#254 kings of convenience – thirteen

last night’s king’s of convenience show was an evening to remember. although i wasn’t too familiar with their work (with the exception of their first album which i love very much), their amiable onstage personalities encouraged me to relate to their songs more as old friends than new acquaintances. i got that feeling especially with erlend’s solo performance of big star’s “thirteen”, a tribute to the recently demised alex chilton. it’s a song that treads on the nostalgic path of idyllic adolescence which the norwegian duo has done so well in capturing through their minimalist ballads, and even though it was my first time hearing it, i felt perfectly comfortable sharing in those vicarious memories. i don’t have any recording of that cover, so i thought i’d share the song in its original form, as well as a comparably moving version by elliott smith, who recorded this live favorite of his in his basement for a radio show in 1996. – dan.

mp3: big star – thirteen

mp3: elliott smith – thirteen

#202 that’s when i reach for my revolver

“when i hear the word culture, that’s when i reach for my revolver“, or so goes the poorly translated quote often misatttributed to nazi leader hermann göring or even joseph goebbels. in actual fact it was a line from schlageter, a play staged on hitler’s birthday on the year the nazi party gained power, centered on the life of nazi matyr albert leo schlageter, whose wartime comrade friedrich thiemann ranted on his disillusionment with all the ideological babble on brotherhood, equality, freedom, beauty and dignity, before uttering those iconic words. that jaded sentiment prevails in the mission of burma 1981 classic “that’s when i reach for my revolver”, which speaks of past heroes and discarded dreams, and the formerly cherished restraint and boundaries that must now be crossed, a rousing call to arms against the things of this world that deaden our minds and souls. it’s amazing how much reverence is accorded to this song in subsequent covers by moby and graham coxon, both stepping up with passion and resolve, and in chilling resonance with each other in reporting for duty.

mp3: mission of burma – that’s when i reach for my revolver

mp3: moby – that’s when i reach for my revolver

mp3: graham coxon – that’s when i reach for my revolver

from the warm heart of africa to málaga

the straits of gibraltar is the narrowest of waters that separates africa from europe, and while the proposed tunnel bridging the two continents won’t be realized till much later, two acts that have been making the most waves these days give us a glimpse into what that intercontinental trip could look like. the first is the very best, a collaboration between malawian musician esau mwamwaya and london outfit radioclit, which had already whet our appetites last year with their promo mixtape that sampled everyone from vampire weekend to m.i.a. and even michael jackson. i can’t wait to check out their upcoming debut album, especially after hearing “the warm heart of africa”, a song off that album of the same name featuring ezra koenig from vampire weekend. it’s a collaboration that captures the best energies from both parties, brimming with joyous celebration.

that figurative trip across the straits is also attempted by jj, the latest-signed band from sweden’s sincerely yours, home of the equally breezy air france. “from africa to málaga” appears to bear much less of the african influence, although the lightly hopping beats wouldn’t be out of place in a lazy afternoon reggae jam. as the title suggests, this song is more about the trip than the destination, and while i can’t quite tell where the spanish city of málaga features here, the uplifting currents of scandinavian dance-pop are more than assuring of how worthwhile this journey is, offering the perfect way to wind down after dancing through the warm heart of africa.

mp3: the very best – warm heart of africa (ft. ezra koenig)

mp3: jj – from africa to málaga

the very best’s warm heart of africa will be out this fall on green owl, while jj’s n° 2 is now out on sincerely yours.

#185 just another diamond day

i declare today diamond day. while i was away, b mailed me “i am not a robot” by marina and the diamonds, a song that sounds as organic as its words imply, with its generous layer of strings in what builds up to be a truly ebullient chorus. it reminded me of lavender diamond‘s “you broke my heart”, which features an equally uplifting performance in glorious baroque splendor. that in turn reminded me of vashti bunyan‘s “diamond day”, the simple opener from the belated 1970 classic just another diamond day which i’m sure played some part in influencing both musicians. have a sparkling diamond day, everyone.

mp3: marina and the diamonds – i am not a robot

mp3: lavender diamond – you broke my heart

mp3: vashti bunyan – diamond day

#183 mos def – auditorium (ft. slick rick)

i’m really behind in my film viewing, but last night i finally got about to watching michel gondry’s be kind rewind. although it’s gotten rather mixed reviews from critics, i absolutely loved the show, especially with its take on “sweding” in taking swipes at today’s media industry’s paranoia at copyrights and bootlegging, and of course some signature gondry scenes which were magical as always. the onscreen partnership between jack black and mos def is hilariously endearing (and sometimes annoying) in their efforts to “swede” or remake the films that black’s character jerry erased (“you’re magnetized!” being my favorite mos line, delivered in exasperated horror – check out 0:30 of the trailer). the show also got me listening to mos def’s rap catalogue, particularly his black star collaboration with talib kweli, and right now i can’t wait for his upcoming album the ecstatic to be released. just for you, though, i have a delicious preview with “auditorium”, taken off that album and produced by madlib, whose instrumental from his beat konductor funk tribute to indian music is gloriously sampled here. wicked.

stream: (mp3 removed on label request, even though i received it as a free download from an contemporary label)

(update: looks like the label’s really going all out to block anything that’s coming out these days. read all about it here. i’m sure that’s doing your artists a whole lot of good. how ironic considering my comments on be kind rewind)

mp3: madlib – movie finale

gone deerhunting …

in a space of three short years, the staggering output of deerhunter and its affiliate acts has thoroughly infiltrated the fragmented psyche of indie music (if such a category makes any sense at all). 2007 was the year most of us got our first glimpse of the band with its post-shoegaze cryptograms album and the impressive follow-up fluorescent grey ep, which boasted a title track invoking the rotting corpse of david baker’s mercury rev. showing no sign of slowing down, 2008 saw the consolidation of the hegemonic grip of the band, which started the year with bradford cox’s solo project atlas sound, and ended it in style with the devastatingly beatitiful couplet microcastle/weird era cont.

this year, we already have two related releases to contend with, lockett pundt’s solo effort lotus plaza, and the band’s recent ep rainwater cassette exchange. the former’s the floodlight collective already has the makings of a classic as it reaches towards the outer limits of both ends of the dreampop spectrum, with album centerpiece “what grows” representing just about every possibility of such a project. rainwater cassette exchange is no less adventurous, as evident in the opening title track with its deceivingly naive holiday-themed melody blending surprisingly well with the song’s garage inclinations. it’s only may, but i can’t wait for what else the band’s got to offer for the rest of the year.

mp3: lotus plaza – what grows?

mp3: deerhunter – rainwater cassette exchange

all deerhunter, atlas sound and lotus plaza releases are available on one of our favorite record labels, kranky.

talking heads and joy division

how do you translate sound to words and how may those words be recoded back in terms of sound? what gets lost in the process? in what way is one’s interpretation of music accurately translated into a literal, textual form, and how is that eventually decoded by its reader who then tries to picture (as if it’s now a visual thing!) how the music sounds like and whether it’s worth checking out? these are questions every music writer faces, as his or her writing stands in gulf between the musician and the audience. it’s an intriguing chain of interpretation and reinterpretation, a process made even more complicated if you replace the music reader/listener at the end of the line with another musician.

a post-lunch conversation on time led to a mention of the talking heads‘ song “once in a lifetime”, which subsequently prompted me to give my old remain in light (1980) album a relisten. while much of that record is rightly known for its polyrhythmic structure and its pioneering work in bringing a world music vibe to the post-punk movement, the last song “the overload” was conceived as an interpretation of what joy division might have sounded like. none of the members of the band had ever heard the work of joy division, but attempted this song solely based on what they had read in the press on what their music sounded like. i’m sure words like cold, distant and atmospheric must have been most recurrent, judging from the song’s deliberate break from the exotic grooves of the rest of the album.

the result is uncanny: “the overload” loses the band’s distinctive compactness in favor of an ambience spread thin over its 5 minutes, with david byrne‘s vocals inheriting an eerily distant ian curtis drone, reminiscent of deathly ballads like “candidate” from unknown pleasures (1979) or “eternal” from closer (1980). if anything, though, talking heads attempts this mimicry far too well in reconstructing perfectly the structure and form of joy division while paying little attention to its heart and soul. the darkly metallic overtones of “candidate”, for instance, is but a mask painted in response to curtis’ state of alienation and his singular cry of despair: i tried to get to you. and recorded closer to curtis’ eventual suicide, “eternal” sounds a lot more at peace with its own self-destruction with the deadpan delivery of its final two lines: no words could explain, no actions determine/ just watching the trees and the leaves as they fall.

but who could blame talking heads for neglecting all these nuances in their interpretation of a band they’ve never even heard before? and what right had they to even step into the territory of ian curtis’ bared soul, which underlay each joy division song? indeed, “the overload” never attempted to fulfill the latter; yet, it still succeeds not simply on the grounds of successfully sounding like joy division (which is itself a laudable achievement considering the circumstances), but in the critique presented therein. particularly, “the overload” lays bare the futility and meaninglessness of genre formation, an issue that is especially striking today with the overload of bands emulating and pigeonholing themselves in the new-wave, post-punk joy division sound, capturing all the form but containing none of its substance, which can never be replicated.

the issue of musical influence of course still remains, and i’m sure both talking heads and joy division have their fair share of influences worth dissecting and comparing. but let’s leave that for another article.

mp3: talking heads – the overload

mp3: joy division – candidate

mp3: joy division – eternal

#172 nous non plus – thief like me

i can’t speak french. i can’t even do a proper french accent but i stubbornly persist all the same, often to disastrous effect. bands like nous non plus, however, perfect the art of faux play: the new york band performs convincingly as a french pop outfit, putting together a pastiche of 60s french influences that balance neatly with the edginess of modern american indie rock. with the tellingly titled album ménagerie, the songs (mostly bearing french names) bounce with nervous energy, playfully mimicking and deliberately exoticizing everything french without taking itself too seriously. one of my favorites is the english titled “thief like me”, a song that starts off with much symphonic grandeur only to reveal a frantic underbelly. surprisingly, everything comes together seamlessly as an elegant hipster anthem whose only flaw is its perplexingly abrupt end. in a strange way, the infectious urgency of this track reminds me of tv on the radio’s similarly titled, full-blooded stomper “wolf like me”, which i’m sure needs no introduction.

mp3: nous non plus – thief like me

mp3: tv on the radio – wolf like me

ménagerie is now out on aeronaut records. à saisir!

#164 black lips – starting over

black lips have a rather notorious reputation for their onstage antics, most recently incurring the wrath of indian authorities during their concert in chennai. in “starting over”, taken off their new album 200 million thousand released just yesterday, the band makes certain promises to change for the better, but when it’s delivered with the sloppiest of drawls, you know that it’s just a drunken promise to stay sober. the song itself is a curious animal, beginning with a nostalgic dreampop jangle and chugging along with a call-and-response garage harmony that invokes the black and white charm of the velvet underground’s “there she goes again”. everything about it is imperfect, and that’s exactly how things should stay.

mp3: black lips – starting over

mp3: the velvet underground – there she goes again

200 million thousand is now available on vice records. get it!

#163 elf power – a dream in sound

i’m such an old fart. i woke up this morning, and thought about the new albums i’d finally get about to listening this weekend, but something else guided my hand towards my old elf power album from almost a decade ago. in the aftermath of the blazing trail of e6 contemporaries olivia tremor control, neutral milk hotel and apples in stereo, all reveling in the bombasticity of their three-word band names and the arguable peaks of their respective careers, the relatively understated elf power released a dream in sound. it was an album influenced in equal parts by the pop genius of the beatles, the saccharine harmonies of the beach boys, and the lyrical wit of the kinks. in short, it was a fantastic pop record, rivaling the other e6 pop masterpieces like tone soul evolution and dusk at cubist castle. this morning, listening to songs like “high atop the silver branches” and “jane” brought back memories from way back, sounding just as sweet as when i first heard them.

mp3: elf power – high atop the silver branches

mp3: elf power – jane

have a great weekend! see you next week.