February 28, 2005
new releases 03.01.04
Tuesday's big haul:
Doves (the hype is huge on this one)
Solomon Burke (Don Was behind the boards instead of Joe Henry like last time - not good news)
Mars Volta
Kathleen Edwards
Eluvium (excellent ambient stuff)
Elvis Costello Delivery Man reissue with 2nd disc of odds/ends
and on March 8th:
Stars (poppier Broken Social Scene-related outfit)
Posted by borrowed_tunes at 10:34 PM | Comments (184) | TrackBack
quick takes: mary gauthier, kings of leon
mary gauthier :: mercy now
Mary Gauthier's last album, Filth and Fire, was a good enough brand of country-folk songwriter material that I took notice of her signing to Lost Highway records, the fairly tasteful new home of Elvis Costello, along with other greats such as Willie Nelson and Gauthier's chief inspiration, Lucinda Williams. They also have Ryan Adams on the roster, but that's another story.
With the weight of expectation on it, this disc comes across as a fairly bland exercise in Texas (or, in her case, TX via LA) songwriting and delivery. The familiar tropes - wind, rain, drink, grace for the forsaken, etc. - are all here, along with their standard musical themes. Much of the music is played at a glacial pace, and it's almost excruciating to listen to the soloists hang on through each note. Nothing stands out, or if so it's awkward. Lucinda Williams' secret is the menace of emotion, whether it's an unhinged anger or a brutal sadness. Mary Gauthier plays it safe, and in doing so she doesn't come close to the first rank of songwriter music.
General critical reaction has been kinder, if sparse at this point - Uncut magazine, in a four-star review, thinks the well-worn metaphors of the lyrics signal Gauthier's newfound universality and transcendence, and claim if it was Lucinda Williams' name on the cover, you wouldn't be disappointed.
Gurf Morlix - the official connection to Lucinda, as her early-days guitarist - does a beatiful job making this album sound pristine, and a couple of songs stand on the shoulders of his efforts: try the title track.
kings of leon :: aha shake heartbreak
Kings of Le-yawn. The formula here is a half-baked riff (though couple oversell themselves) not supported by any song structure. The vocalist seems entirely content to sound retarded - hey, I gotta call 'em like I see 'em. Oh, and the vaginal orchid on the cover hasn't been done before (it wasn't funny on their first album either). It's the policy here not to post mp3s when we're in trash mode, so go over to their web site and find your way through the pussy flower assault for a video of "The Bucket", which you could probably get me to listen to again if you didn't tell me who it was. Jackasses can also download buddy icons.
Posted by borrowed_tunes at 10:08 PM | Comments (51) | TrackBack
February 25, 2005
danger mouse wins wired rave award
Here's a different kind of music award from Wired magazine, which cites Danger Mouse for The Grey Album as part of its Rave Awards for "mavericks and dreamers" across a variety of industries/categories.
It seems like they're giving him the award for a creative advancement of music - as if it's the first record to be made entirely of chopped samples. While I think the record is fine, it's not really any kind of landmark, and it's not even a proper mash-up, as the article claims. A mash-up, to my mind, is a straighter combination of identifiable portions from two or more songs; the rather radical treatment he gives The White Album doesn't qualify.
What is new about this record is that it was the first one to break into mainstream criticism by being distributed almost exclusively through P2P services. That is notable, and appropriate for a set of awards given by Wired mag.
It's interesting to speculate on the reasons the other four nominees were noted:
Björk :: Medulla - probably for being made almost entirely of human voices
Prince :: Musicology - because he gave it away at shows and counted it as sales?
TV On The Radio :: Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes - because there's a black guy playing stiff white music & sounding like Peter Gabriel?
The Streets :: A Grand Don't Come For Free - for being Borrowed Tunes' best record of 2004?
Posted by borrowed_tunes at 02:22 PM | Comments (203)
February 24, 2005
m ward :: transistor radio
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I filed M Ward's last disc, Transfiguration Of Vincent, under Highly Promising. It was rough-hewn with small gem glimmers, living and dying by the quality of its songs. I looked forward to the next, more evolved release.
Turns out it's a slight disappoinment. He's chosen to forge style, not songwriting, and he's created a higher concept with a lower average. Where the last record was a collection of pre-rock genre exercises in search of a focus - freak folk, tin pan alley, bumpkin country - Transistor Radio comes off as a pastiche. Yes, that's partly the point; it's a series of transmissions on a 50s state highway. But you end up reaching for the AM knob too often.
That's not to say it's without high points. "Fuel For Fire", which rips Kristofferson's "Help Me Make It Through The Night", and "Here Comes The Sun Again", are standouts linked below. In the end, it's just as occasionally successful as its predecessor. I simply think he's capable of more.
M Ward is often lumped in (and has been endorsed by) the likes of Vic Chesnutt and Howe Gelb of Giant Sand. He has neither the wry sophistication of the former nor the infectious gonzo exuberance of the latter at this point in his career. But there's a ways to go.
Dave Simpson, writing in The Guardian, says:
There are tracks here - like the stunningly plaintive Hifi V2 or ghostly One Life Away - that could be pitched against a Dylan or Guthrie without embarrassment
That's crazy talk (unless he's talking about Jesse Dylan and Arlo Guthrie), but it's an otherwise well-thought-out rave.
More tracks via stream, including 2 from the last album, at Merge Records' web site.
Fuel For Fire (mp3)
Here Comes The Sun Again (mp3)
Posted by borrowed_tunes at 11:22 PM | Comments (222) | TrackBack
about mp3 blogs
As we gather steam here at Borrowed Tunes, we're going to turn our gaze sideways to other mp3 blogs and the scene in general. To start, here's a Harvard Law School-sponsored audio piece on the legal issues surrounding us.
It comes down to 'fair use', where 'fair use' is either a short excerpt for illustrative purposes or a substantial transformation of the work (as in parody). The pro-blog argument made in the piece rests on the idea that MP3 blogs constitute a sufficiently transformative use of the work.
Hell, I don't know. We're just trying to give people enough information to make good purchasing decisions. We're really not trying to change the music; we're trying to change the industry.
You'll read everywhere that Fluxblog was the progenitor of the form. Matthew Perpetua deserves all the praise for the idea; I do think, though, that Fluxblog presupposes an awful lot of music knowledge on the part of the reader. One of the goals of Borrowed Tunes is to provide context for all levels of understanding; however, re-reading the LCD Soundsystem review, I suppose the same point could be made back our way.
You certainly can discover plenty of gems over at Fluxblog. He's on top of it.
Posted by borrowed_tunes at 09:23 PM | Comments (1814) | TrackBack
February 23, 2005
lcd soundsystem :: lcd soundsystem
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Straight to the top. Straight. To. The. Motherfucking. Top.
That was what came to mind as soon as I hit play on "Daft Punk Is Playing At My House", and I was thinking about this disc's place in the Borrowed Tunes running top 20. It's a slice of instant twisted white funk heaven, as so many LCD Soundsystem tracks are, and easily the early Single Of The Year.
But the disc settles in at #2, because in the end it's a little distant and incomplete. It sure is close to another #1, and taken as its parts without credit for the sum, it's tempting. Let's examine track-by-track:
1. "Daft Punk Is Playing At My House" - James Murphy plays a benevolent Mark E. Smith, rampaging onto the dancefloor: Daft Punk is playing at my house, my house-ah / and I'll show the ropes, kid, show you the ropes-uh. And you would follow him into a house on fire. Irresistible.
2. "Too Much Love" - we're somewhere in Eno/Bowie territory here, somewhere in between Station To Station and Low, with a straighter beat.
3. "Tribulations" - Kraftwerk meets 80s alt-dance-pop. Hooky, but a little hollow. Good enough for now.
4. "Movement" - the disc totally shifts gears here, and again with the next track. Gone are the beats; the Mark E. Smith impression is back, and the track moves from electropunk to pure punk. It's like a movement without the bother of all the meaning-uh / It's like a discipline without the discipline of all the discipline-uh. Remember when Pavement used to ape The Fall and it was vaguely annoying? Not here. It's just as blatant but much more welcome.
5. "Never As Tired As When I'm Waking Up" - if you didn't expect dreamy pop via Pink Floyd at this point, you're with me. It works as a palate cleanser.
6. "On Repeat" - back to the dance seargeant vocals and a pristine, simple electro + tamborine beat. Then it builds, and a Gang Of Four guitar chick-a-chicka peeks through. You're sucked in, and the Gang Of Four guitar whisper delivers itself into a vocal scream - literally, lifted from "It's Not Great For Great Men". But it's fine. More than fine, in fact.
7. "Thrills" - a crushing disappointment as we near the end, as you hold out hope for an unblemished masterpiece. It crosses the line into self-consciousness. Fairly useless arty soundclash. For the first time, you feel like James Murphy doesn't have your best interests at heart.
8. "Disco Infiltrator" - the secret weapon of the disc. A ripping, ruthless dance beat, with the specter of Prince's hardest-funkest moments hovering over it, and a vocal perfomance that covers all of the bases touched before. A victory lap. A walkoff home run. The chorus revisits art-Bowie territory.
9. "Great Release" - the most shameless plagiarism is saved for last, with a track that apparently was left off of Another Green World. It works quite well as a comedown closer, and you will have decided by now how much you care about his blatant displays of influence.
With the package, you also get a disc of the singles released to date, none of which are on the album. They're generally brilliant, although I never loved the arch "Losing My Edge" like the general hipster crowd.
There are very generous clips of the entire album at the official web site
Great blog stuff on this disc. Nick Gutterbreakz says I mean, I know that this is a good record, and I find it highly enjoyable to listen to (which is the whole point at the end of the day) but there's that bit of my brain that keeps telling me that this album is deeply flawed.
Simon Reynolds publishes an interview with James Murphy, roping someone into the discussion who is undoubtedly not a fan of anything related to LCD Soundsystem:
When I mention the American literary critic Harold Bloom’s concept of “anxiety of influence”--which argues that “strong” artists suffer from an acute sense of anguish that everything has been done before, and that makes them struggle against their predecessors in a desperate Oedipal attempt to achieve originality--Murphy flips out. “It's hilarious that you say this--I mention Bloom's anxiety theory pretty regularly in interviews! This is the shit I've been screaming about for years. Learning and progress has always been based on learning from the past. Real originality never comes from trying to defeat the past right out of the gate. It's a spark of an individual idea caused by the love/hate relationship between a "listener" and the "sound". I love music, and it inspired me at first to copy it, then to be ashamed of copying it, then to make music in "modes" (genres) while trying to pretend they were original, then finally making music with a purpose--which for me was dance music. It made people dance. It was no longer just music to make you look cool and feel like you were part of something you admire.
Daft Punk Is Playing At My House (mp3)
Movement (mp3)
Posted by borrowed_tunes at 11:17 PM | Comments (8749) | TrackBack
jayhawks breaking up (?)
There's news spreading around that Gary Louris is close to putting the nail in The Jayhawks' coffin.
A nice-looking blog called more cowbell does an excellent job of putting the Jayhawks into a personal context, in this case discovering them through the underground roots supergroup Golden Smog. The Jayhawks were one of those bands who got slapped with the alt-country tag, when in reality they were a straight American rock band with broad appeal. They were responsible for at least one timeless album and several timeless songs. History will be kind to them.
It's about time, though. They were losing it quickly. Gary Louris will be back, possibly with Mark Olson on a more permanent basis.
In pre-memoriam, here's a favorite track from the latter days: Trouble (mp3) [from Sound Of Lies
Posted by borrowed_tunes at 07:40 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
move over kanye, it's the thai ministry of culture
Everyone knows that if you want to get the kids' attention, get crunk wit 'em. To that end, the Ministry of Culture in Thailand is inventing a new form of Bhuddist rap.
Two problems:
a) Though to be commended for its effort, this kind of stuff hasn't exactly done very well at the shops, let alone caused a mass outbreak of churchgoing.
b) Someone forgot to inform Thaksin Shinawatra that the Beastie Boys already covered this territory.
Posted by borrowed_tunes at 07:15 PM | Comments (7)
February 22, 2005
new releases 02.22.05
Here's tonight's trip to the record store:
Clem Snide
Iron and Wine EP
Robbers On High Street (rock and roll saviors a la Spoon)
M Ward
Kings Of Leon (why, I don't know; I guess I want to get them another chance)
Mogwai BBC Sessions
and next week's:
Solomon Burke (old soul guy in resurgence)
Doves (hotly tipped as Britrock masterpiece)
Mars Volta (more Borrowed Tunes prog-rock apologies to come)
Posted by borrowed_tunes at 09:25 AM | Comments (22)
February 21, 2005
the wedding present :: take fountain
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If you've never heard the Wedding Present - who, in their heyday, were one of the crowning indie guitar-pop bands - this is as good a place as any to start. The formula is an appealing combination of Dinosaur Jr. classicist chord changes, hyperactive Mancunian beats, and more than a hint of the Mozzer in the vocals. If you're like me, an aging former fan who lost track of them around the last couple of albums in the mid-90s, you'll find this to be one of the comforting surprises of the year. They're back! Go straight to the downloads and turn up loud.
I have to admit to never hearing Cinerama, the band that David Gedge formed immediately after retiring the Wedding Present name. Some reviews suggest this is closer to a Cinerama album than a classic Weddoes platter, but no matter to me. It sounds like a very slight taming and updating of the old sound to me.
The Wedding Present trademark is the way a tune explodes - an extra notch of guitar, an unexpected cadence or both - and that's the case for each track here. Sometimes it comes late or in a small way, but it's always there. There's no better example than the opener, "Interstate 5", which set my expectations high - too high - with its Seamonsters-esque build, build, build and blowout. "Suck" or "Dalliance" fans, take note. There's an ill-advised Calexico "Return of the Mariachi" coda, but by then you need a break.
The rest of the disc traverses the well-known map from pop gems to slower numbers. This is a breakup album, which was apparently the motive for bringing back the Wedding Present name, so fans who are down their luck will hold the lyric sheet close. It's all put very simply, and it skirts bathos. But there's a place for lyrics like "watching you walk back to your car/was the lowest point of my life so far" - it's locker room bulletin board material for the Lonelyhearts All-Stars.
Things slow down a bit too much toward the end - the more pedestrian ideas are stuck there, though still above-average in quality, and the overall impression is helped by the merciful 10 song length. As you'll hear over and over again on Borrowed Tunes: 12 song max. is almost always the rule.
Every piece of criticism I've read about this disc is about whether or not the reviewer wanted to hear any more from The Wedding Present. The review in the British magazine Uncut at least goes a ways toward explaining the unique appeal of the band:
Sure, Morrissey will always be untouchable because he makes the fact you sleep alone feel like some perversely poetic martyrdom. But only Gedge can articulate the misery of seeing your ex being pawed by some bastard called Kevin . . . [the disc] plays like a fortysomething update of the adolescent angst The Wedding Present once pedalled [sic].
Interstate 5 [Extended Version] (mp3)
I'm From Further North Than You (mp3)
Posted by borrowed_tunes at 09:59 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
February 17, 2005
quick takes: low, graham coxon, lemon jelly
low :: the great destroyer
Low was named for their volume and dour affect. They did away with the volume constraints; this is their groundbreaking 'loud' record. It's opressive as always, and the noise (along with Dave Fridmann's squashed production) makes it more claustrophobic than ever. In the end, it's same-y song arrangement that does them in. Still, some moments, and the last tune might be the best example: Walk Into The Sea (mp3). More songs here.
graham coxon :: happiness in magazines
No wonder Blur sounds so different without Coxon - he's apparently the guy who wrote all the Kinks ripoffs. And no wonder they wanted to change - it gets tiresome after a while. This is the kind of record that gets released on small labels all over the world, documents a decent songwriter in a local scene, and has no larger value. But if you want a bunch more versions of Parklife, you might be interested. Here's a good one that breaks the mold a bit , though: Freakin' Out (mp3). You can check out more at his record label, although you'll have to find your way to his page from there due to page design issues.
lemon jelly :: '64-'95
This is the kind of electronic music you can't even pass judgement on. It's video game music; aural wallpaper; X-games soundtracks. The premise is that they used samples from different eras of music for each track. You'd be hard pressed to tell, and in the end it all sounds like one long sample of an instrumental electronic record from 1997. A representative track: '68 (mp3). Their visuals are always interesting - some pretty wild downloadables at their web site.
Posted by borrowed_tunes at 10:27 PM | Comments (11)
bright eyes :: digital ash in a digital urn
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In a way, I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning would have been impossible without its companion, this more elaborate production with its electronic foundation. It seems to have been the place Conor Oberst put the ideas he couldn't distill into the clearer form needed for the more acoustic record.
Even though electronics are the means by which the backing tracks are largely realized here, it's still a sound rooted in fairly traditional notions of what folk-rock songwriting is. In many places, the rhythm tracks amount to two-step or shuffle beats processed through modern technology. The songs are still full of words and the exuberant melodies that are familiar Bright Eyes motifs. In a way, it sounds more like old Bright Eyes than I'm Wide Awake. . .
There's been a tendency to call this disc a mess. I don't think it is. It's just a batch of less-focused, wilder songs, probably carefully selected to withstand the busy production treatments. There are several good ideas scattered throughout, and in fact two or three wholesale gems.
There's also been a tendency to compare this to the Postal Service disc, Give Up - effeminate indie hero meets electronica, in both cases steered at least in part by Jimmy Tamborello of Dntel. The truth is that the Postal Service is far more crystalline, and perhaps less substantial, than this deeper, lumpier set.
Writing for the Village Voice, Keith Harris tries to sort it all out, and comes down pro-Digital Ash. The Village Voice style often leaves you wondering exactly what the final grade is, but it's perfect for situations like this. Keith Harris himself is pretty much unimpeachable as a writer.
Hit The Switch (mp3)
Theme To Piñata (mp3)
Posted by borrowed_tunes at 09:40 PM | Comments (0)
liveplasma music recommendations
Liveplasma is the latest in a line of toys that claim to map a recommended music universe based on wha t you like. These things usually work only if you like stuff that everyone else does.
We tested our most recent review subject, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, and got results for some artist called 'The Student Prince'. It also inferred that we'd like Sarah Brightman, some dude called The Boy From Oz, and Andrew Lloyd Webber. It also suggested Rod Stewart, but we suspect the wrong period.
A search for Fiery Furnaces basically returned a list of approved college bands (Radiohead, Fountains Of Wayne, Yeah Yeah Yeahs) who are all fine but have nothing to do with the Furnaces whatsover - except for the Fountains Of Wayne, who aren't fine at all. "We see you like creative music. Here are some examples of marginally creative music that are liked by a homogeneous enough population to be in our database."
Useless for thoughtful music fans. Someday technology will be able to determine the sound characteristics of a recording and match based on that. Then people who have discovered the Fiery Furnaces will be sent to the Soft Machine, or possibly Teletubbies soundtracks.
Posted by borrowed_tunes at 12:21 PM | Comments (2)
February 15, 2005
bob dylan + merle haggard on tour
Bob Dylan's hitting the road again in March and April, this time with Merle Haggard in tow. 2 things to know from my experience at 3 shows last year: a) he's playing the piano, not the guitar and b) it's great anyway, probably as good as any time in the last 20 years. Just don't go expecting to hear a solo acoustic version of "It's Alright Ma . . ."
Pre-sales for the Boston Orpheum shows are going on right now - details and full tour schedule here.
There are some very good recordings of recent and ancient live stuff here. There's even stuff from the famous "Bonnie Beecher Apartment Tape" during the early Minneapolis days. More a curiosity than anything.
Posted by borrowed_tunes at 11:16 PM | Comments (1)
bonnie 'prince' billy & matt sweeney :: superwolf
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This is the one I've been waiting for from the good man Will Oldham. Wild, beautiful, both inscrutable and stark. It's a return to the sorely missed spirit of Bonnie 'Prince' Billy's days as the progenitor of Palace [Brothers|Music|Songs], and yet another unique chapter in his discography.
I've come to enjoy the relatively simplified pleasures of his last few discs - Master and Everyone perhaps hinting at a future regained form. But the best Palace records had a left-field quality that we haven't heard in some time - musically more than lyrically - and one sensed that he chose collaborators to push the sound then. Here, former Chavez and Zwan (!)-guy Matt Sweeney does the honors, apparently at a challenge from the 'Prince' himself: "you write music for me to write words to".
On paper, Sweeney seems like the last candidate to provide the gnarled folk-rock that Billy needs, but he's turned out a ringer. Some of the most gorgeous Oldham music since Days In The Wake resides herein - try "Beast For Thee", provided below. Yes, there are occasional muted guitar heroics - check the James Burton invasion halfway through "My Home Is The Sea".
The post-modern naturo-mysticism, with raw sex, that we've come to expect from Will is still the lyrical method. The title character "Superwolf" actually makes an appearance, and lines like "ride my horny horn" are embedded in padding lullabies.
On a completely inconsequential note, the disc has a strange fabric sock that is impossible to stuff back into the sleeve. Totally unnecessary.
Other reviews of this album have pointed out that it's a grower, and I've certainly found that it reveals successively. Cokemachineglow's Peter Hepburn wonders, as I do, if we aren't all writing about this one too soon. On the other hand, Scott McKeating of Stylus blows several hundred words on a goofy Prince comparison.
As an aside, I went back to the much-maligned pro recordings of Palace classics, Greatest Palace Music recently and enjoyed it plenty. Removing a disc from expectations does wonders.
Now the running top 20 gets interesting - this one enters at #4.
My Home Is The Sea (mp3)
Beast For Thee (mp3)
Posted by borrowed_tunes at 10:33 PM | Comments (0)
top 40 watch :: kelly clarkson
From time to time, we'll comment on top 40 tunes that worm into our heads. For now, it's the original American Idol, Kelly Clarkson, with "Since You've Been Gone", which out-Lavignes Avril herself. We like, even though we thought it was a Rainbow song first.
Editor's update: apparently we're not hip enough to realize the actual title of this piece of bubblegum is "Since U Been Gone", doubtlessly to avoid confusion with the aforementioned masterpiece by Richie Blackmore's Rainbow
Posted by borrowed_tunes at 12:39 AM | Comments (1)
new releases 02.15.05
Notable discs out Tuesday, to be covered soon here:
Mary Gauthier (Lucinda Williams clone worth hearing)
LCD Soundsystem
Wedding Present
and next week:
Clem Snide
Iron and Wine EP
Robbers On High Street (rock and roll saviors a la Spoon)
M Ward
Kings Of Leon
Posted by borrowed_tunes at 12:31 AM | Comments (0)
February 14, 2005
the game :: the documentary
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This new hotshit G-Unit Dr. Dre protegé is by and large a fraud, and The Documentary is a mostly mediocre commercial hip-hop record. Which is to say it's better than average, simply by virtue of being listenable all the way through. There are a few decent productions scattered around, and the two Just Blaze joints rip. However, Kanye West contributes the two most uninspired tracks I've heard from him, and Dre mails in mostly "In Da Club" minor-key cinematic ripoffs. They're not bad; it's all just by-the-numbers.
It's the name-dropping that hurts the most, and it never lets up. Game's vocals are fine, but when he spends the better part of his lyrics reminding you of better MCs - mostly his Compton ancestors, N.W.A., it's hard not to wish for better days. He makes his admiration for his betters clear - mostly through reference, but egregiously in the case of the Eminem-produced track by copping his flow exactly. There's nothing new at all here.
No MP3s of this one; we'd draw fire for a top 40 blockbuster like this. Flip on your local urban station. You'll hear the decent single, "How We Do", within an hour.
Posted by John at 11:54 PM | Comments (0)
February 13, 2005
. . . and you will know us by the trail of dead :: worlds apart
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You'll never see Borrowed Tunes mark down a record in this space for being too prog-rock - we like successful prog-rock records as much as any other sort. It's just that there aren't very many of them; it's difficult to balance the necessary complexity and bombast with the focus and approachability necessary to hold our ears. This Trail Of Dead release comes very close, but ultimately short - probably because it takes a relatively safe road between the two. Prog-lite, if you will.
Some of the "serious" webzines [PopMatters, Stylus, and Pitchfork], who heaped praise on the Trail Of Dead's previous long-player - Pitchfork bestowed the rare (and irrationally exuberant) 10.0 - seem to have been deeply disappointed, even personally let down by this change in direction. It doesn't seem that grave to me. They generally overpraised the last disc, setting themselves up.
The more popular press is giving this a kinder ride, but without a lot of insight. Rob Sheffield, who can be worth reading, hedges his bets in this review for Rolling Stone. "A heroic monster of an album."
Ultimately, like many prog works, almost every song here has many moments worth listening to and equal stretches of frustration. The lyrics are full of cheap punk anger and vague sentiment. Conrad Keely isn't a good enough singer to stand the (misguidedly) cleaned-up production of this attempted breakthrough. Musically, it's the spectrum of 90s indie and alt-rock motifs in a grand parade. Yet I'm oddly compelled by the scope, and I've mostly enjoyed listening to it.
I'm proud of them for using the official march-of-the-prog-soldiers rhythm for "A Classic Arts Showcase", and for beginning the album with a song titled "Ode To Isis". They've got the fundamentals down.
So, back to the thoughts at the top: if you're a prog dabbler, this is worth a spin. Musical reactionaries need not bother.
Will You Smile Again (mp3)
Let It Dive (mp3)
Posted by John at 07:11 PM | Comments (8)
February 10, 2005
pazz & jop 2004 :: the poll of polls
For some, Feburary means Super Bowl. For others, Valentine's Day or the Oscars. For me, it's The 31st (or 32nd) Annual Village Voice Pazz & Jop Critics Poll.
The Pazz & Jop poll is by far the most comprehensive rock critics poll in business. Almost 800 (!) critics submit ballots, where they are allowed to distribute 100 points among 10 records however they please. So they can give extra points to extra-good records, or distribute evenly among records they can't decide between.
The top 10 (of over 1000 rated records):
Kanye West
Brian Wilson
Loretta Lynn
Franz Ferdinand
Green Day
Arcade Fire
Streets
U2
Modest Mouse
Danger Mouse
And it looks OK to me, better at least than in some previous years. The only travesty to me is U2, and perhaps Green Day, which is a seriously overrated record though a good one. It has to be the first ever poll with two mice in the top 10, that's for sure. I was pleased to see the Streets rate highly, and I had a pretty good idea that Kanye was going to hit the jackpot. Crossover stuff.
Let's see how the Borrowed Tunes top 10 compares: 3 of our choices are in the top 10, and another 2 are in the next 10. On the other hand, only one critic voted for Elbow (astonishing), and one voted for Susanna and the Magical Orchestra (not surprising, given obscurity). I didn't expect to see Iron and Wine only barely making the top 50 at #48. Keane and Razorlight had some appreciable votes, but not too many. We know they're both horribly uncool.
Robert Christgau writes a good essay summing the year and analyzing the results. There are other essays to be found that I haven't been able to read yet. On a side note, Christgau's own ballot, the "Dean's List", is my yearly world music buying guide, as he's the only major critic who gives non-Western music its due.
There's also a singles poll to be found (Franz Ferdinand takes #1).
It all adds up to quite a shopping list.
Posted by borrowed_tunes at 10:34 PM | Comments (10)
black mountain :: black mountain
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As a sucker Neil Young fan, I glanced through some promotional copy about this disc, saw the words "Neil Young" and "70s", and instantly ran to the record store.
Wrong impression. The Neil Young comparison stops at his voice, which occasionally sounds like the wasted mid-70s Neil. It's a very good record, though. It's the kind that makes its inspirations and influences clear as day, but they're the right ones in new combinations. Let's take a look at the first few tracks:
#1 "Modern Music": Jonathan Richman via Exile On Main St., chanting "We can't stand your modern music, we feel afflicted!". A manifesto for things to come.
#2 "Don't Run Our Hearts Around": Black Sabbath meets Pink Floyd, into Led Zeppelin meets gospel, back to Black/Pink. Riff-rock extraordinaire.
#3 "Druganaut": A rhythm pinched from Can, slathered with more Sabbath riffage. But you've never seen Tony Iommi and Holger Czukay within 1,000 miles of each other.
#4 "No Satisfaction": A VU "Waiting For The Man" mashup with vintage Mick Jagger - and they had the balls to call it what they did.
This disc tails off a bit in the last few tunes, and you have to be ready for it when you hear it. Should you think combining Sabbath, Zep, and Floyd is utterly inadvisable, you'd best stay away. If, on the other hand, you wish Queens Of The Stone Age were rougher, artier, and 70s-ier, this is for you.
The best writing I can find online is on a message board haunted by serious rock fans and critics, where one guy said:
. . . made me want to get in a pontiac firebird and party at the moontower,
and another mentioned, . . . my sideburns grew two inches . . .
One track different from our picks is available here.
Druganaut (mp3)
No Hits (mp3)
Posted by borrowed_tunes at 09:44 PM | Comments (33)
lou barlow :: emoh
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Lou Barlow is back, and it feels good. The intent of the title's pun is obvious: Barlow did more than anybody to launch the mostly dismal 'emo' movement of maudlin, coarse confessional indie songwriters. The students have lost the plot; the master is back for school.
I dare say this is the best single Barlow record since he broke from Dinosaur Jr. It's certainly the most sophisticated and consistent. However, I must admit I missed out on the Folk Implosion and some other stuff Lou has released in the last few years. Emoh has inspired me to catch up on that period, and go back to my old favorites, like The Freed Weed and III.
For old Barlow/Sebadoh fans, this is the same old sound, cleaned up in places, but no more than the best-recorded Sebadoh material like Bakesale. He's added a few production ideas, mostly with unobtrusive drum loops. The songs range from good to fantastic, if you spot him the goofy kitty song at the end - it acts like an extra track.
Perhaps the best moment of all is the genius 80s cover, provided below. A great surprise, and a real achievement.
If you're new to Lou, perhaps the right comparison is Iron & Wine (sample). Most Sam Bush fans would cherish this record, I'd imagine.
There's a treasure of additional info, demos, etc. from Lou himself here. For old-time Sebadoh fans, a major discovery: tracks from many rare 7" singles (thanks for making them digital, no thanks for devaluing my copies).
In other writing, Pop Matters, Pitchfork, and the London Observer all make good arguments that these songs don't live up to the glory days, despite being solid. They variously mark down their grades as a result.
Is there a reason this record came on the heels of the nuevo-emo (but excellent) Bright Eyes stuff?
Legendary (mp3)
Round-N-Round (mp3)
Posted by borrowed_tunes at 08:53 PM | Comments (1)
February 09, 2005
fiery furnaces :: ep
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If only all tide-the-fans-over-until-the-next-proper-release compilations were this good. Scratch that. If only 10% of the albums of any kind in the known universe were this good.
The brother-and-sister Furnaces are idiots savants, prodigious innocents. The melodic cadence comes from children's tunes. The lyrics are a kind of concrete folk impressionism, a Walt Whitman-meets-Dr. Seuss puzzle. And the accompaniment? I don't know where to start, and I suspect they don't either. They seem to randomly grab the tools at hand - real keyboarded and stringed instruments, proper percussion, computer squeals, squelches, and treatments, not to mention their own voices - and warp the full lexicon of riffs and licks around them.
"Single Again", in and of itself, throws rhythms from 3 different pop eras under the simplest of chord changes.
EP isn't an EP. It's just a lot shorter than Blueberry Boat, which clocked in at the maximum 80. It's the best place to start with the Furnaces, as it splits the difference between the (approximately) conventional song structures of their early work and the kitchen-sink production madness of Blueberry Boat. It's a much easier record to get into, and almost equally rich. There's a mix of old and brand-new; I haven't followed their odds and sods, so it's all fresh to me.
What's keeping this from perfection? A couple of tunes that feel a bit like leftovers near the end.
The Furnaces are so difficult to peg that I've found only one good review to share: Derek Miller's nailing of the essence in Stylus Magazine. I don't know this guy's writing too well, but I'll be watching it from now on.
Single Again (mp3)
Tropical-Iceland (mp3)
Posted by borrowed_tunes at 10:04 PM | Comments (2)
February 08, 2005
bright eyes :: i'm wide awake, it's morning
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The story on Bright Eyes is pretty simple and well-known by now: precious, precocious, quavery, over-emotive new Dylan wins over unsuspecting hearts (typically under 25, female) and raises the hackles of cynics (typically over 35, male, rock critic). Here's the issue: he has nothing to do with Dylan except that he uses an acoustic guitar with a lot of words, and is a spotty live performer. But the majority of his songs are A-grade pieces of music writing, and he does share the folk talent for timeless melody. The lyrics? Let's have a look: "What's so simple in the moonlight by the morning never is." That's either a platitude or a great song line. Or they're the same thing. It's all in the tune. Ever had one of those nights?
Which leaves the vocal delivery. I can't defend it; only Conor Oberst can, and he insists it's the only way he knows how to sing. When I first heard Bright Eyes, did I immediately love the way he wrecks most of his songs by setting vocal chords to intense mode? No, but he convinced me that he really believes in the approach. That said, I can't blame you if you don't get past it.
Sasha Frere-Jones wrote a great piece in a recent New Yorker that says better what I'm getting at here.
On the other hand, the usually balanced Stephen Thomas Erlewine, loses his shit for the All Music Guide. Jealous?
it's clear that Bright Eyes is little more than a pretty boy in a sweater who's idea of being clever is appropriating Beethoven's Ode to Joy for "Road to Joy" -- a move that makes you grateful that Billy Joel at least knew enough Beethoven to steal a lesser-known melody for "This Night" (and, being the stand-up guy that he is, Billy gave him a co-writing credit, something Conor doesn't do here)
Er, no, I'm not grateful for anything that Billy Joel has ever done. And don't you think that since the melody is in the public domain and he called the tune "Road To Joy" - get it? - that he's making the necessary acknowlegement?
I have a lot of respect for STE as an even-handed critic, but this is a serious wipeout. You'll hear more positive things about his writing in this space in the future.
Bottom line: tracks 3 and 4, available here, are as beautiful a stretch of music as you'll hear all year. An early entry to the top 10, and it will probably stay.
(Yes, there is a simultaneously-released electronic album that isn't quite as good; I'll get to it later).
Old Soul Song (For The New World Order) (mp3)
Lua (mp3)
Posted by borrowed_tunes at 09:28 PM | Comments (5)
the borrowed tunes top 10 :: 2004 Edition
What better way to launch Borrowed Tunes than with the top 10 discs of 2004, according to us? With samples, of course.
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1. The Streets - A Grand Don't Come For Free
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Two years ago the Streets' debut, "Original Pirate Material", had me locked in a debate with myself: did the unexpectedly rich new sound have legs, or was this a one-off novelty trick doomed to diminishing returns? It was a fresh kind of electronic rap/spoken-word with no relation whatsoever to hip hop, and too much connection to the fleeting rush of dance clubs. I originally predicted a disappointing followup, though I did suspect better things were possible as I read deeper into the surprisingly detailed lyrics. It turns out the clue was in the writing, and an even more stunning record was to come - a full-blown concept work about young adult loneliness, laziness, and mistrust. Here's the problem with "A Grand Don't Come For Free": it's the wrong entry point into The Streets and if you weren't convinced before, you won't be now. Mike Skinner has taken the music in two directions: either half-speed or doubly confrontational, and there's almost no pure pop to be found. I can't tell you in good consicence to force yourself through 45 minutes of something that makes no direct appeal to traditional American taste, but if you do, you'll arrive at a perfect album closer: the eight-minute "Empty Cans", which puts together both the hard-edged and syrupy extremes of the music in one conclusive summary statement. It's a miniature of the album's challenge and charm; you have to get through it once to know what to look for the next time. Soon, you'll realize it's got more existential despair than a full night at the Grand Old Opry.
I'm always interested in the new effects of constant, instant communication on society courtesy of cellular phones, text messaging, and so on. It turns out that Mike Skinner shares my theory: the velocity of communication replaces trust and empathy. You judge your friendships by how much you know, not how much you feel, and your world can fall away quickly. No album explores cell culture like this one; it takes a few listens to realize just how often he's on about texting, how many bars he's got, and the frustration of dropped calls. In many ways, modern communication is the theme of this disc as much as its larger topics.
On another level, it's a boorish, monotonous record about Playstations and pot. It's understandable if that's all a listener hears.
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2. Fiery Furnaces - Blueberry Boat
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I wouldn't feel good about asking anyone to sit unwillingly through an entire spin of the Streets' new one; in the case of the Fiery Furnaces, I don't know if I could ask a skeptic to sit through just one song from "Blueberry Boat". It's an 80-minute collection of all-over-the-map song operas on inscrutable topics, and you're lucky to find the scattered hooks. But it's bewitching to a certain type of rock fan - for example, me. It demands several listens, and reveals itself continuously. With songs about critical issues ranging from insurance mail fraud to berry piracy to cell phone sales force competitiveness in North Africa - how can you give it a miss? The Fiery Furnaces will be heard from with increasing ambition in '05, and I can't wait. As much as I dislike Pitchfork Media's attitude, I just might adopt a stance from a recent review: "Okay, I'm done being a nice guy about this: If you don't like Blueberry Boat, I don't like you. It's no longer a matter of taste, other than the fact that I have good taste, whereas you, Fiery Furnaces-hater, do not." So there.
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3. Elbow - Cast Of Thousands
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Why is music with any kind of scope and scale coming out of England immediately written off as Radiohead lite? It's lazy criticism. "Cast Of Thousands", the best plain rock record of 2004, was and will be unjustly ignored. It's apparently the sound of a band coming apart they almost didn't make it out of the studio in one piece - and you can hear the sadness and tension in the consistently inventive production. Luckily, Elbow survived and will give us another one in mid-'05. My only quibble is with the finality of "Grace Under Pressure". How could it not be the album closer? The remaining two songs are excellent, but seem like afterthoughts.
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4. Kanye West - The College Dropout
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This was completely unexpected, even after the phenomenal advance single "Through The Wire" (if you don't know the story, the vocal was taken with his jaw wired shut after a near-fatal car accident). We knew and loved Kanye's production skills, and we figured he could turn in a decent vocal or two, but we didn't know we'd get a full album of Tribe Called Quest's worldview, Jay-Zs hooks, and absolutely zero of the pretention or puffery that comes along respectively. An infectiously positive vibe salted with urban realism and humor; a wide variety of productions that don't all rely on Kanye's standard tricks, and at least 5 mega-hits. Unfortunately, it's a commercial hip-hop album, which means it's too long by at least 3 songs and the skits are hit or miss. The best album of the year might be in here somewhere.
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5. Keane - Hopes And Fears
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Yeah, whatever. You try writing eleven songs this good. Chris Martin certainly couldn't. I didn't listen to any record as much as this one (besides The Streets) this year. It doesn't make sense that certain kinds of campy pure pop - see the Scissor Sisters, who are also great - are accepted when good melodrama from straight, white, overserious guys gets the boot.
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6. Wilco - A Ghost Is Born
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I haven't been able to find many people who share my opinion that this is a better overall album than "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot", even if it's short on instant winners. I just think that Tweedy finally has found a way to sound like he's not trying too hard, and the band is letting their ideas flow in a much more organic way. Nothing is intrusive, as I found many of the production ideas on YHF. Plus, there's nothing nearly as annoying as "Heavy Metal Drummer" - not even that extended drone, which I kind of like. I can't avoid the fact that I saw these songs live before the disc came out, and I do think the live performance helps make sense of this batch.
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7. Iron And Wine - Our Endless Numbered Days
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As in the case of The Streets, I didn't expect much from Iron and Wine's second record, and was consequently floored to find that it makes the first one sound half-baked. Sam Bush's approach survives a modern studio treatment (subtly applied), and every aspect of his songwriting has taken a step forward here. The highlights are scattered throughout, but "Each Coming Night" could find its way into the folk tradition.
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8. Loretta Lynn - Van Lear Rose
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So many things could have gone wrong here. Instead, what we got was the kind of record we always dreamed our country idols would make. I take back anything I ever said about Jack White, and let's make sure all of our treasures are treated like Loretta and Johnny Cash in their latter days. Don't put them on the shelf.
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9. Razorlight - Up All Night
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One of these mistrusted trendy British hype bands; again, it's lazy criticism to invoke the Strokes. Do they really sound anything alike? Do the Strokes have a drummer half as good? Is it a sin to sound like Patti Smith if you can bottle the energy of "Horses", knowing that she hasn't been able to since? Does combining that with the Jam sound good to you? I thought so. Listen to "Stumble and Fall" once. Repeat. Try to stop.
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10. Susanna And The Magical Orchestra - List Of Lights And Buoys
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As tempting as it is to include Bjork's wildly creative, somewhat inscrutable release in my top 10, the fact is that this disc ended up finding its way into my player more, and it's from similar cloth. Susanna has a devastating voice that is equal parts torch and Norwegian freeze; the version of "Jolene" is the quietest, slowest song that will ever get you to pull off the road. The electro-organic backdrops sound like a suggestion of the album's title - a series of clues on a foggy sea. Rune Grammofon has become the kind of label that I will blindly buy, and this was their best '04 release. A US release could have (or may still) do wonders for her.
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CDs that are sitting just outside the top 10, waiting for the gatekeeper to change his mind:
Arcade Fire, Björk, Ron Sexsmith, Max Richter (Blue Notebooks), Go! Team, The Hold Steady, Drive By Truckers, Concretes, Hives, Black Keys, Jóhann Jóhannsson (Virthulegu Forestar), Kings Of Convenience, Futureheads, Foreign Exchange, !!!, William Basinski's The Disintegration Loops, Air, VHS Or Beta, Muse, Jens Lekman, Sufjan Stevens (Seven Swans), Dungen, Scissor Sisters, Madvillain
Great singles (not including songs on albums in the list):
Snow Patrol "Run"
Snoop Dogg "Drop It Like It's Hot"
J-Kwon "Tipsy"
Scissor Sisters "Take Your Mama Out", "Tits On the Radio", and "Comfortably Numb"
Fabolous "Breathe"
Terror Squad "Lean Back"
Hives "Two Timing Touch and Broken Bones", "Walk Idiot Walk"
Ghostface + Missy Elliott "Tush"
Prince "Cinammon Girl"
Great live shows:
Glastonbury Festival with special note of Elbow, Wilco, Keane, Snow Patrol, Belle and Sebastian, Von Bondies, Television, Stills, Scissor Sisters, Rapture, Love w/Arthur Lee
Prince
Fiery Furnaces
Arcade Fire
American Music Club
Polyphonic Spree
Disappointments/Don't Get It
Nellie McKay - insufferable joke lite-pop. Her fans love "intelligent music".
U2 - am I the only one who thinks "Vertigo" pales next to "Beautiful Day", the next single isn't as good as "Walk On", and the rest just isn't memorable?
Mos Def - big expectations, zero reward
TV On The Radio - crossing the fine line between innovative and unlistenable from the first EP to the first album. Many would say this about the Fiery Furnaces, for what it's worth.
N.E.R.D. - wonderful debut, terrible followup. But just when we were ready to write the Neptunes off, out comes Snoop's "Drop It Like Its Hot", as inventive and catchy as ever.
Posted by borrowed_tunes at 03:47 AM | Comments (1421)