The Moz knows

Cheeky monkey

“Are you feeling heartbroken ’cause you’ll never be mistaken for a good looking man about town?”

Oh, Morrissey. How does one manage to be so simultaneously droll and sympathetic? How can I master this skill that you have in spades? For all of Steven Patrick Morrissey’s flaws, his sense of humor in his work has always been bitingly, lovingly unsinkable. So after his highly publicized onstage collapse, the singer cracked wise with the audience at his return concert in London and informed them how, “The doctor said I shouldn’t smile. I told him, ‘I don’t.’”

Morrissey is currently on the road to promote his full-length from earlier this year, Years of Refusal, as well as a collection of B-sides from his last three albums entitled Swords. There’s even a live David Bowie cover tossed in. Unlike Bowie’s ill-fated Ziggy Stardust, here’s wishing one of pop music’s greatest fussbudgets a continued productive career, good health for the rest of the tour, et cetera, et cetera.

Morrissey will play at the Roseland on Monday, November 30.

• “Good Looking Man about Town” ~ Morrissey ~ Swords ~ Polydor

All dressed up with nowhere to go

You have something on your hands.

 

Finally, one of the precious few nights of the year when tough guys can wear diapers, women can don beards, and everyone under the age of 10 and over the age of 18 trails glitter wherever they go. It’s hard not to love Halloween. I know that I personally cannot wait to slip into the scandalous version of a vampire schoolgirl from the 70s.

Except I won’t, because I am practical. It has been wet and not a beat over 60 degrees outside this whole week. Also, I do not need to help history repeat itself. If you ever buy me a glass or two of some crisp Pinot, I might tell you the story about how my perpetually broke college self needed something to wear for Halloween and found a Little Red Riding Hood costume . . . in the children’s section. I’m small and ate pretty sparingly, but despite those dubious advantages, I still ended up squeezing into a tiny red and white sheath that barely covered my ass and left ultra-sexy elastic welts all over my limbs.  From that year on, I determined that the sexy was better left to different occasions, like Thanksgiving.

But whether you dress like a nun or a nutjob this Halloween, that shouldn’t stop you from setting the mood with music that celebrates the supernatural. You can start with a classic. For me, no Halloween is complete until I’ve ripped a satisfying “Dooooon’t run away, it’s only me,” from my throat. This is the full version, so it’s long. Needless to say, every second of it is awesome.

• “Dead Man’s Party” ~ Oingo Boingo ~ Dead Man’s Party ~ MCA

But what kind of guests should you expect at such a party? Do you chit chat about sports? The weather? The rush of wind and screams of the damned that occur as you sink your teeth into your victim? Christopher Owens, Chan Marshall, and Elvis Perkins (and how amazing would that guest list be) have some topical suggestions.

• “Ghost Mouth” ~ Girls ~ Album ~ True Panther Sounds

• “Werewolf” ~ Cat Power ~ You Are Free ~ Matador

• “Stay Zombie Stay” ~ Elvis Perkins in Dearland ~ The Doomsday EP ~ XL

Stay Zombie Stay

But don’t fear the undead. They’re no more decrepit than your garden variety post rocker. And in the spirit (some pun intended) of celebrating all things that go bump in the night, the sensual sounds found below should warm even the barest of asses on this All Hallow’s Eve.

• “Old Tricks in Hell” ~ Amazing Baby ~ Rewild ~ Shangri-La

• “My Boy Builds Coffins” ~ Florence and the Machine ~ Lungs ~ Universal Republic

When awesome bands cover awesome bands

My favorite season of all.

If you ever want a fool-proof way to make me shout, “Aughaughaughhh,” in a positive manner, tell me about one of my all-time favorite bands having their somewhat obscure songs shown some love by a current favorite band. I nearly bawled fat tears of joy when Glen Hansard of the Swell Season made it clear that he’s a fan of the Pixies. In the Swell Season’s show in Eugene, OR last year, Hansard and bandmate Markéta Irglová took a break from their collaboration’s characteristically yearning ballads and paid their respects to the former-ish band of Eugene resident, Frank Black. I especially like the part when Hansard digresses to talk about Finding Nemo and manages to logically tie a movie about fish to the end of the Come On Pilgrim track. It’s an inspired combination of images that Black would surely enjoy.

Less recently and less locally, the Swell Season also tried out “Cactus” from the Surfer Rosa album. Hansard breaks a string but smoothly gets his guitar replaced without interrupting the flow of the song too drastically. Irglová’s soft voice gets more volume, too. And while it’s impossible to really capture the tension and bare-faced desire of the original, particularly at Coachella as the audience members clap their hands and grow increasingly more delirious with every passing sleepless hour, the song is still a pretty apt selection for a Swell Season cover. Only time will tell if the Breeders or Frank Black’s solo work (or, less likely, the short-lived project of Joey Santiago and David Lovering, the Martinis) get the Hansard/Irglová treatment at a future show.

The Swell Season will play at the Crystal Ballroom on Tuesday, November 24. Doveman will also play.

“Levitate Me”

more about “When awesome bands cover awesome bands“, posted with vodpod

“Cactus

more about “The Swell Season – Cactus (Pixies Cover)“, posted with vodpod

You can rely on the kindness of A Place to Bury Strangers

No exploding heads in this shot.

As much as I mourn the end of summer, fall has its perks. Just ask any Halloween, football, leaf-color-changing, or hot beverage fan. Or you could just continue to read my entry, as I am a fan of all those things. You might expect that I am also a fan of fall. Maybe I secretly am, but the transition out of summer always feels so abrupt and uncomfortable, much like the first jump into the water during the departed warmer months. One day, when you head out in the morning, you flippantly slip on sandals before you reach your car, which has a minimum of two of its windows cracked open an inch or more. The next day, your routine requires an extra few minutes because you need to tug on your boots and shiver on the icy driver’s seat while waiting for the car’s heat to kick in. And if you’ve left your windows open during a rain attack, you get to add overall pissiness to your seasonal disorientation.

But this morning, I woke to the sound of water getting jostled around in the rain gutters next to my bedroom. It was too dark to get dressed without cracking the blinds open. I drove to work with the windshield wipers rocking up and down the whole way, and swerved past countless piles of wet leaves. I had the new A Place to Bury Strangers album on at a low, ominous volume. And for the first time, the morning didn’t just feel like fall or remind me that summer was over. It was fall. It is fall. You could discuss the weather and climate in relation to the types that preceded it, but they were part of a time that feels so long ago you might as well discuss who your favorite Power Ranger is.

Good thing A Place to Bury Strangers not only has one of my favorite band names of the minute, but also puts out some loud, moody music with which to mope and thrash around. The group’s influences are worn prominently on their sleeves, as lead singer Oliver Ackermann channels Ian Curtis on  ”Keep Slipping Away” and “Lost Feeling” sounds almost like a cut track from Power, Corruption, and Lies. Post punk conventions reign supreme on Exploding Head (even the album name sounds like an homage to David Lynch or some other auteur’s dark 1980s imagination), with furious beats that match alternately agitated and trance-like guitars. Plus, the vocals have that echoing effect of being sung deep within a cavern.

But, in spite of no new ground to traverse, A Place to Bury Strangers sounds fresh and impassioned. Maybe it’s just because the last New Order album sounded so toothless compared to their earlier work. It probably speaks to the effects of time as well. Had Exploding Head arrived sometime in the 80s, the band might have gotten lost among the other dark-wave brooders of the era. However, on a gloomy autumn day in the late aughts, it is jarring and emotional in just the right ways.  It just doesn’t pair very well with football.

• A Place to Bury Strangers ~ Exploding Head ~ Mute

Keep Slipping Away

H1 no fun

In rare instances, a small dog may fend off a Grizzly Bear.

Remember that pesky strain of flu that got everyone so hot and bothered a few months back? And remember how one of my favorites underwent the trials of said flu? Once you’ve had a sufficient amount of time to recollect, any guesses as to what I’ve been up to this past week? I’ll give you a hint – health care providers in the Pacific Northwest (which includes Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Alaska, in this case – sorry Humboldt) have reported a huge spike in consultations with patients who exhibit influenza-like symptoms. Oink, oink.

The worst thing about having swine flu isn’t the physical manifestations of the flu. That’s not to say that having swine flu is a party, unless you prefer your parties to include fevers, full body aches, lack of appetite, and the need to sleep for almost 12 hours a day. But once those symptoms pass and your body begins to feel better, you’re still under quarantine. Doctors advise that a swine flu victim remain away from his or her regular daily endeavors for 24 hours after a normal body temperature has been reached, but some professionals recommend that you stay home-bound for at least three days after your fever has disappeared.

That is when the most aggravating part about swine flu makes itself known. It is as boring as the night is long. You’re stuck indoors. You can’t be around other people. For the first few days, you barely have enough energy to use the bathroom, let alone do anything productive. And even though the forced exile allows you to do all the lazy blob-like activities you never find time to accomplish, such as viewing all the DVR’ed Discovery Channel programs that have been waiting in your queue for months, the novelty of all that TV starts to wear after a while.

Here are some more side effects of the swine flu that you probably won’t hear about from the CDC:

1) Although anti-viral medications to combat and prevent against the virus exist, you need a prescription from a doctor. And unless you have a regular physician, you might not get one in time for the medicine to work. Urgent care services in Portland, which are probably stretched pretty thin, were told not to offer Tamiflu to people other than the elderly, the expectant mothers, and the already infirm. Bet you thought their mission was to keep everyone healthy. Me, too.

2) I’m sure I’m in the minority, but I’m still on the fence on how much I like Glee. The students sounded like they were squeaking in their version of that Nelly song. It was like being back in the 80s and having to watch those Kidsongs on VHS while I was baby-sitting. Granted, I was totally jealous of all the Kidsongs kids at that point and memorized all their songs out of spite. Maybe I’m a little jealous of the exuberant choir antics, or maybe my old fussbudget self can’t recognize any of the damn music they do. I blame the flu.

3) Even a sick person starts to get pretty squeamish about the state of her bedsheets after a week of the flu.

4) Eventually, curiosity/boredom won and I obtained a copy of the soundtrack to New Moon. The compilation is being touted as the indie album of the year. The perplexing part is that the soundtrack is being distributed by Atlantic, which is not an independent label. The film itself is expected to rake in several millions at the box office, which hardly means that New Moon is being limited to art house theaters. And most of the performers on the soundtrack, such as Death Cab for Cutie and the Killers, are on major labels.

I don’t have a problem with any of these factors, other than the packaging. This is not an indie album. I don’t care if it includes Bon Iver, it’s still not an indie album. It is, however, a slickly produced and star-studded compilation album that shows off the talents of some of the most contemporary names just on the brink of unadulterated mainstream success. And as you might expect from a movie about a lovesick teenage girl who lives in the Pacific Northwest, the soundtrack is best heard when the weather is dank and the preferred action of the day is brood. Of course, a band like Grizzly Bear has been chased by the phrase “quietly haunting” since its first album, so they fittingly appear in the mix, with vocals from Victoria Legrand of Beach House. The track, “Slow Life,” should wistfully reel in fans both new and old. It won’t happen a moment too soon for Grizzly Bear. Their Thursday Portland appearance had at least one fewer attendee due to swine flu. The capacity of this illness reaches everyone.

• Grizzly Bear with Victoria Legrand ~ New Moon: Original Soundtrack ~ Atlantic

Slow Life

Seven deadly sings

One of these is a Mountain Goat. The other is not.

In honor of today’s release, The Life of the World to Come,  I thought we should delve into the exhaustive catalog of songs John Darnielle has written as part of the Mountain Goats. If you’re in a bad and verbose kind of mood, perhaps you have already participated in such an undertaking. Or if you’re like me, you’re just enamored and maybe a little intimidated by Darnielle’s productive output, which is chock-full of instances of his descriptive, caustic wit.

If the latter is the case, then you probably already know that the Mountain Goats’ latest album has track titles that were all named after books of the Bible. Darnielle has explored Christian themes before. The conflicts between pleasure and guilt, faith and doubt, and salvation and despair come up in several forms throughout the Mountain Goats’ discography. But which of the songs best exemplify the part of the Bible that everyone under the sun is familiar with – the seven deadly sins? Here are my candidates, and no, they are not all related to anger.

• Tallahassee ~ 4AD

See America Right : Gluttony

If you tried to travel with as much alcohol in your system as this person, you’d probably have other concerns than worrying that you might be getting fat.

• We Shall All Be Healed ~ 4AD

Your Belgian Things : Lust

There’s not a whole lot of overtly sexual imagery in the Mountain Goats’ arsenal, or maybe there is but I’m too blown away by the stark, evocative quality of the lyrics for the sexy to register. In “Your Belgian Things,” you might think of a transgressive woman – either by her own or society’s design – waiting for “the men” to take away everything she’s worked for. “I saw the mess you left in the east bedroom,” Darnielle admits, just before the chorus explains how, “I can see you in my sleep, playing the points for all you’re worth/Walking gingerly across the bruised earth.” Or maybe it’s about death. But nobody ever lost money equating sex with death.

• Tallahassee ~ 4AD

Have to Explode : Sloth

I picked this for the lyric, “You and me lying on the tile floor/Trying to keep cool.” You know a showdown of biblical magnitude is waiting to happen, but neither person in the song can summon up the strength to take the first shot.

• Tallahassee ~ 4AD

No Children : Wrath

It doesn’t get any more angry than “No Children.” The narrator of this eloquent and utterly bitter ode to the necessity of divorce aims his fire at his friends, his city, and his razor. But he saves his most savory insults for his lover-turned-worst-enemy, who could very well be himself.

• The Sunset Tree ~ 4AD

Love Love Love : Pride

This song has always been particularly fascinating to  me, with its literary and pop culture allusions and the calm atmosphere it exudes. However, on the surface, all of the examples that are mentioned in this song have nothing to do with any notion of love. But Darnielle mentioned in a 2005 NPR interview how most people have been taught only one concept of love. Popular wisdom explains the idea as one made of hope and rainbows that is best expressed in good actions, but in this song, love can be just as destructive and misguided as hate. But any kind of love, even in its most perverse form, has its roots in pride. Right? Whatever, this song is amazing.

• Heretic Pride ~ 4AD

Lovecraft in Brooklyn : Envy

In another interview, Darnielle revealed that the song is based on H.P. Lovecraft’s account of his time as a NYC resident. Lovecraft started off with all the love in the world for the city, but the cost of living eventually drove his wife to move to another state for work and left Lovecraft destitute and wary of the metropolis he had sought.

• All Hail West Texas ~ Emperor Jones

The Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton : Greed

Serves those two boys right for having ambitions in the entertainment field.

The Mountain Goats will play at the Wonder Ballroom on Wednesday, November 11. Final Fantasy will also play.

Pearl Jam at the Clark County Amphitheater: The end is no end

Pic from 2006 of these guys in some band from the 90s

The end of summer and start of autumn always leaves me disoriented. The sunsets arrive earlier, the mornings require more layers, and the wind has started to grow teeth that nip at your arms and make you carry yourself a little tighter. And this wind, in all its biting fury, was out last night in Ridgefield, WA at the infamous Amphitheater at Clark County. But even the elements couldn’t deter from the well-oiled machine that is Pearl Jam. Seriously, if you could figure out how to power a vehicle using the energy expended by the band, you’d reduce the fuel needs of the entire Pacific Northwest region.

At this point in the band’s career, it’s reductive to think of Pearl Jam as a success story of the long-defunct grunge era, even though it’s not an inaccurate claim. Their presence on mainstream radio owed a great debt to Seattle and the popular taste at the time for all things angry and opaque and genuine in pop music. But the grunge mythos petered out, and Pearl Jam continued to record albums and play shows. Years passed and musical trends shifted and Ticketmaster still sucked the life out of everyone, and Pearl Jam persisted in making new music and playing it for people in many cities and countries. So even though it might be difficult to separate the band from their iconic origins, they did something to ensure a life beyond the fad. They simply kept playing and playing, until their lineup became a stable and solid team, and their fanbase got to view them as more than part of a sonic curiosity and instead as true musicians.

Lucky me. Not only did this mean that I saw a heartfelt and indubitably rocking two-hour show, but it also meant that I got an opening set by Ben Harper’s newest project, Ben Harper and the Relentless7. His band’s name is a fitting one, as their sound is the most straight-up rock that Harper has probably ever worked on. The Southern roots twang provided a fun kickoff to the night, as did the Jack Daniels snuck in via my purse. Later in the evening, Harper joined Pearl Jam to play the slide guitar during a performance of “Red Mosquito.”

• Pearl Jam ~ No Code ~ Epic

“Red Mosquito”

more about “Red Mosquito – Ben Harper & Pearl Jam…“, posted with vodpod

Another huge treat, probably one specific to the Portland area tour stop, was a visit from Corbin Tucker. It will always be a huge regret that I missed Sleater-Kinney’s farewell show in Portland, where Eddie Vedder made an appearance to properly send off the trio. And then Carrie Brownstein uprooted herself to Manhattan, making me feel more Sleater-Kinney-less than ever. However, that loss was somewhat mitigated by Tucker and Vedder’s duet cover of a John Doe song. The original was distributed as a Christmas gift single to members of the Pearl Jam fan club, but it was the first time I’d heard it. I was kind of sad that I couldn’t have first listened to it in the safety of my living room, since the warmth of the harmonies showed in an amphitheater setting, though probably not as much as it does on a recording. This was followed by Vedder doing a solo acoustic version of “The End,” a slower track off the latest studio album, Backspacer. Although the subject matter is death, as Vedder explained at the start of the song, I preferred to think of it as a mass eulogy to a long, sweltering, and fun-filled summer. For Pearl Jam, I hope it’s the mark of another creation cycle.

“Golden State”

more about “Golden State – Eddie Vedder with Cori…“, posted with vodpod

• Pearl Jam ~ Backspacer ~ Island

“The End”

more about “The End – Pearl Jam – Portland 9/27/2009“, posted with vodpod

Many thanks to chappg for his camera work at the concert. Without his efforts, this entry would be quite sparse.

Rodrigo y Gabriela refuse to string you along

I don't know the Spanish phrase for "Hot damn," but if I did it would go here.

They are rare, but some activities are simply above dissent. And like porn, you just know them when you experience them. Sometimes these things are obvious, like setting up camp on the couch and watching DVD after DVD when you are sick. Other engagements might lean towards the more unconventional side, and those usually involve diversions that I don’t want to hear or write about because what you do in your own bedroom is your own business, please don’t make it mine, you dig?

As far as music is concerned, I find it very hard not to enjoy classic flamenco guitar. Part of this is due to growing up in a house where the Gipsy Kings appeared on the stereo whenever my mom had some heavy cleaning or cooking undertaking. It makes sense now. Something about the crisp technical prowess necessary to hit all those chords, typically at a rapid pace that changes key signatures a couple times per song, is ideal for chores. The soundtrack encourages even the most menial task – swiping a rag, rinsing a plate – to feel fluid and sexy. These days, I still love the Gipsy Kings. But I’m terribly excited about 11:11, the latest album from Rodrigo y Gabriela, the contemporary duo that has picked up the Kings’ mantle.

If you’ve heard any of Rodrigo y Gabriela’s self-titled album from 2006, you probably understand. Rodrigo Sanchez and Gabriela Quintero are spectacular guitarists, their busy fingers flying from quiet melodies that sound intimate and tender to tracks that wrap you in their swagger and undeniable skill. The duo paid their dues when they originally joined a metal band together in their hometown of Mexico City, busked on Dublin’s streets, and covered “Stairway to Heaven” on their last full length. That’s some page-turning backstory right there.

And even though they weren’t obligated, as if to make up for their absence from the past three years, Rodrigo y Gabriela get straight to the point on 11:11, if one assumes the point is hip-popping music with intricate, varied rhythms. Quintero’s guitar works like a metronome without the monotony, and compliments Sanchez’s frenetic themes like champagne and orange juice (another item that falls into the beyond reproach category). The production on this album sounds extremely clean, which helps both guitars to stand out even more prominently as they cast their unpredictable and perpetually engaging spells. Try out “Atman,” which starts out softly and spirals into a flowing and wonderfully executed tribute to Dimebag Darrell. Yes, the guy from Pantera. The track features a solo from Testament guitarist, Alex Skolnick. And it will make you want to buy the whole album, once you polish off your mimosa.

Rodrigo y Gabriela will play at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall on Monday, October 12.

• Rodrigo y Gabriela ~ 11:11 ~ ATO

Atman

And just because it is awesome, here’s the Gipsy Kings:

• Gipsy Kings ~ Gipsy Kings ~ Elektra

“Bamboleo”

more about “Bamboleo – Gipsy Kings (HQ) – Triluli…“, posted with vodpod

You blew my mind twenty-nine times

This is how we do.

Birthday weekend, full steam ahead! And you know what that means. The highlights on the agenda for my weekend include copious amounts of Jack Daniels, giggles, and not posting on my blog even more.

However, it’s not as if I haven’t been busy or exercising my writerly muscles. I’ve been working out at another location, so to speak. In case you miss me and my musical rants, I can also be found here as part of the Portland Examiner Arts and Entertainment team. The gig allows its writers a lot of freedom, at least as far as content and voice. Hopefully, this avenue of exposure will continue to be a fun and personal way to report on all the fantastic artists in and around Portland.

But as far as TS&tN’s humble page-front, as an early birthday present to myself, I’m borrowing from a Facebook note concept. The object of the FB challenge is to list, off the top of your head, fifty musicians you’ve seen live. I got to some number in the 20 to 30 range before I had to start consulting my ephemera collection of ticket stubs, journal entries, posters, emails, and other websites to jog my memory. But it’s a fun activity. You get to recall specific points in your life, places you’ve visited, people you’ve seen, and of course, all the songs that kept you afloat each time. In honor of my 29th year of life on this planet, here are 29 performers I’ve seen live and the venues that granted me the opportunities. I can only aspire to triple this number or more in another 29 years’ time. By the way, if any generous reader wishes to send me a gift, my friends got me started on the tradition of birthday Jack D. Just a thought.

1) They Might Be Giants at venues in Honolulu, Santa Cruz, and San Francisco. I still love John and John like they’re both the only bees in my bonnet.

2) Reel Big Fish at the Bellows Air Force Station (if you live in Hawaii long enough, you will watch concerts on military grounds).

3) Hepcat in Santa Cruz. First concert of college. I can’t even remember the name of the venue, but I’m pretty sure it doesn’t exist anymore.

4) Big Bad Voodoo Daddy at the Catalyst Nightclub. I interviewed one of the horn players for my college newspaper. Sadly, I can’t remember his name either. You’ll notice that a lot for anything during the time I was in college.

5) Moxy Fruvous in Santa Cruz. First concert I attended alone and really enjoyed.

6) Switchblade Symphony at the old goth club in Honolulu. I found out today that one of the band’s drummers went on to join the Blue Man Group.

7) Death Cab for Cutie at the Great American Music Hall.

8 ) Cat Power at Bottom of the Hill.

9) Frank Black, first at the Catalyst and then at the Independent.

10) Stratford 4 at the Independent. They were opening for another band, some group that rode the wave of “The Insert a Noun Here” bands during the early aughts, but Punchy and I went for Stratford 4. Burned out way ahead of their time.

11) Ted Leo and the Pharmacists at the Great American Music Hall.

12) Clinic at Bimbo’s 365 Club.

14) Low Flying Owls at the Hemlock Tavern.

15) Built to Spill at Slim’s. Found out that Built to Spill was playing there mere hours before the show. A very kind bouncer sold us tickets. The band was amazing.

16) Decemberists at the Fillmore.

17) Yeah Yeah Yeahs at the Warfield.

18) Spoon, in a free performance at Amoeba Records.

19) Digital Underground at Red Devil Lounge, complete with Humpty. For real.

20) Von Iva at the Rickshaw Stop.

21) The Botticellis at Cafe Du Nord.

22) Pixies at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley. The best big concert I’ve ever seen. My flask helped.

23) Ziggy Marley at the Crystal Ballroom. This was my first concert in Portland.

24) Tori Amos at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. I’d wanted to see her for so long, and to have finally done so at such a handsome place was extra special.

25) The Swell Season at the Keller Auditorium. Absolutely searing in its beauty, but that was largely thanks to the band.

26) Queens of the Stone Age at the Roseland.

27) Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings at the Oregon Zoo. Don’t let anyone snub you into believing that zoo concerts can’t be awesome.

28) 31 Knots at the Doug Fir.

29) Battles at the Wonder Ballroom, my inaugural foray into Music Fest NW.

Plus, one for good luck: 30) Asylum Street Spankers at Music Millennium.

• Andrew Bird ~ Andrew Bird & the Mysterious Production of Eggs ~ Righteous Babe

The Happy Birthday Song

• Les Claypool ~ Of Fungi and Foe ~ Prawn Song

Primed By 29

In the year 2000 … and then some

Yes, this might be a new low. For my first blog entry in a long while, I will be commenting on … another website. Luckily, it’s a website with a long list, and you know how much I love a good list. Say what you will about Pitchfork.com, but their lists provide endless entertainment and help you feel at least a little validated in your musical predilections because, just going on their length, you are bound to recognize one song they tack on and say, “Oh yeah, I’ve heard that. I like that song. Yay, I’m cool!”

Of course, if you admit this out loud, you risk getting your headphone knocked soundly off your head.

Consider Pitchfork’s most recent whopper of an undertaking. In P2K, the writers name the top 500 tracks from the first decade of the aughts. They even have a ready response for the readers who point out that the world is scarcely through with 2009, claiming that they’re getting a head start for the point in 2010 when readers inevitably become sick of lists about the past decade. You might rightfully demand to know how the hell Pitchfork knows what you’ll be up to and what your feelings might be as the first tenth of the 2000s concludes. Are you and Pitchfork really friends? Do you and Pitchfork even speak at all aside from each others’ vapid Facebook status updates? Isn’t Pitchfork being awfully presumptuous about you? And when did Pitchfork ever not behave in that know-it-all way, which led to the ultimate cooling off of your acquaintance in the first place?

Still, it’s not as if the presumptuous taste-makers hit it way off the mark. Their explanation for their #1 pick, Outkast’s “B.O.B.,” suggests the band and the particular song as prophetic of foreign relations and sonic leanings for the rest of the decade. I can definitely get behind André 3000 and Big Boi as oracles, especially since Gladys Knight’s not piping up much about the future these days.

• Outkast ~ Stankonia ~ La Face

more about “B.O.B-outkast Video by monkey – MySpa…“, posted with vodpod

However, when I think of the inauguration of the aughts, I think of the last half of college, the post 9-11 hysteria that reached as far as my liberal ivory tower of a town where we didn’t want to give America the benefit of the doubt about anything, and my growing dread that the best days were already behind me that sometimes won out over the optimism I was told to feel about the future. So it’s a shock to me that John Vanderslice’s “Exodus Damage” from 2005’s Pixel Revolt isn’t anywhere on the list. It’s been nearly a decade since that scary, life-rupturing time, and there’s not another song that expresses such an honest portrayal of diverse perspectives. The song gives a voice to those who watch in disbelief as the damage is done and those who wish to do the damage, and you’re never sure whose idea you’re hearing at a time. Then Vanderslice peppers the somber imagery with a transitory tune belted out by a xylophone and a chorus as nonsensical as “Dance dance revolution.” Of course, that game was pretty popular at the time. It could all very well be connected.

• John Vanderslice ~ Pixel Revolt ~ Barsuk

Exodus Damage

But since I’ve shared that song once before, I will also advocate for another early-aught favorite from a performer who disappeared too soon. No rap artist has had the chutzpah to slyly mix in allusions to Sassy magazine, Krzysztof Kieślowski, and Susan Faludi like MC Paul Barman. His debut, It’s Very Stimulating, arrived very early in the year 2000. Its Prince Paul production and Barman’s tightrope walk between self-effacing clowning and educated but libido-centered bravado prompted a move to Matador Records, a full-length album in 2002, and Barman’s abrupt departure from the music industry. In “Salvation Barmy,” the MC finds love or some approximation thereof in a Salvation Army. And anyone who hears it can’t help but ask, “And then what?” Too bad Pitchfork doesn’t have the answer.

• MC Paul Barman ~ It’s Very Stimulating ~ Wordsound

Salvation Barmy