tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-42548366376186948602024-03-06T00:06:58.286-05:00Eli JaceEli Jacehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06776724666393375833noreply@blogger.comBlogger235125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4254836637618694860.post-39025943345210648672020-10-28T18:32:00.003-04:002020-10-28T18:32:53.486-04:00Beauty Pill Release Election Day video "Instant Night"<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://independentmusicpromotions.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Beauty-Pill-by-Morgan-Klein-scaled.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" class="wp-image-15394" height="347" src="http://independentmusicpromotions.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Beauty-Pill-by-Morgan-Klein-1024x679.jpg" width="524" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Chad Clark and Erin Nelson of Beauty Pill. Photo by Morgan Klein.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-large; font-weight: 400;">The Washington, D.C. group Beauty Pill has surprised-released a new single and video titled, "Instant Night."</span></h3><p style="text-align: justify;">The song arrives for the lead up to Election Day with a clip featuring D.C. punk illustrator, Ryan Nelson as he sketches three harrowing political figures.</p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"> </h3><p style="text-align: justify;">In offbeat timelaspe we watch Nelson as he creates ink blot portraits of the necrophiliactic three-headed power lords of D.C.: Trump, Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham. The sloppy boar and his two whining wolves.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">While the caricatures come to life the song swims downstream.</span></h3><p style="text-align: justify;">It's built off a rising and falling tonal scale that is quickly layered with multiple instruments. Then we hear Erin Nelson's voice as it swims through. She sings about, "GPS, doing the Macarena," and how, "Nature got the left swipe." Finding comfort in fear as the song slips off into lush swirls of slithering strings and calming notes from a woodwind quartet. Nelson assures us that, "Scared is all right."</p><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Beauty Pill are Basla Andolsun, Chad Clark, Drew Doucette, Erin Nelson and Devin Ocampo. "Instant Night" follows their 5-track album, <em>Please Advise</em>, released this year in May, and <em>Sorry You're Here</em>, a score for a "dance play," released in February.</p><p> </p><p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="235" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/73LJV8CBdM0" width="520"></iframe></p>Eli Jacehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06776724666393375833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4254836637618694860.post-30779173530006108632020-10-18T23:45:00.004-04:002020-10-18T23:47:06.538-04:00The Last Great Festival (Before COVID): Desert Daze 2019<p><a href="http://independentmusicpromotions.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Desert-Daze-2019-poster-from-Brooklyn-Vegan.jpg"><img alt="" class="wp-image-15279 alignnone" height="614" src="http://independentmusicpromotions.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Desert-Daze-2019-poster-from-Brooklyn-Vegan-819x1024.jpg" width="491" /></a></p><h4 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Photography By Erika Reinsel ></span></h4><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></h3><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Let's trip back one year ago this weekend.</span></span></h3><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">To a time when musicians held outdoor concerts for massive groups of comingling, dirty, despondent, drugged out groups of people camping in close proximity with little running water. It was the tail-end of festival season--October 10-13, 2019.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The last great event before COVID-19 would put down the entire concert industry for 2020--the 8th annual <strong>Desert Daze</strong> music festival held at Lake Perris, California. After eight years it has found a unique slice of musical representation on the spectrum of stoner metal---free jazz. This is the festival's second time being held at the scenic campgrounds just west of Palm Springs.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><a href="http://independentmusicpromotions.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/desert-daze-lake-perris-1.jpg"><img alt="" class="size-large wp-image-15322" height="196" src="http://independentmusicpromotions.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/desert-daze-lake-perris-1-1024x372.jpg" width="540" /></a> <span style="font-size: small;">Midday lake gazing early Friday at Lake Perris. Photos by N. Leon. Composite by Eli Jace.</span><div><h3> </h3><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">DAY 1: OCTOBER 11, 2019, FRIDAY</span></h3><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></h3><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Music on the brain. Anticipation high.</span></span></h3><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Feet antsy waiting in line. First thing to alarm the senses after mucking through security is Lake Perris, set back above the tent-tops and stage speakers. Art installations scattered, awash in color. Giant white sheets flapping in the breeze. Everyone in a state of confused ecstacy.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">From a distance I see <strong>Jessica Pratt</strong>, sun bearing down. Her voice feathers above the churning crowd. For a moment I'm in it. Over at the Theater stage comedian <strong>Fred Armisen</strong> is minutes into his "Comedy For Musicians But Everyone Is Welcome." He assuages everyone's dumbstruck mind. Some corny bits, and now he's going through a relay of regional accents, state by state. His Arizona is a muttered drawl. It feels like a live Portlandia sketch and is an icebreaker for such an overwhelming scene.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The lake is stunning, glittering in the distance, pulling in colors off the lights as they signify the start of night.</span></span></h3><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Opening Ceremonies have officially begun with <strong>Ian Svenonius</strong> and <strong>Alexandra Cabral</strong>. In slick black leather, they're ginning everyone up. Svenonius slides across the stage with warped scuzz guitar and Cabral pounds on her keyboard. Waiting for the legendary <strong>Stereolab</strong> out of London. After a decade-long hiatus, they returned to the road in 2019, touring with <strong>Wand</strong> who plays later tonight.</span></p><p> </p><a href="http://independentmusicpromotions.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Stereolab-DesertDaze-LakePerrisCA-10-11-13-19-ErikaReinsel.jpg"><img alt="" class="wp-image-15299 size-full" height="350" src="http://independentmusicpromotions.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Stereolab-DesertDaze-LakePerrisCA-10-11-13-19-ErikaReinsel.jpg" width="522" /></a> <span style="font-size: small;">Stereolab's Lætitia Sadier performing Friday night.</span></div><div><p> </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Singer <strong>Lætitia Sadier</strong> steps out with co-founder and guitarist <strong>Tim Gane</strong>; the band follows. They play songs from almost every one of their 13 albums in a seamless thrust of deep-space disco. Cooler than cool. Stereolab is a neon orange popsicle, a yellow bike ride in summer. Fried blue and purple electrolytes on the fade-out. Quick dip back to camp and <strong>Witch</strong> is mucking up the soundwaves at dark. The Vermont stoner metal group with Dinosaur Jr.'s <strong>J Mascis</strong> on drums is not to be confused with <strong>W.I.T.C.H.</strong>, the Zamrock group, whose name stands for We Intend To Cause Havoc, playing later tonight.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The campsite still an unknown plane of dried out shrubs and unmarked walkways.</span></span></h3><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Vodka surge not helping. Stumbling back towards the fairgrounds and "Banshee Beat" by <strong>Animal Collective</strong> fades in. I can hear it. It's pulsing unevenly over the parking lot. The purple furry suit I'm wearing gets caught, or my legs get tangled, I don't know, but I'm the dirt, pathway disappearing. Shrubs are boobytraps and I hear <strong>Avey Tare</strong> singing,<em> "There'll be time to just cry and wonder why it didn't work out."</em></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I've arrived in time to blurt out the chorus and the song cracks with a single note change. <em>"I duck out and go down to find the swimming pooOOool!"</em> Too dizzy to surge through the packed crowd. Sitting against the outer rightward wall I lapse into a half-dream world. A voice enters and I return to the field. Some figure of security stands above me and asks if I'm okay. I nod thankful and pick up in time for "No More Runnin'" and the hysterically jubilant "For Reverend Green," played for the first time since 2006.</span></p><p> </p><a href="http://independentmusicpromotions.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/AnimalCollective-DesertDaze-LakePerrisCA-10-11-13-19-ErikaReinsel.jpg"><img alt="" class="wp-image-15302 size-large" height="365" src="http://independentmusicpromotions.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/AnimalCollective-DesertDaze-LakePerrisCA-10-11-13-19-ErikaReinsel-1024x684.jpg" width="545" /></a> <span style="font-size: x-small;">Animal Collective's Avey Tare on the main stage Friday night.</span><h3><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></h3><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">My drunk subsides and I'm in the pocket for <strong>The Flaming Lips</strong>' performance of <em>The Soft Bulletin</em>.</span></h3><p style="text-align: justify;">I'm in a gaggle of superfans from Michigan all geeked out in big sunglasses and droopy clothing. The Lips enter the stage. <strong>Wayne Coyne</strong> is sharply dressed, all-white head to toe, and most of his hair now. Fastened across his breastplate like a bra is a black leather holster complete with lock and unidentifiable gadgets. He's brought out one of his more recently used prop concepts for us. Extended above his body, out like wings he's holding silver lettered balloons that read <em>FUCK YEAH DESERT DAZE</em>.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="text-align: justify;">"Race For the Prize" clicks off and they break the egg of <em>The Soft Bulletin</em> and let its yolk spill all over. Soon as the song starts Coyne throws the balloon into the crowd. It slackens inward and is pulled apart by every freak with an outstretched hand. I grab a fistful (and will use it to wrap holiday gifts.) The gush and ooze of pure love. An institution of psychedelic sunshine. The Lips turned their classic 1999 album into an endorphin-throttling live-action cartoon extravaganza. The gong was banged. A medley from <em>Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots</em> was played. An encore milked for all eternity. Back at campgrounds I am collapsible.</p><p> </p><a href="http://independentmusicpromotions.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/TheFlamingLips-DesertDaze-LakePerrisCA-10-11-13-19-ErikaReinsel.jpg"><img alt="" class="size-large wp-image-15301" height="362" src="http://independentmusicpromotions.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/TheFlamingLips-DesertDaze-LakePerrisCA-10-11-13-19-ErikaReinsel-1024x684.jpg" width="542" /></a> <span style="font-size: x-small;">The Flaming Lips leader, Wayne Coyne, performing Friday night.</span><p> </p><h3>DAY 2: OCTOBER 12, 2019, SATURDAY</h3><h3><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span></h3><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">First band up is <strong>Big Business</strong>, from Seattle.</span></h3><p style="text-align: justify;">It's two guys up there, <strong>Jared Warren</strong> screaming and playing bass; <strong>Coady Willis</strong> on drums. It's a midday pummel of some thick beat-down metal. Peek-a-boo, I see <strong>Devo</strong>. Fell into a crowd pepped up with anticipation. Pogo punk with biodegradable luminescence. On the screens flash a mishmash of early-MTV graphics--did a wafer just sweetfuck a donut? Uh-oh, the band is making a dress change. The red energy dome hats are out for "Girl U Want." Lord, this unsuspecting psyche trance is rising. Their cover of the Rolling Stones' "Satisfaction" has the groove tightened, pitched and diluted with hairbrained precision.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Mark Mothersbaugh</strong>, mid-song, has asked how it feels to be living under a tyrannical minority with all his carnival barker gusto. An unspoken dirge has settled among the crowd. A weird pall of quiet anxiety. I don't know where the fuck I am. I've been sucker-punched. Standing here slackjawed. It's not just "Whip It" and phone commercials. This band's main implementation is to be heard live--electrifying, engaging, inspiring, radical, goofy and flooded with energy.</p><p> </p><a href="http://independentmusicpromotions.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Devo-DesertDaze-LakePerrisCA-10-11-13-19-ErikaReinsel.jpg"><img alt="" class="size-large wp-image-15308" height="365" src="http://independentmusicpromotions.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Devo-DesertDaze-LakePerrisCA-10-11-13-19-ErikaReinsel-1024x684.jpg" width="546" /></a> <span style="font-size: x-small;">Devo's Mark Mothersbaugh performing on Day 2.</span><p> </p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">A period of wandering.</span></h3><p style="text-align: justify;">Gleaming structures speckle the darkened landscape. Colored lights float along the sand. I'm drawn into some cactus cut-outs near the shore ("Space Mushroom Cacti Garden" and " Wood Wizard Wall" by <strong>Brad Rhadwood</strong>). I see faces melting, winking, morphing animalistically and can't tell if it's the lights, indigestion, or the art itself. I must look like a true maniac staring at this right now.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="text-align: justify;">A nearby presence breaks my spell and a conversation starts with a man who in the dark looks like guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez but is really a French drummer. Lights reflect off his glasses and we discuss our common musical identity. A dark-eyed girl with a luring face shrouded in black hair enters the circle. She looks back and fourth at two drummers and smokes her cigarette. She asks each our Zodiac sign. I can't hear his answer. We're both Cancers.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">I wander towards the Sanctuary tent where a hum is shaking the ground.</span></h3><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>DNTEL</strong> is playing whooshing drones to a group sitting cramped from tentpole to pole, dazed by the deep electronic gurgle moving like ocean sludge. There's a group literally asleep in a big dogpile. I fit myself into a corner and feel the buzz.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><a href="http://independentmusicpromotions.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/PussyRiot-DesertDaze-LakePerrisCA-10-11-13-19-ErikaReinsel.jpg"><img alt="" class="size-large wp-image-15314" height="360" src="http://independentmusicpromotions.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/PussyRiot-DesertDaze-LakePerrisCA-10-11-13-19-ErikaReinsel-1024x684.jpg" width="539" /></a> <span style="font-size: x-small;">Pussy Riot's Nadya Tolokonnikova on the edge Saturday night.</span><p> </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Skronking mic feedback at the Theater stage waiting for <strong>Pussy Riot</strong>. Frontwoman <strong>Nadya Tolokonnikova</strong> and the group are plugging in wires frantically. No warning--lights out. A shaky video collage splashes across the members, standing poised. First tone strikes and the crowd grounds. Deep house bleeding the speakers. I'm packed in at the front of the stage. At my back a woman taller than me in a thick fur coat keeps whiplashing up and down, trying to break through the human blockade. Her bones are in my back. She leans in close, whispers in my ear, "<em>This is our time</em>," and presses into me the full energy of the moshpit.</p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"> </h3><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">On stage each member wears a neon balaclava pulled down.</span></h3><p style="text-align: justify;">Two dancers gyrate with precise electric energy on either side. They stare from eyeholes without emotion. The music is live drums and an electrical onslaught of hyperdigitized beat content. Scorching and confrontational. Tolokonnikova is the engine, soaking the whole crowd in their own sweat. On "Hangerz" she screams the refrain, "My body does not need advice from a priest!" Fur coat woman is mixing it up in the moshpit, pushing and pulling limbs, shouting, "<em>If you're a white male, this isn't for you!</em>" My breath barely makes it out of my lungs as the final note rings out.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="text-align: justify;">The ringing, the ringing. I've stumbled now into a polar opposite scene. <strong>Temples</strong> are playing their Wal-Mart psychedelia. Every rail thin white male dances like seaweed in an underwater current. Rainbow lights. I turn my head and the girl of my zodiac sign from earlier is there. She offers me the very last half-filter drag of her cigarette and disappears in the shadow crowd when I decline. I look behind, turning all the way around, then walk through the limpid bodies. The trail of cigarette smoke scent dies and the wandering continues.</p><p> </p><a href="http://independentmusicpromotions.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/FlyingLotus-DesertDaze-LakePerrisCA-10-11-13-19-ErikaReinsel.jpg"><img alt="" class="size-full wp-image-15313" height="361" src="http://independentmusicpromotions.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/FlyingLotus-DesertDaze-LakePerrisCA-10-11-13-19-ErikaReinsel.jpg" width="541" /></a> <span style="font-size: x-small;">Flying Lotus in 2-D.</span><h3> </h3><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">A three-dimensional dog with the face of Flying Lotus sits on a couch.</span></h3><p style="text-align: justify;">The video features director David Lynch and is our outré intro to <strong>Flying Lotus 3D</strong>. Throughout the day boxes filled of 3-D glasses were placed about. I had pocketed one. As the clip finishes, FlyLo walks out. His DJ setup looks like a giant melting boombox. Behind him is a huge fucking screen that pulls everyone in and out.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="text-align: justify;">The visuals splash on the screen--too difficult to describe. Beyond the crystalline 3-D, there is such rapid movement to the visuals. Zoom pan-directionally through this Weird Cosmos. This spot of earth we stand on feels like a spaceship hurling forward on the whims of every beat drop from the turntables. When I can focus on FlyLo he looks like a 20-foot tall pirate slinging bags of coins. His dreads spin out sunbursting. This is future 3-D. Acid with a clear tongue. Walking outward from the throng I have to double-check the veracity of these glasses. When my feet hit the beach sand, I focus on making it to the front of the Theater stage for <strong>The Locust</strong>.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Goddamn sound issues again. Waiting with wrists bent against the rail.</span></h3><p style="text-align: justify;">Waiting as <strong>Justin Pearson</strong> figures out the mechanical failures. The band is dressed in tight buglike bodysuits outlined in caution yellow. All four members wear helmets with face shields covering their eyes. Ant-Man on the set of <em>Blade Runner 2089</em>. Another return act of the weekend--The Locust haven't played for us heathens since 2013. It's begun. My back is a bolt upright in a metal grinding machine. The band plays their instruments like jackhammers. The music is grating, toneless--a gnawing irritant like its namesake. A large man dressed in a pinstripe clown suit and an old punk mohawk just lumbered out sidestage, lingered for a moment, then dove drunkenly headfirst into the throng. Take a breath when you can.</p><p> </p><a href="http://independentmusicpromotions.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/TheLocust-DesertDaze-LakePerrisCA-10-11-13-19-ErikaReinsel.jpg"><img alt="" class="size-large wp-image-15309" height="365" src="http://independentmusicpromotions.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/TheLocust-DesertDaze-LakePerrisCA-10-11-13-19-ErikaReinsel-1024x684.jpg" width="545" /></a> <span style="font-size: x-small;">Justin Pearson for The Locust early Sunday morning.</span><p> </p><p style="text-align: justify;">It's over. The dust creates a milky haze that only the colored lights can break. In the sand scattered among ripped cups, broken eyeglasses and trash is a 6-inch dagger. No blood, but still menacing. There are two surfaces of which I walk. At the Mystic Bazaar I follow a strangely familiar sonic glow. <strong>Radiojed</strong> is playing decontextualized Radiohead songs for a slow-ending twitching night.</p><p> </p><h3>DAY 3: OCTOBER 13, 2019, SUNDAY</h3><h3><span style="font-weight: 400;"><strong><br /></strong></span></h3><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>Alvvays</strong> in the distance.</span></h3><p style="text-align: justify;">Wavering on strip of grass, walked on by legs and feet--beer counter to my left. Fatigue causing a fade... Sun is lower in the sky. Up ahead the screens are black and red. <strong>The Black Angels</strong> are starting. <strong>Alex Maas</strong> is out with the maracas, hat pulled down low. The band is already in flux. It's dark by the end of B-side "Molly Moves My Generation" and the hallucinations are beginning. The band is in total control. Each note hits the back of the neck. The Black Angels arguably are <em>the</em> band to fully encapsulate the core sound Desert Daze is known for.</p><p> </p><a href="http://independentmusicpromotions.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/TheBlackAngels-DesertDaze-LakePerrisCA-10-11-13-19-ErikaReinsel.jpg"><img alt="" class="size-large wp-image-15310" height="363" src="http://independentmusicpromotions.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/TheBlackAngels-DesertDaze-LakePerrisCA-10-11-13-19-ErikaReinsel-1024x684.jpg" width="543" /></a> <span style="font-size: x-small;">The Black Angels' Alex Maas at sundown on Sunday.</span><p> </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Night has fallen for the final time. <strong>Ride</strong> was a last-minute addition, taking the place of Japanese psych hero <strong>Shintaro Sakamoto</strong>. Sakamoto was to be making his U.S. performance debut, but got held up because of a typhoon in Japan. After seeing Ride perform a few songs, I'm stopped by two guys my age. One asks what I thought of some band. I humor the question, but he keeps digging. His friend, standing to the side, is smirking and I realize this guy thinks I'm someone else.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">My feet lead me into <strong>George Clanton</strong>'s tent.</span></h3><p style="text-align: justify;">I dance to a few songs. In the distance from the Moon stage are deep blue hues emanating. They're calling me. Pushing through I come across the French drummer from Day 2 and we watch the first-half of <strong>Khruangbin</strong>'s set. The trio from Houston are owning the positive vibes put forth tonight. Pure musicianship that brings one close to tears. By the time I get in closer the group has its audience melting with a sleek hip-hop medley and cover of Pink Floyd's "Have A Cigar."</p><p> </p><a href="http://independentmusicpromotions.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Khruangbin-DesertDaze-LakePerrisCA-10-11-13-19-ErikaReinsel.jpg"><img alt="" class="size-full wp-image-15327" height="362" src="http://independentmusicpromotions.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Khruangbin-DesertDaze-LakePerrisCA-10-11-13-19-ErikaReinsel.jpg" width="542" /></a> <span style="font-size: x-small;">Khruangbin performing Sunday night.</span><p> </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Burned out but persistent I make it to <strong>The Claypool Lennon Delirium</strong> and am pretty close right before the lights go on. <strong>Les Claypool</strong>, from Primus, and <strong>Sean Lennon</strong>, from the Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger, Cibo Matto and John, enter through the fog. Lennon wears a captain's hat that spills hair down his back. Claypool is suited up with a crisp felt bowler hat. They begin the night's second Pink Floyd cover, "Astronomy Domine." Half their set comes from <em>South Of Reality</em> released earlier this year. They finish with The Beatles' "Tomorrow Never Knows."</p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"> </h3><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Speed-walking to catch a glimpse of the <strong>Wu-Tang Clan</strong>. </span></h3><p style="text-align: justify;">The 9-man rap crew out of Staten Island, New York are scheduled to play their 1993 debut, <em>Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)</em>. The full rapt audience is before me. The screen turns on and plays a trailer for the show <em>Wu-Tang Clan: An American Saga</em> on Hulu. Finally every rapper is on stage. All fanfair. The classic album I guess has started. Can't quite recognize the songs--beats are different. Growing antsy and heading back over the lumpy sandgulf to the Theater for <strong>Lightning Bolt</strong>.</p><p> </p><a href="http://independentmusicpromotions.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/TheClaypoolLennonDelirium-DesertDaze-LakePerrisCA-10-11-13-19-ErikaReinsel.jpg"><img alt="" class="size-full wp-image-15311" height="363" src="http://independentmusicpromotions.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/TheClaypoolLennonDelirium-DesertDaze-LakePerrisCA-10-11-13-19-ErikaReinsel.jpg" width="544" /></a> <span style="font-size: x-small;">Les Claypool performing with The Claypool Lennon Delirium on Sunday.</span><p> </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Crushed against the fence. Drummer <strong>Brian Chippendale</strong> is positioned with his left side to the crowd. It's everyone's last chance to splash in the pit and you can hear the anticipation in the anxious yelling. Chippendale slips on his mask with the microphone human-centipeded to his mouth and gives it a test. Sound issues again. A scrambling of frustrated barks. The crowd responds to each scream. Bassist <strong>Brian Gibson</strong> stands patiently. Sound issues solved, or at least sidelined, and it starts. High-contrasted rainbow lightshow for the jolt. Lightning Bolt is pure noise of wood steel skin cymbal and amplification colliding with a rhythm of happenstance.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Out of breath, distant bruises not yet revealed--the grass is squishy. </span></h3><p style="text-align: justify;">I linger outward, lay down and get up. Pockets of flashing colors spread out. Here and there are unaccounted for bodies, passed out, in a sleepstate. <strong>Dead Meadow</strong> rings out over everything.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="text-align: justify;">The moon is well hung in the sky. Every drug is pumping its last molecular transfer. Many have already left the campgrounds leaving strange vacant lots in the tent neighborhood. Most are asleep too exhausted to move. At the Mystic Bazaar there are a few groups milling about and a trail leading into a tent. It's <strong>Jjuujjuu & Friends</strong> set up for the Closing Ceremonies.</p><p> </p><a href="http://independentmusicpromotions.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/TheClaypoolLennonDelirium-DesertDaze-LakePerrisCA-10-11-13-19-ErikaReinsel-2.jpg"><img alt="" class="size-large wp-image-15312" height="357" src="http://independentmusicpromotions.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/TheClaypoolLennonDelirium-DesertDaze-LakePerrisCA-10-11-13-19-ErikaReinsel-2-1024x684.jpg" width="533" /></a> <span style="font-size: x-small;">Sean Lennon performing Sunday night with The Claypool Lennon Delirium.</span><h3> </h3><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">I peak over shoulders and see that Claypool and Lennon are here for the final jam. </span></h3><p style="text-align: justify;">The one for those who've misplaced time. I see <strong>Phil Pirrone</strong> of Jjuujjuu, and king godmother of Desert Daze, and others at a small stage. Since the Mystic Bazaar is part of the campground, we bring our open containers, smokeables, edibles and settle in for what happens once and only once.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="text-align: justify;">As the final beats accumulate and hit their peak, Claypool slips out a slit in the tent. Lennon soon follows. When the music finally does stop Pirrone sticks around to meet everyone left, and outside the sky has turned its first post-twilight shade.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p><em>Photos used with permission from photographer.</em></p></div>Eli Jacehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06776724666393375833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4254836637618694860.post-42365016556991108662020-09-09T02:43:00.001-04:002020-09-09T02:43:09.599-04:00Hear a Haunted Nashville on Anne Malin's Waiting Song<p> <a href="http://independentmusicpromotions.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/cover-Anne-Malin-Waiting-Song.jpg"><img alt="" class="aligncenter wp-image-15222" height="492" src="http://independentmusicpromotions.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/cover-Anne-Malin-Waiting-Song-1024x1024.jpg" width="492" /></a></p><h4> </h4><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">For musicians, this pandemic shit has been especially disruptive to the album cycle.</span></span></h3><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Recording, touring and marketing have all been affected across the board. At the start of the year Anne Malin had planned to build upon their discography of southern ghost-folk and record a follow-up to their 2018 album, <em>Fog Area</em>. [READ: <a href="https://independentmusicpromotions.com/review-fog-area-by-anne-malin/">Review of <em>Fog Area</em> by Anne Malin</a>.]</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">But that year was not to be.</span></span></h3><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Anne Malin is the work of two musicians, Anne Malin Ringwalt and her long-time partner, guitarist William Johnson. Ringwalt's vocal hypnosis is the electrical pulse of the project. Johnson aides her every note. The two had musicians recently moved to Nashville after living in South Bend, Indiana.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">As COVID-19 spread throughout the country and most districts were forced to shut down, so too did recording studios. Nashville's The Bomb Shelter, where Ringwalt and Johnson had sessions booked, canceled all engagements as the pandemic took hold. The studio is an analog dreamhouse affixed with vintage instruments and beautiful rooms. Instead of taking up space in the comfort of a studio, the duo elected to keep writing and work from home.</span></p><p> </p><a href="http://independentmusicpromotions.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Rachel-Winslow-1-AM-Ringwalt.jpeg"><img alt="" class="wp-image-15224 " height="528" src="http://independentmusicpromotions.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Rachel-Winslow-1-AM-Ringwalt-1024x830.jpeg" width="651" /></a> Anne Malin Ringwalt. Photo by Rachel Winslow, courtesy of Clandestine Label Services.<p> </p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">On October 2 the world will hear <em>Waiting Song</em>, the result of those work-at-home sessions.</span></span></h3><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Anne Malin's third album continues on their sound, but finds more groove in the dusty ambiance. "Sleep" is like dream powder. It moves on a slow swinging rhythm with strings stretched and a country twang.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Ringwalt's voice is operatic and full-throated. There's drama in each note. "I don't wear ghosts like jewelry," Ringwalt sings on "Pearly Sleigh" against a simple piano composition. Johnson's guitar levels everything out with controlled force. It nails down in the album's theme: reaching for the light from the darkness at ground zero.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Johnson uses a pedal steel guitar often.</span></span></h3><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">It brings out the Nashville, even if it's not coming from by-the-hour studio prestige. Where <em>Fog Area</em> was like dark charcoal smeared on the canvass, <em>Waiting Song</em> has some burnt umber and yellow ochre smeared on top of that.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">On "Mountain Song" Ringwalt wanders through a deflating forest of guitarnoise like Jim Morrison looking for desert visions. Her poetry tracks across a mountain of innerthoughts. Ringwalt also publishes poetry under the name AM Ringwalt. [See: <a href="https://annemalinringwalt.com/">AM Ringwalt</a>]</span></p><p> </p>Eli Jacehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06776724666393375833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4254836637618694860.post-34332912321553086502020-08-15T04:58:00.001-04:002020-08-15T04:58:36.157-04:00Godcaster Bring Combustible Joy on Debut<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://independentmusicpromotions.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/cover-Godcaster-Long-Haired-Locusts.jpg" style="text-align: left;"><img alt="" class="wp-image-15136 alignnone" height="519" src="http://independentmusicpromotions.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/cover-Godcaster-Long-Haired-Locusts-1024x1024.jpg" width="519" /></a></div><p></p><h4><br /></h4><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Some new music from a new band that casts light into this batshit quarantine anxiety rippling through the land.</span></span></h3><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Fuzzed out, erratic and sloppily sweet, Godcaster are a wily collective out of Philadelphia/NYC. They've released their first video for the song "All The Feral Girls In The Universe" off their upcoming debut LP.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><em>Long Haired Locusts</em> is all combustible joy.</span></span></h3><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The sextet sound like the Polyphonic Spree trying to casually blend into the background of a Deerhoof set. Singer and guitarist Judson Kolk brings to the set hyperanguished vocals that whip and whirl around the frenzied instrumentation.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Godcaster have massive frolicking sound. Behind Kolk are David McFaul on the keys, Von Lee on flute, Lindsay Dobbs on trombone, Bruce Ebersole on bass and Sam Pickard on drums. While the drums, bass and guitar clash wildly, the flute and trombone peer in to add a naturalistic euphoria. They'd fit right in on a bill with other big-band indie groups like Dirty Projectors, Wand, King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, Elf Power, etc.</span></p><p> </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="366" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qCyQnszdrEI" width="520" youtube-src-id="qCyQnszdrEI"></iframe></div><p></p><p> </p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Godcaster's main lyricist, Kolk, also drew the album's illustrations.</span></span></h3><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The alien cover art for <em>Long Haired Locusts</em> depicts the group in as insects similar to the creatures from the unsettling 1970s animated film <em>Fantastic Planet</em>. It's all a wonderful world of his creation.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The video for "All The Feral Girls In Universe," edited by McFaul, shows band members lollygagging in some off-ramp woods, wrestling plantlife, chasing each other and playing guitar. A shirtless Kolk leads the way for the jaunty summertime track with the anticipation of an unplanned afternoon adventure.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The songs are on <em>Long Haired Locusts</em> are thrown-together and loose with uplifted energy.</span></span></h3><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The album was recorded in a Philadelphia basement, live-to-tape by Ryan Power. Songs like "The Skull!!!," "Christ In Capsule Form," and "Serpentine Carcass Crux Bitch," are hot blasting shots of cartoon punk. "Bingo Bodies / Long Haired Locusts" is the album's greatest accumulation of their sound, crashing from note to note until its conclusion. "Don't Make Stevie Wonder" is an instant earworm, a funky proclamation with shifty making sure the legend gets his due.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Their debut will be released September 4th by Philadelphia-based label, Ramp Local.</span></p>Eli Jacehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06776724666393375833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4254836637618694860.post-75498309858542969612020-07-23T17:15:00.000-04:002020-07-23T17:15:06.149-04:00numün Release First Video for Spatial Debut Album<div class="separator"><a href="http://independentmusicpromotions.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/cover-num-n-voyage-au-soleil.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" class="wp-image-15061" height="520" src="http://independentmusicpromotions.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/cover-num-n-voyage-au-soleil-1024x1024.jpg" width="520" /></a></div>Cover art for voyage au soleil.<h3><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span></h3><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: 400;"><font face="georgia"><font size="6">numün</font>, a new group out of New York City, have released the first video for their debut album, <em>voyage au soleil</em>.</font></span></h3><p style="text-align: justify;"><font face="georgia">The clip for the title track taps into the VHS membrane lifting the listener through a lost timeline. The album itself is a trip out past the pollution haze into the spatial luminescence and right into the superexploding sun.</font></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><font face="georgia"> </font></p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: 400;"><font face="georgia">numün is the sum of three musicians who work for the ambient side of sound.</font></span></h3><p style="text-align: justify;"><font face="georgia">Bob Holmes' recent group SUSS put out the ambient-country masterpiece,<em> <a href="https://independentmusicpromotions.com/review-ghost-box-expanded-by-suss/">Ghost</a><a href="https://independentmusicpromotions.com/review-ghost-box-expanded-by-suss/"> Box</a></em>, and Joel Mellin and Chris Romero both perform with Gamelan Dharma Swara, the Balinese dance group based out of New York City. Each member are also visual artists whose work has been shown in various museums around New York--the MOMA, the Met--and have been featured on NPR and other publications.</font></p><p> </p><p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="295" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DjzVFvBAfm0" width="540"></iframe></p><p><br /></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><font face="georgia">Holmes, Mellin and Romero began <em>voyage au soleil</em> with a single track, "Tranquility Base." It was featured on the compilation album, <em>The Moon and Back -- One Small Step for Global Pop</em>, released in 2019 by WIAIWYA in celebration of the 50th anniversary of man's debut landing on the Moon. The group remained in 1969 and began exploring the entire mission through electronic and analog soundscapes.</font></div><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><font face="georgia"> </font></p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: 400;"><font face="georgia">In addition to the ethereal synthlike waves, numün utilizes a great number of instruments.</font></span></h3><p style="text-align: justify;"><font face="georgia">Heard at the beginning of "Voyage Au Soleil" is the cümbüş, a fretless Turkish banjo. Throughout these six expansive songs you'll hear a mellotron, a 1952 Gibson hollowbody guitar, a violin, Balinese gongs, harpsichord and theremin. The album <em>voyage au soliel</em> will be released digitally and on compact disc by Musique Impossible on September 4.</font></p><p> </p><p><iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=2527116800/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 400px; width: 258px;"><a href="http://music.joelmellin.com/album/voyage-au-soleil">voyage au soleil by numün</a></iframe></p>Eli Jacehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06776724666393375833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4254836637618694860.post-864125039890180342020-07-14T21:17:00.003-04:002020-07-14T21:17:14.779-04:00Stones Dig Goat's Head Soup from Their Vault<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidwP2JCTsU9GTWrRSZPRHueLARFmrUSjr7MRiE2J8sBrf5SLq65BL9DhC2o7UOR9qqfhcttd7cxBeSqn6PZVC2L68L-Q8h789layHF6umQ_G0G6JxZj1QpO1bFonBPT5tpRurGpB-C0nsP/s1600/goats+cover.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="960" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidwP2JCTsU9GTWrRSZPRHueLARFmrUSjr7MRiE2J8sBrf5SLq65BL9DhC2o7UOR9qqfhcttd7cxBeSqn6PZVC2L68L-Q8h789layHF6umQ_G0G6JxZj1QpO1bFonBPT5tpRurGpB-C0nsP/s400/goats+cover.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Goat's Head Soup</i> deluxe reissue cover art. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-weight: 400;">The Rolling Stones are taking the Clorox wipes to <em>Goat's Head Soup</em>.</span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Last week The Estate announced the upcoming deluxe reissue of the Stones' underrated 70s album, with a new look and new tunes. The deluxe version, available September 4, includes an extra disc with 3 unheard outtake tracks, instrumental versions, and 3 Glyn Johns original mixes.</span></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">
</span></h3>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-weight: 400;">"Criss Cross," the defacto single, is grimy, street-walking rock and roll.</span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">It would fit right between "Can You Hear The Music?" and "Star Star" to finish the album on a high groove. "Scarlet" and "All The Rage" are the other titles.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><em>Goat's Head Soup</em> is one of -- only one of in a long edifying list -- their loosest, druggiest, but also, most heartbreaker of an album. It's equal adrenaline and inner ache.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-weight: 400;"><em>Goat's Head Soup</em> assembled in the ether during their second major output of productivity--</span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">--the tailend of the 60s into the early 70s. It was their third of 3 consecutive yearly releases: the incredible excess of <em>Sticky Fingers</em> in 1971 and the infamous double-LP <em>Exile on Main Street</em> in 1972.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The Stones started recording the album at the end of 1972 in Kingston, Jamaica. The fresh locale seeped into the sessions with various percussion, trumpet, saxophone, piano and a range of instruments that skitter along with the band. "Dancing With Mr. D," "Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)," and "Can You Hear The Music?" are the some of the Stones' sexiest, excessively 70s songs. Jagger screams raw exacerbated flesh. Richards cuts jags of aural delusion.</span></div>
<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="295" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kSpGnZmGWBk" width="545"></iframe>
<br />
<h3>
</h3>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-weight: 400;">To counter the craze are other more melancholic songs from the group's catalogue.</span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">"100 Years Ago," "Coming Down Again," "Winter," and of course, "Angie," find the group in contemplative remorse, nearly ballad, soul-bearing territory. Together it's a great set of songs, an emotional pinwheel.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Another surprise hides in the unreleased tracks. "Scarlet" features another legendary guitarist, Jimmy Page, from Led Zeppelin. Page has had a few run-ins over the decades with the Stones. That tends to happen with megastars hitting fame at the same rate. He laid down some guitar for the song "One Hit (To The Body)" that would end up on the Stones' 1986 album <em>Dirty Work</em>. As is usual with the Stones, there are numerous variations of the album and its iconography for sale. Browse <a href="https://therollingstonesshop.com/collections/goats-head-soup?utm_source=Website&utm_campaign=TheRollingStones20200706&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=&utm_umgus=rollingstones.com%2Fgoatsheadsoup2020%2F">here</a>.</span></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzT4Tqu2Hkjy41JryaKBOZnmnEqOYKB2yjN4q1M66KyNIqbb3UTjHVY6rg22QLr7IgrES5xMuLWlFS3uHWGOrfZq-gN5fK24Sky-ICntOqZff925sp6JrywMCaY-mIfj4abHaUNxhDKJpT/s1600/goats+real+cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="950" data-original-width="950" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzT4Tqu2Hkjy41JryaKBOZnmnEqOYKB2yjN4q1M66KyNIqbb3UTjHVY6rg22QLr7IgrES5xMuLWlFS3uHWGOrfZq-gN5fK24Sky-ICntOqZff925sp6JrywMCaY-mIfj4abHaUNxhDKJpT/s400/goats+real+cover.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Original album cover art.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />Eli Jacehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06776724666393375833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4254836637618694860.post-8896603399104921732020-07-02T19:42:00.002-04:002020-07-02T19:42:52.456-04:00ENTER THE WHITE PONY<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj10iRiPHxdPtAfmvYiFs9Lah8kaYtxRgLkEJw9P4YyN1PkeAw7e6GIzby_6pHTEju49hiC6kY46UeoaLi-t-LdYojmGIH7xEAcjcjCLv0JtvkQc_EX_z8fxLHWPrx4lwabFCPZl9jSiaeU/s1600/white+pony+image+alt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj10iRiPHxdPtAfmvYiFs9Lah8kaYtxRgLkEJw9P4YyN1PkeAw7e6GIzby_6pHTEju49hiC6kY46UeoaLi-t-LdYojmGIH7xEAcjcjCLv0JtvkQc_EX_z8fxLHWPrx4lwabFCPZl9jSiaeU/s400/white+pony+image+alt.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;">White Pony alternate cover, image by author.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h3>
</h3>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">June 2000, daytime -- driving somewhere in America:</span></span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<em style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></em></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<em style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">*click*</em><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><em style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">--</em><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">CUT MY LIFE INTO PIECES-- </span><em style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">*click* --</em><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">ALL THE OTHER SLIM SHADYS ARE JUST-- </span><em style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">*</em><em style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">click* </em><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">--IT'S GONNA BE MAY-- *</span><i style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">click*</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">These are the sounds of driving with an indecisive finger on the radio dial in the first summer of the new century.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Twenty years isn't that long, but looking back, it's a gorge. Still pre-9/11, -MySpace, -Facebook, -streaming anything, -iPhone, etc. Cracked jewel cases were everywhere. Napster was one year in and MTV still had significant cultural and financial pull. This was the summer of sophomore releases from Britney Spears and Eminem--<i>Oops!... I Did It Again </i>and <i>The Marshall Mathers LP </i>respectively. Everything was pop.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The music of the mainstream was as bad as it had ever been (but not as bad as it would become.)</span></span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">There's only a tiny chunk of music from this mini-era that holds up today. Then, American audiences were largely only offered two opposite ends of a colorless spectrum. There was Papa Roach, Creed, Kid Rock, and Korn over here. Spears, *NSYNC, Christina Aguilera and Sisqo over there.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Rock music at that point had since slithered from the entrails of grunge into this shitty beer metal pumped up with generic aggression and ripped off Nirvana riffs. Those cretins from Puddle of Mudd and Nickleback made a fortune. (dirty money) Forming its own branch off that was rap metal, an unfortunate experiment for all involved. At the same time it was also the apex of white girl pop. The legends of Spears, Aguilera, Justin Timberlake and Backstreet Boys were barely dug in. Suddenly every music video had a choreographed dance routine for every verse and chorus. It was all a lot of flash and bang to cover up the low grade of songwriting being done. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
</h3>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<strong style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-weight: 400;"><a href="https://www.deftones.com/" style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-weight: 400;">Deftones</a></strong><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-weight: 400;">, from Sacramento, California, brought a new mood to the charts.</span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The five-piece band released, </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Pony">White Pony</a>, </i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">their third album, that summer. It would end up an important milestone, bringing them to their highest peak to date professionally. The first </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">single, “Change (In the House of Flies),” was released May 20, 2000, on time for summer heartbreak. Opening with a single, distracted guitar strum, the song entered the radio with new emotion, a full deep breath. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Starting the week, the top 5 songs, according to the Billboard Hot 100, were: 1. "Maria Maria" by Santana; 2. "Breathe" by Faith Hill; 3. "Thong Song" by Sisqo; 4. "He Wasn't Man Enough" by Toni Braxton; 5. "I Try" by Macy Gray. They snuck in when no one was watching.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“Change” begins slowly with singer Chino Moreno in whispers and builds into a big aching chorus. The lyrics are delicately haunted, daring and sexual. “I look at the cross / and I look away / give you the gun / blow me away,” Moreno breathes out before guitarist Stephen Carpenter scratches out the silence with metallic shriek. </span></div>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUY32JhvbVc9UcndupS6xGq1VGMToqvRrGZUoDc5LNEK4Tjdstdl4-jRLvPPvGQCmAPEN1r51DvSpAi6JKO_8Y45YL7xQRCCbnSBAbsvS1_HSD4TP-wtil5zYh0PGWZQIC13XTHO4InnmR/s1600/white+pony+insert.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1000" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUY32JhvbVc9UcndupS6xGq1VGMToqvRrGZUoDc5LNEK4Tjdstdl4-jRLvPPvGQCmAPEN1r51DvSpAi6JKO_8Y45YL7xQRCCbnSBAbsvS1_HSD4TP-wtil5zYh0PGWZQIC13XTHO4InnmR/s400/white+pony+insert.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;"><i>White Pony</i> album art, with Cheng & Carpenter, by Frank Maddocks.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">At this period in music marketing, the music video was still the most impactful way to reach the biggest audience.</span></span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The song was one thing, but the video could breathe new perspective and insight to create a single piece of work (if done right). <i>Total Request Live, </i>then, was a game changer. The popular afternoon top-10 music video countdown show was just another spotlight for the major popstars, but every now and then, lesser-known artists would creep in the list and gain some traction.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The clip for “Change,” directed by Liz Friedlander, was the perfect visual match to the song’s disenchanted feeling. The band performs the song in the corners of a party house, long past the first shots were poured and lines were drawn. Beautiful models curl along the furniture, passed out. Everything is lit by lamplight and some of the revelers hide behind masks of jungle animals. The macabre scene was just as enticing as the song’s slow ragged hooks.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I was instantly obsessed. </span></span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">My friend Josh R. knew this and for my birthday got me a copy of <i>White Pony</i> on compact disc a week or so after its release. The silver square with the white cutout pony in the corner was like a missing piece in the tableau of my music history.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“Change” definitely made it to <i>TRL </i>a few times and, though I can’t outrightly prove it, I’m pretty certain it grabbed the #1 video for a day. <i>TRL</i>’s top 10 videos for June 2000, according to user “adoug15” on rateyourmusic.com, were: 10. "Thong Song" by Sisqo; 9. "I Think I'm In Love With You" by Jessica Simpson; 8. "Somebody Someone" by Korn; 7. "Last Resort" by Papa Roach; 6. "American Bad Ass" by Kid Rock; 5. "Oops!...I Did It Again" by Britney Spears; 4. "If Only" by Hanson; 3. "The Real Slim Shady" by Eminem; 2. "The One" by Backstreet Boys; 1. "It's Gonna Be Me" by *NSYNC. Wow, what an era, <em>honk honk.</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><em><br /></em></span></div>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="300" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/WPpDyIJdasg" width="545"></iframe>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
This was the group's third time working with metal producer Terry Date. After Deftones' previous two albums, <i>Adrenaline (</i>1996) and <i>Around the Fur (</i>1997), <i>White Pony </i>would set them apart from other metal acts. Unlike some of their peers, they would not be pigeonholed into some formative pattern of aggression. They could expand.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Chino’s heart had always been open on songs like “Mascara,” “One Weak,” “MX” and “Fireal.” </span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
But on <i>White Pony </i>he lets that thing bleed out from the carseat to the living room to the bathroom and back. On “Digital Bath,” Feiticiera,” “Passenger,” Moreno paints vivid violent imagery of drunk lust and conniving romance.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Stephen Carpenter, the group’s purveyor of grind, often namechecks the Swedish metal band Meshuggah and LA's Fear Factory as major influences. On <i>White Pony </i>he would find equal footing with his Cure-loving singer enough to wax heavy in all the right spots. Carpenter detunes and plays chugging riffs like Picasso's Cubist period, thick, slathered with sudden turns. He plays a 7-string and gets this thrashing higher-pitched alarm call on “Korea” and “Feiticeira.” And of course there’s “Elite,” the three-minute stabbing, which would win the Grammy for Best Metal Performance in 2001. [Nominees were: Iron Maiden ("The Wicker Man"), Marilyn Manson ("Astonishing Panorama of the Endtimes"), Pantera ("Revolution Is My Name"), Slipknot ("Wait and Bleed")].</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: 400;">All of drummer Abe Cunningham’s punk energy on the first two albums, finds restraint.</span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
His quick offbeat bursts ricochet directly off Carpenter’s riffs. His snare hits like a taser, and when a song falls into cooler atmosphere, he adds that extra fill, playing unpredictably and to the mood. The three-song suite of “RX Queen” / “Street Carp” / “Teenager” is where the sonic experimentation really sets in. Bassist Chi Cheng lays down a stealthy bassline on “RX Queen.” DJ Frank Delgado fills in the empty spaces with textured atmospherics. “Teenager” is pushed by a dusty drum beat you might hear from Pete Rock, and Moreno’s full falsetto. It’s definitely the emotional center of the album, and a place metal doesn't often venture.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The beauty of <em>White Pony</em> is every element of the Deftones sound speaks without talking too much or over. The wide range of influences from each member creates a glowing mix of punk, thrash and doom metal, shoegaze, trip-hop and new wave.<br />
<br /></div>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="300" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ogXp4bv52Uk" width="545"></iframe>
<br />
<h3>
</h3>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">As the nu-metal era died off those bands would have to evolve their sound or risk entrapment in a niche music category. </span></span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>White Pony </i>would kick into gear the cult following Deftones have enjoyed since, and help influence a number of bands, if not full genres. Taproot, Relative Ash, Trapt and Thirty Seconds to Mars all did their best Deftones tribute act. Emo, and then screamo, would owe a debt to Deftones. My Chemical Romance, Thursday, Taking Back Sunday, Muse and others would bite off their style. With <i>White Pony </i>the band proved they could break the metal label and all of its usual trappings to create their own offshoot.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Deftones' most recent album, <i>Gore, </i>was their eighth. It was released in 2016. Deftones have been mixing their ninth, again, with Terry Date. It's his return working with the band since their self-titled follow-up to <em>White Pony </em>in 2004. Originally set for a summertime release to coincide with a headlining tour with Gojira and Poppy, the new album has been put on hold because of the coronavirus outbreak. The tour is being rescheduled for 2021 and there have been vague rumors of a new post-summer release date. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">To celebrate the 20th anniversary of <em>White Pony, </em>the band will be broadcasting live from their YouTube channel Saturday, June 20, 8PM Pacific Standard Time.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="300" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nviz3oGtGcw" width="545"></iframe>Eli Jacehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06776724666393375833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4254836637618694860.post-80411473718517941722020-04-16T18:08:00.000-04:002020-04-16T18:08:13.781-04:00Phoebe Bridgers Has A Great Week<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<div dir="ltr" lang="en">
if a tree falls in the woods... <br />
<br />
thanks <a href="https://twitter.com/Spotify?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Spotify</a> <a href="https://t.co/H8WtVdxHDY">https://t.co/H8WtVdxHDY</a> <a href="https://t.co/QtPL5lawXV">pic.twitter.com/QtPL5lawXV</a></div>
— traitor joe (@phoebe_bridgers) <a href="https://twitter.com/phoebe_bridgers/status/1248747676570533889?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 10, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<br />
<h3>
<span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span></h3>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-weight: 400;">Last week was a huge week for songwriter Phoeobe Bridgers & the girl never even changed out of her PJs.</span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Bridgers went on a make believe global virtual journey to promote her upcoming second album. The markets have been abuzz for a follow-up to Bridgers' debut <em>Stranger in the Alps</em>, released in 2017. It's a perfectly crafted album, with the lyrical acuity of these sadly strange times. And now, we need a second dose.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-weight: 400;">Phoebe's very good week started on Friday, April 3rd.</span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Bridgers showed up on a new song by The 1975, "Jesus Christ 2005 God Bless America," off their upcoming full-length, <em>Notes On A Conditional Form</em>.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The following Thursday, April 9th Bridgers took to Instagram to announce her second album, <em>Punisher</em>, would arrive June 19th. In total, there are 11 new songs with titles like "DVD Menu," "Chinese Satellite," "ICU," and "Graceland Too." Then she posted the video for second single "Kyoto," where she surfs a bullet train track in a skeleton suit in the city of Japan. (The video for "Garden Song" came out in February.) That night Bridgers performed the new song on <em>Jimmy Kimmel Live!</em> streaming live from her bathtub (in PJs). She sang into a toy Magic Mic echo-phone and played a small beat synthesizer in her lap.</span></div>
<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="295" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DDEyabVQreY" width="540"></iframe>
<br />
<h3>
<span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span></h3>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-weight: 400;">The next day, April 10th Phoebe performed a quickie 5-song livestream through Instagram and Pitchfork from her home in Los Angeles.</span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This time, out of the tub, and into a straight-backed chair, she played three new songs: "Garden Song," "Kyoto," and "I Know The End," along with "Summer's End," a John Prine cover (WE LOVE YOU), and "Motion Sickness," her now classic song. Even against the fiber-optic buzz, Bridgers' voice soared, her face scrunching up to the right.</span></div>
<br />
<br />
<iframe frameborder="0" height="380" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/track/4m32ZYmSYgGziMwx3cJxS7" width="300"></iframe><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The new songs are a small slice of the full offering that seems so far away. <em>Punisher</em> will be released by Dead Oceans on June 19th.</span></div>
Eli Jacehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06776724666393375833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4254836637618694860.post-18607439215871998802020-04-16T17:59:00.004-04:002020-04-16T17:59:49.570-04:00REVIEW: "Miss Anthropocene" by GRIMES<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3XcxkQOSgOh92Fstey7xO1K16eJLDxY1YbdUlFZ1imRym2qppaxs4kqucCY9FVG8OGhgN9R7Q7OcvocnsXB42o7aGtsCEMmZFOMQIKfuqGSscfOwP870OouSijTs0ip9w0gw12JnRBf_f/s1600/grimes+Miss+Anthropocene+cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3XcxkQOSgOh92Fstey7xO1K16eJLDxY1YbdUlFZ1imRym2qppaxs4kqucCY9FVG8OGhgN9R7Q7OcvocnsXB42o7aGtsCEMmZFOMQIKfuqGSscfOwP870OouSijTs0ip9w0gw12JnRBf_f/s400/grimes+Miss+Anthropocene+cover.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<h4>
<br /></h4>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Grimes shoots for high concept but never gets past the D n B.</span></span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Miss Anthropocene </i>is the wily-eyed singer’s fifth album and finds her kicking her sound further out. It’s a party album for the fall of man, something to dance on the ashes of yesteryear to while Gaia chokes on plastic wrap.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Grimes is the sonic pet name for Claire Elise Boucher who started her music career in 2010, but really blew the fuck up with her third album, <i>Visions. Miss Anthropocene </i>is the final Grimes album for the label 4AD, following <i>Art Angels </i>and <i>Visions. </i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The album charges up with "So Heavy I Fell Through the Earth - Art Mix."</span></span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Boucher’s voice sails through a dark soundscape against a slow-dubby beat that twitches the limbs. Grimes raps like a sped-up pixie on “Darkseid.” "We don't love our bodies anymore," she sings over a heavy drum 'n’ bass beat with a devastating down-groove. By the end she sounds like an Egyptian goddess arising from the sand. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Her voice is the main trigger throughout <i>Miss Anthropocene. </i>It's breathy, ecstatic, alarm-calling and always dying for comfort. She’s a banshee in distress stepping around the palpitating beats and melting electronic detours.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The third track, "Delete Forever," is the one that does not belong.</span></span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It’s an acoustic lite-rock song that hits like early-2000s Avril Lavigne. In an alternate world I could see this spending a few weeks at, maybe, #5 on <i>Total Request Live. </i>But it’s 2020 and this song is just not great. “Violence” returns to the pulsating heart beat rhythm with Grimes going sex siren singing, “And I like it like that / Said I like it like that.” Alright. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“4ÆM” captures the album’s peak uniqueness in sound. Grimes sings in fading halos to a rhythm that pulled from a lost ancient world. It’s a blasting grind like an old house mix of Nine Inch Nails or Prodigy from the 90s. A single piano plays in a dark room for "New Gods.” Grimes’ vocals pull the guts from every word.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The concluding "IDORU" gets stuck on a blasting beat, two notes plunging back and forth on the keyboard.</span></span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Grimes sings out of her depth, like an anime character riding a tornado. The rhythm is coke-snorted up and feels like a ride until about three minutes in and then you just want off.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Miss Anthropocene </i>was an attempt of a concept album wherein an “anthropomorphic goddess of climate change” does something. That may have been the aim, but what we have here is really just a pretty cool dance album. Nothing in the lyrics immediately provides an avenue for discussion of an issue like climate change. But it does make me wish I were in a blacked out fuzzy state when it hurls through the speakers.</span></div>
Eli Jacehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06776724666393375833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4254836637618694860.post-65402894100723652412020-03-28T00:51:00.002-04:002020-03-28T00:51:50.335-04:00Bob Dylan Sings About a Past American Era<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLgVL6OSSqLjDP4GoXT6FMFb7J0J2xK4V8642HMuK1iyxyQVojROgTWNstPJuI-65aiWv5p3l7wWl9NEXxppdsmBmm45h0OZt0WY1uyKkiYPnWc607k3_v0nMZjMvX5l987XdyEA0Dqmwi/s1600/bob+dylan+murder+most+foul+cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="640" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLgVL6OSSqLjDP4GoXT6FMFb7J0J2xK4V8642HMuK1iyxyQVojROgTWNstPJuI-65aiWv5p3l7wWl9NEXxppdsmBmm45h0OZt0WY1uyKkiYPnWc607k3_v0nMZjMvX5l987XdyEA0Dqmwi/s400/bob+dylan+murder+most+foul+cover.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<h4>
</h4>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-weight: 400;"><br /></span></h3>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-weight: 400;">Bob Dylan, the man myth legend and hopefully healthy & safely quarantined songwriter has released another epic storysong.</span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">"Murder Most Foul" is Dylan's first release in eight years and appears to be another offering of good tidings from a musician in this strange moment in history. The timing is perfect, because this song is nearly 17 minutes and hardly a second passes without a lyric. This will be one to unravel.</span></div>
<br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<div dir="ltr" lang="en">
Greetings to my fans and followers with gratitude for all your support and loyalty across the years.<br />
This is an unreleased song we recorded a while back that you might find interesting.<br />
Stay safe, stay observant and may God be with you.<br />
Bob Dylan<a href="https://t.co/uJnE4X64Bb">https://t.co/uJnE4X64Bb</a></div>
— bobdylan.com (@bobdylan) <a href="https://twitter.com/bobdylan/status/1243389605451198465?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 27, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script><br />
<h3>
</h3>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-weight: 400;">"Murder Most Foul" comes together with some cautious piano playing.</span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Dylan utilizes a small elemental band to swirl around him, each member in differing modes of winding up or down, on a slow jazz rush. The drummer comes in splashing the cymbals with brushes, a violin bow slices up and down, piano keys bristle.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Seconds in Dylan breaks through with that old gremlin growl of his. "It was a dark day in Dallas, November '63," he sings, "A day that will live on in infamy." In the song, Dylan plays out the gruesome assassination of John F. Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States--the most heinous and still unsolved event in the country's history.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-weight: 400;">"They blew out the brains of the king / Thousands were watching, no one saw a thing."</span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">He forcefully describes the scene, offering possible motive. "You got unpaid debts, we've come to collect." Dylan sometimes plays loose with the facts in his songs, so I wouldn't allude to him having any Secret Service knowledge, but you can't say there's no wisdom in that grumble. The scene continues, through the limousine ride, arriving at Parkland hospital to Vice President Lyndon Johnson's swearing in to office on the tarmac in Air Force One.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Dylan drafts a direct line between the country's need to heal in the aftermath and the eruption of the counterculture. "The Beatles are comin', they're gonna hold your hand," he tells us before examining the remaining years of the 60s and 70s: Woodstock in the Aquarian Age, Altamont, Tommy can you hear me? I'm the Acid Queen. It's all "a party beyond the Grassy Knoll," Dylan sings. Colorful references of the time are dropped throughout, but Dylan brings each verse back to that fateful day in Dallas when the country broke.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="395" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3NbQkyvbw18" width="540"></iframe><br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-weight: 400;">Most listening to the entirety of "Murder Most Foul" will be encyclopedic Dylanologists and will love it.</span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It's just always a blessing to hear the master's voice and know he's breathing somewhere in a recording booth. But this is special because he sings about his contemporaries during another American era.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Everyone else might find it hard to keep their interest apace. There is no shift in tempo, no change in instrumentation, no real chorus aside from the lyrical sequence ending with the song's title, and Dylan shuffles lines over every measure. But, what else is there to do? Play it and listen. Dylan's last album was <em>Tempest </em>in 2012.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
Eli Jacehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06776724666393375833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4254836637618694860.post-36013844553398481802020-03-28T00:44:00.001-04:002020-03-28T00:44:30.866-04:00Bright Eyes Return to Our Sad World<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzUBNhOYd3bAgAo4yBZKv2-1FGpUTUuhvq-vtT5vhZSdM0_x0OehEaw0Jwr-msH1r0ggsX9n-JmP-vviX4bnRH9PlLICAhVKUUzhVvXN9u8aWG18ic2PnZGBgsEf-amUV5iIcNXulbBiWH/s1600/bright+eyes+persona+non+grata.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzUBNhOYd3bAgAo4yBZKv2-1FGpUTUuhvq-vtT5vhZSdM0_x0OehEaw0Jwr-msH1r0ggsX9n-JmP-vviX4bnRH9PlLICAhVKUUzhVvXN9u8aWG18ic2PnZGBgsEf-amUV5iIcNXulbBiWH/s400/bright+eyes+persona+non+grata.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<h4>
<br /></h4>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As we step carefully six feet apart to avoid total societal collapse, Bright Eyes have returned to share in our collective moan.</span></span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"Persona Non Grata" is the group's first chunk of new music in 9 long years.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Musically the song is very simple, providing a walking rhythm for singer Conor Oberst to set the words down. The drums waltz exchanging hands with piano and guitar. For the first time the band uses bagpipes adding a haunting surge. The group is still a threepeice with Oberst up front and Mike Mogis and Nate Walcott filling out the rest.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Oberst's voice is the same shaky lilt it's always been. </span></span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">No audible aging heard, and his strangled cry still comes out a desperate blurt here and there. Just like old times. The lyrics are a detailed list of places gone and things done in characteristic Oberstian fashion. "There's a line out the church / Where your homelessness works / Where the stain glass of crimson / Meets Ezekiel's Visions," he sings in the first verse. It's a tempered message of bedroom crystal-ball examinations.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"Persona Non Grata" was thrown out ahead of schedule to tide over everyone at home on quarantine, a move Run the Jewels and other artists have also done. It's painful to think how many musicians might be sitting on new music. With this song there aren't any grand emotional swells, so it may have been the easier song to pick from the upcoming album without dimming the full listen.</span></div>
<br />
<br />
<iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/track=1396970066/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/transparent=true/" style="border-style: initial; border-width: 0px; height: 442px; width: 350px;"><a href="http://brighteyes.bandcamp.com/track/persona-non-grata">Persona Non Grata by Bright Eyes</a></iframe><br />
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></h3>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Bright Eyes crested in the early-2000s with critical applause and a lovelorn following.</span></span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">After hitting career peaks rare for overly emotive songwriting, the unit released 8 albums then went dormant after their last full-length, <em>The People's Key</em>, in 2011. In the years since Conor Oberst has been no slouch. He revived his previous side project, the Guthrie-punk band Desparecidos after more than a decade, releasing <em>Payola</em>, their second, in 2015. He formed the Mystic Valley Band and toured the world behind 3 solo albums, <em>Upside Down Mountain</em>, <em>Ruminations</em> and <em>Salutations</em>, some of his best work. On one of 2017's best albums, <em>Strangers in the Alps</em> by Phoebe Bridgers, Oberst can be heard, and after the two acts toured together they slipped us another new project last year called Better Oblivion Community Center. Now he's back where it all started to deliver on his end-times pronouncements.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
Eli Jacehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06776724666393375833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4254836637618694860.post-36457533019622772542020-03-28T00:38:00.002-04:002020-03-28T00:38:54.210-04:00New Video from House Lords<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">House Lords, out of Baltimore, have dropped the first single and video for their forthcoming album <em>The Common Task</em>. "People's Park" is a loosely-moving song that pops with angular rhythm like math rock with incorrect equations. The song's title comes from a neighborhood park established in Chicago's Lincoln Park by the Young Lords, a Latinx liberation organization.</span></div>
<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="295" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/A7yf53LwIIE" width="540"></iframe>
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In the video director Corey Hughes captures teenagers skating in semi-unison curlicues in the ice rink. Dressed in all-black they glide across the surface before a backdrop of foggy winter woods. The scene is somber, but there is freedom found in body's motion. Their movements fall in and out of sync with the rickety jam. "People's Park," like most of House Lords' work, is minimalist, capturing the house instruments propelled by a rascally rhythm. Their aim is to shake the listener's head around a little.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<em><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><em>The Common Task</em> will be released on March 13 by Northern Spy. Their east coast tour will begin the day before in Baltimore, Maryland. Learn more about the band <a href="http://www.horselords.org/">here</a>.</span></div>
Eli Jacehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06776724666393375833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4254836637618694860.post-23868681281480014232020-02-17T17:49:00.001-05:002020-02-17T17:49:47.897-05:00REVIEW: "Window In" by Michael Vallera<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5Pj57_1ImnAY8xCYyy2URyOxpZfLvO3zNiDd9ObEs8oxsLAfTQ9PXR4N2rSIS2q0DIs3-wze60X8X2I3X0bH7c4pw36ok15CmrJlCcM_wY0OpYRFTUwN4F81mSwbCHqq5i6Sj_ylJPESr/s1600/cover+Michael+Vallera+-+Window+In+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1500" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5Pj57_1ImnAY8xCYyy2URyOxpZfLvO3zNiDd9ObEs8oxsLAfTQ9PXR4N2rSIS2q0DIs3-wze60X8X2I3X0bH7c4pw36ok15CmrJlCcM_wY0OpYRFTUwN4F81mSwbCHqq5i6Sj_ylJPESr/s400/cover+Michael+Vallera+-+Window+In+.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<h4 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large; font-weight: normal;">Michael Vallera creates dark room drone.</span></h4>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large; font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><em>Window In</em> is the new album from Chicago-based musician and photographer Michael Vallera. The entire album acts as a piece of scrambled drone surging through your speakers. It moves like space debris, hanging and sustaining. The field is wide.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Vallera has spent a career lurking in experimental music scenes of Chicago. He's released music as COIN, Cleared (with Steven Hess), and Marr (with Joseph Clayton Mills). <em>Window In</em> is the third album released under his birth name and third for Denovali Records, out of Germany.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The tunneling "Blue Mind" inaugurates the album.</span></span></h3>
<div>
<span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">It comes through like the halo-ridden soundwaves flaunting in the aftermath of a rocket launch. Vallera crafted <em>Window In</em> like a sonic blacksmith. The album's four tracks are disassembled and stripped back pieces of live recorded electric guitar, mished and mashed into a soup that never dissolves.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Outside of music, Vallera is also a contemplative photographer. He received an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and in 2018 his first photography monograph, "Wet Earth," was released by fine arts publisher Harmonipan Editions. The cover for <em>Window In</em> is a shivering shot of the Chicago skyline from a far-off shore with the day's light in submission. Cold waves below smack against the rocks in an uneven, but rhythmic pattern.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The alb</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">um's title track is a meditation on twilight, breathing with the vibration.</span></span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The sound heard on <em>Window In</em> plays like film-developingchemicals as they clash and bubble making a toxic dispersal into the room. If it had a smell it might be that of rusted shipping container or a train track submerged in mildew. This is drone with a palpitating ghost pulse.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><em>Window In</em> is available March 27 on vinyl, digital and CD.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoDNHc_ywstimyWx_eVPdfgPA6nDNnDnsWEE4wxUrifhhoC-07xjTmKHOcFzE7nz6FC03Ji94haeTqzuif5IAyrWAvvsfVAWKswNHdhsBR-vgKRECNNK-6okGB42MpxVy8ssrF3tmyycnj/s1600/Michael+Vallera+photo5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoDNHc_ywstimyWx_eVPdfgPA6nDNnDnsWEE4wxUrifhhoC-07xjTmKHOcFzE7nz6FC03Ji94haeTqzuif5IAyrWAvvsfVAWKswNHdhsBR-vgKRECNNK-6okGB42MpxVy8ssrF3tmyycnj/s400/Michael+Vallera+photo5.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by Michael Vallera. Courtesy of Clandenstine.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkfiO41vfa_zjo-LQCsTmg-osSSKNBDnoY098pGtdtEjBV63nARPIrcwobT3lgV3LH3Fohbn5jbIs6MX2GtCXyuwSbF6JqNQAeIHcmA75VHejXr_lqZ0dFyQc4D_6qIcdMtOHVtxc5r5Ia/s1600/Michal+vallera+photo+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkfiO41vfa_zjo-LQCsTmg-osSSKNBDnoY098pGtdtEjBV63nARPIrcwobT3lgV3LH3Fohbn5jbIs6MX2GtCXyuwSbF6JqNQAeIHcmA75VHejXr_lqZ0dFyQc4D_6qIcdMtOHVtxc5r5Ia/s400/Michal+vallera+photo+1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by Michael Vallera. Courtesy of Clandenstine.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
Eli Jacehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06776724666393375833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4254836637618694860.post-52049122156680614192020-01-16T16:50:00.001-05:002020-01-16T16:50:20.547-05:00Hell is for Children -- The 2020 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Class<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVRgqL9dxVglUU1BtZPzTIj2gqfP6RY6HVCjEkN3uB071ktizE5FiHr35limE6Srw8x8Gg5MjJpy7kUbNO4zu4c3w5NhOYiBJs7b-B7PGAdG0-yOrWY82xmZfOTQ3rqW-s4PnY1n_8YdUD/s1600/hall-logo-gif.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVRgqL9dxVglUU1BtZPzTIj2gqfP6RY6HVCjEkN3uB071ktizE5FiHr35limE6Srw8x8Gg5MjJpy7kUbNO4zu4c3w5NhOYiBJs7b-B7PGAdG0-yOrWY82xmZfOTQ3rqW-s4PnY1n_8YdUD/s400/hall-logo-gif.gif" width="400" /></a></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, that beacon of overindulgence, has struck out once again.</span></span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
This year’s inductees, with all due respect to Nine Inch Nails, are the wonkiest group ever selected by the increasingly out of touch voting board. Along with NIN, the Hall will induct singer Whitney Houston, rapper Notorious B.I.G, Depeche Mode, the Doobie Brothers and T. Rex.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
One of the most important aspects that should be considered by voters is range of influence. Any band that heralds in a new branch of genre should instantly get in. Nine Inch Nails took the destructive power of metal and added to it gothic overtones and self-loathing to solidify industrial rock into the mainstream. He mixed in dub beats and soundscapes to heavy riffs and his aching scream. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Nails’ head, Trent Reznor, has quietly become this generation’s most influential artist, second only to maybe Thom Yorke of Radiohead.</span></h3>
<div>
<span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiITXrNonL_Yf95rhsM_1Rht5dnlztMO1XbOQCsRRVvL675PVpbCVzGE2jKQPWiniIf5GXmXNYYjXqEF1f_ld3pbtDS6ziyT7cpyBNWZLeFgRCzyzyJdrCJRLUeJYfnH9vtjIhrpLba8kE/s1600/hall+trent.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiITXrNonL_Yf95rhsM_1Rht5dnlztMO1XbOQCsRRVvL675PVpbCVzGE2jKQPWiniIf5GXmXNYYjXqEF1f_ld3pbtDS6ziyT7cpyBNWZLeFgRCzyzyJdrCJRLUeJYfnH9vtjIhrpLba8kE/s400/hall+trent.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;">Trent Reznor. Photo courtesy Spin.com.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
While Nine Inch Nails has become a touring institution, Reznor has expanded the group’s sound with releases like <i>Ghosts I-IV, Hesitation Marks </i>and <i>Bad Witch </i>and won an Oscar and Grammy for one of his many Hollywood soundtracks. He’s even responsible for the two wimpy guitar strums on the intro for that goddamn song “Old Time Road” by Lil Nas X. (Banging my head on the desk trying to wipe away the image of Reznor inducting little Nas X into the Rock Hall in 2025.)</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
T-Rex is an obvious lock, conceiving glam rock. Depeche Mode carved their spot at the top of moody synth-based rock in the 80s and are one of those groups with intense fandom. </div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
</h3>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Then we turn to Whitney Houston and the Notorious B.I.G., the acts furthest from the ethos of rock.</span></h3>
<div>
<span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Can't help but think they were largely included for their sensational untimely deaths. But I also wonder if they were picked simply to appease the growing calls of "more diversity" that rages from all quarters of Twitter when awards season rolls around. Not against all-inclusion in any sense, but what about these two artists have anything to do with rock and roll? </div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnsVcgoiuuQenEsX_p5hR0bYIF3Fx7HVhs9Bk-LgcLbDJXMByLwbN2jQz4feEDgf4t5sBi5QSOLw_ISSuJEjSrDXrCvB_B4s0hC7NFvL3eULGPnKrGSJuwwetV6pFbjpuU9ahr3IVHS89q/s1600/hall+biggie+answersafrica.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="408" data-original-width="640" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnsVcgoiuuQenEsX_p5hR0bYIF3Fx7HVhs9Bk-LgcLbDJXMByLwbN2jQz4feEDgf4t5sBi5QSOLw_ISSuJEjSrDXrCvB_B4s0hC7NFvL3eULGPnKrGSJuwwetV6pFbjpuU9ahr3IVHS89q/s400/hall+biggie+answersafrica.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;">The Notorious B.I.G. Photo courtesy of AnswersAfrica.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Houston’s big hit song was for a soundtrack. Her career went cold for a decade before overdosing on cocaine at a pre-Grammys party. Cocaine overdose <i>is </i>pretty rock and roll, but surely not the reason she’s in. B.I.G. was one of the great lyricists of rap’s heyday, an unmistakable delivery, but other than his murder being a <i>Dateline </i>episode I don’t see the rock and roll connection. But, hey, he’d be a first-ballot entry in the Hip-Hop Hall of Fame, which should expand beyond a museum.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Rappers in the Rock Hall was always a big question leading up to the late-70s eligibility period. </span></h3>
<div>
<span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Should they or shouldn’t they? The first hip-hop entry was Afrika Bambaataa--the innovator DJ spinning records in the Bronx in the late-70s when NYC was engulfed in punk, disco and new wave. The Beastie Boys started out as a punk band and used rock, metal and punk samples in a way that had never been done before. Their first album is basically rock with some drunk shouting over it. Run DMC deserves the honor for sampling “Walk this Way” by Aerosmith and collaborating with the band. These early acts all have some significant tie to rock music’s history. It pretty much stops there, but every year there’s representation of the genre.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
And if this induction garners more significance posthumously, like it seems with Houston and Biggie, then where is the love for Motörhead, MC5 and Thin Lizzy? Motörhead started out in England mid-70s and took what Black Sabbath was doing and sped it up. “Lemmy” Kilmister was the grisliest frontman and clenched the title until his death in 2015.</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAWphd0ply9Vmjg58LyWq9T-nUzuN-JsHhokXFFIe9PXF1y1CmM6EJ9Aqy7JI0G2UeBiGrMH63KqgjWceDZ8TfplDK6pyqiVg_WfqyetLdNWNpkfU7n6s3ybAZN46QIvK4YrnjHUkI_GwO/s1600/hall+mc5+riot+fest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAWphd0ply9Vmjg58LyWq9T-nUzuN-JsHhokXFFIe9PXF1y1CmM6EJ9Aqy7JI0G2UeBiGrMH63KqgjWceDZ8TfplDK6pyqiVg_WfqyetLdNWNpkfU7n6s3ybAZN46QIvK4YrnjHUkI_GwO/s400/hall+mc5+riot+fest.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;">MC5 live. Photo courtesy of Riot Fest.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: 400;">MC5 was part of the Detroit-area proto-punk scene of the late-60s, early-70s. </span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Like Hendrix or the Stooges, they were only around for a blip, but their influence has wide reach. Lead singer Rob Tyner and guitarist Fred “Sonic” Smith, who married Patti Smith, both passed in the early-90s; bassist Michael Davis, in 2012. From Dublin, Ireland, Thin Lizzy wrote some of the best drinking-on-a-Saturday-with-friends music in the 70s and were productive with 12 albums before bassist and lead vocalist Phil Lyncott passed in 1986. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The other nominees this year were Kraftwerk, Rufus featuring Chaka Khan, Soundgarden, Judas Priest, Dave Matthews Band, Pat Benatar and Todd Rundgren, who was nominated for the second consecutive time. What’s the hesitation? Rundgren didn’t only have some of the strongest hits of the 70s, he formed the prog-rock group Utopia, produced classic albums, wrote “Bang the Drum All Day,” and has experimented with his sound ever since.</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9qopQwl-KSP3tp5iL4vClk45BFtXL9Jm4atCdrFD667z38-IuXNGr5YqdBYKTm2kEXlh-NfgM7pt7O4i9OdE-3AuwOUDgpKx5S3HKCxgyf0FhhnOySjH1U9u1J7T8KkHsMVM0FB28Wg8-/s1600/hall+rundgren+guitar+tricks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="628" data-original-width="1200" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9qopQwl-KSP3tp5iL4vClk45BFtXL9Jm4atCdrFD667z38-IuXNGr5YqdBYKTm2kEXlh-NfgM7pt7O4i9OdE-3AuwOUDgpKx5S3HKCxgyf0FhhnOySjH1U9u1J7T8KkHsMVM0FB28Wg8-/s400/hall+rundgren+guitar+tricks.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;">Todd Rundgren live. Photo courtesy of Guitar Tricks.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: 400;">The Doobie Brothers are a total throw-in, but in this group appear to be the only current live band, along with Depeche Mode.</span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
So it’s 2020 and we’re celebrating rock and roll with the Doobies as the main act? Hopefully their cruise ship will dock in time for the show. Nothing against the group, they’ve kept at it over 40 years, but maybe the Hall should have a second annual show that is just every great forgotten act of the 60s and 70s. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Each year becomes more of a hodgepodge of acts that have little to do with each other. Eligibility for the nomination is 25 years from an act’s first official release. That currently puts us in the year 1995. Red Hot Chili Peppers, Green Day, Radiohead, Metallica, Nirvana and Pearl Jam have been inducted, but were sort of the resident 90s act each time.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: 400;">How cool would it be to have a year with Sonic Youth, the Pixies, Smashing Pumpkins, Soundgarden, Beck, Kate Bush and Rage Against the Machine all enshrined?</span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It’d be such an iconic representation of a slice of music history instead of this fucking amalgam of artists from all over the decades. This would bring back the spectacle of collaboration that used to be the Final Megajam. Maybe this year we’ll get the Doobies doing a yacht rock take on “Head Like A Hole,” with Reznor shouting, “I’d rather die than give you control.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Oh well, it’s all bullshit anyways. Hope the winners have a ball on Jann Wenner's last dime.</div>
Eli Jacehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06776724666393375833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4254836637618694860.post-70818562807674668212020-01-15T02:13:00.000-05:002020-01-15T02:13:32.530-05:00BOOK REVIEW: "You Can't Give It Away On Seventh Avenue -- The Rolling Stones And New York City"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTgk9T-ILTqj6XbuoMDuB89iiFjS_98YfvHknIq2cvkdIKR8NSd6vM9HZr_ZsINjX1KrbXZzhLDTF5Od5ACKJaf2XMdyoGgcJVHuchBJeeGe-YTPDXrDm6eacHfcDTM_flJSPMVtNmBR3a/s1600/mckittrick+cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="333" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTgk9T-ILTqj6XbuoMDuB89iiFjS_98YfvHknIq2cvkdIKR8NSd6vM9HZr_ZsINjX1KrbXZzhLDTF5Od5ACKJaf2XMdyoGgcJVHuchBJeeGe-YTPDXrDm6eacHfcDTM_flJSPMVtNmBR3a/s640/mckittrick+cover.jpg" width="426" /></a></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">On this earth, few things reach the level of unmistakable greatness in their category.</span></span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
There is no greater city than New York. There is no greater band than the Rolling Stones. Bring the debate, you won't get far.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
In the book, <i>Can’t Give It Away on Seventh Avenue -- The Rolling Stones And New York City,</i> author Christopher McKittrick gives a blow-by account of the intertwined histories of “Fun City” and the band. He attacks it like Melville describing the intricacies of dealing with whale blubber in <i>Moby Dick. </i>There is mention of not only every show they played in the city, but also shows band members saw in the city and hopped on stage for, tour announcements, recording sessions, the shows of solo tours, of ex-members and of the differing setlists played during multi-night stands. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Diehard fans will love all the details.</span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Jagger exasperates Truman Capote, ending his career as a rock journalist. Wood appears on stage to play with Chuck Berry, Bob Dylan and Tom Petty & the Heartbreaks in the summer of ‘85. While recording <i>Dirty Work </i>in 1985 Lower Manhattan, the band’s studio had a revolving door. Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page, Tom Waits, Bobby Womack and Don Covay were all in the area and made contributions to the album. There are countless short quips, musical icons paling around with musical icons.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Rifling through the newspapers of the time, McKittrick gives the pulse of the New York City press. The band have long held hero status; it’s hard to imagine critics ever writing off any of their previous work, but they did. Skeptical from day one, due to the group arriving on the heels of the Beatles, the press rarely gave the band all-around high praise. Their early antics never helped. When McKittrick highlights venues they played, he’ll continue with a full-forward history of the place, its changes and renovations, up to its current form of use.</div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
</h3>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: 400;">What’s interesting here, outside of most accounts of the Stones, is the period in the early-80s to the mid-90s.</span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Jagger and Richards were at odds over solo careers and, in real-time, the band always felt a step from dissolution. For much of that time Jagger, Richards, Woods and even Watts with his jazz ensemble, lived and recorded in the City, sometimes merely blocks apart. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The underrated <i>Tattoo You, </i>released in ‘81, is actually a collection of scrapped demos leftover from the previous year’s <i>Emotional Rescue.</i> They wouldn’t work together as a unified force in the studio until <i>Steel Wheels </i>in 1989. The Jagger-Richards split was most visible during 1985’s Live Aid Philadelphia concert. Practicing for the gig in Manhattan, Jagger sung with Hall & Oates, while Wood and Richards played with Bob Dylan. McKittrick shows how creatively active these individual musicians were, even though the group was on a downturn.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: 400;">It’s fascinating how the Stones’ history aligns with New York City’s.</span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
From its clean-cut early days into the seedy 70s and 80s, then transforming into the big business arena it is today. New York City and especially Times Square is today the world’s number one family-friendly tourist vat and headquarters for much of the entertainment world. Likewise, the Rolling Stones have tidied up an image that survived Altamont, shifting musical ideologies like disco, punk and hip-hop, infighting and a wilting music industry to reign as the world’s touring juggernauts and writers of our history’s most important music.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
McKittrick gives a gift to lifelong Stones fans with this book, a sort of bibliography of the facts and hard figures that have accumulated with legend. <i>Can’t Give It Away </i>is McKittrick’s first book. He <a href="http://chrismckit.com/">writes</a> about film and music for a number of outlets and lives in Los Angeles, though he is a native New Yorker.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Go further with IMP’s interview with Chris McKittrick from 2019 <a href="https://independentmusicpromotions.com/imp-interviews-author-christopher-mckittrick/">here</a>.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
Eli Jacehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06776724666393375833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4254836637618694860.post-21663577769915734972019-12-27T02:09:00.000-05:002020-01-15T02:10:36.605-05:00REVIEW: "Odd West" by Jason McMahon<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid6O7QcKnEoHORXbLHdtgO4t16XGEkuHFm32pMWj2CUR2gxFIYKMPUuEOJ67nOGeX6KMcih-dXY7jQXx76NUqCxbDnl2PUrnOWwkkHH29yF39gmGuycwzopROlkb-wjky78s4MLkbLRnvO/s1600/Jason+McMahon+Odd+West.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid6O7QcKnEoHORXbLHdtgO4t16XGEkuHFm32pMWj2CUR2gxFIYKMPUuEOJ67nOGeX6KMcih-dXY7jQXx76NUqCxbDnl2PUrnOWwkkHH29yF39gmGuycwzopROlkb-wjky78s4MLkbLRnvO/s400/Jason+McMahon+Odd+West.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Odd West </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">is the debut solo album from Jason McMahon and it plays like snowflake flurries caught in a valley.</span></span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Its beautiful cover illustration beckons forth with thick charcoal burnt guitar strings evaporating into ripped out cassette tape.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
McMahon’s central command is the acoustic guitar. <a href="https://shinkoyo.bandcamp.com/album/odd-west"><i>Odd West </i></a>is instrumental, save for a few voices that drift in on a current of wind, harboring an unpronounceable truth. It’s reminiscent of the early choral chants from Panda Bear, the wandering noodlings of John Fahey, or the freezing atmosphere of The Microphones.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: 400;">The music here was written over an extended break from touring, in which McMahon spent downtime with family in Colorado.</span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Before shaking inspiration from his guitar, he decided to tighten the strings to an unknown tuning and work through new techniques as he went. Over time this self-imposed handicap coalesced into 14 untroubled songs. His mangled tune is the trembling backbone of each one.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“Old Career In A New Town,” sets off with the adrenaline of hiking an expansive landscape. You can see your breath. Shuffling in the weather, the boot scuff of salted snow, it’s a cold march through the Catskills searching for Woody’s ghost.</div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
</h3>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: 400;">McMahon is a workerbee for the DIY mission in New York City.</span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
First as a former member of the band Skeletons (and it’s many monikers and incarnations); then as a cofounder of Shinkoyo Records. McMahon is also counted as one of the original architects of The Silent Barn, the open space for recording, performance and art, in its original location in Ridgewood, Queens.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
After all his experience touring and recording, <i>Odd West </i>is the sound of McMahon staring across a field and taking full healthy breaths. “Book of Knots,” plays around with multiple threads tying like the title around jazzy firework drums. It’s loose and invigorating. The Wurlitzer organ of catatonia hits splendidly at the back of the neck. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: 400;">The wooden husk of the tattooed guitar is a hollowed-out pound of percussion against the strings.</span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
McMahon has carved these songs, these etchings of song, slinking down through the faraway out of the marshland spires pointing up. On “Who We Are,” the strings, uncorked and haphazardly tuned, tease out a garden of feeling in the spirit. The vocals leak in like the resonating afterbreath of a charmed lost memory. The songs continue to create goosebumps, acoustic-driven and lush, spinthrifting on the Tilt-A-Whirl under cloudy skies.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Odd West </i>concludes with the chiller “Never Stop Exploding.” McMahon finds the numb through repetition of chords, an off-kilter splash of drums beating against the grain. As the song fades, a broke solo chars the outro. <i>Odd West</i> will be available through <a href="https://shinkoyo.bandcamp.com/">Shinkoyo Records</a> on January 31. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=2436706310/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/transparent=true/" style="border-style: initial; border-width: 0px; height: 470px; width: 350px;"><a href="http://shinkoyo.bandcamp.com/album/odd-west">Odd West by Jason McMahon</a></iframe><br />
<br />Eli Jacehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06776724666393375833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4254836637618694860.post-45736744093101884142019-12-09T02:06:00.000-05:002020-01-15T02:07:55.054-05:00REVIEW: "Wide Open Sky" by Pat Irwin & J Walter Hawkes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-ByxTDQi0kHin2FrCPBBJYznA129MwEEZPmVvwImdP38fOqTAes8bbTKBYATThOCDWXAbr_qr13heFbjC5Kh19k6-HVXiIq1uFHMdgK0F6Uz7ETN5ovQ2VznRE7IxiZQq-9nKxakQKMtk/s1600/cover+Pat+Irwin+J.+Walter+Hawkes+-+Wide+Open+Sky+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1500" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-ByxTDQi0kHin2FrCPBBJYznA129MwEEZPmVvwImdP38fOqTAes8bbTKBYATThOCDWXAbr_qr13heFbjC5Kh19k6-HVXiIq1uFHMdgK0F6Uz7ETN5ovQ2VznRE7IxiZQq-9nKxakQKMtk/s400/cover+Pat+Irwin+J.+Walter+Hawkes+-+Wide+Open+Sky+.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Guitar & trombone pace between the aisles under a cloudless sky on the debut album from Pat Irwin & J. Walter Hawkes.</span></span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Its title, <i>Wide Open Sky,</i> is appropriate imagery. The aboveplane is expansive and reaches out infinitely. The music here is in no hurry. Like wind where there is no weather, it moves on its own grace. The guitar rushes on first and the trombone follows twirling out like a fallen leaf.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Musicians Pat Irwin and J. Walter Hawkes have made careers working in New York City as session players and score composers. Irwin was a member of the B-52s for the meat of their career, until 2008, and has scored indies, documentaries and cartoons like <i>Spongebob Squarepants.</i> Most recently, Irwin was the music behind <i>Rocko's Modern Life: </i><em>Static Cling, </em>the Netflix special, and performed on the band SUSS's debut album, <a href="https://independentmusicpromotions.com/review-ghost-box-expanded-by-suss/"><em>Ghost Box</em></a>. Hawkes, originally from Missouri, is a 4-time Emmy winner, having recorded with Elvis Costello, Norah Jones and others. He's also composed music for TV shows, including the beloved <i>Blue's Clues.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: 400;">For the run-up to the <i>Wide Open Sky</i>, "In Another Time" was selected as the first single.</span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It starts the album off with a hi-hat Casio beat, then leans in. Irwin fingerpicks along and when Hawkes hits the trombone it takes off. Their instruments combine for an ambient free-jazz experience, both numbing and awakening. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The duo's collaborative album was self-released last month through Clandestine Label Services. The songs on <i>Wide Open Sky </i>are shambolically mellon collie, calmly nipping at the sensors in the ears that connect to the spinal cord.</div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
</h3>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: 400;">“Automatic 3” uses the preset beats of "an organ found in the streets of LIC."</span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Sounds like the alien house band shaking it up in a cocktail cruiseship lounge. It’s more uptempo than the rest, like a lightweight Stereolab. It’s the Western sky that opens up in “Apache.” Irwin’s guitar lick sounds like a spaghetti western theme, with extra spaghetti, while Hawkes sneaks in with Mariachi-like trombone snaps. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Hawkes excels on “February” and the title track. The engagement of hearbeat guitar-picking with the trombone allows his notes to drift into the air. Together Hawkes and Irwin have given the world a contemplative album, an easy stride through a free day. Pat Irwin & J. Walter Hawkes will play the Troost in Brooklyn, New York on January 5. <a href="https://patirwinmusic.com/">https://patirwinmusic.com/</a></div>
Eli Jacehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06776724666393375833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4254836637618694860.post-7702919605128621532019-09-27T02:02:00.000-04:002020-01-15T02:04:34.187-05:00Russian Circles Sneak Attack the Nile Theater<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm6OCrtPQpKvEYNFGS17ahGGv3oSTM-2rfRi4jVgHRkcUUIA3T27TjlxxFQbYC__YbLQGyrIs3wYwBhsJEdHwBeo6LvPsGFNCIvrCsyf0hmQ8CHktXDyfk5IdPQR-UsBuYEHMUhxsdDLDO/s1600/RC3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1482" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm6OCrtPQpKvEYNFGS17ahGGv3oSTM-2rfRi4jVgHRkcUUIA3T27TjlxxFQbYC__YbLQGyrIs3wYwBhsJEdHwBeo6LvPsGFNCIvrCsyf0hmQ8CHktXDyfk5IdPQR-UsBuYEHMUhxsdDLDO/s400/RC3.jpg" width="370" /></a></div>
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">The drummer for Russian Circles has the right foot of an antagonized brutish wildebeest.</span></span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It took over half of their set last Monday for me to realize and confirm that, David Turncrantz, their drummer was only using one single foot pedal for the bass drum. He was machine-gunning, I thought for sure he had a double-bass set up. He stomped on it like a quarterback dipping and pivoting down field. His foot fidgeted in rhythm, almost hovering the entire night right above the bass pedal. He provided the constant thumping ricochet that rumbled through each Russian Circles song and shook everybody’s organs.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Russian Circles have always been an instrumental incineration. Metal from the earth. No vocals, no angst, no cries, just music crammed to the bone. Guitarist Mike Sullivan and bassist Brian Cook combine to add an atmosphere of destructive energy. Their riffs crank along with the drums, building each song up to deathly peaks. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: 400;">The three-piece crossed into Arizona midway through their current Blood Year North America Tour to play the fabled <a href="https://www.niletheater.com/">Nile Theater in Mesa</a>.</span></h3>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZBOdjuexCknxy0GlSKhBegshmdrEp8eDwfedXvVoPMD8tmhAFHZvKarCl1cOrF8QpKeX-7m-6W4BwQg0FU6g7lf93_GYNz70Q3-_S_OZ3iF7dBs_FKun0nR7t0I2ZL3i7yHi337s40xoW/s1600/RC-GIF2.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="666" data-original-width="720" height="370" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZBOdjuexCknxy0GlSKhBegshmdrEp8eDwfedXvVoPMD8tmhAFHZvKarCl1cOrF8QpKeX-7m-6W4BwQg0FU6g7lf93_GYNz70Q3-_S_OZ3iF7dBs_FKun0nR7t0I2ZL3i7yHi337s40xoW/s400/RC-GIF2.gif" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The tour is in support of <i>Blood Year</i> the Chicago group's new seventh studio album, and second with producer Kurt Ballou. Their last was 2016’s <i>Guidance. </i><a href="https://independentmusicpromotions.com/review-blood-year-by-russian-circles/">Read my review of <em>Blood Year </em>by Russian Circles. </a><i> </i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The Nile is a great room for a big loud rumbling concert and Russian Circles filled up the space. Russian Circles walked on with "Hunter Moon," the opener of the new album, playing from the sound system. Then they smashed into "Arluck," with Turncratz getting a running start. “Quartered,” off <i>Blood Year,</i> started with the bass drum drilling, pumping dust off the walls, until the song climbed and took off. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Lights were kept low.</span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Maybe three or four lights flashed off and on with one blue setting. Each player was lit in their silhouette of silverlined light. Other than Sullivan moving forward one step to change pedals, he nor Cook moved around the stage.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
They were stuck in place, frozen by the hard-charge of their metallic muster. Cook held onto his corner of the stage, switching to a 6-string guitar for a few songs. He hopped and splashed around, knuckling his bass down low and shooting up into the air. In his own world, he’d hunker and squat, light shadows twitching his expressions. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguONR6G_Z_PZIIsNrzit6Pp8IXPHzN1fsUpaPndSZqFjymSyzytslnvk4hB3LBoG3SoC-poB4Tr-2OFyPZCyqQjBzKp3oQoZxhBHbUU9rggLCeWkfcNIWBci18sfpu1nkkwq8hS0Do29sR/s1600/RC2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1579" data-original-width="1600" height="392" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguONR6G_Z_PZIIsNrzit6Pp8IXPHzN1fsUpaPndSZqFjymSyzytslnvk4hB3LBoG3SoC-poB4Tr-2OFyPZCyqQjBzKp3oQoZxhBHbUU9rggLCeWkfcNIWBci18sfpu1nkkwq8hS0Do29sR/s400/RC2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Russia Circles barbecued the Nile Theater for the privileged few who bothered to show up.</span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I’m not complaining about the freedom of movement, or lack of disinterested people, but we could’ve packed a whole lot more fans in there. It’s time artists start pulling away from Mainland Phoenix and play some damn shows at The Nile. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Continuing with the Blood Year North American Tour, Russian Circles finishes the first leg in hometown Chicago on September 28. Facs, also out of Chicago, have been supporting Russian Circles from the start. <a href="https://www.windhand.band/">Windhand</a> will take over the opening spot when the tour’s second leg begins October 18 in Grand Rapids, Michigan.</div>
Eli Jacehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06776724666393375833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4254836637618694860.post-59923453633727546502019-09-16T01:56:00.000-04:002020-01-15T01:58:05.738-05:00REVIEW: "Blood Year" by Russian Circles<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf0f4LTasj64BpyEmf2rGq8rKX6qeIu8hoOndeQ0MUxgsIcZGTU-YqGTxn0HqA_ECKPSFkdwWE2C4pvrjeJb-bG2UiXW0OuJkPeLHWUZIddRVKQJBk3jPRo8PaoeOoCvIwH4Bk4ERBhOGM/s1600/Russian+Circles+Blood+Year+cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf0f4LTasj64BpyEmf2rGq8rKX6qeIu8hoOndeQ0MUxgsIcZGTU-YqGTxn0HqA_ECKPSFkdwWE2C4pvrjeJb-bG2UiXW0OuJkPeLHWUZIddRVKQJBk3jPRo8PaoeOoCvIwH4Bk4ERBhOGM/s400/Russian+Circles+Blood+Year+cover.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The new album from Russian Circles, </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Blood Year, </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">is the sound of Armageddon, of lost causes and cratering landscapes.</span></span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The three-man group from Chicago continue their instrumental onslaught on your speakers with their seventh studio album. <a href="https://russiancirclesband.com/">Russian Circles</a> don’t need a singer because in the space between their instruments you can hear the screaming and wailing</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Blood Year</i> is the group's second time working with legendary producer Kurt Ballou, known for his work with Converge, Isis, Dillinger Escape Plan, Gatecreeper and other hardcore acts. Ballou worked on 2016’s <i>Guidance</i> and here continues to provide the appropriate atmosphere for Russian Circles. Brian Cook on bass, Mike Sullivan on guitar and Dave Turncrantz on drums continue to tighten their aesthetic of pulverizing sound.</span></div>
<br />
<iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=246722098/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/transparent=true/" style="border-style: initial; border-width: 0px; height: 470px; width: 350px;"><a href="http://russiancircles.bandcamp.com/album/blood-year">Blood Year by Russian Circles</a></iframe><br />
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: 400;">"Hunter Moon" begins the quest of </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Blood Year </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">with a stretched out, wide-open guitar playing contemplatively.</span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The sustain feeds discontent, alluding to uncertainty on the horizon. It's a distant memory by the time "Arluck" ramps up with a cracking drumbeat. Turncrantz stays steady but beats all hell from the set while the guitars gather together like flies to newly discovered dead meat. Riffs trickle in until you're lost in a vortex. Turncrantz plays the drums like Lucifer’s methed-out cousin, cramming the snare head with furious vigor.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
And <i>Blood Year</i> goes on like that. <a href="http://sargenthouse.com/russian-circles">Russian Circles</a> hit the niche and just go. Sullivan and Cook continue in lockstep finding aggressive chords that hit the ground hard but also disperse into the sky. It’s heavy metal mixed with some spooky action. Each song is all blasting amps and disrespected drums. There is no break from the attack until "Ghost on High" when Sullivan meditates on a few slipping chords. The breather is short-lived. </div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
</h3>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: 400;">"Sinaia" begins mystically then takes off and sounds like flying through the center of the earth. </span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It’s a gorgeous pummeling knockout groove from the acid drip of Syd Barrett's angst. There are moments throughout <em>Blood Year</em> where you feel so lost and the music hits you from all sides. "Quartered" is a brain-warping beat-down with chugging riffs choking the life from you. Russian Circles extract an epic hopelessness in their riffage. There is a sense of impending disaster, or passing tragedy already struck. After more than a decade making music, they continue to explore their little corner of the universe.</div>
<iframe frameborder="0" height="380" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/album/1LWWmVyhDxFAxBmQe3ecZb" width="300"></iframe>Eli Jacehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06776724666393375833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4254836637618694860.post-9805953827063951652019-09-05T01:51:00.000-04:002020-01-15T01:53:58.335-05:00The Rolling Stones in the Desert Again<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGUlZtRc3e8oTCtDesbMirq00dggxJL_DbDk9EeYLWvzZu-k1isE-YipW-FuFYZfY2fjktgZ59jMbFk8n467fZBHQJSKdqiGoDQCoCK1gNM0vFuLv_lHlIsMS5u8eGXxTsah07HSIS2QGY/s1600/CB590A4D-7442-4B51-8400-87C0A6B5D85D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGUlZtRc3e8oTCtDesbMirq00dggxJL_DbDk9EeYLWvzZu-k1isE-YipW-FuFYZfY2fjktgZ59jMbFk8n467fZBHQJSKdqiGoDQCoCK1gNM0vFuLv_lHlIsMS5u8eGXxTsah07HSIS2QGY/s400/CB590A4D-7442-4B51-8400-87C0A6B5D85D.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">The Rolling Stones in the desert again.</span></span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Growing up my house had a constant shuffle of rock and roll classics playing. My father, mother and I all have our Venn diagram of favorites. My dad and I love Pink Floyd, John Mellencamp, Neil Young. My mother not so much. My mom and I love David Bowie, Prince, Talking Heads. My dad might make a face. Led Zeppelin shifted my life, but they never had the patience. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The one band we’ve always been able to agree on, though, is The Rolling Stones. They've been the musical anchor, the baseline of understanding for family. Mick, Keith, Ronnie, Charlie, Daryl, Bernard, Chuck, are like an extension of that family. So when the Stones announced their 2019 No Filter North American Tour, and Arizona was on the itinerary, my mother, master of ceremonies, scooped up three tickets on the floor, economic future be damned.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Originally scheduled for May, the Arizona date, along with the entire tour had to be postponed for Mick Jagger's impending surgery to replace a heart valve.</span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Deep breath. A mere six weeks later, new dates were set and the recovering patient and his cohorts were set to hit Arizona in late August, a brutal time for non-dwellers, much less a couple of geriatrics from London. Proof that the coolest rock and roll band of all time has only gotten stronger with age.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
"It's 120 [degrees] on the tarmac," Wood said on his <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B1odeHSFv3Y/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link">Instagram</a>, "We've just arrived in Arizona." One saving grace of this show being rescheduled in August was that State Farm Stadium has a closeable rooftop. The AC was pumping beautifully early on, until for some asinine reason, the roof opened right before showtime letting the day's heat just fall right in. In addition to being a complete clusterfuck trying to find your seats, the venue was not prepared for the crowd.</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSe9teBgWUKAdc-NZXlzZP-prAsmE_UoYbnxvnXvkmx5kHH0FpYM70qPAeLL7AWHT2vD65vO2zotdJhpEK5ReUPno7sQ8nru1px9-Ik9KHssN2YKn__mNAaEX53uiYn92XgPlrIgh7NZeO/s1600/1C344F50-2700-4396-B8E2-F434ECE74B91.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSe9teBgWUKAdc-NZXlzZP-prAsmE_UoYbnxvnXvkmx5kHH0FpYM70qPAeLL7AWHT2vD65vO2zotdJhpEK5ReUPno7sQ8nru1px9-Ik9KHssN2YKn__mNAaEX53uiYn92XgPlrIgh7NZeO/s400/1C344F50-2700-4396-B8E2-F434ECE74B91.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: 400;">This was the Stones' first show in Arizona in over a decade and they played just as many songs.</span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Rock and roll may be big business for them now, but there is no denying the pure joy emanating back and forth from the stage. Jagger, still, post-heart surgery, at 76, is the antithesis of a frontman. No one comes close, and long as he's breathing on this earth he will prove that with all the might of a carpenter ant lifting 20x its weight. Jagger made use of every inch of the stage, left to right, and down the constructed catwalk starting from the lightning bolt opener, “Jumpin’ Jack Flash.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It's absolutely astounding. There he is, in tight black pants and black tee, just as he was on the <i>Steel Wheels</i> tours 30 years ago. It's one thing to play a stadium show of hits for the fans; it's another fucking level to continuously maintain the energetic output and entertainment value of the past half-century. You cannot find any difference in the moves by Jagger between 1969 and 2019. Tom Jones, Roger Daltrey, Steven Tyler still lay it all out on the stage, but they are nowhere near tapping the energy of their heyday. Jagger, and the whole band, are legends, not only of rock and roll, but of gracefully allowing age in.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Ron Wood leapt around on stage like a teenager who just discovered power chords.</span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
He jumped-kicked and squatted into full-on guitar god stance, rocking to and fro like some insect seconds before an attack. Wood always had a big grin on his face. His graciousness and excitement hurled from the stage. He was on a trip, and how could you not be, when, still inside you're just a boy from the London Borough of Hillingdon playing guitar for screaming, crying, out of breath fans in a monstrous metal dome in the American desert in a state called Arizona?</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
After Jagger introduced the band, Richards took over the mic for, "You Got the Silver" from <i>Let It Bleed</i> and "Before They Make Me Run" off <i>Some Girls.</i> Hearing the 75-year-old sing, "I gotta walk before they make me run," was soberly motivational. Keith played guitar like a drunk child, ecstatic and proud to be on two feet. Richards moved the most carefully of the group, but still stepped into every iconic stabbing riff.</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDxzDUAl2NqkNV85-VKuZWJkUjPM1vXHnHJmHLnHfW0LnnOMdLf4dymCcdjggZQowoh9SFdjeUQH63s7zenD-gvcplvS0gRmVKFPfldYEc_6i14fkMsPApBtfcVqxRbH2uHe5m7IJsrNPd/s1600/IMG_5700+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="710" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDxzDUAl2NqkNV85-VKuZWJkUjPM1vXHnHJmHLnHfW0LnnOMdLf4dymCcdjggZQowoh9SFdjeUQH63s7zenD-gvcplvS0gRmVKFPfldYEc_6i14fkMsPApBtfcVqxRbH2uHe5m7IJsrNPd/s640/IMG_5700+%25281%2529.jpg" width="284" /></a></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: 400;">The main foursome, Jagger, Richards, Woods and Watts sauntered down the catwalk, each in deep single shades of silk cloth, for a miniset above the floor crowd. </span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
This has been a staple of their shows for at least the past two decades. It brings them that much closer to the adoring crowd. Armed with acoustic guitars, Wood and Richards eased into two classics, "Sweet Virginia" followed by "Dead Flowers." </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Charlie Watts held it down all night, keeping the engine running while "Midnight Rambler" churned down to a slow palpitation. Whenever Watts appeared on one of four giganto screens his lips curled into a big smile, his eyes closing bashfully.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: 400;">While their setlists on this tour have been about 60% identical, what's really a joy are the songs that differ state to state.</span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Arizona fans were treated to one of their first hits, "Let's Spend the Night Together," followed by the opener from an album two decades later, "Sad Sad Sad" off <i>Steel Wheels.</i> Jagger played the guitar like he was chopping wood. The song, from the ‘80s, still shreds. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The vote song was the way-back classic, "Get Off of My Cloud," from 1965, now reconfigured as an old man punk vamp that could've been recorded during <i>Some Girls</i>. Later in the set was the very state-appropriate song, “Paint It Black.” Jagger swiped through the heat that had settled singing, “I wanna see the sun / blotted out from the sky.” Richards’ and Wood’s jangly chords tangled with each other like electric sitars while Watts pounded the snare until the crowd went dizzy.</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: 400;">And of course they played the hits.</span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“Miss You” broke down into a lurid disco trot with Daryl plucking up and down on the bass. “Brown Sugar,” “Honky Tonk Women,” “Satisfaction,” all the classic raucous anthems erupted. “Sympathy for the Devil” and “Gimme Shelter,” continue to find relevance in the current day; the latter being the most ironic performance for this tour.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The Rolling Stones No Filter Tour, the group’s 47th traveling affair, was forced to reschedule twice due to two different hurricanes developing in the Atlantic. They were caught in it, but continued on. When the rain fell Jagger just spun faster, Keith hammered on, Ronnie yelled louder and Charlie pounded harder. It’s already etched in history, but the Rolling Stones keep proving they are the greatest band of all.</div>
Eli Jacehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06776724666393375833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4254836637618694860.post-36783059615684924802019-08-10T01:45:00.000-04:002020-01-15T01:47:02.855-05:00ZINE REVIEW: "Past Lives" by Travis Keller<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglRy7-N-Xxqu87QNh6DigQb9L0yS0KhZjIvG7NWV8kiaFzBS99Ggqwnq88lPB8kgh56H9tCNsZu9woClxZUwnhwdhhVY71KVgO2bJ9G6oYHxW0V7RyRqQnKl-cY-_UeVuAt_k-sxJ6lTOL/s1600/Travis+Keller+Past+Lives.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="792" data-original-width="612" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglRy7-N-Xxqu87QNh6DigQb9L0yS0KhZjIvG7NWV8kiaFzBS99Ggqwnq88lPB8kgh56H9tCNsZu9woClxZUwnhwdhhVY71KVgO2bJ9G6oYHxW0V7RyRqQnKl-cY-_UeVuAt_k-sxJ6lTOL/s640/Travis+Keller+Past+Lives.jpeg" width="494" /></a></div>
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Flip through some lives that once were, from a scene long gone.</span></span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Past Lives </i>is the first photozine from photographer and former Buddyhead publisher, Travis Keller, now working under the imprint, American Primitive. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
In it, Keller unearths one of the final little slivers of true rock and roll glory--in the fart-trail afterstench of Nu-metal, and just before the hollow glitz of global festival rock. The photographs in <i>Past Lives </i>run from roughly 1997-2005.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: 400;">During this time Keller started one of the first music blogs, the mercurial Buddyhead.</span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The webzine found easy fame by poking big bear hot-shots like Fred Durst, the Strokes and Courtney Love and holding no decorum when reviewing music. Buddyhead would bruise egos and talk shit without remorse. Their combative style would never be attempted today for fear of losing followers or offending some rabid fanbase.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Buddyhead expanded into a label releasing albums by a pile of musicians, including the first two full-lengths for The Icarus Line. Keller was friends with the Los Angeles punk group and became embedded in their roadshow as they went from playing blacked out basement shows to opening for the mighty Nine Inch Nails.</div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
</h3>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Keller bared witness to some of rock’s elusive underground heroes.</span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
See America’s most lyrically potent band, At the Drive-In, causing hysteria in small audiences; singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala split-kicking six feet in the air. Tour life. There’s vans, drugs, broken equipment, some hidden A-list celebrities that are now C-list. Geeked out Nine Inch Nails fans; Trent Reznor with a big black dildo. The Icarus Line, At the Drive-in, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Elliot Smith, Josh Homme from Queens of the Stone Age, Beastie Boy Mike Diamond, Wesley Willis, Ink & Dagger and others make appearances in <em>Past Lives</em>. It’s a flash flipbook of bottom level touring in the final era before the handheld cameraphones. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Many of the photographs take place in Los Angeles, Keller’s chosen paradise. Slipped in here and there are some of his non-music photographs capturing the natural neon of California. The one gripe with <em>Past Lives </em>is the lack of information. Words are kept to a bare minimum, but browsing through @TravisMichaelKeller on Instragram will provide some answers.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
On the day my copy of <i>Past Lives </i>arrived in my mailbox from publisher Blurb, I went to a record store and serendipitously found used copies of The Icarus Line’s <i>Mono </i>and <i>Penance Soiree</i>. Their first two albums are in a league of their own, curdling punk, thrash, noise and blues into their own unhealthy mix of energy. Singer Joe Cardamone gives all the chaos a striving force, a howling warcry to the late nights and dilated pupils.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg0Mdp45_Nh12xCLRfxUfnHQ2EwFdOvnNV81AnT7UWOxrX9lTLBV4yVJGjlyPWEKr1iTDZkYJtljY-dapcg4PZqSk_d_wngZuh2UJLJZamfHXccy6mU-MpArmLEL98vmHhTBED8IHb0fH-/s1600/TCL+Mono.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg0Mdp45_Nh12xCLRfxUfnHQ2EwFdOvnNV81AnT7UWOxrX9lTLBV4yVJGjlyPWEKr1iTDZkYJtljY-dapcg4PZqSk_d_wngZuh2UJLJZamfHXccy6mU-MpArmLEL98vmHhTBED8IHb0fH-/s400/TCL+Mono.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqz2Y0ntPyUr72wvUNTwFSeXQUlVEtWQ2UaBjCZZDgomTg50QSvGGFdVHbXIQw4QXRKAfa2fyUxq3xMmtCpE9cIXeEJ6yt7KqYDskZM1aDyq8g9oLYZTfUjbFqcgcqxj2IlHb3Gh_fAZZz/s1600/TCL+Penance.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="700" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqz2Y0ntPyUr72wvUNTwFSeXQUlVEtWQ2UaBjCZZDgomTg50QSvGGFdVHbXIQw4QXRKAfa2fyUxq3xMmtCpE9cIXeEJ6yt7KqYDskZM1aDyq8g9oLYZTfUjbFqcgcqxj2IlHb3Gh_fAZZz/s400/TCL+Penance.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Unfortunately for the fans, The Icarus Line now only represents a moment in time.</span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Officially dissolving in 2015, the band leaves behind an intense searing stranglehold of a discography, six full-length albums and a pile of EPs. In a time before digital oversharing, it’s great Keller was there in the muck to bring this slice of scene back into the present.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Past Lives </i>is a slick photobook; something to sit back in a comfortable chair with and reminisce on the putrid, sweaty backrooms where punk may have had its final croak. Find <i>Past Lives </i>on American Primitive, as well as other projects from Keller and Cardamone.</div>
Eli Jacehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06776724666393375833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4254836637618694860.post-39286645078175261942019-06-06T01:41:00.000-04:002020-01-15T01:41:52.594-05:00REVIEW: "Ghost Box (Expanded)" by SUSS<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp1PfAcS01Kpknz6_HEPE0LJ6nS7YhtgO3p0SWqH0z2Z_2_WnAbIZZ1sXZ1Wyd67APX2s8xAet5ebFSzw50HdG__46rtkYg3uDhqwsykYJ3ZP4m2X1DftiCRAAl8vsPMl4ylk5IGNUqZuh/s1600/cover_1537293298035904.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1500" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp1PfAcS01Kpknz6_HEPE0LJ6nS7YhtgO3p0SWqH0z2Z_2_WnAbIZZ1sXZ1Wyd67APX2s8xAet5ebFSzw50HdG__46rtkYg3uDhqwsykYJ3ZP4m2X1DftiCRAAl8vsPMl4ylk5IGNUqZuh/s400/cover_1537293298035904.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">You want suspension of self in that little room you’re in?</span></span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Here’s something: <i>Ghost Box </i>by SUSS, a New York City quintet inducingly self-labeled, “ambient country.” The newly expanded edition comes from Northern Spy Records. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
SUSS originally self-released <i>Ghost Box</i> in February 2018, but after lighting up Spotify, Northern Spy saw an opportunity for something great and re-released the album later that year as <i>Ghost Box (Expanded) </i>with four additional tracks. Lucky us, that’s over twenty minutes more of the golden range.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Ghost Box (Expanded) </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">might be the music equivalent of waking up mid-peyote on a desert morning with canyons widening outward past the horizon.</span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“Wichita” starts the hypnosis. Scrapes on guitar strings surround for a looping lull. The sun continues its ascent. It’s the sound of heat, of watery illusions in the distance, and a confusion of place and time. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The fivepiece of SUSS are all career working musicians. When you read their collection of instruments you get an idea of the possible soundscape. Bob Holmes plays mandolin, guitar, harmonica, bass; Gary Leib on keyboards; Jonathan Gregg plays pedal steel and dobro; William Garrett plays guitar, baritone guitar, loops and mixes; and Pat Irwin adds more guitar and keyboard.</div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
</h3>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: 400;">As </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Ghost Box </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">continues, “Late Night Call” corrodes the speakers with feedback and a shaky twang.</span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Somewhere is a whistle like a call to return home. “Big Sky” is the first to follow somewhat of a song structure as levied acoustic chords move along with an electric guitar and keyboards poking in and out. “Rain” is four minutes of pure meditation.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
SUSS have created such an atmosphere with this album. Close your eyes and let the desert appear in the room. The drum machine in “Laredo” enters like a lizard splashing through sand. The mood of the album changes halfway through with “Gunfighter,” its gnarly drumbeat throbbing in the dust. Voices of concern crackle here and there as guitars slice across. “Laramie” is all drone like the Wyoming night sky falling right on top of you.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: 400;"><i>Ghost Box (Expanded) </i>is a collection of melting fragments from old western scores, desert reflections, beat-up acoustic guitars dragged across rocks. </span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
SUSS has found a new genre on the spectrum pulling together the vibrating hum of a lonely guitar with the ambiance of the universe surrounding it. <em>Ghost Box (Expanded) </em>and its original form are available to stream on Spotify; expanded version is available digitally or as CD through Northern Spy Records.</div>
Eli Jacehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06776724666393375833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4254836637618694860.post-68586336733624548672019-05-25T01:16:00.000-04:002020-01-15T01:20:00.884-05:00REVIEW: "Jonesin'" by Uncle Brother<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7fxEyysOQQs5vFRl780Wt0oTJsng2ZkIuGHABbD2g6TJ7YkbN-niZbuyiNaD9OTqvbkJWuWK90y4rNs1KYhUc5GjTvkcO33Q5QWwZG8zFPhUmO47OClL-n26isczAVcBpJOwrYb5sqUQa/s1600/Uncle+Brother+cover.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7fxEyysOQQs5vFRl780Wt0oTJsng2ZkIuGHABbD2g6TJ7YkbN-niZbuyiNaD9OTqvbkJWuWK90y4rNs1KYhUc5GjTvkcO33Q5QWwZG8zFPhUmO47OClL-n26isczAVcBpJOwrYb5sqUQa/s400/Uncle+Brother+cover.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;"><a href="http://www.unclebrother.org/">Uncle Brother</a>’s debut album, <i><a href="https://music.apple.com/us/album/jonesin/1442944348">Jonesin</a>’, </i>is a set of gorgeous songs in the traditional folk realm, but with a warm sheen that’ll make the body go numb.</span></span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Uncle Brother is Patrick Maguire, songwriter and guitarist, with an assist from a few friends. <i>Jonesin’ </i>was recorded and self-released at the end of 2018 and is available on iTunes. It is the first release off Maguire’s own Patty Mac label.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The nine ditties on <i>Jonesin’ </i>explore the journey of love, the pitfalls and upshots, and culminates with the beautiful, “Clayer.” The tale begins with “Brothers.” Maguire sings about the pure joy of being in the company of friends, his voice dusty with gratitude and yearning for long-gone moments. His tender acoustic tone slides across the soundplain like day’s last light.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The walking blues number, “Why Must You Cheat Me,” erupts midway with a sore guitar solo pulled straight out of the swamp.</span></span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Song for Richard” finds Maguire singing around a plodding, uneven piano while Stacy Dillard gives the song harmonious lift with soprano horn. “Louisiana Lady” is a cute brisk song on the anticipation of courtship. On “All My Love” Maguire makes a plea for the strengthening of a trampled relationship. It's slow and sleepy and leads into a tangle of guitars featuring Michael Louis Smith. Inner reverb drips from every note.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Maguire’s voice is gruff and sweet at the same time. </span></span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/indiemusicpromo/comments/cp58h2/review_jonesin_by_uncle_brother_independent_music/">Uncle Brother</a> most closely recalls Neil Young with his simplicity and all out lunge for the song’s emotional center. The two best tracks on <em>Jonesin’</em> are “Barren” and the instrumental “Clayer.” More than any other songs these two show where Maguire could go, crafting tranquil dialogue with the guitar. He has a way of leaning into the notes, letting them ring out and settle.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The haunting “Barren” is a bitter account of farmlife during natural devastation. Hope hinges on Maguire’s bruised falsetto. You can feel a storm’s humidity between notes. “Clayer” has no words because the playing speaks. An acoustic rhythm is intricately weaved with aching electric accompaniment. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The mood totally flips with the last song, “Whiskey Dick,” a rousing drunkabout singalong. </span></span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It’s a fun song, something to lift the beer mug in the air to. “This whiskey dick made my night go downhill really quick,” Macguire sings haplessly. It’s like a lost blink-182 song from a real dude ranch at a Nebraska hoedown.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Jonesin’ </i>is a delicate introduction to a developing songwriter and gives an impression that Maguire is only scratching at the surface of the music world he’s entering. Maguire lives in New York City and also plays in the jamhouse collective, Brawlik, who’s self-titled debut was released earlier this month. Uncle Brother plays the Radio Bean in Burlington, Vermont June 1. Brawlik plays the Discover Jazz Fest in Burlington May 31.</span></div>
Eli Jacehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06776724666393375833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4254836637618694860.post-2124287666964308292019-02-25T01:10:00.000-05:002020-01-15T01:11:35.531-05:00REVIEW: "The Humors" by Ryan Dugre<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4MZ4Uuhe2_kGzWm195APaYSyPrnLNb1d3bFVFua_bjI9iilTrLXOtSCiwk5PdNL-e4x_QYGzYJmaf8XsE0_fwJcrWn5ZRNpJLOcytJ1ND0cpfqi_otYZSP7zK-3wXb5sEwFNcLJDVR9cN/s1600/ryandugre_cover.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4MZ4Uuhe2_kGzWm195APaYSyPrnLNb1d3bFVFua_bjI9iilTrLXOtSCiwk5PdNL-e4x_QYGzYJmaf8XsE0_fwJcrWn5ZRNpJLOcytJ1ND0cpfqi_otYZSP7zK-3wXb5sEwFNcLJDVR9cN/s400/ryandugre_cover.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;">Ryan Dugré's upcoming release, <em>The Humors,</em> is a calming, sleepy anecdote.</span></span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Guitarist Ryan Dugré works out of Brooklyn, New York, but he plays the guitar like he was born in an unnamed field with perpetual morning.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Dugré searches for lucidity with his playing to capture an inner dialogue with chords ascending and backsliding in gentle conversation. “A lot of the songs are in alternate tunings that I kind of stumbled into,” he’s said.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Dugré is a multi-instrumentalist and scores his bread performing with various bands on tour.</span></span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In 2017, during off-time touring with Landlady, Eleanor Friedberger and Rubblebucket, he recorded <i>The Humors </i>along with Sam Griffin Owens. The acoustic guitar is the star, but there are flushes of synthesizer, piano, drums and strings for sparse dramatics.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>The Humors, </i>Dugré’s second album, is a follow-up to <i>Gardens </i>from 2016 and is available March 8 digitally or on cassette through Birdwatcher Records.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Humors </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">nuzzles open with the serene circular guitar variations and the occasional stray note bending out of time on “Iris Tide.”</span></span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The album’s official single, “Bali,” is a beautiful piece of lush beach air just as the title’s location suggests. The sea breeze tugs at Dugré's strings. Dugré showcases the intimacy of a guitar virtuoso tooling around on “New June.” One imagines morning filling up in a corner room as the relaxed notes airlift the listener from grounded constraint.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Mateo Alone,” with synths from Eric Lane, holds the rhythm of an ocean creature descending on underwater currents, then back-kicking to launch itself skyward. “Wild Common” is a spatial nodding-off until a palm-muted guitar slides subtly in. A clean fingerpicked guitar fills out the foreground while strings and synth tinker away in the folds of the mix.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Percussion is a rarity on </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Humors</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, only weaseling in towards the end.</span></span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“In Tall Grass” gets a lift with chalky percussion from Jeremy Gustin (Star Rover, Jesse Harris). “High Cloud” surprise-attacks the solitude with a dubby drum pattern from Ian Chang (Son Lux).</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Dugré's <i>The Humors </i>is all silky guitar repetition numbing the nerves like a sunlit morning trance. Ryan Dugré plays The Owl Music Parlor in Brooklyn, New York for the album’s official release on March 8.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
Eli Jacehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06776724666393375833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4254836637618694860.post-5470317736168050022018-09-09T01:14:00.000-04:002020-01-15T01:15:31.713-05:00REVIEW: "Fog Area" by Anne Malin<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqzYw6RFLfFUX1M_IdX3naIQQN63DdJMk31mSVwwxt7s8JBn5BAItLUA8P73TzKKNAuxystVtqk5fLz6klRGrevL9wnBpWYrW8V9C0ZJI9-YnaWe08FAzt78XHQyDbY6o6wlsrih3Xm6rF/s1600/cover_1532961264214721.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1500" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqzYw6RFLfFUX1M_IdX3naIQQN63DdJMk31mSVwwxt7s8JBn5BAItLUA8P73TzKKNAuxystVtqk5fLz6klRGrevL9wnBpWYrW8V9C0ZJI9-YnaWe08FAzt78XHQyDbY6o6wlsrih3Xm6rF/s400/cover_1532961264214721.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><em style="font-weight: 400;">Fog Area,</em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> by Anne Malin is here to gut your winter.</span></span></h4>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Somewhere in the depths of the Renaissance backwoods you might find the Fog Area, or it could be offroad in a Massachusetts forest preserve, or possibly, a place only accessible after listening through the new album by Anne Malin.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Out of South Bend, Indiana Anne Malin makes music that could top a category called creep-folk. The voice and namesake, Anne Malin Ringwalt, also plays acoustic guitar and autoharp. She is joined by William Ellis Johnson who plays guitars, organ, synths and also mixed <i>Fog Area. </i>When released October 12, the album will be the duo’s fourth full-length in the past two years. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: 400;">"When Flesh is Enough" gently pushes </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Fog Area </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">on an electric lake with a frog somewhere ribbitting.</span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The voice, Anne Malin, reads a poem of haunts introducing the listener to the Fog Area. Wherever the Fog Area is, the only guiding principle through may be Malin's voice. She presides over these nine songs like a witch dragged in to the altar. She’s calm with her vocal expression, but always leering with anguished melodies; free like Vashti Bunyan, but with a deeper register and a forested uncertainty.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: 400;">On "Aubade" Malin’s voice wavers along with an organ rhythm pre-set and dented arpeggios.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkLxU5fz81IxXbfovClY4zTy1NLHr10hF9ceTbuNfg254IHaCqg7gzjM4hwmsZTpFdOY8mcpMN332SzK9Ymf4bBp4xExw4PWZsf3BrIknzUmptCcnM8c5ItZQt_E4tZbGBfI-v8Y0PYzN9/s1600/Anne+Malin+photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1199" data-original-width="1200" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkLxU5fz81IxXbfovClY4zTy1NLHr10hF9ceTbuNfg254IHaCqg7gzjM4hwmsZTpFdOY8mcpMN332SzK9Ymf4bBp4xExw4PWZsf3BrIknzUmptCcnM8c5ItZQt_E4tZbGBfI-v8Y0PYzN9/s400/Anne+Malin+photo.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
</span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The trance comes on like a flash flood and feels disorienting like chasing a cat through an alleyway in moonlight with any idea why. The rising tide of sustained organ and Malin’s voice can draw quick similarities to Beach House, but with much worse intentions and less feel-good haze.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Startled whisperings dance around the short jabbing notes of an acoustic guitar and cheap white noise on “Bend." Malin hums as she slices her autoharp on "Song of the Siren." "Move Us" assails the listener with low-breathing space drone oscillating around Malin. "We build sanctuaries,” she yowls, “We build battleships woven out of leaves."</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Fog Area</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> concludes with three beautiful ballads, "Endless Road," "Chance Creek," and "All Will Be," each one sadder t</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">han the one before it.</span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Malin displays her range emotionally and musically finding ways to thread between Johnson’s mellow guitar handiwork plucking and strumming with soft, resolute finesse. The two work in consort most effectively on this final third. The bedroom recording, “All Will Be,” plays out <i>Fog Area </i>with its more straightforward message and tone. “Am I your queen?” Malin asks with strained hopefulness. “I never wanted anything more than you unending.”</div>
Eli Jacehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06776724666393375833noreply@blogger.com0