The hottest music from Chicago & beyond

Month: August 2010 Page 1 of 3

Album Review: The Clientele – Minotaur [Merge]

There’s been oh so much talk in the past couple years about the retirement of The Clientele. Singer and guitarist Alasdair MacLean said the following prior to the release of the band’s last album “Bonfires on the Heath”: “I think it’d close the chapter quite well. If you don’t have any more ideas you should just go away, I guess.” This among other discussion of possibly breaking up the band once they had finished touring in support of their current record. He also mentioned the possibility of The Clientele continuing to make music should they find an interesting reason to. The idea was floated that they might be amenable to working on a film soundtrack or something similar. Well, there’s no word on that just yet, but MacLean has already announced a new project he’s working on called Amor de Dias. While we wait to see what will come of that, there’s a brand new Clientele mini-album in our midst this week. Titled “Minotaur”, it spans 8 tracks and 30 minutes and is about what you’d expect from the band.

As with any band that’s been around for 10 years and has four albums to their name, there are certain things that are a normal part of every Clientele song. Their first couple records waded largely in the quiet, pastoral 60’s folk-pop arena, there were plenty of catchy moments to be found, but much of it was somber and “autumnal” in nature. “Bonfires on the Heath” was very much in that vein as well, though that was more a return to form after the surprisingly upbeat and much more pop-driven “God Save the Clientele”. And while the variations in their sound may only have been minimal, the additions of some new members and instruments has served them well in the end. The Clientele have learned how to smooth out every rough edge of their music and even when a song completely falls flat it still comes off shiny and gorgeous. Where “Minotaur” falls is right in the band’s sweet spot, very capably balancing the soft and beautiful, the surprisingly catchy and the outright experimental.

Opening title track “Minotaur” has the feeling of a great Clientele track, but the lyrical subject matter is a little different from the typical “love and nature” topics MacLean tends to focus on. The explanation behind that one is pretty easy, as apparently drummer Mark Keen wrote the lyrics. “Jerry” comes in next and is smooth as silk until a surprise guitar solo tears things up and elevates the song above the band’s average. One of the most fascinating things about “As the World Rises and Falls” is that it was originally done by the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band. This cover version not only works well with the rest of the mini-album, but The Clientele absolutely make it their own in only the way they could. Things really start to get interesting around “Strange Town”, a song that has the feeling of a potential hit but then just plain aborts after about 90 seconds. Why the band chose to leave the song in what feels like an underdeveloped state is a mystery, but it does work in the sense that you’re left wanting more. “No. 33” is a token Clientele instrumental track, pleasant and beautiful as expected (and also short), while “The Green Man” is a 5 minute spoken word piece with atmospheric background noise that has sharp echoes of the excellent “Strange Geometry” track “Losing Haringey”. To close things return to a more normal state with the unassuming song “Nothing Here Is What It Seems”. It’s a stately and perfect way to end the mini-album, and that could be said about the tracklisting to the entire thing – arranged exactly the way it needs to be.

Perhaps the saddest part of “Minotaur” is again the continued suggestion that any day now The Clientele are just going to put down their instruments and call it quits. Given their long streak of prolific and completely underrated albums, the music world would certainly be missing a band filled to the brim with great talents. Yes, Alasdair MacLean will land on his feet, probably with his new project, but this collection of talent, including the newest member in multi-instrumentalist Mel Draisey is too strong to simply let go. “Minotaur” may be a swan song for The Clientele, so it’s a great thing that they might be going out on a high note. If “Bonfires on the Heath” really was intended to be the last record the band released, the themes of autumn and the slow descent into winter/death of nature were perfectly planned at the time. With “Minotaur”, it feels like when an old friend that moved away years ago finally returns for a visit. You’re so blissfully happy to see that person again and you wrap them in a warm hug and wish that they could just come back home where they belong forever. Well, life doesn’t always work out how we want it to. The future of The Clientele remains in peril, and we can hope they’ll continue onwards, but the choice is not ours to make. Perhaps if enough of us show support for “Minotaur”, we’ll continue to get more gracefully beautiful music from this band. If that doesn’t work, our memories will have to suffice.

The Clientele – Jerry

Buy “Minotaur” from Amazon

Pick Your Poison: Tuesday 8-31-10

Plenty of great music today as we bring August to a close. Jenny Lewis and her boyfriend Johnathan Rice are releasing their first album together under the name Jenny and Johnny today, and you can download a song off that below. Also notable is the song from Blue Water White Death, which is the side project team-up of Jamie Stewart of Xiu Xiu and Jonathan Meiburg of Shearwater. The band The Chap is getting some good press recently, so you’ll want to give them a listen if you haven’t already. The same goes for The War on Drugs, who are sure to be big on the indie scene in the coming months.

ARP – White Light

Blood Feathers – Don’t Know You at All

Blue Water White Death – Song for the Greater Jihad

The Chap – We Work in Bars
The Chap – Even Your Friend (Teengirl Fantasy Remix)

Cut Copy – Hearts on Fire (Dave Edwards Remix)

Jenny and Johnny -Animal

Jupe Jupe – Something About Love

Michael Parallax – All the Young Bloods of Baltimore

Pepper Rabbit – Older Brother

Voxhaul Broadcast – Leaving on the 5th

The War on Drugs – Comin’ Through

Yair Yona – Brave Walls

Album Review: Klaxons – Surfing the Void [Polydor]

How many times have you heard the word “nu-rave” used? Unless you’re a member of the band Klaxons, you’ve probably not caught more than a few mentions of it in passing, if at all. It seems that when Klaxons first appeared on the music scene, their intensely danceable rock music was indefinable to the point where they had to create a new word to more easily describable. Many suspected that with this hot new band and their debut album “Myths of the Near Future”, a whole load of copycats would emerge and the nu-rave genre would thrive under that guise. While Klaxons may have reached strong levels of popularity across Europe, Americans were not so quick to embrace the band and they didn’t quite grow to the point where their sound became a jumping off point for others. And as nu-rave never became a whole “thing”, the label itself can die a quick and painless death, so we can simply define Klaxons’ sound as being…Klaxons. Want more proof of that? Give a listen to their new sophmore album “Surfing the Void” and try to place it under an easily definable genre label. It’s tough, and that’s a big part of the band’s charm.

In preparing for “Surfing the Void”, Klaxons got typically tempramental when it came to choosing a producer. After recording with several different people and coming away largely disillusioned and unsatisfied with the results, the band finally settled on Ross Robinson, who’s doesn’t typically produce anything other than heavy rock and roll records. As a result, “Surfing the Void” is quite a bit more guitar-heavy than its predecessor, but not to the point where you could call it a full-on rock record. It’s all over the stylistic map, and of course that’s a big reason why Klaxons are still their own unique breed of music. Those going into this new album hoping for something similar to the band’s debut will more than likely be disappointed. You can’t dance to most of the tracks, though there are plenty of fist-pumping, liberation anthems that will get your blood up and stay with you for a surprisingly long time. There’s nothing quite as brilliant or catchy as “Golden Skans”, but if you liked the punky energy of a track like “Atlantis to Interzone”, there’s a host of new songs with that Pixies-esque quality (it’s almost as if “Venusia” is the band’s attempt to recreate “Velouria” in an original way). The brash, spitfire approach is pretty effective on the whole, though it does take away ever so slightly from the band’s ability to throw a stylistic wild card at you as they’ve pulled in the past. In that sense it’s also a little easier to figure out if you’re going to like “Surfing the Void” by simply listening to a couple tracks. Yet it’s also an album’s album, in that the individual songs are most effective and enjoyable when listened to in the context of the whole thing. Album opener “Echoes” is the perfect entry point anyways, one of the best singles on the record and a great introduction to where the band is at stylistically these days.

Where Klaxons are at lyrically is pretty much the same spot they’ve been in all along. There’s a sharp marriage between the poetically smart and just plain oddball, to the point where you’ll often find yourself wondering exactly what the hell they’re talking about. You’re best off just ignoring any potential “meanings” and just going with the flow, same as any attempts to truly define Klaxons’ sound. Unfortunately, “Surfing the Void” doesn’t exactly continue to paint the solid picture of a band on the rise. Of course it also doesn’t indicate they’re standing still or complacent either. Instead it’s more like Klaxons are still wrestling with what they want out of their sound. They’re continuing to try new things and are pushing themselves within certain respectable limits, but largely they don’t take it far enough. The songs may still have dynamite hooks and are enjoyable to listen to, but there are moments when Klaxons start to feel like little more than an above-average alt-rock band. Hopefully their next record will offer something of a course correction – not necessarily back to the aborted nu-rave genre, but maybe in an entirely new direction that both works well with what they’ve previously done yet remains undeniably Klaxons. The music on “Surfing the Void” might not be as timeless as we could have hoped, but that album cover most definitely is.

Buy “Surfing the Void” from Amazon

Pick Your Poison: Monday 8-30-10

Only a couple days left in August. Where does the time go. Kicking off a week’s worth of Pick Your Poison, Monday’s edition isn’t half bad. A new song from Black Heart Procession, as well as Capstan Shafts might catch your ear in that good sort of way. Clean Equations and The Two Man Gentlemen Band also get my personal thumbs up as well.

Black Heart Procession – Blank Page

Blunt Mechanic – Less Beat

Capstan Shafts – Heart Your Eat Out

The Cinnamon Band – I’m Asking You

Clean Equations – A Little More 14 on 26

Cold Seeds – Leave Me to Lie Alone in the Ground
Cold Seeds – The Perfume of Mexican Birds
Buy the Cold Seeds album

Inspector Tapehead – Yarvil
Inspector Tapehead – Pherenzik Tear
Buy the Inspector Tapehead album

Princess Superstar – Lollipop (Crookers Remix)

SAADI – Take It Easy

Soft Seeds – This Affair

Talvihorros – The Blue Cathedral
Talvihorros – Twin Peaks Theme

The Two Men Gentlemen Band – Chocolate Milk

Album Review: Mogwai – Special Moves [Rock Action]

For Live Friday this week, considering that Mogwai coincidentally also released their first live CD/DVD on Tuesday, this is going to serve as something of a 2 birds, one stone type of situation. If you’ve never heard a Mogwai record before, that’s something you need to experience sooner rather than later. The band’s largely instrumental compositions are post-rock of the most epic sort, often slowly building in ferocity until peaks are reached and there’s a cathartic release of skull-pounding noise. It’s something they’ve been doing for over 13 years and 6+ studio albums, and though the sentiment tends to be that they’ve started to get stale and have been treading water the last couple albums, there are still clear highlights on each to make everything in their catalogue worthwhile. Yes, albums like their debut “Young Team” and “Rock Action” will always hold a revered place amongst Mogwai fans, but scorched Earth later period songs like “Glasgow Mega-Snake” and “Batcat” will be there too, mostly because they’re so damn good.

New York’s Music Hall of Williamsburg isn’t exactly the most thrilling venue to create a live CD/DVD, that is compared to other bands who choose to make their live recordings at special anniversary shows or at a highly unique location or something similar. The combination package, the CD portion of which is titled “Special Moves” and the DVD portion titled “Burning” was recorded in total over 3 nights at MHOW, but constitute what might be considered a very accurate portrayal of what you’d see and hear at your average Mogwai show. It’s also a very well balanced collection of songs, selecting songs from each of Mogwai’s albums and not displaying any particular favoritism towards any period of their careers. And while requisite mind-exploders like “Mogwai Fear Satan” and “Like Herod” are staples of virtually any Mogwai show, they also dive a little deeper beyond the flagrantly fantastic for a subdued moment like “Cody” or the not-quite-obvious choice of “I Love You, I’m Going to Blow Up Your School”. What really stands as a testament to how amazing Mogwai are live is how well they’re able to take these career-spanning songs of various quality and seamlessly blend them together to the point where everything sounds mindblowing. Sure, there are some epic standouts, but despite this not being a greatest hits record it can often feel like one, with just a tiny amount of crowd noise in between to remind you that it’s live.

In terms of the “Burning” live DVD that you can get as part of the live package, it’s a black-and-white affair directed by the great Vincent Moon along with Nathanaël Le Scouarnec. The “Special Moves” CD might be a great audio representation of Mogwai’s music in a live setting, but to capture the full effect you absolutely need to see what’s happening on stage. From the smart lighting work to Martin Bulloch’s shockingly effective drum work, those are just two big positives among a wealth of them proving that this band is best when they’re both seen and heard. There’s not a ton of overlap between the CD and DVD tracklistings, and the DVD-exclusive renditions of “The Precipice” and “Batcat” are pretty jaw-dropping in their own right amongst heavy-hitters like “Hunted By A Freak” and “Like Herod”. And while the DVD may show you what a completely enthralling experience Mogwai’s live show is, unless you’ve got a gigantic TV with an extreme number of speakers you’ll never be able to fully recreate what it’s like to be in the same room as the band mows down a large crowd with an intense amount of noise. Your entire body vibrates, your hair stands on end, and more than likely you’ll have some hearing damage to contend with. For those who aren’t going to be able to catch a Mogwai live performance anytime soon, or simply just want to have a recorded show at their beck and call, “Special Moves” and “Burning” are your two grand companions for that. They also serve as a fantastic introduction to the band if they’re new to you.

While I am unable to offer you some mp3s from “Special Moves” for your downloading pleasure, thankfully I do have a relatively large archive of Mogwai live bootlegs I can choose from. So what you’ll find below is a session the band did on BBC Radio 1 back in 2006 around the release of their album “Mr. Beast”. Naturally then, most of the tracks pull from that album, but it still gives a pretty strong impression of what Mogwai sounds like live, even if it’s not quite the quality “Special Moves” and “Burning” have to offer.

Mogwai – Friend of the Night (Live on BBC1)
Mogwai – Glasgow Mega-Snake (Live on BBC1)
Mogwai – Summer (Live on BBC1)
Mogwai – Acid Food (Live on BBC1)
Mogwai – Folk Death 95 (Live on BBC1)
Mogwai – Travel Is Dangerous (Live on BBC1)
Mogwai – We’re No Here (Live on BBC1)

Buy “Special Moves” and “Burning” in various packages from Rock Action

Pick Your Poison: Friday 8-27-10

The end of this week holds more delights for you via Pick Your Poison. Former Hold Steady member/current Against Me! member Franz Nicolay is still making solo material, and you can download one of his songs below. Singer/songwriter Owen has a new track available as well, and if very early hype is what you want, The Vaccines are prepared to cure that ailment.

Alarma Man – Cabin in the Woods (Single Edit)

Dark Dark Dark – In Your Dreams

Franz Nicolay – This Is Not A Pipe

The Goodnight Loving – Doesn’t Shake Me

Katie Costello – Cityscapes

Kavinsky – Nightcall (Robotaki Remix)
Kavinsky – Nightcall (Breakbot Remix)

Kingsley Flood – Cul-de-Sac

Magnetic Island – Sung Not Said

Owen – Abandoned Bridges

Roy Paymon – Imonetta

TV Buddhas – Fungirls

The Vaccines – If You Wanna (Demo)

Young the Giant – My Body

Album Review: Magic Kids – Memphis [True Panther Sounds]

The True Panther Sounds roster has been pretty strong these last several months, though you have to wonder how much of that has to do with Matador Records being their parent company. Just reeling off the names quickly, True Panther has recently put out albums by Girls, Delorean, Real Estate and The Morning Benders, among others. Either they’re really smart about the bands they sign, or they’re just the beneficiaries of a strong promotional arm. Well this week they’ve been up to more good with the release of the debut album from Magic Kids, titled “Memphis”. If you like your music in the vein of classic AM pop, make sure these guys are on your radar.

Magic Kids make bright, sunshine-infused pop that feels genuinely rooted in those innocent days of the early 60s. Use the Beach Boys as your classic rock marker, and a combination of The Boy Least Likely To and Apples In Stereo for your modern-day indie rock markers. This music is so gloriously upbeat and fun, it’s a shame that its being released at the end of August, as summer is on the way out the door. One could easily imagine this soundtracking a run through the sprinklers on a lush green lawn or swinging from the monkey bars on a playground. In other words, Magic Kids is a great name for the band, because there’s both something magical and something childlike in their music. Just one look at their song titles should give some sort of indication as to what “Memphis” has in store for you: “Candy”, “Superball”, “Summer”, “Skateland” and “Sailin'”. Funny also that “Candy” sounds like a sugar high, “Superball” bounces around with blissful fun, “Summer” feels like a day on the beach, “Skateland” does a half-pipe of rock and roll, and “Sailin'” pushes the wind in your direction. They’re all individual highlights on this record, along with most of the other tracks here, the biggest and best of which might be the very first song that caught everyone’s attention last year, “Hey Boy”. Along the way there’s great guitar work, some delightful violins, string and horns, and bits of piano, all used very economically to make each song as pop perfect as possible without getting overblown or too busy. Credit should also go to some smart backing vocals, not delicately (and almost too perfectly) harmonized in Beach Boys style, but there’s a certain choir-like aspect to it with plenty of “ahhs” and “do dos”.

Better late than never, and over far too soon in a meager 28 minutes, Magic Kids’ “Memphis” is in hot competition with Best Coast for the fictional title of “best summer album 2010”. It’s such a delight to listen to from start to finish, and the songs are so relentlessly catchy that there’s strong reasoning any one of them could be a hit single. Of course in the band-a-minute world we’re currently living in, catching anyone’s ear for an extended period of time could be considered a small miracle. Magic Kids are one of those bands worth every second you spend with them, and hopefully you spend a lot of those seconds. Highly recommended? You’d better believe it.

Magic Kids – Summer
Magic Kids – Superball

Stream the entire album at Myspace

Buy “Memphis” from Amazon

Pick Your Poison: Thursday 8-26-10

We’re in the home stretch. The weekend is only a day away, so close you can taste it. To help get you in the mood, here’s a delightful set of songs in today’s Pick Your Poison. My recommendations today include the cool band DD/MM/YYYY, a remix of a song by The Drums, something new from Pete Yorn along with some psychedelia courtesy of Wild Nothing. Lots to like, I hope you’ll check these songs out.

Bars of Gold – The Hustle

Brothers Young – Good Deeds

DD/MM/YYYY – Van Tan

The Drums – Down By the Water (The Soundmen Remix)

Mach Fox – Nu Dead Pretty

Pete Yorn – Velcro Shoes

Sahara Smith – The Real Thing

The Shimmies – The Thing That Seems the Hardest Is Actually the Easiest
The Shimmies – And the Radio Played On (Delta Mirror cover)

Tiger! Shit! Tiger! Tiger! – Whispers

Violent Kin – Velvet Hideout

Wild Nothing – Golden Haze

Album Review: Ra Ra Riot – The Orchard [Barsuk]

Orchestral pop is a difficult genre of music to deal with. Unless you’re totally clumsy and don’t know how to properly piece together a string section, chances are your songs are going to sound beautiful. That’s step one. Step two is being able to advance beyond that to craft hooks and compelling melodies that are more than just fluff. It’s a big reason why there aren’t a ton of orchestral pop bands receiving crazy hype all the time, and when one does it tends to be pretty special. Ra Ra Riot earned themselves some strong mentions in 2008 with the release of their debut album ‘The Rhumb Line”. One could argue that they benefited from a strong friendship with the guys from Vampire Weekend, but the reality is that only got their foot in the door, and the album was them stepping through it. They made susprisingly unmessy, fun and addictive orchestral pop, with a hint of that Vampire Weekend charm as well, and it worked like a charm. After a long cycle of touring, the band went straight back into the studio to record their sophmore record “The Orchard”, which is out this week.

Cello and bass slide you into “The Orchard” gracefully, as the title track moves along at a gorgeous but relatively slow pace. There’s no hook to be found, but boy does it sound amazing. Drums, bass and flute make up the core of first single “Boy”, which is a fast-paced and fun little toe-tapper that’d be one of the album’s strongest if it had a better hook. “Too Dramatic” does deliver when it comes to a catchy chorus, but the rest of it feels plain and built solely to service the hook. In other words, it’s half of a good song. Elsewhere, “Massachusettes” comes across like it was handed to them from their buddies in Vampire Weekend who were initially considering turning it into a b-side. If you want to hear a track that captures everything Ra Ra Riot does best, be sure to check out “Shadowcasting”. That song alone makes most of what comes before it almost worthwhile. The final three tracks that come after it though are a bit underwhelming and mediocre, as if the band is content to just make serviceable songs and not great ones.

Ra Ra Riot is not a bad band. They’ve proven they can make highly compelling orchestral pop on “The Rhumb Line”, but suddently with “The Orchard” it’s like they lost the plot. They are trying a few new things here, possibly sacrificing great songs in the process. Perhaps it’s best to view this album as a necessary growing pain, the product of a band that’s rapidly changing and looking for the next evolution of their sound. Unfortunately it comes off like people trying to do everyday tasks in pitch black darkness – clumsy and uneven. The couple songs that survive the tangled mess come off especially well, but 2-3 good songs do not make for a great album. Hopefully for the next one Ra Ra Riot finds that right forward momentum to craft a record once again solid from top to bottom.

Ra Ra Riot – Boy

Buy “The Orchard” from Amazon

Pick Your Poison: Wednesday 8-25-10

To help you get through the mid-week blues, Pick Your Poison today is not only larger than normal, but also has a number of more high profile indie artists than usual. You’re going to want to check out the All Tiny Creatures song, which features Justin Vernon of Bon Iver. There’s also new tracks from Deer Tick, El Guincho and Stereolab’s Laetitia Sadler. That’s not even mentioning Scarlett Johansson covering Steel Train and a cover of Old MacDonald from the insane Peelander Z. Ah hell, it’s all good. Download away.

All Tiny Creatures – An Iris (ft. Justin Vernon)

Bad Books – You Wouldn’t Have to Ask

Buke and Gass – Your Face Left Before You  

Deer Tick – Piece By Piece, Frame By Frame

El Guincho – FM Tan Sexy

Frederik Olufsen – Rocks
Check out the “Rocks” EP from Beatport

In Grenada – Distance and Temptation

Laetitia Sadler – One Million Year Trip

Meridene – Parade of Fools

Peelander Z – E-I-E-I-O

Scarlett Johansson – Bullet (Steel Train cover)

Starfucker – Julius

Wildbirds & Peacedrums – Fight For Me

Album Review: !!! – Strange Weather, Isn’t It? [Warp]

Put on your dancing shoes, !!! (chk chk chk) are back with a brand new record. Their fourth album, titled “Strange Weather, Isn’t It?” comes after a particularly difficult period for the band. While working on this new album in late 2009, drummer Jerry Fuchs was killed after accidentally falling down an elevator shaft. It’s the sort of tragedy that can make or break some bands, and with !!!’s upbeat dance party vibe, you could understand how they might not feel like busting a move. Not just that, but most dance rock bands have trouble surviving beyond a couple albums, often falling prey to the changing tides of public opinion or simply the difficulties of maintaining the same energy and quality over an extended period of time. That !!! continues to survive and in some ways thrive is a testament to the collective’s strength and talents. Turns out that they are, as one of their new song titles suggests, “Steady as the Sidewalk Cracks”.

A steady mood also seems to be !!!’s plan when it comes to “Strange Weather, Isn’t It?”. The album’s 9 tracks skate by in a mere 40 minutes, but they all blend effortlessly into one another like some long DJ mix. That both works to the band’s advantage and disadvantage. Being able to string these songs together as one cohesive whole makes all of them better than they are individually. You’re in firm lockstep from start to finish and there’s a consistency there keeping you engaged. Yet no matter how enjoyable the album might be as a whole, it’s also lacking in memorability and true standout moments. Things appear to be going extremely well right from the start of the record, with single “AM/FM” and “The Most Certain Sure” taking you for a fun little adventure with dance floor melodies that hit harder than a lot of what was on !!!’s last album “Myth Takes”. Similarly, the 1-2 punch of “Jamie, My Intentions Are Bass” and “Steady as the Sidewalk Cracks” hit the groove sweet spots thanks to some funky bass on one (try to guess which) and a jazzy saxophone on the other. Where the record really falters is towards the end with the triple combo of “Hollow”, “Jump Back” and “Even Judas Gave Jesus A Kiss”. Those first two are unfortunately some of the most boring tracks !!! have ever put out. “Hollow” is a sparse drum and bass cut that never moves beyond the turgid tempo it starts off with. It ultimately comes off just like its title. So does “Jump Back”, which has a decent energy to it but doesn’t have the hooks or just general creativity to take it beyond a below average dance cut. What “Even Judas Gave Jesus A Kiss” does is miss out on the chance to move beyond the mid-tempo groove it settles into. Basically it hits the mark it’s looking for and stays there for the duration, which is creatively stifling and ultimately disappointing. Rescuing the end of the record from simply descending into mediocrity is “The Hammer”, a rave-up into a breakdown that’s one of the most fun tracks on the entire album. It’s deliriously great, and makes you wonder why they didn’t put more tracks like it on the record.

If you’ve been following !!! for awhile now, “Strange Weather, Isn’t It?” should come as something of a comfort food provided you liked the band’s 2004 album “Louden Up Now”. Sonically they’re two similar records, even if this new one doesn’t quite match the days of old. It’s the difference between a more guitar-heavy and expedient approach vs. cooler electro grooves and extended freak outs. While there aren’t any songs as long or brilliant as “Me and Giuliani Down By the School Yard (A True Story)”, the new album still has its highlights – pretty much the entire first half, save for maybe “Wannagain Wannagain”. Nic Offer continues his vocal schtick and for the first time Shannon Funchess takes a few choruses and such, as she’s been functioning as the replacement for John Pugh since 2007. If you’ve loved !!! in the past, there’s more to continue loving about them on “Strange Weather, Isn’t It?”. In terms of where this ranks amid the band’s catalogue, it’s not their worst record but it comes somewhat close. There’s just too many so-so songs to make it completely worth your while. If you’re going the download route though, you can save a couple bucks by just buying the handful of great songs and skipping the rest. If the album as a whole is largely forgettable anyways, all you’re going to need are the tracks that actually do have solid hooks.

Buy “Strange Weather, Isn’t It?” from Amazon

Pick Your Poison: Tuesday 8-24-10

I’m not the biggest fan of Does It Offend You, Yeah? but a whole lot of people are, so you might be pleased to learn about this (what might be considered) old song now made available for free download. You can also go to their website and download the song’s “stems” for remixing purposes, which is nice. Other good stuff today includes something new from The Ex-Girlfriends Club along with a live version of a song off Lissie’s debut album. One eskimO fans will want to grab the NEW version of the song “Amazing” below. Then there’s the Ra Ra Riot mp3 off their brand new one (which I’ll review later this week) and a fresh track from Tamaryn that’s more than worth your time.

Abner Trio – Let Go of the Dream

Ben+Vesper – Hot Thunder

Claire Maguire – The Strangest Thing (Bloodshy & Avant Version)

Does It Offend You, Yeah? – We Are the Dead

The Ex-Girlfriends Club – Hurt Me

Lissie – In Sleep (Live)

One eskimO – Amazing (New Mix)

The Phantom Band – A Glamour (Excerpt)  

Ra Ra Riot – Boy

Tamaryn – Love Fade

Victoire – A Song for Mick Kelly

Show Review: Autolux [Bottom Lounge; Chicago; 8/20/10]

There was a slight chill in the air on Friday night after what was a very hot day. Perhaps the temperature decline had something to do with Autolux being in town, their music not exactly ideal for situations of sunshine and warmth. Of course the lack of air conditioning and large collection of human bodies made it hot inside anyways, but the overhead fans were working overtime and the darkness still was a great mood-setter. Opening this triple bill was Chicago’s own psychedelic rockers Alla, who put on an energetic and strong set that they’ve become known for. Their songs might get a little long at times, but thanks to some eye-catching drum work and a solid guitar base, nothing ever got too played out or boring. The crowd seemed to like them as well.

One band the crowd had trouble with was This Will Destroy You, a post-rock instrumental band from Texas. Their heavily building yet graceful songs have shades of fellow Texans Explosions in the Sky as well as Mogwai in them, and that’s not a bad thing. And despite the heavier, shoegazey leanings of Autolux, for some reason people weren’t very taken with them. Of course post-rock isn’t exactly the easiest genre of music to love, let alone when it’s instrumental. When people in the crowd were talking amongst themselves and saying things like, “This is boring” and “Thank God this is their last song, though it’ll probably be 10 minutes until they finish it”, you get the feeling that they didn’t fully understand or allow themselves to grasp what was being presented to them on stage. That’s too bad, because This Will Destroy You put on a very captivating set if you enjoy their type of music, and it was a good sonic pairing with Autolux whether the crowd agreed or not.

Speaking specifically about the packed house for Autlux’s set, while your average show features its share of characters in the audience, they tend to be smart enough to be respectful during a headlining set. Sometimes though, whether it’s either alcohol or personality-related, certain people feel the need to insert themselves into the show by being loud and boorish. That includes yelling things at the band between songs, and singing (often off-key) at the top of your lungs to every single song. If you do things like that during a show, it’s fun for only one person unless it’s highly comedic. We all appreciate how much you love the band, but the show isn’t private and there’s a couple hundred others keeping quiet that only want to hear what’s coming out of the speakers. Loudmouth idiots can ruin a show if you let them, and thankfully the ones sabotaging the Autolux show were only bad enough to draw minor attention away from the actual show while still earning this paragraph detesting their actions. The hope is to prevent other, similar things from happening at future shows. If just one person reads this and changes their behavior for the positive while attending a concert, then this paragraph has served its purpose.

But let’s talk about what actually went down on stage during Autolux’s performance. Marching out to a pitch black room, the band started things off the same way so many bands promoting new albums do – by playing the first track from that record. The difference with Autolux is that the opening title track “Transit Transit” isn’t the most energetic or compelling piece of music in their catalogue. It’s not even close, being one of the most subdued songs they’ve ever made. It was nevertheless an artistic way to kick things off, and rolling from that into “Census” got the place electrified with rip-roaring energy that was so lacking in those first two minutes. “Census” is one of the few songs on the new record that holds up well in relation to their incredible debut album “Future Perfect”, and that proved even more true on stage. Eugene and Greg both punished their guitars and fought against amps in an effort to extract as much distortion and general noise out of what was already mayhem. Carla pounded her drums with a fury that rivaled some of the best drummers working today. They took the track for an extended couple minutes and it became one of the most revelatory moments of the entire show.

Following “Census” was the 1-2 combo of “Audience No. 2” and “Subzero Fun”, both of which were serviced properly and continued to add depth to an already strong start. Where things tripped up momentarily was on “Bouncing Wall”, a song that only partly works on “Transit Transit” and does so even less when performed live. Yes, things needed to slow down for a moment, but there were other, better song options to put there. They also could have skipped right into “Turnstyle Blues”, which more than earned its keep, as did “Supertoys” immediately afterwards. On record, “The Science of Imaginary Solutions” is one of the biggest highlights of the new Autolux album. Without the proper moody pieces that come before it along with the subtle nature of the recorded version, some of its charm is lost. Amping everything back up again was a very punk rock version of “Kissproof” that was down and dirty and over almost as fast as you could blink. Unfortunately that’s about how memorable it was too. “Robots in the Garden” was a nice and brief album-solid rendition that deserves credit for the muscle put into it. And though the quieter arrangements tended to suffer during the set, the piano ballad “Spots” somehow managed to slide by without generating any negative attention. And as another one of the great moments on “Transit Transit”, “Highchair” struck with a hurricane-force power that was extremely compelling and ear-damaging (in a good way). Closing the set with “Blanket” was perhaps the smartest choice of the night, as it’s among the best Autolux have to offer. Similar to what they did with “Census”, the band took the song to the next level and started amping up the noise and distortion to the sort of levels where it felt like the melody could break apart at any moment. Eugene slammed his fist on his bass, demanding more from it than it was prepared to give. Greg scraped his strings against the top of his amp just to add more friction. And Carla just kept going and going on the drums like the Energizer Bunny at full power. One by one they stepped away from their instruments, gave a wave, and exited the stage.

Given that they are on tour to promote their new album, it should come as little surprise Autolux’s set was completely dominated by “Transit Transit” material. They played the entire album, except for “Headless Sky”, which was quickly dispatched in the final song of the encore. Prior to that was “an oldie but a goodie” known as “Plantlife”, off the “Future Perfect” record. Both were done in about the fashion you’d expect, similar to the album versions with little to no changes. That was sort of the standard for Autolux the entire show though, which doesn’t mean it was bad, just about what was expected. The goal for any live act is to exceed expectation, which Autolux was able to accomplish a couple of times during their set. There was also plenty to watch, whether it was the impressive lighting work or Carla’s intense drumming, you were never at a loss no matter where you looked. The small things the band could really improve on for the future would have to be their on-stage energy and the way they attack the recorded versions of their songs. When, on songs like “Blanket” they chose to expand on what was already there and “rock out” just a little bit more than usual, it seemed so cathartic and impressive. If only they could capture those moments and multiply them across most of their set, it’d elevate them from a very good live band to an exceptionally great live band. As it stands, Autolux extend themselves just a little beyond most live acts, making them worthwhile to go see but not essential. Let’s hope that as time passes and they have more material to work with, their shows will only continue to improve with time.

Set List:
Transit Transit
Census
Audience No. 2
Subzero Fun
Bouncing Wall
Turnstile Blues
Supertoys
The Science of Imaginary Solutions
Kissproof
Robots in the Garden
Spots
Highchair
Blanket
\**ENCORE**/
Plantlife
Headless Sky

Buy “Transit Transit” from Amazon

Pick Your Poison: Monday 8-23-10

It’s the last full week in August, and I hope the weather is holding steady in your area of the world. Looks like Chicago has a week of sun and temperatures in the 70s and 80s, and that’s not bad in the least. Also not bad in the least? Today’s Pick Your Poison. Among the great stuff up for free download, there’s a new song from A Sunny Day in Glasgow you should pick up for sure. Three Mile Pilot and Violens also get a big thumbs up. The other stuff is pretty excellent as well.

A Sunny Day in Glasgow – Drink Drank Drunk

The Foxymorons – Say It Aloud

Jen Wood – Zeppelin

Noah’s Ark Was A Spaceship – Warm Eyes

Nottz – The 1ne (ft. Alchemist)

Quinn Marston – Can You Hear Me See Me Now

Slow Dancing Society – And to the Dust We Shall Return

Slow Trucks – Gota Move Away

Stirling Says – A to D

Symfoniorkester – Vilseslutet Remake

Three Mile Pilot – What’s in the Air

Violens – Acid Reign

Live Friday: 8-20-10

Don’t ask me where the momentum came from, because quite frankly I don’t really know, but Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros are pretty huge by indie standards today. I can’t recall a whole lot of blog love for them when their “Up From Below” album came out, but people have caught on to the band, either via the use of their songs in commercials or on the radio. They were a hot attraction at this year’s Lollapalooza, so much so that when I tried to go see them the crowd on the side stage was so big I left after 5 minutes of not being able to see anything. But this live session from them is good enough that no visual assistance is needed to fully enjoy it. The band plays a few songs from their album, including a reworked version of “40 Day Dream” that’s still pretty damn good. In some respects you could also call this an acoustic session, so if that intrigues you even more then please download away. There is a brief interview to go along with these songs, and that’s up for streaming via the link below. They talk about the film project they’re working on, how they survive life on the road in a bus, and a number of other things. Pretty solid on the whole.

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Live on MPR 8-13-10:
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros – 40 Day Dream (Live on MPR)
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros – Home (Live on MPR)
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros – Fiya Wata (Live on MPR)
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros – Up From Below (Live on MPR)

Stream the entire interview/session

Buy “Up From Below” from Amazon

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