Special Levels

Today's McSweeney's front page is "Acoustic Citizen": Live the embittered existence of a folk legend in the latest expansion pack for the successful Guitar Hero franchise... You'll sing on subjects as diverse as pickup trucks, sparrows, the cost of battle, and gypsies.

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"...sounds like Conor Oberst screaming from the bowels of hell."

Hey, that's what I got too! I've given The Airing of Grievances a few listens and it's totally refreshing. For reference, the most Oberstian of the bunch:

Titus Andronicus - Fear And Loathing In Mahwah, NJ
The Airing of Grievances (Troubleman Unlimited; 2008)

***

I'm really feeling 2008, you know?

My Photo Album

Though I am, sadly, 0% excited for their new album, Death Cab's recent Daytrotter Session finds me giddy at the inclusion of three cuts from The Photo Album. I tend to claim We Have The Facts as their finest hour, but I now realize TPA is truly my favorite.

Death Cab for Cutie - Steadier Footing
The Photo Album (Barsuk; 2001)

Death Cab's Daytrotter Session

Dawn & Delta

Do any of you live in Davis? My reason for asking is two-fold: first, I don't consider B+A to be as geographically-oriented as many other music blogs, so I've never really thought about the Davis contingent of my vast readership. I'm curious.

Secondly, if you do happen to live in Davis (or surrounding areas), I'd like to recommend you come to the Delta of Venus cafe tomorrow night. The Chapin Sisters, Two Sheds, and Dame Satan are performing, and it's the latter of the three that I'm excited to see.


Dame Satan sent their latest, possibly first, album, Beaches and Bridges, and it's spot-on. I've had it for two days and I'm pushing it-- that never happens. Immediately striking was the music's resemblance to two traits seemingly at odds with each other: Fleet Foxes' stateliness and Akron/Family's gloriously buoyant weirdness. Now, these are the characteristics that define my love for these bands, and to find them in something equally realized but essentially different from either is wonderfully impressive. If you're even remotely fond of this West-Coast-weirdo-collective love sound, come out to the show, or buy the album and listen to it outside, in the evening.

Dame Satan - Suffering Daughter
Dame Satan - The Golden Iranian
Beaches and Bridges (Ghost Mansion; 2008)

stream the entire album!

Two Minutes Forty Two Seconds

I, like Kevin at So Much Silence, wanted to know which songs in my collection were "the perfect length" after reading this funny Morning News article. (Also like SMS, I had 42 songs, and many of them we had in common).

The list:

Arthur Advocate - Four Forty Eight
The Beach Boys - Forever
The Beatles - Michelle
Blood on the Wall - Junkeee... Julieee...
Bob Dylan - Song To Woody
The Books - All Bad Ends All
Caribou - Hello Hammerheads
Cat Power - Half of You
Chris Isaak - Forever Blue (Acoustic Version)
Chris Thomas King - Hard Time Killing Floor Blues
Conway Twitty - To See My Angel Cry
Crystal Castles - Alice Practice
Emitt Rhodes - You Should Be Ashamed
Eric Bachmann - Lonesome Warrior
The Fiery Furnaces - Ex-Guru
Franz Ferdinand - Swallow Smile
Guided by Voices - Echos Myron
Holopaw - 3-shy-cubs
Julie Doiron - I Left Town
The La's - There She Goes
Let's French - Start A New Life
Lily Allen - Alfie
The Lovin' Spoonful - Full Measure
The Magnetic Fields - Xavier Says
The Mendoza Line - Golden Boy (Live)
Microphones - Something
The Mountain Goats - Slow West Vultures
Nancy Wilson - Lucky Trumble
Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings The Flood
Nina Simone - To Love Somebody
Okkervil River - The President's Dead
Rosie Thomas - All The Way To New York City
Sam Cooke - Twistin' The Night Away
The Saturday Knights - Ass Kicker's Haircut
The Shangri-Las - Past Present And Future
Sufjan Stevens - Super Sexy Woman
Tap Tap - Little Match (Big Fire)
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - Criminal Piece
The Terrordactyls - Decoration Daniel
Them ft. Van Morrison - I Can Only Give You Everything
Uncle Tupelo - Discarded
Yo La Tengo - Center of Gravity

Okay... okay. I'm surprised to not see more Mountain Goats songs. And no classics. Whatever-- being able to share Conway Twitty with you makes up for any disappointment.

One more re: Merge

This American Life played a lovely Portastatic song in between the first two acts of last week's show ("Nobody's Family Is Going to Change"). "In the Lines" transcends its crisply-strummed anysong opening with above-average songwriting and that weary voice, perfect in this instance.

Portastatic - In the Lines
The Summer of the Shark (Merge; 2003)

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Stereogum has new Wolf Parade! Stereogum has new Wolf Parade! I cannot wait to hear Dan's songs from the record.

I'm Working But I'm Not Working For You

Continuing on the Radar Bros. tip, here's a gift from the band and Merge.

Radar Bros. - Slack Motherfucker

I'm guessing they were forced to do this (it's a Superchunk cover), and that's why it sounds so good.

And, speaking of Merge, did you know the new single for Spoon's "Don't You Evah" is out? A new song, along with 84 remixes and The Natural History's original version (which I don't think was ever released, right?).



nasty!

Skinny Love

Back On Stages #2 Bon Iver - Skinny Love
by lablogotheque

Doesn't this footage invest "Skinny Love" with some Powerful Force of the Classics? It totally does. For Emma, Forever Ago is really a good album, for those who have yet to hear.

Bon Iver - Skinny Love
For Emma, Forever Ago (Jagjaguwar; 2008)

***

So Much Silence shows us Mt. Wilson Repeater, or Jim Putnam of our beloved Radar Bros. And we thank him.

Someone Loves You Very Much

I am guessing we've all downloaded Enjoyed by now, Stereogum's star-studded tribute to Bjork's Post. Admittedly, I have never heard the original album, and my excitement stemmed from the inclusion of Liars, No Age, Grizzly Fantasy, and especially Evangelicals. I have become consumed by this band, championing them and their stunning new album, The Evening Descends.

At first, an Evangelicals song seems like a lot. A lot of noise and a lot of swirling, though it holds together surprisingly well as a legitimate, catchy pop tune. By the time you realize this, though, it's apparent that something beyond saturated noise lies within the song. This-- the best part-- is the band's calling card: a complex of lighthearted humor, paranoia, and truly heavy emotion. Take "Midnight Vignette", for example. The faux-b-flick soundtrack that runs throughout the entire album gives way to something more seriously frightening

Please don't tell my mother, she wouldn't wanna know/ I've been going crazy/ Right outside her door

a desperate plea, invested with heartbreaking love and unhappiness. And next, in "Skeleton Man", the album's finest moment, Guitar Hero crescendos assist another wrenching tale, this time of emptiness

Skeleton Man, he says, 'I don't care'/ A chest left empty of the heart's affairs/ Well it can carry other things that weigh much less/ And a head all hollowed out leaves me alone/ So I can get some rest

and it all comes together-- the emptiness, the stubbornness, the loneliness-- in the last line

When someone loves you very much/ YOU'RE FUCKED (emphasis theirs)

Altogether The Evening Descends is a singularly compelling listen, filled with moments like these investing real heart into the most ridiculous characters-- b-movie stars and skeletons-- but making their problems more terrifyingly real for it.

Evangelicals - Skeleton Man [mp3]
The Evening Descends (Dead Oceans; 2008)

Get their cover of Bjork's "You've Been Flirting Again" as part of Stereogum's Enjoyed: A Tribute To Bjork's Post.

And if you like "Skeleton Man", I would highly suggest its other half, "Skeleton Man's Bone Crushing Depression (If I Get Well)", available as part of the single available at Other Music's digital store.

The Click Wheel Five V

I enjoyed Moistworks' version of the Click Wheel Five yesterday, and thought it time for another installment of my own.

The Cure - The Walk (Acoustic)
from Greatest Hits

I don't really like the inclusion of acoustic recordings of all the band's hits on this compilation. They're not the intimate re-readings or hushed affairs one would expect from the (Acoustic) tag; instead it's the same song with horrible acoustic-electric guitars and xylophone and the same drums as before-- a disaster. Though, I suppose, it's not so disappointing when it's an alternate version of a song I don't really know anyway.

Pavement - Angel Carver Blues/Mellow Jazz Docent (live)
from Slanted & Enchanted: Luxe & Reduxe

I don't listen to a lot of Pavement in the colder months. Something about their gum smacks and gold soundz makes much more sense in the loose clutches of heat and boredom, and with that said, I'd like to celebrate their return.

Pretty Girls Make Graves - The Nocturnal House
from Elan Vital

R.I.P. RIPPERS

Richard Hawley - Who's Going To Shoe Your Pretty Little Feet
from Coles Corner

"It was a performance entirely and wonderfully out of time, flawlessly and tastefully executed without an ounce of pretension. I can't imagine anyone not liking Hawley's music, which isn't to say it's innocuous or uninteresting. It's just that, despite its obvious strength, music this classically good can feel well-known, and in the neverending search for the new and different it's much too easy to dismiss Hawley as an (admittedly teriffic) oldies-fetishist. Ironically, it is his music which stands out from the majority, nearly flawless and particularly stirring."

Okkervil River - The Next Four Months
from the For Real single

Writing this morning, looking out the window, blue sky's efforts to overcome some weird and unwelcome coastal grey were distinct and commendable. Okkervil River in the Black Sheep Boy-era were a band of black and fire-red, and that does not bode well for my morning. Daybreak recedes.

Kinda boring, I know. We'll do better next time.