March 27, 2006
Beggars Might Ride
Things got off to an odd start for me at the Destroyer/Magnolia Electic Co. show on Friday. I drove myself to the Blind Pig, arriving only a little after doors opened. Unfortunately, the parking garage across the street was no longer a parking garage so much as a big hole. Ann Arbor construction rocks! I drove over to the garage on Washington – the one near the Arena – about four blocks away, drove all the way to the roof, seven stories up, and hiked back. I decided to get a ticket and then go over to the Subway on Main St to get a quick dinner. However, when I asked for "one", I didn't get a ticket so much as a wristband, a handstamp, and a declaration that no re-entry would be allowed. Dinner would have to come on tap.
Dan Bejar and others were busy getting set up as I walked toward the stage. Weirdly, he was wearing the same sweater as the only other time in my life I've seen him. Eventually, things were settled enough for them to leave the stage. Shortly thereafter, a tiny young woman came out and plugged in her acoustic guitar and announced herself as Nedelle. She played about 25 minutes of helium-voiced folk-pop. Her best song was one about a grizzly bear devouring a boy. Even though the buzz at the back of the room never stopped, the crowd gave her more than just polite attention.
Barker/Wallace Opening Act Criteria:
Overall Grade: B. Banter was kept to a minimum; she introduced herself, a few songs, and said some thank yous. She didn't wait too long before starting her next song. She didn't play long enough for her material to drag.
Destroyer was up next. Dan didn't seem to be in the mood to talk. The guitarist introduced the band and did most of the thanks for the whole set. You could tell that a big percentage of the crowd was really looking forward to this part of the show. I was in the third vaguely-defined row, dead center. It kept getting warmer and warmer as more people crowded around. One guy who looked vaguely like Seth Rogen's character on Undeclared was headbanging near the corner of the stage.
I think that almost all of the set was taken from Destroyer's Rubies, which I don't have, so I can't give a lot of commentary except to say that I really enjoyed the new songs. Most were loud, fast, and guitar-heavy. The only one that I knew for certain was "Streethawk II". Through the show, the sound mix tended to obscure Dan's lyrics, but you got a good sense of the vocals behind them. My only real complaint, however, was the amount of time taken between songs. Guitar-guy (no band member names were given) said that they'd arrived late, due to forgetting that Michigan isn't in the central time zone. It looked like Dan was having trouble with his equipment, especially his pedals. He didn't look particularly focused either, although he played well.
Barker/Wallace Opening Act Criteria:
Overall Grade: A-. The set was great. They got so much applause from the crowd that I almost thought they'd do an encore. Really, it was just that they had to come back and take their gear off the stage so that Magnolia Electric Co. would have enough space to set their own stuff up. The major defect was the vast swathes of time wasted between songs. If they'd played "The Sublimation Hour" I still might have given them an A.
Magnolia Electric Co. is an entirely different band live from what's on the album. They kicked off their set with "Hammer Down", a song that's a solo acoustic lament on What Comes After The Blues, but it's a full-band song driven by electric power chords when it's played live. The central figure in the chorus is "Hammer down / Heaven-bound". On the album, it sounds like the narrator is sure to die, wasting away. Live, it's more like Screw this crap, suit up.
They played most of What Comes After The Blues. "Leave The City" was particularly good. The keyboard player doubled as trumpet and he had a good tone. "Northstar Blues" was also a good one. "The Dark Don't Hide It", the song most alike in both album and live version, rocked suitably. Some guy next to me in the audience recognized "Long Desert Train" as the last song of the night right off of a couple of chords, surprising Jason Molina. There wasn't actually any encore on Friday. The Blind Pig had a different show booked for 10:30, so everyone was swept back out onto the street.
March 20, 2005 (somewhat later)
Michigan Airborne
Now that ski season's over, I'll show you how I've been enjoying my weekends. Click here (811KB) and here (1.26MB) to watch me go over a jump. The vertical air isn't that impressive, maybe 4', but I cover about 50 feet horizontally at ~35 mph. Airtime is almost exactly 1 full second, but it's the landing that you remember. You can kind of see in the second one that I got off-balance and landed the jump on only one ski, which you try not to do.
March 20, 2005
King of the Blues
Kind of a brief report here. On Thursday (the 16th) I went to go see BB King perform at the Wharton Center in East Lansing. The only problem was that the concert had been moved to the Auditorium. So I gave up and drove home. No, not really. The sign said that the Auditorium was at Farm Lane and Auditorium Drive (least helpful cross-street ever!), and I'd already passed Farm Lane on my way to the Wharton Center so I was able to find the show. Noel and his law-talking friend were waiting for me and we headed inside. The Auditorium is more a Gymnasium With A Balcony. If Jennison Field House didn't already exist, I would swear that MSU used to play basketball there. We were in the balcony at the end opposite the stage, but dead center and with a clear view. The start time of the show was backed up by about 20 minutes due to all the people streaming over from the Wharton Center, but then the band came onstage. Piano/organ, drummer, bassist, guitarist, two trumpets, tenor sax, and baritone sax. No BB King. Opening band? They played a couple of songs, showing that they all knew their stuff. One of the trumpets was a particularly good soloist and the guy on tenor could get it going. After the second song, BB King came onstage and it was revealed that this was the backing band.
For the better part of two hours, the 80-year-old showed how it's done. His ease with a guitar is unmatched by anyone I've ever heard. Even with the best guitarists, it sounds like they're trying really hard to get the instrument to do what they want. He makes it so that the sounds just come out. The concert itself wasn't so much a concert as a show. Song breaks were usually filled by the rhythm section supplying background music while BB bantered. And there was a lot of banter, usually about ladies. You see, they enjoy shopping and are smarter than us. Also, they're pleasing to the eye. I don't know much of his music, but I did recognize the song that the Primitive Radio Gods took their sample for "Standing Outside a ..." from. He also did "When Love Came To Town", a song that his friend Bono wrote for him, and a version of "The Thrill Is Gone" that brought the entire crowd to its feet. The band played him offstage, but he came back with his scarf on to throw some guitar picks into the crowd.
March 17, 2005
Rise Up With Fists!!
Only my second show in the city of Grand Rapids, I headed up the Beltline to Calvin College on Wednesday just as late twilight deepened into night. Due to the TINY FONT on their signage, finding the Fine Arts Centre was difficult, but after an inspired guess I knew I was in the right place. Why? I saw hipsters.
I'm bewildered when I show up at a concert venue and I don't have to pay for parking, but it's jaw-dropping when I park for free not a hundred feet from the door. They weren't allowing anyone inside the auditorium, but they were allowing people inside the doors, which must be an even more humane gesture in January. About five minutes after I got there, they opened the doors and we filed in. I grabbed a seat in Row H, right on the left side of the left aisle. It gave a great view of the entire stage, since I was staring down the aisle at it instead of over peoples' heads. I then started noticing just how much it resembled my high school auditorium, only thinner and with a proper mezzanine. I promise you, it was freaky. I felt like I should get up and sit on the right-hand side, because that's where I used to sit for assemblies.
When we walked in, Whispertown 2000 was still setting up and looking a rather motley crew. One member was in jeans and a hoodie, one in a leather skirt and boots, and one in a loose pink gown. After a while, they quitted the stage and the student activities director came out to talk about upcoming shows, which reminded me that I still need to get a ticket for Low on April 12.
Whispertown 2000 came out this time having completed their costume change. The guys (bassist Colt and rhythm guitarist Todd, respectively) had gone with the button-down and jeans look. The lead singer, Morgan, retained her pink gown, but the other singer, Vanessa, had changed her leather skirt in favor of what looked like a first communion gown. And Jesus, she was gorgeous. Her long, black hair had been in her face while setting up, so I didn't get a look at her before. Afterward, it was difficult not to just stare at her for the rest of their set.
The set...was not without problems. Morgan explained that they'd "forgotten [their] money" in Chicago, and had to turn back to get it, consequently missing sound check. Todd was suffering the after-effects of food poisoning. Morgan broke a string on the second song and Todd was not thrilled to be leaning over, trying to get her backup guitar plugged into the monitor. Vanessa remained resolutely gorgeous. Morgan revealed that Colt's parents were in the audience and then told a bad joke, trying to fill the pause. She offered to do some Snoop Dogg, but some guy in the front row wanted Tupac. Before that could be attempted, Todd had everything rigged up. The house lights finally went down all the way. Things recovered after the slow start, but there were still some sound board things to be worked out and some other pauses cropped up. The music itself was a pretty good match with Jenny's solo material, and I was unsurprised to find later that Morgan and Jenny are friends. Their songs had a lot of '50's rock influences with a bit of country twang. Morgan's voice isn't very strong, sounding like Kasey Chambers (without her vocal control), but singing harmony with Vanessa and her perfect pitch stabilized it. The lack of a drummer sometimes sent the tempo wandering, but Colt is a pretty good bassist and kept things on track.
Barker/Wallace Opening Act Criteria:
Overall Grade: B-. Missing sound check was entirely in their hands, but food poisoning and broken strings weren't, so I'll cut them some slack in the pacing issues with the show. The music was decent, but nothing that special. It would have been a good performance by an opening act if they'd been able to keep things moving better.
Johnathan Rice was up next and came out with only one backing player, a guy who sat down at the slide guitar. He said, completely deadpan – like everything else he said – "I'm Johnathan Rice and this is Farmer Dave." Farmer Dave: "[waves and smiles]." After his first song was over, Johnathan: "I don't know if I believe in intelligent design. [Long pause]. But her design wasn't very intelligent. This is a song about her anyway." Later: "You guys are acting like it's a Tuesday night." "This song only sounds good if you guys sing along. It's called 'We're Out in the Desert and We're All Gonna Die'. It's our catchiest song." To the front row: "You're not very smiley tonight. That's OK. All the pictures I've ever seen of John Calvin, he wasn't smiling either." Honestly, it was just a series of great deadpan statements through the set. The last one: "We've got one more song and then we'll let you get on with it. But you'll see us again...sooner than you think. [Long pause]. 'Cause we're in the band."
Barker/Wallace Opening Act Criteria:
Overall Grade: B+. The music itself was a twangy brand of sensitive-boy folk-pop that was fine, but unremarkable. He kept the show moving and entertaining and didn't play so long as to make us regret his presence. And I enjoyed his young-Steven-Wright-with-a-guitar persona.
After a brief intermission, the band took the stage, but no singers were in sight. From the wings, we started to hear the opening vamp of "Run Devil Run" as Jenny Lewis entered wearing a vintage denim dress, flanked by Chandra and Leigh Watson in their own matching plum-colored dresses. They slowly walked to their micropones, vamped some more, and then hit the concluding phrase, immediately launching into a thumping rendition of "The Big Guns". The live drums and bass really give this song an extra punch. Over the course of the evening, they played the entirety of Rabbit Fur Coat, excepting the Traveling Wilburys' "Handle With Care".
Set List
It's been said that Rilo Kiley has decided to make it or break it based on Jenny Lewis's voice. I would not bet against them on those terms. On "Happy", she pulled back from the exuberance of "The Big Guns", but dialed in her control. It was a pretty straight alteration for the next several tracks, following up a fast song with a slow one. Jenny Lewis is not a chatty performer, barely pausing between songs until reaching a new, as-yet-untitled song and asking that any proposed names be written down and delivered to the stage, but only one person took her at her word. I get the distinct impression that Jenny doesn't like having her picture taken. Someone went to the bottom of the aisle and sat there to get a picture, but Jenny saw her and just looked uncomfortable and annoyed. That lines up with what I've seen from media coverage and the album booklet. She looks much better in the candid pictures than the face-on ones, where she tends to look fairly grim. Sort of ironic in an ex-actress. She introduced "Paradise", off of a split 7" with Whispertown 2000, as "a song about finances", so the Watson Twins would be playing quarters. No, not like that. They each clicked a pair of quarters together for percussion.
The rest of the band left the stage, and Jenny was left alone for "Rabbit Fur Coat", which provided a nice moment. Everyone came back for "Rise Up With Fists!!", which, in addition to having the greatest title of any song I've seen this year, is one hell of a live excercise. The bass thumped in, sounding much stronger than on the album, and they took it all a notch faster. The Watson Twins were more prominent in their harmonies, too, and it kind of encapsulated the whole night. Nothing was played much differently from on the album, but it was the intensity of the performance that made it a more-than-worthwhile experience. And the intensity went up another notch on another new song, "Jack Killed Mom", which is great. I don't have the proper musical vocabulary to describe it, but it reminded me of the scene at Ray's Music Exchange in the Blues Brothers or Vegas-era Elvis. I thought for sure that it was going to be the final song before the encore, but they calmed it down with "Born Secular", leaving one by one until the drummer was the last one left and he then quitted the stage.
Jenny came back solo-acoustic again for "It Wasn't Me", stepping out from behind the microphone for a bit, going to the very edge of the stage to sing, and looking impressively serene. She closed with the line "I'll end with a closer and say 'Goodnight.'" and a quiet spoken "Goodnight," delivered behind a coy smile that just killed me.
I was worried that it was a true goodnight, but the Watson Twins came back for an acapella cover of the Shirelles' "Met Him On Sunday", taking turns in the verses as they rolled through the days of the week. The rest of the band came back for the true closer, a cover of the gospel tune "Cold Jordan", with Johnathan Rice taking the male vocal.
Like I said, there weren't a lot of surprises or re-workings here, but it was the stepped-up intensity and the regular fun of being at a concert with upwards of 600 other people that really made the show.
March 12, 2005
New Music: Sarah Harmer, Jenny Lewis, Neko Case
It's time to face up to something: I have a thing for redheaded indie singers. Neko Case, Corin Tucker, Jenny Lewis, Sarah Harmer, etc. Tucker and Sleater-Kinney released the best album of 2005 (and Neko featured prominently on the second-best). Lewis has released her first solo album, Harmer her fourth, and Case her fifth.
Sarah Harmer's I'm a Mountain was released in Canada back in October, or something like that, but only became available in February stateside. It's rather a different piece of work than her last two albums, You Were Here and All Of Our Names. They were pop with a folk bent, and synths were even allowed on AOON. I'm a Mountain strips the instrumentation down to the point where drums barely figure into the equation, but it's still Sarah's record, albeit one that veers closer to string band territory than anything that's gone before. Appropriately, she includes a cover of Dolly Parton's "Will He Be Waiting For Me?", which is somewhat unusual in that her love songs tend to be gender-neutral. She covers herself on "Goin' Out", first released on her old band Weeping Tile's final album, Valentino, back in 1997 or so. It's given more space to breathe here, which is a good thing. It seems like she ends up doing this on each new album. Her single "Basement Apartment", from 2000's You Were Here, first appeared on Weeping Tile's Eepee . "Silver Road", from 2004's All of Our Names, first showed up on the Men With Brooms soundtrack with the Tragically Hip as her backing band. Maybe she wasn't happy with the sound, or maybe she couldn't afford the Hip on the actual album, but it was given a roomier treatment the second time around, much like "Goin' Out" is here. An even more difficult task than find something to rhyme with "escarpment" and "aquifer" on "Escarpment Blues" is writing a hippy-dippy environmental protest song (a well-connected company is trying to open a new gravel mine in the Niagara Escarpment, not far from Harmer's home near Kingston, ON) without it sounding like a hippy-dippy environmental protest song, so she doesn't really try to disguise it. The first two tracks on the album I'd say are the best. "The Ring" -- boxing metaphors, not J-horror -- and "I Am Aglow" ride along on mandolin, guitar, and some fiddle. All in all, I'm a Mountain is a well-crafted work that colors inside the lines. It's the How I Met Your Mother of folk albums.
From the packaging alone, you can tell that Rabbit Fur Coat isn't going to be modernist. The CD is that first-generation silver with black print over it; no graphics. The case still has the thick black plastic on the left side. Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins are dressed in vintage clothing on the cover photos under a plain serif font. Jenny Lewis has said that she recorded it because she had some songs left over from the sessions that produced Rilo Kiley's More Adventurous and she didn't want to let them go. For leftovers, they've produced a surprisingly cohesive whole with a vintage sheen, sort of a Memphis via California. "Rise Up With Fists!!" has that Dusty Springfield/white-soul sense; so does "Melt Your Heart". "Rabbit Fur Coat" is more western. It's lazy and dry like the desert, as if it's too much effort to speak up or move faster or try another guitar figure. The cover of the Traveling Wilburys' "Handle With Care" is better as an homage than as a straight cover, if only due to the ages of those involved. "You Are What You Love" sounds most like a Rilo Kiley song and wouldn't sound out of place on The Execution of All Things. Lewis's reach exceeds her grasp at times when it comes to her lyrics. A fondness for parallel structure trips up "Rise Up With Fists!!" early and "Melt Your Heart" late, for instance. The lyrics tend to be overwritten for the rest of the album, too. Still, it's a good first effort and it'll probably be the second-best white-soul album of the year.
Neko Case has a habit of signaling what she'll be doing on her next studio album, if only you feel like paying attention. In 2000, she released her Canadian Amp EP. It ran pretty long for an EP, clocking in at just under 24 minutes for its eight songs. When I bought it from her at the Blind Pig that summer, I figured that the stripped-down sound was due to the fact that it was a four-track home recording, but it was really announcing the musical direction she'd chosen for 2002's Blacklisted. Furnace Room Lullabye had a bigger alt-country sound, but Blacklisted was more open. The Tigers Have Spoken drifted a little farther from alt-country and a little closer to rock, but mostly toward major keys. Fox Confessor Brings The Flood continues that way, mostly. It's farther away from rock, but it's also farther from country. Maybe it's closer to the Gram Parsons/Emmylou Harris "cosmic American music", but it doesn't have that Daniel Lanois sheen that Harris's records get.
Blacklisted was a nighttime album; Fox Confessor is for the day. It's not to say that it's a sunnier affair, it's that bad things don't just happen at night now. On the opening track, "Margaret vs. Pauline", she sings "Two girls ride the blue line / Two girls walk down the same street / One left her sweater sitting on the train and the other lost three fingers at the cannery." Death and loneliness pervade the rest of the tracks. "Star Witness" is ambiguous about how it happened, but her true love is dead all the same. The title animal in "Maybe Sparrow" lies dead. The occupants of a house simultaneously succumb to madness in "Dirty Knife", a song steeped in blood. "Hold On, Hold On" is the closest to a rock song she's ever written. It rocks hard without actually being rock 'n' roll. You can really feel the Sadies' influence as the backing band for this track. Musically, "John Saw That Number" bears a resemblance to "Stinging Velvet" from Blacklisted, though not in subject matter. "At Last" is way too short. It can't even be said to have a chorus or refrain. It's about home and family, and I'd like to hear more of it. With the last three or four songs, the album builds to its close, "The Needle Has Landed".
After getting past the off-center cover art, the first thing I noticed was that the CD didn't want to stay closed. The case is one of the newer cardboard ones which are probably a little more environmentally-friendly and the front flap was bulging out due the stress of containing the booklet that accompanies Fox Confessor. I had hoped that it contained lyrics, but instead it's full of art photographs, drawings, collages, etc., and it's really a treat. Aimee Mann got a Grammy this year for her album art; Neko should at least get nominated in that category.
To wrap things up simply, Fox Confessor Brings the Flood is my early contender for Album of the Year (Which Will Be Ignored by the Grammys). I don't like waiting four years between albums, but it's hard to argue with the results.
