Direct To The Cut-Out Bin

Looking through the list of new releases three things caught my eye: Guided By Voices, Iggy Pop and The Stooges, and The Spin Doctors. That's a pretty eclectic mix. Spotify didn't have the new GBV when I looked for it earlier this morning. It did have the latter two.

I wondered how good either of these could possibly be. Let's just get the Spin Doctors out of the way, I guess. I admit that I still love Pocketful Of Kryptonite. It's a fun record, it's harmless, it reminds me of when I bought my first car in the spring of 1991 and hearing "Little Miss Can't Be Wrong" on the radio. The record after that was horrible; I even forget what it was called (Turn You Inside Out?) but it was obvious they were dialing it in, they were coasting. It was trying to recapture what the earlier record had but it didn't have any of the IT. I remember seeing them at Merriweather Post with Cracker and the Gin Blossoms. I think I even bought their t-shirt which has since disappeared. I guess I enjoyed the show. It did the trick when I was 20.

Now 20 years later I listen to the new record If The River Was Whiskey because it was there and it was just going to cost me 45 minutes.  Chris Barron had some vocal issues (no jokes please) where he couldn't sing for a few years (again...). He doesn't sound very good here. But he sounds more tired than anything else. It's sort of bluesy,
less stoner-jam than they used to be. Would I recommend it? No, unless you really really love them. And even then I'd say try it before you buy it. But good for them continuing to churn out records that somebody is buying.

Then there is Iggy and the Stooges. It's probably sacrilegious for me to say but despite being diametrically opposed to The Spin Doctors this record Ready To Die is probably just as un-essential. I am not a Stooges fan...I like "I Wanna Be Your Dog" and recognize what they and MC5 did for Detroit, but I will admit being ambivalent. I also saw Iggy when I was in college. One of my roommates wanted to go and it was at the Capitol Ballroom which was a dangerous place to go at the time so I went because hey why not. The bill was crazy. First up was something called Exotica, if I remember right. The band had a cello player all decked out in biker leather, a guitarist that looked like the spawn of Tom Petty and an ape, and a lead singer wearing what I recall as being akin to a body condom. They played whatever it was that bands of that ilk played in 1994. He beckoned us to "come closer" which only caused us to take a couple steps back. Up next was Junior Kimbrough. Here was an ancient old bluesman led out by his son to a chair set up at center stage. He was joined by his sons, who handed him his guitar, which he proceeded to play the shit out of. This was awesome. Finally Iggy came out wearing a sequined American flag jacket and leather pants and not much else. Iggy was pretty much pure energy. Racing around the stage, flailing about maniacally. At one point he swung the microphone over his head and into the crowd; the thumps as it hit spectators crashing over the PA. Every song had "thanks, fuckers" as the segue. Yeah, crazy show.


Anyhow here I am listening to the new record and it is what it is. It isn't terrible but it doesn't really do anything. There are some songs that have horns on them that sound jarringly out of place. The title track started and I actually paused to listen but then went right back to typing. As I stress here all the time all music has value and if it makes you happy then great. If you're a fan then you'll probably enjoy this. If you're not you won't be won over.

So I get to the point which is what is the point? Does the world really need a new Spin Doctors record or a new Stooges record in 2013. Are record labels really interested in this? I guess so. I guess there is a built-in audience for this. Fans from 20 or 40 years ago will see this and say "I remember liking them" and will instinctively pick it up. They'll listen to it once or twice and say "oh" and then forget about it. The Stooges have street cred (where the Spin Doctors have ZERO) so rock writers will probably say nice things or at least give them a pass.

But that is a part of pop music. Disposable. Bands you remember liking when you were young and feel some sense of obligation to hear again. I think anybody who buys either of these (I am probably one of the few who listened to both let alone bought them...which I didn't) isn't someone who is that deep a music fan. If someone is on the prowl for new music and new bands they likely aren't stopping by The Spin Doctors except to mock it and will listen to The Stooges because as a music-expert they are supposed to. But not everybody has to be that way. I don't mean to sound like a snob, that I like stuff that speaks-to-me-man. There's a reason "background music" is a descriptor beyond it's literal meaning. Both these records are the kind that pass by and wind up in the cut-out bin, except we don't have cut-out bins anymore. We just have the ether and it's full of noise.

PS...AllMusic gave both of these records 4 stars showing that I know nothing.

Across The Crystal Frontier

My biggest prize from Record Store Day 2013 was a copy of the new Calexico 12" Spiritoso. I don't know if they intent to give this a wider release; I think the rules of Record Store Day say you are not supposed to.

The best way I can describe Calexico is to say they are what an indie band would sound like when hired to score a spaghetti western. Like the town they take their name from, there music is rich with their native Arizona. Acoustic/electric guitars mesh with strings and horns and a wide variety of percussive instruments. I've dug them since I read about them in the old No Depression magazine; I think the first CD of theirs I bought was the brilliant Hot Rail. It is still my favorite of theirs but the others are all wonderful.

Calexico is mainly the work of two fellows: Joey Burns and John Convertino. They played with one another in a couple other bands (Giant Sand being one) before finding their niche with Calexico. The music is well beyond what two fellows can do, at least when they do it live. It is really different from what's out there. Indie rock has a broad spectrum of acts and Calexico occupy their own place. The southwestern flavor has such a unique vibe. There are probably other bands that do something similar but I don't know who they are and I doubt they could do it any better. This kind of thing can easily fall into a rut or even into parody but each record moves forward from the last and is always interesting. Instead of aping the same themes or treading the same ground, they find a great balance of staying true to their roots while expanding on the scope. The music evolves from record to record but it stays grounded in where it came from.

Spiritoso is extra-special in that it was recorded live with big time assists from orchestras in Vienna and Potsdam. I hesitate to say they play their hits (there are none really) but if you're familiar with them you'll recognize these tracks. Through the headphones it's simply fantastic. The swells from the orchestra are exhilarating; the way the horns fill the bottom and the strings seem to soar above let the songs take on a life of their own. It is very cinematic music; one can easily see a rider crossing a dusty plain, a an old time locomotive chugging along a desert floor, a coyote silhouetted against the moon. It sounds cheesy here but the execution of the music is just brilliant. It is joyous and soothing all at once. It's great music to unwind to.

I haven't had a chance to see them live but I understand their shows are a real treat. There's a lot going on with it and I one day will get to see how they pull it off live. It will be an experience.

Here's a great tune called "Para." I hope you enjoy!

Record Store Day 2013

Saturday morning, much against my nature and the allergies I am suffering from, I arose at 5:30am so that I could drive over to a little record store and stand in line so that I had a chance to maybe buy some special records.

Record Store Day is an "event" that vinyl-nerds like me look forward to every year. Here's how it works: artists make available special releases in very limited quantities (usually 3000 to 5000) to independent record stores in support of these local shops that sell vinyl and keep up the spirit of indie music. Not every store gets any quantities of every release. You can view a list of what will be available but it's really a surprise as to what will be actually be there. Last year I went at 1pm, being the naive fool I am, and discovered there was nothing left.

So having learned my lesson I arrive in front of Record and Tape Exchange in Fairfax VA at 6am. There are already two guys out there. One kind in his early twenties is huddled under a blanket on a ratty old mattress. Another guy is sitting in only of those collapsable wing chairs. The kid says he has two buddies that ran off to get food. The other guy is there by his lonesome. Fifth in line, that's pretty good. We chit chat about what we want and we discover, happily, our lists do not collide. There are cool guys. The one kid is wearing a Mastodon sweatshirt so we talk about seeing them in concert. They offer us honey buns.

My list had two tiers: 1) really want; 2) intrigued. In the first category there were four things. I didn't know if there were any limitations or other rules on what to buy, so I wanted it tiered. The four things were: Big Star's Nothing Can Hurt Me double LP; Old 97s with Waylon Jennings on 7"; The Hold Steady Criminal Fingers 7"; and Calexico's Spiritoso 12". The Big Star vinyl is different mixes and alternate versions of their songs for an upcoming documentary. The Old 97s and Waylon thing was something the band did with him way back in 1996 and are finally releasing. The Hold Steady 7" includes the "Bear and the Maiden Fair" song used in Game of Thrones. And the Calexico LP is them doing songs with a couple orchestras in Europe.

Some of the stuff in the other category included The Band, Elliott Smith, Aloha, Gram Parsons, Brendan Benson, Cream. These were things that if I saw I would consider but wouldn't be sad if I couldn't find or got beaten to.

At around quarter-to-8 the owners showed up saying "Happy Record Store day!!" We replied in turn, though it had gotten pretty chilly and I was feeling close to miserable; but the thought of the gold mine that lay beyond the glass kept me warm inside. HA! We watched them inside busy making the final preparations. The kids in front of us had been there since the store closed the night before and they knew the folks who worked there. They mentioned seeing The Band's triple-LP of  The Last Waltz on the shelf so I knew I could get that at least.

At T-minus-five-minutes one of the workers opened the door and said the first 10 people in line would get 90s seconds of alone-time with the store. This was exciting because I was 5th and there are now 30 people behind me. Ninety seconds would be more than enough time to secure what I was hoping to get.

So the door swings open and we go in and the stuff is nicely organized and easy to find. Unfortunately for me they only had 1 of the things I really wanted (or at least that I could find) and that was the Calexico record. The other 3 were not to be found. I did manage to grab the The Last Waltz and another 3xLP of Cream's 2005 reunion shows at the Royal Albert Hall.

I was really happy with being able to get these special things, but all in all I was a bit disappointed in the overall selection. That's no knock on the store. As I understand it stores don't always get what they ordered. Part of the charm of the event is not knowing what is going to be there. So it's Christmas to vinyl-geeks. By the time I paid and left the RSD section was stripped bare. This was about 15 minutes after the doors opened.

So for next year, I think I will call up in advance and make sure the store at least orders what I am looking for. That way I can be more heartbroken when it doesn't show. HA!

The Last Waltz with retro label

Cream; dig the gorgeous white vinyl

Calexico's Spirtoso

Sting Me

Last night Tom and I went down to the 930 Club to see the Black Crowes. I've liked them ever since their first record came out. That was back in high school when I was listening to classic rock and metal exclusively. Outside of metal I didn't think there were any new bands really worth listening to. I remember being excited for the new Rush tape or the new AC/DC CD or scraping enough money together to buy ...And Justice For All on tape.

The Black Crowes were one of the few young bands I genuinely liked in 1990. Back then the whole rock revival thing was kicking into gear again. Even though they sounded just like the Stones they didn't really sound like anything on radio or on MTV. Maybe Guns n Roses, but GnR weren't exactly fun like the brothers Robinson, they were frightening (at the time at least). Their copying of the classics was to me new and exciting. It was anachronistic but it was fresh in its way.  Instead of the same old same old on Q102 it was kids a little older than me making a record I actually dug. It wasn't anything transcendental, I am not equating them with Bob Dylan, but to a 17 year old kid it was cool.  This was  few years before I got acquainted with Nirvana and Pearl Jam and Soundgarden and their ilk.

Young Rich Robinson

The first three Crowes records are easily the best. The second one, The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion is awesome and the follow-up Amorica is almost as good. Those were the records Marc Ford played on and he was my favorite BC lead player. He also played on Three Snakes and a Charm but that oine was a bit too jammy for me. After that the albums blur together. I liked Lions when it came out.

Chris Robinson

They aren't touring behind any new record right now. They did just release a big live set that I listened to but wasn't terribly impressed with. I thought the guitars sounded kind of dull. They didn't roar. It was alright. The show though was great. They are a killer live band. The only originals left are Rich and Chris and drummer Steve Gorman. The other guitarist and bass player (Sven something-or-other who's been with them a long time) and the keyboard player all sounded great. They seemed to rotate guitars every couple songs, so many different guitars. Rich looked like he lost some weight; I remember seeing him a couple years back and thinking he was looking real chunky. He looks great now. Chris looks like a wraith still but the great thing about him is how utterly comfortable he is as a lead singer. He doesn't play an instrument; he just sings and does he goofy hippie dance. But for a band that has long jam breaks during the songs, you get no sense of him being uncomfortable or bored or not knowing what to do or irritated that another 5 minute guitar solo was going on. He just twirls around and plays with his shirt and bangs the tambourine and has a good time. I admire that. He's a great front man.

"She Talks To Angels" naturally

This was the fourth time I have seen them. First time was at DAR Constitution Hall on the SH&MC tour. Second time was a surprise gig at 930 Club around 1997. Last time was when they toured with Jimmy Page and did Zeppelin tunes all night. I remember the DAR show was great; the first 930 Club was fine; the Page show was kind of weird. This was a very good show. They are tight and accomplished and know how to groove. They played over 2 hours. They did most of the songs you'd want to hear: "Twice As Hard," "She Talks To Angels," "Stare It Cold," "Jealous Again," "Remedy," "Sting Me." Happily they didn't do that stupid "Stop Kicking My Heart Around" song; that one is so meh. Tom said the other guitarist must be real new because he was looking at song sheets a bunch of times. Man's got to eat, right?

As it goes for a meat and potatoes rock band, you can't get much better than The Black Crowes.

Modern Rock Retro Rebels

Modern radio is an absolute wasteland. Current rock music is made up of junk like Imagine Dragons and dozens of crummy bands that name themselves <something> the <something else>...Cage The Elephant, Young The Giant, Walk The Moon. It seems the only real rock bands getting any radio play are Foo Fighters and The Black Keys, and the latter get way more credit than they deserve.

Even on Sirius it's difficult to find modern rock music that is listenable. I've started listening to Garage, or more exactly Little Steven's Underground Garage, regularly. It's a mix of classic 60s rock tunes with bands that take their inspiration from those classic 60s tunes. The songs here are as straight-forward as the name implies: it's music you would expect to come out of the countless garage bands that were inspired by The Beatles and The Stones and all their imitators both good and band.

Last night at DC's The Black Cat I saw three such bands. I have not heard them on Garage but they would be well at home there. The Black Angels, supported by Allah-Las and Elephant Stone. I saw The Black Angels a couple years ago on a bill with Black Mountain and came away impressed. When I saw they were hitting DC touring behind a new record, and after getting goaded by my neighbor, I snatched up a ticket before it sold out. The other two bands I hand't heard of so I checked them out on my new best friend Spotify. Elephant Stone I really dug...the Allah-Las were what I like to call "meh" (but that will change!!!).

Trust me they have a guitar player...he's just too far to the right. 

Elephant Stone are a four piece from Montreal. When I listened to them I liked the sort of Starfish-era Church vibe they gave off. Then I noticed the sitar coming in and had a Kula Shaker moment, thinking the Indian vibe was a bit much. When they hit the stage last night I realized where this particular influence came from: the keyboardist and the singer/bassist/sitarist were both Indian. After seeing white kids spend effort trying to emulate George Harrison this was almost refreshing.  

The name Elephant Stone reminds me of The Stone Roses. These guys are more like a catchier Tame Impala. The singer guy started out on the sitar but then moved on to a sweet blonde Rickenbacker bass. He would jump back and forth as the music required. His bass lines I really liked...very groove oriented. Listening to it now my head is bouncing and my foot is tapping. Halfway through the set a little girl who must have been their biggest fan in the world nudged her way in front of me and proceeded to jump and twirl and pump her fists for the next 15 minutes. She wasn't annoying, I was just worried that she would break my jaw. I gave her a couple gentle pushes in the back when she got a bit too close and only got my foot stepped on twice. No complaints she was just having a good time and I can dig it.

What do they sound like? Here's "Setting Sun" the lead track off their latest, self-titled record. I happily left with a vinyl copy. I bought it from the guitarist. My voice is shot from my allergies in overdrive right now, so I just smiled and gave him $20 and happily shook his hand.

The Allah-Las hadn't impressed me much on Spotify. Live it was a very different story. They blew me away. They are from California. They have a very heavy 60s American garage band vibe; very chimey surf-like sounding guitars. They had the proverbial "bitch seat" of the bill. They had to have all their gear set up after Elephant Stone tore down and it took a bit of time to get the sound right; poor guys had to stand there waiting for the sound guy to get to them. Happily the crowd didn't get restless and incite revolution and take it out on the band. It did do harm to the set because they got cut off one song short. That was a drag.

60s revivalists Allah-Las. This is a good thing.

Music-wise, like I said, they blew me away. Here's a band where my initial listen to them, granted through my iPhone while at work, didn't really impress me. But live all their charms and talents came shining through. What struck me beyond the retro 60s vibe was the fact that many times all four of them sang together and that it sounded great. Great harmonies and great vibe made the songs come alive. They did a couple instrumentals that in general I am not a fan of but in this case worked because the music was so good. The retro thing was topped off by the gear: the guitarist in front of me played an old-school Murph while the bassist rocked a Danelectro. I hadn't planned on buying their record but I dug the music so much I felt I couldn't leave without it.

Here's the video for "Tell Me (What's On Your Mind)" from their self-titled LP. Dig the suits.

The Black Angels are from Austin and are the most experimental of the three bands. They have a modern take on the 60s psychedelic sound thing. The stage show included the trippy looking lights and colors and shapes broadcast on some white board they had strategically set up on the stage. They also had two left-handed guitarists, which must be some kind of record.

The Black Angels. Trippy, man.

Strangely enough the band I mainly came to see wound up leaving me the coldest. It didn't help that after I took the above picture I had to move to the back because they were SO FUCKING LOUD. The mix wasn't right because when the third song started it was like an icepick into my ear. It also didn't help I was positioned right in front of the speaker. And it finally didn't help that two douche bags decided to push themselves right in front of me. Unlike the dancing Elephant Stone fan, these guys were assholes. I didn't make a deal about it because a) I can't really talk; and b) when the girl a couple people down from me did make a deal about it he called her a "fuckin bitch" and told her to "shut the fuck up it's a concert." Here was another case where I didn't feel like getting my jaw broken, this time from the fist of a douchebag. This plus how LOUD IT WAS sent me to the comfort of the back of the room where the volume level and personal space situation was just fine.

What about the music, man? Oh yeah, right. They are the least tuneful and catchy of the three bands, which explains why they are on the top of the bill and the most likely to get radio play. Sorry was that out loud? Don't get me wrong, I really like them. I ordered their record (Indigo Meadow) so it came the day after it came out (what's up with that, Amazon Prime?) Their music is almost like a carnival. It swirls and it growls and it's like what an acid trip is described as by someone who has never come close to an acid trip. There is something disconcerting about the front man; he doesn't look like a front man. He looks like the guy getting me another PBR. He has a kind of whiny, nasally voice but it works for the songs. The other band members, except for the good-looking blonde drummer lady, didn't really register, but the guitarist in front of me before I high-tailed to the back played a nice natural hollow-body and a black Rickenbacker that looked weird because he held it left handed and thereby upside down.

Here's the lead single "Don't Play With Guns." Steven Hyden, one of my favorite rock writers, shat all over it for Pitchfork. To each his own. He gave this song a special shout out in not liking because it was written around about the Aurora shooting business and the lead singer guy said some things about this song in that context which should have probably been left unsaid. 

So all in all, and despite douchebags taking my spot, a really enjoyable evening at The Black Cat. Whenever I can go to a show where all the acts are especially good it's a great time.

More With Less

Low is Mimi Parker, Alan Sparhawk and Steve Garrington. They are a very simply put together band: guitar, bass and drum. Occasional keyboard. Parker and hubby Sparhawk trading on vocals. They might be the prototypical indie rock band. Their records are sparse in theory but full in delivery. Take "Just Make It Stop" from their latest record, The Invisible Way:

On a record full of pretty songs this is probably my favorite. The record was produced by the great Jeff Tweedy. An interesting choice because he isn't known, at least to me, as a producer. But the vibe established here shows a deft touch. The well written material is given plenty of room. I said it was full in delivery. Though the parts are relatively small, there isn't much overdubbing or overdoing that I can hear, each part has a weight, has an impact. Each part has a personality; each part stands together with the rest to create a well constructed whole. The crunchiest song is "On My Own" with a frightening guitar squall lurching through the midsection. But it doesn't overwhelm the piano lilt moving underneath or the vocals soaring above. Here's a record that is really well written and really well made.

Sparhawk and Parker's voices work well together. It's the work of singers who are well acquainted with one another, who know where the other's voice belongs, who know how to integrate the uniqueness. One comparison was what Gram Parsons and Emmy Lou Harris did together; I don't necessarily agree with that. The point was the country flavor but the way the voices worked together so well. My disagreement is that with Gram and Emmy Lou you always get the feeling that Emmy Lou was second fiddle to Gram; less a partner and more a supporting act to Gram's svengali-act. That isn't the case here, not even close. If anything Parker has the upper hand; her songs are the more affecting. That is no knock on the other tracks, especially the great opener "Plastic Cup," just a tribute to the high quality of the songs, both lyrically and arrangement-wise.

I had never really given Low a chance before. I knew of them but had never listened. Earlier in the year I got into Sparhawk's noisier side gig Retribution Gospel Choir (whose latest features Wilco sideman Nels Cline), so when the new Low record dropped I felt compelled to take a closer look. I am glad I did. Exposed to them now is a better-late-than-never kind of deal. An outstanding record, one that has a good chance of making my top 10 favorites of the year.