A couple months ago, I had the extreme good fortune of catching the fantastic Richard “Dickie” Swift in Tucson, opening for Jason Lytle at a pre-SxSW gig. Swift and the boys put on a stellar show (though they outdid themselves a couple weeks later at Modified. After the show, we chatted and he informed me that he had just finished up producing and recording a record by a band called Kissing Cousins. He described the record as the Shangri-Las-meets-Black Sabbath. I was instantly curious.
Thanks to the good folks at Velvet Blue Music, my curiosity has been sated, and well rewarded. Recorded straight to tape using a Tascam 8-track purchased from Jeff Tweedy of Wico, Pillar of Salt makes good on Swift’s description, with fuzzy riffs smoldering under girl group vocals and reverb heavy tambourines, while lithe flutes drift overhead, recalling the dark psychedelic approach of Black Mountain.
The sinister vibe suits the girls well, as singer/songwriter Heather B. Heywood wraps her tales of snake handlers and being “slain in the spirit” – nods to her charismatic Pentecostal upbringing – in plenty of sultry swagger, somehow making Judgement Day sound impossibly sexy. First in the Fire marches with ominous, thundering percussion, while Red Lamb employs shoegaze guitars and a soulful, Berry Gordy approved melody. The record ends with a devastating double shot, Don’t Look Back, featuring a finger-wagging, spoken bit that simultaneously sounds like a benediction and slow dance request, and the instrumental Snake Handler (Part II) closes the record with a graceful note of redemption.
With any lucky, the girls will tour a bit more in support of Pillar of Salt. The drive from Silver Lake to Phoenix isn’t that bad, and this stuff begs to be heard live.
Here’s new video for Chains, Chains, Chains – directed by Sean Pecknold, brother of Robin Pecknold of Fleet Foxes. Sean also directed the video for the Fleet Foxes’ White Winter Hymnal.
Phoenix stopped by KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectic on Monday for a set, and I’m so glad the band didn’t resort to an acoustic set. I don’t ever wanna hear 1901 in acoustic form again; it just doesn’t do the song justice.
And I’ll agree with Casey that Lisztomania is quickly rising as one of the year’s best songs. No surprise it’s the first song Phoenix plays here, but they immediately follow it up with older tracks Long Distance Call and Consolation Prizes. (And, yes, three years qualifies as “older.”)
By now, you’ve probably had all the Michael Jackson tributes you can handle. (This is probably the first place you should have turned to for that.) Anyway, I’m not one to weep over the death of a celebrity – one of the strangest phenomenons to me (especially after watching events unfold on Twitter).
That’s not to say Jackson didn’t influence my listening habits. Of course he did. I can remember playing my brother’s vinyl copy of Thriller and friends dressing as Jackson for Halloween when I was younger.
But in many ways, hip-hop offers the best kind of tribute through the art of sampling. It’s a tangible form of gratitude and recognition of inspiration. And while I’m sure there are dozens and probably hundreds of others that I don’t have or haven’t heard, here’s just a few hip-hop tracks from my library that sample Jackson, with Nas’ It Ain’t Hard to Tell my favorite.
In my head, I know better than to be so excited about the news that Sunny Day Real Estate is reuniting for a 20-date tour, which includes a stop at Marquee Theatre in Tempe on Oct. 9. It couldn’t ever mean the same as it did 10-plus years ago, but wistful nostalgia wins out every time, doesn’t it?
After so many SDRE breakups, false starts of possible reunions and near reunions (remember The Fire Theft?), I feel like I should definitely embrace this for all it’s worth.
In addition to the reunion, Sub Pop is reissuing remastered versions of Diary and the self-titled second album (or “LP2″ or “The Pink Album”) with bonus tracks and new liner notes on Sept. 15 on both CD and LP. (That probably would make a great present for anyone whose birthday falls on or around Sept. 7 … just sayin’.)
Though I’m always suspicious and mostly sour on the double-dipping sales tactics of reissues, I can get behind this one for a couple reasons. For starters, Diary (1994) and LP2 (1995) were released some 15 years ago, so they probably deserve the remastering treatment that technology didn’t allow for back then. And it’s not like they’re asking fans to re-purchase the same album a year later (ahem). Also, if the reissues open up SDRE’s music to a new/younger generation, then what’s the harm in that?
But the best reason for the reissue? I can buy a playable vinyl copy of LP2. My copy – a gift from my brother back in the day – is slightly warped. If I recall correctly, my bro bought it in San Diego, put it in the car trunk and drove it home across the brutal desert heat. Needless to say, it was left a tad misshapen (”melted,” you might say).
I’ll have to do some digging to find the clip, but I interviewed guitarist Dan Hoerner some time ago for a story when I was working at The Arizona Republic during college (I might even have the audio of the interview).
In any event, the reissues will be available at Sub Pop and www.sunnydayrealestate.fm (which also has presale information on tickets).
Full Sunny Day Real Estate tour dates:
September 17th Vancouver, BC/Commodore Ballroom
September 18th Portland/Crystal Ballroom (Musicfest NW)
September 20th Salt Lake City/Murray Theater
September 21st Denver/Ogden Theater
September 23rd Minneapolis/First Avenue
September 24th Chicago/Metro
September 25th Detroit/St Andrews Hall
September 27th New York/Terminal 5
September 28th Boston/House of Blues
September 30th Washington DC/930 Club
October 1st Philadelphia/Trocadero
October 3rd Atlanta/CW Center Stage
October 5th Dallas/Granada Theater
October 6th Houston/Warehouse Live
October 7th Austin/La Zona Rosa October 9th Tempe/Marquee Theatre October 10th Anaheim/House of Blues
October 11th Los Angeles/Henry Fonda Theater
October 13th San Francisco/Fillmore
October 15th Spokane/Knitting Factory
October 16th Seattle/Paramount Theatre
If Fat Cat Records is going to send three great bands from Scotland to the U.S., might as well do it all in one fell swoop. That’s how Plush in Tucson is ending up with what looks to be one of the most promising shows of the year so far on Sept. 22: Frightened Rabbit with the Twilight Sad and We Were Promised Jetpacks. (Thanks to Catfish Vegas for the heads up.)
I also find it eerily coincidental that I’ve posted about each of these bands in the past two months. I’ll take that as a little bit of karma coming my way and gladly cash it in for another road trip to Tucson.
Tickets are $10 in advance and $12 day of show. It’s a 21-and-over night brought to you by Stateside Presents.
This reminds me that I still have video from Frightened Rabbit’s in-store at Stinkweeds in October that I have yet to cut and post. In the meantime, here’s a clip I took of the band performing Keep Yourself Warm in June in Phoenix.
Need proof that you, too, can direct a music video? Look no further than this no-budget car-wash thriller from Jason Lytle for It’s the Weekend, from his new album Yours Truly, the Commuter. Funny, he doesn’t strike me as a minivan kinda guy.
In March 2007, I wrote a post with this title: “New Brendan Benson?: Feel Like Taking You Home.” More than two years later, you can take off the question mark. A new album, called My Old, Familiar Friend, is due for release Aug. 18 on ATO. If you’re scoring at home, that’s four-plus years since we last heard a Brendan Benson solo project, 2005’s The Alternative to Love. (Of course, Benson has been busy with the Raconteurs, a worthwhile excuse for such a wide gap between solo releases.)
If I recall correctly, the version of Feel Like Taking You Home that I posted in 2007 was a demo/rough edit that he posted to his MySpace page. (You know, the good ol’ days when songs were downloadable off that site.) Stereogum debuted the proper studio version – a finished product that very closely resembles the demo cut – and I’ve reposted below. (If you really want that rough cut, drop me an e-mail .)
Here’s the tracklisting for My Old, Familiar Friend (album artwork shown above), which was produced by Gil Norton:
1. A Whole Lot Better
2. Eyes on The Horizon
3. Garbage Day
4. Gonowhere
5. Feel Like Taking You Home
6. You Make a Fool Out of Me
7. Poised and Ready
8. Don’t Want to Talk
9. Misery
10. Lesson Learned
11. Borrow
I can’t say I saw this collaboration ever coming: The Beastie Boys enlisted Nas for a new song off the forthcoming Hot Sauce Committee and they performed the track at Bonnaroo. I’ve never thought much of the Beasties as top-notch lyricists – seventeen years later and I still can’t get over Mike D rhyming “commercial” with “commercial” on Pass the Mic – and bringing one of the great wordsmiths aboard in Nas probably further exposes their shortcomings. But, hey, I love the idea in theory.
MCA does tip his cap to Nas’ N.Y. State of Mind when he raps (somewhat awkwardly): “You’ll never die ’cause death is the cousin of sleep.” (It made a lot more sense when Nas said, “I never sleep ’cause sleep is the cousin of death.”)
Neko Case stopped by The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien earlier this week – that’s a couple of impressive redheads – to perform This Tornado Loves You, off the wonderful Middle Cyclone.
Take notice of Calexico’s Joey Burns on acoustic guitar in the rear and Phoenix’s own Jon Rauhouse on lead guitar.
