Friday, May 28, 2004
Went to the Neo-Futurists' 30 Band in 60 Minutes fundraising event in a highly skeptical frame of mind: at your average concert, it takes a minimum of 30 minutes between acts to set up a band. This drives me crazy. I find it insulting to make the audience wait so long. So I was looking for proof that it could be done faster and more efficiently.
IT CAN!!! OK, so with the inevitable glitches, 30 bands took more like 90 minutes--apparently they've never finished under 60 at this annual event--but, still, damn close, and now I'm going to be even angrier at snotty bands that make me wait 20, 30, 40 minutes before they come out and play. (Hmm, is this a good thing?) Of course, these were local bands, but some of them were damn good. Red and I were blown away by Troubled Hubble--no, not just because their song came well under the 2-minute limit that had been requested of participating bands, and no, not just because they were wicked cute (though that never hurts), but because their song was a great blast of rock, some kind of punk/power-pop concoction that revved us way up. (Check it out--AMG gave their album 4 stars! I'm sure one of us will be picking that one up soon.)
The Neo-Futurists are probably the most consistently innovative and fun theater group in Chicago, if you didn't know, and the NF's Greg Allen co-hosted with the hilarious Tim Tuten (of The Hideout), who introduced bands with crazy improvved silliness. The diversity of this event was pretty wide, ranging from an all-woman drumming group (Big Smith), to rap (The Molemen), to a jazzy standard (Elizabeth Conant & Fareed Haque) to a divaesque R&B closer (the impressive Lynne Jordan covering "Me & Bobby McGee" a capella), but most of the bands fell somewhere in the vast rock spectrum. Lots of retro, all over the map, from White Stripes-ish roots rock, to rockabilly (one of my personal highlights, the Neverly Brothers). I loved Duenow (an intriguing and energetic woman drummer and guy guitarist/singer combo), and was impressed also by Archer Prewitt, whose music I've heard and enjoyed before. His more serious indie rock song suffered in the context of the carnivalesque context, but I was impressed nonetheless. El Guapo had a seriously hot guitarist. Hey, come on, rock is all about sex, so these things matter! Dolly Varden didn't seem to be at their best but intrigued me anyway. Evil Beaver could have shamed The Donnas with their hard-rawkin, the Kimi Hayes Band reminded me of Melissa Etheridge--in a good way. Preston Klik's Ritual had a memorable act--black female R&B crooner sang along to dancey techno music while a guy kept changing her wigs/masks/scarves/etc. and a statuesque dominatrix-style woman cracked a whip in the background. Fun in a Pet Shop Boys to the far extreme kind of way. Ellen Rosner did some straight ahead rock that was pretty good. RD Roth & The Issues hailed most obviously from Evanston. I couldn't hear the vocals, so I didn't know if they were serious or if they had a sense of humor. The Goldstars were quite good, and the guitarist impressed me in his leadership of the multi-group finale cover of "(What's so Funny 'bout) Peace Love and Understanding?" Cheer Accident was so unusual--a lone male vocalist with an entire brass line--that I'd have to hear more to know how I liked it. John Greenfield, if memory serves (gimme a break--it was 30 bands!), wrote a song inspired by the Neo-Futurist's awesome long-running cult show "Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind" (a must-have experience for you Chicago visitors/inhabitants!). Very funny. Down the Line...I remember a mandolin and then trying to remember a band from the 80s, The Hooters. They were nothing like them.
Well, that taps me out for now. What a great way to be introduced to local talent, and what a blast the whole event was. I highly recommend it. Planning to go next year! (And not drink so much that I have to piss before the 30th band finishes!)
Wednesday, May 26, 2004
I have a theory that records often get the reviews that should have been given to the artist's previous record. Mainstream critics are often a little slow in their reflexes. That might explain why i, the new Magnetic Fields album, has gotten such great reviews in the glossies. They're still reacting to the amazing feat of 69 Love Songs, an ultra-cool triple-CD that included many excellent songs. That ambitious work put singer/songwriter Stephin Merritt on the map. Now he (rightfully) sells out concerts to the hipster crowd--he's become, along with Dan Savage and David Sedaris, a gay guy all hipsters love.
A gay guy myself, I've loved Merritt's work for many years, esp. his early Magnetic Fields and 6ths projects (never was very wild about Future Bible Heroes). But the new album is mediocre, thwarted mostly by lethargic, tired performances that mar the album. The melodies are as perfect as always, just what you want and expect, but songs like "Infinitely Late at Night" (the worst tempo offender) drag the whole album down. "Is This What They Used to Call Love?" strains his vocal range, and "It's Only Time" ends the album on an uncharacteristically mawkish note. Where's our beloved gay cynic? Well, he isn't entirely gone, thank ABBA (or whatever other God might be applicable here). "I Don't Believe You" is classic Stephin Merritt, a highly recommended song. And in his less-often successful sincere vein, he scores a major win with "I Thought You Were My Boyfriend," which has it all--slick beat, catchy melody, anthemic sentiments. The song is a mature look at (gay) love life, with a chilling moment set to the lyric, "Some guys have a beer and they'll do anything." That's not necessarily a good thing, Merritt sings, which I found refreshing.
Songs like "I Wish I Had an Evil Twin" are SO CLOSE to being great that it's maddening. Just a bit of tempo tweaking, again. Even in cases where it's not tempo (clearly Merritt is experimenting with irony in tempo--upbeat sad songs, slower funny numbers), there seems to be an energy problem, often disappointingly in Merritt's voice. "In an Operatta" benefits from the fresh use of a harpsichord, at least. Likewise, "If There's Such a Thing as Love" has the rhymes and the melody--it's just lacking that usual carbonation that we take for granted from Meritt. Does he want us to stop expecting greatness from him?
Tuesday, May 11, 2004
A friend pointed out to me the relevance of some lyrics by Bright Eyes, in the song "Let's Not Shit Ourselves", off of Lifted, an amazing album. Written well before we went into Iraq, it's worth noting:
"I should stop pointing fingers; reserve my judgment of all those public action figures, the cowboy president. So loud behind the bullhorn so proud they can't admit when they have made a mistake. While poison ink spews from a speechwriter's pen, he knows that he doesn't have to say it, so it don't bother him. "Honesty" "Accuracy" are really just "Popular Opinion." And the approval rating is high, so someone is going to die. ABC, NBC, CBS: Bullshit. They give us fact or fiction? I guess an even split. And each new act of war is tonight's entertainment."
Actually, I think the time for reserving judgement has passed.
Sunday, May 09, 2004
So, one of the Powerpuff Girls also sings old-timey music in the vein of the excellent Gillian Welch? Her name's Grey DeLisle. You can hear samples of her music at her web site. Her voice doesn't really suit my taste, but it's nice enough.
Been listening to the new album by Caetano Veloso, A Foreign Sound, a collection of English-language covers: and what a strange collection it is. He'll toss one out that seems beyond the pale, like "Feelings," and then he'll turn around and offer a sweet rendition that charms your socks off, as with Gershwin's "The Man I Love." Apparently, there have long been rumors about Veloso's sexuality, which puts this wide-ranging collection in a certain context, from Nirvana's "Come As You Are" to "Jamaica Song," more familiar in the mouth of Mr. Banana Boat himself, Harry Belafonte. I prefer the Tin Pan Alley songs, so well-written that anyone can sing them (let alone a golden throat like Veloso), but I'm surprised how well Cobain's song and David Byrne's excellent, too-little known "(Nothing But) Flowers" sound here.
Speaking of Cobain, I was in a record store the other day, near the listening stations, and a couple guys were shopping. One of them had headphones on and pointed out the Probot CD to his friend, saying WAY TOO LOUDLY, "DUDE, THAT CD is the BEST thing Grohl has done since NIRVANA." (Shoppers all over the store turning to look.) His friend must have turned beet red. So funny. Also probably true. What a fun idea for a project. I haven't listened to the CD much yet, but the idea alone--Grohl writing songs in a metal style and bringing in a different legendary metal vocalist for each cut--justifies the purchase. David Grohl is now hearby officially a Dave for good.
Borrowed a copy of Sufjan (how the hell do you pronounce that?) Stevens' new CD, Seven Swans. (Only fair as I had made the friend aware of this artist in the first place!) Too sincere and religious for my taste, but the music, if wispy, is nice. At times, very nice. I esp. like "To Be Alone With You," despite--maybe in this case because of--its religious meaning. "I've never met a man who loved me" is a poignant line, and the song reminds me of what I like about Christ and his story, as opposed to the "Christians" who dominate politics in this country.
Also borrowed OutKast's double-CD (generous friend!) and managed to get through it all, almost twice, a feat in itself since there are 39 tracks. Given all the coverage I'd read ahead of time, I was expecting to prefer The Love Below, but surprised myself by liking Speakerboxx a bit more, not least because it has more rap. If I ever have the time for the project, I'd like to go through and tease out my favorite bits into a lean 30 minutes or so. Bet my faves are the same as everyone else's. I should search the blogosphere, because I'll bet others gave done this already.
Modest Mouse's album Good News for People Who Love Bad News is a huge hit in stores here--big dents on the shelf where it should be. I love "Float On" right away, and the rest, though different from that song, sounds good. I'm connecting them to Hot Hot Heat, among other bands. IMDB connects them to French Kicks. Ooh, a free download. Love that.
Lastly, flipping channels one morning last week and caught Nellie McKay on The View singing, "I wanna Get Married," the lyrics of which struck me as nauseatingly nostalgic and anti-feminist, but apparently the song is satirical. Good to know that, as usual, I was just bein thick. Also handy, as "David" has gotten stuck in my head from the listening station at Tower and I'm going to have to have it soon!
Lastly, been hooked lately on Michael Buble's and Sinatra's versions of "Nice 'n Easy," and I'm wondering about the song. Since when does the guy have to remind the gal to slow down? Maybe he's reminding himself. Or maybe I should find a woman's rendition--I'd love to hear Peggy Lee's! Come on, iTunes. You've got a lot to add to that catalog...
