Despite the fact that I generally find it distasteful to call the album of the year halfway through the year, I really can’t help but agree with Stereogum on this one—Bitte Orca is just that good. A couple of days before the album’s release, I was lucky enough to catch the Dirty Projectors at the Rufustival in Baltimore and was equally impressed with the energy and mind-boggling precision that the band brought to their live show. The next morning, I called Dave Longstreth up on the phone and conducted a brief interview, wherein he discussed the album, the tour and his recent collaborations with David Byrne and Björk. There’s no denying that Longstreth is a thorny interviewee—he’s the sort of evasive fellow that rockcrits love to describe as “difficult”. Regardless, I was quite happy with how the interview turned out; my hope is that it reads more like a conversation and less like an inquisition. Check out the interview and photos over at PopMatters.
On Monday night, I saw Animal Collective play the 9:30 Club. The last time I saw the band, I was quite disappointed. It was the summer of 2004 and while Animal Collective was, ostensibly, touring on Sung Tongs, their set consisted entirely of a series of extended drone experiments. Even worse, the band seemed to take an almost confrontational stance toward their restless audience. It was bad vibes all around (not to mention terribly boring) and I swore I would never go see them again. Of course, I’m not very good about sticking to my guns when it comes to embargoes on bands, so when I heard that Animal Collective planned to actually play songs from their albums on this tour, I decided to give them another chance. This time around, the band fared far better, thanks in no small part to the strength of the material on Merriweather Post Pavilion. Sure, there was still a good bit of repetition, improvisation and psychedelic noodling but thankfully, the more tedious bits were tempered by a fantastic light show, some serious low-end and a handful of eminently danceable renditions. Check out my full review and photos at DCist.
On Tuesday night, I caught the Junior Boys and Max Tundra at the Black Cat. Both acts exceeded my expectations, displaying a knack for performance that too few electronic artists seem to have. Check out my full review/photos over at DCist.
This week brings us Outer South, the latest record from Bright Eyes Conor Oberst Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band. I can say, without hesitation, that this is Oberst’s worst album yet. Well, okay, with the possible exception of A Collection of Songs Written and Recorded 1995-1997, though he gets a free pass on that one, in accordance with the Pablo Honey principle—take note, I totally just coined that—and also because he was like ten at the time. I imagine that if I had written and recorded an album at the age of ten, it mostly would have been about how much I liked the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or something. Alas, I digress. Outer South feels pretty half-baked, like a batch of songs lumped together for the sake of putting out an album—or, perhaps more to the point, for the sake of establishing the Mystic Valley Band as an ensemble, rather than a backing band. While I can’t deny that they really do seem like a band after watching their tour documentary/buddy picture One of my Kind, these boys are going to have to exercise much stricter quality control if they hope to erase the memory of Bright Eyes. Read my full review of the album at PopMatters. (Photo of Mr. Oberst is from my coverage of the Mystic Valley Band’s visit to the 9:30 Club last November)
On Easter Sunday, I caught the Wooden Birds at the Black Cat. If you count yourself among the folks who were saddened by the announcement of the American Analog Set’s indefinite hiatus, you’ll find plenty to love in Andrew Kenny’s latest outfit, which bears a striking resemblance to the AnAmSet. Review/photos at PopMatters.
Hey, I was quoted in The Register this week.
Can you believe that until this week, PopMatters had never reviewed Pablo Honey, The Bends or Ok Computer? It’s true. You see, all three records were released before the site launched in 2000 and as such, were never reviewed. However, with the release of deluxe reissues of the aforementioned albums this week, we finally got around to acknowledging Radiohead’s first three records and I got to do the honors. What follows is a 3,500-word piece that revels in discussions of “Top of the Pops” appearances, obscure B-sides and Phil Selway’s choice of headgear—all of which is to say that it’s not for the faint of heart. If, however, you can stomach a critical dissection of the Drill EP alongside a handful of shameless Smiths references, then by all means, be my guest. (Photo is from my coverage of the band’s show in Camden, NJ this past summer)
This past week, I reviewed Casiotone for the Painfully Alone’s latest release for PopMatters. Advance Base Battery Life, as it’s called, is a singles collection that compiles tracks from 7” singles, splits and compilations released during the last three years. Casiotone (a.k.a. Owen Ashworth), as you may know, has pretty much mastered the art of putting out strong 45s, so it should come as no surprise that there’s plenty worth hearing on this stopgap release. If you slept on the singles or if you—gasp!—haven’t yet given Casiotone a listen, Advance Base Battery Life offers a convenient way to get caught up in anticipation of Ashworth’s fifth full-length, Vs. Children, which is due next month. Click here for my full review.
R.I.P. Atomic Records (1985-2009)
If you’re a music nerd, chances are high that you reserve a special place in your heart for your hometown independent record store—the place that first fed your budding curiosity by turning you on to new music. For me, that place is Atomic Records, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Unfortunately, after nearly 25 years in the business, Atomic is slated to close up shop for the last time this Sunday—yet another casualty of declining music sales and the volatile economic climate. In an attempt to document the store’s history before it slips away, I sat down with Rich Menning, Atomic’s founder and general manager, to pick his brain about records, rock ‘n’ roll and the future of independent record stores. Head over to PopMatters to read the interview. (Photo by Flickr user d76, used under a CC-BY-NC license).
Lotsa stuff this week. I reviewed Benjy Ferree’s latest, Come Back to the Five and Dime, Bobby Dee, Bobby Dee, for PopMatters. The record is a fantastic distillation of Ferree’s eclectic influences and ably establishes the D.C. native as one of the more original singer-songwriters working today. Speaking of singer-songwriters, I also reviewed a track from Say Hi’s forthcoming record, Oohs & Aahs. Even if you’ve written off Eric Elbogen in the past, I highly recommend checking this song out—it reminds me a lot of David Bazan’s Control-era work. Finally, I wrote a number of posts over at the Public Knowledge blog, including one on the demise of Muxtape/the Future of Music Coalition’s D.C. Policy Day, one on an anti-three strikes netroots movement in New Zealand and one on the motivations behind the Hulu/Boxee controversy.
Today, PopMatters ran a full-length feature on the M For Montréal festival, written by my buddy Kevin Pearson, alongside some of my photos from the festival. Kevin’s piece offers an exhaustive, thoughtful and engaging look at the festival and touches on both the history and current state of one of the most vibrant arts scenes in North America. I highly recommend that you head over to PopMatters and check out Kevin’s article.
I caught Passion Pit on Tuesday night at the Black Cat. Despite all the buzz, I found them to be kind of disappointing and not nearly as interesting as their recorded output suggests. You know what Flavor Flav would say: don’t believe the hype. Review/photos at DCist.
While it would have been awesome to attend one of the official Presidential inaugural balls (which featured, among their marquee acts, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Common, the Arcade Fire and Fall Out Boy), I was more than happy to settle for the Hideout’s unofficial Big Shoulders Ball, which brought a busload of Chicago’s finest—including Andrew Bird, the Waco Brothers, “Honeyboy” Edwards and Tortoise—to the Black Cat for a night of music, celebration and Windy City pride. Head over to PopMatters to check out my review and photos.
