by rustedrobot | Mar 29, 2010 | Music
I went to see Spoon over the weekend. Talk about a huge break – a show on a Saturday night, with a band I know I will like. That doesn’t happen often anymore. I think I mentioned this before, but I now have fairly strict criteria for seeing bands live. The criteria is this: I have to KNOW I will like the show. Period. I can’t take chances anymore that they might be good. Must know. That it fell on a Saturday night is total gravy. Anyway, the show was very decent. I didn’t get the two songs I really wanted (“The Fitted Shirt” and “Utilitarian”) but I got some very very good ones, like “I Summon You,” “The Beast and Dragon Adored” and “Something to Look Forward To.” Surprise of the night was how good some of the new stuff sounded, particularly “Written in Reverse” which provided much more of a kick in the pants than the album version does. And that’s why you see live bands. Of course, they sounded great, as always. The New House of Blues on Landsdowne in Boston is……sigh. Pretty much the same room as Avalon, except there’s a balcony now. I’d rather be on the floor where the energy is anyway.
The oddest part of the evening was the company. Not odd people, per say, but I just did the math in my head and collectively, they were people I hadn’t seen in nearly 25 years. One was an old high-school classmate who I haven’t seen in at least 15 years and the other was an old Rounder friend who I probably hadn’t seen in 10 years. Funny! But it worked! Of course, you can’t do much talking or socializing during a show unless you are screaming and we weren’t there to do that. But we went out for a drink beforehand and a couple of more afterward and I found myself greatly enjoying everyone’s company. I was thinking it might be a little odd to carry conversations with people I hadn’t seen in so long, but it turned out it was totally enjoyable. Just a good night all around. Glad to see I can still get out and do it and hoping I can see people again before another collective 25 years flies by.
by rustedrobot | Mar 1, 2010 | Music
I wrote late last year about my appreciation for the band Field Music, a UK group made up of two brothers and whomever else they could rope into playing. Unbeknownst to me at the time, they had a new album in the can and not just a 10-12 song release, but a 20 song double album. Who releases double albums anymore? I guess Field Music does.
Anyway, like I said in my previous post, this is a very full-sounding, rich offering, much like their other albums. I would file Field Music under something called “Chamber Pop,” the same way I speak so lovingly of bands like Matt Pond PA and King Radio. However, when you have 20 songs to offer to a public that buys less and less full albums and more singles, well, you have a challenge on your hand. So there are departures on this album. They mostly stick to their strengths, but there’s branches here that extend out into things like Pink Floyd (the good version) and even Derek and The Dominoes. There does appear to be a slight classic rock wink going on here, but it works.
As always, I’ll let the files do the talking. Enjoy!
Field Music, “All You’d Ever Need To Say”
[audio: all.mp3]
Field Music, “You and I”
[audio: you.mp3]
by rustedrobot | Feb 24, 2010 | Music
This post today is a single post with two meanings. One is very simple: I absolutely love this song. I think I have listened to it nearly every day for six months now. I love the lyrics, I love the music, I love the voice. I love that organ that rolls in so abruptly and so beautifully at the 1:50 mark. The other meaning is more complicated, but it helps to explain how I’m feeling these days. More on that in the next few days:
The Avett Brothers – “Head Full of Doubt, Road Full of Promise”
[audio: head.mp3]
There’s a darkness upon me that’s flooded in light
In the fine print they tell me what’s wrong and what’s right
And it comes in black and it comes in white
And I’m frightened by those that don’t see it
When nothing is owed or deserved or expected
And your life doesn’t change by the man that’s elected
If you’re loved by someone, you’re never rejected
Decide what to be and go be it
There was a dream and one day I could see it
Like a bird in a cage I broke in and demanded that somebody free it
And there was a kid with a head full of doubt
So I’ll scream til I die and the last of those bad thoughts are finally out
There’s a darkness upon you that’s flooded in light
And in the fine print they tell you what’s wrong and what’s right
And it flies by day and it flies by night
And I’m frightened by those that don’t see it
There was a dream and one day I could see it
Like a bird in a cage I broke in and demanded that somebody free it
And there was a kid with a head full of doubt
So I’ll scream til I die and the last of those bad thoughts are finally out
There was a dream and one day I could see it
Like a bird in a cage I broke in and demanded that somebody free it
And there was a kid with a head full of doubt
So I’ll scream til I die and the last of those bad thoughts are finally out
There’s a darkness upon me that’s flooded in light
In the fine print they tell me what’s wrong and what’s right
There’s a darkness upon me that’s flooded in light
And I’m frightened by those that don’t see it
by rustedrobot | Feb 4, 2010 | Music
I’ve talked a bit here in the past about Midlake. They are a Denton, Texas based band whose previous albums have been rather superb. Their last offering, “The Trials of Van Occupanther,” was a hipster’s dream, full of lovely little 70’s am gold songs and indie rock that all just…..fit together perfectly. Well, this past week Midlake threw us a knuckleball with their latest release, “The Courage of Others.” Gone are the memorable, near-gooey dark gems, replaced by what appears to be the second coming of Fairport Convention. I had heard rumblings that this was going to be the case, but much like “…Occupanther,” I though it would still straddle the hipster rock horse a little. It doesn’t. And yes, I love Fairport Convention’s 1968-1972 output.
The album reminds me of when I first heard the Scud Mountain Boys music. It took me nearly three months to really dig in on that band and get it. That was sometime in the mid-1990s – and I still listen to the Scuds regularly. It made it’s way into my head and snuggled in there and I can’t imagine it leaving anytime soon. That’s 15 years, so their music clearly means something to me. My comparison of the Scuds to this new Midlake album has nothing to do with sound – they don’t sound anything alike, other than the pace, I suppose.
What I mean is that “The Courage of Others” has the makings of one of those Scud albums – it will settle into a rocking chair, pull the blanket up to its neck and live warmly and snugly in my head for all eternity. But it requires work. Rocking chairs, when new, need time to develop that special comfort. Blankets need to break in. The heat takes a while to kick on. But in the week that I’ve been listening to this, I know it’s coming. The album is beautiful. Slightly morose, but beautiful. You want evidence? Of course you do. Listen to “Fortune” – click the play button below – it’s only two minutes long, too! Long live Midlake.
[audio: fortune.mp3]
People of Facebook, when you’re not farming you can hear the song here.
by rustedrobot | Jan 21, 2010 | Media, Music
I keep hearing about Apple’s intentions to craft a version of ITunes that sits on a browser instead of it being an application that sits on your desktop. What this means, for those of you that have no idea what I just typed, is that you’d be able to use your ITunes and listen to your music on any computer (and probably your smartphone), instead of just on the computer where you have ITunes. This, of course, is very interesting.
For those of you that commute to jobs, for example, you wouldn’t need to bring your Ipod anymore, because your music would be sitting on a URL at your office. I would imagine Apple would possibly cut deals with the auto companies so you could access all your music through your car dashboard as well. For those of us that travel for work a lot, it would be great! I’d love to just open my laptop in my hotel room, go to my URL and have my whole library sitting there for me.
But beyond that, as a 38 year old guy, I’m not sure what the other benefits are. Am I missing something? I probably am. I’m not married to ITunes by any stretch, I’m simply married to whatever will work most seamlessly for me and right now, that’s ITunes. But eventually I’ll try Mog and perhaps get myself a Sonos S5 (check that out!) and experiment with what I can do at home. Because home is where I really dig in on the media side of things.
Then I keep thinking about the Kindle as well. I know I talked about it recently but I keep feeling like I can’t nail down the true reason why I holding off. Shortly after my post in December, though, John Battelle totally nailed it with his post about the Kindle. I mean, check out this passage, where Battelle finally clarifies, with great accuracy, what I was trying to say:
It was clear to me that the Kindle breaks just about every one of the unwritten mores of how we, over hundreds of years, have honored books socially….And as a writer and lover of books, this makes the Kindle nothing more than a glorified Netbook – without the Net.
A few examples:
– You can’t share a Kindle book with anyone else. That’s just nuts. The sharing of a book is perhaps one of the most intimate and important intellectual acts between humans, ever. I’m not stuck on whether or not that sharing is physical. I’m stuck on the inability to share. It’s a crime.
– You can’t declare to anyone (including, importantly, reminding yourself) that you’ve read this book – an obstacle I’ll call “the library problem.” I love being surrounded by books I’ve read, and I love the fact that people who come to my office or my home library can see the books I’ve read. Yeah, part of it has to do with status. And does digital mean that status is going away? I don’t think so.
– You lose the serendipity of reading in public (and judging, as well as being judged for what is read in public)…..A Kindle suffers from a kind of social blindness – no one knows what you’re reading, unless they ask. Something important is lost when no one knows what you’re reading on the subway, the airplane, or the park bench. The opening salvos of countless relationships will no doubt be lost (though I suppose any number of romances have been kindled by the exuberant declaration of one’s love for the Kindle…).
That part about “the opening salvos of countless relationships” – that hits home, man! If everyone had a Kindle, you’d never be able to, say, engage someone on an airplane about a book. That seems patently wrong to me. It’s a word without sociology and I don’t think I can deal with that. The full Battelle post is here and it’s really worth a read. I would so LOVE to have a device to read newspapers and magazines on, but I don’t think I can do books.
by rustedrobot | Dec 23, 2009 | Music
The New Pornographers. Heavyweight Champs.
When I think of positively infectious music, the first band that comes to my mind is The New Pornographers. This band is a buzzing beehive of electric tastiness. You know how when you were a kid there was always that one treat that you just couldn’t stop eating? Do you remember that feeling you got each time when you put it in your mouth, the sweet, swirling combination of freedom, sweetness and happiness? That is The New Pornographers. They are a seven piece band (be still my heart), hailing from Canada and featuring Neko Case, another kind of sweet altogether. Case has one of those voices from the heavens. When she sings with the band or on her solo albums, you literally can see angels and rainbows and it makes you want to start hugging everyone around you.
But that’s not all, because there’s another songwriting powerhouse in the band as well, in the form of Carl Newman, whose solo stuff is splendid in his own right. But as much as I like Case and Newman on their own, put them together and it’s obnoxiously awesome. I mean, totally insane awesome. As if those two weren’t enough, Dan Bejar is a third vocalist and total wild card. If you’ve seen them live, you know what I mean. Anyway, if you are at all a fan of rock music, pop music, or ANY music, there is no way you can’t like this band. That’s a pretty heavy guarantee, I know, but it’s just so good. SO good.
That said, I need to include THREE songs here, one from each singer. Turn up and DEVOUR!
“Myriad Harbour” (from the 2007 album Challengers, Dan Bejar on vocals) —–> [audio:myriad.mp3]
“From Blown Speakers” (from the 2005 album Electric Version, Carl Newman on vocals) —– [audio:blown.mp3]
“Go Places” (from the 2007 album Challengers, Neko Case on vocals) —–> [audio:go.mp3]
Naughts Discography:
2000 – Mass Romantic (Mint)
2003 – Electric Version (Matador)
2005 – Twin Cinema (Matador)
2007 – Challengers (Matador)
