A Long Drive for Someone With Nothing to Think About

This weekend, my good friend Adam will be moving to DC, making the same grueling 19-hour drive that I made two-and-a-half years ago from the quiet plains of Kansas to the bustling East Coast. While most of the trip will be a never-ending still life of cows, pasture and semis barreling down I-70, there will be a few notable, musical points of interest along the way. So Adam, while this will be a good excuse to finally finish that book on tape of War and Peace, download these geographical tunes and play accordingly.

Kansas City
Your starting point is a city that has a musical history as long as the Missouri River that snakes its way through. While 'The City of Fountains' have given us some great artists in more recent years (The Get Up Kids, Tech Nine), what Kansas City is most known for is being one of the birth places of jazz. Also, most experts agree that jazz is probably the best music to listen to in the morning. My recommendation is to start your trip off with KC native, Charlie 'Bird' Parker.

St. Louis

Alright dude, you've been on the road for four hours, you've seen a lot of cows, it's time for a pick-me-up. As you cross into the city limits of St. Louis it's time to bust out hometown hero, Nelly and his gang of St. Lunatics. Blast this while you cruise past the arch and all that is The West fades into your rear view mirror.

Illinois (the whole state)

Sufjan found enough inspiration in the birth state of Abraham Lincoln to make an entire album. As you cross over the muddy Mississippi River, settle into the vastness of all that surrounds you by listening to this album in its entirety. I mean, what the hell else are you going to do?

Indianapolis

Okay man, time to pull over and pull yourself together. Use the bathroom, get some crappy gas station food, load up on caffeine... you're half-way home. By this point you're getting sick of Tolstoy, Sufjan was pleasant but your over it, what you need now is a palette cleanser. Something that's going to help you get your second (or at this point, fourth) wind. Are you ready for this? Two words: Michael Jackson. Yep, the King of Pop is from freaking Gary, Indiana. "Billie Jean." Represent!

Columbus

Probably a good time to start thinking about pulling over for the night because you'll be in West Virgina soon, and believe me, you don't want to be in West Virgina by yourself after dark. Find a cheap motel and get some Z's but get your trip started out right in the morning with Ohio natives The National and this song.

The Home Stretch

Being Kansans, West Virginia is one of the only states we can actually make fun of for being less cultured. Truly though, West Virgina is gorgeous and most of the rest of your trip will be rocketing through the mountains of that state, as well as Pennsylvania and eastern Maryland. It's all a blur from here on out so play what you want. Maybe a little John Denver if the mood is right.



Or perhaps Maryland's finest, Animal Collective.



Or just go ahead and break out the DC Hardcore. It's never too early for Fugazi!



Welcome to DC friend! There will a warm roast chicken, good wine and the coziest couch in the city awaiting your arrival!

The Kid is Alright-Gregory Alan Isakov

The first memory I have of Gregory Alan Isakov was from 1986. I was four and he was seven and we were trudging through a forest in the suburbs of Philadelphia right by our apartment building, with his two brothers and our parents trailing close behind. I was picking up bones and pretending they were from dinosaurs, and he kindly and graciously was going along with it. Seeing him 24 years later on stage at Sixth and I Synagogue in Washington, DC, I was amazed to see not a lot has changed. That kind and gracious personality shone through as he endeared the audience to him in between songs with his short, soft-spoken anectdotes. His love of nature that we both shared as children in the woods had not fleeted but was very much alive in his lyrics and melodies. He was still the same old Greg, except for one thing…he was a brilliant singer/songwriter, having toured with Ani DiFrano last year, now shooting into popularity faster than he could travel on his own national tour.

Gregory Alan Isakov’s sound is a hybrid of the best parts of things you’ve heard before, coming together, to form a new brilliant version. His Dylanesque aura and guitar rhythms combine with a voice and bittersweet lyrics reminiscent of Ryan Adams’ "Heartbreaker". At times you can even hear Springsteen’s raspy voice and Bright Eyes’ desperate sorrow.

All of this combined makes a perfect bathtub vinyl, something to set on your turntable, drop the needle down, run a bath, and let the lyrics and water consume you. Evelyn is my favorite and by far the most upbeat, but That Moon Song and The Stable Song are perhaps his most quintessential and adored. Enjoy this new artist and perhaps even catch him as he makes his way around the country on his “This Empty Northern Hemisphere” tour, continuing through August. Or, just listen to him as he performs That Moon Song below.

-Kendra Rubinfeld

Cut the Cable and Get Grahm Parker's Imaginary Television

Today, staff writer Scott Goldstein participates in our very own 'take your dad to work' day and let's his father Steve tell us all why it might be a very good idea to pick up the new Graham Parker album. Read the article, buy the record and call your dad for goodness sakes!




As Scott has written on this blog, people often associate particular songs with events in their own lives, and I’m no exception. So let me take you back in time gentle readers . . . before returning to the present.

The year was 1979, and I was just a college freshman. Two of the great new rock’n roll albums getting airplay on Philadelphia’s WMMR at the time were Neil Young’s Rust Never Sleeps and Graham Parker’s Squeezing Out Sparks. Nearly everyone of course already knew Neil Young. Unfortunately, not all that many were familiar with Graham Parker.

Squeezing Out Sparks, produced by the legendary Jack Nitzche, rocked from the get-go, with the opening seesaw notes of “Discovering Japan.” The ferocious sound should have been no surprise. Parker had recently released “Mercury Poisoning,” a diatribe against Mercury Records for bungling his career and keeping him “the best kept secret in the West.” (If you want to hear perhaps the most hard-charging three minute concoction of guitars, drums, horns, and angry-yet-humorous vocals since The Who’s, “The Real Me,” give that tune a spin.) And Parker was accompanied by the kick-ass band, The Rumour, on that album. But, it was the lyrics that I liked best. Listen to his depiction of the people involved in an abortion in “You Can’t Be Too Strong,” and the conclusion is inescapable--the rocker has a brain and the courage to address difficult subjects with honesty.

Fast forward some twelve years to 1991. Parker had moved to America and settled with his family in upstate New York. That year saw him release the criminally underrated, Struck by Lightning, which in my humble opinion remains the best album of his career. It’s a wonderful collection of songs, many of them simpler, quieter tunes that focus on the joys of family life. For example, “Children and Dogs” offers a hilarious, spot-on portrayal of children and their passionate, yet fleeting, desires, while “And It Shook Me” portrays the ongoing romance between the singer and his wife. The album certainly resonated with me; my wife and I were raising two young children when I heard the album for the first time. (One of those youngsters would grow up to write about The National on this blog after his Parker-lovin’ pop introduced him to the band).

Parker’s writing reached new heights on that album, demonstrating that “You Can’t Be Too Strong” was no aberration. Consider “The Kid With the Butterfly Net,” about a parent looking at his daughter running through the fields and wistfully thinking about what his own life could have been:

And when you look into her eyes
You see what you want
when everything was undone
every field was open
nothing was impossible yet
for the kid with the butterfly net.

Or how about these lines from “A Brand New Book”:

I once read the story of
somebody’s life
I had a few moments to spare
He was a good man who lived
with his wife
With the usual kids in his hair
**** *** ***
I pulled it by chance from a
second hand bin
But it could’ve been written
just for me
Because the words came out
Not twist and shout
Cause that’s not what a grown
man writes about
That chapter’s over, let it blow
over
I found that I’ve become the
owner
Of a brand new book


Since Struck By Lightning, Parker has released a steady stream of albums, some better than others. The better ones include 1995’s Twelve Haunted Episodes and especially 2007’s Don’t Tell Columbus . But even his more forgettable albums during that span contain some keepers, such as Deep Cut To Nowhere’s “High Horse,” about the baddest animal in the whole damn zoo that is humanity—“I’m a talkin’ about the high horse, get off your high horse”—and Songs of No Consequence’s “Dislocated Life” about alienation.

Cut to the present, because Graham Parker has just released a brand new album called Imaginary Television featuring the “theme songs” for TV shows that Parker conjured up in his head. After listening to it several times, I’m happy to report that the year 2010 finds Mr. Parker in especially fine form. Perhaps it is the silly, frivolous nature of so much of what is on real--or imagined--TV, but Imaginary Television for the most part seems lighter in tone than many of his recent albums. There are two incredibly catchy tunes here: “See Things My Way” and “Bring Me a Heart Again.” Also not to be missed is “You’re Not Where You Think You Are,” where Parker paints a portrait of man spooked by too many changes. But my current favorite is Parker’s utterly gorgeous cover of Johnny Nash’s “More Questions Than Answers.” Now that he has aged quite a bit (haven’t we all?), Parker brings even more cred than usual to the chorus that he sings over the hypnotic reggae beat: “There are more/questions than answers . . . /And the more I find out /the less I know.” With his gruff vocals mixed more up front and in your face than Charlie Watts’ drumming in a 1960’s Stones bootleg, Parker simply makes that song his own. In short, Imaginary Television offers a very enjoyable experience for much less than the cost of one month’s cable bill. And with Parker approaching the ripe old age of 60, Imaginary Television is proof positive of what good ol’ Neil sang so many years ago on Rust Never Sleeps: “Hey hey, my my/Rock and roll will never die.”

More good news: You can see Graham Parker perform live on Saturday night May 1 at Jammin' Java in Vienna, Virginia. Don’t miss the man who knows that passion is no ordinary word.

Steve Goldstein

What's That Noise?

Today marks the first of our Summer Concert Series events. We'll be filming and featuring the music of Thomas Grogan along with some of his friends at the Fondo Del Sol Art Gallery in Dupont Circle at 5pm. The event is planned for the backyard but if it's raining, we'll head inside the gallery. Space will be limited either way, but if you show up early enough to get in, bring your bells, whistles, and noise makers, as crowd participation is a must!

Listen to The National's new album all weekend!

Right now at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/25/magazine/25national-t.html

Free Music!

When we last checked-in, local DC artist and economist extroidinaire Thomas Grogan was putting the finishing touches on his new EP. Alas, Grogan and his talented partner in crime, The Elk, have released a 5 song EP (with 2 videos to boot!) Upon first listen the album recalls sunny hints of Iron and Wine and darker shades of Andrew Bird at his most reflective, in short, I'm excited to play it again. You, my friend, can download the album for free at Grogan's website, Grogan Social Scene.

Song of the Week (Back to School (?) Edition)

Today marks the beginning of some life changes for yours truly. That's right, I'll be getting the operation. I kid, I kid. In all actuality it looks as though my real job as a non-blogger will be getting more challenging soon and on an even more exciting/overwhelming note, I have decided to throw myself head first into the great grad school search. The combination of those two things are going to mean slightly less time for blogging. I have made a concerted effort to have new material up every day but more than likely it will now be every other day. That said, the time I spend on An Ocean of Noise will be more scheduled, valuable and probably focused. So while there may be fewer posts, there will not be a drop in quality. I do however plan to hone the focus of the site, and give you what you most want. That will mean more top 5/top 10 lists, album reviews when I can find the time, and our upcoming Summer Concert Series.

I want to thank everyone for your continued support, feedback and contributions as we promise to keep up the good work but in a slightly less prolific fashion. In the spirit of going back to school (or at least hoping a graduate school out there is forgiving of poor undergrad grades) our Song of the Week is by R.E.M. While they have gone on to become one of the biggest bands in the world, when they started nearly 3 decades ago they literally started the indie rock scene, or as it was called at the time - College Rock. Dig Michael Stipe's hair!

No Excuse to Stay Inside

Seriously people, unless your saddled by some sort of illness, there's absolutely no reason whatsoever to not get out and enjoy some live music this weekend. I think that applies to wherever you're living but particularly here in the District, it's all good stuff.

Friday: Go see my favorite band of the moment Titus Andronicus, as they bring their 'go bananas' live show to St. Matthew's church in Columbia Heights. $7 if you bring a can of food, $8 if you don't care about feeding people, you soulless bastard.

Also Friday: Support the local scene and crunchy-guitar-rocker-revivalist, Daddy Lion, one of DC's most exciting up and coming bands, at Asylum in Adams Morgan. You can say you knew them back before they were famous rock stars.

Saturday: Like homegrown hardcore hip hop with a leftist guerilla slant? Checkout Philly's too-smart-to-be-thugs, to-gansta-to-be-backpack-rap, Jedi Mind Trick at the 9:30 Club.

Now get out there people!

Don't be Afraid, More Music From the National

Okay, seriously, we're not trying to do PR for The National or anything but we do find it suspicious that the day after Scott's piece on them, they released another new song off of their album. So perhaps it is a symbiotic relationship. The song is called "Afraid of Everyone," and it's going to be number 5 on the album. You can hear it here!

High Violet, High Expectations

The National's newest album High Violet will be out in less than a month and no one is more pumped about it than Scott Goldstein.

As I get more and more excited about the release of the new The National album, (and by excited I mean crossing-off-the-days-on-your-calendar excited) I reflected upon why I love the National so much. Thus, I present to you my top 5 favorite The National songs.

5. "Baby We’ll be Fine"

Remember that famous scene in Say Anything where the John Cusack stands outside the house holding a stereo and blasting music asking her to take him back? Well, in case I ever royally screw up, this is the song I’ll be playing. With the simple refrain of "I’m So Sorry for Everything," lead singer Matt Berninger takes you into the miserably regretful world of wronging the one you love. But "Baby We’ll be Fine" isn’t just about the girl he’s lost, it’s also about the extremely relatable situation of feeling invisible.

All night I lay on my pillow and pray/For my boss to stop me in the hallway/Lay my head on his shoulder and say/Son, I've been hearing good things.

Reminiscent of the scene in What Women Want, where Mel Gibson can hear his co-worker’s depressing thoughts about not being noticed, "Baby We’ll Be Fine" masterly puts you in the mindset of that lonely person, teaching that a simple compliment can make one’s day.

4. "Mr. November"

"Mr. November" captures anxiety and nerves better than any other song I have ever heard.

3. "All the Wine"

An incredibly inspiring song that climaxes in the defiant “I'm so sorry but the motorcade will have to go around this time.” "All the Wine" asks the question: If all the other shmucks can do it, why can’t I. Sounding overconfident and brass at times, "All the Wine" nevertheless comes through as a fitting anthem for us little people, inspiring us to do great things in the world.

2. "Fake Empire"

The top-played song in my iTunes library, "Fake Empire" tugs you in right from the beginning. With soft syncopated piano, and Berninger’s smooth voice, the song brings you into the idyllic world of a couple just recently fallen in love. The song does not care about the outside world, it barely even notices it!

Tiptoe through our shiny city /with our diamond slippers on/do our gay ballet on ice/
bluebirds on our shoulders/we’re half-awake in a fake empire.

The couple in question only have eyes for each other. But the best part of this simple and gorgeous song is the final 1:10 second instrumental. Starting out with the light piano, the drums then come in with the syncopation, echoing the beginning of the song. Then, a horn solo ensues as the song gets more and more urgent. The couple spin and spin, faster and faster. My favorite part of the song is the end, where a subtle change in the music is finished off by a profound final note and then silence, as the light is turned off and we leave the couple’s room, giving them some well-deserved privacy.

1. "About Today" (live)

You might ask why isn’t "Fake Empire" my favorite The National song if it’s the most played, and it’s a fair question. To tell you the truth, if you ask me in a week I could have a completely different list, depending on my mood. I hate to exclude great songs like "Blank Slate," "Mistaken for Strangers," "Apartment Story" with the killer ending, the soft, slow and beautiful "Lucky You," the depressingly beautiful, "You’ve Done it Again Virginia," "Slow Show," and the powerful "Abel"… but 5 is 5.

About Today (Live), which can be found on the Virginia EP, is currently the song I love the most. It has everything. Beginning with a nearly 1:30 seconds of soothing music, Matt Berninger comes in quietly, almost whispering. One of their saddest songs, "About Today" is a sweet, meaningful melody about the one who got away. The lyrics take a humble back-seat to the caring melody. Yet at about the 5 minute mark (patience, my friends), The National swerve off from the depressingly warm ode of the past “I just watch you slip away. How close am I to losing you.” The first part of the song has Berninger quietly lamenting his loss, but the tone of the song changes from the lament all the way through the years until acceptance is achieved. No longer bottling emotions, like the quiet first part of the song, the emotions all come out in the second half, angry at the world, defiant, then the slow road to recovery as he finally comes to terms with his loss. The song is a rollercoaster with tremendous emotional range, and starting at 5 minutes, one you can dance to. The crowd begins to clap during the last minute of the song as their hero pulls himself up by the bootstraps. What more could one want in 8 minutes

The National’s new album comes out May 11^th and is titled High Violet. You should definitely check it out. They already released one of their songs, "Bloodbuzz Ohio," which can be downloaded for free at http://www.highviolet.com/.

Song of the Week

Icelandic wizard and Sigur Ros frontman Jonsi Birgisson released a stunning new solo album called Go on April 5th full of acoustic-based songs arranged with swirling strings and complex percussion. The songs differ from his work with Sigur Ros in that they are slightly more stripped down and sung in English as opposed to 'Hopelandic' the language Jonsi invented to express himself on previous efforts. Our 'Song of the Week' is a gorgeous track from Go called "Tornado."

Comfortably Numb

I'm always looking for blog inspiration so I was delighted last week at a Passover Seder when a friend whose job it is to give amazing massages asked for some good chill music to play while she soothes tired muscles. So with no further ado, here are the ten albums (with a couple sample tracks) I want to hear while getting a massage. Oh, and about that amazing massage? I highly recommend going here.

Air - Talkie Walkie

French like Phoenix but chill - like Antarctica.

"Cherry Blossom Girl"

"Run

Brian Eno - Music For Airports

The musician and the album for which the term 'ambient' was coined.

"Music for the airports"

Elbow - Cast of Thousands

Like a codeine overdose, only without all the vomiting.

"I've got your number"

Iron and Wine - The Sea and the Rhythm

Most appropriately named album on the list.

"The Sea and the Rhythm"

"Jesus the Mexican Boy"

Mazzy Star - So Tonight That I Might See

Heal your broken heart and your broken back at the same time.
"Fade Into You"

Nick Drake - Pink Moon

If the beautiful arrangements don't carry you away, the voice will.

"Pink Moon"

Panda Bear - Person Pitch
Alright, so a couple songs on this incredible album sound like a panic attack coming on but the rest go off like the soundtrack in Heaven.

"I'm Not"

Sigur Ros - ( )

Ethereal. Unworldly. Majestic. Perfect.

"Untitled 1"

"Untitled 3"

Sufjan Stevens - Seven Swans

Stevens gets a little carried away with the God stuff on this one but apart from that this is a gorgeous album.

"Abraham"

Yo La Tengo - Summer Sun

I reviewed this album back in my newspaper days and called it "the album that made the world safe again for afternoon naps." I still stand by that.

"Today is the Day"

"Little Eyes"

Backyardigans

An Ocean of Noise is proud to be soon presenting our first ever, as of yet unnamed, backyard concert series. Over the next few months we will periodically feature acoustic performances on this site by up and coming musicians.

So, if you think you have what it takes, you'll be in the DC area this Spring and Summer and you or your band don't require too much space (Polyphonic Spree need not apply) please contact us at anoceanofnoise@gmail.com, tell us why we should pick you and be sure to give us a link to your music.

Video of the Day

Thomas Grogan is a DC musician/artist/economics grad student who makes hypnotic and warm music that comes to life in his intimate videos (check out his lovely work shot during this winter's Snowpocalypse). I had the pleasure of meeting Grogan this weekend at the amazing Fondo Del Sol Gallery where he sleeps among creepy warrior masks and folk-art Jesus zombies and was excited to learn he will soon be releasing an EP.

Until then, check out his latest song and video, "Golden Gate," which documents the trip he took to San Francisco to record said EP.

Golden Gate from Thomas Grogan on Vimeo.

For more Grogan check out his website Grogan Social Scene.

Love/Hate Relationship

Washington DC: The Cherry Blossoms, the monuments, the stately row houses and beautiful tree-lined streets... There is a lot about this city to love, but as we all know there is much to be improved (seriously, just try to not freak out during rush hour on an inhumanly packed red line train). In that spirit a new art-collective called Voices of Washington take the city to task with the ' Washington DC Complaints Choir' in this just-released video.

Communications Director, Neal Fersko says about the video, "Our hope is that the piece we have produced will bring attention and excitement to Washington's vibrant arts scene through good-natured satire and innovative composition." We just think it's hilarious.



For further explanation and to check out their website go here.

Bare Naked Ladies

It's been an arousing few days of news in the music world. Erykah Badu has been officially charged with disorderly conduct for stripping nude and lying down on the ground in the place where John F. Kennedy was assassinated for the filming of her video for her new song "Window Seat." Though Badu has claimed that it's all been a misunderstanding, the $500 she has to pay is a pretty low price for this kind of attention grabbing press.



In other news (or lack there of) Lady Gaga and Beyonce make soft-core porn for all those with fetishes having to do with androgynous-female-lesbian-prison-sex (which is all of us really).

And finally, in continuation of our prison theme, Lil Wayne is apparently allowed Internet access from the inside while serving out his time for gun charges. This week saw the launch of his jailhouse website Weezy Thanx You, complete with a countdown to his release.

Stay classy people.

Titus Andronicus: My New Favorite Band

Rarely do I hear an album that makes swearing necessary. If something is good, I say it's good. If it's terrible, I'll simply say it's terrible. Titus Andronicus fits into a different category. When it comes time to sum up their newest album, The Monitor, cursing becomes necessary, natural. So I'll start by saying, goddamn that's a good album. I know you've never heard of Titus Andronicus (aside from the Shakespeare tragedy they're named after) let alone listened to their music, but you really, really need to. Why? Because they are fucking unbelievable that's why.

In a musical landscape dotted with Death Cab for Cutie's, Free Lance Whales and half-hearted, boring collaborations like the Broken Bells (the Shin's James Mercer with Danger Mouse), Titus Andronicus is the long-awaited kick in the ass the indie scene desperately needs. The Monitor is an album that combines the best of Bruce Springsteen, Bright Eyes, Neutral Milk Hotel and Abraham Lincoln with a never-say-die punk rock spirit. I'm not kidding about the Lincoln part either. The Monitor is a (very) loosely based concept album (kind of) about the Civil War and set in a New Jersey wasteland full of drunk fuckups and a plummeting economy. The album begins with a speech given by Lincoln during the Civil War about how America will never allow itself to be soiled by another country, if we are to be destroyed it is going to be by our own hands, and throughout The Monitor Titus Andronicus relate that theme to our very souls. With all the bullshit coming at us from every angle these days all we have is our humanity and while that might not be much they will be "rolling in it like a pig in feces."

At every turn throughout the album we are told that "The enemy is everywhere" and nearly 30 years after punk first broke through, "It's still us against them." Lead singer Patrick Stickles tells us that he has been urinated on, kicked around and crushed in just about every way but he isn't about to wave the white flag in his pocket. On "Theme from Cheers" he fantasizes about saying fuck it all and turning into an old man who closes down the bar every night and talks about the good old days. While Stickles, at his most Springsteen, won't actually go down like this himself, he sure as hell can sympathize with those who do. And that is really the point in The Monitor. There's no idealism without the self-awareness that it's all romanticized anyway and that we're all doing the best we can with what lot we're given. Toward the end of the album on "To Old Friends and New" we're lulled into a "Hey Jude-esque" non-judgemental sing-along telling us, "It's alright, the way that you live is alright," before we're blasted all over again with another reminder that "The enemy is everywhere," this time with saxophones!

The music throughout the album takes it's inspiration from all over the place. There are some Bright Eyes honky-tonk laments here and there and certainly a few songs that owe more than a little to Conor Oberst's terrific punk rock one-off The Desaparecidos. As previously mentioned there is a nod to Springsteen, their home state hero, at his most blue collar and beer soaked. And it's hard to hear a messy modern indie-concept record that ties in historical figures while referencing our modern condition without thinking of Neutral Milk Hotel (whom they list as an influence on their Myspace site). None of that is to say that Titus Andronicus is derivative in any way. Those are all reference points to be sure but they've driven their own beat up truck off the Garden State Parkway.

The last thing that I haven't said about this album is how incredibly fun it all is. All the bitter rebukes, sorrowful Lincoln laments and alcohol-fueled Nihilism ends up equaling one hell of a good time. The guitars shred with an almost patriotic swagger, the drums pound, Stickles howls, screams, goes falsetto and rages like a schizophrenic. The Monitor may decry our modern times but records like this make me happy to be alive.