Either this was a slow music week, or news drowned out music for me.
Jucifer released a video for Crossless
The Legendary Pink Dots have a new album coming out next week, and they released a video too. It is pretty cheesy, really, but I'm still looking forward to the album.
S/V\R - Vanités. They're new to me, but it's a Menace Ruine side project that looks to have been around for a while.
Also, another slightly out of place music book: Japanoise: Music at the Edge of Circulation. The copyright notice says it's Creative Commons BY-NC-ND, but I couldn't find a download link in a few minutes of DDGing. He belabors the parallel between the feedback between Japanese artists and American audiences creating "Japanese noise" as a genre and the feedback used to create the music a bit too much, but it's still an enjoyable book if you're into noise.
So, it was a big music week for me. I travelled to Wilco's Solid Sound Festival at Mass Moca in North Adams Maas. All told, it was an amazing couple of days of music, some great adventure and more than a little physical exhaustion. I drove there from North Carolina, which took me 12 hours. I met two friends there and we all stayed in a small room at a Bed and Breakfast. They both snore, I slept on a cot....I'm exhausted. We saw a bunch of bands but the standouts for me were Yo La Tengo. Ira Kaplan seemed to wrench every last drop of sound out of his guitar. It was my first YLT experience and I am now a fan. Wonderful live energy. They started the set off with several songs that were extremely delicate and subtle and then ended there set with melodic noise that was simultaneously random and cohesive. Very expertly done. Another standout was Foxygen a band that mixes bygone genre's in a way that eventually makes their own sound. I am increasingly impressed by this bands recordings and their live performance, though I didn't see it all, was impressive too. Wilco performed two nights. Friday night they performed a night of audience selected cover songs, starting off with "Thin Lizzy's" The Boys Are Back in Town which was a perfect opener. The standout covers were Who Loves the Sun originally by the Velvet Underground, And Your Bird Can Sing by the Beatles and the best cover, by FAR was Marquee Moon by Television. HOLY SHIT that was good. Here is a fan video of it. Wilco's night of covers was really fun, especially given that I've seen them so many times and frankly, I'm not sure how many more times I can hear them play Via Chicago, no matter how explosive the drums/lights are. But cover night was a real treat for us long-time fans. It may have been odd for the uninitiated though. White Denim was really good too and were the first band we saw. The venue itself is absolutely amazing. By far the best venue I've been to for a festival. In fact, calling this a festival does it a disservice. Its more like a big party that Wilco throws. There are so few people there that you see everyone all weekend and feel like you are all "in on" something together. The staff is extremely friendly and the food/beer is reasonably priced. The artwork throughout the place makes for a very surreal experience. It's pretty magical. The highlight of the entire experience was Saturday night. My friend managed to get us tickets to have "dinner with Wilco." The dinner happened after they finished their set at midnight. We were escorted up a stairwell and walked in to a large room that seemed like an airplane hanger, all the more so because the Chinese artist Xu Bing's piece "Phoenix" was hanging above us: There were 100 people in attendance and we were all sat for a gourmet meal. We got to know the people around us and as you can imagine, they were all big Wilco/music fans. Eventually, the band came in and came around and gave high-fives to the attendees. I was able to speak with Jeff Tweedy and thank him for the weekend and let him know how much I enjoyed the Television cover. I had a nice long talk with Glenn Kotche, who I think is one of the best drummers/percussionists out there, about having a two and a half year old and how he can't really take his son with him on tour with 7 dudes on a bus. I mentioned that my wife "J", couldn't make it and he signed a poster to her that read, "J, wish you were here -Glenn. It was a great night. So, lot's of music this weekend. But I'm too tired to write more right now. I'm beat. FUN TIMES THOUGH!!!! Check out Foxygen if you've not already.
You got to A: See Yo La Tengo live. B: See Wilco play a crap-ton of covers, and C: Meet the guys in the band. That is an incredible weekend, I'm beyond jealous. You met Jeff and Glenn, did you meet Nels at all at the dinner?
No, but I met Nels a few years back. Super nice guy, humble genius. bgood79 ran in to him at the show though.
He was at the record shop. So a few weeks ago I got a DVD with him and his friend Henry Kaiser and it was all about guitar pedals. So when I first saw it, I thought 'this is sort of awkward and nerdy. But pretty informative.' Here's how the conversation went: Me: "Hey Nels, just wanted to mention that picked up your effects pedal DVD with Henry Kaiser a few weeks back and thought it was great!" Nels: "Really!? I haven't seen it. I remember filming it and thought it was really awkward and nerdy."
Hahahahahahaha oh man, that's awesome. That seems to be how all musicians who are great at their craft think. It must have been cool to just run into him like that. Nels Cline is a modern day guitar legend.
Yeah, Nels is absolutely amazing. He never phones it in.
This will be always be my favorite solo of his. Especially once the harmonies kick in.
Its a great one, for sure. He is fun to listen to but equally fun to watch imo. The guy is certainly in the moment when he's playing.
Medeski, Scofield, Martin & Wood - Out Louder Track 1: Little Walter Rides Again.
Unusually, my main pick this week is neither new nor kiwi. I got into it via a review/memoir piece written by Mike Smith (@MikeSmithofABQ on twitter; he writes probably the best news feed of all time, @New_Mexico_News). It's Caribou/Manitoba's "Start Breaking My Heart". I wouldn't have found it without the article, and I probably wouldn't be enjoying it nearly as much without it. Here's the opener, Dundas, Ontario. Now for the kiwi stuff: I finally got around to listening to Mali Mali's new album, Gather 'round the Gooseclock. I posted a writeup of it on my blog, but failed to mention (I really noticed it right after I wrote that, on a flight) that it ends so wonderfully painfully. All the Shy Will Congregate is a favourite, as is Magnetic North. I also got Tono and the Finance Company's Fragile Thing EP, initially as a trophy piece, actually, because the album art is an absolute stunner. Huge foldouts with a wonderful artwork on the inside. Listening to it at home (after seeing Anthonie play live) really solidified the buy, though - probably my favourite track is Barry Smith of Hamilton. There's some background info to that track for those outside of NZ - Hamilton is laughed at a lot for being smack bam in the middle of the North Island, kind of away from everything else, and is often characterised as a hick town of sorts. It represents a really really average place to live here. The song is about Stars in their Eyes (I'm sure that existed outside of NZ: basically, normal people came on the show and dressed up and performed as celebrity impersonators). Finally, I released a taster for some new stuff I've been writing yesterday. Post-rock stuff, ambient guitars and builds.
This week I've been listening to a lot of old-school Modest Mouse. Their compilation, Building Nothing Out of Something has moved up to my 2nd favorite album by them. This has been a great week because Kanye West put out Yeezus which is an incredible album. The song linked to is not representative of the rest of the album at all, though he does use a few soul samples throughout.
I had a listen and you're right, it's damn good. What a stupid set up from the Guardian though, it was all about what the guy looks like. Who cares? Great music though, my first time listening and I'll definitely be checking out more of his work. Do you have his first album?
Like any music worth listening to - the experience is ineffable. I've seen a few interviews with Daughn and concede that he is at least handsome, even if in that perfectly-unshaven-totally-premeditated-unkempt-and-calculated kind of way. Given that he is often the only person on stage when he performs, it could have been a great concept to launch a review from juxtaposing his singular look to his singular sound - because both must surely be designed. Are his beats as gated and condensed as his overly starched tartan button-down? Is his afternoon coif of pomade and pocket comb as articulated as his abletoned multi-track reverb? Do the Timbs match the baritone? Are his sideburns as playfully unbalanced as his panning?! (that ones just silly) Of course, though, these are things beyond most critics perception because they aren't paid to discuss bespoke nuance. They're paid to digest trend and push mouse clicks. The digital dealer as it were. I don't even read that shit because if it's the music you're after, well it's as right in front of you as balls before breakfast. His debut All Hell is excellent. Check out Rain on a Highway or In the Beginning
For some reason I stumbled upon the music video for "Time to Realize" by Lemaitre, with a bizarre take on a topical issue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=... I'm not sure what to make of the metaphor, here.
Listened to Kraut rock all day at work yesterday. Neu! - Hallogallo Can - Paperhouse and Mushroom I think the transition from Paperhouse into Mushroom is one of my favorite transitions in all of rock. Can - You Do Right Agitation Free- Rücksturz Faust - Meadow Meal Mad creative track that goes all over the place. Faust - It's a Rainy Day Some of you probably remember Pavments cover of this song. Ash Ra Tempel - Amboss Really just psychedelic rock with an extra dose of experimental free spirit here and there. Other Krautrock bands went more experimental electric, Popol Vuh (before they went 100% acoustic), Kraftwerk, Kluster and Tangerine Dream.