Life's A Riot With Spy Vs. Spy

Dear readers...
It's been too long... on many levels.  I hope this post finds you well.  Things couldn't be better in our corner of the universe.  Here we're still basking in the post-show afterglow of the mighty Riot Fest.  For the second straight year, we've been fortunate enough to be guests of Riot Mike at his Chicago version of the festival.  And this year, The 'Mats reformed... just for Riot Fest.  After kicking things off at Riot Fest Toronto just a few weeks prior, Paul Westerberg and the boys were ready to knock bodies around Humbolt Park on a rainy Sunday in Chicago.
Those of you familiar with The Ideological Cuddle know that Bob Mould is one of our favorites - he was in fine form with a mid-afternoon set, backed by Jason Narducy on bass and the unstoppable Jon Wurster on drums (too bad Superchunk couldn't make it to RFC - they tore it up at RF Denver the following weekend).  Tearing through songs from his Sugar days, his new classic Silver Age, and several from the mighty Husker Du, Mould was on fire through his 30 minute set.  After powering through "The Act We Act", "A Good Idea", and "Hoover Dam" (water-related songs back to back on a very rainy day? cheeky, Bob) from Copper Blue, Mould ripped out "Star Machine" and the epic "The Descent".  After "If I Can't Change Your Mind" (with sung arpeggios at the end), it was 4 of 5 Husker Du tunes to finish, closing with "Makes No Sense at All" from Flip Your Wig.  All those who braved the weather to catch his early set left happy.
Pixies (minus Kim Deal... not fully Pixies, but whatever) were really tight.  They played in the slot just before the 'Mats (so many took off from their stage to get a good spot to see Westerberg and Co.) and played 20 songs in their allotted 60 minute set.  I'm not really a fan of the new stuff (EP-1 left me kind of cold.  Not as cold as Pitchfork, whose review was kinda cruel) but the classics ROCKED.  "Bone Machine", "Hey", "Monkey Gone to Heaven", "Wave of Mutilation", "Isla de Encanta", "Tame"... face-meltingly great stuff.
I really don't know if my small thoughts about the 'Mats set can top what's been said already.  I think that Steve Hyden's article from grantland.com sums up everything that I'd want to say from both unbiased observer and super-fan perspectives.  Check his fantastic article out HERE.
(To digress, temporarily, Hyden might be the finest modern music writer out there today.  Follow him on Twitter at @Steven_Hyden - you won't be sorry).
So, for those of you who didn't have the distinct pleasure to be amongst 50,000 of your closest friends in Chicago a couple weekends back, I managed to track down some of the Replacements' songs from their Riot Fest Toronto set.  Sound quality isn't perfect, but it'll give you an idea of how great they sounded.

The Replacements at Riot Fest Toronto - August 25, 2013
"Color Me Impressed"
"Androgynous"
"Alex Chilton"

Until next time, it's great to be back... so until next time, don't miss Riot Fest next year... and listen...

Lord, To Be 33 Forever

Greetings, faithful readers.  Tonight, we here at the Cuddle are feeling a little down, a little melancholy, yet we can see the silver lining in everything.  As I was rolling into work today, listening to a playlist on the trusty iPod, the sweet sounds of The Hold Steady came ringing through the speakers.  Now, there are myriad bands that beg to be played in the summertime (The Allman Brothers and Grateful Dead come to mind), but Craig Finn and his crew might be my favorite.  There's nothing better than wailing guitars and songs about the misguided follies of youth sung by a guy my age.  There's something reassuring about having musicians out there who can speak from experience and represent what it's like to be in your 30s, having made plenty of mistakes, trying to learn from them, and stopping short of telling others not to make the same ones.  Each Hold Steady album is great (we even chose Boys and Girls In America and Separation Sunday as co-best albums of the decade HERE) but tonight has me thinking about Separation Sunday a little more.
Through 11 tracks, Finn manages to be ridiculously verbose while spinning tales about getting wasted at camps along the Mississippi River, being at parties that are way too druggy, trying to buy drugs from Mackenzie Phillips, and finding redemption despite our foibles.  This is the record that introduces the terms "hoodrat" and "banging camp" into your vocabulary, takes you to Ybor City, City Center (in Minneapolis), and Penetration Park, and allows us to meet Holly, Gideon, and Charlemagne as characters in the Hold Steady universe (here's a tip - they don't do many redeeming things through the course of the record or the next couple, either).
It's Craig Finn's delivery that clinches this record, though.  He's a storyteller, first and foremost, not really a singer.  Those who don't worship the band often point to this as the reason why they can't get into their records, but allowing it to wash over you for a while will lead to the realization that he's truly a lyrical genius.  Check out all of the little details about the hoodrat friend that makes the narrator sick - including "tiny little text etched into her neck: it says 'Jesus lived and died for all your sins'" and the "damn right you'll rise again" tattoo on her lower back (guess why you'll rise again with this one...).  And despite describing why she makes him so reviled, he says, "your little hoodrat friend got me high, though" - so much for redemption.  The great thing about all of this drugging, dirty sex, poor choices, religious imagery, and searching for love in all the wrong places is that The Hold Steady never make judgements about any of it.  It's all just shit that happens - live with it and move on.  There's something that's very reassuring in that - with time and perspective, we can look back on our dirty pasts and make some sense of it all.  "How a Resurrection Really Feels" may be the penultimate song in the album's cycle (as far as the characters go - with Holly crashing into a church and pleading with the priest to allow her to preach her own private gospel to the congregation - her own personal resurrection), but for me, "Stevie Nix" is the song in which Finn pulls it all together.  He can't decide which he'd rather be - seventeen forever, or thirty-three forever.  In the end, it doesn't really matter - would you like to make mistakes over and over again, or have the time and perspective to look back on them fondly or otherwise?  This is where I am tonight, dear readers - stuck between stations on how I feel about where I am - pretty sure that 33 is fine with me, but oh, to be 17 again and make those glorious mistakes a few more times...

You can bet that Separation Sunday will be cued up for a while in the Cuddle Cruiser... enjoy these:
The Hold Steady - Separation Sunday (2005):
"Cattle and the Creeping Things"
"Your Little Hoodrat Friend"
"Stevie Nix"
"How a Ressurection Really Feels"

Until next time, let the sounds of the Hold Steady sing you through summer... and listen...

Wasted and Wounded, It Ain't What the Moon Did

I was trying to be more upbeat (and I think I succeeded for one post), but it's just so much fun being dour.  Today, I'm wallowing in Waits land again, thinking about all the things that I shouldn't, letting bar room balladeer Tom (not to be confused with later-period junkyard orchestra leader Tom) serenade me through my melancholy.  There is no better artist to wallow in self-pity to than Tom Waits.  From his drunken delivery to his (often) sappy piano style, it's legendary in its effectiveness in allowing the listener to wallow in his or her sorrows.  Each of his albums from Closing Time through Blue Valentine are classic, with Small Change being the clear best of the bunch, boasting "Tom Traubert's Blues", "The Piano Has Been Drinking", and "Bad Liver and A Broken Heart" amongst its track list.  Some can't get past Waits' voice, but let it wrap around you a few times and see how you feel. 
This should help to prove Waits' genius in the best way possible - watching him perform at the piano.  Be sure to focus on his fingers.  (By the way, I don't really have a good reason to feel melancholy and dour, but somehow, I end up here pretty frequently...).  Enjoy (and be ready to cry into your drink):

"Kentucky Avenue" - from Blue Valentine - Melancholy remembrances of childhood:


"Bad Liver and a Broken Heart" - from Small Change - not tough to figure out the theme of this one:


"On the Nickel" - from Heartattack and Vine - "a hobo's lullaby", as Waits often describes it, "On the Nickel" is devastatingly sad in its simplicity, bringing the plight of the homeless and down-trodden to the fore.  The lyrics "So what becomes of little boys who run away from home?/The world keeps getting bigger once you get out on your own" is a killer :



"Tom Traubert's Blues (Four Sheets To The Wind In Copenhagen)" - from Small Change : this is the crown jewel of Waits' "grand weepers" - a sweeping tale of drunkenness, being lost in a foreign country, being confused, and wishing you were anywhere but where you are right now.  Well said, Tom -



That's probably all the Tom Waits melancholy that anyone can handle in one sitting, so I guess I'll call it quits for now. Until next time, remember that sadness is just another emotion to be embraced and loved just like happiness and joy. Just because it's not the easiest emotion doesn't mean it's not valid. Enjoy some Tom Waits, and listen...

Let This Be My Annual Reminder That We Can All Be Something Bigger

Well, faithful readers, it's Fourth of July weekend, and a long weekend at that.  Always a bonus when the Fourth falls on a Monday (and when you don't have to work any of the three days).  I've been told recently that my tastes in music are a little too serious and sad and dour.  Today I've decided to change that up a bit, with a patriotic mix celebrating everything that makes July 4th great.  And no invites to all of you British artists - just for today, The Cuddle is declaring its independence from the likes of Costello, Bragg, Hitchcock, and Bowie.  We're bleeding red, white, and blue (and not in the form of the Union Jack, either... although Billy Bragg's "Take Down the Union Jack" would be appropriate here, we're going to stick to our guns!)

The 2011 Ideological Cuddle Independence Day Setlist:

1. Pixies - "The Holiday Song" - from Come On Pilgrim - We don't have to work, so it must be a holiday (or we're unemployed).  Pixies start us off with some of their trademark noise.
2. The Hold Steady - "Constructive Summer" - from Stay Positive - It would be nice to have a constructive summer, but if that doesn't work out, we've always got booze and great friends (two things that we're lucky to have in spades here at The Cuddle).
3. Jeff Tweedy & Jay Bennett - "Summerteeth (Live)" - A beautiful acoustic take on one of the standout tracks from Wilco's album of the same name, taken from a terrific soundboard bootleg recorded in the summer of 1999.  Not quite sure what Summerteeth are, but they sound appropriate.
4. Josh Ritter - "Snow is Gone (Live)" - from The Horseshoe Tavern, Toronto, 2/15/07 - The snow better be gone by July 4th.  Josh Ritter's rousing, singable anthem from 2003's Hello Starling (whose title is taken from the song) gets you up and dancing - like the crowd at Asbury Hall on July 7th - where Ritter will be performing.  You know that we'll be there.
5. Queens of the Stone Age - "Feel Good Hit of the Summer (Live)" - from Amsterdam, 2002 - Well, once the party gets rolling, it might get out of hand, and Josh Homme and Nick Oliveri are the perfect dudes to set the (eight) ball rolling.  Basically a list of the band's favorite drugs with a smattering of awesome guitar, the song might not be a feel good hit for everyone.
6. Tom Waits - "Come on Up To The House" -  from Mule Variations - Such a nice welcome by our old friend, Tom.  If Waits were throwing a 4th party, I'd sure like to be there, but it would most certainly be a strange affair.  I've been listening to a lot of Waits lately, and it wasn't easy to find a tune that would fit this setlist and not be "a grand weeper" or "a grim reaper" as his songs have been categorized.
7. Ryan Adams - "Firecracker (Live)" - live from Vega, 11/20/02 - Gotta have fireworks for an Independence Day party.
8. Ryan Adams - "To Be Young (Is To Be Sad, Is To Be High) (Live)" - from Austin City Limits, 2002 - And, inevitably, the kids are going to get out of hand and end up drunk, or high, or both.  This song encapsulates all of the folly of youth pretty perfectly.
9. Sonic Youth - "Teenage Riot" - from Daydream Nation - Once the kids are high and drunk, expect a riot.  Not to be confused with "Teenage Dream" by Katy Perry (as someone so stupidly did recently... oops).  Sonic Youth represent all that is great about 80s underground rock (and I already posted Husker Du stuff a couple posts ago).  This track is legendary.
10. The Black Crowes - "She Gave Good Sunflower (Live)" - live from The Filmore West, 8/10/05 - I'll leave it to you guys to figure out what this song is about (it's the Black Crowes, take a wild guess).  Either way, an excellent summer anthem to keep the party going.  God bless The Black Crowes (and please come back for another reunion tour, we miss you already).
11. She & Him - "Bring It On Home To Me (Live)" - From KCRW, 2008 - Where there's partying, there's lovin'.  She & Him (Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward for the uninitiated) do the late, great Sam Cooke proud on their version of his 1962 classic.  Just a perfect, rolling, summer song.
12. Television - "Marquee Moon" - from Marquee Moon - The moon is out, we're waiting for fireworks, and the opening guitar line of this post-punk classic kicks in.  Angular, addictive, and insistent, "Marquee Moon" is the finest statement the band ever pronounced.  It's an American classic.
13. Talking Heads - "Heaven (Live)" - from The Starlight Ballroom, Los Angeles, 1979 - "Everyone is trying to get to the bar/and the name of the bar, the bar is called Heaven" - a beautiful couplet from the masters of art rock.  David Byrne and company have tons of amazing songs.  This one is clearly one of my favorites (especially the duet version between Byrne and Tina Weymouth from the Stop Making Sense concert film).
14. Sam Cooke - "A Change Is Gonna Come" - from Ain't That Good News - From the best soul singer ever, comes his most stirring anthem.  To remind us all that it takes great sacrifice to make great change, but we can all make it happen.  The song was the b-side to "Shake" and was released posthumously a short 10 days after Cooke was tragically shot under mysterious circumstances.  The song went on to be a civil rights anthem and was used in the Obama campaign as well.

I hope everyone has a wonderful 4th of July, surrounded by friends, family, and celebration.  Remember to take some great music with you, wherever you are picnicking or grilling... and listen.

Blessed Visionary Cut Me With Your Sun

I can't quite figure out why I love Mastodon so much.  I'm not really into metal, never have been, but a friend turned me on to Leviathan soon after its release and convinced me that I would fall in love with it.  He was right.  I haven't missed an album since (although I have missed them live in concert - they've been to the area twice in the past few years).  2009's Crack the Skye was another step forward for the band, whose sound is ever-evolving and pushing the limits of the "metal label".  Sooner or later, we're going to have to create a category for the band itself (and maybe include Baronness as well, but I digress).  Today's release of a track from the Crack the Skye sessions as part of Adult Swim's Singles Program pushes the envelope even further, but not in terms of sound.  "Deathbound" is typical Mastodon - expertly played metal that's full of furious drumming and hooks a-plenty - but the video is far from typical.  Think "Muppets on a bad acid trip with lots of fratricide".  Look for the quasi-Doozer battle, it's epic.
The free track can be downloaded from Adult Swim here.  Below is the video and it will blow your mind.  You've been warned :



Mastodon is said to be hard at work on their next masterpiece.  After Leviathan took on Melville's Moby Dick, Blood Mountain tackled sci-fi, and Crack the Skye retold the tale of Rasputin, maybe their next record will be a tribute to The Muppet Show.  I would love to see them tear through "Rainbow Connection".
Until next time, try not to let the "Deathbound" video give you nightmares, check out the pure, unadulterated fury that is Mastodon, and listen...

If I Can't Change Your Mind, Then No One Will

Well, my Ideological Friends, it has been quite the eventful weekend 'round these parts.  For once, we, the people of the Empire State, can stand up and applaud our elected officials.  Amazing as it sounds, they have done the right thing for the first time in a long time, and have passed the gay marriage bill in New York State.  It feels wonderful to think about all the good that this will spread to our neighbors who previously would have had to cross state lines to pledge their vows to their true loves.  I immediately thought of Jay & Scotty in Boston when I heard the news (and how their ceremony is coming soon), along with Brant & Steve here in sunny B-lo.  Welcome to the marriage club, com padres... enjoy the times to come.
It just so happens that, as our state pushes for equality for gay couples that I should be currently addicted to the music of an indie rock icon, who also happens to be out and proud.  As we all know, Bob Mould was the driving force behind seminal punk-hardcore legends, Husker Du.  His work with that group was hard-edged, squalidly produced (by design), and utterly breathtaking in its vigor and fire.  Zen Arcade and New Day Rising are unparallelled for their drive and determination, and for how many imitators they spawned.  Some say that Arcade's "The Biggest Lie" was Mould's lifestyle declaration, with many "in the know" understanding what his lyrics ("Biggest lie/Back to your day job/The Biggest lie/Back to your girlfriend" chief amongst them) were pointing toward.  The band smashed to pieces ("broke up" is just too kind for the wreckage left between Mould & Grant Hart at the end of the band's run) in the winter of 1987-1988, paving the way for Mould to go solo, which he did in splendid fashion with his debut, Workbook.  This record opened new avenue's for Mould's sound, showcasing his soul-bearing lyrics in a more acoustic framework, but not totally abandoning his love for loud, electric guitar mayhem.
In 1992, Mould released the debut record from his latest venture, Sugar.  Copper Blue struck the perfect chord to the masses who had fallen in love with Nirvana, the Pixies, and Soundgarden - bands that, in many ways, were imitators of Husker Du.  Copper Blue would go on to be the most commercially successful record of Mould's career and contains some of his best work - "If I Can't Change Your Mind", "A Good Idea" (a thinly-veiled Pixies mock), "Hoover Dam", and "Helpless" chief amongst them.  The EP Beaster, with a more harsh and punishing sound followed, along with 1994's File Under Easy Listening (which in no way was to be found on easy listening radio stations anywhere).  Each of these three records are streamlined, heartfelt, and (unlike much of what cluttered the airwaves in the early 1990s) not dated one bit.
After the dissolution of Sugar, Mould went back to recording solo records, broadening his horizons to include forays into electronic and even dance music.  The vein that remains in all of his work is his honest, soul-bearing lyrics which, while written from the viewpoint of a gay man, are universal for everyone in a relationship (and more often than not, one that is on the rocks).  Last week saw the release of Mould's autobiography, "See A Little Light: The Trail of Rage and Melody".  By all accounts, it's a tough but rewarding read, well written and meticulously thought-out, just like his music.  It's well worth your time.
A sampling of the man's works of genius:

Husker Du - "Hardly Getting Over It" - from 1986's Candy Apple Grey
Bob Mould - "See A Little Light" - from 1989's Workbook
Bob Mould - "Shoot Out The Lights (Live)" - from 1989's Workbook - An amazing performance of the Richard and Linda Thompson classic - with all of the "fire in the belly" that Thompson brought to the original
Sugar - "If I Can't Change Your Mind (solo version)" - from 1995's Besides
Sugar - "A Good Idea (Live)" - from a live bootleg - Cat's Cradle, 11/19/94

Until next time, think about how people like Senator Mark Grisanti changed his mind (for the better) and how songwriters like Bob Mould continue to smash convention and surprise audiences, 30 years down the road.  Seek out some Husker Du, or Sugar, or Bob Mould solo records... and listen...

The Things You Do For Love Are Gonna Come Back One By One

I promised to be more prolific, and here it is, a second blog post this week.  Will wonders never cease.  Today, I'm kind of copping out, while sharing some excellent music with the collected masses. 
Archive.org has long been one of our favorite sites, as it houses a collection of over 90,000 live recordings by thousands of artists (all of whom have given their blessing on recording their shows).  In the Cuddle's recent search for everything Mountain Goats related, we stumbled upon a huge treasure trove of shows by John Darnielle's collective at the site.  Below, you'll find one of our favorites, a wonderful sounding show from December, 2009 recorded at Webster Hall in New York City.  The version of "Love Love Love" is absolutely devastating.  There's just something about Darnielle's lyrics about human interaction that is so pure and simple and bare.  The show gives a great overview of the Mountain Goats' career, but sadly, doesn't include any of the excellent songs from All Eternal's Deck.  The player is a little wonky, as it doesn't include the set list as you listen, but the entire set list, along with directions on how to download the show for your very own are found HERE.  Enjoy none-the-less:



Until next time, browse around on Archive.org, find some great new music, and listen...

And I Feel Guilty, But I Can't Feel Ashamed

Sorry.  That's all I can say.  I've neglected you too long, my dear blog, but now I've returned to the fold, spurred on by wistfully picked acoustic guitar notes from an unlikely source, and some other indie treasures.  It's not like I have avoided music for the past (almost) 4 months, it's just that, you know, I get, er... distracted.
Enough about that.  I'm back.  I was knee deep in a jazz phase just weeks ago, and with it came a deluge of new purchases (mostly CD, not vinyl - Blue Note original pressings are too damn expensive).  But overshadowing that is my new love of everything Mogwai, Mountain Goats, and Antlers (yes, I guess I'm in an animal phase).
Mogwai was a band that I'd always been interested in, but never jumped on board with.  Coming across like an indie-metal version of Sigur Ros (without the made-up language), Mogwai make post-rock sound scapes that swell and burst in all the right places.  A friend passed me a copy of Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will, the band's 2011 release and I was immediately hooked.  "Mexican Grand Prix" sounds like a Kraftwerk outtake to me, but is ridiculously catchy.  Little did I know that this song doesn't come close to what the band does best.  "Rano Pano" seemed more like it - slow-burning crescendos with eruptions of wall-of-sound guitars.  I liked the record enough to seek out some other records, and was quickly directed to Young Team, the band's first album, and it's crushing centerpiece, "Like Herod".  For those who haven't experienced it (and sometimes, if it catches you off guard, those who have), the song's cathartic breakthrough is breathtaking and should not be missed by anyone with even a passing interest in this type of music.
Friends had always told me that The Mountain Goats would be a perfect band for me to obsess over.  The brainchild of John Darnielle (and sometimes, only Darnielle), The Mountain Goats cannot be easily categorized.  His songs are obtuse, verbose, strange, heartbreaking, and beautiful - sometimes all in the space of the same song.  His melodies are deceptively simple and often pushed by simple acoustic guitar lines augmented with just a touch of bass, piano, and drums.  I'm in the process of finding my way through the band's back catalogue, but for now, their new release, All Eternal's Deck, along with some beautifully recorded live shows by the king of New York City live shows, nyctaper, are plenty to keep me busy.  The new album's lead single, "Damn These Vampires" is a great place to start for the uninitiated (and the song that got me hooked).  You'll listen to it at least 3-4 times before you really figure out what's going on in Darnielle's lyrics, but when you do, a beautiful cinematic tapestry opens before you.  Beware - this band has what can only be called a FANATICAL following, where it's not uncommon to see many audience members openly sobbing during shows while singling along to every word.
Finally, the Antlers - I missed out on seeing this band live, opening for The National at Massey Hall last year by showing up just a little late.  At the time, I didn't blink an eye.  I hadn't tried to get into Hospice, their 2009 breakthrough that was universally praised by indie critics, nor did I really care to.  While listening to the College Rock station on XM Radio last week, I was struck by a song that was very different from anything that I was currently listening to, but had elements of Radiohead's Kid A, falsetto singing, a driving beat, and strange lyrics about teeth falling out.  The song turned out to be "Every Night My Teeth Are Falling Out" by The Antlers.  The falsetto voice belongs to Pete Silberman, the mastermind behind the group.  I took a chance on the record, based on that single song, and was not disappointed.  The album is definitely brooding, dark, and despondent, but somehow, gorgeous.  The opening track, "I Don't Want Love" is a perfect entry point to the band, and if you like that track, you'll like the album, Burst Apart - it's quickly rising to the top of my best of 2011 list.
The Mountain Goats - "Damn These Vampires" from All Eternal's Deck
The Mountain Goats - "Lovecraft In Brooklyn" from Heretic Pride
The Antlers - "I Don't Want Love" from Burst Apart
Mogwai - "Like Herod" (Live)

Here's hoping my next post won't be 4 months away (as there won't be anyone left to read what I write), but until next time, take a chance on some new music - you might be blown away by what you find... and listen...

I'm Tongue Tied and Dizzy and I Can't Keep It To Myself

Time to start getting excited for the latest chaper of beautiful acoustic indie-folk from Robin Pecknold and company.  Mark May 3rd, 2011 on your calender... Color me really excited... Listen/Download :


Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues by subpop

The City's Been Dead Since You've Been Gone

Why is the music world so in love with nostalgia?  Each new release day is littered with re-releases.  Bonus tracks added!  First time on vinyl!  Newly remastered from the original analog tapes!  Record companies will do anything to get we, the consumers, to purchase stuff that we've already purchased previously.  It's really genius marketing.  Resell the customer something that he or she already owns by adding only a few bells and whistles (usually tracks that are available on the web if you search hard enough).  In this day and age of MP3s, concrete media (vinyl, CDs) and heading toward extinction at a breakneck pace.  There are just too many people who haven't fallen in love with the physical feel of holding an album in your hands, taking the vinyl out of its sleeve and catching the aroma of freshly pressed wax, thumbing through a CD booklet, reading liner notes, peeling open the wrapper... it's like food porn, but with music. 
No matter how one tries to intellectualize it, music obsessives can't help but be nostalgic.  We want, no,  need, to obtain everything that an artist has committed to tape, no matter how terrible or insignificant those recordings are (it's not a perfect example, but see the Bob Dylan Bootleg Series 1-3 for plenty of tracks that should have remained hidden in Columbia's vaults).  Many will argue that demos and unreleased tracks are an excellent way to recreate an artist's thought process by closely examining what was left on the cutting room floor.  Many people would be wrong on most occasions.  But let's reward those who, because of the era that their magnum opus was released, can repackage their music merely for the sake of getting it out there on vinyl for the first time... with 4 bonus tracks that are easily found elsewhere.
In 1999, the indie music landscape was littered with disparate styles.  Emo was reaching a peak, with bands like The Get Up Kids, Modest Mouse, Pedro the Lion, and Jimmy Eat World selling album after album of whiny, derivative drivel.  Meanwhile, bands that would reach fantastic heights in the 2000s put out albums that would define their sound, such as The Flaming Lips' The Soft Bulletin, Sigur Ros' Agaetis Byrjun, The Magnetic Fields' 69 Love Songs, Slow Riot for New Zero Kanada by God Speed! You Black Emperor, and The White Stripes' self-titled album.  Wilco dropped their Beach Boys-worshipping Summerteeth, Beck dove head-first into white boy funk with Midnite Vultures, The Hot Rock by Sleater-Kinney pushed their sound away from Riot Grrrl and toward the future, while Tom Waits' Mule Variations put his junkyard percussion into a retro-blues suit fit for the mainstream.  Pavement recorded and released its swan song, Terror Twilight, which still seems forced.  It was clear that Radiohead was the most important band in indie rock (by quite a margin), but their twin forays into electronics, Kid A and Amnesiac, would not appear until 2000 and 2001, respectively.  The ripples that they put into the water with 1997's OK Computer were trying to be copied left and right - to no avail.  Then along came Travis Morrison, Jason Caddell, Eric Axelson, and Joe Easley with an album that sounded very out of place to my ears at the time, but sounds timeless now.
The Dismemberment Plan were really nothing more than Washington D.C. also-rans, living on the outskirts of the post-hardcore scene, which very recently had been abandoned by Ted Leo as he disbanded the flag wavers of the scene - Chisel.  They had put out a few records on DeSoto over the preceding 5 years, but really hadn't made much noise on the scene.  Emergency & I was released on October 26, 1999 and was immediately met with rave reviews.  I was encouraged to check out the band (whom I had never heard of) by my guide through everything cool on the music scene at the time, KB.  Since KB had moved from Buffalo to the hustle and bustle of New York City (with a boyfriend in the music biz at the time), she had much more exposure to the cutting edge than I (not to mention, I was drowning in the work of my first semester of medical school).  When she suggested this record, I immediately went out and bought it (and was surprised to find it at New World Record).
On the first few spins, I didn't get it.  It was too obtuse, too fast and noisy in places, changed tempos waaaay too often and quickly.  "What Do You Want Me To Say" worked for me right away, the rest, not so much.  But it seemed to seep in day after day after day.  Right when it started to really take hold, it got pushed out of the way by Kid A and Turn On The Bright Lights. 
Fast forward to the end of 2010 - it's announced that Emergency & I would be pressed for the first time on wax.  A double 180g affair that sent me back to rediscover an album that never got its due on my play lists - it didn't even exist on my iPod.  What I found was something that had gone from sounding way left of center to sounding eerily prescient of what indie rock had become.  It predicted the math rock boom.  It incorporated Radiohead's knob-twiddling with the best elements of emo (yes, emo has its moments).
The songs are stellar top to bottom.  There's no extended intro to the album - Travis Morrison hits you right up front at the outset in "A Life of Possibilities" - as the band burns through cathartic song after cathartic song, all centered around what sounds like a break up that has forced the narrator to a city that is cold and empty without the former object of his affection.  "8 1/2 Minutes" is especially emblematic of this, as the singer frantically asks, "What were you doing for those 8 1/2 minutes?", knowing that he doesn't want to know the answer. 
Besides the lyrical content, the album's angularity and variety are its other secret weapons.  Try counting the beat in "Gyroscope" with its 15/16 time signature - i've tried and still can't seem to keep up - and yet, the song is just joyous sounding while being dour ("Happiness is such hard work and it gets harder every day").  "The City" moves along with strange, yet apropos synth lines set up by intricate drum fills, but again, finds the rock bottom feelings of the narrator ("The city's been dead, since you been gone" and "All I ever say now is goodbye").  The secret weapon here is Joe Easley's drumming.  On this record, he stakes his claim as indie rock's Neal Peart, moving the beat in different time signatures and directions seamlessly and cleanly.  That the band's angular time changes remind me of Rush's trademark flow is a testament to how tight the playing is on the album.  "You Are Invited" is sparse, haunting, and, possibly, the only positive song on the record, as Morrison sings of the search for community in party after party in a city where one feels so alone.  The lonely, ascending guitar arpeggio from the opening minutes echo Robyn Hitchcock's "Autumn Is Your Last Chance", another desolate, lonely tune.  I'm not sure that a group of post-punk indie kids was listening to much 1980s psych-folk, but the shared DNA is striking.  "The Jitters" gives the listener just that, as icy computer noise mixes with twittering synthesizers in the record's most Kid A-like moment.
There's clearly a time and place for looking back, even in the hipster world of indie rock.  We might not have decade after decade to reflect upon, but those of us in our 30s do still long for the time when we were floating through college and grad school, still forming our identities and seeking out new musical horizons.  That an album from just over 11 years ago stirs these memories, makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, and gives me that butterflies-in-the-stomach-feeling that true love does, isn't an accident at all.  It's just what good music is supposed to do.  Call it nostalgia if you must, but it's great to have Emergency & I back at the forefront of my musical psyche, fitting in like that missing puzzle piece that hides under the couch.  I'm glad that others haven't forgotten about it and clued me in to what I had nearly lost.  All you have to do is remember... and listen...

Sometimes I Look Into The Sun and Wonder What All My Worrying Was Really For

OK, I know, I know.  I started something that I couldn't finish (to quote Moz).  The Ideological Cuddle Top 10 Albums of the year started well, but never came to a conclusion.  Part of this is due to being busy, part is due to being lazy.  I think it's time to remedy this...

Album #9 - Teenage Fanclub - Shadows
Now, I outlined my new-found love for Teenage Fanclub in the last post, but a few more select thoughts - Shadows continues down the pathway that the band blazed from Grand Prix forward.  It's modern pop that looks backward to the grandiosity of 60s and 70s AM radio.  The first two tracks are stand-outs - "Sometimes I Don't Need To Believe In Anything" and "Baby Lee" - and a heck of a 1-2 punch.  Here's a taste:



Album #8 - Corin Tucker Band - 1,000 Years
Another album that was outlined in its own post just a couple months ago - October, to be exact (found here).  Not Sleater-Kinney, but no less powerful and affecting, Tucker harnesses years of being a mother, a wife, and an adult (there's a concept in modern indie rock!).  It is an album that is reflective ("Riley" and "It's Always Summer"), sensual ("Dragon"), and angry (standout track "Doubt" - the closest to Sleater-Kinney that you'll hear... that is, until Carrie Brownstein's new band Wild Fang hits the ground running).  I really look forward to what Tucker has planned next.




Album #7 - Josh Ritter - So Runs The World Away
This one has been a quick riser on the Ideological Cuddle list (if I hadn't finished the list in mid-December, it might have made the top 5).  Ritter's latest LP was released in special vinyl form on Record Store Day and it took quite a while to dig through all of the lyrical depths that Ritter presents.  The full impact of his prose has to be studied to be fully appreciated.  The BFF and I had the distinct pleasure of seeing Ritter in concert in Toronto back in October, and he and his band absolutely tore the Phoenix Concert Hall up. The band is tight and Ritter's renditions of "Folk Bloodbath" (which premiered in fetal form on his March, 2008 tour stop to the same venue) and "Lantern" from SRTWA were fantastic.  I have been waiting months for the right time to share the video for "The Curse".  Be forewarned - this might be the only time that marionettes have ever made me cry :




Album #6 - The New Pornographers - Together
Another band that I have been singing the praises of for years, The New Pornographers stick to their formula (joyous power-pop filtered through the lenses of songwriters Carl Newman and Dan Bejar), yet allow Kathryn Calder to take her place next to Neko Case, rather than in her shadow.  You can't help but feel energized by the band's sound. Here they are performing "Sweet Talk, Sweet Talk" live in studio on Q TV in their native Canada (undoubtedly the best lyrical use of the word "Byzantine" ever):




Album #5 - Ted Leo & The Pharmacists - The Brutalist Bricks
Another long time Cuddle favorite who swung through our region in 2010, Leo brought his trademark punk energy to venerable Buffalo dive-bar landmark Mohawk Place in June.  The place was packed wall-to-wall with every age of devotee - aging hipsters, young punks, and whatever group I belong to.  Everyone seemed to vibrate at the same frequency with the sheer frenetic energy of Ted's music, as he showcased the live intensity of the tracks from The Brutalist Bricks.  As if you ever needed another reason to see Ted Leo in concert (if you haven't you're missing out big time), the songs from this record absolutely shine live.  "Where Was My Brain?", "The Mighty Sparrow", and "Gimmie The Wire" shook the room to its foundation, while my favorite track, "Bottled In Cork" (a rumination on the state of the world filtered through a travelouge that stings of regret) was drawn out into a full-scale sing along with the tune's closing couplet" "I told the bartender/I think I'm falling in love".  The official video is downright silly and hilarious (and Paul F. Tompkins rules) :



Album #4 - Spoon - Transference
Somewhat overlooked as the year went on, owing to its release in January, 2010, Spoon continued its streak of amazingly crafted records with Transference.  As with many of the albums on this list, the band didn't really try to reinvent themselves, just merely made a few tweaks to alter their sonic delivery.  "Written In Reverse" follows in the footsteps of other danceable, funky Spoon tunes like "Don't You Evah" and "You Gotta Feel It".  "I Saw The Light" sounds like it would have fit perfectly between "I Turn My Camera On" and "My Mathematical Mind" on Gimme Fiction.  "Goodnight Laura" is contemplative and heart wrenching piano ballad along the lines of, well, nothing else in their catalogue.  Everything this band puts out sounds nothing like anyone else.  The band is truly original and fantastic.




Album #3 - The National - High Violet
Yeah, it's not my #1 record of the year.  Yes, it's fantastic.  No, it's not as good as Boxer, but not much out there is.  I've outlined the grandiosity of the National's live show (at both the Massey Hall and Rockin' at The Knox gigs in 2010) and sung the praises of Matt Berninger and crew over and over again.  This album helped to get me to understand that it was OK to be a thirty-something indie music fan in this day and age; that there were people out there in my age bracket making music and outlining themes that we understand (namely, having kids, struggling with a career, maintaining friendships, finding/losing love, mistaking sex for intimacy, feeling claustrophobic in our day and age, feeling paranoid about the government - you know, your  basic Top 40 radio themes).  And somehow, despite the heaviness of these topics, the band absolutely blew up this year; you could scarcely turn around mid-year without seeing The National on late night TV or being highlighted in print/internet media.  It would have been impossible for the band to have reached this level if the songs weren't fantastic (and they most certainly are).  Here's my favorite, live on The Interface in LA (and yes, I partially grew a beard this past Fall in a feeble attempt to look more like Matt Berninger):



Album #2 - The Black Keys - Brothers
Speaking of bands that absolutely blew up in 2010... After slogging along on the outskirts of fame for years, the Black Keys made their long-deserved breakthrough to the big time this past year, on the heels of their most ambitious (and, to my ear, best) album to date.  Prior to this album hitting the stores, there were plenty of folks who knew and loved the Black Keys, but they weren't exactly household names.  Now, they've played Saturday Night Live, have had their songs soundtrack commercial after commercial, and even came full circle to parody their "commercial" breakthrough on The Colbert Report (which, if you haven't seen, is an absolute riot - much credit to Ezra Koenig from Vampire Weekend for skewering their robust fame as well.  Check out the clip at Colbert's website here.)  The album should be enjoyed on vinyl (and that goes for all of my top 10) and can be purchased in one of many forms (I must say that I feel that I was punished for being a dedicated little fan and buying the record on its release day on double LP vinyl - it's subsequently been re-released on limited edition 10" records with 45rpm mastering and I would have preferred that version, but whatever).  The addition of bass and Hammond organ/harpsichord/keyboard is key to the album's success, as it pulls the Keys sound out of a blues orbit into more of a 60s Stax/Volt R&B vein (right down to the choice of recording studios - legendary Muscle Shoals).  "Everlasting Light", "10 Cent Pistol", "Black Mud" - these are centerpieces, but for me, the last two tracks are what cinches it for me.  The closing 1-2 punch of soul classic "Never Gonna Give You Up" (made famous by Isaac Hayes) and should be new soul classic "These Days" (imagine the late Sam Cooke or Otis Redding crooning this one) and unparalleled.  It's refreshing to see a band so confident in their songs that they can end a record with such gems.  Absolutely killed it live at Town Ballroom in September as well. 



Finally, The Ideological Cuddle #1 Record of the Year for 2010... Drum Roll, please...
Album #1 - Superchunk - Majesty Shredding
This album turned out the be the feel-good story of the year for me, as this was not only the most catchy, well-written return-to-form album, but also the soundtrack to my running resurrection.  On a personal level, this record gave me the push that I needed to get out there and get healthier.  It has been, almost exclusively, the soundtrack for each of my two and four mile runs since its release.   What Mac, Laura, Jon, and James did with this record is nothing short of amazing.  For a band that seemed to be lost to nostalgia just a few short years ago, to rebound with such a vital, triumphant record is inspiring.  That they've done it while making sure that Merge Records, the label Mac and Laura founded in 1989, continues to flourish as indie rocks' foremost success story is even more impressive.  The songs are great individually, but even more impressive when taken as a whole.  The track order is seamless, with one anthem flowing into another, but never feeling "samey".  As with High Violet, So Runs The World Away, and The Brutalist Bricks, Majesty Shredding finds its authors struggling with adult issues in a changing world.  No track that I heard in 2010 sums this up better than "Fractures In Plaster", a tune that celebrates getting older while recalling the fragility of life as we yearn to be like Christopher Robin "in the woods with your yellow bear", perpetually in childhood.  It was fitting that the band chose to remaster and re-release two of their best loved records, No Pocky For Kitty and On The Mouth, in 2010 as well, since Majesty Shredding sits right next to those two classics in Superchunk's celebrated discography.  You won't find a record that makes you feel better being an adult than this one.  It's about time, in the current musical milieu, that we can say that.



So, there you go. It took a while to get posted, but I hope it was worth the wait. I hope that everyone who reads this post will go out and check out these albums. They're all well worth your time.
Until next time (when I'll likely be drooling over the reissue of Emergency & I by The Dismemberment Plan), take some time to review the wonderful music that 2010 had to offer... and listen...

Make Me Dance, I Want To Surrender

Just a few days short of the biggest holiday of the year here at The Cuddle, and we find ourselves tremendously busy.  It's tough to juggle everything that needs to be done with what we want to do.  This tends to fall into both categories... The Ideological Cuddle Top 10 Albums of 2010 starts with this gem, released on October 12, 2010...

ALBUM #10 - Belle and Sebastian - Write About Love
We here at The Cuddle are big on the entire Belle and Sebastian catalogue (Mrs. Cuddle, not so much), and Write About Love fits beautifully among the band's best.  The word for this record is consistency.  May of B&S's records have had legendary tracks, but exist on albums that are weak as a whole.  I think that this release ranks right up there with 2003's Dear Catastrophe Waitress and 1996's If You're Feeling Sinister.  The album is chock-full of the sound of swinging 60s era London, and twee-indie beauty which B&S has become so famous for.  Album opener "I Didn't See It Coming" floats along on Sarah Martin's beautiful, whispery vocal (truth be told, very reminiscent of original B&S female chanteuse Isobel Campbell - too busy making records with Mark Lanegan to be back in the fold with her old band) and propelled by a jangly guitar line and insistent tambourine.  It's telling that the textural layering of the song is such that that Stuart Murdoch is only heard in the background until the 3 minute mark and, there's so much going on, he isn't missed.  "Calculating Bimbo" is classic Murdoch - on the surface, a "put down" song along the lines of Dylan or Costello, but in reality, a song that chronicles a couple keeping score of their shortcomings.  Murdoch manages to express some of the complex emotions present in long-term relationships over a deceptively simple and meandering tune.
Much has been written about the album's two "duets" - "Little Lou, Ugly Jack, Prophet John" featuring Norah Jones, and "Write About Love" featuring Carey Mulligan (the excruciatingly cute lead actress in last year's wonderful An Education).  Some have criticised Murdoch's choice of both of these duet partners, but the band manages to pull each one off.  Jones seems an unlikely, yet refreshingly smart foil to Murdoch, as her jazzy delivery offsets Murdoch's laconic 60s pop crooning.  Mulligan is somewhat of an interesting choice for a singing partner, as she's an actress, but she sings her part beautifully.  In "Write About Love", she is the disgruntled employee to Murdoch's demanding boss, and the roles seem to fit.
We hope that Belle and Sebastian have many, many more albums ahead of them.  Unlike, say, The Hold Steady, they don't feel the need to reinvent themselves album after album.  They do what they do better than anyone else (although fellow Glaswegians Camera Obscura are pretty damn close) and they seem to know it.  Some extra tweaks here and there are fine, but with Belle and Sebastian, it's comforting to know that each album will transport the listener back in time to when sweet pop melodies were the norm, not the exception.
Here are a couple of "promotional videos" that the band released in the wake of the album's release - they're patterned after an idea that the band had to create a "Belle and Sebastian Talk Show" and the design is very much like the sets of The Mike Douglas Show of the 1970s.  Enjoy...

"I Didn't See It Coming"


"I Want The World To Stop"


Until next time, when we reveal our 9th favorite record of 2010, seek out some Belle and Sebastian, and listen...

Sometimes Lonely Isn't Sad

It's near year end here at The Cuddle and a time to reflect on all of the bountiful pleasures that 2010 has  brought us.  It's a time to be thankful for all that we have and look forward to all that is yet to come.  Today, we kick off the Ideological Cuddle Top Ten Albums of 2010 countdown with the two albums that didn't quite crack the top 10 (but were very noteworthy none-the-less), the top re-issue(s) of the year, the biggest disappointment of the year, our favorite concerts of the year, and some notable bands that may not have released a new album this year, but rose to the top of our play lists time and time again.
Without further ado...

The Biggest Disappointment of 2010 - The Hold Steady's Heaven Is Whenever

Now, by no means do I think that this is a bad album, per se.  It's just such a colossal disappointment.  Coming off of 2008's triumphant and epic Stay Positive, the Hold Steady were on quite a roll.  They had risen to the forefront of indie rock, had websites, print journalists, and fans drooling over their trademark mix of boozy bar rock and literate lyrics.  Then they felt it necessary to go in a "different direction".
(A quick aside... Is it ever really necessary for a band who does what they do well to "reinvent themselves"?  It's such an overrated, bullshit move, and it's usually pushed by the media - "such and such is in such a rut, they need to reinvent themselves" - B-U-L-L-S-H-I-T.  Bands who are good at one thing should stick with that one thing.  There are only so many Elvis Costellos and David Bowies who can create new sounds with each subsequent album and dip their toes in different genres without sounding completely idiotic.  The Hold Steady should have heeded this.  Ok, now I'm done... back to your regularly scheduled blog post...)
So that different direction is Heaven Is Whenever.  There are a  few gems on this record ("Hurricane J", "The Sweet Part of The City", and "We Can Get Together"), but there are plenty of clunkers ("Soft In The Center"?  "Barely Breathing"? - P.S., don't write songs that remind people of Duncan Sheik - "Rock Problems"?  Yeah, there are problems here).  I hate to say it, but this band REALLY misses Franz Nicolay.  Maybe the magic will return with their next record.  We here at The Cuddle can only hope so, since we love this band and all of its previous albums.

Bands That We Came To Love In 2010 (But Should Have Loved Before) :
Pavement
This is a no-brainer.  No band was on our iPod, computer, CD player, turntable more this year than Pavement.  It's fitting that Pavement made a triumphant return to playing live this year as well (I didn't have the pleasure of seeing them in person, but nyctaper's recordings of their shows made me feel like I was there).  I know that I didn't want to jump on the bandwagon because I thought that there was no way a band could live up to all of the indie hipster hype.  I know now that they do.  They really, really do.  I was wrong and I wholeheartedly admit it.  It all started with the career retrospective Quarantine The Past in March.  By the start of December, I owned every one of their full length albums in some shape or form.  Theirs is a catalogue that I cherish and listen to almost every day.

Teenage Fanclub
OK, I had heard of this band in the past, but had never made an effort to seek out their music until hearing about their 2010 release, Shadows.  It was all down the rabbit hole from there.  Their sound is right in my wheelhouse - jangly guitar pop, catchy as hell, sugary sweet harmonies.  You'll be hearing more about them in the days to come.

The Top 3 Concerts of 2010 :
3. My Morning Jacket - CMAC, Canandiagua, NY - August 28, 2010 - Our second time seeing My Morning Jacket was kind of a birthday performance celebration for us, as Mrs. Cuddle and I had celebrated my 33rd bday the day prior.  The New Pornographers opened the show in fantastic fashion (even in the absence of Neko Case) and Jim James and crew absolutely tore the roof off.  There is no band working today who can match the playing chops of My Morning Jacket and this show proved it.

2. The Black Crowes - Tower Theater, Philadelphia, PA - October 29, 2010 - Mrs. Cuddle and I based an entire weekend in Philadelphia around this concert in celebration of our anniversary.  With this tour being billed as their farewell, there was no way that we were going to miss one of our favorite bands for what could be the last time.  They did not disappoint.  Starting with an acoustic set and closing with a marathon electric set, for 3 hours the Crowes reminded the faithful why they're so beloved.  Their encore seemed hand-picked for Mrs. Cuddle and I - our all-time favorite Crowes song, "Feathers", followed by Mrs. Cuddle's recent favorite, "I Ain't Hiding".  All of the Crowes' shows are available for download (for a nominal fee) from the Crowes' live music site.  I highly recommend this show.  Here's a taste:
The Black Crowes - Tower Theater, Philadelphia, PA - 10/29/10 - "Hotel Illness" (Acoustic)

1. Robyn Hitchcock - The Drake Hotel, Toronto, Ontario, Canada - June 12, 2010 - I already waxed poetic about this show (and showed off the BFF's nifty camera work) on this previous post.  I still can't wrap my brain around the fact that I was able to see one of my favorite artists in such an intimate, acoustic setting.  Hitchcock was perfect from the first notes of "Cynthia Mask" to the final strains of a gorgeous cover of The Grateful Dead's "Candyman".  I can't really say much more than what I've said already.  It was just plain perfect.

The Best Re-Issues of 2010 - The Soft Boys' Can of Bees and Underwater Moonlight
I like to think of The Soft Boys' first two records as "Proto-Hitchcock".  While they contain the essential elements that would make Robyn Hitchcock such a singular and original songwriter, their sound was much more hard-edged and driving.  These records tend to rawk more than Hitchcock records.  Yep Roc's reissues came with download codes giving the buyer a plethora of outtakes, demos, and live versions, making each of the albums great values for the money.  Can of Bees is the lesser known of the two, but is by no means inferior.  It takes true balls (or insanity) to start a debut record with the lyrical couplet "I feel like asking a tree for an autograph/I feel like making love to a photograph", but The Soft Boys do it.  Standouts like "Leppo and The Jooves", "Sandra's Having Her Brain Out", and "The Pigworker" stand with Hitchcock's finest compositions (and are bat-shit crazy, to boot).  Underwater Moonlight gets more of the publicity as a touchstone in the indie rock canon and a favorite of many of indie/college rock's favorite progenitors (such as Peter Buck from R.E.M.).  "I Wanna Destroy You" is a stone-cold classic (and has been covered by the likes of Uncle Tupelo and The Goo Goo Dolls), "Queen of Eyes" is my favorite Soft Boys song (and has continued to persist in Hitchcock's sets to this day), and "Underwater Moonlight" might be the catchiest (and ONLY) song about couples suicide ever written.  Check out a taste of Hitchcock's madness:
The Soft Boys - "The Pigworker" - Can of Bees
The Soft Boys - "Queen of Eyes" - Underwater Moonlight

The Best Albums of 2010 - Honorable Mention :
She & Him - Volume Two - More gorgeousness from M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel, following 2008's Volume One.  Ward and Deschanel managed to pen a timeless single - "Thieves" - which made me recall Papa Cuddle's Roy Orbison records, and was easily one of the 5 best songs I heard all year.  Let's be honest, Zooey could just sing the phonebook and I would rave about it.  There's no such thing as too much Zooey.
Grinderman - Grinderman 2 - As with my comment regarding Ms. Deschanel, there's no such thing as too much Nick Cave (although, sometimes he needs to be taken in small doses).  Grinderman's second record is just as over the top as their first (although it contains nothing as ballsy as "No Pussy Blues").  Grinderman tends to be Nick Cave's id - dirty, debaucherous, lecherous, filthy, funny.  "Heathen Child", "Worm Tamer" (yes, this song is about his woman's prowess with, um... well, you know... and yes, it includes the classic lines, "my baby calls me the Loch Ness Monster/Two great big humps and I'm gone").  It's well worth checking out.

We'll return with the "official" start of our Top 10 countdown in the next few days.  Until then, remember all the great things about the past year, and listen.

Gliding Past Hedges and Clocks, Off To Infinity

It's an unfortunate natural progression.  Our time comes, our number is up, and we move on.  No one quite knows to where or to what, but it's not here - leaving a gap in the lives of those we've touched, loved, and cared for.  We sometimes get shocked into this reality, and sometimes it's exactly the perspective that we needed.  It's miserable when we find out that someone we care about is gone and it's really difficult to find any consolation in the moment, but time and reflection allow us to think about what it truly means to live.  It never is easy when that lesson is taught to you by the death of a child.  They don't deserve it.  It's not fair.  It's cruel.  But it's life.  How can a parent watch their child pass on?  What can you say to them in their grieving?  How can you ever reassure them that this horrible emptiness will pass?  The fear, the sadness, the thought that you'll never see that child's bright, shining, innocent face again.  But he's out there, somewhere, rising above all of this, leaving his pain and suffering behind.  It was short, but it was sweet, my friend.  I couldn't be more proud to have known you for that sliver of time.  You're at peace, but we won't be - not yet.  We will, though.  We'll remember the health and the smiles.  We'll know that you're with us... to Infinity and Beyond.

http://www.drewsheart.com/
http://andrewpatricksheart.blogspot.com/
Robyn Hitchcock - "You and Oblivion"
Elliott Smith - "Happiness"
Eels - "The Stars Shine in the Sky Tonight"
The Band - "I Shall Be Released"

Hug those that you love.  Tell them how much they mean to you.  Learn.  Love.  Listen.
Thanks for reading.

The Dew On The Cobwebs Shines Like Gold

My love for everything Robyn Hitchcock is well known.  Autumn is the perfect time to take in his brand of off-kilter psych-folk-rock.  Last week saw the re-release of his classic Soft Boys records Underwater Moonlight and Can of Bees on Yep Rock (purchase them HERE and get 30 BONUS TRACKS) and it's easy to see, from a cursory listen to Underwater Moonlight, where the roots of Hitchcock's muse lies.  His skewed genius is in full effect with classics such as "Queen of Eyes", "I Wanna Destroy You", and "I Got the Hots". 
The tunes below are from The Soft Boy's reunion tour of 2001 :

"Kingdom of Love"
"Queen of Eyes"
"I Wanna Destroy You"

And some bonus Hitchcock - performing two of my favorite tunes (each kind of summing up my recent melancholic mood).  Despite Hitchcock's success with The Soft Boys, The Egyptians, and The Venus 3, he is best heard solo (his guitar skills are underrated and stellar) - here's a taste:

"My Wife and My Dead Wife"
"Autumn Is Your Last Chance"

Until next time, remember that "Autumn Is Your Last Chance" (because it very well might be), and listen...

The Walls Are Closing In Again, Oh Well

Good Evening, my pretties.  Sunday night.  Stoner Rock.  Close to Halloween.  Must be Queens of the Stone Age.  But stoner rock is such a cop-out.  What Josh Homme has been able to do with the Queens is indulge his base desires (in comparison, Them Crooked Vultures allows him to indulge his Led Zeppelin hero worship and re-write the blues) and meld rock, blues, punk, and multiple types of metal.  Homme has a true knack for writing catchy, heavy melodies and is smart enough to surround himself with some really talented musicians.  Who else but Josh Homme could get Dave Grohl to take a hiatus from being the Foo Fighter's front man and go back behind the drum kit for the first time since Nirvana?  Listen to Grohl's drumming in "Song for the Dead" or "Avon" - the only word that can describe his sound is FURIOUS.  His propulsive sound pushes the rest of the band forward at such a clip that the entire thing threatens to bust at the seams.  When Homme wrote songs that required a sort of "lived-in" voice, he went out and snagged the most grizzled of rock veterans - Mark Lanegan.
Here's a taste of the Queens - with Dave Grohl in full effect behind the kit, and Nick Oliveri holding down the low end on bass - Live at the Glastonbury Festival in 2002 playing "Regular John" :




And here are some further QOTSA tunes for your listening pleasure, live in the 2002-2005 era with Grohl on drums:
"Monsters in the Parasol"
"Song for the Dead"
"I Think I Lost My Headache"
"Avon"
"No One Knows"
"Tension Head"
"Regular John"
"The Lost Art of Keeping A Secret"
"You Think I Ain't Worth A Dollar, But I Feel Like a Millionaire"

Until next time, prepare for All Hallow's Eve with some Queens of the Stone Age... and listen...

I'm Alive After 1,000 Years

It sounds like hyperbole, but the title is apropos.  It seems like 1,000 years ago that Sleater-Kinney broke up.  It's had to believe that it's been 5 years since The Woods blew the doors off of everything else that was hanging around the fringes of indie rock and 4 years since Sleater-Kinney called it quits.  Thankfully, fans have a new reason to rejoice and celebrate.  Roaring out of the Pacific Northwest - a three-headed hurricane with breasts - was the troika of Janet Weiss (she wasn't the original drummer, but she was the important one), Carrie Brownstein, and Corin Tucker.  They were perfectly suited for one another  - Tucker's lyrical genius over the top of Brownstein's squealing/thundering guitar and Weiss' heavy back beat.  They couldn't just be pigeon-holed as a great grrrl group - they were a great group period.
S-K's early albums comprise blasts of pure punk ("A Real Man" from their self-titled debut, "I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone" and "Call the Doctor" from Call The Doctor come to mind) with screeching noise ("Heart Attack").  While their first album has a few clunkers and is kind of uneven, their second and third albums may be their best.  Call the Doctor and Dig Me Out are both soaked with punk rock energy delivered from a distinctly feminine perspective (although not so feminine that it alienates male listeners).  Dig Me Out is truly where S-K hit their stride - loaded with classics, the record is a taut, tense package.  "Words and Guitar", "Little Babies", "Dig Me Out", and "Dance Song 97" are my favorites.
After garnering significant attention with those releases, the band could have rested on their laurels and put out a carbon-copy of Dig Me Out.  Instead, they chose to go their own direction, open up their sound, turn down the anger slightly, and release The Hot Rock.  This album tears fans down the middle.  Songs like "The Size of Our Love", "The Hot Rock", and "Burn, Don't Freeze" are cerebral, heart-felt, and somber.  This record proved the band's range - not only could they rock out, they could ease back and give a message as well.
For my money, the final three records in the S-K catalogue are the band's finest.  All Hands on The Bad One contains great song after great song - "All Hands On the Bad One", "Ironclad" (how many bands can you name that can write balls-to-the-wall rock and roll allegory songs likening arguments between hard-headed lovers to the battle between the Monitor and Merrimack?  None besides S-K?  Thought so.), "Youth Decay", "#1 Must Have", and my personal favorite, "Milkshake & Honey" - sexy, dirty, longing goodness.  You won't find a better pure rock record from the 2000s.
After the events of 9/11, the ladies in Sleater-Kinney felt it necessary to look inward toward what was really important.  By this time, Corin Tucker had a daughter, and living in a world where our safety was suddenly thrown into question colored the songs that comprise One Beat.  "Far Away" is downright harrowing and the feeling of claustrophobia and xenophobia is palpable.  It may be the finest post-9/11 song out there.  Check out the first stanza:
"7:30am, nurse the baby on the couch
    Telephone rings: Turn on the TV, watch the world exploding fast, don't leave the house"
and later - "Don't breathe the air today" and, finally, questioning the meaning of it all - "why can't I get along with you?" - while questioning the powers that be -
"And the President hides, while working men rush in and give their lives/I look to the sky and ask it not to rain on my family tonight"
The band's swan song, The Woods, allowed the grrrls to go out on top.  A bruising, full-force gale of a record, it includes one of the finest songs of the past 15 years, "Jumpers", a song that perfectly shows off each of the member's strengths - Janet Weiss is a powerhouse of drumming fury - pounding the skins with precision.  Carrie Brownstein's guitar lines are sharp and cutting - alternating between the bouncy bop of the body of the song to the ferocity of her solos on the breakdowns.  Finally, there's Corin's howl.  There is no finer vocal instrument in indie rock history - somewhere between the screech of Chris Cornell and the blues yelp of Janis Joplin, Tucker's voice slashes everything in its path.  We shouldn't discount the power and the harrowing nature of the song itself - a solemn taken on suicide, there might not be a more heartbreaking line in rock history than "4 seconds was the longest wait".  Here are the ladies in action, playing this song, on The Henry Rollins Show:



The Woods also contains the epic, 11 minute "Let's Call It Love" - a sprawling, lumbering, beast of a song, and one that would make Jimmy Page and Robert Plant green with envy.
When S-K announced their indefinite hiatus in 2006, the indie music community was shocked, but hopeful that the ladies would take a break, then reform quickly.  Alas, to this day, Brownstein, Weiss, and Tucker have not come together in any way, shape, or form.  What fans of the band do have now is a new record from Corin Tucker under the moniker of The Corin Tucker Band.  1,000 Years is NOT a Sleater-Kinney record (although fans of the band will not be able to help but feel a little nostalgic at bits and pieces of the album).  It is a thoughtful, mature, and well-crafted group of 11 songs that reflect where Corin Tucker is mentally and emotionally today.  Gone is the anger, present is the longing of missing one's spouse ("Half A World Away"), the dangers of estrangement after years ("Riley"), and thoughts on the recession ("Thrift Store Coats").  Listen to "Doubt" - it's the most S-K-ish of any of the songs - you get some of Tucker's yelp with a little S-K fire in the guitar solo.  "Half A World Away" sounds like One Beat's "Combat Rock", but slowly burns without an explosive payoff.  It's nice to have any transmissions from any of the ladies in Sleater-Kinney.  1,000 Years should tide us over until Brownstein and Weiss release the debut album from their new project, White Flag, sometime in 2011 on Merge Records.
In the meantime, we'll always have the fiery performances that Sleater-Kinney was so famous for.  Check out some live goodness from the grrrls:
Sleater-Kinney Live in Vancouver, BC, 2006:
"You're No Rock and Roll Fun"
"O2"
"Oh!"
"Get Up"

Sleater-Kinney Live on KBOO Radio, Portland, OR - "Drinking From Puddles" Show:
"Light-Rail Coyote"
"Funeral Song"
"The Remainder"
"Far Away"
"Call the Doctor"
"Youth Decay"

Until next time, check out Corin Tucker's new record, 1,000 Years out on Kill Rock Stars now, remember the finest straight-ahead rock band of the last 15 years, Sleater-Kinney, and don't forget to listen...

I'm Down Here For Your Soul

As we move closer and closer to Halloween, one's thoughts tend to wander off into the macabre.  Nick Cave and his many projects tend to be the perfect soundtrack for this time of year. 
Cave deals in the things that rattle around in the back of men's minds, out of sight of the rest of the world - deviant sex, gruesome murder, the evils of religion, lust, greed, and even hate.  Early in his career, he had a tendency to alternate aggressive, evil albums with quieter, more introspective ones.  His sound is clearly informed by Leonard Cohen (some have said that, without a Leonard Cohen, there wouldn't be a Nick Cave - he might still be making loud, abrasive post-punk with The Birthday Party).  Cohen's influence is all over Cave's The Boatman's Call, No More Shall We Part, and parts of The Lyre of Orpheus - quiet, introspective affairs that show off Cave's trademark baritone and emotive songwriting.  No song of this ilk is more beautiful than "Love Letter" from 2001's No More Shall We Part.  Here's a beautiful live version on The Late Show with David Letterman with the McGarrigle Sisters singing back-up (the visual quality isn't great, but the performance more than makes up for it) :



Cave is not afraid to delve into pure rock and roll either - not that his version of rock and roll is anywhere near "pure".  The cast of characters that have comprised his Bad Seeds over the years are a who's who of avant-garde talent - legendary guitarist Blixa Bargeld and violinist Warren Ellis among them.  They add dissonant flashes to Cave's compositions and add a flair missing from 99% of the music out there today.  Bargeld has since left the band, but Ellis' signature can be found all over recent masterpieces Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus and Dig!!! Lazarus, Dig!!!.  He's also an integral part of the Grinderman project (who I've waxed poetic about in the past). 
To truly appreciate the Bad Seeds' genius, they must be experienced live.  If you can't find them in your town (they're not currently touring as Grinderman is), check out The Abattoir Blues Live tour document - overflowing with 2 live CDs and 2 live DVDs of Bad Seeds madness.  For more, I've dug out some live bootleg tunes from the vaults for your enjoyment. 

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Live from Copenhagen, Denmark on November 19, 2004:
"God Is In The House" - Another beautiful, quiet, introspective tune from No More Shall We Part.  It's a song that pokes fun at religion, prejudice, and the denial that many of us live in.
"Easy Money" - More introspection, this one from The Lyre of Orpheus.  I've thought about the meaning of this song a lot over the years - I've come to the conclusion that the subject of the song has chosen to do some unsavory (and likely unclean) things in order to allow his family to survive, but I'm always up for further interpretation.
"Babe, You Turn Me On" - This one's deviant.  Also from The Lyre of Orpheus, "Babe You Turn Me On" seems gentle and loving on the surface, but upon closer inspection, the singer's "babe" is being hunted like prey, and the singer is NOT being invited to seduce the object of his desire.
"Red Right Hand" - The quintessential Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds song (mostly because it's the most recognized), I've always felt that the main character in this song would make a terrific Halloween costume (while Mrs. Cuddle claims that no one would know who I was - she's likely right).  It has always been the chimes that make this song stand out from a sonic perspective, and the image of a Something Wicked This Way Comes-type protagonist, willing to give anyone anything (for a price), that make the lyrics stand out.

Live in Germany on May 21, 2008:
"The Lyre of Orpheus" - A terrific song that turns the Greek myth on its head, this version is most notable for the crowd singing along with Cave, creating an eerie choir.
"Moonland" - One of my favorite tracks from Dig!!! Lazarus, Dig!!!.  I could imagine this song in lounge version, being sung in Vegas by Sinatra.  Zombie Sinatra, but whatever.
"Deanna" - Legendary in the Cave canon, "Deanna" is from 1988's Tender Prey.  It's raucous, pleading, and sexy.  That it is still filling setlists 20 years after it's initial release is a testament to it's staying power.
"Into My Arms" - More tenderness, this time from The Boatman's Call.

Bonus Live Bad Seeds from various sources - each song is from Murder Ballads :
"Henry Lee (with PJ Harvey)" - I love this traditional song, manipulated to Cave's sensibilities.   One of two duets on Murder Ballads (the other is just as beautiful - "Where the Wild Roses Grow"  with Kylie Minogue), the voices of Cave and Harvey meld beautifully (as did, presumably, their bodies, as they were a couple for a while).  The macabre pairing of Harvey and Cave was almost too perfect, and their relationship didn't last all that long.  We still have this song to remember it.
"Stagger Lee" - Not for the faint of heart, this version of the traditional Stagger Lee is peppered with more f-bombs than almost every other song that I know of.  Beyond the colorful verbiage is the violence - Cave doesn't spare any gruesome detail of the fateful night in The Bucket of Blood bar.

Until next time, enjoy the various moods of Nick Cave (check out his albums as well - Mute Records is in the process of re-releasing everything in the catalogue), and listen (but maybe not too closely if you're faint of heart)...