My Future Is Static

Sonic Youth @ Maxwell’s 4/16/2005 (Early Show)
I Love You Golden Blue / The Empty Page / Pattern Recognition / Unmade Bed / Eric’s Trip / Stones / Paper Cup Exit / New Hampshire / Pacific Coast Highway // Catholic Block / Schizophrenia

Sonic Youth “Schizophrenia (Live In Bremen, 8/27/1991)” – Though I am a little disappointed that Sonic Youth have barely changed their set rotation from the regular Sonic Nurse tour for this mini-tour of small clubs in the northeast, I certainly have no complaints about a show that ends with three consecutive songs from my favorite SY album, Sister. It’s been five years since I’ve seen them perform “Schizophrenia” (which is not only one of my top ten SY songs, but one of my favorite songs in general), so that was the obvious highlight for me. The band seemed to be in a good mood, and the sound quality was surprisingly crisp considering that every other show that I’ve seen at Maxwell’s has been muddy and poorly mixed. This was my 15th Sonic Youth show since 1995, and as usual, I am amazed by their craft and precision. The most remarkable thing is that I think that they’ve only become tighter and more creative as a live ensemble over the years, which is common for, say, jazz groups, but very rare for rock bands. Though they may have already peaked as songwriters, it’s very possible that they are only just now coming into full maturity, and that’s a very thrilling thing. (Click here to buy the original album version from Insound.)

Captain Comatose “To My Song” – Captain Comatose should not be too surprised that anyone would be singing this song on the street. This is a clear high water mark for Captain Comatose aka Can “Khan” Oral, an immediately lovable pop tune that sounds like a German electronic cabaret version of Motown. The vocals recall Jake Shears and George Michael (the singer-songwriter), but the wild synth solo is like Stephen Malkmus or Matt Friedberger doing an acid house track.
(Click here to pre-order the album from Soul Seduction.)

Trembling To The Beat

Annie @ Tribeca Grand 4/14/2005
Intro / Helpless Fool For Love / Always Too Late / Chewing Gum / Come Together / The Wedding // Heartbeat

Annie “Chewing Gum (Headman Vocal Mix)” – It’s not as good as the regular mix, but you all know that one, right? If not, get on it.

To my surprise and delight, Annie performed last night with a full band. It was a very good call. Some people can pull off the singing-over-prerecorded-tracks thing fairly well if they have the vocal chops and/or a commanding presence (see: M.I.A.), but Annie’s voice is so thin and her persona is so understated that the full-band approach is definitely the way to go. It’s also very appropriate for the material. Though Annie’s music is firmly rooted in chart pop and dance music, the songs themselves are more like Goldfrapp, early Bjork, or late period Radiohead in that they draw on the textures of electronic pop while only occasionally sounding like something you’d actually play for a dancefloor. And this is the secret of Annie’s success; the reason why she can get a lot of indie-ish people on her side who might not otherwise care very much about Europop.

The live set was brief but mostly quite impressive. The first few songs sounded a little tentative, but once they got to “Chewing Gum,” they hit their stride. “Chewing Gum” was rearranged significantly but not dramatically – the bass carried the groove, the keyboards were less prominent, and the “hey Annie…” and “c’mon Annie…” parts were sung by her keyboard player through a vocoder. The other highlight of the set was a brand new song called “The Wedding,” which featured an instantly catchy vocal hook (“will you marry me? / I do I do I do!”) and excellent, bouncey synths that reminded me of Speaking In Tongues-era Talking Heads. Interestingly enough, this was by far her most confident vocal performance of the evening. After a brief encore tease, Annie played “Heartbeat,” which was just as good as I hoped it would be, although it was slightly spoiled for me by the two obnoxious model-y girls a foot away from me who would NOT. STOP. TALKING. (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)

Richie Havens “Going Back To My Roots (Twitch Edit)” – Ah, finally I have something that will sound perfect after that Larry Levan remix of The Celestial Choir. (Long term readers will know what I mean. If not, fire up the slsk, man.) It’s all about that classic disco piano sound, but Havens’ gravelly, soulful voice pushes it over the top. Classic. (Click here for the Optimo website.)

All the links should be okay as of this edit – the extensions of all the links had changed slightly, and I had to go back and put in all the new versions of the URLs for everything linked from the server.

Searching High And Low For The Attention I Could Get

James Rabbit “Spring Breakdown” – My heart goes out to the poor narrator of this song. He’s an emotional casualty of a mating ritual he only partially understands, and crippled by his selfawareness and desperation. He’s hurt and jealous, and sets out for some half-hearted passive-aggressive sexual revenge, but he just doesn’t have what it takes. All the boy can do is attempt to stave off his own worst impulses, but that doesn’t seem to work out for him either. This is fine new work from what is probably the most prolific pop band in America that no one has ever heard of – they’ve recorded ten albums in last five years, but none of their records have been commercially released and they rarely play live. That’s such a shame, since this song and many others in their catalog sound as though they would be most at home played out on a stage. (Click here for the James Rabbit website, which is more of a blog than a band site, really.)

Electronicat “Flesh + Accessories” – Virtually everything Electronicat releases sounds like the soundtrack to some sort of evil beach party, and this is no exception. The song starts out with an emphasis on the surf guitar, but that eventually recedes into the background as various synth sounds gradually dominate the arrangement. Interestingly, there’s a couple stray bits of heavily reverbed guitar in this track that seem to connect the dots from Link Wray to horror movie soundtracks. (Click here to buy it from Hausmusik.)

It’s So Easy When It’s Simplified

Edan (featuring Dagha) “Rock and Roll” – Several hip hop producers (not to mention mash-up artists) have flirted with the textures of psychedelic rock in the past, but for one reason or another, it seems that whenever people go for a full-on hip hop/rock hybrid, they nearly always use super-obvious heavy metal sounds. Edan commits to the hard psych aesthetic, fusing Nuggets-style rock to hardcore rap in a way that is often remarkably seamless and unforced. “Rock and Roll” is most similar to some of DJ Shadow’s work on Entroducing and the first UNKLE album, but Edan’s music is bolder and brighter, with power chords that hit like wrecking balls and aggressive raps that practically scream “I AM A HUGE FAN OF THE WU-TANG CLAN.” (Hey, so am I! No harm, no foul.) (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)

Decomposure “Whose Side Are You On?” – Decomposure pull off a peculiar stylistic tightrope walk on this track, as he produces a corny late 90s alt-rock sort of song (it specifically reminds me of Ben Folds Five and Third Eye Blind) with a glitchy, cut-up style that’s almost like a hyperactive version of Matmos or Aphex Twin. It’s an interesting and surprisingly effective way to produce a song that would probably sound right at home on a mainstream pop station if it had been recorded with a conventional pop-rock arrangement. However, judging by the artist’s notes about the song, it seems that he is overly apologetic about his strong pop inclinations, and that his production approach has less to do with subversion and more to do with trying to make the songs work for him on a very borecore ideological level. Making matters worse, the lyrics critique the American media and its consumers with a very offputting level of smug condescension. I find this very troubling, particularly because I essentially agree with him on a political level, but I am very uneasy with his rather elitist tone, both in the lyrics and in his essays about his work. It’s ironic that a song that chastises people for seeing the world in simplified terms would also seem to neglect a lot of the complexity in the lives of the people that he is critiquing. A rather sensible point is lost by being delivered in a way not too far removed from a typical mall-goth “you’re all sheep!” sneer. The good news is that Decomposure is only 22 years old, and that’s it likely that the populism at the heart of his songwriting and basic political beliefs will catch up with his rhetoric before too long. (Click here for the official Decomposure site.)

Sixty-Seven Better Ways To Make Some Sense

Morrissey “Redondo Beach” – I don’t expect much from Morrissey these days, but it’s not because his solo material is awful, but rather that I just can’t bring myself to care. After all, it took me long enough just to learn to appreciate The Smiths. At the pace I’m going, solo Moz (with only a few notable exceptions, such as “The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get” and “The Teachers Are Afraid Of The Pupils”) can wait a few decades. However, this live cover of Patti Smith’s “Redondo Beach” is a revelation. Morrissey’s take on the song is more mannered and slick than Smith’s original recording, but it sounds so natural and effortless that it now seems as though the song was retroactively written for him to perform. It plays to all of his strengths as a vocalist, and the morbid romance and dark humor in the lyrics may as well have come from his own pen. Definitely a case of influence and the influenced coming full circle. (See also: “E-Bow The Letter”) (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)

Herman Düne “Not On Top” – I suppose that it’s something almost everyone goes through – that point in your 20s when you notice that you’re older than some of people in the bands you see, the actors you see on the screen, in the galleries, at your school, at your job. But you’re not old. You don’t feel like a kid, but you’re definitely not a real grown-up. As the song goes, you’re “Not A Girl, Not Yet A Woman.” (Feel free to substitute masculine pronouns if that makes you feel better.) In this song, Herman Düne nails that anxiety with an impressive degree of specificity, humor and clarity. It’s a Dylan-y sort of folk rock song, but refreshingly, there is no rhythm guitar in the arrangement, only a simple bass/drum/keyboard groove and occasional lead guitar on the breaks. (Click here to buy it from Track & Field.)

The Rhone In A Glacier Icy Dream

The Fiery Furnaces @ Webster Hall 4/9/2005
Wolf Notes / Leaky Crystal / Worry Worry / Blueberry Boat / Worry Worry / Smelling Cigarettes / My Dog Was Lost But Now He’s Found / Wolf Notes / Two Fat Feet / Straight Street / Two Fat Feet / Oregon (Mason City) / Name Game / Chief Inspector Blancheflower / Quay Cur / Tropical Iceland / Up In The North / Nabs (Mason City) / South Is Only A Home / Blueberry Boat / Bow Wow / Birdie Brain (heavy guitar version, no Matt vocals) / Asthma Attack / Don’t Dance Her Down (new guitar line)/ Oregon (Mason City) / Chris Michaels (first line) / Evergreen / Mason City / Spaniolated / Chris Michaels (subcontinent section)/ Chris Michaels (Melinda section) / Wolf Notes / Quay Cur (Inuit section) / Quay Cur / Wolf Notes // (next three Matt & Eleanor only) Police Sweater Blood Vow / Teach Me, Sweetheart / I’m Waiting To Know You /// I’m Gonna Run / Rehearsing My Choir //// Here Comes The Summer / 1917

The Fiery Furnaces “South Is Only A Home / Blueberry Boat / Bow Wow / Birdie Brain / Inca Rag (Live in Toronto, 9/12/04)” – This was an excellent Fiery Furnaces show, probably the best one that I’ve seen so far. Though I must admit that I was initially disappointed that I was getting the regular medley again instead of the oddball setlist from the North Six show, they really nailed the set (in spite of dropping my favorite section from it, the keyboardy version of “Birdie Brain” going into “Inca Rag”), and played some very exciting encores. I was thrilled to see them play the three songs debuted at the KEXP session again, particularly “Police Sweater Blood Vow,” which is quickly becoming one of my favorite songs in general. The fourth new song was “Rehearsing My Choir,” which is a very heavy song that they said will appear on the album that they recorded with their grandmother. I have a strong suspicion that this set was recorded with the intention of using parts of it for an eventual live album, which is great, though the Furnaces would be well served to just release that wonderful Toronto show from last year. I listen to that show more often than the albums at this point. (Click here to listen to the entirety of the Toronto show on JustConcerts.com.)

Lali Puna “Past Machine” – Lali Puna have an interesting way of making ennui seem somewhat compelling. Though many of their songs suffer for a lack of energy, when they come upon a suitable groove, their emotional blankness can become part of the mood or add some subtext rather act as a hindrance. Of course, this is all another way of saying that they sound like early Stereolab. I certainly don’t mind, particular when Stereolab themselves are unlikely to go back to that Transient Random Noise-Bursts sound any time soon. (Click here to pre-order it from Boomkat.)

Take Me To Your Secular World

Superdiscount “Someone Like You (Fast Track Vocal Mix)” – This should appeal to the people who liked the Metronomy song from a couple weeks ago. Like that song, this is a pop song firmly rooted in house music, but built on a bassline straight of gothy post-punk. The vocals take a few minutes to kick in, but once they do, the music shifts from “oh, is this another Rapture remix?” into a song that sounds like the musical equivalent of a shiny black corset and torn fishnets. (Click here to pre-order it from Soul Seduction.)

Palindromes – Well, this was a pleasant surprise. I came in to this film knowing nothing about it, and having disliked Todd Solondz’s two previous features, both of which wallowed in misanthropy to the degree that they seemed like either cynical pandering to the worst impulses of indie elitists or the work of an emotional adolescent. Though Palindromes is set within the same grotesque suburban milieu as his previous films (he even includes a few characters from Welcome to the Dollhouse, a la that other frustrating New Jersey-based auteur from the ’90s, Kevin Smith), its storyline and characters are rendered with greater soul and empathy than anything Solondz has done in the past. (Well, maybe not; I’ve never seen that debut film that he’s since disowned, though I’ve heard it’s like Woody Allen in the Lower East Side, and includes several musical interludes.)

Palindromes is structured as a palindrome. Seven actresses (who appear in a palindromic pattern) play a 12 year old girl from the secular suburbs named Aviva (read it backwards) who wants nothing more than to be a mom (hey look, there’s another one.) She gets her wish, but her parents force her to have an abortion. Distraught, she runs away and eventually finds herself in the home of a generous Christian family who have already taken in several unwanted children. Eventually, Aviva returns home, and has barely changed at all in spite of her journey and traumas.

Solondz’s position, which he asserted in a Q&A following the screening, is that we never really change, and that we are all essentially palindromes. Or as Chuck Noblet would say: “You can’t unfry things, you can’t be something that you’re not.” Though Solondz generally takes the faith of his Christian characters seriously and deflates his own nihilistic viewpoint via a character who spells out the “we are all palindromes” theme in a brief soliloquy near the end, the film can’t help itself but to be pessimistic and misanthopic at its core. I don’t believe that people cannot change, but Solondz clearly has not in this respect, though he has obviously developed and progressed as a writer. The movie works best when it sticks to Solondz’s strengths, ie dark, absurdist comedy. As a political satire, Palindromes is only so-so, and does not quite measure up to Alexander Payne’s thematically similar Citizen Ruth.

In the Q&A session, Solondz explained that Aviva is intended to be regarded as an innocent, which raises some interesting questions about his notion of innocence. Aviva is dumb, naive, and driven almost entirely by basic desires – procreation, self-preservation, social acceptance, and vengeance. Is Solondz conflating innocence with the id? Are we more innocent when we are stripped of human constructs of morality and civility and are fully in thrall of our biological impulses? If only I had thought to ask him this directly when I had the chance.

Vibrate Buzz Buzz Ring And Beep

Phoenix @ Museum Of Television & Radio (KEXP Session)
Too Young / Run Run Run / Everything Is Everything / Alphabetical

The Fiery Furnaces @ Museum Of Television & Radio (KEXP Session)
Teach Me, Sweetheart / Here Comes The Summer / I’m Waiting To Know You / Police Sweater Blood Vow

The Fiery Furnaces “Police Sweater Blood Vow” – KEXP record their sessions at the Museum of Television and Radio in a room the size of a small office. It looks and feels like one too – I kept thinking of that scene in The Office when David Brent plays “Free Love On The Free Love Freeway” in the conference room. Phoenix played as a full band, though a couple members sat out when they weren’t needed. They are a remarkably clean and precise band (even when the drummer suddenly has no kick pedal and is forced to improvise and play the kick like a tom), and coupled with the immaculate sound in the room, it was rather easy to close your eyes and imagine that you were just listening to a cd. I was particularly pleased that they played “Alphabetical,” which is a personal favorite of mine and was not part of the set when I saw them at the Bowery Ballroom last year.

The Fiery Furnaces performed as an acoustic duo, and only played songs that they had never played live before. Being a huge Furnaces fanboy, this was a great thrill for me, sort of like being there when Pavement did those great old Peel Sessions. The first two new songs will appear on Bitter Tea, which is intended to be the proper Furnaces record packaged with their “grandmother album” Lake Train to My Lost Love, due out by the end of the summer. “Police Sweater Blood Vow” is a brand new song that they say will end up on the record after that (album six if you count EP). All three of the new songs are immediately catchy and loveable, owing more to the simple pop songs of Gallowsbird’s Bark than the epics from Blueberry Boat. The emphasis of the lyrics have changed considerably, allowing for more directness and less obscurity while keeping the wordplay sharp and intriguing. (Click here for the KEXP website – full archives of both sessions will be available shortly, until then go to “archived streams,” go to April 6 2005, and listen around 7 AM for Phoenix and 11 AM or the Fiery Furnaces.)

Fannypack “Seven One Eight” – Well, it’s good to see someone do something fresh with the Beastie Boys’ vocal style. Fannypack play up the Boys’ NYC obsession, catholic taste and self-assured cool; so unlike fellow female Beastie biters Northern State, who only ever seem to ape their worst qualities – an eagerness to stick to the same old rhyme schemes as though they are filling out mad libs, and their ability to taint essentially positive political messages with toxic levels of smugness. At their best, Fannypack sound like sassy cartoon hipsters attempting to fuse their love of hip hop and Bring It On with some oddball arrangements. For example: vamping ska guitar, harmonica, and percussion limited to processed kick downbeats. (Click here to visit the Fannypack MySpace page.)

For Every Dom And Her Acid Blood

Edie Sedgwick “Sigourney Weaver” – God bless Edie Sedgwick (him, not her) for recording this electro-rock slash fic (electroslash!) song based on the homoeroticism of Aliens. Let’s face it, someone had to do it. It is very rare that I find myself wishing that a rocking electronic song had guitars instead of keyboards, but this is the exception to the rule. This recording is fine, but oh man if only this was heavier/thrashier. (Click here to buy it from DeSoto and here to watch the video on Edie’s official site.)

Weird War “See About Me” – You can file this one under “great, but if only…” as well. Where was the wild, spazzy Ian Svenonius that I remember from the Nation of Ulysses and The Make Up when he recorded this little number? Was it a conscious stylistic decision to sing one of the best songs he’s been involved with in the past few years as though he had a head cold? I’d prefer to think that he was unwell and they ran out of money for the sessions. Either way, definitely above average for Weird War, though it’s not quite on par with “AK-47” from their last album. (Click here to pre-order it from Soul Seduction.)

Listen To The Holler

R.E.M. “Life and How To Live It (Live at the Avalon Theatre, Los Angeles 10/29/2003)” – 25 years ago on this day, R.E.M. played their first show at an Episcopalian church in Athens, Georgia. They wouldn’t be known as R.E.M. until a week or so after that show, but it was the debut of the classic line-up that would last until after the release of their 10th album in 1996: Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills, Michael Stipe. Together, these men created one of the finest catalogs in all of pop music, including several songs that I am certain will remain part of the public conciousness for many decades to come. Though the band’s songwriting has waned in the time since Bill Berry’s departure, they are still capable of excellent work informed by a sense of optimism, good will and empathy that has only grown deeper over time.

I have R.E.M. to thank for many things, including one of the most exhilirating concert experiences of my life. Seeing the band play “Life and How To Live It” at Madison Square Garden in 2003 easily ranks among the top 10 best performances that I’ve ever witnessed, in part due to the total surprise of seeing it played at all, but mostly because it was delivered with an incredible manic intensity that blew away the comparitively timid and low-key album version. This recording of the song from only a few weeks later comes close to capturing that charge, but it’s hard to compete with the memory of being so fully absorbed in the song and that moment, particularly at the point when the tension builds up and releases when Stipe shouts the song’s title. (Click here to buy it from Amazon, and here for the Thank You R.E.M. site.)

Mr. Flash – Excerpt from “Monsieur Sexe” – Oh, the French and their musical orgasms. This is a section from a cd-length mix of “adults only” funk which is rather naked in its ambitions. At some points in the mix, the music can err on the side of sounding like porn girls masturbating to soundtracks from 80s science documentaries (think: Look Around You), but for the most part the music is funky and the mood is light and flirtatious. (Click here to buy it from Arcade Mode.)

Killing My Way To The Truth

LCD Soundsystem @ Bowery Ballroom 4/2/2005
Beat Connection / Too Much Love / Give It Up / Daft Punk Is Playing At My House / On Repeat / Thrills / Tribulations / Movement / Jump Into The Fire (Nilsson) /Losing My Edge / Slowdive (Siouxsie) / Yeah

Harry Nilsson “Jump Into The Fire” – The LCD Soundsystem show was perfectly fine, but I was just not in the mood for it on that particular night. This isn’t to say that I didn’t enjoy it as it was happening, though my mind did wander into thinking about some family-related problems more than once. I just stuck to the back of the room and observed for the most part, only really moving when the songs gave me no other choice. Most of the songs inspired at least a bit of motion, though there wasn’t very much room for movement (especially during “Movement,” haw haw.) The setlist was a bit samey and would’ve benefited greatly from having included the two ballads from the album to break up the mood a bit. I would not have guessed that their cover of Harry Nilsson’s “Jump Into The Fire” would’ve been the highlight of the show, but it was, at least for me. It was probably the ideal song for me at that moment, expressing a desire to get away from problems, but understanding that running away from them won’t make them go away, especially when they are tied up in people that you love. (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)

Sin City -When I say that this film is like X-Treme Noir, I promise that I mean it in the best possible way. Like Kill Bill, Sin City is a postmodern, highly stylized, super-violent dark comedy that manages to be at once a loving homage to its lowbrow roots and an over-the-top joke at their expense. The movie is amazing to look at, even if you don’t care for the hyper-masculine revenge fantasies at the core of its narrative. Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino are the big names of the film’s directorial trio, but they are only acting as midwives to creator/co-director Frank Miller’s vision. The film’s aesthetic is lifted directly off of the pages of Miller’s comics; mimicing his stark contrasts and copying his compositions with slavish devotion, as though the original comics were just storyboards for this project. The resulting stills and scenes often improve upon the source material and blow most other current cinema out of the water in terms of simple beauty of design and composition. The story is delightfully disposable, but the images are high art.

A funny thing about Sin City for me is that Alexis “Rory Gilmore” Bledel plays a sweet teenage prostitute in the middle section, which took me out of the film a bit, but mostly because I’ve never seen her play anything other than Rory. Her character kept talking about having to call her mother, which only made me think “oh man, Lorelai is going to be sooooo pissed!”

Stale Smoke And Indecision

Fruit of Forest “In Memory of J. Stokes #2 (Nesting Birds)” – Both of today’s selections are from artists on the tiny Sorbet label from Halifax, Nova Scotia. Fruit Of Forest is a collective of local Halifax musicians who adhere to two rules: improvise everything and never be photographed or filmed. Fruit Of Forest create an ephemeral, living sound that is at one with nature as well as technology. This track sounds like a beautiful campfire song, with the sound of digital crickets and birds mingling with some kind of mystical force as the band gently sing their modern spirituals. (Click here for the rather cryptic official Fruit of Forest webpage.)

Blood Peach “Gwendolyn Shakes Off The Snowflakes” – Though I cannot deny that this song is maudlin and melodramatic, I think that it speaks to the emotional truth of being a young person trapped in a nowhere town. This is a (self?)portrait of a lonely small town kid – he’s got a job at a cannery, he drinks too much wine, he knits a scarf for his girlfriend, and he’s overcome with jealousy and selfloathing any time another man so much as looks at her. But I understand that jealousy – it is born of a desperate desire to hang on to the few connections one has, and of being fully aware that losing anyone you love could lead to an even more profound sense of loneliness. (Click here to visit the official Blood Peach site.)

Study Your Mouth Movements

Solex + Maarten Altena Ensemble “Go Easy on the Fun Fund” – Elisabeth Esselink has flirted with jazz sounds on every Solex record, but for this recording for Konkurrent’s In The Fishtank series, she got to collaborate with a full ten piece jazz ensemble. The results are not very far off from the typical Solex sound, but with a looser feeling and more expressive leads. On this particular track, Esselink’s vocal cadence recalls Kim Gordon in spoken word mode, but no one could ever confuse her bright, girly voice for Gordon’s guttural tone. (Click here to buy it from Midheaven.)

Dr. Dog “The World May Never Know” – At this point in time, there is hardly a need for more 70s soft rock pastiches, but when a song as lovely and agreeable as this comes along, it’s easy to forgive the glut of bands out there trying to write their own Fleetwood Mac and Todd Rundgren songs. Nice reverb on the drum fills, by the way. (Click here to buy it from Devil In The Woods.)

I Never Knew That Time Could Get So Far Away From Me

Electrelane “Bells” – Video treatment: All of the footage will be shot on a warm, sunny day in a large public park, preferably in the early summer. As the song begins, we see a lot of calm, quiet activity – people strolling, reading, having picnics, lying in the sun. The band ought to be the central figures at this point, if just because it’s their song and they are very attractive people. Scenes should change every other measure, and then every measure once the high-pitched keyboard lead comes in. There should be some hints of sun glare in the footage, but not too much just yet. When the guitar comes in, the editing should cut on the downbeat. The glare of the sun should become more prominent, and the action should be more physical – running, game playing, dancing, swimming. The glare and contrast should increase as the song reaches its climax, leaving us with a blown-out, mostly white or yellow image at the end, and the screen fades to white. (Click here to buy it from the Beggars Group.)

The Constellations “Let’s Face It, Our Kids Are Stupid” -In contrast to the more manic depictions of ADD in recent music (like, say, “Chief Inspector Blancheflower” by the Fiery Furnaces), this song seems to illustrate an inability to concentrate that is less severe and more common. The song shifts back and forth between a lethargic but serene instrumental and a jumpier section in which two vocal parts sung by the same voice compete for attention – one repeating the same thought, and the other chanting letters in a distracting sing-song. That part is catchy and light, but whenever the instrumental part kicks in, it feels like a relief. (Click here to buy it from Dominion Recordings.)

I Count On You, I Do

Elastica “I Want You” – I’m not sure how this one ever fell through the cracks, both in how this song never ended up on a proper Elastica album or single, and in that I never bothered to get a copy of their Radio One Sessions compilation til just recently. There is some excellent material on the collection, including several songs that I’d never heard before, and some raw, energetic versions of some familiar album tracks. During their existence, Elastica took a lot of heat from narrow-minded critics for knicking hooks from other bands (particularly Wire, whose music served as the basis for at least eight songs in their catalog), but the truth is, they were fearless and utterly ruthless appropriationists with excellent taste and a knack for improving upon their source material. The active ingredient in the Elastica formula was most certainly the effortlessly sexy phrasing of Justine Frischmann, who could very well be the most seductive rock singer of the 1990s. (Click here to buy it from Amazon UK.)

Whomadewho “Satisfaction” – The appeal of this one is fairly straightforward – it’s a cartoonish punk version of Benny Benassi’s recent club hit “Satisfaction” performed by an obscure band from Denmark. From what I’ve read in the paper this weekend, posting this sort of thing makes me “cheeky.” So be it! (Click here to buy it from Limelight Records.)

Houses, Bedsits, and Squats

Scritti Politti “Is and Ought the Western World” – Like a lot of post-punk songs from the late 70s, this sounds almost as though it was recorded in black and white. That sound most certainly suited early Scritti Politti, who were like the musical equivalent of homemade photocopied manifestos dropped along the street. It’s a far cry from where the band would end up, though – only a few years later, they would become a slick, highly produced soul-pop group, with only Green Gartside’s distinctive voice and grad school lyrical obsessions carrying over between the different incarnations. Though much of their 80s material is very worthwhile and interesting, the production style is very dated and has not aged nearly as well as the earlier work, which could easily pass for contemporary arty indie rock. (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)

Moolah “The Hard Hit” – I spent part of my weekend talking to a heavily medicated kid who can’t look anyone in the eye. (He just stares glassy-eyed off over your shoulder.) I’m alone in this house and it’s grey and wet outside. My mind is surprisingly clear. I slept in today, which is pretty rare for me. Under the circumstances, this song feels just about right. Drone, drone, menace, menace. They did this kind of thing so much better in the 70s, didn’t they? It seems so much less selfconcious than say, Mogwai or Godspeed You Black Emperor. Or God help us all, The Album Leaf. This was recorded in New York sometime around 1974. Whatever keyboard they are using on that one main drone, I love it. (Good luck trying to find an official copy of this one.)

In My Room With The Curtains Drawn

Yo La Tengo “Tom Courtenay (Georgia Version)” – At their best, Yo La Tengo mask their potent emotions with a stoic affect, lending a consistently low key vibe to their work, along with a quiet subtext of repression. Ira Kaplan in particular always seems to be slightly embarassed by his heavier feelings, insisting on framing everything in the context of the everyday and burying his often whispered vocals under the squall and drones of his guitar. Their emphasis on the nuances of domesticity is rarely found in rock music (particularly in rock music that can actually rock), and has wisely become the band’s general niche over the years. (Well, that and the penchant for obscure cover versions.)

“Tom Courtenay” is one of the band’s most impressive songs, and is rightfully featured on their new career retrospective, Prisoners Of Love. It appears twice in the set – the first is the album recording, and this is the alternate b-side version featuring drummer Georgia Hubley on vocals rather than Kaplan. This take on the song manages to be even more low-key than the original, which struggles to smother its lovely melodies and lonely nostalgia with loud feedback and a diffident lead vocal. I’m sure that someone out there can and will one day record “Tom Courtenay” will all the passionate emoting that Yo La Tengo are holding back, but I suspect that it would not work as well, since their aloof restraint rings so true to a song about memory and distant longing. (Click here to buy it from the Matador store.)

KaitO “Nng (Demo)” -Fluxblog exclusive! This is a demo for a song that will appear on the forthcoming new KaitO album on SpinArt. On this track, the band sounds as relentless and urgent as ever, but the guitars seem to have been replaced entirely by the sound of very disagreeable computers. (Click here to visit the official KaitO site.)

Dodging The Wrath Of God

Della Reese “Compared To What” – There’s a lot of protest music from the Viet Nam and Reagan eras that ring true today due to their vagueness or because they are about political situations analogous to current events, but this song, with lyrics written by Eugene McDaniels, is so specific to the current American political climate that it seems like it could have been written yesterday. Della Reese changed the original lyrics slightly, softening some of the harsher lyrics and downplaying the line about abortion, but the performance is still quite vitriolic and intense. This is a selection from Soul Jazz’s new Soul Gospel compilation, which (like virtually everything else put out on that label) is of uniformly high quality and decked out with informative, well-designed packaging. Highly recommended. (Click here to buy it from Soul Jazz.)

Sunship (featuring Warrior Queen) “Almighty Father” – This is very disorienting, but in a pleasurable sort of way. The ragga vocals zoom along over a broken beat backing track that sounds like it’s been reduced to slow motion, creating this odd effect that is kinda like being half-asleep on a rollercoaster. (Click here to buy it from Juno.)

Turning Into Something Of Another Kind

Tanya Stephens “Need You Tonight” – When this single first came out, I passed it over in favor of Ce’cile’s “Rude Bwoy Thug Life,” which was also based on the Cure Riddim. At the time, it didn’t make a lot of sense to me to feature two songs with essentially the same backing track. “Need You Tonight” didn’t stand much of a chance up against “Rude Bwoy,” but that’s no comment on its quality. That Ce’cile song is probably one of the top 20 or 30 best songs that I’ve ever posted on this site. The Cure Riddim is essentially a remixed version of The Cure’s “Close To Me,” and with or without Robert Smith’s lyrics, the music can’t help but to convey a strong sense of romantic anticipation. Tanya Stephens runs with that general theme, but darkens the tone by making her version about anxiously planning an adulterous rendezvous. (Click here to buy it from Germaican Records.)

Tahiti 80 “Changes” – Okay, so now we know what Phoenix would sound like if they became obsessed with the Neptunes. This track is utterly immaculate 00s pop, and seems almost like a musical tribute to two or three years ago while still sounding like it could be from two years from now. The voice is thin but pleasant, the beats are crisp, the hooks won’t let go. Unsurprisingly, people in Japan love this song. (Click here to buy it from Juno.)

I’m Here To Sing A Song About Privilege

Nouvelle Vague “I Melt With You” – Though most of the Nouvelle Vague album is a pleasant novelty (80s new wave and punk hits recorded in a bossa nova style, perfect for your next dinner party), they pull off something on their version of Modern English’s “I Melt With You” that is rather similar to what the Scala Choir did with The Divinyls’ “I Touch Myself.” Essentially, they rescue a beautiful love song from I Love The 80s kitsch and Burger King commercials by toning down the intensity and putting the focus squarely on the lyrics and melody. I’m sure that over the years, this song has appeared on countless mixes made for crushes and romantic partners, and that at least half of those people put the song on to express the sentiment of this version – cuddly, low-key sexiness rather than epic romance. In one of the most adorable ad libs that I’ve ever heard, the singer deflates the song’s most bombastic line (“I made a pilgrimage to save this human race”) with a smirky “yes I did!” that brings the lyric back down to earth without disrespecting the earnest ambition of that verse. (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)

Stephen Malkmus “Pencil Rot” -“Pencil Rot” starts off the new Malkmus album with a keyboard riff that sounds like it got lost on its way to the auditions for Blueberry Boat. It’s a move that makes me wonder whether he’s actually influenced directly by The Fiery Furnaces, or if I’ve been right all along, and they just sound a whole lot like him. The similarity to the Furnaces is limited to the keyboard sound on this track though, as the song takes off in another direction once the guitars kick in. It’s sort of like a warped, less predictable version of “Dark Wave” from Pig Lib, with odd lyrics about being tortured by a villainous alter ego named Leather McWhip and crawling (and dancing) to the top of the “human shit pile.” It’s fairly representative of Face The Truth as a whole – familiar Malkmus songwriting spiked with a bit of experimentation in arrangement and production. At this point, the guy can’t help but to be himself, so he’s wise to shift his focus to texture rather than attempt an awkward reinvention. (Click here for the not-particularly-useful official SM site.)

Melinda and Melinda – Speaking of artists who can’t help but be themselves and ought to avoid reinvention; Woody Allen’s new film wisely avoids the severe flaws of his previous picture by sticking to his regular formula to the point of self-parody. Anything Else was a thoroughly mediocre romantic comedy brought down further by Allen’s profound cultural disconnection from anyone under the age of 30 to whom he is not currently married. Though it is important to come into any of his films ready to suspend disbelief, Anything Else pushed the limits of what a viewer could rationally expect of the interests of 20somethings played by Jason Biggs and Christina Ricci. Allen’s artistic and philosophical obsessions haven’t changed much since the mid-70s, and that isn’t such a problem in terms of what he wants to say in his art, but since he uses his characters as mouthpieces for his own tastes and views, he ends up coming off as oblivious to cultural changes and doomed to anachronism.

Melinda and Melinda is focused on characters in their 30s and 40s from a uniformly wealthy and well educated background, so the cultural signifiers make a bit more sense, even if the film seems more like a mid 80s period piece rather than something taking place in this decade. The premise of the film is that two writers – one specializing in comedy, the other in drama – are giving their take on essentially the same story, and the film cuts back and forth between their versions of the events. The drama is heavy and occasionally over-the-top, and very much written as a parody of earnest tragedies. In contrast to the comedy, which includes some of the funniest material that Allen has produced in years, thanks in part to the performance of the currently unstoppable Will Ferrell, it seems rather like Allen wants the viewer to walk out of the theatre thinking “wow, comedy is so much better than tragedy!” I get the sense that this is on some level intentional, and that Allen is defending his legacy against the criticism of self-righteous dramatists. That insecurity is obviously warranted by a film culture that elevates drama and generally disrespects comedy, but it’s somewhat unseemly when it becomes the subject of a film.