Monthly Archives: March 2007

general, live

The Broken West: Live at SXSW (mp3s)

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brokenwest.jpg

For those of us who weren’t fortunate enough to go to South By Southwest and shmooze and drink and eat breakfast tacos and drink and eat barbecue and drink more, well, we live vicariously through the hundreds of wrap-ups and roundups of the event.

Luckily, some kind folks even provide audio. Like WOXY, which hosted its “Everybody Needs a Nurse” party, featuring the Broken West, Aqueduct and more.

The Broken West’s I Can’t Go On, I’ll Go On (on Merge and available at eMusic) is gaining steam as my Record of the Moment (behind only El-P’s I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead). So it was great to see WOXY make available an mp3 from the group’s set, especially because I missed the Broken West come through Phoenix last month.

But when people talk about short sets at SXSW, I had no idea. This one doesn’t even reach 18 minutes. Nevertheless, I almost feel like I’m there … you know, except without Lone Star beer.

For convenience, I split the original file into individual files. Download the uncut version here. (On a side note, WOXY has a new blog, The Futurist.)

The Broken West, live at SXSW, 3/16/07:

  • On the Bubble
  • Big City
  • Slow
  • So It Goes
  • Brass Ring
general, video

The Hold Steady in Phoenix on June 2

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The concert calendar is filling up, and this promises to be a good one. The Hold Steady hit the Brickhouse, where I saw them in support of Separation Sunday probably a little more than a year ago. The Brickhouse is a great spot for them, a venue that feels more like a bar that happens to have a stage than a place with a stage that happens to have a bar. If that makes sense.

Also read Craig Finn’s “music you should hear” at Amazon (via Largehearted Boy). Peep Ghostface at No. 1 and Clipse at No. 4. Fantastic.

Video for Stuck Between Stations:

general, vinyl

Roman Ruins

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grr001_cover_front_web.gifBig ups to Hunter at Macktronic, who introduced me to Roman Ruins, the one-man project otherwise known as Graham Hill to family and close friends. Hunter, who operates Gold Robot Records, was kind enough to hook me up with his label’s first two 7-inch releases (my favorite music medium) – one from Roman Ruins and the other from the inimitable Panther (holla!). Trust me, nothing beats getting vinyl in the mail. HANDLE WITH CARE!

My Roman Ruins 7-inch, numbered 472 of 500, has gotten serious rotation on the turntable. There’s something so wonderfully contrary to this – sampled electronic beats set to the pop and crackle of analog warmth. Hill takes the edge off electronic sampling. His is not cold, repetitive and barren; it’s incidental and inviting. The sampling isn’t the point of the music – it’s just another part of it.

Computer-based sampling and home recording makes everyone an artist, but Hill doesn’t abuse the privilege. There’s a responsible effort here to create songs, molding samples to shape his mood and emotion. (The subtly used loop of crashing waves on Familiar and Serene proves the point.)

Go to Roman Ruins’ MySpace page for links to buy his recordings and to hear two new demos that, I think, were posted within the past week.

  • Roman Ruins | Your House
  • Roman Ruins | Familiar and Serene
arizona, general

Asleep in the Sea breaks up

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In a news blast that spoiled my day – and the immediate future – Owen Evans, keyboardist in Phoenix favorite Asleep in the Sea, announced the group has broken up.

This from a MySpace bulletin:

unfortunately, tom (guitarist) has decided to leave asleep in the sea

we will still be playing our two shows in april and that will be the last time we all play together so come see it i guess

if anyone would like to buy our shirts or cd’s, as it stands right now, we will continue to sell what we have left and everyone is highly encouraged to purchase

as far as the new album goes it will no longer be professionally released but discussion of some form of release is currently taking place

thanks to anyone who enjoyed our music, bought our music, booked us, let us sleep in their place, or helped us in any way

it’s unfortunate timing for us, and i can’t say i understand it fully, but it happened and i just wanted to make sure to say thanks

owen

I don’t know any of the other particulars, but this is upsetting news. Asleep in the Sea was among my favorites in what seems to be a suddenly promising local scene. The three guys – Evans, Tom Filardo (guitar/vocals) and Eli Kuner (drums) – never take themselves too seriously, at least from what I could gather when I saw them live. To wit: Kuner played one show I saw with a cracked cymbal. When I asked him about it months later, he said it was out of necessity (he was broke) rather than choice. Clearly, they weren’t in this for the glamour.

I shot an e-mail to Kuner, who responded in a somewhat downtrodden but hopeful/relieved manner, saying, “there’s no point in looking back now” – DJ, cue Boston’s Don’t Look Back now! I told Kuner some eulogy was in order; his response?: “Eulogize the fuck out of us! because on the internet … we’ll live forever.” And there you have it: the near-final words on the tombstone of Asleep in the Sea, indexed on Google for our future generations.

What makes this news all the harder to digest is the band had an album’s worth of songs ready for release, likely subsidized at least in part by a smallish label/backer. I weaseled my way into getting my hands on a digital copy of the album (titled Avenue), 16 songs of the irreverent, quirky rock that made the group such a welcome change of pace. The longest song checks in at 3:36, and every two- to two-and-a-half-minute burst pops with clever instrumental interplay and insightful writing that sometimes gets lost in the band’s catchy hooks.

Take Cancer and Bones, a track in which the sobering final chorus belies the bright attitude of the music: “Everyone is your best friend when … / everyone is your best friend when you die.” Then there’s Seashorshes, from the Yay! O.K. Yeah? EP, a playful harmonizing ditty that could almost pass as a nursery rhyme – save for its sincere theme of questioning – mocking? – the point of war. “Where have the nice men gone? / off to seashores / off to foreign seashores.”

What a drag. I planned on posting about this album, but I didn’t expect it to be a sign-off for the band. On the bright side, Asleep will play its final two shows: April 16 @ Modified with Deerhunter and the Ponys and April 27 @ the Trunk Space.

Pick up the great Yay! O.K. Yeah? EP at iTunes for the best $4.95 you’ll spend.

  • Asleep in the Sea | Dance On [from Yay! O.K. Yeah?]
  • Asleep in the Sea | Cancer and Bones [new]
  • Asleep in the Sea | The Hands [new; the best 48-second song I’ve heard]

IN OTHER NEWS: Look who’s back. Glad to see you again, Jennings.

general, video

New Travis video: Closer

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What do Travis and Ben Stiller have in common? Um, I have no idea. But Stiller makes a cameo as a grocery store manager in Travis’ video for its new single, Closer.

I’ve always loved Travis – just absolutely unabashed sentimental writing. It’s a little corny, but so what? They seem to pull it off without being sappy about it. Also, the bass player’s name is Dougie. DOUGIE. That is cool.

album review, scrubbles

Scrubbles.net says: Amy Winehouse

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scrubbles

Amy Winehouse
Back To Black (Republic)

Amy Winehouse Back To Black23 year-old Amy Winehouse arrives from the UK with the trappings of a full fledged pop star, from tabloid antics to a demanding tour rider. Fine and dandy, but does her second album Back To Black live up to all that massive hype? I’d say yes, but with a few reservations. There’s no question that she possesses an utterly unique voice, a throaty wail which might sound more appropriate coming from an older, heftier Etta James type. The album’s production is also a delight, filled with ’60s-style R&B flourishes which might seem gimmicky if they didn’t fit her personality so seamlessly. This is especially so on the opening single “Rehab” (likely a favorite on Britney Spears’ iPod) and “Tears Dry On Their Own”, which cleverly nicks the opening notes of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell’s “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”. Winehouse also delivers the good on simmering, slower numbers like the title track and the bluesy “Me and Mr. Jones”. That said, Back To Black isn’t a total winner with its trite lyrics and inconsistency – but anyone with a taste for real singers who don’t aspire towards superficiality would find this album a thrill.

Buy the album at Amazon.com.

  • Amy Winehouse | Back to Black
general

The National: Fake Empire + lyrics

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thenational_hh2.jpg
Credit: Heidi Hartwig

By now, Fake Empire, the first single off the National’s upcoming LP, Boxer, has traveled at warp speed through the series of tubes known as the Internet. I’m sure you’ll find this hard to believe, but I saw it first at Gorilla vs. Bear. Then at Wolf Notes. Then at Pitchfork. And, well, you get the idea.

Everyone’s doing it. So I will, too. (And, yeah, if they jumped off the Empire State Building, I might do it, too.) If you were with me almost two years ago (wow), you might remember Alligator topping out my favorite albums list of 2005 and Looking for Astronauts claiming the prestigious prize of my favorite song of 2005. So you might say I’m a little excited for this new album, due out May 22 on Beggars.

As such, I figured I’d sit with Fake Empire for a bit and try to transcribe the lyrics (this is the part where you say, “Don’t you have anything better to do with your time?” And then I say, “No.”).

I’m pretty sure I’ve nailed the whole damn thing, except for one line (denoted, cleverly, by question marks below). A friend, whom I’ve adamantly tried to convince of the group’s greatness, said he’s warming up to Matt Berninger’s understated delivery, a trait on full display here. His baritone voice is especially warm and calm on this track. For me, though, the snare drum work and horns really anchor this track.

Please feel free to fill in the unknown line or correct me if I’ve misheard a word or two.

stay out super late tonight
picking apples, making pie
put a little something in our lemonade
and take it with us

we’re half-awake in a fake empire
we’re half-awake in a fake empire

tip-toe through our shiny city
with our diamond slippers on
?????
bluebirds on our shoulders

we’re half-awake in a fake empire
we’re half-awake in a fake empire

turn the light out say goodnight
no thinking for a little while
let’s not try to figure out
everything at once
it’s hard to keep track of you
falling through the sky

we’re half-awake in a fake empire
we’re half-awake in a fake empire

hip-hop

Jurassic 5 on the outs

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jurassic.jpg

Sad news. Looks like Jurassic 5 is calling it quits after a tour of Australia and Japan (via NME).

No official announcement has been made on the group’s Web site or MySpace. But Soup, one of the four emcees in the group, told NME the root of the split comes from one of the guys’ desire to go solo:

“Some people here want their own shrine, their own thing. If that’s what you want, I say more power to you. I hope it works out for you – just don’t come up with lame excuses.”

CMJ has more (via Wes @ Brooklyn Vegan). If we’re to read between the lines in the CMJ report, Chali 2na (referenced just yesterday) seems to be the member striking out on a solo career.

It’s too bad. The group’s latest LP, Feedback, didn’t do much for me (with the exception of Radio), but that debut EP was darn-near perfection. I’m guessing the stigma of being that feel-good throwback group wore thin. Maybe we should have seen this coming when Cut Chemist left. Hopefully, all those guys find success elsewhere.

Pourin’ one out with one of my favorite J5 joints, tweaked a tad – with kazoos!

  • Jurassic 5 | Concrete Schoolyard (Funky Precedent Edit)

At Circa 45: A new post dedicated to the greatness of Jazzy Jeff and Fresh Prince’s Brand New Funk.

hip-hop

DJ Z-Trip: Ahead of the Curve mixtape

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trip.jpg

DJ Z-Trip, he the subject of many a post around here, has dropped the first goodie for his upcoming Ahead of the Curve mixtape with Lateef the Truthspeaker of Sole Sides/Latyrx fame.

The mixtape is due out in May, and Z says on his Web site, “it’s a new album of original material we put together in between other projects. He and I are really, really happy with the outcome and I think you’ll dig it.” Nuff said.

The first cut is Mass Hysteria, featuring Lateef and Jurassic 5’s Chali 2na. Without the full landscape of the mixtape from which to judge, Mass Hysteria has a darker vibe, and its up-tempo beat pushes Chali and Lateef into some pretty wicked lyrical deliveries. Chali seems able to prove himself as pretty versatile on any and all guest spots.

Meanwhile, wish I was in Miami for Z’s appearance with D-Nice. Classic. Damn.

  • DJ Z-Trip feat. Lateef and Chali 2na | Mass Hysteria

While we’re talkin’ hip-hop, if you’re not subscribing to the Stones Throw podcast, I’ll have to ask you, Are you right in the head? The latest installment has “Badd cover songs mixed by Peanut Butter Wolf.” The cover art should convince you of its pure awesomeness.

Subscribe at iTunes or via the XML feed.

general

Dolorean: You Can’t Win

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dolorean_youcantwin.jpg

I first heard about Dolorean a few years ago, when we saw them open for Richard Buckner in Phoenix. I don’t remember much about their set (probably because I was too excited to see Buckner) other than frontman Al James slightly resembled comedian Darrell Hammond.

I’m happy to say I’ve got something better as a reference point, and that’s the band’s new album You Can’t Win, Dolorean’s third release on Yep Roc. My memory being what it is, which is to say not much (obviously), I wanted to write off Dolorean as another alt-country knockoff; You Can’t Win proves otherwise.

It’s a sprawling effort, mostly melancholy but uplifting at points, with very little twang to speak of. The centerpiece is the 6-plus-minute Beachcomber Blues, a somber piece with perfect touches in tone of organ and electric guitar.

In Dolorean’s bio on Yep Roc, James writes that he “was tired of feeling completely ungrounded day to day” as the recording of the album began, hence the title You Can’t Win. As he began to let go of his frustrations, his perception of the phrase changed: “And thankfully, it’s no longer just one hardened heart singing ‘You Can’t Win,’ there’s a chorus of us reassuringly combining our voices with the same words, but a different message, ‘It’s okay, quit trying so hard, You Can’t Win.’ ”

In that regard, You Can’t Win isn’t all doom and gloom. James isn’t crying in his beer like so many worn-down singers of his kind. He’s weary, yes, but hopeful, too, as the clearing sepia-toned fog over his face on the album cover might suggest.

  • Dolorean | Beachcomber Blues

Buy You Can’t Win from Yep Roc.

Stream the album here.