In honor of Martin Scorsese’s soon to be released Rolling Stones performance film/documentary, Shine A Light, let’s take a moment to appreciate one of the band’s most often overlooked gems.
Actually, as the sleeve above indicates, this song, while credited to Jaggers/Richards, was released as a Mick Jagger solo single in 1970 to coincide with the release of the film Performance, in which Jaggers co-starred as a past-his-prime rock star who gives safe harbor to a gangster on the run.
As a matter of fact, Jaggers may be the only Stone featured in this particular recording. Legend has it that Keef refused to participate as a sign of his displeasure that Mick’s love scenes in the film with his then girlfriend Anita Pallenberg were a little too, ummm, realistic. Instead, you have some very tasty slide guitar work from none other than Ry Cooder. Production comes courtesy of the legendary Jack Nitzsche.
An earlier, unfinished version of “Memo From Turner” actually featuring the Stones later appeared on the band’s odd’n’sods collection Metamorphasis. Anyone heard that version?
(Note to self: must add Performance to Netflix queue.)
My prior knowledge of Goldfrapp is fairly limited. My broad impression was of a band that specialized in the kind of disco-glam anthems likely to soundtrack your next visit to The Gap. How was I to know they were as capable at making music for headphones as they were for dancefloors?
Seventh Tree is the English duo’s fourth album. I’d read some fairly rapturous reviews of the album that tossed around words like “folky”, “pastoral” and “psychedelic” — words that on their own don’t necessarily merit an investigation, but when used in conjunction certainly make me take notice. While the album isn’t quite as dusty or rustic as I perhaps was lead to believe, it does deliver a captivating listen on its own terms.
For this album, the band gives the backbeats a break, instead offering up a sonic signature that places an emphasis on warm washes of analogue synths, occasional finger picked acoustic guitar and some sweeping string arrangements that at times feel borrowed from a Nick Drake record. Of course, the real star of the show here is singer Alison Goldfrapp, who has a dynamic range that calls to mind Kate Bush.
Much of Seventh Tree floats out of the speakers pleasantly enough, but the album is peppered with occasional highlights. “Little Bird” spends its first half prettily trading in the album’s primary colors, but explodes and builds to a climax that sounds roughly like what would happen if a Hofner bass-weilding Paul McCartney crashed a Cocteau Twins session. “Cologne Cerrone Houdini” see’s Goldfrapp auditioning to be the next Bond girl. And “Caravan Girl” has some serious hit potential, the album’s most upbeat moment that reminds me of Saint Etienne’s high water mark, Good Humour.
The one I’m really stuck on though is “A&E”, the album’s first single. It’s a poignant “Drugs Don’t Work” lament, coming across like Pulp’s “Sorted For E’s & Wizz”, if it were written by Jarvis Cocker’s neurotic sister. It also features one of the more memorable videos I’ve seen in a long time.
If you frequent any of the music blogs then you have likely already read the latest news sure to send shockwaves across the music industry.
Just yesterday evening, the Raconteurs announced via their web site and Myspace page, that they would soon be releasing a recently completed record. To put a finer point on it: they finished the new record, titled Consolers of the Lonely, the first week of March and it will actually be in stores (as well as available for download at all the major outlets and the band’s web site) next week.
From the band’s press release:
“The album was mastered and completed in the first week of March. It was then taken immediately to a vinyl pressing plant. Then to a CD pressing plant. Then preparations to sell it digitally began. March 25th became the soonest date to have it available in EVERY FORMAT AT ONCE. The band have done no interviews or advertisements for this record before this announcement.”
The band then go on to claim that while they will likely be suffering a bit of a hit in terms of the all-important first week sales, their desire to get the record in everybody’s hands at the same time trumps any commercial concerns. As if all of that is not enough, they will be debuting a video on their web site on March 25th as well.
The logistics of this are kind of amazing. Though we here at RitH are big fans of Brendan Benson, we never really latched on to the White Stripes and subsequently never bothered with the Raconteurs’ first release. Regardless of whether or not we revisit that decision (possible), or decide to take the plunge on album number two (likely), on some level we must now consider ourselves fans of the Raconteurs. It’s such an admirable gambit, one that ups the ante from In Rainbows certainly and throws down a gauntlet that I know at least one person should appreciate.
Then today news came that Gnarls Barkley will be bumping up the release of their second album, The Odd Couple, from April 1 to…ummm, today. The album is now available for download from all of the major outlets and will be in the traditional brick and mortars this week. Not quite as impressive as what the Raconteurs are pulling off, but pretty cool nonetheless.
As with the Raconteurs, we missed the boat on Gnarls Barkley’s first album and weren’t necessarily planning on applying for any late passes here. But respect is due. Today at least we are fans in spirit.
Of course the cynical view here is that these are both attempts to minimize the risk and/or damage of pre-release leaks. In the Raconteurs’ case, they most assuredly won’t have to worry about the cat getting out of the bag, but the Gnarls Barkley album has apparently already leaked. If that in fact is the motivation, more power to them. Artists have every right to ensure that their works are distributed in the manner they fully intend.
Will the rush to release strategy earn these artists higher sales? That, of course, remains to be seen. One thing is for certain: two high profile releases just became even higher profile. Is all of this enough to upset the apple cart that is the broken music industry? Again, the outlook is murky. But it represents a trend that this music consumer certainly applauds.
Update: Now I’m reading rumors that Elvis Costello will be releasing a vinyl-only new album on April 22nd! Sounds cool to me…and maybe goes some way towards serving as penance for the recent unnecessary rash of reissues.
Tonight marks the return of HEAVYWAX, our monthly vinyl-only dj event, co-hosted by ivaner.
Ivaner can’t be with us this evening, as he is traveling somewhere in the southern hemisphere, but I’ve asked our good friend Les, aka The Pin Striped Rebel, to help out in his absence. I’m excited to hear what gems Les has to offer. And, being the newcomer that I am, I’m hoping to get a few spinnin’ tips from a seasoned pro, to boot. Should be a fun night. For me. Hopefully for you too!
Come join!
/////////////// HEAVYWAX
/////////////// WHEN: Friday, March 14, 9:30PM-2:30AM
/////////////// WHERE: The Hotel Bar (Upstairs), The Rock & Roll Hotel, 1353 H Street, NE, WDC
/////////////// NO COVER
HEAVYWAX occurs monthly, every second Friday, at the Rock& Roll Hotel.
Took a jog this evening and decided to give a second chance to an album I previously had written off. The Alternative To Love was one of my most anticipated releases in 2005. His previous album, Lapalco was one of those that found its way into the player and basically took up residence for months. A homespun effort that was recorded and produced almost singlehandedly by Benson (Jason Faulkner receives a co-producer’s credit), Lapalco remains one of power pop’s finest of recent years.
But for some reason, The Alternative To Love failed to stick to the ribs. Where Lapalco felt both urgent and economical, Alternative came across as overthought and bloated. Too clever by the half, you might say. It feels like an opportunity lost. (Sidenote: At one point I considered selling the album, but She’s Whose Wishes I Must Respect– to paraphrase The Boss– objected. She’s usually right and has a pretty good track record for preventing me from foolish acts.)
Before I go much further, first a confession: the reason this album leapt from the shelves and begged to soundtrack my run is that one of it’s better tracks, “What I’m Looking For” is currently featured in an Apple iPod Touch commercial. “What I’m Looking For”, heard below, is a fantastic song with a great hook and it sounds, quite frankly, terrific in the commercial. It has a nuance for texture and arrangement that calls to mind Emitt Rhodes, a criminally overlooked artist from the 60’s and 70’s who also excelled in the one-man band/knob twiddler vein. (Note: Rhodes will certainly be the subject of his own post in the near future.)
Alternative starts like a house on fire, with the blazing, Cars-esque “Spit It Out”. “Cold Hands/Warm Heart” and “Feel Like Myself” follow and sound suddenly revelatory to these ears. “The Pledge” pays obvious and convincing homage to Phil Spector. Were my initial impressions too harsh? Would this album reinvent itself, three years after the fact?
Not quite. Things head south right around the time my knee starts to hurt (dammit). I start reaching for the skip button and remembering why this album failed to capitivate me. Alternative starts to wear out its welcome. Not until the penultimate track, the aforementioned Apple shil-du jour, do things pick back up. That song now stands as some sort of testiment to what could and should have been.
It seems Benson’s widescreen ambitions here may have got the best of him. The middle third of the album feels over-produced and under-written. Gone are the images of a Lapalco-era Benson; of a guy struggling to get the songs down on his eight-track as fast as his brain keeps pouring them out. The images are replaced by the vision of Benson sitting at the mixing desk, laboring over one unecessary decision after another. (Surprisingly, a glance at the liner notes reveals that the album is co-mixed by Tchad Blake, an engineer whose work on various Crowded House and Neil Finn efforts I greatly admire.)
I start to feel nostalgic for “Metarie”, perhaps my favorite track from Lapalco. “Metarie”, the album’s second cut, comes to us in a presumably demo-like form, with all of its warts and flaws left in for the taking. Did Benson attempt a fuller, more finely tuned version of this song, but failed to better capture its essence? (Actually, the answer is yes; I’ve heard two non-album versions, both more fleshed out, but ultimately lacking in comparison.) This may be an extreme example of why I prefer Lapalco to The Alternative To Love, but it illustrates my point: sometimes the artist just needs to trust his gut and resist the urge to embellish. Get it down and move on.
Don’t get me wrong: I certainly enjoy my fair share of carefully, ambitiously produced pop albums (afterall no one with Jellyfish in his/her collection can pretend otherwise). It’s just that in Benson’s case, the clothes don’t really seem to fit.
I’m curious where Benson might head with his next album. My suggestion? Take a nod from his fellow Raconteur, fly across the pond, book some time at Toe Rag Studios and just bash it out.
Brendan Benson, Lapalco (Startime International, 2002) & The Alternative To Love (V2/Startime International, 2005)
Exciting news on the homefront: DC’s own Meredith Bragg and the Terminals will be appearing live from Austin, Texas tomorrow, Thursday, March 13th on KCRW’s “Morning Becomes Eclectic” program, as part of that station’s coverage of this year’s SXSW conference.
Meredith’s appearance will be at 11:15am local time…that’s 1:15pm for us east coasters. More info here.
Meredith Bragg and the Terminals are on tour now, in support of their recent release, Silver Sonya. The Terminal’s ivory-tickler-extraordinaire Brian Minter is chronicling the band’s southwest journey here. Good readin’.
It should go without saying: one of my favorite activities is record shopping. By record, I mean, LP. By LP, I mean long playing vinyl record, of course. Getting new music in any format is exciting enough, but I’ve been concentrating much more on my vinyl collection of late. This was really precipated by two recent developments: the acquisition of a decent turntable last year as well as the recent regular dj gig, for which my partner and I have adopted a strict 33 1/3 and 45 rpm-only policy.
There’s nothing quite like the thrill of hitting the used vinyl bins. You never know what you might find. Some days you come up empty-handed; other days you hit jackpot. It’s always an adventure. I took in a pretty decent mini-haul this evening. Listen out for selections from these this Friday night at Heavywax.
Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood, Nancy & Lee
Originally released in 1968, this is their seminal and influential debut. This copy appears to be a German import. Think of a more off-kilter Johnny Cash and June Carter. I’m mostly excited that I finally have a copy of “Some Velvet Morning”.
Big Star, Big Star’s Biggest
Coincidentally, another German import collecting songs from the band’s 3 LP’s. Never seen the vinyl edition before. I actually had this collection on CD, before I ever owned and got familiar with the proper albums. Despite its relative unavailability, it’s a great overview– perfect for the unitiated. And perfect for me to cherrypick favorites from while djing. Bonus points: this is pressed on beautiful white vinyl. (Note: this actually may prove to be a bit of a hazard for cueing, but it sure looks pretty spinning on the platter at home.)
The Who, Meaty Beaty Big And Bouncy
Sensing a trend here? That’s right…another collection of singles. I actually don’t own any Who on vinyl, so this seemed an obvious place to start. The tracklisting is flawless. (Caught a bit of Amazing Journey: The Story of The Who on VH1-Classic the other night. Must remember to add to Netflix.)
The Sugarcubes, Life’s Too Good
A high school favorite. Haven’t played this in awhile and am looking forward to hearing how it stands the test of time. I’m thinking “Motorcrash”, or possibly “Delicious Demon”, might sound kinda tasty Friday night.
Midnight Oil, Diesel And Dust
I’ll stand by the trifecta of Diesel And Dust, Blue Sky Mining and Earth And Sun And Moon any day. Another relic of my high school days. I reacquired these on cd semi-recently– you know it’s a high school album when you originally had it on cassette– and can vouch for the durability of each.
Elvis Costello, High Fidelity
Been going through a bit of an EC/Nick Lowe-craze lately. This is actually a 12-inch single on the F-Beat label. From the unimpeachable Get Happy! album, of course. I’m making a habit of buying just about any EC on vinyl that I can find. I’m particularly excited to hear this because I’ve heard the British mastering is superior to the domestic. Plus, one song-per-side-12-inch singles sure come in handy when you’re djing.
Sex Pistols, Never Mind The Bollocks, Here’s The Sex Pistols
Needs no explanation. The vinyl feels nice and thick, by the way. They don’t make them like they used to, do they?
Been spending a lot of time this week with the new Stephen Malkmus record and am finding myself more and more drawn to it. This is somewhat surprising because initial spins had me fearing this might just be the first Malkmus-related release to not work its wonders with me. (For those keeping score, that’s five proper albums with Pavement and now four solo ventures.)
As is the case though with so many records, patience and repeated listens brings new rewards.
This is easily the most muscular-sounding Stephen Malkmus record yet. One can’t help but wonder how much of this down to the influence of the newest Jick, drummer Janet Weiss (ex-Sleater Kinney, current-member of Quasi). Never one to simply lay down a backbeat or keep time, she’s always been a bonifide, dare-I-write Bonham-esque presence on any record on which she’s featured– high praise for any drummer indeed. This record certainly features more drum fills than any previous Malkmus or Pavement record; it also features, perhaps not coincidentally, more guitar solo’s. This should only be regarded as a good thing, as Malkmus is certainly no slouch in this regard himself. The result is the impression of one fantastic musician pushing another to new depths and dimensions. (This is also, I must add, an absolutely fantastic sounding recording as well.) It’s also noteworthy that this is the second Malkmus record to be credited as “Stephen Malkmus & Jicks”, sharing some territorial ground with the other band-credited record Pig Lib.
But it’s not all bluster and and brute force at work here. If you stick with Real Emotional Trash long enough to discover the cracks in it’s thick, hard exterior, you’ll still find the same melodic charms that Malkmus has seemingly effortlessly been offering for years. Indeed, it took me three or four listens of the epic “Hopscotch Willie” before I realized just how perfectly imperfect its unassuming slide guitar part is. And “Gardenia”, which features some lovely background vox from Weiss, just may be the single breeziest moment of Malkmus’ solo career, calling to mind his former band’s valedictory note from Terror Twilight “Carrot Rope”.
So, nothing here to necessarily convince or convert the non-believers. But if you’ve found any facet of Stephen Malkmus’ solo career compelling, there’s more than enough on Real Emotional Trash to discover and appreciate. It just may take a little while to get there.
Stephen Malkmus & Jicks, Real Emotional Trash (Matador, 2008, Purchase here)
Just back from a fantastic weekend visiting friends in Nashville. Said friends sure know how to play host, taking us to the finestrestaurants, record stores and honky tonks in Music City. The weekend was capped off with a trip to the legendary Ryman Auditorium, part-time home to the Grand Ole Opry, to take in an amazing performance from Wilco.
This one had everything going for it: an historic venue with superb acoustics, an absolutely rapturous audience, a set list to please even the most ardent Wilco trainspotter (26 songs in all, each album represented), and of course, the band itself, fresh off an appearance the evening before on Saturday Night Live, playing at the absolute height of its confidence and powers. Quite simply, it was one for the ages.
Jeff Tweedy, clad in the same Gram Parsons-esque nudie suit worn the evening before on SNL, kept the banter to a minimum for the first hour, opting instead to cram as many songs into the set as possible. Highlights included the three selections from “Summerteeth” (a gorgeous “Pieholden Suite”, the always transporting “A Shot In The Arm” and buoyantly defiant “Nothingsevergonnastandinmywayagain”) and a rare mid-set three-fer from the band’s first album “AM” (including the John Stirrat led “It’s Just That Simple”). For the first encore, Tweedy stepped to the very front of the stage and offered up a sublime version of “Someone Else’s Song”, sans-amplification.
For this leg of the tour, the band is occasionally augmented by a three-person horn section, affectionately dubbed “The Total Pro’s”. I loved what the horns added to “Hate It Here”, moving it from side two of “Abbey Road” to a dusty vinyl slab served up by Stax Volt. I’ve been growing a little weary of the misguided and narrow dad-rock accusations/backlash to “Sky Blue Sky”, so it was particularly nice to see the Nashville crowd really respond to the newer numbers. “Hate It Here” in particular seemed to whip the crowd into a full-throated sing-along frenzy. During the first encore set, Tweedy got all the help he needed (and then some) when he solicited for some old-fashioned call and response vocal work on “The Thanks I Get”. So great.
Just like in DC last week, a very active camera crew was present. One can only wish that some sort of concert film is in the works. Hard to imagine large portions of this show not making the cut.
Setlist:Via Chicago / Blood of the Lamb / Pieholden Suite / California Stars / Company in my Back / You Are My Face / Side with the Seeds / Pot Kettle Black / Shot in the Arm / She’s a Jar / Handshake Drugs / Impossible Germany / It’s Just That Simple / Pick Up the Change / Too Far Apart / Nothingsevergonnastandinmywayagain / Jesus etc. / Hate It Here / Walken / I’m the Man Who Loves You / Encore #1: Someone Else’s Song (Tweedy solo w/o amplification) / Misunderstood / The Thanks I Get / Red Eyed and Blue / I Got You / Monday / Encore #2: The Late Greats
Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood, Nancy & Lee
Big Star, Big Star’s Biggest
The Who, Meaty Beaty Big And Bouncy
The Sugarcubes, Life’s Too Good
Midnight Oil, Diesel And Dust
Elvis Costello, High Fidelity
Sex Pistols, Never Mind The Bollocks, Here’s The Sex Pistols
