Happy Halloween everyone! It will probably come as no surprise that our song of the day is Korn's "Freak on a Leash." Just kidding. In our final Song of the Day post (Monday we will resume with our regularly scheduled Song of the Week) for all you Halloween lovers out there, here's Michael Jackson's "Thriller." What's most creepy about this video to me is that it was made when he was alive, but almost as if he knew ahead of time that I was going to need a video that featured werewolves, zombies and graveyard scenes for my Song of the Day two decades later. Creepy.
Happy Halloween and come back tomorrow for Livy Traczyk's brilliant review of Andrew Bird's final show of his tour!
Keeping with our theme of Halloween and mental illness (see Daniel Johnston in the previous article), contributing writer, Tim Holtzclaw, tells us the story of Jan Terri. Be afraid. Be very afraid.
Travel back with me for a moment to the early '90s...
Post-Cold war United States scientists are celebrating the cloning of Dolly the Sheep; Bob Saggett is asking for America to mail in their funniest VHS home videos; and MC Hammer points out that "You've got to pray - just to make it today". And somewhere between the anger of the L.A. Riots and the joy of Super Mario Bros. 3 hitting Toys R Us shelves, lies a middle-aged limo driver from Chicago with big hair, an even bigger heart, and a lofty dream to share "pictures" that "correlate with song"...
Combining ahead of her time Blair Witch-style camerawork with sitcom-intro panning of cityscapes, Terri blurs the line of art and music with her 1991 breakthrough song and video: "Losing You." In it, a cold Chicago wind-blown Terri shakily belts "My Heart is open like an open book, and yours is closed", portraying a story of misplacement that channels the rebellious honesty of Joan Jett's "I Hate Myself for Loving You". With Casio keyboard drum beats and a flare for the theatrical, Terri weaves musical styles of the Beastie Boys, Cher, and Meatloaf. Her music revolves around fundamental, albeit, elementary themes, painting stories of love, loss, and seasonal adventures. Her passion for her family comes alive in "Cruise Ship", and her respect for classic film shines through in the black and white hit "Get Down Goblin"(see below). Throughout the decade, Terri gave away her videotapes to clients through her limo service and feverishly self-released two albums: the aptly titled, High Riskof 1991, and, Baby Bluesof 1993. Both records (like most works of genius) received little popularity, until a recent Youtube campaign and subsequent tour with Marilyn Manson, resurrected the dormant cult-pop icon.
Now, upon first glance, you will laugh at Ms. Terri. Her wobbly (and questionably drunk) camera man; her too-tight leather jacket; her lack of basic rhythm and chubby, unclear facial expressions. But keep watching and something magical will happen... the unwavering passion that at first looked like it must be some sort of prank, suddenly feels like actual sincerity. A guilt will develop in you like that of a repenting bully and you will regret so much teasing, finding surprising beauty each time she inevitably falls off-key. Jan Terri builds a slow tug on your heart strings like a beached whale, rallying fans around a hopeful return to sea. Yes, believe it or not, you will actually end up rooting for her, grabbing nearby friends to sit down and experience Terri in all of her lack of self-conscious glory. You see, before egomania and Botox, before bulimia and electronic voice enhancing, we had Jan Terri. Pretty? Maybe not. Talented? Questionable. Addictive? Like a bag of Sunchips.
Hey kids, wanna write for An Ocean of Noise? If you have been to a concert or heard an album (keep it current please) that you just have to tell the world about, you can send it to us (word doc. with appropriate pictures) at anoceanofnoise@gmail.com. Not sure what kind of music we're into? Take a scroll through the site to get an idea.
We reserve the right to edit, and depending on volume, we may not be able to publish all submissions. Thanks to all of our loyal readers, and while An Ocean of Noise may have found new full-time employment (!) we'll keep the articles coming every day!
This one comes from the freaked-out pumpkin department, just in time for Halloween. Billy Corgan, the now certifiably bat-shit crazy, leader of The Smashing Pumpkins, is encouraging you to think long and hard about the propaganda machine known as H1N1. In an 800 word blog post, Corgan expresses his deep suspicions about the motives of, "American President Obama," (thanks for clearing up which one you're talking about Billy) declaring a national state of emergency to get out the Swine Flu vaccine.
He goes on to say that it is highly likely that the flu was man-made and therefore we shouldn't even be calling it Swine Flu (Man Flu does have a certain ring to it). He also says that if the flu is going to take him "home" then that's just cool and fine with him, and up to God anyway (who he says might not be real - he also says you and me and him, might not be real). In the end, Corgan says that the reason he is most distrustful of the flu and the vaccine is because it has an air of fear around it and "Anything that is connected by fear is definitely not connected to the promotion of love." Definitely. You can see the whole post here.
I know we said that all the songs chosen this week would be super spooky, but truth be told, we're not sticklers for details. A song about ghosts that's not scary is still a song about ghosts, so get off our backs! Song of the Day? Band of Horses - "Is There a Ghost"
In a shameless attempt to boost net traffic by including words like penis and boobs in this blog post, you should check out the new video for the song "Lust for Life," by the band Girls (who we told you about a couple weeks ago) featuring lots of penis and boobs. Seriously, don't watch this at work, or school, children, because of all of the penis and boobs. Not kidding here, in one shot a guy uses another guys penis as a microphone. There are also lots of boobs. Enjoy, and don't say you weren't warned.
So this one's not techinically a song - more like a creepy poem set to the sounds of a haunted factory, but I'm in no position to question Tom Waits. Off his album, Mule Variations, here's today's Halloween Song of the Day.
I first heard the band Flick when I was 16-years-old. I remember driving down the highway in my car listening to the once great (but not anymore) Lawrence, Kansas radio station, 105.9 The Lazer. The Lazer was known for playing an eclectic mix of alternative, indie and local music. Given Lawrence's close proximity to Missouri (not something to be proud of, but a fact nonetheless) they started playing a "local" band from the tiny town of Stockton, called Flick.
I remember being grabbed immediately. This wonderful sound was coming from my speakers - beautifully naive lyrics sang by a voice akin to a child-like John Lennon, over guitars crunchier than a bag of potato chips. The influences were immediately obvious - The Beatles, Radiohead, Smashing Pumpkins - but still somehow fresh, like they thought they had just discovered those three bands and nobody else in the world had ever heard of them. Or maybe it was because most of the members of Flick were teenagers (brothers Oran and Trevor Thorton were 18 and 14(!) respectively) and went at these oft-imitated bands with the wild-eyed wonder and sincerity that only teenagers really can.
Butch Vig (Nirvana producer and member of the band Garbage) in an interview once said he thought Flick were going to be the next big thing but almost everyone else wrote them off. Google the band's debut album, The Perfect Kellulight, and the few reviews that actually come up, pigeon-hole them as a bunch of kids trying to sound like their grown up predecessors. The biggest magazine to review them, Entertainment Weekly, gave them a B- and said that perhaps, maybe, someday, this band would be great. Flick toured around the region for a while and I had the chance to meet them once backstage at an outdoor festival in Wichita (nice guys). I myself was 17 at the time and it was weird being older than the lead singer of one of my favorite bands. Eventually the band split and were mostly forgotten about (do a Google search of 'Flick' and virtually nothing about the band comes up). Today, a couple members from the band still play in a largely shitty hard rock band and oddly, some forced and cliched country music, and maybe a handful of people from the Midwest remember them (3 of those being my 2 brothers and I).
A few days ago, on a whim, I listened to Flick and realized two things - 1. Yes, the music is completely derivative of its influences. No doubt each member of the band fell asleep every night listening to The Bends or Siamese Dream. Flick wouldn't have existed without its influences and they wore them very brightly on their sleeves. The second thing I realized was that Flick totally fucking rocked. All that impassioned youth crap I was spewing about them is completely true. We Americans are obsessed with youth - we love the Britney Spears' and Taylor Swift's of the world for being talented at such an early age. That's fine, I'm not here to give some cliched rant about bubblegum pop and Disney-programmed robots on the radio. The point is, Flick was a band comprised of brothers and friends from the middle-of-nowhere Missouri, singing their adolescent hearts out about their heartache and disappointments and playing the hell out of their instruments (and no matter how old they were, they could really play). It's a damn shame that Flick never got the recognition they deserved. Ten years later, their music sounds twice as fresh as Pearl Jam or Stone Temple Pilots or anything from that genre. And even for Radiohead wannabes it's better than most others - less melodramatic than Snow Patrol, less apeshit over-the-top than Muse, and way more fun than Coldplay. In short, Entertainment Weekly can shove that B- minus up their A. Flick Rules!
In honor of Halloween, We'll be posting a song each day (instead of just one for the week) leading up to the big holiday. And, of course, keeping with our theme, each song will super spooooooky. Leading things off, this years undisputed Halloween champions, and Ryan Gosling crossover-to-music vehicle, Dead Man's Bones. All together now - "My Body's a Zombie for You!"
Yikes! According to reports from the BBC, Morrisey, ex-lead singer of The Smiths, collapsed on stage last night during the middle of a performance. It's not exactly known what caused him to go down but he has been released from the hospital and is, according to his website, in stable condition and resting at home.
Last month we learned all about the music defined as shoegaze. This month it's all about Nu Metal.
Nu-Metal - adjective, origin, US (mostly California), circa - early 1990's
The term Nu-Metal was first coined by Spin Magazinein 1995 in a review of the band Coal Chamber. The sound is a combination of hip-hop, heavy metal, funk and a lot of other genres that should have never been combined. The music is generally typified by slap bass, murky guitars, white guys with dreads rapping about child molestation and a DJ who adds scratches and "atmosphere" to the song.
Though when I saw them live in DC, Dead Man's Bones was accompanied by a rockin' gospel choir, the duty of back up vocals on their album fall to a group of kids. The result is something between Sesame Street and Children of the Corn, which is to say, pretty awesome. This got me thinking, what other songs have incorporated children and to what effect?
Radiohead - "15 Steps" The sound of children yelling (or screaming) occurs for about a second (check the 2:13 mark) and are then swallowed up again by the rest of the song. This repeats a few times through the course of the song and has a creepy effect.
Jay Z - "Hardknock Life" Little Orphan Annie reimagined as a cocky ghetto kid? Genius.
Kayne West - "We Don't Care" Making kids sing about selling drugs is totally inappropriate, and fun.
M.I.A. - "Mango Pickle Down River" Rapping has never sounded so adorable, fishing has never sounded so bad ass.
Pink Floyd - "Another Brick in the Wall" British school children have it hard and they are getting sick of it. They want their pudding before their meat. Damn it.
Last month we reviewed the rock classic of Classic Rock, Almost Famous. This month we are looking at the recently released to DVD documentary, Anvil: Story of Anvil. The story of, The Story of Anvil, a Canadian metal band who almost, but never quite, made it big, is a real-life epic, This is Spinal Tap. The movie centers around lead singer Lips Kudlow and drummer Robb Reiner (oddly, the same name as the director of Spinal Tap), who after 25 years of trying to obtain their dream, still haven't given up. While Robb has seemingly made a successful life for himself as an artist and working for the man, Lips is, after all these years, struggling to get by, working as a delivery driver for meals to the elderly. What's so heart-breaking about their story is how close they actually got to stardom and how their sound was ripped off a million times over by other bands who went on to make platinum records.
The movie documents both the history of the band and their one last-ditch effort to make it big again in the face of old age, financial struggles and relevancy. We are taken along for the ride and see the intimate moments between Lips and Reiner who both take care of each other and fight like brothers. It is a movie where absurdity meets sincerity. The tears of laughter and pain the audience sees and shares are split equally. The movie falls into many categories - farce, musical, drama, bromance - but ultimately, the best way to sum it up is - this is life.
Cynics beware. This movie may actually breath life back into your cold heart. And for anybody who has a dream they refuse to give up on - this is pure fuel for the fire. Highly recommended.
With all these actors turning to music, it's only fair that a few musicians take a stab at acting one in a while too. And now Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie fame (and of marrying Zooey Daschanel fame) is getting his chance by landing a role in Brief Interviews With Hideous Men. The film is an adaptation of one of my favorite authors, David Foster Wallace, and directed by one of my favorite tv personalities, John Krasinski (Jim from The Office). Don't screw this up, Gibbard!
Christopher Owens and J.R. White are the duo that make up the new California band, Girls. While their music is compelling on its own, the story of lead-singer, Owens, adds more than a little intrigue to the project. Owens grew up with his mother in a religious cult called, Children of God, a group known for sexual perversity with children. Owens moved around with his family between the cults different bases - from Florida, to Asia, to Europe - before running away at 16.
Soon enough, Owens found himself in Texas, befriended by the eccentric millionaire-artist, Stanley Marsh 3. Marsh took care of Owens and became a father figure to him. Later, Owens moved to San Francisco where he would eventually meet up with J.R. White and write the songs that would be the base of the band featured here today, Girls. According to Owens, the only music he was allowed to listen to while growing up in the cult was 50's and 60's pop music and that influence can definitely be heard in their own songs along with a touch of Elvis Costello and, well, drugs.
The weather outside of Washington DC's, 6th & I Street Synagogue, was horrific - freezing temperatures, cold rain and flooded streets. Inside, however, was a different story. Hundreds of fans packed into the hundred-year-old building in downtown DC to see indie-dreamboat, Ryan Gosling's, new - just in time for Halloween - death/ghost obsessed band, Dead Man's Bones.
The opening act was a talent show that included magicians, mentalists and belly-dancers, which might have been entertaining if any of the performers had actually spoken into the microphones so that the crowd could hear them. Adding to the irritation was a ghost, donning a cowboy hat, who served as the host of the evening, announcing each new performer in a terrible Mexican-accent, and doing his own acoustic rendition of Madonna's, "Like a Virgin," that might have been funny if he actually knew how to play guitar. Given Gosling's willingness to embrace his own lack of talent in interviews describing the project, the crowd was beginning to worry what we had gotten ourselves into for the evening.
Alas, Dead Man's Bones took the stage with the Howard Gospel Choir (who were decked out like ghostly white-hooded monks) and quickly put all doubt to R.I.P. The band, who had been advertised more or less as duo, appeared with several musicians (all in front of a neatly lit haunted house/graveyard scene) creating a sound that was both full and varied. Despite often labeling themselves as goth-folk, Dead Man's Bones come across more like a doo-wop 60's girl band who just happen to be singing songs about zombies and tombstones. The few times the guitar was out of tune, or the gospel singers missed their cue, came off as more charming than anything else, and the entire evening seemed like a rollicking, old-fashioned Halloween party.
It's hard to imagine listening to most of these songs, in say, July, but the mood inside the synagogue last night matched perfectly with the spooky weather on the streets. Gosling clearly views his work with Dead Man's Bones as a labor of love and not just a goofy, Hollywood actor vanity project. It will be interesting to see what ultimately becomes of this project (will there be a follow up album next October?) but this is certainly one of the better actor-turned-musician works to date and destined to become a Halloween classic.
To win 2 free tickets to the Dead Man's Bones (actor Ryan Gosling's spooky new music project) show tonight at the Sixth and I Synagogue here in Washington, D.C. email us at anoceanofnoise@gmail.com, leave your name and number and tell us why you want to go!!
Apologize for the absence but between house guests and Itunes devouring all of my music for no apparent reason, other things have taken priority. But alas, said house guests and I will be braving record low temps and a Nor' easter to see Dead Man's Bones this evening. Come back tomorrow for pictures and a review of the show!
Over the past several years the Flaming Lips have written songs and put on performances that have looked and sounded like the happiest acid-trip on the face of the planet. They have taken over the radio and commercials with feel-good psychedelic hits like "She Don't Use Jelly," and most recently, "Do You Realize," a song that Oklahoma (the Lips home state) is adopting as the official rock song of the state. Just when it seemed like Wayne Coyne and company were going to float away in a bubble of drugged-out, middle-aged bliss, along comes their new album Embryonic.
Something at the Flaming freak-show has gone horribly wrong, and it sounds oh so good! The strange trip they have been on has become much stranger, much darker, and much better. On Embryonic, the The Flaming Lips have taken the brown acid and the result is a tripped-out journey through 'dying leaves,' 'worm mountains,' and a whole lot of 'evil.' They have traded in much of their synthy happy-go lucky, candy keyboards and guitars and turned up the distortion and distopia. The result is a double-album full of unwavering raw, sinister psychedelia through the other side of the looking-glass. In other words this is the freshest and most exciting thing The Flaming Lips have produced in a very long time.
Hear a sample of their new song, "See the Leaves," off Embryonic, below.
Last month we discussed Kim Cooper's book about the rise and fall of Neutral Milk Hotel and made a lot of Decemberists fans mad in the process (win-win). This month we're looking at Rob Sheffield's, Love is a Mix Tape.
Rob Sheffield is a music critic and writer for Rolling Stone. Love is a Mix Tape is a novel based on the true story of his life. The story centers around the devastating loss of Sheffield's young wife, "an Appalachian punk-rock girl named Renee," from an unexpected blood clot. The story is told from the chronological order of their relationship - when he first saw her in a bar singing the words to his favorite song, Big Star's "Thirteen," - to her death, and his subsequent struggle to move on.
What's unique here is that every new passage of time (the start of every chapter) is denoted by a mix tape that either he made for her or she made for him during that time. Sheffield, the quintessential rock-geek shares his story of falling in love with a Hell-raising rocker chick. The ups and down of being married young, and the crushing blow of it all ending too soon. In the background of this story are the mix tapes, the songs and musicians that are so important to both of them - R.E.M., Pavement, The Rolling Stones, Prince and many more. These, in effect, work as the soundtrack of their lives.
Recommended reading for any music lover who has ever lost somebody - which is probably everybody reading this post.
What makes a good record store? While many people at this point only do their music shopping on Itunes and read books on their Kindles, there are still a lot of people who see value in holding the real thing in their hands. I've been to record stores from San Francisco to New York and many places in between. Here's a list of a few things every great record store must have.
1 A Cat. Not some spry, agile thing that weaves itself in and out of your legs while you're trying to walk to the jazz section, but a big, fat, lazy cat that sleeps sprawled out and purring over Willie Nelson's greatest hits.
2. A song you've never heard before playing over the speakers. It can be an olde-timey number, an obscure hip-hop group from Durham, North Carolina, or some thrashing, angry punk-rock threesome. It just has to be loud and has to be something you don't know.
3. Knowledgable staff. This is a given. And I don't mean snarky guys who sneer at you when you ask for something that more than 7 people have ever listened to. They better know whether or not they have that John Coltrane you are looking for and where it is. They don't have to compliment you on your tastes (though it's nice if they do) but they can't insult the record that you just bought from their store either.
4. Dust. The whole point of record shopping is to feel as though you are finding a lost gem. A little authenticity isn't too much to ask for.
5.Flyers. A store that doesn't advertise the local bands is not a store that deserves your business. Period.
America does a lot of stupid things - we over eat, we start wars with third world countries we can't win, we elect illiterate Texans to be in charge of our nuclear arsenal - but we get things right once in a while too. Ever tried taking a shower in a European country? By the time enough water comes out of the pipe to call yourself damp, it starts freezing. So we've got showers on our side, but we also have music, sweet, sweet music. And sure, other countries have some great tunes as well, but America is the freaking capitol of the world. Even the Beatles admitted their main goal was to make American-style rock and roll. In honor of the one thing we actually do consistently well, each month we will break down the top 10 music from one of the states in our great union. And since I live within marching distance of the White House, we're starting with Washington, D.C., not actually a state of course, but home to some monumental music.
10. Thievery Corporation Veteran DJing Duo who have started opening up trendy night spots in the District.
9. Q And Not U Dancey post-punk that never made them nearly as famous as the hipsters who ripped it off.
8. Le Loup Oft compared to Grizzly Bear and Animal Collective, these guys are more experimental than the weapons created at the Pentagon.
7. Minor Threat Hardcore started in DC, these are its inventors.
6. The Bad Brains A little bit of funk in the Hardcore Punk. Legendary.
5. Wale If Wale had been one of our forefathers, he'd have been Thomas DEF-ferson.
4. Dismemberment Plan Frontman Travis Morrison can out talk a politician and out dance, well, a politician.
3. Fugazi 9:30 Club. Fugazi. Hardcore. Nothing is more DC than this.
2. Duke Ellington Jazz great. Half of U Street is named after this guy.
1. Marvin Gaye He'd be number one no matter what city/state he was born in. One of the all time greatest.
I used to be a pretty big fan of the band Spoon. I bought all their albums, listened to them frequently and endorsed them enthusiastically. In short, I thought they were pretty great. Then I went to see them in concert and my opinion of them dropped dramatically. Not because they were bad musicians or their songs suddenly sounded awful to me, but because their lead singer Britt Daniel came out on the stage and acted like a drunken frat boy for the entire show. He made sexual innuendos to women in the crowd, made fun of a teenage boy who was dancing in a peculiar way (to their songs), and conducted himself with general buffoonery for an hour-and-a-half or so. I have never been able to listen to them in the same way since.
I know many people much more mature than I will say that one must separate the art from the artist. Call me fickle, but I just can't do it. Once in college, when my own band was performing in a battle-of-the-bands contest, one of the judges was a member of The Get Up Kids. I'm not going to claim that we burned up the stage with our staggering talent but we did alright. Most of the judges comments were very helpful and fair, however the aforementioned member of The Get Up Kids said some very mean things on his scorecard that hinged more on the personal side than judging musical talent. Despite the fact that I did enjoy some 'emo' back in high school, do I listen to The Get Up Kids these days? Nope.
In honor of Columbus, America's first asshole, here's a list of musicians whose great music is tainted by their even greater egos.
Kanye West This one's easy. While I'm not the world's biggest connoisseur of hip-hop, was a time when the song "Jesus Walks" was in my headphones several times a day. I appreciate Kanye's honest raps and his attempts to elevate the game to a more intellectual level while toning done the gansta stuff, but could this guy be anymore of a jerk in real-life? Hi-jacking Taylor Swift's moment of glory was just the latest in a string of jerkish behavior. He has also crashed the stage at a European awards show where he told the crowd that not choosing him meant that the award had lost its credibility. He also screamed backstage at the 2007 VMA's that his not getting an award was racist, he has fought with photographers, and after Hurricane Katrina, claimed that George Bush didn't care about black people (nevermind, that was pretty cool actually).
Modest Mouse Lead singer, Isaack Brock has struggled with alcoholism and drug problems in the past; fair enough, we all have our demons. But Brock's rap sheet also includes DUI's, an attempted murder charge and a rape accusation. Though he admits to the DUI (he was doing whippets while driving-whoa!) he maintains the attempted murder charge was highly exaggerated and the rape completely fictional. And while it does seem that Brock has cleaned up his act over the last couple years while achieving mainstream radio success, his often prickly demeanor in interviews does little to make him endearing to those already put off.
Lou Reed The legendary lead singer of the Velvet Underground once stormed out of the offices of NPR after Fresh Air host Terry Gross asked him some very routine questions about his career. His response, "This isn't working OK? I'll see ya." This wasn't the first or the last time Reed had walked out of an interview, and really, given Reed's tendency to call journalists "F-ing assholes" and "Pieces of shit" to their face, and tell his own audience to shut up, Gross got off easy.
Morrissey The ex-frontman for The Smiths has never backed down from a fight, and that's part of his appeal. As music became hyper-aggressive Morrissey came on stage wearing a hearing aid and pockets full of flowers. He titled an album Meat is Murder and wrote songs about killing the queen of England. On the other hand he has often made statements that come off as racist at worst and nationalistic at best (example: "I don't have anything against people from other countries but the higher the influx the more the British identity disappears" and "I don't hate Pakistanis I just dislike them"). On the other hand he has championed many human rights causes over the years and decried racism in the past. Hmmm.
Bono Sure, he wants to save the children ,and Africa and end Third World debt. I might get burned at the stake for saying this, but anybody, anybody who wears sunglasses when he meets the president has to be kind of a dick, right?
In honor of the movie with the best trailer on TV, Where The Wild Things Are, our song of the week is The Arcade Fire's "Wake Up." If you haven't seen the trailer for the movie go here. To listen to this wonderful song about how growing up kinda sucks, check out the video below.
Over the last couple of years we have seen some pretty major acts get back together - The Pixies, Dinosaur Jr., My Bloody Valentine and recently Pavement, just to name a few. Now I am a realistic person. I know some bands are better off staying split, but what about the bands who might still have something great left to give the world? Here, a list of groups who need to bury the hatchet and start shredding the axe.
1. The Smiths - Johnny Marr is running around with Modest Mouse (which is like an NFL player on a high school team) while Morrissey continues to make his just-bearable solo albums. Really guys, this is better than bringing joy to millions of die-hard Smiths fans across the world? Really? Modest Mouse? Seriously? Okay then.
2. The Smashing Pumpkins - Not Billy Corgan, some girl on bass, an Asian guy on guitar and a some teenage drummer in the background - I want the real deal, D'arcy, James, and Jimmy. Otherwise you are not allowed to call yourselves The Smashing Pumpkins. Got it?
3. At The Drive-In - The reason you may not have heard of them is because they broke up right after their debut album started to gain some attention, and right before I was supposed to see them in concert (thanks for nothing). The band has split into two different groups now - The Mars Volta and Sparta - neither of which kicks as much pure unadulterated arse as At The Drive In.
4. Neutral Milk Hotel - I've already covered this one in the past, but allow me to repeat myself. Jeff Mangum, I know, you had a break down, the stress of touring and being kind of nuts takes its toll. How about you just go into the studio and cough a couple times into the microphone just so we have something. Anything!
Grandaddy - Maybe the saddest story here, the band broke up because they were too poor to keep doing it. You did your part Grandaddy, reaching for something higher than just mainstream success, giving us epically beautiful songs about the break down of modern society - comparing your blues and the numbness of our generations ennui to a cell phone on standby. No I don't blame you. I blame America.
Each month we will take a look at an older band or musician and the impact they have had on the musical world today. Some may be obvious and some may not. Today we are looking Joy Division and the bands that wouldn't be here without them.
Hailing from the late 70's punk influenced Manchester, England scene or as it was known then, Madchester, Joy Division had just barely started making waves at the time of their demise. Joy Division are known for jittery, dark and sad tunes that feature bass and drums in the front of the mix while electric guitars often squall and grate, seemingly apart from the melody of the song. Lead singer Ian Curtis' deep baritone is unforgettable for its morose beauty and also for the deep bank of emotion flowing just beneath its restrained surface. That emotion would eventually undo Curtis. On the morning he was supposed to fly to America for their first big tour in the states, his band mates found him dead in his apartment of a suicide. What was left of Joy Division would become New Order and they would find their own success later on with hits like "Blue Monday."
Here, a list of bands that might not be here today without Joy Division.
Interpol - This one's easy. Interpol is to Joy Division what Oasis is to the Beatles. What Interpol added to the sound was quite simply - New York City. In a sense, Interpol is less of a rip-off and more a logical extension of the sound.
The National - God, I love this band. Not outright copping Joy Divisions' sound, but there are elements, to be sure. Matt Berninger's deep baritone and the discombobulated guitars on "Mistaken for Strangers," are original enough that it wouldn't anger Ian Curtis, but close to enough to make him proud.
The Smiths - Not just fellow musicians but fellow Manchester residents (Mancherites?). Johnny Marr's jangly guitar is a more focused version of the unholy racket Joy Division was capable of making, and Morrisey's dour lyrics were often right in the vein of his hometown heroes.
Nine Inch Nails - Trent Reznor's sound is equal parts industrialized distopia and moody Madchester. All one has to do is listen to his famous Joy Division cover, "Dead Souls," to hear how much the band has been an influence on his work.
Each month we will look at a music soundtrack that aspires to be as great as the movie that birthed it (and a lot of times, even better). This time around though we are looking at one that has some of my least favorite songs ever, and one of the best - Lords of Dogtown.
Inspired by the pretty awesome skateboard movie, this soundtrack is actually kind of crap. Almost the entire album is an homage to the worst cock-rock that the 1970's spawned. The Lords of Dogtown Soundtrack is polluted with everything from Foghat to bow-hunting extraordinaire Ted "The Nuge" Nuget. There are tracks from Nazareth, Joe Walsh and the most beer commercial inspired T-Rex song of all time "20th Century Boy." So what gives? Why even talk about this album? Well there's a gem here and there - David Bowie's, "Suffregragette City," is always a welcome addition, as well as the only great song (or bearable song) that Rod Stewart ever wrote, "Maggie May." But then, stuffed at the very end of the album, inexplicably, is a Sparklehorse/Thom Yorke (of Radiohead) collaboration - doing a cover of Pink Floyd's, "Wish You Were Here."
It comes out of absolutely nowhere. It's hard to imagine the person putting this thing together, with their stacks of crap by Ted Nugent and Deep Purple, thinking, "You know, what would really tie this whole thing together is a Radiohead/Sparklehorse collaboration." And yet. Following Rod Stewart's Cougartown fantasy "Maggie May," is a subtle, beautiful rendition of the only really good song Pink Floyd wrote (I'm already anticipating the hate mail from saying that) covered by no less a person than Thom Yorke with Mark Linkous (who is actually responsible for 95% of the song). Incredible. I have no idea why this happened, I'm just glad it did.
You can hear the song below.
In case you missed it, last night the Mountain Goats played a scintillating version of their new song, "Psalms 40:2," on the Colbert Report, a song that names checks both Missouri (boo!) and Kansas (booyah!) in the lyrics. Prior to the song, Colbert interviewed Mountain Goats frontman, John Darnell who spoke of his affection for real-life mountain goats who, according to Darnell, sometimes kill themselves by trying to jump ravines that are too wide. Bummer. You can see the performance below.
So my favorite dog in the world didn't make it and that really, really sucks! And if you're anything like me, you already hate Tuesdays (let's face it, the lamest day of the week). And while it may seem like a good idea to just go home and go to sleep, there are a couple reasons to make it through the day and stay up late.
Today is the day that Dead Man's Bones, the project by indie-film stud Ryan Gosling hits the shelves at your local record store (and yeah, please support those stores). All the reviews I've read so far are very favorable and I'm pretty excited to hear the whole thing.
Also, don't forget to catch The Mountain Goats on the Colbert Report tonight!
Because my favorite dog in the world is in the hospital right now and not doing so well at the moment, I thought I'd do a piece on my top 5 songs with the word 'dog' in the title. After reading, send all your positive dog-healing thoughts this way. This one's for you Jack. Raise the Roof!
#5 "Dog Door" - Sparklehorse (featuring Tom Waits) Listening to Tom Waits howl like a methed-out shirtless lunatic in a trailer park screaming at God after his woman has run away, because there just ain't nobody else to yell at, is... awesome.
#4 "Jenny & The Ess-Dog" - Stephen Malkmus One of his most Pavementy songs since leaving Pavement. Just what you expect from Malkmus - making really great music sound completely effortless.
#3 "Sleeping Dogs" - Madeline The most haunting singer that no one has ever heard of. Best for long cold nights, a few glasses of whiskey and your broken-heart.
#2 "Dog On Wheels" - Belle & Sebastian This dog is not only loyal, this dog is completely obsessed with you. Every song he's ever written was written for you - and he plays one mean trumpet to boot.
#1 "I Wanna Be Your Dog" - The Stooges That cute dog over in the corner that looks like he wants you to pet him? He doesn't. That dog is Iggy Pop and he's going to mess you up.
Pitchfork.com, the music blog most modern inide fans struggle deciding whether they love or hate, has listed their songs of the last decade. Number one of the list? Outkast's hit "B.O.B." You can find their reason for choosing the song here. What do you think? Is this the best song of the last 10 years?
The Monsters of Folk is the collaboration of indie-folk superstars Conner Oberst of Bright Eyes, Jim James of My Morning Jacket and M. Ward known for both his solo work and his collaboration with ZooeyDaschanel called She & Him. Also on board is Mike Mogis, who produces and plays on most Bright Eyes albums. Each of these performers have their own distinctive style and the question of course is, what happens when you put the three in a recording studio together?
From the opener, it's obvious that James (My Morning Jacket) is the only one who can really sing. That's not to say that Oberst and M. Ward don't have compelling voices, but James could pull off a Marvin Gaye cover with little difficulty. The first song also sets the stage for a beautiful and exotic journey, that sadly, is never fully realized.
What essentially happens on this record is that each performer is given space to write the type of music they normally write for their respective projects. Instead of getting an album of collaboration and achieving something fresh by synthesizing each of their styles, you get a Bright Eyes song that Jim James and M. Ward harmonize on, a My Morning Jacket tune with Conner Oberst singing backup and an M. Ward song... you get the point.
Not that this is entirely a bad thing. Each of these performers are capable of writing wonderful songs in their own right, and there are some great ones here too - the aforementioned first song, "Dear God (sincerely M.O.F.)" is a sexy Motown juggernaut. "Man Named Truth," is a fun, "Devil Went Down to Georgia," style hoedown, while "Goodway," is a Tex-Mex Oldetimey jam from your grandfather's a.m. radio.
What you get here is both a sample of each songwriters best and least interesting work. The middle of the album is bogged down with a few too many country-rock tunes that make you miss the bold atmospheric textures the album opened with. Particularly, the Conner Oberst songs are often so mellow and reminiscent of Southern-California 70's country music that it makes you miss some of the emotion he displayed on earlier albums (Desaparecidos anyone?).
There's nothing here that makes you reach for the skip-ahead button and a few stand out tracks for sure (The Jim James sung "Losin' Yo Head," is a blast of palette-cleansing fresh air) but there's also nothing revelatory either. Perhaps it's unfair to think there should be, but when three of the most highly-touted indie-folkers get together (and call themselves Monsters of Folk, no less - though I'm guessing that's meant to be ironic) it's hard not to expect a little more.
To be fair, if this were a debut album by some unheard of band it would probably be easier to be objective and heap praises. Truth is, if you are a fan of one of these artists, you're probably a fan of all three and you will probably enjoy this record for what it really is - an album of solid, melodic and pretty good folk-rock.
First and foremost I want to take a moment to thank everyone who has been reading this blog over the last couple of weeks. In just 12 short days we've logged over 1500 hits. Not too shabby! Again, thanks everyone and keep spreading the word!
Here are two lists - one featuring what we're looking forward to in regards to upcoming posts at An Ocean of Noise and one about things we're looking forward to in general.
Upcoming features at An Ocean of Noise
5. Reviewing the Monsters of Folk album - Have the frontmen of Bright Eyes, My Morning Jacket and M. Ward made a monster album or just monstrous? 4. Upcoming song of the week - Making Mondays better for one week and counting 3. Taking a look at Pitchfork's best albums of the decade list - right on or just plain wrong? 2. More hating on the Decemberists - It's been a least half a week. 1. Scoring an interview with Le Loup - yep, I'm a real website now.
In General
5. Dead Man's Bones album, Oct. 6th - Bone shaker or deal breaker? 4. Re-reading High Fidelity - Still can't not think of Cusack, damn it! 3. Finding a job - Let me know if you hear of anything. Seriously. 2. Did I mention scoring an interview with Le Loup - I did, didn't I? 1. Halloween! - What every holiday should aspire to be.
Tis apple pickin' season. A time of year that reddens the cheeks, warms the heart and inspires band names. Here now, a list of musicians who take their apple pickin' seriously.
1. The Apples In Stereo The best band making modern psychedelic music in Denver, Colorado (via Athens, Georgia). Part of the Elephant 6 Collective, known for bands like Of Montreal and Neutral Milk Hotel. Apple Rating: 6 out of 10. Very tasty at times but a tendency too write to many songs that sound exactly like "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds."
2. The Appleseed Cast Lawrence, Kansas' finest experimental rockers. Imagine Sunny Day Real Estate colliding with a heavier Built to Spill. Apple Rating: 7 out of 10. Oh so good, but sometimes these songs need an editor to cut back on some of the guitar noodling.
3. Fiona Apple A bright shiny red apple whose insides are being devoured by worms. Fiona came right out of the starting blocks as a troubled little girl and adulthood hasn't made things any easier. Apple Rating: 5 out of 10. When she's good, she's great but beware of the rotten parts.
4. The Apples An Israeli funk/jazz/turntablism band I just discovered on Myspace. These guys would be awesome if it were 1985 right now. Apple Rating: 4 out of 10. Maybe this just isn't my thing but I definitely suggest checking out their cover of Rage Against the Machine's "Killing in the Name of."
I had the chance to hear Nick Hornby speak tonight at Politics and Prose here in Washington, D.C. Hornby, author of modern classics about man-child music obsessive like High Fidelity and About a Boy, has a new novel out called Juliet, Nakedthat promises to revisit that territory while expanding his voice. Mr. Hornby read from two different sections of the book and I found myself disappointed when he stopped.
Apparently the novel is about a man who is (surprise) obsessed with a musician who had some sort of breakdown in the bathroom of a Minneapolis bar in 1986 and has since retired from music and seemingly vanished. The man traipses across America retracing the steps of his hero while driving his girlfriend a little mad with facts and figures about the mysterious musician. Eventually, his girlfriend sends an email to the recluse which has the effect of bringing him out of seclusion, at which point we get to see the inner mess of a life that the musician has made for himself.
I'm super excited to read this book, but started re-reading my newly signed (!) copy of High Fidelity, and now I have to finish that first.
What would be the point of having your own blog if you couldn't try and brainwash people now and then? With that (your brain) in mind, each month I will be doing a feature on nothing more than just a band I love. Today it is Sparklehorse.
Sparklehorse? Never heard of em' right? Don't feel bad, they're one of the best kept secrets in modern music. Here are the basics - the band is mostly the brainchild of Mark Linkous, an evil-mad-genius/country-bumpkin from the mountains of North Carolina. In 1996 Linkous, who is the first person in his family not to be a coal miner, toured with friggin' Radiohead, and half-way through the tour, overdosed on painkillers and passed out with his legs pinned underneath him for 14-hours. He suffered all kinds of damage and was in a wheelchair for 6 months. He even wrote a song on the album, Good Morning Spider, about one of the nurses in the hospital who treated him kindly. At one point he tried moving out to L.A. but missed his pastoral setting and went back to N.C. to a farmhouse where bears sometimes block the road and make it hard to get into town to buy groceries.
Compelling enough, but what's the music sound like? Well, ever wandered around a field in the middle of nowhere in October listening to the leaves rattle, the creek trickle, a train somewhere off in the distance humming down the track? It's kind of like that sometimes and at other times it's as though that train off in the distance has come roaring off the tracks right at you and the only thing you have to defend yourself is a chainsaw. Yeah sure, the chainsaw's not going to protect you, but it's going to sound awesome.
Linkous' vocals are often quiet - almost whispery at times - singing about finding bear teeth on the ground, or fiery pianos washing up on foggy coasts. He sounds like a naturalist philosopher, home-schooled and whiskey drunk. The music is sparse - banjos, tinkling badly tuned pianos, barely strummed guitars. At other times he's downright punk rock, his voice seething amid a summer squall of storms and electric guitars on the horizon - although he's still singing about carburetors and farm animals.
All this is not to suggest that there is anything terribly challenging about listening to Sparklehorse. You will immediately notice the influence of bands as ubiquitous as The Beatles and The Pixies at times, it's just that those influences have been filtered down through the Appalachian Mountains. To his credit, Linkous has worked with some of the absolute big names of big names in the music industry including: Tom Waits (his closest soul mate), PJ Harvey, Danger Mouse, Daniel Johnston, Frank Black, Beck, Bright Eyes, and the aforementioned, Radiohead. His music has also been featured in movies such as Laurel Canyon, Lords of Dogtown, Dandelion, Dawn of the Dead, and All the Real Girls.
His latest project was a collaboration between himself and Danger Mouse called The Dark Night of the Soul, in which they teamed up with David Lynch who listened to each song they wrote and took pictures for an accompanying book. Each song Linkous and Mouse wrote was then passed down to another musician (Iggy Pop, The Flaming Lips, The Shins, The Strokes, to name a few) to sing. The only problem is, because of Danger Mouse's run-ins with his record company over the Jay-Z/Beatles mix, The Grey Album, Dark Night of the Soul is being held up by the record company and its release, for the moment, seems dubious.
Album to check out first:Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot -yep that's how it's spelled. If you like it, my next suggestion is the woozy masterpiece, It's a Wonderful Life, followed by (post wheelchair/overdose album) Good Morning Spider and then his latest, and in my opinion, least consistent album, Slept for Light years in the Belly of a Mountain.
An Ocean of Noise is a daily updated conversation about music - lists, news, concert and album reviews, rumors, mixes, wishful thinkings and general musical musings. This discussion wouldn't be possible without your insights and opinions, so please feel free to comment at will.
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About Blogmaster
Travis Hare has worked as a writer and editor for various publications over the years, including several music outlets. When he's not making top 10 lists or ranting incoherently about bands that he hates, he works for an eduational non-profit dedicated to closing the achievement gap. In the little free time that he has he keeps busy by writing horribly sad acoustic ballads in his bedroom. He lives in Washington, DC.
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Each month we will look at a music soundtrack that aspires to be as great as the movie that birthed it (and a lot of times, even better). This time around though we are looking at one that has some of my least favorite songs ever, and one of the best - Lords of Dogtown.
