My inbox runneth over this past week. If new tracks from Serengeti, the Besnard Lakes and Telekinesis weren’t enough, we’re also treated to a track from Low, a couple of months after the Minnesota slowcore trio announced details of its forthcoming album, The Invisible Way.
Oh, yeah: Did I mention the album – the band’s 10th – was produced by Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy? Wonderful worlds of music colliding.
Like the press photo above, Low’s drummer Mimi Parker steps to the forefront for vocals on “Just Make It Stop,” one of five songs she takes lead on for the 11-track album, a wonderful development as the band celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. Nothing against Alan Sparhawk, who is a badass, but his wife’s voice is a thing of beauty, one of my favorites. Sparhawk also notes the bands increased use of piano on the album – “lots of piano” – and it’s all fully realized here.
In a Q&A two years ago, Michael Benjamin Lerner (aka Telekinesis) told me: “I also have this grandiose vision of writing a record as a band, and playing it live in a room, and that being the record. We’ll see if that ever works out though.”
Well, for the time being, Telekinesis remains a one-man studio venture. Lerner is returning with his third album, Dormarion, due for release on on Merge on April 2. As if to emphasize the efficiency of the operation, Lerner recorded the album in just two weeks, with Spoon drummer Jim Eno producing at Eno’s Public Hi-Fi studio in Austin, Texas. There are pictures to prove it.
Even better: Lerner, who canceled his Tempe show two years ago, is playing Crescent Ballroom on April 28, and he’s got an impressive backing band for the tour: Erik Walters (The Globes) on guitar, Eric Elbogen (Say Hi) on bass and Rebecca Cole (Wild Flag and the Minders) on keyboards.
“Ghosts and Creatures” is the first leak from the new album, and while it doesn’t smack you in the face with his usual power-pop prowess, it’s no less catchy.
The list of albums I’m looking forward to in 2013 is quickly filling up, topped by news of a new one from Montreal’s the Besnard Lakes, who craft epic walls of sound that can suck you in with their deliberate pace before you realize you’ve been floored by the grandeur of it all.
A Besnard Lakes release feels special, at least for me. They release albums once every two to three years, careful to ensure there is some heft/importance with every record. Nothing is watered down and there’s a certain gravity to the music, far out as the ideas may sometimes be. In premiering a song, “People of the Sticks,” at NPR, the band said of the new album: “Themes of personal loss alongside Millenial ennui weave their way into the narrative of the record. 2012 has come and gone and the world still rotates on its ever precarious axis prompting the question: What next?”
In typical Besnard fashion, the title of the new album, Until In Excess, Imperceptible UFO (out April 2 on Jagjaguwar), reads like a non sequiter – some secret code to crack.
As Jeff Weiss perfectly puts it at Passion of the Weiss: ” … but this is the thing about Besnard Lakes, they tap into some weird feeling of immensity. Spectral plains and fossil remains. Music to drive and dive to. I don’t even care whether they’re singing about spies or water slides. When the guitar crescendo and Olga Goreas’ plaintive wail start to combine, I am taken somewhere else entirely.”
Most days, I’m an anxious mess. For better or worse (usually worse), I let the details of life – no matter how minor – consume me. (Sorry, Mom, I’m biting my fingernails again.) The frantic and sometimes mindless chatter of our daily lives has slowly chipped away at my attention span. It’s exhausting and, frankly, sort of embarrassing. I can open a new browser tab and in a matter of seconds forget why.
Short of doctor’s prescription, I need a comedown – anything to help me let go. And so I am forever grateful for the Radar Brothers, who have constructed a catalog of music that sort of levitates above my petty concerns. There are certainly complexities to it that I could never understand; I’m just happy to let them carry my brain to some far-off place.
So I’m fairly giddy that a new album from Jim Putnam and Co. (now a six-piece band), Eight, will be released on Jan. 29 via Merge Records, undoubtedly the first great record of the new year.
The band premiered a the first track, “If We Were Banished,” and I love how Pitchfork described it: “… None of it sounds lazy — Radar Bros. sound like they’re pushing against some immovable object and when a new chord after the cyclical chorus, it feels like a true accomplishment, the point where you finally muster the strength to get off the hammock or couch. It’s a huge little song.”
I swear I’ve been heaping praise on the Cave Singers for some time now, but it wasn’t until this past summer, when we saw the band at Sail Inn in Tempe, that my wife decided that, hey, maybe I was right all this time: These guys are great.
We had a blast at the show. She bought a shirt and then proceeded to listen to the Cave Singers for about a month straight. So she’ll be more than happy to know that a new album, Naomi, is on the way March 5 via Jagjaguwar. It’ll be the band’s fourth, sticking to an every-other-year release pattern.
Not only did Phil Ek (Built to Spill, Band of Horses, Shins and so on) produce the album, but the Cave Singers welcomed a new member to the band with Morgan Henderson (Blood Brothers, Fleet Foxes) on bass and extra instrumentation.
The first song, “Have to Pretend,” premiered over at KEXP. It’s a punchy number, and I second KEXP’s assertion that the track locks into quite a groove – an airy change of pace from the Cave bros.
It takes only a 40-second teaser to get me excited about a new Low album. The Invisible Way – produced by Jeff Tweedy, no less, and recorded in Wilco’s Loft studio this fall – is due for release on March 19 via Sub Pop.
I’m typically turned off by the trend of album teasers. But without the release of a song just yet, this is all we have for now to preview Low’s 10th album and fourth in what’s become an incredible run with Sub Pop (The Great Destroyer, Drums and Guns and C’mon are all equally lovely). The Invisible Way also coincides with the band’s 20th anniversary – quite an accomplishment in itself
Although there’s no album single, the band didn’t leave us totally empty-handed. Low – Plays Nice Places is a six-song live set, featuring a new song, “Waiting,” and can be streamed/downloaded via the widget below.
Here’s the tracklisting:
Words (featuring Benjamin Gibbard)
Waiting
Sunflowers
Witches
Pissing
Murderer
Nobody does a hip shake in a white suit quite like Father John Misty, eh? Only the man born Josh Tillman would be so bold to wear white after Labor Day. You might ask if I’ve developed a man-crush. It’s very possible.
Tillman and his band performed Monday on Conan, doing the song “Nancy From Now On.”
Fear Fun is the album I’ve turned to most this year. I can’t imagine a song from 2012 that I like better than “Only Son of the Ladiesman” – so much colorful storytelling.
I’m really bummed to have missed his show in Phoenix last month, though I hear his dance moves were impeccable. For the Conan performance, Tillman, as usual, seems to pull off this weird blend of sincerity and snark. He’s definitely not laughing with us – he’s laughing at us. Only I’m not sure what the joke is.
PAPA bassist and devout Lakers fan Daniel Presant surely is gearing up for the new NBA season, especially with his team reloading by adding Dwight Howard and taking Steve Nash from us in Phoenix (he looks terrible in Lakers gold … so there!).
Likewise, Presant and Darren Weiss – the principal members of PAPA – look like they have big things in store for 2013. After releasing the excellent EP, A Good Woman is Hard to Find, last year, the band will unleash its full-length debut in 2013.
“Put Me to Work,” the pulsating first single, dropped on Thursday. Stream/download below:
The seventh installment of 110 Percent, a series in which I talk to musicians about sports, features Matty McLoughlin (photo credit), guitarist for the Soft Pack who was a reliever in college for the University of Richmond baseball team.
While on the road last week in support of the Soft Pack’s great new album, Strapped, McLoughlin looked back at his college career – which included a no-hitter, a regional victory, playing with/against future big leaguers and a bum arm by the end of it all – and his eventual transition from pitcher to musician.
I know you played at University of Richmond. Did you play all four years there?
No, my freshman year I went to Saddleback Junior College in Orange County and then I went to Oregon State, but I didn’t end up pitching there. I got in trouble … I don’t really wanna get into it (laughs). I didn’t end up pitching there and I transferred to the University of Richmond. So basically my sophomore, junior and senior years.
Are you from the West coast?
Yeah, I went to high school in San Diego at Torrey Pines.
So that was a big move for you then.
Yeah, but I kinda lived all over the country. I moved to San Diego when I was 15. … But Richmond was good. I didn’t expect them to be as good as they were. We had Tim Stauffer, who was the No. 4 overall pick, and we had like five other guys drafted. The highest we were ranked, like in 2004, I think Baseball America ranked us No. 9 for about a week. We were good for a couple years. It was fun. It was a good school to go to.
I was just doing a little bit of reading, and you pitched part of a no-hitter?
Yeah, I threw the back three innings, the seventh, eighth and ninth, against Coastal Carolina, which is actually a pretty good school. They always make the tournament.
That’s kind of a big deal.
Yeah, but the biggest thing I did was I beat Wake Forest in the regional in 2002. That was kind of the biggest deal. The Coastal game was just some tournament – I mean, It was nice. But I didn’t even start the game. You know, the last three innings are hard, but it was kind of a weird thing. But the Wake thing was definitely my shining moment.
Did you start that game or come in relief?
I came in relief. I pitched, like, the last 4 2/3 or something. They were really stacked that year. So we made it to the super regional and we were playing Nebraska. We lost the first game, won the second one and it was tied in the ninth on Sunday and our closer gave up a bomb. I pitched the seventh and eighth and got taken out. I never played in front of that many people.
So you were a home run away from going to Omaha.
Yeah, we were so close, which is fucked up because from like sixth grade on I went to the College World Series every year.
Also, I saw you’re 10th all-time at Richmond in saves with six.
Oh, wow, really? I didn’t know that. That’s not a lot of saves, but I’ll take that. Nice, in the record books (PDF link).
So what was in your repertoire?
My changeup was my best pitch. I was kind of like the classic crafty college right-hander. I threw like 86 mph to 88 – 88 on a good day. But my fastball sunk a little bit, I hit my spots and would throw everything in any count. I was good for college, but I wasn’t gonna pitch in the big leagues or anything.
Was there interest?
I filled out a couple draft cards my senior year, but that’s as far as it got. I kind of knew that wasn’t happening. And then I got an internship at a record label and moved to New York and didn’t pick up a baseball. My arm was a mess at the end.
Were you juggling music while playing in college?
Not really. I would play alone in my room and stuff. But in high school and college, I was playing baseball all year round, so I couldn’t really get in a band. But I’ve been playing guitar since I’ve been in the seventh grade.
By the end of your college career, did you feel like you were burned out on baseball or would you have taken the chance to play in the minors somewhere?
I wish I had signed a free-agent contract just to play for two weeks and then quit. But I was totally burned out on baseball. At that time, my senior year, I would just go see bands and get wasted all the time. I knew I wasn’t gonna go any further. That was when I’d say, “Oh, I can go out before a game.†I kind of knew … when you realize you’re not going play any further, you just want to do something else.
So you played with Tim Stauffer … people who know baseball think of him, like, “Oh, he’s good … a No. 2 or 3 guy.†But when you saw him in college he was probably amazing, right?
There was a lot of pitching in Virginia at the time. He didn’t throw as hard as Justin Verlander (at Old Dominion), but he had that 12 to 6 with 94 mph. If you’re throwing that hard and you’re 12 to 6, you’re nasty. … So he had all the out pitches and a changeup, but then your arm gets hurt and you’re throwing 89 and just nibbling and falling behind and you have to throw something that they’re gonna hit. But in college, yeah, he was dirty.
So you saw Verlander up close. He’s obviously amazing now. When you saw him back in the day, did you have any idea he’d be as great as he is now?
I remember shagging balls at Old Dominion, and he was, I think, a freshman. He’s throwing a bullpen and you can just hear it. He threw a ton of innings in college. It’s the same thing as now. …
I moved to Southern California from Texas and I played against all the guys, and rarely do you see a pitcher who can hold up. He’s been like that – just that Nolan Ryan thing.
I know you’re on the road, but do you keep up with MLB games?
That’s the hardest thing. I catch highlights. We’re at bars every night, and I try to make them put on a game. But by the time we go on, it’s like the seventh, eighth, ninth inning. But at home I watch the MLB Network all day long. My writing process is just have that on, smoke a joint and play guitar. But yeah. MLB Network – all day long.
Are you loyal to a specific team?
Yeah, I grew up a Red Sox fan. My parents got engaged at Fenway, so I grew up a huge fan. And I’m still a huge fan. But Valentine, I can’t even look at his face. … But some teams are just fun to watch. Like the A’s. This year the Dodgers were really exciting and young and fun. … I kind of adopted the Dodgers as my NL team. And I go to a lot of games because I live right by Dodger Stadium.
Wait, I wanna go back: You said your parents got engaged at Fenway?
They didn’t do a JumboTron thing. But it was at a game. And our first cat was named Yaz. My dad didn’t want to get a cat, but the only way we could get the cat is if we named it Yaz.
Were you a baseball card collector?
Yeah … I’d go to card shows every Sunday up until probably seventh, eighth grade. … But we moved around all the time, and they’re not around. So I don’t have any cards. I don’t know how it happened to me, but my baseball cards got thrown out.
So have you thrown or played baseball since college?
Toward the end of my career, I was getting cortisone shots. I didn’t really care if I ever threw again. I just wanted to finish the year, so I was getting cortisone shots. My rotator cuff was kind of a mess. The last time I played catch was probably about a year ago. I was like, “OK, I wanna start throwing and build it up and maybe my arm won’t hurt.†But it just started throbbing again. So I started playing pickup basketball (laughs). When you’re hurting and you’re old, it just sucks.
When you look back, do you have any regrets?
No, I don’t have any regrets. I got as far as I could with it. I didn’t have the ability to go any further. But I had a lot of fun. And it’s cool to watch TV and be like, “That guy hit a home run off me.â€
It’s mid-October, which means a couple of things: 1.) I haven’t posted in almost a month (crap). 2.) Music bloggers/nerds are already freaking out about year-end lists. I haven’t really done one in about two years, but if, say, I were to create one this year, it would be difficult to envision a list that didn’t include Cloud Nothings’ Attack On Memory.
I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again: I can’t shake this feeling that I’ve heard Attack on Memory before – in a previous life, sometime in college, so many years ago. I know I’m starting to sound like a nostalgic asshole, but I mean it more as a great compliment. The instant comparison for me is Pinehurst Kids, but Cloud Nothings frontman Dylan Baldi, 20, was probably about 4 years old when Pinehurst Kids formed, so who knows if he’s ever heard of them.
Regardless, I’d encourage fans of Cloud Nothings to check out Viewmaster, the 2000 release by Pinehurst Kids. The similarities are eerie, if not pretty comforting – Cloud Nothings are more punishing musically in spots but no less melodic.
“Fall In,” for which they have a new video, is a great example. John Ryan Manning, who also directed the awesome “No Future/No Past” video, is responsible for this one as well:
