Revolution in the Head

I trust that everyone had a nice Record Store Day yesterday? Good. I enjoyed mine as well, thank you for asking.

Some previous commitments kept me out of the stores until very late in the day. Because of this, I wasn’t able to complete a full trip around “The Circuit” like I had hoped, but I was still able to drop into two or three of my favorite shops and perform a customary flip through the bins. It was Red Onion Records & Books that had me reaching for my wallet on this particular day. I somewhat randomly settled on the selections below, though I easily could have doubled my pile and then some. It’s maybe a good thing that I no longer live within walking distance of this fine establishment.

Nilsson, Aerial Ballet
Harry Nilsson’s second album, released in 1968. This is an original issue and is fantastic shape. I’ve had a cd copy of Aerial Pandemonium Ballet, which is an odd studio amalgam of Nilsson’s first two albums Pandemonium Shadow Show and Aerial Ballet (confused yet?), but have always been curious to hear the original albums themselves. Fact: there isn’t anybody on this earth who doesn’t enjoy Harry’s wonderful rendition of Fred Neil’s “Everybody’s Talkin’”.

Video: Harry Nilsson, “Everybody’s Talkin’” (1969)

XTC, White Music and Drums and Wires
I’m not entirely sure why I finally opted to buy two of XTC’s first three records on this day. These records are hardly rare; in fact they are practically fixtures in the used bins. And why did I opt for the bookends White Music and Drums and Wires, but passed on the released in-between Go2? It could be because Ivan played “Statue of Liberty” at the last Heavywax and it sounded downright revelatory. At any rate, I’ve always considered myself more of a Skylarking/Oranges & Lemons/Dukes of Stratosphear XTC-fan, but that was more out of ignorance than an actual educated preference. I look forward to finally exploring their earlier, new-wave roots.

Video: XTC, “Statue of Liberty “(Live, Old Grey Whistle Test, 1978)

I’ll spare you my theory on how My Morning Jacket is the modern day equivalent to a mid to late 80’s R.E.M. and instead point you towards a download of a track from what’s shaping up to be the year’s most anticipated release. It seems like ions since I saw MMJ play a sparsely attended, yet defiantly convincing set at the dearly(?) departed Metro Cafe. Nevermind that though; after all, “we now live in the 90’s”. Ahem.

link: My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges

A brief break from the musical content to plug something that is certainly near and dear to our hearts: tomorrow, Saturday April 19th is Record Store Day (formerly defined in these parts as “every Tuesday”).

It’s no secret that the record store is an endangered species. You don’t need a blog to tell you that fewer and fewer people are buying actual LP’s and compact discs. MP3’s have their good and bad qualities, but there are still those of us who remain happily stuck in the middle ages. Our computers will never replace our stereos and those digital files will never take the place of a beautiful slab of vinyl. I’m veering into soapbox territory here, so maybe I should stop.

At any rate, should you wish to participate in this special event and you live in the DC area, listed below are some of the fine establishments, all locally owned, that deserve and appreciate your custom.

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The following stores comprise what I affectionately call “The Circuit”; they are all easily accessible from each other by foot and each offer their own unique reasons for visitng. For vinyl lovers, nothing beats a lazy Saturday afternoon stroll/pillage through The Circuit.

Som Records :: www.somrecordsdc.com
1843 14th Street, NW, WDC

Red Onion Records & Books:: www.redonionrecordsandbooks.com
1901 18th Street, NW, WDC
(10% discount on sales this Saturday)

Crooked Beat :: www.crookedbeat.com
2318 18th Street, NW, WDC
(free grab bags for the first 50 paying customers; one grab bag will contain a $20 gift certificate)

Smash! :: www.smashrecords.com
2314 18th Street, NW, WDC
(10% off all music sales this Saturday)

DJ Hut :: www.djhut.com
2010 P Street, NW, WDC
(10% of all vinyl & cd’s and a raffle to win a Numark portable turntable)

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Vinyl freaks looking for treasures that are off the beaten path are advised to find their way to the following:

Orpheus Records :: www.orpheusrecords.com
3173 Wilson Blvd, Arlington, VA
(currently in the midst of a going-out-of-business sale, with deep discounts of up to 50% )

Joe’s Record Paradise :: http://www.joesrecordparadise.com
1300 East Gude Drive, Rockville, MD

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Still buying cd’s? Me too. You don’t have to give your dollars to Best Buy, Barnes and Noble or Borders. The following stores all continue to offer great selections:

Melody Records :: http://www.melodyrecords.com
1623 Connecticut Ave, NW, WDC

Olssons Books & Records :: www.olssons.com
1307 19th Street, NW, WDC
(free swag and live performances from Vandaveer, These United States and Revival)

CD Cellar :: www.cdcellar.net
709 B-West Broad Street, Falls Church, VA
(new Arlington location coming soon!)

CD Warehouse:: www.myspace.com/thinkinground
3001 M Street, NW, WDC
(new Arlington location coming soon!)

In addition to REM’s Accelerate, last week also marked the release of Sun Kil Moon’s third full length album, April. Other than its release date, this album shares absolutely nothing in common with the album that debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200 (and topped the charts throughout Europe). While Accelerate is a loud, in-your-face, brash affair, April is a contemplative mood piece. Accelerate clocks in at less than 35 minutes, while April paces itself for a staggering 74+ minutes. In other words, it’s business as usual for Mark Kozelek, the man who has been releasing some of the most consistent and beautifully sad music since 1992, initially with his first band the Red House Painters, briefly under his own name and now with Sun Kil Moon. (Band names are largely inconsequential when discussing Kozelek’s music, as these albums could just as easily be considered solo affairs.)

April follows up 2005’s Tiny Cities, Kozelek’s album comprised entirely of Modest Mouse covers. Kozelek has always had a knack for unlikely cover choices (AC/DC, the Cars, Yes, the Star Spangled Banner), but he’s never failed to make a song sound uniquely his own. That said, April is a return to entirely original compositions and in that sense is the natural successor to the first album under the Sun Kil Moon moniker, 2003’s uniformly excellent Ghosts of the Great Highway.

April is a fairly demanding listen. It’s not challenging or confrontational, but rather is the kind of album that requires a kind of immersion. Kozelek often writes the kind of song that can ease along a level plane for upwards of 7 or 8 minutes. If you don’t pay attention, you might just miss it. It’s a style that certainly reveals the massive influence of Neil Young. Like Neil, Kozelek is as at home plugging in and leading an epic Crazy Horse-like plod as he is quietly fingerpicking an acoustic (adequately displayed in the selections below). One might go as far as to say that an appreciation for Shakey might just be a required prerequisite for Sun Kil Moon.

April might not be the equal to Ghosts of the Great Highway, the album that would certainly serve as the best introduction to Kozelek’s rich discography, but it’s steeped in much of the same unshakable sepia-toned beauty. It’s a grower for certain.

Sun Kil Moon, April (Caldo Verde, 2008, Purchase Here)

The Light

Harper Road

It’s a big day here at REV HQ as one of our favorite bands has released a brand new record. Accelerate is REM’s 14th studio album and the party line seems to indicate that it is the much ballyhooed “return to form” effort. Read all the reviews and the pre-release hype and you’ll get pretty much the same arc: for those of you who took a sabbatical from the band the last few years, while they figured out how to carry on without drummer Bill Berry and released a string of mediocre, inconsequential records, it’s finally safe to come back. Recent interviews with Michael Stipe and Peter Buck even have the band members themselves somewhat owning up to the relative shortcomings of their recent recorded output.

So Accelerate is touted to be the record where REM have regained their focus. But is it?

Perhaps I’m not the best person to answer that question, as I actually swim against the critical tide (and apparently to a certain degree the band themselves) in regards Accelerate’s most immediate predecessors. I actually would rank the band’s first post-Berry album, 1998’s Up, among their very best. I find 2001’s Reveal to be a fascinating exercise in the art of studio-as-an-instrument. And I’ll admit it: I really enjoyed 2004’s Around The Sun. Ok…so I can’t adequately refute any of the common criticisms levied against ATS; much of the album does in fact sound like a band sleepwalking and forgetting its identity. But I think it’s more a matter of unfortunate production and arrangement choices. The songs are actually there; the guys just had a few bad days at work. We’ve all had those, right?

So, once again, I’m probably not the person to ask if you want an honest assesment of whether or not Accelerate succeeds in making REM “relevant” again. The fact is I know I’m going to listen to this album until I find things to appreciate and enjoy, much as I did with Around The Sun. The only question really is how long this will take and what role this album will ultimately serve in what is one of my most favorite musical legacies.What follows now are my earliest impressions of Accelerate, having now finally heard the album from beginning to end for the first time.

As much as it pains me to admit, I must parrot the partyline to certain degree: there *is* an intangible quality to the album that gives it a much more urgent and, for lack of a better word, living quality. The sound is of a band renewed and full of energy. Uptempo rockers rule the roost here, with Peter Buck’s guitars pushed deeper into the red than ever before. If there is an antecedent in the band’s catalog, it’s in the louder, faster moments from 1996’s New Adventures In Hifi (ie, “Wake Up Bomb”, “Bittersweet Me”, “So Numb, So Fast”, “Binky the Doormat”)– no real surprise as the band’s relatively fast working methods for Accelerate most closely resemble the written-on-tour/recorded-at-soundcheck approach taken with New Adventures.

Further kindreds can certainly be found in the more recent pair of new songs recorded for 2003’s best of compilation In Time, “Bad Day” and “Animal”. (One wonders, by the way, how Around The Sun might have fared with the caffiene-injection of those two songs?)

If I anticipate any potential pitfalls with Accelerate it’s that many of its most memorable and immediately noteworthy moments seem to simply recall earlier, more storied moments in the band’s career. There’s a fear that in the band’s effort to “return to form” they may have found themselves on a bit of a treadmill. That certainly wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world, but say this for Up, Reveal and Around The Sun: at least there was an effort, at times considerable, to push the band into new realms and sonic territory. Accelerate sounds like a band retreating safely to its comfort zone.

For now though I am going to push those fears and reservations aside and simply enjoy the process of getting to know a new batch of songs from one of my favorite bands. I’ll share with you my two immediate, first-spin favorites.

“Mr. Richards” is perhaps the album’s most melodic moment. Imagine Green’s “Turn You Inside Out” (see what I mean?) recast with Beatlesque melodies. Then there’s “Horse To Water”, a song that sounds like it may have been written two minutes before it was recorded and sounds all the better for it. It’s as close to 70’s NYC punk as REM has ever sounded. I also like to think that Stipe’s venemous lyrics are addressed to the recent critics of the band, those who have the gall to tell the band what type of album they *should* be making. “I am not that easy, I am not your horse to water…”

REM, Accelerate (Warner Brothers, 2008)

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Mr. Richards

Horse To Water

Supernatural Superserious, Video