Calliope Musicals - Mohawk - 05.16.15

In general terms, the point of this blog for me is to have fun writing and thinking about something other than the normal work stuff.  Listening to new music and forming my thoughts about them, or reminiscing about the great music of the past, or figuring out why I like what I like, it has all been a fun exercise.  But this weekend, I got the first tangible perk of the blog, when one of the band members from the band Calliope Musicals read my ACL preview on them and invited me to come and see their show in Austin.  Pretty exciting - someone other than my close friends and wife actually read something I wrote down!  So I had to take them up on the offer.

I had never been in the Mohawk's small room, but it was a great little intimate room for music.  When the show started, there were just over 50 people in the place (not counting the musicians and sound guy). More people wandered in over time, but it stayed a pretty intimate show.


The best word I can use to describe the show was fun. They fired up with a lot of energy, weirdness, and pretty great music. When they rocked, they truly kicked in with some great riffs and nice groove.  As I noted previously, they feature the xylophone pretty prominently, with about a third of the stage taken up with a big ol' xylophone (which may not even be the technical term for what was being used, but alphabet books for children have warped me into thinking that only x-ray and xylophone exist when discussing "x" words).  You can see it in those pics above, over to the left.  But during the live show, that instrument pretty well blends into the music and sounds just right.  Not all that different from a keyboard in any other band.  In addition, they've got two guitarists, a bassist, a great drummer, and then the lead singer who just crushes it. Rocking a cape, either asking for hugs or twirling around like an animal, she just looks like she couldn't be having any more fun as she bounces around and conducts the party.  She sound-checked with a slice of classic Janis Joplin, and the comparison in voices was just right.

In addition to the good music, they obviously think about fun things they can do to make the experience. They fired up a confetti cannon at one point, threw out a huge beach ball and inflatable alien for people to bounce around, and handed out pieces of Shiner boxes for people to wave around. At one point in the show, they handed out candles (like you would get at the Christmas Eve service in church), the lead singer stepped down into the crowd and sat down on the floor. Most other folks in the room took a candle and sat down too, and then sang along with the next tune.  It was highly unusual, but it seemed so genuinely real that it wasn't offputting.
 
I was a little bit unsure about what the hell I was doing - wandering by myself up to the bouncer guy and telling him that I was "on the list," but it actually worked!  And then to have the show be a fun treat left me feeling pretty excited about the band and about keeping the blog going.  I may never see another perk from doing all of this, but Saturday night felt like a pretty good score. Many thanks to Chris and the rest of the band - I hope that the ACL show brings many more converts into the fold!

Quick Hits, Vol. 8 (Foxes in Fiction, Lecrae, Mellencamp, Porter Robinson, TV on the Radio)

Foxes in Fiction - Ontario Gothic.  Atmospheric indie harmonies.  Pretty, moody music that worked well for me today as a cold front rolled in over downtown.  Really nice, but I doubt I'll listen to this one again.

I have already talked about how awesome First Aid Kit is, but check out this video a friend sent around today.  Such a perfect cover for them to tackle.

Lecrae - Anomaly.  Christian rap.  Which sounds horrible, but is actually well done.  The beats and tone make it sound like any other rap album currently out.  For that matter, if you listen to the lyrics, for the most part it sounds like any other rapper as well.  I just heard him say "y'all must be high on that medical," so he's not above rapping about the weeds.  But this is more of an empowerment anthem about how the rappers should stop bragging and leading kids down the wrong road and be something more.  Not bad.

However, not bad isn't good enough to climb into my Keepers playlist.

John Mellencamp - Plain Spoken.  Sister Susan first introduced me to the Cougar, way back in the day.  Scarecrow was and is awesome.  But this is not nearly so interesting and exciting.  Tried it twice and have no recollection of anything.

Porter Robinson - Worlds.  Indie electronics.  Interesting tunes.  Some with no lyrics, mainly just beats and samples, but others with simplistic choruses.  Kind of like Passion Pit.

TV on the Radio - Seeds.  I really like this album.  I tried TVOTR a few albums ago (Dear Science) and recall being underwhelmed.  Critics talk about these guys like they cured cancer, but parts of this album finally live up to some of that hype.  It is complex music that rewards multiple listens, although Happy Idiot is a jam from the very first get-go.

"I'm gonna bang my head through the wall, until I feel like nothing at all."  And Pee Wee Herman as the main character in a weird video.  Cool all around.  Snappy jams that belie the fact that this is kind of a sad song.  Careful You is another great semi-love song about being unsure in love, with cool stereo effects that make the snares sound like they bounce between the speakers.  The title track is also a cool one - love the chorus mantra: "rain comes down, like it always does, this time I've got seeds on ground."  Cool album that you should check out.

Quick Hits, Vol. 7 (New Pornographers, Interpol, Johnny Winter, Sharon Van Etten, Body Count, Duck Sauce)

The New Pornographers - Brill Bruisers.  I like this album.  Fun pop mixed with interesting alternative and indie bits makes for a less obscure/more accessible Arcade Fire kind of sound.  I saw the New Pornographers years ago at Fun Fun Fun Fest in Waterloo Park and thought they were pretty cool.  Since then, I have come to love Neko Case and she definitely shines on this album.  Her voice is really a great thing.

This tune, Champions of Red Wine, is the most listened to song on the album, and it is just odd enough (those skipping choral sounds and skittering waterfall synth) to escape a straightforward pop/rock chug and be something better.

Interpol - El Pintor.  I tried these guys a few times during the run up to ACL, but they just don't click for me.  Reminds me of The National, where several people I know (who have good musical taste) dig them, but they just sound mopey and uninteresting to me.

Johnny Winter - Essential Johnny Winter.  This dude just died, and Rolling Stone wrote him up as a top-notch, greatest-guitarist-of-all-time conversation type talent.  As an aside, Winter was also apparently an albino, which is a weird but awesome fact for some like me who is pigmentally challenged.  And from Beaumont, which has so rarely produced anything of value.  This music reminds me of the Allman Brothers, with a little ZZ Top, and a little old roadhouse blues.  Winter is definitely skilled on the guitar, and can haul ass with major intensity.  The start of this one sounds just like some Stevie Ray Vaughan (and his bassist looks like Stephen King in need of a beard):

Knowing that he was doing this stuff in the 60's makes it even more impressive to me, because hearing this for the first time makes it sound derivative of the blues guitarists who have so obviously cribbed his style over the decades.  Cool look back into rock and roll history here.

Sharon Van Etten - Are We There.  The torchy feel of the Lana Del Rey songs.  Timid voice over slinky tunes and lyrics about love.  Not my cup of tea, but pretty.

Body Count - Body Count.  I remember buying this album when in came out back in high school and thinking I was a HUGE rebel.  Cop Killer!  Yeah!  And then I listened to it a few times and took it back to Waterloo (do they still offer full money back on returns within 10 days?  I would bet not in this day of mp3s, but that was awesome back then).  It popped back into my head the other day and I listened again - kind of funny (well, darkly funny, the way Django Unchained might be funny) but really not all that good as far as the music goes.  AND Cop Killer isn't actually on the album available on Spotify.  I wonder if they just erased the memory of that song ever since Ice T became a TV cop? Nope, it is still out there:

Still makes me feel like a rebel.

Duck Sauce - Quack.  Electronic disco dance.  And silly.  Loads of dumb duck and quacking references, little boing sounds, and random snippets of talk on here in between the tail-feather-wagging beats.  Fun music, but just not really something I want to hear while chilling at my desk. Here is the one "hit" I know of for them, Barbara Streisand:

Like I said, fun music, silly music, but not something I am going to seek out to jam all the time.

Foo Fighters - Sonic Highways

I love me some Foos.  I still love Nirvana, but the Foo Fighters are, in their own right, a really great rock and roll band.  Their first three albums are all really great, and when I saw them play ACL a few years ago the show was extremely fun (except for a 20 minute drum solo in the middle that made me want to punch someone).

Anyway, they have put out their eighth album, Sonic Highways, that goes along with an HBO documentary about travelling the country to get regional flavoring into their songs.  Each song was to be recorded in a different music-loving city (Chicago, D.C., Nashville, Austin, L.A., New Orleans, Seattle, and NY), and the Foos were highly excited that they would get a cool influence for each song that flavored the tune with a regional musical taste.  

I call B.S.  That song in the background of that trailer is the "Chicago" song.  Huh?  And the preview makes it sound like there was a hip hop influence on the album.  Not to my ears.

On the one hand, I like these songs - the disc is good.  But, it sounds like any other Foo Fighters album I have ever heard.  The "Austin" song, What Did I Do?/God as my Witness, purportedly guest starring Gary Clark Jr., sounds like the Foo Fighters without Gary Clark Jr.  Maybe the barroom piano is the Austin touch?  You definitely don't hear a non-Foo-style guitar on the track.  You can maybe hear the Preservation Hall Jazz Band on the "New Orleans" song, but they just play backing horns to the normal guitar sounds that the Foo Fighters use on every album.  

Maybe this is just some big META commentary about the homogenization of America - that you can just find the exact same stuff in any part of the country.  The Foo Fighters are universal, man.

They could have done something much more extreme, truly reflecting the sound of each city, and it would have been awesome.  Do a song in the zydeco style of New Orleans.  Go full county for Nashville.  Make a Laurel Canyon harmony in L.A.  Get bluesy in Chicago.  Go hip hop in New York.  Let Gary Clark Jr. or Willie Nelson be heard and make a cool mashup of the Foos with real Austin.  But as the album stands right now, you would never know that I Am a River is based on New York.  Or at least I wouldn't - maybe you are a connoisseur of regional New York sounds. Good album, but a missed chance to really do what they claimed they were going to do.

I also have to beef with the cover art.  I think the concept is super cool - the cover is separated into nine squares, with eight of them depicting iconic portions of the eight cities represented on the album.


Austin's portion (lower left) has the Frost Bank tower, the Pennybacker bridge, and some grass (?) separated by low concrete walls (?):

Did Frost Bank bankroll this album or something?  How is a ten year old building that looks like a nose clipper the most iconic thing they could come up with in Austin?  I honestly have little problem with that building by now - it actually is pretty cool - but the best thing to exemplify Austin?  How about the pink granite capitol building?  Zilker Park?  (which may be what they are trying to do with the green spaces?) Memorial Stadium?  The UT Tower?  Hell, why not Sixth Street with some inaccurate signage to include Stubb's, Continental Club, Threadgill's, Antone's, etc?  A huge BBQ pit?  I feel like someone should answer for this.

Sturgill Simpson - Metamodern Sounds in Country Music

I got started on a post adding this to another Quick Hits entry, and realized that it is just too damn good to be tucked away with my thoughts on some boring rapper or Primus weirdout.

Go listen to this album right now.  I know the title of the album is weird.  I know that some of you may not love old school country.  But you have to appreciate the pinpoint perfect homage this guy pays to the Waylon Jennings and friends who came before him.  Turtles All the Way Down:

But if you listen to the lyrics, he has updated the old stories to modern times.  Would Waylon have name checked Seattle?  Would Willie have sung about reptile aliens cutting you open?  Well, maybe he would have.  Drugs do scary things to the brain.  And during the breakdown later in this song, Simpson adds a little psychedelic reverb in there to see if you are still paying attention.  But the sounds in this tune easily could have been a classic country nugget from 1968.

And then, there's this:

The first time I listened through the album, I thought this one sounded vaguely familiar.  The second time I listened through, I sat there staring out my office window, trying to recall where I knew that song from.  OH YEAH, flashback to When in Rome and 1988 and the pop charts of my childhood. And yet this reinterpretation of the song is so bad ass.  Take a 80's pop dance classic confessional and set it over a country slow burn - genius.

Spend some time running through this one today and you'll thank me later.

Quick Hits, Vol. 5 (Prince, Jackson Browne, Aphex Twin, Lenny Kravitz, Primus, Rich Robinson)

Prince/3rdEyeGirl - Plectrumelectrum.  Uh, well, Prince is still awesome at playing guitar! That guy can jam.  But give me When Doves Cry or Raspberry Beret, because this is mediocre-ness.

Jackson Browne - Standing in the Breach.  Guy has one of the most lovely voices in the world.  Some of his old songs are deservedly classic.  This new album isn't bad, but other than showcasing his voice, whatevs.

Aphex Twin - Syro.  WTF.  I just cannot imagine listening to this kind of electro-weird music all day.  I could totally listen to the new Weezer all day long, but this is so odd and twiggy that I don't comprehend it.  I am old.  We have already established that.  But nonetheless, Rolling Stone was super excited about this new album that went back to the EDM roots or something.  I guess it is nice that every song doesn't have a huge bass drop and sound exactly like all others, but it seriously sounds like a robot orgy with the Revenge of the Nerds house band playing.  And the song titles are stuff like "4 bit 9d api+e+6[126.26]"  No lie, that is a song title.  Is there a crap song title generator website out there like the band name one?  This song is about the only accessible one I could find:

Anyway, I was not able to finish this album.  Pretty rare occurrence for me, but while dissonance can sometimes resolve into something cool (like Radiohead songs with some of these weird glitchy bits), most of these just stay unpleasant until they are over.  

Lenny Kravitz - Strut.  Love me some Lenny.  In fact, I need to prepare a Classics review sometime soon.  This one doesn't reach that high up to become a classic, but its pretty dang fun, classic Lenny.  The songs lean hard on 70's rock action, as is usual in the Kravitz canon, with some Blondie references in both of the two opening songs. There is also a kind of terrible Happy Birthday song on here that is pretty ham-handed.  But overall, I like this one.

Primus & the Chocolate Factory with the Fungi Ensemble.  Er, WTF man.  I dug Primus a lot in high school.  Frizzle Fry and Suck on This and Sailing the Seas of Cheese are odd odysseys of awesome funk rock that still hold up well for me today.  Tommy the Cat, Jerry was a Race Car Driver, and Harold of the Rocks are jams.  Uh, this album is a cover album of the Willy Wonka soundtrack from start to finish.  Which is kind of awesome.  I loved that movie, and other than Cheer Up Charlie (which is a godawful, terrible turd of a song that I used to fast forward through on our HBO-pirated copy of WW back in the day), I dig that soundtrack.  The Oompa songs still have solid messages today (don't watch so much TV, don't eat too much, don't be a brat, don't chew gum so much), but these renditions are, sadly, kind of uninteresting.  They just hit one note - nothing adventurous once you get past the notion of Les Claypool twitching his way through these tunes.  They just keep it taut and creepy throughout, without much real interpretation or modification other than slight Primification.

Yep.  Sounds like Primus playing Pure Imagination.  Would have been cool if they had re-imagined it more, added more funky flair and not just played it straight with different instruments.  They funk it up a bit at the end, but I just wanted more.

Rich Robinson - The Ceaseless Sight.  Eh.  I love the Black Crowes, so I generally give them a pass, but this just sounds like a filler BC album.  Not bad by any means, and has some of those BC-esque touches that make me think it might be great, but overall just fine.

Quick Hits, Vol. 4 (Minutemen, Meat Puppets, Bee Caves, Wara from the NBHD, My Brightest Diamond, Death from Above 1979, Preatures)

Minutemen - Double Nickels on the Dime.  I would have been all over these dudes in high school if I had known about them.  I had a good, long love affair with Fugazi and Firehose (the latter of which was mentioned in a Chili Peppers song, so I bought several albums on that tiny recommendation alone).  Part of this band went on to become Firehose later on, and you can really hear it in the bass - funky and odd and awesome.  It is like some dudes wanted to be punk, but they had actual serious skills with their instruments, so this comes off as lo-fi and shouted/spoken like punk, with with really solid musicianship and fun eclectic takes on tunes (instead of the boring boom bap drumming and bass of normal punk).  The most listened to song on this album is Corona, but I think that is only because it was the intro music to the extra-dumb Jackass show.  I prefer Viet Nam, try it out:

Almost has an R.E.M. sound in there (although for all I know, R.E.M. cribbed their sound off these guys.  This album came out in 1984).  Don't worry, the song is only 1:29 long...

Meat Puppets - II.  Huh.  Sounds kind of like the Minutemen, and it appears that they were labelmates back in the 80's.  Promise I didn't load them up in my queue that way on purpose, but that American Championship Belt post brought both of these bands up.  This is pretty dang weird music. Kind of in the alt country/ punk country vein of early Old 97's or Sun Volt.  Has some Phish sounds as well (Aurora Borealis), maybe even some Dead through that country-ish sound.  The album also has multiple tunes that Nirvana used in their Unplugged album (Plateau, Lake of Fire, and Oh, Me).  

Pretty dang close to the way Kurt sang it on the Unplugged show.  Interesting.  I'm sure the true Nirvana fan-boys totally knew that these were Meat Puppets songs, but fun to hear the echos of the original in the covers.  Cool find.  I likely won't go back and listen to this album much again, but I've got more useless trivia in my head now!

Bee Caves - Animals with Religion.  Great music.  I feel like I've heard these songs before, although I know I never have.  Really nice relaxed rock and roll with good harmonies.

Wara from the NBHD - Kidnapped.  I have no freaking clue where I found this album or why I added it to my playlist to check out, but its actually pretty damn good.  No clue why his name is so weird, either.  But this is solid story-telling rap of nice sounding couplets and rhythm, with drug sales tales and very little dumb braggadocio or talk about his cars and shoes and artwork, over simple but well-made beats.  I wanted to add a link to Raw, but it apparently has no YouTube presence.  So check out Beige (which totally sounds like a Pharrell beat for Clipse):

My Brightest Diamond - This is my Hand.  She came to ACL Fest and I listened to her music when writing her up, but she has put out a new full length album that is really nice. Quirky and odd, I'll stick to my Bjork comparisons from my earlier review.  Great voice, although she doesn't just play it straight - she hits unexpected notes and sticks herself into weird arrangements.  This is good.

Death from Above 1979 - The Physical World.  Funny, I thought I had already listened to these dudes for the ACL previews, but it turns out that people are having a very difficult time coming up with original band names these days.  Death from Above 1979 didn't come to ACL, but Chain Gang of 1974 and Night Terrors of 1927 did.  Come on, folks.  Stop using the automatic band name generator already.  I know I should be talking about this album and all, but I just went to bandnamemaker and told it to make names involving 1976, and it made the absolute worst band names I think it possibly could have made.  Some examples:

• "1976 Rupture And The Twang Allison"  What?  Seriously, what did you just say?
• "1976 Of The Manual Mistress"  Did the 1980's Nintendo writers make this website?
• "Confidential 1976 And The Liberty"  Is my computer being hacked while I read this garbage?
• "1976 Of The Sink"  I wish I was making this up.
• And the winner, because it encapsulates this website so well, is "Sucky 1976"

ANYWAY, once you get over the band name, this is fun hard rock stuff.  Driving, relentless, rock and roll you should probably use to drive fast or dance hard.  Here is the most popular tune from the album, chug along and look at those buttons.

Preatures - Blue Planet Eyes.  Another band that came to ACL Fest, but previously they didn't have a full length album out.  They have one big hit song that plays on the radio quite a bit around Austin:

Which is a straight up jam.  I mean, try not to boogie while you listen to that stuff.  The full album includes that song as well as a bunch of similarly good tunes.  Reminds me of the pop/rock/80's references from Haim a year or two ago.  They've also got a chilled Sheryl Crow sound (Two Tone Melody) on here to bring you back down from your heavy grooving.

Quick Hits, Vol. 3 (Big Daddy Kane, Kevin Gates, Weezer, Hozier, Protomartyr, Jessica Lea Mayfield, Afghan Whigs)

Big Daddy Kane - Long Live the Kane.  I forget why this guy popped into my head the other day, but I never listened to BDK back in the days when he was popular.  I was an LL Cool J guy and always figured Kane must be as corny as LL told me he was.  This album is pretty solid for old school scratchin' rap.  Sounds kind of like the Paris albums I listened to back in high school.  The raps are actually pretty good (On the Bugged Tip is nice), except he's one of those brag-rappers, where I don't think he's saying anything but how he is super awesome.  And he has a slow jam love song or two, which are kind of funny (The Day You're Mine).

Ain't No Half Steppin', has a supreme beat.  Again, all bragging, but still pretty solid.  AND that video is 80's comedy gold.  Look at that ring shaped like a business card made of gold!  Check those chains!  The hair!  The workout clothes!  Word.

Kevin Gates - By Any Means.  Louisiana rapper who had a great last album (Stranger than Fiction, go listen to White Tan and see if you don't feel the need to get down).  His production is mostly solid, southern-sounding trap.  This is strong gangsta rap that is fun to listen to and catchy.  Posed to be in Love is the current hit off of this album, which, in this current climate of hyper-sensitivity to domestic violence, why not have a popular video and song about beating up your woman?

Weezer - Everything Will Be Alright In the End.  Woohoo!  I dig on some Weezer.  Their blue album was high school and college good memories (although I tried to sing Buddy Holly to the four year old the other night as a lullaby, and she asked for a different song, so maybe it doesn't survive the years as well as I thought) and they have had some other good ones since.  Raditude and Hurley were not so good, but this one right here goes right back to the sound they had in the early nineties and jams it out.  Crunchy guitars and steady rhythm, along with catchy hooks and lyrics?  Nice!  Ain't Got Nobody is a good starter, but Back to the Shack is the popular song for a reason.

 Jammin' on the moon, baby!  Love it - going back to the original sound and admitting it in song.  Rockin' out like its 94!

Hozier - Hozier.  I know I already did a full post about this dude, but he finally put out a full length album.  It is awesome.  Jackie and Wilson is like a Black Keys tune, loads of fun and makes me want to rename my kids with cooler rock and roll names.  Someone New and Like Real People Do are just great little love songs.  This is mainly bluesy rock with a load of soul, along with a few really nice ballads (the duet on In a Week in particular) and it makes me even more disappointed that he missed out on the ACL Fest this year.

Protomartyr - Under Color of Official Right.  Punk, with talking-style lyrics most of the time. Interesting sound.  Also an out-of-place clear guitar sound on a lot of songs.  Make me think of Best Coast's guitar.  Worth a listen but I won't hang on to it.

Jessica Lea Mayfield - Make My Head Sing... - This gal used to work with Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys, and this still has a fingerprint or two from him on it.  I don't know how to categorize this music, bluesy at times, alternative rock at times, folky pretty at times, its all over the place.  Some Yeah Yeah Yeahs, some Nirvana, some Neko Case, some Black Keys, its actually pretty good.

Afghan Whigs - Do to the Beast.  I have fond memories of the Afghan Whigs because of the Beautiful Girls soundtrack.  Loved that soundtrack, and their cover of Barry White's Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe.  Rolling Stone dug on this album and made me excited to hear it, but nothing in here was especially noteworthy.  I was about to just skip writing about it, but what is the point of this blog except to tell you that this is uninteresting to me?

Quick Hits, Vol 2 (Drive By Truckers, Old Crow Medicine Show, Kid Cudi, Warpaint, Coldplay, Old 97's, Conor Oberst, Damon Albarn, Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger, Parquet Courts)

Drive by Truckers - English Oceans.  Somewhere between Wilco/Uncle Tupelo and the more normal Flaming Lips songs. Pretty good, but nothing I think I need to listen to forever.

Old Crow Medicine Show - OCMS.  Even without Wagon Wheel, which is a dang fun song, this is solidly enjoyable bluegrass actions from the hollows of Carolina.

Kid Cudi - Satellite Flight.  The album title is actually quite a bit longer, but I just can't be bothered with all of that nonsense.  I have never gotten into Kid Cudi.  His other albums have never been all that interesting to me and this one doesn't change that perception.  The beats are boring and the whispery delivery just doesn't hold my attention.

Warpaint - Warpaint.  In general, not my cup of tea.  Brooding, soft, dark, pretty, kind of meandering ladies.  That being said, some of these songs are kind of tight - Love is to Die is actually pretty catchy.  I'll keep this one around for the next time someone really cool comes to visit me from Brooklyn or something.

Coldplay - Ghost Stories.  I was fully prepared to dislike this album, because the radio songs sound like they just took a page out of the EDM playbook (see Sky Full of Stars) to make a popular new album for the club kids.  I loved Coldplay for their first two or three albums - Yellow, Clocks, Spiders, Trouble, those are money songs.  I worried that leaving behind their rock roots to go all electronic would suck.  While I still think those original albums are better, this one is actually pretty good.  Chris Martin's voice and lyrics are still fine, and the music still takes you from relatively funky bounces to tender balladry.  I'll keep this one.

Old 97's - Most Messed Up.  Heck yeah.  I like the Old 97's a lot, but had been a little underwhelmed by the last album or two.  This one is great, loose, swagger-filled alt-country/rock fun.

Conor Oberst - Upside Down Mountain.  Pretty nice.  Makes me think of some of those Ryan Adams albums he made when he was doing like 9 a year, where it is eminently pleasant while the album is playing, but then when you try to remember a single thing that happened while the album played, you've got no idea.  Amnesia rock, baby!  Zigzagging Toward the Light may be the best one on here.

(gotta go to 2:40 to hear the tunes).

Damon Albarn - Everyday Robots.  Lead singer from Blur and Gorillaz, both of which I like. Definitely more Gorillaz on this album than Blur - glitchy, synthy beats with Albarn floating around over the top.  Good but not great, I kind of doubt I would go out of my way to find it and listen again.

Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger - Midnight Sun.  Trippy psych rock from Sean Lennon, you can tell the kid has listened to some late Beatles in his day.  Actually a pretty good album.  Animals is my favorite tune on the album.  Another one that was fine through a few listens, but I doubt I'll seek it out to hear again.

Parquet Courts - Sunbathing Animal.  Garage band Strokes-y bashing.  I know this album had critics salivating openly (Pitchfork says "Sunbathing Animal's considered, whip-smart rock revivalism is a work of substantial growth from a band that already did "simple" quite well, placing Parquet Courts in their own distinct weight class."; Rolling Stone gives it four stars, and like Pitchfork, invokes Pavement as the closest comparison, in saying it has deadpan vocals and fantastic guitar rambles.). I've tried to like Pavement, but I just haven't gotten into it.  Same thing goes here, I'd like to really enjoy this, but it feels like an early, raw album from a band who got a lot better as they aged.

More to come...

Top Ten U2 Songs

I know that I just aged out some of my dear readers, since there is a crowd of people who think of U2 as dinosaurs that sound kind of like the guitar licks in that one Calvin Harris song.  But I still enjoy myself some U2, and on the release of their new album in a super weird new way, my friend and frequent commenter Joseph asked his friends to compile their top ten U2 songs.  I'm game (although I'm about 100% sure that he has asked me this question at least 4 times in our friendship. I know for a fact I have ranked my top U2 albums to him before, but I'm certian I've done this before because I can recall realizing that one of my favorite songs is called "Bad," when I had no clue that was the name).  Furthermore, I am doing this by running through my iTunes library - which means I'll likely forget about songs, especially those from the Batman Forever soundtrack or the dumb Mission Impossible theme.

Honestly, I look through Achtung Baby and feel like I could just choose that whole album.  That album is awesome.  Same with The Joshua Tree.  And then there is UNO... DOS... TRES... CATORCE!!!  Ugh.

1.  Running to Stand Still 
One of the first things I figured out how to play on the guitar, back when I tried to play guitar.  I did so very poorly, I have no illusions.  But when I jammed this song, I was Irish ginger power raging about heroin addition.  When he sings "scream without raising your voice," it knocks me over each time.  So awesome.

2.  With or Without You

Stupid Friends ruined this song for me for quite some time, but I just can't drop it entirely.  Such a great song.  Adam Clayton gets short shrift after Bono and the Edge (he just needed a cool nickname!) but the combination of the Edge's spooky little sounds and Clayton's rock solid bass line throughout this song are so fantastic.  As I write this, I feel like if it weren't for Friends, this would be #1 in my list.  Sing along to this in your car like Tom Cruise sang Free Falling and you'll live for four minutes and fifty-nine seconds.

3.  Bad

This is the Edge guitar sound that people go crazy about, that chiming, dancing ringing sound that builds and builds until the whole band shreds.  This is the real deal U2.  I'M WIDE AWAAAAAKE!

4.  All I Want is You.  

Reality Bites.  The 15 year old Jack wanted love so so bad.  And U2 wanted a string section the same way.

5.  Pride (In the Name of Love) 

This was on the second CD I ever bought, this actually really cool compilation called Greenpeace Rainbow Warriors that was my favorite thing in the world for a time.  I wonder where that thing went.  But singing along to this song makes me feel like I am important to the cause.  Dunno what cause, but it feels like I am right there on the front lines making a difference.

6.  Stay (Faraway, So Close)
This one was my jam for a while freshman year of college.  I think I used it to show chicks how tender I was.  Thank God facebook didn't exist when I was a kid.

7.  Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses

Teenager angsty Jack sang this one with force.

8.  Desire

So American!  So gritty and bluesy!  The Bo Diddley beat!  You can make fun all you want, but this song rocks.

9.  In God's Country
This is one of my top road trip songs of all time.  Freaking perfection.  Listening to it makes me think of west Texas scenery flying by at 85 miles per hour when I'm on my way to somewhere cool and amazing.

10.  Where the Streets Have No Name
This video felt like hardcore rebellion back in the day.  The organ to guitar start of this one is mastery.  All four members of the band absolutely kill it to make this one kick ass.  The Joshua Tree was so damn good.  And F tha POLICE!!!

Honorable mentions: 

• Tryin' to Throw Your Arms Around the World.  Love that slinky little bass line, and a woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle.
• I have always liked Never Let Me Go from the Million Dollar Hotel soundtrack.  I have no clue how I found it, I think it might have been from the napster days, but it is this smoky groove of a little love song.
• I'm bummed that none of the Pop songs made my list, because I actually like that album quite a bit.  But none of them could beat out those other top ten.  Last Night on Earth is probably my favorite.  Staring at the Sun is also a great one.
• I also could have included a lot more of the Zooropa album.  I know people are supposed to hate those "euro-trash" albums, but I dig Lemon, Daddy's Gonna Pay, Somedays Are Better than Others.
• Magnificent - thought it would make the cut, but no such luck.  Good tune though.  Makes you want to stand up and be badass.
• I Will Follow - also really thought this would make the list, but I'm just way to smitten by the Joshua Tree era.
• 40.  I sang this about 300 times for Young Life club as a leader in college, so for a while I couldn't take it.  I'm back on board, but this one also missed the cut.

And by the way, I feel like I should admit that I own the Rockabye Baby disc of U2 songs, with lullaby renditions of 11 top U2 hits!  Parents are so damn gullible and delisional when their children are not sleeping!  So dumb!  I paid good money for that garbage though!  I think I might also have the Beatles, Coldplay, and Metallica as well.  So sleep deprived and dumb.

Oh, and I also purchased a Pickin' on U2 CD - yes, that is bluegrass session musicians playing U2 hits in the style of a hillbilly hoedown.  If I had just saved all the money I spent on truly dumb CDs and invested in Apple stock, I'd own all of you right now.

Classics: Nickel Creek

Nickel Creek is the real damn deal.

I assume that you have heard of them.  If not, then a little bit of backstory is necessary.  They started up in the early nineties as precocious teenagers who could play bluegrass music like (well, better than) 50 year vets.  The guitarist (Sean Watkins) and violin player (Sara Watkins) are brother and sister, with Chris Thile (mandolin and a little more vocals than the others) rounding out the group.

Alison Krauss found them and apparently helped them sign a label deal, which led to 2000's Krauss-produced Nickel Creek.  This whole disc is a really excellent style of fun bluegrass music, both with new-sounding elements and classic sound.  Violin, Mandolin, Guitar, some bass thumping in the background.  The big hit off of the album was "Reasons Why"

Those harmonies are spot on beautiful.  Three part harmonies are not all that normal these days, but it makes a song that sounds like Krauss for the first third turn into a soaring chorus. The actual music on this tune is relatively tame, but one of the things that makes their music so great is the ridiculously awesome technical prowess they'll flash on some of their songs.

Another song from that first album, that comes in first or second for me for favorite Nickel Creek song, is the Lighthouse's Tale.

Sad, but beautiful little ditty about a lighthouse watching his keeper kill himself for love.  

I won't say this album took the whole world by storm or anything, but it did get them a Grammy nomination for Best Bluegrass Album.  I think it is great from start to finish, with a couple great instrumental ho-downs and a few other great songs like When You Come Back Down, The Hand Song, and The Fox.

Their next album was called This Side, from 2002, and it was more of the same, but they move away some from the straight-forward classic bluegrass, with a more alternative, offbeat flavor on some songs like Spit on a Stranger.  My favorite song on this one is the title track.

They're not winning any points for super well-made music videos, but I just think this one just feels like a powerful declaration of bluegrass truth.  Or something.  I dig it.  They scored a Grammy for that disc.  The next album was called Why Should the Fire Die?, and it was also a damn fine disc. A little bit darker, and less bluegrass-y, while still keeping the same general style as their other music.  The hit from that one was When in Rome, but I like Somebody More Like You and Scotch & Chocolate better.

Sadly, in 2007, the band split.  We got to go see one of their final shows at Stubbs in Austin, which was an awesome show.  Loads of people there, high energy from the band, it was great.  Well, except for the fact that Amy was pregnant and Stubbs has no seats.  She spent at least half of the show sitting in a stairwell near the back of the venue.  

Coming out of the split band, Chris Thile formed a new, freaking amazing band called the Punch Brothers.  We got to see their ACL taping and while I couldn't play an instrument to save my life these days (well, maybe the recorder  HOT CROSS BUNZZZ!!!) I was blown away by all of the dudes in that group.  They were all amazing with their respective instruments.  Check this one out:

Their album Who's Feeling Young Now is money.  You should go check it out.  After a few years of doing their own thing (we also saw Sean Watkins play as part of Lyle Lovett's band at the Moody Theatre), they have reunited!  I won the lottery the other day by scoring tickets to the Austin City Limits taping for the reunited Nickel Creek and it was awesome.  Chris Thile is an amazing player and has a really top notch voice.  He can solidly hit notes through multiple registers, all while picking the living hell out of that mandolin.  No voice in this next video, but pretty dang cool.

I could link you to loads and loads of other videos of them playing live or in the studio, but I'd just advise you to get out and see them if they come to your town.  I found myself laughing out loud at Thile's dexterity with that tiny little thing.  And go listen to Nickel Creek while you wait for them to come to you on tour.

Classics: Appetite for Destruction

The American Championship Band Belt thing has me going back and listening to the music that the author said was the greatest for every era.  Going back to Appetite for Destruction makes me realize just how awesome it is, so I felt like I needed to talk it out.

When I was growing up, I was not comfortable with hard rock or metal.  I was not supposed to listen to things like that (although I don't recall anyone expressly telling me that message, I just knew it was the truth).  And Guns n' Roses and Metallica held a special place of terror for me.  One of my childhood best friends, Cary, had an older brother named Kyle.  I thought Kyle was crazy.  He drove this beat up little car that he had painted with Scooby Doo and other strange things, he drank Mountain Dew all the time, and I remember him listening to Appetite for Destruction (loud) in his car.  All of this may be mis-remembered, but I have a very clear recollection of him blasting Appetite out of that little white car in the street in front of their house in the Woodlands.  In my mind, he did not give a damn.

I knew Paradise City from the radio, and that seemed safe-ish and innocuous enough.  I mean, if you don't like that song, then you probably just don't like rock and roll.  But Welcome to the Jungle and Nighttrain sounded like the music of the devil to me.  He screams that you're gonna diiiiiiieiieiiiiieee! in Welcome to the Jungle.  Come on!  Not cool, man!  I never listened to that album and was not about to like that kind of music, ever.

Fast forward to 1991, and Terminator 2 came out with You Could be Mine fired out as the lead song/advertisement for the movie.  I freaking LOVED that song.  When the two boys ride that dirt bike to the mall, blasting it on their jambox, I thought that stuff was the coolest you could possibly be.

I remember waiting by the TV for this video to come on so that I could try to tape a copy of this song so that I could listen to it to my heart's content.  Finally, my sister took me to the mall and I bought Use Your Illusion I and II.  That's right kids, you used to be able to buy music on pieces of plastic at a place called a mall.  It felt like just about the wildest thing I could do.  Right up there with freebasing cocaine or murder.  Buying that CD was so rock and roll.  Although I needed her there just in case they hassled me about the whole Parental Advisory thing.  That is rock and roll for sure.

I jammed those discs for years before getting to college and stepping back to check out Appetite for Destruction.  I can't remember what made me do it, but I can recall the realization of just how absolutely bad ass and cool that whole album made me feel.  Paradise City and Welcome to the Jungle are the best known songs off of there, and for good reason.  They are tight, aggressive, soaring rock and roll anthems that still sound fantastic cranked up right now.  Sweet Child o' Mine is not only an amazing song in its own right, but in the many years since I first heard this album, it has become one of my go to lullabies for my kids.

I leave out most of the "Where do we go now"s and woaoaoaoaoaoaoaoaoaaoaoaoahs, but otherwise, it is a fantastic song to love on your kid with at the end of a long day.  "She's got eyes of the bluest skies, as if they thought of rain, I'd hate to look into those eyes, and see an ounce of pain.  Her hair reminds me of a warm safe place, where as a child I'd hide, and pray for the thunder and the rain, to quietly pass me by.  Woaaaoh sweet child of mine, woaaaahoooaoahhaoh sweet love of mine."  I mean, come on.  Among the other songs on this album about sex, drugs, and rock and roll, that is pretty damn sweet to sing to your sleepy little kid.

The rest of the album didn't make the charts (that I recall), but it is swaggering and aggressive rock and American roll.  My Michelle, It's So Easy, You're Crazy, Out ta Get Me.  All of it is great music for unleashing that slice of you that needs to be awesome.  Go back up there and play Paradise City, at high volume, and see if you don't feel some of that when they kick in the reckless, swarming jam at the end.  See?  You deserve to mosh with yourself sometimes.  You're welcome.

The Strypes

Hard rocking awesomeness from some British dudes.  Rolling Stone has a major stiffy for these guys, all under 18, and from England.  TheRS reviewer is in love with them.  So, I decided to give their album (Snapshot, 2014) a try.  It is fast-paced, classically loose and fun rock and roll.  Got some Vines, some Kinks, some Stones, a little Sex Pistol sneer, all packed into a truly fabulous little package.

I mean, when I was sub-18, I was playing the Robin Hood theme on the damn french horn like a huge nerd.  These dudes have serious chops on some rockin' action.  Well, that isn't entirely true, I know that their sound is relatively basic.  But, they take that basic form of fun-loving, full-throttle and wife-open rock and roll and they hammer it home.

Their most popular tune on either Spotify or YouTube is Blue Collar Jane.  

YES!  This is how I want my non-heavy rock and roll to be.  I want some jangly guitar licks over a solid backbeat, something you can just plain rock out to and high five random stangers with in a crowd.  People who make the lineups for ACL, here is a hot pick for next year.

Trampled by Turtles

Banjo-fueled Bluegrass action.  My sister-in-law put me on these guys a few years ago, based on their ridiculously fast jam fest called Wait So Long:

I mean, that opening banjo twigging sounds like that banjo has been looped and is playing at 2x speed on a turntable.  Holy smokes!  How do fingers go that freaking fast?  And then the rest of the band kicks in with a likewise frantic speed, blazing through a wicked hoedown battle with the devil.  Fun stuff.

They just put a new album out recently, called Wild Animals.  I only see one song available on YouTube so far, which is a good one (but not my favorite of the album):

This one has a few moments where that technical savvy and speed show up, but for the most part it is a harmonic album of chilled tunes that happen to have a bluegrass leaning.  Brings to mind the Band of Horses albums from the mid-oughts.  Makes me want to drive up the Blue Ridge Parkway with my windows rolled down.  Give this one a shot.

Spotify

How am I such an old person?  I can remember thinking it was mildly funny, back in the day, how that old people didn’t use e-mail and were nervous about the internets.  I still make fun of people with AOL e-mail accounts.  Now, I have only recently saved myself from ending up just like those people, quaking in my dress shoes at the thought of technology somehow changing.  My downfall, I still like to buy CDs.  Actual tangible discs full of music.  I never have gotten in to downloading music from iTunes or its competitors.  I have downloaded some from Amazon’s mp3 service, just because they’ll do silly sales and I’ll be able to score music I have been wanting for $5 or less.  But there is something truly wonderful about walking into Waterloo, talking a left to look through all of the new arrivals, then cruising past the too-cool clerks to get to the long bins of the newly arrived used CDs.  I love doing that.  I used to have a period off from high school at the end of the day, and I would go sit in the little booths Waterloo used to have, jamming out whatever Rolling Stone had told me was the new big thing.  I have such good memories of those times.  The rooms were like little closets, with two nice Cerwin Vegas up near the ceiling, a glass door out to the store, and a remote to control the disc that the clerk had put into the machine.  You could just pump the volume and bliss out with something for as long as you wanted.  So great.  And perusing the used bins is always a good time for me – unearthing a copy of some old stuff you haven’t heard since high school, or landing on a copy of a brand new album you wanted.  Relaxing and exciting all at the same time.  Anyway, there is just something great about the record store experience, and then walking out of there to fight with the plastic wrap and security stickers on the disc case so that you can have that first listen in the car.  This summer, I just chilled in the parking lot, with the new Queens of the Stone Age rocking out for me.  This is one of the ways that I can feel right with the world.

I digress.  One of my co-workers has been talking up Spotify for a while.  I was snobbish in return.  “You see, 26 year old cool kid, I have like 30,000 songs on this laptop over here and can just jam all of my tunes any time I want.  I am a superior music listener.  Oh, you want to hear the first Nirvana album?  Right here.  You want to hear Ice Cube?  I’ve got every album and some stuff from soundtracks.  Here’s the 1993 KLBJ-FM Local Licks live album that is not very good at all, but I have the whole thing.  Right here.  I rule.”  My friend would try to explain, I would nod along, and he would give up for a little while.  Well, the woman needed my music laptop, so I lost my cool musical source in the office.  Our IT department is hardcore and makes it an exceedingly large pain in the ass to listen to hard-drive music on the work-issued machines, so after a few attempts to stick my hard drive of music onto the work computer, I decided I’d give Spotify a shot.  And holy shit.  I mean, seriously, holy shit.  You just get to tell it what you want to listen to, and it complies.  I wanted to hear the new Jay-Z and try out the new Savages album.  Yep.  There they are, free to hear as many times as you want.  What?  I still can’t comprehend how this is possible.  Yes, if you don’t pay for premium, you have to hear an ad every 4 or 5 songs, but it is a short little thing that doesn’t bother me too much yet.  I’ve started a playlist that has all of the new albums I can think of in it, and now I just jump in there and listen to new stuff all day long.  I’ve also made a playlist of classic albums and have been going back in there as well.  Another cool thing has been listening to classics: Bobby Blue Bland died, so I jammed his greatest hits.  I’d always wanted to hear Bad Brains and Black Flag, so I did.  If this would have existed in high school, I don’t think I would have left the house.  Now I have discovered playlists – you can load up playlists that other people have created, like Pitchfork’s greatest 100 songs of 2012 (cool!), a mix of all the artists playing ACL 2013 (cool until it mixes in something from the HEB Kiddie Acres stage about squirrel nuts), or whatever else.  Only once have I been fully rebuffed – they do not have the Atoms for Peace album on here.  And some soundtracks are only partially on here.  But otherwise, it is the crazy-insane sonic buffet of my dreams.