? Nevertheless, the album’s best track avoids the arrogance, bullying, and cheap profanity of its more flamboyant cuts in favor of a cathartic rush not unlike that of Kelly Clarkson’s “Since U Been Gone.” Whereas “Since U Been Gone” is fraught with extreme drama from the start, “Runaway” slips into its over the top chorus as something of a surprise following its dynamic though fairly low-key verses. It’s a pleasant incongruity, andas a result, each chorus comes across like a new emotional revelation. (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)

Nine Inch Nails “Capital G” – With Teeth is an okay album, but it’s hard not to think of it as being much more than Trent Reznor’s (rather successful) attempt to re-establish the Nine Inch Nails brand after a lengthy absence and a double album that won strong reviews, but failed to launch any major hit singles. (It’s a shame that “Into The Void” never caught on — it’s one of his best songs, but the timing was all wrong.) Year Zero is weirder and less accessible, but it’s a much better and more appealing record. It doesn’t quite hold up as a concept album on a lyrical level (a shocker, I know), but it’s an exceptional set of compositions that mostly side-step NIN cliches while foregrounding the sort of musical details, programming tics, and colorful quirks that have always been at the core of the band’s appeal.

Year Zero emphasizes rhythm and texture, and though most songs follow some variation of a verse-chorus-verse structure, the cumulative effect is that of walking aimlessly through an unfamiliar landscape. The style of sound is familiar from previous NIN releases, but the emotional specificity is absent, and replaced by a sense of confusion and discomfort. A lot of the lyrics basically revisit the themes of Pretty Hate Machine‘s “Head Like A Hole,” but the anger is muted and diffuse, and in some of the songs (most notably the glammy “Capital G”) Reznor inhabits the mindset of a fascist creep rather than just rail against a faceless enemy.

The lyrics aren’t exactly good, but they aren’t totally bad either — if we’re going to be very honest about this, they are at least as good as what we’ve come to expect from the average indie-ish rock band in this era. (Personally, I’ll take this college freshman version of Philip K Dick and Chuck Palahniuk over the dreadful “literate” lyrics of a guy like Colin Meloy, though that’s not really a knock on the Decemberists’ music.) Reznor has always had a bad rap in this department, and though I don’t think lyrics have ever been his strong suit, when his words work, it’s usually because they are of a piece with the music. Go back and listen to a lot of the old NIN classics — can you possibly imagine lyrics that would be more suitable for those arrangements? In most cases, the lyrics are like subtitles for what’s being expressed musically — “I WANT TO FUCK YOU LIKE AN ANIMAL!!!,” “I’D RATHER DIE THAN GIVE YOU CONTROL!!!,” “GOD IS DEAD AND NO ONE CARES!!!,” “POISON TO MY ROTTEN CORE, TOO FUCKED UP TO CARE ANYMORE!!!” There is no subtlety whatsoever, but the feeling is visceral, urgent, and emotionally true. Sometimes people say exactly what they mean, and sometimes we need art that will directly articulate extreme emotions for us rather than fuck around or get embarrassed by itself. (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)

Battles “Atlas” – Don’t laugh, but whenever I hear this song, I just imagine the Smurfs as a fascist society, or Snow White and the Seven Dwarves at a German BDSM dungeon. Actually, maybe it’s just a really intense day at the Keebler factory. (Click here to buy it from Bleep.)

Sister Vanilla “What Goes Around” – This is fun and lovely, but maybe maybe maybe it wasn’t such a good idea for the Reid brothers to make an album with their sister since it retroactively reveals that the Jesus and Mary Chain would have been a much better band if she sang all of their songs. (Click here to buy it from Bleep.)

Okay, Fine, I Give Up: Remember that Of Montreal contest? That’s still going, but the rules are changing. It’s become very clear to me that I’ve asked waaaaaay too much of my audience, and so now I’m going to make it very simple for you: If you want to be in the running for one of the two sets of tickets for the show next Saturday, just send an email to ofmontrealkaraoke @ gmail.com by Wednesday night, April 11th. I’ll just put all the names in a hat and pull the two winners out at random.

Tori Amos “Big Wheel” – Even though she gave me every reason to ignore and/or dislike her recent work, I was very wrong to assume that it was all over for Tori Amos. She’s a clever and immensely talented woman, but much like Bjork, her last few records were burdened by cumbersome and not especially compelling concepts, an emphasis on her least endearing quirks, and a curious lack of playfulness. The last point was the most troubling for me — both Bjork and Amos’ best work gained strength from their peculiar sense of humor and willful perversity, but as the former threw herself into chilly austerity, the latter was remaking herself as a bland adult contemporary artist without even being particularly subversive in the process.

“Big Wheel” is a return to the sly, twisted Tori that I enjoy the most; the one who wrote songs like “She’s Your Cocaine,” “In the Springtime of His Voodoo,” and “Professional Widow.” You know, the Tori who gleefully appropriates the style of other genres (in this case, rowdy Dixie Chicks country rock), tweaks their lyrical archetypes, and remakes them in her image. “Big Wheel” is effortlessly fun and revels its own novelty, especially when Amos chants “I am a M.I.L.F., don’t you forget” at the end, knowing full well that the line is going to end up quoted in every bit of press that she’s going to get for the next few years. On one level, she’s fucking with us, and on another, she’s fucking with her characters and her cult of personality. Also: It’s true, obviously. (Click here to pre-order it from Amazon.)

Half Cousin “Jim’s Crash Memory” – A lot of the lyrics pass by in a haze, but the title of this song seems about right — the entire composition sounds like a person trying to reconstruct a fractured memory. Some of the pieces are missing, and other unrelated bits are accidentally set in place, abstracting the truth. Rhythmic elements that would have normally supported the structure are foregrounded in a way that renders familiar feel somewhat alien, whereas the sort of sounds that would attract attention or act as a connecting thread are either absent or intentionally subdued, making the track come across like a pop song that has been turned inside-out. (Click here to buy it from Gronland Records.)

Elsewhere: My new Hit Refresh column is up on the ASAP site with mp3s from Jarvis Cocker, Wooden Wand and the Vanishing Voice, and They Must Be Russians.

Basia Bulat “Before I Knew” – The first song on Basia Bulat’s debut album is gorgeous, but frustratingly short, trailing off to a conclusion after making its point rather than to repeat itself like a normal pop song. Even though it sounds very sweet and pretty, this isn’t the sort of “I’m in love with you” song that is intended to flatter the object of the singer’s affection. In fact, I’m not sure if this is the sort of sentiment that is meant to be shared with anyone at all. “Before I Knew” is an expression of quiet fear, and of feeling overwhelmed and trapped by an enormous love that barely makes sense and threatens to erase parts of the singer’s past, present, and future. (Click here for Basia Bulat’s official page.)

Gene Defcon “Liz” – It’s actually hard to tell whether this song is being addressed to an actual girlfriend or an unrequited crush, but given the hyperbolic nature of the lyrics, I wonder if a love like this is even requitable. “Liz” is big-hearted and sugary, but also sort of frantic and urgent. Gene Defcon’s voice is thin and boyish, and his words betray a naive and unrealistic notion of romance that veers back and forth between over-the-top fantasy and bleak melodrama. He sounds extremely desperate to will his concept of a perfect life with Liz into existence, and to drown out his doubts and fears. He’s mostly successful, though every now and again, the negativity reveals itself. (Click here to buy it from Buy Olympia.)

The Blood Brothers “We Ride Skeletal Lightning” – I saw the Blood Brothers again last night at Irving Plaza, but I forgot to bring paper for notes, and so I don’t have the setlist. (Songs they definitely played: “Laser Life,” “Camouflage, Camouflage,” “Set Fire to the Face on Fire,” “Vital Beach,” “We Ride Skeletal Lightning,” “Lift the Veil, Kiss the Tank,” “Giant Swan,” “Love Rhymes With Hideous Car Wreck,” “Cecilia and the Silhouette Saloon”)

I actually don’t have many more new insights into their live show than I offered a few months ago — basically, they deliver songs of hysterical anguish with an appealing punk glamor, and the two vocalists contrast in a way that gives the show balance and dramatic tension. I noticed near the end that I’d barely even looked at the other musicians — Johnny Whitney and Jordan Billie are such magnetic and commanding presences that it’s hard to notice much else, even when the rest of the band is nailing their queasy rhythms and lacerating riffs. The band are at their most compelling when they marry their nauseous, angst-ridden hardcore to ersatz glam pomp, resulting in peppy stomps like “Laser Life” or the brilliant and vaguely excruciating “We Ride Skeletal Lightning,” which is best described by a phrase contained within its lyrics: “feral glittery drone.” (Click here to buy it from Insound.)

Also: Hey, let’s not forget about that Of Montreal karaoke show contest.

The Field “Everday” – Contrary to what you may have read elsewhere, the Field’s creative process may be the least interesting thing about his music, unless you’re the sort of person who would rather watch a tedious documentary about special effects than an actual movie. The lesser tracks on From Here We Go Sublime foreground the artist and his tools, but the ones that are actually, y’know, sublime, evoke a vague, context-free experience. “Everday” is all beauty and nondescript pleasure, its sound signifying an overwhelming abundance of stimulation and absolutely nothing at all, like being bathed in light while keeping your eyes closed tight. You feel the warmth, and the light penetrates the cells of your eyelids, but you’re purposefully holding yourself back from the full sensation. (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)

Elsewhere: Because I am a ridiculous man, I recently began work on another blog called Pop Songs 07. The premise of the site is very simple — I am going to write an entry about every song on every R.E.M. album, plus a handful of notable non-album tracks. (“The Great Beyond,” “Romance,” “Revolution,” “It’s A Free World, Baby,” you get the idea.) As of this writing, I’ve already written an entry about one track from each record except for Murmur and Lifes Rich Pageant. I’m going to be covering the songs in arbitrary order based on whatever ideas hit me first, and the site will not be on a strict schedule — ie, some weeks I might do eight or nine entries, and in others I might only do one, or none. It’s basically a side-project and a formal challenge for myself, and I have no idea how long it might take me to get through all the tracks, though I promise that I’ll eventually get to all of them.

Also: Alanis Morrissette is actually a very funny lady!

GOMM “Don’t Take A Chance” – “Don’t Take A Chance” vamps along steadily for a few minutes, cycling through a twitchy post-punk phase and a droney jam section before settling into a brilliant final third that bounces restlessly as two voices attempt to talk each other out of pleasures, commitments, emotional connections, or anything else that could be considered a risk. The music sounds like a constant threat of danger, and though the male voice puts up a bit of a fight, the woman seems sorta eager to jump into the fire. (Click here to buy it from Bleep.)

Gudrun Gut (with Uta Heller and Matt Elliott) “Rock Bottom Riser” – Covering a Smog song is certainly not the easiest way to my heart, but Gudrun Gut and her partners pull it off, mainly by creating a track that sounds very little like anything Bill Callahan has ever recorded. Their take on “Rock Bottom Riser” is chilly, spare, and rhythmic, with three asymmetrical vocal lines that all fall on a scale that ranges from entirely dispassionate to hesitantly soulful, with opposite extremes overlapping at several crucial moments. Much like the original, they approach the drama of the lyrics with great caution, but Gut’s version is more evocative and musically descriptive, and best of all, it lacks Callahan’s hideous deadpan vocal inflections. (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)

Last night Marc Hogan and I went to see Field Music and Menomena play a show at the Bowery Ballroom. This morning, we had a little chat about the gig.

Field Music @ Bowery Ballroom, March 28 2007
Give It Lose It Take It / Sit Tight / Tones of Town / A House Is Not A Home / You Can Decide / Working To Work / If Only The Moon Were Up / Pieces / Shorter Shorter / Tell Me Keep Me

Field Music “Working To Work”

Matthew Perpetua: So what did you think of Field Music’s set?

Marc Hogan: Their record is so tidy and polite, and yet they managed to get that across almost seamlessly live. Very precise. Very English. It was a bit of a short set, with a few great songs left out, but they’re so bashfully charming. And yet it’s hard to see a huge mass of Americans clamoring to hear this type of thing.

MP: I was really struck by how much those guys looked and acted exactly as I had imagined them. Really thin and clean-cut, with neat, well-fit and uncluttered clothing. Polite and friendly, but a bit aloof too. They obviously live out their immaculate, uptight aesthetic on every level. The tightness and precision reminded me a lot of Spoon, but they don’t have this kinda macho, sexy frontman. They are so reserved and make no attempt to be “rock and roll;” they seem happy to just make this Music For Stylish Introverts. I thought they were really charming whenever they would chat with the crowd.

MH: True, they had that embarrassed (but completely in control) Hugh Grant factor.

MP: Not hilarious, but rather unpretentious, well-adjusted, and good-humored.

MH: As for their differences from Spoon, I think you’re right. They’re comfortable with making rock that reflects who they are. They’re comfortable with being uptight and uncomfortable!

MP: I’m not sure if they ever seem uncomfortable — a lot of what I like about Tones of Town is that it feels very relaxed and peaceful. It makes me think of really pleasant spring days.

MH: I always hear a nervousness in their music. Maybe “uncomfortable” was the wrong word. On stage, though, there was nothing nervous about them — they’ve got this stuff down. How do you think the crowd reacted to Field Music, though?

MP: I’m not sure if the crowd responded to them at all. The audience was clearly there for Menomena, and I guess I was too focused on staring at them with their instruments to scan around. Did you notice anything?

MH: I didn’t really notice anything, either. It would be fun to see them in a smaller venue where people had to come see them.

MP: I think even if Field Music was headlining, the response would have been fairly muted because their music is pleasurable, but not exactly fun. It’s hard not to just be passive with their songs.

MH: That was my take on their first album. Really, really pretty — but how do you convince somebody to get excited about “pretty” when other bands are trying to be “beautiful”?

MP: Also, their emotional content is really measured and focused on details and vague, in-between feelings, so you’re never going to be too moved by it. That’s one of the things I respond to in the songs, but I think most young people want something a bit more extreme and volatile.

MH: Field Music just owns the whole pleasant/pretty aspect. And good for them. They’re not looking to wow anyone — exactly, they’re not going to extremes.A lot of the songs are about work, honestly, and how exciting is that? But it’s part of our lives.

Menomena “Muscle’n Flo”

MP: They are very formal in their artistic concerns, but so was Menomena, but they went about things completely differently, and the audience seemed to really connect with them.

MH: Yes! That’s the common thread — both bands are definitely focused on form first, but each has its own personality.

MP: It’s funny because Menomena’s formal concerns are more in radically reworking the dynamics of a pop song, whereas Field Music is all about working within this paradigm we all know and understand, but Menomena’s stuff is so much warmer and emotionally direct, and so they get the fans that really flip out for them. Personally, I find it hard to connect with some of Menomena’s stuff, especially the ones where it seems like there would simply not be a song without the drummer.

MH: There’s an anthemic, sing-along quality to Menomena’s music. Field Music don’t seem as interested in that type of communal aspect. Maybe it’s a Portland vs. Sunderland, England thing. Oh, but that drummer! I could not stop watching him.

MP: Yeah, he really needs a raise. The other guys are fine musicians, but he carries that band. If he quit or died, they’d have to break up.

MH: He was probably the best singer, too. But the reason a song like “Rotten Hell” works so well is exactly because it doesn’t rely only on flashy drums. It has a great, swirling melody and words to which people can relate and sing along. As opposed to the more formal work, the songs you mention that feel more like exercises and only work because of the drums. “Rotten Hell” is a political song, but not in an overbearing or self-important way. It doesn’t scream, “Look at us, we’re being political now.”

MP: I had no idea what to expect of them, so I was happy to see how engaging they were as performers. Very funny guys, easy to like. Handsome, mildly theatrical. Theatrical in the sense of “Oooh, and now he’s got a tuba!”

MH: They definitely made more sense to me in concert than on the albums. And I already liked the albums quite a bit.

MP: I wouldn’t be surprised if they just kept getting bigger. They clearly inspire fandom, but it also seems like they are just getting the knack of writing accessible pop songs. I can imagine them pulling a Modest Mouse in a few years. “Wet and Rusting,” “Muscle’n Flo,” “Rotten Hell” — that seems to be the start of something.

MH: Where the cult just keeps getting bigger, yeah. Not every band gets a “Float On,” but it’ll be exciting to watch these guys develop their pop sense, and move away from their songwriting gimmick. What do they do with computers again?

MP: Wikipedia explains:

The band uses a computer program called the Digital Looping Recorder, or Deeler for short, in the song writing process – it was programmed by band member Brent Knopf. Drummer Danny Seim explains the process, “First, we set the tempo of the click, which is played through a pair of headphones. We then take turns passing a single mic a

round the room. One of us will hold the mic in front of an instrument, while another one of us will lay down a short improvised riff over the click track. We usually start with the drums. Once the drums begin looping, we throw on some bass, piano, guitar, bells, sax, or whatever other sort of noisemaker happens to be in the room. Deeler keeps the process democratic, which is the only way we can operate”

MH: “We usually start with the drums.”

MP: No kidding!

(Click here to buy Field Music’s Tones of Town from Insound and here to buy Menomena’s Friend and Foe from Barsuk.)

Elsewhere: My new Hit Refresh column is up on the ASAP site with mp3s from Tujiko Noriko, Elk City, and A Sunny Day In Glasgow.

Mark Ronson “Stop Me” – Mark Ronson is more than a producer; he’s a musical philanthropist who uses his considerable resources and connections to realize crazy pop dreams. He’s turned Radiohead’s “Just” into a funk number, Britney’s “Toxic” into a drag queen vamp featuring Ol’ Dirty Bastard, and the Jam’s “Pretty Green” into a rowdy Ze Records throwback. Ronson has an uncanny knack for emphasizing the subliminal roots of pop songs, and executing his high concepts with grace and style. “Stop Me” transforms The Smiths’ “Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before” into a slick R&B number with his signature horn bleats, crisp beats, and electro flourishes. The vocal starts out sounding a little bit like Damon Albarn, but once it gets going, it shifts into a rather impressive simulation of Prince in his “When Doves Cry” mode. As the song hits its peak, it mutates into a cover of the Supremes’ “You Keep Me Hanging On.” The transition is clever, fluid, and intuitive, and stands out as one of the more stunning pop moments of the year thus far. (Click here to buy it via Mark Ronson’s official site.)

In Flagranti featuring G. Rizo “Intergalactic Bubblegum” – Since it is pretty clear that I’m not allowed to talk about songs on this site without getting into every goddamn pedantic detail, I’ll just tell you straight away that this song contains a sample of “Knock On Wood.” It’s really not the most important thing about track — I’d like to think that its imperious sexuality, rhythmic vocal hook, and variety of sci-fi whooosh effects are more exciting and essential to its appeal, but hey, sometimes it’s more important to assert your trainspotter authority by highlighting trivia rather than, y’know, appreciating the spirit of a recording. (Click here to buy it from Juno.)

Yelle “Je Veux Te Voir” – What do you even call this music? It moves restlessly between identifiable sounds — punky French rapping, heavy electro, Baile funk/booty bass, twee synth pop, intense rock guitar moves transposed to keyboards — but it’s like everything and nothing else. It’s as though they just figured out what 2007 was supposed to sound like and ran with it, making every moment more amped up and ridiculously exciting than the last.

I found the lyrics and ran them through Google’s translation tool, and it just gets crazier. She seems to be objectifying this dude, but the lusty bits get mixed up with obscure details about sleepwear, fried potatoes, and lacking a driver’s license. Here’s the best bit from the translation: “Your posters of Lil’ Jon cover those with Magic Johnson / Your body is too crunk to ensure the dunks.” It’s funny and cute, but also wonderfully precise and well-observed. I get a very specific image of this guy and his life, but more than that, an idea of how smitten she is — after all, when you have a crush like this, you tend to focus on this sort of silly, endearing trivia.

I don’t think that I could ever hear this song loud enough. I want to blast it at such a high volume that it reduces me to atoms. (Click here to buy it via the official Yelle site.)

Elsewhere: Eric Harvey on Alfred Hitchcock’s use of music to present a notion of mass-culture passivity in Rear Window.

Let’s Have A Contest!!!: As I mentioned last week, Of Montreal are playing a special live-band karaoke show at Studio B in Brooklyn on April 14th. Basically, they are going to have a list of other people’s songs, and they’ll play them behind whoever is brave enough to get on stage and give it a shot. (I have no idea what songs will be available, but they’ve been playing selections by Gnarls Barkley, Prince, the Fiery Furnaces, Neil Young, and David Bowie in the past two years.) In addition to all that, they’ll play a regular Of Montreal set, which is awesome in and of itself. Obviously, this is a pretty unique and fabulous event, and as such, it sold out in less than a day.

You might be thinking something along the lines of “Why the hell is he telling us this? Is he just trying to make us feel bad about missing this show? Why is the Fluxblog guy such an irredeemable prick?” I honestly don’t know the answer to that last question, but I promise you that I’m not trying to make you feel lame about not getting tickets. In fact, I’m actually going to hook some of you up. Well, two pair of you, anyway.

Here’s the deal: If you want to get in the running, you have to get creative. I want you to make something that shows off your karaoke skills and/or expresses your personal karaoke philosophy. It can be an mp3, a youtube clip, a set of photographs accompanied with text, whatever. Go wild with it! I don’t know what I’m looking for, but the two raddest entries will win the tickets (thanks to New York Magazine, btw), and a few of the runners-up might get something too. The top entries will all appear on the site when the winners are announced.

Please send all contest entries to: ofmontrealkaraoke @ gmail.com by April 10th, 2007. Please do not enter if you can’t be in Brooklyn on the day of the show, and/or if you know me personally. (I mean, if we met once super-briefly, fine.)

Kylie Minogue “Love At First Sight (Live in Sydney)” – Can anyone listen to this song without getting this amazing physical sensation; this lightness in the chest; this overwhelming feeling of WOW WOW WOW? I can’t fathom any other reaction. The music feels exactly like what its words are describing! The lyrics may seem trite to some people, but there isn’t room in this song for cleverness or obfuscation of emotion; this is just a pure burst of joy and revelation. It’s an Occam’s razor sort of thing — this wouldn’t feel nearly as true if it were not so bold and direct. It’s about owning these feelings, and not feeling ashamed or talking yourself out of them because they seem tacky or ridiculous.

Kylie Minogue “White Diamond (Live in Sydney)” – Scissor Sisters + Kylie, round two! It’s not as sublime and gorgeous as “I Believe In You,” but it definitely sounds more like Kylie doing a Scissor Sisters song, which is certainly no bad thing. It’s easy to imagine Jake Shears singing this song, but it’s clearly built to show off that wonderful, shimmering quality in Kylie’s voice. It’s sort of interesting that the Scissor Sisters have written two diffuse, ethereal ballads for her — it says a lot about how they perceive her, and how they interpret their respective strengths as writers and performers. Are Shears and Babydaddy writing these songs based on their idea of who Kylie is, or is this what they want her to be? (Click here to buy it from Amazon UK.)

R.E.M. “Let Me In” (Live in Mountain View, California 10/21/2001) – This is for Chris, who turned 25 today. Like myself, Chris has a deep and totally unapologetic love for R.E.M.’s Monster, though our favorite songs on the album are a bit different. For me, “Let Me In” has always been the painful (emotionally, not aesthetically) dirge that I flick past in order to get from the creepy “I Took Your Name” to the creepier “Circus Envy,” but for him, it’s the high point of the entire record. As he puts it:

Elsewhere: Tickets for Of Montreal’s special New York Magazine karaoke show at Studio B in Brooklyn just went on sale. If you get shut out, I might be able to help you out next week. Stay tuned.

And: In outer space, no one will judge Batman and Superman’s love.