mehan jayasuriya

Coming of age, as I did, in the ’90s, I had to rely mostly on pre-Internet mechanisms for music discovery during my formative years. Where we lived, this largely meant the magazine rack at the supermarket, the local “alternative” radio stations and MTV. And while MTV rarely showed music videos even in those days, there were a handful of shows on the network, “120 Minutes” being chief among them, that served as gateways to new music and largely unknown artists. It was through “120 Minutes” that I first discovered the Eels’ “Novocaine for the Soul,” a music video that ushered in both a longstanding love affair with the Eels and a penchant for wearing horn-rimmed glasses that has continued to this day.

So, as you might imagine, I was thrilled to have the opportunity to interview Eels mastermind Mark Oliver Everett (aka “E”) for PopMatters. Though it pains me to say this, at this point, I’ve resigned myself to the fact that E’s best work is behind him (a fact that I’ve written about on here in the past), though that’s not to say that his current work is without merit. In fact, his most recent release, Tomorrow Morning, might just be the best Eels record in 10 years. I chatted with E about Tomorrow Morning, his unlikely success in the music industry and his love for Neil Young—you can read the interview here.

wilsonblog:

An addiction to being as clever as possible is becoming both Wale’s downfall and his calling card. When he focuses on a single story or issue, like he did on “The Kramer” or does here, on “Friends N Strangers,” narrating a relationship drama that ends in a paternity test, he makes a case for being the best conscious-rapper out there, if that term still applies. But moments of focus are rare. Too often, Wale’d rather be funny. “The Eyes of Tiger” bills itself as a first-person exploration of the Tiger Woods tabloid fiasco — hinting at the interracial taboos the story tugged at and ESPN’s fair-weather patronization — but the most memorable moment of the song is when Wale raps in Tiger’s voice about “all the pedicures I’ve given to their camel toes.”

My former PopMatters colleague, Wilson McBee, takes Wale’s More About Nothing mixtape for a spin and in so doing, pinpoints precisely why the rapper’s recent output has felt so hollow. To borrow Nitsuh Abebe’s classroom analogy, Wale is that kid in the back of the class who could effortlessly ace the exams, if only he wasn’t too busy trying to be the class clown. It’s that sense of wasted potential, I think, that has made Wale such a frustrating artist to root for recently. More please, Wilson!

It seems like everyone is talking about the new M.I.A. record, /\/\/\Y/\, this week, one of the more critically divisive albums in recent memory. Like many other critics, I didn’t like the record—you can read my PopMatters review if you would like to know why. Still, I’m not sure how to feel about being included in Flavorwire’s list of “The Meanest and Funniest Reviews of M.I.A.’s /\/\/\Y/\”. Of course, my intent in writing the review was not to be mean (or even funny, for that matter) but to offer my honest assessment of the work at hand. And yes, while I am quite disappointed with /\/\/\Y/\, I still hold M.I.A. in very high regard as an artist and I hope that that comes across in my review.

One thing that I was thrilled to be included in was Rich Juzwiak’s brilliant piece, “A Collage for a Collage,” which constructs a review of /\/\/\Y/\ entirely from recontextualized fragments from over 40 other reviews. Yeah, it’s a clever gimmick, one that mimics M.I.A.’s own cut-and-paste mode of production. But it’s also a surprisingly incisive piece, a shotgun blast of adjectives that manages to distill a weeks’ worth of blogosphere hand-wringing into a single, 1,500 word review. If you read one review of /\/\/\Y/\, you should probably make it Juzwiak’s—just don’t blame me if the bright blue, hyperlink-saturated text gives you a headache.

I first encountered Crystal Castles in 2007, when they opened for Metric at the 9:30 Club. I was less than impressed by the early incarnation of their live show that I saw and wrote a pretty critical review to that effect (my powers of premonition apparently leave something to be desired, as evidenced by the damning quote, “Crystal Castles…seem destined to live out their days in relative, albeit, hip obscurity”). In the course of writing that review, however, I happened upon the band’s MySpace page and found myself returning with surprising frequency, in order to hear tracks like “Alice Practice” and “Crimewave”. By the time the band’s full-length saw release in 2008, I was a dyed-in-the-wool fanboy, as my review of their debut LP—which identifies the duo as no less than the saviors of electro—attests. 

Still, as much as I love this band, I wasn’t expecting anything quite as accomplished as this new album—I don’t think anyone was, really. Bands making music this volatile usually aren’t built to last; they tend to burn brightly and quickly before disappearing in a plume of rumor and speculation. So it’s to everyone’s surprise that the second album to bear the title Crystal Castles is a sophisticated, refined, polished affair, the unmistakable product of a band with career ambitions. It’s also catchy as hell and digs deeper into many of the ideas and genres (goth-pop! house!) that the band previously nodded toward superficially, pushing past the dissonance and noise to find the kernel of pop that lies at the heart of each song. I had thought that I would finally be able to put this record down after I had finished penning my review but as it turns out, that was just wishful thinking. The longer I live with Crystal Castles, the deeper my fascination with it grows and it just might be my favorite album of the year thus far. Read my full review of Crystal Castles (II) here.

Two recently published things that I’ve neglected to post on here: my review of the Depreciation Guild’s sophomore effort, Spirit Youth and my review and photos of High Places and Dustin Wong’s (Ponytail, ex-Ecstatic Sunshine) show at DC9. (Photo of the Depreciation Guild is from when I saw them in 2009—I wish they still did those rad projections!)

It’s probably best that A Weather’s latest LP, Everyday Balloons was released in the spring, as opposed to the winter, since it essentially sounds how being trapped alone inside the house all winter feels. Which is to say, amazing, if depressing slow-core is your cup of tea. Read my review at PopMatters.

In all honesty, I never thought I would get to see Jeff Mangum perform live. Even as he took the stage at New York’s Le Poisson Rouge on Thursday night, I found myself filled with uncertainty. Would he actually play Neutral Milk Hotel songs? Would he just play a Chris Knox cover? Would he play more than one song? Was it really him? Luckily, all these fears were instantly assuaged once Mangum strummed the opening chord of “Oh Comely,” an act that kicked off one of the most powerful performances I have ever witnessed. Listening to Live at Jittery Joe’s and other late ’90s Mangum/NMH bootlegs in college, I often wondered, what would it feel like to be in that room, to stand a few feet from Jeff Mangum while he unleashed those singularly haunting, beautiful songs on an awestruck audience? I feel privileged that I now know the answer to that question. Read my full review of the show at PopMatters.