Today's Music That Jason Likes Pretty Well is Fables by Immaculate Machine. This music is very much in line with what you would expect, much like a low-fi New Pornographers with some consistent traits (vocal harmonies and spastic keyboards). And it's pretty good! The vocals are quite strong, thank you Katherine Calder, and though the instrumentation isn't quite as eclectic as a New Pornographers album, it's certainly a plus. The lyrics have a somewhat poetic and irreverent quality, which is both refreshing and suits the musical tone of the album as well.
The middle of the album suffers a little bit - the early songs have lots of energy, but when it falls off, the album doesn't seem to pull the listener in as much. It's kind of a relative thing, though; the first couple of songs are so hectic and lively that anything slower seems almost morose by comparison. In particular, the album opener, "Jarhand" is so frantic that it sets a difficult standard to maintain.
Overall this is a strong album, something I could listen to with a group of people or by myself as I walk around or work out. I'll be curious to see how Immaculate Machine's sound evolves; right now it's difficult not to see them as being the younger sibling (or cousin) to the New Pornographers, which isn't a bad thing by any means.
In Other News:
How can you tell when you are freaking out? Do you know, or do you not realize it until after it's over?
Monday, April 28, 2008
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
New Pornographers / Okkervil River Show
Today, I don't have an album review for you. Would you like a concert review instead? Too bad.
On Monday night, I visited Madison, WI, home of some college and a ton of bars. My show was at the Orpheum, a theater near the capitol building. And while the day was fun, with me mostly walking around State St. (where all the mayhem happens), the concert was the high point of the trip.
The theater wasn't such a great place for a show, as it was smallish and packed, and security was eager though not imposing. Still, the acoustics were good, even if my seat wasn't so great. The crowd was okay; sometimes white guys at concerts really drive me crazy. Why the hell would you go to a show not to dance and jump around a little bit? The guy in front of me kept his hands on the seat in front of him through the entire show and didn't even tap his feet; there were a number of people like this. Why does this seem like such a sticking point? Because the bands were energetic and lively. It's not like this was a Cat Power show (who I love anyway), the music should have affected the crowd somewhat. Next time I go to one of these shows, I simply have to get down front where I can jump around a little.
But what about the bands, you ask? They were wonderful. The New Pornographers were missing two of their three principal players - Dan Bejar and Neko Case - but they put on a hell of a good show. A.C. Newman is a fine guitar player and singer, and Katherine Calder (of Immaculate Machine, also Newman's niece) filled in extremely well for Case. They didn't play exceptionally long - maybe 80 minutes - but covered a good deal of their material. Highlights of the show were bringing Will Sheff (from Okkervil River) out to do "Myriad Harbor" with the band, and covering Electric Light Orchestra's "Don't Bring Me Down" for an encore. When the band came out for their encore, Newman playfully ribbed the crowd, saying "I know what you're saying but what we're going to do is even better." A nice treat from a band that normally doesn't do cover songs. They played songs from all of their albums, though they understandably leaned towards the Newman-heavy songs (though they played "Bleeding Heart Show" and "Challengers", with Calder handling the high-end vocals.
And what of Okkervil River? Well, they were quite good, probably just as good as the New Pornographers. They did a fine job of keeping the crowd involved and played a good balance of upbeat songs versus ballads - even the ballads seemed to be well-received, "A Girl in Port" in particular. Their trumpet player was great, and their guest guitarist, Charles Missile of the Wrens, was fantastic. Sheff for his part was very rambunctious, dancing and jumping. More than once he jumped on the bass drum, and put his tie around the drummer's head. He came out first, and played "The President's Dead" as the rest of the band got situated. Great band, fantastic live. I don't know if I'd say they stole the NP's thunder, but they played just as long, and I think the show was better because of it. My only criticism is that Sheff has the worst hair of anyone I can think of at the moment, probably bad enough to get him into, say, Fall Out Boy or AFI if he wasn't so good.
All things considered, this was a marvelous show, completely worth the drive. Hope to see either of these bands again in the near future.
Next up: the ridiculous Omaha/Portland trip at the end of May. I must be insane.
On Monday night, I visited Madison, WI, home of some college and a ton of bars. My show was at the Orpheum, a theater near the capitol building. And while the day was fun, with me mostly walking around State St. (where all the mayhem happens), the concert was the high point of the trip.
The theater wasn't such a great place for a show, as it was smallish and packed, and security was eager though not imposing. Still, the acoustics were good, even if my seat wasn't so great. The crowd was okay; sometimes white guys at concerts really drive me crazy. Why the hell would you go to a show not to dance and jump around a little bit? The guy in front of me kept his hands on the seat in front of him through the entire show and didn't even tap his feet; there were a number of people like this. Why does this seem like such a sticking point? Because the bands were energetic and lively. It's not like this was a Cat Power show (who I love anyway), the music should have affected the crowd somewhat. Next time I go to one of these shows, I simply have to get down front where I can jump around a little.
But what about the bands, you ask? They were wonderful. The New Pornographers were missing two of their three principal players - Dan Bejar and Neko Case - but they put on a hell of a good show. A.C. Newman is a fine guitar player and singer, and Katherine Calder (of Immaculate Machine, also Newman's niece) filled in extremely well for Case. They didn't play exceptionally long - maybe 80 minutes - but covered a good deal of their material. Highlights of the show were bringing Will Sheff (from Okkervil River) out to do "Myriad Harbor" with the band, and covering Electric Light Orchestra's "Don't Bring Me Down" for an encore. When the band came out for their encore, Newman playfully ribbed the crowd, saying "I know what you're saying but what we're going to do is even better." A nice treat from a band that normally doesn't do cover songs. They played songs from all of their albums, though they understandably leaned towards the Newman-heavy songs (though they played "Bleeding Heart Show" and "Challengers", with Calder handling the high-end vocals.
And what of Okkervil River? Well, they were quite good, probably just as good as the New Pornographers. They did a fine job of keeping the crowd involved and played a good balance of upbeat songs versus ballads - even the ballads seemed to be well-received, "A Girl in Port" in particular. Their trumpet player was great, and their guest guitarist, Charles Missile of the Wrens, was fantastic. Sheff for his part was very rambunctious, dancing and jumping. More than once he jumped on the bass drum, and put his tie around the drummer's head. He came out first, and played "The President's Dead" as the rest of the band got situated. Great band, fantastic live. I don't know if I'd say they stole the NP's thunder, but they played just as long, and I think the show was better because of it. My only criticism is that Sheff has the worst hair of anyone I can think of at the moment, probably bad enough to get him into, say, Fall Out Boy or AFI if he wasn't so good.
All things considered, this was a marvelous show, completely worth the drive. Hope to see either of these bands again in the near future.
Next up: the ridiculous Omaha/Portland trip at the end of May. I must be insane.
Friday, April 18, 2008
I AM SAM
Okay. Let me get something out of the way, right away. I shouldn't probably review soundtracks on here, as they're more an extension of the films they are associated with. I especially shouldn't review soundtracks for movies that I haven't seen. But this one, I feel a little okay about discussing.
Today's Music That Jason Was Underwhelmed By is the I Am Sam soundtrack. No, I haven't seen this movie. Apparently it stars Sean Penn as some guy who may or may not have mental disabilities and/or raises a child. I don't know. Did you see this movie? Was it any good? Well, anyhow, the reason I reviewed its soundtrack is because it consists of nothing but Beatles covers. This soundtrack is six or seven years old already! I seem to remember there being a fair fuss about it when it came out. And looking at the list of artists on here, I can see why. There are quite a few artists who I find interesting: Nick Cave, Ben Folds, Aimee Mann, Eddie Vedder, Ben Harper, and some others.
Sadly, the musicians could not make this soundtrack interesting. Eddie Vedder's cover of "You've Got To Hide Your Love Away" is decent, but it's almost a straight cover of the original; I guess The Vines' cover of "I'm Only Sleeping" stands out a little, but it's not great. I never cared much for The Vines anyway, their music seemed obnoxious in a juvenile way. The other songs are all relatively forgettable. I suppose that in the context of the movie they make more sense, but judged on their own merits, the other songs are relatively bland. In particular, covers of some of the more uptempo Beatles songs - "Revolution", "We Can Work It Out" - are mellow to the point of boring. I'm willing to admit that this is somewhat due to personal bias; I generally don't care much for cover songs, especially watered-down versions of them, and most of these songs are harmless and unremarkable enough that any one could be exchanged for any other without much difference.
To summarize: I didn't care for this album at all, maybe it fits well with the film, but it has nothing on the purity and simple charm of the original Beatles songs.
In other news:
I found out that Neko Case fell and broke her ankle, and consequently is off the New Pornographers' tour, which I am going to early next week. The whole thing is so disheartening that I may blow off the show and go somewhere else instead. Hard to say, though; I've never been to Madison, so I will probably go anyway. It's still a big letdown, and I hope I can send Neko a get-well card or something. Also I realized that I haven't reviewed any Neko Case albums here so I will have to fix that, once I get some of mine back.
Today's Music That Jason Was Underwhelmed By is the I Am Sam soundtrack. No, I haven't seen this movie. Apparently it stars Sean Penn as some guy who may or may not have mental disabilities and/or raises a child. I don't know. Did you see this movie? Was it any good? Well, anyhow, the reason I reviewed its soundtrack is because it consists of nothing but Beatles covers. This soundtrack is six or seven years old already! I seem to remember there being a fair fuss about it when it came out. And looking at the list of artists on here, I can see why. There are quite a few artists who I find interesting: Nick Cave, Ben Folds, Aimee Mann, Eddie Vedder, Ben Harper, and some others.
Sadly, the musicians could not make this soundtrack interesting. Eddie Vedder's cover of "You've Got To Hide Your Love Away" is decent, but it's almost a straight cover of the original; I guess The Vines' cover of "I'm Only Sleeping" stands out a little, but it's not great. I never cared much for The Vines anyway, their music seemed obnoxious in a juvenile way. The other songs are all relatively forgettable. I suppose that in the context of the movie they make more sense, but judged on their own merits, the other songs are relatively bland. In particular, covers of some of the more uptempo Beatles songs - "Revolution", "We Can Work It Out" - are mellow to the point of boring. I'm willing to admit that this is somewhat due to personal bias; I generally don't care much for cover songs, especially watered-down versions of them, and most of these songs are harmless and unremarkable enough that any one could be exchanged for any other without much difference.
To summarize: I didn't care for this album at all, maybe it fits well with the film, but it has nothing on the purity and simple charm of the original Beatles songs.
In other news:
I found out that Neko Case fell and broke her ankle, and consequently is off the New Pornographers' tour, which I am going to early next week. The whole thing is so disheartening that I may blow off the show and go somewhere else instead. Hard to say, though; I've never been to Madison, so I will probably go anyway. It's still a big letdown, and I hope I can send Neko a get-well card or something. Also I realized that I haven't reviewed any Neko Case albums here so I will have to fix that, once I get some of mine back.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Talkie Walkie
Today's Music That Somehow Jason Neglected To Write About is AIR's Talkie Walkie. This is an album that I tracked down a couple years ago, after hearing the haunting, gorgeous "Alone in Kyoto" in Lost in Translation. The movie is something I could probably write about as well; I was particularly fond of it when I saw it in the theater, and I really associate it with a particular period of my life. Regardless of what you think of it, I liked it, and the soundtrack was a large part of that.
Anyhow, Talkie Walkie is probably my favorite AIR album. If you haven't heard AIR, first of all, get out from under your rock, and second, they probably sound like, well, I'm not sure. Their music is all kind of dreamy, like an orchestra in your pocket. They aren't quite ambient, but their music is definitely something that isn't up front with what it wants. It's definitely more like a book than a movie, not immediately gratifying but worth a listen. The songs here don't quite jump out of the speakers, but they bounce enough to force the listener to pay attention. I really like the atmosphere of this album, eerie without being blatant in any regard. Songs that stand out: "Venus", "Mike Mills", of course "Alone in Kyoto".
In short, this album agrees with me; I sometimes with AIR rocked a little harder, maybe even a little at all, but I much prefer this to the Coldplays of the world. This is a good album, spooky even, definitely worth a listen.
In other news:
Man are my blog entries disjointed when I am hungry.
Anyhow, Talkie Walkie is probably my favorite AIR album. If you haven't heard AIR, first of all, get out from under your rock, and second, they probably sound like, well, I'm not sure. Their music is all kind of dreamy, like an orchestra in your pocket. They aren't quite ambient, but their music is definitely something that isn't up front with what it wants. It's definitely more like a book than a movie, not immediately gratifying but worth a listen. The songs here don't quite jump out of the speakers, but they bounce enough to force the listener to pay attention. I really like the atmosphere of this album, eerie without being blatant in any regard. Songs that stand out: "Venus", "Mike Mills", of course "Alone in Kyoto".
In short, this album agrees with me; I sometimes with AIR rocked a little harder, maybe even a little at all, but I much prefer this to the Coldplays of the world. This is a good album, spooky even, definitely worth a listen.
In other news:
Man are my blog entries disjointed when I am hungry.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
(What's The Story) Morning Glory?
Today's Music That Is Pretty Great is (What's The Story) Morning Glory? by Oasis. This is an album that I listened to a little bit as a youth, then ignored and largely forgot about (if not spurned due to all the 'New Beatles' crap that surrounded Oasis for a while) then rediscovered, sort of, later in life. It's a good thing, too, because this is really a great album.
I'd love to talk about this album and its place in musical history - it happened at a curious time, just after grunge but before the popular music scene splintered into rap-metal and teen-pop and mall-punk and some equally horrible faux-genres. The album also received plenty of hype from the British press, and was well received here in the states as well. Maybe it was the hangover from Kurt Cobain's death and Pearl Jam sort of falling out of the public eye, gangsta rap being a little too dangerous for the entire nation to accept, and the media's consequent search for a new musical messiah that led Oasis to be so big for a couple years. At least until it became apparent that the Gallagher brothers were a couple dysfunctional drunks. Consequently this album is sort of frozen in a period of time where a lot of music junkies weren't sure where their next fix was coming from.
But history aside, this is a marvelous rock album. The singer, whichever Gallagher it was (I hope not the fruit-smasher [sorry]) has a good rock voice, plenty of range and just raspy enough to hold an edge. The guitar is good, and this band manages to incorporate strings - strings! - into the music without having them make any songs overly cute or cloying. The album really has a good balance of laid-back songs with loud rock tracks; I wouldn't call any of it 'metal' but the guitar, sounding like the Edge if he was younger and slightly ragged, runs the show here. The songs, you probably know a few of them by heart, are sequenced marvelously. "Wonderwall" is great, I personally like "Some Might Say" and "Morning Glory". And, of course, "Champagne Supernova" is just about the best way to close an album short of "A Day in the Life" that I could imagine.
Maybe Oasis didn't turn out to be the new Beatles, but for a while there, in the mid-90's, they really had us all worked up. Lightning in a bottle, I guess.
In other news:
There's a baby crying somewhere in the hall, the sun is here if only for now, and I could use a week of Saturdays.
I'd love to talk about this album and its place in musical history - it happened at a curious time, just after grunge but before the popular music scene splintered into rap-metal and teen-pop and mall-punk and some equally horrible faux-genres. The album also received plenty of hype from the British press, and was well received here in the states as well. Maybe it was the hangover from Kurt Cobain's death and Pearl Jam sort of falling out of the public eye, gangsta rap being a little too dangerous for the entire nation to accept, and the media's consequent search for a new musical messiah that led Oasis to be so big for a couple years. At least until it became apparent that the Gallagher brothers were a couple dysfunctional drunks. Consequently this album is sort of frozen in a period of time where a lot of music junkies weren't sure where their next fix was coming from.
But history aside, this is a marvelous rock album. The singer, whichever Gallagher it was (I hope not the fruit-smasher [sorry]) has a good rock voice, plenty of range and just raspy enough to hold an edge. The guitar is good, and this band manages to incorporate strings - strings! - into the music without having them make any songs overly cute or cloying. The album really has a good balance of laid-back songs with loud rock tracks; I wouldn't call any of it 'metal' but the guitar, sounding like the Edge if he was younger and slightly ragged, runs the show here. The songs, you probably know a few of them by heart, are sequenced marvelously. "Wonderwall" is great, I personally like "Some Might Say" and "Morning Glory". And, of course, "Champagne Supernova" is just about the best way to close an album short of "A Day in the Life" that I could imagine.
Maybe Oasis didn't turn out to be the new Beatles, but for a while there, in the mid-90's, they really had us all worked up. Lightning in a bottle, I guess.
In other news:
There's a baby crying somewhere in the hall, the sun is here if only for now, and I could use a week of Saturdays.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Talk to La Bomb
Today's Music of the Day is Brazilian Girls' Talk to La Bomb. This album isn't really my style but I kind of like it anyway. I don't know anything about Brazilian Girls, but based on their sound, I would very much consider BG to be peers to Ladytron or maybe Pretty Girls Make Graves. This is a mostly electronic album, sometimes sinister, sometimes danceable, almost always sleazy. The vocals are almost exclusively female, not great in the same way that Neko Case or Fiona Apple are, but they fit with the music pretty well.
I know today's review is pretty brief, but there really isn't a ton of depth to this music. It's a nice change of pace, but not really what I'm into. It has a nice feel to it, but it's not really driving enough for exercise, not really crazy enough to dance to. It might be okay for a cocktail party where everyone is having a fairly mellow evening and not going to cause more trouble late at night. I think I like it better than St. Etienne's album that I listened to recently, but not significantly more so. I guess if I was at your place and you put this album on, I wouldn't make fun of you, but I also wouldn't ask if I could borrow it.
In Other News:
The weekend completely ruined my sleep. Again.
I know today's review is pretty brief, but there really isn't a ton of depth to this music. It's a nice change of pace, but not really what I'm into. It has a nice feel to it, but it's not really driving enough for exercise, not really crazy enough to dance to. It might be okay for a cocktail party where everyone is having a fairly mellow evening and not going to cause more trouble late at night. I think I like it better than St. Etienne's album that I listened to recently, but not significantly more so. I guess if I was at your place and you put this album on, I wouldn't make fun of you, but I also wouldn't ask if I could borrow it.
In Other News:
The weekend completely ruined my sleep. Again.
Friday, April 4, 2008
Fur and Gold
Today's Music That Jason Isn't Really Into is Bat For Lashes - Fur and Gold. I don't really know anything about this album, it's just something I got at the library because I had no idea what it was. And it wasn't so great!
This album made me think of one thing: melodrama. The overall mood seems to be overly dramatic and self-important; it seems to be the audio equivalent of reality television, where all the tension and drama is manufactured and I have a hard time caring about any of it. The album is akin to something like Bjork, or possibly even Maroon 5 (though I don't believe anything is as bad as Maroon 5), where the whole thing is just a stage for the singer to be enchanted with his/her own voice.
The songs are not identical, but the overall sound is similar enough that none of the individual tracks stood out to me. The singer has a nice female voice, though it seems to be the focus of the album; the instruments and effects don't really get any spotlight. The only thing the instruments seem to be there for is to create an overly dramatic atmosphere for the voice.
In short, this isn't the worst thing I've listened to, not by far, but it was still not worth a second listen. There's too much well-thought out music I could be listening to instead of frittering away my time with this.
In other news:
More album reviews on the way. Among them: Interpol, Lupe Fiasco, Massive Attack, Oasis.
Tomorrow might be a good day for the zoo, or just running outside. Stay tuned.
This album made me think of one thing: melodrama. The overall mood seems to be overly dramatic and self-important; it seems to be the audio equivalent of reality television, where all the tension and drama is manufactured and I have a hard time caring about any of it. The album is akin to something like Bjork, or possibly even Maroon 5 (though I don't believe anything is as bad as Maroon 5), where the whole thing is just a stage for the singer to be enchanted with his/her own voice.
The songs are not identical, but the overall sound is similar enough that none of the individual tracks stood out to me. The singer has a nice female voice, though it seems to be the focus of the album; the instruments and effects don't really get any spotlight. The only thing the instruments seem to be there for is to create an overly dramatic atmosphere for the voice.
In short, this isn't the worst thing I've listened to, not by far, but it was still not worth a second listen. There's too much well-thought out music I could be listening to instead of frittering away my time with this.
In other news:
More album reviews on the way. Among them: Interpol, Lupe Fiasco, Massive Attack, Oasis.
Tomorrow might be a good day for the zoo, or just running outside. Stay tuned.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Elan Vital
Today's Music That Jason Is A Little Scared Of But Would Still Probably Make Out With is Elan Vital, by Pretty Girls Make Graves. Now, fairly bad band name aside, this album is kind of neat. It's dark, droning pop with a sultry female voice, the kind of stuff you would expect to hear on a soundtrack for a modern noir film that defies convention by being bright at times (something like Layer Cake, perhaps). It sort of rests in that gray area between ambient and rock because of its tempo and intermittent soundscape; I'd very much consider PGMG to be a peer group to, say, TV on the Radio, Metric, or possibly Ladytron. Sometimes I wish that the band would let go and really cut loose; Elan Vital seems to be a more bark than bite most of the time.
Still, I really like this album. Apparently PGMG came to DSM not long after I moved here and played as the opening band for She Wants Revenge; if tickets hadn't been so much, I would have gladly gone and walked out when the headliner came in. This album is a lot of fun, some of the songs are uptempo enough for workout music, but as a whole I would say it's not that energetic. I suppose if St. Etienne would come over and talk, and maybe get up and dance with you once or twice, PGMG would come over and poke at all your things and sneak around a little. You wouldn't be hurt or at a loss when PGMG left, but you'd feel safer. I think "The Nocturnal House" is maybe my favorite song on this album. The only one I can think of that I don't actively care for is "Parade", because it's a little too happy and seems somewhat out of place. I wouldn't recommend running out and buying this album, but you should check it out.
Unfortunately, PGMG disbanded recently. Sad! Sorry if I got you curious about this album.
In Other News:
I need more music. I also need to practice the guitar.
Today I was having a discussion about color blindness with a coworker. She asked me, "how do you describe the color red to someone who doesn't know what colors are?" I said that it probably looked like a sunburn felt. What do you think? It's kind of a tough one.
Also I thought about messing with people for April Fool's Day, but it wouldn't be worth the trouble if someone started taking me seriously today. I did tell a couple people that I was pregnant though.
Still, I really like this album. Apparently PGMG came to DSM not long after I moved here and played as the opening band for She Wants Revenge; if tickets hadn't been so much, I would have gladly gone and walked out when the headliner came in. This album is a lot of fun, some of the songs are uptempo enough for workout music, but as a whole I would say it's not that energetic. I suppose if St. Etienne would come over and talk, and maybe get up and dance with you once or twice, PGMG would come over and poke at all your things and sneak around a little. You wouldn't be hurt or at a loss when PGMG left, but you'd feel safer. I think "The Nocturnal House" is maybe my favorite song on this album. The only one I can think of that I don't actively care for is "Parade", because it's a little too happy and seems somewhat out of place. I wouldn't recommend running out and buying this album, but you should check it out.
Unfortunately, PGMG disbanded recently. Sad! Sorry if I got you curious about this album.
In Other News:
I need more music. I also need to practice the guitar.
Today I was having a discussion about color blindness with a coworker. She asked me, "how do you describe the color red to someone who doesn't know what colors are?" I said that it probably looked like a sunburn felt. What do you think? It's kind of a tough one.
Also I thought about messing with people for April Fool's Day, but it wouldn't be worth the trouble if someone started taking me seriously today. I did tell a couple people that I was pregnant though.
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