Dinosaur Jr- Sweep It Into Space

Everyone knows Dinosaur Jr right? There’s the unlikelihood of Mascis and Barlow coexisting for very long. The improbability that new music from the band would be (maybe except a song or two) worthwhile. But here we are fifteen years and five albums in. If you could be exposed to only the band’s 21st Century output, you still no doubt would be in awe of them. My comment on the current band still stands for the new record Sweep It Into Space. It sounds as if J, Lou and Murph can just step into a studio and effortlessly crank out 12 tunes that sound just like a Dino Jr album. For example, I’m not sure if I Met The Stones is metaphorically talking about the planets or a blog entry about Mick and Keef. Which is my problem with the current incarnation of the band. I don’t find the songs particularly memorable (this album even less so than the prior) and though maybe catchy choruses were always secondary, this is the band who gave us The Wagon and Feel The Pain. But at the end of the day, I don’t have a problem putting this album on and slipping away for 40 minutes. A lot has been made about Kurt Vile being in the producer’s chair. I don’t really know that I notice much difference but Mascis’s guitar does sound good and has a robust sound.

Olav Larsen & the Alabama Rodeo Stars- Stream of Conciousness

I don’t think I can mention Olav Larsen without bringing up the cliche. At least, until he’s more well known. He is, as his name might suggest, African-Norwegian and he makes the most authentic Americana music. I mean, they are the Alabama Rodeo Stars. Of course, a description like that isn’t going to get anyone to listen (at least repeatedly) if the music wasn’t any good, and believe me, the music is that good. The new album Stream of Consciousness has Olav finding duet partners for nine songs. I don’t know if I can find a better RIYL than alt country. But I know that doesn’t help much, even if he seems tangential to a lot of great artists. Perhaps, of course, because the band doesn’t stick to one extreme. At their quietest, I can’t help but hear some Lyle Lovett (and probably a good bit of Prine). Yet, sometimes they seem to go down paths that only get travelled by bands like Freakwater or Giant Sand, bands that seem to be in a different direction altogether. Still, I think this is a pretty interesting disc and would recommend to any fan of Alt-Country however they see that.

Gary Numan- Intruder

“Underrated” is one of those terms that everyone throws around, but Gary Numan seems appropriate to use it. The first four Numan/Tubeway Army albums are as solid as you might hope from any artist in a roughly two year period.

Although Numan famously had a second career in aviation, he really never stopped making albums. As opposed to most artists with a 40-plus year career, there really aren’t any gaps.

Artists have embraced Numan throughout the years, the most visible being Nine Inch Nails, but also a disparate group that includes Fear Factory, the Orb, Marilyn Manson, Tool, Nirvana and J Dilla.

I dipped back into Numan in the early Aughts but did not stay with his new material. What I missed was the buzz that began to generate with 2013s Splinter and continued with 2017s Savage- theme albums that inhabited a post-apocalyptic atmosphere. Electronic sounds of course informed by plenty of Influences from all over the world.

One Intruder won’t replace say, Replicas, but it’s an intriguing listen. I’m struck immediately by two things. First, it feels very much like a Numan album in that it would surely be recognizable to any time traveler who might have happened across it in the Tubeway Army days

Second, there are a ton of electro influenced albums out there. After the success of Nine Inch Nails, similar albums flooded the market. It’s not just NIN of course, and it’s not just one genre, but just a ton of post NIN/Marilyn Manson/Smashing Pumpkins electro rock, and Numan doesn’t get any special treatment because he predates them all.

That said, despite a bit of lack in song-to-song variety (maybe more in time than instrumental variety, every song is a bit of a downer) it is a pretty solid genre album. If anyone can pull off the detached outsider from another world, it’s Numan and the music competently backs him up.

While it has too many flaws to be considered in the same conversation as Low or Station to Station, or even Holy Wood, it is an interesting piece of work.

What I am Listening to: Farmer Jason

 If these posts are ostensibly ‘what I am listening to this week’, then I guess I better mention Farmer Jason.

Having conversation about 2019’s Stand Tall, a close friend told me that if I liked Jason and the Scorchers and had small kids, I should check out Jason Ringenberg’s kid albums as Farmer Jason.

Needless to say, they have been a hit. 2003’s Day at the Farm with Farmer Jason has been an every day listen for the last six months with my newly turned five year old.

You can’t beat songs about the farm with kids and if I have to listen to kids’ songs, make them by someone with as much wit as Jason Ringenberg.

I would suggest that we are reaching the upper age limits of this record, but it’s been a hoot. Each song starts with an educational monologue which gets repetitive, but the songs are infectious and fun.

2006’s follow up Rockin in the Forest is a bit more *ahem* evergreen. It isn’t terribly different than his recent solo adult work. “Arrowhead” is a plaintive historical statement. While Punk Rock Skunk, Opossum in a Pocket and Moose on the Loose betrays that this is the same guy who led a band best known for ripping through Absolutely Sweet Marie and Take Me Home Country Roads.

I don’t know that I would listen to Rockin in the Forest if I didn’t have kids, but I also don’t know that I wouldn’t.

Outside of a Christmas album, the last we heard from Farmer Jason before his alter ego returned is 2012’s Nature Jams which is credited to Farmer Jason and Buddies with each song has a friend of Jason’s guesting.

Mike Mills, Tom Petterson of Cheap Trick, Iris DeMent, Brandi Carlile, Todd Snider and (most unexpectedly on Manatee) Hank Williams III and Tommy Ramone are some of the A-Listers who help out.

I also crowdsourced some music for my kids because I know some musicians have a career moonlighting with kids records. Between that and our regular listening habits- I thought I’d share some thoughts

I suspect everyone knows They Might Be Giants have been prolific in their Kids records (Five in 13 years). Adults have likely heard them on Mickey Mouse shows on Disney. Needless to say, these songs are huge in my household. Of course, as niche as TMBG are in their ‘adult’ records, it seems like it could be a blurry line between the two separate projects.

We are fans of the Amazon Prime series Pete the Cat. More musical than most, I always find it interesting that (for the first season, at least) Pete’s “parents” are Elvis Costello and Dianna Krall.

Jad and David Fair made an album called 26 Monster Songs for Kids in 1998 for Kill Rock Stars. I think it’s too out there for my boys currently but we will see.

In a similar direction, if you are so inclined check out the Wee Hairy Beasties. The kids don’t love it or hate it, but from an adult perspective, it is one of the most enjoyable Rated G records I have heard. Who are the Beasties? Well, they are the already genre-defying have-done-it-all Sally Timms and Jon Langford of the Mekons with Kelly Hogan and eccentric Chicago folk band Devil in a Woodpile.

There is surely more music now than one can imagine and don’t be surprised if a lost favorite (say Velocity Girl’s Sarah Shannon) is making kids music (in the Not-It’s in this case).

I did do something I normally wouldn’t, and did send Jason Ringenberg a short fan letter via social media for bringing so much joy in the last six months (and indeed 35 years) and was nice to have him have read it and thank me for it.

What I am listening to : Los Camaroes

 I would say I’m not particularly good at listening to World Music. Americans, in general, probably aren’t, as evident that we group up all non-English language music as “World Music”.

But most of that has to do with exposure. It’s hard enough for most any artist to get airplay in the first place. It has been helpful that established musicians like Peter Gabriel, David Byrne and Paul Simon moved the needle some. So needless to say, my World Music collection is pretty attuned to Rock ears. Fela Kuti, of course, and bands like Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra and OrchestraBaobab come to mind. Plus, of course, tons of reggae and ska, which generally gets thrown into the broader net of “World Music” if you want to throw that in there.

Fortunately, we live in unprecedented times and have access to so much music. One just needs to be ambitious to look. I generally am not that ambitious, but also taking advantage of the times, have dipped my feet in with friends’ recommendations. (As a side note, I used to catch the International show on the local college station, which was always interesting and certainly a different variety from what might normally get promoted on say, NPR)

So my ventures into what less concise programmers would call World Music is not only influenced by my likes but by friends, and to date, has been heavy on MPB (a genre of post- bossa nova Brazilian popular music with jazz and rock influences).

Anyway, definitely doing my best to keep my ears open. A great resource is Analog Africa- a German (via Tunisia) label that has been re-releasing some great “lost”African records from the past. For me, right now, I am really digging the Cameroonian band Los Camaroes. Resurrection Los from 1979 is considered a classic and I am really enjoying it.

It is pretty cool what they can do with guitar sounds and a dance beat, and I doubt I can describe it in anyway that does it justice, but Western ears will hear Jazz, Blues and Funk tinges as well. Check them out

What I am Listening To- David Bowie- I'm Only Dancing (The '74 Soul Tour)

 There’s so much to listen to with David Bowie. Even if you have listened to it all, there’s so much, that it’s an endless cycle to go back and relisten. Now with streaming, anyone can sit down and do it.

Even when I considered myself well versed in Bowie, I still had room to go, and I remember those times vividly. Dipping into Low and Heroes (seems the other day, but probably 20 years ago) and more recently Let’s Dance and Scary Monsters.

As it stands now, there really isn’t a major album that I don’t have a lot of familiarity with- except the two 80s clunkers and to a certain extent, Diamond Dogs and Young Americans.

There were always a ton of bootlegs, and even if you might have missed those, many seem to be getting released. Some hitting the market as Record Store Day promotions, others shared on streaming locations like Spotify.

Anyway, my current Bowie needle is pinned to I’m Only Dancing (1974 Soul Tour Live). It is the bridge from the two albums above from glammy Diamond Dogs to soulful Young Americans. It occupies a similar timeframe as David Live.

David Live is a rather unloved album, of course. It’s been remastered surely but my memory is of a rather unremarkable album of an otherwise once-in-a-generation performer.

I have to admit that part of what draws me to I’m Only Dancing is the unlikely covers -Knock On Wood, Love Me Do, It’s Only Rock N Roll, Foot Stompin, Shimmy Like Kate and otherwise Classic Bowie songs given makeovers.

I won’t suggest it’s for everyone. The David Sanborn solos might not go over well with those who’d otherwise loved Mick Ronson’s guitar. Still, if you’re picturing this as Bowie as a bloated crooner, you should check out say, Diamond Dogs or Suffragette City, to see how Bowie deftly navigates the genre changes while Slick, Alomar, Garson, Davis and the fantastic backing vocalists get things rocking. I find this a very interesting point in the most interesting of artistic careers, and a nice jumping on point for Bowie’s soul phase.

Tags: what i am listening to

Belle and Sebastian - What to Look For in Summer

Released in the final weeks of 2020, no doubt, the live album What to Look For in Summer is one of my favorite discs of the recent months.

Having presumably heard it all by the late 90s, Belle and Sebastian grabbed me hard. While most of my musical tastes like the Smiths were literate and fey, they were also undeniably rock based. Belle and Sebastian made music like they were in world where bands like Led Zeppelin and the Clash never existed.

Predicting where this band who started as a rather faceless collective would be 25 years later would have been next to impossible.

For me, the changes threw me for awhile, but I came to appreciate the new sound. It’s not a particularly unique insight. No one would have expected such an interactive live band.

But here over 23 songs from various locales, their personality shows through in what is a truly wonderful two disc set.

For me, the reason I love this album is that it has the same characteristics of what made the early band so good- wide-eyed, playful troubadours. Think Donovan or any number of late 60s/early 70s songwriters.

Do musicians still have that first album innocence in their live shows 30 years later. The Stones, the Kinks, U2, The Who, Robert Plant? (I don’t know. I’m asking. I never thought about it before).

So with a mix of vocalists and songs, and the band claiming inspiration from the great live 1970s Prog albums, no doubt the grand moment is as one might expect A seven and a half minute version of The Boy With The Arab Strap.

That said, with many possibilities, the song I’m going to share is an unlikely one. Step Into My Office, Baby was the opening single from the Trevor Horn produced 2003 album Dear Catastrophe Waitress- a sharp movement into the bands current style.

I don’t hate it- it’s got that poppy 1960s style like maybe something Divine Comedy would do, but I don’t love it, either- it’s a list of bad office sex jokes that seemed stale even before Matt Lauer and MeToo- even if the song generally flips the gender roles. However, it has my favorite moment of the set- a giddy moment like much of the rest of the set where the band switches out the lyric “burned out after Thatcher” with the new resident of 10 Downing Street.

Album Review: Nick Cave and Warren Ellis- Carnage

 I’m not sure what the expectations for Carnage (the 2021 album by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis) should be.

Released in the new release dead zone of February, it is the first release credited to the duo that hasn’t been motion picture related.

Of course, the lockdown created havoc for many things. Would this have been the germ for a Bad Seeds album or is this meant to be thought of differently as say Grinderman was.

Inevitably, music journos can overthink such stuff. Carnage has come out to near universal acclaim and it may be all of the above.

While there are no killer single cuts (where would you start-the opener “Hand of God” some sort of perverse dark jazz meets goth electronica is certainly the most arresting) or particular theme, Carnage seems a continuation of Ghosteen. While at the same time, it’s not a million miles removed from the duo’s soundtrack work (which I suppose as atmospheric as Ghosteen was, that’s no surprise either).

There are a few truths to unravel. First, even as prolific as he has been throughout his career, Cave really has never suffered much in terms of quality. Second, the listeners preference will determine enjoyment. Just read reviews to see what Cave albums are favorites. You will see a wide variety. While you would hardly consider Cave a Neil Young personality, there’s an incredible depth in his albums.

So, Carnage is a worthwhile album by any definition. Admittedly, it’s another step away from what I like best about the Bad Seeds. I doubt I will revisit it often. Yet, undeniably is still an arresting piece of art. Ultimately, it’s not for the fans to speculate, but for the artist to make their art, and this surely feels like the piece that Nick wanted to make now.

Things I am listening to: Buzzcocks

 Almost instantly on the first listen, Buzzcocks became one of my favorite bands. Their short lived career (76-81, three albums) places them in a category of bands that for a time could do no long (as far as peers, I’d throw The Jam and English Beat in there as well).

They also felt like the first punk band to reform after a break and release new material (I know, I know, the Damned, Wire and others might have a claim but it also never felt like they went away, and others who weren’t particularly memorable).

Which brings us to Trade Test Transmissions. An album that to my ears is as good as anything they had done, or at least as good as any band’s fourth album.

The album exists in a weird space. Primarily, because it was largely unheard; but also because reviews for it are all over the board. Allmusic gives it three stars, which means one day I will probably have to write a post to defend it, but others agree with me as it being essential.

One of the strengths of the comeback was Steve Diggle taking vocal duties on a few songs and providing a counterpoint to Shelley a la Mould/Hart, Strummer/Jones Mascis/Barlow and other duos.

From there, I followed the band religiously and bought all the releases as soon as they came out.

Besides a few rests and line up changes, the Buzzcocks mk. 2 are now just over 30 years and six albums in.

I have to say that my appraisal of each post-TTT album is the same- mild disappointment, the cover work generally fairly generic and if I associate a personality with an album it’s that of one of the specific label that they were on at the time. There was a carousel of labels too (IRS, GoKart, Merge, Cooking Vinyl). Yet of course, the truth in a world of Buzzcocks inspired melodic punk, you could always do worse than Shelley and Diggle.

Even with Shelley’s death in December of 2018, the band continues on.

With the benefit of hindsight, I can reevaluate the bands work. 1996’s All Set is actually a strong set of songs. Perhaps not as good as it’s predecessor, but pretty close.

The band recorded with Neill King- who engineered the breakout albums by Green Day and other Buzzcocks influenced bands like Rancid, Jawbreaker and the Muffs.

It seems absurd that a band with that name and that age would be able to replicate the success of their followers but the demise of IRS records shortly following the release would have certainly not helped things.

99’s Modern doesn’t have the tunes, but sonically it’s a great listen. The band incorporated a lot of new wave electronic elements.

03’s self titled album brought the band back to something more akin to the bands original sound. It’s hard to say why this album doesn’t click for me since there’s so much energy. Is it so competent it’s boring?

Flat Pack Philosophy (2006) similarly misses the Mark, but the band mixes their sound up between songs that it at least feels like a more interesting listen.

The bands last album to date (The Way 2014) is likely the weakest. The album reminds me of all of the 90s indie bands that had listened to some Husker Du records and dutifully set out to make their own (often inferior) product.

All of this is irrelevant of course when it comes to Late For The Train- a six disc boxed set that tries to capture the Mk. 2 Buzzcocks live performances.

The band was always a bunch of frenetic
Punks with a solid catalog. The band picked the best of the new material and it fit seamlessly with the Greatest Hits.

If for some reason, you have not checked out the second incarnation (a term I use loosely - Buzzcocks mk 2 has had three main “lineup” changes -89-92, 92-08, 08-current) this is a great starting spot.

Album Review- Marc Almond and Chris Braide

 I have spent a great deal of time recently talking about Marc Almond so I probably don’t need to recap.

Still, one of the more interesting developments has been his recent partnership with Chris Braide. As esoteric as some of his work is, Marc has always kept an ear to pop radio.

So Braide doesn’t seem like an obvious match. He’s most famous for another collaboration- his work with Sia. Besides Almond, most of his other work is a who’s who of radio stars- Halsey, Lana del Rey, Britney, Christina Aguilera, Beyoncé, David Guetta, Selena Gomez, Nicki Minaj and a multitude of movie and advertising work.

Braide is also an accomplished pianist and so Chaos and The Hits- credited to both- a January 2020 Royal Albert Hall concert stays pretty close to what you expect.

At 37 songs,it’s a wealth of Marc. Fans who haven’t heard the recent material get their chance to hear the Almond/Braide collaborations (which feature heavy, obviously- Last year’s Chaos and a Dancing Star but also 15’s The Velvet Trail) alongside with the greatest hits and a few surprise detours (Sia’s “Unstoppable” and some deeper Almond cuts).

As big of a fan I am, I reckon that this really is for the fans. While I love his music and have the CD of a previous Royal Albert Hall concert, he released in 92 as 12 Years of Tears, I would surely advise potential new listeners to the studio records first, or at least that earlier disc which plays almost as a Greatest Hits.

But if you’re looking for a hook, this album offers two. First, Marc pays tribute to the other Marc with a quick (about four minutes total) sojourn covering T Rex’s Children of the Revolution and Dandy in the Underworld.

The second is someone who has also started to work with Almond and is as unlikely as Braide- Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson.

Anderson adds flute to Almond’s most well
known songs as well as recent single Lords of Misrule and a cover of Tull’s Witches Promise.

This is a good document of where Almond has been in recent years. It does all the things live Records traditionally did- hypes the recent records and brings old fans up to speed, while providing an overview to more casual fans. So hardly essential but nothing wrong with that.

Album Review- Tindersticks

 Tindersticks were a band I didn’t immediately like. I heard their first album out of the gate. I did come around, and would say they are a favorite band. To the point, I consider their third album Curtains one of my all time favorites.

Nick Cave was always a touch point for the band - baritone voice and dramatic lyrics. Of course, any deeper listening revealed there was more to it. There was always a bit of Leonard Cohen, and for that matter, a bit of Lee Hazelwood to the band.

For a band that seemed to take root with the British indie movement of the 90s, they have had an incredible run. I don’t think there really are much in the way of ‘down moments’ for the band or even Stuart Staples solo career.

That said, 2019’s No Treasure But Hope was a surprise- their best album in over 20 years. An all time tearjerker in “The Amputees”, going full Scott Walker in “Pinky in the Daylight” and “See My Girls” a paranoid build up that achieves a new level in terror in the band’s discography. The band are hitting on all cylinders again.

2021’s Distractions feels like a logical next step. I would say it’s a less accessible record with only seven songs but a 47 minute running time. Add to it that three of the songs are covers.

It likely doesn’t get better than the opening track - the original 11 minute Man Alone -a pulsating workout that will probably the closest we get the Tindersticks to doing No Wave. A continuation of the bands previous move from early career romance to cinematic menace. (Almost every reviewer has made some mention of this being a “Covid” record and though the band had to be nimble, I don’t think their artistic vision here would have been changed in any way).

The selection of Television Personalities’ You’ll Have To Scream Louder is inspired. Already a great late 70s post punk Mute Records song, Staples captures all of that to make it his own.

Neil Young’s A Man Needs A Maid and Dory Previn’s Lady With The Braid are well picked covers too. Still, I think they add to this album to be ‘for the fans’. Distractions stands as the next step in the path for the band. Newcomers should start elsewhere but longtime fans should still be excited where this band may still go.

Album Review- David Olney and Anana Kaye

 I wasn’t familiar with David Olney when he passed in January of last year.

Streaming services and internet certainly help fill out those blanks. I don’t think it’s an insult to say Olney was an under appreciated singer songwriter in a genre full of same.

Olney was a successful songwriter though and his style resembles his friends and peers who sang his songs like Steve Earle, Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell- the next generation of Townes Van Zandt influenced writers (Olney and Townes were mutually appreciative), and a ton of their unheralded brethren like Tom Russell and Buddy Miller.

Like so many talented Americana tinged singers, comparisons are hard and don’t do justice, but it is also what we do to get people to listen to unfamiliar music.

John Hiatt is probably a good comparison. Olney released most of his records for Rounder (and its folk imprint Philo) and he’s definitely in line with the roster of Iris DeMint, Bill Morrissey and Ray Wylie Hubbard. I detect a bit of Joe Ely in him too.

A solid back catalog might not have prepared me for Whispers and Sighs as good, even as his recent work was.

Olney sings as if he knows the end is coming on the posthumous 2021 release paired with east European folk singer Anana Kaye. Not that he needed the extra gravitas, but at 71, his voice resembles a latter Leonard Cohen; and he knows it. At time, he leans in for his best Tom Waits. The effect can be other worldly.

Olney seems the focus but even when Kaye takes vocals on her own like the title track or the Franks Wild Yearseque Thank You Note, there is no effect or change in the mood or tune of the album. A mood that is most unlikely a strand of country goth. Even at its most conventional- the mostly Kaye sung songs Why Cant We Get This Right and My Last Dream of You fit into Americana territory with no detour in quality.

Given enough time spent listening, it’s hard not to appreciate it all, but it is certainly Olney’s turns that are the most instantly compelling. My Favorite Goodbye is perfect in near every way- a song that fits comfortably with the likes of Townes, Hiatt and Zevon. Then later comes The World We Used to Know evoking wars past and dialing up the dramatics, Lie to Me Angel which rock and rolls, and the Great Manzini which matches Richard Thompson style lyrics to an ethereal melody.

With credit as well to Richard Dodd (engineer of Tom Petty's Wildflowers and Jimmy Duck Holmes's Cypress Grove, cellist for the Foo Fighters, Iggy Pop and Smashing Pumpkins to name a few. He literally has worked in some capacity with a who’s who of the top country, rock, rap, blues and Christian artists), this is destined to be a cult album with raves from anyone lucky enough to hear it.

Album Review- Too Much Joy

 One of the more unexpected reunions of the Covid era was Too Much Joy.

TMJ were one of my favorite bands of the Nineties. The band had a reputation in my college town (no surprise that they made an impact where they went. MTV would later extensively cover the band performing As Nasty As They Wanna Be in Broward County and the band’s Wikipedia reads as a series of pranks and stunts).

I actually first heard them on MTV as they crossed over with a cover of LL Cool J’s “That’s A Lie”. Son of Sam I Am was a fun romp hitting every note correct in the otherwise difficult world of joke rock.

1991’s Cereal Killers, the follow up, was much more traditional musically. It was peak 91- college rock defined in the vein of REM and the dbs and all that jangle pop afterwards- Connells, Judybats, Let’s Active, Game Theory and the like. (Like REM, TMJ also had their own KRS1 cameo) Whereas they were always going to be labeled joke rock and constantly compared to the Dead Milkmen (and other contemporary peers like Mojo Nixon and Dread Zeppelin), it’s actually a strangely accessible and very clever record.

I was not impressed with 92’s Mutiny- which was poised to follow up on their success and take them to the next level. Allmusic confers 4.5 stars on that record but it did not connect with me or a bigger audience.

I did eventually pick up 96s Finally- the return to the studio following being dropped from Giant Records. I consider it one of the worst records that I own.

Revisiting TMJ feels like reuniting with a high school friend. I undoubtedly listened to Cereal Killers as much or more than Out of Time.

It’s hard not to compare the band’s career to the Barenaked Ladies- a band with similar goofy ideas who ended up in arenas. I can think of a dozen reasons that one made it and the other didn’t, but it does speak to the unpredictability of things.

I have also recently pulled out Fluting On The Hump- another record I haven’t listened to and hardly given any thought to for 20+ years. With time in the mirror, there’s a lot of similarity in TMJ to King Missile, especially lyrically.

2021’s Mistakes Were Made is probably best explained as being exactly what it is. It’s audience should begin and end with diehard fans from the band’s heyday. That said, it’s a decent enough record- a fun record that is at least worth the time to listen, and then invoke a nostalgic dive into the bands other records.