Read my intro to today’s installment of Lost at Sea’s 2000-2009 Top 50 Albums here. And yeah, the word “douche” needs to be used more in music writing.
Published Work
Live Review: Built to Spill – Webster Hall, 10/12/09
I reviewed the great Built to Spill show at Webster Hall last week for Blurt Magazine. Read my take here, or below.
Built to Spill’s recent appearance at New York City’s Webster Hall, the first of four consecutive nights across two boroughs, could hardly be called a promotional appearance for their new album. The band only played a few songs off There is No Enemy, instead dipping deep into their catalogue (with the exception of Perfect From Now On) to unearth some classic indie rock gems.
Doug Martsch and company look more like a bunch of dads playing rock and roll now than ever before, but the effect is comforting, not disconcerting. Martsch tends to jerk with a Joe Cocker palsy when he’s belting out a tune, but his movements do nothing to upset his gentle, high-pitched singing voice. The band was tight, all three guitars negotiating their way through a mess of effects pedals, as they turned simple songs into extended jams.
Beginning with “In Your Mind,” a spare, pounding tune with subdued six-string theatrics, the band reinvigorated a bunch of older songs. “When Not Being Stupid is Not Enough,” “Car,” “In The Morning,” even “Joy Ride” were energetic crowd-pleasers of the night, undoubtedly reminding many in the audience of their high school and college years. And for Martsch, nostalgia seemed to be refreshing rather than tedious, as he truly appeared to be having fun dusting off these aged songs. There were moments when the band seemed to be reaching a breaking point, ripping out simultaneous guitar solos for several minutes at a time, but Martsch always reined it in before it became musical masturbation.
The band ended its set with “Carry the Zero,” one of Martsch’s best songs of this decade, before coming back for a three-song encore. It’s kind of amazing to think that Built to Spill remains comfortably on a major label, given the band’s reliance on more traditional, gimmick-free indie rock, and its inability to obtain a Modest Mouse-sized audience. Who knows, maybe it’s not as comfortable as it seems. Maybe Martsch is destined to pull a Sonic Youth and jump ship (or be forced over) to a larger indie imprint. Ultimately, all that matters is that Built to Spill keeps creating the no-frills but still exciting rock and roll that they have thus far, and that they continue to deliver stellar performances like this one.
Lost at Sea’s Best Songs of the Decade
Check out LostatSea.net’s Best Songs of the Decade list here – my contribution, to some people’s chagrin, was The Knife’s haunting “Silent Shout.”
Interview: David Bazan
I did an interview with David Bazan recently for the Village Voice, during which we got to chat about breaking up with God and fans buying vans. Read the whole thing here.
Glaciers of Ice – October Edition
My monthly hip-hop roundup, Glaciers of Ice, is up now at Lost at Sea. Read it now here.
Review: Fool’s Gold – Fool’s Gold (Iamsound)
Let’s not talk about Vampire Weekend at all, OK? Let’s just talk about Fool’s Gold. Ready my review here, or below.
Timing can be a bitch or a blessing. The LA band-as-collective Fool’s Gold releases their debut record of lithe, African-influenced dance-pop with a Hebrew slant on the heels of Vampire Weekend supremacy and a new album from Matisyahu. Valid or not, comparisons are inevitable, especially with the former. Such is the nature of music criticism and wonkery.
This is not really fair, though, as Fool’s Gold’s musical range and motivation are very different animals from these other bands. Yes, bassist/vocalist Luke Top sometimes makes an unfortunate choice by appearing to mimic a generic African patois, at least when he’s not singing in Hebrew, which he does on much of the record. But the music that Fool’s Gold makes is expertly woven into rich tapestries of poly-rhythms, percussion, horns, and spidery guitar lines. The album’s opening track, “Surprise Hotel,” is the band at its best, mellifluously and smartly embarking upon a journey through West African melodies. Indeed, Africa is the source for most of the record, but it’s not the only inspiration. “Poseidon” finds the band flirting with ‘80s indie-pop, something the members would most likely proudly acknowledge, as guitarist Lewis Pesacov cites The Smiths as one of his many influences.
Fool’s Gold goes way beyond Graceland as a reference point, and Luke Top’s nod to his Israeli roots is really not the same as an orthodox Jew doing dancehall reggae. So let’s let bygones be bygones and ignore recent events, because Fool’s Gold’s music offers too much pleasure to write off as just another drop in the bucket of popular trends.
Live Review: Polvo @ the Bell House, Brooklyn
Just completed my first assignment for The Village Voice’s Sound of the City blog – Polvo’s triumphant return at the Bell House in Brooklyn. It rocked my ass. Read all about it here.
Review: Polvo – In Prisms (Merge)
If you didn’t love Polvo in the ’90s, they are back and you have no excuse. Read why:
Polvo, you’ve been missed. The standout band of the school of ‘90s-indie rock has returned, a reunion that should overshadow Slint, Dinosaur, Sebadoh… hell, even the Pixies. A bold statement, perhaps, but one given muscle by the quality of the band’s new album.
This is the Polvo you know and love-twisted passages of guitar lines curling over one another, frantic drum breaks, raga-like transitions, hypnotic noise jams. The better moments on the album, such as opening track “Right the Relation” and “Beggars Bowl,” are ones that furiously rock with agitated fervor. Power chords, discordant riffs, and bass thumps start and stop at the drop of a dime. But the band is also in good form when it’s subdued, as on the nine-minute closing track, “A Link in the Chain.” Polvo’s voice remains one of the most unique in guitar-based indie rock. Though you can hear its influence in countless bands making music today, no one does it quite like the originators.
Glaciers of Ice – September Edition
My new column for Lost at Sea is up now. Click the link or read below.
Better late than never… September edition of Glaciers of Ice, here we go:
Bay Area native D-Lo certainly seems to be having a good time on his new album, The Tonite Show (Clear Label). From the opening talk show strains on, D-Lo’s comical vocal inflections and partner DJ Fresh’s space-age gangster beats take center stage, drawing comparisons with the likes of E-40 and Mistah F.A.B. (who appears on the track “18”). But D-Lo proves his worth here, and even outshines his guests, on tracks like the Eric B and Rakim-sampling “Pump Up the Volume” or the drawling “Mobbin’.”
Gnawledge Doaba (Gnawledge Records) is the new album from producer Canyon Cody, the result of a Fullbright scholarship that sent him and compatriot Gnotes to Granada, Spain for a year. While there, the two fully immersed themselves in Arabic and Flamenco music, absorbing the culture and lifestyle and churning out beats and rhythms in their studio with a bunch of Spanish musicians. While culturally rich and musically diverse, the album does tend to lean a bit towards adult contemporary downtempo in its style. Some may cry foul at disparaging a project such as this, given its high-minded pedigree. But concept aside, the music sometimes fails to pack a punch.
The sampler for Jahdan Blakkamoore’s new album, Buzzrock Warrior (Gold Dust), better be a good representation of the full-length, damn it (I hate samplers!!!!). Let’s assume it is, and if so, let’s tentatively label it a good album. Matt Shadetek and DJ/Rupture handle the electro-Caribbean production, among several others, against which Jahdan’s Jamaican patois rapping style sounds lively and nice. This is definitely not straight hip-hop; this is dancehall, dub, r’n’b, and techno, and more. Sure, there’s a little Autotune involved, but songs like the softly crooned “Come With Me” forgive clichéd little tricks like that.
LA’s Breakestra have returned with a new album on Strut Records, Dusk ‘Til Dawn. This mixture of soul, funk, and jazz is a tribute to DJ Dusk, an LA fixture in the hip-hop scene who tragically lost his life in a road accident in 2007. “Music Man” Miles Tackett is the mastermind here, along with a slew of musicians from various other bands, including Plantlife and Dakah. This is not neo-soul or bass-heavy Soulquarians-style funk. This is early James Brown, Stax Records, funky drummer, big band dance music. Dig it.
Seattle MC D.Black releases his new album this month, Ali’Yah (Sportn’ Life/MYX Music). The album’s title, as explained in the CD insert, is a Hebrew word meaning “immigration to Israel” or “the honor of being called upon to read from the Torah.” Apparently, D.Black is sort of an African American Jew – according to his press release, he is a “firm believer in the Messianic Hebrew roots of Christianity and currently runs his own ministry.” As dogmatic as that may sound, he has managed to make a lively, banging album, full of crisp, funky beats over which he raps in a Talib Kweli-like rasp. NW hip-hop scores again.
Way to ruin the classics, Suburban Noize. Blast From tha Past is a new compilation from the geniuses who brought you Kottonmouth Kingz and Big B, among others. Here, we find the aforementioned KK covering the Beastie Boys’ “Paul Revere,” DGAF covering Tupac and Snoop’s “2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted,” and a bunch of other guys covering NWA’s “Fuck Tha Police.” All the participants actually keep it pretty close to the originals, adding that signature rap-rock roughness that you either love or you hate. This is probably the best release I’ve heard from Suburban Noize, but I won’t be adding it to my iPod.
As of this writing, I’m giving the much anticipated new Raekwon album, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx Part II (Ice H2O Records), a first listen. Poppa Wu shows up on the first track, shades of the most annoying parts of Wu-Tang Forever. That is quickly dispelled when “House of Flying Daggers” begins, featuring Deck, Ghost, and Meth. But I can already tell this isn’t gonna be close to the original Cuban Linx. Maybe technology has advanced too much, maybe the RZA needs to be a part of these projects more, maybe less… Whatever the reason, I’m gonna bitch about the days of yore. But let’s not despair. This album is eons better than anything Rae has been involved in over the past few years, and “Sonny’s Missing” matches the best Ghost crime narrative. “New Wu” isn’t even that new anymore, after being leaked a few months ago, but it still sounds better than anything on 8 Diagrams. I mean, this actually sounds like something off of a solo album circa ’95. And Ghost is all over the album, another good sign. Sure, Jadakiss talks about how the economy is down on “Broken Safety,” but Ghost just screamed something about bringing the troops home from Iraq on “Cold Outside,” and it really made sense.
That’s all for now, so until next month… e-mail with thoughts and insults, and send me yer shit! I’ll listen to it. Glaciers is ghost like Casper.
Review: Black Mold – Snow Blindness is Crystal Antz (Flemish Eye)
Chad VanGaalen’s got a lil’ side project, the weird, experimental, electronic Black Mold. Read my review of his new album, Snow Blindness is Crystal Antz (Flemish Eye) here (or below).
Listen to “Tetra Pack Heads.”
Canadian singer/songwriter Chad VanGaalen has released several albums for Sub Pop, pursuing his fancy in melodic indie rock and ‘60s-influenced garage. Now, however, he’s up to something completely different. Black Mold is VanGaalen’s musical MacGuffin, a plot shift that works nicely but doesn’t ever really amount to anything.
This is not to say that this Boards of Canada and Black Moth Super Rainbow-inspired album lacks for charm, creativity, or quirk. It’s just that all these skittering beats, alien bleeps, synthesizer warbles, and moments of electro chamber pop don’t feel like music that will stick in your head for long once the album ends. But maybe that’s not the point here. Maybe this is just an opportunity for VanGaalen to do something completely different; a Thom Yorke Eraser, a McCartney II. In that, he has succeeded.
Jonah Flicker 