The Click Wheel Five II

Now that everything's sorted on the new computer, meaning my entire music collection Available For The Very First Time from a single source, it's time for a new click-wheel five. I haven't done one for a while, because exercises like this can be overdone and become gratuitous mp3 dumps, but I'm in the mood. And for some strange reason I'd like to be embarrassed this time (this is so possible). Without further ado:

1. Modest Mouse - Wood Grain [mp3]
from Sad Sappy Sucker [buy]

From Sad Sappy Sucker, a collection we could've done without, here's an early Modest Mouse song. Thirty seconds made listenable by lines about "sharing our issues," being "totally dead," and little else. But is that not classic Brock?

2. The Hold Steady - Cattle and the Creeping Things (live on The Current) [mp3]
originally from Separation Sunday [buy]

Here's one I've mentioned before. Done acoustic here, I wonder if anyone can help me: is that a theremin singing in the background? Or a saw? Kind of a welcome addition anyway, this being one of the few tracks on Separation Sunday's that didn't stand out.

3. The Mountain Goats - Historiography [mp3]
from Bitter Melon Farm [buy]

Statistically, there should be a Mountain Goats song on almost every five-song shuffle I do. It's just Darnielle and a guitar, but it sounds real thick and sweet. A list of all he remembers: your warmth, your eyes, soft hands and soft rain. The quiet car, the dark and the coming sun, and I wish I could write like this. I remember an old girlfriend putting a Mountain Goats song on a cassette mix for my cassette-enabled car, called "Love Cuts The Strings." And how it frustrated me not knowing if it was a love song or a bitter send-off, with lines like "And then love pulled out the heavy artillery." It would take a long time and many more of Darnielle's love songs before I understood.

4. Wilderness - Arkless [mp3]
from Wilderness [buy]

At one point, Pitchfork was beta testing streaming radio (remember that?). I recall requesting from the man himself to hear Wilderness, whose first album they had recently praised. This, I believe, was the song played, and I absolutely hated it.

5. Spiritualized - Anything More [mp3]
from Let It Come Down [buy]

I learned about Spiritualized from a skate video featuring "Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space" in a crash montage. It was like nothing I'd heard before; it was as grand and infinite and heartbreakingly lonely as the abyss the title implied. "Anything More" is done well, too, swelling and sad. "Though my body gets tired/ My mind does it no favors at all/ And there's so little time/ To do something, something, anything more." I'll go ahead and say this reminds me of "Narcolepsy," from Ben Folds Five's oft-maligned swansong The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner, I think that's fair.

Well, that wasn't nearly as scandalous as I had hoped for. I'd call it solid though.

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Lurking through my links, I found this interesting post on the sociology of music blog titles.

I'm addicted to Project Runway, but the last two weeks' decisions have really upset me. Katherine's dress was cute, it was sporty and simple and just fine, whereas Angela's looked like space-trash. Anyway, it seems I agree with what seems to be the popular consensus around the blogodrome: cut Angela, show Michael.

I Can't Even Talk About It

The Clientele's Strange Geometry would have been one of my favorite albums of 2005, had I actually listened to it that year. Really, it's Top 5 material.

I remember seeing them open for Spoon last summer, and the distinct feeling of boredom I got from watching three mopey English men play similarly mopey English songs. I also remember Alasdair Maclean's guitar playing - no pick, beautiful and no doubt difficult. This should have been a clue to listen a little closer, to stop assuming their material was as drab as their presence, because now I sorely regret not paying attention. It would be months until I would hear those songs again, at the behest of a friend, and recognize the singular brilliance in them. "My Own Face Inside The Trees" would serve as the soundtrack to my Scottish winter, the lines "Like the sea inside a shell/ Everything speaks to itself/ Darkness comes at half-past three/ My own face is in the trees" running through my head the length of the dark walks home.

I bring this up for two reasons. First, because I found the Clientele's blog, home to some seriously wonderful prose. Specifically the most recent entry, and its familiar backdrop. This song, as a comment on that entry noted, recalls "Losing Haringey" from Geometry.

The Clientele - Losing Haringey [mp3]

Second, my experience with the Clientele has been replayed, albeit to a much lesser extent, with El Perro Del Mar. I saw her play this winter, and didn't like it one bit. I've seen the name pop up since then, with surprisingly nice words attached. I've given her another chance, and this song won't leave my head. Very well done.

El Perro Del Mar - I Can't Talk About It [mp3]

Visit the Clientele online, and buy Strange Geometry here.

Visit El Perro Del Mar online, and buy the self-titled album here.

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I got my special-edition Tap Tap album today, and it's fantastic. It recalls so many of the little books I've loved.

The Indiana Tree

Did you know John Cougar Mellencamp is from Indiana? Me neither. I certainly didn't know anything else about the state's music scene, at least until I received Delicious Berries, a compilation of Indiana bands from the wonderfully extensive Musical Family Tree archives. And honestly, I am beyond impressed. I wasn't familiar with any of these groups (aside from mentions around the Internet of Margot and the Nuclear So and So's), and to find that not only are they all competent and interesting, but also that there is a kindly coherence to this compilation, was quite rewarding.

BIGBIGcar - Peace Attack! [mp3]

If McLusky came up from the Hoosier State, rather than prydferth hen Cymru, we'd get something like "Peace Attack!" It's got the indispensable unhinged vocals, and the energy (check that exclamation point), but the insistent thumping in the beginning soon gives way to a unique and sweetly haunted groove. As is apparent throughout the disc, there's a definite charm working here - despite channeling Andy Falkous, there's nothing threatening about BIGBIGcar's assault.

Heidi Gluck - Wake Up [mp3]

I'm posting this because the vestiges of my love for the Anniversary compel me to. Heidi Gluck - more like Mrs. Josh Berwanger! That's right, folks. You absolutely care. Again, the charm creeps in: sunny, jaunty strums mismatched with a long, thin voice, and all we can do is smile.

More Animals Of The Arctic - Tom's Death [mp3]

What do I like most about this song? That it's maybe the sweetest thing here, which is saying a lot. It floats on atmosphere, twinkles and little swells, a dance in the deep of the night.

Buy Musical Family Tree's Delicious Berries here. Also, check out what Eric's written over at Marathonpacks.

So Necessary

Quickly: did anybody grab the Walkmen doing "Another One Goes By" from this Rolling Stone exclusive? It isn't working anymore (perhaps it never did?) and I was late to the newspost about it, so if you owners could share I'd appreciate it ...with money (not really).

Also, I bought a magazine called Magnet because it had an article on the Walkies. It played an odd angle about the band as a bunch of aging dads, but while I wasn't buying that I still enjoyed it. Specifically, this line about the band's upcoming "Pussycats" Starring the Walkmen, which touches on the interesting (and admittedly minor) issue of the band's supposed cockiness:

But like everything the Walkmen do, it will be smart, it will entertain them, it will pay the rent, and they'll feel good about that.

It's true. This band is unusually (and also transparently) self-serving. But this sentence gets it just right, the way their music is inarguably their music, and there's nothing ungracious in that. Because in the end it entertains us, too, and there's something exciting in knowing that it simultaneously has nothing and everything to do with us. It's the genuine article, it's the band - nothing more - and it wouldn't exist, like next month's rent, without us.

Truck Music

For the first half of the week I was camping out of a truck in Big Sur. My new truck. I bring this up not only because it was fantastic, but because this was my first chance to explore the glory and the possibilities of Truck Music. What am I talking about? Well, suffice to say, we're dealing with rather defined stereotypes here - Truck Music is where awesome and obnoxious convene, which is badass - and much of what I normally listen to just doesn't cut it. So, around town I keep it tuned to some New Country! station (this may be a bad idea), and work with what I have on the iPod for longer trips. Best of all, this trip was nothing if not a good time to enjoy, or try to enjoy, some of the music sent my way. Thankfully, be it the warm driving weather, my underexplored love of folk and roots music, or sheer happenstance, I've received some significant Truck Music recently:

Graham Lindsey: first of all look at him.


A hard, rangy kid if I've ever seen one, with some fittingly, if not typically, Dylanesque tunes to share on his new album Hell Under The Skullbones. I took to Lindsey as soon as I heard him, particularly the bittersweetly proclamatory opener "Matchbook Song," with its familiarity and its feigned indifference (so country) and its dirty words.

Graham Lindsey - Matchbook Song [mp3] [pre-order]

Gov't Mule: this feels strange. I saw the name, my prejudice told me I wouldn't like it, I listened, didn't like it, and left it. In the truck, I guess, things are different. It's posturing, sure, but listening to Big Riffs and dorky vox is kinda thrilling in this context. If you listen to that 89.1 Cock Rock station in the car (and we all do), you'd be lying if you said you didn't enjoy this song.

Gov't Mule - Million Miles From Yesterday [mp3] [pre-order]

Blood Meridian: I'm gonna have more to say about this band. For now, note that Ladyhawk comparisons would be apt in this case. The music shambles, sweat and caked dust, it's alive and it's plain badass. This song preempts a fight, it's the soundtrack to every slow, spurred step before the face-off.

Blood Meridian - Soldiers of Christ [mp3] [pre-order]

Looking over this, I might be crazy (or verging). But it's fun stuff, enjoy!

Safe As Houses

The cooler kids and I attended a special show last night, a small spectacle performed beneath ceiling fans and behind tiny instruments, a fine line dissecting evenly disturbing and disarming. It was - they were - the Parenthetical Girls (two parenthetical, two authentic), and what they conjured feels now like a dream: fleeting and majestically disheartening, and a little frightening. Honestly, the details of the show which I can recall are much more spacial and surreal than the usual setlist/setup. I couldn't even see Zac Pennington most of the time, his figure intercepted by a large speaker, but in my mind he's there on the floor with a drumstick, he's standing right next to me and leaning on the door jamb, he's saying goodnight. But what happened, what I heard, was astonishing. The songs from Safe As Houses were gorgeous, his falsetto was perfectly cracked and the music was feminine and special in a way I can't really describe. It was comforting and contrasting with the lyrics of girls on train tracks and bitter mothers, it was sad done eerily well.

I bought Safe As Houses after the show, and as strangely blurred as my short-term memory may be, listening now I can clearly recall hearing the songs played. Most of all "I Was A Dancer," and the simply scary resentment in everything: the words ("You took nine months to destroy my body"), the voice near hysterics, the music's terrible hiss. In this song I hear coarsing fluids, I hear instinct and unnerving passion.

Parenthetical Girls - I Was A Dancer [mp3]

Parenthetical Girls - Love Connection, Pt II [mp3]

Visit the Parenthetical Girls online, and buy the fantastic new album Safe As Houses here.

Curves + Nerves

I was going to go for a run, really, but this is more important: The Hold Steady has made available "Curves & Nerves" for download (free). Now, this is the band responsible for one of my most beloved albums, and I imagine I'm not the only one thrilled to hear this b-side. It's a great track on its own and it's a welcome addition to Separation Sunday's spellbinding storyline - all told, much more than a throwaway.

I've got a tendency to discuss the band's lyrics more than their music, which is more than a little unfair. It's clear that Craig Finn's a fine wordsmith - how else would he get away with speak-singing like he does? - but these songs wouldn't sound nearly as assured without such perfect backing. The bar-band comparisons don't do them justice, because what I hear is more compelling than the straight rock it's said to resemble. It's confidence tempered by sensitivity and handled to honest, driving perfection; it's impossibly gorgeous. And this, "Curves & Nerves," is no exception, the ringing and blooming of guitar complementing impeccably Finn's compassionate rememberances of our dear friend Holly. "When the crowd went wild/ We were under the stands/ Mouths and hands, baby/ Hands and mouths," and that's not even the kicker. Last line: "These hoodrat chicks are like razor blades/ They're pretty cheap but they'll cut you deep."

The Hold Steady - Curves & Nerves [mp3]

Visit the Hold Steady online, and buy Separation Sunday here.

Bonus tracks!

The Hold Steady - The Swish (remix) [mp3]

The Hold Steady - Killer Parties (remix) [mp3]

Yelling at the Kids

I don't know if there's anything I love more than a well-placed, frenzied yelp. The kind that's worked up to, speeds your breathing, stands hairs on end. Cursive's new single, "Dorothy at Forty," serves as a brilliant example of this: "And I know we swore we'd make more of ourselves/ eeeeaaaaEEEEEEEAAAAWWAAAAAAAA," screams Tim Kasher midway through the song amidst rising horns (better than cello!) and pounding drums. Even if this wasn't a solid song (it is), I'd probably listen on repeat just to smile big every time the yell comes, like I did before with Rilo Kiley's "Jenny, You're Barely Alive," which has perhaps the quintessential yelp.

Cursive - Dorothy at Forty [mp3]

Visit Cursive online, and pre-order Happy Hollow here.

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I saw Tom Brosseau last night, and I can tell you he is probably the nicest man in the world. Genuinely gracious, with a voice and seriously fantastic songs to boot. Look for some Tommy B. around here soon. OH PLUS apparently he's friends with Tino. Word!

Please let me know if you're having trouble seeing the site. I made a new header, and it seems to work fine on this computer, though that really doesn't mean much. Also, let me know if you like said header. Thanks.

Sample Diamonds

Sufjan's Greetings from Michigan... album art is among my very favorite, and that's why I decided to drop the cash on the vinyl version (...along with Illinois, and Seven Swans). To my delight, the good folks at Asthmatic Kitty sent along a little CD, Achoo! An Asthmatic Kitty Sampler. It's got a track from each of the label's releases: four by Suf, five (!) by the charming Half-Handed Cloud, and one each from newcomers Shapes and Sizes and My Brightest Diamond. Surprisingly, it's the latter which has me all astir: secret-agent cool without the kitsch, confident and sexy. Best of all? There's a point, two minutes in, where the tension comes to a head in a single shrilling, thrilling note. Give it a go, get excited - this is the new sound.

My Brightest Diamond - Golden Star [mp3]

Visit My Brightest Diamond online, and buy the album Bring Me The Workhorse on August 22.

I Was On The Floor

A year ago I was thick in a fever dream, alone in an apartment listening to Illinois. In that two-week stretch I thought about things for first times, about what scared me and what I loved and especially about what I'd done. I became transfixed upon the concept of empathy, and, ultimately, grace - it scared me and it broke my heart to consider this strange love I felt. Or, I should say, it was my awareness of a love I hadn't before considered which scared me. It was wonderful, and I had Stevens' masterful explorations of faith largely to thank.

It saddens me then, or perhaps more accurately it tires me to see lately this dry, frustrating and mostly ungracious discussion of Stevens (and music in general). I should note that this isn't anything new, it's my increasing familiarity with a world of essays and acadamics (my choice, I guess) to blame. I've absolutely had it with snobbishness and speculation and accusation and a million things I just can't understand. Does he mean every word? Is he speaking from experience? How dare he have so many ideas! You could call fiction "lying," but that would be extreme and silly - so why then question or, worse, condemn these stories? Especially when they're so clearly moving? Come on.

I'm glad Stevens has released The Avalanche. He's got more to tell, I'm not done thinking. My favorite part? Right now, the guitar solo in "Springfield, or Bobby Got a Shadfly Caught in his Hair." It sounds tired, as tired as I feel about the seemingly ubiquitous arguing lately. I've never heard it sung with more appropriate resignation as in this song: "I don't care."

Sufjan Stevens - Springfield, or Bobby Got a Shadfly Caught in his Hair [mp3]

Visit Sufjan Stevens online here, and buy The Avalanche here. Stream the entire record here, here, and here.

French

I certainly wasn't rooting for France today in the World Cup (that headbutt... classic), but before you shout "Francophobe!" consider this: one of the most impressive albums I've listened to lately is Phoenix's It's Never Been Like That. I don't know if there's ever been a cleaner sound than this, certainly not one this exciting. They sound like the Strokes, no excuses, in their precision and concision, and it's their winning aesthetic that makes them refreshing and fun where their NYC counterparts seem content to wallow ("I've got nothing to say..."). Go ahead, feel the charm.

Phoenix - Rally [mp3]

Visit Phoenix online and buy It's Never Been Like That here. Grab another track at the 2K6 Mix.

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I've joined the Tripwire, it seems pretty neat. Go sign up and make some picks - then we can compare taste. I'll show you how!

Be Your Own Guide

Since I'm writing this from work (lunch break, of course), I guess that makes me a real blogger now.

One of my most fantastic loves in the world is also, unfortunately, somewhat expensive and often frustrating (aren't they all?). Like many of you, I try my best to get hold of everything released by my favorite bands: singles, sevens, EPs and splits. Demos, compilation appearances, remixes and covers. Etcetera, etcetera. It's an overwhelming task, often made impossible by out-of-print releases and imports (and import prices). Sometimes, though - and this is probably half the fun - you stumble across something you didn't even know existed, right there in the section you know by heart, a surprise which could only be meant for you.

Today I found a few things (on sale, too!) which aren't exactly the ten-dollar Telephono I pride myself on, but exciting nonetheless. One of these is Josh Ritter's little 4 Songs Live EP, recorded in Dublin a couple/few years ago. The record begins with a scream, hearts lift and "Kathleen"'s sweet, sweet strumming comes in strong. Listen longer, hear the Irish crowd sing along, hear Ritter sing with more fire and piss than you knew he had. Gorgeous.

Josh Ritter - Kathleen (from the 4 Songs Live EP) [mp3]

The My Morning Jacket / Songs: Ohia split is the other thing I'm excited about. It's got four MMJ tracks, including the stellar "O is the One that is Real," and a single, wonderful Songs: Ohia jam titled "Translation." The latter is a ten-minute song featuring Will Oldham in spare, creeping harmony with Jason Molina, everything sounding like the heat that rises above baking summer asphalt, ghosts trying to cool off. Altogether, this is probably the best thing Jade Tree's ever released.

Songs: Ohia - Translation [mp3]

Visit Ritter online, buy things here.

Visit Songs: Ohia (Magnolia Electric Co.) onine, and buy this split here.

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Some music videos to check out:

Josh Ritter - Lillian, Egypt [youtube]

The Walkmen - Louisiana [mov]

Grandaddy - Elevate Myself [mov]

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Happy birthday to one of my favorite blogs, Can You See The Sunset From The Southside? Eric does great work, go tell him that.

I love Popsheep, yacht rock. I often think of which blogs I wish mine resembled, in content and stature: of course Said the Gramophone's gracious prose and The Rich Girls' on-point-ness (topicality, but more fun); but also the interesting little gem of Popsheep. Quietly, I think it's one of the very best and most curious sites. I hope you read it.

Apples + Battles

Now, I'm not usually one for the gratuitous mp3-only posts, but I'm letting myself slide this time. The reason: I got a new computer (thank you ScholarShare!), which, much to my delight, came with an iPod nano. Even better is that I can finally connect my hard drive and access all the music I've been missing. Gems I had figured lost, like these:

My Morning Jacket - Bermuda Highway (Acoustic Citsuoca EP version) [mp3] [buy]

Marah - East (demo) [mp3]

Radar Bros. - To Carry Me Home (from the Shoveling Sons single) [mp3]

The Recoys - The Blizzard of '93 [mp3] [buy]

Spoon - Everything Hits At Once (For Discos) [mp3]

How about that!

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I've been listening to the Foundry Field Recordings' Prompts/Miscues an awful lot lately. This song's absolutely country, yet it isn't at all. Clear, sad, rolling - it's lonesome and it's defeated some. And listen harder - quiet as he's singing, he couldn't be more resolute. I guess that's what this song voices, a truth that scares me to imagine its origins: slipping, last lines, history and battle brigades.

The Foundry Field Recordings - Battle Brigades Part II [mp3]

Visit the Foundry Field Recordings online, and buy the sublime Prompts/Miscues here.

Enjoy!

Have a fun and safe Fourth, friends.

I was going to try to articulate my thoughts on the Best American Band today, but it's a holiday. Later.

Submissions

Thank you to all who have expressed interest in submitting music to this site. While I realize I am terribly finicky with music sent my way, I'm working on it. And, of course, I listen to absolutely everything I am sent. I'm glad to say that I've got a stateside mailing address now, and can accept more physical submissions. If you're interested, take a look at this page and fire away.

thanks,
Brian

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Much of what I'm sent is nothing if not interesting. Outstanding (or standing out) lately was Old Erie, the name of a boy who knew how I love Phil Elverum. At his best, his songs hiss and press like the former Microphone's, the everything of everything (nature's wind, surf, warmth, etc.) passed through a lo-fi tape machine and reduced to pure, symbolic abstractions. Enjoy this, the first song from the King Crow EP, which is available for free download at Old Erie's Goodnight Elk Records site.

Old Erie - Cabin Fire Mountain [mp3]

Visit Old Erie online, download and donate here.

When I Was Up North

Where I was up north there were no Santa Ana winds, and I could sleep at night. Also, there were forests and rivers and rocky beaches filled with sea stars. Up north we made the most of the mornings and read in the afternoons, eating well and retiring at reasonable hours. There were instruments around the house: a banjo, a melon-backed mandolin, a guitar and a piano. Also, anywhere from one to three voices, singing songs like these:

Old Crow Medicine Show - Wagon Wheel [mp3] [buy]

Alison Krauss and Gillian Welch - I'll Fly Away [mp3] [buy]

Where I was up north I felt a little closer than I ever have to understanding these songs, their warmth and their cracked, peaceful serenity. The way their harmonies can pull and soothe, can want so badly for something they can only believe is coming. I liked it there, up north but somewhere else entirely (I know some of its magic was an invention on my part, but it was an innocent one, and it worked) - hopefully I'll be back before long.