All posts by Kevin

general

Jeremy Enigk: “World Waits”

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If not for Chad over at Everybody Cares, Everybody Understands it’s likely I might have let Jeremy Enigk, former singer of Sunny Day Real Estate, fade to black the digital black hole of my iTunes library.

When we last left in Enigk, in 2003, he had formed the Fire Theft with two of the other three members of SDRE. I enjoyed the group’s self-titled debut, though at that point, there had been so much drama surrounding Sunny Day – too many breakups and makeups to keep track of – that fans maybe disregarded the Fire Theft as just another tease to a SDRE reunion that wouldn’t materialize.

But there was the matter of Enigk’s epic (yes, I said it, epic) 1996 solo album, Return of the Frog Queen. (Speaking of, thank you, Sub Pop, for selling it on vinyl for $5 at the Pitchfork Music Festival.) Enigk’s declaration of born-again Christianity was rumored to be reasons for the breakup (the first) and the inspiration behind Frog Queen. As someone who grew up with hardly any religious direction (mother is Jewish; father is Irish-Catholic), I never was emotionally stirred by Enigk’s motives of faith … it didn’t bother me either way. That’s an admittedly naive outlook, but I didn’t – and still don’t – think that my limited religious views needed to be in line with Enigk’s to appreciate what he was doing as a musician.

So here we are 10 years later, and Enigk finally has a follow-up: World Waits (irony?), due for an October release on his Lewis Hollow imprint. In anything he’s done, Enigk somehow coaxes swells of uplifting and inspirational sound. SDRE’s final album, the Rising Tide, is a great example – or it could be that it caught me at a more vulnerable time: out of college, not really sure what the hell I was doing living in Milwaukee, away from girlfriend/family/etc.

But already on his new material, I’m finding myself pulled in emotionally. On River to Sea, Enigk, with that desperation in his voice, pretty much hits me over the head with this line:

“I’ve found my place where I have longed to be /
I can’t erase any mistake”

Pretty elegant in its simplicity, if you ask me.

Jeremy Enigk | Been Here Before
Jeremy Enigk | River to Sea

live

Final Fantasy, Modified, 8/13/06

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My favorite violin looping Canadian that calls advanced D&D his muse came to Phoenix last night. Yes, I’m referring to Final Fantasy. I would have posted earlier, but had a little too many Belgium ales. Monks lovingly craft each bottle of pure evil.

The show was wunderbar – Owen (all of us ex-D&D players are on a first name basis) crafts his songs one layer at a time, clicking through a looping pedal with a socked foot. I enjoyed the set and his unassuming jokiness between songs was charming. He played his cover of Joanna Newsom’s song “Peach, Plum, Pear” and that made me smile. When he closed the show he said there would be no encore, when the crowd protested, he replied, “I’ve been working hard up here, you know, you saw it.”

Final Fantasy | CN Tower Belongs to the Dead (rearranged)
Final Fantasy | Many Lives –> 49MP

Thanks to Forrest for having the presence of mind to snap some pictures.

radio rips

Silversun Pickups on WOXY (8/9/06)

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Big thanks to Largehearted Boy, who reminded us all about Silversun Pickups’ performance on WOXY last week. I really need a better system to organize these things, but that’s another story.

As if the local concert calendar isn’t already blowin’ up, Silversun Pickups are playing Modified on Oct. 1 with Viva Voce. ‘Bout damn time.

Anyway, there’s been some discussion among us nerds bloggers about Silversun Pickups on the heels of the release of Carnavas. The obvious comparison (which I’ve made myself) is Smashing Pumpkins. Eric made a Nirvana circa Bleach parallel after seeing Silversun at the Midwest Music Summit. In his words: “They were fucking loud.” (Now I really can’t wait to see them.)

Thing is, these comparisons are nothing more than a convenience for us – a way to identify a new band with a familiar sound and name. We do it all the time. Yes, Silversun Pickups recall Smashing Pumpkins, but is that enough to disregard them? That’s simply a starting point. If the descriptions are enough to pull you in, then it’s up to the listener to dig deeper than the surface comparisons. Personally, I find something a little more compact and efficient to Silversun’s sound than, say, Smashing Pumpkins. Not to mention, I never could stand Billy Corgan’s voice in large doses. (And besides, this whole Billy Corgan-looking-like-a-character-in-THX 1138-phase creeps me out.)

Anyway, get the full, uncut mp3 (with interview) from WOXY. Thank you, WOXY.

Silversun Pickups, WOXY.com Lounge Acts, 8/9/06:
1. Well Thought Out Twinkles
2. Rusted Wheel
3. Future Foe Scenarios/Kissing Families
(they connected these songs with a synth-driven bridge and I didn’t want to ruin the effect)
4. Lazy Eye

Related:
Silversun Pickups Well Thought Out Twinkles video
Silversun Pickups Well Thought Out Twinkles (mp3)
Silversun Pickups on KEXP (9/26/05)

hip-hop

Peanut Butter Wolf’s Chrome Mix

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Stones Throw and Adult Swim, who teamed up to bring us DangerDoom’s The Mouse and the Mask, are collaborating again for the Oct. 3 release of Chrome Children, a CD and DVD featuring tracks by Madvillain, the late J Dilla and pretty much every other Stones Throw artist.

The DVD portion is a full-length recording from a show headlined by MF Doom and Madlib at this year’s SXSW. A nice treat for those of us unable to attend … ahem, me.

As a prelude to the release, Stones Throw mastermind/executive producer Peanut Butter Wolf put together a mix, half of which features tracks from Chrome Children.

Get the track listing for Chrome Children and PB Wolf’s Chrome Mix here.

Peanut Butter Wolf | Chrome Mix – download or stream

arizona, live

Phoenix concert update

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So, I’ve had too much to drink tonight because we went out with some really good friends. For the time being, I thought I’d point out the mess of great shows coming to our Phoenix/Tempe area. Wow. Pretty insane. Although, I’m a little upset with the Decemberists for booking Tucson and not Phoenix. Um, hello! Yeah, we’ll talk about that later, Colin.

My bro and I have our eyes on next week’s Clientele show at the Rhythm Room.

Our friend Forrest (who kinda knows this guy) bought tickets for the Ladytron/CSS show on Oct. 24.

Birdmonster and Division Day play Modified on Aug. 19. We’ll be in Vegas, drinking and gambling.

Local favorites Reubens Accomplice play Modified Aug. 31.

The Long Winters, whose Commander Thinks Aloud I’m listening to right now, is coming Sept. 12 to the Rhythm Room.

The motherfucking Black Keys are in town on Sept. 16, but we’ll be in Austin for the ACL festival. Damn!

Fruck! Serious dilemma: Rogue Wave and Ratatat play the same night at different venues. This rarely happens in Phoenix. I’m leaning toward Rogue Wave right now.

Maritime, whose We, The Vehicles I am loving, comes to town Sept. 26. Then Jose Gonzalez on Oct. 4. Holy hell. Thank you to Stateside Presents for the goodness.

Yeah, and then Damien Jurado is coming to Modified Oct. 16.

And, oh, Saturday night a couple members of that band called the Arcade Fire are guesting as DJs at Shake!

More proper (read: sober) posts coming today …

general

Glenn Kotche: “Mobile”

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Of all the reviews, wrap-ups and write-ups I read about the Pitchfork Music Festival, one glaring omission from nearly all of them (including my own) was the set in the Biz 3 tent by Glenn Kotche, also known as the drummer for Wilco.

Having once aspired to play drums myself, I’ve been enthralled by Kotche in the Wilco setting. On stage, he’s focused and passionate; to me, he’s the most inspiring part to watch from the Wilco shows I’ve seen. Go back and listen to the drum work on I Am Trying to Break Your Heart for an example.

This year brought the release of his third solo release, Mobile (on Nonesuch), a riveting and disciplined collection of interpretive percussion work.

We watched Kotche’s live set at Pitchfork from behind the stage, where it still seemed impossible to take in the scope of his performance. (For the record, all members of Wilco, save for Jeff Tweedy, at least from what we could tell, were on hand.) He had drums, chimes, carved-up cymbals and doo-hickeys that looked like fruit baskets. There might even have been a laptop, too.

Despite the jammy/improvisational mask his music wears, you get the feeling Kotche meticulously maps out every note and movement. No sound seems wasted.

Glenn Kotche | Individual Trains

hip-hop

“Brush yo’ god damn teeth”

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Yesterday a friend sent me this track, and while I listened to it all day (without a clue who the artist was), I was debating whether it was truly serious or a parody of some sort. After keying in some absolutely ludicrous Google searches (“read a book rap song”; “read a mothafuckin’ book song”; “wear deodorant + it’s called speed stick rap lyrics”), I think I found my answer.

This song, Read a Book, is by Bomani “D’mite” Armah, who identifies himself on his MySpace page: “I’m not a rapper, I’m a poet with a hip-hop style.” Raised in D.C., Armah calls himself an educator, performer and activist (but definitely not a rapper). All of which sounds very serious, but doesn’t lessen the levity of Read a Book, clearly a parody of the Lil Jon school of rap. Although, I almost feel guilty saying the song is humorous because my best guess is “D’mite” is using it to make a statement. In the intro line (preceded by a Lil Jon-esque “yaaayeeeah”), he says, “I usually do songs with like hooks and concepts and shit, right? But fuck that, I’m trying to go blacker.” In that sense, it’s a bit reminiscent of De La Soul’s brilliant concept on De La Soul is Dead, which spawned countless imitators.

When the song kicks in, we get a Jeep-worthy beat (backed by like Beethoven’s Fifth or something) and repeating verses of lines like, “Read a book, read a book, read a god damn book” and “raise yo’ kids, raise yo’ kids, raise yo’ god damn kids” and (my favorite) “your body needs water so drink that shit”. Seriously, it goes on even more, either mocking the Southern style of rap or exposing the ills of society (or, more likely, both).

The more I think about it the more I can appreciate the not-so-subtle tone in which the song makes its point. One last thing: Brush yo’ god damn teeth.

Bomani “D’mite” Armah | Read a Book

general

Eric Bachmann: “To the Races”

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Having never paid much attention to Archers of Loaf or Crooked Fingers – despite being told on numerous occasions I should – I wasn’t sure what to expect from Eric Bachmann’s solo LP To The Races (out on Saddle Creek on Aug. 22). What I do know is that he is set to tour with Richard Buckner, one of my favorite artists, so I probably owed it to myself to listen. And, I gotta be honest, this is the first Saddle Creek release I’ve listened to (sorry, Bright Eyes fans).

According to a one-sheet at Saddle Creek, Bachmann wrote To The Races in June and July of 2005 “while voluntarily living in the back of his van.” Um, OK. I’m not sure why anyone would do that to themselves what with all this modern technology of running water and electricity we have. Bachmann then recorded the album in a hotel in Buxton, N.C. Is this the indie-rock Henry David Thoreau or what?

Living in a van (“down by the river!”) is either a genuine motive to reach some higher artistic power that I could never attain sitting in the comfort of my synthetic leather IKEA swivel chair or a story that looks great on a press release. I’ll guess the former.

It must have worked because To The Races is pretty gorgeous: the type of sparse, haunting acoustic storytelling that I love so much about Buckner. Their touring together seems like a natural fit.

The Buckner/Bachmann tour hits Tucson on Sept. 2 as part of the Club Congress anniversary party. (We’ll be at a wedding … which also happens to be the same day Centro-Matic plays Modified in Phoenix. This better be one hell of a wedding.)

Eric Bachmann | Lonesome Warrior
Eric Bachmann | Carrboro Woman

Related:
Muzzle of Bees, with its fresh new design, has a new Richard Buckner track.

Unrelated:
It’s my mom’s birthday today. She probably never reads this, much less logs on to the insanity that is the information superhighway, but I thought I’d tell her happy birthday anyway. She’s on an Alaskan cruise with a good family friend whose lymphoma is in remission, and I hope they’re both having a great time.

hip-hop, i used to love h.e.r.

I Used to Love H.E.R.: an introduction

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I’ve been overwhelmed/excited this year by the number of superb hip-hop releases (Murs’ Murray’s Revenge and Cadence Weapon’s Breaking Kayfabe among my favorites), quite a turnaround from 2005, when the only LP that really stuck with me was The Craft by Blackalicious. (Though, maybe I wasn’t digging hard enough.)

What’s followed has been more posting about hip-hop than I expected from myself even though I’ve long loved the genre, counting A Tribe Called Quest, Run-DMC, De La Soul, Digable Planets, etc. as mainstays in my collection. I never intended this space to be devoted to one style of music over another, but, as it took shape, a majority of posts seemed dedicated to indie rock and all its variations. That’s probably more a case of my cyclical listening habits than anything. (Though I must have paid just enough attention to hip-hop to be linked by the heads at The Broke BBoys, Analog Giant and Los Amigos de Durutti, all of which have a distinct hip-hop flavor.)

The wide array of great hip-hop albums released this year re-energized my love for a genre that seems to polarize the indie-rock set. Response to many of my hip-hop posts has been lukewarm, which has both disappointed and surprised me. Either some folks really don’t like it or just don’t know where to start, a notion that got me thinking.

At first, I thought I’d keep a regular feature in which I discuss some of the essential hip-hop albums in my collection. Then I took it a step further: I’ll ask musicians the same question. Judging solely on comments and e-mails I get, I’m guessing a majority of people who swing by here are indie-rock fans. Ideally, I hope that my posts on hip-hop have served as an introduction to it rather than a means of exclusion.

There seems to be a bit of a disconnect between indie rock and hip-hop, and, short of delving into some cultural/economical dissertation, I can’t understand why. My little utopian fantasy is to shorten that gap. For example, would it surprise you that John Vanderslice is a huge hip-hop fan? Or that John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats is, too?

This excerpt from an interview with Vanderslice:

(Interviewer): You know, one of the things that I’ve been wanting to ask you for a couple of years now — whenever I pull up one of your songs on the computer, it’s always got the genre “hip-hop/rap” attached to it.

(JV): Yeah, because that’s all I care about. (We both laugh.) It’s funny I make a point of it, when I get my albums and send them to CDDB, I always want it to be under that. … I just think hip-hop is absolutely the most inspiring thing … for me personally.

I figure if you’re tired of having me shove the hip-hop down your throat, maybe you’ll be more inspired to check some out if an artist you listen to talks about it – what makes it appealing and inspiring. I think you’ll find that some of the most well-rounded artists (such as Vanderslice or Darnielle) have the most varied tastes.

Obviously, this disconnect works in reverse, too: I’m sure there are hip-hop artists/fans who don’t know much about indie rock. Perhaps that will be a sequel to this series.

Until then, I Used to Love H.E.R. will be a regular feature (once a month? maybe more?) around here. Musicians (of all types), bloggers, writers and other industry types will drop in and discuss, in their own words, essential hip-hop albums from their collections. If the well has run dry of contributions, I’ll offer up my own. Mostly, I just want to use the feature as a starting point where people can learn about great albums and then use it as a springboard to discover more.

On a final note, the name I Used to Love H.E.R. is cribbed from a Common song off the great 1994 album Resurrection (when he went by the name Common Sense). On the track, Common personifies (and practically eulogizes) hip-hop as a woman who loses direction amid money, “gangsta rollin” and a life of glamour (lyrics). Ice Cube interpreted the song as a dis on West Coast rap, prompting his response on the Westside Connection track Westside Slaughterhouse, to which Common retaliated with The Bitch in Yoo. Westside Connection came back yet again with Hoo Bangin’.

For the record, Ego Trip’s Book of Rap Lists, an indispensable rap resource, declared Common the winner.

Common | I Used to Love H.E.R.